which I sent to you in my previous mail and they will process on the release order and you will discuss with them if you have to travel there or you ask for delivery processing. Can I trust you and what is the assurance that you won't let me down when the fund shall be at your position ? P lease I put my hope and trust in you. Capt. Wallace Kimberley. Darling , De : Captain wallace kimberlin < captainwallacekimberlin@gmail.com >
Envoye le : Me, 8 Fev 2017 2:22
Sujet : Can you travel to receive the box in Oman ?
Hi, dear.
I am 36 years, I am single and ready for love but I do not have much pics. Will you be able to pay delivery cost for the box ? The cost is $2,890 and it should be paid before they effect delivery. With love,
Sandra Can you travel to receive the box in Oman ? De : Captain wallace kimberlin < captainwallacekimberlin@gmail.com >
Envoye le : Je, 9 Fev 2017 16:07
Sujet : You should send the $200 by WU or MG
Receiver's Name : Sulaiman Kamara City : Dakar Country : Senegal Amount : $200 captainwallacekimberlin@gmail.com
You should include the sender's name and address including telephone number so he can pick and help send altogether to the delivery agent to effect the delivery of the trunk box to your destination address and please I put my hope and everything in you. You should send the Western Union reference number for pick up, okay ?
Regards, Capt. Wallace Kimberley. Ok, you will send $200 to my lender so he can help to complete the balance to them to effect delivery. Here is his information below and you should send it by Western Union or Money Gram, ok ? De : Captain wallace kimberlin < captainwallacekimberlin@gmail.com >
Envoye le : Ma, 14 Fev 2017 20:29
Sujet : That is all you need to send the money
Receiver's name : Sulaiman Kamara Address :104B Almadi Road, Dakar. Country : Senegal Amount :. . . . . . . . . .$200
Tel +221 -772937037
captainwallacekimberlin@gmail.com
That is all you need to send the money, pick the form, fill it and submit to transfer, that is simple.
De : trevor quisly < deliverymanservices03@gmail.com >
Envoye le : Lu, 20 Fev 2017 12:43
Sujet : About your box
May I have the information delivery address and payment to be shipping your box this week to your destination address.
Regards, Dr. Trevor Quisley. Attention: About your box If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more....
Social Impact Award: Georgia hosts contest for young innovators
Two Georgian cities will host the countrys first edition of the Social Impact Award: an international contest for student projects aimed at benefiting society through entrepreneurial endeavours.Launching this Friday, the contest will be held in the capital of Tbilisi as well as the eastern city of Telavi and aim to help young innovators transform their ideas from the stage of infancy to fully-fledged projects that will bring solutions to social issues.The event will be the first Georgian edition of the Social Impact Award, which is organised in 20 European countries.Student teams will present their projects and be evaluated by professionals in social enterprise. The young participants will also learn how to set up business plans and carry their ideas through to successful implementation.The contest will begin with 12 workshops in Tbilisi and Telavi, focusing on teaching social entrepreneurship, the generation of ideas, the establishment of business models and business planning.Based on presented ideas, an independent jury will select eight successful teams for a subsequent incubation process, while the shortlisted teams will also receive financial and professional support.The same jury will ultimately reveal three winning teams, to be granted prize money and an opportunity to travel to the Social Impact Award European Summit in Belgrade, Serbia, which will take place between November 1-3.The three groups will also be granted a chance to receive funding of 20,000 GEL (about $7,500/7,200*) for implementing their respective projects.Workshops will run in Tbilisi from February 24-26 and Telavi from March 10-12, while the remaining phases of the competition will be held throughout the rest of the year.Organisers Impact Hub Tbilisi and the Europe Foundation said they hoped to encompass "all big cities in Georgia for the 2018 edition.Impact Hub is an international initiative that unites over 15,000 members at 86 locations across the world in a community which "inspires, connects and enables people across the world to sustainably impact society".Tbilisi joined the network in October 2016 with a public discussion held at Fabrika, entitled Building Ecosystems for Sustainable Social Change.Founded in 2008, the Europe Foundation is a Georgia-based organisation that aims to "increase citizen action in monitoring governmental and business activities "to effect positive changes.
Painful issue with de facto and occupant forces
By Messenger Staff
The 43rd Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting was held in Gali, Abkhazia, on February 22, where representatives from the government of Georgia raised several painful issues and re-voiced their demands to the de facto and occupant forces.Georgia once again demanded the arrest of the citizen of Abkhazia who killed Georgian Giga Otkhozoria on territory controlled by Georgia, in May 2016.The alleged murderer, Rashid Kanji Oghli, was not held accountable for his crime, which had been recorded by cameras.Another issue concerned the release of Giorgi Lukava, a citizen of Georgia who is currently imprisoned in de facto Abkhazia for terrorist activities.The detainee and his family claim he is innocent, and Lukavas wife went on hunger strike with the demand the Georgian Dream authorities to ensure the release of her husband.It was even stated that Lukava was killed. However, the information wasnt confirmed and at the meeting the de facto representatives stressed the mans life wasnt at risk.The talk also concerned the closure of the so-called border between Georgia and Abkhazia.Representatives of the central government stressed that any kind of prohibition which will restrict fundamental rights of local residents will not only complicate their everyday lives, but sill also pose a significant threat to security on the ground.The IPRM was created in February 2009 as a result of the Geneva Discussions that followed the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict in Georgia. The meetings were an opportunity to identify and discuss potential risks and follow-up of incidents and issues affecting the communities on a daily basis. The meetings were co-facilitated by the OSCE and the EUMM in Georgia.Such meetings are important to address the ongoing problems; dialogue always has a meaning. However, Russias position does not change, and the country still occupies 20 percent of Georgias lands.Russia also continues its creeping occupation of sovereign Georgian land by pushing its barriers and border signs further into Georgian territory.To settle the territorial problem Georgia currently requires consistent diplomatic efforts and the support of the international community.Georgia isnt the only nation that Russia showed such aggression towards, as it invaded Ukraine land, and Moscow has only been encouraged by the impotent reaction of the West.
The News in Brief
State Oil and Gas Company Spending Questioned
Between 2012 and 2014, the Georgia Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) spent 3.8 million lari (about $US2.26 million) to finance patrols to make sure nobody was stealing gas from oil or gas pipelines.
The problem was that GOGC had no pipelines under its own direct management during those years.
These and other irregularities are the subject of a Georgia Audit Office report covering the years 2012-2014. The Audit Office said in an interview that at least two of these findings were serious enough that the Georgia Prosecutors Office should investigate as possible crimes.
The Prosecutors Office refused to comment on whether they are investigating. office does not share information whether they started investigation on any fact mentioned into audit service report.
Oil and Gas Corporation thinks audit service report is objective and based on facts, reads the letter sent by corporation to ifact.ge.
The irregularities, which GOGC stated in a letter to ifact.ge that they do not dispute, include the following:
Salaries paid to dozens working in positions that were not listed by GOGC. According to the Audit Report, GOGC had no listed positions for advisers, geologists or technicians. There were also no listed positions for analysts and for any potential projects.
In 2013, the Ministry of Finance said in a letter to GOGC that dozens working before October of 2012 should not have been receiving huge salaries from GOGC. The Ministry of Finance refused to comment, citing an ongoing investigation, and the Audit Service released no further details, again citing that ongoing investigation.
Out of 34 million cubic meters of gas extracted between 2012-2014, 11 million cubic meters were burned off as waste because neither GOGC nor its drilling company had a proper plan for collecting and using it. GOGC pointed out in a letter that they have no storage facility, so whatever gas the drilling company cannot sell is wasted.
From 2012-14, nobody kept track of GPS data for fuel usage by GOGC vehicles, even though GPS devices were installed in all vehicles.
A contract was given to a company (New Energy LLC) to erect a series of electric towers. The company was paid for moving 546,174 cubic meters of soil. The Audit Service calculated that even if the company worked 24/7, it could have moved only 315,548 cubic meters. The total tower contract was worth 44.5 million lari (about $US27.8 million). The Audit Office suggests this be further investigated.
Another company (LLC El Georgia 2006) had a contract to build support structures for these towers and a road. The company could not produce any documents on how much work it actually did. The type of soil the company says it moved on the project does not exist on this site, according to geological studies cited by the Audit Office. The company received 3.9 million lari (about $US2.4 million). The Audit Office suggests this be further investigated.
Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation LLC was formed in 2006 to consolidate three existing state-owned companies. In 2011, GOGC changed its status to a joint stock corporation, although all shares are controlled by the government of Georgia.
GOGC uses this legal status to define itself as a private company and thus not required to release information that a government agency would be required to share, although oil and gas are natural resources that belong to all Georgian citizens.
We are not a (government) body, so we are not obliged to share private company information with you, the company wrote in a letter.
GOGC reported profits from 2012-2014 of 1.2 billion lari (about $US714 million). With government approval, it has expanded beyond oil and gas to become 51 percent shareholder of the Gardibani thermal electricity plant. The Corporation is also an investor in a new wind power project in Georgia.
In 2014 the Corporation had 342 employees collecting 7.8 million lari (about $US4.5 million) in salaries and bonuses. Seven directors collected a total of 795,556 lari (about $US454,000) in 2014.
According to the Audit Report, GOGC had no listed positions for advisers, geologists or technicians. There were also no listed positions for analysts and for any potential projects. In 2013, the Ministry of Finance said in a letter to GOGC that dozens of citizens working before October of 2012 should not have been receiving huge salaries from GOGC.
GOGC has announced plans to sell in 2017 as much as 25 percent of its shares to the public through a stock market. If this plan is carried out, the Corporation could no longer claim to be a private company that can withhold information about Georgian natural resources. GOGC says the decision about privatization has not been made yet.
Nino Bakradze is investigative reporter at Ifact.ge. The article was first published on Ifact.ge. (dfwatch.net)
Anti-stigma campaign to break down stereotypes on disability
UNICEF Georgia is launching a social change campaign tomorrow to address stigmas against people with disabilities in Georgian society.
Children with disabilities are one of the most isolated, disadvantaged and marginalized groups of children in Georgia. On a daily basis, they are subject to discrimination and their rights are violated, UNICEF Georgia said on their official Facebook page.
Based on UNICEF data, 40 percent of the Georgian population harbors some form of stereotypes and discriminatory emotions against people with disabilities.
Inviting the public to gather at the launch of the Anti-Stigma Movement at Zurab Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art in Tbilisi on February 23, Communication Officer at UNICEF Georgia Maya Kurtsikidze told Agenda.ge that the two-year campaign will do its best to change public attitude towards children with special needs in Georgia.
The campaign will be carried out by UNICEF with the support of the European Union in Georgia and USAID/Georgia.
We want to break the myths these people are always surrounded with, Kurtsikidze said, explaining that children with special needs will be telling their own stories with their parents as part of the frontline of the campaign.
With awareness-raising activities scheduled all around Georgia, the campaign aims to break down myths surrounding disabilities, teaching people how to better communicate with disabled children and showing them how to treat them with equality.
This includes success stories of children with disabilities and their parents, formal educational comics, contests for school children, country-wide discussions, public gatherings, festivals and fun demonstrations where children with disabilities and their parents will participate.
As Kurtsikidze said, the guests of tomorrows launching ceremony will personally see, feel and hear what these children are capable of and what challenges they face in their daily lives. (Agenda.ge)
(AP Photo)
@JeremySWallace
Gov. Rick Scott heads into his 7th Legislative Session starting next week with a distinct advantage over the Florida Legislature over who is more popular, according to a poll released this morning by the Public Opinion Research Laboratory at the University of North Florida.
The poll showed that 46 percent of a sample of 973 registered Florida voters said they approved of the job Scott was doing. By contrast, the just 39 percent said they approved of the job the Florida Legislature is handling its job.
But the poll also showed that one of Scotts top priorities doesnt have much support among voters. Scott has proposed a $454 million tax cut for companies who pay sales taxes on their leases. Florida is the only state that imposes that kind of a tax.
But only 13 percent of the 973 registered voters said they want the corporate lease taxes reduced. Another 73 percent said the state should not reduce the tax and use the money instead to improve public universities or public infrastructure.
Question: Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Rick Scott is handling his job as governor of Florida?
Answer:
17% - Strongly approve
29% - Somewhat approve
14% - Somewhat disapprove
26% - Strongly disapprove
14% - Dont know
Question: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way that the Florida Legislature is handling its job?
Answer:
7% - Strongly approve
32% - Somewhat approve
21% - Somewhat disapprove
19% - Strongly disapprove
21% - Dont know
Check out the full poll results here.
@amysherman1
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it will heighten assistance to Jewish Community Centers, which have faced a series of bomb threats in Florida and other states.
In light of the nature of the threats to Jewish Community Centers, I have directed DHS to heighten our outreach and support to enhance public safety, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Wednesday night in a statement. The right to worship and commune within and across faiths is fundamental to the American experience and our way of life. DHS will continue to support communities across the country to preserve these fundamental freedoms.
The Anti-Defamation League, a national organization that combats anti-Semitism, has tallied 122 bomb threats to Jewish institutions since the beginning of 2017 through March 1. On Monday, the ADL said 20 threats occurred in a dozen states the fifth time this year that multiple Jewish institutions have received bomb scares on a single day.
Keep reading here.
Photo by the Wilfredo Lee, Associated Press
@MichaelAuslen
Florida's safety net hospitals -- public, teaching and children's hospitals that largely serve low-income patients -- are urging the federal government to give the state an extra $1 billion to pay for care that insurance, Medicaid and Medicare do not fund.
This week, executives with the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida traveled to Washington to meet with leaders of the congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson and three members of Congress, Ted Yoho, R-Gainesville, Carlos Curbelo, R-Miami, and Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park. Carlos Migoya, CEO of Jackson Health System in Miami, and Jonathan Ellen, president of Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital in St. Petersburg, were among those who traveled to Washington.
"We believe that over the last couple years, the federal government has treated Florida extremely inequitably," said Tony Carvalho, president of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance. "It seems like Florida's Low-Income Pool was reduced over the last several years as a strategy to put pressure on Florida to expand Medicaid coverage. ... We believe the strategy really hurt the safety net."
The Low-Income Pool is a pot of money meant to reimburse hospitals when they provide care to low-income people that is not covered by Medicaid, Medicare or an insurance plan and cannot be paid for. During 2015's Medicaid expansion fight, the federal government under then-President Barack Obama reduced the size of the pool, which includes some state money but is mostly paid for with federal tax dollars.
It is currently slated to be about $600 million, down from $2 billion in 2014. But hospitals other large states, including Texas, New York and California, receive much more per capita than Florida does, according to an analysis by the Safety Net Hospital Alliance.
Hospitals are urging members of Congress to pressure federal health officials to give the state a larger pool of money during a renegotiation of the state's Medicaid program that's happening right now.
The state and federal governments are already negotiating over Medicaid because Florida's existing agreement is set to expire. What the safety net hospitals want is for newer uncompensated care data to be taken into account and for the feds to stop punishing Florida for not expanding Medicaid. That could bring in an extra $1 billion.
And time is ticking.
New rules would need to be in place before the Legislature draws up a budget in the latter half of the 60-day legislative session, which begins Tuesday in Tallahassee, Carvalho said.
"It could be pretty devastating if we don't get a decision by the time the Legislature needs it for finalizing their budget," he said.
In January, eight members of Congress, including Curbelo, wrote a letter asking then-President-elect Donald Trump to work with Florida to increase the Low-Income Pool.
Photo: Hector Gabino, el Nuevo Herald.
via @learyreports
Republican Rep. Brian Mast:
Jeff Sessions needs to immediately clarify his Senate testimony and recuse himself from any investigation into Russian ties. If he cannot commit to ensuring this process is completed with full transparency and integrity, he should resign. The American people are demanding integrity, they are demanding answers and they deserve an unbiased investigation into the facts.
Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo:
The American people must have full trust and confidence in any and all government investigations into Russian efforts to undermine or manipulate our elections. Regardless of whether the Attorney General misspoke or misled at his Senate confirmation hearing, the Justice Department should include these alleged meetings in their investigation and Mr. Sessions should recuse himself from Justice Department activities related to the investigation.
Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings:
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Jeff Sessions told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not have communications with the Russian government during Mr. Trumps campaign. We now know this statement, made under oath, was a lie. Attorney General Sessions must resign immediately, or President Trump must fire him, and the FBI must launch an investigation into his actions.
Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor:
Lying to a congressional committee while you are under sworn oath is illegal. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign and at the very least must recuse himself from the investigation into illegal collusion between Vladimir Putin, the Russian government and the Trump Campaign. President Trumps failure to release his tax returns (unlike any other presidential candidate or President) continues to be a cloud over his Administration. An open and transparent review of his tax returns could answer questions related to whether or not he or his company have ties to Russia.
Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist:
As the former Attorney General of Florida, I find Attorney General Sessions actions inexcusable, and call for his immediate resignation. How can we have faith that the duties of the office of the Attorney General will be carried out when the chief legal officer of the country doesn't tell the truth under oath to the United States Congress. It is clear that we need to establish an independent, 9/11-style commission to investigate this administrations Russian connections. The American people demand answers, and we have a responsibility to get to the truth of this Russian imbroglio.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz:
Americas top law enforcement official cant perjure himself before the United States Senate and maintain the credibility and confidence that the chief law enforcement officer for the nation must have to hold that position. He must now resign. When then-Senator Jeff Sessions testified under oath that he did not have communications with the Russians during his confirmation hearing, he lied to Congress and breached the public trust. This obviously disqualifies Sessions from handling any investigation into the Trump Administrations involvement with Russia. But more than his recusal, Sessions faces apparent perjury issues, which must be investigated and prosecuted. Whats especially unsettling is that Sessions involvement with Russian officials is part of a larger pattern of involvement between Moscow and Trumps campaign and administration. Ultimately, we need an open, independent, bipartisan investigation into Russia's ties to the Trump administration and its attempt to influence our elections.
Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen:
Given the questions surrounding Attorney General Sessions' testimony, he should recuse himself from any investigation into Russian activities.
--ALEX LEARY, Tampa Bay Times, with Patricia Mazzei
Photo credit: Susan Walsh, Associated Press
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Missoula City Council's Administration and Finance committee voted to look into divesting their money market account from Wells Fargo bank.
Wells Fargo has been involved in several national controversies recently, most central to Missoula their partial funding with Energy Transfer Partners, which is building the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The University of California divested from the bank in January because of its ties to private correctional facilities, while the cities of Davis, California, and Seattle looked into divesting in early February.
Ward 1 representative Heidi West, who brought the idea forward with Ward 2 representative Ruth Swaney, said divesting is a natural follow-up to the councils November resolution opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as the city's acquisition of Mountain Water company.
As a community we value access to drinking water, West said. Its important to direct our financial resources in ways that reflect the values that we have established.
In an ironic twist, West admitted that Barclays which is loaning the city around $140 million to buy the water utility was, along with Wells Fargo, a player in the mid-2000s subprime mortgage crisis.
I do realize there are going to be hypocritical actions sometimes, she said. And those cant entirely be avoided.
Finance Director Leigh Griffing said the citys Wells Fargo account is used for its cash-on-hand funds. Right now theres about $2.6 million in the account, but that fluctuates by tens of millions throughout the year.
Its primarily held there for security, she said. It gains very little interest.
Griffing said they would likely put the money into the Montana Board of Investments Short Term Investment Program. The city could continue to deposit and withdraw money easily from the program.
Six people commented in support of divesting, a large crowd for a Wednesday afternoon City Council meeting.
Dustin Monroe said he has family in Standing Rock and traveled to the protests.
A lot of us live in Missoula not because theres a bunch of jobs around here or high pay. Its because the quality of life and the life here, he said. And thats what makes Missoula so different than the rest of Montana.
He said other Montanans usually think Missoulas a little crazy for taking a position on issues like these.
Its not being crazy, its because we stand by our values and who we are.
A company that manages a huge data center near Missoula is in the process of applying for a state grant to create 80 high-paying jobs in the area over the next two years.
Global Big Data, LLC, which provides hosting services and security validation services for Bitcoin networks a complicated peer-to-peer digital payment system currently has 20 employees and is applying for $600,000 in Big Sky Trust Fund grant money.
Funded by the states coal severance tax, the BSTF grant money reimburses business up to $7,500 for each new employee they hire as long as the companys revenue comes from out of state and employees are paid at least 170 percent of the state minimum wage. To get the top award, each job has to pay the Missoula County median wage, which is $18.50 an hour.
A tech company bringing in money to Montana and hiring dozens of new highly paid employees is good economic news for Missoula, and thats why it was one of the major announcements made by James Grunke, the president and CEO of the Missoula Economic Partnership, at the spring investor luncheon.
They are on their way to becoming North Americas largest data center, Grunke said of Project Spokane. They are going to have 55,000 servers, and right now they only have 12,000. Its pretty exciting. This grant we have applied for is $600,000 to create jobs in Missoula and Missoula County.
The deadline for the grant was Wednesday, and MEP grants manager Nicole Rush was busy working with a representative of Spokane Project to finalize the paperwork. They should know within two or three months whether they will get the money.
Grunke was speaking to a crowd at The Public House in downtown Missoula, a new meeting space on Broadway. The MEP was launched in 2011 and the majority of the budget comes from private sector investors with the balance coming from the city, the county, the University of Montana and Missoula International Airport.
Grunke said that MEP got $25,000 in state matching funds to conduct feasibility studies for other companies thinking of moving here. He said an unnamed company is thinking about moving 80 jobs here, and an announcement should be made by the beginning of the summer.
Two of the main issues that act as a barrier to job creation in Missoula are a workforce shortage and a lack of affordable housing, Grunke explained. The unemployment rate in Missoula County is 3.6 percent, a full percentage point below the national average.
When we talk to area employers, were always told the No. 1 barrier to growth is access to workforce, Grunke said. But beyond that statement, what does that mean? Is it a lack of access to the right people, or the right skills or training programs?
He said MEP has applied for a $27,000 state grant to do a feasibility study on the state of the workforce. He also explained that a lack of housing stock for entry-level homebuyers is hampering businesses ability to attract and retain workers.
We cant attract workforce into our community if they dont have a place to live, Grunke said. You have to do these parallel to each other.
Grunke said a collaboration between the Missoula Organization of Realtors, the city, the county and local developers is studying how to solve the problem.
A lot of people hear about how there are 4,000 entitled lots in Missoula County that people could build on, but the fact remains that those lots arent getting built on for various reasons, he said.
There clearly is demand, and there must be supply, so we need to address that, he said.
The MEP is focused on attracting businesses with high growth potential such as those in the manufacturing, lifestyle sciences and tech sectors. They are also focused on increasing the air service to Missoula, and next year theyll apply for federal funding to try to entice a direct American Airlines flight from Dallas to Missoula.
Managers at two other large Missoula companies that have benefited from Big Sky Trust Fund grants also spoke. Tom Stergios, the senior vice president at Advanced Technology Groups Missoula Solutions Center, talked about how he started out with just one other employee five and a half years ago and now the business has grown to well over 100.
The average salary for 70 of the companies workers is more than $80,000 per year, and ATG will generate $6.7 in income for existing employees in 2017.
We are a consulting company that works in the technology space, he said. We have global clients, so that means we get to work with global bill rates, which allows us to have a higher salary, fortunately. And all of our clients are outside of Montana, so all of our money comes from out of Montana.
However, Stergios said most of his employees come from Montana, and 70-80 percent of his workers graduated from the University of Montana.
Were on track to hire another 30 people by the end of the year, Stergios said.
Mickey Ogg, the chief commercial officer at Consumer Direct Care Network in Missoula, said the company employs over 360 administrative staff in Montana that support 1,700 direct support workers, or caregivers. He said the incentives like the Big Sky Trust Fund grants were one of the reasons the company chose to build a massive new headquarters on North Reserve Street, which they hope to move into by April.
Were excited to be an anchor for that North Reserve revitalization, he said.
For all those long weeks between elk-hunting seasons, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has you covered.
Instead of Googling how do to this or that, you can go to the Elk Network and find out how to do it there, RMEF digital media director Chad Carman said of the organizations new internet platform. You can scroll through and see three to five new pieces of content daily, so check back often.
The site goes live Friday. It will feature videos of elk-hunting experiences, tutorials on tactics and technique, reports on conservation topics and related material.
We intend for this to be the place to go for people who are seeking information on elk and elk hunting, as well as anything related to elk country, RMEF marketing director Steve Decker said. The Elk Network will also feature recipes, RMEFs on-the-ground conservation and mission work, entire episodes from past seasons of RMEF Team Elk, as well as other original productions. We are also excited that it will also offer sportsmen and women the opportunity to contribute their own photos, videos and stories.
A variety of organizations have started similar internet-based outreach programs, according to University of Montana digital journalism professor Lee Banville. He said one challenge will be distinguishing an in-house operation from the flow of stuff people already get themselves from Facebook, Vimeo and other online sources.
Its also challenging to move a membership organization that exists in one form where you get the card and the magazine and thats your interaction - to a different behavior where you go on-line and share information, Banville said. But if people are looking at information on-line anyway, a known entity like RMEF giving them a place to go can be pretty powerful. Mix content thats out there with quality stuff theyre known for producing, and that can attract an audience.
Carman said submitted material would be curated for appropriateness and quality, but he hoped it would widen the range of participation among elk hunters. While it will give RMEF a way to work with corporate sponsors, Carman added the site wouldnt be an advertising service.
Elk Network joins a media world already crowded with variations. Randy Newbergs On Your Own Adventures, Steven Rinellas The Meateater and WesternHunter.net. Carman said many of those producers would be contributing material to Elk Network.
If it looks exactly the same six months from now as on Fridays launch, were failing, Carman said. Were continually trying to get better, see what people enjoy, make it a good resource for everyone.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday bowed to intense political pressure and recused himself from any investigation related to President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sessions made the decision after it emerged that he had failed at his Senate confirmation hearing to disclose two pre-election meetings with Moscow's ambassador to Washington, at a time when Russia was accused of interfering in the presidential race.
"I have decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States," Sessions told reporters.
"This announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation," he added.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
---
President Donald Trump said Thursday he has "total" confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions following accusations that he misled Congress by failing to disclose pre-election meetings with Russia's ambassador to the United States.
Pressure for Sessions to recuse himself from any involvement in a Justice Department probe into links between the Trump campaign and Moscow is becoming intense, as prominent Republicans break ranks with the administration. Democrats argued however that recusal was not enough and that Sessions should resign.
Asked by reporters traveling with the President in Virginia if Sessions should recuse himself, the President said: "I don't think so."
The White House learned from press reports Wednesday that the attorney general, one of the President's closest political confidants, had contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign, a senior administration official said.
Several Republicans, many of them increasingly uneasy about the implications of the evolving Russian drama, Thursday called on Sessions to recuse himself from any involvement in an FBI probe into ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
"Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself to ensure public confidence in the Justice Department's investigation," said Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who introduced Sessions at his confirmation hearing in January.
"I think the attorney general should further clarify his testimony. And I do think he should recuse himself," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
Democrats sense new vulnerabilities for the administration in the widening intrigue over alleged Russian interference in last year's presidential race, and called on Sessions to resign, saying he lied in his Senate confirmation hearing.
"(That) the top cop in our country lied under oath to the people is grounds for him to resign," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday. "He has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust."
The latest fast-moving developments dealt a fresh blow to the White House, abruptly ending Trump's victory lap after his well-received address to Congress. They underscored the difficulty the administration has had in shaking off a controversy that has already led to the firing of another Trump campaign aide appointed to a senior White House post -- former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Sessions met on two separate occasions with Russia's ambassador to Washington, meetings the Alabama Republican did not disclose during his confirmation hearing on January 10.
At the hearing, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken asked Sessions what he would do if there was any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians," Sessions said.
Franken told CNN's New Day on Thursday that statement now appears to be untrue.
"I am going to be sending (Sessions) a letter to have him explain himself, but he made a bald statement that during the campaign he had not met with the Russians," Franken said. "That's not true."
On Twitter, Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned that Sessions should never have been confirmed at all, but now there is reason to remove him.
"Now Jeff Sessions is AG -- the final say on the law enforcement investigation into ties between the Trump campaign & Russia? What a farce. This is not normal," she tweeted. "This is not fake news. This is a very real & serious threat to the national security of the United States."
Republicans call for recusal
"Jeff Sessions is a former colleague and a friend, but I think it would be best for him & for the country to recuse himself from the DOJ Russia probe," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, in a statement.
"Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation into Russia," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, in a statement. "We need a clear-eyed view of what the Russians actually did so that all Americans can have faith in our institutions."
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sessions should recuse himself only if he was part of the focus of an ongoing probe.
"If he, himself, is the subject of an investigation, of course he would," Ryan told reporters Thursday. "But if he's not, I don't see any purpose or reason to doing this."
Should Sessions recuse himself, oversight of the FBI investigation could fall to acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente. Democrats would prefer the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate questions about Russia but appear to lack sufficient leverage to bring about such a step.
Sessions: 'This allegation is false'
Sessions has drawn a distinction between his role as a Trump surrogate and his duties as a senator and strongly denied ever discussing campaign-related issues with anyone from Russia.
"I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign," he said in a statement. "I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Sessions' spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said there was nothing "misleading about his answer" to Congress because he "was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign -- not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee."
"Last year, the senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors," Isgur Flores said in the statement.
A White House official said: "This is the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats. (Attorney) General Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said meanwhile that Sessions had nothing to apologize for, signaling an effort by the administration to stand firmly behind the Attorney General.
"There' is nothing to recuse himself (over)," Spicer told Fox News.
"He was 100% straight with the committee and I think that people who are choosing to play partisan politics with this should be ashamed of themselves."
Texas Sen Ted Cruz argued that the attacks on Sessions were politically motivated.
"Sen. Sessions' response was less than clear. It was poorly phrased. And he's acknowledged that he misspoke. But the underlying meeting was carrying out his job," Cruz told reporters.
"What we're seeing right now is a political circus."
Meetings with Russian ambassador
According to the Justice Department, Sessions met with Kislyak in July on the sidelines of the Republican convention, and in September in his office when Sessions was a member of the Senate Armed Services committee. Sessions, then the junior senator from Alabama, was an early Trump backer and regular surrogate for him as a candidate.
Kislyak is considered by US intelligence to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington, according to current and former senior US government officials.
Kemlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov stated that Russia has never interfered and has no plans to ever interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries, speaking to journalists Wednesday.
When asked for reaction to the characterization of Kislyak as a spy, Peskov said "nobody has heard a single statement from US intelligence agencies' representatives regarding our ambassador. Again, these are some depersonalized assumptions of the media that are constantly trying to blow this situation out of proportion."
Kislyak's interactions with Trump's former national security adviser Mike Flynn led to Flynn being fired last month.
CNN's Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, Jim Sciutto, Laura Jarrett, Eli Watkins, Jim Acosta, Lauren Fox and Steve Brusk contributed to this report.
Recently (Feb. 17), four Montana state representatives wrote a guest column lamenting the condition of state finances. They offered three ways to fix the situation: cut spending, limit the governors ability to spend, or force choices between the various agencies and their services. None of these are satisfactory or legitimate but do enlighten us as to the state of fiscally conservative politics, values and thinking.
Given the conservative bent to slash government, application of any of the three options will all too easily morph into a hack fest attacking unwanted agencies and programs disguised as responsible fiscal rebalancing. The obvious problem with the three approaches is that it omits the most obvious and direct remedymore revenue from higher taxes and user fees.
Conservative politicians always presume that their highest duty and demand from their constituencies is low taxes, no matter the harm to people or the environment. Servicing this presumption violates their oath of office and the spirit of a peaceful republic through biennial transfer of responsibility and power. State representatives take an oath to support, protect and defend the U.S. and state constitutions. An unwritten but key principle of those promises is to enable the continuity of government and rule of law. This requires honoring the decisions of their legislative forebears and seeing that the laws and agency operations which provide government services and benefits previously established are supplied with the resources to carry out these duties with the highest degree of professionalism and quality possible.
Every legislature inherits a working government with operating agencies and laws established by previous legislatures and administrations which they are obliged to uphold. But now confronted with a budget shortfall, the newbies are attempting to negate or otherwise make ineffectual any existing actions they disagree with by circumventing the honest but tough constitutional process of legislating and try to reorder and refocus government by less than transparent and constitutional means.
In The Federalist Papers, No. 23, Alexander Hamilton addressed the requirements necessary for government to meet its mandates and obligations. He wrote: such ability rests upon axioms as simple as they are universal; the means ought to be proportioned to the end; the persons from whose agency the attainment of an end is expected ought to possess the means by which it is to be attained (italics in the original). These means refer mainly to adequate funding to meet the demands and exigencies of the citizens which Hamilton described as ever-changing and requiring contemporary responses appropriate to new situations. Less funding is never the right response to agency needs unless the problems that initially required government action have been eliminated, mitigated or have changed.
The state Constitution has no directive to provide only the kind and quality of government that devotion (or maybe more accurately, moral enslavement) to a certain economic philosophy or a preset budget limit can deliver. Efficiency is a requirement for deciding the best way for government to do something, after it is decided what needs to be done. To do otherwise would prostitute government and the welfare of the people to the greedy god of economism and pay tribute to Mammon. Neither is a fit object of worship, let alone cowering subservience for the democratically elected representatives of a free people.
The way forward fiscally and morally for Montana is for legislators to fully fund government or acquire the courage of their convictions and take constitutionally correct actions to repeal laws or close agencies they no longer believe necessary. The legislature should not achieve its political goals through the cowardly tactics of agency fiscal strangulation and dereliction of legislative duty.
BILLINGS A former Billings Senior High School teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student who later killed herself may be released from the Montana State Prison on parole, according to the parole board.
Stacey Dean Rambold, 57, was sentenced in September 2014 to 15 years in prison, with five years suspended, after the Montana Supreme Court overturned a lower courts sentence of 31 days in prison. Rambold was parole eligible on Feb. 25, 2016.
Rambold had a hearing before the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole on Jan. 30, said Department of Corrections Communications Director Judy Beck on Thursday. At the hearing, Rambold proposed a plan to be paroled to California, which the parole board accepted. The proposal was submitted to the Interstate Compact Unit who sent the request to California. The unit is awaiting for approval from California, Beck said.
If approved, Rambold will have to register as a sex offender in California, comply with court conditions of release and wear a GPS unit for a time, Beck said.
Rambold has spent about two and a half years in the Montana State Prison.
The 14-year-olds mother, Auliea Hanlon, was not aware Rambold was up for parole, she said.
He should still be in jail, Hanlon said Thursday. Two years. I spent longer than that trying to put him in jail.
Rambold, a former business and technology teacher at Senior High, was charged in 2008 with raping Cherice Moralez. The girl reported she had sexual contact with Rambold three times, including once in Rambolds office.
Prior to Rambold being sentenced, Moralez died by suicide on Feb. 6, 2010, 20 days before her 17th birthday.
After Moralez's death, Rambold signed a deferred-prosecution agreement that required him to attend a sex-offender treatment program.
He was booted from that program for not disclosing a sexual relationship with an adult woman and having an unauthorized visit with the children of his relatives. He was prosecuted for these violations.
In 2013, Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Rambold to 15 years in prison, with all but 31 days suspended, for sexual intercourse without consent.
During Rambolds sentencing, Baugh made statements suggesting the victim may have been partly responsible.
"It was a troubled youth, but a youth who was probably as much in control of the situation as the defendant, one that was seemingly, although troubled, older than her chronological age," Baugh said.
Baugh was roundly criticized, including being the target of a protest on the courthouse lawn.
The judge was later censured and suspended for 31 days over his handling of the case. Soon after, he retired under public pressure after almost 30 years on the bench.
The Montana Supreme Court reversed Baughs order after the court determined Baughs sentence was improper and went on to criticize Baugh for comments he made about the victim's age and his misunderstanding of the relationship that existed between an adult teacher and a minor pupil.
Another judge in Yellowstone County District Court resentenced Rambold to 15 years with five suspended.
Hanlon sued School District 2 over the death. In 2012, the suit was settled for just under $91,000.
Kelly Elder doesnt remember a single one of his middle school teachers.
Thats significant, because Elder can give a fairly photographic recounting of the other educators who influenced his life and there are many from elementary school through his graduate studies at the University of Montana. Its also ironic, since the 2017 Montana Teacher of the Year currently teaches sixth-grade social studies at C.R. Anderson Middle School in Helena.
Like Elder (and the rest of us) at that age, the students in his classroom are experiencing such rapid physical and emotional growth that the journey from childhood to adolescence may ultimately crowd everything else out of their memories. On the other hand, Elder says, that extraordinary development is one reason the middle school years are so vital for young learners.
I try every day to give it my best, but chances are quite good theyre going to remember little or nothing about this part of their educational lives, he says, a rueful humor in his voice. At the same time, there is no better time to give these students a good foundation for academic success. If we can help instill in them confidence, independence, organization and work ethic, those skills are just critically important.
Despite its challenges, Elder is perfectly suited to teach this age group. Theres an easy warmth to him, a natural enthusiasm for whatever hes discussing that he balances with a genuine interest in whatever the other person has to say. Its plain to see how kids of any age would gravitate to him and consider him an adult they trust.
Elder came to C.R. Anderson after spending nearly a decade teaching high school in Lewistown, Montana. The much smaller Fergus High was a great situation for him, Elder says a terrific institution backed by a supportive, involved community but as he got older, the five-hour drive separating him from family and friends in Helena started to be too much. Ultimately, the decision to trade high school for middle school was about being closer to his childhood home.
Elders family had moved from California to Montanas capital city in 1976, when he was in second grade. He went on to graduate from Capital High School and then earned a bachelors degree in economics and a masters in political science, both from UM.
At first, Elder says he planned to use his college years to travel. He thought he would spend a year or two in Missoula and then sign up for a national student exchange program, transfer to some faraway locale and ultimately graduate from an out-of-state school. However, after spending some time at UM, he discovered he didnt need to do that.
I was a Montana student who really wanted to get out and see the world, he says, but when I look back on it, the thing that sticks out in my mind about the University was the incredible international flavor on campus. I had opportunities to hear from people from all around our globe about their perspectives, their lives and their experiences. I got a very culturally enriching experience, and I stayed right in Montana to do it.
In what would become a blueprint for the rest of his life, Elder got heavily involved at UM. He spent time as a resident assistant in the dorms and volunteered for the UM Advocates program in a number of capacities: working in the presidents office, for alumni relations and with new student services.
For graduate school he was awarded a James Madison Fellowship, which required him to complete his final six credits at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., but otherwise allowed him to attend any university in the country free of charge. In a telling move, Elder chose UM.
It was while working as an Advocate that he says he discovered his love for teaching. Hed always been a social person and now decided to translate those skills into trying to help others.
These days, Elders resume and schedule remain fairly dizzying. He is one of just 90 National Board Certified Teachers in Montana, and hes also serving as the states Teacher of the Year.
In addition to his full-time duties in the classroom, hes the leader of C.R. Andersons mountain biking club and is the associate director for the Montana Association of Student Councils. He also directed a student group running a holiday toy drive for Toys for Tots, a fundraiser for the Montana Make-A-Wish Foundation, and a push to help students facing intense challenges during the holiday season.
It all adds up to a busy schedule that Elder admits sometimes leaves little time for anything else. Still, he contends he can unplug and find time away when he needs to recharge. As for hobbies, as if he needs them, he dabbles in photography and is learning Spanish.
I have so many friends that, when they leave their jobs for the night, theyre done, he says, but when youre a teacher its far more complicated than that. There is no start time and no end time, but I think the intrinsic rewards more than make up for that.
In the summer, Elder works for the U.S. Forest Service on the Helena National Forest. He began his career there while he was in college, working as a firefighter on a hotshot crew. In the past few years, hes moved off the fire line and begun work as an aircraft dispatcher, controlling the comings and goings of fixed- and rotor-winged aircraft in the backcountry during fire season.
Perhaps the extracurricular activity that is closest to Elders heart, however, is organizing trips for the students at C.R. Anderson. In the past, hes chaperoned students to places like Costa Rica, Guatemala, Japan, and Washington, D.C. Theyve snorkeled in shark alley, gotten up close and personal with monkeys, spiders and snakes in the rainforest, and attended the inauguration of a new American president. In April, Elder will lead a group of kids on their next expedition to Belize.
With these trips, Elder gives a new generation of students the opportunity he once craved as a younger person. He provides the chance to get out and see the world to experience life and culture outside the borders of their home state and sometimes on the opposite side of the ocean.
Whats beautiful is when you can inspire students to push out of their comfort zones and try something new, Elder explains. Theres nothing better. When you see that success, wow, its so fun. At the sixth-grade level Ive got all these eager young people, and my job is to share with these Montana kids heck, Im a Montana kid and get them excited to learn about other parts of the world and to see whats out there.
If hes lucky, perhaps one of those trips will give his students an experience they might, just maybe, remember for the rest of their lives.
MAN WRITES BAD CHECK FOR NEW TRUCK AGAIN
A Butte man was arrested at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the 2-Bar Lazy-H RV Park, west of Butte, after Helena police told local police he bought a car in Helena with a closed bank account. Police said Harold Miller, 69, bought a new 2017 Ford F-350 from a Helena dealership for $67,000 using a check for a closed bank account, and was arrested for felony possession of stolen property. Miller was arrested for fraud on Halloween last year after police said he attempted a similar scheme at a Butte dealership that ended up calling his bank and then police.
The pathogen Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae that caused the whitefish epidemic has been identified in the Big Hole River, home of the endangered grayling. Aquatic infectious disease is caused by a pathogen present in a river environment that achieves successful reproduction in a vulnerable host, often at the hosts expense.
An appreciation of the Yellowstone River whitefish epidemic requires consideration of three factors; 1) the host(s), 2) the warming river environment, and 3) the pathogen(s).
Epidemics including the Yellowstone River whitefish Tetra epidemic are preceded by essential predisposing conditions in all three.
Warming temperatures, low flows, silting, proliferation of the pathogen Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, diminished oxygenation, salinity, septic seepage, chemical runoff, altered riverbanks, recurrent contamination with pathogens and invasive species, river sporting, boating, and flyfishing, water diversion and irrigation, riparian residential, business, and agricultural practices are the primary environmental factors that facilitated the Yellowstone epidemic.
While all of the aforementioned factors play a role, the warming of the river was the critical factor in this epidemic. Had the river not warmed to the critical temperature, thought to be around 15 degrees centigrade, the epidemic would not have happened despite the presence of the pathogen and the vulnerability of the whitefish.
Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae is a native North American pathogen that has resided in American rivers for centuries. The pathogen has spread to European rivers. In the Yellowstone, this infectious agent has adapted to infect whitefish, finding them more vulnerable than trout.
The native Yellowstone mountain whitefish, the salmonid Prosopium williamsoni is our host of concern. The fish is called the mountain whitefish because it thrives in cold mountain rivers.
The infective aquatic pathogen T. bryosalmonae is unusual among the myxosporea (of which the whirling disease pathogen is a relative) in that it requires a bryozoan as an intermediate host. The bryozoan in this case may be Plumatella fungosa. In this freshwater jellyfish, the Tetracapsula completes its life cycle. This jellyfish releases fish-infective spores into the river. When waters warm high enough to manifest disease, around 60 degrees F, these floating spores attach to the whitefishs gills before proceeding to cause proliferative kidney disease
Depending on the fishs health, resistance, environmental conditions, adaptability, infective dose, and immune status, the fish survives to perhaps be resistant to future infections, or she dies. As the fish dies, the pathogen enters the water. At this stage of this complex life-cycle, rather than finding another fish, the Tetra pathogen finds a fungosa to complete its lifecycle. In this process, the infectious organism begins to flourish in the river and gains momentum to create an epidemic.
Multiple measurable factors preceded the whitefish epidemic, an epidemic a long time coming, an epidemic that veterinary medical technology had the ability to predict had aquatic veterinary medicine been employed to keep Montana rivers and their fish populations prosperous and healthy.
The hosts of this disease have historically been salmonids, whitefish among them. As any Yellowstone guide knows, a whitefish is no salmon. While considered undesirable by some, the whitefish is an indicator species reflective of river health. Like trout, whitefish and grayling are salmonids. Whitefish require pristine rivers. Grayling, the previous indicator species, were extirpated by sullied river systems. Historically, whitefish often come next.
To monitor and predict future epidemics, competent aquatic veterinarians sample, test, analyze and interpret the host health, river health, intermediate host presence, along with the pathogen load in the river system. With this information, aquatic veterinarians can manage the health of the watershed, river, and fish to minimize the impact of infectious disease -- all of this ahead of time. The aquatic veterinary goal is to prevent epidemics, or at least predict them, something beyond biologists ability at this time.
Veterinarians have a long and effective history of successfully managing the health of animal populations threatened by infectious disease, be they wild or domestic. Veterinarians have the appropriate knowledge and experience to sustain fish and river health.
The time has come to look to veterinarians to manage river health in Montana as rivers are managed in progressive fisheries throughout the world where the economy depends on fish health and prosperity. There is a lot to learn about this epidemic, and veterinarians are the best learners regarding management and prevention of infectious disease.
The resolution of the Tetra epidemic could be similar to the resolution of the whirling disease epidemic. The whitefish and trout survivors will perpetuate offspring that are more resistant than their immunologically naive predecessors. Disease resistance will develop. The fish will adapt to and/or find a balance with their pathogen and intermediate host. An equilibrium between pathogens and hosts emerges over time if the river system is kept healthy and cool. The trout may have previously acquired a resistance from their experience with the whirling disease organism, and now with this Tetra experience, the trout appear to be developing resistance to infective pathogens of various sorts.
TREATMENTS
An antimicrobial agent to kill the aquatic pathogen is not an available method of control or prevention, as the river environment would be further deteriorated by the drugs side-effects and unintended victims.
The jellyfish host, Plumatella fungosa, could be medically manipulated, sterilized, or genetically altered to block the two-host disease transmission cycle, and that is a consideration.
The environment (the river et al) can be made healthier; water cooled, flow quickened, and oxygenation enhanced using progressive river management techniques (limiting water drawouts, averting septic and manure seepage, and halting chemically contaminated runoffs). The fish populations could be treated more kindly and carefully by educating guides and anglers on the principles of animal welfare (fish are sentient beings) and the principles of disease transmission. Fishing hooks, boats, gear, and fishermen transmit fish diseases near and far. This needs to be evaluated and addressed.
Fishing stress and disease vulnerability can be significantly reduced by regulating fishing and/or floating in consideration of the fish, rather than the fisherman, accountants, and irrigators. Catch-and-release practices and their relationship to perpetuating and spreading fish diseases require investigation. Harvesting can be considered a possible disease management measure. Stressed or injured fish should not be released back into the river.
Rest is the oldest remedy to manage disease. While naive to the vagaries of infectious animal disease, the Montana FWP is to be commended for closing the river and giving her a long-needed rest. Periodic rest during critical times appears to be one solution of many. Whitefish populations can balance trout populations, and overpopulations, keeping fish numbers balanced and healthy. Pathogens often find imbalanced populations vulnerable. The microbe often has the last word (when the humans dont pay attention). Aquatic veterinarians pay attention. In order to maintain a healthy Big Hole grayling fishery, aquatic veterinary medicine should be implemented.
Dillon native Molly Ryan has replaced retiring Wisdom District Ranger Russ Riebe for the Wisdom Ranger District and Wise River Work Center.
Riebe retired Jan. 6.
Ryan is a third generation Forest Service employee. Most recently, she comes from northeast Utahs Flaming Gorge-Vernal Ranger District in the Ashley National Forest, where she had been the deputy district ranger since 2015.
Before that, Ryan was the district recreation program manager for two years at the Flaming Gorge-Vernal District. She moved to Utah to become the special use permit administrator on the Flaming Gorge Ranger District National Recreation Area in 2012. She also worked for the U.S. Forest Service Region 1 Historic Preservation team and traveled all over the country rehabbing Forest Service structures in front and back country areas.
Ryan holds an undergraduate degree from Montana State University, where she studied rangeland management and environmental history. She received a Master of Science in recreation management from the University of Montana-Missoula in 2009.
Ryan says shes thrilled to return to the Beaverhead National Forest, where she grew up hunting, hiking and fishing.
Riebe was the Wisdom Ranger for eight years. He had worked for both the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in different positions in Montana and Idaho since 1981.
Last week, Flathead County authorities took 37 dogs and four miniature horses in various degrees of poor health from a home near Creston. One of the dogs was in such bad shape it had to be euthanized right away. The others were taken to the Flathead County Animal Shelter, where they are receiving the veterinary care they need to fully recover.
Of course, food, shelter and veterinary care for 40 animals is costly, and Flathead County taxpayers are paying the price although the shelter is always willing to accept donations to help defray their expenses. The tab for the sudden influx of extra animals is running at an estimated $1,000 a day.
Meanwhile, the Flathead Countys Attorneys Office will decide whether to charge the 70-year-old woman who owns the animals with misdemeanor or felony counts of animal cruelty. According to Kalispell Police reports, 16 dogs were found inside her car and the rest were discovered at her home, where conditions were among the worst deputies and animal control officers have ever seen, Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said in a press release.
If the woman is charged, and if she is found guilty of cruelty to animals, Montana law allows for a fine up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both. However, even if she is fined the maximum amount allowed, that would only cover one days expenses at the Flathead County Animal Shelter. And its far from an isolated incident; counties throughout Montana have experienced the shock of providing care for dozens of neglected cats, dogs and other animals.
Thats why a bill introduced earlier this month by Wilsall Republican Sen. Nels Swandal comes not a moment too soon. Senate Bill 203 aims to revise the laws concerning animal welfare so that the owners of seized animals are asked to pay their share of the costs, if they can afford to do so, before taxpayers shoulder the burden.
Swandals bill is well-thought-out and contains a number of sensible provisions, such as a requirement that a civil hearing be held within 21 days of an animals seizure. The hearing would determine whether there were sufficient grounds to set a bond for the owner to help pay for the care of the seized animals, and if so, what a reasonable amount might be, depending on a number of relevant factors.
And if the owner failed to post the required bond, the county would be free to find the animals new homes. After all, its in the best interests of the animals and county taxpayers both that animals be re-homed as soon as possible, if a new home is warranted.
Unfortunately, SB 203 was indefinitely postponed on its second floor reading after some livestock owners raised objections. The bill was subsequently amended but even then, a pass motion failed on a 23-27 vote. Montanas senators need to revive this bill and help get it passed into law before the end of the session.
The Missoulian
MUSCATINE, Iowa The third person has been sentenced in the July robbery of an elderly Fruitland man's home.
Paige Marie Frantz, 27, of Muscatine, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft, a class B felony, and was sentenced Wednesday to five years probation and a 10-year suspended prison sentence, according to court documents.
A fine of $1,000 also was suspended.
Frantz and two others have been sentenced for breaking into the home Tuesday, July 5, and threatening the victim with a firearm, according to the criminal complaint.
Devin Ganzer, 21, of Walcott, and Lance Krystofer Moeller, 25, of Wilton, pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, a class C felony, and first-degree burglary, a class B felony, in relation to the incident.
Moeller also pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness, and was sentenced to a period not to exceed 37 years in August.
Ganzer was sentenced in October to prison for a period not to exceed 10 years and a $1,000 suspended fine for the second-degree robbery charge, and 25 years in prison and a $5,000 suspended fine under the first-degree burglary charge, to be served consecutively, according to court documents.
While Ive never gotten to actually run into the pressroom and yell, Stop the presses! Im certain that my actions have resulted in more than one pressman grumbling a time or two. Im still a few steps away from a Joan Crawford-type reputation, but it truly drives me insane when I dont get something right. Attention to detail has been a strength for me, but it wasnt necessarily a trait I had when I started my media career.
It was learned on the job. I left off and spa from a business listing after the owner had spent thousands of dollars to re-brand her business. I misspelled the word holiday on 300 posters paid for by a nonprofit organization at a time when I couldnt afford to cover the cost of new ones. I have mumbled words meant one way that sounded another that cost my company a client. I understand the importance of getting it right, and I expect that of those around me.
I work with a team of bright and talented journalists who strive every day to get it right in a field where there is always a competition to also be first. Its for that reason that I have recently become defensive when the cries of fake and biased news have trickled down to the local level. I read the November 21 story in Washington Post by Terrence McCoy that profiled two recent college graduates living the good Florida life that had quickly figured out they could pull in $12 to $14 per thousand pageviews off their fake news website. The content would spread like wildfire across the web with just a few social media shares.
It is a danger when respected media outlets tasked with asking the tough questions are lumped into a category with these two. It is especially dangerous when the person doing so is someone tasked with leading America. I couldnt be more proud to be in the field when I watched Fox News anchor Shepard Smith take a stand with his fellow journalists.
Its interesting how the vocabulary has changed, posts on our social media page now sometimes include the term fake news or biased. In the community, I have joked that its sometimes hard to be viewed as telling both sides when one side is always, no comment. It has recently been suggested that we not report arrests in case the people involved are convicted. Ive pointed out the importance of terms like allegedly" and "according to police reports and other accepted ways of news telling.
I believe it has also brought to light some of the inner-workings of journalism. From how information shared off the record, the code of ethics that our reporters follow and even the existence of an Opinion page within our publication are all topics I have recently taken time to talk about with community members.
If we can find the silver lining in the perceived assault on the media, its that we are talking about journalism. News outlets are banding together against fake news, but it seems the damage is done. One of the first lessons a newly enrolled college student is taught is what makes up a credible source, and its not Wikipedia, unfortunately a lesson lost on many Americans.
Imagine the world for just one day if all media outlets really put out fake news. Imagine if we reported false fires and destruction, or better yet free money in the streets? Trust me, if our news team wanted to put together fake news, it would be the best fake news that you had ever read. But then again, I am kind of biased.
Watching reaction to President Donald Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday night, the phrase that kept coming to mind was one made popular by former President George W. Bush, "the soft bigotry of low expectations."
Bush was bemoaning our habit of accepting underachievement when we expect as much from certain groups or people. But it's not a stretch to say that those who praised Trump for his speech didn't do it because he did a good job, but because we have come to fear -- to expect -- a horror show when we hear from this President.
And so a day after Trump's Tuesday speech to Congress, it seems pundits everywhere are proclaiming that he had suddenly become "presidential."
Hardly.
If anything, he barely, just barely, cleared an incredibly low bar.
In fact, if any other president had given the same speech -- filled, as it was, with inaccuracies, false claims, and statements directly contradicting what he said only hours earlier -- the performance would have been lambasted from every corner.
There were, to be sure, very moving moments during the President's address. And there is no denying that Trump kept the level of his accustomed outrageous pronouncements to a surprising minimum. That is the faintest of compliments.
The lengthy applause in tribute to Navy Seal William "Ryan" Owens -- killed during a raid in Yemen last month -- and to his distraught, tearful widow, Carryn Owens, was a wrenching, heartfelt homage to a fallen hero. It was not, let's be clear, in any way praise for the President. I find it mind-boggling that CNN's Van Jones declared that at that moment Trump "became President of the United States."
It is grotesque to claim that the moment reflected Trump's triumph. His administration has done nothing but exploit Owens' death, in order to cover up the disastrous raid. Ryan's father, Bill Owens, blames the President for what he called a "stupid mission." The elder Owens has admonished Trump, "Don't hide behind my son's death." But that is exactly what the White House has been doing from the very beginning, and Trump cynically did it again during his speech.
Even more shamefully, in a Fox News interview Monday, the President pinned the death on his generals. "They wanted to do (the raid)" he told Fox News. "And they lost Ryan."
With this President, the buck stops somewhere else, unless there's something for which to take credit. Then it's all him, as when he listed the companies he falsely claims have decided to invest in the United States and increase hiring, supposedly thanks to his efforts. Most of those business decisions were made before the election. Still, large companies are happy to hear Trump praise them, so everyone wins, except the truth.
It was good to hear Trump start his remarks with a condemnation of the rash of bomb threats against Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as the shooting in Kansas City. It is, indeed, presidential to say, as Trump did, "We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms."
It is so presidential, it is so basic, that it should be unremarkable that he said it. But it is remarkable, because Trump has equivocated on the issue repeatedly. In fact, only hours before the speech, at a White House meeting with state attorneys general, Trump reportedly -- bafflingly -- appeared to suggest that the attacks might have been carried out "to make others look bad," according to one of the AGs in attendance, and that in terms of the threats, "the reverse can be true."
Indeed, if Trump genuinely condemns hatred, his plan to create an agency dedicated to highlighting crimes committed by undocumented immigrants is the most vile prescription imaginable for stoking prejudice and hatred. The "Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office," with the snappy acronym VOICE, is populist crowd-riling at its worst. It will likely lead to more hate crimes and vigilantism.
No wonder there was an audible gasp in the audience when he announced it. Research shows that in fact undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than the rest of the population.
What was utterly un-presidential in the speech is something that should never become acceptable, even though it is now routine in the Trump era: misstatements, manipulations of the truth, and downright falsehoods uttered by the President of the United States. For this he receives praise?
The most absurd statistic he cited was the 94 million people out of the labor force, a rhetorical sleight-of-hand that suggests a catastrophically-high unemployment rate. That number includes 44 million retirees, 13 million students, and millions more who have no interest in getting a job. The real unemployment rate stands at just 4.8 percent, a historically low figure delivered by Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama.
Trump spoke of the scourge of "wide open" borders, "for anyone to cross -- and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate." But the fact is that illegal immigration across the border with Mexico has been declining, and is now at the lowest levels since 1972.
And when he boasted of imposing an excellent-sounding lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign governments, he failed to mention that ban applies only to lobbying an employee's own agency, and may in fact be weaker than restrictions imposed by the Bush and Obama administrations.
Trump reassured allies of America's commitments, which he should have done as a candidate and reiterated at every chance. That was another moment, like his condemnation of hate crimes, made remarkable only by Trump's previous equivocation on the subject -- he has at times said the exact opposite. Trump then claimed that increased NATO members' contributions are the result of his tough talk, a highly debatable point.
His reassurances to allies, while welcome, came coated in a troubling pronouncement that sounded deceptively innocuous. "America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path," he said. Those were soothing words for Russia's neighbors, worried about Moscow's aggressive expansionism. But Trump immediately added, "My job is not to represent the world," which must have sent a cold chill through Ukraine and America's Baltic allies.
Yes, Trump delivered his speech calmly, like a "normal" president. And his words were less outrageous than in the past. That is progress. The high marks he received are more a sign that the country desperately yearns to have a good president, than evidence that Trump's speech was genuinely worthy of praise.
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On Monday night, PricewaterhouseCoopers released a statement claiming to take "full responsibility" for Sunday evening's Oscar screw-up in which a staffer gave the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who falsely announced that "La La Land" had won the Academy Award for best picture. But that isn't exactly what PricewaterhouseCoopers was doing.
The firm also took the unusual step of naming the employee responsible for the fiasco: managing partner Brian Cullinan. It also emerged that Cullinan had tweeted a photo of the actress Emma Stone backstage just before the mix-up. The decision to name him publicly will be a disaster for both PricewaterhouseCoopers and Cullinan.
First, the move reflects terribly on PricewaterhouseCoopers. Publicly naming Cullinan looks like an attempt to deflect blame. Yes, Cullinan apparently made the mistake. But organizations are responsible for what their employees do. PricewaterhouseCoopers should have had error-proof processes in place to ensure that the (true) Academy Award winners were announced. Clearly, it didn't.
Lots of chief executives try to make excuses for crises by blaming their staffers. But it doesn't work. For example, after Wells Fargo owned up to 2 million accounts that weren't authorized by customers, the bank tried to blame staffers by firing 5,300 workers, many of them at low levels, and just one area president. But eventually, its chief executive had to take responsibility by stepping down.
That's because people believe companies are accountable for what their people do.
While PricewaterhouseCoopers shouldn't have named Cullinan publicly, it should have immediately announced that the (unnamed) staffer(s) responsible for the error had been fired or reprimanded. It also should have begun to outline other measures it's implementing to fix its procedural problems. That would have demonstrated it was taking swift action to ensure that it never messes up like this again.
But by subtly trying to shift the blame instead of solving the problem, PricewaterhouseCoopers will only deepen the damage to its reputation.
It will also deeply wound Cullinan. People are already using the hashtag #YouHadOneJob to vilify him on Twitter. One man tweeted: "@BrianCullinan he had one job- but too busy taking pictures- typical dumb American." Another tweeter wrote: "I bet @BrianCullinan got paid big bucks for the ONE job he failed to do. America wants a refund."
In his book "So You've Been Publicly Shamed," Jon Ronson explains what's next for people who have been publicly pilloried -- such as former IAC public relations representative Justine Sacco, who facetiously tweeted in 2013, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!" By the time she landed, she was being excoriated on Twitter and had lost her job. Sacco told Ronson she had "cried out my body weight in the first twenty-four hours. It was incredibly traumatic. You don't sleep. You wake up in the middle of the night forgetting where you are." And, she said, "It's not like I can get a date, because we Google everyone we might date."
This kind of punishment is out of proportion for the "crimes" committed by people such as Sacco and Cullinan.
In fact, the idea of public shaming -- such as exhibiting criminals in the town square -- was rejected by America's founders as too cruel. In 1787, Benjamin Rush, who signed the Declaration of Independence, wrote a paper arguing that "ignominy is universally acknowledged to be a worse punishment than death." Within 50 years of its publication, public shaming was eliminated in every state except Delaware.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
Monied city lawyer and close buddy of Deputy President William Ruto, Donald Kipkorir, has penned a controversial open letter addressed to President Uhuru warning him not to mess with Ruto.
According to the controversial lawyer, since Uhuruto ascended to power, there have been efforts to undermine Ruto.
Your Excellency, since your joint victory with William Ruto, there have been overt and covert efforts to undermine him. And at times, signs from State House indicate that the undermining has some support, the open letter reads in part.
Kipkorir further claims that Ruto is the pre-eminet leader of his people: The Kalenjin.
Let it go on record that H.E Ruto is the pre-eminent leader of my people, the Kalenjin Nation. Kenya is first and foremost made of ethno-nations. Kenya is an artificial colonial construct. Our default is therefore the tribe first, wrote Donald.
Read the full letter below:
Open Letter To H. E Uhuru Kenyatta
RE: Dont Mess With H.E William Ruto
Your Excellency, since your joint victory with William Ruto, there have been overt and covert efforts to undermine him. And at times, signs from State House indicate that the undermining has some support.
International Commission for Jurists (ICJ) Kenya executive director Samwel Mohochi was charged before Kibera Law courts last Friday for allegedly assaulting his wife Judy Njugu.
ICJ Kenya chairman Njonjo Mue said in a statement on Tuesday that Mr Mohochi has been sent on compulsory one month leave to allow for investigaations into the allegations.
Mr Mohochi is accused of fighting his wife after they disagreed over a phone cover, reports Daily Nation.
He denied the charges and was released on bond.
Mr Njonjo said the ICJ council has initiated an inquiry into the circumstances that led to criminal charges being instituted against Mr Mohochi.
According to Mr Njonjo, ICJ has established a subcommittee to inquire into the claims, collect necessary facts and report back in 30 days.
ICJ Kenya strongly and unequivocally condemns all forms of human right violations and notably gender based violence. It strongly supports accountability measures for such violations, he said.
He, however, noted that the executive is entitled to a fair trial including the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
BEIRUT Syria's military announced on Thursday it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group as the militants' defenses crumbled and IS fighters fled in the face of artillery fire and intense Russia-backed airstrikes.
The development marks the third time that the town famed for its priceless Roman ruins and archaeological treasures IS had sought to destroy has changed hands in one year.
It was also the second blow for the Islamic State group in Syria in a week, after Turkish backed opposition fighters seized the Syrian town of al-Bab from the militants on Feb. 23, following a grueling three month battle. In neighboring Iraq, the Sunni extremist group is fighting for survival in its last urban bastion in the western part of the city of Mosul.
For the Syrian government, the news was a welcome development against the backdrop of peace talks underway with the opposition in Switzerland.
"You are all invited to visit the historic city of Palmyra and witness its beauty, now that it has been liberated," the Damascus envoy to the U.N.-mediated talks, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told reporters in Geneva.
"Of course, counterterrorism operations will continue until the last inch of our territory is liberated from the hands of these foreign terrorist organizations, which are wreaking havoc in our country," he added.
The Damascus military statement said troops gained full control of the desert town in central Syria following a series of military operations carried out with the help of Russian air cover and in cooperation with "allied and friendly troops" government shorthand for members of Lebanese militant Hezbollah group who are fighting along Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.
IS defenses around Palmyra had begun to erode on Sunday, with government troops reaching the town's outskirts on Tuesday. The state SANA news agency reported earlier that government troops had entered the town's archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, around mid-day, then the town itself, as IS militants fled the area.
This is the Syrian government's second campaign to retake Palmyra. It seized the town from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again 10 months later.
Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, had said earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister that Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes.
The Syrian government's push has relied on ground support from Hezbollah and Russian air cover, according to Hezbollah's media outlets.
Archeologists have decried what they say is extensive damage to its ruins.
Drone footage released by Russia's Defense Ministry earlier this month showed new damage to the facade of Palmyra's Roman-era theater and the adjoining Tetrapylon a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.
A 2014 report by a U.N. research agency disclosed satellite evidence of looting while the ruins were under Syrian military control. Opposition factions have also admitted to looting the antiquities for funds.
IS militants have twice used the town's Roman theater as a stage for mass killings, most recently in January, when they shot and beheaded a number of captives they said had tried to escape their December advance. Other IS killings were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum and in a former Russian base in the town.
The developments in Palmyra came against the backdrop of the talks in Geneva, which have been without any tangible breakthroughs so far. Diplomats and negotiators have set their sights on modest achievements in the latest round, after a week of discussions centering on setting an agenda for future talks.
On Thursday, U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura held another round of meetings with both the government delegation and opposition groups.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters Wednesday that "the parties have agreed to ... discuss all issues in a parallel way, on several tracks."
After a Damascus request, the issue of terrorism is also on the table, he had said. Russia is a key sponsor of Assad's government.
A top Syrian opposition negotiator, Nasr al-Hariri, said the talks would likely culminate in a closing ceremony on Friday and the parties may be back in Geneva for further discussions in a few weeks.
Setting the agenda and strategy to guide discussions has proven difficult as the main conflicting parties dig in their heels over form and semantics.
In Turkey, the country's foreign minister said that with the completion of an operation to retake the IS-held town of al-Bab in northern Syria, Turkish troops will head to the Syrian town of Manbij next, to oust U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists and a threat to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that Turkey would not shy away from attacking the Kurdish group that dominates the Syria Democratic Forces, which captured Manbij last year after weeks of deadly fighting with IS.
He renewed calls for the new U.S. administration not to support the Kurdish forces. Cavusoglu stressed that an operation to take Manbij had not started yet, but acknowledged that skirmishes between Turkish-backed forces and the Kurdish fighters may have occurred.
That front line in northern Syria was further complicated by a concurrent announcement by the Syrian Kurdish side on Thursday that they had agreed with Russia to withdraw from some of the territory between al-Bab and Manbij, to make room for a buffer.
The Manbij Military Council, part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said that under the deal, they will withdraw from a front line with rival Turkish-backed forces near the Euphrates River. This will allow Syrian government forces to create a buffer between them.
However, Cavusoglu denied any such agreement was reached.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government. The Turkish and Syrian authorities have long regarded each other with thinly-veiled hostility.
Parents got their first glimpse last week of what American Canyons new middle school may look like after school district leaders briefed them on design plans.
The Napa Valley Unified School District met with about 40 residents in American Canyon to show them preliminary sketches of the citys second middle school, which will be built next door to American Canyon High School on the citys eastern edge.
The city and NVUSD have sought to build a second middle school after years of student crowding at American Canyon Middle School, located on the west side of town.
There was a lot of good dialogue, said Don Evans, the school districts construction chief, of the meeting on Feb. 21.
Evans said most of the questions and comments from parents pertained to school traffic and safety.
The new middle school will be sited just off American Canyon Road in an area that is currently undeveloped.
Because the campus will be on the communitys outskirts, parents wanted to be sure their children will be safe while at school.
Evans assured them that the campus will include new fencing and gates, and that during school hours, visitors will have only one point of entry through the administration building.
This process is similar to whats being adopted at schools throughout the district, and is already in effect at Canyon Oaks Elementary, which has served as a model for NVUSD school safety plans.
As is often the case in American Canyon, traffic arose as a concern. The school will be near one of the citys major intersections, American Canyon Road and Flosden Road, which commuters frequently use.
My biggest concern is the accessibility and safety of the students as there is only one way in and out, said Sharma Galeotti, a parent with students at Canyon Oaks and American Canyon Middle School. American Canyon Road is very busy all day and the sidewalks are unfinished.
Evans said the district will work with the community on this issue and with a traffic engineer familiar with American Canyon roads. He said they will try to stagger the starting and ending bell times for the school so its hours dont conflict with ACHS as well as Canyon Oaks, which is only a few blocks away.
He also said NVUSD may try to route some of the new schools traffic, such as parents dropping off kids in the morning, through the parking lot of ACHS. That way the incoming cars wont create more congestion on Newell Drive, which eventually turns into Flosden.
The middle school site may need new sidewalks to encourage children to walk to school, according to Evans. The location of the high school next door would allow older siblings to walk younger ones to the new middle school, he said.
As for the campus, Evans said the school will include two two-story classroom buildings and two one-story classroom buildings that could be expanded to two stories during the design phase, if needed.
The district is projecting the school to have somewhere between 500-650 students.
The campus will also include a multipurpose building that would house the cafeteria and a stage for shows and events, a standard gym, library and computer lab, and administration offices.
There are tentative plans to develop a swimming pool for the school, if the city of American Canyon is willing to help foot the cost, Evans said. That way the city would have privileges to use the pool during non-school hours.
Demand for a second community pool in American Canyon has been growing for sometime. The citys only pool, located on the other side of town, is often crowded during summer.
Parents can expect more meetings with officials in the future as plans solidify, Evans said. The next one, he said, may come in August.
The school district is planning to have the school open for the beginning of the 2019/2020 school year.
Evans said that timeline is aggressive, but that his department should be able to meet it.
We might not have everything finished by then, he said, but we should be in a position to open it.
A Vietnamese-American billionaire donated $5 million Wednesday to San Joses flood relief fund, one of the largest private philanthropic donations in the citys history.
Kieu Hoang, who has made much of his fortune through Shanghai RAAS Blood Products, an international firm that researches and manufactures blood and plasma-derived medical products, was the 214th richest person in the United States in 2016, according to Forbes.
Hoang, whose estimated net worth is $2.8 billion, also owns the Kieu Hoang Winery on Dealy Lane in Napa Valley, as well as a ranch in Los Angeles, Forbes reported.
He purchased his Napa winery in 2014 from Michael Mondavi Family Estates.
Hoang handed the oversized check to San Joses mayor, Sam Liccardo, at an announcement with city officials.
The seven-figure donation brings the total raised for the flood fund to more than $6 million, said David Low, a spokesman for the mayors office.
The money will prioritize relief and assistance to flood victims more severely impacted by flooding along the Coyote Creek last week, Low said in a statement.
An initial city estimate for the flood damage caused by Coyote Creek overflowing its banks and surging through a series of San Jose neighborhoods was $73 million, with $50 million of damages estimated specifically for private property.
About 80 percent of households in the heavily affected Rock Springs neighborhood are Vietnamese immigrants, officials estimated.
A friend of Hoangs, Chieu Van, the co-founder of San Jose-based Lees Sandwiches, connected Hoang with city leaders, according to the mayors office.
The flood relief fund will dispense funds to nonprofits that have not been identified yet to handle a variety of recovery-related functions, Low said. Those include funds to intake and asses displaced victims and offer emergency money for housing needs.
The city also plans to directly administer funds to some of its worst off residents, including paying for rental subsidies, hotel vouchers, work equipment car repairs and other needs.
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It is long past time that the city of Napa and the county of Napa pay attention to the overall needs of the community rather than some short-sighted homeowners.
In the latest letter regarding the potential for badly-needed apartments at the county-owned site on Old Sonoma Road ("No multi-unit housing on Old Sonoma Road," Feb. 28), the writer suggests that any new apartments be located on vineyards within the city limits in north Napa. The trouble with such locations on the urban fringe are legion.
Unlike the Old Sonoma Road site owned by the county, the north Napa locations are on the periphery of the community far from services and decent transportation.
Unlike Old Sonoma Road, they are nowhere near major streets that already have a lot of traffic.
Unlike Old Sonoma Road, they are not already surrounded by industrial uses and the Juvenile Hall on one side, and apartments across the street.
Unlike the Old Sonoma Road location, the north Napa sites near Salvador and Big Ranch Road are a very long block away from 30-minute frequency VINE bus service--which serves the Old Sonoma Road location directly and not 1/2 to 3/4 mile away. Location near good bus service is an important consideration for those likely to live in any proposed apartments.
If Cliff Nelson and Kevin Eggers don't like the consequences of living in an built-up urban area, I suggest they move to some other area, away from arterial streets like Old Sonoma Road, Jefferson and any number of other major streets. They apparently don't like living in cities, where things like traffic, apartments, commercial developments and other features of urban life are inevitable.
And only in Napa, would some people think one seven-story building (the Archer hotel) and several four- or five- story buildings in the core area of downtown Napa is too "dense."
While Napa is not San Francisco, it is a small city where the dense commercial development is occurring in the correct places, like downtown and along major arterial streets near downtown.
For the most part, dense housing is being developed in the proper places, such as within a block or two of Soscol Avenue or Silverado Trail, adjacent to established commercial properties such as between the river and South Napa Marketplace.
I agree with homeowners near the city edges that dense development of any kind does not belong on the fringe, remote from already established corridors, utilities and public transportation, among other necessary services.
Michael D. Setty
Napa
Thompson predicts survival of Affordable Care Act at Napa town hall
Rep. Mike Thompson predicted on Feb. 21 in the Napa Valley College Little Theater that the Affordable Care Act will survive efforts to repeal it by President Trump and Congressional Republicans, but only after a battle.
Thompson has held three health care town halls in his district and has another one scheduled for Santa Rosa.
Im convinced were on the side of the angels and were going to win this thing, Thompson, D-St. Helena, told a few hundred people at a health care town hall meeting that he convened.
Repealing the ACA could mean 22 million people losing health care coverage, Medicare losing 11 years of its life expectancy and the nation losing 3 million jobs tied to the act, including 334,000 California jobs, Thompson said.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus recently told Associated Press that a replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act could emerge in early March.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the value of the Alliances partnership with Switzerland during a visit to Bern and Geneva on Wednesday and Thursday (1-2 March 2017).
Today, the Secretary General met with the Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Didier Burkhalter, and the Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, Mr. Guy Parmelin, in Bern. The leaders discussed current security challenges and opportunities for closer cooperation between the Alliance and Switzerland, including on cyber defence. The Secretary General welcomed Switzerlands plans to become a contributing partner to NATOs Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn.
Mr. Stoltenberg also praised Switzerlands contributions to peace and security. Switzerland has helped many NATO partners in building democratic defence institutions and provides support for NATOs peace-keeping efforts in Kosovo. Within NATO, Switzerland has helped to shape thinking and policies on human security issues, including to promote the role of women in peace and security.
The Secretary General outlined the importance of projecting stability beyond NATOs borders during a Townhall address at the Maison de la Paix in Geneva. Speaking to an audience of students, diplomats and journalists, Mr Stoltenberg stressed that training local forces and building resilient defence institutions in partner countries is key in the fight against terrorism.
At the end of his visit, Mr. Stoltenberg visited the Headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, marking the first visit by a NATO Secretary General to its headquarters. He met with ICRC President Peter Maurer for talks on humanitarian issues and cooperation between NATO and the ICRC. Mr. Stoltenberg thanked the ICRC for its advice on the development of NATOs Policy for the Protection of Civilians, adopted by Allied leaders at the Warsaw Summit in July 2016. He also underscored that NATOs commitment to International Humanitarian Law is fundamental.
All seats feature the Ullman 3-Dimensional Suspension Technology, mitigating both vertical and oblique impacts, which makes them the safest seats on the market. The Echelon is a range of helm seats developed for high speed craft operating up to 80+ knots. It comes in a variety of versions optimised for various requirements and mission profiles.
"We have a strong presence in this region. Having exhibited at NAVDEX for many years has provided us with very useful feedback from operators of a variety of units, which has helped us with ideas for new concepts. One example is the new boarding seat we are launching" said Jacob Ullman.
The New Ullman Boarding seats take up less deck space than any other seats on the market, allowing more free space for boarding operations or for carrying payload. They are also the lightest, and most effective seats, scientifically proven to protect people from injury.
Ullman Seats are the worlds safest suspension seats and have a unique track record. 12 000 seats are in military/professional use, in more than 70 countries, since up to 17 years. Still no injuries and no ejection have been reported.
Given the rising threat of terrorist acts, Harbor Offshore Barriers worked with the US Navy to develop a fence-like floating net system strong enough to repel fast boat terrorist attacks. It is the first company licensed by the US Navy to manufacture its barrier systems for commercial and military use worldwide.
The Harbor Offshore Barriers team installed and continues to maintain US Navy barrier systems in the continental US, Guam, Hawaii, Japan, Iraq, Crete, and Spain. The US Navy consistently rates Harbor Offshore Barriers performance as Excellent or Very Good, resulting in an award bonus for 95% of 26 task orders from 2003 to 2014.
Harbor Offshore Barriers is also protecting the strategic French Navy (Marine Nationale) SSBN base in Brittany.
BREVARD COUNTY, Florida Brevard County Ocean Rescue will host the first of two open tryouts for seasonal lifeguards on Saturday, March 4th, 2017 to fill thirty open positions. Candidates selected as ocean lifeguards will work from March to October 2017.
Applicants trying out should be at the Rockledge High School swimming pool by 7 a.m. Candidates will not be permitted to test if they are late.
Although no life-guarding experience is necessary, candidates must be over the age of 16 on the day of the tryout and possess strong swimming skills. All candidates must bring a valid drivers license, Social Security card, appropriate swim attire, a towel, and running shoes.
Candidates will be required to swim 500 meters in less than 10 minutes, complete a 1-mile run on a track in less than 10 minutes and perform a physical agility test that includes push-ups.
Advanced registration is not required. However, applicants are reminded that testing will begin promptly and anyone arriving after testing begins will not be permitted to try out.
If selected, completion of the hiring process is dependent on the candidates ability to pass a background test and successful completion of Brevard County Ocean Rescues paid training academy.
The starting pay for Brevard County lifeguards is $9.89/hour.
Lifeguard Academy Class Dates if selected March 4th, 2017 (Must attend all dates):
March 25, 26
April 1, 8, 9, 23, 29, 30
May 6, 7
(Subject to Change)
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Emory University $1.5 million over five years to expand professional competencies and integrate public scholarship into humanities doctoral training, as well as graduate teaching and research endeavors, at the Laney Graduate School (LGS).
The Mellon Humanities PhD Interventions Project will be led by principal investigator Lisa Tedesco, dean of the Laney Graduate School and Emory's vice provost for academic affairs for graduate studies.
This project will help us support work with faculty and graduate students to shape and refine how we provide professional development and career planning resources for the most contemporary preparation of humanities doctoral students," Tedesco says.
A particularly important part of the project is its emphasis on support for graduate faculty and graduate students to be change-makers in their programs and curriculum.
To date, a lot of our career planning work has been added and offered by LGS, organized and administered with input and guidance from a committee of graduate students and some faculty," Tedesco says. "We are gaining traction and seeing success, but we are also facing the next challenge."
That challenge, from her perspective, is cultural.
Student participation in LGS career planning programming is mostly by self-selection as they progress through graduate programs that are structured to guide them to traditional faculty careers," Tedesco explains. "The challenge here, as recently noted in the Mellon commissioned report Reforming Doctoral Education, 1990-2015: Recent Initiatives and Future Prospects, is that many humanities students, intentionally or unintentionally, do not go on to tenure-track positions at research universities.
We believe that more direct involvement of faculty is needed with support for change and innovation change to the culture of graduate training in the humanities as it relates to professional development and support for the change-makers as they reimagine the scope of graduate training and career preparation, she says.
Innovations and sustainable change
Under the leadership of a faculty director and advisory committee, LGS will offer Graduate Faculty Curriculum Development Grants to faculty for changes to graduate courses. The aim of these grants is to integrate public humanities scholarship and assignments that develop new competencies into existing or new courses open to humanities students from multiple programs.
LGS will also invite doctoral program leadership to apply for cross-program two-year PhD Program Intervention Grants to address two or more challenges outlined in Mellons Reforming Doctoral Education report.
Student Intervention Grants will provide funding and fellowships to support student engagement and exploration of public scholarship, innovative teaching and non-academic career pathways.
And finally, Humanities Interventions Programming will support the activities of faculty and student grant recipients by convening campus events to share and reflect on the innovation activities, their integration and sustainability with the broader humanities community, and to share with other interested members of the Emory University community.
Because we know that sustainable change must come from program faculty and students, the graduate school will not be overly prescriptive, says Tedesco. This project is an exciting next step, but it will require thinking and action that really challenges a number of traditional and revered training models. And in this particular case, it is equally important for a graduate dean to enable change as it is to lead it.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation also sees the potential of this project to serve as a national model of innovation in humanities doctoral training and career preparation.
The Laney Graduate School PhD Interventions Project promises to reimagine elements of doctoral training in the humanities in ways that will better prepare students to address contemporary problems through humanistic lenses, and, as importantly, to do so in ways that will be accessible to the broader public, says Cristle Collins Judd, senior program officer at the Mellon Foundation.
As the project moves forward, it has the support of Emory Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Stuart Zola.
The Mellon Humanities PhD Interventions Project is an exciting and forward thinking innovation in the training experience of our humanities graduate students," Zola says. "We appreciate the partnership of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and its support of path-breaking work in the humanities.
The project will launch this spring.
13:46
Not long after Prakash Jha's 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' was denied certification, the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) has found its latest victim in the Malayalam film 'Ka Bodyscapes' and FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan justifies its move.
"I would like to appreciate Censor Board and revising committee that they stopped the film from showing. I got to know that Lord Hanuman has been shown in a derogatory manner. I object," said the 60-year-old to ANI on the last day in his office.
According to Chauhan, films like 'Ka Bodyscapes' shouldn't be allowed in India as nobody has the right to hurt a religion and its views.
He added, "Court should also not allow it. What do they have to prove by making movies on freedom of expression and artistic values? Do they want to show the future generation their parents in bad light?"
CBFC believes that 'Ka Bodyscapes' glorifies gay and homosexual relationship, but seems like Chauhan is against the flick for not the same reason.
"Make a movie on sexual orientation that can teach something, not hurt a religious belief. I condemn the movie," Chauhan continued.
The movie follows the lives of three young people in Calicut - "Haris, a gay painter; Vishnu, a rural kabaddi player and their friend Sia, an activist who refuse to conform to dominant norms of femininity, struggle to find space and happiness in a conservative Indian city."
Director Jayan Cherian posted the official letter from the CBFC on social media, adding, "It's official, Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani (chairman of the CBFC) put the final nail in my coffin!"
The letter, from the second revising committee, reads, "The second Revising Committee felt that the film is glorifying the subject of gay and homosexual relationship, nudity accentuating vital parts of male body (in paintings) in closed shots in the whole movie.""The film is explicit of scene offending Hindu sensibilities depicting vulgarity and obscenity through the movie. The religion of 'Hindu' is portrayed in a derogatory manner especially Lord Hanuman (shown in a poor light as gay) which may cause law and order problem in the society."
"The film contains posters depicting homosexuality throughout the movie and derogatory remarks against women. Abusive language is used in most of the places and also a female Muslim character is shown masturbating. The film has references to Hindu organisations indirectly which is unwarranted."
Chauhan on Friday said he is a BJP 'sipahi', adding his ideology is same as the saffron party.
Chauhan told ANI that the government was happy with his work and added that he did his best as the chairman of FTII.
"I feel that I have played a 20-20 match. I had to make more runs and overs were less. I had very less time and a lot of work, but I am happy that I was able to do my work..I am a 'sipahi' of BJP and whatever work they tell me to do. I will do it with all my heart. BJPs ideology is my own ideology," he said.
UC Santa Cruz has received a gift from Dr. Narinder Kapany to establish the Sundar Singh Kapany Book Collection and the Sundar Singh Kapany Group Study Room in the University Library.
The gift, including Kapanys personal collection of Sikh books, is valued at $55,000.
"It provides a large set of books on Sikhs and Sikhism that will be a significant new local resource for students, faculty, and community members who are interested in various aspects of UCSC's Sikh and Punjabi Studies program," noted Nirvikar Singh, distinguished professor of economics and the Sarbjit Singh Aurora Chair in Sikh and Punjabi Studies at UC Santa Cruz.
Kapany, the founding chairman of the Sikh Foundation and a trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, was also a Regents Professor at UC Santa Cruz from 1977 to 1983. In 1999, he endowed the Narinder Singh Kapany Chair in Optoelectronics at the Baskin School of Engineering.
In 2008, Kapany was honored with the UC Santa Cruz Foundations Fiat Lux Award in recognition of his outstanding achievement, dedication, and service in support of the universitys program and goals.
A pioneering fiber-optics researcher and entrepreneur, he also made a gift of $500,000 to UC Santa Cruz in 2012 to establish an endowed chair in entrepreneurship.
The Sikh and Punjabi Studies program at UC Santa Cruz began in 2011, following a gift from Hardit and Harbhajan K. Singh, through the Sikh Foundation, to fund an endowed chair. The goal of the program is to advance teaching and research that increases understanding of Sikh and Punjabi culture with a global perspective.
Based in the Humanities Division, the Sikh and Punjabi Studies program brings together faculty across the humanities and beyond, including the fields of history, literature, art, music, and economics.
There are approximately 25 million Sikhs in the world today, with significant communities living in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Fiji, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom.
The ancestral home of the Sikhs is the Punjab region, divided between Pakistan and northern India. Sikhs arrived in California more than a century ago, and their descendants today are employed in activities ranging from high-tech entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley to farming in the Central Valley.
The Campaign for UC Santa Cruz supports excellence across the university through increased private investment in the people and ideas shaping the future. It is bringing critical new resources to the student experience, excellence in research, and the campus commitment to environmental and social justice.
Private sector banks such as ICICI and HDFC bank have notified their respective account holders of a transactional fee, which will be applicable on the fifth transaction in a month. Earlier today, the banks announced that after an individual does four transactions, the fifth one will be subject to a fee, regardless of whether it is cash withdrawal or deposit. However, the new fee will not be applicable on ATM withdrawals. Banks have proposed that a fee of Rs. 150 will be added, along with service tax, in addition to a fee of Rs. 5 per 1000. The cap on transactions has been placed at Rs 2 lakh per month per account. Any transaction beyond this will be applicable for an extra charge. (ANI)
According to company sources, Cool S1 will arrive in India in the second quarter this year.
Coolpad showcased the device at the just-concluded Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
Launched in December in China last year, Cool S1 concentrates on music and game and targets the youth.
The device is fitted with Harman Kardon's tone tuning technology.
During the MWC, Harman Kardon officially rewarded Coolpad the authentication certificate on high-quality sound, which is the first certificate ever that Harman has issued to a smartphone brand.
The "Clari-Fi" technology in Cool S1 revives the compressed MP3 and WMV files better.
The phone comes with a 5.50-inch touchscreen display and is powered by 2.35GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor with 4GB RAM.
The phone packs 32GB internal storage cannot be expanded. Coolpad Cool S1 packs a 16MP primary camera and a 8MP front shooter.
Cool S1 runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 4,070mAh non removable battery that guarantees four hours 3D mobile games playing.
--IANS sku/na/vt
( 195 Words)
2017-03-02-12:58:08 (IANS)
Tim Ryan, the New York-based chairman and senior partner of Academy's longtime accounting firm PWC, will meet Academy governors to maintain the firm's 83-year-old relationship with the organisation, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
While the Academy is still assessing its relationship with the accounting firm, Academy's President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said the two PwC accountants, Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, responsible for this mix-up will never take part in future Oscars shows, confirmed an Academy spokesperson.
Cullinan, who was tweeting during the final moments of the show, is responsible for handing presenter Warren Beatty, a back-up envelope for best actress rather than the best picture envelope.
This issue resulted in 'La La Land', rather than 'Moonlight', being announced as the best picture winner.
Meanwhile, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson has reached out to the 54 members of her organisation's board of governors and offered to set up one-on-one meetings between them and Ryan, ostensibly to address any questions or concerns they may have ahead of the next full-board meeting on March 28, at which the fate of the Academy's 83-year relationship with PwC could be a matter of discussion.
Since the awards blunder, PwC has issued apologies and accepted responsibility of the incident, saying, "last night we failed the Academy." (ANI)
The ban is enforced every year and aimed at safeguarding fish during their breeding season and conserving fish stock.
Fishermen said they would sit on an indefinite strike as their finances get hurt by the ban.
"Fishermen of five districts, involving more than 50,000 fishermen, will stop working indefinitely from March 3 and are going for a strike. After that, from March 6, we are ready to sit on roads," said S. Karunamoorthy, the district secretary of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Federation.
Karunamoorthy said the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, which regulates fishing in the province, needs an amendment. Previously, fishermen submitted a petition to the Tamil Nadu Government, but, did not receive any response on it.
The fishermen also refused to venture out to sea until their demands were met.
The 45-day ban causes severe difficulties for the fishermen community, which has to manage on a meagre income during the period of inactivity. (ANI)
A rare heart surgery was performed by surgeons in the national capital on a 42-year-old patient who was rushed to hospital with acute pain in his chest and back. Doctors from the cardiology and cardiovascular surgical departments in Venkateshwar Hospital, Dwarka, recently performed the heart surgery on a 42-year-old patient who had been rushed to the hospital with acute pain. A thorough investigation revealed that the patient had a tear in the wall of his aorta -- the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body. This was impacting the flow of blood throughout his body. The surgery involved two steps: placing a stent in the aortic wall to repair the tear done with the help of the novel use of Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) technology. A graft was also created to reconnect the aorta with existing arteries. Doctors under the guidance of Dr Anil Dhall, Director, Cardiovascular Sciences Venkateshwar Hospital, and Dr Sandeep Singh, Director and HOD, Cardio Thoracic & Vascular Surgery, Venkateshwar Hospital, undertook the complex procedure. The patient Ramesh Kumar (name changed) was initially diagnosed at a hospital in Bhubaneshwar and was flown to Delhi's Venkateshwar Hospital for the hybrid procedure. According to Dr Sandeep Singh, ''The patient's aortic wall was ruptured and the vessels supplying blood to his brain and arms had been compromised. A stent had to be placed at the tear to prevent blood from leaking back into the heart and into the thoracic cavity. But before the stent could be inserted, the blood flow to his upper body needed to be stabilised. An artificial graft was created with three branches to reconnect the existing arteries with the aorta. This ensured that the blood flow to his brain and arms were unaffected. This part was an open heart surgery."MORE UNI SB 0958 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-1170749.Xml
Close on the heels of ghastly bus accident at Vijayawada two days ago, 30 students were injured in a similar accident, one of them seriously, when a school bus in which they were travelling fell into a rivulet at Pedaalavalapadu village in the wee hours of today. Police said that a group of 70 students of ZP High School at Karedu village in Ulavapadu mandal went on an excursion to Mahanandi and other places in a bus. When they were returning, the bus fell into rivulet from a bridge. As many as 30 students sustained bleeding injuries. They were shifted to various hospitals in Kanigiri and Ongole. One of the injured student, V Srikanth -9th standard-- was admitted to a private hospital here where his condition is stated to be very critical. The parents of the victims alleged that 70 students were taken to excursion in one bus. The injured students alleged that the bus driver drove recklessly. UNI DP CS 1105 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1171159.Xml
The convocation was scheduled to be held on March 4.
This development comes in the backdrop of the ongoing scuffle in Delhi University's Ramjas College.
Earlier on Tuesday, around 500 students and teachers of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) held a public meeting and a march in solidarity with the students of Ramjas College.
A 'Tiranga' march was organised by the ABVP on Monday to invoke nationalist sentiments on the campus. The students of Delhi University students yesterday staged a protest against the ABVP at the SGTB Khalsa College in North Campus.
Last week, the All India Students Association (AISA) and the ABVP engaged into a scuffle over cancellation of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid's talk at Delhi University's Ramjas College. (ANI)
A determined opposition demanding dismissal of Bihar Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastana for his uncharitable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi stalled the proceedings of pre-lunch session of the state legislature for the second day today. No sooner did the lower house assemble for the day leader of the opposition in the state assembly Dr Prem Kumar raised the issue of the Minister's 'highly objectionable' remarks against the PM. Amid leader of the opposition's demand for dismissal of the Minister, members of the CPI(ML)-Mehboob Alam,Sudama Prasad and Satyadeo Ram- stormed the well of the house demanding apology from Dr Kumar on behalf of his party members for calling the Minister a Bangladeshi. They also sought apology from the leader of the opposition on behalf a Central Minister who had asked the minority community to construct graveyard inside their houses. The CPI(ML) members also raised slogans before they returned to their respective seats on the request of Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary who asked them to restore order in house.More UNI IS BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1171311.Xml
Brilliant Service helps organizations build connected businesses by leveraging innovative smart device solutions, Cognizant said in a statement here.
The company provides end-to-end Android/iOS applications, embedded software, user experience design and online-to-offline services to major corporations in Japan, who are seeking to create engaging customer experiences. Its client roster includes many of Japan's top telecommunications, manufacturing, and consumer goods companies.
As part of the acquisition, a team of 70 professionals with extensive digital solutions experience and insights in the Japanese market will join Cognizant.
However, the IT company has not disclosed the terms of the transaction.
. "Brilliant Service's extensive experience in planning, implementing and managing smart and connected device solutions, together with their strong understanding of the regulatory requirements for the Japanese market, will complement our digital service offerings in Japan''.
This acquisition underscores our commitment to the Japanese market and expands our presence across Osaka and Tokyo, the release added.UNI KNR CS 1318
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Germany-based ZF, a company that provides drive line and chassis technology, has set up its technology centre in Hyderabad, the first centre in India.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said ZF will support the government in making Hyderabad a Mobility Engineering Cluster.
ZF CEO Sedan Sommer said the company will invest 15 million US dollars in the next five years and the centre will focus on high-end innovations aiming at zero accidents and emissions.
The centre has also rolled out an innovation challenge involving universities and colleges besides a CSR initiative supporting Akshaypatra with three vehicles.
Hyderabad centre will play a key role in its India operations, the CEO added.UNI KNR CS 1347
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"Nationalism is considered a bad word only in India; otherwise, it is a good word," he said, while addressing a press conference in Varanasi.
The Finance minister also accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive and said that it did not have any impact on the economy's growth rate.
Jaitley hailed the Central Government's demonetisation move, saying it had won the confidence of many people.
Throwing light on the current GDP rate, the Finance Minister asserted that the opposition was spreading lies about demonetisation.
Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "Once the party attains victory in UP polls, then this will prove that people have accepted PM Modi's demonetisation drive."
Varanasi goes to polls in the last of the seven-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on March 8.
Counting of votes will take place on March 11. (ANI)
Upping the ante against Bihar Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalali Mastan for his uncharitable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi BJP-led NDA members today marched in procession to Rajbhavan to demand his immediate sacking from Nitish Kumar Ministry. Led by leader of opposition in state assembly Dr Prem Kumar, leader of opposition in the legislative Council Sushil Kumar Modi and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) President and former Chief Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi, NDA members submitted a memorandum to state governor Ramnath Kovind from state legislature seeking immediate sacking of the Excise and Prohibition Minister. After pre-lunch session of both the houses of the state legislature were adjourned due to pandemonium,NDA members marched in procession from the state legislature to the Rajbhavan to submit memorandum. In a joint memorandum to the governor the NDA leaders contended that that Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan had crossed all limits and asked a gathering to beat the photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with shoes at a function in Purnea. It was also pointed out in the memorandum that the minister described the Prime Minister as a "Naxalite ,a terrorist and a dacoit" and hence he had no right to continue in the ministry, the immediate dismissal of the minister from the ministry. As it is the Excise minister had at a function at Anaur in Purnea on February 22 to protest demonetisation asked a crowd to beat the photographs of the Prime Minister with shoes. The video had gone viral on local television channel in which the Minister was seen asked the people to beat the photograph of PM as it was who had said he failed to end people's woes within 90 days of demonetisation, he was ready to face any punishment. A few supporters were seen beating the photographs of the PM kept on the state with shoes in the presence of the minister.UNI IS RN 1512 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-1171507.Xml
Eastern Railway today announced that 26 weekly summer special trains between Howrah-Muzaffarpur-Howrah to clear rush for Holi. 05227 Howrah-Muzaffarpur special will leave Howrah on Sundays at 0600 hrs. from April 2 to June 25, 2017 (13 trips) and will reach Muzaffarpur at 1830 hrs. on the same day. 05228 Muzaffarpur-Howrah special will leave Muzaffarpur at 1450 hrs. on Saturdays from April 1 to June 24, 2017 (13 trips) and will reach Howrah at 0300 hrs. on the next day. The special trains will have air-conditioned class, sleeper class and general second class accommodations. It may be mentioned that, besides these, 276 summer special trains will run on different routes during the ensuing summer season. 02359 Sealdah-Patna Holi special will leave Sealdah at 2355 hrs. on March 11 and will reach Patna at 1040 hrs. on the next day. 02360 Patna-Sealdah Holi special will leave Patna Jn. at 1210 hrs. on March 12, 2017 and will reach Sealdah at 2245 hrs. on the same day.UNI PC AKM 1638 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-1171686.Xml
At a meeting of the NDMC, it was also decided to cancel Le Meridien hotel's license, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet.
''Imp decisions today's NDMC meeting- Open auction of Taj Mansingh, cancel Le Meridian Hotel license, 240 days TMR every yr 2 all death cases,'' Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
Delhi High Court on October 27 last year dismissed an appeal of Tata group-run Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which runs the luxury Taj Mansingh Hotel, challenging auctioning of the property by NDMC.
The Supreme Court on January 12 asked the NDMC to reconsider its decision to auction the hotel in Delhi within six weeks.
The Bench presided over by Justice P C Ghose asked the NDMC to settle the issue through negotiations or go for auction with the right of first refusal to the Tata firm.
''If the company offers a matching price, it shall be accepted; else it would be auctioned,'' it said. UNI AR SHS ADG 1614
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According to police, one Ranganathan, manager of an electronic store here lodged a complaint on February 21 stating that one accused Abbas Ali purchased 10 LED television sets from his shop, stating that he is running a trust and provided a DD of Rs 2.90 lakhs, which later proved to be fake.
During investigation police found that the accused hails from Chennai and have a gang of three people. The accused has been identified as Sayyed Jaffer of Triplicane, Rubies Jalil of Pulyanthoppe and Munir Ahamed of Thiruvalluvar. Police has seized 20 LED television sets,14 air-conditioners, and other properties worth Rs 20 lakhs from their possession.UNI PAB SHS
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At the behest of Lieutenant General Velu Nair, Director General of Medical Services (Army), Voluntary Blood Donation Camps were organised across the Military Stations of the country, a Defence release said here.
Brigadier K Satyanand, Commandant and Colonel Shailja Karki, Senior Registrar of Military Hospital (MH), Secunderabad initiated the drive for the noble cause in organizing on a very large scale in both Military Stations of Secunderabad and Hyderabad recently.
The Blood Donation Camp was organised under the supervision of Telangana State Blood Transfusion Council to help children suffering from Thalassemia and Leukemia (Blood Cancer) and also to spread awareness about the importance of Voluntary Blood donation.
A total of 11 Blood Banks of Telangana State were involved and a record of 2,795 blood units were collected on this massive drive.
Lieutenant Colonel Sunil Uniyal and Kiran Uniyal, both as Voluntary Coordinators worked proactively for MH, Secunderabad and carried out entire coordination with various agencies of Military-Civil for its smooth execution.
For the exceptional and remarkable feat, Two Records of High Range Book of World Record (India-US) and Marvelous World Book Records (India-NZ) for "Largest Voluntary Blood Donation and Awareness Camp on the occasion of Indian Army Day" were thus achieved by Military Hospital, Secunderabad in association with Rotary Club of Hyderabad Centennial (RCHC).
The real heroes of the camps were the Voluntary Blood Donors, the "Life Saviors" of Military.
The Awards were presented to DGMS (Army), MH Secunderabad, RCHC, Voluntary Coordinators and others by both CEO's of High Range and Marvelous Book of World Records at Military Hospital.UNI KNR CS 1707
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Oil prices fell on Thursday after U.S. crude stocks hit an all-time high and official data showed Russian oil production unchanged in February, with no further cuts to tighten the market and drain global oversupply.Benchmark Brent crude oil was down 50 cents a barrel at $55.86 by 1125 GMT. U.S. light crude was 50 cents lower at $53.33.Crude inventories in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, rose by 1.5 million barrels last week to a record 520.2 million barrels, official figures showed.Russia's oil output was unchanged in February from January at 11.11 million barrels per day (bpd), signalling a pause in Moscow's efforts to curb production as part of a global deal, energy ministry data showed on Thursday.Crude oil prices slipped after the release of the Russian data but remained locked within tight trading ranges, supported by evidence of OPEC production cuts designed to reduce the oversupply that has weighed on prices for more than two years.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its oil output for a second month in February, a Reuters survey found, showing the exporter group has boosted already strong compliance to around 94 percent."There is a very stale smell hanging over the market," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Denmark, told Reuters Global Oil Forum."I still see the risk of $50 a barrel before $60 on Brent, but have to acknowledge that we have so far seen very limited selling appetite."Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals, said Brent remains neutral in a range of $55.93-$57.26 a barrel, and could move out of this price band in either direction.U.S. crude looks more bearish, the Reuters analyst said, and could drop to $53.21 a barrel, as it had cleared support at $53.87.REUTERS SHS RK1725 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1171806.Xml
Concerned over the continuing apprehension and detention of Tamil Nadu fishermen and their boats by the Sri Lankan Navy, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the matter at the highest diplomatic level and secure the release of 48 fishermen and 122 fishing boats, including 13 fishermen and two boats, apprehended today. In a demi-official letter to Mr Modi, copies of which were released to the media here, he said the state government strongly urges that such incidents of apprehension of fishermen by the Lankan Navy be taken up strongly at the highest diplomatic level to ensure the safety and their security in the Palk Bay. ''The Government of India is requested to secure the immediate release of 48 fishermen and 122 fishing boats including the 13 fishermen and their two mechanized fishing boats apprehended today without any delay'', headded. He said in yet another incident of apprehension of fishermen by the Lankan Navy, 13 fishermen--nine from Nagapattinam and four from Rameswaram--have been apprehended by the Lankan Navy today. They along with their two boats have been taken to Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka, he pointed out. Observing that that the State Government was extremely concerned about the continuing apprehension and detention of fishermen and their boats, Mr Palaniswami said at present 48 fishermen and 122 fishing boats were in Sri Lankan custody. ''Further, the boats and fishing gear of these fishermen, which are the only means of livelihood of the poor fishermen, are still impounded in Sri Lanka'', he added. He also recalled various letters written by former CM J Jayalalithaa in this regard. ''Though the Sri Lankan Government is committed to consider the release of the boats, no decision has been taken'', Mr Palaniswami said and requested Mr Modi to to take up this serious issue with the highest authorities of the Lankan Government and ensure immediate release of the precariously berthed boats, which continue to suffer great damage with every passing day.UNI GV CS 1805 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1171972.Xml
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court today stayed all further proceedings in a case filed by an elderly couple seeking maintenance from Tamil actor Dhanush claiming that he was their biological son. The couple R.Kathiresan (65) and K.Meenakshi (53) of Malampatti village in Madurai district filed a petition before the Judicial Magistrate (JM) Court at Melur during November last, claiming that the actor was their biological son and sought Rs 65,000 from him towards monthly maintenance. Denying their claim, Dhanush moved the HC Bench seeking to quash the case by stating that he was born to fil director R.Krishnamoorthy alias Kasthuri Raja and Vijalakshmi in Chennai on July 28, 1983. He claimed to have changed his birth name R.K.Vengatesha Prabhu to Dhanush K.Raja in 2003 and produced a government gazette notification in support of his claim. In view of contradictory claims from both sides, Justice G.Chockalingam directed the actor to appear before the court to verify his identification marks on February 28. As per the court direction Dhanush appeared before it and was subjected to idetification verification by a team of government doctors. When the case came up for hearing today, the counsel for the couple demanded a DNA test of Dhanush and Kathiresan to prove paternity. The actor's side strongly opposed for the DNA test and said it could not be ordered casually. There should be a prima facie materials for it, based on which the court must come to conclusion. After hearing both sides, Justice Chockalingam granted the interim stay, until further orders, after pulling up the counsel for the couple for making a plea for a DNA test at the final hearing of a petition filed by the actor to quash the maintenance case. It was unfair on the part of the couple's counsel to have not filed a sub-application for a DNA test all these days. The Judge adjourned the hearing on the quash petition as well as other sub-petitions relating to the case to March nine, after stating that his tenure in the Madurai Bench comes to an end on Friday. "You argue the case before my successor. I have only one more day left here and hence there is no time for me to hear the case," the Judge said. UNI GSM CS 1855 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1172071.Xml
The militant outfit, which was involved in a series of kidnapping in South Garo Hills district during the past few months, surrendered after security forces intensified their operation against them.
Sangma, who is also one of the most wanted militant by Meghalaya police, surrendered before Superintendent of Police in-charge South Garo Hills district Abraham Sangma in the presence of district officials and church leaders.
Seven of his aides - Tengrang A Sangma alias Gring, Pintu R Marak alias Waira, Kiljang M Sangma alias Amrak, Seldom K Sangma alias Jorai besides three over ground workers of the militant outfit - Hame Ch Marak, Biani Ch Marak and Tengman M Sangma also surrendered before the police official.
The militants also deposited one HK-rifle along with 128 rounds of HK ammunition, one HK magazine, three Smooth-Bore Breech Loading guns, 18 numbers of 12 bore cartridges, 22 electronic detonators and explosives powders, four wireless handsets besides incriminating documents.
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Telangana Minister for IT and Industries, K T Rama Rao today said the government was ready for partnerships with technology companies in the field of automotive space to make Hyderabad as a mobility engineering cluster. Speaking after launching of German automotive technology company, ZF's India Technology Centre (ITC) here, Rama Rao said "We look at this investment by ZF as an ecosystem builder for Hyderabad and are extremely happy to see Telangana as ZF's choice for their first ever India Technology Center. We will continue to strive making our state a business and investor friendly place helping corporate like ZF to expand their footprints in this region, the Minister said Telangana has a very conducive environment for businesses to thrive with quality talent pool and state-of-the art infrastructure. It is heartening to see Hyderabad growing as one of the most preferred destinations for global companies and we are committed to further enhance the brand image to become the top city in this regard. "ZF can partner with us and help the State develop a mobility engineering cluster in Hyderabad, the Minister said. He said, at a time when India is mandating upgraded vehicle safety on its roads, technologies developed by companies such as ZF will ensure zero accidents and zero emissions. Hyderabad is attracting technology powerhouses and is becoming a hub for core IT activity. The top global technology companies in the world have opted Hyderabad for their largest centres outside the US. Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook have made the city a key location as part of their global growth strategy. Germany-based ZF's investment will further boost the ecosystem, the Minister added. ZF CEO Dr Stefan Sommer said that we will invest 15 million US dollars over the next five years for strengthening of ZF in the country. The ITC will foster high-end innovations which will focus on bringing advanced technology to India as well as localizing more strategic business activities including research, design and development for global market initiatives. It also aims to leverage one of the finest academic research communities and the increasingly recognized rich and diverse talent pool for global development projects, he said.UNI KNR SHK 2017 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1172253.Xml
The sarpanch Jaysukh Madhad( 25), was killed allegedly because he had contested the panchayat election last year against the wishes of men from upper castes.
He was attacked by three people last Tuesday night.
Congress legislator Shaktisinh Gohil had raised the issue for discussion in the ongoing budget session of Assembly during 'Zero Hour'. However, speaker Ramanlal Vora refused permission following which Congress staged a walk out of the Assembly in protest.
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased sarpanch cremated the body after Union minister of panchayati Raj, Purushottam Rupala, visited persuaded them. Rupala had earlier visited the family at Amreli civil hospital on Tuesday night but had failed to pacify them from taking the body. The family insisted that all the three accused be brought to the book before they take possession of the deceased body.
The police has so far arrested the key accused Deep Dhandhal and is on the look out for his younger brother and second accused Yuvi Dhandal and their accomplice Madhu Vala. UNI ND SHS SHK 2010
-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1172272.Xml
At least 12 people including cops got injured, ten detained when police-traders clashed near Ban Ganga in Katra town of Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. The local traders were protesting against Mata Vaishno Devio Shrine Board authorities for continuing work on New Ban Ganga-Tarakota-Adh Kuwari track, the opening of which they were opposing, said an official. He said that the authorities have imposed Section 144 of CrPC near the construction site to prevent anybody from disrupting the ongoing developmental work, adding, "protesting local traders this evening, marched towards the site but police prevented and foiled their bid following which mild clash took place." According to an eye witness, police resorted to mild lathi-charge to disperse them. However, a senior police officer said that it was only a mild clash broke out with protestors, adding that around 10 of them have also been detained as preventive measure for creating law and order problem in the town where pilgrims from across the country visit to pay obeisance at the holy cave shrine. ''The protestors however, staged protest while entire Katra observed shutdown against Shrine Board authorities,'' said an eye witness. Meanwhile, on February 15, protesting shopkeepers and traders suspended their strike after meeting Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, who assured them early redressal of their grievances. Protesting traders were demanding that the new track should be used only for loading and unloading purpose but not for pilgrimage by devotees. ''The new track is ready for operation and it will cater devotees performing pilgrimage on foot,'' an official here said. He said that neither battery car service will be provide on new track not being used by mule operators, adding, ''the track will be thrown open only for devotees going to Bhawan on foot besides pithus will be allowed to cater them.'' He further said the New Ban Ganga-Tarakota-Adh Kuwari track is having 8.5 kilometres stretch from Army Camp, Darshani Deodi and it will be of helpful in meeting the rush especially during occasions like Navratras. Ten-member committee was also constituted and they were asked to submit charter of demands to the District SSP and Deputy Commissioner and matter will also be taken up with the Shri Mata Vasihno Devi Shrine Board authorities for needful action. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra is the chairman of the Shrine Board. Last year, Baridars and traders went on strike in protest against opening of new track but the strike was called off on government's assurance of addressing the issue as earliest.UNI VBH SHS SHK 2007 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1172282.Xml
More than 800 scholars and students from across the country will be attending three-day J&K Science Congress inaugurated by Governor N N Vohra at University of Jammu here today. The University is hosting this event in collaboration with J&K State Science, Technology and Innovation Council. Senior faculty members, research scholars and postgraduate students from various Research Institutes, Universities and Colleges from various States are participating in the Congress with theme, 'Science and Technology: Emerging Trends and Innovations'. The Governor, who is Chancellor of the University, in his address observed that the annual Science Congress is a very important occasion for the University and the entire scientific community in the State. Such important events create an environment which contributes in promoting the scientific temper in the educational institutions and across the society at large. Noting that J&K State has the privilege of hosting 9 State and Central Universities, NIT, IIM, IIT, SKIMS, IIIM, Medical and Engineering Colleges and other institutions of learning, the Governor stressed that the total corpus of intellectual and scientific resources available within such a large number of institutions of education must be effectively and productively utilised and exploited to hasten the growth and development of the State. Mr Vohra also pointed to the need for quality research in the field of Humanities for precipitating balanced human development and societal well being. ''If India is to meet international competition and be among the Knowledge Economies'', Governor observed that the teaching community shall need to undertake much more research work on identified issues and challenges. He suggested the usefulness of a state wide campaign being launched for research programmes being undertaken and their outcomes to be reviewed at successive annual Science Congresses.UNI VBH CJ SHK 2132 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1172399.Xml
President Pranab Mukherjee was accorded a warm welcomewhen he arrived here tonight on a two-day visit to the city. Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who arrived from Kochi, was received at the airport by Tamil Nadu Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, his cabinet colleagues, representatives of the three defence forces, Chief Secretary Ms Girija Vaidyanathan, senior government and police officials. From the airport, Mr Pranab Mukherjee drove down to Raj Bhavan for an overnight stay. Tomorrow, the President would present Standard to 125 (H) Sqn and Colours to MTI at the Air Force StationTambaram. Later, he would inaugurate the centenary celebrations of Women's Indian Association at Theosophical Society in Adyar, before leaving for New Delhi. A multi-tier security arrangements have been put in place in view of the President's visit to the city.UNI GV 2235 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1172446.Xml
During his maiden meeting with the Governor at Raj Bhawan here this afternoon, Dr Jamwal briefed the Governor about the Internal Security situation in the Jammu Zone.
While advising the maintenance of strict surveillance on all fronts the Governor asked Dr Jamwal to also devote close attention to problems caused by mismanagement of traffic flows and prompt removal of all encroachment on the Highways.
He also advised the IGP to ensure strict enforcement of the Control of Noises Act.UNI VBH CJ SHK 2204
-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1172417.Xml
In total, the US National Weather Service has reported 24 tornadoes in a storm system that affected the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee on Wednesday, Efe news reported.
In Ottawa, a town with around 19,000 inhabitants and located 115 miles southwest of Chicago, a falling tree killed a 76-year-old man, according to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
At least 14 people were also hospitalised in Ottawa with different degrees of injuries.
About 350 km south of Ottawa, in Crossville, Illinois, another tornado caused damage to a home where a 71-year-old man was killed and his wife was injured.
The third fatality was found in Missouri, where another powerful tornado swept through Perry County, south of the capital St. Louis, and destroyed between eight and 10 homes in Perryville.
In addition to the casualties, the tornadoes left chaos and destruction in places such as Naplate, near Ottawa.
The storm system is now moving towards the east coast of the US, causing alerts from Mississippi to Delaware, and could possibly reach New York City, the officials added.
--IANS ksk
( 206 Words)
2017-03-02-08:50:08 (IANS)
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian IT engineer shot dead in an apparent hate crime in the U.S., was the kind of job candidate that every hiring manager wanted on his team, as described by his former boss Rod Larson. "He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy," Larson told Kansas City Star. "His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want." Kuchibhotla was the top pick in 2007 for a software engineer position at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Kuchibhotla was so exceptional that Larson ultimately couldn't keep him, because Kuchibhotla was moved from his auto-flight department and became instrumental in helping his company develop its first fly-by-wire planes, in which manual controls are entirely replaced by computers," Larson said. "He was well-liked by anybody and he was excellent in all categories. He was a low-maintenance employee and did whatever was asked of him," he added. Kuchibhotla was killed when 52-year-old Adam Purinton, walked into Austins Bar and Grill in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe and opened fire. His friend, Alok Madasani, and Ian Grillot, a bar-goer who tried to intervene in the attack, were also shot, but survived. (ANI)
In his first major speech to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump assured U.S. allies that he is committed to NATO, but some of his fellow Republicans have been blocking a Senate vote to expand the alliance for months.The delay of the Senate's consideration of Montenegro's accession to the alliance has fueled questions about whether Trump's administration and his party will stand up to Russia despite the president's desire for better relations.Moscow opposes any further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic with a population of 650,000, hopes to win the approval of all 28 NATO allies in time to become a full member at a summit in May. By late February, it had been approved by 24. Members see Montenegro's accession as a way to counter Russia's efforts to expand its influence in the Balkans.The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has twice voted in favor of Montenegro, first in December and again in January.But objections by Republican Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee have blocked a vote in the full Senate.At a September hearing, Paul questioned the wisdom of angering Russia by allowing a tiny country that could not play a significant role in defending the United States to join the trans-Atlantic alliance."I think we need to think this through, and we need to have a little bit more of a debate," he said then.On Wednesday, Paul said he still objected."I'm not so sure what they add to our defense. So I'm not so sure it's a great idea that somehow Montenegro's going to defend the United States," Paul told Reuters.A spokesman for Lee said the senator objected only to the Senate considering the matter with a quick voice vote, saying he wanted a roll call so every member's position would be recorded.Lee has not made his opinion on Montenegro's accession public, the spokesman said.ROLL CALLAsked if a roll call vote would be scheduled, a spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he had no updates to provide. If there is a Senate vote, Montenegro's accession is expected to receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass.Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic told Reuters last month that he had been assured that the Senate would ratify his country's accession by May.Trump has called for closer ties to Moscow and criticized NATO as obsolete. In his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, he reaffirmed support for the alliance, but said he expects U.S. allies to pay more of the cost of their own security needs.Montenegrin officials blame Moscow for an extended campaign intended to prevent the country from joining NATO. Last month, they said they had evidence Russia was involved in a plot to overthrow its government during an election last October, an accusation Moscow dismissed.The charges echoed assertions by U.S. intelligence that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.Trump could still keep Montenegro from joining by refusing to formally deposit the country's Protocol of Accession. Doing so would signal a significant rift with his own party in Congress. REUTERS JW0421 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1171036.Xml
Chilean police raided the offices of Brazil's Odebrecht in capital Santiago, as part of a widening investigation into bribes paid by the conglomerate on construction projects across Latin America.A Chilean prosecutor will travel to Brasilia this month to work with Brazilian colleagues questioning Odebrecht executives, national public prosecutor Jorge Abbott told journalists.There were "certain people that we want to talk to in respect of events that may have occurred in Chile that could eventually be constituted as a crime," he said.Odebrecht, Latin America's largest engineering group, agreed in December to pay a record fine and has admitted to paying bribes to officials in 12 countries, mostly in Latin America, to help secure lucrative contracts.Prosecutors from 10 countries, including Chile, are forming a task force to share evidence in the case.Chile's prosecutors are also looking into allegations that Brazil's engineering group OAS illicitly channeled funds to Chilean political campaigns. OAS offices in Santiago were raided last month.Odebrecht's website does not list any current projects in operation in Chile. REUTERS JW0712 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1171039.Xml
Chinese state media said today that a prominent Chinese rights activist had made up "fake news" of torture to grab international headlines, but his defenders said the accusations were a coordinated attempt to smear his name.State media said disbarred lawyer Jiang Tianyong, 46, was behind news reports of police torturing another detained rights activist, Xie Yang, and that Jiang had later admitted to telling Xie's wife to make up details of torture in captivity to attract attention to the case.Reports in January by the New York Times and the Guardian based on testimony from Xie's wife and lawyer described, in vivid detail, threats and violence from the police reportedly used to force a confession from Xie."The stories are essentially fake news," the official Xinhua news agency said in an English-language article.The influential Global Times and a number of other state media outlets carried similar articles in Chinese today, each featuring an interview with Jiang, and many also included the same photo of him with a shaved head, smiling, behind bars.Jiang could not be reached for comment.Chinese state media regularly features exposes of criminal activities by rights activists based on interviews where the accused confess their crimes. But rights groups say the questioning is usually scripted and carried out under duress.The interviews with Jiang differed from the past in that they are the first time the phrase "fake news" has been used to describe media reports, "probably borrowing it from Donald Trump's attack on major Western media", says Patrick Poon, China researcher at Amnesty International.Jiang's wife, Jin Bianling, told Reuters that the authorities merely wanted to discredit him because he received so much attention in the international media.Jin and Jiang's parents have been unable to speak to Jiang since he went missing in November after visiting relatives of Xie Yang in the city of Changsha in central Hunan province."It's all fake. How are they all able to interview him when his family cannot meet him?" said Jiang's wife, who lives in the United States.An individual who answered the phone at the Changsha Public Security Bureau declined to comment.The European Union has cited Jiang's detention as reason for being "extremely troubled" by the "deteriorating" rights situation in China.State media said Jiang convinced Xie's wife, Chen Guiqiu, in September to make up a detailed account of Xie being deprived of sleep, placed in smoke filled rooms and beaten so as to bring international attention to the case.An "independent" investigation by legal authorities found Xie had not been tortured, state media said.Xie's lawyer, Chen Jiangang, who is not related to Xie's wife, told Reuters the torture accounts were genuine, adding that he had also interviewed Xie and been told the same thing.Chen could not be reached for comment. REUTERS SDR PR1103 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1171157.Xml
The US Justice Department said Jeff Sessions spoke twice last year with Russias Ambassador to Washington -- the encounters Sessions did not disclose during his Congressional confirmation hearing to become the Attorney General in January, the media reported. One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator's office, the Washington Post reported, citing department officials as saying on Wednesday. When Sessions spoke with Kislyak in July and September, the senator was a senior member of the influential Armed Services Committee as well as one of Trump's top foreign policy advisers. Sessions played a prominent role supporting Trump after the billionaire businessman formally joining the presidential campaign in February 2016. At his January 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Senator Al Franken what he would do if he learnt of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign. "I'm not aware of any of those activities," he responded, adding: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians." Also in January, Senator Patrick J. Leahy asked Sessions for answers to written questions, the Washington Post said. "Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?" Leahy wrote. Sessions responded with one word: "No". However, the Attorney General on Wednesday night, in response to the Justice Department claims, said he "never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false." Officials said Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Kislyak. "There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer," said Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessions's spokeswoman. She added that Sessions last year had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian and German ambassadors, in addition to Kislyak. Several Democratic members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday night called on Sessions to resign from his post. The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- both under Sessions' supervision -- are in charge of investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, besides alleged links between Trump's campaign and the Kremlin. --IANS ksk/vt ( 448 Words) 2017-03-02-13:18:08 (IANS)
With the date for holding the local elections in Nepal approaching near and structure of local bodies unknown to the electoral body, the Local Level Restructuring Commission (LLRC) is making final preparations to submit its report. "In terms of number and boundaries of local bodies, we have already completed it, it's over but regarding this special protected and autonomous region, we are working on that and according to the constitution our time tenure is almost over. We have only two weeks remaining, so within that given time, we will finalize everything," LLRC chairman Balananda Paudel told ANI. The Commission which now has two weeks time left to submit its report has faced a lot of setbacks and problems while preparing the report. The LLRC chairman accused the government of not coping up with the commission in preparing the report. "We are working on this special protected and autonomous area. Regarding this function we are not receiving the response from the government. We have already submitted our report but the number and boundaries of local bodies it is yet to be declared by the government so we are unable to discuss with the district people; the local people because it is yet to be publicized. So without being public we can't go to the public without those boundaries and number," he said. Apart from the lack of co-ordination from the government, the Commission is facing the scarcity of data's pertaining population, economic status and other factors. The LLRC formed in 2015 submitted its first draft to the government lately on December has proposed 719 local units (Village and Municipal Councils). The agitating Madhesh-based parties have demanded for the allocation of 50 percent units in Southern Plains of Nepal and have accused of preparing the report without going to the districts and taking views of public. LLRC Chairman Paudel claimed of holding discussion with the agitating parties and has sought their consensus. "Before determining the number and boundaries of local bodies we sat together with agitating parties also; we invited the agitating parties and they gave the suggestion that on the basis of population the number should be there in accordance with population. They were talking about the 20 districts bordering with India and their demand is that the 50 percent population is there but the unit wise the total number given to the flat land is 34 percent so they are demanding 50 percent but the commission is very much bounded by the limitation of our geography," he added. (ANI)
An Austrian court sentenced eight Iraqi asylum seekers and refugees on Thursday to between nine and 13 years in prison for the gang-rape of a 28-year-old German woman in Vienna more than a year ago, a court spokeswoman said.The men were found guilty of assaulting the woman in an apartment where two of the men were staying during the 2015/16 New Year celebrations. A ninth accused was acquitted.The victim, from the northern German state of Lower Saxony and who was visiting a friend in Vienna, was awarded damages of 25,000 euros ($26,265).The court spokeswoman said both the prosecution and defence had indicated they might appeal the verdict or sentencing.The nine Iraqis, aged between 21 and 47 years, were arrested in Vienna and two other provinces in summer. All have either applied for, or been granted, asylum.The case helped fuel public debate over immigration and crime, a central theme of last year's Austrian elections, which saw a far-right candidate come within a whisker of the presidency.Although detailed statistics are not published, the police have said that in general there has been a rise in petty crime since 2015's big migrant influx but no significant increase in serious crimes like murder and rape.Austria has not seen sexual assaults on the same scale as those in the German city of Cologne on New Year's Eve more than a year ago. But attacks involving immigrants, like a series of sexual assaults in the city of Innsbruck at the end of last year, continue to attract close media scrutiny.REUTERS CJ BL2153 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1172411.Xml
Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari accused the Saudi-backed opposition on Thursday of holding peace talks hostage because of their reported refusal to unify under one opposition delegation and include terrorism on agenda."We heard that... the Riyadh platform refused the inclusion... of counter-terrorism," Ja'afari told reporters after meeting UN envoy Staffan de Mistura. "This did not come as a surprise because some members of the Riyadh delegation include members of terrorist armed groups," he said.Ja'afari said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had kept his promise to retake the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State militants, which fell to the army earlier on Thursday."Counter-terrorism operations will continue until the last inch of territory from our country is retaken from these foreign terrorists who are wreaking havoc," he saidREUTERS CJ BL2324 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1172465.Xml
LONDON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Scientists at Manchester announced a breakthrough Wednesday in the development of magical computers that grow as they compute.
By using DNA rather than traditional computer chips, the scientists from the University of Manchester, say a single desktop computer could potentially utilize more processors than all the electronic computers in the world combined.
The university is famous for its connection with wartime codebreaker Alan Turing, regarded as the founder of computer science.
Professor Ross King and his team have demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of engineering a nondeterministic universal Turing machine (NUTM).
Their research is to be published in the prestigious Journal of the Royal Society, Interface.
A spokesman at the university said: "The theoretical properties of such a computing machine, including its exponential boost in speed over electronic and quantum computers, have been well understood for many years. But the Manchester breakthrough demonstrates that it is actually possible to physically create a NUTM using DNA molecules.
King, from the university's School of Computer Science, explained "Imagine a computer is searching a maze and comes to a choice point, one path leading left, the other right. Electronic computers need to choose which path to follow first.
"But our new computer doesn't need to choose, for it can replicate itself and follow both paths at the same time, thus finding the answer faster.
"This 'magical' property is possible because the computer's processors are made of DNA rather than silicon chips. All electronic computers have a fixed number of chips," said the researcher.
He further explained that "As DNA molecules are very small a desktop computer could potentially utilize more processors than all the electronic computers in the world combined - and therefore outperform the world's current fastest supercomputer, while consuming a tiny fraction of its energy."
Alan Turing's greatest achievement was inventing the concept of a universal Turing machine (UTM) - a computer that can be programmed to compute anything any other computer can compute. Electronic computers are a form of UTM, but no quantum UTM has yet been built.
OBRENOVAC, Serbia, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) started construction works on a segment of Serbia's E-763 highway on Wednesday.
The Surcin-Obrenovac segment is 17.6 km long. The opening ceremony was held at a construction site near Obrenovac, which was attended by both officials and local citizens.
"I promise that we will invest all technical and management capacities of our company in order to finish this project as fast as possible, adhering to all standards," said Lu Shan, overseas executive general director of the CCCC.
Lu reminded that the commercial contract for the construction was signed on June 18, 2016 during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Serbia.
Once finished, the Surcin-Obrenovac segment will connect Belgrade's E-75 highway and the newly-built E-763 highway, enabling transport from Belgrade to Obrenovac and further towards Montenegrin border.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang also were present at the ceremony.
Chinese ambassador thanked Serbian people for their firm support to the Serbian government to further develop ties with China and expressed hope that Chinese companies will be appointed to construct the remaining part of the new highway.
Vucic replied to ambassador Li that the highway project is of vital importance to Serbia and suggested that the two countries could complete it together if Chinese side offers even more favorable terms for cooperation.
According to the Chinese company, the construction of the highway segment will be completed in 36 months.
U.S. President Donald Trump (front) addresses the joint session of Congress, as Vice President Mike Pence (L) and House Speaker Paul Ryan listen, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, Feb. 28, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
By Peter Mertz
DENVER, the United States, Mar. 1, (Xinhua) -- Newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump was to rewrite the American political playbook by engaging the legal system more than any president in U.S. History, analysts predicted.
Legal experts told Xinhua in recent interviews that by late February about 100 lawsuits on the federal level would have been filed against America's 45th president.
"It's such an irony that Trump uses more legal muscle than any president ever," noted Washington insider and attorney David Richardson.
"Trump has scorned 'liberal lawyers' for years, and yet he is more connected to the courts than anyone...more of his doublespeak," Richardson said.
Across America's legal establishment, scholars agreed that Trump's litigious angle was a new feature of American politics.
" I don't know it is a sign of the times generally as much as it is the product of an incredibly idiosyncratic president," said law professor at University of Denver Alan Chen.
"The suits since he has taken office are in part a reflection on the aggressive, and to some degree unusually rapid, manner in which he has effectuated major changes in U.S. foreign and domestic policy," Chen told Xinhua.
Chen is an award-winning teacher and an expert on free speech doctrine, federal and public interest law.
In the first month after his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump was named in more than 60 federal cases in 17 different states, according to NBC News. By contrast, President Obama was named in three lawsuits in the first 30 days in office.
"Because he is mandating by Executive Order, Trump's opponents have only one avenue toward stopping the president's actions, and that's through the courts," explained David S. Brown, Chairman of the University of Colorado's Political Science Department.
"The federal judiciary is a branch of government that is not under President Trump's control," Chen agreed.
Brown, who earned a PhD in 1995 at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a well-published author on the American political system. He told Xinhua that a lot of lawsuits had been brought as a reaction to Trump's travel ban.
The American Civil Liberties Union, American Arab Civil Rights League, and Council on American Islamic Relations Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics stood in court claiming the president's travel ban was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.
The ban creates "favored and disfavored groups based on their faith," the Islamic Relations group wrote in its complaint.
Washington State is also suing Trump, claiming the travel ban violates the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
"And certainly Trump has always been very litigious himself," Brown said.
An analysis by USA Today found that over the past 30 years, Trump and his businesses were involved in 3,500 legal cases in U.S. federal and state courts.
It's certainly not unusual for a prominent businessperson to be engaged in high volumes of litigation, Chen pointed out.
"But, contrary to popular belief, the president knows the inside of a courtroom better than most lawyers," Richardson said.
"He has no problem with paying expensive lawyers or using the same system that he publicly decries," the Seattle attorney told Xinhua.
Of the staggering 3,500 suits, Trump, or one of his companies, were plaintiffs in 1,900 and defendants in 1,450. The suits included contract disputes, bankruptcies, defamation claims, and allegations of sexual harassment.
In some 500 cases, judges dismissed claims against Trump, but in hundreds more, it was unclear about the resolution. Overall, Trump won 451 cases and lost 38, according to the USA Today research.
U.S. legal experts saw these huge numbers continuing during the Trump presidency.
"Yes, I think there will be an unprecedented number of law suits against President Trump," Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law, told Xinhua.
Chemerinsky, a frequent national commentator on the American legal system, gave a lecture last Tuesday at the University of Denver entitled "The First Amendment in the Era of President Trump."
"His actions and policies are likely to be repeatedly challenged in the courts," Chemerinsky said, adding that the First Amendment would be tested during the Trump Administration.
Legal pundits federal courts will see a backlog as a record number of challenges will be filed against Trump policies. It may take years before some cases are heard.
Chermerinsky and others thought the U.S. Supreme Court may experience its greatest workload in history.
Currently America's highest court features four liberal justices, each two were appointed during the Clinton and Obama presidencies. It also has four conservative justices, but with one seat, the "decisive 5th vote," is still vacant.
Last February, after conservative justice Antonin Scalia died, Congressional Republicans delayed the nomination of a new justice nominated by Democrat Obama.
Obama wanted moderate Judge Merrick Garland to fill the ninth seat, but the Republican political stall tactic worked and Garland was never confirmed.
Earlier this month, President Trump announced he would fill the vacant seat with conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch from Colorado.
Gorsuch's confirmation hearings was scheduled to begin March 20.
Legal scholars believed Gorsuch would win quick confirmation, and then the conservative-leaning Supreme Court would rubber-stamp cases favoring Trump's policies in the future.
DAMASCUS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Intense battles raged on Wednesday between Turkish-backed rebels and Kurdish-led factions near the city of Manbij in the eastern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria, a monitor group reported.
The battles are flaring between the Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council and the Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield rebels, who attacked areas under the Kurdish-backed group near Manbij, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The battles are centered in the southern rim of Manbij, which is under the control of the Manbij Military Council, a force backed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The battles between the rival rebel groups were anticipated, after the Turkish-backed rebels with the help of the Turkish forces captured the key city of al-Bab from the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Syria last week, with Turkey divulging its intension to push for capturing Manbij from the Kurdish-backed groups.
Ilnur Cevik, an advisor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Monday that his country has plans to end the military operation in Syria after capturing the city of Manbij.
The recent confrontation highlights the intension of Turkey behind its military operation in Syria, with a priority aim to undermine the Kurdish influence in northern Syria.
It's still unknown how the situation will unfold, as the Kurdish groups enjoys the support of the United States, which was said to have deployed forces around Manbij, given the recent developments and the foreseen battles between the Turkish-backed groups and the Kurdish-led ones.
The Syrian army has recently advanced in eastern Aleppo countryside against the IS group, reaching close to Manbij, amid reports that the army will open a route between Manbij and Aleppo city in cooperation with the Kurdish groups.
MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday that Mexico, Canada and the U.S. all need each other within the North American Free Trade Partnership (NAFTA).
"We need each other, we are part of links and value chains which are integrated and consolidated. This cannot be ignored," said the head of state.
While inaugurating a new automotive parts plant by Mexican group Nemak in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, Pena Nieto said that he would discuss the renegotiation of NAFTA with the United States.
The renegotiation will happen at "the right time, since it has been frozen due to the new foreign policy of our neighboring country," he said.
Speaking from the plant in Garcia, Nuevo Leon, the president said he would defend Mexico and the Mexican people against the positions of any other government, as "we are a nation that behaves well, we rely on a strong diplomacy, we rely on respect for others, but we demand the same respect for ourselves."
Finally, Nieto reiterated that Mexico demands "respect as a sovereign nation...and with this point, we will sit down at the table as equals to revisit the terms of our relationship with the United States."
MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Mexican police found 11 bodies inside a van in a suburb of the port city of Veracruz in southeast Mexico, apparently killed by gang fighting, officials reported on Wednesday.
Police discovered the white van parked on a street in the city's southern suburb around midnight Tuesday.
The van had been stolen from an employee of a tourism company, Governor of Veracruz State Miguel Angel Yunes said in a radio interview, adding "the person it was stolen from has already been located."
Yunes also said the killings were the result of "a war between themselves," referring to drug trafficking organizations that have used the busy port as a shipping and distribution center.
The perpetrators had left a threatening hand-scrawled message in the back of the van, purportedly directed at a rival criminal ring.
"It is a clash between organized gangs of criminals," the governor said.
TIRANA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Albania and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have successfully concluded a three-year program aimed at restoring the country's economic growth and controlling the rapidly rising public debt, Albanian economy minister Arben Ahmetaj said Wednesday.
Ahmetaj lauded the fruitful and successful three-year cooperation with the IMF, saying such cooperation would continue even in the future.
The new government after June 18 elections will reach another agreement with IMF as so far cooperation has yielded significant results, Ahmetaj told local media.
On Feb. 24, Albania drew the last installment of a 400.4 million U.S. dollar credit line which marked the end of the agreement, IMF said in a statement.
The program has successfully put Albania on a recovery path with sound public finances, according to Anita Tuladhar, the head of the IMF team for Albania.
In its statement, IMF cited some of the main achievements of its program with Albania, highlighting that the country's economic growth has accelerated to over 3 percent, public debt has declined, government arrears have been mostly cleared, and the overall fiscal and financial frameworks have been strengthened.
However, IMF noted that Albania must continue efforts to reinforce its growth and the resilience of its economy.
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai has written back to about 20 American elementary students to thank them for their complimentary comments on China's efforts to protect elephants, the Chinese embassy said Wednesday.
Cui's move came after he received letters from these students from elementary schools in California and Massachusetts.
In the letters, the students applauded the efforts by China's government to ban the processing and trade in ivory products step by step, the embassy said in a news release.
Last week, the ambassador took the time to write back to each of these students in order to "express appreciation for the students' enthusiasm on protecting wildlife and told them about what China has done in this field over the past years."
"In China, it is public consensus that wildlife should be protected and illegal trade should be banned," wrote the ambassador. "In fact, China has been doing a lot more than just protecting the elephants."
"If you have a chance to visit China, you will find a lot of endangered animals well protected in their natural habitat: giant panda (as you all know), snub-nosed monkey, Tibetan antelope, red-crowned crane, Manchurian tiger, just to name a few," Cui wrote.
He also encouraged the young people of the two countries "to join hands and work together to create a better future for all the life on earth."
Cui also sent some gifts about wildlife conservation to the students along with the letters, the embassy added.
KHARTOUM, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday issued a decision appointing First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh as Prime Minister.
According to the decision, Saleh would hold both posts of First Vice-President and Prime Minister.
Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, speaking to reporters following a meeting of the leadership office of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Wednesday, said that al-Bashir, who chaired the meeting, decided to select Saleh as first vice-president and prime minister.
Saleh had served ministerial and political posts, including chief of Sudan's national security service, presidential adviser for security affairs, minister of interior, minister of defence and minister of presidency before becoming the first-vice-president in December 2013.
The Sudanese national dialogue conference, which concluded in October last year, recommended introduction of a post of prime minister, where the Sudanese parliament endorsed last December some constitutional amendments including the new post.
On Tuesday, the committee entrusted with implementation of outcomes of the national dialogue met with al-Bashir and officially approved the post of prime minister to go for the ruling NCP.
BRASILIA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's national oil company, Petrobras, closed a deal on Tuesday to sell 2.225 billion U.S. dollars of assets to French giant Total as part of its continuing diversification plan.
According to a Petrobras statement, the deal is part of a broad alliance to work on upstream and downstream. It sees Petrobras transfer to Total 22.5 percent of concession rights to the Iara exploration area, including the Sururu, Berbigao and Oeste de Atapu oil fields. It also transfers 35 percent of the Lapa field concession area, which began production in December.
Petrobras is not exiting the two fields fully as it shall retain a majority interest of 42.5 percent in Iara and 10 percent in Lapa.
Finally, Petrobras has sold to Total a 50 percent stage in Termobahia, a power generation company with two thermal plants in the northeastern state of Bahia.
The beleaguered Brazilian oil company is facing a major need to cut costs as it faces crippling debt and a loss of market confidence after a corruption ring was found within its ranks.
In 2016, Petrobras announced a divestment plan, which included raising 19.5 billion U.S. dollars through the offloading in assets in 2017 and 2018.
COPENHAGEN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- After 44 years of waiting, the tiny Danish island of Femoe with a population of 154 now has its own postcode, local media reported on Wednesday.
The 11.38-square-km islet, located in the sea between Denmark's two major islands of Zealand and Lolland, has been sharing the postcode of 4930 with nearby Maribo municipality.
Now, it is granted a postcode of 4945 which comes into effect immediately, according to Danish newspaper The Copenhagen Post.
Femoe residents will receive their new health cards with the new code within the next few weeks, the paper said.
"They want their own identity relative to branding for tourism and for easier identification of cellular coverage," Dorthe Winther, the country's small islands association head, was quoted as saying.
"There could also be insurance benefits since there are virtually no break-ins on the island, so getting coverage might be less expensive," Winther added.
There are over 400 islands in Denmark, and some 70 of them are populated while the remainers are uninhabited.
ROME, March 1 (Xinhua) -- In southern Italian city of Naples, there is a "gangster component that acts on the territory dramatically out of control", Interior Minister Marco Minniti said on Wednesday.
Talking about a "direct attack on the freedom of the citizens," Minniti made the remarks in Naples, where he attended the installation ceremony of the new superintendent of Naples, Antonio de Iesu.
According to local media, Minniti said that the first problem to be addressed is the strengthening of territorial control.
"An answer is needed, starting in the next few hours," he added. The first signal will be, the minister said, "to make it clear that it is the state that controls the territory, in some areas the territory will be saturated with the power and the presence of the state."
In Naples, Minniti also chaired a meeting of the Provincial Committee for Order and Public Safety, with the participation of the mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris and Vincenzo De Luca, governor of the Campania region.
All the surveillance cameras of the city will be restored to working condition, the minister told reporters after the meeting.
"At the moment 52 percent of the cameras are working, and for me it is not enough," he said.
"We would like to create in Campania, as the first region of the south, the single emergency number, 112. We give a sense of strengthening the institutions of power and it puts us at the forefront also in the European methods," he added.
According to local media reports, at least 50 mafia clans are active in Naples.
MINSK, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The participants of the contact group on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine reaffirmed their commitment to the full withdrawal of heavy weapons, the OSCE's Special Representative to contact group on Ukraine Martin Sajdik told local media on Wednesday.
After the meeting of the contact group in Minsk, Sajdik said that the sides confirmed their commitment to the withdrawal of heavy weapons and confirmed that security of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's observers and their property will be ensured.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was also asked to facilitate the implementation of the withdrawal of forces and hardware in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska on 7 March, Sajdik said.
The previous meeting of the contact group was held in the Belarusian capital on 15 February. Then the parties managed to reach an agreement on the withdrawal of all weapons from the contact line by 20 February. However, the parties failed to perform this.
The trilateral contact group will meet next time on 15 March.
MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government is planning to build 52 new clean energy parks by 2019 at an investment cost of 6.6 billion U.S. dollars, Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the opening of the sixth Mexico WindPower summit, Coldwell stated that 34 different companies would make the needed investments to expand the country's wind and solar energy infrastructure in the next three years.
"By 2019, a total of 34 companies will invest 6.6 billion U.S. dollars to build 52 energy generation centers," he announced.
Coldwell explained that wind energy is the clean power source which has seen the largest expansion in installed capacity in Mexico, with a growth of over 100 percent in 2015.
He estimated that in the next 15 years, Mexico would install a further 12,000 megawatts of wind power capacity, with half of these already under construction or with planning underway.
The minister highlighted the interest shown by industry leaders in the Mexican market, given its wind potential and the favorable policies passed by the government. In April, Mexico is set to hold its third electric round of long-term tenders.
For his part, Leopoldo Rodriguez, president of the Mexican Wind Energy Association (AMDEE), said that 1,100 megawatts were already planned.
"By 2020, we have the goal of reaching 12,000 megawatts. This would represent total investments of 12 billion U.S. dollars," he said.
CANBERRA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The head of Lockheed Martin on Thursday said Australia's F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) will be delivered and combat-ready by 2020, shrugging off criticism the program is still flawed.
Speaking ahead of the multi-million dollars jet's Australian debut at the Avalon Airshow this weekend, Lockheed Martin chief Marillyn Hewson dismissed Pentagon criticism that the F-35 program was suffering "multiple problems" and would not be battle-ready before it is expected to enter Australian service in 2020.
Hewson said development of the multi-role fighter was "complex" but said any issues would be well-and-truly ironed out by the time it comes into service in Australia.
"The U.S. Marine Corps already declared it combat ready in 2015 and the U.S. Air Force declared it combat ready last year," Hewson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday.
"I can assure (Australia) that we will get through all of that development and our aircraft will be ready operationally.
"So when Australia receives their aircraft they will have an opportunity to get them ready for their deployment."
Hewson said recent criticisms of the JSF program's delays were widely overblown, saying while the F-35 was delayed significantly in its early development, it has been smooth sailing for some time.
"(The delays) are in the distant past. Since 2010 we've been on schedule and on cost and the program is going really well. We're very proud of how the program is progressing," she said.
The Lockheed Martin chief also said there was potential to lower the cost of the jets, following criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year.
She said it was "feasible" that the price of the F-35 could come down from 90 million U.S. dollars to around 80 million U.S. dollar per unit in the future.
"As we ramp up the program we will see the cost come down with the increased volume (of sales), but we're also working on cost reduction initiatives. Australia will benefit from those savings," Hewson said.
Australia has ordered 72 of the controversial aircraft, at an approximate cost of 13 billion U.S. dollars. The first Australian F-35 is expected to enter official service in 2020.
SYDNEY, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The trade balance for Australia has fallen for the month of January, with figures released Thursday showing the trade surplus is down to 1.3 billion Australian dollars (995.8 million U.S. dollars) for the month.
The December total was 3.3 billion Australian dollars, a record high, and many economists had predicted January would see a surplus of 3.8 billion Australian dollars, instead Australia experienced the second largest monthly fall in the trade balance ever recorded.
Paul Dales, chief economist at Capital Economics, said the results suggest that there will be "sizeable drag" on growth within Australia during the current quarter.
"While rising consumption goods imports suggest that the surge in commodity prices is boosting domestic demand, this won't transform the outlook for the economy," Dales said.
Kristina Clifton, economist at the Commonwealth bank of Australia, said that although the results weren't as good as expected, Australia should still maintain trade surpluses moving forward, with commodity prices hovering at 45 percent higher than their 2015 lows.
"The narrowing services deficit highlights some of the structural factors at play," Clifton said.
"In particular, the expanding Asian middle income population benefits our tourism and education sectors."
With the results, Australia has now recorded three consecutive trade surpluses.
PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Kem Sokha, vice president of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was elected as the party president on Thursday after the self-exiled incumbent Sam Rainsy stepped down last month.
"The CNRP's extraordinary congress had unanimously elected Kem Sokha as the party's president by raising hands," CNRP's spokesman Yim Sovann said after the votes.
The extraordinary congress was held at the party's headquarters on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh with the participation of some 1,100 members.
Kem Sokha had been the CNRP's sole vice president since his Human Rights Party merged with Sam Rainsy's eponymous party in 2012 to form the CNRP.
According to Yim Sovann, the extraordinary congress also elected three party senior members -- steering committee chief Pol Ham, executive committee deputy chief Eng Chhay Eang and public affairs director Mu Sochua -- as the party vice-presidents.
The leadership reshuffle was prompted by the resignation of CNRP's long-serving president Sam Rainsy on Feb. 11.
HANOI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will suspend import of five agricultural commodities from India due to high risk of Caryedon serratus (Olivier) infection, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The decision was made after the MARD found that the products are likely to be contaminated with the insect which is subject to Vietnam's plant quarantine, reported Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper on Thursday.
The suspension will take effect in 60 days since Wednesday.
The five items included peanuts, cassia seeds, cocoa seeds, French bean seeds and tamarind.
The MARD's Plant Protection Department is urged to closely supervise the import of the above-mentioned products during the time as well as notify Indian relevant agencies of the issue for thorough remedies.
In 2016, Vietnam detected over 3,000 tons of peanuts and 24 tons of tamarind of Indian origin infected with living Oliver insect. Since the beginning of 2017, Vietnam has found other 380 tons of contaminated peanuts imported from the South Asian country, said the ministry.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia will revoke visa-free entry for citizens from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) starting from Monday, Malaysia's Bernama news agency reported on Thursday, citing deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The decision came after a DPRK man with the passport name of "Kim Chol" was murdered by two women at the Kuala Lumpur Airport on Feb. 13. A diplomatic row emerged between the two countries as the DPRK side accused the Malaysian side of "colluding with hostile forces" and delaying the release of the body.
Malaysia insisted its objectivity in the investigation.
CANBERRA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has said Australia has the chance to strengthen ties with China when the government releases its much-anticipated Foreign Policy White Paper later in the year.
Following Wednesday's announcement from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that she was recalling all 113 of Australia's foreign diplomats to help the government shape a new, modern foreign policy, Keating said it was a wonderful opportunity to further embrace China with greater "strategic regard."
Speaking to Fairfax Media on Thursday, Keating described the last two decades of Australian foreign policy as a "waste," saying that as China was a major country in the Asian region, it was important to realize the nation's rise as "completely legitimate."
"China ... looks to Australia as a supplier of much of its raw materials and therefore its development," Keating said, adding that "how much iron ore has it got to buy before we treat it with strategic regard? "
All 113 of Australia's foreign diplomats will attend a two-day summit in Canberra next month, meeting with Bishop, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo.
Keating said it would be "a valuable opportunity" for the government to discuss and adopt a more "positive approach" to China in the Asia-Pacific region.
The former Labor prime minister noted that if the government had acted earlier in consideration to China's rise, Australia might have been able to take earlier advantage of greater opportunities in a number of fields, including trade and tourism.
"If Australia were to have a positive strategic policy of engagement with China rather than a negative one, our influence on China's behavior would be much greater than it is today," Keating said.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Despite a still anemic world economy charged with rising isolationist sentiment, China's cooperation with other countries keeps growing, with recently released data showing that it became Germany's largest trading partner in 2016.
The increase of China-Germany trade, observers say, serves as yet another signal indicative of Beijing's steadfast commitment to its decades-old opening-up policy, which has benefited both China and the world at large.
OPEN DOOR, OPEN ARMS
Official statistics published Friday showed that the China-Germany trade amounted to 170 billion euros (about 180.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, which meant China overtook the United States as Germany's top trading partner.
Beyond Germany, the broader Europe is also witnessing an increasingly active and fruitful cooperation with China. Trade between China and the European Union (EU) grew by 3 percent year on year to over 3.6 trillion yuan (525 billion dollars) in 2016.
Against the backdrop of a gloomy world economic growth, that once again demonstrated China's willingness to establish closer ties with the rest of the world, Ruan Zongze, vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, told Xinhua.
Other indicators abound. For example, China has established railway connections with five of its 14 neighbors and the number is expected to increase soon. It has been the largest source of outbound tourists since 2013, contributing more than 13 percent to global tourism revenues.
In the eyes of foreign investors, China is becoming an increasingly attractive destination. A report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that China received 139 billion dollars of foreign direct investment in 2016, ranking third in the world just behind the United States and Britain.
In 2016, Beijing amended laws on foreign investment and rolled out measures to further simplify approval procedures for foreign companies. In January 2017, the government announced that it will further open the mining, infrastructure, services and technology sectors to foreign investment.
China will continue to be one of the most alluring destinations for foreign investment due to its fast growth and easier access, said James Zhan, a UNCTAD official in charge of investment and enterprise.
"China will keep its door wide open and not close it," said Chinese President Xi Jinping in a keynote speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos in January.
In the coming five years, Xi added, China is expected to import 8 trillion dollars of goods, attract 600 billion dollars of foreign investment, and make 750 billion dollars of outbound investment, and Chinese tourists will make 700 million overseas visits.
"All this will create a bigger market, more capital, more products and more business opportunities for other countries," noted the president, whose country has contributed over 30 percent to global growth on average every year since the 2008 international financial crisis.
NO TO PROTECTIONISM
While China is opening its door wider to the outside world, some other countries are seeking to retreat into the cocoon of their borders, pointing an accusing finger at economic globalization.
In response to the rising anti-globalization sentiment, Xi pointed out in his Davos speech that "many of the problems troubling the world are not caused by economic globalization."
"Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room. While wind and rain may be kept outside, that dark room will also block light and air. No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war," said the Chinese president.
China's firm stance against protectionism is gaining broader consensus. During their respective visits to China last week, French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that his country is ready to work with China to oppose protectionism, and Italian President Sergio Mattarella expressed his support for an open multilateral trading system.
Amid such anti-globalization currents as populism, protectionism and isolationism, China's active involvement in global economic cooperation and support for open, free global trade will have a positive impact upon itself and all nations around the world, said Gerrishon K. Ikiara, a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
As a major Chinese endeavor to promote global cooperation and common development, the Belt and Road Initiative, which is aimed at building an infrastructure and trade network along the ancient trade routes, is attracting more support and reaping early fruits.
So far over 100 countries and international organizations have given support to the initiative, and more than 40 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China.
Speaking in Jakarta last week on globalization, former World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy said the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, will be "the future engine" of globalization.
As many countries around the world are sliding toward protectionism, China "will probably be the stabilizing factor of the global trade," he said.
WELLINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Protectionism under the new United States administration of President Donald Trump poses the greatest potential risk to the New Zealand economy, the head of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) said Thursday.
Before the U.S. election, Trump had suggested tariffs of 45 percent should be imposed on Chinese imports, while House Republicans were pushing hard for border tax adjustments that would disallow deduction of import costs and exempt export revenues.
"Such calls for protectionism are contrary to the global trend in trade liberalization over recent decades," RBNZ governor Graeme Wheeler told a gathering of investors in Auckland.
"They also come at a time when the growth in merchandise trade volumes over the past five years is the weakest since the early 1980s and new trade-restrictive measures by G20 countries are at their highest level since the GFC (Global financial Crisis)," he said in a published speech.
"There is much uncertainty around the objectives of trade policy under the new U.S. administration, and the specific policy instruments that will be used in pursuit of these goals."
Trump's administration had withdrawn from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiations around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States were in jeopardy, and the administration had signaled it wanted to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"Higher tariffs would raise prices for U.S. consumers, could require a more accelerated tightening in monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, and could be expected to put upward pressure on the U.S. dollar exchange rate," said Wheeler.
"Furthermore, U.S. tariffs would invite retaliatory actions by other countries. This would raise prices to consumers, and distort global supply chains as producers in the U.S. and elsewhere change sources of supply and product destination," he said.
"Increased protectionist measures would represent a negative global supply shock."
Even if New Zealand exports of goods and services to the U.S. - currently exceeding 8 billion NZ dollars (5.71 billion U.S. dollars) - were not directly subject to higher tariffs, it would be hard hit by a downturn in the global economy, including among its main trading partners, in response to the direct and indirect impact of protectionist measures.
"We would experience lower global demand and weaker commodity prices. Our exporters would also experience efficiency losses and increased costs if they faced disruptions to established supply chains. We would also experience spillovers as foreign producers' diverted trade in response to tariffs and more general trading conditions," said Wheeler.
Domestic uncertainties around the economy included the future path for commodity prices, the high exchange rate, migration, the soaring housing market, and household saving, according to him.
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HANOI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 1) kicked off Thursday in Vietnam's south central Khanh Hoa province's Nha Trang city, with participation of delegates from 21 APEC member economies.
In his opening speech, Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister, APEC 2017 SOM Chair Bui Thanh Son said although global trade is weak, investment is subdued with many uncertainties in the world, the Asia-Pacific region remains the engine of economic growth and integration, and a pioneer in advancing trade and investment liberalization.
"APEC has all the resources, potentials and capabilities to overcome these challenges, and turn them into impetus for further growth and development. As a grouping of dynamic economies, our region can and will continue to move ahead on the path of development and prosperity," Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA quoted Son as saying.
During the two-day SOM 1, delegates will hear reports and recommendations by APEC committees and working group discussions, as well as exchange views on how to advance APEC's agenda in the four priority areas.
LOS ANGELES, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Atlas V rocket Wednesday carrying the newest U.S. National Reconnaissance Office satellite.
The ULA Atlas V rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, video from the scene showed.
"Mission success! ULA's #AtlasV delivers #NROL79 for the National Reconnaissance Office!" ULA posted on tweeter.
The mission, named NROL-79, is in support of national defense, according to ULA. But the company did not disclose the satellite's specific details.
The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine, and the Centaur upper stage was powered by the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 engine.
This was ULA's second launch in 2017 and the 70th Atlas V launch since the rocket's inaugural mission in 2002.
UNITED NATIONS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday "condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attacks" that occurred earlier in the day in the Afghan capital of Kabul, which killed at least 15 people and injured dozens.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks on targets including a police headquarters in the western part of the city.
"The members of the Security Council reiterated their serious concern at the threats posed by the Taliban, Al-Qaida, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) and illegal and armed groups to the local population, National Defense and Security Forces and the international presence in Afghanistan," the 15-nation UN body said in a press statement issued here.
"The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice, and urged all states, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Afghan authorities in this regard," the statement said.
Earlier Wednesday, a suicide car bomber struck an Afghan police precinct in western Kabul, reports said. Shortly after the attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of an Afghan intelligence agency branch in eastern Kabul as another attacker was gunned down while trying to enter the compound.
"The members of the Security Council reiterated that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of its motivation and wherever, whenever and by whomsoever it is committed, and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group," the statement said.
The council members reaffirmed the need for all states to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, the statement said.
"The members of the Security Council expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and government of Afghanistan and welcomed their unity in confronting this tragedy," the statement said.
"The members of the Security Council reiterated that no violent or terrorist acts can reverse the Afghan-led process along the path towards peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the government of Afghanistan, and by the international community," the statement added.
Observers believe that like in past years the Taliban militants would intensify activities with the herald of spring in war-battered Afghanistan.
LONDON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Peers in Britain's unelected House of Lords passed an amendment Wednesday night in what is seen as a blow to Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit bill.
The amendment aimed at guaranteeing the rights of 3 million European Union (EU) nationals to remain in Britain after Brexit was supported by a vote of 358 to 256.
It is now up to the members of parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons to accept the vote of the House of Lords, or use parliamentary procedures to overturn it.
The decision of the Lords is the first successful challenge to May as her Article 50 Brexit bill was racing through the parliamentary procedures to likely enable her to tell Brussels by the end of this month that Britain is leaving the EU.
Despite threats in the elected House of Commons to challenge May, her bill passed by a landslide majority without any changes.
May and her government ministers have announced they want the question of EU nationals living in Britain, and 1 million Britons living in EU countries to be dealt with as a priority.
The EU has said it wants the status of citizens to be part of the negotiations, leading to claims the issue is being used as Brexit "bargaining chips."
The agreed amendment, if adopted by May, would guarantee the rights of all EU citizens lawfully living in Britain at the time of Britain's departure from the EU.
Labor peer Baroness Hayter, who put forward the amendment, said EU residents in Britain risked being used as bargaining chips in the negotiations and it was in the gift of the government to stop this from happening.
"These people need to know now, not in two years' time or even 12 months' time. They simply cannot put their lives on hold," she said in the debate.
"Some are planning schools for their children, some are moving jobs, renting or buying a home or acting as carers. Some are receiving healthcare. Many more are working in our health service. All should have their uncertainty removed," she added.
During the debate in the crowded chamber, a number of peers supporting the amendment said the uncertainty over the future was already leading some European nationals to quit Britain.
Others spoke of Britain taking the "high moral ground" by telling EU nationals they can remain in Britain.
But Lord Bridges, parliamentary under-secretary for Exiting the EU, urged peers to reject the amendment.
"We all want to bring certainty to these 4 million people," he said, noting that nothing at the moment changes their status.
Following the vote, a spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the EU said: "We are disappointed the Lords have chosen to amend a Bill that the Commons passed without amendment."
"The Bill has a straightforward purpose -- to enact the referendum result and allow the government to get on with the negotiations. Our position on EU nationals has repeatedly been made clear. We want to guarantee the rights of EU citizens who are already living in Britain, and the rights of British nationals living in other member states, as early as we can," said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled his plans for a "new chapter" of Europe, ushering in an era of soul-searching for the bloc hit hard by Brexit.
Addressing the European Parliament's plenary session, Juncker said the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome "will not simply be a birthday of celebration, it will also be a birth moment of the EU at 27."
"Let's turn the page and commence a new chapter in our history," he said.
The white paper came weeks before British Prime Minister May is expected to activate the Article 50 clause in Britain's EU membership by the end of March.
Article 50 refers to the formal procedure by which an EU member state notifies the European Council that it intends to leave the block.
Leaders of EU member states are due to discuss the white paper at a summit next week in Brussels. They will meet again in Italy on March 25 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which founded the predecessor of the EU.
SYDNEY, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At a time in Sydney when liquor laws are becoming more and more restrictive, late-night venues are shutting their doors and the city's social calendar appears uninspiring to visiting tourists, one event is turning heads as Sydney's wildest, must see attraction.
After just 27 events, Sydney's Yacht Social Club is one of the hottest tickets in town, with every party selling out in less than 24 hours, months in advance.
The boozy, sun-soaked yacht parties take place on Sydney Harbour, complete with DJ's, Barbecues and the backdrop of the city's most famous landmarks.
With more than 200 people from destinations all over the world, the crowd comprises of young, attractive, adventure seekers leaping off boats into the harbour.
"Originally a lot of our crowd was European expats, now more and more Australians have come on board too," event organiser Phil Lee from Have You Heard Events told Xinhua.
"We have had quite a few Asians attending also, but in terms of Chinese tourists coming on board, that is something I would love to investigate and open up to that market because I'm sure they would love it."
"How I do that, I'm not sure, but it's something I'm really focusing on."
The event compiles of eight luxury catamarans being anchored together in what's called a raft-up.
Phil got the idea when on a sailing holiday in Croatia, after leaving his lucrative career as an IT specialist for Microsoft.
"At 28 years old I was living in London and loving London but hating my job, so I thought there has got to be something more to life than this," Lee said.
"So I came to Australia for my brothers wedding and I just never left."
Faced with endless safety and environmental challenges, the party-planners have so far been able to navigate the difficult waters of the tourism industry.
"We have a great relationship with the police, I am completely open with them," he said.
"We have risk assessments, safety management plans, I have two safety boats on standby, I have security personnel, we have lifeguards, qualified skippers and deckhands looking out for everyone's safety."
The group also employs divers and other personnel to clean any rubbish left by revellers.
"Sustainability is really important to us," Lee said.
COLOMBO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police on Thursday arrested 20 people over their alleged links to weapons found inside a local court in the capital on Wednesday.
A police spokesperson said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was conducting a probe and a forensic probe was also underway to nab suspects through fingerprints found on the weapons.
Court proceedings were suspended in the Mount Lavinia Magistrates Court on Wednesday after a fully loaded pistol and revolver were found inside the court premises.
The weapons were found during a routine search operation conducted following a fatal shooting incident near the Kalutara Court Complex recently in the island's south.
According to the police, the weapons may have been brought into the court complex in order to carry out an attack.
Seven people, including a criminal underworld leader, were killed when an unidentified group opened fire on a prison bus near the Kalutara Court complex on Monday.
Those killed included two prison officers.
Police said the underworld figure, Anura Udayashantha alias Samayan, who was killed in the shoot out, was believed to be the main target.
by Zhao Xiaona, Jeremy Allan Hawkins
BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China is open to everyone, and will further advance the interconnected development of Europe and Asia, said a European scholar on Wednesday.
After years of studying the Silk Road, Dutch historian Professor Richard Griffiths shared his insights into the Belt and Road Initiative in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
"It's not just China building this infrastructure; any party can join in," said the British-born academic at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia, Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
More than 100 countries and international organizations have responded warmly to the initiative and over 40 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China.
Currently studying Chinese himself, Griffiths first became interested in the initiative after helping set up a Silk Road research unit between Europe and China in 2007.
His research led him to recently write a book titled "Revitalizing the Silk Road: China's Belt and Road Initiative," which will be published later this year.
"I'm an economic historian and I'm interested in questions involving economic development," Griffiths said. "One of the big things is that development in infrastructure promotes economic growth in some cases but not in others."
This led the scholar to see a research opportunity. He saw the Belt and Road as a development project, but so far not much of the literature does looks at it from that perspective.
"I started researching exactly what was happening along these various corridors," Griffiths said. "And trying to see what was being rolled out by the project itself rather than how people were talking about its political dimensions."
In his January 2017 address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Xi announced that the Belt and Road forum for international cooperation will be held in Beijing this May, in order to brainstorm on interconnected development.
For Griffiths, this represented a real opportunity. "There is almost a Eurasian culture waiting to be re-discovered," he said. "I think conferences like this are the start of something like that and I'd love to be part of that process."
"The point of the Silk Road metaphor and why it's so strong is that the actions just occurred almost automatically. The goods traveled, the people each did their little bit, the cars and vans dropped goods off at the markets, and moved them on and that made up the road," he explained.
However, the expert said more could be done for people to have an overall picture of the Silk Road. "At the moment, we're getting a lot of infrastructure projects that are not really connected in that public explanation," Griffiths said.
"That idea (of holding the forum) would strengthen the Chinese story of the Silk Road and help cohere the international activity that the Silk Road will embrace."
Given a unique perspective through his work, Griffiths saw the Belt and Road Initiative as one way to respond to the threat of international protectionism that many analysts fear.
"If a trade war begins, it is important for leading countries to say: 'We won't go with it,'" said Griffiths.
Should the United States try to initiate a trade war with China, it would be important for China not to pass the consequences on to other nations, the historian said. Instead, it should develop "tariff truces" with countries interested in international cooperation.
"If that happens, Chinese leadership can really play an important role in stabilizing the world economy and this conference then will just be part of that," Griffiths said.
He also believed that such a strategy would appeal to Europeans, saying: "The European Union will be very responsive to that kind of move."
European cooperation is of major importance to the success of the Belt and Road Initiative, the expert stressed. He pointed out that one of the problems with infrastructure projects in Europe was that they had to be conducted under European rules and regulations.
"In Europe, if you do an investment project of this nature, it has to be open to competition," Griffiths said.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia will revoke visa-free entry for citizens from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) starting from Monday, Malaysia's Bernama news agency reported on Thursday, citing deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The decision came after a DPRK man with the passport name of "Kim Chol" was murdered by two women at the Kuala Lumpur Airport on Feb. 13. The police believed the two female suspects, along with four other DPRK nationals, planned and carried out the attack.
Zahid said the decision was made after taking into account national security as a priority, according to the Bernama report.
Malaysia indicted the two female suspects on Wednesday for murder. The third suspect, a DPRK national called Ri Jong Chol, is still in police custody but his remand period will end this Friday.
Zahid told the media he will be briefed on the handling of Ri, saying whether the police will release Ri or prosecute him will be known on Thursday.
Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that grants visa-free treatment for DPRK citizens and is the only one that enjoys visa-free entry when its citizens enter DPRK.
A diplomatic row emerged between the two countries as the DPRK side accused the Malaysian side of "colluding with hostile forces" and delaying the release of the body. The DPRK government also sent a high-level delegation to Malaysia to discuss about the matter.
Malaysia insisted its objectivity and professionalism in the investigation.
TOKYO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A collision between a train on the JR Tokaido Line at a railroad crossing and a passenger vehicle on Thursday morning in Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, left the driver of the car dead and some of the passengers on the derailed train needing hospital treatment, local media reported.
The 6-car train, traveling in rainy conditions to Toyohashi in Aichi Prefecture, from Gifu, also in the Chubu region of central Japan, collided with the car, which caused the first car of the train to derail and sent the passenger car slamming into a utility pole where it exploded on impact, local reports said.
The man driving the car was pronounced dead at the scene, police officials investigating the accident said, while of the 280 passengers traveling on the train, at least four needed to be treated in hospital for their injuries.
The 27-year-old train operator said that he saw the oncoming car enter the crossing after the barriers had been lowered, but that it was impossible to brake in time to avoid the collision.
"I saw a passenger car approaching the railroad crossing with the barriers down, I applied the brake, but I could not stop in time," the train's driver was quoted as saying.
Passengers were escorted from the derailed train to a nearby station by bus, local officials said.
A security camera in the vicinity of the railroad crossing captured the moment the accident occurred and showed the car bursting into flames following the collision.
According to a passenger on the train, there was a sudden jolt, followed by a loud bang. Residents near the railroad crossing said they could feel their homes shake from the train's impact with the car and subsequent explosion.
The National Transportation Safety Commission on Thursday said it had dispatched two investigators to the scene to gather more information on the cause of the fatal collision.
WELLINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand ran up a small trade surplus in the 2016 calendar year, with dairy exports to China providing the biggest single boost, the government statistics agency said Thursday.
Overall, New Zealand's trade surplus with the rest of the world last year stood at 3.7 billion NZ dollars (2.64 billion U.S. dollars), according to Statistics New Zealand.
Total exports were 70.1 billion NZ dollars (50.05 billion U.S. dollars) and total imports were 66.4 billion NZ dollars (47.41 billion U.S. dollars).
The top export destination was Australia, with a value of 12.8 billion NZ dollars (9.13 billion U.S. dollars), followed by China at 12.3 billion NZ dollars (8.77 billion U.S. dollars).
New Zealand sent 2.7 billion NZ dollars (1.92 billion U.S. dollars) of dairy products to China in 2016 year - its largest export earner - up from 2.4 billion NZ dollars (1.71 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015.
New Zealand ran a trade deficit with the European Union, its biggest imports provider.
"Europeans are big buyers of New Zealand meat and more of them are travelling to New Zealand," international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said in a statement.
"However, the trade balance overall is in the EU's favor due to our imports from there."
New Zealand imported 11.7 billion NZ dollars (8.35 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods and services from the EU in 2016, which accounted for a sixth of total imports, but it exported 8.3 billion NZ dollars (5.92 billion U.S. dollars) of goods and services to the EU, leaving a deficit of 3.4 billion NZ dollars (2.43 billion U.S. dollars).
"We spent more on importing cars from the EU than they spent on importing meat from New Zealand," Kwon said.
However, New Zealand had trade surpluses with 16 of its top 25 trading partners in 2016, including Australia, China, the United States, and Japan.
The three largest goods import expenses were electrical machinery and equipment from China, vehicles, parts and accessories from Japan and vehicles, parts and accessories from the EU.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's attorney general said on Thursday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man, who was arrested as a suspect following the airport killing, will be released and deported.
Ri Jong Chol, the 47-year-old DPRK man who worked at a local anti-cancer drug company in Malaysia, was arrested by the police on Feb. 17 for suspected involvement in the airport case, in which a DPRK man with the passport name of "Kim Chol" was poisoned with lethal VX nerve agent. Ri was remanded for two weeks in police custody. The remand will expire on Friday.
Malaysia's Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali did not elaborate on the reasons of the release, but local media said it was due to a lack of evidence. During the investigation, the police did not reveal the connections between him and four other suspects believed to have fled the country.
On Wednesday, the two female suspects who carried out the attack, one from Indonesia and one Vietnamese, were charged with murder. If convicted, the two will face death sentence.
MEXICO CITY, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday praised the country's private sector for keeping investing domestically amid a climate of uncertainty caused by troubled ties with the United States.
Speaking at the inauguration of an automotive parts plant in northern Mexico, Pena said: "The private business in our country does not give up in the face of uncertainty, and is very determined to continue investing and growing with Mexico."
The high pressure die casting (HPDC) plant is located in northern Nuevo Leon state, owned by Mexican auto parts maker Nemak, which supplies major global automakers like Ford, General Motors, Audi and Volkswagen.
The 200-million-U.S.-dollar plant is expected to create 610 direct jobs and up to 1,800 indirect jobs.
There are more than 850 auto parts manufacturers in Mexico, with exports growing at an average annual rate of 9.8 percent from 2012 to 2016, according to official figures.
The ongoing investments show "the confidence that our business leaders have to keep betting on Mexico, and keep believing in Mexico's future," said Pena.
Mexico is now in preparation for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States, as the Trump administration claims the two-decade agreement has unfairly benefited Mexico.
NANJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Six people died and more than 20 were injured after stormy weather hit east China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday afternoon, local authorities said Thursday.
Strong gales swept Wuxi and Yancheng cities, with a maximum speed of 110 km per hour, tearing off roofs and damaging billboards and power facilities, according to the meteorological observatory of Yancheng City.
In Wuxi, a pedestrian was hit by a falling billboard and died.
Similar gale-triggered accidents left five people dead in Yancheng, including three in Funing County and two in Sheyang County.
More than 20 others suffered injuries in Funing County, which was hardest hit by the storm.
The local government has launched an emergency rescue.
DHAKA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Buddhists in Bangladesh are brimming with inner pride as with the support of China, a new stupa has been built as a monument to house sacred relics and honor an ancient Buddhist scholar.
The stupa, in part, memorializes and honors the Buddhist scholar Atish Dipankar Srijnan, who was born in 980 AD and died in 1053 AD, with the sanctuary being opened at the place of his birth in Bangladesh.
Originally named Chandragarbha by his parents, Atish was born into a royal family in the Vajrayogini village on the outskirts of the country's capital city of Dhaka.
The newly-constructed memorial to the saint and philosopher, who historically was known for his unique character, erudition, scholarly attributes, and spiritual eminence, opened to the public on Tuesday.
In attendance at the monument's opening ceremony was Chunyi, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, who attended as a chief guest, and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang was also present as special guest.
A host of dignitaries including Bangladeshi government officials were also present at the inaugural ceremony held at the magnificent new stupa.
The Chinese government has been highly lauded by Bangladeshi's Buddhist community as well as broader society for its immensely generous support in building the stupa to honor Atish.
The ashes of Atish, who was on a mission to preach peace, teach knowledge and share culture with China, including his expertise in mathematics and construction, were returned by China to Bangladesh in 1978.
Since then, Atish has become a symbol of a stronger China-Bangladesh relations. In fact, a mausoleum has been built in the village of his birth with support from the Bangladeshi government.
Sanghanayaka Suddhananda Mahathero, president of Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha, said, "Atish Dipankar, beloved, beloved son. We are so grateful to you."
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then a Republican senator, spoke with Russian ambassador twice during Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year, and he didn't reveal it at Senate hearings for his confirmation, U.S. media reported Wednesday.
Sessions spoke on the phone privately with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak from his office in September, said the reports.
Two months before the phone talks, Sessions also met with Kislyak and talked to him informally when attending an event held at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation along with 50 other ambassadors, Sessions' spokeswoman Sara Isgur Flores admitted to local media.
"It was short and informal," the spokeswoman said, adding that as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, Sessions regularly met foreign ambassadors.
"Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, (South) Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors," Flores said in a statement.
Sessions was not trying to mislead fellow senators when he said during his confirmation hearing that he had not had contacts with Moscow, the spokeswoman said.
During the hearings, when asked what he would do if he learned a member of Trump's campaign had communicated with the Russian government over the course of the 2016 campaign, Sessions responded: "I'm not aware of any of those activities ... I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Officials at the Justice Department said Sessions did not consider his talks with Kislyak relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember their discussion in detail.
The U.S. FBI is probing possible communications between Trump campaign aides and Russian officials. Sessions was an early Trump supporter and one of his top advisers during the campaign.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Wednesday night that if the FBI determines Trump's campaign illegally coordinated with Russia, Sessions should recuse himself from making the decision whether to pursue prosecutions.
"If there were contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, they may be legitimate; they may be OK. I want to know what happened between the Trump campaign, the Clinton campaign and the Russians," Graham said on CNN.
Meanwhile, Democrat Elijah Cummings, a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called on Sessions to resign immediately.
Trump's first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn stepped down last month after it was reported that he had discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak in December, and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the details.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Thursday underscored building a clean online and offline environment for social harmony.
The office announced it will launch more campaigns in 2017 to crack down on piracy and online pornography to ensure the healthy development of children and young people.
Issues in live-streaming video, instant chat services and pop-up ads will be dealt with, said the office.
The office also urged early detection and punishment for illegal academic journals as well as blackmail by fake journalists.
In 2016, Chinese law enforcement confiscated over 16 million illegal publications and banned more than 14,000 websites disseminating harmful information.
Deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from northeast China's Jilin Province arrive in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2017. The fifth annual session of the 12th NPC will open on March 5. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) are heading to Beijing for the top legislature's annual session, which will open on Sunday.
Deputies from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were the first to arrive on Thursday morning.
The fifth session of the 12th NPC is the first since President Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Cental Committee at a key CPC meeting last October.
NPC deputies are elected by people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The armed forces elect their own. Deputies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan follow separate election rules decided by the NPC.
The NPC session this year will debate on the government work report, the budget of the central government and the draft General Provisions of Civil Law, among other matters.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers and political advisors in Beijing for their annual meetings said they will push for a national indoor smoking ban.
Shanghai on Wednesday became the latest major Chinese city to ban smoking in all indoor public venues, workplaces, and public transportation.
Smokers who break the ban can be fined up to 200 yuan (29 U.S. dollars), and venue owners may be fined up to 30,000 yuan. Shen Jinjin, a national lawmaker, said local experiments had paved the way to roll out the ban nationwide.
Deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) and members of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) gathered in Beijing for their fifth annual sessions opening later this week.
Shen, a disease control official in eastern Jiangsu Province, said smoking control in public places is the most effective way to reduce second-hand smoke exposure.
There are over 300 million smokers and 740 million people exposed to second-hand smoke in China. Tobacco control legislation faced strong resistance in the past. Only recently has it received more support thanks to growing public health awareness.
Kong Qian, mother of a two-year-old in Shanghai, said her family often spots smokers puffing in restaurants.
"Sometimes I try to tell them to stub out their cigarettes," she said. "If they don't, I walk away."
"Now we finally have a legal basis to defend ourselves," Kong said.
Shanghai is not the first major Chinese city to issue such a ban. Beijing enforced its own ban nearly two years ago.
Lawmakers like Shen said such a ban should go beyond big cities to the rest of the country for the sake of people's health.
In November 2014, the legal affairs office of the State Council solicited public opinion for the first draft of a smoking control regulation. To date the draft is still in the making. Health authorities said earlier that they would continue to promote deliberation of the draft this year.
Yue Bingfei, a CPPCC member and medical expert, has for years submitted tobacco control proposals at the annual two sessions. He said he will continue to push for a national smoking ban this year.
"CPPCC members in the healthcare field have reached a consensus in banning smoking in indoor public places," he said.
China has set a target to reduce the smoking rate among people aged 15 and above to 20 percent by 2030 from the current 27.7 percent, according to the "Healthy China 2030" blueprint issued by the central authorities last October.
"A national smoke-free law will protect people's health to a large extent and help realize the target set out by the blueprint," said Feng Danlong, another CPPCC member.
PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Kem Sokha, vice president of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was elected as the party's president on Thursday after the self-exiled incumbent, Sam Rainsy stepped down last month.
"The CNRP's extraordinary congress had unanimously elected Kem Sokha as the party's president by raising hands," CNRP's spokesman Yim Sovann said after the votes.
The congress was held at the party's headquarters on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh with the participation of some 1,100 members.
Kem Sokha, 63, had been the CNRP's sole vice president since his Human Rights Party merged with Sam Rainsy's eponymous party in 2012 to form the CNRP.
According to Yim Sovann, the congress also elected three party senior members -- steering committee chief Pol Ham, executive committee deputy chief Eng Chhay Eang and public affairs director Mu Sochua -- as the party vice-presidents.
The term for the party's president and vice presidents is five years.
The leadership reshuffle was prompted by the resignation of CNRP's long-serving president Sam Rainsy on Feb. 11.
Rainsy, 68, who has lived in self-exile in France since November 2015 to avoid a seven-year imprisonment for defamation and incitement cases, stepped down as the party's president just days after Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen proposed the National Assembly to amend the Law on Political Parties to ban convicts from serving as president of a party.
On Feb. 20, the prime minister's ruling party-controlled National Assembly amended the legislation which bars convicted politicians from leading a political party and empowers the Supreme Court to dissolve any political party over the conviction of a party top official.
A prominent political analyst said that the CNRP's leadership reshuffle has little influence on the decision of the voters in the upcoming commune election in June 2017 and the general election in July 2018.
"The support base of CNRP depends on the people's assessment of the reforms being carried out by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Therefore, the CNRP's leadership has minimal impact on the decision of the voters," Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.
"The votes to be cast for the CNRP are mainly a reflection or expression of dissatisfaction with the performance of the government, not necessarily in support of the leadership and policy of the CNRP," he said.
The opposition CNRP has been seen as a main rival for the prime minister's ruling CPP. In the last general election in July 2013, the opposition CNRP earned 55 seats, as the ruling CPP won 68 seats in the 123-seat National Assembly.
by Xinhua writers Liu Chang, Zhai Xiang and Cheng Zhuo
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Almost a century on, the Red Mansion, a landmark of China's New Culture Movement, still attracts hoards of young people.
Built in 1918, the four-story red brick building was once home to Peking University library, school of arts, president's and dean's offices. It housed many academic and revolutionary pioneers, including Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu and Lu Xun, who made history in the early 20th century.
Now, creative cultural products are bringing it back to life.
APPROACHABLE IMAGERY
Peking University was a stronghold of the New Culture Movement during the 1910s and 1920s. The movement tried to address China's ills through democracy and science, as Marxism rapidly spread across China.
In 2014, the New Culture Movement Memorial and the Beijing Lu Xun Museum merged and the following year began creative endeavors. Liu Xin, 31, is a designer in the Red Mansion.
In 2014, souvenir sales at the museum made only a few thousand yuan, but the sum grew almost 70 times from that last year.
Liu examined the history of a multitude of objects from museum collections and used their background to develop items that wed artistry and practicality.
In 2010, she noted from the museum's collections a Japanese caricature of Lu Xun drawn in 1936, which honored his "extraordinary will."
Lu Xun was a writer who profoundly shaped Chinese literature in the 20th century. Hundreds of millions of people have studied his works, beginning with elementary school textbooks.
Liu used the caricature as inspiration for four new images of Lu -- reading a book, delivering a speech, marching and fighting -- which now appear on bookmarks, rulers and pencil cases.
In the fighting image, Lu holds a pen as tall as a person in his hand, using his writing itself as a weapon. There are also products designed around Lu's proverbs.
"I see the ingenuity in these products," said Zhang Yi, a visitor to the memorial. "Over the years, I have gradually come to understand the works of Lu Xun which I first learned at school."
"The image of Lu Xun here looks approachable and prompted me to read his books again," he added.
NOSTALGIA SELLS
In just one year, the creative experiment has generated unexpected results. Li Zhanqi, head of the project, said that social benefit for everyday consumers was an essential goal. Over 40 percent of the museum's visitors are students. The collections and exhibitions play a key role in their education.
When she designs new products, Liu often stays in the exhibition area to see the visitors' reaction to the work. Postcards and stationery priced between 10 to 30 yuan are her most popular items.
Products based on the Peking University logo, designed by Lu Xun, are also available at the Red Mansion.
"We strive for good quality, strong cultural resonance and to be affordable." Li said.
"Several years ago," Liu recalled, "a lady over 90 years old who graduated from Peking University came to the mansion with her family. She had returned from the United States and wanted to take a look at her old classroom."
The old lady left with several of the school logo products designed by Liu, reminders of her youthful years at college.
A FLOURISHING INDUSTRY
Creative industries are flourishing in China's culture-sphere. Just in 2015, the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City had over 8,700 branded souvenirs and sold more than 1 billion yuan's worth of them.
In March last year, the State Council said China should "develop the creative cultural industry," with sensitivity, practicality and originality.
These products are also finding popularity overseas. At this year's Frankfurt Paperworld, a leading international stationery fair, Liu's products were an instant hit and she was approached by German dealers interested in her products and designs.
"The goal of our industry is to promote Chinese culture. It also offers a wonderful opportunity for the museum to present itself to the public," said Liu.
"I hope our memorial can help people understand the history of Lu Xun and the New Culture Movement," Li Zhanqi said. "And I hope that when visitors leave, they take some souvenirs they can cherish."
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least five militants have been killed as government army assaulted a Abu Sayyaf group which was believed to be directly behind the beheading of a German captive, a military official said on Thursday.
The military said 11 troopers were also injured during the operation late Wednesday in the jungle near Indanan Town, Sulu Province, in southern Philippines.
Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said troops from the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion (SRB), assaulted the Abu Sayyaf militants it tracked down while fleeing in the jungle of Bud (mountain) Taran before sunset.
The mountain range of Bud Tara is near the area of Buanza village where intelligence reports indicated the Abu Sayyaf group beheaded last Sunday 70-year old German Juergen Kantner who was abducted in November last year.
The Abu Sayyaf bandits have demanded a 30 million pesos (598,000 U.S. dollars) ransom for Kantner's release. The kidnappers set 3 p.m. Sunday as deadline for the payments of the ransom. And he was killed after the ransom demand was not met.
During the fighting which lasted 10 minutes, 5 militants were killed and undetermined others were wounded, according to Galvez.
The militants retaliated firing rounds of grenade rifle to cover their retreat which resulted in the injuries of 10 troopers and another directly hit by bullet.
According to Galvez, ground forces indicated the group which army rangers encountered was among those militants responsible in the beheading of Kantner.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to launch an all-out offensive against the estimated 500 Abu Sayyaf bandits operating mostly in the hinterlands of southern Philippine provinces of Sulu and Basilan.
Duterte on Tuesday apologized to the German government, its people and the family of Kantner after the Philippine government failed to rescue him and save him from being beheaded by a Philippine bandit group.
"I would like to assure everybody that for as long as there is the violence being perpetrated, the Republic of the Philippines will continue with its military operations," he said.
ADEN, Yemen, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least three members of the the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch were killed in a U.S. drone strike early Thursday morning in the country's southeastern province of Shabwa, a military official told Xinhua.
At about 6:00 a.m. local time, unmanned U.S. aircraft fired a number of missiles at a house suspected of being a hideout of the al-Qaida terrorist group, the Yemeni military source said on condition of anonymity.
Residents near the scene in the Saeid region in Shabwa confirmed to Xinhua that the airstrike destroyed the house used by al-Qaida operatives.
An intelligence officer in the province said that a mid-level commander of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot was believed to be killed in the strike.
Details about the identities of the killed militants are not immediately available.
Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa and central province of al-Bayda, where dozens of al-Qaida members are believed to be based, have been the focus of American-led airstrikes.
Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.
The Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known locally as "Ansar al-Sharia," emerged in January 2009, claiming responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against Yemen's army and governmental institutions.
The AQAP and Islamic State-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in southern Yemen.
Security in Yemen has further deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
Over 10,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, many of them civilians.
JAKARTA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's capital of Jakarta will host the 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) summit from Sunday to Tuesday with dozens of state leaders and high profile dignitaries confirmed to attend the meeting.
A total of 16 VVIPs, including South African, Sri Lankan presidents and Australian prime minister, have confirmed to attend the summit, a senior official of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday.
The event will be held in Jakarta's landmark JCC convention center, said the ministry's Director General for Asia Pacific and African affairs Desra Percaya at a press conference.
A business forum attended by some 250 businessmen from 21 IORA member countries was scheduled on Monday. Indonesian President Joko Widodo was expected to deliver his speech in the forum, he added.
Indonesia holds the rotating chairmanship of the IORA this year. To secure the upcoming summit, Indonesia will deploy 12,000 military and police personnel.
XI'AN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The plan to build a national park for giant pandas was approved by the central government, Shaanxi Province forestry department announced Thursday.
The 27,134-square-kilometer park will be engaged in protection of the species and habitat preservation.
There are 33 groups of pandas living in the wild in China, distributed across Shaanxi, Gansu Province in the northwest of the country and Sichuan Province in the southwest.
Qinling in Shaanxi Province is home to 298 wild pandas, the department said. It will be divided into protected, habitat restoration and tourist areas.
The three provinces are currently drawing up action plans for the park, according to the department.
According to a nationwide survey released in February 2015, by the end of 2013 China had 1,864 wild pandas and 375 in captivity.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Having made headlines at the Davos World Economic Forum with his vigorous defense of globalization, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to take the spotlight in another gathering with global influence: the "two sessions" in Beijing.
The fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), and the fifth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, will open on March 5 and March 3, respectively.
The annual sessions of the top legislature and top political advisory body are among the most important political events for the world's second largest economy.
The NPC is the highest body of state power, enabling the Chinese people to exercise their power as "the master of state." New state leaders will be elected at the NPC session in March 2018 after the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress elects a new Party leadership later this year.
It was at the first session of the 12th NPC in March 2013 that Xi was elected president. He had been elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November the previous year at the 18th CPC National Congress.
This year's two sessions are the first since Xi was endorsed as the core of the CPC Central Committee last October.
"Through the meetings, greater consensus will be gathered to build a moderately prosperous society and Xi's thoughts on state governance will be more clear-cut," said Xin Ming, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
Over the past four years, Xi's governance thoughts have been guiding China's development. The book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," a collection of his speeches, provides insight into his concepts, resolve and wisdom of governance. More than six million copies have been distributed worldwide.
Officials at all levels should align their thinking with Xi's strategic blueprint, the "four comprehensives," which is a four-pronged strategy to achieve a moderately prosperous society, deepen reform, advance rule of law and govern the Party strictly.
For China, the strategy creates routes to build a socialist modern country.
For observers, Xi's speeches and policy initiatives at the "two sessions" will send important signals about how China will march toward what Xi called, the "great dream of revitalizing the Chinese nation."
STRONG LEADERSHIP
Xi's governance thoughts, ranging from economic and social reform to foreign affairs and military transformation, have been greatly influencing the country's course.
In the economic sphere, Xi has led the country to achieve a remarkable growth. The country remains the top engine of global growth, with the International Monetary Fund predicting China's contribution would account for 39 percent of the world's economic expansion in 2016.
China reported 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016, outpacing most major economies in the world.
Xi has called the current phase of growth the "new normal," as China shifts to a more sustainable development and distributes the benefits more evenly.
To ensure this crucial rebalancing is successful, Xi is advocating "a new political economy," which draws on and develops Marxist thought.
Supply-side structural reform is key to understanding the new political economy and China's future development. Fundamentally different from the "supply-side economics" in the West that focuses on tax cuts, China's supply-side structural reform involves a set of measures including dissolving overcapacity and developing the real economy.
Xi has led the country as it rolls out reforms across all sectors that advance state governance, such as consultative democracy and rule of law.
The reform-minded president also heads leading groups and commissions covering key areas including finance and economic affairs, national security, Internet security and informatization, as well as military and civilian integration. The mechanism is believed to help strengthen centralized and unified leadership of the Party in state governance.
Xi stresses placing power into an institutional cage. The decision to establish the national supervision commission to place the use of power under close supervision exemplifies this model.
To build a clean and advanced ruling party, Xi has carried out a sweeping campaign against corruption, which he warned could lead to the collapse of the Party and the downfall of the state. Since Xi took the helm of the Party, the anti-corruption fight has gained "crushing momentum" and earned popular support by netting at least 240 centrally administered officials and more than 1 million low level officials for violating CPC and government rules.
Safeguarding Xi's core status is "a political issue of the utmost importance," said senior local officials at the recently concluded sessions of legislative and political advisory bodies in China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
GATHER NEW MOMENTUM
Xi and his comrades must take steps to ensure China escapes the "middle-income trap," which few developing countries have managed to avoid, and continues to open up to fuel global growth.
In his New Year speech, Xi called on the nation to "roll up our sleeves and work harder."
Prior to the two sessions, Xi visited Hebei Province and said that poverty alleviation was fundamental to building a moderately prosperous society.
During the 2013-2016 period, 55 million people have shaken off poverty -- more than the population of South Korea. China plans to eliminate poverty by 2020.
During an inspection of Beijing, Xi stressed building a people-oriented city by addressing problems of overpopulation, traffic congestion, soaring house prices and air pollution.
He also highlighted coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, an ambitious project to link more than 100 million people to become an important engine for the country's economic growth. Huge progress has been made in transportation, industry and the environment in the past three years.
At a February workshop attended by officials at the provincial and ministerial levels, Xi urged them to "choose the heaviest burden and crack the hardest nuts" when pursuing economic and social development.
"Xi's speech at the workshop was grounded in Marxism and it will provide the ideological basis for the 19th CPC National Congress," said Zhu Lingjun with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
Xi is also striving to establish a global landscape featuring win-win results, common development and equality, highlighting the country's image as a responsible and active player in global governance.
He attended the World Economic Forum annual meeting in January, inspiring the world by advocating free trade and warning against protectionism.
Xi told the forum that China is not only the beneficiary of economic globalization, but also a contributor to it. To this end, he has repeatedly called for building "a community of shared future for mankind."
In early February, Xi and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump held a phone conversation on bilateral ties, a good first step in consolidating relations between the world's two largest economies.
"They are the [world's] two leading nations and it is crucial that there are open communications so there are no misunderstandings," said Darrell West, director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.
China will host a Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in May to make globalization more inclusive and beneficial, followed by a summit of the emerging-market bloc of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in September.
CONFORMITY
The two sessions are expected to drum up support for the country's next round of reforms. Thousands of deputies and political advisors will speak on various issues including economic globalization, national defense and diplomacy.
The whole Party and nation will closely unite around the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core. "It is a necessity," said Zhang Zhao'an, deputy director of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "While we are handling a complex situation at home and abroad, we can not afford to lose direction."
It is unique that an 88-million strong political party gather around its leadership and then unites and leads over 1.3 billion people toward a common destination that delivers benefits not only to themselves but also to people around the world.
"Behind all the above is the Chinese philosophy of governance, including two concepts: 'minyi,' or public opinion, and 'minxin,' the hearts and minds of the people," said Wen Yang, a researcher with the Institute of China Studies at Fudan University.
"New ideas, thoughts and strategies of state governance under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core have solid foundation of public opinion. Proven successful by experience, they have won the people's support," he said. "They will become an important theme of the 'two sessions' and the CPC's 19th National Congress."
A train runs in a mountainous area where flowers are in full bloom near Juyongguan Pass of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2016. (Xinhua/Wang Xibao)
Hi, here is what you need to know about China:
China's top political advisory body to open annual session Friday
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, will open its annual session at 3:00 p.m. Friday in Beijing, a spokesperson told a press conference Thursday. xhne.ws/cPJY4
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Chinese economy to remain top engine of world growth: spokesperson
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is expected to remain the strongest engine for world economic growth in 2017, a spokesperson of the top political advisory body said Thursday.
China's economy expanded by 6.7 percent last year, a good start for the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), Wang Guoqing, spokesperson for the fifth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told a press conference. xhne.ws/U1GwG
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China moves to boost transport infrastructure: officials
BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has announced ambitious plans to improve the country's transport infrastructure in the next few years. The State Council on Tuesday issued a document to expand the transport network during the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020).
By 2020, the country will have 150,000 kilometers of railway lines, 5 million km of roads, 260 airports and 2,527 berths for vessels over 10,000 tonnes. High-speed railways will increase to 30,000 km, connecting more than 80 percent of cities with a population of more than 1 million. xhne.ws/0lTxV
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ECO welcomes China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
ISLAMABAD, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) on Wednesday welcomed the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in its declaration adopted at the conclusion of its 13th summit.
The Islamabad Declaration welcomed the CPEC as a "far-reaching initiative that would act as catalyst for the development of the entire region." xhne.ws/UlpKZ
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China to become world's 2nd biggest wine market by 2020: VINEXPO
LONDON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China is set to become the world's second biggest wine market by 2020 when sales of still and sparkling wine reach 21 billion U.S. dollars in the country, the wine industry's VINEXPO announced here on Wednesday. xhne.ws/HkC97
by Xinhua writers Liu Xin, Li Na
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Media Center Hotel in Beijing has been unusually busy since Thursday as Chinese and foreign journalists gather there to report on the "two sessions."
The Fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) is scheduled to begin March 5, and the Fifth Session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is scheduled to start March 3.
Located in west Beijing, Media Center Hotel has served as the press center for the two sessions since 2008. Journalists arrived at the hotel before the opening of the annual political meetings to get press cards and prepare for reporting.
This year's meetings received over 3,000 journalist applications, including 1,250 from foreign journalists, 200 more than last year, according to the press center.
Before the opening of the two sessions, the press center invited foreign journalists to discuss issues of public concern and their reporting requests and interests.
The center holds a number of press conferences during the two sessions each year. Network service is available for journalists inside the building.
This is the first year Brian Kopczynski of France 24 has reported from the two sessions.
"The sessions are China's most important political events each year," Kopczynski said in Chinese. "I'm going to report on the government's new policies and decisions."
The military budget is a key topic for Kopczynski. 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 sessions.
Zheng Hailong, senior reporter from Hong Kong-based Ming Pao Newspapers Limited, came to Beijing to report on the two sessions for the second time.
"The press center provides good service to journalists," Zheng said. "It's convenient for us to apply online for interviews."
His eight-person team hopes to do some in-depth reporting on environmental governance and poverty alleviation.
This year is key for implementing the 13th five-year plan, a road map for the nation's development from 2016 to 2020.
China's macroeconomic conditions, supply-side structural reform,the RMB exchange rate, housing market, and stock market rank high on the list of important issues for the press.
Zhanna, a reporter with Russia Today, plans to report on updated news about China's growth target.
As the world's second-largest economy, China's GDP growth rate is always a key topic 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 is aiming for average annual growth of more than 6.5 percent from 2016 to 2020.
Daphne Lo, principal reporter with PCCW Media Limited in Hong Kong, expects to report on Hong Kong maintaining its status as an international financial center and its involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative, which has gained the participation of people across China and dozens of countries and regions.
Lu Yu, vice president of Sino-US Times, reports on diplomatic news. He is interested in Sino-U.S. relations under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
"Cooperation benefits both countries while confrontation can only hurt," Lu said.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China called on the European Union (EU) to put an end to punitive duties imposed on Chinese solar panels as soon as possible following a decision by the EU to extend the tax for 18 months.
The European Commission, the EU's executive body, announced on Wednesday an 18-month extension, with a gradual phase-out, of duties on Chinese solar panels imposed more than three years ago.
Wang Hejun, head of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC)'s trade remedy and investigation bureau, said China regrets that the EU has extended the duties, disregarding the opposition of Chinese companies, although the extension period has been shortened.
China and the EU have worked out an exemplary way of settling solar product disputes through price undertaking, he said. Under the mechanism, Chinese solar exporters raise prices to avoid anti-dumping duties.
With joint efforts under way, the mechanism has been running steadily, balancing the interests of all parties concerned in an effective way, Wang noted.
He urged the EU to properly handle follow-ups and drop the anti-dumping and countervailing duties as soon as possible in a bid to limit the negative impacts on Sino-EU trade relations.
With global trade facing rising uncertainties and risks, Wang underlined the importance for China and the EU, which are strategic and trade partners, to strengthen cooperation to cope with challenges.
China is willing to work with the EU to advance bilateral ties, fight protectionism and create a sound environment for economic globalization on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, he said.
The EU started imposing hefty tariffs on Chinese solar panels in 2013 and extended trade measures at the end of 2015. But appeals for fewer restrictions in the sector have been on the rise in Europe.
COLOMBO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan Navy said Thursday it had arrested 13 Indian fishermen for poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
The Navy also seized two fishing trawlers used by the Indians in the northern seas, south of Sri Lanka's Delft Island.
At a ministerial meeting in January, Sri Lanka urged India to end bottom trawling in order to resolve a long-standing fishing dispute.
The Indian side assured that bottom trawling would be phased out within a practicable timeframe.
NEW DELHI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- India Thursday condemned the twin terror attacks in Afghan capital Kabul, in which nearly two dozen people were killed, and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
"India has been a victim of terrorist violence and understands the pain and suffering of the people of Afghanistan. We reiterate our resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to the justice," Indian External Affairs Ministry said.
The Ministry also conveyed condolences to the people and the government of Afghanistan for the loss of lives and property in Wednesday's blasts. "It is our sincere hope that the injured will make early recovery," it added.
The twin attacks took place in Kabul Wednesday. First, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle next to a police station and then outside the offices of the Afghan intelligence service in eastern part of the city.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the latest attack that came a month after a suicide bomber killed nearly 20 people outside the Supreme Court in Kabul.
JAKARTA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is thankful for Chinese investment in Indonesia and expects more in infrastructure and energy sectors, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir said on Thursday.
Addressing a routine press conference, Nasir told reporters that Indonesia and China maintain close economic relations, both in trade and investment.
Noting that Chinese investment in Indonesia has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years, he said Indonesia is grateful to China for that.
Data from Indonesia's investment coordinating board showed that China's foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia surged to 2.67 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, increasing 324 percent compared with a year earlier.
The spokesman said the main area which the two countries can strengthen cooperation is infrastructure, like toll roads, harbors and airports.
Indonesia's energy sector also expects Chinese investment badly, he added.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun (Front) speaks during the Nepal Investment Summit 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhou Shengping)
KATHMANDU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun said here on Thursday that the China-sponsored bank has an important role to play in teaming up with governments and international organizations to address infrastructure challenges of the countries like Nepal.
Nepal faces infrastructure deficit up to 18 billion U.S. dollars in this decade, having one of the poorest infrastructures in South Asia, according to a World Bank study.
Nepal, a AIIB founding member, is seeking financing from the bank to address this gap.
Addressing the Nepal Investment Summit on Thursday, Jin said that the AIIB was committed to work with Nepalese government and the private sector to make meaningful differences in Nepal's economic and social development through investment in infrastructure and other productive sectors.
According to the Nepalese officials, the AIIB has initiated process for lending to two of the five projects proposed by Nepal -- one on urban infrastructure development and the other related to electricity distribution system improvement.
Jin insisted the ethos of AIIB, saying the bank promotes lean, clean and green governance.
"As a multilateral development bank, a part of our job is to help countries to pick the projects that would help social and economic outcomes without environmental degradation and global warming," he said.
During the summit, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said "Nepal is prioritizing to create good political environment for investors as well as introduce rules and regulations friendly to local and foreign investors."
Nepalese Industry Minister Nabindra Raj Joshi explained about investment in Nepal saying that the Himalayan country is one of the most open economies in South Asia.
"We allow 100 percent foreign ownership in most of the sectors. Our tax rates are lower than most of the countries in South Asia. The government is receptive to the constructive ideas coming from the investors. The reforms in our system and procedures are on-going," he said.
After introducing Industrial Enterprise Act, Special Economic Zones Act, Nepal is in the final process of introducing new company law. "This is expected to expect to make the exit easier and faster," said Joshi.
MOSCOW, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The number of Russian companies, which lend illegally, doubled in 2016 from the previous year, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.
Newspaper "Izvestia" cited the Russian Central Bank as saying that 965
illegal creditors were revealed in 2016, while the figure was 430 in 2015.
"Our actions are aimed to create the effective conditions, which will be useful measures of punishment for illegal organizations and employees who have worked for them," the central bank said in a press release.
"The development of cooperation between Central Bank of Russia and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation will assist in getting the quickest and the best solution," it said.
Russia has laws and rules to punish those involved in illegal banking activities.
Last month, Russia's Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and central bank head Elvira Nabiullina signed a new agreement to strengthen cooperation, which aimed to crack down illegal creditor companies and laundering of illegal income.
Kurdish soldiers stand at the gate of an oil pumping station in western Kirkuk province in Iraq, on March 2, 2017. The outflow of oil from Iraq's Kirkuk oil field stopped Thursday after Kurdish forces entered a Baghdad government-owned pumping station near the city of Kirkuk and prevented workers from pumping oil, an Iraqi oil official told Xinhua. (Xinhua/Ako Zengana)
KIRKUK, Iraq, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The outflow of oil from Iraq's Kirkuk oil field stopped Thursday after Kurdish forces entered a Baghdad government-owned pumping station near the city of Kirkuk and prevented workers from pumping oil, an Iraqi oil official told Xinhua.
The incident took place at 7:50 a.m. (0450 GMT) when a security force said to be affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which Iraqi President Fuad Masoum is one of its leading figures, entered a pumping station near the village of Yayji west of Kirkuk, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Kirkuk is located some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Workers of the state-run North Oil Company (NOC) were ordered shut down the pumping station and leave the site, the official said, adding that the station pumps oil extracted from Kirkuk oil fields to be exported through the pipeline that cross the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, heading north to Turkey, and then to its port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea.
"It is not yet known what the reason behind the action of Kurdish force was. We are waiting for instructions from the (Baghdad) Ministry of Oil," he said without elaborating.
Most of Iraq's crude oil is exported through southern terminals in Basra, with the remaining sent through the northern pipeline to Ceyhan port in Turkey.
The oil-rich Kirkuk province is part of the disputed areas claimed by the Kurds and both Arabs and Turkomans. The Kurds want to incorporate the areas on the edge of their Kurdistan region, but their move is fiercely opposed by Baghdad government.
ISLAMABAD, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Thursday condemned the latest terrorist attacks in Kabul, which killed at least 15 people and injured dozens.
The Taliban claimed the deadly attacks on targets including a police headquarters in the western part of the Afghan capital city.
"Pakistan strongly condemns horrific suicide attacks on March 1st 2017 in Kabul," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
"We convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and prayers for early recovery of the injured," the spokesman said in a statement.
He reiterated Pakistan's unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all forms and manifestations and reaffirms its commitment for unrelenting efforts and cooperation with the Afghan government and international community for eliminating this menace.
Earlier Wednesday, a suicide car bomber struck an Afghan police precinct in western Kabul, reports said.
Shortly after the attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of an Afghan intelligence agency branch in eastern Kabul as another attacker was gunned down while trying to enter the compound.
HARARE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe left for Singapore on Monday for a routine medical check-up, his spokesperson George Charamba has said.
Charamba was quoted by the state media Thursday as saying that the president was expected back in the country next Monday.
The visit came a few days after Mugabe celebrated his 93rd birthday on Feb. 21 and vowed that he would continue as leader of the country.
He has since been confirmed by his Zanu-PF party as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections when he will be 94.
His party, however, is reportedly riddled with infighting by factions vying to succeed him, one reportedly led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and another by a group of young leaders known as G40.
Mugabe has routinely visited Singapore for medical check-ups, with officials saying he suffers from eye cataract although some speculate that he suffers from prostate cancer.
GENEVA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Roberto Azevedo, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Thursday that he is ready to talk with trade officials of the United States on the latter's concerns.
"It is clear that the United States has a variety of trade concerns, including about the WTO dispute settlement system. I am ready to sit down and discuss these concerns and any others with the trade team in the U.S. whenever they are ready to do so," said Azevedo in an official statement.
It's not the first time that Azevedo suggested a conversation with U.S. trade officials under Donald Trump's administration.
Last November, Azevedo told journalists in Geneva that he had not spoken to Trump yet, but he and his organization were ready to talk to U.S. officials for deepening relations between the U.S. and WTO members.
During his presidential campaign, Trump called the WTO a "disaster" and warned that his country could quit the Geneva-based body.
On Wednesday, in an annual trade policy agenda document, the U.S. trade representative's office said that the administration might defy WTO rulings that it views as interfering with U.S. sovereignty.
BRASILIA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Latin America has witnessed a more stable and robust development in recent years thanks to its relationship with China, say Brazilian political and economic observers.
Before China's top legislature and top political advisory body hold their annual plenary sessions in early March to outline the country's future political and economic course, the experts spoke with Xinhua about the mutually beneficial relationship between China and Latin America.
EXPANDING MUTUAL INTEREST
With closer South-South cooperation between the two sides, Latin America has reduced its over-reliance on developed nations, which have kept an upper hand in their relations with the continent, the observers noted.
"China's presence in Latin America has had two effects: firstly, impacting economic growth and development; and secondly, changing the axis of alliances," said economist Jose Luiz Pagnussat, a member of the Federal Council on the Economy.
"Ties with China allowed Latin American countries to redesign their system of alliances on the world stage," he explained.
Today, as China's investment in the region grows and bilateral trade exchange increases, their mutual interest is also expanding, according to Pagnussat.
STRONGER POLITICAL TIES
The vitality of cross-border trade inevitably strengthens political ties, Pagnussat said, citing the commercial ties between Brazilian soy growers and Chinese processors as an example.
"That ultimately expands not just trade, but also the establishment of alliances on an international scale, which is a very positive development," he said.
Given the current strong tendency toward protectionism and isolationism, especially since Donald Trump took over the U.S. presidency, China's willingness to forge political and trade partnerships presents a significant alternative, he said.
When countries close off their economies, it has a negative impact on global economic growth, noted the economist, while stressing the importance of China's role in championing economic openness.
GREAT POTENTIAL
In the eyes of Argemiro Procopio, a professor emeritus of international relations at the University of Brasilia, China-Latin America ties are at a new high following Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to Ecuador, Peru and Chile in November last year.
The ties will further improve as China transforms its economy from an export-driven one to one that is fueled by domestic consumption, said Procopio, who has authored books on China.
"The ongoing development in China implies greater stability for the country and also for its trade partners, in addition to raising the living standards of Chinese citizens," Procopio noted.
What's more, he said, great potential exists in China-Latin America cooperation in the fields of education, culture as well as science and technology.
"Economic reforms in China center on increasing productivity, efficiency, scientific knowledge and competitiveness. For Latin America, that offers great possibilities for technological cooperation," he said.
Speaking about the upcoming meetings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, known as the "two sessions," Pagnussat suggested that Latin Americans follow them with interest since any outcome will affect the global economy.
Decisions made by China carry great weight on a global scale, especially "when you look at China's trade volume, which represents a very large share of world trade," Pagnussat said.
PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- France's BRED Bank, one of the largest lenders in Europe, has opened its branch in Cambodia, marking the first French bank investing in the Southeast Asian country, BRED's CEO Olivier Klein said on Thursday.
Klein made the remarks during a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, according to Eang Sophalleth, an assistant to the prime minister.
"Klein informed the prime minister that the bank is very pleased to invest in Cambodia, the country that has political stability and good economic growth," the assistant told reporters after the meeting.
For his part, Hun Sen said that the presence of BRED Bank in Cambodia sent a message to both French and other foreign investors that Cambodia has political stability, sound economic growth and potential for investment.
To date, Cambodia has 38 commercial banks, 14 specialized banks and nearly 60 microfinance institutions as well as 160 rural credit operators, according to the National Bank of Cambodia, or the central bank.
The country has the population of nearly 15 million, and the banking and financial institutions have been serving around 4.4 million depositors and 2.6 million borrowers.
PUL-E-ALAM, Afghanistan, March 2 (Xinhua) -- About 24 militants were killed by the Afghan Special Forces in two eastern provinces, local authorities said on Thursday.
In one operation, 16 Taliban were killed and eight others detained after Afghan commandos launched a night raid operation in Charkh district in Logar province, Salim Saleh, provincial government spokesman, told Xinhua.
"The raid was carried out on a specific intelligence inputs and among the killed was a Taliban local leader named Sana Gul," Saleh said, adding the security forces also seized weapons following the raid in the province, 60 km south of national capital Kabul.
In addition, eight militants of Islamic State (IS) were killed on Wednesday after an airstrike targeted a militants' bunker in Lal Poor district in neighboring Nangarhar province, according to a statement issued by the command of Afghan Special Forces earlier Thursday.
Furthermore, the special operation forces also captured four Taliban militants, including two Taliban weapons facilitators, in eastern Wardak province on Wednesday, according to the statement.
The Afghan security forces have beefed up security operations recently but the militants respond with bombings and armed attacks.
On Wednesday, up to 22 people were killed and 120 others wounded in twin suicide bombings in Kabul for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility.
TEHRAN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Danish ambassador to Tehran to protest over a recent attack on the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen, Tasnim news agency reported.
Lack of "serious and deterrent action" on such recurring incidents on the Iranian mission in Denmark could damage the ties between two countries, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi.
On Wednesday, "six hostile elements" attacked the Iranian embassy in a "suspicious move," Qasemi said.
In the meeting with the Danish envoy, the Islamic republic voiced "strong protest" at the second attack in less than two months on Iran's diplomatic mission in Copenhagen, he added.
Such incidents violate internationally-accepted norms and Denmark's own laws, the spokesman said, criticizing Copenhagen's "weak performance in ensuring the security" of the embassy building and its staff.
The Danish envoy slammed the incident as "unacceptable" and pledged to relay Iran's protest to his government as soon as possible and report back to Tehran, Qasemi said.
TEHRAN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A top Iranian diplomat has said that some Western states use the human rights issue as a tool for their political ends, Press TV reported on Thursday.
Iran and other countries such as Iraq need to cooperate to campaign against such Western attempts to politicize the issue of human rights, the report quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as saying.
"If this wrong approach continues, its repercussions will affect other independent and developing countries as well," Araqchi said at a meeting Wednesday with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'afari in Geneva.
The two met there on the sidelines of the summit of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Araqchi congratulated Iraq on its appointment as a UNHRC member and expressed gratitude for Baghdad's opposition to the recent anti-Iran resolutions of the UN body.
Al-Ja'afari, for his part, stressed Iraq's resolve to oppose politically-motivated measures taken under the guise of human rights against Iran, Press TV said.
Both Araqchi and al-Ja'afari urged closer Tehran-Baghdad cooperation on the issue of human rights, the report said.
JAKARTA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud on Thursday urged all countries to come together as one in combating global terrorism.
King Salman made the remarks in his speech at the Indonesian parliament during a landmark visit to the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.
"Actually, the challenge we, especially Muslims, face now is terrorism," the king said.
"We should close ranks in fighting this challenge and carry out coordination in taking various efforts to bring world peace for the benefit of all of us," he stressed.
Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have been targeted by the Islamic State (IS) group and taken measures to combat radicalism.
Saudi Arabia has joined a U.S.-led coalition to fight against IS militants in Syria.
Since 2000, Indonesia has been hit by a series of major suicide bombings. In January last year, the IS group launched a suicide bombing in the hearth of Indonesia's capital, leaving eight people dead and dozens of others injured.
Riot police stand guard on a road leading to a trash dump at Terzigno, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius outside Naples, southern Italy, Oct. 23, 2010. (Xinhua/Wang Qingqin)
ROME, March 2 (Xinhua) -- In southern Italian city of Naples, there is a "gangster component that acts on the territory dramatically out of control", Interior Minister Marco Minniti said on Wednesday.
Talking about a "direct attack on the freedom of the citizens," Minniti made the remarks in Naples, where he attended the installation ceremony of the new superintendent of Naples, Antonio de Iesu.
According to local media, Minniti said that the first problem to be addressed is the strengthening of territorial control.
"An answer is needed, starting in the next few hours," he added. The first signal will be, the minister said, "to make it clear that it is the state that controls the territory, in some areas the territory will be saturated with the power and the presence of the state."
In Naples, Minniti also chaired a meeting of the Provincial Committee for Order and Public Safety, with the participation of the mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris and Vincenzo De Luca, governor of the Campania region.
All the surveillance cameras of the city will be restored to working condition, the minister told reporters after the meeting.
"At the moment 52 percent of the cameras are working, and for me it is not enough," he said.
"We would like to create in Campania, as the first region of the south, the single emergency number, 112. We give a sense of strengthening the institutions of power and it puts us at the forefront also in the European methods," he added.
According to local media reports, at least 50 mafia clans are active in Naples.
Ma Zhaoxu, head of the Chinese mission to the United Nations in Geneva, delivers a joint statement during a high-level meeting of the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
GENEVA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese diplomat on Wednesday stressed that in order to promote and protect human rights, all countries should join hands to build a community of a shared future for human beings, to work together for the realization of peace, development and win-win cooperation for all.
Ma Zhaoxu, head of the Chinese mission to the United Nations in Geneva, delivered a joint statement on behalf of a cross-regional group of 140 countries during a high-level meeting of the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.
"Countries should foster partnership characterized by mutual respect, promote and protect human rights through dialogue and cooperation," he stressed.
He explained that each state is entitled to independently choose its path for development and social system, and the efforts and achievements of each state in promoting and protecting human rights should be respected.
The Chinese top diplomat in Geneva added that politicization of the human rights agenda should be avoided, and countries should be committed to multilateralism, not unilateralism, in addressing global challenges.
"All countries should work together like passengers in the same boat," he said.
Thus, he added, all countries should enhance human rights capacity building through concrete and effective cooperation, and all aspects of human rights shall be treated on an equal basis.
"There is no such thing as a superior or inferior civilization. Different civilizations should respect each other, draw on each other to achieve common progress," Ma said, adding that diversity of civilizations should not be a source of global conflict. Rather, it should be an engine driving the advance of human civilizations.
Ma also highlighted the importance of sustained development in the human rights fields, saying that all countries should effectively implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which provides a solid foundation for the promotion and protection of all human rights.
Jorge Valero, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations in Geneva, told Xinhua that on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Venezuela is pleased by this important initiative by the Chinese delegation.
"The NAM fully agrees that the international community must carry out efforts to build a shared future for humanity, namely a common, open and inclusive world of lasting peace, security and prosperity," he said.
Muhammad Aamar Aftab Qureshi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan in Geneva, described Ma's remarks as "timely and brilliant," adding the most impressive point in the statement is the idea of building a community of shared future for human beings.
"We need to live with each other peacefully, we need to respect each other's diversity. We need to pursue our own objectives and our own goals according to our own social values and our own situations. This is of vital importance in order to achieve global peace in today's world," he said.
"Giving the challenges the world is facing and the efforts we need to take together, we should be grateful for China to bring up this great idea," he added.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday it welcomed and supported the reappointment of Roberto Azevedo as director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a second term.
WTO members agreed to appoint Azevedo for another four years on Tuesday.
During his first term, Azevedo was committed to multilateral trade systems, trade negotiations and increasing the WTO voice in global economic governance, MOC spokesperson Sun Jiwen said at a press conference.
China hopes Azevedo will lead the WTO to advance globalization, stand firm against protectionism and protect the interests of developing countries including China, Sun said.
There will be no change to China's support for the WTO, he said, adding that China will continue to contribute to multilateral trade systems and improvement of global governance, he said.
JUBA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has called for a national day of prayers for peace and forgiveness across the conflict-hit country.
In a statement broadcast on state-owned Radio and Television (SSBC) on Thursday, Kiir said the praying would be conducted in all state capitals on March 10.
He appealed to citizens to shun violence and seek forgiveness from God through prayer, while saying the national day of prayers would pave way for the start of a national dialogue initiative he declared late last year.
It is the first time the South Sudanese leader has called for a national day of prayers after the world's youngest nation descended into civil war more than three years ago following a political rift between the president and his former deputy Riek Machar, who is now being exiled in South Africa.
A peace pact signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in April, but was again devastated by fresh violence in July.
Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, with over 2 million displaced and last week the UN declared famine in parts of the East African nation, warning that some 100,000 people, nearly half of the population, is in urgent need of food aid.
Guo Shuqing, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), answers questions from journalists at a press conference on banking industry's supply-side structural reform in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Pan Xu)
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Guo Shuqing, chairman of China's banking regulator, specified the commission's major tasks for 2017, with controlling financial risks as the centerpiece.
Guo, three days on the job as chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said the commission will work with other financial authorities this year to tighten regulations, guard against financial risks and support supply-side structural reform.
Guo's remarks, at his first press conference after being named CBRC chairman, reinforced views that as the health of China's economy continued to improve, policy makers had more room to shift their focus to reforms and financial risk control.
To contain rising financial risks, CBRC is planning multiple measures, including regulating the shadow banking sector and a differentiated lending policy to curb property speculation.
Commercial banks, trusts, fund management firms, brokerages and insurers all have asset management businesses, but because they have different regulators and are subject to different rules, there has been some chaos, Guo said.
"We are working on a joint regulation to set basic standards that every institution can follow," he said.
In addition, the commission will tighten regulation of banks' wealth management products (WMPs), CBRC vice chairman Cao Yu said at the press conference.
China's fast-expanding wealth management industry is considered a source of financial risk, as off-balance-sheet WMPs channel deposits into risky investments without enough regulation.
According to Cao, the volume of WMPs totaled 30 trillion yuan (4.35 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2016.
Guo said CBRC will also pay close attention to property bubbles as 45 percent of the country's new loans went to mortgages last year.
Although the overall leverage level for the country's households was not high, its rapid increase in past years is worth monitoring, Guo said.
The country will continue to implement a differentiated housing loan policy, restricting lending used for property speculation while extending loans to support housing inventory reduction in smaller cities, said CBRC vice chairman Wang Zhaoxing.
Wang said the commission will help ensure stable and healthy development of the property market, preventing property bubbles and large market fluctuations.
CBRC will also focus on the handling of loss-making "zombie companies," exploring ways to tackle their debt problems in excess capacity cutting, Guo said.
According to Guo, more than 430 billion yuan in debt-to-equity swap deals had been signed as of early February.
Thursday's conference came after the country's securities and insurance regulators vowed to act hard against irregular market operations to rein in financial risks.
At the Central Economic Work Conference in December, the central leadership pledged to make a priority of preventing financial risks, saying that curbing asset bubbles would be more important in 2017.
In a further sign of the focus on risk prevention, China's central bank vowed to maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy this year, after keeping prudent monetary policy for six consecutive years.
Guo, former governor of eastern Shandong Province, has considerable economic sector work experience. He used to work as chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission and chairman of China Construction Bank, one of the nation's big four state-owned lenders.
KIEV, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Eight miners were confirmed dead, six were injured and at least 20 others remain trapped after an explosion ripped through a coal mine in western Ukraine, authorities said Thursday.
The blast occurred shortly after mid-day local time at Stepova mine in Lviv region, when 34 miners were working underground, the State Service for Emergencies said.
The rescue operation is underway.
by Denis Elamu
JUBA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The South Sudanese government revealed on Thursday that it would send nine representatives to the East African Community (EAC) parliament for the first time since the country became the sixth member state of the regional trade bloc last year.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Mawien Makol told Xinhua that despite delay to pay the annual 1 million U.S. dollars to the EAC, South Sudan will soon be selecting nine representatives to the Tanzanian capital Arusha.
"The timeline of doing this was supposed to be in February, but that (selection) is going to happen," he said.
EAC member states like Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have recently been selecting representatives to the influential regional parliament that handles legislation and policy.
South Sudan applied in 2011 to join the EAC, but outbreak of conflict in December 2013 delayed its admission ,which finally came to conclusion in April, 2016.
The landlocked war-torn country, which imports all its goods and services from the EAC countries, has hoped to use its membership to benefit its economy and political stability.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace attended the 21st Movement Celebrations to mark his 93rd birthday celebrations at Matopos National Park in Mateleland South, Zimbabwe, Feb. 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Stringer)
HARARE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe left for Singapore on Monday for a routine medical check-up, his spokesperson George Charamba has said.
Charamba was quoted by the state media Thursday as saying that the president was expected back in the country next Monday.
The visit came a few days after Mugabe celebrated his 93rd birthday on Feb. 21 and vowed that he would continue as leader of the country.
He has since been confirmed by his Zanu-PF party as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections when he will be 94.
His party, however, is reportedly riddled with infighting by factions vying to succeed him, one reportedly led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and another by a group of young leaders known as G40.
Mugabe has routinely visited Singapore for medical check-ups, with officials saying he suffers from eye cataract although some speculate that he suffers from prostate cancer.
BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday was striped of immunity from prosecution over a tweet post in connection with the Islamic State by the European Parliament in a vote.
Le Pen, leader of National Front party and co-chair of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament, was under an investigation by French judicial authorities following the posting on her twitter account of three violent images that showed the murder of three hostages by Daesh (IS group) on Dec. 16 2015.
One of the three photographs, which were not blurred, showed U.S. hostage James Foley being beheaded. The images were accompanied by the following comment by Marine Le Pen: "This is Daesh!"
Approved by 18 votes in favor to three against, with no abstentions, the Committee on Legal Affairs in the European Parliament Tuesday recommended to waive the immunity of Marine Le Pen through a plenary vote.
However, the lifting of her immunity would concern only the tweets and not the ongoing probing into the allegation that Le Pen misused public funds by hiring a fake parliamentary aide.
CHANGCHUN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China plans to build a national park 60 percent larger than Yellowstone National Park as a sanctuary for highly-endangered Siberian tigers and Amur leopards.
The Jilin provincial forestry department said on Thursday that the national park plan has been approved by the central authorities. It is designed to encompass 14,600 square km in northeastern provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang, bordering Russia's Primorsky.
Fan Zhiyong, Species Program Director with WWF Beijing, said the national park initiative is helpful in linking separate wildlife protection areas in the region, which would pave the way for wider China-Russia cooperation in wildlife protection in the region.
A comprehensive plan and pilot for the national park is expected to be carried out before 2020.
The Jilin provincial government has vowed to start preliminary work to prepare for national park management by the end of 2017.
Due to excessive logging in the 1950s, the ecosystem in the area was degraded, driving wild Siberian tigers to near extinction. A field survey jointly carried out by scientists from China, Russia and the United States in 1998 found evidence of only 6 to 9 wild Siberian tigers in the area.
With a logging ban in full effect in northeast China since April 2015 and decades of natural protection efforts, the number of tigers has rebounded. Experts estimated that there are currently five wild Siberian tiger families, or 27 in total, living in Jilin.
However, space limitations within nature reserves in China and Russia have restricted the natural growth of the species in the wild.
Ge Jianping, deputy director of Beijing Normal University and a tiger expert, said there are at least 35 tigers and 70 leopards in protected areas covering 4,000 square km. The area is far from enough space to accommodate the wild carnivores.
He said geological conditions on the Chinese side are more favorable than across the border for the endangered species.
"It is vital for China to make a long-term mechanism in order to consolidate and sustain the progress in protecting wild Siberian tigers and Amur leopards," he said.
WWF expert Fan said the planned national park is not only important for the survival of the endangered species but also for the protection of biodiversity in the northern temperate zone.
According to the forestry department, a monitoring and rescue center for wild tigers and leopards will be established along with other scientific and research facilities as the national park plan is implemented.
The national park is expected to become a channel for international exchange in wild animal protection, said Lan Hongliang, director of the Jilin Forestry Department.
He said national park management can help boost China's cooperation with international organizations, improve transparency in information exchanges and law enforcement, and break barriers in cross-border ecological corridors for wildlife.
China hopes national park management will be more efficient than current government-led wildlife protection.
The country's first national park pilot started last year in the Sanjiangyuan area in southwest China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to protect the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang (Mekong) rivers. It is expected to officially open in 2020.
TIANJIN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's bicycle manufacturers are poised for a resurgence thanks to the booming bike-sharing industry.
The once dominant two-wheelers have given way to cars in recent years due to China's rising middle class. However, new bike-sharing services allow commuters to escape traffic gridlock and public transit for as little as 1 yuan (about 0.15 U.S. dollar) per hour. Users can unlock bicycles with a mobile app and drop them off anywhere for the next customer.
In the past couple of years, 29 brands have sprung up, placing more than 3 million bicycles on streets around the country and wrestling for domestic market share. Demand in China is estimated at around 20 million bikes, according to Liu Xuequan, who heads the association of the bike industry in Tianjin, the country's largest bicycle manufacturing base.
NEW BOOST
"The new business has given a push to a group of traditional bike manufacturers," Liu said.
A report from Beijing-based BigData Research showed the number of shared bicycle users exceeded 18 million as of the end of 2016 and is expected to approach 50 million by the end of this year.
"When there were no bike-sharing services, we had peak and slack seasons in production. But now, we are busy all year round," said Zhang Jinying, an executive with the Tianjin-based manufacturer Flying Pigeon, a supplier for bike-sharing service Ofo.
Four Flying Pigeon factories are scheduled to produce 900,000 bikes in March, with half of the orders from bike-sharing start-ups, Zhang said, adding that the manufacturer is working to expand production capacity and hire more workers due to ever-increasing orders.
The production standard for shared bikes is higher than for ordinary ones, since shared bikes require better endurance of some parts,
according to Zhao Kun, an R&D director at Flying Pigeon.
A bicycle's service life is around two years if five users ride it each day. That may lead to 10 million bikes that need repairs per year, creating a new market for manufacturers to compete for, according to Liu Xuequan.
MANAGEMENT HEADACHE
Fleets of brightly-colored shared bikes are becoming ubiquitous in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
They have also secured backing from the government. China's Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng said in late February that bike sharing is innovative and should be encouraged and supported.
However, problems have arisen when users park bikes haphazardly, tarnishing the city's image and blocking traffic.
There have been a number of news reports of angry business owners or security guards who have damaged the bikes or stacked them up because the jumbled vehicles had affected their work.
In late November, urban management officers in Chengdu City, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, confiscated nearly 200 shared bikes because they violated the city's parking regulations. A similar seizure was reported in Hangzhou City, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, in December.
Some bikes have been damaged by drivers of motorbike taxis and electric tricycles because bike-sharing has taken away their passengers. Vandals and ill-behaved bike users have also caused trouble.
A set of photos that have gone viral have exposed such acts: abandoning bikes in a river, inserting needles into the saddle, and destroying QR codes in order to steal bikes.
In one photo, a yellow bike was reduced to its basic frame after being stripped of most of its parts, with a caption saying "Well, no problem, it is for 'sharing.'"
Such vandalism has prompted police intervention. On Feb. 28, Chengdu police detained a man who ran a traditional bike rental business for burning and burying more than 10 shared bikes from various brands two days earlier.
Liu Xuequan disclosed that manufacturers are working on technical upgrades to prevent bikes from being dismantled or stolen.
Ofo founder and CEO Dai Wei said bike misuse has not created a notable loss for the company.
"During the past three months, 'inactive bikes,' which means they might have been damaged or taken home, only accounted for 1 percent of the total," he said, while calling all users to treat the vehicles nicely.
Ofo has hired workers to ensure the bikes are returned in good condition and parked properly. Rival Mobike has enlisted its users to help track down lost bikes and maintain orderly parking. Some local governments have rolled out rules to regulate parking.
Minister Li Xiaopeng said it requires joint efforts from the government, service providers and customers to maintain smooth rides for shared bikes.
HARARE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe is expecting a bumper maize harvest in the 2016/17 agricultural season after receiving good rains, agriculture minister Joseph Made said Thursday.
Although refusing to disclose estimated maize output until completion of the second crop assessment, the minister said the nation was expecting a good crop after farmers planted 1.2 million hectares of the staple maize, up from 173,000 hectares last season.
He said a government-sponsored maize command agriculture scheme was expected to produce grain enough to meet the 700,000-tonne requirement for the National Strategic Grain Reserve, which is currently holding 250,000 tonnes.
Zimbabwe produced one of its lowest maize output of 512,000 tonnes last year amid an El-Nino-induced drought that has left a quarter of the population in need of food aid.
The country requires at least 1.8 million tonnes of maize for both human and livestock consumption annually.
Addressing a parliamentary portfolio committee, Made said Zimbabwe had recorded significant increases in the hectarage put under major crops this season although a shortage of top dressing fertilizer.
The hectarage for tobacco, the main foreign currency earner for the country, stood at 107,000 hectares up from 95,000 last season, while cotton hectarage increased to 155,000 from 105,000 last year.
The minister said the current government grain storage capacity at 4 million tonnes was enough for the expected abundant harvest, though 61 million U.S. dollars was required to revamp some of the grain silos.
Zimbabwe's economy is agriculture-based.
Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese ambassador to Uganda, handed 5939 tonnes of rice to Uganda on Feb. 28, 2017. Uganda warns of food insecurity amid prolonged dry spell. (Xinhua)
KAMPALA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has recently donated over 5,900 tonnes of rice to Ugandan as the East African country warned of food insecurity amid the prolonged dry spell.
Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese ambassador to Uganda, said on Tuesday that China has been concerned about the poor harvest in many African countries including Uganda.
"I believe that with the effort of the Ugandan government, all these donated food will be distributed to the people very soon," he said.
According to a new report National Food Security Assessment, launched by Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, 26 percent of Uganda's population is facing stressed food insecurity, meaning they just have enough food and are unable to afford some essential food expenditures.
It also showed that 10.9 million people in the country are experiencing acute food insecurity, of which 1.6 million are in a crisis situation.
"Food security across the country is deteriorating. The current food insecurity situation, when compared with the last two reports of November 2015 and July 2016, shows an increase in the percentage of the country's population that is in Phase 2 (stress level of food security)," the report said.
It said the increasing demand for food in external markets and the influx of South Sudanese refugees into Uganda have worsened the situation.
Rugunda extended his gratitude to the Chinese government for the humanitarian support and said his government had earmarked 25 billion shillings (7.1 million U.S. dollars) to purchase relief food for the food-stressed population.
The rice donation to Uganda is part of the humanitarian relief China has been donating to Africa. China in December 2015 promised to provide 1 billion yuan (about 150 million U.S. dollars) of emergency food aid to African countries affected by poor harvest caused by El Nino.
Last year, China donated rice worth 24.6 million dollars to Zimbabwe to help alleviate hunger after a drought that had left up to 4 million people there in need of relief food.
Donations have also been made to Malawi, Mozambique and South Sudan to help the countries cope with drought.
China over the years has provided agricultural aid to Uganda especially in the rice sector which has helped the country become a major rice producer in Africa.
By Xinhua writer Wang Zichen
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Mortality rates in China are down, contrary to a recent Wall Street Journal report, leading Chinese experts said.
In "Why Chinese men are dying," dated Feb. 24, the Journal reported that "mortality rates among Chinese men aged 41 to 60 have increased by 12 percent" over the decade through 2013.
Upon closer inspection, however, the report's conclusion was based on incomplete data, casting doubt over the veracity of the story.
"DISHEARTENING" NEWS
The Journal reported the "disheartening news from China," following the release of mortality data from the country's insurance regulator.
The China Life Insurance Mortality Table (2010-2013) was released this year, replacing the previous iteration that covered the 2000-2003 period, which was dated and lacked breadth.
The earlier table presented mortality rates in two insurance categories, non-annuity and annuity. The latest data set, however, presented rates in three categories, non-annuity I (mainly for term and whole life insurance), non-annuity II (mainly for endowment insurance) and annuity.
Herein lies the problem, the Journal report appeared to only reference data from non-annuity I.
At a glance, the mortality rate for men aged 50 who held non-annuity policies during the 2000-2003 period was 0.3570 percent.
For the latter period there are now two sets of data. The mortality rate for men aged 50 was 0.4249 percent in the non-annuity I category, and 0.2908 percent in the non-annuity II category.
Thus, in response to whether a 50-year-old Chinese man is more likely to die in 2013 than a decade ago, the answer would be yes and no -- yes for category I, and no for category II.
In its report, and specifically the accompanying chart, the Journal appeared to compare mortality rates from the new non-annuity I category to non-annuity data from 2003, thereby reaching its alarming conclusion, said Dr. Wang Qing, chief actuary of ABC Life Insurance.
"That is a clear misreading of the numbers," said Dr. Wang, a veteran actuary trained in the U.S.
Wang Zheng, secretary general of China Association of Actuaries, which led the compilation of the new data set, agreed.
The two sets of data are incomparable, he told Xinhua, "For example, in the U.S., you can't compare the smoker mortality table to the composite mortality table."
The report did not elaborate on the reasons behind its choice of data.
"DOWN, NOT UP"
The China Life Insurance Mortality Table needed to be updated as the past decade has seen significant changes to mortality rates and increased life expectancies, Yuan Xucheng, an official with the insurance regulator, said.
"If you compare the 2013 numbers from non-annuity II with the non-annuity numbers from 2003, mortality rates drop by 25 to 30 percent," said Dr. Wang. "For men aged 41 to 60, mortality rates decreased by about 20 percent".
The mistake of the Journal report was that it only used data from non-annuity I, he added.
The mortality rates in the annuity sections, including the rates for Chinese men aged 41 to 60, were consistently lower in 2013 compared to 2003.
"BE CAUTIOUS"
"A reduction of men in their working prime could put a damper on China's productivity growth," the Journal warned, after speculating that "financial success breeds bad health habits" and "the pressure to perform and accumulate wealth in a male-dominated society adds to the health issues."
Wang Zheng with the China Association of Actuaries advised caution when dealing with the data.
The life insurance mortality table was compiled on the basis of life insurance policies sold -- not an accurate census of the Chinese population, he said.
China has a population of over 1.3 billion, but the latest table was compiled with data from 180 million people.
JAKARTA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia expects to see the influx of more visitors from the Middle East after the ongoing visit by Saudi Arabian King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The Saudi Arabian king who started state visit to Indonesia on March 1 and will conclude his tour to the country on March 9, brought with him 1,500 family members. The king and his family members are spending most of their visiting days in Bali.
The visit by the Saudi Arabian royal family is exceptional for Indonesia as it made investment commitments and it is also an event that promotes Indonesian tourism, particularly for potential visitors from the Middle East.
"King Salman is a great figure and is highly respected in the Middle East. He is the greatest endorser for (Indonesian) tourism in the region," Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said on Wednesday.
The minister expected that the Saudi Arabian king's visit would spur the number of visitors from the Middle East up to 360,000 this year, or 50 percent from the 240,000 people recorded last year.
Echoing the minister, Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurants Association (PHRI) Haryadi Sukamdani said that the ongoing Saudi Arabian royal visit would result in very positive impacts on the Indonesian tourism and hospitality industry in Bali.
"I can assure you that visitors from the Middle East would be increasing. King Salman is like a magnet that would always be followed by people in that region," Haryadi said, adding that the positive impact from the visit would continue in years to come.
King Salman and his entourage had previously booked lavish five-star hotels in Jakarta and Bali's upscale tour destination areas of Nusa Dua long before their coming to Indonesia for the visit.
They also booked luxury cars to transport the royal family members during their stay in Jakarta and Bali.
Citing the data compiled by the PHRI, Haryadi said a Saudi Arabian visitor used to spend 2,200 U.S. dollars during their vacation in Indonesia, with the length of stay spanning from 12 days to 13.5 days and 68 percent of them staying in five-star hotels.
Indonesia is trying its best efforts to bolster its tourism since the nation has reset the sector as its core business, leaving behind oil and gas, coal and palm oil.
Ten new tourism destinations are now being developed across the country to tap more foreign visits to the nation.
Indonesia has witnessed the increasing number of foreign visitors in the past years and expects to welcome more foreign visitors in the coming years.
by Chris Mgidu
NAIROBI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's army said Thursday that they killed 57 Al-Shabaab militants during a clash at Afmadow area of southern Somalia.
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman Joseph Owuoth said the troops who are part of the Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are still in the region to purge it of the militants.
Owuoth said in a statement the 8:45-a.m. incident that involved artillery fire and helicopter gunships took place close to Subow Centre.
The spokesman said the soldiers remain vigilant and will continue to relentlessly pursue the terrorist to ensure peace and security of Kenya, as well as to support AMISOM operations to stabilize Somalia.
Kenya has blamed members of Al-Shabaab for a series of abduction of foreigners and grenade and landmine attacks on its territory near the border with Somalia.
Since Kenya sent troops across the border into Somalia in October 2011, northern and parts of eastern Kenya have been hit by a series of blasts, many targeting local security forces and humanitarian workers.
Deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province arrive at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2017. The fifth annual session of the 12th NPC will open on March 5. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) are gathering in Beijing for the top legislature's annual session, which will open on Sunday.
NPC delegations from outside Beijing all arrived in the capital on Thursday, and preparations for the session are complete, according to the press center of the fifth session of the 12th NPC.
Deputies from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were the first to arrive.
NPC deputies are elected by people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The armed forces elect their own. Deputies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan follow separate election rules decided by the NPC.
Lawmaker Tan Zhijuan, a researcher on agriculture from Heilongjiang, has brought two bills, one on agricultural cooperatives and the other on supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector.
Lawmaker Weng Guoxing from east China's Fujian Province, a medical doctor, said this year he would continue to focus his attention on health reform.
Documents for the meeting are translated into seven ethnic minority languages, including Mongolian, Tibetan and Uygur, and several foreign languages, including English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The NPC session will deal principally with the government work report, the central government budget and draft General Provisions of Civil Law.
The government work report will be delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening of the session when growth targets for the year will be unveiled.
The draft General Provisions of Civil Law have gone through three readings since June last year and are expected to be approved.
BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday was striped of immunity from prosecution over a tweet post in connection with the Islamic State (IS) by the European Parliament in a vote. Le Pen, leader of National Front party and co-chair of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament, is currently running for the French presidency.
As a member of European Parliament (MEP), she could not be prosecuted.
An investigation into Le Pen was opened by the French judicial authorities following the posting on her twitter account of three violent images that showed the murder of three hostages by Daesh (IS group) on Dec. 16 2015.
One of the three photographs, which were not blurred, showed U.S. hostage James Foley being beheaded. The images were accompanied by the following comment by Marine Le Pen: "This is Daesh!"
In a report by Italian MEP Laura Ferrara to the plenary, the lawmakers argued that Le Pen's tweet post is an offence to disseminate violent images that will likely undermine human dignity.
"Although the images posted by Ms Le Pen can be accessed by anyone via Google and have been widely reposted on the internet since they appeared on her twitter account, it is beyond question that their violent nature is likely to undermine human dignity. Their publication therefore warrants the opening of criminal proceedings," Ferrara said.
The French law stipulates that criminal proceedings may not be brought against information society service providers if violent images are removed within 24 hours from the time of notification by the competent authority of the need to do so.
"In this connection, it should be emphasised that Ms. Le Pen removed only the photograph of the murder of the hostage James Foley, and not the other two images," the lawmaker stated.
"Lastly, given that the speed of the legal proceedings taken against Marine Le Pen is comparable to the pace of other proceedings in matters relating to the press and other media, there is no reason to suspect that this may be a case of 'fumus persecutionis', i.e. a situation in which there are signs or evidence of an intent to persecute an individual," Laura Ferrara said in the report.
Approved by 18 votes in favor to three against, with no abstentions, the Committee on Legal Affairs in the European Parliament on Tuesday recommended to waive the immunity of Marine Le Pen through a plenary vote.
However, the lifting of her immunity would concern only the tweets and not the ongoing probing into the allegation that Le Pen misused public funds by hiring a fake parliamentary aide.
Related:
French president rejects Fillon's allegations of bias in justice system
PARIS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday rejected allegations of bias in the country's justice system made by scandal-hit presidential candidate Francois Fillon who has been summoned to appear before a judge later this month.
"As guarantor of the independence of the judicial authorities, I want to speak out against any calling into question of the judges," Hollande said in a statement. Full story
Fillon says not to quit French presidential race despite probe
PARIS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- French presidential candidate Francois Fillon confirmed Wednesday that he would be summoned on March 15 by the investigating magistrates over alleged fake jobs.
NEW DELHI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Indian Ministry of Defense has asked the country's premier investigating agency -- the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to probe the alleged leak of question papers for the army's recruitment exam, officials said Thursday.
The leak of papers detected by police in western state of Maharashtra on Sunday led to cancellation of the exam for entire Pune zone.
India's official broadcaster - All India Radio (AIR)-- said Defense Minister Monohar Parrikar gave his nod after army recommended for investigation into entire incident by the agency.
Police has arrested 18 people for their involvement in the case and questioned over 300 candidates.
According to police, the candidates appearing in the recruitment exam were given the question papers in advance by people involved in the leak.
Reports said examination at other centres might also be cancelled in wake of the leak.
The examinations were held on Sunday for lower-level posts including those of soldier clerk, strongman and soldier tradesman across India.
Indian army has already initiated an internal court of inquiry into the case.
by Chrispinus Omar
NAIROBI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Thursday that drought and conflicts were worsening food security across Africa, especially in its eastern part, amid strong global harvests.
According to FAO's new edition of Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, food supply conditions are robust, but access to food has been dramatically reduced in areas suffering civil conflicts.
"This is an unprecedented situation. Never before have we been faced with four threats of famine in multiple countries simultaneously," said FAO Assistant Director-General Kostas Stamoulis, who heads the Economic and Social Development department.
According to the UN food agency, some 37 countries require external assistance for food, including 28 African countries as a result of lingering effects of last year's El Nino-triggered drought on harvests.
FAO said while agricultural production is expected to rebound in southern Africa, protracted fighting and unrest are increasing the ranks of the displaced and hungry in other parts of the world.
Famine has been formally declared in South Sudan and the food security situation is of grave concern in northern Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen.
"It demands swift action which should consist of immediate food assistance but also livelihood support to ensure that such situations are not repeated," Stamoulis said.
In South Sudan, 100,000 people were facing famine in Leer and Mayendit counties, part of former Unity State, while there was an "elevated risk" that similar conditions existed in two nearby counties.
Overall, about 4.9 million people across the country were classified as facing crisis, emergency or famine. That number is projected to increase to 5.5 million, or almost half the country's population, at the peak of the lean season in July.
In Somalia, the combination of conflict, civil insecurity and drought have resulted in more than double the number of people, now estimated at 2.9 million, being severely food insecure from six months ago.
Drought has curtailed fodder for pastoralists and the third consecutive season of poor rainfall is estimated to have reduced crop production in southern and central regions to 70 percent below average levels, leaving food stocks depleted.
According to FAO, a total of 8.1 million people in northern Nigeria are facing acute food insecurity and require urgent life-saving response and livelihood protection.
That comes despite the above-average cereal harvest in 2016 and reflects the disruption caused by conflict as well as the sharp depreciation of the Naira.
In Yemen, 17 million people or two-thirds of the population are estimated to be food insecure, while almost half of them are in need of emergency assistance, with the report noting that "the risk of famine declaration in the country is very high."
FAO said conflicts and civil unrest in Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Myanmar and Syria are also exacerbating food insecurity for millions of people as well as affecting nearby refugee-hosting countries.
According to FAO, maize harvests in Southern Africa, slashed by El Nino, are forecast to recover this year, with South Africa's output expected to increase by more than 50 percent from 2016, with positive trends likely in most nearby countries.
However, an outbreak of armyworms, along with localized flooding in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, could limit larger production gains in 2017.
KIEV, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a bill into law that grants social benefits to young people who are affected by conflicts in eastern regions, the presidential press service said Thursday.
Under the new law, the Ukrainian government will allocate funds for educational and housing needs of young people who live near the contact line in eastern Ukraine and in areas beyond Kiev's control, according to a statement on the presidential website.
The government will settle school and university bills and offer financial grants for daily expenses. Temporary accommodation will also be provided for those who don't own a house.
The initiative is aimed at cultivating pro-Kiev support among young people who live in conflict-ridden areas.
GAZA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army artillery stationed on the borders between northern Gaza Strip and Israel fired on Thursday afternoon four tank shells on a lookout post that belongs to Hamas militants in northern Gaza Strip.
Gazan Hamas security officials said in a short text message sent to reporters that no injuries were reported, however the military post was severely damaged.
The Israeli tank shelling was in retaliation to the previous night's firing of a Grad rocket from northern Gaza into southern Israel, according to Israeli media reports, with no injuries or damage reported.
However, an Israeli army spokesman informed Israeli media that the Israeli army's response to the attack against southern Israel destroyed two targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel Radio reported that unidentified militants fired a rocket from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip into Israel overnight, which landed in the vicinity of the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, with no reported damage or injuries.
BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- In a resolution approved on Thursday, members of European Parliament (MEPs) urged the executive arm of the European Union (EU) to temporarily reintroduce visa requirements for citizens of the United States.
The text, prepared by the civil liberties committee, was adopted by a show of hands in the plenary of the European Parliament in Brussels. The MEPs urged for the measures to be adopted "within two months."
The EU lawmakers argued that the European Commission was legally obliged to adopt the necessary legal measures, given that Washington still does not grant visa-free access to nationals of five EU countries.
Citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania still cannot enter U.S. territory without a visa, while U.S. citizens can travel to all EU countries visa-free.
According to the visa reciprocity mechanism, if a third country does not lift its visa requirements within 24 months of being notified of non-reciprocity, the commission must adopt a delegated act -- to which both Parliament and the Council may object -- suspending the visa waiver for its nationals for 12 months.
Following a notification of non-reciprocity on April 12, 2014, the European Commission should have acted before April 12, 2016, but it has yet to take any legal measure, the lawmakers complained.
In April 2014, the European Commission was notified that five countries were not meeting their obligations towards the EU with regard to reciprocity of visa-free travel: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan and the United States.
Australia, Brunei and Japan have since lifted their visa requirements for all EU citizens and Canada will do so in December this year.
PARIS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A French national was one of the workers abducted in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the French Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"We confirm that a French national is among the people abducted on March 1 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. At this stage, we don't have information on the perpetrators," a ministry's spokesman said.
"We are mobilized and are in contact with the Congolese (DR Congo)authorities to shed as much light as possible on what happened, and in order to free our compatriot," he added during a e-press briefing.
Earlier on Thursday, Canadian gold dealer Banro Corporation said militiamen had kidnapped five workers at its Namoya gold mine in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
HANOI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is implementing citizen protection measures for a Vietnamese suspect arrested in Malaysia in relation of the killing of a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man, said Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Consular Department on Thursday.
On the same day, the department's representatives met with the family of Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese citizen, arrested in Malaysia.
The meeting aimed at explaining proceedings of the case and instructing Huong's family about legal assistance following the regulations of Malaysia laws and international convention, said a statement by the department.
Earlier, the department has informed Huong's family about the recent meeting with Huong in Malaysia and her health condition.
On Wednesday, two female suspects, including Huong and the other from Indonesia were charged with the murder of the DPRK man, said a local court in Malaysia.
According to the statement, representatives of the Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia were present at the court to protect legitimate rights of Huong.
The Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia is continuing to implement citizen protection measures within its scope to ensure the proceedings are fair, objective and non-discriminatory as well as ensure legitimate rights of the Vietnamese citizen, including assistance to seek a suitable lawyer for Huong, in accordance with legal regulations of Malaysia, said the statement.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Uber CEO Travis Kalanick apologized to all Uber employees in a note Tuesday evening after he was caught on a dashboard camera in a heated argument with a Uber driver.
"By now I'm sure you've seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement," said Kalanick in the note shortly after Bloomberg published the six-minute video obtained from Fawzi Kamel, driver of the company's high-end service Uber Black.
The video caught the verbal altercation in San Francisco between Kalanick and Kamel, who was angry like many other Uber drivers about plunging fares and lower pay.
The quarrel started when Kamel argued with Kalanick for "raising the standards" while "dropping the prices."
"I lost 97,000 (U.S.) dollars because of you. I'm bankrupt because of you," Kamel complained, "You changed the whole business. You dropped the prices."
Kalanick answered back, "You know what? Some people don't like to take responsibility for their owns. They blame everything in their life on somebody else."
Kalanick climbed out of the car, spitting "good luck" behind him.
The video quickly sparked social media outrage and revived the campaign of #DeleteUber on Twitter.
Softened from his pugnacious mood in the video, Kalanick wrote in the note that the incident "cannot be explained away."
"It's clear this video is a reflection of me -- and the criticism we've received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up," he wrote.
"This is the first time I've been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it," he continued. "I want to profoundly apologize to Fawzi, as well as the driver and rider community, and to the Uber team."
Changes in Uber's business model have hurt the income of many Uber drivers, as the company lowered fares to remain competitive against other ride-sharing companies.
As Bloomberg noted, an Uber Black ride cost 4.90 dollars per mile in 2012, while it now costs 3.75 per mile.
"We started high-end. We didn't go low-end because we wanted to. We went low-end because we had to because we'd be out of business," Kalanick said in the video.
ROCKY START OF YEAR
This is just the latest embarrassing story for Kalanick and Uber. The ride-hailing giant has been exposed in a string of negative press coverage over the past three months that all pointed the finger at its toxic corporate culture and dysfunctional management structure.
On Monday, Uber asked its new senior vice president of engineering to resign for failing to disclose a sexual harassment allegation against him at his former post at Google.
More than a week ago, a former engineer at Uber wrote a blog post alleging that the company's human resources personnel repeatedly ignored her sexual harassment claims as the company was reluctant to punish the "high performer."
In February, Kalanick quit from Trump's business advisory council amid intense public criticism, as his membership in the council was being read as support for the billionaire president's agenda.
In January, the company's decision to cut surge pricing was perceived by many, not to mention its many immigrant drivers, as undermining a strike by a New York taxi union protesting against U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban. It also triggered a wave of trend to delete Uber's app in a way to boycott the company.
In December, Uber pulled its self-driving fleet off the road in San Francisco, California, the company's home town, after the California Department of Motor Vehicles said they were operating illegally without an autonomous vehicle licence.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's courier service sector entered a new era with the listing of all major players, Ma Junsheng, head of the State Post Bureau (SPB), said in an interview with Xinhua.
While the overall prospects for the sector are excellent, Ma pointed out some problems and called for efforts to turn challenges into opportunities.
THE NEXT TERA-YUAN INDUSTRY
The year started with a big bang for couriers, which posted a year-on-year revenue growth of 6.2 percent, collecting 31 billion yuan (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in January.
On Feb. 24, the listing of SF Express on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange made it the last of the top five private courier services to go public. Its share price then rose for five consecutive days.
"With more capital, the industry enters a new stage of competition and will embrace a shake-up in structure," Ma said. "Giants with all-round capabilities and reaches will emerge."
He called these the "aircraft carriers" of the sector, technology-laden heavyweights with high risk resistance, offering quality services without damaging the environment.
China has about 19,000 courier companies, most of which are vulnerable small businesses in a fragmented market. Capital inflow is revving up competition and forcing out players. SF Express, backed by the capital market, is likely to become China's answer to global leader FedEx.
By 2020, China expects to have become the world's largest express delivery market with a business revenue of 800 billion yuan. Powerhouses able to generate over 100 billion yuan a year will emerge, and the country will be home to at least two leading world brands.
Courier delivery, buoyed by prospering online shopping in rural areas and cross-border e-commerce, should be the next sector worth over a trillion yuan.
BILLIONAIRE AND FOOT-SOLDIER
Following the listing of SF Express, photos of an ordinary courier standing next to the company's founder Wang Wei went viral on the Internet.
In April 2016, the young deliver man was assaulted by a man in Beijing after his electric tricycle struck the man's car. Flanking himself with a an ordinary delivery boy, Wang, one of the country's richest men, earned himself a groundswell of plaudits.
"The happiness and sense of belonging of delivery men must not be neglected," Ma Junsheng said, hailing Wang's respect for the rank-and-file.
The event also cast light on a sector which relies on a vast legion of low paid workers whose trips, mostly by scooters and tricycles, keep China's e-commerce revolution on track.
"They lack a sense of security and turnover is high," Ma said, recalling his visits to local courier service stations over past months. "Employers must improve pay and benefits."
TOMORROW'S HIGHLIGHTS
China's courier service sector has expanded by 50 percent in each of the last six years, which has brought new challenges.
The sector is heavily dependent on e-commerce, with 65 percent of parcels generated by online shopping, said Zhao Guojun with Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications.
That reliance has meant a price war and squeezed profit margins, ultimately encroaching on the welfare of grassroots workers, said Xu Yong, an industry analyst.
As the reshuffle continues, profit margins will further drop. Gross profits have plummeted from 30 percent in 2007 to below 10 percent. Besides, the sector needs to better integrate itself with manufacturing and agriculture, Ma said,
"The industry needs reform and innovation to turn today's difficulties into tomorrow's highlights," he said.
RIYADH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Saudi housing ministry asserted that the investment in the property sector is expected to exceed 133 billion U.S. dollars to build 1.5 million houses in the few coming years, Al Hayat newspaper reported on Thursday.
The ministry is expecting good revenues of the investment in the property sector and the whole economy, despite the fact that the contribution of the housing projects to the Saudi GDP is relatively low.
Housing ministry undersecretary Ali Al Jaber told the paper that the revenues of the property sector was 34 billion dollars in 2010, which represented 4.9 percent of the GDP of that year and only 8.3 percent of the total non-oil revenues.
Saudi Arabia has been taking serious steps to enhance the revenues of all economic sectors to get ready for the post-oil era, including the attraction of foreign investment and business-friendly policies.
Photo taken on Sept. 15, 2014 shows the Ghana National Theater against the backdrop of Gulf of Guinea. (Xinhua/Lin Xiaowei)
ACCRA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's new agriculture policy to be launched next month will seek to make the country Africa's food basket, Minister of Food and Agriculture Afriyie Osei Akoto has said.
Speaking during the Agriculture Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) Summit on Wednesday, the minister said the pilot program would target 200,000 local farmers and five selected crops - soya, sorghum, maize, rice and vegetables.
"The program is expected to cost about 560 million Ghana cedis, which is something like 120 million dollars, and is expected to generate 1.3 billion Ghana cedis in gross revenue for the participating farmers and, more importantly, generate at least 750 000 jobs," he said.
"In the first year, you can imagine, as we step up, the generation of jobs is going to be very great," he added.
Osei Akoto announced that the government would select about 200,000 farmers within the next two months who will be assisted with improved seeds, fertilizers and extension services.
He said participation in the program would be expanded annually to ensure that at least half of the population of five million farmers was assisted at the end of the four-year period.
The challenge of the government, according to the minister, is how to maximize productivity among Ghanaian farmers to reach the levels that farmers supported under the ADVANCE program had reached.
"Ghana can produce not only for Ghana or West Africa or Africa, but we can be a big producer and supplier of maize across the world and that is a fact most of you will agree with," he said.
The ADVANCE program is under the Feed The Future initiative put together by Development Partners and run in Ghana by the United States charity, USAID. It is in its second phase with 113,000 farmers in a targeted program to bring investments in specific regions for maximum impact.
The Deputy Head of Mission at USAID, Steven Hendrix, noted that Ghana had the potential to become Africa's bread basket.
"I was previously in Nigeria and we had a massive food aid program in the Boko Haram affected areas. Just Maiduguri, a million people needed food assistance of some sort and we were importing food because Nigeria could not grow the food they needed. It could not get the food in the market for its citizens," Hendrix said.
He added: "And I thought, where we can get this food; And it turns out that places like Ghana could be the bread basket, not only for West Africa, but for much of Africa."
ALGIERS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Algerian counterterrorism troops deployed in remote desert areas of the country discovered large loads of war weapons, Defense Ministry said on Thursday in a statement.
The source noted that the arms were discovered during a reconnaissance patrol of army troops in southern province of Adrar.
It specified that the troops found a bunker containing 40 Kalashnikov machine guns, a 14.5 mm heavy machine-gun, 44 Kalashnikov-type gun loaders and a large quantity of ammunition.
A day before, Defense Ministry said army troops in Tizi Ouzou, 120 km eastern Algiers, discovered a bunker containing eight RPG-2 shells, a quantity of munitions of different calibers and explosive materials.
Algerian army troops on Tuesday killed 12 terrorists in upper woods of Tizi Ouzou, Defense Ministry said.
A few militants affiliated to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and recently established IS affiliate group of Caliphate Soldiers are still taking refuge in the dense woods in northern provinces Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdes and Bouira.
KIEV, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 miners have been killed, with seven others injured and 16 trapped underground following an explosion on Thursday at a state-run coal mine in western Ukraine, authorities said.
According to the State Service for Emergencies, the blast occurred at the depth of 550 meters in the Stepova mine in Lviv region at around 12.46 p.m. local time(10:46 GMT).
A total of 172 miners were in the mine when the blast struck, with 34 of them working underground in the epicenter of the explosion.
Mykhailo Volynets, the head of the Ukrainian Independent Union of Miners, said that two of the injured are in critical condition.
A team of 50 rescuers is working on the scene in an effort to bring the trapped miners to the surface.
The exact cause of the accident is unknown, but initial reports suggested it may have been caused by methane gas explosion.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Energy and Coal Minister Igor Nasaly are heading to the site of the blast.
by David Musyoka
NAIROBI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) said Thursday that the improved petroleum pipeline designed to improve supply of fuel to the hinterlands and regional export destinations is scheduled for completion by end of April.
KPC's Managing Director Joe Sang said the contractor, Zakhem International, had begun installation of the eight mainline pumps that have arrived in the country, adding that the line's four stations would have two mainline pumps each.
"The new line once completed will adequately serve the country's demand which is projected to be 6.8 billion litres in 2020," said Sang in a statement. He said the project will be ready for commissioning by June.
Sang said the new line would enhance KPC's pipeline devolution plan into the counties by increasing product availability in Nairobi that will feed into spur lines into Western Kenya, Central Kenya, Rift Valley and South Nyanza regions.
The new pipeline will also improve the reliability of fuel supply to the export market of Uganda, Rwanda and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
With a flow rate of 1 million liters per hour, the line will remove an average of about 700 trucks from the road daily at maximum utilization.
"This will enhance safety because pipeline transportation of fuel is the safest and most cost effective way of transporting petroleum products the world over. There will therefore be no tanker accidents, fuel fires, siphoning on our roads hence saving lives and conserving our environment," said Sang.
KPC is replacing the existing Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline that has been in operation for 38 years.
A Vision 2030 flagship project, the construction of the 450-km pipeline will ensure sustained, reliable and efficient transportation of petroleum products in the region and meet demand in the next 30 years.
The pipeline will have an installed flow rate of 1 million liters per hour in phase one.
HARARE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 246 people died and over 2,000 others were left homeless as torrential rains continued to unleash flood in Zimbabwe, a cabinet minister said Thursday.
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere appealed for assistance from the international community, development partners and the private sector to address the plight of the affected citizens.
The Zimbabwean government has declared the flooding, so far recorded in southern parts of the country, a state of disaster.
"It is apparent that extra-ordinary measures to alleviate the suffering of citizens of the country in communal, resettlement and urban areas have to be intensified," he was quoted as saying by state-run news agency.
Zimbabwe has received above-normal rain since the beginning of the 2016/2017 season that has resulted in more that 85 percent of the country's dams spilling.
The rains are expected to continue until the end of March.
The minister said 2,579 homes, 74 schools and five health institutions had been damaged by floods.
Most of the deaths and destruction have been recorded in Matabeleland North and South provinces, Midlands and Masvingo provinces, he said.
Kasukuwere said shelter, food and nutrition, health facilities, education and road infrastructure were among the issues requiring urgent support while damage assessment was continuing.
He said the government had set up structures from national to district levels to deal with the disaster.
Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri said more than 12 million dollars was required to rehabilitate damaged dams and infrastructure for supply of clean water to the people.
"Over 100,000 people are without access to safe drinking water due to destruction of water infrastructure," she said.
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- While finger-pointing about job losses has been rife on Capitol Hill, blame-thy-neighbor rhetoric has been noticeably absent in the Great Hall of the People.
In his first address to Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the United States has "lost 60,000 factories" since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Yet China is also experiencing factory losses. The so-called "world's factory" is shedding manufacturing jobs, not just to lower-cost regions such as Southeast Asia, but also to higher-end economies. Indeed, one of the hottest economic topics in China is the loss of jobs to the United States.
Cao Dewang, who runs China's leading glass manufacturing business, was recently thrust into a media storm after he complained of high business costs in his homeland and announced a billion-dollar investment in the United States.
A fierce debate ensued, with various reports and opinions circulating about Cao and China's business environment. Still, almost none blamed Uncle Sam for being attractive and business-friendly and luring Cao's investment away.
To be sure, many factories and jobs have been and will continue to be created in the United States through Chinese investment. According to a report by the U.S.-China Business Council cited by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, trade and investment between China and the United States created about 2.6 million jobs for the latter in 2015.
However, China is not in the habit of finger-pointing for "stealing jobs."
Cao, a senior political advisor, will no doubt face more questions about manufacturing jobs in China and America when he attends the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee (CPPCC) -- China's top political advisory body -- that will open in Beijing Friday.
But you won't hear slogans like "Buy Chinese, Hire Chinese" at the CPPCC session, nor that of National People's Congress, which will open Sunday.
Instead, there will be remarks like those made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January.
"We are not jealous of others' success; and we will not complain about others who have benefited so much from the great opportunities presented by China's development.
"We will open our arms to the people of other countries and welcome them aboard the express train of China's development."
ISTANBUL, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish officials said on Thursday that security measures across Istanbul have been upgraded for foreign tourists including Chinese, as the threat of more terror attacks is lingering.
"Istanbul is now a secure city," Ismail Gultekin, deputy governor of Istanbul, said at a meeting with Turkish and Chinese officials and tourism representatives. "Chinese tourists can now visit Turkey without any hesitation."
The number of Chinese visiting Turkey has dropped to some 167,000 in 2016 from about 310,000 in 2015 due to repeated terror attacks that hit Istanbul and other Turkish cities, with a shooting spree by an Islamic State militant on New Year's Day leaving 39 dead, mostly foreigners, at a nightclub in Istanbul.
Turkey saw a decline of over 30 percent in foreign arrivals in 2016, as many had shunned the country due to worsening security, according to figures released by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Hakan Yilmaz, head of the police department of Istanbul's Fatih district, which boasts touristic attractions like the Sultanahmet area, ancient monuments and mosques dating back to the Ottoman era, said security measures across the district have been boosted in the wake of the deadly attacks.
"Now our security forces follow a more visible method," Yilmaz said, noting that security forces can be seen patrolling the area in every ten meters.
He said special check points have been set up at Sultanahmet Square, which is near the well-known Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
An additional 22 security check points with X-ray scanners have been established at all the entrances to the ancient Grand Bazaar not far away, the police chief said.
He asked Chinese tourists to immediately call the police in case they think they are cheated or overcharged.
In addition, 100 members of the special police forces have been deployed to the bazaar area, where private security forces were doubled, Gultekin said.
For his part, Qian Bo, the Chinese consul general in Istanbul, called for joint efforts by Istanbul authorities, the Chinese consulate general and travel agencies to better ensure the security of Chinese tourists and draw more Chinese nationals to visit Turkey.
The Turkish and Chinese sides pledged more cooperation on tourism and agreed to keep communication channels open for better resolution of issues.
ANKARA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will attack the Kurdish-backed militants in northern Syria's Manbij city "unless they withdraw," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, as reported by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.
Turkey will strike the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), if they do not withdraw from Manbij, said Cavusoglu.
Syria's PYD and YPG must exit Manbij as it is the next target of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.
Manbij is a city in the Syrian Aleppo Governorate, about 30 km south of the border between Turkey and Syria.
The city is also a previous Islamic State (IS) bastion, currently controlled by Kurdish forces.
Turkey regards the PYD and YPG as terrorist organizations due to their links to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkey's army launched "Operation Euphrates Shield "on Aug. 24, 2016, in order to drive out terrorist organizations from its borders including the IS and Kurdish militants, mainly the PYD.
Turkey has repeatedly vowed to prevent PKK and PYD from establishing a corridor for terrorists on Turkey's doorstep.
HANGZHOU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Thursday unveiled more steps to restrict housing purchases in a bid to cool down the property market.
Hangzhou bureau of housing security and management announced that as of Friday, people without local "hukou" (permanent residence permits) need records of two years of income tax and social security payments made in the last three years if they want to buy a house there. Currently they only need to have paid for one of the previous two years to be eligible.
Those with local hukou are to be banned from buying third homes.
The bureau also expanded the ban to cover two more districts. Since the city resumed housing purchase restrictions in most of its urban areas in September 2016, large number of home buyers bought houses in Fuyang and Dajiangdong districts. Non-local buyers made more than 40 percent of purchases in Dajiangdong in the past three months, according to tmsf.com, a Hangzhou-based housing market research institute.
Similar purchase restrictions have been introduced in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.
Second-home sales in Shenzhen slumped 37.7 percent month on month, or 71.4 percent year on year, to 242,085 square meters in February, according to the city urban planning, land and resources commission.
Despite the decline in sales, the average prices remained resilient, edging up 0.7 percent month on month to 54,500 yuan (7,900 U.S. dollars) per square meter.
Wang Feng, head of the Shenzhen real estate research center, said further tightening measures were expected, and prices in Shenzhen would likely fall about 5 percent in the first half of the year.
But in the mid- and long-term, the Shenzhen market will continue to boom, said Wang.
WUHAN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A permanent fishing ban in all 279 aquatic reserves along the Yangtze River has begun, as China races to revive the flagging ecosystem of its largest river.
"Biodiversity in the Yangtze River has been shrinking. The Chinese paddlefish has not been seen in years and the Chinese sturgeon and finless porpoise are on the brink of extinction," said Yu Kangzhen, Vice Minister of Agriculture, at a meeting in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, on Thursday.
The numbers of four species of carp have decreased by 97 percent from the levels in the 1950s, Yu said.
The annual catch from the river is less than 100,000 tonnes, contributing very little to the 69 million tonnes of fishery production nationwide, he said.
The Yangtze River does not have sufficient conditions for fishery production anymore, and it is more important to emphasize its ecological functions and protect aquatic biodiversity, he added.
"People are even fighting for food against the finless porpoise in some places, damaging the reserves," Yu said.
A Ministry of Agriculture four-month fishing ban comes into force in several major rivers including the Yangtze on March 1. The ban is the first four-month ban in regions south of the Yangtze.
The ministry said it will help fishermen change jobs and impose the ban in a gradual way.
The ban is required by the "No. 1 Central Document" released in February, the first policy statement from the central authorities in the year, and traditionally devoted to agriculture.
The ban has been extended to four months from three and was extended to the Huaihe River last year. This year, the Pearl River and Minjiang River are included for the first time.
Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak is escorted by medical and security personnel into a helicopter at Maadi Military Hospital in Cairo, Egypt on March 2, 2017. An Egyptian top court issued a final verdict on Thursday confirming acquittal of former President Hosni Mubarak of the charges of being responsible for killing protesters who joined the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule, official MENA news agency reported. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian top court issued a final verdict on Thursday confirming acquittal of former President Hosni Mubarak of the charges of being responsible for killing protesters who joined the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule, official MENA news agency reported.
Mubarak, 89, who is currently staying in a military hospital in Cairo, has previously been acquitted of the same charges in 2015, but the prosecution then appealed the verdict.
Thursday's ruling, issued by the Court of Cassation, is considered final and unappealable.
ANKARA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's first research base in Antarctica will be set up next year, Science Minister Faruk Ozlu said Thursday, as reported by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.
"Turkish scientists will establish a base and remain in the Antarctic permanently," Ozlu said. "The base will be probably established in 2018."
"The buildings and structures that we will install will be made in Turkey and we will send them by ship," he added.
A team of nine scientists set off for Antarctica last month to conduct feasibility studies at sites in the frozen wilderness.
Turkey established its first polar research center in 2015. Last April, a group of Turkish doctors, botanists, geological engineers and oceanographers visited Antarctica to study the impact of climate change.
MOGADISHU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The African Union top envoy for Somalia vowed Thursday to work closely with the newly appointed Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire to stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.
The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, Francisco Madeira said he has full confidence in Khaire who was sworn in on Wednesday in Mogadishu and immediately promised to enhance the fight against insecurity and corruption.
"The African Union and AMISOM in particular have full confidence in the new Prime Minister's ability to deliver for the people of Somalia," Madeira said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
He said Khaire's vast experience in humanitarian work and business will be a key asset for the new government.
Madeira reaffirmed AMISOM's commitment to working closely with the new government as it embarks on the task of making Somalia a stable country with the capacity to provide for its people.
The AU envoy also commended the members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia for demonstrating their confidence in Khaire and thereby ensuring a speedy confirmation process.
The new PM who holds a dual Somali-Norwegian citizenship has now 30 days to form his new cabinet that will be tasked with transforming the Horn of Africa nation amid security, drought and corruption challenges.
BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The rules requiring member states of the European Union (EU) to inform the bloc's executive of their plans to negotiate energy supply deals with third countries before opening negotiations were approved in a plenary of European Parliament on Thursday.
"This legislation will ensure the energy security of the member states, creating effective ex-ante mechanisms for the European Commission to check draft agreements on gas and oil supplies, and to verify their compliance with both EU law and energy security needs," said rapporteur Zdzislaw Krasnodebski whose draft text was approved by 542 votes to 87, with 19 abstentions.
The rules require that an EU member state entering into negotiations with a third country, to amend or conclude an intergovernmental energy agreement, inform the European Commission in writing before the start of the negotiations.
At present, member states are required to submit such agreements to the European Commission only after signature.
Under the new rules, the EU executive may respond to a notification by advising on how to ensure that the agreement to be negotiated is compatible with EU law.
Meanwhile, the EU executive arms may participate in the negotiations as an observer, at a member state's request, or when it considers it necessary. However, its participation will be subject to the written approval of the member state concerned.
According to the new rules, the European Commission will have five weeks to inform the member state that it has doubts about the deal under negotiation, and 12 additional weeks to give its opinion on the deal's compatibility with EU law, and internal energy market and competition law.
If a member state fails to take account of the EU executive's opinion in the ratified version of the agreement, it should explain the reasons for its decision, said the legislation text.
DAMASCUS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army announced in a statement that the Syrian forces captured the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria on Thursday after battles with the Islamic State (IS) group.
DAMASCUS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) group withdrew from the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria on Thursday, as the Syrian army swept into the city following intense battles, a monitor group reported.
The Syrian government forces were sweeping the city in search of mines and explosive devices, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based watchdog group said that explosions were still being heard inside the city due to the large number of explosives and bombs.
The Syrian army backed by Russian air forces and fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah group unleashed a counter offensive to retake the city on Jan. 14 this year, just days after the IS militants took the city for the second time.
Last December, the group stormed the city for the second time after losing it nine months earlier to the Syrian army.
Palmyra contains monumental ruins of a great city, one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.
The IS militants blew up several 2,000-year-old monuments and relics in Palmyra during their first and second invasion of the city in 2015 and late 2016.
MOSCOW, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The emotional atmosphere in the United States will harm a possible restoration of relations with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
He made the remarks regarding a U.S. investigation into alleged contacts between U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.
"This emotional atmosphere has led to certain opposition to the idea of establishing any dialogue with Russia. I think the negative effect is evident here," Peskov was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.
U.S. mainstream media reported earlier this week that then-senator Sessions had spoken with Kislyak twice during Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year. Sessions has been called a "top spy and spy-recruiter" for Russia by American intelligence.
The Kremlin did not know about the meetings between Kislyak and Sessions and didn't want to get involved in this "emotionally-charged" scandal either, Peskov added.
Last month, Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, resigned for lying about improperly discussing U.S. sanctions on Russia with Kislyak before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to stabilize and deepen bilateral cooperation amid repeated accusations that Trump's campaign illegally coordinated with Russia.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak lies on a stretcher while being transported ahead of his trial in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters photo)
CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian top court issued a final verdict on Thursday confirming acquittal of former President Hosni Mubarak of the charges of being responsible for killing protesters who joined the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule, official MENA news agency reported.
Mubarak, 89, who is currently staying in a military hospital in Cairo, has previously been acquitted of the same charges in 2015, but the prosecution then appealed the verdict.
Thursday's ruling, issued by the Court of Cassation, is considered final and unappealable.
LUSAKA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday expressed concern over the low trade volumes with Israel, saying more needed to be done to boost trade.
Lungu said when he addressed a first-ever Zambia-Israel Business Forum in Jerusalem that trade volumes between the two countries has declined from 2.3 million U.S. dollars per year to 500,000 dollars.
The Zambian leader said his government has embarked on strengthening economic diplomacy with countries such as Israel and will do everything possible to boost trade between the two countries, according to a statement released by his office.
He has since assured Israel investors of a conducive business environment in Zambia, adding that his government was in a hurry to create jobs and improve economic growth which could only be done through improved private sector investment.
Israel, he said, played a key role in the establishment of Zambia's biggest public university, the University of Zambia and the biggest hospital, the University Teaching Hospital, when diplomatic relations were established in 1964 until the relation was cut off at some point.
According to him, his administration was now in a hurry to cover up on the lost time as it opened its first ever embassy in that country two years ago.
The business forum was expected to provide a platform that will create appetite for Israel firms to invest in Zambia, he added.
Lungu is on a five-day State visit to Israel aimed at boosting economic cooperation between the two countries and has so far held meetings with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands alongside U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Sessions was sworn in, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 9, 2017. (AFP PHOTO)
MOSCOW, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The emotional atmosphere in the United States will harm a possible restoration of relations with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
He made the remarks regarding a U.S. investigation into alleged contacts between U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.
"This emotional atmosphere has led to certain opposition to the idea of establishing any dialogue with Russia. I think the negative effect is evident here," Peskov was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.
U.S. mainstream media reported earlier this week that then-senator Sessions had spoken with Kislyak twice during Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year. Sessions has been called a "top spy and spy-recruiter" for Russia by American intelligence.
The Kremlin did not know about the meetings between Kislyak and Sessions and didn't want to get involved in this "emotionally-charged" scandal either, Peskov added.
Last month, Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, resigned for lying about improperly discussing U.S. sanctions on Russia with Kislyak before Donald Trump's inauguration.
MOGADISHU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Somalia has opened a rehabilitation center for former Al-Shabaab combatants in the southern port city of Kismayo.
The United Nations Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said in a statement on Thursday that the center which is the fourth to be established in the Horn of Africa nation is part of Somalia's National Programme for the Treatment and Handling of Disengaged Combatants.
Director of the UNSOM Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group, Staffan Tillander said the establishment of the center will go a long way towards countering violent extremism by spurring development in the region.
"Without peace, there won't be any development, and this center will help in preventing violent extremism. It will support a much broader programme, supported by Germany, Japan and others," Tillander said.
UNSOM and development partners have supported the establishment of similar transition centers in Baidoa, Belet Weyne and Mogadishu.
Besides providing vocational training, the centers also offer psychological counseling to ex-combatants to facilitate their reintegration into local communities.
The construction of the center was funded by the German government with support from the UNSOM, Somalia government and development partners.
Deputy German Ambassador to Somalia, Markus Bollmohr said the opening of the center was part of a comprehensive approach to security focusing not only on hard security measures such as a strong police and military force but also on the reconciliatory and rehabilitation aspects of security.
NAIROBI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Mary Otieno, a Kenyan who has been using an energy efficient cooking stove for the past one year has no regrets.
The 32-year-old mother of three is part of a growing army of households in Kenya's informal settlements that have stopped using traditional cooking stoves in favor of energy efficient ones thanks to their membership in Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Saccos).
Kenya's Saccos have been instrumental in the increased uptake of energy efficient stoves and solar lights among the urban poor.
These Saccos have partnered with manufacturers of energy saving equipment and are now extending soft loans to their members to enable them acquire the equipment.
The collaboration has made these energy efficient stoves to be more affordable to consumers by eliminating the middle men.
Through her membership in the Sacco, Otieno who lives in Kibera slums, one of the largest informal settlements in Africa, got a soft loan to purchase a brand new cooking stove at a cost of 32 U.S dollars.
"I normally used to spend at least 0.5 dollars daily on firewood to cook for my family every day," she told Xinhua in Nairobi.
"After acquiring the energy efficient stove, I use less than 0.25 U.S dollars daily for cooking for my household," Otieno added.
She noted that the energy efficient stove is one of the best investment decisions that she has ever made as she recouped her money in less than five months.
The Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCCO) on Wednesday entered into a partnership with Pamoja Life, a social enterprise incorporated in Kenya, that will enable the two institutions provide innovative renewable energy products to Kenyan SACCO members at an affordable cost.
Pamoja Life CEO Viney Sharma said that the energy efficient stoves emit 50 percent less smoke compared to traditional stoves.
Traditional stoves have been blamed for respiratory diseases among urban slum dwellers.
Sharma said that the increased uptake of clean stoves will help to improve the health of slum residents who are dependent on traditional cooking stoves.
Pamoja Life also provides solar lighting equipment for the urban poor. Government data indicates that approximately 70 percent of Kenya has access to electricity.
The Kenyans who are not connected to the national grid use kerosene for lighting their homes.
Households typically spend 0.5 dollars daily on kerosene. Through the tie up between Saccos and suppliers, slum dwellers can acquire solar lighting systems for as little as 43 dollars.
Sharma said that buyers can recoup their investments in about three months because the solar equipment has no running costs.
He noted that solar lighting is ideal in Kenya because of the abundant sunlight throughout the year.
"In addition, use of solar reduces dependence on use of kerosene, a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change," the CEO said.
Pamoja life Kenya, which was established in Kenya 18 months ago as a social enterprise has already sold thousands of solar lights to urban slum dwellers.
Smoke rises over the rebel-held area of Ain Tarma, eastern countryside of Damascus, capital of Syria, on Feb. 7, 2017. At least 20 airstrikes targeted rebel-held areas in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus on Tuesday, leaving unknown losses, a monitor group reported. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)
DAMASCUS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army announced in a statement that the Syrian forces captured the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria on Thursday after battles with the Islamic State (IS) group.
Following a series of successful operations backed by Russian and Syrian air forces, the Syrian army and allied fighters captured the city of Palmyra and its surroundings, the army said in a statement.
The achievement came after the Syrian forces inflicted hefty losses on the IS militants, said the statement, adding that bomb squads are currently combing the city to defuse the leftovers of the IS roadside bombs and explosives.
"This importance of this achievement emanates from the cultural and historic value of Palmyra," said the statement, adding that the victory in Palmyra against IS also coincides with the victories of the Syrian army in the eastern countryside of Aleppo against IS.
"These victories deal a big blow to the terrorist group, which has started to retreat under the strikes of the Syrian army and allied forces," it said.
Capturing Palmyra constitutes a base for expanding the campaign against IS on many fronts and also helps suffocate the group's supply lines.
"The Syrian army and its allies are today more determined to continue the operations against IS and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front as well as other likeminded groups until restoring security and stability to every inch of the homeland," the statement concluded.
The Syrian army backed by Russian air force and fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah group unleashed a counter offensive to retake the city on Jan. 14 this year, just days after the IS militants took the city for the second time.
Last December, the group stormed the city for the second time after losing it nine months earlier to the Syrian army.
Capturing Palmyra constitutes a base for expanding the campaign against IS on many fronts and also helps suffocate the group's supply lines. (Reuters photo)
DAMASCUS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army announced in a statement that the Syrian forces captured the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria on Thursday after battles with the Islamic State (IS) group.
Following a series of successful operations backed by Russian and Syrian air forces, the Syrian army and allied fighters captured the city of Palmyra and its surroundings, the army said in a statement.
The achievement came after the Syrian forces inflicted hefty losses on the IS militants, said the statement, adding that bomb squads are currently combing the city to defuse the leftovers of the IS roadside bombs and explosives.
"This importance of this achievement emanates from the cultural and historic value of Palmyra," said the statement, adding that the victory in Palmyra against IS also coincides with the victories of the Syrian army in the eastern countryside of Aleppo against IS.
"These victories deal a big blow to the terrorist group, which has started to retreat under the strikes of the Syrian army and allied forces," it said.
Capturing Palmyra constitutes a base for expanding the campaign against IS on many fronts and also helps suffocate the group's supply lines.
"The Syrian army and its allies are today more determined to continue the operations against IS and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front as well as other likeminded groups until restoring security and stability to every inch of the homeland," the statement concluded.
The Syrian army backed by Russian air force and fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah group unleashed a counter offensive to retake the city on Jan. 14 this year, just days after the IS militants took the city for the second time.
Last December, the group stormed the city for the second time after losing it nine months earlier to the Syrian army.
KHARTOUM, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir reiterated on Thursday that the new government would include all political forces, without specifying a date for the impending formation.
Al-Bashir said at a press conference that consultations are still in progress to ensure consensus on all posts and at all levels.
He vowed that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) would give concessions to ensure formation of a government that assimilates all the political forces.
The newly appointed prime minister, Bakri Hassan Saleh, would be entrusted with the file of reformation of the government institutions, he disclosed.
Saleh, the former first vice-president, sworn in on Thursday as Sudan's prime minister.
ANKARA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Thursday cancelled a planned visit to Germany, describing it was "unacceptable" that the German authorities revoked permission.
Bozdag was scheduled to deliver a speech in a meeting organized by the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) in the southern German town of Gaggenau.
He was expected to meet with Turkish community members in a rally and address about the upcoming referendum on April 16 for the proposed constitutional amendments in Turkey, Daily Sabah reported.
"The right of assembly was one of the irreplaceable features of democracy," Bozdag told reporters in Strasbourg, France, adding that the decision also did not fit the rule of law.
A statement released by the city of Gaggenau said that the meeting was canceled due to security concerns and incapacity problems. Gaggenau Mayor Michael Pfeiffer said the decision was not a political one.
Meanwhile late Thursday, an official from the city of Cologne said an event on March 5, where Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci would be holding a rally through the UETD, had also been canceled, the German Press Agency (DPA) reported.
A row has occurred recently between Berlin and Ankara over Turkey's abroad rallies regarding the April 16 referendum on constitutional amendment.
German politicians opposed against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials holding rallies in Germany.
With an estimated 3 million people, Germany is the largest Turkish community abroad.
WINDHOEK, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has declared mussels from the Walvis Bay and Swakopmund areas fit for consumption, confirmed Ueritjiua Kauaria, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry on Thursday.
The lift of the ban came after recent re-tests which showed negative results.
the Namibian government decided to close off the Walvis Bay Production Area for mussel harvesting after mussel samples from the production area were confirmed for diarrhetic shellfish poison in January 2017.
The mussels sector generates about half a million Namibian Dollars (about 38,000 U.S. dollars) in revenue per annum.
BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 50 countries attended an international conference here on Thursday, aiming to collect funds for sexual health and family planning worldwide, after a U.S. decision to ban funding, local media reported.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo said he was delighted to see the strong support from the international community to participate to the Global Fundraising Initiative She Decides.
The conference aims at joining forces to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working around family planning and women's rights.
It came following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ban funding for organizations that support girls and women on family planning, contraception, and safe abortion.
"We cannot let thousands of women and girls down because of the ideological choices of one country. We have a choice and a voice," De Croo said at the opening of the conference.
"What unites us today is the willingness to mobilize ourselves not against someone, but for thousands of women," he said.
According to local media RTBF, the U.S. ban would trigger a financial gap estimated between 500 and 600 U.S. million dollars, a gap that the international coalition is struggling to fill.
So far, over 40 million U.S. dollars has been pledged for the She Decides initiative thanks to Belgium (10 million U.S. dollars), Sweden (21 million U.S. dollars), Denmark (10 million U.S. dollars) and the Netherlands (10 million U.S. dollars).
"I think we will easily reach the amount of 100 million dollars today," said De Croo. "What matters most is not the amount of money we reach, but the degree of impact we have."
The She Decides initiative was started on Jan. 24 by the Dutch Minister for Foreign Exchange and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen who said that this conference "is only a start".
Ploumen will meet the Trump administration in April this year, and hopes to make them reconsider their position on this matter.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi (R) meets with the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Cairo, Egypt on March 2, 2017. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Cairo on Thursday, discussing various issues including illegal migration, terrorism and the latest developments in Libya and Syria. (Xinhua/MENA)
CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Cairo on Thursday, discussing various issues including illegal migration, terrorism and the latest developments in Libya and Syria.
In a joint press conference after the meeting, Sisi praised the development of the Egyptian-German relations in various fields and the participation of German firms in mega development projects in the Arab country.
"During the talks, I also updated the chancellor with the measures taken by Egypt over the past three years to achieve political stability and economic development," Sisi told reporters, commending German support for Egypt's economic reform program and for the loan deal between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Suffering economic slowdown over the past few years due to political turmoil and relevant security issues, Egypt started a three-year strict economic reform program including austerity measures, energy subsidy cuts and a floating exchange rate encouraged by a 12 billion U.S. dollars loan from the IMF, whose first batch of 2.75 billion dollars was handed to Egypt earlier in November 2016.
Sisi also warned that growing terrorism and conflicts in the Middle East region affect Europe and the whole world, urging collective efforts to obliterate terror groups and reach political solutions in chaos-stricken regional states including Libya and Syria.
"It is crystal clear that the current regional conditions in the Middle East cast their shadow on the security and stability of Europe and the whole world," said the Egyptian president.
Sisi and Merkel witnessed a video conference of the opening ceremony of three massive power plants in the most populous Arab country designed and carried out by Germany's Siemens Corporation.
For her part, Merkel expressed appreciation for German-Egyptian long term and strong ties, noting her country is one of Egypt's major trade and investment partners.
The German chancellor hailed the participation of Siemens in such large national projects in Egypt that would provide electricity to some 45 million people, almost half the population.
Merkel also praised Egypt's work on hosting Libyan rival parties for a peaceful settlement, noting that it requires further cooperation and coordination with the international community and that Germany is playing an indirect role with the effort of outgoing German UN envoy to Libya Martin Kobler.
She expressed support for Egypt's host of about 500,000 Syrian refugees, agreeing with the Egyptian position that seeks a political solution for the Syrian crisis.
Merkel also commended the efforts made by Egypt to limit illegal migration from its sea shores to Europe, the last attempt of which drowned about 200 people in the Mediterranean Sea in September 2016.
Merkel stressed the necessity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for Egypt's development, saying the talks reached an agreement on their legal situation and Egypt promised to allow such German and other groups whose work had been suspended.
She also pledged to assist Egypt's IMF-sponsored economic reform program with half a billion dollars in two years.
Merkel then left to pay a visit to Egypt's Orthodox Church in Cairo and placed a wreath of flowers at an adjacent small church where a suicide bomb attack in December 2016 killed 29 of its worshippers, mostly women and children.
Egypt's Al-Azhar top Islamic institution was the final destination of Merkel's visit where she met with its chief, Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyib, and emphasized Al-Azhar's role in spreading moderate Islam and combating misleading and extremist Islamic ideologies.
The German chancellor is scheduled to visit Tunisia on Friday and illegal migration to Europe is also expected to be a major part of her talks.
WINDHOEK, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China has expressed its determination to cooperate with the Namibian government on wildlife protection ahead of the World Wildlife Day which falls on March 3.
Speaking at a briefing at the Chinese Embassy in Namibia, Charge d'affaires Li Nan said that China will never give cover to lawless poachers and has zero tolerance for poachers.
Li noted that China also fully supports the Namibian government in amending environmental laws.
Namibian Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism Tommy Nambahu also said that law enforcers need to be proactive in dealing with people who poach rhinos and elephants.
"It is all of us who are supposed to be ambassadors of preserving wildlife," said Nambahu.
China announced late last year a phased schedule to stop part of ivory processing and sales by March 31, 2017, and to eventually stop all ivory processing and sales by the end of 2017.
DAKAR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Senegal and The Gambia decided on Thursday to "give a new impulse" to their bilateral cooperation through arranging regular high-level meetings, Senegalese President Macky Sall said during a joint press conference with his visiting Gambian counterpart Adama Barrow.
"In order to realize this shared desire to give a new impulse to our cooperation, we have given instructions to all ministers in order to avoid protocol burdens and to work directly on issues that concern the two countries as a whole", President Sall announced after having talks with President Barrow.
According to the Senegalese president, given the dynamic and strengthened relations between Dakar and Banjul, a series of agreements will be signed during the visit of the Gambian president.
"We will set up regular high-level meetings to examine joint projects and reduce any difficulties," Macky Sall said.
He announced that the two countries have agreed to put an end to the illegal trafficking that fuel the insecurity between their countries.
"We have agreed to put an end to trafficking, and we will put an end to it, whether it is trafficking in wood, drugs, or all kinds of trafficking that fuel insecurity in this region," affirmed President Macky Sall.
Speaking of the wood trafficking trade between the two countries, the Senegalese head of state said he wanted to establish an organization of the sector to "avoid the destruction of the Casamance forest".
"If we can organize dialogues between the two states, between the peoples of the sector of our two countries, we will be able to clean up the wood sector and allow a licit activity that could develop under the control of governments, environmental services of the two countries," he added.
For his part, President Adama Barrow reaffirmed having discussed the wood trafficking with Gambian traders. According to him, the wood trade between Senegal and The Gambia should be regulated.
"The trade in wood must be discussed between the two countries, Senegal has the wood, if it opens its doors, we can trade, and we are ready to discuss with Senegal the legal trade in wood," Barrow stressed.
"There should be no fraud between the two countries, everything should happen normally," he added.
The Gambian president Adama Barrow arrived on Thursday noon in Dakar for a three-day official visit to Senegal. Accompanied by his wife, he was welcomed at the airport by Senegalese president Macky Sall.
Senegal played an active role during the political crisis in the Gambia after former president Yahya Jammeh refused to cede presidential power to Barrow.
KHARTOUM, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and 40 humanitarian organizations on Thursday launched a campaign to aid the South Sudanese citizens who are facing famine.
The HAC and the NGOs vowed to provide all possible assistance to aid the needy in South Sudan.
The organizations, which launched the campaign, further urged the conflicting parties in South Sudan to stop the war to save the lives of their country's citizens.
Meanwhile, Sudan's HAC Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam announced that the Sudanese government has renewed the deal for transporting humanitarian assistance to South Sudan, which was signed two years ago between the Sudanese government, the World Food Programme and South Sudan, and which is renewed each six months.
"Now we are looking into possibility of opening new passages to transport the humanitarian aid to South Sudan, where presently the assistance is transported through river transport," he said in a statement.
He further reiterated that the Sudanese states on the border with South Sudan, which are receiving South Sudanese refugees, need urgent support, whether from international trends such as the United Nations or friendly countries.
Earlier the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Khartoum announced that over 31,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan during January and February this year.
Recently famine was officially declared in South Sudan, where the South Sudanese government and the UN said 100,000 people are facing starvation, with one million people classified as being on the brink of famine.
The famine was attributed to many reasons including the civil war and collapse of the economy in the new-born state.
KHARTOUM, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Despite the appointment of the Sudanese prime minister, it is viewed that great discrepancies endure between ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and political parties and forces regarding formation of the new government.
Sudan has reinstated the post of prime minister for the first time in about 28 years, as First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh took oath on Thursday, which earned full consensus of the political forces which participated in the national dialogue conference which concluded its sessions in October last year.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said that Saleh is in charge of the file of reformation of government institutions, as he spoke at a press conference the same day.
However, al-Bashir acknowledged that there were difficulties ahead considering the formation of the new government.
"We have not fixed a time ceiling for the announcement of the government. It is difficult to form a government under presence of more than 90 parties and more than 40 armed movements that participated in the national dialogue," he noted.
Al-Bashir further noted that any political party or armed movement that participated in the national dialogue will be included in the government, whether at the executive or legislative levels, or in the central or state government.
Meanwhile, secretary-general of the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP), Ibrahim al-Sanousi, for his part, backed Saleh's appointment as prime minister, saying the appointment of a prime minister a first step toward the implementation of the national dialogue outcomes.
The PCP, which was established by the late Sudanese political and religious leader Hassan al-Turabi, is the biggest political party that participated in the national dialogue conference.
Nevertheless, the consensus which characterized the appointment of the new prime minister seems missing on the forthcoming formation of the government.
To this end, Sudanese political analyst Abdul-Rahim Al-Sunni said that "the matter was easy regarding the appointment of the prime minister because there was a belief that the post is a right of the ruling party according to its electoral majority in 2015."
"However, there are differences with regard to the formation of the government, where there are political forces objecting on the participation shares and see that the ruling party is keeping a mechanical majority to help it pass its policies," he noted.
In January 2014, al-Bashir declared an initiative calling on the opposition parties and the armed groups to join a national dialogue to end the country's crises.
The sessions of the dialogue kicked off in October 2015 in a bid to resolve the country's political and social issues.
The conference was launched with the participation of a number of Sudanese political parties, civil society organizations and some Darfur armed groups.
The dialogue's final national document covers principles of rule, public freedoms, identity, peace, unity, economy and external relations. It will be the base for the country's permanent constitution.
Major political parties and armed movements refused to participate in the conference, including the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which brings together the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector and major Darfur armed movements.
ROME, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Global food supply conditions are robust but access to food has been dramatically reduced in areas suffering civil conflicts and drought, UN food agency FAO warned Thursday in a report.
"This is an unprecedented situation. Never before have we been faced with four threats of famine in multiple countries simultaneously," said FAO Assistant Director-General Kostas Stamoulis.
According to the new edition of FAO's Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, some 37 countries require external assistance for food, 28 of which in Africa as a result of lingering effects of last year's El Nino-triggered droughts.
Protracted fighting and unrest is increasing the ranks of the displaced and hungry in other parts of the world, it said.
Agricultural production is expected to rebound in southern Africa. At the same time, famine has been formally declared in South Sudan and the food security situation is of grave concern in northern Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen.
Conflicts and civil unrest in Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar and Syria are also exacerbating food insecurity conditions for millions of people as well affecting nearby countries hosting refugees.
The drought in East Africa in late 2016 has heightened food insecurity in several countries in the sub-region, the report added.
"It demands swift action which should consist of immediate food assistance but also livelihood support to ensure that such situations are not repeated," Stamoulis added.
Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions testifies at his nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 10, 2017.(Xinhua/Bao Dandan)
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then a Republican senator, spoke with Russian ambassador twice during Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year, and he didn't reveal it at Senate hearings for his confirmation, U.S. media reported Wednesday.
Sessions spoke on the phone privately with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak from his office in September, said the reports.
Two months before the phone talks, Sessions also met with Kislyak and talked to him informally when attending an event held at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation along with 50 other ambassadors, Sessions' spokeswoman Sara Isgur Flores admitted to local media.
"It was short and informal," the spokeswoman said, adding that as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, Sessions regularly met foreign ambassadors.
"Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, (South) Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors," Flores said in a statement.
Sessions was not trying to mislead fellow senators when he said during his confirmation hearing that he had not had contacts with Moscow, the spokeswoman said.
During the hearings, when asked what he would do if he learned a member of Trump's campaign had communicated with the Russian government over the course of the 2016 campaign, Sessions responded: "I'm not aware of any of those activities ... I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Protesters call for the resignation of US Attornry GeneralJeff Sessions in front of the Justice Department in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP PHOTO)
Officials at the Justice Department said Sessions did not consider his talks with Kislyak relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember their discussion in detail.
The U.S. FBI is probing possible communications between Trump campaign aides and Russian officials. Sessions was an early Trump supporter and one of his top advisers during the campaign.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Wednesday night that if the FBI determines Trump's campaign illegally coordinated with Russia, Sessions should recuse himself from making the decision whether to pursue prosecutions.
"If there were contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, they may be legitimate; they may be OK. I want to know what happened between the Trump campaign, the Clinton campaign and the Russians," Graham said on CNN.
Meanwhile, Democrat Elijah Cummings, a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called on Sessions to resign immediately.
Trump's first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn stepped down last month after it was reported that he had discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak in December, and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the details.
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Santos are prepared to listen to offers from Liverpool for highly rated teenager Rodrygo, according to media reports in Brazil.
The 16-year-old is yet to establish himself in Santos' first team but is already being compared to former club greats Neymar and Robinho for his speed and dribbling skills.
The Globoesporte news outlet reported on Thursday that Liverpool are willing to pay five million euros to sign the forward.
Rodrygo is the youngest ever Brazilian player to secure a sponsorship deal with Nike, joining the sportswear giant when he was just 11 years old.
According to reports, Santos are currently in talks sign the player on a long term contract with a buyout clause that exceeds Liverpool's offer.
ZAGREB, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier on Thursday refused European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's position on an arbitration of border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, saying it was as unacceptable.
Stier said that under a Croatian parliament decision, the dispute over the Piran Gulf, off the two neighboring countries' coasts, now was a bilateral issue and Croatia decided to settle it via a bilateral agreement.
The European Commission supported to resolve the border dispute between Croaita and Slovenia through an arbitration in the interest of both sides, Juncker said in an interview with Slovenia's news agency STA on Wednesday before his official visit to Ljubljana.
Juncker said he hoped both sides would respect unconditionally the arbitration ruling when it was delivered.
Juncker'position, Stier said, undermined the European Commission's authority because it was not within the European Commission's jurisdiction to resolve bilateral border disputes.
Croatia has pulled out of the arbitration and this issue must now be solved bilaterally, Stier added.
Croatia and Slovenia started arbitration procedure before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (PCA) over disputes of sea borders of the Piran gulf in June 2014 under an agreement reached by two countries in 2009.
However, Croatia withdrawn the arbitration in July 2015 after media revealed claimed secret call records between a judge at the PCA and the Slovenian representative in the court about lobbying other judges to influence the outcome of the arbitration in Slovenia's favor.
Croatia is now seeking alternate avenues for resolving the issue, but Slovenia insists on sticking to border arbitration.
Regarding disputes between the two countries on sea borders of Piran gulf, located on the Adriatic Sea, Slovenia claims at last 66 percent or more in the gulf, while Croatia claims 50 percent for itself.
BRASILIA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Michel Temer on Thursday named Aloysio Nunes as the new foreign minister to replace Jose Serra, who stepped down last week for health reason.
The announcement was made by presidential spokesperson Alexandre Parola, who said Nunes would take over on March 7.
Nunes is a close ally of Serra in the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) and was former head of the Senate's Committee on Foreign Affairs. He travelled to Washington during the impeachment process of former president Dilma Rousseff last summer to inform the U.S. government on Brazil's political future.
On Feb. 22, Serra presented his resignation, citing health problems that prevented him from making international travel demanded by the role.
Expectations are that Nunes will continue Serra's conservative positions, including a tough line on socialist government in the region.
SANAA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is the main ally with Shiite Houthi rebels, called the Yemeni army on Thursday to join Houthi fighters in border fighting against Saudi forces.
The call, which was aired by Houthi-controlled state media, signaled Yemen's further escalating military tension with neighboring Saudi Arabia, which led a military coalition of mostly Arab countries in support to exiled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against Houthi rebels.
"I call the defense ministry to mobilize armed forces to front lines to reinforce popular forces (Houthis) in border battlefronts against Saudi forces," Saleh said in a speech in a meeting with senior leaders of his former ruling party, the General People's Congress.
The defense ministry has been under Houthi control since Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014.
However, the Yemeni national army has stayed neutral since then and also remained neutral after Houthis ousted internationally recognized President Hadi and forced him along with his government into exile.
In his speech, Saleh also renewed his call to not conduct further peace talks with exiled President Hadi and his government, describing them as "mercenaries."
The move clearly indicates further military escalation, particularly after repeated rounds of peace talks mediated by the United Nations have failed.
Saleh's move came as battles on the border intensified over the past days, in which Saudi military forces have been trying to advance into the Yemeni northern province of Saada, the main stronghold of Houthi group and its religious leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.
Saudi-led coalition also mobilized forces and fighters loyal to Hadi's government off Red Sea port cities of neighbouring Hodeidah and Mokha in a bid to set siege on capital Sanaa, the second stronghold of Houthis and Saleh loyalists.
Saleh was forced out of power in 2012, following a year of popular protests, led by Muslim Brotherhood, which later allied with President Hadi.
Houthi fighters, who seized control of north Yemen, have been fighting Saudi Arabia on borders since the Saudi-led military coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 via an air and ground campaign.
The campaign is attempting to restore power to expelled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. More than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed, with over three million displaced.
FRANKFURT, March 2 (Xinhua) -- KION Group, German leading supplier of intralogistics solutions, recorded annual profits of 527.2 million euros in 2016, with the year-on-year growth of nearly 10 percent.
The company released Thursday its result for the 2016 financial year, which hit new highs, with the yearly revenue growing by 9.6 percent to 5.3 billion euros as of last December.
Thanks to the very positive result, the share of KION Group as a component of MDAX index, advanced markedly by over 2 percent Thursday at Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Industrial trucks and services segment covering forklift trucks, warehouse equipment and related services, which plays key role in KION's business, recorded income of 5.2 billion euros in 2016, 3.1 percent higher than the previous year.
KION said its new truck orders rose by 7.5 percent last year, not only based on the sustained growth in western Europe, but also due to the positive trend in China.
With Chinese Weichai Power as big shareholder and partner, KION carries considerable weight in Chinese market.
KION's Chief Executive Officer Gordon Riske told Xinhua that the company would further focus on development and provision of electric forklift trucks in China, in order to meet tightening emissions standards, as well as on deepening collaboration with Chinese partners in field of e-Commerce.
With Weichai Power's support, KION has accomplished the acquisition of the Luxembourg-headquartered automation and supply chain optimization company Dematic last year. KION thus extended its product portfolio ranging from forklift trucks to fully automated material handling systems.
"Integration of Dematic is the key objective for 2017," Riske said.
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN food agency on Thursday reported strong harvests across the globe, but it also warned of drop in food access due to conflicts and droughts in some parts of the world, including Afghanistan, Burundi, South Sudan and Yemen.
Despite robust food supply conditions, droughts are worsening food security across swathes of East Africa, and access to food has been dramatically reduced in areas suffering civil conflicts, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said in its new report "Crop Prospects and Food Situation," which was released on Thursday.
"It shows that global harvests are strong, with cereal production making large strong gains in the world overall in 2016, a record recovery in Central America, and larger cereal crops in Asia, Europe and North America," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.
"However, access to food has been dramatically reduced in areas suffering civil conflicts, and drought conditions are worsening across parts of East Africa," he said.
Thirty-seven countries require external assistance for food, with 28 of them in Africa, he added.
In South Sudan, 100,000 people were facing famine in Leer and Mayendit Counties, part of former Unity state. Overall, about 4.9 million people across the country were classified as facing crisis, emergency or famine.
In Yemen, 17 million people, or two-thirds of the population, are estimated to be food insecure. The report noted that "the risk of famine declaration in the country is very high."
In northern Nigeria, 8.1 million people are facing acute food insecurity conditions, and in Somalia, an estimated 2.9 million people have been severely food insecure from six months ago.
Conflicts and civil unrest in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar and Syria are also exacerbating food insecurity conditions for millions of people as well as affecting nearby countries hosting refugees, said the report.
Cereal production made quite strong gains in the world overall in 2016, with a record recovery in Central America, and larger cereal crops in Asia, Europe and North America.
Prospects are favourable for the 2017 maize crop in Brazil and Argentina and the outlook is generally positive for coarse grains throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Prospects for rice are mixed, but it is still too early to make firm predictions for many of the world's major crops.
Maize harvests in Southern Africa, slashed by El Nino, are forecast to recover this year, with South Africa's output expected to increase by more than 50 per cent from 2016.
Although FAO's first global wheat production forecast for 2017 points to a 1.8 percent decline from last year's record level, that is due mostly to a projected 20 percent output drop in the United States.
SKOPJE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Thursday asked the President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov to reverse his decision and allow the head of Social Democratic Union party (SDSM) Zoran Zaev to form government.
"The constitution of Macedonia says that the mandate should be given to the candidate belonging to the parties which have majority in the parliament. This is the constitution and we expect it to be respected," Mogherini told reporters Thursday following her meetings and discussions with political actors here.
According to Mogherini, Macedonia should form a government as soon as possible and solve the prolonged political deadlock.
However, Ivanov said that he couldn't give the mandate to Zaev considering that the SDSM leader "adopted a political platform which was adopted in a neighboring country."
According to him, accepting such a platform would put Macedonia in a subservient position and undermined its unitary character.
But Mogherini responded "Political players must be aware of the fact that Macedonia is a multi-ethnic state and the rights of everyone must be respected."
Ali Ahmeti, the head of the largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), told reporters after meeting Mogherini that institutional, systemic crisis in Macedonia must not turn into an ethnic one.
Meanwhile, Zaev said Mogherini's visit a serious show of support for the European aspirations of Macedonia.
"We are happy the EU remains committed to Macedonia's future as a full-fledged EU member," Zaev said in a press conference after a meeting with the top EU official.
He said his 67 parliamentary mandates laid a solid democratic foundation to grant a mandate to form a government. Therefore, he said that he hoped the president would reconsider his decision.
However, the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE led by Nikola Gruevski, said new elections would be the only way out of crisis.
"The new snap elections would be the best way to stability and overcoming the political crisis," the party said in a press statement.
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN-backed narcotics control body on Thursday called upon governments to have a greater focus on women in drug policies, including the implementation of gender-sensitive drug policies and programs.
Gender-sensitive drug policies and programs, better health-care access for drug-dependent women and more funding to prevent and treat drug abuse among women are needed, according to the Annual Report 2016, which was released today by the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.
"The report condemns the extrajudicial targeting of people suspected of illicit drug-related activity," Dujarric said. "It calls on States to abolish the death penalty for drug-related offences and encourages them to consider alternatives to imprisonment for minor drug-related offences."
Citing a significant rise over the past year in the number of women dying from drug overdoses globally, the independent expert body which monitors governments' compliance with the United Nations international drug control treaties is today calling for the implementation of gender-sensitive drug policies and programmes.
The INCB said that women and girls comprise one-third of global drug users yet are only one-fifth of those receiving treatment, as significant systemic, structural, social, cultural and personal barriers affect women's ability to access substance abuse treatment.
Further, they are also more likely to be prescribed narcotics and anti-anxiety medication than men, and are thus more likely to abuse these medications.
For example, Germany and Serbia have reported that fatal overdoses from prescription drugs are more frequent among women. Additionally, countries such as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have seen larger increases in overdoses, of all substances, among women than among men.
Meanwhile, the new report also stressed that governments should prioritize providing health care for drug-dependent women, in addition to more funding and coordination to prevent and treat drug abuse among women.
"We want to change perceptions and remind people, particularly policymakers, of the importance of protecting the rights of women who use drugs or who have committed drug-related offences and the rights of their families," said the organization's president, Werner Sipp, in a news release.
The report also highlighted the importance of targeting prevention programmes to specific populations, such as prisoners, pregnant women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and sex workers.
It noted that women prisoners and sex workers are at "particular risk" of drug use.
Countries are also encouraged to seek alternatives to imprisonment for drug-related offences, such as treatment, rehabilitation and social integration.
The INCB also repeated its longstanding call for countries to abolish the death penalty for drug-related offences.
Among its other observations, the Board noted with "great concern" recent reports in some countries of the targeting of individuals suspected of involvement in drug-related activity, including drug use, who have been subjected to violent acts of reprisal and murder at the hands of law enforcement personnel and members of the civilian population.
COPENHAGEN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Almost 3,000 people were rejected from entering Denmark in 2016 after the country ushered in border control to curb the inflow of illegal migrants at the beginning of the year, authorities announced on Thursday.
According to the immigration authorities, a total of 2,901 people have been rejected at the Danish-German border in southern Jutland and by ferries on Lolland-Falster.
Those from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia accounted for almost half of the rejected.
"This proves the necessity of the border control that we have introduced," the minister for immigration and integration Inger Stoejberg was quoted by the Danish news agency Ritzau as saying.
The reasons for the rejection are lack of visas, residence permits or use of false papers, according to Ritzau.
The temporary border control between Denmark and Germany was introduced at the beginning of 2016. It has since been extended several times, most recently until May 12 this year.
LONDON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Eleven towns and cities in Britain, most of them off the tourist map, were named Thursday as bidders to be declared the next UK City of Culture.
They are eager to wear the cultural crown in 2021, following in the footsteps of the northeast England seaport of Hull which is holding the title this year.
The winner of the title is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists, earning millions of dollars for the local economy.
Included in the line-up is Britain's smallest city, St. David's in south Wales, with a population of less than 2,000. It is best known as the final resting place of St. David, the patron saint of Wales who was born in the year 500 AD.
Stoke-on-Trent, known for potteries, is celebrated as the home of famous pottery works by master potters such as Wedgwood.
The northern industrial town of Warrington, midway between the big cities of Liverpool and Manchester, is also in the race for the title. The town is best known for its World War II base for the U.S. military, which saw the town's Burtonwood area becoming Europe's biggest U.S. supply center.
Minister of State for Digital and Culture Matt Hancock announced the 11 bidders, which also includes Coventry, Hereford, Paisley, Perth, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Swansea and Wells.
The National Heritage Lottery Fund is to give a prize of 3 million pounds to the winner to boost local heritage.
Hancock said "UK City of Culture is a fantastic opportunity for towns and cities to celebrate their creativity and use culture as a catalyst for economic growth."
Hull is the second city to host the title. Its program this year includes 365 days of cultural events. It is estimated that being the UK City of Culture 2017 will deliver a 60 million pound boost to Hull's economy this year. The city has also seen a 1 billion pound investment since winning the title in 2013.
A shortlist of the bidding areas will be announced in the summer before the winning area is announced in December.
VIENNA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Austrian parliament Thursday came to agreement on the establishment of a parliamentary investigation committee into the ongoing Eurofighter case, Austria Press Agency reported.
The right-wing Freedom Party, which had initially called for more evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Airbus in its sale of the interceptor jets, finally gave its approval to the Greens Party, that had been the driving force in the push for a new investigation after protracted negotiations.
It is to be the second such investigation into the case, after the first having taken place in 2006, also to uncover alleged inconsistencies.
The two parties of the ruling coalition, the Social Democrats and the People's Party, have already given their backing for the parliamentary investigation committee to move forward, also having been behind a criminal complaint made in February that seeks to recover up to 1.1 billion euros (1.15 billion U.S. dollars) in damages.
It was reported that further details on the investigation and a timetable of further proceedings are to be revealed at a press conference on Friday.
LIMA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China, Canada and the U.S. will account for 53 percent of investments in the Peruvian mining sector in the next few years, according to the new guide for mining investments published Wednesday.
The guide, which was produced by Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) and Ernst & Young, showed that China will be the leading foreign investor in 2017-2018, with its companies planning to spend 10.189 billion U.S. dollars, or 21.6 percent of the total.
Canada will come in second place with 8.755 billion U.S. dollars, or 18.6 percent, and the U.S. in third with 6.55 billions, or 12.8 percent.
Chinese investments include the expansion of the Marcona iron mine in the southern region of Ica at a cost of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, which is to be completed by December 2019. This will increase the mine's production to 3.5 million metric tons.
Jinzhao Mining is planning to invest 1.5 billion U.S. dollars at Pampa de Pongo mine, to complete an environmental impact assessment and begin production by 2021.
ROME, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Italy is in a phase of growth and recovery but it needs to be accompanied by Europe, Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Thursday at the end of a meeting in Rome with Joseph Muscat, prime minister of Malta, current holder of the EU Presidency.
"Italy is in a phase of growth and recovery also in terms of employment and jobs, and yet we know that this growth, this new employment capacity are limited and gradual, they need to be accompanied,"Gentiloni said during a joint press conference.
" So we think about a Europe that is from this point of view the framework needed to help this growth, to accompany this ability to create new jobs that our country finally is showing, thanks to the work done in recent years," he said.
The two prime ministers discussed the celebrations to be held on March 25 in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome.
The Treaties of Rome, signed on March 25, 1957, were the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community. They were signed by the six founding Member States: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the Federal Germany.
Gentiloni also said that the declaration they are working on for this occasion will outline the results achieved by European Union and its prospects over the next 10 years.
"It will be a very important occasion and we have been working together for weeks to give a sign of relaunch at a time that many call difficult," he said, pointing out there are difficulties and divisions but also potentialities.
According to Gentiloni, he discussed with Muscat issues related to the Middle East, the Mediterranean, immigration and the situation in Libya.
Concerning the recent agreement reached with Libya on migrations, Muscat said "We have for the first time a framework on which we can work about the immigration subject. It is not perfect, but I think it is the most important point that Europe has ever reached in terms of migration and in terms of the control of migration flows from the Central Mediterranean."
Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions testifies at his nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he will recuse himself from any current or future investigations into Russia's possible link with Donald Trump's presidential campaign, one day after media reports revealed he spoke with Russian Ambassador twice last year but didn't reveal it at the Senate hearings for his confirmation.
"I did meet with one Russian official a couple of times", he said at a press conference Thursday afternoon, while dismissing any accusation that he tried to mislead the Senate about his contacts with Russia.
"That is not my intent. That is not correct", he said.
His agreement to step aside from such probes "should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation," Sessions added.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump told reporters that he has "total" confidence in Sessions over the controversy though he "wasn't aware" that Sessions, the then Republican senator, had contact with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time.
But bipartisan pressure for Sessions to resign or step aside from such investigations is mounting as top Democrats at the Capitol, Nancy Pelosi in the House and Chuck Schumer in the Senate, urged him to depart.
Sessions lied under oath at the Senate hearings, Pelosi accused earlier Thursday.
Schumer said the Justice Department should appoint a special prosecutor to examine whether the ongoing probe has been compromised by Sessions.
Sessions spoke on the phone privately with Russian Ambassador to Washington from his office in September, said media reports Wednesday night.
Two months before the phone talk, Sessions also met with Kislayk and talked to him informally when attending an event held at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation along with 50 other ambassadors, Session's spokeswoman Sara Isgur Flores has confirmed. "It was short and informal," the spokeswoman said Wednesday night, adding that as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, Sessions regularly met foreign ambassadors.
"I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It's false", Sessions released a statement around midnight in a failed attempt to count down the new wave of political storm.
During the Senate hearings earlier this year, when asked what he would do if he learned a member of Trump's campaign had communicated with the Russian government over the course of the 2016 campaign, Sessions responded: "I'm not aware of any of those activities ... I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Officials at the Justice Department said Sessions did not consider his talks with Kislyak relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember their discussion in detail.
Sessions was an early Trump supporter and one of his top advisers during the New York billionaire's campaign last year.
Trump's first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn stepped down last month after it was reported that he had discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak in December, and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the details.
QUITO, March 2 (Xinhua)-- The opposition candidate seeking to become president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, is continuing to gather support with other parties ahead of the second round of the presidential election on April 2.
Lasso, the right-wing candidate facing Lenin Moreno from the ruling PAIS Alliance, met Thursday with former presidential candidate, Abdala Bucaram Pulley, leader of the Fuerza Ecuador movement.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Bucaram Pulley said about a potential alliance that "we are in a conversation in which we have asked for our positions in benefit of the more humble sectors (of society) be respected. If this is given, then, we could take a decision in the coming days."
Bucaram Pulley, son of former President Abdala Bucaram, finished fifth in the first round of the presidential elections on Feb. 19, with 4.82 percent of the vote.
Lasso, a former banker and leader of the conservative CREO party, has also obtained the support of Cinthya Viteri, from the Christian Social Party, who finished third with 16.32 percent in the first round.
In an interview with Chilean radio on Thursday, Lasso said he had also sought this alliance to strengthen electoral control in the second round.
"The Christian Social Party has contested many local and national elections. Therefore, it has a lot of experience in terms of electoral control," he explained.
Lasso is also set to hold a meeting with Paco Moncayo, a former army general, who finished fourth with 6.71 percent.
Moncayo, a former mayor of the capital Quito, represented the National Pact for Change, a coalition of left-wing parties and movements.
With the support of all these parties, analysts believe Lasso would have an advantage to take the win away from Moreno in the second round.
According to results released by National Electoral Council (CNE), with 99.5 percent of the votes tabulated, Moreno won 39.3 percent of the vote, while Lasso had 28.1 percent in the first round.
ROME, March 2 (Xinhua) -- An avalanche Thursday hit a group of freeride skiers in the Aosta Valley region, in the north of Italy, leaving three people dead and others injured, according to local media.
An Italian, a Belgian and a German lost their life. Among the injured are Italian and German citizens. The avalanche occurred in Val Veny, near the town of Courmayeur.
The group was composed of 18 people of different nationalities. Some skiers reportedly saved themselves by activating an airbag. Injured were sent to an Aosta hospital.
Rescue operations were carried out by Aosta Valley Mountain Rescue operators, specialized teams of the financial police and the armed police, doctors and two helicopters.
Adriano Favre, head of the Aosta Valley Mountain Rescue, told the daily La Repubblica that the group might be too large for the current weather conditions, that include a strong and hot wind.
Another avalanche hit the region in the Colle San Carlo area. Two ski mountaineers were involved but escaped safely.
DAMASCUS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The victory of the Syrian army and allied fighters with the help of the Russians in Palmyra city against the Islamic State (IS) group proves that the government forces are capable of dealing defeats to the terror-labeled group in other areas in Syria.
The Syrian army backed by Russian air force and ground forces of the Lebanese Hezbollah group wrested back control over the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria, as part of a series of victories the military forces have recently achieved against IS.
In a statement, the army said "This importance of this achievement emanates from the cultural and historic value of Palmyra," adding that the victory in Palmyra against IS also coincides with the victories of the Syrian army in the eastern countryside of Aleppo against IS.
"These victories deal a big blow to the terrorist group, which has started to retreat under the strikes of the Syrian army and allied forces," it said.
Capturing Palmyra constitutes a base for expanding the campaign against IS on many fronts and also helps suffocate the group's supply lines, it said.
"The Syrian army and its allies are today more determined to continue the operations against IS and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front as well as other likeminded groups until restoring security and stability to every inch of the homeland," the statement concluded.
Observers believe that recapturing Palmyra is a big military and political achievement to the Syrian army, and gives a message that the Syrian army is ready to fight more battles against the IS group, including in al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS.
"While all the reports are speaking about the Kurdish and Turkish race to attack al-Raqqa, the Syrian army gave a message today that it could be the force taking that city from IS," Maher Ihsan, a political analyst and journalist, told Xinhua.
He said the army proved that it's the reliable force capable of making gains on ground, "particularly that it's the legitimate force to retake areas from IS, because it's Syria, and it's common sense that the Syrian army should be the one retaking those areas, not the Turkish forces, or any other rebel group."
Ahmad al-Ashqar, another analyst, said that this victory also empowers the stance of the Syrian army in the currently-underway Geneva talks, which has been ongoing since last week with no tangible outcome.
"It's a political victory too... the Syrian delegation there can negotiate from a power point after the victories against IS in different area, especially that the government delegation there spoke of the need to prioritize countering terrorism as a prelude for political settlement," he said.
The victory in Palmyra completes other victories by the army against IS, mainly in the eastern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria.
The Syrian army has captured large swathes of territories from IS in eastern Aleppo countryside, reaching areas under the control of the Kurdish-backed rebel and continuing its progress against IS in that part of the country.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that the Syrian army captured 11 new towns on Thursday in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.
It added that the IS control in eastern Aleppo countryside is shrinking as a result of the Syrian military operation, which is backed by the Russians and Hezbollah.
The UK-based watchdog group said that Syrian forces are moving toward stripping IS of the town of Khafseh, on the western bank of the Euphrates River. It said the town feeds Aleppo city with water.
Meanwhile, the Observatory said that explosions are still being heard in Palmyra as the army is sweeping the city to clean the city of explosive devices and roadside bombs left by IS there.
CHICAGO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Federal agents searched three facilities of heavy machinery giant Caterpillar on Thursday, including the company's headquarter in Peoria, Illinois, according to an attorney office spokeswoman in Illinois.
Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney Office for the Central District of Illinois, told Xinhua in a telephone interview that federal law enforcement officials conducted three searches in Caterpillar facilities located in Peoria and Morton, Illinois.
The officers involved in the activities were from Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, Office of Export Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Caterpillar said it was "cooperating" with federal agencies' searches in the company's Peoria-area facilities, according to local reports.
A video posted by local media Peoria Journal Star on Thursday showed seven people wearing jackets marked "IRS Special Agent" or "Police Federal Agents" entering the Caterpillar headquarters, with several armed and others pulling large black roller bags.
The heavy machinery giant's overseas business practice and tax strategy have fallen into federal scrutiny in recent years. The IRS proposed about 1 billion U.S. dollars' penalties and tax in connection to Caterpillar's subsidiary based in Switzerland. A senate investigation found in 2014 that the company used its Swiss affiliate to avoid paying more than 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in tax.
Photo provided by Singapore embassy.
By Zhou Xin
BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhuanet) --- Singapore and China enjoy a long-standing and unique friendship, underpinned by close people-to-people ties and substantive and multi-faceted cooperation, said Stanley Loh Ka Leung, Singapores Ambassador to China during a recent interview with Xinhuanet.
Loh spoke highly of Chinas remarkable progress in economic development in the past few years such as the bold plans for economic transformation by promoting greater domestic consumption, innovation, entrepreneurship, SOE reforms and sustainable development.
It has become even more important for Singapore and China to signal "our commitment to economic integration, free trade and investment against the backdrop of anti-globalization voices in some countries," said the Ambassador.
If countries become isolationist or protectionistic, nobody will win, he stressed.
Speaking of the bilateral cooperation, Loh noted that Singapore has been supporting the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Belt and Road Initiative by providing financial and project management services for regional infrastructure projects.
He held the Initiative can promote regional trade and investment, enhance regional infrastructure, strengthen mutual understanding and trust.
Beyond infrastructure, the Initiative also focuses on aspects of connectivity such as financial, information and policy connectivity, he said.
The Ambassador sees great potential for future bilateral cooperation.
Singapore can be an effective springboard for Chinese digital companies in search of new markets and opportunities in the Southeast Asia region, he explained.
Singapore has also been working closely with China in promoting education cooperation, tourism, as well as in other areas, the Ambassador pointed out.
Building on our strong foundations, we look forward to working closely with our Chinese friends to take our special friendship to the next level in 2017, said the Ambassador.
Locust warning in effect
This session was coordinated by the Ministrys Regional Administration South Division (Victoria County Agricultural Office) and facilitated by the Agricultural Assistant III (with direct responsibility for the Locust Control Programme), Rudy Ramdass.
Gangapersad, Agricultural Officer I, Victoria, acknowledged that the Ministrys efforts were supplemented as there were some farmers who had become very proactive in the management of their own holdings either through their purchase and application of chemicals and/ or by their active surveillance and responsible reporting of the locusts. Farmers at the session were informed of life cycle of the locust and the concomitant control strategy that the ministry has been employing.
The Ministry continues to effect its pest management strategy to treat the Marac, Moruga Food Crop Project (La Savanne), Cachipe, St. Marys, Santa Maria and Edward Trace areas. To report sightings of the Moruga locust and for additional information on the agricultural pest, please call the Victoria County Agricultural Office in Princes Town at
Dr Dass, the brick-maker
But central Trinidad doctor and past president of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association (TTMA), Dr Rohit Dass, 49, chose a brick factory as his next area of investment.
He already owns a medical centre (Freeport Medical Centre); a health care distribution company (RD Global Marketing and Distribution); and a home for the aged (Wings of Care).
So how exactly does a doctor become a brick-maker? Business Day asked Dass during an interview at his office at Freeport Medical Centre.
I always had this dream of making something unique, Dass says, adding, I mean you can always buy something and sell it back so we were thinking of so many different products when we did an analysis of what was happening in Trinidad in 2012, and we realised that the construction industry was doing extremely well, and hence the reason why we thought about manufacturing bricks. His family considered several business options which included the manufacturing of garments or the importation of clothes to be sold on the retail market.
Dass continues: We were thinking about diversifying, going into other areas of business, but we found that the clothing industry was already clustered and construction was doing very well so we are very excited about this project. The project--- RD Premium Bricks Limited--- began in 2013 and is due to be completed and commissioned by April.
This is a brick plant that is supposed to produce four-inch, six-inch, and eight-inch concrete bricks and its one of the newer machines. Its known as a Colombia 1600 machine and is a fully automated machine and has a capacity of 30,000 blocks per 12- hour shift , he says.
The factory is located at Demerara Road, Arima on fi ve acres of land. Dass estimates here are three major block factories operating in Trinidad so the competi tion is not very high. He explains during the construction phase, the plant employs 43 workers and when operational will employ 36 administrative and technical full time staff members.
Asked about the projects cost, Dass, who will hold the post of chief executive officer and general manager, laughs saying, Its a very costly project. The blocks, he explains, will be sold directly to hardware stores, construction companies and the regional market.
Dass was born in Caparo and attended Presentation College, Chaguanas. He was one of the fi rst persons from his village to win a national scholarship in 1988. After working at San Fernando General Hospital, he entered into private practice at Freeport in 2000, as a single doctors office which mushroomed into Freeport Medical Centre in 2007.
We had a nice smooth upward climb where we started off as a single doctors office, and now we are a one-stop shop where we provide all the basic services - X-ray, ultra sound, full lab services, drug testing, and minor surgery, Dass says.
The centre also provides mammography testing for breast cancer, which Dass observes is very common in women.
Asked about the prevalence of medical clinics sprouting up around the country, he says this is due to the public perception that they are not receiving proper health care at public health institutions.
The Ministry of Health, he says, faces a very challenging situation regarding the delivery of health care, and notes the answer lay in a partnership between the public and private sectors.
His medical centre has already partnered with the Health Ministry to provide kidney dialysis treatment and is willing to expand the partnership to provide CT scan and stress testing services to the public.
Dass notes his investments, including the brick factory, represents his faith in the economy saying there are opportunities available to entrepreneurs who are willing to invest in the nations future.
Our Heritage assets
Tobago on the other hand, continues to offer a more traditional island holiday. There has also been some emphasis on eco-tourism and that seems to be very successful. However, judging from the neglect of our historic buildings and sites, it is clear that we have overlooked the revenue stream that could flow from celebrating our historic patrimony.
The City of London earns an average of ?15 million per year and is probably the worlds best example of a city that generates substantial tourism revenue from the preservation and management of its historic buildings.
Closer to home there are numerous examples of economically sustainable tourism sites in the Caribbean Devon Hall in Jamaica, Brimstone Hill in St Kitts, Nelsons Dockyard in Antigua and Sunbury Plantation House in Barbados.
The historic buildings and heritage sites of Trinidad and Tobago are the backdrop to our unique culture and there are tremendous rewards to be earned if we were to restore and maintain our historic sites and buildings and put them to adaptive re-use as museums and places of interest.
The combination of architectural designs and detailed craftsmanship make our historic buildings, from the leepay hut to Knowsley House, are nothing short of treasured works of art. By preserving them and acknowledging that they comprise our heritage assets, we ensure not only a glimpse into the past but set the tone for our future.
Unfortunately, the majority of these beautiful buildings and sites have been neglected through an ignorance of their importance as historical landmarks and the basis of our cultural identity. As a result, many have either been demolished or are in a terrible state of decay. It is indeed lamentable that as a people from the man on the street to officialdom we lack this basic understanding of the great value of our heritage assets. This ignorance in turn means that we miss the opportunities to tap into their tremendous economic potential. It becomes a moot point whether the attendant neglect of our heritage has also contributed to the decline of our holistic values as a society.
In the last few years only, there have been some unfortunate events that penetrated public consciousness.
The levelling of the old Greyfriars church on Frederick Street and the home of the late dance icon Beryl McBurnie have left a bitter taste. Some hope has been rekindled with the promises from Government that restoration work on five historical buildings Presidents House, the Red House, Whitehall, Stollmeyers Castle and Mille Fleurs - will be given top priority over the next five years. Undoubtedly this will present some challenges in the face of falling government revenue, but if this is viewed as an investment rather than simple expenditure the task can be accomplished. In the meantime, however, there remains a singular lack of appreciation for the value of many old and unique structures; structures that represent the way of life of bygone eras.
It is imperative that as we mature as a society, we weave the threads of our past and future together to better appreciate the unique nature of Trinidad and Tobago.
International Womens Day
The day commemorates the achievements of women worldwide and brings awareness to political and social struggles of women with the goal that things will change for the better in the future.
Over the past few decades, women around the world have made remarkable strides in entering the workforce and their wealth is rising. In the Caribbean, women are very influential in government as many have attained positions of power and high responsibility, with The Bahamas, Grenada and Saint Lucia all having female Heads of State at present.
But sadly, more than a decade of data has revealed that progress is still too slow for realising the full potential of women globally within our lifetimes. In the World Economic Forums latest Global Gender Gap Report 2016 which measures the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics, the data showed only two regionsWestern Europe and North Americahave a remaining gender gap of less than 30 percent, at 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern Europe and Central Asia are virtually tied at a remaining gender gap of exactly 30 percent each.
The research shows the gaps between women and men on economic participation and political empowerment remain wide. According to the report, at the current rate of change, and given the widening economic gender gap since last year, it will not be closed for another 170 years. In the Caribbean, Barbados (28 percent) remains among the best-performing countries in the region and the world on closing the Economic Opportunity gender gap, achieving parity at the level of female legislators, senior officials and managers. It continues to take the top rank among the Caribbean nations, followed by the Bahamas (37 percent) and Trinidad and Tobago (44 percent), which share similar profiles. Notably, Jamaica and Barbados have reached gender parity in senior roles, with Jamaica (42 percent) continuing to improve on Political Empowerment with an increased share of women in parliament.
Many girls across the Caribbean and Latin America now have better access to education.
According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, access to secondary and tertiary education increased in 2015. In fact, for years, theres been a steady 70-30 ratio in favour of women at the University of the West Indies, a public university system serving 18 Caribbean countries and territories.
Positively, of the 144 countries the research measured more than 95 percent of the gap in educational attainment, an improvement of almost one full percentage point since last year and the highest value ever measured by the Index. Women with higher levels of education also show higher rates of economic participation. The progressive developments in learning and employment could act as drivers for improving gender diversity, as well as social mobility, in the Caribbean and around the world.
But despite this success, inequality is still present in many countries. Todays organisations cannot afford to sit still on this issue and have a responsibility to do more to speed this up.
Strategically, it should be on their radars.
According to the EY women in industry 2016 report, future growth will increasingly come from women. By 2020, nearly a billion women will have the potential to enter the global economy for the first time.
Business and finance is an industry in desperate need for more gender equality.
Theres disproportionate number of leadership roles are currently being held by male employees around the world. But evidence is clear on how much businesses are losing out on this state of affairs. In 2016, the Peterson Institute for International Economics reported that 30 percent female representation on boards could add up to six percentage points to its net margin.
Talent management is a top priority for businesses, which must ensure that they have the right staff to carry out their business effectively. Achieving greater gender diversity in teams will not only improve firms talent pools but also help to future proof organisations.
Finance professionals are crucial to steering businesses towards successful futures. After all accounting is the backbone of the business financial world. Through contributing to discussions about economic growth, managing finances and promoting good financial management, they enable leadership teams successfully navigate businesses through tough times ahead and take advantage of circumstances Right now, ACCA has 480,000 students around the world studying hard to become professional accountants. Currently 54 percent of them are female, a percentage that is growing year-on-year.
These finance professionals will be a part of the growing number women in the workforce.
The strength of the qualification and their dedication to pursuing finance careers is not only a step in the right direction towards gender equality, but also a necessity in providing professional accountants the world needs.
ACCA was established in 1904 specifically to open up access to accountancy and that ethos has been spread to over 178 countries.
Although more women are joining the accountancy profession, there is more work to do if we are to turn a corner, but now could be the perfect time. ACCA and the accountancy profession itself, is certainly leading the way.
In celebration of International Womens Day ACCA Caribbean will host a womens conference on Wednesday, March 8 at the Hyatt Regency. The programme will include presentations and panel discussions intended to inspire solution oriented dialogue around the theme Be Bold For Change and will feature presentations by Christine Sahadeo, ACCA member, senior lecturer/deputy dean at the University of the West Indies, Racquel Moses, ACCA portfolio head, Europe and Americas, Stacy-Ann Golding, ACCA member, partner, Audit, KPMG Trinidad and Tobago, Akosua Dardaine Edwards, author, speaker, entrepreneur and Carole Eleuthere- Jn Marie, ACCA member, interim CEO, First Citizens Bank, Barbados.
The value of naughty names
The readers question was I am a First Secretary, and I have seen my principal (Ambassador) not address other diplomats by name, sometime resulting in an embarrassing scenario. How can I address this without being considered insubordinate? This is a very realistic and wonderful question as I too, at times, find myself grappling to place names to faces. The scenario presented has the potential to create quite the embarrassing moment, particularly if you are in fact hosting an event you will not be expected to remember all invitees, however, it certainly helps to ensure you are well prepared.
In my stint within the diplomatic community, as a Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on one or two occasions, I was required to represent the Minister of Foreign Affairs at an engagement if he could not make it. Many times, this would be a short notice request, and nevertheless required a significant level of preparation and readiness. I made it a note to ensure that each individual of rank that I met, I would (and should) greet by the appropriate name. How was this done? Here were a few techniques used then: Do you recall the movie The Devil wears Prada? The protagonists assistants were required to be at her side to remind her of the names she may have forgotten this is not a far-fetched scenario. On the occasions I was asked to deputize for my senior, I ensured that I was accompanied by a senior assistant who would have been more acquainted with the diplomatic community, and as such, would be able to assist with the placement of names to faces if the need arose.
This support would be provided in the most discreet manner, leaving the principal (myself) appearing to be in complete control of his/her event always remember, there is nothing as sweet as the sound of someones name to their own ears.
Another technique is repeating the persons name when first meeting them. This will aid in the process of recall if your paths may cross again. It is simple, meet, greet, and repeat! When meeting someone, it is always helpful to make familiar connections to the persons face and name, so if you should meet again, the ease of recall happens with ease. Essentially this means that a visual connection can be made with the face to the name, for example, if I met Shirley for the first time, and Shirley has a striking feature, I will use that visual notation for recall, ie striking feature/Shirley with the striking feature.
The use of alliterations sometimes aids in the process of recall. For example, Cool Chris, or Naughty Nicole.
One of the techniques shared with me at the European School of Protocol was to ensure to make little notations at the back of business cards collected, including where you may have met the person, the date, and the event. This really provides a good base as you may be attending a similar event with a similar guest list. It always helps to revisit your collection of call cards and briefly review your notes, as you will become perfectly prepared for your many interactions, and the likelihood exists that many of the persons with whom you may have previously interacted, would be at the same event, giving you a wonderful platform to re-introduce yourself, remember pertinent details of any previous interactions and appear completely prepared.
Overpowering absenteeism
The ECA recognises that in times of economic uncertainty employers need to effectively manage the use of resources and, in particular, the most important resource, the human resource.
To ensure that the organisations remain efficient and competitive in these times, the employer needs to be innovative in presenting ways to keep the workers engaged.
Attendance does not equate engagement or productivity.
However, by attending work regularly and making a solid contribution, the employees can add value to the bottom line and help the organisation to achieve its overall organisational goals.
The Industrial Relations Act Chapter 88:01, informs all workers in Trinidad and Tobago are allowed to take at least two days sick leave without any supporting medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner. Employees are infamously known to often take advantage of this and abuse the system by strategically absenting themselves from the workplace to extend long weekends or simply to have additional time to conduct personal business.
Additionally, the Minimum Wages Order enshrines the right to vacation leave and sick leave but unfortunately, these rights are not always used in the most responsible manner. Supervisors have the responsibility of tracking the employees absences to notice any trends in their attendance and speak to the employee regarding the observation. As management, the Supervisor should also highlight it to the Human Resource Department to ensure that it is documented.
Documentation is key when executing progressive discipline.
Each organisation should have an absenteeism policy which clearly sets forth the criteria for absences which are allowed, and what behaviour will subject the employee to discipline.
A predetermined plan should be available to execute if and when the time comes that you must take steps to address excessive absenteeism.
Employees should be aware of that plan and it should be communicated via staff meetings, workshops and even on the companys notice boards. Once the supervisor along with the HR personnel believe that the employee has legitimate reasons for their absences, the organisation should consider other options for employees such as flexitime programs and even counselling if necessary.
In summary, a strong communication effort to improve everyones understanding of roles and expectations should be present.
A mechanism to track absences and gather valuable data, and consistently applied processes will collectively go a long way in reducing instances of absenteeism and lost productivity.
Even with the implementation of company policies, and especially in Trinidad and Tobago, we are subjected to the dominance of practice over policy. Thus, it is important that the employer make sure to train all supervisors and managers to ensure that the policy is being fairly applied.
The information presented here is intended as reference only. In this regard, the Employers Consultative Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the Employers Solution Centre do not represent the information herein to be definitive or all-inclusive
No leads in double murder
The bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition when discovered in their home at the corner of Gonzalez Street and SS Erin Road. Yesterday, Doodnath not only extended his personal condolences to the grieving family but also on behalf of the business fraternity.
He described the Bernard women as, two of the most decent people you can find in Siparia. As former chairman of the regional corporation, Doodnath said he interacted with the elder Bernard on several occasions. I am very saddened by their deaths because I would have known them before. I would have had cause to interact with them. It is a very tragic time. We are hoping the police will bring those who have committed such a heinous act to justice. Speaking in his capacity as chamber president, he added: We are very concerned about the increase in criminal activity in Siparia and our intentions are to continue to work with them to bring closure to issues like these. Doodnath told Newsday while Bernard was never a member of the business chamber, she was a business person who many years ago operated a thriving poultry shop in the heart of Siparia.
Yesterday, autopsies done at the Forensic Science Centre, St James revealed that both women died as a result of multiple stab wounds.
Investigators said the mansion which the mother and daughter shared was ransacked leading police to believe among the motives behind the double murder could be robbery. They said other leads are also being pursued. Newsday also learnt that a handyman who was well-known to the women was among one of the first persons to be questioned. However he was not detained.
Residents yesterday described the Bernards as devout Catholics who although they kept to themselves, were very charitable in the community. Kathy Ann, Newsday was told, had returned from Florida a few years ago to take care of her elderly mother. On Tuesday night, the womans three children arrived in Trinidad to take care of funeral arrangements
Carnival 2017 crime rate very good
Dulalchan said that any gaps that the TTPS needs to tighten to protect its officers from such occurrences will be tightened. Regarding the overall crime rate for Carnival 2017, he said that it was very good. He continued, The TTPS will like to take this opportunity to thank all Carnival stakeholders such as the National Carnival Commission and its umbrella organisations in mas, pan and calypso, as well as key security stakeholders, including the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, the fusion centre (Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre), the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service, Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service, Customs and Excise, Immigration Division, ODPM, the Municipal Police and Traffic Wardens. The police service also wants to extend its praises and appreciation to masqueraders and the general public for being responsible, considerate and caring during the carnival period. Overall, there were fifteen serious reported crimes, an eleven percent reduction from Carnival 2016. The fifteen crimes that took place fell into the following categories: a homicide, three woundings, three shootings with intent, three larceny, three robberies with violence, one assault with intent to rob and a larceny of motor vehicle.
Dulalchan said that these events took place between midnight Carnival Monday and midnight Carnival Tuesday, and 182 persons were arrested for various offences. There were no reports, according to him, of sexual offences against women. On police performance during Carnival celebrations, Dulalchan said that there was an eight to ten percent absenteeism rate throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
The fight for Carnival
The annual re-enactment of this battle, which took place last Friday contained its usual elements of stickfighting, flambeaux, African drumming, tamboo bamboo, a parade of traditional Carnival characters and the story of the riots of 1881. Piccadilly Street, Portof- Spain, burned alive with history.
Here are some memories of what this years re-enactment of the Canboulay riots looked like.
WICKED WAYS
During his homily at the Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port-of-Spain, Fr Harris said, my dear friends, I am not a person who sees Gods punishing hand in every unfortunate circumstance of life. But history does say to us that some unfortunate circumstances are indeed the punishment of God for our unrepentant wickedness. Citing the story of Fatima and World Wars I and II as evidence, Harris urged worshippers to pray to God, to spare us. As Ambassadors for Christ let us proclaim the message of seeking reconciliation with God, not only by our prayer, our words and advice but much more by our way of life. He urged the congregation to reconcile with those they may have offended or been offended by.
Let us as disciples and imitators of Christ Jesus take up the cross for our nation. Let us do this as the Gospel reading suggests, not to impress others but so that the heavenly Father will see the likeness of His Son in us and redeem our land. Harris said the Ash Wednesday liturgy of placing ashes on the forehead echoes the Ancient Jewish tradition of wearing ashes to represent mourning, fasting and repentance.
It symbolised grief especially grief over sin that causes division from God and destruction of self as an individual and a nation. My dear friends come to have the ashes put on your heads if you are genuinely grieving for the state of our nation and wish to do whatever is necessary to turn things around. This is a commitment to carrying the cross of each day as you strive to forget self and live seeking the good of others and that of our nation. Earlier, Harris said that after the good and bad of Carnival, now is the time to take stock of who we are. My dear friends, these two months of the year 2017 have been the bloodiest in our history. The recession has hit us with ensuing job losses and the gap between rich and poor widening every day. While some of us live very well, he added, an increasing number of persons, many of them our relatives and friends, are finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet.
There is a rise in hopelessness but as Christians we do not allow ourselves to lose heart. We turn to God and listen to His Word, so that this Word may remind us of who we are, may strengthen us, may give us courage and ultimately fill us with joy. Quoting the First Commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Harris said that TT has created other gods of money, pleasure and power.
Money has led TT into problems such as illicit drugs, arms and human trafficking and corruption.
We have forgotten the scriptures which say to us, the love of money is the root of all evil, and that, we cannot serve God and money. Despite all that afflicts us, because we are ambassadors for Christ, we bring a message of peace from our God, the true God, who in spite of our infidelity still reaches out to us. Harris said God is calling us. Come back to Me with all your heart, fasting, weeping and mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn.
Turn to the Lord your God again, for He is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness and ready to relent, he said as many in the congregation said, Amen.
OWTU and Petrotrin talks break down
In a telephone interview yesterday, Roget said the Industrial Court judge, at the last conciliation session last week, had indicated that case management discussions would take place in preparation for open court.
Case management pertains to the directions which would be applied to both parties prior to a full hearing of the case by the Court.
However, Roget said there is still an opportunity for conciliation and conclusion of negotiations meaning its not over until its over should the company present an improved position. Meanwhile, in a media release, Petrotrin confirmed that both the parties will continue their meetings at the court today prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on January 9, 2017.
While parties are still in discussion, Petrotrin reiterates its commitment to participating fully in this process and to engaging with employees and their representatives.
We continue to strive for a solution that is in the best interest of all employees and that ensures the viability, survivability and sustainability of Petrotrin, the company stated.
However, Roget recalled that the company had offered a one percent increase for the final year of the negotiating period 2011-2014 and which would have been implemented in 2019. The union position is that we responded to their offer of the one percent by rejecting it because that additional one percent is to be implemented in 2019, he said.
At the same time you have a negotiations period before the court now for 2014-2017, it have two negotiations period before the court, 2011-2014 for which we are still waiting and 2014- 2017 before the court- that is the one we served strike notice on and so for the final year of 2011-2014, the company is saying that it should be implemented in the year 2019, Roget said.
Now obviously that could not have cut it with the union, he said, and noted that both parties had examined Petrotrins operational aspects to determine where its production levels could be increased and had determined that an increase of 2,500 barrels could be achieved over time.
Already through that initiative we have begun to see 1,050 barrels additional and as time goes on, we would reach the sustain increased production of 2,500, he said, adding that inefficiencies had also been examined to save the company some $200 million in wastages.
He said the Minister of Finance was behind the one percent offer and called for his removal as both Finance Minister and acting Energy Minister
Arizona dumps preposterous protest bill after public outcry
The Leader of the Arizona House has has dropped a proposed bill that overstepped the boundaries protecting citizens Freedom of Peaceful Protest in an attempt to crack down on paid protestors.
According to the Arizona Capital Times, SB1142 expanded the states racketeering laws, now aimed at organized crime, to also include rioting. It redefines what constitutes rioting to include actions that result in damage to the property of others. If Bill had been passed, it would have given the Government the right to criminally prosecute and seize the assets of everyone who planned or participated in a protest. At the heart of the Bill was concern that it would give police new power to arrest anyone who is involved in a peaceful demonstration that may turn disastrous even before anything happens.
We have all seen how quickly peaceful protests can turn sour. The recent UC Berkley Riots caused nearly $100,000 in damages and numerous physical assaults. In Soros-backed Black Lives Matter protests weve seen neighborhoods destroyed and looted. None of us are naive enough to think that these protests are 100% organic grass roots movements, but the implications of the bill were not a step in the right direction to fix this issue.
For one thing, in Arizona and most other states, everything that constitutes rioting already is a crime, ranging from assault to criminal damage, and those responsible can be individually prosecuted. This bill would punish people just for participating even if they were not involved with property damage. Its guilt by association. Supporters of the Bill even approved of and encouraged police officers to infiltrate meetings while on duty to gain information. While we are aware that a lot of the recent violent protests have included paid protestors, this legislation felt more like an attempt to institute pre-crime laws than an effort to protect citizens and property. (RELATED: Get all the news Google is trying to hide from you at Censored.news)
The Republican Senators behind this bill see it differently. They believe it will stop so-called privately funded progressive protesters who are paid to go out and wreak havoc, or at best hold them accountable. Sen. John Kavanagh, a backer of the Bill, says, Wouldnt you rather stop a riot before it starts? Do you really want to wait until people are injuring each other, throwing Molotov cocktails, picking up barricades and smashing them through businesses in downtown Phoenix?
As much as these Senators viewed this bill as a deterrent, opponents felt the bill too broadly written and has the potential to punish people that are exercising their Right to Freedom of Peaceful Protest as well as Freedom of Speech. It also sets the stage for the implementation of more pre-crime type laws in the name of keeping the public safe. Though this bill is considered dead there are similar ones still being discussed in other states.
Sources:
Azcapitoltimes.com
Breitbart.com
RT.com
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SPLC caught faking numbers of Muslim hate groups in U.S. to fundraise off Trump hate
The Southern Poverty Law Center is one of the most dishonest non-profit civil rights groups in the country, comprised of Marxist Alt-Left fanatics who are as bad as the discredited establishment media when it comes to honesty.
In the Age of Trump, all the rage among the hard-Left like those staffing the SPLC is trashing the Donald and his supporters for their alleged Muslim hate. Since the president, as a candidate, built his campaign around issues like attempting to keep Islamic extremism at bay, hes been targeted by Left-wing hacks for months who have accused him of being anti-Muslim and Islamophobic.
So it only figures that with the rise of Trump, there should be a corresponding rise in Muslim hate groups throughout the United States right? Well, thats what the SPLC is claiming only, as Frontpage Magazine notes, the manner in which the organization calculates an alleged rise in such groups would make the creators of fake news at CNN, the Washington Post, and The New York Times proud. (RELATED: Why Is Google News Still Running Fake News Sources Like CNN And WaPo While Banning REAL News From The New Media?)
The site reported:
Look out! Its another fake Islamophobia crisis.
Huge Growth in Anti-Muslim Hate Groups During 2016: SPLC Report, wails NBC News. Watchdog: Number of anti-Muslim hate groups tripled since 2015, FOX News bleats. ABC News vomits up this word salad, Trump cited in report finding increase in U.S. hate groups for 2nd year in a row.
The group is claiming that the number of anti-Muslim hate groups increased almost three-fold in 2016. Frontpage noted, adding that the SPLC claims the number of Muslim hate groups rose from 34 in 2015 to an astounding 101 just a year later.
Wow. That Trump! Hes been so good for the hate community!
But what in the world could have possibly accounted for such a dramatic rise? Nothing but the kind of statistical magic that Penn and Teller would appreciate.
Not unsurprisingly, Trumps picture adorns the latest cover of the SPLCs inappropriately titled Intelligence Report, since its nothing of the sort. One way the organization could claim such a dramatic rise in alleged anti-Muslim organizations was by counting 45 chapters of the organization, Act For America, which lists itself as the NRA of National Security.
But of course, thats the farthest thing there is from a hate group. And counting 45 chapters of one group also helps conflate the numbers.
In 2015, Frontpage Magazine notes, Act For America was already in existence. But then it was counted as only one group. SPLC listed the Los Angeles chapter of Act For America as a separate organization, but its not and its been around for years.
Whats more, the group doesnt even have 45 chapters it has 1,000 scattered around the country. So why add just 45 chapters? Look at it from the SPLCs perspective. Next year, it can add 200 chapters and claim that anti-Muslim hate groups once again tripled. And then it can do the same thing again the year after that, Frontpage Magazine reported. (RELATED: Democrats Fast Becoming Americas Largest Hate Group As They Plan To Troll President Trumps First Address To Congress)
And in that way, the SPLC can continue to manufacture phony statistics about anti-Muslim hate groups in the Age of Trump. Look how much growth from last year!
There are many more ridiculous instances of the SPLC irresponsibly adding people and businesses and even store display signs (not even kidding) to their list of Muslim hate groups. You can and should read them all here.
But the lesson here is clear: The Marxist Left is alive and well in the worlds only superpower republic, and their mission is to assist true believers like Barack Obama in their fundamental transformation of our country into something like Venezuela on steroids.
And obviously, they have to use dishonesty in order to accomplish it.
Fake news, anyone?
J. D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and Newstarget.com, and founding editor of The National Sentinel.
Sources:
FrontpageMag.com
ActForAmerica.org
NaturalNews.com
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Establish 5 world class educational institutes to provide better traditional
New Delhi, Thu, 02 Mar 2017 NI Wire
Centre to establish 5 world class educational institutes to provide better traditional as well as modern education to Minority students: Naqvi
The Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here that the Central Government led by Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been working on war-footing to ensure affordable-accessible and quality education to all sections of the society including Minorities. While addressing National Seminar of Minority Community Teachers Association in New Delhi, Naqvi said that the Ministry of Minority Affairs will establish 5 world class educational institutes to provide better traditional as well as modern education to students belonging to Minority communities. These world class institutions providing education in technical, medical, Ayurved, Unani etc fields will be established across the country. A high-level committee has been working on fast track to chalk out a framework of these institutions and the committee will soon submit its report. Centre is working on a strategy so that these institutes can get started in 2018. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has proposed 40 per cent reservation for girls in these institutions.
Naqvi said that Centre's focus is to provide quality education as well as employment oriented training to Minority students. The Ministry has been running several schemes for the purpose. Naqvi said that in the Union Budget 2017-18, allocation for Minority Affairs Ministry has been increased to Rs 4195.48 crore for 2017-18. This is Rs 368.23 crore more than 2016-17 Budget of Rs 3827.25 crore with an increase of about 9.6 per cent. More than 70 per cent of this Budget would be utilised for educational empowerment of Minorities and job-oriented programmes for them.
The Minister informed that hundreds of crores of rupees has been provided for various scholarships and skill development schemes such as Seekho aur Kamao, Nai Manzil, Nai Roushni, Usttad, Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centre and Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship for Girls. Besides this, funds under Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) will also be utilised for various educational development activities. Rs 393.54 crore has been given for Merit-cum-Means based scholarship; Rs 950 crore for pre-matric scholarship; Rs 550 crore for post-matric scholarship; Rs 250 crore for Seekho aur Kamao (with an increase of Rs 40 crore compared to last budget); Rs 176 crore for Nai Manzil (with an increase of Rs 56 crore compared to last budget); Rs 113 crore for Maulana Azad Education Foundation; Rs 170 crore as equity for NMDFC.
Naqvi said that for 2017-18, the Ministry has set a target to provide scholarships to about 35 lakh students. Employment oriented training will be provided to more than 2 lakh youths belonging to Minority communities. The Government has also approved 16 Gurukul type residential schools across the country and decided to help those Madrasas who are also providing mainstream education.
Naqvi informed about the Ministry's efforts for educational empowerment of Minorities include establishing Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centre, Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship for girls, and establishing 500 quality residential schools and job-oriented skill development centres.
Source: PIB
A Government Panel recommends legal framework for protection of interests of migrants in the country
New Delhi, Thu, 02 Mar 2017 NI Wire
Caste based enumeration of migrants, access to PDS anywhere, low cost money transfer, anti-discriminatory measures recommended
A Government appointed Panel has recommended necessary legal and policy framework to protect the interests of the migrants in the country, stating that the migrant populationmakes substantial contribution to economic growth and their Constitutional rights need to be secured.
The Working Group on Migration set by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviationin 2015 who submitted their Report to the Government today held extensive discussions with Minister of HUPA Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu.
The Working Group has recommended that the Protocols of the Registrar General of India needs to be amended to enable caste based enumeration of migrants so that they can avail the attendant benefits in the States to which migration takes place. It also recommended that migrants should be enabled to avail benefits of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the destination State by providing for inter-State operability of PDS.
Referring to Constitutional Right of Freedom of Movement and residence in any part of the territory of the country, the Group suggested that States should be encouraged to proactively eliminate the requirement of domicile status to prevent any discrimination in work and employment. States are also to be asked to include migrant children in the Annual Work Plans under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) to uphold their Right to Education.
Noting that money remittances of migrants was of the order of Rs.50,000 cr during 2007-08, the Working Group suggested that the vast network of post offices need to be made effective use of by reducing the cost of transfer of money to avoid informal remittences. It also suggested that migrants should be enabled to open bank accounts by asking banks to adhere to RBI guidelines regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and not insist on documents that were not required.
The Group suggested that the hugely underutilized Construction Workers Welfare Cess Fund should be used to promote rental housing, working Women Hostels etc., for the benefit of migrants.
Quoting data of Census 2011 and National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the Group stated that migrants constitute about 30% of the countrys population and also of the total working force.
The recent Economic Survey noted that annual migration in the country increased from 3.30 million in 2011 to 9.00 million in 2016.
Shri Venkaiah Naidu asked Ministry officials to send report to all concerned ministries and convene a meeting on further course of action.
The 18-member Working Group headed by Shri Partha Mukhopadhay of the Centre for Policy Research has representatives of Ministries of Home, HUPA, Labour and Employment, Urban Development, Rural Development, Women & Child Development, Social Justice & Empowerment, Statistics & Programme Implementation, NITI Ayog, Registrar General of India, UNESCO, TATA Trust, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research as members.
Source: PIB
Never send a cop to do a man's job
The persistence of the Algerian regime on maintaining the borders closed with Morocco, along with the ardent support for the separatist thesis in the Sahara coupled with hegemonic ambitions that make other Algerian neighbors wary of Algiers intentions, have increased Algerias isolation in its immediate neighborhood: North Africa and the Sahel.
By closing the borders with Morocco, a decision that was taken in 1994, Algeria has brought the Maghreb integration and cooperation to a standstill. The region loses 2 points of GDP growth due to the state of paralysis.
Besides lacking vision and enthusiasm for the Maghreb Union project, the Algerian leadership continues to dwell on ideological stands of the cold-war era. It refuses for example to put pressure on the Polisario separatist militia to accept Moroccos autonomy plan, which has been hailed by the international community as a serious basis for a fair, peaceful and mutually acceptable solution to the Sahara issue.
By supporting the separatists and closing the borders, Algeria was aiming at containing and isolating Morocco. Yet, reality on the ground shows that this strategy has backfired on Algeria.
Buoyed by a decade of expensive oil until 2013, Algerias social peace, which was fed by oil mantra is now at risk of collapsing. Meanwhile, Morocco is looking south towards its immediate African depth where King Mohammed VI has been leading an active economic diplomacy that resulted in tangible win-win partnerships and ushered a new era of integration.
The return of the North African Kingdom to its African Institutional family was the result of a years-long process of strengthening ties with African countries. This return was followed by a request to join one of Africas most active sub-regional groupings, the ECOWAS, as a full-fledged member.
By the way, the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel Alain De Souza, received this Thursday in Abuja Moha Ou Ali Tagma who handed him his credentials as Moroccos Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the sub-regional economic grouping.
Moroccos membership in the ECOWAS is putting the final nail in Algerias strategy of containing the Kingdom at the African level. With such a membership that builds on close economic partnerships and a south-south cooperation approach, Morocco will have outmanoeuvred Algeria.
The military junta in Algeria is losing track, feeling paranoid by a continental dynamic in favor of Morocco. The roots of Algerian failure in boosting its influence as a model and credible economic partner in Africa are to be found in the structure of its rentier economy.
With its widespread corruption, complete dependence on hydrocarbons, underdeveloped banking system, over-subsidized and uncompetitive enterprises and dwindling foreign reserves, Algeria came to represent all that is wrong in the African economy.
At the image of its ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria is stuck in a Cold War mind-set where ideology takes primacy. The antagonism of Algerian officials makes them myopic to the changes experienced in Africa where many countries, such as Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda are posting some of the highest economic growth rates globally.
Africa is a two-speed continent where some countries are making fast progress while others lag behind due to lack of good governance and political will. Algeria is certainly on the side that is lagging behind.
As the legitimacy of the Algerian regime erodes at home, its ideological alliances built on generous oil money handouts are gradually dismantled in the continent, since Africa lives in a new dawn where genuine win-win partnerships, technology transfer and investments are the best way to strengthen bilateral relations. To that end Morocco, joining action to words, has geared 60% of its investments to Africa. In the meantime, Algeria remains a tinderbox waiting to explode from within.
Normcore. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
For much of American history, institutional norms prevented partisans on Capitol Hill from deploying the full extent of their legal powers in service of their ideological goals.
For example, even though a Republican-controlled Senate could technically prevent a Democratic president from ever filling a Supreme Court vacancy, they wouldnt actually do so because norms dictated that the Senate approve the presidents judicial nominees, so long as they displayed a modicum of competence and qualifications.
Similarly, while members of the Senate minority could disrupt the functioning of an agency whose work they oppose by filibustering every appointment to said agency, that kind of thing simply wasnt done. And this restraint on the minoritys part ensured that, even though the upper chambers majority party could eliminate the filibuster for such appointments, it would have no cause for doing so.
These three norms did not survive the Obama presidency or, more precisely, Mitch McConnells strategy for undermining it.
And, ultimately, those norms probably needed to die. In an era of ideologically polarized parties, chummy gestures of deference dont make much sense. If your party believes that abortion is genocide and has the power to save a seat on the Supreme Court for a justice who agrees who cares about norms and precedents? Millions of lives and decades of judicial rulings are at stake!
Separately, if one believes in democratic rule, the power of a minority (within in the grotesquely undemocratic Senate) to block appointments and legislation aint a power worth preserving.
Still, while small-d democrats might welcome the erosion of these checks on the majoritys power to govern, the timing of their erosion couldnt be much worse for those of the big-D variety: After Republican intransigence forced Harry Reid to nuke the filibuster on non-Supreme Court appointments, Democrats were left powerless to prevent President Trump from handing the executive branch over to a motley crew of racists, reactionaries, and dimwits.
And Mitch McConnell has made it clear that if Democrats try to block Neil Gorsuchs path to Antonin Scalias (and/or Merrick Garlands) old seat, the Supreme Court filibuster will be laid to rest.
Its unclear whether the Senate GOP has lost all restraint; many still insist they have no intention of killing the legislative filibuster, even if Democrats withhold cooperation on an Obamacare replacement. But if some Republicans still feel a bit of fealty towards institutional norms, Donald Trump isnt one of them and Senate Democrats are worried that he has one of the minoritys few remaining powers in his crosshairs.
Federal regulatory commissions are generally staffed by either five or six members. The majority party is statutorily prohibited from having more than three of its members on any one commission. This has historically guaranteed that the minority party will have significant if not equal sway on these regulatory bodies.
But in recent days, the president has begun withdrawing the nominations of duly selected (would-be) regulators, leading Democrats to suspect that Trump may try to keep them off certain commissions, entirely. The Huffington Posts Sam Stein and Ryan Grim explain:
Historically, the White House has largely deferred to Senate committees in naming a commissions minority party members. The nominees are then sent to the Senate as a pair as a means of expediting their confirmation. But Democratic sources on the Hill worry that the Trump administration has conceived of a way to get around these norms.
Although it cant stack commissions with more Republicans, it can replace Democrats with registered Independents who are ideologically conservative. One counsel to a Senate Democrat said the administration may actually be able to do this legally. Others cautioned, that its not yet clear if Trump will go down this path.
Already, however, at least one Obama-era holdover commission nominee subjected to oversight from the Senate Banking Committee has been pulled, according to a separate Senate source familiar with the maneuvers. That source declined to name names. But the nomination of Brian D. Quintenz to the CFTC was formally withdrawn by the president on Tuesday night (while another CFTC nominee is in limbo), and Claudia Slaciks nomination to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank was withdrawn as well.
Stein and Grim suggest that McConnell may be too strong an institutionalist to abet Trumps power grab. But Democrats can be forgiven for lacking faith in on Mitch McConnells commitment to procedural conservatism.
46? Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
Before Donald Trump came along, rich, old, white guys at least dabbled in politics before they tried to become the leader of the free world. But a new path to the presidency has now been paved and we should probably get used to seeing stories like the one in Wednesdays Hollywood Reporter suggesting that Disney CEO Bob Iger may run for the Democratic nomination in 2020.
Last June, the 66-year-old executive told THR that a lot of people a lot have urged me to seek political office, an early sign that he has the ego to pull off a Trump-like pivot from business to politics. He denied any interest in becoming Californias governor or one of its U.S. senators, but wouldnt rule out a run for the White House. Since then, Iger has reportedly spoken with Michael Bloomberg, who made the jump from businessman to New York City mayor in 2002, about running for office.
Given Trumps path to the presidency, its worth noting that Iger just joined Twitter. Is he following Trumps lead to communicate with voters without a media filter? If so, hes taking it slow, with only two tweets sent since joining. But if you look closely, a sign of Trumps influence can be found: Hes used three exclamation points in those two tweets.
As Iger flirts with a run for office, hes not the only wealthy, business mogul considering world domination. There have long been rumors about Mark Zuckerbergs interest in running for president, and now even Oprah is suggesting that a run for the White House might not be out of question. Whos next? Mark Cuban? Jeff Bezos? Well find out soon. Its only 1,343 days until Election Day.
These tiny tubes could be evidence of the earliest life on Earth. Photo: Matthew Dodd/Nature
Tiny tubes and microscopic filaments discovered inside ancient Canadian rock are the oldest fossils ever found and a sign that life began on Earth much earlier than previously believed, new research published in Nature suggests.
The rock in which the tubes were found is some of the oldest in the world, thought to have formed around undersea vents around four billion years ago. Over time, the rock emerged from the sea. The tubes themselves, pictured above, appear to have been formed by prehistoric microbes that would have congregated around these vents, researchers say.
The fact we unearthed them from one of the oldest known rock formations suggests weve found direct evidence of one of Earths oldest life forms, said Dominic Papineau, the University College London scientist who led the study.
If the research teams estimates are right and the fossils are between 3.77 and 4.3 billion years old, then they are, at most, a half billion years older than the fossils previously thought to be the oldest discovered. Those fossils, found in Greenland, lived 3.7 billion years ago. So even the low estimate dates these Canadian fossils 70 million years before that.
This discovery helps us piece together the history of our planet and the remarkable life on it, and will help to identify traces of life elsewhere in the universe, Papineau said in a press release.
Not everyone is so sure of his discovery though. I am frankly dubious, Frances Westall of Frances Centre for Molecular Biophysics told the Times. She cited the size of the tubes, which should be smaller if they are so old, she said. Other doubters were even less generous with their assessment. As Wouter Bleeker, of the Geological Survey of Canada, told the Times, These authors built their research on pushing speculative ideas and appear totally unaware of the considerable evidence against their interpretation.
President Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump head to Dover Air Force base to pay their respects to Navy SEAL Ryan Owens. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Despite the moving moment during Tuesdays speech when President Trump acknowledged Carryn Owens, the widow of Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens, debate continues over the operation in which the Navy SEAL lost his life. New reports on Wednesday shed light on how the Yemen raid was authorized just five days into the Trump administration, and the intelligence collected.
As previously reported, President Trump approved the raid a major escalation of U.S. counterterrorism operations in Yemen that was planned by the Obama administration during a dinner with his top advisers on January 25. The Washington Post reported that according to a senior administration official, Trump was first briefed on the operation during his morning intelligence briefing, and he briefly stopped by a discussion of the raid happening in Defense Secretary James Mattiss office.
On January 26, sub-Cabinet officials reviewed the operation during a meeting chaired by K.T. McFarland, Trumps deputy national security adviser. They went over the increased risk to U.S. forces, but several sources told the Post that the discussion only lasted about 25 minutes because there were other topics to cover and Trump had already approved it. The senior administration official said it was more like 40 minutes, but former officials say thats still inadequate.
In previous operations like this, we would sit around the table for two hours and scrub everything. The intelligence agencies would put down maps. Wed have congressional folks talk about reaching out to Congress. The State Department would do its political assessment, said Colin Kahl, who formerly oversaw Middle East issues at the Pentagon and was national security adviser to Vice-President Joe Biden. You cant cover the complexity of a topic like that in 23 minutes.
On Monday, a day before President Trump recognized Owens during his address to Congress, he distanced himself from the decision to authorize the raid, emphasizing in a Fox News interview that others planned the mission.
This was a mission that was started before I got here. This was something that was, you know, just they wanted to do. They came to see me. They explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected, he said. My generals are the most respected that weve had in many decades I believe. And they lost Ryan.
Trump was facing new scrutiny after Ryan Owenss father publicly questioned the motivation for the operation over the weekend, and called for an investigation. U.S. officials had also told NBC News that the raid produced no significant intelligence.
Trump rebutted this during Tuesdays speech, saying:
I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.
The AP reported that a large amount of information was found on the laptops, hard drives, and cell phones scooped up during the raid:
The U.S. official said a list describing the broad range of intelligence gains from the raid fills more than three pages. It includes information on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsulas training techniques and targeting priorities, said the official, who wasnt able to discuss details of the classified military operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Such intelligence gives insight into the groups attack planning.
What appears to be in dispute is the value of that intelligence. On Wednesday night, NBC News reported that ten U.S. officials across the government who have been briefed on the mission say there have yet to be any truly significant findings. One senior Pentagon official said it was mostly information they already knew, though another U.S. official said they did glean contact information that may link terrorists in Yemen to Europe and the U.S.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the materials, which are still being analyzed, may further U.S. officials understanding of Al Qaedas tactics and new nonmetallic bombs the group is developing. However, theres nothing about specific plots, and the information has not led to any new strikes.
Initial descriptions from the Trump team suggested far more dramatic findings. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the operation gathered an unbelievable amount of intelligence that will prevent the potential deaths or attacks on American soil.
On Thursday, the House GOP unveiled its latest draft of an Obamacare replacement bill to select members of their own caucus, in an undisclosed basement room guarded by Capitol Hill police.
Congressional Republicans have long disdained backroom deals, particularly ones concerning health-care reform. And, just days earlier, Paul Ryan had boasted that his party wasnt hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American peoples front door.
So, it isnt hard to see why liberal pundits would have a field day with the bills basement debut. Why Rand Paul did, however, is a bit less intuitive.
I have been told that the House Obamacare bill is under lock & key, in a secure location, & not available for me or the public to view. Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 2, 2017
I am heading to the secure location where they are keeping the House obamacare bill. I will demand a copy for the American people. Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 2, 2017
The Kentucky senator proceeded to take the Capitol Hill press corps on a whimsical journey designed to paint his own partys legislative process as a Kafkafesque absurdity.
.@randpaul wasn't allowed to see the House GOP's Obamacare bill. Brought his own copy machine, just in case. pic.twitter.com/KpAXhfltsV Eli Yokley (@eyokley) March 2, 2017
.@RandPaul outside the "secret office for the secret bill." pic.twitter.com/fY8BAVqwvd Eli Yokley (@eyokley) March 2, 2017
Sen Paul trying to enter room with ACA bill. Being denied entry pic.twitter.com/Vwg6vtZelc Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) March 2, 2017
He was joined on this quest by the Republican chair of the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady, along with some disgruntled Democrats, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (and/or, her hounds).
Word spread that the bill was in Room H-157, a nondescript conference room in the House of Representatives. But by the time Paul and his aggrieved colleagues arrived there, the legislation had been moved to a more secure location, according to BuzzFeed News.
Press was just let in H-157. Empty room, no bill in sight :( pic.twitter.com/0d25hwcUG6 Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) March 2, 2017
The metaphoric had become literal congressional Republicans could not find their alternative to the Affordable Care Act.
Memes ensued.
Live footage of Rand Paul preparing to look at the Obamacare replacement bill pic.twitter.com/OtY85ZXkZA ryan teague beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) March 2, 2017
https://t.co/CmYta4dsDy Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) March 2, 2017
House obamacare replacement bill found pic.twitter.com/vIwmF2cz3N Atrios (@Atrios) March 2, 2017
Thus, Ryans attempt to give his caucus a sneak peek at their new Obamacare replacement bill while avoiding press scrutiny ended in a PR disaster of Rand Pauls creation.
One reason this whole hunt for a bill thing got so much traction is that it started within the GOP, from Sen. Paul, rather than from Dems. Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) March 2, 2017
On one level, Pauls endgame is fairly obvious: The Kentucky senator wants to sabotage Ryans bill because it isnt conservative enough. Specifically, the legislation appears to preserve some form of Medicaid expansion, along with tax credits to subsidize the health-care costs of low-income Americans. Of course, the bill is far less generous on both these fronts than Obamacare is as the Kaiser Family Foundations scoring of a leaked discussion draft makes clear:
Still, the bill would condemn too few poor people to preventable deaths for the tastes of Rand Paul and the House Freedom Caucus: Their position is full repeal or bust.
Now, theres no reason to doubt the sincerity of Rand Pauls commitment to protecting personal liberty (by amplifying the suffering of the indigent). But the same can be said about Paul Ryans.
The House Speaker isnt against fully abolishing the ACAs redistributive aspects for ideological reasons, but for practical ones: Several Republican senators have made it clear that they have no interest in throwing large numbers of their constituents off of Medicaid. And even if they did, the GOP still needs eight Democratic votes to get their Obamacare replacement through the Senate.
Its hard to believe that Rand Paul doesnt understand this. But if hes cognizant of the fact that Ryans bill or something like it is his partys best hope for repealing Obamacare, why is he trying to sabotage it?
One answer is that he understands the political realities of ACA repeal all too well: Medicaid expansion is quite popular in Kentucky, where it has provided 400,000 people with access to health insurance. By supporting an extreme, unpassable version of Obamacare repeal, Paul can keep his tea-party base happy, while avoiding the backlash that might result from making hundreds of thousands of his constituents lives appreciably worse.
Sweet spot for Rand Paul is to oppose Obamacare repeal from the right, thus maintaining his constituents health care AND his purism. Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 2, 2017
When Paul wishes to shame Capitol Hills RINOs, he notes how they were happy to fully repeal Obamacare back when they were powerless to actually do so. But thats precisely what the Kentucky senator is still doing, today.
Senator Jeff Sessions speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10, 2017. Photo: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Several lawmakers are calling for Jeff Sessions to resign as attorney general or at least recuse himself from investigations involving Russia and the Trump administration following a Washington Post report that he spoke with Russias ambassador to the United States twice during the presidential campaign. Sessions, who campaigned for President Trump, denied under oath that he had any communications with the Russians during his confirmation hearing.
The Wall Street Journal also revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies examined contacts between Sessions and Russian officials as part of the investigation into the Trump teams possible Russia ties. Its unclear what the probe discovered, or if its ongoing. The FBI answers to the attorney general, and a source said the investigation into Sessions left the agency wringing its hands.
Sessions met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, when he was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a top foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. The first meeting was an informal exchange with Kislyak and other diplomats after Sessions spoke at a Heritage Foundation event during the Republican National Convention. The second meeting was a private conversation in Sessionss office, which came as Russia was allegedly engaged in a cyber campaign to upend the U.S. election.
During Sessionss confirmation hearing on January 10, Senator Al Franken asked what he would do if he learned that Trump campaign officials had been talking with the Russian government. Sessions volunteered that he was a campaign surrogate and had not communicated with the Russians.
Im not aware of any of those activities, Sessions said, adding, I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
The Post reports that Sessions also denied discussing the election with the Russians in his written statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee:
In January, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) asked Sessions for answers to written questions. Several of the President-elects nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day? Leahy wrote.
Sessions responded with one word: No.
Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessionss spokeswoman, told the Post that there was nothing misleading about his answer. She said he didnt think the conversations with Kislyak were relevant to the senators questions, and didnt remember what they discussed in detail.
After the Post story broke, Flores said in a statement that Sessions met with Kislyak as a member of the Armed Services Committee, not a Trump surrogate:
There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer. Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German, and Russian ambassadors. He was asked during the hearings about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.
The Post contacted every senator who served with Sessions on the Armed Services Committee and asked if theyd met with Kislyak in 2016. Twenty said no, and the other six have yet to respond.
The Sessions mtgs seem odd. I've been a member of Armed Services, Foreign Affairs & Intelligence Cmtes yet never met the Russian Ambassador. Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) March 2, 2017
Several hours later, Sessions released another statement: I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
The White House issued its own statement, suggesting that Senator Franken leaked the story to ruin President Trumps good press from his speech on Tuesday night. Frankens team denied this.
WH blames Sessions story on Democrats trying to damage POTUS after speech to Congress. pic.twitter.com/pZ5VcMIeEJ Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 2, 2017
Team Franken responds to WH accusation that he is the leaker about Sessions allegations: "No he is not." Ali Rogin (@AliRogin) March 2, 2017
After the story broke, Democratic lawmakers renewed their calls for Sessions to recuse himself from investigations into the Trump teams alleged ties to Russia. Sessions had resisted, but on Monday he suggested that he would step down in certain circumstances, saying he would recuse myself on anything that I should recuse myself on, thats all I can tell you.
Senator Franken said Sessionss response at his confirmation hearing was, at best, misleading, if the reports are true. It is now clearer than ever that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately, he said.
If it's true that Sessions failed to disclose his meeting with Kislyak, he must recuse himself. This is not even a close call; it is a must. https://t.co/BHZH9OrVFA Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 2, 2017
I have called, am calling, & will continue to call for an Independent Special counsel to investigate possible collision with the Russians. https://t.co/j6Nb4HzFEF Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 2, 2017
A recusal is not enough. Only a fully independent special counsel will give Americans confidence there will be a real investigation Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) March 2, 2017
During a CNN town hall with Senator John McCain, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that if the FBI investigation turns up any evidence of wrongdoing then a special prosecutor is needed. It is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make this decision about Trump, he said.
Graham: If Jeff Sessions spoke with Russian diplomat, then for sure you need a special prosecutor #CNNTownHall https://t.co/uY26ChouyB CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 2, 2017
Early Thursday morning, Sessions told NBC News,I have said whenever its appropriate, I will recuse myself. Theres no doubt about that. The attorney general did not say whether it was now appropriate.
Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told MSNBCs Morning Joe that it would be easier if Sessions recused himself from the investigations into Russian hacking.
I just think for any investigation going forward, you want to make sure everybody trusts the investigation, McCarthy said. That theres no doubt within the investigationI think it would be easier from that standpoint, yes.
House Oversight Committee chair Jason Chaffetz also called on Sessions to recuse himself.
AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) March 2, 2017
Some top Democrats went even further. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Representative Elijah Cummings, and Senator Elizabeth Warren said Sessions should resign. After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the attorney general must resign, Pelosi said, adding, Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country.
AG Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. https://t.co/5r8KpGQSRT pic.twitter.com/vKSVuvTIf3 Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 2, 2017
And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place to resign. We need it now. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign last month following reports that he discussed sanctions in phone calls with Kislyak before Trump took office. Vice-President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials had publicly denied that Flynn talked about sanctions.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, the New York Times reported that officials in the Obama administration but not the former president himself worked to spread information about Russias election meddling and possible links to the Trump campaign around the government. This included foreign intelligence on contacts between Trump associates and Russian officials:
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials and others close to Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.
Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.
The Obama officials were concerned that the information would be concealed or destroyed by the Trump administration and wanted to make sure it would still be available to investigators. In addition to the intelligence agencies, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are conducting their own Russia probes.
White House PressSsecretary Sean Spicer said, The only new piece of information that has come to light is that political appointees in the Obama administration have sought to create a false narrative to make an excuse for their own defeat in the election. He added, There continues to be no there, there.
This story has been updated throughout.
The other unpredictable leader with access to nukes. Photo: KNS/AFP/Getty Images
Earlier this week, a senior administration official who may or may not be Donald Trump himself told CNN that the president considers North Korea the greatest immediate threat to the U.S. They noted that the president told a Chinese official on Monday, You gotta work on North Korea.
Just in case that doesnt solve the problem, the White House has also launched an internal review of how to handle the dictatorship. The Wall Street Journal reports that deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland convened a meeting of national security officials two weeks ago and solicited proposals on North Korea even if theyre far outside the mainstream. The administration wanted to hear everything from recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power to using military force against Pyongyang.
Urging officials to thoroughly rethink the problem isnt a bad thing, and those proposals, which were submitted on Tuesday, are now being winnowed down before theyre presented to the president. What is concerning is that apparently this wasnt just an internal thought experiment. The WSJ reports: U.S. officials have underscored the possible military dimensions of their emerging strategy in recent discussions with allies, according to people familiar with the talks.
For instance, during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes recent visit, Japanese officials were told several times that all options were on the table. A source familiar with the discussions said the Japanese understood this to include a U.S. military strike on North Korea, possibly if it appeared that Pyongyang was about to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Japanese found the idea worrisome, according to the source.
The Japanese are also concerned that the Trump administration might swing in the opposite direction, holding direct talks with Kim Jong-un and pulling out of the region.
Of course, Americans dont need to worry about any of this. Just stay focused on President Trumps (inaccurate) tweet on the matter:
Evan Spiegel Photo: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch
In the beginning before the filters and the rebranding, the $130 sunglasses with build-in video, and the Stories wars with Instagram; before its frat-boy CEO became as chaste as the Jonas Brothers Snapchat was just an app you used to send disappearing pictures. Ten seconds after you opened a Snapchat (Yosemite in the snow, your friends stuffing their faces with Insomnia Cookies), poof, it was gone. And somehow, in the unknowable whirlpool that is the mass consciousness of the internet, this was appealing. People wanted to use it. According to Snaps own SEC filing, more than 1 million people were using the app within a year of its 2012 launch; by early 2013, more than 10 million people were Snapping every day. Soon, Facebook came knocking. Snapchats spurning of the social-network behemoths $3 billion offer was considered arrogant at the time, but it turns out to have been the right call: This morning, Snapchat restructured in September into Snap, Inc went public, in what is likely to be the largest tech IPO of the year. Snaps bankers priced the IPO at $17 a share, giving the company a valuation of $22 billion. In its prospectus filed last month, Snap called itself a camera company, shifting its emphasis at least in rhetoric fully to hardware.
Snapchats transformation from a couple guys in a beach bungalow into the kind of place that hires people from Motorola is part of a broader industry trend: It is, in effect, no longer possible to be just an app, or even just a software company. The announcement in September of Snapchat Spectacles, which allow you to press a button on a pair of rather chic-looking sunglasses and upload a ten-second video directly to Snapchat, was the culmination of a year of hardware launches by Web 2.0 software companies: Facebook started a drone project and a hardware lab; Uber bought a self-driving-truck start-up; and Google, after partnering with LG and Samsung on Android, introduced its own in-house Google Pixel phone.
Uber, Google, and Facebook each made its name as a software organization; and for years, the freedom, speed of execution, and high margins of the software business came to define the modern internet age. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists were enamored of softwares fast bootstrapping and return on investment, while hardware vendors straggled. But what these companies have come to realize is that not controlling the hardware that their software runs on be it a car, a phone, or a headset is limiting. While Apple has been able to support and draw profit from an entire software ecosystem by designing and manufacturing its own hardware, the ambitions of companies like Facebook, and to a lesser extent Google, have been restricted by their nature as software companies. Its hard to think outside the box when the box is built by somebody else.
So, flush with cash and under pressure to dream big, the major software companies have set out to build optimized servers, autonomous vehicles, and balloons that beam internet to sub-Saharan Africa. In the process, theyve brought resources and software sensibilities to a traditionally closed, insular field. The hardware products that result are designed with software in mind, able to leverage from the get-go the reams of data collected from our searching, swiping, and surfing. At Google, hardware projects are often located within Google X, the companys prestigious moon shot research group. At Facebook, Area 404 is a lab open to all of the companys hardware teams, where connectivity engineers can learn from experts in failure analysis, networking from FSO.
What makes Snapchats hardware ambitions different from Facebook and Googles, though, is how theyve been placed very consciously and explicitly front and center in the companys identity, at a relatively early moment in the companys history. When Mark Zuckerberg talks about Facebook being a drone company, we take it to mean in the sense that building drones is yet another piece of a jigsaw puzzle hes completing, one that spells out world domination. Googles hardware efforts, meanwhile the ill-fated Google Glass, or the affordable VR headset Google Cardboard, for instance often feel like billionaire pet projects. They are the ambitions of companies and founders who have already secured their legacies. For Snap, though, much is still uncertain the company lost $514 million last year, and faces fierce competition for advertising dollars. Its clear that it believes that reinventing the camera represents the future of the company, even though its unclear what exactly the company means by reinventing.
Snapchats push into hardware is not without its obstacles. Few things are more sobering for potential Snap investors than reading through the Risks Factor section of the prospectus, where the company disclaims, among other items: We have limited manufacturing experience for our only physical product, Spectacles, and we do not have any internal manufacturing capabilities. Instead, we rely on one contract manufacturer to build Spectacles. The company is unlikely to make money on the glasses for a long time; and in January, TechCrunch reported that a pair of Spectacles had caught fire while charging, in the same sort of malfunction which nearly crippled Samsung last year.
Perhaps the biggest risk of all is that Snaps hardware isnt ambitious enough. Companies like Google and Facebook enter the hardware business not just to create new revenue streams or to ensure top software performance, but to create new platforms marketplaces like Apples App Store, where they can connect users to businesses and advertisers, all the while taking a cut. Glass was more than just a consumer gadget, it was a new way to gather data and sell advertising. Spectacles is still, at heart, a camera, not a platform; and as such, its revenue potential is limited to the sale of the object itself.
And yet, even with the single questionably revolutionary product, Snapchat hardware suggests some of the software-feature wisdom that has often impressed and surprised bystanders in Silicon Valley. Earlier this year, my roommate, a fan of the company, early-bird purchased a pair of Spectacles. They look like fairly ordinary sunglasses, except for the yellow button on the top. In a neat trick of sight that emphasizes the circular video format, when you watch a snap taken by Spectacle on Snapchat and rotate the device, the image stays in the same orientation. Natively integrated with a popular social platform in a way that pure hardware vendors have struggled to be, its easy to imagine Spectacles replacing wearables like GoPro or even, eventually, with filters, an augmented-reality headset like Meta. In Snapchats IPO roadshow video, Snapchats CEO Evan Spiegel talks about how cameras have evolved from just a piece of hardware, like a chip, to a software connected to the internet. With Spectacles, theyve bet on a camera thats both.
Brad Pitt. Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images
Brad Pitt did not attend the Oscars this weekend, but he was reportedly busy doing other things, like texting his first wife and also getting really into sculpture (yup). Thanks to new reports from Us Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter, we now have a clearer picture of what Pitt has been up to in the wake of his contentious divorce from Angelina Jolie.
TEXTING JENNIFER ANISTON
Us Weekly exclusively reports that Pitt, 53, reached out ex-wife Jennifer Aniston last month. According to a source close to Aniston, Pitt tracked down her number so that he could wish her a happy birthday on February 11. Since then, he has confided in Aniston. Brad told her hes having a hard time with his split and they exchanged a few texts reminiscing about the past.
MAKING SCULPTURES
In addition to checking in with old friends, Pitt has also reportedly been creating art. The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reports that Pitt skipped the Oscars because he was holed up creating a sculpture at British artist Thomas Houseagos Frogtown studio. According to a source, Pitt stayed at it for nearly ten days. No word on what kind of sculpture he created maybe something like this?
still coming for everyone in the world but remy
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nnnn
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lmao
tbf her comments were from 2015
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oop look at me not reading
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seriously, she's so sad
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That Dr has no chill but LOL at Sticky Minaj ever trying to insinuate she didn't get her butt done.
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Idk why but "I'm unfamiliar w/what u do" is killing me. It's just not her week huh.
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Her ass looks terrible. WTF is she thinking.
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I'm unfamiliar w/what u do.
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imguuurrrr
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Drag ha expose ha! I am living for this #TurkeyMinajIsOverParty
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Her booty makes me sad
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Wait, those boat pics are fake?
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I think the photos are real. I keep seeing the same pictures all over my social Media and internet.
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actually they are lol
Edited at 2017-03-02 01:37 am (UTC)
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What picture is photoshopped? How do you photoshop a saggy ass?
Where is the real pic at then?
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Uplifting story!
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But given the results, is it really?
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Hopefully soon you'll feel lifted to greater heights!
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1) she lying about being "unfamiliar w/ what he does" even if NOT one of the ppl on his roster 2) he's thisclose to violating HIPAA and his ass is prob BARELY ethical anyway
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I know. It physically hurts me.
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This photoshopped picture physically hurts you?
Ya'll are a trip lolol
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she's serving Dax ExclamationPoint in those pics
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I don't know, man, guess them ass shots wore off!
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damn straight
fuck francis ford coppola for being friends with him and helping his career
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IA. Also, I wonder if Sam Rockwell has ever publicly talked about his experience since he was a kid in the film I believe. I could totally understand if he hadn't though.
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holy shit, this is wild. too many people in positions of power get away with raping children.
also, i'm surprised that there haven't been more films in this series. it seems like this would've been the kind of movie to have at least three or four direct to video/syfy sequels.
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I really liked Powder. But yeah this film should not be made, not to mention no one is asking for this at all.
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In that case it definitely should be taken of by someone different, but it's his original concept right? They'd need his permission to do it?
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He could have easily passed the reigns over to someone else and just had a courtesy producers credit. I don't know why he thought this was a good idea.
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Damn, I didn't know Adrienne was going to be in this
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I had nightmares after watching the first one
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the last image of him with no eyes still fucks me up
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I loved that movie as a kid but that part I could never look at. I always looked away every time I re-watched it lol. Now I'm a little thicker skinned.
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I cannot watch that ending! Lol. I have seen so many horror movies, become pretty desensitized to it, but do this day I look away at that part.
Part of it might be though bc this was one for the few horror movies where I actually really cared about the characters.
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It takes *alot* to scare or disturb movie but shit that first one is legit horrifying.
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Yeah it's one of the few movies that really scares me.
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The scene where you see the creature in the jail cell legitimately made my sister scream out loud in the theater.
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have you watched it recently? it's actually a terrible movie lmao
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yeah I agree. The monster design is also really cool and original. I really want a jeepers creepers 3, but not by this pedo.
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I will always hate Francis Coppola for helping this monster out.
Salva needs to fucking die.
Edited at 2017-03-02 05:03 pm (UTC)
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I've never seen the first Jeepers Creepers entirely. Every time I sat down to watch it, something ridiculous IRL would happen within the first five minutes that would take me away from watching it. Finally gave up one day & just read the spoilers; I thought "Oh eww, I'm glad I didn't get very far into it then. Thanks, universe!"
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There is no limit to the horrible behavior that Hollywood will excuse, as long as it's a male who committed it.
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*white male
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Its interesting how many horror blogs are refusing to report on the film.
Although these facts were known during the first 2 films but it didn't stop anyone then so I doubt it will now.
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We are definitely more knowledgable about these things now with how widespread these facts are shared online but looking at some of the blogs for horror, it doesn't seem to be phasing many which is really sad. Obviously thats a small minority but I doubt the general public will know about this if it gets a theatrical release which is really sad since he will still make money off it and it will get brushed under the rug again.
I wish I could find the thread on another site but there was an actual adult conversation about him serving time and if that should allow him to work again since he did actually go to jail. I'm definitely in the camp that he shouldn't be allowed to work in the industry but there were some strong arguments that he had served his time unlike many of the criminals in hollywood who continue to work.
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I distinctly remember the controversy when Powder came out (I didn't realize it was 22 years ago - it doesn't seem that long).
I remember Mary Steenburgen being asked about Salva being a child molester during a TV interview on the Powder press tour and she defended him by saying he served his time and should be allowed to move on, and some bullshit about how it's every American's birthright to be able to redeem themselves. I haven't liked her since.
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I truly had no idea until the 2nd movie was already out and I saw a random reviewer mention it.
I haven't been able to watch either one since then. It's just so damn disgusting
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Is that Riz? Where was he shirtless? Well, aside from Girls that is.
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bloody-disgusting does, but adds a disclaimer. The comment section for this film is a horrible place.
Also, considering they report on almost every small detail of a film, including petitions, they haven't reported on this particular petition.
Edited at 2017-03-02 07:32 pm (UTC)
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I had no idea this happened. I loved the first JC it's the first movie I can remember legitimately terrifying me. I loved trish and I was happy she got to live at the end. I'd love to see a third movie about her character but not if it's gonna line the pockets of this scumbag. I can't believe this shit happened in 1988 and movie studios for the past 30 years have kept hiring him. not only should he have served much much longer in prison but he should have been industry-wide blacklisted. it's disgusting how the film business keeps rewarding abusers I hope he fucking chokes
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Damn, I really like Powder. Forever tainted now.
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Yeah, I get you. You probably wouldn't be able to enjoy it anyway.
Who's the guy in your icon?
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Thank you for sharing, I will sign the petition
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I signed it too. Its sad that its not even halfway to 1000 yet but sites promoting this will definitely help I hope.
And love your icon. Are you excited for the remake or dreading it?
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W O T
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Hmmm. I don't know. I have an innate dsitrust of police, courts and Tennessee where vulnerable people are concerned
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The case in Los Angeles, where the raid of 80 of Lockwood's devices took place, is still ongoing.
How/ why does the Mad Hatter even have 80 devices?
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Yeah, unless he's singlehandedly trying to power Spotify, IDGI.
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state laws are very confusing, by "the crime did not take place in tenenenenssiee" do they mean the photos of the children weren't taken there or they weren't downloaded there or what?
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I think the photos weren't downloaded there.
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The spelling of Tennessee bye lmao
I agree that it's confusing
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i was too lazy to scroll up and i never know how many of each letter is in the word lmao
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lol I don't blame you. I live in the state and half the time think I'm misspelling!
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The case in Los Angeles, where the raid of 80 of Lockwood's devices took place, is still ongoing.
does this mean charges could still be brought in california? I don't really know how things like this work.
still, of what we've heard, it does sound pretty sus that nothing is going to come of it.
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why does he have 80 devices in california like how...
also, ty op for linking to previous posts about this
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W T F
"she misinterpreted by the material"...
was he doing "research" al la jello404???
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Wait - where did you read that? That's crazy.
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So, your only source is a poster from ONTD who said that there was no details about the photos, and yet you've decided it's "gross on her part"...hmmmm....
I also call bullshit on your part because not only were you the first comment, which was you insinuating that she might have planted the stuff on his computer an hour before they even made the comment you're referring to. So CLEARLY you went into that post looking to vilify Lisa Marie.
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Let's assume she reasonable and the photos were questionable before we call her gross. She was married to MJ after all, so I don't think she's one to jump to such conclusions without real concerning evidence.
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Edited at 2017-03-02 10:04 pm (UTC) This person has no interest in reasonableness: http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/105185167.html?thread=18122338191#t18122338191
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Ugh TY
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It definitely is surprising because more often than not, anyone that is accused of having questionable photos usually ends up being true. Like, I would say 95%.
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Tennessee can determine that California has a better case against this man and they'll drop the charges.
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Lisa Marie's lawyers told Lockwood in court to get a damn job.
Why do I feel like this isn't the first time this man has been told that from this woman or her lawyers? Maybe this is just the "South" in me but when a man come after a woman's money, it's just so *looks around and realizes where he's posting this opinion*...just not cool.
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i remember when jessica simpson and nich lachey got a divorce people tore him apart for seeing a settlement and were generally really shitty to him. even other people in the business saying be a man and work.
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i believe her. hes always given me the skeeves
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Idk him but he looks so much like Ricky gervais 2 me
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Rumpy is going to be thrilled to have another stick to beat "the elite" with. After crying until 3 am.
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Can it happen on camera and be leaked before the end of the year.
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But will he go as Trump to the White House Correspondents Dinner?
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asking the important questions here!
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thanks, danger noodle!
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either him or hillary or rosie
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What kills me is that Alec and Billy are so vociferously anti-Trump but their brother Stephen is super pro-Trump. I really wonder what Baldwin family reunions are like.
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Lmaoooo I love this! I hope more people stop their insane relatives like this.
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lol I'm pretty sure I'm that one asshole relative, except the other way. My parents, my three siblings, and my two in-laws are all huge Republicans and I'm the only liberal.
I can only imagine what they all think of me
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Isn't that kinda common in many families? Different views
He was pretty anti gay marriage too. They've spoken on that before.
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funny how everyone has forgotten about what a giant homophobe he is
Edited at 2017-03-02 10:27 pm (UTC)
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his Trump impersonation is not even that great tbh
mediocre praising mediocrity all in an attempt to normalize ha
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lmao you got people out here forgetting george w bush is a war criminal 'cause he says trump is bad. it's like all you got to do is say, "i don't like trump," to get a standing ovation.
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The bar has been lowered to the point where all people are praying for is that you aren't a full fledged-nazi.
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people here were clapping for supposedly anti-trump republicans who all ended up okaying everything he did
this and the obama defense squad are proof people care more about words than actions
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B-but Cheney!
Like killing tens of thousands and torturing people is okay if you only did it because someone else told you to.
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bigots are ok if they're part of the liberal circlejerk
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I still haven't watched any of his Tr*mp SNL sketches. Same with any video where Tr*mp talks. I only read about his fuckery and my mental health is better for it.
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I understand that Alec Baldwin's impression is supposed to make Trump unlikable, but I do miss Darrell Hammond.
Edited at 2017-03-02 10:28 pm (UTC)
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He's a fantastic Trump he gets his mannerisms and face down perfectly
Its killing me how quiet the orange hairball has been all day today on Twitter. A friend of mine were discussing all this Russia stuff and we basically have come down to we think Trump is going to be exposed when one of the people closes to him rats him out in order to save their own ass
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god damn i hope. i'm already so tired of him, he needs to gooooooooo.
not that i really expect it to happen unfortunately
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I feel like it's leading there more stuff is going to continue to be leaked and hopefully the next thing is is tax returns
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I hope and pray this happens but all the evil in the world is on his side so I don't know if he'll get exposed before the 4yrs are over.
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Probably shitting himself like the rest of them.
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I'M WAITING. I can only be glued to twitter for updates for so long.
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Alec's a dick and a half but his Trump is amazing. I hope he does it at the Correspondent's dinner
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lol are more of his team being exposed???
whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?!?
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hft
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Fuck him for shit talking Tony Atamanuik! He's way better.
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imo baldwin's trump impression is really weak and not even that funny.
if you want to read a book about an SNL actor who impersonated presidents (and trump), read darrell hammond's memoir. his backstage stories are great - and also he is an inspiration to me as someone who went through hell & back due to childhood trauma.
tw childhood abuse, self-injury and alcohol/drug addiction for his entire book - but if you can make it through you will admire him as a survivor.
Edited at 2017-03-02 10:39 pm (UTC)
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I love Darrell Hammond so much. I wish he would come back as Trump but now that Baldwin is getting so much attention for it, people have forgotten about Hammond :( And I agree with you, he is an inspiration.
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hopefully tr*mp has a rage heart attack <3
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I hope this pic fits.
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I got "We can't protest Milo because Bernie is a socialist".
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We can't punch Steve Bannon because capitalism generates wealth
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ayyyy pink shirt?
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We can't punch Steve Bannon because FUCK OFF OR I'LL PUNCH YOU IN THE THROAT
Communism does suck though
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we can't censor the alt-right bc Hillary is bad too
sounds accurate
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we can't insult donald trump because communism sucks
I beg to differ!
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We can't stop Milo because we must be tolerant with everyone, no matter what.
LOL
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Mine is too horrendous to write so I won't. Can't put that energy into the world.
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We can't be intolerant with Steve Bannon because the Alt-left is aggressive too.
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We can't boycott the Alt-Right because they're not that racist.
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we can't stop donald trump because antifascists must be peaceful
welp
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"We can't keep opposing the Brexiters because I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
lmao ugh!
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We can't boycott the Alt-Right because we must engage in civil dialogue.
Ugh. Mine sounds like bullshit someone would actually say.
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Well I can't play because I'm using a stripped shirt smh
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We can't stop Richard Spencer because the feminists/ LGBT lobby / minorities take it too far? Lmao what
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We can't insult the brexiters because you give them excuses to be violent.
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We can't censor the brexiters because that's why the left is mocked.
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We can't stop neo-nazis because antifascists must be peaceful
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my sentence makes no sense
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We can't boycott Donald Trump because we must engage with opposing views.
omg this literally sounds like something I have actually heard from people. Yuck
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we can't boycott mike pence we must respect freedom
fuuuuuuck
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We can't stop Mike Pence because Bernie was a socialist.
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We cant stop Mike Pence because police are doing their jobs
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We can't insult racists, there's a right to have borders.
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We can't censor big corporations, we must engage in civil dialogue
lmao too real
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"we can't insult the conservatives because that's nuanced."
I snorted.
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We can't stop the Alt-Right because Hillary is bad too.
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We can't boycott racists because you give them excuses to be violent.
:/
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lol @ him coming after Anthony Atamanuik' Trump impression
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The Saudi King kicked off a month-long tour of Asia this week, as the oil kingdom looks to bolster ties in the east as it loses confidence in the U.S. as a stable ally.
The trip began in Malaysia where King Salman inked a $7 billion deal, promising to invest in a Malaysian petrochemical complex run by state-owned oil company Petronas. From there, he will tour Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China and the Maldives.
The objectives of the trip are multiple. First, Saudi Arabia wants to keep and expand its market share in Asia. China is the largest crude oil importer in the world, and Saudi Arabia is Chinas top oil supplier. However, competition is stiff and growing amid an oversupplied market. Russia and Saudi Arabia have battled for several years over the Chinese market, with Russia fast gaining ground. While Saudi Arabia has a slight edge in terms of market share in China, the two exporters are roughly on par.
Moreover, the lifting of international sanctions on Iran last year added another oil exporter to the mix. Theres a market-share battle going on mainly among the Middle East producers and Russia, Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix, told Bloomberg in an August 2016 interview. Rivals are making a big push into China. Aramco has often invested in refineries abroad to ensure steady demand for its crude oil.
Perhaps more important than the level of oil exports to China is the preparations for the IPO of Saudi Aramco. Saudi officials are trying to raise investors interest in the public offering, slated for 2018, which will see about 5 percent of the company. The government has said Aramco could be worth $2 trillion, although some analysts believe it would only be a fraction of that amount. Related: OPEC Deal Cancelled Out By Rising Shale Output
In any event, Saudi Arabia needs Asian investors to make the IPO successful. The Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih billed the $7 billion investment in Petronas refinery as one that will boost the attractiveness of the IPO. This will strengthen the equity story for Saudi Aramco, al-Falih said in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Investors will be looking for a company that has breadth in its portfolio.
Relatedly, another reason the Saudi monarch is visiting Asia is to grow non-oil economic ties with Asia. The Saudi government is at the beginning of what it views is a long-term effort to diversify the economy. Early reports suggest that the Asian trip could yield some results. Saudi Arabia has agreed to put up to $45 billion in a technology fund led by Japans SoftBank Group. Saudi Arabia and China also signed more than a dozen preliminary economic agreements last year that theyd like to push forward.
But it is impossible to ignore the political backdrop upon which the trip is occurring. Relations between Saudi Arabia and its long-time ally, the United States, have soured in recent years. The Obama administrations detente with Iran, punctuated by the historic nuclear deal in 2015, greatly eased tensions between Washington and Tehran at the expense of the Saudi-American alliance. The alliance further deteriorated after the U.S. Congress passed a bill that would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its involvement, a bill that was vetoed by President Obama but ultimately passed into law by a Congressional override. Related: OPEC Struggling To Hold On To Asian Market Share
On top of that, the mercurial and unpredictable Trump administration has left Saudi officials guessing. Riyadh is cautiously optimistic on the more hawkish position that the Trump administration has taken in regards to Iran, but the Saudis no longer feel they can count on rock solid support from the U.S. government. After all, it is still unclear who is really making policy in the Trump administration, with statements often contradicting each other and positions shifting from day to day.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is hoping to engineer further gains in crude oil prices, with an eye on $60 per barrel. The OPEC compliance rate rose above 90 percent in February, evidence that members are making good on their obligations under the production cut deal. That fueled another round of price gains this week.
But Saudi Arabia does not feel that it can afford to sit back and hope rising oil prices will solve what it sees as longer-term problems. Thus, the trip to Asia.
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com
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A policy of nationalizing chunks of an economy inevitably creates oligarchs who skim profits off the countrys natural resources.
As such, you wont be surprised to learn that the largest energy companies in the world are owned and operated by governments, and they include: Saudi Aramco, Russian Gazprom, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), National Iranian Oil Co., Petroleos de Venezuela, Brazils Petrobras and Malaysias Petronas. How theyre run varies wildlyas does where their wealth goes.
While weve all been inundated with the massive amount of press on the scandals engulfing Brazils Petrobras, there are a few that stand out for creating and maintaining some of the worlds most interesting and colorful political leaders, who have grown their wealth through holdings in state-run oil and gas in some cases, and through more direct means in other cases.
Four state-run oil wealth stories stand out in todays world: Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Angola and Brunei.
Vladimir Putin, Russia
Estimates of Russian President Vladimir Putins wealth only comes in ranges because most of his wealth is hidden through offshore companies or under clandestine financial devices.
The lower end of the range sits at US$40 billion a 2007 figure based on research by mid-level Kremlin advisor Stanislav Belkovsky, which he later said had grown to US$70 billion. At this level, Putin already stands among Forbes Top 10 rankings of the worlds richest billionaires, though the magazine commented in 2015 that it could not verify enough of his assets to put him on the list.
Earlier this week, the International Business Times said Putin's fortune could be as much as $200 billion.
The majority of Putins wealth comes from his stakes in the oil sector. He is said to own 37 percent of Surgutneftegaz, 4.5 percent of Gazprom.
"At least $40 billion, Belkovsy told the Guardian in 2007. Maximum we cannot know. I suspect there are some businesses I know nothing about."
Putins trophies of wealth are far from subtle. His $1 billion palace on the Black Sea features a magnificent columned facade reminiscent of the country palaces Russian tsars built in the 18th century, according to the BBC, which also procured evidence that a secret slush fund had been created by a group of oligarchs to build the estate for Putin, personally.
Its definitely not a lifestyle one can afford on a declared annual salary of around US$140,000.
In a 2012 dossier, Former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov (later murdered) claimed that the Russian president owns a total of 20 palaces, four yachts and 58 aircraft.
In a country where 20 million people can barely make ends meet, the luxurious life of the president is a brazen and cynical challenge to society from a high-handed potentate, he said, according to the Telegraph.
But according to Putin himself, his wealth is not measured in money. In Steven Lee Myers book The New Tsar, Putin is quoted as saying: "I am the wealthiest man not just in Europe but in the whole world: I collect emotions.
"I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia. I believe that is my greatest wealth."
Azerbaijan
In 2003, Ilham Aliyev became the newly elected president of Azerbaijan. Thirteen years later, his name appeared in the Panama Papers a massive leak of financial documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, which revealed the shady financial dealings of some of the worlds most powerful political figures. Related: OPEC Struggling To Hold On To Asian Market Share
Months before the October 2003 presidential elections in Azerbaijan, Fazil Mammadov, Azerbaijans tax minister, began paperwork to form AtaHolding a company that has become one of the nations largest conglomerates. It holds interests in telecommunications, construction, mining, and oil and gas for a total value of $490 million, according to the last filings in 2014.
A second entity this time a foundation called UF Universe holds more assets, but Panamanian laws regarding the confidentiality of foundations are strict, which makes uncovering dollar amounts difficult.
Aliyevs two daughters and wife also have links to offshore companies managed by Mossack Fonsenca. Incidentally, Aliyev just named his wife Vice-President of Azerbaijan.
How much is the First Oil Family worth these days? No one really knows, but enough to make it onto this list.
Kazakhstan
Kazakh President-for-life Nursultan Nazarbayev was also named in the Panama Papers as a tax haven owner. He had two companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, which he used to operate a bank account with an unknown amount of funds, and a luxury yacht.
The revelations were particularly loaded with hypocrisy because of Nazarbayevs push to encourage his countrys wealthy to repatriate funds from abroad in order to make them taxable.
Weve raised many rich people: billionaires, millionaires, he said, when oil prices tanked in 2014 and the government began using sovereign wealth funds to fund operations. They are showing off; (their) pictures in Forbes They look good, with makeup, well-groomed, well-dressed. But it is Kazakhstan that enabled you to earn all this money Bring the money here. Well forgive you.
Angola
Things here may be about to change, because President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has said he plans to step down after decades in power, and wont be running in Augusts presidential elections, but still plans to control the ruling party. Here, wealth is all about Sonangol, which has been marred in controversy since the president last year named his daughter as the head of the state-run oil company.
Angola has massive oil wealth, yet the bulk of the countrys 22 million people live in poverty, and critics say hes mismanaged the countrys oil wealth and created an elite that largely consists of his massively rich family. But this scheme is being hit hard by the fall in oil prices that began in mid-2014, and the people are no longer complacent in their poverty. Related: Oil Prices Inch Higher On Small Crude Build, Gasoline Draw
The presidents daughter, worth an estimated US$3.4 billion before she took over the state-run oil company, has been described by Forbes as Africas richest woman.
Brunei
And heres one thats probably not even on your radar, but it will besooner rather than later.
Vast reserves of oil and natural gas have made Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei one of the richest leaders in the world. The Sultan is believed to be worth US$40 billion at the low end, and while his holdings officially belong to Brunei, in reality they belong to the royal family.
Brunei is the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, and pumps out, on average, 180,000 barrels per day. The royal family has controlled everything to do with oil and gas since the 1970s, and the line here between royal family assets and national assets is exceedingly blurry.
Vulnerable or Not?
The thing about these political oil leaders is that theyre not really vulnerableyet. It would take an event such as that which brought down Gaddafi (said to secretly be worth US$200 billion) in Libya to change this.
In Brunei, things may be about to change, and the Sultan may find his wealth considerably downsized. Oil production is down 40 percent since 2006, and whats left has lost a great deal of value due to low oil prices. Nearly 96 percent of Bruneis exports are oil, gas and related productsthat tops even Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. Brunei could run out of oil in just over 20 years, but then again, the Sultan is said to have massive real estate holdings to tide him over.
Angolas president is stepping down and the oil price crisis has hit him hard, but hell still control the ruling party and a new president will defer to him (and his daughter).
In Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev is president for life. In Azerbaijan, the family elite is as strong as ever and will continue to be so through any means necessary. In Russia, sanctions simply havent worked because they are designed to target those around Putin, and Putin appears to have designed it so they are always vulnerable to him first and foremost.
As Russian businessman and former Putin friend Sergei Pugachev notes to the Guardian, and as reported by U.S. News and World Report: "Everything that belongs to the territory of the Russian Federation Putin considers to be his. Everything Gazprom, Rosneft, private companies. Any attempt to calculate it won't succeed. He's the richest person in the world until he leaves power."
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Crude oil is once again flowing from the fields around Kirkuk, after an interruption that lasted for several hours, as security forces searched the area for bombs, said to have been planted by the Islamic State. This is what sources from the shipping industry told Reuters.
Hours earlier, sources from the Kurdish security service said the oil flow to Turkeys Ceyhan port had stopped. An executive from the North Oil Company a Baghdad-controlled state firm said that the pipeline that pumped crude from the Kirkuk fields to Ceyhan transported some 120,000 barrels daily before the stoppage, although its usual daily throughput was 150,000 barrels.
Oil from the Kirkuk fields has become a bone of contention between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Autonomous Government, which controls Kirkuk. Last year, the oil flow from the northern fields was suspended for several months while Baghdad and Erbil argued over the distribution of oil revenues.
Meanwhile, earlier today Kurdish media Rudaw reported that Kurdish security forces had entered the offices of NOC in Kirkuk, to show Baghdad that Kirkuks oil is for its people, as the source quoted a Kurdish politician from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
The official went on to say that the operation was prompted by Baghdads intention to divert oil from Kirkuk from the pipeline to Ceyhan and export it via other terminals. The Kurdish security forces took control over a pump station storing oil from the local oil fields. According to the PUK official, Aso Mamand, Baghdad has a week to change its mind about taking Kirkuk oil to the rest of Iraq.
An official from the ruling Kurdish Democratic Party, the party in power, said the operation was organized and carried out by the PUK unilaterally, implying the government in Erbil had not authorized it.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Gazproms sales of natural gas to Turkey and Europe, excluding the former Soviet Union countries, dropped to 582 million cubic meters per day in February, down by 34 million cubic meters per day from the January average, on the back of lower demand and a less attractive price compared to European hubs.
In January, sales had averaged 616 million cubic meters/day, Platts reports, citing Gazprom data.
In February, however, Gazprom was unable to use the higher capacity of the OPAL line because of ongoing litigation, after it had increased the Nord Stream/OPAL deliveries in January. Deliveries to Europe via Ukraine went down during the last week of February, which caused Ukraines Naftogaz to issue a warning that pressure in the Russian gas transmission system at the entry to Ukraine had dropped to record low.
Still, in January and February combined, Russias sales to Europe and Turkey increased by 21 percent compared to the same period last year. Sales to Greece, for example, rose by 20.6 percent compared to the same period of 2016, Gazprom said. Exports to Germany, France, and Slovakia also increased in the first two months of 2017.
For February, however, the drop-in sales was also due apart from lower demand - to the converging prices in the Russian oil-indexed gas prices and the day-ahead price at European hubs.
Related: The Secret Wealth Of The Worlds Richest Oil Billionaires
According to analysis by Platts, the oil-indexed price range is still slightly cheaper than prices at the TTF hub, but in the near future the TTF price is expected to drop well into the oil-indexed price range.
Earlier this week, Gazproms Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev said that the company would increase how much it charges for its natural gas in the European Union this year, to US$180-190 per 1,000 cubic meters, adding that Europe remains a priority market for the company. To compare, last years average price of Gazproms gas for Europe was US$167 per 1,000 cu m, the lowest in 12 years.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Venezuelas central bank is down to its last $10.5 billion in foreign reserves, according to the institutions most recent report on the countrys financials.
Over the remainder of 2017, Caracas needs to fund $7.2 billion in debt payments an amount that it can only meet if oil prices spike far higher than the ongoing boosts caused by OPECs output reduction agreement.
Current reserves stand 66 percent lower than levels in 2011, when the government held $30 billion in foreign currencies to spend on loan repayments and other official business.
"The question is: Where is the floor?" Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America fixed income strategy at Nomura Holdings, told CNN Money. "If oil prices stagnate and foreign reserves reach zero, then the clock is going to start on a default."
Venezuelas financial report for 2016 stated that roughly $7.7 billion of the remaining $10.5 billion in foreign reserves had been preserved in gold. Last year, in order to fulfill debt obligations, Caracas began shipping gold to Switzerland.
The drastic fall in oil prices in 2014 and widespread corruption have both caused an economic meltdown in the South American country, where citizens had become accustomed to imported goods paid for by fossil fuel revenues.
President Nicolas Maduro has resorted to opening the countrys border with Colombia to allow Venezuelans to purchase necessary medical and day-to-day supplies.
Related: Exxon Now Spends 50% Of Drilling Budget On Shale
Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSAs default is probable, according to the ratings agency Fitch, which cited the oil giants weak liquidity position and high amortization scheduled for 2017 as the causes of the default problem last month.
"Should oil prices remain around current levels, average recovery may lead to additional future defaults to further reduce obligations and allow for necessary transfers to the government," said Fitchs senior director Lucas Aristizabal.
The company has projected that its oil production will maintain its 23-year-low in 2017.
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Streetwise - San Francisco's Women Supervisors
by Frank Dunnigan
March 2017
March is Womens History Month, and a time to take a look at the many female office-holders who have served on San Franciscos Board of Supervisors. Over the past 96 years, 34 women have been members of the board, with many advancing to higher offices during the course of lengthy political careers.
Interestingly, todays 6-5 female majority on the board (Supervisors Breed, Cohen, Fewer, Kim, Ronen, Tang) is NOT the first time this balance has occurred, as incorrectly stated by some recent commentators. The board has had previous female majorities as far back as 1981-1985 when 6 out of the 11 Supervisors were women: Hutch (succeeded by Kennedy), Nelder, Renne, Silver, Walker, Ward; and again from 1993-1996 when 7 out of the 11 Supervisors were women: Achtenberg (succeeded by Leal), Alioto, Bierman, Conroy (succeeded by Teng), Kaufman, Kennedy (succeeded by Katz), Migden.
NOTE: The official San Francisco Board of Supervisors website and various on-line listings are considered by many to be incomplete/inaccurate. The author is deeply indebted to long-time WNP member and retired City Hall political observer Paul Rosenberg for providing a reliable source of information and fact-checking for this months column.
* indicates incumbent
Roberta Achtenberg Achtenberg, an attorney, ran in 1988 for the Assembly seat vacated by Art Agnos when he became mayor. She did not win, but was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1990 (same election as Carole Migden), thus becoming one of the boards first two LGBTQ women. Achtenberg resigned in 1993 when she was appointed to a post in the Clinton administration. She ran for mayor in 1995, and later served on the SF Chamber of Commerce and the Cal State University Board of Trustees before being appointed to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 2011.
Angela Alioto Politically active for decades, Alioto worked on her fathers two successful campaigns for mayor in 1967 and 1971. An attorney, she was elected Supervisor in 1988, a position she held until 1997, including serving as board president. She herself made three bids for the office of mayor in 1991, 1995, and 2003, and has been running her own law firm since leaving the board. She remains active in both civic affairs and local politics, having been elected to a seat on the Democratic Central Committee in June 2016.
Michela Alioto-Pier Alioto-Pier made her first run for a Congressional seat at age 28 in 1996 after working as an aide to Vice President Al Gore. She won the primary, but not the general election. In January 2004, Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her to fill his recently vacated seat on the board, and she was twice elected on her own before being impacted by term limits. She ran for mayor in 2011, and is currently managing her familys vineyard business. Alioto-Pier is the granddaughter of former Mayor Joseph Alioto and the niece of former Supervisor Angela Alioto.
Alicia Becerril An attorney, Becerril was a member of the Board of Appeals and the Landmarks Advisory Commission. She was appointed by Mayor Willie Brown in 1999 to complete the term of board member Jose Medina who left to accept appointment to a statewide office. She was defeated in her first election bid in November 2000, later becoming an administrative law judge.
Sue Bierman Appointed to the Planning Commission by Mayor George Moscone in the 1970s, Bierman was 68 years old when she was first elected to the board in 1992 and was subsequently re-elected in 1996. She was termed out of office in 2000, appointed to the Port Commission in 2003 by Mayor Willie Brown, and was still serving in that capacity when she died in 2006.
*London Breed In 2004, Breed, executive director of the African-American Art/Culture complex, was appointed to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency by Mayor Gavin Newsom who then appointed her to the Fire Commission in 2010. In 2012, Breed was elected Supervisor after winning the seat from incumbent Christina Olague, who had been appointed earlier that year by Mayor Ed Lee to fill the vacancy created by Ross Mirkarimis election as Sheriff. Breed was re-elected in 2016.
Julie Christensen Appointed by Mayor Ed Lee in 2015 to replace Supervisor David Chiu who had been elected to the State Assembly, Christensen had previously served on the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). She was unsuccessful at her first election bid in November 2015.
Carmen Chu In 2007, Chu was appointed to the board by Mayor Gavin Newsom to complete the remaining term of former Supervisor Ed Jew. She was twice elected on her own before being appointed Assessor by Mayor Ed Lee in 2013, winning her own full term in 2014.
*Malia Cohen With a Masters Degree in Political Science, Cohen worked as a field organizer in Gavin Newsoms first campaign for mayor, and then as a legislative aide to a San Mateo County supervisor before being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
Annemarie Conroy An attorney, Conroy was appointed by her godfather, Mayor Frank Jordan, in 1993 to replace Doris Ward who had just been appointed City Assessor. Defeated at her first election bid in 1994, she was later appointed Director of the Treasure Island Development Authority and later to the Office of Emergency Services. She also served on the Police and Fire Commissions.
Dianne Feinstein First elected to the board in 1969 (the fourth woman in board history) and then re-elected in 1973 and 1977, Feinstein ran for mayor in 1971 and 1975, though did not win. She became the first female board president and later the first female mayor, upon the death of George Moscone in 1978, before winning two additional terms on her own and serving until 1988. After a gubernatorial bid in 1990, she was elected to the U.S. Senate from California in 1992, again, the first California woman in this role, being sworn in a month prior to Barbara Boxer who was elected the same day. At age 83, Feinstein is the oldest currently serving Senator.
*Sandra Lee Fewer A member of the School Board, Fewer won a hotly contested race for the District 1 (Richmond District) seat in the 2016 election, taking office in January 2017.
Ella Hill Hutch First elected in 1977, Hutch was the first African-American woman to serve on the board. She was re-elected in 1980, but died in office in 1981. Mayor Dianne Feinstein then appointed Willie B. Kennedy to succeed Hutch.
Leslie Katz Appointed by Mayor Willie Brown to serve out the remainder of Supervisor Willie B. Kennedys term after she took a seat on the BART Board, Katz had a background as an attorney and a member of the City College governing board. She won election to the Board of Supervisors in her own right in 1996, and later served on the Port Commission.
Barbara Kaufman First elected in 1992, and re-elected in 1996, Kaufman had been the host of a consumer advocacy radio program. She later became board president and after being termed out returned to managing real estate investments and running the local office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Willie B. Kennedy A long-time San Francisco retail executive, Kennedy was appointed by Mayor Dianne Feinstein in 1981 to fill the remaining term of Supervisor Ella Hill Hutch, who died in office. Kennedy was then elected in 1984, 1988, and 1992, remaining in office until she resigned in 1996 to join the BART Board of Directors just before she would have been impacted by term limits.
*Jane Kim An attorney, Kim was elected to the School Board in 2004 and 2008, becoming that groups president in 2010. She won a surprise victory for the Board of Supervisors in the November 2010 election, becoming its first Korean-American member.
Susan Leal Appointed as the boards first Latina member by Mayor Frank Jordan in 1993 to complete the term of Roberta Achtenberg who left to accept a Federal appointment, Leal then won election in her own right in 1994. From 1997 to 2004, she served as City Treasurer, from 2004 to 2009 was General Manager of the Public Utilities Commission, and is now with Harvard University.
Fiona Ma First elected to the board in 2002, Ma served until 2006 when she won election to the State Assembly. In 2014, she won election to the State Board of Equalization, and in 2016, was elected its Chair.
Sophie Maxwell Maxwell (daughter of the late Enola Maxwell who previously ran for the board) was first elected in 2000 during the return to district elections. Sophie Maxwell was then re-elected twice and served until 2010 when she was termed out.
Clarissa Shortall McMahon A practicing lawyer since 1935, McMahon was appointed by Mayor Elmer Robinson in 1953 to fill a seat vacated by Supervisor John J. Sullivan, thus becoming the boards second female member. She was subsequently elected three times on her own, serving until 1966 when she left to return to her law practice. She was also a candidate for the SF Charter Reform Committee in 1978.
Carole Migden Elected to the board in 1990 in the same election as another LGBTQ woman, Roberta Achtenberg. Migden served on the board until 1996, when she became a member of the California State Assembly, serving there until 2002. She was then Chair of the State Board of Equalization from 2002-2004, and then a member of the California State Senate from 2004-2008, but failed to win re-nomination in the 2008 primary.
Margaret Mary Morgan In 1921, Morgan was elected and became the first woman to serve on the board. Prior to election, she managed a printing firm in the Financial District, returning to that business after one four-year term on the board. She was also involved with the California Federation of Business/Professional Womens Clubs and the California League of Women Voters.
Jane McKaskle Murphy Murphy served on the Police Commission before being appointed by Mayor George Moscone in 1977 to complete the remaining term of Dorothy von Beroldingen following her appointment as judge. Murphy was never elected to a full term of her own, returning to the Police Commission after leaving the board.
Wendy Nelder First elected in 1980, Nelder served on the board until 1991. She was part of the first female-majority board of Supervisors (Hutch, Nelder, Renne, Silver, Walker, Ward) when seated in January 1981. Her father, Al Nelder, a retired Chief of the San Francisco Police Department, also served on the board in the mid-1970s, and her one-time father-in-law, Harold Dobbs, was a board member and board president in the 1960s, as well as a three-time candidate for mayor in 1963, 1967, and 1971. In a footnote to history, Wendy Nelders adult children, Amy and Jeff, are the only San Franciscans who can claim their mother and both grandfathers as members of the Board of Supervisors.
Christina Olague Appointed in January 2012 by Mayor Ed Lee to fill the remaining term of Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi who had been elected Sheriff, Olague did not win election in her own right that fall, being defeated by London Breed.
Louise Renne Appointed by Mayor Dianne Feinstein to fill her own vacant board seat after becoming mayor in 1978, Renne was later elected in her own right. She lost a 1982 congressional primary to Barbara Boxer, continuing as supervisor, and serving until 1986, when she became San Franciscos first female city attorney. She briefly ran for mayor in 1987 hoping to succeed Dianne Feinstein, but then continued as city attorney until 2001, when she returned to private law practice.
*Hilary Ronen A former immigrant rights attorney and aide to Supervisor David Campos, Ronen was elected to the board in 2016 to replace her boss who had been termed out.
Carol Ruth Silver First elected to the board in 1977 and twice re-elected, Silver lost a third re-election bid in 1988 and later ran for Congress, but was defeated by Michela Alioto-Pier (who herself would later be elected to the board). Silver made a new bid for a board seat in 2000, but voters did not return her to office. She was later appointed director of the San Francisco Sheriffs Office of Prisoner Services.
*Katy Tang An attorney, Tang worked as legislative aide to Supervisor Carmen Chu before being appointed to the board by Mayor Ed Lee in 2013 to take over the seat after Chus appointment as Assessor. Tang has since been elected twice in her own right, and has served as board president.
Mabel Teng First elected to the Community College Board in 1990, Teng was elected supervisor in 1994 as the first Asian-American female board member and then re-elected in 1998. She lost her bid for a third term in November 2000 by a razor-thin margin of just 38 votes. In 2002, she was elected as Assessor. Teng resigned in 2005, citing family issues.
Nancy Walker A member of Citizens for Representative Government (CRG) since the early 1970s, Walker was first a candidate for the board in 1977, but was elected on her second run in 1979. She was re-elected three times, and also served as board president. She chose not to seek re-election in 1990.
Doris Ward Ward became a member of the Community College Board in 1972, won a second term, was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1979, and then re-elected four more times, becoming board president in 1991. She was also one of several candidates who ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1987 to succeed Sala Burton, who had died in office. In 1993, Mayor Frank Jordan appointed Ward as City Assessor (naming Annemarie Conroy as board replacement). Ward was then elected assessor in her own right in 1994 and again in 1998. In 2002, she was defeated in a runoff by former two-term Supervisor Mabel Teng.
Dorothy von Beroldingen The first woman appointed to the San Francisco Civil Service Commission in 1964, von Beroldingen was named to the board by Mayor Jack Shelley in 1966 to replace Joseph Tinney, who had been appointed Assessor to replace Russell Wolden, who had been removed from office. During her time on the Board of Supervisors, von Beroldingen also became the first woman appointed to serve on the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District board of directors. She remained a supervisor until 1977, when she was appointed municipal court judge by Governor Jerry Brown, and then later served as a superior court judgea position which she held until just before her death in 1999.
Historical Footnote:Dianne Feinstein is widely regarded as the first woman mayor of a major U.S. city. However, members of the Board of Supervisors have long rotated among themselves in filling the role of mayor upon that persons absence from San Francisco. It was in this regard that the San Francisco Chronicle reported on June 18, 1954: San Francisco has a female mayor for the first time when Supervisor Clarissa McMahon serves as acting mayor.
Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places!
Discussion about wargaming and military history, primarily WWII in North Africa. Also discussion about AFV's and artillery.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
CORINTH A 17-year-old Corinth High School student faces two charges for allegedly making inappropriate comments about a school shooting situation, police said.
The teen, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was charged with aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor, and non-criminal harassment after an investigation by the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office.
Police were contacted by people who claimed that the young man had made threats, and police learned of private text message conversations and a comment made at a school lockdown drill this week that were inappropriate regarding school shooting incidents such as the Columbine school massacre.
While there was no direct threat made it was determined that the comments and actions of (the teen) were in violation of the above sections of law, the Sheriffs Office said in a news release.
The teen was released pending prosecution in Corinth Town Court.
QUEENSBURY A Queensbury man pleaded guilty last week to a felony robbery charge for forcibly stealing property from a store in Queensbury.
Ryan G. Carruthers, 32, pleaded guilty to third-degree robbery for an incident at one of the Wal-Mart stores in Queensbury last March, court records show.
He was arrested after he stole a pair of boots, and fought with store security who tried to detain him.
Warren County Judge John Hall put Carruthers on interim probation for a year. If he does well, he will be sentenced to probation. If not, he faces a jail or prison term.
Type the words customs enforcement into Google.
What will likely pop up is a slew of recent news stories from across the country about how, since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, an explosion of raids conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcement has occurred.
Many of those sourced in these articles said the raids have caused increased fears of deportation and collateral arrests of people who are in the United States legally.
This is a result of Trumps executive order to take the shackles off ICE officers, as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer put it, and it has given the agency more leeway to carry out its operations.
But for Thomas Homan, now acting director of ICE, it has also come with a challenge: building a positive image for ICE in the media and in the public.
Homan, a West Carthage native, was appointed Jan. 30 as acting director of ICE. He was promoted by Trump from executive associate director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, a position he held for more than three years.
He succeeded Daniel Ragsdale as acting director of ICE. Ragsdale, who served as acting director of ICE under former President Barack Obama since 2013, has returned to his previous position of deputy director.
With one month on the new job now under his belt, Homan said the juggling act between enforcing the law and building trust with the public has been nothing short of difficult.
Right now, the attack is on ICE, he said in a Times interview Wednesday. Everyone is going after ICE.
In looking to build that trust, Homan said he is determined to educate the public that ICE is no different than any other law enforcement agency in the nation, and its officers are doing the job they are ordered to do. Operations conducted by ICE, he added, are being incorrectly labeled as random raids by the media, as such operations are based on intelligence gathered over a period of time. But it is the level of discretion ICE agents have that has changed under Trumps presidency.
In the Obama days, ICE had to focus only on those who could pose a significant threat to the public, and those farther down the priority list were to be left untouched.
With Trumps executive order in play, Homan said there is no longer a specific group or population of people immune to investigation.
It gives them back their discretion, he said. No more leaving a certain population alone now its looking at it on a case-by-case basis. They are now operating with 100 percent capability like they should have been.
In discussing immigration law enforcement, Homan uses the words due process often. He said carrying out ICE operations isnt just about ensuring laws are followed, but also that those detained have their voices heard in the courts. And a judges decision, regardless of what it is, must be respected.
If youre going to go through this whole process and a federal judge makes a decision, that decision needs to be executed, or theres no integrity in the system, he said. Immigration is emotional, I get that, but its still a law, and we are still law enforcement officers, and we gotta do our job.
The northern border
Being a north country native, Homan said he is tuned in to what happens along the Canadian border.
While problems along the southern border often make the headlines more frequently than those happening in the north, Homan said it doesnt mean one is more important than the other.
Homan noted, however, that the Mexican border remains one of the highest priorities when it comes to nations border issues.
We gotta go where the fire is at, and right now the fire is on the Southwest border, he said.
Because of that, Homan said, more resources are dedicated to that region. But that is likely to change.
Now that we are getting more resources from the executive order, youre seeing more resources on the southern border and also the northern border, he said.
Homan said ICE has formed several partnerships and task forces with law enforcement agencies in New York state, including state police, border patrol and even local entities. While he could not go into specifics of ICE investigations in upstate New York, he said good work is happening along the northern border as a result of those partnerships.
Sanctuary cities
Homan said metropolitan areas that have labeled themselves as sanctuary cities as a result of Trumps executive action have posed a problem for ICEs operations.
He noted Chicago as a particular challenge, as city officials there have promised to shield undocumented immigrants from potential deportation. Homan said illegal immigrants jailed in Chicago cannot be questioned or removed from the country by ICE, therein increasing the risk that they will repeat crimes once released.
If we cant get our hands on the people who are going to pose a threat to our country and our communities, it becomes a problem, he said. Sanctuary cities concern me because they are creating a public safety issue and are creating issues for the men and women who work for me.
Homan also noted that sanctuary cities like Chicago receive federal funding to jail illegal immigrants through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which adds further complications, he added, when federal law enforcement cannot enter jails being funded with federal money.
I find that particularly disturbing, he said.
Transparency
Homan said that ICE is ramping efforts to interact with the public to be more transparent about the results of its operations and why it functions the way it does.
On top of increased social media activity, Homan said he will make himself more available to speak with the public on immigration issues.
Once people understand what we do and why we do it, I think the adversity will decrease, Homan said.
But at the end of the day, Homan said, the job is about respecting the law,
Anybody who is escaping fear and persecution in their homeland, we will absolutely make sure they get a due process, he said. We will make sure someone is heard. We will not knowingly send someone back to a home where they will be persecuted. But once a decision is made, I have to do my job.
HUDSON FALLS Regent Beverly Ouderkirk said she is impressed with the creativity she is seeing in districts such as Hudson Falls.
Room after room, I was so impressed with the comfort level and interaction between the kids, she said.
Students were eager to show off their reading and writing projects, according to Ouderkirk. In a special education classroom, she saw that the staff is using blue lighting to calm the students.
People are doing very neat things that are expanding the opportunities for kids, she said
Ouderkirk is trying to visit all the school districts in her territory, which includes Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence and Schenectady counties. She has visited about 30 districts so far.
She said the tours are helpful.
On these visits, I discover things I didnt have a clue about, she said.
Some of those things arent getting the publicity they deserve, she added.
Ouderkirk is touring the schools to learn about programs such as the 21st Century Community Learning Center in Hudson Falls, which gives students a space to drop in during the day or after school for homework help or to see a counselor.
Katie MacDougall, school counselor for the program, said students also can meditate at the center. Sometimes, they just need to talk.
The center also has structured after-school activities, such as CPR training or teaching of culinary skills, according to P.J. Malone, coordinator for the program. Malone said about 20 to 40 students show up for the programs.
Principal James Bennefield said the center gives students exposure to different opportunities.
Stopping by Matthew Rozzells ninth-grade history classroom, Ouderkirk assured students that, despite her title, she was not there to give an exam.
I do not do the Regents test. I dont take responsibility for that, she quipped.
Ouderkirk said being a member of the Board of Regents is fascinating but frustrating. Regents have responsibility for K-12 curriculum, plus higher education and professional licensing.
Ouderkirk also responded to questions about the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The law gives more control to the states and New York education officials are drafting a plan to comply with the standards.
Among the questions that need to be answered are what types of tests New York would like to pilot, how to assess the performance of English language learners, how to design the system to hold schools accountable and how to intervene in low-performing schools, according to a news release.
Ouderkirk said new students who do not speak English should not be expected to take and perform well on a subject matter test in their first year.
The plan will be submitted to the federal government later this year.
The Board of Regents is also focused on creating more pathways for students to complete school.
Bennefield said he likes the idea of creating alternative pathways for graduation and giving schools partial credit in the graduation rate report for students who take the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (formerly the GED) or do a career and technical program.
A lot of principals feel the same way about having some more flexibility with these programs because, again, not every kid learns the same way, he said.
PLATTSBURGH North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik was glad to hear President Donald Trump touch on an issue of deep concern for the 21st District in his address to Congress on Tuesday night.
I was particularly excited about his discussion about our partnership with Canada, she said after the speech. It was mentioned as a prominent aspect of the speech.
The president pledged to work with Canada to improve trade agreements and to empower more women in business, goals that were developed during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 13 in Washington.
Bipartisanship
Stefanik, R-Willsboro, said she felt the presidents speech overall was excellent, and was directed not just to Congress, but to all Americans.
It was very unifying and optimistic and stressed the importance of bipartisanship, she said.
The stories of Americans that the president told, highlighted by their presence in the chamber, were uplifting, Stefanik said.
The widow of an American serviceman recently killed in action received a thunderous and lengthy ovation during the speech, as did a 20-year-old survivor of a rare disease who was present.
Family members of law enforcement officers slain on the job were also honored.
You could feel that when he referenced those stories, Stefanik said.
Growing economy
The congresswoman was also pleased to hear that the president wants to invest in growing the economy, improving the nations infrastructure and helping veterans receive benefits they deserve.
The president mentioned the need for clean air and water, which Stefanik said will provide an opportunity for both Republicans and Democrats to work together to make improvements.
There were both Republicans and Democrats that stood up after those portions of the speech, she said.
I look forward to working with the White House on commonsense proposals that promote and protect our environment but also continue to support our job creators.
Find a balance
Stefanik said she would like to see a structured plan to defeat ISIS, and improvements in border security that include parts of a wall and technology.
I think we can find a balance, she said.
She also liked the presidents pledge to create a task force on deregulation that would eliminate two regulations for each new one installed.
In eight years under President Obama, we have had an historic number of regulations put into law, and that circumvents Congress, she said.
I believe that the institution to make commonsense laws is Congress. That is our job.
Stefanik said she hopes Congress can work together to tackle issues, as the president asked.
I hope my colleagues heed that, she said.
There are a number of opportunities for us to work together.
Unifying
In typical fashion, those of the party of the president, in this case Republicans, stood up and applauded numerous times during the speech, while Democrats stayed seated with idle hands.
Stefanik said that, toward the end of the speech, that seemed to change a bit.
I think that was one of the most unifying speeches, she said.
There were a number of standing ovations (toward the end) that came from both sides of the aisle.
Local utility companies were dealing with tens of thousands of local outages early Thursday as high winds ripped through the region.
More than 22,000 local National Grid customers were without power at its peak, most of them in the Greenfield, Wilton and Saratoga Springs areas of Saratoga County and and another 4,200 in Warren County and 2,200 in Essex County. Northern and southwestern Warren County and southern Essex County were hardest hit in the latter two counties.
Hundreds of outages were also reported in Queensbury, South Glens Falls, Moreau and Greenwich and the company's website predicted restoration Thursday afternoon for many, but expected some to go into the evening.
As of 5 p.m., National Grid had brought the number down to about 6,000 in Saratoga, Warren, Essex and Washington counties.
The majority of outages remain in Saratoga County with nearly 5,000 customers without power.
National Grid spokesman Nathan Stone said the estimated time of restoration was unclear, as the utility dealt with major transmission line and substation issues in Saratoga County. The company was trying to bring in additional line crews from other parts of the state, but the wind seemed to have caused utility issues around much of New York, he said.
"We put out calls for mutual aid, but everybody is dealing with this," Stone said.
Snapped utility poles were reported around the region, and those are the most time-consuming repairs as broken poles have to be removed and new ones put in place, Stone added.
New York State Electric & Gas reported nearly 200 outages in Essex and Washington counties as of early Thursday, with Jackson and Newcomb the hardest hit towns.
Local police and firefighters were responding to downed trees and branches on Route 28 in Johnsburg, Ridge Road in Queensbury, Cleverdale Road in North Queensbury, Fire Road in Glens Falls, Ballard Road in Wilton, Library Avenue in Warrensburg, Antone Mountain Road in Corinth and Lens Lake Road in Stony Creek. The Warren County Sheriff's Office had fielded 22 calls for storm-related issues between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. Thursday.
"We had a lot of trees down in our town," said Lake Luzerne Supervisor Gene Merlino, adding that the Call Street area seemed hardest hit early Thursday.
Route 40 was closed near Hegeman Bridge Road in Easton because of a downed utility pole as of 7:40 a.m., but re-opened by 8:30 a.m. One lane of Route 8 in Johnsburg was blocked by a fallen tree that landed on a boat, police said.
The Saratoga Springs School District closed at 11 a.m. because of outages in the district. As of 3 p.m., about 1,500 remain without power in the city.
The National Weather Service reported measuring wind gusts topping 40 mph in Washington and Bennington counties as of early Thursday, with a gust hitting 51 mph in Glenville. Glens Falls topped out with a gust of 47 mph with the highest measured at 54 mph at Albany International Airport.
A wind advisory was canceled just after 5 p.m. across the region. As a cold front moves through temperatures will drop, with cold weather lingering through the weekend.
Saturday's high temperature is not expected to climb out of the teens in much of the area.
WASHINGTON (AP) A presidential address to Congress is always part policy speech, part political theater. With President Donald Trump, a former reality TV star, there's extra potential for drama as he makes his first address to Congress.
After a chaotic start to his presidency, Trump will be trying to project his administration as ready to stride forward on top priorities such as changes to President Barack Obama's health care law and a tax overhaul. Congressional Democrats, in turn, will be trying to calibrate how strongly to oppose the Republican president in the staid setting of the House chamber, where manners still matter.
Some things to watch for Tuesday night:
PRE-GAME
Which members of Congress will arrive hours early to stake out seats on the center aisle of the House chamber for Trump's big entrance? Expect core Trump supporters to try to line the aisle. But will some of the Democrats' traditional aisle-huggers continue to angle for prime seats, then make a point of passing up a handshake with the president? Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who has often positioned herself on the aisle for presidential addresses, does not plan on shaking Trump's hand, according to her office.
THE ROBED ONES
Check out which Supreme Court justices show up this year. Samuel Alito, part of the court's conservative contingent, hasn't gone since he was caught on camera during the 2010 State of the Union address shaking his head and mouthing "not true" when Obama criticized a Supreme Court decision. Clarence Thomas, who has also stayed away in recent years, said in 2010 that the addresses had become so partisan that "it's very uncomfortable for a judge to sit there." Could this be a year for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who leads the court's liberal wing, to opt out? She criticized Trump in interviews before his election but later said she regretted making "ill-advised" comments in which she dismissed Trump as a "faker" who "really has an ego." She went to every one of Obama's speeches (but dozed off in 2015 when, she said, she "wasn't 100 percent sober.")
FOCUS FACTOR
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is promising Trump's speech will be "an optimistic vision for the country, crossing traditional lines of party, race, socio-economic status." Trump has demonstrated that he can stick to a script for high-profile speeches. But there's always interplay between presidents and legislators in such addresses, and even a few presidential ad libs could change the dynamics of the night. If Trump veers into talk about "fake news," and "criminal leaks" from intelligence officials and complaints about the courts blocking his executive order on immigration, that would distract from his effort to show more discipline and focus.
WHITHER KUMBAYA?
Spicer says he expects Trump to get "a very robust and applause-filled reception" from legislators. But dozens of Democratic legislators boycotted Trump's inauguration. And now, they have to decide how to receive the president in their own chambers. Will they applaud the GOP president? Will the decorum of the moment be pierced with boos and heckles? Some of that may be choreographed in advance, but there's always the chance of spontaneous outbursts. In 2009, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina blurted out "You lie!" during an Obama speech to Congress on health care. Expect to see lots of white in the crowd: Democratic women in the House planned to wear white to honor women's suffrage and "stand in solidarity with the women of our nation."
DETAILS, PLEASE
Republicans in Congress are getting impatient for more detail on Trump's plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and to undertake sweeping tax changes. Trump on Monday called the health care law a "complicated issue" and promised to give states "the flexibility they need to make the end result really, really good for them." The speech is a prime opportunity for Trump to go beyond such generalities, but aides say not to expect a "legislative walkthrough."
LOOKING UP
The action won't all be on the floor of the House. The galleries in the House balcony will offer another tier of commentary. Democratic members of Congress have invited immigrants, foreigners and people who have benefited from the Obama health-care law to be seated in the galleries as their guests. And first lady Melania Trump has invited special guests to sit in her box who are likely to telegraph different messages. Those guests so far include Maureen McCarthy Scalia, the widow of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and Denisha Merriweather, who has written about how her life changed because she was able to use the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program to attend a private high school.
TWITTERAMA
No need to wait for the speech to end to get political commentary. Based on past presidential addresses to Congress, expect legislators to be live tweeting their reactions to what they view as the best and worst of it. And there's always the potential for Trump himself to amplify or scramble his own message with presidential tweets before and after the fact. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Kentucky, said he's hoping for a "tweet-free" message from Trump.
COUNTER PROGRAMMING
Expect both official and informal counterprogramming. Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who helped expand health care coverage in his state under Obama's health care law, will deliver the Democrats' response to Trump's address. And immigration activist Astrid Silva, who came to the U.S. illegally when she was 5, will offer the party's Spanish-language response. Before Trump's speech, opponents of the president planned a "resistance address" and rally at Lafayette Park across from the White House, with Rosie O'Donnell as a headliner. She and Trump have been feuding for years.
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Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck an open field south of the coastal city of Ashkelon on Wednesday night, causing neither injury nor damage, the army said, the second attack in a week.
The projectile struck the Hof Ashkelon region shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said. Israeli troops began searching the area to locate the rocket, the army said. No terrorist groups immediately took credit for the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not tolerate a drizzle of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip without a response.
Hamass military wing threatened Tuesday to retaliate against Israel should the Jewish state strike Gaza. The enemy only understands the language of force, and sometimes silence is interpreted as weakness by the enemy. Therefore, any aggression along the lines of what happened yesterday, the resistance, headed by the Qassam Brigades, will have their say, Abu Obeida, the official spokesperson of Hamass military wing the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades told the terror groups Al Aqsa TV station.
Antisemitism has been expected from countries in the Middle East that are mostly Muslim countries. It has also been on the rise in most of Europe in the last two decades, with a recent surge in the last three years coming from all sides of the political, religio
Things seem to be changing in America! Over 100 Jewish Community Centers (JCC) have received bomb threats in the last two months all across our nation. Several of these threats touched some of my personal friends, as well as one JCC in my own neighborhood. Fortunately, none of them was real. But how many more phone calls before one threat turns into a real explosion and innocent lives are lost? The President covered the issue in his address to Congress when he said Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last weeks shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms. Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last weeks shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.
When I look at the recent bombs threats against multiple Jewish communities, and how they disrupted the peace of regular civilians, I cannot help but think that they were acts of terrorism. The intimidation in a bomb threat is very high as nobody can ever assume that it is a hoax, especially in the current world we live in. I also find the act of making a threatening anonymous phone call very cowardly. Antisemitism can happen in words and/or deeds. So far, the bomb threats have only been words but they can be equally damaging.
Two Jewish cemeteries in Missouri and Pennsylvania have also been desecrated with over 250 tombstones turned over.
These attacksstrangely reminiscent of the 1930s and 1940s in Europe were clearly targeted against Jewish people. These qualify as antisemitism in deeds the same way that several graffiti recently written on various Jewish properties do.
This may come as a surprise to many Americans, but these acts are not happening in a vacuum. I have been documenting such acts against American Jews since 1999. They were fewer and further in between than todayby a long shot. America is a huge country and isolated incidents of antisemitism have never made the front page of the papers or the eight oclock news. Yet they happened all across the USA. This recent surge is symptomatic of a very serious problem but it can also be beneficial to many.
As surprising as it might sound, there are still many in America and around the world who either find it difficult to believe that antisemitism exist or who are simply unaware of it. The recent wave of events has propelled the issue to the forefront of the news, and it needs to park there for a while. Americans must understand that Jewish people are becoming a real target in the United-Stated like they have been in the Middle East and Europe for a while now. Outside from the obvious need to show our support to a scared community, this also should serve as a wake-up call for our country and the rest of the world. Antisemitism is back, it is growing again, and it is here to stay.
We must boldly denounce this wave of hatred against the Jewish people. Our current administration is going to have to do more than provide us with a few comforting words. When Mr. Trump makes it so clear that we are fighting Islamic radicalism and terrorism, he also needs to severely punish the perpetrators of such crimes.
Antisemitism is indeed the Longest Hatred and has been somewhat of a dormant volcano in America. The recent months have shown that the lava of Jew hatred is resurfacing out of a volcano that was never dead. I am not certain that we can stop the volcano, but I know that we can better protect the potential victims from its lava.
Europe is already seeing Jewish people being killed again. The evangelical community and all people of good will need to step up and reach out to help their Jewish friends, lest we become 21st century by-standers and facilitate what I call End-Times antisemitism.
The US Navys ability to address the concerns of allies and to keep at bay potential enemies in the South China Sea is an open question, military analysts suggest, pointing to a large-scale build up of missiles and warships by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), that could tip the scales of naval dominance in the region.
China has thousands of ballistic missiles aimed squarely at neighboring Taiwan. US President Donald Trump has proposed a $54-billion military spending increase, while China has increased defense expenditures with double-digit percent rises almost every year for the last two decades, according to Pete Apps in a Wednesday column for Reuters.
PLAN has rounded up significant sources of new funding to support a goal of projecting Chinese naval power globally, largely prompted by the unpredictability of Trump. The outspoken US President has publicly backed Japan in the dispute over Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, talked on the phone with Taiwans top leader, and berated Beijing as the grand champion of artificial currency devaluation.
According to the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based think tank, Chinas navy is "moving toward an ambition of 500 warships, including aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, amphibious ships, and a burgeoning frigate and destroyer force." The fleet could add three aircraft carriers, 100 submarines, and other combat vessels, according to some estimates. A spokesperson for the think tank contended that since "it is hard to recall growth at a similar pace in any navy across historyBeijing is slowly pulling ahead."
Syrian government forces and their allies have liberated the Palmyra citadel located on a hill overlooking the town from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants, sources tell RT. Pro-government forces are now in control of several strategic mountains that are overlooking the ancient city of Palmyra. They also have under their control the famous citadel, RTs Lizzie Phelan reports, citing sources that are in direct contact with the army command center on the Palmyra front.
The Syrian Army took control over the heights surrounding the historic citadel of Palmyra and as well as the SyriaTel hill after Islamic State militants abruptly left the area, a field commander told RIA Novosti.
As a result, Palmyra is now at a stone throw from the Syrian Army, which is rapidly advancing towards the city, the commander added. The army is now storming a hotel district in the southwestern part of Palmyra, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source.
Government forces engaged in fierce clashes with IS militants, leaving scores of them dead or injured, and chasing down those who retreated, the report added. Engineers are currently carrying out a clean-up of bombs and landmines in the area.
Here. Excerpt:
[John] Harwood: The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial, said your agency is lawless. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who is an independent-minded senator, refers to you as King Richard. People say, "He's a dictator." What do you say?
Cordray: First of all, I think it's completely ill-founded. There's never specifics in those kinds of claims. But what I would say is, accountability is really at the heart of this agency. We're all about holding financial companies, large financial companies, accountable for complying with the law and treating people fairly.
Harwood: Do you not accept that you need to be accountable to someone in government who is elected by people?
Cordray: Sure. We are accountable. I have to be accountable to Congress; I have to testify in front of them four times a year. I'm accountable to the courts; they oversee what we do. And if we get something wrong, we fix it, just like everybody else does.
Harwood: Doesn't accountability mean that somebody in government above you can fire you or change your budget?
Cordray: Well, what they can do is replace you from time to time. That's the way the independent agencies work. Nobody's talking about firing Janet Yellen at the Federal Reserve. Nobody's talking about firing other independent agency heads. That's the principle of our government.
* * *
Harwood: Have you talked to anyone senior at the White House about talking to the president?
Cordray: I have not had a chance to talk to the president.
Harwood: People like Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, or Steve Bannon?
Cordray: Well, look. I have made it clear and I'll make it clear here to you that I'm quite happy to sit down and talk to anybody. Love to have the chance to talk to him about our work, hear whatever criticisms or other points of view they may have, and try to talk those through. I think we can reach a lot of common ground in terms of protecting consumers.
I wish Harwood had followed up on that because it would be interesting to know if the White House has been in touch with the Director.
In fact, President Donald Trump's travel itinerary cost US taxpayers more than $10 million during his first month in office, according to The Washington Post.
Presidential travel is a highly complex logistical operation involving hundreds of people, dozens of vehicles, and a fleet of aircraft.
As a result, it easy to see how the bill can skyrocket very quickly.
So what does this operation entail?
First, there's Air Force One, the call sign given to the Boeing VC-25A when the president is aboard. There are actually two planes that share that designation. The VC-25A is a highly modified version of the Boeing 747-200B airliner. Even though it entered service in 1990 with President George H.W. Bush, the jets tail numbers 28000 and 29000 were ordered in the mid-1980s by President Ronald Reagan.
According to Boeing, each aircraft carries a crew of 26 along with roughly 70 passengers including the president, government officials, Secret Service agents, and guests. The 4,000-square-foot space in the VC-25A's cabin allows the aircraft to function as a flying White House with the ability to run a country from 40,000 feet. At the same time, the 747-200B's General Electric CF6-50 series engines were replaced with the more powerful CF6-80 series engines from the newer 747-300.
Other presidential upgrades include:
On major trips, both VC-25As make the trip one with the president aboard and the other acting as backup in case of an emergency.
According to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch, the VC-25A cost a whopping $206,000 an hour to operate during a 2014 trip to Los Angeles by President Barack Obama. According to the documents, this figure included fuel, flight consumables, and maintenance.
This far exceeds the $20,000 to $25,000 an hour it costs an airline to operate a commercial 747, Airways senior business analyst Vinay Bhaskara told Business Insider in an email.
The VC-25As are operated by the Presidential Airlift Group at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and are part of the US Air Force's 89th Airlift Wing.
Other travel costs
Then there are the limos. Affectionately known as "The Beast," the presidential limos are heavy-duty armored vehicles built on a General Motors commercial truck platform with a Cadillac body. These monsters feature everything from full-ballistic protection to an on-board cache of blood for the president in case of a medical emergency.
According to Autoweek, each one of Obama's 12 Beast limos cost $1.5 million. Trump will get a new version of the Beast. It's unclear how much the new model will cost.
On trips, these limos travel ahead with the advance team so they are waiting for the president once his plane arrives. This means they have to be transported ahead of time in a fleet of Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes.
And in instances in which the president is in a hurry, he has the option to bypass the Beast and go with Marine One, the call sign for the presidential helicopter. The helicopters Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings or VH-60Ns or Boeing MV-22s usually fly in a formation of three. These are operated by the Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) in Quantico, Virginia.
This review comes at the heels of a report claiming President Donald Trump believed the "greatest immediate threat" to the US was North Korea's nuclear program.
Recent provocations from the Hermit Kingdom, including the ballistic missile launch in the Sea of Japan and the assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in Malaysia, may have provoked this shift in the policy that have many officials and US allies worried.
"North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" Trump tweeted in January. Several weeks later, North Korea conducted its missile test.
Since then,
The proposals, which are now being vetted prior to Trump's review, would certainly be met with worry from China, a long-time North Korean ally, who recently responded with an export ban against North Korea's coal industry. Additionally, many experts fear that a direct military conflict would spark all-out warfare, including artillery barrages directed at Seoul, South Korea's capital.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has come under fire for what critics say was misleading the Senate about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US while he was a prominent surrogate for President Donald Trump's campaign.
Sessions recused himself Thursday from any investigations pertaining top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have called for Sessions to step down from his post at the Justice Department. Pelosi has charged that Sessions perjured himself in front of Congress.
But experts say that while Sessions' may have misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings, his comments likely don't amount to perjury
"A
While Franken contended Thursday that Sessions' comments were "extremely misleading," he stopped short of invoking "perjury." It's much more difficult to prove that Sessions, a trained attorney, actually lied with intent.
In order to obtain a perjury conviction, the prosecution must make explicitly clear what each specific term in Franken's question means, including what was meant by "affiliated," Stan Brand, senior counsel at Akin Gump and an expert on congressional investigations, told Business Insider.
"
Sessions met with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, in his Senate office on September 8, at the height of the presidential campaign, and at a Heritage Foundation event in July during the Republican National Convention.
Sessions, for his part, said at a press conference Thursday that his response to Franken's question was accurate.
There are grounds for perjury only if it can be proven that Sessions made a false statement, said Levenson, the former federal prosecutor and Loyola Law School professor.
Sessions spoke to Sergey Kislyak in July and September last year, the Post reported. Yet during his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions said he "did not have communications with the Russians" while he served as a campaign surrogate for Donald Trump.
The news comes as lawmakers call for an independent investigation into Russia's election-related meddling and alleged ties to various Trump associates. It comes less than a month after former national-security adviser Michael Flynn was asked to resign following revelations that he spoke with Kislyak about US sanctions on Russia before Trump was sworn in.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," Sessions replied when asked during the hearing whether he knew about contacts between Russia and Trump's associates, which were at that point already being investigated by US intelligence officials.
"I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians," Sessions said.
Heres video of that moment:
Sessions did not consider his conversation with Kislyak relevant enough to disclose at the hearing, his spokesperson told the Post. Sessions did not even remember what he and Kislyak discussed, the spokesperson added.
In a separate statement on Wednesday night, Sessions asserted: "I have never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
The FBI was investigating Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contacts with Russian officials before Trump nominated him in December, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. It is unclear if that investigation is ongoing, or whether the Senate was briefed on that investigation when it voted to confirm Sessions on February 8.
Sessions is now in control of the Justice Department and the FBI, both of which are investigating Russia's cyberattacks against the US. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are also looking into the matter.
Sessions has slapped away suggestions that he should recuse himself from the investigation. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham commented on the Post's report during a CNN event on Wednesday night, saying "for sure you need a special prosecutor" if Sessions indeed spoke with the Kremlin.
"Misleading the Senate in sworn testimony about one's own contacts with the Russians is a good way to go to jail," Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said in a tweet on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has repeatedly denied all suggestions that it colluded with Russia's interference activities. But The New York Times and CNN reported last month, citing US intelligence officials, that Russian operatives and people in Trump's inner circle communicated frequently before the election.
The Times reported that the communications between people in Trump's orbit and Russia ran deep on both sides. They were said to include other associates of Trump outside his campaign. And on the Russian side, people within the country's government in addition to intelligence officials were also involved, according to The Times' sources, who remained anonymous.
He said the government will restore fiscal discipline in the Ghanaian economy.
READ MORE: Ken Ofori Atta presents maiden Budget
Reading his maiden 2017 Budget Statement in Parliament on Thursday 2 March, he said "The country's debt stock has reached a level of approximately 73 per cent of GDP as at the end of 2016, which is in excess of the debt sustainability threshold of 70 per cent.
"This has resulted in high debt service costs with interest payments alone taking up nearly 42 per cent of tax revenue. This, together with compensation of employees, is more than the total domestic revenue, leaving no fiscal space for growth-enhancing policy programmes and expenditures.
READ ALSO: Finance Minister to focus on tax reforms and debt management
He said the government was highly optimistic about its plans and programmes for the economy.
Ken Ofori Atta noted that "Total expenditures at the end of December 2016 stood at 30.3 per cent of GDP against the target of 26.4 per cent of GDP with an outstanding stock of arrears of nearly GHS7 billion. This is at variance with the performance criteria on the non-accumulation of arrears of the 2016 fiscal year under the IMF-supported credit facility programme.
Many of the traders who looked and sounded happy when they spoke to Pulse.com.gh said this will also result in a reduction of their goods which will benefit their clients.
This is good news to us. We will also reduce the prices of our goods if they implement this new policy. This will mean more people will buy from us and we will make more money to also take care of our families.
READ ALSO: Here are the taxes Nana Addo will abolish in his government
Another trader who has been in the business for ten years said, he was happy the NPP administration is fulfilling the promises they made during the campaign in 2016 ahead of the general elections.
Nana Addo has done very well. Personally, I am very happy he is fulfilling his promises. There are much more he needs to do. I am hopeful he will accomplish the rest.
Nana Addo during the electioneering campaign promised to cut down and eliminate some taxes will restore fiscal discipline, promote debt sustainability and support private sector development.
Reading the maiden 2017 Budget Statement in Parliament on Thursday 2 March, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta has indicated that said the budget aims at building a strong fiscal foundation for the Ghanaian economy.
He said the government will reduce tax exemptions and also broaden the tax base as part of several measures being considered to protect and enhance the public purse.
Below are the taxes reviewed in the 2017 budget
i. Removing import duties on raw materials and machinery for production within the context of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) Protocol
ii. Abolishing the Special Import levy
iii. Abolishing the 17.5% VAT on imported medicines not produced in the country
iv Abolishing the 17.5% VAT on Financial Services
v. Abolishing the 5% VAT on Real Estate sales
vi. Abolishing the 17.5% VAT on domestic airline tickets
vii. Reducing VAT for micro and small enterprises from the current 17.5% to the 3% Flat Rate VAT introduced by the Kufuor-led NPP government
viii. Introducing tax credits and other incentives for businesses that hire young graduates from tertiary institutions, and
This is in fulfillment of Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution. It will be Ken Ofori Attas first major economic statement presented on the authority of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
The budget to a large extent will be broadly in line with expectations of Ghanaians, pulling more people out of poverty, and creating a sustainable path of growth for the countrys economy.
There is a legitimate expectation of the average class of people to see a reduction of their burden of taxation in the Budget while economists continue to make a case for the nominal rate of taxation to be kept at a lower slab for the taxpayer.
The 2017 budget will focus mainly on tax reforms and Ghanas debt management.
This is according to a report by GN research released.
The institute argues that many of the economic challenges that led Ghana to IMFs Extended Credit Facility under the Mahama administration are still lurking.
Many have argued that the NPP government may struggle to implement its manifesto promises because of the rising public debt of GHC122 billion and a double-digit budget deficit the new administration inherited.
But Ofori-Atta said that Ghanaians would be "impressed with the kind of solutions" that "government may have found within the short time."
READ MORE: Finance Minister to focus on tax reforms and debt management
The Budget Statement would also be expected to spell out sources of funding for a number of the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) promised policies including free senior high school (SHS) and reduction in fuel and utility tariffs.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said government would fund the cost of public SHS for all those who qualify for entry from the 2017/2018 academic year onwards.
This is critical to Ghanaians since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the December 2016 election on the back of the heavy promises on pro-poor policies and socio-economic interventions.
Earlier, Ken Ofori-Atta has said that the budget will be made up of policies to help develop businesses in Ghana.
The teenager who is a resident of Ajanayo Street, Oniwaya, Lagos, is facing a four-court charge of breach of peace, assault, grievous harm, and conspiracy, Punch reports.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Emmanuel Ajayi told the court that the accused committed the offences on February 22 at Cappa Junction near Oshodi, Lagos.
Ajayi said that the accused along with others still at large conspired together and assaulted the BRT driver, Mr. Stanley Kalu after he came out of his vehicle to urinate.
He said, The accused stabbed the complainant with a knife all over his body.
The complainant who had been driving from Oshodi to Mushin, made a U-turn at Cappa Junction and came down from the vehicle to urinate.
Ajayi said, After the complainant had off-loaded his passengers, he made a U-turn and parked to urinate.
The accused attacked him claiming that he beamed the headlight of the bus on them.
The accused removed a knife from his pocket and started stabbing him.
He and his accomplices ran away when blood was gushing out of the complainants body.
But when the police stormed the scene, only the accused was arrested.
According to Ajayi, the accused stole the sum of N13, 500 from the complainant's pocket after he was beaten and stabbed multiple times.
He said the offences contravened Sections 166, 171, 243 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Section 243 prescribes a maximum seven years jail term for offenders.
Punch reports that Obong pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against him and was granted bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum.
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Mr Ofori-Atta made the announcement during his first budget reading in Parliament on today, March 2.
Kayayei is a local term that refers to a head porter (mostly female) found in many of Ghanas large markets. They mostly migrate from a rural northern Ghana community to urban centres in search of work. Some are as young as 12 years-old and others are 35 years.
When Pulse.com.gh visited the Madina market, the head porters couldnt keep their excitement to themselves; reminiscing how the tax collectors harass them on a daily basis for the collection of 50 pesewas.
Those who could not pay had their carrier pans seized and the female porters would have to pay 20 cedis to get it back.
The two are said to target well-established traders and other personalities, mainly in the Greater Accra Region and other parts of the country.
The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Afia Tenge according to Daily Graphic report were nabbed after some victims reported their activities to the police.
So far, the police have received reports from five victims who have been duped to the tune of GH298,000.
One of the victims, a trader at Tudu, who first reported to the police, is said to have given the false prophets GH75,000, while her son parted with GH220,000, an Apple mobile phone, a KIA Optima and a Mercedes C Class saloon car.
A sister of the trader was also made to part with GH6,000 for prayers to help her overcome her infertility issues, while two other victims were duped of GH4,500 and GH2,500 and an Infinix mobile phone to avert accidents and death.
They are said to have used prophecies of death, accidents, spiritual attacks on businesses and family members, among other dangers to extort money from their victims in the name of saying special prayers for them.
ASP Afia Tenge said, Baisie [Suspect] was consulting the services of Nana Boame, a renowned fetish priest in the Eastern Region, for protection and powers to avoid arrest.
Baisie later managed to convince the trader accommodate Braimah in her house to offer intense prayers at all times.
Mrs Tenge said police investigations showed that while in the traders house, Braimah gave more information on the trader and her family to Baisie, who called the trader regularly to claim he had seen those things in revelations.
At a point, she said, the fake prophets gave false prophecies of foreseen accidents which would result in the death of the trader and her family members.
They also claimed a sister of the trader suffering from stroke could be healed, while the infertility problem of another could be overturned with prayers.
After arresting the two suspects, Mrs Tenge said, the police retrieved a list with more than 400 names believed to be victims of the fake prophets.
READ ALSO:Man kills wife over sex refusal and commits suicide
On brightly lighted kiosks, they were a call to action: "Women of New York: Cover your a$$" emblazoned over a silhouette of President Trump.
Some women posed in front of the ads in Manhattan's Flatiron neighborhood, posting selfies to Instagram.
One person drew a swastika over Trump's head.
It was trolling as advertisement, and Sallie Krawcheck's Ellevest, a money-management startup targeting young women, was behind it.
Krawcheck is the former CEO of Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch wealth management and CFO of Citigroup.
The idea for the ads, which ran earlier this year, came during a boozy discussion last year after the election, Krawcheck told Business Insider at a recent meeting in her startup's airy offices, also in Flatiron.
"Women were saying, 'Son of a gun, I need to take action. What can I do?'" Krawcheck said.
Trolling Trump, at least in Manhattan, isn't as risky a business move as it would be in other parts of the country. The city overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton, mourned in the days after the election, and has since hosted countless anti-Trump protests, including one of the country's largest women's marches, which Krawcheck's staff attended.
Krawcheck also isn't worried that the ads may have offended the 42% of women, mostly white, who voted for Trump.
"You can't be everything to everyone," she said.
The company aims to sell itself to professional women ("Elle" in Ellevest's parlance) in their 20s and 30s who are trying to get a hold of their investments, an audience Krawcheck says has been badly served by Wall Street.
One of Krawcheck's staffers, who helped create the ads, said the moment was hard to miss.
"We were a feminist brand before ... and we've always been pro-woman," said staffer Melissa Cullins. "That doesn't always resonate with everyone. It would be hard to be in the business we're in, speaking to these professional women ... without advocating very strongly for equality and equal rights."
The neighborhood of choice was also no accident. Some of Ellevest's biggest adopters have been women in tech, financial services, and consulting. Many of those women are working around the Flatiron neighborhood and were likely to see the ads.
"It really addresses the change in the environment," Krawcheck said, including "the issue of money being a form of protection for her at a time at which a lot is uncertain, without, of course, saying those words."
It's not the first time that Trump has served as a backdrop for Ellevest. Last year, Krawcheck wrote a LinkedIn post that went viral on being a working woman in the age of normalized "locker-room talk," for instance.
Ellevest is one of the few brands targeting Trump. And to be sure, in many places around the country, this kind of advertising wouldn't work.
"A lot of companies, both startups and established companies, are reading every day in the Wall Street Journal about do they avoid the topic, do they address the topic, how do they address the topic," Krawcheck said. "People are coming out with different decisions and being criticized for them in a way I've never seen in my career."
Ellevest has received some pushback emails expressing disagreement over participating in women's marches, for instance. But Krawcheck isn't bothered.
Trump, speaking before a meeting with manufacturing industry CEOs, turned to the issue of US relations with Mexico, which have been tested by Trump's aggressive stances on trade and immigration.
While Kelly has insisted his department would not skimp on the quality of people it hires, large-scale hiring efforts have gone awry in the past.
"This tactic backfired when this happened before," Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider on Thursday. "Many unqualified individuals were hired leading to corruption within the Border Patrol and Customs."
A cartel enforcer on the US-Mexico border said late last year that US border agents were on cartel payrolls, facilitating the movement of drug shipments from Mexico into Texas.
The memos have also called for the expansion of the 287(g) program, which deputizes local law-enforcement officers to take part in federal immigration enforcement.
This program has been pursued in the past. "They did away with this policy under Obama because they became overzealous and were rounding up everyone," Vigil told Business Insider.
Others said that outcome would be repeated should 287(g) be implemented.
"We are going to see an incentive for localities to engage in racial profiling and other abusive practices that violate basic protection," Greg Chen, the advocacy director for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the Houston Chronicle.
It's part of the job to take meetings like that.
So why did Jeff Sessions deny having communicated with the Russians in his confirmation hearing, if it was perfectly ordinary and innocent for him to do so?
Similarly, Michael Flynn could have made a decent argument that conversations with foreign countries were a normal and appropriate part of the transition process to become national security adviser. So why didn't he tell the truth about his conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and why did he allow top transition officials to go out and make false claims about them on television?
White House press secretary Sean Spicer insists there's "no there, there" in stories about Trump's links to Russia, and that all the questions about Russia never lead to anything important. But if that's the case, why do administration officials seem to have such problems telling the truth about their contacts with Russia, and why has the administration already had to fire one top official after misleading the public about his contacts with Russia?
One possibility, of course, is that Trump and his people are very incompetent. But that's not the usual knock on Sessions.
Multiple outlets on Wednesday night reported that Sessions spoke twice with the Russian ambassador during the campaign, a revelation that seemed to contradict testimony Sessions gave during his confirmation hearing for attorney general.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, joined other prominent Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland in calling for Sessions' resignation.
Numerous prominent Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah called for Sessions to recuse himself from any Russia-related investigation, which the attorney general himself on Thursday suggested he would do if necessary.
"The information reported last night makes it clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that Attorney General Sessions cannot possibly lead an investigation into Russian interference in our elections or come anywhere near it," Schumer said at a Thursday press conference. "With these revelations, he may very well become the subject of it."
"It would be of 'Alice & Wonderland' quality if this administration were to sanction him to investigate himself," he continued. "Recusal should've been given, but this goes beyond that. He had weeks Attorney General Sessions had weeks to correct the record that he made before the Judiciary Committee. But he let the record stand."
Schumer said that there could be no doubt about the impartiality of the attorney general and that the recent revelations made it clear Sessions "does not meet that test."
"Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country Attorney General Sessions should resign," he said. "But, whatever one's views are on resignation, the most important thing we must do is ensure the integrity of the investigation."
The Washington Post, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday night reported that Sessions chatted with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at an event during the Republican National Convention and later by phone in September. A respresentative of Sessions said both instances were in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and not as a surrogate for Trump.
Sessions, however, had said during his Senate confirmation hearing, under oath, that he "did not have communications with Russia."
Sessions' allies insist he did not mislead the committee because he did not believe that those conversations, held in his capacity, they said, as a senior Armed Services Committee member were relevant to the question. Opponents say Sessions may have perjured himself by not mentioning those two conversations with Kislyak.
1. Apple is changing the way it works with its ad agency. The tech company wants to streamline its marketing output and has told TBWA Media\Arts Lab to focus more on local and digital content.
2. YouTube will stop showing 30-second unskippable ads. The ad format will disappear in 2018, in favor of the video sharing website's 6-second bumper ads and 20-second unskippable ads.
3. Snapchat is selling its Spectacles online. The camera-equipped sunglasses will now be available to anybody in the US through the Spectacles website.
4. Accenture acquired one of Germany's biggest digital agencies. The agency, SinnerSchrader, will become a part of the consulting group's Interactive division.
5. German supermarket Edeka created another viral campaign. The ad, which promotes healthy eating, has millions of views on YouTube and Facebook.
6. The scandal around PewDiePie is a result of the nature of YouTube. The community on the video platform looks for characters who push boundaries, but that's not always compatible with a traditional media mindset.
7. Verizon is building an in-house creative agency. AdAge reports the carrier hired Andrew McKechnie from Apple to take the agency's chief creative officer position.
8. Snap Inc. met with potential London investors on Monday as part of its roadshow. Investors told Reuters they were disappointed Snap gave no projections on the company's future revenue or advertising share.
9. WhatsApp launched a Snapchat clone. The Facebook-owned messaging app is rolling out an update to its Status feature, which will let users share images, videos and gifs similar to Snapchat Stories.
1. Shine is rebranding and will stop selling ad-blocking to carriers. The new brand will be called Rainbow and will offer consumers a service which only blocks ads that don't meet industry standards.
2. Facebook will start showing ads in the middle of videos. The mid-roll commercials are now coming to pre-recorded videos and more pages will be able to show ad breaks in live videos.
3. The New York Times' new ad is sending a political message. For the first time in a decade, the newspaper is advertising on television, with a campaign highlighting the importance of its journalism.
4. A longtime Apple PR vet is now working at Edelman. After leaving the company following Steve Jobs' death, Natalie Kerris is back in tech PR as global chair for the technology division of the well-known communications agency.
5. Google tested its new AI which identifies abusive comments with the New York Times. The Drum reports the new system, called Perspective, was tested at the publication because it gets a high volume of comments.
6. The new FCC boss, Ajit Pai, made his first move on open-internet laws. The regulatory body voted to exempt internet service providers from a transparency rule forcing them to inform customers on promotional fees, extra fees, data caps, and throttling.
7. A London tech banker said Snap is a risky investment. One of GP Bullhound's managing partners said the social media market's dependence on advertising and Snap's slowing user growth make it a dangerous investment.
8. Inside the struggling Maker Studios. According to interviews Digiday conducted with executives from the multi-channel network, its owner Disney isn't interested in investing in the network to create original content.
9. Pandora will start pushing personalized ads to users. Adweek reports the online radio partnered with ad tech firm A Million Ads to dynamically create ads for each individual listener.
A Twitter employee speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Guardian he's scraping by on a base salary of $160,000. The employee is in his early 40s, lives in San Francisco, and has had to borrow money in the past to "make it through the month," The Guardian reports.
"I didn't become a software engineer to be trying to make ends meet," the Twitter employee said. He added that his salary is a "pretty bad" income for trying to raise a family in the area.
In The Guardian article, the anonymous Twitter employee said his biggest expense is the $3,000 he drops on rent for a two-bedroom house in San Francisco which he described as "ultra cheap" for the area. He lives with his wife and two kids.
The Bay Area is one of the most competitive rental markets in the US. In San Francisco, the median rent tops $4,200 a month, according to real estate site Trulia. One analysis suggests mid- to senior-level engineers at companies like Google, Uber, Airbnb, and Twitter can expect to pay between 40% and 50% of their salary renting an apartment near work.
Millennials, who make up roughly 30% of the San Francisco population, are driving prices sky high. And they are increasingly interested in boarding with a significant number of roommates in order to save money, which makes for tougher competition in the housing market.
On February 24, 1987, astronomers Oscar Dhalde and Ian Shelton witnessed an incredible sight atop a Chilean mountain: a new star in the night sky. Soon, however, they realized it was not a star's birth; rather, it was a blue supergiant meeting its doom.
In that moment, the fusion-powered core of the star previously called Sanduleak 69 202 began to falter. Most astronomers agree the blast happened because the star's core ran low on high-energy fuel, while some believe another star merged with the blue supergiant to trigger the blast.
Whatever the cause, the star collapsed under its own gravity, exploded, spewed its radioactive guts all over space, and generated the power of 100 million suns in the process. We now call the object Supernova 1987A, or SN 1987A.
"Supernova 1987A became one of the best opportunities ever for astronomers to study the phases before, during, and after the death of a star," a video produced by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory team said.
The data has provided lots clues about supernovas, including how they forge new elements that life needs to evolve and distribute them around the universe.
NASA recently commemorated the supernova's anniversary with a bunch of new multimedia, and a few of the images and animations caught our eye.
Zooming in on a supernovas leftovers
This animation gives you a sense of where in the night sky (and just how far away) SN 1987A is located.
The remnants lurk inside the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that trails the Milky Way some 168,000 light-years from Earth.
This vast distance means the explosion technically happened 168,000 years in the past, at least relative to where we live. It took that long for the light from the blast to reach us.
Ring of radioactive fire
About once a month over the course of more than 20 years, the Hubble space telescope has photographed SN 1987A and its traveling shock wave. Astronomers continue to compile these images into animations to watch the system evolve.
Starting around the year 2000, they saw the shockwave begin slamming into a 1-light-year-wide ring of gas and dust that the star threw off before its death, creating a brilliant, bubbling glow.
Researchers now believe the high-speed blast wave is leaving the field of gas and dust, marking the beginning of a "major change" in its evolution, according to a pre-print study posted to arXiv.org.
3D model of a disaster
This new animation is of a computer model that shows SN 1987A's explosion and entire evolution through 2017, and in three dimensions.
The model described in a pre-print study on arXiv led by Salvatore Orlando, an astrophysicist at the INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo in Italy can also fast-forward SN 1987A's evolution years into the future.
After the People's Architecture Office (PAO), a local firm, heard about her story, it designed her a Plug-in House in December 2016.
With just $10,000 worth of materials and a hex wrench, a construction team can build the Plug-in House in less than 24 hours, PAO's principal, James Shen, tells Business Insider. The pre-fab home features a proprietary design that's similar to a renovation system the firm designed in early 2016.
Check it out below.
The home is located in Changchun Jie, a small town outside Beijing, China.
Mrs. Fan lives there with her son. They used to live in a one-story house on the site, but it was falling apart. That home was demolished before the Plug-in House's construction. Here's a before and after.
The Plug-in House is much more modern.
It features a kitchen that connects to a living room, two small bedrooms, and a bathroom.
The interior lets in a lot of natural light.
Even the shower has a skylight.
Steps on the side of the house lead to a roof deck.
Anyone can construct a Plug-in House "The structure is built without any machinery and does not require specialized labor," Shen says.
It's made of dozens of panels that connect with one tool: a hex wrench.
Its construction doesn't require much skilled labor, and the panels are cut off-site to reduce cost.
The Plug-in House's construction is similar to that of PAO's Courtyard House, a ready-made retrofit launched in 2016 that updates homes while still preserving historical style.
Unlike the Courtyard Houses, 20 of whichsubsidized by the Beijing government, the first Plug-in home was funded by Mrs. Fan.
So far, the PAO has built two Plug-in homes, with plans for more.
The fossils were the oldest-known evidence of microbes on the planet at the time, prompting scientists to say the discovery had "staggering" implications for the history of life on Earth.
But now an international team of scientists may have them beat by at least 300 million years, and possibly even half a billion.
In some of the oldest rocks on Earth, the researchers found collections of tiny tubes that resemble structures made by deep-sea microbes.
"These rocks have a minimum age of 3.77 billion years, but some scientists in the field consider them to be as old as 4.28 billion years," Dominic Papineau, an earth scientist at University College London (UCL), said in a video interview about the discovery. He added that this could mean "they are within a few hundred million years of the accretion of planet Earth and the sun and the moon."
Papineau led a study about the ancient, iron-rich fossils along with Matthew Dodd, a PhD student in earth science at UCL. Their findings were published March 1 in the journal Nature.
It's not 100% clear whether the newly discovered specimens are evidence of early life on Earth, since these kinds of ancient rocks suffer billions of years' worth of geologic damage and have features that look biological.
"Just because it looks like something, doesn't mean it is," Kurt Konhauser at the University of Alberta, a geomicrobiologist who wasn't involved in the research, told Tia Ghose at LiveScience.com.
But if the structures were indeed formed by early bacteria, they'd be the oldest evidence of life ever discovered. (Further chemical analysis and more samples would bolster the argument.)
What's more, Papineau said, the fossils might tell us what to seek on other worlds in the solar system if we're looking for signs of alien life.
Deep-sea cauldrons of life
The fossil in question came from a coastal region of Quebec, Canada called the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt.
During an expedition there, Papineau helped find an especially old-looking lump of rusty rock called jasper, or haematitic chert (haematite is an iron-containing mineral).
He knew such rocks are sometimes made by seafloor structures called hydrothermal vents, which spew out iron, silica, and other minerals. Today they serve as warm habitats and food sources for microbial and animal life in frigid, deep ocean waters.
"When I saw these structures in the field, I said, 'I have to sample this,'" said.
Working with several other researchers from Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada, and the US, the team broke off a piece of the rock.
Back at the lab, they cut it into thin slices, polished the rock, and slipped the samples under the microscope.
The images showed clusters of tubes that resembled those similar to structures formed by modern deep-sea microbes.
"We were able to identify the microfossils as the oldest-known microfossils on Earth," Dodd said in the video interview. "In diameter, the microfossils are half of a width of a human hair."
A possible boon in the search for signs of ancient life
The carefully worded study didn't confirm the tubes were made by bacteria. Instead, it stated that the objects are "best explained" as being hydrothermal vent microbes that may represent "the oldest life forms recognized on Earth."
Further analysis also showed the tubes contained carbon and other minerals in concentrations similar to those of deposits left by living organisms.
The ramifications of the discovery could extend well beyond Earth.
"If we are right with our new model [] then we might want to look for these things on other ancient planet surfaces, such as the surface of Mars," Papineau said.
NASA's nuclear-powered Mars 2020 rover mission, which is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2020, will carry a digging tool, high-power microscope, and chemical analysis equipment.
If the car-sized robot can't detect signs of ancient life on the red planet itself it can't polish samples the way researchers did in the study, for example it's possible that a future mission to return Mars 2020 samples to Earth just might.
The stakes are high.
I recently moved from New York City, where I'd used Obamacare, to London, where I enrolled in the National Health Service, Britain's public health care system.
The transition has taught me a great deal about the differences between the two systems, and has highlighted some areas for improvement that American leaders could focus on back home.
I arrived and started working in Britain in September 2016. Before moving, I'd gotten private insurance in New York through my employer. Prior to that, I'd used the government insurance program Medicaid.
Once I got settled in London, I needed to sort out my health care, so I started my search as any newbie would with Google. I typed in "find a doctor in the UK" and there, under two sponsored ads, was a link to The National Health Service (NHS), Britain's public system of "socialized medicine."
On the NHS website, I was asked to enter my post code (the equivalent of a zip code in the US).
Source: NHS
After doing so, I got a list of results for doctor's offices within about a half-mile of Business Insider's UK office. Nothing too surprising here, until I looked at one column...
... Ratings! I could see how each doctor's office near me had performed according to patients who'd evaluated their experience.
The other columns were helpful too they told me things like how many patients were currently registered with the doctor and whether or not an office was accepting new patients.
Once I'd selected an office, I was taken to a screen where I could see its hours, a list of doctors, and its contact information. Clicking the link for the "registration form" took me to the UK-wide new patient paperwork.
It was a single-page PDF, so all I had to do was print it off, fill it out, and bring it to the doctor's office. As an American, I'm accustomed to filling out a magazine's worth of paperwork, so I was sure I'd missed something.
But when I showed up at the doctor's office, the receptionist smiled and took my form. "You'll be registered in our system in 24 hours," she said.
Shortly after that, I realized my prescription for the antidepressants I've been taking for 10 years was running out. In the US, I needed a psychiatrist who accepted my insurance (and agreed to see me regularly) to refill it. This had been frustrating in New York, where it took me months to find someone.
At times, it felt as though I was trying to treat a made-up condition. If I'd had a broken arm, surely I would have been able to find a doctor to fix it, I often found myself thinking.
I thought about my months-long search to find a psychiatrist in New York. I'd spent weeks poring over databases until, finally, a doctor who accepted my insurance AND was taking new patients called me back. It felt like a miracle.
While I was talking this over with a friend, she told me that in the UK, I'd probably be able to get my antidepressants from a general practitioner (GP). Roughly 60% of Americans with depression get their drugs this way, but I'd always been referred to specialists. That meant I'd needed to see a therapist weekly and a psychiatrist monthly for my prescription. In London, I'd already found a therapist. All I needed was the prescription.
Source: Yale Journal of Psychiatry and Medicine, 2013
I called the doctor's office the next day and said I needed to book an appointment to renew my prescription. The GP called me three hours later, and we talked about my history and treatment for about 15 minutes. My prescription was ready that evening.
I was elated. No endless searches or pointless appointments. No paperwork to convince my insurance company to help pay for the cost of my treatment when I found out that my psychiatrist was "out of network." And practically no waiting. To celebrate, I had a piece of cake. Yes, really.
The next day, I headed to the nearest chemist (pharmacy) and picked up my prescription. The best part so far? It was incredibly cheap less than the equivalent of $8 for a 90-day supply.
Source: Lloyd's Pharmacy Fluoxetine 20mg Capsules
I've been pretty been blown away by how seamless the entire health care process in London has been from finding a doctor to booking appointments and getting a prescription. Everything feels so much easier.
To be fair, the British system has its drawbacks. For example, US emergency rooms are generally faster at treating patients than those in the UK. In the US, 95% of ER patients are seen within three hours, whereas 84% of UK ER patients are seen within four hours. Plus, wait times for specialty procedures can be longer in the UK.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012; Business Insider UK, 2015; The Guardian, 2014
On the whole, I prefer my experience in the UK. My health care is basically free it's included in my taxes, which for most Brits are very similar to the rates Americans pay under Obamacare (and there are no insurance premiums). Plus, there's essentially no paperwork, and the wait times for most procedures are minuscule. Most importantly, though, I can get the antidepressants I've been taking for 10 years from my GP, which at least to me, made it feel like depression here is treated as it should be like a valid illness, rather than a made-up one.
The Tonto Dikeh Foundation in Warri, Delta state Nigeria in collaboration with CheenoHR, on February 24, 2017, have assisted young students, through their nationwide project tagged: TTDF BACK TO SCHOOL PROJECT.
The National coordinator of the Tonto Dikeh foundation, Mr Bunmi Fagbuyiro unveiled the plans of the foundation, by pledging the renovation of some schools, free white board donation, School Uniforms for students and books.
According to him, the foundation will continue in other parts of the country in the coming months, and the next on their list is Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The Magistrate, Hajiya Hauwa Yusuf, convicted, Idris Usman, popularly called Bagobiri and Abubakar Sadiq, after they pleaded guilty to the charge.
The Prosecutor, Abdullahi Mayaki, had told the court that the convicts committed the offence in December, 2016.
He said that the convicts had lured the 12-year-old and 10-year-old minors with N50 and N100 and sexually abused them.
The offence contravened Section 19 of the Niger state Child Right Law, which on conviction attracts 14 years imprisonment.
The Director-General of the state Child Rights Agency, Hajiya Mairam kolo, expressed satisfaction with the six years imprisonment without an option of fine.
The woman, Madam Bolaji Isaac who should be living in comfort in her old age, according to Punch, adds that all her five children rejected her and efforts to see them had been abortive and that anytime she dies, she will be going to the grave with sorrow and bitterness.
Madam Isaac, an indigene of Ikare in Ondo State is currently living in penury and is only being supported by the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), which rented a small apartment for her and has been giving her a stipend of N2,000 every month to survive after her eldest son identified as Sola, chased her out of his house.
In an interview with Punch, the octogenarian appealed to Nigerians to plead with her children to come to her aid and meet her before her death.
I had 10 children. While five of them died, five survived. My husband died about 20 years ago and I started selling paper bags to hospitals and clinics.
When I didnt have money to continue the work, I stopped. I was formerly living in the Alagbado area of Lagos State, but my son, , chased me out. He came from Ondo State to live with me.
His wife called me that I should send him back, but I ignored her. Later, I agreed when the pressure became too much. When I asked him to return, he refused and started fighting me.
Madam Isaac added that her fourth child, Samuel, who is a lawyer, has also abandoned her and anytime she calls him for assistance, he always gave excuses of being in court, promising to call back, without doing so.
She further explained that Samuel prevented her from knowing his address while her other children also gave excuses instead of catering to her.
However, when Barr. Samuel was spoken to on phone, he claimed that he and his siblings neglected their mother because she was troublesome, adding that he kept her away from his family to avoid having issues with his marriage.
She was formerly living with my elder brother, Tope. She was always quarreling with his wife to the extent that they would engage in fisticuffs. And it was regular.
I witnessed the fights while I was in the university and that was why I decided never to allow any family member live with me.
She cannot live with any of her sons without having issues with their wives, so we are trying to make inquiries about old peoples home for her because that is the next step.
Just last week, we all contributed N25,000 to give her; so I wonder where the issue of neglect is coming from.
A statement by the Force Spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood, in Abuja on Thursday said Chibueze was killed by the Police Special Forces, led by the I-Gs Intelligence Response Team at 1 a.m. on Thursday.
He said that five suspected members of the gang were also arrested and cache of arms and ammunition recovered from them.
The force spokesman said the gang have been responsible for so many kidnap and armed robbery attacks in Imo, Abia, Rivers, Delta and other states in the South-East and South-South.
Olasupo is facing a two- count charge of fraud and threat to life.
The prosecutor, Insp. Sunday Eigbejiale, told the court that the accused committed the offences in August 2013, at Sweet Sensation, Oke-Ilewo in Abeokuta.
Eigbejiale alleged that the accused obtained the sum of N1.65 million from the complainant, one Mrs Sanusi Adebukola, with the pretext of co-opting her into a supply business with the Nigeria Prisons Service.
The accused also on July 25, 2016 threatened to deal with the complainant if she ever requested to collect money she invested in the business from him, he said.
According to him, the offences contravened Sections 419 and 86(1) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun 2006.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Magistrate, Mr Oriyomi Sofowora, granted the accused bail in the sum of N250, 000, with two sureties in like sum.
She ordered that one of the sureties must be a grade level 14 officer in the state civil service.
Umaru Ibrahim made this statement today, Thursday, March 3, 2017 via the Deputy Director Corporate Affairs of NDIC, Hadi Suleiman at the 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair in Kaduna.
"The Ponzi scheme is the phenomenon of illegal fund managers,popularly called "Wonder Banks" which have continued to defraud unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned money. This phenomenon has been a source for concern because despite our repeated warnings over the years, some members of the public have continued to fall victims of their fraudulent practices" said Suleiman at the trade fair.
"We would like to reiterate the fact that these fund managers are illegal as they are neither licences by the CBN to take deposits from members of the public not are those who patronise them covered by the NDIC deposit insurance scheme. I want to also draw the attention of some cooperative society which often go beyond their primary mandate by accepting contributions from members as cooperative societies are only recognised to mobilise savings from their members" he further said.
He also stated that Nigerians lost a lot of money investing in Ponzi schemes such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Onecoin despite repeated warnings from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Speaking at a concert which was headlined by music acts like 2face Idibia, Darey Art Alade, Sound Sultan, Waje and Cobhams Asuquo, Olori Ogunwusi appealed to dignitaries at the event to support humanitarian activities as she has done.
"I have taken it upon myself to put smiles on the faces of the physically challenged and less privileged because we all deserve to be truly loved. These kids, youths are the future of tomorrow and I strongly believe in their abilities.
"I urge dignitaries and Nigerians to donate towards this cause that I have decided to champion with the support of Ooni of Ife and Nigerian entertainers, so together we can build a formidable society and world at large," the queen said.
ALSO READ: Ooni of Ife urges youths to explore potentials in agriculture
The State support for the art community was positively expressed by stakeholders at the opening symposium of the 2017 Lagos Theater Festival organized by the British Council at the National Arts Theater, Iganmu, Lagos.
The annual festival with the theme: rhythm of the city will hold for 6 days featuring 70 performances in comedy, fashion, design, theater, dance and music.
Earlier, in a goodwill message delivered by the Acting Commissioner and Special Adviser for Tourism, Arts and Culture in Lagos State Hon. Adebimpe Akinsola said the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is strongly committed to the upliftment of Theater arts in Lagos State.
She further stated that a clear demonstration of this resolve is the proposed establishment of theater arts centers in five administrative divisions of the of the State to be operated and managed by the private sector.
The Government has equally strengthened the capacity of the Council for Arts and Culture established for the propagation, promotion and preservation of Arts and culture of the State.
While commending the Lagos State government intervention in the proposed renovation of the National Arts Theatre, the representative of the Minister for Information and Culture, Mr George Ufot said the main hall will be reopened within the next 3 Months after 25 years of closure due to decay and malfunction of the facilities.
Various speakers at the event including Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters, founder and managing director, Terrakulture, Lagos who spoke on the intervention for developing the performing arts in Nigeria said the nations comparative advantage in creating jobs is in the arts not in the science with value for money and high return on investment.
Other speakers at the symposium includes, Mr. Obi Asika,Chairman, Social Media Week Lagos, Mr. David Evans, Production Manager, National Theatre Wales among others.
The mum went holier-than-thou over her daughter's innocent post that preached against rape. Her mother even threatened her with the classic "you want to go back to Nigeria?" line.
Instablog9ja posted the convo between mum and daughter today, Thursday, March 3, 2017. The back and forth reveals how Nigerian parents teach their kids about sex.
Nigerian parents shy away from talking about sex to their kids in practical ways. Puberty, sexual urges, STDs, AIDS, condoms are more or fewer taboos in many Nigerian homes. Nigerian parents are usually quiet about these.
Instead, Nigerian parents talk about sex only in religious terms. It's a black and white approach. Sex is bad and not good. "If you allow a boy touch you, you will be pregnant" is a classic line. Mothers use this line to scare their daughters from talking to men.
Most Nigerian fathers and daughters don't have the sex talk with their kids. They don't give them sex education. They use religious fear instead. Unfortunately, when they are not at home, kids learn about sex online and on TV. What most of us know about sex we didn't learn from our parents. Teenage hormones and curiosity led the way.
It's sad that Nigerian parents have carried on the tradition of sexism also. They encourage boys to sow their wild oats but tell the girls to stay indoors. When the girls become 30-year-old women they hound them about bringing a man home. Ironic isn't it?
Nigerian parents have an iron-clad approach about sex. They don't talk about it and they won't tolerate an open discussion about it at home. Instead of breaking things down with logic, they misuse religion to scare you away from sex.
The event which held Monday, February 27, 2017 at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, was well attended with over 100 industry stakeholders and federal representatives present.
Talks were centered around findings presented in Siemens 2017 African Digitalization Maturity Report, as well as brilliant interjections from distinguished industry experts and Siemens representatives, as they discussed digitization The Future is Now with the unique portfolio of products and services that are accelerating growth across industries in two panel sessions.
The Siemens 2017 African Digitalization Maturity Report benchmarks four countries at the forefront of the African digital revolution. The report found that disruptive digital technology has potential to serve more than industry. It can also help to meet development needs.
Siemens sees digitalization as a growth driver in energy, manufacturing and transport. Its digitalization report measures the extent to which African countries have the business, legal and regulatory environments to support digitalization.
Onyeche Tifase, CEO at Siemens Nigeria, gave the welcome address, where she iterated followed by a keynote address by the former ICT Minister, Omobola Johnson who made an interjection that Digital companies represent the biggest opportunities for job creations in the country in her keynote address on The digital transformation of Nigerian industry: role, agenda andaction plan.
Following the welcome address, the panel sessions started with the first being a discussion on the topic The Future is Now Driving innovation, New Business Opportunities and Competitiveness, by the industry experts and the second, a discussion titled Siemens the Future is Now, by Siemens representatives.
Panelists impressed their opinions, making a compelling argument for digital transformation in Nigeria, itemising business opportunities, competitiveness, challenges and the need for collaboration between private and public sector on harnessing Nigerias digital potential for development.
In addition to the events activities, Siemens representatives proceeded the University of Lagos, Akoka, where Siemens represented by the CEO Onyeche Tifase in the company of donated automation solutions kit to the university, honouring their promised commitment to education in West Africa - a move intended to facilitate Africas technology and skills revolution.
Following the initiative, universities in Southern and Eastern Africa identified by Siemens, would receive a Siemens SIMATIC S7-1200 automation solution kit, which would enable the electrical engineering students to simulate automation processes for a wide range of industries, such as automotive manufacturing, food & beverage production, mining to name a few.
Each solution contains a compact CPU, analogue output, simulator module, ethernet cable and software. Siemens has already identified a number of.
The Digitalization Day summit was not just talks as there were refreshment breaks in between in an atmosphere for building strong business relationships.
For over a decade, Siemens has been driving digital in Africa, presenting a wide range of offerings and solutions to customers for use across different industries including healthcare, energy, manufacturing and transport. To find out more about Siemens SIMATIC industrial automation solutions, click here or for the full Digitalization Maturity report click here.
Hassan Musa, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Ogidi, who confirmed the attack, told newsmen on Wednesday in Nkpor that the incident occurred about 9 p.m. on Feb. 28.
We took the dead and the wounded to Borromeo hospital; investigation is on. We are going to arrest the fleeing robbers, Musa vowed.
An eyewitness said nine suspected armed robbers riding on three motorcycles, killed a police officer and injured another during a shoot out.
The source said that the robbers opened fire when they saw a team of police officers at a check point in the area.
According to the source, it resulted in a gun duel which lasted for several minutes.
The source said an officer was shot on the leg while the hoodlums made away with an AK47 rifle.
The deceased was robbed and murdered in Atta in the Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state on January 12, 2017.
Punch reports that the information was disclosed at a press briefing in Owerri, on Wednesday, March 1, 2017.
The state police commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu, said that Osondu Chukwu, Uchechukwu Stanley, Onyekachi Kelvin Nwoke and Uchendu Promise were arrested with solid evidence proving that they are the culprits behind the murder of the Army veteran, who had been visiting the state for the Christmas and new year celebrations.
According to the police boss, the suspects allegedly sold Okebata's Samsung Note 5 handset at N125,000 which led the police operatives to them.
He said, The suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of one Oscar Okebata, of Achi Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, an American veteran soldier who returned home for the yuletide period last year.
The victims Samsung Note 5 handset was sold at N125,000, leading to the arrest of the suspected masterminds of the crime.
As earlier reported, Okebatas wife, was initially accused of having a hand in her Husband's murder, claims which she strongly denied.
The verbal altercation began when Omokri who is now one of the staunchest critics of the APC-led Federal Government, fired a salvo in a letter calling Amaechi a 'decorated monkey only loyal to his stomach' where he disproved with facts the allegations by Amaechi that the Goodluck Jonathan administration misappropriated funds meant for the countrys development.
Amaechi media aide, David Iyofor was quick to take on Omokri with his own caustic words thus:
'Youre a zookeeper; answer my questions, dont write about lions, monkeys.'
In the third exchange, Omokri said that Amaechis duty post is supposed to be at the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), with the words:
'Rotimi Amaechi: Leave Trash For LAWMA.'
Reno also said that instead of answering the questions he raised, where he proved the Minister wrong, Amaechi, however, resorted to spewing trash, a proof that he Amaechi 'is as irrelevant as the P in Psychology by spending his time making false allegations instead of fulfilling the mandate giving him to improve Nigerias transport infrastructure.'
Read Omokri's full article here:
"Again, Nigeria's Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has left the issues raised by my response to his fallacious interview to impugn my character in a vicious ad hominem attack on me. My response is as follows:
Why should I respond to the trash that Rotimi Amaechi has thrown at me? Out of the fullness of the heart, a man speaks. He has trash within him so he always vomits trash.
I do not react to trash. I leave trash to LAWMA. Rotimi Amaechi, with his pot belly and ill-fitting designer clothes, is trash. My dear minister, here is the address of Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA: No. 3 Iddo - Yard, Ijora Olopa, Lagos State. You can report for duty there since it is your natural habitat!
Rather than trash, I will prefer to respond to issues. The issues are very clear. Rotimi Amaechi falsely accused ex-President Goodluck Jonathan of pilfering $49.8 billion in his interview.
I proved that he lied. I proved that the maker of that allegation, the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, later withdrew it after he was faced with evidence of its falsity.
I proved that in February of 2014, the then CBN Governor wrote another letter to the Senate admitting that he did not know how much or if anything was unaccounted for saying (and I quote from Sanusi's letter) it could be $10.8 billion or $12 billion or $19 billion or $21 billion we do not know at this point.
I also proved that Rotimi Amaechi was being hypocritical when he accused the former President of not saving because he was the one who, as then-Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, insisted on September 21, 2012, that the saved funds in the Excess Crude Account be shared.
I proved that when former President Jonathan REFUSED to share the funds, Rotimi Amaechi led the NGF to sue the then Federal Government at the Supreme Court and got a judgment compelling the Jonathan administration to share the money saved in the Excess Crude Account.
As a result of these actions, the Jonathan administration was forced to pay the 36 states of the federation a total of N2.92 trillion from the Excess Crude Account by 2014. Using the value of the Naira at that time that amount was just above $20 billion dollars. This was money that was to be saved.
Again Rotimi Amaechi proves that he is as irrelevant as the P in Psychology by spending his time making false allegations instead of fulfilling the mandate giving him to improve Nigeria's transport infrastructure. Is he so jobless?
But I am not surprised. His masters already saw just how jobless he is which is why during the 2015 campaigns he was reduced to a driver to and How the people of Rivers state suffered to the extent that their Governor became a chauffeur.
You can take a donkey to the River but you cannot force it to drink and you can make Amaechi a minister but you cannot force him to act like a minister. His proper calling in life was perhaps to be a driver!
Rotimi Amaechi had no money to finish the monorail in his state, but he had $500,000 to spend on a one-day dinner for by his own admission. Is that not proof that he likes food more than knowledge and development?
When he became governor of Rivers state in 2007, the state treasury was fat and his belly was lean, by the time he left in 2015, the state treasury was lean and his belly was fat. In fact, Rotimi Amaechi's belly swapped destiny with his state's treasury!
I have had a life before government. I worked at a bank, at Parliament, as VP of a political consulting firm and now I run my own profitable business. Does Rotimi Amaechi have a life outside government?
The only job that he has had outside government was a job as Peter Odili's PA at Pamo Clinics and Hospitals, Port Harcourt. Thereafter, he rode on Odili's coattails from one government post to the other. His only political skill being to betray one political godfather as soon as he finds a bigger one.
Government post is Rotimi Amaechi's oxygen and this was what former President Olusegun Obasanjo saw when he stopped him from becoming Governor in 2007 because he knew that a man who cannot generate wealth in his private business is condemned to forever be a sycophantic political prostitute.
With the benefit of hindsight, we now see that President Obasanjo was right!
If Rotimi Amaechi wants to shut my mouth then I challenge him to go to Rumukwurushi Market in Port Harcourt without security and shout Sai Baba, Sai Amaechi. If he survives the encounter, I will forever leave him and his potbelly alone."
Omokri also took to his Twitter handle where he outlined Amaechi's different sins.
Aljhaji Shehu Adoro, its secretary, made the appeal when the council paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Aminu Masari on Wednesday in Katsina.
According to him, many couples have become victims of HIV/AIDS scourge because of the absence of such law.
Kano and Jigawa states have enacted such law which now forces intending couples to carry out the test before being joined together.
The states are already reaping the fruits; they have succeeded in reducing the cases of HIV/AIDS among couples, he said.
Adoro said that the law should also mandate intending couples to undertake sickle cell test to establish intending couples statuses so as to avoid delivering babies with sickle cell diseases.
Earlier, Masari had urged the council to work with his government to modernise the Almajiri (Islamic) system of education.
Masari particularly expressed concern over the lack of shelter for such Almajiri children, and regretted that most of them sleep on bare floors around street corners.
The governor said that his administration was ready to work with Islamic scholars to provide water and other necessary facilities for such children to improve their living standards.
Audu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the State Executive Council (SEC) gave the approval at the council meeting on Wednesday at the Government House.
He said the decision was part of the state governments continuous efforts to upgrade the health care delivery in Kogi by employing staff to fill the alarming gap in all spheres of the health sector.
A situation whereby hospitals are built without adequate manpower, as was the norm in the previous administration, is no longer acceptable under the present administration led by Gov. Yahaya Bello.
The manpower gap in some hospitals is perilous, and to this administration, the health of every citizen of Kogi is premium.
The Governor has continuously demonstrated his great passion for bringing quality and effective leadership to the people of Kogi State as portrayed in his New Direction Blueprint, Audu said.
The commissioner said others to be employed include medical officers, resident doctors, house officers, dental technicians, nurses, pharmacists, and technicians.
"What's wrong with going on vacation?" Buhari shot back at journalists rhetorically; his aides striding dutifully around him.
"Didn't I go last year the same time?"
As it turns out, even President Buhari would be first to admit that this has been no ordinary vacation.
It was different from last year's vacation where the Presidency announced that the nation's number one citizen would be flying to the UK to treat an infected ear.
This time, no one has been told what the President is tending to.
The nation has been told that the President is "hale and hearty", even though a "hale and hearty" President has postponed his home coming indefinitely.
He sought for an extension, a day before the 10-day vacation was due to elapse.
President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the National Assembly, today, February 5, 2017, informing it of his desire to extend his leave in order to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by his Doctors", announced Special Adviser to the President on media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
The President had planned to return to Abuja this (Sunday) evening, but was advised to complete the test cycle before returning. The notice has since been dispatched to the Senate President, and Speaker, House of Representatives.
Mr. President expresses his sincere gratitude to Nigerians for their concern, prayers and kind wishes.
The nation has been apprehensive since the President extended his vacation.
And that's putting it mildly.
Speculation has been rife that Buhari is suffering from a chronic ailment and that the official government line that he is only staying back in the UK to receive test results from Doctors, is a fabrication aimed at concealing deeper health concerns.
Rumours that President Buhari is dead have since been debunked with pictures after pictures of the nation's Commander-in-Chief meeting with APC chieftains Bisi Akande and Bola Tinubu,Senate President Bukola Saraki, House Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State.
The President has also placed phone calls across to Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his media aides--Garba Shehu, Lai Mohammed and Adesina.
There was also the 'small matter' of a with U.S President Donald Trump.
However, news reports suggesting that Buhari won't be physically fit to cope with the rigours of his office should he return, have persisted.
Three weeks ago, Pulse reported that a cabal within the Nigerian Presidency has been mounting pressure on Buhari to return home, even though the President's Doctors hold a contrary opinion.
The cabal has been uncomfortable with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo's sterling performance in an acting capacity, and fear that the longer Buhari remains holed up in a London apartment, the likelihood that the North will lose the power game to the South in Nigeria's peculiar high stakes equation, Pulse had exclusively detailed
Hours after, other news outlets picked up the story and layered same with different versions.
Quoting unnamed sources, online news platform, Sahara Reporters, disclosed that "apart from a lingering prostrate flare-up and other chronic conditions, the Nigerian leader has also recently been battling with a persistent internal organ problem.
"The source attributed President Buharis inability to eat as well as his progressive loss of weight to a medical condition that has affected his digestive system".
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Sahara Reporters added that: "Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, leading to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.
"Inflammation caused by the disease can affect different areas of the digestive tract in different patients, but doctors interviewed for this report disclosed that it usually occurs in the intestines, where the inflammation caused by Crohn's disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue.
"SaharaReporters had reported that Mr. Buhari also has prostate cancer that was first treated by UK doctors shortly after the Nigerian leader lost the 2011 presidential election to former .
The Presidency is yet to deny details of this report, days after.
Back home, acting President Osinbajo has been doing the business.
And he's been at it so well that Nigerians have confessed that they aren't missing their President.
Fears that Osinbajo is taking the shine off his boss, forced the Presidency to remind Nigerians that the number two man has been acting in accordance with instructions handed down from a London apartment.
There is nothing that has been done since the Vice-President started acting that is not something that started far back in the past. A good example is the Niger Delta initiative", Special Adviser to President Buhari on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, barked at journalists as the comparisons between Osinbajo and Buhari's governance styles, reached fever pitch.
Ojudu added that; "The same people who said we never had an economic team, no policy, nothing...are the ones saying this.
It is now that the policies we are implementing are maturing and they are seeing the result. It is not a question of one person being better than the other person.
There is nothing that has been done since the Vice-President started acting that is not something that started far back in the past. A good example is the Niger Delta initiative.
The President called the Vice-President and said I am giving you the mandate, go into the Niger Delta and meet with everyone who is a stakeholder, all the communities, talk to the militants and make sure you solve this problem for the benefits of Nigerians.".
And Osinbajo's charm offensive across the Niger Delta is beginning to yield fruit.
Nigeria's crude oil output has hit the 2.1million bpd (barrel per day) mark, up from previous poor levels of 1.7million bpd before Buhari embarked on his vacation, following some semblance of peace in the creeks--one of the many gains from the acting President's tour of the restive region.
On Osinbajo's watch, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed its foreign exchange policy by ensuring liquidity to the interbank.
The move has seen the Naira in recent days.
In Buhari's absence, protesters railing against economic hardship (made to bite even more by a slump in the global price of oil), have hit the streets.
It took Osinbajo's diplomatic toolkit to calm frayed nerves.
Osinbajo has also held security meetings with police boss Ibrahim Idris (aimed at restoring peace to Southern Kaduna where religious extremists have been slaughtering Christians) and service chiefs.
After his last security outing, Osinbajo made it clear that details from the meeting would be communicated to an ailing Buhari.
"Almost every month, these briefings are held, it is routine and it is the President who put in place this whole idea of regular briefings.
"Besides, the President is a process person and certainly, I am going to speak with him on developments here", Osinbajo assured.
The Vice President has also ensured the confirmation of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria; after Buhari's famed foot-dragging led to yet more apprehension on the subject in certain quarters.
Policy analysts say Osinbajo's professorial, wonky, engaging style has stood in stark contrast to Buhari's sullen, aloof governance approach.
There are indications that 42 days may well morph into four months or less in this game of hide and seek between the Presidency and the Nigerian people, leading to suggestions that a constitutional crisis occasioned by the President's absence, may well be in the offing.
Human Rights Lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has posited that Buhari should be impeached if he stays away from office beyond 60-days.
Adegboruwa premised his submission on the constitutional provision that the President is only entitled to 60-days of annual leave.
Once it is impossible to determine definitively, the period of days to be spent by the President, whether on annual vacation or medical vacation, what that translates to in law is that the President has given indication of his inability to perform the functions of his office, leaving Nigerians with no other choice than to replace him immediately, with the acting President as the substantive president", Adegboruwa told The Guardian.
He added that: It is indeed very unfortunate that the President is ill and we cannot begrudge him the right to have his treatment, as no one can play God in the area of illness.
But if the illness of the President is of such a nature as to make it impossible for him to perform the functions of his office, then there cannot be a vacuum in that office. The fact that there is an Acting president will not suffice.
A President of a sovereign state as Nigeria cannot be allowed to abscond his duty post under the guise of medical vacation.
"In this case, the President has turned himself into some form of tourist attraction, whereby, he has turned his abode into an alternative government house, where who-is-who in Nigeria now troop to, giving room for speculations and vacuum in governance.
If by the end of February 2017, the President is unable, for reason of ill health, to resume his normal duties as President, then the Senate should proceed to invoke the provisions of section 144 of the constitution to declare his seat vacant, so that the Vice President will officially step into the position of President".
However, the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters, Sen Ita Enang, says the President has acted in accordance with the laws of the land.
Enang said; "What is important is that there is communication with the Senate.
The governor made the call on Wednesday in Ilorin at the swearing-in of a new Grand Kadi of the Shariah Court, Hon. Muhammed Ola Abdulkadir.
Recent happenings on alleged corruption against some members of the judiciary make the public question the integrity of the judiciary.
Judges across the country should be bold, fearless, incorruptible, follow the principles of the constitution and promote democracy, he said.
The judiciary must be inclusive and promote social justice.
Ensuring equal treatment of all before the law goes a long way in building trust in the credibility of the judicial system, he said.
The governor stressed that all citizens must have unrestricted and equal access to justice at all times while the rights of all must be protected regardless of gender, age or status.
According to Ahmed, justice helps society create organised human relations and forms the basis of strong institutions and good governance.
Earlier, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Kamaldeen Ajibade, said the newly sworn-in Grand Kadi had satisfied all the constitutional provisions relating to the appointment.
Responding, the Grand Kadi pledged to live up to the expectations of the people of the state.
The governor said this during the South South Public hearing on Constitutional and Electoral Reform organised by the Electoral Reform Committee in Calabar.
Ayade, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Ivara Esu, noted that the 2014 conference was made up of Nigerians with proven integrity from all professional backgrounds.
The conference had people of proven integrity and they came out with a very good document, please ensure that you consult it, he said.
According to him, the 2014 conference report contains most of the terms of reference of the present electoral reform committee.
The governor also called for the adoption of simultaneous accreditation and voting system which was experimented during the 2016 elections in Edo and Ondo states, to avoid loss of time during elections.
Ayade said that measures must be put in place to discourage politicians from jumping from one party to another arbitrarily.
He also recommended a two-party system, where the parties had strong ideologies, for the country.
The Chairman of the committee, Sen. Ken Nnamani, in his remark, said the committee was in the zone as part of its wider consultation to seek contributions from the public on the way forward for Nigerias electoral system.
He acknowledged the recommendations of similar committees in the past, but said that every system was prone to improvement until a perfect one was put in place.
Nnamani described election as the live wire of any democracy, urging people of the zone to come forward and make their contributions for the advancement of the nations democracy and good governance.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, said the essence of setting up the electoral reform committee was to provide good governance.
We cannot provide good governance if our electoral system is still weak, he said.
Mallami, who was represented by Mr Okoi Obla, a Special Adviser to the Minister, said the Federal Government was committed to carrying out far-reaching reforms in the public service, to ensure accountability and the rule of law.
Dimgba, however, ordered that a letter be written and hearing notice be forwarded to the DSS to formally intimate it of the next hearing date fixed for March 21.
The suit was filed against the Inspector- General of Police and the Director- General of DSS by Kashamu to restrain them from extraditing him to the U.S. to face charges on drugs related offences.
Kashamu, representing Ogun East in the Senate, also joined a serving House of Representatives member, Oladipupo Adebutu in the suit.
Kashamu claimed that the summon issued to him to appear before a special investigation panel of the I-G on the strength of a petition by Adebutu, on alleged assassination attempt was a ploy to abduct and transport him to the U.S.
He also claimed that the petitioner had been boasting that he would cause his extradition to the U.S. with the assistance of the Police and DSS.
Kashamu pleaded with the court to restrain DSS and Police from inviting him to appear before any panel.
ALSO READ: Court grants order for the arrest of Senator anywhere
The DSS, Police and Adebutu had asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to compel Kashamu to honour invitation extended to him by the DSS and Police on alleged assassination attempt on Adebutu.
They had asked the court to disregard and reject the claim by Kashamu that the invitation of the security agents was a ploy to forcefully abduct him and extradite him to the U.S.
Melaye also said that stolen funds were being hidden in uncompleted buildings in remote villages.
He made the comments on Wednesday, March 1, while calling for a probe into the affairs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Monies are not accounted for and that might be the reason we now see petro-dollars buried in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages in some parts of the country, Melaye said.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki subsequently ordered the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to carry out a holistic investigation into the NNPC.
The NNPC has been accused of failing to remit N5.1 trillion in fuel subsidy funds collected between 2006 and 2015 to the government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), on February 10, recovered separate sums of $9,772,800 and 74,000 from former NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned the two on a 17-count charge of laundering about N4.6 billion. However, they pleaded not guilty.
They were charge along with former National Chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Yusuf Danjuma and a company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Ltd.
Usman is urging the court to allow her to be tried separately from Fani-Kayode, and for her trial to be transferred from Lagos to the Abuja division, for convenience.
Arguing the application on Wednesday, Nenadis lawyer, Abiodun Owonikowo (SAN) said: the issue of venue of criminal trial is governed by the nature of the offence and the place it was committed.
Owonikowo cited Supreme Courts dismissal of the case of Rhoda vs FRN because the offence was committed in Kano but the suspect was tried in Abuja.
He said that his clients application was based on Usmans health condition.
He added that Nenadi lives in Abuja and therefore has to travel to Lagos each time the case comes up, and has to spend at least three days in Lagos on each occasion.
On the issue of convenience of forum, the end of justice will be served if this case is taken to where the offence was allegedly committed.
The fact that arraignment has taken place does not mean the case cannot be transferred.
Opposing the application, EFCCs lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, said the chief judge could notexercise his powers to transfer a case where the prosecution had called its first witness.
Besides, he said, 13 of the listed 17 witnesses live in Lagos, adding that the instance cited by Owonikowo was not applicable.
He said severing the charge will mean duplicating evidence before different courts. I urge your lordship to refuse this application.
Fani-Kayodes lawyer, Norrison Quakers (SAN), also moved the former ministers application, asking the judge to disqualify himself from adjudicating on the case.
He contended that Justice Muslim Hassan, who worked as Head of Legal Services at the EFCC before his appointment as a judge, signed the money laundering charge for which Fani-Kayode was previously tried.
He added that Fani-Kayode was however, acquitted by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumobia on July 1, 2015.
In response, Oyedepo also opposed the application, saying although Justice Hassan signed the charges as head of EFCCs legal department, the case was prepared and prosecuted by an external counsel, Festus Keyamo.
He said at no time did the judge feature in the trial.
We (EFCC) were also extremely scolded by your lordship when the applicant was re-arrested in court in relation to another matter.
Nothing has been placed before my lord to justify the likelihood of bias. This application is only intended to whip up sentiments and paint the court in bad light.
It is not for any party to decide the judge that will adjudicate on a case. I urge the court to dismiss the application.
According to NAPTIP, the girls, who are victims of trafficking, are being used for prostitution in Mali.
The agency made the comments via a statement released by spokesman, Josiah Emerole on Wednesday, March 1.
The statement reads:
The NAPTIP has commenced investigation into the trafficking into Mali of the 37 female Nigerians. Four female suspects were also deported. a victims are being counselled by NAPTIP counsellors, while the suspects are in custody, making useful statements.
The repatriation of the Nigerians was assisted by the Defence Headquarters, Abuja. The girls were said to be already posing a security risk to Mali. Reports indicate that over 5,000 Nigerian females are presently in different parts of Mali being forced into prostitution by their traffickers who had promised to help them to Europe.
The acting Director General of NAPTIP, Mr. Abdulrazak Dangiri, has put in place, measures that would be presented to government to ensure that all other victims stranded in Mali and other parts of Africa are rescued and brought back to Nigeria.
ALSO READ:NAPTIP rescues 146 victims of human trafficking in Kano
The statement comes following the return of 41 Nigerian human trafficking victims from Mali on Monday.
This, according to the lawmakers, is to determine the functionality of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and vault cash levels with a view to minimising the incidents of debits without dispensation of cash by the machine.
The call was sequel to the adoption of a motion by Rep. Joseph Edionwele (PDP-Edo) entitled Need to Investigate the Sharp Practices in Automated Teller Machines (ATM).
Moving the motion, Edionwele explained that many bank customers who used the ATM services were being short-changed by malfunctioning ATMs.
He explained that the ATMs though unable to dispense cash, automatically debited the customers account and had it recorded in the banks transactions.
According to him, failure to complain such error may result in non-reversal, in the case of many ignorant customers.
Many Nigerians may have unknowingly fallen victim of the sharp practices by banks considering the sizeable population of customers who may not be alerted on their communication devices on transactions in their accounts.
If these sharp practices are not checked, banks customers may erode the confidence of the banking public in ATMs which can adversely affect the cashless policy being promoted by the CBN.
The apex bank is the agency saddled with the responsibility to supervise the operations of commercial banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria, he said.
Supporting the motion, Rep. Jide Jimoh (Lagos-APC) said that errors were being made by humans, not to talk of machines, and urged members to support the motion.
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Jimoh added that measures should be put in place to check mechanical errors in the ATM transactions.
Opposing the motion, however, Rep. Dennis Nnamdi (Enugu-PDP), cautioned the house to be circumspect in issuing directives because the CBN was fully aware of banks sharp practices.
The court also ordered that the convict should be given 12 strokes of cane.
The judge, Alhaji Alhassan Kusherki, convicted Alhassan after he pleaded guilty to the offence of theft which contravened Section 288 of the Penal Code.
The judge, however, gave him an option to pay a fine of N20, 000 for the jail term.
Earlier, the Prosecuting Counsel, Mr Abdullahi Tanko, had said that the matter was reported at the Gwagwalada Police Station on Feb. 11 by Yahaya Yongas of Tafa Police Station, Kaduna.
Tanko told the court that the convict went to the Redeemed Church opposite Government Secondary School, Dagiri in Gwagwalada and stole a red Yamaha motorcycle valued at N120,000.
He said that the convict was sighted at Tafa-Kaduna road with the motorcycle and that during police investigation, he confessed to have committed the offence.
And this applies even to new vehicles bought from car dealers.
The Acting Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Mr Joseph Attah, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the comptroller-general had given a window of one month, from March 13 to April 12 for car owners to pay the appropriate duty on their vehicles.
The public relations officer said that some owners of vehicles brought into the country through the land borders, obviously, did not pay duty.
He advised that owners of such vehicles should go and comply by paying the duty on their vehicles.
Attah listed four Customs Zonal offices where authenticity of Car Customs duty could be verified; such as Zone A Headquarters, No 1, Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos; and Zone B Headquarters, Kabala Doki, Kaduna.
He mentioned other offices where duty could be verified as: Zone C Headquarters, Port Harcourt and Zone D Headquarters, Yelwa Tudu Road, Bauchi State.
Attah said that any vehicle owner in doubt, who was not sure of the authenticity of his Customs document, could approach the above zones closest to him to verify.
He said that after the deadline of the given period, Customs would embark on an aggressive anti-smuggling operation to seize vehicles as well as prosecute the owners.
The Customs spokesman said that since the ban on importation of vehicles through the land borders by the Federal Government, the service had been working to perfect the process of issuing licences for bonded vehicle terminals for car dealers.
Attah said that before the start of the process, NCS is advising all car owners in Nigeria that have not paid duty on their vehicles to do so.
Once we start issuing the licence, any vehicle already in the country with no evidence of duty payment, will be liable to seizure and the owner will be prosecuted.
We advise Nigerians to take advantage given to them within the one month to go to our zonal offices closest to them to pay. Even those who are not too sure of the Customs document in their possessionbecause some people may have ignorantly brought these vehicles with fake documentsthey should go and verify.
If they discover that what is in their possession is fake, they should just pay the duty.
Immediately after the deadline, the NCS will embark on an aggressive anti-smuggling operation to arrest vehicle owners, seize the vehicles and prosecute the owners, Attah said.
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He said that a smuggled vehicle is always a smuggled vehicle unless the appropriate duty is paid on it.
According to him, the status of a smuggled vehicle never changed.
We just advise that any person who knows that appropriate duty has not been paid on the vehicle he or she is using including motor dealers, who have collections of assorted cars in their car mart should go and pay duty, Attah said.
Baru made the appeal at the 26th edition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) on Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, with Nigerias enormous reserves in gas as the 9th largest in the World, unemployment and infrastructural challenges can be tackled but the disruptions are crippling activities like power generation.
On this note, I will like to use this medium to appeal to the militants in the Niger Delta to stop the attack on pipeline infrastructure to enable us sustain our plan and grow the industry for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Gas pipeline vandalism has been the most disruptive challenge to supply across the country, but more recently in the West.
The Trans-Forcados crude oil pipeline (TFP) has been the major victim of attacks, so also the ELPS gas pipeline has seen surprising increase in attacks.
As we speak today, there is enough gas to generate about 4,800 megawatts and 6,000 megawatts by second quarter of 2017, based on our gas supply plan.
However, the power sector is presently struggling to evacuate 4,500 megawatts power due to DISCOs incessant rejection of allocated load and transmission line constraints, he said.
Baru said that interventions in the sector yielded results on Feb. 2, 2016 as a record high peak generation of 5,079 megawatts (86 per cent thermal) was attained, but that incessant attacks on pipelines significantly affected gas supply.
He said that in spite of challenges, NNPC was committed to ensuring adequate gas supply to meet Nigerias industrial growth.
He said that strategic repositioning of the sector was ongoing to support massive gas-based industrialisation to place Nigeria as the regional hub for gas-based industries such as fertiliser, methanol and petrochemicals.
The first of this effort is the planned 30 square-kilometre Gas Revolution Industrial Park in Delta which will be Africas largest gas industrial park, supporting gas-based industries.
Also, we have successfully completed a pilot programme to introduce natural gas as fuel for transportation through Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Today, over 4,000 cars, mostly commercial taxis, run on natural gas in Benin, served by a network of six gas-filling stations. We are currently extending the CNG initiative to other parts of the country.
Apart from the obvious environmental benefits, use of gas in transportation is cheaper; taxi drivers save significantly on petrol cost as CNG is sold at 46 per cent of the price of petrol," he added.
The GMD said that CNG was not only cheaper but was neater, cleaner, pilferage-free, burned cleaner and had become the fuel of choice for power globally.
Speaking to journalists shortly after his remarks at the lecture, Baru said that the Oben-Geregu (196km), Escravos-Warri-Oben (110km), Emuren-Itoki (50km), Itoki-Olorunsogo (31km), Imo River-Alaoji (24km), Ukanafun-Calabar (128km) had been successfully implemented.
He made the comments on Wednesday, March 1, during a meeting with Nigerias service chiefs in Abuja.
As you know, the Boko Haram as a military force has been degraded. They are not holding territory at the moment. Our armed forces have been able to dislodge them from practically all territories they were holding in the past, he said.
What is happening now is just once in a while attack by suicide bombers. By the nature of asymmetric warfare, we are not able to say it has ended now.
But I think that militarily they have been contained. There is no question at all that Boko Haram as a fighting force has been degraded. We are still vigilant because of their capacity to do damage with suicide bombers. I am very satisfied with what the military has done so far.
And the briefing has shown graphically that they are really on top of their game and that they are doing excellently well in the Northeast," he added.
Osinbajo also said that he would relay the details of the briefing to President Muhammadu Buhari, whos in London for a medical vacation.
Buhari left the country on January 19 and was ordinarily meant to spend 10 days but he wrote the Senate on February 5 to extend his vacation indefinitely.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Senate passed the bill seeking to legalise the corps and awaiting the assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Presenting the members to journalists in Abuja, the Force spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood said the operations was aimed at halting and riding the country of illegal and unlawful security outfits.
He said that intelligence reports revealed that some illegal security outfits had started acquiring weapons and conducting covert military training across the country.
The peace corps has unlawfully turned itself into a security outfit without the authourisation and establishment by the Federal government, he said.
Moshood further said that the corps, under the leadership of Akor, was registered as a non-governmental organisation but was operating with disregard to the countrys law.
He said that during preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the personnel of the corps were extorting money from unsuspecting youths in the county.
Anyone who must have paid money under any presence to the corps should report to the nearest police station anywhere in the country, he said.
Moshood said members of the corps had no legal authority to wear uniform and for the corps to be paraded as security outfit.
He said that members of the corps use ranks, insignia, badges of ranks among others similar to the police and military without approval by Federal Government.
The Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies will not fold their arms and allow lawlessness to be unleashed on the society."
The police spokesman said that the joint security operations would be sustained to crack down on the activities of all proscribed illegal security outfits across the country.
Moshood advised parents and guardians to prevail on their children and wards to return from the illegal military camps owned by the corps across the country.
The spokesman said that the head office of the corps at the Jabi Lake, Utako, Abuja, had been sealed after the arrest.
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Moshood said that the federal gazette in 2013 had dissolved and proscribed illegal security outfits in the country.
He said the suspects would be arraigned in court on completion of investigation.
Reacting, Akor said that the corps activities were aimed at changing the character of the Nigerian youths and how to be responsible citizens.
On the payment of the N40, 000 by applicants, he said that the money was meant for the purchase of uniforms and their feeding adding that the corps was a voluntary organisation.
He said that the corps uniform was approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
No-one can pocket judiciary on my watch - Onnoghen
Justice Walter Onnoghen was yesterday confirmed by the Senate as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), and so became the 15th person to occupy the exalted seat after Nigerias independence in 1960.
Court strikes out six charges against IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has struck out the allegation of the management of an unlawful society and five other charges brought against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and three others, by the Federal Government.
Militants threaten South African firms over xenophobic attacks
Militant groups in the Niger Delta have asked the 18 South African companies and personnel to leave the region or risk attacks.
VANGUARD NEWSPAPER
Kanu: IPOB not unlawful group - Court
THE Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, struck-out six of the 11-count criminal charge the Federal Government preferred against the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and three other pro-Biafra agitators.
Corrupt Nigerians hiding stolen money in caskets, remote villages - Senate
The Senate, yesterday, alerted the nation to the fact that corrupt politicians now hide stolen money in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages.
Militants give South African firms 30-day ultimatum
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, condemned attacks by South African youths on Nigerians and other African nationals in their country.
THE NATION NEWSPAPER
DSS probes ex-governor's 'link' with militia leader
Former Governor Gabriel Suswam is being probed by the Department of State Services (DSS) for his alleged link with a militia leader, Terwaze Akwazza (a.k.a Gana), The Nation learnt yesterday.
IPOB chief Kanu to face five charges
The trial of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu is to begin on March 20. He will be tried along with three others Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and an engineer, David Nwawuisi.
Power supply gets N701bn boost
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved N701 billion Power Assurance Guarantee for the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET)to ensure a better supply of gas to the power plants. This will in turn improve power supply.
THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER
Xenophobic attacks: Militants threaten MTN, others as Obasanjo berates leaders
A coalition of Niger Delta militants, on Wednesday, threatened to blow up Multichoice, owner of DSTV; MTN, Shoprite and 16 other major South African investments in Nigeria if the Federal Government failed to shut them down within one month.
Senate confirms Onnoghen, South gets CJN after 30 years
The Senate, on Wednesday, confirmed the appointment of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, making him the first person from the southern part of the country to occupy the office in the last 30 years.
Ex-President Jonathan to lead peace process - Fayose
The witness, who is a former Senior Special Executive Assistant to Ladoja, gave the evidence at the resumed trial of the ex governor and his aide, Waheed Akanbi, charged with N4.7 billion fraud.
The accused are being prosecuted by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Led in evidence on Thursday by the prosecutor, Mr Oluwafemi Olabisi, the witness told the court that Ladoja purchased the said vehicles for the lawmakers, in order to win their loyalty and to evade impeachment in 2005.
The witness said that out of the 22 cars purchased by the ex governor, he was only able to give out 14, as that represented the number of lawmakers whose loyalty he was able to secure.
Atanda explained that the Oyo State House of Assembly had 32 lawmakers and for Ladoja to have stopped his impeachment, he required the votes of 22 members of the assembly.
The witness, who claimed to have met Ladoja back in the year 2000 when he (Atanda) was vying for a senatorial seat, gave a detailed narration of how the administration of Ladoja ran into trouble after he had become a governor.
Well, I dont know exactly how it started but it appeared as if there was a rift between members of the Oyo State House of Assembly on one hand, and some political actors in the state.
Very many attempts were made to remove Sen Ladoja from office; various petitions were written and at the end of the day, an impeachment process was set in motion.
Oyo State has about 32 members of the House of Assembly and to successfully impeach the governor, it would require two-thirds majority support of the members of the House of Assembly; that will be about 22 members.
In order to secure the loyalty of these 22 members of the House certain promises were made by different political actors, and one of such was that loyal members would be given vehicles.
In the course of all these, I had discussion with Sen Ladoja and explained to him that it was important that his promises be kept.
At the material time, it was rather impossible to buy these vehicles because they were not included in the budget for the year, so, we started looking for alternative ways to accommodate the request, Atanda said.
Atanda said that he eventually obtained a loan of N80 million from Wema Bank with his personal assets to assist Ladoja, who was his political associate.
He said that the vehicles were bought and collected from the various dealers by the drivers of the Oyo State Government and delivered to the Government House in Ibadan.
In spite of this, I think, by December 2005, the governor was impeached from office. he said
He said that after he was impeached, Ladoja and his allies, including the 14 lawmakers loyal to him fled and regrouped in Lagos.
He said there in Lagos, Ladoja continued to take responsibility for the welfare of the lawmakers, who demanded to be paid a monthly income of one million Naira each after their salaries and allowances had been stopped.
He added that Ladoja also assembled a team of lawyers, who demanded a fee of N370 million to challenge the impeachment up to the Supreme Court.
EFCC had in November 2008 arraigned the accused on a 10-count charge of conspiring to convert properties and resources derived from an alleged illegal act, with the intention of concealing their illicit origin.
ALSO READ: Accord Party confirms Ladoja received N100m from Anenih
The EFCC also alleged that Ladoja used N42 million out of the proceeds to purchase an Armoured Land Cruiser Jeep, and remitted about 600,000 pounds to one Bimpe Ladoja in London.
Ladoja and Akanbi however pleaded not guilty to the charges, and were allowed to continue on their earlier bail terms.
Saraki, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Print Media, Mr Chuks Okocha, made this known when the Board of Directors of Daily Times Nigeria, visited him in Abuja.
According to the statement, the visit was to convey the decision of the Board to name him the Politician of the Year, 2016.
Saraki, who accepted the award said that it was the responsibility of every Nigerian to ensure that such institutions like the media continued to grow.
We commend the role the Daily Times, as an institution, has played in our democracy for many years and the role you will continue to play in our democracy.
That is why I want to encourage you to keep up the passion and commitment you have displayed so far, Saraki said.
He reassured them that the National Assembly would continue to partner with institutions like the Daily Times of Nigeria, adding it was the media strength and capacity that would help sustain democracy in the country.
ALSO READ: Saraki congratulates Onnoghen on confirmation as CJN
One of the problems we have not only here in Nigeria, it is all over the world, is the issue of fake news.
So, I think it is very important that you write news that is truthful and accurate for the consumption of our people, he charged the management of Daily Times of Nigeria," he added.
Pastor Bayo Oladeji, Special Assistant, Media and Communications, CAN, stated this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
The association urged security agencies to wake up to their responsibilities because despite the curfew and the presence of the Police in the volatile zone, the killings remain unabated.
He said called on members of the association to continue praying for the permanent restoration of peace in the area.
Meanwhile, speaking at the National Executive Committee (NEC) held in Abuja on Thursday, the CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle could not hide his disappointment in the unending killings and the treatment of those responsible with kid gloves.
All of us should organise prayers again and if possible with fasting to seek the intervention of God so that this senseless destruction of human beings might stop.
I think what has encouraged this type of carnage in Southern Kaduna is the inability of the law enforcement agents to apprehend the criminals responsible for these killings.
If they were apprehended at all, they were not conclusively prosecuted.
We have heard more often than not; the law enforcement agents, saying the criminals are unknown gunmen; whose duty is it to know them? Is it not the law enforcement agents, he asked
Ayokunle disclosed the plan made by the National Secretariat of CAN to provide relief materials for the victims of the carnage in both Southern Kaduna and the Agatu community, Benue.
We are planning to visit Southern Kaduna to distribute relief materials to the victims of the massacre there.
We planned to do this earlier and chose date but we couldnt go because we received security report that it was not safe to do so.
We would equally visit the Agatu community in Benue State to distribute relief materials, he said.
The president reminded its members not to cease praying for President Muhammadu Buhari, the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
He also urged prayers for the quick recovery of the economy from the recession to relief the populace who were under its consequences.
I urge all of us to be praying for the President of our country, who is sick and is out of the country for treatment.
We had twice released our pleas for prayers for him. It is our spiritual and legitimate duty as people of God.
We should also pray for the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo that God might guide him aright this time when he acts for his principal.
We should organise prayers, if possible vigil at every state secretariat of CAN to pray for our country at a chosen date.
The FCT CAN could use the national secretariat for their prayers. In each centre, the governor of the state or his representative should be invited to such prayer meeting, Ayokunle said.
On the economic recession, Ayokunle said, with the way our economy is going and violence is increasing without much answer from the law enforcement agents, we need divine intervention.
He said that CAN have observed with dismay the destruction of church buildings in some parts of the country while the law enforcement agents seem powerless.
According to him, churches are destroyed in states like Jigawa on the excuse that they did not get building permit whereas they had applied for permit many years without being given.
He said Recently, a Redeemed Christian Church of God was burnt down in Apiawe Village, Dei-Dei, here in Abuja very early in the morning.
What shall we do to these continuous provocations without any visible action by the law enforcement agents?
He called on all and sundry to support CAN Trust Fund (CTF) because it was the answer to the paucity of funds for operation in CAN.
ALSO READ:7 Important things you should know about the Southern Kaduna crisis
He explained that without sufficient funds, the CAN leadership might not be able to discharge all the constitutional responsibilities including the Save Our Souls cry from its members.
The well attended meeting by all the principal officers, national officers, zonal and state leaders prayed for the unity of the body of Christ and the country including President Buhari.
According to Vanguard, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba said refugees and asylum seekes should be welcome anywhere around the world.
He said When he was widely quoted as blaming foreigners for crimes and asking them to leave the city. We consider the Mayors comment as careless, uncharitable and combustive. Xenophobes find comment such as this as inspiration, especially as it is coming from high and official quarters. We expect that public officials should know better and act wiser.
The Nigeria Labour Congress affirms that the recent February 2017 xenophobic attack like previous ones in 2008 and 2015 is yet another unacceptable and avoidable development. We totally condemn it and call on the South African Government to move without further delay to take actions to prevent another occurrence.
It is unacceptable that foreigners, migrants, refugees and Asylum Seekers are labeled criminals as a justification to subject them to extra-judicial actions.
NLC considers the South Africa Governments condemnation of this recent xenophobic attack as a positive action.
We, however, call on the government to go beyond condemnation to investigate, prosecute and sanction persons, groups or individuals that might have played any role in this mindless attack on foreigners, Wabba added.
According to Punch, the President of the TUC, Mr. Bala Kaigama also asked the Federal Government to recall the Nigerians High Commissioner to South Africa.
He said From all indications, it appears there is a grand conspiracy by the government cum state security apparatus to continue to mindlessly waste lives and take over properties of innocent and harmless fellow Africans.
We are calling on the Federal Government to put modalities in place to evacuate Nigerians in South Africa and recall the High Commissioner immediately to save the situation as further killing may lead to a major crisis.
They own several multi-billion dollar investments on our soils; yet, we co-exist despite all odds. This killing and duhumanisation of Nigerians must stop. Not anymore; this must stop!
If killing and maiming of Nigerians is the sacrifice required for us to maintain a cordial relationship, we are not willing to take it anymore.
From all indications, it appears there is a grand conspiracy by the government cum state security apparatus to continue to mindlessly waste lives and take over properties of innocent and harmless fellow Africans.
We are calling on the Federal Government to put modalities in place to evacuate Nigerians in South Africa and recall the High Commissioner immediately to save the situation as further killing may lead to a major crisis.
They own several multi-billion dollar investments on our soils; yet, we co-exist despite all odds. This killing and duhumanisation of Nigerians must stop. Not anymore; this must stop!
If killing and maiming of Nigerians is the sacrifice required for us to maintain a cordial relationship, we are not willing to take it anymore.
Kaigama also said that no South African has been killed in Nigeria despite the xenophobic attacks carried out on our brothers in their country.
He added that most of the South African companies in Nigeria go against the labour laws, but none has been shut down.
The labour leader said How do we refer to this anti-Nigeria, nay Africa attitude? One wonders what these South Africans are turning into. Is it a case of ingratitude or lack of historical documentation by their leaders, of the unmatched leadership role Nigeria played in the 80s towards the dismantling of apartheid?
It is on record that thousands of South African children were brought to Nigeria and distributed across all the unity schools in Nigeria and were fed and housed free courtesy of Nigerian government and Nigerians.
They were welcomed with open arms! How have their youths missed this history that Nigerians have become objects for destruction in modern day South Africa?
The businesses named include telecommunications giant, MTN, Multichoice and Shoprite.
The militants also urged the government to shut down the companies within one month.
The letter, which was obtained by Punch, reads in part:
Arising from the joint meeting of the Niger Delta Watchdogs, Niger Delta Volunteers and Niger Delta Strike Force, held today (Wednesday) in Port Harcourt, we condemn the recent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
We want to state that the recent attacks (on Nigerians in South Africa) will mark the end of this nonsense because we will not fold our arms and allow this to continue. We, therefore, call on the Nigerian Government to immediately close down all the businesses owned by South Africans in Nigeria.
Failure to close down these companies within one month, we shall mobilise in full force and commence massive attacks on the above-mentioned South African-owned investments in Nigeria. We shall also make sure that all MTN masts and offices are brought down to naught.
We shall strike any property and persons from South Africa within our reach; we will bring down Multichoice (DSTV), Shoprite and others. We will not fold our arms and watch you (South Africans) slaughter our people like chickens for no just cause.
We are fully prepared; our professional fighters are already strategizing, South Africans must be crushed in Nigeria; our people must be free from these wicked agents. How can you explain a situation where the police clobbered defenceless Nigerian citizens to death without any provocation?
The meeting believes that political engagement of all stakeholders to the dispute may bring a lasting solution. Former President Jonathan is to lead the process, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose told Punch.
The ongoing courts processes notwithstanding, party faithful should be patient and allow for possible resolution through dialogue. We believe while the case is going on, we should engage all the stakeholders. The unity in the party is more important without prejudice to the ongoing case in court.
There is no price too much to pay for peace. It is not about the governors alone, it is the initiative of the stakeholders to find a lasting peace. There is no condition, politics is free will. We should do everything that will promote peace. We pleaded with everybody not to make inflammatory statement, he added.
ALSO READ: Appeal Court says Ali Modu Sheriff is original PDP Chairman
According to a report by The Sun, Jonathan had resolved that the only solution to restructuring the PDP was for it's warring leaders to sheath their swords by vacating their positions.
This resolve was reportedly reached at after a meeting on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 with PDP governors in Abuja.
Sources revealed that Jonathans message had been dispatched to Makarfi and Sheriff, but none of the parties involved have released a statement or stand over the decision.
The ex-President was also said to have noted that the governors would be left to nominate another chairman, who would emerge at a national convention.
ALSO READ: Goodluck Jonathan in 'crucial' meeting with PDP Governors
Meanwhile Jonathan had earlier met with Makarfi, the Caretaker Committee chairman, who is backed by governors as well as Sheriff, national chairman, who got a favourable judgment at the Court of Appeal recently on different dates and at different venues.
Prof. Wale Oladipo, the partys National Secretary, said that NWC gave the commendation in a statement he issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
Oladipo said that members of NWC at their meeting, sequel to the official re-opening of the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, acknowledged the leadership qualities of the former president.
He said that the NWC also noted with satisfaction the stand of the PDP Governors Forum on the need to adopt a political solution in bringing lasting peace to the party.
The NWC restates its readiness to fully participate in the peace process.
The NWC hereby calls on all staff of the PDP National Secretariat to resume duties immediately, he said in the statement.
Oladipo said that the NWC also received and approved the request from PDP in Ebonyi for a time-table to conduct the party primaries for the local government elections in the state.
Finally, the NWC commends the National Chairman, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff for the swift renovation of the National Secretariat, Oladipo said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP Governors forum, after its Tuesday meeting with former President Jonathan in Abuja, had agreed to adopt a political solution to the partys leadership crisis.
ALSO READ: APC prays for PDP over its leadership crisis
The Forum Chairman, also Governor of Ekiti, Dr Ayodele Fayose, said that the process would include the engagement of Sheriff, irrespective of the matters in court, to achieve lasting solution to the party lingering crisis.
Saraki gave the advice in a goodwill message at the 3rd Biennial Conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in Abuja.
He was represented by Sen. Jubril Barawo, Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education.
Saraki said in the past, Nigerian universities were known to have experts in certain programmes but this was no longer the case.
Today, it is a different scenario, as many Nigerian universities want to run all programmes from university teaching hospital to having a nuclear department."
He said the development had paved way for the influx of unprepared students many of who could not address their special needs.
There is, therefore, the need for Nigerian universities to change from being conventional sources of graduates to becoming engines of community development.
Nigeria needs a new generation of universities that can serve as engines of community development and social renewal, Saraki said.
He said that fundamental reforms would be needed in the curriculum design of the universities to boost their efforts in proffering lasting solution to the nations economic social and environmental challenges.
Saraki urged the committee to look into some other unwholesome practices by some lecturers who took delight in taking up multiple appointments or full time employment in more than one university.
He said the development accounted for the reduction in the quality of graduates, as a result of lack of adequate supervision by lecturers.
He called for an end to labour disputes in higher institutions to check strikes, adding that better funding would make them relevant "in the ever-competitive contemporary education."
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, identified resource constraints as one of the challenges facing the universities.
He, however, called on the university authorities to manage the available resources at their disposal effectively and efficiently to achieve their aims and objectives.
Adamus massage was tagged: "The Journey so far and the Future; the Ministerial Strategic Plan for Higher Education.
The minister was represented on the occasion by Hajia Fatima Gidum, Director, Tertiary Education in the ministry.
Adamu urged the conference to come up with a framework for the funding of tertiary education and augment the statutory resources.
Prosecutors said the man was detained and is being questioned. Reports said he had previously gone to Syria but officials did not confirm that.
"The car was stopped because the driver jumped several red lights. The police then noticed several gas canisters in the boot and rather than take any risks, they called for help from the army bomb squad," a police spokeswoman said.
Local mayor Charles Picque told AFP the driver was "someone potentially dangerous" who was listed as radicalised.
"When you put it all together... and that there were gas cannisters in the boot, which he did not want to open, then obviously you have to be prudent," Picque said.
The Brussels prosecutors' office said the bomb disposal squad carried out several controlled explosions but found "no detonating mechanism or other explosives in the car."
The security perimeter, in force from mid-afternoon, had also been lifted, it said, without giving any further details.
Local RTBF television said the driver was aged 27 and had gone to Syria in 2014 and been arrested on his return to Belgium.
He was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison, suspended, at a trial of recruiters of foreign fighters for the Islamic State group in Syria.
The trial was of top jihadist recruiter Khalid Zerkani, who was sentenced in 2016 to 15 years in prison for recruiting dozens of people, including several who became key suspects in the Brussels and Paris attacks, to wage jihad in Syria.
Belgium is one of the largest sources of foreign fighters going to Syria and Iraq.
Thursday's incident sparked immediate concerns after French police apparently foiled an imminent attack in September when they detained several women driving a car filled with gas canisters next to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The security perimeter was set up in the Porte de Hal neighbourhood, near the main Midi rail station in an area that is famous for a medieval fortress which attracts tourists.
Nearby buildings were evacuated and public transport either halted or diverted, causing rush-hour chaos.
The Brussels prosecutors' office, which confirmed the driver was known to police, said he was now being held for questioning to determine what his intentions were.
"It is absolutely too early to say that the driver had criminal intentions. All speculation in this sense is premature," a statement said, adding that the identity of the driver could not be released while the investigation is underway.
Attacks carried out by home-grown, IS-inspired jihadists on March 22 last year rocked Belgium and sparked a major security clampdown.
It concerns "the image of Poland and of the Church of Poland," Nycz said, adding he was counting on some "opening up" from the government on the issue.
The ruling conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) opposes the entry of Muslim refugees and migrants on security grounds, and has rejected an EU plan to share out migrants among the member states.
The government's view is shared by a significant portion of Poland's ethnically homogenous population of 38 million people.
But the cardinal said that a system known as "family to family" assistance between Polish and Syrian families has already been operating discreetly for several months.
"We hope that the next step will be an aid programme through humanitarian corridors. It will involve welcoming in Poland a few hundred refugees in need of urgent medical care, of exceptional assistance, necessary to keep them alive", the archbishop's letter said.
"This programme is therefore safe" from a security point of view, he added.
Caritas Poland, the Catholic Church's humanitarian organisation, is ready as well as the Catholic dioceses, according to the archbishop.
Minister of Family and Labour Elzbieta Rafalska responded by saying that "the government can understand such an appeal.
"He was therefore granted assistance allowance and his mother was hired as his personal assistant," the court said.
Between 2006 and 2015, the family received social benefits worth nearly nine million kronor (around 944,000 euros, $990,000).
Authorities cut off the family's benefits in 2015 after receiving several tip-offs since 2001 and following a police report in 2012.
The elder son, 32-year-old Frantisek Banda, told the court that he pretended to be mentally disabled by making it impossible for people to make contact with him.
But he denied the fraud charge, claiming he was forced to carry out the ruse under threat from another unnamed person, the court documents showed.
Frantisek Banda was sentenced to two years in prison.
The court sentenced the mother and her youngest son Marian Banda, 30, to three years in prison. Both had denied providing wrongful information about Frantisek's condition.
The court ordered the trio to pay damages "equalling the amount of the benefits that were paid on erroneous grounds," it said.
The two sons were born in Slovakia but moved to Sweden with their mother in 1998.
Kim Jong-Nam, 45, the eldest son of the North's late ruler Kim Jong-Il and once seen as his heir-apparent, had lived a life of exile in China after falling out of favour.
South Korea and Malaysia have blamed the North, while Pyongyang has angrily denied involvement and accused both of trying to frame it and "smear" its reputation.
Here are some comments from key figures in the unfolding drama.
South Korea slams 'paranoid' leader
A day after the assassination, Seoul's spy chief, Lee Byung-Ho, told lawmakers that Kim had issued a "standing order" years ago to kill Jong-Nam -- a plan driven by the young leader's "paranoid personality".
"The assassination, if confirmed done by the North, would be a sign of Kim Jong-Un's paranoid personality rather than a calculated move to remove a political threat," Lee was quoted as saying by lawmakers after a closed-door briefing.
"There was one (assassination) bid in 2012, and Jong-Nam in April 2012 sent a letter to Jong-Un saying 'Please spare me and my family,'" multiple lawmakers quoted Lee as saying.
The South Korean government has since criticised use of the banned nerve agent VX as an "act of terror" and a "blatant violation" of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
South Korean foreign minister Yu Byung-Se described the murder as "a wake-up call... to North Korea's chemical weapons capability and its intent to actually use them".
"In the wake of this heinous act of using chemical weapons in Malaysia, we have to seriously consider what steps we should take in the coming weeks and months," he said.
Malaysia fumes
The rare, Cold War-style murder triggered widespread anger in Malaysia and sent diplomatic tensions with Pyongyang -- with which it has unusually strong ties -- soaring. Kuala Lumpur on Thursday cancelled a visa-free travel deal with North Korea.
Earlier, it recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang in protest and summoned Kang Chol, the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, for questioning by police -- which Kang has so far has refused.
"The ambassador has been informed of the process involved (in the police probe) but he continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations against the government of Malaysia," Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Aman said last week.
Malaysia's health minister confirmed that Jong-Nam would have suffered a "very painful death" after the attack, dying within 15 to 20 minutes.
The two women -- who have been indicted -- shoved something onto Jong-Nam's face, according to leaked CCTV footage.
"I am outraged that the criminals used such a dangerous chemical in a public area," Malaysian Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said last week as angry protestors waved a banner reading "Respect Malaysia" outside the North Korean embassy.
North Korea blames 'smear campaign'
So far the North has not confirmed the identity of the victim, referring to him only by a pseudonym he used, Kim Chol, and as a citizen who carried a diplomatic passport.
For more than a week after it happened, the North's official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) made no reference to the killing, and when it did, it condemned a Malaysian autopsy as "illegal and immoral" and demanded the body be handed over.
The North maintained there was no clear evidence blaming it for the murder and accused the South, the US and Malaysia of framing Pyongyang as part of a "smear campaign" against the nation and its leader.
"The reckless moves of the US and the south Korean authorities are aimed to meet the dangerous political purpose to tarnish the image of the dignified DPRK and bring down the social system in it," KCNA said this week, using the North's official name.
"This being a hard fact, the US and the south Korean authorities are kicking up an anti-DPRK smear campaign, groundlessly pulling it up," it said.
China -- which is the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline, but is increasingly frustrated -- has banned all coal imports from its neighbour for the rest of this year.
He is suspected of favoring moves by the government to forgive debt contracted by his father's company, and to giving a firm thought linked to his family rights to airline routes.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
"Ethics and transparency are not only for the public sector but also for the private sector," he said, calling on lawmakers to debate a law on corporate responsibility.
The conservative president said he would also sign a decree on upholding ethical standards in office.
"I want everything to be transparent and nobody to doubt the decisions of this president," he said in comments broadcast nationally.
Macri has been trying to steer Argentina out of recession since taking over as president in December 2015.
He faces a key political test next October when the country holds legislative elections.
Macri brushed off reports by private firms and industrial associations showing Argentina was mired in recession, with factory closures, rising unemployment, falling wages and lagging consumption.
"There are signs that the economy is improving," he said.
Merkel, who faces elections in September, has been under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in over one million migrants since 2015.
Her government has urged the Maghreb states and Egypt to step up border controls and speed up repatriations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.
Merkel first heads to Egypt, where she will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, before holding talks on Friday with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.
She is joined by a business delegation that could sweeten the diplomacy with investments badly needed by both countries, which are grappling with sluggish economies, tourism slumps after internal turmoil and jihadist attacks, and high unemployment, especially among youths.
A major focus in Egypt and Tunisia will be on their troubled neighbour Libya, a largely lawless country that has porous desert borders with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan.
"Without a political stabilisation of Libya, we won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya who are responsible for by far the most arrivals in Italy," Merkel said in her latest weekly podcast.
"Egypt, as a regional institution, as a regional power, plays a major role here, as do Algeria and Tunisia."
Holding centres
The trip is part of a larger diplomatic push by Merkel, who last year visited Mali, Niger and Ethiopia. She had also planned a trip to Algeria last week, but it was called off after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika fell ill.
Germany, which this year holds the G20 presidency, has also announced investment partnerships in Africa with the long-term goals of reducing poverty and deterring people from leaving in the first place.
Last year, Berlin spearheaded an EU agreement with Ankara that helped sharply reduce the influx of migrants through Turkey and western Balkan countries.
But as with the Turkey deal, the negotiations with the North African countries have been clouded by human rights concerns.
In particular, an idea floated by Merkel's interior minister -- for North African countries to build holding centres for returned migrants -- has been rejected by Merkel's centre-left coalition partners and by rights groups.
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel -- whose Social Democrats hope to topple Merkel this year -- dismissed the idea, saying "I doubt that all this has been really thought through".
'Dodgy deals'
jpegMpeg4-1280x720Human Rights Watch noted that Egypt had largely "banned protests, imprisoned tens of thousands of people, often after unfair trials, and outlawed the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood."
"Ensuring safe and swift returns of Tunisians and Egyptians who are not in need of protection is legitimate, as long as the procedures are fair," said Judith Sunderland, a Europe and Central Asia director for the group.
"It's another thing entirely to pursue dodgy deals that could trap asylum seekers and migrants from elsewhere in countries like Tunisia and Egypt that cannot guarantee decent treatment or meaningful access to asylum."
But Merkel is under huge pressure at home to achieve results in an election year, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the national parliament for the first time.
Public fears in Germany have been heightened by several jihadist attacks last year -- especially the truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market on December 19 that killed 12, an attack attributed to a Tunisian immigrant, Anis Amri.
After a lengthy discussion and two votes on Feb. 21, the Bettendorf School Board passed a calendar for the 2017-2018 academic year that includes a week-long fall break.
A staff recommendation was on the Bettendorf School Board agenda for its Feb. 6 regular meeting, but after debate, the board did not vote on the calendar that night as planned.
Tuesday night, the first vote on the calendar deadlocked on a 3 to 3 tie vote. Board member Scott Tinsman was absent.
Board member Pepper Trahan voted against the calendar with the weeklong fall break because of concerns students in Advanced Placement would start behind schedule and would have to play catch-up to perform well on the May AP tests.
Board members Paul Castro and Michael Pyevich also voted against that calendar. Castro proposed having two calendars one for the elementary and middle schools that kept the weeklong fall break, and one for the high school that omitted the fall break. His proposal was not taken up.
Board president Gordon Staley said the change was not his first choice but he voted for it in support of the calendar committee and its recommendation. Board members Betsy Justis and Stacey Struck also voted to approve the calendar with the week-long break.
Lisa Reid, principal of Bettendorf Middle School, told the board that the week-long break that will run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 will give students a chance to regroup and refresh, and that their grades will improve.
When discipline problems decline theres better learning for all students, Reid said. Thats the right thing for the kids.
Rod Moeller, a physical education teacher at Bettendorf Middle School, said that two calendars would not work, as he would have a week off and maybe want to take his family on a vacation. But his high school daughter would not be able to go.
The district does not revolve just around the high school, he said.
Still, Trahan and others had problems with the calendar and the timing of the week-long fall break and kept referring to comments that had been made in earlier meetings by Bettendorf High School interim Principal Joy Kelly, who was concerned about AP study time.
Kelly was not at the meeting, but when someone in the audience was able to contact her, Kelly made it clear that she could work around any schedule the board approved.
In a re-vote, Trahan changed her vote to yes, while Castro and Pyevich each again voted no.
Staley, as well as board members Justis and Struck again voted to approve the calendar.
Under the approved calendar school for the 2017-18 academic year will begin Aug. 23 and end June 7.
In other board news, Rodger Wilming, the president of the Bettendorf Education Association, thanked the board for passing a new three-year contract.
Given what he described as "the chaos in Des Moines," referring to the collective bargaining overhaul bill signed into law last week, Wilming said the new contract puts the teachers and the district in a good position.
"Some districts did not come to an agreement on an extension," Wilming said. "Now, they could end up having to purchase insurance from the state. No one knows what that's going to look like because it's conceptual. It hasn't been created yet."
Wilming said he is concerned that the state legislature will next target the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System, or IPERS.
Dec. 30
1 Fraud, totaling $769.99, was reported on the 5400 block of Judge Road.
Jan. 13
2 A 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2012 Ford F350 collided on the 2500 block of Crestview Drive, resulting in $10 in damage.
Jan. 18
3 A 2008 Mercedes C300 and a 2006 Hyundai Tucson collided at the intersection of Interstate 74 and Middle Road, resulting in $4,200 in damage.
Jan. 19
4 Donald Joseph Seymour, 53, 1530 State St., No. 3, was arrested on the 1400 block of Kimberly Road on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated.
5 Shandi Lou Parker, 35, no address given, was arrested on the 4500 block of Utica Ridge Road on suspicion of reckless use of fire/explosives and trespassing.
6 Padlocks, valued at $80, were reported stolen on the 7100 block of Valley Drive.
Jan. 20
7 Jaide Nicole Serres, 28, 2786 Bateman St., Galesburg, Illinois, was arrested at the intersection of Cypress and Hillside drives on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated, first offense consumption/intoxication, and interference with official acts.
8 A 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe and a 2012 Toyota Sequoia collided at the intersection of Interstate 74 and Spruce Hills Drive, resulting in $1,250 in damage.
9 A 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix and a 2013 Kenworth semi-trailer collided at the intersection of Interstate 74 and Middle Road, resulting in $3,000 in damage.
10 Dakota Lee Hootman, 24, 1112 Hawthorne Drive, was arrested on the 800 block of Middle Road on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred and driving while license suspended or revoked.
11 An attempted burglary, no items stolen, was reported at A1 Storage, 7185 State St.
12 Brianna Marie Anderson, 24, 324 8th St., No. 13, was arrested on the 300 block of 8th Street on suspicion of domestic abuse assault with intent or displays a weapon.
Jan. 21
13 Cash, valued at $20, was reported stolen on the 2400 block of Spruce Hills Drive.
14 Sun glasses, valued at $20, were reported stolen on the 700 block of 6th Street.
15 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $10, was reported on the 6700 block of Ridges Court.
Jan. 22
16 A 2000 Ford Ranger and a 2005 Honda Civic collided at the intersection of Interstate 74 and Spruce Hills Drive, resulting in $7,000 in damage.
17 Criminal mischief, damages totaling $750, was reported on the 2300 block of Cumberland Square Drive.
18 Julianna Henkins, 28, 1718 8th Ave, Rock Island, was arrested at Hy-Vee, 2900 Devils Glen Road, on suspicion of second offense operating while intoxicated.
19 Tools, prescription pills, alcohol, computer hardware, and jewelry, valued at $16,966, were reported stolen on the 500 block of Grant Street.
Jan. 23
20 Lavar Marcus Wells, 34, 530 Western Ave., No. 3, Davenport, was arrested at Schnucks, 858 Middle Road, on suspicion of third-degree theft and an intrastate warrant.
21 Brandi Raeanne Marshall, 22, 5009 Ripley St., Davenport, was arrested at Schnucks, 858 Middle Road on suspicion of fifth-degree theft and providing false identification information.
22 Criminal mischief, damages totaling $500, was reported on the 4300 block of State Street.
23 Melissa Lynn Sims, 43, 302 7th St., Eldon, Iowa, was arrested at Interstate 80, mile marker 301, on suspicion of disorderly conduct/abusive epithets.
24 Travis Matthew Beach, 27, 924 27th St., was arrested at the intersection of 16th and Grant streets on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred.
25 Michael Todd Wingert, 41, 5335 N. Howell St., Davenport, was arrested on the 2200 block of Kimberly Road on suspicion of assault causing bodily injury and disorderly conduct.
Jan. 24
26 Steven Paul Depaepe, 50, 5384 56th Ave. Court E, was arrested at the intersection of 18th and Middle streets on suspicion of driving while license denied or revoked.
27 Fredrick Lamont Gay, 36, 1014 14 St., Rock Island, was arrested on the 1100 block of Parkway Drive on suspicion of violation of no-contact or protective order.
28 Svetlana Young, 41, 4193 Creek Hill Drive, was arrested on the 2500 block of State Street on suspicion of first offense operating while intoxicated.
29 A 2002 Saturn L300 and a 2006 Ford Freestyle collided on Interstate 74 at the Spruce Hills Drive ramp, resulting in $3,200 in damage.
30 Edward John Jensen, 33, 2423 Central Avenue, was arrested at the intersection of Spruce Hills Drive and 18th Street on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred.
31 A 1999 Honda CRV and a 2006 Hummer H3 collided on the 900 block of 23rd Street, resulting in $6,900 in damage.
Jan. 25
32 A 2008 Chevrolet Uplander and a 2016 Ford Escape collided at the intersection of 12th and Grant streets, resulting in $800 in damage.
33 Burglary of a motor vehicle, no property taken, was reported on the 1300 block of Coffelt Avenue.
34 A 2010 Ford F15 and a 2010 Dodge Charger collided at the intersection of Interstate 74 and Grant Street, resulting in $1,300 in damage.
Jan. 26
35 A 2011 Ford Fiesta and a 2003 Ford Expedition collided at the intersection of Crow Creek Road and Apple Valley Drive, resulting in $8,500 in damage.
36 Burglary of a motor vehicle, no property taken, was reported on the 2800 block of Tanglefoot Lane.
37 Kenneth Mcadory, 38, 806 State St., No. 7, was arrested on the 800 block of State Street on suspicion of providing false identification information.
38 Marion Nicholas Michael, 22, 2426 West 38th Place, Davenport, was arrested at the intersection of 14th Street and Fairlane Drive on suspicion of transient merchant license required penalty.
39 Nathan John Olson, 34, 210 Winter St., Calamus, Iowa, was arrested on the 1800 block of Grant Street on suspicion of fifth-degree theft.
40 William Ernest Jensen, III, 50, 3925 Partridge Circle was arrested on the 400 block of W. 4th Street, Davenport on suspicion of gathering for use of drugs, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
41 Burglary of a motor vehicle, no property value listed, was reported on the 1000 block of Coffelt Avenue.
Jan. 27
42 Dayshaun Tarquis Rias, 21, 2123 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, was arrested at the intersection of Shady Lane and Kimberly Road on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred and driving while license denied or revoked.
Jan. 28
43 Richard Murray, Jr., 30, 411 Marquette St., No. 3, Davenport, was arrested on the 1100 block of State Street on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred and driving while license denied, suspended, canceled, or revoked.
44 An Iphone, drivers license, credit card, check book, debit card, wallet, satchel and tote bag, valued at $759, were reported stolen on the 3800 block of Tanglefoot Lane.
45 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $150, was reported on the 2200 block of 23rd Street.
46 A weapons identification card, drivers license, a concealed carry card, cash, credit card, debit card and wallet, valued at $89, were reported stolen on the 2200 block of 23rd Street.
Jan. 29
47 A hit and run crash, damage totaling $500, was reported at Hy-Vee, 2900 Devils Glen Road.
48 Syndi Lyn Eliff, 18, 1623 Brown St., was arrested on the 1100 block of Devils Glen Road on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Jan. 30
49 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $2,500, was reported on the 1000 block of State Street.
50 Criminal mischief, damage totaling $400, was reported on the 2200 block of Mississippi Boulevard.
51 Attempted fraud, no total listed, was reported on the 1600 block of Hillcrest Avenue.
52 Andrew Werner Paulsen, 32, 1319 5th Ave., Moline, was arrested on the 3800 block of 53rd Avenue on suspicion of simple assault domestic abuse and interference with official acts.
53 Leaving the scene of damage vehicle accident, damage totaling $50, was reported on the 4700 block of Kynnelworth Drive.
54 Coats, valued at $140, were reported stolen at Marshalls, 862 Middle Road.
55 A checkbook, debit card, identification cards, a wallet and a purse, valued at $120, were reported stolen on the 2300 block of Tech Drive.
Jan 31
56 Elizabeth Davis Jensen, 34, 2423 Central Ave., was arrested at the intersection of 30th Street and Central Avenue on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred.
57 Ali Renee Roderiguez, 26, 3020 Dubuque St., Davenport, was arrested on the 100 block of 23rd Street on suspicion of habitual offender driving while barred.
58 Fraud, totaling $1,240, was reported on the 3700 block of Thunder Ridge Road.
Feb. 2
59 Fraud, totaling $317.40, was reported on the 2900 block of S. Hampton Drive.
Feb. 3
60 A 2004 Buick Rendezvous and a 2016 Ford Escape collided at the intersection of 18th Street and Middle Road, resulting in $1,200 in damage.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has appointed a new member to Iowa's Health Facilities Council, the five-member panel that decides whether to grant permission to build new health care facilities in the state.
The council has played a key role in the controversy over a Memphis-based company's efforts to build a 72-bed psychiatric hospital in Bettendorf.
The governor's office announced Wednesday that Branstad has selected Dr. Harold Miller of Bettendorf and Brenda Perrin of Cherokee to be on the council. Perrin already is filling out the term of a previous commissioner whose term expires in April. Miller would be a new member of the council.
The appointments are subject to Senate confirmation and would take effect on May 1, the governor's office said.
Miller is a prominent physician in the state who has served as a board member and president of the Iowa Medical Society and chair of its delegation to the American Medical Association. Retired, he is married to Linda Miller, a former Republican state lawmaker from Bettendorf who now is the director of the Iowa Department on Aging.
In an interview Wednesday, Harold Miller said he had not formed an opinion on the application of Strategic Behavioral Health, which has been stymied in its effort to get permission to open a psychiatric hospital in the Quad-Cities. Twice, the health facilities council has deadlocked 2-2 on the matter, meaning the certificate was not granted.
The company's application has been opposed by Genesis Health System and UnityPoint Health Trinity.
Miller will replace Bob Lundin, chairman of the council who had voted against Strategic's application. Lundin, of LeClaire, is a former Trinity executive, and while some Strategic supporters had complained about his role in the decision, Strategic itself did not raise objections to his participation when given the opportunity to do so at the meetings where the application was considered.
Miller practiced medicine for 39 years and was affiliated with Genesis for about the last 20 of those.
Miller said it is important first to be presented with information about Strategic's plans and be able to ask questions before forming an opinion.
"In my role, its important to study well and background well and enter most, if not all, decision-making processes with an open mind," he said. He added that he has been retired for 13 months and has no remaining conflicts.
The last time Strategic went before the health facilities council was in October, when the panel deadlocked for the second time on its application. The company did not go before the council at its February meeting, and it's not clear whether it will do so at the council's July meeting. A staffer with the health facilities council said Wednesday she had not heard from the company recently. The Quad-City Times could not immediately reach Strategic's president, Jim Shaheen, for comment on Wednesday.
A Davenport woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to trying to steal the ring off the finger of an elderly woman.
Cyrea Marie Richmond, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and dependent adult abuse resulting in physical injury in Scott County District Court.
The plea is open, meaning that prosecutors and the defense can make any recommendation at Richmonds sentencing hearing on May 4.
Prosecutors will agree to dismiss a third charge of second-degree robbery if Richmond does not request or accept a deferred judgment and agrees not to file an appeal following entry of judgment and sentence, according to the plea agreement filed Wednesday.
Prosecutors will not oppose probation if recommended in the presentence investigation, according to the plea agreement.
The charges are both Class C felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Richmond was arrested in Aug. 30 and was released from the Scott County Jail the same day after posting $2,000 through a bail bond company.
According to an arrest affidavit filed by Davenport police in support of the criminal complaint:
At 12:19 p.m. Aug. 17, police were called to Senior Star Memory Care, 4504 Elmore Ave., for a report of a theft.
Richmond is a food and beverage employee at Senior Star. Earlier that day, she sat next to an 84-year-old woman, who has Alzheimer's disease, on a bench in the hallway.
She then tried to take the ring off the woman's right ring finger for about a minute. Richmond walked away from the woman when other employees entered the same hallway.
Once the employees were gone, Richmond sat back down next to the woman and tried to take the ring off her finger by pulling and jerking on it.
The woman's finger was cut and swollen, according to the affidavit.
Federal authorities have arrested a Davenport sex offender for allegedly failing to properly register his address with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.
Arthur Eugene Jennings, 53, was arrested Tuesday in Rock Island at a home he shared with his girlfriend. He is charged with one count of failure to register. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
In March of 1993, Jennings pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree sexual abuse in Scott County District Court, according to district court electronic records. He was sentenced April 1 of that year to a term in prison not to exceed 25 years. His female victim was under the age of 14.
According to Iowa Department of Corrections website, Jennings was released from prison Nov. 28, 2004.
Jennings is required to register as a sex offender for life while a resident of Iowa, according to the federal criminal complaint and arrest affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Davenport.
Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, Jennings still must register as required if he travels to another state.
According to the federal criminal complaint, in July, Jennings used an address on Elsie Avenue in Davenport to obtain food assistance. He also reported a burglary at the residence later that month and made an insurance claim through the renters insurance he had with his girlfriend. But in May, the last time he registered with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, he gave an address in East Moline.
Jennings did not register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry from at least July until an unknown date in December, which is greater than five business days, according to the federal complaint.
Jennings will be in U.S. District Court, Davenport, at 2 p.m. today for a detention hearing.
An Alvarado, Texas, woman charged in a fatal crash in downtown Davenport in late January has pleaded not guilty.
Lauria Lee Kelly, 57, waived her right to a formal arraignment and filed a written plea through her attorney, Miguel Puentes.
She is charged in one count of homicide by vehicle-reckless driving, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
She will be back in court March 31 for a pretrial conference. A trial is tentatively scheduled for April 10, according to court documents.
The crash happened shortly before 6 p.m. Jan. 30.
According to an arrest affidavit filed by the Davenport Police Department, Kelly was driving her blue 2005 Dodge truck east on 2nd Street at a high rate of speed.
Witnesses to the crash and events leading up to it told police that Kelly was driving very fast and that she ran through at least two red traffic lights, one at 2nd and Harrison streets and the other at 2nd and Main streets, according to the affidavit.
One witness, who was crossing 2nd Street at Brady, said she heard the roar of an engine just prior to the crash, according to the affidavit.
Kelly's vehicle struck the rear of a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo that was stopped at the red light at 2nd and Brady. The force of the impact caused fatal injuries to the driver, Cynthia Elaine Jones, 53, of Davenport.
The Monte Carlo then was pushed into the rear of a green 1999 Buick Regal that was in front of it. The force of the crash was so great that all three vehicles came to a rest on the other side of the intersection more than 100 feet away, according to the affidavit.
Kelly and the driver of the Buick were taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Kelly was arrested after her release from the hospital and taken to the Scott County Jail, according to the affidavit.
According to an application filed in support of a search warrant in the case, a certified drug recognition expert examined Kelly and noted that she showed multiple signs and symptoms of impairment, including dilated and watery eyes, unsteadiness, quick slurred speech and jerky and fumbled movements.
She also had a "distorted sense of reality" and believed the "Order of the Masons" was chasing her, according to the application.
The application further states that Kelly's symptoms were consistent with "her using central nervous system stimulants and narcotic analgesics."
The University of Iowa has reversed its decision to revoke thousands of scholarships, a move that had roiled the financial situation for Iowa families, including some in the Quad-Cities.
Iowa officials report they have heard from many families who were unaware the awards were reliant on state support.
In addition, families who had budgeted for college based on the scholarships contacted the university with their concerns, according to a news release the university issued Wednesday.
I want to thank the students and parents who contacted me and shared their concerns, University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld said in the release.
The reinstated awards are for current students and for those who have enrolled in the university for the upcoming fall semester.
Before Wednesday's reversal, the announcement had troubled teens who got the awards, including Maya Sheybani. She plans to attend the University of Iowa, her mother's alma mater.
Sheybani, 18, a Pleasant Valley High School senior, was told she would get $1,500 for four years, or a total of $6,000 in the Iowa Heritage Scholarship. She was one of almost 2,500 resident students who initially received the award, given to those who have at least one parent who graduated from the university.
Sheybani applied to Iowa several weeks ago, and the Heritage scholarship information was in a packet she received that explained the costs of tuition.
But last week, she got an email message that told her the scholarship was revoked. A follow-up letter with the same information subsequently arrived at her family's home in Bettendorf.
The university had decided to eliminate the scholarships after the Iowa Legislature ordered cuts to the state's public universities in order to balance the state's budget.
On Wednesday, the university reinstated Sheybani's scholarship, along with the 2,500 others that had been rescinded last week. Sheybani plans to be a pre-med student in college and noted she still might attend Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
Maya is not the only student from Bettendorf affected by the university's actions. Celia Brecht, 18, a 2016 Pleasant Valley graduate, was to receive $1,500 and was upset by an email message last week that told her the award was revoked. Both of her parents graduated from Iowa.
Brecht discovered the award was reinstated via an email she received Wednesday afternoon. The 18-year-old college freshman is majoring in French and international studies. She hopes to work in translation services in the future.
Im glad this was resolved, she said.
The scholarships are not need-based and are part of non-merit scholarship programs, according to Anne Bassett, a university spokeswoman.
Bruce Rastetter, president of the Iowa Board of Regents which governs the University of Iowa and other state schools, issued a statement on Wednesday saying he was pleased with Harrelds decision to reinstate the awards.
The regents president acknowledged that the decision places the university in a very difficult financial situation. The board will work with Iowa to absorb a $9.2 million cut from the state this year, to resolve this short-term issue, Rastetter said.
Last week, reaction to Iowa's initial decision to revoke the awards came swift and fast. Harreld started by telling lawmakers that the university would end the scholarship programs in response to $9 million that state legislators took back from state appropriations in the current budget year.
Late last week, Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, slammed the university's move as "politics at its worst."
Upmeyer suggested that college officials tap into $2 billion that Iowa has amassed in its foundation during a historic fundraising campaign.
But Bassett said gifts given to the University of Iowa Foundation are restricted by the donors' wishes and cannot be used for other purposes.
In December, the Iowa Legislature agreed to cut $18 million from the base of state funds to the three state institutions: $8 each from Iowa and Iowa State universities and $2 million from the University of Northern Iowa.
Lawmakers still are considering the request for a 2 percent increase in state support for the next budget year.
In addition, two lawsuits have been filed on the scholarship issue. One, filed Tuesday, claims the university breached its contract with students.
A second one, filed Monday, claims that Harreld's actions to revoke the awards violated the students' constitutional rights.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
Community Action of Eastern Iowa Inc. is accepting applications for utility bill assistance, the organization announced this week.
The assistance, which is provided through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, is available to people whose income is at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of three, that would be an annual income of $35,280. Utility companies also provide funding.
Heating costs place a heavier relative burden on low-income households. A household with an average income in Iowa spends about 3 percent on heating costs, while one at the poverty level spends 8 percent, according to Community Action.
The assistance does not pay the entire bill, just some of the costs, according to the agency.
Applications are being taken through April 28. Apply by visiting Community Action of Eastern Iowa, 500 E. 59th St., Davenport, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For income guidelines and a list of documents to submit, visit caeiowa.org or call 563-324-3236.
Ed Tibbetts
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley dismissed as "nonsense" the idea that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign in the wake of revelations that he had met last year with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., a report that had Democrats saying he should step down because he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that there had been no meetings.
Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the committee, didn't weigh in on the truthfulness of Sessions' testimony. But he said he had asked the attorney general to send a letter to the committee "to clear up any confusion regarding his testimony so we can put this issue to bed once and for all." Sessions said he would do so.
Controversy swirled around the attorney general all day Thursday after a Washington Post story broke saying that he had met with the Russian ambassador last year at a time when there were allegations of contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Sessions, a senator on the Armed Services Committee at the time, was a Trump surrogate.
The Post story not only reported the contacts but noted that Sessions had told Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., during confirmation hearings that "I did not have any communications with the Russians."
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Sessions bowed to calls that he recuse himself from any investigation into Trump ties to the Russians. And he acknowledged he should have "slowed down" during his testimony but said he was taken by surprise by part of Franken's question and his answers were honest.
Grassey praised Sessions for recusing himself. He called it the right thing to do, saying alleged conflicts, "no matter how flimsy," would be used against him.
Democrats spent much of the day criticizing Sessions. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called his committee testimony false and noted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned after making misleading comments.
Locally, Reps. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., both called on Session to resign.
"It is now clear that Attorney General Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearings in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee," Loebsack said early Thursday.
Bustos also said that Sessions had lied. "This is disqualifying," she said.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said Sessions faces "serious questions" of whether he "misled or even lied."
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, in her own statement, said she didn't have all the facts of the situation, but "I support his decision to recuse himself."
For three weeks, the people spoke. On Wednesday, the Davenport City Council listened.
The Davenport City Council has reversed course on an ordinance that would have combined the Levee Improvement Commission and Parks and Recreation Advisory after both entities and City Attorney Tom Warner recommended they remain separate.
The Council voted 9-1 during its committee-of-the-whole meeting to delete the ordinance and directed Warner to move forward with drafting improvements that both the commission and advisory board recommended following their joint meeting earlier in the day.
Alderwoman Kerri Tompkins, 8th Ward, cast the lone dissenting vote, citing her desire to keep changes from dragging throughout the year.
The day's earlier joint meeting provided the bulk of Wednesday's discussion over whether both the commission and board supported combining forces and how the bodies could work together moving forward.
"We focus on the problems and give them the best advice," Levee Commissioner Bill Ashton said. "If they don't agree with us, they can overrule us, but it certainly helps to have a group focused on one thing."
Members of the commission voted 4-1 to present the opinion to the council that both entities should remain separate and the Parks and Recreation advisory board be upgraded to a commission, along with other recommendations to both improve collaboration and quell concerns.
The commission's lone dissenting vote was cast by Frank Clark, who cited the inappropriateness of commenting on another board's structure as the rationale for his vote.
From the Parks and Recreation advisory board's side, it was a unanimous decision to present the opinion of keeping the entities separate.
Board member Wendy Peterson said that out of the 48 facilities and amenities the board oversees, only six share jurisdiction with the commission.
"We are a partner, in a way, in some of the parks, but there is a vast charge to the Parks and Rec advisory board," Peterson said.
As discussed earlier in the day, Commissioner Pat Walton presented the commission's takeaways to the City Council and included recommendations like changes to meeting times, organizational structure and lease discussions.
Alderwoman Rita Rawson, 5th Ward, commended both entities for listening to all the comments from the public and concerns from council.
"I just want to point out that is dedication and a level of seriousness our volunteers bring to us," Rawson said. "They also took notes and paid attention for an excellent list of recommendations."
Members were in agreement that meeting times should be pushed back to 5:30 p.m. as opposed to the current 2 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month.
The commission also proposed to expand the commission's size to 10 members to gain greater representation, with the mayor still serving as chairman.
Alderman Ray Ambrose, 4th Ward, whose idea it was to delete the ordinance, said the commission should have the opportunity to vote for its chairman.
Walton said members of the City Council would be given the opportunity to appoint the remaining members with the hope of improving representation and establishing gender equity.
As to discussions about making changes to leases, the Levee Commission's denial to issue a recommendation for a lease for Nestle Purina to use riverfront property for semitractor-trailer parking once again reared its head.
Prior to both meetings, Nestle Purina plant manager Kurt Rouse withdrew the company's lease request for 19 acres of riverfront land.
Walton used the lease as an example of what not to do.
Members of commission had no knowledge of the lease until its Jan. 11 meeting; the topic was put on the commission's agenda by City Property Manager Mike Atchley.
Rhomberg said leases brought forth by Development Director Steve Ahrens typically are given to the commission a month in advance so members can review them and give comment.
The commission has asked for the same practice in the future, so if there are questions, they have the opportunity to properly vet the lease.
In the case of the Nestle Purina lease, no representatives of the company were present during the January meeting to answer questions. Mayor Frank Klipsch and Tom Flaherty, vice president of regional development for the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce, spoke on behalf of the lease.
"What was unusual about the Nestle lease was that the petitioner was the mayor," Rhomberg said. "The mayor was the one who argued the whole case for them. They didn't have their own representatives there."
Piggybacking off President Donald Trump's promise to rebuild America's communities and infrastructure, mayors along the Mississippi River have unveiled a proposal for Congress and the new administration to deliver on it.
The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, comprised of 75 mayors and associations from Minnesota to Louisiana, have called for $7.93 billion in investment along America's greatest waterway after holding a news conference Thursday in Washington, D.C.
The administration of President Trump has made it clear that they want to pursue an infrastructure and investment plan in the realm of half to a trillion dollars, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said. Today, we are unveiling our plan to restore both the natural and built infrastructure in the Mississippi corridor, which will create jobs, enhance water quality, enhance national security and emergency preparedness.
Coleman said the plan does not call for a large increase in spending, but rather maintaining the funding of several federal programs at current levels.
One specific area of concern for mayors up and down the Mississippi River is a pre-disaster mitigation program. The 2017 budget cut funding by close to 50 percent, but the association would like to see funding restored to $100 million per year.
"If we are going to invest in infrastructure, we need to make it resilient," Tellulah, Louisiana, Mayor Paxton Branch said.
Flooding damage caused $10 billion in damage in Baton Rouge alone as a result of massive floods in August 2016.
Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch participated in the initiative and offered comment through a prepared statement.
"Davenport has adapted by creating a riverfront park that gives the River room to move, adds to our natural infrastructure, and reduces the cost of protecting our city from the damage floods can cause," Klipsch said. "But we also need to know that the federal government has our backs when it comes to managing Americas largest waterway which happens to be in our backyard.
As a funding source for its plan, Belinda Constant, mayor of Gretna, Louisiana, said there were several non-taxpayer sources, including repatriation of overseas investment into municipal bonds. Constant said American companies hold $2 trillion in undistributed earnings outside the U.S. and some of those funds could be used for infrastructure investment.
By investing the river, the mayors also said it would be an investment in America's economy.
Constant called the Mississippi River the linchpin of domestic freight and water infrastructure. Constant said the river transports more than 60 percent of the country's corn and soybean exports and 40 percent of the nation's total agricultural output.
In total, the mayors said the river generates $496.7 billion in annual revenue and supports 1.5 million jobs.
The plan unveiled Thursday estimates an creation of an additional 100,000 jobs as a result of investment.
Besides agriculture, manufacturing and commercial traffic, investment also would benefit the tourism industry.
Representatives from both the American Queen Steamboat Co. and Viking River Cruises spoke on behalf of the domestic market for cruises and the untapped potential.
"We've barely scratched the surface for what the market could be," America Queen Steamboat President and COO Ted Sykes said.
Consultant David Simmons, speaking on behalf of Viking, said 85 percent of Viking's customers are Americans, yet the company has no national product.
Simmons said that the current offerings were running at 70,000 passenger nights, but the market can handle 100,000.
"By 2023, we anticipate the market to be well over 200,000, so there's quite a spread there as Viking River Cruises looks at somewhere between the six to eight range of vessels," Simmons said. "Tourism is huge, and it's only going to get bigger and bigger."
With the plan a slight increase over current spending levels, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay commended the group's plan that would create environmental controls, jobs and commerce for the entire Mississippi River region without breaking the bank.
"Far too long, there hasn't been enough focus given to the Mississippi River as a whole," Slay said.
A Tri-City Jewish Center official in Rock Island said the three Jewish cemeteries in the Quad-Cities have not seen vandalism or experienced threats that have occurred at similar sites around the country.
The Davenport Police Department is aware that incidents continue in U.S. cities, including St. Louis, said Capt. Brent Biggs, public information officer.
This week, a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia was vandalized and a series of bomb threats were made to Jewish centers in New Jersey. The vandalism in St. Louis occurred last week.
President Donald Trump denounced the activities at the start of his Tuesday night address to the joint session of Congress.
"Locally, we haven't had anything adverse, at this time," said Allan Ross, director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad-Cities.
He said he was sorry to hear of the incidents across America. The Rock Island center has received phone calls and email messages offering support from many faith groups, he said.
For example, Lisa Killinger, with the Muslim Communities of the Quad-Cities in Bettendorf, contacted Ross this week. Killinger was concerned, Ross said, as she was on the East Coast and had heard about the issues in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
There are three Jewish cemeteries in the metropolitan area: Rock Island, near the Tri-City Jewish Center; west Davenport, adjoining Fairmount Cemetery; and Mount Nebo Jewish Cemetery, 39th Street, Davenport.
Ross said officials get security messages daily. These come electronically from the Secure Community Network, part of the Federal Communications Commission.
The report for March 2 started with a response to telephone threats to nearly 100 Jewish Community Centers in the U.S. It also listed a series of incidents, including one in which racist fliers were posted at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and another in which two people were arrested on suspicion of anti-Semitic taunts, verbally and in writing, at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Nothing like that has been reported recently in the Quad-Cities, Ross said. Rather it is an occasional party, with beer cans left behind, at the cemetery in west Davenport, and those incidents seem to involve young people.
For years, off-duty police officers have protected Jewish synagogues at various times, such as during festivals and when children arrive for Jewish classes.
"That's been going on a long time," Ross said.
But Ross is aware of "a few nuts who are out there." Last year, when the Israeli Consulate traveled to Davenport for a visit, Ross hired a private security detail.
"We were trying to be safe," he said.
Two sets of remarks, a day apart, by two men more accustomed to being behind the scenes.
Stephen Bannon, appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), made the case for "economic nationalism" and called President Trump's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership "one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history." The passage of the Civil Rights Act and the defeat of the Soviet Union finally have some company.
As the ideologist in Trump's inner circle, Bannon is a practitioner of Newt Gingrich's mystic arts. Take some partially valid insight at the crossroads of pop economics, pop history and pop psychology; declare it an inexorable world-historic force; and, by implication, take credit for being the only one who sees the inner workings of reality.
For Bannon, it has something to do with "the fourth turning," or maybe it is the fifth progression, or the third cataclysm. At any rate, it apparently involves cycles of discontent and disruption. Lots of disruption. Across the West, as Bannon sees it, the victims of globalization -- the victims of immigration, free trade and internationalism in general -- are rising against their cosmopolitan oppressors. Institutions will crash and rise in new forms. And this restless world spirit takes human form in ... Nigel Farage and Donald Trump.
Like many philosophies that can be derived entirely from an airport bookstore, this one has an element of truth. The beneficiaries of the liberal international order have not paid sufficient attention to the human costs of rapid economic change. (Just as the critics of internationalism have not paid sufficient attention to the nearly 1 billion people who have left extreme poverty during the last two decades.)
But there is a problem with the response of economic nationalism and ethno-nationalism. It is morally degraded and dangerous to the country.
Which brings us to the second set of remarks, at a State Department retirement party, complete with cake. This speech was from one of the most distinguished diplomats our nation has recently produced, Ambassador Dan Fried. Fried was on diplomatic duty for 40 years, focusing mainly on Europe. He was ambassador to Poland and pulled into the White House as a special adviser on Central and Eastern Europe to both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Most populists would probably view Fried as the pinstriped enemy. I came to know him in the Bush administration as a freedom fighter, deeply and personally offended by oppression. He had been an enemy -- not an opponent, but an enemy -- of the Soviet Union, and remains a committed friend to 100 million liberated Europeans.
Fried used his retirement remarks to describe "America's Grand Strategy." For decades, the U.S. has stood for "an open, rules-based world, with a united West at its core." Despite occasional failures and blunders, "the world America made after 1945 and 1989 has enjoyed the longest period of general peace in the West since Roman times."
What would happen if America were to leave the global order and pursue its own ethno-national greatness? This is the proposal that the populists have placed on the table, in which blowing up the TPP is a sign of things to come. "By abandoning our American Grand Strategy," argued Fried, "we would diminish to being just another zero-sum great power." This would result in a system entirely based on "spheres of influence," which are "admired by those who don't have to suffer the consequences." And accepting spheres of influence would "mean our acquiescence when great powers, starting with China and Russia, dominated their neighbors through force and fear."
"Some so-called realists," said Fried, "might accept such a world as making the best of a harsh world, but it is not realistic to expect that it would be peaceful or stable. Rather the reverse: A sphere of influence system would lead to cycles of rebellion and repression, and, if the past 1,000 years is any guide, lead to war between the great powers, because no power would be satisfied with its sphere. They never are."
This is a foreign policy cycle more substantial than the "fourth turning." The disrupters of international order -- the liberal democratic order built and defended by FDR, Truman, Kennedy and Reagan -- are thoughtless, careless and reckless. And they must be resisted.
The founding fathers of the ethno-state are also in violation of the country's defining values. The United States was summoned into existence by the clear bell of unifying aspirations, not by the primal scream of blood and soil. And this great ideal of universal freedom and dignity is not disrupted; it disrupts.
A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items for Wednesday:
STATE REVENUES: State tax collections in February came in 7 percent above the same month a year ago, which translated to an increase of $41.3 million, according to the Legislative Services Agency. Tax analyst Jeff Robinson said February looks really good, but there were calendar and timing issues at play as well as lower state tax refunds that have bolstered year-to-date growth compared to the first eight months of fiscal 2016. Receipts for the fiscal year are up 1.9 percent, or $88.3 million, but that lags below the yearly growth estimate of 4.7 percent set by the state Revenue Estimating Conference, which meets later this month to consider whether to revise its fiscal 2017 growth projections. That decision could affect state budgeting as lawmakers close out fiscal 2017 and set their sights on crafting spending plans for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 before they adjourn this years session.
SENATE ACTION: The Iowa Senate voted 38-11-1 Wednesday to lift longstanding outboard motor size restrictions on Lake Macbride near Solon. Iowa law forbids outboard motors of 10 or more horsepower on the lake from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There also is a year-round no-wake law. The proposal would allow the operation of motorboats with power units exceeding 10 horsepower at any time on Macbride if the boats are operated at no-wake speed. Sen Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, objected to removing the 1957 rule that has worked really well over these years, but Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, said the change would have little effect given that no wake is no wake. Senate File 259 now goes to the House for consideration. Senators also voted 50-0 to lift a $6,000 cap on tuition grants to students attending private colleges before shipping Senate File 349 to the House. The Senate also sent two House-passed bills dealing with state purchases from prison industries and the prescribing of biological products to Gov. Terry Branstad on separate 50-0 votes.
ABORTION BAN: Two members of a House Human Resources subcommittee signed off on a bill Wednesday that would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. The bill is similar to one approved in a Senate subcommittee earlier this week. The subcommittee heard from representatives of abortion rights organizations and anti-abortion groups as well as Amanda Acton, who described her decision to abort a 21-week-old fetus after doctors said it was unlikely to survive after birth. Rep. Kevin Koester, R-Ankeny, signed off on the bill, saying it went to the question whether abortion should exist at all or at this late term when many babies, fetuses are viable. Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, called it a necessary medical procedure that needs to happen for some families. Its simply a decision that we cannot make. I am not a physician. And we are talking about things that we dont have enough knowledge on, she said. Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, joined Koester in signing off on the bill. Full committees in both the House and Senate are slated to take up the abortion restriction on Thursday.
SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA: Legislation that would make significant changes to the way the state funds public education in general and schools transportation costs was given unanimous approval by a Senate committee. The approval means the proposal meets Fridays legislative deadline and remains eligible for consideration. It is now eligible for debate by the full Senate. The bill would over 10 years phase in increases for school districts that have outsized transportation costs and equalize the amount districts are permitted to spend per pupil. Although the proposal was approved by all committee members, Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, expressed concern that the price tag an estimated $15 million to $20 million in the first year and increasing annually thereafter could create competition for state budget dollars in future years and mean less general school funding for all districts. The legislation aims to solve a pair of issues brought to state lawmakers attention in recent years. Rural school districts say they are forced to use a higher percentage of their general fund budget on transportation, leaving less money for educational purposes. And some districts most visibly Davenport have expressed frustration that they are permitted to spend less per student than some other districts.
HAND-HELD DEVICE BAN: Iowa motorists would not be allowed to use hand-held electronic devices while operating a vehicle under legislation that cleared the House Transportation Committee Wednesday. Panel members voted 20-1 to approve House Study Bill 139 after it amended the bill to exempt hands-free built-in or voice-activated global positioning systems and allow for hand-held cellphone use for emergency calls. Representatives also agreed to a one-year warning period for violations before officers would start issuing $30 tickets for the offense beginning July 1, 2018. The bill also elevates the offense of texting while driving to a primary rather than a secondary offense. Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, said Iowa would become the 16th state with a ban on hand-held devices while driving if the bill makes it to Gov. Terry Branstads desk for his expected signature.
PLA PROHIBITION: The Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee voted 7-4 along party lines Wednesday to approve legislation prohibiting union project labor agreements from being required on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, said provisions of Senate Study Bill 1145 will increase competition and reduce costs if government entities have options other than PLAs that favor union workers. Backers said nearly 85 percent of Iowa workers are not union members but are excluded from projects employing project labor agreements that effectively shrink the pool of potential bidders by discouraging an open/merit shop company from bidding. Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, said the bill was another example of lawmakers intruding into a local control issue for cities, counties and school districts. We say we know whats better for you than you do, he said, adding that many times PLA projects come in on time and on budget by utilizing workers trained by state-funded apprenticeships.
CHELGREN RESUME: Ottumwa Republican Sen. Mark Chelgren is rejecting allegations that he inflated his resume and was surprised it caused an inquiry from NBC News. Apparently, Chelgrens background listed a business degree from a management school that turned out to be a certificate he received from Forbco Management school as part of his past employment as an assistant manager with a Sizzler restaurant as a young adult growing up in California. From there, Chelgren earned an associate degree in science at Riverside Community College and studied astrophysics and geophysics at University of California in Riverside. The bio references to Forbco later were deleted unbeknownst to Chelgren, who told reporters Wednesday he would have them restored and considered the issue much ado about nothing. I think its kind of trivial so I kind of laugh at it, he said. Im kind of perplexed about what the concern or the consternation is. As a young adult in California, Chelgren said he got a job at a Sizzler restaurant and worked for the chain for two years. I had to work for six months at the Forbco Management school, taking classes during the day, working in the evening, for me to get my degree in order to advance in their company, he said. All I can tell you is that NBC called me, asking about the Republicans website because they had some questions about my education, Chelgren said. I told them directly that the information that I had given to everyone was accurate.
MARIJUANA POSSESSION: Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-1 Wednesday to reduce the penalty for Iowans convicted on a first offense of possessing marijuana. Senate File 280 would change current Iowa law so possession of five grams or less of marijuana would be a simple misdemeanor punishable by no more than 30 days in jail and/or by a fine of at least $65 but not more than $625. Currently, first-offense possession of marijuana is a serious misdemeanor punishable by confinement for not more than six months and/or a fine of not more than $1,000. The bill does not modify the penalties for second or subsequent possession of marijuana.
TIMBER BUYERS CITED: Two timber buying companies one from Illinois and one from Iowa must reform their business practices in Iowa under a court-approved agreement with Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller following complaints from elderly rural property owners. Under the agreement as part of a consent judgment and injunction approved in Polk County District Court, the timber buyers are barred from using abusive and deceptive conduct in harvesting Iowa trees. Miller claims the timber buying operations cheated and mistreated rural Iowa landowners. The agreement resolves a consumer fraud investigation against Central Illinois Hardwood Inc. of Green Valley, Illinois, and Harvest Hardwood Inc. of Oskaloosa, Iowa, according to Millers office. The consent judgment also names David Nash of Green Valley, owner of both companies; Richard Nash of Ramsey, Illinois; and Matt Groenendyk of Lovilia, Iowa, doing business as Buck Creek Timber and Veneer. We alleged that the defendants repeatedly took advantage of elderly rural property owners by underpaying for valuable walnut trees and other hardwoods, taking more trees than they were authorized to harvest, and leaving properties damaged and scarred, Miller said. This agreement will reform how these timber buyers do business, and put an end to abusive and deceptive practices.
IMPAIRED DRIVING: Drivers arrested or convicted of driving impaired would be required to participate in twice-daily sobriety monitoring under legislation unanimously approved Wednesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Study Bill 1101 also would require some drivers to install ignition interlocks in their vehicles as part of a sobriety monitoring program modeled after 24/7 initiatives in South Dakota and four other states. The recommendations came from a task force Gov. Terry Branstad formed to make recommendations on ways to keep drunk, drugged and distracted drivers off Iowa highways following a year when traffic deaths spiked to 403, the most since 2008. SSB 1101 also would provide that cellphone use while driving would be considered evidence of reckless driving with willful or wanton disregard for public safety. A driver who struck and killed someone would commit a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of no more than $10,000.
SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP: Protesters who intentionally block an interstate highway to slow traffic and create a potentially dangerous situation would face significantly stiffer penalties under a bill approved 13-3 by the Senate State Government Committee on Wednesday. Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, said everybody supports First Amendment free speech rights, but he noted that minutes count if obstructing a highway creates emergency situations. This is real, its a matter of time before someone gets hurts as the trend grows for more protest actions that jeopardize public safety. Senate Study Bill 1135 would make the action like a post-2016 election protest on Interstate 80 near Iowa City a serious misdemeanor on first offense and would escalate to an aggravated misdemeanor and a Class D felony carrying a five-year prison term and $7,500 fine on subsequent violations. Its already illegal. What were talking about is stiffening the penalties, said Chapman, who noted the current violation is a simple misdemeanor carrying a $35 fine.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: I think this is an overreach, and its politically motivated. Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, who opposed a bill toughening penalties for protesters who block an interstate highway like the post-2016 election protest on Interstate 80 near Iowa City.
Times Bureau
Attorney General Jeff Sessions hasn't been the only member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet to make an incorrect statement to Congress during the process of being confirmed.
As ProPublica points out, four other Cabinet members -- Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price -- also made statements to Congress that were later disproven.
Here's a look at the Cabinet members whose testimony didn't completely sync with the facts:
1. Jeff Sessions
What he said: Sessions was asked by Democratic Sen. Al Franken during his confirmation hearing what he would do if "anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign."
Sessions responded he was not aware of that happening, adding, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
What really happened: CNN reported that Sessions was a senator and a top Trump surrogate when he met the ambassador twice -- in July on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention and in September when he was a member of the Senate armed services committee.
Sessions has drawn a distinction between his role as a Trump surrogate and his duties as a senator and strongly denied ever discussing campaign-related issues with anyone from Russia.
The attorney general said he plans to submit a "supplement" to the record of his congressional testimony, detailing the meetings he didn't mention.
2. Betsy DeVos
What she said: DeVos said during her confirmation hearing that that she had not been involved in her family's foundation, which has given millions of dollars to Focus on the Family, a conservative non-profit that, among other things, has pushed the benefits of conversion therapy for LGBT men and women.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan pointed out that she sits on the board, to which DeVos responded, "I do not."
What really happened: DeVos later said at her confirmation hearing that a "clerical error" is what led to her being listed as an officer of her mother's multi-million-dollar foundation, which made the donations. She was listed as a vice president of the charity for 17 consecutive years, including most recently in the organization's 2014 tax filing.
3. Scott Pruitt
What he said: In his written testimony to Congress, Pruitt said he never used a private email address for business while he was Oklahoma's attorney general.
What really happened: A spokesman for the Oklahoma attorney general's office told Oklahoma City's Fox 25 that Pruitt used his personal email during his tenure in the office. The email was discovered during a public information request.
4. Steven Mnuchin
What he said: In written testimony, Mnuchin denied that his former bank used "robo-signing" to foreclose on homeowners. He wrote, "OneWest Bank did not 'robo-sign' documents."
What really happened: OneWest's foreclosure practices included so-called robo-signings that pushed homeowners into foreclosure without proper review or due process. OneWest was one of many banks that agreed to pay millions to compensate customers.
5. Tom Price
What he said: During his confirmation hearings, Price told senators that the discount he received on a stock he bought was "available to every single individual that was an investor at the time."
What really happened: The Wall Street Journal reported that only 20 people were offered the discount at the time.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately reflect Franken's question to sessions about Russia.
PIERRE | The Legislatures deadlock over raising child support rates might have broken Wednesday after a House committee supported a hike in the payments.
The House Judiciary Committee gave its endorsement to the latest version that caps the increases at 4 percent. They would be the first increases since 2008.
I still believe these rates are inadequate, but they are the best we can do at this time, Rep. Craig Tieszen, R-Rapid City, said.
The committee vote was 11-1; next step is the House of Representatives.
If House members approve Senate Bill 141, the legislation would need to return to the Senate for a decision whether to agree with the House version of the bill. The House committee made a small change in the Senate versions wording.
The guidelines are based on empirical evidence that have established they work, Rep. Timothy Johns, R-Lead, said. Its complicated, but it works.
He said the cost of living has increased 19 percent since 2008. These kids are still behind, Johns said.
Households with children who dont receive sufficient support often use public assistance, according to Johns.
So we do have a vested interest, all of us, in seeing that the guidelines are updated, Johns said.
Sen. Art Rusch, R-Vermillion, spoke in support. He resurrected the legislation in the Senate after the House killed the initial version this year.
Rusch said federal law requires each state to re-evaluate its child support guidelines every four years. Rusch has participated in the past three rounds.
He said this measure is different from the bill that the House killed. This legislation reduces the amounts at the lowest income levels and uses a reserve to supplement, according to Rusch.
Rep. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids, renewed his opposition to Senate Bill 141. Pischke said he was speaking for non-custodial parents across South Dakota.
Pischke said he found some increases of 6 and 9 percent in the latest tables, but he acknowledged the 4 percent generally is better than the 7 percent raise that was proposed previously.
He was the only opponent to testify against the bill.
Johns, like Rusch a retired circuit judge, said in rebuttal the increases are better than nothing at all.
Theyre just guidelines. Judges have discretion to go up or down. Theyre not concrete, Johns said. One parent shouldnt have to carry it all. Neither should we have to carry it all.
PIERRE | State legislators are considering a new form of technology for criminal offenders in South Dakota who must have alcohol tests twice daily.
State Attorney General Marty Jackley has asked lawmakers to allow portable breath testers.
The legislation, Senate Bill 29, is one step away from final passage. The House of Representatives is scheduled to consider it today.
The House Judiciary Committee gave its unanimous endorsement Wednesday. The Senate voted 30-0 for it Jan. 20.
Jeromy Pankratz, an aide to Jackley, said the portable devices would reduce work for sheriffs, who wouldnt have to attend every test.
The devices would have GPS and photographic capabilities to prove who was blowing.
The cost to the parolee would be $40 to activate and $4 per day of participation.
The state attorneys association supports the move. No one testified against it.
This is a good expansion of a highly successful program in South Dakota, said Rep. Craig Tieszen, R-Rapid City.
The mobile breath testers would be another component in South Dakotas 24/7 sobriety program that currently includes ignition interlock devices in vehicles, drug patches and electronic alcohol monitoring devices.
A rare case of bovine tuberculosis has been confirmed in a South Dakota beef herd, according to State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven.
He said Thursday that the suspect animals were identified in February by meat inspectors during routine slaughter inspection of otherwise healthy-appearing animals. The cattle were traced to a herd in Harding County, northwest of Rapid City. Herd testing and laboratory confirmation has revealed additional infected animals.
We are working closely with the affected herd owner and USDA officials, and will be working with area veterinarians and other herd owners to evaluate the extent of the disease," Oedekoven said in a release.
Oedekoven said adjacent herds will be tested and that bovine TB is not a food safety threat, thanks to milk pasteurization and meat inspection programs.
Bovine TB is a respiratory disease. lnfected animals may be capable of transmitting an infection to other animals even if they appear healthy. The United States has nearly eliminated bovine TB due to a cooperative eradication campaign.
A former pediatrician with the Indian Health Service on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has been charged in U.S. District Court with multiple counts of sexual abuse against minors.
Stanley Patrick Weber, 68, of Spearfish, faces five counts of aggravated sexual abuse, one count of sexual abuse, and four counts of sexual abuse of a minor.
At his initial court appearance in federal court in Rapid City on Wednesday, Weber pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released from custody despite arguments by a prosecutor to keep him locked up.
Authorities say the incidents of abuse spanned May 1998 to August 2011 and involved Native American children younger than 16, according to Webers five-page charging document.
In three of the charges, the victim was described as being younger than 12. The gender of the victims was not cited in the documents.
Aggravated sexual abuse carries a prison sentence of 30 years to life, while sexual abuse carries penalties up to life imprisonment, and sexual abuse of a minor can lead to a term of up to 15 years.
Three of the victims were from South Dakota and one was from Montana, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Collins said at the hearing Wednesday.
The accusations against Weber included several "very violent" rapes of young children, Collins told the court.
One of the incidents allegedly occurred between April 2002 and April 2003 while Weber was treating (the victim) for the flu, his charging document states.
Collins argued before Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann that Weber should remain in custody at the Pennington County Jail.
Weber is a flight risk, Collins said, since he has money as well as contacts in foreign countries such as Thailand, where he had traveled as recently as last year.
Wollmann decided to release Weber after one of his three private lawyers presented rebuttals, including that Weber had strong local ties in the form of a home and relatives in Spearfish.
Defense attorney Shane Pullman said also that Webers passport had been seized by federal authorities, and that Weber has no contact with the alleged victims. Pullman further stated that the alleged offenses happened quite some time ago and on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The conditions of Webers release include not having contact with minors, wearing an ankle monitor and not having access to internet-capable mobile devices.
Weber, who at one point was acting clinical director at Pine Ridge Hospital, was arrested Tuesday. His trial has been scheduled for May 9.
The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, which was also involved in Webers arrest, said inspector general spokesperson Katherine Harris.
Harris would not comment on when the inspector general investigation of Weber started.
Weber resigned from the Pine Ridge Hospital last year, said Oglala Sioux Tribe council member Richard Greenwald, who heads the councils Health and Human Services Committee.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Greenwald said he was not aware Weber had been investigated, charged and arrested.
For communities across South Dakota, it is Main Street that thrives and drives economic activity. We are a state of small businesses, which make up 96.2 percent of all companies in the state and represent 58.8 percent of the private-sector workforce.
These small businesses produce a lot more beyond even our state, producing 75.4 percent of the exports from South Dakota. And for a large rural state like ours, exporting presents a unique set of logistical challenges. Companies in rural South Dakota must compete with their counterparts in metropolitan centers, which have easier access to the resources they need and transportation options.
Fortunately, our 70 public-use airports and air transportation network across the state ensure that businesses, farms, producers and plants have access to the same resources that big cities take for granted. Many of these companies and individuals use their aircraft so that they can be at multiple meetings in different locations in a single day, fly directly into communities not served by commercial airlines, and transport tools, personnel and supplies. And for communities across the state with general aviation airports, it means that the largest employers can remain in their hometown not outgrow it and move to a larger city. It is this way across our country. While most commercial traffic goes through a handful of large hub airports, smaller aircraft serve more than 5,000 airports across the country.
For example in Corsica in eastern South Dakota, the president of Noteboom Implement flies a single-engine aircraft to travel between his four locations in Corsica, Chamberlain, Parkston and Platte, as well as Sioux Falls for many business services. General aviation has become an integral part of his business model to transport him and his tools and staff over long distances and on a flexible schedule. Across our state, doctors and medical providers can get patients from smaller towns to larger cities and trauma and specialty health centers; companies can monitor their power lines after bad storms; and communities can remain connected after natural disasters and bad storms.
But now in Washington, D.C., some are proposing to privatize our air traffic control system and put it under the control of the biggest airlines. While this may sound like a good idea at first blush we all believe in the strength of our private sector in this case privatization would mean that the system would serve the biggest of airline operators and the biggest hub airports where they base their operations. Our small airports would undoubtedly lose even more commercial service, commercial airlines would be completely free to tax consumers and smaller operators to pad their bottom line, and businesses and small communities in states like South Dakota would be left out in the cold.
Right now, it is Congress that oversees our air transportation network, ensuring that we support our vast network of thousands of airports, aircraft and communities large and small. Our leaders in South Dakota have fought to make sure that our system works for rural states, supporting access for businesses, sprawling ranches, medical providers, flight training and farms across our state. Lets make sure to keep it that way.
BIG TIMBER, MT A hundred years ago many country people in these parts would wake up, put wood on the fire, gather eggs, milk cows, feed pigs and hook up a team of horses to feed cows. Not so now, and ranchers and their animals are paying for it.Now everything we do is about machines and big numbers of animals, said Curt Pate, stockmanship expert. Those changes in our lifestyle affect our ability to read our animals.Pate spoke at a cattle handling workshop hosted by the Crazy Mountain Stockgrowers Jan. 27 at the Hooks Ranch west of Big Timber.According to Pate, whats been lost is stockmanship, knowing how to handle livestock in a safe, efficient and low stress manner. Stockmanship enhances ranch profitability and improves animal welfare, which he sees as critically important in light of the growing public scrutiny of livestock production.Nervous cattle dont put their heads down to eat, said Pate, a lifelong rancher who manages a small grazing operation in western South Dakota and has taught stockmanship, colt starting, horsemanship and safety for more than a decade. If our cattle are content and not afraid, thats what were looking for.Using live animal demonstrations, Pate discussed gathering, grazing, sorting, processing, loading, treating and moving cattle on foot and horseback.Hes all about the three pressures: driving, drawing and maintaining.Its not about low pressure, its about proper pressure, Pate said. We need cattle and horses that will work lively, but understand that pressure.Driving cattle from behind can be futile, Pate said. Instead, angling yourself or your horses body to a single cow or the entire herd just so, at their so-called balance point, will make the cattle think its their idea to move, Pate said. The skill is in recognizing that point that has to do with the cows eyes and brains and is always changing, he said.Drawing and maintaining, or holding right where you tell them to hold is another kind of pressure Pate likes to use with cattle.First, I draw their minds to me, Pate said. You get the cattle so theyll stop or hook on. Hence knowing and training your animals as ranchers and others did in earlier years.You work your cattle so they think their way through situations and thats real nice, Pate said.Ben Barham, 28, a ranch hand on a commercial operation just outside of Cody, attended the event to reinforce what he already knows about pressure points.Youve got to read your cows, he said. You learn quick if you dont do it right. Its a headache.
BILLINGS With federal financial regulations in the cross-hairs of the Trump administration, Montana bankers are hoping that looser requirements may open up lending, particularly for home buyers.
Bankers say the goal of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was noble. Parts are still needed to prevent another mortgage collapse, but they say they hope additional reform could bring relief for small community banks and credit unions.
As it stands today, Dodd-Frank is very big. Its multi-faceted. In many cases its a one-size-fits-all that doesnt mesh well with a very unique banking system in our country, said Steve Turkiewicz, president of the Montana Bankers Association, a Helena-based trade group.
On Feb. 3, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, to begin meeting with federal regulatory agencies to determine what regulations can be trimmed or cut.
The order itself does almost nothing to change Dodd-Frank, but it starts the ball rolling. Trump will likely need congressional approval on many changes, and a majority of Republican leaders in the Senate and House have signaled theyre on board.
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans, including Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, introduced a new law that would place the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau under congressional oversight. Other proposals include gutting the agency entirely.
Consumer groups and analysts warn that Dodd-Frank has worked to prevent lending abuses that were prevalent in the mid-2000s, which led to the Great Recession.
The risk is that we go back to an environment that lenders are increasingly willing to give you more money than you can be expected to repay, said Greg McBride, an analyst with Bankrate.com.
The fate of Dodd-Frank is of particular importance to Montanas two largest banks, Billings-based First Interstate Bancsystem and Kalispell-based Glacier Bancorp.
Both expect to rise above $10 billion in total assets within the next year, which will trigger additional regulations. They include stress tests to ensure they have enough money to withstand market downturns, additional oversight by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and a loss of revenue for debit and card transactions.
We place a high value on compliance and believe its just a cost of doing business. If and when requirements change, well review those changes and respond appropriately, First Interstate CEO Kevin Riley wrote in an email.
Both Glacier and First Interstate have been aggressively seeking mergers in the past few years, the idea being to grow their regional footprint and acquire more resources to better comply with regulations.
First Interstate, which also has a major presence in Wyoming, announced the largest acquisition in its history in November, the $589 million purchase of Bend, Oregon-based Bank of the Cascades.
Also in November, Glacier announced its buying Yuma, Arizona-based TFB Bancorp for $62 million, its first foray into the Southwest.
Glacier, which owns 13 divisions, including Western Security Bank in Yellowstone County, has been planning for the $10 billion threshold for the past three years, CEO Randy Chesler said last week.
He added that some rules, such as stress tests, are good practice for banks, particularly the large lenders. Others, such as lengthy mortgage applications, hamper community banks that are the lifeblood of most Montana communities, Chesler said.
Small banks cant afford the compliance costs and risk of being in the consumer lending business, he said.
He added, Were on such a tight, low-tolerance level We just have to be so careful to be in this business. If we had more (rules based on) common sense, maybe we could do more.
Riley of First Interstate said home lending at the bank has been growing steadily over the past few years.
A bigger concern for us is broad regulatory relief that would benefit our local economies and businesses. As they feel that relief, the demand for lending may rise, Riley wrote in an email.
Both Riley and Chesler hope that Congress does away with the Durbin amendment, which involves credit and debit card transactions. Under this rule, interchange fees, which banks receive from merchants for card use, are cut for banks above $10 billion in assets.
For First Interstate, these fees accounted for about $11.5 million last year. Glacier collected about $13 million in interchange fees in 2016.
Theyre taking a sizable amount of revenue away and handing it to the retailers, Chesler said.
While Dodd-Frank reform targets banks, credit unions are also excited about the potential for regulatory relief.
Dennis Wizeman, CEO of Montana Health Federal Credit Union in Billings, said his institution has basically dropped in-house mortgage lending because of the compliance costs.
Montana Health would need to hire another loan officer just to keep up with the thousands of pages of regulations, which is costly for the one-branch organization, he wrote in an email.
The target of much of Dodd-Frank was larger, national companies, but the effect has been felt mostly by local and regional companies the people who are far more likely to know their members or customers well and have the ability to make informed and nuanced lending decisions, Wizeman wrote.
Like the bankers, Wizeman said he doesnt want to see regulations disappear entirely.
Smaller institutions do not want a Wild West landscape in banking but we also dont want an environment which makes us afraid of our own shadow, he wrote.
It's unclear when Congress will act, and McBride, the analyst, said it could be "an unfolding saga" that won't happen overnight.
He added that the pitch to weaken regulations is easy now, when the economy is relatively strong and job growth is steady.
The regulations are needed the most when things aren't going well, McBride said.
Loans dont go bad in a good economic environment, but when the economy slows, thats when bad things happen ... Everybody looked the other way when things were good and everyone was making money, he said.
The Bitterroot River Recreation Advisory Committee will meet Monday to review its draft recommendations for managing river recreation on the Upper Bitterroot and West Fork -- and some changes may be coming.
The current recommendation sets aside portions of the river to non-commercial use on specific days.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Recreation Manager Christine Oschell said Wednesday the committee may be looking at altering its recommendation.
Oschell said there has been a little pushback from some fishing outfitters who arent completely sold on the proposal.
We could be editing this and it might change, she said. I dont know how much, but it could change.
The 16-member, diverse volunteer committee met for four full days in developing its initial recommendation. Once finalized, the committees preferred alternative will be passed on to FWP officials.
The alternative will then go through an environmental review process that will include additional public comment before being presented to the states fish and wildlife commission.
The proposed alternative divides the upper Bitterroot River, including the West Fork, into four sections.
The section just below Painted Rocks Dam would be closed to all float fishing one day a week. That section runs from the dam to the Canoe fishing access site, which is located across the road from the Bitterroot Forests West Fork Ranger Station.
The closure of float fishing on the section would provide opportunity to non-commercial fishermen who prefer to wade.
The next section runs between the Canoe site to the Hannon Fishing Access Site.
Since that section is about twice as long as the rest, Oschell said there has been some talk about altering that section of river in some manner.
The other two sections run from Hannon to Wally Crawford and then Wally Crawford to Darby.
Under the preferred alternative, each one of those three sections of the river would be closed one day a week on consecutive days to commercial outfitters. The closure to commercial ventures would give local fishermen a place to go where they didnt have to compete with professionally guided trips.
Outfitters would be limited to two launches per day at access sites open to commercial fishing.
There has been a similar system on the Big Hole River for years.
The preferred alternative also would require all fishing outfitters that use any portion of the Bitterroot River to obtain a special recreation permit, which would help FWP track outfitter numbers and the number of days they have boats on the river.
Similar permits are already required on other rivers in the state, including the Blackfoot and Madison.
Mondays meeting will run from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Bitterroot National Forest Supervisors Office in Hamilton, 1801 N. First St. There will be an opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting.
Oschell said she encourages public comment.
Were hearing through others that there were many outfitters upset about the proposal, she said. We didnt hear much about that during the earlier meetingsWe want people to have a venue to express their concerns.
Once the committee completes its work on developing a preferred alternative, Oschell said FWP will develop its own environmental analysis. That process will include additional opportunities for the public to offer input.
The committee was able to find consensus on the current preferred alternative at its last meeting in February.
There never were any really big moments of tension with this group, Oschell said. I think that shows that their values were all very similar. They all value this resource. They all had that common ground to start from.
The committee included fishing outfitters and guides, members of local sportsmens organizations and just plain fishermen with a connection to the upper Bitterroot River.
In the end, I think that people felt that they gave just the right amount for themselves and for the resource, she said. I think people on the committee agreed that the river was just being overused and they were afraid that it would not stay a quality fishery.
The hope is that the group will be able to find consensus again Monday when it makes its final recommendation, but that might not happen, Oschell said.
That will be OK, too, she said. We might end up with something that says the majority preferred this alternative.
I think that this process speaks to what a lot of people have been saying, Oschell said. The problem is real. There really is an issue that there are too many people. The alternative indicated that there was an agreement that this is not the way they want it to remain.
For more information about the upcoming meeting or the process, people can contact Oschell at 406-542-5562 or coschell@mt.gov.
The Montana Supreme Court rejected an appeal of a California man sentenced to 100 years for distributing methamphetamine in Ravalli County.
Matthew David Sherman, 47, had asked the sentence be reversed because the district court had relied on allegations that he raped his cellmate while in the Ravalli County detention center in making its determination that he was a persistent felony offender.
Sherman was sentenced in April 2015 on charges of felony possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute, felony possession of dangerous drugs and a misdemeanor drug possession charge.
Ravalli County District Judge Jeffrey Langton sentenced Sherman to 100 years for each felony count, to be served concurrently.
Court records said Sherman was arrested after a regional drug force notified the Ravalli County sheriffs office that he might be in the area attempting to distribute a pound of methamphetamine and three pounds of marijuana.
Sherman was located a local motel. During his arrest, a methamphetamine pipe fell out of his pant leg. Moments later, when signing a Miranda advisory while using the name Jason Carney as an alias, a bag of methamphetamine fell out of his pocket.
Investigators learned later that Sherman went by several aliases, including some that referenced the white supremacy movement, such as Nazi and Hitler.
Law enforcement officers found 1 ounce of meth, 46.3 grams of marijuana, 10.2 grams of cocaine, 1.7 grams of crystal molly and six morphine sulfate pills in his room. A police scanner, a list of Ravalli County law enforcement radio frequencies and $1,464 in cash were also found there.
Sherman accepted an open plea agreement in December 2014, according to the Montanan Supreme Court brief.
A pre-sentence investigation included a summary of Shermans criminal history, which included numerous drug-related convictions. It also offered a list of incidents that occurred in the detention center, including attempts to pocket his medications, striking another inmate in the face, allegations he intimidated other inmates to give him their commissary items and phone minutes and an allegation that he raped his cellmate in February 2015.
At the time of the sentencing hearing, the alleged rape had not resulted in a criminal charge.
Shermans counsel objected to the jail incident report that discussed the alleged rape during the sentencing hearing. Langton overruled the objection. At the time, the judge stated that since there wasnt a conviction or even charges filed in the alleged rape, he wouldnt rely on that to determine Shermans sentence.
Instead, according the brief, Langton explained his reasons for the 100-year sentence by observing Sherman had at least 10 prior felony convictions, mostly related to drugs. He emphasized that Sherman had absconded from probation on an earlier drug charge and was in violation of that probation when he was arrested in Hamilton.
As a primary source of methamphetamine distribution in Ravalli County, Langton said Sherman had caused significant social damage to the community. Some of the people that had received the drug from Sherman had lost their parental rights because of their addictions, the judge said.
Lanton also noted that Sherman had a long history of having problems in jail more than anybody (the court had) ever sentenced before.
The court brief said Langton did not specifically mention the alleged rape during the sentencing. Instead, the judge said the 100-year sentences primary goal was to remove Sherman permanently from the drug trade.
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district courts decision unanimously.
1929-2017
MISSOULA Jim was born on Nov. 14, 1929 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Lyal and Winifred Patten and spent his childhood there.
After graduation from high school, he attended college at the University of Iowa where he met his first wife Janne Tyler.
A summer job out west during college made him want to move to Big Sky country, and in 1950 an overnight stop in Missoula gave him the opportunity to check out the University of Montana Law School, where he was accepted after an interview with the dean.
After graduating from UM Law in 1953 he worked for the Public Service Commission until 1957, the Montana Motor Transport Association, then as a lobbyist for the Petroleum Association for four legislative sessions in the late fifties and early sixties. These were the days of watering holes where lobbyists created relationships with legislators by getting to know them, and Jim had stories to tell.
He returned to Helena in 1965, serving as the administrative assistant to Governor Tim Babcock until 1969 when he was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney and moved to Butte. He and Janne raised a family of five children in Billings but were divorced in 1970.
Also in 1970, Jim married his second wife Betty Wilcox. Jims work as a lawyer for Occidental Petroleum relocated them to Washington D.C. and then Tripoli, Libya. After sailing a boat from the south of France to Corfu, Greece, they spent several vacations exploring the Ionian Islands. London was home next, followed by Scotland, and then Guangzhou, China before a final stop in Bakersfield, California.
He once said he preferred the work in Libya over other Occidental locations because of the opportunity to do legal work in the oil fields, in contrast to the London office where they mostly played gin rummy.
After Jim retired in 1985 they built a home on the Bitterroot River, and except for a five-year residency in Arizona, called western Montana home.
After Betty passed away in 2010, Jim met his last companion, Rosemarie Neuman, while taking guitar lessons from her. They shared over six years together, traveling to Switzerland, New Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest.
Jim tried to improve his guitar playing skills but preferred to listen to Rose sing. The family will be forever grateful for her loving companionship with our father during these last couple of years.
Jim had many interests which usually involved the acquisition of tools or nifty gizmos. He collected a variety of cameras, which led to a black and white darkroom and portraits of his children. He enjoyed hunting, which evolved into reloading equipment and specialty rifles for competitive shooting. A childhood love of fishing not only lured him to Montana but also to fly-tying and river rafting. After retirement, he needed a tractor for the apple orchard he planted, and a woodshop to build things.
Jim loved the people and the open spaces of Montana. He loved his trucks, his dogs, his friends and his politics. He loved to read newspapers and books, and meeting his old buddies for coffee at Curleys. He read voraciously and remembered history well. He had stories to tell about lobbying, and hunting camps, and writing oil leases in the Libyan desert, and an insiders story about Watergate. It was our loss that the cruelty of dementia conquered his memories.
After this fortunate and bountiful life, Jim passed away peacefully on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, while residing at Beehive Homes in Missoula. We are extremely thankful for the wonderful care he received while in Aspen House, as well as the tremendous support offered by the Hospice of Missoula team.
Jim was preceded in death by his first wife Janne, and his second wife Betty. He is survived by his older sister Kathleen Banks of Santa Fe, New Mexico; his companion Rosemarie Neuman of Stevensville; his children Tom (Vicki) Patten of Richland, Washington, Andy (Judy) Patten of Billings, Katie (Leonard) Tinnell of Missoula, John (Liz) Patten of Manville, New Jersey, Bill (Carol) Patten of Tacoma, Washington; and step daughter Kim Skufka of Missoula, along with 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
The family is planning a private gathering at a later date.
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On the Town Hall Meeting Protests, and the Indivisible Guides Agenda:
Why the Tea Party Model Worked for Fascists, But Is Dangerously Wrong for Stopping Trump
Updated March 2, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
This is a revised and updated version of an article posted earlier.
In cities across the country, angry crowds are confronting Republican members of Congress. On February 21, hundreds of furious protesters confronted Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn at a town hall meeting. People angrily denounced her support for ending Obamacare. There was sustained, loud booing when she said she wasnt aware that Trump had appointed his top adviser Steve Bannon to the National Security Council. She was booed again when she defended education secretary Betsy DeVos. And again, when in response to a question about whether its right to have an immigration policy that excludes Muslims and favors Christians, she claimed, Christians have seen incredible persecution. (For background on Bannon, DeVos, and the rest of Trumps cabinet, see Trumps Team of Theocrats, War Criminals, Ghouls, & Neo-Nazis.)
We cant be simple-minded if were going to actually do what needs to be done, especially if we are going to make the kind of revolution we need to make. You have to look at whats been building in this society for quite a while now. Its helpful to look at it kind of like a pyramid....And if you look at this kind of pyramid thing, on the top of this pyramid is the ruling class and its different political representatives, which (even though it may be a bit oversimplified) we can look at as the Democrats on one side and the Republicans on the other. And for decades now these people who are grouped around Bush and the kind of people that they represent have been working and preparing a whole thing in societya whole infrastructure you might call ita whole structure within the society itself that could move this society in a whole different way towards a fascistic kind of thing when things come to that. Look at this whole religious fundamentalist thing theyve got. This is an effort to deliberately build up a base of people, millions and millions and millions of people, who are frightened by the idea of thinkingIm seriouspeople who cannot deal with all the complicatedness, all the complexity of modern society, who want simple absolute answers to the complexities of this society.... On the other hand, here are the Democrats at the top of this pyramid (on the so-called left). Who are the people that they try to appeal tonot that the Democrats represent their interests, but who are the people that the Democrats try to appeal to at the base, on the other side of this pyramid, so to speak? All the people who stand for progressive kinds of things, all the people who are oppressed in this society. For the Democrats, a big part of their role is to keep all those people confined within the bourgeois, the mainstream, electoral process...and to get them back into it when they have drifted away fromor broken out ofthat framework.... This is significant in itself but it also demonstrates a positive potential in terms of revolution. Im not saying that we are on the threshold of revolution right now, but just looking down the road, and looking at the potential, one of the things that leads to a revolutionary situation is that millions and millions of people feel that something is intolerable. They want certain leaders at the top of society to lead them in doing something about it, but those leaders are not in the position to and dont want to lead them in doing itso whom do they turn to? The people who are willing and determined to lead them to do it and to take it somewhere. So this is a situation thats full of great danger; but the same situationor the other side of the contradictionis that it holds much positive potential for struggle now and for revolution as things unfold. Bob Avakian, BAsics 3:10 These right-wing politicians (generally grouped within the Republican Party) can, will, and do actively mobilize this essentially fascist social base...yet, on the other side, the sections of the ruling class that are more generally represented by the Democratic Party are very reluctant to, and in fact resistant to, mobilizing...the base of people whose votes and support in the bourgeois political arena the Democrats seek to gain. This (Democratic Party) side of the ruling class generally is not desirous ofand in fact recoils at the idea ofcalling that base into the streets, mobilizing them either to take on the opposing forces in the ruling class and their social base or in general to struggle for the programs that the Democratic Party itself claims to represent and actually in some measure does seek to implement.... As an amplification of the basic point here, it is important to recognize this: Within the framework of the capitalist-imperialist system, and with the underlying dynamics of this system, which fundamentally set the terms, and the confines, of official and acceptable politics, fascism that is, the imposition of a form of dictatorship which openly relies on violence and terror to maintain the rule and the imperatives of the capitalist-imperialist system is one possible resolution of the contradictions that this system is facinga resolution that could, at a certain point, more or less correspond to the compelling needs of this system and its ruling classwhile revolution and real socialism, aiming toward the final goal of communism , throughout the world, is also a possible resolution of these contradictions, but one that would most definitely not be acceptable to the capitalist-imperialist ruling class nor compatible with the imperatives of this system! Bob Avakian, BAsics 3:11
The confrontations at town hall meetings are a positive element of resistance to Trump. And they are a vehicle through which many people who have never been political are awakening to political life, and in turn organizing others. At the same time, there is a cohering analysis, vision, and agenda around which people are being mobilized and led for these town hall confrontations that leads away from what it will take to stop Trump. It is articulated in Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda. At the core of its vision and strategy is the assertion that The authors of this guide are former congressional staffers who witnessed the rise of the Tea Party. We saw these activists take on a popular president with a mandate for change and a supermajority in Congress. We saw them organize locally and convince their own MoCs [Members of Congress] to reject President Obamas agenda. Their ideas were wrong, cruel, and tinged with racismand they won.
But thats a wrong understanding of the rise of the Tea Party. And the implications for what needs to be done now are dangerously out of sync with reality.
The Tea Party was not in any fundamental way some kind of grassroots uprising. On an obvious level, the Tea Party was sponsored by forces like Fox News, funded by the reactionary billionaire machine of the Koch brothers, and backed by other powerful institutions.
Even more fundamentally, the Tea Party was an expression of powerful forces at the top of U.S. society, in the ruling class, who for decades have been moving to radically reshape U.S. society in a leaner, meaner, drastically more repressive way in response to profound challenges to the stability of the U.S. empire and its homeland in todays world. Part of this has meant grooming an American fascist movement, taking different forms at different times, both outside and inside the structures of power. This movement has both been utilized by different ruling class forces and, to a degree, has a life of its own.
There is not some force among the other sections of the ruling class attempting to really cohere an uncompromising movement of those who are the targets of fascism and/or who morally oppose it because such a force, out in the streets and refusing to leave the streets until their basic demands have been met, would potentially pose too much of a threat to the system as a whole. That is, once such social forces politically awaken and begin raising questions, in the view of these rulers there is too much danger that this could break out of the confines of politics as usual.
For the Republicans (or at least very powerful sections of them), bringing the Tea Party reactionaries into the streets and whipping them up worked because the prejudices and demands of this backward and ignorant section of people conformed to a fascist agenda. The point is this: The Tea Party was part of a much larger strategy, over a whole period of decades, backed by very powerful forces. And now Trump has cohered these forces and trends to make an actual move to fascism.
On the other hand... the Democrats will not and cannot do that. They aim to attract and claim to speak for progressive people. But the things that progressive people wantlike an end to white supremacy; ending the subjugation of women; protecting the environment; treating immigrants as human beings; an end to unjust warsthese things cannot be solved under this system. And so, in the eyes of the leaders of the Democratic Party, calling progressive people into the streets creates the real danger (as they see it) of people bumping up against and breaking out of the terms set by this system. And that is not acceptable to them. They are a party of the ruling class and their role is to maintain this system. Listen carefully and critically to the terms they consistently set, like constantly framing things in terms of our [sic] national interests, and you can see that.
In short, the Tea Party could and did serve the fascists, but a mass mobilization of, and uprising by progressives does not contribute to, but threatens the whole setup that the Democrats are an essential part of. The conditions and dynamics that gave rise to this situation are deeply analyzed in The Truth About Right-Wing Conspiracy... And Why Clinton and the Democrats Are No Answer, by Bob Avakian. This is a work that anyone who wants to understand the roots and the dynamics of Trumps election should dig into.
Humanity Confronts a Historic Danger
Right now, humanity confronts a historic danger in the Trump/Pence regime. However, we live in a moment when it is still possible to prevent the full consolidation of this regime and build a movement capable of ousting it. How long this window will remain open is not predetermined; it could be slammed shut at any time, for instance, with an incident (whether real or staged) that Trump/Pence could exploit to assume extraordinary powers.
Yet Indivisible intends essentially to put up with the Trump/Pence regime for two years while preparing public opinion to elect more Democrats to Congress in 2018. This is explicitly spelled out in the Indivisible Guide in Chapter 1: [B]y objecting as loudly and powerfully as possible, and by centering the voices of those who are most affected by their agenda, you can ensure that people understand exactly how bad these laws are from the very startpriming the ground for the 2018 midterms and their repeal when Democrats retake power. [emphasis added]
A fundamental problem with that is, the choices people get in elections are not mainly or in any essential way defined by grassroots activism. More powerful forces at the top of society determine who gets to run for office (how much funding they get, what kind of coverage they get in mainstreamthat is, ruling classmedia). These powerful forces, the ruling class, define what people are told the important issues and legitimate terms of debate are. And nobody, at the top of this system, is right now proposing anything like an agenda to stop, undo, and reverse what Trump is doing.
But even taking Indivisible on its own terms and assuming that the Democrats would run candidates focused on ousting this whole fascist regime and removing the threat (which, again, is very unlikely, given that very few if any elected Democrats have even articulated such a stance) and that such candidates would actually win and then would be able to make good on this promise, this not only wouldnt work but is extremely dangerous.
First, look at the shocking pace at which the Trump/Pence regime has implemented its fascist agenda in a month! Trump declares the mainstream media an enemy of the people. Roundups of undocumented immigrants are extended daily into new reaches of society. Environmental regulations are shredded. Protection for trans students is being stripped away, exposing them to bullying and dehumanization. And the Trump/Pence regime has not just attacked what Trump calls so-called judges but the rule of law. After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the implementation of Trumps ban on people coming into the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries, White House policy adviser Stephen Miller made a series of high-profile appearances on Sunday network news shows. In response to the 9th Circuit ruling, he told Fox News, The presidents powers here are beyond question. And, We dont have judicial supremacy in this country. Immediately after this, Trump tweeted, Congratulations Stephen Miller- on representing me this morning on the various Sunday morning shows. Great job! Constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky responded, President Trump is claiming that no court can review the constitutionality of his actions and essentially that he need not obey a courts ruling.... The very essence of the rule of law is that no one, not even the president, is above the law. The president, like all others, must follow court orders.
Second, Trump has adopted an extremely warlike America-first posture, including a much more aggressive development and use of nuclear weapons. If Democrats like Clinton and Obama said before the election that it was too dangerous to entrust Trump with nukes, we have to ask: What the hell has changed? Has he proved to be less dangerous? Or have they decided that the continued existence of this system, even with Trump/Pence at its head, is more important than the dangers in people going outside the normal channels to demand the ouster of this regime?
It Is Not Just a Set of Laws, This Is FASCISM
Finally, Indivisible is wrong to reduce what we face to a set of bad laws. As Refuse Fascism has said in its Call:
Fascism is not just a gross combination of horrific reactionary policies. It is a qualitative change in how society is governed. Fascism foments and relies on xenophobic nationalism, racism, misogyny, and the aggressive re-institution of oppressive traditional values. In Trumps election campaign he encouraged and fed on the threat and use of violence to build a movement and come to power. In his inaugural address he pledged allegiance only to this movement. What is crucial to understand is that once in power fascism essentially eliminates traditional democratic rights. Even as the Trump/Pence Regime is moving fast, they have not yet fully consolidated their regime, or, as yet, been able to implement their full program. But, this is their objective and it is very possible. It might only take a single serious crisisinternational or domesticfor this regime to drop the hammer. We do not have much time.
What will stop Trump? The answer lies in people stepping outside the deadly confines of working through the very system and structures that put Trump in power. Mass resistance is critical. But unless the Trump/Pence regime is driven from office, resistance will be a series of battles fought on worse and worse terms. In the name of humanity, the focus of people who are outraged by Trump has to be to drive out the regime. Refuse Fascism has a vision and a plan for that. Their new Call says:
We must ORGANIZE: working with all our creativity and determination toward the time when millions of people can be moved to fill the streets of cities and towns day after day and night after night, declaring this whole regime illegitimateDemanding, and Not Stopping, Until the Trump/Pence Regime Is Driven from Power. If this happens, then the whole political landscape would be dramatically transformed, every faction within the established power structure would be forced to respondand all this could lead to a situation in which this fascist regime is driven from office.
That organizing includesvery importantlybeing out among everyone who is outraged by and acting to oppose the crimes the Trump/Pence regime is carrying out, and the worse ones they are rapidly preparing to carry out, no matter how they understand the problem. And in doing so engaging, and struggling with people, to confront what we are really up against. To do that, go to RefuseFascism.org. Read and sign the Call to Action. Spread it into the town hall meetings, and everywhere else. Infuse everyone outraged with what is happening to take up the single unifying objective to drive this regime from power, in the name of humanity.
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Kathmandu, Nepal: Responding to the call of the Nepali leaders, various delegates participated in the Nepal Investment Summit 2017 that kicked off on Thursday in Kathmandu have expressed their views that Nepal would be a lucrative destination for investment if some improvements are made in the managerial level.
Delivering a keynote President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Jin Liqun said that AIIB was ready to help Nepal in using the natural resources of the country for developmental projects and work with the World Bank and the Investment Development Bank for the same.
During his speech, he highlighted the need of proper environment for the investment with determination to attract foreign investment in mega projects.
Another participant of the summit Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also said that Nepal is a lucrative destination for investment.
India wished to see an economically strong Nepal, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said adding that proper utilization of natural resources, investment opportunity in energy, agriculture, tourism and irrigation sectors is must for the development of Nepal.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the summit Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal urged the international community to invest in Nepal particularly in the hydropower sector claiming that peace and development were interconnected in the country.
The government has now focused on creating conducive investment opportunities in the country, Prime Minister Dahal had said in the summit.
Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba underlined the need of economic development of Nepal by attracting foreign investment.
Another Nepali Congress leader and former Minister for Finance Ram Sharan Mahat also said that Nepal has offered enormous opportunities for the investors.
CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli also underlined the need of foreign investment in mega projects for economic prosperity of Nepal.
Delivering a welcoming speech, Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj also urged the international communities to invest in Nepal.
Nepal is the most favorable place for the foreign investors as here is a greater freedom to the investors in comparison to any other country in the South Asian nations, Minister Joshi said.
Expressing his vision Minister Joshi claimed that in the next 10 years, no Nepali would have to fly abroad for job opportunities.
In the two day summit, over 250 foreign investors from over 24 countries including India, China, United States of America, United Kingdom, Finland, South Korea Australia, Japan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Russia, and Vietnam including the heads of different multinational companies and development partners working in Nepal are participating in Summit.
Guwahati : A hardcore militant of NSCN (K) was killed in a gun fight with security forces in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district on ast Monday night, officials said.
Kohima based defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, based on ilntelligence input the Assam Rifles Khonsa Battalion undertook a massive coordinated operation at Lyangche village of Tirap District about presence of a NSCN (K) militant group moving through jungle near Lyangche village and carrying out extortion in Muktwa and Lyangche area.
The troops of the Khonsa battalion established an ambush at the suspected area.
"The ambush party observed movement of the militant group which was challenged and asked to surrender but they opened fire. The precise retaliatory fire on the group and one militant killed on the spot and the ensuing firefight lasted several minutes," Konwer said.
Taking advantage of darkness and dense vegetation the remaining militants of the group were able to break contact and flee into the jungle.
Security personnel recovered one 7.65 mm pistol with ammunition, an IED and other warlike stores from the encounter spot.
The slain militant was identified as self styled Corporal Wahang Sumyen.
Massive Search operations are still on to catch the fleeing militants.
NSCN(K) has been involved in widespread extortion and has carried out sabotage activities against the security forces.
The nefarious designs of the group have time and again been defeated.
The group has suffered severe losses in all the attacks which they have carried out against the security forces.
"This operation has further struck a blow to NSCN(K). The operation has tightened the noose around the group and has brought relief to the local population," the defence PRO said.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia March 2: A North Korean man will be released from custody because of lack of evidence connecting him to the fatal nerve agent attack on Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler, Malaysian officials said Thursday. In a major fallout from the assassination, Malaysia also announced it was scrapping visa-free travel for North Koreans.
Officials never said why they arrested Ri Jong Chol four days after Kim was attacked at Kuala Lumpur's bustling airport. On Thursday, Malaysian Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali said Ri will be released and deported because he does not have valid travel documents.
The attack was caught on grainy security camera footage that showed two women smearing something on Kim's face as he waited for a flight in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13. Malaysian officials say the substance was VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon.
Kim was dead within an hour as the fast-acting poison coursed through his body, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
The poisoning has unleashed a serious diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. While it isn't one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, Malaysia has been one of the few places in the world where North Koreans could travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it's been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.
That could all begin to change in the wake of Kim's death.
Zahid said the visa-free arrangement with North Korea will be scrapped from Monday due to national security. He also slammed the North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur who accused Malaysia of "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces."
"We don't want to make enemies, but if they had used Malaysia for their own agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international stage," Zahid said. "We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of our people. Don't ever use Malaysia as a base to do anything you like."
The two female suspects caught in the security footage were charged with murder in a Malaysian court Wednesday. They face the mandatory death sentence if convicted. Both say they were duped into thinking they were taking part in a harmless prank.
"I understand but I am not guilty," Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong told the court in English after the murder charge was read.
The other suspect, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, nodded as her translator told her, "You are accused of murdering a North Korean man at the departure hall" of Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The women did not enter pleas because the magistrate court where they appeared has no jurisdiction over a murder case. Lead prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told the court he will ask for the case to be transferred to a higher court and for the women to be tried together.
In the surveillance video, Huong was seen clearly in a T-shirt with "LOL" emblazoned across the front. Both women were originally from modest farming villages and had moved to their countries' capitals seeking a better life.
Also Wednesday, the court approved a gag order to prevent police and potential witnesses from making public statements about the case.
North Korea is widely speculated to be behind the killing, particularly after Malaysia said that VX had killed Kim. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.
North Korea's official news agency called that finding the "height of absurdity" on Wednesday, saying the two women could not have used such a deadly toxin without killing or sickening themselves and anyone around them.
North Korea opposed Malaysian officials even conducting an autopsy on Kim, while Malaysia has resisted giving up the body without getting DNA samples and confirmation from next of kin.
Kim is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau.
Authorities are seeking seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom fled the country the day of Kim's death and are believed to be back in North Korea. Others sought include the second secretary of North Korea's Embassy and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his half brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Isolated North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.
Guwahati: Thousands of devotees along with their well-wishers throng in Makhibaha Sabha Mahotsav, a century old socio-cultural & religious festival of northeast India, which was kicked-off last Sunday (26 February 2017). Held in six hundred years old village under Nalbari district in Assam, the festival will continue for nine days.
Organized annually by Makhibaha village-development committee at Harimandir premises, the unique fiesta witnesses various programs including rituals, cultural shows, public discourses etc along with brisk business activities. Each and every household of the large village contribute for the fair that gives them an opportunity to showcase their hospitality to guests.
Eminent Assamese author Dr Lakshminandan Bora inaugurated the festival after a spectacular cultural procession. The Saraswati and Sahitya Academy awardee Dr Bora appreciated the villagers for maintaining the spirit of Sabha Mahotsav and commented that the festivals help the society to grow with affection to each others.
Former Asom Sahitya Sabha president Padmashree Dr Bora also remembered few great personalities of Makhibaha locality and opined that the historic village has contributed immensely for the mainstream Assamese society since time immemorial.
The inauguration ceremony was also graced by Pratidin Time news channel editor Nitumani Saikia, Guwahati Press Club secretary Nava Thakuria, Gramonnyan president Harish Bhattacharya, active social
workers and distinguished business community leaders.
It may be noted that Makhibaha is a confederation of villages giving shelter to different communities. The agricultural based village is surrounded by Bhojkuchi, Pakhura, Jalkhana Bhathuakhana, Nannatari, Bali, Haribhanga revenue villages.
The populous village is around 20 kilometer west of Nalbari district headquarter and around 70 km away from the State capital, Dispur. Its nearest railway station is Tihu (3.5 km away) and airfield is Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi international airport at the outskirt of
Guwahati.
The Sabha Mahotsav will come to an end by 6 March, where few closing day programs are on the card. The annual festival creates brotherhood among the people helping them to live happily in the locality and also go to their professional activities with all positive energy for the
days to come.
Guwahati : Security forces on Wednesday had conducted a massive operation against the Bodo militant group NDFB (S) along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh bordering area and apprehended it's a top leader, officials said.
Following the intelligence input, Assam police and army had jointly launched operation in the bordering area of Assam's Sonitpur district about presence of a militant group at the area.
A top police official said that, when troops reached the remote jungle area, the militants started fire and bullets were exchanged lasting for half an hour.
Security forces had managed to nab a top NDFB (S) leader, but other militants of the group had fled with the help of thick jungle.
The nabbed militant was identified as Badaisa Basumutary and security personnel recovered a pistol, several rounds live ammunition and other warlike stores in possession from him.
The outfit group is active in Northern Assam and BTAD area.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Pokhara, Nepal: A Free Students Union (FSU) election contestant student has committed suicide here on Thursday.
Rima Chhetri, 20, contestant for the post President in the ongoing FSU elections from the Free Student Union (FSU), the Nepali Congress affiliated student wing, at Siddhartha Campus in Phedikhola Pokhara, committed suicide by hanging at her own house on Thursday morning.
Though the cause behind the death is not revealed yet, Chhetri, who was the student of Bachelor 2nd year, had left a suicide note stating there is no more hope for living, a police officer, who was involved in the investigation, said.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has on Thursday appointed vice-chancellors in four different health-science academies.
According to the office of the Prime Minister and council of ministers, Dr Bharat Yadav has been appointed as the vice-chancellor of the Patan Health Science Academy, Dr Rajendra Wagle is appointed as vice-chancellor of the Karnali Health Science Academy, Dr Raj Kumar Rauniyar is appointed as vice-chancellor of the BP Koirala Health Science Academy, Dharan and Dr Buddhi Bahadur Thapa is appointed as the vice-chancellor Pokhara Health Science Academy.
It is said that the appointment was made as per the recommendation committee headed by Minister for Health Gagan Kumar Thapa. The committee had recommended the names on last Monday.
[updated on 14 March 2017]
The Friday Times, 10 March 2017
Nigar Ahmad, 1945 a 2017
by Neelam Hussain
It is hard to write about Nigar a hard to decide which thread of her life to pick up, and which to let go a harder still with only a handful of words in which to do it. So where to begin?
At her core, Nigar was a person of strong passions and great loyalties for places and people. Born and raised in Lahore, she soon discovered her first love a the Convent of Jesus and Mary, where the ethical parameters of her life were shaped and some of her deepest friendships forged. Her second love a which, if it did not quite dislodge the first, certainly superseded it a was Government College Lahore, which she joined as an undergraduate student and left after completing her Masters in Economics. Actively embroiled in college life, she was a member of the Government College Dramatics Club and later editor of the Ravi. As her assistant editor (or achottaa), Samina Rahman recalls that she has never been scolded so much by anyone than she was by Nigar during this time; she also remembers the hard work put in by Nigar and the meticulous attention paid to each detail at every stage of the editorial process. From GC the next step was to New Hall, Cambridge, on a Commonwealth scholarship; then back to Pakistan, and Quaid-e-Azam University, where she taught Economics for nearly sixteen years; the setting up of the Women Action Forumas (WAF) Islamabad Chapter, and a lifelong involvement in the womenas movement.
Despite her bodyas betrayal, Nigar kept faith with the ideals that had shaped her life and never lost touch with the larger politics of the world around her. Months before her death a she expressed her unhappiness with the depoliticisation of NGOs, the growing consumerist ethic, and the loss of old values. aWe must do something about ita , she had said. aWe need to get together, plan and find ways of fighting for what we believe ina . I remember looking at her and thinking a this is not a rhetorical statement; she means what she is saying
Nigar was fuelled by a zest for life and an impatience with time honoured taboos and restrictions. As long as she was clear in her own mind about what she was doing, she was truly indifferent to societyas opinion. This quality not only enabled her to enjoy life on her own terms, it also expanded the boundaries for others to come. Thus, despite loud protests from male faculty and friends, she was the first woman to breach the male bastion of the GC-Islamia College cricket match, which she attended and thoroughly enjoyed. So too her marriage. Her parents, Riazuddin Ahmad and Akhtar (aAkhan Apaa) were in Romania on a government posting when she and Tariq Siddiqi a a similarly nonconformist civil servant, who had at the time been dismissed from service for impertinence to the powers-that-be a discovered each other. The marriage took place not in Islamabad where they lived at that time, but at a sufi shrine adjacent to a spring at Dum Torh in Swat. Her sister Munna and Nighat Said made up the brideas party, and two of Tariqas friends were the baraat. The bride wore a freshly washed and ironed red khaddar jora, and the nikah was witnessed by two women. About her life with Tariq, I will only say that they were happy together, and the most doting of parents to Bilal and Ahmad, and daughter-in-law Kate, and that their children have shown that unstinting love shaped by the principles of humanity and compassion is perhaps the best recipe for good children.
Set up in 1985, Aurat Foundation was Nigaras brainchild a hers and Shahla Ziaas, lawyer and activist. Under their guidance, Aurat grew from a small information center into a national organisation. The facilitation of grassroots womenas entry into the political and economic mainstream was one of its important achievements. Shellyas untimely death in 2005 put an end to their partnership. Nigar never reconciled herself to this loss, but it did not lessen her commitment either to Aurat, or to her dream of a just society.
Nigar passed away on the evening of February 23 2017, seven days after completing the seventy-two years of the life that was given her. Of these, almost twenty were spent in battling Parkinsonas a a cruel illness that slowly made her a stranger to her own body. Normally, in such cases, the loss that death brings is tempered by the knowledge that the suffering too has ended. It has been different with Nigar. The timeworn platitudes bring no relief a only a bewilderment where rationality wars with emotion and denies houseroom to clichAs and common sense. Perhaps this is because Nigar herself never turned her face away from life a or let go of her sense of the ridiculous in the face of pain and the bodyas recalcitrance, when each small routine task was a battle to be waged and won. Perhaps that is why, as we sit here today a the friends who loved her and whose lives she touched a and look back on her life, all that we can recall is the laughter; the energy, the enjoyment of absurdity, the taken for granted mutuality of caring and support, the small pleasures a the sharing of ideas, the arguments and disagreements; the dreams she dreamed and the single minded intensity with which she pursued them a often to the point of exasperation. As Nighat Said remarked only recently a ashe could be a pain in the neck!a
Despite her bodyas betrayal, Nigar kept faith with the ideals that had shaped her life and never lost touch with the larger politics of the world around her. Months before her death a not the last time we met, but certainly the last time we found the time to talk to each other a she expressed her unhappiness with the depoliticisation of NGOs, the growing consumerist ethic, and the loss of old values. aWe must do something about ita , she had said. aWe need to get together, plan and find ways of fighting for what we believe ina . I remember looking at her and thinking a this is not a rhetorical statement; she means what she is saying. Recalling that evening a her indifference to the constraints of her illness; her courage and her commitment to the ideals she believed in, I grieve at her loss but my heart refuses to mourn Nigar.
o o o
Newsline - February 27, 2017
Remembering a Revolutionary
By Deneb Sumbul
Second WAF convention in Lahore 1982, Nigar Ahmed is seated second from right.
Nigar Ahmed, one of the revolutionaries of the womenas movement during the dictator, Zia-ul-Haqas reign, and a pioneering womenas rights activist breathed her last on Friday, February 24, 2017 in Lahore. She passed away after a prolonged illness at the age of 72 leaving behind a husband and two sons. She helped establish the Islamabad chapter of Womenas Action Forum in 1982. She later founded the Aurat Foundation in Lahore in 1986, a non-profit with her close friend and lawyer, the late Shahla Zia to protect womenas rights against General Zia-ul-Haqas dictatorial regime.
From a two-room resource centre, Aurat Foundation spread its branches to the rest of the country and became a leading organisation for womenas rights. Nigar lent her towering personality to the asilent revolutiona during an era of womenas resistance to oppression, along with other like-minded women.
Shagufta Alizai, also one of the earliest members of WAF from Karachi reminisces about her, aShe was a hard campaigner and she fought for what she believed in. Nigar didnat say things to please you. Her first reaction was always putting things in the right perspective without being emotional.a
aI met Nigar for the first time at her wedding in Karachi a her husband and mine were friends. She moved to Islamabad first. Her husband was a bureaucrat a the joint secretary of the Womenas Division a but that didnat stop her. I got to know her better after I moved to Islamabad as well.a
aThis was at the time when WAF and its chapters were being formed, with so many problems cropping up for women, we held meetings under the nose of a dictator in Islamabad. You had to stand up to be counted. The fact is that these were the very few dynamic women of their time, Nigar Ahmed, Shehla Zia, Najma Sadeque a you could count such women on your fingertips. They led from the front and they did what they said.a
One of the most significant achievements under Nighar Ahmadas leadership and vision was Aurat Foundationas work on legislation and the need for women to be seen in leadership roles. They mobilised women candidates for national and local government elections and women voters. Apart from that the foundationas work on womenas issues generated a debate across the country on womenas political and economic empowerment as well as issues relating to peace and democracy.
Dr. Ghazala Rahman Rafiq, one of the first founder members of WAF in 1981, said, aNigar Ahmed was a feminist and one of the pillars of WAF in Islamabad. She was in constant touch with us during that time and understood the principles on which we were founding WAF.a
The writer is a documentary filmmaker and activist. She is working with the Newsline as editorial assistant.
o o o
DAWN - February 26th, 2017
Nigar Ahmed
Editorial
THE 1980s threw up some of the most committed, unwavering civil society personalities in Pakistan, individuals who would find themselves fighting one of this countryas toughest battles to secure fundamental rights. There were lawyers who pressed for justice and non-discrimination in society. There were journalists who took grave risks to keep the flag of freedom flying. There were other rights campaigners a teachers, other professionals, political activists a who marched ahead with their heads held high and who refused to bow to the oppressive regime of Gen Ziaul Haq. If anything, adversity added to their resolve and to the definitive tone of their brave slogans. Amongst them was Nigar Ahmed, who died in Lahore on Friday. She stood out in many ways a yet she blended so well with those pursuing just objectives that it was unthinkable to have the rightsa fight without her participation.
Her efforts reached their peak when Gen Zia was at the height of his powers. Firm and blessed with a temperament and training that frustrated the most intimidating of individuals on the other side, Nigar Ahmed was amongst the founders of the Womenas Action Forum a a platform that provided the much-needed stimulus to the opposition against the military dictator when political parties and others were finding it tough to make a loud enough impact. WAF, a source of some of the most celebrated, proudest stories of resistance from the time, came in 1981. In 1986, Nigar Ahmed joined hands with the famous lawyer and rights crusader Shehla Zia to set up the Aurat Foundation. Over the next three decades, she and her organisation would have a strong role in the furthering of womenas rights and generally in all kinds of human rights campaigns. The observations that have followed her departure at the age of 72 recall how she led with a resolve that surprised just as it inspired and set souls free. Nigar Ahmed is no more but there is a lot to learn from her shining example.
o o o
The Tribune, February 24, 2017
Women rights activist Nigar Ahmed passes away in Lahore
by Saadia Qamar
KARACHI:
Women rights activist and humanitarian Nigar Ahmed breathed her last in Lahore on Friday.
A leftist, Ahmed was a founding member of the Women Action Forum (1981). In 1986 she spearheaded and co-founded the Aurat Foundation with Shehla Zia a in protest against General Ziaul Haqas dictatorial regime.
While she was suffering from Parkinsonas disease since long; a few days ago she complained of chest infection, and was admitted to a hospital in the Punjab capital, where she passed away.
Remembering the struggle for womenas rights
Remembering her friend and an old associate, Anis Haroon said: aI have lost an old, kind friend today. I learnt so much from her. Ideals of being a good human beingapatience and generosity were the hallmarks of her lifea .
Her funeral will take place in Lahore on Saturday after Asr prayers.
The Hall of Nations and Hall of Industries at Pragati Maidan were designed by architect Raj Rewal and engineer Mahendra Raj in 1972. These buildings have received international acclaim and are a part of INTACHs list of modern heritage sites. The ITPO, however, which comes under the Union Ministry of Commerce, has decided to tear down these building as a part of a larger overhaul of the Pragati Maidan area to make way for more modern, state of the art buildings. Conservationists and architectural associations from around the world have written to the government asking them to reconsider, from the Pompidou Centre in Paris to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. However, the governments Heritage Conservation Committee recently stated that these buildings do not classify as modern heritage, as heritage buildings must be at least "60 years old"
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Off the coast of Indonesia, the body of man washes up on shore near a small village. As he lies comatose in a hospital a doctor from Jakarta, Ailin, looks after him. When he regains consciousness only fragments of his memory remain.
Ailin dubs him Ishmael for the time being, after the novel Moby Dick that she was reading when she waited at his bedside. A bond begins to grow between the two. Elsewhere, gang boss Lee escapes from prison and regains his criminal empire with a handful of incredibly deadly killers at his side. Word gets to him that a body washed ashore and it may be someone that he has been looking for.
In 2011 a little action film from Indonesia blew up the action cinema world and put its humble lead actor Iko Uwais on our radars from then until the end of time. After that came the equally successful and epic sequel three years later. Others from that small island nation have tried to stake a claim of their own but none have had the goods to attain the global reach that this series did.
So one can be forgiven if they head into a screening of Headshot with those films in mind, and with Iko at the lead again have set up their viewing easel and are ready to paint this new film with the same brush. It is just that the Mo Brothers have not done that. They have gone right ahead, grabbed your bucket of paint and smashed it against the canvas.
Here is what the Mo Brothers have done with Headshot. Take an early scene from that film in 2011 where the police had tied up a resident of the apartment block and he was sitting at a small table. Remember? And as the cops were looking out the windows and to the door of the apartment this guy reaches under the table and draws out a machete that was wired underneath. It is excruciatingly slow and the shot ends just as he swings that blade towards the neck of a unsuspecting cop. That moment.
That moment is where the Mo Brothers pick up from throughout their film. Not content to let our imaginations fill in the blanks, they spell it out for us. Violently. They will show you what that machete does when it meets the tender meat around your neck. This is where their horror legacy pops in and screams hello. Loud, clear, and with very colorful language. Red to be exact.
If you are familiar with the work of the Mo Brothers (Killers, Macabre and ABCs of Death) you know that tonally it has been nasty stuff. Scenes in Headshot like the prison break that frees our master villain right off the hop, or the wholesale slaughter of innocents that will set our hero's quest a-rolling, may be difficult to watch. Maybe they even have you second guessing if what we are watching is an action film or perhaps it is a horror film after all. Hold up. Is this what we signed up for?
What these scenes achieve is this: These are the bad guys, and they are the baddest mutherfuckers in all of Indonesia. What their role is in Ishmaels life will be unveiled later on but for now their actions propel him through a world of fast action and brutal violence that at times will leave you white-knuckled and gasping for air.
I saw this on a friends status last night and asked for permission to share it with you because he perfectly summarizes what we were all thinking. And I agreed to do it like this
"As a handsome and talented filmmaker friend said The Mo Bros film Headshot is half NC-17 Jackie Chan film and half Chang Cheh climax.
And hes right. During the Q&A after a screening in Toronto, Timo talked about the influence that the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema had on the story structure of Headshot and it fits. The old "Heroic Bloodshed" films from Woo and To. The Police Story series from Jackie Chan.
All were loaded to the brim with action and style but they also never forgot to include that melodrama that their fans back home adored. We do not necessarily have to buy into the budding romance between Ishmael and Ailin but it has to be at least believable for it serves as the motivator in Ishmaels quest when she is kidnapped by Lees henchmen.
This story structure also brings out emotional performances from the leads Iko Uwais and Chelsea Islan. Uwais also has to broaden his range like he never has before. As a burgeoning action superstar he will not asked do much more beyond what the Mo Brothers have asked of him in Headshot but you get his frustration, his hurt and his emotions.
The emotional keystone to all of this is Ishmael's relationship with Julie Estelle's character Rika, Lee's right hand woman. By the time Ishmael has finally uncovered his past and his connection to Lee's gang, he also discovers Rika's role in all of this and that weighs heavy on him. The physical and emotional toil of Ishmael's journey will come to a head on a beach, facing off against the knife-wielding Rika. Ishmael has not choice but to go through her to get to Lee. Estelle further cements herself as a femme fatale if not in international action cinema then at least within the Asian region. Now that Estelle no longer has pitch black sunglasses covering half her face, like she did in The Raid 2, the mythos of Hammer Girl took a hit, but Estelle proves herself more than capable of picking up Uwais' fight choreography
As far as Chang Cheh is concerned? Well, he may have been single-handedly responsible for depleting the Shaw Bros studios budget for fake blood during his time with them. His classic kung fu films were some of the most violent and bloody as he was influenced by directors such as Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone, none of whom were slouches when it came to violence.
The action in Headshot showcases Iko Uwais growth as an action choreographer. There is no room for grace and grand gestures because what the Mo Brothers have planned for us is gruesome and horrific violence. Sugarcoating is the thing that probably got lost in translation on its way to Indonesia.
The climactic fight between Ishmael and Lee is the closest the film gets to showing that influence of early Shaw Bros films. Setting aside implements of destruction like guns and knives, the two combatants opt for their lethal limbs instead. It becomes the classic showdown between the hero and the villain that we deserve as an audience after enduring so much brutal violence until then.
The camera work changes up between static and dynamic, moving from the rig to handheld the moment the energy changes. For the most part the Mo Brothers and their crew do an amazing job of capturing the action, moving within its lethal circle, but still allowing us to see what is happening amidst the sparring. There are times where it did get too close, lost and tangled with the movement, but careful planning and execution by the directors flows with the action and largely does not get left behind.
When someone asks you what no holds barred action looks like, just point them in the direction of Headshot. Stand back and be prepared to pick up the pieces of their shattered souls.
Early on, Headshot is a test of moral fortitude, but as the story progresses, characters are established, and motivations are clearer, it settles on its bloody course of action and carries it out with bombastic aplomb. It reminds everyone that you do not turn you back on Indonesia when talking about international action hotspots.
They have machetes.
Review originally published in slightly different form during the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016. The film will open in select U.S. theaters on Friday, March 3. Check local listings for more information.
The Church of Scientology has been well covered, or rather exposed, in the culture over the last decade or more.
Popular magazine features, such as the New Yorker's 2011 piece on Paul Haggis ("The Apostate"), as well as host of muck-raking books, a slew of documentaries, including HBO's recent Alex Gibney-directed overview, Going Clear, admittedly somewhat of a missed opportunity compared to its source material, Lawrence Wright's book of the same name. Like most truths and elucidation, things were best caputred roundabout via fiction, with Paul Thomas Anderson's loose biopic on L. Ron Hubbard, The Master.
All of this is to say that digging up dirt and controversy on the popular cult-like religion is practically a subgenre at this point.
Enter John Dower and Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie, which is less an informational documentary and more a direct provocation to the church. They recruit former Scientology media-fixer, Mark Rathburn, who for years was kind of the Church's Michael Clayton, to film 're-creations' of some of the more controversial Scientology propaganda videos, and now kind of the poster child for SP, Scientology jargon-speak for Suppressive Person, which essentially means, someone who is doing something the Church does not like.
As Theroux and Rathburn set out to cast Church leader David Miscavige and superstar Scientologist Tom Cruise with fresh faced actors for their re-creations, they are not quiet about it. It looks more like the re-enactments are bait to draw out the awkward and the crazy into the light.
In this fashion, My Scientology Movie feels like a lesser (perhaps not quite as righteous) version of David Farrier's anti-bully doc, Tickled. I like the form, but there is less material here, and the various encounters with the Scientologist middlemen often amount to Theroux filming them with his cellphone while they film him with a handicam, while Dower films them all filming each other. As a metaphor, I'm not quite sure what that means, but welcome to the 21st century.
Danish documentarian and television humourist Mads Brugger is still the reigning champion of undercover "provoca-tourism" (tm). Whether he was taking a group of handicapped theatrical troupe into North Korea on a cultural exchange (The Red Chapel) or setting up a blood diamond business in Central Africa Republic in terms of risk-for-the-sake-of-illumination (The Ambassador).
My Scientology Movie is not without its moments, though. A random, almost non-sequitur, encounter with actress Paz de la Huerta sees a very quick-witted Theroux navigate a weird, and weirdly cliche, pooliside Los Angeles moment with humour and grace. The relationship strain between Rathburn and Theroux slowly slides into the front and centre of the doc, as the pressure mounts and things start to go into a kind of hall-of-mirrors with the re-creation content. In the end, much like Scientology itself, I am not entirely sure what was learned from the experience.
There is this takeaway though: The one thing the Church hates more than the media or the run of the mill SP, is someone setting up a rival church using the same principles. They naturally have jargon for this as well, "Squirrelling." While My Scientology Movie gets the slightest of tastes of what the Church practices Squirrel-Busting, it begs the question. Instead of baiting the Church by re-creating its greatest media hits, Dower and Theroux (and Rathburn) could have set up and run a rival church. That would have really brought down the thunder they seemed to be looking for.
Some fires never go out - Paul Lancaster's short film The Burn is a tense and gripping thriller set in contemporary London. It features a strong performance by Branko Tomovic (24: Live Another Day, The Bourne Ultimatum) in the leading role and the stellar cast also includes Struan Rodger (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who), Dolya Gavanski (Our Kind of Traitor, The Lesson) and Mish Boyko (Dracula Untold, Fortitude).
When an immigrant returns to London after going missing, he learns his brother could be responsible for his mother's recent death. As he moves round the city searching for his brother, he has to fight with his own rage and what he, and the people around him, think he is capable of.
Seguin, TX (78155)
Today
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Remembering that many crimes go unreported to police and that those reported often go unsolved | Main | Leading congressional Dems calling upon AG Sessions to resign, which means.....?
March 2, 2017
"First, They Came for the Sex Offenders "
The title of this post is the headline of this Slate commentary authored by Perry Grosssman that discusses Packingham v. North Carolina, the First Amendment case heard by the Supreme Court earlier this week (basics here). The sub-headline summarizes the piece's themes: "We must speak up for the rights of those on the fringes of society. The Supreme Courts ruling on sex offenders First Amendment rights will signal how much protection we can all expect." Here are excerpts from the ends of an extended discussion of the case and its context:
Looming in the background of the courts consideration of this case are the Trump administrations recent attacks on the First Amendment, minority rights, judicial independence, and the rule of law itself. Though its a much different First Amendment context, President Trumps executive order restricting travel by Muslims from seven countries is also a grossly overbroad restriction on a politically vulnerable minority that was enacted thanks to fearmongering, not evidence. As lower federal courts enjoined the executive order, President Trump attacked the legitimacy of those judges who then received threats to their safety while members of his administration implied that the courts had no right to question the presidents judgment on matters of national security. Factor in Trumps claim that he was championing free speech when he threatened to withhold federal funds from UCBerkeley after it canceled an event featuring Milo Yiannopoulos, and his promise to open up our libel laws to permit more lawsuits against the press, and its clear that the presidents guiding mode of constitutional interpretation is not originalism, but solipsism. The president thinks the First Amendment protects speech and beliefs he likes, but not those he doesnt. This case thus provides an opportunity for the Supreme Court to brace the judiciary for its upcoming battles with the Trump administration and to provide a nervous country with some assurance that the protections of the First Amendment remain as robust as ever and available to all. Go to any protest these days and youre sure to see a sign invoking the words of Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor who opposed the Nazis during the Second World War by famously stating, First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Socialist. The message is simple but powerful: Speak up for the rights of those on the margins of society or you might yourself on the other side. Court battles over the First Amendment have been frequently fought on behalf of unpopular groups as a means of preventing encroachment upon the rights of the rest. Justice Stephen Breyer recalled this heritage during argument when he pointed to criminal laws directed at prohibiting communists from advocating for the overthrow of the United States government that had been struck down 60 years ago. It is difficult to imagine a less popular group than registered sex offenders. But speaking up for their rights now is critical at a time when the administration has shown its eagerness to brand people with whom it disagrees as enemies and to strip rights from politically vulnerable groups like transgender students. And it has the fringe benefit of being a good strategy for making sure they dont come for you too.
March 2, 2017 at 09:59 AM | Permalink
Comments
This analogy is unbelievably offensive to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
Posted by: David Behar | Mar 3, 2017 12:36:02 AM
Now, the question is: whether registered former sex offenders will band together as some Jews and others did during the Third Reich to defend themselves by whatever means necessary against both these laws and against vigilantes. The Jews of Warsaw actually fought in their ghetto against the Nazi occupiers even though the Nazis won out on that particular fight. At least the Jews fought back. Will former sex offenders do the same against Megan's Law, Civil Commitment, residential restrictions, and against vigilantes. What will happen?
Posted by: william r. delzell | Mar 3, 2017 9:47:05 AM
I suggest they litigate instead.
Posted by: David Behar | Mar 3, 2017 9:56:43 AM
Yes David Behar it seems unbelievably offensive to the Jews. At least consider a category of sex offenders, (I know our society lumps them all together), who are convicted of possession of child pornography. The vast majority of whom are otherwise law abiding citizens, but have found free, readily available CP on the internet. Again, they are otherwise law abiding, but because of some as yet to be determined psychological impairment, (see USA v. Hardrick), they are engaging in a internet crime that comes with absolutely zero warnings. Mr. Behar, we are a nation of laws and consequently our nation has warnings for just about everything. Many of these warnings seems very obvious to most of us, but just look around you. Everywhere you go there are warnings. Yes, I know child exploitation is a terrible offense. Again, no warnings. (see USA v. Hardrick). Moreover, 92-96% of child sexual abuse is by someone the victim knows, (i.e., family member), goes undetected. (research this blog if you don't believe my research). So we are left with a group of individuals who have harmed no one. Many, many experts on this subject consider these people to have a clinical problem primarily devoid of criminal intent. One thing is certain, these people have bad thoughts. So did Omar Mateen, why didn't we charge him with a thought crime? (He was questioned by the FBI on three separate occasions).
Posted by: tommyc | Mar 3, 2017 11:47:24 AM
Tommy. I am with you.
1) The legalization of child porn is associated with a 40% drop in the sexual abuse of real children;
2) sex offender registries are rent seeking regulatory quackery, worthless to the victim they were named after, Megan and Jessica; those little girls would still be with us if their rapist/murderers had not been released;
3) the subscription to child porn sites by the FBI is a major government subsidy, and has resulted in our now having 4 million child porn web sties;
4) registries with 10 year old offenders who took a leak in an alley, or 19 year old boys who had younger girlfriends make the entire field look really stupid.
4)
Posted by: David Behar | Mar 3, 2017 1:47:30 PM
There is no shortage of these sex offenders / sexual deviants / homosexuals who became victims of this state organized murder, commonly referred to as the "Holocaust". Your exclusion of their deaths and suffering from consideration is unbelievably offensive.
Posted by: Tedesco | Mar 3, 2017 4:26:27 PM
I find that the pot is calling the kettle black. Our rules and regulations are not followed by the rules and regulation makers. The punishment does not fit the "crime" in most cases and those that fail to tell the truth are not punished. How many after years of prison are determined innocent? If sex offenders are on a list for life then why are they in public?
Posted by: LC in Texas | Mar 4, 2017 10:16:23 PM
The registry is a CASH COW for state and government. Ridiculous and apparently uncapped fees which states increase whenever they need money to subsidize some type of program. (One of the southern states recently wanted to increase registrant fees to fund a state trooper shcool!) What other crimes saddle people who have served their time with a lifetime on a humiliating and punishing public registry that has proven to be of no value at all except to make money for the government?
It's time to do away with the registry. If there are some people that are so dangerous that they need to be watched constantly, then maybe they shouldn't be let out of prisons or psych hospitals to begin with. Stop severely punishing everyone for the violent crimes of a few. There's about 850,000 on the registry, approx. 5,000 that are violent offenders. If they need to be watched, watch them and leave the rest of the people who just want to get on with their lives the hell alone.
Posted by: kat | Mar 5, 2017 11:14:39 AM
Kat. I agree with you. I am going to court on another matter. I want a ruling of first impression declaring a rule, "regulatory quackery." That means it is not safe, nor does it achieve its self stated goal. If that can be obtained, it should be applied to the sex offender registry. Neither Jessica's nor Megan's Laws would have helped Jessica nor Megan. Megan opened the door to her neignbor, and was taken. Jessica lay in her bed with her blue dolphin plush toy. She was alive in the closet when the police visited the known sex offender in the trailer acorss the street from hers.
What would have helped Megan and Jessicabest? Killing those guys when the lawyer had the chance. Instead, they were protected, privileged, and empowered, to maintain a few lousy lawyer jobs. The loss of those two little girls is 100% the fault of the lawyer profession.
Second best would have been to not loose them on the public.
These sex offender registries are just more lawyer bullshit. Their lucrative nature makes them, with malice, as professional malpractice on a mass scale.
In my matter, I really want to take down my lawyer run state. I want it bankrupted, and the lawyers fired. To deter.
Posted by: David Behar | Mar 5, 2017 5:58:49 PM
Then they let the sex offenders go, after the FBI was attacked in court.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39180204
Posted by: David Behar | Mar 6, 2017 5:24:34 PM
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Leading congressional Dems calling upon AG Sessions to resign, which means.....? | Main | Washington Supreme Court rules Eighth Amendment precludes applying mandatory minimum adult sentencing scheme to juvenile offenders
The title of this post is a line from this interesting new essay by Richard Bierschbach, over at online publication Regblog produced by the University of Pennsylvania Law School. This essay is actually part of a fifteen(!)-part series on "Regulating Police Use of Force," but Richard makes some sentencing-specific points in his essay. Here are excerpts, with links from the original:
The externalities problem is acute in criminal justice for two reasons. First, we think of criminal justice as individual justice. Actors thus tend to view each case as an isolated transaction to the exclusion of broader, long-term, and aggregate effects. Second, criminal justice, especially American criminal justice, is fragmented vertically among governments, horizontally among agencies, and individually among self-interested actors. No one player has the responsibility, incentives, or information to take systemic harms into account. And given the politics of criminal justice, democratic processes do little to correct this dynamic.
Police and other law enforcement systematically overuse force in part because few mechanisms require them to consider the full social costs of doing so. The costs of arrests, for instance, are substantial: arrests are frightening and humiliating, use valuable resources, and burden arrestees with lost income, arrest records, and other harms. Yet few of these costs fall on the police. So, too, for other coercive measures. Prosecutors and judges do not shoulder the full costs of pretrial detention, such as overcrowded jails, difficulties in mounting a defense, and personal and family trauma. Similarly, states pay for prisons, but local prosecutors decisions fill them. That correctional free lunch gives prosecutors little incentive to use prison judiciously, which helps explain why some counties dramatically overconsume it....
Cost-benefit analysis for sentencing and arrests. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other agencies have long had to defend their regulations in cost-justified terms. Why not hold sentencing and arrest guidelines to the same standard? The great virtue of cost-benefit analysis is that, if done rigorously, honestly, and transparently, it can surface and force consideration of all harms and gainsshort- and long-term, concentrated and diffuse, and monetary and non-monetary (such as dignitary and distributive harms)that a given policy option implicates. It is not hard to imagine how some draconian provisions of the federal sentencing guidelines or New York Citys stop-and-frisk policies might have come out differently, and wrought less social damage, if policymakers had subjected them to methodical cost-benefit testing that was open to robust public scrutiny and debate.
Such procedures help policymakers confront tough tradeoffs and encourage them to make more welfare enhancing decisions. As experience in states like Washington and Minnesota has shown, cost-benefit and other impact assessment procedures also provide politicians with a degree of political cover when making criminal justice policies. The broad consideration of costs also acts as a proxy for values and voices that get little traction in state legislative halls, helping to make criminal justice policies more representative of the entire population they serve....
Capping (and trading?) prison beds . Related to pricing are caps, which can also bring incentives back in line. In a number of contexts, such as arrests, caps might not be appropriate. But in other contexts, like prison, they could make sense. Just as a capping scheme limits the amount of clean air a coal plant can use in generating profits, so too could it limit the number of prison beds that local prosecutors can use in generating personal, political, and social gains.
A trio of criminal justice professors, Cheryl Jonson, John Eck, and Francis Cullen, have proposed how it might work. States could set a cap on the number of people who could be sentenced to prison each year. They could then allocate prison beds to each county or locality based on some metric population size, violent crime rates, or something else. Localities could use those beds however they pleased, but once they hit their cap, they would have to pay the state for further imprisonments. The cap could be hard-and-fast, or it could be coupled with a trading system under which counties that do not use all of their beds could sell them to other counties, sell them back to the state, or roll them over for later use. Either way, the system would enhance accountability for criminal justice dollars and encourage cautious use of prison in ways the correctional free lunch does not.
Now, these sketches are just that. As University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Stephanos Bibas and I discuss in a forthcoming article, serious issues would exist with each of these and related strategies. Even so, in states and localities across the country, variations on these themes like cost-benefit analysis of sanctions in Washington, Californias Public Safety Realignment, or sentencing cost disclosures in Missouri are increasingly appearing as policymakers confront the enormous toll of the carceral state. In this era of unprecedented openness to criminal justice experimentation, the time is ripe to move beyond our old transactional, fragmented, business-as-usual approach to criminal justice, and to see it for what it largely is: a morally laden and complex regulatory system, subject to many of the same failures and limitations that afflict other areas of regulation. That means we must think hard not only about how to do justice, but also about how to structure justice to administer it in the most socially-regarding way possible.
File under: Reasons Middle America and much of the world hates us right now. The Guardian has just published a new piece in the perennially popular genre of Stories About How Stupidly Expensive San Francisco Is, this one quoting multiple tech workers making very large salaries complaining about how they're barely scraping by here. Forgetting the fact that people all over the country are barely scraping by for various reasons and that SF is not alone in having a high cost of living, we do have a high concentration of well compensated tech workers who are often blamed for the recently rapid uptick in our cost of living, who are now happy to complain about the high cost of living.
Example One is a Twitter engineer who says that his $160,000 annual salary isn't really cutting it for his family of four but that's actually probably not a unique complaint for the American middle class if it's a single-earner household, though, sure, most of us who don't make that much per annum think it sounds like a lot. The shocker in his story is that he's only paying $3,000 a month for a two-bedroom single-family house in SF, and he's complaining that there aren't enough family-friendly cafes in his neighborhood.
Example Two is a whiny networking firm exec living in Silicon Valley and who was making $700,000 a year, but he took a 50 percent pay cut to relocate to San Diego all because houses in Los Gatos are overpriced, or something.
Example Three is a woman in her 50s who's a "digital marketing [exec] for a major telecoms corporation" and whose husband is a software engineer, and she complains that despite bringing home $1 million a year between them, they can't afford a house. Again: What kind of "house" is she looking for? "This is part of where the American dream is not working out here," she says. But for god's sake woman, you're making $1 million a year between you! Maybe buy something in the Sunset! I'm pretty sure you can swing it!
Example Four is "Michelle, a 28-year-old tech worker who earns a six-figure salary at a data science startup," who's bitching because she can't afford to buy a home on her own, and she has to combine incomes with a boyfriend/husband to do it, and this goes against her feminist sensibilities.
The Business Times picked up the story and reminded us of former Facebook employee Matt Kulka who wrote an essay on Vox last September all about how he was quitting his dream job and moving to Arizona and it was all Facebook's fault for insisting on having its headquarters in all top-tier markets like Boston, SF, New York, and London. It's basically a story about how having two children made SF become unsustainable, and for anyone who's been around here a while, this is not a new story.
So yes, San Francisco is still expensive, everybody! Nothing to see here.
Previously: San Francisco Has Always Been A Pretty Expensive Place To Live
A working group to propose improved Airbnb regulations that Mayor Lee promised to set up by the end of February 2017 when he vetoed the 60-day rental cap is nowhere to be found, the Examiner reports. That's more fodder for critics of Lee's seemingly moderate attitude toward the company, in which his pal Ron Conway is a major investor, and for which SF progressives want further, stricter regulations.
In the contentious relationship between Airbnb and its host city, the gloves really came off last June when the vacation rental platform sued the city over a Board of Supervisors-approved fine to charge Airbnb, not just hosts, for breaking the city's short term rental listing laws. Then, last November, the Board of Supervisors approved a measure for a 60-day cap on rentals for Airbnb hosts who hadn't yet registered with the city, though older hosts were grandfathered in for more days.
That 60-day cap passed with a 7-3 vote from the Supervisors, one-vote shy of being veto-proof. And, what do you know, Mayor Lee did indeed veto that cap in December, vowing to set up a working group on the subject. Quoth the mayor: I along with Supervisor Breed will convene all stakeholder groups early next year to examine strategic and thoughtful regulations to further streamline compliance, registration and enforcement of our short-term rental regulations and propose potential improvements to our existing regulations by February 28, 2017.
Im disappointed, but the mayor has finally agreed to work with me and stakeholders to look at regulations and long term solutions, Breed told the Examiner at the time. We will develop a working group and make recommendations by the end of February 2017 to address some of the most challenging issues with this industry. Outlining the central debate, It should not be more lucrative to offer an empty unit as a short-term rental than to rent it as permanent housing, Breed said. According to SF's Budget Analyst, 1,900 or more residences in the city are kept off the rental market by short-term hosts.
**Checks calendar** Well, now that it's March, the Ex is circling back, learning from the powers that be that no such working group exists. Deirdre Hussey, Mayor Lees spokesperson, tells the paper that "After the court ordered the city, Airbnb and Homeaway (another short-term rental company) to participate in mediation regarding the lawsuit that Airbnb and HomeAway brought against the city, the City Attorneys Office advised that it was preferable to give deference to the court-mandated process before convening the working group."
A spokesperson with the City Attorney's office, John Cote, couldn't tell the Ex any more on that: Legal advice we provide to our clients," in this case the City of San Francisco, "is protected by attorney-client privilege, so we cant disclose any guidance we may or may not have provided, Cote told the paper.
Supervisor Peskin, a veteran progressive who has framed Airbnb as a major player in the city's housing crisis, doesn't see the logic there. The city convening a task force to discuss what the right fix is doesnt have any impact on the lawsuit, Peskin tells the Examiner. The existence of the lawsuit and working on policy reforms arent mutually exclusive.
That said, Peskin and Breed are at work on new legislation, reportedly to be introduced next week, that might mend bridges and perhaps wrap this all up for good. That would ask "hosting platforms to exercise reasonable care in verifying that a residential unit is on the City Registry prior to accepting a fee for booking a short-term rental transaction." If they do their due diligence, hosting platforms would be off the hook for fraudulent or illegal listings, the new legislation is said to propose. Also down the road is the possible creation of an online process for registration the current process for regulating this all-online company is, laughably, on paper. A city spending plan shows the creation of such an online process would cost $400,000.
In the meantime, the city's short-term rental office counts 1,865 active hosts, according to officer director Kevin Guy a fraction of the 9,600 listings in San Francisco that appear on Airbnb itself. Applications are still rolling in, he says, and to date, the office of short-term rentals has issued $1.2 million in fines relating to 482 housing units.
Related: Airbnb Follows Up '#WeAccept' Super Bowl Ad With Pledge To Help 100,000 People In Need With Short-Term Housing
The owners of hit New York City Indian restaurant Babu Ji, which expanded in November to San Francisco, are closing their East Coast location amid a wage theft lawsuit, the second being faced by owners Jessi and Jennifer Singh, as Eater's New York branch reports. The first was settled for $95,000 after two employees alleged last July that the owners were pocketing tips and denying overtime pay to them. The owners did not admit wrongdoing according to Eater's coverage of that settlement, which occurred in October.
However, a second suit against the couple was filed in September, which claims the two took credit card and cash tips from employees from May through December 2015 and didn't pay overtime for that period. Instead, plaintiffs say they were given a a flat, $600 weekly fee for up to 60-hour work weeks. Most non-managerial employees are required by federal law to get time-and-a-half pay for work weeks of more than 40 hours.
Eater uploaded the lawsuit here, which is brought by Maimon Kirschenbaum, a well-known restaurant labor lawyer in New York. It's due to be tried by jury. Where the allegations get more explosive is in an amended brief, filed in February 2017, which alleges co-owner and chef Jessi Singh approached one of the plaintiffs in the second wage lawsuit, a server, and threatened him over the suit.
You know that in India a man paid $100,000 rupees to have someones family killed," Singh allegedly told the plaintiff n Hindi. If youre fucking my family Im going to fuck you up. Im going to fuck your family," Singh allegedly said. "I have a lot of money, I can legally fight with you. You already screwed me up by suing, so why are you coming to work? You come into work and then take my money. Singh allegedly called the other plaintiff, another served, a "sisterfucker." Threatening retaliation for filing a lawsuit would be in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and local New York labor laws.
Now Babu Ji's Mission location, on Valencia Street, will be its only one: According to Eater, its two-year-old East Village location, on Avenue B, will "close for an indefinite period."
In January, Chronicle food critic Michale Bauer favorably compared San Francisco's Babu Ji to New York's version in a positive review. Before that New York restaurant, Jessi and Jennifer Singh, who met in San Francisco, began operations in Australia, with three now-closed restaurants that were heralded as among the best Indian offerings in the country.
Related: Lawsuit Naming The French Laundry And Thomas Keller Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Employee
If your goal is to catch a trophy northern pike, the best time to do it is coming soon.
The big, old females, those 20-pound-plus leviathans, move into shallow bays to spawn even before the ice goes out. By the time the ice leaves the bays, the spawn is usually over, but those hogs stay around, basking in the warmer water those bright, sunny spring days often bring.
And the good news is, they can be caught.
Much of what these big females are foraging on is winter-killed fish that are lying on the bottom. If your lake has shad, the bottom might be littered with dead fish. And big catfish will join northerns in this feeding frenzy. If there are no shad, rest assured there will be other fish offering meals to the cruising northerns.
South Dakotas massive Oahe Reservoir is a definite destination for early northern pike fishermen. Just about any of the lakes many shallow bays will offer good fishing.
For years I would make an annual trip to fish with my friend Steve Nelson who lives in Pierre and is definitely one of the best shore fishermen up there.
While you can definitely catch these big fish from a boat, most of the early anglers fish from shore.
As anyone who has spent much time around water knows, the ice leaves the shallow bays first while the main lake remains in an icy grip. So shore fishermen might get as much as two weeks head start on the northerns before the boats can even get there.
Heres how we would go about it.
Our rods were long and rather heavy. I used the same rods I used for downrigging at the time, eight-and-one-half feet long, medium heavy action. We would attach big spinning reels spooled with 12-pound-test monofilament.
Our terminal tackle consisted of a 12-inch steel leader with a swivel on one end and a snap on the other. Our hook was a size 1 treble. Our bait was frozen smelt which we obtained at local grocery stores or tackle shops.
We preferred to cast our smelt out onto a flat coming off the shoreline.
Heres the method. Take one of the smelt and insert the shank of the treble hook into it at mid body. Push the shank through and attach the eye of the hook to the snap.
Using a kind of lob cast, throw the rig as far out as you can, making sure the smelt doesnt fly off. Then let the whole rig sink slowly to the bottom.
Put the rod into a forked stick. Open the bail of the reel and leave it open. Peel off some extra line letting it lay on the ground. Next attach a fairly good-sized, round bobber to the line and leave it on the shore. That is your bite indicator.
Now you just sit back and wait.
When a northern takes the smelt he will make a run, and your bobber will go scooting off the shoreline and into the water. Pick up the rod and wait for the pike to end the run. Then close the bail, take up the slack line and set the hook hard.
As you regain line, have your partner take the bobber off the line and continue fighting the fish.
Many of the pike we caught using this method weighed 15 pounds or more.
Most of the time I did not sit and wait for a bite. Id cast a small spoon up and down the shoreline and often caught as many pike that way as on the frozen smelt.
Another Pierre friend, the late Tony Dean, perfected a method of catching these fish by boat. He would cast a Number 9 Rapala right up to the shoreline and then retrieve it slowly back to the boat. Often the northerns would strike the bait along the first breakline. Those breaklines are caused by wave action during low water periods so they might only be a few feet off shore.
If cold front conditions pushed the fish into deeper water, we would use a Number 9 Countdown Rapala and fish it as deep as 15 feet. These deep water fish can often be spotted on your depth finder.
Tony found these small crank baits to be much better northern catchers than bigger baits or big spoons in the spring. His theory was that the fish are in shallow water and bigger baits making a louder splash when they enter the water might be frightening them away.
Another thing we noticed is that fishing is not very good in the morning or cloudy days. The sun needed time to warm up the shallow water and get the food chain started. Our best fishing usually occurred between 2 and 4 p.m.
Lake Oahe currently has an excellent northern pike population with many fish weighing from three to 10 pounds with many exceeding that mark, according to South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks. Each year northerns exceeding 30 pounds are caught, but they are rare.
Low water is what it takes for good northern pike numbers. When the lake is low, vegetation grows on the flats and when the water returns the pike move in and spawn on that vegetation.
After low water years, Oahe began refilling in 2008 and 2009. Spawning conditions were excellent and the northerns rebounded.
If your dream is to do battle with a trophy northern pike, this might be the best year to do it, and Lake Oahe is the logical destination choice.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa | Jurors will resume their deliberations Friday morning in Elias Wanatee's retrial in connection with a fatal stabbing.
Jurors deliberated for nearly two hours Thursday before leaving at 4:30 p.m. They will return at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Witness testimony began on Tuesday morning and ended Thursday morning.
Wanatee, 48, of Sioux City, has pleaded not guilty to the Feb. 17, 2016, stabbing death of Vernon Mace. Wanatee's first trial in Woodbury County District Court ended Dec. 14 with a hung jury when jurors, after more than 11 hours of deliberations, could not reach a unanimous verdict.
The second trial was moved to Council Bluffs after the defense asked for a change of venue, saying it would be harder to choose another jury in Woodbury County and ensure that Wanatee receive a fair trial.
Wanatee is accused of stabbing Mace, 50, of Sioux City, in the street in the 1900 block of West First Street.
A sentencing date has yet to be set. According to a plea agreement, federal prosecutors will recommend to the sentencing judge that Baird be placed on probation, though the judge could decide to impose a prison sentence of up to five years. Baird has agreed to pay at least $707 in restitution. He also could be subject to a fine of up to $250,000.
SIOUX CITY | Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew praised deputy Mike Lenz for his actions in a shootout with an armed suspect following a high-speed chase early Sunday morning.
"Instead of planning a funeral, we are holding a press conference about a deputy who showed great courage and survival instincts," Drew told reporters Wednesday.
Melvin William Spencer, 24, of Sioux City, has been charged with attempted murder. An unidentified male who was a passenger in the vehicle was shot during the gunfire and is being treated at a local hospital for what authorities describe as non-life threatening wounds.
"I cannot release (the gunshot victim's) name because there are no charges pending," Drew said. "I can't get into what (his) role was."
Brittney Lynn Hood, 27, of Sioux City, who was driving the vehicle when the pursuit began, faces a handful of charges, including eluding authorities.
Drew said at 3:24 a.m. Sunday, deputy Troy Tadlock attempted to stop a 2009 Lincoln MKZ on 260th near Port Neal Road for traffic violations. The Lincoln, driven by Hood, failed to obey his lights and continued westbound on 260th before turning northbound on Port Neal, reaching speeds of more than 80 mph.
The vehicle then came to a stop north of 235th. Hood fled on foot into a field, chased by Tadlock who apprehended her shortly afterwards.
"Before Deputy Tadlock realizes there were two other suspects in the vehicle, it took off," Drew said, adding Spencer hopped into the driver's seat of the Lincoln, which had tinted windows.
Minutes later, deputy Derek Brand was traveling southbound on Port Neal to assist Tadlock when the Lincoln attempted to hit Brand's patrol car head on, causing him to veer into a ditch.
Lenz, who was also in route to help, spotted the fleeing vehicle turning onto 225th street and followed it as it turned north on Allison Avenue. The vehicle eventually got stuck in a ditch at a dead end near the Sioux City Police Department's training center at 6602 Allison Ave.
Prior to Lenz exiting his patrol unit, Spencer leaned out of the driver's side window of the Lincoln and engaged the deputy in gunfire. At least five rounds struck the deputy's vehicle. The unnamed male was struck by the gunfire, and Spencer then fled on foot.
Lenz administered first aid to the victim until he was taken to the hospital.
A manhunt ensued and Spencer was spotted three hours later by an Iowa State Patrol plane brought in from Des Moines. After locating him, the sheriff's office used a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle it borrowed from the Sioux City Police Department to move in closer with a tactical team and arrested him.
Drew became choked up as he thanked police departments from Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff and Moville and other agencies who sent officers. He also applauded the Woodbury County dispatcher for staying "calm in the storm."
"When a call comes out like this when a deputy or officer needs assistance, it does not matter what uniform or badge-- with our limited resources-- we all show up for each other," Drew said. "I'm proud of every officer here in northwest Iowa that showed up to help us."
Lenz, who has been a deputy since September 2014, has been placed on administrative leave and will have counseling and professional help before returning to duty, Drew said. The sheriff added he has spoken with Lenz almost every day since the gunfight.
"He's doing well. He's a good young man... I told him we need some warmer weather so we can ride our Harleys and get some really good therapy," he said.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Drew would not identify the main victim who was shot, his current medical condition, or whether charges could still be filed against him.
Drew added the dash cam and body camera video of the gunfight will be released at a later date.
The shooting is being investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa State Patrol and the sheriff's office.
Spencer is currently being held in the Woodbury County Jail on $250,000 bond. Hood is being held on $2,000 bond.
Spencer and Hood's next court appearance will be 9 a.m. March 9.
SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man sustained a serious stab wound in the groin area after his girlfriend attack him with a knife Thursday morning.
According to the Sioux City Police Department, 39-year-old Natasha Drappeaux and her boyfriend, Salahadin Adem, were intoxicated and arguing over money around 9 a.m. at the Ida apartment building, 1901 Pierce St.
During the quarrel, Drappeaux grabbed a knife and stabbed Adem in the groin area, left forearm and left upper arm, according to court documents.
The serious wound in the groin caused Adem to lose a large amount of blood, and had to undergo surgery at Mercy Medical Center-- Sioux City. Police expect the injuries to be non-life-threatening.
Drappeaux was arrested on scene and charged with willful injury, a class C felony.
Ida building resident Almaz Yohannes said Adem had knocked on her door after the stabbing occurred and asked her to phone 911. Yohannes said she lives below Adem, but that the apartment is usually a quiet place.
"Oh, yes, it's definitely (usually quiet)," she said.
The incident is under investigation.
The Journal's Alex Boisjolie, Ian Richardson and Ty Rushing contributed to this story.
STORM LAKE, Iowa | A 43-year-old man is in custody after police say he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in a vehicle in Storm Lake last year.
A Storm Lake Police Department press release said Ricardo Venegas Gonzalez fondled the girl while traveling in the vehicle on Oct. 30, 2016.
The department received the allegation on Feb. 9, and Venegas Gonzalez was arrested on Wednesday for a warrant charging him with lascivious acts with a minor, a class C felony.
Venegas Gonzalez, of Storm Lake, is booked in the Buena Vista County Jail on $10,000 bond.
The Iowa Department of Human Services and the Child Advocacy Center at Mercy Medical Center-- Sioux City assisted with the investigation.
SIBLEY, Iowa | A northwest Iowa egg-laying facility is paying a $46,000 penalty and is now court-ordered to comply with state environmental laws, according to an agreement with Attorney General Tom Miller.
District Court Judge Carl J. Petersen on Wednesday approved a consent decree in Osceola County District Court that resolves an environmental lawsuit against Sunrise Farms Inc., of Harris, Iowa, according to an Iowa Department of Justice news release. The lawsuit was also filed Wednesday.
Sunrise Farms operates facilities in Osceola County.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources traced the source of a large fish kill in Stony Creek near Everly in neighboring Clay County to the Sunrise Farms egg-laying operation in Harris.
The DNR determined wastewater from the company had flowed into a tributary of Stony Creek and killed about 163,000 fish over an 18-mile stretch.
As part of the consent decree agreement, Sunrise Farms has admitted there is sufficient evidence for the court to find that the company dumped as much as 12 1,500-gallon truckloads of wastewater onto a cornfield, bypassing its wastewater lagoons.
The company also admits sufficient evidence for a court to find that it failed to obtain a required construction permit prior to building two confinement buildings at its Sibley operation, the release said.
SIOUX CITY AMC Theaters is cutting the brakes on its Carmike Cinema brand of theaters, which includes the Carmike Southern Hills 12 in Sioux City and the Carmike Yankton Mall 5 in Yankton, South Dakota.
Sometimes this month, both the Sioux City and Yankton Carmikes will begin operating under the AMC Classic Brand. Changing the names of the theaters names is part of the Leawood, Kansas-based cinema operators effort to streamline its brand.
According to a release from AMC, theaters under the AMC Classic moniker are Americas Hometown Theaters, which was Carmikes former tagline, and 200 theaters across the spectrum will adopt the title.
These theatres will offer Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, which offer than 100 types of soft drinks, menu items such as pretzel bites, nachos and refillable annual popcorn buckets while some locations also will be outfitted with a MacGuffins Bar and Lounge. Additionally, the brand logo for AMC Classic incorporates the folded C graphical element from the legacy Carmike brand logo.
AMC plans to honor current Carmike Rewards members points and implement those accounts into it AMC Stubs rewards program. It also will honor existing Carmike gift certificates and pre-purchased tickets.
In addition to AMC Classic, AMC will market 400 theaters under the traditional AMC Theatres name while another 60 will operate under the AMC Dine-In Theaters name, which offers a full dine-in restaurant service on-site as well as a seat delivery service.
To ensure our guests are clear about the experience they should expect, we will be operating all of our theatres under the AMC brand, said Stephen Colanero, AMC executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Within that brand, we are communicating three distinct experiences that set clear expectations for our guests. All three of these brands promise the guest that we will give them an AMC experience at the movies.
AMC acquired completed its $1.2 billion purchase of Carmike in December. Acquiring the rival operator effectively made AMC the largest movie theater chain the U.S.
SIOUX CITY |For 60 years now, the annual Siouxland Home Show has served as the one-stop shop for people looking to build or renovate their homes.
This annual showcase to all things home related is sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Siouxland, a trade organization that represents 170 area builders and associated industries.
With this year marking the diamond anniversary for the Siouxland Home Show, the association partnered with Thorpe and Company of Sioux City to provide an opportunity for one lucky attendee to win a diamond necklace and a set of diamond earrings through a drawing.
Nancy Moos, the associations executive officer, said planning for this years show started in August, and there will be 165-170 exhibitors spread across more than 240 booths at the Sioux City Convention Center, 801 Fourth St. The show starts Thursday and goes until Sunday.
Moos has been involved with the event since 1984, which was a down year for housing as the metro area and other parts of the Midwest were hit hard by the slumping agricultural economy.
Throughout her time with the association, Moos has seen some good times, bad times and average times in the Siouxland housing market, but she is really impressed by the recent boom in housing sales and starts.
Sioux City's Planning and Zoning Department issued building permits for 241 housing units in 2016, up nearly 20 percent from the 205 issued in 2015, the previous record. For older dwellings, more than 1,750 homes had been sold in Sioux City last year an increase of 3.4 percent, or 58 homes, from the same point in 2015.
From what Moos has gathered from her members, 2017 is poised to be an even bigger year for housing in the metro.
In her opinion, that alone provides more than enough incentive for people to visit the home show.
Moos said this show gives the public an opportunity to do everything from finding the latest kitchen appliances to meeting with financiers to arrange loans and just about everything in between when it relates to the housing industry.
Moos also views the home show as an opportunity for builders and other industry insiders to network among themselves, but also put make a positive impression on potential customers. She noted that sometimes people will come strictly for informational purposes one year, but return at a later date when they are ready to build and often seek out vendors they had a good rapport with.
One longtime vendor is Ross Steele, who has been coming to the show for more than a decade. Steele owns Sugar Plum Oak Amish Furniture of Norfolk, Nebraska, which sells Amish made home goods and upholstery from Smith Brothers of Berne, a high-end furniture brand from Indiana.
Steele said the volume of people he sees at the home show every year is one of the reasons he keeps coming back and his appearances at this show have helped him develop his brand within the Sioux City market, where he sometimes opens pop-up shops.
We do a lot of business in the Sioux City market; thats why we are here, he said.
It's not legal here, guys.
IDA COUNTY, Iowa | Two men from Colorado were arrested Wednesday for having a Chihuahua's weight in weed in their car.
The Ida County Sheriff's Office said that 4.5 pounds of marijuana and 0.25 pounds of cocaine were found inside a car during a traffic stop on Highway 20 Wednesday morning.
Upon approaching the vehicle, deputies could smell the pot coming from the passenger compartment. The county's K-9, Anou, was deployed and sniffed out the narcotics. Some cash was also seized, the office said.
John Wesley Reed, 42, and Michael Christopher Taylor, 33, have been charged with possession and intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana and drug tax stamp violations.
They also face social media humiliation as the sheriff's office posted pictures of the loot on Facebook next to smiling deputies and Anou.
Both of the men are from Aurora, Colorado, where smoking recreational marijuana is legal, but having that much-- probably isn't.
Thief cashes in on an ATM... an entire ATM
DANBURY, Iowa | Authorities are seeking a man who somehow unbolted an ATM and stole it from a Danbury bank early Tuesday.
Woodbury County Sheriff's Deputy A.J. Fundermann said a security camera showed a white male take the machine from the entryway of Valley Bank & Trust at about 1 a.m.
The unknown man unbolted the machine, tipped it over onto a small cart and wheeled it outside through the door. An estimated $1,400 in cash was in the machine.
Fundermann described the suspect as a white male, under 6 feet tall with a medium build. The man was wearing a hoodie with the hood over his head, and his face was partially covered.
The camera couldn't catch, however, what type of vehicle the man drove away in.
Fundermann said there are no suspects at this time.
Sometimes you've got to wonder - only the other day I saw a headline describing Malmo as the 'rape capital of Europe'. You know, if I was the mayor of Malmo, I'd be looking to fire whoever is in charge of the PR campaign for the tourist industry. Because, you know, I really don't see that as being a selling point - I certainly wouldn't visit Malmo on that basis. And I'm pretty sure that it's not going to do anything to attract female visitors, either. It's hardly up there with 'City of Culture', say, as a slogan. But I shouldn't be making light of accusations, never mind how false they are. The 'capital of rape' nonsense was another example of the fake news peddled by the right with regard to Sweden. The country has always held a fascination for reactionaries, with its image of liberalism, reasonableness and free love. As if all that wasn't bad enough, in recent years the Swedes have also started being nice to refugees, allowing them to settle there. Now, combine that with all that free hardcore pornography right-wingers imagine Sweden is awash with, and what do you get? A tidal wave of porn-fueled rapes committed by gangs of rampantly aroused foreigners.The idea of immigrants, particularly those from Muslim backgrounds, being more prone to committing sexual offences has become something of an obsession for the right, with hardly a week going by without some report or other of 'European' (ie, white) women suffering mass assaults at the hands of gangs of immigrants. The fact that none of these have proven to have any foundation in fact is neither here nor there, of course. True or not, they serve their purpose of insidiously reinforcing the negative stereotype of the sex offender immigrant in popular culture. Not that there is anything new in this idea of 'foreigners' somehow being 'better' and more enthusiastic rapists than Europeans - just listen to that song on Peter Wyngard's album 'Golden Throats'. You know, the one called 'Rape', in which he 'amusingly' chronicles the different rape techniques of various ethnicities. But that was the seventies - and now, it seems. And let's not forget all those stories you used to get in the old men's magazines about western women being ravaged by Arab potentates or devious Orientals. Mind you back then, the women put themselves in peril by ill advised travels in foreign climes. Nowadays those bloody foreigners are over paid on benefits, over sexed on rape and over here. Apparently.
Labels: Musings From the Mind of Doc Sleaze
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.
The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.
By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
Friday
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His new key role in bringing more Muslims into Congress concerns security experts, because Ellison has made anti-Semitic remarks to Muslim groups and aligned himself with known radical Islamists, and would likely recruit more Islamists with help from terrorist front groups like CAIR.
Gaubatz says he expects Ellisons close relationship with CAIR he was a frequent visitor at CAIRs headquarters just three blocks from the Capitol and was treated like an honorary CAIR board member to continue at the DNC. He trusts CAIR's leaders, he said, "and I have no doubt they will have an influence in the selection and grooming of political candidates for office."
Known as CAIRs congressman, Ellison has spoken at several CAIR events, including national fundraising dinners held by the group in 2007, 2008 and 2014, when Ellison was Known as CAIRs congressman, Ellison has spoken at several CAIR events, including national fundraising dinners held by the group in 2007, 2008 and 2014, when Ellison was awarded the groups highest honor.
CAIR, in turn, helped Ellison raise tens of thousands of dollars for his congressional campaigns. Internal CAIR memos obtained by the bestseller,
The FBI has I personally witnessed Ellison fundraising for CAIR, said Gaubatz, who shortly after leaving his job at CAIRs Washington headquarters blew the whistle on a senior CAIR attorney who allegedly defrauded Muslims seeking help with immigration cases out of thousands of dollars.CAIR, in turn, helped Ellison raise tens of thousands of dollars for his congressional campaigns. Internal CAIR memos obtained by the bestseller, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld Thats Conspiring to Islamize America, also show that CAIR provided Ellison phone sheets from its database of Muslim voters to help get out the vote for him in his Minneapolis district, which includes a growing Somali community that a federal judge recently warned harbors a large "terrorist cell.The FBI has banned CAIR from both national and local outreach activities held by the bureau, pending further investigation into its terrorism ties. In 2010, Ellison was recorded making anti-Semitic remarks at a 2010 fundraiser hosted by a Virginia Muslim who has praised violent jihad against Israel. Ellison was embroiled in controversy soon after he was first elected in 2006, when he insisted on taking the oath of office with his hand on a copy of the Quran. Ellisons office did not respond to requests for comment.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the new deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and the first Muslim elected to Congress, has a plan to recruit additional Muslim lawmakers like him -- including possible candidates sponsored by a terror-tied Islamist group for which he helped raise millions of dollars, according to a source who once prayed alongside him in the basement of the Capitol.Ellison has held, or jummah, prayers with other Muslims, including staffers from the Congressional Muslim Staff Association and officials from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in a prayer room, or musallah, in the lower level of the Capitol building.CAIR has been declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terrorist-funding operation.A former CAIR intern who prayed with Ellison says Ellison once boasted that his breaking of the Muslim barrier on the Hill would usher in dozens of other Muslim lawmakers like him, and that he had an election-by-election vision for increasing their ranks.In the summer of 2008, I was working as an intern at CAIR, Chris Gaubatz recalled in an exclusive interview with FrontPageMagazine.com . During aprayer at the Capitol Building, Ellison was talking about the second Muslim congressman being elected (Andre Carson) and said, Inshaallah (Allah willing), next election we will have four Muslim congressman, and inshaallah, after that eight, and inshaallah, after that 16. He said he also envisioned a Congressional Muslim Caucus that would rival the Black Caucus in size and influence, and push for Muslim-friendly public policies, such as gutting the Patriot Act, criminalizing the profiling of Muslims in terrorism investigations, and preventing the surveillance of mosques.Ellisons vision did not play out, as Democrats lost control of Congress to Republicans.But atDNC elections, Tom Perez, who edged out Ellison as chairman of the committee, broke with party rules and named Ellison deputy chairman, creating a new position at the DNC. The DNC leadership controls spending priorities, organization and messaging for Democrats, as well as influences the recruitment and training of candidates.We have to recruit the right kind of candidates, Ellison asserted in a recent DNC candidate forum.CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad and intern Chris Gaubatz in 2008 (Courtesy Paul Sperry).
The first annual LGBTQ Dynamics in the Workplace certification workshop was held Tuesday, Jan. 31, at JM Lexus in Coconut Creek.
Part of the "Diversity in Action" series of the GLBX* Board, the training was presented by Equality Florida. The training was in response to the needs of an increasing number of businesses, small and large, that want to know what they can do in order to be fully welcoming and inclusive to all members of the LGBT community, whether employees, potential staff, or clients.
Equality Florida's Transgender Inclusion Director, Gina Duncan, a renowned international and national corporate trainer, and her colleague, Mark Puskarich, Equality Florida's "Equality Means Business" Coordinator were the main presenters for the training.
Sponsor JM Lexus graciously hosted, providing not only the excellent training facilities, but a hearty cooked breakfast, as well. Additional sponsors for the training were Memorial Healthcare System and The Eppy Group.
Highlights of the training included learning to understand the differences between sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, which can get quite complicated at times! Fortunately, Gina, who transitioned from male to female on the job at Wells Fargo where she was a regional manager, shared from her personal story without flinching or shying away from some of the sensitive topics, such as family acceptance, and the so-called "bathroom issue," which it turns out is a non-issue, after all.
Gina also provided guidance on proper methods of communicating with someone regarding their orientation, gender identity or expression (the safest bet? Politely ask!) Mark Puskarich spoke on the benefit of a diverse workplace where staff can be their authentic selves; how businesses are leading the way in Florida, and specific requirements for employers in Broward County where for decades we have had one of the most progressive Human Rights Ordinances.
This certification workshop was a big hit among attendees, with one saying, "I went into this seminar thinking it would be information I knew-quite the opposite. It was three hours of new information about processes and issues I needed to know and did not. I left the workshop educated with information I can immediately use in my business. The openness of the instructor made ALL the difference!" With feedback like that, it won't be long before another workshop is planned.
Attendees were provided with The Transgender Resource Guide (also available online: eqfl.org/transactionfl), as well as membership in "Another Business For Equality," a pro-equality online business registry.
For more information on workshops and trainings on LGBTQ workplace issues, contact Gina Duncan at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Note that the opinions expressed above are those of the authors, and not necessarily reflective of the GLBX or the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
You can follow the GLBX on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fortlauderdaleglbx/ or you can contact the GLBX Council Chair, Andy Perrott at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to obtain more information on how to become a member.
*GLBX is a Council of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce
Wed, 26.10.22 - 12:09
Another blast of heat at the end of the month is likely to break the record in Spain With only a few days left in...
With Seattle at the forefront of the resistance to Trumps travel ban, Ali and Laila Ghambaris first cafe explicitly featuring flavors and traditions of their Persian heritage seems a well-timed rebuke to the President. In fact, its a coincidence. Opening day comes at the end of a two-year road for Cherry Street Public House, a bigger, more elaborate branch of their coffee chain, Cherry Street Coffee House.
Two decades after Ali Ghambari opened his first coffee shop, he and his daughter are opening this all-day cafe and restaurant, serving high-quality coffee, and Persian-inspired breakfast, lunch, and, soon, dinner from the center of Seattles Pioneer Square. The cafe anchors the new Weyerhaeuser building and fronts onto Occidental Park.
Its my vision, made possible by my father, says Laila Ghambari, of how Cherry Street Public House evolved. The space came to them through Ali Ghambaris partner in Cherry Street Coffee House, Greg Smith, who developed the building. Laila Ghambari, a 2014 US Barista Champion who previously had worked for Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Caffe Ladro, took over as director of coffee for Cherry Street Coffee House and upgraded their coffee program in 2014. When this space showed up as an opportunity, Cherry Street already had coffee shops two blocks away in two directions: she knew this was their chance to fulfill a dream by doing something new.
My dad always wanted to serve Persian food, Laila Ghambari says. Even at the coffee shops, serving freshly made food was always a priority for Cherry Street, but it was prepared by their baristas. Here, she could build-out a first-rate coffee shop, as well as a full restaurant kitchen with dedicated chefs.
The high-ceilinged, cool-colored space is long and narrow, with big windows running the length of the cafe. The blue and white tiled coffee counter, brewing Counter Culture Coffee on a La Marzocco Strada AV and Marco SP9s, faces the main door at the north end. To the left is a small coffee shop area: small tables for a quick seat. The counter stretches out to the right, transitioning into an open kitchen with bar seating in front of round marble-top tables, set up for more of a real meal. At the far end, up a few steps, the laptop bar looks over the rest of the roomperfect for settling in to do some work.
At the coffee counter, patrons will find a noticeable absence from the usual set up: theres no condiment bar. Why would we give you coffee not served as you want it? Laila Ghambari asks. Instead, each style of coffee is listed on the menu and brewed with a bean that fits the desired flavora single-origin Burundi for black, for example, and a custom-blend for cups with cream and sugar. In addition to the espresso and coffee options, theyll serve drinking vinegars, and have both kombucha and nitro cold brew on tap.
While the direction of the coffee menu came from Laila Ghambaris deep expertise and research, that of the food menu comes from the heart. There arent many Iranian restaurants in Seattle, she explains, and the local Persian community missed the flavors of home. Her dad wanted to serve his people the tastes they love. At breakfast, avocado toast shares the menu with a waffle topped with tahini butter and pistachios, the breakfast sandwich comes with pickled fennel, and theres a scone served with maitake mushroom gravy. Lunch features khoreshesPersian stewsserved over saffron rice; the vegetarian version features butternut squash, pomegranate, and walnuts. Theyre hearty, filling, and a good lunch, Laila Ghambari says, excited to introduce them to people less familiar with the cuisine. Persian flavors sneak into other parts of the cafe as well, like in pomegranate-infused drinks and the chai made with a Persian spice mix.
Its a departure from the sandwiches and salads menu their previous shops servewhich were so devoid of signs of the Ghambaris Persian heritage that when someone on Twitter announced he would boycott Starbucks for hiring immigrants, he suggested people Drink Cherry Street coffee instead. Laila Ghambari laughed at the irony, but also points out that while there hasnt been Persian food in the shops, theyve long been a part of the local Persian community, with Ali Ghambari having been a founder of the local Iranian American Community Alliance and its annual Iranian Festival.
We dont need to stand up or give a statement, says Laila Ghambari about their feelings regarding Trump and his travel ban. We fight every day. As pillars in the local community, people call them when translators are needed at the airport or elsewhere. And they plan to continue to do sonow with Persian flavors on the menu. We make an impact by continuing to serve the community. By which she means us all.
Naomi Tomky (@gastrognome) is an award-winning freelance writing for The Stranger, Saveur, Lucky Peach, Tasting Table and more. Read more Naomi Tomky on Sprudge.
Representatives from the Lakeshore Horse Racing Association spoke on Wednesday at a meeting of the Essex County Council.
According to the Windsor Star, LHRA President Mark Williams requested that councillors pen a letter of support for the track in light of concerns for the future of live harness racing in Southwestern Ontario.
We want to make sure (provincial government representatives) know that we have the support here and there will be some backlash if they intend to move ahead and just unilaterally cut us out, said Williams.
While Williams noted that LHRA has a contract for the next two years to race at Leamington, a model pitched last year would have taken race dates and funding away from tracks like Dresden, Hiawatha and Leamington. According to Williams, Leamington had the third highest on-track handle in Ontario and that success translates to local jobs and investments.
The Mayor of Tecumseh, Gary McNamara noted that county councillors are fully aware of the importance of these jobs within the industry and the region.
Its critically important that rural Ontario stays sustainable, McNamara said. (We must) maintain and support the jobs that are available.
An update from the Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association indicates progress with a gaming bill that would provide expanded gaming at the state's racetracks.
That update from the IHHA is posted below.
The Illinois Senate on Tuesday advanced SB7, the much-anticipated big gaming bill, which would allow slots at the racetracks.
Originally this bill was problematic for us because of our loss of Maywood and Balmoral but we were able to add successor language which would allow for new racinos to be built. The Senate voted 31-26 in favour of the bill, providing one more vote than the 30 votes necessary for passage.
The bill now goes over to the House chamber, where we are anticipating many more changes, a few of those that we will be seeking ourselves. Then it must return to the Senate for concurrence and then ultimately the Governor must agree.
Regarding the horse racing piece of the bill, it is very similar to the ones that we passed years ago. It still includes the agreed-upon percentage of the slots revenue earmarked for purses, the elimination of recapture and the guarantee of live racing opportunities.
We should also keep in mind that this bill is part of the grand bargain which includes 13 other bills that need to be passed as well. Legislators are calling it an all or nothing deal. So the hurdles still exist. Its not as simple as going out and getting the votes for passage. That is certainly part of it, but not the end all.
We are encouraged by this development but history has taught us not to get ahead of ourselves. We will continue to do everything in our power to try and advance this crucial piece of legislation. We will keep everyone informed as this continues to untangle. But hold onto your hats, the next three months should be a roller coaster.
(with files from IHHA)
Pacing mare Bedroomconfessions is the dominant force in Yonkers Raceways Filly and Mare Open Handicap in the early stages of the 2017 racing season. After finishing second in her first start of the year February 3, she has strung together back-to-back victories in the distaff feature for trainer and co-owner Tony Alagna and co-owners Myron & Stephanie Bell of Riverview Racing, LLC. With $61,250 in the bank this year, she leads all distaffers in purse money earned two months into the year.
Shes a beautiful, beautiful mare, Myron Bell admired. We really enjoy racing her.
Despite Bedroomconfessions early-season success, its unusual for Bell to race a mare this late into her career. Now a five-year-old, Bedroomconfessions was nearly retired to be bred to two-time Pacer of the Year Captaintreacherous, who Bell stands at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania.
Bedroomconfessions was supposed to be bred to Captaintreacherous this year, but we wanted to race her this winter to see if she improved as a five-year-old, Bell said. This is the first time weve raced a mare this long in a long time, but Id be foolish not to because when you have a mare thats good - shes good enough to be on the board all the time - thats important.
Bedroomconfessions is a homebred for Bell by American Ideal. Bell purchased her dam Turnoffthelights as a yearling for $20,000 at the urging of his wife, Stephanie.
She picked out Turnoffthelights. She knows I like the family, Bell explained, referencing a long line of champions including La Paloma and Her Ladyship. I have great respect for the family. I knew she wasnt going to be a star on the racetrack, but I like the blood and then I bred her to American Ideal, so thats how that came about.
In her three years of racing thus far, Bedroomconfessions has established herself as one of the most consistent mares in the sport. Her 13 victories include a division of the Bluegrass at the Red Mile in 2015 and she rarely misses the board in stakes company. Overall, Bedroomconfessions has finished in the money in 32 of her 56 races, good for $770,420. Being a homebred has made the ride with Bedroomconfessions all the more special.
When you buy a yearling or you breed a yearling and you race them at two and three in the major stakes races, its a pleasure. Shes been a good mare for us for years now, Bell admired. Breeding your own horse and they turn out as well as they do, were very proud of her, very proud of her.
Despite her impressive resume, Bedroomconfessions scarcely visited the hilltop oval at Yonkers at ages two and three. She made her first local appearance in 2015 when she finished third in the Lismore Pace before winning a division of the New York Sire Stakes and finishing off the board in the Sire Stakes Final later in the same year.
Since December, Bedroomconfessions has racked up two wins and three seconds at Yonkers in six starts as she chases the lucrative purse money and prepares for the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, which begins Friday, March 17 and is Bedroomconfessions first major engagement of the season.
We just staked her for every event this year, Bell said. Well try to space her races; we wont race her every week, naturally. But in the Blue Chip, you get 25 points every time you show up, so you almost have to show up unless you win every week to get enough points to get in the final. I will race her, but not over race her.
This Friday (March 3), Bedroomconfessions and driver Scott Zeron will start from post position eight as the 5-2 morning line second choice after taking last week off. While he is hopeful, Bell is being realistic about his chances from the far outside, which produces winners at just two percent.
We gave her last week off because we knew she was going to draw the outside anyway. Were trying to keep her fresh going into the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, Bell explained. Were handicapped with the eight hole and the eight hole is not to our liking. I have no illusions that shes going to win from the eight hole. If she races well and stays sharp, Im happy.
Mach It A Par, winner of last weeks Filly and Mare Open Handicap, will start directly to Bedroomconfessions inside in Fridays $50,000 feature as the races 2-1 morning line choice. Ron Burkes Tessa Seelster landed the favourable post four and is 6-1 on the morning line. Last weeks runner-up, Mackenzie A, starts from post six and is 7-1. Arielle Lynn, Lispatty, Shesjustadelight N, and Apple Bottom Jeans complete the field. First post time is 7:10 p.m.
For Friday's entries, click the following link: Friday Entries - Yonkers Raceway.
(with files from SOA of NY)
Post Time with Mike and Mike presented by BetAmerica is proud to announce the guest line up for its Thursday, March 2 show at 1 p.m.
Mike and Mike will have a special feature focusing on this past week's USHWA Awards and USTA Elections. The segment will condense the highlights of the happenings in Las Vegas in a five=minute production package.
The Daily Racing Form's Derick Giwner will join the program. Giwner was among the first to get a reaction from newly elected USTA President Russell Williams. Giwner will also give his thoughts on the meetings in Las Vegas.
TVG Award winning analyst Tom Cassidy will join the show as well. Cassidy won an HHI Award for his media contributions to the industry. Cassidy will talk about his career in the business and his role at TVG.
There is another expanded gaming bill in Illinois and IHHA Executive Director Tony Somone will join the program to talk about the bill's possible passage and what it could mean to the future of Illinois harness racing.
Also, the ongoing series on Pompano Park continues. The track's Director of Race Track Operations Gabe Prewitt will join the program to talk about the latest happenings at the Winter Capital of Harness Racing.
Post Time with Mike and Mike presented by BetAmerica can be heard live on its website at posttimewithmikeandmike.com or on the archive at betamerica.com/BARN.
(with files from Post Time With Mike And Mike)
More than 60 businesses have benefitted from the program, which was extended through May 1 while a permanent program is in the works.
Seventy years ago, on the day Wenceslaus and Denicia Billiot got married, their wedding party danced along a road that ran from one end of Isle de Jean Charles to the other.
Today, that road is nearly gone. Isle de Jean Charles, located 80 miles from New Orleans, has been sinking slowly. Since 1955, it has lost 98% of its land mass to rising sea levels, devastating hurricanes, and the construction of oil and gas canals along the marsh.
The latest research shows that, if the current rate of global warming continues, sea levels have the potential to rise more than three feet by the end of this century.
That would certainly mean the end of Isle de Jean Charles. Today, only half a square mile of land remains above water.
Recognizing the danger, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $48 million to the state of Louisiana in 2016 to relocate the community to higher ground, off the island -- making the residents of Isle de Jean Charles the country's first-ever climate refugees.
The island's residents have had mixed reactions to the grant. Most of them are members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Native American tribes or United Houma Nation, which can trace their settlement on the island back to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Many have lived on the island their whole lives.
In the 1950s, there were around 80 families living in Isle de Jean Charles. Now, there are only 30 left. The 30 families are still on the island, waiting out the long process of resettling the entire community. The deadline for spending the federal funds is set for September 2022, and the state is hoping to resettle the community by then.
The Billiots, the oldest living residents of the island, have lived there their whole lives. Wenceslaus Billiot remembers a time when the island stretched out for miles, as far as the eye can see.
"Now?" He says. "We look back and forth, nothing but water."
He and his wife are torn about the idea of relocation. They've had four generations of children and great-great grandchildren since their wedding day in 1947.
"We were born and raised over here. So that's why we're gonna stay over here as long as we can," Billiot says.
But there are dangers to living on an island cut off from the rest of the world. Last year, the 90-year-old Billiot fell and hit his head, and the nearest hospital was more than half an hour away.
Billiot has no intention of leaving this world early. He is 90 years old and plans to live until 105.
He may outlive the island.
Zach Wasser and Janelle Gonzalez contributed to this video.
Rolls-Royce Motors has unveiled a one off vehicle, thats lighter and smaller than any car the marque has produced in the past. Its called the Rolls-Royce SRH and its electric.
Well yes, because Rolls-Royce has unveiled is a kids size version of its bigger, luxurious behemoths and it even comes with its own Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet ornament!
This child-size car has been designed and crafted for one special customer and that happens to be the children at St Richards Hospital Pediatric Day Surgery Unit. And that is where it gets its model name as well.
The brightly coloured car has a purpose, and this is to lighten up the minds and reduce child patient stress. This is because the car has been built to entertain children awaiting surgery.
The children will be allowed to drive the car themselves all the way to the operating theatre through the Pediatric Unit corridors, which are lined with traffic signs.
"We are a proud member of the community here in West Sussex. The Pediatric Unit at St Richards Hospital, Chichester does such vital work in providing essential care to young people and their families, said Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. We hope that the RollsRoyce SRH will serve to make the experience for young people during treatment a little less stressful."
The car was eventually handed over to the patients, and the team at St Richards Hospital.
At the unveiling, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars welcomed two test drivers from the Pediatric Unit at St Richards Hospital, Molly Matthews and Hari Rajyaguru, to the Home of Rolls-Royce. Both children were given the same Rolls-Royce VIP treatment given to its usual customers.
Kid-sized cars derived from their bigger real-world counterparts are a common thing these days (McLaren did something similar). But the SRH is a one off. Only one has been produced and that too by the Bespoke Manufacturing team. It also indicates how well Rolls-Royce understands its customers requirements.
The Rolls-Royce SRH comes with a two-tone steering wheel and seats that have gotten the same amount of detail like its bigger cars. The top speed is 10mph and the car is powered by a 24 volt gel battery, which propels the car without any noise. Theres a speed setting that limits the speed to 4mph for those who prefer something less thrilling.
Oh yes. If you were wondering, it took the Bespoke Manufacturing team over 400 hours of their own time to develop and hand-craft this special Rolls-Royce.
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The strengthening of cyber capabilities is an important part of China's military modernisation, the government said on Wednesday, warning that the internet should not become "a new battlefield". China, home to the largest number of internet users, has long called for greater cooperation among nations in developing and governing the internet, while reiterating the need to respect "cyber sovereignty".
But Beijing, which operates the world's most sophisticated online censorship mechanism known elsewhere as the "Great Firewall", has also signalled that it wants to rectify "imbalances" in the way standards across cyberspace are set. "The building of national defence cyberspace capabilities is an important part of China's military modernisation," the Foreign Ministry and the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's internet regulator, said in a strategy for global online cooperation on the ministry's website.
China will help in the military's important role in "safeguarding national cyberspace sovereignty, security and development interests" and "hasten the building of cyberspace capabilities", the strategy said, but also called on countries to "guard against cyberspace becoming a new battlefield". Countries should not engage in internet activities that harm nations' security, interfere in their internal affairs, and "should not engage in cyber hegemony".
The United States has accused China's government and military of cyber attacks against U.S. government computer systems. Beijing denies those claims and also says it is a victim of hacking. While China's influence in global technology has grown, its ruling Communist Party led by President Xi Jinping has presided over broader and more vigorous efforts to control and censor the flow of information online.
The "Great Firewall" blocks many social media services, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Google, along with many rights groups sites and some foreign media agencies. Beijing also adopted a controversial cybersecurity law last year that overseas critics say could shut foreign businesses out of various sectors in China. Chinese officials say the country's internet is thriving and that controls are needed for security and stability.
Reuters
IANS
Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad's flagship device Cool S1 will be available in India in May.
According to company sources, Cool S1 will arrive in India in the second quarter this year.
Coolpad showcased the device at the just-concluded Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
Launched in December in China last year, Cool S1 concentrates on music and game and targets the youth.
The device is fitted with Harman Kardon's tone tuning technology.
During the MWC, Harman Kardon officially rewarded Coolpad the authentication certificate on high-quality sound, which is the first certificate ever that Harman has issued to a smartphone brand.
The "Clari-Fi" technology in Cool S1 revives the compressed MP3 and WMV files better.
The phone comes with a 5.50-inch touchscreen display and is powered by 2.35GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor with 4GB RAM.
The phone packs 32GB internal storage that cannot be expanded. Coolpad Cool S1 packs a 16MP primary camera and a 8MP front shooter.
Cool S1 runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 4,070mAh non removable battery that guarantees four hours 3D mobile games playing.
hidden
In its efforts to curb fake news and violence-encouraging posts, Facebook has shut the official page of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party, a media report said. According to Munir Jaghoub, spokesman of Fatah's Mobilisation and Organisation commissariat, Facebook closed the account because of an historic photo of former Palestine president Yasser Arafat grasping a rifle, while standing alongside Fatah Vice Chairman Mahmoud al-Aloul, The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
"Facebook closed the account and then sent us a message of that photo," Jaghoub was quoted as saying. He added that Facebook had sent three warning messages with attachments of other photos over the past several months. If Jaghoub is to be believed, the photo of Arafat and the other material published on the Fatah account did not constitute incitement.
A review of the Fatah account's history shows that it has published a number of posts and pictures that glorify violent acts against Israelis, the report noted. On August 2 last year, Fatah posted a page bragging about the alleged number of Israelis Fatah has killed. "To those who argue, to the ignorant, and to those who do not know history...Fatah has killed 11,000 Israelis," the post read.
Jaghoub also said that Facebook has blocked the pages of the account's 12 administrators for 30 days. Facebook deleted a second official Fatah account that had garnered 200,000 followers, 18 months ago. The deletion of the Fatah account comes as Facebook is undertaking a number of steps to crackdown on incitement.
In November, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced new steps to counter fake news on the platform. "We take misinformation seriously. We know people want accurate information. We've been working on this problem for a long time and we take this responsibility seriously," the Facebook CEO had said. Last year in June, Israeli cabinministers requested Facebook to delete inciting posts against the country as part of its struggle to quell a Palestinian uprising. Facebook said there was no place for content encouraging violence, direct threats, terror or hatred on its platform.
Reuters
PTI
The government has asked all banks to provide mobile banking facility to all customers by March 31 in a bid to push digital transactions. "What we have asked the banks to do is to enable all customers who have mobiles for mobile banking... We are asking banks to run a nationwide campaign up to March 31 to ensure that every customer who has a mobile phone is enabled for mobile banking," Electronics and IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters here.
She added this is part of the government's efforts to boost the digital payment system. "The reason is earlier mobile banking wasn't such a priority. And therefore, many customers may not have said they want mobile banking services. But today, they want it... This is to ensure that whoever wants to do mobile banking but has not been enabled, should be enabled by March 31," she said.
Sundararajan said customers who are using UPI or BHIM app should automatically be enabled for mobile banking. "We have said that any customer who accesses UPI or BHIM they should automatically be enabled for mobile banking because it means they want mobile banking," she said, adding the banks have been asked to enable this. The government has been aggressively pushing payments through digital platforms, especially after announcing its demonetisation exercise on November 8.
PTI
The Railways will soon move towards Aadhaar-based online ticketing system to prevent touts from blocking a bulk of tickets, end fraudulent bookings and curb cases of impersonation. Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions in train tickets from April 1. A three-month trial run for this is going on.
As per the new business plan 2017-18, unveiled by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today, besides the Aadhaar-based ticketing system, the Railways will move towards cashless ticketing system by installing 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000 automatic ticket vending machines across the country.
An integrated ticketing app will also be launched by May to promote cashless transaction. Aadhaar number will be required for one-time registration at the IRCTC ticketing site. The step is aimed at eliminating touts from registering with fake identities, a senior Railway Ministry official said, adding the Railways is preparing a software for the purpose.
Despite taking several steps, touts corner a bulk of tickets and sell those at much higher prices and this is becoming a serious problem for the Railways. The new business plan also envisages launching of new tourist trains connecting hill stations and enhancing passenger comfort and providing pleasurable journey experience through improving amenities and catering service.
Sheldon Pinto
With all the major events covered a day before and on the first day, the Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC) in Barcelona has come to an end. While Samsung steered clear and revealed very little about its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S8, Sony and LG became favourites on the floor for a variety of reasons. There were a few revivals as well. BlackBerry announced its KeyOne, a smartphone that could be its best BlackBerry to date, and Nokia literally rose from the dead and even brought back something from the past in the form of the 3310. So lets take a look at the highlights at this year's MWC.
BlackBerry
BlackBerry literally kicked off the MWC a day before the event started with TCL introducing the BlackBerry KeyOne. Codenamed the 'Mercury', the smartphone was first showcased at CES 2017. The official KeyOne model name was then set in stone and announced at the MWC. And with that announcement also came the official specifications of the device. The KeyOne features a 4.5-inch display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 with 3GB RAM and comes with a 12MP rear shooter along with an 8MP front-facing camera for selfies.
Also announced was the price tag at 599 EUR (roughly Rs 42,000) which for some reason seemed a bit more considering that buyers will get a smaller display, an under-powered chipset (for a flagship). But hey, it looks good, and that capacitive physical QWERTY keypad that now comes with a fingerprint reader built into the space key, should keep owners and fans happy.
LG G6
LG announced its much awaited G6 flagship smartphone. The device features a 5.7-inch QHD FullVision display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, dual cameras and an IP68 rating.
While fans would be happy that LG stuck to the basics and seems to have delivered a straightforward flagship smartphone sans the modular mess, there are others who thought that it just wasn't impressive. This is in part, thanks to the rumour mill. We have been hearing one too many rumours about the Samsung Galaxy S8 and upcoming iPhone for a while now. With so many new features expected in these premium flagships, LG's G6 smartphone although sturdy, spartan and reliable may lose consumer interest when it is launched a few months later.
Huawei
Huawei at the MWC this year announced its successor to the Leica-branded P9, called the P10. Also announced was a P10 Plus model that could do a bit more and came with top-of-the-line specifications like 6GB RAM and a wider f/1.8 aperture lens.
Huawei indeed seemed brave to fight off Qualcomm and introduce its new flagship once again using its own HiSilicon Kirin 960 chipset. While the company did not confirm, we also expect Amazon Alexa integration, but for certain markets. The design is nothing new although Huawei focussed a bit too much on its colour choices. What will be interesting to see is how the OIS on the back performs when it comes to imaging.
Nokia
HMD Global did revive the Nokia brand by announcing 3 mobile phones: the Nokia 3, the Nokia 5 and a global edition of Nokia 6. But everyone's attention was on the revived 3310 feature phone.
The Nokia 3310 came with the basic specification an had everyone's attention thanks to the nostalgia factor. While many were excited about playing Snake on the an older-looking 3310, the enthusiasm died out pretty quickly since the device was indeed a dumbphone with just 2G bands and was only headed to emerging markets.
Indeed, there is market for feature phones even today in India. But with the Nokia 3310 priced at 49 EUR (roughly Rs 3,500) it's easy to say that many would not be interested since many smartphones, with Android sell in a similar price bracket. Adding on the nostalgia factor, Nokia also announced a Snake game on Facebook Messenger.
ZTE
ZTE played rather quiet and announced the world's first Gigabit capable smartphone, that was capable of download speeds reaching up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) up to 10 times faster than the first generation of 4G services widely in use today. The sad reality was that the device was not for the consumer, but just a concept to give consumers an idea about a 5G future. The device allows for 360-degree panoramic Virtual Reality video and fast downloads of ultra Hi-Fi music and videos. But with 5G still far away, we can expect the first large-scale commercial deployment of the technology to happen only by 2020.
Sony
Sony indeed had a slew of products to be showcased at their stand at the MWC. From projectors to headphones, the highlight of the Sony launch was indeed the Xperia XZ Premium. Sony showcased what is claimed to be the world's first smartphone with a 4K HDR display. The product would complete the circle for Sony that is looking to offer end to end 4K solutions to its customers. It also happened to be the only smartphone at the MWC ("courage") with a Snapdragon 835 inside.
Qualcomm was present at the Sony stand and was proud to announce its Gigabit capabilities that will work well for both 4K content streaming (thanks to Amazon Prime) and 4K video uploads as well. Another highlight was Sony's new Motion-Eye camera with 960 fps super-slow motion recording and Predictive Capture. Then again the was that the smartphone would not arrive until after summer. But it still has a lot more going for it than the G6 when the Samsung Galaxy S8 arrives by the end of this month.
Gionee
Gionee carried on with the selfie trend. The Chinese smartphone maker announced the launch of two smartphones from its new flagship A series. The smartphones features standard run of the mill hardware with the usual massive batteries that are popular among its Chinese customers. The A1 Plus was the more interesting one of the two with a 20MP selfie camera and a dual camera (13MP + 5MP) camera set up on the back. The smartphone will be powered using a massive 4,550 mAh battery while running on MediaTek Helio P25.
While this year's Mobile World Congress was not as star-studded as the previous one with many manufacturers like HTC and Samsung dropping out, the theme was pretty clear. The smartphone spec race at least for 2017 seems to have taken a breather with manufacturers focussing on nostalgia, design, construction and function over performance.
Complete coverage of the Mobile World Congress 2017 can be found here.
What is your reaction on the budget for Consumer Durables products?
We view this budget as reformist that gives a clear road map for the future course of economic growth in the country. The budget focus on fundamental reforms by giving outlays for farmer incomes, rural upliftment and relaxing income tax will spur the demand for white goods up to the grassroots level. These steps will further give an impetus to consumer demand and act as a catalyst in accelerating and expanding the economy.
Could you please tell us all range of Consumer Durables products?
Intex has a wide range of Consumer Durables products. Just recently, in Nov 2016 the company forayed into Refrigerators segment with Direct Cooling models and the fully automatic Washing Machine models. With this, Intex has also roped in Bollywood legend Madhuri Dixit as brand ambassador for refrigerators and new range of washing machines. In the LED TV segment, Intex launched the Smart LED TV range starting from 32-inch to 55-inch UHD/4K TV and also expanded the Big LED TV range with 58-inch and 65-inch models.
In the IT Peripherals segment, Intex launched its Fake Notes Detector cum Currency Counting Machine and new range of speakers and headphones. Intex has 70+ models in speaker portfolio. Intex had earlier in July 2016 introduced Tablet iBuddy, which has been well received in market.
Other Highlights include:
In September & October16 together Intex sold 150,000 LED TVs and in FY 16-17 will sell around 700,000 LED TV units viz-a-viz 400K in 2015-16. In IT Peripherals, Intex sold 400,000 power banks in Sept & Oct16. This is in line with the company strategy of extracting a large chunk of its revenues from CDIT in the coming years.
In September 2016 itself, Intex also announced the appointment of cricketer and Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina as its brand ambassador for the new range of Speakers segment
Intex also launched environment and health friendly Air-Purifiers named Good Air
Introduced Currency Counting Machine for precise tallying of the money in banks, schools, colleges, hospitals and business organizations
In 2017, Intex will be launching Air-Conditioners, both Window and Split Models. It will also be coming up with Frost-Free refrigerators.
What are your expansion plans?
We have gained a lot of momentum in the last few years and would like to continue this upward trajectory in future as well. For FY 2017-18 and further on we will lay special emphasis on the CDIT business in order to increase our revenue share from 15% currently to 25% by 2018 and up to 50% in the long-term towards companys revenue. We are focused on innovation and affordability in terms of all our products, coupled with competitive prices and a strong offline-online distribution & after-sales service model.
Could you please tell us about challenges in Consumer Durables Department?
India is a geographically diverse country and to reach consumers across the length and breadth of the country a big distribution network is required. Consumers are price sensitive, spoilt for choice and demand a continuous engagement program. To overcome such challenges, Intex has developed a wide network of 1500 distributors, 80000+ dealers and 75 branded stores Intex Smart World covering 63 cities. We pay complete attention to offering better quality at competitive prices. Also, after sales service is very important for us, hence we have 1500 service touch points to serve our consumers across different regions.
What is Intex doing differently to increase its market share in India?
Since last year in 2016, Intex with a renewed focus on consumer durables has been continuously enhancing its product portfolio by foraying into Refrigerators segment with Direct Cooling models, fully automatic Washing Machine models and air-purifiers. We have also been in the tablets and LED monitors segment and have recently introduced our currency counting machines. After sales service is something very important for us hence we have 1500 service touch points to serve our consumers across the regions. With new technologies and innovations, consumers are also demanding better features to enhance their experience and productivity. Considering the ever changing market trends, Intex has been offering best in class products to consumers.
Would you please reflect upon your R&D work?
Intex as a brand is focused on indigenous product development and delivery. We have R&D centers in India and China. We also have various vendors on board who provide services on the basis of pre-approved designs by the company. We have 5 manufacturing plants in India, which are located in Jammu, Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh). The company is coming up with its 6th and the largest manufacturing plant at Kasna, Greater Noida, spread over 20-acre land.
Your message to Consumers.
Brand Intex is all about fulfilling aspirations, offering consumers the best of design & technology at very competitive pricing. We make sure that we give our customers special schemes to motivate and sustain their performance. Also, we provide experience with the expertise of in-shop demonstrators, detailing each and every product specification and selling our products with the help of our partners. This gives us an edge among consumers and we wish this relationship to only strengthen with time.
@Technuter.com News Service
Local TV news is often full of entertaining moments and mishaps, from a 14-way box on Atlantas snowmageddon to the L.A. anchor who crashed riding an electric scooter, but this one from reporter Jobeth Devera of Hawaiian stations KGMB and KHNL (CBS and NBC affiliates respectively) is something else.
On Tuesday, Devera was walking near a bunch of cows and filming a piece on the push to legalize the sale of raw milk in Hawaii. While she was talking, one cow stuck out its tongue, and did something you dont usually see on the news:
Devaras reaction is great, too, especially considering that this was a filmed segment rather than a live one (as evidenced by her #thankgotwewerentlive hashtag). Kudos to her for deciding to share it anyway, and smartly using this post to promote her actual on-TV story. Its a funny moment, and it shows some of the challenges of doing a segment with animals in the shot. Thats something for other reporters to perhaps be wary of in the future.
[AdWeek]
Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson is just a man of the people. He puts his pants on one leg at a time, and he just wants some good tacos.
This was proven true Tuesday. Lawson posted on Snapchat asking for suggestions for a place that sells tacos. Based on the Kings injury report released Wednesday, Lawson might have gotten some bad advice. He was listed as questionable with Gastroenteritis.
Heres what that scientific term means.
The official definition of gastroenteritis is An intestinal infection marked by diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever. as stated by WebMD. Just in case you wondering what these tacos were all about.
Thus far, connecting these two instances is pure speculation. We havent heard from Lawson or the Kings yet in regard to the ailment. But the tacos do look good, even if they do cause intestinal problems.
I dont blame you for eating those, Ty. The Kings can miss you for one game as long as you enjoyed your tacos.
[SB Nation]
EU threatens fines for failing to take in refugees
Refugees on the Hungarian-Serbian border.
AFP, Brussels :
The EU on Thursday stepped up warnings that countries could be punished if they fail to share the burden of mainly Syrian refugees stranded in Greece and Italy.
Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said member states had until September to take in 160,000 Syrian and other refugees from the two countries, which have been on the frontline of the migration crisis.
So far only 13,500 have been relocated in a process bogged down by general inertia and resistance from Eastern European states which oppose Muslim immigration.
"If we don't have tangible efforts by September... the commission will not hesitate to make use of its power," Avramopoulos, who is Greece's EU commissioner, told a news conference.
The EU has been trying to convince members states "to do their duty," he said.
"But if it is not the case in the future, infringements might be an option," he said.
As the executive branch of the 28-nation EU, the European Commission is able to launch "infringement proceedings" to impose fines on member state that break the bloc's rules.
Countries like Hungary and Slovakia have proposed paying "solidarity" contributions instead of actually taking in any migrants.
But others such as France and Germany insist that no country can shirk its duty to admit a minimum number of refugees under the plan, which was pushed through in September 2015.
The EU launched the scheme to deal with the biggest wave of refugees in its history, with more than 1.1 million arriving in 2015, most of them fleeing the conflict in Syria.
In February, EU vice president Frans Timmermans said the Commission was for the first time considering penalties for states that break the rules.
The Oscar love curse
Life Desk :
The most coveted awards on this planet, Oscars come and go but one thing that refuses to die down is a strange curse attached to the Academy Awards - the Oscar love curse, yes you read that right!
It is a superstition which is talked about every year. According to the Oscar love curse, the woman who wins the Academy Award for Best Actress has her boyfriend or husband cheat on her or divorce her soon after.
According to the legend, the curse also applies to the woman who wins the Best Supporting Actress. So much has been spoken and written about the curse that two professors of University of Michigan's Ross Business School - Michael Jensen and Heeyon Kim undertook a research paper on the same. Called 'The Real Oscar Curse: The Negative Consequences of Positive Status Shifts. Organization Science', the paper found that "Oscar nominations/wins have positive professional consequences for male and female actors but more enduring negative personal consequences for female actors, thus emphasizing an important conundrum for female actors: Oscar nominations/wins can help a career but can also ruin a marriage."
Oscar winning actresses might be ruling the roost, when compared to their Hollywood colleagues, but odds suggest that most of these beauties have to regret their Oscar wins because of the ill-fated curse.
According to an earlier report published in The Herald Sun, the female winners of the coveted trophy are 63 percent likelier to have a shorter marriage than those who do not win.
As per the report, out of the 266 married women who have been nominated for the Oscar since 1936, 159 of them got divorced.
While Emma Stone can rejoice at the fact that she's still unmarried, here's a look at some popular Academy Award winners who sadly got divorced after their big victories.
Angelina Jolie won the Best Supporting Actress award for Girl, Interrupted in 2000 and not only did she split up with her then husband Billy Bob Thornton, but she also filed for divorce with her longtime partner Brad Pitt.
Hilary Swank, who won the coveted trophy twice, once in 2000 for Boys Don't Cry and then in 2005 Million Dollar Baby, broke up with husband Chad Lowe before her second victory.
Reese Witherspoon too got divorced from Jake Gyllenhaal after winning an award for Walk the Line in 2005.
The Reader actress Kate Winslet got divorced after winning her Oscar in 2008.
Sandra Bullock split from her husband Jesse James in 2010, a year after winning her Oscar for The Blind Side.
-TNN
GAZIPUR: Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haq addressing the inaugural programme of RCC Road at Konabari as Chief Guest on Wednesday.
Rashedul Huda's 'Poetry of Darkness'
Sheikh Arif Bulbon :
Overwhelmed by the beauty within the mystifying dance of light, shadow and darkness, artist Rashedul Huda searches for the colour of life. To him, this oxymoronic reality is woven in the manner dreams are woven. The
darkness of evening creates layers of images, and life too seems to look for a meaning there as it goes on. Like a
feather shed by a bird that has flown far away, there is a story conjuring up
on every corner. Huda in his
paintings moves amidst light, shadow and darkness towards the hope of a
faraway light. He believes where there is warmth there is a new tale to
be told and there is an untrodden path for the onlooker.
The fourth solo painting exhibition titled Poetry of Darkness by artist Rashedul Huda is going on at La Galerie of the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka (AFD) in the citys Dhanmondi
area now.
Eminent artist Monirul Islam
inaugurated the exhibition as the chief guest, while noted artist Bonizul Haque, Dr A M Shamim, founder and Chairman, Labaid Foundation
and architect and art critic Rabiul Hussain also attended the opening
ceremony as the special guests. Bruno Plasse, Director of AFD, gave the
welcome speech on the occasion.
Huda's canvases focus on the weal and woe of human lives from the
perspectives of natural light and
natural darkness of the day-to-day life. Consequently, the fundamental nature of light and darkness as well as the vintage style are amalgamated to bring up relatable compositions.
Contemporary and talented artist Rashadul Huda was born in Rangpur district in 1964. He obtained his MFA from Institute of Fine Art, University of Dhaka. He has participated in many group art exhibitions, residency
programs and art workshops in home and abroad. In 2007, he had the third solo exhibition at Tokyo, Japan.
The subjects of his painting are often abstract and semi abstract.
The exhibition will continue
till March 7. n
I am in the best phase of my life: Kareena Kapoor
Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor, who is currently enjoying motherhood and also handling her professional life well, says she is in the best phase of her life.
"I feel alive because I feel I am in the best phase of my life. I am a happy person and always look out for positivity," she said on Wednesday at the launch ceremony of a channel, which is a collaboration of Sony Pictures and BBC.
Being the brand ambassador of the newly-launched channel, the 36-year old star thanked the Sony and BBC Earth and said that she was four months pregnant while shooting the advertisement for the channel.
"My son would be feeling alive when he will know about this fact," she added. At the professional front, the 'Ki and Ka' actress is all set to bounce back to face the cameras.
Nadal rolls into Mexico Open quarter-finals
AFP, Acapulco :
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal cruised into the quarter-finals of the ATP Acapulco tournament on Wednesday with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 victory over Paolo Lorenzi.
Spain's Nadal, a two-time winner in Acapulco who is playing his first tournament since falling to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, made short work of the 38th-ranked Lorenzi.
Nadal dropped just seven points on his serve, never facing a break point.
He broke the Italian for the fifth time in the final game of the match, delivering a stinging forehand winner to wrap up the win in just 66 minutes.
Nadal next faces Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 winner over Australian lucky loser Jordan Thompson.
Action on Acapulco's Cancha Central was to conclude Wednesday with top-seeded Novak Djokovic taking on Argentine veteran Juan Martin del Potro-with the winner advancing to a quarter-final clash with Australia's Nick Kyrgios.
Sixth-seeded Kyrgios defeated American Donald Young 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic is back in action this week for the first time since his shock second-round exit at the Australian Open in January
Third-seeded Marin Cilic booked his quarter-final berth with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Croatian Borna Coric.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, remained unbeaten against his 20-year-old compatriot.
Relocation of chemical storages from old city
THE old city is as vulnerable to inflammable mishaps as before. Even seven years after the deadly Nimtoli fire in old city claiming 124 lives in explosion in chemical storage the situation still remained extremely hazardous and risky to human safety. The same old stocks are running and uncertainly persisting. Result of a recent fire inspection in the old city showed all the surveyed 360 stores, warehouses, factories and shops holding and selling chemicals were found highly vulnerable in terms of fire safety. Their poor safety arrangement and lack of skill in store management remained a cause of deep concern to the respective agencies of the government and to local people.
Facts show that the old part of the city is housing over 15,000 small and big industrial units in which highly flammable substances are produced or used. Risk analysis shows that the old city may become a hell of fire anytime if accident occurs in one of such stores and factories. Neither the City Corporation nor the government is having enough capacity to protect the city dwellers and necessary equipment to douse fire.
It is really risky that highly combustible chemicals like Acetone, Toluene, Methayl Chloride are laying in open air storage while there are standard rules how to store them in total safety. They must be preserved under 23 degree Celsius. But despite such regulatory guidelines flammable materials and chemicals in open air and in shops and warehouses have been found to lack minimum fire safety measures like fire extinguishers and water reservoir. However, many industries in the area use inflammable materials. These chemicals evaporate in the air and people inhaling the air suffer from many physical problems. Therefore, the only way to avoid the danger is to relocate these storage and factories using them.
Following the devastating Nimtoli tragedy several years ago, the Commerce Ministry had taken a plan to build a chemical village in Keraniganj, after acquiring land, building the physical infrastructure and ensuring safety. The relocation of the chemical stores from the residential areas was given priority. The Keraniganj village is yet to see the light of the day but it is encouraging that over 40 traders have moved out there from the residential areas in Old Dhaka. We must say others must follow.
As we see hundreds of labours handle chemicals everyday without personal safety gears, ignoring safety instructions and more dangerously without controlling the temperature. Handling chemicals with bare hands causes damage to the limbs, respiratory tracts, skin, eyes, liver, kidney and causes heart diseases. Explosive and noncorrosive liquid and powder chemical substances are spilling up at various locations.
It is advisable that the chemical village must be quickly developed. Meanwhile, the South City Corporation, Fire Department and such other concerned agencies of the government must keep regular inspection to avoid risks.
Ensure accountability of NGO
IT is reported that successive governments in the last 16 years gave registration to 1,445 foreign-funded Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), though many of that are not visibly working and some have become the money-making factory for ruling elites. Relatives of many powerful bureaucrats and political persons now own NGOs and get hefty allocations on political considerations. The accountability of NGOs' fund has been long hyped in the country that prompted the government to formulate law aiming at establishing regulation over the NGOs but most of the NGOs termed the law oppressive to them.
We have seen, over the past two decades, NGOs have taken center stage all over the world in matters pertaining to good governance, functioning of democracy, and upholding of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Bangladesh is the land where the world's leading NGOs are working to achieve several hundred goals including social, economic, political and environmental goals. In our observation, due to lack of transparency and accountability in fund management, action plan and the autocratic attitude of certain NGOs have plumed depression, they are making bad names.
NGOs have supplemented the role of the government on many respects and helped in opening doors and windows all over the country, particularly in the vast rural hinterland. It has helped to empower women and fostered girl child education, non-formal education and vocational training that helped in the growth of skilled population. But the unplanned growth of NGOs has led to duplication of efforts and, sometimes, abuse of resources. Besides, moral integrity and fiscal probity have been sacrificed in the quest for funds and resources that are made available by foreign donors. In this backdrop, Parliament in last October passed the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Bill 2016, but the bill would not bring the NGOs accountable as the intention of the bill was to control the freedom of NGOs and the source of their funding.
The NGOs concerned with human rights violations are critical to the government's policy and action against the egalitarianism and justice and so also the government is watching them from close distance. Unfortunately, the new law empowers the NGO Affairs Bureau to cancel or withhold the registration of a foreign-funded NGO or ban its activities for committing criticizing the government policy and action.
Wisdom suggests that the government should form an independent commission to look after the NGOs that will help to identify shortcomings and also assist in their removal. This, in turn, will enhance the credibility and sustainability of the NGO sector. However, reform of the NGO sector and improved donor coherence, rigorous systems of accountability and audit of performance will help the NGOs to become accountable.
Neo JMB regional chief among four killed in 'gunfights'
Staff Reporter :
At least four miscreants, including a regional commander of Neo-JMB, were killed in separate gunfights in Bogra, Brahmanbari and Bagerhat districts on Thursday.
The deceased are Amijul Islam alias Al Amin, 23, Bulbul Islam alias Builla, 35, and Nurul Islam Prokash Nuru, 45, and Billal alias Kana Billa, 33, law enforcers said.
In Bogra, a leader of the Rajshahi Region of the of Neo-JMB was killed in a gunfight with police in Sherpur upazila in the morning, said Sonaton Chakroborty, Additional Superintendent of Bogra police (Sadar circle and media).
The deceased, son of Durul Huda from Godagari upazila in Rajshahi, was the group's commander of northern region, the police official said.
The gunfight ensued when a gang of militants tried to snatch Amijul from the Police in Bhobanipur union's Jamnagar area around 4:00am. Amijul came in the line of fire and died, he said. A foreign-made pistol, two magazines and three bullets were recovered from the spot, the ASP said. In Brahmanbaria, Bulbul and Nuru in Bijoynagar upazila were killed in separate incidents of "gunfight" with police in Mirasani area in Nabinagaer upazila, Ali Arshad, Officer-in-Charge of Bijoynagar Police Station.
Bulbul was accused in five cases including robbery filed with Bijoynagar Police Station and Nuru was an enlisted drug dealer, the OC said.
A pipe gun, four bullets, four knives, three sharp weapons and 20kg hemp were recovered from the spot, the OC said.
In Bagerhat, Billal was killed in an alleged gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in the forest's Sharonkhola range in the morning, said Major Adnan Kabir, Deputy director of RAB-8.
Bellal, was said to be the member of criminal gang 'Shamsu Bahini', he said.
Five firearms and 77 bullets were recovered from the scene, he said.
Classes, exams postponed for today
Thousands of North South University students blocked the key thoroughfare in protest against assault of a fellow student by security guards of the residential area in front of Apollo Hospitals on Wednesday.
Staff Reporter :
The students of the North South University (NSU) called off their movement, protesting assault of a fellow student by the Bashundhara's security guard.
The students took the decision on Thursday after a meeting with the Bashundhara management.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the NSU suspended all classes and examinations today (Friday).
NSU student Snehasish Shuvo said, "We called off our protest as the Bashundhara Group has assured us of meeting our nine-point demands.
"The demands include compensation for Shahriar Hasnat Tapu, a BBA sixth semester student, now under treatment at Apollo Hospitals, and immediate arrests of the Bashundhara security guard who assaulted him.
The authorities also assured that they would suspend 15 other security guards, who were also involved in the incident," Shuvo said.
Assistant Police Commissioner (Gulshan Zone) Rafiqul Islam said the NSU students staged a demonstration in front of Bashundhara Housing Project on Kuril Bishwa Road at 10:30am.
They entered the housing project around 11:30am and started to vandalise infrastructure, he added.
On information, police rushed to the spot and lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the students.
The NSU students took to the street against the assault on Tapu by security guards in the Bashundhara Residential Area on Wednesday.
Tayebur Rahman Rabbi, a ninth semester BBA student of the NSU, said, " The incident took place when Tapu and another student got involved in an argument with the Bashundhara security guards over parking of a motorcycle at the Apollo Gate, an entrance to the residential area, around 10pm.'
At one stage of the altercation, the guards attacked the students and Tapu received severe injuries. He was taken to Apollo Hospitals for treatment.
Following the assault, the general students took to the street on Wednesday night and they again staged the protest on Thursday from 8am and continued it till 1pm.
154 tanneries asked to pay Tk 30.85cr
HC fines them for polluting environ
Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Thursday directed the 154 Hazaribagh tannery owners to deposit Tk 30.85 crore to the state exchequer within two weeks for failure to pay the compensation money for polluting the environment.
The HC bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das passed the order after hearing a contempt of court petition.
The court also said if the tanneries failed to convey with the order they would have to face tough action.
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) in July last year ordered every tannery owner to pay Tk 10,000 per day for polluting the environment in the area. The SC also ordered the tanners to relocate their industries to Savar from Hazaribagh.
It was later seen that the tannery owners did not relocate their industries. Even they did not pay the compensation. At this a petition was filed with the court.
Industries Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan appeared before the High Court recently and informed the court that 154 tanneries, which were operating in the Hazaribagh area in Dhaka, did not pay Tk 30.85 crore in compensation for polluting the environment.
Counsel for the petitioners Advocate Monzill Murshid said that yesterday he sought the court's directives in this regard seeking compensation.
Hearing his petition, the court ordered the Hazaribagh tannery owners to deposit Tk 30.85 crore in the state exchequer in two weeks.
In reply to a question Advocate Monzill Murshid said that the amount had been accumulated from August last year to February this year.
The High Court on January 25 summoned the industries secretary to appear on February 7 for submitting explanation over collecting compensations from tannery owners at Hazaribagh in Dhaka for damaging the environment.
The HC passed the order following a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) recently.
Monzill Murshid told reporters on January 25 that the HC in June last year directed the tanners to compensate Tk 50,000 per day each for polluting the environment until they relocate their industries to Savar.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in July, 2016 ordered each of the tanneries to compensate Tk 10,000 per day after modifying the HC directive, he said.
The HC in a verdict in 2001 had ordered to relocate tannery industries.
Gaining people`s trust a major challenge: Experts
Staff Reporter :
The main challenge of the new Election Commission (EC), led by Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, is to gain people's confidence, say experts.
Besides, it's also vital issue to observe the poll time government attitude towards the other political parties during the National Elections scheduled to be held in 2019.
The experts were speaking at a roundtable titled 'Challenges for the New Election Commission' organised by Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujon) at the National Press Club in the city.
Former Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda, columnist Syed Abul Maksud, former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, former Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder, Dhaka University teacher Asif Nazrul and former Justice Abdul Matin took part in the discussion.
Shujan President M Hafiz Uddin Khan chaired the roundtable while its Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar presented the key-note paper. ATM Shamsul Huda termed the Election Commission's status as very low currently, saying it will have work hard to gain people's trust as well as to uphold the image of the Constitutional body.
"The new Election Commission will have to maintain a good relationship and connection bridge with all the stakeholders specially the country's all political parties. And it will have to work neutrally in the coming days in a bid to clear people's any confusion about it," he said.
Apart from these, Shamsul Huda said the new EC will also have to take an initiative to establish an independent secretariat.
"CEC-led five persons do not mean the whole EC. A total of four thousand officials and staffs are now in EC. It needs to introduce election cadre in order to ensure its independence," the former CEC said.
He said if the EVM system is introduced during the voting, the persons who will be assigned to run the technology will also have to be acceptable and credible to all.
He also criticised the government to bring the change in the name of the Constitutional body as 'Election Commission Bangladesh.'
M Sakhawat Hussain said the new EC's major challenge is to hold the 2019 National Poll in a free, fair and credible manner.
Abdul Matin said Election Commission's main duty is to hold credible and acceptable polls.
"According to court verdict, Election Commission has been empowered with all responsibilities to arrange the all elections in a free, fair and impartial manner," he said.
However, he said the government will have to provide all sorts of cooperation to the Election Commission to do its job without any fear and influence.
Ali Imam Majumder said if the government wants to introduce EVM system, it will have to take opinion from the all political parties.
Abul Maksud said ensuring level-playing field for all parties concerned in each election is the major challenge for the Election Commission.
Badiul Alam Majumdar said people do not have confidence in the Election Commission as its previous commissioners failed to do their assigned jobs.
"We expect that the new Election Commission will arrange the next general polls with honesty, integrity, neutrality and boldness," he said.
In the key notepaper he made some recommendations including reformation of some electoral laws, updating voter list and delimitation of electoral constituencies for the new EC.
UK Foreign Office Minister Alok in city
UNB, Dhaka :
UK Minister for Asia and the Pacific Alok Sharma arrived here on Thursday afternoon on a three-day visit to discuss important issues of mutual interest.
The minister will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali during his stay in Dhaka.
He will also hold discussions with political party leaders, representatives from business, civil society and minority and faith groups, and meet Chevening and Commonwealth alumni.
"I look forward to discussing how our relationship can be further strengthened, including through stronger counterterrorism cooperation, deeper educational links, the prestigious Chevening scholarship programme, and enhanced bilateral trade," Sharma was quoted as saying in a statement.
He said, the relationship between the two countries is founded on a shared history and strong ties. "I'm delighted to be taking part in my first Ministerial visit to Bangladesh." Alok Sharma was elected to the UK Parliament in 2010 and appointed Minister for Asia and the Pacific in 2016. Prior to entering Parliament, Alok Sharma worked for 20 years in the international financial services sector.
8 put on remand
Detective Branch of Police arrested eight suspected members of a gang involved in leaking of SSC examination question papers from separate areas on Wednesday night. This picture was taken from DB Police Media Centre on Thursday.
Court Correspondent :
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka on Thursday placed eight suspects on a three-day remand to quiz them in connection with SSC question paper leak.
Magistrate S M Masud Zaman of the court passed the order after the Investigation Officer of the case and Detective Branch (DB) Inspector Delwar Hossain produced them in the court seeking a seven-day remand each.
Of the accused, Sher-e-Bangla School and College teacher Rafiqul Islam while discharging duties in the examination halls took snaps of question papers and sent those to another accused Zahirul Islam Suvo, Director of Gyankosh Academy. Suvo negotiated with the guardians of the examinees, and sold questions papers to them in exchange of money.
Earlier, DB of police in separate raids arrested the eight of a racket from five districts of the country on the charge of leaking fake question papers of different public and private examinations as well as recruitment tests in the last couple of days, reported the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
The accused persons are: Liton alias Akash, Rumon alias Mahir, Himel alias Ahmed Abir, Arif, Ontor, Rajib, Zahir alias Shuvo and Rafiqul Islam.
DB people arrested them from Dhaka, Chapainawabganj, Mymensingh, Jamalpur and Kushtia districts, said an official press release.
DB Inspector Nazmul Hoque filed the case with Motijheel Police Station under the ICT Act and Public Examination Offence Act of 1980.
20-party backs BNP mayoral candidate in Comilla polls
UNB, Dhaka :
The 20-party alliance on Thursday extended its support to BNP's mayoral candidate Monirul Haque Sakku in Comilla City Corporation polls.
The decision was taken at a secretary general level meeting of the alliance at BNP's Nayapaltan central office with its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam in the chair, said a press release.
At the meeting, it said LDP secretary general Redwan Ahmed has been made coordinator of the BNP-led 20-party alliance's election steering committee for the polls.
Earlier on Saturday night, BNP nominated immediate past Comilla City Corporation mayor Sakku to contest the upcoming mayoral election.
On 20 February, the Election Commission (EC) announced to hold the election of Comilla City Corporation on 30 March. The EC fixed March 2 for submitting nomination papers while the withdrawal of nominations till March 14. The meeting also protested the decision to raise gas and power prices, and urged the government to rescind the 'anti-people decision', the release added.
Govt`s own people caused public inconvenience, no isolated action is the solution
The countrywide transport workers strike that ended on Wednesday afternoon left many questions unanswered as to why the shutdown was so quickly organised and enforced only to save a murderer truck owner from death penalty and another from life term.
The provocation was against the judgement of the court passed under the newly adopted law by the government. It was not necessary to go on strike when the judicial process has yet to come to its end because there will be appeal. Besides, nobody in the government can instigate truck and bus owners or transport workers to go on strike and come in the street for creating street anarchy because the court's
judgement is not acceptable. Such bad examples were set by the political leaders in the past. Even now emphasise is more on police power than punishing any offender through court's trial.
There is no secret that some government ministers and ruling party leaders had fuelled the crisis from behind the scenes to show disrespect to the court and asking the followers to demonstrate their muscle power. They have defied law as well as the court. This is not the way to show the government's respect for the rule of law.
We must say the crisis that shut the inter-district bus service and city transportation came as a huge suffering to the people and damage to businesses. The people were forced to walk on foot to and from offices in the city. Many victims were stranded outside and could not go anywhere.
The Dhaka court handed down the truck owner death sentence and life term to the other as per the law.
The problem is in our politics discussion for solving any problem and respect for law or the court is not a big consideration. Politics is for remaining above law and resorting to might is right method.
It was until Wednesday noon when the High Court asked the government to bring normalcy to transport sector within 24 hours and also issued a rule why such strike against court verdicts should not be declared illegal, transport workers, bus owners and government ministers hastily sat together and the strike quickly ended. If the court did not intervene the situation would have turned worse.
The worrying aspect in our politics is that respect for law is missing and as a consequence arbitrary power is used by everybody who is connected with the government.
There is chaos and anger all over the country. Unless the government is respectful to law and the judiciary our fear is that there will be widespread chaos from a small beginning from anywhere.
Punishing the wrong and easy ones will not solve the problem. The government must reassess the whole direction of politics. Its dependence too much on police is not political leadership.
If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs.
IberiaBank has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sabadell United Bank in a stock and cash transaction that strengthens the Lafayette-based financial institution's Florida franchise, making the Sunshine State its largest franchise in terms of deposits.
IberiaBank Corporation announced this week that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sabadell United Bank from Banco de Sabadell in a stock and cash transaction valued at $1 billion. The deal significantly strengthens the Lafayette-based financial institution's Florida franchise, marking its first expansion into Miami-Dade County and making the Sunshine State its largest franchise in terms of deposits.
The proposed acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2017. Upon completion of the acquisition, Sabadell United will be merged with and into IberiaBank.
Under the terms of the agreement, IBKC will purchase Sabadell United for $803 million in cash and approximately 2.61 million IBKC shares, valued at $222 million based on a 10-day VWAP through Feb. 24, 2017. IBKC expects to finance the cash portion of the transaction, in part, through a public common stock offering of approximately $500 million. In addition, IBKC plans to use the $280 million net proceeds of the December 2016 common equity sale to support the acquisition. Banco Sabadell will own approximately 4.9 percent of IBKC common stock at transaction close.
IberiaBank's Daryl Byrd Photo by Robin May
With a population of over six million people, the greater Miami area is a dynamic market with a strong concentration of commercial and industrial clients that are particularly attractive to us, Daryl G. Byrd, president and CEO of IBKC, said in a press release announcing the deal. With this acquisition, our company will have a meaningful presence in each of the five largest markets in the Southeast, further solidifying our status as a premier Southeastern banking franchise.
Sabadell United Bank, a subsidiary of Banco de Sabadell (headquartered in Barcelona, Spain), was organized in 1974 as a nationally chartered commercial bank. Sabadell United is headquartered in Miami and has assets of $5.8 billion.
IberiaBank Corporation, which had assets of $21.7 billion at the end of 2016, has 304 combined locations, including 199 bank branch offices and three loan production offices in Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, and Georgia, 24 title insurance offices in Arkansas and Louisiana, and mortgage representatives in 69 locations in 10 states.
Read the full release here.
Breaux Bridge City Hall. Friday, Feb. 24. An hour before U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy is scheduled to arrive for a 9:30 a.m. town hall meeting he tried to pack with supporters, members of Indivisible Acadiana are queued up outside, hoping to get a seat inside. Others stand nearby with handmade signs at the ready: Keep Public Lands in Public Hands, Do Your Job or Lose Your Job, Healthcare Not Wealthcare, This is What Democracy Looks Like.
This is what democracy looks like in the age of Donald J. Trump a reverse Tea Party movement driven not by billionaires who in 2009 harnessed economic insecurity, racial animus and culture-war shell shock to stymie the agenda of former President Barack Obama, but galvanized instead by a sense that fundamental American institutions and 80 years of social progress are under attack. Its a reaction not just to a wholly unprepared, megalomaniac obsessed with cable news and Twitter, but to the smart, capable ideologues in the ultra-conservative wing of the modern Republican Party who will happily and methodically dismantle Americas social safety net and environmental protections to please their billionaire benefactors. This is what Trump enables, and this is why Indivisible Acadiana, one of hundreds of grassroots progressive groups under the nationwide Indivisible umbrella that opened wide after Trumps Nov. 8 victory, was born.
Indivisible, to me personally, is a platform where I can be myself without any type of discrimination or hindrances, says Indivisible Acadiana member Erica Banks, a recent transplant from Dallas. Its kind of like a safe place likeminded individuals thinking about how we incorporate change, not on a level where its angry by any means. ... I dont want to burn any buildings, I dont want to catch anything on fire. But I do want to be heard, and I feel like this is the platform for that.
The week leading up to Cassidys town hall was busy. On Monday, Indivisible members gathered at a public library to discuss their strategy: members inside asking pointed questions and outside protesting. On Tuesday, about 10 members gathered at the Midtown Lafayette home of Andrea Rubinstein to make the signs that would be waved that Friday in Breaux Bridge. On Wednesday and Thursday, more planning via social media.
Members are united by a singular goal: forming a bulwark against Trump and the retrograde economic and social policies he engenders. Many no doubt look back at the presidency of George W. Bush, which gave us two still-going wars and the Great Recession, with a sick sense of nostalgia.
Im really not concerned about [Trump] Im concerned about the legislation, says James Proctor, founder of the local Indivisible chapter. Im concerned about the idea implemented in action, thats what Im concerned about stopping. And I know there are Trump voters out there who are equally concerned as me about his involvement with Russia or his plans for the EPA or, what we havent seen yet, his plans for our economy, which is still in a very fragile state.
A single dad and former journalist, Proctor marshaled Lafayette-area liberals into a smartly functioning group: division of labor, logistics, planning, communicating a unified, consistent message.
My feeling has been, if you want to recruit you have to be effective, he says. Effective is the best way to recruit its the only way to recruit.
Yet Indivisible Acadiana, Proctor acknowledges, isnt as diverse as the group would like to be. There are black members, Asian members, men and women, young and old, but it skews middle-aged white and female a not surprising demographic considering Trumps opponent in the 2016 election, not to mention (but I will) his boasts about sexual assault, barging in on naked teen beauty queens and other past statements dripping with contempt for citizens with two X chromosomes.
I think that in my case it was womens reproductive rights, and of course I think we are joined by the collective idea that our current president has no place in the Oval Office, says Margaret Oelkers West of Lafayette about what drove her to Indivisible Acadiana. I think since we are the majority the current president didnt win by mandate, in fact it was just the opposite and since we are the majority, I think its important that that stay front and center in everybodys mind. There are 3 million extra of us who need to be heard.
As the deep south bloomed red over the last two decades, liberals outside progressive bastions like New Orleans and Atlanta had become shrunken violets. There is a local group on Facebook you can find only if youre a member or have been invited to become one Acadiana Closet Progressives. Members commiserate liberally literally and figuratively within the safety of the group but keep their views publicly private: Many are business owners who fear a backlash if their customers or clients knew of their progressive views. Its not a piddling concern: As America has become increasingly polarized by politics, business boycotts have become a thing. (I dont patronize Chick-fil-A, Hobby Lobby and a few other retailers because of the political contributions and ideology of their owners; I dont picket them or call them out on social media, but I dont want my money furthering their causes either, so I simply stay away.)
Trump got 58 percent of the vote statewide in Louisiana, and it was lopsided in Lafayette Parish: 65 percent to Hillary Clintons 31 percent. It would be little surprise if liberals in Lafayette felt compelled to melt into the shadows. But Trump, the phenomenon, is altogether different.
When the election happened, I knew, within a few days, that I was not going to be able to not do something, says Jacqueline Phelps, an Indivisible Acadiana member who describes herself as the intel person for the chapter.
Go to Facebook and search Indivisible and youll find hundreds of groups across the country, in blue states where we expect them and red states, too. And thats just on Facebook. IndivisibleGuide.com, a website that serves as a national umbrella and clearinghouse for the Indivisible movement across the country, says more than 4,500 groups have signed on to resist the Trump agenda. It is shaping into a movement built on diversity that will dwarf the almost universally white Tea Party.
Some, like Rubinstein, who hosted the sign-making gathering, had their political activism reanimated by the election of Trump.
After some of the more recent events, I went to the first political thing Ive ever done since the late 60s I went to the Womens March, she says. After all this time of doing things online, voting and writing an occasional letter, I just decided that I didnt want to sign stupid petitions anymore. I had heard about Indivisible somewhere, and I plugged into their website and said, Oh my God, theres actually one in Acadiana. In fact, there are chapters in Shreveport, Natchitoches, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. (New Orleans, natch, but Natchitoches?) Our local chapter, at this writing, has 510 members attorneys, publicists, students, retirees, teachers, musicians, journalists, university professors, artists, small business owners, stay-athome moms, the unemployed and underemployed, a pastor. The majority are not politically active, interacting with the group only on social media platforms. But a common refrain among the active members is that Trump, in his bullish stampede through the china shop of American politics, has energized the left. And for progressives in red states, the movement has created a sense of community that is palpable.
I think its accomplished one of the major things I was hoping to see, and that is that liberals, progressives like myself, have come out and discovered that there are a lot more of us around here than we thought, and weve decided to get organized; thats one accomplishment I suppose we can thank Mr. Trump and his inflammatory rhetoric for, notes Proctor.
Melanie Bonnet, another member, echoes Proctors sentiment: At its essence I hope it brings more people into being more active in expressing what it is they need from the leaders they elect, she says. Couple that with just basically saying, Im here. You cannot forget that I am here. Im not going anywhere. And when you say that youre going to get rid of the things that are important to my community, important to my family, to people I care about, people Im concerned about, Im just going to let you know, Im not going anywhere, and Im not by myself.
The election of Donald Trump has rallied liberals like never before. Could the 2018 midterms be another pivot point? History says yes.
Protesters at U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidys Feb. 24 town hall in Breaux Bridge Photo by Marie Constantin
Although Trumps assumption of power has been characterized by miscues and mistakes, it has succeeded admirably in one area: energizing and mobilizing those who oppose him. The harsh reality of President Donald Trump, delivered in hourly tweets, has served like nothing else to solidify the scattered progressives and liberals in Acadiana and across America and propel them into action. While these activists have been disparaged as paid, shrill, undisciplined, unreasonable and (in some cases) unwashed, naysayers should keep in mind the successes of the Tea Party movement that began in 2009, shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama.
The Tea Party emerged at a time when Democrats had just won a historic victory and controlled all three branches of government, including the Senate by (what was soon to be) a filibuster-proof majority. Numerous articles speculated about the looming irrelevancy of the Republican Party in multi-cultural America. How quaint those articles seem today. What the Tea Party did was historic: It brought Obamas vision of an era of hope and change to an end by focusing popular fury on what was (portrayed as) ineffective and wasteful stimulus plans, unsustainable debt, unwarranted bailouts for banks, car companies and homeowners, and, above all, a further expansion of the federal government as epitomized by the 2,700 pages of the enormously complicated Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). This wave of popular activism was so successful that it nearly swept the Democrats entirely from power. Republicans won 63 seats in the House in the 2010 midterm elections to end the Democratic majority in the House. They also took 29 governors mansions and nearly regained control of the Senate.
The Tea Party revolt harassed then-Speaker John Boehner and blocked business as usual in both the House and Senate, eventually remaking the Republican caucus in Congress in its own much more conservative and confrontational image. Democrats never regained their momentum and have been on the defensive for the last six years, despite Obama winning the presidency again in 2012.
Taking the Tea Party lesson to heart, progressive activists have begun to join and mobilize like never before.
Here in Acadiana, a number of new organizations and groups opposed to the Trump agenda have been created, and some previously existing organizations have refocused their attention. Some of these groups are local chapters of well-known national organizations like Indivisible and Pantsuit Nation. Some prefer to remain secret for strategic reasons. While some groups predate Trump, most have emerged since the Nov. 8 election. All are strongly opposed to the announced goals of the Trump administration: building the wall, deporting immigrants and banning Muslims, ending sanctuary cities, withdrawing from or renegotiating treaties, cutting taxes and environmental protections, and repealing Obamacare.
I spoke to several of these activists and found them eager to talk about their efforts. A volunteer with Indivisible Acadiana says he is dismayed by what I see as a completely unethical president. While his previous activism was limited to ranting on Facebook, he decided that was futile all it was doing was making me angry.I had to do something, I couldnt just sit there and watch it happen. Similarly, another activist says, I just cant post on Facebook or sign petitions anymore. I dont like being in public or [being] a leader, but I also didnt want to turn down the opportunity without giving it a try. Says
another, I have been quiet long enough. I will not be quiet any longer.
What unites these activists is the desire to preserve gains in health care, marriage equality, the environment and the economy, all achieved under Obama. Their goals are of a defensive nature, to stop legislation that reduces peoples privacy, or removes their health care, or limits their rights.
What does this new wave of Democratic and progressive activism portend for state and national politics? Well, for one thing it signals the end of comfortable press conferences and town meetings for elected Republican officials, as Sen. Bill Cassidy is learning. Using lessons borrowed nearly in their entirety from the Tea Party playbook, activists are targeting members of Congress by swamping their offices with letters, emails and phone calls, and packing the rooms anywhere they try to speak in their district. Nationally, activists are encouraged to contribute to groups that oppose the Trump agenda through lawsuits, regulatory appeal and ethics investigations. Together these activities constitute a repertoire of powerful protest strategies.
Even if the protests and activism are not immediately successful, what choice do progressives have in Donald Trumps America? As one says, If you read those old comic books, sometimes I think Im in Bizzaro World.
They may not have long to wait: On average, 37 seats in the House shift in a mid-term election when a presidents approval rating is less than 50 percent. Trumps most recent approval rating is 38 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, which should encourage progressives everywhere. In addition, studies of the Tea Party movement have shown that rallies and demonstrations have a multiplier effect. That is, for each additional protester, the GOP received between seven and 14 additional votes in the 2010 midterms, noted the public policy blog AEIdeas in 2013.
So maybe activism is its own reward? Stay tuned for 2018.
Pearson Cross is an associate professor in the Political Science Department at UL Lafayette. He holds a Ph.D. from Brandeis University (1997), and his principal areas of teaching are state and local politics, and Southern politics. Cross interviews local politicians and newsmakers on his radio show, Bayou to the Beltway, which airs on KRVS 88.7 FM at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Contact him at [email protected]
Coming this April, IND Media is launching a new magazine, investigating the cultural changes that will carry Lafayette into the future.
Sooner or later, one of my peers will be mayor. A chilling thought for the boomers currently in power, perhaps, but nevertheless an inevitability.
That eventual Millennial Mayor as a 32-year-old at the time of this writing, I submit that Millennial is more demonization than demonym will have grown up in a vastly different Lafayette than that which produced Mayors Durel and Robideaux, and thus will be a remarkably different sort of mayor facing a different set of challenges.
New leaders will navigate our community through changing cultural seas. That future leadership needs a publication thats representative of its values and its interests. Thats why, this April, were launching The Current a journal of Lafayettes arts and ideas.
Lafayette is in dramatic cultural transition, one as natural and powerful as aging. Boomers may yet be running this town, but their time is measured.
In that regard, Lafayette looks a lot like some of Americas urban centers. Its getting more mobile and more educated, more tolerant and more diverse, more tech-savvy and more urbane.
That development should not be taken for granted. Working for a D.C.-based nonprofit last year, I toured several dying communities in Americas heartland, bereft of their youngsters and gasping for growth. Theyre on the short end of the demographic trends that have blessed Lafayette in recent years. Their kids were raised and educated cheaply, but migrated to the nearest metropolis to find coterie with their peers. Its not just an exodus to Brooklyn. Its an exodus to New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston.
Lafayettes grip on its youngest crop of nationals is precarious. Every year we risk looking less like the places these kids go, and more like the places they leave behind.
As IND Medias newest publication, a monthly magazine and online outlet at the thecurrentla.com, The Current will examine the local and external forces that are shaping this emerging generation, and the city that they will shape in turn. In a way this has been a long time coming. The fruits of nearly three decades worth of investment in the arts, in technology and in our celebrated culture have worked. Were more economically and culturally diverse than ever before, and more resilient and dynamic to boot. But the slog is far from over.
Much of that work was initiated by a generation that will one day retire and, more to the point, die off. Passing the baton to upstart Millennials, that most maligned and misunderstood of generations, will be an exercise in focus and collaboration.
Across age brackets, we should beg a whole new set of old questions What do we value? What makes Lafayette a place worth living in? What does our culture say about who we are? What trends are taking hold and which are letting go? What underlying ideas shape our conventions and our politics? Who is conceiving them? And how can we climb with one hand while clutching our traditions with the other?
We here at The Current do not pretend to know the answers to any of these questions. We just work here.
Writers, artists and thinkers, drawn from that emerging generation, are best equipped to do the searching. Demographers and sociologists have taken to calling that cohort, toiling away in the knowledge economy, the creative class. The Current is their medium.
Before The Current was ever conceived, this labor force was hard at work chiseling the city into its image. Lafayette has more artists and artisans than ever before, working in an ever more diverse set of disciplines, painting new murals on our buildings, innovating on our traditional cuisine, reinterpreting our music, exploring the music of other worlds and inventing new traditions.
The Current is their gallery. And like a gallery space, The Current is open and expansive. Its pages are walls on which Lafayettes new leaders can hang their portraits and their ideas. Through person-oriented storytelling and artist-curated spaces. Through frank reckonings with our past mistakes, and daydreams about our future. Through critical evaluation of the city we continue to build. Through an inquiry about who we are and what we do.
With The Current, we hope to forge an intimate bond with the arts community in Lafayette, providing space to publish the swelling ranks of painters, photographers, collagers, sculptors and conceptual designers who are producing an enviable brimming of work, just begging to be shared with the world. We will train a sharp focus on Lafayettes burgeoning live theater scene and give voice to a restless and misfit crop of young musicians. We will be restless in our pursuit of context and understanding, both in our pages and in our programmed events.
Lafayette is racing in a new direction. And we intend to cover the whole ride.
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Paris, TX (75460)
Today
Partly cloudy this evening followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers after midnight. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..
Tonight
Partly cloudy this evening followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers after midnight. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
A place to exercise ideas before writing about them with greater discipline.
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The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.
Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.
In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.
India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.
Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.
But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?
Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.
If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.
I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.
I want more variation in masturbation
I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.
If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.
What is sex toys for Indian?
Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.
It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.
They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.
Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.
The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.
It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.
In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.
Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.
In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.
Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.
Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.
But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.
More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.
Sextoy situation in India
Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.
In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.
Mumbai
Kolkata
Bangalore
Delhi
Chennai
Hyderabad
These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.
In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.
If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.
If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.
What are Sextoys for beginner?
Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.
Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.
I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.
I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.
If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.
Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.
Advantages of using sextoy for Indians
There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians
You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.
Can have stimulating sex
Can develop new sexual zones
If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.
However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.
You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.
Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.
There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.
This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.
When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.
It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).
For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles
[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...
Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.
Sextoy for beginner men in India
So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.
For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!
The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men
Masturbator
Cock rings
Love Doll
Sex Lubricants
Toys for the prostate
Lets check each one in detail.
Masturbator
The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.
It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.
Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.
They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)
Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.
Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !
Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018
Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.
If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here
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[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...
Cock Ring
A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.
It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.
It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.
In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.
Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.
It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.
Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.
Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.
Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.
You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.
[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...
Love Doll
Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.
There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.
Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.
The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.
You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.
There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.
You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.
If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here
Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...
Sex lubricants
Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.
It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.
Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.
There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.
Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.
If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.
What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...
Toys for the Prostate
Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.
The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.
Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.
Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.
What is the prostate?
The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.
You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.
By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.
Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)
The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.
Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.
sextoy for beinner women in India
The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.
The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.
Vibrator.
Dildo
Electric Masserger
Lets check out what each one is in detail.
If you want to check out womens toys, click here.
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Vibrators
A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.
Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.
It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.
Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.
For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.
Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.
Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.
This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.
Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.
When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.
Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...
Dildo
A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.
It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.
A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.
They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.
It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.
A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.
Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.
For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.
This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.
To learn more about dildo, please click here.
What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...
Electric Masserger
A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.
It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.
Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.
Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.
It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.
For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.
It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.
If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?
To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.
What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...
How to choose a sextoy for Indian
Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.
Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)?
Does the size fit you (your partner)?
Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?
Price range
First of all, the choice of size is quite important.
Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.
For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.
Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.
Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.
If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.
Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.
Finally, there is the price range.
The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.
Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.
Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?
I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.
For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.
If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.
How to buy sextoys in India
The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.
For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.
Sextoy is one of them.
Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.
SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.
They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.
Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.
To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.
ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.
Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.
Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.
Cautions for Indians using sextoy
When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind
Keep sex toys clean
Watch out for electrical leakage
Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy
As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.
Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.
It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.
In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.
Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.
If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.
You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.
Summary
What did you think?
In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.
The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.
As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.
However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.
If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?
Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.
I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
This story has been updated to add detail.
KANSAS CITY It was a roller coaster of a day for Carlos Hernandez Pacheco and his family, but one that ended well.
Pacheco, a well-revered West Frankfort businessman and community member, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers Feb. 9 regarding questions over his legal residency status. He was scheduled for a bond hearing Wednesday where an Article I judge granted him $3,000 bond, which he posted.
However, Pachecos lawyer, Victor Arana, of Austin Texas, said it almost wasnt that easy. Arana said he had filed all the necessary paperwork to both the Office of Chief Counsel and to the judge last week for Pachecos bond hearing Wednesday. In fact, he had gotten good news.
Arana said Chief Counsel had tentatively agreed to release Pacheco on a bond of $2,500. This was not set in stone, as the judge had not signed off on it yet, however Arana said it is not common for a judge to disagree when Chief Counsel and the defense come to an agreement.
Carlos was in the jail and he found out through the officers there, Arana said. He said they told his client he had a bond and that he could go post it. But there was just one problem no one told Arana.
When Arana found out Tuesday evening, it was too late to post bond. When he was making the drive from Springfield, Missouri, to St. Louis on Wednesday, he was told the Chief Counsel had gone back on their agreement. They were no longer offering bond.
While in the hills of the Ozarks, Arana had to do some quick redirecting, changing his destination to Kansas City, Missouri. He knew he didnt want to fight this case over a cell phone.
This is all communications. Youve got to be able to see what the judge is latching on to, Arana said.
He pulled into Kansas city just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, just two and a half hours before Pachecos bond hearing, which he would telecommute to via an ICE detention center in Montgomery City, Missouri. Arana said he threw on a suit in a parking garage after he arrived at a friends law firm. There he sat in a Kansas City high rise, preparing for a case he thought he had in the bag just hours before.
All's well that ends well, though. After presenting his case to the judge, Pacheco was approved for bond. But, Arana said this is just the first step. The case is still open.
Arana said in Pachecos case, his first step to legal residency was to prove the validity of his marriage to his wife, a lawful permanent resident. In 2010, they did just that. They filed their documents and waited for word from immigration and they got it. However, in the last seven years Pacheco was never able to make the next step in his immigration process, which would have been to exit the country and wait for word from immigration that he had been greenlighted to reenter the country and continue down the path to legal residency.
For some reason the Department of State and Carlos never connected on making arrangements for the process to finish up outside of the country, Arana said.
This is what lead to his arrest. However, with his being out on bond, Arana said they are free to make the next step, which is to apply for a provisional waiver, which will shorten the length of time he will have to be out of the country before being allowed back in.
Arana said unless Pacheco breaks the rules of his bond, he is not likely to be arrested again. He should have paperwork to prove he is out on bond to deliver to ICE agents should they ask for his papers.
Despite the complications of the trial, friends and family are just happy to have Pacheco home. Tim Grigsby, a close personal friend of Pacheco, said he waited in St. Louis most of the day Wednesday to do anything he his friend needed.
Im very excited, Grigsby said. He just wants to get his friend reunited with his family.
Obviously we cant wait to get him home to his family and friends, Grigsby said.
SPRINGFIELD The Illinois Senate's top Democrat abruptly canceled critical votes Wednesday on a plan to end the state's historic budget stalemate, accusing Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner of sabotaging a compromise that had been months in the making.
Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago ditched his earlier vow to call votes on key parts of the so-called "grand bargain," including an income-tax increase and property tax-freeze. After the Senate clocked out, Cullerton questioned the first-term governor's sincerity in meeting legislative Democrats half way to end the nation's longest budget stalemate in nearly a century.
"He's got to grow up," Cullerton said about Rauner.
Cullerton had promised votes on the toughest aspects of the sprawling compromise plan he's engineered since before the new year with Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont. They had boasted that neither the House nor Rauner was involved; Rauner insisted he was on the sidelines.
Democrats and Republicans spent most of the day in private meetings. When they regrouped on the floor late in the afternoon, Cullerton tersely claimed Rauner had hijacked the plan.
"The governor injected himself into the process and doesn't want this approved in this form," Cullerton said before the Senate adjourned for the day without taking action on the plan. "The situation is not getting any better. We need to work together to solve this. I had hoped it would be today."
Cullerton didn't rule out salvaging parts of the deal, but added, "Unfortunately, we are in a holding pattern."
Top Senate Republicans dismissed the idea that Rauner called them off "aye" votes. Deputy Republican Leader Bill Brady of Bloomington reiterated one of Rauner's main complaints in recent days that the GOP won't accept a permanent income-tax increase if Democrats insist on limiting their cherished local property tax freeze to two years.
"More work is needed to achieve a good deal for taxpayers," Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said. "We encourage senators to keep working."
Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly have bickered for two years over how to tackle a multibillion-dollar deficit. Rauner won't agree to an income-tax hike until he gets pro-business regulatory changes, a permanent property tax freeze, and term limits on political leaders.
Cullerton and Radogno raised expectations for a breakthrough just after the new year with promises to quickly approve a package that raised revenue and met Rauner's demands. But all they have to show for it are Tuesday votes approving less-contentious measures to streamline state-government purchasing, ease rules on how cities may spend tax revenue and simplify the way voters consolidate local governments. Even those were adopted mostly with Democratic votes.
In remarks on the floor, Radogno didn't dispute Cullerton's assertion about Rauner's involvement but urged continued work.
"I have no question in my mind that we're going to bring this thing in for a landing," Radogno said. "There's enough good will in this building. I know the governor will be joining us in trying to get that done."
Solar operation launching in Aiken
COLUMBIA ESA Renewables, an alternative energy provider, will be constructing a new, utility-scale solar farm in Aiken County.
The development is expected to bring at least $11 million in capital investment.
ESA is a solar integration company with more than 500 solar photovoltaic, power-generating facilities located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Spain, Chile and Italy. Ranging from large-scale solar farms to commercial rooftop setups, ESA offers project development, design, construction, operation and maintenance through the life cycle of each installation.
Occupying 88 acres off of Atomic Road in Beech Island, the new solar project will generate approximately 23,100 megawatt hours (MWh) annually, which is capable of powering almost 2,400 single-family residences per year. Construction on the project is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018, and it should be operational by the third quarter of 2018.
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What's next for Samsung?
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Five Samsung executives, including the company's 48-year-old billionaire heir, will stand trial in the coming months on bribery, embezzlement and other charges linked to a massive scandal that toppled South Korea's president.
Before being arrested earlier this month, Lee Jae-yong, the third generation of the Samsung founding family, was seen as bringing a string of changes to South Korea's largest business group, such as increasing shareholder returns. The criminal charges can put the Samsung scion, his former mentor and three other Samsung executives behind bars for several years if they are found guilty.
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Target to reinvest
NEW YORK (AP) Target, stung by the migration of its customers elsewhere, pledged Tuesday to spruce up some "tired" stores and make other investments in its business after delivering weak quarterly results and an outlook far below what analysts were expecting.
The retailer's profit for the quarter that includes the holiday season fell 43 percent, with strong online sales failing to offset weaker business at its stores. Target's stock tumbled more than 12 percent, and other retailers dipped as well.
Target said it will spend $7 billion over the next three years to remodel more than 600 of its 1,800 stores, speed up its expansion of small-format stores, bolster its online operations, and launch new brands. The company usually spends about $2 billion a year on such capital investments.
WASHINGTON Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season last year, contact likely to fuel calls for him to recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the election.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, did not disclose those communications at his confirmation hearing in January when asked whether "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had contact with the Russians.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Wednesday night that "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer."
That answer did not satisfy Democrats demanding his recusal from an ongoing federal investigation. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, accused Sessions of "lying under oath" and demanded that he resign.
Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors in his role as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, the department said.
One was a visit in the fall, Flores said, and the other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Sessions gave during the summer, when several ambassadors including the Russian ambassador approached Sessions after the talk.
Revelations of the contact, first reported by The Washington Post, triggered calls from members of Congress for Sessions to back out of any involvement in the FBI's probe.
"If reports are accurate that Attorney General Sessions a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump met with Ambassador Kislyak during the campaign, and failed to disclose this fact during his confirmation, it is essential that he recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
"This is not even a close call; it is a must," he said.
At the confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota alerted Sessions to allegations of contact between Russia and Trump aides during the 2016 election. He asked Sessions what he would do if there was evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was "unaware of those activities."
Then he added: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Flores, the Justice Department spokeswoman, said that response was not misleading.
"He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee," she said in a statement.
The White House did not immediately comment.
Franken, in a statement Wednesday night, said he was troubled that the new attorney general's response to his question was "at best, misleading." He said he planned to press Sessions on his contact with Russia.
"It's clearer than ever now that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately," Franken said.
An Orangeburg middle school student was surprised to learn Wednesday that she won top honors in a statewide art contest.
Eighth-grader Joceline Irick of William J. Clark Middle School received the Best in Show award for her artwork submitted for the Read Across South Carolina art contest sponsored by the South Carolina Education Association.
SCEA representatives surprised Irick at her school with the presentation of a $300 check and a family pass and lunch for EdVenture childrens museum in Columbia.
It feels good, Irick said. It makes (me) feel motivated to get to my goals in life.
She said those goals include someday becoming the CEO and founder of a video game development company.
I love art and I love games, so they say Do what you love, so Id like to do that, she said.
She said she was inspired to create her work by thinking about the topic and just going deeper.
Now in its second year, the Read Across South Carolina art contest was designed to promote literacy and art across the state. Public school students from kindergarten through 12th grade were encouraged to create artwork using various media with the theme, Unity in Education. The theme commemorates the 50-year merger of the Palmetto Education Association and South Carolina Education Association.
Im happy for her, said Malissa Wright, Iricks art teacher, who received a $150 check. As a student, Joceline is a hard worker. Shes sincere. She comes to class ready to learn.
Wright said shes seen Irick grow in the past two years shes taught her in an after-school art class. Wright also noted that Irick is in the schools gifted and talented program.
I think its really important as an educator to let kids see that art is more than just the little refrigerator stuff that kids tend to put on the refrigerator, that art is something they can actually make a living off of, Wright said. They can actually pursue a career.
Wright knew of the award ahead of time and said she had a hard time keeping it to herself.
I was ecstatic, she said. To keep it a secret from her was really hard.
Shes just a good kid. I think shes got a great future ahead of her, even if its not in art.
Three of Iricks art classmates also received awards in the contest. Jeshaih Green took second place in the grades 6-8 division, and Jediah Green and Micah Glover received honorable mention awards.
All the members of Wrights art class received limited-edition t-shirts with Iricks artwork printed on the back.
This years contest brought in more than 80 entries. Judges selected winners from different grade divisions: K-5, 6-8 and 9-12. All the winning artwork will be displayed at EdVenture. Iricks winning piece will eventually be on permanent display at the SCEAs offices.
Police are seeking the person who shot an Orangeburg teen on Monday.
The 16-year-old was shot in the thigh as he was standing in the parking lot of Glenfield Apartments on Columbia Road, according to an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety incident report.
He returned to school Wednesday after being treated for the gunshot wound, ODPS Capt. Victor Cordon said.
The department is seeking the publics help identifying the person who shot the teen, Cordon said.
According to the report, an officer arrived at the Regional Medical Center on Monday afternoon where he interviewed the victim in the emergency room.
The teen said the shooting occurred at about 3 p.m. as he and a friend were sitting in front of Building F at Glenfield Apartments.
A black truck, possibly a Nissan, quickly pulled into the parking lot, he said. Someone fired a shot into the ground from the truck.
The truck continued traveling through the parking lot. The teen said a black male shot toward him three times from the rear drivers side of the truck.
He said there were several people in the parking lot, but the crowd dispersed when the gunman opened fire.
The teen ran from the scene into an apartment unit and his cousin transported him to RMC.
Officers saw the teen had what appeared to be a bullet hole in his right upper thigh just below his buttocks.
Cordon asks anyone with information about this incident to contact Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Callers may remain anonymous.
As Regional Medical Center trustees begin their hunt for a new CEO, a trustee is questioning whether the board chairman has exceeded his authority.
During Tuesdays board meeting, trustee Milton Dufford asked RMC Chairman Melvin Seabrooks, "Did you or another board member go to Palmetto Health with the intent of representing this board in any way?"
"No, sir," Seabrooks said.
"You did not?" Dufford said.
"No, sir," Seabrooks said.
Dufford has been an outspoken board member who has questioned the removal of long-time hospital President and CEO Tom Dandridge in January.
Dufford also asked whether Seabrooks interfered with the hospital administration by recommending the promotion of a vice president to the chief operating officer position in order to terminate another.
"No, sir," Seabrooks said.
"Do you feel you have exceeded your authority and lost the trust of many board members and should resign your position?" Dufford said.
"No, sir," Seabrooks said.
Following the meeting, Seabrooks said he doesnt know why Dufford asked the questions.
"I don't have a clue," he said.
Dufford did not return calls Wednesday.
Several trustees said after the meeting they did not know why the questions were brought up or what they were in reference to.
In other matters, Seabrooks said a search committee has been formed to begin the process of finding a new CEO.
The search committee, which will begin its work Thursday, will consist of Seabrooks, Dr. M.S. Nassri, the Rev. Dr. Caesar Richburg, Dr. Frank Coulter, Kenneth Rickenbaker, Johnny Mallard and Betty Henderson.
Seabrooks said the initial meetings will be about learning the process for the search.
The board voted in December to end its contract with Quorum Health Resources. The hospital will be under QHR management until March 30.
Upon the termination of the contract, the hospital will enter into an advisory contract with QHR.
Trustees will then most likely appoint another interim CEO until a permanent CEO is hired, although Seabrooks says trustees have not discussed any specifics related to the matter.
The process to hire a permanent CEO is expected to take six to eight months, although Seabrooks says it could take longer.
Trustees also voted Tuesday to hold a board and medical staff retreat in an effort to better engage the doctors in the functions and activities of the hospital. The request for the retreat was made by the hospital's Strategic Planning Committee. A date for the retreat was not announced.
In other matters, trustees voted to approve the installation of a $16,425 badge control access system in its clinical decision unit, contingent upon the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's approval of the system's plans.
The hospital behavior health patients are housed in the CDU until they can be permanently placed. The badge controlled access reader system will be put in place to prevent psychiatric patients from leaving the area.
"It is a priority for us," Interim Vice President of Patient and Family Services and Chief Nursing Officer Mickey Whisenhunt told the RMC Finance Committee Thursday.
"The CDU is where we have most of our behavior health patients we are waiting for placement. We can't admit them to our inpatient unit because they are violent enough they need to be placed, Whisenhunt said.
Whisenhunt said some of the patients have tried to escape.
"Our attempt here is to beef up the security in that area for the protection of our patients as well as our staff so we can closely monitor those people until we can get them the resources they need," Whisenhunt said. "Right now when you go into the CDU, you have to have badge access in but everybody that leaves can leave freely. We want to make sure you can't leave without somebody letting you out. We need to have a safe place for them."
DHEC has told hospital officials that it will take about 30 days for the matter to be approved.
In other matters:
The hospital reported a total positive income of $312,315 for January and year-to-date the hospital is $1.5 million in the red. That is still about $600,000 ahead of where the hospital was last year at this time.
The entire hospital system had a positive balance of $93,206 in January. Year-to-date, the system is operating at a loss of about $2 million. The entire system is $453,431 ahead of where it was last year.
Trustees unanimously agreed to have Columbia-based GMK Associates Inc. complete and update a hospital master plan.
The completion and update will continue a process which the hospital began several years ago and which was tabled in 2013.
At the time, the plan was about 75 percent complete. The plan will look at the current needs of the hospital as well the condition of its facilities.
The update of the plan will cost the hospital no more than $10,000.
Trustees agreed to improve about 3,290 square feet of the hospital's Medical Arts Building for an incoming doctor. The hospital currently rents the space.
Orangeburg artist Dr. Leo Twiggs will be honored with the Elizabeth ONeill Verner Governors Awards for the Arts lifetime achievement award.
It is the highest honor the state presents in the arts. Established in 1972, the annual awards recognize outstanding achievement and contributions to the arts in South Carolina.
Twiggs unique batik paintings have received international recognition. Several paintings have been displayed in U.S. embassies in Rome, Senegal and Sierra Leone, and his works have appeared in numerous textbooks and other publications.
He was the first visual artist to receive the Elizabeth ONeill Verner Award in 1981.
Twiggs was selected to design an ornament for the White House Christmas tree, and he supervised the development of the museums at both South Carolina State University and Claflin University.
His book, Messages from Home: The Art of Leo Twiggs, won an Indie Finalist Award in 2012.
Most recently, he has received attention for his work Requiem for Mother Emanuel, which he created following the June 17, 2015 shooting deaths of nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
Others who will be honored at this years Verner Awards are: Laura Spong of Columbia, lifetime achievement; Quentin Baxter of Charleston, artist; Betsy Teter of Spartanburg, individual; Brenda P. McCutchen of Columbia, arts in education; The Callie and John Rainey Foundation and The Stringer Foundation of Anderson, business/foundation; The City of Beaufort/USC Beaufort Center for the Arts of Beaufort, government; South Carolina Humanities of Columbia, government.
Each of these Verner Award recipients has contributed greatly to the arts community as an outstanding ambassador for our state," S.C. Arts Commission Chairman Henry Horowitz said. "Their dedication to the arts benefits South Carolinians and materially enhances our states economic vitality. As the Arts Commission marks its 50th anniversary, we are honored to recognize these organizations and individuals who embody the service, commitment and passion that helped build our states half century of leadership in the arts.
Awards will be presented May 2, with the time and location to be announced later. The S.C. Arts Foundation will honor the recipients at a luncheon at noon.
A fundraiser supporting the programs of the S.C. Arts Commission, the luncheon includes an art sale and takes place at the USC Alumni Center, 900 Senate St., Columbia. Luncheon tickets are $50 per person and may be purchased online at www.SouthCarolinaArts.com.
The 2017 Verner Awards are sponsored by Colonial Life.
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By Azernews
By Laman Ismayilova
Azerbaijan and Moldova have conducted the next round of political consultations in Baku on March 1, Azertac reported.
Azerbaijan`s delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, while Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Lilian Darii led Moldova`s delegation.
Khalafov highlighted successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and Moldova within the CIS, GUAM and other international organizations. He expressed confidence that political consultations would contribute to the overall development of bilateral cooperation.
The sides reaffirmed their countries` full support of each other` territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders.
Khalafov provided an insight into transport and energy projects initiated by and involving Azerbaijan, including the North-South and West-East transportation corridors. He expressed confidence that cargo transportation via these corridors and, especially, via the Black Sea could contribute to the development of economic cooperation between the two countries.
Darii, for his part, expressed Moldova`s interest in using Azerbaijan`s transit opportunities.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Moldova were established on May 29,1992. Azerbaijan opened its Embassy in Chisinau on October 5, 2005 and Moldova opened its Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 1, 2005.
Azerbaijans the trade turnover with Moldova amounted to $3.75 million in January-November 2016, some 3.25 million of which fell for imports from that country, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.
The number of exported products will increase between the two countries, as this year Azerbaijan will export horseflesh to Moldova.
Both countries are members of a free trade area that were signed into law in 1994 with the participation of the CIS countries. Within the free trade agreement, member countries are expected to eliminate export and import duties on a number of goods.
By Azernews
By Rashid Shirinov
The world community, which witnesses escalation on the line of contact in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, continues attempts to make Armenia come to negotiations.
The early settlement of the conflict will benefit Armenia itself it may finally open the door for this country to international projects, which Armenia is currently deprived of.
The continuing occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia slows the economic development in the South Caucasus region and creates obstacles for effective cooperation between countries of the region. This remark was made by The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan when he was addressing a meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Islamabad.
Erdogan called on the ECO and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to show determination in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has existed for over 20 years and is not resolved yet, it is necessary to raise this issue at every international arena, the Turkish president said.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Armenia to finally solve the conflict, but Armenia continues to play for time in order to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.
After the latest flare of tensions on the frontline, the UN openly hinted Yerevan that it is time to stop delaying the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh. On February 27, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in the conflict zone and called on for substantive negotiations.
The Armenian authorities are likely scared of possible discontent and unrest in Armenia if they agree to the phased settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. This can lead to the loss of power by Serzh Sargsyan and his entourage in Armenia.
Therefore, Yerevan prefers to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh forever. The international community does not put any pressure on Yerevan in this regard therefore Armenia continues occupation of foreign territories. The only way out of the existing situation is active participation of all mediators in the negotiation process and increase of pressure on Yerevan.
After the meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg, which took place after the April clashes in 2016, the negotiation process came to the dead end due to the denial of Yerevan to continue serious talks.
All this indicates that the official Yerevan does everything to slow down the negotiations and comes to talks when the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh heats up to the breaking point.
If the mediators, primarily the OSCE Minsk group, do not make a considerable effort to finally change Armenia's attitude to the negations, this stagnation will continue. This can eventually lead to ignition of another spark in the conflict, which does not benefit either Azerbaijan, or other countries of the region.
By Trend
Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay an official visit to Moscow on March 7-8 at an invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced about this at a briefing on March 2.
Earlier Minister Mammadyarov said that he will visit Moscow in March, adding that he intends to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement during the visit.
During my visit to Moscow, we will discuss with the Russian side, which for many years is acting as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, further actions on the conflict settlement, he said.
Russia along with the U.S. and France is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
By Azernews
By Rashid Shirinov
Officials of Russian and Israeli embassies in Baku have appealed to relevant bodies of Azerbaijan for another meeting with blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Baku.
Lapshins lawyer Eduard Chernin told Trend on March 2 that officials of the Russian Embassy in Baku met Lapshin once and representatives of the Israeli Embassy met the blogger twice since his extradition from Belarus.
"The allegations that representatives of the embassies cannot meet Lapshin are unfounded," the lawyer noted.
Chernin further said that in accordance with the rules of organizing meetings, one should appeal to the relevant official bodies in order to meet Lapshin. After receiving the response to the appeal, the time for the meeting is appointed.
The lawyer reiterated that Lapshin has no complaints regarding detention conditions and he can meet with his family members.
Armenian media reported that allegedly Lapshins spouse couldnt talk to him and received no information about him, Chernin said. I told this to Alexander Lapshin, told him what his wife Yekaterina said, and then got in touch with her. She said she wanted to come to Baku to meet her husband.
The lawyer also said that Lapshins mother Bella is in Baku, and she can see her son anytime she wants.
"I also constantly meet with my client. Lapshin has repeatedly said that there is no problem, did not complain on conditions of his detention and meetings with him," said Chernin.
Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
The blogger, who owns citizenships of several countries, paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.
Daily trading volumes on the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) in February amounted to 62,844 contracts per day, the exchange said.
Trading activity on the exchanges Indian products remained consistent on the back of increased volatility in Indian markets due to the Union Budget announcement made at the beginning of the month and the ongoing state elections in India.
The DGCX Indian product suite, particularly the Indian Rupee Options contract recorded notable year-on-year growth of 92 per cent with just under 50,000 lots trading and also recorded the highest monthly Average Open Interest (OI) of 23,275 contracts, signifying increased interest and liquidity.
Dubai India Crude Oil futures also registered the highest monthly volume of 5,980 contracts in February 2017. This helped energy products on DGCX record a combined volume of 17,139 contracts. This highlights that investors and traders have started reacting favorably to the DGCX value proposition in offering global products in Energy, Gold and Currencies under one roof in a capital efficient, cost effective and safe manner.
Gaurang Desai, CEO of DGCX, commented: Indian Union Budget proposals and the ongoing state assembly elections have stirred volatility in Indian markets. Since many of our products are geared towards offshore investors, we often see spikes of trading activity in our Indian referenced contracts, which highlights the importance of these products for hedging purposes in a period when financial markets are experiencing sharp volatility.
Volatility is likely to trend higher through the course of the year as markets react to a range of unknowns including the anticipated US Federal Reserve rate hike in March, the upcoming European elections and the impact of US policy changes. In light of these events, we will continue to strongly push forward our agenda of providing market participants with a diverse array of products and solutions which will not only help them to effectively manage their risk, but also protect them from rapid market fluctuations and the prevailing economic uncertainty.
During the month the DGCX also announced its Trading Campus initiative in collaboration with Envision Training Centre that is aimed at education and creating awareness about financial products, derivatives trading, and various trading techniques. This initiative will play an important role in furthering DGCXs goal to ensure that traders and investors are not only able to trade responsibly but also are equipped with the skill-set needed to trade financial products.
DGCX plans to list more Single Stock Futures as well as energy products in the second quarter of 2017 which will attract more investors and increase participation on the exchanges trading platform, it said. TradeArabia News Service
The Food and Beverage Manufacturing Business Group (FBMG) is launching an initiative to begin implementing the FLW Protocol in the UAE to reduce waste in food, the group announced on the sidelines of Gulfood 2017.
The food saved through this protocol will go towards increased donations to the UAE Food Bank.
The initiative saw FBMG cooperate with the Food Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Dubai Municipality, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and all food manufactures in the UAE who have pledged to collaborate with the group on this initiative, following directives from the countrys top leaders. It includes the creation of a food data platform a tool to analyse available data to formulate solutions to reduce waste.
The Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard (or FLW Standard) is a global standard that provides requirements and guidance for quantifying and reporting on the weight of food and/or associated inedible parts removed from the food supply chaincommonly referred to as food loss and waste (FLW). Using the standard enables countries, cities, companies, and other entities to develop inventories of how much FLW is generated and where it goes.
As it stands, the UAE is wasting $4 billion worth of food every year. With the F&B manufacturing market in the UAE slated to grow from $11.3 billion in 2015 to $13.2 billion in 2018 and with Dubai set to become the capital of the Halal food economy the FBMG is mobilising to address and contain food wastage, increasing food donations and reducing food prices in the process.
The initiative to reduce the waste comes under the efforts to observe the Year of Giving initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. In tandem, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the UAE Food Bank in January 2017 to reduce food wastage in the UAE.
Saleh Abdullah Lootah, chairman of the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Business Group, said: Food loss and wastage is a serious concern for us and a key area for improvement. Keeping count of the losses will help us reduce them. The group is working to educate manufacturers and supply-chain decision makers on the issue in the hopes to help them put a system in place to curb the phenomenon. This along with the food data platform is likely to create new opportunities for increased revenue for the manufactures, reduce food wastage, and provide support to CSR activities such as the UAE Food Bank. Moreover, the initiative supports sustainability goals by reducing waste.
Meanwhile, Dr Iyad Abumoghli, director and regional representative of Unep in West Asia, said: By implementing the FLW Protocol in addition to launching the UAE Food Bank the UAE is joining the global traction on reducing food wastage as part of its sustainable consumption strategy. This, in turn, falls in line with the United Nations current trajectory, which is working to harmonise and boost international efforts to confront the challenges that are facing our environment, and to alleviate poverty and hunger around the world.
Established under the auspices of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Food & Beverage Manufacturing Business Group (FBMG) seeks to create a platform for F&B manufacturers to resolve industry-related challenges and take the sector in the UAE to greater heights. Membership is open to any business operating in the food & beverage manufacturing sector in the country. - TradeArabia News Service
Hyundai Motor Company has revealed the first teaser images of the new Sonata, due to arrive on global markets during 2018, with the carmaker planning to give its mid-size sedan a dramatic design change.
New sheet-metal and trim details will bring the current-generation Sonata, launched in 2015, into line with the Hyundais evolving design language, which is progressively introducing more sophisticated architecture and styling to the brand, the company said.
The new design architecture centres on Hyundais brand new signature, the Cascading Grille, which symbolises the momentous flow of molten steel and the elegant shape of the Korean celadon vase, bringing a more distinct identifier to the Hyundai range. It is the centre piece of a sensuously sculpted front end, creating a much more confident gaze and a purposeful stance, it said.
The low and wide radiator grille makes the hood appear longer and sleeker, which is counter balanced by the raised trunk lid, shifting the side profile architecture to a more dynamic attitude. The chrome lines around the side windows extend forward to the headlights as they did before, but now they go further to the front of the car and under the headlamps for a unique, sophisticated look.
From the side, the sleek and sensuously sculpted volumes are complimented by fine technical details such as the head lamps, tail lamps and directional spoked wheels. The rear licence plate holder was moved downward to fit onto the bumper and a large Sonata logo is added to the centre of the trunk lid, projecting visual self-confidence, the company said. TradeArabia News Service
Taking its place alongside the design greats of all time, the Design Museum, London, welcomed a new exhibit this evening: the Range Rover Velar.
Velar launches with a suite of consumer technologies, working together to create an in-built technology butler. At its heart is an all-new, cutting-edge infotainment system called Touch Pro Duo.
Dubbed Blade by development engineers because of its slender profile and clean surfaces, the innovation makes the in-car technology experience clearer, quicker and more enjoyable, enhancing every journey, said a statement.
The fourth member of the Range Rover family was unveiled in spectacular style at the Design Museum to a capacity audience who also enjoyed a Velar photographic exhibition by world renowned photographer Gary Bryan. The images are now being showcased on the brands Instagram channel: @landrover
Velar is the first vehicle to be launched and displayed at the new Design Museum, which opened to the public in November 2016 after moving from its original Shad Thames location. The new model was simultaneously shown for one night only in a pop-up display in Kensington High Street, West London, alongside the Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.
Velar will be on public display in the Design Museum in a unique installation, until March 5. The exhibit is called Reductionism, showcasing the philosophy of stripping away complexity to reveal true quality.
The last time Land Rover displayed a vehicle in this way was in the early 1970s when the original Range Rover was shown at the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris, as an example of exemplary industrial design.
Jaguar Land Rover also announced a partnership with the Design Museum, which will bring a series of collaborations, exhibitions and events to the museum over the next three years.
Land Rover chief design officer Gerry McGovern said: We are delighted to be able to begin our partnership with the Design Museum with such a significant vehicle. The new Range Rover Velar brings a new dimension of modernity to our brand while reinforcing our total commitment to design and engineering excellence.
The new Velar fills the space in the Range Rover family between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport.
Refined for every occasion, for every terrain, Velar uses unique sustainable materials and advanced engineering to continue Land Rovers drive to go Above and Beyond.
Created from a clean sheet using Jaguar Land Rovers lightweight aluminium architecture, it is safer, stronger and cleaner and improves driving performance, the company said.
Velar continues Range Rovers history of innovation, incorporating advanced technologies, compelling design and absolute attention to detail.
Peter Virk, Jaguar Land Rovers director of connected car and future technology, said: Two high-definition 10-inch touchscreens are your window into the world. The connected infotainment system learns from you and anticipates your needs, serving you what you want, when you want it but never intrudes letting you enjoy the drive, while it takes the stress out of daily life, like any good butler or digital personal assistant should.
Advanced consumer technology is reflected in the use of trend setting materials. Unique in the segment, the Velar offers a sustainable, premium textile seat material as an alternative to leather. The Dapple Grey material was developed together with Kvadrat, Europes leading manufacturer of high-quality design textiles, and is complemented with Suedecloth inserts.
Pivotal to the contemporary, design of Velar are the full Matrix-Laser LED headlights, the most slender ever to appear on a production Land Rover, the flush deployable door handles, and the Burnished Copper coloured detailing on the front bumper blades and fender vents.
Velar has a sophisticated four-corner suspension system, delivering peerless refinement with unrivalled comfort and control, it said.
Five engines are offered at launch, ranging from the clean, responsive 180PS 2.0-litre Ingenium diesel, to the potent 380PS supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine. A 300PS Ingenium petrol engine will join the Velar range later in 2017. TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based Kanoo Engineering, a leading supplier of high-quality engineering products to the oil and gas, process and building industries in the Middle East, has won a number of new projects recently.
Neil Scott, general manager, said: I am delighted to confirm a series of recent new orders with a long-standing client for the engineering and fabrication of over 130 stainless steel tanks and skids to be supplied, via our client, to oil and gas customers across the Gulf and on to the oilfields in Iraq, Azerbaijan and other locations.
The skids and tanks will undergo stringent end-user quality inspection and testing prior to being fitted out and shipped to their final destination," he said.
"Kanoo Engineering undertakes detailed engineering design of each package and following client approval, we begin production in batches, supporting our client with final assembly of piping and controls equipment as required. Fabrication is under way now and final deliveries of this sizeable order are scheduled to take place in May this year. A further series of orders are also confirmed for release in the coming weeks, which are a strong start for 2017, he added.
Scott revealed that Kanoo Engineering has also signed a contract with another client for the design, fabrication and installation of structural steel for a new Dubai School under construction now, and with the engineering works already under way.
Kanoo Engineering is a member of The Kanoo Group, one of the largest family-owned conglomerates in the region established in 1890. Based in Dubai, Kanoo Engineering specialises in supply and design of equipment and quality steel structures such as process equipment and pressure vessels, skid mounted packages, API storage tanks, piping spools, SS decorative work and kitchen equipment, among others. - TradeArabia News Service
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) market for paper, stationery and office supplies is expected to be worth $12 billion by 2019 and global suppliers are keenly targeting this market for growth, analysts said.
Growth in the global stationery and office supplies market is expected to come from emerging markets such as the MEA. Analysts TechNavio forecast an annual market increase in the region of 15 per cent, said a statement from the organisers of the Paperworld Middle East 2017, which takes place from March 14 to 16 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Conlumino, another analyst, estimated the market to be worth $12 billion by 2019, it said.
International suppliers of stationery and office supplies are turning to the region for future business growth, with the UAE presenting itself as the ideal gateway to access hard-to-reach markets.
While some suppliers are now just testing the waters, others have been in the market for many years. Vienna Office Supplies (VOS) for example, has been exporting high-end stationery, office products, school supplies and artists materials to the Middle East for the last 30 years.
The Austrian-headquartered company is entirely export-oriented, with the Middle East comprising 75 per cent of its market. VOS represents on an exclusive basis eight European brands, such as Schneider Writing Instruments, Cretacolor artist supplies, and SAX office accessories.
VOS will be eager to increase its presence further when it lines up alongside more than 300 exhibitors from 36 countries at Paperworld Middle East 2017, the statement said.
Karl Vytiska, the managing director of VOS, said the company has built up its presence in the region based on long-term relationships, including ones established at Paperworld Middle East.
In its 7th edition in 2017, Paperworld Middle East is the regions largest B2B trade show covering the entire range of stationery and office supplies, from school and gift articles, office or household paper, arts and crafts, and party and festival articles, to printers and multimedia.
The strong European presence will be complemented by exhibitors coming from the UK, Portugal, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, with household stationery names such as Lamy and Olympia taking part. Other key exporting exhibitor countries include China, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, and Turkey.
The 2016 edition of the event attracted 6,774 visitors from 101 countries, 11 per cent up on the previous year, while 304 exhibitors from 36 countries showcased their latest wares, from office supplies, paper, school, party and gift articles, to toys, games, wrapping paper, printer consumables, and arts and craft supplies.
Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Messe Frankfurt Middle East, the organiser of Paperworld Middle East, said: Shifting tides in international trade and economic uncertainty over the last 12 months has meant global manufacturers have had to refocus their export outlook, and the MEA is grabbing their attention.
Paperworld Middle East provides unmatched access to market representatives from the fast-growing Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia regions, and has seen increasing numbers of leading international brands and players participating from across the world.
Paperworld Middle East 2017 will return with popular features including the Green Office Area, where the spotlight will shine on sustainably produced essential office supplies; and the Wrapstar gift wrapping competition. TradeArabia News Service
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts has entered into a management agreement with Karan Gulf Services for a new hotel within Saudi Arabias Waad Al Shamal industrial city.
The 237-room hotel is planned as the largest hotel project within Waad Al Shamal City, as well as the entire northern region of Saudi Arabia.
The city itself, located about 30 kilometres from Turaif is being developed by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) and covers 450 sq km in Saudi Arabia's Northern Frontier. It will host approximately 100,000 residents. The city will tap into the regions significant phosphate reserves and will support and provide extensive opportunities to many upstream and downstream industries, which have already been anchored by major global players including Saudi Aramco, Sabic and Sceco. These companies will provide the infrastructure necessary to initiate the project and stimulate further activities relating to phosphate mining. The mineral industry is set to become the third pillar of the kingdoms economy after oil and petrochemical, in line with the countrys Vision 2030.
Set to open in the second half of 2018, Movenpick Hotel Waad Al Shamal, whilst primarily targeting the corporate market, will also provide a resort feel. The property will offer three food and beverage outlets, extensive meeting and event space, male and female wellness areas as well as recreation facilities, designed to serve hotel guests, the community of Waad Al Shamal and the northern region.
We are proud to have been selected as the hotel operator for this fantastic project in the region said Andreas Mattmuller, chief operating officer, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, Middle East and South Asia. We firmly support the governments vision of economic diversification. Considering the current lack of upscale accommodation, we see the development of this hotel as strategically important to the continued growth of the city. Furthermore, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts will be the first international upscale hotel in the northern region of Saudi Arabia and this new signing will consolidate our position as one of the strongest international hotel brands in the country and the Middle East.
Abdulrahman bin Fahad bin Abdul Latif al Jabr, managing director of Karan Gulf Services, said: We are extremely happy to be partnering with Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, in our quest to develop the northern region of the country and support the local communities. Together, we will provide approximately 100 employment opportunities to male and female Saudi Arabian nationals living close to the project. The development of this hotel will have much a wider and far-reaching positive economic impact in the northern region, and will act as a platform upon which other businesses can grow. We are also extremely grateful to Maaden for giving us the opportunity to develop this project in a city that is destined to change the economic profile of the entire country.
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts already operates 11 hotels in Saudi Arabia with five more projects to be launched in the next three years - Movenpick Residences Al Khobar, Movenpick Hotel & Apartments Al Tahlia Jeddah, Movenpick Hotel Financial District Riyadh, Movenpick Hotel Heraa Jeddah and Movenpick Hotel Waad Al Shamal. - TradeArabia News Service
The staff of Casper's Wind City Books offers the following picks for the month of March.
A return with vengeance
On March 21 Casper native C. J. Box returns with his 17th installment of the Joe Pickett series, "Vicious Circle." The book is aptly titled for the brutal Cates family, last seen in "Endangered," who return to exact revenge on Joe and his family. Nate Romanowski, no longer in hiding, comes to Joes aid when Dallas Cates enacts his plot to destroy the Picketts. Box amazingly continues to exceed past performances in this new volume that will keep readers on the edges of their seats.
Box has won many awards for his previous novels including the Edgar, Barry, French Prix Calibre 38, and the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Reading the West Award. He was awarded the 2016 Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum and his most recent novel, "Off the Grid," debuted in the No. 1 slot on the New York Times bestseller list.
Bold women of the American Southwest
In the early decades of the 20th century, a group of well-educated, bold women left the posh comfort of the East Coast to explore the unknown of the American Southwest. They were enchanted by the landscape, and among the canyons and pueblos, they discovered the freedom to create the lives they longed for instead of living the lives dictated to them by society.
This winner of the 2015 Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Reading the West Award, "Ladies of the Canyons" is a well-researched and beautifully-written account of the lives of Natalie Curtis, Carol Stanley, Alice Klauber and Mary Cabot Wheelwright. These remarkable women made an indelible print on the American Southwest and deserve to be remembered.
A gritty journey
In 2011, journalist Rinker Buck and his brother, Nick, became the first people in recent history to travel the Oregon Trail by wagon and mule team from St. Joseph, Missouri, to eastern Oregon. Many may remember the interviews in the Casper Star-Tribune when they passed through Casper. Having become fascinated with the history of the trail after viewing the ruts in Kansas, Rinker thoroughly researched the gritty facts of preparation for the trail -- equipment, mules and more -- and embarked on his own adventure in a mule-drawn restored 19th-century prairie schooner.
In "The Oregon Trail," Buck blends history of the trail, illuminating the life of Narcissa Whitman, the first white woman to cross the country in this fashion, with the memoir of his trek with his brother Nick and an incurably filthy rat terrier named Olive Oyl. Day to day life on the trail is brought into sharp focus as Rinker recounts their adventures and provides many laughs along with a dose of history. And, you just may run into a few people you know along the way.
A 'news' novel, well told
Texas, post-Civil War. "News of the World" tells the story of Captain Jefferson Kidd, once a printer in San Antonio, who is now in his seventies, and having lost his business in the war, earns his living traveling from town to town reading recent newspapers to the crowds that gather each evening. As he is setting out from Wichita Falls on his next circuit he is tasked with the job of returning 10-year-old Johanna to her family near San Antonio. Johanna has been a captive of the Kiowa for the last four years -- ever since they slaughtered her family -- and she has no interest in returning.
Author Paulette Jiles depth of research into the lives of former Indian captives, as well the place and time of these events and the quality of her storytelling, leads to characters that will live on in your heart long after you have turned the last page. A finalist for the National Book Award, "News of the World" is a book you will not want to miss.
Hitler's would-be assassination
In "The Women in the Castle," Jessica Shattuck takes readers back to World War II Germany -- but from a unique perspective. It opens at a dinner party in the family castle where, behind closed doors, Mariannes husband and a group of resisters are plotting the unsuccessful July 20 assassination of Adolf Hitler. The plot then shifts to the first few months after Germanys defeat as the country begins reconstruction. In the aftermath of the failed assassination, the collaborators were executed and their families sent to camps, prisons, or orphanages. Marianne must now endeavor to fulfill a promise to find and care for those of her husbands fellow resisters wives and children who have survived. She is successful in finding two of the families and brings them back to eke out a living and repair their lives in the now ruined castle.
Moving backward and forward through time, Shattuck explores the grave task of figuring out who you are and how you deal with the heinous actions of your countrymen. How do you learn to live with the collective guilt, and how does it affect the individuals and their children? This is a brilliant and eye-opening look at what it must have been like in Germany in the aftermath of World War II.
The University of Wyomings medical education programming plans to allow students to spend more time in Laramie and stay in line with accreditation standards.
The medical education program at UW is known as WWAMI. Since 1997, Wyoming has been part of a cooperative program with the University of Washington, as well as the states of Alaska, Montana and Idaho, aimed at providing medical education in northwestern states without independent medical schools. WWAMI is an acronym for the participating entities.
Since joining the cooperative, WWAMI students have spent their first year at the UW campus in Laramie. In the second year, they go to the University of Washington in Seattle. But the programs curriculum is changing and calls for students to spend the second year each year of the program is actually closer to about nine months in their home states, said Marivern Easton, acting director of WWAMI medical education.
It was 2014 when it was determined that this would be the new model, she said.
The WWAMI facilities on UWs Laramie campus, however, could not accommodate both first- and second-year students simultaneously, Easton said. UW is currently the only institution in the cooperative without the facilities to accommodate the change. Because medical school accreditation is dependent on having uniform curriculum, she said, Wyomings program ran the risk of losing its accreditation.
Medical schools accreditation is such you cant be doing something different in your regional program, Easton said. The onus is on the (University of Washington School of Medicine) to show whats happening in those regions, and that the students are getting the same education.
WWAMIs classroom and cadaver lab are on the fourth floor of the Health Sciences building. Plans are underway to convert the cadaver lab into a second classroom for second-year students and renovate space in the Physical Sciences building into a new cadaver lab.
UWs Board of Trustees approved plans for the project during its Feb. 15 meeting. While funds for the project are coming from a combination of Medical Education and College of Health Sciences sources, it required the trustees approval to move forward. Deficits for the construction budget in the first two years of the project scheduled for completion in December 2018 caused some UW trustees to question whether it was appropriate to approve.
Im uncomfortable beginning a construction project based upon a negative budget, said trustee John McKinley.
The $1.5 million budget currently shows a nearly $200,000 deficit in the first year of construction that would be reduced to just less than $60,000 in the second year.
But College of Health Sciences Dean Joseph Steiner said there are students entering the program, which would generate sufficient revenue to cover the shortfall.
While there is a deficit on paper, the reality is the income will come in, Steiner said during the Feb. 15 meeting. It will cover the deficit as we go into the second year of construction.
Ultimately, UW President Laurie Nichols said she had no problem with the plan and vouched for the current funding model.
Im really comfortable with it, Nichols said. I know well have a full WWAMI class every year. Its not a risky situation.
The trustees voted unanimously to approve the plan.
Easton said approving the plan now was the right thing to do.
It costs less to educate (students) here than it would to send the money to Seattle for tuition and fees, she said.
More ambitious plans were already scaled back because of the states economic situation, Easton said. Going forward with the $1.5 million project was the minimum to keep Wyomings program part of the collective.
President Nichols encouraged us, Just give me the bare bones, Easton said. Whats the absolute minimum you need to meet accreditation standards and have a solid, quality program that would allow you to keep students here for the second year?
Just less than 200 students have graduated through the WWAMI program in its 20 years in Wyoming. Nearly 73 percent return to practice in the Cowboy State. Easton said WWAMI is a success story for Wyoming.
Its a workforce program thats really about finding persons in our state who are interested in medicine, she said. The goal is to find providers for the state of Wyoming. We know that the most successful programs are the ones where you grow your own.
President Donald Trump confused many in a meeting Tuesday with state attorneys general when he suggested that recent threats made against the Jewish community might have been committed "to make others look bad" and that in terms of the threats, "the reverse can be true."
The comment came during a brief question and answer session with the President at the White House after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro noted hate crime incidents across the country -- including bomb threats against three Jewish schools and the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in his home state in the last few days.
"Can you tell me what is being done so that the federal and state governments work together to combat this?" Shapiro told CNN he said to Trump.
The President said three things in response, Shapiro recalled.
First, the President condemned the threats and vandalism as "reprehensible." He also noted that he was going to address the matter in his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening.
But then the President said something that confused Shapiro: "You have to be careful, because the reverse can be true," he recalled the President saying.
Shapiro said Trump suggested this would be done "to make others look bad." Shapiro said the President used the term "reverse" two or three more times.
Other attorneys general later asked Shapiro what Trump meant by that, and Shapiro didn't know what to tell them, he said. The attorneys general did not know what to think.
"I found that statement to be very curious," Shapiro said.
The comment is all the more curious given that law enforcement officials believe many of the threatening calls coming into Jewish Community Centers and Jewish Day Schools have originated overseas.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. But Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said it would be "astonishing if the report is true that the president would posit such a claim. We fully hope that the authorities will continue their ongoing investigation of the matter and have full confidence that the FBI and law enforcement will bring the culprits to justice."
Earlier Tuesday, top Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci tweeted that "It's not yet clear who the #JCC offenders are. Don't forget @TheDemocrats effort to incite violence at Trump rallies."
Scaramucci linked to a Breitbart story about a James O'Keefe undercover report in which a video suggested that a Democratic activist was sending protesters into Trump campaign rallies where they would film themselves getting beaten up by Trump supporters.
When asked if he was suggesting Democrats were behind the threats to the Jewish community centers, Scaramucci tweeted, "No. I'm saying until we know for sure it's highly irresponsible to jump to conclusions."
Scaramucci said Wednesday "we actually don't know who is behind" the attacks.
"What you're finding is there's a lot of allegations are being made and people are suggesting potentially that it could be Trump supporters behind it or people that are affiliated with the President or his administration," he told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day." "I think that's categorically very unfair."
Scaramucci did not identify anyone who was making those suggestions and did not immediately respond to a follow-up request for clarification Wednesday morning.
"We have to leave an open question of the source of where these things are coming from," Scaramucci added.
In the last several weeks, there have been at least 100 bomb threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and schools in 33 states in the United States and two provinces in Canada.
UPDATE: This characterization of James O'Keefe's video has been changed in this story.
CNN's Mary Kay Mallonee, Evan Perez, Eugene Scott and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.
Authorities work to identify Cody man killed in house fire
CODY Authorities have not yet released the name of an elderly Cody man who died in a house fire this weekend.
Officials on Wednesday said they believed the victim was the 74-year-old man who lived in the home, but the identity could not be confirmed until a coroners autopsy.
Firefighters found the mans body on the second floor of a Cody home on Sunday.
Cody Fire Department Marshal Sam Wilde says the fire started on the second story and burned unnoticed for many hours because of the homes sturdy log construction. It wasnt until interior oxygen was consumed that flames broke through the roof.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
After three years of work and significant lobbying by American Indians, an Indian Education for All bill has passed the Wyoming Legislature and will help educate generations of students about the history of Wyomings native people.
The bill will provide education materials for the 48 school districts across the state. The resources will be created with consultation from tribes of the region, including the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone, and will be available on the state Department of Educations website.
Jason Baldes, the executive director of the Wind River Advocacy Center, said overall he was pleased with the Legislature recognizing the contributions of the tribes to Wyoming.
But he took issue with an amendment introduced by Sen. Bruce Burns and passed by the Senate. Originally, the bill wouldve consulted with the two tribes on the Wind River reservation, the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone. But the amendment brought all tribes in the region under an umbrella of consultants.
Wyoming needs to have their own Indian education bill, but it needs to be specific to the states tribes, he said. Removing that and saying tribes of the region defeats the purpose of the bill. That point is disappointing.
Sen. Cale Case, a co-sponsor of the bill, also opposed the amendment and said respect for Wyomings tribes should be paramount.
History has made us co-sovereigns, he said. We share so much. Those native people are citizens of Wyoming.
Baldes said expanding the language would also make it more difficult for the Department of Education to craft a curriculum.
Still, department spokeswoman Kari Eakins said the WDE was really happy that the bill passed.
We believe our social studies standards will be better than they are right now, she said. Were really excited to have a good working partnership with both tribes in our state.
The materials will likely start with PBS modulars released last year, officials say.
PBS is something we can make available right away, Eakins said. Thats kind of whats been used as a shining example for schools to use.
Sen. Paul Barnard, R-Evanston, spoke of importance of the bill to the tribes whove worked hard to see it passed.
As Ive visited different tribes, Ive really come to love these people, he said. Theyre part of Wyoming.
A late, passionate attempt by Cheyenne lawmakers failed to regain nearly $42 million to build a new junior high school as the Senate passed a school facility bill Wednesday.
The original version of the bill, drafted by the Select Committee on School Facilities, requested $85 million, largely to build a new elementary school in Teton County and the new Carey Junior High School in Laramie County. The Senate Appropriations Committee eliminated the $42 million that wouldve been used to finance the Cheyenne school.
The bill was up for the final vote on Wednesday. The measure originated and was passed in the House and was sponsored by the Joint Appropriations Committee.
The bulk of the remaining $85 million will be used to fund a new elementary school in Teton County, whose overcapacity problems overshadow those of Cheyennes district.
The downturn in the mineral economy has essentially dried up the revenue stream for school construction and maintenance. This bill addressed some of the last of the coal lease bonus monies, more than $100 million, that will be distributed during this two-year budget cycle.
Senators from the city attempted twice to insert money back into the bill to fund school projects. The first, brought forward by Republican Sen. Affie Ellis, would have appropriated $25 million to build a new elementary school in Cheyenne. Lawmakers pointed out that many elementary students are learning in modules, which are essentially trailers on school grounds.
The amendment was killed by the Senate on Tuesday despite passionate statements from Ellis and Sen. Tara Nethercott, another Cheyenne Republican, who rose to illustrate Laramie County School District No. 1s overcapacity and students being forced to learn in the trailers.
The bill, House Bill 58, includes more than $100,000 in funding for modular leases for the Laramie County district.
On Wednesday, Nethercott proposed another amendment to the bill that would restore the original the $42 million for the Carey Junior High. Ellis said Tuesday the school would have operated as a swing space, where elementary students could attend school while their schools were remodeled or replaced.
But Senate President Eli Bebout argued that the state didnt have the funds available to pay for the new school.
Nethercott and Ellis both pointed out that students learning in the modules have to leave the trailer and walk to the school to use the restroom.
Ellis told a story of a student who wouldnt drink water to avoid walking through the cold to use the restroom.
He refuses to drink water during the day because he doesnt want to urinate during the day, she said. He has to get permission to enter his own school.
Nethercott pointed out companies, like gun manufacturers, may not come to Cheyenne if their employees children will have to learn in modules. She wouldnt want her children going to school in such a situation, she said.
Vote your conscience, she said. Do the right thing.
But senators killed the amendment. When the bill as a whole came up for a vote, senators who wanted more money like Nethercott and Sen. Chris Rothfuss voted against it. It ultimately passed and will go back to the House.
The Senate passed a sweeping but significantly amended education funding reform bill Wednesday, sending the measure back to the House as the two chambers try to reconcile radically different approaches to solving the education funding crisis.
House Bill 236 originally contained a half percent conditional sales tax increase, 1 percent of the severance tax to fund schools and a 2.5 percent spending policy that wouldve provided $80 million to fund schools. All of those provisions were removed from the bill by the Senate, which has opposed any tax or revenue increases.
Both chambers had crafted broad bills to address a looming $400 million annual shortfall in the education budget. Each had significantly altered the others measure, the House so much so that lawmakers there ultimately filed a substitute bill to replace the Senates measure.
Even with its substantive changes, the House still ultimately killed the Senates bill, Senate File 165, by not bringing it forward before a legislative deadline.
But the Senates bill is not the chambers only effort to address the situation. It originally passed a budget bill with an amendment that would have required $91 million in conditional education cuts. But after negotiations with the House, the final supplemental budget bill institutes $25 million in cuts July 1 and $20 million more the following year if the House measure dies. But because HB236, as currently written, institutes around $37 million in reductions, the budget provision would be moot.
In HB236, the lower chamber used what lawmakers and education officials have called a balanced approach: It originally included reductions, savings and tax increases. On Wednesday, the states major education groups came out in support of the Houses approach.
But the Senates vehement opposition to revenue increases meant that the sales tax increase had little chance of surviving its journey through the chamber. Indeed, it fell at the first hurdle: the Senate Education Committee.
Senators added additional reductions to the bill, including cutting down on health insurance reimbursements to districts. When consideration began Wednesday, the bill would have instituted about $75 million in cuts, lawmakers said.
But then legislators doubled back and removed the health insurance provisions, bringing the cuts down to about $37 million. Thats about $5 million more in reductions than what the bill offered when it came out of the House.
The health insurance provision was cut in anticipation that the House would have rejected it, now that the bill is being sent back to the lower chamber. The measure also could have been unconstitutional, senators said, which offered an extra incentive to remove it.
It would also ease the burden for districts to institute cuts.
This gives us opportunity to send this down the hall and (lets) us have a chance in the House, said Sen. Bill Landen, a Casper Republican. I think if we leave this in there, this health insurance piece, its a little bit too rich. Its going to get thrown out, anyway. I think itll clean up the bill. Give the districts a little breathing room.
Tax attempt
Though senators had previously killed the revenue increases in the House bill, Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, brought forth an amendment Wednesday that wouldve instituted a 1 percent tax increase to be split between educations primary account and the account that funds school construction and major maintenance.
This is a significant amendment that has hundreds of millions of dollars of implications, he said. It has the opportunity for us to leave with something that looks more like a solution to the education revenue shortfall, rather than just kicking the ball down the road to recalibration.
Recalibration is the process in which lawmakers and consultants examine the funding model and adjust it as needed. HB236 would create a committee to begin that process in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the construction account is virtually empty; its source of funding, coal lease bonuses, has dried up, and lawmakers have thus far found no replacement, other than a constitutional amendment that was voted down. The lack of an alternative was not lost on Rothfuss, who pointed out that theres no way recalibration can be used to fund construction.
We know were in a crisis that were nowhere near (solving) school capital construction, he said.
But Sen. Hank Coe, who chairs the Senate Education Committee that killed the Houses sales tax proposal, rejected the idea of Rothfuss tax increase.
In this particular case, we have schools funded through the biennium right now, he said, referring to the current two-year budget cycle. He suggested lawmakers could look at potential revenue increases next year. This is not the time and the place to be doing this at where we are in this process.
But Rothfuss said the states education system has been funded by the entirety of its savings account. Roughly $550 million was taken out of it to fund day-to-day operations for this two-year budget cycle.
Were going to burn through it in its entirety, he said.
Rothfuss amendment was ultimately voted down, 5 to 24, with Senate President Eli Bebout absent.
The bill now goes back to the House.
WASHINGTON Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke arrived on horseback for his first day of work Thursday.
The morning after his swearing-in ceremony, the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL joined the U.S. Park Police at their stables on the National Mall. He rode a 17-year-old Irish sport horse named Tonto through downtown Washington to the Interior Departments headquarters. Nine park police also on horseback accompanied him.
Secretary Zinke was proud to accept an invitation by the U.S. Park Police to stand shoulder to shoulder with their officers on his first day at Interior, said Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift.
Zinke and Interior Twitter accounts posted photos. There he is in a black cowboy hat astride a brown bay roan gelding that stands just over 17 hands tall, a bus and typical morning traffic in the background.
At the department, hundreds of federal workers greeted Zinke, including an Office of Indian Affairs employee from the Northern Cheyenne tribe from Montana who played an honor song on a hand drum.
Can Zinke do for horses what Joe Biden did for trains? The former vice president and senator famously commuted to his home in Delaware by train for decades.
While Zinkes urban horse ride is unlikely to become a daily ritual, he seems committed to preserving his image as an avid outdoorsman. He wears a bright orange ball cap and hunting vest in the bio photo of his new @secretaryzinke Twitter account. And he has already retweeted a photo showing him and his wife at Glacier National Park in Montana.
The Interior Department oversees 400 million acres of public land, mostly in the West.
President Donald Trump addressed Congress on Tuesday night.
Or was it the state Duma?
And how can you tell the difference?
Trump uttered some 5,000 words and spoke for 60 minutes, but not one of those words was Russia, and not one of those minutes was devoted to the so-far successful effort by our geopolitical adversary to undermine American democracy.
The FBI and intelligence community have unanimously charged that Vladimir Putins government interfered in the U.S. elections in its successful attempt to get Trump elected. Ties between Trump and his team and Russia have been well established, right up through contacts with the Russian ambassador during the transition that led to the resignation of Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn all while Trump has promised a friendly new approach to Russia.
It was hard to ignore this elephant, even in a room as large as the House chamber. And yet Trump excised it, like Trotsky from Soviet photos.
Putin could not have done better nor could he have appointed better men to investigate Russias interference in the U.S. election than those now charged with doing it.
Consider Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and head of the House investigation into Russia.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that Nunes participated in a White House-led effort to knock down a New York Times story asserting the Trump campaign had contacts with Russian intelligence. On Saturday, Nunes said at a forum in California that Flynn, who was pushed out over the Russia controversy, is an American hero, and he was doing his job. On Monday, Nunes, the man responsible for overseeing the Houses probe into the Russia matter, assembled reporters and declared: The way it sounds to me is its been looked into and theres no evidence of anything. Of contacts between Russia and Trump lieutenants, he said, What Ive been told ... by many folks is that theres nothing there.
Nunes even offered Trump and Flynn an alibi, saying they were so busy that Trump couldnt have possibly directed Flynn to call the Russian ambassador to talk about sanctions. And Nunes said a special prosecutor should be called in only if serious crimes have been committed. ... But at this point, we dont have that.
It was a trip through the looking glass: The very purpose of an investigation is to determine whether crimes have been committed; if you have proof, you dont need an investigation.
Nunes, who served on Trumps transition committee, has already said executive privilege prevents him from examining discussions between Trump and Flynn. And Nunes echoed Trumps claim that the real scandal isnt about contacts with Russia but about the unauthorized leaks about such contacts.
And this man is supposed to lead an impartial investigation? You might as well ask the Kremlin to conduct one.
You dont need to be a partisan Democrat to know that, as former president George W. Bush told NBC, we all need answers on Trumps Russia ties. But the congressional Republicans leading the investigation have already declared their partiality. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also participated in the White House campaign to debunk the Times report.
During the previous administration, seven congressional committees issued eight reports on the Benghazi affair and that was before the two-year Select Committee investigation concluded. Now we have the White House pressuring the FBI and senior intelligence officials to debunk allegations against Trump.
So where are these crack investigators now?
Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has offered a bevy of excuses: He doesnt need to probe the Flynn affair because its taking care of itself; other panels could better protect sources and methods; he didnt want to pry into the private systems of a political party; and he wont personally target the president.
The pressure not to probe must be considerable. On Friday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told HBOs Bill Maher that youre going to need to use the special prosecutors statute and office to probe the Russia-Trump matter. But on Monday, Issa retreated, saying he would support an independent review but not a special prosecutor because theres no individual under suspicion.
Nunes, serving as judge and jury, told reporters Monday that it was ridiculous to suggest Flynns transition talks with the Russian ambassador violated the law prohibiting private citizens from conducting foreign policy. We should be thanking him, Nunes declared, not going after him.
Good idea. And after they thank Flynn, the Duma investigators should send chocolates to Putin.
Sen. John Kavanagh
Sen. Kimberly Yee
Over Democrats objections, state senators voted Tuesday to give businesses more time to fix violations of disability laws before ending up in court.
SB 1198 is a direct result of what all sides agree has become a growth industry among some attorneys. These lawyers find what they say are violations of laws dealing with access to the handicapped, file suit but then agree to drop the claim in exchange for a cash settlement.
And the alternative is to fight the lawsuit, which may actually cost more in legal fees than the settlement request.
The situation got so bad that Attorney General Mark Brnovich got a state judge to consolidate more than 1,000 of these individuals lawsuits into a single case. Now he is trying to have them dismissed.
I have a number of businesses that are (run by) friends that have been greatly affected by lawsuits and lawsuit threats over the course of the last 12 months where they have had to consider closing their doors because of the literally thousands of dollars they have had to pay out in litigation costs, said Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix.
SB 1198 instead would require that someone alleging a violation under the states version of the Americans with Disabilities Act to first give the business at least 60 days to resolve the issue.
Once a lawsuit is filed, a judge would be able to determine if the person complaining or the attorney is a vexatious litigant who files multiple cases and allow them to be combined. And it prohibits a court from awarding civil penalties and compensatory damages in civil actions.
Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said if the aim of those who file suits is to get the problem resolved, this process accomplishes that.
But Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, said theres no excuse for giving businesses more time to deal with problems they should have fixed years ago.
The Arizonans with Disabilities Act has been in place for 27 years, 27 years that every single small business should have known to this point what they have to do in order to accommodate people with disabilities, he said.
These are people who are blind, these are people who are deaf, these are people who have a limiting disability so they have to use a wheelchair, Quezada continued. They cant access services, they cant access these local businesses.
And he suggested that SB 1198 will actually result in more businesses ignoring the requirement of the law.
Quezada said theres no reason for a property owner to bring a site into compliance if theres no risk of being sued. And once a claim is filed, then they have six months to do what he said they should have done long ago.
Kavanagh disputed Quezadas contention that businesses have known about requirements for years.
A lot of these regulations are recent, he said.
He also said there are a lot of businesses that are exempt from the law because their buildings were constructed before the ADA went into place. But Kavanagh said the existing laws and the lawsuits that result force the owners of these buildings to hire an attorney just to get a judge to rule that they were never breaking the law in the first place.
Sen. Debbie Lesko
It wont stop unexpected medical bills.
But legislation approved Wednesday by the Senate is designed to give Arizonans a chance to fight having to pay them.
Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, said SB 1441 will help with situations where someone goes into the hospital.
If its a scheduled procedure they have gone in to make sure that the doctor takes their insurance, theyve checked to make sure the hospital takes their insurance and they think theyre all set, she said.
A month later they get a bill from a doctor thats out of network, Lesko said. And they had no control over it.
The most common situation, she said, is that a hospital has contracted with an anesthesiologist. But not being an employee of the hospital, that person submits a separate bill to the patient.
Under current law, Lesko explained, the patient has nowhere to turn as the doctor wants his or her money and the insurance company says it wont pay.
SB 1414 does not automatically excuse the patient from that balance billing. Instead, it sets up a procedure for people to ask the Department of Insurance to intervene and determine whats really a fair charge.
It would not apply in all situations.
State intervention would be available in cases where the service was provided in an emergency situation and the patient had no way to check which doctors are within his or her network.
For other situations, arbitration is available if the health care provider did not tell the patient up front that it is not within the patients insurance network, did not provide the estimated total cost to be billed, and did not give the patient a chance to waive any rights to dispute the bill.
If they receive a surprise medical bill they would call the Department of Insurance, Lesko explained. That agency would set up a phone call involving the doctor, the insurance company and the patient.
Lesko said the experience elsewhere in states with similar systems leads her to believe that will resolve most problems.
In Texas, 94 percent of all the complaints are settled over the phone, she said. They settle on the amount and its over.
Lesko said the way her legislation is crafted, the patient in most situations would be responsible only for the normal co-pay and deductible.
And theyre not going to be charged anything else, she said.
Still, not all cases settle that way.
Those go to private arbitration, with the insurance company and the doctor splitting the cost of that process. And if either side disagreed with that finding, an appeal to court remains an option.
None of that is available, though, if the patient agrees ahead of time to a specific out-of-network cost.
And if the patient signs that, agreeing to that amount, this whole process doesnt apply, Lesko said. There would be no settlement.
But if the actual bill ends up more than that estimate, she said, then the review process would still apply.
Lesko acknowledged that an argument could be made that a patient should have to pay nothing if he or she has not agreed to out-of-network treatment and suddenly gets a bill. But she said such a proposal would never get approval because of opposition from doctors.
We have to get a bill that has a good amount of consensus to go forward, Lesko explained.
Whether she has it at this point, however, remains to be seen.
Despite the 25-5 vote on Wednesday doctors are still lobbying to kill the measure, at least in the form its in. And they convinced several senators to oppose what Lesko wants.
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said she does not see SB 1441 as a balanced solution. She said there already is a great deal of pressure on doctors to cut their bills.
And Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, said she fears that at some point the pressures of measures like this will result in some doctors simply deciding they dont want to work at hospitals for fear they wont get their full bills paid.
When you or a loved one are wheeled into that emergency room, the anesthesiologist, the emergency room doc, the trauma specialist, the trauma surgeon, theyre not the bad guys, Brophy McGee said.
We pay them to be there, we expect them to be there, we expect them to put our lives back together, she continued. Depending on how we approach this issue and how we address it, there wont be.
Lesko, however, said she was not focused on the concerns of medical providers.
Im doing this for patients, she said. Im not doing this for the insurance companies, Im not doing this for doctors, Im not doing it for hospitals.
State senators voted Wednesday to open a swath of northwest Arizona to electronic billboards.
Four Democrats joined with most of the Republicans to allow construction of up to 35 of these internally illuminated signs within 60 miles of Laughlin, Nev. That would open up an area stretching from south of Lake Havasu City to east of Kingman and north to nearly the Hoover Dam.
But to get the measure out of the Senate, Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu, had to agree to a series of compromises.
One was shrinking his original 2016 proposal, which would have opened up all of Mohave County to the signs. And aside from the limit, Borrelli agreed to limit the nighttime lighting to a lower level than is permitted elsewhere in Arizona where such signs are legal.
Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, decried the fact that SB 1114 alters a deal that had been crafted in 2012 and approved by representatives of billboard companies who took part in negotiations.
That deal opened up a swath from the eastern suburbs of Phoenix west to the Colorado River to these electronic signs. Everything south, east and north of that was made off-limits in a bid to protect the dark skies relied on by the states observatories.
Borrelli urged colleagues to support his measures, saying it only affects his corner of the state. And he noted that this years version is not being opposed by the astronomy community, which helped kill the 2016 bill.
Sen. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, said that persuaded him to vote for this measure.
Farley, however, said these kinds of negotiations and, from his perspective, surrender set a bad precedent.
Every time thats happened they come back again the next year, he said.
And you add a little bit more, a little bit more until all of a sudden weve destroyed the golden goose that provides the golden eggs for our economy from our astronomy industry, Farley continued. We cant do that.
Sen. Olivia Cajero Bedford, D-Tucson, said she found it interesting that Borrellis legislation uses Laughlin as a central point.
Why are we allowing more billboards to help Laughlin? she asked, calling expansion of the area for electronic billboards mind-boggling.
Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, was the only Republican to vote against the measure. Other than Contreras, the other Democrats in support of SB 1114 were Sean Bowie, Robert Meza and Catherine Miranda, all of Phoenix.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some March 2 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
PHOENIX State senators voted Wednesday to allow two new exemptions to Arizona laws that generally prohibit people from firing guns in populated areas.
HB 2022, approved by the Senate Government Committee, spells out that people can use a special kind of small-caliber shot, one designed to kill snakes and small mammals at close range. Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said it provides residents with an option for self defense or at least a method of pest control.
But the more far-reaching measure the same committee approved on the same 4-3 party-line vote would remove the chance that someone could be prosecuted for being criminally negligent in shooting a gun in city limits. Instead, under HB 2287 prosecutors would have to prove that someone intentionally, knowingly or recklessly fired a gun.
Both would amend Shannons Law, which was adopted in 2000 in the wake of the death of 14-year-old Shannon Smith. The Phoenix teen died when she was hit by a bullet that had been fired in the air from some distance away. No one was ever arrested.
That law not only makes it a felony to fire a gun within a mile of any occupied structure within city limits but also makes it illegal to act with criminal negligence. That is defined in Arizona law as acting in a way that the failure to perceive (the risk) constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.
Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, who crafted the measure, said that wording allows someone to be prosecuted for accidental discharge of firearms.
Accidents are a fact of life, he told committee members.
Dave Kopp, lobbyist for the Arizona Citizens Defense League, cited a 2012 incident where someone purchased a gun, brought it back to his apartment and then tried to remove a round stuck in the chamber. The gun went off and fired a round into the floor.
No one was hurt, but Kopp said the person was charged under Shannons Law with a felony.
Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do, Kopp conceded of what the person was doing. But we dont want to see innocent people convicted of felony stupid.
The legislation brought out Edith Smith, Shannons aunt, in a bid to quash the proposal. She said since the law was adopted the amount of random gunfire has dropped.
So why change something that works? Smith said. Shannons Law has made the Valley and other urban areas in Arizona safer.
Kopp, who lobbies for the rights of gun owners, however, said even if the law is amended it will still protect people from celebratory gunfire. He said people act knowingly or recklessly when they fire a gun into the air.
Mendez, however, said changing the law would give people who fire guns a way of escaping criminal charges by saying the gunfire was just an accident.
The measure on snake shot is being pushed by Rep. Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale.
He said the ammunition is not dangerous to people, consisting of lead pellets the size of most grains of sand loaded into a .22-caliber shell. And Lawrence said even small animals and snakes are probably in no danger unless the person firing the gun is within at least 14 feet.
PHOENIX Republican lawmakers in the House agreed Wednesday to ask voters to put another hurdle in the path of placing initiatives on the ballot.
HCR 2029 would leave in place the existing number of signatures required to put a measure on the ballot. That is based on a percentage of people who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
But it would add the additional burden of having to obtain signatures in each of the states 30 legislative districts and in proportion to the number of gubernatorial votes in each district.
Using the 2014 election results, it takes 150,642 valid signatures on petitions to propose a statutory change, equivalent to 10 percent of those who turned out. Constitutional changes require 15 percent 225,963 signatures to get on the ballot.
Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, said extending that across the state has implications.
For example, Clark said if the change was approved, anyone wanting a constitutional change would need to gather 3,750 signatures in his Phoenix district based on the number of residents who voted for governor in 2014.
But in the district of Rep. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, which runs from Yuma to the western suburbs of Phoenix, circulators would need the signatures of 6,856 people.
And in the East Valley district of House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, it would take 8,308 signatures.
That, he said, is unfair. Clark said that having to gather more signatures in one district than another based on voter turnout districts that are supposed to have roughly equal population gives the residents of that district an effective veto power to keep something from getting on the ballot.
Rep. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, said this would be a great tool for those who want to kill an initiative in its infancy, before it actually makes it to the ballot.
All an interloper, somebody from out of state, would ever have to do to stop a good initiative is pour a ton of money into one small legislative district, she said, denying the needed margin in just that one legislative district. And now the initiative is dead.
Shooter was unperturbed by letting a single legislative district perhaps his kill a measure that might be popular in the other 29 districts.
If thats the case, Im a happy boy, he quipped.
The 33-23 vote sends the measure to the Senate. But even if it is approved there, it still requires voter ratification in 2018.
And theres another potential hurdle: Clark said he believes the change would run afoul of constitutional equal-protection provisions. He said even if voters give their OK, a lawsuit is likely.
Shooter disagreed, saying a similar Nevada law was upheld by a federal appellate court.
This is one of five separate measures being advanced by the Republican-controlled Legislature at the behest of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business interests. They are particularly incensed that voters last year approved a hike in the minimum wage, from $8.05 an hour to $10 now and $12 by 2020 along with a requirement for paid sick leave.
One measure would forbid paying circulators based on the number of signatures they gather. Two others would roll back the 1998 Voter Protection Act that bars lawmakers from tinkering with has been approved at the ballot. And another would require that advertising for all future ballot measures to contain a warning that, once approved, they could not be altered by the Legislature.
All have advanced on pretty much a party-line basis.
Federal agents arrested 11 people on suspicion of supplying drug-trafficking scouts with food and equipment.
The members of the resupply network are accused of hauling radios, cellphones, batteries, solar panels, fuel, food, clothes, toiletries, and other items to the scouts, who perch on mountainsides in Southern Arizona for weeks or months at a time, according to a 15-page federal complaint unsealed Feb. 8 in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
Scouts use binoculars and encrypted radios to guide drug and human smugglers past law enforcement officers, particularly in the corridor that runs from the international border through the Tohono Oodham Reservation and on to Phoenix.
The 11 people arrested Feb. 3 are facing charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, according to a Feb. 22 indictment.
The charges came after agents with the Homeland Security Investigations office in Sells launched a probe in October 2015 of an organization that smuggled marijuana through the reservation to Phoenix. As part of that investigation, HSI agents targeted scouts and their resupply networks, according to the complaint.
The supplies were gathered in the Phoenix home of the mother of the person in charge of supplying the scouts, 23-year-old Maria Roxanna Acosta Quintana, or at the home of her brother Ruben Villegas Acosta, 28, and sister-in-law Angelica Marie Alvarado, 32.
Drivers picked up the supplies from the houses or at other locations in Phoenix, such as Walmart parking lots, motels, tire shops, and mechanic shops.
From Phoenix, drivers hauled the supplies, which were usually packed inside trash bags, to the Tohono Oodham Reservation and dropped off the supplies at residences in the villages of GuVo, Hickiwan, Cobabi, Charco, and Nolia, according to the complaint.
In some cases, the drivers stopped at preselected mile markers or intersections on federal routes on the reservation, where men wearing camouflage would emerge from the brush to collect the supplies.
Authorities based their allegations on statements from a confidential source, evidence gathered through search warrants, surveillance, vehicle-tracking devices, and traffic stops, according to the complaint.
All of the defendants are U.S. citizens, except for Mexican national Ruben Villegas Acosta. Antonio Pasqual Aguilar Sanchez, 36, was detained after his arrest, but the other 10 defendants were released on their own recognizance.
Scouts often do not possess drugs at the time of their arrest, which made it difficult to prosecute them for drug smuggling. Federal authorities saw their first conviction of a scout on a conspiracy charge in 2015 in federal court in Tucson.
The other people arrested in connection with the resupply network were:
Nicole Havier, 42
Dora Carreras, 43
Fawn Eveningstar Manuel, 34
Annai Arlene Hernandez, 23
Jesus Gilberto Parra Acosta, 21
Jackie Ann Garcia, 29
Andrew Ortega, 60
More than two tons of marijuana found in two commercial shipments were discovered at a Nogales border crossing since Saturday, authorities said.
On Feb. 28, more than 2,900 pounds of marijuana was found in 125 bundles in a box truck, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release.
The marijuana was worth an estimated $1.5 million, authorities said.
The marijuana was detected by a drug-sniffing dog at the Mariposa Commercial Facility when officers inspected the box truck.
On Feb. 25, about 1,700 pounds of marijuana was found in the roof area of a tractor-trailer loaded with corn, officials said. The marijuana was worth an estimated $838,000, and also was discovered at the Mariposa Commercial Facility.
The drugs, vehicles and commodities were seized and both drivers, who were Mexican nationals, were arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.
Henry Savin, who recently competed on Chopped Junior, loves to cook with his grandma. His younger brother Sam also loves to cook and plans to audition for the Food Network one day.
Credit: Steve KerosRed Hot Chili Peppers have postponed their upcoming shows in Denver, Glendale, Arizona and San Diego as frontman Anthony Kiedis battles a bout of bronchitis.
"Anthony has been fighting off the bronchitis all week and still needs a few more days to recover," the band writes on their website. "We are sorry for any inconvenience to our fans and look forward to seeing you."
The San Diego show will now take place March 21, while the Denver and Glendale dates have been moved to October 16 and October 18, respectively. Tickets purchased for the originally scheduled show will be honored on the new date.
The shows were a part of the Chili Peppers' North American tour in support of their new album, The Getaway. The band is expected to return to the road on March 7 in Los Angeles.
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Help India!
New Delhi, (IANS): Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists on Thursday held a protest march in Delhi University (DU) campus here, demanding action against the anti-national activities.
The students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that the protest march near the universitys North Campus Art Faculty was organised to save the DU from anti-national activities.
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Students in the march were demanding strict action against all those elements who support anarchism and anti-India propaganda.
A clash took place between the members of the ABVP and the All India Students Association (AISA), a Left-leaning student organisation, at Ramjas College on February 22 that left the university campus disturbed.
Help India!
Patna, (IANS): A BJP legislator on Thursday filed a case against Bihar Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan over a video clip that showed him asking people to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modis photograph with shoes.
I have lodged a case against Mastan in the Kotwali police station of Patna and demanded proper action, Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Nitin Navin said here.
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He said the state police should now initiate action against Mastan. I have demanded arrest of Mastan and a probe into his nationality.
Mastan, referring to the opposition BJP demand for his sack from the council of ministers, told the media that he had already apologised for his statement if it had hurt some people.
Even after I said sorry, if BJP is not ready to accept it, please go ahead and hang me for what I said about PM Modi, Mastan said.
Mastan is a Congress leader and the only minister from the backward and under-developed Seemanchal belt, which comprises Purnia, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar districts, with sizeable Muslim population.
The BJP members demanded that either Mastan should resign or be removed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his insult to Modi. They created noisy scenes over the issue, rushed to the well of the house and shouted slogans.
On February 22, the Excise Minister in his video, which was telecast by a Hindi news channel, also condemned the central governments November 8, 2016, demonetisation move. In no time, the video went viral on the social media.
In the video, Mastan was seen addressing a crowd in Purnia districts Amour assembly constituency and saying that it was Modi who had promised to face punishment if he failed to end peoples woes within 50 days. He then suggested that the crowd should beat Modis photograph with their shoes.
President Donald Trump said during his inauguration speech, which was probably paid little attention by Americans who didnt feel dead sure hed make their country great again and were fearing for their lives, that he was going to fix all the countrys problems. He said, The American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
Now, Trump has addressed Congress to flesh out how he intends to stop this carnage right here and now, tackling specifically the topics of poverty, unemployment, Crime, and Education. This article will compare what he said in January during his inauguration speech with what his plans are that hes outlined now to fix everything.
Trump on poverty
During his inauguration speech, Trump voiced his sympathy for mothers and children who are trapped in poverty in the inner cities of America. Now, in an effort to do something about that, he wants to change the current system of lower-skilled immigration to a merit-based system, so only the immigrants who have something to offer will be allowed in. He also listed the advantages of this system: saving countless dollars, hiking up the wages of the workers who elected him, and providing help for struggling families (which he clarified included immigrant families, luckily) to get into the middle class.
Trump on employment
On Inauguration Day, Trump said that factories in need of refurbishment were just scattershot across the barren wasteland of America.
In his address to Congress, he spoke of his plans to change that. Trump boasted about how he has cleared the way for construction to take place on the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines (skimming over the fact that this involved the desecration of sacred Native American land and the violation of their rights as a people, stealing even more of their land as if the whole rest of the country wasnt enough) and how it will create tens of thousands of jobs, which is sure to make his working class voters happy.
Trump also noted a directive he has issued demanding that any new American pipelines being constructed must be constructed using American steel. America has exited what Trump calls the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership and the President also wants Congress to pass through his new legislation that will like to an investment of a trillion dollars from both public and private capital to effectively create millions of new jobs. Say what you will about the guy, but his business experience means he knows how to handle the countrys money, and while his policies arent great for everyone (Muslims, for one), they are helping out the working class joes that make up the backbone of America.
Trump on education
During his inauguration speech, Trump said that the education system of America is flush with cash, and yet leaves youths who are educated through it deprived of all knowledge, and promised to fix that. In his Congressional speech, he begged Congressmen from both sides of the political fence, left and right, to vote to pass his education bill that will provide the funding to give underprivileged youths more choice in the school they go to, the school that will be right for them, which he says includes millions of African-American and Latino children. He says that these kids should be able to handpick the school for them from all public, private, charter, magnet, (and) religious schools, as well as home school if they or their family so choose.
Trump on crime and the war on drugs
On Inauguration Day, Trump said that crime and drugs in America have stolen too many lives and crippled the backbone of the nation, and he vowed to fix that, too. In his speech to Congress, he said that hes spoken to the Justice Department to put together a new task force whose goal is reducing violent crime. Trump said that the new task force is already getting gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our citizens off the streets.
The government has been overruled after the House Of Lords has said ministers should guarantee EU nationals' the right to stay in the UK after Brexit. They had previously voted for a labour-led Amendent to protect the rights of EU nationals living in the UK, and the results came out as 358 to 256. This is the first parliamentary defeat yet for the governments brexit bill, and will allow Theresa May the authority to trigger Brexit under Article 50.
Why did the Lords choose to amend the Brexit Bill?
The Lords came out and said that they feel morally obliged to step in to change some of the terms of Britain's negotiating stance on leaving the European Union.
However, the amendment is much to the government's disapproval after having voted by a clear majority to pass the legislation unamended.
Does this delay the Brexit process?
Number 10 has reassured everybody that this small set back will not delay the initial plan of formally starting talks to leave the EU by the end of March this year. But last night Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, hinted that his MPs might be whipped to support the measure in the House of Commons.
He stated that the Lords overruling decision was "great news", adding: "The government must now do the decent thing and guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK." Still, depending on the vote, the Bill is likely to receive royal assent which is likely to be granted on Wednesday 15 March - allowing Prime Minister Teresa May to formally begin the process of Britain leaving the EU.
What does this all mean?
The amendment being backed by the Lords requires the government to introduce proposals within three months of the Article 50 being triggered, to ensure EU citizens in the UK have the same residence rights after Brexit. But it could be overturned when MPs, who have already backed the Brexit bill without amendments, vote on it again. The amended Bill will return to the Commons, in a procedure known as "ping-pong". MPs will vote to scrap the amendment and return it to The House of Lords yet again.
President Donald Trump recently addressed Congress to discuss various topics, including poverty, jobs, crime, and education, and what exactly he was going to do about them to make good on his seemingly empty campaign promises. The speech lasted an impressive hour, so here are the key takeaways in a concise list, to save you an hour of your life.
Who is Donald Trump?
Trump seems to flit between the angry guy who yells enemy of the American people! at his entire press conference and the level-headed President with the working class backbone of his nation at heart when making important decisions about spending, and always looking to create as many jobs for his people as possible.
So, which is real and which is a ruse? The answer seems obvious.
Trump vs bigotry
Trump, who has himself been called a bigot many times (many times by this reporter alone, in fact), but he denounced all bigots in front of Congress. He opened his speech with an attack on anti-Semitism, which hes already spoken out against.
Trumps approval rating is quite weak
Politico did a survey of Trump voters to see how many of them believed he was keeping the promises he made on the campaign trail. 56% thought he was, while the other 44% feel deceived. Its not great, but at least its the (slim) majority.
Immigration
While Trump seemed all for immigration families coming to America in a merit-based system, he received a passionate standing ovation from the Republicans when he announced construction of the wall, and not to mention the migrant ban and Muslim travel ban, which he still expects to go through.
Donald Trumps presidency has proved as controversial and divisive as many predicted it would be when he became President-elect in November 2016. The implementation of his Travel Ban was highly criticised and soon blocked by the courts while his firing of a top-aide instigated fresh concerns about the credibility of his administration. Additionally, his low approval ratings will have hurt his ego and he would have aimed to rectify this through his first address to Congress in an attempt to start the process of uniting the country.
What was said?
Trumps first address to Congress had a surprisingly upbeat tone compared to his bleak inauguration speech.
He spoke of the United States as being a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its very ugly forms. Moreover, he communicated his words is a less bombastic manner which was on show for all to see during his presidential campaign.
Instead, he chose to converse in a more conventional and reserved style. Nevertheless, he still repeated some of the same rhetoric that he has used in previous speeches which have caused such division amongst the American public. This included calling for increased border security, denouncing illegal immigrants and repeating his pledge to build the wall on the US/Mexico border.
The Reaction
Obviously, the delivery of Trumps speech surprised many.
Anthony Zurcher, a North America reporter for the BBC, remarked that Trump acted and sounded not unlike presidents of the past. Presidential, even. Praise was also given to Trumps remarks towards Carryn Owens, the widow of Ryan Owens who was the Navy Seal killed in the failed raid in Yemen. Surprisingly, Van Jones, a CNN commentator who has been and continues to be one of Donald Trumps fiercest critics, was one of the people who praised this aspect of the speech.
While Van Jones had problems with a lot of aspects of Trumps address to Congress, he noted that Trumps comments towards Carryn Owens was the moment he became President of the United States. Still, despite this, a lot of contempt for Trumps address to Congress was evident in the aftermath of the speech as we can see below.
When Trump said we need to promote clean air and clean water, I had a hard time not laughing. Today he rolled back clean water rules. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) 1 March 2017
Trump shouldn't be judged by his tone during a speech, he should be judged by his actions so far and it hasn't been good. #JointAddress Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) 1 March 2017
With gender inequality dominating the energy sector at the highest leveland even in 2017 there is rampant sexism against women. They are far greater than man has been and will ever become. Due to living in a male dominated society since the dawn of humanity, with men shaping rules and laws. It took the suffragette and suffragist movements to win the vote for women in 1918, in terms of time, that is not long ago.
Womens achievements are far greater because they have facing a struggle from the moment they are born. They have an image to maintain and society tells them they must act in an appropriate manner and look a certain way.
But this focus is on women in Science and Innovation.
Caroline Herschel (1750 1848)
It would be obvious to start with Marie Curie but her discoveries are well-documented. Little is said about Caroline Herschel, who was an astronomer. She was brought by her brother, William, from Germany in 1772 to run his household and often followed her brothers careers. This includes when he decided to become an astronomer and as she had done previously followed suit.
She became an astounding astronomer in her own right by discovering new nebulae and star clusters, she became the first woman to discover a comet and have her work published by the Royal Society. After her brother died, she retired to her native Hanover, Germany, where she continued to work and increased the number of known star clusters from 100 to 2,500.
She received many honours in her field including a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society.
Lise Meitner (1878 1968)
After Meitner finished school in Austria, aged 14, she was barred from attending higher education (as were all girls). But she developed a keen interest in radioactivity. When she turned 21, women were finally allowed to attend university where she studied maths and physics, earning her doctorate in 1906.
After which she made her way to Germany to collaborate with Otto Hahn studying radioactive elements.
She was an Austrian Jewish Woman, which meant she was excluded from the main labs and lectures, allowed to only work in the basement. After Hahn and Meitner moved to a different university for better facilities, the pair were split up after she was forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1938.
The pair continued to work together, however, she was working in Sweden. After Hahn discovered that uranium atoms were split when bombarded with neutrons, it was her calculations of the energy released in the reaction, naming it nuclear fission, the discovery that led to the atomic bomb.
Rosalind Franklin (1920 1958)
Franklin attended one of the few girls schools in London that taught physics and chemistry and after long fight with her father, who rejected the idea of her becoming a scientist, eventually he relented and she enrolled at Cambridge University, earning a doctorate in physical chemistry. Whilst in Paris she learned x-ray crystallography techniques and returned to England in 1951 to work for John Randall at Kings College, London.
During her time at Kings College, she made x-ray images of DNA structures and it was this work that led to the discovery of the double helix structure. She had almost figured out the molecules structure herself but when colleague, Maurice Wilkins, showed one of her x-rays to James Watson, he quickly worked out the double helix and with Frances Crick published the findings. They went on to win a Nobel Prize in 1962 on the back of Franklins work, who died in 1958 of ovarian cancer.
Women throughout history
Throughout history there is a reoccurring theme for successful women and that is a battle against their male counterparts and the law itself. Whether it was their fathers or totalitarianism, there battle wasnt just with themselves and learning but with society itself. Often being whitewashed from history, the women above are to name but a few of the lesser known names.
Social Sales and Marketing Firm Nimble Garners $9M
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By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC By Paula BernierExecutive Editor, TMC
Social sales and marketing solutions provider Nimble has raised $9 million in a Series A round.
Imagen Capital Partners led the funding. Google (News - Alert) Ventures; Indicator Ventures; Mark Cubans Radical Investments; and a consortium including Jason Calacanis, Don Doge, and Howard Lindzon also participated.
Nimble (News - Alert) bills its solution as a new kind of CRM for small and medium businesses. The cloud-based offering brings together calendar, contact, and email, Nimble CEO Jon Ferrera said. That way, workers dont have to spend a lot of time gathering background on people by doing Google searches and the like, he said, it just presents contact information whether the user is in their email program or the Web via their computer or smartphone. And the Nimble solution is layered onto the Google G Suite and Microsoft (News - Alert) Office 365 platforms for ease of use.
Todays legacy CRMs are too complex and hard to use, and we end up spending more time maintaining data in our CRMs than letting our CRM platforms work for us. The resulting low end user adoption is a significant cause of failure for CRMs, said Ferrara. At Nimble weve solved the end user adoption issue and have built a CRM that end users love to use by seamlessly integrating with Office 365 and Google G Suite Emails, Contacts and Calendars, eliminating tedious data entry, and automating repetitive tasks. Nimble lives where users work: in email, the browser, and on their mobile devices.
Ferrara, who also co-founded successful CRM company GoldMine Software Corp., released Nimbles first paid product back in 2013. With this new funding, he and the rest of the Nimble team plan to do more digital marketing, including influencer marketing, and bring in more engineering and sales resources to take Nimble to the next level.
Nimble has already attracted 100,000 unique visitors to its website and it has
10,000 paying customers. The company is currently at breakeven, Ferrara said, and it expects to be profitable in about 18 months after its investments based on the new funding begin to bear fruit.
In other recent news from Nimble, the company has come out with a free add-on for Microsoft Outlook on iOS. It makes it easy for Outlook users to get Nimble contact information directly from their email messages.
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Edited by Alicia Young
Donald Trump has only been president for a little over a week, but he's not happy that his cabinet nominations are not being confirmed in the Senate. As democrats continue to block the nominations, Trump is speaking out.
Trump on Democrats
After Donald Trump shocked the world with his upset victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, he started to put together a controversial cabinet that quickly came under fire from his critics. Names like Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos caused critics to cringe at what the cabinet could look like, as news outlets reported that it would be the most wealthy administration in recent history.
Democrats acknowledged the backlash against the Trump administration, and have done their best to delay confirmation in the Senate. As seen on his offical Twitter account on January 31, the new president is hitting back at the Democrats for continuing their protest.
Nancy Pelosi and Fake Tears Chuck Schumer held a rally at the steps of The Supreme Court and mic did not work (a mess)-just like Dem party! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2017
"Nancy Pelosi and Fake Tears Chuck Schumer held a rally at the steps of The Supreme Court and mic did not work (a mess)-just like Dem party!" Donald Trump wrote on Twitter early Tuesday morning. Trump's comments about Schumer are in reference to the senator's recent press conference opposing the controversial "Muslim ban" executive order where he got emotional over the issue.
When will the Democrats give us our Attorney General and rest of Cabinet! They should be ashamed of themselves! No wonder D.C. doesn't work! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2017
Not stopping there, Donald Trump then went after the Democratic Party for their delay in the Senate. "When will the Democrats give us our Attorney General and rest of Cabinet!
They should be ashamed of themselves!" the commander in chief tweeted, before adding, "No wonder D.C. doesn't work!" Trump's comments come just one day after his decision to fire acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to enforce the aforementioned "Muslim ban." Yates, who was appointed by former President Obama, was accused by Trump of "betraying" the Department of Justice, who is pushing to have Jeff Sessions confirmed and put into the position.
Next up
With the friction between Donald Trump and the Democrats only getting worse by the day, it doesn't appear that either side is willing to concede or give an inch. As the backlash against the billionare real estate mogul continues, the future of Trump's presidency continues to remain a mystery.
While Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, he was unable to capture the popular vote in the process. After Trump blamed his popular vote loss on voter fraud, the main source for his theory has been exposed.
Trump source busted
Over the last two and a half months, Donald Trump has complained that his popular vote defeat was the result of wide-spread voter fraud. Despite various news outlets and fact-checkers disputing Trump's claims, the billionaire real estate mogul has continued to stand by his story. Trump's main source is Gregg Phillips, founder of the right-wing group known as "VoteStand," who claims to have proof that at least three millions votes were cast illegally in during the 2016 presidential election, though he has never released any data to back up his allegations.
As reported by the Associated Press on January 30, it appears that Phillips has not been telling the whole story.
.@AP learns Donald Trump's voter fraud expert was registered in 3 states during 2016 presidential election. https://t.co/LXQ1MUzR0e The Associated Press (@AP) January 31, 2017
Gregg Phillips was registered to vote in three states during the 2016 election, exposing a major conflict of interest in regards to his goal exposing voter fraud. According to the report in the AP, Phillips registered in Alabama, Texas, and Mississippi, while using a different form of his name in at least one of the states. The report states, "Phillips was registered in Alabama and Texas under the name Gregg Allen Phillips, with the identical Social Security number." However, according to voting registration records in Mississippi, he is listed under the name "Gregg A.
Phillips, and that record includes the final four digits of Phillips' Social Security number."
Further review
Upon further review, the AP found that Gregg Phillips' status was "inactive" in Mississippi, while it was "suspended" in Texas.
Despite this, the report confirms that "Phillips could have voted, however, by producing identification and updating his address at the polls." The AP spoke to Phillips after the news broke, and he responded, "Why would I know or care." Continuing, Phillips defended himself by pointing out how "broken the system is." As of press time, Donald Trump has not commented on his number one source for alleged voter fraud being registered in multiple states.
Since clearing out the Dakota Access Pipeline campsites, clean-up crews have disposed of more than 24,000 tons of garbage left by activists. A contractor hired by North Dakotas Emergency Services Department is clearing away the trash, waste (including human excretes), and abandoned debris from the Oceti Sakowin, Rosebud, and Sacred Stone campsites. The cost to taxpayers: a whopping $1 million dollars.
North Dakota is keeping visitors updated on its NDResponse Facebook and YouTube pages, noting the site is nearly complete. They also have videos of the trucks, crews, and bulldozers collecting and hauling away staggering amounts of rubbish.
Other videos show workers towing away abandoned vehicles, propane tanks, and trailers.
Cleanup of Dakota Pipeline protest camp involves tons
of garbage & human feces#NoDAPL #StandingRock pic.twitter.com/IbOZUL0tzd PikachuMe #2 (@FiscalMgmt2) February 23, 2017
An environmental disaster
North Dakota is trying to remove the trash and debris before the rains begin, as the campsite sits on the floodplains. If the waste isnt cleared away, the leftover sludge and garbage would get carried away into nearby rivers, creating an environmental disaster. That has accelerated work crews to clean up the camps. Items left behind include toxic chemicals and heavy oils that would spoil the watershed.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired Trinity Analysis & Development Corp., which has been working since late last week to clean out the camp.
And the Standing Rock Sioux, which at first welcomed the mostly out-of-state protestors, has led a cleanup effort once the protestors disbanded. The Standing Rock tribe has allowed some activists to remain on private property they own.
Animal rescue finds dogs left behind amid tons of trash at Dakota Access protest camp https://t.co/ssyTpgsBOZ The Washington Times (@WashTimes) February 28, 2017
Pets left behind
How do the activists justify the enormous piles of garbage they left behind?
If the pipeline running deep beneath Lake Oahes bedrock somehow breached, their mountains of garbage would be insignificant. Facebook users have written this is utter nonsense given the amount of filth left behind. The activists also charge they were forced out before they had a chance to clean up, even though they were given ample time and warnings to evacuate the camps.
Also found among the waste and garbage were dogs and puppies, which the activists left behind to fend for themselves. Those that were rescued have been taken to the Furry Friends Rockin Rescue. The canines were found by volunteers helping in the clean-up efforts. Some were affected by malnutrition, frostbite, and mange. Others think more animals werent found before the bulldozers arrived.
Dakota Tribe Sues Trump In Last-Ditch Effort To Stop Pipeline https://t.co/hNPNWZNSfZ via @dailycaller Christopher D. White (@ZanderKelly30) February 28, 2017
Facebook users outraged
Mina Harrington wrote on NDResponses Facebook page she was SO GLAD you are showing all of this filth for Americans to see what the TRUE story behind these protesters really is. While Ken Kavanaugh commented: I'm so embarrassed that my People would leave such a horrible mess while claiming to be Protectors of Mother Earth.
The 1,172-mile-long pipeline that traverses four states is nearly finished following President Trump signing an executive order allowing for its expedited completion.
This is in keeping with his campaign promises. After the protests began last year, President Obama nixed the project. The $3.8 billion project has been held up for nearly six months and should be completed in a few weeks barring any judicial intervention.
The Resistance may have been unsuccessful in coaxing Senator Marco Rubio into holding a town hall meeting, but they certainly inadvertently are forcing him to find digs for his Tampa office. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the senator's office was informed on February 1st that their month-to-month lease at the nine-story Bridgeport Center would be terminated due to the ongoing outside demonstrations.
Since the Trump inauguration, outbreaks of protests to include raucous Town Hall Meetings have been occurring nationwide. However, Rubio has refrained from meeting with his constituents and videos of him dodging questions have surfaced.
Nevertheless, dedicated demonstrators have vowed to assemble outside the Tampa building every Tuesday for the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency. Last week, constituents held an event in Tampa without him, substituting the senator with a cardboard cutout in his likeness.
You don't have to go home but you will have to get out of here
Jude Williams, the president of America's Capital Partners, which owns the property, said that while he understands the protestors' cause, the professional office building was not a place for that (demonstrations) and it was a security concern for them. He stressed it was not political but a duty to keep a good, peaceful environment for their other tenants.
Where do you go from here, and will this be a cause for concern for other politicians?
Marco Rubio has other Florida offices in Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Pensacola, Palm Beach and Tallahassee, but now has to find a new home for his Tampa office. Spokeswoman Christina Mandreucci told the Times that they will have a representative available to assist constituents until they can find a permanent home.
She also provided a reachable telephone number for the representative. Rubio has expressed his reluctance to attend town hall meetings because of the heckling and screaming. In 2009, the senator had a different view regarding the equally boisterous tea party rallies. The then-Senate candidate tweeted that the angry folks at the health care town halls were real and their views were shared by a growing majority.
Donald Trump's first union address to congress on Tuesday was praised by his supporters.
Many commentators in the media wondered if this was the president entering a new more settled phase of his presidency perhaps, one where his insulting remarks about women, Mexicans and other minorities don't become the status quo. It was noted in the press that he sounded more presidential, but many wondered if it was yet another change in temperament in his highly charged and, to some, baffling first few weeks at the White House.
Trump spoke to the country for 60 minutes on Tuesday night delivering around 5000 words and giving the US a vision that seemed very different to whoever was listening.
The country's reaction to the speech, on the left and the right, underscores the country's aching political gap, its social chasm between those who agree with the blooming sentiment for nationalism on the Republican side and those who want a different focus for their nation, one that is more tolerant, inclusive and pluralistic.
Trump reached for poetry and stirring moments, and garnered his comments with calls for national unity, shifting his tenor from the bellicose methodology of his previous national speeches.
Adopting a statesmanlike intonation, he hit notes of inspiration and called for the American people to come together. He denounced the recent threats against the Jewish community, and also the shooting of the Indian men in Kansas.
Many thought he was seeking to stabilize his administration after a turbulent five weeks in the new White House office which left many shocked and confused.
The actual shape and substance of his policies mentioned from issues such as #immigration trade, defense, and counterterrorism lacked clarity and methodology and gave his speech a broad, populist tone that appealed to the right but had many in the left speculating about his motives.
"From now on, #America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears, inspired by the future, not bound by failures of the past, and guided by a vision, not blinded by our doubts," Trump said magnanimously from the podium in the House of Representatives.
In many ways Trump has waged a war not only against the press but also against the elites he called out in the #Democratic Party, in Washington and in big cities like New York during his campaign.
Thus far he has done little to bridge the gap between his followers and those who feel alienated by him.
.
But with the #lowest approval ratings of any new president in contemporary times, Trump offered to lay down those battles of the past (seen in his tenacious campaign and his first few days), and sought unity and togetherness. It was noted that his speech ticked the many boxes that traditional State of the Union speeches feature.
His brazen Twitter-fueled approach to taking office, his #combative stance on those who disagree with him and his shocking changes to the fabric of the country's tone, changes instigated during the first few weeks of office, has altered the landscape of the nation's political life.
Many asked if this is the President moving into a more sober Statesmen like persona or whether this is merely a passing mood.
As pressure continues to mount about what role Russia played in the election, Donald Trump has been hit with non-stop criticism. One day after his speech to Congress, Trump is now dealing with a new story involving Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russia.
Sessions busted
During the 2016 presidential election, reports continued to circulate that appeared to link Donald Trump to Russia. With the former host of "The Apprentice" refusing to release his private tax returns, questions still linger about a potential financial tie back to the Kremlin. After it was revealed that Russia hacked into the Democratic National Committee with the goal of electing Trump, the president has since tried to downplay the allegations, labeling them "fake news." The latest issue that has rocked the White House involved retired Gen.
Michael Flynn who was forced to announce his resignation as National Security Advisor after it was leaked that he had illegal contact with Russian officials. As reported by the Washington Post on March 1, Jeff Sessions had similar communication.
Sessions spoke twice in 2016 with Russian ambassador. He didn't disclose this at confirmation hearing to become AG. https://t.co/IjnIy6rk8r Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 2, 2017
According to the Washington Post on Wednesday night, it has been revealed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recent contact with government officials in Russia, which he never disclosed during his Senate hearing. The Justice Department confirmed the contact, with Sessions reportedly meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, which took place around the time the DNC was hacked by the Kremlin.
During his confirmation hearing last month, Jeff Sessions was grilled by Democratic Sen. Al Franken about how he would handle a situation if a member of the Trump campaign engaged with Russia. In response, Session replied, "I did not have communications with the Russians." As of press time, neither Russian officials nor the White House have not commented on the report in question.
Moving forward
As the controversy surrounding Russia continues to heat up, Donald Trump doesn't appear willing to take the allegations seriously. Democrats, and some Republicans, have pushed for a deeper investigation into the issue, but the president continues to push back, despite troubling allegations against Michael Flynn, and now Jeff Sessions.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the trump administration has not ruled out a military first strike against North Korea should that country be on the brink of testing an ICBM capable of delivering a nuclear warhead against the United States. That such a risky option is being serious contemplated illustrates the grave seriousness that the White House regards the possession of nuclear weapons with missiles to deliver them in the hands of a regime run by a madman.
North Korea has been testing ballistic missiles for the past few years, stepping up the frequency of those launches as the transition took place between the previous Obama and current Trump presidencies.
The tests have rattled both South Korea and Japan, potential targets of a North Korean Nuclear Strike. Even China, which had tolerated North Koreas misbehavior when it was just unsettling America and her allies, has started to become concerned and has cut off imports of that countrys coal in response.
The nature of a first strike against North Korea is, of course, not being revealed. Potential targets include that countrys nuclear and missile facilities. Kim Jung Un and the North Korean leadership would also be targeted for death, the idea being that regime change would become a goal of American and allied strategy.
The wild card in such a scenario is the enormous North Korean Army now deployed on the border with South Korea.
That army could attempt to move south in a repeat of the Korean War of 1950-53. Even if it did not, the South Korean capital of Seoul is within easy artillery range. What modern artillery would do to a modern metropolis is a horrible thing to contemplate, American and allied forces would likely have to neuter that North Korean land forces as well.
Short of a preemptive war, the United States and her Pacific allies are likely to augment missile defenses in the region. One military option short of all-out war would be to start shooting down North Korean missiles to send a message to the regime that it would not be allowed to threaten its neighbors with such weapons. How North Korea would react to such a move is difficult to predict.
On Thursday, congressional Republicans broke ranks to join angry Democrats in demanding that Attorney General Jeff Session should quit leading the investigation into contacts between #Russians and the Trump campaign.
This followed on from the revelation that Mr Sessions #spoke directly to the Russian ambassador last year, which contradicted his testimony at his confirmation hearing.
The #justice department acknowledged Sessions' contact with the Russian ambassador late Wednesday as the issue started to take on a bipartisan luster, with the furor crossing into Thursday morning's main news.
And the topic was most certainly heated.
Kevin McCarthy, House majority leader and Republican of California, said on Morning Joe (MSNBC) that Sessions should clarify his #testimony and also step down from the impending Russia-linked investigations. I think the trust of the American people you recuse yourself from these situations, Mr. McCarthy said. You want to make sure everybody trusts the investigation.
Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who runs and overseas the Oversight Committee, added on Thursday that Sessions should clarify his testimony and #recuse himself, adding to growing Republican dissatisfaction on the matter.
Democrats hit out
Many Democrats, such as #Nancy Pelosi and Norma Kamala were more vociferous in their denunciations of Sessions, demanding that he step down immediately from his post.
Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader, said that Sessions should resign for the good of the country.
Pelosi wrote on Twitter on Thursday: 'After #Lying Under Oath, there can be no doubt AG #Sessions is unfit to run the Department of Justice.' She followed this up with another Tweet: 'I don't know what problem Republicans have with the truth.
Hiding their health care bill. Lying about conversations with Russians.'
#Kamala Harris was just as unflinching. 'It is clear Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath about meeting with Russian officials. He must resign immediately.' This was followed by another Tweet that read: 'Weeks ago I said Sessions should recuse himself from the investigation into Russia and Trumps campaign.
That is no longer enough.'
Nancy Pelosi was recorded as saying on Thursday that there must be an independent, outside commission created or brought in to investigate Trump's connections to the #Russians.
Trump's administration dismiss and deny
Trump's team and administration dismissed the accusations saying it was partisan backlash, and Sessions himself said in a statement that he had not talked about any election issues with #Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
Sessions was the first senator to endorse Mr. Trump, becoming a trusted advisor and a powerful figure in the administration. He helped create and form Trump's campaign strategy, focusing Trump's message on immigration and trade.
On NBC News on Thursday morning, Sessions again declared that he hadn't discussed the campaign with the ambassador, but alluded that he may indeed be happy to step down from the investigation. He claimed that whenever it was appropriate, he would #recuse himself. Theres no doubt about that.
The Republicans thought that President Donald Trump's surprising speech Tuesday would give them leeway to carry out their agenda. That feeling lasted only a day as the latest news threatens to derail the dreams of unopposed government.
Lull before the storm
The Presidents first speech in Congress surprised many with its apparent references to changes in his agenda and mild tone that were at odds with the first month of the new Administration. This change of tone gave the Republicans some hope that the worst was past and that they would have been able to proceed despite storm clouds over the Presidency that were not mentioned in the address.
As noted by some newspapers, Donald Trump made no reference to the ongoing investigations over the alleged Russian interference in his victorious presidential campaign.
The lull in the storm lasted less than 24 hours as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal all reported developments that threaten to deepen the divide within the party over their ostensible representative in the White House.
Russia never disappeared
While he was still basking in the praise of his fellow Republicans over the previous nights address, the three newspapers reported not only that the Obama Administration had left a trail for investigators to follow, but that arguably the most controversial member of his Administration, Attorney General #Jeff Sessions, may himself have been involved.
During his confirmation hearings then Senator Sessions confronted the issue as his future Justice Department was involved in the investigations. When asked by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) Sessions replied that he knew of no contacts with Russians members of the Trump team. As reported yesterday in the Washington Post Sessions himself had spoken twice with Sergey Kislyak, Russias Ambassador to the United States, during the campaign and did not reveal this during the confirmation hearings.
Special Prosecutor
This news now throws into confusion the tactics of the Republicans in Congress and the Senate for at least the immediate future. Sessions role in both the campaign and as Attorney General are now under the spotlight.
Only a few day before Republican Congressman Darrell Issa had called upon Sessions to recuse himself from any involvement in the investigation and to appoint a Special Prosecutor on the matter.
While there was little public support for the appeal at the time, the latest developments will surely put pressure on members of the GOP to back Issa's appeal.
The news was definitely unwelcome in the Republican camp as it once more reveals embarrassing details about an election victory that few expected when Donald Trump decided to take part in the race for the White House.
The open antagonism towards the businessman become politician revealed cracks within the Party that his win in the Primaries and then the presidential race were unable to hide. House Leader Paul Ryan, as well as with John McCain, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were only a few of the Republicans who made public criticisms of the man who would go to the Oval Office.
Night time calls
Undoubtedly last night was filled with telephone calls about the issues that refuse to go away. Some of these calls would have been to the President, but many were surely between Republicans in both Houses as they decide what steps to take.
Sessions will be feeling the heat, but Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, the majority leaders in their respective Houses, will be under even more pressure to allow independent investigations of the team that fought the presidential campaign under the Republican banner.
Tuesday nights truce after President Trumps speech in Congress is well and truly over. The questions that were unaddressed that night now have centre stage and the GOP may well have some very tough decisions to make.
In the mean time how will President Trump react to the news? In any case, it is highly unlikely we will see the Tuesdays moderate speaker any time soon.
They say that a week is a long time in politics, but the twenty four hours after President Donald Trump's address in Congress on Tuesday evening must now seem an eternity away. For the Democrats in the Senate and Congress the battle they knew was coming came ever sooner than many of them may have expected.
Fighting stance
As the Democrat Senators and Congressmen left the chamber before the end of President Trumps speech in Congress they knew that they were in for a major political battle. The wall of Democrat female politicians dressed in white in support of womens rights was a public display of their opposition to the man who defeated the first female candidate for President and who many consider as a bad role model for the country.
Without doubt the Senators and Congressmen would have been thinking about their upcoming tactics in the two Houses, but very few would have expected the battle to explode the following day. Yet, some would have been expecting it.
Revelations
The New York Times report the next day that Obama Administration had left a trail for investigators to follow on the allegations of Russian interference in the presidential campaign implicitly reveals that at least a select few of the Democrats would have known that something was about to happen.
The subsequent reports by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post that Attorney General #Jeff Sessions had not revealed his own contacts with Sergey Kislyak, Russias Ambassador to the United States reopened the issue that was not mentioned in the Presidents address.
With those three newspaper reports the Democrat tactics for the future became clear.
Jeff Sessions nomination to Attorney General was controversial and not only due to his publicly stated position on race. His role in the victorious Trump election team had already put into question his neutrality in any investigations by his Department into the allegations of Russian interference.
The fact that he made no mention of his own contacts with the Ambassador now leaves him open for attack on the matter.
Despite his immediate statements that the conversations with the Ambassador were on other matters, his reticence in the hearings now puts into even more doubt his neutrality on the investigations. In addition, his silence on these conversations also leaves him open to accusations of having lied to the Senate during the confirmation hearings.
Target
These are serious accusations for any Secretary, but are even more serious when the person involved is also the Attorney General. The Democrats now have a target to which they can direct their attention as they put pressure in the Senate and Congress for further independent investigations of the allegations at the highest level.
Ultimately however the true target for the Democrats is much higher. The possible involvement of Jeff Sessions in the scandal leaves many more questions open about why Donald Trump nominated him for the Justice Department.
These questions will in turn allow the Democrats will put even more pressure on their Republican counterparts, particularly on those like John McCain, Darrell Issa and Marco Rubio who had publicly stated their discomfort at the accusations to openly support the nomination of a Special Prosecutor on these matters.
Battlefields
The Senate and Congress will be the battlefields for this struggle, but it will not be limited only to the Houses. This is a battle this is already being fought in the media and where the Democrats will be able to speak without risk of censure or blocking tactics such as used in the Senate against Elizabeth Warren when she was censured for trying to read Coretta Scott Kings letter against Session in the vote for his confirmation.
At the end of President Trumps speech Tuesday evening the GOP would have hoped for clear sailing for at least the near future. Now the Democrats find themselves with the wind in their sails and a battle that may have become easier than they expected.
Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn may be getting married sooner rather than later. Over the weekend, after attending a party in Beverly Hills, California, Munn was seen driving away with a diamond ring on her left hand ring finger.
Although Rodgers, 33, and Munn, 36, have not yet confirmed any plans to tie the knot, a People Magazine report on January 30 suggested that the "Office Christmas Party" actress had fueled engagement rumors with her latest public outing in Los Angeles. According to the report, Munn's mystery ring appeared to include a ruby surrounded by diamonds and set on a gold band.
Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn have been dating for nearly three years
Rodgers and his actress girlfriend first confirmed their romance in early 2014 and in the years since, they have taken to the red carpet together many times. They've also been quite public with their relationship on social media -- and even have Instagram accounts for their two dogs.
While Rodgers and Munn have never spoke about the possibility of a future marriage, they have faced rumors regarding the possibility in the past. Most recently, a report claimed the couple may be engaged after Munn was seen sporting a different ring. However, Munn quickly shot down the reports on Instagram with a screenshot of a text message conversation with her mother, in which the woman asked Munn if she and Rodgers were preparing to wed.
Aaron Rodgers is reportedly estranged from his family
News of Rodgers' possible engagement comes just a short time after the his father, Ed Rodgers, spoke to The New York Times about their family feud. According to the report, Rodgers allegedly stopped talking to his family shortly after he and Munn started dating.
Airing public laundry is not what I would have chosen, Ed Rodgers told the outlet of his family's issues making headlines -- and being featured on "The Bachelorette" (Jordan Rodgers, the younger brother of Aaron, appeared on the show).
As for Munn's possible role in the feud, a People Magazine source claimed the actress didn't really have anything to do with it.
Lala Kent is dating a "big Hollywood producer," according to her friend and co-star James Kennedy. During last night's episode of "Watch What Happens Live," the late night show of Andy Cohen, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend called in to ask Kennedy to reveal the identity of Kent's mysterious boyfriend.
Although Kennedy seemed to be ready to disclose the information, which has been a hot topic on "Vanderpump Rules" for the entirety of season five, he first asked permission from Cohen, who immediately said, "No!" So, rather than give a name, Kennedy teased, "She's dating a big Hollywood-time producer."
Lala Kent claimed James Kennedy met her 'athlete boyfriend' last month
While Kennedy claims Lala Kent is dating a producer, she told a much different story just one month ago.
While chatting with Keven Undergaro on his Podcast series, "The Tomorrow Show," Kent said that her boyfriend didn't want to be featured on "Vanderpump Rules" because he has certain endorsements that he didn't want to put at risk. At the same time, Kent said she'd like to move on from the Bravo show with an appearance on "WAGS," a reality show about the wives and girlfriends of athletes.
When Undergaro questioned Kent about her boyfriend further and wanted to know whether or not her friend James Kennedy had been introduced to her mystery man, she claimed he had. "[James Kennedy] knows. They have met," Kent told the host, adding that her boyfriend teased Kennedy about their past hookup. She also admitted that her boyfriend "gets nervous" when she spends time with Kennedy alone because he worries that their sexual attraction to one another hasn't yet fizzled.
Lala Kent quit 'Vanderpump Rules' in 2016
Midway through filming on the series' 5th season, Kent announced she would no longer be appearing on the show. However, because it is unclear when she actually parted ways with the series, fans will have to wait and see when her official show exit will be.
To see more of Lala Kent and her co-stars, tune in to the 5th season of Bravo's "Vanderpump Rules" at 9 p.m. on Monday nights.
Donald Trump has only been in office for just over a week, but he's already brought controversy to the White House. After the Trump administration accused the mainstream media of promoting "fake news," the ladies on "The View" made it part of their hot topics segment.
"The View" on Trump
Ever since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president over a year and a half ago, he has made a point to engage in a war of words with most of the news media. Whether it's a cable news network like CNN, a newspaper like The New York Times, or a reporter like Jim Acosta, the billionaire real estate mogul has clashed with the press more often than not.
Since Trump's election win, he's increased his criticism of the press, which has spilled over to other members of his administration. Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway continues to butt heads with hosts on cable news, while advisor Steve Bannon told The New York Times that the media should "keep their mouth shut." As seen on the January 31 edition of "The View," Trump's issue with the media was front and center.
Dominating much of "The View" on Tuesday morning was the current state of American politics. At one point, co-host Whoopi Goldberg ripped into Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, comparing them to the Islamic extremists "The Taliban." "Here's the thing: we have a constitution that says these are the things that we don't do," Goldberg said, while adding, "This is what makes us different from everybody else."
Nobody Tells Our Media To Shut Up!: Whoopi Rails Against Not American Comments From Bannon https://t.co/RGs3bn1Yyl (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/4OvnO39Hkc Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 31, 2017
Not stopping there, Whoopi Goldberg continued, adding, "Nobody tells our media to shut up and just take it." Going even further, Goldberg went on to say, "That's not American.
That's how they do it, the Taliban." "The View" co-host Joy Behar also chimed in, stating, "That's Steve Bannons value. He's the new puppeteer."
Moving forward
With only a week and a half into his first term in the White House, Donald Trump is already clashing with the news media like no other commander in chief before him. While it's unknown how the relationship with play out in the future, it doesn't appear like either side is willing to give an inch.
The moment that "General Hospital" fans have been waiting for has finally come. Jason And Sam Morgan's second child was born on Tuesday's episode, but the circumstances were definitely not good at all. Thanks to Olivia Jerome, Sam was pushed over the Port Charles bridge and then went into labor. She was all alone and scared for her unborn child's life. However, Jason discovered his wife just in time to deliver their baby girl. Unfortunately, both mother and child's lives are now in jeopardy. Will JaSam have a chance to have their happy ever after with this little one?
Baby Scout is finally born
JaSam fans were thrilled when Sam realized that she was carrying Jason's second child after all that they have been through. Now this baby may not make it and this has many wondering if she will survive. Her mama's life is also in danger. On yesterday's show, Jason was trying to breathe life into his baby girl. She wasn't crying at all and this had Sam frantic waiting to hear if her baby would make it.
Unfortunately, Sam Morgan suddenly passed out while Jason was holding the new bundle of joy after he had revived his daughter. Now he fears that his wife is dying right before his eyes before she even has a chance to cradle her baby girl.
STRIKE THREE... YOU ARE OUT! Today's #GH will leave you breathless. How will Jason save his baby AND Sam's life? Find out, today on ABC! pic.twitter.com/HXVPeBsjiw General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) March 1, 2017
Jason breaks his promise
Right before the baby was born, Sam made her husband promise her that once he delivered Baby Scout, he would leave her there and take the child to get help.
The previews for Wednesday's episode of "General Hospital" shows Jason calling out to Sam to wake up. Now he will be forced to make a decision on whether to keep his promise and leave her there to fight for her life on her own, or to stay right there with Sam, but risk the life of his newborn daughter. Spoilers suggest that Jason will be breaking that promise and stay by her side.
Will the JaSam baby make it through?
While there is a possibility that Jason and Sam's baby will not survive this ordeal, "General Hospital" spoilers say that both mom and daughter will be saved. If something did happen little Scout, fans of this couple would be highly upset, so it is very likely that all three will make it back home where Sam and her daughter will get medical care at the hospital.
It wouldn't be a classic soap if a baby wasn't born without so much drama as it enters the world. Sam Morgan's delivery of her second child is certainly no exception, but it did have viewers quite anxious if this baby would be born without her daddy there. That bridge has always played a significant part in Jason's life and now it will have even more of an impact on him now that he has delivered his daughter under that bridge.
Do you think that baby Scout will be okay? Will Jason and Sam actually name this little girl Scout? Stay tuned to "General Hospital" to find out what happens to the Morgan family.
According to a new report coming out of the Autoweek.com news team, big time auto car companies: Honda Motors and General Motors are set to combine their forces to deliver up the next generation hydrogen fuel cell stacks. It's reported that they're going to throw a whopping $85 million dollars into this project, and that production will take place at a factory that's located somewhere in Michigan. Actually, it's going to be GM's plant that's located in Township, Michigan. Additionally, this very expensive project is expected to bring 100 new jobs to the area.
They could provide more efficiency
The two companies said that they do plan to deploy these next-generation hydrogen fuel cells in vehicles around the year 2020. They first made this agreement in 2013, and they believe the new cells will actually slash costs and boost the efficiency of the cars. They would actually use hydrogen as the fuel to produce electricity to power cars. They plan to use the cells in distinct cars from their separate lines.
They could replace battery packs
In addition to unleashing them together, the two companies are also engineering them together. It's reported that a combined 100 engineers are working on this project. So how do these things work, exactly? Well, they explain that the cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity through a chemical reaction.
The only byproduct that is created through this process, is water vapor. In theory, they're claiming that this fuel cell stack could possibly replace the battery pack that is in a full-electric vehicle.
Some possible problems
They did mention a few shortcomings for the cells. They include: fuel and refueling issues, they're really expensive to manufacture, and must be assembled in an environment that's similar to that of a hospital clean room.
However, they go on to say that these systems could be sold to other car companies beyond just GM and Honda in an effort to increase the volume of them, which would , in turn, reduce the costs. They could also be used as a back-up power source for non automotive things.
They're naming it Hydrotech
The size of the fuel cell stack was actually displayed to reporters in Detroit yesterday, January 30th, 2017, and they turned out to be the same size as todays 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine.
Charlie Freese who is the GM executive director, said that this project could result in a lower-cost system that's actually the fraction of the size and mass. General Motors has currently named the new fuel cell stack: Hydrotech. Stay tuned.
Hun Sens 30 year rule over Cambodia has been consistently hampered by accusations of human rights abuses and corruption from journalists, prompting his sympathy for Trumps anti-media sentiment to be of little surprise to political commentators and journalists.
Donald Trump understands that they are an anarchic group, Hun Sen said of journalists and media outlets earlier this week, before later posting the comments to his Facebook page.
Tension has been growing within Cambodia in recent months - with Hun Sens principal opponent, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, making accusations of unfair conduct in Sens attempt to maintain power through local elections in June, and the upcoming general election next year.
Hun Sen warned that an opposition victory could lead to a return to civil war. Last week, the US embassy expressed grave concern pertaining to legislation introduced by Hun Sens party that would make it extremely easy for the Government to dissolve opposing political parties.
Trumps authoritarian allies
In Trumps short reign he has garnered the support of some questionable international regimes, with Hun Sens recent remarks placing the Cambodian leader alongside the numerous authoritarian despots who have sung the praises of Donald Trump.
Hun Sen's endorsement of Trump ranks him alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - all of whom have garnered horrendous human rights accusations, and expressed positive sentiment for the Trump administration.
Many have expressed concerns that Trumps admirers may be a negative omen for the governing style that the new president may seek to impose.
Trumps war on the media
Since the start of Trumps presidential campaign, he has repeatedly attacked and admonished journalists, accusing many major media outlets of producing fake news, and running propagandist smear campaigns against him.
This rhetoric has been capitalized upon by numerous authoritarian regimes around the world, who have opportunistically sought to condemn all critical reporting of their activities as being fake news, and issuing threats to journalists.
The US cruise ship industry, which is seeing a booming business from Chinese passengers, will for the first time build ocean liners in China.
Carnival Corp, based in Miami, announced last week at a grand ceremony in Beijing attended by President Xi Jinping, that its cruise joint venture in China - formed with the China State Shipbuilding Corp - will order two new cruise ships, with an option for four more. Fincantieri of Italy is also a participant in the shipbuilding partnership.
In support of China's efforts to prioritize cruise industry growth in its five-year economic development plan, a memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, attended by Xi and Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
Carnival will operate and manage all cruise ships owned by the cruise joint venture, which was rolled out in 2015, as part of its plans to launch the first multi-ship cruise brand in China.
The two ships, representing an investment of about $1.5 billion, would be constructed at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co shipyard, a CSSC subsidiary. The first vessel is expected to be completed by 2023.
"We are proud to order the first China-built cruise ships and play a meaningful role in developing cruise shipbuilding capabilities for the first time in China," said Arnold Donald, Carnival CEO, adding that the agreement "demonstrates our commitment to contributing to China become a leading cruise market as part of its five-year economic development plan".
"CSSC is working closely with international partners like Carnival and Fincantieri to build the first cruise ships in China, which will significantly advance the rapid, sustainable and healthy development of the Chinese cruise industry," said Wu Qiang, CSSC president. "Global economic integration is still an irresistible trend. Our close partnership with Carnival and Fincantieri will let more people enjoy the benefits of globalization and live a better life."
Wu said at a cruise industry conference in China last year that 15 new liners a year are needed to keep up with global demand, and that China wanted to help meet it. CSSC's entry into the industry's construction segment is backed by an industrial fund set up last year by five leading Chinese banks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While the new ships are being built, Carnival will launch a cruise brand in China using ships from Carnival's existing fleet.
Carnival's Princess Cruises brand will deploy the 3,560-passenger Majestic Princess to Shanghai for Asia cruises, beginning in July. The vessel is the newest ship and the first to be built and designed specifically for Chinese travelers.
China was the world's fastest-growing major market for cruise-takers in 2014 and 2015, according to a study last year by the Cruise Lines International Association in Washington.
According to China's Ministry of Transport, the country's cruise market will grow to 4.5 million passengers by 2020 - it was 1 million in 2015.
By 2030, China will be the world's second-largest cruise market after the US, Reuters reported.
A report by AX Investment Research on the seekingalpha.com investment website said "Carnival's largest problem with penetrating the Chinese market by themselves was a cultural difference. Trying to enter the China market as a Western company without enough knowledge of business practices or connections to a strong network in China led nowhere.
"More recently things are starting to turn around. Carnival now has a small share of a much larger pie than a small pie to themselves."
Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com
The Japanese government's recent involvement in a lawsuit demanding the removal of a "comfort women" memorial statue in Southern California is nothing but intimidation and an "intentional downplay of the historical facts", say supporters of the statue.
The lawsuit was filed against the city of Glendale in 2014. The plaintiffs claimed the city unconstitutionally disrupted the US government's foreign policy and relationship with Japan.
The lawsuit was dismissed by a US District Court in 2015 and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling in August 2016. A request for rehearing was denied by the appellate court in October.
In January the case was brought to the US Supreme Court and the Japanese government filed an amicus brief last week.
"It's absolutely ridiculous for Japan, a foreign government, to interfere with grassroots activities in an American city," said Lillian Sing, co-chair of the Comfort Women Justice Coalition and a retired judge of San Francisco's Superior Court. "This lawsuit has lost at every level. We are confident it will lose again at this level."
She said the lawsuit was nothing but intimidation. "They try to have a chilling effect. We will not allow this to happen. This is a free country, and this is a country where people can speak the truth," she added.
The 1,100-pound bronze statue, depicting a girl in Korean garb sitting next to an empty chair, was erected in the city's Central Park in 2013.
Approved by the City Council and funded by Korean groups, the statue was dedicated to comfort women, a term the Japanese government used for its military's notorious sex slavery of an estimated 200,000 women before and during the WWII.
Japan said in the amicus brief that the statue concerns Japan's "national core interest" and disrupts "Japan's delicate relations with Korea".
The statue in Glendale represents hundreds of thousands of victims of Japan's 14 years of military sexual slavery from a dozen countries, not just Korea, said Phyllis Kim, executive director of Korean American Forum of California.
"Japan's claim that the 'Girl Statue' in Glendale represents the issue of 'comfort women' between Japan and the Republic of Korea is a gross mischaracterization and intentional downplay of the historical facts," she said.
The city also filed respondent's brief last week, calling for denial of the petition.
It said the Japanese government acknowledged its "involvement of the military authorities" in the crimes against the "comfort women", and apologized periodically. The US government has also recognized the crimes House Resolution 121 "urging the Japanese Government to accept historical responsibility for these crimes," says the respondent's brief.
The "problem" with Glendale is the city "adopted its own foreign policy which favors the view more favorable to Korea", said William Benjamin DeClercq, attorney of the petitioners.
"For example, Glendale did not remove its demand that Japan 'take historical responsibility' after the agreement of Dec 28, 2015," he said in an email to China Daily. "Japan honors that agreement but Glendale has ignored Japan's actions and the monument remains along with its permanent words that accuse Japan of wrongdoing on a basis that it strongly denies."
The agreement between Japan and South Korea drew immediate criticism for selling out the dignity of the victims of "comfort women" for short-term gains.
Japan's claim that the agreement resolved the "comfort women" issue in "final and irreversible" manner is a "shameless and pathetic" attempt to evade its state accountability for the largest case of government-led sex trafficking in modern history, said Kim.
While Japanese right-wing groups are trying to have the Glendale statue removed, they are also attempting to stop a similar memorial in San Francisco. The city government has received hundreds of letters from Japan opposing the project.
Funded by the Comfort Women Justice Coalition, the memorial is expected to be installed in Chinatown this year.
"Why are they so afraid of history? It's important to remember what happened," said Sing. "Like the Jewish Holocaust memorial and the memorial in Washington about Japanese internment, it is equally important for people to have a 'comfort women' memorial in the US," she said.
HAVANA - In Cuba's westernmost province of Pinar del Rio, farmer Francisco Lazo has cultivated tobacco for two decades and shows no signs of slowing down.
After all, the family business has provided gainful employment not only for him and his son, but also a dozen or so relatives, including a son-in-law, that work on the farm located in the town of San Juan y Martinez.
"We are doing well, because the yield we get is enough to pay for fertilizer, for resources and for our livelihoods," Lazo told visitors to his farm, Finca Obesa, on Tuesday.
His 56-acre plot hosted cigar aficionados and industry executives attending the annual International Habanos Festival, which concludes Friday in Cuba's capital Havana.
On the tour, the visitors got to see how tobacco leaves are grown and cured before heading to cigar factories to be hand-rolled into one of Cuba's renowned premium brands, such as Cohiba, Montecristo and Partagas.
San Juan y Martinez, along with two other towns, Consolacion del Sur and San Luis, located in Cuba's Vuelta Abajo region, is touted as the finest cigar-growing land in the world.
Some 18,000 hectares of tobacco are cultivated here, with only the finest leaves then chosen to make premium Habanos.
According to Lazo, 35 days after planting tobacco, growers intervene to prevent the plant from growing further to keep the leaves the ideal size for rolling cigars.
"After 45 days, we begin harvesting, that is picking the leaves," he explained.
Cuba's cigar business is thriving, earning 445 million US dollars in sales in 2016, a 5-percent increase over the year before despite a gloomy global outlook.
"We must put the 5 percent sales increase in context, given that the international luxury goods industry only saw a slight growth over the same period, which says a lot about the strength of our products," Javier Terres, vice president of development at Habanos, the state-run company that produces and sells Cuban cigars worldwide, told participants at the fair.
In Cuba, tobacco has a long history and a bright future.
Historical records show that in Cuba, Spaniards discovered tobacco in as early as 1492, after seeing a group of indigenous men smoking "dry leaves that gave off a peculiar aroma."
Soon after, tobacco was exported to Europe for its medicinal properties, as a purgative and antiparasitic agent, though pirates such as Francis Drake and John Hawkins also used it as part of their arsenal of weapons, lighting it to create a smokescreen before an attack.
Today, as part of Cuba's national industry, Lazo's farm seems set to be productive for generations to come.
"My family is prepared to continue," said Lazo, adding cheerfully that "two more grandchildren aged 13 and five are coming (and) we have to gradually get them going."
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday he would recuse himself from any investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election because he was involved with President Donald Trump's campaign.
But Sessions, who was a long-time US senator before becoming the country's top law enforcement official, said he did nothing wrong when he did not disclose during Senate testimony that he had met last year with Russia's ambassador.
"I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign," Sessions told reporters in the latest twist of the controversy over ties between Trump associates and Russia that has dogged the early days of his presidency.
US intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the election campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump's favor. The Kremlin has denied the allegations.
Sessions made the comments at a hastily arranged news conference after several of his fellow Republicans in Congress called for him to recuse himself from investigations and Democrats urged him to resign.
Reuters
There is comfort in knowing your equipment will be repaired or replaced if it malfunctions, but many businesses never get the maximum benefits from their warranties.
Product warranties are just a normal part of doing business. When you buy something, especially tech equipment, youre most likely going to get a basic warranty and be offered an extended warranty. Not getting a warranty can be disastrous, but its no different from having a warranty you never use.
There is comfort in knowing your equipment will be repaired or replaced if it malfunctions, but many businesses never get the maximum benefits from their warranties. Are you one of these businesses?
If you paid for a product, you deserve to have your warranty honored to the letter. Here are some tips to get the most out of every warranty you have:
1. Create a warranty tracking system
Maintenance and repair costs can be enormous. Your warranties can reduce these costs, but you need to track your warranties and repairs to get the benefits. The reason is, even small claims for minimal dollar amounts are not as trivial as they might seem.
Start a tracking system for your warranties so that you know the terms, maximums, minimums, valid date ranges, and the cost and time to renew. Each time a problem arises, file a claim and document the details in your tracking system.
The most important part of a warranty tracking system is educating your team. People wont necessarily remember every detail of a warranty, so make sure your team is trained to refer to your documentation to verify when and how to request a service call. This is important for ensuring you get properly reimbursed.
Tracking your warranties can also tell you if you need to purchase extended coverage. For example, if you keep having the same issue or you find yourself struggling with needs outside your original warranty, having every incident documented will paint a clear picture of your need for extended coverage.
2. Be selective with extended warranties
You may have read somewhere that extended warranties arent worth the money . For most consumer products like small appliances, smartphones, speakers, and laptops, thats true. These extended warranties arent expensive, but neither are the repairs.
If youre using these types of consumer devices in your business like employee-issued laptops or coffee makers in the office be selective with the extended warranties you buy. Some electronics cost less than $20 to repair, but the plans can cost more than $130.
Before buying an extended warranty, do some research to find out the cost of repairing common issues. Do the math. If the risk is an expensive one, you might need the extended coverage. If not, dont bother.
However, if your electronics contain proprietary components, like Apple products, you may want to get extended coverage from the manufacturer to avoid more expensive repairs if someone elses attempt at repair doesnt go well.
3. File claims
Did something small break or malfunction? File a claim. Dont take the hit for small things, even when you or an employee knows how to fix something. Each time you repair something yourself, youre losing money.
Lost money from self-repairs might not seem like a big deal. Whats $20 or even $100 here and there? However, multiply that money by the number of items you have that will need repairs over time, and youre looking at thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars wasted.
If youve been given a warranty with your purchase, or youre paying extra for a warranty, get a technician out for all repairs that fall under the warranty. Youll not only save money, but youll also save time.
4. Dont worry about self-repairs voiding warranties
Have you heard that repairing something yourself voids your warranty? This clause might even be explicitly stated inside your warranty. Even so, this type of clause is illegal on a federal level in the United States.
Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the following type of warning is illegal: Using non-branded parts or allowing third-parties to repair this product will void your manufacturers warranty. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) considers these restrictions to be deceptive.
While its good to call in repairs under your warranty, dont worry about voiding your warranty if you need to repair something that isnt covered. You can legally repair your devices on your own or through a third party without voiding your warranty even when your warranty states such repairs will make it void.
Always do your research
Before purchasing an extended warranty, do your research first. Find out if the cost is comparable to repairs, and if not, skip the extension and save your money.
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ABC/Image Group LA Keith Urban already has four Grammys, and hes about to pick up one more.
The Recording Academy will honor the Australian superstar with the Recording Artists Coalition Award April 5 at the annual Grammys on the Hill gathering in Washington, D.C.
Keith is being honored because of the work hes done for music education -- he's partnered with various organizations to both encourage kids to perform and provide them with instruments.
The opportunity to work with aspiring musicians and kids, who are just discovering music for the first time, really inspires me, he says.
Creativity is at the heart of an innovative society," he adds, explaining his motivation. "It brings people together and teaches children self-expression, creative confidence, and improvisational skills which are essential to their development."
Last year, Zac Brown Band was honored at the Grammys on the Hill Awards.
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The national index of industrial production (IIP) surged by 2.4 per cent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, much lower than the 6.8 per cent growth seen in same period last year. Photo congnghieptieudung.vn
HA NOI The national index of industrial production (IIP) surged by 2.4 per cent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, much lower than the 6.8 per cent growth seen in same period last year, according to General Statistics Office data.
The processing and manufacturing sector, which accounts for over 70 per cent of total industrial production in the country, saw a lagging IIP rise of 6.6 per cent, compared to 8.1 per cent in 2016.
Two other IIP sectors--electricity production and distribution and waste treatment also lagged behind last years corresponding period with 9.3 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the mining industry experienced a significant decline of 13.5 per cent in two months.
GSO statisticians blamed the sluggish IIP growth in the reviewed period for the week-long break during the Tet holiday and a slowdown in local consumption power, which forced enterprises to curb their production capacities.
Several key industrial products that posted IIP reduction included crude oil (down 15.6 per cent), mobile phones (8.9 per cent), sugar (10.2 per cent) and cloth (1 per cent).
On a positive note, IIP increased significantly for other major products such as rolled steel (up 35.4 per cent), television sets (16.7 per cent), seasoning powder (12.8 per cent) and fresh milk (11.4 per cent).
Among the provinces and cities that saw significant industrial production growth were northern port city of Hai Phong at 17.2 per cent; northern Thai Nguyen province at 10 per cent; central city of a Nang at 9.6 per cent; southern provinces of Binh Duong and ong Nai at 5.9 per cent, Ha Noi at 5.8 per cent and HCM City at 5.1 per cent.
According to GSO, the inventory index of the manufacturing and processing industry rose by 13.3 per cent, 4 per cent higher than that of same period last year, with several industries reporting high inventories such as chemical and chemical products (116.7 per cent), metal moulding (111.7 per cent), pharmaceuticals (110 per cent) and food processing (85 per cent). VNS
HCM CITY The export of wood and wood products is expected to fetch US$8 billion this year, up from $7.3 billion last year.
Huynh Van Hanh, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa), said global demand for furniture will continue to increase, so the domestic industry can look forward to doing better.
According to preliminary statistics compiled by the Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL), global furniture consumption is worth more than $460 billion a year. Supply from Viet Nam accounts for just 1.65 per cent of this figure, which means there is considerable room for Vietnamese firms to increase their market share.
China is the worlds largest supplier of wooden products, accounting for 37 per cent of the worlds total consumption.
But the Chinese Government cut its overall timber harvesting quotas by nine per cent, equal to 40 million cubic metres of timber, opening up more opportunities for Vietnamese firms to boost their exports, Hanh said.
In addition, a series of free trade agreements that the country has signed will offer greater export opportunities for domestic firms, he added.
Nguyen Chien Thang, former Hawa chairman and director of Scansia Pacific, said all Hawa members enjoyed good growth last year, with more and more foreign buyers coming to place orders.
They have invested significantly in technologies to improve product quality and management, and this has increasingly gained customers trust, he said.
Previously, large customers, especially those from the US, had mainly bought products from Taiwanese companies investing in Viet Nam, but now more and more US customers are contacting Vietnamese producers.
This is a good sign, he said.
Anticipating a good year for exports, many firms in Binh Duong and ong Nai invested in new facilities last year to expand production scale, Thang said, adding that his company is also building a new workshop.
Cao Duy Tam, director of Vi ai Co., Ltd, which specialises in supplying machinery, equipment and solutions for the wood processing industry, said sales increased by 50 per cent last year and is expected to be higher this year.
Many businesses have invested in new technologies to improve their productivity and quality, solving the problem of labour shortage and getting ready to receive larger export orders, he said.
They have invested in automatic, high speed machines and even CNC (computer numeric control) machines, he added.
Hanh said Vietnamese firms in the past years have accumulated valuable experiences in production, management and market access.
In the coming time, the industry needs to access market at a national scale so that foreign customers know Viet Nam is a nation producing wooden products from legal timber sources, he said.
VIFA-EXPO 2017
To further help Vietnamese firms market their products and explore business opportunities, the association has collaborated with the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade and Hawa Corporation to organise the Viet Nam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair 2017 (VIFA-EXPO 2017) in HCM City from March 8-11.
It has attracted 313 domestic and foreign exhibitors who will set up 1,532 booths, a corresponding increase of 23 per cent and 24 per cent from last year, Hanh said.
The increase reflects the strong demand from wooden product manufacturers for trade promotion to boost exports, Hanh said.
This year the number of foreign firms registering to join the fair has gone up by 72 per cent over last year, with 100 brands from 14 countries and territories including Singapore, Taiwan, the US, Australia, Canada, China and Italy.
The fair will display a wide range of export-oriented indoor and outdoor furniture, handicrafts, and interior furnishing and accessories.
Hanh said 1,850 visitors from 94 countries and territories had registered as of February 28 to visit the fair.
Held at the Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7, the fair will also feature an awards ceremony for the Hoa Mai Prize, a furniture design competition, and a seminar on wood glue quality. VNS
HA NOI Viet Nam has 200 super-rich people, with fortunes valued at US$30 million or more, according to the Wealth Report 2017 by the UKs leading independent real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
The recent report showed that the number of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in Viet Nam was up 32 against 2015, and 50 against 2014. This super-rich group increased sharply by 320 per cent from 2006 to 2016, the fastest growth in the world in comparison with Indias 290 per cent and Chinas 281 per cent.
UHNWIs are people with investable assets of at least $30 million, excluding personal assets and property such as a primary residence, collectibles and consumer durables. UHNWIs comprise the richest people in the world and control a disproportionate amount of global wealth.
Viet Nams ultra-rich population was growing faster than any economy in the world, and was expected to see the fastest growth in its UHNWI by 2026, with a 170 per cent increase in people with $30 million or more, taking the total up to 540. The number of millionaires is predicted to jump from 14,300 to 38,600 over the same period.
The report by Knight Frank reflects considerable variation between the growth rates of UHNWIs in different regions and countries, due to local factors that underpin wealth creation and the mobility of ultra-wealthy people.
The World Bank described the transformation of Viet Nams economy as remarkable, in which economic and political reforms are leading to higher incomes. The bank also mentioned that despite the fact the country is vulnerable to the shocks of economic and environmental issues, the prospects for the economy remain strong, with an average annual GDP growth of around 6 per cent by 2020.
Andrew Amoils, head of Research at New World Wealth, selected Viet Nam as one of the countries with a stellar growth rate, contributing to the dramatic growth of the super-rich population in Asia. We expect Viet Nams millionaire numbers to be boosted by strong growth in the local healthcare, manufacturing and financial services sectors, he also said in the report.
Viet Nam currently has only one dollar billionaire but whose name was not disclosed. Knight Frank predicts that this number will increase by three dollar billionaires in the next ten years. VNS
HA NOI NMS Viet Nam Co Ltd on Wednesday inaugurated a factory in ong Van II Industrial Zone in the northern province of Ha Nams Duy Tien District.
Covering over 7,000sqm, the factory was built at a cost of US$5 million by the Japanese investor, and will specialise in producing telecommunications equipment and devices for the automobile industry.
The factory will create jobs for 1,000 locals.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Nguyen Xuan ong, chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, said the factory would play an important role in the development of the Vietnamese auto sector.
NMS Viet Nam Company must fulfil its investment commitment and comply with State regulations as well as the provinces production and business policies, ong said. The company is also required to take care of its workers accommodations to ensure that they remain in the job on a long-term basis.
The chairman also asked the industrial zones management board, agencies and localities to cooperate in implementing the 10 commitments that the province has made to improve its investment climate and tackle hurdles faced by businesses so that they can operate more efficiently. VNS
Nguyen Bich Lam
The General Statistics Office (GSO) began carrying out a general economic census nationwide on March 1. GSO head Nguyen Bich Lam tells the Vietnam News Agency that apart from its usual functions, this census will collect data on foreign NGOs in the country.
What are the main purposes of this census?
This general economic census aims at evaluating many things including results of production and business; application of information technology; structure and distribution of production facilities and workers according to locality; economic sectors and ownership forms.
The census aims to meet management needs of the Party and the State, which includes ministries and localities.
Additionally, based on the statistics from the census, the GSO will compile main statistical indicators in 2016, which was the first year of implementing the five-year national socio-economic development plan as per the Resolution of the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.
The statistics will be used to compile macro-economic indicators, including the economic growth of provinces and major cities.
The census will also add data and update the database on enterprises.
What are some important differences between this census and previous ones?
It is basically similar in content and scope to previous censuses.
One difference is that for the first time, this census will collect data on foreign non-governmental organizations to fully evaluate results of their operations in the domestic economy.
The census will use information from taxation offices, the State Treasury and other state agencies such as healthcare, education, training, culture, sports, information and communication.
It will be organized in combination with surveys on enterprises and individuals to list more economic groups and corporations. We will avoid overlapping of surveys.
Disclosure of information about the census will also be made earlier with a variety of publications, based on the subject, economic sector and forms of ownership.
How will this census be scheduled and implemented?
The Ministry of Planning and Investment issued a plan for the census on December 26, 2016 based on the Prime Ministers decision, contents of previous censuses and actual changes in socio-economic development.
The general economic census 2017 will be carried out in two phases.
The first phase, implemented from March 1 to May 30, 2017, will survey production and business establishments in the business sector, administrative offices, branches and representative offices of foreign enterprises, and foreign non-governmental organisations.
The second phase will take place from July 1-30, collecting information about religious establishments, and individual establishments not engaged in agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
The steering committees of the ministries of Defense and Public Security, as well as district and commune administrations will do their work according to the content and schedules outlined in the census implementation plan.
The statistics offices will work closely with relevant ministries and sectors from the central level to localities in carrying out this important census.
Preliminary data is expected to be released in December 2017, and official results in the third quarter of 2018.
How will the census review and evaluate the enterprises nationwide?
The census will review the list of enterprises and unify data from business registration, taxation and other related agencies to get the number of enterprises.
The results of this review will be given to management and statistics offices to get a real picture of enterprises in Viet Nam.
Therefore, the census needs active and close cooperation between sectors from the central level to localities as also local administrations.
How will the census data contribute to policy-making?
The census will have basic microeconomic information about workers, production and business. It will have data on the operation of State enterprises, private enterprises, foreign invested enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives and business households.
It will also have information about capital plans of enterprises, technological reforms in the processing, manufacturing and assembling industries, etc. This will show efficiencies or the lack thereof in the operation enterprises, their competitiveness and ability to be part of the international economic integration process.
So the census will be a vital database to research and analyse various aspects of the economy. It will provide policymakers with reliable information that they can use to formulate realistic policies. -- VNS
HCM CITY Belgian conductor Daniel Gazon will lead the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) in a concert on March 9.
The Bruckners Requiem concert will open with Mozarts Symphony No 36 Linz in C Major, K. 425.
The symphony was written by Mozart during a stopover in the Austrian town of Linz when he and his wife were returning home to Vienna from Salzburg in late 1783. The entire symphony was written in four days to accommodate the local counts announcement of a concert upon hearing of the Mozarts arrival in Linz.
"Linz will be followed by Andante Languido for string orchestra, written by American composer Nicolas Flagello in 1959.
The highlight of the night will be Requiem in D minor, WAB 39, a masterpiece by Anton Bruckner, an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets.
The work was written in memory of Franz Sailer, notary of the St Florian Monastery. It was premiered on 15 September 1849 in the St Florian Monastery, a year after Sailers death.
The concert will feature South Korean soprano Cho Hae Ryong, alto Nguyen Vu Uyen Di, tenor Pham Trang, and bassist ao Mac.
Gazon, born in 1955, finished studying trumpet and double bass in 1977, and began conducting studies a year later. He graduated from the International Seminar in Weimar, Germany and from Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
Since 1985, he has worked with international acclaimed conductors like Seiji Ozawa and Sergiu Celibidache, and leading orchestras in Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and other European countries.
He has premiered contemporary works by 20th century composers including Magnus Lindberg from Finland, Claude Vivier from Canada, and Luc Van Hove of Belgium.
Gazon has been invited to perform at major contemporary music festivals including the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM)s World Music Days Festival, Melos-Ethos International Festival of Contemporary Music, and Warsaw Autumn.
He has given master classes in conducting at conservatories in Belgium, Slovakia, Sweden and Italy.
The concert will open at 8pm at the HCM City Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square in District 1. VNS
On the occasion of the National Day of Bulgaria on Friday (March 3), Viet Nam News presents an article written by the Ambassador of Bulgaria to Viet Nam, Evgueni Stoytchev.
In 2017 Bulgaria celebrates the 139th Anniversary of its Liberation and marks 1,336 years since its foundation back in the seventh century. One of the oldest countries in Europe, and having kept its original name since 681 AD, Bulgaria has always strived and managed to preserve its original culture, traditions and language. Situated on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, home of one of the earliest civilizations in Europe, the country nowadays offers a unique blend of a modern setting with touches of antiquity, cities of vitality and pleasantly laid-back rustic scenery.
The extraordinary and rich culture of Bulgaria is well known in Viet Nam, and cherished in the hearts and memories of the tens of thousands of Vietnamese people who studied and worked in Bulgaria in the last decades of the last century. They remember Bulgaria as the land of roses, land of opportunities and their second homeland. Ever since, Viet Nam has remained one of Bulgarias main partners in Asia, and we have enjoyed a most vibrant and close relationship. Throughout the years this relationship has given rise to an active exchange at the highest political levels, peaking with the visits to Viet Nam of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria (2014), the Vice President (2015) and the Prime Minister (2013); and the exchange visit of the Prime Minister of Viet Nam (2015). The National Assemblies of both countries have traditionally maintained close collaboration through the established and well-functioning Groups of Friendship.
Viet Nam has maintained an impressive rate of social and economic development and its active, constructive and pragmatic foreign policy positioned the country as a valuable international partner with increasing regional significance.
The present opportunities in bilateral relations are closely intertwined with Viet Nams membership of ASEAN and Bulgarias membership of the European Union, as the two organisations offer another exciting measure of untapped political and economic potential. The recently concluded EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement will connect the fast growing economy of Viet Nam to the largest economy in the world; will offer opportunities for investments, joint energy, science, technology projects and more.
Furthermore, the EU-Viet Nam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation, which entered into force in October 2016, has the potential to carry the relationship beyond the boundaries of trade and economic cooperation, towards an outward-looking, advanced, multifaceted cooperation for the benefit of both our peoples.
Needless to say, Bulgaria attaches great importance to fostering ties with Viet Nam, and does so with the understanding that in the modern world, the official relations between states must be surpassed by the goal of creating one prosperous community of friends. To build a strong partnership in the long run Bulgaria and Viet Nam must pursue an ambitious agenda for fostering people to people contacts, cultural and educational exchange, as these are the alternative engines of growth in partnership and development, building everlasting bridges of hearts and minds.
Education is a strong asset for the future that Bulgaria and Viet Nam share. Bulgaria has watched proudly as many of the Vietnamese university graduates returned to Viet Nam to make a name of themselves, establishing distinguished careers as Government officials, doctors, teachers, or even Chairman of the National Assembly of the SR Viet Nam and Vice President of the SR Viet Nam as most notable examples to the betterment and advancement of their country.
In the words of the Vice Rector of the VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ha Noi Assoc Prof Dr Tran Thi Minh Hoa: I was lucky to have had the opportunities to study in Bulgaria, at the University of Economics in Varna. My major was Economics of Tourism. In 1990 I was one of four excellent Vietnamese students who received the opportunity to continue on with their studies towards a PhD. After successfully completing my doctoral dissertation I came back to Viet Nam in 1996 and started to teach at the National University of Economics, from 1996 to 2009, and later on at the VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities. In 2012 I was promoted to the position of Vice-Rector. For me Bulgaria is my second homeland, and I owe sincere words of appreciation and gratitude to Bulgaria and to all of my teachers and mentors there."
Today, the Bulgarian Embassy in Ha Noi is witness to a new and growing number of Vietnamese students, who entrust Bulgarian Universities with their higher and continuing education. Some of the preferred Universities are: Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski; New Bulgarian University; University of National and World Economy in Sofia; the Medical Universities of Sofia and Plovdiv; as well as Ruse University Angel Kantchev; University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy; University of Mining and Geology St Ivan Rilski - that are sought after for the advanced engineering degrees they offer.
Most of the above, along with a few other higher education institutions like the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy and Varna University of Management are in direct collaboration with partners in Viet Nam to provide programmes for academic mobility and education. One such very good instrument is the EU ERASMUS + programme, which has been the primary vehicle for a short term academic exchange, through which, for the past decade, Bulgaria has offered opportunities to about 22,000 students and academics.
The doors of the Bulgarian universities will always remain open to Viet Nam, as confirmed by Dr Kiril Avramov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Research of the New Bulgarian University - Bulgaria provides excellent competitive value for Vietnamese students and researchers, as they can benefit from the scientific expertise, Bulgarias active inclusion in various EU-backed scientific initiatives and networks and friendly environment. The traditional friendly ties between Bulgaria and Viet Nam provide mutual respect and recognition that add to the comfort of the Vietnamese students, teachers and researchers in Bulgaria. These are only some of the mutually beneficial fundamentals in our bilateral relations that point to seeking further opportunities for intensification of exchange of people and ideas between Bulgaria and Viet Nam". VNS
HA NOI Various activities are being held in Ha Noi and HCM City to celebrate Italian Design Day starting from March 2.
The activities belong to an initiative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italian Design Day celebrates the worldwide acknowledged leadership of Made in Italy.
In 100 locations around the world, 100 ambassadors of Italian culture (designers, entrepreneurs, journalists and critics, as well as communicators and teachers) participate in a panel discussion on Italian designs unique blend of factors, both material and immaterial, which have retained their distinctive features through the centuries despite a major overhaul by communication and mobility systems; creativity and originality, top-quality materials, and superb construction, as well as production processes that respect the environment, workers and end users; and the highest quality packaging and advertising.
In Ha Noi, an iconographic exhibition on design, industry and architecture, titled 50+1 The Great Industry Game, is held at Casa Italia, 18 Le Phung Hieu Street, from March 2.
The exhibition features a journey back in time through iconic items that shaped along with Made in Italy as people know today costume, history, economy and the way of life of Italian society.
A workshop on fashion was conducted at Casa Italia on March 2, with participants from various noted Vietnamese designer brands as well as Italian Design Days ambassador to Ha Noi Barbara Trebitsch, former head of fashion school Domus Academy in Milan -- prime school of specialisation in the fields of design, fashion and architecture.
On March 3, a conference at the National University of Civil Engineering will constitute a second initiative aimed at exploring partnerships and joint initiatives in the format of a panel discussion chaired by Italian Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni. It will mainly focus on fashion, architecture and industrial design. The conference will be attended by the Barbara Trebitsch, representatives of Italian iconic brands, Vietnamese academics and the most outstanding names in the field of design.
Models present collections for the fashion house Giorgio Armani during Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2017/2018 in Milan, Italy, on February 27, 2017. XINHUA/VNA Photo
In HCM City, an exhibition titled The Art of Life, featuring the most important designs by Italian brands in the fields of home decor, motorbikes, cars and chairs made in Italy in the 20th and 21st centuries, is being held. The exhibition will be on at HCM City Architecture University between March 2 and 4 and entry is free.
The day opens a series of events themed "Living in Italian Style in 2007" initiated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassador Cecilia Piccioni said.
Co-operation between the two countries in the field of fashion has been strengthened for many years. The move is another effort by the Italian government to boost the relation.
Trebitsch said her mission here includes meeting and exchanging experiences with Vietnamese designers to seek further co-ordination between the two nations.
I hope to discuss things not only in the fashion field, but also ways of thinking and the philosophy of Italians, Trebitsch said, I know no other country has organised a similar event.
Following the successful 21st Milan Triennial Exhibition, this day is a special initiative launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to promote contemporary Italian design in the world with events in over 100 cities, with the participation of important Italian architects, business leaders, critics, academics and designers "under 35" to illustrate the history and new trends the Italian design sector has to offer. VNS
HCM CITY On March 5, Salon Saigon will host an interactive experimental concert featuring American multi-genre musician and sound installation artist Alec Schachner and Vietnamese composer Vu Nhat Tan.
Two artists will present music pieces of two styles of music techno and acoustic.
Schachner has engaged in interactive sound installation works for years now. He has transformed daily objects and materials into sound-reactive instruments.
Tan studied piano, composition and musicology at the Viet Nam National Academy of Music in Ha Noi, computer music and new music in Germany, and composition in the US.
The event will take place from 5 to 7 pm at 6D Ngo Thoi Nhiem Street in District 3. Tickets priced at VN200,000 are available at www.ticketbox.vn. VNS
Vu Thu Ha
The anomaly is obvious as soon as you arrive in any major city in Viet Nam: pavements are not primarily used by pedestrians.
They are used by motorbikes, cars and street vendors, in direct violation of the law, Article 32 of the Law on Road Traffic, to be precise.
But this has been a phenomenon for so long that having a spacious pavement to walk on has become a luxury, not a right.
This also explains why a campaign to reclaim pavement for pedestrians has made headlines across mainstream and social media in recent days.
The campaign, headed by HCM City District 1 Deputy Chairman oan Ngoc Hai, is seeing an all-out effort to remove anything that obstructs pavements in the district, whether it is a small flower pot placed by a local household or a big construction by a State agency.
The results have been positive so far, with hundreds of illegal encroachments being removed, dozens of illegally parked vehicles and motorbike drivers driving on the pavements being penalised.
Alerted that the campaign intends to be very strict, many local residents have voluntarily put away their goods to clear the pavements.
Many residents have also rushed to the Internet to express wholehearted support for the campaign, which is now spreading to other districts in HCM City, as well as Ha Noi.
In their gushing praise for the officials efforts, many people have stoutly defended them from criticism that their actions were too tough and hasty. Some have even called Hai, the leader of the campaign, a star.
It is a praiseworthy effort indeed, it should not be forgotten that Hai and his team are just doing their job implementing the law.
The rules have been there for years, and the public overexcitement reveals the sad truth that upholding the law has become an exception instead of the norm.
That said, this is not the whole picture or the whole truth. It is not just that enforcement was lax or there was widespread corruption, judgments easily made because there is some (or a lot of) truth to it.
For instance, authorities at the ward level have also launched campaigns to reclaim pavements. From time to time, weve seen ward authorities vehicles stop by the roadside, punishing violators and seizing goods from people. But the next day, when the campaign is over, everything returns to normal.
A friend who lives in the capital citys famed Old Quarter once told me not to believe in such campaigns. She said they were just being done for the sake of doing something. It is an unwritten law that household businesses donate money to support the local police and ward authorities, she said.
People using the pavement to eke out a living is a worldwide phenomenon. Imagine Times Square in New York without street vendors and artists, Paris without its pavement cafes, even Ha Noi and HCM City without the early morning vegetable, fruit, tofu and sticky-rice vendors
However, the long-term solution to such problems requires that: 1. everyone follows laws clearly meant for public benefit; 2. we have a sensitive understanding of livelihood issues that many vendors and their families face, and respond accordingly; and 3. we find creative, imaginative solutions that continue the live and let live aspect of our culture.
Other aspects need to be looked at, too.
In the ongoing campaign in HCM City, it was found that even the authorities and State employees were violating the regulations.
Dozens of State-owned cars were illegally parked on pavements, and two were towed away as the drivers refused to co-operate with competent agencies; an office belonging to a ward authority covered up to half of a pavement; a redundant wall of a ministrys branch office encroached onto a pavement; and so on.
If the State itself was breaking the law, how can we expect ordinary people to do otherwise, and how can we blame them for doing what they could to survive?
Is it understandable, then, that some people are upset? A clip recorded during the campaign showed a woman who owns an eye-glasses shop in District 1 angrily shouting at the official, refusing to be penalized for her violation. She repeatedly asked the officials why she was not told beforehand about the campaign.
Shes probably not the only one thinking thus. Its common that many people will run a red light if a police official is absent. Its also common that people like to complain about disorder, complete ignoring the fact that their own attitude and behaviour contributes to it.
Many pavements in our cities have to be cleared and motorbikes cannot be allowed on them, depriving pedestrians of their legitimate space: this much cannot be argued.
But clearing is only part of the solution. The people, vendors and others, need to abide by the law with full understanding, awareness and acceptance. For the long term benefit of our cities and our nation, we need to rediscover our civic sense. VNS
HA NOI President Tran ai Quang and his wife Nguyen Thi Hien chaired a welcome ceremony in Ha Noi yesterday for Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko who arrived in Viet Nam on February 28 for a six-day state visit.
During a meeting following the ceremony, President Quang and his spouse warmly welcomed the Emperor and Empress on their first ever state visit to Viet Nam, describing the visit as historic for Viet Nam-Japan relations.
They expressed their belief that the visit will strengthen mutual trust and understanding between the two peoples, thus further expanding the extensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Japan.
President Quang expressed his thanks for the warm sentiments that the Japanese Emperor and Empress, Royal Family as well as the Japanese Government and people have given to Viet Nam over past years.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko showed delight at their first-ever visit to Viet Nam and thanked the Vietnamese side for its warm welcome.
The two sides reviewed bilateral relations, which began from the eighth century when Vietnamese Great Master Phat Triet came to Nara Japans capital then to perform Buddhism and cultural exchange activities, and Japanese traders sailed to Hoi An port in Viet Nam in the 16th-17th century.
They expressed pleasure at the development of Viet Nam-Japan ties, while sharing the common hope of further bolstering the friendship between the two countries.
Emperor Akihito asserted that the historical exchange laid down an important foundation for the two sides to boost their partnership for development and the growth of Viet Nam-Japan ties.
At the meeting, President Quang and his spouse introduced the Japanese guests to the diverse and unique Vietnamese culture.
They said they wish to welcome more members of the Japanese Royal Family in 2018 when the two countries celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
The Emperor and Empress of Japan are symbols of the nation and the solidarity of Japanese people. They only make visits abroad on special commemorative occasions with partners sharing close relations with Japan.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko laid a wreath and paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Ha Noi yesterday.
Also, yesterday, President Quang and his spouse hosted a State banquet in Ha Noi in honour of the Japanese Emperor.
Describing cultural similarities and close bonds between the two peoples as a solid foundation for bilateral ties, President Quang said Viet Nam and Japan are not only extensive strategic partners but also sincere friends who share joy and grief together.
He recalled how Vietnamese people from all walks of life shared the pain of the Japanese people over the losses caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, and he highlighted Japans support for Viet Nams national development over the past years.
Emperor Akihito, in reply, expressed his thanks for the warm Vietnamese welcome toward him and Empress Michiko, as well as for the Japanese Crown Prince, Prince and Princess when they visited Viet Nam.
He said he was delighted that more Vietnamese people are interested in Japanese language and more Japanese enterprises are keen on business opportunities in Vietnam.
The Emperor said that the nearly 15,000 Japanese people living in Viet Nam and the two nations regular cultural exchanges have enhanced their cultural bonds. People-to-people exchange have also been deepened, he added.
NA Chairwoman wishes for closer friendship with Japan
Yesterday, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also met with Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
The host thanked the Japanese Emperor, Empress and Imperial House as well as the Japanese government, parliament and people for assisting Viet Nam in socio-economic development, including building major infrastructure works such as Can Tho bridge.
Emperor Akihito said he had looked forward to the visit. VNS
NHA TRANG - During the next two days senior officials from the 21 APEC economies will get together for their first meeting of the year in Nha Trang and make decisions on Viet Nams priorities and the initiatives to be carried out in the year.
The APEC Secretariats Executive Director Dr. Alan Bollard made the announcement on Wednesday during a meeting with local and foreign media ahead of the first Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 1).
Viet Nam has proposed four big priority areas, one of them is about sustainable growth - the growth that we also want to be inclusive, and focus on who would be beneficiaries of such growth.
The other three priorities are to improve regional economic integration, help small businesses that are not well integrated into the global economy get access to modern technology, and about food security and agricultures adaptation to climate change.
The APEC leaders will also look at ways to improve energy sustainability, said Bollard.
About 60 meetings of technical working groups covering the whole range of APEC activities related to trade, investment, border barriers, regulatory reform and capacity building have finished since APEC Year 2017 began on February 18.
We try to move the whole region to get better growth and better living standards for people, said Bollard
APEC is focusing on the benefits from economic integration, from economies coming closer together and from trade and investment.
Last year, when APEC leaders met in Lima and talked about anti-globalisation, they were quite concerned that we should be communicating better what the advantages of trade, investment and globalisation are.
We should not be ignoring those parts of economies suffering from losing competitiveness, Bollard said.
MSMEs in spotlight
One of the focuses that APEC economies will be looking at is inclusive growth and economic inclusion - a very important issue that needs to be discussed this year to let all members of APEC economies and all segments of society benefit from economic integration, and trade libelisation, said Director at the APEC Policy Support Unit, Dennis Hew.
Work on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has been going on in APEC for a number of years. In this regard, host economies often look at different areas This year - the Viet Nam APEC 2017 - we focus on supporting MSMEs in the digital age, Hew said.
Upon the rapid change in technology, it is important to discuss how we can help MSMEs in terms of accessing technology and addressing challenges for them to use technology to gain access to the global economy.
The Boracay Action Agenda was launched in the Philippines in 2015, which looks into a range of areas from trade facilitation, and regulatory and structural reforms to support MSMEs.
Besides supporting MSMEs, APEC has been active in supporting women in the economy, particularly in the private sector, through improved financial education to help businesswomen and entrepreneurs access finance and to understand financial services, the press conference heard.
Regional economic outlook
The APEC region expects to grow by 3.3 per cent in 2017 with a slight improvement in 2018 and 2019 at 3.6 per cent.
We can see some signs of improvement in regional economic growth and much of that growth continues to be driven by private consumption, as well as Government spending, said Hew.
Trade continued to underperform this year. For the first nine months of 2016 from January to September, the APEC region - in terms of its merchandised trade value - contracted by 6.4 per cent for exports, and 6.6 per cent for imports.
However, some of the APEC economies, particularly Viet Nam, have shown signs of significant improvement in trade numbers this year.
Regarding foreign direct investment (FDI), the Asia-Pacific region continues to attract a large share of global FDI flows, about 55 per cent. And at least five of the top ten recipients in the world come from APEC economies, according to Hew. - VNS
NHA TRANG The first Senior Officials Meeting of APEC 2017 officially opens in central coastal Khanh Hoa Provinces Nha Trang City on Thursday morning with attendees from 21 member economies.
The meeting comes at the start of what promises to be a difficult year as global and regional economic growth remains low, in addition to weak global trade and subdued investment.
There are many uncertainties, SOM chair and Deputy Foreign Minister of Viet Nam Bui Thanh Son noted in his opening remarks.
In some corners, we are hearing concerns that the benefits of globalisation are not distributed fairly. New disruptive technologies, if not properly harnessed, run the risk of widening development disparity among economies.
But the Asia-Pacific region remains the engine of economic growth and integration, and a pioneer in advancing trade and investment liberalisation, Deputy FM Son affirmed.
Son said he believed APEC had all the resources, potential and capabilities to overcome these challenges and turn them into an impetus for further growth and development.
As a grouping of dynamic economies, our region can and will continue to move ahead on the path of development and prosperity, he added.
During the two-day SOM meeting, reports and recommendations from discussions of various APEC committees and working groups over the last 12 days will be presented to senior officials who will exchange views on how to advance APECs agenda in the four priority areas to help APEC affirm its relevance and role as the premier regional economic forum.
Accordingly, the priorities for APEC 2017 include fostering sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)s competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.
Participants applauded the report by the Chair of the Finance Senior Officials Meeting and called for additional regular exchanges to ensure close collaboration between the banking and financial sectors to foster APECs common interests, General o Hung Viet APEC 2017 National Secretariats deputy director briefed local media about results of the morning working session.
Following the report by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Chair, delegates once again affirmed enterprises participation in APEC, which is of significant role to the success of APEC co-operation in 2017, Viet said.
Later, the Economic Committee Chairs report received opinions from 17 out of 21 representatives of the member economies. The opinions revealed concerns over vital issues, including structural reform, promoted co-operation and support for MSMEs, and highly appreciated Viet Nams initiative related to enhanced co-operation in human resources which would be further discussed in the afternoon.
In the morning, delegates also discussed ways to increase inclusiveness of growth a top concern of Viet Nam and a common concern of the whole region to ensure all citizens and businesses got the maximum benefits from globalisation and regional connection.
What I hope to take away from this first SOM is a strong message reaffirming APECs essential role as the premier economic forum that is working for the people and businesses, SOM Chair and Deputy FM Son said. VNS
The Emperor shakes hand with Ngo Minh Thuy, Vice Rector of Viet Nam National Universitys University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, who is also a Japan Alumni.
Viet Nam NewsHA NOI Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who are on an official visit to Viet Nam, met with Vietnamese alumni of Viet Nams first university in Ha Noi, Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), who studied in Japan.
To welcome the Emperor and the Empress, many Japanese living in Viet Nam gathered at the area near Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam with Japanese flags in hands.
The Emperor and the Empress at Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Son
Talking to the former students, Emperor Akihito called them the bridge that connects Viet Nam and Japan and expressed his wish that they continue to contribute to the good relationship between the two countries.
Ngo Minh Thuy, Vice Rector of Viet Nam National Universitys Foreign Languages and International Studies programme and the vice president of the Viet Nam Japan Friendship Association and president of the Japan Alumni Club in Viet Nam, said it was a memorable day.
The Emperor and Empress were very friendly and down-to-earth, she said.
Many Japanese living in Ha Noi gather to welcome the Emperor and the Empress. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Son
She also said that the Viet Nam Japan Friendship Association has organised many activities to foster the relationship between the two peoples and nations.
The former students said they all share the desire to continue nurturing bilateral friendly ties.
In the same afternoon, the Japanese guests met families of Japanese war veterans living in Viet Nam. VNS
HA NOI Last month, while Kieu Van Manh was delivering timber in the capital citys Thach That District, the planks of wood he was carrying came into contact with the overhead power lines and caused a 23-minute power outage for the two districts of Thach That and Ba Vi.
An unofficial survey in Ha Noi revealed several instances in which high-voltage power lines had violated safety corridors, threatening the electrical supply for the city.
In January, an unidentified unit was caught moving trees in front of the Pham Van ong gate of the Ministry of Public Security, which is within the safety corridor of an underground power cable that runs from Chem Village in Tu Liem District, through Nghia o Ward in Cau Giay District to My inh Commune in Tu Liem District.
A similar case was reported on the same day in Ha ong District. It was discovered by the Ha Noi High Voltage Power Grid Company while the company was examining the installation of a sewer in the districts Phu La Ward.
The forms of violation vary, including illegal construction of houses and buildings, labourers working near power grids, as well as haphazard installation of tents, roofs and fences that might be blown away during storms and hit the grids, the company said.
Several construction owners did not take responsibility for complying with the safety regulations for high-voltage power grids, according to the company. Several of them did not announce or contact the company for coordination when digging up roads in the areas of power grid safety corridors, it said.
According to Nguyen Van Tu, director of the Fanci Law Limited Company, the installation of structures such as balconies near power lines is a violation of regulations on power grid safety corridors.
It does not only affect the national power grid but also endangers the lives of residents, he said.
In 2013, some electrical poles in the Tam Chuc Tourism Site in Ha Nam Province were soaked in water due to the construction of an artificial lake within the safety corridor of the sites high-voltage power grid.
The poles were at high risk of collapse after their bolts, braces and wires rusted due to the water, posing a danger to local residents and potentially causing power outages for the province and parts of the capital city, according to o inh Dung, an official from the Power Transmission Company 1 under the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT).
The Ha Noi High Voltage Power Grid Company has installed barriers around low power grids on high-traffic roads and placed warning signs for vehicles, as well as collaborating with concerned city authorities to promulgate regulations on protecting power grid safety corridors, the company said.
Violations of safety regulations for power grids would face fines of between VN1-50 million (US$) as regulated in Decree No. 134, issued by the Government in 2013, depending on the severity of the violation, according to lawyer Nguyen Van Tu from the Fanci Law Limited Company.
Violations that are particularly severe, and the repetition of violations after civil fines have been imposed, will be subject to criminal charges, Tu said.
However, the most severe punishment available for these cases is 10 years imprisonment, which is considered rather light for violations that result in fatalities, he said. VNS
HA NOI Australia and Viet Nam have started a reciprocal work and holiday visa programme from March 1.
The arrangement will allow young Vietnamese citizens, aged between 18 and 30 years, to travel to Australia for one year and take up short-term work and courses. It will also allow young Australians to work and holiday in Viet Nam.
Every year, 200 eligible Vietnamese applicants will be granted visas to Australia and 200 Australians can come to Viet Nam.
Im delighted to see the latest outcome in our bilateral cooperation, Australian ambassador Craig Chittick said. Young Vietnamese and Australian citizens now have the opportunity to be part of a unique cultural exchange experience. It will improve the understanding between the people of our two countries and contribute greatly to our economic, security and innovation partnerships.
The work and holiday visa will allow Vietnamese citizens to engage in cultural exchange and tourism programmes; stay in Australia for 12 months from their date of arrival; work for the 12-month duration of their stay (but for not longer than six months with one employer); and do up to four-month-long courses.
After March 1, the work and holiday visa programme will reopen on July 1 every year.
For more information on eligibility and conditions of the visa and how to apply, visit vietnam.embassy.gov.au/hnoi/Visas_and_Migration.html (Australian Embassy Vietnam) or border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/462 (Australias Department of Immigration and Border Protection) or laodongkynghi.dolab.gov.vn (Department of Labour, Viet Nams Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs). VNS
HCM City Party Secretary inh La Thang askes organisations and offices to move leaders and managers to other positions if they have show corruption or waste and do not meet working requirements. Photo baotintuc.vn
HCM City HCM City is one of several localities in the country that have successfully worked with central and municipal judicial agencies in the fight against corruption, a senior official has said.
Speaking at an anti-corruption and anti-waste conference on Tuesday in HCM City, Phan inh Trac, head of the Central Commission for Internal Affairs, said: The City is also one of several localities that have uncovered, investigated, prosecuted and judged corruption cases by themselves.
Though the city and other localities have experience in fighting corruption, some localities have "limited power because central agencies have all the responsibilities. They are worried about negative action and wont allow some localities to join in anti-corruption activities, he said.
Trac cited the serious corruption case of Pham Cong Danh as an example of successful work in HCM City. The file for the case included thousands of pages, but HCM City judicial agencies, including police, procuracy and court, were able to perform well as all ideas were listened to carefully and debated in a frank manner.
He also praised HCM Citys judicial agencies for other serious corruption cases under management of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption.
In many cases, the Central Commission for Internal Affairs has asked the Ministry of Public Security to handle special corruption cases for HCM City, and the city has done everything well, he said.
Trac asked city agencies and authorities to identify five hot fields in corruption, including real estate; master planning and construction projects; customs and State-owned enterprise equitisation; ODA usage and management; and public service and social welfare.
At the meeting, City Party Secretary inh La Thang said that in recent years, anti-corruption and anti-waste activities in HCM City had gained significant achievements, especially with the active participation of leaders of Party organisations and units.
However, anti-corruption achievements are still small in comparison with goals and expectations from local residents, especially the low rate of taking back assets, Thang said.
He asked that organisations and offices move leaders and managers to other positions if they have show corruption or waste and do not meet working requirements.
Creating the best conditions for people to denounce corruption is very important work. Organisations and offices should open their hotlines and emails and have frequent open meetings, he added.
A limited legal framework is one of the most important reasons why leaders take advantage of corruption, Tran The Luu, head of the city Party Committees Internal Affairs Commission, said.
In the time ahead, the commission along with relevant authorities will review and amend all policies and regulations related to corruption. VNS
HA NOI Experts yesterday agreed in a conference in Ha Noi that there was a need for more public-private partnerships in education and training.
The two-day conference, STEMCON, focused on trends in the field and how to realise STEM goals in education and the economy in Viet Nam.
University and industry are like darlings, always praising each other, but we need to get married already, and be fully committed to helping each other, compensating for each others weaknesses, said Nguyen Thanh Nam, former CEO of FPT and founder of online university FUNIX, at a conference on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and in the workforce.
Rector of the HCM Vocational College of Technology, Nguyen Thi Hang, agreed.
She stressed that universities and companies must be equal entities, with equal rights and equal responsibilities in education and training.
Hang also considered the governments decision to expand university autonomy a step in the right direction, which will give universities more flexibility in decision-making and budget to collaborate with private sector.
Panellists at the event discussed the best ideas to develop a skilled STEM workforce through industry, academic, and government collaboration.
Assoc. Prof. Le Quan, Vice President of Viet Nam National University (VNU), said his school is planning co-operation with technology companies in research activities instead of just focusing on student training activities like at the moment. He also shared an ambitious plan to establish a technology university managed by VNU and telecoms firm Viettel.
The conference was organised for the fifth year by the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Programme (HEEAP), founded by the US Arizona State University (ASU), Intel Corporation, and Vietnamese partners, with funding from the US Agency of International Development, bringing together the academic, industry and government communities.
All speakers agreed that STEM careers are an innovative force behind the worlds economy, especially with the trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technology.
Tran Van Tung, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said competitive advantages based on natural resources or labour cannot be sustained for long in the current world; the country can only hope to develop by competitive advantages based on STEM, raising intellectual content in national products. Only in this way can Viet Nam achieve sustainable economic development, bridging the development gaps with other countries.
Tung added that in recent years, the government has put a strong focus on science and technology via several national programmes and targets.
HEEAP and Intel also took the occasion to announce a new Master Fellowship one-year programme in engineering for 19 Vietnamese students to study in the US to support HCM City Peoples Committee in its smart-city initiative.
Also, ASU will hold a one-week workshop for HCM City authorities to recommend the right focuses for the smart-city initiative. VNS
A spate of fires in the ancient town of Hoi An is causing concern for citizens and local authorities. A project on fire fighting and prevention is looking for funding of VN240 billion. Photo tienphong.vn
HA NOI A spate of fires in the ancient town of Hoi An is causing concern for citizens and local authorities. A project on fire fighting and prevention is looking for funding of VN240 billion.
Local authorities and relevant offices have tasked themselves with urgent fire prevention measures in the ancient town, which is a UNESCO-recognised world cultural asset in Viet Nam. 80 per cent of house in Hoi An are built using wood, with traditional methods dating from the 17th to 19th centuries.
The cause of two recent fires on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street was determined to have been electrical faults. Concerns over fires are widespread due to the characteristic old houses, and the possibility of blazes spreading quickly and causing huge amounts of damage.
Luckily, the recent fires occurred during the day and were discovered early, so little damage was caused, said Nguyen Van Son, deputy chairman of Hoi An Peoples Committee.
The danger of fire spreading is high in concentrated areas of adjacent old houses, Son said.
According to the deputy chairman, Hoi An needs a fire warning system and fire prevention measures that deploy automatically, requirements that were mapped out as part of a project by the local peoples committee.
The fire prevention project, needing about VN240 billion of funding, was included in the master plan on world cultural asset preservation and development.
However, the city is still waiting on a source of funding.
The head of the Hoi An police office, Colonel inh Xuan Nghia, said the deployment of fire fighting police officers to the ancient streets was not easy.
The fire fighting police office is located in Thanh Ha Ward. It takes us 20 minutes by truck to arrive at in the centre, where the ancient streets are located, Nghia said.
Due to the narrow streets, the large fire trucks are not able to enter, while the smaller ones are not equipped to deal with significant fires. Recent fires at rented properties that were vacant have pushed local authorities to suggest the equipping of mini fire extinguishers.
The deputy chairman, Nguyen Van Son, said forgetting to turn off the power before closing a store was enough to cause a fire in an area where 90 to 100 per cent of houses facing the street are for business use, and are mainly made out of wood.
Since late 2011, the ancient streets have had a population density of 12,129 people per square kilometre. The water pipeline system serving the locations couldnt meet the demand if a large fire occurred.
About the plan, Son said the local authorities will send teams to residential quarters to raise awareness of fire prevention and safety. Relevant offices will check electrical systems in residential and commercial properties, and set up a civil fire fighting force. VNS
HA NOI A Japanese health festival will be held at the Ha Noi-based Aeon Mall Long Bien Trade Centre on March 4-5 to introduce the nations medical equipment and services.
Around 60 businesses, which include those that have already invested in Viet Nam and those seeking investment opportunities in the healthcare sector, will showcase health-related products and services such as biomedical equipment, water purifiers, functional food, wheelchairs, blood pressure measuring devices, cosmetics, health check-ups and treatments.
The event, organised by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), also includes a special forum that will discuss the secret of good health and high life expectancy among the Japanese. Japan has been known as one of the highest life expectancy in the world.
Hironobu Kitagawa, head representative of JETRO Ha Noi, said Japanese businesses are looking towards Asian markets, including Viet Nam.
Last week, a delegation of Japanese businesses visited HCM City for information on investment opportunities.
Japan is among the countries that top the life expectancy chart. We want to introduce Japanese products and services that will help people in other countries deal with health problems and maintain good health like Japanese people, Kitagawa said.
In 2014, JETRO had held this event in three big cities in the region - Yangon in Myanmar, HCM City in Viet Nam and Bangkok in Thailand. VNS
THUA THIEN-HUE Police report that they have busted a large scale gambling ring operating in the form of an illegal lottery in Hue City.
Two sisters, Le Thi Cam Tu, 35 and Le Thi Cam Hang, 31, both from Tay Loc Ward in Hue, were arrested on Wednesday for operating the ring found to include about 15 others members.
At the police station, Tu and Hang confessed they had made total profit worth about VN10 billion (roughly US$438,000) from a total VN14 billion collected from gamblers since last November.
The ring was seized after police broke into 13 lottery sale outlets selling illegal lotteries to gamblers from around Hue and the neighbouring Quang Tri Provinces ong Ha District.
The bust resulted from a campaign conducted by the provincial criminal police unit, PC45, since late last month that mobilised more than 100 policemen in co-operation with local armed units.
Thousands of illegal lotteries, dozens of fax and print machines, laptops and computers--along with cash worth more than VN500 million--were seized at Tu and Hangs different sale outlets during the campaign.
The two sisters also admitted that they were working with the support of 15 members, five of whom everyday transferred to them about VN100 million ($4,380). The money was collected from gamblers.
Police said they are consolidating all documents on the case to put the ring to the court. VNS
UNITED NATIONS UN Security Council envoys on Thursday travel to Africas Lake Chad region, where famine, the Boko Haram insurgency, climate change and poor governance have collided to create one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises.
The 15 ambassadors from the UNs top decision-making body hope to draw global attention to the emergency affecting 21 million people across four countries: Nigeria , Chad , Cameroon and Niger .
The visit could also pave the way to stronger action by the Security Council to address what has been a largely ignored crisis, relegated to the bottom of the diplomatic agenda as war in Syria and South Sudan escalated.
British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the visit will "shine a spotlight of international attention on the humanitarian crisis" at a time when donors are asked to come up with new financing for the region.
The crisis has been "largely overlooked" and the Security Council was "perhaps a bit slow off the mark in tackling the threat of Boko Haram," Rycroft said.
Led by Britain , France and Senegal , the council will meet with leaders, talk to civil society groups and visit camps in Cameroon and northeast Nigeria sheltering some of the 2.3 million people displaced in the region.
The visit begins in Cameroon a week after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres set off alarm bells over the threat of famine in northeast Nigeria , the epicenter of the Boko Haram conflict.
The United Nations is seeking US$1.5 billion in funding for 2017 for the Lake Chad region -- almost half of which is needed for northeast Nigeria , where 5.1 million people face acute food shortages.
Perfect storm of challenges
Boko Haram took up arms in 2009 in pursuit of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria , but the insurgency has since spread with frequent suicide bomb attacks.
Africas second-largest oil producer, Nigeria has made inroads in its military campaign to root out the Islamists, but at a high price for civilians.
Last month, a Nigerian military jet accidentally bombed a camp for displaced people in Borno state, killing at least 112 civilians, including six Nigerian Red Cross workers, and wounding 100.
Compounding the crisis, climate change and population growth have turned Lake Chad -- once one of Africa s largest bodies of water -- into an environmental disaster.
The lakes water basin has shrunk to barely 10 per cent of its 1960s levels. The ambassadors will encourage the four countries to come up with a new strategy to address the crisis and its many facets, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said.
Governments should "adopt a comprehensive approach to address the root causes of terrorism, including governance and development," he said.
Sweden , a non-permanent council member and big humanitarian donor, hopes the council will be more active in tackling the crisis.
The Lake Chad region has been hit by a "perfect storm" of challenges, Swedish diplomat Carl Skau said: "terrorism, trafficking, serious underdevelopment, but also the effects of climate change."
"This cannot be a one-off," he added. "We need a serious follow-up when we come back."
WASHINGTON Donald Trumps muted prime-time address to Congress got positive reviews on Wednesday, but numerous questions remained about the details and costs of his ambitious agenda.
Americans reacted warmly to Trumps lengthy speech, in which he ditched the most bellicose of his rhetoric in favour of a call for national unity and a more presidential timber.
A CBS News/YouGov poll showed that 76 per cent of those who watched the speech approved of what they saw. Wall Street also voiced its appreciation, with the Dow topping 21,000 for the first time.
It was a substantial and much needed boost for the 70-year-old Republican president, whose approval rating is at a historic low for presidents after a month in office, and his embattled White House.
Trump -- ever-aware of his image and popularity -- fired a triumphant "THANK YOU!" message to his 25 million Twitter followers on Wednesday morning.
To keep the momentum, the White House postponed the unveiling of a controversial new ban on travelers from mostly Muslim countries, which would have dominated news coverage.
It also pared back Trumps public remarks and held its daily press briefing off-camera.
The speech -- staunchly nationalist, but delivered in a more measured tone -- may help soothe a deeply divided country.
In the nearly six weeks since Trump took office, political polarisation in America has reached fever pitch.
Trumps supporters have flung themselves into the cause, hoping the election of an outsider will shake up the elites and insider politics in Washington.
But among opponents, there is still a sense of disbelief that a billionaire with what they see as authoritarian tendencies and no political experience is in charge of the worlds pre-eminent superpower.
According to Gallup, there has been a steady increase since Novembers election in the number of Americans experiencing worry on any given day.
Really pleased
An estimated 48 million people tuned in to watch Trumps speech, according to the Nielsen ratings firm, lower than the some 53 million who watched former president Barack Obamas first joint address in 2009.
Trumps speech was welcomed by the hundreds of mostly Republican lawmakers who witnessed it firsthand in Congress.
"I think we were all really pleased last night to hear the presidents unifying message. It was refreshing for everyone after such a difficult election season," Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.
Americans, he said, are "ready for a new start."
Trump brought Republicans and Democrats together by strongly criticising recent threats against Jewish community centers and condemning the seemingly racially motivated killing of an Indian immigrant.
He also reached out to opposition Democrats, reprising his call for a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and expressing support for paid family leave and affordable child care.
Attention will now turn to how Trump can meet those pledges -- along with goals to "restart" the US economy, boost defense spending and reduce violent crime.
While he promised to replace his predecessors landmark health care reforms with a plan that would broaden choice, lower costs and improve access, he offered little in terms of how that would be achieved.
Words and deeds
Democrats expressed skepticism about whether the change in tone would last.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer reinforced the fear by insisting, "It was not a reset speech."
"With Donald Trump, the speeches dont mean very much," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told CBS News.
"His speeches are populist. Theyre aimed at the working folks who supported him. But his governing and what he does is hard right, favoring special interests over the working class."
Trumps plans on infrastructure, health care, and high-stakes tax reform will likely run afoul of fiscal conservatives, who are intent on bringing down the national debt, which will hit $20 trillion on Trumps watch.
He also wants to hike defense spending by $54 billion, offsetting it with cuts to foreign assistance and other non-military spending.
That issue is likely to be front and center as Trump visits military shipyards in Virginia on Thursday.
The "deficit spending" that Trump would likely employ set off alarm bells for lawmaker Dana Rohrabacher, who said he was dumbfounded at the lack of opposition from his fellow Republicans at the potential for ballooning spending.
"The emphasis that Republicans have placed on (shrinking) the deficit is now going to be something that we will remember in the past," he said.
Some Democrats were also dismissive: "This plan doesnt add up," Senator Chris Van Hollen said.
"A third-grade math student can see that youre going to blow a huge hole in the deficit if you do the things the president is talking about."
To square the circle, Trump -- the consummate political outsider may have to embrace Washington dealmaking. AFP
BELFAST Northern Ireland goes to the polls on Thursday for the second time in 10 months but there is little prospect that the outcome will fix the provinces bitter political divisions.
The two main parties both claim they want a fresh power-sharing government installed as soon as possible, but the enmity between them seems entrenched, with neither side prepared to give ground.
Snap elections were called in January after long-simmering tensions boiled over between Catholic, Irish Republican socialists Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, which is Protestant, conservative and pro-British in its outlook.
"Id be more pessimistic than optimistic that the DUP and Sinn Fein can get back in a government together quickly," Jonathan Tonge, a Northern Ireland politics expert at Liverpool University, said in a view echoed widely by analysts.
Sinn Feins deputy first minister Martin McGuinness quit in January, saying he could no longer work with Northern Irelands first minister Arlene Foster, the DUP leader.
McGuinness resigned in protest over a botched green heating scheme, the breaking point after months of tensions with the DUP.
Foster had instigated the scheme when she was the provinces economy minister.
Disrespect and contempt
McGuinness is not standing again due to ill health but his successor as Sinn Feins leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle ONeill, is showing no sign of softening the rhetoric.
"People are angry at the arrogance, disrespect and contempt," she told Foster on Tuesday in a feisty televised debate.
Gerry Kelly, a Sinn Fein north Belfast candidate, said his party had taken a "huge decision".
"We could have sat on our seats for four of five years, but there were issues that were big enough as far as were concerned to bring back to the public," he said.
Throughout the election campaign, Foster has appealed for unionists to resist Sinn Feins demands.
"If you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back for more," she told a party rally.
If the DUP and Sinn Fein end up as the two biggest parties -- as polls predict -- and cannot agree to form a power-sharing executive within three weeks, the governance of Northern Ireland will probably revert from Belfast to London for the foreseeable future.
Aside from handing over budget control, business groups are concerned that would hinder Northern Irelands ability to attract much-needed international investment and tourism.
Brexit a hostile action
Voters head to the polls against the backdrop of Brexit, prompting uncertainty over the provinces future relationship with the Republic of Ireland.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in January described Brexit as a "hostile action" by the British government, which will affect the border and have a "negative impact" on the provinces peace agreement.
In last Junes referendum on EU membership, Northern Ireland voted to remain in the bloc but was outvoted by an overall British majority of 52 per cent to leave.
Ahead of divorce talks starting, Brussels and Britain have emphasised the importance of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement -- which ended three decades of violence and saw the checkpoints of the border replaced with an open frontier.
Both have rejected the idea of imposing a hard border after Britain leaves the bloc, but with Prime Minister Theresa May vowing to end free movement of EU nationals it is unclear how this will be possible in practical terms.
Britains Northern Ireland minister James Brokenshire travelled to Brussels on Wednesday, where he said his government "will take no risks" with political stability in the province.
Elections in Northern Ireland usually see voters make their choice along tribal lines between unionists and nationalists.
Tonge argues that the "sectarian dynamics" in elections will ensure business as usual, regardless of unionist disquiet over the DUPs handling of the costly bungled energy scheme.
"If you ask an ordinary unionist voter, would you rather pay 50 to 100 a year to pay for this heating scandal or would you have a Sinn Fein first minister?, they take the financial hit," he said.
The polls are due to open at 7:00am (0700 GMT) and close at 10:00pm. Northern Irelands remotest polling station got its ballot box on Wednesday after a choppy ferry journey to the 140 residents on Rathlin Island. AFP
2nd Watch , a leading managed cloud company, has raised $19 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Delta-v Capital with participation from previous investors Madrona Venture Group, Columbia Capital and Top Tier Capital Partners. The new money will be used to meet customer demand for 2nd Watch's managed cloud services and also for scaling its related cloud enablement and migration services.
Founded in 2010, 2nd Watch was among the first audited AWS Managed Service Provider Partners. The firm has helped some of the world's biggest brands embrace the cloud, including Crate & Barrel, Conde Nast, Coca-Cola North America, Lenovo, Motorola, SCOR and Yamaha, while managing over 200,000 AWS instances per month across its client base.
2nd Watch has earned AWS Competencies in Financial Services, Enterprise Migration, DevOps, Big Data, Marketing and Commerce, Life Sciences and SharePoint, and was the first cloud-native managed services provider to earn SOC2 compliance. The firm is opening an East Coast Managed Cloud Services Center in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2017.
"As an APN Premier Consulting Partner and AWS Managed Service Provider Partner, 2nd Watch delivers the deep expertise in our products and services that customers greatly value," says Terry Wise, Vice President, Worldwide Partner Ecosystem, AWS. "The company has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to help large enterprises migrate workloads to AWS, and then support them with the next-generation managed services our customers are looking for."
"We are excited to invest in 2nd Watch, the leading managed services provider in this very disruptive, large and fast-growing market. The company has a proven management team and an impressive and enthusiastic customer base," says Rand Lewis, Managing Partner, Delta-v Capital. "We are confident that the 2nd Watch team, with market-leading proprietary technologies and processes, will continue to be an integral, value-added partner for enterprise customers that are adopting cloud computing."
"2016 was a very successful year for 2nd Watch," says Doug Schneider, CEO at 2nd Watch. "We added multiple large-enterprise clients and expanded business with many more of our existing ones. Enterprises continue to accelerate their adoption and leverage of the public cloud on many fronts. They're telling us that traditional infrastructure solutions and partners are ill-equipped to manage workloads and virtual data centers in the public cloud. As companies move in this direction, they require support from partners like 2nd Watch that have experience managing the largest and most sensitive applications and workloads on AWS. The capital infusion will help us grow and support our customers the 2nd Watch way."
WATERLOO Crossroads Center in Waterloo and College Square mall in Cedar Falls are now under the same ownership.
A holding company of Mason Asset Management of Great Neck, N.Y., acquired Crossroads Center in January, according to documents on file at the Black Hawk County Courthouse. A holding company of the same firm acquired College Square in March 2015 and last summer submitted a plan to city officials to recapitalize and revitalize that property.
The owners are evaluating plans for Crossroads as well.
Waterloo is an attractive market, I think, said Elliott Nassim, head of leasing for Mason Asset Management. Theres interest in Waterloo, from prospective tenants. We hope to capitalize on that and lease up the vacancies we have.
And were hopeful we can find some tenants, Nassim said. He noted the mall also has some undeveloped out lots.
Nassim said the company is evaluating its options on physical improvements to the malls. He said there is no cookie cutter strategy, and each property is different. But he said the company hopes for some changes at Crossroads over the coming year.
One major development at Crossroads was the addition of an At Home home decor store at the mall in April. It replaced J.C. Penney, which closed after 90 years in Waterloo, both downtown and later at the mall. It is only the second At Home store in Iowa for the Plano, Texas-based company.
In June, Nassims firm presented to Cedar Falls officials a proposal to subdivide College Squares commercial out lots for sale, part of a plan to generate revenue to revitalize the mall. The City Council approved that plan in November. Recent tenant additions have included Planet Fitness and the College of Hair Design, which relocated from downtown Waterloo.
Crossroads Center opened in March 1970. College Square opened in November 1969. Both malls have had a succession of owners and managers over the decades.
Prior to Mason Asset Managements January acquisition of Crossroads, New York-based real estate developer Extell Development Co. purchased the 846,434-square-foot shopping center in December 2013.
CEDAR FALLS A four-vehicle crash on Iowa Highway 58 Tuesday evening left three people hurt and dumped diesel fuel, according to Cedar Falls police.
The crash happened shortly before 6 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 58 and Ridgeway Avenue when a pickup truck driven by Denise Munoz, no age given, of Waterloo, was traveling east on Ridgeway and ran a red light, police said.
That vehicle struck a Dodge Ram pickup truck that was headed south on Highway 58. It was operated by Brandon Willey of Shell Rock. Munozs truck then collided with a passenger car that was traveling north on Highway 58, police said. The Mazda was driven by Wang Cheung of Cedar Falls.
Munozs and Cheungs vehicle then collided with a northbound semi-tractor trailer that was driven by Tom Stillmunkes of Dubuque.
The collision ruptured the fuel tank of the semi-truck, which contained more than 100 gallons of diesel fuel. Removal of the vehicles and cleanup of the fuel spill caused traffic to be rerouted for nearly two hours.
Munoz and a passenger in her vehicle, Ashley Muskic, were transported to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital in Waterloo. Police said their injuries were not life-threatening. A passenger in the Dodge Ram, Kathleen Willey, was injured but was not transported.
Cedar Falls police were assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office, Hudson Police Department, Iowa Department of Transportation, and Sartori Paramedics were assisted by Covenant Paramedics. Additionally, an ambulance from Eldora was passing by the scene and stopped to render assistance.
Man arrested for
false statements
WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been arrested for allegedly fibbing on his weapons permit application.
Waterloo police arrested Adam Charles Butler, 24, of 1177 Bourland Ave., on Tuesday for false statements on an application to carry weapons and driving while suspended following a traffic stop. He was later released from jail.
Patrol officers pulled over Butler around midnight Tuesday in the area of Hawkeye and Washburn roads, and police found a loaded AR-15 pistol and marijuana in his vehicle, records state. During his interview with police, Butler allegedly admitted to using marijuana over the past three years and not disclosing the use on his permit application, court records state.
Butlers application to carry weapons was issued Jan. 16, 2015.
Probation in
sex case legal
CHARLES CITY (AP) An Iowa judge has ruled it was legal to put a former band teacher on probation rather than imprisoning him for sexual abuse of an underage girl.
Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey had asked the judge in September to review the suspended 10-year sentence given in April 2016 to Benjamin Thompson, who pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a 15-year-old in Floyd County. Ginbey says the sentence violated an Iowa law requiring teachers, as mandatory reporters of child abuse, be imprisoned if theyre convicted of sexually abusing children.
Judge Gregg Rosenbladt said in his ruling last week he found no evidence Thompson was under contract as a teacher at the time of the offense in June 2011. Thompson began teaching in the Pella district in August 2011.
Man faces
arson charge
HAZLETON A Hazleton man has been arrested in connection with a weekend fire.
Buchanan County sheriffs deputies arrested Kim Robin Tielebein, 49, for first-degree arson and public intoxication.
According to court records, Tielebein lit a trench coat on fire and placed it on a bed in the basement of his home at 403 E. Sufficool St. around 8:45 p.m. Saturday. At the time, Tielebeins wife and son were in the residence.
The family fled the house without injuries, but flames engulfed the basement and caused part of the main floor to collapse.
While firefighters from Hazleton and Oelwein battled the blaze, Tielebein reentered the house and had to be removed, records state. He was later seen meandering around a nearby apartment complex wearing a coat, shorts and slippers and was eventually found hiding in a crawl space where he was detained.
The Iowa Fire Marshals Office assisted in the investigation.
At the time of Saturdays fire, Tielebein was on parole from an April 2015 domestic dispute and vehicle chase. He pleaded to charges of domestic abuser in possession of a firearm and ammunition, eluding and operating while intoxicated.
He was sentenced up to five years in prison and released in February 2016, according to court records and the Iowa Department of Corrections.
Community Bank of Oelwein filed a foreclosure action on the Sufficool Street home in January 2017, alleging $43,024 is still owed on the real estate loan, according to court records. The foreclosure is pending in Buchanan County District Court.
DES MOINES Labor squared off with business and industry Wednesday over the future of Iowas workers compensation system, which would be overhauled under legislation backed by GOP majority lawmakers.
Under the workers compensation law, most employers are required to provide medical or disability payments or both to workers who are injured on the job.
But its absurd the GOP is pushing for an overhaul, according to Kellie Paschke, a former House GOP staffer whos now a trial lawyer.
A few short years ago we had workers compensation legislation before this committee, recalled Paschke, speaking on behalf of the Association for Justice. At that time, House Republicans indicated the system was not broken and nothing that needed to be fixed.
And the Iowa Association of Business and Industry ran commercials saying Iowas workers compensation system was a model for the nation, she said.
And yet here we are today, basically turning our workers compensation system on its head, she said at a House Commerce subcommittee hearing on House Study Bill 169.
Mike Ralston of the Association of Business and Industry agreed the Iowa system was the premier workers comp system then.
The goal of this bill is to get it back to that premier status, he said in a committee meeting packed with union members, trial lawyers and lobbyists.
In just a few years, Iowa has gone from having some of the lowest workers comp premiums for employers, the richest benefits in the country for employees, said Ralston, whose association has 1,500 member companies with 330,000 employees in Iowa. Now were in the middle of the pack with increasing premiums and still some of the richest benefits for employees.
Although the rate employers pay dropped 4.7 percent last year, Ralston said, the rates over several years actually have increased more than 7 percent.
HSB 169 is needed to ensure the protection of the system and the protection of Iowas workers who need benefits from the system, he said.
The bill is fair for employers and employees, in fact, generous compared to benefits of our neighbors, he said.
A Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on similar legislation, Senate Study Bill 1170, drew a full room later in the day. Of the subcommittee members, Republican Sens. Michael Breitbach of Strawberry Point and Bill Anderson of Pierson signed off on the bill. Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, did not.
Both the House and Senate Commerce committees plan to run their respective bills in full committee Thursday.
According to the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, the bill would reduce benefits for common workplace injuries; eliminate benefits based on an employees loss of earning power in some cases; discriminate against older workers by requiring an employees age to be used to calculate available benefits; and limit benefits available to employees 67 and older when injured. For workers permanently and totally disabled by a job injury, their benefits would cease at age 67, the group said.
The issue is personal to Rep. Scott Ourth, D-Ackworth, a heavy equipment operator.
We work tired, we work hot, we work sore and we work stiff, and were proud of it, he said. But people get hurt and they get hurt badly through no fault of their own.
This legislation could affect him and his family and Im having a hard time with it.
Rep. Peter Cownie, R-West Des Moines, said the first goal is to avoid injuries to workers. But there will be injuries, and workers injured on the job deserve benefits.
However, there has been abuse and it is the responsibility of the Legislature, which created the workers comp system more than 100 years ago, to review it.
He and subcommittee Chairman Gary Carlson, R-Muscatine, signed off on the bill.
CEDAR FALLS -- Authorities investigating investment fraud in the Czech Republic want to know more about the dealings of a former Cedar Falls commodities broker who is now in prison.
Ladislav Kadlcik, a businessman in Prostejov, allegedly told investigators he borrowed money to cover losses from investing with Russell Wasendorf Sr.s defunct Peregrine Financial Group. Now Kadlcik is accused of bilking investors of some 260 million koruna -- about $10 million in U.S. money.
Based in Cedar Falls, Peregrine collapsed in July 2012 following Wasendorfs suicide attempt, which unveiled what prosecutors called a $215 million Ponzi scheme. Wasendorf is serving a 50-year prison sentence.
Acting on a request by the Czech Republics Office of Prosecutor General, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Iowa last week asked the court to appoint a commissioner to collect evidence to assist Czech investigators from the city of Brno who are looking into ties between Kadlcik and Peregrine.
The matter was unsealed Feb. 23 after Magistrate C.J. Williams appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Deegan to fill the commissioner role. Deegan is tasked with collecting evidence and issuing subpoenas inside the United States to assist Czech investigators.
Kadlcik is suspected of inducing people to enter into fraudulent loans in the Czech Republic between 2012 and 2016 by misrepresenting his financial status and the reason behind the loans. He allegedly told lenders he was investing in commodities when he actually put the money into payments on earlier loans.
Five of the investors came forward in April after Kadlcik allegedly failed to make good on promises to return their money with a profit, court records state.
Kadlcik told authorities he had invested in Peregrine and another brokerage based in Connecticut, and he said his Peregrine money had been frozen in 2012 when the Cedar Falls firm was placed under investigation.
Kadlcik admitted that, because his funds were tied up at Peregrine, he used borrowed money to repay other creditors, court records state.
Czech authorities searched Kadlciks home in July 2016 and found 310 loan agreements. They also searched his bank records and interviewed more about 100 victims and witnesses, court records state.
The Courier found Kadlciks name on a list of creditors complied in 2012 in Peregrines bankruptcy case. Prosecutors said Wasendorf defrauded more than 13,000 investors.
WATERLOO Last year, James Robert Ernst II won a $1,000 judgment from the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office because of a 2015 attack in the jail while he was awaiting trial in the death of Orintheo Campbell Jr.
Now the Black Hawk County Attorneys Office is seeking to garnish the check Ernst who represented himself and avoided having to pay attorney fees and filing fees received from the civil suit. The County Attorneys Office said the money should be put toward some $176,000 in restitution Ernst owes.
Ernst, 27, is challenging the seizure.
The defendant believes the state is harassing him because he won a civil lawsuit against Black Hawk County Jail and this is a way to take the money he won, Ernst wrote Feb. 3 in a request to quash the garnishment.
He said the state only should be allowed to take a portion of his check but not the whole amount.
Under Iowa law, convictions for fatal crimes like murder come with $150,000 in restitution for the victims estate. Court records show restitution in Ernsts case totals $176,809, which includes the $150,000 added to $26,809 in court costs.
Responding to Ernsts challenge, the Black Hawk County Attorneys Office said his argument is based on state law that limits wage garnishments and doesnt apply to lawsuit judgments.
The Webster County Sheriffs Office is holding the $1,000 check, records state. Ernst is currently serving a life sentence at the Newton Correctional Facility and had $71.56 in his account as of January.
Authorities said Ernst and others were watching a fight in the Prime Mart parking lot on Broadway Street on Dec. 6, 2014, when there was a brief confrontation between Ernst and Campbell, 23. Ernst drew a pistol and shot Campbell, who later died at a hospital, according to trial testimony.
After Ernsts arrest, jail officials kept him in protective custody, confining him to his cell for all but one hour a day because Ernst said he had been the subject of death threats. Ernst later complained the restricted confinement violated his rights. He was placed in a general population pod, and jail officials took steps to separate him from Campbells friends and members of the Black Flag Mafia street gang.
In March, Ernsts trial attorney requested he be moved after it was learned a cousin of Campbells was in the same pod. Ernst declined the move, but jail staff placed him in a new pod, and he was attacked about 15 minutes later by two other associates of Campbell.
Ernst took the sheriffs office to court, and in December 2016 a judge found in his favor because the attackers had been on Ernsts keep separate list, court records state.
A Black Hawk County Jury convicted Ernst of first-degree murder during a February 2016 trial.
WATERLOO A judge has suppressed statements a suspect in a May shotgun attack made to police after he was taken into custody.
In an order issued last week, Judge Brad Harris ruled investigators overstepped when they continued to talk with Daytrell Pendleton about the shooting of his mothers husband, Andrew Spates Jr., even after Pendleton requested an attorney and repeated he didnt want to talk.
Pendleton, 27, is charged with attempted murder in the May 12 shooting outside the Kwik Star convenience store on Franklin Street. Authorities said Spates was shot five times with a shotgun, and a passing sheriffs deputy detained Pendleton at the scene.
Pendletons defense attorney has said he may argue self-defense when the case goes to trial.
After Pendleton was taken to the Waterloo Police Department following the shooting, he told one investigator he didnt want to talk and asked for an attorney, according to court records. He was then moved from an interview room to a holding cell.
Hours later, another investigator brought him pizza and talked with him about his request for a lawyer, and they continued to talk until Pendleton agreed to return to the interview room, records state. Pendleton then asked about getting an attorney and stated he wasnt going to talk anymore as he talked with the investigator about his connections with Spates.
During a Feb. 10 hearing about the police questioning, prosecutors argued the interview was constitutional because Pendleton had re-initiated contact with detectives. But Harris ruled it was detectives who had initiated contact, and Pendleton never withdrew his requests for a lawyer and to remain silent.
Harris ruled prosecutors cant use Pendletons statements in its case-in-chief. But he went on to rule the statements were voluntary, so they can be brought up at trial for impeachment purposes, for example if Pendleton takes the stand to testify.
WAVERLY A trio arrested last month in a credit card scheme at the Waverly Walmart is suspected in similar scams in other parts of Iowa, according to authorities.
Waverly police arrested Liliany Meana DeArmas, 20, Pedro Alvarez Rodriguez, 35, and Dunieski Santana Moreno, 26, on Feb. 1 for six counts of forgery after they were allegedly found using other peoples credit card information to load funds onto gift cards, said Capt. Jason Leonard. DeArmas was also arrested for fifth-degree theft.
Before they were arrested in Waverly, the three had been at Walmart stores from Sioux City to Mount Pleasant to Cedar Falls to Mason City, Leonard said.
From January 29 to February 1, they literally blanketed the state, Leonard said.
The scheme involved using cloned credit cards that are created by imprinting compromised card information onto the magnetic strip of a blank card. Those cards were then used at self checkout stations to load money onto gift cards or prepaid credit cards.
Court records allege the three came to the Waverly store on Jan. 31 and then returned on Feb. 1. Store workers became suspicious when they saw them using multiple cards at the checkout, Leonard said.
Police tracked the three to the Red Fox Inn and searched their room.
All three have Miami, Florida, addresses, and DeArmas and Moreno also have Louisville, Kentucky, addresses. Leonard said all three are originally from Cuba, DeArmas is a permanent resident and the other two are in country on expired work visas and are being detained.
While the three were caught because clerks noticed suspicious behavior, Leonard said should watch their credit card billing statements for unfamiliar charges.
WATERLOO On March 31, the Northeast Iowa Food Bank will hold the annual Empty Bowls event at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center to raise awareness and educate the community on the issue of hunger.
Guests will receive a simple meal of bread and soup and a bowl as a reminder of hunger in the world. Event attendees also will have the opportunity to take part in a silent, super silent and live auction beginning at 6 p.m.
The concept behind Empty Bowls began in 1990. A high school art teacher in Michigan helped his students find a way to raise funds to support a food drive by developing a class project to make ceramic bowls for a fundraising meal.
By the following year the originators had developed this concept into Empty Bowls, a project to provide support for food banks, soup kitchens and other organizations that fight hunger. Since then, Empty Bowls events have been held throughout the world, and millions of dollars have been raised to fill empty bowls near you.
This is the biggest fundraising event for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. Tickets are $25. All dollars raised support the food bank and the more than 48,000 individuals served annually by the food banks programs. Event sponsors are ConAgra, Lincoln Savings Bank, Western Home, Black Hawk Alarm, VGM, United Auto Workers, Waterloo Education Association, and Milt and Kim Dakovich.
A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, March 1, 2017:
Ottumwa Republican Sen. Mark Chelgren is disputing allegations he inflated his resume and was surprised it caused an inquiry from NBC News -- which took issue with a reference in an online bio later deleted.
Apparently, Chelgrens background listed a business degree from a management school that turned out to be a certificate he received from Forbco Management as part of his past employment as an assistant manager with a Sizzler restaurant as a young adult in California.
Chelgren later earned an associate degree in science at Riverside Community College and studied astrophysics and geophysics at University of California in Riverside. The bio references to Forbco later were deleted unbeknownst to Chelgren, who told reporters Wednesday he would have them restored.
I think its kind of trivial so I kind of laugh at it, he said. Im kind of perplexed about what the concern or the consternation is.
I had to work for six months at the Forbco Management school, taking classes during the day, working in the evening, for me to get my degree in order to advance in their company, he said. All I can tell you is that NBC called me, asking about the Republicans website because they had some questions about my education, Chelgren said. I told them directly that the information that I had given to everyone was accurate.
STATE REVENUES REBOUND: State tax collections in February came in 7 percent above the same month a year ago, which translated to an increase of $41.3 million, according to the Legislative Services Agency. LSA tax analyst Jeff Robinson said February looks really good, but there were timing issues at play as well as lower state tax refunds that have bolstered year-to-date growth compared to the first eight months of fiscal 2016. Receipts for the fiscal year are up 1.9 percent, or $88.3 million, but that lags below the yearly growth estimate of 4.7 percent set by the state Revenue Estimating Conference, which meets later this month to consider whether to revise it fiscal 2017 growth projections. That decision could impact state budgeting as lawmakers close out fiscal 2017 and craft spending plans for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
SCHOOL FUNDING: Legislation that would make significant changes to the way the state funds public education and school transportation costs was given unanimous approval by a Senate committee. It is now eligible for debate by the full Senate. The bill would phase in increases for school districts that have outsized transportation costs over 10 years and equalize the amount districts are permitted to spend per pupil. While the proposal was approved by all committee members, Democratic Sen. Herman Quirmbach of Ames expressed concern the price tag -- an estimated $15 to $20 million in the first year, and increasing annually thereafter -- could mean less general school funding for all districts. The legislation aims to solve a pair of issues brought to state lawmakers attention in recent years. Rural districts say they are forced to spend more on transportation. And some districts --- most visibly Davenport --- have expressed frustration they are permitted to spend less per student than other districts.
HAND-HELD DEVICE BAN: Iowa motorists would not be allowed to use hand-held electronic devices while operating a vehicle under legislation that cleared the House Transportation Committee Wednesday. Panel members voted 20-1 to approve House Study Bill 139 after amending the bill to exempt hands-free built-in or voice-activated global positioning systems and allow for hand-held cell phone use for emergency calls. Representatives also agreed to a one-year warning period for violations before officers would start issuing $30 tickets beginning July 1, 2018. The bill also elevates the offense of texting while driving to a primary rather than a secondary offense.
PLA PROHIBITION: The Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee voted 7-4 along party lines Wednesday to approve legislation prohibiting union project labor agreements from being mandated on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, said provisions of Senate Study Bill 1145 will increase competition and reduce costs. Backers said nearly 85 percent of Iowa workers are not union members but are excluded from projects employing project labor agreements. Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, said the bill was another example of lawmakers intruding into a local control issue for cities, counties and school districts.
MARIJUANA POSSESSION: Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-1 Wednesday to reduce the penalty for Iowans convicted on a first offense of possessing marijuana. Senate File 280 would make possession of five grams or less of marijuana a simple misdemeanor punishable by no more than 30 days in jail and a fine of $65 to $625. Currently, first-offense possession of marijuana is a serious misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a fine of $1,000. The bill does not modify the penalties for second or subsequent possession of marijuana.
TIMBER BUYERS CITED: Two timber buying companies one from Illinois and one from Iowa must reform their business practices in Iowa under a court-approved agreement with Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller following complaints from elderly rural property owners. Under the agreement approved in Polk County District Court, the timber buyers are barred from using abusive and deceptive conduct in harvesting Iowa trees. Miller alleges the operations cheated and mistreated rural Iowa landowners. The agreement resolves a consumer fraud investigation against Central Illinois Hardwood Inc. of Green Valley, Ill., and Harvest Hardwood Inc. of Oskaloosa, according to Millers office. We alleged that the defendants repeatedly took advantage of elderly rural property owners by underpaying for valuable walnut trees and other hardwoods, taking more trees than they were authorized to harvest, and leaving properties damaged and scarred, Miller said. This agreement will reform how these timber buyers do business and put an end to abusive and deceptive practices.
IMPAIRED DRIVING CRACKDOWN: Drivers arrested or convicted of driving impaired would be required to participate in twice-daily sobriety monitoring under legislation unanimously approved Wednesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Study Bill 1101 also would require some drivers to install ignition interlocks in their vehicles as part of a sobriety monitoring program modeled after initiatives in South Dakota and four other states. The bill also would provide that cellphone use while driving would be considered evidence of reckless driving, A driver who struck and killed someone would commit a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of no more than $10,000.
'SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP' BILL: Protesters who intentionally block an interstate highway to slow traffic would face significantly stiffer penalties under a bill approved 13-3 by the Senate State Government Committee on Wednesday. Senate Study Bill 1135 would make the action like a post-2016 election protest on Interstate 80 near Iowa City a serious misdemeanor on first offense which would escalate to an aggravated misdemeanor and a Class D felony carrying a five-year prison term and $7,500 fine on subsequent violations. The current violation is a simple misdemeanor carrying a $35 fine.
LAKE MACBRIDE: The Iowa Senate voted 38-11 with one abstention Wednesday to lift longstanding outboard motor size restrictions on Lake Macbride near Solon. Iowa law forbids outboard motors of 10 or more horsepower on the lake from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There also is a year-round no-wake law. The proposal would allow motorboats with power units exceeding 10 horsepower at any time on Macbride if the boats are operated at no-wake speed. The bill goes to the House.
TUITION GRANT CAP: Senators also voted 50-0 to lift a $6,000 cap on tuition grants to students attending private colleges before shipping Senate File 349 to the House. The Senate also sent two House-passed bills dealing with state purchases from prison industries and the prescribing of biological products to Gov. Terry Branstad on separate 50-0 votes.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: I think this is an overreach and its politically motivated. Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, who opposed a bill toughening penalties for protesters who block an interstate highway like the post-2016 election protest on Interstate 80 near Iowa City.
DUBUQUE (AP) With several turns of an Allen wrench, Adam Weber pops out the small black tube and grabs an angled pylon and clamp.
A few more turns of the wrench and Weber is good to go. He laces up his snow boot, stands up, reattaches his left leg and grabs his snowboard.
Piece of cake, said the Dubuque native and Waterloo resident.
The 34-year-old amputee recently hit the slope at Sundown Mountain Resort, west of Dubuque, for the first time since losing his leg below the knee 19 months ago in a motorcycle accident.
Its one of the only winter activities I ever partake in, and I have been snowboarding since I was 11 or 12 years old, Weber said. That being taken away from me, it was huge. I was distraught.
Weber worked with Andy Steele, a partner and certified prosthetist at Clark & Associates Prosthetics and Orthotics, which has locations in Dubuque and Waterloo.
We try to get them back to as fully functional a life as possible, Steele said. One of the things he brought up right away was snowboarding. It was the only thing he mentioned that he enjoys doing that he really wanted to get back to.
After about a year of learning to use the prosthesis and physical therapy, Weber sat down with Steele to discuss the possibility of snowboarding again.
Weber thought it might take years. Instead, it took less than a couple of hours.
It was a matter of him showing us what he needed to be able to do, and we had the parts and pieces to get him where he needed to be, Steele said. We had him set up and ready to go in an hour to an hour and a half.
Feb. 17 was Webers second time out using the newly adapted prosthetic. He made a trial run the week before.
It was awesome, Weber said as he came off the chairlift after his first run. It actually felt amazingly natural. Im not up to full par where I used to be, but its the fact that I can do it which is exhilarating.
Lying on the side of the road after his accident, Weber looked down at his left leg. He knew immediately he would lose it. His shoe was gone and his foot badly mangled.
Every single bone in my foot was broken and the tissue on the bottom of the foot all of the muscle was scraped up and hanging from the heel up to the toes, he said.
Doctors at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital in Waterloo would later tell him the technical term for his injury was de-gloving of the foot.
Weber was riding his motorcycle June 19, 2015, when he was struck in the middle of an intersection by a woman attempting to turn left. Weber, who was not wearing a helmet, was driving south of Fletcher Avenue in Waterloo when he was T-boned by a 2002 red Pontiac Grand Am.
The driver, Kaylen A. Brinyark, 30, of Waterloo, was traveling north on Fletcher Avenue waiting to turn onto University Avenue. Brinyark would tell an officer at the scene she did not see the motorcycle until it was too late, according to a report from the Waterloo Police Department.
All things considered, Weber feels fortunate to be alive. He was riding like an idiot without a helmet.
Doctors sent Weber to Iowa City, knowing the extent of his injury would require extensive surgery. A surgeon there said chances of saving his foot were slim.
They said it would take multiple skin and muscle grafts to repair what had been done. I decided my best bet, with the way prosthetics are today, was with going with amputation.
Weber constantly wondered whether he would regain enough mobility to hop back on a board and carve down a mountainside once again.
Being able to do it after the accident is one of the attributes of being able to overcome this, Weber said. It gets me back to a normal routine and lets me know Im not completely held back by this.
Chad Remmert, business development officer at Clark & Associates, was also on hand Feb. 17 to watch Weber hit the slopes.
His story is truly amazing and the fact that he is overcoming the challenges of limb loss at an early age is something everyone can benefit from, Remmert said.
With the National Aeronautic Space Administration becoming overly dependent on Russian-made rockets after the turn of the millennium, two maverick entrepreneurs entered the space race.
SpaceX and Blue Origin were initially perceived as vanity projects for their founders Teslas Elon Musk and Amazons Jeff Bezos, respectively. Now, in different ways, they are becoming the backbone of U.S. space ventures, rejuvenating the dormant manned space program with competition and an injection of excitement.
SpaceX has emerged as a challenger to Boeing-Lockheeds United Launch Alliance, which has dominated the industry. Formed in 2006 to reduce overhead, it has roots dating back to the start of the space program. Blue Origin has become a ULA partner, providing an American engine to replace Russian technology.
On Monday, Musk made the stunning announcement SpaceX would send two unnamed, paid passengers on a week-long, 300,000- to 400,000-mile journey around the moon in an automated Dragon 2 spacecraft requiring few skills from the astronauts on board.
It followed the successful Feb. 19 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon spacecraft carrying cargo to the six astronauts aboard the International Space Station. It was the first successful launch at the Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39 home of Apollo moon missions since NASA shuttered the Space Shuttle program in July 2011.
South African native Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with $100 million of his money, $354 million from investors (primarily Silicon Valley entrepreneurs) and a $396 million assist from NASA. He envisioned flying passengers to Mars at $500,000 per seat as the first step in colonizing the planet and making humans a multi-planetary species.
SpaceX, based in a Los Angeles suburb, is in the process of building a spaceport in Texas.
Bezos began Blue Origin in 2000, keeping it secret until 2003. Last year he said, I want millions of people living and working in space. I want us to be a space-faring civilization. His first stage to generate revenue will involve space tourism, carrying six people aboard a suborbital New Shepard spacecraft.
Until their emergence, Russian-made RD-180 engines were used in the first stage of rockets manufactured by the ULA partners and performed flawlessly, carrying 111 successful payloads into space, including U.S. government satellites spying on Russia.
But the Russian rockets didnt fly well in Congress after President Vladimir Putins incursions into former Soviet states. ULA was urged to wean itself from its reliance on Russian dependency. In fact, it also was hurting business. In 2015, SpaceX won the contract for a Global Positioning System III satellite launch because ULA didnt have any available RD-180 engines.
SpaceX has had some rocky moments. In 2006, its first Falcon 1 exploded on launch in the Marshall Islands. A second rocket exploded a year later before reaching orbit. In June, a rocket carrying supplies to the space station blew up. In September, another rocket exploded on the launch pad, destroying a $200 million Facebook satellite.
Last week, SpaceX announced a planned unmanned mission to Mars to place a modified Dragon spacecraft on the surface would be delayed two years. That endeavor involves landing the heaviest object yet on the red planet, which has a thin atmosphere.
But SpaceX also has had some remarkable achievements, landing a spent orbital rocket booster on an ocean drone platform in 2014 something that had to be seen to be believed then replicating that success on land and sea.
Reusable rockets potentially will make flights more affordable if the cost of refurbishing becomes economical.
A suborbital Blue Origin rocket launched from West Texas became the first to land upright in November 2015 but with a markedly shorter trajectory than SpaceX.
Blue Origin also is developing a new liquid-natural-gas-burning engine for ULA to use in its Vulcan rockets, which are expected to be ready in 2019, replacing the Russian engines.
The new space race also is bringing down astronomical prices with assorted efficiencies. SpaceX buys some components off the shelf hatch handles from bathroom stall latches and race-car safety belts rather than custom-designed models.
SpaceX has a launch price of $62 million, while ULA estimates are between $164 million and $350 million.
In January, NASA awarded four new contracts to both Space X ($2.6 billion) and ULA ($4.2 billion) to fly astronauts to the space station, giving each six total. SpaceX now has more than $7 billion in contracts, including 60 scheduled private launches.
And space travel has a new goal. On Feb. 22, NASA scientists announced the discovery of seven Earth-like planets 40 lights years away with possible atmospheres to sustain life. The James Webb Space Telescope scheduled for an October 2018 launch will zero in on that.
Alas, arriving at this new frontier in space is quite the long shot 11,250 years distance using todays rocket technology.
Rep. Walt Rogers and Sen. Jeff Danielson: This has been a contentious year in politics. Feelings are raw, and relationships are being challenged in all levels of government.
The Courier has carried pictures of angry voters with U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley in three separate issues in the last week alone.
Sundays Courier editorial headline was History holds lessons for Waterloo Council. In past years, two councilmen had been personally stung by a heated exchange. They met at the front of the council chambers at the subsequent meeting and realized they each had the citys best interest at heart. They respected each other. Consequently, the people of Waterloo respected them and re-elected them several times.
People are looking for more cohesiveness than we are seeing from our elected representatives.
I have an idea about how both of you can raise yourself above some of this damaging rhetoric.
I had the good fortune to be able to talk to each of you separately at the respective legislative forums this past weekend (Friday evening at the League of Women Voters forum and Saturday afternoon at the Republican forum).
The Hudson Community Schools wants to initiate a preschool program for 4-year-old children. The program will have start-up costs of approximately $122,010, according to Dr. Anthony Voss, Hudson superintendent, as stated at a parent informational meeting held Feb. 23.
The Hudson Schools have accumulated enough in their savings account to fund this new program and thus to comply with the state requirement to offer this 4-year-old preschool class. The savings account has been built up over the years because of the strong and prudent fiscal management under the direction of the Hudson School Board and Dr. Voss.
Currently state law restricts local school boards from accessing these funds for new programming not previously approved by the state. This glitch prevents the Hudson Schools from the right to use these restricted funds. Hudson needs the authority from the Iowa Legislature to access the funds. All other financial restrictions have been satisfied or submitted by the school system.
The parents in attendance at the informational meeting were supportive and appreciative to have this option potentially available to them by this falls school term.
To Sen. Danielson: Superintendent Voss indicated you already have introduced legislation to correct this glitch in the Iowa Code and you are very supportive in helping with this initiative. Dr. Voss was appreciative and complimentary of your support.
Sen. Danielson, you said you would work with Rep. Rogers to get this legislation passed, but Rogers was in the drivers seat as his party was in the majority. We discussed how this is a nonpartisan issue deserving full support by both parties.
Good news, Senator. On Saturday, Rep. Rogers agreed to call you to discuss this matter. Kindly welcome his call.
To Rep. Rogers, Superintendent Voss indicated you were meeting with him to discuss the particulars this past Friday. And at the Republican forum Saturday, you said this is something that should be corrected and you would be introducing legislation this week to allow for this program to be funded by the Hudson Schools out of the accumulated assets.
It sounds like things were moving in a great direction until it was asked of you to co-sponsor this legislation with Sen. Danielson. Mr. Rogers, you said this is a no-brainer and you did not need Danielsons support. Furthermore, it could taint the issue to involve the opposition in this legislation.
I pressed and you agreed to call Danielson. This was progress but I think you can go further.
Gentlemen, both of you represent Hudson in your respective chambers. You both have campaigned about how you can work across the aisle.
Can you display your ability to drop party politics and work for the common good? Show the people in the Cedar Valley by your actions you can rise above the fray. Demonstrate these are not just words but core beliefs you hold true.
This is what you both talked about this past fall; can we hold you to this five months later?
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 01, 2017 | 12:23 PM | CUBA, KY
Parts of Graves County were some of the hardest hit by Tuesday night's storms.
Graves County Emergency Management Director Davant Ramage said most of the damage is confined to the southeast corner of Graves County, just south of Sedalia, down to the Tennessee state line. Ramage said 15 to 20 homes were damaged, with 5 to 7 of those total losses.
He said several outbuildings and carports were also destroyed and numerous trees were down. He also said the Cuba Church of Christ suffered major damage.
Ramage said he's not sure if the damage was caused by straight line winds or a tornado. He did say there were no injuries or loss of life due to the storms.
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Did you ever get a message in a bottle? Completely meaningless gibberish from an entirely unknown guy (from my experience, its always a guy, looking like a lumberjack and thats okay) that, strangely enough, makes you insanely excited?
If not, you must try gulling. At the height of this winter, I was staring into many pinkish legs, looking for those with some cheap plastic jewellery Scoping squabble after squabble of gulls at the city rubbish tip, I have already read five colour rings with large letters gibberish, I am telling you wait, theres one more!
But this one has only one ring (to rule them all?), a small and barely visible metal ring, the type usually read only when the bird is mist-netted or found already dead.
Pity, I think and a moment before I moved the scope to the next pair of legs, I thought wait, lets zoom in, maybe I could read something and from the scanning 25x I roll to the reading 60x shining metal but when the bird turns slightly, I can read the ends of three lines: eum (this is easy museum), ha and 200. Well, that was it, should I move on or not, lets wait a bit more
After a while, my gull moves a bit and now I can read the beginnings of those lines: n.m, p and et!
And now I wait. To read it all, or for the gull to take flight, whichever comes first.
But my gull has refined manners of a true gentleman and shows me the middle section of those lines. Lets not forget, those letters are smaller than these you are reading right now and I read them from some 25 or so metres through the truly magnificent Swarovski 25-6065 STX!
And then all the gulls took flight! Which didnt matter anymore because I was already high on endorphin.
The next day I found out that about 750 km / 470 mi north from here, in Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, Ivan Miksik, one of the most active Czech ringers sent this message in January, two years ago. And I was the first one to read it.
Ill send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Cover photo by Snezana Panjkovic
Verses by Sting
"These products provide a comprehensive, one-stop lighting solution that simplifies installation, and provides innovative enhancements to lighting system reliability as well as performance."
ATLANTA, GA, March 02, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- GRE Alpha is proud to announce its participation in the March 2017 Nikkei Messe Tokyo Big Sight Lighting Fair in Tokyo, Japan, from Tuesday, March 7, to Friday, March 10, 2017. Past participants in Japan's LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo held annually in January, this will be GRE Alpha's first time in the Nikkei Messe Fair.
"Japan boasts some of the most vibrant and unique lighting designs and lighting firms in the world," says Richard Fong, Executive Director at GRE Alpha. "Steeped in a culture of constant innovation, GRE Alpha's products are a good fit with the Japanese lighting industry."
Pioneers in LED technology, GRE Alpha staff will be providing live demonstrations of several of their products, including the XLAV, 7-in-1 LED dimming module, XLAV Driver, SLD-DIM-PWM dimming module, and its new Tunable White SLD-DimTW Dim-to-Warm dimming module. Additionally, team members will be offering information and a showcase on Japanese certification-compliant, PSE-certified LED drivers including the XLD series, XLA series, and GLC/GLV series products.
"These products provide a comprehensive, one-stop lighting solution that simplifies installation, and provide innovative enhancements to lighting system reliability as well as performance," says Fong.
GRE Alpha's booth will feature interactive displays of many of its products, allowing users to experience firsthand the craftsmanship and quality that GRE Alpha brings to its LED power solution designs.
Nikkei Messe, held once every two years in Tokyo, is the largest lighting event in Japan. Hong Kong-based GRE Alpha will have Japanese speaking representatives at its booth to help with networking between staff and Japanese clients. Team members are most looking forward to a great show and to introducing their exciting LED products to the Japan market.
"User experience is very important to us," says Fong. "Working in tandem with our distributors, we will have knowledgeable, Japanese speaking product experts stationed at our booth to help introduce and share our products with clients."
Visit www.messe.nikkei.co/jp for more information on the 2017 Nikkei Messe Tokyo Big Sight Lighting Fair. For more information on GRE Alpha, or to speak with a service representative and set up a one-on-one appointment with a technical expert, visit www.grealpha.com/contact.
GRE Alpha Electronics, Ltd. specializes in the design and manufacturing of solid-state lighting power supplies and lighting control accessories, the lifeblood of indoor and outdoor LED lighting systems. With over two decades of power conversion expertise and a commitment towards innovation, GRE Alpha engages with industry pioneers to deliver highly efficient, installation-ready, and agency-approved LED power conversion products for a wide variety of industry applications.
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Social justice movement Who is Hussain? To host second annual 'She Inspires Me' conference
2022-11-04 | The event will explore the growing crisis on our streets for women impacted by homelessness and discuss it within the inspiring context of the story and legacy of Lady Zaynab bint Ali.
Image Group LA/ABCIn the midst of readying his forthcoming album, Kendrick Lamar reflects on his innovative debut project, good kid, m.A.A.d. city with T Magazine, telling the publication that he felt "only people from my community would understand" it.
"When I said 'my community,' I'm talking about Compton, Long Beach, L.A., the Bay Area, San Francisco, Oakland," he clarifies.
"For them to be like: 'He's the champ! He knows what we go through and what we dealing with' -- I'm talking about growing up in a gang-infested community in L.A."
"So the album comes out and then I go on tour and I'm rockin,' I'm on stage and I see the energy is the same as it was when I was at home in Compton,"he continues.
"And I couldn't understand it, because I'm like, how can you connect to this? How can you connect to a feeling like you're locked in a box because of the gang culture?"
"One particular fan broke it down to me: 'I connect through your music not because I know about the gang culture; it's the sense of wanting to be set free.'"
Currently working on his next album, Kendrick reveals that it will address a number of societal ills, much like his Grammy-winning third album, To Pimp a Butterfly.
"It's very urgent," he says. "We're in a time where we exclude one major component out of this whole thing called life: God. Nobody speaks on it because it's almost in conflict with what's going on in the world when you talk about politics and government and the system."
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Christian Lorentzen in Vulture:
In 1974, J.M. Coetzee applied to South Africas Ministry of the Interior to become an official state censor of literature. A few months later, he was informed that his application had been turned down. Coetzee had returned to South Africa in 1971 after a stint studying and teaching in America, unable to renew his visa after being arrested at a faculty protest at SUNY Buffalo against police presence on campus, a conviction later overturned. He joined the University of Cape Town as a professor, and in 1972 filed a report to his department head on books that were banned by the state but which he regarded as crucial to his research and teaching. The list of authors is long: William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Vladimir Nabokov, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer, Pablo Neruda, even Nikolai Gogol, among many others.[You] may be interested to look over the following condensation of how our censors have impoverished our lives, he wrote to his boss. What then was he up to a couple years later, already the author of the novel Dusklands, in trying to join the apparatus of repression?
The South African scholar David Attwell tells this story in J.M. Coetzee and the Life of Writing: Face to Face With Time, an engrossing 2015 study of the authors manuscripts, now held at the University of Texas at Austin. Attwell quotes Coetzee telling a friend that he was merely calling the authorities bluff. Coetzee had been working on a manuscript, later abandoned, narrated by a censor, and Attwell concludes that Coetzees odd flirtation with becoming a censor was a way of arranging life to imitate art. In the drafts, Attwell sees Coetzee pondering what sort of writer he wants to be. Its a mental exercise thats illuminating in its strange premises. Fiction, being a serious affair, Coetzee writes, cannot accept pre-requisites like (1) a desire to write, (2) something to write about, (3) something to say. There must be a place for a fiction of apathy toward the task of writing, toward the subject, toward the means.
Its an astonishing idea apathy as a source of, not an obstacle to, seriousness.
More here.
Antonio Gramsci Jr. in The New Left Review:
Twenty years ago the Soviet Union collapseda society that, with all its defects, had represented the bastion of actually existing socialism andparadoxicallyhelped ease the contradictions of western capitalism. It was around that time that I began to be interested in my grandfather. The Italian Communist party and the Fondazione Istituto Gramsci arranged a trip to Italy for me and my father to celebrate the centenary of his birth. We stayed in Italy around six months, in that time visiting all the places that had strong connections with the life of Antonio Gramsci, from Sardinia to Turi. (One of the most moving highlights of our pilgrimage was the concert I gave for the inmates in the prison in Turi, together with Francesca Vacca.) During those months, full of so many other fascinating events, I steeped myself in Italian culture and realized how important my grandfather is to it. Back in Russia, full of enthusiasm, I started to study Italian systematically and also read what little there was of his writing in Russian translation. My interest in Gramscis thought grew more and more strongly as I tried to understand what had happened in my country through the lens of his work. It was thanks to him that I now grasped the destructive role played by our intellectuals, who were responsible for the molecular shift in public opinion in favour of the new regime, which had led to the plunder of Russia, a process already begun during the years of perestroika. I didnt become a Gramsci scholarIm a biologist and a musicianbut my mental bearings had radically altered. Speaking of our own time, I can say that it is precisely at this turbulent historic moment that I sense the real need for the rise of an intellectual voice of Antonio Gramscis calibre to unite various factions that are divided and ideologically uncreative. These various factions can hardly be called an opposition, fused in the historic bloc that alone would be capable of developing a correct strategic line in the struggle against the oppressive forces of the new regime, corrupt and cynical, that has ruled Russia for two decades now.
More here.
Declan Butler in Nature:
Growing concerns over an invasion of refugees and migrants helped to elect Donald Trump and sway Brexit voters. Yet the data suggest that the situation is very different from how it is often portrayed. Researchers warn that misleading reports about the magnitude of flows into Europe and the United States are creating unjustified fears about refugees. That is undermining efforts to manage the massive humanitarian problems faced by those fleeing Syria and other hotspots.
Refugee numbers are easier to track. The UNHCR estimates that there were 21.3 million refugees in 2015; that is only slightly higher than the 1992 figure of 20.6 million, when the global population was just two-thirds of todays. Researchers also warn about misinterpreting estimates of international migrants those who move for economic or other reasons. These numbers can be problematic because the most widely cited UN figures are cumulative. Guy Abel, a statistician at the Vienna Institute of Demography, has studied the dynamic flow and found that the number of people migrating has remained stable over the past 50 years. His latest estimates indicate that migration rate, as a share of global population, has dropped to its lowest point in 50 years.
More here.
Austin, Texas is affectionately known as the live music capital of the world, and is of course equally famous for its barbecue.
But there's more to the Lone Star State's blue center than finger-licking brisket and crooning hipsterswell, thankfully, there is a whole lot of that. Head to the quirky city on the banks of the Colorado River, lately known as a start-up scene nicknamed Silicon Hills, for high-design boutique hotels, craft cocktails, Hill Country beauty, captivating art and, of course, those world-class festivals.
Hip Stays in Austin, TX Spend a day by the pool while still taking in the city. (Courtesy of Hotel Van Zandt) The Best Hotels New on the scene is Kimpton's Hotel Van Zandt(605 Davis St.), where luxurious rock-and-roll design, a curated collection of local music, and live bands at the restaurant riff on Austin's legendary sound scene. A stay at the Van Zandt comes at a VIP price (especially during SXSW), so book with a blind eye and relish the lavish lounges, rooftop pool, and walk-in rain shower and Bluetooth sound systems in every pet-friendly room. SF-made Public Bikes are also available to get you around downtown. // With just seven rooms, Heywood Hotel(1609 E Cesar Chavez St) is a true boutique stay, located in East Austin, one of the city's fast-growing 'hoods which is packed with hip restaurants, lounges, and shops. Amenities include luxury tubs, white noise machines, in-room internet jukeboxs, free bikes and WiFi. // Hotelier Liz Lambert is known as the host with the most in these parts, so you'll never go wrong with a stay at her OG hotel, the San Jose(1316 S. Congress Ave.), or the newer and posher St. Cecilia(112 Academy Dr.) just across the street. Both dog-friendly stays ooze effortless style and musical vibesthe famed Continental Club is just around the corner. // If tradition is what you seek, look no further than The Driskill(604 Brazos St.), known for its Southern hospitality, timeless elegant twang, and imminently affordable rates. Even during peak-travel seasons, you'll be hard-pressed to find a weekend rate over $200 a night. Look up: The copper ceiling is unique to the historic 1866 building.
Where to Eat in Austin A meaty spread at Snow's BBQ, where pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz is nominated for a 2018 James Beard Award. (Courtesy of Robert Jacob Lerma, via Instagram) BBQ, Tacos + More on the Cheap Brisket is the real reason to eat out in Austin and its hilly surrounds. That and pork belly. And Tex-Mex. Combo all this good stuff at Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ (11500 Manchaca Rd.), a food truck serving pulled pollo tacos with sea salt lime guacamole and serrano salsa. // For something a bit more traditional to Central Texas, Franklin BBQ(900 East 11the St.) is a landmark. Order the hickory smoked brisket by the pound or sandwiched between two pieces of classic white bread. // Up for a little road trip? About an hour east of Austin you'll find Snow's BBQ (516 Main St. (Lexington), where 82-year-old pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz starts slangin' her hickory- and applewood-smoked briskets, turkey breasts, and sausages at 8am. As for her 2018 James Beard Award nomination? Oh that? She says, "I'll try to get excited." // You can't go to Austin without ordering the absurdly gooey queso and the taco of the month (think fried chicken, waffle, egg and bacon on a flour tortilla) at Torchy's Tacos (1822 S. Congress Ave.). // Grab a well-seasoned, spicy lamb or beef shish kebab, along with the best homemade baklava this side of I-35, from Kebabalicious trailer (at 3rd and Congress). // Hanging around ZIlker Park and want something portable to eat? Head for The Mighty Cone(1720 Barton Springs Rd.) for "Hot & Crunchy" (read: deep-fried) cones filled with avocado, chicken, shrimp or all of the above. // Gelateria Gemelli(1009 E 6th St.) owners Andrew Sabola and Meghan Erwin learned how to make gelato by hand in Bologna, Italy under one of the world's best makers of the country's signature treat. In Austin, they serve homemade, all organic, small-batch gelato in such flavors as Fernet stracciatella, cardamom orange, and earl grey. Best of all, you can pair any of their tasty flavors with an amaro, cocktails, or prosecco. Restaurants For nearly two decades, Uchi(801 South Lamar Blvd.) has presented the city's finest, most sustainable sushi and Japanese cuisine, also turning out chef alumni who now helm many of the city's top restaurants. Come for the sake social hour with special prices on cool and hot bites; bigger spenders must opt for the 10-course omekase. // Contigo's(2027 Anchor Ln.) inviting beer garden in East Austin is the perfect setting for a menu with hefty emphasis on housemade charcuterie, the popular burger, and other meaty morsels procured from the family's ranch in nearby Fredericksberg. Go for regular events including family-style dinners and pig roasts, and also check out the new Contigo Fareground(111 Congress Ave.), the city's first local food hall with six restaurants, downtown. // Counter 3. Five. VII serves only three-, five-, and seven-course tasting menus...at the counter,, which explains the very odd name at this 24-seat eatery. Naturally you'll be in for an intimate dining experience. Watch as the chef prepares your leche de tigre or goat neck with achiote and mustard seeds. // Launderette(2115 Holly St.) is one of the most crowded restaurants in town, so prepare for a waitthe modern Mediterranean cuisine (try a "sunshine bowl" with turmeric hummus at lunch; and the king crab in beurre blanc at dinner) is worth it. Save for at least one dessertand then order two because you just can't decide.
Austin's Best Bars + Coffee Shops On weekends, head upstairs at Whisler's on 6th Street and find yourself in the Oaxacan-style Mezcaleria Tobala. (Courtesy of Whisler's) All the Booze Possibly the finest place in the city to sip a martini and gaze at the skyline, Azul(310 East 5th St.), the rooftop bar at the Westin hotel, offers a heated pool year-round, flawless cocktails, and homemade gelato pops. // Handlebar(121 East 5th St.) is sort of the drinking-age equivalent of Chuck E. Cheese, with a five-hour happy hour (3-8pm), boozy treats named after Doc Holliday and Salvador Dali, rocking horses, and ping-pong. // Keeping Austin weird justsouth of downtown, Whip In (1950 S I-35) is a public houseserving Texas-made spirits and Fredericksburg winesand curry lounge, where you can soak it all up with tasty Indian-fusion cuisine amid Wild Westinspired decor. // Whisler's(1816 E 6th St.) is the perfect combination of cozy (inside) and buzzing (on the patio). Upstairs you'll find a variety of rare mezcals at the Oaxacan-inspired bar Mezcaleria Tobala (open Fridays and Saturdays). // In the parking garage of the American National Bank building, Garage Bar(503 Colorado St.) has all the vibes of a dark, clandestine rendezvous spot with charming historical touches. // An oddity along Fourth Street, Halcyon(218 W 4th St) is part smoke lounge, part well-stocked bar, and part coffee shop serving up weekend brunch and live music every other Wednesday and Thursday. The Other Kind of Buzz At Lake Austin, Mozart's Coffee(3825 Lake Austin Blvd.) is a perfect place to while away a Sunday. Order the bottomless coffee and house-baked books, and kick back at a picnic table to binge listen to your favorite podcast. Expect a crowd at lunch and in the late afternoon. // Sa-Ten(916 Spingdale Rd, Bldg 3, Ste 101) is a Japanese-inspired cafe serving espresso drinks alongside all-day toasts and sandwiches, as well as pastries and protein plates. Check out Japanese cinema night on Thursdays.
Asian Activities Report for July 6, 2011 includes: Segue Resources Limited (ASX:SEG) has signed an agreement to acquire up to 51% of the Emang Manganese Project in South Africa; Radar Iron Limited (ASX:RAD) has identified significant magnetite mineralisation at its Die Hardy project; African Iron Limited (ASX:AKI) announced over 80% increase to the aggregate exploration target size at the Mayoko Iron Ore Project in Congo; Reed Resources Limited (ASX:RDR) has secured the opportunity to acquire the Nannine Mining Centre in Western Australia.
Bass Metals Ltd (ASX:BSM) (OTCMKTS:BSSMF) is one of only five publicly listed graphite producers in the world. The company owns and operates the Graphmada large flake graphite mine, Bass' flagship project, located in eastern Madagascar.
The Graphmada mine has 40 year mining permits in place, containing four premium quality, large flake, graphite deposits hosted in weathered graphitic gneiss, a soft, easily minable rock that incurs low mining costs. With all associated mining infrastructure and logistics in place, the mine currently produces and sells a range of graphite concentrates into multiple market segments, to customers in India, the United States and Europe.
Encounter Resources Ltd (ASX:ENR) is an exploration and resource development company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Encounter is one of the most active greenfield exploration companies in Australia. The company is committed to large scale, frontier exploration in highly prospective under cover terrains in Australia where we believe substantial value can be unlocked for our shareholders.
In recent times, the company has made new zinc and copper discoveries at our flagship Yeneena project located in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.
MetalsTech Ltd (ASX:MTC) offers a unique entry point into the high value lithium sector with the potential for substantial upside leverage tied to exploration success. We are developing a number of exciting projects prospective for lithium with good access to infrastructure necessary for commercialisation.
Completion of $3 Million Share Purchase Plan
Perth, Mar 2, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Corazon Mining Limited ( ASX:CZN ) ( CRZNF:OTCMKTS ) ("Corazon" or "the Company") advises that its Share Purchase Plan ("SPP" or "Plan") to raise approximately $3 million has been completed.
- $3 million Share Purchase Plan completed with strong demand from shareholders
- Significant demand required the early closure of the Plan
- Applications scaled back per current holdings in the Company
The Plan was closed on Monday 27 February 2017 due to being heavily over-subscribed. Given the overwhelming demand, the Company has been forced to scale back eligible applications and has attempted to do so in a manner that is as fair and transparent as possible. The approach adopted is broadly as follow:
- Directors of the Company voluntarily withdrew from the SPP, despite being eligible to participate, so as to not deprive other shareholders; and
- Applications were scaled back on a proportional basis, in accordance with Shareholders' current holding(s) in the Company (as at 28 February 2017).
All applications received before the closure of the Plan, if deemed eligible, will receive SPP shares in the Company. It is acknowledged that some applications were in the process of electronic payment or postage and were not received before the closure of the SPP. Unfortunately, the Company cannot make exceptions and, as such, these funds will be returned in full as soon as possible.
Managing Director, Mr Brett Smith, commented, "It is extremely pleasing to have such a strong demand for the SPP. The surety of these funds has allowed the Company to fully commit to the next phases of exploration at both the Lynn Lake Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in Canada and the Mt Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold Project in New South Wales. These are exciting projects that provide the Company with multiple opportunities for exploration success."
The shares issued under the SPP will be allotted on Thursday, 02 March 2017 and quoted on the ASX on Friday, 03 March 2017. Confirmation notices will be dispatched on Thursday, 02 March 2017.
For shareholders whose applications have been scaled back or rejected, refund cheques will be dispatched on Thursday, 02 March 2017.
Share Purchase Plan - Background
Under the SPP, eligible Corazon shareholders were invited to subscribe for new ordinary shares in the Company at an issue price of $0.035 per share, up to a maximum value of $15,000 per shareholder. Participation in the SPP was exclusively open to shareholders who were registered holders of Corazon shares at 5:00 pm (WST) on the 13 February 2017 and whose registered address is in Australia or New Zealand.
Details of the SPP were posted to eligible Shareholders on the 17th February 2017 and the Plan opened on the 23rd February 2017.
The Plan was very well received by Shareholders and resulted in a prompt participation and subscription of more than $3 million. In accordance with the terms and conditions of the Plan, the SPP was closed early on the 27 February 2017.
About Corazon Mining Ltd
Corazon Mining Limited (ASX:CZN) (OTCMKTS:CRZNF) is a base metals explorer with projects in the historical nickel-copper Lynn Lake mining camp, Canada's 3rd largest nickel producing region. Corazon's recent acquisition of the Victory Nickel Project has reunited the Lynn Lake Mining Field for the first time since 1976.
Final Drilling Assays Deliver Outstanding High Grade Lithium
Adelaide, Mar 2, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Core Exploration Ltd ( ASX:CXO ) ("Core" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has now received the final Phase 2 RC and Diamond drilling results from its 2016 drilling program at its Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory. The final results continue to demonstrate the excellent continuity of high grade spodumene mineralisation at Grants and cap off a successful 2016 program which significantly increased the Company's confidence of the development potential of the Finniss Lithium Project.
HIGHLIGHTS
- New deep RC and diamond drilling assays confirm that the Grants high grade spodumene pegmatite is continuous over 300m in length and up to 30m wide, and open at depth below 200m vertical
- Final assays received from Core's Drilling Program at Finniss include:
o 34m @ 1.37% Li2O from 201m at Grants
-- including 3m @ 2.04% Li2O (FRCD005)
o 23m @ 1.51% Li2O from 188m at Grants
-- including 4m @ 2.23% Li2O (FRC041)
o 8m @ 1.45 % Li2O from 101m at Far West (FRC083)
- Successful Phase 1 and 2 RC and Diamond drilling program at Finniss have confirmed a number of significant lithium discoveries, including Grants and BP33 prospects
- Metallurgical study results expect in early March
- Core is now focussed on establishing and growing a resource base at its Finniss Lithium Project, with aggressive drill programs re-commencing Q2 2017 in parallel with assessing early development options
Progressing the Finniss Lithium Project in 2017
Core's 2016 exploration drilling program at Finniss discovered a number of high grade lithium discoveries, including Grants, BP33 and Far West. Core is now preparing to re-commence drilling which will be focused on establishing a maiden lithium resource, and growing its resource base at the Finniss Lithium Project. The Company will maintain aggressive exploration and in-fill drill programs in 2017 in parallel with assessing early development options.
The first results from metallurgical test work on a bulk sample of from Grants are expected in early March 2017. Work is currently underway on 400kg of large diameter HQ core at the Nagrom metallurgical facilities in Perth, W.A to determine potential to produce commercial grade spodumene concentrate.
The first stage of resource assessment work at Finniss will be focussed on Grants and is expected to be completed during Q2 2017. Grants Prospect is ideally located, only 500m from the sealed highway which connects the project to nearby Port Darwin (see Figure 5 in the link below).
Port Darwin is a multiuser port with bulk loading and container shipping facilities with spare capacity and is Australia's closest port to Asia. The Finniss Project's potential logistics chain to China is arguably better than most spodumene projects being developed in Australia.
Continuity of high grade mineralisation at Grants, simple bulk-mining mining methods and proximity to sealed roads and the Port Darwin support the potential for early development at Grants.
RC and Diamond Drill Results at Grants
New drill results from Finniss include (see Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2 in the link below):
- 23m of high grade spodumene grading 1.51% Li2O including 4m @ 2.23% Li2O in RC drillhole (FRC041).
- 34m at 1.37% Li2O including 3m @ 2.04% Li2O in diamond drillhole (FRCD005).
Recent drill holes from the deepest part of the Grants Pegmatite tested to date, indicate that high grade spodumene mineralisation is continuous to at least 200m vertical depth and the deposit remains open at depth (see Figure 2 in the link below).
These new drill results build on previous RC and diamond drillholes at Grants which have hit thick intersections of excellent quality coarse grained spodumene, and further demonstrate that high grade spodumene mineralisation is continuous between drill sections and is open at depth.
All RC and Diamond drill assay results from the 2016 Phase 2 RC and January 2017 Diamond core drilling campaigns have now been received and reported, and Core is already making preparation to recommence drilling in Q2 2017 (as soon as the current wet weather subsides), where it is planned to undertake a programme of exploration and infill drilling to build resource estimates during 2017.
Phase 2 RC Drill Results at Far West
Drill results from the Far West prospect suggest that the Far West belt has the potential to deliver a series of smaller interconnected bodies of spodumene bearing pegmatite over a distance of at least 1,000m. Significant pegmatite widths of pegmatite were intersected during the drilling at Far West which support the potential of the area to host a considerable volume of mineralised pegmatite.
Drillhole FRC058 intersected 67m of low grade oxidised pegmatite containing intervals that include grades up to 1.94% Li2O over 2m (refer Figures 3 & 4 in the link below). Nearby drillhole FRC057 hit a 60m intersection of low grade oxidised pegmatite that averaged 0.06% Li2O, but no higher-grade intervals.
The lower grades intersected in drilling at Far West are interpreted to be due to weathering (oxidation) and there is also evidence that some of the pegmatites are strongly zoned with quartz rich "cores". In addition, the pegmatite also contains enclaves of Burrell Creek Formation phyllite (host rock), all of these diluting the overall grade.
The strike and down-dip extent remain open at Far West and this belt retains the potential for a number of high-grade pegmatites.
Commenting on the final results from the 2016 drilling program, Core's Managing Director, Stephen Biggins said:
"The 2016 drilling program was extremely successful. We made high grade lithium discoveries at a number of our targets at the Finniss Lithium Project which has validated Core's methodical approach to its lithium exploration program. The Grants discovery has been particularly exciting given high grade spodumene has been demonstrated over 300m in length and up to 30m wide, and open at depth below 200m vertical. The continuity of high grade mineralisation, simple mining and low transport costs given its proximity to Port Darwin bodes well for potential early development at Grants and we will continue to aggressively progress Grants in 2017.
Our focus for 2017 will be to establish and grow our resource base and we look forward to kicking off our 2017 drilling as soon as weather permits, as we have a number of high priority targets to drill."
To view tables and figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/5VZ7O48L
About Core Lithium Ltd
Core Lithium Ltd (ASX:CXO) is an emerging lithium producer focused on development of its Finniss Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory. Core owns 100% of Finniss, a major developing project that lies close to existing infrastructure such as the Darwin Port, grid power, gas and rail infrastructure.
The Finniss Project covers a 500km2 tenement holding and 25 historic pegmatite mines. The project area is about 80km from Darwin Port. Exploration work has generated a near term development timeline, with feasibility studies to be completed over the course of 2018 ahead of receipt of approvals in early 2019 and planned first production during 2019.
An aggressive exploration program is under way, which has confirmed the high quality prospectivity across much of the Finniss Project area. Core's stated ambition is to upgrade Finniss' resource base to fast-track commercialisation options.
Outstanding Assay Results Confirmed for Andapa Discovery
Perth, Mar 2, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Bass Metals Ltd ( ASX:BSM ) ( BSSMF:OTCMKTS ) (the "Company") is pleased to inform its shareholders that it has received confirming assay results for its material exploration success, the Andapa discovery, in eastern Madagascar.
Highlights:
- Accredited laboratory results provide further confirmation of discovery of three premium large flake graphite targets at Andapa.
- The targets, from 1.3 km to 2.1 km in extent, are hosted in soft, easily mineable, weathered mineralisation, which indicates significant potential for low cost mining.
- The main target, known as Unit 2, revealed Graphitic Carbon (GC) grades up to 7.7% at surface.
The SANAS accredited Bureau Veritas laboratory results, in conjunction with exploration works completed by Bass, demonstrate the Andapa discovery area contains at least three lenticular bodies of large flake graphite within the weathered profile. The three parallel striking graphitic units strike approximately northwest-southeast over strike distances varying between 1.3 km and 2.1 km.
31 in-situ graphite samples for the Andapa Project were analysed for Graphitic Carbon (GC), Total Carbon (TC) and Sulphur (S) grades. The results, detailed below in Table 1 (see link below), returned values up to 6.25 %GC for graphite Unit 1, up to 7.71 %GC at graphite Unit 2 and at graphite Unit 3, values up to 4.07 %GC (Figure 1, see link below).
As previously announced, a systematic exploration program will be planned over the three graphitic units, including an auger and pitting program with sampling. To be followed by a potential drilling and sampling program for grade estimation, flake size distribution and metallurgical testing.
Bass Metals CEO, Mr Tim McManus:
With further confirmation of this discovery, Bass will begin planning further exploration and develop a project plan for the area. We are pleased not only to confirm our initial results but also learn that our in-house laboratory is able to produce very similar results at a preliminary level, which gives us great confidence in any future testing we conduct in-house, especially our grade control activities."
"For our team at Bass, these results reinforce the fact that we are operating in a globally significant graphite region, with great potential in and around Graphmada.
We'll seek to leverage off our production expertise and market knowledge to look further afield in the region for other mineralisation in which to materially grow our resource base."
ABOUT THE GRAPHMADA LARGE FLAKE GRAPHITE MINE
Bass Metals Ltd. is one of only five publicly listed graphite producers in the world. The company owns and operates the Graphmada large flake graphite mine, Bass' flagship project, located in eastern Madagascar.
Madagascar has been a recognized producer and exporter of graphite since 1907 and sets the world standard for product quality and flake size.
The Graphmada mine has 40-year mining permits in place, containing four premium quality, large flake, graphite deposits hosted in weathered graphitic gneiss, a soft, easily minable rock that incurs low mining costs. With all associated mining infrastructure and logistics in place, the mine currently produces and sells a range of graphite concentrates into multiple market segments, to customers in India, the United States and Europe.
Generating revenue through ongoing lowest quartile cost production, the mine is currently being optimised by an experienced management team to 6000 tonnes per annum with improved final graphite concentrate grades, in order to grow cash margins.
Graphmada also has significant potential for low capital intensity expansion. Bass plans to invest capital to expand production to greater than 20,000 tonnes per annum of graphite concentrate sales by late 2018.
The Company has also made the strategic decision, in parallel with the optimisation at Graphmada, to actively explore and develop deposits in the immediate proximity to the mine, with a view to materially expanding existing resource inventories.
The Loharano deposit has provided the bulk of the feed to the Graphmada processing plant and has total JORC compliant Indicated and Inferred resources of 5.7Mt @ 4.1% Grade with a 2% cut-off. These resources are to a depth of only 6 meters, and mineralization is known to go to depth with increasing grade, and is open in all directions.
With the Company having a strong community engagement program and being well down the path in achieving its optimisation plans and growing its resource inventory, the team at Bass is confident of its plans for expansion and its future value creation for shareholders.
To view tables and figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/G3RTBDZQ
About Bass Metals Limited
Bass Metals Ltd (ASX:BSM) (OTCMKTS:BSSMF) is one of only five publicly listed graphite producers in the world. The company owns and operates the Graphmada large flake graphite mine, Bass' flagship project, located in eastern Madagascar.
The Graphmada mine has 40 year mining permits in place, containing four premium quality, large flake, graphite deposits hosted in weathered graphitic gneiss, a soft, easily minable rock that incurs low mining costs. With all associated mining infrastructure and logistics in place, the mine currently produces and sells a range of graphite concentrates into multiple market segments, to customers in India, the United States and Europe.
Wright: Airmen need to be well trained, well led, resilient
Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright addressed the areas in which he looks to focus on during his tenure as the 18th chief master sergeant of the Air Force at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium here March 2, 2017.
As an adviser to the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force on behalf of nearly 399,000 total force enlisted Airmen, Wright said he more importantly wants to be an advocate, a voice, a champion for each and every one of those Airman and their families.
In order to be effective in helping each Airman in every specialty be successful and accomplish the Air Force mission Wright said, I think the most significant thing that I can do for all of our commanders [and] for all of our Airmen is to make sure that our Airmen are well trained, well led and resilient.
Well trained
Wright insisted training must be the foundation for Airmen. Using his experience as an athlete growing up, Wright said players dont become a champion by just stepping onto the field, but evolve through focused and deliberate training.
According to Wright, enlisted Airmen make up nearly 85 to 90 percent of squadrons. He said in order to supplement Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfeins initiative of revitalizing squadrons, its imperative that those Airmen are well equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to get the job done.
As the former U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa command chief, Wright has been out on the field as Airmen honed their shoot, move, communicate skills. Hes also been on the flightline and has watched Airmen perform hot pit refuels. He said, this type of constant training all across the Air Force definitely makes a difference.
Well led
Having well-equipped Airmen is only half the battle, they also need to be well led.
Leadership for me centers on helping us become better at managing our talent, Wright said.
Mainly, he asked, how does the Air Force get the right Airmen with the right skill set and experience into the right roles at the right time and most importantly, with the right attitude?
When I talk about attitude, I once heard that Talent is interesting but character is everything, Wright said.
Wright said he looks forward to working with career field managers to get this right. With a majority of career fields using the vectoring process, he said the Air Force Personnel Center needs to be intertwined as much as possible to ensure Airmen get where they need to be.
Resilient
Wright said its very difficult to be an Airman in todays Air Force. Airmen have faced resource and manning constraints all while balancing a high-operations tempo. This has put a major strain on themselves and their families.
With the level of unpredictability and instability, and the challenges the United States faces with violent extremist organizations, Wright said Airmen will have to continue to overcome challenges and obstacles.
The response from Airmen the chief hopes to receive is one of owning those tough circumstances and putting themselves in a position where theyre ready mentally, physically and spiritually, and able to form the support networks necessary to be successful. As the Air Force moves forward, Wright said Airmen and their families need to be resilient.
We have tons of programs already in place, so I dont need to build anything. I dont need to come up with any new great bounding ideas, Wright said. All I want to do is to make sure that we integrate the programs we already have and that we present them in a way that Airmen feel comfortable utilizing them.
When it comes to ensuring the morale within squadrons remains positive while dealing with challenging circumstances, Wright said it falls on leaders in the squadron.
This is where us, as leaders, have to put to use all the skills that we learned in our development and training and [professional military education], Wright said. We have to motivate, encourage, inspire. We have to solve problems at the highest level; we are responsible for creating an environment for our Airmen to thrive.
Wright said moving forward, if Airmen are well trained, well led and resilient, then the Air Force will continue to possess the strategic advantage that it has today.
The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to take immediate steps to identify land in Mumbai and Pune for construction of additional jails to reduce overcrowding at Arthur Road and Yerwada prisons.
A division bench of justices A S Oka and A A Sayed also directed the government to see if it can carry out any additional construction at Arthur Road jail here and Yerwada prison in Pune to provide better facilities and space to the prisoners.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by NGO Jan Adalat Centre of Para-Legal Services and Legal Aid on the issue of jail conditions in the state.
The state government shall undertake immediate exercise of finding out government lands where additional prisons can be constructed in Mumbai and Pune. Appropriate steps shall be taken by the government within a period of three months, the court ordered yesterday.
It directed the government to set up a committee headed by a retired high court judge and experts as members to conduct a scientific study on setting up a model prison with necessary infrastructure and steps to reduce overcrowding.
The bench directed the committee to file its report along with recommendations in six months.
The court further said adequate provision will have to be made to set up a well equipped hospital inside the prison.
In fact, the prison hospitals in central prisons should have all the modern amenities and availability of specialised doctors so that prisoners are not required to be admitted to public or private hospitals for undergoing treatment or surgeries, the court said.
On the issue of minor children staying with their mothers at the Byculla Womens prison, the court said the government should take a policy decision as to till what age children can be permitted to stay with their mothers.
It goes without saying that an arrangement will have to be made by establishing creche, nursery and kindergarten schools and if necessary primary schools near the precincts of the jails so that the children can get proper facilities of education, the court said.
If such facilities cannot be provided then the state government must ensure that they (children) are admitted to nearby schools or nurseries. As the mothers will not be in a position to pay regular fees when the children are required to be admitted in private institutions, the government will have to make an arrangement for payment of fees, the judges said.
Popular Gujarati humorist Taarak Mehta died here aged 88 on Wednesday after a prolonged illness, his family said.
A string of politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, condoled his demise and expressed gratitude towards him for bringing a smile to their face with his works.
He died of old age, Atul Bhatt, a relative of the writer, said.
Mehta was born in December 26, 1929. The Padma Shri awardees popular works include Duniya Ne Undha Chasma, which inspired the hit Hindi sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.
For the people of Gujarat, his literary work always generated a good dose of laughter.
Modi recounted how Mehta never left the side of satire and pen.
Reminiscing about one of his meetings with Mehta, Modi said: I have had the privilege of meeting Mehta several times. I also got a chance to meet him when he was honoured with Padma Shri. His work reflects unity in diversity in India.
Actress Richa Chadha thanked Mehta for the humour.
Agitating Jat leaders threatened on Thursday to disrupt supply of essential commodities to Delhi and block roads leading to the Capital if their demands for quotas in jobs and education were not met.
Protesters, who are demanding quotas in jobs and education, have threatened to intensify their stir after the Holi.
Our movement will continue till our demands are met. The government has to find solutions, said Yashpal Malik, the president of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), which is spearheading the protest. The Jats are also expected to submit a memorandum with their demands to President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday.
Malik has threatened that essential supplies may take a hit as the Jats plan to march in Delhi with their demands. Essential supplies will be affected when march will be held in Delhi in the coming time, Malik said.
According to Malik, several Jats from Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have joined the protests at Jantar Mantar.
Malik claimed that the protesters have started non-cooperation with the government and will not pay electricity and water bills and also the instalment of loans that they owe to the government.
As many as 30 people were killed and properties worth crores were damaged at many places in Haryana during last years Jat stir which had turned violent.
Malaysias attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali has said a North Korean man, held in connection with the nerve agent attack on Kim Jong-nam, will be released and deported because of lack of evidence.
Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un, was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport with a toxic nerve agent. South Korea and U.S. had alleged he was assassinated by agents of the North Korean regime.
According to the local media, Ali said that 45-year-old Ri Jong Chol will be released on Friday.
Malaysia has not yet described his alleged role in the killing.
Sunny Pawar, the eight-year-old Mumbai boy who created waves at the Oscar awards ceremony, returned home to a royal welcome on Wednesday morning.
Accompanied by his father Dilip Pawar, a former sweeper-turned-sons business manager, Sunny sat on the trolley stacked high with his luggage as he was wheeled out of Mumbai airport.
A large number of people cheered and waved even as a battalion of journalists braced for an encounter with the young celeb.
Though appearing a tad weary from the long-haul flight, Sunny was a bundle of energy. He smiled and waved back as bouncers struggled to keep their valuable subject safe from the mobbing crowds.
Some emotional elderly family members and relatives, including his grandfather Bhima Pawar, garlanded him, offered him sweets and blessed him.
The co-star of the acclaimed Hollywood film Lion even took a few quick questions from the media.
I am very happy and enjoyed attending the Oscars ceremony, he told a journalist.
To another, he shot back: I will continue to study and also pursue my acting career.
The Class III student of a school at Kalina was selected out of a nationwide talent hunt of 2,000 children, around one-and-a-half-years ago, cleared the audition in Mumbai and Pune to finally land the plum role in Garth Davis Lion.
Welcoming him with a tight bear hug and tears of joy, Sunnys mother Vasu Pawar said she was at a complete loss to describe her feelings.
I have no words to express my happiness over my sons achievement, Vasu said, outside the familys modest dwelling in a hutment colony in Kalina in the eastern suburb of Mumbai.
Grandpa Bhima Pawar told a private TV channel (ZeeTV) that the entire family was extremely proud of Sunny and how he achieved so much in life at such a tender age.
We have not yet watched the film. But when it is released, our entire family will watch Sunnys performance, said Bhima Pawar as his other relatives and grandchildren watched.
Lion is the story of a five-year-old Saroo Brierley, who was stranded in a train which catapulted him hundreds of kilometres away from home to the busy Kolkata.
There, he managed to eke out an existence on footpaths, before a young Australian couple adopts him.
The elder version of Saroo was played by Dev Patel in the film. The role of his foster parents was played by David Wenham and Nicole Kidman.
Some 25 years later, Saroo takes the help of Google Earth to trace out his real family and finally returns from Australia to his home in Madhya Pradesh.
Holding Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan responsible for the alleged murder of RSS activist Santosh Kumar (52), an RSS leader Kundan Chandrawat from Ujjain has announced a bounty of Rs. 1 crore on his head. He openly announced, If anyone beheads the Kerala CM, who is the murderer of RSS activists, and brings his head I will bequeath my property worth more than Rs. 1 crore to him. We are aware of growing violence and intolerance in our country and in such circumstances, if someone gets motivated by such talks what would happen? Who gave these right-wing activists an authority to threaten someone or provoke people to kill someone? If you are continuously fed with negative news about any person or organization or political party, you will start believing in it one day. Like all Muslims are terrorists, CPI (M) are Naxalites and anti-Hindu, none of these claims ever have been proved but whenever you hear Kerala and its government the first thing that comes to your mind is Anti-Hindu and when you hear about any such alleged stories, you are likely to blame a state government. By announcing rewards and awards, more anger is incited among people, which can lead to violence.
Kerala has always witnessed political murders, where the RSS-BJP and the CPM have lost several of their cadres. Last month, the death of BJP leader Santosh, was the eighth murder to have taken place after the Vijayan government took over in May, 2016. The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of the BJP. Last week, Vijayan had said right-wing organisations, including the RSS, have been trying to divide the country for the last several years. He also alleged RSS saying Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, was a weapon in the hands of the organisation. The assassination was the result of a conspiracy. CM of Kerala always attacks the extremism of RSS and its members. The anger against him is very common among RSS and BJP supporters but it can reach to this level was not expected.
Pinarayi Vijayan, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was the longest serving secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI (M) from 1998 to 2015. Vijayan won a seat in the May 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election as the CPI (M) candidate for Dharmadom constituency and was selected as the leader of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and became the 12th Chief Minister of Kerala. Vijayan also holds the charge of Home Affairs & Vigilance Departments along with the other portfolios normally held by the Chief Ministers, and not mentioned elsewhere. During his reign, he introduced various schemes like Haritha Keralam Mission, Project LIFE, Ardram Mission and Comprehensive Education Reforms. For the first time in India, an all-woman police squad called Pink Patrol was introduced in Kerala to ascertain the security of women and children in public places.
Vijayan and controversies walk hand in hand; the SNC Lavalin hullabaloo in Kerala was a major allegation that rocked Kerala politics. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report had stated that the deal Vijayan had struck as electricity minister in 1998 with Lavalin, a Canadian firm, for the repair of three generators, had cost the state exchequer a staggering Rs. 375 crores. On 16 January 2007, Kerala High Court ordered a CBI enquiry into the SNC Lavalin case. There are also reports that the CAG did not report any losses to state exchequer, but that the project did not yield commensurate gains.
On 21 January 2009, CBI filed a progress report on the investigation in the Kerala High Court. Pinarayi Vijayan had been named as the 9th accused in the case. CPI (M) backed Pinarayi saying that the CBI move was politically motivated. Party viewed the implication of Pinarayi in the case is to settle scores with the CPM after the party withdrew its support to the UPA government. The CPM led Kerala Government decided not to let Vijayan be prosecuted in the case. Over-ruling the cabinet recommendation, the Governor allowed CBI to prosecute Vijayan based on prima facie evidence. On 5 November 2013, the CBI special court discharged Vijayan and the others accused from the list of accused in the SNC-Lavalin Case. The court has allowed a plea made by Pinarayi Vijayan asking his name to be removed from the list of accused in the case. The court held that, there isnt any proof of dishonest and fraudulent intentions, abuse of official position and cheating.
There was another dispute; on 16 February 2007 the airport security in Chennai recovered five bullets from Vijayans baggage. The Chennai airport security let him off after receiving a faxed copy of his license.
We all know the hullabaloo in 2007, Pinarayi called Paul Chitilapally, the bishop of Thamarassery in Kerala, a wretched creature. Later, the Roman Catholic Church in Kerala was up in arms against him for his comments against the bishop. However, he repeated the same and stuck to his comments. This led to heated discussion among the Catholic community across the state to protest against his speech by closing all educational institutions run by the church. He is one leader who is least bothered about religion based bias. An elected CM liked by many, but still such announcements by RSS leader was uncalled for. Lets see, what action Madhya Pradesh state government takes against him, and how RSS the organisation itself handles this issue.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
By John Stone
This article first appeared in 2010, but has recently become the subject of a take-down by Joel A Harrison on the Every Child by Two website , Dr Offit being on the board and advisory board of that organization. I commented to Harrison on Monday on Age of Autism regarding his article (amended):
"I note there appears to be nowhere to comment on your splendid new article on ECBT. A basic point - and this may not be the same in the US - but Dr Offit's 10,000 vaccines was frequently used by health officials in the UK as an almost a doctrinal point in support of an extended vaccine program, when addressing public concern about multiple vaccines. I made an analogy with the famous Milgram experiment - I acknowledge there were at least several - but there was one very famous one. And my point is that it was inappropriate to use this to persuade parents that their children could safely have several vaccines at one time, against the evidence that were hurting or had damage - and I was saying that if you were worried about this you should not be reassured by such statements: just as the people administering the fantasy shocks (who were the people who were really being experimented on) should not have been reassured that what they were doing was beneficial. I think the idea of Dr Offit's article was to reassure parents, but what has happened to our children is not at all theoretical. In the paper reported this morning children who were given DPT vaccine in Guinea Bissau in 1981 had 5 times the mortality of those that did not, and I would suggest that was not very theoretical either...
"The one thing I do get is that that you could not actually vaccinate an infant with 10,000 vaccines but who said I didn't? But we are talking lunacy. What is the point of saying it is theoretical. In human science nothing is theoretical: if it doesn't work the theory has been disproven. Each one of these products has significant risks but we are just banging more and more of them in regardless. The new one on the UK infant schedule, Bexsero Men B, was said in the package insert to have a serious adverse reaction in 10-25 year-olds in above 1 in 50 administrations, and that is being given to an 8 week old with DTaP-polio-HiB, rotavirus, 13 strain pneumococcal. But I don't know why we should not add in small pox, anthrax and bubonic plague, because it is all theoretically safe.
"I am not sure what your point is about the Milgram experiment and coercion. There is huge coercion with the vaccine program and it is getting worse."
The Milgram experiment has long passed into modern folklore. In 1961 a 28 year-old psychologist at Yale, Stanley Milgram, devised an experiment to test the preparedness of ordinary citizens to co-operate in performing inhuman acts.
In the experiment volunteers were induced (as they believed at the time) into subjecting another party to ever larger doses of electricity:
The subjects believed they were part of an experiment supposedly dealing with the relationship between punishment and learning. An experimenterwho used no coercive powers beyond a stern aura of mechanical and vacant-eyed efficiencyinstructed participants to shock a learner by pressing a lever on a machine each time the learner made a mistake on a word-matching task. Each subsequent error led to an increase in the intensity of the shock in 15-volt increments, from 15 to 450 volts.
A new book from Italian photographer Luca Bracali
documents the beauty and mystery of Easter Island
and the restoration of the islands iconic Moai statues
When the Lorenzo de Medici School in Florence, Italy, won an international competition to send its top restoration experts to Rapa Nui, also known as
An opinion issued on Feb. 16 by the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit clearly establishes the First Amendment right to record police in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, notes the NPPA. The case arose from an incident in Ft. Worth, Texas, in which a man, Phillip Turner,
Aiken, SC (29801)
Today
Rain showers this evening with mostly clear conditions overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..
Tonight
Rain showers this evening with mostly clear conditions overnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Cargolux is looking to add new destinations to its network in Africa and is hoping that demand to and from the continent will pick up this year after a tough 2016.
The carriers regional director for Africa, Jonathan Clark, told Air Cargo News that the airline was looking to diversify its network next year, with east Africa an obvious gap in its map.
We want to diversify a little bit more into east Africa, you can see we are a little bit weak in east Africa, he said.
You have got Uganda, Lusaka, Harare, those areas are quite interesting to us, so we will probably be looking at these areas in the future.
Also Mozambique is quite interesting for us, because there is a lot of oil and gas, particularly LNG, and when that starts to pick up in the next few years I think Mozambique will become quite busy.
He said that exports from Zimbabwe and Zambia were mainly perishables and mining equipment.
Clark said the carrier has also been looking at north Africa and west Africa. However, north Africas proximity to Europe makes it difficult to justify flying a freighter because the rates are so low, while for west Africa it had been considering Senegal, but there is already a lot of competition into the country.
It would also like to start a service to Addis Ababa but Clark said it was almost impossible to get traffic rights into that market.
Clark said that 2016 had been a mixed year, with improvements in the second half.
If I look at places like Bamako, Cairo, Ndjamena, Abidjan and Ouaga, they were fairly stable last year and we have actually seen a bit of growth in some of these areas.
But the main ones that have been affected are Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, which were really on a downward trend in the last year.
If we look at the last six months of last year then of course they have improved a lot but time will tell whether that was a blip or whether this year its going to continue.
The biggest problem for us is that west Africa is not busy and we are having to combine flights and that obviously affects the schedules.
He said that the South African market had also been struggling over the last 12 months, while Kenya had performed well, particularly over the Valentines Day period when flower exports took off and Cargolux had to add an extra seven flights to cater for demand.
It had also carried out quite a few charter flights carrying cars for testing to Upington, while other charter flights had been completed to Maputo, Windhoek and Bamako.
However, Clark was optimistic about the year ahead and said that January and February had continued to show improvements on last year.
For us, this year it is going to be similar to last year, Clark said. I would say the first six months we are hoping will be more stable than last year. The early indications are that January and February are better than last year.
Weve got a fairly positive outlook for this year. Its not going to set the world on fire but its not as negative as last year. If we can add one or two new areas in Africa then it gives us a good platform to grow.
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How to respond to the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States.
Jews across the United States are increasingly alarmed at the rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the country.
In December, the New York City Police Department noted a 115% increase in bias crimes in the previous month, with Jews the target of 24 out of 43 incidents in that period. On February 27, 2017, for the fifth time in recent weeks, bomb threats roiled over 100 JCCs and Jewish schools across the country, forcing students, staff, elderly members and young babies to evacuate.
A bullet was fired through the window of a Hebrew school classroom in Indiana. Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Swastikas have been carved into schools, libraries, and even inside the Illinois Holocaust Museum.
A typical bomb threat included this: A large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered... Theres going to be a bloodbath
Here's what a typical bomb threat sounds like: Its a C-4 bomb with a lot of shrapnel, surrounded by a bag In a short time, a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered. Their heads are going to (be) blown off from the shrapnel. Theres a lot of shrapnel. Theres going to be a bloodbath thats going to take place in a short time.
Ironically, at the same time hate crimes have us all feeling under threat, the number of people who profess anti-Semitic feelings is at a historic low. A recent Pew Research Center study even found that Jews are the most highly-regarded religious group in America. So what is going on?
According to Ken Jacobson, ADL Deputy National Director, We dont have any evidence that more Americans are becoming anti-Semitic. For the past several years, his organization has found that 12% 15% of Americans profess anti-Semitic beliefs. That percentage is significantly lower than when the ADL first began polling Americans in 1964 when 24% of Americans said they harbored anti-Semitic feelings.
However, 12 to 15% of the population harboring negative feelings towards Jews is 30 million or so people, Jacobson cautions. What seems different now is that some people have become emboldened to act on their anti-Semitism more than in the past. Jacobson calls this atmosphere of hate a crisis in America today.
Rabbi Avi Shafran, Agudath Israel of Americas Director of Public Affairs, shares with Aish.com that "one lesson we should be taking from this uptick in anti-Semitism is to realize that even in good times, when we dont see eruptions of anti-Semitic acts, there are still twisted people among us who wait for an opportune time to express their hatred. We need to realize that anti-Semitism has not been cured. And wont be, until we merit Mashiach (Messiah).
Extreme rhetoric against Israel has made anti-Semitism more acceptable.
Hate crime experts point to one culprit thats made anti-Semitism more acceptable in recent years: extreme rhetoric against Israel. Theres a loss of shame about anti-Semitism, notes Ken Jacobson of the ADL. Rabbi Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, concurs. "Much of the rhetoric against Israel has tipped over into expressions of overt Jew hatred. Its not just opposing Israels policies. Some rhetoric is meant to denigrate and demonize a whole people. "
Add to this the rise of right-wing hatred over the past year. "White supremacists are on campus now recruiting," notes Jacobson.
A major tipping point in the rise of neo-Nazi and white supremacist bigots was the huge spike in anti-Semitic tweets during the American presidential campaign. The ADL tracked a total of 19,253 anti-Semitic tweets, many of them containing virulent threats to Jewish journalists during the campaign. Over two thirds of these sent by just 1,600 Twitter accounts, most of whom self-identified with the alt-right, a loose collection of extremists. This is not a partisan issue. Ben Shapiro, a conservative journalist, received the most anti-Semitic tweets during the campaign. Rising anti-Semitism affects all political persuasions.
Hostile tweets encourage more virulent forms of anti-Semitism. You started out with the hostile tweets, Mitchell D. Silber, former director of intelligence analysis for the New York Police Department, explained. You moved to the bomb threats against JCCs and other institutions, and now you have a physical manifestation at the cemeteries with the gravestones knocked over.
How to Respond
Given this environment of emboldened anti-Semitism, what can we do as Jews, as Americans, as people of good will the world over? Here are four broad suggestions.
We need to be unified. Rabbi Abraham Cooper fears that the Jewish community is making a mistake in mischaracterizing the current wave of anti-Semitism as a partisan issue instead of a major threat that requires all Jews to respond. We can only succeed if we work in a bipartisan fashion, he notes. This is a time for the younger generation to step up, as well, he explains, and condemn anti-Semitism forcefully wherever it occurs. With so many bomb threats targeting JCC preschools, young parents are finding themselves on the front line, fighting anti-Semitism directly.
The threats to our community can serve to remind us of what we stand for as Jews. In addition to cooperating with law enforcement authorities, notes Rabbi Avi Shafran, now is the time for Jewish actions, mitzvahs, and prayer. Above all...we must always remember that the ultimate protection of our people comes from Above, and that our merits and our prayers are what, in the end, ensure our security, he notes. Doubling down on our Jewish identity and commitment and even taking on new Jewish observances can help strengthen our communities. Consider what concrete step you can take to strengthen your connection to the Jewish community.
Its also crucial to hold our leaders to account, demanding action against anti-Semitism and other forms of hate. President Trump condemned the rise in anti-Semitism, saying in his speech to Congress on February 29, 2017 that hate crimes remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms. We need to be vigilant in holding all of our politicians and elected officials to that promise.
Its crucial that we all stand up to hate, no matter where it occurs.
There are a host of legislative issues that need our support. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, for example, is advocating for the US Congress to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that the State Department ratified in 2010. (Britain became one of the first nations to adopt this definition, in December 2016.) The center is encouraging all Americans, including the Jewish community, to get behind this effort.
Finally, its crucial that we all stand up to hate, no matter where it occurs. There are haters in America, notes Rabbi Avi Shafran, but many, many more citizens of good will. Its our urgent task to build bridges with our fellow citizens, to support them when they are in need, and call on allies to help us when our communities are targeted. Today, more than ever, we need to be vigilant in condemning attacks on our fellow citizens and to insist that others stand by us in our hour of need as well.
By presenting a united front against hate, we can send the message that intolerance, anti-Semitism and bigotry have no place in our communities.
February 28, 2017
BAGHDAD, Iraq With the fight progressing to retake Mosul from the Islamic State (IS), the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr presented Initial Solutions, a national reconciliation proposal for shaping post-IS Iraq. The initiative, announced Feb. 20, consists of 29 points. Sadr's various proposals are seemingly incompatible with the orientation of the Shiite parties of the National Alliance, and in direct conflict with the vision of Ammar al-Hakim, head of the alliance, but Sunni blocs, to which the proposal extends bridges of trust, have voiced support.
Among the initiative's proposals are establishing a UN-sponsored fund to support reconstruction and forming a UN-supported entity focusing on human rights and minorities to deal with and prevent sectarian and ethnic conflicts and violations. It also calls for dialogues among politicians, tribal leaders and social elites to ease factional and sectarian tensions.
Sadr, spiritual leader of the al-Ahrar bloc and the Sadrist Movement, proposes that the predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), although made an official fighting force in November, be dissolved. He contends that the Iraqi army and security forces alone should be responsible for protection in areas liberated from IS and any disputed territories.
Instead of the PMU standing separately, Sadr called for striving to integrate disciplined PMU [fighters] into the security forces, in such a way to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the national security forces. He suggests that the PMU militias, including his Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades), turn their headquarters into cultural, civil, social or humanitarian institutions and centers.
Commenting on why Sadr wants to shut down the armed factions' offices, Ibrahim al-Jabiri, director of Sadrs office in Baghdad, told Al-Monitor, The initiative aims to strengthen the official security forces through their integration into the military and security establishment.
The most significant item of the initiative is its call for the Iraqi government to expel all occupying and even friendly forces from Iraqi territory, to preserve the stature of the state. This means the expulsion of US and Iranian troops and advisers. The Iraqi government, however, has a security agreement with the United States, and US forces will be needed in the long-term to train and assist Iraqi troops. Baghdad is also not ready to shed its Iranian ally, these days represented in Iraq by Qasem Soleimani, the Quds Force commander, who also oversees PMU operations.
Jabiri said, After the countrys liberation from IS control, the Iraqi government will no longer need any outside help. Therefore, the presence of any foreign forces after the liberation of Mosul will no longer be justified.
Jabari added, When he said the 'occupying' forces, Sadr meant the American troops and those who cooperated with them in occupying Iraq in 2003. As for the 'friendly' forces, he meant all the forces that came to Iraq to provide assistance after IS took over the countrys northern and western areas in 2014. Concerning so-called friendly forces, Jabiri said, Sadrs proposal includes the expulsion of Turkish troops deployed to Bashiqa, near Mosul, ostensibly as trainers, as well as non-Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga who entered the country for the battle against IS.
Jabiri said Sadr wants to form a committee to represent him and pursue implementation of his initiative with the government and political parties in the hope of persuading committee members to introduce and approve his proposals. He said that some parties will, of course, oppose the initiative, noting, It is in direct conflict with their interests and their keenness for preserving the status quo.
The State of Law Coalition, led by Vice President Nouri al-Maliki, was the first to criticize the initiative. Coalition representative Alia Nassif said in a Feb. 21 statement that internationalizing the initiative, for example, by engaging the United Nations and contracting with foreign companies in reconstruction efforts, would mean advancing the interests of other countries. Nassif said, It is wrong to commit to all its terms.
Al-Mowaten, the bloc headed by Hakim, said, All Shiite alliances signed the national reconciliation project [proposed by Hakim and the National Alliance], which represents a road map for post-IS Iraq. Sadrs initiative falls within this framework. In short, the bloc's position is that there is no need for Sadr's initiative given the National Alliance's Historical Settlement, the proposal announced Oct. 31. Sadr's plan, however, addresses more long-standing Sunni demands than the alliance's.
Meanwhile, Sunni parties have welcomed Sadrs initiative, namely, the Mutahidoun Bloc, headed by Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, and the Pan Arab Project, led by Khamis Khanjar, which did not support the Historical Settlement. In a statement Feb. 20, Khanjar said his party supports most of Sadrs initiative, noting that Iraq has a historic opportunity to carry out comprehensive reforms. The Sunnis also like that its call for dialogue among sect and tribal leaders, including that Shiite leaders visit Sunni leaders in their communities. It also appears that Sadr is considering approaching Sunnis as potential allies in future elections.
Although some of Sadr's proposals seem practical and attractive, such as dialogues toward reconciliation, ending sectarian tensions and international funding and support, the initiative is unlikely to go anywhere. Other items, such as the expulsion of foreign forces and the abolition of the PMU, are far-fetched. Given the competing forces, the initiative is likely to remain shackled by political conflict.
March 1, 2017
RAMALLAH, West Bank Fatahs Central Committee neither selected Marwan Barghouti, who is serving a prison sentence in an Israeli jail, to take up the movement's position of deputy leader nor tasked him with any leadership role during its Feb. 15 session, raising wide controversy among the movements leaders and cadres.
Barghouti is an influential Fatah leader and is widely popular among the movements youths, given his role in the establishment of Fatah's student wing, the Shabiba movement. He was a leader of the first intifada (1987-1993) and architect of the second intifada (2000-2005). Barghouti is also one of the most prominent candidates to succeed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Central Committee selected Mahmoud al-Aloul as its deputy leader. Aloul, 67, hails from the city of Nablus and is a former commissioner in charge of the committee's organization and mobilization; he is close to Abbas. Jibril Rajoub, a member of the Central Committee and former head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, was appointed secretary of the Central Committee. The post of deputy leader and secretary of the Central Committee are the most important positions within the movement, but other committee members were appointed to various positions, too.
The selection process was delayed by two months, due to consultations and internal disputes over the post of deputy leader. The appointments follow Fatahs 7th congress that was held in Ramallah on Nov. 29, with the election of the members of the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council.
Following Fatahs congress, Barghouti was expected to serve as the movements deputy leader, given the 930 out of the 1,400 votes he won at the congress and his history of struggle. He has been in Israeli jails since April 15, 2002, where he is serving five life sentences and a 40-year prison term, after Israel accused him of being responsible for armed operations conducted by Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatahs military wing in the Gaza Strip, and the killing and wounding of dozens of Israelis at the beginning of the second intifada on Sept. 28, 2000.
A member of Fatahs Central Committee told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that refraining from selecting Barghouti for any of the movements leadership posts, especially the post of deputy leader, is not an attempt to underestimate him." In reference to the efforts and physical presence required to perform the tasks of the job, he said, "The assigned tasks require efforts that are time sensitive, and will be revised and assessed. This is why the positions were given to members who are present so that each prepares his own work plan.
Nasser al-Qudwa, a member of Fatahs Central Committee and commissioner for culture and media, told the press Feb. 16, The Central Committees members did not agree unanimously on Barghouti to become the movements deputy leader. The discussions held required that all members agree on the deputy leader unanimously, which did not happen.
He added, It was agreed that there is no need for Barghouti to be a part of the electoral process.
Nevertheless, Qadura Fares, a close associate to Barghouti, said, The need for consensus on the movements deputy leader is unfounded, because what happened is that one of the two candidates for the post of deputy leader namely Mahmoud al-Aloul and Ismail Jabr was elected, Fares said.
He added, When Barghoutis name was suggested for this post during the Central Committees meeting, one of the committees members gave false information about Barghouti's not wanting to take up this post unless all members agree unanimously, which did not happen.
Fares explained, I don't know where they heard that Barghouti wants to be a consensus figure. The Central Committee could have contacted his wife to make sure this claim is true, instead of making a decision based on false information. He added, It is a major mistake that Barghouti was not given any organizational role, particularly the post of the movements deputy head.
The Central Committees decision angered Fadwa Barghouti, Marwans wife, who is also a member of Fatahs Revolutionary Council. On Feb. 15, she lambasted the Central Committees decision on Facebook and wrote, A serious reconsideration within the movement is required. While Hamas chose a freed detainee, Yahya Sinwar, to lead the movement in Gaza, and while the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Saadat, is in the occupations prison cells, the Central Committee unfortunately insists on considering Marwan absent. It did not take into account that this will be perceived by our people as yielding to Netanyahus threats.
She referred to the Central Committees possible compliance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus remarks of Dec. 5. Netanyahu had criticized the election of Barghouti as a member of the Central Committee, saying, The election of Barghouti in the Fatah movement radicalizes the culture of incitement and terrorism.
The fact that Barghouti was not selected as deputy leader indicates that a blind eye was turned to the demands of the Fatah cadres, most notably Fatahs freed detainees. They demanded in a Feb. 14 statement that Barghouti be appointed deputy leader because he is a consensus figure in the movement, has earned the respect of large segments of the Palestinian people and had a quasi-consensus at the 7th congress.
On Feb. 16, the Nidal al-Amoudi Battalion of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades criticized that Barghouti had not been considered for this post.
The Central Committees decision resulted in various analyses, with some considering that the reason is Barghoutis inability to perform the tasks required for this post, while others did not rule out the possibility that some of the committees members fear Barghoutis popularity and stature in the movement and the role he may play in the future.
Political writer and analyst Jihad Harb told Al-Monitor, Some of the Central Committees members fear Barghoutis popularity and stature among Palestinians and within the movement. The polls indicate that he has great popularity, which is a source of concern for some of the committees members. They are scared that Barghouti could lead the movement should the position be vacant.
March 2, 2017
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Palestinian Ministry of Womens Affairs, in collaboration with local media, is deploying major efforts to encourage the media to address social affairs, and womens affairs in particular, in an attempt to change stereotypes and how society views Palestinian women.
On Dec. 5, 2016, 17 public and private Palestinian media organizations in Ramallah signed a charter of honor prepared by the Ministry of Womens Affairs, to launch a safe media network that supports social issues and womens affairs.
On Feb. 8, the ministry held a meeting in Gaza with local media outlets that had joined the network to discuss ways to develop mechanisms for the implementation of this charter. Media outlets that signed the charter include Palestine TV, Wafa News Agency, Maan News Network, Ajyal radio station, Watan TV, Al-Quds newspaper and Al-Raya radio station.
Minister of Womens Affairs Haifa Agha, told Al-Monitor that in two separate meetings 17 media outlets in the West Bank and nine others in the Gaza Strip signed the charter of honor to work together using the same approach to change stereotypes about women, support their rights and address womens affairs such as violence against them, denial of their inheritance, the right to choose a spouse and gender equality.
Regarding the implementation of the charter, Agha explained that starting March 2017, the ministry will specify a women's issue for media outlets to address uniformly and simultaneously during an agreed-upon period of time. The Ministry of Womens Affairs and the Ministry of Information will later coordinate to put forward more issues related to women.
Agha said, The charter stipulates several items, most notably the medias commitment to collectively address womens affairs and in coordination with the Ministry of Womens Affairs to raise the issue of public opinion and achieve change. In addition, media outlets shall adopt a new work strategy to dedicate a larger number of media programs and articles to women by reporting about women and reporting in collaboration with women.
She added, Women in Palestine are better than men in several fields, most importantly in education; there are only 100 male graduates for every 145 female graduates. Despite these figures, society does not give women the chance to occupy leading positions in society only 12% of positions higher than the position of general manager are occupied by women.
Agha explained that the ministry prepared this charter in an attempt to push local media into assuming a greater responsibility and improving the quality of content by supporting womens rights and promoting a culture to fight violence against women.
Raed Othman, a general manager at Maan network Maan TV and Maan News said that his network was excited to sign the charter in order to adopt a unified vision with other media outlets to address women's issues.
Othman told Al-Monitor, After signing the charter of honor, Maan network decided to establish a gender control over the content published in articles and programs, in addition to organizing courses for our journalists on the coverage of womens affairs.
He stressed that Maan network has always been interested in womens affairs, noting, Supporting womens affairs is one of our main concerns. We have a daily morning show hosted by five women from the West Bank and Gaza, during which they discuss various issues related to women. We also have two TV programs for women 'Palestinian Women,' which features female role models and womens achievements in society, and 'Who Has the Right,' which highlights womens rights. We also have a special column for womens affairs on our website.
Othman explained that Maans management meets once every three months to set a new plan to address womens affairs and raise awareness about womens rights in society. Currently, the network is working on launching a media campaign by March 8, which marks International Womens Day, to address several issues related to women such as violence against women, denial of their inheritance and gender equality.
Shady Zamarah, the program director at Al-Raya, said that his radio station is committed to the charters call for addressing women and gender affairs.
He told Al-Monitor, We started implementing [the charter] by issuing a circular to all newsrooms to start giving women priority in covering news and preparing programs. In addition, we started relying more on female figures as a source of information and to highlight their presence in our society.
Amal Siyam, the director of the Womens Affairs Center in Gaza, believes local media does not assume enough responsibility in changing stereotypes about women. She told Al-Monitor, Although media outlets cover womens affairs, they are not a priority and they are not given the attention they deserve. This does not allow women to properly be in the spotlight.
Siyam added, The media only pays attention to women on special occasions such as Womens International Day on March 8 each year, expressing concern about the ministrys charter of honor being occasional as well.
She called on media outlets to address womens affairs on a regular basis and constantly shed light on the achievements of female pioneers and those who support their families, to show that women are productive members of society.
It seems that the charter of honor drafted by the Ministry of Womens Affairs to support women is merely a moral and ethical commitment since it does not carry any punitive measures against media outlets that have signed it but refuse to abide by its terms. This may mean that the sudden interest in supporting womens affairs may be a passing stage.
March 2, 2017
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met March 1 in Islamabad on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) conference to diffuse recent tensions between their countries. Despite the photo op in the Pakistani capital, the two sides still hold opposing positions on a number of issues in the Middle East.
During the meeting, Rouhani said, The Islamic Republic of Iran insists on the territorial integrity of countries in the region and is opposed to any kind of violation of territorial integrity, especially in Syria and Iraq. His comment was indirectly aimed at Turkey, whose troops have crossed into both Syria and Iraq. Just before leaving for Islamabad, Erdogan said that Turkey does not plan to keep forces in Syria indefinitely and will leave at the end of military operations, which according to government officials are aimed at fighting the Islamic State and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Rouhani also addressed the war in Yemen, calling for a cease-fire and adding that talks between rival factions could resolve the issue there.
Despite recent comments by Turkish officials blaming Iran for turmoil in the region, Rouhani attempted to strike a promising note, remarking that the two countries can improve economic relations, particularly in energy, banking and transportation. According to Iranian news agencies, Erdogan also called for an expansion of economic ties between their two countries, saying that he is committed to seeing trade between them rise from its 2016 level of $8.79 billion to $30 billion.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also attempted to diffuse tensions generated by remarks he made in February accusing Iran of spreading sectarianism in the region. At the ECO conference March 1, Cavusoglu said, We will never forget the night of the coup, when Mr. Zarif stayed up with us through the night and spoke with me four times, and we will always be grateful for this valuable attention.
Cavusoglu's original comments on fomenting sectarianism had elicited criticism from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said to an Iranian newspaper Feb. 22 that the Turkish officials making such allegations must have short memories, having forgotten Iranian officials' show of support on the night of the attempted putsch, speaking with Turkish leaders and trying to assist their government, which is not Shiite.
On Syria, Cavusoglu said of Iran and Turkey, [We] share the opinion that a cease-fire in Syria is a necessity, and the Syrian crisis should be solved through a political and diplomatic path. On the economic front, Cavusoglu said that Turkey can be a transit route for Iranian gas and oil destined for Europe.
Despite the promising messages exchanged by Iranian and Turkish leaders, their political interests in the region conflict in a number of countries. In Syria, Erdogan has sought to topple the Syrian government by supporting armed opposition groups, while Iran has spent considerable resources trying to keep the government of President Bashar al-Assad afloat. In Iraq, Turkey has expanded its ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government and has sent troops into Bashiqa, north of Mosul, to bolster local Sunni tribes. Iran on the other hand has lent its support to Iraqs central government.
March 1, 2017
Israeli politicians and defense officials had been on tenterhooks for months awaiting the report issued Feb. 28 by State Comptroller Joseph Shapira on the governments handling of its 2014 military Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. Virtually everyone anticipated that Shapira would focus on Israels lack of preparedness for the tunnel threat by Hamas. But the report also includes significant mention of the fact that decision-makers completely discounted any diplomatic and nonmilitary solution to the dire straits of Gazas Palestinian residents, which turned into an even greater security threat than the tunnels.
Shapira noted the April 2013 warning by the former Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot. At the time, Dangot reported to the government about the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and gave his assessment that it could blow up within two years, but the prime minister and his ministers were unimpressed. Their discussions about the Gaza Strip focused solely on military options to counter Hamas threats. "The security-diplomatic Cabinet, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, did not give any consideration to the fact that Israel itself was creating an imminent major security threat from Gaza and endangering Israeli lives."
Several times in his report, the comptroller cites comments made by then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on the second day of Operation Protective Edge (July 9, 2014) that had a response been given to the distress of Hamas several months ago, the Hamas movement might have avoided the current escalation. Ya'alons 20-20 hindsight nonetheless provides concrete proof that everyone knew and understood the link between the Israeli siege of Gaza and the ensuing war.
This is the first time that the state comptroller, and in fact any senior Israeli official, clearly draws the simple line with which every resident of Gaza is familiar: between disproportionate economic pressure and inevitable war and bloodshed. Retired Judge Shapira dares to confront the fact that all recent Israeli governments energetically denied: that there is a direct link between the siege, the growing military strength of Hamas and the rockets fired at southern Israeli towns and villages.
But the suffering of Gazas residents did not begin in the spring of 2013, when then-COGAT Dangot warned of an impending humanitarian crisis. Nor was the link between the siege and the violence to which it spurred Gaza residents only discovered in the summer of 2014. Operation Protective Edge was the third large-scale military operation mounted by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza since the siege was imposed a decade ago following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. It was preceded by Operation Cast Lead in 2008 and Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012. Dozens of Israelis and thousands of Palestinians were killed during those years, but the security threat to Israeli residents of the south, in the form of thousands of Qassam rockets fired at them, only intensified.
Throughout this period Israel ignored the fact that it cannot continue to maintain a stranglehold on more than 1.8 million people without dangerous consequences. In my book To Know Hamas I exposed a series of messages that the Hamas leadership in Gaza tried to convey to Israel through various businessmen following its takeover of Gaza in June 2007, and its promise that if the siege is lifted and residents are able to lead normal lives, the movement would declare a cease-fire and a halt to terror attacks against Israel.
Ghazi Hamad, the former chief-of-staff of then-Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, confirmed my reporting and admitted that Haniyeh had given his blessing to those contacts. But the Israeli prime minister at the time, Ehud Olmert, and defense officials in Jerusalem, rejected all the messages out of hand, assuming that the siege would bring down the Hamas regime an assumption that has since proven false. Hamas went on to grow significantly stronger, firing rockets at towns and villages in Israels south to try and force Israel into negotiations over lifting or easing the siege.
During the first year of the siege, the Israeli civil administration compiled a document listing luxury goods banned for entry into Gaza. Shampoo, processed hummus, coriander and schoolbags were among the goods that Gaza residents were banned from having, to create controlled shortages but not a humanitarian crisis. Israeli authorities even calculated the exact number of calories a person would need to consume daily to avoid malnutrition (2,279 calories), and based on this figure they calculated the number of food trucks that would be allowed into the Gaza Strip.
In response to the comptrollers report on Operation Protective Edge, a senior Hamas official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the ramifications of the siege should have been published 10 years ago, or at least after the first clash in 2008. We tried everything to get the siege removed and maintain peoples dignity, but each time Israel only tightened it more. What choice did we have if not to resist those seeking to starve us and strangle the residents? Would you have sat by doing nothing?
According to the official, those messages were conveyed to Israel both by the Egyptians during the presidency of Hosni Mubarak and by the European states.
Shapiras report does not encompass the entire period of the siege imposed in 2007, focusing only on the events and circumstances that led to Operation Protective Edge. But in retrospect it is clear that the longer the siege is in force, the bigger and bloodier the rounds of fighting.
The blunt conclusions by the state comptroller are unlikely to result in any change, and the political and defense leaderships are not likely to accept that the siege is wrong and must be lifted. It is safe to assume that the subjects of his criticism prefer to clash in the political arena and to argue over who was the first to understand the threat of the tunnels, while continuing to ignore the overriding problem.
March 2, 2017
In preparing to write this column, I looked up the Hebrew word that best describes the cultural-moral connotation of the English word impunity. I had learned the Spanish impunidad from an Argentinian colleague while covering the horrific terror attack on the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994. He used the word to describe his countrys social ills and predicted that the attackers would never be caught. He was, indeed, correct. The literal meaning, exemption from punishment, barely encompasses the indifference to social ills and criminal wrongdoing, verging on indulgence, that has taken root in Israeli society.
Thousands of words have been written and spoken about the report issued Feb. 28 by the state comptroller on the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Bereaved parents wept as they read the document describing how the countrys leadership sent their children to their deaths with barely a thought. Israeli residents of communities bordering Gaza discovered that Cabinet ministers dozed off during discussions of the danger that terrorists could at any moment infiltrate through tunnels from Gaza and into the homes where their babies slept.
The media went wild, the opposition growled and the government deflected criticism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shrugged off the significant failures State Comptroller Joseph Shapira cataloged, as if flicking cigar ash off his Armani suit. He was not ashamed to accuse Shapira, whom he had appointed, of hurting Israeli soldiers. The prime minister, accused of a colossal failure that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinian children, cynically patted himself on the shoulder. He did not wait for publication of the report, saying a few days beforehand, Unlike the state comptroller, I back the commanders of the IDF.
Still, many Israelis remained apathetic to this news. Television viewers switched from news coverage of the report to watch Big Brother, cafes filled to bursting with patrons, and travel agents scurried to provide last-minute vacation packages for the upcoming Passover holiday. The average Israeli has learned how to peacefully co-exist with the pervasive reality of impunity.
The late Haaretz editor David Landau, may he rest in peace, used to say that there is no crime more egregious than the occupation. In his mind, that meant that law enforcement authorities and the media should have set aside the criminal scandals linked to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his successor, Ehud Olmert, and enabled them to push forward with their plans to vacate the occupied territories. The sharp-tongued senior Israeli journalist and pundit Amnon Abramovitz suggested that the media wrap Sharon in cotton, as one would a precious gem, and leave him alone so he could carry out the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
If thats the case, average Israelis ask themselves, whats so bad about Aryeh Deri's appointment as interior minister after serving jail time for crimes committed when he held that same office some 22 years earlier. Even Israels Arab communities say that no interior minister has done more to address their local concerns than Deri. The mayor of Bat Yam, Shlomo Lahiani, continues to enjoy great popularity among residents of his central coastal town even after being convicted of corruption and sent to jail. Residents say no mayor made their town flourish like he did, after years of being regarded as a wilted appendage of neighboring Tel Aviv. Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto served a jail sentence for bribery and upon his release this past January was carried away on the shoulders of his adoring acolytes.
A number of people who occupied high offices including those of president (Moshe Katsav), prime minister (Olmert), finance minister (Avraham Hirschson) and welfare minister (Shlomo Benizri) have exchanged their suits for prison garb. Thus, the recent ruling that sent former Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger to join them for corruption was met with a collective yawn. Little wonder that reports of public figures passing through prison gates or police station doors are gradually being pushed to the tail end of the news.
Since the beginning of this decade, at least two dozen municipal leaders have been investigated by police on various suspicions, and at least 10 have been convicted. Among them are former mayors who committed crimes while in office: Uri Lupolianski of Jerusalem, Zvi Bar of Ramat Gan, Yitzhak Rochberger of Ramat Hasharon, Israel Sadan of Hadera, Benny Regev of Lod, Yehoshua Forer of Rehovot, Shimon Gafsou of Upper Nazareth and Oded Hameiri of Safed. Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index issued in January ranked the Israeli public sector 28th in the world with 64 points (100 being "very clean") and among the member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development it placed 22nd out of 34.
Everybody steals, a cab driver told me, speaking on the condition of anonymity. So what if Bibi was given a few boxes of cigars? Even [HaBayit HaYehudi Chair] Naftali Bennett says one doesnt bring down a government over a bunch of cigars. That naturally segues into the prevailing insight that everyone screws up and then to the usual bottom line: Do you know anyone who will protect us better than Bibi? That, in turn, leads to Netanyahus mantra about life itself being more important than the cost of living. This is Netanyahus answer to poverty and social injustice; this is the response to complaints about the cost of living; and this is where the explanation lies for the countrys health care crisis.
One can accept the perspective that the security of the state is more important than public integrity and even more than the Jewish character of the state and the values of democracy. But wait a minute. The Operation Protective Edge report points to a clear lack of thoughtful judgment on a purely security-related issue. The comptroller wrote that the prime minister refused even to discuss alternatives to a military option, which could have saved human lives. Thus Netanyahu is shirking responsibility for a failure that relates to life itself.
The town squares, empty of protesters demanding Netanyahu's resignation, are proof of the fatal impact of the impunity germ. It is even more deadly when the immune system which includes the countrys top cops, prosecutors and media is held captive by the carrier of the disease.
March 2, 2017
RAMALLAH, West Bank Birzeit University is now the first Palestinian college to teach the Chinese language, and officials there think a lone course could expand into a bachelor's program.
The university launched the course Feb. 11, at the beginning of the academic year's second term, and student interest has been high, Magdi Abu Zahra, director of the school's Department of Languages and Translation, told Al-Monitor.
"The call for registration in Chinese courses surprised the students because Chinese is among the toughest languages to learn in the world and differs from other foreign languages taught at the university," Abu Zahra said. "Still, there was a high turnout, and the required number of students to open the class, which is 25, was met. Due to the high number of students insisting on learning Chinese, 30 students were accepted instead of only 25, and other registration applications await approval."
In fact, although the course currently is open to students only, Abu Zahra said businesspeople and traders applied to take it, believing it could help them in their work, as they have economic and trade ties with China.
The university wants to develop the educational services it offers its students, and the Chinese course constitutes a significant upgrade to its language curriculum, which already sets the school apart from other Palestinian universities, according to Abu Zahra. Birzeit offers bachelor's degrees in three languages French, German and English and aims to offer more. Other languages are taught as elective courses: Italian, Spanish, Turkish and Hebrew.
The Chinese course resulted from a cooperation agreement with the Chinese embassy in Palestine that was reached after several joint meetings. The embassy then worked with China's Confucius Institute to provide a teacher. The university pays the teacher's salary and provides a rent allowance, while the embassy covers any remaining expenses like round-trip travel tickets that when a teacher comes from China costs around $1,000.
Abu Zahra said the university administration is trying to make the classroom experience positive and successful and has asked the Chinese teacher to adopt a simple teaching method, be lenient with grading and use English in class when needed.
He said that the university was encouraged to teach Chinese because "China is a highly influential state politically and economically and is increasingly dominating global markets." Palestinian and Chinese trade ties are "flourishing," he added, and knowledge of the Chinese language will "widen [students'] job horizons in the future."
China supports the creation of a Palestinian state. Furthermore, Palestine has special economic and political ties with China and they have established several joint cooperation agreements. In 2014, Palestine imported goods from China worth an estimated $208 million. More than 70% of the items on display in Palestinian markets are from China. So far, however, China is not one of Palestine's larger export markets.
Abu Zahra said he expects Birzeit's Chinese language program to grow, with the right support. "We offer Chinese first-level classes at the moment. If there is a high student turnout, we will open a second-level course," he said. Abu Zahra even thinks Birzeit University eventually will offer a bachelor's degree in the Chinese language, if the Chinese embassy supports the effort by providing the necessary textbooks and teachers.
The university's Department of Languages and Translation is open to teaching any foreign language. Abu Zahra said, "Any country that wants to teach its language at our university can sign an agreement with us, provided that it offers funding, teachers and books. We cannot afford these expenses, given our financial crisis. But we are open to teaching all languages of the world."
Majdi al-Maliki, dean of the Faculty of Literature, which is affiliated with the Department of Languages and Translation, told Al-Monitor, "Teaching Chinese will remove the barriers between students and Chinese culture, which is foreign to them. China is one of the most powerful countries economically and industrially and has interests in the Arab region. This might open up employment opportunities for the students."
Like Abu Zahra, Maliki also mentioned the possibility of introducing advanced classes in Chinese "to reach a bachelor's degree, just like we succeeded in doing with German language classes."
The Department of Languages and Translation started with one German language class, then introduced a bachelor's degree in 2015, per an agreement with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Under the agreement, the university received teachers and textbooks. Incentives and grants were established for exceptional students, either by offering them training sessions or scholarships to pursue a master's degree in German, or by appointing them as research assistants and assistant teachers after graduation.
Sociology student Mohammad al-Khatib told Al-Monitor that he enrolled in Chinese classes because he believes the language will become an asset for him. He noted, "Students accepted the Chinese [course] although it is hard, and we are trying to learn the simplest words and sentences that can allow us to communicate with Chinese people. This might help us in the future if we decide to work in the trade and export field in China."
The Department of Languages and Translation, which was opened in 1987, is one of largest at the university, which is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of Ramallah in the West Bank.
March 2, 2017
As if the murky constellation of conflicts in Syria were not tangled enough, Turkey seems poised to muddy the waters further by escalating its battle against the Syrian Kurdish-led force that is helping the United States defeat the Islamic State.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has for some time now been vowing to capture Manbij, a Syrian Arab town that was liberated from IS by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with the help of coalition air power last year. After the liberation of al-Bab from Daesh terrorists, Turkeys new target in Syria is Manbij, Erdogan told reporters March 1, using the Arabic acronym for the jihadi group.
Manbij is a city that belongs to the Arabs, and the SDF also must not be in Raqqa, Erdogan said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu chimed in March 2, saying, We have said that we would strike if the YPG fails to withdraw. He was referring to the Peoples Protection Units, the Syrian Kurdish militia that dominates the polyethnic SDF forces. Ankara labels it a terror group over its links to autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party rebels in Turkey.
Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters seemed to be carrying out Turkeys threats March 1 as they moved on a cluster of villages west of Manbij. But the SDF thwarted these moves with one of its own. The Manbij Military Council set up by the SDF and trained by the United States to secure Manbij following the towns liberation announced that it would surrender the targeted villages to Syrian regime forces and Russia to prevent a confrontation with Turkey and the FSA.
Regime forces have been advancing with Russian air support for some time, initially toward the IS-held city of al-Bab, over which Turkish forces and their FSA allies finally won control last week.
Regime forces have since fanned out northward from al-Bab, linking up with SDF forces south of Manbij.
Russia has proved to be a master at leveraging its military muscle in Syria in ways that allow Turkey and the FSA to pursue IS to the benefit of the regime.
What this portends for the Syrian Kurds five-year experiment with self-rule over a swath of territory running east of Manbij all the way to the Iraqi border is a big question.
Another is why the SDFs top ally, the United States, has remained silent in the face of Turkish and regime advances. There may be several reasons. For one, Turkey has always made it clear that it will not tolerate any YPG advances west of the Euphrates River, where Manbij lies. The YPG and its political affiliates were supposed to leave once the town was fully freed. The United States offered guarantees to that effect. But the Syrian Kurds did not leave, and the Manbij Military Council is widely viewed as a YPG front.
Nicholas Heras, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, believes the United States will stay out of the Turkish-Kurdish tussle over Manbij. This is because the United States is not invested in a permanent SDF presence in Manbij and it will not want Manbij to be the cause of a war between the SDF and Turkey that would prevent the counter-IS campaign of achieving its true objective: the defeat of IS in Raqqa and throughout eastern Syria, he told Al-Monitor in an interview.
The deal between the regime and the SDF will surely reinforce critics' long-running claims that the YPG is colluding with the regime, but it gets Washington off the hook. Indeed, the pact may even serve as something of a template for Raqqa. A nagging problem in plans to overrun the jihadis so-called capital is the lack of adequate manpower.
Turkeys offer to take Raqqa with the FSA is likely to be ignored because the US military planners remain unimpressed.
While the United States would never want to cooperate directly with the regime, any help it can get on Raqqa would clearly not be unwelcome. And as recent developments in Manbij have shown, with Russia pulling the strings, the SDF and the regime are capable of working together when need be. It may not be all that bad an outcome for Turkey, either, for the alternative, a deeper US footprint in alliance with the Kurds, is viewed by Ankara as the biggest threat of all.
March 1, 2017
As US President Donald Trump is deciding who he wants to be involved alongside the United States in the operation to take Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State (IS), all the players on the Syrian stage are struggling to grab the most advantageous position. Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is benefiting from a perceptible increase in US military support, is advancing to the north and northeast of Raqqa.
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), supported by Turkmen and Islamist militias it has recruited, finally entered al-Bab on Feb. 23 when IS appeared to have withdrawn. The Syrian army, in a move that eliminated Turkeys intended route to Raqqa, blocked the corridor between Manbij where the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) support the local military council and the area controlled by the Syrian army northeast of Aleppo.
In all this imbroglio, there has been much speculation about Turkey's next move. As the al-Bab operation was going on, Turkish officials were consistently saying that after al-Bab, Manbij would be the next target, to be followed by Raqqa. But after the capture of al-Bab, Turkish official sources switched to declaring that the next target after al-Bab would be Raqqa.
When Turkish officials were pointing to Raqqa as their next objective, the Syrian army had not yet severed the road connection between al-Bab and Raqqa. The closure of that route left Turkey with three alternatives to reach Raqqa: Manbij, Kobani and Tell Abyad. But the Kurds and their allies control all of these locations. If Turkey insists on hitting Raqqa first, it will have to fight the Kurds and their allies.
From the outset, Ankara has said that the objective of Operation Euphrates Shield, in addition to combating IS, is also to prevent a land connection between the Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Afrin.
In yet another turnabout, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Feb. 28 that Turkey and the anti-Syrian-regime Free Syrian Army will move on Manbij next. Erdogan also repeated his demand that the YPG move back to east of the Euphrates but the next day, the chief commander in Iraq for the United States said some Kurds definitely will be involved in liberating Raqqa.
As for Manbij, the surrounding terrain has many deterrent factors. Also, the YPG and the local military council are not the only ones who would see Turkeys interference as occupation action. There is a diverse collection of local militias who will confront Turkey. Of course it is not possible to predict how far these local forces can get against Turkey unless the Kurds are involved on their side.
There is determination to resist Turkey. Naturally, the situation may change if Turkey uses heavy weapons. But such a scenario means heavy losses for both sides, a Kurdish source in Manbij told Al-Monitor.
The force to watch out for is the alliance the Kurds have formed with the United States. A senior YPG official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said the YPG and its allies are ready to meet an offensive against Manbij. But the Kurds dont necessarily believe Turkey will target Manbij next, since Turkey ostensibly is in Syria primarily to fight IS, not battle the Kurds.
This is how the Kurds assess the situation, according to this well-placed source: The Syrian army, by severing the corridor to al-Bab, put an end to Turkish aspirations of going to Raqqa next. In the international arena, what is legitimate is the fight against IS. As IS is no longer in the Turks' area of operations, does Turkey even have a legitimate reason to remain in Syria?
Despite Turkish leaders' efforts to brand the YPG as a terror organization, no international players have accepted Turkeys designation of another target in addition to IS. If Ankara now targets the Kurds, it will face an abundance of problems with international forces. But, naturally, Turkey will not leave just because international players are asking it to get out.
According to the YPG source, from this point on Turkey will be busy not with the Kurds, but dealing with the issues of staying in Syria. The source said:
We believe Russia and Turkey agreed that al-Bab will be handed over to TSK in return for Aleppo," a city the Syrian regime now controls after driving IS out last year. "Russia also will now say Turkeys business in Syria is finished."
"Turkey may try to enter Manbij, not with its own troops, but using other armed groups. We are ready for that."
"American commanders who met us at Kobani gave strong signals that they will go to Raqqa with the SDF. What they want from us is to keep quiet until Trump decides what to do."
"US commitments for Manbij are still valid. We dont think the United States will give the green light to an attack against Manbij. Also, the United States set up a base in Manbij to train forces that will join the Raqqa offensive. If they change their attitude now, that will be the end of US-Kurdish cooperation. At this point, Americans cannot take that risk.
After Operation Euphrates Shield liberated Jarablus from IS and the TSK turned toward Manbij, there were clashes between the Turkish side and the SDF, but the United States intervened to declare Sacur River as a line of separation between the two sides while the US flag was flown in the area for a while. When the Turkish side fired occasional rounds into Tell Abyad, US flags were hoisted above the YPG posts. These flags were signals that the United States would not allow an operation in the areas where it was working with the Kurds.
A critical signal about Manbij came on Feb. 24. US Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel and commander of the US forces in Iraq and Syria Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend visited the training base at Kobani. The YPG official said the United States had also set up a training base at Manbij and assigned 60 US personnel there.
In addition to four US bases in Rojava which is now known as the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria the CIA runs a camp at Derik.
Another question now is, if the United States were to back out of Manbij as an incentive to get Turkey to join the operation against IS in Raqqa, would the Kurds then cooperate with the Syrian army?
At the moment we are working with the Americans," the YPG official said. "There can be no partnership with the Syrian army as long as the situation doesnt change.
But the same YPG official did not deny that the Syrian army, with its actions south of al-Bab, facilitated the Kurds' task.
Turkey carried out that operation to prevent a Kurdish corridor between Kobani and Afrin, but with the Syrian army's advance to the [Kurdish] SDF lines, the situation has changed. The corridor is now a 50% reality, not from the north, but from south of al-Bab. At least civilians and traders will be able to move along it and the distance between Kobani and Afrin will be down to two hours, he added.
Turkey sought a partnership with the United States after first agreeing to align with the Russia-Iran axis during talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. But now it is Russia that will open the way for, or block, Turkeys move in the field. That hard reality makes the Moscow meeting Erdogan has scheduled for March 9-10 with Putin critical.
In other words, the direction of Operation Euphrates Shield from now on depends both on Trumps Raqqa plan and the outcome of the Moscow meeting.
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Maryanne Merritt, owner of Martin's Restaurant in Montgomery, AL.
(Haley Laurence )
Maryanne Merritt learned the restaurant business from watching her father, David Smith, who bought Martin's Restaurant in 1939.
"We like to treat our employees like family," Merritt said, when Haley Laurence and I visited Martin's on a rainy night in late February.
Merritt recalled a story to us about an employee named Robert, who suffered from alcoholism, an affliction her father shared.
"They sort of understood each other," she said. "(My father) took him in."
After her father's passing, Robert suffered from a stroke, that severely altered his mobility, kept him from work and led to an increase in his drinking.
"I told my staff to go find him, bring him here. Even if he couldn't do a lot, find something for him to do - if it's wrapping up silverware. Just so he could be around," she said.
"It ended up working. Being here was like rehab for him. I mean, he has passed on now. But, he did get much better."
Merritt, unlike many employers, says she never looks personal problems as strikes against her employees.
"I worked full time at a law firm before coming here (to run Martin's). When I got a management position there, they told me how things should go, when it came to dealing with the people that worked for me. I just felt like 'you get more with honey than you do with vinegar.' People are people," she said.
"They have kids and field trips and all sorts of things they juggle outside of work. If you give them a break to be people, I feel like you get more out of them."
Merritt's concept of treating those that work in her unit like family connects to the intimacy shared by most all the owners, cooks and servers we met during our search to find Alabama's Best Meat-N-Three.
A spread of our meal at Niki's West in Birmingham.
In a deeper sense, it connects to the idea that Southern comfort food has an allure that reaches far beyond what a kitchen or a dining room can contain. Listening to the people behind these restaurants taught us that the interactions between owners, family, customers and community warm spirits long after each meal makes it to the table.
The majority of the restaurants we visited are family operated.
Mary's Southern Cooking in Mobile is kept running by three generations of women, beginning with Miss Mary Smith, who prepares all the food. Her daughter Felicia Bloxon serves items behind the cafeteria line. Smith's granddaughter Georgia Bloxon is often found at the register, greeting customers. Many other relatives are peppered throughout the restaurant, holding down various duties.
Similar family affairs include a father-mother team at Cheryl's in Spanish Fort and a hilarious husband-wife duo at Zack's Family Restaurant in Dothan.
Niki's West, Sarris Cafe and Johnny's Restaurant are all operated by second and third generation members of the same close-knit group of Greek immigrants who changed the Alabama restaurant industry in the 1950s. Most of them share some sort of kinship.
At Pannie-George's Kitchen in Auburn, owner Mary Counts, works alongside her mother, two sisters and niece. She named her restaurant after her grandparents, Pannie and George, because their kitchen was the place everyone would gather to fellowship. A registered nurse, Counts, dabbled in fundraising by selling plates of her grandparents' recipes hand-to-hand. All her family pitched in, cooking and delivering the boxed lunches to fulfill orders.
She told us people had been encouraging her to take it seriously. She didn't give it much thought until she was in church one day.
"The pastor said, 'Someone in here is being called to open a restaurant.' My sister and I looked at each other," she remembered.
"That's really how it happened. This was a truly God-led endeavor."
Brian and Angela Carnes stand outside their restaurant, Sardis Lion's Den in Sand Mountain, AL.
In the last day of our tour, Haley passed through North Alabama on her own. There she met husband and wife, Brian and Angela Carnes, at Sardis Lion's Den in Sand Mountain.
Brian grew up in the restaurant. As a child, his grandmother told him if he behaved during church, she would take him for a treat at Lion's Den after service.
What could be perceived as divine intervention swept through and chose the Carnes to step in and lead over the Lion's Den. When the restaurant's former owner put the business up for sale, a banker reached out via Facebook to suggest that the owner contact Brian.
In a restaurant like Martin's in Montgomery, even a guide as open as Maryanne Merritt could not begin to recount all the memories that have been made in the restaurant's dining hall. Photos that line the walls leap out at you while you eat. Even a visitor could probably point out a face that feels familiar. There's someone that looks like a neighbor, a friend from church or maybe a school mate from the past. There's certainly someone who "feels" like that, even at just a short glance.
The energy of the room provides the perfect atmosphere for memories. So much so, that Haley and I made one while we were there. She was presented with a birthday pie, purchased via a long-distance call made by her fiance. The surprise came to the table after we'd eaten a large meal. Instead of taking the pie back to the hotel, Haley decided to share it with a large Bible study group eating next to us in the restaurant. I announced to them that they were welcome to free chocolate pie. They sang "Happy Birthday" to Haley to thank her. They didn't know her name, so they sang "Happy Birthday, God Bless You" in the part where you're supposed to say someone's name.
I won't forget that. I won't forget Martin's in Montgomery.
Southern food, comfort food, meat-n-three, or soul food, whatever you may know it as, grew from a domestic tradition. It was meant to feed families in homes, where everyone was comfortable.
Taking the food out of the home and into a restaurant didn't change the way the food makes people feel.
The goal of our trip through the state of Alabama was to taste the recipes that gather communities together. And they were good. But they won't last as long as the stories we were told about the bonds that food brought people together to build.
state house mug by julie.JPG
(Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)
An Alabama Senate committee today approved a bill that would repeal the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed handgun.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, by a vote of 6-3 after a public hearing.
It moves to the Senate for consideration.
Gun rights advocates spoke in favor of the bill, saying people should not have to get a permit to exercise their Second Amendment right.
Law enforcement officers who spoke in opposition to the bill said the permit requirement is an important tool for them.
The vote was split along party lines.
Voting for the bill were Sens. Greg Reed, R-Jasper; Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville; Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia; Cam Ward, R-Alabaster; Tom Whatley, R-Auburn; and Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City.
Voting against it were Sens. Linda Coleman-Madison; Hank Sanders, D-Selma and Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.
Singleton vowed to do everything he could to block the bill on the Senate floor.
Ward said to expect a "long a robust debate" in the Senate.
While several law enforcement officials spoke in opposition to the law, Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale urged lawmakers to pass it. Hale said the requirement to buy a permit is an infringement on the Second Amendment.
Hale also said sheriffs should not depend on pistol permit fees for funding.
"Adequate funding is a responsibility of the county commissions," Hale said. "it's the sheriff's responsibility to request that funding."
Alabama Sheriffs Association President Wally Olson said repealing the permit requirement would handcuff law enforcement in certain instances.
"When we in law enforcement encounter people who may be carrying a weapon we have laws, laws that were passed by legislatures before you, which allow us to be able to take actions when needed," Olson said. "And who knows, these actions may one day save the life of one of your family members.
"If that law enforcement officer doesn't have these laws on the books, and he sees someone who has a weapon, he really has no reason to approach him and talk to him at all if this legislation passes."
Proponents of the bill noted that Alabama law does not prohibit people from openly carrying a holstered pistol. There's no permit requirement for openly carrying.
"Why do I have to have a license to carry a gun under a coat whenever I can take the coat off and carry the gun anyway?" George Owens of Alabama Guns Rights asked. "It's a coat. It's not a disguise. It's not a ski mask."
Eddie Fulmer, president of Bama Carry, said pistol permits are not crime stoppers. Fulmer spoke in support of Allen's bill.
"What we all really know, if we have the courage to admit it, is the fact that no piece of paper will ever stop an evil person from doing an evil deed or committing a crime," Fulmer said.
Anne Leader of Auburn, a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said repealing the permit requirement would put communities at risk.
"Our permitting system helps protect Alabama residents, Alabama families and Alabama law enforcement officers," Leader said.
Capt. Michael Salomonsky of the Madison County Sheriff's Department was the last person to speak at the public hearing and urged lawmakers to reject Allen's bill.
He said the permit law is an important tool to potentially prevent crimes and solve others.
"They give us the ability to arrest people who conceal weapons who don't have permits," Salomonsky said. "That's what it does. As a result of that, we have solved homicides. We have solved robberies across this state."
Edited at 3:31 p.m. on March 3 to correct name of organization: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
A documentary film chronicling the ravages of opiate addiction will be shown Monday, March 6, at Boutwell Auditorium.
The event is a joint effort by the FBI in Birmingham and the Drug Enforcement Administration. FBI spokesman Paul Daymond said it is free, and is aimed at educating students and young adults about the dangers of the increasingly-popular and highly-dangerous drugs.
Called "Chasing the Dragon," the film includes actual people who abused opiates or whose children have done so. FBI Director Jim Comey has previously said this about the film:
"No filter. No censors. Just the straight facts from people who have lived with the hard consequences of opioid abuse,'' he said. "You're going to watch unscripted interviews that include some raw emotion and some profanity. You are going to witness real tragedy and learn what happens when drugs take hold of real people and don't let go. You will see that those whose lives are taken over by drug addiction are often kids from stable homes with strong families--good people who had great childhoods, were given everything they wanted, and had everything going for them. But they took one wrong turn and they were hooked. And once you're hooked, it is so very hard to get off these drugs and the spiral down is so quick."
Authorities say more than 46,000 people die from a drug overdose each year, which is a higher fatality rate than deaths from car accidents or from gun violence, and half of those 46,000 deaths are related to opioid abuse.
In Jefferson County, heroin deaths rose slightly in 2016, but fentanyl deaths skyrocketed with a 114 percent increase. Countywide, 248 people died from drug overdose last year, a 12 percent increase over 2015's 221 deaths, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. The agency will publish a more complete drug overdose report in its annual report, which is usually released in April.
In 2016, there were 100 heroin overdose deaths, up from 97 in 2015. There were 105 fentanyl deaths, which is more than double 2015's 49, said Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates. Of the 205 combined heroin and fentanyl deaths, 40 of the victims died from a combination of both.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used for relief and management of severe and continued pain. It is frequently prescribed to cancer patients and patients recovering from accidents and operations. The euphoric effects, experts say, are indistinguishable from morphine and heroin. It is estimated to be up to 200 times more potent than morphine, and about 50 times stronger than heroin. There was a similar surge in fentanyl deaths between 2005 and 2007 when 1,103 died from its ravages, many of the victims in Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia.
"Heroin and fentanyl abuse continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing our department,'' said Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector. "Also, a large percentage of property crimes continue to be committed by those needing money to fuel their drug addiction."
Monday's event will be held from 9:30 a.m. until noon. All registered guests also will receive a free copy of the DVD.
Following the film, there will be a discussion with FBI Supervisory Special Agent Angel Castillo and Rev. J. Sandor Cheka, III, Executive Director of the Addiction Prevention Coalition, and a panel discussion with local law enforcement executives and medical professionals. Registration is required and can be done here.
Official White House Photo by David Lienemann(WASHINGTON) Former Vice President Joe Biden offered a strong defense of the media and judicial branch on Wednesday night, calling attacks on both institutions "corrosive" and "dangerous."
While not mentioning President Trump by name, Biden's remarks at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. where he was accepting the Patriot Award for political courage and leadership from the Bipartistan Policy Center were a thinly veiled reference to the new president's comments and the current state of politics.
"What worries me the most," said Biden, is the "almost drumbeat of denigration of the institutional structures that govern us." He added, When you delegitimize the courts, you delegitimize the legislative body, it's corrosive. And it makes it impossible to reach compromise."
Biden, who in addition being vice president under President Obama for eight years was Delaware's longest-serving Senator, said that when Americans lose faith in the law or the courts, "things begin to crack."
He said he was "saddened" to feel compelled to defend the free press while standing at the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the press and the First Amendment.
"To question the actual legitimacy of a free press is one of the most dangerous things out there. The degree that we depart and denigrate our institutions and the fourth estate, I think we really, honest to god, honest to god, weaken our ability for self-government," said Biden. "We undermine it and become weaker and not stronger."
In a tweet last month, Trump called the media the "enemy of the American people."
The former vice president said that while he has certainly been on the bad end of press coverage, unencumbered journalism was nonetheless indispensable to democracy.
"I have taken my fair share of hits from the press, being covered by the very best and some of the worst. Some of you press guys are lousy just like some senators are lousy, doctors are lousy, lawyers are lousy. But it doesn't matter," he said. "We should never challenge the basic truth that an independent and free press is the fundamental element in functions of our democracy."
Biden went on to quote former head of United States Special Operations Command Ret. Adm. William McRaven calling him "a true patriot" and not a "left-leaning liberal" who said in a statement last week that calling the media the enemy "may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime."
The day after Trump's address to a joint session of Congress, Biden called the president's words "much more presidential in tone" than before. "There was talk of bipartisanship," added Biden. "But as the old saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating."
Biden accepted the award from Republican former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas and Democratic former Sen. George Mitchell of Maine.
"We can be Democrats, Republicans or independents and protesters," said Dole. "Americans are patriots, and we have had a patriot serving as vice president for eight years. And he has made us proud. Whether you are Democrat or Republican, Joe Biden makes you proud."
Dole joked that he got a call from Trump before he left for the event. "He said don't say too many good things about Biden. He may run against me later on."
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., also received the inaugural Legislative Action Awards.
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The first in a series travelling along the US-Mexico border, talking to those who might be affected by Trumps wall.
Tijuana, Mexico Alfredo lives in a shelter for deportees on Tijuana Beach, a stones throw from the border wall that bars him from the United States. That wall not to be confused with the bigger one US President Donald Trump plans to build has existed for decades.
Alfredos is among the most physically emblematic of these shelters. There are many others. In fact, there are more shelters and migrants here than ever, since Trump launched his campaign to keep Mexicans and other immigrants out of the US, activists say.
The shelters are struggling to cope with what people familiar with the border-crossing industry people-smugglers known here as coyotes tell Al Jazeera is a wave of migrants and deportees coming to and from the US since Trump made calls to heighten deportations of undocumented people and signed an executive order calling to build the newer, stronger border wall.
The new wall wont do much to keep people out; many here say with confidence and often a cheeky sense of humour. Still, its imminent construction is taken as a sign that people who have acted as a driving force of the American economy not just Mexican Americans but immigrants generally are no longer welcome there.
America was built with Mexican hands, Alfredo says in a low, sober voice. He emphasised to Al Jazeera that this is what he wanted to tell English-language readers around the world.
After six years as a construction worker in the southern US state of Mississippi, immigration officials rounded up Alfredo and several other undocumented American workers and deported them to Mexico. Instead of at least treating us as humans, we are treated as animals. For them, we are animals, he says.
Were family, were brothers
In a small shack crammed with around 30 deportees originally from Mexico and El Salvador, Alfredo, 54, who asked to go only by his first name out of a mistrust of authorities common among deportees, spoke to Al Jazeera in the dark, his face obscured in a lampless, unheated sleeping area. Gusts of wind burst through a broken window as he spoke, holding back a severe cough shared by his roommates.
For Alfredo, whose struggle to earn a livelihood has taken him thousands of miles from his native Mexico City, he hopes his last stop will be this dilapidated shelter his thin mat bedding among many on a cold asphalt floor under a crumbling roof.
He wont make the dangerous, gruelling trek to the US again, he says. Hes one of many migrants in Tijuana without dreams of America, but there are many more who do, in these shelters packed with new deportees and migrants hoping to make it to the US before Trump tightens controls of what continues to be a porous border.
In the next room, Ramon, one of the co-organisers of the shelter, has fallen severely ill with a flu. He also suffers from what his roommates describe as a mysterious limpness in one leg.
His friends have prepared him a tonic a broth with cinnamon. The warm smell perfumes the shack, the size of some walk-in closets just opposite the border.
We are a family. We are brothers, Alfredo explains. Like many US migrant workers struggling to survive, Alfredo has no wife or children. After years of building in the US, which he says he still respects, he says the real separation between the US and Mexico is we have love for human beings here. It doesnt matter your colour or religion Catholic or not. We help how we can, even though we arent a rich country. Because we know we might be the ones suffering tomorrow.
Tijuanas people are scrambling to meet new challenges posed by Trumps plans to bolster the existing border walls with a larger wall and also to drastically ramp up deportations of undocumented Americans. Many come from across Mexico and Central America but also faraway Haiti and even Africa. They have rushed to Tijuana and other Mexican border cities, attempting to pay the coyotes thousands of dollars to smuggle them across. Activists also complain of a heightened rash of deportations since Trumps inauguration.
WATCH MORE The US-Mexico Border Wall [25:00]
Al Jazeera counted at least 30 shelters for migrants in Tijuana; some are shacks, others are spare rooms in private homes or repurposed churches. Most house migrants free of charge some charge 20 Mexican pesos, about $1, a day to cover maintenance. Of those,19 have opened in the past seven months, according to Hugo Castro, director of Angeles de la Frontera (Border Angels), an organisation dedicated to helping deliver resources to and raising awareness of migrants attempting to enter or who have been deported from the US.
Non-migrant Tijuana residents have noticed a significant change in their citys make-up in recent months. There are many more people suffering here than even before, said Rosario Corona, 19, at the citys signature cathedral Nuestra Senora de Guadelupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe). Corona works with a church youth group that administers aid to migrants and others in need.
Corona waits in a line at the cathedral for a priest to administer the Catholic sacrament confession, where one seeks absolution for sins. She is flanked in the pews by migrants, some of whom sit in church not only for prayer but for lack of anywhere else to go. One tells Al Jazeera that hes going to enter the confession booth not to ask the priest for forgiveness but for charity. Moments later, he leaves empty-handed with so many in this city in need, it remains unclear whether he got what he came for.
Unity and respect is what makes a place strong, says Liliana Vasquez, 26, one of Coronas fellow youth group workers, as their group leaves the church.
The sudden surge in the number of shelters and the influx of new migrants that prompted it, Castro says, happened amid mounting fears that Trump might win and make good on promises to build a wall and ramp up deportations.
READ MORE Voices from the border: Opposing Trump\s wall
Some I assume are good people
It began in June 2015, when Trump launched his presidential election campaign with a speech that bewildered many across the US-Mexico border and around the world: When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, he said.
Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
For many in Tijuana, these words hit a nerve. Susan Smith, 61, is a non-Latina US-born social justice and anti-nuclear-proliferation activist, born on the US border with Mexico in the state of New Mexico. She identifies as Mexican, not by birth or ethnicity, but by life experience and family. Her husband, child and grandchild are ethnically Mexican, and she lives in Tijuanas Playas or Beach neighbourhood not far from Alfredos shelter.
For her, Trumps words about Mexicans are slightly moderated hate speech, designed to turn a whole swath of humanity into caricatures from a Clint Eastwood movie, isnt it? All about the drama and soundbite, poisonous metaphors messages of mass destruction.
In July 2015, Trump made a brief visit to a US border town with Mexico Laredo, Texas where he reiterated promises to crack down on migrants.
READ MORE: Massive anti-Trump rallies staged across nation
In mid-2016, Castro says, migrants began to realise that Trump might beat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The migrants flocked to border towns, particularly Tijuana.
On January 25, the freshly inaugurated president finally signed the executive order allowing for the creation of the wall who will pay for the wall remains uncertain, despite Trumps insistence that Mexico will.
Mexican officials have scoffed at that assertion. And then in early February, the Los Angeles Times newspaper reported, citing calculations of presidential directives, that Trump would deport as many as eight million undocumented Americans.
Trump has that said he wasnt kidding about the border, telling the press that it was being designed.
But just hours earlier, across the US border in San Diego, a US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer, who spoke without offering his name or being recorded because the officer was not authorised to speak to the press, joked that there was already a wall and said that the new one will change nothing.
CBP declined to respond to a request for comment on the wall and deportations specifically criticism of the projects efficacy and potential impact on the communities it affects, saying that such questions are speculative.
The CBP press team also directed Al Jazeera to the Trump administration for further comment as well as the original executive order signed in January for more information.
Trumps press team did not respond to an interview request from Al Jazeera. The Trump administration has repeatedly expressed disdain for media coverage that it complains is unflattering, provoking the ire of free press and US constitutional rights advocates.
Its a war against international migrants
Among the criticisms of the wall and deportations are signs that they may actually hurt the US economy. Undocumented Americans contribute $11.64bn to the US economy in taxes annually, according to a February 2016 study from US think-tank the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. But with Trumps promises to expel them, the burden is also strongly felt beyond the US border, in Mexico.
Trump is creating a humanitarian crisis in Tijuana, Castro said.
Hes a war criminal of a war that hasnt been declared. Its not a war against a country. Its a war against international migrants from Somalia, Mexico, Central America, Iraq, from all the world. The migrants are suffering, the risk of dying [in transit] has increased.
RELATED Mexico foreign minister: We wont be paying for a wall
Castro visits about five shelters a day with donations of food and cash, he says. A dual citizen with the US, he often visits universities there to explain the issues faced by migrants. He raises funds on Border Angels website. But with so many newcomers to feed, he says resources are drying up faster than ever. Money just evaporates, Castro said.
With the new pressure put on Tijuanas city infrastructure and a network of philanthropists rushing to house a surge in workers from around the country and world, Alfredo thanks God he lives in his overcrowded shelter, which in recent weeks has had new arrivals freshly deported from the US, where their families in one case a newborn baby are left behind without a father.
Some migrants dont have shelter at all, Alfredo says. Many migrants are crowding the streets particularly in Tijuanas Zona Norte (Northern Zone) infamous for rampant drug trafficking and other crimes. There, the migrants are in a vulnerable position, Castro says; one shelter has in recent months devolved into a crack house, as desperation and disillusionment abound.
At the beach, just outside of Alfredos shelter, a man sits on a bench before what appears to be a door at the wall that remains locked. The door is referred to by locals as the gate of hell. The man sits before the gate much as one waits for a bus. Like many of the migrants wandering the city, he has an overstuffed backpack and a listless expression on his face. From there, beyond the grating and another series of small walls, the man looks at San Diego kilometres away, as dusk turns to night and lights turn on in the cookie-cutter high-rise buildings that differentiate the US from this place.
This is the first story in a five-part series looking at the US-Mexico wall and the people who live along side it. If you want to follow this story, please enter your email here
The report comes as Israeli officials have been warning of the likelihood of another round of hostilities.
The Israeli leadership shows no signs of heeding the lessons of an official report into the 2014 Gaza war that led to massive destruction and loss of life in the tiny coastal enclave, Palestinians warned this week.
After a two-year inquiry, the State Comptroller, an official Israeli watchdog, published a report on Tuesday into the 51-day war, which began in July 2014. It was highly critical of Israeli government officials, as well as Israels military and its intelligence services.
In particular, the 200-page document faulted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to address the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza conditions that made hostilities ever more likely, according to the report.
Netanyahu was also blamed for failing to pursue diplomatic moves that might have averted the confrontation or brought it to a quick end, sparing much of the bloodshed.
The war killed more than 2,250 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, and 73 Israelis, almost all of them soldiers. According to United Nations figures, more than 100,000 Palestinians were made homeless by Israeli bombing that destroyed swaths of the enclave.
It is hard to believe that there will be any serious lessons learned by Israel's political leadership from this report. by Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Authority minister
Comptroller Joseph Shapiras findings come as Israeli officials have again been warning of the likelihood of another round of hostilities with Gaza, possibly within the next few months.
The precariousness of the situation was underscored this week as Israeli air strikes hit five sites in Gaza on Monday, wounding four, after a rocket from Gaza landed in an open space in Israel.
Israel has launched three major military operations against Gaza over the past eight years, after the Islamic group Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006 and took control of the enclave a year later. Israel has imposed a blockade ever since, tightly limiting the entry and export of goods.
But Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Authority minister, said the reports section on the Israeli governments political failings had been overshadowed by the rest of the report, which dealt with operational and intelligence shortcomings.
It is hard to believe that there will be any serious lessons learned by Israels political leadership from this report, Khatib told Al Jazeera. So far, the debate about the report in Israel has focused on a lack of preparation for coping with what Israelis term Gazas terror tunnels.
Hamas used a network of concealed tunnels to launch surprise attacks after Israeli ground forces entered the enclave. Khatib said: The comptroller failed to examine the deeper issue of the Israeli leaderships motivation in repeatedly heating up the front with Gaza. That was all about internal political competition, about jockeying for position within the ruling government coalition.
Gaza made an easy military target for Israel because of its prolonged isolation, Khatib added. The threat [posed by Gaza] has been exaggerated to the Israeli public to justify these wars. Successive governments have expected to win with little cost to their own side. Attacking Gaza empowers the right and helps to secure its success at the next election.
Shapiras report did not recommend action be taken against any of the officials it identified, or accuse them of committing crimes. Instead it highlighted a failure to recognise the tunnels threat, a lack of intelligence sharing, and inadequate operational plans. Difficulties locating and destroying the tunnels, according to the report, led to a more protracted ground operation than expected. The implication was that this increased casualties on both sides.
Most Israeli commentators thought it unlikely that Netanyahu would pay a political price for these criticisms, especially after such a long delay in publishing the report.
Nonetheless, in an apparent sign of Netanyahus discomfort with the findings at a time when he is facing a series of corruption investigations, he lashed out pre-emptively at Shapira at a meeting of his Likud party on Monday. He suggested that the ombudsman had betrayed the security establishment.
In a statement the next day, as the report was released, Netanyahu claimed that the 2014 war had been an exceptional success. He said Israel had hit Hamas harder than it had ever been hit before and that, as a result, there had been unprecedented quiet from Gaza.
Khatib said Shapiras report overlooked the escalation of hostilities by Israel in the weeks preceding the war. Israel, he noted, had made mass arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank as it searched for three Jewish youths who had been abducted. They were later found killed.
INTERACTIVE: 24 hours in Gaza
This week, an editorial in Israels daily Haaretz described the war as Israels revenge for the youths deaths. The editorial criticised Shapira for failing to question the wisdom of a scorched-earth policy by Israel that had kept Gazas population of two million under a lengthy blockade. Given this strategy, the paper said, another round of hostilities was inevitable.
Hamdi Shaqura, deputy director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, based in Gaza City, said most of the Palestinian public had shown little interest in the report. This investigation and others like it are not interested in justice for the thousands of victims of Israels brutal attacks, he told Al Jazeera.
This is about Israel refining its operational capabilities so it can prepare better for the next attack. The chief beneficiaries will not be Palestinians, but the war criminals in Israel who will draw conclusions about how they can better conceal their crimes next time. Shaqura said the reports references to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza were divorced from political realities.
This humanitarian crisis isnt an accident. It has been sustained by Israels siege for more than 10 years. Israel wants Gaza isolated, and its population barely able to survive. That is the status quo for Israel.
He noted that an Israeli defence ministry document from 2008, made public four years later, included advice on the amount of food Israel should allow into Gaza to keep the population on the minimum number of calories.
Shaqura said: Even when this report deals with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, it is not in the context of finding a political solution to end it. Rather, Israel is more interested in improving its management of the crisis.
The comptrollers report noted that Netanyahus government had done almost nothing to address warnings from military officials more than a year before the 2014 war that Gazas humanitarian crisis was unsustainable.
In this context, Shapira highlighted an apparent mea culpa from Moshe Yaalon, the then defence minister, two days into the war. He reportedly told officials: If Hamas distress had been addressed a few months ago, Hamas might have avoided the current escalation.
In fact, Barak Ravid, an analyst for Haaretz, observed that Israel had made things substantially worse in Gaza in the weeks preceding the hostilities. In early June 2014 it had imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions on a Palestinian unity government formed between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank, in an attempt to undermine it, said Ravid.
Shortly afterwards, Netanyahus government sought to isolate Robert Serry, then the UNs special peace envoy, as he battled to transfer funds from Qatar to pay the salaries of public workers in Gaza. Gaza was a volcano waiting to erupt, wrote Ravid.
Haidar Eid, an academic at al-Aqsa University in Gaza, said conditions had deteriorated even further since 2014. He noted that two years ago the UN forecast that Gaza could be uninhabitable by 2020. It said the large-scale destruction of Gazas infrastructure in 2014 had only accelerated that process.
More than 90 per cent of Gazas water is considered unfit for human consumption. Shortages of electricity provoked the first mass public protests in January, with some families suffering blackouts for up to 21 hours a day.
Israel has also continued the enclaves isolation. Last month a delegation from the European parliament was again denied access to Gaza as it sought to assess the continuing need for reconstruction since the 2014 war.
READ MORE: Gaza 100,000 hours of isolation
And Netanyahu is reported to be hampering efforts to offer Gaza relief. A proposal by transport minister Yisrael Katz to build an artificial island off Gazas coast to serve as a seaport and airport has yet to be discussed by the cabinet, a year after it was raised.
At the same time, Herzi Halevi, head of military intelligence, warned a parliamentary committee of growing despair in Gaza. He reportedly said: Israel will be the first to feel it when things explode.
Eid told Al Jazeera: When Israeli experts talk about how to manage Gazas crisis better, they sound like they are discussing how best to run a zoo so the animals remain quiet. He said Hamas supporters in Gaza viewed the reports focus on the tunnels as a vindication of the groups claims that it had been victorious in 2014. Commentators here believe that this report has the power to bring down Netanyahu, he said.
But Netanyahus difficulties with the report and his corruption scandals were also seen as a dangerous moment. Most Palestinians, said Eid, agreed with Israeli analysts that another outbreak of hostilities was on the horizon.
When Netanyahu is in such trouble, the assumption is that he will exaggerate the military threat of Hamas and the danger of the tunnels to justify launching another massacre, he said. He needs a big distraction and Gaza can supply it.
Tripoli, Libya On February 21, the bodies of 74 migrants were found by the Libyan Red Crescent on the shore of Zawiya, a Libyan town known for being a capital of fuel smuggling and human trafficking.
A Zawiya resident said he was on the beach as Red Crescent volunteers filled dozens of body bags.
The first thing I did on the shore was search for the rubber boat in which they left, said the Zawiya resident, who preferred not to reveal his name for security reasons.
It was not far from the corpses, destroyed, and the first thing I noticed was that the engine was not there. This probably means when the smugglers realised that the rubber boat was sinking, [they] came back to carry off the engine. They will use it for other migrants.
Libyas militias have become increasingly powerful amid the power vacuum since Muammar Gaddafis toppling in 2011. The militias control the human trafficking trade, and many young Libyans lacking work are eager to join.
We are realising that more and more young people are attracted by these crimes, the man said. The young people need money, and the smugglers provide them with this money. Nobody cares if migrants arrive in Europe alive or if they die drowned in the sea they are worse than murderers.
Migrants who pay $1,500 per seat on the boats are considered a kind of ATM by smugglers, who also control the detention centres where migrants are held.
Europe does not want to help us, by Issa, a Libyan coastguard
The most powerful militia in the area is Abu Himyra al-Naser (translated as Victory). Another Zawiya resident, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the militias boss is paid directly by the government with the task of monitoring whats going on in the harbour. He should work together with official navy officers, but actually he is the boss of the human trafficking here. He not only manages what happens in the port; he also directly controls several detention centres.
Libyas Interior Ministry has little control over these centres, where militias exploit, blackmail, abuse, and even sell migrants to other militias.
A source at the Libyan Interior Ministry confirmed this. Corrupt coastguards gave migrants to the militias, and the militias keep them in illegal detention centres, he said. There, they start to blackmail migrants. They take their money, phones, documents. With the phone numbers they find in their mobiles, smugglers call their families asking for ransom to free them. The militias also sell them to masters in the area who use them to work for free. Fighting them is almost impossible, even for the official police.
Issa, 40, who did not provide his last name, works for the Coast Guard in Gasr Garabulli, a town 60 kilometres east of Tripoli. He said the Libyan coast today is a tragedy.
Until two years ago I had a dinghy to try to stop the boats leaving. Today all that remains is wreckage. The rubber boat broke down and the Coast Guard of Tripoli did not not send me any means to replace it. Now I no longer have resources to control the coasts.
Issa sits alone on a wooden bench, watching the sea with a radio transmitter beside him. The Coast Guard headquarters here consists of a concrete house overlooking a small port. The house is nearly bare: Inside is a table, a map, a compass and a refrigerator with little food.
See over there, Issa said, indicating a stand of trees around the bend. The coast is surrounded by woods where they can easily collect migrants the evening before departure.
Smugglers hold migrants in makeshift houses for days, sometimes weeks, before departure. We all know where migrants are gathered, Issa said. Human trafficking is a chain made up of many tasks: Someone is responsible for bringing them food, someone is responsible to find a dinghy, someone has to bring migrants to the shore at night.
Issa said he has been threatened by local traffickers, who offered him money to close his eyes and pretend not to see the boats departing. He refused, and two armed boys came by at night, threatening to kill him.
The situation is out of control, Issa said. Only confusion reigns. I know coastguards directly paid by the militias, they are accomplices of smugglers. They are an active part of their chain. Often the Coast Guard itself recovers rafts and gives them to the militias that control human trafficking. This is one of the reasons why Europe has recently decided to give money to the Libyan Coast Guard to control what happens here.
On February 3, European Union leaders approved a plan to curb migration from Libya. The plan called for giving 400m ($423m) to Libya, offering training and equipment to the Libyan Coast Guard, and improving detention centres.
[It] makes me bitterly smile. Now its too late; there are too many corrupt people, Issa said.
Europe does not want to help us, he said. Europe wants to stop seeing the dead. European leaders only want to shift the problem, not to solve it.
UN and international NGOs warn that risk of forcible transfer could affect around 7000 Palestinians living in Area C.
Khan al-Ahmar, East Jerusalem A last minute temporary injunction to stop the demolition of the entire community of Khan al-Ahmar, a Palestinian Bedouin community that has been struggling against an Israeli army order to have their homes demolished, expires on Thursday.
The injunction was granted after objections were filed at the Israeli Civil Administration.
The communitys lawyer told Al Jazeera that he filed an additional objections on Wednesday arguing that the Israel civil administration has not provided an alternative location for the Bedouins to live.
Khan al-Ahmar is near occupied East Jerusalem and is adjacent to the historic road connecting Jerusalem with Jericho. Now, it is in between two Israeli settlements. Maale Adumim to the east and Kfar Adumim to the west.
WATCH: Defiant Palestinian Bedouins dread eviction from Susiya
An impoverished community from decades of restrictive Israeli policy, the Jahalin Bedouin tribe scrambled to take legal action to protect its existence in the area. Eid Khamis, a Bedouin leader, said each of the communitys 35 families had to contribute to cover the legal costs.
I brahim Abu Dahouk, 52, a resident of Khan al-Ahmar, says he, as well as other members of the community, had to sell some of their livestock in haste to raise around $3,200 to pay for the injunction against demolitions and for the lawyers fee.
I sold five heads of sheep and we had to beg livestock merchants to buy from us, and you know when you ask them to come, you get a lower price. I sold at a loss, Abu Dahouk told Al Jazeera.
He added that the community is being stretched to the limit. Selling livestock to cover for legal costs literally means less food and clothes for his family. But he is compelled to sell in order to keep his home.
Bedouins are traditional herders and rely almost solely on goats and sheep for income. In recent years, rising fodder prices has compelled the Bedouin to sell most of their livestock. Israeli settlement expansion, Israeli army camps and nature reserves have also resulted in less and less grazing land.
The Jahalin Bedouin set up camp in this area as early as 1953, long before the two settlements were built. Prior to that, the Jahalin lived in Tel Arad, in the Naqab (Negev) desert. In 1951, after the establishment of Israel , the Israeli army expelled the Jahalin tribe from Tel Arad.
The community has been fighting Israeli demolition orders for years. Khamis says that if a move is a must, then it should be a move back to their homes in Tel Arad, in the Naqab desert.
On February 19, the Israeli army paid a visit to Khan al-Ahmar. To the bewilderment of the community, army officers distributed dozens of stop construction work orders. Khamis confirmed that there was no recent or ongoing construction. During the same visit, an Israeli commander told Khamis, that they had until February 23 to evacuate the area. The community was shaken. They immediately contacted their lawyer and informed him of the developments.
In the course of the past 10 days, UN officials, European Union heads of missions and international NGOs made solidarity visits to the Bedouin of Khan al-Ahmar.
Ambassador Ralph Tarraf, EU head of delegation to the occupied West Bank , said on Tuesday from Khan al-Ahmar that he is worried about the possibility of demolition and that he, along with other EU diplomats, came to express hope that the Israeli authorities will not carry out demolition orders.
You know this is a particularly sensitive area it is area C, but it is also called the E1 area and we are particularly concerned that the people living here are going to face displacement.
When Tarraf was asked by Al Jazeera whether or not the EU was taking the issue of Khan al-Ahmar directly to the Israelis, he responded: We are talking to the Israeli authorities through our delegations in Tel Aviv and it is not just the European Union, but also member states have taken up the issue with the Israeli authorities and we expressed our hope that this community will not face demolition.
Robert Piper, UN assistant secretary-general warned last week that the destruction of private property and potential forcible transfer is counter to international humanitarian law.
We are very, very concerned about the events of the last few days [Khan Al Ahmar]. This is illustrative of many communities here in the West Bank, With the coercive pressure that is being forced upon many communities to move, we are very worried about their legal costs. They are getting legal assistance, but they are not getting financial support for that.
The communitys only school , built in 2009, is also under threat of demolition. The donor-funded school provides basic education to children for nearby Bedouin communities as well. About 160 pupils attend.
Shlomo Lecker, the communitys long-time lawyer, says that he will argue at Israels high court that the Israeli Civil Administration has no real alternative for the Bedouin of Khan al-Ahmar and that relocation is not a real alternative.
READ MORE: Palestinian Bedouins live the Nakba every day
The Israeli Civil Administration is under the authority of the Israel defence ministry and is tasked with implementing Israeli government policy in the occupied West Bank.
An internal document prepared by international NGOs, operating in the occupied West Bank, and the UN warns that the Israeli Civil Administrations planned relocation of Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C raises serious concerns under international law and must not take place.
Israel is advancing a plan to relocate the Bedouin to Nuweima, in the Jordan Valley. The Jahalin tribe rejected the plan, saying the area near Nuweima is not suitable for Bedouin life because of its close proximity to an Israeli settlement and an Israeli army camp.
The Jahalin also say that the suggested plot of land in Nuweima is too close to the herding ground used by another Bedouin tribe, the Rashayda. The Jahalin warns that forcible transfer to Nuweima means that they will have to share the same resources of water and herding grounds with a different tribe, potentially creating friction with other communities.
The UN and international NGOs warn that the risk of forcible transfer could affect around 7,000 Palestinians living in Area C.
Puntland, Somalia A week after his inauguration, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared a state of disaster in his drought-stricken country of Somalia, where the lives of 6.2 million people are now at risk.
Even as the ongoing war against al-Shabab continues and African Union forces (AMISOM) fight to assist the fragile government, the looming famine has become a priority.
The drought will be a trial for all those involved in Somalias struggles. It will test the international communitys response, the governments ability to assist, and the strength of security provided by the African Union forces.
In the far north of Somalia, three years with little rain has had increasingly disastrous effects for a population reliant on the land. The parched earth has failed to produce food for the camels and goats that the people depend on for their income, meat, and milk for their children.
Local leaders in Puntland estimate the pastoralists have already lost 65 percent of their animals. While the men accompany the remaining livestock in the hunt for grazing land, the women and children are migrating towards towns on main roads in search of alternative sources of food.
Displaced people have been setting up tents along the roads in hope of receiving aid from passing vehicles.
Its there the women, children, and elderly wait for assistance in the heat and dust. In the coming months, if the word famine is used to describe the crisis in Somalia, it will mean that help never came.
The purpose of the German chancellors trip to Egypt and Tunisia is to help to reduce irregular migration into the EU.
On March 2 and 3, German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Egypt and Tunisia. Concerns about migration and refugees will top the agenda of her talks with Egypts President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.
As she prepares for crucial elections this September, for many voters Merkels tenure is associated with the record number of 900,000 refugees that came to Germany in 2015 (another 280,000 arrived in 2016).
The chancellor is under pressure to keep the promise she made late last year: A situation like we had in the late summer of 2015 can, should and must not repeat itself.
This promise was her answer to the charges of loss of control that have been have the heart of the case against Merkel by critics from within her own party and also the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Seeking cooperation
To make good on her promise, Merkel needs the cooperation of North African countries which therefore have become a key focus of German diplomacy.
Thanks to the border controls in the Balkan states leaving refugees stranded in Greece and the European Union-Turkey deal, the number of migrants coming to the EU from Turkey has gone down significantly.
This has shifted the focus back to the Central Mediterranean. In 2016 alone, 181,000 migrants and refugees reached Europe irregularly with the help of traffickers operating out of war-torn Libya and other countries including Egypt. Many died while making the perilous crossing.
Germany and other EU countries seek to end this situation. As agreed at a recent EU Summit in Malta last month, the key goal is to ensure effective control of our external border and stem illegal flows into the EU.
Political leaders in Germany and beyond have realised that only if the EU can demonstrate to its citizens that it is in control of its external borders, the Schengen passport-free travel zone, one of the key achievements of European integration, can survive.
Controlling borders is a precondition for sustaining open societies in Europe. Advocates of liberal democracy and open society will be punished at the ballot box if they are seen as allowing for uncontrolled immigration into Europe.
In this sense, controlling borders is also a precondition for sustaining the political willingness to welcome refugees in Germany polls indicate continuing support for accepting refugees in a controlled process but returning them to their homeland once their countries are safe.
The need for control is an assessment widely shared across the political spectrum in Germany. The disagreement is on the trade-offs involved in dealing with transit countries in the Mediterranean.
Trouble at home and abroad
Green Party leaders have accused Merkel of striking dirty deals at any price. She has faced strong criticism for going soft on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans authoritarianism for the sake of the deal on refugees.
She faces similar challenges in her dealings with the Egyptian president. Sisi has a record of repression and human rights abuse. German NGOs operating in Egypt (such as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation which is close to Merkels party) have been harassed by Egyptian authorities, some, such as the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, even driven out of the country.
READ MORE: 40 percent of Germans want Merkel to quit over refugees
Still, Merkel has referred to Egypt as a stabilising element in the region. Her hope is that Egypt will play a constructive role in Libya, which is currently the weakest link in the North African refugee situation.
As long as there is no effective government in place and as long as the terrible conditions for refugees persist in Libya, hopes for any EU-Turkey style agreement with Libya remain pipe dreams.
Given the unstable situation in Libya, German politicians have set their sights on the more stable transit countries, including Tunisia. Christian Democratic Union Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere and Social-Democratic parliamentary leader Thomas Oppermann have both called for establishing EU asylum processing centres in North Africa.
The idea is for asylum requests to be handled by EU authorities in North Africa. This would allow to return migrants rescued by EU member state authorities in the Mediterranean to North Africa, thereby making illegal crossings less attractive and destroying the traffickers business.
The by
Orban-type ethnic nationalists and advocates of an inclusive nationalism is a decisive frontier in the battle for preserving open societies in Europe.]
The Tunisian prime minister has rejected the idea, saying that this would destabilise Tunisia. This led Merkel to avoid the topic during Chaheds visit to Berlin last month. She did, however, press Chahed on cooperating better on returning rejected asylum seekers home from Tunisia.
This is a burning concern for Merkel given that young males from North Africa with no prospects for being granted asylum are seen as a very problematic group in the German public debate (the fact that Anis Amri, the perpetrator of the Berlin Christmas market attack, was a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia only added to this). Merkel will likely press this issue again during her visit to Tunis.
Ethnic v inclusive nationalism
Other elements of Merkels refugee policy also meant to keep numbers down are less controversial. These include spending more on protecting refugees in the Middle East and Africa and stepping up cooperation with African countries in the hope of reducing the reasons to migrate to Europe.
This is why economic development in Africa is one of the priorities of Germanys G20 presidency this year. More controversially, this also includes cooperation on more effective border control with regimes such as Eritrea that are the countries of origin for a number of asylum seekers making their way up north to Europe.
But cooperation with North African countries will remain the centrepiece of trying to reassert control. Indeed, the need to protect external borders and control migration flows is what unites all EU governments, from Germany to Hungary.
READ MORE: How a selfie with Merkel changed Syrian refugees life
What divides them is how they deal with the issue of refugees and migrants especially of Muslim origin domestically. Just this week, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban called for preserving ethnic homogeneity. Orban has consistently stoked fears of Muslim immigration as increasing terrorism and threatening Europes cultural heritage in order to consolidate his power.
Other governments, such as Poland, have used similar language that has been echoed by the right-wing AfD in Germany. The fight between the Orban-type ethnic nationalists and advocates of an inclusive nationalism is a decisive frontier in the battle for preserving open societies in Europe.
Thorsten Benner is director of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin.
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Seven years ago, no one even an astronomer could tell you whether any planets that might be like Earth existed.
From across the Galaxy, just shy of 40 light years away, seven long shadows sweep across our planet. These shadows belong to the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system, seven Earth-sized worlds whose discoveries were announced with great fanfare this past week.
Led by Michael Gillon of the University of Liege, an international team of astronomers deployed both space and Earth-based telescopes to make these incredible discoveries: three of the TRAPPIST-1 planets were revealed last year, with the recent announcement unveiling an additional four.
Each world passes in front of its parent star from our point of view, creating those shadows called transits that dim the light of the star during the planets passage.
The transits occur with each lap the planets make around their sun, and by measuring how long it takes between them, we can time the length of their year. From there, its just a few calculations to deduce how far they are from their star, whose energy keeps them warm.
The significance of the discovery
It might seem that these days, planet discoveries are a dime a dozen: more than three thousand planets are known around other stars, and their existence implies that there are hundreds of billions of planets in our galaxy alone.
Seven years ago, no one neither a random person on the street, nor the most learned astronomer could tell you whether any planets that might be like Earth existed.
Today is a different story: we know from the discoveries of planet-hunting missions like NASAs Kepler Telescope, TRAPPIST, and a myriad of other projects, that rocky planets must be out there in abundance.
This revolution in planet hunting is certainly incredible, but also begs the question: in a galaxy awash with more planets than stars, whats the big deal in finding seven more?
As it turns out, the TRAPPIST-1 planet system is remarkable for a number of reasons. For one thing, the star at the systems centre is exceptionally cool it emits only around five hundredths of one percent of the energy a second that our sun does, and most of that light is in infrared energy (beyond the limits of human eyesight).
Because the stars light is so feeble, its planets must be cuddled in very close orbits to be warmed enough to have any hope of liquid water, and this is exactly the case: all seven of the TRAPPIST-1 planets orbit closer to their star than the planet Mercury does to our own sun.
The TRAPPIST-1 planets are so close, in fact, that it takes only a day and a half for the innermost planet to complete its full trip around its star (or year), and even the outermost known planet orbits in a mere 20-ish days.
Even the discovery of life beyond Earth is beyond the point: much in the way seeing the skies of a foreign land can make us feel like citizens of the world, coming to know these distant planets will usher us in as citizens of the universe. by
Incredibly, three of these planets orbit at just the right distance from their star where they could be the right temperature to have liquid water on their surface.
Not only are the TRAPPIST-1 planets close to their star, theyre also close to each other so much so that if you were standing on the surface of one, you would be able to see others in the sky, in some cases looming as large as our own moon.
Hints from the timing of these orbits also tells us that the close proximity of these planets was likely not always the case in all probability, they formed further from their star and moved inwards over time, eventually coming to their current compact arrangement.
Today, the little gravitational tugs the planets exert on each other can actually be seen in tiny differences in how long each planet takes to orbit these transit timing variations appear as the planets shadows sweep across our telescopes, either slightly ahead of or behind schedule.
Are we closer to not being alone?
This miniature planetary system is exciting in and of itself but I know what youre thinking: do these planets have life on them? Dont worry, astronomers are wondering that too! Actually, the possibility of answering that question is perhaps the most exciting thing about the TRAPPIST-1 planets.
Right now, astronomers are somewhat limited in what they can learn about planets around other stars, even if they use the best possible tools to study them we can measure their sizes by how much of their stars light they block, and deduce how much warming light they receive from their star, but specifics beyond that remain elusive.
When we look for the best places to find life, one of the essential puzzle pieces is what the planets atmosphere is like: not only whether that planet has an atmosphere, but how well does it hold in the energy from its star to warm the planet, and does it shield the planet from the high-energy radiation its star showers across it? And of course, the big question: does that atmosphere betray signs of life?
The atmosphere of our own Earth is the product of our living planet: once devoid of oxygen, the rise of blue-green algae over three billion years ago filled our skies with the oxygen that we humans find essential.
The processes of our planet itself volcanoes, weathering also affect our environment, and work in concert with creatures great and small to alter the chemistry of our air.
When we think of looking for life on planets around other stars, twinkling at distances still unreachable by even our speediest spacecraft, what we are really thinking of is how to work out what their atmospheres are made of, to uncover biosignatures, or signs of life.
As it happens, the TRAPPIST-1 planets are a tantalising discovery for the dawn of a new technological age. The TRAPPIST-1 system has already been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, whose ability to see ultraviolet light seems to indicate a lack of puffy, distended atmospheres for its innermost worlds, shoring up their status as rocky, possibly Earth-like worlds.
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The real opportunity comes next year, when NASA launches the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). A dazzling new eye on the universe, JWST will look at the cosmos in infrared light, where TRAPPIST-1 glows brightest.
As the TRAPPIST-1 planets pass in front of their parent star, the opaque part of the planets casts those long shadows over our Earth but if they have atmospheres, there is a chance the starlight filters through those atmospheres on its way to us. Using the new instruments of JWST, we should be able to measure a chemical fingerprint of what the atmospheres of the TRAPPIST-1 planets are made of.
Via these fingerprints in light, astronomers may be able to glimpse the breath of life on planets around other suns. These measurements requiring our best technology, most careful analyses, and brightest minds, might answer one of humanitys oldest questions: whether life on Earth is alone in the universe.
In some ways, though, even the discovery of life beyond Earth is beyond the point: much in the way seeing the skies of a foreign land can make us feel like citizens of the world, coming to know these distant planets will usher us in as citizens of the universe.
Lucianne Walkowicz is an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, where she studies stellar magnetic activity and how stars influence a planets suitability as a host for alien life.
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Over 28,000 have been forced from their homes since operation to retake western Mosul started on February 19, says UN.
Intense battles between Iraqi security forces and ISIL fighters in Mosul are causing increasing numbers of displaced people, with 4,000 civilians fleeing the city each day, according to the United Nations.
More than 28,000 people have been forced from their homes since a coalition of US-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive on February 19 to retake the western sector of Mosul, ISILs last major urban stronghold in Iraq, the UN said.
The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement put the number at 31,000.
Overall, the total number displaced since the battle for Mosul started in October exceeds 176,000, according to the UN.
Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Erbil in northern Iraq, said the latest figures meant that this was the biggest outflow of civilians since the start of the Mosul push.
There is no secure humanitarian corridor to get out of the neighbourhoods that have been cleared, but even then there is still crossfire, she said.
They [civilians] are having to make their way over barren land just southwest of Mosul. We have seen people walking across land; people in wheelchairs, women with children exhausted and terrified, also leaving relatives behind because they are not sure if the route is secure.
Some of the displaced were moving from areas already under Iraqi military control, afraid of the ongoing fighting and eager to move to safety.
Others escaped across the frontline, waiting until they saw Iraqi forces in the distance and running towards them with white flags.
Along the way, they faced horrifying scenes.
There were bodies in the street as we walked, children, pieces of bodies, Safana, 23, told the AFP news agency, as she waited in a food distribution queue in the Hamam al-Alil camp.
She said that fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group had told people to leave her neighbourhood of Maamun in west Mosul.
They came in the morning and said if we hadnt left by evening they would kill us.
At the Hamam al-Alil camp, 4,000 tents have been put up to receive arrivals, and more than 14,000 people have already been registered, said administrator Nader Samir.
But he said the camp, which is run by a local NGO with UN support, was struggling with several basic problems.
Our major need is for medical treatment. We dont have any capacity and we have yet to get a response from the government on our request for help, he told AFP.
Running out of food
Caroline Gluck, of the UN refugee agency, told Al Jazeera that people who were unable to flee from the ISIL-controlled areas were living in appalling conditions amid increasing food shortages.
Families told us that they are running out of food, she said from Iraqs capital, Baghdad.
IN PICTURES: Hunting down ISIL sleeper cells in Mosul
Many are only eating bread and water or tomatoes or water, one meal a day. Not only have food prices skyrocketed, but now there is virtually no food available for sale even if you have money.
Electricity is barely functioning and water is running out.
Fierce fighting
The push for western Mosul began after the eastern half of the city, which is separated from the ISIL-held west by the River Tigris, was declared fully liberated in January .
Mosul fell to ISIL in the summer of 2014, along with large expanses of northern and western Iraq.
The Iraqi military believes several thousand fighters, including many who travelled from western countries, are hunkered down in Mosul among the remaining civilian population, which aid agencies estimated to number 750,000 at the start of the latest offensive.
The fighters are using suicide car bombers, snipers and booby traps to counter the offensive waged by tens of thousands of Iraqi troops, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Iranian-trained Shia paramilitary groups.
READ MORE: Donald Trump vows to demolish and destroy ISIL
ISIL fighters launched a counterattack against advancing US-backed Iraqi forces in western Mosul during an overnight storm.
Explosions and gunfire rang out across the citys southwestern districts in the early hours of Thursday.
The fighting eased in the late morning, although a correspondent with the Reuters news agency saw an air strike and rebel mortar fire.
A senior Iraqi officer said ISIL staged its attack on units from the elite counterterrorism forces when the storm hampered air surveillance and on-the-ground visibility.
He said some fighters hid among displaced families to get close to the US-trained troops.
AMISOM announces one of deadliest attacks on armed groups base in Juba, but al-Shabab says it lost no fighters.
At least 57 al-Shabab fighters were killed after African Union and Somali forces attacked one of the armed groups camps in the southern region of Juba, according to the AUs peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
In a post on Twitter, AMISOM said that vehicles and equipment were destroyed in Thursdays morning assault on the al-Shabab base outside Afmadow, a town about 100km inland from the Somali port of Kismayo.
The AU force said a large cache of weapons had also been captured in the operation, which was backed by helicopter gunships.
INFOGRAPHIC: Al-Shabab attacks in Somalia (2006-2017)
A separate statement by Kenyas defence ministry said an unknown number of fighters were injured.
There was no immediate word of casualties among the AU or Somali forces.
Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shababs spokesman for military operations, told the Reuters news agency that the armed groups fighters had ambushed Kenyan soldiers, prompting them to call in air support, and the armed group had lost no one in the clashes.
The planes fired some bombs and KDF [Kenya Defence Forces] returned to their places. There is no casualty from our side and we do not have exact casualty numbers of KDF, he said.
Al-Shabab ruled most of south-central Somalia until 2011, when it was driven out of the capital, Mogadishu, by AU troops.
Despite the loss of territory, the armed group, which wants to topple the internationally recognised government, still carries out major gun and bomb attacks.
IN PICTURES: Fighting to survive hunger in Somalia
The group has responded angrily to the election last month of new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, during whose brief term as prime minister the group was expelled from Mogadishu.
Mohamed has vowed to make security a priority in the Horn of Africa nation.
Vice president and close ally of Sudans leader appointed to post abolished after coup that brought Bashir to power.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has appointed a top aide as prime minister, reinstating a post he abolished after coming to power in a 1989 coup, an official said.
Bakri Hassan Saleh will be sworn in on Thursday and immediately start negotiations on forming a new cabinet, said ruling National Congress Party deputy leader Ibrahim Mahmoud.
Saleh will hold onto his current post of Sudans first vice president, Mahmoud said.
Sudanese lawmakers voted in December to reinstate the post of prime minister.
Saleh was among the officers who launched the bloodless 1989 coup, and the last member of the group to remain at Bashirs side.
The retired army general is a former defence, interior and presidential affairs minister. He currently serves as first vice president and National Congress Party deputy leader for executive affairs.
The naming of a prime minister and delegation of some of the presidents powers fall in line with reforms proposed by a year-long national dialogue held between Bashirs government and some opposition groups.
In October, after a quarter century in power, Bashir concluded the national dialogue aimed at resolving insurgencies in Sudans border regions and healing the countrys crisis-wracked economy.
The process was boycotted by most mainstream opposition and armed groups.
Top Republicans also join calls for attorney generals withdrawal from probe into alleged Russian meddling in US vote.
Pressure is mounting on US Attorney General Jeff Sessions after it emerged that he met Russias ambassador to Washington during last years election campaign, seemingly contradicting statements he made in Senate confirmation hearings.
The revelation plunged President Donald Trumps Republican administration back into turmoil over its connections to Russia, which US intelligence says interfered in the 2016 campaign against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Washington Post reported late on Wednesday that Sessions, a former senator who advised Trumps campaign on foreign policy and other issues, met Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were building.
READ MORE: US House panel to probe alleged Trump-Russia links
Sessions, however, told his confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10 that he did not know of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russia.
I did not have communications with the Russians, he said under oath.
The previously undisclosed meeting fed growing calls for Sessions to recuse himself from oversight of justice department and FBI probes into the alleged Russian meddling and contacts with Trump campaign advisers.
I have said whenever its appropriate, I will recuse myself. Theres no doubt about that, Sessions told NBC News, while denying any wrongdoing.
I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I dont have anything else to say about that.
Republicans reaction
The White House confirmed that the meetings took place but insisted Sessions had done nothing wrong as it dismissed the revelations as a partisan attack.
Trump on Thursday declared total confidence in Sessions, telling reporters during a visit to a US aircraft carrier that he wasnt aware of the two meetings last year.
But several leading Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday in calling on Sessions to step aside from the inquiry.
AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself, Jason Chaffetz, a member of the House Government Oversight Committee, said in a post on Twitter.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said he thought Sessions needs to clarify what these meetings were.
He said it was not unusual for members of Congress to meet ambassadors, but added that if a question arose about the integrity of a federal investigation, I think itd be easier for an attorney general to step away.
Resign immediately
Top Democrats demanded that Sessions go further and quit his post as attorney general, calling for an independent, bipartisan investigation into Trumps possible ties to Russians.
Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign, Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, said in a statement.
US Representative Elijah Cummings criticised Sessions for keeping his contact with the ambassador secret even after Trump fired his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Sessions should resign immediately, he said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sessions should only recuse himself if he is a subject of the probe.
At his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in January, Sessions was asked by Democratic Senator Al Franken what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign, the Post reported.
Im not aware of any of those activities, Sessions responded, according to the Post.
He added: I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
READ MORE: US Senate approves Jeff Sessions as attorney general
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington, DC, former associate US attorney general Bruce Fein said: Everyone knows Jeff Sessions was up to his ears in the Trump campaign, thats why hes attorney general now.
He said that Trump has made powerful enemies so far in his presidency, including the press, that were out to get him.
And there are many people in the intelligence community that are probably out to get Mr Trump too because hes derided them, [accused] them of doing things equivalent to the Nazis. So hes going to have an intelligence community thats looking for things, Fein added.
Minority government introduces bill to restore 11-month conscription this summer for all Swedes born after 1999.
Sweden has announced that it will reintroduce compulsory military service starting this summer to respond to global security challenges including from Russia.
The government wants a more stable staff supply system and to boost its military capability because the security situation has changed, Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told TT news agency on Thursday.
The Scandinavian nation, which has not seen armed conflict on its territory in two centuries, ended conscription in 2010 after it was deemed an unsatisfactory way of meeting the needs of a modern army.
Swedens minority government on Thursday is set to introduce to the parliament a bill to restore conscription this summer for all Swedes born after 1999. It will last for 11 months.
REAd MORE: Sweden\s backlash Why the tide is turning for refugees
The measure is expected to be adopted by parliament, subject to agreement between the leftist government and the centre right opposition.
Some 13,000 young Swedes are expected to be mobilised from July 1, but only 4,000 of them, 18-year-olds of both sexes, will be selected for military service based on motivation and skills.
They will be called up each year after January 1 2018.
The new security situation is also a reality, partly in the form of Russian power politics which has long been underestimated and downplayed, Wilhelm Agrell, a security expert at Lund University, told AFP.
Sweden is not a NATO member but has signed the bodys Partnership for Peace programme launched in 1994 to develop military cooperation between NATO and non-member countries.
On defence issues, Sweden is very close to its Finnish neighbour, which has with Russia a border of 1,340km.
The Nordic and Baltic regions only non-aligned countries, Finland and Sweden, have stepped up their military cooperation with US, following concerns over Russias increased military activity in northern Europe.
Finland accused Moscow last year of violating its airspace when two Russian fighter jets flew on separate occasions in the south of the coastal town of Porvoo. The incident raised alarm in Sweden.
Russia has warned against Sweden and Finland joining NATO, an issue that has been debated in both countries.
The European Parliament stripped far-right French politician and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen of parliamentary immunity for posting graphic images of victims of the ISIL group.
The lifting of immunity allows a Paris court to prosecute her for posting three images of brutality by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS, on Twitter in 2015, including a photo of the decapitated corpse of US journalist James Foley.
The offence being considered is publishing violent images, which under certain circumstances can carry a penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $78,930.
Politicians voted by a big majority on Thursday to deprive Le Pen of her immunity in the case, acting parliament speaker Dimitrios Papadimoulis said.
Parliamentary immunity is intended to protect EU politicians against intimidation attempts.
EU officials said that the vote came after a request from the French judiciary.
Responding to the vote on Wednesday, Le Pen said: This only shows French citizens what the EU is, what the European parliament is and that its all part of the system that wants to stop the French peoples candidate that I am.
Florian Philippot, a vice president of Le Pens party the National Front, defended the Eurosceptic candidates 2015 Twitter posts.
Showing and naming the horror of Islamism allows us to fight against it, Philippot told the Reuters news agency.
Le Pen has previously refused to attend a French police interview over the investigation, citing her status as an MEP.
But her head of cabinet has been placed under formal investigation for the dissemination of violent images.
READ MORE: Jean-Marie Le Pen fined for inciting hate against Roma
The French leader, locked in an increasingly tight three-way race to succeed Francois Hollande this spring, has already seen her earnings as MEP cut for a different case involving alleged misuse of EU funds.
She has denounced the legal proceedings against her as political interference in the campaign, where she is the leading candidate. She has called for a moratorium on judicial investigations until the election period is over.
Le Pen is expected to win the first of the two election rounds but likely to lose in a runoff, according to polls, which also show that her legal battles seem to have little effect on her supporters.
Le Pens immunity has been lifted before, in 2013. She was prosecuted in 2015 for incitement to discrimination over peoples religious beliefs, for comparing Muslims praying in public to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II.
Prosecutors eventually recommended the charges be dropped.
ISIL expansion poses new challenge for US President Donald Trump, as he vowed to totally destroy the rebel group.
An offshoot of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group based near the Afghan-Pakistan border is expanding to new areas, recruiting fighters and widening the reach of attacks in the region, members of the movement and Afghan officials said.
Some members of the so-called Khorasan Province of ISIL, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility for the recent attack on a Sufi shrine in Pakistan that killed 90 people, and ISIL gunmen were blamed for the deaths of six local aid workers in the north of the country, far from their stronghold in eastern Afghanistan.
Any expansion would pose a new challenge for US President Donald Trump, as he considers how many American troops to keep in Afghanistan where the main security threat remains the Taliban insurgency.
Trump has vowed to totally destroy the Middle East-based ISIL, yet has spoken little of Afghanistan, where US forces have been posted for 15 years.
READ MORE: The manufactured myth of ISIL in Afghanistan
Now he has not only the Taliban to consider, but also fighters swearing allegiance to ISIL, although US officials are generally less alarmed about its presence in Afghanistan than local officials.
Daesh is not only a threat for Afghanistan but for the region and the whole world, said Shah Hussain Mortazawi, spokesman for President Ashraf Ghanis office, using a common Arabic name for the group.
The extent of direct operational links between ISIL in Afghanistan and the Middle East remains unclear, although most fighters in the Khorasan Province are Afghans, Pakistanis or Central Asians.
Shifting loyalties
ISIL is suspected of carrying out several attacks on minority Shia Muslim targets in Afghanistan, and the February suicide bombing at the Pakistani shrine bore some of the hallmarks of the sectarian group.
Known as the worst armed group assault in Pakistan for two years indicated that a group based in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar could strike deep into Pakistan territory.
Islamic State has no proper base in Pakistan, but it has sympathizers and links in Pakistan, one member of the group told Reuters news agency, based in Afghanistan.
Mostly the attackers and suicide bombers enter from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
READ MORE: ISIL in Afghanistan? Not so fast
Western and Afghan security officials believe fighters frequently switch allegiances between armed groups, making it difficult to know who is to blame for violence.
Sometimes the Taliban commanders defect to Daesh and sometimes the other way around, said Mohammad Zahir Wahdat, governor of the northern Afghan province of Sar-i-Pul, where ISIL and Taliban fighters are believed to be active.
The situation is very unclear.
The top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, said US drone strikes and special forces operations had killed about a third of ISIL fighters in Afghanistan and cut their territory by two thirds.
US officials say intelligence suggests ISIL is based overwhelmingly in Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar province.
They are sceptical about reports of an increased ISIL presence in the northwest, where gunmen may claim a connection to the group to boost their standing.
Certainly if youre a local official whos looking for more resources, by saying that ISIS is in your area, youre going to get more attention, said Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, the main US military spokesman in Kabul.
Nicholson, who has asked for thousands more troops in Afghanistan, said counter-terrorism forces planned a series of operations in 2017 to defeat ISIL in Afghanistan and preclude the migration of terrorists from Iraq and Syria into Afghanistan.
Estimating numbers is difficult. Cleveland said US officials believe the movement has only 700 fighters, but Afghan officials estimate it has around 1,500, with twice as many auxiliary helpers and up to 8,000 less active supporters.
READ MORE: Report ISIL claims deadly attack on Pakistani forces
Those officials say fighters from Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan have come to Afghanistan, while fighters forced across the border by Pakistani military operations also gravitated towards ISIL.
A US drone strike last year killed former local ISIL leader Hafiz Saeed Khan, once a member of the Pakistani Taliban. Several Afghan security officials believe a former Afghan Taliban commander, Abdul Haseeb Logari, has replaced him.
ISIL began to be noticed in the region in early 2015, when loyalists took on the Taliban and al-Qaeda in a bid to become the leading rebel group, using tactics that stood out for their brutality.
Suicide bombers and landmines hampering progress by Syrian government forces to recapture the ancient city.
ISIL fighters have withdrawn from much of the Syrian oasis city of Palmyra as government forces slowly enter its ravaged ancient ruins because of landmines and suicide bombers, a war monitor said on Thursday.
Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into a western neighbourhood of the city late on Wednesday after fierce clashes with the ISIL fighters.
By Thursday morning, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant cadres had withdrawn to residential neighbourhoods in the east of the city, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
IS withdrew from most of Palmyra after laying mines across the city. There are still suicide bombers left in the eastern neighbourhoods, Syrian Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency.
Government forces have not yet been able to enter the heart of the city or the eastern parts.
READ MORE: On trial the destruction of history during conflict
Palmyras ancient ruins have long been listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
Before ISIL entered the city in May 2015, the city boasted temples, colonnaded alleys, and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But the armed group launched a campaign of destruction, the scale of which was fully revealed when government forces briefly retook the city with Russian support last year.
Satellite imagery has shown that ISIL has demolished more monuments since it recaptured Palmyra from government forces in December.
OPINION: When Muslims ruled the civilised world
Supported by Russian air strikes and ground troops, Syrian government forces have battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.
The Syrian conflict started as a largely unarmed uprising against President Bashar al-Assads rule in March 2011.
It quickly morphed into a full-scale war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people with more than half of the countrys population displaced inside and outside of Syria.
No evidence found against man in assassination of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpurs airport with VX nerve agent.
A North Korean man will be freed from Malaysian custody because of a lack of evidence connecting him to the fatal nerve agent attack on the estranged half-brother of North Koreas ruler.
Ri Jong-chol was held in police detention for almost two weeks following the assassination of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpurs bustling airport on February 13.
He will be released. He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him, said Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali on Thursday.
Mohamed said Ri will be deported because he does not have valid travel documents.He will be deported tomorrow, he said.
In a major fallout from the assassination, Malaysia also announced on Thursday it was scrapping visa-free travel for North Koreans.
Who produced the VX poison that killed Kim Jong-nam?
Officials never said why they arrested Ri four days after Kim was attacked.
The attack was caught on grainy security camera footage that showed two women smearing something on Kims face as he waited for a flight. Malaysian officials say the substance was VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon.
North Korea is widely speculated to be behind the killing. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.
Pyongyang has denied the accusations and said it was absurdity to believe the chemical weapon VX was used in Kims killing.
Kim was dead within an hour as the fast-acting poison coursed through his body, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Thursday the visa-free arrangement with North Korea will be scrapped from Monday because of national security. He also slammed the North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur who accused Malaysia of trying to conceal something and colluding with hostile forces.
We dont want to make enemies, but if they had used Malaysia for their own agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international stage, Zahid said. We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of our people. Dont ever use Malaysia as a base to do anything you like.
Malaysia to cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans
The two female suspects caught in the security footage were charged with murder in a Malaysian court Wednesday. They face the mandatory death sentence if convicted.
Both say they were duped into thinking they were taking part in a harmless prank.
Kim reportedly fell out of favour with his father, the late Kim Jong-il, in 2001 when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
He was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger to his half-brother Kim Jong-un.
Rescue efforts in western Ukraine ongoing after methane gas blast kills eight miners and leaves 20 unaccounted for.
At least eight miners have been killed in a methane gas explosion in a coal mine in western Ukraines Lviv region, according to officials.
Twenty other workers were still unaccounted for after the blast in Stepovaya mine, the countrys emergencies service said in an online statement on Thursday.
Thirty-four miners were at a depth of 550 metres when the explosion ripped through the mine at 12:46 local time (13:46 GMT), the statement added.
The mine, which is run by the state company Lvivvuhillja, is located 460km west of the capital, Kiev, and about 10km from the Polish border.
In a post on Facebook, Oleksandr Volynets, head of a miners union, put the death toll at 11.
Ukrainian presidential spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko said in a separate statement that rescue operations were ongoing.
Move comes after the killing of North Korean leaders half-brother Kim Jong-nam with VX nerve agent in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia will cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans entering the country starting next week as diplomatic ties between the two countries fray further following the murder of Kim Jong-nam at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
North Koreans will be required to obtain a visa as of March 6 before entering Malaysia for national security reasons, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday, citing the deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that North Koreans could visit without a visa. A reciprocal arrangement made Malaysians the only foreigners given visa-free entry to the secretive, nuclear-armed state.
The move comes two weeks after Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport, allegedly with a toxic nerve agent.
Diplomatic ties between Malaysia and North Korea have soured since the murder, which South Korea and the US say was an assassination organised by North Korean agents.
North Korea has denied the accusations and called the allegation that the chemical weapon VX was used in killing absurd.
North Korea tried to convince Malaysia not to perform an autopsy on Kims body, and to release a North Korean suspect detained in connection with the murder.
A high-level North Korean diplomatic delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and has held talks with members of the Malaysian cabinet to press those demands.
Malaysia has charged an Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman with murder. Police are also seeking to question seven others, including a senior official in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
READ MORE: Who produced the VX poison that killed Kim Jong-nam?
Malaysia has insisted that laws of the country will be followed and has refused to release the body to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, while waiting for next of kin to come forward.
The severe strain on the relationship follows decades of friendly ties between the two countries.
North Korea and Malaysia have maintained ties since the 1970s when former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad embraced the isolated state, in part to rebuff the United States.
Pyongyang says any territorial violations during annual US-South Korea military exercises will be met with force.
North Korea has warned of a merciless response if its territorial boundaries are violated during large-scale military drills involving US and South Korean forces.
Pyongyang on Thursday reacted to the start of the annual war games with its typical fiery rhetoric, but recent missile and nuclear tests by the North give the usual threats an added weight.
The military drills between Seoul and Washington always rile North Korea, which calls the exercises a rehearsal for an invasion. This years manoeuvres began on Wednesday.
The North will mercilessly foil the nuclear war racket of the aggressors with its treasured nuclear sword, an unidentified spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean Peoples Army (KPA) was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.
OPINION: Kim Jong-nam attack reveals true nature of North Korea
He said the Norths reaction will be the toughest ever but didnt elaborate.
Should the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces fire even a single shell into the waters where the sovereignty of our Republic is exercised, the KPA will immediately launch its merciless military counter-actions, the statement said.
There is renewed worry in Seoul and Washington because North Korea test-launched a new intermediate-range missile in February. It also conducted two nuclear tests last year.
South Koreas military said on Thursday that it will resolutely punish North Korea if provoked.
The ongoing drills are field training that will run until late April. As well, different training involving computer-simulated war games will start in the coming weeks.
The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against a potential aggression from North Korea. The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The US plans to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier with F-35B and Osprey aircraft, according to a US Forces Korea spokesman. The B-1B and B-52 bombers could also join the drill, according to South Koreas Yonhap news agency.
Some 3,600 US soldiers are expected to join the Foal Eagle exercise this year.
South Korea and the United States also agreed to strengthen cooperation on financial sanctions against North Korea in response to the recent missile test.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and South Korea Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho expressed great concern over North Koreas February 12 missile launch and promised to follow through with sanctions, said in a statement on Thursday after a call between the pair.
On February 12, North Korea launched a Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile near the western city of Kusong. The missile flew east about 500km before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), according to South Koreas defence ministry.
Vote seen as vital to ending political crisis that, if left unresolved, could lead to end of UK regions semi-autonomy.
Northern Ireland is holding its second assembly election in a year, a vote seen as vital to ending a major political crisis that if left unresolved could lead to the end of the UK regions semi-autonomy.
The snap poll on Thursday, which comes just as Britain begins to negotiate its exit from the European Union, follows the collapse of a power-sharing agreement in January after Irish nationalists Sinn Fein withdrew support for the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Polls close at 22:00GMT but results are not expected until Saturday. In total, 228 candidates are competing for 90 seats across Northern Irelands 18 constituencies.
Long-simmering tensions between the two parties boiled over after Martin McGuinness, Sinn Feins deputy first minister, quit his post in protest over a botched green energy subsidy scheme instigated by Arlene Foster, DUPs first minister when she was economy minister.
There are reports that about $600m was misspent in the scheme and Foster is accused of mishandling the project.
Northern Ireland to hold snap vote after government collapse
McGuinness resignation triggered fresh elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, a semi-autonomous legislature in Belfast in which representatives of once warring communities have shared power on and off since a 1998 peace deal.
If Sinn Fein and the DUP cannot resolve their differences after the vote, the assemblys executive could be suspended and the province fully governed by London, the UK capital.
If they cant get through this election with a result that restarts the power-sharing agreement, they face the prospect of being run from London directly which nobody wants, Al Jazeeras Laurence Lee, reporting from the capital, Belfast, said.
But there are very good indications that the peace process is sufficiently robust now that they will probably be able to find a way through.
Observers predict a similar outcome to the May 2016 assembly elections, in which the Protestant and conservative DUP won slightly more seats than the Catholic and socialist Sinn Fein.
Id be more pessimistic than optimistic that the DUP and Sinn Fein can get back in a government together quickly, Jonathan Tonge, a Northern Ireland politics expert at Liverpool University, told the AFP news agency.
WATCH: Northern Ireland on the cusp of change
Tensions were also exacerbated by the British vote to leave the EU, known as Brexit, which the DUP supported but Sinn Fein opposed.
Northern Ireland voted to Remain in the June 23 EU referendum by a majority of 56 percent to 44 percent.
Northern Ireland: Sinn Fein names Michelle ONeill new leader
McGuinness is not running in the election due to ill health. His successor as Sinn Feins leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle ONeill, has signalled a possible way out.
Were up for going back into government but only on the basis of equality, respect and integrity, she told AFP in an interview on the last day of campaigning on Wednesday.
We cannot go into government with Arlene Foster as first or deputy first minister while there is a shadow hanging over her, but that doesnt mean we cant find a way forward.
In the streets of Belfast, there was disillusionment over the latest scandal to hit its political system.
Im just fed up with all the corruption and all the scandals to do with the heating and all the rest of it, civil servant Catherine Aouad told AFP.
READ MORE: May: Northern Ireland crisis mustnt jeopardise peace
Throughout the election campaign, Foster has appealed for Unionists to resist Sinn Feins demands for her to stand aside pending an investigation into the energy scheme.
If you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back for more, she told a party rally.
If DUP and Sinn Fein cannot agree to form a new power-sharing executive within three weeks, London will take over issues such as health, education and the local economy which are currently devolved.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said that she intends to pull Britain out of the EUs single market and probably the customs union, which would make the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland the UKs only land border with the EU.
The possibility of a return to checkpoints has revived memories of The Troubles, three decades of strife in Northern Ireland over British control of the province, in which more than 3,500 people were killed.
The most disastrous thing would be the return of a border which will greatly offend nationalists, said Tonge.
Five-year plan merges restive tribal areas with key province, extending basic rights to citizens for first time ever.
Islamabad, Pakistan Pakistans cabinet has approved a plan to introduce widespread political and administrative reforms to its tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, bringing landmark changes to an area that has long been a sanctuary for armed groups.
The changes, which include the extension of fundamental constitutional rights to citizens, will see Pakistans constitution and penal code extended to the seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies for the first time since the country gained independence from the British in 1947.
The time has now come for [the people of the tribal areas] to also be brought into the ambit of being Pakistani, to end the ongoing deprivation of their areas, said a statement issued by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs office on Thursday, following the cabinet meeting that approved the reforms.
The laws will give citizens access to fundamental rights and the ability to vote for representatives in provincial and local council elections, among other benefits.
READ MORE: ISIL expands in Afghan-Pakistan areas, widening attacks
Currently, the northwestern region is governed under the British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation, a draconian law dating back to colonial times which leaves citizens with no recourse to formal courts and open to collective punishment for the crimes of members of their tribes.
The lack of formal law and writ of the state in the tribal areas made them a haven for armed groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al-Qaeda, for decades.
Pakistans military regained control of North Waziristan the last of the tribal areas still under Taliban control after an offensive launched in mid-2014 that lasted until the end of 2016.
Since then, violence has dropped across the country, but sporadic high-profile attacks, such as the bombing of a shrine last month that killed 88 people, remain common.
Right to vote
Key among the reforms is a five-year plan that will see the tribal areas, home to more than four million people, merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with citizens given the right to vote for representatives in the provincial assembly for the first time.
Pakistani army says it rooted out Taliban fighters from tribal region
On Thursday, Sartaj Aziz, who headed the government committee that prepared the reforms, said that citizens would be able to vote for provincial assembly seats in the next general election, scheduled for mid-2018.
The plan also envisages the holding of local council elections in each of the seven tribal areas by the end of 2017.
Previously, residents in the tribal areas could vote for representatives in the lower house of parliament. Yet laws passed by parliament had no validity in those areas.
The reforms package also proposes $1.05bn in funding be allocated to a 10-year plan aimed at rehabilitating and reconstructing infrastructure, including communications, power lines, water supply schemes, education and health facilities in the tribal areas.
READ MORE: Chaos follows Pakistan-Afghanistan border closure
Government social welfare services such as hospitals and schools are virtually non-existent in most parts of the tribal areas, and have been further decimated by years of military operations.
At the peak of those operations, more than three million citizens from the tribal areas were classified as internally displaced (IDPs), living in camps or migrating to urban areas.
The new plan envisages the complete return of IDPs by April 30, 2017, Aziz said.
The reforms will also see the introduction of a new law to govern the tribal areas, based on the concept of rewaaj, or tribal customs. That act will formalise the holding tribal councils, also known as jirgas, to resolve local disputes, according to a report on the reforms released by the government.
We have sacrificed a lot for Pakistan and for years we havent been given our basic rights, said Amad Khan, a citizen from the Bajaur tribal area.
This reform will bring schools, colleges and a proper health system in our areas accessible to us. Even though it took years to be acknowledged by our country, we are thankful that it finally happened.
Follow Asad Hashim and Sheerena Qazi on Twitter: @AsadHashim, @ShereenaQazi
Pakistans War: On the Frontline REWIND
Pakistans cabinet approved on Thursday a plan to introduce reforms in the lawless tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan an area that has provided sanctuary to armed groups for years.
Authorities began the reform process in the northwestern region after fighters with al-Qaeda and the Taliban established sanctuaries there. The army regained control of the last of the territories in an offensive launched in mid-2014 that lasted until the end of 2016.
We want to bring tribesmen in the national mainstream so that their deprivations could end, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the cabinet.
READ MORE: FATA Terrorists or victims of a covert war?
British colonialists in the 19th carved out a mountainous strip of Afghanistan that was administered under a combination of civil laws and local traditions.
The special status for the tribal areas continued after Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947 because the tribes were divided on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The final report on reforms proposed merging the seven semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The set of constitutional, political, and administrative reforms are aimed at bringing the areas at par with the rest of the country, a spokesman for Sharif said.
A 10-year development programme will be introduced for all of FATA and the merger will be carried out over a period of five years.
Amad Khan, from Bajaur Agency in FATA, told Al Jazeera the reforms will put a proper education system in place.
We have sacrificed a lot for Pakistan and for years we havent been given our basic rights, he said.
This reform will bring schools, colleges and a proper health system in our areas accessible to us. Even though it took years to be acknowledged by our country, we are thankful that it finally happened.
More than 1.8 million people from FATA have been displaced by insurgency, counter-insurgency and other related violence in Pakistan. Most of them live in IDP camps in Peshawar and urban centres such as Karachi.
People look at us as terrorists since we come from that area No, that is not true. I myself have lost my uncle in a terrorist attack, we have suffered a lot, so this little change brings hope, said Khan.
Human Rights Watch report alleges officers execute drug suspects and plant evidence to cover up their crimes.
A human rights watchdog has accused police in the Philippines of falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings in the governments bloody war on drugs and pointed the finger at President Rodrigo Duterte as being ultimately responsible.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday in a report that Duterte and other senior officials instigated and incited the killings of drug suspects in a campaign that could amount to crimes against humanity.
Police have repeatedly carried out extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, then falsely claimed self-defence, and planted guns, spent bullets or drugs on the bodies.
Our investigations into the Philippine drug war found that police routinely kill drug suspects in cold blood and then cover up their crime by planting drugs and guns at the scene, said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report.
READ MORE: Rodrigo Duterte accused of paying police to kill
President Dutertes role in these killings makes him ultimately responsible for the deaths of thousands.
The report said masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with the police, casting doubt on government claims that vigilantes or rival gangs are behind the majority of the killings.
It said that in several instances it investigated, suspects in police custody were later found dead and classified by police as found bodies or deaths under investigation.
The United Nations should create an independent investigation to determine responsibility and ensure accountability, the report said.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said none of the accusations have been proven in court. Until that happens, such claims are mere hearsay, he said.
National police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said Human Rights Watch should share its information with the police so any perpetrators can be charged in court.
Carlos said police data showed 2,500 people had been killed in police operations, while another 4,000-plus deaths were still being investigated, of which 680 were drug-related. Murder charges involving 1,330 victims have been filed with prosecutors or courts, but the details were not known.
READ MORE: Rodrigo Dutertes death penalty campaign clears hurdle
The Human Rights Watch report draws heavily on interviews in metropolitan Manila with 28 family members of victims, witnesses to police killings, journalists and human rights activists. It also references initial police reports of killings, which Human Rights Watch said its field research consistently contradicted.
Duterte barred the 170,000-strong national police from his anti-drug crackdown a few weeks ago after two anti-narcotics officers were implicated in the killing of a South Korean businessman in an extortion scandal that allegedly used the crackdown as a cover.
He announced on Tuesday that selected policemen will return to the anti-drug campaign, but that the main anti-narcotics agency will continue to supervise operations.
Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes campaign to bring back the death penalty for drug-related crimes has cleared a major hurdle, with supporters backing it in congress but critics denouncing the plan as inhumane.
The death penalty bill along with a proposed measure to punish children as young as nine as adult criminals are key planks of Dutertes controversial drug war that has already claimed more than 7,000 lives.
A majority of politicians in the lower house of congress passed a second reading of the bill on Wednesday night, clearing one of the biggest obstacles in proponents plans to make the death penalty legal by May.
A third and final reading still needs to be held next week, although with no more debates both sides agree passage is a formality. Then the Senate, which is similarly dominated by Dutertes allies, would pass a counterpart bill.
We have hurdled the most difficult part, congressman Reynaldo Umali, a sponsor of the bill, told AFP news agency.
Opponents voiced anger about the Philippines attempt to bring back the death penalty, 11 years after it was revoked, highlighting among many concerns a corrupt justice system that would lead to innocent people being executed.
The decision is inhumane, shameful and blatantly disrespectful, Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary for public affairs at the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said in a statement.
READ MORE: Children and Dutertes drug war: Lessons from the past
Let me reiterate this, criminals should be punished and victims should be aided, but the punishment should not be death. Due to our flawed and dysfunctional criminal justice system, there is a great chance that innocent people may become victims of wrongful convictions.
The Catholic Church, which counts 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, had led the opposition to abolish the death penalty in 2006.
Secillano and opposition lawmakers also criticised tactics used to ensure the bill was passed, such as the curtailing of debates and only allowing a vote by voice so lawmakers would not be specifically identified as having supported it.
The speaker of the house also threatened to strip lawmakers of committee leadership positions if they voted against the bill.
This is a chamber of puppets and bullies, congressman Edcel Lagman, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, said after his efforts to block the bill were voted down.
Just drug crimes
The bill limits the death penalty to drug-related offences only.
Possessing 500 grammes of marijuana, or 10 grammes of cocaine, heroin or ecstasy, would be crimes punishable by execution, as would manufacturing and selling drugs.
People who commit serious crimes such as murder and rape while under the influence of drugs could also be executed.
INTERACTIVE: Death toll in Dutertes war on drugs
The bill allows for execution by hanging, firing squad or lethal injection.
Duterte won the presidential election last year after pledging an unprecedented campaign to eradicate illegal drugs.
Since he took office in May, police have reported killing thousands of people in the drug crackdown, claiming all deaths were in self defence. Thousands of others have died in unexplained circumstances.
Rights groups and other critics say Duterte is presiding over widespread human rights violations, with Amnesty International warning the killings could amount to a crime against humanity.
Many Filipinos support Duterte and his drug war, arguing extreme measures must be taken to halt crime.
The United Nations had warned bringing back the death penalty would violate international conventions the Philippines had already ratified.
After capital punishment, another priority bill for Duterte is lowering the age of criminal liability to as low as nine-years old, from 15 currently.
Wuppertal high school draws criticism after banning pupils from using prayer rugs and other traditional Muslim rituals.
A high school in a western German city has banned Muslim pupils from publicly praying, saying that all the religious acts associated with it are provocative to other pupils, sparking a heated debate about freedom of religion in the country.
The school in Wuppertal sent a note to staff in February asking them to identify and report any cases of Muslim pupils praying on the school premises to the administration.
Several teachers and pupils had reported that they felt pressured by the behaviour of Muslim pupils, a spokeswoman for the regional administration of Wuppertal told the DPA news agency on Thursday.
In the last few weeks, it has increasingly been observed that Muslim students are praying, quite visibly to others, indicated by ritual washing in the bathrooms, the rolling out of prayer rugs, and by the students putting their bodies in certain positions. That is not permitted, the letter had reportedly said.
READ MORE: 10 attacks a day against refugees, shelters in Germany
The letter was posted last week on Facebook, provoking an angry reaction from some social media users who attacked the schools decision.
After the criticism, municipal authorities said the wording was unfortunate and the school had only meant to bring affected students in to discuss a solution to allow their prayer, the German newspaper Bild reported on Thursday.
Authorities say the school was, however, legally allowed to stop people praying in a provocative manner.
The regional administration said it backed the schools stance.
Banning provocative praying in the schools public space should promote peaceful coexistence and peace within the school, the administration said.
READ MORE Angela Merkel: Full-face veil must be banned in Germany
The schools prayer ban came as Germany, which has taken in more than 1.1 million refugees and migrants from predominantly Muslim countries, sees a rise in anti-Islam and anti-immigration sentiment.
The countrys right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has been making big gains in a series of recent elections, has now adopted an anti-Islam stance as part of its new manifesto.
Commenting on the schools move in a Facebook post, the AfDs Wuppertal branch called it an interesting and sensible measure.
Turkey has summoned the German ambassador to Ankara to protest against the cancellation of a talk by the Turkish justice minister in Germany, according to foreign ministry sources.
Our discomfort and our reaction to these developments have been communicated in person to the German ambassador who was summoned this evening to the [foreign] ministry, a senior Turkish official told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag had earlier said he had called off a meeting with his counterpart in Germany and was returning home after his address to Turkish citizens in the town of Gaggenau was cancelled.
The talk in Gaggenau was reportedly intended to to promote a yes vote for constitutional changes in an upcoming referendum that would expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogans powers.
German media reported that the meeting was axed by the municipality in Gaggenau due to security concerns and infrastructure issues.
Gaggenau Mayor Michael Pfeiffer was quoted as saying by the German media that the decision had no political motivation.
Shaky bilateral ties have been dragged to a new low amid growing public criticism in Germany of Turkeys arrest of a Turkish-German journalist.
Travis Kalanick promises to work on his leadership style after video of him lashing out at a driver went viral.
Uber chief Travis Kalanick has apologised, acknowledging that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up, after a video showed him verbally abusing a driver for the service.
In a message to Uber employees late on Tuesday, Kalanick cited the widely circulated video and said he treated an Uber driver disrespectfully.
The incident which circulated on social media was the latest hit for the image of the global ridesharing giant, which faces accusations of sexual harassment and a lawsuit contending it misappropriated Googles self-driving car technology.
Fawzi Kamel has been driving for Uber since 2011. When he picked up the companys boss on a Sunday in February, he wanted to let him know how things were getting tougher for drivers.
In the dashcam video obtained by Bloomberg News , the Kamel argues that Kalanick is lowering fares and claims he lost $97,000 because of him. Im bankrupt because of you.
Kalanick lashes back. You know what? Some people dont like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck, he said, then slamming the door.
READ MORE: Users angry at Trump Muslim ban delete Uber app
In the message to employees later, Kalanick wrote To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement.
Kalanick also offered his apology to the driver and said the incident shows he needs to work on his leadership.
Its clear this video is a reflection of me and the criticism weve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time Ive been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.
Uber is valued at $68bn, and has operations in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities.
The video is the latest in a string of bad PR for Uber.
Kalanick also faced criticism for agreeing to be part of a business advisory panel for President Donald Trump, but then quit the panel amid a campaign by Trump opponents to delete the application.
In January more than 200,000 people deleted their accounts after the company was accused of undermining a New York taxi union strike protesting against Trumps immigration ban.
In December, it pulled its self-driving cars off the road in San Francisco after the California Department of Motor Vehicles said they were operating illegally.
And just last month a former software engineer at Uber claimed one of her managers propositioned her for sex.
Kalenick ordered an investigation into the allegations calling sexism abhorrent.
Stuart Hall taught me how Britain was founded on race and class and how the media were central to those structures.
I first started reading Stuart Hall, the cultural theorist, in the early 1990s as an undergraduate student in Britain. The heyday of overt tabloid racism was over by then, but new styles of racist reporting were emerging.
On the one hand, cultural identity was an increasing focus, with much of the media echoing the idea that the presence of blacks and Asians undermined a cohesive sense of Britishness. On the other hand, the small number of refugees arriving in Britain were vilified as scroungers and cheats.
When a few hundred gypsies settled in Dover on Englands south coast, fleeing neo-Nazi gangs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Rupert Murdochs best-selling Sun newspaper called them Slovak Spongers and Giro Czechs (a pun on a common term for welfare payments) and suggested teaching the gypsies two words, the second one being off.
This kind of media coverage, of course, continues to this day. It is easy to denounce, but harder to cogently analyse it. Halls work helped me to get beyond simplistic explanations that put the blame on an inherent English racism or mechanical pursuit of profit.
Halls starting point was Marxism. But he followed another African-Caribbean scholar, Frantz Fanon, in his recommendation that Marxist analysis be slightly stretched in dealing with questions of race and colonialism. To understand the Jamaican society in which he had grown up, Hall combined the Marxist categories of class and capitalism with insights into the role of culture in colonialism. When Hall settled in England in 1951, he used the same approach to understand how racism functioned there.
To the columnists who supposed that Asian and black immigration to Britain was an alien cultural disruption that undermined a previously stable society, Halls response was that Britain had not become multicultural because of postcolonial migration.
Multiculturalism had been there much longer as an integral part of Britains imperial project. It is in the sugar you stir; it is in the sinews of the famous British sweet tooth; it is in the tea-leaves at the bottom of the British cuppa, noted Hall. There was no British identity that did not include the sugar plantations of the Caribbean and the tea plantations of Asia, the slave and the coolie.
Halls 1978 book Policing the Crisis, co-authored with his colleagues at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, had the biggest impact on me. It presented a picture of Britain in the 1970s as caught in a crisis of authority. The state, forced to intervene more aggressively to hold together a fracturing society, became more naked in its coercion. And a media-constructed image of black crime became a signifier of this deeper crisis. The component parts of Thatcherism were being laid out.
In Halls account, racism was not just a matter of individual attitudes and biases. Race was a key constituent of the social and economic structure, a principal modality by which class society was experienced and made sense of. Race, he said, was not a marginal concern but right at the centre of British life. At the same time, its significance was never self-contained or transparent; it was a screen on to which deep anxieties were projected and worked through.
One way this happened was through the news media. The conventional approach to analysing the news is to ask whether journalists select and frame events objectively or with bias. Halls argument focused instead on how news can have meaning to us only if it aligns with our unconscious cultural maps of the social world.
The main ideological function of the news, he argued, is not its alleged liberal or conservative bias but its fidelity to the deeper consensus within which party politics takes place. This happens because the news sources its meanings from the social and political institutions that underpin that consensus, such as the police, the courts, the university, and so on.
No wonder, then, that racism was found in the news as much as on the streets in both cases, it derived from the same deeper structure that Policing the Crisis had identified. Applied to the 1990s, this method of analysis could explain why refugees, for example, were being treated as such a threat: they too were a screen on to which anxieties deriving from the crisis of Thatcherite Britain were being projected.
It was never Halls style to provide final answers. In the 1980s and 1990s, his analysis shifted as he began to view the social world as pure flux: representations floated free of any referent; politics was reduced to the construction of identities.
Ironically, his writing in these later decades, which were more politically stable than the 1970s, pictured society as having no solid foundations. For me, reading Policing the Crisis out of its time in the 1990s taught me how contemporary Britain was solidly founded on race and class and how the media were central to reproducing those structures.
Arun Kundnani is scholar-in-residence at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. He is the author of The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror and The End of Tolerance: Racism in 21st-Century Britain. He writes for The Guardian, Nation, Intercept and The Washington Post, among other publications.
This article forms part of an online project by Al Jazeera Englishs media analysis show The Listening Post. Follow #MediaTheorised
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policies.
Media warfare is at the heart of the states approach to Kashmir and in the digital age, that means social media too.
The Empire is a colossal factory. The inner walls are lined with millions of tiny, specially angled and arranged mirrors reflecting and multiplying only a single image. The acoustics are designed so that a single sound reverberates, masking every other sound. Is this assemblage of image and sound, one wonders, a mere projection, or is it the Empire itself its very building blocks? This architecture, with its perpetually running conveyor belts, augments the factorys production of homogeneity and thought control which guarantee soaring profits of consent.
The Empire doesn't merely outsource its war to its corporate- state-owned media but media sees this battle as its own by Uzma Falak
Noam Chomsky and Edward Hermans Manufacturing Consent helps us demystify the workings of the Empire. The book details a propaganda model allowing us to understand the systemic and structural factors governing media operations serving trans-geographical dominant interests.
The structure they describe is reminiscent of the striking sequence in the 1979 Pink Floyd music video for Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 where children emerge from a tunnel as clones, march in unison to the same beat on conveyor belts and fall blindly into a meat grinder from which they re-emerge minced, worm-like, unidentifiable.
The consumers of Empires products thus become products themselves. This haunting spectre is the spectre of democracy sustained by manufactured consent.
So we need something to tame the bewildered herd, and that something is this new revolution in the art of democracy: the manufacture of consent, writes Chomsky.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, Empire is a state-security-military-corporate-media-complex. The images and sounds produced in the factory are amplified and reverberated across newsrooms, parliament, bureaucracies, business houses, Bollywood, advertisements, academia, militia. The language, the formulae, the narrative templates are set up by this complex, ready for easy consumption.
Media warfare is at the heart of Indias control in the region. A good image of the army is in the interest of the country,said retired Major-General SL Narasimhan at a seminar in New Delhi in 2012. The Indian army sees media as a force multiplier, and the focus of its media policy is public relations and perception management.
In 1998, Operation Goodwill, a counter-insurgency operation was launched in Kashmir. It was aimed at winning hearts and minds(WHAM) a tactic used by a British general during the Malayan emergency and by the US Army in Vietnam and Iraq. According to a blog maintained by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Operation Goodwill includes efforts to assuage the feeling of alienation and molding public opinion towards peace and developmentto fan the desire for firmer integration with the nationand to show the humane face of the soldier.
In his paper Military-Media Interface: Changing Paradigms, New Challenges, Ajay K Rai, a research fellow at the Indian Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, writes of the medias role in the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan: During the Kargil conflict, it was said by some media experts about various TV interviews wherein jawans [soldiers] on the battlefront talked aloud about patriotism and the countrys, honour, that those were nothing more than stage-managed shows The media support to the Indian military operations against Pakistan in the Kargil conflict went a long way in ensuring the approval of the international community of Indias stand on the LoC [the Line of Control between the two countries] and other related issues.
In the digital age, media warfare has moved to social media too. During the 2016 unrest in Kashmir following the death of 21-year-old Burhan Wani, a most-wantedinsurgent commander, the Indian state enforced a complete information blackout. Mobile phone networks and internet services were interrupted. Printing presses shut down and newspapers in the region temporarily banned from publishing.
Facebook was accused of censoring posts and pictures, and blocking the user accounts of those posting about the events unfolding in Kashmir.
Whoever controls the narrative in this field, will occupy the perception high ground,wrote Nitin Gokhale, a security analyst, who writes and appears across media outlets in India.
The Empire doesnt merely outsource its war to its corporate state-owned media, but media sees this battle as its own. Sudhir Chaudhary, the editor of the Zee News channel, said in an interview to Al Jazeera: We have an anti-terrorism stand, an anti-Pakistan stand. We believe Kashmir is a part and parcel of India.
Justifying the gag on the Kashmiri press, he said: Media in Srinagar is not fair, is not neutral. It is not portraying both the sides it was a right decision to put a brake on such media.
Chomsky and Herman admit that their model does not posit that all propaganda emanating from the media is effective. However, they note that dissent is kept within bounds and at the margins, so that while their presence shows the system is not monolithic, they are not large enough to interfere unduly with the domination of the official.
Despite the Empires multi-pronged crackdown, the sustained resistance and its reflection in the alternative work emerging from and about Kashmir is threatening the foundations of Empire; cracks in its walls are already visible.
In August 2016, at the Hamburg University of Technology, my film Till Then the Roads Carry Her and Iffat Fatimas Blood Leaves its Trail were shown after repeated attempts to prevent the screenings by some Indian students. They had dispatched an email warning that Pakistani and Indian students would attend the event, leading to heated arguments that would be unacceptable inside an educational institution. There is a huge amount of unrest going on in that particular state of India There are both positive and negatives rising out from any democracy.This email harping on about the grand narratives surrounding Kashmir demonstrates a major narrative thread of state-manufactured consent: India is a democracy and Kashmir is an integral part of it.
Afterwards, an Indian student confessed that she had come to support India with her friends but changed her perspective. We must look beyond nationalism,she remarked amid a strange silence in the hall.
However, what followed was her wrestling between the statist narratives and what she witnessed through the films. I cant imagine my father getting disappeared,she said, followed by but the army is there to curb terrorists; What should we do as common people? In the same breath, But did you speak to Narendra Modi, our promising prime minister?
In times when everything is being bought over by the state the choice still remains ours: either become building blocks for the Empires citadel another brick in its wall or dislodge the bricks. Despite the marginalisation of dissent, the possibilities of resistance exist.
Uzma Falak is a native of Kashmir. Her narratives and essays have been published in the Caravan, Jadaliyya, Of Occupation and Resistance, Paper Txt Messages from Kashmir and others publications. Integrating creative practice and research, she is currently pursuing her practice-based PhD in New Delhi, India.
This article forms part of an online project by Al Jazeera Englishs media analysis show The Listening Post. Follow #MediaTheorised
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policies.
Natalia Vinelli is an Argentinean journalist and the cofounder of an alternative news channel called Barricada TV (Frontline TV). The outlet came into being as part of a media reform law pushed forward by the Kirchner presidencies in which the heavily concentrated Argentinean media landscape was to be divided into three segments one each for commercial outlets, government media and community networks.
Our world is reduced to an immutable essence, a superficially marvellous essence .. but which can prosper if it follows the advice of its civilised, powerful mentors. by Natalia Vinelli
That last segment which has seen major setbacks after right-wing President Mauricio Macri took power in 2015 is where Barricada TV emerged, and from where those who founded it talk about the need to produce a decentred, local gaze distanced from both the interests of big global networks producing coverage on Latin America from the north, and the commercial channels governed by market logics in the south. We talked to Vinelli about how Edward Saids work is a fitting frame through which to think about media representations on and from Latin America.
The Listening Post: The central concept put forward by Edward Said in his book Orientalism deals with how colonial power produces representations of the other. How does Saids thinking relate to media representations and news coverage on Latin America?
Natalia Vinelli: Saids work is very relevant for anyone analysing international medias conception and representation of Latin America. The images and narratives that are constantly circulated by the mainstream press, by soap operas and dramas, find us cast in stereotypical roles, in line with the prejudices of the West countries that our economies are still dependent on.
Take a news outlet such as CNN Espanol it projects a vision of what the perfect Latin American should be: a businessman who is competitive, charming and open to western modernity servile to the rules and regulations of our globalised world, apologetic about his countrys underdevelopment and who feels part of a regional elite who are ultimately aligned with US interests or at least with the globalising hegemony of free trade agreements.
This perfect Latin American stands in contrast to another stereotype which we could define as the authentic Latin American it reflects another angle of the norths view of us. Cultural industries project an image of emotional nations wedded to the whims of authoritarian and populist leaders, and in this way, they condemn us to a permanent child-like status which prevents us from making decisions about our future. These pre-conceived Latin Americans are seen as children or noble savages in countries destined by their nature to live off farming and the extraction of natural resources. Our world is reduced to an immutable essence, a superficially marvellous essence which is also backward and even sometimes fearsome, but which can prosper if it follows the advice of its civilised, powerful mentors.
The Listening Post: Saids work has inspired many journalists from the global south who are committed to a decentred production of news. The pan-Latin American broadcaster TeleSUR was conceived with this vision, in a context where traditionally, there have been no regional channels speaking for the continent, from the continent as it were. How do you assess the channel and its output?
Natalia Vinelli: TeleSUR has covered Latin America from our own point of view. Not as victims or as infantilised peoples, but as subjects, as a diverse we. The TeleSUR project dismantled the norths discourses and representations of the region in an attempt to build a counter-hegemony of information across the continent. It managed to counteract the likes of CNN and even at times to impose its own agenda on CNN.
Many a time, TeleSUR works as an ethical standard, just as the Cuban press agency Prensa Latina did in its inception. The problem, in my view, is that its force becomes limited when the logic of propaganda prevails over the logic of democratisation, or when it takes a shortcut and copies the CNN format to turn it upside down. This is how our philosophy of placing our north in our south as expressed in Joaquin Torres Garcias Inverted Map of South America loses its potency. But without a doubt, this gaze makes a difference in the international media landscape.
The Listening Post: Through the orientalist gaze, the other is portrayed as the binary opposite of civilisation, reason, science, modernity. Could you talk to us about how journalism in Latin America supports this narrative and perpetuates it?
Natalia Vinelli: For the West, Latin America is a barbarian, backward entity, summing up the cultural shortcomings derived from the crossbreeding between the indigenous populations and the Spanish Catholic tradition. Latinos, in the norths imagery, are lazy, promiscuous, unfocused, party-loving, violent, thieving, superstitious, etc. Western governments and media, however well-intentioned they may be, apply that conventional wisdom of the first world.
This narrative becomes more important when it is internalised by the big Latin American media groups and by a part of society. The opposition between the we, self-defined as superior and domineering, and the other, which underlies the modern imperialist push which conquered the world at the end of the 19th century, ends up informing the vision of the regional elites, who are prone to interiorising the stereotypes created by the north. They assume the imposed role of perfect Latin- Americans which we mentioned at the beginning, acting as enforcers of this narrative as well as the internal base for the construction of Latin America as a barbaric region.
The Listening Post: This idea that orientalism works internally is a suggestive one when talking about Argentina. Way before Said wrote Orientalism, Argentinas modern nation state was being imagined and written. Talk to us about these foundational narratives that seem to echo precisely what Said was intimating.
Natalia Vinelli: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who was a journalist before he became Argentinas president in 1868, formulated a foundational myth based on the paradox of civilisation or barbarism. In a radical proposition, he laid out a myth which would inform the vision of Europe with regard to relations of identity emerging in Argentina during the civil war. Modern capitalist relations appear in the framework of civilization and are exported by Europe, and the US, in the form of capital and idealised cultural norms. The other is located in the pole of barbarism, including everything opposed or non-compliant with the penetration of civilisation, capital, and the vision that elites had of the place of their new country in the world. The Gauchos the Creoles of mixed race and farming or working-class extraction belong to this otherness, alongside their leaders, the non-integrated Indians and the countries representing other visions of the world, such as Paraguay, or the rest of Latin America. The myth of civilisation or barbarism was the most advanced ideological expression of the local dominant class. It endowed them with a legitimising ideology, which would help to spread the idea that the economic penetration of the dominant powers was progressive.
However, we must not forget that there is also a counter-myth in the debate of Argentine national identity, and that is the myth of the Gaucho Martin Fierro, where the other becomes the us. While this myth emerges once the social power of the Gaucho is in decline, it continues to operate in the formulation of a national identity as an alternative to Sarmientos eurocentric paradox. Martin Fierro embodies a national base upon which to build a subordinate identity as persecuted subjects, who once they become aware of this historical fact are able to confront the civilisers.
The Listening Post: Lets bring this notion of internal orientalism to the present and your work. How do you think Barricada TV, the outlet you co-founded, could be interpreted through the eyes of Edward Said?
Natalia Vinelli: When I was introduced to Saids work, it crystallised the idea that it is not possible for us to continue our task without questioning the very essence of the Latin American label. Without questioning, essentially, the power structures that would see the world divided between good and bad, development and underdevelopment, between civilisation and barbarism. Said taught us that our culture cannot be represented by its western interpretation.
Barricada TV is an alternative television channel which is broadcast out of an old metal factory that was occupied by its workers in the centre of Buenos Aires. This location defines the identity of the channel, as do its political and communicational objectives. Once, at a talk with fellow journalists, we were told that our output wasnt very televisual. That comment was a reference to our style of reporting on a story in which we gave homeless people the microphone so that they could talk to us about their lives and how they had been forced to occupy empty flats for the winter. Thats one of many examples which shows the need for another kind of approach that breaks with stereotypes and exposes the mercantile logic of mainstream communication when it comes to setting agendas and citing sources.
At Barricada TV we want to give the spotlight, the front page, the leading story to the voices of those in the struggles being ignored by the big media outlets. I am talking about the deprived areas of society, those who do not have media representation, or who are usually stereotyped not just by international news narratives, but by the local ones. Thats what we mean by internal orientalism.
Natalia Vinelli is the cofounder of Barricada TV a cooperative TV channel and is author of Television From Below: History, Difference and the Journalism of Counter-information.
This article forms part of an online project by Al Jazeera Englishs media analysis show The Listening Post. Follow #MediaTheorised
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policies.
Last October, the prime minister of Montenegro announced that an election day plot to overthrow his government had been foiled. Pro-Russia conspirators opposed to his aim of joining NATO were alleged to be responsible and had planned to assassinate the countrys leaders.
But was this a genuine coup attempt a sinister effort to topple a democratically elected administration and take over the country by force? Or was it, as some claim, a carefully choreographed fake news event, designed to win sympathy for a controversial and allegedly corrupt politician on the verge of losing public support.
We sent filmmakers Glenn Ellis and Katerina Barushka to investigate.
FILMMAKERS VIEW
By Glenn Ellis and Katerina Barushka
Outside of the Balkans few people know where to find Montenegro on a map of Europe; fewer still have heard of Milo Djukanovic, the ex-communist turned pro-Western strongman who has ruled in various guises this pocket-sized republic for almost 30 years. But following an alleged election-day coup attempt last October by the pro-Russian opposition, supposedly intended to stymie Montenegros efforts to join NATO, this tiny country has moved to centre stage in the new cold war.
Rumours of arrests were rife when we arrived in the capital, Podgorica, so we seized the chance to interview Adreja Mandic, leader of the Democratic Front (DF), an alliance of opposition parties.
The DF claim that Djukanovic has for years plundered state assets for personal enrichment and that Montenegro has endured decades of state-sponsored human rights violations including the murder of government critics. Allegations of the oppositions involvement in an armed plot to overthrow the ruling elite should thus be seen in the same light.
Our political opponents will do anything to protect what they have stolen, Mandic says. This election was the most fraudulent weve ever had. First there was the traditional method of buying votes, bringing in foreigners to vote, but now we have a new method of fraud namely, carrying out a fake coup.
Twenty Montenegrins and Serbians had been arrested in connection with the coup some of whom were said to have Russian ties.
The plot was quickly condemned by Montenegros putative allies in the West and equally quickly ridiculed as fake news in Russia. But the authorities werent yet offering much else in the way of convincing evidence.
Indeed the key prosecution witness, Mirko Velimirovic, an alleged coup-plotter, had already given wildly conflicting accounts regarding the weapon which was supposed to be used to assassinate Prime Minister Djukanovic.
To try to shed some light on the affair we had arranged to meet Vanja Calovic, celebrated anti-corruption advocate and a keen observer of the Montenegrin political scene.
Calovic also had her doubts about the alleged conspiracy and explained that it all had to be seen in context.
Djukanovic portrays NATO and Russia as the major issue; and hes succeeding because looking at Montenegro from London or Washington, of course youre going to say this is more important than whats actually happening in the country: the corruption and human rights violations. Montenegro is a haven for criminals and provides them with different kinds of support like money laundering. This is what Djukanovic is trying to hide from the West by putting NATO as the major issue.
Djukanovic was once famously indicted by the Italian anti-Mafia unit and has been dogged by accusations of election rigging. Calovic believes, for example, that as much as 15 percent of votes cast in last Octobers election were suspicious. We are finding people without citizenship and even dead people being able to vote.
Wed hoped to question Djukanovic about these issues, but as he has done before (only to return subsequently), hed stepped down from office days after winning the election and installed former secret police chief Dusko Markovic as the new PM. When Prime Minister Markovic also pulled out of an interview we were offered Srdjan Darmanovic, Montenegros politically unaligned foreign minister. He insisted that Djukanovic was no longer running the country, contrary to what many people believe. His party controls most of the positions in government. Hes the head of the party. He has serious influence. Thats normal. But executive power is in other hands.
Regarding the election, the foreign minister was sanguine, Turnout was 73 percent. Elections were competitive, free and fair, as confirmed in the OSCE audit report. And as for the alleged coup, It was not a video game. It was not just anybodys invention. It was a serious business.
When we handed him some police documents showing telephone intercepts of conversations between two of the alleged coup-plotters in which inexplicably both caller and receiver were using the same telephone number at the same time, he seemed unfazed: Im not an expert of that. I heard it was adjusted like that.
It was time to leave Podgorica and head north to where wed heard that people had been offered bribes to vote for Djukanovics party. A three-hour drive though snow-capped mountains brought us to Cokrlije, a remote hamlet where we met a farmer, Vukomir Rakocevic, who told us that hed been promised a cow for his children if his family voted for Djukanovic. He said that although they kept their side of the bargain the family was still waiting for the animal. My children so far live without this cow. They lied to us. It was just one of many such stories we would hear.
The next day, another trip to the mountains took us to the town of Murino, where we hoped to get some insight into the deep anti-NATO feeling amid some Montenegrin communities. The most powerful explanation we heard came from a grieving middle-aged woman, Moma Knezevic. During the Kosovo conflict in 1999, NATO conducted a bombing campaign against Serbia, of which Montenegro was then a part. Moma lost her son, Miroslav, when a bridge in Murino, of no strategic importance, was targeted. Three adults and two girls also died.
When the grandmother of these girls went to look for them, she found my Miroslavs leg, Moma told us, fighting back tears. And the head of one of the girls. No official apology or financial compensation has ever been offered to Moma.
Wed also heard of others who continue to pay a price for the NATO attacks. We headed briefly into neighbouring Serbia to meet Dr Danica Grujicic, a neurosurgeon at the Clinical Centre in the capital, Belgrade. She told us that the alliances bombs many of which were coated with depleted uranium had caused a massive increase in systemic cancers in Serbia and Montenegro, from where many of her patients come. Its higher incidents of all kinds of cancers, but the lungs and bowel cancers, theyre most prominent now, because we have an epidemic of lung cancers. She added frostily: I think that NATO is a criminal organisation and I believe that a lot of people in Montenegro believe so too.
Back in Podgirica the mood was tense. Parliament had just voted to strip opposition leader Andreja Mandic of immunity from prosecution, citing alleged involvement in the coup. But when Mandic arrived at the building to await his arrest, he was joined by a large crowd of supporters.
To defuse a potentially explosive situation, prosecutors then announced that Mandic would not face immediate custody but no one seemed under any illusions that the man leading the campaign to stop Montenegro joining NATO would soon be behind bars.
No referendum on NATO membership has been allowed by the government, despite the issue being so divisive that there have been widespread protests and repeated calls by the opposition for it to be settled by a direct vote.
Perhaps its because, as Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic made plain, the matter has now in any case been dealt with by the election and single issue plebiscites are politically tricky.
So, come what may, it seems inevitable that Montenegro will join the alliance much to Moscows chagrin. Whether the result of last Octobers election would have gone differently and delivered another answer to the NATO question had there not been an alarming polling-day announcement of a coup attempt, can only be a matter of speculation. But when the authorities eventually get around to fleshing out the evidence against the alleged coup plotters, it will do little to diminish the scepticism of those who believe it was all just a little too convenient.
A UF alumnus is one of 36 U.S. citizens to earn a prestigious University of Cambridge scholarship.
Grant Simpson, who graduated from UF in 2014 with a bachelors degree in chemistry and cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, said he found out he won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship on Feb. 1. In total, 800 people applied, he said.
In October, he will travel to the University of Cambridge, located in Cambridgeshire, England, to pursue a masters in philosophy and chemistry while researching anti-cancer strategies.
Everyone over there is at the top of their game, so it will be a chance to study at one of the best institutions in the world, Simpson said.
His project, which he developed with a UF professor, aims to discover new ways to prevent cancer by attaching antibodies and cytoplasmic drugs, both of which target cancer cells, to a quadruple helical DNA, he said.
This is the third year in a row a UF alumnus was selected as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, according to a UF News press release.
Dr. Khan Ha, a former UF teaching associate and current resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, said hes happy for his former student, who has applied for the Cambridge program before.
I know that he has the qualied cations to do well, but at the same time he didnt get it last year, so I was excited beyond a doubt, Ha said.
After Student Government elections, parties and independent candidates submitted their nal campaign nance reports Monday.
Impact Party spent $9,387.71 for its campaign, with the help of $6,555.89 in donations, according to the reports. The partys spending increased by $2,611.61 from Fall 2016s campaign, according to Alligator archives.
Impact spokesperson Janae Moodie wrote in an email there was a mistake in the reports, and she declined to comment further on Impacts spending.
It appears as if the supervisor of elections has made an error when uploading the donor documents, she said. He has been notied of the mistake. I dont have any more information at this time.
Pulkit Kumar Dhir, the only independent to win a Student Senate seat this semester, said he spent no money campaigning.
It was mainly just a campaign on Facebook and word of mouth, said Dhir, now a graduate senator.
Progress Party, which had seven candidates lose, spent $154.73, according to the reports.
The whole thing about politics, as much as I hate and as much as everyone hates it, its fueled by money, Progress President Casey Witte said.
Witte said costs were split among the candidates, who each paid about $30. Although his party didnt win seats, he said that compared to their limited resources, he was happy with the votes the candidates received.
The reports were nalized Monday. UF Supervisor of Elections Eric Hobbs said the reports were up to date as of Tuesday.
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Disillusioned with a UF Student Government dominated by a single majority party, one student plans to create his own.
Hansberry Pierre, a UF freshman with no previous experience with SG, said he doesnt feel represented by the current representatives, most of which are afliated with Impact Party.
In the past two elections, Impact has claimed 97 of 100 Student Senate seats. Pierre created a Facebook page in February to gather others who are frustrated with SG and gauge their interest in creating a party.
He began posting on Feb. 24, after learning of Impacts dominance in the Spring elections.
I want there to be a Student Government that is representative of the entire, diverse Student Body, the 20-year-old UF biology and sociology freshman said.
As of Wednesday, his page had 168 likes. He said SG hasnt been transparent, especially because of the lack of advertising about the Spring election and explanation of amendments.
Pierre didnt vote in the past election and said he only knew about it after an Impact Party member approached him.
Once theres a one-party election, that causes many people to be voiceless, he said. I did not feel that I had a choice.
Right now, Pierre said hes still making initial plans to form a party by reaching out to those involved in SG to learn about its rules and regulations. Vrushank Desai, 18, was one of the rst people to like the Facebook page.
The UF mechanical engineering freshman said there should be a second party to represent non-Greek students.
I denitely hope theres enough buzz generated by that page to form a strong opposition to implement online voting, he said. Im hoping to see something like Access (Party) return.
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Calvin Cole attributes his comedy roots to his alma mater, UF.
On March 10 and 11, his sketch-comedy group, Big Britches, will be one of more than 60 sketch-comedy acts from across North America who will perform at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. The 12th annual sketch-comedy festival is a 12-day event that started Wednesday.
His college comedic career started with a stand-up performance during a protege show for those who had never done stand-up before. His love for comedy continued to grow throughout his time in Gainesville and culminated his senior year when he was voted Americas Funniest College Student in 2010, representing UF in a national NCAA March Madness-style comedy tournament.
In 2010, UF was one of the final four teams at Rooftop Comedys National College Comedy Competition, which started with 32 schools. The tournament was run completely online, where schools uploaded videos of their routines and participants could vote for their favorites.
That year, the comedy team won the tournament, and Cole was nominated MVP of his team. The final four teams each sent their MVP to perform at the TBS Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival, where Cole was awarded the top honor Americas Funniest College Student.
My comedy career is very much tied up in school, Cole, 28, said.
At UF, Cole co-founded the University Stand-Up Comedy Club, which helps students develop their talent.
It was there he met Tim Keck, who would soon become one of his closest friends. Keck was one of the three members who joined Cole at Rooftop Comedys National College Comedy Competition in Aspen, Colorado.
Upon first interaction, Keck, a UF alumnus, described Cole as intimidating but incredibly helpful.
He really gave me a lot of advice on comedy and kind of took me under his wing, Keck said.
Keck explained Cole as a storyteller. He said Cole likes taking the audience on a journey together.
Keck, a freelance comedian in New York, said he likely wouldnt be doing comedy at all without Coles help.
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He was motivating me back then, and hes still motivating me now by continuing to push himself, Keck said. Hes really found his niche, and I appreciate that.
Cole moved to New York City after graduating in 2010 with a bachelors degree in English and focus in film studies. There, he started enrolling in classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade and met the members who would form his sketch comedy group, Big Britches.
The comedy quartet consists of Cole, Emily Duncan, Jon Hudson and Kantad Svendsgaard. Though they dont perform directly through UCB Comedy, their core training comes from the legendary improvisational and sketch comedy group in New York City.
Big Britches has done comedy together for a few years now. They previously hosted, produced, booked and performed a weekly improv show. When theyre not spending three to five days a week rehearsing material for the upcoming festival, they are focusing on putting together a play that will open in New York City.
Most of us have writing backgrounds as well, and we wanted to flex that muscle a little bit, he said.
The groups sketch-writing process starts with collaboration. The first step is to pitch individual ideas. They give each other feedback on outlines and specific jokes, and then they separate to write the finished products. After they have a drafted sketch, members edit and polish each piece. Whoever mainly writes the sketch will typically cast it.
After working together for so long, the group has developed a shared sense of humor, Cole said. Theyre able to take their different perspectives on life and turn it into a sketch they know the rest of the group will find funny.
Cole said all of the members of Big Britches grew up watching and absorbing all forms of comedy. He said they have similar tastes in what they appreciate, which influences their writing.
You get that sense of what everyone else finds funny, and you end up playing to that because these are the people you end up hanging out with and you want to make them laugh, he said.
Performing is their favorite aspect, Cole said. The shows themselves are what they look forward to most.
This is their first time at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. Although they dont know what to expect yet, heading to Canada for this show allows the troupe to meet people from all over North America who share a common passion, Cole said.
Just being immersed in a comedy environment like that is really cool, he said.
Each member has a full-time job in addition to their work with the group. Cole is an operations manager at a staffing company.
Thats probably the least interesting thing about me, he said.
He also expanded his comedic platform with an iTunes podcast he recently started with his fiance. The podcast, Cinestalgia, has comedic guests watch a movie from their childhood and then discuss it.
This will be Big Britches second time performing in Canada. They participated in the Montreal Sketch Fest last year.
Were excited about being involved in something thats so meticulously run, he said. It should be exciting.
English News China advocates BRICS+ model of open cooperation
Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 2 Mars 2017
In future, the five BRICS countries are expected to continue to tap potential for cooperation, identify more converging interests in areas such as trade and investment, liberalization and facilitation, e-commerce, financial market connectivity, innovation-driven development, and carry out more result-oriented cooperation programs that can deliver economic and social benefits.
By Zhao Cheng from Peoples Daily BRICS members should launch more outreach dialogue to benefit more parties with their cooperation, foster a "BRICS+" model of open cooperation, and set up a more broad-based South-South cooperation platform for the common development of emerging market economies and developing countries, State Councilor Yang Jiechi said recently as he expressed Chinas expectations towards the bloc.
Yang made the remarks at the First Sherpa Meeting of the 9th BRICS Summit in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on February 23.
The 2017 BRICS Summit will be held from September 3-5 in Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province, the councilor declared to the world at the meeting. The theme of this year's event will be "BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future."
Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the 8th BRICS summit held in 2016 in the Indian city of Goa, urged BRICS members to build a community of common actions, saying that the five countries not only share common interests, but also must step forward hand in hand.
Xis proposals made clear the goal and direction for cooperation among BRICS countries, and delivered Chinas resolution to push BRICS countries for progress and a bigger role in global affairs.
The just-concluded Sherpa Meeting charted the course and depicted the roadmap for BRICS cooperation, laying a foundation for the preparation work of the Xiamen Summit.
Yang also clarified the priorities in preparations for the Xiamen Summit, urging BRICS members to enhance unity and coordination in improving global governance, deepen practical cooperation for win-win results, increase people-to-people exchanges to win greater popular support for BRICS cooperation, and strengthen institution building and improve cooperation platforms.
The New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement are known as two important carriers for practical cooperation among BRICS countries.
In future, the five BRICS countries are expected to continue to tap potential for cooperation, identify more converging interests in areas such as trade and investment, liberalization and facilitation, e-commerce, financial market connectivity, innovation-driven development, and carry out more result-oriented cooperation programs that can deliver economic and social benefits.
The BRICS grouping includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS cooperative mechanism was established in 2006.
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English News China to maintain move toward market-oriented, law-based and open capital market: securities regulator
Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 2 Mars 2017
According to the officials, the commission has been exploring ways to introduce foreign capital and expand foreign companies investment in China during the 20-plus years since the A-share market was launched.
By Qiang Wei from Peoples Daily As part of the effort to further open its capital markets to foreign participants, China is discussing measures that would allow foreign corporations to take larger stakes in domestic joint-venture securities and futures brokerages, officials with the top securities regulator disclosed at a press conference on Sunday.
The officials with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) emphasized Chinas stance that overseas investors and service providers are welcomed to expand in the nation.
China now allows foreign investors to boost holdings in joint-venture securities houses, fund management companies and futures firms to a maximum 49 percent.
According to the officials, the commission has been exploring ways to introduce foreign capital and expand foreign companies investment in China during the 20-plus years since the A-share market was launched.
CSRC Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai said that there was still no timetable for the launch of an international board that would allow foreign-invested enterprises to list their shares in China, addressing concerns that the introduction of an international board may threaten the value of A-shares.
The rules involved were still being studied, but technical challenges remained, he explained, citing accounting standards as an example.
According to Fang, companies overseas follow different accounting standards and information disclosure rules than those used in China, and further adjustments are needed before a launch decision.
Global equity indexes provider MSCI will make a fourth decision on whether Chinas A-shares will be added to the index, which will be important for Chinas A-share market.
Any international stock index without Chinese A-shares is incomplete, Fang pointed out, but said at the same time that China will not make a judgment on the final results.
He said at the same time that the final decision will not move China from the opening-up or reform pace toward a market-oriented, law-based and international capital market.
The CSRC has improved a series of basic policies for the capital markets to support the development of real economy, said Chairman Liu Shiyu.
In 2016, the 248 companies that held IPOs in China raised more than 163 billion yuan ($23.7 billion), according to Liu.
He added that in the same period, listed enterprises refinanced over 1.34 trillion yuan, while 261 listed enterprises saw an increase of more than 980 billion yuan in capital through acquisitions and restructuring.
Companies that are listed on the New Third Board, China's share transfer system for small and medium-sized companies, raised more than 139.1 billion yuan, he added.
Those visible numbers gave a strong boost to the real economy, Liu said.
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English News International protests increasing in solidarity with Southern Cameroon
- 2 Mars 2017
Harmony Bobga Mbuton, president of Cameroons North West Lawyers Association, returned to The Stream on Al Jazeera this week, just over two months since the show originally explored the protests among his countrys English-speaking communities, who claim French-speaking President Paul Biyas government is treating them as second-class citizens.
The Stream host Femi Oke says that, since that show, The government of Cameroon has pulled the plug on the internet and banned public gatherings in the regions fraught with tensions. What started as strikes for bilingualism in the Northwest and Southwest territories have revealed very deep political divides that spread beyond language, culture and geography.
On The Stream in December, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Minister of Communications, promised negotiations but Mbuton says these broke down quickly. In fact, I was part of the negotiations that ensued and took place in Yaounde on 27-28 December 2016. The government had constructed the questions that had to be dealt with in the negotiation to suit their own purpose. We walked out of the dialogue and the next thing we heard was that they started arresting us, which is what forced me to flee from Cameroon, through Nigeria to here [Washington DC] now.
Mbutons wife and children are still in Cameroon, where he says, The situation is bad, comparing it to what happened in Rwanda when the genocide began.
He claims that people are being arrested and taken away, with their families unable to find out where. It is tipping into the point where the population is saying that even with their empty hands and sticks, they are ready to start providing resistance to protect themselves.
The media and internet blackout makes it difficult to verify claims like this; as Mbuton says, the internet ban has meant that the government has operated behind the curtains because there is no easy access to information within the territory anymore.
Mbuton says people are using smartphones to send images and information out to the world by traveling to the French-speaking parts of Cameroon where there is still internet, but its not flowing as it was.
Since the protests began nearly four months ago, Biya has signed a decree establishing a national commission to promote bilingualism and has addressed protesters several times in major speeches. At least several hundred protesters have been arrested. Some are being tried for terrorism for allegedly calling for secession of the Anglophone regions. They could face the death penalty if convicted.
Mbuton says the strike is ongoing and international protests are increasing. Even Cameroons recent victory at the African Cup of Nations was not enough to unite the country. The provocative move to go and show off the African Cup that was won by Cameroon was welcomed by ghost towns, says Mbuton. People abandoned the streets. Only the entourage from Yaounde was parading the streets in military vehicles.
Dans la meme rubrique : < > China's Beidou reaches world-leading level: white paper Silk Road e-commerce promotes trade among Belt and Road countries Irrigation project in Jiangsu gets world heritage designation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
English News The Belt and Road to dominate agendas of Chinas two sessions
Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 2 Mars 2017
The investment amount of projects across the Belt and Road region has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent since China put forward the initiative in 2013, said Simon Burke, head of the financing department at PwC Hong Kong.
By Jiang Bo from Peoples Daily Chinas Belt and Road initiative is attracting more world attention as annual sessions of National Peoples Congress (NPC) and Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), also referred to as the two sessions, are just around the corner.
Pakistani Ambassador to China Masood Khalid said he hopes the meetings will cover agendas on accelerating the construction of the routes.
Like most international observers, I would follow each agenda during the two sessions, especially the ones related to the fields of economy and connectivity, he added.
Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road initiative refers to building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The visionary strategic plan is aimed at building involved countries into a community of common interests and shared destiny featuring mutual benefit and common prosperity.
Encompassing 66 countries and regions in three continents, the routes begin from China and run through Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and even some parts of Europe.
The investment amount of projects across the Belt and Road region has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent since China put forward the initiative in 2013, said Simon Burke, head of the financing department at PwC Hong Kong.
Last year, the average GDP growth of the region was 4.6 percent, outnumbering the average 3.6-percent-growth of emerging markets, he added.
More than that, the Belt and Road initiative benefits the world in so many ways, Zhang Jianping, head of the Research Center for Regional Economic Cooperation under China's Ministry of Commerce told the Peoples Daily.
He further added that the initiative focuses on not only infrastructure construction of the countries along the routes, but also their bilateral trade and two-way investment.
Data released by the Ministry of Commerce shows that China's combined imports and exports with countries along the routes topped 918.4 billion dollars in 2016, up 0.6 percent from 2015.
Chinese businesses helped build 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in about 20 countries along the Belt and Road with a combined investment surpassing 18.5 billion dollars, generating nearly 1.1 billion dollars in tax revenue and about 180,000 jobs in those countries.
Besides this important political event, the international cooperation summit forum on the "Belt and Road" initiative to be held on May 14 to 15 will bring around round of Belt and Road fever.
Dans la meme rubrique : < > China's Beidou reaches world-leading level: white paper Silk Road e-commerce promotes trade among Belt and Road countries Irrigation project in Jiangsu gets world heritage designation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
One of the dominant themes to emerge during last years presidential campaign was that Donald Trump posed a clear and present threat to Muslims in America. Both before and since his election, the news has been full of stories featuring Muslims who fear for their safety and well-being.
The odd thing is that many of the reports of violence have been wholly contrived.
There was the 18-year-old Muslim-American woman in New York City who claimed that a group of Trump supporters attacked her in December. She told police she was harassed on the subway and that her assailants tried to steal her hijab. She later confessed to having made the entire thing up.
Another example occurred at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where a student admitted to lying when she alleged that two men, one wearing a Trump hat, shouted obscenities at her, struck her with a metal object, knocked her down, and stole her wallet and hijab. Again, it was later revealed that the woman made up the story.
Then theres the case of Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is known as the first female Muslim-American to win an Olympic medal. She claimed after Trumps inauguration that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents had recently detained her for two hours without explanation.
This prompted numerous stories about how an American hero was detained as a result of President Trumps immigration order, which temporarily barred citizens from seven countries infested by terrorists into the U.S. Then the truth came out:
Muhammad clarified that she was detained under the Obama administration.
The problem with all of these stories is that the media didnt report the update -- the truth -- as vigorously as they did the original story, which was fake news. Even if they had, many Americans likely would not have heard about it. To paraphrase Mark Twain, a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its hijab.
Meanwhile, the media myth that Trumps America is somehow bigoted toward Muslims isnt borne out by facts or reality.
A new Pew Research Center poll finds that when it comes to religion, Americans generally express more positive feelings toward various religious groups today than they did just a few years ago. Between June 2014 and last month, positive feelings toward Muslims rose from 40 percent to 48 percent. Among Republicans surveyed, positive views of Muslims increased six points over that time.
Americans are a tolerant and welcoming people. However, most Americans have the common sense to recognize the obvious -- that some part of Islam is at war with the West. And just because Americans do not want to admit people into the country who may be terrorists doesnt mean they are xenophobic racists.
Many Americans simply want assurances that we arent allowing in jihadists or importing hatred. We want to know that we are keeping out those who reject fundamental American values of tolerance and religious liberty. We want to know that our policies will screen out anti-Semitism, which is prevalent throughout the Islamic world and a growing problem here in the U.S. FBI statistics show that Jews remain the most frequent targets of religiously motivated hate crimes. In fact, Jewish community centers have received scores of bomb threats in just the last six weeks, and even Jewish cemeteries are not immune to violence and desecration.
All of this is happening even as the domestic threat from radical Islam has grown. According to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League, 69 people died in 2016 as a result of homegrown extremist violence. Thats the most since 1995, when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred.
The high number was due mostly to the Orlando nightclub shooting, which took the lives of 49 people. That shooting, carried out by an Islamic terrorist who pledged his allegiance to ISIS, made Islamic extremism the deadliest ideology in America for the first time in 30 years.
Outside the U.S., it is Jews and Christians who are under siege, often at the hands of militant Muslims. Anti-Semitism is rising in Europe as more Muslims move in. And according to a new report by Open Doors USA, the persecution of Christians around the world is at the worst levels in modern times.
That report echoed similar findings from the Center for Studies on New Religions, which estimated that 90,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2016. It further found that as many as 600 million Christians were prevented from practicing their faith around the world.
A third report, this one by the persecution watchdog group Aid to the Church in Need, found in its 2016 report that 38 of 196 countries examined showed unmistakable evidence of significant religious freedom violations. Whats more, the report found that almost all of the most egregious violators of religious freedom have significant Muslim populations.
A record number of Muslim immigrants and refugees resettled in the U.S. in 2016. And Ill make a prediction: many Muslims, desperate to escape the extremism of some of their co-religionists, will continue to clamor to enter the U.S. during Trumps presidency. Thats because once the rhetoric is wiped away, America remains one of the most tolerant and welcoming places for people of any religion or ethnicity.
Among those phenomena most dreaded in liberal-progressive orthodoxy is "Islamophobia." Because the left continues to shape the boundaries of public discourse, any question regarding Islamic doctrine or the conduct of Muslims that might suggest that Islam is not a religion of peace is routinely labeled as Islamophobic. Despite voluminous evidence supporting a rational interpretation of Islam as a warrior ideology with a religious veneer, concerned non-Muslims are slandered as irrational xenophobes by the media, Hollywood, and academia. As these cultural grandees ignore the medieval brutality of ISIS; the screams of "Allahu akbar" by jihadists at places like Fort Hood, San Bernardino, and Orlando; and the anti-Western provocations of imams and mullahs around the globe, they show themselves to be engaged in a toxic romance with anything Islamic.
While leftists have a slobbering love affair with Islam "Islamophilia," we might call it they concurrently suffer from a raving hysteria of what could be termed "Christophobia." The left smears those concerned about the dangers of Islam as "Islamophobes" a moniker that essentially accuses the latter of mental instability. The right can quite adequately counter-argue that the term "Christophobia" should be assigned to the radical elements of the left-wing polity as a diagnosis of the way they regularly lose their minds over anything in the public square resembling America's Christian heritage. Overwhelmed with panic that puritanical lynch mobs are ready to pour out of America's churches to jail unbelievers and execute heretics, leftists are filled with hyperactive terror at any sign of Christianity in our culture and law. Blinded by hatred of the morality for which Christianity stands, the left goes thermonuclear over pro-life arguments, opposition to the redefinition of marriage, limited government, and fiscal responsibility. When a conservative or Republican announces his friendly sentiments toward Christianity and then proposes that it is a bad idea for government to mandate transgender bathrooms in all of America's public buildings or that limitless federal spending on social welfare programs is neither effective nor the proper role of government, Christophobia is triggered in the die-hard leftist. Somehow, the promotion of federalism, national security, and the science of human biology is considered by leftists to be persecution in the vein of the colonial authorities' pursuit of the women accused of demonic activity during the 1692 Salem witch trials.
What else but Christophobia could accurately describe the wild-eyed outburst that occurred at GOP senator Bill Cassidy's town hall meeting? Consider Todd Starnes's report:
A group of enraged protesters exploded in anger after a chaplain prayed in the name of Jesus at a town hall meeting in Louisiana hosted by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy. The verbally-abusive crowd also heckled a Vietnam War veteran who attempted to lead the group in the pledge of allegiance[.] ...
The Feb. 22 town hall meeting in Metairie, was quickly overrun by the angry mob much like other town hall meetings hosted by Republican lawmakers across the country[.] ... Chaplain Sprague had barely invoked the name of the Almighty when the heckling began. "Pray on your own time. This is our time," someone shouted[.] ... Others chanted, "Separation of church and state" and so on and so forth[.] ...
[W]ords do not do justice to the amount of hate directed at the chaplain. "I've never been shouted down throughout a time of prayer like that," Chaplain Sprague told me. "I've never been in a situation like that. It's sad there wasn't honor and respect for God." But they became absolutely unhinged when he concluded his prayer in the name of Jesus. "Wow, they booed the name of Jesus," Cassidy said in remarks reported by the Times Picayune.
The 2016 election produced a victorious trifecta for the GOP: the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. This Republican sweep has catalyzed the current wave of Christophobia, but Christophobic behavior is nothing new. Let us remember that the 2012 Democratic National Convention featured a Christophobe chorus, booing the event chairman, Antonio Villaraigosa, over a floor vote to mention God and support for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel ideas that evangelical Christians espouse in the Democratic Party platform. Roll back time to the 2008 campaign: then-candidate Barack Obama dismissively suggested that rural Americans turn to religion as a means of coping with decades of job loss. In referring to Rust Belt Americans who "get bitter" and "cling to guns or religion" during difficult economic circumstances, Mr. Obama was conveying a supercilious attitude toward Bible-believing Christians. Coupling that admonition with his later proclamation at the United Nations that the future should not belong to "those who slander the prophet of Islam," the 44th president clearly exhibited symptoms of comorbid diagnoses of Islamophilia and Christophobia.
How scandalized Christophobes must be in the knowledge that two of liberalism's greatest icons FDR (who asked the nation to join him in prayer on behalf of the troops whom he would be sending into battle to liberate France on D-Day) and JFK (whose undelivered remarks on the fateful day in November 1963 when he was killed concluded with a quote from Psalm 127) invoked God on the nation's behalf!
In evangelical circles, it is common to hear an argument in favor of belief in God based on the idea that each human being has a God-shaped hole in his heart. The great apologist C.S. Lewis said it this way:
If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.
Essentially, we bitter clingers choose a Judeo-Christian lens for viewing everything in the material world, including human government, because we believe that ultimate authority is transcendental. Thus, our policy solutions mirror New Testament theology in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Romans, wherein the Apostle Paul indicates that the nature of civil government is limited to that of a divinely delegated authority for the specific purpose of punishing wrongdoers. We also believe from numerous New Testament passages that that social welfare in the forms of caring for the poor, curing of the sick, and looking after the needy is best addressed in the domains of personal charity and ecclesiastical benevolent ministry.
Conversely, today's liberalism has made politics its religion, ordained liberal politicians as its priests, christened government edifices as houses of worship, imposed taxes for its tithes, and retooled the progressive-era Social Gospel of nominally Christian reformers like Walter Rauschenbusch into an incessant demand for the approval of immoral conduct that the biblical Gospel rejects.
The modern left, having grown increasingly atheistic and embarrassingly sympathetic to Islam, eschews biblical boundaries for government and is in a rage because it is currently unable to use government at will to force its policies on the nation as a whole. Because limited government, personal responsibility, heterosexuality, and American traditions are once again being advanced as a result of the electorate's recent choices, one can clearly see the left suffering a bad case of Christophobia, indeed.
John Steinreich has an M.A. in church history from Colorado Theological Seminary. He has authored two Christian-themed non-fiction books: The Words of God? the Bible, the Qur'an and How They Are Lived in the Post-9/11 World and A Great Cloud of Witnesses. His works are available on Lulu Press and on Kindle.
Whenever a Republican president takes a position on human rights that differs from Progressive-liberal dogma, the media reacts with outrage. But regardless of whether the policies of any one president are just or unjust, the Progressive-liberal position on human rights is not supported by history or logic.
From the very beginning, human rights have been defined as natural rights in the United States.
In 1774, while meeting at the First Continental Congress, representatives from the colonies, including future president George Washington, explained that despite the oppressive acts of the British government, the colonists still had the rights to life, liberty, and property under natural law.
Then in 1776, while meeting at the Second Continental Congress, representatives from the colonies, including future president Thomas Jefferson, based the Declaration of Independence on natural rights, and proclaimed that securing these rights is the purpose of government.
Natural rights have four main features:
They are universal (they apply to everyone, everywhere);
They are unchanging (they stay the same, from generation to generation);
They are unalienable (they cannot be taken away by a government);
they are negative (they are the right to not be killed, the right to not be physically restrained, the right to not be robbed, and so on).
While natural rights are universal and therefore apply in every nation, the government holding power in one nation does not have a duty to secure the natural rights of people from another nation. For example, Mexico has the duty to secure the natural rights of the Mexican people; Syria, the Syrian people; et cetera. However, when a nation has permitted a foreigner to legally enter the nation, such a duty exists for as long as the foreigner is legally present in the nation. Nevertheless, there is no duty to permit a foreigner entry into a nation in the first place, and there is no duty to secure the natural rights of anyone present in a nation illegally. Consequently, the United States does not have a duty to permit either immigrants or refugees into the nation, and it does not have a duty to secure the natural rights of illegal immigrants (from Mexico or any other nation).
Now, while natural rights are unalienable and cannot be taken away by a government, these rights can be forfeited by an individual, but only when an individual violates the man-made laws of a nation (specifically, the man-made laws that are necessary to secure the natural rights of the people). In such a situation, a government can legitimately hold an individual accountable by depriving the individual of life, liberty, or property, depending on the facts of the case.
Still, while the natural rights of an individual can be forfeited by that individual, the natural rights of an individual cannot be taken away (or voted away) by other individuals, even if those individuals represent a majority of the people. During the Founding Era, Samuel Adams reiterated that "the great end" of government is the support, protection, and defense of the natural rights to life, liberty, and property. And reiterating another fundamental principle, he said, "If men through fear, fraud or mistake, should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society, would absolutely vacate such renunciation."
Today, a few Progressives and liberals continue to cite the Declaration of Independence and sing the praises of the unalienable rights, while at the same time supporting man-made laws that violate those very rights. Most Progressives and liberals simply reject natural rights openly and outright.
In doing so, Progressives and liberals also reject the main features of natural rights; in particular, they claim that people have positive rights, including positive rights to government assistance. But this claim if false. The rights to life, liberty, and property are not positive rights to government services or benefits that assist the sustaining of life, or the exercise of liberty, or the acquisition of property. Moreover, a government cannot provide the positive rights demanded by Progressives and liberals without violating the natural rights of many other people.
Notably, the Founding Fathers held that natural rights are given by God, and this is the position that has been held for centuries by many leading minds. Additionally, some secular scholars have long held that natural rights exist, independent of God, rooted in the natural order that exists in the world. In contrast, Progressives and liberals accept the existence of a natural order in the world for everything (climate, plants, insects, et cetera) except human beings.
According to Progressives and liberals, rights are granted by government, not given by God (or nature), and rights are defined by government, if granted. Not surprisingly, these "rights" are defined in ways that impose Progressive-liberal ideology on everyone in the nation.
Natural rights are different. Undeniably, life is not an ideology, liberty is not an ideology, and property is not an ideology. Life, liberty, and property exist naturally, regardless of whether a government exists or whether a nation exists. As the French statesman Frederic Bastiat long ago noted, "Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." And to repeat, the founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, proclaims that governments are instituted to secure the natural rights of the people.
Indeed, every major injustice that has occurred in U.S. history, from slavery onward, has taken place in a situation where a level of government, federal or state, failed to properly secure the natural rights. Today, instead of binding old wounds, Progressives and liberals are ripping open new ones.
Paul Pauker is the author of Morality and Law in America. He also runs a website dedicated to advancing the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and property.
Donald Trump has been president for just over five weeks. Yet on many fronts there is little doubt a new era has been birthed. One of the most obvious is relations with Israel compared to the previous eight years under Barack Obama.
From the beginning of the Obama administration he was determined to put the U.S. on a different path with regard to the Muslim world. Indeed, the first foreign leader he called was Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Obama even made a point of telling Abbas his was the first call to a foreign leader, emphasizing his intent to signal a new direction for the U.S.
Obama furthered his effort at a new direction by making his first international speech in Cairo. During his speech he lamented about how the Palestinians suffer humiliation under occupation, and criticized Israel for building settlements.
Plus, throughout his two terms, it was clear Obama did not like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Right up to the bitter end, the Obama administration went out much as it began, with a slap at Israel. The final kick in the stomach was UN resolution 2334, which singled out Israels construction of settlements as the main obstacle to peace. Not a word was mentioned about ongoing Palestinian terrorism and murder of innocent Israeli civilians. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the U.S. has veto power and could have killed the resolution. However, knowing this would be his last opportunity to make a statement against Israel, Obama directed the U.S. to abstain from the voting, thus allowing it to pass.
Contrast this against the early stages of the Trump administration. Throughout his campaign he made it clear that the U.S. had treated its closest Middle East ally terribly. Since Trump has taken office, the difference can only be described as startling.
For example, he has called the Iran nuclear deal the worst deal ever negotiated, and has already imposed new sanctions on Iran.
His Secretary of State Rex Tillerson criticized former Secretary of State John Kerry for how he handled Israeli-Palestinian issues. Israel is, always has been, and remains our most important ally in the region according to Tillerson. He characterized UN resolution 2334 as an effort to coerce Israel to change course, further stating, that will not bring a solution.
Trumps Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley has already come out swinging against the overwhelming anti-Israel sentiment which dominates the organization. After attending her initial Security Council meeting and witnessing the absurd obsession it has with Israel, she said the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore," further stating the United States is determined to stand up to the UNs anti-Israel bias. She went on to say we will never repeat the mistake of resolution 2334 and allow one-sided Security Council resolutions to condemn Israel. Haley called the UNs double standards breathtaking.
In another clear effort to demonstrate that U.S.-Israel relations have changed, Trump invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to a meeting at the White House. The chemistry between the two of them was obvious and in stark contrast to the strained relations with former President Obama.
During a press conference, Trump moved the peace process in a heretofore new direction by backing off the longstanding U.S. policy promoting a two-state solution. He made it clear the position of the United States is to have the two parties negotiate a solution between themselves, saying I want the one both parties want, referring to a deal.
This doesnt suggest the U.S. is against a two-state solution, because Trump has indicated he would be fine with it. However, in a clear departure from the Obama administrations attempts to strongarm Israel, the Trump administration is saying let the two sides negotiate their own deal.
Such a stand by the U.S. sends a clear message to the Palestinians that Israel has every right to expect them to come to the table without preconditions and allow Israel tell the Palestinians what their conditions are for a resolution to the conflict, without being under the thumb of the U.S. Abbas has made it known he isnt happy about this by stating his commitment to a two-state solution and demanding the world recognize Palestine. In my view, Abbas missed a golden opportunity to demonstrate some flexibility and strike a deal during the eight years of the Obama administration, which was clearly more favorable toward the Palestinians.
Obama was not shy about promoting a two-state solution, trying on numerous occasions to almost force Israel to accept one, and seemed more interested in promoting self-determination for the Palestinians than in understanding Israels obvious need for a genuine peace partner willing to recognize Israels right to exist as a Jewish state.
Trump has also indicated he will move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. However, this is still under discussion.
While it is still very early in the administration of Donald Trump, there is little doubt, as Bob Dylan once sang, the times they are a-changin.
View more of Dan Calics articles on his Facebook page.
This year's Munich Security Conference became the scene for the condemnation of Iran as a sponsor of terror on a regional and global scale. The mullahs' regime was named as the main state sponsor of terrorism, and part of the problem, not the solution, in establishing peace and security in the Middle East.
The similarity of the harsh criticism and strong positions taken by numerous countries against Iran speaks very vividly and unmistakably of a coalition against Tehran, leaving senior Iranian regime officials desperately in need of a solution, and fast.
The conference has been described as a major turning point to what the future may hold for Tehran, and it is now crystal-clear that the balance of power in the region and around the globe has shifted significantly against the mullahs, to say the least.
"A new formation of old enemies against our country has established, and we are alone faced with a global alliance. In such conditions Iran must decrease the military confrontation possibility, tone down the propaganda and make room for overt and covert diplomacy, all aimed at breaking this alliance," the state-run Sharq daily wrote in a recent editorial printed on its first page.
"The strategic management of Iran's policies in the region must be returned to the Foreign Ministry," wrote the state-run Jamaran website. For example, Iran's embassy in Baghdad is considered the most important for the mullahs' regime. And this post is, and has been, under the control of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force from 2003 onward.
These remarks make it undisputable how terrified Iran is of the rocky road ahead.
The period we are currently in is being described in Iranian circles as the "post-Munich era" involving potential disputes between Riyadh and Tehran. Such developments foreshadow a substantial decline in Iran's influence in the post-Munich order, signaling harsh days ahead for the mullahs' regime.
The regional balance of power will undergo major changes, and Iran is terrified of not only being on the wrong side of history, but of suffering major setbacks. Senior Iranian officials are issuing warnings for decision-makers to accept the new reality and focus their efforts on sidestepping any provocative actions that can provide excuses or pretexts by rivals. This is one major reason Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has remained relatively silent in the past month.
Iran is concerned that U.S. president Donald Trump's efforts will not be limited to the recent round of sanctions imposed following the January 29 ballistic missile test. Regime analysts are predicting a series of pressure-increasing measures by the new White House, knowing Congress is fully ready to back such action. One issue Republicans and Democrats will not have much trouble finding common ground on is punitive measures against Tehran's mullahs.
It is common knowledge that Iran benefited extremely from Obama's eight-year tenure, especially the unprecedented access Tehran's lobbies enjoyed to the White House. On the other hand, many voices advocating a firm approach on Iran are now considered very close to President Trump and his national security team.
To this end, Khamenei understands quite well that unpredictable developments await. Just as international sanctions and fear of an explosive society becoming completely restless forced Iran to the negotiating table, with Trump at the helm in the White House, rest assured that Khamenei will have very limited options.
Tehran will to some extent attempt to further test Washington's limits, such as the recent military drills and testing of "advanced rockets," or generals making remarks such as Iran being ready to give U.S. a "slap in the face." This practice is also aimed at lessening the costs resulting from any possible future negotiations with the West.
Senior Iranian regime officials and politicians understand the unpredictable nature of what lies ahead. This is exactly why voices are heard indirectly encouraging the Supreme Leader to refrain from provoking new tensions and enter new talks when possible.
To this end, the regime's efforts to create new space for the mullahs' regime in relations involving the international community and regional countries, all under the banner of engagement, backfired significantly in this year's Munich Security Conference.
As a result, there is a rising perspective of further global and regional isolation awaiting the mullahs' regime in Iran. Khamenei and his inner circle are realizing the harsh reality that Obama's "golden era" is over, and the Munich bombshell will have major impact both internationally, and more importantly, in domestic affairs.
Heshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on Iran, including human rights violations, social crackdown, the regime's support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the controversial nuclear program. He tweets at @HeshmatAlavi and blogs at IranCommentary.
Member states of the European Union are undergoing a dramatic change of heart about the million and a half refugees they allowed into their countries.
A year ago, most countries were patting themselves on the back for being so open and compassionate about letting in hundreds of thousands of unvetted refugees. But given the numerous terrorist attacks carried out by migrants in the last year, and the strain put on local budgets in caring for of all those newcomers, the E.U. is beginning to sing a different tune.
Reuters:
European Union member states should detain migrants who have no case for asylum to prevent them from running away before they are deported, the chief migration official with the bloc's executive arm in Brussels said. The European Union is pushing to reduce immigration after some 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached its shores via the Mediterranean in 2014-2016. It wants to prevent people from coming and deport more. "Return rates have to be improved," Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Thursday in presenting new proposals by the executive European Commission to increase deportations. "Member states should also use the possibility to place migrants in detention if there is a risk of absconding and for a sufficient period to be able to complete the return and readmission procedure." The Commission said the proposals identified areas in which member states could change their current practices to streamline relocations in line with existing laws that are applied differently in various countries. The Commission said member states should consider longer periods of detention of up to 18 months, although Avramopoulos added that it should only be an option in cases where "migrants are not cooperating" or "there is risk of absconding".
Ironies abound in this directive. But you'll never hear a European leader admit he made a mistake. Even German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose political fortunes have tanked in recent months thanks to the rude awakening her countrymen have experienced from refugee criminal actions and terror attacks, refuses to apologize for her shortsighted, dangerous migrant policy.
Germany is in the process of deporting tens of thousands of migrants who arrived in the 2015 wave of refugees. The expense of detaining those refugees will fall heavily on the German taxpayer, who is already resentful of the costs incurred by local and regional governments in feeding, clothing, housing, and educating the nearly 800,000 migrants who were originally welcomed with open arms by Merkel. Now they will be asked to set up detention centers, not "something like a concentration camp," according to authorities. No matter what you call it, a sizable number of refugees are going to be sent home.
Will that deter more migrants from leaving home and attempting to reach the paradise of the West? Not likely.
At the opening of his show yesterday, conservative talk show host Mark Levin took credit for preventing President Trump from offering amnesty for "Dreamer" illegal aliens. Levin said that right before Trump's address to Congress, Trump met with media executives and told them he was willing to give amnesty for children of illegal aliens, the so-called "Dreamers." Levin said Trump was rewriting his speech until right before he gave it, and Levin believes that Trump had planned to offer this amnesty in that speech.
But then Levin said his show stopped Trump cold. Levin said it is well known that the White House "monitors" his show, and when the White House heard how opposed Mark's listeners were to the planned amnesty, Trump dropped it immediately. Levin credits his show for stopping the march to amnesty for "Dreamers."
What do you think? Trump has said many, many times before that he wants to show tenderness to children of illegal immigrants. He doesn't seem to mind how they take jobs from Americans and welfare money from American taxpayers as their parents do. Could Mark Levin have saved us from a mass amnesty announcement at the congressional address?
Put another way, could something like this really have happened at the White House?
"Okay, I've added in the stuff about amnesty for Dreamers," said President Trump. "But only those who haven't stolen more than one set of Social Security numbers."
Suddenly, Reince Priebus enters the room. "Sir, you have to stop at once!"
"Why?"
"I've just come from the conservative talk radio listening post we set up right next to the Fox News IMAX theater," says Priebus. "It's the Mark Levin show. They've gotten wind of your amnesty offer, and his listeners are against it!"
"That does it," said Trump. "That's the last time I crib lines from a Jeb Bush campaign speech!"
Questions for discussion:
1) Do you think Mark Levin is correct with regard to what Trump was about to do and how he was deterred?
2) Do you think Mark is also right when he says now is a good time to add gold to your portfolio?
3) Is Mark's best line
A) "Shut up, you idiot! I'm educating you!" (for liberals)
B) "I'm not going to talk about Fiji and meatballs!" (a reference to talk show host Michael Savage)
or
C) "I'm not going to put on tights and wave pom-poms!" (a reference to people who support Trump in everything he says and does, without any regard for anything Trump says or does)
or
D) something else?
Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi has called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign because he failed to disclose two conversations that Sessions had with the Russian ambassador while he was serving as senator.
The Washington Post reported that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, once in July and once in September.
Reuters:
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign," she said in a statement. In a statement posted on Twitter later by his spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessions said he had never discussed campaign details with any Russian officials. "I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false," Sessions said in the statement. Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was fired last month after he discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with Kislyak before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. The Washington Post said one of Sessions' meetings was a private conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak that took place in the senator's office in September. This came at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race, the Post reported. Along with Pelosi's call for Sessions to resign, the Post said the previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia's alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump's associates. Sessions has so far resisted calls to recuse himself. When Sessions spoke with Kislyak in July and September, he was a senior member of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee as well as one of Trumps top foreign policy advisers, according to the Post. Sessions played a prominent role supporting Trump after formally joining the campaign in February 2016. At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Democratic Senator Al Franken what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign, the Post reported. "Im not aware of any of those activities," Sessions responded, according to the Post. He added: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians." Officials said Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the lawmakers questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Kislyak, according to the Post. "There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer," Flores earlier told the Post.
Not that this makes much of a difference when you're trying to smear the attorney general of the United States.
Buried at the end of the Reuters story is this little nugget of info:
Justice officials said Sessions met Kislyak on Sept. 8 in his capacity as a member of the armed services panel rather than in his role as a Trump campaign surrogate, the Post reported. "He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign - not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee," Flores told the Post.
The Democrats are perfectly content to hint, to suggest, and to intimate that Trump is a traitor - they just refuse to be honest about it and come out and say it.
Pelosi and other leading Democrats know full well that accusing Trump of treason outright will not only show them to be paranoid idiots, but also expose their smear campaign for what it is: an underhanded attempt to destroy Trump's credibility. The smear against Sessions is typical. I can think of a dozen reasons why the chairman of the Armed Services Committee would meet with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. having nothing to do with presidential politics. There are also several reasons why Sessions, as an individual senator would meet with Kislyak.
The Democrats are allowing the radical leftist crazies in their base to accuse Trump of treason while they innocently claim to be only seeking answers to "questions." It's a despicable tactic and the Republicans should call them out on it. They should demand that Democrats deny they are accusing the president of treason or offer some proof for this incredibly serious charge. As it is, the suggestion of treason is floating around with a willing and eager media feeding the public's suspicions.
An illegal alien who held a press conference to complain about immigration enforcement under the Trump administration was subsequently taken into custody by ICE agents during a "targeted enforcement action."
There was an immediate outcry from immigrant rights groups to protest the detention of Daniela Vargas, who came to the U.S. with her parents when she was seven years old. Vargas had been granted residency under the Obama administration DREAM program but failed to pay the renewal fee and was thus subject to detention and deportation.
Wall Street Journal:
Daniela Vargas, who came to the U.S. from Argentina when she was 7 years old, was detained by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as she and a friend drove away from the news conference in Jackson, Miss., said her lawyer, Abigail Peterson. The news conference was organized by attorneys, church groups and the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance to bring attention to recent immigration raids in the region, said Patricia Ice, an attorney with the immigrant-rights group. ICE enforcement actions under the Trump administration have stoked fears in immigrant communities after large numbers of coordinated arrests across the country in recent weeks. Agency officials have said they are targeting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes including assault, murder and drug trafficking. But the agency also acknowledged picking up some immigrants they encountered during those raids who have violated federal immigration law, but not committed other crimes. Ms. Vargas's father and brother were detained by immigration officials who arrested them outside the family home last month. But Ms. Vargas herself wasn't arrested at the time, her lawyer said. Thomas Byrd, a spokesman for ICE, said in a statement provided to The Wall Street Journal by Ms. Vargas's attorney that Ms. Vargas was taken into custody "during a targeted immigration enforcement action." The statement said ICE conducts "routine targeted enforcement operations" every day and "does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately." ICE officials declined to comment. Ms. Peterson said she had been working with Ms. Vargas on reapplying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program that protects young undocumented adults brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation and gives them work authorization. Since DACA was introduced in 2012, about 750,000 people have benefited from the program. President Donald Trump during his campaign said he would rescind the program, but has since said he would seek a more favorable solution for its beneficiaries, who are known as "Dreamers." The case of another detained DACA recipient is being watched closely as an early test of how the Trump administration will treat program beneficiaries.
My guess is that Ms. Vargas's press conference may be one of the last of its kind for a while.
It's one thing to live your life unobtrusively as an illegal alien in the U.S. It's quite another to spit in the face of immigration enforcement officials by openly defying the law by holding a press conference and bragging about your status.
This kind of routine enforcement of our immigration laws is exactly the way it should be. If you're identified as an illegal for any reason, you should be detained. Ms. Vargas will have the right to plead her case before an immigration judge. That, too, is the way it should be. The law will be upheld, and justice will be done just as it should be.
Wouldn't it be interesting if ICE paid a visit to the studios of Univision? How many illegals would be found working for the #1 promoter of illegal alien rights in the U.S.? The outrage at this violation of "First Amendment rights" would be entertaining, to say the least, given the impunity with which illegals make use of the Univision platform to publicize their views.
If Vargas is deported, she has a perfect right to try to re-enter the U.S. legally, of course. Why that would prove to be a burden to anyone who wants to live and work in the U.S. is a mystery.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor known for allowing the mass influx of Muslim refugees into Europe, has just been nominated as a candidate for the upcoming elections in her country. A large majority (95%!) of CDU (the "Christian Democratic Union") party delegates gave her their blessing, putting her in pole position on the national CDU electoral list.
You may find it remarkable that such a controversial leader is again running for the highest office in Germany (her fourth term, by the way). Merkel herself has admitted that her "open border" policies during the migrant crisis were a failure. The chaos mass migration is causing in Europe is unparalleled, and the end is nowhere in sight.
But what's most remarkable of all is the speech Merkel gave before the election. Two quotes sum it all up:
No part of the population has the right to define who belongs to our people and who doesn't.
The German people consists of everybody who lives in this country.
German patriots condemned this phrasing. For Frauke Petry, chief of the AFD (the right-wing opposition party), this speech essentially summarizes Merkel's "big scheme":
She wants to dilute our sovereign people and then "cancel" it. Merkel refuses to talk about the German people and sees the German people not as a unity with its own history and customs, but as a coincidental collection of people in a certain territory.
And there you have it. Merkel declared herself the "anti-Trump." The big division in Western politics globalism and cultural relativism versus nationalism is the main issue in all upcoming elections here in Europe.
With the demographic clock ticking against them and the mainstream European media desperately enforcing political correctness, the battle will not be an easy one to win for the so called "populists" like Geert Wilders, Frauke Petry, and Marine Le Pen. And with all other parties and special interest groups already making promises to unite against them, only landslide victories will change the current leadership in the Netherlands.
Even then, some question if the effects of the frivolous migration policies of the past decades can be changed in time to prevent a complete population "makeover." If the policies are not changed soon, however, the outcome is beyond doubt.
A recent scientific study (published this week in the conservative Dutch magazine Elsevier) calculated that if immigration is to go on at the same rate as today, the Netherlands in the year 2060 will be an overpopulated country (22-30 million people, versus 16 million now) with one third of them Muslim.
This is largely explained by the high birthrate present among immigrants. How GroenLinks (the Dutch "green party"), a big immigration proponent, can explain the deleterious effects of this population boom on the already stretched natural resources of this small country is a mystery. The study also predicted a massive rise in government spending necessary to sustain the welfare state in the case of a continued mass immigration.
The fact that the Obama administration illegally used funds not appropriated by Congress to prop up Obamacare should be a big story, but somehow the diligent media have somehow been able to make sure the public doesn't see it. Essentially, the Obama administration stole money from low-income housing funds at Fannie and Freddie to prop up Obamacare after a judge told them to stop diverting funds illegally at HHS.
From the linked article:
Federal court litigation provides evidence the Obama administration illegally diverted taxpayer funds that had not been appropriated by Congress in an unconstitutional scheme to keep Obamacare from imploding. In 2016, a U.S. District judge caught the Obama administration's Health and Human Services Department acting unconstitutionally and therefore put an end to the illegal diversion of taxpayer funds, but the Obama administration didn't stop there. The Obama administration instead turned to the nation's two government-sponsored mortgage giants the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as "Fannie Mae," and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as "Freddie Mac" to invent a new diversion of funds in a desperate attempt to keep Obamacare from collapsing.
Now we know why the Obama administration unilaterally changed rules on Fannie Mae funds in 2012. They basically screwed private-sector bondholders and shareholders to create a slush fund for left-wing groups allied with the administration. These funds do not go through Congress. They are treated as off-balance sheet entities, where the amount that comes to the government is treated as a net reduction in expenses instead of an increase in revenue. In other words, it allows Congress and the president to pretend they are controlling spending.
From an article at National Review:
The two hemorrhaged money for a couple years after the bailout, but as the economy and the housing market improved, Fannie and Freddie returned to profitability. It soon appeared that their booming profits might allow the government to recoup its investment and extricate itself from the mortgage business altogether. However, the government showed no interest in such a path. In 2012, the U.S. Treasury quietly changed its contract with the two GSEs and changed the financial position of the other shareholders. Instead of being content with the 10 percent dividend it assigned itself, along with the bulk of any profits from a future stock sale, Treasury takes the entire net worth of Fannie and Freddie each quarter. At the end of 2013, this amounted to a total of $185.2 billion since the peremptory imposition of this policy. That's roughly $2 billion shy of making up for taxpayers' entire investment.
This isn't the first time that the Obama administration screwed the private sector to benefit itself and its special interest groups.
In the G.M. bankruptcy the Obama administration gave preferential treatment to unions over more secured bondholders and other unsecured creditors. They clearly violated bankruptcy law. From the start the Obama administration believed they were above the law.
A large number of fines that Justice and other agencies collect end up getting redistributed to special interest groups. Excess funds that go to the government after paying the aggrieved parties should go back to reduce the deficit but they don't.
The number of slush funds and lack of transparency is appalling. Here is a good report from a House oversight committee. I know we can all remember the media covering this report.
Nov. 30, 2016:
... Agencies Retention or Redistribution of Fines for Special Funds. ... Settlement and Approved Consumer Groups[.] ... Agencies do not use a standardized method of accounting for those funds collected and retained. .... The DOJ's use of funds collected as fines and penalties has drawn interest from other.
Throughout Obama's eight years, his administration showed great disdain for the private sector, taxpayers, and the rule of law, yet not once did the media and Democrats call for an independent prosecutor or investigator to look into anything. They violated the law on Fannie and Freddie and G.M., intentionally bankrupted for-profit colleges, tried to destroy private prison companies, intentionally bankrupted coal companies, and rewarded political cronies like Solyndra and the media saw no scandals. As most of the country was stagnant, Washington, D.C. did well, and that is all Democrats and the media seem to care about. There were many scandals during Obama's eight years but Democrats, Justice, and the federal agencies involved all stymied the investigations. The media participated in blocking the investigations by repeating the Democrat talking points that they were partisan witch hunts. After all, it was their chosen one who was president. The media now pretend that Obama's eight years were scandal-free.
But now, one month into Trump's term, without any indication at all that laws have been broken, Democrats and the media are shouting to the hills for an investigation. Someone who knows that Trump may have talked to someone from Russia. What a scandal.
The actual situation is that Democrats, the media, and people like McCain, Graham, and Collins can't afford to have a president like Trump, who wants to do what the founding fathers would have cheered. Reduce the power and the purse of the government and give it back to the people where it belongs. They would have preferred Hillary, who would have continued to expand the power and money that went to the government.
The media truly can't stand a White House that will invite media outlets from around the United States, including very small outlets. The powerful media outlets believe that only they should be able to tell the people what to think and control what they see. The founding fathers would have cheered the internet, where literally thousands can hold the powerful to account instead of just a few.
The bias is truly hard to spot.
We should also remember that Obama and Democrats intentionally took funds from Medicare to fund Obama Care. Then they pretended that this diverted money helped Medicare.
While piddling around in my workshop, I heard this sound bite on the radio of Trump talking about his upcoming speech to Congress that evening.
President Trump said, "All I can do is speak from the heart and say what I want to do." I thought, "Wow, what a concept." Involved as an activist in the business of politics since 2008, I can tell you that Trump has been a laughingstock in the political arena ever since he announced he was running for the presidency.
Look at this clown. He doesn't behave like a politician. He doesn't even know how to speak like a professional politician. No, Trump is just a guy who does not talk down to us and does not ramble on and on. In the black hood where I come from, we called it jive. Obama was a masterful jive talker.
Folks, I relate to Trump because I do not know how to sound smart the way liberals do while advocating insane, evil, and ungodly nonsense. My dad is a preacher. My late mom was a domestic worker. They taught all five of their kids to trust God, be responsible, work hard, and always try to do the right thing. Thus, I do not know how to sound like a politician. My instincts are to look people in the eye, speak from the heart, and tell the truth.
Trump's down-to-earth, straight-talk nature is exactly why 60-something million Americans have bonded with him. Meanwhile, political snobs and fake news media still do not get it. The political establishment, Obama's army of domestic terrorists, and fake news media will continue using their standard tried and true tactics to destroy Trump. They will fail.
Watching Trump address Congress, it struck me: "Oh my gosh every common sense thing Trump says he intends to do beneficial to America is vehemently opposed by the Democrats." What on Earth has happened to my dad's Democratic Party? My fellow Americans, our greatest threat is not ISIS. It is the Democratic Party.
Here are just a few Trump putting America first promises that have enraged Democrats launching a scorched earth policy to stop him.
"A new national pride is sweeping across our nation." Democrat-controlled public schools have been teaching our kids that patriotism is racist.
"All the nations of the world friend or foe will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free." Remember Obama touring the world, apologizing for our greatness?
"We've financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and so many other places throughout our land." As an American who happens to be black, it baffled me for years why black Democrats seemed content with cities they control like Chicago, Baltimore, and Detroit becoming hellholes of black poverty and black-on-black crime. Then it dawned on me. Democrat blacks are not black. They are first and foremost liberals who seek power via government control and dependency.
"We've defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open, for anyone to cross and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate." Democrats believe that America is too white. They want open borders to attract future Democratic voters of color.
"Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve." The Democratic Party leadership are old hippies, flower children who hate our military and guns.
"We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government." Folks, taking the power away from the D.C. cartel and giving it back to We the People, as our Founders intended, has Trump atop the excrement list of both political parties.
"We have withdrawn the United States from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership." Democrats hate this. Who do we think we are?
"[M]y administration has answered the pleas of the American people for immigration enforcement and border security. By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone. We want all Americans to succeed but that can't happen in an environment of lawless chaos. We must restore integrity and the rule of law to our borders." Folks, Democrats say screw the law, screw jobs, and screw national security. They want as many unskilled government-dependent illegals flooding across our borders as possible. Obama spent a whopping $113 billion, $1,117 each, settling illegals into our country, priming them to become Democrat voters.
We've heard much about Trump's narcissism. Call me crazy, because I don't see that when I watch and hear him speak. I see a man aware and humbled by the job placed upon his shoulders, committed to getting it done committed to keeping his campaign promises, committed to making America great again.
Taneli Ruda, head of ONESOURCE Global Trade, has analyzed whether the Trans-Pacific Partnership is likely to move forward without the United States, and what approach the Trump administration will take on trade in general.
Shortly after taking office, United States President Donald Trump lived up to a major campaign promise by issuing an executive order on Jan. 23 that withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). What this means for the future of the agreement, which would now include 11 countries, is at this point uncertain, but there is no shortage of opinions, signals and speculation on the subject.
Since the withdrawal, two related questions have emerged: can the TPP move forward without the U.S., and what approach will the Trump administration take on trade in general?
First, on the immediate future of the TPP, there are mixed messages. Leaders in Australia and New Zealand have expressed a desire to move forward on the deal without the U.S., with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull suggesting that China could step in and make the TPP a principally pan-Asian agreement. Elsewhere, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hopes to convince Trump to come back to the negotiating table.
Perus president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, expressed a desire to renegotiate the TPP or forge something similar anew. We are going to take the best things out of TPP and get the not-so-good stuff out, he said in response to the U.S. withdrawal.
Similarly, both Chile and Mexico have vowed to continue talks on other trade deals, with policymakers in Chile initiating a March summit for leaders of TPP member countries to discuss next steps and clarify what opportunities might remain among them. And Singapore Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the TPP cannot come into effect in its current form without the U.S.the operative phrase being in its current form.
But despite the occasional hedge or trial balloon from leaders of its member countries, the consensus viewpoint is that the TPP will not move forward without U.S. involvement, in part because a pan-Asian trade bloc would not sufficiently lessen TPP members reliance on China. Singapore, for example, already has free trade agreements with the U.S. and all remaining TPP member-nations except for Canada and Mexico.
While bilateral agreements are better than no agreements, this approach is a step backward for trade liberalization as an economic, social, and moral objective.
Abes statement about luring Trump, who has consistently taken a hard line against the TPP, saying on the campaign trail last June there is no way to fix the TPP, back into the fold seems to indicate he has little appetite to move forward with the deal without U.S. involvement.
Instead, what trade enthusiasts are likely to get in the Trump administration is one committed to forging bilateral free trade agreements instead of multilateral deals. The executive order on the TPP withdrawal states this quite clearly. It instructs trade representatives to permanently withdraw the United States from TPP negotiations, and to begin pursuing, wherever possible, bilateral trade negotiations with counter-parties. Japan and Britain seem like the logical places to start.
While bilateral agreements that liberalize trade are better than no agreements that liberalize trade, this approach is a step backward for trade liberalization as an economic, social, and moral objective. The fact is that multilateral deals are preferable because, among other reasons, they result in fewer conflicting standards and are in some cases easier to reach than bilateral deals.
The TPP, as ratified, is a useful case study addressing both of these drawbacks. As I have observed in previous columns, the TPP was set to address one of the more technical aspects of trade compliance: the so-called noodle bowl effect that occurs when various trade agreements conflict with one another. Instead of having companies continue to follow a patchwork of multiple free trade agreements with different and at times incompatible origination and inclusion rules, the TPP would have provided a harmonized framework across its 12 member countries, streamlining compliance and making it easier to design bills of material and supply chain structures. On the ability of parties to enter into multilateral trade deals when bilateral ones would fail, Jordan Weissmann, an economics writer for Slate, relayed a revealing anecdote.
At the start of TPP negotiations, United States negotiators knew that New Zealand would want access to the American dairy market, something that likely wouldnt sit well with U.S. farmers, he wrote. However, because American dairies stood to gain from more access to the Canadian market, it was possible to find something in the deal for everybody.
There had been a good amount of organized opposition to the TPP, particularly after it became a large part of last years U.S. presidential election. However, the ideological opposition to the TPP didnt stem from the fact that it was a 12-nation, multilateral agreement, it was because the deal was negotiated in a way that critics claimed lacked sufficient transparency. Whether coincidental or not, neither Trumps executive order on trade nor his pronouncements on the campaign trail and as president have included a commitment to increase the transparency with which the U.S. negotiates trade agreements.
Broadly, the U.S. withdrawal from the TPP is likely to cause a bit of uncertainty in the near term, a reliance on current free trade agreements moving forward, and a higher likelihood of new bilateral trade deals (and their inconsistencies) over the long term. But, then again, it all still depends on who you ask.
Taneli Ruda heads Thomson Reuters global trade management business, ONESOURCE Global Trade. He can be reached by email at [email protected]
Over the last couple of years, we've introduced you to "Las Damas en Blanco," or "The Ladies in White," who stand up to the Castro dictatorship daily. They march on Sundays after calling for the release of their husbands and sons in political prisons. They are courageous women fighting for human rights in a society that does not respect any. Where are Hollywoodies talking about repression when we really need them?
Last night, a number of Democrat female members of the House and Senate decided to dress in white to recall the suffragettes of a century ago. It caught the attention of Daniel Allott:
The Democratic congresswomen dressed in white as an emblem of support for their definition of "women's rights" abortion, equal pay and the like. The protest is seen as a form or resistance to Trump's presidency and presumably a nod to the women's suffrage movement, which urged women to dress in white as a symbol of purity.
Quick question: How would the suffragettes react to women who equate women's rights with abortion? As for equal pay, we already have those laws on the books. In fact, they should have dressed in white when they visited President Obama. It turns out that "equal pay for women" was a problem for the Obama team.
Unlike Las Damas in Cuba, the Democrat women enjoy a few advantages:
1) They got to sit and criticize the president's speech. Las Damas in Cuba don't get to boo or disagree with Raul Castro when he speaks.
2) The Democrat women got to run out of the speech and look for local reporters willing to broadcast their anti-Trump comments. We repeat that Las Damas face thugs and the secret police harassing them every Sunday afternoon.
Of course, we live in a free country, and that means, among many things, that we have the right to make fools of ourselves.
Nevertheless, the Democrats may want to reconsider their foolish approach to Trump. It seems that most Americans are done with the campaign and would like to see a genuine effort in governing, not partisanship.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
A specter haunts Washington, D.C.: federal workers, accustomed to job security, may actually be reduced in status to the level of private-sector peasants, who must live with the possibility of being laid off due to workforce reductions. The Washington Post, in many ways the trade paper of the government industry, shares the anxiety of its readership:
Federal workers are growing increasingly anxious at the prospect of massive budget cuts President Trump proposed this week that would pave the way for increased military spending. Employees who list endangered species, collect taxes and distribute aid to foreign countries are fearing for their livelihoods as they sift through rumors and wait to see whether their offices will be targeted for steep reductions.
Those of us who work in the private sector have never had the job security of a federal employee. And few of us have the retirement benefits they enjoy, so we have the constant issue of providing for ourselves beyond our working years. Frankly, it is a lot of stress, and I find that in my case, at least, it provides quite a lot of motivation for hard work. After all, I have no rich Uncle Sam to rely on to keep money coming in to pay for the groceries, much less fund an extended vacation called "retirement."
Ordinarily, in the rare case of a government agency reducing its workforce, attrition is relied upon. Deaths and retirements (and hardly ever firing for cause) automatically reduce the number of working bodies in a large organization. If you don't bring in replacements, the workforce declines in number. But not rapidly, and not all at once:
... words like buyouts, furloughs and RIFs (or reduction in force) government-speak for layoffs are now being tossed around at the water cooler as civil servants face the possibility of massive downsizing. Some of these strategies were used when Ronald Reagan was president and others more recently to meet the goals of budget caps known as sequestration. Normally, the government lays off a very small number of employees every year. But the biggest round of layoffs came in the late 1980s and early 1990s with military base closures and other defense drawdowns. The process can take months, with terms that must be negotiated with unions. And it's costly, since agencies must pay benefits and outstanding vacation and sick time to their workers. But experts said the rate of natural attrition would not be enough to cover expected budget cuts. In the short term, furloughs or unpaid days off may be an option to reduce costs, they say. At the EPA, a sense of gallows humor has set in. "We've been discussing whether it will be really bad or really, really bad," said one employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The relative economic standing of government bureaucrats has soared compared to the fortunes of 99.9% of employees of private-sector firms. When I was a lad in the early 1960s and musing about the possibilities of work, my dad advised me that a government job wouldn't pay as well as comparable private sector work, but you had job security. If I wanted to relax and rise in salary modestly and slowly, then government work was for me. But if I wanted to take risks, work hard, and have the possibility of more money, then the private sector was for me.
He was correct, at the time. But over the ensuing five decades or so, government workers have vastly improved their lot, and now they often get more pay for equivalent work, while enjoying job security and often lavish fringe benefits. So the notion of losing some of those gains and facing the ordinary work risks of the rest of the economy is a psychological shock:
At the State Department, career diplomats are uncertain what and who will be needed in a downsized agency. Without a clear set of guidelines on what foreign policies the administration will be adopting, they say they have time on their hands and little work to do.
Any bureaucrats with time on their hands need to be given their walking papers immediately. There is always work to be done. But then again, if you have job security and no immediate task at hand, why bother to ask yourself what could be improved or what information might be needed? If your superiors in the bureaucracy don't keep you busy, you can just watch porn.
The island town of Suakin, in north-eastern Sudan, was an important port for trade and culture on the East African coast for centuries. The town is located on a flat, oval-shaped island, on the west coast of the Red Sea, inside a narrow inlet that penetrates four kilometer inland and ends in a wide basin about two kilometers across. There are two round coral islands in the shallow basin. One of the islands is deserted and contains nothing but a cemetery. The other island to the south is the site of Suakin. The island is connected to the mainland by a short man-made causeway.
Once the principal port of Sudan, Suakin lost its importance when a new harbor, Port Sudan, was built to the north in the beginning of the 20th century. Over the course of the century, Suakin slowly began to lose its population until it had turned into a ghost town.
Photo credit: Geoff Tompkinson
Much of Suakins early history is still obscure as the site has never been subjected to careful archeological research, although Suakin is mentioned in many historical accounts and travellers stories. Suakin is thought to have been the Roman port, Limen Evangelis, mentioned by Ptolemy, who described it as lying on a circular island at the end of a long inlet. The first actual reference to Suakin by name comes from al-Hamdani in the 10th century, who says it was already an ancient town.
At that time, Suakin was rival to another port on the Red Sea, Aydhab, which was closer to Egypt and placed under its direct control. The Egyptians tried to wrest control of Suakin from the indigenous Beja tribe, and there were frequent clashes between the two because of this. The rivalry between the two ports ended with the fall of Aydhab in the second half of the 15th century. From then on, Sukain became the principle port on the coast of the Red Sea, retaining its eminence until the opening of Port Sudan in 1922.
The transfer of the port marked the beginning of Suakins rapid decline. Within a decade, the wharf had disappeared and the docks had collapsed into the shoals by the sides of the port, preventing larger vessels from entering. By the end of the 1930s, Suakin island had been completely deserted, and very few people remained in the mainland part of the city.
Today, the island is nothing more than a collection of ruins. Its once-beautiful buildings made of spectacular coral stone are at risk of collapse. Even among the crumbling ruins you can see a rich mixture of different cultures, from Venetian to Ottoman, visible in the citys architectural diversity. Parts of the town has now been restored. There also appears to be some new construction on the northern end of the island, the nature of which Im not sure.
Satellite image of north-eastern Sudan shows the natural inlet with the island of Suakin.
An undated aerial image of Suakin. Photo credit: Cambridge University Library
Aerial view of Suakin Island in 1930 with Condensor Island in foreground and El Gerf with its enclosing defenses behind. Photo credit: www.thearchitecturestore.co.uk
Photo credit: daniel seeberger/Panoramio
Photo credit: daniel seeberger/Panoramio
Photo credit: Ibrahem Saehon
A relatively recent photograph of Suakin shows some new construction on the island. Photo credit: Ibrahem Saehon
Another view of Suakin with its new buildings. Photo credit: Arpad Dudas/Panoramio
Photo credit: Bertramz/Wikimedia
Photo credit: K/Flickr
Photo credit: K/Flickr
Photo credit: Hannes Rada/Flickr
Photo credit: Eric Lafforgue/Flickr
Photo credit: followtheboat.com/Flickr
Sources: Wikipedia / Marisa Calia / Abdel Rahim Salim / www.iccrom.org
Concerns that not all of the unions will agree to ratify their labor agreements have caused rail shippers and other transportation industry stakeholders to push President Joe Biden to act.
johan_h/iStock/Thinkstock(STOCKHOLM) -- The Swedish government announced a decision on Thursday to re-activate a military draft beginning next year.
Citing "the security environment in Europe and in Sweden's vicinity" which it says has "deteriorated," the Swedish government said it is looking to bring in 4,000 recruits per year in 2018 and 2019. That figure will increase to 5,000 in 2020, 6,000 in 2021, and 8,000 from 2022 to 2025.
The reason it has chosen conscription for those efforts is because "all-volunteer recruitment hasn't provided the Armed Forces with enough trained personnel."
In 2016, the government said, the Armed Forces "lacked 1,000 active squad leaders, soldiers and sailors as well as 7,000 reservists."
Conscription will include both men and women.
Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
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Kalekye Mumo Biography, Boyfriend and Salary Kalekye Mumo has been described as someone who is as vibrant as she is beautiful, a Kenyan radio queen, TV host and media personality, movie actress, Musician, businesswoman, and fashionista but what else is there to know about this Kenyan icon, Kalekye Mumo and her co-host Shaffie Weru have been among the most listened to radio presenters ...
Julie Gichuru Bio Age, Husband & Children In Africa, women have a long history of bringing under control obstacles to keep their heads above the water. So, it comes as no surprise whenever African women are recognized and decorated across the continent and globe for performing brilliantly well in their various fields of endeavor. In Kenya for instance, a list of national ...
Jeff Koinange Biography All About His Age, Wife Shaila Koinange & Family Jeff Koinange is a well-known Kenyan journalist. He currently hosts Jeff Koinange Live on KTN. Koinange has served as a journalist in the United States and has also worked for a few U.S. broadcasters. He was born in Kenya but attended college in the United States, which may explain his accent. There are several interesting ...
Caroline Mutoko Biography Age, Daughter & House Caroline Mutoko is a Kenyan radio presenter, famously known for hosting a morning breakfast show on Kiss 100 FM. The station is based in Nairobi and ranks among the highly-rated radio stations in Kenya with online streaming services as well. Learn more about the Kenyan-born journalist. Caroline Mutokos Age and Bio Born on January 4, 1973, Caroline is ...
The Most Stunning News Presenter In Kenya Discloses Her Real Age You Would Not Believe It In modern African societies, it is often regarded as impolite or outright lack of disrespect to ask a woman of her age. We also have seen celebrities lie about how old they are when asked their age. People, mostly women have refused to let people know their real age, despite being public figures. The few ...
Demystifying Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Biography, Husband & Education Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian novelist, non-fiction writer, short story writer and actress. As a seasoned Nigerian writer, she has been called the most prominent of a procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors that is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature. She has been making Nigeria proud in the global scene ...
Wole Soyinka Biography, Wife, Children, Family, Quick Facts Professor Wole Soyinka, a great and brilliant Nigerian writer and political activist, who was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The name, Wole Soyinka, is a household name both in Africa and beyond especially in the field of literature. With over 50 pieces of work, his writing includes poems, novels, memoirs ...
5 Most Vulgar Kenyan Radio Presenters It appears being vulgar is the real deal nowadays especially for the fact that the world is becoming more exposed and civilized. Sadly, but true, young people are constantly being exposed to images, discussions, and content that most people would deem detrimental to the African culture and moral statutes. This is because most of us ...
6 Sexiest News Anchors In Kenya Some news anchors have been stealing eyes every time they appear on-screen. Most of us hardly concentrate on the programme they present as our entire focus is usually on their striking physique and beautiful faces. It is common knowledge that Kenyan women are amazingly beautiful. From the celebrities to the everyday woman, they are all in ...
Interesting Oprah Winfrey Quotes To Keep You Motivated Oprah Winfrey is one of the worlds most powerful women in the media and business sectors. Her life is the typical success story that motivates and lifts ones morale. One amazing thing about this media mogul is her sincerity about past hurts, mistakes, healing, and success. The renowned talk show host and media personality is the first ...
Chinua Albert Achebe Biography- Family, Net Worth & Death Chinua Albert Achebe, of blessed memory, was a Nigerian prolific author best known for his inventive style of writing and simplicity of expressions. Famed as one of the finest writers Nigeria has ever produced, Achebe lived and died an international hero and a literary giant, who left behind unforgettable legacies and footprints in the sands of ...
Steve Harvey His Wife, Kids & Height Steve Harvey is an American comedian, actor, radio and TV show host, producer and an author of different relationship advice books. Steve Harveys Early Life Born in Welch, West Virginia, on January 17, 1957, as Broderick Stephen Harvey, Steve was the last of five children. His family relocated to Cleveland when he was young and there, he attended Glenville High School from ...
Intriguing Things You Should Know About Danny Kokers Rise to Fame and Who His Wife Is Danny Koker is popular as the star of the History Channel reality TV series, Counting Cars. Prior to him appearing on the show, the TV personality was a musician who had embarked on a number of national tours with his rock group, Counts 77. He and his group have released quite a number of songs ...
Fun Facts You Didnt Know About Andy Cohens Rise to Prominence and His Partner Andy Cohen is one of Americas top media personalities who gained prominence after helping to bring the Bravo network back to life. He also hosted a couple of shows on the network, including the popular nightly series Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. After rising to the position of head of production and development at ...
Tracing Isha Sesays Career Until CNN, Her Worth And Why She Divorce Her Husband As far as journalists of African origin go, Isha Sesay is one of the most famous on the continent and by extension, the world. The Sierra Leonean and British journalist has had a successful career since she joined the industry in 1998. In that time, she has worked for a host of major media ...
Open Secrets of How Joanna Gaines Balances Her Career With Being a Wife and Mother Joanna Gaines is the co-founder of Magnolia Homes, a business she runs with one goal: converting houses to homes. She doubles as the lead designer of the company which she co-owns with her husband, Chip Gaines. Lady Gaines gained massive popularity when she became a co-star with her husband on the HGTVs show, Fixer Upper. ...
Juicy Details of Ayesha Currys Love Story With Stephen, Her Family Members and Recent Pursuits When your husband is one of the greatest basketballers that the NBA has ever seen, then it bestows on you the status of a celebrity wife and may not even demand that you do anything extra to maintain that status. However, Ayesha Curry, the wife of multiple NBA champion, Steph Curry, is not one ...
What Is Tarek el Moussas Ethnicity, Why Did He Divorce His Wife and Who Is He Dating? Tarek El Moussa has made himself one of the most recognizable men on reality television, especially to fans of HGTV. Thanks to his expertise in the world of real estate, Tarek has become a national star. But even to his hardcore followers, there are questions about Tarek El Moussa that remain unanswered, such as his ...
Fun Facts About Natalie Beckers Lonely Childhood and Eventual Career Success Natalie Becker is an actress of South African descent who became famous for her appearance in films like The World Unseen and The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. A multitalented individual, Natalie is also a television/radio presenter. She is also a co-founder of the Thought Leader Global Media which she runs together with ...
Top 3 Female CNN News Anchors You Didnt Know Were Africans CNN is one of the leading news agencies in the world. The satellite and cable news network was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner and has been one of the best sources of news for a number of years. It also boasts of the best journalists and presenters all around in media broadcasting. The company is a ...
Channels That Aided Katie Pavlichs Growth as a Journalist and All About Her Marriage To Friedson If you have ever come across any Fast and Furious featuring Barack Obama, it is the handiwork of Katie Pavlich. The book which claims to have exposed Obamas bloodiest scandal and the shameless cover-up thereof, has been earning Pavlich much praise and fame ever since it was published in 2012. Nonetheless, Pavlich is more famed ...
Is Oprah Winfrey Married? Husband, Children, Biography, House, Facts Oprah Winfrey is a billionaire philanthropist, talk show icon, producer, actress, and writer. The media icon famously dubbed The Queen Of All Media owns and hosts the highest-rated television program in the media circle. Read more about the powerful television star below. Oprah Winfrey Biography Oprah was born as Orpah Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954, to a ...
Who Is Arsenio Hall, What Happened To His Talk Show and Why Do Fans Think He Is Gay? He is one of the funniest beings to have graced the comedy constituent of the American entertainment industry. Arsenio Hall has a reputation for the rib-cracking disposition always portrayed in his comedy roles. He is not just a comedian; he is also an actor and a former talk show host for his popular show, The ...
What Is Woah Vicky Famous For and Who Are Her Family Members? Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Woah Vicky is one of those stars that have utilized the internet as a powerful tool to propel themselves to instant fame. The social media space, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., offers lots of people the right opportunities and potentials to become superstars overnight. Not everyone achieves ...
Where Is Michael Strahan Since His Retirement From The NFL and Who Is His Partner? Michael Strahan is a retired American football player turned media personality. He played the defensive lineman position and holds the record for most sacks in a single NFL season. He also only played for the New York Giants throughout the entire 15-year professional career that saw him win a Super Bowl ring. In February 2014, ...
How Wendy Williams Went From Being a College DJ to Having Her Own Talk Show and More About Her Divorce Wendy Williams is a former radio personality, now talk show host, who is known for her outspokenness and brash no-nonsense attitude. She gained fame and notoriety for her on-air clashes with celebrities before moving on to host her own talk show. Since 2008, Williams has hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show. ...
Who is Sunny Hostin? Her Husband, Family & Net Worth Sunny Hostin is no ordinary Latina American lawyer but also a successful columnist, multi-platform journalist, and social commentator. A happily married woman and mother of two, Hostin is the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News and co-host of ABCs popular morning talk show, The View. She is a legal expert popularly known as a former ...
Who Is Robert Costa and Is He Married, Who Is His Wife? Robert Costa is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC who is regarded as being part of Americas next generation of journalists. The University of Notre Dame graduate, who is of Italian/Portuguese descent, has been lauded for his fresh political perspectives in an industry full of old heads. In addition to his work listed above, Costa ...
Team Valor Pokemon Go 7 Key Facts You Need To Know Team Valor Pokemon Go The craze of the new game Pokemon Go is one that took the gaming world by storm sending teenagers and adults alike into a frenzy and one of its teams Team Valor, has proven to be instrumental in making it so. Before the game was created, Pokemon was a cartoon ...
Sheryl Underwood Husband, Family & Net Worth She is known for her trademark smile which can be described as the brightest and broadest smile ever seen on planet earth. She is none other than Sheryl Underwood the comedian, actress, and TV host whose funny wits has left America in great awe. Although Sheryl has risen to become an important personality in the industry, ...
Team Mystic Pokemon Go: 7 Facts You Need To Know And Signs You Are One Team Mystic of the break out game Pokemon Go is a team that is full of sass and chivalry. With an enchanting monicker, Team Mystic stands out from the rest of its counterparts and deserves to take the crown as champion in the Pokemon gaming-verse. To be a member of this exceptional team of Pokemon battle ...
Exploring Guy Beahms Dr Disrespect Persona, Wife and Why He was Banned Permanently From Twitch Guy Beahm who is popularly known by his online alias Dr DisRespect, is an award-winning Twitch.tv streamer. He has leveraged on the Twitch platform to become an internet personality that is quite widely known. His online success is just more proof that anyone who is good at what they do can attain celebrity status ...
Critical Facts About Lee Ann McAdoo The Infowars Anchor Lee Ann Mcadoo is a conservative journalist and television host whose interests in conspiracies and astrology has established her as a famous American reporter. Often referred to as Wonder Woman, McAdoo is a reporter who works for InfoWars.com, a controversial right-wing website run by radio show host, Alex Jones. Who Is Lee Ann McAdoo? Lee Ann McAdoo was born on 7 ...
Millie Weaver Age, Husband & Infowars Career Millie Weaver is an American model, journalist, political activist, and social commentator. The young and beautiful journalist rose to fame working as a reporter for a controversial right-wing website InfoWars.com. Also known as Millennial Millie, Weaver is a social media influencer with over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Who Is Millie Weaver and What Is ...
Is Jessica Tarlov Married? What Are Her Height & Weight? Jessica Tarlov is an American political consultant, strategist, and analyst whose influential and regular TV presence has made a popular figure. A good example of beauty with brains, Tarlov has appeared on various TV networks, mostly the FOX News Network where she is known for her liberal views on political analysis and insights. She is also the senior director ...
Who Is Kelly Rebecca Nichols Alex Jones Ex-Wife? Kelly Rebecca Nichols is the ex-wife of controversial American radio show host, Alex Jones. She got nationwide attention following her divorce and subsequent custody battle with her estranged husband. Nichols, who worked with PETAs public relations department, was herself no stranger to controversies as she was involved in several publicity stunts of the non-profit animal rights ...
Who Is Bree Morgan Cole Sprouse Ex-Girlfriend And What Is She Up To Now? Although Bree Morgan became famous through the Instagram, she also sapped some dose of popularity from Disneys sweetheart, Cole Sprouse of the Sprouse brothers. She is not only an Instagram star but also a YouTube vlogger whose popularity has long exceeded the ordinary level. Bree is conspicuously prominent on the internet and has her digital savviness ...
Does Vanna White Have Husband or Children, What Is Her Net Worth / Salary? For over three decades, Vanna White has been a household name, famous as the co-host and letter turner of the iconic NBC game show Wheel of Fortune. The talented and beautiful television personality is also an actress with several TV series and films to her credit. Since making her Wheel of Fortune debut in 1982, she has become one ...
Liz Wheeler Biography, Husband & Net Worth Liz Wheeler is the kind of girl who sets the room on fire whenever she comes around. In this situation, however, she sets our screens on fire each time she appears as the host of One America News Tipping Point. She is, therefore, a presenter, publisher, consultant and a member of the Board of Zoning ...
Betty White Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...
Is Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Dead or Alive, What Are His Net Worth & Education? Everyone will always remember Bill Nye as the Science Guy. Besides his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, he is well-known for his Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World which started airing in 2017 as well as his appearances in many famous media projects as a science educator. The star studied mechanical engineering ...
Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...
Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...
Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...
Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...
Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...
Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...
Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...
Joel Osteen Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...
Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...
Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...
Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...
Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...
Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...
Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...
Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...
Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...
Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...
Demystifying Pokimane Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...
A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...
Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...
Alex Aiono Biography Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...
Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...
Princess Love Bio Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...
Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...
Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...
Safiya Nygaard Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...
The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...
Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...
Inside Fred Armisens Life Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...
Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...
Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...
Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...
Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...
xChocobars Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...
Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...
Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...
Matpat (Matthew Patrick) Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...
Facts About Ricegum His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...
Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...
What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...
David Letterman Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...
Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...
Lester Holt Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...
What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...
The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...
Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...
The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...
Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...
The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...
Jeff Dunham Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...
Ellen DeGeneres Net Worth, Wife Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...
Revisiting Joan Rivers Death The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...
The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...
Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...
Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...
How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...
Madison Gesiotto Bio Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...
Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...
What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...
Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...
Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...
Carli Bybel Bio Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...
Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...
Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...
Norm MacDonald Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...
Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...
Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...
Samantha Bee Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...
What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...
Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...
A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...
Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...
Desi Perkins Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...
The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...
Connor Franta Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...
Rhett and Link Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...
A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...
What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...
David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...
Merrell Twins Bio Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...
Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...
Ninja Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...
What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...
Emma Chamberlain Biography Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...
Anna Akana Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...
Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...
Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...
Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...
Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...
Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...
The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...
Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...
PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...
Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...
Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...
LaurDIY Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...
Lachlan Ross Power Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...
Alfie Deyes Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...
Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...
Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...
Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...
Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...
How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...
5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman) The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...
Grace Helbig Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...
Mark Wiens Bio Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...
Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...
CaptainSparklez Bio Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...
Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...
5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...
Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...
Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...
Jacksepticeye Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...
Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...
Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...
Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...
Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...
Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...
Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...
Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...
Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...
Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...
Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...
Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...
Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...
Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...
5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...
Lilypichu Bio Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...
KSI What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...
The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...
The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...
What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...
What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...
Matt Carriker Biography Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...
Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...
Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...
Gloria Govan Bio Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...
Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...
Who Is October Gonzalez Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...
Who Is Tony Berlin Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...
The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...
Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...
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Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...
Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...
Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...
Nadeska Alexis Bio Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...
Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...
A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...
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Ben Shapiros Family Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...
QVC Shawn Killinger Bio Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...
Liv Lo Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...
Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...
Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...
Who Is Jessica Gadsden Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...
Who Is Collins Tuohy Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...
Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...
Marty Lagina Bio Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...
Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...
Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...
Natasha Bertrand Biography Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...
What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...
Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...
Nikki Mudarris Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...
5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...
Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...
Why Did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws, Where Is He Now And Why Did He Divorce His Wife? Justin Shearer, otherwise known by his professional name Big Chief is a famous street racer and television personality. He is famously known for being one of the main characters on the racing reality television series, Street Outlaws. Justin, who had been a significant part of the show since its premiere in 2013, appeared in a ...
Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...
Is Brittany Wagner Married, Who Is The Husband, How Old Is She? Brittany Wagner has been an inspiration to a lot of sports youngster. She has won the hearts of many athletic students with her role as a life coach and an academic counselor. She is well groomed in her career and has worked over a decade for The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The National ...
Tati Westbrook Bio Age, Husband & Net Worth With five videos dished out every week, alongside running her own brand, beauty guru, and YouTube superstar Tati Westbrook has proved to the world that theres utterly no impossibility or limit to whatever one is passionate about. Tati is best known for being the owner and manager of the worlds most-viewed beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel, ...
Cathy Areus Long Road to Becoming a Freelance Journalist and What to Know About Her Kids An American freelance journalist, news analyst, and author, Cathy Areu has built a lasting reputation for herself on cable television. Popular for her skillful and sassy presentation of professional views on varying topics including cultural and feminist issues, Cathy is an inspiration to many women across the globe. In addition to being a journalist, she ...
Tucker Carlsons Love Story With Wife Susan Andrews, their Children and Net Worth Today On the TV screens, Tucker Carlson is that fiery fellow who passionately dishes out his conservative and often controversial views on issues of national importance. Such brazenness has fetched him many enemies, especially on the left-wing, but it has also helped him cement a reputation as one of the foremost broadcast journalists in America. His ...
Paige Wyatts Net Worth, Boyfriend and Where She Is Now Paige Wyatt became popular after the Wyatt family began running the reality television show, American Guns. The Wyatt family comprises Rich Wyatt (father), Renee Wyatt (mother), Paige and Kurt Wyatt (children). Rich Wyatt originally ran a gun shop, the Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado which is outside of Denver. The business which he ran together ...
The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...
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Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...
Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...
Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...
What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...
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Juncker hails Italian relocation efforts, others must comply 'Commission to use all available instruments,' president says
(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MARCH 2 - Greece and Italy have made great effort with respect to the EU-mandated migrant redistribution programme and now it is time for the other member states to do their part, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk ahead of next week's summit.
"The Commission will use every available instrument to enure the committments are upheld," he added.
"Few states have complied fully with their obligations," Juncker continued.
"In 17 months just 13,000 people have been relocated from Greece and Italy." "The credibility of our actions is central to creating mutual trust and enabling us to act collectively when a member state is exposed to a high level of pressure from migration," Juncker wrote. At the same time "the more we are able to work effectively with third-party countries to tackle the root causses of migration, the more room there is to ensure a fair and efficient system of asylum and migration management here in the Union," he concluded. (ANSAmed).
CAIRO - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will arrive in Egypt on Thursday for the first leg of a tour that will also take her to Tunisia on Friday. She is due to land at Cairo airport around 1 pm local time. During her visit Merkel will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the presidential palace in Ittihadiya. She is also due to meet with exponents of the Egyptian-German business council and with the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II. International security, the migration challenge and the Libyan crisis will be at the centre of official talks in both countries. Egypt is one of the Mediterranean countries with which Merkel hopes to reach an agreement on migrants.
Greek PM urges for increased solidarity in Europe Proposals for more funding for migrant issue to be put forward
(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, MARCH 3 - Greece's leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has urged his European counterparts for increased "cohesion and solidarity" within the continent on the migrant issue.
Although the number of migrants and refugees landing on Greek shores has been significantly reduced in recent months, Tsipras, speaking publically ahead of a meeting with his Malta counterpart, Joseph Muscat, in Athens said that the issues faced especially by Greece in dealing with refugees and migrants is still "a top priority for the government." Malta currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and migration was at the center of talks between the two men according to local reports.
Malta, which is a frontline state for migrants, has put forward proposals including that the EU should step up funding for the United Nation's migration agency to return migrants stranded in Libya to their home countries further south in Africa.
The EU's 28 national leaders will meet next week and seek to put into practice recent agreements on new steps to stem African immigration.(ANSAmed).
ISTANBUL, MARCH 2 - The No campaign for the April 16 referendum in Turkey on a constitutional amendment to introduce an executive presidential system got underway on Thursday with three simultaneous events in Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Smirne organised by the pro-Kurdish party HDP. The rallies will be held in Turkish and Kurdish. The main parliamentary opposition party CHP has also launched its campaign under the slogan "No for our future", inspired by the 1988 campaign in Chile for a vote to prevent dictator Augusto Pinochet from remaining in power. On Saturday the ruling AKP party launched its campaign in favour of the constitutional amendment that would concentrate more power in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and potentially extend his mandate until 2029.
BRUSSELS - Greece and Italy have made great effort with respect to the EU-mandated migrant redistribution programme and now it is time for the other member states to do their part, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk ahead of next week's summit.
"The Commission will use every available instrument to enure the committments are upheld," he added.
"Few states have complied fully with their obligations," Juncker continued.
"In 17 months just 13,000 people have been relocated from Greece and Italy." "The credibility of our actions is central to creating mutual trust and enabling us to act collectively when a member state is exposed to a high level of pressure from migration," Juncker wrote. At the same time "the more we are able to work effectively with third-party countries to tackle the root causses of migration, the more room there is to ensure a fair and efficient system of asylum and migration management here in the Union," he concluded.
Opposition launches No campaign ahead of referendum HDP holds rallies, CHP looks to 1988 challenge to Pinochet
(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 2 - The No campaign for the April 16 referendum in Turkey on a constitutional amendment to introduce an executive presidential system got underway on Thursday with three simultaneous events in Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Smirne organised by the pro-Kurdish party HDP. The rallies will be held in Turkish and Kurdish. The main parliamentary opposition party CHP has also launched its campaign under the slogan "No for our future", inspired by the 1988 campaign in Chile for a vote to prevent dictator Augusto Pinochet from remaining in power. On Saturday the ruling AKP party launched its campaign in favour of the constitutional amendment that would concentrate more power in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and potentially extend his mandate until 2029.
(ANSAmed).
The EASA Type Certificate was signed by EASAs certification director Trevor Woods and Michael J. Kaszycki FAAs acting manager transport airplane directorate - aircraft certification service. Both certificates were handed over to Airbus Senior Vice President A320 Family Programme, Klaus Roewe and Airbus A320 family programme chief engineer, Pierre-Henri Brousse.
The A321neo offers operators the perfect balance between fuel efficiency, comfort and environmental performance. It is the clear market leader in the 200 plus seat category, said Fabrice Bregier, president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft. Todays certification is a rewarding tribute to all the teams who have been instrumental in achieving this essential milestone.
The A321neo powered by CFM engines, successfully completed a certification programme accumulating over 400 flight hours in more than 160 flights. The tests validated the aircraft airframe and systems well beyond their design limits to meet all airworthiness criteria. The A321neo with CFM engines is the fourth member of the NEO Family certified over the last 15 months, giving customers of the A320neo Family the option of two engine types; Pratt & Whitneys Pure Power PW1100G-JM and CFMs LEAP-1A.
Passenger traffic rose 9.7 per cent to 8,037,008 in January 2017, up from 7,327,637 in the same month in 2016. This follows DXBs performance in 2016 during which the airport welcomed a record 83.6 million passengers.
Its an auspicious start to what is sure to be another record-breaking year for DXB, said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. It provides further impetus to our DXB Plus Programme, which will enhance service and boost capacity at DXB by applying technology to improved processes. It also fuels our ongoing efforts to improve the customer experience with world-leading wi-fi, retail, F&B and a wide array of offers ranging from spas to VIP service to live music.
Eastern Europe remained the fastest-expanding market in terms of percentage growth* (+32.5 per cent), followed by Asia (+26.4 per cent), South America (+18.6 per cent) and Australasia (15.8 per cent). In terms of passenger numbers, routes to the Indian subcontinent (1,876,448 passengers) topped the list followed by Western Europe (1,701,494 passengers), and the GCC states (1,363,089).
London (338,816 passengers) topped the list of top destinations followed by Doha (283,341), Kuwait (229,068) and Mumbai (223,399). Traffic from most regions was boosted during the month on account of holidays as well as the annual Dubai Shopping Festival.
Flight movements totalled 36,592 in January 2017, up 2.1 per cent compared to the 35,841 movements recorded in January 2016. The average number of passengers per movement increased to 230 compared to 215 during the corresponding period in 2016.
Freight volumes at DXB also registered gains during the month, totalling 208,271 an increase of 3.4 per cent compared to 201,483 recorded in January 2016.
Analyst Saj Ahmad said: After a record breaking 2016, Dubai International has started off 2017 with yet more records being broken.
The near 10% rise in traffic for January 2017 underscores the strength of Dubais allure key to this has been flydubais foray into Eastern Europe, as well as a number of other airlines from that area flying into Dubai as well. And with the biggest operator in Emirates at the airport, its no surprise that their organic growth is pulling in traffic across its network.
While cargo growth of around 3.4% is welcomed news on the back of the festive and New Year periods, the competitive freight environment means that this growth may be tempered going forward.
Ahmad added: And as flydubai gears up to shift flights to Dubai World Central later this year, the scope for Emirates to take up more slots will help them drive forward new frequencies and routes as Dubai International targets yet another record breaking year.
The first of four A350 aircraft in LATAM livery and with LATAM seating configuration will begin revenue service on 2 March 2017, operating the Doha-Munich route. The aircraft will be piloted by Qatar Airways pilots and on-board service delivered by Qatar Airways cabin crew.
LATAM A350s feature 30 Business Class seats and 309 Economy Class seats, giving Qatar Airways the necessary capacity to meet growing demand. Qatar Airways-configured A350s offer 36 seats in Business Class and 247 seats in Economy Class.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: In order to meet growing demand for our services, Qatar Airways has entered into an agreement with LATAM Airlines Group to secure up to four A350 aircraft for up to one year. The A350, for which Qatar Airways was the global launch customer, is the most technologically advanced aircraft in the skies today. Thanks to our strong partnership with LATAM, we are able to meet increasing customer demand in the short term, in an innovative way.
Located in an upcoming neighborhood of the city, the restaurant aims to be a landmark for the regeneration of the old distressed urban tissue. Its approach is simple and clear, using natural materials and mixing them with the abundant greenery. Both architect and client agreed upon using design as a tool for reaching a particular atmosphere rather than aiming to enhance a certain type of image.
The space is designed as an urban oasis, a lush jungle enclosed in a concrete and steel frame. The green, vegetal component of the design comes to complete the concept of the restaurant, that serves a unique, exotic, round the world, fusion cuisine. The plants create a strong outdoor connection, at the same time defining a few private, secluded areas.
The materials used are raw, direct and uncomplicated. Concrete on the floor and the pillars, glazed ceramic tiles for the colored background layer, mirror on the walls and brass details all make up a perfect background for the marble and wooden furniture. All the different areas are the direct result of the functional scheme, a delicate balance between the higher, more strict perimetral sitting area and the middle , softer, more organic, fluid occupancy.
The space is treated uniformly with various different focal points, starting with the eight meter long marble bar with a mirror in the background and a light mint ceramic frame and continuing with the delicate exotic wall painting, that balances the fine constructed lines with the strong and abundent theme of the luxurious jungle. For more depth and perspective a mirror has been added next to the painting extending the artwork. The technical ceiling is apparent, continuing the straightforward, exposed approach of the entire design, painted in a rich, dark, deep green that ties the elements together.
The light is soft, and focused on the tables, with a few exceptions that highlight various focal points. The entire atmosphere is constructed to complete the culinary experience and to help immerse into the green, lush urban oasis.
The restaurant stretches on a surface of 180 sqm, with 74 seating places and it features, custom made furniture as well as ready to use pieces from brands such as Normann Copenhagen, Bolia, HK Living, Seletti and Hubsch. The open plan space allowed for a layered and sequential perspective, that creates depth and consistence.
Take a Design Tour of Kristalia with Architectours.it
Connect architects and interior designers with all aspects of Italys design scene
02/03/2017 -is a design tourism initiative whose purpose is to connect architects and interior designers with Italys leading manufacturers and companies. Rich in cultural heritage, Italy is noted as being the pioneering father of great furniture and industrial design, and is considered to be the largest open air design museum in the world. It boasts more than 25.000 design manufacturers, over 3400 museums, 2100 archaeological locations and parks, making it the ideal destination for discovering renowned furniture brands and historical, architecture sites.provides architects and interior designers with a view into Italys diverse creative and industrial output, with insights into the high-end industrial craftsmanship of companies such as that of Kristalia . Since 1994, the furniture brand has been defending its own notion of Made in Italy, working with the belief that by sharing the path that each piece of their furniture takes, clients will see the overall value of the work and have a better overview of the products they make.The excursion toincludes a visit to its new headquarters whose architecture is an extension of the companys key values: transparency and sustainability. These principles are evident through the way in which Kristalia approaches each of its projects from production processes to advertising and are physically expressed through the architecture of its production facilities. Designed by, Kristalias headquarters references the factory-villages, and so called farms, that are still found in regions of Italy; while recalling the companys early days as a glass producer, before it transitioned into furniture design. It is architecturally outfitted with a white envelope representative of snow and light, along with expansive glazing that offers panoramic views of the surrounding of trees and mountains, all at once providing a clean, airy environment for creativity, while blending harmoniously with its natural landscape setting.They lead creatives people through all phases of the design process that highly specializedworkers engage in from mechanical production to hand-made finishing to showroom presentation. They not only offer a better understanding of the types of skills and materials that reflect Kristalias design philosophy, its commitment to innovation and sustainability, and what makes it unique within the market, but also highlight the quality and care that is instilled into Italian production. A visit to Kristalia leaves you with a better of appreciation for how the company develops quality design pieces, expressing just what it means to be Made in Italy, and why it needs to be preserved.Architectours aims at helping creatives people discover places, artifacts, and brands withto major museums, corporate archives, showrooms, company headquarters, factories, and architectural sites. Our design tours are a great opportunity for meeting and networking with design protagonists, while getting a backstage look at the industry. They connect architects and interior designers with all aspects of Italys design scene.
YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan addressed a congratulatory message on the occasion of Diplomats Day, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.
The message reads:
Distinguished Diplomats,
I congratulate you on the occasion of Diplomats Day.
This year marks an anniversary since 25 years ago, on this very day Armenia joined the United Nations Organization, thus fulfilling our nations cherished aspiration to become a full-fledged member of the international community.
A quarter of a century ago, when Armenia had reappeared on the political map of the world, the link between our country and the outside world started to work first of all through our diplomats. It is no accident that this momentous day was declared and is celebrated traditionally as the Armenian Diplomats professional holiday.
There can be no doubt that the protection of the interests of the independent Armenia, which has a millennia-long history, rich traditions and culture, and those of her citizens is a huge responsibility. One of the peculiarities of the diplomatic service is often the invisibility of your work. Be assured that your work is visible to us and deserves respect.
Today too our country faces multiple challenges. In our efforts to withstand them, we anticipate and require much of you, our diplomats. Just like the Armenian troops on the borders, so are you abroad and as the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not relax even for a moment, always ready to counter all encroachments against our statehood and national interests.
The geopolitical realities around us have left their mark on our diplomatic service as well. Along with high professional requirements, maybe even more than in case of the diplomats of other countries, your work requires a boundless dedication and love for Fatherland. That is especially the case when you are representing a country which has to live under the conditions of war and blockade.
Armenia is a peace-loving country. We, Armenians have always struggled for the right to live on the land of our ancestors, so we know all too well the value of a peaceful life. Diplomats carry their great share of responsibility in ensuring conditions for our countrys peaceful and sustainable development. I am confident that you understand that responsibility and are ready to carry it with honor. I have no doubt that you will continue to represent our country, our viewpoints and approaches at the proper level and will through your active engagement make them more audible and perceptible at the international platforms, that you will continue to bring your considerable contribution to the strengthening of our countrys external security.
Distinguished Diplomats,
I congratulate you once again on the occasion of Diplomats Day and wish you limitless energy to fulfill in its best the mission entrusted to you. I also wish you new achievements for the benefit and advancement of our Fatherland.
YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community will organize a protest on the day of the arrival of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev to France, March 14, Co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF), ARF Bureau member Mourad Papazian told Armenpress.
Aliyev will meet with the President of France. We will organize a protest to denounce his visit to France, denounce the Aliyev regime, the militarization process of Azerbaijan, of course, also to support Artsakh and the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh, Mourad Papazian said.
According to him, everything is done to attract the attention of the media on the issue.
We have to do so that the media covers our initiative. The protest will be held in a place where usually a lot of people gather. We expect large-scale participation, Papazian said.
Azerbaijans president Aliyev will pay a two-day visit to France on March 14.
YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan fired 68 shells in the eastern (Akna) and north-eastern (Martakert) directions on March 2 from mortars and grenade launchers, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh.
The Azerbaijani side continued to violate the ceasefire regime today by firing 68 shells from different-caliber mortars and automated grenade launchers in the direction of the Defense Army positions in the eastern (Akna) and north-eastern (Martakert) directions of Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line.
Defense Army front line units took adequate counter-measures and silenced the adversarys aggressive activity.
The situation on the front line is currently relatively calm, reads the press release of the MoD Artsakh.
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A segregated New Mexico grade school built during the Jim Crow years was listed in the National Register of Historic Places during Black History Month, the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division announced today.
The Paul Laurence Dunbar Elementary School in Vado near the Mexico border was built in 1926, the same year the precursor of Black History Month was established as the second week of February in recognition of Abraham Lincolns birthday. The school in Vado was built during a period when white residents of Southern states especially Texas began moving to New Mexico, which subsequently adopted Jim Crow laws in 1925, nearly 50 years after they were established to segregate all public facilities in former Confederate states.
Most African American students in the South attended substandard, poorly built and over-crowded schools because of the laws. This was not the case in most of New Mexicos segregated communities.
Segregated schools in New Mexico built for African American Children were often solidly built, as indicated by the brick-and-concrete Dunbar School, said Steven Moffson, HPD State and National Register coordinator. In fact, state legislation from 1925 required classrooms and schools built for children of African descent be as good and well-kept as those used by pupils of Caucasian or other descent.
Segregation in New Mexico ended shortly after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, years before it was abolished nationally as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Most southern states did not desegregate their schools until 1970.
Bobbie J. Boyer attended the school from 19451954. She remembers the four-room school which held two grades in each classroom for its outstanding teachers and the principal, Gile B. Grimes, and the good, basic education she and other students received. Commemorating the school as a local landmark was the dream of her late husband, Roosevelt, and the Boyer family, which first came to New Mexico c. 1901 when Frank Boyer founded the short-lived agricultural community Blackdom north of Artesia.
So many black people came to New Mexico from southern states for a better life, she said. It is important to remember this school and that Vado was an all-black community when it was settled because not everything that happened to black people in history happened in the South.
Bobbie Boyer and the president of the Vado Historical Society, Johnny Holguin and his wife, Esty, actively pursued the nomination. Holguin graduated from the school in 1957, the final year schools were segregated in New Mexico. The school continues to be the communitys focal point, is used for many gatherings, and houses a local Head Start program. It also is the sole surviving public building in Vado.
The Dunbar school is a landmark in the history of segregation and in the history of African Americans in New Mexico, said Jeff Pappas, State Historic Preservation officer and HPD director. Were grateful to have had the opportunity to list this school in the State and National Register, not only for its important place in the state history but because it opens the door for other underrepresented communities to come forward with important buildings and other cultural resources to be recognized in the Registers.
The Dunbar School is among six surviving schools built during segregation, primarily in southern and eastern parts of the state. Alamogordo, Artesia, Carlsbad, Clovis, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Roswell, and Tucumcari also had segregated schools.
During Heritage Preservation Month in May, HPD and communities around the state will honor historic preservation achievements and identify future preservation initiatives. Achievements also will be recognized with awards presented by the State Cultural Properties Review Committee, which first listed the Dunbar School to the State Register in December.
The 2017 Preservation Month theme, Untold Stories: Cultural Diversity in New Mexico, will be interpreted on the 30th annual Preservation Month poster and in some of the 40 preservation month events that will be held statewide in May.
It
's generally foolish to look for clear thought and sincere intent in anything
says. But a glimmer of hope emerged in his Monday comments on America's recent military ventures. "We have to start winning wars again," he declared. "We've either got to win or don't fight it at all."
If he means it, he should make a firm decision about Afghanistan, where we have no prospect of victory and no appetite for what it would take even to gain the upper hand. In truth, we have already lost that war. It has gone on for more than 15 years, making it the longest conflict in our history. And we are further from victory today than when we arrived.
U.S. military officials, reports Reuters, acknowledge that the Kabul government controls only 60 percent of the nation's territory. The
, which we invaded the country to remove, controls some 15 percent, with the remainder contested. The Islamic State and
are also in the fight.
The stalemate is more or less a permanent fact of life.
turned his attention away from Afghanistan once he decided to invade Iraq, and his administration was content to stave off disaster.
mounted a surge, boosting the number of U.S. troops from about 30,000 to about 100,000 in his first two years, but by the time he left office, he had drawn them down to 8,400
.
Both presidents did essentially the same thing, refusing to escalate enough to achieve a lasting victory and refusing to leave. Their approach was to fight but not to win.
The question for Trump is whether to accept that reality and get out or deny it and stay. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, recently told a Senate committee that he needs "a few thousand" additional troops. But such a modest boost would amount to a holding action, at best.
"That a few thousand troops could somehow reverse the present situation and ensure progress toward victory is obviously a fantasy of the first order," wrote retired Air Force Lt. Col. William J. Astore in The American Conservative. A more ambitious escalation, however, would exceed what the vast majority of Americans would support.
The total bill for the war, including future costs for medical care for wounded veterans, is estimated at upward of $4 trillion. In his Tuesday address to Congress, Trump lamented that for the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, "we could have rebuilt our country twice."
Our presence and money should give our partners in Kabul an overwhelming advantage over the enemy. But as Menon wrote in The National Interest, we have yet to see "anything resembling an effective government with national reach and local purchase. Moreover, it has become less cohesive and more fractious."
Contrast that with the performance of Taliban forces which have been on the receiving end of thousands of American bombs and bullets yet have not only survived but gained ground.
The United States invaded in 2001 for a simple, specific purpose: to remove the Taliban regime and smash al-Qaida. After that task was done, the public lost interest. In the absence of broadly felt sacrifices in blood or treasure, Afghanistan was about as relevant to most of our lives as Bolivia. The war has been forgotten, and presidents have preferred that it remain that way.
In Boston, the five-year partnership will feature an annual program known as Leipzig Week in Boston, a celebration that includes lectures, archival exhibitions, musician visits, and orchestra and chamber music concerts devoted to the history and repertoire of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, one of Europes most storied ensembles. The BSO will be similarly featured during Boston Week in Leipzig.
As I indicated in yesterdays post, the Metropolitan Museum of Art* is in for a bit of a rough patchbut lets not overdo it (as some people have). The Mets exhibitions programits coreis still packed with excellent offerings. Great curators still want to work for the Metor will, once things settle down. It goes without saying that its collections are the best in the land.
But the Met has gone wrong in not playing to its strengths. Supposedly pulled by moneyed trustees who collect contemporary art andthis must be saiddefinitely by many critics and others in the media pushing in the same direction, Tom Campbell has tried to make the Met more contemporary.
Let me say right here that I have nothing against contemporary art: I like a lot of it.
But no one complains that the Louvre has missed the boat on contemporary art; no one says the Louvre cant expect to draw crowds unless it updates its offerings. In 2015, 8.6 million people visited the Louvre, even though there they dont even see Impressionism or other 19th century art (according to statistics compiled by The Art Newspaper). That is the province of the Musee dOrsay. And if in Paris you want to see contemporary art, you go to the Pompidou Center. It had 3 million visitors in 2015. The Orsay, by the way, had 3.4 million.
Likewise, no one says the National Gallery in London or the British Museum must move foursquare into contemporary. The National Gallery attracted 5.9 million people in 2015, and the British Museum 6.8 million. Both outdrew the Tate, with 4.7 million, just as here the Met (6.5 million) outdraws the Museum of Modern Art (3 million).
You can say that most of those visitors are tourists. Fair enough. And maybe some are going simply to see the Mona Lisa in Paris or the Raphaels, Titians, etc. at the National Gallery. But such people will always exist. And museums are not just about the numbersthey are also about the experience, the stimulation, the uplift, the internal, often inexpressible reaction that people have to great art. Yes, I know, museums are also socialbut they cant be only social experiences or they lose their raison detre (and maybe tax status).
Now Im not letting Tom Campbell off the hookif he was pushed by trustees, he also put many of those contemporary collectors on the museums board. He recruited them. (I cannot account for the media influence, but I am guessing it was far from nil.)
Board composition must therefore also be on the reform agenda. Many collectors still buy beyond contemporarysome collect contemporary AND. Let the Met find them and give them voice.
Which brings me to the subject of board leadership. Daniel Brodsky has been chair since 2011. At the time he was elected, he told The New York Times that he did not have a deep knowledge of art history or a favorite piece in the museums collection, although he prefers modern art.
He was also said to get along with everybody. Thats a great traituntil courageous action is required. It is, Ive been told, a reason Brodsky did not attempt to remove Campbell before now. If he had, some damage may have been avoided. And he had to be pushed, my sources say, mainly by Hamilton (Tony) James, the finance committee chair, to act now.
These are the people on the executive committee: Candace K. Beinecke; Russell L. Carson; Richard L. Chilton, Jr.; Jeffrey W. Greenberg; J. Tomilson Hill; Hamilton E. James; Bonnie J. Sacerdote; Alejandro Santo Domingo; Andrew M. Saul; James E. Shipp, and Lulu C. Wang. These are the people we will have to look to most to safeguard the Met.
Chilton, btw, heads the nominating committeeI hope they he will help recruit trustees who are not only contemporary collectors to the board.
But back to what the Met should do: New York is just as big a cornucopia for art as Paris or London. I believe the museums here should emphasize their uniqueness, not blur the lines among themso that the public does not where to expect what, where an exhibition of an artist is likely to be.
Museums thrive when they have distinct identities, not when they are shopping-mall mishmashes.
And what should the Met specialize in? Its a universal museum, for sure, and should remain so. It should not be specialize in periods as do the Louvre and the National Gallery. But perhaps it should specialize in what, for lack of a better word, can be called canonical art. Art, even art of today, that will most likely be considered as part of the canon 100 years from now. Does that mean it will not show some hot artists that get a show in Chelsea? Yes, it does. But it doesnt mean that it would not have shown Kerry James Marshall. He is likely to last.
The Met will miss some artists this waybut it already has and it always will. No curator is infallible, and neither can the Met be.
This doesnt mean that the Met will ossify. The Met can and should still have digital programs, for example. It should still devise innovative ways to show great art. It should still educate visitors and students. It can and should experiment. But lets rebalance. Lets move away from the idea that contemporary art is the only entry point for the masses. How elitist.
*I consult to a foundation that supports the Met.
Pedogate: UK Opens Massive Child Sex Slavery Inquiry
Reports of children shipped off to torture, rape and slavery
"I hope this inquiry can promote an understanding of the long-term consequences and suffering of those who were sexually abused."
"Many never recover and are permanently afflicted with guilt, shame, diminished self-confidence, low self-esteem, fear, and trauma."
A massive inquiry has just launched in the United Kingdom into historic cases of children being sent to other countries where they faced a life of "torture, rape, and slavery" at the hands of pedophile and child sex trafficking rings The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse opened by investigating as far back as the decades following the second world war looking at schemes that were set up to give vulnerable children a "new life".Thousands of children were sent to other counties in the Commonwealth, mainly Canada and Australia, with many being lost in the system and ending up child sex slavery.One of the witnesses, David Hill, was sent to Australia as a child and broke down ads he described the "endemic" sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a pedophile ring;Yahoo reports : The British Empire sent some 150,000 children abroad over 350 years, according to a 1998 parliamentary study, although the probe started Monday by looking at abuse of the practice after World War II.It was justified as a means of slashing the costs of caring for lone children and providing disadvantaged young people with a fresh start while meeting labor shortages in the Commonwealth and populating colonial-era lands with white British settlers.Between 1945 and 1970, youngsters were sent mainly to Australia, but also Canada, New Zealand and what is now Zimbabwe -- often without the consent of their families.But the promise of a good upbringing and an exciting new life in the sun was often, in reality, a world of forced labor, brutal treatment and sexual assault in remote institutions run by churches and charities."They sent us to a place that was a living hell," victim Clifford Walsh told the BBC.Oliver Cosgrove was sent to Australia in 1941, one of an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 children shipped there from 1922 to 1967."Those who were abused tried in vain to tell others, who they hoped and believed might assist them. But they didn't," his representative told the inquiry."This was a systematic and institutional problem."- 'Unacceptable depravity' -Aswini Weereratne, of the Child Migrants Trust which supports victims, said there was good evidence that Britain knew of the poor standards of care in Australian institutions but failed to respond."Some of what was done there was of quite unacceptable depravity. Terms like sexual abuse are too weak to convey it," she said."This was not about truly voluntary migration, but forced or coerced deportation."Some children were said to have suffered "torture, rape, and slavery," she added.Professor Stephen Constantine told the hearings that royal visits to such institutions legitimized them for people who saw the photographs, believing if it was good enough for the royal family, "it is good enough for us".The hearings are being held at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in London. The opening phase dealing with Australia is expected to last 10 days.The inquiry was established following the death of TV star Jimmy Savile in 2011, when it emerged he had been one of Britain's worst serial pedophiles, carrying out abuse unchecked in a range of public institutions.The inquiry will look at historic abuse in England and Wales, including in schools, hospitals, children's homes, local authorities, religious organizations, the BBC, the armed forces, and charities.It will also examine allegations involving famous people in politics and the media.The inquiry got off to a rocky start, with the first three chairs stepping down.Read more at: http://www.neonnettle.com/news/1939-pedogate-uk-opens-massive-child-sex-slavery-inquiry
If the masses truly understood what this small number of incredibly evil soulless perps were actually doing they would rise up in mass and hunt them down like rapid [rabid] animals.
Through their three separate secret nation-states the BTC runs most of world.
Right now, according to well placed deep cover inside sources, the Cabal has recognized this problem and is running numerous special emergency meetings in their think-tanks, non-profit foundations and NGOs on how to neutralize the Truther disclosures from the Internets massive number of Alternative Media websites that are truthfully exposing their major RICO crimes.
His latest article on the Babylonian Kabbalah has defined this secret Globalist NWO agenda that is hidden in plain sight extremely well.The Babylonian Talmudists Globalist NWO agenda has been seriously stressing our lives in almost every way possible.This Ruling Cabal that hijacked America is working hard to asset strip us of all our wealth and to destroy our Republic and Balkanize it and take into a continuing stream of wars for their personal profits.The Babylonian Talmudic Cabals final goal is to create Hell on Earth. So far they have been pretty successful doing this in many nations of the world they have brought major war to, especially in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. And they have done a bang up job mass-murdering lots of innocent Syrian women and children.The Babylonian Talmudic Cabal BTC (also known as the Khazarian Mafia KM) specializes in the Black Arts of the Darkside. This includes trauma-based mind-kontrol and soul-murder, covert assassinations of enemies of the BTC often unrecognized as such, and numerous evil human compromise operations often involving serving up young children to demented politicians and officials as blackmail bait., and buying up, bribing and human compromising almost every single elected and appointed official and large corporate Directors. When you can create all the money you want and need, it is quite easy to gain control over almost every single government.Once youve got control you can direct the society in the direction you want to produce massive drug addictions, out of control crime, major societal breakdown and war, all of which produces massive death, suffering and destruction which is the true secret goal of the Babylonian Talmudic Cabal (BTC).most of the world through its three key interlocked private nation-states (the City of London Financial District (COL), Washington DC, and the Vatican). This system is being used to attain a specific Globalist NWO Agenda for the BTC and it is all based on creating death, mass-death, massive bloodletting and horrific human suffering, all done to provide negative energy to their god Satan and the Darkside.The BTC is so evil that it is unfathomable to most folks who even if told just cannot fit this sinister reality into their heads. It is this lack of knowledge about who really runs the world and who they serve and the unmatched pure evil they do, that prevents the masses from rising up and repeating the purge of the French Revolution all over the world.So far the Internet is doing a pretty good job informing some the masses of this, but the process is slow and the majority of the populace will not believe the truth of all this unless it is christened and announced repeated on the evening Network world news. This is not a likely prospect because the nightly news is delivered by a CIA created six part News Cartel that is functioning as an illegal monopoly that must be broken up into a thousand pieces.Through their secret three part government, the BTC is working hard to implement age-old intergenerational secret satanic Agenda to create Hell on Earth and reduce the population by 90% in the first round of major destruction. Then they plan to replace humans with their own gene-spliced derivative that is combined with A.I. and mechanical bodies (e.g. a transhumanist agenda to combine clay and Iron). So far they were well on their way until the advent of the Internet, the New Gutenberg Press from which a strong populist uprising is emerging very rapidly, a great and unexpected concern of the BTC.The Vatican is the BTCs secret spiritual head; the COL is the BTCs secret financial head; and DC is the BTCs secret military and acquisition arm.This planned destruction is planned to include a 90% reduction of the worlds population by numerous sophisticated means including hard-kill of war and engineered crime, and various types of soft-kill including engineered toxic GMO food, toxic additives in vaccinations, fluoride in the water and various toxic chemicals sprayed in the skies.Advanced psychotronics can easily be weaponized by changing the specific frequencies and wave forms and used to create mass cancer, and various illness including instant death for many.such as the family, sex roles, basic right and wrong morality, all substituted for political correctness, diversity, relative morality, all kinds of strange unnatural new sex roles (the USG has now constructed a list of over fifty transsexual and intersexual roles acceptable for children and adults who have become confused).There has been a strong movement in the public schools and certain businesses to construct special transsexual lavatories by filing lawsuits against public school systems. The unexpected victory of Donald Trump due to an explosive emergence of massive populism has suddenly brought much of this program to create massive sex role confusion to a screeching halt.Who specifically are the folks that comprise the BTC. John Coleman MI-6 claimed that there were 300 families that ran the world. Some insiders who have left the BTC System have claimed it was an age old secret Satanic collection of a small number of families who date all the way back to ancient Babylonia. Others claim it is the Old Black Nobility families than secretly run the Vatican.The BTCs commitment is to create a new Satanic order of the ages, their NWO through the creation of massive chaos, death, suffering, disability and destruction. Only then do they believe that their Satanic NWO Kingdom will arise from the ashes. If necessary they will try to create a full scale nuclear WW3 while they hide underground in their hug network of over 140 Deep Underground Military bases (DUMBs). Once they have their NWO one -world system in final form they believe they will be made eternal gods by Satan.The number one characteristic and trademark of the Babylonian Talmudists that run the worldwide BTC through their Fiat banking is their extreme duplicity. Anyone who climbs upward in their system must be skilled at projecting this duplicity and two-faced behavior, acting good on the outside, while secretly incredibly evil beyond imagination on the inside.to lie and wrongly attack healthy political movements and populist media appearing on the Internet, calling it Fake News. The BTCs Controlled Major Mass Media (CMMM) is of course completely controlled by their agent of control and chaos, the CIA.A great recent example of this extreme duplicity is reflected in the almost constant recent accusations broadcast by the CMMM as if it were a factual given that the Russian hacked the DNC emails and manipulated the election making Ms. Clinton lose and that the Russians attacked and invaded Crimea and are the aggressors in the Ukraine.These are blatant lies and yet the CMMM persists in broadcasting this duplicitous propaganda of the Babylonian Talmudic Satanic cabal that hijacked America in 1913.Despite what traitorous Senators John McCain and (light on his loafers and still closeted) Lindsay Graham espouse continually, its an easily provable fact that the secret mercenary army of ISIS was created by the CIA, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. The USG constantly accuses Assad and Iran of creating this, when it is actually the BTC.to be told the truth about this, and the Controlled Major Mass Media (CMMM) broken up and prevented from continuing to advance the BTCs blatant lies and misrepresentations.This complete duplicity because the real Fake News is their own Controlled Major Mass media (CMMM) comprised of six subordinate Media Conglomerates joined at the hip and run by a large investment house based in Switzerland. Some insiders claim this investment house that claims to be on the vanguard of investments is a derivative of the Knights Templar.The CMMM is blaming the Internet and accusing it of being fake news, when actually it is just the opposite, the CMMM itself is the fake news. And it became the fake news soon after the BTCs City of London Zionist private Central Banksters hijacked the American money creation and distribution system in 1913 with the passage of their Federal Reserve Act.The Federal Reserve System (FRS) is not a bank, nor a reserve, nor is it any kind of USG agency at all. And it has never been audited and issues as much fiat money as desired, enough to secretly pay off any politician or foreign banking system it desires.The BTCs FRS is the operational root cause of all the Babylonian Talmudic Satanic evil that has been unleashed on America and so much of the world. Its handiwork is a continuing progression of illegal, undeclared, unconstitutional, unwinnable, perpetual wars.Right from the very start in 1913, the FRS was set up to engulf the whole world in a web of debt, alter to become morphed into a worldwide debt-bomb designed to destroy ever society when it crashed as deigned. It appears we are now rapidly approaching that end point._________and you love the works of evil and all the earthly rewards it can provide at other peoples cost and their very lives, you will be pleased with what the Babylonian Talmudic Cabal (BTC) has planned for America and the world. Otherwise you are going to be very, very unhappy and should be quite motivated to work to expose their evil, satanic Globalist NWO Agenda and stop it cold.It has taken a while for the Ruling Cabal to figure out that the Internet is the new Gutenberg Press and has dealt them serious damage by creating a strong, widespread American populism.Many if not most of their Psyops and covert ops against the American People and the American Republic have been completely exposed on the Internet to many millions in America and all over the world. You can imagine the BTCs concern right now and why they are working hard in special emergency consultations to try and capture this tiger.and may be impossible. Pandoras box has been opened and is unlikely to ever be closed again, the genie has been let out of the bottle and can never be put back in it. Stopping the Alternative Media on this Internet is no easy project and their best bet is to institute intermittent censorship and blockage.If it were to become too widespread, serious backlash, even a major American revolt could occur at all levels, even inside DC, the military and the Intel agencies too. Some insiders are now claiming that there is a huge split and rebellion inside the NSA and other Intel agencies, with some who are making sure everything is going to be leaked, including all secret phone calls and email between top corrupt politicians.And the Cabal has induced some of their associates who control major Internet search engines or social media to start censoring certain Truthers.Time will determine the outcome to this battle for our very Republics continued existence and our very lives which are now being seriously threatened by the Cabal. Hopefully Americans will continue to wake up and take their Republic back from the Babylonian Talmudic Satanists who hijacked America in 1913 and who have proceeded to asset-strip our wealth, and destroy our language, borders and culture.
I don't know how many young women come to this blog or how many are parents of teenage or young adult women, but here are some safety tips from Kelsey's Army:
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1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.Remember the acronym TIPS:ake Chargenform others of your whereaboutsrepare for any situationurvival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen)For more information, go to Kelsey's Army
Bhatt filed a complaint at the Juhu Police Station on Wednesday under section 387 after he received the call.
According to reports, Mahesh Bhatt will produce 'Aashiqui 3' with Alia in the lead.
Mumbai: After the underworld plot to kill Mahesh Bhatt few years back, a caller this time threatened to kill his daughter Alia and wife Soni Razdan.
Mahesh Bhatt filed a police complaint on Wednesday after he received an extortion call from a man, who demanded Rs 50 lakhs from Bhatt and threatened to kill Alia and Razdan, if he failed to meet the demand.
Fearing for the safety of his family, Bhatt filled a complaint at the Juhu Police Station on Wednesday under section 387 (causing a person to fear death or grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion).
Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said, "Offence under the section for extortion is registered at Juhu police station. The anti-extortion cell is investigating the offence. As of now no arrest has been made in connection with the offence, but investigation is going on progressively."
The filmmaker later took to Twitter on Thursday, confirming that there was indeed an extortion call and threat to his family, but it was resolved jointly by the Maharashtra Police and Uttar Pradesh Police. He thanked the police teams with Gratitude.
The call was first made on February 26 and the caller provided details of his bank account to transfer the money. The caller, named Sandeep Sahu and aged 24, was reportedly traced to Uttar Pradesh and has been detained.
Though she has expressed she will never run for President, 'recent events' may just have changed her mind.
Oprah Winfrey will lend her voice for the film 'The Star' that releases this year.
Washington D.C.:Though, in the past, Oprah Winfrey has expressed she will never run for President, but, the 'recent events' may just have changed her mind.
The television mogul, in a recent interview at The David Rubenstein Show, said that the recent events have forced her to reconsider running for President one day, reports E! Online.
"I actually never considered the question even a possibility. I just thought, 'Oh!'," she said.
She continued, "Oh, gee, I don't have the experience, I don't know enough, I don't know.' And now I'm thinking, 'Oh!'"
Oprah's ability to connect with the people and surrogate their thoughts is considered to be one of the biggest reasons for her to join politics.
On a related note, she also shared the reasons that took 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' to the top: "My skill comes not from my interviewing ability; my skill comes from my listening ability and my skill comes from me knowing fundamentally inside myself that I am no different than the audience."
For the uninitiated, Oprah Winfrey hosted the 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' for 25 years and covered women's issues, relationships, celebrities, current events, social issues and global perspectives.
High-level government visits between the two countries have also taken place during the current tenure of the Modi government.
New Delhi: In November last year, when Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking in his presence had commented, As fellow democracies, our people are our biggest strength and the biggest beneficiaries of a strong India-Israel partnership. The 2000-year-old Jewish community in India represents a thriving link to this past. Today, it is a vital part of our composite cultural mosaic that continues to thrive in their traditions. We are proud of the Jewish community in India. Mr Modi had further said, Two and a half decades of our friendship has brought rich dividends for both our nations. It has also strengthened voices of peace, stability and democracy globally. Mr Modi will himself be visiting Israel this summer, in what will be a keenly-watched visit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also likely to visit India by the end of this year. The two nations on Tuesday unveiled a logo in the capital to mark 25 years of diplomatic ties.
For two countries that began their journeys as independent democracies at roughly about the same time and being two ancient civilisations the Indian and Jewish, it may come as a surprise to many on why full-fledged diplomatic ties were established just 25 years ago. Much of it has to do with the paths the two countries chose about the middle of the 20th century. India had attained Independence in 1947 after a painful Partition wherein Pakistan was carved out on the basis of religion. In the Middle East, a year later in 1948, Israel was formed as a Jewish state, which the Jawaharlal Nehru government recognised in 1950. But Indias strong and vocal support to the Palestinian cause ensured that Indo-Israeli ties were frosty. The Cold War between the US and the then USSR also had a role to play in this. New Delhi, though a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, had a rather pronounced pro-Soviet tilt in its foreign policy while Israel remained a strong ally of the United States. Nevertheless, the Nehru government permitted Israel to open a consulate in Mumbai in 1953 where consular services were offered. There was then a large Indian Jewish community both in Mumbai and Kochi, Kerala, from where many Jews wished to emigrate to Israel.
During the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, Indo-Israeli diplomatic contacts remained minimal while ties between India and the Arab world flourished. But things began to change in the early 1990s. The insurgency in Kashmir fuelled by Pakistan meant that some of the countries in the Islamic world began to sharply criticise New Delhi. It was then that public opinion began to grow in favour of stronger ties with Israel. At about the same time, from 1989-91, the right-wing BJP that now rules India and which was until then a small player on the national political scene began to make huge electoral gains and also argued vocally for strong ties with the Jewish state. In that milieu, it was the Congress government at the Centre led by P.V. Narasimha Rao that took the gigantic foreign policy leap of establishing full-fledged diplomatic ties with Israel on January 29, 1992. But at the turn of the century, during the earlier NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee, the ties really began to take off. In 2003, then Israeli PM Ariel Sharon visited India in a landmark visit.
The most significant aspect of ties at this time was the start of the defence cooperation between the two countries that has seen India acquire weaponry and defence equipment from Israel worth billions of dollars in the past 15 years. The cooperation includes weaponry and platforms such as surface-to-air precision-missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, drones and sophisticated avionics systems for Indias eye in the sky AWACS. But given the strategic nature of the acquisitions, its one aspect that the Israelis refuse to discuss publicly.
But there are other aspects to the ties as well. As Mr Modi himself put it last November: We are familiar with Israels advances in agriculture, and its expertise in micro-irrigation in drought-prone areas and water management. We have identified water management and conservation, and collaboration in scientific research and development as two areas of priority engagement... Israeli companies can scale up their tie-ups with our flagship schemes of Make in India, Digital India, Skill India and Smart Cities... Indian and Israeli companies can also work together in high-technology manufacturing, and services sectors... and as President Rivlin told me in our discussion, Make with India can generate jobs and benefit both geographies... IT service is an area where our partnership can make a difference for both our economies. The two sides had also inked two pacts to strengthen cooperation in agriculture and water resources management.
During this visit last November, India and Israel also decided to broad-base their already close defence partnership and agreed to intensify cooperation in combating radicalism and extremism while calling for tough global action against terror networks and states harbouring them. Both countries have suffered the scourge of terrorism, sometimes jointly. During the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, carried out by Pakistani terrorists, a Jewish Centre was also attacked and an Israeli couple was killed there. A few years later, in February 2012, a terrorist suspected to be from a West Asian country, attacked the vehicle of the wife of an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi, injuring her, before fleeing the scene. After the Indian Armys surgical strikes on terror launchpads in PoK last year, Mr Modi was quoted in October 2016, as saying in Himachal Pradesh, Our Armys valour is being discussed across the country these days. We used to hear earlier that Israel has done this. The nation has seen that the Indian Army is no less than anybody. The comment underlined Mr Modis personal admiration for the achievements of the Jewish state, particularly in fighting against terror.
High-level government visits between the two countries have also taken place during the current tenure of the Modi government. Israeli defence minister Moshe Yaalon visited India in February 2015, while external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj visited the Jewish state in January 2016. But more importantly, the close nature of ties was seen again when India in July 2015 abstained from voting on resolutions at the UN in Geneva, which supported a probe by the International Criminal Court against Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza. However, in an obvious balancing act, India had argued that there is no change in New Delhis long-standing position on support to the Palestinian cause, with New Delhi claiming Indias continued political, diplomatic and developmental support to Palestine.
ABVP had also organised a Tiranga march on Monday, to invoke nationalist sentiments on the campus.
ABVP had also organised a Tiranga march on Monday, to invoke nationalist sentiments on the campus. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: A Save DU march by RSS youth wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) began in New Delhi on Thursday, to counter a similar march by Left-wing student organisations on Tuesday.
Nearly 2000 ABVP members are participating in the protest, said reports. Posters at the protest site spanned from freedom of expression, extolling nationalism and call for respect to standing up against anti-nationals. Some called for an end to Naxalism, while others urged people to stop respected those who are less educated.
Chants of Bharat mein rehna hoga, Vande Mataram kehna hoga (If you want to live in India, you will have to say Vande Mataram) and Kashmir ho ya Guwahati, apna desh apni maati (Whether it is Kashmir or Guwahati, this is the soil of India) rent the air as protesters began their march.
Alarmingly, some protesters also asked for traitors to be shot dead.
Grisly images of killings purportedly caused by Left-wing extremists in Kerala and West Bengal were also put up on hoardings, said reports.
The march began from the Arts Faculty in North Campus and passed through Vishwavidyalaya Metro station, Miranda College, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Ramjas College, and Law Faculty. It will culminate at a Swami Vivekananda statue.
Heavy security was deployed outside Delhi Universitys North Campus before the protests began today.
ABVP had also organised a Tiranga march on Monday, to invoke nationalist sentiments on the campus.
All this comes in the backdrop of unrest in Delhi University, following disruption of an event themed "Cultures of Protest" at Ramjas College, at which JNU student Umar Khalid was supposed to be a speaker. Last week, AISA and the ABVP engaged into a scuffle over cancellation of Khalid's talk. The ABVP also rejected allegations of molestation of girl students, and instead claimed that AISA members had assaulted its female cadre.
However, the leadership of the ABVP suspended two members for allegedly strangulating AISA supporters.
The AISA will hold a similar protest on March 4, said reports.
The party has also asked the Election Commission to deploy paramilitary forces at booths in sensitive areas.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has written to the Election Commission demanding deployment of women police officials at booths during the sixth and seventh phases of polling in Uttar Pradesh to check the voter IDs of burqa-clad women.
The motive is to avoid bogus voting, the party said.
"A large number of burqa-clad women cast their votes, hence proper checking of IDs is important to avoid bogus voting," the letter read.
The BJP has also asked for the deployment of paramilitary forces at polling booths in sensitive areas for the remaining two phases.
All political parties are making efforts to woo the voters in poll-bound areas for the sixth phase.
49 constituencies spread over seven districts of Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau and Ballia will go to polls in this phase on Saturday.
Sanjay Raut on Monday had said it is strange that BJP can enter into an alliance with the PDP, which backed terrorist Afzal Guru.
Mumbai: Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena on Thursday said the saffron party should come forward and speak on its alliance in the BMC rather than making such statements.
"Who is allying with the Congress? The BJP says the one who is going with the Congress is indecent. So, does joining hands with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir is equal to being pure?" Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI.
"BJP does not have the right to make such statements. Today politics is extremely polluted, as everyone is busy playing the blame game," he added.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena has begun preparation to herd all its corporators to an undisclosed location, said reports.
The move is said to be underway to ensure that the BJP does not poach any of its corporators, to swell its ranks and reach the majority mark of 114 following the BMC polls.
The party also held a meeting of its senior ministers to chart out its political strategy, in case the relationship between the two parties deteriorate further.
The Sena was alarmed after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the political situation in the state, reports said.
Taking a jibe at Fadnavis over his statement that the BJP would never join hands with the Congress, Raut on Monday said it is strange that the saffron party can enter into an alliance with the PDP, which called a terrorist like Afzal Guru as martyr.
"The BJP has allied with Mehbooba Mufti's PDP, which called a terrorist like Afzal Guru as freedom fighter and martyr, but, is facing problem in entering into an alliance with the Congress under whose governance Afzal Guru was sentenced to be hanged for being a terrorist," Raut told ANI.
His response came after Fadnavis said the BJP won't enter into an alliance with the Congress at any point or at any cost.
"Whoever wants to go with them can go, the BJP won't say a single word," he said.
The Shiv Sena won 84 seats in the BMC polls, while the BJP won 80. 114 seats are needed for a majority.
This was the first time in over a decade that any government has overhauled the entire weapon system of security forces in the Valley.
Tavor assault rifles, known for reliability and Glock 17 pistols, known for high rate of fire.
New Delhi: The Centre has given a major push to equip the Army and central paramilitary forces with advanced weapons and equipment in anticipation of increased militant activity in Kashmir valley in summer.
Intelligence agencies have hinted that militant activity may reach an all-time high this summer, people familiar with the matter said. This was the first time in over a decade that any government has overhauled the entire weapon system of security forces deployed in the Valley, the people said.
They said the first consignment of lightweight bulletproof vests which has been a longstanding demand of the security forces and mine and bulletproof vehicles, lightweight rocket launchers (shoulder mounted), Tavor assault rifles and rapid-fire Glock 17 pistols have already reached the Valley. The next lot is expected in the next few weeks.
H&K MP-5 sub-machine gun, known for low recoil
In the next batch, the security forces would be armed with H&K MP-5 sub-machine guns (known for low recoil), sniper rifles, improved communication gadgets and special boots which can sustain an improvised explosive device blast.
People familiar with the matter said this was a major initiative by the Centre in its fight against terror in the Valley, and the entire equipment will be delivered to security personnel before the onset of summer.
The Centre is still exploring possibilities of procuring non-lethal weapons for crowd control, although the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force has already said it was planning to use a modified version of the pellet guns. These guns allegedly inflicted severe eye injuries to protesters in the Valley last year.
While we want to insulate protesters from any major injuries, there will be major crackdown against militants in the summer months, said a security officer who did not want to be named.
Intelligence reports already suggest that militants are planning major offensive in the Valley. Even last year the infiltration attempts were at an all-time high, the officer said. The new weapons will also be given to forces deployed along the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan.
Apart from better equipment, security forces, particularly paramilitary forces, have been told that their personnel should get the best available quality food.
The commanding officers have been asked to check and taste the food before it is served to soldiers. Recently, Border Security Force constable Tej Bahadur posted a video on social media that showed poor quality food given to soldiers.
If stopped by the police during their 'Delhi Kooch', the Jats would lay siege and block all the major highways leading to Delhi.
New Delhi: Demanding quota in education and jobs, thousands of Jats from northern states including Haryana today gathered at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and threatened to block major highways leading to the national capital.
They said they would also stage a gherao of the Parliament building during their 'Delhi Kooch' (march to Delhi).
Accusing the BJP-led governments at the Centre and Haryana of being "insensitive" to their demand of reservation under OBC category, president of Akhli Bhartiya Jat Arakashan Sangharsh Samiti Yashpal Malik said that it was necessary to take a "big decision to wake the government up from its slumber".
"On March 20, all the Jats riding their tractors and small vehicles and carrying at least 10-day ration will marchtowards Delhi on the highways from the neighbouring states," he said.
If stopped by the police during their 'Delhi Kooch', the Jats would lay siege and block all the major highways leading to the national capital.
The Jats will camp at the borders of Delhi, and later hold a gherao of the Parliament, Malik said.
Thousands of Jats from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand and also from the city, in their vehicles, trouped towards the Jantar Mantar for 'Jat Nyay Dharna', disrupting traffic in New Delhi area and border points.
The dharna, led by Malik and other Sangharsh Samiti leaders, culminated in a march towards Parliament which forced the Delhi Traffic Police to close the Parliament Street.
Heavy traffic was witnessed on several roads including Ashoka Road.
The Sangharsh Samiti leaders also submitted their seven-point charter of demands at the offices of the President and the Prime Minister.
Later, the protesters courted arrested at the Parliament Street police station and insisted that the numbers of those arrest be given in writing.
They dispersed after a police officer announced that a total of 50,000 Jat protestors have courted arrest.
The Sumgait pogroms were the culmination of years of vicious anti-Armenian propaganda, spread by the Azerbaijani authorities, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff said on Wednesday in a statement commemorating the 29th anniversary of the massacres of Armenians.
March 2, 2017, 11:33 Schiff: Sumgait massacres result of anti-Armenian propaganda spread by Azerbaijan
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 2, ARTSAKHPRESS:Rep. Schiffs full statement is below:
Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the pogrom against the Armenian residents of the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. 29 years ago Azerbaijani mobs assaulted and killed their Armenian neighbors. When the violence finally subsided, hundreds of Armenian civilians had been brutally murdered and injured, women and young girls were raped, and victims were tortured and burned alive. Those that survived the carnage fled their homes and businesses, leaving behind everything they had in their desperation.
The pogroms were the culmination of years of vicious anti-Armenian propaganda, spread by the Azerbaijani authorities. The Azerbaijani authorities made little effort to punish those responsible, instead attempting to cover up the atrocities in Sumgait to this day, as well as denying the role of senior government officials in instigating the violence. Unsurprisingly, it was not the end of the violence, and was followed by additional attacks, including the 1990 pogrom in Baku.
The Sumgait massacre and the subsequent attacks on ethnic Armenians, resulted in the virtual disappearance of a once thriving population of 450,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan, and culminating in the war launched against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. That war resulted in thousands dead on both sides and created over one million refugees in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Time has not healed the wounds of those murdered in the pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. To the contrary, hatred of Armenians is celebrated in in Azerbaijan, a situation most vividly exemplified by the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army captain who savagely murdered an Armenian army lieutenant, Gurgen Margaryan with an axe while he slept. The two were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise at the time in Hungary. In 2012, Safarov was sent home to Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Instead, he was pardoned, promoted, and paraded through the streets of Baku as a returning hero.
The assault on ethnic Armenian civilians in Sumgait helped touch off what would become a direct conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. And today, Azerbaijans dangerous behavior on the Line of Contact threatens peace and stability in the region. Artillery and sniper fire across the Line of Contact has become a fact of daily life for civilians in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, causing numerous casualties. In April of last year, Azerbaijan launched its most aggressive attack in many years, resulting in the loss of many lives over the course of three days of intense fighting.
Along with other Members of Congress, I have consistently called for a direct international response to Azerbaijans aggressive behavior through deployment of international monitors and technology to monitor ceasefire violations. Azerbaijans continued rejection of these simple steps speaks volumes, but I believe they should not prevent the installation of these technologies within Nagorno-Karabakh. The anniversary of Sumgait is a reminder of the consequences when aggression and hatred is allowed to grow unchecked.
Mr. Speaker, this April we will mark the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, an event the Turkish government, Azerbaijans closest ally, goes to great lengths to deny. We must not let such crimes against humanity go unrecognized, whether they occurred yesterday or 29 years ago or 100 years ago. Today, let us pause to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Sumgait pogroms. Mr. Speaker, it is our moral obligation to condemn crimes of hatred and to remember the victims, in hope that history will not be repeated."
K Chandrawat also said that since CPI(M) had 'killed' 300 RSS workers, 'we will make Mother India wear 3 lakh human skulls'.
Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader K Chandrawat on Thursday said that he would offer Rs 1 crore reward to anyone who beheads Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
"I have enough property. I have more than one crore houses. If someone brings me the head of Vijayan, I will give my houses and properties to him. Such traitors do not have any right to live in this nation. Such traitors don't have any right to murder democracy. Did you forget Godhra? 56 were killed. You have killed 300 workers. We will make Mother India wear three lakh human skulls. Listen to this Leftists," he said while addressing a public gathering in Ujjain.
He also said, We sent 2000 to the graveyard, referring to the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.
#WATCH RSS Mahanagar Prachar Pramukh of Ujjain Kundan Chandrawat says, he'll reward the person who brings him Kerala CM P.Vijayan's head pic.twitter.com/yiBwWs6ftF ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2017
Chandrawat, however, later said that it was his personal opinion, adding he intended to send a message that the Hindu community is not "sleeping".
"It's my personal view. Gave explosive statement just like Bhagat Singh used bomb on British. They must know Hindus aren't sleeping," Chandrawat told the media.
Vijayan, however, downplayed Chandrawat's threatening remark against him and said the right-wing group has taken heads of several people.
"Sangh Parivar has taken heads of several people. But we have to move on, right?" he asked.
Meanwhile, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury called his statement "outrageous."
"This is completely outrageous and unacceptable. We very severely condemn this. An elected Chief Minister of state is being threatened so openly by the RSS is an indication of one fact that the RSS enjoys the patronage and protection of the Central Government because of that they are unleashing their politics of violence and threat without any control or scruples. This cannot be tolerated," Yechury told ANI.
He said the manner in which the RSS was threatening a state's Chief Minister shows they enjoy the central government's protection and patronage.
The Congress vice-president also hit out at the Prime Minister for making false promises and misleading the poor farmers.
Varanasi: Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the former is so obsessed with himself that he would cast himself as the hero and producer if he makes any film.
"When any film is being made, then Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan are the actors or actresses in it but if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would make any film then he will be the actor as well as the producer of it," Gandhi said at a rally in Varanasi.
Continuing his tirade against the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "Narendra Modi says that 'Ganga Maa' has called him from Gujarat. I would like to ask him whether 'Ganga Maa' has only one son."
The Congress vice-president also hit out at the Prime Minister for making false promises and misleading the poor farmers.
"The Prime Minister said that he would waive off farmers' loans if he wins the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections which is a lie. He tries to build relations on the basis of his fake promises," Gandhi said.
Gandhi yesterday while addressing a rally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh cornered Prime Minister Modi and alleged that the latter works only for capitalists and overlooks poor farmers.
"The farmer, who grows crops, could not get advantage out of it. Modi ji did not help farmers. He broke his promises. He has forgiven debts of 50 families in the last two and half years. He works only for the rich people of the country and does nothing for the youth and farmers," Gandhi said at rally in Kushinagar.
Campaigning for the sixth phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has reached its peak and all political parties are making efforts to woo the voters.
Forty nine constituencies spread over seven districts of Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau and Ballia will go to polls in this phase on Saturday.
Jaitley also accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive.
Varanasi: Referring to the recent unrest on the campus of Ramjas College in Delhi University, where AISA and ABVP students clashed with each other, Union Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley on Thursday said nationalism is a bad word only in India.
"Nationalism is a good word, ye toh kewal iss desh mein hai ki rashtravad bura shabd hai," he said according to ANI.
A few other politicians have also made themselves heard in ongoing debate on nationalism against free speech.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had jumped in to support student group ABVP, saying, I support freedom of expression within legal restrictions.
Left leader Sitaram Yechury retorted to Parrikars remarks, saying What defines legal restrictions of the Defence Minister? His whims and fancies? Restrictions are defined by our constitution.
Also, Haryanas outspoken Minister Vij had on Wednesday said those who are supporting Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur for her campaign against the ABVP, were pro-Pakistan and should be thrown out of the country.
"It is very wrong and condemnable that Gurmehar has tried to do politics over her father's martyrdom," Vij, a five-time MLA, told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing state Assembly session.
Jaitley also accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive and said that it did not have any impact on the economy's growth rate.
Addressing a press conference in Varanasi, Jaitley hailed the Central Government's demonetisation move, saying this had won the confidence of many people.
Throwing light on the current GDP rate, the Finance Minister asserted that the opposition was spreading lies about demonetisation.
Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "Once the party attains victory in UP polls then this will prove that people have accepted PM Modi's demonetisation drive."
Varanasi goes to polls in the last of the seven-phase assembly election in Uttar Pradesh on March 8.
Uttar Pradesh is voting in seven phases, four of which is completed. Counting of votes will take place on March 11.
Speaking in Kochi, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said there is 'no room in India for the intolerant Indian'.
Kochi (Kerala): Weighing in on the recent violence between Left-wing organizations and RSS student wing ABVP on the Delhi University campus, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said there is "no room in India for the intolerant Indian".
Delivering a lecture on 'India at 70' today in Kerala's Kochi, President Mukherjee said
India has always been a "bastion of free thought, speech and expression". Freedom
of speech and expression is also enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right,
he added.
"There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," the President opined.
Mukherjee said that 'when we brutalise a woman, we wound a civilisation's soul', probably referring to the rape threats against martyr Gurmehar Kaur for taking an anti-ABVP stand.
"The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children," Mukherjee added.
However, he said that those in eminent universities "must engage in reasoned
discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest".
"The time has come for collective efforts to rediscover the sense of national purpose and patriotism," the President added, exhorting the youth to love their country.
"It is tragic to see students being caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet. The temples of learning must be places of creativity and free thinking," Mukerjee said.
The submarines are designed by French company DCNS and are being built by Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai.
A file photo of a Scorpene class Kalvari submarine during trials. An anti-ship missile was test-fired for the first time from an indigenously built submarine of the same make.
New Delhi: The Indian Navy Thursday successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile for the first time from the indigenously built Scorpene class INS Kalvari submarine, substantially enhancing its sub-surface warfare prowess.
The missile made a direct hit on the target somewhere in the Arabian Sea. Besides INS Kalvari, all the five Scorpene class diesel-electric attack submarines being built under Project 75 will be equipped with the anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat.
The submarines are designed by French company DCNS and are being built by Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai.
In another development, three newly-developed weapon locating radars of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and deployed for the past couple of months on the Line of Control on a trial basis, have proved their worth in gold having stopped the use of heavy artillery from the Pakistani side.
Just after the surgical strike on the intervening night of September 28-29, when Pakistani snipers hit our soldiers, we also hit back with sniper firing, a top defence ministry source told this newspaper.
That is when they resorted to heavy use of artillery guns, which created mayhem in our civilian areas, often leading to casualties. So we decided to deploy these three WLRs on the LoC on a trial basis. And it has been a very successful move with Pakistani artillery firing having been stopped, the source said.
On Thursday, state-owned DRDO handed over the WLR to the Indian Army that will be produced under technology transfer pacts by Bharat Electronics Ltd.
While four are already in existence, the Army has asked for 30 more such radars.
After meeting the Armys requirement, we may even export it to other countries, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said.
The radar gives the exact location of the enemys firing position and feeds the coordinates to the friendly artillery systems, which fire at the exact spot, giving less reaction time to the adversary. All this takes about two-three minutes.
RSS was quick to distance itself from the remarks.
Ujjain/New Delhi/Kochi: An RSS functionary announced on Thursday a Rs 1 crore bounty for beheading Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, sparking an uproar and drawing condemnation from the CPI(M), the Congress as well as the Sangh.
The CM dismissed the threat, saying such calls would not prevent him from travelling around, while Keralas ruling CPI(M) and Opposition Congress sought the arrest of the RSS functionary for his comments.
Kundan Chandravat, RSS Sah Prachar Pramukh in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain, announced the reward to avenge the killing of its workers in Kerala, allegedly by CPI-M workers.
Kerala has been witnessing a series of political clashes between BJP-RSS cadres and those from the ruling CPI(M), especially in the northern Kannur district from where CM Vijayan hails, for a long time. Both parties have blamed each other for the cycle of violence, which has claimed several lives on both sides.
The Kerala CM is killing our RSS workers who want to take this country forward. I will pay Rs 1 crore to anyone who beheads him even if I have to sell my house to pay for it, he was seen saying in a video, which went viral.
300 innocent people (belonging to RSS) have been killed but the Kerala CM has turned a blind eye to it, he claimed at the function.
Is there no courage in the blood of Hindus?, he asked.
RSS was quick to distance itself from the remarks. The RSS strongly condemns such statements.
The Sangh does not believe in violence. But we will continue to protest against attacks on our workers in Kerala in a democratic and peaceful manner, the organisations national Sah Prachar Pramukh J. Nandakumar said in Delhi. He said he does not know who Chandravat is.
In Kochi, CM Vijayan told reporters, Sangh Parivar has chopped off heads of many. That wont prevent us from travelling around.
Later in a Facebook post, he said he rejected the threat with contempt. I dismiss with contempt the kolaveli (murder call) of RSS, he said.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted that Mr Chandravats comments revealed the true colours of RSS as a terrorist outfit.
Mr Yechury also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government over the remarks. The silence of the government is an endorsement that emboldens RSS to issue such obnoxious threats, the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.
The President then sought an advisory opinion from the apex court, which in 2016 held that the law as illegal.
New Delhi: The 15-year-old Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal row between Haryana and Punjab took a new turn on Thursday with the Supreme Court agreeing to decide whether its advisory opinion to the President, that the law passed by Punjab in 2004 is illegal, is binding on Punjab or not.
The Supreme Court in 2002 and 2004 passed orders directing Punjab to implement the SYL water agreements. Punjab, however, passed a law in 2004 to terminate the agreements. The President then sought an advisory opinion from the apex court, which in 2016 held that the law as illegal.
During the resumed hearing of the case before a Bench of Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitav Roy, senior counsel R.S. Suri for Punjab made it clear that the advisory opinion is not binding on the Punjab government. The 2004 law still existed and unless it is quashed, Punjab cannot implement the SYL canal project. He also maintained that it is impossible to implement the January 15, 2002 decree on construction of SYL canal project for a length of 121 km, when there is no adequate water to share with Haryana.
The counsel said the construction of the Canal for transferring Ravi-Beas water to the western Yamuna canal is impossible in the given circumstances of political unrest in Punjab.
In one of his rallies, the Prime Minister had earlier mocked the Congress vice-president for his coconut comment.
New Delhi: Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking party vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his Imphal address, the Congress has called on the former to get his facts straight before taking jibes.
"Modi ji has become an expert in comments and jokes; only if he clearly watches Rahul Gandhi's speech he will know the truth and not make funny comments again. If Modi is really interested in cracking jokes then I will tell Navjot Singh Sidhu to give him a side role in Kapil Sharma's show," Randeep Surjewala told ANI here in a clear reference to the 'coconut' gaffe that ensued post Gandhi's address.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Prime Minister got a quote wrong while speaking at a rally in Maharajganj, where Modi mocked a certain Rahul Gandhi asking his supporters if they have ever heard of anything called coconut juice.
"Yesterday he (a Congress politician) made a very big declaration. He said now he will extract juice from coconuts... and after extracting the juice, he will sell it in England. The poorest of poor children know that you get water from coconuts. You get juice from lime, santre, mosambi. Have you ever seen or heard of coconut juice? Maybe I am unaware but tell me. Coconuts are found in Kerala but he's saying he'll extract coconut juice," Modi said.
The Prime Minister Modi was referring to an election rally speech of Rahul Gandhi in Manipur's Imphal East. But what Rahul actually said in his February 28 rally,
"Here (in Manipur) you grow nimbu, narangi (oranges), pineapple. I hope that such a day comes that when someone in London drinks pineapple juice, they look at the box and see 'Made in Manipur'."
The confusion broke out over Rahul Gandhi's usage of the word 'narangi'which was mistaken for 'nariyal' (Coconut), following which the BJP wasted no time to mock at the Congress vice-president.
The 77-year-old SP veteran only campaigned for two candidates, his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and his brother Shivpal Yadav.
Lucknow: Campaigning is at its peak in Uttar Pradesh but Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has stepped out only for two public rallies this elections, a stark contrast to the over 300 rallies he addressed in the 2012 assembly polls.
Leaders from across the political spectrum travelled the entire state to woo the voters but Mulayam mostly kept indoors.
The 77-year-old SP patron campaigned only for his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting on a SP ticket from Lucknow Cantonment, and for his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is contesting from the party's bastion of Jaswantnagar in Etawah.
Notably, five out the seven phases of voting are already over.
His political rivals said the SP patriarch's clout has been "confined to just two" of the 403 Assembly seats in the state.
In the 2012 UP Assembly polls, Mulayam had addressed more than 300 rallies.
However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha general elections, he limited his appearances to 18 rallies -- one in each of the 18 divisions of the state -- citing health issues.
Senior BJP leader Hriday Narayan Dikshit, said, "The moment Mulayam Singh Yadav was made the party patron, his power automatically got diluted. Despite this, if he is getting a chance to campaign for even two assembly seats, he must thank his stars."
Dikshit said both the SP and the BSP are "single-cellular" organisms, in which only one person eventually prevails.
"As far as the SP is concerned, earlier Mulayam Singh Yadav used to prevail, and now it is the turn of Akhilesh," the senior BJP leader said.
"The BSP too is a single-cellular organisation. Congress, which used to be multi-cellular organisation till the time of Gandhi, gradually became single-cellular. The BJP is a multi-cellular organisation, where leaders from different walks of life are involved in elections," he said.
Veteran socialist Raghunandan Singh 'Kaka' feels, "The SP patron has become helpless and virtually hopeless."
He said it is not only the SP workers who are worried and concerned about 'Netaji', people from other parties are also worried about him.
Singh was of the opinion that Akhilesh Yadav has got diverted from the ideals of Lohia, who fought against the Congress throughout his life.
"Akhilesh seems to have lost his way, and is yet to find a way out," Singh told PTI.
Lok Dal President Sunil Singh said it is really unfortunate that the SP, which was founded by Netaji, is today not getting his blessings.
"What is more ironical is the fact that Akhilesh today has embraced the Congress, against which his father (Mulayam) had waged a political war throughout his life," Sunil said.
Even political rivals are not hesitating from taking a jibe at Mulayam and his brother Shivpal.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while addressing an election rally at Ballia, had said, "SP patron Mulayam has punctured the bicycle, while Shivpal has broken the chain of the bicycle."
Similarly, BSP chief Mayawati, at an election rally held in Ballia, took a jibe at Mulayam and said, "Mulayam seems to have been affected by putra-moh (blind love for son), and has even insulted his brother Shivpal."
Dismissing the view in some quarters that Mulayam's clout was diminishing, the SP MP from Badaun, Dharmendra Yadav, said, "We have the blessings of Netaji. In fact each and every candidate of the SP-Congress alliance has been blessed by Netaji. So, there is no question of Netaji's clout getting weakened."
The Badaun MP, who is Mulayam's nephew, claimed that even the SP-Congress pre-poll alliance had the blessings and approval of Mulayam.
The ruling Congress party led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is looking for fourth-consecutive term.
Guwahati: The campaigning for the first phase of polling came to an end on Thursday in the tiny frontier state of Manipur, which is gearing up for its most closely fought election in recent times.
If the BJP is fighting this election to spread its hold in Northeast beyond Assam, the ruling Congress party led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is looking for fourth-consecutive term.
In power since 2002, Mr Singh is among very few Manipur chief ministers who have managed to complete a full term. In fact, the last longest serving chief minister in Manipur was Congresss Rishang Keishing, who was in office from 1981 to 1988.
Mr Singh began his political career as an independent candidate in 1984, but soon joined the Congress.
During his three tenures, Manipur has witnessed extreme turmoil, including charges of increased extra-judicial killings. In fact, one of the first big crises of Mr Singhs first term was the rape and murder of Manorama Devi in 2004, allegedly by the Indian Army. The case, which saw Manipuri women protesting naked outside the Assam Rifle Headquarters in Imphal carrying banners that read Indian Army Rape Us made headlines around the country. This led to the removal of the Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) in the Imphal municipal area, though the Act remains operational in other parts of the state.
The state has been plagued by insurgency since the 1950s when it was merged with India. Over the years, armed groups first fighting for secession, then for autonomy and later for merging with Nagaland have flourished.
There are at least 30 active militant groups. New Delhi has chosen to respond to these unrests with a heavy hand and the state has seen heavy military presence for some decades now.
To an inquiry of ARMENPRESS, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, spokesman of the Armenian defense minister denied the report of Azerbaijans defense ministry which said as result of their blow the Armenian side suffered losses.
March 2, 2017, 12:25 Armenias defense ministry denies absurd Azerbaijani reports
In order to set the record straight, the Congress released a video it called Jhooth ka Juice (the Juice of lies).
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for misleading the people of the country with his blatant lies. In an election rally in the poll bound state of Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister had took a jibe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by saying that Mr Rahul wanted coconut juice from Manipur to be sold in London. Also adding that the Gandhi scion wanted to build a potato factory in Uttar Pradesh.
In order to set the record straight, the Congress released a video it called Jhooth ka Juice (the Juice of lies). The video juxtaposes the speech of Mr Rahul in Manipur with the video of the Prime Ministers speech where he takes a jibe at the Congress leader.
The Prime Minister had taken a jibe at Mr Rahuls reported remark that he was waiting for the day when packaged coconut juice from Manipur would sell in London. The Congress, in the video, said that the PM lied and that Mr Rahul had actually talked about narangi juice (orange juice) during his poll campaign in Manipur and not coconut juice.
Congress communications incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala said, Blatant lies, jumlas and disinformation have become the hallmark of Indias Prime Minister. He further added, Modiji has lowered the dignity of the office of Prime Minister and he should be ashamed about it.
As Mr Rahul was speaking in context of Manipur where Assembly elections are slated to be held on March 4 and 8, Mr Surjewala charged the Prime Minister of not wanting the Northeast states to participate in the growth story of India. He said Modiji does not want people of Manipur and Northeast states to progress and participate in Indias growth story. So Modiji must now apologise not only to the Congress party but to the entire nation.
Rajesh Tripathi, a minister in the Mayawati govt, left the BSP a few months ago to join the BJP.
Chillupar (Gorakhpur): The shamshan-kabristan debate in the ongoing elections in Uttar Pradesh may or may not have had the desired impact on the voters but in Chillupar, ten years ago, it was a shamshan (cremation ground) that changed the politics of this Assembly segment.
Chillupar, an Assembly segment in Gorakhpur district, came under spotlight in 1985 when Hari Shankar Tiwari, the erstwhile mafia don of eastern UP, won his first election from here.
Mr Tiwari, a soft-spoken leader, was then in direct conflict with his rival Virendra Pratap Shahi, a Thakur mafia don. The underworld war translated into a Brahmin-Thakur battle and Chillupar became a pilgrimage of sorts for Brahmin in the area.
From 1985 to 2007, Hari Shankar Tiwari won continuously from Chillupar and even had a stint as a minister in the Kalyan Singh and then Mulayam Singh governments.
In 2003, a political greenhorn, Rajesh Tripathi participated in the cremation of a relative and was appalled at the condition of the place. He started working for a makeover of the place and transformed the dirty and foul-smelling ground on the banks of Saryu river into the picture-perfect park after removing mounds of garbage and checking open defecation.
The Mukti Path, as the cremation ground is now called, has emerged as a centre of tourist attraction and Rajesh Tripathi has earned the name of Mashan Baba.
His supporters egged him on to contest the Assembly seat in 2007 against Hari Shankar Tiwari and political pundits were left stumped when he actually managed to defeat the erstwhile don. Mr Tripathi went on to become a minister in the Mayawati government. He won the seat again in 2012 but left the BSP a few months ago to join the BJP and is now in the fray on a BJP ticket. As a minister, he had faced charges of land-grabbing.
I hope people take the PMs statement on shamshan in the right spirit. We owe basic dignity to the dead and the bereaved. Mukti Path allow people to grieve for the departed souls in a tranquil atmosphere. Earlier, people would rush out after lighting the pyre because of the stench around, he says.
Though the people continue to acknowledge Mr Tripathis contribution, there is now a growing feeling of sympathy for the ageing don.
The PM is not only a regular practitioner of yoga but also a great believer in promoting, the traditional form of meditation and exercise.
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi again stressed the need to practice Yoga and said it shows the way for world peace and prosperity. He was addressing the gathering at week-long International Yoga Festival at Paramartha Niketan on the banks of Ganges in Rishikesh in Uttarakhand .
While speaking to the delegates, via video-conferencing, he said, At a time when the world is grappling with the challenge of terrorism yoga shows the way for peace.
The PM is not only a regular practitioner of yoga but also a great believer in promoting, the traditional form of meditation and exercise. The PM, in his speech said, yoga is not just a form of exercise but a way to attain peace through physical, mental and spiritual well being.
Its prolonged and regular practice leads to higher consciousness where me and we merge together and become one, the PM said.
Yoga expands ones outlook from the confines of self to the society at large. It is a journey from Aham (me) to Vayam (we), PM added to loud cheers from the audience. Mr Modi told delegates, today, when the world battles challenges posed by terrorism and climate change, yoga has become more relevant than ever before as it shows the way to peace.
After the BJP-led NDA government came to power in May 2014, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech in UNGA proposed the idea of an International Yoga Day. Following the initial proposal UNGA held informal consultations and finally June 21st has been earmarked as International Yoga Day
Sitting for more than five hours a day at the desk can lead to many cardiovascular problems
The waist circumference increases by two centimetres and risk of cardiovascular diseases by 0.2 per cent, for every additional hour of sitting on top of five hours. (Photo: Pixabay)
London: Workers with desk-bound jobs, who spend too much time sitting down, have a bigger waistline and increased risk of heart disease, a new study has warned.
The study suggests that waist circumference increases by two centimetres and risk of cardiovascular diseases by 0.2 per cent, for every additional hour of sitting on top of five
hours, researchers said. Also, bad cholesterol (LDL) increases and good cholesterol (HDL) decreases with each additional hour of sitting from five hours a day, they said.
The study led by William Tigbe from University of Warwick in the UK advises people to sit less and be more active. Standing for as much as seven hours a day, and walking
seven miles, may be needed to avoid heart disease, according to the study. Tigbe kitted out 111 healthy postal workers with activity monitors for seven days; 55 were office workers and 56 delivered post for a living.
The study found that those who had desk jobs had a bigger waist circumference - 97 cm compared to 94 cm - and about one Body mass index (BMI) unit difference. They also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease - 2.2 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent over ten years. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.Only healthy, non-smokers, with no personal history of myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertension or diabetes were included in the study. None of the participants was on any lipid, blood pressure or glucose lowering medication.
"Our evolution, to become the human species, did not equip us well to spending all day sitting down. We probably adapted to be healthiest spending seven to eight hours every
day on our feet, as hunters or gatherers," said Professor Mike Lean from University of Glasgow in the UK. The research was published in the International Journal of Obesity.
India is grappling with illegal porn videos that seem to have reached every pocket, thanks to the ever growing phone chat groups.
I was sitting with a 40-year-old woman in a burqa, talking to men about womens safety in Mandaveli in East Delhi, when a man said that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to provide safety to women who are stepping out to work and they are all so sexy, it gets difficult. The woman in the burqa protested that she was grabbed a day ago! That is when I realised that these men are not even talking about real women. They are viewing women from a certain perspective due to a certain kind of porn that is circulating on social media, says filmmaker Madhureeta Anand.
Madhureeta is making a documentary on how porn is shaping mens thoughts about women. Even sex workers are complaining that men come and want to try all sorts of weird things. Sex workers tell them that there is a difference between pornography and real life. Ideas about BDSM have been messed up. A lot of porn is confusing young people. So, I have realised that teaching women about womens safety makes no sense. We need to reach out to men.
Madhureeta says that she enjoys porn as well but people need to understand what kind of porn is not right to watch. No, we do not want to ban porn at all. We recognise the fact that people want to watch porn and banning something is never the solution. Anyway, we are living in a digital age and no matter what you do, people will find a way around it. There can be policing for people who watch rape videos and child porn; but everything else is a useless pursuit. We want to work with people who are watching porn regularly.
The past four or five years has seen an explosion of male WhatsApp groups leading to a free sharing of porn. The person who is receiving it doesnt really have a choice. These videos dont consider factors like the state of the receivers mental health. Many people sharing and receiving these videos dont even know that its illegal to watch child porn and rape videos. I feel this a ticking time bomb and needs to be addressed at large. Young people do not know if there has been any manipulation in these videos and the figures are alarming, rues Madhureeta.
A 2014 study, by the NGO Rescue, showed that 80 per cent of college students are accessing porn on their phones. About 40 per cent of them watch rape porn regularly. Of the ones watching rape porn, 76 per cent said that they really feel like raping women after watching it. This is the kind of direct result that we have seen. Men are showing off porn videos now. It has gotten a sense of acceptance. Many youngsters want to be like the men in these videos. It is not just the safety of women but also the mental well being of men that is at stake here, she explains,
The awareness series that Madhureeta wants to make will be circulated on men-only WhatsApp groups and will also be given to schools if they want it. It will also be dubbed in several languages for a wider reach. We are dealing with factors like illiteracy and the fact that this series wont be watched with family. So we plan to have a direct communication, we will also be providing helpline numbers, she says.
While doing research for this documentary, a lot of information emerged about porn viewing habits in India, most of which happens to be illegal. But we dont want to put out messages that judge people who watch porn. The last thing you want to tell an addict is that it is morally wrong. It is a sure way of putting them off, she adds.
Madhureeta has also met men who say they are fed up of the overdose of explicit porn videos. I asked them why dont they get off these groups? I was told that the moment you get off these groups your friends call to ask what happened, you went soft? This sort of crude stuff occurs. So for an attitude change, someone from the inside will have to make a positive move. To make this happen, Madhureeta has tied up with some NGOs that work with men, who will take it to communities and schools and start talking about it.
Talking about the role of cyber cell to stop illegal videos from circulating, she says, They have banned quite a few websites that have child pornography. The efforts are real but not enough. The main issue is that people dont think it is really bad. They havent really understood the exact implications of something like this. If a cop is sitting with a guy who is watching a rape video, he is not likely to arrest him. It is because nobody has made the effort to make him understand that this kind of porn is totally illegal. No body has understood the legality and our position on matters relating to sex and sexuality is already very private. You can consume porn privately but you are not supposed to talk about it publicly. There are blurry lines. The court has given some really good judgements related to rape and child porn, but people dont know them.
Madhureeta is trying to tell people that they can differentiate between legal and illegal porn. For example, in the West if you are watching a rape video or child porn, you certainly know that you are doing a wrong thing. But in India we are not sure. Such is the mindset. Of course we are not telling people what to watch, everyone has different preferences when it comes to porn. But we will definitely tell people that if rape and child porn is found on you, you can go to jail for ten years. They should start to tell the difference themselves. In the documentary series she also plans to include quotes by people who many men look up to.
Crowdfunding for the project on Wishberry, Madhureeta adds, I am not only getting funders but partners in this movement too. The idea is to impact society. It is about people. Every person who puts in money for this is sort of committing to this cause. I hope this documentary will create enough awareness and let people choose their porn wisely.
The woman put boric acid in his breakfast and energy drinks to make him lose an erection.
Las Vegas: Sex in romantic relationships across the world is seen as crucial, and a good sex life depends on several aspects including both partners consenting and having the drive for some action between the sheets. But in many cases partners might not be as understanding and this might cause problems in a relationship.
Although a refusal might seem like sufficient for solving issues between partners or talking it out may work, one woman in the US took things too far by poisoning her husbands food to avoid having sex with him.
49-year-old Andrea Hemming was on the run for two years after putting boric acid in her husbands cereal and energy drinks since she was tired of having sex with him. Her husband survived but with severe health issues, as she said she only put enough to avoid him from having an erection.
Hemming is now absconding and faces 15 years in prison is she is caught, authorities believe she has fled to Mexico.
The children were beaten with hammers even for reasons such as cooking rice or wanting to go to the washroom.
The children were fed only two meals a day always of potato and rice for four years, and were not allowed to leave the room for even a second. (Photo: Representational Image)
New Delhi: 26 boys in the age group of 7 to 13, who were rescued from a jeans factory in Delhis Seelampur area last month, have told harrowing tales of the torture they endured in the factory.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the boys were forced to sit in one place for 22 hours a day, to cut threads of jeans and pack them. One 10-year-old boy was quoted as saying that his employers allowed them to sleep only between 5 am and 7 am, and punished drowsiness at work in extreme ways.
We were allowed to sleep at 5 am and the employer used to wake us up at 7 am. In between work, if we fell asleep, he used to wake us up by hitting us with a hammer, the boy, who is 7 years old, said.
He added that they were fed only two meals a day always of potato and rice for four years, and were not allowed to leave the room for even a second.
The children were beaten with hammers even for reasons such as cooking rice or wanting to go to the washroom.
A 10-year-old boy revealed that after he was rescued by Kailash Satyarthis NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, he could not even open his eyes to look at the sunlight, so used was he to the eternal darkness of his workplace.
We were kept in a small room and I have not seen the sunlight in four years. When, I was rescued, I could not open my eyes as I was not used to it. We were not allowed to take bath or go to washroom since every day we used to pack 5,000 pieces of jeans, said Lucky.
While at work, if the boys did not meet the required target, they were beaten with hammers. The task was to cut 10 threads in 10 minutes, and the one who finished last received the punishment, said the report.
Another boy could not move on his own, and had to be lifted out of the place when he was rescued.
All boys are from Motihari district of Bihar and were brought to Delhi around six
months ago, and there are indications that they could be victims of child trafficking,
said the report.
I am furious. Twenty six child slaves were rescued and most of them have not even seen daylight in four years. I recall a similar case from 1983 when all 27 children we freed from the carpet industry in Mirzapur were beaten, branded, hanged upside down on trees, said Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
Each child rescued from Seelampur has faced the worst form of slavery. Their hands are scarred, they carry burn marks all over their bodies and their arms have signs of
torture, said the report.
Citing the example of Lalu Yadav, Navaneethakrishnan said there was no bar for Sasikala to continue as General Secretary.
Chennai: A senior AIADMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP on Thursdau said VK Sasikala became party General Secretary after being elected and had not "taken up the post suo motu."
There is no legal impediment for her to continue in the post, A Navaneethakrishnan told reporters here.
"Chinnamma (Sasikala) became General Secretary after being elected by the party's General Council. She did not take up the post suo motu. She became General Secretary only after being elected by seniors including (former Chief Minister) O Panneerselvam," he said.
Citing the example of RJD supremo Lalu Yadav, convicted in the fodder scam and on bail, who continues to remain that party's National President, Navaneethakrishnan said there was no bar for Sasikala to continue as AIADMK General Secretary.
Sasikala is presently serving a prison term in Bengaluru in the Rs 66 crore dispropotionate assets case.
The issue of Sasikala's post was AIADMK's "internal affair" and neither Election Commission of India nor court can intervene in it, he said, adding, the EC can only ask for the party's organisational polls to be conducted.
In fact, all queries posed by the EC to Sasikala in connection with the rival Panneerselvam camp challenging her election as AIADMK General Secretary have been answered, Navaneethakrishnan said.
On Panneerselvam's proposed fast next week seeking a probe into the death of former AIADMK supremo, the late Jayalalithaa, he said the "matter is sub-judice" and nobody can talk about it.
He also charged Panneerselvam with shedding "crocodile tears" in the matter.
CID team raids Juhi Chowdhurys hideout disguised as monks.
Kolkata: State BJP leader Juhi Chowdhury, who was arrested by the criminal investigation department (CID) in the child trafficking racket in North Bengal on Tuesday night, was remanded in 12 days CID custody by the district court in Jalpaiguri on Wednesday. She claimed herself to be innocent. Red-faced by her arrest, the state BJP, however, removed her from her post of general secretary of the partys womens wing.
Juhis arrest also prompted the party to remove her father Rabindra Narayan Chowdhury from its state committee of which he was a member. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, The party has decided not to keep Ms Chowdhury in any post of the party. We have removed her and her father from party posts. Ms Chowdhury visited New Delhi keeping the party in dark. This created a controversy which tarnished the partys image.
He added, Besides, they (father-daughter duo) have been officially accused of an offence. The allegations against them are so serious that we cannot accept it positively. Law is taking its own course. If they can prove themselves innocent in the eyes of law, the party will get in touch with them. This is the second time a BJP leader has been arrested by the CID in the baby trafficking racket the state detective agency busted in November last year.
Earlier Dilip Ghosh, a doctor from Salt Lake who had even contested the municipal elections as a candidate, was arrested for his alleged role. Juhi was absconding since her role came to light last month after Chandana Chakraborty, a school teacher who ran a rehabilitation centre, was arrested in Jalpaiguri. But arresting Juhi was not an easy task as she kept her cellphone switched off.
She, however, kept in touch with other BJP leaders in Kolkata, sources revealed. Acting on the inputs of electronic surveillance, the CID found Juhi was staying at a house in Kharibari of Darjeeling along the Indo-Nepal border. It learnt that a BJP MP had suggested Juhi to flee to Nepal. A two-member CID team inspectors Sougata Ghosh and Kakali Ghosh Kundu was sent there.
Reaching the area they posed themselves as monks at a temple at Batasi and befriended some devotees to identify the house where Juhi was hiding. On Tuesday night, the CID team raided the house in disguise of monks taking some local residents with them and caught her.
In the court Juhi, however, alleged political vendetta against her. It is a political conspiracy. I have been falsely implicated. Truth cannot be hushed up for ever. One day the truth will come to light. My ideology of the BJP will not change with my arrest. I will remain a BJP worker, she said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve and Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar are expected to attend the meeting.
Mumbai: The core committee of Maharashtra BJP is likely to meet here on Friday to chalk out the strategy for the Mumbai Mayoral election scheduled for March 8.
Notably, the recent civic polls threw up a fractured verdict in the city.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve and Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar are expected to attend the meeting, party sources said.
BJP and Shiv Sena, despite being partners in the state and central governments, fought the recently-held polls separately.
Shiv Sena has emerged as the single largest party in the 227-member council with 84 seats, BJP came a close second with 82, Congress finished on the third spot with 31 seats, NCP got nine corporators while Raj Thackeray's MNS bagged seven seats.
Shiv Sena has claimed support of some Independent candidates.
The next Mayor of Mumbai will be elected during the first meeting of the new House on March 8.
March 4 is the last date for filing nominations for the post and the election will be held on March 8, a BMC official said.
With no indication as yet of any post-poll alliance, it remains to be seen what strategies the political parties adopt for the Mayoral poll.
US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta is confident that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement will contribute to the regional stability, Haqqin.az reports.
March 2, 2017, 14:18 NK conflict settlement will contribute to regional stability - US Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij had said that those supporting Kaur were pro-Pakistan and should be thrown out of the country.
Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Thursday came out in support of Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur who was allegedly given rape threats online for criticising the RSS-backed ABVP, saying those in power are creating an "atmosphere of terror".
Pawar said those who believe in democracy and women empowerment will stand against such intimidation.
"This is not the first time such an atmosphere of terror is being unleashed. The Haryana (Health) Minister's comments expose what kind of mindset exists," Pawar told reporters here.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij had said that those supporting Kaur for her campaign against the ABVP were pro-Pakistan and should be thrown out of the country.
Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on social media over her stance against RSS-backed students outfit ABVP and a video campaign advocating peace between India and
Pakistan.
The 20-year-old daughter of a martyr had also complained of receiving "rape threats" allegedly from ABVP members, following which a FIR was registered against unknown persons.
Pawar said NCP's campus wing will raise its voice against such intimidation and terror in universities.
"Political leaders are contributing to vitiate the atmosphere," he said.
"The mindset of those in power at present is not good. They are not easing the situation, but are increasing the tension. All political parties should come together to raise their voice against such ideology," Pawar said adding he condemned the threats to Kaur.
The two independents that the Sena is trying to get into its party fold are Bandra MLA Mumtaz Khan and Akhil Bhartiya Sena MLA Geeta Gawli.
Mumbai: Intending to have more corporators that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and get the mayors post in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Shiv Sena is trying to woo two more Independent corporators to increase its tally to 90. At present the Sena has 84 corporators of its own and four independents. The two independents that the Sena is trying to get into its party fold are Bandra MLA Mumtaz Khan and Akhil Bhartiya Sena MLA Geeta Gawli.
A Sena leader said that the party is pursuing two more Independent corporators who would increase the partys total number to get the mayors post. The BJP has 82 and one Independent corporator. We have so far managed 88 corporators and soon get two more. It will make the tally 90, the leader said.
Ms Khan, wife of former All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Raja Rahbar Khan, initially agreed to go with Shiv Sena but later refused to join officially. It was said that she was in touch with BJP and the party was counting on her to increase its tally. The sources in the Sena said that she is bargaining hard with the party.
On the other hand, the Sena is also trying to woo Ms Gawli who is keeping her cards close to her ches. In the current political scenario, every single corporator has become important. The Sena therefore got the party corporators registered on Tuesday to avoid any defection during voting. Now, it will be compulsory for the corporators to follow the party whip and vote for the partys mayor candidate.
The mayors election is likely to be held on March 8 in the BMC when Sena will field its candidate. BJP and Congress are also likely to have their own candidates, sources said.
State NCP President Sunil Tatkare said his party was clear from the start of the BMC poll campaign that NCP will not ally with Sena or BJP.
Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra on Thursday said it will maintain a distance from the Shiv Sena and BJP who are locked in a power struggle to install their Mayor in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)--unlike the Congress which had aligned with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in Osmanabad and Raigad Zilla Parishads ahead of the state civic polls.
Talking to reporters in Mumbai, state NCP president Sunil Tatkare said his party was clear from the start of the campaign (for the just concluded Municipal Corporation and Zilla Parishad polls in Maharashtra) that it will not have any understanding or friendly fight with the Shiv Sena and BJP.
"We kept our word while Congress which had also assured the same, tied up with the Sena in Osmanabad and Raigad Zilla Parishads. While in many seats elsewhere, they were in a friendly fight," he alleged.
Tatkare said the party is yet to take a call on Mumbai Mayor elections and will wait to see how the situation unfolds.
"(However) Under no circumstances, will our party support the Sena or BJP (in the BMC). We feel the two saffron parties are likely to come together for power. Shiv Sena has no guts to withdraw support to the state government," Tatkare claimed.
Taking a dig on Sena, Tatkare also said, "only they (Sena) know where is the notice period for the BJP led government in the state and whether the resignation letter carried by its ministers in their pockets is still there or torn."
"What is the use of only criticising the government through 'Saamana' (the Sena mouthpiece). Shiv Sena should act on the criticism and withdraw support," he added.
To a question regarding speculations that NCP may support a Shiv Sena government, Tatkare said, "I don't foresee a mid-term election since Shiv Sena will not pull out of the government. To install its own CM, Sena will have to withdraw support to the present government. If it does pull out and think about forming a government, we will see what to do."
When asked about the prospect of a no-trust motion against the Devendra Fadnavis government, he said the Congress has not discussed the proposal with his party.
Meanwhile, nine NCP corporators from Mumbai met party chief Sharad Pawar where he discussed the political situation in the city, post the Mumbai civic poll results where BJP finished just two seats behind Shiv Sena (which won 84 seats).
Four of the five independents have joined the Sena since the results.
The countrys richest corporation, the Shiv Sena and BJP are trying to prove their majority by luring more corporators.
Mumbai: In a bid to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) away from power in the Brihanmumbai municipal corporation (BMC), the Congress with its 31 corporators has decided to contest the mayoral election with its own candidate. The party has been given a proposal to join hands with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Samajwadi Party (SP).
To wield power at the countrys richest corporation, the Shiv Sena and BJP are trying to prove their majority by luring more corporators. The Sena with its 84 corporators has been able to woo four Independents and claims that two more come in the their fold. While the BJP claims that one independents support makes its total tally to 83. If pundits are to be believed that then the Sena seems to be wining the mayors post. However, BJP sources claim the scenario could change in the next few days.
We are fielding a candidate for the mayors post. We have sent a proposal to NCP and SP to join us and support our candidate. We do not want to support the BJP or Shiv Sena, said Congress Mumbai president Sanjay Nirupam. The party was slammed after there were reports that the Congress would back the Sena to keep the BJP away from BMC.
Insiders say that despite fielding its own candidate, the Congress will help the Sena. The Congress does not have sufficient numbers for the mayors post. So its 31 votes do not matter to the Shiv Sena or BJP. The Sena already has secured 88 corporators and will get some more to cross the 90 tally, a source pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Sena tried to woo independent corporator Geeta Gawali. She held discussion with Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai and senior leader Subhash Desai. However, nothing concrete came out from the meeting. Sena sources said that the party was still hopeful to get her in the party to support the Sena mayor.
The court took an undertaking that Smith would return to India by April 1 to attend court proceedings at the Andheri magistrates court.
Mumbai: Bombay high court on Thursday allowed British national Stephen John Smith (62) to return to his country to attend his daughters marriage after depositing Rs 15 lakh in the high court registry. The court took an undertaking that Smith would return to India by April 1 to attend court proceedings at the Andheri magistrates court.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anuja Prabhudesai was hearing a petition filed by Smith who was arrested in connection with laptop stealing by Sahar police seeking discharge from the case and permission to attend his daughters wedding scheduled on March 4 in the United Kingdom.
According to the petition, on December 16, 2016, Smith was travelling from Mumbai to Goa with his wife. One Sunil Bhoolabhai, a resident of Khar, and his wife were also travelling from Mumbai to Hyderabad.
The complainant Mr Bhoolabhai was carrying his Apple-make laptop and put it in the tray for x-ray at the security check-in area at Mumbai airport. Smith was there in queue as well and claimed that he mistakenly took Mr Bhoolabhais laptop and went away because he had the same kind of laptop.
Acting on Mr Bhoolabhais complaint, CISF security checked CCTV camera footage and found Smith had lifted Mr Bhoolabhais laptop bag.
Mr Bhatt had approached the Mumbai polices anti-extortion cell on Wednesday night.
Mumbai: Barely 12 hours after Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt registered a complaint of extortion and death threats to his family, the Uttar Pradeshs special task force (STF) swung into action and nabbed Sandeep Sahu (26), a former wannabe actor from Lucknow.
Mr Bhatt had approached the Mumbai polices anti-extortion cell on Wednesday night, after he received calls from an unknown person demanding Rs 50 lakh as extortion money.
Sahu had called Mr Bhatt claiming to be Babloo Srivastava, a notorious UP-based gangster who is incarcerated. Sahu had allegedly warned Mr Bhatt that if he failed to cough up Rs 50 lakh, he would kill his daughter Alia and Mr Bhatts wife Soni Razdan.
After the extortion call, Mr Bhatt registered a complaint with the Juhu police, and the crime branch was asked to investigate. Police sources said that Sahu is being brought to Mumbai by a team of anti-extortion cell (AEC) on transit remand. Sahu had purchased a new SIM card specifically to issue threats to Mr Bhatt and others.
Ashok Dudhe, deputy commissioner of police, said, We will check the antecedents to find out why he targeted Mr Bhatt, once we get his custody.
Apart from Mr Bhatt, Sahu had allegedly threatened five other Mumbai individuals, including an advertising producer and a television soap actor.
The police is ascertaining their identities. Some of the threat messages have been sent on few other numbers and we will ascertain their identities once the accused is given police custody in Mumbai. We will study the call records of the number that he had used, said a police officer.
After Mr Bhatt approached the Juhu police on Wednesday, the UP STF nabbed Sahu within 12 hours in Lucknow. Sahu is being brought to Mumbai by train and will arrive on Friday. He will be produced before the Esplanade Court after his arrival.
Crime branch officials said Sahu, had been making phone calls and sending texts and messages via online messenger to Mr Bhatts personal number demanding Rs 50 lakh since February 27. Bhatt shared all the text messages and the details of the caller with the police. Sahu had first called using the name of Babloo Srivastav, said a crime branch officer. A team of AEC headed by inspector Vinayak Vast swung into action and they track down the accused to Lucknow with the help of his cellphone number. They tipped off their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh police.
Australias closest neighbour, New Zealand, was struck off Netanyahus itinerary after its conservative govt co-sponsored the resolution.
During his visit to Australia last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard assurances of unstinted support for his extremist government and its policies from his host, but also had to contend with a few sharp critiques.
Australias beleaguered Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, voiced unequivocal opposition to last Decembers UN Security Council resolution challenging the illegality of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, which passed because the US uncharacteristically opted for an abstention instead of the usual veto in the dying days of the Obama administration. Australias closest neighbour, New Zealand, was struck off Netanyahus itinerary after its conservative government co-sponsored the resolution.
On the eve of the Israeli leaders arrival, meanwhile, two former Australian Prime Ministers as well as two former foreign ministers publicly made the case for formal recognition of the Palestinian state. There is a growing recognition pretty much throughout the West that the actions of Netanyahus unprecedentedly extremist government are geared towards preventing a peace settlement at almost any cost.
Sure, previous Israeli governments have not been all that different in their motivation. For instance, the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, far from being a dress rehearsal for pulling out from the West Bank, was in fact part of a plot to hang on indefinitely to Judea and Samaria, as a close aide to the then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, let slip. The takeover of the Strip by Hamas perfectly suited the interests of Israeli propaganda. Its easy to forget, after all, that Hamas Islamist antecedents were surreptitiously backed by the Israeli state as a means of undermining support for the secular Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and its Fatah faction.
Turnbull persisted with the mantra of a two-state solution, but in Washington the previous week Netanyahu stood alongside Donald Trump as the latter broke with the traditional diplomatic precedent, declaring his administration amenable to a one-state solution, provided both sides backed this alternative.
Some well-intentioned observers look upon this as a vaguely hopeful sign. After all, the two-state option has pretty much been dead in the water for a long time. Any hope that the Oslo accords of 1993 may have provided for such a solution have more or less perished in the interim, amid the relentless expansion of settlements.
Netanyahu still formally stands for a two-state outcome while insisting on Israeli security supremacy across any so-called Palestinian state, thereby effectively pre-empting any conceivable notion of sovereignty, while also insisting on the recognition of Israel as a specifically Jewish state. Meanwhile, key members of his coalition Cabinet, including Naftali Bennett, favour the annexation of about 60 per cent of the West Bank, with the remaining non-contiguous enclaves granted a degree of autonomy. Thats their version of a one-state solution. Its different from Israeli President Reuven Rivlins backing for an annexation of the entire West Bank with full citizenship rights for all Palestinians.
Rivlin glosses over a key issue for the Zionists, namely that a truly democratic binational state would inevitably erode Israels self-ordained character as a specifically Jewish state, amid the prospect of Palestinian Muslims and Christians eventually outnumbering Jews. But then, the only one-state alternative is a demonstrably apartheid state that would face progressively greater international opprobrium and possibly even the kind of sanctions and boycotts that helped to bring down the South African variant.
It was perhaps because he recognises this likelihood that, at a meeting of his Likud party on Monday, Netanyahu pushed back slightly against outright annexationists and settlement expansionists, saying that while Trumps ascendancy was obviously a great victory for Israel, there were some key differences with the US administration. After all, at his joint press conference with Netanyahu, the Trump had somehow been persuaded to say, Id like to see you hold back on the settlements for a little bit. Well work something out.
Yup, just for a little bit. Its almost certainly not the wrath of Trump that Netanyahu fears. He knows that crossing too many red lines on the wrong side of the green line could transform international wariness into outright hostility, notwithstanding Israels deepening bromance with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, based in large part on mutual hatred of Iran and its regional influence.
He likely sees the status quo, plus incremental facts on the ground that render a two-state solution all but impossible, as his best option. In other words, a no-state solution, as far as the Palestinians are concerned. Whether or not he endures in power for very long, that remains the likeliest outcome for the foreseeable future.
By arrangement with Dawn
The BJP came to power at the national level in 2014 by disrupting traditional identity-based votebanks.
Do Indian voters remain deeply aligned with caste, clan and community (read religious) interests, as reported in the ongoing state elections? Possibly, yes, they do. Continued allegiance to traditional identities makes sense, if new ones never had the chance to take root.
Industrial work was one such silo-buster, as is urbanisation. Both have, however, had a limited impact on Indias social profile. Large, organised industry employs barely 10 million people, or just two per cent of the workforce. The impact of urbanisation is still far too recent to induce a change in social behaviour. Migration by men, for work in the urban, informal sector, has done a lot to contribute to the urban sprawl. But it doesnt let new urban identities take root, as families remain village bound.
No surprise then, if the 657 political parties (many of which are moribund) that are registered with the Election Commission vie for existing group interests as votebanks. There are only two examples in the past three decades which go against this grain of votebank politics. The BJP came to power at the national level in 2014 by disrupting traditional identity-based votebanks. In a powerful outreach to young, aspirational India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided the instant hope of jobs through a government which worked for them, not against them. This enlarged support beyond the BJPs traditional votebanks upper caste and bania groups. It helped that Narendra Modi is himself from a backward caste. His is a rags-to-riches story. More important, he flaunts his humble origins and makes a virtue of his struggle to make good. More conventionally, he publicly dons the mantle of the selfless sevak. Anybody in the audience could be him, if they only had the gumption to succeed.
The Aam Aadmi Party had similarly disrupted traditional identity politics in December 2014. It fashioned a winning alliance of the urban poor and neo-middle class against the corruption of elites in the Delhi state election. This anti-establishment, anti-corruption model is now facing a test, for its resilience and appeal, in the rural settings of Punjab and the BJP stronghold of Goa both of which are rich states.
Like the Congress during the post-Independence period, Mr Modis BJP is shaping a new India. It is an India that recognises todays harsh international realities. First, unlike the rosy expectations of the 1950s, foreign aid, as an instrument of change, is dead. Economies need to fund their own development, by borrowing from the market or collaborating with foreign investors. This requires governments to bend before those who have the surplus capital; ship up to strengthen their own economies or continue to lag. Second, the consensus of the 1980s, that markets could substitute for the States inefficiency, is less credible, particularly after 2008. Strong states seem inevitable, albeit exercising judicious restraint while regulating markets.
China has been the most successful economy, post 1990. It deserves a Nobel Prize for overcoming massive poverty and low levels of human development to become the factory of the world. It accounted for 1.5 per cent of world GDP in 1990 the same as India. Since then it has cornered more than a fifth of growth in world GDP. By 2015 it accounted for 15 per cent of world GDP and has liberated nearly 300 million people almost as many as the population of the United States from poverty.
The Chinese story is of a single-party-managed mega-nation. By mixing market principles of merit and competition with the political energy of a proactive state, it has fashioned a massive politico-industrial machine. China has little patience with the effete romance of liberal idealism. Theirs is the classic hunters approach to life smart strategy matters more than social ideology for filling your belly and remaining stronger than your adversary. This approach resonates in a world where persistent vulnerability to poverty; falling real income and increasingly skewed income distribution clouds even the rich world.
Mr Modis world is that of realpolitik. Performance and outcomes matter the most. In contrast, the other national parties seem dated. The Congress once a peoples movement, albeit led by professionals is dormant. The Left is trapped in ideological echo chambers, seemingly unaware that organised, permanent workers are a diminishing votebank. That economic forces have moved value addition beyond the spatially focused, integrated work areas, of the industrial age. The Lohia movements of the late 1970s rallied the backward castes into regional parties. But these lack vision, credibility or sustainability, beyond their narrow votebanks. The dalits have been transactional in their support for parties, while Mayawati has tried to substitute the Congress with a rainbow-style coalition. Muslims remain boxed into a defensive stance, perpetually seeking the status quo rather than transformation.
Where then do we turn to for leadership in India? The BJP is a clear and credible option. The mantra is that the government must focus on economic inclusion and social inclusion will follow. To take a practical example higher government revenues from a more efficient tax regime can enable transfer of universal basic income to the poor and marginalised. This neatly avoids the clunky and inefficient option of physically providing cheap goods and services to the poor and caste or community-based support for the marginalised. It may also reduce corruption significantly by around one per cent of GDP.
This, however, would imply a reworking of the existing social compact between citizens and the State. Will citizens be ready to give up their entitlements and de facto freedoms, in return for the State providing more economic benefits security, macroeconomic stability, jobs, infrastructure and access to healthcare. With money and smartphones in their pockets, people including the poor will be able to shape their own societies, without being clouded by the past seven centuries of civilisational shibboleths dumped on them. Can Mr Modi get past the elites who benefit directly from the status quo? 2019 will tell.
She also faces up to 20 years in prison on the second charge of lying to investigators.
US magistrate Donna Ryu set bail at $500,000 for Noor Salman pending her trial on two charges related to the assault by her husband Omar Mateen on the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida that killed 49 people. (Photo: Twitter)
Los Angeles: A US federal judge in California on Wednesday agreed to release on bail the widow of the gunman who killed dozens of people at an Orlando nightclub last year.
US magistrate Donna Ryu set bail at $500,000 for Noor Salman pending her trial on two charges related to the assault by her husband Omar Mateen on the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida that killed 49 people.
Prosecutors had argued that Salman, who was arrested in January in connection with the massacre, should be kept behind bars because she posed a threat to society. They have until Friday to appeal the judge's decision.
In handing down her ruling, Ryu said there was no proof Salman had any connection to the Islamic State jihadist group or had exhibited extremist views.
She also said there was no evidence Salman posed a risk of flight or a danger to the community.
"I agree with the pretrial service recommendation and find that Ms Salman has rebutted the presumptions of both risk of flight and danger to the community and that she can and should be released pursuant to strict conditions that will reasonably mitigate those risks," Ryu said.
She ordered the 30-year-old, who had a four-year-old son with Mateen, to wear an electronic monitor while living with her maternal uncle in northern California, where she grew up.
The ruling essentially puts Salman under house arrest, allowed to leave only for court appearances, to meet her attorneys or for medical appointments for her and her son, Ryu said.
Salman, whose case is being prosecuted in Florida, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the charge of assisting her husband in his bid to help a terrorist organization.
She also faces up to 20 years in prison on the second charge of lying to investigators.
Police killed Mateen in a shootout. During the attack, he had called dispatchers to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Indians also form a significantly large number of foreign workers coming to the US as scientists, doctors, engineers.
Indian IT professionals account for the largest number of foreign nationals coming to the US on H-1B visas.
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for adopting a merit-based immigration system that could benefit high-tech professionals from countries like India, modifying his hard-line campaign rhetoric with a promise to revive the American spirit.
Mr Trump, during his first address to Congress, noted that nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others have a merit-based immigration system. He said that such a system will save countless dollars and raise workers wages.
Mr Trump introduced the idea of a merit-based immigration system after invoking the memory and words of late president Abraham Lincoln, saying, Lincoln was right and it is time we heeded his words.
Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers wages, and help struggling families including immigrant families enter the middle class, Mr Trump said in a State of the Union-style address that lasted for an hour.
US stocks surged back to records in early trading Wednesday, with the Dow topping 21,000 for the first time, as markets embraced the softer tone in President Donald Trumps address.
Indian IT professionals account for the largest number of foreign nationals coming to the US on H-1B visas. Indians also form a significantly large number of foreign workers coming to the US as scientists, doctors, engineers and other highly-skilled professionals.
During his presidential campaign, Mr Trump had promised to increase oversight of our H-1B and L-1 visa programmes that are used widely by Indian tech companies.
The H1-B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American firms to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.
Trump during his campaign had promised measures like cracking down on undocumented immigrants, restricting travel to the US to stop immigrants entering the country, drawing a sharp reaction from fellow lawmakers and countrymen. In his address, Trump said that he has inherited a very bad economy.
As I outline the next steps we must take as a country, we must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited. Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labour force. Over 43 million people are now living in poverty. And over 43 million Americans are on food stamps, he said.
We have the worst financial recovery in 65 years. In the last eight years, the past administration has put on more new debt than nearly all of the other presidents combined, he said.
It is not easy to represent the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh, but the stakes could not be higher: extinction.
March 2, 2017, 19:42 In Artsakh, the distance between a minister and a citizen is so small. Artsakh FM
STEPANAKERT, MARCH 2, ARTSAKHPRESS: It is not easy to represent the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh, but the stakes could not be higher: extinction.
When Karen Mirzoyan, its foreign minister, wants to hold an international meeting he has to drive six hours from Stepanakert, Artsakhs capital, to Yerevan, along the mountain road that forms its only link to the outside world.
Sometimes the 3,000-metre high passes are blocked by snow. In other places, the minister drives behind earth dykes to shield his car from potential Azerbaijani fire. Artsakh, which is home to some 150,000 Armenian people, has an airport, but its warring neighbour has threatened to shoot down any plane that used it.
Meanwhile, foreign envoys do not call on Mirzoyan at home because European, Russian, and US diplomats are forbidden from going to Stepanakert to maintain neutrality.
When he gets to Yerevan, or flies onward to the EU, the minister holds meetings in private conference rooms instead of official buildings.
He also keeps quiet about them in order not to embarrass his interlocutors.
He told EUobserver in an interview that he had met with EU officials and other high-level [EU] people, but not at the level of foreign ministers of big powers.
The jovial 52-year old was born in Artsakh, which used to call itself the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. He left for Armenia and joined the Armenian foreign ministry, before stepping down to take the Artsakh post.
It mightnt be very good for your [professional] ambitions, but being the foreign minister of a non-recognised country is more enjoyable, Mirzoyan said.
Im not bound by norms of diplomatic protocol. Im more free, he said.
He said Artsakhs story inspired him.
The fact I represent a small nation on the outskirts of Europe that was able to survive against all the odds, was able to win the war and build a democratic state, gives me strength and creativity, he said.
He said proximity to people also inspired him.
In Artsakh, the distance between a minister and a citizen is so small. Youre foreign minister for a few hours a day, but when your work ends and you walk in the street, youre an ordinary citizen, he said.
By Andrew Rettman
The death of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's ruler, has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea.
Kuala Lumpur: A North Korean envoy, on Thursday, rejected a Malaysian autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim Jong Nam, saying the man probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
The death of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's ruler, has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea.
The autopsy is especially sensitive because North Korea had asked Malaysia not to perform one, but authorities carried it out anyway, saying they were following the law.
Also today, amid growing fallout from the killing, Malaysia announced it is scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans.
Malaysian officials say two women smeared VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon, on Kim's face as he waited for a flight at Kuala Lumpur's airport on February 13. Kim died within 20 minutes, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
The women, who were caught on grainy surveillance video, have been charged with murder. Both say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank and did not know they were handling a lethal toxin.
Malaysia's autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim boosted speculation that North Korea orchestrated the attack. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.
North Korea has denied any role and accused Malaysia of bias. Ri Tong Il, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, today told a news conference that it made no sense to say the two women used such a deadly toxin without also killing or sickening themselves and people around them.
Ri said Kim had a history of heart problems and had been hospitalised in the past. He said he understood that Malaysian officials found medication for diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure in Kim's belongings and concluded he wasn't fit to travel.
"This is a strong indication that the cause of death is a heart attack," Ri said.
Malaysian police said the attackers knew what they were doing and had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and wash their hands. Police can't confirm whether the two women may have been given antidotes before the attack. An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
North Korea does not acknowledge that it was Kim Jong Nam who died. Instead, it refers to the victim as Kim Chol, the name on the diplomatic passport he was carrying. Malaysia has confirmed that the victim was Kim Jong Nam.
The threat came in a half-hour video released Monday by a division of the IS featuring militants from Chinas Uighur ethnic group.
Beijing: Islamic State (IS) militants from Chinas Uighur ethnic minority vowed to return home and shed blood like rivers, according to a militant-tracking firm.
It is the first threat made by the terrorist group to Chinese targets.
The threat came in a half-hour video released Monday by a division of the IS featuring militants from Chinas Uighur ethnic group, said the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.
China has for years blamed exiled Uighur separatists for a series of violent attacks in its western Xinjiang region the Uighur homeland and warned of the potential for militants to link up with global jihadist groups.
In the video, a Uighur fighter issued the threat against China just before executing an alleged informant.
Oh, you Chinese who do not understand what people say! We are the soldiers of the Caliphate, and we will come to you to clarify to you with the tongues of our weapons, to shed blood like rivers and avenging the oppressed, according to SITEs translation.
Many Uighurs complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination by China.
If Sinn Fein and the DUP cannot resolve their differences after the vote, the province will be fully governed from London.
Sinn Fein's Irish leader, Gerry Adams, in January described Brexit as a "hostile action" by the British government. (Photo: AP)
Belfast: Northern Ireland began voting on Thursday in snap elections to resolve a political crisis fuelled by bad blood and Brexit, which is testing the delicate peace in the British province.
Long-simmering tensions boiled over in January when Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness quit, saying he could no longer work with First Minister Arlene Foster from the rival Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
His resignation triggered fresh elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, a semi-autonomous legislature in Belfast in which representatives of once warring communities have shared power on and off since a 1998 peace deal.
Observers predict a similar outcome to the May 2016 assembly elections, in which the Protestant, conservative and pro-British DUP won slightly more seats than the Catholic, socialist and Irish Republican Sinn Fein.
If Sinn Fein and the DUP cannot resolve their differences after the vote, the assembly's executive could be suspended and the province fully governed from London.
"I'd be more pessimistic than optimistic that the DUP and Sinn Fein can get back in a government together quickly," Jonathan Tonge, a Northern Ireland politics expert at Liverpool University, told AFP.
McGuinness resigned in protest over a botched green energy subsidy scheme instigated by Foster when she was economy minister, which has left the executive facing a possible ?490 million ($600 million, 570 million euro) overspend.
It was the breaking point after months of tensions with the DUP. Deeply-engrained historical enmity was also exacerbated by the June vote to leave European Union, which the DUP supported but Sinn Fein opposed.
McGuinness is not standing again due to ill health. His successor as Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, has signalled a possible way out.
"We're up for going back into government but only on the basis of equality, respect and integrity," she told AFP in an interview on the last day of campaigning on Wednesday.
"We cannot go into government with Arlene Foster as First or Deputy First Minister while there is a shadow hanging over her but that doesn't mean we can't find a way forward".
In the streets of Belfast, there was disillusionment over the latest scandal to hit Northern Ireland politics.
Civil servant Catherine Aouad told AFP: "I'm just fed up with all the corruption and all the scandals to do with the heating and all the rest of it."
Throughout the election campaign, Foster has appealed for unionists to resist Sinn Fein's demands for her to stand aside pending an investigation into the energy scheme.
"If you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back for more," she told a party rally.
If DUP and Sinn Fein cannot agree to form a new power-sharing executive within three weeks, London will take over issues such as health, education and the local economy which are currently devolved.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said she intends to pull Britain out of the EU's single market and likely the customs union, which would make the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland the only land border with the EU.
The possibility of a return to checkpoints has revived memories of "The Troubles", three decades of strife in Northern Ireland over British control of the province, in which more than 3,500 people were killed.
"The most disastrous thing would be the return of a border... which will greatly offend nationalists," said Tonge.
There are also concerns about damaging cross-border trade. British minister James Brokenshire held talks in Brussels on Wednesday to emphasise the importance of a "frictionless" border, and also promised to "take no risks" with the province's political stability.
After talks with Irish premier Enda Kenny in Brussels last week, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said that the EU will also seek to avoid fixed border controls.
Kenny was in Brussels again on Thursday to discuss Brexit. Sinn Fein's Irish leader, Gerry Adams, in January described Brexit as a "hostile action" by the British government, which would have a "negative impact" on the province's peace agreement.
In last June's referendum on EU membership, Northern Ireland voted to remain in the bloc but was outvoted by an overall British majority of 52 percent to leave.
Polls close at 2200 GMT but results are not expected until Saturday.
ISIS had withdrawn to residential neighbourhoods in the east of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
A desert oasis surrounded by palm trees in central Syria, Palmyra is also a strategic crossroads linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the countrys east and neighbouring Iraq. (Photo: AP)
Beirut: Terror group ISIS withdrew from much of the Syrian oasis city of Palmyra overnight, a monitor said on Thursday, but government forces paused before entering its ravaged ancient ruins because of mines. Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into a western neighbourhood of the city on Wednesday after fierce clashes with the terrorists.
By morning, ISIS had withdrawn to residential neighbourhoods in the east of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"ISIS withdrew from most of Palmyra after laying mines across the city. There are still suicide bombers left in the eastern neighbourhoods," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
"Government forces have not yet been able to enter the heart of the city or the eastern parts."
Palmyra's ancient ruins have long been listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
Before ISIS entered the city in May 2015, they boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But the terrorists launched a campaign of destruction against them, the scale of which was fully revealed when government forces briefly retook the city with Russian support last year.
Satellite imagery has shown that ISIS has demolished more monuments since it recaptured Palmyra from government forces in December.
"There are no ISIS fighters left in most of the Old City, but it is heavily mined," the Observatory chief said.
Supported by Russian air strikes and ground troops, government forces have been battling through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.
On Wednesday, a senior military source in Damascus told AFP the army had reached a strategic crossroads leading into Palmyra.
The girl also alleged that the perpetrator also threatened to kill her brother if she told anyone about the assaults.
A 17-year-old orphan girl was raped by her relative in May 2016. (Photo: AFP/ Representational)
Islamabad: A Pakistani man has been arrested for allegedly raping and impregnating a 17-year-old orphan girl after she rejected his marriage proposal.
The assault took place in May 2016, but the incident came to light only after the girl was unable to hide the resultant pregnancy and had to report the matter to the Ramna Police Station in January 2017.
According to the Express Tribune, the victim was staying at her maternal uncles house Sector G-12 for a few days, when her aunts brother asked her to marry him. When she refused, he locked her up
The 17-year-old victim was allegedly intoxicated and raped for three to four days after she had refused the proposal from her aunts brother.
The victim told police that last May, she was staying at her maternal uncles house Sector G-12 for a few days, when her aunts brother approached her. The girl also accused her aunt of assisting her brother in the crime, by locking the door to her room from the outside.
The girl also alleged that the perpetrator also threatened to kill her brother if she told anyone about the assaults. The maternal uncle, however, was unaware of what had transpired.
The girl went back home after a month and did not reveal her ordeal to anyone, but was compelled to tell her relatives, when her pregnancy reached an advanced stage in January.
The police arrested both suspects after doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences confirmed that the victim was seven-months pregnant.
A police officer said that the suspect had confessed his crime and that the allegations would be confirmed once a DNA test was conducted.
The suspects sister, who is accused of facilitating the crime, was arrested after her pre-arrest bail was turned down by a sessions judge. However, she filed a fresh bail plea before Additional District and Sessions Judge Javed Iqbal Sipra, which was accepted on February 27 against a bail bond of Rs 100,000.
A trial will begin once the police complete their investigations and submit their report to the court.
Imran, a father of three, was transferred to a hospital in Punjab province with 85% burn injuries, Geo TV reported.
According to his family, his employer called him at a secret location, tied him up and set him on fire. (Representational image)
Lahore: In a gruesome incident, a 30-year- old Pakistani man was allegedly set on fire by his employer for failing to pay back a loan of Rs 4,000, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Imran, a father of three, was transferred to a hospital in Punjab province with 85% burn injuries, Geo TV reported quoting officials as saying.
According to his father, Imran worked at a marble factory in Taxila and owed Rs 4,000 to his employer. He left his job to work in another factory after he was not paid his dues for the month, the report said.
According to his family, his employer called him at a secret location, tied him up and set him on fire.
A two-day conference sponsored by the Cairo Sunni institution ends. More than 600 Christian and Muslim leaders from more than 50 countries attended. For Grand Imam Al Tayeb, associating religion and terrorism is a pretext by "ultra-modernists" to rid society of religion. Patriarch Sako stressed "shared values" for "all citizens, religions, and cultures."
Cairo (AsiaNews) Christian and Muslim religious leaders, politicians and intellectuals ended the conference on Freedom and Citizenship: Diversity and Integration sponsored by Al-Azhar University, in Cairo (Egypt) by firmly condemning the use of "violence in the name of religion" and renewing the call for "harmony" and "mutual respect" between different faiths in a State that guarantees for everyone the right of citizenship and equal treatment.
The two-day symposium (28 February-1 March) organised by the most important Sunni institution in the world brought together more than 600 people from more than 50 Arab and non-Arab countries in the world.
At the end of the two-day event, with speeches by Islamic and Christian religious leaders on Tuesday and by politicians and intellectuals on Wednesday, Al-Azhar issued an informal joint declaration on mutual co-existence.
Leaders from the two great monotheistic religions condemned the use of religion to perpetrate acts of violence or foment wars, stressing the principle of living together.
In the final address, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmad Al Tayeb firmly condemned "all crimes committed in the name of religion", which is something alien to all religions and the rules of civilisation.
In this sense, he noted, it is important to reform the concept of citizenship around the "principle of equality" of people in the same State.
The grand imam demanded Islam not be associated with terrorism because the criminal actions of some Muslims does not justify the use of violence by the religion itself.
This, according to Al Tayeb, opens the door to describing all religions as terrorism, which justifies extremist modernists argument that societies must be rid of religion since it is a source of violence.
Finally, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar strongly condemned the recent attacks against Copts in Egypt, calling them victims of violence "in their own land".
"Regardless of (the efforts) of terrorists, they will never undermine our determination to secure a common livelihood, he added. Citizenship, equality, and rule of law will create a better life for forthcoming generations" based on solidarity and mutual cooperation.
Chaldean Patriarch Mar Raphael Louis Sako also spoke at the conference, stressing the need to rethink educational programmes through stronger elements of "convergence and tolerance".
"We need to promote fraternal relations between Christians and Muslims, he added, through media culture and create a common "home" to "unite all citizens, religions, and cultures" through "shared values".
Maronite Patriarch Card Beshara al-Rahi said that freedom of religion is the basis of all fundamental human rights. Touching it means undermining "all the rights and freedoms of living together."
Finally, the head of the Coptic Church Pope Tawadros II urged those present to fight extremist thought with enlightened thought.
"Egypt and the region have suffered from extremist thought, he added. A mistaken understanding of religion [. . .] has led to terrorism on a local and world scale.
by Shafique Khokhar
The two are accused of theft and robbery by the girls employers, a Muslim family that employed her as a maid. She earned US$ 40 a month for 18 hours of work a day. For Shahid Anwar, diocesan coordinator for Justice and Peace, false charges are levelled at minority people who stand up to slavery.
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) - Mehwish Masih, a 15-year-old Christian girl, and her 48-year-old father, Babar Masih, were indicted on false charges and are currently involved in a nightmarish legal battle to prove their innocence.
The Muslim family that employed Mehwish for months as a maid accused the two of theft and robbery. Father and daughter were arrested on 8 December 2017 and released on bail in the first week of February 2017.
The Masih are very poor Christian family living in Kamalpur (Faisalabad). Babar and his wife Ruqiya Bibi have four children, three girls and a boy. Their home is a very humble flat near the kiln where both parents work.
In October 2015, the family was contacted by Kiran Bibi, wife of Mian Mohammad Tariq, a Muslim entrepreneur. She asked that the couple's 15-year-old daughter work for her as a maid. Finding themselves in difficult economic conditions, Babar and Ruqiya accepted.
Mehwish worked 16 months for the Muslim family, 18 hours a day for 5,000 rupees a month (US$ 50), living in her employers house. She was allowed to visit home once a month.
In September 2016, Mehwish felt pain to abdomen, and her parents brought her home, where she was diagnosed with severe appendicitis. They decided to keep her at home until she got better.
Kiran Bibi reacted angrily to this, telling the couple to send their daughter back to work. In the face of repeated refusals, she responded with verbal violence and threats.
During the last week of November, Kiran Bibi visited the family accompanied by police officers. She accused Mehwish and her father of stealing jewels worth 16 million Pakistani rupees (US$ 15,000) during her nephews wedding ceremony in January 2016.
Based on these allegations, father and daughter were summoned to the Kamalpur police station for questioning. They were released the next day.
On 8 December 2016, lured by the promise of settling the dispute, Babar and Mehwish went to the Tariq house where, called by the accusers, police were waiting to arrest the two Christians.
The father was held at the local police station, whilst the girl was placed under house arrest at the home of her employer and accuser.
The Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) took to heart the situation of the two accused and in early February posted bail.
The two returned home, are now waiting for the next court hearing, scheduled for next Monday (6 March). Meanwhile, the High Court in Lahore has not yet ruled on a request for permanent bail.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Shahid Anwar, diocesan coordinator for Justice and Peace in Faisalabad, said that "Very often this kind of allegations is levelled against Christian domestic workers by rich home owners because they belong to minorities and marginalised groups.
Most of the time, the charges are unfounded. Employers do not want their employees to free themselves from their bondage. The daughter was held at the Tariq home and her father was kept behind bars for many days without due process.
This family is innocent and very poor, Shahid noted. We are providing them with legal aid, and managed to get interim bail at the High Court in Lahore, but we hope that on 6 March the bail will be confirmed. We stand by these poor victims and shall fight until justice is done."
by Loula Lahham
News about violence against Copts have disappeared from Egyptian media. For the government, the crisis has been resolved. International conferences continue. The one organised by Al-Azhar ended yesterday with no results. More than 1,500 Christians have fled from El Arish.
Cairo (AsiaNews) Media coverage of Copts fleeing Islamic State violence and terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula has declined since 22 February.
The Egyptian government feels it has done its duty: the Social Affairs minister has visited the area, the government and civil society groups have sent humanitarian aid and food, displaced people will not be penalised for not going to work, and schoolchildren will be enrolled in other schools.
Everything seems to be in order. The spiritual leader of Egypts Christians, Pope Tawadros II, slammed the use of the term "immigrants by the media in his weekly address on Wednesday. In his view, the term is wrong. It's just a passing crisis.
Such remarks are very similar to those uttered by Egypts Interior minister. We did not ask the Coptic residents to leave their homes and their possessions."
Even international conferences have resumed. A conference on Freedom and Citizenship: Diversity and Integration ended yesterday. Organised by Al-Azhar, Sunni Islams highest body, under the auspices of Egypts President, the symposium saw the participation of religious and lay delegates from 50 countries, in particular senior spiritual leaders of all Mideast Christian rites, including five patriarchs and dozens of Eastern bishops as well as representatives of several Protestant Churches.
What results did the conference produce? Nothing. Just words of courtesy and tolerance on everyones behalf. Meanwhile, there are almost no Christians left in El Arish. Families today refused a visit by a delegation of the National Human Rights Council, headed by famous Coptic activist George Ishaq.
It should be noted that more than 1,500 Copts fled El Arish, northern Sinai, following violence that left seven Christian dead in the last ten days.
by Fady Noun
Top Shia religious official attends interfaith conference organised by main Sunni institution. Twelve Churches from the Arab world were invited as well. Patriarch al-Rahi focuses on Lebanons way of belonging and living together. Al Azhar imam says that all citizens are equal and that Christians cannot be considered a minority, which has negative connotations.
Cairo (AsiaNews) "Al Azhar represents me and represents Qom and Najaf, said Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan, head of Lebanons Shia Higher Council, causing a stir yesterday, at the two-day Islamic-Christian conference on "Freedom and Citizenship: Diversity and Integration organised by Al Azhar in Cairo.
Sheikh Kabalans presence was a first. Until now, Shia scholars took part in Al Azhar conferences and meetings in their personal capacity only. The Jafari mufti welcomed the initiative in a great show of solidarity, as a sign of rapprochement between Sunnis and Shias.
"An Ummah that tears itself apart from within ceases to be an Ummah," said Sheikh Kabalan, who even went so far as to say that the liberation of Jerusalem comes after the necessity for Sunnis and Shias to "To be together in God".
The Shia official also called for a return of Egypt to its role as "guide" of the Arab world, and invited Tehran and Riyadh to talk to each other.
As its title indicates, the conference calls for an end rather than a reform of the notion of "dhimmitude". In fact, faced with a rising tide of fundamentalist Muslim currents in which this notion generates discrimination, exclusion and violence, updating it is needed in war-torn societies where Islam is the majority religion, as well as in Western societies where Islam is a minority, but where it aspires to a political role.
Conscious of the urgency, and apparently spurred by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Grand Imam of El-Azhar invited almost as many Christians as Muslims to speak at the Cairo conference.
As the only Arab country whose president is Christian, sll of Lebanons communities were represented at the symposium. It must also be noted that the Muslim co-chairman of the National Committee for Dialogue, Mohammad Sammak, is one of the conferences main backers.
Christian speakers included the Maronite Patriarch, Card Beshara al-Rahi, Maronite Archbishop of Beirut, Bishop Boulos Matar, one of the two co-presidents of the National Committee for Dialogue Hares Shehab, Adyan Foundation president Fadi Daou, former minister Tarek Mitri, Prof Antoine Messarra, and Constitutional Council member and former president Amine Gemayel.
In general, according to a source at the conference, el-Azhar brought together representatives of 12 churches in the Arab world, ranging from Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako to the Lutheran bishop of Jerusalem, Younan Mounib (president of the Lutheran World Federation). This is a sign of its determination to recognise the richness and legitimacy of such diversity both within the Arab world and among the churches.
"Who disregards the contribution of Christians to Arab civilisation ignores all of history," said Arab League secretary general at the inaugural session of the conference. He also spoke about the notion of "dhimmitude" in Islam, which provides a religious basis for the civic inequality between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Imam of Al-Azhar himself considers this anachronistic and "non-scientific".
Efforts to ground the notion of citizenship and civic affiliation on rational bases stems, in particular, on historical references dating back to the early days of Islam. The Madinah Pact concluded by the Prophet with Jewish and Christian tribes of the time was mentioned in particular. This pact, it seems, puts forward an egalitarian society whose members enjoy the same rights and are called to defensive solidarity and peaceful coexistence.
For the Imam of El-Azhar, "all citizens are equal and Christians cannot be considered a minority, a term loaded with negative connotations."
For Adyan Foundation president Fr Fadi Daou, whose concept of "inclusive citizenship in diversity" is beginning to be popular, the reform of the notion of citizenship will remain incomplete if it is not accompanied by a reform of the notion of the state, and if Islam does not adopt the concept of a "civil" state.
It is precisely this type of state that the Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi mentioned in his address. The head of the Maronite Church spoke of a median solution "between Muslim theocracy", marked by the confusion of the civil and religious and Western "atheocracy", marked by total divorce.
The patriarch underlined the benefits of a shared citizenship "capable of creating a sense of belonging and assuring coexistence that he defines as" the essence of the Lebanese model."
Not satisfied with addressing this aspect of citizenship, the patriarch went on to talk about one of the root causes of the geopolitical crisis that is shaking the Arab world, namely the place taken by Islam in lieu of Arab nationalism as an actor of history.
He stressed the need to rely on the notion of Arabism as a the basis of civilisation" and the development of civil liberties, as opposed to the Islamic state, and the "Ummah" as a locus for religious discrimination between compatriots.
For his part, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian turned to the model of living together, pluralism and the recognition of the other, but stopped short of a "civil state", speaking instead of a State "of good and just governance".
Today, Wednesday, was reserved for political speeches. The day will be marked by the address of Lebanese President Michel Aoun. Although officially invited to the symposium, his speech will be delivered by Minister Pierre Raffoul.
I was sitting alone when they walked in. Recognising me, Justice Kandakasi walked straight across to where I sat. I rose to meet him and was introduced to Justice Auka, whom I had never met before.
They were on circuit presiding over serious cases but they were relaxing during their lunch hour and there was I with a chance to talk literature with them.
There I was at the Ipatas Centre restaurant in Wabag at the same time as Justices Ambeng Kandakasi and Ravunama Auka.
JUST recently I had one of those chances in a lifetime encounters with two judges of the Papua New Guinean high court.
Their lunch had been pre-arranged and they were served immediately and the staff locked the door so they could dine in privacy. I sat typing at the other end of the room.
Then an idea flashed across my mind. I decided to ring my wife Julie and ask her to bring to the restaurant two copies of my book I Can See My Country Clearly Now.
When I saw Julie outside, I asked the judges to spare me a few minutes because I wished to present them with the book.
What is it about? Justice Kandakasi asked.
Its about my travels around the world, reflecting on our country, I replied.
Sounds good, the judge said.
So I went outside, my wife Julie sweating on the footpath, gratefully took the books from her and rushed back into the restaurant.
I signed my name on the flyleaf and presented each of the judges with a copy.
This is a chance in a lifetime for me to meet two judges, I said. It is also a chance for me to promote my province. Please read it if you have the time.
As they skimmed through the pages, I highlighted the plight of Papua New Guinean authors who cannot get their books to a wider audience. There are no bookshops which sell our books, I told the two men.
Reading PNG-authored books can improve literacy levels of students but our books are not made available to them.
Only the UPNG Bookshop is selling PNG-authored books.
The two judges nodded and took their leave. But before they left, I asked them if I could take a photograph, and they gladly agreed.
Reflecting on that chance meeting, I thank the two judges for their patience and willingness to spare me a few minutes of their precious leisure time to listen to something dear to my heart the development of literature and literacy in my country through promoting writing, publishing and reading PNG-authored books.
I hope I will meet them again sometime soon, so they can tell me how they felt about my book.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) - Children and teenagers from the parish Kdol Leu want to help other children in Syria, marked by war and poverty, by saving their snack money and in just two weeks, through AsiaNews, have sent 3.20 Euro (this is the amount collected!) to children in Syria.
The small amount of money raised is of immense moral value, given that for many of them their snack substitutes a midday meal. What this means is that these young children gave up lunch for two straight weeks to help Syrian children have skipped lunch for two weeks.
A snack coast 500-1000 riel (about 10-20 cents) and may consist of rice topped with pork or shop bought snacks. Once all of these products came from China, but now there is a strong local production of poor nutritional quality.
The parish priest, Fr. Luca Bolelli, PIME, explains that "the terms were that in addition to giving us their snack, everyone had to say a prayer for the Syrian children".
The children and teenagers who participated in this sacrifice in preparation for Lent, were aged between 11 and 13. They all take part in the weekly catechism, some in preparation for First Communion, others to prepare for baptism.
"They are an exceptional group" explains Fr. Bolelli. "Last week, I had been away all week and we had to skip the catechism meeting. Srey-Niang, a girl from the group, stopped me and immediately said: 'Father, this week we didnt have catechism!'. And I said: 'It is true. If you want to meet tonight we can. Go tell the others'. And she said: 'I already did! We knew you were coming, and we have already arranged to meet tonight! '. I assure you that such a thing, no matter how small, fills you with joy! ".
The example of children was so overwhelming that, for the whole of Lent, Fr. Bolelli has proposed a fast to help Syrian children to all adult parishioners.
The community of Kdol Leu is located in central Cambodia on the Mekong River, about 200 km from the capital Phnom Penh. The Catholics of the country, decimated by persecution at the time of the Khmer Rouge, are about 25 thousand. Among these, at least 80% are Vietnamese emigrants.
by Nirmala Carvalho
Judges state: "We have a life on our hands." The mother is 37 years old and 26 weeks pregnant. The anomaly of the fetus does not pose risks to the health of pregnant women. Dr. Carvalho: "When you discover problems with prenatal diagnosis, the predominant trend is abortion."
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Supreme Court of India has denied abortion to a woman 26 weeks pregnant, whose child suffers from Down syndrome. The judges state: "We have a life on our hands." The Supreme Court, after medical evaluations, has decreed that there are no physical risks to the mother in continuing the pregnancy that would justify abortion. "Everyone knows - they wrote in the judgment - that children with Down syndrome are definitely less intelligent, but they are good people."
Speaking to AsiaNews Dr. Pascoal Carvalho, a Catholic doctor and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said: "There is no doubt that parents suffer when abnormalities to the fetus are diagnosed, but abortion should never be considered the best option."
The Supreme Court ruling is dated 28 February. The mother, a woman of 37, had appealed to interrupt the pregnancy. In India, the law states that you can have an abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy if it poses a danger to the mother and fetus. However in this case the courts have not seen fit to grant permission. Earlier in a similar incident they had agreed to the interruption for a 24-week pregnant woman with serious risks to her health.
Dr. Carvalho said that "life is sacred, and it is from the moment of conception. Any attack against human life cheapens our attitude towards life as a whole. Today we are faced with a culture of death and that is why we must reaffirm respect for life, especially for those who are not yet born, also with Down syndrome. " "Life is a continuous - said the doctor - and any attempt to suppress it leads us to deny its value. Abortion is an attack against life from its beginning. "
He reports that the new ethical and religious directives for Catholic health services [enacted in 1994 by the US National Catholic bishops Conference, who return to the teachings of Instruction Donum Vitae 1987 - ed] allow prenatal diagnosis only when the "methods used with the consent of the parents adequately informed, safeguard the life and integrity of the embryo and its mother, without subjecting them to disproportionate risks "[Donum vitae, part 1 n. 2 - Ed].
The problems, continues Dr. Carvalho, "arise when the diagnoses show deformities or abnormalities in the child. The predominant trend in the world today is abortion. " "Despite this - he concludes - we must never forget that every person is a unique individual made in the image and likeness of God. The unborn child, innocent, helpless is crying out for our protection."
by Nirmala Carvalho
The radicals belong to the group of extreme right-wing Hindu Vahini. They accuse Christians of wanting to convert the groom, of Hindu religion. The couple was forced to postpone the wedding and celebrate with a Vedic ritual. The state has a law against forced conversions that discriminates against minorities.
Bhopal (AsiaNews) - A nationalist Hindu radical group broke into a church in the Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh, and interrupted a wedding that was being celebrated between a Christian woman and Hindu man.
Affiliates the Hindu Vahini have accused those present of trying to forcibly convert the groom. This despite the assurances by the latter, who had already had to overcome the families opposition to the union.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has condemned "the serious violation of religious freedom, human rights and human dignity. India is a secular country, with a constitution that guarantees freedom of choice. The couple are of legal age to join freely in marriage. "
The incident took place on 28 February. The two future spouses, Christian Avnish and Hindu Anukampa, were about to get married when the ceremony was interrupted. The police who arrived at the place, did nothing to prevent the extremists in this latest episode of abuse against minorities.
According to the Christian leader, "the police in Bhopal and the far-right group have carried out an illegal and criminal act, breaking into church and stopping the marriage. It is a shameful thing and GCIC condemns this violation in any way. The policemen involved should be investigated. The police are responsible for ruining the harmony between the communities ".
The Christian girl, dressed in the white, tried to mediate and explain the couples reasons. To avoid further consequences, the future spouses were forced to postpone marriage and decided that it will be celebrated in Indore according to the Arya Samaj ritual, of Vedic tradition.
In Madhya Pradesh, there is an infamous anti-conversion law, amended in 2013, punishing those who try to convert Hindus to Christianity. The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act came into force in 1968 and prohibits conversions obtained by force or money.
However, this measure is used to persecute Christians, on false allegations of forced conversions, and all those who decide to embrace religions other than Hinduism. Sajan K George adds: "With this law the fascist forces oppress and humiliate the tiny Christian population, even during a special event such as marriage." "What is more serious - he concludes - is that the police are saffronized and collaborate with Hindu extremists."
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Syrian government forces have entered the historic city-symbol of Palmyra, one of the places where the jihadist devastation was most ruthless in Syria, wresting back control of the militias of the Islamic State (IS). Damascus troops, supported by Russian air strikes, have taken over part of a neighborhood in the western sector of the city.
Last December, the jihadists reassumed control of the area by repelling the Syrian army assault, supported by the Russian air raid, responding with artillery fire and suicide attacks.
In the 10 months between the summer of 2015 and the first months of 2016 the Unesco heritage site of Palmyra, with two thousand years of history was in the IS hands. During that period, Daesh [Arabic acronym for IS] destroyed many monuments and executed the director of antiquities. The area is of strategic importance for the militants because of the many oil fields in the subsurface.
During the occupation militiamen released photos that showed the destruction of some artifacts taken from the complex of Palmyra. Other images showed the explosion of the historic temple of Baal Shamin. In a public execution the IS also beheaded of the site director Khaled al-Assad, who had refused to disclose the place where most of the relics are preserved.
According to reports from the official Sana State news agency, the Syrian government forces have also taken a strategic area known as the "triangle of Palmyra" as well as the most important access route.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO based in London with a dense network of informers in the area, adds that "strong fighting and heavy shelling" is ongoing around the citadel, whose control has changed several times in the past two years. "They are about to take the citadel - he adds - the Islamic state has retreated, but may have left suicide bombers in the area" meaning the government forces must move forward with caution.
In the past the United Nations has condemned the devastation wrought by jihadists in Palmyra, calling it a "war crime".
Ironically, this is also a trap for Papua New Guineans writing about their own culture and heritage.
Anthropologists like Margaret Mead succeeded in bridging the gap because they were eminent anthropologists as well as exceptional writers.
Any anthropological writer who attempts to elevate to better prose, so escaping this academic miasma, risks the disapproval of their peers.
IF YOU read a lot of anthropology as I did once, you realise how dry and boring objective accounts of customs and culture can be.
What might be interesting to you or your clan may leave other people unresponsive or confused. Making such accounts thought-provoking to a wide range of readers is a real challenge and in 2015 very few of the heritage entries in the Crocodile Prize succeeded in overcoming it.
Konetero Ronnie Dotaona did succeed. He took traditional custom and history and imbued it with an inspirational tone that tingled the blood.
In doing so he wisely chose a subject that strikes a chord in our collective memories. It is a coastal theme but highlanders have something similar in their stories of expansion and pioneering settlement.
Capturing these subjects in elegant prose makes dry anthropological accounts pale by comparison. Ronnie was a worthy winner of the 2015 Cleland Family Award for Heritage Writing.
__________
Suau: The sons of seafarers
KONETERO RONNIE DOTAONA
EVERY Suau-speaking lad is fond of the ocean. Ask him. And ask him about his dream. Go to maritime college, join the navy or build a workboat.
If a Simbai is born with all the secrets of the forest, then a Suau is a born seafarer. Infant boys are carried by an uncle or grand-uncle to the beach. He is made to face Tupo Yalasi, the direction of the west wind.
The old man will perform the infant dance and sing the ritual song calling on the Yalasi wind to inundate the young one with strength. And the baby will be taken to the front of a sailing canoe in rough storms and the waves will spray his face while uncle or grand-uncle sings. Later, young people reaching manhood or womanhood undergo rituals connected to the sea.
Our fathers sail kemuluwa or amuyuwa, ocean-going canoes with sails made of dam - woven dried pandanus leaves.
The craft reminds me of the skill it took, and the tragedies experienced, on the part of my ancestors in crossing thousand miles of ocean to reach the land we call home. I do not know if the seas were pacificus in that era.
The names kemuluwa and amuyuwa signify that these voyages journeyed across the Muruwa or Muyuw seas near what are now the Woodlark and neighbouring islands.
They built and sailed wolibote, workboats without motors, driven by sails. I asked my grand-fathers where the name originated. I came to understand that these boats were similar to whaleboats, thus the name wolibote was coined.
The arrival of marine motors motivated them to share the dream of a white man, Reverend Charles Abel, to build boats. Our fathers were trained at Kwato Island by Australian boat builders.
Some were trained at Wako Wakoko Slipways and at Sariba Island, while others pioneered the Salamo Slipways on Fergusson Island. The quality of work our fathers did in the boatyards was comparable to Australian and British boat builders.
I recall the stories of my grand-uncle. When he sleeps on the deck at night, he feels the pattern of currents and waves hitting the boat. He tells the tiller man if they are approaching a reef or nearing land.
He uses the stars to navigate. He knows all the current patterns and uses them to his advantage. His clan totem is the sea eagle. I had a chance to travel the coast between Milne Bay and Morobe. On many occasions, I spotted the Kubona the dawn star from the ship. The first thought that entered my mind was, Ive seen the same star, my Lapita ancestors have seen.
We hear stories of our fathers meeting sea monsters and storms and the parts of the Milne Bay waters where one is not allowed to utter a word. They tell us the different names of ocean waves and describe the areas from Milne Bay to the Motuan to the Gulf coastline that we need to know.
Suaus take pride that their sons were some of the pioneers to sail the oceans of our country. The songs of our forefathers were composed and sung on these journeys, songs of leaving their loved ones behind, coming ashore on foreign soil and of young lasses eloping.
Our fathers taught us the lives of sea birds - sea eagle, sea hawk, frigate bird and tern - and what we can learn from them. Sayings like being shark-eyed and not of a sting ray or sleep like a turtle or wake up like a tern were coined.
Around the evening fires, we have heard stories and legends of the sea and its monsters: sineligusisalasala, sineboudalili, polepole, bolisaielo, sasalutu gwanegwane.
If that was not enough, our mothers created games: string figures such as the amuyuwa, Kubona the dawn star, the ocean tides and currents, Taubodidi the seafarer. When kids play these figures, they are drawn closer to the spirit of seafaring.
A Suau man knows the look of a strong workboat; boats that can load at the same time and withstand the storms. As lads, we were taught the names of hardwoods that resist the naval shipworm, hardwoods that will last.
Suaus are a headache to the provincial maritime authority, because they breach strong wind warnings. They take pride in riding on the waves, even though they know that the ocean does not keep memorial headstones afloat.
May the Suau lads sail the waters and build hardwood boats out of love, respect and character, boats that will stand lifes stormy seas.
May they, in future, cross oceans with outrigger canoes. May their sails be filled with the trade winds. To our forefathers who have already sailed away. Youre a mariner. Fair winds!
Two former partners at traditional firms have moved on from the conventional law firm life, choosing instead to work in-house and in a specialised legal firm catering to entrepreneurs.NAB has appointed Sharon Cook , King & Wood Mallesons managing partner for clients, as chief legal and commercial officer. Meanwhile, Bruce McFarlane, former partner at Hall & Wilcox, has been appointed as the managing partner of BlueRock Groups legal arm, BlueRock Partners.Cook brings more than 30 years of experience in the legal world to the Big Four bank. She specialises in banking, litigation, and corporate insurance. She most recently, led KWM s development and implementation of its client and sector strategy as part of a five-member managing partner team.She has been with traditional law firms for most of her legal career, starting at legacy Stephen Jaques Stone James in the early 1980s before moving on to Herbert Smith in London. She then came back to Australia to Mallesons Stephen Jaques before being appointed as partner at Henry Davis York . She led the firm as managing partner until 2014, before coming back to KWM in 2015.In addition to Cook, NAB has also appointed former NSW premier and treasurer Mike Baird as chief customer officer, corporate and institutional banking, and American and former Barclaycard global COO Patrick Wright as CTO.Meanwhile, McFarlane transitions to BlueRock Partners after being part of Hall & Wilcox for nearly 20 years. BlueRock Group offers entrepreneurs accounting, law, wealth management, and technology solutions, with BlueRock Partners providing technology-enabled legal solutions to entrepreneurs. McFarlane, who specialises in mergers and acquisitions and franchising, joins partner Dan Holdsworth.
A group of upstate lawmakers is taking a new approach to repealing the SAFE Act, a gun control measure that was adopted in 2013.
Bills sponsored by state Sen. Rob Ortt and Assemblyman Marc Butler would repeal key provisions of the SAFE Act for areas outside of the five New York City boroughs.
The legislation is supported by members of Cayuga County's state legislative delegation, including state Sens. Pam Helming and Jim Seward and Assemblyman Bob Oaks.
The legislators want to repeal the SAFE Act's five-year pistol permit recertification requirement and repeal the mandated ammunition database. The measure also calls for the repeal of the License and Record Database, a SAFE Act requirement that hasn't been implemented.
It would also restore the previous definition of an assault weapon. Before the SAFE Act, rifles with two "militarized" features were defined as assault weapons. A provision in the law reduced it to one feature needed for a rifle to be considered an assault weapon.
Under the proposed bill, individuals would be allowed to transfer firearms, rifles and shotguns to family members as part of an estate.
Seward, R-Milford, voted against the SAFE Act in 2013. On Wednesday, he said the law "tramples on our Second Amendment rights."
"The entire package is an attack on responsible gun owners who meticulously follow the law rather than ignore it like the criminal element," Seward said. "I have consistently called for a full repeal of the NY SAFE Act, and passed legislation in the Senate to reform several of the most onerous portions of the law."
The SAFE Act was approved by the Democratic-led Assembly and the Republican-controlled state Senate. Some Republicans voted for the measure in 2013, including current Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed for the law's adoption following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and the attack on first responders in Webster, a Rochester suburb, in 2012.
While Cuomo received praise from gun control groups throughout the state and nationally, gun rights advocates said the law unfairly targeted law-abiding citizens.
Helming, R-Canandaigua, wasn't in the state Senate when the law was adopted. Her predecessor, retired state Sen. Michael Nozzolio, voted against it.
Like Nozzolio, she believes the law must be repealed.
"This unnecessary legislation was passed in the middle of the night, with a message of necessity, so the public could not find out that their Second Amendment rights were being stripped," Helming said. "The time is long past due for New Yorkers to have our right to bear arms fully restored."
Full repeal of the SAFE Act is unlikely with Cuomo still in office and Democrats in control of the Assembly.
But Assemblyman Bob Oaks and others are hopeful that Cuomo and legislative leaders will consider the bill to repeal key provisions of the SAFE Act for upstate New York.
Oaks, R-Macedon, said keeping the SAFE Act in place for New York City and removing key provisions from the law for upstate New York would acknowledge the differences between the two regions of the state.
"Repealing the SAFE Act would help restore Second Amendment rights of citizens outside of New York City's boroughs," he said.
The legal team at Australian-British miner Rio Tinto has a new head at the helm, at least for now.Its emerged that Freshfields partner Philip Richards has been seconded to the firm since December following the departure of Debra Valentine who had announced her intention to retire.Richards is a corporate lawyer in Freshfields London office and has management experience with the law firm having spent four years as managing partner in Milan.A merger between Dentons and Netherlands law firm Boekel has been announced.Dentons will further expand its claim as the worlds largest law firm when the combination closes, which is expected to be next month. It will bring the firms office count in Europe alone to 26 across 18 countries; and its global headcount to more than 7,800 in more than 60 countries.Boekel has 70 lawyers including 16 partners and is a full-service firm with a particular focus on real estate, corporate and litigation.The specialist legal recuiter Major, Lindsay & Africa has hired Ashish Raivadera as head of private practice for South Asia.He will be based in Singapore and will also head up the firms newly opened office there. He knows the city state and wider region well having operated ATR Associates focusing on placing lawyers and counsel with international firms.He joins the Asia Pacific partner practice team which includes Carl Hopkins (Hong Kong), Tom Stretton and Michael Robertson (Sydney), Laurie Lebrun (Tokyo), and Andrew Ng (Beijing) who also act for law firm partners.Maurice Allen, a former consultant and senior partner at Ropes & Gray, has joined DLA Piper in London.He will assist the firms financial services sector practice in developing existing and new client relationships, bringing wide experience of growing City and US law firms.
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Australia's partner visa programme could be tightened after a sham marriage scam was uncovered where a couple made more than $100,000 from men wanting to stay in the country.Migrant agent Chetan Mashru and his marriage celebrant wife Divya Gowda have been jailed for running the marriage visa scam which charged Indian men up to $40,000 for marriages to Australian women to help them stay in the country.A court in Brisbane was told that a total of 16 marriages were organised where the men and women signed marriage papers on their first meeting.Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that his department will continue to look at the partner visa programme to see if it needs reform and will listen to suggestions, although no immediate plans have been announced.Nearly 50,000 foreign spouses, fiancees and other partners move to Australia each year with partner visas accounting for a quarter of the total migrant intake. There are currently 70,000 applications in the pipeline.A cap has now been put on the number that will be granted per year and Dutton revealed that519 partner visas were cancelled over the past two years but he confirmed that numbers granted are rising, from 39,931 in 2007/2008 to 47,825 last year with the majority coming from China, India and Vietnam.Demographer Dr Bob Birrell of the Australian Population Research Institute, believes the visa programme can be tightened and pointed out countries like the UK where it is much harder to get a visa.In Australia partners can be as young as 16 and their sponsor does not need to have a job. But in the UK sponsors and their partners must be at least 21 to apply for a visa and earn at least $30,145 if living outside Europe.Birrell pointed out that in Australia the sponsored spouses or the sponsor make no contribution whatsoever to the cost of the public facilities they're going to need once they get to the country.'In other words, it's a free ticket to enjoy our lifestyle, so it's not surprising we are getting a very high number of applications, including about 8,000 former foreign students every year who manage to find a sponsor,' he added.Pauline Hanson, leader of the One Nation party, wants the visa stream tightened. She said her constituents had raised concerns about cases where foreign students had married Australian citizens and then ended the relationships after obtaining visas.Dutton said the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) had already strengthened the spousal visa programme and would continue with its policy of having no tolerance for visa fraud.'We are open to looking at any sensible ideas that will help stamp out corruption,' he added.
Hello everyone. I am an Australian living in USA. I have Citizenship in both countries. My husband is American. We have a 2 year old daughter. I am past ready to go home!!!! I have been reading a lot of post and from what I have read its faster to get a visa by applying for his partner visa once we are home? My main question is, how does he enter Australia with the intent to stay, although not having yet applies for partner visa?
Thank you for any input.
Hello. I am currently on my student visa which will expire this 15 March 2017. The problem is i will not be able to finish my course due to personal reasons. So now im planning to cancell my visa at the last minute and go back home to my country. My questions is, Will i still be able to apply for permanent residency skilled 189?i heard there is an entry ban for 3 years. Is that true? Please help, i really need some guidance. Thanks
Mahindra is looking to save costs and share technology and platforms with its Korean subsidiary which returned to profits after nine years.
Mahindra and its South Korean subsidiary SsangYong are aggressively working on deepening their synergies. The immediate agenda is to develop a petrol engine that would find use in both brands, license SsangYong's Tivoli platform to Mahindra, jointly develop a platform and build upmarket electric cars.
The homegrown carmaker is co-developing an all-new 1.5-litre petrol engine with SsangYong which will power both the carmakers future range of vehicles for the local as well as export market. This is also likely to do duty in the next-generation Thar for export markets, whose development is underway. The powertrain will be identical in many aspects such as design, engineering and validation to maximise cost-sharing.
We are currently working on a 1.5-litre petrol engine where the intellectual property rights will be shared by Mahindra and SsangYong, and will be used by both the companies for their own products. This engine is almost the same [for both], and has the same design, engineering and validation. This has given us a tremendous benefit in terms of development and material cost since we have been able to combine volumes, Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra and Mahindra said.
Extending its scope of collaboration, Mahindra has licensed SsangYongs Tivoli platform which will underpin its new SUV, codenamed S201. However, the SUV, which is set to be introduced in late 2018, will not share any other aspect with the Tivoli apart from the platform. Its not like taking the Tivoli and putting a Mahindra badge on it. Its just the platform that has been shared. The dimensions are not the same, Goenka added.
Work is also afoot on a completely new platform which Mahindra and SsangYong are jointly developing. Both carmakers will have their own products on the platform and just like in the case of the S201, the new vehicles will have different design elements. Interestingly, apart from using its own team, Mahindra will draw expertise from SsangYong as well as Pininfarina to design the S201 and the other cars developed on the new platform.
Another aspect of its collaboration with SsangYong includes the development of a powerful electric powertrain. Mahindra Electric, the electric mobility arm of Mahindra and Mahindra, is currently working on a more powerful 380V system for larger vehicles, including SUVs and even a performance vehicle. At present, Mahindra Electric has two systems a 48V one and a 72V currently doing duty in its vehicles. Although nothing is final, Goenka suggested that Mahindra and SsangYong could jointly use the powerful electric powertrain for a common or an independent product.
Additionally, both carmakers are likely to collaborate on technology sharing in areas such as lightweighting, dual-clutch transmission, e-clutch and connected cars to save on costs.
The recent plans surrounding the business partnership are intended to boost both carmakers individual prospects. SsangYong recently reported profits for the full year of 2016, selling its highest volume in 14 years. Highest sales in the last quarter of 2016 helped the Korean carmaker return to profit after nine years.
Along with SsangYong, Mahindra also has Pininfarina, Mahindra Research Valley and Mahindra North America Technical Center (which is currently developing the U321 MPV) in its arsenal. What remains now is to string these different entities together into one cohesive unit.
The Velar will be powered by a family of four-cylinder and V6 petrol and diesel engines; claimed to be the brands most road-biased model.
Land Rover today revealed the fourth member of the Range Rover family, the Velar, in London, ahead of the models debut at the Geneva motor show next week. Underpinned by the same technology as the similar-sized Jaguar F-Pace, the Velar will slot between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport internationally.
Land Rover's chief design officer Gerry McGovern called the Velar design a masterclass in design reduction. He said, Its reduction by design and engineering. If something is on the car, you take it off and it makes no difference, it shouldnt be there anyway.
He also revealed that the Velar is the most aerodynamic Land Rover yet and that its design changed little in the three years since it was first presented internally. He also said that he didnt consider the SUV to have a new design language, instead regarded it as an evolution.
The car also ushers in a new, more high-tech Land Rover interior design that is expected to be rolled out across the rest of the range as the next generation of models is introduced.
The key feature of the cabin is a new Touch Pro Duo infotainment system with two 10-inch touchscreens, described as secret-until-lit surfaces. Between them, these configurable displays reduce the switchgear to an absolute minimum, while the lower part of the centre console ahead of the gear and Terrain Response selectors is turned into a screen itself.
The cars chief engineer, Kevin Stride, said the interior had been designed around these screens. The brief was to get rid of as much switchgear as possible while still making it usable and engaging.
Stride said the more conventional upper touchscreen housed less-frequently-changed information, which is the opposite of the lower screen. However, the system is fully configurable, with the lower screen given lightning-fast responses to ensure there is no lag in functions traditionally controlled by a button.
Under the hood, the Velar is set to be offered with a choice of six engines. Theres a base 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium diesel unit in 180hp and 240hp guises. The entry-level petrol engine is a new 2.0-litre Ingenium unit with 250hp. A more potent 300hp version of this engine is expected to join the line-up by the end of this year.
The V6 range-toppers are a 300hp diesel and a 380hp petrol engines. The petrol V6 is supercharged the only non-turbo engine in the range and will power the Velar from 0-100kph in 5.3sec.
The Velar will be available with all-wheel drive as standard with Land Rovers full suite of off-road technology, including Terrain Response 2, an active rear locking e-differential and a Torque Vectoring by Braking system. Initial models will also get a system called Configurable Dynamics, which allows for stiffer suspension, improved throttle response and reduced assistance for the power steering, as standard.
While the model is fully capable for off-roading, it has been developed as the most road-biased model yet in the Range Rover line-up. "As a mid-sized SUV, it has less inertia [than larger models in the line-up]," said David Doody, vehicle programme director. "It's a lot more agile. The intention is that it's a lot more sporty than a full Range Rover."
The all-new Range Rover Velar is set to go on sale internationally before the end of the year. Expect an India launch sometime in 2018.
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President Trump made no mention of Afghanistan during his speech before Congress Tuesday night, but Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) is urging him to address the security situation there.
"The security situation in Afghanistan demands the urgent attention of President Trump and his administration," McCain said in a statement. "Make no mistake: Afghans are fighting ferociously to defend their own country from our common enemies. But we must also recognize that America is still at war in Afghanistan against the terrorist enemies that attacked our nation on September 11th."
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is in the midst of crafting a fiscal year 2017 defense supplemental funding request, as well as an FY-18 defense budget. Both are expected to reflect Trump's view that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is the most serious threat to U.S. security.
McCain said Trump should treat Afghanistan with the "same urgency" as the fight against ISIS.
"President Trump has the opportunity to turn the page and finally give our commanders the resources and authorities they need to seize the initiative and take the fight to our enemies. I urge him to do so immediately," McCain said. - Read More
Of nearly 900,000 automotive technicians working in the United States, only 16 qualified for the 2017 World Class Technician Award from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and the Auto Care Association.
Since the award program was established more than 30 years ago, fewer than 2,000 individuals have been honored worldwide. As a result, Enterprise Fleet Management an affiliate of Enterprise Holdings Inc., the largest car rental company in the world is proud to announce that Customer Support Supervisor Kelley Hatlee has earned the prestigious World Class Technician Award. Hatlees name, along with the names of all such honorees, is inscribed in an honor book in the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.
Individuals must test and obtain ASE certification in 22 specialty areas in order to achieve recognition as a World Class Technician. Hatlee received the prestigious honor after earning the titles of ASE Master Automobile Technician, ASE Master Medium/Heavy Duty Truck Technician and ASE Master Collision Repair Technician, as well as two additional advanced level diagnostic certifications for gasoline and diesel engines. He holds 32 ASE certifications total.
Only a handful of technicians master the skills necessary to earn the ASE World Class Technician Award, said Tom Gieseking, Vice President of Fleet Operations for Enterprise Fleet Management. This rare honor speaks to the dedication and professionalism Kelley brings to Enterprise Fleet Management and to our customers on a daily basis.
Hatlee has more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, 11 of which have been with Enterprise Fleet Management. In his role as Customer Support Supervisor for Enterprise Fleet Managements National Service Department, Hatlee leads a team of subject matter experts who are responsible for technical assistance, recall management, vendor relations, fleet support, vehicle maintenance and training.
Enterprises National Service Department employs more than 100 ASE-certified service technicians. In fact, Enterprise was the first fleet management company to win the ASE Blue Seal of Excellence award and has won for 20 consecutive years, an industry record. In 2016, Enterprise Fleet Management also was named to InformationWeek magazines Elite 100 for setting the bar on innovative and creative information technology (IT) programs that improve business operations.
Owned by the Taylor family of St. Louis, Enterprise Fleet Management operates a network of more than 50 fully-staffed offices, which manages a fleet of more than 430,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. The business provides full-service fleet management for companies, government agencies and organizations operating medium-sized fleets of 20 or more vehicles, as well as those seeking an alternative to employee reimbursement programs. Enterprise Fleet Management supplies most makes and models of cars, light- and medium-duty trucks and service vehicles across North America.
2 March 2017 10:59 (UTC+04:00)
Armenia is constantly disseminating slanderous and false information in order to blackmail international organizations, cast shadow on their activities and undermine confidence in them, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministrys press service said.
Earlier, the Armenian media reported that the Azerbaijani side failed to lead the OSCE mission to its frontline positions.
Azerbaijans Defense Ministry refuted the Armenian media reports, noting that the international mission has already affirmed that no incident occurred during the monitoring held under the mandate of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Personal Representative along the line of contact in the direction of Chamanli village of Azerbaijans Aghdam district on March 1.
The Azerbaijani ministry reiterated that in accordance with the monitoring mechanism, international observers are to first establish communications, and then visual contact to determine the time, place and other details, and field assistants are to confirm the completion of the monitoring.
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2 March 2017 13:37 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
French lawyer Olivier Pardo, who has initiated a petition for the recognition of Khojaly Genocide by the French government, is sure that these atrocities must be brought to the attention of the world.
People were killed in Khojaly just because they were Azerbaijanis. Killing people because of their national affiliation is an ethnic cleansing, said Pardo in his interview to Azertac.
February 26 marked the 25th anniversary of the bloody tragedy, which went down in history of mankind in the 20th century as the Khojaly Genocide.
Khojaly is one of one of the most gruesome and tragic acts of genocide in recent history. Of 3,000 people who were in the town of Khojaly at the moment of the Armenian attack 613 were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elders. 487 people were severely wounded, including 76 children. 1,275 people were captured and subjected to unprecedented torture, the fate of 197 people still remains unknown. 8 families were totally annihilated, 130 children lost one and 25 lost both parents.
Learning the truth about the Khojaly tragedy, I was very surprised by the non-recognition of this massacre, particularly in France and Europe. What could be worse than to deny that mass killings? It reminded me massacres that took place in France, the French lawyer said.
Speaking about his activities in the direction of recognition of Khojaly in France, Pardo emphasized that he is in constant contact with local journalists and therefore, launched the campaign to inform media representatives about this massacre.
Speaking about the campaign launched, the French lawyer said that for publishing petition Armenian origin lawyers demanded him give up this job. But he did not agree with it.
Stressing that the Khojaly tragedy is an act of genocide, Pardo stressed that the French public, who are not aware of the Khojaly massacre must be informed about the incident.
My goal is to collect as many signatures as possible, the lawyer added.
The petition is posted on change.org and appeals to the authorities of France. The petition is accessible at https://www.change.org/p/petition-pour-faire-reconnaitre-le-massacre-de-khojaly
Few French people know about the tragedy in Khojaly, and the French authorities, even if they are aware of this story, prefer to remain silent to avoid having to place the responsibility on the perpetrators, the petition reads.
However, as the traditional defender of human rights, France should not show indifference. Today, 25 years later, we want the French government and international organizations to recognize the massacre in Khojaly. My initiative has one goal - to pay tribute to the forgotten victims of the crime, Pardo writes.
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2 March 2017 13:08 (UTC+04:00)
By Trend
Azerbaijani Armed Forces have destroyed a sabotage group of the Armenian Armed Forces, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on March 2.
On the night of March 2, sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces tried to attack the Azerbaijani positions in the Aghdere-Terter direction of the frontline.
As a result of an armed clash, Armenian side suffered losses, and was forced to retreat. The Azerbaijani side suffered no losses.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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2 March 2017 17:34 (UTC+04:00)
By Rashid Shirinov
While Azerbaijan with the support of the world community does its utmost to find an early and effective solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Armenian side is working in the opposite direction.
Its been a week since the most fierce clash of the recent days between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops. On the night of February 24-25, the Armenian army attempted to infiltrate through the Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact and seize favorable positions on the Khojavand-Fuzuli part of the frontline. However, the attacker failed because the Azerbaijani army reflected the Armenian onslaught and pushed the enemy back in a heavy battle.
Now, the Armenian armed forces, being unhappy with their failure, continue to commit provocations and unsuccessful attempts of sabotage towards the Azerbaijani troops every day. This, of course, undermines the peace process directed at finding the steady solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations but not through military action.
The Armenian media, meanwhile, is producing fake news, urging that the provocations are allegedly being committed by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. The Armenian authorities often address this method in order to divert attention of people from the domestic problems.
In this context, it is worth noting that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan convened the Security Council on February 9. Apparently, the main topics of the meeting included the issue of the rally and march staged in Yerevan every year by Armenian activists as a tribute to the victims of March 1, 2008.
Back then, protest actions of the opposition, dissatisfied with the results of presidential elections won by Serzh Sargsyan, resulted in clashes of protesters with the police. As a result, 10 people were killed on March 1 and more than 200 were wounded.
Such rallies and other kinds of discontent in the Armenian society always cause anxiety of the government. That pushes the Armenian authorities do their utmost to focus the attention of their citizens on something else. Obviously, aggravating the situation on the frontline with Azerbaijani troops seems the best solution for the Armenian government in such cases.
The Armenian government has to realize that the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be settled through a new full-scale war. The Armenian provocations and attempts to sabotage lead only to new victims from both sides of the frontline.
Now the major task should be urging the Armenian government to come to the negotiating table. Increasing attacks and tension by Armenia on frontline remains dangerous, remembering bomb able to blow up at any moment bringing a fresh wave of war.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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2 March 2017 12:38 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia, the three countries through which runs the Trans-Caspian Transport Route, have agreed conditions of the goods transit by rail and ferries in Alat-Aktau-Alat and Alat- Kuryk-Alat directions.
The issue was mulled in Aktau on February 27-28 at a meeting of representatives of Kazakhstan Railways, Georgian Railways, Azerbaijani Railways, Aktau International Sea Commercial Port , Baku International Sea Trade Port and Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company.
The meeting participants discussed the relationship and responsibilities of the parties in the implementation of transportation, obstacles that may arise while providing transportation, and ways to overcome them.
The two-day meeting ended with the signing of a protocol. The document reflects the responsibilities of the parties, form of information exchange and important issues related to its provision.
The parties obliged themselves to inform customers weather transported goods conforms specifications of cars and ships engaged in international transport of the Trans-Caspian transport route.
The document also envisages conformation of transported goods to the specifications of vessels belonging to Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company.
The Trans-Caspian international transport route, which is designed to provide transport connections between the East and West of Eurasia, runs through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and then to Europe via Turkey and Ukraine. The route was launched with the establishment of its Coordinating Committee in October 2013. The first test container train from China arrived at the Baku International Sea Trade Port on August 3, 2015.
In January, 2016, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine decided to apply the competitive feed-in tariffs for cargo transportation via the TITR. Single competitive rate was introduced in the framework of the route starting from June 1, 2016 with the view to reduce the costs of international cargo transportation.
About 300,000-400,000 containers are expected to be transported via the Trans-Caspian international transport route by 2020, bringing huge financial profits to Azerbaijan. Growing interest in the transport infrastructures passing through Azerbaijan's territory is expected to make the country a major transport hub in the region.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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2 March 2017 16:00 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan is negotiating the hazelnut supplies to Spain, according to the Economy Ministry.
One of Azerbaijani companies, participating in the Dubai Gulfood 2017 exhibition, has received an initial order to supply 128 tons of hazelnuts to Valencia.
In Azerbaijan, among agricultural produce, the biggest revenue is fetched by hazelnut production and the exports of persimmons, therefore, the country pays very serious attention to these two areas.
The countrys Gabala region has recently increased export of hazelnuts to Europe. Cultivation of hazelnuts is significantly important for the region. Built in 2005, the plant in Gabala also processes hazelnuts from neighboring regions such as Oguz, Zagatala and Gakh.
Azerbaijani companies showcase its production branded Made in Azerbaijan at Gulfood 2017 exhibition, the worlds largest annual food and beverage trade show, with the support of Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the Economy Ministry.
The stand of the country exhibits a range of traditional Azerbaijani specialties and delicacies such as fruit, tea, honey, confectionaries and other products. All costs (related to the organization of the stand) are covered by the government.
During the exhibition, Azerbaijani companies also met with businessmen from Saudi Arabia. The parties considered export of Azerbaijani meat and meat products to Saudi Arabia. The issue of creation of joint ventures was also discussed.
Besides, Azerbaijani companies also agreed to supply pomegranate juice to Kuwait and milk powder products to Dubai.
In late 2016, with a view to bring the economy to a new level Azerbaijan started promoting the Made in Azerbaijan brand in foreign markets and developed a number of promotional mechanisms, including participation in international exhibitions.
Today Azerbaijan outputs more than 250 kinds of home-made products in food, light, heavy and construction industries.
A total of 3 million manats ($1.71 million) was allocated out of the Azerbaijani Presidents Reserve Fund in the 2016 State Budget to finance the export support measures.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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2 March 2017 18:23 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan needs to accelerate restructuring the banking sector, claims Chief of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) Mission in Azerbaijan.
Mohammed El Qorchi, who is on a visit in Baku told Trend that the sooner the banking sector is stabilized, the sooner the situation will be normalized in the economy as a whole.
The restructuring has been going on for some time and the authorities, I believe, have taken it seriously, especially recently with the establishment of FMSB [Financial Market Supervisory Body], noted El Qorchi.
He said that IMF recommendation is that it is important to bring the banking sector to a normal and more stable situation. The chief added that instability in the banking sector has implications on many things, including the confidence in the economy and in the exchange market.
Chief of the IMF mission said that despite the difficult situation in the banking sector of Azerbaijan, the country's government was able to achieve success in the issue of banks restructuring.
The situation in the banking sector is challenging. As you know, the authorities have been restructuring the banking sector for some time. They were dealing with IBA [International Bank of Azerbaijan], the biggest bank, but also with other banks, he noted.
During the past year, 11 banks were closed in the country and the government is working diligently to restructure other banks that need support or may not be viable, said El Qorchi.
So, this time we feel that the authorities are making progress, he said, adding that the Azerbaijani authorities have informed the IMF mission that they have a good plan and this year they will complete the banking sectors restructuring.
And that involves not only the IBA, but also other small banks, added El Qorchi.
He also noted that during the visit, the IMF mission will have a meeting with officials of Azerbaijans leading banks, where the sides will discuss the current banking sector restructuring.
IMF chief also gave forecast for Azerbaijan's economy, noting that in the medium term it will continue to grow at two to three percent per year. In 2017, the situation in Azerbaijan will be better than in 2016, according to the chief of the IMF, adding that some difficulties in the economy will still remain.
El Qorchi expressed readiness to support the Azerbaijani state in carrying out reforms in the country. He said that Azerbaijan has not yet appealed to the IMF to provide support, but in the case of such appeal the Fund is ready to render necessary assistance to the country.
The International Monetary Fund opened its office in Baku in 1992. The Fund allocated loans worth $577.3 million to Azerbaijan for supporting the country's economic reform program during 1995-2005. Azerbaijan has fully repaid the loans.
Speaking at the meeting with IMF delegation led by El Qorchi, FIMSA Chairman Rufat Aslanli said that as a result of restructuring measures, the banking sector of Azerbaijan demonstrates a tendency towards stabilization.
Rehabilitation of the banking sector is the main priority of FMSB, he added.
Aslanli also informed El Gorchi about the phased execution plan of measures on the identification of the main risks in the insurance sector and their elimination.
In turn, El Gorchi supported measures carried out in the country in the banking and insurance spheres, and expressed confidence that these steps will contribute to the country's financial sector.
The IMF delegation also held meeting with leading banks of the country and discussed current situation in the banking sector.
Chairman of the Azerbaijan Banks Association Zakir Nuriyev said that the sides discussed decisions approved by the FMSB to stabilize the situation in the sector.
"IMF did not put forward specific proposals. We discussed the impact of ongoing reforms in the sector, as well as the banks' plans for further development," Nuriyev said.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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2 March 2017 13:05 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Baku will host the second edition of Booktrailer Festival, supported by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Booktrailer Festival was successfully held in 2016 for the first time in the country. The project aims at promoting books, supporting and developing creative forms of reading, searching talented young people in cinematography and promoting bookrailers as a part of art and business.
The Organizing Committee has revealed steps that you need to follow to join the contest:
One can join the contest with a booktrailers of one book or a series of books regardless of their date and place of publication; the number of submitted works by one participant is not limited; the copyright is the film owner responsibility;
Booktrailers must not contain material that promotes any ethnic, racial, religious forms of hate, pornographic, any content that violates or encourages the violation of any law, rule or regulation;
The films will not be returned after application.
The Organizing Committee have the right to use the booktrailers to promote the festival through social networks, sites, YouTube, mass media etc., without informing the director and payment .
Booktrailers shall meet the following requirements :
-Participating trailers will be limited to 5 minutes;
- video formats : mpeg4, mpeg, mpg, avi, wmv ;
-video can be shot with actors or without actors, or as animation (cartoons);
- before sending your booktrailer post the logo of the Festival;
- finish your application with the book poster, and the website address of the Festival (www.booktrailer.az);
-booktrailer must not contain any mention of specific brands of goods, trademarks, and commercial organizations and sponsors aside the organizations of the festival
Applications for participation in the Booktrailer Festival will end on April 10, 2017.
The first place will get a prize in the amount of 1000 manats ($ 558), while the winners of the second and third places 800 manats ($446) and 500 manats ($279), respectively.
For more information, please visit:
www.booktrailer.az
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BooktrailerFest
For all questions, please contact: [email protected].
Media partners of the event are Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az, Azernews.az
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 14:52 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
A collection "Shirvanshahs" has been presented at the Palace of the Shirvanshahs in Icherisheher (Old City), Baku.
The collection presented by Dastan brand of the Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts features four kinds of traditional handicraft art - ceramics, batik, jewelry art and woodwork.
The expo was inspired by the State of Shirvanshahs, which was formed in 861 and became the longest-surviving state in northern Azerbaijan, Trend Life reported.
Chief of the Administration of State Historical Architectural Reserve "Icherisheher" Asgar Alakbarov, addressing the event, spoke about the activities of the Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts.
Alakbarov stressed that the center promotes the study and revival of the rich national art heritage.
The center was created under the "Living history" concept of the Administration. The Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts is a joint project of the Administration and UK`s Prince's School of Traditional Arts, implemented at the initiative and support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Since 2012, the Center operates as an educational and creative centre.
The project aims at the production of a new design with traditional patterns by using modern techniques, as well as promotion of the Azerbaijani culture at the international level.
The Old City is a unique town within the city of Baku with its own infrastructure and residential communities. The fortress is located in the center of Baku along the coast of the Caspian Sea.
If you simply look into the heart of the Old City, you will be amazed by the pearl of the country's architecture - the Shirvanshahs Palace.
Construction of the Palace of Shirvanshahs, which was held in the period of 13th-16th centuries, has been associated with the transfer of Shirvanshahs' capital from Shamakhi to Baku, famous for its harbor. The Palace forms a complex, consisting of the residential building of Shirvanshahs, the second residential building (for servants), Divankhana, tomb, palace mosque built in 1441, the remains of the destroyed Key Gubad mosque, Murad's gates, hamam (bath) and mausoleum of famous scientist Seyid Yahya Bakuvi.
The palace complex was declared a museum in 1964, and taken under state protection. A unique architectural and cultural ensemble along with the Old City and the Maiden Tower, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000. The pearl of Azerbaijan's architecture and culture, Icherisheher, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower, was awarded UNESCO's status of enhanced protection in 2013.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 14:10 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
ARTIM project space invites everyone to enjoy Farhad Farzaliyevs solo show intertwining chemistry and art practice.
Molotov gulab expo will welcome visitors from March 3 till March 7. The event starts at 19:00. Admission is free.
The project is inspired by Yusuf Mammadaliyev (1905 Ordubad, Nakhchivan - 1961 Baku, Azerbaijan), grandfather of the artist, well known for his scientific inventions as a chemist, less known for his poetry that he followed with the same enthusiasm. One of the most famous of Yusuf Mammadaliyevs numerous discoveries is an incendiary mixture of chemicals that could be used to make simple bombs, also called Molotov Cocktails.
The exhibition will combine poetry with a performance act of throwing rose water embodied as Molotov Cocktails against the walls. This act of aggression reveals phrases of poems that are written with chemical solutions, especially developed for the exhibition, and become visible when getting in touch with liquids.
Gulab (rose water) is not only a reference to the artists grandfather place of birth but also to the symbolic meaning of gentleness, softness and love. Aside from their sensual captivity roses hold great importance for religion, to be considered as the flower of heaven. They had strong influence on historys most famous poets, such as the great Sufi, Rumi, describing the mystical path.
The performance plays on notions of fragility, violence and beauty, kitsch and nostalgia, aggression and love. It talks about contradiction, resistance and the complexity about how to deal with the traces of the past from a personal and collective perspective.
Born in Baku, Farhad completed an MFA with distinction at the Azerbaijan University of Fine Art in Baku in 2012. Farhad works predominantly in the medium of installations, but also paintings, graphics, photography and sound. He is member of Artists Union of Azerbaijan since 2011.
He has participated in large number of group exhibitions around the world. He is represented in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Baku.
Farhad Farzaliyev lives and works in Baku.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 18:00 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Columbian Film Festival will be held in Baku on March 2-4.
The festival will screen several films including drama Of Love and Other Demons, romantic comedy Sofia and the Stubborn, Embrace of the Serpent, Trend Life reported.
The festival will be opened by drama "Of love and other demons", filmed on the book of world-famous Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The storyline is about girl who is posed by demon and young priest. The film is directed by Hilda Hidalgo.
The comedy Sofia and the Stubborn will be shown on March 3.
An old couple living in the Colombian countryside has been planing a trip to sea for years in order to break the monotony of their life. He just wants to live the routine, she wants to see the world and is not able to keep waiting.
Embrace of the Serpent will be shown on the last day of the festival. Directed by Ciro Guerra, the film was nominated for Foreign Language Film for Oscars 2016.
The film tells two stories thirty years apart, both featuring Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his tribe. He travels with two scientists, firstly with German Theo von Martius in 1909 and American named Evan in 1940, to look for the rare yakruna, a (fictional) sacred plant.
Movies will be demonstrated in Spanish with English subtitles. Entrance is free.
The screening starts at 19:00.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 16:14 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Cuban Havana television channel will make a documentary about Azerbaijan.
The 10-part series called Azerbaijan a Land of Fire will mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Cuba, Azertac reported.
The first part of the series will highlight Azerbaijan`s culture, including Novruz holiday, national cuisine and ancient traditions.
The channel underlined the international importance of the holiday, saying UN General Assembly established International Novruz Day in 2010. The holiday was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.
The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Cuba were established on March 27, 1992. Eight documents covering various fields have been signed since then.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 18:37 (UTC+04:00)
By Rashid Shirinov
The case of the extradition of blogger Alexander Lapshin, who illegally visited Azerbaijan's occupied territories, to Baku in early February was a sign for all those who are going to visit the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.
Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan are considered illegal and individuals who pay such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys black list.
The Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Milli.az on March 1 that there are currently about 620 names of citizens of foreign countries in the "list of undesirable persons."
This list includes only persons who illegally visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, he said.
After the recent Armenia-held illegal referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian side claimed that many persons from foreign countries arrived to observe it. However, Hikmat Hajiyev said the preliminary research has shown that names of majority of them have long ago been on the "black list" of Azerbaijan.
These are persons who proved with their activities that they are under the Armenian influence and have links with the Armenian lobby, the spokesman said.
He added that additional information about several other persons is now being collected and they will be included in the list of undesirable persons.
Hajiyev mentioned that Armenia deliberately wants to exaggerate by saying that allegedly many foreigners arrived to observe the "referendum."
Naturally, this is said with propaganda purposes. The vast majority of those coming there are the ones who are under the Armenian influence and whose names are already in the "list of undesirable persons," he said.
The spokesman added that the activities of those who are included in the "list of undesirable persons" are reviewed in the complex and studied on crime element. "After that, legal prosecution mechanisms will be implemented if necessary. Hajiyev cited the case of blogger Alexander Lapshin as an example.
Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. He paid a number of visits to Azerbaijans occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijans internationally recognized territorial integrity. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.
Hajiyev noted that all such cases will be assessed individually: Elements of criminal nature are thoroughly investigated, and then necessary legal measures are implemented with respect to those who exercise special zeal against Azerbaijan.
The Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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2 March 2017 13:54 (UTC+04:00)
By Rashid Shirinov
The world community, which witnesses escalation on the line of contact in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, continues attempts to make Armenia come to negotiations.
The early settlement of the conflict will benefit Armenia itself it may finally open the door for this country to international projects, which Armenia is currently deprived of.
The continuing occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia slows the economic development in the South Caucasus region and creates obstacles for effective cooperation between countries of the region. This remark was made by The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan when he was addressing a meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Islamabad.
Erdogan called on the ECO and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to show determination in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has existed for over 20 years and is not resolved yet, it is necessary to raise this issue at every international arena, the Turkish president said.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Armenia to finally solve the conflict, but Armenia continues to play for time in order to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.
After the latest flare of tensions on the frontline, the UN openly hinted Yerevan that it is time to stop delaying the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh. On February 27, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in the conflict zone and called on for substantive negotiations.
The Armenian authorities are likely scared of possible discontent and unrest in Armenia if they agree to the phased settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. This can lead to the loss of power by Serzh Sargsyan and his entourage in Armenia.
Therefore, Yerevan prefers to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh forever. The international community does not put any pressure on Yerevan in this regard therefore Armenia continues occupation of foreign territories. The only way out of the existing situation is active participation of all mediators in the negotiation process and increase of pressure on Yerevan.
After the meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg, which took place after the April clashes in 2016, the negotiation process came to the dead end due to the denial of Yerevan to continue serious talks.
All this indicates that the official Yerevan does everything to slow down the negotiations and comes to talks when the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh heats up to the breaking point.
If the mediators, primarily the OSCE Minsk group, do not make a considerable effort to finally change Armenia's attitude to the negations, this stagnation will continue. This can eventually lead to ignition of another spark in the conflict, which does not benefit either Azerbaijan, or other countries of the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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2 March 2017 16:56 (UTC+04:00)
By Rashid Shirinov
Officials of Russian and Israeli embassies in Baku have appealed to relevant bodies of Azerbaijan for another meeting with blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Baku.
Lapshins lawyer Eduard Chernin told Trend on March 2 that officials of the Russian Embassy in Baku met Lapshin once and representatives of the Israeli Embassy met the blogger twice since his extradition from Belarus.
"The allegations that representatives of the embassies cannot meet Lapshin are unfounded," the lawyer noted.
Chernin further said that in accordance with the rules of organizing meetings, one should appeal to the relevant official bodies in order to meet Lapshin. After receiving the response to the appeal, the time for the meeting is appointed.
The lawyer reiterated that Lapshin has no complaints regarding detention conditions and he can meet with his family members.
Armenian media reported that allegedly Lapshins spouse couldnt talk to him and received no information about him, Chernin said. I told this to Alexander Lapshin, told him what his wife Yekaterina said, and then got in touch with her. She said she wanted to come to Baku to meet her husband.
The lawyer also said that Lapshins mother Bella is in Baku, and she can see her son anytime she wants.
"I also constantly meet with my client. Lapshin has repeatedly said that there is no problem, did not complain on conditions of his detention and meetings with him," said Chernin.
Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
The blogger, who owns citizenships of several countries, paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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2 March 2017 10:00 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
After the long, dark, winter days, spring is literally a breath of fresh air. The snow is melting, flowers are blooming, and the days are getting warmer.
Novruz, a Zoroastrian holiday, marks the beginning of spring in Azerbaijan. Novruz bayram is now one of the most anticipated holidays in Azerbaijan
Marking the first day of spring and the beginning of a new year is one of Azerbaijan's most colorful holidays. Being a family holiday, Novruz is celebrated on March 20-21. But, it all begins four weeks before the actual festivities.
Every Tuesday night, small bonfires are prepared outside which everyone jumps over, expressing wishes for a good and happy year without grief or pain. Each of the four Tuesdays is represented by its own symbol: the first one is water, the second is flame, the third is earth, and the fourth is wind. The water renews nature, refreshing it and preparing it for the new year. Fire signifies rebirth; earth signifies the revival of the earth; and wind represents the arrival of spring and the blossoming of trees.
Noruz is rich with ancient traditions and games. 'Khidir Ilyas' (the symbol of fertility and blossom), 'Kos-Kosa' an entertaining game (symbolises the incoming of spring) and fortunetelling are among them. The important Novruz symbols are khoncha (a tray with sweets, nuts fruits and dyed eggs on) and samani( green shoots from wheat seeds).
The holiday was given the status of an official holiday in Azerbaijan by a presidential decree dated 13 March 1990. In 2009, Novruz was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and since then, March 21 was declared the International Day of Novruz.
Traditionally Novruz is marked in Azerbaijan with the annual festival, Maidan Bazaar set up near the Gosha Gala Gates for several days. Here, Baku residents and guests enjoy many interesting events, including the performance of wrestlers - Pehlevans , rope-walkers and magicians, as well as artists of the children's theater.
During the festivities, the visitors will enjoy mugham and classical music pieces, national songs of different nations, modern pop and jazz music. Besides, the participants will be able to cook national sweets or wave carpets.
This year, Nizami Cinema Center invites everyone to enjoy also festivity scheduled for March 18-19.
During the festivity, visitors will enjoy beautiful dances, funny games and other surprises. Young viewers will meet with beloved Novruz characters- Kechel, Kosa and Bahar gizi (Spring girl).
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 10:10 (UTC+04:00)
First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of a newly-renovated building of Scientific-Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Ministry of Healthcare in Baku on March 1, Azertac reported.
Minister of Healthcare Ogtay Shiraliyev informed the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan about the work carried out here.
The reconstruction work started in 2013. Scientific-Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology occupies a total area of one hectare. The landscaping and reconstruction work was carried out around the institute. The institute is supplied with necessary equipment. All conditions have been created here to ensure provision of high-quality medical services for people.
First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva wished medical staff success.
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A corrections officer at a state prison in Seneca County was arrested by New York state troopers on child pornography charges, according to a news release.
Samuel N. Ferrara, 46, of Seneca Falls, is accused of possessing and sharing lewd images of children on the internet. He has been charged with one count of promoting an obscene sexual performance of a child, a class D felony.
Ferrara was arraigned in Seneca Falls Town Court and remanded to the Seneca County Jail in lieu of $1,000 cash or $2,000 bond.
More charges are possible, the state police said. The investigation is ongoing.
Ferrara is a corrections officer at the Willard Drug Treatment Campus in Ovid, where his salary is $63,043, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
DOCCS said Thursday that Ferrara, who was hired in July 2005, has been suspended without pay.
2 March 2017 10:24 (UTC+04:00)
First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of orphanage-kindergarten No.226 in Pirshaghi settlement of Sabunchu district on March 1, Azertac reported.
The First Vice-President cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the orphanage-kindergarten.
Baku Mayor Hajibala Abutalibov informed Mrs. Aliyeva about the previous look of the orphanage-kindergarten.
The three-storey orphanage-kindergarten can handle up to 110 children aged 2 to 6. All conditions have been created here for children`s comfort and rest. There are training rooms, bedrooms, music halls and a canteen here.
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2 March 2017 10:48 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Chairman of the State Custom Committee of Azerbaijan Aydin Aliyev, Head of the Revenue Service of Georgia Giorgi Tabuashvili, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Malena Mard, UNDP Resident Representative in Azerbaijan Ghulam M. Isaczai and UNDP Georgia Resident Representative Niels Scott came together in Tovuz, a region of Azerbaijan bordering with Georgia.
Participants took part in the Steering Committee Meeting of the project assisting in the development of the border crossing point between the two countries.
This meeting gave an opportunity to review the achievements of the project in both countries as well as discuss future plans. In addition, the interested parties also familiarized with the design and model plan of the sanitary and phyto-sanitary laboratory at the Georgian side of the Check Point, and Customs Terminal Complex construction area at the Azerbaijani side.
The meeting was followed by a ceremony of laying the first stone of the customs terminal complex, which will play a role of a logistics hub at the Azerbaijani-Georgian borders, providing favourable logistics and infrastructure opportunities for customs clearance and operations on goods exported and imported.
Aliyev thanked both the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme residing in both countries for funding and implementation of the project and expressed his willingness to continue it.
Isaczai, for his part, mentioned UNDPs readiness and commitment for continuing its support to Azerbaijan and Georgia in its efforts to implement this ambitious reform program. He also welcomed this project as the gradual evolution of the successful partnership between UNDP, EU Delegation and Governments of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
"The EU allocated 2,128,000 EUR for the project. The project supports the Governments of Azerbaijan and Georgia in securing their borders and facilitating the legal passing of persons and goods at the Red Bridge Border Crossing Point - the main border crossing between the two countries. The project is a part of the EU's ambition to facilitate trade in the region and support economic diversification of Azerbaijan," said Mard.
The project stipulates construction of a trade facilitation unit at the Logistics Centre, which will secure traffic flow on the Azerbaijani side of the Red Bridge and will ensure efficient clearance of goods under constant control of the authorities.
The project on Support to the Development of Red Bridge Border Crossing Point between Azerbaijan and Georgia is funded by the European Union and is implemented by UNDP in each country.
In Azerbaijan, the project supports institutional development and capacity building of the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee with an aim to facilitate trade and ensure secure traffic flow between Azerbaijan and Georgia.
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2 March 2017 11:19 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Azerbaijan and Moldova have conducted the next round of political consultations in Baku on March 1, Azertac reported.
Azerbaijan`s delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, while Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Lilian Darii led Moldova`s delegation.
Khalafov highlighted successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and Moldova within the CIS, GUAM and other international organizations. He expressed confidence that political consultations would contribute to the overall development of bilateral cooperation.
The sides reaffirmed their countries` full support of each other` territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders.
Khalafov provided an insight into transport and energy projects initiated by and involving Azerbaijan, including the North-South and West-East transportation corridors. He expressed confidence that cargo transportation via these corridors and, especially, via the Black Sea could contribute to the development of economic cooperation between the two countries.
Darii, for his part, expressed Moldova`s interest in using Azerbaijan`s transit opportunities.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Moldova were established on May 29,1992. Azerbaijan opened its Embassy in Chisinau on October 5, 2005 and Moldova opened its Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 1, 2005.
Azerbaijans the trade turnover with Moldova amounted to $3.75 million in January-November 2016, some 3.25 million of which fell for imports from that country, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.
The number of exported products will increase between the two countries, as this year Azerbaijan will export horseflesh to Moldova.
Both countries are members of a free trade area that were signed into law in 1994 with the participation of the CIS countries. Within the free trade agreement, member countries are expected to eliminate export and import duties on a number of goods.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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2 March 2017 12:07 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Launch of a direct flight between Naples and Baku will contribute to the strengthening of relations between Azerbaijan and Italy.
Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris has voiced the offer as he received an Azerbaijani delegation, Azerbaijans Embassy in Italy reported.
The two cities should develop tourism ties, said Magistris, further voicing his readiness to support the initiatives in development of fraternal relations between Naples and Baku.
The mayor of Naples further spoke about the Italian-Azerbaijani friendly relations and hailed the bilateral cooperation.
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Italy, Mammad Ahmadzadeh, in his turn, noted that the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Italy are of the strategic partnership nature.
In turn, Member of Azerbaijan-Italy inter-parliamentary friendship group, MP Ganira Pashayeva thoroughly informed the mayor about Azerbaijan, emphasizing there is considerable scope for cooperation between Baku and Naples and expansion of ties in the economic, cultural and tourism spheres.
Pashayeva noted that Azerbaijan-Italy inter-parliamentary friendship group is one of the largest groups of friendship in the parliament and that the Azerbaijani state, government and parliament attach great importance to developing cooperation with Italy.
Vice-President of Naples-Baku Association Elnur Djamalhanov added that Italy, as the largest trading partner, is a close friend of Azerbaijan.
Currently, flights are performed from Baku to such Italian cities as Bologna, Cagliari, Milan, Rome and Venice.
Italy is one of the main partners of Azerbaijan in the energy sector. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is of great importance for Italy.
Italy, being one of the main economic and trade partners of Azerbaijan, as so far invested over $0.5 billion in the Azerbaijani economy, mainly in the energy sector.
The two countries have stepped up cooperation in other areas as well. In late 2016, Baku Steel Company (Azerbaijan) and Danieli (Italy) signed an agreement on the construction of a metallurgical complex in Sumgayit. The volume of investment would exceed $ 1.2 billion.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy amounted to nearly $1.9 billion in 2016, around 84 percent of which accounted for export of Azerbaijani goods to Italy, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
2 March 2017 17:05 (UTC+04:00)
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay an official visit to Moscow on March 6-7 at an invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced about this at a briefing on March 2.
Zakharova noted that the visit has been timed to the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Azerbaijan that will be marked on April 4.
Mammadyarov is expected to have negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the Federation Ilyas Umakhanov.
The minister will also deliver a speech at the Diplomatic Academy of Russian Foreign Ministry, said Zakharova.
The foreign ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan will discuss a wide range of issues of bilateral relations, regional and international agenda.
Earlier Minister Mammadyarov said that he will visit Moscow in March, adding that he intends to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement during the visit.
During my visit to Moscow, we will discuss with the Russian side, which for many years is acting as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, further actions on the conflict settlement, he said.
Russia along with the U.S. and France is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Zakharova further said that Russia maintains contacts with the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The spokeswoman reiterated that Russia's position is that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be solved by peaceful means.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.
Lapshin's case
Zakharova went on to say that the investigation of the case of blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Baku, continues, and no complaint has been received from him on detention conditions.
The spokesperson added that Lapshin gets all the necessary qualified legal assistance in Baku.
Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
The blogger, who owns citizenships of several countries, paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity. The blogger was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
2 March 2017 18:06 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
First Vice President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva visited several settlements of Khazar region on March 1 and met with the local people.
Sincerely greeting residents of Turkan settlement, Mehriban Aliyeva said she was very glad that such meetings were continuing.
"For all these 12 years, as an MP I have tried to justify your trust in my activity," she said.
"I am very happy that over these years we have worked hard for the development of Khazar district and achieved many successes," said the First Vice President, recalling the number of facilities built in the district.
Further Mrs. Aliyeva said that in connection with the appointment to the new position she will have to suspend her activities in the Parliament of Azerbaijan. At the same time, with great pride I want to note that during this time I have always felt your attention, your support, love and respect. Achievements, progress we have made over these years became a reality because of this reason. This is the result of our work together. I am grateful to all the people of the Khazar district, people who believe in me.
Mehriban Aliyeva noted that as an MP from the Khazar district, she has always tried, along with the implementation of large-scale projects, to communicate with people, to listen to their problems, and to do everything possible to resolve the issues of concern. Once again I want to note that your attention, faith was my main source of strength. I am confident that we will continue our joint work in the future, she said, emphasizing that this unity will continue in the future to achieve new successes.
Within the framework of the visit, First Vice President viewed conditions at the special boarding school for physically disabled children No. 6 in Turkan settlement.
Mehriban Aliyeva viewed Healthy education class at the school, which is supplied with special equipment for children with physical disabilities.
During the trip First Vice President also attended the opening of orphanage-kindergarten No.226 in Pirshaghi settlement of Sabunchu district and inaugurated the newly-renovated integrated boarding school No. 11 in Bilgah settlement of the same district.
Mehriban Aliyeva also attended the opening of a newly-renovated building of Scientific-Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Ministry of Healthcare in Baku, reconstruction work of which started in 2013.
Scientific-Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology occupies a total area of one hectare. The landscaping and reconstruction work was carried out around the institute. The institute is supplied with necessary equipment. All conditions have been created here to provide high-quality medical services for people.
--
Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
2 March 2017 13:30 (UTC+04:00)
By Kamila Aliyeva
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura believes Thursday will be an important day in the Geneva intra-Syrian talks as the opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) is willing to go deeply into the agenda and the government delegation's willingness is to be clarified.
On March 1, the HNC discussed at a meeting with de Mistura the issues of the Syrian peace process, focusing on political transition in the first place, RIA Novosti reported.
"We had a very thorough discussion, we had the opportunity to go deeply in all the items of the agenda," he said adding that tomorrow will be a very important day because we will meet with the government and see what they can and want to discuss in detail.
He said that the opposition is seriously interested in going deeply into the agenda.
That is quite an important point for us as it is not just procedural, it's substantive," de Mistura added.
"We had a long conversation with Mr. de Mistura and his team, the main topic we discussed was the process of political transition course, this issue will require a long discussion although it was a good start," the head of the delegation of the HNC Nasr al-Hariri said at a press conference after the meeting with the UN special envoy.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said earlier that Russia and the Syrian opposition HNC have a common understanding over further steps needed to resolve the Syria crisis.
The meeting was constructive as there is a common understanding that we need to move ahead in resolving the Syria crisis, Gatilov said, adding that the sides outlined their approaches to finding solutions to the Syria crisis. The HNC members articulated their own vision of the current round of talks in Geneva.
The effectiveness of Geneva talks depends on Russia and the U.S., as they are the "key players", a member of the opposition of HNC Abdulhakim Bashar said.
"Geneva talks will not have results, the key to the solution in the U.S. and Russia," said Bashar.
He noted that the HNC calls on Russia "not to be a party to the negotiations".
"Russia has offered to hold talks in Astana under its patronage, we want to see it in Geneva as well, the oppositionist said.
Meanwhile, the delegation of HNC believes that the fight against terrorism is not a priority at intra-Syrian talks in Geneva as this topic can be discussed in Astana, the official spokesman of the delegation Salem al-Muslim stated.
"The fight against terrorism truly begins with a discussion of the political transition, we need to achieve it, he said.
The "difficult" topic of fighting terrorism may be assigned to the transitional government in Syria, when it is established, a member of the HNC delegation at the Geneva talks Abdulhakim Bashar said.
The fourth round of the UN-backed intra-Syrian talks between the government and opposition factions in Geneva will end on March 3, the new round is scheduled for March 20.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura initially defined three issues of the talks governance, constitution, and elections.
The Damascus delegation later insisted on including counter-terrorism in the agenda, as a priority.
The HNC considers that the three key issues defined by de Mistura should not be covered in a parallel discussion.
Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.
The UN has repeatedly tried but failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
2 March 2017 17:55 (UTC+04:00)
By Kamila Aliyeva
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that he has held proper talks for strengthening of ties with Pakistan and Turkey during his recent visit to Islamabad.
Saying that the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) are determined to expand relations, President Rouhani added that he discussed broadening ties with Pakistani and Turkish leaders during his recent visit to Islamabad to attend the ECO summit, Mehr news agency reported.
The ECO held its 13th plenary session in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on March 1.
Mentioning that wide opportunities exist for expansion of ties between Iran and the members of the ECO, the Present further called on for cooperation in fight against terrorism.
Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed protecting the territorial integrity of Syria at a meeting on the sidelines of ECO Summit .
The Iranian president reaffirmed Tehrans support for dialogue and mutual respect to settle differences, adding that the two countries should make efforts to immediately put an end to war, bloodshed and foreign interference in the region.
Rouhani described Iran and Turkey as two instrumental countries of the region and called for further Tehran-Ankara cooperation in all sectors, which he said would benefit the two states as well as regional peace and stability.
During the meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Rouhani stated that Iran is ready to fulfill the energy needs of Pakistan, including Islamabads growing demand for electricity.
He also called for more cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries with a view to boosting bilateral trade to $5 billion.
The Iranian president said that Tehran and Islamabad needed to work together to ensure security for the two countries border regions against any potential terror acts.
Pakistan, which suffers from energy shortages, was expected to import 22 million cubic meters of gas per day from Iran starting in 2015 but it has been postponed as Pakistan has failed to build the part of the pipeline that goes through its territory.
The ECO is an alliance of ten countries Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The purpose of the structure is to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade and investment opportunities in the region.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
2 March 2017 17:11 (UTC+04:00)
By Kamila Aliyeva
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his working visit to Pakistan.
The heads of states were participating in the ECO summit in Islamabad. The sides exchanged views on prospects for cooperation, the Turkmen government said in a statement.
The two sides called for the further all-round strengthening of effective interaction. Trade and economy, energy sector, transport and communications, construction industry and a number of other industries are among the priorities of partnership. In this aspect, the high interest of Turkish businessmen in expanding mutually beneficial relations with Turkmenistan was highlighted, the statement said.
A significant role in the deepening and diversification of productive contacts is given to the intergovernmental commission, the Joint Business Council and business forums and industry exhibitions held on a regular basis. The sides also exchanged views on a number of topical issues of regional and global agenda.
The similarity or identity of the positions of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Turkey on the vital issues of our time, primarily related to ensuring global peace, security and sustainable development, is a reliable basis for the further promotion of constructive partnership on the world stage, according to the statement.
Turkish companies in Turkmenistan implement large-scale projects in sectors such as transport, fuel and energy, communication, agriculture, construction, trade, water resources management. Currently, Turkmenistan has registered about 600 companies with Turkish capital.
Turkey mostly exports electronic equipment, machinery, processed metals and furniture to the Central Asian nation, making up some 26 percent of imports of Turkmenistan.
In its turn, Turkey purchases electricity, polymers, propylene, oil and oil products, cotton yarn and textiles.
Turkey was the first country to recognize the independence of Turkmenistan on October 27, 1991.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Two board members of the Pride Center of Vermont have resigned from LGBT center board citing its delay of the Center in taking a stance on the name of a new Winooski gay bar which they and other trans-activists have deemed offensive.
The bars name? Mister Sister.
The only local gay in Winooski closed years ago. But now the owner of a successful Oak45 has closed his current venue and is scheduled to reopen the bar next week as the gay bar Mister Sister.
The Pride Center of Vermont had been trying to have town meetings because the bar owner is refusing to change the proposed transphobic name from Mister Sister to something more inclusive and the owner refuses to indulge this bullshit and meet with them
Owner Craig McGaughan says he sees the term as inclusive, but some say its a slur historically used to disparage transgender women.
Burlington resident Wiley Reading, who identifies as a transgender man, said he was stoked when he found out about the bars opening but deeply concerned when he saw the name.
Mister sister is a transmisogynistic slur, and it is deeply uncomfortable, Reading said. He added that the phrase historically has been used to denigrate transgender women, and transgender people often associate the term with the violence to which many of them have been victim.
It antagonizes and excludes a large portion of the community, and especially a portion of the community that has historically been left out of the conversation or marginalized, Reading said.
Craig McGaughan countered
It is a term that has been used among gays and Drag Queens for decades intended to be positively gender-bending, McGaughan wrote. Mister Sister is for the Misters and the Sisters, those that identify as both and everyone in between. The official description of Mister Sister is a gay bar for him, her and them. I have been very intentional in using a pronoun that isnt specifically male or female as a way to include anyone that identifies as part of the LGBTQ community.
The Burlington Free Press reports the Pride Center of Vermont board said it needed more information to take a position. The group, which serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, scheduled a town hall meeting for Thursday but Board members Timber Adamson and Bailey Cummings resigned, saying they wont be part of an organization that wont take a stance on issues that affect the people it serves.
In actuality the term Mister Sister IS NOT all that historic or a transmisogynistic slur. There is surprisingly very little information out there on the term and what there is relates mostly to drag queens and not the trans population.
According to the The Urban Dictionary:
mister sister : A drag queen. Example: Will and Grace Dont mess with that mister sister, or youll end up looking like a Cher barbie doll gone bad.
Ironically at the behest of trans and gender non-binary activists and theorists the term queer, which is a phrase that historically HAS been used to denigrate GAY MEN, and GAY MEN often associate the term with the violence to which many of them have been victim has been added is okay and has been added officially to the LGBT acronym which is now LGBTQ.
Go figure.
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A man was killed Thursday morning in a fire at a mobile home in the town of Brutus, state police said.
Crews responded to the scene of the fire that broke out at 17 Middle Lane, which is part of a mobile home community located between state Route 5 and East Brutus Street Road near the border with the town of Elbridge.
Tom Dahl, second assistant chief for the Weedsport Fire Department, said the fire appeared to have started in the back of the structure.
Emergency services were dispatched to the scene around 10:49 a.m.
Troopers confirmed later in the day that a male victim who was removed from the house and taken from the scene on an ambulance died. Additional details, including the man's identity and age, were not released as the investigation into the fire continues.
Fire crews from Weedsport, Port Byron, Jordan, Elbridge and Sennett, along with Jordan Ambulance, Cayuga County Emergency Services, state police and the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, were on the scene.
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This blog is written solely by John Ray, who has a Ph.D. degree in psychology and 200+ papers published in the academic journals of the social sciences. It does occasionally comment on issues in psychology but is mainly aimed at giving a conservative psychologist's view on a broad range of topics. There are very few conservative psychologists.The blog originated in Australia and many (but not most) posts discuss Australian matters. Australians have an unusually good awareness of events outside their own country. Australian newspapers feature news from Britain and the USA not as an afterthought but as a major part of their coverage. So Australians do tend to have a truly Western heart, which is the reason behind the old name for this blog. So events in Australia, Britain and the USA all feature frequently here, plus occasional coverage of other places, particularly Israel.SCOTUS is the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the landThe "GOP" stands for "Grand Old Party" and refers to the Republican party. The GOP is at present center/Right, while the Democrats have been undergoing a steady drift Leftwards and now have policies similar to mainstream European Leftist parties.The ideological identity of both parties has however been very fluid -- almost reversing itself over time. In the mid 19th century, the GOP was the party of big government and concern for minorities while the Democrats advertised themselves as "The party of the white man" -- an orientation that lasted into the mid 20th century in the South. The Democrats are still obsessed with race but have now flipped into support for discrimination AGAINST whites.Was Pope Urban VIII the first Warmist? Below we see him refusing to look through Galileo's telescope. People tend to refuse to consider evidence if what they might discover contradicts what they believe.Climate scientist Lennart Bengtsson said. The warming we have had the last 100 years is so small that if we didnt have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it we wouldnt have noticed it at all.The term "Fascism" is mostly used by the Left as a brainless term of abuse. But when they do make a serious attempt to define it, they produce very complex and elaborate definitions -- e.g. here and here . In fact, Fascism is simply extreme socialism plus nationalism. But great gyrations are needed to avoid mentioning the first part of that recipe, of course.Beatrice Webb, a founder of the London School of Economics and the Fabian Society, and married to a Labour MP, mused in 1922 on whether when English children were "dying from lack of milk", one should extend "the charitable impulse" to Russian and Chinese children who, if saved this year, might anyway die next. Besides, she continued, there was "the larger question of whether those races are desirable inhabitants" and "obviously" one wouldn't "spend one's available income" on "a Central African negro".Hugh Dalton, offered the Colonial Office during Attlee's 1945-51 Labour government, turned it down because "I had a horrid vision of pullulating, poverty stricken, diseased nigger communities, for whom one can do nothing in the short run and who, the more one tries to help them, are querulous and ungrateful."The book,, authored by T.W. Adorno et al. in 1950, has been massively popular among psychologists. It claims that a set of ideas that were popular in the "Progressive"-dominated America of the prewar era were "authoritarian". Leftist regimes always are authoritarian so that claim was not a big problem. What was quite amazing however is that Adorno et al. identified such ideas as "conservative". They were in fact simply popular ideas of the day but ones that had been most heavily promoted by the Left right up until the then-recent WWII. See here for details of prewar "Progressive" thinking.R.I.P. Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet deposed a law-defying Marxist President at the express and desperate invitation of the Chilean parliament. He pioneered the free-market reforms which Reagan and Thatcher later unleashed to world-changing effect. That he used far-Leftist methods to suppress far-Leftist violence is reasonable if not ideal. The Leftist view that they should have a monopoly of violence and that others should follow the law is a total absurdity which shows only that their hate overcomes their reasonFranklin Delano Roosevelt was a war criminal. Both British and American codebreakers had cracked the Japanese naval code so FDR knew what was coming at Pearl Harbor. But for his own political reasons he warned no-one there. So responsibility for the civilian and military deaths at Pearl Harbor lies with FDR as well as with the Japanese. The huge firepower available at Pearl Harbor, both aboard ship and on land, could have largely neutered the attack. Can you imagine 8 battleships and various lesser craft firing all their AA batteries as the Japanese came in? The Japanese naval airforce would have been annihilated and the war would have been over before it began. FDR prolonged the Depression . He certainly didn't cure it. WWII did NOT end the Great Depression . It just concealed it. It in fact made living standards worse Joe McCarthy was eventually proved right after the fall of the Soviet Union. To accuse anyone of McCarthyism is to accuse them of accuracy! The KKK was intimately associated with the Democratic party . They ATTACKED Republicans!People who mention differences in black vs. white IQ are these days almost universally howled down and subjected to the most extreme abuse. I am a psychometrician, however, so I feel obliged to defend the scientific truth of the matter:The average African adult has about the same IQ as an average white 11-year-old and African Americans (who are partly white in ancestry) average out at a mental age of 14. The American Psychological Association is generally Left-leaning but it is the world's most prestigious body of academic psychologists. And even they have had to concede that sort of gap (one SD) in black vs. white average IQ. 11-year olds can do a lot of things but they also have their limits and there are times when such limits need to be allowed for. America's uncivil war was caused by trade protectionism . The slavery issue was just camouflage, as Abraham Lincoln himself admitted . See also here Leftist psychologists have an amusingly simplistic conception of military organizations and military men. They seem to base it on occasions they have seen troops marching together on parade rather than any real knowledge of military men and the military life. They think that military men are "rigid" -- automatons who are unable to adjust to new challenges or think for themselves. What is incomprehensible to them is that being(to use the extreme Prussian term for following orders) actually requires great flexibility -- enough flexibility to put your own ideas and wishes aside and do something very difficult. Ask any soldier if all commands are easy to obey.
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump delivered an hourlong speech to Congress Tuesday that, while short on detail, was long on rhetoric that kept Republican lawmakers jumping to their feet and Democrats mostly sitting on their hands.
The speech was Trumps first to a joint session of Congress. He spent most of the first half highlighting the actions taken by his administration during its first month, before offering plans for prosperity and increased national defense for an America that puts itself first.
I thought it was visionary, said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, who called it a masterful performance by the president.
He didnt get into the weeds on things, said Biggs. I myself wouldve preferred more details on the transportation infrastructure plan, maybe a little something more on the tax plan.
If there was one thing Democrats and Republicans agreed on, it was that the address, while lofty, was thin on specifics. But Democrats did not appear to be as dazzled by the presidents rhetoric as their GOP counterparts.
We are lacking a lot of detail, a lot of specificity, said Rep. Tom OHalleran, D-Sedona. He praised Trumps commitment to keeping the nation safe but wanted more detail.
It was a lot of apple pie, not a lot of real concrete concepts relating to the needs of our country from the perspective of what we really need to get done with the amount of money that was mentioned tonight, OHalleran said of the optimistic speech.
The money included what Trump said would be a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure and what he called the largest one-year increase in defense spending, a figure that has been reported at more than $50 billion.
A little more than a month after he was at the Capitol to deliver an inaugural speech that painted a darker portrait of the country, with its picture of American carnage, Trump returned Tuesday to say that a new chapter of American greatness is now beginning.
Im here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength deeply delivered from my heart, said Trump, who asked lawmakers to envision what America will look like in nine years, on the 250th anniversary of its independence.
Many of his plans to take the country there were familiar to his supporters.
Trump repeated his promises to drain the swamp of Washington, to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and to build a great, great wall along the length of the Southwestern border.
He vowed to put America first, echoing campaign pledges on free and fair trade and job growth, as well as introducing promises to pursue paid family leave and clean air and water.
While most of his points earned applause from Republicans, the response from across the aisle was muted, save for the occasional hiss and thumbs-down from otherwise-subdued Democratic lawmakers.
I think he presented a pretty compelling argument, not a lot of details but I think its an opportunity for us to move forward, said Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, who had high praise for the presidents get-tough stance on immigration.
He goes back to the rule of law, and Ive always been about the rule of law, said Gosar, who said he believes in immigration so long as its legal immigration.
But the presidents approach to immigration which included a new call for a merit-based immigration system that would keep low-skilled workers from entering the country did not sit well with Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, who sat stone-faced through much of the address.
Trump used the stature of our nations most prestigious venue to continue vilifying immigrants and generalizing Americas needs without offering content, Grijalva said in a statement released after the speech that he said was filled with bluster and the facts never matter.
But Grijalva noted that Trumps proposals will remain just that without support from Congress, warning Republicans not to blindly follow their leader.
They will be responsible for any reckless policies they rubberstamp, and in many cases, equally culpable in their creation, he said of GOP lawmakers who control both houses of Congress. The American people have a safeguard against the worst intentions of this administration: It is to hold their Congressional leaders accountable.
Raport Biezacy nr 1/2017
Pursuant to Article 29.3 of the Rules of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, AB INTER RAO Lietuva presents the report on compliance with the detailed principles of the "Best Practice for GPW Listed Companies 2016"
Disclosure Policy, Investor Communications
I.Z.1.3. a chart showing the division of duties and responsibilities among members
of the management board drawn up according to principle II.Z.1;
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board functions and responsibilities are not required to be divided among management board members.
I.Z.1.6. information on the dates of corporate events leading to the acquisition or
limitation of rights of a shareholder, information on the dates of publication
of financial reports and other events relevant to investors, within a
timeframe enabling investors to make investment decisions;
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company considers providing such information to investors.
I.Z.1.11. information about the content of the companys internal rule of changing
the company authorised to audit financial statements or information about
the absence of such rule;
The Company does not apply this principle.
According to Lithuanian law, the audit firm is selected by the annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders (the "Annual General Meeting") to perform the audit of annual financial statements. The Supervisory Board, the Management Board and the shareholders having at least 1/20 of votes may at any time prior to or during the Annual General Meeting suggest in writing or by means of electronic communication the audit firm, therefore such rule is not required and the Company has not adopted any rules regarding the issue.
I.Z.1.14. materials provided to the general meeting, including assessments, reports
and positions referred to in principle II.Z.10, tabled to the general
meeting by the supervisory board;
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company only partially complies with this principle, as according to Lithuanian law, the Supervisory Board is not required to draw up such an assessment or report or issue such opinions.
I.Z.1.15. information about the companys diversity policy applicable to the
companys governing bodies and key managers; the description should
cover the following elements of the diversity policy: gender, education,
age, professional experience, and specify the goals of the diversity policy
and its implementation in the reporting period; where the company has
not drafted and implemented a diversity policy, it should publish the
explanation of its decision on its website;
The Company does not apply this principle.
Even though there is no such policy in the Company established, the Company puts its best efforts to comply with general principals. Also a diverse among others in terms of gender is ensured as currently, there are two women in governing bodies of the Company, Ms Karina Tsurkan, is the chairwoman of the Management Board and Ms Evgeniya Popova on 29 April 2016 was elected to Supervisory Board of the Company and she is the chairwoman of the Supervisory Board.
I.Z.1.20. an audio or video recording of a general meeting;
The Company does not apply this principle.
No such recordings are required under Lithuanian Corporate Law.
Management Board, Supervisory Board
II.Z.1. The internal division of responsibilities for individual areas of the companys
activity among management board members should be clear and transparent, and
a chart describing that division should be available on the companys website.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board functions and responsibilities are not required to be divided among management board members.
II.Z.3. At least two members of the supervisory board should meet the criteria of being
independent referred to in principle II.Z.4.
The Company does not apply this principle.
As of the date of this report there are no independent members elected to the Supervisory Board of the Company and consequently the audit committee is not formed in the Company. The Company is putting its best efforts to comply with this principle and have at least one independent member of the Supervisory Board as it is required under the Lithuanian laws.
II.Z.4. Annex II to the European Commission Recommendation of 15 February 2005 on
the role of non-executive or supervisory directors of listed companies and on the committees of the (supervisory) board applies to the independence criteria of supervisory board members.
Irrespective of the provisions of point 1(b) of the said Annex, a person who is an employee of the company or its subsidiary or affiliate or has entered into a similar agreement with any of them cannot be deemed to meet the independence criteria. In addition, a relationship with a shareholder precluding the independence of a
member of the supervisory board as understood in this principle is an actual and significant relationship with any shareholder who holds at least 5% of the total vote in the company.
The Company does not apply this principle.
As of the date of this report there are no independent members elected to the Supervisory Board of the Company and consequently the audit committee is not formed in the Company. The Company is putting its best efforts to comply with this principle and have at least one independent member of the Supervisory Board as it is required under the Lithuanian laws.
II.Z.7. Annex I to the Commission Recommendation referred to in principle II.Z.4 applies
to the tasks and the operation of the committees of the Supervisory Board. Where
the functions of the audit committee are performed by the supervisory board, the
foregoing should apply accordingly.
The Company does not apply this principle.
As of the date of this report there are no independent members elected to the Supervisory Board of the Company and consequently the audit committee is not formed in the Company. The Company is putting its best efforts to comply with this principle and have at least one independent member of the Supervisory Board as it is required under the Lithuanian laws.
II.Z.8. The chair of the audit committee should meet the independence criteria referred
to in principle II.Z.4.
The Company does not apply this principle.
As of the date of this report there are no independent members elected to the Supervisory Board of the Company and consequently the audit committee is not formed in the Company. The Company is putting its best efforts to comply with this principle and have at least one independent member of the Supervisory Board as it is required under the Lithuanian laws.
II.Z.10.1. an assessment of the companys standing including an assessment of the internal control, risk management and compliance systems and the internal audit function; such assessment should cover all significant controls, in particular financial reporting and operational controls;
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company only partially complies with this principle, as according to Lithuanian law, the Supervisory Board is not required to draw up such an assessment or report or issue such opinions.
II.Z.10.2. a report on the activity of the supervisory board containing at least the following information:
- full names of the members of the supervisory board and its
committees;
- supervisory board members fulfilment of the independence
criteria;
- number of meetings of the supervisory board and its committees
in the reporting period;
- self-assessment of the supervisory board;
The Company does not apply this principle.The Company only partially complies with this principle, as according to Lithuanian law, the Supervisory Board is not required to draw up such an assessment or report or issue such opinions.II.Z.10.3. an assessment of the companys compliance with the disclosure obligations concerning compliance with the corporate governance principles defined in the Exchange Rules and the regulations on current and periodic reports published by issuers of securities;The Company does not apply this principle.The Company only partially complies with this principle, as according to Lithuanian law, the Supervisory Board is not required to draw up such an assessment or report or issue such opinions.II.Z.10.4. an assessment of the rationality of the companys policy referred to in
recommendation I.R.2 or information about the absence of such policy.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company only partially complies with this principle, as according to Lithuanian law, the Supervisory Board is not required to draw up such an assessment or report or issue such opinions.
II.Z.11. The supervisory board should review and issue opinions on matters to be decided
in resolutions of the general meeting.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company only partially complies with this principle, as according to Lithuanian law, the Supervisory Board is not required to draw up such an assessment or report or issue such opinions.
Internal Systems and Functions
III.Z.1. The companys management board is responsible for the implementation and
maintenance of efficient internal control, risk management and compliance
systems and internal audit function.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board is not responsible for these functions and no separate units have to be established in the company for this purpose. The Audit Committee is established in the Company which supervises and considers accounting, internal control and risk management, as well as auditing activities of the Company, performs an independent and unbiased supervision of the audit but currently the audit committee is not formed.
III.Z.2. Subject to principle III.Z.3, persons responsible for risk management, internal
audit and compliance should report directly to the president or other member of the management board and should be allowed to report directly to the
supervisory board or the audit committee.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board is not responsible for these functions and no separate units have to be established in the company for this purpose. The Audit Committee is established in the Company which supervises and considers accounting, internal control and risk management, as well as auditing activities of the Company, performs an independent and unbiased supervision of the audit but currently the audit committee is not formed.
III.Z.3. The independence rules defined in generally accepted international standards of the professional internal audit practice apply to the person heading the internal audit function and other persons responsible for such tasks.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board is not responsible for these functions and no separate units have to be established in the company for this purpose. The Audit Committee is established in the Company which supervises and considers accounting, internal control and risk management, as well as auditing activities of the Company, performs an independent and unbiased supervision of the audit but currently the audit committee is not formed.
III.Z.4. The person responsible for internal audit (if the function is separated in the
company) and the management board should report to the supervisory board at
least once per year with their assessment of the efficiency of the systems and
functions referred to in principle III.Z.1 and table a relevant report.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board is not responsible for these functions and no separate units have to be established in the company for this purpose. The Audit Committee is established in the Company which supervises and considers accounting, internal control and risk management, as well as auditing activities of the Company, performs an independent and unbiased supervision of the audit but currently the audit committee is not formed.
III.Z.5. The supervisory board should monitor the efficiency of the systems and functions
referred to in principle III.Z.1 among others on the basis of reports provided
periodically by the persons responsible for the functions and the companys management board, and make an annual assessment of the efficiency of such
systems and functions according to principle II.Z.10.1. Where the company has an audit committee, it should monitor the efficiency of the systems and functions referred to in principle III.Z.1, which however does not release the supervisory board from the annual assessment of the efficiency of such systems and functions.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board is not responsible for these functions and no separate units have to be established in the company for this purpose. The Audit Committee is established in the Company which supervises and considers accounting, internal control and risk management, as well as auditing activities of the Company, performs an independent and unbiased supervision of the audit but currently the audit committee is not formed.
III.Z.6. Where the company has no separate internal audit function in its organisation, the audit committee (or the supervisory board if it performs the functions of the audit committee) should review on an annual basis whether such function needs to be separated.
The Company does not apply this principle.
Under Lithuanian Corporate Law, the management board is not responsible for these functions and no separate units have to be established in the company for this purpose. The Audit Committee is established in the Company which supervises and considers accounting, internal control and risk management, as well as auditing activities of the Company, performs an independent and unbiased supervision of the audit but currently the audit committee is not formed.
General Meeting, Shareholder Relations
IV.Z.2. If justified by the structure of shareholders, companies should ensure publicly available real-time broadcasts of general meetings.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company does not enable participation in the General Meeting by using electronic communication means through real-life broadcast and real-time bilateral communication. However, the Company does not exclude that such means will be adopted in the future.
Conflict of Interest, Related Party Transactions
V.Z.5. Before the company concludes a significant agreement with a shareholder who holds at least 5% of the total vote in the company or with a related party, the management board should request the supervisory boards approval of the transaction. Before giving its approval, the supervisory board should evaluate the impact of the transaction on the interest of the company. The foregoing does not
apply to typical transactions and transactions at arms-length made as part of the companys operations between the company and members of its group. If the decision concerning the companys significant agreement with a related party is made by the general meeting, the company should give all shareholders access to information necessary to assess the impact of the transaction on the interest of the company before the decision is made.
The Company does not apply this principle.
In accordance with Lithuanian Corporate Law, the Supervisory Board is not entitled to approve any decisions of the Management Board and approve transactions.
Remuneration
VI.Z.1. Incentive schemes should be constructed in a way necessary among others to tie
the level of remuneration of members of the companys management board and
key managers to the actual long-term financial standing of the company and long-term shareholder value creation as well as the companys stability.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company has not adopted such policy, since the Company's Group is developing and the number of employees and members of management do not justify implementation of a complex set of rules.
VI.Z.2. To tie the remuneration of members of the management board and key managers
to the companys long-term business and financial goals, the period between the
allocation of options or other instruments linked to the companys shares under the incentive scheme and their exercisability should be no less than two years.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company has not adopted such policy, since the Company's Group is developing and the number of employees and members of management do not justify implementation of a complex set of rules.
VI.Z.3. The remuneration of members of the supervisory board should not be linked to
options or other derivatives or any other variable components, and neither should
it be linked to the companys results.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company has not adopted such policy, since the Company's Group is developing and the number of employees and members of management do not justify implementation of a complex set of rules.
VI.Z.4. In this activity report, the company should report on the remuneration policy
including at least the following:
1) general information about the companys remuneration system;
2) information about the conditions and amounts of remuneration of each management board member broken down by fixed and variable remuneration components, including the key parameters of setting the variable remuneration components and the terms of payment of severance allowances and other amounts due on termination of employment, contract or other similar legal relationship, separately for the company and each member of its group;
3) information about non-financial remuneration components due to each management board member and key manager;
4) significant amendments of the remuneration policy in the last financial year or information about their absence;
5) assessment of the implementation of the remuneration policy in terms of achievement of its goals, in particular long-term shareholder value creation
and the companys stability.
The Company does not apply this principle.
The Company has not adopted such policy, since the Company's Group is developing and the number of employees and members of management do not justify implementation of a complex set of rules.
Wiecej na: http://biznes.pap.pl/pl/reports/ebi/all,0,0,0,1
kom ebi zdz
Comedian Brian Regan's 2017 tour will make a stop in Flagstaff Friday. Regan's show will begin at 8 p.m., at NAU's Ardrey Memorial Auditorium, 1115 S. Knoles Dr. The comedian is know for using observational, sarcastic and self-deprecating humor in performances that refrain from profanity and off-color humor.
Regan made history on Sept. 26, 2015 with the critically-acclaimed live broadcast of Brian Regan: Live From Radio City Music Hall, the first live broadcast of a stand-up special in Comedy Centrals history. And on May 8, 2015, Regan made his 28th and final stand-up performance on Late Show With David Letterman, the most of any comic since the show moved to CBS in 1993. He has since appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and was featured in Jerry Seinfelds web series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.
Tickets are $47.75 in advance, $2 more at the door, and are available at nau.edu/cto or by calling 523-5661.
Community leaders answer the question, 'Why Flagstaff?'
The Flagstaff Leadership Program is hosting a discussion of Why Flagstaff? as several community leaders share what brought them to Flagstaff and why they continue to call Flagstaff home.
Invited panelists include Maury Herman, historic downtown property owner; John VanLandingham, retail and restaurant businessman; and Jonah Hill, multi-media Hopi/Quechan artist. This free public event is today at 5:30 pm at the Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 N. Fort Valley Road.
Information will be available about applying for the Flagstaff Leadership Program, with applications for next years class due April 7, 2017. The Flagstaff Leadership Program is a non-profit organization dedicated to leadership development within our community. The program selects an annual class of 25 applicants who meet monthly to learn about diverse aspects of Flagstaff and connect with community leaders.
For more information about FLP and application for the 2017-2018 class, visit flagstaffleadershipprogram.com.
Library Fine Arts Series to feature music of the West African Kora
Sean Gaskell will give a performance and educational demonstration on the kora, an ancient 21-stringed harp from West Africa, Monday, March 6, from 7-8:30 p.m., at the Flagstaff Public Library, 300 W. Aspen Ave. Gaskell will feature traditional songs as well as information about the history, craftsmanship and cultural significance of the kora.
The librarys Fine Arts Series is dedicated to bringing high quality presentations and performances in the arts to the Flagstaff community. For more information, call 213-2331 or visit flagstaffpubliclibrary.org.
PHOENIX It won't stop unexpected medical bills.
But legislation approved Wednesday by the Senate is designed to give Arizonans a chance to fight having to pay them.
Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, said SB 1441 will help with situations where someone goes into the hospital.
If it's a scheduled procedure they have gone in to make sure that the doctor takes their insurance, they've checked to make sure the hospital takes their insurance and they think they're all set, she said.
A month later they get a bill from a doctor that's out of network, Lesko said. And they had no control over it.
The most common situation, she said, is that a hospital has contracted with an anesthesiologist. But not being an employee of the hospital, that person submits a separate bill to the patient.
Under current law, Lesko explained, the patient has nowhere to turn as the doctor wants his or her money and the insurance company says it won't pay.
SB 1414 does not automatically excuse the patient from that balance billing. Instead, it sets up a procedure for people to ask the Department of Insurance to intervene and determine what's really a fair charge.
It would not apply in all situations.
State intervention would be available in cases where the service was provided in an emergency situation and the patient had no way to check which doctors are within his or her network.
For other situations, arbitration is available if the health care provider did not tell the patient up front that it is not within the patient's insurance network, did not provide the estimated total cost to be billed, and did not give the patient a chance to waive any rights to dispute the bill.
If they receive a surprise medical bill they would call the Department of Insurance, Lesko explained. That agency would set up a phone call involving the doctor, the insurance company and the patient.
Lesko said the experience elsewhere in states with similar systems leads her to believe that will resolve most problems.
In Texas, 94 percent of all the complaints are settled over the phone, she said. They settle on the amount and it's over.
Lesko said the way her legislation is crafted, the patient in most situations would be responsible only for the normal co-pay and deductible.
And they're not going to be charged anything else, she said.
Still, not all cases settle that way.
Those go to private arbitration, with the insurance company and the doctor splitting the cost of that process. And if either side disagreed with that finding, an appeal to court remains an option.
None of that is available, though, if the patient agrees ahead of time to a specific out-of-network cost.
And if the patient signs that, agreeing to that amount, this whole process doesn't apply, Lesko said. There would be no settlement.
But if the actual bill ends up more than that estimate, she said, then the review process would still apply.
Lesko acknowledged that an argument could be made that a patient should have to pay nothing if he or she has not agreed to out-of-network treatment and suddenly gets a bill. But she said such a proposal would never get approval because of opposition from doctors.
We have to get a bill that has a good amount of consensus to go forward, Lesko explained.
Whether she has it at this point, however, remains to be seen.
Despite the 25-5 vote on Wednesday doctors are still lobbying to kill the measure, at least in the form it's in. And they convinced several senators to oppose what Lesko wants.
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said she does not see SB 1441 as a balanced solution. She said there already is a great deal of pressure on doctors to cut their bills.
And Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, said she fears that at some point the pressures of measures like this will result in some doctors simply deciding they don't want to work at hospitals for fear they won't get their full bills paid.
When you or a loved one are wheeled into that emergency room, the anesthesiologist, the emergency room doc, the trauma specialist, the trauma surgeon, they're not the bad guys, Brophy McGee said.
We pay them to be there, we expect them to be there, we expect them to put our lives back together, she continued. Depending on how we approach this issue and how we address it, they won't be.
Lesko, however, said she was not focused on the concerns of medical providers.
I'm doing this for patients, she said. I'm not doing this for the insurance companies, I'm not doing this for doctors, I'm not doing it for hospitals.
Even if Lesko can get her bill through the House, where it now goes, none of this will help patients for the rest of this year or even next year. The legislation gives the Department of Insurance until 2019 to set up the rules and procedures for the review process.
PHOENIX State senators voted Wednesday to allow two new exemptions to Arizona laws which generally prohibit people from firing guns in populated areas.
HB 2022 approved by the Senate Government Committee spells out that people can use a special kind of small-caliber shot, one designed to kill snakes and small mammals at close range. Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said it provides residents with an option for self-defense or at least a method of pest control.
But the more far-reaching measure the same committee approved on the same 4-3 party-line vote would remove the chance that someone could be prosecuted for being criminally negligent in shooting off a weapon in city limits. Instead, under HB 2287 prosecutors would have to prove that someone intentionally, knowingly or recklessly fired a gun.
Both would amend Shannon's Law adopted in 2000 in the wake of the death of 14-year-old Shannon Smith.
The Phoenix teen died when she was hit by a bullet that had been fired in the air from some distance away. No one was ever arrested.
That law not only makes it a felony to fire off a gun within a mile of any occupied structure within city limits but also makes it illegal to act with criminal negligence. That is defined in Arizona law as acting in a way that the failure to perceive (the risk) constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.
Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, who crafted the measure, said that wording allows someone to be prosecuted for accidental discharge of firearms.
Accidents are a fact of life, he told committee members.
Dave Kopp, lobbyist for the Arizona Citizens Defense League, cited a 2012 incident where someone he did not provide a full name purchased a gun, brought it back to his apartment and then tried to remove a round stuck in the chamber. The gun went off and fired the round into the floor.
No one was hurt. But Kopp said the person was charged under this with a felony.
Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do, Kopp conceded of what the person was doing. But we don't want to see innocent people convicted of felony stupid.
But Sen. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, said Kopp's example is exactly why the law should not be changed to legalize the criminal negligent discharge of firearms.
Playing with a gun in an apartment knowing it was loaded? Mendez said. I don't know how that's supposed to convince me.
It was a stupid thing to do, Kopp responded. It wasn't a criminal thing to do. And nobody was hurt.
Nobody was hurt that time, shot back Sen. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale.
He knew there was one stuck in the chamber, Contreras continued. He doesn't know if it does fire if it's going to hit somebody or not.
The legislation brought out Edith Smith, who was Shannon's aunt, in a bid to quash the proposal. She said since the law was adopted the amount of random gunfire has dropped.
So why change something that works? Smith said. Shannon's Law has made the Valley and other urban areas in Arizona safer.
Kopp, however, said even if the law is amended it will still protect people from celebratory gunfire. He said people act knowingly or recklessly when they fire a gun into the air.
Mendez, however, said changing the law would give people who fire off weapons a way of escaping criminal charges by saying the gunfire was just an accident.
The measure on snake shot is being pushed by Rep. Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale.
He said the ammunition is not dangerous at least not to people, consisting of lead pellets the size of most grains of sand, loaded into a .22-caliber shell. And Lawrence said even small animals and snakes are probably in no danger unless the person firing the gun is within at least 14 feet.
Opponents, however, found several things to fire at in the measure.
On a surface level, Rhishja Cota Larson testified that neighbors hearing gunfire are not going to know what kind of ammunition is being fired off. The result, she said, will be calls to police to investigate.
And she said if the concern is self-protection, Arizona law already allows someone to use any kind of weapon, even in a city, against an animal to protect oneself or the other person.
But Sierra Club lobbyist Sandy Bahr said there's an even more basic issue. She said people should not be indiscriminately killing snakes.
She also said that leaving around small animals killed with this ammo creates a danger of lead poisoning for scavengers.
Mendez queried Kopp, who also testified in favor of this bill, about the sudden need to legalize the use of a new type of ammunition.
How are people currently dealing with the epidemic of attacks from rats? he asked.
I don't know honestly how to answer that question, Kopp responded.
Tuesday evening left diplomats and allies wondering exactly how he views Americas
. He made no mention of the thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq or the small number in Syria, and he left unexplained why it is hes expanding the fight against al Qaeda in Yemen.
Mr. Trump made a statement of support for Israel, and he didnt elaborate on his calls for a new relationship with Russia. This has been worrying European allies in NATO, who, Mr. Trump said, should be spending more on their own defense.
The new budget the administration is preparing also contains little comfort for diplomats and allies, though a senior State Department aide told CBS News Wednesday that the Trump White House proposal to slash foreign aid - by as much as 30 to 40 percent - is simply the opening salvo of the administration and a suggestion made by political wonks. Further,
is not looking at it through the same lens, the aide added, suggesting its more of a political message than an actual budget.
PHOENIX Republican lawmakers agreed Wednesday to ask voters to throw another hurdle in the path of their ability to write their own laws.
HCR 2029 would leave in place the existing number of signatures required to put a measure on the ballot. That is based on a percentage of the number of people who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
But it would add the additional burden of having to obtain signatures in each of the state's 30 legislative districts and in proportion to the number of gubernatorial votes in each district.
Using the 2014 election results, it takes 150,642 valid signatures on petitions to propose a statutory change, equivalent to 10 percent of those who turned out. Constitutional changes require 15 percent 225,963 signatures to get on the ballot.
Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, said extending that across the state has implications.
For example, Clark said if the change were approved, anyone wanting a constitutional change would need to gather 3,750 signatures in his Phoenix district based on the number of residents who voted for governor in 2014.
But in the district of Rep. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, which runs from Yuma to the western suburbs of Phoenix, circulators would need the signatures of 6,856.
And in the East Valley district of House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, it would take 8,308 signatures.
That, he said, is unfair. Clark said that having to gather more signatures in one district than another based on voter turnout districts that are supposed to have roughly equal population gives the residents of that district an effective veto power to keep something from getting on the ballot.
Rep. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, said this would be a great tool for those who want to kill an initiative in its infancy, before it actually makes it to the ballot.
All an interloper, somebody from out of state, would ever have to do to stop a good initiative, is pour a ton of money into one, small legislative district, she said, denying the needed margin in just that one legislative district. And now the initiative is dead.
Shooter was unperturbed by letting a single legislative district perhaps his kill a measure that might be popular in the other 29 districts.
If that's the case, I'm a happy boy, he quipped.
The 33-23 vote sends the measure to the Senate. But even if it is approved there, it still requires voter ratification in 2018.
And there's another potential hurdle: Clark said he believes the change would run afoul of constitutional equal protection provisions. He said even if voters give their OK a lawsuit is likely.
Shooter disagreed, saying a similar Nevada law was upheld by a federal appellate court.
This is one of five separate measures being advanced by the Republican-controlled legislature at the behest of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business interests. They are particularly incensed that voters last year approved a hike in the minimum wage, from $8.05 an hour to $10 now and $12 by 2020 along with a requirement for paid sick leave.
One would forbid paying circulators based on the number of signatures they gather. Two others would roll back the 1998 Voter Protection Act that bars lawmakers from tinkering with what has been approved at the ballot.
And another would require that advertising for all future ballot measures to contain a warning that, once approved, they could not be altered by the legislature.
All have advanced on pretty much a party-line basis.
Mesnard suggested that Democrats were being disingenuous, particularly in voting against the ban on paying circulators on a per-signature basis. He pointed out that when Democrat Janet Napolitano was governor, she asked lawmakers in her 2009 State of the State message to outlaw payment by signature.
But Mesnard was not telling the whole story.
Napolitano did indeed make that request. But he did not acknowledge that she also asked legislators to decrease the number of signatures required to place something on the ballot, something not in this year's business-backed Republican package.
Napolitano asked for something else: the ability of sponsors to give their initiatives misleading names.
These changes will help ensure that bureaucratic requirements do not mute the voice of the people in charting our future, Napolitano told lawmakers.
The terms of a settlement between APS and other stakeholders on the utilitys proposed rates was a good step for solar, but still doesnt put the industry on sustainable footing in Arizona, said Derek Turner vice president of sales and marketing at Rooftop Solar in Flagstaff.
For his business, Turner said the settlement softens the decline, but it doesn't continue to encourage homeowners to go solar, he said.
The fact that the settlement allows solar customers to opt out of a demand-based rate is one of the biggest positives coming out of the negotiations, Turner said. Originally, the APS proposal would have forced solar customers onto a rate that would have hit them with the highest tier of fees based on peak energy demand, which solar companies argued is hard for residential customers to track and control and makes solar panels uneconomic.
I think the agreement comes against a worst case scenario which would have been devastating from our point of view, Turner said. It still does not entirely favor the general public but its a lot better than it could be if APS got everything they wanted.
Whats still concerning in Turners perspective is the rate that solar customers will be paid for solar energy they send back to the grid. That export fee will start out at 12.9 cents per kilowatt hour. But the rate will decrease by 10 percent each year, meaning that after 10 years, solar customers will be getting about 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to about 14 cents per kilowatt hour now, Turner said. Solar customers can be grandfathered in at a certain solar export rate, but only for 10 years.
Oregon Coast Science Event This Week Releases Full, All-Star Roster
Published 03/02/2017 at 5:49 AM PDT - Updated 03/02/2017 at 5:59 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff
(Waldport, Oregon) The Sharing the Coast Conference in Waldport next week has released more details about its roster of events, and it's an all-star cast of Oregon coast science experts and a flood of fascinating tidbits. As the beaches are particularly intriguing themselves these days with all the unique finds left by winter storms and sand levels this conference will prove just as lively.
This annual feast of information about shoreline natural history and science takes place March 3 - 5. The public is invited.
The keynote speech to open the conference on Friday evening (March 3) will be provided by marine mammalogist Leigh Torres, who will discuss the latest in research into the lives of gray whales and other marine megafauna inhabiting our coastal waters, and touch on ways in which citizens can help scientists monitor whale populations. Her talk takes place at 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6) at the Waldport Community Center, 265 Hemlock St. The event is free and open to the public, whether or not attending the rest of the conference.
On Saturday (March 4) the conference moves to Waldport High School (3000 S. Crestline); registration begins at 8:30 a.m., with talks beginning at 9:00 a.m. The theme of the conference is citizen science.
Bill Hanshumaker, Chief Scientist with Oregon Sea Grant, will open the day with a talk on The Top Ten Organisms that CoastWatchers Find on the Beach. Dr. Hanshumaker, based at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC), has been documenting the creatures discovered washed up on the shore for 23 years. He will describe sharks, squid, sea turtles and other species that are found by those who walk and monitor our beaches.
Jessica Miller, a research scientist with the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station at the HMSC, will describe studies of debris from the Japanese tsunami still being found on our coast, and the animals, some of them potentially invasive, it has ferried across the Pacific.
Jenna Sullivan, a PhD student in the Marine Community Ecology Lab at Oregon State University, will discuss sea stars, sea star wasting syndrome and the current health of our rocky shore ecosystems. Her talk will provide background for citizens who are helping scientists to observe sea star populations.
Melissa Keyser, program coordinator for the Haystack Rock Awareness Program in Cannon Beach, will offer an overview of shoreline citizen science projects and provide a primer on how volunteers can participate.
Steve Rumrill, Shellfish Program Leader with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, will give the audience a verbal tour of Oregons bays and estuaries, describing their ecology and management, with particular attention to efforts to identify non-native invasives and block their spread.
Meg Reed, Coastal Shores Specialist with the states Coastal Management Program will describe her research into sea level rise, coastal erosion and future management challenges. She will also explain how citizens can help to track the impacts of sea level rise through the King Tide Project, through which volunteers document the reach of the years highest tide. Reed collaborates with CoastWatch to organize the Oregon branch of this international citizen science initiative.
Jim Rice, coordinator of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network (based at the Marine Mammal Institute at the HMSC), will give an overview of the states marine mammal populations and explain how citizens can engage in tracking these populations through reporting stranded animals, alive or dead.
Saturdays events conclude with a party featuring food, drink, a raffle, a coastal trivia contest, and a short talk by Charlie Plybon of the Surfrider Foundation on citizen water quality monitoring.
On Sunday, March 5, the conference concludes with an all-day training session for prospective volunteers for the COASST (Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team) beached bird survey, in which CoastWatch participates, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Waldport campus of Oregon Coast Community College (3120 Crestline Dr.). The trainer will be Hillary Burgess, COASSTs science coordinator. Sunday will also feature field trips to Alsea Bay (led by Steve Rumrill) and the outer shoreline (led by Fawn Custer, CoastWatchs volunteer coordinator).
Suggested cost is $10 for Oregon Shores members, $15 for other CoastWatchers, and $25 for members of the public. Those who join Oregon Shores when registering can take the discount on the conference fee. However, the organizers emphasize that they want to make this learning opportunity available to all; if the suggested cost is a barrier, pay whatever you can, but in any case feel welcome to attend. Snacks and drinks will be provided; lunch is on your own. Pre-register online at https://oregonshores.givezooks.com/events/sharing-the-coast-conference-2017. It is also possible to register at the door.
For more information, contact Fawn Custer, (541) 270-0027, [email protected], or go to the Oregon Shores website, https://oregonshores.org/. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More Oregon coast below:
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The state fire marshal's office ruled that the cause of a fire at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas, was arson, according to a KTRX ABC 13 report. The fire occurred on Jan. 4, 2017.
The fire was reported in a construction zone inside the facility. Approximately 225 employees and 100 patients were evacuated, however nobody was injured.
"The location of the fire allowed the smoke to spread out in the major access areas so we had to manage the movement of the patients to keep them away from the smoke," said David L. Callender, MD, president of The University of Texas Medical Branch.
John Sealy Hospital is part of The University of Texas Medical Branch.
CMS is expanding Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor program to Medicare Advantage, as required by the ACA. The program was originally implemented for Medicare Parts A and B in January 2010.
CMS currently conducts Risk Adjustment Data Validation audits to validate the accuracy of diagnosis data submitted to CMS for payment by Medicare Advantage organizations and to recover net overpayments associated with inaccurate diagnosis data. To increase the percentage of Medicare Advantage contracts subject to an audit and to comply with an ACA provision, CMS issued a request for information on expanding the RAC program to Medicare Advantage in December 2015.
CMS received several submissions in response to the request for information, and the agency is now taking steps to expand the RAC program. On Wednesday, a CMS spokesperson told Becker's the agency "is in the process of contracting with a Recovery Audit Contractor to do additional audits." CMS said it anticipates awarding a contract this year.
Due to a backlog in RAC appeals, the RAC program has been the focus of litigation in recent years. In May 2014, the American Hospital Association; Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Ark.; Covenant Health in Knoxville, Tenn.; and Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center filed a lawsuit concerning the backlog.In December, Judge James Boasberg ordered HHS to incrementally reduce the backlog over the next four years. He ordered the agency to cut the backlog by 30 percent by the end of 2017; 60 percent by the end of 2018; 90 percent by the end of 2019; and to completely eliminate the backlog by Dec. 31, 2020.
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North Philadelphia Health System wants to borrow $3 million to help it get through bankruptcy. However, unsecured creditors in the system's bankruptcy case want NPHS to prove it's financially viable before going further in debt, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
NPHS, which serves some of the poorest neighborhoods in Philadelphia, took a number of steps in recent years aimed at financial improvement, including closing St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia last March. However, the system continued to struggle financially after closing St. Joseph's and it eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Dec. 30.
To repay pre-bankruptcy debts, NPHS wants to borrow $3 million from Gemino Healthcare Finance, but unsecured creditors in the system's bankruptcy case and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services want proof the system will successfully emerge from bankruptcy before NPHS borrows the funds, according to the report.
NPHS operates two facilities in Philadelphia Girard Medical Center, a 168-bed psychiatric hospital, and Goldman Clinic, a substance abuse treatment center and unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy case are not sure Girard Medical Center can be operated profitably. In a recent court filing, the unsecured creditors argued the loan to NPHS should not be approved until the system reduces expenses, including executive compensation.
However, the system's bankruptcy attorney, Lawrence G. McMichael, told The Philadelphia Inquirer NPHS is "doing everything it should be doing to preserve viability." He said the system is keeping all options open. "The whole system could be sold. It could be refinanced. There might be a merger," Mr. McMichael told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
NPHS has already inked a contract to sell shuttered St. Joseph's Hospital. The system has agreed to sell the hospital to MMP Hospital Partners in Philadelphia for $8.12 million.
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In an effort to streamline reimbursement for healthcare providers, a New York City-based billing infrastructure startup has created one of the first publicly accessible healthcare application program interfaces.
"Historically, the heavily regulated healthcare industry has suffered from low data accessibility," says Katelyn Gleason, CEO and founder of Eligible. "Technologies are not able to operate nearly as quickly or effectively due to the restrictions placed on healthcare data."
Ms. Gleason recently spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about the challenges and opportunities that come with implementing new technology in the healthcare space.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What challenges do companies developing applications related to patients, insurance and billing face when deploying their models into the healthcare sector?
Katelyn Gleason: At the surface, we face the same challenges day-to-day that all infrastructure companies face availability, scaling, disaster recovery and other foundational concerns but that's pretty much where the similarities end. The regulatory challenges of the healthcare industry carry a uniquely heavy burden, and for good reason. Any company that wishes to take these regulations seriously has to bake it into the core of who they are and how they operate.
Q: What do you see as a key area for growth in data security for healthcare?
KG: I think there's room to expand the industry's understanding of what data security actually looks like in practice. While HIPAA provides ground rules, it really doesn't offer a more in-depth approach to accomplishing what's expected. Organizations like HITRUST and EHNAC provide certifications that ensure certain standards are met, but healthcare is still lacking a true, single set of guidelines like other industries. Even basic questions like, "Is this considered PHI?" is a constant struggle.
Security can be difficult to navigate and justify, and not having an industry standard and accepted way to attest that your company is meeting those expectations makes it much harder.
Q: What advice do you have for other health IT companies working to ensure data security and compliance?
KG: Focus on the basics. Build a good foundation that you can control and design for visibility and auditability. Too often people chase exciting, but unrealistic, security issues hyped up by the media. Once you have great fundamentals, then and only then should you chase the more extreme but unlikely scenarios. The basics may not be as interesting, but it's a breakdown of fundamental security structures that are at the root of the most well-known data breaches.
I have high hopes and expectations for healthcare technology. Some really incredible breakthroughs are either already here or just around the corner. Over the last couple of years, more and more healthcare-focused startups have entered the space and are starting to shake things up. It reminds me of the financial tech startup boom from a few years back and how they collectively influenced an industry for the better. I think the healthcare world is ready for change and I am happy to see that new ideas and technologies are poised to make that happen.
As one of the hottest topics in health IT, population health presents numerous challenges. Although population health initiatives seek to assist the greater community, they have to be accomplished one person at a time.
Tribridge Vice President of Health and Life Sciences Damon Auer knows this all too well. In his role at the technology services firm, he oversees everything from cloud-based care coordination to process and systems integration consulting for healthcare delivery, pharmaceutical and medical device organizations. He was crucial in the development of Tribridge Health360, a population health management solution.
Becker's Hospital Review talked to Mr. Auer about everything from consumer engagement to why the care experience should not feel like the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity.
Question: What are a few trends you're seeing at the intersection of health IT and population health?
Damon Auer: One of the things I'm seeing is [health] systems move away from the traditional patient-centered view toward a consumer view.
Another trend one we imagined would happen several years ago regarding consumer-focused engagement allows a provider or payer to personalize care intentionally for individuals. It's the oxymoron of having to accomplish population health initiatives one person at a time. We have to take a micro approach to get to the macro objective.
The other thing we're seeing is although population health has been a largely U.S. phenomenon due to the ACA, in the last six months we have seen an increasing volume of queries from countries all over the world. The interest is related to some of the technology tools we're deploying in the United States, and they're generating interest in other parts of the world. Our Health360 Care Coordination solution went live in the Microsoft AppSource, which makes it visible to more than 25 different countries throughout the world. It has applicability in all sorts of populations.
Q: Speaking of Health360, you played a key role in developing it. Could you discuss the solution and the development process?
DA: We conceived Health360 several years ago while working with the Health Solutions group at Microsoft. We asked a group of tech-savvy clinicians, "What comes next for healthcare providers after we stabilize the EHR?"
Not surprisingly, we landed on the idea of population health. It became clear we needed systems to identify people. Then we needed tools to get their attention marketing and communication tools, essentially. Once we got their attention, we needed to tools to create a care plan that's comprehensive and unique to that person. It has to include what we know clinically and what we can learn behaviorally, socially and via their community. The care plan then becomes the basis for coordinating all of the care team's activity over time.
Much of the functionality we're discussing is stuff that has already been created for us in customer relationship management solutions. We decided to create Health360 on that Microsoft Dynamics 365 backbone.
Q: You regularly collaborate with Microsoft's Healthcare Strategy teams to develop new solutions. Could you discuss that relationship and a few of the solutions you've worked on?
DA: There are several healthcare innovation teams at Microsoft. The most interesting group right now is the Microsoft Healthcare NExT group in their [research and development] unit. That group recently relaunched HealthVault, a personal health record in the cloud system that Microsoft had out in the market. It was way ahead of its time. What it aims to do is be the consumer health engagement app and cloud service that will allow any consumer to easily collaborate with their healthcare provider via a small screen app called HealthVault Insights.
Q: What excites you most about the future of health IT?
DA: What excites me most is our ability to personalize care experiences for everyone. We need technology that operates at a significant enough scale and [creates] a compelling enough consumer and care team member experience. The only way we can do that is with technology that's simple, easy to use, will appeal to any of us as a consumer and also makes life a lot better for the care coordinators we're collaborating with.
I'm excited about a future that's a different care experience than what many of us grew up with. It shouldn't feel like we're at the DMV.
Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare named Shannon Connor Phillips, MD, chief patient safety and experience officer.
Here are five things to know.
1. Dr. Philips is a pediatrician and pediatric hospitalist.
2. In her new role, she will work in collaboration with other system leaders at Intermountain to improve care outcomes, safety and the patient experience.
3. Prior to joining Intermountain this year, Dr. Philips served as Cleveland Clinic's associate chief quality officer and as a physician lead in the health system's office of clinic transformation.
4. Dr. Philips, who joined the Cleveland Clinic team in 2004, also served as the organization's first patient safety officer during her tenure there.
5. Before joining Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Philips served at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
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Due to a lack of members present at a Senate Finance Committee executive session Wednesday, the committee will reconvene Thursday to vote again on the candidacy of Seema Verma for CMS administrator.
Senators present at the meeting voted 9-9 on the nomination, and the final tally with proxies was 15-11 to confirm Ms. Verma as CMS administrator. However, because proxies do not count, the committee must vote again before they can send her nomination to the full Senate for a final vote. The full committee has 26 members, 14 Republican and 12 Democrat.
Ms. Verma is the president, CEO and founder of a national health policy consulting company called SVC. She is known for her work in crafting the Healthy Indiana Plan, the state's version of Medicaid expansion, which was created under a waiver from the Obama administration.
"I think she is a highly qualified nominee. I really don't think there's anyone who reasonably doubts that," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the finance committee. Despite the delay, Ms. Verma is notably less divisive than HHS Secretary Tom Price, whose nomination vote was boycotted by finance committee Democrats and ultimately pushed through by Republicans under suspended rules.
However, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the Democratic ranking member, delivered a statement of concern Wednesday over how Ms. Verma handled questions from the committee, which he said were not "gotcha questions." Sen. Wyden said he opposed Ms. Verma's nomination because her answers were too vague.
"What we got is what I'm starting to call healthcare happy-talk because there's just no content there. That's deeply troubling for me when you are talking about a job that's responsible for a trillion dollars of healthcare spending," Sen. Wyden said.
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Kent-based Speciality Breads has signed its first export deal with Malta-based supply chain Shoprite Malta.
Twenty lines have been taken on initially by Shoprite Malta, including traditional English rolls, sourdough rolls, cottage loaves and luxury cranberry teacakes, plus brioche rolls, focaccia and ciabatta.
With exports one of new managing director Simon Cannells ambitious objectives in 2017, MP Sir Roger Gale was at the bakery last week to see off the first order going to Malta (pictured).
One of the leading wholesaler-distributors on the Mediterraneans historic sunshine island, Shoprite Malta supplies hotels, bars and restaurants.
Speciality Breads MD Simon Cannell said: In addition to product innovation, export represents a key area for potential growth that does not conflict with our existing UK foodservice business. Ive been surprised by the speed at which weve been able to export our first order, but were absolutely delighted to be flying the flag for great British bread abroad.
Sir Roger Gale, MP for North Thanet, said: Speciality Breads is continuing to blaze a trail with innovative and unique new products and I am delighted that these new offers will have the opportunity to reach wider markets overseas.
UMass Memorial Medical Center's proposal to cut 13 psychiatric beds next year was met with scrutiny from mental health advocates and nurses working at the hospital, reports MassLive.
Here are four things to know.
1. The Worcester, Mass.-based hospital wants to close 13 of its 28 psychiatric beds and convert them into surgical beds, according to the report. UMass seeks to cut costs by closing the beds, since its Massachusetts hospitals in Devens and Westboro are already preparing to expand bed capacity for psychiatric patients, according to the report.
2. The Massachusetts Nurses Association which represents nurses at UMass is a vocal opponent of the proposal.
"We believe this is a shortsighted and dangerous proposal that is in direct violation of the UMass mission to provide comprehensive care to all members of the Greater Worcester community," said Lisa Goss, a psychiatric nurse who has worked in the psychiatric wing for more than 12 years. "These are patients in crisis with multiple diagnoses who need immediate inpatient services who will now be forced to travel long distances for care, receive inadequate care or go without treatment altogether."
3. Nurses in the psychiatric wing say the ward is almost always full, and many staff members are already overburdened from taking in too many patients, according to the MNA.
4. A public hearing for the proposal is set for March 30. Worcester City Councilor Sarai Rivera is proposing an order that would require City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. to create a report on how the psychiatric bed closings could affect the city's healthcare services., reports MassLive.
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Louisville, Ky.-based Humana will lay off an undisclosed number of employees in Kentucky and Wisconsin as part of the insurer's growth strategy following its unsuccessful bid to merge with Aetna, according to a Humana spokesperson.
Humana employees familiar with the layoffs told the Courier-Journal the job cuts will affect positions companywide, from top management to entry-level employees. Claims processing workers in De Pere, Wis., will also be affected, according to a Green Bay Post-Gazette report.
In a statement to Becker's Hospital Review, Humana spokesperson Kate Marx said the layoffs are part of a reorganization that includes creating "new jobs that are aligned with the company's enhanced growth strategy and phas[ing] out positions that are no longer as aligned." The new growth strategy includes focusing on individuals with chronic conditions and individuals eligible for Medicare Advantage plans, among other strategies.
Ms. Marx added "any Humana associate affected by this realignment of our resources is offered up to 60 days to obtain another position within the company, and severance and outplacement assistance if a new position is not secured."
Ms. Marx said the number of employees affected has "not been discussed internally or externally because [it] will depend on how people choose to move around the company." She also confirmed to Courier-Journal the Louisville, Ky. workforce will remain at 12,500 and the number of employees at De Pere, Wis., will also reamin the same.
The layoffs in Kentucky and Wisconsin come after Humana said it would lay off about 500 workers in Ohio and Florida.
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Indianapolis-based insurer MDwise will exit Indiana's Medicaid program at the end of this month, laying off 79 workers in the process, according to an IndyStar report.
Of the 79 employees cut, 40 are care managers and 14 are nurses, according to the report. The layoffs will leave MDwise with approximately 400 workers.
MDwise said it is attempting to transfer affected employees to positions with two other insurers participating in the Medicaid program Indianapolis-based Anthem and Managed Health Services, a managed care entity in Indiana.
MDwise decided to leave the state's Hoosier Care Connect program following an impasse with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration regarding payment, company officials told the IndyStar. The insurer said the agency "would not provide the rates necessary for MDwise to continue participation" in the Medicaid program.
FSSA said in a statement to the IndyStar its rates "were adequate to appropriately serve members and to sustain the program." The agency also said CMS had approved the rates.
The exit will affect about 39,000 MDwise beneficiaries. Those individuals will be transitioned either to Anthem or MHS, which both provide coverage through Hoosier Care Connect.
While President Donald Trump repeated his vow to lower drug costs during his first joint address to Congress, he also praised a rare disease drug that costs nearly $300,000 a year, reports Reuters.
Here are five things to know.
1. During his speech, the president acknowledged Rare Disease Day. He shared the story of 20-year-old Megan Crowley who has a rare, lifethreating condition called Pompe disease.
2. Megan's father John Crowley, current CEO of Amicus Therapeutics founded a biotech company in 1998 to develop a treatment for Pompe disease.
"Megan's dad, John, fought with everything he had to save the life of his precious child. He founded a company to look for a cure and helped develop the drug that saved Megan's life," President Trump said. "But our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan's life, from reaching those in need."
3. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment for Pompe in 2006, with a second similar drug approved in 2010. Sanofi, who now owns both the drugs, said the average cost of treatment is $298,000, reports Reuters.
4. The National Organization for Rare Disorders commended President Trump's focus on rare disease, but said it does not share his views that the FDA needs a regulatory overhaul, according to the report.
"Our patients deserve the same quality therapies as everyone else, and to weaken the standards will only threaten our population with unsafe, ineffective therapies," NORD said Wednesday in a statement.
5. Aaron Kesselheim, MD, a researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston, shared similar skepticism.
"I think Trump used this example somewhat cynically as a way of trying to advance the deregulatory agenda," he told Reuters. "The FDA's standards actually promote innovation because patients don't want just any old drug - they want drugs that work."
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Castle Connolly Medical honored Jason E. Lowenstein, MD, a spine surgeon in Morristown, N.J., as a top doctor in the New York metro area.
The 15th edition of Top Doctors: New York Metro Area features more than 5,500 primary care and specialty care physicians in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The honored physicians span 65 medical specialties and subspecialties, treating more than 1,800 medical conditions. Board-certified MDs and DOs submit nominations to Castel Connolly Medical.
Here are five highlights:
1. Dr. Lowenstein is among the top 10 percent of physicians in the metro region.
2. A board-certified adult and pediatric spine surgeon, Dr. Lowenstein serves as director of Morristown Medical Center's Scoliosis and Spinal Deformity Center.
3. He specializes in treating spinal deformity, disc herniations as well as stenosis of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine.
4. Dr. Lowenstein performs complex revision surgery for failed back syndrome and minimally invasive spine surgery.
5. He completed his spine surgery fellowship at Emory Spine Center/Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
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Cardiff-based Pettigrew Bakeries is celebrating its first anniversary by offering one customer free bread for a year.
In order to win, customers have to buy a raffle ticket in the shop for 50p. All proceeds will go to Mind Cymru, the mental health charity.
Owner David Le Masurier said on Twitter: We have been totally embraced by people who love food, knowing its good quality and made with soul.
He added: It has been such an incredibly rewarding year. The support from our local community, but also Cardiff as a whole, has been amazing.
Works were told their jobs are under threat on Wednesday
Boots has confirmed that it is planning to close 220 of its 320 in-store photo labs across the UK in a move that puts 400 jobs under threat.
The pharmacy and beauty retailer made the decision amid a decline in traditional photo printing, as digital photography continues to disrupt the market.
Affected staff were notified of the proposals on Wednesday and will take part in a consultation process that will stretch into August.
Boots is aiming to shut all of the 220 labs over the next five months.
In a statement Boots said: "To continue to focus on the customer demand for instant kiosks to print photos and order photo gifts, Boots UK is removing 220 photo labs from stores, and has announced changes to the in-store photo teams.
"Impacted colleagues will be offered retraining and redeployment to other roles where possible. However, some roles may be made redundant."
The company did not disclose which locations would be affected.
"Our focus will now be on supporting any impacted colleagues through this, as we continue to transform our photo offer," Boots said.
Boots said it would continue offering photo services through the remaining 100 photo labs as well as 3,000 instant photo kiosks at 1,000 of its stores.
Those kiosks will be supported by a centralised photo facility in Nottingham, which will allow customers to order and receive photo products - like personalised photobooks, canvases and cards - within five days, the company said.
Go Compare said it expects more people to search for cheaper insurance deals
Price comparison site Go Compare has bolstered profits by close to a third and said the firm could enjoy an uplift from Government changes to the insurance industry.
The firm said adjusted operating profits jumped 30% to 30 million in the year to the end of December, while revenues rose 20% to 142.1 million.
However, a separate measure of operating profits, which included its listing costs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), dropped 5% to 21.9 million.
It comes after Go Compare put the finishing touches to its demerger from insurer esure and listed on LSE on November 3 last year.
Chief executive Matthew Crummack said the Government's recent decision to adjust the discount rate calculation could bump up the price of car insurance premiums and inspire more customers to search for cheaper products.
Insurers have been pencilling in a financial hit after Lord Chancellor Liz Truss put forward the change, which is expected to increase payments given to victims of life-changing injuries through medical negligence, car crashes and other incidents.
Mr Crummack told Reuters: "What we hear from the sector about the (discount) rate is it is very likely to push up prices and our experience is that when you see price rises, you tend to see more people looking for better deals and therefore it's an opportunity for us."
Shares were down 4% in afternoon trading despite the firm saying it was on track to meet its full-year targets for 2017.
The Newport-based firm said the amount saved by customers had risen by 30% to more than 1 billion over the period, while customer interactions climbed 26% to 32 million.
The Go Compare boss hailed 2016 as a "transformational year", but said performance would "skew" in the second half of this year as its business transformation takes effect.
"We also expect to deploy capital during 2017 on investments that will drive shareholder value over the medium term," Mr Crummack added.
Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Go Compare's full year performance showed "some pretty impressive" underlying growth.
"Throwing an extra 12 million at advertising has yielded results - with each pound of marketing spend generating a better return than before.
"Longer term we think price comparison websites are an industry with bags of potential. So far the industry (and GoCompare in particular) is focused on insurance comparison, but there's plenty of scope to throw the net wider, embracing areas such as other financial products and utilities."
Kuwait imposed a ban on UK lamb over concerns around the degenerative disease scrapie
UK lamb will soon be back on the menu across Kuwait following a deal worth up to 15 million, the Government has announced.
Work on the deal started in 2012 and followed a ban on UK lamb introduced by Kuwait due to concerns around scrapie, a degenerative disease that affects the nervous systems of sheep and goats.
The re-opened trade route was announced during food minister George Eustice's visit to the Gulf to promote British food and drink and strengthen the UK's trading relationship with the market.
Three UK suppliers are ready to benefit from the five-year deal, with shipments expected to leave soon.
The UK exported 625 million worth of food and drink to the region last year, including 80 million of cereal and 22 million of cheese.
Total lamb exports from the UK reached 330 million in 2016, up from 300 million the previous year.
Mr Eustice said: "British lamb has a fantastic reputation around the world for its taste and quality and I'm delighted that this export success will now be available for diners in Kuwait.
"This move to re-open the market for UK-produced lamb is another example of how we are working hard to tap into new international markets and build stronger relationships with trading partners around the world."
The trade mission included a visit to Gulfood in Dubai, where cereal brand Mornflake from Cheshire and a mozzarella producer from Durham were among around 100 UK food and drink companies exhibiting at the world's largest annual trade show.
Jean-Pierre Garnier, head of export trade development at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), said: "We have found for some time a high level of appetite from Kuwaiti importers and distributors for British lamb and are delighted to be able at last to supply this market.
"We are committed to expanding sales of meat and dairy products in the Gulf region and support the Government's export work.
"Our presence at the important Gulfood exhibition with meat and dairy stands testifies our willingness to grow sales and open new markets."
As part of his visit, Mr Eustice witnessed the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding allowing greater collaboration between the UK Government and Gulf on projects in aquaculture, fisheries, climate change and marine environments.
The first was with the UAE ministry of climate change and environment and the second was with the Gulf-wide Regional Organisation for Protection of the Marine Environment.
Ryanair is growing its Belfast network by adding direct flights to Malta. The low-cost airline announced its return to Belfast last year. It now flies from the International Airport to locations including Gatwick, Malaga, Berlin and Milan.
It will start the twice weekly service in October as part of its winter 2017 schedule, tickets for which will go on sale soon.
Belfast International's Uel Hoey said: "We are delighted to see Ryanair continue to grow from Belfast International Airport with the addition of their 14th route since commencement of operations in summer 2016.
"A new service to Malta is a particularly pleasing development as it has traditionally been a good seller from Northern Ireland, and we believe that its popularity will be even more enhanced given the prevailing strength of the western and central Mediterranean holiday markets."
Ryanair's Robin Kiely said: "We are pleased to announce a new route from Belfast to Malta, with a twice-weekly service starting in October."
Last week Belfast International confirmed it had secured two new routes to the US, after United Airlines pulled its service to Newark (New York).
Norwegian Air will fly to TF Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, which is about 60 miles from Boston.
It will also fly to Stewart International in upstate New York, around 70 miles from the Big Apple.
It is being given financial support - understood to be a six-figure sum - towards its marketing budget.
Meanwhile, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary warned of flight disruption if the UK opted for a "cliff-edge" Brexit.
He said the current open skies arrangement hinged on recognising the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, which Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK would no longer be subject to.
Mr O'Leary believes it will take more than the two-year time frame from triggering Article 50 to put agreements in place with EU nations.
He said: "In the airline industry we could be heading for a very difficult divorce with Europe.
"There is a possibility, unlikely, but nevertheless a possibility, that there may be no flights between the UK and Europe in March 2019 if the UK walks off this cliff that they seem determined to walk off."
Ahead of their gig in Enniskillen in August, country singing twins Ward Thomas say they are living their dream and still can't believe their second release went to No 1. Lizzy talks to Andy Welch about their brilliant year.
With a hectic UK tour ahead of them, which will include the weekend Harvest 2017 festival in Enniskillen in August, singing duo Ward Thomas are surprisingly relaxed.
"We're getting prepared for the tour. Like, really prepared," says Lizzy Ward Thomas.
The admission, from one half of singing twins Ward Thomas, suggests they don't always rehearse quite so well for their live shows.
"Oh no, we're normally pretty prepared. We don't wing it... Actually, sometimes we wing it. We often think, 'What do we do now?' but I think we'll be fine come those April shows."
Lizzy says it's been a frantic year or so, a year in which the English sisters' second album, Cartwheels, beat Jamie T and The Carpenters to the No 1 spot. Talking to her, it sounds like she hasn't quite calmed down from the excitement.
"We had a nice break over Christmas, which was the first time we really stopped to take stock, but other than that, it's been non-stop," admits the Hampshire-born 22-year-old.
Their debut, From Where We Stand, peaked at No 41 in the UK charts, but crucially, hit the top 10 on the country chart, winning them a strong fan base among genre connoisseurs and radio DJs.
That foundation served them well when the time came to release Cartwheels, with influential DJs, such as 'Whispering' Bob Harris and breakfast show host Chris Evans, playing the twins' songs.
"I still don't think we believe we got to No 1," says Lizzy. "There must've been something that went wrong that week. Oh God, what if there's a recount? There'll be loads of Jamie T fans demanding a recount."
She says the week before their chart position was announced was the most tense of their lives. As for expectations, they simply hoped for an improvement on their debut, to mirror the progression and maturation of their music.
"We wrote From Where We Stand when we were quite young, 17 or so, and it was a very different vibe. Albums should be a portfolio of where you're up to in your life. We wrote this one in our early 20s, so naturally it's going to be a bit more mature," Lizzy explains. "We wanted to show what we'd been doing, but also that we'd grown as songwriters.
"We also wanted to hit a wider audience. It was very, very exciting, and we really managed to do that, too."
She says they noticed things were happening for them when they suddenly got so much busier - they went from doing the odd interview here and there, to being well and truly in demand. Not that they ever get to see the end result...
"It's always strange seeing an article written about you, and we were always the last to see these things in print - we might get a screen-grab from family and friends or something - but we could tell there was a definite progression of the campaign and the size of everything. We noticed we were getting a lot more attention.
"The first time we heard a song from Cartwheels on the radio was when Chris Evans played it, and he said such lovely things before he did so. It really felt like we were hitting the second stage of our career, and the beginning of a very different year."
Think of siblings in bands together, and images of Ray and Dave Davies in The Kinks and Oasis' Noel and Liam Gallagher spring to mind. The Davies brothers would famously fall out mid-gig and reportedly go years without speaking to one another, while Noel and Liam's disdain for each other spilled over to the point they can no longer work together and trade insults in the media.
Lizzy and her twin Catherine, however, wouldn't want to be in a band with anyone else. "We couldn't imagine it any other way. Especially when we're on tour - it's like we get to take a bit of home with us."
They've been singing together since they were little, firstly classical music in a school choir, although they realised pretty early on that was never going to fulfil their dreams.
The turning point came when a cousin from Canada came to stay, and brought with her a love of US country sensations Dixie Chicks and Miranda Lambert - the latter of whom will headline Harvest 2017 with Nathan Carter in the summer.
"That was the biggest influence for us," recalls Lizzy. "It was after that we saw the 2005 movie Walk The Line, and that's when we learned lots of Johnny Cash and June Carter songs. We'd sing them at the local pub and at family parties, which is really how we started."
Then came Dixie Chicks covers, before they started writing their own material.
Fast-forward to now and, before they tour the UK, the sisters are heading to Australia, where they're performing on the same bill as Dixie Chicks ("I'm not sure we could talk if we met them"). Hopefully, there'll also be some writing and the recording of a small set of cover versions, although Lizzy is sworn to secrecy on the details.
"They'll be on a covers EP or something. It's great being able to play around with songs we love," is all she'll say.
Is it daunting, having a world tour mapped out, and expectations of a third record already mounting?
"We wouldn't be human if we weren't daunted, but we have a lot of great people around us, plus a lot of say and control in what we do," reasons Lizzy.
"Plus, we have each other."
Renowned film director John Boorman has opened up about how the IRA once offered to supply guns for use in one of his movies.
In a wide-ranging interview with Hot Press, the 84-year-old Oscar-nominated director told how the contact with republicans took place as he made his cult sci-fi film Zardoz in Ireland.
The Englishman, who has lived in Co Wicklow for many years, said that one night he heard a knock on his front door and it was "the Official IRA guys".
"And they said: 'We would like to use your land for training purposes?' So, I said: 'Do I have a choice?' And they said: 'Yes. We'd only want to do it if you approved'. And I said: 'Well, I'd rather not'. And they moved on."
The director was also offered their help while working on Zardoz, starring Sean Connery.
"I needed a lot of guns and I wanted to import them from London and there was strict prohibition about importing weapons, even though these weapons wouldn't fire bullets. It was a big problem," he explained.
"It almost toppled the production. And then one of the carpenters came up to me and said: 'The lads above can get you all the weapons you want!'"
Mr Boorman said he was able to secure weapons for the film after going through the Irish Government, but said with a laugh: "Anyway, I could've got them from the IRA.
"My dealings with the IRA were, on the whole, rather positive!"
Boorman won best director at the Cannes Film Festival for The General, based on notorious criminal Martin Cahill, who was shot dead in 1994.
He said Cahill once broke into his Wicklow home while he was away, but was identified by the police.
"He stole this gold record for Duelling Banjos (from Deliverance).
"I'm sure he was horrified when he found it was just gold paint on vinyl! And so I put that scene in the film. I got my own back on him!"
The full interview with John Boorman can be read in Hot Press, in stores from today
Louis Theroux immersed himself in some of the most "dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society" for three new documentaries airing later this year.
The broadcaster will uncover and learn about some of the major difficulties faced by the population, including sex trafficking, opiate use and murder in the cities of Houston, Huntington and Milwaukee.
The "challenging" films will air on BBC Two and follow on from Theroux's successful 2016 feature-length effort My Scientology Movie.
Theroux said: "I immerse myself in some of the most dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society.
"They combine hard-hitting actuality with intimate interviews."
He said: "I have been granted access to the police in several states; I've got to know the people affected by crime; and I've also spent time with the perpetrators of crime, with the idea of understanding the causes of it, both on a systemic level and also in a very personal way."
Houston, Texas is widely thought to be the main location for human trafficking in North America, and Theroux is seen spending time with American women working in the city's sex industry to delve into the relationship between prostitutes and pimps.
As well as working with local law enforcement in Sex Trafficking Houston (working title), Theroux goes to the county jail and learns about the criminal justice system's struggles to help the women caught within their often-exploitative lifestyle against a desire to criminalise them.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin is considered one of America's most racially divided and impoverished cities and in the film Murder In Milwaukee, Theroux spends time with the local police department on patrol in dangerous areas.
He also embeds with the community to learn of the divide between the African American community and the police at a time of heightened hostility due to a recent police shooting.
Opiate City is based on Theroux's travels to Huntington, West Virginia - a city that sees one in 10 babies born addicted to opiates and which has a fatal overdose rate 13 times the national average.
The journalist follows the frontline emergency services responding several times daily to help those who have overdosed while speaking to members of the community who misuse drugs and struggle with their day-to-day lives.
Patrick Holland, Controller at BBC Two, said Theroux's forthcoming films are "exciting" and that they will be a "real event".
"This trilogy promises to be hugely timely and challenging, it has never been more important to engage with the forces shaping modern America."
Theroux's other notable works include 2007's The Most Hated Family In America and 2003 documentary Louis, Martin And Michael.
Kenneth Branagh will receive the Special Award for his contribution to theatre
Renowned actor Sir Kenneth Branagh will be honoured for his contribution to theatre with a special prize at this year's Olivier Awards.
Best known for his impressive portfolio of roles in Shakespeare classics such as Hamlet, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night, his career has also seen him conquer the big screen.
As well as playing the laughable professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the second Harry Potter film and taking on the role of Kurt Wallander in the Wallander TV series, he also stars in upcoming releases Dunkirk and Murder On The Orient Express.
The Special Award, has previously been won by the likes of Judi Dench, Kevin Spacey and Sir Ian McKellen.
For Sir Kenneth it will mark a particularly significant moment in his career, coming 35 years after the Olivier Awards named him best newcomer in 1982.
Since then he has claimed four Bafta Awards and secured four Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.
Also an acclaimed director, he recently set up the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, bringing star-studded casts to the stage for more Shakespeare tales, including The Winter's Tale and Romeo And Juliet.
Caro Newling, president of the Society of London Theatre, which organises the awards, said: "We are delighted to formally celebrate Kenneth Branagh's outstanding contribution to London theatre. Whether acting or directing, there is no greater advocate for our industry."
::Sir Kenneth will be presented with his award on Sunday April 9, at London's Royal Albert Hall. Official nominations for the Olivier Awards with Mastercard will be live-streamed at 12pm on Monday.
Alliance leader Naomi Long has been accused of the type of negative campaigning her own party criticises.
The East Belfast candidate told voters in Lagan Valley to vote for Alliance - or they would be helping the DUP.
It comes after she criticised the DUP for negative campaigning over claims that not voting for it would run the risk of a Sinn Fein First Minister.
The Alliance candidate in Lagan Valley is Trevor Lunn, who was the last of the six MLAs elected last year.
This year there are five seats, leaving a potential scrap between him, second UUP candidate Jenny Palmer and the third DUP candidate Brenda Hale for the final MLA job.
The SDLP also has hopes its candidate Pat Catney might have a chance, and issued a leaflet entitled 'We can win here', saying it lost out by just 297 votes last year behind the DUP.
In a letter sent to voters on paper headed with her name, Mrs Long described today's poll as "the most important election we have ever fought".
"Instead of engaging in negative politics, your election candidate Trevor Lunn remains focused on building on his successful record as an MLA," she wrote.
However, Mrs Long added a 'PS' to the letter that read: "A vote for anyone but Alliance helps the DUP in Lagan Valley - make your vote count."
The letter was criticised by an SDLP source, as well as the DUP.
Local DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said: "Once again we see the Alliance mask slipping. This letter has clearly been distributed at the last minute in the hope it will escape media attention. The portrayal of Alliance as the 'nice' party is now a fiction beyond repair. This letter is as negative as anything Alliance piously accuse other parties of engaging in."
An Alliance spokesman said the letter "clearly sets out the positive work Trevor Lunn has carried out as Lagan Valley MLA", and said it contrasts with the "disappointingly negative campaign in the constituency" of others.
"However, we thank them for drawing attention to it and the work Trevor has done, which we are confident he will continue to carry out as MLA following this election," he added.
There has been bad blood between Alliance and the other parties in Lagan Valley over a disputed agreement not to put up election posters.
The DUP issued a statement in January it claimed was "from Alliance, DUP, SDLP and UUP Lagan Valley constituency parties".
DUP candidate Paul Givan tweeted the statement at the time, to which Mr Lunn replied: "Sorry but Paul Givan's tweet on posters agreement in Lagan Valley is premature, this has not been signed off by all the parties involved."
The agreement related to posters on lampposts only, and did not extend to billboards or mobile advertising. It is understood to have mostly held, although the TUV did not sign up to it.
A Walkers factory in Peterlee County Durham is set to close, which could put 380 jobs at risk.
The proposed changes have been taken to provide significant productivity and efficiency savings and ensure the long-term sustainable growth of the business in the UK, according to Tracey Foster, Peterlee manufacturing director at PepsiCo UK.
In order to improve the efficiency of our UK snacks manufacturing operations, we are proposing the closure of our factory at Peterlee, she said.
Crisps currently produced at the site would be manufactured at our other facilities in the UK.
The manufacturer will now begin consultations with staff and its representatives, but has reassured that employees will receive full support.
No decisions will be made without first consulting employees and their representatives. We would also like to reassure colleagues that we will be providing ongoing support and assistance from this point onwards, Foster said.
We appreciate this is upsetting news for everyone at the Peterlee site. It is a difficult proposal for us to put forward and we want to make clear that it in no way reflects the performance of our colleagues at Peterlee, to whom we are grateful for their hard work and commitment.
A bogus letter in which an Ulster Unionist candidate appears to warn voters against supporting the DUP has been condemned as the "politics of the sewer".
Danny Kennedy has referred the fake correspondence - which has been distributed in the Newry and Armagh constituency - to the Electoral Office and Royal Mail.
The former UUP deputy leader said it could also turn into a police probe.
In the typed letter fraudulently headed with the UUP logo, the author, pretending to be Mr Kennedy, suggests that in recent times unionism had been "dragged through the mud" by the actions of the DUP "and its leadership".
It also refers to "ongoing political and financial scandals".
The bogus letter goes on: "After witnessing the appalling behaviour of the DUP leader Arlene Foster and other high profile DUP members ... and how the DUP have quite clearly been involved in political scandal after political scandal, in a manner that appears to be neverending, I am appealing for you not to use your vote in any way for a party that is destroying unionism."
The fake letter also criticised DUP candidate William Irwin - even though Mr Kennedy has made clear he would be transferring his vote to Mr Irwin and other unionists.
Mr Kennedy's stance stands in contrast to UUP leader Mike Nesbitt, who revealed he will give a second preference vote to the SDLP in East Belfast.
A genuine letter from Mr Kennedy appeals to voters going to the polls to make him their number one choice and adds: "You should then vote for the other unionist candidate.
"Sinn Fein is determined to hold onto its three seats at the expense of the second unionist one, which I hold." Mr Kennedy said he had seen a lot of dirty tricks in various election campaigns.
But he was "shocked" that someone would stoop so low, including falsifying his signature.
"I have always fought campaigns based on my record of delivery for Newry and Armagh and I want to make clear how disgusted I am that someone should try and impersonate me in election communications to the public," he said.
"It is absolutely disgraceful. This is a very serious issue and is an attempt to subvert the democratic process.
"Politics is low enough in the eyes of the public and this will do nothing to allay that perception.
"The actions of those responsible are entirely contemptible - they belong not just to the gutter, but the political sewer. I have been in contact with the Chief Electoral Officer and the Royal Mail as this needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness."
He added: "It is an attempt to sabotage my campaign and damage my political reputation, and I will do all in my power to identify the culprits responsible."
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn for Lagan Valley and South Down constituencies. Brenda Hale and Paul Rankin pictured at the count. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn for Lagan Valley and South Down constituencies. Sammy Morrison pictured at the count. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Aurora Leisure Complex in Bangor for Strangford and North Down constituencies. Steven Agnew (second right) leader of the Green Party watching the verification of the North Down vote. Photo by Brian Little / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies.The boxes are opened for the count. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
Counting continues at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena, in Northern Ireland's Assembly election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. This is the second contest in less than a year and early indications are that turnout has been higher than expected. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire
BALLYMENA, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 03: Counting gets underway in the Seven Towers Leisure Centre for the North Antrim and Mid Ulster seats in the Northern Ireland assembly election on March 3, 2017 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. A snap election was called following the resignation of the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness, with indications showing that voter turnout was considerably higher than in May last year. The first declarations are expected around lunchtime today. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Banbridge Leisure Centre for Newry & Armagh and Upper Bann constituencies. DUP Councillor, Darryn Causby and SDLP hopeful Dolores Kelly pictured at the count. Photo by Tony Hendron / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Aurora Leisure Complex in Bangor for Strangford and North Down constituencies. Verification of the Strangford and North Down vote starts. Photo by Brian Little / Press Eye.
Counting underway in the Seven Towers Leisure Centre for the North Antrim and Mid Ulster seats in the Northern Ireland assembly election on March 3, 2017 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Aurora Leisure Complex in Bangor for Strangford and North Down constituencies. Steven Agnew (second right) leader of the Green Party watching the verification of the North Down vote. Photo by Brian Little / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena for North Antrim and Mid Ulster constituencies. Jim Allister TUV candidate pictured at the count. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena for North Antrim and Mid Ulster constituencies. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn for Lagan Valley and South Down constituencies. Brenda Hale pictured at the count. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye.
PACEMAKER BELFAST 0303/2017 Counting gets underway at the Titanic Exhibition centre. Results for Belfast East, North, South and West are expected in by mid afternoon on Friday.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - Counting gets under way at the NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena for North Antrim and Mid Ulster constituencies. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn for Lagan Valley and South Down constituencies. Paul Givan pictured at the count. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye.
Counting gets underway at the Titanic Exhibition centre. Results for Belfast East, North, South and West are expected in by mid afternoon on Friday. Pic Pacemaker
Ballots are counted in Ballymena, County Antrim for North Antrim and Mid-Ulster. Sinn Fein's Michelle ONeill arrives at the count centre with candidates Ian Milne and Linda Dillon. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker
Sinn Fein's Michelle ONeill arrives at the count centre with candidates Ian Milne and Linda Dillon and MP Francey Molloy Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye.
Ballots are counted in Ballymena, County Antrim for North Antrim and Mid-Ulster. Sinn Fein's Michelle ONeill arrives at the count centre with candidates Ian Milne and Linda Dillon. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Sinn Fein candidate for west Belfast Orlaithi Flynn(centre) celebrates with party colleagues after she is elected. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Omagh Leisure Complex for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone constituencies. Arlene Foster, DUP arriving at the Omagh Leisure Complex for the results of the count. Picture by Trevor Lucy / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Sinn Fein candidate for west Belfast Orlaithi Flynn(centre) celebrates with party colleagues after she is elected. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Alliance party leader and eat Belfast candidate Naomi Long(centre) celebrates with party colleagues after she tops the poll. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Alliance party leader and eat Belfast candidate Naomi Long(centre) celebrates with party colleagues after she tops the poll. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Omagh Leisure Complex for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone constituencies. Thomas Buchanan, DUP pictured after the West Tyrone results were announced. Picture by Trevor Lucy / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Omagh Leisure Complex for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone constituencies. Michaela Boyle, Sinn Fein and Barry McElduff, Sinn Fein pictured after the election results for West Tyrone. Picture by Trevor Lucy / Press Eye.
People before Profits Gerry Carroll at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast on Friday for Belfast North, South East and West constituencies Assembly Election Count. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press
Carla Lockhart elected for Upper Bann, pictured with her husband Rodney Condell and mother and father Valerie and kenneth Lockhart. Picture Matt Bohill pacemaker
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Banbridge Leisure Centre for Newry & Armagh and Upper Bann constituencies. Danny Kennedy (UUP Newry/Armagh) pictured at the count. Photo by Tony Hendron / Press Eye.
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister during the counting of ballot papers at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena, in Northern Ireland's Assembly election.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Foyle Arena in Derry for Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies. Elisha McCallion and Raymond McCartney, Sinn Fein, pictured at the count. Photo by Lorcan Doherty / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Foyle Arena in Derry for Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies. Eamonn McCann, People Before Profit Alliance, and partner Goretti Horgan, pictured at the count. Photo by Lorcan Doherty / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena for North Antrim and Mid Ulster constituencies. Photo by John McIlwaine / Press Eye Sinn Fein candidates Linda Dillon and Ian Milne are congratulated by party leader Michelle O'Neill and Francey Molloy after their election to Mid Ulster on the third count
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Left to right. SDLP candidate for north Belfast Nichola Mallon and SDLP candidate for west Belfast Alex Attwood. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams talks to the media as he arrives at the count centre. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Foyle Arena in Derry for Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood pictured at the count. Phoo by Lorcan Doherty / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Omagh Leisure Complex for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone constituencies. Arlene Foster, DUP pictured during the announcement that she has been re-elected. Picture by Trevor Lucy / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Belfast west successful candidates are officially announced. The SDLP's Alex Attwood, who was elected, pictured on the declaration podium after the successful candidates were officially elected. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. DUP candidate for south Belfast Emma Little-Pengelly(left) with DUP candidate for north Belfast Nelson McCausland. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Banbridge Leisure Centre for Newry & Armagh and Upper Bann constituencies. The Old And The New...Outgoing DUP MLA, Sydney Anderson, left, and his replacement, Jonathan Buckley celebrate. Photo by Tony Hendron / Press Eye.
Count at Valley Leisure Centre in Newtownabbey for East Antrim and South Antrim constituencies. Mark Cosgrove with John Stewart UUP Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Banbridge Leisure Centre for Newry & Armagh and Upper Bann constituencies. The Dup's Jonathan Buckley, left, celebrates being elected with fellow MLA, Carla Lockhart and Upper Bann MP, David Simpson. Photo by Tony Hendron / Press Eye.
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt pictured at the Park Avenue hotel in Belfast as he announces that he will be stepping down as party leader. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. DUP candidate for north Belfast Nelson McCausland pictured after he is eliminated from the count and fails to be elected. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 3 March 2017 - NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Banbridge Leisure Centre for Newry & Armagh and Upper Bann constituencies. Dolores Kelly of the SDLP celebrates after being elected. Photo by Tony Hendron / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Omagh Leisure Complex for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone constituencies. Sean Lynch, Sinn Fein pictured at the count. Picture by Trevor Lucy / Press Eye.
OMAGH, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 03: Democratic Unionist party leader and former First Minister Arlene Foster makes her acceptance speech as the Northern Ireland Stormont election count takes place on March 3, 2017 in Omagh, Northern Ireland. Voters went to the polls yesterday for the second time in 10 months after the collapse of the power sharing executive government. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Sinn Fein Leader in the North Michelle O'Neill (right) speaking at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena. Niall Carson/PA Wire
Returned SDLP MLA Alex Attwood during his declaration speech at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast during the Northern Ireland Election count. Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Sinn Fein candidates in Belfast West MLA's celebrate with Fra McCann, Orlaith Flynn, Pat Sheehan, and Alex Maskey holding up four fingers during their declaration speech at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast. Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Mark H. Durkan and his wife Anne celebrate after he is re-elected, on his birthday, as an MLA for Foyle at the count in the Foyle Arena. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com
Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 3 March 2017 NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Valley Leisure Centre in Newtownabbey for East Antrim and South Antrim constituencies. Paul Girvan, DUP elected for South Antrim Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye
Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 3 March 2017 NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Valley Leisure Centre in Newtownabbey for East Antrim and South Antrim constituencies. Paul Girvan DUP with his wife Mandy (Centre) and Daughter Victoria Photo by Freddie Parkinson / Press Eye
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 03 March 2017 NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Omagh Leisure Complex for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone constituencies. Rosemary Barton, UUP speaking after her election result. Picture by Trevor Lucy / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. Alliance Party candidate for south Belfast Paula Bradshaw pictured after being successfully elected. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
NI Assembly Election 2017 Count at Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast for Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West constituencies. UUP candidate for east Belfast Andy Allen pictured after being successfully elected. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
Democratic Unionist party leader and former First Minister Arlene Foster consoles Lord Morrow who lost his seat in the Northern Ireland Stormont election count. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill speaks to members of the media after arriving at the count centre for the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in Belfast, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, on March 3, 2017. Northern Ireland has voted in snap elections to resolve a political crisis fuelled by bad blood and Brexit, which is testing the delicate peace in the British province. / AFP PHOTO / PAUL MCERLANEPAUL MCERLANE/AFP/Getty Images
UUP Party Leader Mike Nesbitt, followed by his wife Lynda Bryans and son PJ Nesbitt, after announcing his resignation at the Park Avenue Hotel, after his party failed to make a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland Assembly election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
DUP candidates William Humphrey and Nelson McCausland at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast for the Northern Ireland Election count. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 03: Orlaithi Flynn stands for a photograph after Sinn Fein won four seats in West Belfast in the Northern Ireland assembly election on March 3, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A snap election was called following the resignation of the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness, with indications showing that voter turnout yesterday was considerably higher than in May last year. Voters went to the polls yesterday for the second time in 10 months after the collapse of the power sharing executive government. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Leader Arlene Foster celebrates as she is elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly at the count centre in Omagh, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on March 3, 2017. Northern Ireland has voted in snap elections to resolve a political crisis fuelled by bad blood and Brexit, which is testing the delicate peace in the British province. / AFP PHOTO / Paul FAITHPAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images
Returned UUP MLA Andy Allen speaks with media at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast at the Northern Ireland Assembly election count. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Sinn Fein candidates for Fermanage South Tyrone Jemma Dolan (left), Sean Lynch and Michelle Gildernew at the Omagh count centre having been deemed elected in Northern Ireland's Assembly election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
OMAGH, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 03: Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew (R), Sean Lynch (C) and Jemma Dolan (L) celebrate winning their three seats in the Fermanagh South Tyrone election as the Northern Ireland Stormont election count takes place on March 3, 2017 in Omagh, Northern Ireland. Voters went to the polls for the second time in 10 months after the collapse of the power sharing executive government. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Returned SDLP MLA Nicola Mallon celebrates with supporters at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast at the Northern Ireland Assembly election count. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Returned Green Party MLA Clare Bailey (right) celebrates with supporters at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast at the Northern Ireland Assembly election count. PA
Sinn Fein candidate for Fermanagh South Tyrone Sean Lynch celebrates at the Omagh count centre having been deemed elected in Northern Ireland's Assembly election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday March 3, 2017. See PA story ULSTER Election. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
DUP party chairman Lord Morrow (left) with DUP leader Arlene Foster at Omagh count centre as he failed to be re-elected in Northern Ireland's Assembly election. Brian Lawless/PA Wire
DUP party chairman Lord Morrow (right) with DUP leader Arlene Foster at Omagh count centre as he failed to be re-elected in Northern Ireland's Assembly election. PA
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 4 March 2017 - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams take a selfie following a press conference on the Falls road in West Belfast. Photo by Peter Morrison / PressEye
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 4 March 2017 - Sinn Fein's leadership team , Michelle O'Neill, Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams take a selfie following a press conference on the Falls road in West Belfast. Photo by Peter Morrison / PressEye
Sinn Fein's leadership team , Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Adams speak to the media during a press conference on the Falls road in West Belfast. Photo by Peter Morrison / PressEye
Pacemaker Press Belfast 06-03-2017: DUP Leader Arlene Foster pictured with Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds at Stormont in Belfast on the first day back to the Assembly after the Elections. Picture By: Arthur Allison.
DUP Leader Arlene Foster pictured with Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds at Stormont on the first day back to the Assembly after the Elections. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye.
Pictured Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Michelle O'Neill looking towards the image of the late Ian Paisley hanging in the Great Hall before holding a press conference.
Northern Ireland parties return to Stormont after last eek's Assembly election. Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill meets school children on the steps of Stormont's Parliament Buildings, east Belfast. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
Northern Ireland parties return to Stormont after last eek's Assembly election. Sinn Fein's president Gerry Adams pictured going past a portrait of the former First Minister and DUP leader Ian Paisley as he leads his party to talk to the media on the steps of Stormont's Parliament Buildings, east Belfast. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
Northern Ireland parties return to Stormont after last eek's Assembly election. Sinn Fein's president Gerry Adams meets school children on the steps of Stormont's Parliament Buildings, east Belfast. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
Tom Elliott and Mike Nesbitt from the UUP speak to the media at Stormont on Monday , following the recent election results at the weekend. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press 06/03/2017
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood with Party MLA's speak to the media at Stormont on Monday, following the recent election results at the weekend. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press 06/03/2017
Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry speaks to the Media with party members Kellie Armstrong and Stewart Dickson at Stormont on Monday , following the recent election results at the weekend. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press
Sinn Fein holding a press conference on the first working day after the recent Election. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is to meet Stormont party leaders later to try to persuade them to form a new power-sharing executive. Pictured Gerry Adams waves to a group of Chinese tourist from Shanghai visiting Stormont as the Sinn Fein Electoral team pose for photos of the steps of Parliament Buildings. Picture: Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX
Sinn Fein's leadership team pictured talking to the media at Stormont Castle, in Belfast. Sinn Fein MLAs left their brief meeting with Secretary of State James Brokenshire. Picture By: Arthur Allison.
Sinn Fein's leadership team pictured talking to the media at Stormont Castle, in Belfast. Sinn Fein MLAs left their brief meeting with Secretary of State James Brokenshire. Picture By: Arthur Allison: Pacemaker Press Belfast
DUP leader Arlene Foster and party member Simon Hamilton MLA speak to the media before talks at Stormont Castle. Photo by Peter Morrison / PressEye Wednesday 8th March 2017
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood was out early on Thursday morning in Derry to cast his vote, giving Foyle UUP candidate Julia Kee his stamp of approval.
The 33-year-old party leader was accompanied by his wife Rachael and daughter Rosa as he cast his vote at the Model Primary School near the city centre.
He said he was feeling very confident about the outcome of today's election and voted for candidates 'right down the ballot paper'.
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I'm feeling very good, we have worked very hard, he told the Belfast Telegraph.
This is a very important election, probably the most important election since the Good Friday Agreement Referendum. People have an opportunity here to save devolution or we are going to have direct rule if we keep voting DUP and Sinn Fein. Hopefully we have a chance to make a change here, to protect the institutions that we have fought so hard to have. And that is what is at stake in this election. We are hoping that people will come out and vote and vote the right way.
I did vote for the UUP candidate, he said. I voted right down the ballot paper. There were a few candidates that I didn't vote for, but they will not be surprised by that.
The UUP's Mike Nesbitt has previously stated that he would select the SDLP as his second preference after the UUP on his own ballot paper. The move caused a stir in his party, with one party member resigning and others refusing to back Mr Nesbitt's stance.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness was not in attendance when his wife Bernie and their daughter Grainne arrived at the Model Primary School polling station to cast their votes on Thursday. Mrs McGuinness did not speak to the media gathered outside.
People Before Profit candidate Eamonn McCann arrived at the same polling station shortly afterwards to cast his vote, giving his partner Goretti an affectionate kiss before they entered the building.
Voting has been reported as 'steady' at polling stations across Derry today.
Councillors Darren OReilly, Gary Donnelly and Padraig McShane with Mohamed Al-Halabi (second left) and flags in council chamber
An independent councillor suspended for three months in a row over flags has launched a High Court challenge to being sanctioned.
Padraig McShane was found to have breached a code of conduct after being pictured with the Irish tricolour and a Palestinian flag at Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council's Coleraine headquarters.
But his lawyers argued today that the decision should be overturned because of his right to freedom of political opinion.
Mr McShane was pictured sitting behind a bench draped in the flags at the council chamber in June 2015.
Alongside him in the photograph were Derry-based independent councillors Gary Donnelly and Darren O'Reilly, and visiting Gaza official Mohamed Al-Halabi.
A Democratic Unionist representative lodged a complaint after the picture emerged.
In November last year the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards ruled that Mr McShane had breached the councillor's code of conduct.
The adjudication covered a prohibition on the use of position to confer and secure personal advantage, and the use of council resources "for political purposes".
Mr McShane, a former Sinn Fein member and now independent republican representative, did not attend the hearing where the finding was made.
He has served the suspension period which saw him banned from all council meetings for three months.
In court today his lawyers began a legal bid to have the adjudication reversed.
Counsel argued that the councillor is entitled to express political opinion and free speech under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
It was also contended that the three-month suspension was excessive.
Following submissions, Mr Justice Burgess reserved judgment on whether to grant leave for a statutory appeal against the decision.
Mr McShane declined to comment after the hearing.
But his solicitor, Michael Brentnall, said: "My client is appealing this on the grounds of his Article 10 rights and, thereafter, the sanction on the basis that it was entirely disproportionate."
A complaint was lodged with City Hall officials and salmon was offered at the last minute at the regular free dinner for councillors before their monthly meeting. Stock image
An SDLP politician objected that fish wasn't on the menu at City Hall last night for Catholic councillors who didn't want to eat meat on Ash Wednesday.
A complaint was lodged with City Hall officials and salmon was offered at the last minute at the regular free dinner for councillors before their monthly meeting. Yesterday, the options were chicken and bacon with a leek sauce; a ham or roast beef salad, and a lentil dahl.
Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting for Catholics, although some choose to eat fish instead of meat.
An SDLP councillor discovered fish wasn't being offered on the menu at dinner in City Hall and duly complained. As a result, the menu was changed with a salmon, potatoes and vegetables dish provided.
A unionist councillor said: "I didn't get to sample it myself, but a colleague did.
"He said it was melt in your mouth salmon and the nicest dish he had ever tasted at the pre-meeting dinner."
The father of a Catholic postman murdered by loyalist paramilitaries has cleared the first stage in a legal action over alleged delays in holding an inquest.
Samuel McColgan was granted leave to seek a judicial review amid claims of a human rights breach in the time taken to examine the killing of his son Daniel 15 years ago.
His lawyers argue that the inquest was plagued by an inexcusable delay that requires an award of damages.
Daniel McCoglan was gunned down by the UFF as he arrived for work at a sorting office on the outskirts of Belfast in January 2002.
In October 2015 a coroner found the shooting had been a completely sectarian attack on a 20-year-victim deliberately targeted because of his religion.
But the murdered man's father claims the 13-year period between the killing and conclusion of the tribunal represents an unlawful delay.
High Court proceedings alleging a breach of human rights have been brought against the coroner, the Chief Constable and the Department of Justice.
No one has ever been convicted for the murder carried out at the depot in Rathcoole, Newtownabbey.
Mr McColgan's legal team alleges the State failed to ensure a prompt investigation in line with obligations under European and domestic law.
Lawyers for the victim's father are seeking a declaration that the delay was incompatible with his rights under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Following submissions Mr Justice Maguire ruled the challenge should proceed to a full hearing.
With similar challenges lodged over the delays in other still incomplete legacy inquests, the McColgan case is now set to be the lead case in examining the issues involved.
Damien McLaughlin had not been seen by police since November
On-the-run suspect Damien McLaughlin has been detained during a joint Garda and PSNI investigation into the murder of Northern Ireland prison officer David Black.
The 40-year-old, from Kilmascally Road near Ardboe in Co Tyrone, fled while on bail in November.
He was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant as part of a joint intelligence-led operation.
Mr Black, 52, was shot dead by dissident republicans as he drove along the M1 on his way to work at Maghaberry Prison in November 2012.
Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, from PSNIs Serious Crime Branch, said: "Since his disappearance police have carried out extensive enquiries regarding Mr McLaughlins whereabouts.
"Throughout this time the PSNI has been liaising closely with An Garda Siochana and todays arrests demonstrate the benefits of joint working between police forces and other national partner agencies.
"As part of the operation a 59-year-old man was also arrested in Donegal and a 47-year-old woman was arrested in Belfast. Damien McLaughlin is scheduled to appear at Dublins Central Criminal Court tomorrow.
"The 59-year-old man has been taken to Letterkenny police station for questioning and the 47-year-old woman has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning.
Senior detectives contacted the Black family on Thursday to update them on developments:.
"Detectives involved in the case spoke with Mrs Black to inform her of Damien McLaughlins arrest," added Detective Chief Superintendent Murray.
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In January police apologised to the Black family after it emerged they had not realised he was missing for several weeks.
At the time Mr Black's family said they felt betrayed by the justice system.
McLaughlin, who had served a period in custody on remand before being bailed had initially been fitted with an electronic tag while on bail but he was later permitted to remove it.
The Police Ombudsman has begun an investigation to establish whether there were any failings in police conduct or in policing systems in the management of McLaughlin's bail conditions.
John Edwards, the founder of Walking Free, a charity set up to help suicidal and addicted people, prepares for his church burial
John Edwards, the founder of Walking Free, a charity set up to help suicidal and addicted people, prepares for his church burial
John Edwards, the founder of Walking Free, a charity set up to help suicidal and addicted people, prepares for his church burial
Climbing into a coffin to spend three days buried alive, John Edwards looked remarkably chipper yesterday afternoon. Because after the many days of his life he's spent in much darker places than that, the 62-year-old wasn't afraid of what lay ahead.
Grandfather John is a recovered drug addict and alcoholic. He spent more than two decades hooked on everything from booze and cigarettes to barbiturates, cannabis and heroin. At one point he was throwing back an astonishing 150 valium pills a day, hitting rock bottom when he was barred from his father's funeral, spending the day instead guzzling drink and drugs with a stranger hundreds of miles from home.
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"Things have been very dark for me over the years," said John. "But after all the dreadful things that happened, I have been clean for more than 25 years and have made amends with the family my addiction once tore apart. There are a lot of broken and very damaged people here in Belfast and if I can help them at all, then I will."
John, the founder of charity Walking Free which helps suicidal and addicted people across the UK and Ireland, was 'buried' yesterday at Willowfield Church in east Belfast in an 8ft X 3.5ft X 4ft coffin. John will remain underground, communicating with the outside world and offering advice on Skype and social media until 2pm on Friday.
The stunt sounds extreme, but after the dramatic events of John's own life, he's desperate to help other people from ever falling to the depths he once did.
Growing up in the 1950s in a middle class and loving family in affluent Clontarf, Dublin, no one could have predicted his bleak fate.
Aged just 12 and struggling with a crippling speech impediment, John, the first boy in a family of seven children, turned to drugs.
"My father Eddie was a successful businessman, and our family was comfortably off," recalls John. "But I was a terribly shy boy with this awful stutter and one day I made a very stupid choice. I experimented with drugs. I didn't intend to get addicted. I had no idea what the outcome would be."
In the early years of his experimentation and addiction, John used alcohol, cannabis, barbiturates and opiates.
"It was a very bad time and there were quite a lot of us involved, even back then," recalls John. "Through my teens and early 20s I knew about 30 people in my own small area involved in drugs. Only seven of us are still alive. The rest are gone through drink, drugs, suicide and even AIDs."
John's addiction spiralled and by his early 20s he had been through more traumas than most people could handle in a lifetime.
He had been both physically and sexually abused while under the influence of drugs - and when his childhood friend died after a night out in Dublin, he fled to England.
"Lots of things had happened, and I'd already been to far too many funerals for a man that age," said John. "My best friend George died one night after we'd been to see Thin Lizzy. He fell into the Liffey, and I couldn't handle it so I ran away to London. Like every young Irish man at the time I thought the streets there would be paved with gold."
But from the moment he arrived things got even worse for John.
"Of course it didn't fix things," he said. "The first person I met when I got off the train was myself, there with all my problems and pain and insecurities. I ended up getting into heroin. Piccadilly tube station, subway four is where the drug dealing went on so there I was. I wasn't just taking drugs but I was dealing too, just enough to survive. Things got worse and I was so sick living on the streets I was barely well enough to beg."
Among the most awful episodes in John's history were the 10 times he was sent to psychiatric institutions in both Dublin and London, and the 20 times he overdosed.
"I never tried intentionally to commit suicide," he said. "The overdoses were accidental, but extreme nonetheless. I was in comas three or four times too, and in a very bad way."
Inevitably the impact of his addiction was hugely challenging for his family.
For the seven or eight years he spent in London, they shared very little contact. And when his father passed away in 1983, he was excluded from the funeral.
"They tracked me down to a doss house in North West London," recalls John.
"I was told my father had died aged 63, but that I was barred because of the state I was in. I was chronically addicted to drugs and alcohol and they didn't want me there. That was my absolute rock bottom. And on the day he was buried, I was down an alleyway in London, drinking with an old tramp. That day, at rock bottom, I knew I had to change."
But as he headed for 30, the road ahead wasn't an easy one. It took at least another year before he left London behind and moved back to Dublin.
"My mother Alice took me back in, probably against the advice of a lot of people," says John. "At the time I was taking 150 valium a day. It sounds horrendous, but there are people out there today taking that number of these tablets. And coming off valium in my opinion was even worse than heroin, with terrifying withdrawals, convulsions and fits. You feel like you're going mad.
"At that stage, my mother was broken with me. One day she sat in the hospital with me and listened as my stomach was pumped. She broke down and said she couldn't watch any more as I went through all this, and she prayed that God would take me home."
But finally, aged 36, life took a major turn for John. "I'd already joined Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in Dublin," he says. "And through the 12 Steps programme I met some people who recommended I go to a rehab facility in Wales.
"I spent a year there, I became a Christian and I gave up alcohol, drugs and even cigarettes.
"Giving up everything you've relied on for such a long time is very frightening. The prospect is that you are going to become someone you have never been before, which of course is terrifying. But it's been a wonderful experience and I have never looked back. If I could do it, then anyone can."
In the long years since his recovery, John has become husband to Donegal native Tricia, a stepfather to four children and grandchildren, and devoted his life to helping other people with addiction problems. His aim by burying himself alive this week is to raise awareness for the needs of people in despair.
"I hear very often from people who are desperate, suicidal and have devastating addictions," he says. "Through my time in the coffin I plan to speak to them from the grave before they get there, to show them there is hope.
"I have worked with millionaires and millionaires' children. I've worked with homeless people doing everything they can to get drugs, and what that shows me is that addiction can hit anyone and can be equally devastating for whoever it touches. But there is hope, and if you can get control of it, then you can have a proper, fulfilling life."
John first performed his coffin stunt in July last year in Halifax, Yorks, where he now lives, but thinks Belfast is an ideal place to do it again.
"There are people here in a lot of need," says John. "And coming to Belfast means we can reach people in Northern Ireland, the Republic, as well as the rest of the UK.
"Last time we believe we reached 18 million people and that's so important in getting the message out there that there is always hope to be had, no matter how difficult things can seem at a moment in time."
And while being buried alive sounds like a pretty daunting prospect, his 'coffin' is high-tech and cosy enough to make sure he doesn't struggle too much between now and 2pm tomorrow.
Complete with fibre optic broadband, a phone and a laptop and plenty of wriggle room to roll over and even sit up, John should be comfortable enough. It's even been fitted with a mattress and he's got his woolly socks and a hot water bottle in there too.
John will be taking calls, emails, Skype and texts from the people of east Belfast and throughout the world as his three-day 'burial' is streamed live through the coffin.
There are two nine-inch tubes feeding from above ground to John's coffin, one to pass in food and toiletries.
And the other tube, in case anyone is wondering, is to pass any less pleasant materials back out.
"That's all I'd like to say about that," laughs John. "But needless to say, reaching as many people as I can in Belfast and giving them a bit of hope about their futures will make a bit of discomfort more than worth it."
Follow the live stream on social media: #GraveChat and find more information at www.walkingfree.org
It follows the seizure of cannabis with an estimated street value of 200,000 by Spanish authorities working with the PSNI and National Crime Agency (NCA).
A 52-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to import and supply cannabis.
Officers from the PSNI Reactive and Organised Crime Branch made the arrest on Thursday in the Donegall Road area of Belfast.
The arrest follows the seizure of cannabis with an estimated street value of 200,000 by Spanish authorities working with the PSNI and National Crime Agency (NCA).
Detective Andy Dunlop said: "I would appeal to anyone involved in the supply of cannabis to consider the consequences. Anyone involved in trafficking any type of controlled drug can expect to face a lengthy period in prison upon conviction."
An Garda Siochana officers arrested McLaughlin as part of a joint intelligence-led operation with the PSNI.
An on-the-run suspect in the murder of Northern Irish prison officer David Black has been detained by police.
Damien Joseph McLaughlin, 40, from Co Tyrone, fled while on bail in November.
However, detectives from An Garda Siochana have arrested McLaughlin under a European Arrest Warrant as part of a joint intelligence-led operation with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, from PSNI's Serious Crime Branch, said: "Since his disappearance police have carried out extensive enquiries regarding Mr McLaughlin's whereabouts.
"Throughout this time the PSNI has been liaising closely with An Garda Siochana and (the) arrest demonstrate the benefits of joint working between police forces and other national partner agencies."
Mr Murray added: "As part of the operation a 59-year-old man was also arrested in Donegal and a 47-year-old woman was arrested in Belfast.
"Damien McLaughlin is scheduled to appear at Dublin's Central Criminal Court tomorrow. The 59-year-old man has been taken to Letterkenny police station for questioning and a 47-year-old woman has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning."
Mr Black, 52, was shot dead by dissident republicans as he drove along the M1 on his way to work at Maghaberry Prison in November 2012.
McLaughlin was due to stand trial in February on charges that include aiding and abetting murder, but fled while on bail.
Senior detectives have contacted the Black family to update them on McLaughlin's arrest.
In January police apologised to the Black family after it emerged they had not realised he was missing for several weeks.
At the time Mr Black's family said they felt betrayed by the justice system.
McLaughlin, who had served a period in custody on remand before being bailed had initially been fitted with an electronic tag while on bail but he was later permitted to remove it.
The Police Ombudsman has begun an investigation to establish whether there were any failings in police conduct or in policing systems in the management of McLaughlin's bail conditions.
A number of dairy farmers in Northern Ireland have received 'exit' letters from their banks asking them to pay back their loans and leave the bank. Stock image
A number of dairy farmers in Northern Ireland have received 'exit' letters from their banks asking them to pay back their loans and leave the bank.
As the future of EU farm subsidies - which accounts for around 260m in Northern Ireland - is in doubt, banks are asking farmers to take a forensic look at their businesses to see if they could survive if the subsidies were removed.
Farmers are being told to take action to cut costs and think carefully about any major capital expenditure such as buying machinery or land unless the business cashflow can support it.
However, there is a growing concern among banks that some farmers are not aware of exactly how their farm businesses are performing and have no idea of their financial status.
Some of these farms have been on the radar of local banks for some time but now, ahead of any Brexit clarification, the banks are calling time on those farmers' loans, asking them to pay them off in full and leave the bank.
If the farmers cannot pay back the loans, the worst case scenario is that they will lose their farms.
Danske Bank is one of the locally based banks that has issued some of these letters to farmers, but insists that this is standard with any bank no matter what the business is, if it is not performing or has to safeguard plans for the future.
Robert McCullough is the head of agribusiness at Danske Bank in Northern Ireland and said "a small number" of farmers would have received the letters.
He also said farmers should be realistic in accepting how they are currently performing.
"Some struggle at different levels to others and for a variety of reasons, which may not all be debt related," he said.
"In relation to debt, I would suggest that there are a relatively small number of farmers across the dairy industry who will find recovery from the crisis challenging and without radical change will not be in a place to take their enterprise through the next downturn."
When referring to farmers receiving exit letters the banker said: "Reality is that this is just business as usual with any bank.
"On the back of that there are a very small number who are not prepared to adjust their businesses to help future-proof them and hence will have received letters. The vast majority of farmers have commenced repayment plans at a level that should tie in with their cashflow.
"Primarily we supported farmers through our dairy support loans but in some cases where capital holidays were required on loans, these have all been reinstated back to capital and interest."
With milk prices having recently increased, dairy farmers are starting to increase their cashflow.
"I believe the long term outlook for the dairy sector is good provided we can sort out market access and cross border issues post-Brexit," the banker added.
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Sinn Fein leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill with her son Ryan and daughter Saoirse outside of St Patrick's Primary School in Clonoe
The polls have closed in Northern Ireland's snap Assembly election.
The 228 candidates vying for the 90 seats in Stormont's slimmed-down devolved legislature now face a nervous night before counting begins on Friday morning.
The Assembly poll was the second in 10 months.
The last powersharing coalition executive led by the two largest parties at Stormont - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - collapsed in January, only eight months after last May's election.
If the former partners in government are again returned as the main players, they will have three weeks to resolve their multiple differences and form a new administration.
The re-imposition of direct rule from London is on the cards if the post-election talks fail.
The first seats are due to be declared on Friday afternoon, with some counts expected to extend into Saturday.
While the official turnout will not be known until the counting process gets under way, there were anecdotal reports that many polling stations were busier than last year.
The region's political leaders cast their ballots through Thursday morning.
DUP leader Arlene Foster voted in Brookeborough in the heart of her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
Forty miles away, Sinn Fein's northern leader Michelle O'Neill filled out her ballot paper in her home village of Clonoe, Co Tyrone.
The Ulster Unionists and nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which have presented themselves as an alternative cross-community partnership, are bidding to wrest control away from the fractious former allies.
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt voted in east Belfast and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood cast his ballot in Londonderry.
Leader of the cross-community Alliance Party, Naomi Long, also voted in east Belfast.
The DUP and Sinn Fein have fallen out over the unionist party's handling of a botched green energy scheme and a host of other issues.
Former DUP first minister Peter Robinson has warned politicians to step back and avert a headlong rush towards the destruction of devolved government.
If the three-week post-election deadline passes, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is legally obliged to call yet another election.
But, in those circumstances, the Government may well move to pass emergency legislation to suspend devolution for the first time in 10 years.
While the Assembly election will not change how Theresa May's Government treats talks to leave the European Union, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is a key Brexit issue.
Five Assembly seats are up for grabs in 18 constituencies, with the overall number returned falling from 108 to 90 as a consequence of the implementation of previously agreed reform measures.
Police in Northern Ireland have launched an investigation into offensive messages posted on Facebook.
It is believed the investigation centres on a Belfast buy and sell page on Facebook on which the offending messages along with pictures were posted about people, their families and their children.
Officers are warning people they could face criminal charges over the messages posted on the social network.
Inspector Roy Burnside said: Police in Belfast are aware of a number of offensive posts that have appeared on a social media page, the contents of which are currently being examined by police.
I would like to remind everyone that uses social media to be mindful of the content of any material they post online. Be responsible, otherwise you may leave yourself open to criminal charges.
When posting comments on social media or elsewhere on the internet there are a number of laws to be mindful of including libel, contempt, harassment as well as discrimination and public order legislation.
Social media users are personally responsible for the content they post and there can be both criminal and civil law implications to posting comments online.
Where a report is made to police of possible criminal offences officers will always investigate and where evidence exists prosecutions will be sought.
Anyone who has any concerns is asked to contact Police on the 101 number.
Pressures: Education Minister Peter Weir said the sector needs up to 240m over the next three years
School leaders from across the UK are meeting in Belfast just days after 15 Co Down primary principals signed a letter warning of a funding crisis.
The national executive of the National Association of Head Teachers are set to discuss a range of issues facing the profession, but in particular funding.
Paul McClenaghan, president of NAHT Northern Ireland, said schools are "being pushed beyond breaking point".
"School leaders from across Northern Ireland, England and Wales will meet to discuss the huge challenges school leaders face, and the ways in which we can lead and shape the profession," he said.
"Funding is a huge challenge, with schools being pushed beyond breaking point. Only this week we have seen warnings from head teachers in Co Down that they are facing financial disaster. On Thursday, voters in Northern Ireland will elect the new administration. Whatever form that takes, and whoever holds the education portfolio, the challenges of school funding should be a priority."
The national executive committee of NAHT will be meeting in Belfast until tomorrow.
Earlier this week the Belfast Telegraph reported that a group of 15 school principals came together to sign a letter warning of a funding crisis.
The letter, dated February 26, is signed by leaders of schools in the greater Newtownards and Comber area. It warns that they all, along with schools across Northern Ireland, face financial difficulties.
"In the past five years the money given to schools per child has only risen by 0.9% whilst costs in the same time have risen by approximately 14.5%. This clearly shows that each school is going to have to make savings in order to balance the book," the letter reads.
"In short, should school budgets not improve, there will be fewer teachers and fewer resources for these teachers to use."
Representatives of the boards of governors at two of these schools have distanced themselves from the letter.
Ulster Unionist Strangford election candidate Philip Smith welcomed the principals speaking out.
"Head teachers are the foundation of the education system and no one knows more about how a school budget is managed than head teachers themselves.
"It is always extremely troubling to hear that schools are being asked to look at teaching numbers to balance their books, but unfortunately this is nothing new.
"The Education Authority has been actively advising schools to look at teaching numbers and hours for some time now. Ultimately, those who will suffer are children in the classroom and the teachers who have to shoulder the extra burden," he said.
Education Minister Mr Weir said that, while he did not accept everything in the letter, schools were facing "very major pressures".
"Within education we need somewhere in the region of about 200m to 240m cumulatively over the next three years in terms of resource budget into schools," he said.
After suffering a brutal attack 11 years ago that left her with permanent double vision, Dublin woman Suzanne Devitt has struggled ever since to rebuild her life.
Last July, she moved to Lurgan for a new start after enrolling in a college course. To afford the move she lived in a tent for five weeks, but days before starting, she was devastated to be told a computer qualification she attained in the south did not make her eligible.
"There have been days when I just wanted to sit here and cry," she said.
Despite her difficulties, Suzanne (49) has now found a new purpose after setting up online support groups for visually impaired people across Northern Ireland. The aim is to tackle the social isolation those with visual impairment like Suzanne can experience, and informing members of local events such as walking trips.
She initially set up a Facebook page for Armagh and was soon asked by the RNIB charity to create groups for all six counties in Northern Ireland.
Members make use of voiceover software to hear the updates.
Suzanne is now hoping to start evening classes to work towards her goal of becoming a disability assistance officer for college students.
She recounted how the horrific attack in Roscommon 11 years ago changed her life.
"I was out on New Year's Eve and this girl on drink and drugs stood on my face, and jumped on it with her six-inch stiletto heel," she said.
"It tore through my left eye, leaving me with double vision and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I lost about five years of my life after that. I got really depressed and I didn't want to cope."
Suzanne's injuries still cause her to see double, making everyday obstacles like steps hard to navigate. To help, her 21-year-old son Stephen moved to Lurgan this week and sold his Playstation to pay for his mum's internet costs to allow her to continue the support pages.
"If I can reach one person and help them I'm happy," she said.
"If I can get over the problems with my sight that happened 11 years ago, if I can get back out and retrain and attain my goals, so can you."
The support pages can be found on Facebook by searching the county name followed by 'visually impaired persons' - for example, 'Armagh visually impaired persons.'
Family members of Jill Elder (43) carry her coffin from her Kilrea on Wednesday afternoon.
The funeral of a "wonderful" Coleraine woman who was killed in a freak tragedy last week has taken place.
Jill Elder from Kilrea, Co Londonderry, died at Railway Place car park last Friday night.
It is understood that the 43-year-old came out of the town's train station and fell over as she walked in the car park.
A vehicle ran over her as she lay unconscious.
Emergency services cordoned off the scene as attempts were made to rescue Ms Elder, who had become trapped underneath the car.
Police confirmed her death on Saturday morning.
Mourners gathered at her home yesterday for the funeral service followed by burial in Kilrea cemetery.
Ms Elder, who was not married and had no children, was thought to have only recently returned to the area following a period of living and working in London.
It is understood a number of her friends in London gathered earlier this week in the north of the city to remember Ms Elder.
Many of her friends took to social media to pay tribute saying that she would be missed by all.
One friend posted on Facebook: "(Jill was) a wonderful woman who was so full of life and love for all."
She is survived by her mother, Sylvia, partner Trevor, brother Shane, sister-in-law Fiona and nieces Emma and Sarah.
PSNI Inspector Colin Reeves appealed for anyone who was in the car park around the time and who witnessed the incident to contact police to help them with their enquiries.
Launching a new online social media platform is never an easy task, and getting it to stick is another matter, but when you base it around Northern Ireland politics and at a time when we could be faced with a prolonged period of suspension it makes it all the more difficult.
And that's just what entrepreneur Callum Curry has done.
The 25-year-old Lisburn man has created SUSSD. A new social media platform aimed at getting more people engaged in local politics.
It allows people to have their say on issues scheduled for debate in the Assembly and to vote on them before the elected members do.
"This will revolutionise polling, we think, as well as help with transparency and accountability of the political system, " said Callum.
"It will give a comparison as to how some of the public feel about an issue and how politicians vote on it. On the flip side it will also give politicians and parties an idea of where public opinion is at."
Callum has been developing the app for the past two years and since its soft launch in December has attracted over 1,000 users.
"It has been testing and developing well. We pull information from Stormont on what is happening and make it accessible - basically take all the jargon out - and then let the people decide.
"On the data we collect we will be able to say, for example, this 18-year-old living in this area feels this way.
"It is fair to say results may not be representative in the early stages but once exposure increases and our user numbers go up it will get better.
"And we thought 'SUSSD' as we are trying to help people make sense of politics."
After dropping out of university, Callum worked in promotions before going on his own to start up the app. He is a member of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum which brings together young people who are helping to contribute to their communities and a business mentor for Young Enterprise.
His app idea emerged through the Facebook group he established, Moving Forward in Northern Ireland.
He admits he had little interest in either tech or politics before taking the plunge on working on the app full time.
"But it was something that I felt was needed and after working solely on it I have a real passion for politics now, it is something I am focused on. There is a social network for your social life, for business but why not one for civic life? It is something that is needed.
"You see today people on Facebook and Twitter saying they are out voting, but maybe never mention politics any other time so they do have an interest.
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"There is a real problem - not just in Northern Ireland but across the world - in getting young people engaged in politics and that's what we hope this app will do.
"It uses Facebook and Twitter to share results and opinions so it is not just standalone so results could go viral."
With many predicting the suspension of the devolved institutions at Stormont for a period after Thursday's vote, it remains to be seen how the app will fair.
But for Callum he is using the time to concentrate on growing its reach with local council areas.
"Everything happens for a reason," he added.
The app is available only on Apple IOS at the moment, with an Android version in the pipeline expected in the coming weeks
Boris Johnson is playing into Vladimir Putin's hands by accusing him of war crimes in Syria without producing proof, the committee warned
Failing to engage with Russia is not an option and the Government must start to hold regular top level talks with the Kremlin, an influential committee has said.
The Foreign Office (FCO) does not appear to know what it wants from relations with Moscow and must plough extra resources into dealing with the federation, according to MPs.
Boris Johnson is playing into Vladimir Putin's hands by accusing the Russian of war crimes in Syria without producing proof, the Foreign Affairs committee warned.
The Foreign Secretary risked bolstering Kremlin claims that it was being held to hypocritical standards by the West if he continued to repeat the allegations, it said.
Britain was "not Russia's enemy" and the Government must engage with "frankness and honesty" while sticking to its values, the committee said.
Chairman Crispin Blunt said: "Given Russia's size and history, the relationship between our two countries matters. But it is fraught.
"Refusal to engage with Russia is not a viable, long-term policy option."
Relations with Moscow are at their most strained since the end of the Cold War following a series of crises since the murder of British citizen Alexander Litvinenko by polonium poisoning.
The war with Georgia, annexation of Crimea, controversial intervention in Syria civil war, cyber attacks and attempts to subvert Western elections fuelled tensions.
Policy makers had failed to take account of Moscow's view of its place in the world following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the report found.
Moscow was "prepared to be disruptive in foreign affairs and reject international rules" but it was "worth exploring" the shared interests, such as defeating Islamic State.
International sanctions may prove difficult to maintain in the face of Brexit and Donald Trump's Russia-friendly US administration, the report warned.
It called for the Government to set out how the UK would impose restrictions once it had severed ties with Brussels , which is currently responsible for carrying them out on behalf of EU nations.
The Government should introduce powers to seize the assets of Russians living in Britain who were associated with Putin who were responsible for human rights abuses, MPs said.
They also raised concerns about the rise of fake news and called on regulators to continue to take actions against Russian broadcasters in the UK for false reports.
Mr Blunt said: " Russia exploits opportunities where it perceives the West has not lived up to its own ideals or standards.
"The UK must continue to challenge Russia on actions that violate international humanitarian law in Syria or elsewhere, not least its illegal annexation of Crimea.
"The UK is not Russia's enemy.
"In the long-term, Russia's focus on its western borders may be misplaced.
"In reality, the China-Russia relationship may be the critical international relationship to watch in the next 50 years.
"The FCO's Russia expertise has disintegrated since the end of the Cold War. This must be reversed.
"The committee recommends increased FCO resources to enhance the UK's analytical and policy making capacity, and the appointment of an FCO minister with more specific responsibility for Russia.
"We encourage the FCO to develop a long-term, people-to-people strategy to build bridges with the next generation of Russian political and economic leaders."
The Foreign Office said that while the UK had "significant differences" with Russia, not least over Ukraine and Syria, they did engage with Moscow when it was in British interests to do so.
"Our objectives are clear. We protect UK and our allies' interests, uphold the rules-based international order and global security, promote our values, including human rights, and build stronger links between the British and Russian people," a spokeswoman said.
"We have increased resources on Russia across government, both in London and overseas, to deliver this policy."
A groom has admitted to the "terrifying, violent and prolonged" rape of a stranger hours before he was due to marry his pregnant partner.
Predatory Derry McCann, 28, launched his horrific, two-hour assault as his victim was "within sight" of her front door in an east London park on January 13.
He played "mind games" after dragging the woman into the undergrowth - taunting her by asking what she thought he would do next, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
In a further depraved effort to humiliate his victim, he took photos of her following the attack, warning she was lucky that he did not video the ordeal, police said.
Hours later, he tied the knot with his girlfriend, prosecutors said.
His conviction comes a decade after a teenage McCann was jailed for carrying out a similar prolonged rape.
He was handed a life sentence in 2006 for the violent act, which was also committed in a London park, it is understood
The defendant, of Hackney, east London, fixed his eyes on the ground as he pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, one count of assault by penetration and one count of robbery.
Honorary Recorder Martyn Zeidman told the rapist he had carried out a "terrible" crime and faced a "very, very long time" in prison.
Kate Bex, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was "recently released" from jail, adding: "The oldest conviction on Mr McCann's record might also be of some relevance."
McCann's "unusual" behaviour saw him also snatch the woman's mobile phone and bra, the court heard.
Detectives believe he had been stalking another woman in the area before targeting his eventual victim.
Ms Bex said: "It was about midnight, just a little after, and the victim was walking a short distance home having been out to an art gallery, socialising with friends
"She was almost within sight of her own front door when she skirted round the side of the park on her usual route home.
"She avoided walking through the middle of it because that was too dangerous, she walked around the side, but unfortunately when near the exit of the park the defendant grabbed her arm and pulled her to one side."
Police said the panicked woman tried to reason with her attacker - but was punched in the face and threatened with further violence.
"He began a sustained and systematic attack, penetration of each orifice accompanied by unusual conversation with the victim, best described as mind games in an attempt to control her," Ms Bex said.
"Asking the victim what she thought he was going to do to her before actually carrying out the acts.
"He behaved oddly in other respects in interacting with the victim concerning the condom he used when he penetrated and ejaculated."
The sex offender was arrested by police on January 18 and charged the following day.
The recorder told him: "You have done the most terrible things and you will be going to prison, as you understand, for a very, very long time."
McCann will be sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 28.
Crown Prosecution Service London reviewing lawyer Andrew Held said: "This was a terrifying, violent and prolonged attack involving rapes committed by a man intent on inflicting fear and psychological suffering.
"The strong prosecution case which led to today's guilty pleas included victim testimony, an ID parade, CCTV footage, and bad character evidence based on a similar rape committed by McCann in 2006.
"I would like to thank McCann's victim for her courage in helping bring this prosecution and hope his conviction provides some sense of justice for her."
Riot police were on the streets in Tottenham as trouble flared after Mark Duggan was shot dead by police
The family of Mark Duggan, whose fatal shooting by a police marksman sparked nationwide riots, have urged leading judges to overturn an inquest jury's conclusion that he was lawfully killed.
But their QC told three Court of Appeal judges in London that they "do not seek a fresh inquest".
Hugh Southey, representing Mr Duggan's mother Pamela - who is in court, explained: "The reason for that is that the inquest process was a traumatic process and not something the family would wish to have repeated."
What was sought was an order quashing the 2014 verdict.
Mr Southey argued that the coroner gave the jury an "unlawful direction".
He told the court: "No verdict is better than one based on an unlawful direction."
The QC said the family's case is that the verdict on Mr Duggan's August 2011 death was not "safe".
Mr Southey added:"We submit that if it is unsafe, it is very important that that is recorded."
Mrs Duggan is challenging a decision by three High Court judges in October 2014 that the inquest jury was legally entitled to bring in its 8-2 majority verdict.
The jury decided in January 2014 that the 29-year-old was lawfully killed by a police marksman in Tottenham, north London.
Armed officers intercepted the minicab Mr Duggan was travelling in on the basis of intelligence that he was part of a gang and had collected a gun.
He was shot twice by an officer known as V53. One of the hits was fatal.
The jury concluded Mr Duggan, who jumped from the taxi, had dropped the firearm on to grass as soon as the minicab came to a stop - but the officer ''honestly believed'' Mr Duggan still had a gun at the time he was shot.
Mr Southey argued before Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton, Lord Justice Davis and Lord Justice Underhill on Thursday that coroner Judge Keith Cutler and the High Court "fell into error".
Mr Southey said the coroner "directed the jury that the lawfulness of the lethal force, and the question of whether V53 was acting in self-defence, should be judged solely by reference to V53's honest belief as to the threat posed".
He added: "They were not told that, in deciding whether the belief was honestly held, they should consider whether or not that belief was based on reasonable grounds."
Submitting that the direction was unlawful, the QC said the coroner "failed to direct the jury to consider whether V53's belief was reasonable".
John Blight, 57, and Nigel Ingram 56, are accused of failing to declare artefacts taken from HMS Hermes to the Receiver of Wreck, the court heard
John Blight leaves Margate Magistrates Court in Kent after appearing charged with theft of items from sunken a Royal Navy warship.
Nigel Ingram leaves Margate Magistrates Court in Kent who along with John Blight face charges in connection with the alleged removal of items from a wrecked Royal Navy warship in the English Channel.
Two men will stand trial after pleading not guilty to charges in connection with the alleged removal of items from a wrecked Royal Navy warship in the English Channel.
John Blight, 57, and Nigel Ingram 56, are accused of failing to declare artefacts taken from HMS Hermes to the Receiver of Wreck.
Built in the late 19th century, Hermes was torpedoed by a German submarine in the Dover Strait in October 1914, with the loss of 22 lives.
It was a protected cruiser and was converted into an aircraft ferry and depot ship ready for the outbreak of the First World War.
At Margate Magistrates' Court, Blight, of Old River Way in Winchelsea, near Rye, East Sussex, pleaded not guilty to three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose items of wreck to the Receiver of Wreck with intent to make a gain.
Ingram, of London Road, Teynham, Kent, has been charged with the same three counts, plus two other charges including being in possession of alleged criminal property.
He also pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Magistrates granted the pair conditional bail and they will next appear at a pre-trial hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on March 31.
In a speech in Glasgow, Theresa May will tell Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP that 'politics is not a game'
Theresa May is to make clear that keeping Scotland in the United Kingdom is a "personal priority".
With the union between Scotland and England under pressure in the wake of the Brexit vote, the Prime Minister will use a visit north of the border to highlight her commitment to "strengthening and sustaining the bonds that unite us".
She will tell Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP that "p olitics is not a game", and accuse the Scottish Government of having neglected schools because of its "obsession" with independence.
The Prime Minister will address the Scottish Conservative conference in Glasgow on Friday as speculation continues that Ms Sturgeon could be about to demand the right to hold a second independence referendum.
The First Minister has said she believes she has a "cast iron mandate" to hold a second such ballot after Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU last year, while the rest of the UK voted to leave.
Mrs May will tell the conference: "My first visit as Prime Minister was here to Scotland. I wanted to make clear that strengthening and sustaining the bonds that unite us is a personal priority for me.
" I am confident about the future of our United Kingdom and optimistic about what we can achieve together as a country."
Attacking the SNP on public services, she will say Scotland's schools are "outperformed in every category" by those in England, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Poland.
" As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I am just as concerned that young people in Dundee get a good start in life and receive the education they need to reach their full potential as I am about young people in Doncaster and Dartford," she will say.
"People in Scotland deserve a First Minister who is focused on their priorities - raising standards in education, taking care of the health service, reforming criminal justice, helping the economy prosper, improving people's lives."
The Tories overtook Labour to become the second largest party at Holyrood in the 2016 Scottish election, and since then Scottish party leader Ruth Davidson and her "formidable" team have " exposed the SNP's mismanagement of Scotland's schools," Mrs May will say.
"The SNP's neglect and mismanagement of Scottish education has been a scandal," she will add.
Ms Sturgeon, however, has insisted the Scottish Government's approach since the European referendum has been " to offer compromise and to seek consensus at every turn".
She said: " Where we have spoken the language of consensus and co-operation, theirs has been the language of Westminster diktat.
"Where we have been prepared to offer a solution short of our ideal outcome, they have refused to seriously engage.
"And where we have offered compromise, we have been met by a brick wall of Tory intransigence."
The paper the Scottish Government produced outlining options for keeping Scotland in the single market " is a genuine attempt at finding a compromise solution", the SNP leader insisted.
" Given that this falls well short of what Scotland actually voted for... these proposals represent significant movement and a substantial concession on our part.
"In response, the UK Government has not only shown no similar willingness to compromise but has in fact hardened its position."
Samuel Armstrong, 23, the chief of staff to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, has been charged with two counts of rape following an alleged incident in the Houses of Parliament
Police have charged a Conservative MP's aide with two counts of rape following an alleged incident in the Houses of Parliament.
Samuel Armstrong, 23, from Danbury in Essex, was also charged with sexual assault in relation to the alleged attack in October last year.
Armstrong is chief of staff to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, but has been suspended from his duties since the allegations came to light.
He has been bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 31, Scotland Yard said.
There was no immediate response from Mr Mackinlay.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Detectives from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command investigating an allegation of rape have charged a man.
"Samuel Armstrong, 23, of Copt Hill, Danbury, was charged on Thursday, March 2 with two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration.
"He has been bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, March 31."
Crew members noticed Yinglei Li was missing when they did a head count at the end of the the MSC Magnifica Photo: Bracodbk
The mother of a woman missing from a luxury cruise ship said she discovered the bad news from a friend who could read English.
Yinglei Li's mother said her friend read an article in English on the internet and informed her that her daughter was missing, her son-in-law had been arrested and her two grandchildren were in care in Italy.
Dublin-based IT consultant Daniel Belling (45) is now in prison on suspicion of murdering his wife during the Mediterranean cruise.
He said he believes she is still alive and is either in Dublin or her native China.
He 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.
Efforts are now being made to repatriate the two children who are currently in the care of Italian social services.
"Neither her husband Daniel or the investigators told me that my daughter was missing from the ship... " she said.
"I was told by someone who speaks English and read an article on the internet."
She said she last spoke to her daughter on February 7, before they embarked on the cruise holiday.
"I don't know what to say. I hope we can shine a light on this," she added.
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.
"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.
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 young sons were born in Ireland.
The Iraqis came to Austria as migrants between May and December 2015
Eight Iraqis have been found guilty of gang-raping a German tourist in Austria on New Year's Eve more than a year ago.
The eight have been sentenced to prison terms of between nine and 13 years, while c harges against a ninth suspect were dismissed, said a court statement.
The victim, a 28-year-old woman, was awarded 25,000 euro (21,000) in damages.
Both sides are appealing against the decision, the statement said.
The Iraqis, aged between 22 and 48, came to Austria as migrants between May and December 2015.
Five were subsequently given refugee status.
The prosecution said that the eight exploited the fact that the victim had been drinking heavily on New Year's Eve 2015 and was unable to defend herself.
The court heard evidence that four of the men took her to a Vienna apartment, where they were joined by the others, and that all took turns raping her.
When she regained control, she found herself naked in a bed.
Prosecutor Karina Fehringer said the victim continues to suffer post-traumatic effects from the assault that required psychiatric treatment.
All but one of the defendants denied raping the woman, while some acknowledged having what they described as voluntary sex with her.
But Ms Fehringer suggested that was impossible, describing the victim as being defenceless in an "unconscious, shock-rigid" state.
Charges were dismissed against a 48-year-old, who said he had been asleep during the assaults.
Rape is punishable by a maximum 15-year prison term in Austria.
Explaining the verdict and sentencing, Judge Petra Poschalko said that only two of the defendants had helped the court establish the facts and only one had confessed.
Ms Fehringer had dismissed defence claims that the victim could have sent "false signals" that could have encouraged the men.
Noting that the woman had been heavily intoxicated, Ms Fehringer was quoted by the Austria Press Agency as asking: "Should we stick warnings on bottles: 'excess consumption could be interpreted as agreement to have sex?'"
Defence lawyer Andreas Reichenbach observed that the crime was committed at around the same time as the high-profile sexual assaults in Cologne by groups of migrants and suggested the tough sentences might be an "additional message" that such actions will not be tolerated.
AP
George Orwell, the distinguished political essayist, famously declared: "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims... but accomplices." This is a proposition, an accusation - even a challenge - that ought to be deeply pondered by every single person in Northern Ireland entitled to vote today.
What they must ask themselves is this: do you trust the integrity of any - if not all - of the political parties, or candidates, presenting themselves for election to deliver for the good of the entire community?
In making that decision, voters should consider how the outgoing parties and MLAs performed in office, how credible their policies and viable their promises were to deliver competent, lawful and efficient governance without fear, or bias, and with supreme respect for the prudent spending of taxpayers' hard-earned money.
More importantly, these criteria need to be considered by almost half of the electorate who consistently decline to vote. Despite the fact that politics directly and indirectly dominates so much of our culture, daily discourse and attitudes, the statistical evidence shows that voter turnout is actually in freefall.
Ever since the 1998 Assembly elections, turnout has steadily declined. Some 1,210,009 individuals were registered to vote in the 2011 Assembly election (an increase of 9.2% compared to the 2007 Assembly election), but actual turnout was just 55.7%.
At the most recent Assembly election in May 2016, meanwhile, 703,744 people voted - a turnout of 54.91%.
National turnout for the EU referendum last year was 72.2%, but in Northern Ireland under 63% bothered to vote despite the vast implications of Brexit for our economy and future prosperity.
The common thread running through these statistics is that those who consistently vote generally do so on tribal Orange or Green lines. Other bread and butter issues do not compromise their fundamental and conflicting perceptions of the border and the mutual contempt that characterises the political and sectarian divide, which flourishes in spite of concerted public policies to dissolve it. Children are separately educated and hundreds of millions of pounds are expended reinforcing community segregation.
It seems that, almost two decades later, long-standing prejudices still do not reflect the assiduously nuanced safeguards of the Belfast Agreement, which redefined the constitutional status of Northern Ireland more fundamentally than at any time since the partition settlement of the early 1920s.
It is thus clear from the turnout figures that a substantial block of citizens either feel secure under this umbrella, are disconnected from the political and democratic process, or are clearly apathetic. More may even be disillusioned by the feeling that their vote makes no difference and the politicians will plough on regardless.
They must wake up to the fact that they could not be more wrong. A vote in a democracy is a valuable and prized asset, and casting it in a free and democratic election is a right and a privilege to be exercised and cherished.
History shows how there have been many struggles to gain the right to vote, not least in Britain, which enjoys a widespread reputation for its mature democracy and civilised ways.
Before 1918, however, the right to vote was jealously protected by what were known as the ruling classes. Their view, as defined by Lord Palmerston in 1864, was that "every man and woman only had the right to be well-governed and under just laws".
But the franchise was reformed after the First World War, with the vote, previously restricted by gender and property qualifications, being universally extended to a total of 13 million men and about eight million women, but only those married and over 30. It wasn't until 1928 that all women were granted the right to vote on the same terms as men.
The privilege was hard-won, with many female campaigners being jailed and force-fed in prison. Most notably, in 1913, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison was fatally injured at the Epsom racecourse during the Derby, after she flung herself under the hooves of the King's horse, Anmer.
Here in Northern Ireland, the demand for one man, one vote, at the very heart of the initially cross-community civil rights campaign that emerged in the late-1960s, was quickly granted.
Beforehand, there was a restricted franchise and electoral boundaries had been gerrymandered to ensure that unionists controlled the Stormont parliament and most local councils.
After direct rule by British ministers was enacted in 1972, voting by proportional representation quickly followed.
This system - where voters can select candidates in order of numerical preference all the way down the list - endures to this day and has enabled more diverse political voices to win seats.
But after it became clear that widespread vote-stealing had taken place during some elections, registered voters are now required to produce photographic identification in the form of a British or Irish passport, or driving licence, a Translink free travel pass, or an identity card issued by the Electoral Office.
While the parties contesting this election have desperately sought to narrow the issues to the old Orange-Green scaremongering, it must not become yet another tribal headcount, supporting 'our ones' to keep 'them'uns' out.
The events of recent months and the unprecedented whiff of financial cronyism, scandal and even corruption hanging over Stormont as never before, mean that the parties and the candidates must be rigorously assessed on their personal as well as their political probity.
That also imposes a clear duty on all voters, especially the abstainers in previous elections, to come out and vote today.
Maya Angelou, the US civil rights activist and poet, told her fellow citizens: "It is your job to vote. It is your responsibility, your right and your privilege. You may be pretty or plain, heavy or thin, gay or straight, poor or rich. But remember this: in an election, every voice is equally powerful - don't underestimate your vote. Voting is the great equaliser."
Orwell and Angelou's wise words were not directly aimed at people in Northern Ireland, but the impact of what they say could not be more relevant to influencing the turnout and outcome of the landmark, turning-point election we face today.
It may be the election that no-one expected and few outside the political bubble wanted, but it seems to have engaged the public in a way that has often been absent in the past
It may be the election that no-one expected and few outside the political bubble wanted, but it seems to have engaged the public in a way that has often been absent in the past.
The BBC debate involving the leaders of the five main parties drew an audience of around 172,000 viewers, 70% higher than for the same programme a year ago. If those figures and also the higher audiences for other keynote election programmes are reflected in the turnout at the polls today, it could see a reversal of the voting patterns of the last decade which have been consistently downwards.
As an article in this newspaper yesterday revealed, nationalist and unionist parties have seen a drop of 137,000 votes since 1998, despite 100,000 more people joining the electoral register. That is an alarming degree of apathy.
But this election is different. There is a whiff of scandal in the air - although any culpability over RHI has yet to be determined. And in another twist, a judge has ruled that corporate recipients of the RHI scheme can be named.
The resignation of Martin McGuinness after 10 years as Deputy First Minister, an action which led to this election, lent to the political drama. Now there are allegations of dirty tricks over a fake letter sent out in the name of UUP candidate Danny Kennedy, urging voters to shun the DUP, and former First Minister Peter Robinson has intervened in the political discourse.
Suddenly we have an election which is interesting with several imponderables entering the equation. Will RHI damage the DUP? Will more voters go to the polling stations? Can the UUP, SDLP and Alliance make gains? Will Sinn Fein under its new Northern Ireland leader, Michelle O'Neill, be praised or blamed for collapsing the institutions?
Quite why Peter Robinson decided to add his voice to the electioneering on the eve of polling is unclear, but his comments seemed quite statesmanlike compared to much of the toxic point scoring which has marked this campaign.
It contained an oblique commendation of Martin McGuinness's role as Deputy First Minister, saying that had he not suffered ill health this political crisis could have been avoided, but that "belligerent elements" within Sinn Fein use the opportunity to imperil the institutions.
While naturally Mr Robinson was keen to urge voters to support the DUP and keep it as the largest party, he also counselled wise heads in the inevitable negotiations which will follow today's vote. And he noted that the election was fought on the basest of terms which make those negotiations even more difficult.
He is right of course. Parties - particularly Sinn Fein and the DUP - have been keen to lay down red lines which, if adhered to, would make the negotiations even more fraught, if not impossible, to reach a compromise.
The peace process, started long before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, has been a difficult one, as it must be in a society where the body politic is so sharply divided. But diverse aspirations do not hide the fact that compromise is the only way forward.
The two communities here have to work together if the tortuous gains made are not to run into the sand.
We have seen glimpses of how it can work, but also examples of how it can go wrong if the will to work together is not present.
Today voters have an opportunity to shape how this society moves forward. The will of the people does count, but only if they exercise their electoral option. Don't waste your vote.
Tomorrow, Northern Ireland voters go to the polls in an election which no one wanted and which everyone accepts throws devolution into doubt, at least in the short to medium term
Tomorrow, Northern Ireland voters go to the polls in an election which no one wanted and which everyone accepts throws devolution into doubt, at least in the short to medium term.
Almost 20 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which was seen at the time as heralding a new beginning for the province, this election has followed a predictably traditional path, creating a toxic atmosphere and being fought along the lines of 'vote for us to keep them'uns out'.
It is a pragmatic ploy which continues to work for the parties, but which leaves almost half of the electorate shunning the ballot box.
Cynicism, apathy and disenchantment with the political process have been growing in recent years, and the size of the turnout tomorrow will be one of the key debating points when the votes are counted.
The election is also being held in a somewhat false atmosphere. There is no doubt that the RHI debacle played a big part in the collapse of the Assembly at Stormont, but the inquiry into how it all went so catastrophically wrong, and who was to blame, will not be held until after the vote, denying the electorate the opportunity to give its verdict based on the facts as opposed to supposition.
Perhaps one of the most depressing sights during the hustings came when a panel of politicians was confronted by university-age students in Belfast. A significant number of those students said they intended to leave the province, both for study and career opportunities. That was a damning indictment of the parties' attempts to create an inclusive society addressing real, everyday problems.
Chief among those is how to deal with Brexit. To date the electorate has been told it will be either the greatest opportunity or the greatest disaster for the province, but - uniquely in the UK - there is no agreed regional stance on how to negotiate the best deal from the EU.
We have repeatedly pointed out the failure of politicians to tackle the legacy of the past, with finger-pointing being substituted for policy. Business continues to be nervous about the future, and the long-awaited fillip of a cut in corporation tax will be further delayed by the political hiatus which will follow the election.
Indeed, it is the political institutions themselves which are under the most direct threat, with a period of direct rule seemingly inevitable. The length of it depends on how serious the parties are about the red lines they have already drawn in the sand - hardly the most mature negotiating position.
If the politicians think that the international community will come riding to their rescue, they are mistaken. Northern Ireland is a problem which the rest of the world feels is solved, and no one else really cares if it isn't.
But, of course, we cannot damn all politicians for the failures of some. There are many MLAs who have worked unceasingly - and often largely unrewarded - to improve the lot of their constituents and society in general, but it is the traditional retreat to sectarian silos come election time which casts a shadow over the whole process.
As ever, lurking in the shadows are the paramilitaries who, incredibly, still feel sufficiently emboldened to issue a death threat every day against someone in the province.
That is why the political process, for all its failings, is important. We must protect democracy by turning out to vote tomorrow. We know only too well what the failure of politics can lead to.
Both British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) are indigenous languages used by deaf people in Northern Ireland.
The local deaf community have been campaigning for years for BSL/ISL legislation, similar to what has been achieved in Scotland - a BSL Act (2014).
In 2001, the deaf community in Northern Ireland welcomed the stated objective in the new Programme for Government to develop a policy on sign language.
It was noted at the time that significant funding had been provided for the promotion and development of both Irish language and Ulster-Scots, but not for either language of need - BSL and ISL.
A Framework for Sign Language has been produced by the Department for Communities, which includes the need for BSL and ISL legislation. A consultation exercise was carried out at the end of 2016 and a response is awaited from the minister.
Surely, legislation for BSL and ISL can gain the minister's and cross-party support? There is a duty to preserve and promote them both, rather than marginalise them.
BRIAN SYMINGTON and JOHN CARBERRY
(authors of British and Irish Sign Languages: The Long Road to Recognition)
When Peter Robinson resigned as DUP leader, he did something that politicians who have been top dog in their parties usually don't do - he actually did go.
Often, former leaders hang around the stage - either trying to take the limelight from their successor or shouting advice from the sidelines. Robinson did neither. He stepped into obscurity.
That makes his 11th hour intervention yesterday all the more remarkable. It is perhaps a sign that the DUP is deeply worried about what the electorate will do today.
Beneath all the bluster and bombast, they may not be hugely confident that they retain the trust of ordinary unionist voters.
Robinson's words have been timed as perfectly as a Swiss clock. Coming late on the eve of polling, he has deprived his opponents of any chance of adequately challenging what he says.
His intervention will be aimed primarily at those unionists who are still perplexed by the whole 'cash for ash' scandal and who haven't made up their minds about what to do today - to stick with the DUP, to vote for another party, or just to stay at home.
Robinson is appealing to them as an elder party statesman in language that is carefully crafted and sounds reasonable. But the one message of his missive is clear - this is about saving Arlene.
It is far more sophisticated than the cruder tone we have become accustomed to from the DUP in recent times. But the thrust is the same - if you don't vote DUP, you will risk Sinn Fein becoming head honchos at Stormont.
Robinson doesn't tar all the Shinners with the same brush. He distinguishes between Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams. If McGuinness had been in good health, things would never have come to this and the whole crisis could have been averted, he says. Gerry Adams remains the pantomime villain. Robinson paints a very vivid picture of Sinn Fein tricolour-waving victory cavalcades and a gloating, globe-trotting Adams.
But apart from Adams, McGuinness and Arlene Foster, there is only one person he names in his 1,500 word Belfast Telegraph article - Mike Nesbitt. Robinson's contempt for the UUP leader is clear.
He accuses him of having "lost his bearings" and of "headline-grabbing folly" and an "unconscionable error" with his SDLP transfer remarks.
The former DUP leader employs highly emotional language when speaking of Foster. He casts her as the victim, recollecting that he had told her that she would have "a short honeymoon" and then "they would come for her".
The language is reminiscent of that famous Pastor Niemoller poem and is designed to reach into the hearts of voters. Whether they see Foster in such a way is another matter.
With Nama allegations hovering over Robinson, he has endured his own difficulties.
He has made his case for Arlene Foster in no uncertain terms. Unionists will now decide whether or not to listen.
WELLINGTON - New Zealand ran up a small trade surplus in the 2016 calendar year, with dairy exports to China providing the biggest single boost, the government statistics agency said Thursday.
Overall, New Zealand's trade surplus with the rest of the world last year stood at NZ$3.7 billion ($2.64 billion), according to Statistics New Zealand.
Total exports were NZ$70.1 billion ($50.05 billion) and total imports were NZ$66.4 billion ($47.41 billion).
The top export destination was Australia, with a value of NZ$12.8 billion ($9.13 billion), followed by China at NZ$12.3 billion ($8.77 billion).
New Zealand sent NZ$2.7 billion ($1.92 billion) of dairy products to China in 2016 year - its largest export earner - up from NZ$2.4 billion ($1.71 billion) in 2015.
New Zealand ran a trade deficit with the European Union, its biggest imports provider.
"Europeans are big buyers of New Zealand meat and more of them are travelling to New Zealand," international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said in a statement.
"However, the trade balance overall is in the EU's favor due to our imports from there."
New Zealand imported NZ$11.7 billion ($8.35 billion) worth of goods and services from the EU in 2016, which accounted for a sixth of total imports, but it exported NZ$8.3 billion ($5.92 billion) of goods and services to the EU, leaving a deficit of NZ$3.4 billion ($2.43 billion).
"We spent more on importing cars from the EU than they spent on importing meat from New Zealand," Kwon said.
However, New Zealand had trade surpluses with 16 of its top 25 trading partners in 2016, including Australia, China, the United States, and Japan.
The three largest goods import expenses were electrical machinery and equipment from China, vehicles, parts and accessories from Japan and vehicles, parts and accessories from the EU.
A bridge spans the dry riverbed of the Teesta River in Bangladesh, February 2017.
Without consent from neighboring India, authorities in Bangladesh cannot start a Ganges River dam project to increase water flow during the dry season to one-third of their country, including the Sundarbans.
Four years ago, the Water Development Board of Bangladesh completed a feasibility study calling for the dam at the Pangsha point, about 200 km (124 miles) downriver from the Farakka dam in West Bengal, India. The main branch of the Ganges is known as the Padma River on the Bangladeshi side of the border.
Officials said a technical team from Indias central government examined the study in October 2016 and agreed with Bangladeshs construction plan.
We have provided all papers to the Indian government. Their technical team agreed with us that the project would be beneficial to both countries. But we have yet to get any consent from them, Motaher Hossain, chief of the Ganges dam study project told BenarNews.
Our preparation is such that we can start implementing the project tomorrow if we had Indias approval, he said.
Officials said the Sundarbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest, depends on water from the Ganges. The dam would reinvigorate rivers in the southwestern Bangladesh and some parts of West Bengal in India.
Water flow in Bangladesh downriver from the Farakka dam has fallen drastically since 1975 when India commissioned the project. Hydrological data show water flow at the Hardinge bridge point in Bangladesh was 50,400 cubic feet per second in 1967, falling to only 9,698 cubic feet per second in April 1993 after India started diverting water at Farakka.
At the Joint Rivers Commission meetings, India used to tell us that Bangladesh could not utilize Ganges water as it goes to sea. But now they are not giving consent to construct the dam for storing water in our territory, Hossain said.
He said he hoped Indias central government would push the West Bengal state government to sign off on the project.
No reply
The India-Bangladesh joint rivers commission sent a reminder letter to the Indian government last month, a commission member who asked to remain anonymous told BenarNews.
But no reply came. We understand the West Bengal state government would oppose the Ganges dam. We fear the Ganges dam can hang in the balance like the Teesta water sharing treaty, he said.
Under the Indian constitution, water is a state issue so the central government cannot get involved if the West Bengal government opposes the project. In 2011, the Indian government could not sign a treaty to share water of the Teesta River because of the West Bengal governments opposition.
Kaushik Chatterjee, secretary of state Irrigation and Waterways Department in West Bengal, declined comment.
Meanwhile, a West Bengal government official who asked to remain anonymous said the states chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, informed the central government of its opposition. West Bengal officials fear that the state could face flooding if the dam is constructed.
Indian Water Resources Secretary Amarajit Singh tried to send experts to West Bengal to discuss the project with state government leaders, but the chief minister turned down the offer.
Bangladesh officials said the issue could be discussed when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina travels to India in April.
Solution
The Ganges dam is the solution for the water crisis during the dry season. This project will increase flow of some rivers in West Bengal, environmentalist Ainun Nishat told BenarNews. Moreover water flow will increase in some rivers of West Bengal.
Additionally, stored water because of the dam could be used during dry season.
Fish production in the Ganges will increase, too, Nishat said.
Four of the defendants who received capital punishment for the killing of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi in 2015 are transported to prison after their sentencings, Feb. 28, 2017.
A Bangladeshi court Tuesday convicted and sentenced to death five members of the banned militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for the October 2015 murder of a Japanese farmer who lived in the countrys northern region.
A special panel of judges in Rangpur district handed down the sentences after hearing from 55 prosecution witnesses during the 16-month case. In condemning five of the defendants to the gallows, the court declared that the murder of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi was aimed at making the country unstable and crippling the economy.
A sixth suspect was acquitted.
Gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed Hoshi, 66, on Oct. 3, 2015, in Alutari village in the northern Rangpur district. Hoshi, an agricultural researcher and convert to Islam, had been living in Rangpur since August of that year and planned to cultivate a species of grass used for poultry feed.
Less than a week earlier, Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead in Dhaka. The extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for both killings, but government officials denied that IS was present in Bangladesh.
The targeted back-to-back killings led many countries to issue travel alerts for Bangladesh.
Eight suspects
Police submitted charge sheets against eight suspects in Hoshis killing on July 3, 2016. Two were killed in a shootout with police and five of the other six suspects appeared in court for sentencing on Tuesday.
JMB Rangpur regional commander Masud Rana (alias Mamun or Montri), 33, Liton Mia (alias Rafique), 32, Isahaq Ali, 34, Sakhwat Hossain, 30, and fugitive Ahsan Ullah Ansari (alias Biplob), 24, were sentenced to death. The charge sheet names Rana as the shooter.
A sixth suspect, Abu Sayeed, 28, was acquitted, prosecutor Rothi Chandra Bhowmick Babusona told reporters. He said lawyers would decide whether to appeal Sayeeds acquittal after examining relevant documents.
Analysts call outcome positive
Security analysts deemed the court action positive for the country as it would allow other countries to have confidence in Bangladeshs justice system.
The image of the country has been associated with the killing of foreigners. Because the investigation and trial ended expeditiously, this will assure people from other countries, retired Brig. Gen. Sakhawat Hossain, a security analyst, told BenarNews. This means that the government is tough. These developments certainly give a positive message.
Dhaka University associate professor of law Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon said restoring confidence did not solely depend on the trial.
The activities of the law enforcing agencies, the congenial atmosphere of work on behalf of international travelers in different sectors and other issues determine this, Karzon told BenarNews.
He said law enforcers focused on bringing terrorists to justice following an attack at a Dhaka cafe in July 2016 where 20 hostages were killed. Also targeted were militants responsible for killings of free thinking bloggers, writers, university teachers, journalists and foreigners since 2013.
In six to seven months (of police operations), the sense of fear among the people, the foreigners and the international community withered away. The government and its law enforcement agencies deserve credit for this, Karzon said.
Ri Tong Il, Pyongyangs former deputy ambassador to the United Nations, addresses reporters at the gate to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, March 2, 2017.
The only North Korean arrested to date in connection with the assassination of the half-brother of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Un will be released for lack of evidence and expelled from Malaysia, senior Malaysian officials said Thursday.
Ri Jong Chol will be deported for immigration violations after his 14-day remand expires Friday, two days after a pair of Southeast Asian women were charged with murder in the attack. Malaysian police are looking for at least seven other North Korean suspects.
On the day of the murder, Ri drove four North Korean men to a Kuala Lumpur-area airport, a senior Malaysian government official close to the investigation told BenarNews. Two women allegedly accosted Kim Jong Nam and smeared VX nerve agent on his face as he was preparing to board a flight to Macau from Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.
Those four men are the ones listed on charge sheets released by police Wednesday as accomplices in the murder, the source said. But they left Malaysia later that day and returned to North Korea, according to police.
The Malaysian government meanwhile announced it was ending a program allowing North Korean nationals to enter the country without a visa, ratcheting up a diplomatic dispute following the fatal poisoning on Feb. 13.
Separately, the head of a high-level North Korean delegation that is in Malaysia to claim the body and discuss the investigation with local officials said the victim died of a heart attack and not chemical poisoning as alleged by the Malaysian health ministry.
A free man
The North Korean will be expelled along with his wife and two children, the senior Malaysian official told BenarNews.
They will be sent home on the next flight to Pyongyang at a date to be confirmed once the NK embassy is informed of the deportation, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Ri Jong Chol, who has a doctorate in chemistry, according to reports, is one of three suspects who have been arrested so far. On Wednesday, an Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese were charged with his murder.
He was here and supposed to work at a local company but never worked even for a single day at the company, the source told BenarNews, saying the suspect and his family would be moved to an immigration detention center before being deported.
Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told reporters Thursday that the North Korean in police custody would be released and deported the next day.
He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him, Apandi said, according to Agence France-Presse. He has no proper [travel] documents so we will deport him.
Malaysia scrubs visa program
Also on Thursday, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cited national security in announcing the governments unilateral decision to cancel a program of visa-free entry for North Korean nationals, starting March 6.
North Korea and Malaysia have had diplomatic ties since 1973, but the murder of Kim Jong Nam on Malaysian soil has shaken bilateral relations, with Kuala Lumpur already recalling its ambassador to Pyongyang over the affair.
The North Korean ambassador has twice lashed out in public against Malaysian officials for refusing to hand over Kims body to Pyongyang without a post-mortem.
Earlier this week, a high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur seeking custody of the body, but Malaysian officials have not yet commented about this or said whether senior government representatives had met with the delegates.
North Korea has referred to the deceased man only as Kim Chol, the name on the passport he was carrying at the time of death, and never confirmed his identity as Kim Jong Nam.
Extremely toxic
On Thursday, the head of the delegation, former North Korean Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Ri Tong Il, told reporters that the North Korean man who died on Feb. 13 had a record of heart disease and died of a heart attack.
On Feb. 21, Malaysian health officials ruled out cardiac arrest in Kims death.
The special envoy from Pyongyang also questioned the accuracy of Malaysias claim that Kim Jong Nam was killed by VX, saying that the Malaysian government should send samples of the substance found on the body for verification by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an international agency in the Netherlands.
The United Nations has banned VX and listed it as a weapon of mass destruction.
How is it possible that the two ladies who used their bare hands to contain the material and apply it to the face of the victim, and they survived, he asked.
And everybody knows, and should know, the toxic nature of this material, he went on to say. This is extremely toxic. Thats why it was categorized as a chemical weapon by the OPCW.
A ranger carries the body of an 8-year-old boy to a pickup truck after he was gunned down by assailants in southern Thailands Narathiwat province, March 2, 2017.
Updated at 12:30 a.m. ET on 2017-03-03
An 8-year-old boy and his parents were among eight people killed in separate attacks in the Thai Deep South that left four injured Thursday, just two days after government and rebel negotiators agreed to set up a limited ceasefire.
Police blamed the attacks in Narathiwat and Pattani provinces on groups seeking to instigate violence following Tuesdays news out of Kuala Lumpur that a panel representing some southern Thai rebel groups had struck a breakthrough with negotiators from Thailands military government.
The two sides announced they would work together to establish a safety zone in one of five districts in the Deep South as a test case to see if they could implement a wider ceasefire.
The attacks began Thursday morning as Somchai Thongchan, 47, the deputy chief of Ban Sri Pinyo village in Narathiwat, his wife Rasika Daduang, sister-in-law Son Thongchan, and son Thanakrit Thongchan, 8, were attacked and killed, police said. A daughter, Sirapassorn Thongchan, 12, and a niece, Yanisa Srisuwan, 6, were injured.
The incident took place while Somchai and five others were driving to send the children to school. On a remote hill, unknown assailants fired weapons at them, resulting in death and injury, police Capt. Wanchai told reporters. We believe it was the work of insurgents who wanted to instigate violence.
Hours later, Kasem Toyo, a security guard in nearby Yala province, was shot and killed before dusk as he was traveling home in the Mayo district of Pattani.
The violent day ended when three rangers were killed and a postman and civilian were injured while shopping in the Ban Tabae market place in Pattanis Mayo district, according to investigators.
As per witness accounts, seven to eight assailants shot those killed and injured while they were walking in the market, police Capt. Muhammad Madwang, an investigator at Mayo police station, told reporters.
A spokesman for the militarys regional command promised justice.
The act of these assailants indicates that they are cowardly, wild, lacking in ideology. They should not cite ideology for the Malay people. We will go after them and bring them to justice as soon as possible, Col. Pramote Prom-in told reporters.
Thursdays killings occurred a day after police found the bodies of Kajpon Puvavimol and wife Titapha in Thepa district, Songkhla province. They were beaten, tied up with duct tape and thrown into the Thepa River as assailants hijacked their pickup truck and made off with it.
Police found the truck which had been loaded with bombs that failed to detonate, officials said.
Violence condemned
Thai junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha denounced the killings.
We need to prevent such bullet-spraying attacks, Prayuth said, adding at the moment, we are not done with peace talks. We still need solutions to the problem.
He stressed the need for safety zones and called them a test to determine if MARA Patani, the panel representing southern Thai rebel groups and factions, could contain violence in the Deep South.
If they do have potential, talks will go on. If not, they must find a way to non-violence, Prayuth said.
MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz al-Hakim reiterated the panels commitment to resolving the conflict through dialogue and the establishment of safety zones following Tuesdays agreement.
We are saddened by today mornings incidence in Ruso district, Narathiwat, where four people were killed and two injured, he said through social media after learning about the first incident. We do not condone violence involving civilians and children and strongly condemn the attack.
We express our condolences to the victims and their families. We urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate the incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The killings also drew rebukes from local NGOs.
Ruckchart Suwan, the leader of the Buddhist Network for Peace, posted on Facebook: We call on the assailants or the supporters of the armed militant group to stop violating human rights. Government officials must bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible to prevent more conflict. All parties must have clear and tangible protective measures for soft targets in local areas.
The most recent talks are the latest effort to bring peace to the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South where nearly 7,000 people have been killed since 2004 in violence associated with the decades-old separatist conflict.
Updates to correct details about the family members slain in Narathiwat and removes mention of Yala province.
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The Homestead National Monument of America is a tourism powerhouse for the area, and the National Park Service site boasted strong number in 2016.
The Homestead is a National Park Service site dedicated to remembering the Homestead Act of 1862.
Last year was the second highest annual attendance on record with 87,754 visitors.
Mark Engler, Homestead Park Superintendent, said the 11 percent increase over 2015 was likely due to a few factors, including free publicity thanks to the Homestead being featured on a quarter in the America the Beautiful series.
Because of the continued impact from the Homestead quarter, the Find Your Park campaign and also low gas prices I think helped the Homestead have a banner year with visitation, Engler said. With that increased visitation comes added economic benefits for the community, which have a positive impact on many sectors of economy.
Engler said the Homestead has a dynamic role in the areas lodging, food and fuel purchases.
Last year was second only to 2012, which was the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Homestead Act.
Several special activities were held in 2012, and the Homestead Act itself was transported to the Homestead and displayed to the public.
The Homestead, located 4 miles west of Beatrice, is located on the claim of Daniel Freeman, the first homesteader.
The Homestead Act helped settle the west by giving away free land to settlers, distributing more than 270 million acres during the 123 years it was in effect.
Those who filed a claim received up to 160 acres of land at no charge, provided they built a home on the land, resided there for at least five years and improved the land through cultivation.
The Homestead Act is often regarded as one of the three most important pieces of American legislation, as demonstrated by the staggering figures from the 100-plus years it was in effect.
A total of 30 states have homesteaded land in them, and there were approximately 4 million claims filed.
Its estimated today that 93 million people are descendants of homesteaders, and more than 270 million acres of land were claimed under the Homestead Act, which was signed by President Abraham Lincoln.
Beatrice Mayor Stan Wirth said having a National Park Service site near Beatrice is something that few towns can offer, and he hopes tourists like what they see in Gage County.
We have a lot of them come into our town, experience our community and have an opportunity to see what we have to offer here, Wirth said. If you get that many people coming here on an annual basis, maybe some of them are going to stay.
While 2016 was a strong year, Engler wouldnt be surprised if 2017 has even higher attendance, driven by statewide celebrations for Nebraskas 150th anniversary as a state and continued awareness from the Homestead quarter.
The single largest event is expected to be the total solar eclipse in August, which will draw people from other states and countries to view the rare event.
Weve already been receiving inquiries about what the Homestead National Monument will offer and about having special access to the Monument, Engler said. Weve been receiving interest since late last summer. Weve been getting multiple inquiries. Were expecting many individuals and many groups to witness one of natures great spectacles with us here at Homestead.
The Homestead has also been declared an official NASA viewing site, and will feature interactive activities for all ages.
Engler added that there will be a myriad of activities and speakers leading up to the eclipse this fall, with announcements coming in the near future.
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For Immediate Release, March 2, 2017 Contact: Randy Serraglio, (520) 784-1504, rserraglio@biologicaldiversity.org Third Jaguar Detected in Arizona TUCSON, Ariz. Another new jaguar has been photographed in southeast Arizona, the third detected in the state in the past year and a half. The animal was captured on a Bureau of Land Management trail camera in the Dos Cabezas Mountains, about 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Jaguars are clearly trying hard to re-establish a population in the United States, said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. They've now traveled here through every large mountain range connecting Arizona and Sonora. The only thing that can stop the triumphant return of America's largest wildcat is Trump's $20 billion border wall. It's bad for people and the economy, and it's devastating for wildlife." A young male jaguar was photographed on the Fort Huachuca military reservation last November, and a large male jaguar named El Jefe by Tucson schoolchildren became an internet sensation last year after living in the Santa Rita Mountains right outside of Tucson for more than three years. The gender of the latest cat has not yet been determined. We can expect more jaguars to show up and establish territories here in the U.S., unless they're cut off from Mexico by the border wall, said Serraglio. As long as we protect the places they live and the corridors they need to move across the landscape, they'll keep coming, and they'll thrive here. This latest cat was photographed a long way from the border, in the heart of a major movement corridor for jaguars and other wildlife, said Serraglio. There are millions of acres of wild places on public lands in the United States that can provide homes for these beautiful animals. Americans need to speak up to protect those places and give jaguars a chance to call them home once again. Background
The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity has been working for decades to save jaguars in the United States. In 2014 the Center secured more than 750,000 acres of federally protected critical habitat for U.S. jaguar recovery. Jaguars the third-largest cats in the world after tigers and lions once lived throughout the American Southwest, with historical reports on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, the mountains of Southern California and as far east as Louisiana. Jaguars disappeared from their U.S. range over the past 150 years, primarily due to habitat loss and historic government predator control programs intended to protect the livestock industry. The last verified female jaguar in the country was shot by a hunter in 1963 in Arizona's Mogollon Rim.
Nebraska celebrated 150 years of statehood on Wednesday, and several area schools helped celebrate the occasion.
At Paddock Lane Elementary and Stoddard Elementary, students got a taste of the pioneer life that helped shape Nebraska.
A prairie schooner arrived on the playground for students at Stoddard to hop inside and take a look around. Inside, students got a chance to bake up some fresh biscuits and make their own candles by dipping wicks into wax. Students tried their hand at shaving the old fashioned way, with some foamy soap and a sharp rocknot sharp enough to cut, though, just to scrape away the foamand to wash clothes using a washboard and hanging them up to dry with clothes hangers.
There were wheelbarrow and sack races in the hallways, butter churning in the gym and writing with real feather quill pens.
The same events went on at Paddock Lane, though the students got to create commemorative Nebraska cut-outs from clay. Former teacher Sue Sindler was on hand at Stoddard to show off an old lantern and read stories to the students.
Later in the day, said Betty Replogle, principal at both Stoddard and Paddock lane, students at Paddock Lane got to eat a Nebraska birthday cake from Walmartone of 150 schools to receive one across the stateand Stoddard students were treated to birthday cupcakes from Sunshine Bakery.
Over at Lewiston School, students decorated a Nebraska birthday cake and got some hands-on time with history reenactors.
There was the Overland Trail history session, where students picked out what went in their wagons on the trip west across the country to their new home in Nebraska. Kind of a less digital version of an old elementary school computer game.
"They're playing kind of a real-life version of The Oregon Trail," said Michael Sothan. "It's a way to get them involved."
Students rotated between the Overland Trail and a Civil War lesson where they got to march with wooden guns like real Civil War recruits.
Later in the afternoon, schools around the state attempted to break a record by singing Happy Birthday to Nebraska at the same time.
It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a
Ivan Brown, an MTech Industrial Design student from the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture (FADA) at the University Johannesburg (UJ), is exhibiting his improved model of a beehive at the Design Indaba Festival 2017 in Cape Town, Artscape Theatre Centre.
The improved model aids in the survival of bees; offers a more sustainable option for beekeepers and additional income sources for small-scale farmers.
Brown was selected for Design Indaba Emerging Creatives Exhibition on the basis of being passionate about tackling the problem of deteriorating bee populations an increasing problem that beekeepers are facing around the world. The project was developed for agriculture more specifically, the business of beekeepers and urban farmers.
Browns Beegin project is a dual research and product design project in which he is developing an improved system of beekeeping and beehive production to aid in the survival of bees and by extension, tackle the problem of decreasing pollination. Under the supervision of Dr Naude Malan of UJs Development Studies Department and Angus Donald Campbell, head of industrial design, Brown aims to develop beekeeping technology that is accessible, affordable and sustainable for small-scale farming communities, to stimulate socioeconomic development.
Although I have always been fascinated by bees and apiculture, the project emerged from thorough research. I interviewed urban farmers who told me they were interested in beekeeping but could not afford the equipment. I interviewed beekeepers who explained how the industry is in decline due to theft, vandalism, diseases, pests, fires, floods and pesticides. I began working with the farmers and beekeepers to develop a solution, and at the moment I have five urban farmers and five beekeepers testing out the system, with some great initial results, says Brown.
Contributing to food security in South Africa
He adds: The aim of the project is to develop an appropriate (sustainable and accessible) system for beekeeping in South Africa. If successful, it will contribute towards food security in two ways: indirectly by bringing additional income to marginalised, small-scale farming communities and directly by helping to protect the pollination source of 70% of food crops.
The concrete beehive
At the core of Beegin lies the lightweight concrete beehive - a more durable, low-cost and protective structure that emerged through participatory development with beekeepers and urban farmers.
The moulds that are used to create the beehives are part of the Beegin system Brown designed. The moulds can be sold or sponsored so people can produce beehives locally for themselves and their communities, says Brown.
With over 400 applications from young designers across the country, this years Emerging Creatives lineup looks set to impress. The Design Indaba Emerging Creatives programme provides a year-long programme of support, mentorship and guidance to talented young designers who have little industry exposure. The programme helps them learn how to manage and grow small businesses and provides opportunities to show their creative work.
The Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI) has launched a new digital portal, Peek, geared to become South Africa's biggest online platform dedicated to showcasing craft and design products made in South Africa.
Erica Elk and Minister Zulu
The new platform has been made possible by funding from the South African Department of Small Business Development (DSBD).
It is a non-transactional search and connect site that is free to use and will open up access to new markets for the many small craft and design businesses in South Africa. The site has been piloted since August 2016, with small businesses and currently has over 120 businesses listed and over 630 local products showcased.
Erica Elk, executive director of the CCDI, says, Peek provides a platform for South Africas creative businesses anywhere in the country to showcase their work to a local and global audience, highlighting the very best of what South Africa has to offer. While it is not a trading platform, the site allows for click-throughs to businesses own websites, ecommerce platforms selling their products and facilitates B2B and B2C contact.
One of the key challenges for small South African businesses remains access to markets. With technology, however, we have the opportunity to bridge the divide and create new ways for beautiful local products to reach local and international buyers and consumers. We are very grateful to the DSBD for the funding to undertake this landmark initiative.
Government supports extension of services to nine provinces
The DSBD has also supported the CCDI to take its training programmes and knowledge to a national audience through a rollout campaign, which started in 2016.
Through the DSBD we have been able to take our services beyond the Western Cape to the benefit of small creative businesses in all nine provinces. Platforms, such as Peek, will enable many business that have constrained local market opportunities in their towns and cities to access a much larger audience and consumer-base for free.
Peek is not a curated site and so its unique value is the diversity of the range of products and aesthetics. There is something for everyone on this site.
The site is an important addition to the physical market access opportunities provided by the CCDI, such as facilitating access for small businesses to local markets, key national trade shows and events, and international trade shows like Maison et Objet.
If we look at the value of trade from just three of these market access opportunities concluded in 2016, we enabled small businesses to generate orders of over R1.8m. We anticipate that Peek will help our South African creative businesses find even more new customers locally and internationally.
The CCDI invites creative businesses to sign up for the Peek site by registering as a business member on the national database at www.ccdi.org.za it is free and once registered, businesses can directly access Peek to upload products. For more information, go to www.peek.org.za.
Africa's first indigenous cashmere, produced from the local iMbuzi goat, was displayed as part of the Ivili Loboya launch at the Impact Hub in Rosebank, Johannesburg, from 23-25 February 2017. This yarn is part of a variety of fabrics, including blends with silk and merino wool, as the brand's debut Dedani Collection.
Design themes
Eco dyes from natural sources, such as leaves, fruits, bark and flowers have been used to create the collections palette of warm, earthy tones. These include ochre, bone, nut, marula, wild peach and pitch. The Dedani Collections indigenous luxury fabrics range from hand spun and woven to hand knitted or machine-made, and are printed according to three design themes.
Under the Clan theme, the main designs are Totem, an abstract presentation of natural objects and animals that reference spiritual ancestral connections and Tyali, celebrating the Xhosa Makoti or bride and the fertility of the clan.
The Earth theme combines references to the dichotomy of drought (Mbalela) and waterfalls (Amanzi), evoking the farmers reality and climate change.
The Ethnic theme evokes and celebrates humanitys common heritage through its interweaving geometrics and the cultural fusion of Ndebele and Xhosa traditional designs.
Reviving local textile industry
Ivili Loboya, meaning Wheel of Wool, is a natural fibre (wool & cashmere) beneficiation enterprise, for woven and non-woven textile products, based at Ibika, near Butterworth in the rural Eastern Cape.
Dedani means Get out of the way! because we intend to revive South Africas textile industry through local natural resources and create a niche for ourselves in the global luxury fabric market, says Ivili Loboya owner, Dr Vuyo Mahlati.
We see a great future for our pioneering fabrics, as our research shows that Africas growing middle class is discerning in its fabric choices, looking for natural fibres where possible. There has been significant pre-launch interest, both nationally and internationally.
Top designers at launch
The initiative also has considerable support from textile, industrial and policy sectors. Minister Jeff Radebe gave a launch address on 23 February, attended by well-known designers such as Marianne Fassler, Laduma and others. The following day Minister Lindiwe Zulu responded to a South African designers roundtable, hosted by Brand SA Chairperson Khanyisile Kweyama and featuring Fred Eboka and Interior Decor Designers.
Compared to wools, the soft handle and light weight of cashmere combined with its durability and wonderful warmth make it a beautiful fabric to work with, says Eboka. It is wonderful to be able to source such luxurious quality locally so we can keep our ranges Proudly South African.
Luxury fabric demand
Cashmere is made from the soft, fine inner hair of the goats coat. Originally, the term was applied only to goat hair from the Kashmir region of the Indian subcontinent but usage has since broadened to all goat hair that is similarly fine and soft. Cashmere is in great demand for luxury fabrics from suiting to upholstery.
At its vertically integrated wool-processing hub, Ivili Loboya offers wool-sorting and scouring, fibre manufacturing and hand spun yarns. It also supplies insulation and inner soles for safety shoes. Fibres are sourced from small farmers, many of them women. It has trained employees in spinning, weaving and knitting as well as machine production. Senior staff and management are mainly young people with bachelors and masters degrees in subjects such as textiles and engineering who are keen to live and work in their home region rather than migrate.
The company collaborates with the agricultural colleges and the Materials Science and Manufacturing Unit of the CSIR, among others. Dr Mahlatis doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch focused on commercialisation and mainstreaming of rural economies through value chains. She also has experience at the retail end of fashion, having owned a designer boutique.
We hope to contribute to reviving the textile industry before institutional knowledge and skills disappear with the generations. Our fabrics are environmentally friendly, sustainable and versatile and we believe that Africa and the world will welcome them for use in high-end fashion design and home furnishings, concludes Dr Mahlati.
A donation from the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet's Thuso Fund has made the renovation of West Ridge High School's Brick-Making Workshop possible.
West Ridge High School is a centre of learning for more than 700 children with special education needs in the central Durban area. It is also currently the only school in the area offering a specialised vocational curriculum to enhance the employment opportunities for high school children with learning challenges.
The Thuso Fund for Schools and Charities was created by MySchool to support under-resourced schools and charities across South Africa through the funding of special projects. It focuses on initiatives that address specific school and learner needs. In 2014, West Ridge High received a R240,000 sponsorship for 36 new computers for their computer library from the fund. The latest funding of over R360,000 covers the building costs of a substantial upgrade to transform the schools Brick-Making Workshop into a space conducive for learning.
Space restrictions and quality of facilities
The delivery of our skills-based programme has been affected by our challenges with both space restrictions and the quality of our facilities, says Dr Seetal, the principal at West Ridge High. This extension and renovation of the workshop is going to make a big difference in the lives of our learners and educators. Skills training, such as brick-making, is an essential part of our offering as we need to meet the needs of many learners who may be unable to master literacy and numeracy at the levels that would enable them to be otherwise employed.
West Ridge High School is only partially funded by the Department of Education, and their learners predominately come from severely under-resourced families which cannot afford school fees. The school is therefore reliant on donors in order to achieve their educational objectives and maintain their facilities.
Thanks to MySchool cardholders
We are delighted that we have once again been able to support West Ridge High in its efforts to provide a meaningful education, says MySchools general manager, Pieter Twine. Our Thuso Fund specifically aims to help get funds raised through the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme to highly deserving schools such as this one. It helps us to make the difference in the communities where the needs are greatest, and we thank the MySchool cardholders who have helped to raise these funds.
South African shoppers can support the Thuso Fund for Schools and Charities by signing up free for the MySchool MyVillage My Planet programme and selecting Thuso as one of your three possible beneficiaries. You can do this online at www.myschool.co.za and select up to three schools, charities and conservation organisations you would most like to support. Swipe your card every time you shop at a range of participating retailers including Woolworths, Bidvest Waltons, Engen Foodstops, Flight Centres and loot.co.za. With every swipe the retail partner makes a donation to your selected beneficiary, at no cost to you.
The Cointreau Creative Crew (CCC) Grant Scheme, which sought to identify and empower female creativity across South Africa, has selected 15 finalists within the art, music, design, film, food and even cocktail industries.
Tamika Sewnarain, brand manager, Cointreau South Africa
The CCC, a global philanthropic initiative created by premium triple sec brand Cointreau, is made up of influential game-changer women who are "independent, chic and inspiring". The concept aims to inspire women to dare to be creative, believe in their dreams and bring them to life.
The winner will be announced by the judging panel at the CCC Grand Finale at The Stack in Cape Town on 4 April 2017 and receive a R100,000 bursary to support his or her creative project. With a team of designers, performers and photographers, the CCC Grant Scheme offers an exclusive communication platform encouraging women (and men) to DreamDareCreate.
We are excited to give these individuals a unique platform to express their creativity and showcase their work. It is also inspiring that South Africa has been chosen to pioneer this movement outside of UK and Europe, to recognise the talent our country holds, says Cointreau South Africas brand manager, Tamika Sewnarain.
The finalists
Audrey Chabalala - Equip Models: This gives aspiring models a platform to grow and learn about the modelling industry. It helps them build up their profiles and know more about what is required to be a successful model.
Deborah Leask - Rural KZN Creche: A homework centre and creche will be built in a small, forgotten community on top of a hill in rural Southern Natal.
Heidi Faught - Outliers: This is a mentorship programme for facilitators of afterschool tutoring programmes helping them create safe spaces for learning. It supports them by mobilising relevant resources and training tutors to provide free education.
Janine Vorster - Handmade Silk and Paper Flower Bouquets: Vorster is a lifelong student of art and started a small business which she runs from her new home. She creates silk and paper flower bouquets and sells them to brides-to-be.
Jesi Townsend - 9T4 (Nine T Four): It will be a proudly South African and proudly androgynous clothing brand that is manufactured locally.
Michell Klopper - Ballerina Love: Michell Klopper is an aspiring artist who wants to turn her passion into her career by selling her artwork.
Mpumelelo Sefalane - Dine with Khayelitsha: This is a platform that bridges the gap between townships and cities, through setting conversational dinners. The dinners are driven by different themes, ranging from social issues, social innovation and leadership, to entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Nanziwe Mzuzu - A Tide of Conspiracy Theories: This is a book about her life as a reformed gangsters girlfriend. It encompasses her journey to self-discovery and how she met the one man who managed to sweep her off her feet.
Nokwanda Thulile Mathenjwa - Yamilet: This is a premium luxury consignment retail brand that enables the well-endowed working woman to resell her once-loved, gently-worn clothing to another woman, who falls in love with unique, pre-loved items.
Nyameka Booi - My Quote TV: This is a digital platform that gives South Africans an opportunity to talk about their own original personal quotes. It showcases them through film and photography, which allows the viewer to gain an understanding of the context behind the quote.
Ruramai Musekiwa Sibahle: This is an interactive platform that utilises creative mediums to cultivate positive African narratives and tangible creative outputs through collaborative projects and creative networks across Africa. Using both digital and ground-level activations, Sibahle seeks to highlight positive African stories.
Soraya Asmal - Reload SA: This will be a woman-owned transport-and-trucking company in a male-dominated industry. It will load, transport and offload cargo within a network.
Tiny Mungwe - Inanda Urban Retreat: This will be a facility for contemplation, creative work, shopping and the development of artistic works for African arts practitioners.
Vonani Ngobeni - Beyond Matric: This aims to help todays learners choose the right courses and institutions and shows them how to access funds for their tertiary studies. This is done through bursaries, student loans and learnerships that can shape their future.
Zinzi May - ft. (featuring): This is a concept company that strives to be a connection between prospective clients and emerging creatives in South Africa. It is a platform where creatives can register and upload their professional portfolios and link their social media pages.
To follow the journey and keep up to date with developments, visit the dedicated webpage.
Sibanye Gold's aggressive growth strategy since its listing in February 2013 has set it apart from its South African peers and despite a dip when it announced a $2,bn purchase of a US palladium miner, investors have kept their faith in the company.
Sibanye, which has grown its gold asset base shortly after listing, snapping up operating gold mines, a gold mine in development and exploration prospects, has invested heavily in platinum, buying the whole of Aquarius Platinum and the neighbouring Rustenburg mines from Anglo American Platinum.
Source: Sibanye
Sibanye's most audacious deal is the $2,2bn cash purchase of Stillwater Mining, a US-based company mining palladium and platinum from shallow, mechanised, low-cost operations, which will, in time, offset declining revenue from the South African gold mines and act as a counterbalance to the volatile rand and regulatory uncertainty weighing on its local assets.
Since listing in February 2013, shares in Sibanye, SA's largest producer of domestic gold, have gained 62%, far outpacing its big peers, which have all declined in that period.
The share prices of AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold have all declined by between 41% and 53%.
For investors one of the attractions of Sibanye is its dividend policy, which entails the payment of 35% of earnings to shareholders, returning R1bn or more a year to them, not to mention the overall performance of the shares.
Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said at the BMO mining conference in Florida in February, Sibanye's 5,1% dividend yield based on returns to investors in 2016 was an industry-leading figure for global mining firms.
The surprise move by the Treasury to increase the dividend withholding tax from 15% to 20% led Froneman to say that the board, which has regarded dividends as the first call on the company's cash, may have to reconsider its policy. Shareholders were "losing out" and it was "no use throwing money away paying dividends under those condition," he said.
The alternatives for the board to return value to shareholders have yet to be decided, but it could change the way investors view the firm. The $2,8bn bill to consolidate its position as a leading platinum group metals producer will come at a short- to medium-term cost to shareholders, but in the longer term the platinum strategy will compensate for the fall in gold output in SA and drop in earnings.
Of concern to shareholders is the rights placement of up to 1,3bn to fund the Stillwater transaction and keep as much debt as possible off Sibanye's balance sheet to secure favourable borrowing rates for the debt the company will raise towards paying for the palladium miner. Based on the prevailing exchange rate and excluding any discount Sibanye is likely to apply to ensure a full subscription to the issue, the rights placement is worth R17bn. The company's market capitalisation is R24bn.
"With our valuation of the share, we see little reason for shareholders not to follow their rights," said Rene Hochreiter of Noah Capital, putting a target price of R121 on the stock compared with its trading price of R26,5 on Wednesday.
The share placement will dilute earnings in the near term, said Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted. "What people are looking at in the short term is the dilution of earnings and cash flow and saying 'it's not great for us',"he said.
"Yes, upfront there is dilution of earnings because our gold earnings are spread over more shares but in the next three or four years, Stillwater starts to contribute strongly to our overall earnings. So in the longer term, on average, the deal is accretive on a cash-flow basis."
The practical consequences of the Paris Agreement may soon be better understood as an application regarding climate change is being heard in the Pretoria High Court. At the hearing Earthlife Africa (ELA) will argue that the nationally determined contribution (NDC) cannot be met unless coal-fired power developers are required to assess climate impacts.
Since the Paris Agreement was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2015, companies have been grappling with the potential implications the global commitment to combat climate change could have on their businesses. The Paris Agreement is hallmarked as the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal that seeks to accelerate the reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
South Africa ratified the Paris Agreement in November 2016 and committed in its (NDC) to a peak, plateau and decline GHG emissions trajectory range, which are estimated to range between 398 and 614 Mt CO2-eq by 2025 and 2030.
The Thabametsi saga
Thabametsi Power Company was granted an environmental authorisation (EA) to establish a 630MW coal-fired power stationnear Lephalale in Limpopo Province. ELA appealed to the minister of environmental affairs against the decision of the chief director of integrated environmental affairs to grant the EA.
The minister dismissed the appeal, but made the EA conditional to a climate change impact assessment (CCIA) being submitted for consideration to the department of environmental affairs prior to the project's commencement.
Tick box exercise
ELA however labelled the condition as a "tick box" exercise, given that neither the minister nor the department would have the legal competence to withdraw the EA based on the finding of the CCIA. It therefore approached the High Court to have the CD's decision and the minister's dismissal reviewed and set aside in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000.
Central to the application is ELA's submission that the EA could not have been granted without the CD's consideration of all relevant factors, which, because of the government's obligations under national and international law, includes a CCIA.
The Minister, CD and Thabametsi are opposing the application. The minister's answering affidavit provides insight into the government's current climate change management approach. In essence, it is argued that:
a CCIA is not yet a mandatory component of an environmental impact assessment, particularity given the current absence of GHG emission guidelines in South African law. In any event, climate change impacts were considered in both the air quality and water impact studies Thabametsi conducted during the EIA process;
climate change impacts have been considered in the development of the Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity 2010-2030, which, together with other national electricity legislation and policy, permits the establishment of coal-fired power stations;
until such time as the Paris Agreement's obligations are enacted into national law, they are not binding on any party on a domestic level, including Thabametsi;
South Africa's transition to a low carbon economy is anticipated to be rigid and slow, especially in light of current challenges faced by the energy sector, which is acknowledged in the NDC; and
the project will establish a high efficiency power plant, which includes modern emission abatement technology that complies with the South African government's obligations under the Paris Agreement.
In reply to these submissions, ELA stresses that the government remains constitutionally bound to apply domestic law in a manner that is consistent with its international law obligations. Therefore, a CCIA must be conducted to ascertain whether the project aligns with the NDC before an EA can be granted.
First climate change lawsuit
The project's initial CCIA report has in the interim been circulated for public comment. The results note "very high" GHG emissions and "significant" climate change impacts associated with the project, and with ELA vying to bring the report before the court, it is difficult to predict the outcome of what has been labelled South Africa's "first climate change lawsuit". Of importance will be the judiciary's pronouncement on the role of a CCIA in the greater EIA scheme and the weight it will attach to the NDC.
What will be interesting to see is the extent the Paris Agreement will bring climate change to the forefront of development disputes. It is apparent that Government seeks to, in the interest of managing energy and other socio-economic challenges, sustain a slow transition to a decarbonised economy.
Businesses that will eventually have to decouple from carbon intense processes are however urged to closely follow these developments and seek advice on compliance with air quality and water legislation, as they are evolving rapidly in light of South Africa's international commitment.
Commentators have lauded the finance minister on a well-crafted budget, some even stating that it was a political masterstroke. But, are these descriptions accurate?
The increase in the dividends withholding tax (DWT) from 15% to 20%, has resulted in a combined effective tax rate of 42,4% (up from 38,8%) for entrepreneurs who want to take cash out of their businesses and into their own hands. This is high by international standards, and may feel even higher if considered in light of the standard of service delivery received.
Has Gordhan put the final nail in the coffin for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)?
In the Budget Speech no mention was made of any further incentives to assist the South African SME sector. Possible incentives could have included amendments to the VAT registration threshold or small business corporation provisions. The effective tax rate of 42,4% will, most definitely, impact entrepreneurship in South Africa. Why take the risk of establishing a business if you will be taxed at such a high rate? It is safer for the individual to remain a salaried employee with a tax liability of between 18% and 41% with the added benefit of zero risk.
The DWT amendment, albeit small, will most definitely deter entrepreneurship. The South African government acknowledges that economic growth will only be reached by injecting capital and expertise into SMEs. By not providing additional incentives to SMEs and increasing the effective tax rate, a slowdown in the SME sector can be expected. A slowdown will further increase the unemployment rate, which currently stands at 26,6%.
In the US they have the American dream of owning a business and becoming successful through entrepreneurship. In South Africa it seems to be only a pipe dream.
On Feb. 28, the agriculture subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee held a Farm Credit Administration [FCA] Oversight Hearing.
Remarkably, it was the first public questioning of FCA leadersand how they regulate the nations biggest agricultural lender, the $240-billion Farm Credit System (FCS)by the subcommittee in 19 years.
In the intervening, unchecked decades, System banks more than doubled their lending (from $106 billion in 2005 to $236 billion in 2015), increased their share of U.S ag debt by half (from 23.3 percent in 2000 to 40.4 percent in early 2016), and rose to dominate ag lending: 16 of todays top 20 American ag lenders are System members.
Another FCS lender is about to join that club.
Beginning last summer, three System associationsAgStar Financial, the huge lender in Minnesota and western Wisconsin; Badgerland Financial, the FCS lender in Wisconsins southern half; and 1st Farm Credit, the lender in western and northern Illinoishave worked to create a single association that would stretch from east of St. Louis to north of St. Paul.
If the not-yet-public plan is approved by association borrowers-owners in a very quick, hoped-for April vote, the resulting $18-billion lender would be named Compeer Financial.
It would also largely unnecessary, says Bert Ely, a banking consultant that writes Farm Credit Watch, a fact-filled, monthly analysis of the FCS for the American Banking Association.
Part of all these merger deals seems to be one-upmanship among System bankers, explains Ely in a March 1 telephone interview. Another part is that these mergers enable CEOs to pay themselves much bigger salaries.
Millions in the case of the proposed, three-way upper Midwest deal.
Im very skeptical, however, that any system merger leads to greater lender profits or better lender service.
Ely would know; hes been analyzing and writing about the Farm Credit System since before its mid-1980s crack-up and subsequent government bailout. Recently hes seen System banks balloon into something bigger and richer than Congress ever envisioned.
The Systems credit line has increased and increased to now where one member can borrow up to $1.5 billion, he relates. What farmer do you know borrows $1 billion? Clearly, it isnt meant for farmers or ranchers.
Recent System lending proves Ely correct. In the last decade, several FCS banks loaned money to various non-farm businesses and corporationsincluding Verizon, the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain, and a carwash, according to an April 2016 Washington Post storywhose tenuous ties to agriculture seem to be the forgotten uncle of great grandmas adopted half-sister.
All this rule-stretching, claims Ed Elfmann, the vice president of Congressional relations for the American Bankers Association (ABA), violates the Systems taxpayer-supported mission and allows System lenders to unfairly compete against commercial banks in local, regional and national ag lending markets.
Even worse, I think, offers Elfmann, Farm Credit has doubled its lending in the last 10 years with virtually no oversight and no controls. How will it hold up if the farm economy continues to flag?
System bankers quickly note that their balance sheets are solid, at least for now.
What they dont talk about, however, is how their special status as a Congressionally-chartered lenderand what Elfmann and Ely both say is lax oversight by both the Farm Credit Administration and Congressallows System banks to pick big winners in Big Ag and Big Agbiz.
Given the size of most of todays System loans, opines ABAs Elfmann, can taxpayer-subsidized financing be justified for any of these massive borrowers?
Thats a good question for the tight-fisted, Trump-bowing Congress to address in 2018 Farm Bill hearings.
Before then, however, the borrower-owners of the not-yet-merged Compeer Financial should ask their hired hands at AgStar, Badgerland and 1st Farm Credit just how much the new bosses will be paid and how little the new deal delivers to them and their rural communities.
Agriculture, agribusiness, and agro-industries will dominate the knowledge events of the 2017 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group scheduled to take place from May 22-26 in Ahmedabad, in India's Gujarat State.
sarangib via pixabay - Cassava
The central theme of the Annual Meetings, "Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa," underscores the critical importance of agriculture in the Bank's work in particular and in Africa in general. It also provides a good opportunity for India, cradle of the "Green Revolution" to share its experiences with thousands of participants who will attend the Bank's foremost annual gathering.
India's Green Revolution is known to have been prompted by the 1943 Bengal famine, which claimed about four million lives. The country continued to face food insufficiency challenges up to the 1960s when it revolutionised traditional food production practices by introducing new agricultural techniques with high-yield crop varieties accompanied by chemical fertilisers, pesticides, germicides, herbicides, and weedicides. Irrigation and storage infrastructure were also put in place to ensure food self-sufficiency.
As a result, India produces enough food to feed its 1.3 billion people with a surplus for export, including garri, an important staple in parts of African, which Delhi currently exports to the continent.
Driving transformation
The AfDB is focusing on a robust continent-wide agricultural programme, which aims to make the continent food self-sufficient.
The Bank's "Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa, 2016-2025," aims to scale up agriculture as a business through value addition, led by the private sector and enabled by the public sector, and using innovative financing mechanisms, with a view to end hunger and rural poverty in Africa in the next decade.
It is the second of the Bank's High 5 priorities - Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa - a blueprint for the implementation of its Ten Year Strategy 2013-2022.
The idea is to drive transformation through 15 priority commodity value chains in given agro-ecological zones specifically to achieve self-sufficiency in key commodities such as rice, wheat, fish, palm oil, horticulture, cassava. Then the goal is to move up the value chain in key export-oriented commodities like cocoa, coffee, cotton, and cashew; create a food-secure Sahel in sorghum, millet, livestock; and realize the potential of the Guinea savannah in maize, soybean, and livestock.
The Feed Africa strategy seeks to confront the dismal situation of a continent that spends $35.4 billion on food imports annually despite being home to 600 million hectares of uncultivated land or 65% of the world's undeveloped arable land. Besides, about 70% of Africa's population and 80% of the continent's poor who live in rural areas depend on agriculture and non-farm rural enterprises for their livelihoods.
These are some of the issues that participants at the meetings will address, under topics such as the Presidential Panel on Transforming African agriculture: Views from the Leaders; Financing Agriculture: Where to Find the Money?, Women in Agriculture; Energy Solutions to Boost African Agriculture; From cotton to clothing - let's integrate Africa; Innovative technologies for agricultural transformation, as well as numerous exhibitions on the agriculture theme.
India joined the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional arm of the AfDB, in 1982 and the African Development Bank a year later. The country is a key member of the institution's 24 non-regional member countries, which support the ADF. In 2016, India pledged $18.09 million (INR 1.25 billion) for the 14th replenishment of the ADF, and also pledged a bridge loan of $14.94 million, thereby increasing its burden share by 12.6%. Delhi continues to strengthen its relations with Africa, accounting for investments estimated at US $7.4 billion, mostly lines of credit channeled through the Export-Import Bank of India, for the implementation of projects across Africa.
For more information on the 2017 Annual Meetings, please visit: AfDB
The Gauteng provincial government wants to convert some of its public buildings, including schools, clinics and hospitals into centres of economic activity; saying this could unlock R42bn in value and create 190,000 jobs.
Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo said they were looking at partnering with the private sector to unlock the economic potential of these assets and create new integrated precinct developments, especially in townships.
These would become hives of small, medium and large business activity.
Potential spaces earmarked for development include the area around the Lillian Ngoyi hospital in Soweto, excess land from Sandown High School in the north of Johannesburg, the area next to the Vaal Dam, the area around Emoyeni Conference Centre in Parktown and the Roodeplaat Dam north East of Pretoria.
There is huge economic potential locked in our R30bn worth of assets and we, therefore, need to optimise economic value in the use and custodianship of these assets in order to radically transform and reindustrialise our economy, and further create jobs.
We now have a rare opportunity to define and dictate economic development based on the assets and resources directly in our control, he said.
MEC Mamabolo said these precincts would help bring investments into townships and change them from places where people live while working elsewhere, to important economic hubs that create jobs and energise the townships.
We have got to bring to an end the situation where there has been market failure and lack of appetite to invest in townships and as a result there are no sustainable job opportunities. Townships are basically a place for labour and people moving in and out. The government precinct wishes to bring that to an end.
As government, we need to crowd investments in townships. If we dont invest massively in townships, townships will remain as they are, he said.
Meanwhile, the provincial government is to build low cost houses for hostel dwellers who find themselves unable to afford to rent old hostel rooms that have been converted into rental housing units.
Addressing journalists at the Gauteng Economic Cluster Briefing on Wednesday, 1 March, Cooperative Governance and Human Settlements MEC Paul Mashatile said the province had decided to change the way it upgrades hostels.
In the past, government had opted to refurbish existing hostels and turn them into rental housing units. But this created a problem as some of the hostel dwellers could not afford the rental amount charged.
In some of the hostels that were upgraded, people could not afford the units that were provided there, so we decided that we should provide units that are affordable because some of the people in the hostels are essentially supposed to be RDP beneficiaries; if you upgrade hostels probably they have to pay rentals that are very high and they are not able to. So, we have agreed that we will integrate most of those people into other housing developments, he said.
MEC Mashatile said they had experienced serious problems in hostels such as Dube in Soweto where families were prevented from moving into new rental housing units because former hostel dwellers could not afford rental amounts charged for those units.
They say because we cant afford to pay no one can move in. In those circumstances, we will allocate [low cost houses] those who cant afford it.
MEC Mashatile said those hostels that are dilapidated would be demolished entirely and replaced with rental housing stock.
Cabinet at its fortnightly meeting has approved ten Bills, including the National Public Health Institutes of South Africa (NAPHISA) Bill, for tabling in Parliament.
The Bill provides for the establishment of the NAPHISA, its functions, powers and duties.
NAPHISA aims to provide integrated and coordinated disease and injury surveillance, research, monitoring and evaluation of services and intervention directed towards the major public health problems affecting persons in South Africa, said Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, on Thursday.
He said this will increase the capacity to monitor communicable, non-communicable diseases and injuries, which will aid in the early detection, prevention, and response to these conditions. This will ultimately contribute to the control of diseases and reduction of morbidity and mortality.
NAPHISA will be a national resource that serves public health interest and is intended to provide for a system of health protection that focuses on access, equity, efficiency and quality.
National Health Laboratory Service Amendment Bill
Cabinet also approved the National Health Laboratory Service Amendment Bill to be tabled in Parliament. This amends the National Health Laboratory Service Act, 2000 (Act No 37 of 2000).
The proposed amendments seek to improve the governance, accountability, and financial sustainability of the National Health Laboratory Service.
The Minister said this will enable the national service to provide diagnostic health laboratory services more cost effectively and with greater efficiency, so as to increase the quality of clinical care provided to patients through timely and judicious clinical management.
Older Persons Amendment Bill
The Older Persons Amendment Bill, 2016, was approved and will be published for public comment. The Bill amends the Older Persons Act 13 of 2006.
The amendments make specific reference to protection and compliance measures which will contribute in providing a safe and protective environment for older persons.
The Bills aim to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation measures on services to older persons by putting in place effective enforcement measures for non-compliance which includes the imposition of penalties, the Minister said.
This will ensure that older persons have access to quality services such as social, health, community based, and residential care.
Fund Raising Amendment Bill
Cabinet further approved the publication of the Fund Raising Amendment Bill, 2016, for public comment. Cabinet approved for the repeal of the existing funds and the consolidation of their assets and liabilities to one Fund.
The Bill amends the Fund Raising Act, 1978, which is outdated.
The Bill streamlines responses to disasters and allows for the deployment of risk mitigation and developmental strategies through the consolidation of the existing funds including their respective assets and liabilities into one National Social Development and Relief Fund, the Minister said.
He said the fund raising capabilities of the Act will be restored and the fund will not only be able to react when social relief is needed, but will act to mitigate risks and develop communities.
National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill
Cabinet also approved the submission of the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, 2016, to Parliament.
This amends the National Environmental Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) as well as a number of Specific Environmental Management Acts.
This will strengthen the integrated environmental management, one environmental management system, compliance and enforcement measures; biodiversity and conservation; air quality management; waste management and integrated coastal management, the Minister said.
Draft Regulation of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill
The Draft Regulation of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill, 2017, which was approved, will be published for public comment.
Minister Radebe said land reform is necessary to unlock the potential for a dynamic, growing and employment-creating agricultural sector.
Amongst others, the Bill gives effect to the establishment of the Land Commission which will ensure a transparent and more conducive regulatory environment for the generation and utilisation of policy-relevant information on ownership and usage of agricultural land.
This will improve the states ability to monitor and evaluate its compliance with the constitutional directive to ensure land tenure and related reforms, with the intent of taking measures to redress the results of past racial discrimination.
This contributes to the National Development Plans vision for rural revitalisation, inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction which also rests on creating more equitable access to land and tenure security for all South Africans, the Minister said.
Property Practitioners Bill
The publication of the Property Practitioners Bill, 2016, was approved in the Government Gazette for public comment. The Bill repeals the current Estate Agency Affairs Act, 1976 (Act No. 112 of 1976).
The Bill responds to the changing market conditions and dynamics, and strives to create an enabling environment to enhance economic activity within the real estate market, the Minister said.
It also addresses the need to enhance compliance and enforcement, as well as to ensure transformation in the sector and to regulate the conduct and behaviour of property practitioners.
Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Amendment Bill
The Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Amendment Bill, 2016, was also approved to be published for public comment. The Bill amends the Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Act, 2000 (Act No. 63 of 2000).
The Bill addresses human settlements challenges identified in the National Development Plan. This includes: dysfunctional settlement patterns across the country; challenges facing towns and cities; weak spatial planning and governance capabilities.
The Bill seeks to provide for housing finance which is in line with section 26 of the Constitution, which stipulates that everyone has a right to adequate housing.
It further empowers the Office of Disclosure to receive and investigate complaints regarding home loans.
The Minister said this will encourage compliance by financial institutions and will contribute to improved lending patterns and trends of financial institutions regarding home loans.
Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Amendment Bill
The publication of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Amendment Bill, 2016, was further approved in the Government Gazette for public comment. This amends the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003 (Act No. 41 of 2003).
The amendments deal with the challenges being experienced with the constitution and reconstitution of traditional leadership structures and, where applicable, the disestablishment of certain structures.
The aim is to ensure proper reconstitution of tribal authorities as traditional councils; establishment of kingship and queenship councils; and disestablishment of community authorities.
International Arbitration Bill
The International Arbitration Bill was approved to be introduced into Parliament.
The aim of the Bill is to improve access to justice services and to ensure the realisation of the National Development Plan target of expanding trade and investment and positioning South Africa in the world.
The Bill incorporates the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, as adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.
This can be used by business to resolve their international commercial disputes and in terms of which parties can obtain arbitral awards that are legally enforceable, the Minister said.
Such a move, he said, could contribute to increased economic growth and investment as well as ensure that South Africa is an attractive venue for parties around the world to resolve their commercial disputes.
After almost six months in custody, FeesMustFall student activist Bonginkosi Khanyile is a free man.
The Constitutional Court yesterday made the order after the Durban University of Technology student's legal team reached a settlement with the prosecution that he would be released on R250 bail, subject to conditions.
Khanyile had been in custody since his arrest on 27 September last year during student protests. He was held on eight charges, including public violence, illegal gathering and inciting violence.
He approached the court on an urgent basis seeking leave to appeal against a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that dashed his hopes of getting bail.
Among the bail conditions are that he does not intimidate staff at the Durban University of Technology.
Earlier, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng had asked the student activist's counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu SC, why it was necessary to keep Khanyile in prison.
"The only fact that stands out is that this student had to be made an example of.
"The prosecutor said there was an order from the president to clamp down on protesting students," Mpofu said.
About 1,000 EFF supporters, student leaders and students protested outside court while proceedings were under way, with the "Free Bonginkosi" committee vowing to make the country "ungovernable" if Khanyile was not released.
Addressing the crowd after the ruling, EFF leader Julius Malema said Khanyile did not belong among criminals because he was "fighting for a just cause".
"We came to defend the jailing of an innocent African child."
He said the state had tried to justify why Khanyile should be locked up. But the state had started negotiating a settlement only after they had realised that they did not have a relevant case.
Malema said it had cost the party R500,000 to get Khanyile released on bail pending trial.
New Media has announced that managing director Bridget McCarney has been promoted to CEO of the New Media group of companies, and that Aileen Lamb, current general manager of the consumer division, has been appointed as managing director. These changes are effective from 1 April 2017.
Aileen Lamb Bridget McCarney
McCarney, MD of New Media for the past 15 years, has led the company through many changes. Under her award-winning leadership the company grew its profits by more than 600%, staff increased from 30 to 250, and the company grew from a custom-publishing venture into a full-service strategic and content agency.
In her role as general manager of New Medias consumer division, Aileen has been the driving force behind the digitisation and relaunch of successful media brands such as Eat Out, VISI and Woolworths TASTE. She has also succesfully led the annual Eat Out Restaurant Awards to great heights with a record number of 740 guests attending this glamorous event last year. Prior to this she held the position of national advertising director at New Media, where she achieved astonishing results in a diminishing environment. Aileen started her digital journey in 2000 at Newsquest Media in Scotland, where she commercially developed a portfolio of digital-first consumer brands.
Says Bridget: It has been my pleasure to have grown New Media from a fledging custom publisher to the countrys leading content-marketing agency. Aileen will drive this change even further and faster.
This move takes me into a broader role that includes growing our sister companies and focusing on important strategic pillars such as Matrix24, says Bridget. The change will allow me to focus on the elements I believe to be the most important, including our company culture and the future vision of New Media. Im excited about the move and look forward to a range of new opportunities and challenges.
About her successor, Bridget adds: Aileen is a dynamic and fearless leader, with the perfect combination of passion and drive for this new challenge. Her vision will no doubt amplify New Medias successes.
Says Aileen: I am honoured to take the reins at New Media at a time when the pace of change is quicker than ever. We have developed an exciting new strategy that will allow us to build on the successes of the past, channel the brilliance of our talented people, and I look forward to discovering new ways in which New Media can play an even more vital part in delivering valuable content for our clients audiences; content that audiences truly want to engage with. New Media has always stood for excellence and this will continue to be at the heart of what we do.
Diversified real estate investment trust (Reit) Redefine Properties says its investment in Redefine International is underperforming. Redefine International focuses on the UK and Germany.
Redefine Properties CEO Andrew Konig told investors on Tuesday, 28 February, that the company, which was launched as an offshore arm of Redefine, had battled recently. "We are concerned," he said.
Redefine International said earlier it would pay a lower proportion of its income as dividends to serve the demands of its UK shareholders, who are seeking capital growth. This means Redefine Properties will receive lower investment income from it.
Redefine's holding in Redefine International is worth about R3.19bn. It also owns significant stakes in Australia's Cromwell and Poland's Echo Polska Properties. Its market capitalisation is worth about R62.9bn and its direct local property portfolio is worth more than R53bn.
Redefine International has a market capitalisation of about R10.6bn. Redefine owns about 30.1% of the company.
In 2017 to date, Redefine International's share price has slumped about 11%. It returned -38.60% last year, including capital and income returns, said Stanlib head of listed property funds Keillen Ndlovu.
UK-focused property stocks were battered in 2016 and remained under pressure as a result of continuing uncertainty about the UK's planned exit from the EU. Property stock prices fell drastically after the June 23 Brexit vote, recovering only slightly since then.
Management has decided to move to a European Public Real Estate Association (Epra) distribution metric as a method of paying out a lower proportion of income as dividends.
"We want to be more fiscally conservative in a low-growth UK environment," deputy CE Stephen Oakenfull said earlier.
"The company will be moving to an industry standard Epra-based earnings metric.
Adopting this earnings measure, adjusted only for necessary company-specific adjustments, allows for a closer alignment between earnings and operating cash flow.
"To facilitate our leverage objectives and to provide greater financial flexibility, a mediumterm dividend pay-out ratio within the range of 90% to 95% of our rebased earnings measure will be targeted. In the short term, some degree of flexibility in the pay-out ratio may be required to smooth distributions to shareholders following the transition to the Epra-based earnings metric," he said.
Source: Business Day
You've finally arrived at your bucket list destination, but your luggage has not... Many travellers have landed in this particular scenario, and getting luggage back from airlines or airports can prove to be difficult, time-consuming, and a major inconvenience.
Around 20 million bags are mislaid in airports around the world every year, and in London alone, 50,000 mobile phones get left behind in taxis annually. South Africa is no different, with thousands of personal belongings making its way into Lost & Found containers nationwide every year. HomingPIN offers an innovative solution to this global problem with the HomingPIN tag.
HomingPIN offers baggage loops with tags, key rings, and stickers that have a unique identification number on them. This number gets activated online prior to using the tag and is linked to the owners email address and cellphone number. If someone finds a cellphone, keys, baggage, or any other item that has a HomingPIN tag on it, they can easily notify the owner by visiting HomingPIN and entering the unique identification number, as well as their contact details. The owner is immediately notified via SMS and email and is able to contact the founder to retrieve their belongings. Finders are not given the owners contact details, however, so it is up to the owner to make contact first.
HomingPIN is integrated with the worldwide World Tracer system, which all baggage handlers have access to. For airlines, HomingPIN will instantly provide information on the bags whereabouts when it is found. The airline will then contact the owner to arrange transfer of the goods. Whats more, is that HomingPIN can provide reasonably-priced transportation of your found goods, from anywhere in the world.
HomingPIN tags, stickers, and key rings allow you to tag a variety of items including, but not limited to, luggage, laptop computers, mobile phones, keys, wallets and passports. Easy-to-use and practical, theyre a life-saver for the whole family. With this handy tool, lost goods have a much better chance of being returned to their owners, and owners have peace of mind too.
HomingPIN packs are available at select Cape Union Mart Stores and online at Takealot.
The latest figure from the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics shows around 903 visitors entered the country in January, compared to 750 last year, marking a 17% increase.
Penstones via pixabay
While the most recent statics still fall below the recorded number of 911 in 2015, the tourism board is confident that 2017 will be a year of growth for the South African market.
Says David Germain, Seychelles Tourism Board, director for Africa and the Americas: We are extremely pleased about the latest figures from the South African market and we are looking forward to, in partnership with South African travellers and our trade partners, to grow at an even greater pace in the coming year.
Germain adds that the launch of Air Seychelles year-round flights from Durban to the Seychelles, on 30 March, will play a definitive role in opening up the destination to even more South Africans. The new service to Durban is in addition to Air Seychelles five flights a week from Johannesburg.
Also commenting on the latest figures, the deputy chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Jennifer Sinon said: We are now reaping the rewards of all the activities and strategies of last year as the benefits trickle down in the months and years to come.
We acknowledge that this year is going to be challenging both locally and internationally but we are optimistic that the destination will remain resilient.
Samer Abu Ltaif has been appointed as Microsoft president, Middle East and Africa (MEA).
His vision for Microsoft in MEA is to contribute to the economic and social development of the region: MEA has tremendous potential. The rich diversity across the region, combined with the fast-growing youth population and innovative spirit, opens up enormous opportunities, says Abu Ltaif. As Microsoft, we have an important role to play, not only through the innovative technology that we bring to market, but also through our presence across the region, our focus on developing local talent, and our deep commitment to the communities in which we operate.
New role
A key part of Abu Ltaifs role will be to drive the digital transformation agenda of the region across governments, enterprises, developers and small and medium businesses. His leadership will be instrumental in progressing Microsofts commitment to empowering people, transform businesses, impact societies and fuel a knowledge economy in MEA.
Abu Ltaif will continue to be based in Dubai, which serves as one of the major hubs for Microsoft in the region.
He takes over the reins from Microsoft corporate vice president, Ali Faramawy, who has headed the region for thirteen years. Faramawy, in turn, takes on a newly announced global role as the head of the Emerging Markets Digital Transformation Organisation which has been established within Microsoft.
Previous roles
Abu Ltaif, who joined Microsoft in 2004, has held many senior roles within the organisation including regional director for enterprise and partner group across MEA. Most recently, he was the regional general manager of Microsoft Gulf. During his tenure, he led landmark Microsoft initiatives aimed at empowering governments and citizens through innovation, revolutionising education, stimulating SME growth and entrepreneurship; all to enhance the regions global competitiveness and modernization. He played a key role in growing Microsofts presence in the Gulf and developing the companys ecosystem of over 1,400 channel partners.
Thinking outside the box' a business term from the 1970s, is still occasionally heard by those in the pursuit of elusive creative solutions deemed to exist somewhere outside the bounds of corporate dry walling.
The very kinds of solutions that the 54 designers and creative thinkers on the programme (and many of the 1,500 delegates) at the 21st Design Indaba festival currently running at Cape Towns Artscape complex, are willing and able to provide.
The Design Indaba stage provided local outfit Dokter and Misses (DAM) best known for their funky cabinets, stools and lamps as seen regularly in local decor magazines the opportunity to explain their design process, beginning with images of the Bauhaus inspiration that informed their early work.
Bauhaus, is the now almost 100 year-old art movement, which marked the advance of European art, design, architecture, typography and product design into the Modernist age, by stripping away all ornament to the bare bones of the designers toolbox the pure forms of the triangle, cylinder and cube and the pure primary pigments of red, yellow and blue.
The Artscape stage allowed DAM husband-and-wife team Adriaan Hugo and Katy Taplin, the scope to stage a mini-retrospective of their furniture and objets, via a note-perfect choreographed and curated presentation. Dancers dressed in geometric foam block costumes, bobbed against a backdrop of animated graphic design motifs showing countless dissected and reformulated variations of geometric shapes, making one wonder whether whoever suggested thinking outside the box in the first place, might have solved their creative dilemmas by looking more closely within it, rather than outside. I mean the Golden Mean is inside the box, who knows what other treasures might be in there too.
In the case of DAM, embracing inspiration from traditional African motifs, has allowed them to span the divide from the heights of European modernism to the cutting edge of an African design narrative, which seems to be hitting just the right global contemporary aesthetic for right now.
A similar African ethos in terms of a combination of pastel and neon colour-blocking, pattern and playing with essential shapes, was in evidence in the presentation by Nigerian-born Yinka Ilori, showing the inspirations behind his furniture designs infused from Nigerian cultural roots, transplanted to a flamboyant and happy London council estate upbringing.
What emerges from these designers working in the African design vocabulary or parable as Ilori would put it, is the simplicity the joy of coming home, a family living room, proud decoration, a shared heritage from the mother continent that is being increasingly valued by the rest of the world.
Speaking of boxes (and homeliness), the kings of flatpack furniture Ikea, will soon be looking to African designers for inspiration. On the Design Indaba stage today, Jesper Brodin, CEO of Range and Supply at IKEA of Sweden and Marcus Engman Head of Design at Ikea, spoke about their impending collaboration with invited Pan-African designers, commenting There is so much creativity coming out of Africa, in music, in fashion, in architecture right now, we want to learn from Africa.
For the project Design Indaba will be drawing from their extensive network of multi-disciplinary design alumni. Architects and creatives such as Selly Rabe Kane, Renee Roussouw, Christian Benimane, Issa Diabate, Laduma Ngxokolo and others from South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Egypt, Angola, Ivory Coast and Rwanda will collaborate with IKEA around modern rituals and the importance they play in the home.
I had the pleasure of attending Nedbank's official launch of its new brand repositioning during the first day of Design Indaba. The bank's new tagline challenges clients and society to see money differently'. And this it does...
The TVC from Joe Public is a thought-provoking journey of 'the note' between good and bad, depending on how you view money. It is the owner who decides what to do with the money. In the right hands and when well managed, money has the infinite capacity to do good. The TVC is beautifully produced and really engages the viewer in the story. It will be launched on Carte Blanche this Sunday night.
I asked Thulani Sibeko, group executive: Marketing, Communications & Corporate Affairs at Nedbank, what 'see money differently' means to Nedbank. He said, When we say 'see money differently' we are inviting our consumers and clients to say money has amazing possibilities for good. If you manage it well there is a lot more you can achieve through it. As people pursue their financial goals they make their best choices."
Commenting on the process, he said it's been an exciting journey, but a challenging one too. "Money is money, which any bank can talk about, so the challenge for Nedbank was how do we find a way of articulating this positioning, firstly, in a way that makes people reappraise Nedbank. So, we had to use a different voice from what weve always had.
"Secondly, among a sea of financial institutions for us to stand out, we had to find a metaphor that is so different from what weve used in the past and from what our peers have done, and when Joe Public came up with this idea it was wow! Partly exciting and to some extent do we want to go there? But great ideas are the ones that give you some discomfort, then you know you are more likely to get something different to when you see an idea that says 'ok, I can do this', which results in keeping the status quo.
According to Khuthala Gala Holten, deputy MD at Joe Public, The proposition of money well managed was a collaboration between ourselves, the Nedbank brand team and Yellowwood. It was a lengthy process, where we had to find a space that no body had gone or probably had not dared to go, calling money what it is. Money is money but the most important thing is how we translate that and how consumers manage money well and turn it into dreams, homes and businesses. 'See money differently' provokes one to look at their money and whose hands they put it in. The launch commercial 'the note' is a journey. You follow this note through the city and see the power of what it can do in the right or wrong hands.
Thulani Sibeko, Nedbank group executive: Marketing, Communications and Corporate Affairs; Carien Momsen, first runner up; Titus Khoza, winner; Keya Murphy, second runner up; and Vanessa Singh, Nedbank executive head of Retail and Business Banking Marketing.
As the sponsor of Design Indaba for three years, Nedbank used the platform to drive the point home by identifying, sponsoring and challenging 40 Emerging Creatives to see money differently and use their ingenuity to try and solve prevalent socio-economic challenges. The winning concept by Titus Khoza received R100,000 in funding towards making a positive impact in the country.
Find out more here and visit Bizcommunity's Design Indaba special section for all the latest coverage!
Design Indaba attendees will never see clocks, wall frames and shoes in the same way again, having witnessed Pauline Saglio share about interactive design and the endless possibilities that this can have on analogue objects.
Pauline Saglio
Currently a teacher in the Visual Communication Department at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, Saglio was introduced to the audience as a designer who infuses analogue objects with digital technology to help shift the perception that digital cannot also be tangible".
Saglio studied at both Penninghens school of art and the Atelier de Sevre school of art. While studying, she met her colleague, Mathieu Rivier, who has collaborated with her on various projects.
Introducing the audience to her work, Saglio said, When you think of digital media in interaction, you might think of computers, touchscreens and smartphones People think everything related with new technology and with the digital world is something that keeps us apart from everything that is manual. I will try to show you through our work that its something quite the opposite.
Saglio then shared a series of three of her projects, namely Rewind, Interactive Scarves and a project on interactive shoes.
Rewind
This project involves a series of three clocks, which are dependent on human interaction. The user is required to participate in order to view the time.
Interactive scarves
Saglio wished to develop interactive paintings with silk scarves that could hang on the wall and respond to users interaction with the frame. The first of the three was dependent on the viewers proximity to the frame. The closer the viewer got to the frame, the more it would change and display various colours, lights and sounds. The second frame was reliant on the viewers touch and the third would react to sounds from viewers cell phones.
Emilio Pucci Interactive Scarves by ECAL/Pauline Saglio from ECAL on Vimeo.
The aim of this project was to encourage a shoe store's customers to interact with pairs of shoes.
We focused on how you could interact with all kinds of shoes and combined electronics and mechanics in order to personalise each pair of shoes.
The result was an enchanting customer experience, as displayed in a snippet of Saglio's talk below:
More shoe interaction from Pauline Saglio @designindaba If only all shoe shops were like this #designindaba pic.twitter.com/8tlVcTAPNY Tom Banks (@1TomBanks) March 1, 2017
Click here for more on Saglio and visit our Design Indaba special section for all the latest coverage!
Global design students Bo-Won Keum of the Rhode Island School of Design affectionately known as Risdee' (RISD) and Rhys Jones of Canada's Carleton University of Industrial Design, enthralled attendees at the second day of Design Indaba 2017 with their use of design to make the world a better place.
Heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race... If youve been alive over the past few decades the lyrics to this immortal Michael Jackson song will either have you doing a slow-head dance with your eyes closed or an irritated shake and wondering what Im on about now especially as the song hasnt been played at this rendition of Design Indaba.
The truth is, when introducing two of the days global graduate speakers, Kojo Baffoe mentioned that the students stories are always inspiring, with co-MC Michael Bierut commenting that when he gets back to New York and reports back on his Design Indaba experience each year, its often those global graduates tales that stick in his memory.
I felt the same way on hearing the first few graduate students presentations yesterday so much so that I tweeted out the following...
These global students' presentations at @designindaba sure have a way of making you feel inadequate. #designindaba pic.twitter.com/ZOKyUKucbY Rambling Litchi (@Leigh_Andrews) March 1, 2017
... which was met with likes and comments of agreement:
The reason is simple every single one thus far has resonated because these young, inspired minds have been motivated to take their new design skills and use them in a way that actually makes the world a better place. Right, long-winded explanation over. Heres how Keum and Jones are doing their bit to heal the world through design:
Free your mind: whoever you are, wherever you are
Graphic designer and storyteller of note, Keum kicked off by explaining her interest in how constraints often inspire creativity. What bigger constraint is there than having to spend your days in prison? During her studies at RISD, she partnered with the Books to Prisoners project in Seattle. Its exactly what it sounds like: a non-profit organisation that responds to letters from prison inmates in the US asking for books by donating the books that are asked for or as good a match as possible.
Keum
Keum said: The journey begins with letters from the inmates who ask for reading material. The prison systems dont necessarily provide these. Being locked up in a cell with nothing else to do for 23 hours a day can make you go crazy. Reading is a way to forget that, to imagine and learn and hopefully lead to a better life on their release. Some request dictionaries, other want self-help books and others are simply after the latest fantasy and romance bestsellers.
Now, Keum is helping Books to Prisoners develop a system to archive the reading materials, requests, restrictions and donations, but of course the tale is a little more complicated than that. Some of that complication lies in the fact that the books are all donated materials and there are format restrictions; some prisons wont accept hardcovers or books in other languages. But it was never about simply being faster or automating the process to the click of a button, as the physical labour is as much for the volunteers as the prisoners, as they take time out of their lives for each letter they read, and something magical happens when you browse the books.
Keum wanted the inmates to tell their story of the impact of the books they receive, asking them to write what it meant to them. The responses were then turned into a book because, Despite the convictions print is dead, a book still commands physical presence and is a democratic object as its something the volunteers and prisoners can all read. Designed to look like one of the packages, external content was kept to a minimum, with each letter occupying a full spread, with the letter on the right and a quote or footnote to accompany the letter on the left.
Condensed previews of the book are available at the Design Indaba pop-up store, as well as the zines Keum created of the books that have been sent out to the prisoners. She ended with a quote that suggests shes wise beyond her years: Dont be afraid to let a simple gesture take up space, itll resonate in more ways than you can imagine.
Getting real-world results with evidence-based design
Jones then explained his focus on evidence-based design and beefing up assumptions with scientific vigour. Once he started talking it was clear why he was president of the Carleton Industrial Design Student Association. Hes passionate and focused on making a difference, and believes that all products developed in the future should be tailored for human diversity and universal design. His design thesis project? A special Kangaroo chair for neonatal intensive care units that offers skin-to-skin contact for the baby and caregiver alike. The benefits of this are numerous, and while other chairs exist, theyre often too heavy to unlock and move around from room to room, didnt meet basic infection control criteria and are uncomfortable to sit on for a long time. Jones prototype has already won multiple awards for healthcare product design. His research shows us why...
Hospitals are extremely complex spaces, not very big, yet crowded as many people work there, from doctors to nurses and cleaners, not to mention the patients and their visitors. Jones had many design decisions to make, with the following five points his critical drivers: Spatial constraints Patient and family care Hospital-borne infections are on the rise
Ergonomics
Environment
The resulting chair effectively meets all of these.
Jones
Jones took this all into account, prototyped a model and upped the user experience by adding recline options, with minimal creasing to reduce the risk of infection and colour used in such a way that it shows the high-touch areas for easy cleaning. Its sustainable, socially responsible and so very simple.
Jones boils his own design success down to taking both user needs and research into account. Thats the crux of evidence-based design, and something we can all take forward.
Click here for more on Books for Prisoners, here for more on Jones chair and visit our Design Indaba special section for all the latest coverage!
Los Angeles-based, Grammy-nominated hip hop, neo-soul and R&B outfit The Internet completes the line-up for the 18th Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) taking place from the 31 March and 1 April 2017 at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
Defying easy categorisation of their crossover multi-genre sounds, The Internet was christened as a result of the two producers Syd (Sydney) and Matt Martians (real name Matthew Martins) - meeting on the net, then officially forming the band in 2011. They have since released three studio albums and three extended plays, with Ego Death nominated for a Grammy Best Urban Contemporary Album.
Festival Director Billy Domingo says of their inclusion in the 2017 CTIJF line-up: We are excited to welcome The Internet to South Africa. Their fresh sound and insightful lyrics both inform and entertain and they are certain to appeal and resonate with a diverse audience. The band is the perfect addition to this socially conscious 2017 musical line-up.
Catch The Internet on the Manenberg Stage on Saturday 1 April 2017 at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival happening 31 March and 1 April 2017.
For a full list of previously announced artists, please see:www.capetownjazzfest.com/artists-2017.
The official sponsors for the 18th annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2017 are: The Department of Arts and Culture, Independent Media, and host city The City of Cape Town. Other sponsors include Johnnie Walker, Amstel and South African Tourism.
Tickets are available at www.computicket.com
For corporate hospitality packages, contact Samantha on 021 671 0506 or email moc.akirfapse@ytilatipsoh
www.capetownjazzfest.com
CTIJF on social media
Official hashtag: #CTIJF2017
Facebook: facebook.com/CTJazzFest
Twitter: twitter.com/CTJazzFest
Instagram: Instagram.com/capetownjazzfest
Caterpillar Inc recently announced plans to consolidate its parts distribution centres in Isando, South Africa into a new parts distribution facility near Johannesburg.
The new facility is expected to become operational in the second quarter of 2017.
This investment in our new and more efficient 60,000 m (645,000 square feet) facility demonstrates our commitment to Caterpillar customers in Africa. We are positioned to deliver the best solution to satisfy customer service needs now and far into the future. It is a win-win for our customers, our dealers in the region and Caterpillar. Caterpillar and our dealers know that getting replacement parts to our customers, such as a new filter or undercarriage, as quickly as possible is extremely important to reduce idle time and save money, said Bonnie Fetch, Cat parts distribution director.
The consolidation is part of the previously announced plan of the company, its independent dealers, and the Caterpillar Foundation to invest more than US$1 billion in countries throughout Africa over five years.
The IAB Digital Summit, powered by Accenture Interactive, is where digital, business, advertising and content converge. On 16 March 2017 at The Galleria in Sandton, a heavy-hitting panel of local and international experts in each field will gather to have a dynamic, interactive discussion on the future and influence of digital in our country.
Says IAB SA CEO, Josephine Buys, In just one day, Summit attendees will be exposed to some of the latest digital trends, techniques and insights that will have an impact on their business immediately and for years to come. If digital touches any aspect of your business, this is a critical event to attend.
How digital trends shape our audiences
Lee Naik, CEO of Transunion Africa will examine how the Internet has forever changed the way people go about their lives and the implications this has for businesses and governments in remaining relevant. He will cover some of the key Internet trends across Africa, and share practical advice on how to change your business model to drive your competitive advantage in this increasingly digital world.
Accenture Interactive, Diamond Sponsor for the IAB Digital Summit, has announced Didier Uljasz, MD of Accenture Interactive, as its keynote speaker. Uljasz will discuss The art of knowing me: the customer genome and the new state of hyper-personalisation. This presentation is rooted in Accenture Interactives groundbreaking research into the digital customer genome.
How to make advertising great again
Alexandra Salomon, director International: IAB (Washington DC) will discuss the four key principles of what makes advertising great and how IAB and its members can be part of it.
Consumer attention is shifting to mobile and video is a tremendous opportunity for brands to connect with people. Great advertising stirs desire but mobile advertising isnt yet hitting the mark. Leonel Silva, director: Media Partnerships EMEA at Celtra, Inc. will show how mobile brand storytelling can adapt to drive the return on investment advertisers seek, using powerful examples and highlighting global best practice.
Creating verified, authentic content
Melissa Attree, creative director for Ogilvy PR will unpack the key trends that will disrupt the content marketing space over the next year.
Lunga Ngcime, Digital Marketing lead for Unilever Africa will provide up to the minute examples on how a brand of Unilevers scale and reach into Africa approaches content in a mobile connected world.
Measuring digital success
Ryan Smit, head of Measurement for the IAB Measurement Council, feels that investment in digital will only thrive once we can sustainably measure our return on investment. He will anticipate the future direction of digitised media measurement.
Jessy Severins, Monetisation Yield & Product manager for eBay Classifieds Group, will use her experience in managing the programmatic and platform-driven revenue channels of Gumtree.co.za and Mexico-based Vivanuncios.com.mx to discuss the trends which will shape the media industry in the next five years.
The new face of radio and TV
Traditional media is not dead, but is undergoing tectonic shifts in the face of the digital revolution. Thabo Molefe (Tbo Touch), Touch Central co-founder believes the future of radio lies in digital, and will bring the numbers and insights from his renowned #datamustfall campaign to prove it.
Television is also more interactive than ever before. Fahmeeda Cassim Surtee, group marketing and sales director DStv will use the widely successful case of the show Our Perfect Wedding to show what happens when digital marries TV.
The IAB Digital Summit, powered by Accenture Interactive, will be held on 16 March 2017 at The Galleria in Sandton from 9am until 3:30pm. Standard, non-member Summit tickets cost R1,950 while IAB SA members can get their tickets for R1,690. Bookmark Awards tickets are on sale for R1,090 for both the awards and after party or R450 for the after party only.
To book tickets and for more information on the IAB Digital Summit & Bookmarks click here.
According to the PayProp Rental Index , the average rental in South Africa breached the R7,000 threshold ending Q4 2016 at R7,062.91. The quarterly PayProp Residential Rental Index is drawn from the actual payment data of 1,000 rental agencies administering 85,000 active leases.
PayProp Group CEO Louw Liebenberg says that the highest percentage growth for the quarter was recorded in December 2016, when average rentals were 7% higher than the same month the previous year. The jump to 7% is even more significant as historically the highest growth months have been October and November.
As average rental values increase, so it is usual to see a migration from the lower to higher rental price categories. The largest jump in the final quarter was in the >R15,000 category where the proportion of all rentals grew from 4.8% to 5.9%.
Western Cape takes the lead
The Western Cape improved on its steady +9% growth rates to breach the double digits and hit 10. 99%. On the other end of the spectrum, the Northern Cape continued to decline to just 2.11% from a high of 16.74% in 2015.
Liebenberg says that Limpopo is the most interesting province to watch as for several years the province topped the ranks with the highest average rental. This was largely due to an industrial development boom in the area which led to soaring demand for rentals fuelled by limited stock availability. It was like the switch was flicked towards the end of 2014 and construction stopped, mines had strikes and ancillary businesses closed causing a plummet in the growth rates, says Liebenberg. Surprisingly, 2016 saw the province return to steady growth so much so that it is now the province boasting the fastest growing average rental rate.
Owners in the pound seat
Once rental property costs are taken into account, net yields on investment properties still show growth. A growth rate up to 5.3% from 4.8% at the beginning of 2015 bodes well for the investor community. While gross yields grew six basis points, net yields only grew five points indicating that the cost of owning a property has increased marginally faster than the growth of rentals.
Tenants remain cautious
While average declared income remained flat, there was a drop in the amount required by creditors for debt repayment, from R11,430 per month in January 2015 to R10,772 at the end of the year. This means that instead of spending 37% of their disposable income on debt, tenants now spend 35%. The patterns we are seeing in tenant behaviour mirrors what is being reported with regards to subdued tenant expenditure over the festive season by consumers. Tenants seem to have curbed spending and spent within their means, which is an extremely encouraging metric, says Liebenberg.
The business world has increasingly started to shift focus to Africa, and with global hotel companies aggressively expanding on the continent, this is possibly most evident in the hospitality sector. According to Alex Kyriakidis, ?president, Middle East and Africa, Marriott International, they have looked to the promise of the Middle East and Africa region for a good few years now.
Alex Kyriakidis
Our presence in the Middle East is now substantial and constantly growing, and we began a rollout of new properties in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2014, with the acquisition of South African-based Protea Hotels. That move immediately projected us into the top spot in terms of hotel companies presence on the continent. The more recent acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts has provided Marriott with an even greater footprint in Africa.
Kyriakidis points to the significant change in parts of the sub-continent, where particular countries are enjoying political stability, and are free of conflict, for the first time in recent years. This allows for economic growth and a consequent increase in business travel. At the same time, the international leisure traveller has demonstrated enthusiasm for visiting many parts of the continent, too.
Air access
Increasing travel within and into the continent is heavily dependent on air access, and many airlines have added new flights to various parts of the sub-continent. However, there is still room for increasing air access even further.
Population growth in Africa is significant increasing by over 30 million people a year and in certain parts of the continent, this comes together with increasing wealth. A new middle class is emerging, offering great potential for the hospitality industry in the years to come. This is a new market for both regional travel and for outbound travel from the continent.
Diversified economies
We are also seeing a realisation among some governments that they need to diversify their economies so that they do not continue to rely so heavily on resources. They understand the benefits that tourism can bring, Kyriakidis says, noting, in particular, the stance of Rwanda, a state which is welcoming business and opening up significantly to tourism.
New markets
The latest plans for expansion on the continent certainly reflect Marriotts confidence in the region. South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya are earmarked for substantial new hotel developments, and the company is also looking at opportunities in new markets such as Madagascar, Mauritius and Senegal.
Our presence is geared to provide accommodation and business conferencing facilities to a wide variety of market segments, Kyriakidis continues, explaining that, the growth will happen in major gateway cities, commercial centres, as well as in resort destinations.
An announcement is expected soon about a new Marriott-branded venue in South Africa, which remains at the forefront of Marriotts African presence.
Analysis of sentiment based social media points to the unpopularity of proposed Trump policies such as the border wall and the so-called Muslim ban' contrary to findings of traditional polling.
President Trump has been quick to point out the polls which seem to be in favour of his immigration crackdown.
A Morning Consult/Politico poll, which Trump tweeted out early February, showed that 55% of Americans supported the travel ban with only 33% explicitly disapproving the suspension of immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations.
While some polls have shown a slight disapproval overall of the executive order, others seem to concur with the popularity shown by Trumps preferred poll.
Reuters have shown 49% approval; Rasmussen 57% approval; but then a CBS News poll showed 51% in opposition.
Two conclusions thus emerge the polls are scattered, but a vague pattern of a split country does emerge from the traditionally sourced data.
Intriguingly, social media paints a starkly different picture a picture worth viewing when one considers the credibility earned by social media analytics in defying the polls to call both Brexit and Trumps victory.
And such a source shows massive disapproval of the travel ban, which has been suspended by US federal courts.
A revised version is, however, expected imminently with Trump set to drop Iraq from the list of banned countries, as well as an indefinite ban of all Syrian refugees. The temporary halt on admission of all refugees is set to remain. It remains to be seen how the revisions will affect public sentiment.
For now, not only in the US, but in other countries affected by the US, or undergoing similar debate, it would appear that social media users are overwhelmingly negative about the ban.
What is important to remember with social media is that you can only analyse data from those individuals willing to share an opinion, and as a result findings can be exaggerated. That said what is clear from our analysis is that there is a huge amount of negative sentiment towards both the immigration order and the wall.
Data was collected from mid-January into early February, and paints a vastly different picture for Trump as compared to the polls:
This pattern is repeated in online conversations concerning the proposed border wall between the US and Mexico (for which Trump requires approval from Congress).
In general, American polling has been similar concerning the border wall as the immigration ban as with all conventional polling, samples and wording of questions offer massive fluctuations, but the country seems to be split down the middle with regards to the wall, with many in favour.
This would seem logical considering it was Trumps signature issue and he did ultimately win the US election.
But again, social media points to a current dynamic of opposition to building a border wall.
As can be seen from the data, with border walls being less controversial than travel bans (slightly), the amount of opposition is not as overwhelming as that against the travel ban. Nevertheless, once again, a Trump policy is underwater according to social media sentiment.
While social media is more pronounced in its swings than polling, the data should give Trump pause for thought it is clear he is facing a massive onslaught of resistance against his presidency and its signature issues.
While he was quick to dismiss polling that moved against him in the election (and was somewhat vindicated then by his victory), he would do well to remember that scepticism when faced also with positive polling which no longer seems to give analysts a full picture of the political environment.
Over and over again, traditional polling has been shown up in our roiling global political climate.
In what many pundits are labelling either a post-truth, post-facts, or post-trust era depending on their own political positions terms such as Muslim ban or border wall become less about identifying issues of debate than lightning rods for political sentiment tribal totems almost.
For example, Muslim ban plays much differently to a temporary suspension of refugees from seven war-torn countries which hold significant terror threats. Yet Muslim ban, despite Trumps clarifications, was generally how social media understood the order.
The same goes for border wall which can conjure up images of xenophobia, or security against illegal immigrants and terrorists, or simply repairing an existing border fence, again depending on what sentiment you bring to the discussion.
In such an environment, polls which are so dependent on the wording of their questions become clumsy in identifying shifts between the political tribes. In other words, in a heavily divided country, polls battle to cut through the layers of vitriol because they presuppose generally agreed upon terms.
Social media, on the other hand, with its freely volunteered information-scape, provides much needed balance to any understanding of the swirling sentiments of the various electorates of the world. In short, it tracks conversation in real-time, and in a non-laboratory environment.
Particularly in the US, where Trump is up-ending conventional patterns of debate, data from sentiment drive social media is going to be crucial in understanding public response to the worlds most controversial political figure.
In a petition, WWF South Africa is calling on Eskom to expedite the use of renewable energy in the country as part of this year's Earth Hour campaign.
Earth Hour is an annual global event, during which people are encouraged to switch off their lights on the last Saturday in March from 8.30pm to 9.30pm local time as a symbolic gesture marking the environmental challenges facing the planet.
This year, WWF-SA has decided to go one step further for Earth Hour by asking citizens to sign a petition addressed to Eskom, which has been stalling over the implementation of renewable energy contracts.
REIPPPP contracts
Since 2016, Eskom has refused to sign further contracts under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) which would put more renewable energy on the grid.
Renewable energy will not only reduce carbon emissions, but can also be scaled up and deployed quickly to match the countrys need for energy far quicker than large coal and nuclear new builds.
Unblock the hold-up
Dr Morne du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa, comments: In order to avoid the extreme impacts of runaway climate change, we need to reduce our carbon emissions urgently by introducing more renewable energy into the energy mix. Yet, the bulk of South Africas carbon emissions come from electricity generated by fossil fuels such as coal and oil. This has to change.
We know that Eskom has the power to unblock this hold-up, and thus enable all the socio-economic and environmental benefits that will result from the renewable energy programme. By signing this petition, South Africans will be calling on the utility to exercise this power for the greater good of all.
WWF-SA urges all its supporters to go to www.wwf.org.za/earthhour to sign the petition before Earth Hour which takes place on 25 March this year.
Applications for the 7th edition of the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East (OSVPAM) are being accepted until 6 June 2017 on the Orange Social Venture Prize pages of the website, www.EntrepreneurClub.orange.com.
Image by 123RF
As in previous years, the OSVPAM will be awarded to innovative projects which make use of information and communication technologies to improve living conditions for the peoples of Africa and the Middle East in fields such as health, finance, education and agriculture.
New for this 7th edition, the competition will start with a national phase during which each of Oranges 17 participating subsidiaries will examine projects submitted in its country and will designate three winners.
The next phase will be an international one in which the winners of each country 51 in all will compete before an international panel of judges for the OSVPAM Grand Prize, with three winners receiving their awards during the AfricaCom Awards Ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, on 8 November 2017. In addition to national prizes, the three international winners will receive 25,000 euros, 15,000 euros and 10,000 euros respectively, along with support from professionals in start-up creation and funding.
OSVPAM is open to any student, employee or entrepreneur over the age of 21 whose initiative is less than three years old and who lives in Botswana, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Niger, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Tunisia, Jordan, Liberia or Burkina Faso.
Bruno Mettling, deputy chief executive officer of the Orange group and CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, commented: With a record 750 candidates in 2016, the success of the OSVPAM prize with entrepreneurs in Africa and the Middle East speaks for itself. This year, 17 countries in which we operate will recognise three winners, the better to promote the local start-up ecosystem, in addition to the winners at the international level. This is our way of reaffirming our ambition of becoming a major partner, in particular by showcasing innovation that serves people.
Global multinationals throughout Africa are increasingly filling their top leadership teams with executives from the continent a move away from the historical trend of appointing mostly expats to key positions.
Debbie Goodman-Bhyat
Research into the leadership landscape in key economic hubs in Africa, conducted for the latest Jack Hammer Executive Report, shows that local leaders make up the vast majority of executive teams of multinational organisations in Africa. Only 35% of executives in the leadership teams surveyed were expats and, of these, 30% were expats from other African countries.
The findings indicate that, contrary to some perceptions, there is indeed a notable pool of local talent ready and able to take up senior leadership roles, and that companies are increasingly willing to take the step to do so, instead of merely jetting in leaders from head offices around the world, says Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, CEO of Jack Hammer, rated one of the top three executive search firms in South Africa.
The soon to be released annual Jack Hammer Executive Report Volume IV, The Africa Report, researched the makeup of the executive teams of 36 multinational companies which successfully navigated expansion and growth in Africa, including General Electric, Siemens, Unilever, Microsoft, Coca Cola and Procter & Gamble.
The research was conducted by Jack Hammers Africa Desk, and interrogated several key data points among the top leadership in these companies, including qualifications, salaries, roles and leadership pipelines, gender transformation and individual track records.
We can say with great certainty that this research has debunked the notion that multinationals would rather not appoint local leaders to key roles, says Goodman-Bhyat.
But companies still fill at least one of the two key leadership positions with an expat, although the gap is closing, she noted.
The research shows that 58% of companies had an expat as chief financial officer (or equivalent) and 61% of companies had an expat as CEO (country head or equivalent).
It is not surprising that 61% of CEOs are still expats, given the reality that companies still elect the safe, tried and tested approach when making their most senior appointments. Yet the 39% of companies that have made a local appointment to the most senior position shows that businesses are increasingly recognising the benefit of selecting a suitably qualified executive who understands the local context to head their operations in Africa, says Goodman-Bhyat.
As an aside, it was also very interesting to note that in South Africa, even with its perceived well-developed talent pool, the number of expats were roughly comparable to the spread throughout other African countries surveyed, she says
Goodman-Bhyat says that research further shows that the local executives who occupied the top positions had carefully navigated their careers right from the start, and held advanced qualifications in strong technical or financial fields, as well as having built a solid track record either at another multinational or abroad.
But she says that too many companies still make leadership decisions based on inaccurate information - and even on outright myths - and then must manage the fallout from costly mistakes.
Expanding into Africa and growing a sustainable business is no longer an unknown, obscure exercise although some companies still approach it as such. Knee-jerk stop-gaps for key appointments are no longer appropriate or necessary, and it is time for business to stop, think and figure out a coherent strategy for building their leadership teams, particularly given the well-developed and growing pool of suitably qualified and experienced local leaders.
BARCELONA - The smartphone revolution is poised to go onto the next level - with "superphones" equipped with artificial intelligence now on the horizon.
Image by 123RF
By learning their owners' habits, these new phones will be able to carry out tasks even when they're offline.
During a first phase only high-end smartphones will use the technology, like the new models unveiled by China's Huawei at the Mobile World Congress, the phone industry's largest annual trade fair, which opened Monday in Barcelona.
But the technology is quickly gaining ground. More than 300 million smartphones - or roughly a fifth of units sold worldwide - will have the function in 2017, according to Deloitte.
"It is one of the key areas we are investing in. After the smartphone, we will have the 'superphone' thanks to artificial intelligence," said Vincent Vantilcke, marketing director for Huawei in France.
South Korea's LG and Finland's Nokia both announced in Barcelona that they would use Google's voice assistant - which uses artificial intelligence to answer users' questions - in their newest handsets.
"Every big company in the sector is investing all their research and development on this," Gartner analyst Annette Zimmermann said.
Today most smartphones run their applications by consulting data stored in external servers, known as the cloud. But the arrival of faster processors will allow smartphones to use data already stored on the device - much like a human brain does to translate words or recognise images.
"You teach a computer to analyse specific data, make sense of this data and act on it," Zimmermann said.
In the future "smartphones will almost make a decision before you do. When you go somewhere, it knows where you want to go" based on your usual habits, said Dexter Thillien, an analyst at BMI Research.
California-based start-up Neura has developed a system of artificial intelligence that can decode a smartphone user's daily patterns of behaviour.
To do this it combines data gathered by the handset's GPS tracker, the speed at which the phone owner is walking and other elements with algorithms. It then generates insights about users' past and present actions and predictions about what they will do next.
Neura says its technology can be used to enable smarter healthcare, cars, music services and homes by constantly updating their portraits of user behaviour patterns. With the new technology, a smartphone will be able to know whether its owner is "running to catch a bus or because he is jogging", said Neura head Gilad Mieri.
The phone can then wait for the right moment to send its user a notification -- for example a reminder to take medication.
Machine-learning enhanced phones will focus mainly on voice recognition, translation and image recognition, said Ariane Bucaille, a tech specialist at Deloitte. This will enable a smartphone to give a user directions without an internet connection, she said.
Smartphones with artificial intelligence "will play an even more crucial role in people's lives. It is another revolution," Bucaille said.
At the moment, the new technology is still being developed. "Where the profit comes from, that's still a big question," Gartner's Zimmerman said.
Further down the line, tech firms plan to use AI in other products, such as driverless cars, Thillien said. However, privacy concerns may throw up a roadblock to the technology.
A new European Union data protection law which comes into effect in 2018 contains "very restrictive" rules to prevent algorithms from making decisions on their own, Thillien said. But Bucaille argues that smartphones with AI are actually safer because they do not store information on external servers.
This may ultimately act as a disincentive for tech firms to develop AI for smartphones, as their business models so often rely on gathering and using data from users, said Mouloud Dey, director of innovation at SAS in Paris.
Source: AFP.
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On February 28, the 39 detainees 34 from Paung township jail and 5 from Mottama township jail were taken to Kyaikmaraw Prison. All 39 are still awaiting trial.
Acting on directions from the human rights commission, we are going to repair the [lockup] cells, said U Sein Win, deputy chief of Paung Township Police Station. If the detainees from Paung township are given prison terms, they will likely be sent to Thaton Prison. For now, due to space problems at Thaton Prison, we have temporarily taken them to Kyaikmaraw Prison.
The repairs at the Paung Township Police Lockup are scheduled to be completed on March 15, according to a station officer.
U Khin Myint, assistant supervisor of Kyaikmaraw Prison, confirmed the transfer.
We received a letter notifying us that they would transfer the detainees to our prison one week in advance as they are repairing the lockup, he said.
The detainees were arrested in relation to car accidents and lacking licenses to operate motor vehicles, according to deputy police chief U Sein Win.
Translated by Aong Jaeneh
Edited by Laignee Barron for BNI
Justin Trudeau Has Always Been A Hot Property Pulse oi-Syeda Farah
Justin Trudeau is the Canadian Prime Minister who has been winning hearts around the world. After Donald Trump's new rules and policies, Justin Trudeau has been welcoming the migrants of US to his country.
There are many feathers to his cap, as he has been working towards the betterment of humanity.
Here are some of the pictures of Justin Trudeau of his teenage days that are surely stealing a lot of hearts world over. These are the pictures that are shared by some of his fans. Check them out, as they are a proof as to what a hot property he has been since his teen days!
Don't you think he really looks hot! Do share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 17:15 [IST]
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A Lotte Mart in Beijing, Feb 28, 2017. [Photo/China Daily]
Beijing has strongly urged Seoul to halt the installation of an advanced United States anti-missile system, and called on the South Korean conglomerate involved to comply with Chinese laws.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Sun Jiwen made the remarks at a press conference, as Chinese people expressed anxiety and anger online about the Republic of Korea's planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.
It's radar is reportedly able to cover parts of China and Russia.
On Tuesday, the ROK signed a land swap deal with retail giant Lotte Group to allow the missile shield to go ahead. The deployment process is expected to be completed between May and July, according to ROK local media.
Sun said that the ROK's THAAD deployment plan not only gravely undermined China's strategic security interests, but also hurt the two countries' bilateral cooperation.
He called on ROK to "stop going further on the wrong path".
"We understand the legitimate concerns of the relevant parties in maintaining their own safety, but one country's security should not come at the sacrifice of another," Sun continued.
Quite a few Chinese people and homegrown firms expressed their opposition to Lotte's products and services.
Responding to the community anger, Sun said that the government welcomed all foreign companies, including those headquartered in ROK, to do business in China, and will always protect their legitimate rights.
"But the premise is that the enterprises must comply with Chinese laws," Sun added.
The retail giant has over 150 hypermarket outlets in China. It reported a sluggish retail business in the Chinese market last year, with its sales growth shrinking by 14 percent year-on-year.
People are weary of the angry, hateful rhetoric and violence and many have just tuned out any political or current event discussions. Its just better not to hear it, they say, than to have to deal with it.
PR Newswire
ROHNERT PARK, Calif., March 2, 2017
ROHNERT PARK, Calif., March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) at their annual conference on February 17, 2017 awarded Sonoma County Distilling Company, CA their most prestigious award to date. The whiskey-focused craft distillery was awarded BEST OF CLASS- WHISKEY and a GOLD Medal for their Sonoma Straight Rye Whiskey Cask Strength. This is the first major award for the distillery who produces rye, wheat and bourbon whiskeys in the heart of Sonoma County.
This year, entries were submitted from 39 states across the country in six main categories: Whiskey, Gin, Rum, Vodka & Grain Spirits, Brandy, and Specialty Spirits. In addition to the Best of Class Distinctions, the judging panel awarded 20 Gold, 66 Silver, and 222 Bronze medals. The complete list of winners is available on the ACSA website, www.americancraftspirits.org.
Sonoma County Distilling's Rye Whiskey is made without corn or barley to highlight a pure rye profile. Double-distilled in traditional copper pots stills over a direct-fire, then placed in new charred American oak barrels, the whiskey is aged no less than two years, and no additional proofing was done to release this bottling at cask strength.
"This is our biggest award so far and I thank everyone who made this happen. There's so much gratitude for the hard work of our team and the family of people who support us. We take this award home to proudly display in our tasting room as a reminder of why we do what we do each day. Every aspect of our distillation process is done in-house with intention and authenticity. We take great pride in how our whiskeys are crafted, striving for them be a reflection of our roots in California, and more importantly, capitalizing on the amazing terroir of Sonoma County." -Adam Spiegel, Owner/Head Distiller, Sonoma County Distilling Company
About Sonoma County Distilling CompanyFounded in 2010, Sonoma County Distilling Company is now considered one of the pioneers in craft whiskey-making in California. The distillery practices a grain to glass philosophy with production handled in-house including the milling, mashing and fermentation, direct-fired copper alembic pot distillation, American oak barrel aging, bottling and labeling. They are distributed in nine states and fifteen countries. For more information, visit www.SonomaCountyDistilling.com.
About American Craft Spirits Association ACSA is a registered non-profit member-owned trade group representing the U.S. craft spirits industry and was created to elevate and advocate for the community of craft spirits producers. Members vote for the fifteen democratically elected representatives who make up the Board of Directors, and this Board collectively works to govern the ACSA in a transparent, responsive manner and in accordance with their bylaws. For more information, visit www.americancraftspirits.org.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonoma-county-distilling-company-takes-home-top-honors-at-acsa-2017-300417316.html
SOURCE Sonoma County Distilling Company
CANNON BALL, N.D. The original pipeline protest camp on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation closed Wednesday, as the Bureau of Indian Affairs encouraged people to go home rather than be found trespassing.
The final campers left the Sacred Stone Camp after days of hurried cleanup that followed a warning from the BIA that the campers were trespassing on land majority-owned in trust for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The camp on the reservation is just south and near the main protest camp called Oceti Sakowin that was on Army Corps of Engineers land and cleared out last week.
The Rev. John Floberg, an Episcopal priest on Standing Rock, who was in the Sacred Stone camp over the past few days, said people left after notice from the BIA because they wanted to go on their own terms.
"People saw Oceti go up in flames and they were determined that not happen at Sacred Stone," Floberg said. "They knew what the boundary was, and they respected the boundary that was set."
About 150 people left during the day on Tuesday, and the final 25 left on Wednesday, he said. Most people moved out of the area with the help of some weekend fundraising for bus tickets and gas cards. Some went to the powwow grounds in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, where the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has invited people to stay.
"The people at Sacred Stone worked exceedingly hard to do as much as they possibly could in breaking down that camp, preserving property, preserving the land, preserving as best they could relations on Standing Rock," he said.
Over the past several days, campers took down the yurts and some other structures, Floberg said. Other donations and tepees are left there, and the tribe is expected to help gather them and clean up remaining debris.
The protesters' move came after the BIA handed out a final notice of trespass to campers remaining at Sacred Stone on Monday. They were first alerted they were trespassing on Feb. 15. According to the BIA, founder Ladonna Allard's family owns a third share in the land, and the federal government owns the rest in trust for the tribe.
The camp was founded in April in opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline. For the first several months, it had the support of the tribe. In recent months, Allard spoke of turning the quasi-village into an "eco-camp to teach people to live on Earth again" and offer some services to the town of Cannon Ball.
But in January, the tribe asked the BIA for help getting the protesters to leave the Cannon Ball area, where community members passed a resolution against the campers. Many locals were frustrated with the closure of the Backwater Bridge, use of the local gym and alcohol and drug use in the area, though some also supported the camps.
Allard did not respond to a phone and text message for comment on Wednesday. A BIA spokeswoman also did not respond to a request for comment.
Cannon Ball District Chairman Robert Fool Bear said his community was happy to hear the camp was closed. He expects the Seventh Generation/Blackhoop camp, which has also received a trespass notice, will meet a similar fate soon.
"We just need to get back to doing what we were doing prior to all of this," Fool Bear said.
The Billings Gazette and Arts Without Boundaries are recognizing outstanding high school seniors in the Billings area for their contributions to the arts. Over the course of the 2016-17 school year, Enjoy will feature high school seniors who are recipients of a $100 scholarship, awarded by Arts Without Boundaries, a nonprofit group that promotes the arts in K-12 schools.
WASHINGTON Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke arrived on horseback for his first day of work Thursday.
The morning after his swearing-in ceremony, the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL joined the U.S. Park Police at their stables on the National Mall. He rode a 17-year-old Irish sport horse named Tonto through downtown Washington to the Interior Department's headquarters. Nine park police also on horseback accompanied him.
"Secretary Zinke was proud to accept an invitation by the U.S. Park Police to stand shoulder to shoulder with their officers on his first day at Interior," said Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift.
The Hill reported that he "wore a cowboy hat, boots and jeans for the Thursday morning ride, which preceded a welcoming event in the lobby of the building."
Zinke and Interior Twitter accounts posted photos. There he is in a black cowboy hat astride a brown bay roan gelding that stands just over 17 hands tall, a bus and typical morning traffic in the background.
At the department, hundreds of federal workers greeted Zinke, including an Office of Indian Affairs employee from the Northern Cheyenne tribe from Montana who played an honor song on a hand drum.
Can Zinke do for horses what Joe Biden did for trains? The former vice president and senator famously commuted to his home in Delaware by train for decades.
While Zinke's urban horse ride is unlikely to become a daily ritual, he seems committed to preserving his image as an avid outdoorsman. He wears a bright orange ballcap and hunting vest in the bio photo of his new @secretaryzinke Twitter account. And he has already retweeted a photo showing him and his wife at Glacier National Park.
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Zinke's nomination to lead Interior on a 68-31 vote. Montanas U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican, both voted to confirm Zinke.
Zinke was sworn in Wednesday afternoon. The Whitefish native is the first Montanan in U.S. history to serve in a presidential Cabinet.
The Senate confirmation triggered Zinke's resignation from Congress and a May 25 special election to replace him.
The Interior Department oversees 400 million acres of public land, mostly in the West.
Atom Smasher Exposes Hole in Earths Defenses: The Large Hadron Collider... could induce a catastrophic event. A brilliant review of the risks... by University of North Dakota law professor Eric Johnson... creat[ion of] a microscopic black hole that would... swallow the Earth.... The LHC might generate one black hole per second.... The physics community... [said that] even if a black hole were created... it would... evaporate harmlessly.... [and that] high-energy cosmic rays... collide.... If those collisions were going to create a black hole, then Earth would already be gone.... [But] when a cosmic ray rocketing toward Earth collides with a particle, the result of the collision would most likely be blasted into space... a black hole... well beyond our galaxy before it is large enough to harm anything. In the LHC... the result... might stay put and cause significant trouble....
Oxford Universitys Toby Ord, a philosopher... estimates that the odds of the LHC producing a disaster are between one in 1,000 and one in 1 million.... The possibility climbs ever higher that the fondest dreams of scientists might entail risks of planetary destruction.... How can we know that things we do not understand will not kill us?... [If] the U.S. wanted to stop the LHC experiment, it would have no recourse short of military action...
NEW DELHI (PTI): India and Oman on Wednesday explored ways to enhance cooperation between their navies during talks Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba had with top defence brass of the strategically important Gulf nation.
Lanba, who arrived in Oman on the second leg of his two-nation tour, called on Oman's Defence Minister Bader al Busaidi and held extensive discussions with Commander of Royal Navy of Oman, Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Raisi.
The two sides deliberated on ramping up cooperation between their navies in the backdrop of the fast evolving security scenario in the region, government sources said.
The Chief of Navy Staff also held talks with Chief of Royal Air Force of Oman Mattar Al Obaidani on issues of strategic interests to both the countries.
Lanba, during his two-day trip to the country, is also scheduled to visit the Sultan Qaboos Naval Academy and the Said Bin Naval Base.
On the first leg of his trip, Lanba visited UAE where he met top echelons of the country's defence establishment and discussed ways to bolster strategic partnership between the two countries.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After reading the news of federal funding being cut from Assiniboine Community Colleges English Language Program in the newspaper on Wednesday, an entire class of ESL students marched down Rosser Avenue to The Brandon Suns newsroom to make sure their voices were heard.
The class of about 16 students spontaneously broke from their afternoon studies and arrived on The Brandon Suns doorstep some teary-eyed, some angry eager to share their stories about how the proposed cuts would affect them.
I was so angry, so shocked when I first heard (about the funding cuts), ESL student Eyerusalem Gebremariam said. (The class) is so helpful for me to improve my language and also to look for jobs.
Colin Corneau/The Brandon Sun Students from Assiniboine Community Colleges English Language Program make their way along Rosser Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. The students face a sudden disruption of their learning due to federal government cuts to language training.
Gebremariam arrived in Brandon two months ago from Ethiopia. She earned a degree in accounting in her home country, and is working to upgrade her English to qualify for jobs in customer service or reception.
Newcomers need to complete a certain amount of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) levels in order to attain Canadian citizenship, better paying employment and post-secondary education.
Westman Immigrant Services provides CLB levels 1 through 4, while ACC teaches CLB levels 5 through 8.
At Level 4, immigrants can apply for Canadian citizenship, but their job prospects remain low.
Nataliya Kulyaba, who came to Brandon from Ukraine in 2014, is also working toward her Level 8 so she can apply for ACCs Practical Nursing program despite having already practised as a nurse in Ukraine for 11 years.
I am so close to my dream and after today, I dont know I dont know what will happen, Kulyaba said. (Nursing) has been my dream from childhood I just want to help people.
Kulyaba said at the rate shes going now, it would take about four years to get up to the point where she can apply to the nursing program, at which point she would sit on about a two-year waiting list to take the two-year program.
The cuts to ESL classes will severely increase her timeline, she said.
It will be impossible to study everything we did before Ill stay at the same level. Its not enough, Kulyaba said, wiping tears from her eyes. I have to work my family doesnt have a high income, my husband and me have to work.
The ESL Program Funding for Canadian Language Benchmarks levels 5 to 8, which is only offered at ACC, is projected to be slashed from $730,000 to $190,000 at the hands of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The cuts are expected to be effective March 31 and will result in an approximate 85 per cent reduction in class offerings, including the cancellation of Friday and Saturday classes, as well as evenings in addition to downsizing eight instructor positions to one.
Student capacity will also be brought down from 600 to a maximum of 100 students, despite enrolment steadily increasing. Currently, there are about 500 students enrolled in the program.
Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire condemned the governments actions as inexcusable, adding that he shares the concerns of teachers and the community-at-large about the cuts to the program.
This is just another example of how the Liberals are abandoning Westman, Maguire said in an emailed statement. When Parliament resumes next week, I will be asking for a meeting with the minister of Citizenship and Immigration and ask for this decision to be reversed.
Maguire said it is imperative that newcomers have the language skills to get an important job, support their family and become self-sufficient.
If the possibility is not available for these individuals to acquire these language skills, they wont succeed in retaining a job and therefore will need various other forms of government financial assistance, which I would argue will cost more in the long run than language training, Maguire said. It is highly irresponsible and short-sighted for the Liberals to accept refugees and then not have the necessary supports for them to fully integrate into our community.
The Brandon Sun once again reached out to the IRCC for comment, but did not receive a response regarding the funding cuts by press time.
edebooy@brandonsun.com, with files from Jillian Austin
Twitter: @erindebooy
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Ukrainian immigrant Kate Kryvenko has dreams of furthering her education and working at a fulfilling job in her new country.
But a major hurdle she is working to overcome is the language barrier.
I cannot go to (an) interesting job with my level, and I cannot study in the university or college, said Kryvenko, who arrived in Brandon just nine months ago. I stay at home and I speak with my parents and friends in my language. I cannot practise English a lot of (the) time.
What has helped her greatly has been attending English classes in Brandon, first with Westman Immigrant Services, which offers Canadian Language Benchmark levels 1 though 4.
Kryvenko is now at Level 5, and attending Assiniboine Community Colleges English Language Program, which offers levels 5 through 8.
This course gives me a chance to practise every day, she said. I can improve my pronunciation with the teachers.
Kryvenko worked as an accountant in Ukraine, and she is interested in photography.
I dont want to work in (a) shop because its not interesting for me, she said. I just want to take some courses in college, and I need English for this.
As reported in The Brandon Sun Wednesday, the English Language Program is facing drastic cuts that would see the number of teachers cut from eight to one. Student capacity will be brought down from 600 to a maximum of 100 students, despite enrolment steadily increasing.
We are very upset about this situation, Kryvenko said, adding the English courses offered at Brandon University are simply too expensive. I just want to continue studying.
Another ACC ESL student looking to better his life is Fabio Cruz. He has been working in Brandon at Maple Leaf Foods for the past 12 years.
I realized I dont want to keep my life doing the same thing forever, he said. Thats why I decided to take the classes.
His English speaking has improved over the time he has worked in Brandon, but he said he still needs to work on improving his writing and grammar.
His goal is to become a student in ACCs power engineering program.
Maritza Uhia, originally from Colombia, has been in Brandon for six years. She credits the ACC English program for helping her secure a new job as an educational assistant with the Brandon School Division.
ACC opened the door for my life, step by step, she said.
Her English is currently at Level 5, and she would like to complete Level 8 to improve her skills as an EA.
Sometimes I feel I am not sure I know the pronunciation, so I need to keep taking my English class, she said.
For Mingyu Cui, improving her English is imperative in order to qualify for good jobs, but also to converse with her own children two sons, one in Grade 2 and the other in kindergarten.
They are starting learning English as well, and they come home and ask me some word that they heard that they didnt know what it meant, and its just hard for me to tell them that I didnt know either, she said. I need to learn and teach them, because kids learn things fast I think in half a year their English will be much better than me.
Cui came to Brandon from China last August. She is nervous to apply for a job, due to her English skills.
Im afraid I wont understand what my leader or boss will ask me to do and not do my job well, if I dont understand, she said.
ACCs English program has been a great help, and she is currently at Level 6.
If the classes get cut, I wont be able to improve my English, this is the only place I can, she said.
jaustin@brandonsun.com, with files from Erin Debooy
Twitter: @jillianaustin
THEY SAID IT:
Shock, frustration and anger were some of the feelings expressed by students of Assiniboine Community Colleges ESL program on Wednesday.
Here is a look at how the drastic funding cuts will impact them, in their own words:
Even if I want to go to high school, they ask me for Level 8 benchmark. Without certificate or without any diploma or degrees you cant do nothing. Life is very hard.
Asmorom Woldai
I live in Canada, an English country. All the things I need to use English, for example, go to bank, go to shopping, make a phone call. If my house (needs repair) I need to make phone call. Thats why its very, very important. I really, really hope I continue learning English in ACC program.
Mary Yu
Im on maternity (leave) right now. In almost five months, Ill go back to my job. Im the morning worker, so theres no evening class thats a big impact for me.
Eden Wolde
I just started to continue ESL course because I am planning to study Comprehensive Health Care Aide but I read in the newspaper today, in order to start in September, I need to complete English Level 7.
If the government cuts the fund, maybe the class will be changing it really affects my future life and career.
HyunJoo Lee
I felt very sad when I heard this news I have a six-year-old boy and I do reading and homework with him every day. If my English cant continue to improve later, I cant learn with him.
Cuiyu Chen
I went to the Home Depot job fair, and they politely told me if I didnt have Level 7 I couldnt (apply). I still am searching for a job I totally depend on ESL classes to meet my goals. Its crucial.
Hardi Patel
The United States Marshals Service arrested a convicted rapist in Lockwood Wednesday night, more than two months after he walked away from a halfway house in Washington state.
Marshals received information that Kenneth Michael Krause, 26, was traveling from Spokane to North Dakota and would be in the Billings area Wednesday, said Rod Ostermiller, chief deputy U.S. Marshal.
According to the Snohomish (Washington) County Sheriff's Office, Krause was sentenced for rape of a child in 2004 and failure to register as a sex offender in 2013.
Ostermiller said Krause was placed on escape status after leaving the halfway house. An arrest warrant was issued on Dec. 16, 2016, with nationwide extradition.
United States Marshals deputies found Krause in a vehicle traveling on the North Frontage Road in Lockwood just before 10 p.m. He was arrested and booked into the Yellowstone County Detention Facility, where he is held without bond.
Ostermiller said Krause could face additional charges for failing to comply with national sex offender registry requirements.
Krause was scheduled to appear in Yellowstone County Justice Court on Thursday.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A new exhibit entitled Kaleidoscope: Embroidery Through the Ages is now on display at the Daly House Museum.
Curated by the Brandon Embroiderers, the exhibit is a tribute to the art of embroidery, in celebration of Canadas 150th birthday.
In keeping with the theme, the exhibit emphasizes the timeless art of embroidery, while detailing how the art or craft has changed over the last 150 years, according to a press release. Women of all cultures and times have decorated their homes with embroidered household items, and clothing has been lovingly ornamented.
Submitted This traditional-style tablecloth from the 1950s is part of the new exhibit Kaleidoscope: Embroidery Through the Ages, currently showing at the Daly House Museum. The exhibit is a tribute to the art of embroidery in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday.
In the 1950s, thread became very affordable and women bought iron-on patterns and kits as projects, as the museum describes. Lately, embroidery has changed, as new threads and materials are available. What was a decorating practice has become an art on its own. Embroidery is often personalized and used as mementoes and as gifts.
The exhibit illustrates the variety of techniques and highlights cultures such as Japanese, Ukrainian and Chinese. There is a piece from India which was created by men.
When you scan the room from old to new, you can really see how embroidery has changed. Its become much freer, more personalized, more artistic. Much less reliant on rules, kits, and patterns, said co-curator Sylvia Barr.
The exhibit runs until April 22.
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Opinion
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Fuddle Duddle happened two years before I was born, but amazingly enough, its a part of my Canadian history lesson I find quite easy to recall. The prime minister of Canada, leader of our nation in Parliament and in Ottawa, apparently in frustration, mouthed two words, one with an F, and the second word of which started with O. The uproar.
Then, on Dec. 14, 2011, it happened again, when son Justin shouted out the words piece of st when the environment minister criticized Megan Leslie for not attending a conference on climate change, even though the government banned opposition MPs from going. But its not just politicians. Its athletes and movie stars. From the change room to the corner store, it happens to almost everyone. Swearing. Cursing. Cussing. But why? With so much cursing in the world, its amazing it still maintains its effect. There are a lot of words that are offensive, but they arent curse words. Just listen to the lyrics of todays hardcore rap songs and youll hear words that arent swear words, but too many could be deeply offensive. Language experts theorize that swear words have a cluster of characteristics. And while shock and offence may be one, the other is to vent emotion. Swearing also centres on taboos, which is why our colourful language is often about either bathroom activity, bedroom activity or church activity.
Im an emotional curser. Swearer. Im not sure how to describe someone who occasionally uses vulgar language to often emphasis point or communicate more effectively, but that can be me, and it can be shocking. Especially when people are used to my G or PG content on the radio. To switch that to R in a small group or one-on-one can often raise an eyebrow, but more often than not it works. I dont do it just to do it, but it does happen. Not only do I like to think it helps me communicate, but it helps me be honest. And Im not alone. Scientists from the University of Cambridge recently surveyed 276 people about their most commonly used swear words and how often they say or write them. The test also measured the participants honesty with questions about blaming others, cheating at games and taking advantage of people. And surprise, surprise: Those who used salty language the most lied the least. Essentially, if you drop a few F-bombs, youre probably not too worried about making yourself look better in front of other people. Whats more? The benefits of swearing are good, too.
File What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say fuddle duddle or something like that? Former prime minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau, Feb. 16, 1971
It can decrease pain
The emotional release from swearing has been measured, and it turns out that swearing helps relieve pain. It is easier to keep an arm in ice-cold water for longer if you are simultaneously cussing. And those who speak more than one language, report that swearing in their first language is more satisfying and carries a bigger emotional punch. This is why your lips are blue every time you hit your thumb with a hammer. You cant help it. Its one part anger and one part instant pain relief. Think of it as free pain meds courtesy of your foul mouth.
It can help you fit in
In some workplace cultures obscenities can build bonds between employees. Ive also read that swearing can help with bonding. A few blue words, uttered in a good-natured way, indicates and encourages intimacy. Now dont go trying this at your workplace if you just got a job as a secretary in your local church. Again, know your audience!
It can win you an argument
Peppering in profanity can also help you make a stronger, more effective point. However, colourful language used in name-calling is not going to win any argument. And throwing an F-bomb toward the CEO may not be a great idea. However, if one slips out, point him or her to that study that says people who swear are perceived as more trustworthy than those who are less potty-mouthed. And if that doesnt work, tell him youre honestly sorry.
Im not trying to turn every Westman workplace into a foul mouth free-for-all, so remember, for most people, cursing is still something that is frowned upon. It happens from time to time in many situations and is not the end of the world. But anything harassing or degrading or racially sexually offensive is always off-limits and always unacceptable. Were talking the occasional BS, maybe an F flat or a GD here. Stuff that might be uttered in the heat of a Wheat Kings game or a bowling alley between friends. Not an Andrew Dice Clay skit from the 1990s. Dont YouTube it; its beyond offensive by todays standards. And after writing this weeks column, Ill try to do better. Ill only do it when absolutely necessary and Ill try to remember to use words like golly and gee and gosh darn and baloney. Not the same. Kinda like non-alcohol beer, but Ill try. After all, few like a foul mouth at 30,000 feet. Tonight, I get ready to jet off with almost 80 Westman travellers going to Ixtapa on this years Star Jet Vacation with Marlin Travel. And low and behold, cursing made the top 10 worst airplane behaviours this travel season. According to a survey of U.K. vacation travellers (which could easily translate here), the worst culprit on the flight is the person who reclines their seat all the way back, with 63 per cent of travellers choosing them as their most hated fellow passenger. Meanwhile coming in second with 55 per cent of the vote is the armrest hogger who firmly plants their arms on the armrest and never moves it. Are you going on a warm holiday in the coming weeks? Watch out for these bad behaviours. And if youre one of these people, for %^%$# sakes, behave yourself:
Top 10 worst behaviours of plane strangers
Seat recliners (63%)
Armrest hoggers (55%)
Being rude to the cabin crew (53%)
Passengers who bring carry-ons that are too big (49%)
Passengers talking too loudly (43%)
Running to be the first in line to get on the plane (40%)
Constantly getting up to get things from their carry-ons (34%)
Putting their feet in the gaps between chairs (33%)
Swearing without considering who is around them (24%)
Hogging the window and blocking the view (19%)
Rules, rules, rules! OK, now off I go to Mexico. Have a great week and watch for an update next Thursday from my typewriter in the sand. And I wont swear on the plane while putting my seat back and hogging the armrest. Or maybe I will.
JOKE THIS WEEK
Ma was in the kitchen fiddling around when she hollers out: Pa! You need to go out and fix the outhouse!
Pa replies: There aint nuthin wrong with the outhouse.
Ma yells back: Yes there is, now git out there and fix it.
So Pa mosies out to the outhouse, looks around and yells back: Ma! There aint nuthin wrong with the outhouse!
Ma replies: Stick yur head in the hole!
Pa yells back: I aint stickin my head in that hole!
Ma says: Ya have to stick yur head in the hole to see what to fix.
So with that, Pa sticks his head in the hole, looks around and yells back: Ma! There aint nuthin wrong with this outhouse!
Ma hollers back: Now take your head out of the hole!
Pa proceeds to pull his head out of the hole, then starts yelling: &*$% Ma! Help! My beard is stuck in the cracks in the #&@! toilet seat!
To which Ma replies: Hurts, dont it?!
BIRTHDAYS
Tanya Ross Leanne Holovach Bily Nancy Adema Kory Stebeleski Tyler Turner Sami Bishop Tracy Webber Ty Mauws Rich Pentney Becky Fleming Eva Wasney
Tyler Glen is a radio DJ on Star-FM. He writes a weekly column for the Brandon Sun.
Opinion
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
If we try to understand how the First Nations reserve came into being, we come to realize the reasons for the specialized system a separate legal regime, with transfer payments and special entitlements (quote from the column by Brian Giesbrecht, The Brandon Sun, Feb. 28, Reserves An Artificial Creation, But Too Lucrative To Leave Behind).
Reserves were an artificial creation of the federal government. Particularly in Western Canada, reserves find their genesis in the negotiated treaties between the Crown and First Nations peoples. As the courts are increasingly recognizing, the treaties were agreements between the Crown and the First Nations peoples for the purpose of sharing the land, its resources, its use, its economic potential, with immigrants, primarily from Great Britain and Western Europe. who came to settle on First Nations lands (as recognized by law).
Further, the First Nations peoples were guaranteed that they would continue to have access to the land and its resources.
The guarantees and the agreements to share did not last very long.
The influx of (we can use the term foreigners) settlers, business people established the need for land to accommodate them. Land to which First Nations peoples had shared and equal access in accordance with the terms of their respective treaties.
The answer that the Crown came up with was to establish reserves. Corral First Nations peoples onto parcels of land, separate and apart from land envied by settlers, preferably, onto land which had (at that time) no perceived economic value to settlers. Hence, reserves and all the ills that it created.
If we try to understand the history of the negotiated treaties we come to realize the wisdom, insight and vision of First Nations peoples. They recognized that their traditional way of life was over. Therefore, they negotiated into the treaties policies which would help them to adjust to this new way of life and support them while they were making this adjustment. These policies included education, health care, housing to support them in this adjustment and tools, equipment, training to learn and implement the skills necessary to survive in this new economic reality. Policies requested by the First Nations peoples to help them to become a partner in the Canadian social structure and economy. Policies to help them honour the treaties.
The problem was that the Crown, supported by the immigrants to Canada, did not honour its side of the treaties. The wisdom, visions of the First Nations leaders turned into dust.
Reserves became virtual prisons. Language, culture, religious practices were denied. Travel outside reserves controlled by agents of the Crown. Business restricted to on reserve only, particularly when First Nations peoples demonstrated that they could successfully compete with immigrant settlers. Reserve affairs controlled by agents of the Crown.
It is a matter of interpretation whether the Crown tried to assimilate First Nations peoples into the evolving majority white society.
The implemented policies we see: residential schools, the scoop, no voting rights till 1962, loss of treaty status when an individual pursued a professional career, loss of status when joining the armed forces.
The results of the implemented policies we also see.
On the part of Canada, sharing of the land was a failure, supporting First Nations peoples to integrate into the new economic realities was a failure. The primary success Canada had in the past was to create a dependent group of people. Dependent on the reluctant charity of Canadians who through taxes are paying for these failures.
We are entering a new era.
There will continue to be the necessity of dealing with the results of Canadas past failures. A reality that will be with us for a long time.
But the future has not been this bright for First Nations peoples since the negotiations and signing of the treaties.
The courts are finally forcing Canada to honour the treaties. It remains for Canadians to honour our treaties.
ROSEMARIE and
CHESTER LETKEMAN
Brandon
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GIMLI Brandon resident Lt. Joyelle Norris was one of 150 soldiers from 38 Canadian Brigade Group (38 CBG) who took part in Arctic Bison 2017 on Lake Winnipeg from Feb. 17 to 26.
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
While most students look forward to being free of classes during their summer vacation, Emma Hayter is eager to get started on more.
To be fair, Hayters classroom wont be at her regular stomping grounds of Ecole secondaire Neelin High School, but in Japan.
I hope to really immerse myself in the language and the Japanese culturesee a new way of living that I maybe have not experienced before, Hayter said. Its a chance of a lifetime and Im really grateful for the opportunity.
Colin Corneau/The Brandon Sun Neelin High School student Emma Hayter won this year's Adventure Scholarship and is headed to Japan this summer on a cultural exchange.
Hayter is this years recipient of the Deborah and Srdjan Adventure Scholarship.
This is the ninth year former Brandonite Deborah Grant and her husband Srdjan Tanjga have given out the Adventure Scholarship, which includes flights, accommodations, language classes, spending money and any excursions the student might want to take in.
The couple, who now live in New York, created the scholarship when they got married in 2009, setting it up as an alternative to a wedding registry.
We decided that instead of doing a typical registry we wanted to do something to really give back to the communities that we came from, Grant said. Im from Brandon and it hasnt been the typical route that a Brandonite would takewe really have had a lot of people help us along the way.
Every year, they collect applications from students in Brandon and Tanjgas hometown of Belgrade, Serbia, and choose a student from each country to go abroad. Applicants are asked to write an essay about a person, place, thing or time that has impacted their life.
They are looking for someone who is seeking something a little more out of the ordinary, Grant said, adding that Hayters application checked all the boxes.
We wanted someone who is really going to make the most of this, and we saw all of those things in (Emmas) essay. We had some really strong candidates as we do every year, its often a close call between a few different people, Grant said.
Taking both French and Spanish, Hayter said shes always had an interest in languages and plans to continue taking linguistics in university.
I thought that learning Japanese would be a great challenge and Im really interested in the culture, the art and the history of the people, Hayter said. I was also drawn to Japan because of the demeanour of the Japanese people and the kindness that they show toward othersthat really drew me toward travelling there. I want to experience that culture and that way of acting and thinking toward others.
The journey that can start from a simple act of kindness was the focus of her application essay, Hayter said, adding the scholarship has really brought her story full circle.
I specifically wrote about my experience of meeting Roger Hodgson from Supertramp and getting to play violin with him onstage. He showed a lot of kindness toward meand that really influenced me to want to give to others, Hayter said. Simple acts of kindness can have a lasting impact on someone else.
Hayter will spend three weeks in Japan in July. She is the second student to go to Japan through the Adventure Scholarship, Grant said.
Were really excited for Emmaand to start planning her trip for this summer, said Grant. Its just something that we really love and feel very fortunate that were able to offer.
edebooy@brandonsun.com
Twitter: @erindebooy
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2017 (2075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It was a mothers intuition that something wasnt quite right.
Within the first year of Cade Scharffs childhood, his mother, Rita, noticed her boy daze off as if he wasnt present.
Normally, when youre in a daze somebody calls your name and you snap out of it, she said, but with him, it wasnt like that.
Submitted Members of the Virden Oil Capitals surround Cade Scharff after a promotion highlighting Rare Disease Day at one of the clubs Manitoba Junior Hockey League games.
Yet, a pediatrician figured nothing was wrong. People told Rita not to equate her sons development with his older sister Danika, which was speedier by comparison.
It wasnt until kindergarten when a teacher pointed out, accurately, that Cade was having absent seizures a short period of time where a person seems to blank out.
EEG scans confirmed the seizure hunch, and Cade was put on medication.
When his brain wasnt responding properly to the dosages, a geneticist got involved, diagnosing Cade with 15q13.3 microdeletion, a rare genetic disorder caused by several genes missing from chromosome 15.
In Cades case, the boy, now a bubbly 11-year-old, has been slow in his development and faced learning challenges. Medication quieted his seizures to the extent its been a couple months since his last.
Cades diagnosis is considered one of many rare diseases, which ironically happens fairly frequently.
According to the Canadian Organization of Rare Disorders, one in 12 Canadians is living with a rare disease of some kind.
Without the prominent spotlight of other well-known syndromes, people with rare diseases sometimes deal with misdiagnosis, unnecessary surgeries, social isolation and a lack of treatment options.
Cades parents, Rita and Chad, have spent the past three years trying to shine a light on rare diseases like the one Cade is facing.
On Feb. 17, the Scharff family joined the Virden Oil Capitals for the second time to host a game in honour of Rare Disease Day.
Rita had cookies baked to give to Virden schools on Rare Disease Day, the last day of February.
Shes hung up posters around town and handed out jean ribbons to acknowledge the existence of genetic diseases.
All in the hopes of raising awareness, she explains.
I want to know that were not alone.
When Cade was formally diagnosed, around the age of six, Rita felt a sense of relief: They finally knew how to help their son.
Over time, medical professionals upped Cades medication dosage, making his seizures irregular.
Before his current treatment regime, Cade was having absent seizures most commonly when his brain was actively working, like during school.
The seizures tired him out.
During one class, he was trying to write something, and his hand just went down. He said, Im so tired, and he actually fell asleep in class, explained his mother.
Absent seizures is a tough thing to pick up on, because he could be sitting somewhere, and I could be thinking that hes just watching TV, but he could be having one, Rita said. I just try to keep track.
Submitted Cade Scharff, seated, with his family, sister Danika, father Chad and mother Rita.
Developmentally, Cade, a Grade 5 student at Virden Junior High, performs at a grade level a couple years below.
Hes got a lot of strength in his legs but his upper body is lacking.
Through it all, the community of Virden has been understanding, from the adults right down to classmates he sits beside.
The best thing about being in a small town is everybody knows him and nobody makes him feel like hes different, Rita said, appreciatively.
What people in town are noticing, though, is his smile.
Thats what everyone says at the school, Rita said. People will say, Cade came into the office with a big smile on his face.
Hes a good kid; dont get me wrong he has his moments, she adds with a chuckle.
She remembered being asked by a school psychologist what she appreciates about her son.
That hes loving, Rita said. He will go up to you and give you a big hug, hes just a caring kid.
Neither Rita nor her sons medical team know how Cades syndrome will affect him in the future.
She doesnt know how many are diagnosed with the same disease her best guess is a Facebook group of about 900 people affected, in some capacity.
Instead, she knows her family can share their story, raise awareness for rare diseases like theirs, and, through that, develop a network of affected people who can lean on each other for support.
In the meantime, Rita and her husband Chad will strive to do the best they can like any other parent.
We want him to go far when hes older, she said.
ifroese@brandonsun.com
Twitter: @ianfroese
Taoiseach Enda Kenny is in Brussels today for several high-level meetings with European officials ahead of Britain's exit from the UK.
The Taoiseach is meeting with Donald Tusk - head of the European Council, and the political body that steers the direction of EU policy.
The EU has warned Irish mobile phone companies that they cannot avoid new rules to scrap roaming charges.
The warning comes as several major networks indicated they would no longer include data packages as a "core" part of contracts.
Gardai, as part of a joint Garda and PSNI operation investigating the murder of prison officer David Black, have arrested two men in Co. Donegal.
Mr Black, 52, was shot dead by dissident republicans as he drove along the M1 on his way to work at Maghaberry Prison in November 2012.
They have detained a man in his 40s under a European Arrest Warrant and a second man in his late 50s under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939.
Last month, a European Arrest Warrant was obtained for Damien Joseph McLaughlin, aged 40, from Co Tyrone, who was due to stand trial in February on charges that include aiding and abetting his murder but fled while on bail.
McLaughlin had initially been fitted with an electronic tag while on bail but he was permitted by a court to remove it in December 2014 despite strong police objections.
The man in his 40s is due to appear before the High Court in Dublin on foot of a European Arrest warrant tomorrow morning
One man is being held at Letterkenny Garda Station and the other at a Garda Station in Dublin.
Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, from PSNI's Serious Crime Branch, said: "Since his disappearance police have carried out extensive enquiries regarding Mr McLaughlin's whereabouts.
"Throughout this time the PSNI has been liaising closely with An Garda Siochana and (the) arrest demonstrate the benefits of joint working between police forces and other national partner agencies."
Mr Murray added: "Damien McLaughlin is scheduled to appear at Dublin's Central Criminal Court tomorrow."
US President Donald Trump will target a handful of Obama-era green regulations, including a federal coal mining ban and an initiative forcing states to cut carbon emissions, in an executive order as soon as next week, a White House official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress are seeking to unravel former Democratic President Barack Obama's initiatives to combat global climate change, which they say are costly for US business and have hampered drilling and mining without providing any clear benefits.
"Rescinding the federal coal leasing moratorium is part of that executive order, which has lots of different components, including the Clean Power Plan," the White House official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The official said the order was scheduled to come next week.
The Clean Power Plan is Obama's centerpiece initiative to combat climate change, requiring states to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, but it was never implemented due to legal challenges launched by several Republican states.
Legal experts have said Trump could begin the process of killing the regulation by having the Environmental Protection Agency ask the courts to return it to the agency for review, effectively ending its legal defense.
Killing the coal mining ban would be easier. Trump could reverse the ban by asking the Department of Interior to lift it and resume its coal leasing program.
Obama's administration imposed the temporary ban on new federal coal leases in January 2016 as part of a broad environmental and economic review of the program aimed at ensuring lease deals account for coal's contribution to global climate change and yield fair returns to taxpayers.
But it angered some Western state lawmakers and people in the mining industry, who said it stymied development.
Trump has already rolled back some Obama-era green regulations, including the Stream Protection Rule limiting coal mining waste dumping, and the Waters of the US rule that expands the waterways under federal protection.
Reuters
Montanas oil and natural gas producers are a major driver of our states economy, providing thousands of jobs and millions in wages. Additionally, the industry yields millions in revenue to fund schools, infrastructure projects and much more.
But the benefits provided by oil and gas development could be threatened by the Bureau of Land Managements costly methane venting and flaring rule a regulation that could essentially shut down Montanas small producers, while achieving no meaningful environmental impact.
The U.S. House of Representatives has already voted to repeal this rule and the U.S. Senate is set to vote on it soon. Lawmakers should consider the economic harm these regulations would cause to Montana and other oil and natural gas producing states, and vote to repeal it.
Keep it in the ground activists have falsely claimed that if we dont implement the rule, taxpayers will lose out on the revenues from capturing and shipping methane to market. But the truth is that taxpayers, laborers, and local communities will be hurt if this rule goes into effect. With an estimated annual cost of compliance between $110 and $279 million, countless operators will be forced to shut down production. The result? Revenues to state, local, and federal coffers will plummet along with royalty payments to mineral owners.
Importantly, doing away with this rule will do nothing to essential environmental safeguards. The state of Montana already has rules for venting and flaring that have been in place since the 2011. Roughly 90 percent of all natural gas produced as a by-product of oil production is captured at the wellhead and shipped to market.
The Environmental Protection Agency just released new data, which show that methane emissions from oil production across the country have dropped by 17 percent since 2011, specifically because of decreased emissions from venting and flaring.
Meanwhile, methane emissions from exploration and production activities represent just 1.07 percent of total GHG emissions in the U.S. The most ambitious estimates by the BLM anticipate that the venting and flaring rule would only reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by a mere 0.0092 percent.
Political leaders in Montana and the Western states have called for the repeal of this burdensome regulation. Sen. Steve Daines has said the rule comes dangerously close to regulating this industry out of business in the U.S. while New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez noted that development will stagnate and jobs will be lost under the rule. Montana Governor Steve Bullock pointed out that Montana has a long history of supporting conservation of its oil and gas resources and discouraging the venting or flaring of natural gas produced along with oil.
Whats more is that the BLM doesnt have the authority to promulgate this rule. Thats why the states of Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota have filed suit against the agency for federal overreach.
The BLM venting and flaring rule would hurt Montanas small producers and every taxpayer in the state as well. Its time to unravel the anti-oil policies of the former keep it in the ground administration. Its time to do away with the BLM venting and flaring rule.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he will look for talks between the US Congress and the European Union to discuss the impact of Brexit when he is in Washington DC, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell in Brussels.
Speaking in Brussels after a meeting with EU Parliament President Antonio Tajani, Mr Kenny said he will suggest the matter in his talks with US President Trump, vice-President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
When I go to America and I speak with President Trump, vice-President Pence and Speaker Ryan it is important the American Congress should have discussions and have the opportunity to talk things through with the European Union. President Tajani is willing to travel to America and play his part, he said.
Mr Kenny also held meetings with Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, and President Donald Tusk in which he raised Ireland's main concerns about Britain's pending departure from Europe.
We are facing a huge political challenge, but we want an orderly discussion with Britain.
I assured Antonio and Donald Tusk that Ireland will remain a member of the European Union and will address those issues from the position of sitting in with the 27, he said.
I had a good meeting with President Donald Tusk earlier today and we discussed the question of the future of the European Union in particular in relation to brexit and our specific concerns in regard to Northern Ireland, the peace process, and the relationship with the United Kingdom. I met with a number of the Irish MEPs and had a discussion with them, mostly about Brexit and its impact on Northern Ireland and the Peace Process, he said.
Mr Kenny also said yesterday's elections in Northern Ireland formed part of his discussions.
We referred to the fact that elections are taking place there today and we hope to have a conclusiokn to that so we can have an assembly and an executive put together. We will be talking to our British counterparts on that shortly,he added.
"I have made it clear for quite some time now, before these elections, that the Good Friday Agreement contains the opportunity to put in these negotiations language that has already been agreed in internationally binding agreement, that at some future time were that position to arise, that if the people by consent were to form a united Ireland that that could be a seamless transfer as happened in the case of East Germany and West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, he said.
Mr Kenny insisted he wants the wording of the Good Friday Agreement included in any final Brexit deal between the UK and Europe.
For his part, Mr Tajani said the Irish concerns about the peace process and the rentention of trade links with the UK have the full attention of the Parliament.
I understand the deep political, economic and historical ties that link Ireland to the UK. Brexit will be a particular challenge for Ireland and it has two main issues. Ireland must ensure that its economic links to the UK are protected, he said.
Secondly, it must ensure that the terms of the Good Friday Agreement which has given peace in Northern Ireland are included in any future agreement between the UK and the EU.
Both issues will have the full attention of the EU Parliament, he told reporters.
Update 5pm: Talks at the Workplace Relations Commission are continuing this evening, ahead of a planned work-to-rule by nurses next week.
30,000 members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are due to take part in a work-to-rule in hospitals around the country from Tuesday unless significant progress is made before the weekend.
The INMO and SIPTU are both engaging in talks today, to try and find agreement in their dispute over nursing staff recruitment and retention.
Consultant in emergency medicine at Cork university and Mercy hospitals, Chris Luke, says it's difficult to assess how patients will be affected.
"It's hard to predict but I am told there is to be no overtime, there is to be no redeployment from one ward to another, so in a sense a very strict work to rule."
Update 11.13am: SIPTU nursing and midwifery representatives have today accepted an invitation from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to attend talks aimed at addressing the outstanding issues in the sector.
SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said: SIPTU nursing and midwifery representatives will attend talks under the auspices of the WRC.
"They will work as hard as possible to progress the discussions which broke off two weeks ago.
"The discussions will be challenging for all the parties involved and are under a degree of pressure as our colleagues in the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are preparing for industrial action next Tuesday.
Earlier:
Nurses have agreed to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission in their long-running row with the HSE.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says the discussions are expected to begin today - although its work-to-rule remains scheduled go ahead next week.
Around 30,000 nurses and midwives are due to take part in the industrial action from next Tuesday in a row over staff recruitment and retention.
The union's Executive Council will meet again on Saturday to discuss the outcome of the WRC discussions.
Update: Northern Ireland's political leaders have cast their ballots in the region's snap election.
The electorate is returning to the polls to select a new devolved Assembly for the second time in less than a year.
The powersharing coalition executive led by the two largest parties at Stormont - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - collapsed in January.
If the former partners in government are again returned as the main players, they will have three weeks to resolve their multiple differences and form a new administration.
The re-imposition of direct rule from London is on the cards if the post-election talks fail to mend tensions.
DUP leader Arlene Foster voted at Brookeborough primary school in the heart of her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
The former first minister chatted with local people outside and said hello to the gathered media.
Forty miles away, Sinn Fein's northern leader Michelle O'Neill filled out her ballot paper in St Patrick's primary school in her home village of Clonoe, Co Tyrone.
She was joined by daughter Saoirse and son Ryan. He has just turned 18 and was voting for the first time.
"It's great that so many people are coming out to vote," said Mrs O'Neill.
The Ulster Unionists and nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which have presented themselves as an alternative cross-community partnership, are bidding to wrest control away from the fractious former allies.
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt was accompanied by wife Lynda Bryans and son Peter as he voted at Gilnahirk primary school in east Belfast, while SDLP leader Colum Eastwood arrived at the Model Primary School in Londonderry with wife Rachael and his young daughter Rosa.
"It's a dry day so hopefully that will mean a high turnout," said Mr Nesbitt.
Mr Eastwood said: "This is a very important election. I think it's probably the most important election since the Good Friday Agreement."
Leader of the cross-community Alliance Party, Naomi Long, voted along with her husband Michael at St Colmcille's parochial house in the east Belfast constituency where she was once MP. She smiled and shook hands with a voter as she left.
Polling stations opened at 7am and will close at 10pm.
The DUP and Sinn Fein have fallen out over the unionist party's handling of a botched green energy scheme and a host of other issues.
Former DUP first minister Peter Robinson has warned politicians to step back and avert a headlong rush towards the destruction of devolved government.
If the three-week post-election deadline passes, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is legally obliged to call yet another election.
But, in those circumstances, the Government may well move to pass emergency legislation to suspend devolution for the first time in 10 years.
While the Assembly election will not change how Theresa May's Government treats talks to leave the European Union, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is a key Brexit issue.
Five Assembly seats are up for grabs in 18 constituencies, with the overall number returned falling from 108 to 90.
A total of 228 candidates are running.
Former Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in January in protest over the DUP's handling of the massively overspent Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is paying grants to businesses worth more than the cost of running the wood biomass boilers.
That forced the dissolution of the institutions, which need nationalists and unionists in government to operate, and Mr Brokenshire called a snap election.
The next ballot had been due to take place in May 2021 after a poll last May.
Northern Ireland uses the single transferable vote (STV) proportional representation electoral system.
Counting will start during daytime on Friday with the last results not expected until later on Saturday.
All the main Stormont parties reduced the number of candidates fielded, in line with the downsized Assembly.
The largest party, the DUP, is running 38 - six fewer than last year.
Sinn Fein dropped five, from 39 to 34.
The UUP has 24 candidates - two fewer than in 2016 - while the SDLP is down three on 21.
The Alliance Party nominated 21 Assembly hopefuls, down two.
Earlier: Voters go to the polls in Northern Ireland today for the second time in less than a year.
Power-sharing arrangements between the two largest parties at the Stormont Assembly - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - collapsed in January.
If post-election talks cannot mend tensions between the former coalition partners then direct rule from London could be on the cards.
An alternative cross-community partnership of the Ulster Unionists and nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is bidding to wrest control away from the fractious former allies.
Arlene Foster
The DUP and Sinn Fein have fallen out over the unionist party's handling of a botched green energy scheme and a host of other issues.
Former first minister Peter Robinson has warned politicians to step back and avert a headlong rush towards the destruction of devolved government.
While the vote will not change how Theresa May's British government treats talks to leave the European Union, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could become an issue in how Brexit is introduced.
Five Assembly seats are up for grabs in 18 constituencies, with the overall number returned falling from 108 to 90.
A total of 228 candidates are running.
Former Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in January in protest over the DUP's handling of the massively overspent Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is paying grants to businesses worth more than the cost of running the wood biomass boilers.
Martin McGuinness says 'today is the right time to call a halt to the DUP's arrogance' as he announces resignation as Deputy First Minister. pic.twitter.com/XWyFdrsweR RTE News (@rtenews) January 9, 2017
That forced the dissolution of the institutions, which need nationalists and unionists in government to operate, and Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire called a snap election.
The next ballot had been due to take place in May 2021 after a poll last May.
Northern Ireland uses the single transferable vote (STV) proportional representation electoral system.
Counting will start during daytime on Friday with the last results not expected until later on Saturday.
All the main Stormont parties reduced the number of candidates fielded, in line with the downsized Assembly.
The largest party, the DUP, is running 38 - six fewer than last year.
Sinn Fein dropped five, from 39 to 34.
The UUP has 24 candidates - two fewer than in 2016 - while the SDLP is down three on 21.
The Alliance Party nominated 21 Assembly hopefuls, down two.
A police investigation has been launched in England after a group of high school students reportedly took ecstasy on their way to classes.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said officers were investigating "drugs issues" at St James' Catholic High School in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, after a report was received on Tuesday.
The Manchester Evening News reported the pupils were understood to have taken ecstasy pills known as Teddy Bears.
Head teacher Tim Beesley told the newspaper: "We can confirm that there has been an incident this week where a small number of students have taken a recreational drug on their way to school - this is currently under investigation.
"Our substance abuse policy states that any student found in possession of drugs or alcohol, or engaged in supplying drugs or alcohol, may face permanent exclusion.
"Whenever we are made aware of any concerns regarding our students we have a duty of care to notify parents or carers, and offer whatever support we can, including agencies such as MOSAIC (Stockport Young Peoples Drug and Alcohol Service).
"We remain committed to enabling all students to study in a school environment entirely free of recreational drugs and the misuse of alcohol."
The police spokesman said: "Shortly before 4.45pm on Tuesday 28 February police received a report of drugs issues at a school on St James' Way.
"An investigation has been launched and enquiries are ongoing.
"Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."
A North Korean envoy has rejected a Malaysian post-mortem examination finding that the VX nerve agent killed Kim Jong Nam, saying he probably died of a heart attack.
The death of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's ruler, has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea.
The post-mortem examination is especially sensitive because North Korea had asked Malaysia not to perform one, but authorities carried it out anyway, saying they were following the law.
Amid growing fallout from the killing, Malaysia announced it is scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans.
Malaysian officials say two women smeared VX nerve agent - a banned chemical weapon - on Kim Jong Nam's face as he waited for a flight at Kuala Lumpur's airport on February 13.
Kim Jong Nam died within 20 minutes, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
The women, who were caught on grainy surveillance video, have been charged with murder.
Both say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank and did not know they were handling a lethal toxin.
Malaysia's post-mortem exam finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim Jong Nam boosted speculation that North Korea orchestrated the attack.
Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.
North Korea has denied any role and accused Malaysia of bias.
Ri Tong Il, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told a news conference that it made no sense to say the two women used such a deadly toxin without also killing or sickening themselves and people around them.
Mr Ri said Kim Jong Nam had a history of heart problems and had been in hospital in the past.
He said he understood that Malaysian officials found medication for diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure in Kim Jong Nam's belongings and concluded he was not fit to travel.
"This is a strong indication that the cause of death is a heart attack," Mr Ri said.
Malaysian police said the attackers knew what they were doing and had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and wash their hands.
Police cannot confirm whether the two women may have been given antidotes before the attack.
An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
North Korea does not acknowledge that it was Kim Jong Nam who died.
Instead, it refers to the victim as Kim Chol, the name on the diplomatic passport he was carrying.
Malaysia has confirmed that the victim was Kim Jong Nam.
The case has badly frayed once-warm ties between Malaysia and North Korea.
While it is not one of North Korea's key diplomatic partners, Malaysia has been one of the few places in the world where North Koreans could travel without a visa.
As a result, for years it has been a quiet destination for North Koreans looking for jobs, schools and business deals.
That could all change after Kim Jong Nam's death.
Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the visa-free arrangement with North Korea will be scrapped starting on Monday for national security reasons.
He also criticised the North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, who has accused Malaysia of "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces".
"We don't want to make enemies, but if they had used Malaysia for their own agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international stage," Mr Zahid said.
"We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of our people. Don't ever use Malaysia as a base to do anything you like."
Earlier, Malaysian authorities said they will release a North Korean man, Ri Jong Chol, from custody on Friday because of a lack of evidence.
Officials never said why they arrested him.
But Malaysian Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali said he will be deported because he does not have valid travel documents.
Custody of Kim Jong Nam's body has become a point of contention between the two countries.
Malaysia has resisted giving up the body without getting DNA samples and confirmation from next of kin.
Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau.
North Korea has unsuccessfully demanded that Malaysia hand the body over.
Malaysian authorities are seeking seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom fled the country on the day of Kim Jong Nam's death and are believed to be back in North Korea.
Others sought include the second secretary of North Korea's embassy and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his half-brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
He reportedly fell out of favour with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Isolated North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime.
Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.
- AP
A new fence being built by Hungary to stop migrants from entering the country will be completed by May 1 and a state of emergency giving authorities additional powers to secure the borders has been extended by six months, government officials said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said a 10-kilometre (6.2-mile) test section of the second fence on the Serbian border has produced "spectacular" results, with motion sensors and other surveillance tools preventing anyone from breaching it.
Mr Lazar also announced that the "state of emergency due to migration" that has been in place nationwide for the past year will be extended until September 7.
The declaration allows police and the military to be deployed for border defence, among other temporary powers.
"The government believes that there is still a potential threat to Hungary," Mr Lazar said.
"There are about 800,000 migrants stuck in the Balkans who can't go back to Turkey or reach Europe."
The second fence on Hungary's border with Serbia, which some 700 prison inmates started building this week, will be about 150 kilometres (93 miles) long and cost 28.4 billion forints (92m), he said.
Hungary built fences protected by razor wire on its borders with Serbia and Croatia in 2015, at the height of the migrant flow to western Europe.
Some 400,000 migrants passed through Hungary in 2015 before the fences were erected.
The new fence, as well as proposals to place all asylum seekers in border camps made of shipping containers until their cases are decided, are part of Hungary's new anti-migration efforts.
The new rules for asylum seekers have drawn strong criticism from human rights groups, who say they put protection even further out of reach of people fleeing persecution or war and breach European and international standards.
The expanded border camps in the transit zones will have capacity for 400 people each and will cost a total of 9.4 billion forints (30.5m), Mr Lazar said.
Hungary has spent 284 billion forints (921m) so far on the construction and upkeep of border fences, he said.
AP
Update 1:20am: Argentina reminded Brazil of its commitment "to not allow British airplanes or warships based in the disputed archipelagos" in accordance with agreements among member nations of the regional blocs Mercosur and Unasur.
"The Brazilian foreign ministry reaffirmed its support to our country on this issue and said that it was unaware of these flights," the Argentine statement said.
The war over the islands killed 649 Argentines and 255 UK soldiers.
During her eight years in power, former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez tried to pressure the UK into sovereignty talks by turning away British ships, encouraging companies to divest from Britain and raising other trade barriers.
Tensions have eased since pro-business President Mauricio Macri took office last year promising a less-confrontational stance.
In the biggest breakthrough in decades, the UK and Argentina announced last year that they would work to remove restrictions in the oil, fishing and shipping industries affecting the Falklands.
They also agreed to increase the number of flights between the islands and Argentina.
The Falklands are internally self-governing, but the UK is responsible for defence and foreign affairs.
Argentina claims Britain has illegally occupied the islands since 1833. Britain disputes that and says Argentina is ignoring the wishes of its 3,000 residents who want to remain British.
Earlier: Argentina says Brazil has allowed several RAF flights to operate between Brazilian airports and the Falkland Islands in a breach of agreements between the South American countries.
Argentina lost a brief but bloody war with the UK after Argentine troops invaded the South Atlantic archipelago in 1982.
The Argentine foreign ministry said in a statement that it is "concerned" about six flights last year and 12 in 2015. The ministry said it has requested an explanation from the Brazilian government.
Brazil's foreign ministry said a statement on the matter was being prepared.
Argentina claims the islands it calls Las Malvinas, but the UK says the Falklands are a self-governing entity under its protection.
When I moved to Montana from South Dakota in 2012, I bragged to my friends back home about how enlightened Montana is in encouraging and enabling citizens to vote. I don't have to register with a political party to vote in the primary election. Montana lets people register on Election Day. I receive an absentee ballot in every election, rather than driving to a place called "The Metra." I really enjoyed telling South Dakotans they should run elections more like Montana.
But then of course, there was an attempt by the Republicans to do away with same-day registration, and to close their primary. And now the chairman of the party has said he is opposed to using mail-in ballots in the special election we must have this year to elect a new Representative when Mr. Zinke finally gets his new job.
Jeff Essmann is afraid Republicans might lose if voting is made convenient and easy for Montana citizens. I'm sure this is an embarrassment to the Republicans who introduced the bill and spoke in favor of it. They were just thinking of being efficient and not spending millions of dollars to open polling places in every precinct in Montana to elect one person.
Voter suppression is something that Republican lawmakers have been accused of before, fairly or not, but Mr. Essmann has brought the matter out into the open. He has expressed concern that if people can vote easily, Republicans will lose. Well, at least he's honest about it.
Lorraine Collins
Billings
Update - 7pm: Belgian authorities have detained a suspect who was driving a car with gas canisters in his boot, setting off a security alert in the centre of Brussels.
The prosecutor's office said a busy part of the capital and a subway station was closed off during the evening rush-hour.
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said authorities did not want to take any chances and acted quickly "since the driver was known by judicial authorities and it was unclear why the gas canisters were there".
"We are taking the case seriously," Ms Van Wymersch added. She said the suspect was being interrogated.
Saint Gilles Mayor Charles Picque described the driver as "a radicalised person, so it was normal to take precautionary measures".
Ms Van Wymersch cautioned, however, not to jump to conclusions about a possible extremist motive.
The gas canisters were discovered when police noticed a car speeding and running red lights and pursued it.
The local transport authority said the Porte de Hal metro station closed on police orders while a perimeter was established above ground. Media reported an anti-bomb squad was brought in.
Belgian security services have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway last March 22, killing 32 people.
AP
Earlier: Belgian authorities have closed off part of the centre of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the boot of his car.
The driver was stopped after a speeding infraction, Saint Gilles mayor Charles Picque told local radio.
Police went on alert after the canisters were found.
The Porte de Hal metro station was closed on police orders, the local transport authority said, while a perimeter was established above ground as media reported an anti-bomb squad was brought in.
Belgian security services have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway last March 22, killing 32 people.
Armed police were deployed to a street outside the BBC Radio 2 studios after a man was stabbed.
The injured 21-year-old reportedly attempted to take refuge in Wogan House during the incident on Wednesday afternoon.
Ministers in the UK have been warned they could face a fresh legal challenge to Theresa May's Brexit plans unless they guarantee British Parliament a vote on the outcome of negotiations with the EU.
Campaigners opposed to a so-called "hard Brexit" have obtained legal advice that Britain's "actual withdrawal" will have to be authorised by a fresh act of Parliament.
The disclosure came as Gina Miller, the businesswoman who brought the legal action which forced ministers to table legislation allowing them to start the Article 50 withdrawal process, said she could fund another legal challenge.
"It is my money and my decision and my actions, and I can't think of anything better to do with the success I have," she told BBC Radio 5 Live Daily.
The British Government suffered its first defeat over the Brexit Bill on Wednesday when the House of Lords backed an opposition amendment guaranteeing the future status of EU nationals living in the UK.
Ministers immediately signalled their intention to overturn the vote when the legislation goes back to the House of Commons later this month.
Before then, however, they are facing the prospect of a second defeat in the Lords next week on another opposition amendment which would require the British Government to give Parliament a "meaningful" vote on Britain's final withdrawal.
While Mrs May has promised a vote on any agreement with the EU, opposition parties as well as some pro-Remain Conservatives, fear that if there is no deal Britain would simply crash out of the EU with Parliament unable to intervene.
Ahead of next week's vote, the Open Britain campaign group sought to stiffen opposition in the Lords, circulating peers with details of legal advice it has obtained from three leading QCs - Sir David Edward, Sir Francis Jacobs and Sir Jeremy Lever.
According to the group, the advice states "actual withdrawal" will require a "full act of Parliament" once the terms of any deal are known and that legislation would also be required if the Brexit negotiations ended without an agreement.
Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a leading Open Britain supporter, warned ministers could face another court battle unless they were prepared to amend the current legislation.
"It is completely unacceptable for the Government to only offer Parliament a 'bad deal or no deal' ultimatum at the end of the negotiations," he said.
"The Government should accept the amendments that give Parliament a meaningful vote and a real choice at the end of this process.
"That's the democratic and patriotic thing to do. We don't want any more time, effort or taxpayers' money spent on court cases."
The threat of further legal action will infuriate pro-Leave MPs who believe the attempt to write the requirement for a vote on to the face of the Bill is designed to derail the whole Brexit process.
Despite the latest challenge, Brexit Secretary David Davis - in Copenhagen for talks with Danish foreign minister Anders Samuelsen - said the process remained "on track" for the Government to invoke Article 50 by Mrs May's deadline of the end of March.
"The most important thing in this is that we will conclude in time to present the Article 50 letter and will do so in terms that are in the interests of both ourselves and the European Union," he said.
LARAMIE, Wyo. The University of Wyoming is renovating its facilities to accommodate second-year medical students who have previously gone to the University of Washington for their second year of study as part of a multi-state medical education program.
The Laramie Boomerang reports (http://bit.ly/2mt2JFW) that the two schools are in the program with schools from Alaska, Montana and Idaho, with the goal of providing medical education in northwestern states without independent medical schools.
The program is now changing its curriculum to have medical students spend their second year in their home states.
The Wyoming program director, Marivern Easton, said UW ran the risk of losing its accreditation if not for the $1.5 million classroom renovations, which were approved last month.
The program has seen fewer than 200 students graduate in its 20 years in Wyoming, but more than 70 percent have returned to practice in Wyoming.
___
Information from: Laramie Boomerang, http://www.laramieboomerang.com
An ex-priest who was found to have inappropriately touched a child has been removed from a home for retired clergy next to two primary schools.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn has also moved two other priests, who had been removed from the ministry for "other reasons", from Lanigan House due to community concerns.
Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Christopher Prowse. Credit:Katherine Griffiths
Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse housed former Tumut priest Father Brian Hassett at Lanigan House, next to Sts Peter and Paul Primary School and Malkara School in Garran, for two years after he had been stood down over two incidents involving children in Tumut.
While NSW police did not press charges, the claims were substantiated in an archdiocese investigation overseen by the NSW Ombudsman.
Yet Chinese companies are also counting on opportunity - on Jack Ma of Alibaba and his promise to US President Donald Trump to create US jobs by linking 1 million American small businesses with Chinese buyers. That's a lot of potential deliveries. Wang Wei is now China's third-richest man, with an estimated fortune of $34.5 billion. Credit:VCG "Not only the past decade, but the next few years will also be a golden age for Chinese couriers' development," said John Song, a Shanghai-based director of the logistics and transportation practice in China at consultancy Deloitte. "There is huge potential in the development of these Chinese couriers." After not even permitting private delivery services until 2009, the Chinese government has since been encouraging competition and fostering consolidation. In the past decade, due to decreasing operational costs combined with more entrants piling in, the average price of delivering a package dropped 57 per cent to 12.8 yuan ($2.37), according to the State Post Bureau, which regulates postal services. In the US, the cost per package averages $US10. A ZTO Express sorting facility in Shanghai: The battle for market dominance takes a toll on workers, many of whom work 12-hour shifts, six or seven days a week Credit:Bloomberg
Government support for the industry has also included encouraging Chinese package delivery companies to seek capital through equity markets-and approving their bids to raise money quickly, through backdoor listings that involve the companies taking over others, typically in unrelated fields, that are already publicly traded. So-called reverse mergers take a year or less to result in access to equity, while an IPO in China may take as long as three years, according to Sinolink's Su. China's current list of IPO seekers has 621 companies awaiting approval by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The CSRC approved the backdoor listings of four package companies in short succession last year, even as the regulator flagged concerns broadly about the practice. The first to announce its takeover intent, in October 2015, was STO Express, which concluded it 14 months later. Its two co-owners, Chen Dejun and his sister Chen Xiaoying, each have a net worth of about $US2 billion, according to the Bloomberg index. Happy days: ZTO Express founder Meisong Lai at the New York Stock Exchange trading floor before his company's IPO in October. Credit:Richard Drew/AP Photo Feeding off Alibaba STO Express is part of a group of companies with similar names and business models that feed off proximity to Alibaba's headquarters, in Hangzhou. They're known as the Tonglu gang, after the county in Zhejiang province where the companies were founded. The group includes ZTO Express founder Lai Meisong who listed his company in New York in October and has a $US3 billion net worth, according to the index; YTO Express Group, whose founder Yu Huijiao is now worth $US6.9 billion following its reverse takeover on the Shanghai exchange that same month; and Yunda Holding's Yunda Express, whose Chairman Nie Tengyun's net worth totals $US5.2 billion after its backdoor listing in Shenzhen in December.
Lai spoke with Bloomberg News in December and declined to comment on his wealth. Representatives for Wang, Yu, Nie and the Chens also declined to comment on the billionaires' net worth. Customers line up outside a S.F. Express store in Hong Kong, China. Credit:Anthony Kwan "The bigger players are becoming bigger, while the smaller ones will be eventually eliminated," Guo said, predicting that just two large delivery companies will be left in five to 10 years, each with more than 20 per cent market share. A handful more in the second tier will have less than 10 per cent share each, he predicts. The battle takes a toll on workers, many of whom work 12-hour shifts, six or seven days a week, according to Keegan Elmer, a researcher for the China Labor Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based workers' rights group. Wages are often based on how many parcels they can deliver, and terms can be changed arbitrarily, he said. "There's a history of rough competition in this industry in particular," Elmer said. "It used to be a really hot job, where migrant workers could expect to make a lot of money relatively quickly, but these days the wages and conditions are stagnating or actually getting worse."
China's package volume totalled 31 billion last year, and online shopping led by Alibaba's shopping platforms, Taobao.com and Tmall, were responsible for 60 per cent of it, according to the State Post Bureau. The Tonglu gang companies currently rely on Alibaba for as much as 70 per cent of their deliveries. 'Black delivery' S.F. Express has a different story, with just 20 per cent reliance on e-commerce, according to Sinolink's Su. Wang, the son of a Russian interpreter for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, saw opportunity early in the trade across China's border with Hong Kong, not long after former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping made his famous visit to Shenzhen and set the country on the path of economic reform. While Wang's family immigrated to Hong Kong when he was a child, he later returned to China to establish the business, first in a smaller city in Guangdong province, and then in Shenzhen. "When S.F. started delivering packages in the 1990s, it was still an illegal business called 'black delivery," Wang said in a Q&A in 2011 with the official People's Daily, the only interview he is known to have granted. "According to the regulations then, we would be fined if our operations were caught by postal officers, so we had to handle packages sneakily." Now the courier operates a fleet of 36 cargo aircraft and about 15,000 vehicles. It reported revenue of 48.1 billion yuan ($8.9 billion) in 2015, the highest among its domestic peers, according to its share sale document. It intends to build a cargo airport in the central Chinese province of Hubei, the prospectus said.
Westpac may not be the only bank in cross-hairs over lax home loan lending after Australia's corporate regulator said it was speaking with other banks and flagged more announcements due "in coming weeks".
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission appeared before the Senate economics legislation committee in Canberra on Thursday where it said it was also scrutinising the lending practices of other banks.
On Wednesday ASIC announced Federal Court proceedings against Westpac, alleging the big four lender failed to properly assess whether borrowers could meet home-loan repayments.
The bank is accused of relying on benchmark household-expenditure rates instead of customers' actual living expenses when calculating whether they could afford repayments. In some cases ASIC alleges a proper assessment of a borrower's ability to repay their loan would have shown a monthly deficit.
Ingredients found in head lice and scabies treatment products have been linked to behavioural difficulties in young children, scientists say.
A team of French researchers investigated whether prenatal or childhood exposure to pyrethroid, which is a group of synthetic chemical insecticides, had any impact on neurobehavioural development.
The study, which involved analysing the urine of 287 women while they were pregnant and that of their children six years later, established a link between pyrethroids and behavioural disorders in children.
One of Australia's biggest industry superannuation funds, Cbus, is clear of further scrutiny from the securities regulator over its leaking of members' personal information to a trade union.
Former Victorian premier and chairman of Cbus, Steve Bracks, welcomes ASIC's findings. Credit:Wayne Taylor
Cbus chairman Steve Bracks welcomed completion of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation, which the royal commission into trade unions had recommended.
The former Victorian premier said ASIC would take no further action against Cbus. He said the findings demonstrated the fund had "effectively and comprehensively" dealt with issues the royal commission had raised.
"That was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period," left-leaning CNN political commentator Van Jones said .
"It was without a doubt one of the most kind of emotional moments we have seen in a political speech like this in quite some time," CNN presenter Anderson Cooper said .
After US President Donald Trump's first address to Congress, journalists and pundits were effusive in their praise of one particular moment, when Trump talked about William "Ryan" Owens, a Navy SEAL killed in a disastrous raid on a compound of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen that Trump ordered in late January.
An emotional Carryn Owens, widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, after she was acknowledged by President Donald Trump during his address to a joint session of Congress. Credit:AP
Sorry - no. Was that moment, with Owens' widow in attendance, moving and sad? Absolutely. It was also one of the most cynical things Trump has done as President.
The problem isn't that Trump honoured Carryn Owens at a moment of terrible grief, or that he spoke movingly of her husband's death. All that was altogether appropriate. Rather, the problem is that he did this after trying to evade any responsibility for what happened, and after the White House cast any criticism of his handling of it as an insult to Ryan's legacy. In this sense, the entire story raises serious doubts about Trump's decision-making on matters of national security, and it may be a grim preview of what's to come.
Let's review the facts. The Yemen raid on January 29 was the first military action of Trump's presidency. The idea for raiding this compound, partly in pursuit of the leader of AQAP (who wasn't there), was presented to Trump over dinner one night and, according to NBC News, military representatives "told Trump that they doubted that the Obama administration would have been bold enough to try it", which was apparently good enough to get him to sign off.
Then almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The militants knew they were coming, possibly tipped off by the increased sound of drones in the area. The team encountered stronger resistance than it expected. A couple of dozen civilians were killed (we don't know exactly how many, but it could be as many as 30), including children, among them an eight-year-old American girl. Owens was killed. A $US75 million Osprey aircraft was damaged in a "hard landing" and had to be destroyed lest it fall into AQAP's hands.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has ducked repeated questioning on whether he supports the Fair Work Commission's decision to cut penalty rates for hundreds of thousands of Australian workers, instead backing the independence of the body and indicating the government wants a long-term, phased introduction of the pay cuts that would soften the blow for workers.
Mr Turnbull has also backed the argument put forward by employers that lowering penalty rates frees up businesses to stay open longer and hire more people, which was critical to the commission's ruling but is disputed by opponents.
Since the commission's decision last week, the government has come under increasing pressure from the Labor Party to express support or intervene to stop it. But the Prime Minister has steadfastly deflected the calls by labelling Opposition Leader Bill Shorten a hypocrite for abandoning his previous support for the independence of the commission.
Questioned on ABC radio on Thursday morning, Mr Turnbull said he supports the commission as "the expert body making the decision on this".
Not finding a forever partner is a common concern, said Kute Blackson, author of You Are the One: A Bold Adventure in Finding Purpose, Discovering the Real You, and Loving Fully. "The older you get, maybe the stakes get higher," said Blackson, who helps men and women navigate dating through seminars like "The Man Breakthrough Experience" and 14-day India treks. Pew reported that in 2015, 53 per cent of never-married adults said they would like to marry eventually. Neil said that, since his big breakup at age 30, questions about future intentions arise more quickly when he's dating now. "It usually comes up a lot quicker than 'Let's just hang out and get to know each other,'" he said.
Breakups later in life may be harder, too, because the couple may have tried for years to make a relationship work. "It's stability, and it's safer, and you're doing what everybody else is doing," deCastro said. But just because you are already dating someone, experts advise, is not a reason to stay together. Blackson often asks clients, "If you were to meet your partner today, would you date them?" "I kid you not, people go silent," he said.
He added, "By the time you reach 30, you've been dating since you were in your 20s, you may be with a completely different person. That's not a bad thing. That's just growth." He urges his clients to identify their own wants and needs. That clarity can come with age. This can be particularly tough for women, who face fertility concerns as they age. "I think in the 20s, it's a lot easier - especially, women feel like they have more time," deCastro said. Stress arrives in many shades. Emerging from a years-long relationship, Carly Popofsky, 30, realised that all her Manhattan friends were now hitched.
"I think being single is a lot more glaring now because it doesn't feel like everyone's doing the same thing I'm doing," she said. Meanwhile, she said, the dating landscape has changed dramatically, as apps and online dating became mainstream while she was in a relationship. Other relationships can have an impact on your own feelings. Wedding after wedding, people may feel anxiety as they become surrounded by friends' spouses. And people who seem to have found their perfect match splash happiness across Facebook and Instagram. "People project this image, and it looks so great," deCastro said. "But it's not what's going on inside. It's not reality."
Married friends may also add to singles' stress in surprising ways. Often, deCastro said, clients are scared by pals sharing anxieties like, "Did I really make the right choice?" "Other friends have these marriages, and they hear from their friends that it's not that great," deCastro said. Dating past your 20s means you often have a more adult life. Standards have been set: You've made yourself a comfortable home, maybe one you own and don't want to leave. Perhaps you prefer nicer restaurants or don't want to compromise on travel. "You're not willing to budge as much," deCastro said. Popofsky said she now has the same high standards but different values - she cares more about someone's behaviour, not job, for example.
"I wouldn't say I'm picky," she said. "But I'm looking for someone great." Now, past his 20s, Blackson said he is "much more able to discern who is right for me, who I am, what works." Finding that balance and moving past anxiety over dating and splitting in your 30s, involves a few key factors. "The most powerful thing I think someone can do is to sit with their pain," Blackson said. "It takes tremendous courage to sit with the feeling of loneliness, to sit with the pain." John Grohol, psychologist and founder of Psych Central.com, similarly suggests a post-mortem.
"People are so quick to say, 'I have to get over this breakup,'" said Grohol, based in Newburyport, Massachusetts. "Take the relationship apart, and see what worked and didn't work, and take that new knowledge that you have, and use it for your next relationship." If an ex had a quick temper, for example, perhaps you are looking for someone who handles anger in a healthier manner. Most importantly, don't beat yourself up or bathe in feelings of guilt or failure. "A lot of people take it personally and feel terrible and think that they did something wrong and they didn't choose right," deCastro said. "Give yourself a break." When clients tell him they've been through a breakup, Blackson tells them, "Congratulations!" and salutes their new chapter.
"I want men to examine their role in this culture," she added. "I want them to actively combat it and question men who refuse to participate in that." The real difficulty with Edwards' article was that she outlined a single approach to preventing child abuse in her own family. But if we are talking about preventing child abuse at a community level then we need to talk about a community-wide response. Which comes back to the perpetrators. Again, they are mostly men, and yet men are so rarely part of the discussion about prevention, other than to object to the facts being discussed. Why is it that men are so much more likely to commit violence and abuse? What happened to those men, where did they learn this behaviour? How can they change? Of all the people who have told me how ridiculous and offensive I've been, not one of them has come up with a feasible alternative to keep children safe Kasey Edwards
Exploring this, without defensiveness and with a genuine desire to find solutions, is the most valuable way men can participate in protecting children. It's disturbing that many men are so aggressively unwilling to do this, leaving the burden of finding solutions to everyone else. This is why mothers are so often vilified when they do something as simple as wait outside while their children go to the toilet, and conversely, vilified again if they acknowledge the facts of child abuse and act to protect their children from possible perpetrators. It's not surprising given how fraught it can be to navigate the issue that parents like Kasey Edwards and her husband look for solutions that don't depend on community-wide protection. Their choice is not right for everyone indeed for some, it's very much the wrong choice. But for them, it's the best way to keep their children safe. And given the deep, lifelong trauma caused by child abuse, it is both justifiable and understandable. Their solution, however, only works for their circumstances. It relies on them always having options for childcare that fit within their parameters, which is not readily available to many parents. It also assumes that they, their family, and their children's friends are always in partnered, heterosexual relationships. In the Edwards' policy, children of single fathers, or in families that do not include people who identify as women, already suffering exclusion and stigma, are excluded even further.
Even for families who do have the option to have women always present, it places an extra burden on those women, who are already taking on the majority of (unpaid) emotional and domestic caring labour. This is particularly difficult in the context of the systemic economic disadvantage women suffer, which requires men to take on an equal share of parenting. It's a quandary that can't be solved by making women the "abuse police". Men have to take responsibility for prevention and commit to unambiguous action on the causes and realities of abuse. While there are undeniable problems with the Edwards' choice, the outraged criticisms of it are equally problematic, and frankly blind to the realities of how abuse occurs and its effect on victims. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released a paper this week describing the grooming practices of abusers. Grooming is not something abusers only do to victims. They also deliberately create relationships with parents and caregivers that involves trust, friendship and dependence. And they make sure their victims know about it. As feminist writer Cecilia Winterfox told Fairfax Media, "Every time we say, 'but my male friends are so lovely' we make it harder for victims to speak out. It reinforces and demonstrates clearly to them the reflexive disbelief they will almost certainly face. It's a kind of cultural gaslighting to victims, and a signal of protection to abusers". The royal commission paper was specifically about institutional responses to child abuse, so the recommendations were focused on cultural change to identifying and reporting grooming techniques. Which may work in well-monitored organisations, but it's not something any individual parent can enforce in their social group.
On Aug. 14, 1976, Era Bell Thompson was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, making her the fourth woman at the time and the only African-American to receive the award.
Thompson was born Aug. 10, 1905, in Iowa. Her family settled on a farm near Driscoll, N.D., when she was 9 years old. The familys farm wasnt successful so the family moved to Mandan after Thompsons mother died.
According to the Mandan Historical Society, Thompson and her family lived at 705 Fifth Ave. N.W. and she attended Mandan High School from 1922 to 1923.
The family eventually moved to Bismarck where Thompsons father worked as a private messenger for Gov. Lynn Frazier. Though the family moved to a bigger town, there was only a handful of other black students. Thompson undoubtedly felt out of place, not only the stares, but when textbooks informed students that blacks were inferior or the subject of American slavery was discussed.
Regardless of what she faced, Thompson was able to make friends and establish herself as a gifted runner and graduated from Bismarck High School in 1924. Thompson enrolled at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and found work with a Jewish family in the part of town known as Little Jerusalem.
Thompson hurdled over the bias of the time and continued on with her love of running, breaking five UND womens track records -- in dashes, broad jump and hurdles -- and tied two national records, according to the Mandan Historical Society. During her two years at UND she also joined the campus paper.
Thompsons family eventually moved back to Mandan and her father operated a used furniture store on East Main Street. In 1928, upon her fathers death, Thompson moved back home for a year to help pay off his debts.
A local pastor and his family took Thompson in and encouraged her to go back to school, so she did and earned her journalism degree from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. In 1933, Thompson began her career in Chicago, initially finding work as a housekeeper then with The Chicago Defender.
As the Great Depression raged, Thompson was able to find work in a Settlement House and received jobs through the Works Progress Administration. In 1945, Thompson received a Newberry Fellowship which supported her while she wrote her autobiographic novel, American Daughter.
Thompson joined Ebony Magazine in 1947 and was the co-managing editor from 1951 to 1964, then international editor until retirement. During her career she traveled to 18 African countries, India, Australia, South America and the South Pacific. In 1953, she released another book, Africa, Land of My Fathers, which recounts her frustrated attempts to comprehend her ancestral heritage.
As an advocate for women empowerment many of Thompsons later essays denounce men's treatment of women regardless of race and class. She reportedly spent a night in a South African jail in 1957 because authorities said there were no hotel rooms for blacks.
Thompson later received honorary doctorate degrees from Morningside College in 1965 and University of North Dakota in 1969. Thompson died on Dec. 30, 1986, in Chicago but her legacy lives on at UND.
On Feb. 14, 1979, the Era Bell Thompson Multicultural Center was opened on the campus of UND to address the needs of students of color. The centers celebrates black history month each year with events geared toward education, guest speakers and viewings of impactful black films.
Peter Johnson, the interim vice president for public affairs at UND was a student that day and recalls the opening of the multicultural center. Ive seen a lot of programming thats come out of the Era Bell Thompson Multicultural Student Center and I think thats been very positive for the university, said Johnson. On Dec. 3, 2014, the multicultural center moved on to the third-floor of the Memorial Union on campus.
I think her particular impact is the example she provides as a student who excelled in all kinds of areas, said Johnson in regard to Thompsons current impact with todays students. Thompson also is included on the alumni wall at UNDs Gorecki Alumni Center, said Johnson.
Sandra L. Mitchell, the associate vice president for diversity and inclusion at UND, said, As we celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans I am honored that UNDs Multicultural Programs and Services office is named in honor of Era Bell Thompson. Individuals such as Ms. Thompson paved the way for many of us, including myself as a woman of color, to contribute to the next era of the University of North Dakota. It makes me very proud to know that I have the opportunity to walk the same hallowed halls that she did nearly a century ago. Her career at Ebony stood, and still stands, as testament that with hard work and determination one can literally see the world and share that gift for generations to come.
Few students formally report sexual assaults In 2016, Sydney University found that only one per cent of their students who had experienced a sexual or indecent assault ever made a formal report to their university. The National Union of Students survey from 2015 likewise reported that just six per cent of victims reported the incident to their universities, and less than five per cent reported the incident to police. These figures are perhaps not surprising since rape survivors are among the least likely of all crime victims to report to the police, with some studies revealing that between 15-20 per cent of survivors end up making a formal complaint to police.
Universities advise on how not to get raped The EROC Australia report also points to problematic advice, information and support given to sexual violence survivors who disclose to university staff. These might include accusatory statements, inappropriate questioning about the details of the assault, minimisation, blame, telling the survivor what to do, and overstepping the boundaries. According to one survivor: The first person I told asked me how much I had been drinking. The second person I told said that I would be ruining his life. The third person I told said it wasnt a university issue. The fourth person I told asked me why I had waited so long to tell anyone. There is also concern about the university safety tips that often employ stranger danger myths, focus heavily on alcohol consumption, and fail to address commonly-held, dangerous beliefs about gender. For example, universities advise students to not give mixed messages with eye contact, voice, posture and gestures. They are told to avoid getting intoxicated or to pay half of the bill on a date to reduce obligations.
Students are also advised to walk in well-lit areas, carry personal alarms and rape whistles and be prepared to scream and shout if attacked. The problem is that these prevention messages are often directed at the victim and what she or he can do to avoid being raped, rather than the perpetrator. The danger in this advice is that many survivors may be deterred from reporting since they may feel they are at fault, or that what happened to them doesnt really count as rape, particularly if the perpetrator is a known person. Is this a university responsibility? Australian universities have a patchwork of policies and practices for responding to reports of sexual violence. According to EROC Australia: Australian universities policies and procedures regarding sexual assault and harassment are often overlapping, confusing, inconsistent, incomplete, or in some cases non-existent. This means that it is extremely difficult for students who have been sexually assaulted to identify where they can get help at the university, who they can report the assault to, and what formal complaint procedures are.
The reporting policies and processes vary between different Australian universities. Some universities require that all reports of rape and sexual assault are reported to police, which might be directly against the survivors wishes. In other cases a survivor wants the incident to be reported to police, but has been discouraged either formally or informally to do so. Some universities advise survivors to meet informally with the perpetrator. On the University of Sydneys website on Student Complaints Procedures, students are advised that before making a formal complaint they should seek to resolve the issue informally by approaching the person you believe is responsible and tell[ing] them what the issue is; ask[ing] them to stop; or to behave differently.
This advice is highly inappropriate in rape or sexual assault cases and can lead to further harms. In all Australian universities, survivors have the option of going through an internal process that investigates an alleged breach of the institutions disciplinary code or code of conduct, often through inviting the student to appear before a panel to give evidence. An internal investigation cannot involve forensic evidence and a perpetrator cannot be deprived of his or her liberty. However, an alleged perpetrator can be reprimanded, suspended, expelled or dismissed from the university if the panel decides on the balance of probabilities that the act occurred. If conducted appropriately, these internal procedures can ensure fairness to both the survivors and the alleged perpetrators. While not all survivors will want to pursue this avenue, it should be made available as one of range of different options.
Universities can also implement interim measures to exclude an alleged perpetrator from university premises pending the outcome of a formal complaints process. Overall, the EROC Australia report criticises the inappropriate outcomes and lenient punishments that universities impose on perpetrators in internal investigations. FOI data reveal that punishments have variously involved: fines, community service, apology letters, or moving the perpetrator to a different residential hall. In other cases, the perpetrator received a formal warning or a note on file. Promoting pro-active and supportive university environments As educational centres, universities are well placed to address the problem of sexual violence.
Measures should focus on: awareness, support, education and prevention, and responses or remedies. When students report that they have been a victim of a rape or sexual assault, it is important that these disclosures are received in a supportive and caring environment. Training and support needs to be provided to staff members so that they give reassurance and information about the avenues available to survivors to empower them to make the right choices. Emphasis needs to be placed on listening, and above all, protecting the confidentiality of survivors. Universities have a duty of care to students and staff, regardless of where the rape or sexual assault took place, and regardless of whether the perpetrator was a student or staff member at the time of the assault.
What can universities do better? Above all, universities need to take a proactive approach to tackling sexual violence on campus. Recommendations include: Clear and consistent institutional policies on how to respond to, and report on, disclosures of sexual violence, regardless of whether the incident occurred on campus and regardless of whether the perpetrator was a student or staff member at the university. These policies should be trauma-informed and survivor-centric.
A designated person (or team) with special expertise on sexual violence and who can conduct internal investigations.
Mandatory training for university counsellors in responding to disclosures of sexual assault; and training to help support staff and student leaders that is delivered by qualified expert services.
Clear referral pathways, that includes knowledge of external local services and an array of different options for survivors.
Transparent and publicly available data reporting.
Removal of reporting/lodging times for internal misconduct processes.
Greater communication to all parties about the processes and outcomes.
Appropriate advice and information to survivors through a comprehensive and trauma-informed website.
Primary prevention campaigns that: focus on consent and respectful relationships; raise awareness of the nature, scope and prevalence of sexual violence (both off and on campus); and promote proactive bystander intervention to challenge problematic behaviours and attitudes.
Support of further research into sexual violence. These strategies will contribute to lesser rates of offending, greater reporting of victims and more transparency for universities.
EROC Australia also recommends that national standards be created for best practice responses to sexual violence. This is alongside the establishment of a national complaints mechanism where an individual can complain to a federal agency about inappropriate responses to rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment by their university. If you or someone you know is impacted by rape or sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. Loading
Centrelink clients trying to get through to the welfare agency's telephone lines have hit engaged signals an "astronomical" 28 million times in just seven months.
The figures, revealed in Senate Estimates on Thursday, mean Centrelink is track to almost double the amount of calls it blocks this financial year.
Centrelink users were hit with engaged tones 28 millions times in just seven months
The Greens are furious at the further deterioration of the troubled agency's customer service effort, saying the government now had no choice but to do something about the "broken system".
Centrelink blocks calls to its overworked telephone lines if they are already jammed, a practice it says saves callers having to spend many minutes, and sometimes hours on hold.
Campbell Newman may have left the building but in another sense, he'll always be there.
The former LNP premier's official portrait was unveiled on Thursday night at Queensland Parliament.
The painting was created by his former rival in Brisbane City Council, Labor deputy mayor David Hinchliffe.
Mr Newman was lord mayor from 2004 until 2011, entering state politics in 2012 and losing the election in 2015.
"People would come in looking for a gift for people with cancer," she said. "And I would say 'I'm your girl, I can help with that'." Her different packages for different people hand creams, cards, little messages, little slippers are there for people to choose. They are not all for cancer sufferers, more for people facing hardship. Mrs Betts understands the cruel twisted hand of fate handed to her by her fair complexion, red hair and sun sensitivity.
In her blog, Dear Melanoma, she tells frankly how the cards were lined up after battling her melanoma for more than three years. "On Friday I sat down and had the very honest conversation with my oncologist that I needed to have," she wrote. "I told you that she thought six months was optimistic, but I hadn't asked her what that meant. On Friday I was told that two to three months is what we are looking at based on what is happening at the moment and my body's reaction." The University of Queensland graduate's story of first discovering a mole on her left shoulder blade while skin diving in East Timor in October 2012 while working at a rehabilitation centre is best told by herself. You can read how she graduated from the University of Queensland's International Relations Bachelor of Arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies.
She told Fairfax of later working in an East Timorese rehabilitation centre as a volunteer providing prosthetic limbs and occupational therapy to people with disabilities. "It was hard work," she said. "I saw some pretty full-on things. I saw people crawling along the ground because they don't have a wheelchair. "I saw children with club feet crying all day while their foot was manipulated at the centre." Mrs Betts tells her own story on her transition from a stage one melanoma to the fatal stage four melanoma in 2013 in her blog.
It tells of how the then-trial drug Keytruda had extended her life from three months by more than two years allowing her to marry her boyfriend Serge, adopt their dog Ralph, lecture on sun care and start an online business Love Emma until the melanoma tumours began to grow. On February 12 this year she learnt how hard her life had become. "I am in hospital on Tuesday having treatment. I am tentatively booked to have a permanent drain inserted. I really wanted to avoid having this for a little while longer, but I don't think it is going to happen, if anything I think I may need to have it earlier," she wrote. Mrs Betts told Fairfax, her Love Emma business would be continued by her mum, Tamra. "My mother has said that this is something that she will take on afterwards. And my boss, Ellen, from the gift shop will be there to help her with new products.
"So there's now a lot of people out there who would really like to see the business continuing. It's like a legacy." Now Christmas is on her wish list. It's still her favourite time of year. "My last family hurrah, my last family event, is going to be Christmas," Mrs Betts said. "Whether it is in July, or October I don't know. "But when we need to have Christmas, we will be going to have Christmas."
Old, sick and incontinent, paedophile Robert Best will in all probability die in jail, after being ordered to spend at least another decade behind bars for sexually abusing 20 boys at Victorian schools as a Christian Brother.
Best, 76 and in poor health, cannot be released until midway through 2027 at the earliest, after a County Court judge extended his minimum jail term for abusing children over two decades.
Robert Charles Best, among Australia's worst paedophiles, is likely to die in jail.
Best was in 2011 jailed for at least 11 years for abusing 11 boys.
Judge Geoffrey Chettle on Thursday ordered Best serve 16 years from December 2010 when he was first taken into custody before he is eligible for parole, for abusing 31 children between 1968 and 1988 at schools in Ballarat, Box Hill, Moonee Ponds and Geelong.
One of three people killed after fire raged through an abandoned Footscray factory has been remembered as a "lovely, gentle man".
Witnesses say they heard screams coming from the old Kinnears rope factory, on Ballarat Road, as a suspicious fire ripped through the building about 11.30pm on Wednesday.
The abandoned Kinnear warehouse in Footscray, where three people died on Wednesday night. Credit:Justin McManus
Firefighters found the bodies of three people, believed to be two men and a woman, inside a room at the rear of the factory.
Police said they were squatting inside the factory, but were yet to be formally identified.
Kids who can't even shave or drive are seemingly inventing the future in their parent's basements, launching apps and services and businesses that harness the internet and technology to make money in brand new ways. The buzzwords are endless: sharing economy, start ups, apps, co-working spaces, algorithms, digital nomadism, remote working, the Internet of Things, the Internet of Everything. The tech sector isn't towing the old ways of work and making money to the scrap heap - it's flinging them into the sun with a rocket assisted trebuchet. And for many years WA's economy has been insulated from this disruption, lifted up high by the mining industry, which although it employs plenty of tech has more of a blue collar focus. A vibrant high-tech sector in Western Australia could contribute over $76 to $100 billion in Gross State Product in 2025, with 3,000 to 5,000 new companies formed per year in the sector, creating over 150,000 new jobs by 2025 and enabling many more.
But as that vital sector continues to cool, Sharon Grosser from StartupWA warns WA could get quickly left behind by the rest of Australia and the world if we don't make technology a more central part of our economy and education system. "Without the capability to provide the products and services required in the digital economy, WA will increasingly rely on interstate and overseas companies," she said. "If we can't start and grow new companies here, there will be no new jobs and our kids will have to look elsewhere for work in the industries of the future." Technology is already driving WA's economy - literally In an air-conditioned office out at Perth Airport, Rio Tinto employs scores of highly skilled people who remotely control trucks, diggers and even explosions at mines sites more than a thousand kilometres away.
It's an enormous technological achievement being done right now here in WA, and more and more mining companies worldwide are following the trend. The early story will be how investors reposition after Rio's late Wednesday profit results, which surged and yet missed expectations. Credit:Christian Sprogoe But Ms Grosser says beyond mining tech there is ample opportunity for WA people to invent apps, write programmes, set up businesses and design products that capitalise on the growing global hunger for all things digital. "Every industry in WA is being affected, if not disrupted, by digital technology," Ms Grosser said. "Locally, we have ventures that are successfully taking advantage of this disruption, and there is much more potential for WA to capitalise on its competitive advantage.
"Right now, we need greater investment in support and policy to realise the potential job-creating benefits of growing technology startups." WA is smart, skilled, and already leading the way in many global tech trends. So what can the west coast do to make its technology sector a bigger slice of its economy in the years to come? Make it rain Tech is high risk and failures are common, so it's pretty tough to get anyone to back you with what really counts - cold hard cash. Or a nice clean wire transfer. Either way. But in a move that's flown under the radar, new laws have just come into effect in WA that allow limited partnerships for high-risk tech ventures, where a new company can have at least one general partner with unlimited liability and at least one partner with limited liability.
This means a WA crew with a brilliant idea can bring in investors and retain control of it, and if it all goes bust then the supporters can walk away unscathed. OK, this is pretty dry stuff... but for the state's technology sector this is a game changer. Fairfax Art and Design colour illustration. For Insight 24-09-2011. Cascade of binary numbers Credit:Fairfax Art and Design Limited partnerships are how tech sectors across the world bring in those fabled rivers of money to develop and then launch the next Facebook, Uber or Tesla. With access to this kind of high level funding, StartupWA's Sharon Grosser believes the tech sector in WA could rise up fast and start developing the kinds of businesses and products that will bring more prosperity to WA.
"A vibrant high-tech sector in Western Australia could contribute over $76 to $100 billion in Gross State Product in 2025, with 3,000 to 5,000 new companies formed per year in the sector, creating over 150,000 new jobs by 2025 and enabling many more. "There is tremendous opportunity for new WA companies to rapidly create substantial value by taking advantage of our proximity to the world's largest and fastest growing consumer markets in Asia." How WA can make digital the new mining Money is one thing - injecting it into a viable tech sector is quite another. There is a vibrant start up scene in Perth, with hundreds of digital entrepreneurs developing new products and services that capitalise on the growing power of the internet and the influence of technology.
Flux is Perth's largest co-working space and is popular with the tech sector. Credit:Flux There are over 560 digital and internet technology startups operating throughout WA since 1998, of which 335 are active Startups and 116 are active established technology companies. They do a wide range of things, from designing new payroll systems for big companies to putting together video games and apps that make life easier or more enjoyable. And it's growing steadily - the WA Tech Report for 2016 found there are 8,400 people who are working in and building technology companies throughout the state, with a total of $651m in funding. It's a decent set of figures, but let's face it, Perth is not a tech hub. In Australia, Sydney and Melbourne are. Overseas it's New York, San Francisco, Berlin - big cities with bright lights that foster creativity and constantly drain away our local brains, often for good.
To change that, Ms Grosser urges the state government - whoever is in charge of it - to get behind tech. "Make government procurement processes visible and accessible to early stage companies, and set up seed and early stage co-investment funds." The key thing, according to Ms Grosser, is to create an environment in which high risk, innovative companies can thrive by having good access to funding and the chance to win business that allows them to grow. Just as government can support manufacturing by dishing out contracts to locals, it can support tech by employing WA companies in the digital sphere. Believe the children are our future...
The future of WA's economy and the role of technology is definitely a concern for older generations constantly having to upgrade their skills to stay current and competitive. But as a final note, Ms Grosser points out that the true, long term future of tech in WA must be driven by the young, and they need to start getting the opportunity to take the wheel now. "If we can't start and grow new companies here, there will be no new jobs and our kids will have to look elsewhere for work in the industries of the future. "A culture of innovation and collaboration needs to be further developed. Our kids need an education that allows them to not only get jobs, but create the companies driving the digital economy. "Innovators and entrepreneurs need to be able to see a clear path forward for their startup, with the appropriate investment and support available at each stage of their business growth."
Vatican City: A leading member of a group advising Pope Francis on how to root out sex abuse in the Catholic Church quit in frustration on Wednesday, citing "shameful" resistance within the Vatican.
The sudden departure of Marie Collins, an outspoken Irish woman who was the last remaining survivor of priestly abuse on a Holy See commission, was a major setback for the pope, who has faced criticism of not doing enough to tackle the problem.
The work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, set up by Francis in March 2014, has been slowed down by internal disputes and Collins blamed the Vatican's administration, known as the Curia, for the "constant setbacks".
"The lack of cooperation, particularly by the dicastery most closely involved in dealing with cases of abuse, has been shameful," she said in a statement.
Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak met twice with Jeff Sessions. Credit:AP In the wake of the Sessions revelation, continued Republican resistance to the appointment of a special independent prosecutor to investigate Trump's Russian connections was rated as political suicide. One of the Sessions-Kislyak meetings might seem innocuous. It took place at the end of an event attended by about 50 ambassadors on the sidelines of the Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in mid-July. It was in the days before the first dump by WikiLeaks of emails which US intelligence agencies say were hacked from Democratic Party computers by Russian agents. They concluded it was a plot to give Trump an advantage over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump's tweets took numerous top White House aides by surprise, according to a second White House official who was not authorised to speak publicly. Credit:Bloomberg But the second meeting is definitely problematic it took place in September at the senator's office, amidst intense public debate over investigations into what was being reported as the Russian hacking of the Democratic computers.
In the circumstances, it was risky for Sessions to take the meeting. Failing to disclose it was reckless. Jeff Sessions told his confirmation hearing in January he had no contact with Russian officials. Credit:AP At the time Sessions was a prominent figure in the Trump campaign apparatus as an adviser on foreign affairs and as a stump speaker for Trump. He also held a key post in the senate as a senior member of its powerful Armed Services Committee. All that made him red meat for a Russian envoy on the prowl. As Trump's attorney-general, Sessions presides over the Justice Department and the FBI which is investigating the Trump campaign's links with Moscow. And he is stubbornly resisting Democratic Party demands that he recuse himself. At Sessions' confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10, Democratic Senator Al Franken asked him how he might respond if he was given evidence that anyone connected with the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during 2016.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," Sessions replied. "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians." Around the same time, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy wrote to Sessions, asking: "Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day?" Sessions' reply had just a single word "No". More damaging for Sessions, is that the explanations for his failure to disclose the meetings, which were issued on his behalf, don't stack up. He claims he was so busy meeting ambassadors from all over the world in the course of 2016 more than 25 exchanges, including with envoys from Britain, Korea, Japan, Poland, India, China, Australia and Germany. And, er, um, Russia.
Further these meetings were in his capacity as a member of the Armed Services Committee so why would he think of them in the context of his role in the Trump campaign? Funny that. The Washington Post did a ring-around of all 26 members of the Armed Services Committee, asking if any of them had felt a need to meet the Russian ambassador in the course of last year 19 of the committee members replied and not a one of them had felt a need to seek out Kislyak. Michael McFaul, the Stanford University professor who served as US ambassador to Russia under Barack Obama thought it was perfectly reasonable for Kislyak to pursue Sessions. But he told The Post: "The weird part is to conceal it. That was at the height of all the discussions of what Russia was doing during the election". What McFaul seems to be saying is this: not even a very busy senator is likely to forget meeting a top-drawer ambassador, especially at a time when that ambassador's country is suspected of heinous conduct locally by American authorities. And especially when that conduct is suspected as being a deliberate leg-up to a presidential candidate for whom the very busy senator has turned policy summersaults. When Sessions was interviewed at the German Marshall Fund's Brussels Forum in March 2015, he didn't miss a beat in answering, as a good Republican should, when asked about the Russia menace the US and Europe "have to unify" against Russia, he replied.
Fast forward to July 2016, and suddenly Sessions was pushing for a stronger relationship between Washington and the Kremlin praising Trump's call for a better relationship with Vladimir Putin, Sessions told CNN's State of the Union: "Donald Trump is right. We need to figure out a way to end this cycle of hostility that's putting this country at risk, costing us billions of dollars in defence, and creating hostilities." Asked late on Wednesday about the discrepancy between Sessions' answer during his confirmation and the disclosure of his meetings with Kislyak, which was attributed to unnamed Justice Department officials, Franken said: Loading "If it's true that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador in the midst of the campaign, then I am very troubled that his response to my questioning during his confirmation hearing was, at best, misleading.
Brussels: Belgian authorities have detained a suspect who was driving with gas canisters in the back of his car, setting off a security alert in the centre of Brussels.
The prosecutor's office said a busy part of the capital was closed off and a subway station closed during the evening rush hour.
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said authorities did not want to take any chances and acted quickly "since the driver was known by judicial authorities and it was unclear why the gas canisters were there."
"We are taking the case seriously," Van Wymersch added.
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As creative costume ideas for World Book Day go, one mum from Bristol takes the biscuit.
Vicki Bowles sent her son, nine-year-old Jaiden, to school this morning dressed head to toe as an Argos catalogue.
I was trying to think of something and I couldnt, but he likes looking through the Argos catalogue and I thought it would be funny, Vicki said.
Jaiden showed up to Victoria Park Primary School this morning alongside scores of classmates dressed in other costumes for World Book Day 2017.
Organisers of the international celebration of reading probably didnt have costumes like Jaidens in mind when they launched the event, but it has gone down well with his classmates.
Vicki added: On the way to school, walking there people stopped us laughing and saying its brilliant.
She said Jaiden does read a lot of different books, but cant resist finding his favourite toys in the catalogue every now and then.
The creative design took about nine hours to make across two evenings.
He loves it, Vicki said. He said it was really funny and he couldnt wait to show his friends.
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Plans to double the size of The Mall at Cribbs Causeway could be held up for months or even years after the Government called a public inquiry into the scheme.
The 300 million expansion, which includes dozens of new shops and restaarants, a hotel, flats and an indoor ski centre, was given planning permission by South Gloucestershire Council in November.
But the scale of the scheme, which is predicted to create 3,000 new jobs if it goes ahead, meant that it had to be 'called in' for a final decision by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid MP.
And tonight it has been announced the the Cabinet minister wants to hold a public inquiry into the application. That means a planning inspector must be appointed, hear amnd weigh evidence from the applicants, supporters and opponents of the scheme before making a recommendation to the Mr Javid.
The process is likely to take months and quite possibly more than a year to complete.
The decision has been made after objections to the scheme were raised by operators of nearby shopping centre.
Peter Cooper, the director of the Bristol Alliance, which runs Cabot Circus, said it could lose 123 million of trade and 1,500 jobs over five years.
Former Bristol Mayor George Ferguson also objected to the scheme.
In January, John Penrose, Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare, wrote to Mr Javid calling on him to block the shopping centre's 35,000 square expansion over fears of its effect on Weston's retailers.
He argued the extension could damage Weston's regeneration and make its "rebirth harder to achieve" - even though the town is more than 20 miles away.
Mr Penrose said Weston stood to lose 39 million in trade by 2021 and making the towns "rebirth harder to achieve".
He said: This isnt a final decision, but it means that Westons voice is being heard loud and clear, and Im delighted the Minister clearly understands the strength of local concerns about its impact on the wider local economy of places like Weston, and central Bristol too.
In a letter explaining Mr Javid's decision, planning minister Gavin Barwell said: "In general, planning applications are only called in when there are issues of more than local importance involved.
"The Secretary of State has indicated, however, that there are occasions when it is right for him to decide the issue, normally following a public inquiry."
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The car of a 26-year-old woman, who failed to turn up to work in Bristol, has been found in a coastal village in North Devon.
Lauren Philips has not been seen since last Thursday, February 23 and police said they are concerned for her welfare.
She then failed to turn up to work in the city on Sunday, February 26 before her car was found in Woolacombe, Devon, on Tuesday.
Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police are assisting with the search to find her along with HM Coastguard, the RNLI and the National Police Air Service.
Lauren is described as white, 5ft 5ins tall, of slim build with brown eyes. She has long dark brown hair which is usually straightened but which is naturally curly.
Detective Inspector Mark Langdon said: Lauren hasnt been seen for some days now and were growing increasingly concerned.
We really need the publics help in finding her so if you see her or think you might know where she is, please get in touch.
Were particular keen for bed and breakfast owners or hoteliers in and around the Woolacombe area to check whether she has booked in with them.
Anyone who sees Lauren is asked to call police on 101 providing the call handler with the reference 5217045398.
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Children across Bristol arrived at school this morning dressed as weird and wonderful characters from their favourite books to celebrate World Book Day 2017.
Today is the twentieth anniversary of the international celebration of reading, which inspires youngsters and adults alike to get into reading.
Here are some of the photos youve sent into us and dont forget its not too late to get in touch with pictures of your child.
Send them on Twitter or Facebook.
Research has recently found a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds in the UK wouldnt own a book if it wasnt for World Book Day.
The National Literary Trust surveyed more than 9,000 pupils in Key Stage 2 and found one in four bought their first ever book using their 2016 World Book Day token.
Kirsten Grant, Director of World Book Day, said: Were extremely proud of how deep and wide the impact of World Book Day continues to be in the lives of children and young people all over the UK and Ireland, particularly in light of the recent news that one in ten people dont own a single book.
She added: Reading isnt just about literacy skills and attainment levels either its about creativity, imagination and empathy, it opens up whole new universes and changes the way we see and think about the world.
Unlocking those worlds and empowering children to make choices about what they want to read, enabling them to own their own books and inspiring them to be regular visitors to their local bookshop and library is the beginning of a lifetime of pleasure.
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Bristol Cathedral Choir School is the most oversubscribed secondary school in Bristol, ousting Colstons Girls School from the top spot.
Thousands of parents found out on Wednesday morning where their children will go for their secondary education from September.
Bristol
More than one in four pupils -1,184 missed out on their first choice of school, while another 416 missed out on all three choices.
In total, 4,625 applications were received, a 34 per cent increase from 2010.
Demand for a secondary school place is growing quickly, with 95 per cent of secondaries now rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.
There was also a 30 per cent increase in the number of first choice applications for Bristol schools from people who live outside the city.
The majority of the families who missed out on all three choices applied for schools which allocate places by random allocation or live outside Bristol.
Some of those schools might also be faith schools.
Oversubscribed schools could still have waiting lists.
The most oversubscribed schools, in order, are:
Bristol Cathedral Choir School Cotham School Redland Green School St Mary's Redcliffe and Temple School Fairfield High School Colston's Girls' School Bristol Free School Bristol Brunel Academy Ashton Park School Bristol Metropolitan Academy St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School Oasis Academy John Williams St Bede's Catholic College Bedminster Down Secondary School Steiner Academy
Councillor Claire Hiscott, cabinet member for Education and Skills, said: "The fact that more parents than ever want to send their children to Bristol schools is testament to their success.
"It is also a challenge for us as more people are applying for places, so I am pleased that we have still been able to offer the vast majority of parents one of their preferred schools.
"Of course we understand that some parents will be disappointed and I would encourage them to keep an open mind about other options.
(Image: Local World)
South Gloucestershire
Some 801 pupils missed out on their top choice, which means 87.6 per cent of applicants got their first option.
But 167 children missed out on all three choices.
Total applications this year is 6,459, a drop from the 6,614 the year before.
There has been a reversal of fortunes for South Gloucestershire and Bristol, with more families now trying to get into a Bristol school.
Cllr Jon Hunt, chair of the Children, Adults and Health Committee said: The wait is over and parents across South Gloucestershire have today received notification of their childs future school.
Almost 88 per cent of children received their first choice of secondary school, and we are delighted that all of the on time applicants in our area have been offered a school place.
North Somerset
One in 10 204 pupils - have missed out on their first-choice school (90.8 per cent)
Some 27 children did not get any of their three preferences.
There were 2,228 applications up from 2,159 the year before - were made for 2,424 school places in North Somerset.
All families who applied for their first geographical area school have been allocated a place there, unless they have received a higher preference school place.
The most oversubscribed school was Priory School with 342 applications for 256 places.
A spokesman for the council said: These statistics are based on families being able to make three preferences and these preferences are treated equally.
So a family could make a first preference for a school much further away from their home address, and then have their first geographical area school as a second preference.
They may be happy if they are allocated their second preference, but wanted to see if they had a chance of getting into the other school.
Waiting lists and appeals
Do not accept your current school choice
If you accept your school choice, you cannot go on waiting lists. Your place at that school is reserved until a higher-preference is given to you.
Go visit schools you want to get your child into.
Find out more about the schools you are going to. Not getting your first choice (or three choices) might be a blessing in disguise.
If you didn't get one of your three choices, go visit the one you've been given. Give them a chance - you could be pleasantly surprised.
Waiting lists for schools will be available from March 27. Make sure you get your child's name on it. There is no limit.
The second round of allocations will take place in May, and appeals will be heard from June.
Waiting lists are open until December, so at no time take them off.
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National aggregator PLAN Australia has reported attendance numbers of more than 900 brokers to its first series of professional development days in February.
The training days were held across six states with the Melbourne event attracting more than 300 brokers alone. This indicated a strong start to PLAN Australias broker PD program for 2017, said CEO Anja Pannek.
PLAN Australia recognises the vital role training and education can play in enabling and encouraging business growth and we are thrilled to see so many of our brokers kicking off the year with a firm focus on professional development.
Brokers attending the PD days received news about the aggregators technology platform Podium and what it could do to help brokers run more efficient businesses.
Pannek also gave a CEO update on the upcoming remuneration review by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC).
PLAN Australia welcomes ASICs review into the mortgage broking industry and we continue to work closely with our members to ensure they are engaged when the report is published, she told Australian Broker.
During her CEO address, she also discussed what Australian brokers could learn from the strong growth of the broker channel in the UK.
Its a critical time for the industry, so its important to keep our brokers informed every step of the way from navigating regulatory change, showcasing the latest in technology platform innovation, or by using global comparisons in markets such as the UK where they have an even higher percentage of loans written by brokers, she said.
PLAN Australia was committed to providing an industry-leading training program, Pannek added, with the aggregator focused on the education of growth-oriented brokers.
Our brokers are demonstrating a real appetite for expanding their businesses and we look forward to further evolving and innovating the services we offer to ensure our brokers have access to the best business growth advice and industry insights.
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Most Australian banks are facing a one or two notch rating downgrade over the next two years as rising residential property prices put financial institutions at risk.
In a commentary on Australian banks entitled Rising Economic Risks Could Cut Ratings on Most Australian Financial Institutions by One Notch, S&P Global Ratings has examined the dangers of Australias hot housing market.
Rising economic imbalances are increasing the risk of a sharp correction in property prices, analysts at the global ratings agency said.
If such a scenario occurs, S&P highlighted eight financial institutions (including six banks) which would incur large credit losses and a subsequent credit rating downgrade.
S&P makes these ratings adjustments by focusing on the Risk Adjusted Capital (RAC) Framework.
Our risk weights applicable to a banks loans are calibrated to the economic risk we see in the country. Consequently, as economic risks in a country rise in our opinion, we increase the risk weights, and that pushes down the capital ratios, Sharad Jain, director at S&P Global Ratings, told Australian Broker.
This in turn, could have an additional downward impact on bank ratings. This is because our risk adjusted capital ratios are a key driver of our capital and earnings assessment which is an analytical factor in our assessment of a banks rating.
In the event of rising economic risks facing banks in a particular country, this by itself would be enough to place pressure on bank ratings within that country, he said.
S&P expects property price growth to moderate and then remain at relatively low levels during the next 12 to 18 months.
However, analysts warned there is a one-in-three chance of a downside scenario occurring in which property prices spiked. The resultant rise in risk would weaken the capital ratios of all banks in Australia.
For most banks, this movement would not be enough to put further pressure on their credit profiles. Thus, most financial institutions would only be downgraded by one notch.
However, S&P Global gave a warning about eight Australian financial institutions, highlighting two banks Auswide Bank and MyState Bank as being at greatest risk in this downside scenario.
It is important to point out that, if our downside scenario materialises, to review our ratings on these institutions, we would make an assessment of their position and plans in relation to capital, business, and broader financial profile, Jain said.
A two-notch downgrade would be only one of the three likely outcomes in that scenario. The other two likely outcomes are a one-notch downgrade with stable outlook or a one-notch downgrade with a negative outlook.
S&P Global also warned about the risks posed for AMP Bank, HSBC Bank Australia, ME Bank and P&N Bank in these circumstances although the agency admitted that parent support from these institutions is highly likely to prevent a two notch downgrade.
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They got railroaded!
Supporters of Mayor DeBlasios controversial $2.5-billion streetcar say the powerful Brooklyn Heights Association is so opposed to the plan that it silences anyone anxious to get on board with the trolley.
The group, Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, made the accusation against the elite Association Wednesday, one day after an the Heights group hosted a panel discussion that declared the streetcar plan is nothing but a folly that is not only bad as transit policy, but also a force for gentrification along the route.
Its no surprise that this exclusive and litigious group, which has consistently tried to prevent new parks, affordable housing, and anything else that might benefit people other than a small subset of the property owners who already live in Brooklyn Heights, refused our months of asking to meet, speak, or have a voice on this panel, the Friends said in a statement, which claimed 100 community groups support the Long-Island-City-to-Sunset-Park rail line.
But the head of the civic group which is in the middle of a lawsuit claiming some development in Brooklyn Bridge Park is unnecessary said that this was the first hed heard of any request by the pro-trolley group to be on the panel.
They are mischaracterizing the situation, no one every conveyed to me that they were looking to be on the panel, said Peter Bray, who is the executive director of the neighborhood group.
And Friends spokesman Stu Loeser later revealed it had never asked to be part of the panel and had just planned to ask at a Feb. 17 meeting that was pushed back to March.
The Associations panel included New York Times columnist and former transit writer Jim Dwyer; advocate David Bragdon of Transit Center; transit blogger Ben Kabak of Second Ave. Sagas; City College civil engineering assistant professor Candace Brakewood; and Samuel Stein, a doctoral student who has written about the streetcar for Jacobin magazine.
The panel was skeptical about a city claim that the project will be funded entirely from property tax increases along the route, arguing that Hizzoner would be better off using the projects hefty price tag to improve transit across a much-broader area of the city.
The Heights Association did not put an advocate for the streetcar on the panel because it was hoping to have an objective discussion so residents could hear the pros and cons of the project without bias, said the groups executive director, Peter Bray.
The board (did not want) paid promoters, he said. We were looking for people who have no specific professional ties to the project because we wanted there to be different perspectives and not someone whose job it is to simply promote the project.
And Bray took exception to the Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector depiction of the Heights Association as elitist because anyone can join.
Were a membership organization, he said. I dont think the Friends of the BQX are membership, so whos the exclusive organization?
The Friends group is chaired by real estate mogul Jed Walentas, whose Two Trees owns property all along the proposed route of the streetcar, which is being backed by development forces.
The Brooklyn Heights Association has not taken a position on the streetcar, though the group is not known for reticence. Bray said he is open to meeting with the Friends to learn more about the project.
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For this rocker, Brooklyn comes first.
Indie musician and former Brooklynite Mike Doughty will return to Kings County this Friday, stopping first at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on March 3 before playing a show the next night in the distant isle of Manhattan. The former frontman of the band Soul Coughing, now touring with his solo album The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns, may have moved to Memphis in 2015, but says he is not penning any Goodbye to New York letters.
Im not one of those dicks whore like, New York is over. Thats dumb, in my opinion, he said. It was just time for me to change. I wanted to buy a house, live cheaply, all that kind of stuff.
In fact, the latest video from the album, for the song I Cant Believe I Found You In That Town was filmed in Coney Island. Doughty stayed in Memphis, but turned over the reins to Brooklyn filmmaker Max Skaff, who also performs as rapper Uncle Meg.
He is just great, so I gave him the budget I had and said Just make it a love story, I dont care what kind. Just, kind of make it obvious that its my song, said Doughty.
The resulting video shows sideshow barker Mr. Strange hawking Mike Doughtybranded t-shirts, while a cute couple flirts and plays carnival games in Luna Park. Doughty said the result was better than any of the videos he made while on a major label.
I was at Warner Brothers they gave me a ton of money to make videos and none of them are worth a damn, he said. Max is just amazing, he made this beautiful film.
The solo musician is also collaborating on his latest tour. After leaving Soul Coughing in 2000, Doughty released nine solo albums filled with clever lyrics, electronic bloops, and churning acoustic guitars, all played by the artist himself. But this tour involves a full band, and Doughty had to create a system to help the other members follow him in the loose, freewheeling set structure he developed as solo performer.
Its all improvised in the show, I do these hand signals to say, Loop back to the beginning, or to stop and start. So youll watch me conducting the band, said Doughty. Its kind of like a James Brown show.
The set list varies every night, so longtime fans might hear their favorite song or they might not. Its just a matter of logistics, said Doughty.
Ive got nine full albums; 12 if you count Soul Coughing. When I play shows, I have tried to do at least one song from every album, but I have more albums than I have time, he said.
But there is one song you will definitely not hear in the set. Since 2002, Doughty has urged audiences to stop shouting requests for Freebird, and instead call for Its Raining Men a song he cannot play.
I think its better if I never learn, he said. But Im trying to spread it. I hope people start yelling Its Raining Men at Foo Fighters concerts.
See Mike Doughty at the Music Hall of Williamsburg [66 N. Sixth St. between Kent and Wythe avenues in Williamsburg, (718) 4865400, www.music hallo fwill iamsb urg.com ]. March 3 at 8 pm. $25.
We have reached the halfway point of the 65th legislative session, bills that have passed the House move on to the Senate and vice versa. Most bills are still works in progress, and plenty of time still remains to debate key issues and fine-tune legislation.
As for the budget for the next biennium, it will remain fluid until the release of the March revenue forecast. Armed with the latest revenue information, we are committed to passing a budget that funds our priorities and provides local property tax relief, ensures adequate reserves for the future and balances our budget without an increase in state taxes.
As always, our top priority is educating our kids. We need to invest in our state's future and maintain the high quality of education that North Dakotans expect. Funding for K-12 education will be held at current levels into the next biennium, which will also help hold the line on local school property taxes. In addition, we are working to replenish the Foundation Aid Stabilization Fund that was used in the last allotment, so that we can ensure adequate education funding in this biennium.
We also recognize our responsibility to care for our most vulnerable citizens. The "provider tax" proposal that would have shifted the burden of falling revenues onto private payers was rejected, and instead we plan to restore long-term care funding lost to the current biennium's budget cuts and make the long-term care budget for the next biennium whole. We are also considering a requirement that insurance plans in North Dakota cover autism programs.
Public safety is also a priority during this session. We sent a package of bills relating to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests to the governor's desk to show our commitment to helping law enforcement do their job. We applaud the restraint shown by our state's law enforcement personnel in their handling of the situation, and we are committed to keeping people on both sides of the issue safe while ensuring the rule of law.
We are looking for ways to reinvent and right-size government. We are taking a close look at our criminal justice system and our approach to addiction. In many cases, a person needs rehabilitation, not incarceration. By improving access to behavioral health services, we will not only save lives but also reduce our prison costs and population by combating recidivism.
We are also taking steps to further increase transparency in the political process. Campaign finance reform bills that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds, prohibit foreign contributions and increase disclosure requirements are working their way through the Legislature. We believe in giving the voters the information they need to make good decisions at the ballot box.
One of our most challenging tasks this session has been correcting the deficiencies in the medical marijuana measure that passed on the ballot in November. We fully respect the will of the people and we are working to give them what they voted for, while implementing a system that gives qualified patients access to a safe product.
We are optimistic about the future of our state. Legislators have been looking for efficiencies and making necessary cuts in order to ensure that we do not burden our citizens with new taxes. We are committed to funding our priorities and building up adequate reserves for the future, in the end, we will do things the North Dakota way: living within our means and by balancing the budget.
President Donald Trump gave his first speech to Congress on Tuesday night and most commentators gave him high marks. He said he wanted to speak from the heart and he stressed unifying the nation. His speech wasnt confrontational like many of his previous addresses. There was a very emotional moment when he honored the widow of a Navy SEAL.
The states congressional delegation reacted to his speech on Tuesday night. Here are their comments.
"In his first address to the Congress, the president outlined his commitment to growing our economy and keeping our nation safe. We appreciate the presidents focus on the fundamentals including rolling back the regulatory burden on our job creators and reforming the tax code to get our economy going and growing.
Economic growth will enable us to reduce our debt and deficit while also investing in the priorities the president outlined, including supporting our military, caring for our veterans, building our infrastructure and making our communities safer by supporting our law enforcement and improving border security.
These things are important, but as the chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Committee, one of my highest priorities in the budget process will also be ensuring we support our farmers and ranchers through these challenging times in the agriculture patch. Therefore, I will look carefully at the budget proposal to make sure that agriculture is properly supported, along with other priorities.
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.
q q q
Tonight, the president called for the country to unite, and I couldnt agree more. Our country works best when we work together on real results for the American people. Its past time to put politics aside and work on policy.
It was an aspirational speech and there were a lot of ideas in it, but the devil is in the details. The president will now need to flesh out how his policies will actually work and provide specifics about how to accomplish them. It was encouraging to see Republicans stand up for proposals that they havent traditionally been supportive of, including paid family leave which I have a bill on and an infrastructure package which we recently introduced that will support the whole country including rural America. I expressed concerns when our previous president didnt talk about rural America, and I had the same concerns with this speech. There wasnt a mention of rural America, a farm bill, or agriculture workers, and these should be focuses for any leader of our country.
The president did talk about supporting American workers and I hope we can work together to give workers and retirees the support they need to get and keep jobs to support their families, and to live with dignity with secure retirements and pensions. He talked about expanding our nations energy infrastructure, which Ive long been a proponent of, and supporting American-made products. We also must make sure that any tax reform has to work for families just trying to put food on the table.
I intend to work with the president to get results for North Dakota, and Ill also serve as a check and balance in the U.S. Senate as needed to hold this Congress and administration accountable to our state. Now its time to pave the way forward by working together and I hope the president follows his own speech about working in a bipartisan way.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.
q q q
I was very encouraged by President Trumps speech tonight. It was very aspirational and optimistic. Its great to see Americans dreaming big again. This president has laid out big dreams and he has proven in his first month we can accomplish big things. In terms of his first months accomplishments great job. In terms of goals going forward, hes holding us in Congress accountable. But hes also letting us know he has our back if we stick together and do the heavy lifting repealing and replacing Obamacare with health care that is more patient-centered with greater access and lower costs. Also important is the rollback of regulations so job creators can get about the business of creating jobs and making us more competitive in the global marketplace.
"President Trump ran on putting America first, the importance of national defense as the highest priority of the federal government, and the responsiblity of the federal government to work with states and local jurisdictions to keep neighborhoods and our homeland safe. These themes are now fulfilled promises. I look forward to working with him on this.
Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
latest news
October 31, 2022
Buddy TV
In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options...
On this episode of Star, Boy Trouble, Eva officially joins Big Trouble and they compete in the next round of Atlanta Next Fest. Meanwhile, Jahil tries to help Cotton after she relapses, and uncovers a big secret about their relationship.
Four Part Harmony
The episode opens with Star, Alex and Simone rehearsing their song Sugar for Atlanta Next Fest, and I cant deny that its super catchy. This show is definitely at its best during the performances. After they finish practicing, Jahil compliments Alex and Simone, but not Star. The tension is still high between them after Jahil temporarily put Eva in the band.
Speaking of Eva, one of the judges from Atlanta Next Fest comes to their rehearsal and says they cannot perform as a trio because Jahil signed them up as a group of four. Eva was only in the band for approximately five minutes, but that happened to be when Jahil filled out the paper work for the competition. Star is furious and hits Jahil, but Simone convinces her that the only thing left to do is talk to Eva and put her back in the group. Meanwhile, Cotton, who is designing all of the costumes for the competition, shows up at the rehearsal high, which concerns Jahil. He goes to Carlotta and warns her that Cotton is on drugs again.
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The New Normal
Dereks grandma refuses to let him use Alexs lawyer for his trial. She does not want to take any of Alexs money, even though the only alternative is a public defender. Later, when Derek and Alex are on a walk, a news station approaches him for an interview about the protest. Derek refuses and pushes the camera away. The reporter also asks Alex about getting pulled over and harassed by a white cop, which Derek did not know about.
Star and Hunter are officially back together, but he does not want her at his house because of his mother. Star complains about them spending time in his car because this isnt high school, but based on her behavior, it wouldnt be surprising if she was still in high school.
After the drama with the Atlanta Next Fest judge, Eva officially joins the group and they get started on a new song. Jahil goes to Pumpkin (Missy Elliots acting continues to be a delight) for help on producing a four part harmony. At the studio, Eva asks Pumpkin if she can try to record Stars part of the song. Much to Stars dismay, Pumpkin and Jahil decide they like Evas version of the bridge better. At dance rehearsal, Star and Eva continue to clash (literally).
Bring It On
Carlotta shows up at Cottons house to try to get her to come home because she is back on drugs. Cotton refuses, and says she doesnt have to listen to Carlotta anymore because she doesnt live with her.
Derek finds the reporter who he met with Alex to tell her to investigate the cop that pulled Alex over. He explains that the cop has a history of treating people unfairly. The reporter warns him that this could backfire on him, but Derek does not care.
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The Show Must Go On
Backstage at Atlanta Next Fest, Evas costume breaks and Cotton is nowhere to be found. Star manages to fix Evas outfit just in time for their performance, but it is not the last of the damage done to their outfits. One of the girls in the rival group, Glamour, throws a drink on Star. (Personally, I think they should have just changed because their costumes make them look like gas station attendants.) The girls come together and pray right before they go on stage.
Big Trouble is announced as the last group that gets to move on to the next round of Atlanta Next Fest. Hunter takes Star out to celebrate, and brings her to a house that he bought and put in her name, which makes her emotional. Simone sees Jahil and Eva making out and talking about how Jahil hired someone to pretend they were from Atlanta Next Fest to talk to the girls. It turns out the rule about not making changes to the group after they signed up was a lie.
After Derek confesses to Alex that he talked to the reporter, they get into a car accident. It is unclear if someone hit them on purpose or not. Jahil picks up Cotton from the club, and brings her to Carlottas house. Cotton tries to kiss Jahil, but Carlotta comes out and interrupts them. Carlotta tells Cotton that Jahil is her father. Cotton runs off and Jahil chases after her.
Star airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on FOX. For more news, like BuddyTV on Facebook.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
On this episode of The 100, The Tinder Box, members of Skaikru stand off against the Ice Nation army, Clarke tries to broker a new peace agreement with Roan, Raven discovers the key to manufacturing a Nightblood serum and tragedy strikes at Arkadia.
A broken and battered Octavia cant quite make it back to Arkadia before she falls off of her horse. Given she was stabbed and fell off a huge cliff, its nothing short of a miracle that shes alive at all. Octavia gets another lucky break when Ilian finds her in the forest and delivers her to her people. A weak Octavia is able to warn Clarke that Azgeda is coming and war is here.
The Shooter
Clarke rallies the troops and a plan to protect Arkadia is set in motion. The guards, led by Millers dad, want to pour the highly-flammable hydrazine into trenches around the perimeter, and when Roans army gets close enough, light them up. Neither Monty or Clarke are big on setting a fire so close to the ship that theyve just spent a month repairing.
Nobody can reach Kane, and Jaha found the cargo truck 12 hours out but no sign of Bellamy or Stephens. Clarke decides she has to speak to Roan, convinced theres been some sort of misunderstanding. Clarke decides to ride out and intercept Roan and his army before they reach Arkadia.
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When Roan spots Clarke, he realizes his army has lost the element of surprise. Echo swears theres no way that Octavia survived her blade and that fall.
Clarke tells Roan they need to talk, but he says its too late and orders his archers to target Wanheda. But Clarke didnt come alone. There are shooters perched in the rocks above who have their weapons aimed at the King. Roan reveals hes got Kane and Bellamy, and Clarke asks for ten minutes to speak with Roan. Echos worried its a trap, but Roan says they already walked into one.
The plan is to take the targets off Roan and put them on the Ice Nation army since peace talks are likely to go more smoothly if Roan doesnt have to worry that his head is about to get blown off. But Riley, enslaved by the Azgeda for long enough to still be pissed about it, decides to go rogue. Riley is convinced that negotiating with the Ice Nation is a waste of time. Skaikru has the guns and the high ground, and Riley wants to take them out. Monty orders Riley to stand down, warning him that if he fires, it will become a massacre. Riley finally backs off.
Dain Bramage
Things are going a bit wonky at Beccas lab. While Jackson and Abby struggle to figure out how to replicate Nightblood, Raven has a seizure. But in Ravens mind, it was something altogether different. She tells Abby that her brain was operating with such intensity, as if she was space walking again zero-G with no suit. Raven has an epiphany that explains why Abby hasnt been able to get the Nightblood protein to bond with Lunas DNA. When Raven imagined she was weightless, her neurons must have been firing faster than her conscious mind could process. She was communicating through her subconscious. The answer to their problems came in the form of Ravens hallucination, and the seizure episode was just a temporary side effect.
Now the problem is how to simulate zero gravity in a laboratory environment. Raven suspects Becca went into space to manufacture Nightblood. Abby, Jackson and Raven discover that within the lab, theres a space ship ready to launch.
Abby runs a scan of Ravens brain and discovers the girl is using a huge percentage of her brain, but she also has a bleed as well. Abbys not sure if its a stroke yet, even though Jackson is.
Meanwhile, Raven is manic, making plans to get the rocket into orbit. Abby warns Raven to slow down. Ravens heightened mental ability, euphoria and hallucinations are all connected A.L.I.E. warned Raven that the EMP would cause brain damage. Raven says Jasper was right when he said nobody else got an upgrade. For everyone else, Clarke pulled a master kill switch, but something different happened to Raven. Part of A.L.I.E.s code is still in her head. Thats why she knows things she was never taught. In addition, Beccas mind was in that code, so thats how Raven knew where the rocket was.
Abby reveals that Ravens scan shows signs of a stroke, and shes worried what will happen if Raven keeps pushing so hard. Raven believes shes been through worse, but Abby warns Raven this is more than likely going to kill her. But Raven is willing to sacrifice herself to save everyone else.
There is No I in Team
Roan meets Clarke in a nearby cave. He accuses Clarke of breaking their deal. She cant figure out why he would nearly kill Octavia, take Kane and Bellamy as prisoners and attempt to wipe out Skaikru when theyre all about to die soon anyway. Roan makes it clear his objective was to take their ship, a ship she restored to save her own people and not his. Clarke tries to reassure him that the ship is a back-up plan and will only hold 100 people.
Clarke questions if Kane told Roan about the Nightblood solution, and he responds that it sounds as if Skaikru is just trying to make the next Commander a violation of their deal. Clarke reminds him the flame is gone, but Roan argues Octavia might not be telling the truth.
Clarke swears there is no conspiracy, and shes trying to save everyone, but Roan disagrees. Clarke failed to learn from Lexa that sometimes you have to learn to rise above loyalty to your own clan. Clarke says she wants to save everyone but builds a ship for herself, for her people.
Clarke insists the Nightblood will save everyone, but Roan doesnt believe in miracles. Roan tells Clarke that she can order her shooters to stand down, hand over the ship and use whatever time is left to work on the Nightblood solution or she can have them open fire. Clarke reminds him that they have more bullets than he has men, and he will lose. Roan admits theyll both take losses, including Kane and Bellamy. Clarke warns Roan that she was willing to sacrifice her own mother to stop A.L.I.E. Roan replies that he sacrificed his own mother to save Clarke.
While Clarke and Roan negotiate, tensions rise outside the cave. Echo has ordered her army attack if one gunshot rings out, and Riley has gone missing. Monty figures out Riley is headed to the cave to kill Roan, so he has no choice but to approach the enemy. Hes able to tell Bellamy Octavia is alive before warning Echo that one of his men has moved out of formation, and he believes hes trying to kill the King.
Kane uses his radio to tell his men to let Echo and Bellamy pass unharmed, so they can go after Riley. Echo warns her people that if shes not back by sundown, they are to kill the hostages which now include Monty who has taken Bellamys place.
Clarke comes up with a compromise. She offers 50 slots on the ship to Roans people. Hes down with that plan but questions if Roans people will accept it. Roan is the king, so he doesnt need their permission, but he does wonder how Clarke will sell this new deal to Skaikru who wont be happy about losing half of their seats on the lifeboat. Roan promises that if Clarkes people dont follow her when the time comes, Azgeda will be on hand to make sure it gets done.
Echo and Bellamy come across Riley, and Bellamy tries to reason with him. Bellamy warns that Azgeda will kill Monty and Kane, Skaikru will open fire and it will be a bloodbath. Riley thinks Bellamy is just saying what Ice Nation wants him to because hes a prisoner. Echo is losing patience and is eager to put an arrow into Riley. Bellamy struggles to keep Echo calm and keep Riley from pulling the trigger. Bellamy uses his own experience as a cautionary tale, and Riley doesnt take the shot.
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Anybody Got a Plan C?
Octavia wakes up and wonders how she made it back to Arkadia. When she learns Ilian was her rescuer, she freaks out. Ilian is on a mission to destroy tech, and now hes surrounded by it, and with all the excitement, nobody has been keeping an eye on the interloper. Octavia is convinced it was no coincidence that Ilian found her, he used her to get in. With Niylahs help, Octavia makes her way to the server room where Ilian is preparing to blow the whole thing sky high.
Octavia tries to convince Ilian not to execute his plan. He asks O if she was in the City of Light, and when she answers no, he says shell never understand. He drops a torch, and theres a huge explosion.
Ilian rescues Octavia and Niylah from the wreckage, but the damage to the ship is catastrophic.
Having heard the explosion, Echo, Roan, Clarke and Bellamy rush back to witness the chaotic aftermath. Bellamy is reunited with his sister, and Octavia tells Clarke that Ilian is responsible. All everyone can do is stand by and watch their back-up plan go up in smoke, literally.
Will Abby figure out a way to save Raven? Now that the Ark and all the supplies have been destroyed, what will happen to the people of Arkadia? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The 100 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW. Want more news? Visit The 100 page on Facebook.
(Image Courtesy of The CW)
On this weeks episode of The Magicians entitled The Cock Barrens, Eliot and Margo find themselves kidnapped by a neighboring land, Quentin tries to resurrect a funeral pyramid, and Julia finds herself one step closer to possibly banishing Reynard. Oh, and Penny is still on the quest to fix his hands.
The episode opens with Quentin doing some mystical tai chi cirque de soleil inspired dancing in the hopes of summoning Alices Niffin while Eliot and Margo don some regal capes and judge with witty commentary from the sidelines. Quentin tries to summon Terminator Alice as a means of coping with her impending funeral, which brings Quentin face to face with Alices parents and all his regrets surrounding her death.
While attending the funeral, he is haunted by a Sixth Sense-esque form of Alice, complete with shrouds of darkness and rings under her pale eyes. This ghost version of Alice brings Quentin to her fathers private study. Alices father finds Quentin in his private (and previously locked) study room only to tell Quentin that Alice had called a couple weeks before her death inquiring about book about ghosts and how to help them find peace. In the land of The Magicians this means that Quentin and Alices father decide to build an ancient Egyptian funeral pyre equipped with an enchanted mirror in the hopes of helping Alice move on from the mortal plane, once and for all.
Eventually Alices mom comes to the aide of Quentin and his paranormal goodbye party in the hopes of smoothing out the transition for Alices ghost. However, she is overcome by emotion, as any other grieving mother would, and excuses herself before her duties are completed. In this moment, Quentin comes face to face with Alices niffin self, complete with electrical blue scars along her face that would make Harry Potter proud. In her cold demeanor, Alice enlightens Quentin to the fact that the beast that was once in his tattoo that attacked Alice and effectively killed her failed in doing just that and the hauntings that Quentin has been experiencing are due to the fact that Alice is still alive and now lies beneath Quentins skin, literally etching herself in his back tattoo.
While Quentin tends to his wounds, Julia and Kady come one step closer to finding a way to banish Reynard once and for all. They stumble upon an unexplained fire that occurred in Hoboken, New Jersey and upon a further investigation, find the very woman who banished the deviant demon the first time. The twist here is that she too was assaulted by Reynard and pregnant with his child. This sends Julia into a tail spin until it comes to light that the only way Julia can banish Reynard is to harness the energy of her little bun in the heaven effectively using Reynards unborn child against him.
Back on Fillory, Eliot and Margo are accosted by a Prince from a neighboring land who comes to them angry over the treatment of the sacred fountain. Refusing to take no for an answer, he proposes a treaty but only if he can marry Margo. Margo vehemently denies marrying the Prince which leads to the Prince seemingly transporting the Fillory kingdom to a faraway land. Margo attempts to smooth over negotiations, but all that does is end with Margo sleeping in bed, the remnant from her sexual Tet-a-Tet with the prince. With no way out and a forced marriage on the horizon, Penny and his goofy hands come to save the day as he intercepts Margos dreamscape and vows to find them. After trying to find the castle and only coming up short, Penny realizes that the castle was never transported, but just under an intense cloaking spell. Margo, riled up and angry as a bat out of hell, swears off the prince, effectively banishing him from the land, but not before she openly declares war on him, with Eliot supporting his Queens the whole time.
Are you excited to see The Magicians wage a magical war?
The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9 pm on Syfy.
On Earth
The episode opens with Quentin doing some mystical tai chi Cirque Du Soleil-inspired dancing in the hopes of summoning Alices Niffin while Eliot and Margo don some regal capes and judge with witty commentary from the sidelines. Quentin tries to summon Terminator Alice as a means of coping with her impending funeral, which brings Quentin face to face with Alices parents and all his regrets surrounding her death.
While attending the funeral, he is haunted by a Sixth Sense-esque form of Alice, complete with shrouds of darkness and rings under her pale eyes. This ghost version of Alice brings Quentin to her fathers private study. Alices father finds Quentin in his private (and previously locked) study room only to tell Quentin that Alice had called a couple weeks before her death inquiring about book about ghosts and how to help them find peace. In the land of The Magicians this means that Quentin and Alices father decide to build an ancient Egyptian funeral pyre equipped with an enchanted mirror in the hopes of helping Alice move on from the mortal plane, once and for all.
Eventually, Alices mom comes to the aide of Quentin and his paranormal goodbye party in the hopes of smoothing out the transition for Alices ghost. However, she is overcome by emotion (as any other grieving mother would) and excuses herself before her duties are completed. In this moment, Quentin comes face to face with Alices niffin self, complete with electrical blue scars along her face that would make Harry Potter proud. In her cold demeanor, Alice enlightens Quentin to the fact that the beast that was once in his tattoo that attacked Alice and effectively killed her, failed in doing just that and the hauntings that Quentin has been experiencing are due to the fact that Alice is still alive and now lies beneath Quentins skin, literally etching herself in his back tattoo.
While Quentin tends to his wounds, Julia and Kady come one step closer to finding a way to banish Reynard once and for all. They stumble upon an unexplained fire that occurred in Hoboken, New Jersey and upon a further investigation, find the very woman who banished the deviant demon the first time. The twist here is that she too was assaulted by Reynard and pregnant with his child. This sends Julia into a tail spin until it comes to light that the only way Julia can banish Reynard is to harness the energy of her little bun in the heaven effectively using Reynards unborn child against him.
In Fillory
Eliot and Margo are accosted by a prince from a neighboring land who comes to them angry over the treatment of the sacred fountain. Refusing to take no for an answer, he proposes a treaty but only if he can marry Margo. Margo vehemently denies marrying the prince which leads to the Prince seemingly transporting the Fillory kingdom to a faraway land. Margo attempts to smooth over negotiations, but all that does is end with Margo sleeping in bed, the remnant from her sexual Tet-a-Tet with the prince. With no way out and a forced marriage on the horizon, Penny and his goofy hands come to save the day as he intercepts Margos dreamscape and vows to find them. After trying to find the castle and only coming up short, Penny realizes that the castle was never transported, but just under an intense cloaking spell. Margo, riled up and angry as a bat out of hell, swears off the prince, effectively banishing him from the land, but not before she openly declares war on him, with Eliot supporting his Queen the whole time.
Are you excited to see The Magicians wage a magical war?
The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy.
(Image courtesy of Syfy)
Campus News
National recognition for 2 architecture faculty
Miguel Guitarts award-winning project consists of three buildings with a total construction of 30,000 square feet. The rectory and the Parish Center, together forming an L-shape, hold the city fabric behind it and frame and accentuate the church itself. Miguel Guitarts award-winning project consists of three buildings with a total construction of 30,000 square feet. The rectory and the Parish Center, together forming an L-shape, hold the city fabric behind it and frame and accentuate the church itself.
By LISA GAGNON
An architecture studio on refugee housing and newly built church and parish center in Madrid earned two UB architecture faculty members national recognition as inspiring educators who creatively engage architectural practice and extend their work into the public sector. The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture presented 2017 Architectural Education awards to: Erkin Ozay, recognized with the Housing Design Education Award for his studios on housing for emergent populations in Buffalo; and Miguel Guitart, earning an honorable mention in the Faculty Design category for his firms design of the Church and Parish Center in Tarragona, Spain.
A transitional housing development for refugees and homeless individuals, proposed by one group of students in Erkin Ozay's "Rethinking Resettlement" studio (spring 2016), features embedded amenities such as outdoor recreation and courtyards. It is also strategically located within walking distance to mass transit. A transitional housing development for refugees and homeless individuals, proposed by one group of students in Erkin Ozay's "Rethinking Resettlement" studio (spring 2016), features embedded amenities such as outdoor recreation and courtyards. It is also strategically located within walking distance to mass transit.
Erkin Ozay: Housing Design Education Award
A transitional housing development for refugees and homeless individuals, proposed by one group of students in Erkin Ozay's Rethinking Resettlement studio, features embedded amenities such as outdoor recreation and courtyards. It is also strategically located within walking distance to mass transit. Ozays Housing Design Education Award was one of only two granted jointly by the ACSA and the American Institute of Architects to honor education in the increasingly complex practice area of residential architecture. His proposal Retrofitting the Rustbelt City incorporates work from two design studios. Rethinking Resettlement, a spring 2016 graduate studio in inclusive design, offered housing solutions for Buffalos growing refugee population that sought to create authentic multicultural environments and contribute to the revitalization of Buffalos East Side. Students integrated sociocultural factors into their designs by examining each phase of the refugee resettlement process, consulting local non-profit agencies such as the International Institute of Buffalo, and assessing the service environment on Buffalos East Side. Among their proposals was a series of adaptive reuse designs for vacant warehouse buildings along the Buffalo Belt Line, a low-traffic freight line that loops the city and provides key linkages to public transportation, schools and parks. The students designs also promote social interaction and mixed communities through features such as communal kitchens and onsite day-care centers. Ozay was also recognized for his co-direction of Urban Life: Self and Society, the culminating studio for senior architecture students. The fall 2016 studio considered rising demands for affordable housing in downtown Buffalo for restaurant workers, long-term rehabilitation patients within the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, and large families. In their designs, students explored private-public space through live-work environments featuring open plazas, green space and public pools.
Miguel Guitart: Faculty Design Award, Honorable Mention
Everything you need to know for MLS Cup 2022
Mikhail Karikis spent eleven months in the Isle of Grain in Kent, England, watching closely the activities of the 11-13-year-old boys in the region. At the end of it, he produced a 10 minute film (Aint Got No Fear, 2016) on the lives on these children, their childhood adventures and what the future may hold for them. A rap song performed by the children in the film tells the story of their lives. Haunting music and vivid imagery bring alive the regions harsh and bleak landscape both in terms of the surrounding environment and prospects for the children in the region. I watched the film twice and if time had permitted, it would have been thrice.
The government should make it easier for IT professionals, who are expecting single-digit hikes in the coming financial year, to exit their jobs, an online petition signed by over 28,000 professionals has demanded, reported The Economic Times on Thursday.
went to the US when he was 17. He was a student of economics at the University of California in San Francisco. On his first trip home to China, the girl at the airport counter asked him if he wanted to be a member of the airlines frequent flyer program. Whats that for? he asked her.
Singaporean sovereign fund GIC and US-based private equity giant Blackstone were neck-and-neck for acquiring promoters 40% stake in their rental arm Cybercity Developers (DCCDL). The realty major on Wednesday said it has entered into a exclusive agreement with GIC to sell the stake. DLF, however, did not announce the value of the deal, which is expected to be to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore.
Finnish firm HMD Global, which has right to market Nokia brand, is likely to make all devices of the historic phone company in India including the iconic "Nokia 3310".
"We will attempt to ensure all our products are made in India. We will source all our product from India," HMD Mobile India Vice President Ajey Mehta told PTI in Barcelona.
HMD Global, which has struck a 10-year brand licensing agreement with Nokia for mobile phones and tablets, will launch a new version of the 17-year old 'Nokia 3310' during April-June for around Rs 3,500 a unit.
It will also bring in Android-powered Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 to India during the second quarter itself.
Taiwanese electronic company Foxconn is manufacturing partner of HMD Global.
At present, some feature phones are already being manufactured in India at Foxconn facility.
Mehta said the company is even evaluating the development of 4G feature phone.
"We are evaluating all opportunity in the market," Mehta said, adding India is a very important market for HMD Global.
"All consumer requirements are fed up to the product team at our company which then develops the final product," Mehta said.
The company will sell Nokia phones through both offline and online channels.
"Whichever channel will help reach us to consumers, we will go with that. We will be channel agnostic both offline and online. We currently cover close to 80,000 retailers but we plan to increase that in the future," Mehta said.
He said the company is also boosting its after sales service channel and will have a direct presence in at least around 250 towns in the country by the time phones are launched.
Did China's entry into the World Trade Organization cause 60,000 factories in the United State to close?
"We've lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) was approved, and we've lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001," US President Donald Trump said Tuesday night in his first speech to a joint session of Congress.
That 60,000 number is accurate, but blaming China for the closings is, as one economist said, "a stretch''.
While 60,000 factories were closed between 2002 and 2014, according to the US Census Bureau, China's entry into the WTO in 2001 isn't the reason, said Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.
"The number is accurate, but attributing it to China is a stretch. There's nothing in the data that suggests it has anything to do with China," she said.
A steep decline in manufacturing jobs occurred after 9/11, rebounded, and then dropped dramatically again after the 2008 financial crisis. From 2009 to 2016, roughly 1 million jobs in manufacturing have been created. Trump's reference to a 25 percent loss in manufacturing jobs is correct, but there isn't a clear relationship to NAFTA or China's entrance into the WTO, de Bolle said.
"What seems to be happening is that there's more of a relationship to crises that hit the US economy, plus automation that has happened to manufacturing to a very large extent, and changes in the labor market structure in the US not related directly to automation, such as outsourcing of jobs," she said, "which have nothing to do with China, and which probably explain also the destruction of 60,000 firms in the manufacturing structure."
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a Wednesday press briefing that since joining the WTO, China has actively engaged in "international cooperation".
"This has boosted not only its own foreign trade, but also global trade, making important contribution to world economic growth and winning wide recognition and praise of the international community. China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature," he said.
Martin Baily, a trade economist at the Brookings Institute in Washington, said that much of the substantial decline in manufacturing jobs in the US after 2000 "does not mean that trade with NAFTA or trade with China are responsible."
Productivity increases and automation contributed to the decline, as did a slow growth in US demand for manufactured goods, he said.
"Our trade with Mexico has only a small deficit and we had a surplus with Canada in 2016. Manufacturing trade with China is very unbalanced, but that is not just China," Baily said.
A January report from the US-China Business Council stated that the US-China trade relationship today supports about 2.6 million jobs across a range of industries. US exports to China directly and indirectly created $165 billion in GDP in 2015 and supported 1.8 million new jobs, and combined with Chinese investment into the US the jobs total is 2.6 million. US-China trade ties generated 1.2 percent of US GDP in 2015, according to the report.
A June 2015 report on productivity growth in the US from 1998 to 2012 from the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University said that 88 percent of job losses in manufacturing were due to technological changes like automation rather than international trade. Economists said that industrial output and productivity have increased despite fewer workers, according to the report.
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The boycott of foreign colas remained mixed in Tamil Nadu on the second day of the retail stir called by two trade associations in the state.
A minority shareholder of has alleged that the company's promoters have siphoned off funds from the BSE-listed company for their personal use by buying expensive jets, yachts and constructing a huge mansion in South Mumbai for their personal use.
Workers of the Tata Motors Sanand plant, who refused to take the company transport back home on Wednesday as a mark of protest, have approached the state labour department to help them negotiate their demands with the management.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists on Thursday held a "protest march" in Delhi University (DU) campus in New Delhi, demanding action against the anti- activities.
The student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that the protest march near the university's North Campus' Art Faculty was organised to save the DU from "anti- activities".
Students in the march were demanding strict action against all those elements who support "anarchism and anti-India propaganda".
A clash took place between the members of the and the All India Students Association (AISA), a Left-leaning student organisation, at Ramjas College on February 22 that left the university campus disturbed.
The Delhi government has proposed increasing minimum wages in the Capital Territory. The extent of the proposed hike in minimum wages is substantial. Unskilled workers will have to be paid at least Rs 13,350 per month, as compared to Rs 9,724 currently. Semi-skilled workers will see their minimum compensation rise from Rs 10,764 to Rs 14,698, and skilled workers from Rs 11,830 to Rs 16,182. Overall, this is a 37 per cent increase, less than the 50 per cent recommended by an earlier committee, but nonetheless worthy of note. After a disagreement with the then Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on the subject of whether the previous committee was empowered to revise wages, the Delhi government had created a new committee, which knocked down the proposed increase marginally. Critics of the government have been swift to claim that elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which the Aam Aadmi Party hopes to wrest away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are approaching and may have been a factor in the decision.
The phrase emerging disease, to describe an infectious disease that is new to humans or which is suddenly increasing its geographical range or number of cases, dates back to the 1960s. But it was the realisation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that the world was in the throes of previously unrecognised pandemics of genital herpes and AIDS, that really propelled the term into the mainstream.
The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed against the supply of Thamirabarani river water to co-packers of Pepsi and Coca-Cola in Tirunelvelli.
Stating there will be no ban on water supply to Pepsi and Coca-Cola, the High Court also lifted its stay order.
The petitioner argued that farmers will suffer as Pepsi and Coca-Cola will use water for their commercial gains.
The companies, however, insisted that they would use only the surplus water.
The petition was filed by DA Prabakar, who claimed that agricultural activities and the livelihood of people is getting affected due to the supply of water to these two leading companies.
Earlier in November last year, the High Court imposed a stay on Pepsi and Coca-Cola plants from using Thamirabarani river water in Tirunelveli.
President on Thursday said those in universities must engage in reasoned discussions and debates rather than propagate a culture of unrest, and said there should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian.
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Announcing the 2017 ABA Awards Recipients! The ABA Board of Directors recently voted to present three ABA Awards in 2017. The awardees are Judy Pollock, Jerry Liguori, and Scott Weidensaul. We congratulate each of them on their substantial achievements. -=====- The 2017 Betty Petersen Award for Conservation and Community goes to Judy Pollock of Evanston, Illinois. Judy Pollock has been described as the backbone of bird conservation in the Chicago area for nearly two decades. She has been at the center of dozens of projects, large and small, often taking on an the most difficult rolescoalition-building, grant writing, planningto bring them to fruition. Among her successful endeavors are Lights Out Chicago, a light reduction program in the downtown areas during spring and fall migration which the City of Chicago later took up, and the launch of Wild Indigo Natural Explorations, engaging residents in Chicagos poor, and mostly African-American south and west sides, in their local forest preserves. She encourages Chicago-area residents to take pride and ownership in their local natural areas and to become advocates for those places, creating new alliances in the process. -=====- The 2017 Robert Ridgway Award for Publications in Field Ornithology goes to Jerry Liguori of Salt Lake City, Utah Arguably, no birder or author has had a greater influence on the study and field identification of birds of prey than Jerry Liguori. His two best-known books, Hawks From Every Angle (2005) and Hawks At A Distance (2011), are widely read, appreciated, and successful books aimed at the identification of hawks in flight, helping countless birders identify hawks in the field. In addition, Jerry has been the author of more than 25 papers, many of which have been published in the ABAs Birding magazine and North American Birds journal, that have shed new light on topics of geographic variation, age-related plumage progression, and molt in raptors. He continues to engage with the public on a variety of platforms, and freely shares his insight into raptor identification and field study. -=====- The 2017 Roger Tory Peterson Award for Promoting the Cause of Birding goes to Scott Weidensaul of Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania Scott Weidensaul is well-known and respected for his involvement in practically every aspect of bird community and culture in North America. The author of two dozen books, including Living on the Wind, which was the finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, Weidensaul is also an acclaimed speaker, a mentor to a host of young birders in Pennsylvania and beyond, and an active field researcher with a special interest in owls and bird migration. He is the co-founder of both Project Owlnet, a collaboration of more than 200 research stations across the North America focusing on owl migration, and Project SNOWstorm, the fascinating project that uses GPS technology to monitor Snowy Owl movements. He continues to be an inspiration to those who he works with, and to those who admire his efforts and insight from afar. -=====- ABA congratulates these fine members of the birding community on their achievements and invites all members to join us in doing so.
Defence Minister and Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday expressed concern over possible use of biological and chemical weapons in warfare.
They were speaking at an event where the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) handed over Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) and NBC treatment drugs to the Indian Army.
The DRDO also handed over indigenous Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) named Swati to the Army, with Parrikar saying that it will bring down artillery fire along the Line of Control (LoC).
The Defence Minister said he had seen pictures in the media of locals suffering from blisters in Afghanistan, which suggested that chemical weapons were possibly used there.
"In southern and northern parts of Afghanistan, I have seen photographs of local population suffering from blisters... At this moment, I don't have confirmation on this, but the photos were quite disturbing," Parrikar said.
"We should be prepared for any kind of warfare," he added.
On similar lines, General Rawat said: "Although chemical weapons have been banned by the United Nations, it could be used by an adversary."
According to some reports, some locals in Waziristan region had blisters and wounds which appeared to be induced by use of chemical weapons.
Asked if he felt that India was under threat of a chemical or biological weapon attack, the Minister said it was just about being prepared for any eventuality.
"We must be prepared for any eventuality," he said.
NBCRV Mark 1 has been developed by the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) and is capable of collecting solid and liquid samples of a biological contaminated area, mark the nuclear and chemical contaminated zone and transfer the recce data.
The medicines are antidotes and de-corporating agents for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) emergencies.
WLR Swati, developed by the DRDO's Electronic and Radar Development Establishment, provides fast and accurate location of enemy artillery including shells, mortars and rockets.
The radar is also capable of guiding fire from an artillery gun attached to it, meaning thereby that the radar can not only locate artillery guns on the enemy side but also ensure their destruction.
"Swati could be a great equipment to ensure adversaries do not use artillery fire. If the LoC is devoid of any artillery fire in the near future, you can be sure Swati radar has gone there," the Minister said.
Sources said four radars deployed along the LoC for trial have already proved their efficacy since artillery fire from Pakistan's side had reduced after their deployment.
"The radars have been on the LoC for two months now for trials. Artillery fire has gone down," a defence source said.
Police on Thursday initiated steps to withdraw 'Y' category security to Gayatri Prasad Prajapati as the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister remains elusive.
"We have initiated the process to withdraw his 'Y' category security," a senior Lucknow Police official said.
A person enjoying 'Y' category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos.
"Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon," he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the minister's assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.
An UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of "severe trauma" and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS.
A DSP-rank officer, investigating the matter, recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from AIIMS Medical Superintendent.
The statement was videographed according to the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Police teams were dispatched out of the state capital whePrajapatiti could not be located in his official residence in posh Gautampalli area in Lucknow.
Acting on Supreme Court orders, police made frantic efforts to nab him and after having failed to do so they might even apply for cancellation of his passport so that the minister cannot escape from the country.
Interestingly, the minister was earlier seen moving freely from one place to other in his constituency seeking votes.
The last time Prajapati was seen in public was on February 27 when he spoke to the media saying he will win with a huge margin and will work under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav once again.
49-year-old Prajpati is facing imminent arrest following a FIR lodged against him and six of his accomplices on the apex court order at Gautampalli police station here on February 18 under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act.
The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged an FIR against Prajapati on the apex court's order for his alleged roles in separate cases of gangrape and an attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter.
The apex court's direction had come on a petition by a woman who had alleged repeated gangrape by Prajapati and others and sought the court's order for lodging the FIR.
The alleged offence was first committed in October, 2014 and was repeated till July, 2016, but when the accused tried to molest the minor daughter of the victim, she wrote to the state DGP in October, 2016, requesting the officer to take action.
But when her complaint to the DGP went unheeded, she moved the apex court for justice.
Prajapati was sacked by the chief minister in 2016 during the family feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal but was later reinstated in the council of ministers.
With the police hot on his heels now, Prajapati has moved the apex court seeking protection from arrest and recall of its earlier order.
Prajapati, who is contesting as an SP candidate from Amethi constituency where polls are over, has denied the charges terming it a "political conspiracy of BJP" and said, "he did not know the victim".
Prajapati's presence in the electoral arena raised eyebrows of leaders of opposition parties who have made it a big poll issue.
Though Akhilesh had sought votes for SP candidates in his election meeting in Amethi, he had steered clear of the controversy.
His father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav too kept away from the constituency citing health issues.
BJP has targeted Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her poll campaign in Rae Bareli for the Congress-SP alliance, saying it was unfortunate that she was seeking votes for those accused of "rape and murder."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had raked up the Prajapati case, saying at an election rally that the Supreme Court had to intervene to get the minister booked in the case.
"The SC had to intervene to get the FIR registered against Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. 'Goonda raj' is prevailing all over UP and police stations have become Samajwadi Party office," Modi had said.
Amethi is the Gandhi family pocket borough and is represented by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, while neighbouring Rae Bareli is represented by party chief and Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha.
Around 10 major Japanese companies have shown interest in either investing in India or sourcing raw materials from here through contract farming or otherwise. .
Banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, from March 1 started imposing a minimum charge of Rs 150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals beyond four free transactions in a month. The new charges would apply to savings as well as salary accounts. The bank would also cap the third party cash transactions at Rs 25,000 per day, while cash handling charges would be withdrawn.
Surprised again by India's strong official growth statistics, economists are relying increasingly on high-frequency indicators like bank credit and rail freight to gauge the real health of Asia's third-largest economy.
Drivers attached to Uber and Ola in Bengaluru started their hunger strike at Freedom Park here on Wednesday to protest against falling earnings on the cab-hailing platforms.
With the government intensifying its probe into unaccounted money post-demonetisation, the income-tax department and Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) have identified close to 30,000 shell companies in Kolkata.
President Donald Trumps promise to use existing funds to begin immediate construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border has hit a financial roadblock, according to a document seen by Reuters.
As part of capital raising exercise, the Ministry has advised state-owned to prepare a list of their non-core assets and look at disposing them at an opportune time.
They have been asked to move forward on the idea based on deliberations at the Gyan Sangam last year, sources said.
Some of the have started the process while others are gearing up, the sources said, adding that the move will not only help them raise the much-needed capital for growth but also sharpen their focus on the core business.
Most public sector (PSBs) have insurance ventures or capital advisory firms, besides holding the stake in financial institutions such as stock exchanges. For instance, State Bank of India holds a stake in various companies including National Stock Exchange, UTI, ARCIL and so on.
SBI has expressed intention to pare its stake in some of the subsidiaries including life insurance firm.
Last month, the board of IDBI Bank also approved dilution of stake in some non-core businesses to shore up capital base.
The board of the bank has approved in principle the proposal to divest some of its non-core investments subject to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and final approval obtained for each transaction, IDBI Bank had said.
As part of disinvestment exercise, IDBI Bank may look at bringing down its stake in companies such as IDBI Federal Life Insurance IDBI Capital Market Services, IDBI Intech, IDBI Asset Management Company, National Stock Exchange, National Securities Depository, and NSDL E-Governance Infrastructure.
According to ministry estimates, PSBs will require Rs 1.8 lakh crore in additional capital over a period of four years ending March 2019.
Of the total, they are expected to raise Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the market and through the sale of non-core assets.
Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today stated that an all-time record number of over 4,000 PG medical seats have been approved by Government of India in various medical colleges and hospitals for the academic session 2017-18 this year, taking the total number of PG seats available to 35,117." .
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Thanking Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for his visionary leadership and constant guidance, Shri Nadda said that this will further boost our resolve to strengthen tertiary care and improve the medical education in the country. The Health Minister added that of the total increase, 2,046 seats are in medical colleges. Looking at the need to increase PG seats in clinical subjects, the Government had decided to amend the teacher student ratio in clinical subjects in government medical colleges. This change alone has resulted in the creation of 1,137 extra seats in 71 colleges. Many others out of the total of 212 government colleges are sending their proposals and it is expected that at least 1000 more seats can be added during the month of March 2017, Shri Nadda stated. .
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This includes DNB seats, which are equivalent to MD/MS, have increased by 2,147 in the last one year. Shri Nadda said that there has been a total addition of 4,193 PG seats in the country so far, and a further addition of more than 1000 seats is likely during March 2017. The budget announcement of adding 5,000 PG medical seats in the country is thus likely to be achieved soon, the Union Health Minister said. .
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In a recent article for The American Spectator, Actons Samuel Gregg tackles the tensions in French politics and addresses the uncertainty that the French people have for their upcoming Presidential election. French politicians have failed to address impending economic issues such as an inefficient government and a growing national debt, but they also seem unable to address a growing concern: Radical Islam. Gregg says:
Plenty of Muslims in France are well integrated into French society, and they are just as much the practical atheists that large numbers of non-Muslim French citizens are. Many, however, are not. the response to Islamist ideology and terrorism remains as disparate and fractured as anything else in French politics. It ranges from the hard lefts increasingly hollow religion of peace happy talk and confidence that more welfare will solve most social problems, to those on the outer extremes of the right who advocate mass expulsions of Muslims.
Part of the difficulty is the realization that addressing this issue requires discussion of a question that, until recently, many French politicians didnt want to address. And that question is whether Islam as a religion is capable of accommodating itself (as Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism did long ago) to life in a republic that prides itself on its secularity. On that subject, the jury is still out way, way out.
Gregg examines candidates Le Pen, Macrons, and Fillon. They are strong contenders for this years election:
Its not at all clear that the 2017 presidential election will produce a winner able to address this potent mixture of economic and cultural problems. Economically speaking, Le Pens program doesnt even come close to the type of shake-up that Frances economy needs. Indeed, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the heavily interventionist economic program of the Socialist Partys candidate, Benoit Hamon, a Jeremy Corbyn-like figure who comes from his partys green-left wing. Then there is the self-described centrist, Emmanuel Macron. [He] however, is also a social liberal whose pronouncements thus far about the Muslim question and cultural issues more generally reflect all the naivete of the liberal banker-technocrat whos lost as soon as he moves beyond the world of supply and demand. Until January, polls suggested that a plurality of French citizens viewed Fillon as well-positioned to tackle both Frances cultural and economic difficulties. Fillon, however, has since been laid low by accusations, now the subject of formal judicial investigation, of using public money to fund fake political jobs for his wife and children. Whatever the truth of the charges, they have severely damaged Fillons reputation for having clean hands in a political world where financial scandals are a dime-a-dozen.
Gregg is not particularly optimistic about this years election and concludes by lamenting over Frances current decline, holding great concern over its weakening global economic and cultural influence. He says:
The sad thing about all these developments is that they reflect just how far France has fallen as a society. Were a long way from the time when French was the lingua franca of the highly educated and in which people followed the pronouncements of Frances head of state as closely as they paid attention to the words of the presidents of America, Russia, and China, the prime ministers of Britain and Japan, or Germanys chancellor. But whoever replaces Hollande in the Elysee this year, theres no question that he or she will have to opt for either (1) fundamental change to Frances political, cultural, and economic settings and all the tensions associated with such a transformation; or (2) continuing the status quo of managed decline. In that regard, France is somewhat of a canary in the tunnel for the rest of Western Europe and the open question of whether, geopolitically speaking, it will matter very much in the upcoming century.
To read the full article from American Spectator, click here.
Image: Public domain.
The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar presented the Raksha Mantris Trophy and Citation for the best Service Hospital in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) for the year 2016 to INHS Asvini, Mumbai here today. Commandant of INHS Asvini Mumbai, Surgeon Rear Admiral Ravi Kalra received the awards from the Minister on behalf of the Hospital. The Command Hospital (Southern Command), Pune and Command Hospital (Northern Command) Udhampur were jointly adjudged the second best Service Hospitals. The Defence Minister gave away the trophies and citations to the Commandant, Command Hospital (Southern Command) Pune, Maj General R Grewal and Commandant, Command Hospital (Northern Command) Udhampur, Maj General N Naithani. .
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Congratulating the award winners the Defence Minister praised the yeoman service being rendered by the AFMS over the years both in war and peace. He stated that the Ministry is putting constant efforts to modernize the medical establishments of the Armed Forces. Shri Parrikar complimented the AFMS for the excellent work in provision of contemporary and comprehensive healthcare and expressed hope that it will continue to perform with the same zeal and energy to achieve the goals and objectives. .
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The Raksha Mantris Trophy was instituted in 1989 to create a healthy competition among the Command Hospitals of the Army and its equivalent Hospitals in the Navy and Air Force. The Best and Second Best hospital are adjudged on the basis of a number of objective criteria by a committee headed by DCIDS (Med). .
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The function was also attended by the Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat and several Senior Officers from the three Services and the Ministry of Defence. .
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Jawaharlal Nehru University wins the visitors awards for the Best University, 2017
Jawaharlal Nehru University has won the annual Visitors Award for the Best University, 2017. Dr. Deepak Pant from Central University of Himachal Pradesh won the Visitors Award for Innovation while the Visitors Award for Research has been jointly won by Dr. Shyam Sunder from Banaras Hindu University and Prof. Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University.
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee will present the Visitors Awards for the year 2017 at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 6, 2017, as part of the Festival of Innovations. President Pranab Mukherjee had announced institution of these awards in 2014 with the aim of promoting healthy competition amongst Central Universities and motivating them to adopt best practices from around the world in the pursuit of excellence.
The Visitors Award for Innovation will be given to Dr. Deepak Pant, Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Himachal Pradesh for development of a reactor for direct conversion of waste plastic to LPG in small scale.
The Visitors Award for Research will be presented jointly to Dr. Shyam Sunder, Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University for his work in the area of diagnosis and treatment of Indian Kala-azar and Prof. Niranjan Karak, Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University for development of renewable resource based bio-degradable hyper-branched polymer nano-composites as self-cleaning, self-healing and bio-compatible smart sustainable futuristic material.
The Best University will receive a Citation and Trophy while winners of Visitors Award for Innovation and Research will receive a Citation and cash award of Rs. one lakh.
In its effort to make Namami Gange programme a mass movement with the involvement of more and more voluntary organisations, National Mission for Clean Ganga under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation signed an MoU with Rotary India in New Delhi today. .
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Rotary India will support clean Ganga mission through their WASH in Schools program in various schools. The program includes the implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services in the targeted government schools and sensitizing all the stakeholders including school children, teachers, school management communities and communities etc. on practicing positive health behaviors for improving awareness on sanitation. This will be achieved through an integrated learning environment and enabling children to serve as agents of change for their siblings and communities at large. Rotary India has planned to undertake WASH in Schools programme in 20,000 Government Schools. .
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It may be recalled that Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has been advocating the involvement of voluntary organization and NGOs into the Namami Gange programme to make it a mass movement. .
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The MoU will pave the way for integrating the theme of Ganga Rejuvenation with Rotary's program of WASH which is to be undertaken in government schools and communities located along the river Ganga in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Nadia District of West Bengal and other states where Rotary has a strong presence. It will undertake activities and campaigns to create awareness in schools and communities about Ganga rejuvenation and thereby reducing the pollution flowing into the river. The emphasis will be on public outreach and community participation. The MoU shall remain in force for two years. The collaboration between NMCG and Rotary is a significant step in involving various stake holders and communities in Ganga Rejuvenation. The collaboration would initially focus on synergizing the strength of Rotary International for Ganga Rejuvenation without any additional financial commitment from NMCG. .
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The MoU was signed by Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga Shri UP Singh and Vice Chairman of Rotary India Shri PT Prabhakar. .
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Samir/jk
Those in Universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest, says President
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee said our premier institutions of higher education are the vehicles on which India has to propel itself into a knowledge society. These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking. Those in Universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet.
The President was delivering the 6th K. S. Rajamony Memorial Lecture on the topic India@70 today (March 2, 2017) in Kochi, Kerala.
The President said there should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian. India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Our society has always been characterized by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent.
The President said our leaders and political activists must listen to the people, engage with them, learn from them and respond to their needs and concerns. Our law makers must never take the people for granted. They must focus on the fundamental task of law making and raising of issues of concern to the people as well as finding solutions to their problems. No one who holds any elected office has been invited by the voters to occupy that office. Each one has gone to the voters and pleaded for their votes and support. The trust placed by the people in the political system and those elected should not be betrayed.
The President said he does not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens behaviour towards women is uncivilised. When we brutalize a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation.
Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine. Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test.
Cognizant Technology Solutions has acquired a Japan-based intelligent products and solutions company Brilliant Service Co Ltd, specialising in digital strategy, product design and engineering, the internet of things (IoT), and enterprise mobility, for an undisclosed amount.
At least two suspected militants were killed on Thursday in a US drone strike in Pakistan's restive north-west tribal region, the first such attack after Donald Trump assumed Presidency.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-operated drone fired a missile that killed two suspected militants on the spot in a village in Kurram Agency, near the Afghanistan border, a local government official said.
"A drone missile struck the motorcycle which caught fire and then exploded," the official said.
The identity of those killed is yet to be ascertained, the official said, adding that the investigation into the strike has been started.
It was the first drone strike in the Pak-Afghan border region since Trump assumed US Presidency, The News reported.
There had been no drone strike by the US in Pakistan since May 21, 2016. This was one of the longest periods that no US drone attack had taken place in Pakistan.
The drone strikes by the US under the supervision of the CIA in Pakistan began in 2004.
There have been 424 drone attacks in Pakistan to-date. The strikes have killed a total of 2,499 to 4,001 persons including 424 to 966 civilians, the report said.
The European Parliament on Thursday lifted French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's immunity from prosecution over her tweeting of images of Islamic State atrocities.
The move paves the way for France to pursue a case against the far-right National Front leader after prosecutors launched a probe in 2015 over the graphic pictures, which included the decapitated body of US journalist James Foley.
"The result is clear, a big majority is in favour of the lifting of immunity," acting parliament speaker Dimitrios Papadimoulis said.
The ruling is effective immediately for Le Pen, a National Front MEP, European Parliament officials told AFP.
But the decision concerns only the tweets and not a separate probe into allegations that Le Pen misused public funds when hiring a parliamentary aide, they said.
The development is the latest twist in France's dramatic presidential election campaign, coming a day after rightwing candidate Francois Fillon vowed to continue his bid for power despite the fact he is to be charged over his own fake jobs scandal.
Le Pen addressed the tweets in 2015 to a French television journalist who had likened her party to the jihadist group.
The images were tweeted with the caption "This is Daesh" (an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group). They showed Foley's bloodied body with his decapitated head on his torso, as well as a man on fire in a cage, and a victim being driven over by a tank.
Police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre launched an investigation into "the dissemination of violent images".
Le Pen dismissed the inquiry as a "political" attempt to derail her presidential bid, in which she is predicted to win the election's first round in April but lose a run-off in May.
"I sent two or three photos of Daesh atrocities and I said 'This is Daesh.' I denounced this atrocity," she told French broadcasters on Thursday ahead of the EU vote.
"Why investigate me and not others? I am a lawmaker and I was denouncing Daesh in my role as a lawmaker," she added.
"It's a political inquiry."
On Tuesday Le Pen criticised efforts to lift her immunity as "part of the system that wants to stop the French people's candidate that I am."
Le Pen has so far refused to attend a police interview over the investigation into her tweets.
French police have also opened a probe against Gilbert Collard, a National Front lawmaker in France, who tweeted a similar violent image on the same day.
Last month the French national assembly refused to consider a request to lift his immunity after deciding it was not "sufficiently specific".
Foley, a freelance journalist, was captured in Syria in 2012 and beheaded in August 2014.
His bereaved parents John and Diane said they wanted the images removed immediately, accusing Le Pen in a statement of using the "shamefully uncensored" picture for political ends.
German authorities have arrested two Syrian nationals who allegedly were members of the extremist Nusra Front one of them is accused of war crimes involving the murder of dozens of civilians.
The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday that 35-year-old Abdalfatah HA allegedly committed war crimes by killing 36 employees of the Syrian government together with his Nusra unit in March 2013. The statement says he carried out so-called Shariah death sentences.
The other one, 26-year-old Abdulrahman AA, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013.
The men were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday in the cities of Duesseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided.
Ever since Jack Mas Alibaba took control of Lazada in a $1 billion deal last year, theres been speculation about what the e-commerce titan might do next.
Donald Trumps administration has seen several rogue Twitter accounts claiming to be from staffers in the and other US governmental agencies. The accounts purport to provide snippets of insider information to the public; its revelations extend from exampled staff behaviour and overheard speech from inside the West Wing to the actions of Trump and other senior figures.
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee urged the panel's Republican chairman to request President Donald Trump's tax returns from the Treasury Department, but he rejected the request, the media reported.
The Democratic senators in a letter asked Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch on Wednesday to seek the returns "given the critical issues raised by the President's business entanglements", The Hill magazine reported
But Hatch along with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady responded in their own letter, saying "We strongly consider the approach you suggest to be an abuse of the tax-writing committees statutory authority".
"The American people have made it clear that they want Washington to fix our broken tax code - not to target the tax returns of individual citizens," Hatch and Brady wrote.
The Senate Democrats' request came after the House on Monday rejected an attempt from Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell to force a floor vote on a resolution to request Trump's tax returns.
The House Ways and Means Committee had previously voted against an amendment for the panel's chairman to make such a request.
Under federal law, the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee and Joint Committee on Taxation can request tax returns from Treasury that can then be reviewed in a closed meeting, the magazine said.
The senators urged Hatch to request the returns of both Trump and his businesses.
Hatch and Brady said that the Democrats' request was not in line with the legislative intent of the tax-code section that allows chairmen to request the returns.
They also said there has not been "specific allegations of tax-related misconduct by federal officials or abuse of taxpayer rights" that would lead them to request the returns.
The Republican chairmen added the request for Trump's tax returns is "a distraction from more pressing needs".
US President Donald Trump's administration said on Wednesday that it will take aggressive action to combat other countries' unfair trade practices and may defy World Trade Organization (WTO) rulings that it views as interfering with US sovereignty.
In an annual trade policy agenda document, the US Trade Representative's (USTR's) office said the administration "will not tolerate" unfair trade practices that distort markets, including currency manipulation, unfair government subsidies, intellectual property theft and state-owned enterprises.
The document publicly released to Congress on Wednesday signals that the administration may try to push the limits of what is acceptable under WTO rules in its quest to make good on campaign promises to slash US trade deficits with China and Mexico, and bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
The document represents a departure from the Obama administration's strict adherence to WTO compliance in its challenges to unfair foreign trade practices.
"Unlike earlier Presidents, Trump is signalling a willingness to impose import restrictions, especially against a country like China, where the justification under WTO rules for doing so may be highly questionable," said Chad Bown, a senior fellow and trade expert at the Peterson Institute for Economics in Washington.
"The downside of the United States going down this path is that it is likely that other countries will follow suit immediately," Bown added.
The USTR document said it was not in the United States' interest to let some WTO rulings undermine the use of effective remedies that the Geneva-based trade body expressly allows to fight unfair trade.
"Accordingly, the Trump administration will act aggressively as needed to discourage this type of behaviour and encourage true market competition," the USTR said in the document.
Laying out many of Trump's trade plans in writing for the first time, the document said the Trump administration plans to strictly enforce US trade laws, defend US national sovereignty over trade policy, and use all possible leverage to open foreign markets to US exports, the document said.
It makes clear the Trump administration's view that US law supersedes WTO rules a view that could be invoked should Congress adopt a border tax adjustment plan to impose new taxes on imports that is later challenged as violating WTO tariff rules by other member countries.
"The Trump administration will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy," the report said.
The nominee to be Trump's top trade negotiator, veteran steel industry lawyer Robert Lighthizer, in 2010 advocated "aggressive interpretations of WTO provisions that might help us deal with Chinese mercantilism".
Lighthizer is awaiting confirmation by the US Senate. He served as a deputy USTR in the Reagan administration, helping to negotiate import quotas on Japanese goods in the 1980s, with the help of powerful trade law provisions that have largely gone unused since the WTO was launched in 1995.
The US Justice Department said spoke twice last year with Russias Ambassador to Washington the encounters Sessions did not disclose during his Congressional confirmation hearing to become the Attorney General in January, the media reported.
One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator's office, the Washington Post reported, citing department officials as saying on Wednesday.
When Sessions spoke with Kislyak in July and September, the senator was a senior member of the influential Armed Services Committee as well as one of Trump's top foreign policy advisers.
Sessions played a prominent role supporting Trump after the billionaire businessman formally joining the presidential campaign in February 2016.
At his January 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Senator Al Franken what he would do if he learnt of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," he responded, adding: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Also in January, Senator Patrick J Leahy asked Sessions for answers to written questions, the Washington Post said.
"Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?" Leahy wrote.
Sessions responded with one word: "No".
However, the Attorney General on Wednesday night, in response to the Justice Department claims, said he "never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Officials said Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Kislyak.
"There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer," said Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessions's spokeswoman.
She added that Sessions last year had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian and German ambassadors, in addition to Kislyak.
Several Democratic members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday night called on Sessions to resign from his post.
The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation both under Sessions' supervision are in charge of investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, besides alleged links between Trump's campaign and the Kremlin.
Two in the US state of Maryland have received threatening letters calling for the 'slaughter of Muslims', in apparent hate crime incidents.
Two Islamic centres in Silver Spring, Maryland, received violent threats by mail.
The president of the Islamic Education Society discovered an envelope inside a mailbox on Monday containing a threatening note, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.
Police said this incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The faithful at the mosque are still reeling after the terrifying message was dropped in their mailbox.
"It's heartbreaking, but we can't control anything. I don't know what in their mind they want to do," Taiyab Mohiudden, a trustee of the Islamic Education Society of Maryland, was quoted as saying by CBS Baltimore.
Mohiudden found the note tucked in with the regular mail, and it read, "I will pay $100 to charity for every Muslim slaughtered."
A note containing the same message was also found at a Muslim community centre just a few kilometres away, New York Daily News reported.
The message also came on an index card. Police said the envelope also had stamps from Europe.
"It really created anxiety and anger in me as well. Because what kind of person could leave a note like that?" Zainab Chaudry of CAIR said.
The mosque incidents come as amid a wave of bomb threats to Jewish community centres in New York, Michigan, New Jersey and other states.
In the past week, dozens of gravestones were vandalised in Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia.
Also, last week, an Indian was killed while his friend was injured in a hate crime.
32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, was killed after he was shot by a navy veteran.
Kuchibhotla's Indian colleague Alok Madasani was injured when the 51-year-old shooter opened fire on them, yelling "get out of my country". A third person, an American who tried to intervene, was also injured in the incident.
President Donald Trump has condemned these types of attacks.
"We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms," he had said.
Indias are likely to decline by 20 per cent this year, following the Chinese governments decision to auction its own fibre stock. Indian exporters will thus not be able to reap the benefit of high international prices. Exports estimated to be 5.5 million bales against last years 6.9 million, according to industry estimates.
Ace investor and his familys net worth in listed companies crossed Rs 10,000-crore, thanks to a sharp rally in some stocks in their portfolio such as Titan Company, Aptech, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), Edelweiss Financial Services, Federal Bank and Escorts.
dipped nearly 7% to Rs 701 on the BSE in early morning trade after the pharmaceutical company said that its step-down unit in the US, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals Inc., has received a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Condemning Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Mahesh Sahu's 'beimaan' remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday demanded the former's apology, while stating that the BJD is scared and frustrated of the saffron party's success.
"We condemn Sahu's statement against our Prime Minister. We also raised our voice in the assembly against his statement. BJP won the Odisha panchayat elections leaving behind BJD and Congress. The Biju Janata Dal is frustrated of the fact that BJP is growing and people of Odisha are voting in our favour. The party has become scared of our success," BJP leader Pradeep Purohit told ANI.
Purohit said that the MLA must tender an apology for his 'derogatory' remark against the Prime Minister else they would not let the assembly function.
The Odisha Assembly today witnessed an uproar after BJD MLA Sahu's controversial remark against Prime Minister Modi.
"The most ungrateful person of the society is seated on responsible position. He (Prime Minister) insulted the people of Odisha. The word beimaan isn't sufficient to define him," Sahu said.
"Odisha contributes about Rs. 80,000 crore annually to the Centre. About 50 percent of India gets electricity by using coal produced in the state. Still, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could dare to insult Odisha at a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British Airways' (BA) Unite union, who work for its Mixed Fleet operation, have started a one-week long strike starting midnight to protest "poverty pay".
Mixed Fleet staff have been recruited since 2010, at the conclusion of the last big cabin crew dispute, and now make up around 30 per cent of Heathrow crew. They work on a range of domestic, European and long-haul routes.
Over the first three days of the strike, British Airways expected to cancel 14 flights out of a total of 3,300 departures.
According to the Independent, the union says their earnings constitute "poverty pay" and that they are employed on less favourable terms than longer-serving cabin crew. British Airways rejects this, and says its pay rates are competitive with the industry.
Earlier, when BA made an improved pay offer the cabin crew rejected the deal in a ballot conducted just before the New Year. Since then Unite members have taken 26 days of industrial action.
A BA spokesperson said: "Once again we will be able to fly all customers to their destinations, despite industrial action by Mixed Fleet Unite. We will operate a full schedule at Gatwick and London City airports as well as the vast majority of our Heathrow schedule.
"We will merge a very small number of Heathrow services, and all affected customers will be rebooked to alternative flights."
The airline will 'wet-lease' aircraft and crew from other carriers to cover gaps in the schedule.
During the latest four-day strike, BA flew its normal timetable with no wet-leased aircraft.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will be visiting Boston and Houston, USA, from March 3-7 along with a delegation comprising the CEOs of Public Sector Oil and Gas companies.
During his visit to Boston from March 3 to 4, Pradhan will deliver a keynote speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Conference on the theme Balance of Power-the Changing Energy Paradigm.
He will address the students at Harvard Kennedy School on the subject India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Policy. At Fletcher Energy and Environment Club of Tufts University, Pradhan will interact with the students on Challenges in Petroleum and Natural Gas sector in the context of Paris Agreement and India's commitment on climate change.
He will also be meeting the Mayor of City of Boston and interact with Indian community.
Pradhan will also participate in the annual CERA Week - International Conference on Oil and Gas from March 5-7 during which he will be speaking at the Ministerial Plenary and in several other platforms.
Pradhan is scheduled to have several bilateral meeting with visiting Petroleum Ministers, including from Canada, UAE, Israel, USA, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Russia and also Secretary General of International Energy Agency (IEA).
He will also be meeting and exchanging views with renowned experts from hydrocarbon sector, including Dr Daniel Yergin and Bob Dudley, Group Chief Executive of BP.
During his stay in Houston, he will interact with Indian origin scientists and CEOs working in the oil and gas sector and Indian community members.
The Petroleum Minister will showcase India's hydrocarbon sector and the recent policy reforms under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at CERA Week, which is world's largest hydrocarbon conference.
He will interact with Ministers, policy makers, technologists, scientists, planners and management experts, entrepreneurs, service providers and vendors in order to attract investment into India's growing oil and gas sector.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sunayana Dumala, the widowed wife of the Indian Engineer who was killed in Kansas in an apparent 'hate crime', has shared her feelings on Facebook, particularly highlighting the insecurity that haunts her and thousands of foreign nationals living in the U.S.
Sunayana Dumala thanked many in the community for their continuing support, including Ian Grillot for intervening after gun shots rang out.
She said that her hushband was very proud of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was sure that India had finally found the leader that could make India shine.
Lauding the efforts made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, she said, "He was really happy to see Sushma Swaraj as the External Affairs Minister - such a brave and courageous woman, and how quick she reacted for those in need."
Dumala also thanked Prime Minister Modi and External Affair Minister Swaraj, she said, "Thanks again, Madam. I wish I could meet both you and Modi ji and share his joy posthumously."
Dumala also thanked the Telangana Government for the help provided by them and also asked the media to be considerate about her privacy in the moment of grief.
Dumala ended her Facebook post with hard-hitting words; she said, "DO WE BELONG HERE? Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?"
Sunayana's Facebook post --
"This is my first official blog post on Facebook, and it is with a heavy heart that I am writing these words. On the dreadful night of Wednesday February 22nd 2017, I lost my husband - my soul mate - my friend and my confidante. He was a source of inspiration, a support system not just to me but to any and all he got to know. He always had a smile for every one, respected all especially his elders. We met in August 2006 through common friends then connected on an online portal called Orkut - not a usual face to face introduction- and started liking each other instantly. He was so charming that I could not resist.
I am the baby of my house, being the youngest with two elder sisters. I grew up to be a carefree child. It was Srinivas who gave me the courage to pursue my dream of coming to the USA and studying, which made me the person I am today - an independent, self-sufficient and strong woman. I started working only recently, May 2016. He'd played a major role in me attaining a job, always encouraging and working with me though my disappointments, especially as I was starting back again after 4 years of a career break.
His passion was to constantly innovate in the the aviation industry. Here in America, he commenced is his career at Rockwell Collins, and he worked On Flight Control System especially on Primary Flight Control Computer that would change the way flights work with improved performances. He dedicated his life to this development. There were days he used to come home to have only dinner and leave for work again - only return around 2 or 3 in the morning. He was very happy at Rockwell and liked living in a small town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But we decided to move from there to a bigger city so that I could get a job and be able to pursue my dreams, as he was able to do for himself. Kansas was our instant choice, and we moved here with a lot of dreams. We built our dream home, which he painted, and installed the garage door.
Doing any kind of work on his home gave him immense joy. This was the home that he had built to - for us and any kids we would have- was our first step to starting our family. It's so unfortunate that this dream of ours is now shattered. All of this, because of one person, who did not think of the impact his deed would have on the victim's family. When police came to our house that night and gave me the news of my husband's life being taken away by a random shooter, I could not believe their words, it was so surreal. I asked them repeatedly, "Are you sure?", "Are you telling the truth?", "Did you see the man you are talking about?", "Can you show me a picture to identify?", "Is the man that you are talking about 6' 2''?" They were just nodding their heads saying yes. With no family here in Kansas and his brother in Dallas, my immediate reaction was to call his brother. When I called him to say what the police had just told me, he thought I was joking.
My friends were by my side and did not leave me for even a second. Friends drove from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Minnesota, and St. Louis. Many flew from Denver, California, and New Jersey to say a final goodbye to their beloved and dearest friend, who was always only kind to them. Both his aunts from NJ and NY came to take care of me and him.
He would have turned 33 on March 9th, and we were planning to fly to NJ for his cousin's engagement. He was excited and eagerly waiting for the event, and we had plans to shop this past weekend for the trip. Things turned out differently, I was on my way to India with him in a coffin.
We got married after 6 years of close friendship, and it was not an easy process. He had to convince not only his parents but also mine. He met my family multiple times to convince them that he was capable and suitable for their beloved daughter. He answered all their questions with a smile on his face. His charm was such that he instantly became one of the members of my family and became their favorite son-in-law, brother-in-law, and uncle. It is still unbelievable that he is not here.
He found happiness in simple things. One of his most favorite pastimes was watching TV, which he watched with so much passion and intensity. His favorite shows lately were Person of Interest and Indian Idol. He was a family man and liked to eat home-cooked meals. Every night, I used to pack lunch for him and myself. He used to hate packing for himself and used to give me the funniest explanations for not doing so. He would say, "If I pack my lunch, I would know what I would eat later on. But if you pack it, I will have that surprise element." If anyone gave him a heartful meal, he would bless that person by saying, "Anna datha sukkhi bhava" (a saying in Telugu that translates to, "You made my heart happy with the food, so may God bless you"). This was something many of his friends picked up from him.
He really enjoyed Arnab Goswami during his lunch at work and was eagerly waiting for him to come on.
He loved kids and was an instant favorite of any kid. We were planning to expand our own family and had had a doctor's appointment just a few weeks ago. One of the last thoughts that he shared with me were "Nani (his nickname for me), we need to save money if we have to end up going for in-vitro to conceive." I am writing this as it sinks in to me that this dream of ours is now shattered. I really wish we had a child of our own in whom I could at least see Srinivas and make him like Srinu.
He always cared about what was happening around him, and he was very proud of Mr. Narendra Modi ji and India. He was sure that India had finally found the leader that could make India shine. This might seem unreal, but I know because there wasn't a day that ended without him watching the news or reading multiple newspapers before going to bed.
Srinu was the epitome of optimism. That was his motto. I remember asking him why he'd chosen to pursue digital signal processing and electrical engineering for his master's degree. He said, "I scored less in that subject in Bachelors of Technology and wanted to explore why I received a lower score." That was his optimism.
He was really happy to see Sushma Swaraj as the external affairs minister - such a brave and courageous woman, and how quick she reacted for those in need. He must have never thought that he would be one among them one day. But knowing my Srinu, he would have felt very proud of you for helping us and his family in crisis. Thanks again, Madam. I wish I could meet both you and Mr. Modi ji and share his joy posthumously.
He was always worried about immigration and its laws. He followed them very closely over the internet. There were days when he used to talk about how it's been quite a few years since we applied for our permanent residency card, and he didn't know how much longer we have to wait for it. He used to say having one would give him the chance to explore even more his passion for the aviation industry. He very closely monitored the H4 EAD rule and did whatever he could do in his capacity for the rule to be passed - not just for me, but for every woman and for those who deserve a career and a chance to fulfill their dreams. He was filled with joy when the rule passed and was so happy that he said, "Nani, now you can work. It is not that we need the money, but it's so that you can follow your own dreams and make your parents proud."
His father had a very low-income job, and Srinivas was the middle son of three sons. There wasn't a day that went by without him mentioning how hard his father worked to make his sons the way they are today, and that he would have to do a lot for his parents. I'm sure, Srinu, that you made them proud, and I wish you didn't have to leave us. He was a loving brother to both his siblings, especially the younger one, whom he treated like his own son more than a brother. He was elated when the youngest got married back in November 2015.
From what I know or heard from his parents, himself, and his brothers, all three brothers were very naughty. I remember him saying that when the three started to laugh, they would be panicked that in next 5 minutes there would be a fight and something would be broken in the house. As their father was very strict and always wanted them to focus on education, he would always be pushing them to study and many a time would have to run after them to make them sit for their studies. The youngest and eldest always managed to escape first, and Srinu, would always stay behind and get the scolding of all three brothers.
As I mentioned in the press meet, whenever there was an incident involving someone dying, both of us got worried, and I many times spoke my heart to him. We came here to achieve and fulfill our dreams. He always assured me that if we think good, be good, then good will happen to us and that we will be safe. He used to hug me tightly and sleep giving me this assurance. Srinu, now that I have gotten used to that warm hug, I might not be able to sleep. That was the only place in the that I could sleep without any worries or tensions.
I was able to see random acts of kindness at the Kansas City airport when people recognized me and hugged me. I met a dermatologist who said I changed the purpose of her life. Maybe that was the first win during this fight to spread to love.
I think I can just keep writing and finish a book, but that still isn't enough to talk about you or the love that you spread around. I'm still trying to digest the fact that in one evening I became a widow from a wife.
Srinu, my love, I don't know how I'll be able to fill the void I now have created in my life, but I promise you I'll never let you down. It is so funny that you were my editor for any important email I had written, but now, for the first time, I am having to do it myself.
I LOVE YOU, AND YOU ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE MINE.
I wish that you had come home when I asked you to have tea. I have many unanswered questions, and I wish you would answer them, but the only way I could get those answers now is by coming to you and your new home on the other side. I don't know when that day will come.
My sincere thanks to each one of those who are helping us cope with this loss. I thank, Garmin and its employees, for conducting the vigil and allowing me to speak and share my Srinivas with you all.
Thanks to Mr. Cliff Pemble, the CEO of Garmin, for speaking such kind words about my husband and his contribution to Garmin. I can't express my happiness that you came to my home to pay your last respects to him, held my hand, and went all around the house hearing his stories. This shows me how important he was to the company. Also, Didier, Dave, Phil, Patrick, Garmin Legal Team, HR Team, and to all those sitting in the auditorium during the vigil, thanks a lot for your support.
Thanks to Mr. Frank, CEO of Intouch Solutions, for assuring me that I can take however long and still come back and continue my job. Thanks for coming home and delivering the message personally. Thanks to Katema, David, and every employee of Intouch Solutions, who came to console me and gave me the same assurance.
Thanks to the Mayor for your kind words, giving us the assurance, and making a personal visit to the house. Also, thank you for making sure we received the privacy we asked for. I was told by Congressmen Yoder and Senator Moran that you were trying to reach out to me. Thanks a lot for your concern and for working on my immigration status. This is my Srinu's dream, and it is the least I could do for my Srinivas - fulfill his dreams through my eyes - and it is for this I have to come back to the USA.
Thanks to the Detectives and District Attorney Steve for working hard on this case and finding the culprit. I know you will make sure justice is served.
Thanks to the medical team that worked on Srinu and tried hard to revive him back. I truly wish that your efforts had succeeded and he was with us today.
I do not have words to express my gratitude towards Mr. Ian Grillot for what you have done. Thanks for having the courage and trying in whatever way possible to save my husband. When I am back in Olathe, I would like to meet you personally. You and your act of kindness will help me survive and still have the faith in love and spreading love and not hate. I hope you get well soon.
Thanks to all those communities that have come forward and have been praying for Srinivas's soul and his family's well being.
Thanks to the funeral home for being so considerate and obliging to our request of sending him to his house, the house that he had built with so many dreams. I have the good luck charm that you gave me. Thank you.
Thanks to the media and press for agreeing to not disturb us and for respecting our privacy. Thanks again, and keep up your good work. A special mention to Ms. Rajini Vaidyanathan (BBC correspondent).
Thanks to people like Satya Nadella and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights. We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, it's an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I don't want anyone to go through what my family and household went through.
Thanks to the Consular General Officers who expedited the process.
Thanks to the government of Telangana for giving us the assurance that his remains will be taken to his house without any problem, and we request the media in India to be considerate of our privacy.
Mr. Amitabh Bachchan sir, there wasn't a party that ended without us dancing to your songs. Our friends used to fondly call us Amitabh and Jaya because my husband is 6'2'' and I am 5 feet. My husband used to say that our kids should be as tall as Abhishek and Shweta. Shah Rukh Khan sir, he was a huge fan of yours, and he made sure we watched your latest movie, Raees. I need all your support to pass this strong message of spreading love and giving confidence to every foreign national that their fight will be listened to.
I will now ask same question - On what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, it's not based on the color of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them afterward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrant's mind, DO WE BELONG HERE?
Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?"
Dumala's husband Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed when 52-year-old Adam Purinton, walked into Austins Bar and Grill in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe and opened fire. His friend, Alok Madasani, and Ian Grillot, a bar-goer who tried to intervene in the attack, were also shot, but survived.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nowhere is the adage 'Knowledge is Power' more relevant than in the medical community.
When doctors are aware of and skilled in the latest treatments and surgical procedures, they are empowered to deliver the best possible care. Docplexus, an exclusive online community of Indian doctors, plays a pivotal role in fulfilling clinicians' information needs through the effective use of technology.
Having successfully collaborated with reputed medical bodies such as the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) earlier this year, Docplexus has now allied with Chellaram Diabetes Institute as Official Digital Partner of the International Diabetes Summit to be held in Pune from the 10th to 12th March 2017. In this role, Docplexus will provide audio-visual coverage of the live event and also interview eminent Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), the videos of which would be made available on its portal.
According to Dr. A.G. Unnikrishnan, CEO, Chellaram Diabetes Institute, "We realized that there may be doctors from other specialties who may be unable to make it to the summit but would still like to be aware of what's happening in the field of diabetes. Docplexus is there to help such doctors. We are very happy to partner with the platform in a way that will improve and enhance the understanding of diabetes care in the country."
Notes Phanish Chandra, CEO and Co-founder, Docplexus, "Our experience and expertise in effectively capturing and disseminating the most coveted knowledge to doctors have lent us an enviable reputation as the trusted 'Knowledge Partners' of the Indian medical community. We see this as a part of our vision to empower doctors."
The company is also tying up with leading medical institutes in the country to design online Continuous Medical Education (CME) courses for its 1,75,000+ members. In this month, Dr. Parag Sancheti, Chairman and Managing Director of Sancheti Hospital, Pune, will conduct a module on 'Knee Osteoarthritis - Recent Advances in Its Management' on the Docplexus portal. This would be followed by two other courses, 'Basics of Surgery - Skill Course' and 'Overview of Breast Surgery Procedures' from Dr. Chintamani, Former President, Association of Breast Surgeons of India.
"Online CMEs score over their offline versions in terms of reach, savings in time and costs, and convenience. Docplexus' course on Diabetic Foot Management has been completed by 2600 users so far. This indicates the positive impact that Docplexus is making in educating doctors and improving healthcare outcomes in the country," added Phanish.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Congress MLA Ram Kishen Gujjar and two others, convicted by an Ambala court on Tuesday in connection with the suicide of a journalist Pankaj Khanna in 2009, have been sentenced to four-year jail-term.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Arya announced the sentence and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Gujjar, Vijay and Ajit.
They were also asked to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased journalist.
On the complaint of Yashpal Khanna, the journalist's father, the accused have been booked under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
Pankaj Khanna, a journalist of Naraingarh, had committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance on June 10, 2009.
In his suicide note, the journalist had alleged that Gujjar and two of his associates had harassed and humiliated him.
Soon after the incident, Pankaj's relatives demanded the registration of a case against the MLA and others.
The police registered a case against the three on June 11, 2009.
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Amita Singh, an Investigation Officer (IO) in Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati rape case on Thursday said they have recorded the victim's statement with permission of her mother and doctors at AIIMS.
"We have recorded victim's statement with permission of her mother and doctors at AIIMS. She was feeling nervous," Singh told media.
Prajapati earlier on February 20 moved the Supreme Court against its order of registering an FIR against him in connection with a gang rape and sexual harassment case.
Prajapati filed a plea in the apex court seeking protection from arrest and recall of the top court's earlier order.
The apex court had earlier directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to file a status report in the case within a period of eight weeks.
A 35-year-old woman had accused Prajapati of raping her when she met him three years ago.
He is also accused of taking obscene photos of the victim and threatening her to make the photos public and raping her for the past two years.
However, Prajapati claimed that it is a conspiracy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against him in order to distract people's attention from the assembly polls.
"It is a conspiracy against me. I don't even know who the lady is. Since the government has ordered such probe, I would accept it gladly," Prajapati told ANI.
The woman, who hails from Chitrakoot alleged that she was raped by Prajapati and others for two years on the pretext of getting a position within the Samajwadi Party.
Earlier, the woman had moved the apex court after the police in Uttar Pradesh did not register the FIR, following which the police were ordered to file a status report in the matter within eight weeks.
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The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) will comply with the deadline set by the Ministry of Finance regarding the official implementation of the much-awaited GST Bill scheduled for July 1, 2017.
GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar claimed that all necessary arrangements for timely implementation of the GST have been made.
"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had already approved 30 banks for payment regarding the GST. Apart from these banks, the payment can be made via other banks through the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) or Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)," Kumar told ANI.
He added that new software is being developed to ease the payment process currently undergoing trial in various states. The industry associations have in these states been assigned the task of educating the other GST officers about this software.
"The GSTN has been set up primarily to provide IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of the GST. So far, we have concluded 70 to 90 percent enrollment in most states," Kumar said.
"We have released provisional Id to 83 lakh tax payers. Out of this, 67 lakh belong to states. We have started the service tax enrollment from January and are simultaneously making backend application for 25 states," he added.
Meanwhile, the industries are looking forward to the GST on July 1, 2017. The prime objective of this is to enable timely collection and supervision of indirect taxes in addition to bringing all indirect taxes under a single category.
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India released 39 Pakistani prisoners lodged in jails across the country through Wagah-Attari route on Wednesday. The prisoners included 21 civilians and 18 fishermen.
The move comes in response to Pakistan's peace overtures, when on Muhammad Ali Jinnah's birthday, Pakistan freed a batch of 220 Indian fishermen.
Earlier, a batch of 218 fishermen was released on January 5.
Pakistan also handed over an Indian soldier, Chandu Babulal Chohan, to Indian authorities at the Wagah border on January 21.
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Union Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley on Thursday accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive and said that it did not have any impact on the economy's growth rate.
Addressing a press conference in Varanasi, Jaitley hailed the Central Government's demonetisation move, saying this had won the confidence of many people.
Throwing light on the current GDP rate, the Finance Minister asserted that the opposition was spreading lies about demonetisation.
Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "Once the party attains victory in UP polls then this will prove that people have accepted PM Modi's demonetisation drive."
Varanasi goes to polls in the last of the seven-phase assembly election in Uttar Pradesh on March 8.
Uttar Pradesh is voting in seven phases, four of which is completed. Counting of votes will take place on March 11.
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Amir Ahmed Suleman Daud, the Khan of Kalat, has categorically stated to seek help from India and other western countries against Pakistan and called upon the international community to come forward to help the Baloch people in their freedom struggle.
He made the remarks while addressing a seminar titled, "The History of Revisited" at the House of Lords here last week. The seminar was hosted by 'The Democracy Forum' and the deliberations centred on Britain's historical links with the confederacy of in the 19th century and the legality of the subsequent accession of to Pakistan in 1948. Dr William Crawley of the Institute for Commonwealth Studies chaired the seminar.
According to the Nation, during the course of his address, the Khan of Kalat, said that he would go to India, Iran, Afghanistan and other countries to seek their help and influence to reach his and his followers' destiny but his major source of inspiration and dependence would be on India since according to him "they have a sincere friend in Prime Minister Narendera Modi".
He added that he will utilise his energies to "push back China", which is involved in the multi-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called 'a game changer which will transform the lives of the billions of people of the region.'
The Khan questioned the legality of Balochistan's accession to Pakistan as he referred to various treaties signed by the British government with the Baloch rulers, in which Balochistan's sovereignty and independence had been repeatedly affirmed.
He argued that Pakistan's founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who was the attorney for Kalat in all negotiations prior to its annexation by Pakistan, was himself aware that representatives of the British Crown had recognised Kalat as an independent country.
Describing Pakistan today as the 'cradle of terrorism', the Khan called on the international community to assist the Baloch regain their independence.
Calling Balochistan's accession to Pakistan in 1948 an 'annexation', he argued that Balochistan had lost its independence 'because of geo-politics', saying Britain wanted to deny the Soviet Union access to 'warm waters' - the Indian Ocean.
"This is why [the British] went back on the treaties (they had signed with Kalat)" he added.
The Khan also questioned whether had the mandate to declare Kharan, Lasbela and Mukran princely states.
He also welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public airing of the Balochistan issue in his Independence Day speech on August 15 last year.
It is pertinent to note that soon after independence emissaries of the then Khan of Kalat had approached Indian prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru to support Kalat and if necessary accept Kalat'a accession to India. However, Nehru did not respond positively as he felt that Kalat was contiguous to Pakistan. Later the Khan of Kalat was charged by Jinnah of treason for approaching India and hanged.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said Kochi-Muziris Biennale is a proud symbol of Kerala's secular approach towards art and culture
The President inaugurated the Kochi Muziris Biennale Seminar on 'Importance of Sustainable Cultural Building' in Kochi, Kerala.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that contemporary art is one of the most significant ways of expressing thoughts, emotions, concerns and ideas that are current and relevant in this time.
"The fact that Kerala, the land of history and tradition, now hosts the largest show of contemporary art in the region, and that too a show that was seeded by Government, speaks of the unique ways of this state and its people," he added.
He said the Kochi-Muziris Biennale is a proud symbol of this approach and the sense of oneness and inclusivity that exists here.
"The Kochi Biennale Foundation is a good case study of what is possible when differing agencies come together to pursue profound goals: to value culture, and the achievements of the human spirit, to celebrate the human imagination, and to make those achievements key markers of development. But most importantly this model should be replicated in different parts of the country," the President said.
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OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Facing shortages among Math and Special Education teachers and not finding enough quality candidates on college campuses, Ocean Springs school officials are taking the unusual step of trying to bring candidates to them.
"As we've been touring college and university recruitment fairs, we really aren't yielding the results we need," said superintendent Bonita Coleman. "For example, we need four new Math teachers at the middle school, but when we go to the colleges and universities, we're not finding that certified Math teachers are being produced."
To address the issue, the Ocean Springs School District will host a "recruitment showcase" on March 11 in the hopes of bringing in quality candidates and selling them on the idea of coming to Ocean Springs, long considered one of the top districts in the state.
It will be the first such event the OSSD has ever hosted.
"We're really having to look at recruitment, in terms of doing it differently, because colleges and universities are not yielding the results we need in terms of numbers," Coleman said.
In addition to four Math teachers for the middle school, five new Special Education teachers will be needed prior to the start of the 2017-18 school year. Coleman said Special Education is the fastest growing demographic in the district and certified Special Education teachers are the most difficult to find.
"Special Education is our number one growing population here," she said. "As a matter of fact, this year alone we had 50 new Special Education kids move into the system."
While the debate over education funding continues in the state legislature, Coleman said the positions she is trying to fill are based on the current population and thus would fall within the parameters of the current budget -- provided the legislature provides "level" funding for the fall.
"Those positions fall within what we received in terms of last year's budget," Coleman said. "If they give us level funding, we are still ok. Our concern, though, is level funding actually represents a cut, because we are required -- rightfully so -- to give teachers a raise every year.
"So, if you give me the same amount of money you gave me last year and I have to give teachers a step increase, then we're really in the whole from the outset."
Coleman also said she and other superintendents continue to engage in discussion with college deans and schools of education over why education is not considered a "viable option" for many students entering college.
She noted the University of South Alabama requires all students receiving teaching degrees to be certified to teach Special Education, regardless their primary field.
"That's the other piece of the puzzle we have to work on," Coleman said. "We have a couple of different issues going on at the same time and both of them, for us, are problematic, in terms of finding the right people we need."
The "showcase" will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 11 at the OSSD Central Office on Government Street. Potential candidates will have the opportunity to tour the schools and the city, and meet with school principals, teachers and students.
More information can be found on the district website.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing calls to ban Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from entering Germany while a German journalist continues to be held in an Istanbul prison.
Erdogan, who campaigned in Germany in 2011 and 2014, was rumoured to be planning a political rally to secure the symbolically important diaspora votebefore April's referendum in Turkey on giving him greater powers, reports the Guardian.
But Merkel's government is under increasing pressure from German coalition and opposition parties to stand up to the Turkish president after the Turkey correspondent of Die Welt newspaper, Deniz Yucel, last month became the first German citizen to be arrested as part of Erdogan's crackdown on the press.
But on Wednesday, Merkel's spokesman said a ban would send the wrong signal.
Steffen Seibert said: "The German government deplores the fact that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are currently limited in Turkey to an unacceptable degree.
"If we deplore this in another country, then we should be even more alert to make sure that freedom of speech is respected, within the framework of the law, in our own country. We should demonstrate what we demand from others."
In the referendum on April 18, the Turkish public will vote on proposed changes that would boost the powers of the president, allowing Erdogan to scrap the post of prime minister, control budgets, appoint more judges and stay in office for two more terms.
The support of the Turkish diaspora in Germany, a community of about 1.4 million people, holds an important symbolic significance to Erdogan's party.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After what is considered to be the Academy Awards' biggest mistake, PricewaterhouseCoopers top executive has offered to meet every individual member of Academy governors.
Tim Ryan, the New York-based chairman and senior partner of Academy's longtime accounting firm PWC, will meet Academy governors to maintain the firm's 83-year-old relationship with the organisation, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
While the Academy is still assessing its relationship with the accounting firm, Academy's President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said the two PwC accountants, Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, responsible for this mix-up will never take part in future Oscars shows, confirmed an Academy spokesperson.
Cullinan, who was tweeting during the final moments of the show, is responsible for handing presenter Warren Beatty, a back-up envelope for best actress rather than the best picture envelope.
This issue resulted in 'La La Land', rather than 'Moonlight', being announced as the best picture winner.
Meanwhile, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson has reached out to the 54 members of her organisation's board of governors and offered to set up one-on-one meetings between them and Ryan, ostensibly to address any questions or concerns they may have ahead of the next full-board meeting on March 28, at which the fate of the Academy's 83-year relationship with PwC could be a matter of discussion.
Since the awards blunder, PwC has issued apologies and accepted responsibility of the incident, saying, "last night we failed the Academy.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An all-time record number of over 4,000 PG medical seats have been approved by Government of India in various medical colleges and hospitals for the academic session 2017-18 this year, taking the total number of PG seats available to 35,117.
Of the total increase, 2,046 seats are in medical colleges.
Looking at the need to increase PG seats in clinical subjects, the government had decided to amend the teacher student ratio in clinical subjects in government medical colleges.
This change alone has resulted in the creation of 1,137 extra seats in 71 colleges.
Many others out of the total of 212 government colleges are sending their proposals and it is expected that at least 1,000 more seats can be added during the month of March.
DNB seats, which are equivalent to MD/MS, have increased by 2,147 in the last one year.
Thus there has been a total addition of 4,193 PG seats in the country so far, and a further addition of more than 1,000 seats is likely during March.
The budget announcement of adding 5,000 PG medical seats in the country is thus likely to be achieved soon.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan's federal cabinet has approved recommendations of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reforms committee.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was chairing the cabinet, asserted that the people of the FATA, Gilgit Baltistan (G-B) and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) will be given their due rights.
"The cabinet accords in principle approval to the recommendations of the Fata reforms committee." The Express Tribune quoted Prime Minister House as saying in a statement.
Sharif on the occasion emphasised the need to focus on the development of under-developed areas to improve the living standards of the people.
After facing the widespread criticism of lawmakers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the Federal cabinet finally pulled out the FATA reforms on February 7, 2017.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress Party on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to influence the voters of politically crucial Uttar Pradesh by uttering lies.
"This truth is that Modiji is trying to influence the voters of UP in his favour by propagating lies," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
"If the Prime Minister of the country will tell lies like this then how will this government run proficiently?" he asked.
Surjewala also lashed out at the government over the increase in the price of non-subsidized cylinders.
He said, "Yesterday night, Modi government increased the price of cylinders for record 86 rupees. The price has been increased for the sixth time since September 2016. The cylinder, which was priced at Rs 466 then, will now cost Rs. 737."
The Congress' spokesperson also slammed the decision of imposing tax of Rs. 150 on more than four ATM transactions.
He said, "The government, which used to advocate Digital India, has now imposed a tax of Rs 150 on more than four transactions from ATM of private and government banks."
Surjewala alleged that Prime Minister Modi government is not pro-poor as his government keeps on introducing new taxes.
Campaigning for sixth phase of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will end today.
Polling for sixth phase for 49 seats will be held on March 4. With just two days left, all political parties have put their maximum strength to woo the voters in all poll-bound districts.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking party vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his Imphal address, the Congress has called on the former to get his facts straight before taking jibes.
"Modi ji has become an expert in comments and jokes; only if he clearly watches Rahul Gandhi's speech he will know the truth and not make funny comments again. If Modi is really interested in cracking jokes then I will tell Navjot Singh Sidhu to give him a side role in Kapil Sharma's show," Surjewala told ANI here in a clear reference to the 'coconut' gaffe that ensued post Gandhi's address.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister got a quote wrong while speaking at a rally in Maharajganj, where Modi mocked a certain Rahul Gandhi asking his supporters if they have ever heard of anything called coconut juice.
"Yesterday he (a Congress politician) made a very big declaration. he said now he will extract juice from coconuts.. and after extracting the juice, he will sell it in England. The poorest of poor children know that you get water from coconuts. You get juice from lime, santre, mosambi. have you ever seen or heard of coconut juice? Maybe I am unaware but tell me. Coconuts are found in Kerala but he's saying he'll extract coconut juice," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister Modi was referring to an election rally speech of Rahul Gandhi in Manipur's Imphal East. But what Rahul actually said in his February 28 rally,
"Here (in Manipur) you grow nimbu, narangi (oranges), pineapple. I hope that such a day comes that when someone in London drinks pineapple juice, they look at the box and see 'Made in Manipur'."
The confusion broke out over Rahul Gandhi's usage of the word 'narangi'which was mistaken for 'nariyal' (Coconut), following which the BJP spread no time in taking pot shot at the Congress vice-president.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coming down heavily on the opposition for lambasting the government post the recent violent clashes in Ramjas College, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday blamed the Congress and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for attempting to ruin the country's peace and prosperity.
Naqvi said that the Congress, Left and Kejriwal now stand exposed before the nation.
Naqvi also accused the trio of blowing the situation out of proportion in view of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
The students of Delhi University students yesterday staged a protest against the ABVP at the SGTB Khalsa College, in the North Campus.
Earlier on Monday, a 'Tiranga' march was organised by the ABVP to invoke nationalist sentiments on the campus.
Last week, the All India Students Association (AISA) and the ABVP engaged into a scuffle over cancellation of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid's talk at Delhi University's Ramjas College.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As a part of his four-day visit to the United States, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Wednesday met US Security Advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster.
During the meeting, the top officials are said to have discussed bilateral issues, including counter-terrorism and defence partnership.
Earlier, Jaishankar also met the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, who said that the US-India relationship is rooted in shared values of democracy and freedom.
Jaishankar left for the US on a four-day visit, aimed at sensitising the Trump administration over India's concerns over the security of Indian nationals in the US following a possible cut in H1B and L1 visas.
Jaishankar's visit comes days after an Indian software engineer was shot dead and another injured in Kansas.
This is Jaishankar's second visit to the US since the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the US.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its comments on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) alliance, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said the saffron party should come forward and speak on the alliance rather than making such statements.
"Who is allying with the Congress? The BJP says the one who is going with the Congress is indecent. So, does joining hands with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir is equal to being pure?" Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI.
"BJP does not have the right to make such statements. Today politics is extremely polluted, as everyone is busy playing the blame game," he added.
Taking a jibe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over his statement that the BJP would never join hands with the Congress, Raut on Monday said it is strange that the saffron party can enter into an alliance with the PDP, which called a terrorist like Afzal Guru as martyr.
"The BJP has allied with Mehbooba Mufti's PDP, which called a terrorist like Afzal Guru as freedom fighter and martyr, but, is facing problem in entering into an alliance with the Congress under whose governance Afzal Guru was sentenced to be hanged for being a terrorist," Raut told ANI.
His response came after Fadnavis said the BJP won't enter into an alliance with the Congress at any point or at any cost.
"Whoever wants to go with them can go, the BJP won't say a single word," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkey's Foreign Ministry has summoned the German Ambassador, Martin Erdmann, over the cancellation of a Thursday meeting between Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag and Turkish citizens in Germany, Anadolu news agency reported citing a ministry source.
According to the source, Erdmann was called to the ministry in relation with the developments which led the municipality of the southern German town of Gaggenau to revoke permission for a hall meeting between Bozdag and the members of the Turkish community scheduled for earlier Thursday.
Erdmann was called upon the order of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the source said, adding Deputy Undersecretary Mehmet Kemal Bozay expressed Turkey's discomfort over the incident.
The permission for the Thursday meeting was revoked citing concerns of overcrowding, which prompted Bozdag to cancel his planned visit to Germany. The incident has drawn strong criticism from the Turkish government.
In related developments, addressing the Turkish population in Germany, Bozdag wanted to promote the constitutional reform to expand the powers of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reports the DW.
Of the more than 3 million people of Turkish descent living in Germany, some 1.4 million are eligible to vote in the controversial referendum taking place in April.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing calls to ban Erdogan, from entering Germany while a German journalist continues to be held in an Istanbul prison. Turkey correspondent of Die Welt newspaper, Deniz Yucel, last month became the first German citizen to be arrested as part of Erdogan's crackdown on the press
Erdogan, who campaigned in Germany in 2011 and 2014, was rumoured to be planning a political rally to secure the symbolically important diaspora vote before April's referendum.
But on Wednesday, Merkel's spokesman said a ban would send the wrong signal.
Steffen Seibert said: "The German government deplores the fact that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are currently limited in Turkey to an unacceptable degree. If we deplore this in another country, then we should be even more alert to make sure that freedom of speech is respected, within the framework of the law, in our own country. We should demonstrate what we demand from others.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Dane Maxwell (R) is running for mayor of the City of Pascagoula. Questions arose about Maxwell's residency status and if he was a Pascagoula resident. He addressed that speculation with the Mississippi Press. (Tyler Carter/tcarter@al.com)
PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Questions arose on social media last week about Pascagoula mayoral candidate Dane Maxwell and his residency.
The Mississippi Press received a tip about the residency issue, accompanied with screenshots showing Maxwell's Biloxi address and his being registered to vote in Harrison County. The Mississippi Press spoke with Maxwell, who addressed the questions on Thursday.
"You want to know if I am a Pascagoula resident. Yes, I am a resident of Pascagoula," said Maxwell, a Republican. "I lay my head every night at the Scranton condos in Pascagoula on the corner of Martin and Ingalls Avenue. I have a lease there and signed it late last year. I own 10 and a half acres of land on 11th Street, and we just completed a small shed and big shop there. I currently have the house plans with me, now that we have finished."
He said that the plans have been given to the city.
Maxwell did not deny that he was registered as a Harrison County voter, but said that he has no control over the county keeping its voter rolls up to date.
"I'm registered to vote in Jackson County and as a matter of fact, I voted in the presidential election here in Jackson County," said Maxwell. "I can't help that Harrison County hasn't cleaned up their voter rolls or that Jackson County has not sent them the updated information."
Maxwell said he is aware of reports on social media regarding his residency, but says he did everything he was supposed to do in order to qualify as a candidate.
"Someone on social media posted that I am a registered voter in Harrison County, and you know what, I may be, but it is not my issue that they did not remove me from the rolls," said Maxwell. "I did exactly what the law requires.
"He said, "Come last year -- and when I moved here and changed residence -- I immediately made sure that I registered to vote here in Jackson County."
He said the social media chatter was "just crap."
Maxwell continued: "You're never going to please everyone. As easy as someone sent you a tip about me being registered to vote in Harrison County, they could have just as easily picked up the voter rolls in Jackson County and given you that information also. Everybody is always going to look out to get you on something, but it's just that way sometimes."
Maxwell said that he has always had ties to Pascagoula and feels that he has grasp of the issues within the city, and a vision for what the city can become.
"Because I vote here now doesn't mean I had not been involved within the city," said Maxwell. "I was born in Singing River Hospital, graduated from Pascagoula High School, I just lived in D'Iberville. My family has lived here all their lives so to say because I just changed my address from 20 minutes from here that I do not know what's going on in Pascagoula is ludicrous."
Maxwell said, "Look at all of the candidates and see who grew up here, who is from here, and who is born and raised here. I worked at Ingalls shipyard, I went to college in Jackson County, went off to serve my country. I served in law enforcement, and now I am back to serve my community. Do I have the pulse of Pascagoula? Absolutely."
Maxwell said he had the good fortune of traveling the country last year serving within the Trump campaign. He said he hopes to return Pascagoula to days where it is "thriving and not dying on the vine."
"The problem with people in Pascagoula is that they have no leadership. And I have no problem in being that guy to lead," said Maxwell. "I could have gone to work for the Trump administration, but I chose to come home to serve my city. The truth is that there are some people who do not want me to do that. They have a vested interest in the city continuing on a downward slope or either they don't live here and don't care. I have sold three very successful businesses and I have a strong economic development background so I feel very confident. And given what I have done, it gives me a whole lot of an advantage over my opponents."
Maxwell said he will be in Washington, D.C., over the next few weeks to talk with Trump administration contacts about the flooding issue in Pascagoula.
"Not a lot of people can do that, but I plan to do it to help Pascagoula," said Maxwell.
Two transgender Pakistanis, both natives of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), died on Tuesday after being subjected to torture allegedly by Saudi police in Riyadh for cross-dressing in public.
According to the Express Tribune, thirty-five transgender people were arrested by a law enforcement agency for cross-dressing, which is a punishable offence in the kingdom.
A rest house was raided where a 'Guru Chela Chalan' gathering, a formal meeting of Khuwaja Sara in which they choose their Guru (leader) and Chelas (Students), was taking place.
Amna, 35, who belonged to the Mingora area of Swat and Meeno, 26, who was from Peshawar died in police custody. The police allegedly packed them in sacks and thrashed them with sticks in prison.
Colonel Fawaz bin Jameel alMaiman, the police's media spokesperson in Riyadh, told a local news agency that the field-control management had the site under constant surveillance. Women's clothing and jewellery were also recovered from the rest house.
He added that the 35 people inside had been apprehended.
While 11 were released later after paying a fine of 150,000 riyals, 22 are still in police custody, said Qamar Naseem, a transgender rights activist.
The suffering ended for these two after being physically tortured, however, the rest are still languishing in Saudi jails, he added.
Naseem said that the National Commission for Human Rights had been contacted and they are awaiting their response.
Farzana, a transgender, said that if they were involved in any illegal activity the police should take them to court instead of thrashing them like animals.
She claimed the kingdom would not even allow a transgender person to perform Hajj or Umrah.
In 2016, local media reported that the Saudi consul-general in Islamabad, in a notification issued to the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP), warned against granting visas to transgender persons for Umrah pilgrimage.
TAAP has denied receiving instructions from the Saudi government for not issuing visas to transgender persons who wish to visit the holy land.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke twice with the Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak during former's presidential campaign, according to CNN.
Sessions did not mention either meeting, during his confirmation hearings when he said he knew of no contacts between Trump surrogates and Russians. A Justice official said Sessions didn't mislead senators during his confirmation.
Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, is considered to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington by the U.S. intelligence.
Sessions met with Kislyak twice in Washington, in July on the sidelines of the Republican convention, and in September in his office when Sessions was a member of the Senate Armed Services committee. Sessions was an early Trump backer and regular surrogate for him as a candidate.
Sessions, a former senator from Alabama, who was among Trump's early and most vocal surrogates on the campaign trail, did not disclose the conversations when asked during his Senate confirmation hearing in early 2017 about possible contacts between Trump's campaign and Moscow.
It was communications with Kislyak that led to the firing of Trump's first national security advisor, Michael Flynn, in February.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asserting the world is threatened by the twin challenges of terrorism and climate change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said there should be peace among all nations.
Prime Minister Modi, who was addressing the International Yoga festival through video conferencing, said yoga helps create harmony and peace within individuals, society, nation and all across the world.
He said a spirit of oneness of mind, body and intellect is created by practicing yoga.
Stating that yoga makes a person better, the Prime Minister stressed it is unfair to see yoga only as a set of physical exercises that keep the body fit.
He said there is ample evidence that practicing Yoga helps fight stress and life-style related diseases.
Prime Minister Modi said the people come to India whenever there is quest to know about self.
Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he said expansion is life and contraction is death.
The Prime Minister appreciated the work being done by Parmarth Niketan in bringing Yoga closer to people across the world.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Indo-Nepal joint training exercise Surya Kiran-XI is scheduled to be conducted at Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) between March 7 and 20, under the aegis of Panchshul Brigade of the Surya Command, an official of the Central Command said on Thursday.
The exercise is part of a series of joint training with friendly foreign countries by the Indian armed forces.
"This is a battalion-level joint exercise undertaken between Indian and Nepal armed forces. In this exercise, an infantry battalion from the Indian Army and an equivalent strength from the Nepal Army would be exercising in conduct of various counter-insurgency operations over a prolonged period. Both the armies immensely stand to benefit mutually from their varied experiences," the official added.
The Surya Kiran series of exercises are conducted biannually, alternatively in India and Nepal.
The aim of these exercises is to conduct joint training in counter-insurgency operations in mountainous terrain with a view to promoting military relations and increasing interoperability.
The exercise also focuses on other important aspects such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and environmental conservation, among others.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Under fire from various quarters after the February 22 Ramjas College violence, the ABVP on Thursday held a protest march in Delhi University here against what it dubbed "anti-national activities".
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said the protest march near the DU North Campus' Art Faculty was organised to save the university from "anti-national activities".
Protesters raised slogans like "Vidyarthi Parishad lade chalo (keep fighting, ABVP), "Hindustan mein rehna hoga, Vande Mataram kehna hoga" (To live in this country, you have to say Vande Mataram), "Na Marxwad, na Naxalwad, sabse upar rashtrawad" (nationalism above Marxism and Naxalism).
The students' party demanded strict action against elements who it said supported "anarchism and anti-India propaganda".
"Anti-national slogans were raised on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus by some communist cadres last year. The central and Delhi governments and the Delhi police should conduct an investigation against these people," ABVP Media Convener Saket Bahuguna said during the protest.
"You are free to have conferences and rallies but freedom of expression doesn't mean that you will divide the country. Shouting about Kashmir's or Bastar's freedom is an anti-national action," he said.
He added: "Anybody raising such slogans in DU, JNU or anywhere in the country will have to face the ABVP. If you raise anti-national slogans, we will stand against you."
Delhi University Students Union President Amit Tanwar, Vice-President Priyanka Chawri and General Secretary Ankit Sanghwan of the ABVP echoed what Bahuguna said.
At the protest venue, huge hoardings declaring the All India Students' Association (AISA) to be a "rapist party" were also displayed.
This came as a response to the protest organised by AISA against the ABVP, urging for peace and freedom of expression after ABVP forced the suspension of an event at Ramjas College to be addressed by JNU student Umar Khalid on February 21.
Khalid was jailed last year for allegedly shouting anti-national slogans.
"Rapist AISA, go back!", "Desh 1947 se azaad hai, par vaampanthiyon ki soch wahi (the country has been independent since 1947, but the leftists have the same thinking", the hoardings put up by ABVP in North Campus read.
According to Bahuguna, his party was justified in calling the AISA so "because AISA leader Anmol Ratan was last year jailed for raping a JNU student".
"One ABVP worker indulges in violence and you declare our whole party to be a group of hooligans. Why can't we call AISA a party of rapists?" he questioned.
Many posters and hoardings referred to recent clashes between Communist Party of India-Marxist and Bharatiya Janata Party-RSS workers in Kerala.
"Weapons of communists and their victims. Three students Anu, Sujit and Kim killed by communist and SFI (Students Federation of India)," one of them read.
"Students on the campus are finding these posters scary but they depict the reality. Leftists in Kerala are responsible for killing and mutilating bodies (of BJP-RSS workers). Imagine the horror that these martyrs' families must have felt, after receiving their dead bodies," Bahuguna said.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi University saw another day of protests on Thursday as hundreds of ABVP student activists held a march against "anti- activities", even as President Pranab Mukherjee, in his first comments on the controversy, said there should be "no room in India for the intolerant Indian". He also asked students to refrain from "propagating culture of unrest".
Meanwhile, Gurmehar Kaur, the student who launched a campaign against the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) after last week's clashes outside Ramjas College and kicked off a fierce debate on nationalism, has said she will never enter politics.
President Mukherjee, delivering the 6th K.S. Rajamony Memorial Lecture in Kochi, said that India's institutions of higher education "must resound with creativity and free thinking". "Those in Universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet," he said.
There should be "no room in India for the intolerant Indian". India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Our society has always been characterized by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion," Mukherjee said.
Two Union Ministers, Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar, jumped into the debate on nationalism, with Finance Minister Jaitley saying that nationalism was a good word in the rest of the world but not in India, while Defence Minister Parrikar said that freedom of expression should be within the legal ambit.
Amid the growing politics over the issue, 20-year-old student of Lady Shri Ram College, Gurmehar Kaur, said she was "saddened" that the issue had gained a political hue and clarified that she would never enter politics. Kaur had last week launched a social media campaign #studentsagainstabvp, angering the RSS-affiliated body, and getting trolled on social media. Her comment that Pakistan did not kill her father but war did, led to even a union minister suggesting that her young mind was being "polluted".
"The issue on which I spoke went out of hand. I would like to clarify that I do not want to enter politics," Gurmehar told Hindustan Times.
"I just gave my opinion, and I never expected the whole thing to take such a turn. I had a really bad time. I am not in a state to talk about it, and I cannot take it anymore," said Kaur, who left Delhi for her hometown Jalandhar in Punjab, following rape and death threats on social media.
On Thursday, around 1,000 members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad held a Protest March near the DU's North Campus Arts Faculty with students raising slogans like "Hindustan mein rehna hoga, Vande Mataram kehna hoga" (To live in this country, you have to chant Vande Mataram), "Na Marxwad, na Naxalwad, sabsey upar rashtrawad" (Nationalism is above Marxism and Naxalism) -- targeting the left-wing All India Students Association.
The ABVP demanded strict action against those who supported "anarchism and anti-India propaganda".
"You are free to have conferences and rallies but freedom of expression doesn't mean that you will divide the country. Shouting about Kashmir's or Bastar's freedom is an anti- action," ABVP Media Convener Saket Bahuguna said during the protest. The ABVP had stopped Ramjas College from hosting a talk on February 21 addressed by JNU student Umar Khalid, who was named in a sedition case a year ago.
The CPI-M said the "vicious attack" on Kaur has "exposed the real nature of the nationalism the Sangh Parivar espouses."
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said it is important to respond to the issues raised by Kaur than sidetrack them.
"Listen to her and respond to her if you have the guts," Sisodia said to a query on speculation that Kaur may be with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Kaur "is a daughter of this country, the daughter of a martyr", the AAP leader said. "Focus on what she said, the issues she raised."
The Delhi Police, probing last week's clashes, on Thursday said it has received 25 complaints regarding the February 22 violence at Ramjas College and begun recording statements of the complainants.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday protested here against the killing of BJP-RSS workers in Kerala with hoardings denouncing "Communist violence" by the CPI-M-led Students Federation of India (SFI).
Huge hoardings were put up across the Delhi University North Campus here on Thursday by ABVP, referring to recent clashes between Communist Party of India-Marxist and Bharatiya Janata Party-RSS workers in Kerala.
ABVP workers had gathered to protest against what they dubbed "anti-national activities" and used the protest venue to demonstrate against the killing of BJP-RSS workers in Kerala.
"Weapons of communists and their victims. Three students Anu, Sujit and Kim killed by communist and SFI (Students Federation of India)," one poster read.
Another displayed 75 pictures of "Kerala Martyrs" who were victims of "communist violence" in the state.
Many hoardings showed pictures of the beheaded bodies of their party workers.
"Students on the campus are finding these posters scary but they depict the reality. Leftists in Kerala are responsible for killing and mutilating bodies (of BJP-RSS workers). Imagine the horror that these martyrs' families must have felt, after receiving their dead bodies," ABVP media convener Saket Bahuguna said during the protest.
The protests come as an RSS leader Kundan Chandrawat has offered Rs 1 crore to have Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan beheaded.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) announced protests on Friday across Kerala and demanded that a case be registered against Chandrawat on terrorism charges.
Over the past few months, Kerala has been witnessing violent political killings of RSS and CPI(M) workers, with both the organisations engaged in a bloody feud.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the violent incident at Mathura's Jawaharbagh Park in which 28 persons were killed in a gun battle last June.
While disposing off nine petitions on the incident, the High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct the probe.
The hearing had been completed on February 20 and the court had reserved its judgement.
Members of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Viacharik Satyagrah Sanstha led by Ram Briksha Yadav, a self-styled godman, owing allegiance to the Jai Gurudev sect, had encroached upon the park illegally for nearly two years.
On June 2, when police tried to evict them after a court order, Ram Yadav's supporters opened fire on the police, killing an inspector and a superintendent of police (SP), among others.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple's corporate reputation took a hit in the first quarter of 2017, according to a recent market research study that placed the Cupertino-headquartered tech giant at 20th place, far behind Google, placed fifth.
In 2017, Apple slipped 10 spots from last year's ranking, according to Reputation Institute's Global RepTrak 100, a ranking that measures public perception towards the world's top companies.
The study assigns rankings to large corporations across a number of industries, including tech, automotive, consumer goods and luxury brands.
The survey measured the public perception twoards the top companies on seven key rational dimensions of reputation -- products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance. More than 170,000 ratings were compiled for the study.
Luxury watchmaker Rolex took the top spot on this year's RepTrak 100 list released this week.
Consumer toymaker LEGO followed in second place, while Walt Disney took the third position.
Apple's rival Samsung posted the most notable decline this year, taking 70th place overall from last year's 17th.
Microsoft dropped out of the top 10 in the first quarter to finish in 11th place, Appleinsider.com reported.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Ship sponsor Kay Webber Cochran (center) signs her initials onto the keel plate of the Kimball as her husband, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (left) looks on and Ingalls structural welder Jerry Wesley assists during last year's keel authentication ceremony for the National Security Cutter Kimball. Saturday -- one year to the day later -- the Cochrans will again be at the Pascagoula shipyard as the Kimball is christened.
(File photo/The Mississippi Press)
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Gov. Phil Bryant will be among the speakers Saturday morning as Ingalls Shipbuilding christens its latest National Security Cutter, the Kimball (WMSL 756).
Joining Bryant on the podium will be the keynote speaker, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul F. Zukunft.
Other speakers include U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, Ingalls president Brian Cuccias, Kimball commanding officer Capt. David Ramassini, and ship sponsor Kay Webber Cochran, wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, who is also expected to attend.
Saturday's christening is taking place exactly one year to the day after the Cochrans were on hand for the keel authentication ceremony at the Pascagoula shipyard.
"We can't get the Kimball in the water fast enough," Zunkunft said that day, noting the Coast Guard is daily battling against drug smuggling on the high seas. "Crime is coming from the sea in the form of bales of cocaine."
The Kimball (WMSL 756) is Ingalls' seventh National Security Cutter and is named in honor of Sumner Kimball, who organized and directed the U.S. Life Saving Service -- the forerunner to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Legend-class cutters are the flagships of the USCG fleet. They are 418-feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. The cutters have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and support a crew of 110.
The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Coast Guard during the first quarter of 2018.
Saturday's christening ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and comes just days after it was revealed President Donald Trump's proposed budget would eliminate a $600 million contract with Ingalls to build another NSC. Sen. Cochran was instrumental in securing that contract for the shipyard.
A driver, who was allegedly radicalised, was arrested by Belgian police while driving a vehicle containing gas cylinders, a local official said.
The demining service was called on site and a 200-meter perimeter was established around the suspicious vehicle that contained at least two gas cylinders, Xinhua news agency quoted Charles Picque, mayor of Saint-Gilles (Brussels) as saying.
Public broadcaster RTBF quoted Picque as saying that arrested driver was on a list of people suspected of being connected to radical organisations.
The police stopped the car because the driver had jumped several red lights.
According to the polce, when the driver refused to open the trunk, officers forced it open and found three canisters.
"The police then noticed several gas canisters in the boot and rather than take any risks, they called for help from the army bomb squad," a Daily Mail report said.
The entire area has been closed and traffic has also been stopped.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kem Sokha, vice president of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was elected as the party president on Thursday after the self-exiled incumbent Sam Rainsy stepped down last month.
"The CNRP's extraordinary congress had unanimously elected Kem Sokha as the party's president by raising hands," CNRP's spokesman Yim Sovann said after the votes.
Kem Sokha had been the CNRP's sole vice president since his Human Rights Party merged with Sam Rainsy's eponymous party in 2012 to form the CNRP.
According to Yim Sovann, the party also elected three party senior members -- steering committee chief Pol Ham, executive committee deputy chief Eng Chhay Eang and public affairs director Mu Sochua -- as the party vice-presidents.
The leadership reshuffle was prompted by the resignation of CNRP's long-serving president Sam Rainsy on February 11.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohu on Thursday extended an invitation to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to visit his country for exploring business possibilities in manufacturing and other key sectors of the two countries.
The Ambassador, heading a five-member delegation including Chinese Consul-Genral in Kolkata Ma Zhanwu, called on Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna.
"Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to India and the Consul-General of China in Kolkata had a meeting with me at the state secretariat today (Thursday).
"He extended an invitation to us to visit China to explore Bengal-China business possibilities in manufacturing and other key sectors," Banerjee said in a Facebook post.
Zhaohu and Banerjee had elaborate discussions about the business possibilities in many areas.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Among Iraq's provinces, the Mosul region has suffered the highest number of civilian casualties in February, as the US-backed coalition tightens its grip on densely populated western neighbourhoods of the Islamic State-held city, according to new UN estimates.
A total of 329 civilians were killed and 613 injured across Iraq in February, in "acts of terrorism, violence, and armed conflict", according to the new figures by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The Iraqi military operation to retake Mosul city from the IS and its attempts to hold ground apparently caused a serious surge in civilian casualties.
Ninewa governorate has suffered the most with 201 civilians killed and 250 others injured. UNAMI, however, said it has been "hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas", thus the conflict's civilian toll might be even higher.
Iraqi civilians suffer both from the US-led coalition airstrikes and the IS, who deliberately target fleeing civilians to prevent them from escaping.
"We have suffered from many shellings, so many shellings. The shellings were on from the morning till the evening, deadly shellings. We were not able to leave our houses because of them," a recently displaced Iraqi woman, Sakna Younis, told the RT online.
As of February 28, some 16,500 people have been displaced, and only 8,800 of them have so far been distributed among camps and emergency sites, according to OCHA.
A further 85,000 people can be housed within prepared emergency camps and shelters, while some 400,000 civilians can flee the battle zone as the offensive continues, according to UN estimates, while roughly 750,000 people remain trapped in war-torn western Mosul.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ignoring the opposition BJP's demand, Bihar's ruling alliance partner Congress on Thursday ruled out sacking of Bihar Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan over his reported video clip in which he asked people to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph with shoes.
Mastan is a Congress leader and the only minister from the backward and under-developed Seemanchal belt, which comprises of Purnia, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar districts with sizeable Muslim population.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators on Thursday disrupted the Bihar assembly proceeding for the consecutive second day, demanding dismissal of Mastan from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's council of ministers.
After much hue and cry over his controversial statement, Mastan apologised on Wednesday evening, saying "sorry" for it in a bid to put an end to the row.
The BJP members said either Mastan should resign or be removed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his insult to Modi.
BJP legislators created noisy scenes over the issue and rushed to the well of the house and shouted slogans.
They also reiterated they would not allow the state's Grand Alliance government to proceed with the ongoing budget session unless the Chief Minister sacked Mastan.
Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar told the media here that the BJP will march to Raj Bhawan to protest Mastan's statement gainst Modi.
Bihar Pradesh Congress President Ashok Choudhary, who is also the Education Minister, told media that the BJP's demand for Mastan's sacking is baseless.
"Has BJP taken action against its MP Subramaniam Swamy for abusing and using unparliamentary language against Congress President Sonia Gandhi?" he added.
Choudhary challenged the BJP to first take action against Swamy and other party leaders for insulting the Congress President and other leaders.
A senior Congress leader and party legislator, Sadanand Singh said there is no need to sack Mastan.
"Why should he be sacked from the cabinet? He will not be sacked. BJP should explain to people, whether it had sacked any minister for abusing others," Singh, Bihar assembly's former Speaker, said.
Janata Dal-United spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said that Mastan should be given a chance to explain his stand in the assembly over the reported video.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad said that it is for the Congress party to decide what to do or not do with Mastan.
The Congress, JD-U and the RJD are all partners in Bihar's ruling Grand Alliance.
The Excise Minister's video on February 22, that was telecast on a Hindi news channel, also condemned the Centre's November 8, 2016, demonetisation move. The video went viral on the social media.
In the video, Mastan was seen addressing a crowd in Purnea district's Amour assembly constituency, and saying that it was Modi who had promised to face punishment if he failed to end people's woes within 50 days.
It was then that Mastan suggested that the crowd should beat Modi's photograph with their shoes.
--IANS
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Residents of Delhi can now get free radiology tests in 21 private labs if they are referred to by Delhi government hospitals, it was announced on Thursday.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told an event here that another scheme would be rolled out in a week under which surgeries could also be done in private hospitals for free.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had in December announced the free diagnostic tests for those residing in Delhi for the past three years and whose annual family income was under Rs 3 lakh.
Both these conditions have been now scrapped, Jain said.
Calling it a historic move, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed satisfaction at being able to see "the dream with which we came into turn into reality".
He said people who witnessed a waiting list up to three years for various tests and surgeries would now get treatment in time.
The AAP leader said the public health and public education models of Delhi would set an example not just for the nation but the whole world.
"Every government's first responsibility is to provide quality education and healthcare to all its citizens," Kejriwal said.
He added the responsibility was even bigger with private healthcare getting more expensive by the day.
Health Minister Jain said Delhi residents, if referred to by Delhi government hospitals, can get their diagnostic tests including MRI, PET and CT Scan done for free in 21 private centres. The government will reimburse these centres.
Some of these tests cost up to Rs 25,000 at private labs.
Similarly, if the waiting for surgeries in Delhi government hospitals exceeded a month, these too can be carried out in 41 hospitals accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) and registered with the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).
The Delhi government will again reimburse these hospitals.
Any of the 25 Delhi government hospitals, 23 polyclinics and five society hospitals in the city can refer patients to these private labs for diagnostic tests.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia lauded Jain for his "courageous and creative" solution for long queues at hospitals for surgeries and diagnostic tests.
He promised Jain, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, there would be no shortage of funds for the scheme.
During the event, many patients received immediate appointments for various diagnostic tests, including Mohammad Wasim who earlier had an appointment for MRI scan for December 2018.
--IANS
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The European Commission on Thursday presented a new plan of action that would accelerate the process of returning to their home countries those migrants who were not granted asylum.
The plan includes recommendations to member states on how best to achieve this goal, such as detaining people who do not show signs of obeying expulsion orders or accelerating the analysis of asylum requests to avoid system abuse, Efe news reported.
"We need to give protection to those in need, but we must also return those who have no right to stay in the European Union (EU), in full compliance with the fundamental rights and the principle of non-refoulement," said Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, at a press conference.
It also suggests establishing programmes by June to assist voluntary returns and improve the coordination between authorities and services involved in the return of immigrants.
According to Avramopoulos, the plan was established in order to reduce the pressure on the asylum request system, assure there are enough resources to protect those who most need it and send a strong signal against the idea of making dangerous journeys to the EU.
He insisted that all points on the plan were fully within EU legislation and respected fundamental rights.
"We need to equip our migration policy to better deal with those who don't come for humanitarian reasons, so they too can come in a legal and regular way, whether it's for work, family or study," he added.
In order to help countries with returns, the Commission is considering, among other things, increasing financial support to member states with 200 million euros ($210 million) in 2017 for national efforts as well as for joint return or reintegration activities at a European level.
The EC also seeks to overcome the challenges of returned migrants in their countries by working to conclude negotiations on re-admission agreements with Nigeria, Tunisia and Jordan soon, and to create similar deals with Morocco and Algeria in this regard.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa on Thursday reiterated that the newly launched military offensive, Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, will target "all troublemakers".
"Through Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad we will take on all fasaadies and play our part in bringing back normalcy in our country," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted the army chief as saying during his visit to the Multan Garrison.
Gen Bajwa, who was given a detailed briefing on the troops' operational preparedness, acknowledged their contributions towards internal security.
The COAS also witnessed training for troops to execute the population census support plan. "He appreciated the preparations, and said that population census is an important national activity and army shall extend full support for its smooth conduct," the statement said.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The number of foreign tourists in India increased by 16.5 per cent in January 2017 as compared to the corresponding month last year.
Similarly, Domestic Tourist Visits (DTVs) registered an increase of 15.5 per cent in 2016 when compared to that in 2015, said the Union Ministry of Tourism on Thursday.
"While surpassing the growth rate of 6.8 per cent in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) observed in January 2016 over January 2015, a significantly higher double digit growth rate of 16.5 per cent has been witnessed in the month of January 2017 over January 2016," the ministry said in a statement said.
The ministry said the number of domestic tourists in 2016 was 1,653 million (provisional) as compared to 1,432 million in 2015 registering a growth of 15.5 per cent.
"Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have maintained the first and second rank, respectively, in terms of DTVs in 2016," the statement added.
Madhya Pradesh gained several ranks to reach the third position leaving Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra at the fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In order to raise awareness about gender discrimination, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has initiated a social campaign -- #WeAreEqual, said an official.
The campaign will culminate in the celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, marked by the prestigious Nari Shakti Award ceremony during which President Pranab Mukherjee will honour individuals and institutions for their exemplary contribution to women's empowerment, the ministry said in a statement.
"The campaign takes a positive approach, engaging both men and women across the cross-section of the society and encouraging to stand up for equal rights and opportunities," it stated.
Several eminent personalities have also supported the initiative. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has always rooted for gender equality, said his assets would be shared equally between his son Abhishek and daughter Shweta.
Amitabh on Thursday shared a photograph of himself holding a card, which read: "When I die, my assets will be equally shared between my daughter and my son... Gender equality... We are equal."
Other prominent personalities, such as actors Dia Mirza and comedian Vasu Primlani, sportspersons Mary Kom and Sangram Singh, and ISRO scientists K. Thenmozhi Selvi, Subha Varier and Minal Rohit have also joined the campaign.
--IANS
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Naga People's Front Supremo and Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Thursday accused his Manipur counterpart Ibobi Singh of "playing a communal card for political gains".
"We (NPF) want to see all the different communities live together in peace and harmony," he said addressing election rallies in Ukhrul and Chandel.
"We stand for peace and we will continue to play for peace. We want to live in complete harmony with all our neighbours," the NPF supremo asserted.
Urging voters to ensure that the NPF candidates are elected, Shurholzelie said the inability of the 20 legislators from the hill districts to come together on a single platform all these decades has "prevented the representatives to speak out in one voice in the Manipur Assembly" even though they might have the best of intentions for the over-all development of their people.
Underlining the need for the people from the Hill districts to have a common platform in the assembly, Shurholzelie said though the nomenclature of the party mentions Naga, the party stands for the conglomeration of all the people of the Hill districts of Manipur.
Echoing his party supremo, Nagaland Minister in Charge of the NPF's Manipur Unit, Yitachu said, "The NPF is not participating in the Manipur elections just for the sake of participating, but we are serious on finding a solution to the Naga political problem."
Yitachu went on to recall how in 1964, the NPF, then known as Democratic Party of Nagaland, sacrificed its 12 MLAs after the Ceasefire Agreement was signed between the Government of India and the NNC/FGN by making all of its MLAs resign from the assembly "to pave way for a negotiated settlement".
Also heeding to the call of the people and various sections of the Naga society, the NPF then known as NPC, boycotted the elections of 1998 in Nagaland along with all other political parties except for the Congress which got elected unopposed and formed the government much to the opposition of the people.
Yitachu went on to recount how in Manipur the Congress had let down the people of the Hill districts all these years and said that the Congress is going to lose this time because of Ibobi, because of the party's policy against the Naga peace process and because of its policy against the tribal people.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
students of the 2017 Post Graduate Diploma in Management batch got lucrative offers in campus placement with the highest international package touching 90,000 Euros (over Rs 63 lakh) per annum while the best annual domestic package was Rs 70 lakh, the institute said on Thursday.
The finance sector churned out the maximum number of offers, with top recruiters like Avendus, Edelweiss, Goldman Sachs and HSBC visiting the campus, as all students of the batch got placements within a record three days in the second week of February.
There were total 474 top-notch offers including significant number of international offers.
"The highest domestic package was Rs 70 lakh per annum, whereas the highest international package amounted to 90,000 Euros per annum," the IIM said in a statement.
Twenty-nine per cent of the offers came from the finance sector, while consulting emerged as the second highest recruiter by making 22 per cent of the total offers. Top recruiters in consulting were Accenture, AT Kearney, Bain, BCG, and McKinsey.
General Management firms like ABG, CK Birla, and TAS made 15 per cent of the offers.
Sales and marketing roles contributed to 12 per cent of the total offers, predominantly offered by firms like HUL, ITC, P&G and Reckitt Benckiser.
Apart from these, e-commerce and IT companies made 14 per cent of the total offers, with companies like Amazon and Wipro hiring in large numbers.
US President Donald Trump has made some shifts from his pre-election rhetoric, and India should monitor it for better bilateral ties with the US, an India-based think-thank has said in a report.
The report by the Center for Asia Africa Policy Research (CAAPR) has suggested that India should avoid making H-1B/L1 visa matters a major agenda point of bilateral discussions with the US.
It said that in order to savour better ties with the US, Indian corporations should be encouraged to acquire some of American strategic hi-tech companies. This would help generate jobs in the US and provide financial returns to India.
The Hyderabad-based CAAPR analysed recent incidents regarding Trump's position on Mexico, Japan and China, and how it changed after Trump won the US presidential elections in 2016, American Bazaar online reported on Thursday, citing the CAAPR report.
The report stated: "Trump told Fox TV in an interview prior to his inauguration, "I don't know why we have to be bound by a 'one China' policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things."
"...He reached out to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen upsetting Beijing. He accused China of unfair trade and fiscal policies and pledged to slap a 45 percent import tariff as it is a currency manipulator."
However, post-election Trump took a more pragmatic approach towards China.
"President Trump rather had a pleasant conversation with President Xi Jinping during their first official telephonic call where he re-affirmed the 'one China' policy," the report read.
The think tank said that about Japan, Trump as a candidate denounced the country for "free-riding" and not paying its fair share for the American forces defending it.
But, after winning the presidential election, Trump said that the US is 100 per cent committed to Japan's security.
The CAAPR report said that corporations of India and the US should jointly work on projects in the developing countries.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reaching a milestone in enhancing its sub-surface warfare capability, the Indian Navy on Thursday successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile from the first of indigenously-built Kalvari class submarines in the Arabian sea.
"The missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the maiden firing this morning," an official statement said.
"This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene-class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Navy's sub-surface warfare capability," the statement added.
All six Kalvari submarines will be equipped with the missile, with a proven record in combat, to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges, the statement said.
Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has urged US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take immediate action to stop rising hate crimes in the US.
Krishnamoorthi, in a letter, requested Sessions to use his discretion in the Justice Department to thwart the rising incidents of hate and violence in the country, American Bazaar online reported on Thursday.
"From grave desecration at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis to a shooting at a bar in Kansas, Americans have been shaken to the core by the recent rise in hate crimes," Krishnamoorthi said in the letter.
The Indian American community was in a state of shock after a US Navy veteran Adam Purinton shot dead Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injured Alok Madasani in an apparent hate crime on February 22.
Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the two and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" before shooting them.
Several other instances of hate crime were also witnessed in the US. Jewish Community Centres across the country have received bomb threats, and countless Muslims have been harassed and threatened, the Democrat said.
"All Americans must be able to count on the federal government to defend their fundamental rights as citizens of this great republic. If any American is harassed or threatened because of who they are, it harms everyone," Krishnamoorthi said.
"I respectfully urge you to use the full powers of the Justice Department to investigate and combat this disturbing rise in hate crimes," he said. "These attacks seek to undermine not just public safety, but the very nature of American exceptionalism."
He said: "For more than two hundred years, the US has stood as a beacon of freedom from tyranny, oppression, and persecution."
"A fundamental promise of our nation is that any American -- regardless of where you come from, the color of your skin, or how you pray -- can trust the federal government to preserve, protect, and defend their rights," Krishnamoorthi added.
--IANS
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The Islamic State (IS) terror group again withdrew from the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on Thursday in the wake of an army offensive, a war monitoring group reported.
In their retreat, the terrorists planted mines in various points of the city, whose ancient ruins are a Unesco World Heritage Site, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based SOHR, told Efe news that the Syrian forces had secured the city's western outskirts.
Russian aircraft are intensifying their bombing in areas still controlled by the IS radicals in Palmyra and in the rural areas around it, the SOHR said.
The Syrian army, along with pro-government militias, on Wednesday entered Palmyra, which has been under the control of the IS since December, when it retook control after being ousted in March 2016.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian American actor Kal Penn has mocked White House adviser Kellyanne Conway after she was pictured kneeling on a Oval Office couch in heels.
Penn in a tweet on Thursday posted an image of him sitting on a couch similar to the one in the Oval Office, mimicking Trump's senior counsellor's weird pose earlier this week.
With his pants hitched up to his knees, Penn knelt on the couch, with his phone in his hand and a confused look on his face. The picture, which has been liked on Twitter more than 4,500 times, was posted with the caption "Kal-E-Anne".
Conway was subjected to social outlash after she was photographed checking her phone and kneeling on the couch with her shoes on while President Donald Trump was meeting leaders of historically black colleges and universities in the Oval Office on Monday.
Conway later said that she "meant no disrespect", and blamed the reporter for taking the picture and wobbling up the issue just to create a sensation, American Bazaar online reported.
"I was being asked to take a picture in a crowded room with the press of us. I was asked to take a certain angle and was doing exactly that. I certainly meant no disrespect, I didn't mean to have my feet on the couch," she said on Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs Tonight on Tuesday.
"If we started the trend here, where people are outwardly talking about greater respect for the Office of the President and its current occupant, then perhaps that's something positive that came out. But I, of course, meant no disrespect."
Kal Penn, born to Indian parents, is an actor, producer, chef and civil servant. He advocated for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2007 and 2008. He served as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement from 2009 till 2011.
He currently stars in political drama 'Designated Survivor'.
--IANS
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Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra on Thursday said the probe in the kidnapping of a popular Malayalam film actress was progressing in the right direction.
"We will try our best to submit the chargesheet before 90 days. We have got the necessary evidences and we are trying to get more evidence," Behra told the media.
The actress was kidnapped on February 17 night while on her way to Kochi from Thrissur. She was held hostage for over two hours before being freed.
The police have arrested all six accused involved in the crime including mastermind Pulsar Sunil. A court sent them to police custody till Friday.
Behra refused to divulge more details.
"I won't speak on the process of investigation. We will soon conduct a review of the probe," he said.
--IANS
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A North Korean man who was held in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-un's half-brother at the airport here will be released from police custody on Friday, authorities said.
Malaysia's Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said Ri Jong Chol was "a free man" as there was "insufficient evidence to charge him".
Ri will be deported to North Korea after his release as he does not have vaild travel documents, CNN quoted Ali as saying on Thursday.
Two Asian women -- an Indonesian and a Vietnamese -- have been charged with murder of Kim, who police said was killed by smearing VX, a deadly nerve agent, on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.
Ri was the only North Korean to have been detained in the case. Investigators have also named four North Korean suspects, who are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.
South Korea has pinned Kim's assassination on Pyongyang, accusing the country of recruiting the women attackers, who said they believed they were bade only to run a prank on Kim for a TV network.
North Korea strongly denies responsibility, and its state media blamed Seoul and Washington for "resorting to political chicanery to bring down the social system in the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)".
Also on Thursday, Malaysia announced it was ending visa-free travel for North Koreans, citing security reasons.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the rule would be effective from March 6, Malaysia's news agency reported.
Previously, citizens of North Korea and Malaysia were only required to use their passports to enter both the countries.
--IANS
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A day after Tamil Nadu traders began boycotting Coke and Pepsi for over exploiting ground water, the Madras High Court on Thursday lifted the ban on drawing water from Thamirabarani river.
The Madurai Bench of the High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an activist and lifted the injunction on PepsiCo and the makers of Coca Cola from drawing water from Thamirabarani river in Tirunelveli district.
The plaintiffs complained that the two companies were drawing water from the river, which in turn was affecting farming.
The High Court asked the petitioner why a similar case was not filed against other companies drawing water from the same river.
The Tamil Nadu government said only surplus river water was supplied to the cola companies.
According to J. Sagar Associates (JSA) -- the law firm representing PepsiCo -- the judgement was critical as water from this river catered to half of the company's production capacity for south India.
Dheeraj Nair, partner in the Delhi office of JSA, told IANS that the state government had permitted PepsiCo to draw 15 lakh litre per day but only 3.30 lakh litre was being drawn now.
He said PepsiCo's plant in Tirunelveli district can do 300 Aquafina bottles per minute and only one line is currently operating and no other beverage was being made there.
The High Court had initially prevented PepsiCo from drawing water from the river in November 2016.
However, after a detailed hearing, the High Court vacated the interim orders and dismissed the writ petitions saying there was no environmental impact due to the withdrawal of water by PepsiCo from the river.
--IANS
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Four experts faced off in a live debate Wednesday night on a range of issues that swirl around charter schoolswhether for-profit schools work, whats best for student achievement, and if charters lead to innovation.
But the discussion came down to a simple question: Are charter schools overrated? And the audiences answer was yes.
The debate was put on by Intelligence Squared U.S. , a nonprofit organization that hosts debates on controversial topics that have ranged from Give Trump a Chance to Policing is Racially Biased.
Online viewers, as well as the live audience, were asked to vote before and after the two-hour event in New York City.
The debaters for the motion"those in favor of charter reformswere Gary Miron, a Western Michigan University education professor who has led charter school studies for the U.S. Department of Education and others, and Julian Vasquez Heilig, a California State University, Sacramento educational leadership professor and a founding member of the Network for Public Education. Vasquez Heilig spearheaded the NAACPs call for a moratorium on new charter schools last year.
The debaters against the motion"those who support charterswere Jeanne Allen, the chief executive officer of the Center for Education Reform who served in the U.S. Department of Education under President Ronald Reagan; and Gerard Robinson, a former Florida education commissioner who was an education adviser to Trump .
The debate comes at a time when expanding school choice, including charter schools, is shaping up to be the main agenda for K-12 under President Donald Trump who brought the issue up during his first formal address to Congress . U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been one of the biggest champions for school choice for years , pouring milllions of dollars from her familys fortune into supporting charters, private school vouchers, and other forms of choice.
Critics argued that charter schools are failing to live up to their original intent of local, accountable options that lead to innovation and higher student achievement. Instead, charters are sometimes run by for-profit management groups and produce mixed academic results.
I believe that the reform idea has been really taken from us by private interests pursuing ideological and profit motives, said Miron, who said he has visited more than 700 charter schools for evaluations. I want my charter school reform back. It feels like somebody has stolen that from us.
Supporters, however, said charters succeed in giving choices to parents and have boosted student success, especially among disadvantaged students.
It was for individual parent options because we know our kids better than anyone else, Allen said. That is why charter schools are not ... overrated, they are a majority better than any other institution weve had.
Outside of Wednesdays debate, Robinson and Heilig have spoken out on different sides of last years NAACPs decision to call for a moratorium on charter schools .
While Robinson sees charter schools as creating new opportunities, Heilig said other children get left behind.
Were talking about charter schools when we should be talking about the inequality, Heilig said. And what we should also be talking about is how charter schools exacerbate the inequality that we see in schools.
Robinson disagreed. If the arguments going to be that inequality we must fix first before we challenge or attack charter schools, youre in for a very long ride, Robinson said. While were fixing our public school systems to address inequality, lets also use charter schools to do the same thing.
The debates winner was determined by the percentage of audience members who changed their minds. In the first vote of live audience members, 33 percent cast votes for the motion and 31 percent against. In the final vote, 54 percent were for the motion and 40 percent were against. The rest were undecided.
Intelligence Squared U.S. debates are live streamed online, carried by up to 220 public radio stations and produced on a podcast. The full charter school debate can be viewed on Intelligence Squareds YouTube channel .
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not fulfilling any of his promises made for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a public rally here, the Congress leader said that all that the Prime Minister has done in the last three years is "talk useless things" and do nothing.
"Modi ji had promised to give two crore jobs per year. Has this happened," Gandhi asked before the cheering crowds.
Adding that the Prime Minister had no connect with the poor and farmers, the Gandhi scion urged the people to vote for the Congress-Samajwadi Party (SP) alliance so that their lives can be changed for good.
"I have taken out a kisan yatra from Deoria to Delhi and I know that farmers of the country are in bad shape...all this needs to change and this can only happen if the alliance is voted to power in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated the country's defence scientists for successfully testing an interceptor missile, saying it was a proud moment for the entire nation.
"With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability - a proud moment for the entire country," the Prime Minister said in a tweet.
India on Wednesday successfully test fired the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile, the second level of two-tier interceptor missile system that can destroy hostile ballistic missiles.
The latest test comes less than a month after India successfully tested the Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) interceptor missile on February 11.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after a Delhi University student came under vicious attack on the social media, President Pranab Mukheree on Thursday said India could not afford the "intolerant".
There should be "no room in India for the intolerant Indian", he said while delivering the 6th K.S. Rajamony Memorial Lecture here.
"India has been, since ancient times, a bastion of free thought, speech and expression.
"Our society has always been characterised by open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion.
"Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," the President said.
Mukherjee expressed pain over the incidents involving Delhi University.
Students, he said, should engage in discussion rather than get into a conflict mode.
"Our premier institutions of higher education are the vehicles on which India has to propel itself into a knowledge society.
"These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking.
"Those in universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet."
Mukherjee' remarks came after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's student wing ABVP forced the cancellation of a seminar in Delhi University's Ramjas College on February 21.
The next day, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad activists were blamed for attacking students and teachers at the college.
Later, when university student Gurmehar Kaur launched a social media campaign against the ABVP, she got death and rape threats, forcing her to leave Delhi for her hometown Jalandhar in Punjab.
The President said he does not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens' behaviour towards women is uncivilised.
"When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine.
"Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority."
The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children, he said. "India should not fail this test."
Mukherjee urged leaders and political activists to listen to the people, engage with them, learn from them and respond to their needs and concerns.
"Our lawmakers must never take the people for granted. They must focus on the fundamental task of lawmaking and raising of issues of concern to the people as well as finding solutions to their problems.
"No one who holds any elected office has been invited by the voters to occupy that office. Each one has gone to the voters and pleaded for their votes and support.
"The trust placed by the people in the political system and those elected should not be betrayed," Mukherjee said.
Mukherjee said the time had come for collective efforts to rediscover the sense of national purpose and patriotism that alone can lift India on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity.
"The nation and the people must always come first."
Asserting that he sees a very bright future for India, Mukherjee said to the audience's applause: "Our Constitutional values, young population and entrepreneurial abilities as well as capacity for hard work provide us with the fundamentals required for rapid progress as well as the building of a caring and compassionate society."
In the decade, India would see even greater progress "as we steer our nation, focused on further strengthening our open, democratic and inclusive society", he said.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The federal cabinet of Pakistan on Thursday accorded approval to the recommendations of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) reforms committee, which includes the merger of the tribal areas with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and repeal of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
Chairing the cabinet, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the people of Fata, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir will be given their due rights.
"The cabinet accords in principle approval to the recommendations of the Fata reforms committee," the PM House said in a statement.
Sharif stressed the need to focus on the development of under-developed areas to improve the living standards of the people.
The meeting was told that the process of mainstreaming of Fata will be carried out in a time-span of five years.
Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said necessary amendments will be made in the constitution to enable people of Fata elect their representatives to the assembly in the 2018 General Elections.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lenovo Mobile Business Group on Thursday appointed Sudhin Mathur as Managing Director of Motorola Mobility India Pvt Limited. Mathur will continue to serve as Executive Director for Lenovo MBG India.
"I am honoured to lead the India business for Motorola Mobility, the pioneers of mobile technology in the world. In the last four years, we have established Lenovo Moto as the challenger brand in the country," Mathur said in a statement.
Under his leadership, the brand reached the second spot by both value and volume in the Indian market, rising from the 31st position when it entered the market four years ago.
Mathur played a pivotal role in setting up and scaling the Ericsson Telecommunications/Sony Ericsson business in India, bringing it among the top five brands in the smartphone sector.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The General Staff of the Syrian Army on Thursday said it had recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from the extremist group Islamic State (IS).
The city, which is home to Greco-Roman ruins on the United Nations cultural body's World Heritage list, had been the scene of heavy fighting for months, Efe news agency reported.
"Units from our armed forces, in cooperation with our allies, have recovered the city of Tadmur (Palmyra in Arabic) and the surrounding area," said the Syrian Army command in a statement published by the state news agency, SANA.
The units led by Iranian and Russia entered the city on Thursday three months after IS took it over.
According to the army, driving the extremists from the city, whose ancient ruins are a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation world heritage site, is a serious setback for IS, which began to collapse.
Retaking the city was achieved shortly after the Syrian army took control over the archaeological citadel of Palmyra, communications hill to the west of the city and the Dedeman Hotel Palmyra to the south of the city, according to SANA.
Earlier in the day, most IS combatants withdrew from Palmyra, according to a war monitoring group.
In their retreat, the terrorists planted mines in various points of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
SANA confirmed that army engineering units have dismantled explosives and mines planted by IS fighters in the area.
The Syrian army, along with pro-government militias and Russian aerial support, on Wednesday entered Palmyra, which has been under the control of IS since December.
The terror organisation conquered Palmyra in May 2015 and was driven from the city eight months later by Syrian troops, but regained control of the ancient Greco-Roman city in December.
The city has faced heavy damage due to the fighting and the IS-occupation.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that the UGC notification that a professor cannot guide more than three M.Phil and eight Ph.D scholars at any one time, was "binding" on the university.
Justice V.K. Rao was informed by advocate Monika Arora appearing for JNU administration that the University will neither receive a grant nor could award degrees if it stopped following UGC's regulation.
JNU said 43 central universities were already abiding by the May 5, 2016, notification of the University Grants Commission.
The notification recommends an upper limit on the number of M.Phil and Ph.D students a faculty member can guide at a given time, which has become a bone of contention between the students and the university administration.
The notification was adopted by the University during its 142nd Academic Council meet on December 26 amid protests from several council members.
The students argued that the UGC notification "threatens to put their future in jeopardy" as they would not be able to find a supervisor due to the clauses prescribed in the notification.
The ramifications of the notification would extend beyond existing students and would also mean that very few admissions in the current academic session would take place for aspiring research scholars, thereby violating norms of mandated reservation norms, the students said.
During the hearing, the petitioners -- both existing and prospective students, who had moved the high court -- agreed to undertake that they are not challenging the UGC notification and restricting their case to "procedural lapses" on JNU's part in adopting the notification.
The students' counsel said that the University did not include their representative in the meetings held to discuss the implementation of the notification.
The court now posted the case for further hearing on March 14 after JNU said the students have not made UGC a party in the case.
As a protest, the students have been "occupying" the Administrative Block of the university since February 9 despite requests to end the protest.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was a rare occasion when political parties with differing ideologies arrived at a consensus. Political parties in Maharashtra made a strong pitch to resume bullock cart races reminiscent of the agitation to lift the ban on Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. The Maharashtra government, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who has been credited with the Bharatiya Janata Partys stellar performance in the civic and local body elections has hinted that a Bill would be tabled in the Budget session starting March 6. The proposed Bill would be similar to the one the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed in January. A race of sorts has begun among parties to gift a bull to Fadnavis for taking up the cause. The inspiration in this case, again, was the gift Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Working President M K Stalin received on his 65th birthday a bull, to honour his efforts to reinstate Jallikattu.
Aiming to corner the Centre over the issue of demonetisation, the Congress will deploy former finance minister P Chidambaram, former deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission Montek S Ahluwalia, former Union minister Kapil Sibal and Delhi chief of the party Ajay Maken on Friday to come out with untold stories related to the note ban. They will highlight how the move hit the economy and made people suffer. The seminar has been organised by the legal cell of the All India Congress Committee headed by K C Mittal. The event comes a day before phase four of polling in Uttar Pradesh on March 4 and days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke highly of his demonetisation decision.
Matthew Utterback, a superintendent in Oregon, was named on Thursday as the 2017 National Superintendent of the Year at the annual gathering of school superintendents and district leaders in New Orleans.
Utterback, who leads the North Clackamas school district in Milwaukie, Ore., was chosen from a group of four finalists. The other contenders for the award were James Merrill of Wake County schools in Cary, N.C.; Barbara Jenkins of Orange County schools in Orlando, Fla.; and Stewart McDonald of Kodiak Island Borough schools in Kodiak, Alaska.
The AASA, the School Superintendents Association, which gives out the annual award, noted the strides that the North Clackamas district has made in closing achievement gaps under Utterbacks leadership.
The districts four-year graduation rate rose from 66 percent to 83 percent in the last four years, with significant increases for subgroups, including students with disabilities, black students, and Hispanic students, the AASA said.
Utterback has also earned kudos for leading the districts 2013 strategic direction and development plan, which focused, according to the district, on equity, student achievement, and quality education programs. Under his leadership, the district has received numerous grants to expand career and technical programs.
He also serves as chair of the countys superintendents association and represents superintendents on a state task force on school safety, according to the AASA.
Utterback started his education career as a teacher in the district in 1989 and has been superintendent since 2012.
The award comes with a $10,000 scholarship for a student who either attends the high school from which Utterback graduated, or a student enrolled in the district that the superintendent now leads. The award is sponsored by Aramark K-12 Education, a nutrition and food services vendor.
Top: Matthew Utterback, the superintendent of North Clackamas school district in Milwaukie, Ore., is the 2017 National Superintendent of the Year. --courtesy of James Minichello, AASA
Above: Utterback, at left, is congratulated by James Merrill, the superintendent of Wake County public schools in Cary, N.C.; Stewart McDonald, superintendent of Kodiak Island Borough schools in Kodiak, Alaska; and Barbara Jenkins, superintendent of Orange County public schools in Orlando, Fla. --courtesy of James Minichello, AASA
Phishing attacks aimed at stealing your money are increasing in frequency. Kaspersky Lab has found that 47.8 per cent of all the phishing attacks carried out in 2016 globally, which were blocked by its detection technologies, were attacks. They were aimed at obtaining valuable personal information from the victim: bank account numbers, credit card and online banking passwords, and so on. Another threat that has emerged is from ransomware. In 2014-15, the percentage of users encountering ransomware as a proportion of all malware attacks stood at 3.77 per cent in India. That figure rose to 9.60 per cent in 2015-16. From 1.44 lakh, the number of ransomware attacks rose to 3.26 lakh, an increase of 126 per cent. While many of these attacks are targeted at institutions, many are also directed against celebrities and high net worth individuals.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Democratic Alliance is currently short of nearly 66,000 votes in the electoral college that elects the President of India.
As many as 43 winners in the just concluded Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are facing criminal cases, says a report.
This implies that nearly 19 per cent of the newly elected corporators have criminal charges against them, including for offences like attempt to murder and rape, as per an analysis of the affidavits of 225 winners out of the total 227 in BMC polls recently done by NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch.
Maharashtra Election Watch's state-cordinator Sharad Kumar said, "As long as people don't go out to vote in large numbers, political parties will pick winning candidates who have money and muscle power."
According to the report compiled by the two NGOs, Shiv Sena's Umesh Subhash Mane, who won from ward no. 115, has in his affidavit declared a case related to attempt to murder (Indian Penal Code section 307) against him.
Besides, three of the winners have cases of rape (IPC section 376) and assault or criminal force to woman with an intent to outrage her modesty (IPC section 354) against them, the report said.
Out of the 225 winners whose affidavits were analysed, 22 from Shiv Sena, 11 from BJP, 3 from MNS, 2 from Congress, one each from NCP, SP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and 2 independents are facing criminal cases, it said.
The remaining two affidavits out of the total 227 winners were not analysed as they were not available at the time of making the report, the NGOs said in a statement.
"This time the vote percentage has increased for the first time since the last 25 years. Similarly, the number of candidates with criminal background has also gone down," Kumar said.
"Ever since affidavits have been made compulsory for candidates, voters have become aware of their background. The number of candidates with criminal cases against them is also coming down," he claimed, without elaborating on the figures.
The report also mentioned that among the winners, 144 are crorepatis, while five winners have declared assets below Rs 4 lakh. Besides, seven winners have declared their total annual income to be over Rs 50 lakh.
As per the affidavits, five winners have declared their ages to be between 21 and 24 years, 154 of the new corporators are aged between 25 and 50, while 66 are in the 51 to 80 years age bracket.
In the recently concluded polls to the 227-member BMC, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, BJP-82, Congress-31, NCP-9, MNS-7, SP-6, MIM-3, Akhil Bharatiya Sena-1 and Independents-4.
A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader has set a bounty of Rs 1 crore on the head of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan (pictured). At an protest in Ujjain on Wednesday, Kundan Chandrawat boasted how 2,000 Muslims were killed in 2002 Gujarat riots. After the video clip of the speech circulated on social media on Thursday, the distanced itself from Chandrawats statement.
The episode comes in the middle of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, where the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have made several communally sensitive remarks. With polling to 90 of 403 seats remaining, the incident is seen as another attempt at communal polarisation in the wake of the Ramjas College incident in Delhi.
The doesnt subscribe to any views advocating violence and strongly condemns it, RSS said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general-secretary Sitaram Yechury said a chief minister being threatened by RSS was proof that they enjoy protection and patronage of government. RSS reveals its true colours as a terrorist outfit. Will the prime minister and his government stop remaining silent? Yechury asked. Kerala has a CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front government. On Wednesday, the RSS organised meetings in several cities across India to protest alleged atrocities by CPI(M) on RSS workers in Kerala.
At the meeting at Shahid Park in Ujjain, Chandrawat said: Three hundred pracharaks (RSS propagandists) have been killed. Communists be warned, we will offer a garland of three lakh heads to Bharat Mata. Chandrawat is Sah Prachar Pramukh, or joint propaganda/publicity chief, of the RSSs Ujjain unit.
Chandrawat reminded the gathering of the death of karsevaks at the Godhra railway station in February 2002 and the subsequent communal riots in Gujarat. They killed 56, we sent 2,000 to the graveyard, he said. Chandrawat said if anyone beheads the Kerala CM, who is the murderer of RSS activists, and brings his head, he will bequeath his property worth more than Rs 1 crore to him. On Thursday, Chandrawat told reporters that he stood by his comments. The protest was attended by the local BJP MP and RSS leaders.
When asked by reporters, Vijayan was quoted by news agency ANI to have said that Sangh Parivar has taken heads of several people.
Five separate US drone strikes killed at least 12 suspected Al-Qaeda members in Yemen today, security officials said, barely a month after a controversial American commando raid against the jihadists.
A dawn strike targeted the home of a known Al-Qaeda member in Yashbum valley in the southern province of Shabwa province, a provincial security official told AFP.
Four suspected militants standing outside the house were killed, he said.
A second strike on Al-Qayfa in Baida province, further north, killed three suspected Al-Qaeda members, a local official and a tribal chief said.
Another strike targeted the jihadists in the Sawmaa district of the province, the local official said.
And a fourth targeted an Al-Qaeda position east of Shaqra in the southern province of Abyan, a security source said.
There was no immediate word of casualties in the Sawmaa and Shaqra strikes.
In the afternoon, another drone strike hit a vehicle in Wadea district of Abyan province, killing five more Qaeda suspects, a security official said.
Al-Qaeda briefly overran Shaqra early last month just days after the January 29 US raid on one of their compounds in Baida province in which a Navy SEAL was among the dead.
As many as 16 civilians -- eight women and eight children -- were also killed, a provincial official said, drawing condemnation of the raid from human rights groups.
The Pentagon has acknowledged non-combatants including children were killed in what was the first such operation of Donald Trump's presidency.
Washington gives only occasional reports on its drone strikes but it is the only country known to operate the unmanned aircraft in Yemen.
Jihadists have exploited a power vacuum created by two years of war between Yemen's government and rebels who control the capital to consolidate their presence, particularly in the south and east.
UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien wound up a visit to Yemen with a call for an end to the conflict in order to ease the impoverished country's humanitarian crisis.
"The best humanitarian solution is for there to be peace," he told reporters at Sanaa airport.
O'Brien expressed anger at being prevented on Tuesday from visiting the flashpoint southwestern city of Taez.
"I was outraged that humanitarian efforts to reach people in need were once again thwarted by parties to the conflict, especially at a time when millions of Yemenis are severely food insecure and face the risk of famine," he said.
O'Brien was denied passage at the final checkpoint as he headed from the rebel-controlled north to Taez, where pro-government forces are holed up.
In fighting today, 12 Shiite Huthi rebels and six soldiers were killed in clashes near Mokha, a western coastal town captured last month by loyalists, medics and military sources said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least four militants and two soldiers were killed in a gunbattle in the restive tribal region in northwest Pakistan tonight, officials said.
The militants and soldiers were killed during an operation in a frontier region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering the North Waziristan Agency, the army's media wing said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today inaugurated the new Legislature building on the state government's transitional headquarters premises at Velagapudi in the capital region of Amaravati.
Legislative Council Chairman A Chakrapani, Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad, several ministers and legislators attended the event.
Henceforth, meetings of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature will be held at Amaravati, beginning with the Budget Session from March 6.
The Legislative Council has a seating capacity of 90 and the Assembly 230. The current strength of the two Houses is 58 and 176 respectively.
Additional seating arrangements have been made in the new Legislature building to meet future requirements.
An ultra-modern gadget has been installed on each member's table which will serve as a microphone, speaker, recorder and also, voting machine.
The sprawling Houses have more legroom for the members and the seats have a sliding facility.
Keeping in mind the unruly scenes in the Assembly in the past, when the Legislature building was located at Hyderabad, the Speaker's chair and podium have been placed at a higher elevation.
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Germany's opposition Left Party criticised the planned appearance today of Turkey's justice minister at a political rally in southwest Germany, and called on the government to deny him entry to the country.
Bekir Bozdag, a member of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, was scheduled to speak at a rally in Gaggenau, near the French border, as part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum on introducing a presidential system in Turkey.
Authorities in Gaggenau withdrew permission for a local venue to host the event, citing insufficient space for the large number of people expected, but said that it was possible the rally could be held elsewhere.
Bozdag's visit comes amid friction between Berlin and Ankara over the detention in Turkey of Deniz Yucel, a correspondent for German daily Die Welt.
"While (Turkish) opposition leader Selahattin Demirtas and German journalist Deniz Yucel are incarcerated in Turkish prisons it would be madness to allow Bozdag to take the stage in Germany," said Left Party lawmaker Sevim Dagdelen.
"If the German government lets Bozdag enter (the country) it would be another instance of kneeling before Erdogan."
The German government has indicated that it has no plans to prevent Turkish officials from speaking to the 1.4 million Turkish voters in Germany.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters yesterday that Germany wants to lead by example on issues of freedom of speech and assembly.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Turkey to free Yucel and said yesterday night that "independent journalism must be able to exist; journalists must be able to do their job."
Yucel, 43, who was detained in Istanbul on February 14 over his reports in German daily Welt about a hacker attack on the email account of Turkey's energy minister, wrote defiantly in Welt today that "even though they robbed my freedom, their interrogations and reasoning still make me laugh."
Yucel, who has both German and Turkish citizenship, was jailed Monday pending a trial on charges of terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred.
Yesterday he was taken to a prison in Silivri, 80 kilometers west of Istanbul.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Turkish government today summoned Germany's ambassador to protest the cancellation of rallies in the country in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest spat between the two countries.
Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag earlier scrapped a visit to Germany after the authorities blocked a rally promoting a referendum that could expand Erdogan's powers.
"Our discomfort and our reaction to these developments have been communicated in person to the German ambassador who was summoned this evening to the (foreign) ministry," a senior Turkish official said on condition of anonymity.
The new row adds to tensions between Turkey and Germany over a number of disputes including Ankara's provisional detention of a German journalist on terrorism-related charges.
Bozdag was scheduled late yesterday to address the Turkish community in the western German town of Gaggenau and meet his German counterpart.
"That meeting with (the German justice minister) will not take place. I will return to Turkey," Bozdag said while on an official visit to Strasbourg, in remarks carried by private television station NTV.
Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement with the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) to hold a rally, with Bozdag as the guest speaker, saying that the hall did not have the capacity to host so many people.
"Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall (in Gaggenau), parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand," the town's authorities said in a statement.
"Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked," it added.
Bozdag condemned the move, claiming it smacked of hypocrisy.
"It is unacceptable that German authorities, who constantly lecture us about human rights, democracy, rule of law, free speech... Do not tolerate a meeting organised by the Turkish community," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Superintendents and top district officials from around the country will gather in New Orleans from Thursday through Saturday for their annual education conference.
They will dive into myriad topics, including developing strong principals, what to expect from state education policy this year, leveraging social media for professional development and community engagement, using data to improve schools, managing district finance, and preparing educators for the implementation of the new national K-12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act.
The National Conference on Education, put on by the AASA, the School Superintendents Association, will also feature sessions on female superintendents as part of an initiative to support women who may want to lead school districts. There will also be a session on U.S. and China cooperation in the K-12 arena.
The association will also its 2017 National Superintendent of the Year . This years four finalists are:
Stewart McDonald, Kodiak Island Borough schools, Kodiak, Alaska;
Barbara Jenkins, Orange County schools, Orlando, Fla.;
James Merrill, Wake County schools, Cary, N.C.;
Matthew Utterback, North Clackamas School District, Milwaukie, Ore.
The association will also honor former U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. with its 2017 Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award. The award is named after a former AASA associate director and district leader and honors leadership in educational equity and excellence.
You can follow the conference on Twitter, with the hashtag #NCE17, and on the AASAs conference daily bulletin .
Facing allegations of medical negligence and excessive charging following the death of a patient, Apollo Gleneagles Hospital president and CEO (eastern region) Rupali Basu resigned today.
Basu, who is currently abroad, has emailed her resignation to the Apollo management, a senior official of the hospital told PTI.
"Dr Rupali Basu has resigned today and there will be a new leadership taking over in the form of CEO Rana Dasgupta with immediate effect," a senior official said.
Dr N Satya Bhama, Director of Medical Sciences (Southern Region) of the Apollo Group will assume additional charge of the eastern region to oversee all processes, the officer added.
Last week, during a meeting with private hospitals and nursing homes in and around the city, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had pulled up Apollo Gleneagles for negligence in treatment and charging patients exorbitantly, advising it to be more humanitarian in its approach.
But barely days after that, the family members of a patient, Sanjay Roy, who was injured in a road accident, accused the hospital of medical negligence and delay in his release for failing to settle the "over-charged" bill. This, the family said, led to his death at a state-run hospital.
The hospital also came under severe criticism for keeping a fixed deposit certificate of the family after receiving a cheque to settle the bill.
Apollo Gleaneagles had charged Rs 7.23 lakh for treating Roy for seven days.
A probe team has started investigating the incident along with Kolkata Police after Roy's wife Ruby lodged an official complaint.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An indigenous weapon locating radar was today handed over to the army by state-run military weapons developer DRDO and it is likely to deployed along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
The DRDO also handed over a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) recce vehicle and NBC drugs to the army.
Sources said four weapon locating radar (WLRs) were deployed along the LoC for trial and it proved to be effective as artillery fire from Pakistani side had come down after their deployment.
The WLR Swathi provides fast, automatic and accurate location of enemy weapons like mortars, shells and rockets in its 50 km range, a senior DRDO official said.
The ceremony to hand over the radar, the NBC Recce vehicle and the NBC drugs was attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Army Chief General Bipin Rawat besides top brass of DRDO.
The radar can simultaneously handle multiples projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations, the defence ministry said.
Congratulating the DRDO, Parrikar said the government may consider allowing export of the WLR after the army's requirement is fulfilled.
The Army Chief said the "WLR is being used extensively along the LoC by us". The Army has sought 30 WLRs.
"Swathi could be a great equipment to ensure adversaries do not use artillery fire," said Parrikar, hoping it will be effective in containing artillery fire from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said partnership among the DRDO, armed forces, PSUs and private sector can be a game changer in boosting the defence manufacturing sector.
In his address, Rawat hoped that modernisation of the Army would move at a much faster pace.
Speaking at the function, DRDO chairman S Christopher said "after Navy and Air Force, time has now come to handover our products to the Army and it is a proud moment for all scientists in DRDO".
The WLR has been developed by DRDO's Electronics & Radar Development Establishment (LRDE).
The NBC Recce Vehicle is capable of collecting solid and liquid samples of biologically contaminated areas, mark the nuclear and chemical contamination zone and transfer the recce data speedily to support formations.
The NBC drugs are antidotes for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Islamist militant of the banned JMB outfit was killed today in a shootout when his associates tried to set him free during a raid in Bangladesh, police said.
Aminur Islam alias Alam, 23, who was detained for allegedly stabbing two police officers, was the northern regional commander of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh's (JMB) military wing.
He was killed in the encounter at Jamnagar village under Sherpur upazila where police were conducting a raid following a tip-off about a JMB meeting in the area.
"We detained Alam from Rajshahi on Tuesday and brought him here. His associates opened fire on us in a bid to snatch him when we were conducting a drive at Jamnagar village along with the detainee around 3 AM on Thursday (today)," senior police officer Khan Mohammad Irfaan told the Dhaka Tribune.
In retaliation, police had to open fire in which Alam was killed while the others managed to flee, he said.
Police have recovered a pistol, three rounds of bullets and two magazines from the spot.
Five Islamist militants of JMB were on Tuesday sentenced to death for brutally killing a 66-year-old Japanese farmer in Bangladesh in 2015, in one of the first attacks targeting foreigners, minority Hindus and secular Muslims.
The country had launched a massive crackdown on militants specially after the July 1 Dhaka terror attack in 2016 in which 22 people, including an Indian, were killed.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bitter poll campaign with sharp attacks and counter-attacks came to a close this evening for the 49 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats, the voting for which is to be held on March 4 with SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency being in focus.
Assembly segments of Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency of firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, and Mau, where jailed gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari is in fray, also figure in this sixth and penultimate phase of polling.
The campaigning saw BJP state president KP Maurya likening rivals SP, Congress and BSP to different types of venomous "snakes" and "social cancer" and urging people to eliminate them by voting for the BJP.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav countered BJP saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conceded defeat in the polls by talking about a hung house.
While mustering votes for BJP, Modi sought to prove wrong the prophets of doom after demonetisation saying the latest GDP data showed note-ban did not affect growth rate but rather improved it.
Mocking economists, he said, "Hardwork, in fact, is much more powerful than Harvard."
Sounding highly optimistic of the poll outcome for BJP, Modi said the debate now is whether BJP will get two-third or three-fourth majority.
"Never have elections gone one way like this... There had been no dearth in enthusiasm of voters in all five phases," he said.
The PM also caught UP Chief Minister on the wrong foot and cited government website to nail him.
"Life in Uttar Pradesh is short and uncertain... Uttar Pradesh resembles Saharan Africa," Modi said quoting a para from the state government's official website up.Gov.In.
Modi also ridiculed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his latest "coconut juice" remark.
"There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life... He recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut possesses water (and not juice) and it is grown in Kerala," he said.
"It is like setting up a potato factory," Modi said referring to Rahul's earlier remarks that he wants to set up potato factories in Uttar Pradesh.
As campaigning reached its crescendo, BJP President Amit
Shah held a road show in Gorakhpur today. Similar road shows were organsied at Kushinagar and Azamgarh.
During her campaign, BSP supremo Mayawati said the public is "disenchanted with BJP" due to the "wrong policies" of the Union and the state governments and accused Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of "dreaming to destroy the state".
The sixth phase of polling, the penultimate of the 7-phase exercise, will also cover some districts bordering Nepal.
Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this phase, which would decide the fate of 635 candidates.
The districts going to polls in this phase are Mau, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh and Ballia.
Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency has 10 assembly seats, of which SP had won nine in 2012, but this time Mulayam has not addressed a single meeting in his parliamentary constituency.
In the present phase, the prestige of Union minister Kalraj Mishra, who represents Deoria in the Lok Sabha, too is at stake, besides that of Adityanath.
BJP is contesting 45 seats and its ally Apna Dal one. BJP's another ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party is contesting 3 seats. While BSP has fielded candidates on all 49 seats, SP is contesting 40 seats and Congress 9 seats.
Prominent candidates in this phase include BSP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya from Padrauna (Kushinagar), former BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva (Deoria), Shyam Bahadur Yadav (SP), son of former Governor Ram Naresh Yadav from Fulpur Pawai (Azamgarh), SP turncoats Ambika Chowhdury and Narai Rai, who are contesting on BSP ticket from Fefna (Ballia) and Ballia Sadar.
While Mukhtar is contesting from Mau, his son Abbas is in fray from adjoining Ghosi seat in Mau district.
In the 2012 Assembly polls, of the 49 seats, 27 were won by the SP, 9 by BSP, 7 by BJP, 4 by Congress and 2 by others.
There will be 17,926 polling booths in this phase.
The highest number of 23 candidates are contesting from Gorakhpur and the least candidates, numbering seven are in pitted for5 Mohammadabad Gohna seat in Mau district.
A 21-year-old man and his teenage sister were run over by a bus on the Sultanpur-Allahabad highway near here, police said today.
Sanjiv Verma and his 17-year-old sister, residents of Basdevpur village, were killed on the spot yesterday when a UPSRTC bus mowed them down while they were returning home, SHO Bharat Upadhyay said.
The police have impounded the bus, however the driver and conductor of the bus managed to flee from the spot, he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hygiene and safety standards have to be maintained across all eating joints in the city and the Food Safety department cannot just pick and choose restaurants or other eating joints to implement this, the Delhi High Court said today.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva made the observation while ordering withdrawal of notices issued against Kake da Hotel, a popular eating joint in the heart of the capital, over alleged lack of hygiene and safety standards.
A controversy had recently erupted due to a video allegedly showing dough being kneaded by foot atop the hotel in Connaught Place.
"You cannot pick and choose between restaurants. You have to ensure that same standards are maintained everywhere," the court told the Food Safety department of Delhi government.
The eatery said it has complied with all requirements, barring two deficiencies of lack of non-hand operated taps and a chimney, which it said would be rectified within a week.
The submission was endorsed by the Food Safety department which said that the eating joint was now "one of the most hygienic places" in the city.
The department also assured the court that it would inspect all eateries and restaurants and action would be taken against those not complying with the mandatory safety and hygenic standard requirements.
In response, the court said if the department actually inspected and took action, like it did in the instant case, then it expected to see hundreds of petitions before it soon.
The department had issued a notice on February 22 for emergency prohibition to Mehak Cuisines Pvt Ltd, which runs the eatery, in the wake of a video which allegedly showed dough being kneaded by foot by a worker of the hotel.
During the brief hearing today, the Food Safety Officer (FSO) told the court that when he inspected the premises on February 28, there was a dough kneading machine installed, though it was not there during earlier inspections.
Advocate Chander M Lall, appearing for Mehak Cuisines, said there was no evidence of dough being kneaded by foot. He also said the standards which Kake-da-Hotel was being asked to maintain, was not being followed in other eating joints, including the lawyers' canteen of the Delhi High Court.
He said in no other hotel in the city do the food handlers wear masks and added that it was impossible to wear them for long hours at a stretch.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A bomb threat targeting Muslim students forced an evacuation of nearly 4,000 students from the downtown campus of Concordia University in Montreal.
In an email to school administrators and local media, a group identifying itself as the "underground" chapter of C4, or the Council of Conservative Citizens of Canada, at the university directly warned "Muslim students" there it would detonate one homemade explosive a day through Friday to protest their activities.
"Now that President (Donald) Trump is in office south of the border, things have changed. We will not tolerate your behaviour anymore," the group said in its emailed letter, referring to the US president.
"Until Concordia University stops religious activities of all kinds on campus, we decide the following action to show how far we are ready to go to fight Muslims," the group vowed.
Montreal police said they were investigating the "threatening email." They swept the campus for explosives but found none.
A similar threatening letter was also sent to nearby McGill University, which was put on heightened alert, but it did not specify a time or place of a possible attack.
Three Concordia University buildings were evacuated just before midday, and would remain closed until around 6:00 pm (local time), Concordia spokeswoman Christine Mota said.
One of the sites was hosting an "Islam awareness week."
Quebec Universities Minister Helene David, speaking to reporters at the scene, called the threat against Muslim students "deplorable."
"We strongly denounce these attacks against a university which is a model of living together," she said.
"Quebec is an inclusive place," the minister added. "We want to live together. We will not tolerate this kind of situation."
There has been an escalation of hate crimes in the country in recent months.
In January, a white supremacist student shot dead six worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City.
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recorded the statement of businessman Vipin Khanna in connection with its probe in the case of payment of alleged commission by aircraft maker Embraer to clinch the $208-million deal with India.
The agency is probing the alleged payment of $5.70 million as commission to seal the deal, sources said.
The deal for three aircraft, which were to be used by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for air-borne radar systems, was inked with Embraer in 2008.
According to defence procurement rules of India, middlemen are strictly barred in defence deals.
They said Khanna, who is a suspect in the FIR registered by the CBI, was also asked about his alleged links with people whom he is understood to have approached to influence the deal.
The agency has received records from the United States about the deal. On the basis of these documents, the CBI also asked Khanna to clarify the money trail of the alleged commission.
Embraer has been under investigation by the US Justice Department since 2010 when a contract with the Dominican Republic raised suspicions, the report said.
The sources said 87-year-old Khanna might be called again in connection with its probe.
A Brazilian newspaper had alleged that the company had taken the services of middlemen to clinch deals in Saudi Arabia and India.
After the CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry, Embraer had said in a statement, "Since 2011, Embraer has publicly reported that it has been conducting an extensive internal investigation and cooperating with the authorities on investigations regarding alleged violations of the FCPA. The company voluntarily expanded the scope of the investigation, systematically reporting the progress of the case to the market.
"The company is not party of the legal proceedings in Brazil. Therefore, it does not have access to the information contained therein," it had said.
China said today it will continue to support the "open and unbiased" World Trade Organisation (WTO) in a statement that came on the heels of an announcement by President Donald Trump's administration that the US is not bound by the group's rulings.
The world's second largest economy is seeking to position itself as a defender of the international trade system in response to a rising tide of protectionist sentiment personified by the billionaire politician.
Trump has repeatedly argued that Washington is better off pursuing country by country agreements rather than working within a global regime.
"China would like to work with all WTO members to ensure that the WTO can play an important role in global trade and to ensure that the WTO can play a constructive role in international cooperation," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters during a regularly scheduled press briefing.
He added that maintaining and improving the "open and unbiased multilateral trade regime is conducive to improving world economic development".
The statement came in response to a question about a letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to the US Congress yesterday arguing that "Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings".
The text -- entitled "The President's 2017 Trade Policy Agenda" -- also says Trump's government "will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy".
Since 1995, the WTO's dispute settlement system has heard more than 500 cases centred on whether countries have broken agreed trading rules in areas including subsidies, customs and tariffs.
The WTO cannot punish countries that do not abide by rulings, but can authorise retaliatory measures.
Under President Barack Obama, the US brought at least 16 trade complaints against China, arguing that Beijing's policies on goods ranging from chicken to aluminium broke the organisation's rules.
China has also often voiced its own complaints to the group.
Trump has accused China of being a free-rider in the international system, saying its unfair trade policies have cost the US tens of thousands of jobs and threatening to slap Beijing with massive tariffs of up to 45 percent.
In a White House meeting with US manufacturing moguls last week, Trump pointed to the WTO as a major factor in the US losing out to Beijing, saying that "70,000 factories closed since China joined".
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi unit of Congress today released a chargesheet on alleged "corruption and failures" of the three municipal corporations ruled by BJP for the past ten years.
Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken gave a powerpoint presentation of the "so-called" work done by the BJP-run civic bodies in health, education, pensions, revenue generation and development of civic amenities, alleging that the bodies have cheated the people by failing on several counts.
Gearing up for the MCD elections in April, the party also accused the AAP-led Delhi government for the financial crisis being faced by the municipal corporations.
Congress will hold a panel discussion on March 6 on a draft road map for making the MCDs self-reliant. Senior party leaders P Chidambaram and Jyotiraditya Scindia will take part in the discussion, Maken added.
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Young children who watch more than two hours a day of television show decreased skills in math and executive functioningthe collective term for cognitive abilities related to attention, focus, and self-controlwith low-income children faring the worst compared to children from higher-income families who viewed the same amount of TV.
The study was published online in February by the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics . The association between television viewing and a childs math and executive functioning skills was highest for children in families earning at or below about $21,200 a year, which was the poverty line at the time the data was collected about 8 years ago.The effects on middle-income children, which in this study was defined as an average of $74,200 in earnings annually for a family of four, were smaller than for less-affluent children, but statistically significant. But no effect on school readiness was noted on television-watching children who came from families earning at or above $127,200 a year, according to the research.
The study did not find any effect on preliteracy skills for children, regardless of their parents income. And watching more than two hours of television appeared to be the tipping point when the effects were most apparent. In guidelines released last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children ages 2 to 5 should be watch no more than one hour a day of high quality programming, such as Sesame Street.
See also: Pediatricians Set New Guidelines on Electronic Media Use by Young Children
The findings are based on a group of 5-year-olds in Massachusetts who were recruited for a kindergarten intervention in the fall of 2008 and 2009. Notably, the children were recruited before the invention of the iPad, which hit the market in 2010. This study captures only the hours spent passively viewing televisionit does not measure the hours spent listening to television in the background, or time that children spent using electronic games or on interactive screen-based technologies. The study also does not capture the content of the television that children were watching.
The study asked parents to report how many hours their children spent watching television, and the children were given a battery of tests measuring their literacy, math, and executive functioning skills.
Andrew Ribner, a doctoral student at New York University and the lead author of the study, said that one surprising result was that children from more affluent families seemed not to have any measurable deficits that could be connected to television watching. Because the families did not report what the children were watching, this study could not test these hypotheses, but Ribner said one factor in these results could be that children in more affluent households were watching more age-appropriate, educational programming. Another hypothesis is that adults in more affluent household engaging more often with children as they watched television, he said.
Ribner said the findings suggest that parents should not worry too much about occasional viewing of age-appropriate programming, but should be mindful of how much television their children may be watching.
Children just shouldnt be watching a lot of television, but a little bit is OK, he said.
The Congress today hit out at the government over the steep hike in prices of LPG cylinders even as it mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talk of welfare of the poor and asked if these were supposed to be "Achche Din".
"The ordinary Indian is being ripped apart by Modiji by midnight extortion as LPG cylinders hiked by Rs 86 and small cylinders by Rs 30.50. Are these 'Achche Din?'," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
He said the "whopping rise" in LPG cylinder prices tells us that this "Suit Boot Ki Sarkar's" promises to the common man were "all gas and betrayal".
"The PM talks about the poor on one hand and on the other hand, proceeds to increase the price of LPG in one stroke to Rs 86 per cylinder which is unprecedented in India's history. Is this the way you are going to treat India's poor?" the Congress leader asked.
He said the facts tell their own story as in September 2016, a non-subsidised gas cylinder cost Rs 466, it now costs Rs 737.
"This is really the sixth increase by Modi government of Rs 271 or nearly 58 per cent," he said.
Surjewala said a Prime Minister who speaks about cashless and digital economy has now permitted banks to charge Rs 150 for over four transactions.
In 2015, the government permitted banks to impose a Rs 20 transaction tax after 5 ATM transactions and now PM has allowed banks can charge tax of Rs 150 on more than four banking transactions," he said.
He claimed if a poor man or ordinary person who draws Rs 100-200-500 for the fifth time, then a tax of Rs 150 would have to be paid.
"This is when the limit on withdrawal of money from your own bank accounts has not gone. Is that the way you are going to treat the people of this country," he asked.
The price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was hiked by a steep Rs 86 per cylinder last night, reflecting international trends.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Justifying its curbs on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, China today said such controls were needed to prevent "external interference".
"Safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests in cyberspace has become an important strategic goal," China's first white paper on cyber security released here said.
Titled "International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace", the white paper highlighted how several countries including China and Russia pushed for a "sovereign" and nationally-administered and controlled internet to avoid external interference.
While it said China "supports a free and open Internet", senior Chinese officials who released the paper to the media put up a strong defence to Beijing's internet controls by blocking global social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube with Great firewalls, saying that it is keeping in line with protecting China's national interests.
Releasing the white paper, Wang Jianchao, International Cooperation Department of the Cyberspace Administration of China said, "the Chinese Internet is fully open".
"As long as they comply with Chinese laws and regulations, refrain from undermining China's national interests and interests of Chinese consumers, all Internet companies are welcome in China," Wang said.
Long Zhou, Coordinator, Cyber affairs division of the Foreign Ministry said, China was "deeply worried that around the world cyber attacks are increasing".
China, which has only state-controlled media, is trying to grapple with spread of social media like Weibo, a Chinese version of twitter which has hundreds of millions of users.
Weibo itself has over 313 million users. The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) worries that it could be effectively used to subvert its over six decades of rule.
China's concept of cyber sovereignty will be discussed in the BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) to be held in Xiamen in September this year, officials said.
It will be discussed in the cyber security working group of the bloc, they said.
"As BRICS host this year, China stands ready to work together with Russia and other BRICS partners," Long said.
On the allegations of Russian interference in the US election, Long said, "especially in recent years, the number of cyber security events throughout the world increasing, posing challenges to all countries' efforts to maintain political, economic stability and protecting all citizens' rights and interests".
The white paper also spoke about strengthening of cyber
capabilities as an important part of China's military modernisation and cautioned that internet should not become "a new battlefield".
The building of national defence cyberspace capabilities is an important part of China's military modernisation, it said, adding that countries should not harm other nation's security and interfere in their internal affairs, and should not engage in cyber hegemony.
The white paper outlined China's strategic goals in participating in international cyberspace cooperation, which include firmly safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests in cyberspace, developing a system of international rules, promoting fair internet governance, protecting legitimate rights and interests of citizens, furthering global cooperation on digital economy, building platform for cyber culture exchange.
The strategy also laid out a plan of action to advance international cyberspace cooperation.
China has taken an active part in international processes on cyberspace and continued to enhance its dialogue and cooperation in this field with other countries in the world, it added.
The BJP on Thursday urged the Election Commission to ensure deployment of women police and para-military forces at "sensitive" polling booths in the last two phases of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls to examine burqa-clad female voters.
In a representation to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the party said, "The BJP demands that to establish the identity of burqa-clad female voters in the sixth and seventh phase of the UP polls, women police and central para-military forces be posted at the sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths."
It said a large number of burqa-clad women exercise their franchise and there is a possibility of false voting.
"Adequate deployment of female police would ensure proper checking of women voters, and at the same time, minimise incidents of bogus voting," it said.
The BJP today urged the EC to deploy women force at polling booths in the last two phases of the UP Assembly polls to check identity of burqa-clad female voters and prevent bogus voting, leaving some Muslim bodies fuming.
In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, the party said, "The BJP demands that to establish the identity of burqa-clad female voters in the sixth and seventh phase of the UP polls, women police and central paramilitary forces be posted at sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths".
BJP leaders J P S Rathore and Kuldeep Pati Tripathi said in the letter that a large number of burqa-clad women exercise their franchise and there was a possibility of false voting.
"Adequate deployment of female police would ensure proper checking of women voters, and at the same time, minimising incidents of bogus voting," they said.
A large number of constituencies going to polls in the last two rounds on March 4 and 8 fall in Muslim-dominated districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The demand by the saffron party, however, did not go down well with Muslim organisations, with some of them accusing BJP of deliberately indulging in "polarisation politics".
Mahila Muslim Personal Law Board Chairperson Shaista Amber said, "Till now, the election and voting process have been rather smooth, and the Election Commission deserves a round of applause for this. However, in a bid to polarise the votes in the sixth and seventh phase, the BJP has now come up with this strange demand".
She said this act of BJP smacked of its "sick mentality".
"Whether a woman is wearing burqa or ghoonghat, no one has the right to offend her womanhood and dignity," she said.
Shia Personal Law Board spokesperson Yassob Abbas said, "This is a deliberate tactic of the BJP to polarise the votes. We would not tolerate even an iota of insult to burqa."
He said even non-Muslim women living in villages wear 'pallu' (veil).
"Will the pallu (of non-Muslim women) be removed to check and verify their identity?" he asked, adding "It is better not to do any politics over burqa".
Senior member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said, "Ever since the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections have started, a conscious attempt has been made to target Muslim women".
"It started with triple talaq, which has fallen flat on the face of the BJP," he said.
He also said that as per the laid down provisions of law, a voter is allowed to cast his or her vote only after the poll official cross-checks and verifies the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) card.
"I think that there is a planned attempt to keep Muslim women voters away from voting," he said.
Saharanpur-based Islamic seminary of Darul Uloom Deoband refused to comment.
Muslims make up around 19-20 per cent of UP's population of nearly 200 million.
Out of 403 assembly constituencies in UP, there are nearly 120 seats where the percentage of Muslim voters is more than 20 per cent (Muslim-dominated seats) and in certain parts of eastern UP, their population is up to 27 per cent.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Workers with desk-bound jobs, who spend too much time sitting down, have a bigger waistline and increased risk of heart disease, a new study has warned.
The study suggests that waist circumference increases by two centimetres and risk of cardiovascular diseases by 0.2 per cent, for every additional hour of sitting on top of five hours, researchers said.
Also, bad cholesterol (LDL) increases and good cholesterol (HDL) decreases with each additional hour of sitting from five hours a day, they said.
The study led by William Tigbe from University of Warwick in the UK advises people to sit less and be more active.
Standing for as much as seven hours a day, and walking seven miles, may be needed to avoid heart disease, according to the study.
Tigbe kitted out 111 healthy postal workers with activity monitors for seven days; 55 were office workers and 56 delivered post for a living.
The study found that those who had desk jobs had a bigger waist circumference - 97 cm compared to 94 cm - and about one Body mass index (BMI) unit difference.
They also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease - 2.2 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent over ten years. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
Only healthy, non-smokers, with no personal history of myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertension or diabetes were included in the study.
None of the participants was on any lipid, blood pressure or glucose lowering medication.
"Our evolution, to become the human species, did not equip us well to spending all day sitting down. We probably adapted to be healthiest spending seven to eight hours every day on our feet, as hunters or gatherers," said Professor Mike Lean from University of Glasgow in the UK.
The research was published in the International Journal of Obesity.
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An American ex-CIA agent released from prison in Portugal just hours before her planned extradition to Italy is thanking President Donald Trump for what she describes as his administration's intervention in her case.
India-born Sabrina de Sousa tells The Associated Press that US officials were in contact with authorities in both Portugal and Italy ahead of her release.
Officials in the United States, Italy and Portugal were not immediately available for comment.
De Sousa walked free yesterday, a day after Italy dropped its extradition request for her.
An Italian court had convicted her of taking part in the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan 14 years ago as part of the US "extraordinary rendition" anti-terrorism program.
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A woman Naxal, carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh and wanted for the 2013 'Darbha ghati' killings of politicians in Bastar, has surrendered before the CRPF in Chhattisgarh.
Maoist Budhri alias Geeta, who worked in the Left Wing cadre for about seven years, laid down her arms before a CRPF battalion in Jagdalpur in south Bastar region yesterday, the CRPF said.
"She worked with the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, active in Bastar region, and had participated in at least four major incidents of violence where 43 security personnel and 17 politicians have been killed," a senior official said.
This includes the 'Darbha Ghati' attack of May 2013 where 17 Congress politicians were killed in a Naxal ambush.
She carried a bounty of Rs 8 lakh, which was declared by police and security forces for her apprehension.
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Director Tigmanshu Dhulia's movie "Raag Desh", based on the infamous Indian National Army (INA) trials in Second World War era, will hit the theatres this May.
The period film features Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh and Mohit Marwah in lead roles.
"We (RSTV) commissioned the film and the movie is now ready and will release in May," Rajya Sabha TV CEO, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, told PTI.
It recreates the Indian National Army (INA) Trials or The Red Fort Trials of 1940s.
Colonel Prem Sehgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, officers in the British Indian Army, taken prisoners of war in Malaya, Singapore and Burma respectively, were court-martialled in the capital at the trials held at the Red Fort.
The three men were charged with treason and torture and even case of murder was slapped on them.
Several lawyers led by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru were part of the defence counsel.
It is learned that the actors also met the family members of INA officers to prepare for their roles.
"Besides, 'Raag Desh', we have also commissioned a film on the war history of Indian Armed Forces, which would be helmed by Shyam Benegal. Research for this project is done and very soon the actual work would begin," Sappal said.
"We have also proposed another project on the integration of the Indian states by Sardar Patel. But, we are still working out its viability," he said.
Asked about new documentary projects for RSTV channel, Sappal, also the Editor-in-Chief of the network, said, "We had invited documentary proposals from the public. First we got a not-so-good response and then we finally shortlisted about 30 of them, out of which we have okayed only 19 of them for telecast.
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Former President of the Tripura unit of Trinamool Congress (TMC), Surajit Datta has resigned from the party.
"I have resigned from TMC and sent my resignation to Mamata Banerjee, but not going to disclose the reason now. I am discussing the matter with my supporters and future course of actions would be drawn soon", Datta told reporters here today.
Datta, a former PWD minister of the state and five time MLA had joined the TMC in September, 2013.
"I was tired of sitting idle, because my party did not entrust me any job", he said.
TMC Tripura unit president, Ashish Saha, who is now camping in Kolkata told reporters over phone that he would not comment immediately about the resignation.
He said, Mamata Banerjee assured a team of TMC leaders of Tripura yesterday that she would address a gathering in the second week of May to intensify campaign against the Left Front Government in Tripura.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
German local authorities today blocked rallies by Turkish ministers aimed at promoting a referendum that would expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers, citing capacity problems.
The Union of European Turkish Democrats had been due to hold one rally later Thursday in the western town of Gaggenau, with Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag as the guest speaker.
But Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement for the group to rent a hall for the event, saying it did not have the capacity to host so many people.
"Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall, parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand," the town's authorities said in a statement.
"Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked," it added.
Separately, Cologne city authorities said they would no longer allow the UETD to use a hall on Sunday, when Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci is expected to make a rally speech.
"The event can and will not happen there," a spokeswoman for Cologne city authorities told AFP.
It was unclear if Zeybekci would be able to find an alternative site.
The UETD had earlier reserved a room in the city hall of the Cologne-Porz district for a "theatre event", said the spokeswoman.
But yesterday, the group said it would now host an "information event".
The city said however that it would no longer make the site available to the group, citing difficulties in guaranteeing security at such short notice.
Turkish politicians including Prime Minister Binali Yildirim have sparked controversy over their visits to Germany to hold political rallies.
Germany is home to about three million people of Turkish origin, the legacy of a massive "guest worker" programme in the 1960s and 70s and the biggest population of Turks in the world outside of Turkey.
And Erdogan's government is keen to harness their votes for the April 16 referendum, which would discard the post of prime minister for the first time in Turkey's history.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This week, Rick is off talking about his forthcoming book, Letters to a Young Education Reformer. Letters wont be officially released until late April, but you can learn more about it here and order an advance copy here . While Rick is away, weve got an illustrious line-up of guest stars. This week, Ed Jones, head of the Hackable High Schools initiative, will be guest-blogging.
Theyve re-purposed my old office in Hawthorne, CA.
As I write this morn, SpaceXs Mission Control team is therein conducting operations. Where I plotted fighter dogfights, theyre carefully docking the Dragon cargo module to International Space Station (ISS). Half a globe away, 249 miles over Kazakhstan, ISS and Dragon have closed to 11 meters, with the stations robotic arm in waiting. Home in Houston, NASA guides ISS itself via the iconic Mission Control we came to know when Apollo went to the moon.
Thanks, once more, Rick, for the chance to talk unbundled learning.
What was the most incredible video youve seen this year? For me, it was, hands down, landing a rocket on a platform bouncing in the sea. To really get this, check out the earlier failure and explosion by SpaceX. This is really hard stuff.
Were squeezing in a lightning discussion of systemic transformation of high school. Like returning to the moon and beyond, transforming high school is, well, you know... To get from here to there in that task, we most need a new coherent value network .
Say what?
To many in education, systemic transformation has long implied new, larger sources of funding. For others, its meant the right combination of laws and regulations to prod districts forward or to turn students over (voluntarily) to non-district schools. For still others, it means we do essentially the old stuff in new ways, adding blended and competency-based learning approaches to teaching the traditional content arrangements. Each of these must be part of the mix.
But these do not truly offer a new, coherent value network (CVN). What will?
In transforming high school, curriculum matters . A new CVN for teens would first reimagine curriculum. That is, we must stop thinking of algebra II, history, or civics as a single, take-or-dont-take year-long course and start thinking of them unbundledas ten to thirty chunks, which can be selected and combined to meet very different needs.
Remember how we observed yesterday that school is working much better for girls than for boys? If were to truly serve non-college-matriculating teens, we cant go wrong in thinking how we can better serve grade six to twelve boys.
People. Passion. Production. Purpose. Last week I again joined the staff of LRNG , the spinoff of the MacArthur Foundations Connected Learning Alliance and Mozillas Open Badges network. People. Passion. Production. Purpose. captures their four pillars: connecting young people to adults and like-interested peers; showing teens paths to learn things they can love; enabling them to enjoy the satisfaction of making things that will last; and helping them find a purpose to pull them forward.
Some of the faces in a new CVN for teens would be an off-duty nurse, a volunteer programmer, a retired machinist, a between-jobs carpenter, retired teachers, and educated moms. On a given day, it may be the carpenter who helps them learn world geography. While certified teachers focus even more on the needs, aspirations, and literacy of each learner.
Did you think just now that Ive waffled on curriculum? Become an advocate for all-project-based-learning schools? Ive not. I simply propose that curriculum design for 2020 cannot look like curriculum design for 2010. We cannot think of course selection as an annual spring rite that is the only decision about learning that teens will make all year.
On curriculum, I stand should-to-shoulder with Robert Pondiscio and the Knowledge Matters Campaign . Yet, if were to transform high school, we need a 1984 moment . One where curriculum is completely unbundled, made transparent to all, opened to the creativity of crowds, and iterated to new and higher forms. GitHub can guide us.
In 1979, the Department of Defense took the unprecedented step of turning over systems integration of an entire aircraft to the private sector. In 2014, NASA contracted with SpaceX to provide not just a rocket, but complete space transportation service. Neerav Kingsland might call this relinquishment. I prefer laser-like refinement of governments core competencies.
When chunks of learning become the focal point of the work going forwardinstead of the courseperspectives will change. When Uber created its new CVN, it wasnt just with drivers. A whole lot of smart engineers worked behind the scenes to assure the best possible ride. The ride became the center of everyones attention. Perspective changed.
For 2020, states and districts need to part ways with traditional curriculum designs and approvals. (Teachers dont use them anyway .) They need curricula more than everjust unbundled and rethought as to its entire life cycle.
While there must be millions of SpaceX moments for high school, one might go like this:
In a previously empty factory building in Cleveland, a group of teens is just selecting from an impressive array of tools, electronics, and machines. Their public school just let out. Yet many of them are getting to the best part of their formal school day. A number of them slept in, and joined history, biology, civics, or chemistry class at a more reasonable 9am.
The makerspace theyve arrived at is owned by Lubrizol, a nearby, community-minded, 90 year old company. Its staffed from 2-6 pm on school days by two youth ministers from nearby congregations, both of whom have secondary education degrees. Several other adults come in and out; this is also a membership space where adults work on projects of their own.
Formal curricula continue to guide students; theyll learn today toward credits for graduation. All have accomplished first aid and OSHA awareness training, most have certifications with equipment such as band saws, drill press, and a nice CNC machine.
Javon is actually working through an Internet-of-Things curriculum. His capstone project will require a number of the tools and resources here, but today hes focused on a communications controller. Emilio is somewhat of his partner in this; he works with a robot (it started life as a Roomba floor vacuum) that will interact with Javons IoT configuration. Others will contribute pieces to the overall installation.
Well round out this vision tomorrow.
Ed Jones
Patients suffering from renal ailments in Goa have no other option but to travel to neighbouring Maharashtra as the lone kidney transplantation facility in the coastal state has been shut since last six months due to lack of a full-time nephrologist.
Private hospitals in Goa are not allowed to perform kidney transplant operations.
The state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), which is the only facility for kidney transplantation, has been non-operational for the last six months due to unavailability of a full time nephrologist, a senior GMCH official told PTI today.
Dr J P Tiwari, Head of Department (Nephrology), GMCH, is on a two-year leave since last December.
"We are in the process to appoint the new HoD. Till then operations have been kept on hold," GMCH Dean Dr Pradip Naik said.
While the department conducted three transplants each year in the last five years, 250 new patients with severe kidney ailments needing dialysis are being recorded each year.
Applications seeking permission to conduct such surgeries by private hospitals, including Manipal Hospital in Dona Paula, are pending with the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), a senior DHS official said.
"There are about 1,000 kidney patients who are put on dialysis in different facilities across the State. The rate of survival on dialysis is poor compared to kidney transplant," said GMCH Honorary Consultant nephrologist Dr Amol Mahaldar.
"GMCH, which is the only licenced facility, has been unable to conduct kidney transplants on a regular basis, and is hence dependent on visiting honorary surgeons from Mumbai," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Telangana BJP leader says Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur is a representative sample on many campuses in the country, who are products of a failed education, parenting and social support system in India.
"There are many Gurmehar Kaurs in university campuses across India. This young woman is only a representative sample of a select section of young people, who are products of a failed education, parenting & social support system of a 70-year independent India", the state BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao said in a blogpost.
20-year-old Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on social media over her stance against RSS-backed student body ABVP and for a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.
"One cannot expect not to face consequences for one's massive and controversial expression, in fact there will be equal and even larger reaction as a consequence...The abuse is certainly wrong, violent threats are certainly wrong, however,any other form of expression is clearly a natural recourse," Rao said.
"Terming that (intense trolling) as an attack on one's freedom of expression is juvenility, self pity, escapism and lack of ownership. If one is courageous, one must stand up and face the consequences of their expression".
Saying that attacking Kaur would not solve anything, he said "young people like her clearly reflect the collective social outcomes of a nation, which has never pro-actively designed its national identity and national values. The issue is much larger, it's national. It's a legacy issue of this country".
Attacking Congress, Rao said only a "vertically and horizontally divided India" suits the type of politics practiced by Congress party."
Rao said it is time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to constitute a cohesive group of great individuals to initiate a proactive nation building exercise with well defined and empowering national values for unique national identity and pride of being an India, he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi university student Gurmehar Kaur issue rocked the Haryana Assembly today, with opposition INLD seeking state minister Anil Vij's apology for his tweet that dubbed her anti-ABVP campaign supporters as pro-Pakistan, liable to be thrown out of the country.
The issue was raised during Zero Hour by INLD's leader by former minister Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, who asked Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to rein-in his minister having the habit of shooting off his mouth.
Sandhu also said Vij should apologise for what he had said about Gurmehar Kaur.
With Vij being outside the House at the time the matter was raised, he walked in and drew vociferous support from his colleagues at treasurey benches.
Congress too supported INLD members on the issue with the MLAs from the opposition and the treasury benches having sharp exchanges, some of which had to be expunged.
Some BJP members also raised 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram' slogans.
Meanwhile, outside the House, Vij defended today what he had said yesterday, asserting "In my tweet yesterday, no where have I said anything personal against Gurmehar Kaur."
"I only said she should not do politics over martyrdom of her father," Vij told reporters later, adding "Pakistan has been fighting direct and proxy war against India for the last 70 years and an attempt has been made to give a clean chit to that country."
Gurmehar Kaur had said Pakistan did not kill her father, the war did. Somewhere she has shown a soft corner towards Pakistan."
Vij went to the extent of terming INLD act of raising the Gurmehar's issue inside the House as "anti-national."
"INLD MLA tried to support Guermehar, which is an anti-national thing to do," he said.
On INLD senior leader Abhay Chautala saying that young people can falter, Vij said "to say that she is a young woman, the matter cannot end there. If young people like her become a tool in the hands of the anti-national forces, they too cannot be deemed to have committed wrong.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madras High Court today allowed Coca Cola and Pepsi to draw water from a river in Tamil Nadu for their bottling plants but the lifting of the ban triggered protests by locals who stood knee-deep in the river.
In a relief for the Cola majors, the Madurai bench of the court gave them permission to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in Tirunelveli district for manufacturing soft drinks besides packaged drinking water.
Dismissing a PIL filed by D A Prabakar, a consumer activist, and one Appavo, a Division Bench of Justice A Selvam and Justice P Kalaiarasan lifted the ban earlier imposed by the court on the firms for drawing water from the river.
The court had given the interim injunction in November last year.
The soft drinks companies sought a direction on lifting the ban on the ground that they were using only the surplus water.
The PIL litigants submitted that the river flowing through Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts supported drinking water projects and irrigation in the two districts.
It was contended that drawing of water for the bottling plants of these companies deprived farmers of their livelihood, who were unable to take up farming activities.
The companies paid only 37.50 paise per 1,000 litres of water extracted and sold their beverages at a much higher cost, Prabakar, Secretary of Tirunelveli Consumer Protection Association, had submitted.
The PWD had earlier submitted that there was sufficient water in the river and only surplus water was given to the companies.
Upset over the order, a large number of persons stood in knee-deep water in Thamirabharani river to vent their ire.
They also protested against the "laxity" on the part of the authorities in handling the case.
The protesters shouted slogans against the state government for not taking necessary steps to prevent the Cola majors from drawing water from Thamirabharani, when the farmers in the state were facing acute water shortage for their farming activities.
The order came amid a call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi that came into effect yesterday with its President A M Vikrama Raja declaring the aerated drinks as 'toxic' for consumption.
Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal opposed the call, saying it would lead to blackmarketing.
Badal rued that "politics" was being played on the issue, and said such a ban was against the democratic values of the country.
"I am not in favour of banning things because this gives rise to blackmarketing," she told PTI when asked about the ban call and its impact on FDI inflows.
The minister, who is currently on a visit to Japan leading a delegation of industry body CII to woo investments in Indian food processing sector, said: "As a democratic country we have the right to eat what we want to eat."
She further said: "Someone who wants to drink Cola will find Cola despite all odds. This (the ban) will increase black marketing and corruption.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madras High Court today directed Tamil Nadu government to consider the representation made by former MLA M Appavu to ban river sand mining.
Appavu submitted that in 2002, the Madras High Court while dealing with a PIL directed the state Government to constitute a committee to conduct a scientific survey on the river sand quarrying and submit a report.
The committee suggested use of crushed stonesandas an alternate material to naturalsand for construction activities.
In spite of the recommendation of the use of crushed stonesand, the usage of riversandcontinues in all construction activities, Appavu contended.
Due to continious riversandmining, the state was facing rapid drying up of rivers, lakes, ponds leading to water scarcity and drought.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Security forces apprehended a Hizbul Mujahideen militant in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, police said today.
A joint team of army, CRPF and police apprehended Hilal Ahmad Bhat from Dahwatoo in Awantipora area last night following a tip-off, a police official said.
He said two Chinese grenades, one camouflage uniform, one knife and some other incriminating material were recovered from Bhat's possession.
Bhat had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen ranks recently, the official said adding a case under relevant sections of the Ranbir Penal Code have been registered against him.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Honda Cars India on Thursday commenced pre-bookings for its upcoming model WR-V which it plans to launch in the country this month.
The company will launch the vehicle on March 16 and has initiated pre-bookings for the upcoming model at its dealerships for an amount of Rs 21,000.
"The WR-V is an all new sporty lifestyle vehicle in Honda's line-up. It will provide joy for recreational usage and comfortable driving for daily use in the city," Honda Cars India President and CEO Yoichiro Ueno said in a statement.
India is the first country to manufacture and launch the in the world. It is the first model developed by Honda R&D India in association with Honda R&D Co, Ltd, Japan.
The company has developed the model as a Sporty Lifestyle Vehicle for the Indian consumers who want sporty and stylish vehicles that are compact in size with premium interiors and advanced features.
Based on Jazz platform, the WR-V would come with both petrol and diesel powertrains.
Ueno said Honda has started the year 2017 on a positive note.
"After a very successful launch of the New City 2017 in February, the WR-V launch is our second important launch this year. We are confident that both these models will propel Honda Cars India firmly on the growth path," he added.
Protests against the Hydrocarbon exploration and extraction project continued today at Neduvasal village near here urging the Centre to shelve the project immediately to "protect" agriculture and the people.
Protestors gathered at the Amman temple grounds in the village and raised slogans against the project.
They held placards alleging that the entire district will face the "eventuality of desertification," if the project sets in motion. They urged the Centre to withdraw the nod for hydrocarbon project and protect agriculture and the local people.
The protest is on for the fifteenth day today despite the State government's assurance yesterday that it will not implement any scheme inimical to the interests of farmers. The government had also urged the protestors to withdraw their stir.
On February 15, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved award of contracts in 31 contract areas of discovered small oil and gas fields including Neduvasal.
On February 27, seeking to allay the fears of protestors said, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had said strict environmental norms will be followed during the proposed oil and gas exploration and production at domestic small fields including Neduvasal.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Guest post by Andrew Ujifusa
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the level of state funding for public schools is inadequate and does not square with the states constitution, giving state lawmakers until the end of June to respond.
Gannon v. Kansas has been one of the most closely watched state school funding cases in recent years. The plaintiffs, several school districts in the state, alleged that the states K-12 funding is inadequate, which the state has denied in a long-running and complex legal battle. (Its one of two elements in the legal battle over school funding in the Sunflower Statemore on that below.)
Thursdays decision could create serious difficulties for Kansas lawmakers, since they were already pondering how to dig the state out from a $900 million budget hole this year, the Wichita Eagle reported before the ruling was released.
We conclude the states public education financing system, through its structure and implementation, is not reasonably calculated to have all Kansas public education students meet or exceed the minimum constitutional standards of adequacy, the ruling states.
The ruling supported this conclusion by citing the nearly 50 percent of African-American students in Kansas who are not proficient in reading or math, and the one-third of students who receive free or reduced-price meals who are also not proficient in these subjects.
Separately, the court ruled in 2015 that the states funding system was inequitable. That issue was settled to the state supreme courts satisfaction last year by shifting $38 million around within the education budget, but the separate legal question of overall funding adequacy remained.
Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, last year warned that there would be tax hikes if the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs .
Read the ruling from the court below:
The Kansas Supreme Court has finally confirmed what anyone who has recently stepped inside a Kansas public school already knew, said Alan Rupe, a lawyer representing some of the districts that originally sued. Kansas public education is significantly underfunded. The hardest part now awaits. It is incumbent upon the Legislature to react to the ruling quickly and in a way that puts the funding levels into constitutional compliance.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article135967648.html#storylink=cpy
Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
The Central IAS officers' association has sought immediate intervention of the Bihar and the Union governments into the alleged "arbitary functioning" of the police against officers posted in the state.
The Central IAS officers' association, which represents 4,926 officials working across the country, also supported the demand of its Bihar unit for a probe by an independent agency like the CBI in cases involving two civil servants.
In a statement, the central association of IAS officers' asked both, the state as well as the central government, to ensure that hardworking, honest and sincere civil servants are not demoralised by arbitrary and malafide actions of the police machinery in Bihar.
The central IAS officers' association, representing the prestigious administrative service officers, sought immediate help of the Centre to check alleged arbitrariness by the Bihar Police in acting against civil servants.
The move comes following alleged wrongful arrest of two officers-- Jitendra Gupta and Sudhir Kumar-- of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) working under Bihar government.
The central association after perusing all the facts placed before it by its Bihar unit has decided to support both the resolutions which includes safety and security for its officers as well as a probe by an independent agency.
When contacted Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Secretary of the central IAS association, said there is a need to check arbitrary behaviour of some of the policemen working in the Bihar Police.
"It appears that the police is acting arbitrarily there and they need to follow the rule of the law," he told PTI.
"We want there should be a thorough probe in the cases involving the two IAS officers by an independent agency," Bhoosreddy, a senior IAS officer, said.
Briefing about the cases, the association claimed that the Bihar Police had acted in a malafide manner against Gupta, a young IAS officer, while serving as Sub-Divisional Magistrate Mohania.
"Jitendra Gupta was falsely implicated in a vigilance case. At that point of time also the police had violated the statutory provisions of Criminal Law, which was brought to the notice of the authorities.
The Patna High Court had a scathing arraignment of the Special Vigilance Unit of Bihar Police besides quashing of the FIR, the statement said.
The alleged vindictiveness of the Vigiliance unit did not
stop here and the state government moved the Supreme Court against the order.
The country's highest court also did not find an merit in the case and dismissed the appeal at the admission stage itself, it said.
Without learning from their past experience, whereby both the Patna High Court and the Supreme Court deprecated the police for their ingeniousness in fabricating false cases with ulterior motives and in a mala fide manner, the police this time arrested Sudhir Kumar, Chairman, Bihar Staff Selection Commission from Hazaribagh on the night of February 23, it alleged.
The arrest was shown on record to have been made from Patna at around 11 AM in the morning of February 24 despite Kumar fully cooperating with the investigating agencies, the statement said.
"He was neither absconding nor was found tampering with evidence, if any. Therefore, there was no need to arrest him without following the procedure and precautions of arrest as provided in Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
"Therefore, the IAS officers' association of Bihar has demanded independent inquiry, equity, justice and fair play, that the case forthwith be transferred to the CBI," the officers' body said.
Kumar has been arrested in connection with a paper leak scam related to clerical-grade recruitment examination.
The CBI will be in a better position to independently establish the truth, as repeated reports have suggested interference and/or patronage of persons with clout, the central IAS officers association said.
An Indian-origin girl in the US has been allegedly racially abused by an African-American man who called her inappropriate names and yelled "get out of here" when she was travelling in a busy commuter train.
Ekta Desai, who lives in New York, took a video of the incident that occurred on February 23.
The video was then shared by a website 'The Voice Raiser' and has since then gone viral and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.
In the video, the African-American man is seen abusing the girl, saying words like "Freedom of speech" and "Black Power." Using expletives, he tells her to "get out of here."
As the girl is recording the video, the man gets visibly angry and is seen shouting at her.
"This man was on the same PATH train as me along with 100 other passengers, I had my headphones on and it was like any other day. Next thing I know he is yelling on my face (Did not bother to listen/react)," Desai wrote on social media.
Desai said she did not react to the man but he continued shouting and questioned as to why she was taking his photo and pictures. Several people have reacted sympathetically towards the girl after the video was posted online.
Desai said she reported the matter to police authorities, who allegedly said the man appears to be "emotionally unstable" and she should be careful.
Desai then contacted Kundan Srivastava, a Human Rights activist and founder of The Voice Raiser, who said the US government should "punish" the man for "harassing and abusing women and also insulting our nation."
"We would also like to say that being a girl does not make anyone less capable or helpless. As you can see in the video, people are just standing as a mere spectator. He yelled disgusting things and used unacceptable words. A person should abide by the civic rules and does not slut shame a woman. Keep Fighting!," Srivastava's organisation said.
The incident comes close on the heels of the shooting in Kansas of a 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was killed when 51-year-old US Navy veteran Adam Purinton opened fire at him and his friend Alok Madasani at a bar before yelling "get out of my country."
The shooting sent shock waves across the Indian-American community here with people expressing concerns over their safety in an enviornment of xenophobic and racist rhetoric in the country.
India and Pakistan are expected to hold parleys on various aspects of the Indus Water Treaty in Islamabad later this month, nearly six months after New Delhi decided to suspend talks on the pact in view of the terror strikes by Pakistan-based groups.
The meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission will be held before March 31 "as it is mandated" under the treaty, government sources said today.
"Under the treaty, it is required that India and Pakistan meet every financial year. If we don't, then it is going to be a violation of the pact.
"But there are chances we will meet for a day or two in the third or fourth week of this month," they said.
The last meeting of the commission was held in June 2015.
Declaring that "blood and water cannot flow together", Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a meeting in September to review the treaty in the backdrop of the terror strikes, including the Uri attack.
After the meeting, officials had announced that the government has decided to suspend further talks and increase the utilisation of rivers flowing through Jammu and Kashmir to fully exercise India's rights under the pact.
The commission, which has officials from both the countries as its members, was set up under the 57-year-old treaty to discuss and resolve issues relating to its implementation.
The sources said since the "major issues of dispute" (Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectricity projects in India) were already before the World Bank, these may not be discussed during the commission's meeting.
Pakistan had approached the international bank last year, objecting to design of the two projects in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging these violated the treaty.
"However, the agenda for the meeting is yet to be finalised. Pakistan has issues with some other Indian projects too. Whatever be their concern, India is always ready to discuss the issues," the sources added.
India's Indus water commissioner and MEA officials will be part of the Indian delegation for the annual meeting.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indonesian prosecutors today sought a nine-year jail term for a suspected people smuggling kingpin accused of organising an illegal migrant boat journey, in a case that sparked a diplomatic row with Australia.
Abraham Louhenapessy, commonly known as "Captain Bram", is on trial on remote eastern island of Rote for allegedly buying a boat and helping find a crew for a voyage intended to take 65 migrants to New Zealand in early 2015.
Louhenapessy is allegedly a notorious figure in the illicit trade that involves sending boatloads of migrants from Indonesia, a staging post on long-established people-smuggling routes, typically to Australia.
In closing arguments the state prosecutor urged the court to convict Louhenapessy and sentence him to nine years in jail and a 500 million rupiah fines (USD 37,400), slightly lower than the maximum penalty.
"In the trial proceedings, no excuse was found to pardon or justify the defendant, and therefore he must take responsibility for what he has done in accordance with the law," prosecutor Alexander Sele told the Rote court.
Louhenapessy's defence is due to begin next week and the court will then give its verdict and hand down a sentence.
The prosecutor said that Louhenapessy had received payment of 1.5 billion rupiah (USD 112,000) for his role in the smuggling scheme.
The boat, carrying Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Myanmar migrants, was stopped by the Australian navy in early 2015 as it passed through Australian waters and the passengers and crew were sent back to Indonesia in rickety vessels.
The crew claimed they were paid about $30,000 to turn back, angering Indonesian officials who worried that it could encourage an increase in people-smuggling attempts. Australia refused to comment on the claims.
The captain and crew from the boat were caught and jailed in Indonesia in January last year after being found guilty on people-smuggling charges.
Australia turns migrant boats back to Indonesia when it is safe to do so. The tough policy was introduced to stem the flow of migrants arriving on the country's shores, but it has long angered Indonesian officials.
It is thought the migrants involved in the latest case were seeking to reach New Zealand, because the route to Australia was closed off.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An infant girl with her heart beating outside her body was born in a village in lower Assam's Dhubri district and has been kept at the intensive care unit in Gauhati Medical College.
The infant's family members and health officials said today that the infant's heart is on her chest and she was born last night at Phutkibari village.
The case is an extremely rare congenital malformation and is called Ectopia Cordis in which the heart is abnormally located either partially or totally outside the throax, doctors attending on her said.
Following her birth, doctors in the rural hospital referred the infant to the government-run Dhubri civil hospital from where she was sent to Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) where she is being kept in the ICU, health officials said.
As GMCH has a tie up with Narayana Hrudalaya in Bangalore, the state health department is planning to shift the infant to that hospital for surgery on government expense tomorrow, they added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Israel has started exporting gas from an offshore field to Jordan, an Israeli company and a Jordanian official said today, marking the country's first ever exports of natural gas.
The exports to Jordan began in January, the company Delek Drilling -- part of a consortium leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves -- told AFP.
There was no formal announcement at the time but it is the first time Israel has ever exported natural gas, a company spokeswoman said.
A Jordanian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the deliveries but said they started before January, without stating exactly when.
Jordanian firms Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine signed a deal in 2014 to import 2 billion cubic metres (around 70 billion cubic feet) of gas from Israel's Tamar field over 15 years.
At the time reports said the deal was worth USD 771 million.
Jordan is one of only two Arab countries to have a peace deal with Israel but the 1994 agreement is unpopular among Jordanians -- almost half of whom are of Palestinian origin.
Detractors of the gas deal, including Jordan's main opposition Islamist party, reject any cooperation with a country they regard as an enemy.
However, the resource-poor Arab country has few alternatives to tackle shortages.
Israel historically had few natural resources but has discovered a series of offshore gas fields in recent years.
In September 2016, a larger deal worth an estimated USD 10 billion was signed to export gas from the Leviathan offshore field to Jordan.
In the face of protests, Jordanian Information Minister Mohamed Momani defended the deal, telling state television it would cut USD 600 million a year from the state's energy bill.
Deliveries from Leviathan are expected to begin in 2019.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In its efforts to attract Indian tourists, Israel has increased its promotional budgetary allocation to USD 2.5 million in the last two years and plans to ease visa norms, senior officials have said.
"We realise that India is going to be one of the top three countries sending tourists to Israel and so we have started to invest a lot in marketing our tourism potential there," Director General of Israel's Ministry of Tourism, Amir Halevi said.
"We have already opened a tourist office in India. We also launched our first campaign last year which was a big success. We also got an award for it saying it had the same level of impact as Pepsi in India," he told PTI.
"Right now about 50,000 Indians are coming to Israel every year. There is a huge potential given India's size and this number can be easily doubled in a very short time. Indian tourists generally spend more than the average tourist which also makes them an attractive target. The marketing budget has been increased by ten times to USD 2.5 million compared to what it was two years ago", Halevi said.
When asked about concerns related to visa issuance to Indians and also subsequent problems to such visitors in travelling to the Arab world, he said the process has been made "better and would be even easier".
"The visa process is now better and hopefully would be even easier. A tourist from India looking to get visa stamped on paper can get it that way and there will really be no problem with that," he said.
A spokesperson to the ministry said that, "given the importance of India as an emerging market for incoming tourism to Israel, the Tourism Ministry has submitted a request to ease the visa restrictions on Indian tour groups wishing to visit the country."
"It is hoped that this request will be granted in the near future, reducing the wait time for a group visa to five working days," she said.
However, the "game changer" in these efforts is going to be the expected introduction of direct Air India (AI) flights between India and Israel later this year, Halevi said.
Discussions regarding the launch of Air India direct flights is said to have started last year and as per sources at the Israeli tourism ministry, the Chairman and Managing Director of AI, Ashwani Lohani, and its Commerce Director Pankaj Srivastava are likely to visit Israel in the next few days.
"Hopefully Air India would soon start direct flights between India and Tel Aviv which is going to be a game changer increasing manifold the number of tourists coming from India to Israel. The number of tourists from China to Israel doubled in one year after the start of direct flight by Hainan Airlines. We expect something similar with India", Halevi said.
Israeli government has also been striving hard, though
unsuccessfully, for a while to attract Bollywood filmmakers to shoot their films here.
"We have already met several agents and people from the industry. We are looking for opportunities and the moment we see something like that we will collaborate with them. We are prepared to create the right setting to bring Bollywood filmmakers to Israel," Halevi said.
Dealing with other concerns related to the ongoing conflict in the region, the Israeli official said that tourists "rather feel safe here."
"Regarding the conflict, several countries across the world have become victims of terror and nobody can predict where it is going to strike next. In Israel, we have a lot of experience in dealing with it which makes tourists feel safe here."
"That is why there was an increase in number of tourists coming here last year while there was a decrease in Europe at the same time. We hope to keep up the momentum," Halevi said.
Taloja jail authorities today sought the special NIA court's nod to shift Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, from the prison's hospital, where he has been staying for seven years, to a high-security 'anda cell'.
"The authorities told the court that Purohit has been staying at the jail hospital for seven years and they want to shift him back to the high-security anda cell," special prosecutor Avinash Rasal told PTI.
The court, in an order in the past, had said Purohit should be kept in the jail hospital only for a certain period. However, the order that the jail authorities received did not specify this.
Major (retd) Ramesh Upadyay, another accused in the case, had filed an application in the court alleging that Purohit had overstayed in the hospital.
Twelve persons, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Purohit, were arrested for carrying out a blast at Malegaon in north Maharashtra on September 29, 2008, killing six persons and injuring 100 others.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A military court postponed today the jailing of an Israeli soldier convicted of shooting dead a wounded Palestinian pending his appeal.
Elor Azaria was sentenced by a military court on February 21 after an exceptional months-long trial that captivated Israel and highlighted deep divisions in public opinion.
He was due to begin his sentence on Sunday, but an appeals court accepted the defence's request to delay the sentence.
"The imprisonment will be postponed until the result of the appeal," appeals court judge Orly Markman said, adding that Azaria would be confined to base in the meantime.
Defence attorney Yoram Sheftel said he would be ready to begin the appeal within six weeks.
Azaria was caught on video by a rights group shooting Abdul Fatah al-Sharif in the head as he lay wounded on the ground in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in March 2016 after stabbing a soldier.
A number of rightwing ministers politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for him to be pardoned.
Military leaders have said the conviction is important for the institution's reputation.
The Palestinian government, the victim's family and the United Nations human rights office have criticised the sentence as too lenient.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has met two top US officials, including National Security Advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster, and discussed ways to promote the strategic Indo-US ties especially in trade, defence and security.
The meeting between Jaishankar and McMaster assumes significance as the top military leader was appointed as the National Security Advisor by US President Donald Trump ten days ago.
During the meeting held at the White House, the two officials are believed to have discussed issues related to security, counter-terrorism and defence partnership.
Jaishankar also met Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan and discussed various issues, including ways to enhance economic and defence cooperation between the two countries.
"The relationship between the US and India is rooted in shared values of democracy and freedom," Ryan said in a statement after the meeting.
"We had a great opportunity today to build on this critical partnership by discussing ways to enhance our economic and defence cooperation," he said.
During his meeting with Jaishankar, Ryan expressed condolences of the US House of Representatives over the death of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla.
"Our peoples must continue to stand together, and I look forward to working with Foreign Secretary Jaishankar in the years ahead," Ryan said.
Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and another Indian Alok Madasani injured by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before firing on him.
Jaishankar arrived in the US on Tuesday on a four-day visit to hold talks with top officials of the Trump administration, lawmakers and members of the think-tank community.
This is his third-trip to the US after Trump was elected as the President.
Trump had pledged to strengthen the Indo-US ties during his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
About three weeks before his electoral victory, Trump had told Indian-Americans that he would be India's best friend at the White House.
Jaishankar, during his visit, is likely to discuss with top US officials India's concerns over a possible clamp down on H-1B visas and safety of Indians.
He will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest with senior members of the administration.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The bridge, set to be completed in April, spans the Thanlwin River, connecting the Mon States Capital of Mawlamyine with Bluekyun Island. There has been significant opposition in Mon State to the name, with many arguing that Mon, rather than Burman history should be celebrated in the name. On February 9, the Mon State government decided to drop the name, and has yet to select a replacement.
General Aung San was the independence leader of Burma, whose assassination in 1947 is understood by many to have accelerated the ethnic conflicts that have plagued Burma since independence the following year. General Aung San is considered the father of the nation and many major roads, bridges and other civil structures throughout the country bare his name. Yet for many, the agreements made between General Aung San and minority ethnic leaders remain broken promises.
General Aung Sans daughter, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, now leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party to which Mi Kon Chan belongs.
Mi Kon Chan urged the Union Government to honor General Aung San for his role as leader of the nation.
The minority ethnic people should know the difference between a races leader and a nations leader. Most of the worlds countries recognize their national leaders. But narrow-minded people in this country are bitterly rejecting the name General Aung San.
She added that General Aung San was assassinated once in body, and that the minority ethnic people are now assasinating him again in name. This, she said, would be shameful before the other countries of the world.
NLD Representative U Tin Ko Ko Oo from Belin Township, also spoke in favor of the name before the Pyithu Hluttaw.
Opposition to the name runs deep in Mon State government. Dr Aung Naing Oo, Deputy Speaker of the Mon State Parliament, said This is a case for ethnic minority leaders. The Union Parliament should not get involved in the naming process.
A group of Mon activists sent a letter to the Presidents Office and to State Counselor Daw Aung San Su Kyi on February 20, saying that although they want to honor General Aung San, they believe the bridge should bear the name of a Mon leader.
Other civil society groups have also gotten involved. The Association of Mon Monks, the Mon Literature and Culture Organization, and the Mon Youth Organization sent their concerns to the Presidents Office, as well as the Mon State government, and the Mon State Parliament on February 8 and 20.
When completed, the bridge will be 1759 feet long and 64 feet wide. Construction was begun in February, 2015 by the government of President U Thein Sein and opening celebrations will take place in April 2017.
Japanese companies are keen to invest in India's food processing sector especially in fruits, vegetables and spices, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said today.
Badal, who is on a three-day visit to Tokyo leading an industry body CII delegation, today met Japanese Agriculture Minister Ken Saito to discuss ways to improve bilateral trade between the two countries.
She highlighted the opportunities that India offers in the food processing sector.
Badal also met top officials of Japanese food companies.
"We had positive interaction. The Japanese government and companies are keen to strengthen ties in the food processing sector. They are looking for more business opportunities in India," Badal told PTI over phone from Tokyo.
Japan, the fourth largest investor in India, is presently sourcing sea food from India. It is now keen to invest in the processing of fruits and vegetables as well as spices and make India a prospective base and export hub, she said.
"One of the Japanese firm engaged in manufacturing of tomato paste wants to become a global leader and is looking at India for sourcing the commodity in huge quantity," she added.
Badal met officials of companies such as Marubeni Corporation, Isetan Misukoshi Holdings, Housefoods Corporation, Japan Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, Mitsui Foods, Royal Host and Kohyo Company, Nissin Foods, Yakult and Fuji Oil Holdings.
A Japanese delegation is expected to participate in the forthcoming World Food Fair here in November this year and explore business opportunities in India, she added.
With low food processing level in India, Badal sought cooperation and partnership from Japanese companies in the area of technology.
"Japan is more keen to source agriculture produce from India which are non-genetically modified," Badal said.
The minister said there is huge potential for Japanese investment in India's food processing sector as only 12 firms out of 380 food companies have presence in the country.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Allahabad High Court today ordered a CBI probe into the Jawahar Bagh Park case of Mathura where more than 20 persons, including two police officials, were killed last year during a drive to evict squatters.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma passed the order on a bunch of PILs demanding a CBI probe.
The court had reserved its judgement on February 20 after hearing arguments from both sides.
Among those who had moved the court with the demand for a CBI inquiry are Delhi-based BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and Mathura resident Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.
Besides, interlocutory applications were filed at a later stage by Archana Dwivedi and Prafull Dwivedi, wife and brother respectively of slain Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi.
The order comes as a jolt to the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.The state government had remained opposed to a CBI inquiry into the matter, pointing out that it had set up a commission of inquiry comprising a retired judge of the High Court.
In a statement issued from Delhi, Upadhyay welcomed the order, saying, "The violence at Jawahar Bagh in June last year was not an ordinary law and order issue.It related to unlawful occupation of public land, worth about Rs 5000 crore, by self-styled cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav and his followers".
The Uttar Pradesh government had, in January 2014, granted permission to Ram Vriksh Yadav's organization Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah to hold a demonstration inside Jawahar Bagh for two days.
However, members of the group went on to occupy the sprawling public park for more than two years.
Following a High Court order, the squatters were evicted from the park amid large scale violence.
A huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the huts that had been erected inside the park during the period of illegal occupation.
There were reports that the park had been converted into a "quasi republic" with its own currency and penal system and people staying there had been issued ration cards and cooking gas cylinders with Jawahar Bagh as the address.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress Jessica Chastain has revealed that she was once told by a director that she "talks too much about all of this women stuff."
The 39-year-old "Zero Dark Thirty" star fumed about inequality in Hollywood and has called for more inclusiveness, compassion and empathy, reported Contactmusic.
"I had one male director say to me that I talk too much about all of this 'women stuff'. This is a person I love, and maybe he was concerned I would hurt my career," Chastain said in an interview to American Way magazine.
"I'm not attacking anyone. I'm trying to create more inclusiveness, compassion and empathy - which in turn makes better movies, better art.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) S P Vaid today held a meeting with senior police officers to discuss ways of improving and strengthening the state police force.
He said the police headquarters (PHQ) has a parental role in solving the problems of personnel deployed in different regions of the state.
Addressing the meeting at the police headquarters here, Vaid emphasised upon latest researches on policing and a comprehensive policy for improving the working of the state police.
He said various issues related to the forces need to be revisited from time to time for enhancing the capabilities of personnel.
"Transparency and quality in our daily working needs to be discussed at different levels to enhance basic amenities for the personnel," he said.
We have to work together for career development and attitudinal improvement of the force, he said.
The DGP also stressed on organising lectures and workshops especially in police training institutions.
He added that drug abuse was a major concern for JKP and all investigating agencies should sit together and formulate a policy which could pay good dividends in curbing the menace.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled new Range Rover model Velar, a passion project of Ratan Tata, as part of its ambitious expansion plans to ramp up production of its luxury brands despite the challenges posed by Brexit.
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Chief Design Officer, credited the final product to the passion of Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata at a grand ceremony at London's Design Museum yesterday evening.
"I would like to thank Ratan Tata. Ever since he saw the first sketch of the Velar, he became a passionate advocate of it," McGovern said at the unveiling.
"Design has the power to enrich people's lives... This is avehicle with emotionally charged DNA and unquestionable pedigree," he added.
Described as one of the "hottest products this year", the Velar is now open to orders from around the world, including India, and is priced at around 45,000 pounds.
The UK car industry had backed the remain campaign during the Brexit referendum last year because the European Union remains by far the country's biggest market, something that could be directly affected by the final trade deal struck as Britain exits the economic bloc.
"Brexit is a significant challenge and we want our respective governments to support our industry. The last year was undoubtedly a very, very successful year for the industry but there is a lot of uncertainty with one of our biggest market, the EU," Mike Hawes, the chief of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), had said recently.
In a boost to British manufacturing, JLR announced that the Velar will be built exclusively at JLR's flagship Solihull plant in the West Midlands region of England.
"The expansion of our product range and building this British designed and engineered car in the UK is a sign of our confidence in British manufacturing. We are leading the global premium car industry with our commitment to our home market and our heart, soul and headquarters will always be in the UK," said JLR CEO Ralf Speth.
The Range Rover brand has been heralded as Britain's greatest luxury export since the 1970s and includes the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque.
Together they have helped transform the fortunes of the UK's largest vehicle manufacturer, accounting for 85 per cent of all premium cars produced in Britain and contributing 10 billion pounds to the UK economy every year, JLR said.
Built using JLR's leading lightweight aluminium architecture and powered by the latest ultra-clean UK-built Ingenium petrol and diesel engines, the new Velar is positioned between the Range Rover Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.
The Range Rover Velar is the third model to be launched at the Solihull manufacturing plant in two years.
It follows an injection of 1.5 billion pounds in new facilities and technologies at the plant, which began with the Jaguar XE and F-PACE.
Production of all JLR models at the four UK manufacturing plants directly supports more than 40,000 British jobs and a further 250,000 in the supply chain, a JLR statement said.
In the past six years, the company has more than doubled its workforce to support global demand for its products.
Last year, Jaguar Land Rover sold 583,313 cars - more than one every minute, 44 per cent of which were Range Rovers.
The Range Rover Velar will be sold in more than 100 markets globally and is available to order from later this year.
The Velar will be on display at the Design Museum in London until March 6 for customers who are eager to see the model before buying it.
The car will also form the centrepiece of a new exhibition documenting 45 years of Range Rover, Velar to Velar which opens at the Solihull manufacturing plant at the end of March.
It will be doing the motor show circuit around the world, starting with Geneva this month.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has been at the centre of controversies for over a year, has bagged the annual 'Visitor's Award' for the best varsity in the country.
JNU has been hogging limelight for all the wrong reasons since last February when three of its students were arrested on sedition charges in connection with an event on campus during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.
The varsity administration and students have been at loggerheads since then over various issues including curbs on protests, amendments in admission policy and massive seat cut in MPhil and PhD courses.
Despite all the negative limelight, the varsity has been recognised by the Visitor.
"The winners of Visitor's Award for 'Innovation' and 'Research' will receive a citation and cash award of Rs one lakh. The awards will be presented during a function as part of the 'Festival of Innovations'," the statement said.
JNU Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar will receive the award including a citation and a trophy from President Pranab Mukherjee at an event at the Rasthrapati Bhavan on March 6.
"Deepak Pant from Central University of Himachal Pradesh has won the Visitor's Award for 'Innovation' while the Visitor's Award for 'Research' has been jointly won by Shyam Sunder from Banaras Hindu University and Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University," a Rashtrapati Bhawvan statement said.
Last year, Rakesh Bhatnagar and the Molecular Parasitology Group of JNU had won the Visitor's Awards for "Research" and "Innovation" respectively.
Mukherjee had announced institution of these awards in 2014 with the aim of promoting healthy competition among Central Universities and motivating them to adopt the best practices from around the world in pursuit of excellence.
While Pant has bagged the award for development of a reactor for direct conversion of waste plastic to LPG in small scale, Sunder will be awarded for his work in the area of diagnosis and treatment of Indian Kala-azar.
Karak has been recognised for development of renewable resource based bio-degradable hyper-branched polymer nano-composites as self-cleaning, self-healing and bio-compatible smart sustainable futuristic material.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The administration today ordered removal of a "controversial" poster which sprang up on its campus demanding "freedom for Kashmir and Palestine".
The poster with "Freedom for Kashmir! Free Palestine! Right to Self Determination Long Live! DSU" written on it was pasted on the wall by the Left-leaning Democratic Students Union (DSU).
DSU's former members Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and others had organized the controversial event last year against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at the during which anti- slogans were allegedly raised.
Khalid, Bhattacharya and former student union president Kanhaiya Kumar are out on bail in a sedition case over the event.
Some students noticed the poster on the wall of the new block of the School of Social Sciences (SSS) and informed the administration.
The authorities asked the university security to remove the poster in the evening.
"The university has already lost precious time and energy in such unnecessary controversies. Unfortunately, a small group of people are still trying to create another ruckus and vitiate the academic environment.
"We don't know who put up the poster as this has been the pattern in JNU. However, the administration has asked the staff to bring it down," a senior university official said.
The administration was unable to function for over 17 days due to the blockade of the administrative building by students in protest against changes in the admission policy and it was only early this week that the staff got access to the building and resumed work.
Kerala Government today asked the Centre to speed up efforts for the rescue of Kerala priest Tom Uzhunnalil, who has been abducted in war-torn Yemen in March, 2016 by IS terrorist.
State Minister for law A K Balan, replying to a submission in the assembly on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said the government had already asked the Centre to speed up efforts to rescue Father Tom Uzhunnalil, hailing from Ramapuram in Kottayam district.
"It has been confirmed that he was in the captivity of terrorists, but there is no information about the place where he is kept", Balan said.
He was abducted by IS terrorists from Yemen in March 4, 2016, Balan said.
Kerala Congress (M) supremo K M Mani, who brought the matter in the House, said an all party delegation from Kerala should go to Delhi to exert pressure on the Centre for the rescue of Father Tom Uzhunnalil.
Mani said if necessary, Centre should seek the help of United Nations for his rescue.
The assembly should pass a resolution asking the Centre to view the matter very seriously, he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Police today told a city court that a magisterial court has erred in directing it to lodge an FIR to probe the cause of death of two persons during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The probe agency sought setting aside of the magisterial court order and claimed that Supreme Court guidelines were not followed by the complainant in filing the plea in the court.
After hearing arguments on a revision petition filed by the State, Special Judge Pitambur Dutt listed the matter for further arguments on March 27.
During the hearing, prosecutor Atul Shrivastava contended that as per the apex court's guidelines, a person has to first approach the concerned SHO or DCP of the area with a complaint and move the court if no action is taken.
However, in this case, complainant Amrik Singh directly approached the court with his complaint. This was also in the knowledge of additional chief metropolitan magistrate who had ordered lodging of an FIR in the matter, the prosecutor said.
"The magisterial court has erred in directing the police to lodge an FIR. The complaint is pre-mature and infructuous. Magistrate should have asked the complainant to comply with the Supreme Court guidelines and then file the complaint," the prosecutor said.
The magisterial court's order had come on a criminal complaint filed by Amrik Singh, a resident of Tilak Nagar in West Delhi, seeking lodging of an FIR against then DCP of Delhi Police Amod Kanth and former ACP S S Menon.
Singh, who lost two of his family members during the riots, alleged that the two senior police officers violated the constitutional right of the complainant and his family and misused the powers conferred on them.
Referring to various apex court judgements, Shrivastava said in one of the cases, the Supreme Court had said that an FIR cannot be lodged after four-and-a-half years of an incident. In this case, the magistrate had directed the police to register an FIR after 32 years of the alleged occurence.
The sessions court had on January 25 stayed the ACMM's January 23 order on the police's revision petition.
The ACMM had said "investigation needs to be carried out to collect evidence and find out the cause of death of Amir Singh and Narender Singh. The grievance of complainant and his family members needs to be redressed."
The complainant had alleged that the two men were tortured and murdered by police officials.
The police opposed the plea for an FIR, saying a petition was filed by the complainant in Delhi High Court in 2011 in this regard which was dismissed. It had also alleged that the family had started indiscriminate firing from their house and the two men had sustained bullet injuries in cross firing in 1984.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A local court here sentenced a 50-year-old man to life imprisonment for murdering a woman.
Additional District Sessions Judge Om Vir Singh yesterday held Islam guilty under Section 302 (murder) of IPC for gunning down a 35-year-old woman at her residence in 2007.
A fine of Rs 80,000 was also imposed on him.
Prosecution counsel Anjum Khan said Savita was shot dead by Islam at her residence in Shamli district's Banti Khera village on April 29, 2007. Islam is lodged in jail since then for the murder.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wells Fargo admits that its employees opened more than 2,000,000 fake accounts in order to run up fraudulent charges against its customers (employees who balked at committing fraud were fired and blacklisted for life from the banking industry); it also says that the customers it stole from can't sue the company because fake account paperwork bearing their forged signatures includes a promise to enter into binding arbitration rather than suing.
Binding arbitration is a system created to allow giant companies to settle their differences without costly litigation, but a Supreme Court decision has allowed it to be applied to the dealings between individuals and giant companies leading to a plague of companies that make you surrender your constitutional legal rights as a condition of shopping with them (it took me six months to find LA doctors and dentists who'd see me without signing one of these agreements!).
Notably, binding arbitration clauses kill class action lawsuits, which are critical in this kind of mass fraud. Alas, Wells Fargo had good luck convincing judges that they couldn't be subjected to class actions, even after admitting massive, criminal frauds. Prior to the 2016 election, there was some hope that federal finance regulators would crack down on them, but since Donald Trump owes Wells Fargo more than $500,000,000, that seems unlikely (indeed, one of Trump's first acts after his inauguration was to flush the Department of Labor's whistleblower site for Wells Fargo employees down the memory hole.
Wells Fargo told Consumerist that forcing its customers to seek justice one at a time, through the arbitration system's kangaroo courts, was good for them: "Our goal is to do what's right for every customer and team member, every day. If we are unable to resolve a dispute directly, arbitration is a forum in which a customer or a team member dispute is heard and resolved within a neutral third-party legal process. Arbitration is generally faster and less expensive than litigation. It is a fair, efficient and effective forum available for a customer and a team member to pursue and resolve a legal claim."
As Consumerist points out, courtrooms are also forums "in which a customer dispute is 'heard and resolved within a neutral third-party legal process." And while arbitration might be faster than courts for settling a single claim, 2,000,000 arbitration proceedings are going to be a lot slower than one class action suit.
In a follow-up question, we asked Wells how it could claim that arbitration is more efficient, unless the bank is indeed hoping that only a small number of customers will enter into this process. The response was even more baffling. "By resolving legal disputes through arbitration, both the consumer and the business have the ability to reach a positive resolution at a lower cost," explained the bank. Once again, this doesn't seem to compute. With the exception of the very few (sometimes only one) named plaintiff in a class action, the members of the plaintiff class don't have to do anything to mount a case. That's the point: The named plaintiff represents the class. Requiring that customers enter into arbitration on an individual basis means that Wells is asking each affected person to put in the time, effort, and expense of bringing a case against a bank with nearly $2 trillion in assets. Rosemary Shahan, President of the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety Foundation, and a member of the We Do Count coalition tells Consumerist that Wells Fargo's justification for forcing arbitration reminded her of the old line "'Welcome to my parlor,' said the spider to the fly."
Wells Fargo Tries, Fails To Explain Why Customers Shouldn't Be Allowed To Sue Over Fake Accounts [Chris Morran/The Consumerist]
US forces conducted a series of air strikes in Yemen against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Pentagon said.
"More than 20 strikes targeted AQAP militants, equipment and infrastructure in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan, Baida and Shabwa," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said in a statement.
"The strikes were conducted in partnership with the government of Yemen, and were coordinated with President (Abedrabbo Mansour) Hadi."
The strikes come barely a month after a controversial American commando raid against the jihadists that left multiple civilians dead and killed a US Navy SEAL.
A US official told AFP that Tuesday's strikes had been planned months ago and were unrelated to the botched raid, which the White House has repeatedly claimed was a success that yielded crucial intelligence.
"The raid was valuable, but the strikes were not directly related to it," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Davis said Tuesday's strikes targeted militants, equipment, infrastructure, heavy weapons systems and fighting positions.
"The strikes will degrade the AQAP's ability to coordinate external terror attacks and limit their ability to use territory seized from the legitimate government of Yemen as a safe space for terror plotting," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The NCP in Maharashtra today said it will maintain a distance from the Shiv Sena and BJP-- who are locked in a power struggle to install their Mayor in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)--unlike the Congress which had aligned with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in Osmanabad and Raigad Zilla Parishads ahead of the state civic polls.
Talking to reporters here, State NCP President Sunil Tatkare said his party was clear from the start of the campaign (for the just concluded Municipal Corporation and Zilla Parishad polls in Maharashtra) that it will not have any understanding or friendly fight with the Shiv Sena and BJP.
"We kept our word while Congress which had also assured the same, tied up with the Sena in Osmanabad and Raigad Zilla Parishads. While in many seats elsewhere, they were in a friendly fight," he alleged.
Tatkare said the party is yet to take a call on Mumbai Mayor elections and will wait to see how the situation unfolds.
"(However) Under no circumstances, will our party support the Sena or BJP (in the BMC). We feel the two saffron parties are likely to come together for power. Shiv Sena has no guts to withdraw support to the state government," Tatkare claimed.
Taking a dig on Sena, Tatkare also said, "only they (Sena) know where is the notice period for the BJP led government in the state and whether the resignation letter carried by its ministers in their pockets is still there or torn."
"What is the use of only criticising the government through 'Saamana' (the Sena mouthpiece). Shiv Sena should act on the criticism and withdraw support," he added.
To a question regarding speculations that NCP may support a Shiv Sena government, Tatkare said, "I don't foresee a mid-term election since Shiv Sena will not pull out of the government. To install its own CM, Sena will have to withdraw support to the present government. If it does pull out and think about forming a government, we will see what to do."
When asked about the prospect of a no-trust motion against the Devendra Fadnavis government, he said the Congress has not discussed the proposal with his party.
Meanwhile, nine NCP corporators from Mumbai met party chief Sharad Pawar where he discussed the political situation in the city, post the Mumbai civic poll results where BJP finished just two seats behind Shiv Sena (which won 84 seats).
Four of the five independents have joined the Sena since the results.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress, which won 31 seats in the last month's Mumbai civic elections, has decided to contest the March 8 Mayoral poll.
Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam told PTI that he has approached the Samajwadi Party and the NCP to support his party's nominee.
"I have approached leaders of SP and NCP to support the Congress nominee (in the Mayoral poll) if they are not in favour of (Shiv) Sena and BJP. Leaders of the two parties have told me that they will discuss the issue with their party leaders and get back," Nirupam said.
Finalisation of the Congress candidate for the post of mayor will be done in a day or two, he said.
In the recently-held BMC polls, the Shiv Sena won 84 seats, BJP 82, Congress was relegated to the third spot with 31 seats, NCP got nine and Raj Thackeray's MNS won seven seats.
Sena has claimed support of four independents while BJP has claimed support of one independent.
In the poll, there is no need for any party to have 114 members to win the Mayor's post. A candidate getting the highest number of votes from those present at the time of voting will be the winner.
If BJP decides to contest the Mayoral poll, the role of Congress and other smaller parties come into picture.
Congress sources said the party is keen to ensure Sena wins in the mayor election. However it cannot be seen going with the Shiv Sena officially.
As abstaining from the vote would be seen as indirect support to the Shiv Sena, the party decided to put up a candidate, the sources said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minster Arun Jaitley today said nationalism is considered a bad word only in India even as he accused the opposition parties of "orchestrating" the the Ramjas College row ahead of the UP Assembly polls.
Jaitley, at a press conference here, said the debate was not started by the BJP government but the party will participate whenever there is a discussion on nationalism.
"Nationalism is a good word but it is considered bad only in India," he said.
On the Ramjas College row, he alleged, "The row was the deliberate creation of the opposition which fuelled a debate on nationalism ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections just like the 'award wapsi' controversy had broken out during theBihar Assembly polls."
"As soon the Bihar Assembly elections were over then the award wapsi row died down. This (Ramjas College) row has been orchestrated by the opposition," he alleged.
Yesterday, while addressing the 'Varanasi Vyapari Sammelan' (traders meet), Jaitley had alleged that some people had raised anti-India slogans in a university and said those who want to weaken India have sided themselves with the opposition parties.
"When I was abroad I read on the Internet that a row has erupted in India. Some separatists and communists raised slogans against the country in the university," he had said.
"Could anyone have imagined that the Congress of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, is holding rallies in support of separatists and Maoists," he said.
"Could anyone imagine the party's senior leaders making such mistakes," he had said, adding that now the responsibility of keeping the country together has fallen on the shoulders of the BJP.
Those who wanted to keep the country united were supporting the BJP while those who wanted to weaken the country had joined the opposition parties, he alleged.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The navy today successfully test- fired an anti-ship missile for the first time from an indigenously built Kalvari class submarine, describing the launch as a significant milestone in enhancing its "sub- surface" warfare prowess.
The weapon was fired from the submarine, the first of India's six Scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75, and it "successfully hit" a surface target during the trial in the Arabian Sea.
All the six diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with the anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat, the defence ministry said, noting these missiles will provide the vessels the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges.
"The missile successfully hit a surface target at an extended range during the trial firing.
"This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navy's sub-surface warfare capability," the ministry said.
The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NDA legislators today continued to disrupt both Houses of the Bihar Legislature protesting against minister Abdul Jalil Mastan for his "uncharitable" remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They also met the Governor demanding Mastan's ouster from the government and filed an FIR against the Congress leader.
Members of the BJP and its allies in the NDA staged a protest in the Assembly as well as in the Legislative Council for the second consecutive day, seeking an immediate removal of the minister in the Grand Alliance government, forcing an adjournment of both Houses till 2 PM.
On February 22, Mastan was caught on camera asking a crowd at Amour in Purnea district to hit the photograph of Modi with shoes.
He made the remarks during a protest against the Centre's decision to scrap high-value currency notes.
The video purportedly shows Mastan telling the people to hit the prime minister's photo with shoes. Subsequently, some of the protesters were seen hitting a photo of Modi, kept on the stage, with shoes in Mastan's presence.
The video was telecast by television channels on February 28, triggering a protest by the NDA in and outside the Houses since yesterday.
An NDA delegation went to Raj Bhawan and submitted a memorandum to Governor Ramnath Kovind, demanding sacking of Mastan from the post of Bihar Excise and Prohibition Minister.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Sushil Kumar Modi, his Assembly counterpart Prem Kumar, ex-chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, RLSP's Lallan Paswan and others were part of the delegation.
"Since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not sack Mastan for his gross unconstitutional conduct, we were forced to approach the Governor for his removal," Modi told reporters.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Nitin Navin lodged an FIR against Mastan at the Kotwali police station.
Navin said, in his complaint, he has sought slapping of sedition charges against the minister, his arrest for disturbing communal harmony and also, a probe into his citizenship as he hails from an area bordering Bangladesh.
Kotwali SHO Ram Shankar Singh told PTI that he would forward the FIR to Purnea district where Mastan allegedly made the remarks.
(REOPENS CAL 1)
The BJP and NDA made it clear that they would accept
nothing less than sacking of the minister, while the ruling Grand Alliance leaders including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said the matter is closed after the minister has said sorry.
Bihar Congress president and minister Ashok Choudhary told reporters that "first BJP should take resignation from its MP Subramaniam Swamy for making objectionable comments on Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the past."
Deputy Chief minister and RJD Legislature party leader Tejaswi Prasad Yadav pointed towards utterances of Union Minister of State Giriraj Singh against RJD President Lalu Prasad and asked BJP to give him a marching order first.
Mastan's issue continued to disrupt proceedings in both Houses of state Legislature.
In state Legislative Assembly, Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar raised the demand for sacking of the minister in the beginning of Question Hour.
Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary's repeated appeal to maintain order in the House and give a chance to the minister to speak on the issue did not move BJP and NDA MLAs who trooped into well of the House and raised anti-government slogans.
Some Grand Alliance MLAs rose from their seat to shout down NDA members. Amid din the House was adjourned till 2 PM.
The scene was no better in state Legislative Council, where NDA members led by Sushil Kumar Modi raised Mastan's issue and forced adjournment till 2:30 PM.
Mastan, who is in the eye of storm, was present in Council but was not allowed by NDA to speak.
Tejaswi Yadav attacked BJP for refusing to give a chance to the minister to make a statement. Talking to reporters outside Assembly, he also sought action against opposition MLAs who overturned Reporters table during stir yesterday and threw chair.
Parliamentary Affairs minister and JD(U) leader Shrawan Kumar also hit at BJP for not allowing the minister to speak.
Sushil Modi told reporters in his Council chamber that its not only a matter of use of "unparliamentary and uncharitable" comments on PM but more than that a heinous act of inciting crowd to hit a photograph of PM kept on stage with shoes.
Questioning the silence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the demand to sack Mastan from Cabinet, Sushil Modi asked why an FIR has not been registered into the incident so far and action taken against Circle Officer and Station House Officer who were present at the place when the protest programme took place in Purnea.
(Rptng after adding a new last paragraph)
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Meanwhile, Abdul Jalil Mastan today said he has already expressed regret for the February 22 incident.
"I have already expressed sorry for the incident than why BJP is insisting on my resignation and making all sorts of allegation against me," Mastan told reporters outside Assembly premises.
"If they ask to kill me or hang me will you do that?" Mastan said.
(REOPENS CES 3)
As soon as the House resumed in the post-lunch session
at 2 pm, agitated BJP members led by Prem Kumar continued with their demand for sacking of Prohibition, Excise and Registration department Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan for his undignified remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"What problem the Chief Minister has in taking action against the minister when Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi have also supported action against him. The CM says he neither protects nor implicate anyone, then why he is not taking action against the minister who made undignified statement against the PM," Prem Kumar said.
The BJP members rushed to the well and sat on dharna raising slogans against the government demanding Mastan's sacking.
Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary tried to pacify the BJP members with his repeated request to them to take their seats and participate in the debate on Budget 2017-18 but they did not relent and continued with their sloganeering in the House.
The Speaker, who initiated the debate on Budget, adjourned the proceedings till 3:30 pm after 20 minutes of din and uproar in the House.
Even RJD MLA Rajendra Kumar spoke on Budget amid uproarious scenes.
In the din, the Finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui read out his reply amid din, pandemonium and sloganeering when the House met at 3:30 pm again.
In his reply, Siddiqui rebutted the opposition's claim that it is a lacklustre Budget with no focus - spelled out his government's priority saying that the Grand Alliance government has put "development, poverty alleviation and financial stability" in the foreground of its agenda. Siddiqui, who could not complete his reply, tabled his written reply on the floor of the House.
In the end, when the House was about to be adjourned, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made a comment in lighter vein over opposition members staging sit-in in the well requesting Speaker "These members are sitting in the well of the House. They have parched throat (due to slogan shouting). Please get them water.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) today decided to auction the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel and cancel the licence of Le Meridien, two decisions that have been pending for a while.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a member of council of NDMC, made the announcement following a special meeting of its top decision-making body.
"Important decisions today's NDMC meeting-open auction of Taj Mansingh, cancel Le Meridian Hotel license, 240 days TMR (Temporary Muster Roll) every yr 2 all death cases (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.
Last November, Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) of the Tata Group had moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order allowing NDMC to auction the Taj Hotel arguing there was no need to do it as it generates good revenue for the civic body.
Le Meridien's licence fee has been a bone of contention with allegations of irregularities against the civic body in recovery of licence fee from the 5-star property located in the city's Lutyens' Zone.
NDMC had hiked its licence fee to over Rs 3 crore last year.
It is alleged that NDMC officials allowed a settlement of pending licence fee dues towards the civic body by the hotel by accepting a one-time fee of over Rs 150 crore which allegedly resulted in a loss of Rs 400 crore to the exchequer.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some 970 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya, Italy's coastguard said, as the numbers attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe continue to rise.
Even before yesterday's arrivals, more than 13,400 people had arrived on Italy's shores so far this year -- an increase of 50 to 70 per cent compared with 2016 and 2015.
According to the United Nations, more than 440 people have died or gone missing in January and February while crossing from Libya in the depths of winter, when the sea is at its most treacherous.
The migrants rescued yesterday were crammed into four rubber dinghies, a small wooden boat and another larger one.
Italy's coastguard said it coordinated the rescue operations with a Norwegian vessel under the command of EU border agency Frontex and two humanitarian ships manned by the SOS Mediterranee aid group, Doctors without Borders and the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms group.
The coast guard also received a distress signal from a sailboat that left Greece with about 85 migrants on board heading to southern Italy, but the boat never made it out of Greek waters.
It was rescued by a Maltese vessel that happened to be in the area, and the migrants were taken to the southern Greek port of Kalamata.
European efforts to close the migrant route at the Greek end of the Mediterranean are thought to lie behind the increased flow to Italy, with most departures taking place from the west of Libya, just 300 kilometres away from the Italian coast.
European countries are considering new measures aimed at blocking the migrants' arrival, alarming aid groups which fear people stranded in Libya may suffer mistreatment.
Six years after the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, Libya is still in chaos and the country has become a major launching pad for migrants seeking to enter Europe.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Regulator NPPA will meet stent manufacturers next week to discuss issues like pricing and availability of the medical device.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) also said it has so far received complaints against 24 hospitals for overcharging on stents, out of which nine have been issued show cause notices.
It added that non compliance with its instructions on stent prices may lead to prosecution.
In a notification, the NPPA said it has called for a meeting with stent makers on March 7 "to discuss issues related to availability of stents and monitoring of ceiling prices and other issues".
The regulator has been monitoring the situation ever since it announced price cap on stents on February 14. It has asked manufacturers, importers, distributors and hospitals to ensure availability at the revised prices.
"Total 24 complaints of overcharging on stents, nine hospitals issued show cause notices, copy of bills awaited in other cases," the NPPA said in a tweet.
It said in overcharging cases, the name of the concerned stent companies can be ascertained only after receiving replies from hospitals.
"The 24 hospitals under scrutiny are also accountable on not mentioning the name of the company, brand and specifications of stents billed," the regulator added.
So far in the complaints received, it has been observed from the bill copies that "hospitals are not complying" with instructions specified in its price cap order, it said.
"This a serious non-compliance of government orders," the NPPA said, adding "non-compliance of these instructions shall now be treated as deliberated distortion of evidence along with charges of overpricing. Such cases may also be taken up prosecution under EC Act".
The NPPA also warned the hospitals "that non compliance with its instructions on stent prices may lead to prosecution."
The hospitals against which complaints have been received include Max Hospital in Saket, New Delhi, Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, Metro Hospital in Faridabad, PGI Hospital Chandigarh and Bharat Heart Institute in Dehradun, among others.
Max Healthcare and Lilavati have denied overcharging patients for stents and insisted they were complying with NPPA guidelines.
The regulator said hospitals, nursing homes and clinics utilising stents shall specifically and separately mention the cost of the stent along with its brand, name of the manufacturer, importer, batch number and other details in their billing.
In a major relief to lakhs of cardiac patients, the NPPA had slashed prices of life-saving coronary stents by up to 85 per cent by capping them at Rs 7,260 for bare metal ones and Rs 29,600 for drug eluting variety.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today said the Opposition Congress created an uproar in the House yesterday when BJP MLAs were about to raise the issue of alleged scam at Jai Narayan Vyas University.
"The recruitment scam cannot be suppressed by the Opposition by disrupting the proceedings of the House. The scam will have big names," she said in her Motion of Thanks to the Governor's address at the Assembly here.
In an oblique attack on Congress leader Ashok Gehlot for his comment that his party was making a list of officials working on the government's directions in this issue, Raje said, "The state is with officials who are working for the development and prosperity of Rajasthan."
"Those who are threatening that they are making a list are till now in the hangover of power," she said.
Last month, the former chief minister had said those who are doing injustice while being in the bureaucracy will not be spared.
"We are making a list of officials who are working on the directions of the government. Those who are honest need not worry," he had said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Psychologist Gert Storms doesn't want to review scientific papers if their authors refuse to share with him the underlying data. The American Psychological Association (APA), which publishes the journal he edits, has asked him to resign.
Nature.com's Gautam Naik reports that the effort to force him out is a test of The Peer Reviewer's Opennness Initiative, a move crafted to "increase transparency in a field beset by reports of fraud and dubious research."
Storms, a psychologist at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and a consulting editor for the APA's Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, accepted an invitation last year to review a study for the journal, and pointed out his new open-data policy. The journal's editor, Robert Greene, wrote back to say that Storms's stance set "a terrible precedent" because it was unfair to the author of the paper and opposed the APA's policies and the guidelines followed by other reviewers. "Given that your policy conflicts with that of the journal, I think that it's best that you step down from the editorial board," he wrote. Storms refused, writing that he would continue to do what he thought was necessary to "prevent sloppy science". And he forwarded his correspondence to other editors at the journal. Two of them, Robert Hartsuiker and Marc Brysbaert, both psychologists at Ghent University in Belgium, wrote to Greene saying that they, too, would quit if Storms was forced to resign. "The policy of asking people to leave rather than inviting a discussion and getting critical voices I found that quite inappropriate," said Hartsuiker.
A 2006 study showed that 73% of psychologists refuse to show their data after publication, even after agreeing to do so. It sounds shady, but Nature's article seems to suggest that an embarrassed unfamiliarity with the rigors of science is still sadly at hand in the halls of psychology:
surveyed 600 researchers in the field to understand barriers to data sharing. The main explanations that they gave were: data sharing is an uncommon practice in the field; researchers prefer to share data only on request; it is time consuming; and researchers have never learned how to share data properly. Wagenmakers' survey results have not yet been published. Despite prolonged pressure, the APA hasn't changed its data policies for years
Oh man, wait 'til you get a load of sociology! We have much better excuses for this sort of thing.
Photo credit: Gert Storms
Assam cabinet's decision to introduce Sanskrit as a compulsory subject till Class VIII has evoked sharp criticism from students organisations and opposition political parties in the state.
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has criticised the decision to make Sanskrit compulsory instead of promoting Assamese in the schools.
"We are not opposed to the Cabinet decision of making Sanskrit compulsory in the schools under the state board but the government should clarify whether now there will be the four-language formula in Assam instead of the three-language formula followed in other states", AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya said today.
Moreover, there can be no compromise with the teaching of Assamese in schools and the language has to be a part of the syllabus in the state, he added.
Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) also alleged that the move to impose Sanskrit as compulsory subject till Class eight was a "well-orchestrated conspiracy being micro managed and monitored from Nagpur (the RSS headquarter)".
The state government was preparing to "recruit Sanskrit teachers from outside since the state now lacks the required strength but we won't allow teachers from outside the state to be recruited in our schools," AJYCP President Biraj Kumar Talukdar said in a statement here.
AJYCP is not opposed to Sanskrit in the schools since it is the "ancient language which needs to be promoted and preserved in schools and colleges but we are concerned by the way the government is trying to impose the subject in the state when it knows very well that there is a shortage of Sanskrit teachers in the state".
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi alleged that the state Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was trying to warm up to the RSS and making Sanskrit compulsory was a step in that direction.
"The state government should have taken more interest and initiative to introduce Assamese in all schools in the state, including those under the Central Boards instead of imposing Sanskrit", he added.
NSUI state general secretary Jayanta Das said that they were not against Sanskrit as it is an ancient language and must be preserved but the way the BJP government is trying to impose on the student and the education system is not acceptable.
The Assam Cabinet at its recent meeting on February 28 had taken the decision to make Sanskrit a compulsory subject in all schools under the state board.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NCP president Sharad Pawar today came out in support of Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur who was allegedly given rape threats online for criticising the RSS-backed ABVP, saying those in power are creating an "atmosphere of terror".
Pawar said those who believe in democracy and women empowerment will stand against such intimidation.
"This is not the first time such an atmosphere of terror is being unleashed. The Haryana (Health) Minister's comments expose what kind of mindset exists," Pawar told reproters here.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij had said that those supporting Kaur for her campaign against the ABVP were pro-Pakistan and should be thrown out of the country.
Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on social media over her stance against RSS-backed students outfit ABVP and a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.
The 20-year-old daughter of a martyr had also complained of receiving "rape threats" allegedly from ABVP members, following which a FIR was registered against unknown persons.
Pawar said NCP's campus wing will raise its voice against such intimidation and terror in universities.
"Political leaders are contributing to vitiate the atmosphere," he said.
"The mindset of those in power at present is not good. They are not easing the situation, but are increasing the tension. All political parties should come together to raise their voice against such ideology," Pawar said adding he condemned the threats to Kaur.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "misleading" the country with his "blatant lies" on various issues including the "coconut juice" jibe on Rahul Gandhi, for which it demanded his apology.
The Opposition party hit out at Modi for not fulfilling any of the promises made to farmers, ex-servicemen and the poor and accused him of doing "treachery" with farmers.
"Blatant lies, jumlas and disinformation have become the hallmark of India's Prime Minister. The truth is that Modi ji does not speak the truth," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.
Showing a video of Rahul's speech in Manipur and that of the Prime Minister at a rally in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leader said it is more than apparent in the video that Modi is trying to mislead the nation and people of Uttar Pradesh.
Surjewala was referring to a remark made by the Congress vice president about progress made by a northeastern state which is essentially part of India's growth story.
"Modiji does not want people of Manipur and northeastern states to progress and participate in India's growth story. So Modiji must now apologise not only to the Congress party but to the entire nation. He should express regrets publicly for misleading people in UP as also the entire country by twisting and by falsifying the words of the leader of the principal Opposition party," he said.
"It does not behove a Prime Minister. Modiji has lowered the dignity of the office of Prime Minister and he should be ashamed about it," he added.
"We are sorry and sad in saying these words about Prime Minister of India who has become a habitual offender in telling lies."
Modi took a jibe at Rahul's reported remark that he was waiting for the day when packaged "coconut juice" from Manipur would sell in London. During his poll campaign in Manipur, Rahul had talked about 'Narangi' juice, the Congress claimed.
Surjewala also attacked Modi accusing him of "lying" about and "fudging" the growth numbers and of talking about the welfare of poor but increasing LPG prices steeply and imposing transaction tax on ATM usage. He also charged him with "treachery" with farmers.
"By giving fudged figures, you are attacking the economists who have shown you the mirror of truth on account of demon of demonetisation. Does Modi ji forget that from fake encounters to fake figures, can never cover the real truth. And the real truth is this," he said.
Surjewala also said Modi promised farming communities in UP, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, to include certain communities in OBC list, besides paying farmers 50 per cent more than their cost as MSP.
"Now for 2.5 years, Modiji has not fulfilled the promises made. That shows absolute treachery an falsification of promises by Narendra Modi. India's farmers are large-hearted and even if you do treachery with them they will pardon you if you do course correction on important issue. The ball now lies in Modi ji's court."
He also said that by "abusing known economists, Modiji cannot hide the truth and the truth is that incompetence and malgovernance have become the hallmark of of Modiji's type of functioning".
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pope Francis will meet with the leaders of all EU nations at the Vatican on March 24 ahead of the bloc's special summit in Rome, Vatican sources said today.
The March 25 summit will mark the 60th anniversary of the bloc's founding treaty. The pontiff will meet the leaders in the afternoon, the sources said.
The pope has already received EU leaders at the Vatican in May 2016 when he was presented with the bloc's Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unification.
In a speech at that ceremony he called on them to "tear down the walls" and build a fairer society.
Invoking the memory of the EU founding fathers' pursuit of integration in the aftermath of World War II, the pontiff said they inspired because they had "dared to change radically the models" that had led to war.
The pope also made a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in November 2014.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Controversial businessman Moin Akhtar Qureshi, an accused in a black money case, had made a false claim to go abroad, Income Tax Department told a city court today.
The Department sought modification of the bail condition of the meat exporter and said he should be directed to seek the court's prior permission before leaving India in future.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Garg asked the counsel of Income Tax (IT) Department to file a proper application in this regard and listed the matter for April 7.
IT Department's standing counsel Brijesh Garg said that Qureshi's bail condition should be modified and, instead of just intimating the court about his foreign trip, he should be directed to seek the court's prior permission before leaving the country.
In October last year, Qureshi was stopped at the IGI Airport here following a look-out notice against him by the Enforcement Directorate which is probing a case of money laundering and violation of foreign exchange norms.
Qureshi was then allowed to go after he showed a court order saying he had to only inform the court for his foreign travel which he had done.
IT Department's prayer came in the backdrop of a plea filed Qureshi last year intimating the court that he wanted to visit the United Kingdom in October where his wife was undergoing treatment.
While verifying facts, the IT Department had received a communication from the passport office that Qureshi's wife, Nasreen Qureshi, was in India during that period.
The department said Qureshi had made a false ground before the court to go abroad and for future purposes, he should be directed to seek permission before leaving the country. Qureshi had claimed that his wife was in London in October 2016.
While granting bail, the court had in March 2015 imposed condition on the accused that he should not leave the country without its prior permission. Later, it was modified to only an intimation.
He was summoned by the court in 2015 as an accused in a black money case filed by IT Department for allegedly not disclosing an income of nearly Rs 20 crore.
Qureshi's employee Aditya Sharma was also summoned as
accused in the case earlier and both were granted bail after they had appeared in the court. The Delhi High Court has stayed the proceedings against Sharma.
The court had taken cognisance of IT department's complaint under the IT Act relating to making false statement and the IPC for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, giving or fabricating false evidence in a judicial proceeding.
The complaint had said the department was investigating the matter and questioned Qureshi on February 15, 2014 at his residence here.
It had also alleged that during questioning, Qureshi made a false statement when he was asked about his income and assets and those in the names of his family members or associates. He was also asked to furnish the list of his bank lockers.
Qureshi had allegedly told the officials that he had only one locker with HSBC Bank's South Extension branch but, during probe, the department claimed to have found he had 11 lockers which were in the names of his employees and associates but the articles inside belonged to him.
The lockers were operated by Qureshi's employees of A M Q Group on his instructions, it had claimed, adding that over Rs 11.26 crore in cash and jewellery worth over Rs 8.35 crore were found in the lockers.
Later, Qureshi admitted that the money and the articles belonged to him and surrendered everything to the department, saying it could deduct the income tax from the seized money and return rest of the articles to him.
Regarding Sharma, the department had alleged that he had tried to mislead the department by making false statement regarding the lockers.
The Rajasthan government has asked all secondary and senior secondary schools to purchase a collection of essays and speeches by RSS ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, a move which may draw accusations of saffronisation of education.
"Secondary and senior secondary schools have been asked to purchase the books for their libraries. The scale of purchase will depend on the availability of funds with the schools," the Deputy Director (Social Education) at the Directorate of Secondary Education in Bikaner, Prakash Chand Jatoliya, said today.
The schools were directed last year, during Updahyaya's birth centenary, to purchase the collection of essays and speeches by him from Delhi-based Prabhat publication, he said.
In a circular, issued last month, the directorate informed the schools that the collection can be bought from the publisher for Rs 4,000.
There are over 13,000 secondary and senior secondary schools in the state, Jatolia said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Haryana Minister Anil Vij today asserted that renaming Indus Valley Civilisation as Sarasvati River Civilisation as per the proposal of a panel headed by the state CM will not be "rewriting" but "correcting history."
Vij made the assertion while supporting Sarasvati Heritage Development Board's proposal to rename Indus Valley Civilisation as Sarasvati River Civilisation, saying the mythical river actually existed once.
"It's an appropriate recommendation made by the board, chaired by the chief minister, as the river is no more a myth and its existence was a reality," Vij told reporters outside the state assembly.
Asked if changing the name of Indus Valley Civilisation wouldn't be rewriting history, Vij said, "When historians talked about Indus Valley, they thought Sarasvati river was a myth and that's why they did not mention it. Sindhu river was flowing and they named it everywhere."
"No one should call Sarasvati a myth since it has already been proved that the river was present. Now recent research, backed by ISRO and other reputed agencies, Sarasvati's path has been deciphered. Many things are being found at Rakhigarhi (in Hisar district) or where ever the river's path has been traced to Pakistan border," said Vij.
"So, it should be renamed as Sarasvati River Civilisation," he said.
Discarding suggestions that renaming the Indus valley civilisation reeked of the BJP agenda to "saffronise" things, Vij said "We are not rewriting history, we are correcting it."
Vij also said a large number of Harappan sites have been found in Haryana over the years.
"The nomenclature of the Indus Valley Civilisation should now be changed to the Sarasvati-Indus civilisation," he said.
The largest Harappan site Rakhigarhi and the oldest Bhirrana are both in Haryana. The state government is restarting excavation at Kunal in Fatehabad district, he said.
Haryana Archaeology and Museums Department, in collaboration with the Indian Archaeological Society and National Museum, New Delhi will soon undertake excavation at Kunal in district Fatehabad, the earliest Harappan sites in Haryana.
Vij said Kunal is located in Tehsil Ratia in district Fatehabad on the banks of now dried up river course of ancient mighty river Sarasvati.
In a written reply to a question by Congress MLA Karan Singh Dalal, the Haryana Assembly was earlier informed that "the scientific evidence/material relied on by the Government in respect of development of Sarasvati river and its heritage is derived from multiple sources and is substantial."
The Haryana government had earlier constituted Saraswati Heritage Development Board to take up research on river Saraswati.
(REOPENING DES43)
Earlier on Tuesday, the Haryana assembly had held a debate on the Saraswati river with the opposition parties questioning the government on its venture on the mythical river.
Ridiculing the state government's Sarasvati river project, Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala had said he had heard of digging up of a canal, but the government is busy here digging up a lost river.
"Never heard before a river being dug up," Chautala said in the State assembly on Tuesday.
Congress' Geeta Bhukkal had also ridiculed the venture saying the BJP government is trying to project as if Sarasvati river was its creation.
Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, also the Minister of Archaeology and Museums, had, however, told the the Assembly on Tuesday that "we have undertaken digging of the route of the river from Adi Badri to Mugalwali and Ambawali on a 32-km stretch. Even scientists have seen the water.."
Notably, the government has been undertaking excavation of the river. The Manohar Lal Khattar government had organised 'Sarasvati Mahotsav' in January, under which a two-day international conference on the Sarasvati river was held at the Kurukshetra University.
Meanwhile, in reply to a question by Congress MLA Karan Singh Dalal, the Haryana assembly was today informed that the Sarasvati Heritage Development Board had been set up in October 2015 for making a conservation plan for Sarasvati river and to conduct research and spread awareness about the river and its heritage.
The Board has been sanctioned a budget of Rs 3.01 crore for 2015-16 and Rs 10 crore for 2016-17.
The assembly was informed that "demarcation of Sarasvati river as per revenue record has been completed and as per Survey of India record, it is also under process. All the gaps/discontinuity in the alignment of Sarasvati river from Adi Badri to its outfall in river Ghaggar-Sarsvati have been identified and excavation work for the internal clearance in 190 km out of 204 km has been completed."
"Identification and development of sources of water to maintain continuous flow in Sarasvati river too is under process," the Assembly was informed in the written reply.
The reply read that identification and mapping of palaeo channel of river Sarasvati has almost been completed in consultation with various agencies including ISRO and alignment of the river has been fixed.
The trial run of river Sarasvati from Uncha-Chandna, Yamuna Nagar, to Pipli, Kurukshetra was successfully carried out first time by using surplus flood water of river Yamuna through Shahabad feeder during July 2016.
A court in Rohtak, Haryana, on Thursday summoned yoga guru Ramdev for his "beheading" remark made last year, directing him to appear before it on April 29.
The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Goyal issued summons to the yoga guru under sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke the breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, senior Supreme Court lawyer R K Anand, who argued the case recently on behalf of the complainant, said.
The complaint has been filed by Congress leader and former Haryana minister Subhash Batra, who sought registration of a FIR against Ramdev.
Batra said he had lodged a police complaint against Ramdev last year.
"However, as the police did not register a FIR, I approached the court," he said on Thursday.
Ramdev is Haryana's brand ambassador for the promotion of yoga and ayurveda.
While speaking at a function in Rohtak in April last year, he had said that but for the rule of law he would have "beheaded" lakhs of people for refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
His remarks had drawn sharp condemnation from various quarters, including opposition parties.
"Koi aadmi topi pehan kar ke khada ho jaata hai, bolta Bharat mata ki jai nahi bolunga, chahe meri gardan kaat do. Arrey, is desh mein kanoon hai, nahi toh teri ek ki kya, hum toh lakhon ki gardan kaat sakte hain (Somebody wearing a cap stands up and says he will not say Bharat mata ki jai even if you decapitate me. There is rule of law in this country, otherwise let alone one, we would behead lakhs," Ramdev had allegedly said without naming anyone.
The opposition Congress today created a ruckus in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, protesting against the government's decision to set up a corporation to sell liquor.
The Speaker had to carry out the listed business amid slogan-shouting and adjourn the proceedings thrice.
State Congress president Bhupesh Baghel raised the issue first by moving anadjournment motionnotice, but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar said such matters can't be taken up during the Question Hour.
Baghel raised the issue again after the Question Hour. The BJP government's decision to get involved in retail liquor sale was being opposed by the people everywhere, he said.
Women had taken to the streets opposing the move and were demanding complete prohibition, the Congress leader said.
Police recently thrashed the activist Mamta Sharma who had filed a PIL on the issue and other women when they were protesting at Ahiwara in Durg district, Baghel said.
PWD minister Rajesh Munat intervened, saying that before demanding prohibition, all the 90 members of this House should make a resolution not to touch alcohol.
This led to a pandemonium in the House.
Commercial Tax Minister Amar Agrawal said the decision to set up a government corporation for retail liquor sale will check illegal sale by the middlemen.
However, Congress legislators continued shouting slogans while demanding a complete ban on liquor, so the Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal adjourned the House for ten minutes.
When proceedings resumed, Baghel reiterated his demand. He was supported by Congress Legislative Party Leader T S Singhdeo and MLAs Arun Vora and Dhanendra Sahu.
Amid chaos, Agrawal said the Supreme Court has banned sale of liquor upto 500 mts from the highways, and the government will ensure compliance of the order fromApril 1.
After the formation of Chhattisgarh, government sold
liquor in Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari and Mahasamund between 2001-2003, Agrawal said, adding that Chhattisgarh Beverage Corporation was constituted in 2002.
The revenue from liquor sale in the current fiscal was expected to reach at Rs 3300 crore, the minister said.
Agrawal also stated that the state government had undertaken a drive to shift 417 existing liqour shops in compliance of the SC order.
After Agrawal's reply, the Speaker rejected the adjournment motion notice. As the Congress MLAs kept shouting slogans, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings twice, and later the listed business was carried out amid ruckus.
Russia's foreign minister today pushed an "inclusive national dialogue" in Libya at talks with its UN-backed premier that came after his key rival sought to boost ties with Moscow.
"We are convinced that only the Libyan people themselves can overcome the current crisis, all the parties in Libya through an inclusive national dialogue aimed at reconciliation," Russia's Sergei Lavrov told Fayez al-Sarraj at the start of the meeting.
Lavrov described Moscow as an "old friend" of Libya and insisted it would "strongly advocate the need to create conditions for the Libyans themselves to resolve their problems".
Sarraj's Moscow trip comes as Libya remains in chaos, six years after the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in the midst of a NATO-backed armed uprising.
Sarraj's fragile Government of National Accord (GNA), formed under a United Nations-backed deal signed in late 2015, has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway.
Military strongman Khalifa Haftar is aligned with the rival administration and commands the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army which is battling jihadists and controls key oil export terminals.
Haftar has sought to bolster ties with the Kremlin to seek support for an end to a UN arms embargo, visiting Moscow in November and going onboard a Russian aircraft off the Libyan coast in January.
Last month dozens of Haftar's fighters were flown to Russia for medical treatment in a sign of warming ties.
Analysts believe Russia, emboldened by its military success in Syria, is seeking a foothold in oil-rich Libya with support for Haftar.
On February 14 Russia tried to mediate a meeting between Sarraj and Haftar in Cairo, but the talks fell through.
Sarraj's visit also comes after Russian oil giant Rosneft and Libya's National Oil Corporation last week signed a deal to explore possible cooperation in various fields, including exploration and production.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senator Ron Johnson [R-WI/Twitter/email/DC office (202) 224-5323] is one of the many Republican lawmakers who've chosen not to meet with their own constituents during the Congressional recess; Earl Good, a Vietnam veteran and Milwaukee constituent who called Johnson's office hundreds of times because the Senator won't meet with the people he represents has now been sent a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal retaliation if he doesn't stop contacting his elected official.
Dear Mr. Good:
This Cease and Desist letter is to inform you that any further communication from you to U.S. Senator Ron Johnson's office can only be done in writing. This means that you are not to call or visit any of Senator Johnson's staff or any of his offices at any time. Our office has done all that we can to assist you with your concerns. This letter acts as written notice of our expectation for you to discontinue your unwarranted telephone calls and office visits. If you fail to comply with this notice, then we will have no other alternative but to contact the United States Capitol Police and report your noncompliance.
Sincerely,
Staff
Ron Johnson's staff U.S. Senate
Saudi Arabia's King Salman called today for a united fight against terrorism in a speech to Indonesia's parliament during a landmark state visit to the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
The king is making the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia in almost 50 years as part of a tour of Asia, accompanied by a 1,000-strong delegation and hundreds of tons of luggage.
In a speech to hundreds of people at the legislature in the capital Jakarta, he called for an intensified fight against terrorism.
"The challenge we, especially Muslims, face now is terrorism," he said. "We should close ranks in combating terrorism, radicalism and strive to bring world peace for the benefit of all of us."
Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition that has carried out air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group and other jihadists in Syria.
IS is under pressure in Iraq and Syria, as government forces make a drive to retake areas held by the jihadists.
Saudi Arabia has witnessed a series of deadly attacks claimed by IS since late 2014, mostly targeting the Shiite minority and security forces, killing dozens of people.
However, some of the kingdom's partners in the Middle East have urged the Sunni-majority country to do more to defeat IS, and even accused the kingdom of supporting the jihadists.
Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamic militancy, is also facing a renewed threat due to the appeal of IS, with hundreds of its citizens heading to the Middle East to fight with the jihadists.
A gun and suicide attack in Jakarta in January last year that killed four civilians and four attackers was the first assault claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.
On Thursday Salman also visited Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, accompanied by President Joko Widodo, and the leaders prayed together.
The king and his entourage will be in Jakarta until Friday, after which they will head to the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali for a holiday.
Salman's three-week Asian tour is seeking investment opportunities as the world's top oil exporter looks to diversify its economy. He began the trip in Malaysia earlier this week and is also set to visit Japan, China and the Maldives.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stocks frittered away a good beginning on Thursday as stumbled and lost 145 points to end at 28,840 after investors moved in to book profits towards the close amid a lower opening in Europe.
and Nifty were near two-year highs in their early sessions.
Asia saw a mixed closing and Europe clocked a lower opening. The US on Wednesday closed at a new high. ended 145 points or 0.5 per cent lower at 28,840, after moving between 29,145.6 and 28,784 points.
Sensex had gained 241 points on Wednesday on strong GDP growth data for October-December and positive global cues.
The NSE Nifty closed 46 points or 0.5 per cent lower at 8,899.7 after hitting 8,992.5 the highest since March 3, 2015.
It also touched a low of 8,880. NSE is National Stock Exchange.
As many as 22 stocks in 30-share Sensex fell and only eight rose.
Market started on a strong footing, picking up cues from global on optimism about corporate tax cuts and other policy proposals in US President Donald Trumps speech before the Congress.
BJP national president Amit Shah has promised to end the crippling indefinite economic blockade in Manipur if BJP is voted to power in the coming assembly polls and said priority will be given to maintain law and order in the militancy-hit state.
"Our first task would be to end the indefinite economic blockade and all efforts will be carried out to make the state free from bandhs and blockades," Shah said at a poll rally here yesterday.
Emphasising on the need to restore law and order in the militancy-hit state, he said, "Law and order will be restored and priority will be given to solve the conflict situation of the state," he said.
Referring to the Naga Accord, Shah assured that it would not affect the territoral integrity of the state as had been assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banking on the development agenda, Shah promised to make Manipur a "model state" in five years even as he accused Congress government of not exploiting the tourism potential of the region.
"The state has huge potential in the tourism sector which has not been utilised by the Congress during the last 15 years of its rule. BJP will make Manipur a model state if it comes to power," Shah said.
He said that potable water will be available to the everyone in the state and conditions of roads will be improved.
Earlier in the day, Shah, accompanied by Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and former MLA Y Erabot, held door-to-door campaign at Wangkhei assembly constituency, where he visited about 10 houses and asked for votes.
"Such an interaction was the first of its kind in Manipur. It shows BJP's seriousness to bring good governance in the state," Javadekar, who is the party's in-charge of Manipur said.
"The campaign shows BJP's concern about the welfare of the people of Manipur. The ideology of our party is to connect people with their representatives ... Families were thrilled when Shah came to interact with them personally," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shoes were today hurled at Gujarat Home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja outside the state Assembly building when he was about to address the media.
Shouting "down with corruption", a man identified as Gopal Italia launched the projectiles at a surprised Jadeja but missed his target. He was then overpowered and taken away by police personnel.
A police official said the man was "mentally unstable" and claimed to be a government employee.
The incident happened during the recess hour of the ongoing Budget session when Jadeja came to address the media near the public entry gate of the state Assembly premises.
Gandhinagar Range IG R B Brahmbhatt said Italia has been detained for questioning and preliminary investigation has revealed that he is "mentally unstable and frustrated".
"A man named Gopalbhai, aged around 30 years, walked up to Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja when he was preparing to address the press, and hurled shoes at him. He works as a clerk at Dhandhuka (Ahmedabad district) SDM office," Brahmbhatt said.
"We have taken him for questioning, and preliminary investigation reveals that he is mentally unstable and frustrated for reasons that are not clear yet. We will take action against him after questioning," he added.
While being taken away by police, Italia told media that the attack was on the "dictatorship and arrogance" of the state government.
"Government is bent on dictatorship. I am a government employee, and I am angry at the government's way of dealing with issues like unemployment, corruption, and prohibition. I am angry and like a common man, I have thrown shoes at the government's arrogance," he said.
The ruling BJP was quick to point fingers at opposition Congress for the incident.
"I condemn the way Congress is creating anarchical situation in the state. It is not the right way to oppose, and I want this to be properly investigated as I believe it is Congress which is behind all this. In a democracy, we have every right to put forth our demands, but this is not the way to do so," State BJP President Jitu Vaghani said.
Congress condemned the attack, and said that public should rather use elections to express their anger and frustration rather than hurling shoes or ink at leaders.
"People are angry at the government. The ruling BJP
has created a situation in which people feel tortured, but I would request people to not take such a step and rather use election as a platform to express their anger and frustration," senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said.
Incidentally, Italia is the same person who was arrested by Ahmedabad crime branch around a month back for calling up Deputy Chief minister Nitin Patel while posing as a police constable.
There is a purported audio clip of their conversation in which Italia, identifying himself as Gopal Patel -- constable with Madhavpura police station, is heard telling the minister that the recent ordinance to strengthen liquor prohibition law has failed to serve its purpose, and this has only increased the price of liquor in the state.
When Patel asked him in the purported phone call to work hard to ensure that prohibition law is properly implemented, Italia replied that his seniors are not allowing him to perform his duty properly.
With the BJP and the Congress locking horns over the economic blockade and Naga Accord ahead of the Manipur assembly polls, the state's new and smaller parties are stressing on local issues and hope to play a decisive role in case of a fractured mandate.
Political outfits like National Peoples Party (NPP), Irom Sharmila's Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA), Manipur National Democratic Front and All India Trinamool Congress feel that Congress and BJP can never work for the state's development as they don't stress on the core issues.
According to them, the two national parties have a mindset that is "bereft of any passion for Manipuri identity".
The newly-formed PRJA, besides its focus on repealing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, is seeking the amendment of the 'Manipuri Official Language Act, 1979' to replace the Bengali script with an indigenous one as an official script through public consultation and consensus building among all ethnic groups.
"Both BJP and Congress are only busy in mudslinging and are trying to divert the attention of the voters. None of the political parties are keen on reviving Manipuri culture and tradition by introducing an indigenous script for Manipuri people. We don't want the Manipuri script to become a lost heritage," a senior PRJA leader told PTI.
The party is contesting from three seats with Irom being one of the marquee candidates.
NPP, which is the main opposition party in Meghalaya and is contesting from 21 seats in the Manipur polls, is stressing on social welfare schemes and reservation of seats for the north east region in institutes of higher studies in the country.
"The students from the north east face lots of problems and hardships while pursuing higher studies in other parts of the country. So we feel that there should be reservation for students of the region in the all India institutes. If we are able to be part of the next government we will try to pursue this demand," NPP general secretary Vivek Raj Wangkhem said.
State outfit Manipur Peoples Party has pledged to protect the territorial integrity and identity of original ethnic groups of Manipur and preserve the its identity and tradition.
The party has also demanded that a Manipur Regiment of the army be established in the state.
The Manipur National Democratic Front, a new party which
has fielded 13 candidates, feels Congress and BJP cannot work in the state's interest as their leadership is based in New Delhi and takes decisions without having a proper understanding of the ground reality in the state.
None of these political outfits are in any position to form a government but hope to play a decisive role in case of a hung assembly.
Trinamool Congress, which is contesting in 24 seats, has embarked on publicising various welfare schemes it plans to undertake if it has leverage in government formation. It is hoping to play a decisive role in government formation in case of a hung assembly.
PRJA founder and human rights activist Irom Sharmila told
The SP-Congress coalition and the BSP are trying to polarise politics in Uttar Pradesh at a time when the electioneering has entered the last phase, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here today.
He said the SP and the BSP have fielded candidates with criminal and tainted backgrounds to polarise the polls.
"This kind of politics has been successful only to a certain level... There is also an opposite reaction.. The diminishing returns of such politics will also surely make them (political parties) suffer badly," the BJP leader said.
"Anger is brewing in the society against such kind of politics," he said, adding, "a large section is now in a mood to revolt against such politics."
Jaitley, who was here in the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claimed that the voters in UP are fed up ofthe "misrule" by the BSP and the SP and their caste-based politics.
Suggesting discrimination, he said the government benefits reach onlycertain classes which "get jobs on priority".
"These parties have only tried to divide the people in the society for their personal gains," Jaitley said.
He claimed that the social base of the BJP had expanded and it was "clearly visible" in the ongoing elections. "The poor and the deprived sections are now standing in support of the BJP," he said.
He said the slum-dwellers in Mumbai and tribals in Odisha, along with the BJP's traditional voters, voted for the saffron party in the recent civic polls. The same is being seen in the UP Assembly polls, he added.
"Because of the Modi government's policies, the poor and the deprived sections here too are hopeful of getting social justice if BJP is voted to power," he said.
Justifying demonetisation, the Finance Minister said its result was that the informal economy has now integrated with the formal economy.
He said the Indian economy was growing at the rate of 7 per cent.
"The entire country is happy about the Modi government's demonetisation decision. It is only the Congress and other opposition parties who are upset over this," he said.
He said the GST, which will be rolled out from July 1, will give a boost to the economy.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The AAP today lambasted the Centre over a steep hike in the rate of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG), branding the move as "anti-poor".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the move will directly affect the common man.
The party also attacked the Central government over some banks' decision to charge per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals, claiming that they were being told by the government to levy the fee.
"The rate of non-subsidised LPG in September 2016 was Rs 466, while the current rate is Rs 737.50. This is a steep hike of 58 per cent in last six months. The government's decision to hike rates of mini LPG cylinder has also hit the poor dearly," AAP's national treasurer Raghav Chadha said.
The price of non-subsidised LPG was hiked yesterday by a steep Rs 86 per cylinder.
AAP leader Ashutosh said while the rates for crude oil in the international market were declining, the Narendra Modi government was increasing the cooking gas prices.
"The Delhi government is short on funds and despite that we are providing a lot of facilities to Delhiites. But the Centre has no shortage of funds and despite that it is imposing new things (hike in cylinder rates) on people, which is not right," he told reporters.
Chadha also raised doubts over banks charging a minimum amount of Rs 150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals, beyond four free transactions in a month.
"We have been saying this from day one that demonetisation is a scam. The Modi government does not want people to withdraw their money from banks. It wants to use the money deposited in these banks to waive off the loans taken by a few business houses," he claimed.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sweden's left-leaning government introduced a military draft for both men and women today because of what its defense minister called a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden.
Sweden abolished compulsory military service for men in 2010 because there were enough volunteers to meet its military needs.
It has never had a military draft for women. The government said "the all-volunteer recruitment hasn't provided the Armed Forces with enough trained personnel. The re-activating of conscription is needed for military readiness."
In September, non-NATO-member Sweden stationed permanent troops on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland. Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist described the move as sending a signal after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its "increasing pressure" on the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
There have also been reports of airspace violations by Russia's military aircraft in the Baltics and a military buildup in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which sits across the Baltic Sea from Sweden.
About 20,000 people now work for the Swedish armed forces, 84 per cent of them men and 16 percent women, according to the forces' website.
But the armed forces lack 1,000 active troops as well as 7,000 reservists, according to Sweden's coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens.
Under the plan approved today, at least 4,000 18-year-olds could be called up each year. Enrolment should be made possible from July 1, and basic military training with compulsory service from January 1. Swedes will still be able to volunteer for military service.
Sweden expects eventually that 13,000 young people will be called upon and 4,000 will be enrolled. The Swedish government, which often has described itself as "feminist," said "modern conscription is gender neutral and will include both women and men. "
Hultqvist said he had been inspired by neighboring Norway, which in 2013 introduced a law applying military conscription to both sexes.
That made Norway the first NATO member to draft both men and women, joining a tiny group of countries around the world, including Israel.
Conscription was introduced in Sweden in 1901, but had gradually winded down and was formally canceled 109 years later.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Syrian troops have pushed into Palmyra as they battle to retake the iconic city from the Islamic State group, but their advance was slowed today by landmines laid by retreating jihadists.
Bolstered by Russian air strikes and ground troops, Syrian government forces have been battling through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.
The oasis city has traded hands several times during the six-year civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of cultural heritage in areas under its control.
The jihadist group first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples. IS fighters were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the city last December.
The latest offensive to retake the city saw government forces break through its western limits late Wednesday, forcing IS fighters to retreat into eastern districts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"IS withdrew from most of Palmyra after laying mines across the city. There are still suicide bombers left in the eastern neighbourhoods," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
"Government forces have not yet been able to enter the heart of the city or the eastern parts," he added.
They have also not yet entered the celebrated ruins that make up the southwestern part of the city.
"There are no IS fighters left in most of the Old City, but it is heavily mined," Abdel Rahman said.
Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But many of the monuments have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.
Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's push towards Palmyra, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported.
A decades-old ally of Damascus, Moscow launched an air campaign in September 2015 to help President Bashar al-Assad's forces in their fight against what the regime and its allies say are "terrorists."
After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces out of second city Aleppo last year -- thanks in large part to Russian support.
In the north, fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they would cede several villages to the government as part of a deal brokered by Russia to avoid conflict with Turkey.
Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August, that it said aimed to counter both IS and the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists".
The surprise announcement by the SDF marks the first time that US-supported fighters will cede territory to Assad's forces.
It said the territory to be handed over lay between Manbij and Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed fighters captured last week from IS, to create a buffer zone between them.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group today, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the jihadists.
Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.
The oasis city has traded hands several times during Syria's six-year civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture, a Kremlin spokesman told agencies in Moscow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said that the jihadists had totally withdrawn from the desert city but not before mining several areas.
"The Syrian army is still clearing neighbourhoods of mines and has not spread out into the whole city yet," said its director, Rami Abdel Rahman.
An army statement carried on state agency SANA said its forces had "regained control over Palmyra and surrounding territory after a series of successful military operations".
IS has suffered a string of setbacks since taking over swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its two main strongholds of Mosul and Raqa both face assaults by forces backed by a US-led coalition.
The jihadists first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples.
They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the city in December when the government was focused on seizing rebel-held east Aleppo.
Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But many of the structures have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.
Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's Palmyra push, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city today, the Observatory reported.
A decades-old ally of Damascus, Moscow launched an air campaign in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory - including by pushing rebel forces out of second city Aleppo last year - thanks in large part to Russian support.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Editor's note: Boing Boing publisher Jason Weisberger recently wrote of threats he and others have received online from literal Nazis, post-Trump. Jason's sister Tammy Weisberger shares a story below, at our request, about the normalization of Nazi iconography and yes, even the Hitler salute, at her child's middle school in the U.S. Has this really become normal? And if so, how should she, and other parents, and America, respond? Read on. XJ.
The kids aren't alt-right. Right?
A few weeks ago a neighbor posted to Facebook about some skinheads at our local middle school. The post went something like this:
"Some punks at school draw swastikas and shows them to [my son]. He thinks he's a Jew and that this will freak him out. Skinheads. Can't even get it right."
Kind of flip. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't trying to minimize. She was disgusted. But after reading the back and forth in the comments and chatting with her myself, it was clear that she wouldn't be reporting this incident to the school. She was confident that they wouldn't do anything.
When it came down to it, this incident didn't set off the same alarms for her as it did for me. Her son isn't Jewish. My daughters are. And not only is my daughter who attends this same middle school a Jew, she is vocal and proud of who she is. Up until these past few weeks, I didn't think that was a danger.
I remember being about my daughter's age and feeling like my dad's doomsday warnings to not mention my religion in school were ridiculous and outdated. When I was growing up in Santa Monica, CA in the 1980s maybe they were unnecessary, maybe they weren't. I never saw swastikas in the classroom. The only anti-Semitic comments I remember were people making fun of my Jewish nose. However, just last week I found myself repeating these very same warnings to my daughter. Today they are anything but ridiculous.
After the swastika post, I contacted the school when my neighbor wouldn't. I even went against her wishes and reported the name of the student (her son) who was targeted to aid in the investigation. I truly thought my neighbor was being naive when she said the school wouldn't do anything.
I reported. They investigated. And I don't know what happened next. Maybe my neighbor's son refused to speak to the officials at the school and their hands were tied. Maybe the offender was chastised. Maybe he even realized what he did was hateful. Either way, things at the school have certainly not improved.
A few nights ago my daughter told me bone-chilling things about what's going on in the classrooms and hallways. She told me about repeated discussions of the Holocaust in glowing terms. She told me about a boy in class who she "really hopes he gets expelled because he's always talking about the Holocaust and he also called a Muslim girl a terrorist."
When I expressed shock, my daughter was surprised to learn that actions and words like these were not common when I went to middle school. I have never seen a person do the "Sieg Heil" arm-raise, particularly not in the hallways of my public school.
This is the most disturbing part of the story for me. My daughter was surprised to learn that "Heil Hitler" is not a normal element of normal middle-school life in America.
My daughter is a warrior. She knows anti-Semitic, anti-woman, or anti-LGBTQ comments are not okay. She told us that she calmly and rationally explained to a kid in the hallway just last week what "Sieg Heil" means, and reduced him to shame-filled tears. I am proud of her for speaking out.
What my daughter didn't do was tell someone in authority who has the power to stop this hateful nonsense. She didn't tell anyone because she didn't realize that what was happening wasn't normal.
I've reached out to the school and my daughter did eventually report what she experienced. I am confident that the administration is in the midst of another investigation.
Can it be that my daughter's impression is right, and that this is the new normal?
This isn't going away without our help. If we want this to not be normal, we need to take responsibility ourselves.
We must make talking to our kids, and our kids' friends, about this terrible stuff normal and okay. We need to make an effort to know what's happening in the schools our kids attend, in the hallways, on the school buses, in the cafeteria. We need to make our voices heard when something isn't right in those spaces. Teachers and administrators can only help us teach these young Americans the most important lesson of all: that hatred, religious intolerance, and bigotry will not be tolerated.
If we want our kids to realize that hatred and discrimination isn't normal, it's up to us to teach them. And to hold ourselves accountable.
Tammy Weisberger is a freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter: @tammy_rammy. Image: Photographed in the University district of Seattle by Sarah Ervine.
Syria's opposition is counting on the new US Trump administration to play a "positive" role to end the country's six-year war, after "catastrophic" policy mistakes under President Barack Obama, an official said.
The High Negotiating Committee (HNC), the main opposition group at UN-sponsored talks in Geneva, said it can help rein in Iran's influence in the conflict, which has killed over 310,000 people.
But speaking as the week-old Geneva talks draw towards a close with little sign of progress, HNC delegation chief Nasr al-Hariri said everyone is waiting for the new US administration of President Donald Trump to engage.
"We are here to... Send a message to the new American administration which is trying... To fight terrorism, that we are the side working for peace and security in Syria.
"We are the side which is ready to be a real partner in fighting terrorism on the ground," he told a small group of journalists late Wednesday.
Syrian regime and opposition negotiators have been in Geneva since last Thursday, but there have been no face-to-face talks, as UN mediator Staffan de Mistura shuttles between the delegations.
The talks are expected to wrap up either tomorrow or this weekend, with little concrete progress to announce.
Obama stressed the need for President Bashar al-Assad's departure as part of any solution, but that goal wasn't achieved.
The new US administration has made it clear that its key priority in Syria is fighting Islamic State group jihadists.
Al-Hariri added: "The Syrian people are paying the price because of the Obama administration's catastrophic mistakes.
"Obama who lied to the Syrian people, who promised and didn't deliver, he drew red lines and erased it by himself, who said nothing about Assad's crimes."
He said that on "confinement of the Iranian influence... I think we can be an effective partner regarding this issue".
"Lots of countries are willing to support us... These countries are waiting for an American role because no one can work effectively but with an American role that gives legitimacy to all these measures.
"We hope that the new American administration would build its positions based on serious facts and to... Bring back an effective American role in the region after the degrading role by Obama.
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Actor Tom Selleck's mother, Martha Selleck, has passed away at the age of 96.
The mother of the "Magnum, P I" actor died on February 19 in California's Oak Park, Selleck's publicist announced, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Martha, who was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Detroit, served as the president of the Motion Picture Mothers organisation from 1998-2016, which donates to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, the operator of the Woodland Hills home and hospital for retired members of the industry.
She moved to Sherman Oaks in 1948 with her husband Robert Dean Selleck, along with their two sons - Bob (born in 1944) and Tom (1945).
She also worked as the longtime member of the Congregational Church of the Chimes in Sherman Oaks and a supporter of Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys.
Martha was also honoured by the American Mothers organisation, the Boys and Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley and the March of Dimes Birth Defect Foundation.
Apart from Selleck and Bob, she is survived by Marti and Dan, 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
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US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was under fire today after it was revealed he met twice last year with Russia's ambassador to Washington, seemingly contradicting statements he made in Senate confirmation hearings.
The revelation cast a fresh cloud over President Donald Trump's administration, which has repeatedly denied any suspected ties between members of his election team and Russia -- which US intelligence says interfered in the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.
The White House quickly labeled the report an attack by partisan Democrats, confirming the meetings but arguing Sessions did nothing wrong.
In a statement, the Trump administration's top law enforcement official, said: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
But with US intelligence agencies, the Justice Department -- led by Sessions himself -- and four Congressional committees examining the Russia scandal, Democrats demanded that Sessions recuse himself from the investigations and for Congress to name an independent special investigator to oversee a broad probe.
"Given AG Sessions's false statements about contacts with Russian officials, we need a special counsel to investigate Trump associates' ties to Russia," said Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Sessions -- formerly a senator who advised Trump's campaign on foreign policy and other issues -- met Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting.
Sessions, however, told his confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10 that he did not know of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russia.
"I did not have communications with the Russians," he said under oath.
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, called for Sessions to step down.
"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russian, the attorney general must resign," she said.
Democrat Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight Committee echoed that call.
"When senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks," Cummings said.
"Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."
A White House official dubbed the latest report an "attack."
"This is the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats," the official said.
"Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony.
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The UN-linked International Narcotics Control Board today condemned the use of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte's much-criticised war on drugs has claimed more than 6,500 lives.
Duterte was elected in 2016 after promising to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people. Since June, police have reported killing more than 2,550 people while more than 4,000 others have died in unexplained circumstances.
In a new annual report, the INCB said that "extrajudicial action, purportedly taken in pursuit of drug control objectives, is fundamentally contrary to the provisions and objectives" of international drug conventions.
In August the INCB, an independent quasi-judicial body monitoring the implementation of UN drugs conventions, had already called on the Philippines government to ensure an "immediate stop" to the killings.
The new annual report condemned the practice "in the strongest possible terms", calling it a "serious violation of human rights" and an "affront to the most basic standards of human dignity".
The INCB made no direct mention of Duterte's campaign to reinstate the death penalty for drug-related crimes, which this week has cleared a major hurdle.
Yesterday, a death penalty bill passed a second reading in the lower house. A third and final reading still needs to be held next week but this is seen as a formality.
The INCB said only that its board "continues to encourage States that retain capital punishment to consider the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences."
The INCB also said it "notes with concern the deteriorating safety and security situation in Afghanistan and its impact on the authorities' ability to monitor and control the illicit supply of drugs originating in the country".
It said it has observed that the "willingness of the international community to continue providing aid to Afghanistan appears to have been declining, in particular in the area of drug control".
It said that while drug control efforts are also linked to broader challenges in development and criminal justice, action against drugs "cannot be removed from the equation if sustainable development is to be achieved".
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The UP Police today recorded the statement of a 16-year-old girl, who was sexually assaulted and her mother repeatedly gangraped allegedly by UP minister Gayatri Prajapati and his aides, at the AIIMS here.
The statement was recorded despite opposition by the family of the girl, admitted to a restricted ward of the hospital, and their lawyer, who accused the state police of "threatening and forcefully" recording the statement.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police rank officer, investigating the matter, reached AIIMS today and recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from the hospital Medical Superintendent, sources said.
The statement was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, they added.
The lawyer representing the girl, Mehmood Pracha strongly objected to the recording of statement and sought to know on what basis it was being done.
"The police threatened the mother and daughter inside the AIIMS ward, where the girl is admitted. They also snatched their mobile phones. The girl is still in trauma," he alleged.
"How can they use such force to record her statement?" asked Pracha.
Some Delhi Police officials were also present at the AIIMS.
The UP police had already registered an FIR against Prajapati and his accomplices.
The statement of the girl's mother has already been recorded before a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Lucknow.
The girl was admitted to AIIMS on February 22.
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US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has come under fire after the Washington Post reported he met twice last year with Russia's ambassador to Washington, seemingly contradicting statements he made in Senate confirmation hearings in January.
The revelation cast a fresh cloud over President Donald Trump's administration, which has repeatedly denied any suspected ties between members of his election team and Russia -- which US intelligence says interfered in the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.
The White House quickly labeled the report an attack by partisan Democrats, confirming the meetings but arguing Sessions did nothing wrong.
In a statement Sessions, the Trump administration's top law enforcement official, said yesterday: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
But with US intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, and four Congressional committees examining the Russia scandal, Democrats demanded that Sessions recuse himself from the investigations and for Congress to name an independent special investigator to oversee a broad probe.
"Given AG Sessions' false statements about contacts with Russian officials, we need a special counsel to investigate Trump associates' ties to Russia," said Democrat Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Washington Post reported late yesterday that Sessions -- formerly a senator who advised Trump's campaign on foreign policy and other issues -- met Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting.
Sessions, however, told his confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10 that he did not know of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russia.
"I did not have communications with the Russians," he said under oath.
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the Senate, called for Sessions to step down.
"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russian, the attorney general must resign," she said.
Democrat Elijah Cummings of the House of Representative's Oversight Committee echoed that call in a statement.
"When Senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks," Cummings said.
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Speaker Paul Ryan on behalf of the US House of Representatives has condoled the death of an Indian techie in a racially-motivated shooting by an American.
Ryan met visiting Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar yesterday and expressed the House's condolences on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was senselessly murdered last week in Kansas.
"Our peoples must continue to stand together," he said.
Ryan's comments over the incident came hours after US President Donald Trump condemned as "evil" and "hate" the fatal Kansas shooting in which Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian Alok Madasani was injured by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before opening fire on them.
The two work for technology firm Garmin.
Jaishankar is currently visiting the US to hold consultations and talks with Trump administration officials to develop a roadmap of the Indo-US ties for next four years.
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Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today pitched for more powers to Urban Local Bodies to help them tide over their poor financial condition.
At present, 11 states have transferred all 18 stipulated functions to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) while only four have transferred all powers except fire services, Naidu, who holds the charge of Urban Development Ministry, said, adding other states have done in parts.
Under 74th Amendment to the Constitution in 1992, states were required to amend their municipal laws to empower ULBs with "such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-governance".
Naidu said it was "deeply disturbing" that cities like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Ludhinana, Patna and Ranchi are not able to even meet salary bills from their own resources.
The Minister said ULBs do not have powers to collect taxes and user charges beyond the levels stipulated in municipal laws and also cannot impose additional taxes.
"The need of the hour is to free urban local bodies from strangulation by the state governments. This is the only way forward to improve the health of ULBs besides making them accountable for the mandate of efficient delivery of municipal services given to them under the 74th Constitution Amendment," he said.
Naidu was addressing an event marked to present 'V Ramachandran Awards for Excellence in Urban Decentralisation' by not-for-profit institution Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (JCCD).
Delhi bagged two awards - 'Making School Management Committees Effective' and 'Enabling Citizen Participation through Mohalla Sabhas.
Tamil Nadu bagged four awards, including one for '50 per cent reservation for wowen in ULBs'.
Other states who bagged the awards under different categories included Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal were also present on the occasion.
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White House lawyers have instructed the president's aides to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related investigations, three administration officials said.
The memo, which was sent to White House staff on Tuesday, comes after Senate Democrats last week asked the White House and law enforcement agencies to keep all materials involving contacts that Trump's administration, campaign and transition team or anyone acting on their behalf have had with Russian government officials or their associates.
The Senate intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has also asked more than a dozen organizations, agencies and individuals to preserve relevant records.
The three administration officials who confirmed that White House staffers were instructed to comply did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn.
President Donald Trump has been dogged by questions about his advisers' ties to Russia since the campaign. Federal investigators have been looking into possible contacts between Trump advisers and Russia, while congressional committees are investigating Russia's role in political hacking during the campaign.
The intelligence community has assessed that Russia's hacking of Democratic groups and operatives was carried out to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
One official said the memo from the counsel's office instructs White House staff to preserve material from Trump's time in office, and for those who worked on the campaign, relevant material from the election.
Congressional staffers have said they are not aware of any evidence that materials related to Russia are not being preserved.
But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said last week: "There is real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts and other records that could shine a light on those connections. These records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations and must be preserved."
Trump has denied having any knowledge that aides were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, as reported by The New York Times.
The White House has launched an aggressive effort to discredit the report, including enlisting GOP chairmen of the congressional intelligence committees to push back against it.
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Construction of the Ram temple may not be on the BJP's manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls but Yogi Adityanath makes it clear that a saffron government in Lucknow will pave the way for it.
The fifth-term Lok Sabha member is the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development as the BJP makes a final push in its bid to capture power in the state in the last two phases of elections to be held in 89 seats.
The party won only 11 of these seats in 2012.
In one public meeting after another, he comes hard on the Samajwadi Party's "Muslim appeasement" and promises that a BJP government will protect their (Hindus') interests.
"The SP government's development is all about development of 'kabristan'. If a BJP government comes to power, it will not happen that they (Muslims) will be allowed to have a DJ show in their festival but not you during Durga Puja. The interests of the majority community have been betrayed.
"If a SP government comes back to power, then money meant for your development will go into developing kabristan. A BJP government will pave the way for the Ram temple construction," Adityanath (45) says in a string of public meetings covering different Assembly constituencies.
He tells the PTI that his agenda is of development for all but it is against the SP and BSP politics of appeasement of one community. He declined to elaborate, saying what he has to say he has said in his meetings.
In Berhampur, he lists a number of development works of the Narendra Modi government, including its decision to connect Gorakhpur to big cities like Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai through highways, and announcement of an AIIMS here, as he exhorts the crowd of mostly Dalits and extremely backward castes to vote for the BJP.
He reminds Dalits, seen as a BSP support base, that "the
biggest criminal" Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently behind bars in a murder case, has joined Mayawati's outfit and only a BJP government can teach him a lesson.
If Ansari is "sabse bada goonda", then SP's Muslim face Azam Khan, who does not wield much influence in the eastern UP, is the "most corrupt".
At a meeting in Gorakhpur (rural) constituency, he hits out at the sitting MLA Vijay Bahadur Yadav, who had won on the BJP ticket last time but has defected to the SP and is fighting on its symbol, for his alleged betrayal by selling out to Khan's money.
Adityanath, who heads a large number of religious and charitable bodies functioning under the name of Guru Gorakhnath, is criss-crossing the region, addressing anywhere between six to eight meetings. The BJP is hopeful that his Hindutva pitch will help it bring together an amalgamation of upper castes and sections of backward castes and Dalits.
The BJP's strike rate in the region, especially in Gorakhpur and neighbouring districts, will also have a bearing on the future stake of its Hindutva face.
He was said to be miffed with the party's top brass after he was denied a final say in the selection of candidates in a number of seats, prompting some of his loyalists in Hindu Yuva Vahini to go out against the party. Aditynath is the Hindu organisation's founder. He has sacked them and consistently rejected reports of his unhappiness with the party.
Out of 89 seats going to the polls in the last two phases, SP had won 50, BSP 14 and Congress 7 in 2012 polls.
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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to "spread hatred" and vowed not to let Uttar Pradesh become a state of hatred.
He also asked the prime minister to waive the farmers' loans since he boasts of '56-inch chest'.
Addressing an election rally here, the Congress leader alleged that Modi was trying to "spread hatred". He, however, did not elaborate.
"Modi only makes promises, but we will work. The promise of giving employment to the youth has failed," Rahul said.
He said Modi should ensure jobs to the youth, failing which "they will send him packing to Gujarat (in 2019)."
Pointing out that the NDA government has given no loan waiver to farmers, the Congress leader said, "I challenge him, if he really has 56-inch chest, he should waive loans of farmers."
Referring to Modi's promise to waive loans if BJP forms the government in UP, Rahul said, "If he really wants to waive loans, he can do it immediately by calling a cabinet meeting and passing a proposal for the same. There is no need to form the government in UP for this."
In an apparent reference to businessman Vijay Mallya case, Rahul said while loans of capitalists who fled the country were waived, common man was forced to stand in the queue to withdraw their own money post-demonetisation.
He highlighted the promises made in Samajwadi Party-Congress (SP-Congress) alliance manifesto and said if their government was formed, people will be benefited.
Campaigning is at its peak in UP but Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has stepped out only for two public rallies this elections, a stark contrast to the over 300 rallies he addressed in the 2012 assembly polls.
Leaders from across the political spectrum criss-crossed the entire state to woo the voters but Mulayam mostly kept indoors.
The 77-year-old SP patron campaigned just for his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting on a SP ticket from Lucknow Cantonment, and also for his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is contesting from the party's bastion of Jaswantnagar in Etawah.
Voting for five out the seven phases of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls is already over.
His political rivals said the SP patriarch's clout has been "confined to just two" of the 403 Assembly seats in the state.
In the 2012 UP Assembly polls, Mulayam had addressed more than 300 rallies.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha general elections, he limited his appearances to 18 rallies, one in each of the 18 divisions of the state, citing health issues.
Senior BJP leader Hriday Narayan Dikshit, said, "The moment Mulayam Singh Yadav was made the party patron, his power automatically got diluted. And, despite this, if he is getting a chance to campaign for even two assembly seats, he must thank his stars."
Dikshit said both the SP and the BSP are "single-cellular" organisms, in which only one person eventually prevails.
"As far as the SP is concerned, earlier Mulayam Singh Yadav used to prevail, and now it is the turn of Akhilesh," the senior BJP leader said.
"The BSP too is a single-cellular organisation. Congress, which used to be multi-cellular organisation till the time of Gandhi, gradually became single-cellular. The BJP is a multi-cellular organisation, where leaders from different walks of life are involved in elections," he said.
Veteran socialist Raghunandan Singh 'Kaka' feels, "The SP patron has become helpless and virtually hopeless."
He said it is not only the SP workers who are worried and concerned about 'Netaji', people from other parties are also worried about him.
Singh was of the opinion that Akhilesh Yadav has got diverted from the ideals of Lohia, who fought against the Congress throughout his life.
"Akhilesh seems to have lost his way, and is yet to find a way out," Singh said.
Defending the CSO over the latest GDP figures, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that one should not question CSO's integrity on Q3. Jaitley was addressing a press conference in Varanasi, which will go to polls on March 8.
He said, "Opposition were misleading the country over demonetisation impact but now the situation has been changed". He added that the GDP figures made the Congress party depressed.
The Congress dubbed the GDP numbers as "surprising" and "highly suspect" that could dent India's global credibility and accused the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister of "misleading" the public.
Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the GDP numbers released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) are "misleading" as these do not factor in the adverse impact of demonetisation, including losses in jobs and production.
Buoyed by higher-than-expected GDP growth, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said a 7 per cent expansion in third quarter belies exaggerated claims of note ban impact on rural economy.
Tuesday's robust GDP figures had left economists dazed. Annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the October-December period came in at 7.0 percent, a tad slower than 7.4 percent in the previous quarter but much faster than the 6.4 percent expansion forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
It was also higher than China's 6.8 percent growth for the last three months of 2016.
PM Modi's decision last November to outlaw old 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee banknotes was widely expected to exact a heavy toll on an economy where most people are paid in cash and buy what they need with cash.
The government as well as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), however, all maintained the pain would be short-lived and predicted a sharp economic rebound.
"The numbers completely negate the kind of negative projections and speculations which were made about the impact of demonetisation," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters after the data release.
(With inputs from agencies)
US President Donald Trump today pledged to bring one trillion dollars in public and private investment to rebuild what he called America's crumbling infrastructure.
Trump made the promise in a high-stakes speech to a joint session of Congress, moving to make good on one of his main campaign pledges - rebuilding America's roads, bridges, airports and other public structures.
"To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a USD 1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States - financed through both public and private capital - creating millions of new jobs," Trump said.
He gave no details on how the money would be spent.
Trump said the United States had spent six trillion dollars in the Middle East - he did not say on what or over what time period - while US infrastructure deteriorated.
"With this six trillion dollars we could have rebuilt our country - twice. And maybe even three times if we had people who had the ability to negotiate," Trump said, reiterating his argument that his new administration will be better than previous ones at defending US interests when it comes to making a deal.
Again without giving details, Trump promised to introduce a "historic" tax reform.
He said this will cut corporate taxes on US companies "so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone. At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class."
He also repeated a promise to impose taxes on imports of foreign products so as to protect US industry.
"Currently, when we ship products out of America, many other countries make us pay very high tariffs and taxes - but when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them nothing or almost nothing," Trump said.
He said he had a recent meeting with officials from Harley-Davidson who, he said, told him their motorcycles, in one particular unnamed country, are slapped with 100 percent taxes.
"They weren't even asking for change. But I am," Trump said. "I believe strongly in free trade but it also has to be fair trade.
A call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi soft drinks came into effect on Wednesday with its President A M Vikrama Raja declaring drinks as 'toxic' for consumption.
"About 70 per cent of the (15 lakh) traders have decided to boycott the sales of Coke and Pepsi from today onwards for their toxic nature. Whatever you find on the shelves of the stores are leftover stocks and those not taken back by the (distributing) agencies," he said.
Raja had earlier proposed a ban on sale of these brands at the height of pro-jallikattu protests in the state in January, where it was widely claimed that many international groups may have been behind the ban on the bull taming sport.
Raja had then said that the youth and students who were part of that movement had extended their support to the cause of banning these soft drinks.
Reacting to the call to boycott products of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo India, the Indian Beverage Association said it was "deeply disappointed".
"This is against the proven fundamentals of robust economic growth, and against the clarion call of Make in India," it said.
IBA noted "the products manufactured by Coca-Cola and Pepsi are of global standards and one of the safest available."
Citing a Supreme Court order of 2013, which had reportedly quoted an FSSAI panel's submission that ingredients present in aerated beverages "do not pose any health hazard," IBA, an organisation of non-alcoholic beverage industry, said the boycott call "violates the rights of the consumer to exercise choice."
Raja said that there was no estimate available on the revenue for traders from cola sales or the losses they could incur by boycotting them but insisted that the move was undertaken for "health awareness" of the people of the state.
"Health takes priority for we traders over revenue," he told a private news channel.
He claimed there was a 70 per cent dip in the sales of these cola brands ever since there was "awareness" among students during the pro-jallikattu protests "when many of them decided to stop endorsing such international brands."
Raja had earlier said that the traders were opposed to the cola giants not because they were part of an MNC conglomerate but because of their "toxic nature."
As many as 15 lakh of the 20-odd lakh stores in the south eastern state of Tamil Nadu were selling cola brands manufactured and marketed by Coca Cola and Pepsi, running into several hundreds crores of rupees, he had said earlier.
Both Coca Cola and Pepsi have bottling units in Tamil Nadu.
Social networking site Facebook on Wednesday launched a new initiative, SheLeadsTech, to support women-founded or co-founded startups and said it will also be expanding its SheMeansBusiness program that supports women-led small businesses. SheLeadsTech will give women-founded or co-founded start-ups access to a year-long program that provides tools, mentorship and resources.
The announcement which came ahead of Women's Day aim to bring women on board India's digital revolution in a bigger way.
"Technology is an enabler for entrepreneurship. It is small and medium business that will create growth if India has to grow along with jobs in the next few yearsWe want to ensure we help this growth," said Ritesh Mehta, Facebook's head of economic growth initiative, India and South Asia, told Mail Today. Facebook also said that India is missing out on a potential 15.5 million new businesses Uber Technologies CEO Travis Kalanick and 64 million additional jobs by not addressing the challenges facing women who want to start a business, quoting figures from a study it released on Wednesday.
The study, conducted by Development Economics and YouGov on behalf of Facebook, reveals that at least four in five women in India would like to start a business. If 52 per cent were empowered to start a business today, the figures can be achieved by the end of 2021, it said.
Secretary to ministry of electronics and information technology, Aruna Sundararajan, said India's startup incubators are women unfriendly. "We are trying to put together a small startup programme for women in technology. I'm trying to see whether we can have women interfacing this so that you actually feel valued." She also said the government is trying to forge deep partnerships with platforms like Facebook, Google, Intel and Cisco to see how women's programmes can be bettered with technology.
"As India's economy expects to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025, a major impetus is being given to strengthen the backbone of India's economy -the small businesses sector.
If we were to harness the still largely untapped potential of women's entrepreneurship and provide them greater support, it could lead to more jobs being created, economic growth and more diverse and representative small business communities. We see amazing examples of how digital can be the equalizer on Facebook every day," said Ankhi Das, director of public policy, India, South and Central Asia.
India is among the largest user base for Facebook and its affiliate WhatsApp. The country contributes 168 million users to Facebook's 1.86 billion global users, and 200 million to WhatsApp's 1.2 billion monthly active users.
Most economist and analysts were keenly waiting for the CSO's advance estimates of Q3 2016-17 to understand how demonetisation had impacted the economy. The numbers released by chief statistician TCA Ananth though left most economists scratching their heads to make sense of the data.
The CSO estimates essentially said that demonetisation had practically nil - or at best a marginal effect - on GDP growth. More surprising, consumption actually went up, as did manufacturing output when cash was scarce.
The government made the most of it, with the Prime Minister even making a statement that hard work was more powerful than Harvard (presumably an economics degree from Harvard) in one of his election speeches. Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said that the economy was back on track and there was no reason to doubt the CSO numbers.
But respected economists point out that the numbers are perhaps rosier than they should be - and some of it is frankly unbelievable. One was the private final consumption expenditure estimate, which the CSO estimated was up 10 per cent in Q3, double the 5 per cent growth in Q2. Did demonetisation actually create a jump in consumption? In an interview to the Business Standard newspaper, former chief statistician Pronab Sen (and former boss of TCS Ananth) gave one explanation. In quarterly estimates, there is no direct measure for expenditure. Instead, it is extrapolated from production data, specifically from production of consumer goods.
There were other anomalies. For example, how did manufacturing go up sharply in this period when the IIP for December 2016 had actually contracted - it was 0.4 per cent lower than for December 2015. Equally, outstanding bank loans to industry year on year at end December showed a contraction of 4.3 per cent. So how did manufacturing grow at 10.1 per cent for the quarter while credit was coming down?
Several reasons have been proffered by analysts for this. One is that the Q3 date for 2015-16 was revised downwards sharply by the CSO, which created a favourable base effect. If the original estimates of Q3 FY16 were to be taken, the growth for this year's third quarter would have been much lower. Equally, quite a few analysts talk of channel stuffing - that is inventory build up in the system. What has gone out of the company warehouses to distributors may not necessarily have all been bought by consumers. So while the goods were counted as part of the GVA, the consumption expenditure was probably an over estimate.
More importantly, the estimates were based on results declared by companies for Q3, which was with the ministry of finance. But only the big, listed companies had given their data till then, which were then extrapolated to come up with the estimates. The consensus was that demonetisation effect would have hit medium and small companies much harder - and data for that would be available much later.
And then, there is the fact that the informal economy - which was the hardest hit - did not reflect in the data at all. Some of it would reflect in future numbers.
The feeling is that there is a good chance of the current estimates being revised downwards (though they could equally be revised upwards) sometime in the future.
But till a lot more data trickles in, it is best to treat these numbers as what they are - estimates but not absolutes.
LOGAN Recently, a mother called 911 reporting her daughter had locked herself in a bedroom, threatening to commit suicide. According to reports, police found the girl unconscious, lying next to a bottle of prescription pills. The girl had cuts on her body, believed to be self-inflicted. Paramedics were called in and rushed her by ambulance to the hospital, where she is receiving treatment.
Sadly, incidents like this are becoming more prevalent for local law enforcement. Its one of the reasons why Sheriff Chad Jensen said he felt it was time to start talking more about the drug epidemic in Cache County.
Weve always had drugs in our community, there is drugs in the country, explained Jensen. But it seems the last couple years there has been more prevalence of heroin in our community, as well as prescription drug overdoses, illnesses and problems in families because of the opioid problem that we have.
The Sheriffs Office is hosting a free community event tonight to discuss the current dangers of drug abuse in the county. The conference will be held at 7 p.m., in the Mount Logan Middle School Auditorium.
Jensen said Generation Rx will join members of the Cache Rich Drug Task Force, speaking about drug abuse dangers and how to save someones life if they have overdosed.
The Drug Task Force will be there and a great group, coming from Salt Lake that is really going to put the presentation on. They have done this several times throughout our state and they have got a bunch of great information for people personally, for families, for warning signs. It will be a great event, a great learning experience and a great education for those who want to attend.
The free event is titled Utahs Opioid Epidemic, and will also discuss how the drug Naloxone can be used as an opioid-overdose antidote.
Jensen hopes to see a lot of people in the Mount Logan Middle School Auditorium tonight as he and his deputies take a more proactive stance, in helping to fight illegal and prescription drug abuse. The conference will begin at 7 p.m. and everyone is invited.
will@cvradio.com
BEYOND 91: Meet the Perestroika generation
Published on March 2, 2017
Story by cafebabel DE
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Our newest reporting project BEYOND 91 - coming very soon to cafebabel - explores north-eastern Europe and the Baltics through the eyes of the "Perestroika generation." But what makes the Perestroika generation so special? Listen to our journalists from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Estonian photographer Birgit Puve
"I do hope that we can perhaps appreciate good things more in society and in life generally. Because we hold memories of the time when nothing was taken for granted. We are somewhere in between, but being part of both worlds, the past and the future, gives us the opportunity to have the advantages of both."
Belarusian journalist Katerina Barushka
"I dont think that the Perestroika generation is more special than any other generation. But it does have its peculiarities. We have no heroes. The Soviet ones were gone, the comics heroes of the 2000s were not yet around in the 90s. We were on our own, trying to figure out how to grow up. Its a generation of people who do not know what they want, but they (we) know that the way it is, its not how it should be. In the Soviet times it was all clear: you either wanted what the state wanted or you were screwed. The young generation of today is taught to follow their dreams and listen to their heart, while we simply learned to survive. We have a distorted sense of right and wrong."
Lithuanian photojournalist Arturas Morozovas
"I think this generation especially values human rights, national independence and the European way of life. They value these things because they remember what it was like before: no rights, no freedom of travelling, harsh censorship etc. I do remember the taste of my first Kinder Surprise or a sip from a can of Coca-Cola."
Moldovan journalist Lina Vdovii
"It was a generation caught in one of the most important political and social changes in Eastern Europe. In fact, it might have been the biggest turning point in their lives and this gives them a unique perspective on the world. They witnessed an entire system crashing down before their eyes, which had a huge impact on their lives. Everything that they believed to be normal, all of their values changed completely. Some of them are still dealing with it. This is what makes them special."
Russian photographer Oksana Yushko
"I think that the 'Perestroika generation' differs from their parents as any other generation. At the same time they have been growing up during the years of economic and political reforms. The Soviet Union had almost failed and a new generation was waiting for changes this quote from the song We are waiting for changes performed by Tsoi in the movie Assa (a cult film directed by Sergei Solovyov and released in 1987, N.B.) became the unofficial hymn of Perestroika."
Estonian journalist and filmmaker Liisi Molder
"I feel that our generation has a strong wish for change and success. Its the first generation that has grown up in a new, more open mindset, and therefore opens up the society as well. You can really feel the wish not to get stuck in the past and to be future-oriented. In Estonia, its the generation that leads the country in a very modern direction."
Belarusian photographer Andrei Liankevich
"We (they) were born in between time. The changes during those times are generally the most dramatic and difficult, but they provide incredible experiences for the future."
Latvian writer Ance Sverna
"Our happy and sad memories from our childhood. Our inherited fear. Our non stopping and maybe even unwinding fight for unconditional love and freedom."
Latvian photographer Aija Bley
"This generation seems to be stuck in between two periods. It lacks the sense of belonging both to the Soviet past and to the new Europe."
Lithuanian journalist Viktorija Mickute
"I think the most special feature of the Perestroika generation is the persistence to dream big. This was the first generation that watched Hollywood films and listened to foreign music without fear; they were the first ones who could travel, study or work abroad if they wanted. I feel like this is the generation who is willing to struggle to get what they want and no hurdle is big enough to prevent them from doing that."
Moldovan photographer Ramin Mazur
"The same that makes anyone between 25 and 35 special in any country: Its a generation of transition, a buffer between the industrial era and something yet undiscovered. We are discoverers of the new and we are forcing it to appear. It is on us how the future will look like."
Ukrainian journalist Tatiana Kozak
"This generation witnessed many system changes. Those who survived, I believe, got that certain feeling of independence and freedom, the ability to think critically something that was not common among Soviet people from earlier generations. But there is also a certain cynicism and total disbelief in any system sometimes this is healthy, sometimes it is not."
Ukrainian photographer Arthur Bondar
"I cant say that this generation is special or better/worse than the generations that came before. It is just different. In my opinion, the Perestroika generation grew up during a time of huge instability and insecurity. That is why our generation is the generation of adventurers, as Id like to call it. We are ready to take a risk when chasing our dreams."
Russian journalist Alexandra Odynova
"I dont think we are special. We are a little different from the post-Perestroika generations because we grew up during the transition period that was accompanied by a lot of social changes. Our passports say that we were born in the Soviet Union, but it is a motherland we only heard of from our parents."
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cafebabel's new editorial project BEYOND 91 is supported by cafebabel Berlin, Babel International, Advocate Europe and the Allianz Kulturstiftung.
Story by cafebabel DE
Une rue de Bamenda le 9 janvier 2017 CIN
A delegation of top officials from the United Nations Security Council is expected in Cameroon this Thursday March 2, 2017.
Officially, the members of the decision making organ of the United Nations is visiting to get firsthand information about the Boko Haram insurgency and its adverse effects on the population of the Lake Chad Basin region which covers four countries; Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger.
The members from the 15 states of the council will visit all four countries of the region during their mission.
According to media reports, while in Cameroon and Nigeria, council members plan will visit camps for the displaced to see the situation first hand.
They also will meet with senior government officials in each of the four countries, as well as local leaders and members of civil society.
Besides the security challenges and dire humanitarian situation caused by the Boko Haram crisis, the UN mission is visiting at a time Cameroons internal security is at stake with minority Anglophones calling for a return to federalism and some separatists movements pushing for outright secession.
In response to protests that started last year, the government disconnected internet to the English speaking North West and South West regions; epicenter of the strikes that have disrupted judicial and educational activities.
Some people have died with several others arrested and detained under delicate and worrying conditions at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde, according to the Social Democratic Front (SDF) opposition party.
Some people in the country are thus asking whether besides their main mission to the country, the UN diplomats will address this issue when they meet Cameroon government officials.
| BY Lynchy |
CB Exclusive Campaign Brief can reveal that Ogilvy will be transferring Aussie expat Steve Back, currently chief creative officer at Ogilvy Singapore, to the newly created role of national chief creative officer of Ogilvy Australia.
Back will be based in Melbourne, starting in February of next year.
Ogilvy Australia CEO Andrew Baxter said of the appointment: Steve is one of the regions most renowned creatives and we are incredibly excited to have him join the Ogilvy Australia team. His broad experience on big brands and proven success with campaigns that really work for clients will be a great asset to our already strong creative team.
Baxter said Backs hire added to an already impressive creative lineup at Ogilvy, with the agency producing two of the countrys best campaigns of 2012, for clients Coca Cola and AAMI. Our creative prowess has grown substantially during the past 12 months, and with Back joining the team, we will have the depth and strength to make 2013 an incredible year of creativity for Ogilvy Australia.
Back said of his move: Im really excited to be joining Andrew and the team in Australia. Theyve really hit their stride in the last 12 months with campaigns like Share a Coke. Im looking forward to contributing to the agencys continued success.
With around 500 staff working in both Sydney and Melbourne, Ogilvy Australia is one of the countrys largest agencies. It has experts in all areas of marketing communications including creative advertising, digital, direct, media, and production, and operates across every medium for leading local and global brands. In 2012 Ogilvy won both the Network of the Year award at the Cannes Lions Festival and the Network of the Year award at the Effies. Ogilvy Australia was also in the top four most awarded Ogilvy offices at the Cannes Lions awards.
Back is one of Australias most respected and awarded ECDs and was appointed as executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney in November 2007, replacing David Nobay when he departed to start up Droga5.
Originally a star at Marketforce in Perth, Back first worked at George Patterson Sydney followed by a highly awarded stint at Leo Burnett Sydney. Back played a major role in Leos winning Campaign Briefs Australian Agency of the Year in 2000. Back then spent several years in London before being enticed to New Zealand to join Colenso BBDO. Mike OSullivan then hired Back as Head of Art when he was appointed ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi NZ. The agency went on the win CB New Zealand Agency of the year in 2006 and 2007.
He then joined DDB Sydney as creative director where he dramatically re energized the agency, moving them to equal number one Australian agency in The Work 07 with Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. Under Back, DDB Sydney was the only Australian agency to get gongs at all four of the top international award shows (D&AD, The One Show, Clio and Cannes) in 2007.
In 2010, while under his creative stewardship, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia was named Campaign Briefs Agency of the Decade, AWARDs Agency of the Year with Lion Nathan Breweries being named AWARDs Client of the Year off the back of the agencys work. 2010 was the year in which the agency received the most awards in its 25 year history.
| BY Kim Shaw |
Ogilvy Australias Chief Creative Officer Steve Back is leaving the company after 18 months in the position. Back joined Ogilvy Australia in the newly-created national role in February 2013 from Ogilvy & Mather Singapore where he also held the position of Chief Creative Officer.
Ogilvy Australias CEO David Fox said Back had worked hard to strengthen the creative talent across the Ogilvy Australia group.
Steve has helped to build creative capability across both offices leading to stronger creative collaboration between Sydney and Melbourne, he explained.
| BY Kim Shaw |
A total of 138 entries have made the cut at the shortlist stage of the 2017 APAC Effie Awards.
The finalist list is determined after 2 rounds of judging from entries submitted across the region. 13 countries have finalists with the highest number of entries from Australia, India and New Zealand. The BBDO network dominates the list with 45 of the 138 finalists, while Ogilvy and Mather and MullenLowe follow next, with 27 and 15 entries respectively. Also with multiple entries on the list include TBWA, McCann Worldgroup, Grey Group and independent agencies such as Medulla Communications and Affinity.
CB Agency of the Year Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and CB NZ Agency of the Year Colenso BBDO New Zealand have the most finalists with 13 and 11 respectively.
Headed by the Awards Chairman, Anthony Wong of Ogilvy & Mather Group, the jury also comprises of 6 Heads of Jury Ashish Bhasin of Dentsu Aegis, Ike Kwon of Kia Motors, Jean-Paul Burge from BBDO Asia, Kitty Lun of Facebook, Nicole McMillan of The Wrigley Company and Ross Jackson of Bank of New Zealand, together with some 150 top advertising professionals and marketers in Asia Pacific.
The second round of judging held last week brought together over 60 judges to Singapore over 3 days. The judging round saw very robust and stimulating discussions in every panel to deliberate on the entries which stood out amongst the rest.
It is inspiring to see the quality of the work getting better each year. The jury had a crucial and difficult task in selecting the best work that represents the finest in the Asia Pacific region and gives brands a steer on what the future of effective marketing looks like. My heartiest congratulations to all finalists and we look forward to unveiling the winners on the awards night, commented Anthony Wong.
APAC Effie is recognised by advertisers and agencies as the gold symbol of marketing effectiveness in the region, a pre-eminent award that celebrates and awards ideas that work. Winners will be announced at the Awards Gala which will be held at Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore on 21 April 2017. See more at: www.apaceffie.com.
| BY Lynchy |
CB Exclusive Two years after joining Joy, Sydney as creative partner in February 2015 Campaign Brief can reveal that Steve Back is set to depart for a new, yet to be revealed, adventure.
Before Joy Back had stints at Ogilvy Australia, where he was chief creative officer. He joined Ogilvy Australia in the newly-created national role in February 2013 from Ogilvy & Mather Singapore where he also held the position of chief creative officer.
Back is one of Australias most respected and awarded ECDs and was appointed as executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney in November 2007, replacing David Nobay when he departed to start up Droga5.
Originally a star at Marketforce in Perth, Back first worked at George Patterson Sydney followed by a highly awarded stint at Leo Burnett Sydney. Back played a major role in Leos winning Campaign Briefs Australian Agency of the Year in 2000. Back then spent several years in London before being enticed to New Zealand to join Colenso BBDO. Mike OSullivan then hired Back as Head of Art when he was appointed ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi NZ. The agency went on the win CB New Zealand Agency of the year in 2006 and 2007.
He then joined DDB Sydney as creative director where he dramatically re energized the agency, moving them to equal number one Australian agency in The Work 07 with Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. Under Back, DDB Sydney was the only Australian agency to get gongs at all four of the top international award shows (D&AD, The One Show, Clio and Cannes) in 2007.
In 2010, while under his creative stewardship, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia was named Campaign Briefs Agency of the Decade, AWARDs Agency of the Year with Lion Nathan Breweries being named AWARDs Client of the Year off the back of the agencys work. 2010 was the year in which the agency received the most awards in its 25 year history.
| BY Ricki Green |
Atomic 212 has appointed Sascha Bonomally to its senior team in the role of head of performance and attribution, as the company looks to inject creativity and strategic planning into its paid digital marketing. Performance media is one of the most fluid and transformative areas of marketing, and this move will serve to future proof the business in the ever-changing landscape.
This follows the agencys repeated success with performance media clients, which include TAB, NIB, Torrens, Mortgage Choice and Tourism NT. While performance teams tend to focus on data, targeting and paid placement, this move will focus on fostering Atomics strategic and creative credentials within the paid digital team.
Says Bonomally: Its trite to say that the consumer journey is more complicated than ever before, and the digital landscape is becoming more and more fragmented. This is the issue every marketer faces, and understanding the relationship between different marketing channels in a fragmented environment is key. The first player to accurately stitch this together will emerge the winner.
In 2017 we are going to see unprecedented changes in the performance space. For instance, there is room to be far more precise in the attribution space, with far better instruments to accurately map consumer activity. We will also see a far more strategic approach to performance in the mobile space, while voice search is set to add a whole new layer of complexity to paid digital marketing.
In other words, this is an exciting time to operate in this space. The business wants to navigate these uncharted waters with solid people in place. Above all, we want people who embody a collaborative approach that ensures creativity and strategy are at the forefront of all our performance briefs.
Bonomally went on to say that agency performance teams will need to evolve drastically in the coming years if they want to remain competitive: Data-driven agencies are a dime a dozen these days. If performance teams really want to stand out, they need to move beyond this. The future lies in leading the data management space, the future is the integration of first, second and third party data, where the agency facilitates this integration across clients and partners.
The best performance teams will develop proprietary data management platforms, which integrate CRM, analytics, attribution and SDK, and use these platforms to truly answer client needs.
Bonomallys promotion is the agencys latest step in its move to become Australias leading full- service creative and media business. It has been complemented by key hires within the content and creative teams, including the appointment of executive creative director Jonas Lembke. The goal is to create a truly integrated agency, which sits at the intersection of technology, media and creative.
As head of performance and attribution, Bonomally oversees the agencys performance media output in areas like paid search and social, and works closely with Atomic 212s senior management in the strategy, creative, data and media buying spaces.
Says Jason Dooris, chief executive, Atomic 212: Its always a great feeling when you can promote from within. There is no question that Sascha will take the team to the next level. He is also an excellent fit for the agency culturally Were incredibly lucky to have him in this role.
Atomic 212s origins were in the performance, search and data space, so this appointment serves to strengthen these core credentials, while indirectly strengthening the agencys creative credentials as well. The move has been a necessary consequence of Atomics client growth, both in terms of new and existing partners.
We are experiencing a rapid growth phase, which is great for the business. But this acceleration brings new challenges you need to make sure that you have the right people on board. This promotion represents the next evolution in our future-facing growth plan. Were strengthening our full service credentials across the board, and in this case we are ensuring that our performance team remains closely linked with the rest of the agency, from both a creative and a strategic point of view.
Bonomally said he is looking forward to taking on a more strategic, big picture approach to client work, with a focus on commercial creativity, ROI and measureable success.
Atomic is the market leader when it comes to performance, so I definitely have some work cut out for me. I cant wait.
| BY Ricki Green |
Aussie expat Jo Shoesmith (left), who started her career at Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne in the 90s and is now chief creative officer at Campbell Ewald, North America has been picked as one of the first twelve 2017 executive jury members for New York Festivals International Advertising Awards.
These prominent creative officers and executive creative directors from the worlds foremost advertising agencies will gather together in New York City April 7-11 to select the Worlds Best Advertising.
For the seventh consecutive year, entries into New York Festivals Advertising Awards will be judged by 24+ of the most awarded creative leaders from around the globe. The executive jury will review the shortlisted entries selected by New York Festivals online grand jury.
Says Michael ORourke, president of New York Festivals Advertising Awards: Outside of the obvious set of credentials that each jury member brings to the table, we look for that trust factor. Entrusting this accomplished group of colleagues with the shortlist means that entrants are secure in knowing that their work is seen with open eyes and held in the utmost regard, viewed not as an entry, but as a collective effort of many, aiming to create something unique, heartfelt, and memorable.
2017 Executive Jury
Nils Andersson, Asia Creative President and Greater China President, TBWA\Asia
Frank Bodin, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Havas Switzerland
Jim Elliot, Global Chief Creative Officer, Arnold Worldwide USA
Tobias Grimm, Creative Managing Director, BBDO Berlin GmbH Germany
Erh Ray, Co-CEO/Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide Latin America, Brazil
Leigh Reyes, President and Chief Creative Officer, MullenLowe Group Philippines
Jo Shoesmith, Chief Creative Officer, Campbell Ewald North America USA
Yasuharu Sasaki, Head of Digital Creative / Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Japan
Guan Hin Tay, Global Executive Creative Director, JWT Singapore
Marco Venturelli, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Italy
Ralph Watson, Chief Creative Officer, CP+B Boulder USA
Susan Young, EVP/ Executive Creative Director, McCann Erickson NY USA
Additional executive jury members will be announced in the coming weeks.
Entries into the 2017 competition will be judged by 400+ members of NYFs executive and grand juries, a brain trust of global creative minds, who collectively cast over 400,000 votes to select the Worlds Best Advertising. The 2017 executive jury will utilize NYFs Matrix Judging System; a patented system insures each entry is scored on its own merits with 50% of the vote based upon its concept / idea, 25% stemming from its brand and market relevance, and 25% pulled from its production execution.
The 2017 New York Show creative panel sessions and networking events will take place on Thursday May 18th at the NYIT Auditorium, 1871 Broadway, between 61st & 62nd Street. The annual New York Show awards ceremony and gala will be held that evening at the world-class performance space, Jazz at Lincoln Centers Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City.
| BY Lynchy |
Diageo Australia has launched a major new brand campaign for Bundaberg Rum, the biggest for a decade with a media value of $20 million over the next 18 months.
The campaign, created and executed in partnership with Leo Burnett Sydney will be activated across multiple channels including TV, out of home, digital and in-store. The campaign launches with a new 90 television commercial (TVC) which will air tonight to coincide with the launch of the 2017 NRL Season and the brands second year of NRL sponsorship.
Entitled Unmistakably Ours, the campaign celebrates everything that makes Australia unique, from our wildlife to our food, our love of sport to our city and beach culture, our diversity to our enduring values. The campaign aims to unite Australians by reinvigorating love and pride for the Australian spirit both for the iconic Bundaberg Rum but also for the values which make us who we are.
Filmed entirely in Australia, including at the home of Bundy Rum in Queensland, the 90 TV spot opens with actor Gyton Grantley reminding us about the importance of Australias enduring values: always being there for your mates; remaining optimistic in the face of adversity; and having a crack even when the odds are stacked against you.
Supporting Gyton, the commercial features a cameo role from Olympic medalist Anna Meares and surfing hero Julian Wilson who famously paddled towards a shark in an attempt to save his mate (Mick Fanning) from an attack.
The spot also includes a Mardi Gras scene celebrating our enduring optimism and culminates in a celebration with the Bundaberg Rum team outside the Distillery in Queensland.
Says Bundaberg Rum marketing manager, Jodi McLeod: Since 1888 when the Bundaberg Distillery was born, this brand has played a significant role in Australian culture. As an iconic and enduring Australian brand we have always celebrated the Australian spirit but have never
articulated this purpose as clearly or with as much pride as we are today.
Recent brand research highlighted that pride in Australia has dropped to its lowest point in 20 years and so, as Australias national drink, we wanted to celebrate the spirit thats unmistakably ours and elevate the role that Bundy plays in bringing Aussies together. The campaign is a rally-cry to unite all Australians around the best of the Aussie spirit and celebrate everything that makes us and our country brilliantly unique.
The words Aussie pride come with baggage so we set out to create a campaign to remind
Australians of the values that make us truly unique today. Values we should be proud of. All while maintaining the humour that Bundy is famous for, says Vince Lagana, Joint ECD at Leo Burnett Sydney.
Out of home, TV, in-store and digital activity will use the tagline No-one does rum like us with
multiple executions in market which celebrate all facets of Australian culture.
Building on Bundys sponsorship of the NRL, the campaign will also include off and on-premise below-the-line activity to engage fans across the footy season. This instore activation will celebrate the sport and encourage fans to Share the Spirit.
Combined with our NRL partnership which kicked off in 2016, the launch of Bundaberg Rum Lazy Bear, our most successful RTD launch in over a decade, and now this $20 million campaign, Diageo is really getting behind the Bundaberg Rum brand and reinvigorating the Australian spirit, says McLeod.
The TVC will premiere tonight (2 March) during the first match of the 2017 NRL season on Channel 9. The brand is a proud sponsor of the NRL with Bundaberg Rum Super Saturdays returning in 2017.
Leo Burnett Sydney
* Vince Lagana & Grant McAloon, executive creative director
* Michael Dawson & Adam Bodfish, senior copywriter
* Ben Alden & Nils Eberhardt, senior art director
* Jason Young, senior designer
* Ross Cameron & Graham Alvarez, planning director
* James Walker-Smith, group business director
* Neil Duncan, business director
* Rachel Devine, senior broadcast producer
* Adrian Jung, head of print
* Linda Tran, communications strategist
* Stuart Capel, media director
* Courtney Rule, pr strategist
* Liz Hunt, publicity director
* Gideon Hornung, experience director
* Alexandra Roubine, social media strategist
* Prudence McKendry, content producer
* Kit Baker, content creator
* Gotham Pillai, content writer
Film Production
* Lachlan Dickie, director / Rabbit Content
* Lucas Jenner, executive producer / Rabbit Content
* Marcus Butler, producer / Rabbit Content
* ARC EDIT, offline
* Blackbird VFX, online
* Song Zu, music & audio
* Toni Higginbotham, casting
* Prodigious Brand Logistics, social content
Stills Production
* Jamie Macfayden, photographer / Louis & Co
* Will Palmer-Reeves, producer / Louis & Co
* Prodigious Brand Logistics, retouching
MediaVest
* Lauren Small, client services director
* Craig Cooper, investment & partnership director
* Alicia Phillip, digital director
* Fiona Hedge, planner/buyer
* Kate Holland, account executive
Diageo
* Adam Ballesty, marketing & innovation director
* Jodi McLeod, marketing manager
* Joanna Gibson, senior brand manager
| BY Lynchy |
CB Exclusive Well-known Melbourne strategic marketing and advertising agency Magnum Opus has added to its team, and rebranded to become Magnum Opus Partners (MOP).
After more than 30 years, founder and executive creative director Mike Allen identified an opportunity to expand the skill base and services of the agency, to take its creative and strategic outputs to another level, building new capabilities.
Joining the already strong creative talent at MOP, is new creative director Pat Langton (below), who recently returned from a highly successful time in London, where he won a Silver Lion at Cannes, two Silver and a Bronze award at the Clios in New York.
New managing director Erin Lightfoot, brings strong strategic marketing, planning and business management strengths to the business. She has operated her own strategic marketing business for over ten years and also enjoyed a highly successful career in Victorias tourism and events industry.
Taking on the role of director of creative strategy, Stephen Yolland brings a wealth of strategic analysis and campaign planning, and has been the recipient of many national and international copywriting and advertising effectiveness awards.
As the industry continues to evolve at a rapid rate, MOP is structured to respond quickly and strategically to our clients short and long term advertising, creative and marketing needs.
Says Allen: The new positioning statement Results. Nothing Less. is very deliberate and drives our team and our culture. We have always been a results-focused agency, and we excel at delivering creative ideas backed by strategy insight and data, to achieve real and measurable results for our clients.
| BY Ricki Green |
Medibank has today revealed its float for the 2017 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, celebrating the power of a kiss with an interactive, travelling Kiss Cam.
The float is part of Medibanks #BetterwithaKiss campaign conceived by B.B.E which celebrates that every life is better with a kiss, whether its between friends or partners, on the hand, cheek, forehead or lips.
Marking the second year of its sponsorship of the Mardi Gras, and its first year taking part in the parade, the Medibank Kiss Cam will encourage attendees to share the love and a kiss, with kisses in the crowd captured and broadcast in real-time on the floats big screen. Over 80 Medibank members, employees and their loved ones will dance alongside the float during the iconic event.
Says Fiona Le Brocq, general manager, marketing at Medibank: A kiss is a universal symbol of love something that transcends gender, age, and sexual orientation and we believe that in 2017, every kiss should be equal. With the theme of this years Mardi Gras Festival being Celebrating Equality, we wanted to make this statement loud and clear, and celebrate the beautiful and brave kisses right there in the Mardi Gras crowd for all to see.
#BetterwithaKiss has spanned all Medibank creative for Mardi Gras, kicking off with a competition for members to land a spot in the parade, followed by an Kissing Booth activation on-the-ground at Fair Day.
The campaign has kicked-off on social channels, with a 60-second video content piece fronted by Aussie actor Josh Schmidt and featuring Medibank employees, alongside other members of the LGBTQI community. The video has been amplified across Facebook and Instagram, with over 3,500 shares to date.
Says Gemma Allen, head of diversity and inclusion at Medibank: Well continue to fight for equality of the LGBTQI community, and hope that in some way big or small our efforts make an impact. Were encouraging Aussies to fly the rainbow flag and share a kiss with someone they love, loud and proud, this Mardi Gras because every life is better with a kiss.
| BY Ricki Green |
By Charlie Gearside (left), founder, Lunch
Advertising creatives and truck drivers have more in common than youd think, beyond a penchant for bushy beards (and the odd amphetamine).
Both are jobs that in the next 5 years will be hit by the first waves of automation, or Artificial Intelligence, to use the buzzword correctly.
Weve long known the truck drivers days are numbered. Thanks to self-driving cars its not hard to foresee big trucking companies using the same tech in their vehicles, which have the even-easier task of driving in a straight line. Theyll replace humans with robots to maximise profits and please shareholders. Its a fait accompli.
For creative professions like graphic designers, art directors and copywriters, the applications of A.I. are much more complicated, but are already showing the first signs of development.
PingGo, a startup up from Scotland, is taking on PR firms by writing press-releases with an algorithm. They ask questions of the user, and cleverly weave the answers into sentences in a professionally-written template.
In the world of graphic design, Tailor Brands , LogoJoy and Withoomph create logos instantly, using browser-based vector graphics software with icon libraries in complex algorithms. These can be then be downloaded for as little as USD$20.
Sure, these examples are businesses that service the lower-end of the market. As creatives, its easy for us write them off. The automated press releases are clunky, the automated logos lack any semblance actual idea and are usually ugly.
No algorithm will ever match the intuition of a human heart! we protest.
The thing is, the first generation of these tools are cheap, and theyre getting better. The increasingly stingy client might go off the rails and spend $79 on a new logo instead of the six-figure retainer. Stranger things have happened.
The good news is that this storms a couple of years off, at least. Theres plenty of time to stockpile beans and build bunkers.
Whats more likely is well see automation chip away at the peripheral tasks in our day-to-day.
This will save us time, but will very slowly cut down on the number of creatives required to staff a department.
We might see crowd-sourcing platforms emerging to service the high-end of the market: Taglines written by copywriters at lunch with mini-briefs sent to their inbox.
Creative directors who review concepts from creatives sent from agencies around the world in a special app.
Designers managing teams in The Philippines, presenting work they didnt explicitly create.
I, for one, am excited about the future. More people in more parts of the world will gain access to a high standard of work, and agencies will increase their volume and number of clients in a bid to replace the big-ticket accounts.
In summary, the agency of the next decade has far fewer people, services more, and exists on the internet.
| BY Lynchy |
Dentsu Aegis Network has appointed Jennifer Tang as CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Taiwan, effective from 10 April 2017. Isao Miyauchi will step down as CEO and move back to Dentsu Inc. in Japan after building a strong and diverse business in Taiwan during his tenure.
Tang (pictured) joins the business from Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan, where she has spent her career of over 22 years. Her stellar performance gave the group their youngest ever managing director, who was named Agency Head of the Year just one year after her promotion. This track record, her knowledge of the Taiwan business environment and understanding of the rapidly changing communications landscape reinforces our commitment to clients and teams to deliver best-in-market partnerships.
Nick Waters, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific, said, Miyauchi-san has done a super job bringing our group together as one company in Taiwan. We have a very significant business in Taipei and are the market leading group. Jennifer is a proven market leader herself with an outstanding track record over an extended period of time. The combination of Jennifers leadership and the groups depth of resources and capabilities will enable us to deliver solutions which win for our clients in the marketplace.
Rob Hughes, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network North Asia, said, Jennifers leadership will herald a new and exciting era for our business in Taiwan. Miyauchi-san has done a terrific job with our Taiwan leadership fostering successful collaboration across our agencies for our clients. Now is a great time for Jennifer to take over and accelerate from this foundation to drive Dentsu Aegis Networks leadership in the Taiwan industry for our clients benefit and for the development of our talented teams.
Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend
The Astros bested the Phillies in the World Series. And Obama, Biden and Trump campaign in Pennsylvania ahead of the midterms. It's the weekend's biggest news.
Winners could have their image displayed in homes across Australia and overseas as part of a weather calendar tradition that has spanned more than 30 years. Director Meteorology Dr Andrew Johnson is looking forward to seeing images submitted for the 2018 calendar, published jointly by the Bureau and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.
Two days earlier, Mr Freeman had seen Dr Luke Streitberg at the jail's health clinic requesting to go on methadone. Mr Freeman told the doctor he had been smoking heroin and was considering injecting the drug. He also complained of withdrawal symptoms, and said he had incurred drug debts, the inquest has heard.
Despite Beau's battle with uncertainty, Ms Cosgrove said he is one of the lucky ones with Morquio A. As he was diagnosed before the drug became available in Australia, he was eligible for the trial. But he has a friend with the same condition who is "living a completely different life" because he can't access the expensive drug.
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Events This Week in Event Horizon: Teens creating themselves, heating things up and honoring the women of the world March 2-8, 2017 [ Wed Mar 1 2017 4:36 PM ] Great Buds of Fire What are you doing this weekend? Well, cancel those plans because it's time for the 29th National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show at Sandia Resort and Casino. Where else in Albuquerque can you get all your spicy, fiery, barbecue-y food needs in one place? There are demonstrations, contests and samples (oh, the samples!), plus Chile the Kid is there all weekend. This show runs Friday, March 3, to Sunday, March 5. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children 7-18 and kids 6 and under are free. Get your appetite ready, and grab some antacids before heading over to this family-friendly event. (Taylor Grabowsky) Pixabay
Think Outside the Second Dimension Albuquerque libraries are celebrating Teen Tech Week in style by inviting individuals between the ages of 12 and 17 to the Cherry Hills Library on Monday, March 6, and the Juan Tabo Library Tuesday, March 7, to get some firsthand experience with a 3D printer. The workshop, which runs from 4:30-7:30pm on Monday and 4-7pm on Tuesday, will offer an introduction to design for 3D printing and at the end, everyone gets to walk away with a printed 3D model of themselves. All of this, and it's totally free (with prior registration on the library's website). Prodigious. (Maggie Grimason)
Philanthropically Phat What would you do if I told you that you could help the New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation while eating delicious noms and drinking beer? Youlike every good citizenwould shout, Hell, yeah! Every Tuesday this month beginning on March 7, Sidetrack Brewery will be hosting the fundraiser Eat, Drink and Be Charitable featuring music, brews and food. The proceeds raised from 5-9pm will be donated to the organization, so invite the whole office for a nice, cold, altruistic beer. (Megan Reneau)
"Every town that has ever wanted Centrelink or a tax office, every town that has ever wanted a centre of excellence, every town that has wanted an agency such as the Grains Research and Development Corporation or the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, now is the time to make your voice heard," Mr Joyce's getoutof thecity.com.au website says.
The expansion of the network to Hong Kong, announced in mid-January 2017, is part of the ongoing investment project being undertaken by Colt in Asia, which includes similar projects in Japan and Singapore. It comprises of both fibre-optic and Ethernet architecture and will provide connectivity to approximately 80% of Hong Kong's commercial buildings, including full commercial coverage in the Hong Kong Island, East Kowloon and West Kowloon CBDs.
Many companies are looking to transform their digital infrastructure in the face of growing demand for bandwidth and connectivity requirements, said Colt's Asia CCO and regional executive Kenji Hioki. The expansion aims to meet the surge in bandwidth demand as well as the need for on-demand services and network flexibility, particularly for financial services companies and enterprises linked to the Internet of Things (IoT), fintech and big data.
Colts high-bandwidth services are designed to meet the ever-growing demand from enterprises for fast, secure and reliable direct connectivity to markets around the world. The launch in Hong Kong enables the regions businesses to power their competitiveness and growth while future-proofing their connectivity needs, added Hioki.
The Colt IQ Network, which currently spans 24,500 buildings and 700 data centres around the world, is a 100Gbps network, optimised with software defined network (SDN) capabilities, providing best-in-class services spanning 28 countries and 49 metro area networks, including: Tokyo, Sydney, Busan, Chicago, New York, London, Frankfurt and Paris.
The sources for the story are unclear. Linus Gitahi, CEO of brokerage AIB Capital, has written in a Nairobi newspaper, the Daily Nation, that the report exists and that it was written for the Communications Authority by the research company Analysys Mason.
Analysys Mason told Capacity: We are working on a study on Kenya but that report has not been finalised and nor have the recommendations. It is still a work in progress.
South Africas Business Day newspaper, which reported the recommendation is rather premature in its summary of recommendations and is inaccurate, said the Analysys Mason official.
Gitahi wrote that splitting off M-Pesa was included in a raft of measures supposed to level the telecommunications playing field and tame Safaricom, which has a 69% share of the mobile market.
He wrote that splitting off M-Pesa would have untold consequences, not just for the company but also for the economy of Kenya: about 79% of the countrys economy is processed through M-Pesa, a sum that was valued at $8.2 billion in the third quarter of 2016. M-Pesa is a critical nerve supporting the money transfer system. Ripping away M-Pesa from Safaricom would leave both in severe distress, wrote Gitahi.
The company is based in the UK but owned by South African IT consultancy Datatec. The Communications Authority told South Africas Business Day that it is reviewing the report before releasing it to the public. Vodafone owns 40% of Safaricom, but has kept the brand in Kenya rather than changing it to Vodacom, the brand it mainly uses in Africa.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.
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News / International
by EINPresswire
HARARE - Endorsed by the African Union (AU) during the July 2016 summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Dr. Walter Mzembi is continuing his worldwide outreach to garner international support for his bid to secure the top job at the Madrid-based tourism organization. Who will be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)?Elections for the next Secretary General will take place at UNWTO Headquarters, in Madrid, from 11 to 12 May 2017, during the course of the 105 Meeting of the Organisation's 33-member Executive Council.Mzembi has traveled the globe over the intervening months, engaging directly with the governments of key UNWTO Executive Council member states detailing his vision for the future development of global tourism under the UNWTO umbrella should he be elected Secretary General.His most recent travels have taken him to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and India. An additional stop was made in Istanbul, Turkey, where, along with his counterpart Ministers from Azerbaijan and Ghana, both UNWTO Executive Council members. Mzembi participated in the 2017 World Tourism Forum in Istanbul.The Minister then traveled to Brussels where he met Ambassadors of the 79 member African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Grouping. His final stop was the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Under the chairmanship of the African Union Permanent Delegate to the UN Organisations based in Geneva, he met with the 51 African Permanent Representatives to the UN. The same representatives have administrative oversight for the African Union at the UNWTO. UNWTO is based in Madrid, Spain.Mzembi, who is also the minister of tourism and hospitality for Zimbabwe is due to spend only a few days home in Harare before embarking on the next leg of his outreach mission.A final round of visits is being scheduled from mid-April to early May.As the March 11 deadline for the submission of candidatures to the UNWTO post approaches, there are 5 officially declared candidates for the Secretary General's post.Apart from Dr. Mzembi there is Mrs. Doh Young-shim (Korea). She entered into an unprecedented electoral alliance with Mr. Carlos Vogeler, a serving Executive Director of the UNWTO, a Venezuelan- Spanish national. Mr.Marcio Favilla a Brazilian, Ambassador Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili from Georgia and Mr. Alain St Ange from the Seychelles are also competing with Dr. Mzembi for the post.Dr. Mzembi said: " In a very real sense, the electoral contest is between a group of candidates from Korea/Spain, Brazil, and Georgia who constitute and who promise little more than a continuation of the status-quo and stand for UNWTO to carry on as before. My candidature is about my promise to bring significant change to the manner in which the UNWTO approaches and delivers upon its mandate."According to Dr Mzembi, his assessment is shared by many of those he had engaged in his outreach program. Mr. Mzembi feels that to surrender the UNWTO Secretary-General-ship to yet another bureaucratic succession will be to condemn the Organisation to further peripheralisation and irrelevance within the global system. According to Mr. Mzembi, this is an outcome which can in no way serve the best interests of the tourism industry or the millions upon millions across the globe whose livelihoods depend on legitimate, unfettered, facilitated travel.Dr. Mzembi envisages a UNWTO more audible and more visible both within the UN system and more broadly on behalf of the international tourism industry. This vision includes promoting sustainable tourism, in all its many facets, to the very mainstream of global socio-economic development under the SDG platform. It includes securing widespread recognition of tourism as a major contributor to the quest for global understanding, harmony, and peace.
News / Local
by Staff Reporter
Several hospitals countrywide on Tuesday operated without nurses as they embarked on a strike over outstanding 2016 bonuses.According to reports, nurses in Rusape, Karoi, Mutare and Chinhoyi stayed away from work.Zimbabwe Nurses Association general secretary Enock Dongo, said their members wanted Government to announce bonus dates instead of continued postponement of meetings."Members have agreed that they will only return to work when their issues are solved. So far, no engagement has taken place," he is quoted saying.In their letter addressed to the Health Services Board, the nurses also demanded Government to review its structure, which currently gives priority to medical doctors at the expense of other professionals such as nurses.The nurses are also demanding Government to review nursing posts as a matter of urgency as more and more graduates are becoming redundant soon after training."The process of reviewing staff establishment is long overdue."Over 4 000 of our members are still roaming the streets despite having trained and qualified," said Dongo.
Depending on who you talk to, 232,000 U.K. jobs will be headed out the door after Britain withdraws from the European Union. Or it could be as few as 4,000.
The range of forecasts from the apocalyptic vision of London Stock Exchange Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Xavier Rolet to the conservative estimate, from management consultants Oliver Wyman often says more about the interests of the people making them than the likely fallout from Britains divorce with the EU. As details of the banks contingency arrangements become clearer, the initial people moves they are planning are said to be more in the hundreds than the thousands.
The truth is no one knows how many jobs will leave the City of London and Canary Wharf, the two main financial districts. What the U.K. capital will look like after Brexit, and which services banks will be able to provide EU clients from bases in the city, depends on what deal Prime Minister Theresa May wrings from her 27 EU partners. Filling the information void in the meantime are finance executives, lobbyists and politicians jockeying for influence over the makeup of that final agreement.
Bank bosses with their European headquarters in London are among the most vocal. They have the most to lose if U.K.-based firms are stripped of their passporting rights the ability of companies authorized in one EU country to sell their products freely throughout the $19 trillion economic bloc.
They are a bit like dogs backed into a corner and barking its just noise, said Jason Kennedy, chief executive officer of Kennedy Group, a London-based recruitment firm for the finance industry. This is all about applying as much pressure as possible on the government to get the best deal. What have the banks have got to lose? Scream the house down and see what happens.
Few are more outspoken than JPMorgan Chase & Co.s CEO, Jamie Dimon. Before the June 23 referendum he told U.K. staff that as many as 4,000 of them could be relocated in the event of Brexit. In January, he said that number could be even higher or lower depending on how the Brexit negotiations played out.
Michelin Stars
That same month, he told May at a meeting of non-U.K. bank chiefs in Davos, Switzerland, that she needed to secure a lengthy transition period guaranteeing ongoing access for all U.K. companies to the single market. Without it, banks, insurance companies and asset managers would head for the exit, with Londons Michelin-starred restaurants and other service industries not far behind, according to a person briefed on the discussion.
HSBC Holdings Plc CEO Stuart Gulliver has taken a similarly hard line. He laid out plans more than a year ago to move 1,000 of the banks 5,000 London-based investment banking staff to Paris. While hes repeated the claim often since, the bank has yet to contact any of the affected employees, Gulliver said last week.
Each business lobby is motivated the worse you can make it sound at this point, the more likely your sector will get special treatment, said Thomas Sampson, assistant professor of economics at the London School of Economics. I dont know how analytically rigorous a lot of the numbers are. You want to take a lot of these numbers with a grain of salt.
This isnt the first time Londons financial center has used its considerable clout the industry paid 71.4 billion pounds ($89 billion) in U.K. taxes in the last fiscal year to try to win concessions from lawmakers. After HSBC considered relocating its headquarters to Hong Kong in 2015, then-Prime Minister David Camerons government scaled back a bank levy that particularly irked the lender.
Bluffing Bankers
One senior bank executive, who asked not to be identified discussing his rivals, said he found his peers comments disgraceful, characterizing them as attempting to hold the U.K. government hostage with self-serving threats. The banks are bluffing, he said, doubting that the likes of HSBC would move anywhere near as many people as they were threatening to.
Certainly, the jobs the banks are looking to initially move out of the U.K. are not as numerous as once feared. Before the vote, Morgan Stanley was said to be planning to move as many as 1,000 bankers in the event of Brexit. As the bank comes closer to putting its contingency arrangements into action, executives are keeping their options open by initially moving only 300, people familiar with the firms plans said last week.
At the other end of the spectrum from JPMorgan and HSBC, Barclays Plc CEO Jes Staley who has made mending fences with U.K. politicians and regulators a key priority after a series of scandals said leaving the EU will have little impact on his business. Barclays is planning to move only 150 jobs from London, if any, according to a person familiar with the banks contingency arrangements, known as Project Darwin. Of course, of all the worlds big securities firms, his is the most exposed to London.
Our premise is that London will remain the financial center tomorrow that it is today, Staley said on a call with journalists last week. If we need to redeploy assets at the margin, we will. But weve been consistent: we dont believe Brexit will result in a significant move of people away from London.
A key concern for financiers after the vote was that the U.K. may be stripped of the right to clear euro-denominated derivatives transactions.
Rolet of the LSE, the majority owner of one of the worlds largest clearinghouses for derivatives, told British lawmakers in January that such a move would risk 232,000 British jobs, with many of those headed for New York rather than the Continent. He cited a private EY report that LSE had commissioned, which both parties declined to make available to Bloomberg.
That sum would account for more than 10 percent of the 2.2 million people that the CityUK lobby group says work in finance and related professional services in the U.K.
I dont believe that quite that level of jobs is at stake from euro clearing, said Keith Pilbeam, a professor of economics at Londons City University who forecasts foreign exchange. A lot of these headline figures dont make much sense.
In private, according to people with knowledge of their thinking, bank bosses are downplaying the risks of derivatives clearing leaving London, regardless of what French President Francois Hollande and senior German lawmakers have said repeatedly. Imposing controls on how and where the euro is traded could damage its status as a reserve currency, making the EU unlikely to take a hard line on derivatives clearing, the people said earlier this year.
Its not just industry executives who are conjuring up ever-larger estimates of how many people will be fleeing. National lobby groups competing to lure refugee bankers from London are also predicting a bonanza for their cities, at least.
Frankfurt Main Finances managing director, Hubertus Vath, said he expects as many as 10,000 U.K. workers to relocate to Germanys financial capital in the coming years. Its not clear where theyll live: there are only 3,000 vacant apartments in central Frankfurt, according to data from property brokers Savills Plc.
Paris has set its sights on luring 20,000 jobs from the U.K. in the coming years, according to Arnaud de Bresson, managing director of the Europlace lobby group. Thats despite only one non-French bank, HSBC, indicating that it will make the city its main base within the EU after Brexit.
One European banking boss quipped that the only way France would be top of his list would be if you turned it upside down.
Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Italys biggest insurer Generali has hired BNP Paribas to sell its Dutch business as part of a plan to cut costs in weaker markets and boost profits, sources told Reuters.
Generali, which generates most of its revenues and earnings in Italy, France and Germany, is looking to auction off its subsidiary Generali Nederland N.V., which has been active in the Netherlands for more than 140 years covering risks from damage to income, pensions and life insurance.
If successful, the deal would be the first in a series of divestments that Generali announced in November in a bid to raise about 1 billion euros ($1 billion) by leaving 13 to 15 countries.
Representatives of Generali and BNP Paribas declined to comment.
Generali more than tripled its overall net profit in the Netherlands between 2014 and 2015, generating 5.4 million euros in 2015. But its non-life insurance unit, Generali Schade, was hit by shrinking demand with net profits plunging from 4.5 million euros in 2014 to 1.9 million euros in 2015.
Generalis French boss Philippe Donnet recently came under pressure as he tried to fend off a takeover attempt by Italys biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, which was hoping to create a financial giant with a market value of around 60 billion euros.
On Feb. 24 Intesa decided against launching a takeover bid for Generali, arguing the deal would not create enough value for its investors.
Generali, whose biggest shareholder is influential investment bank Mediobanca, is seen by Rome as a strategic asset because of its large holdings of Italian government bonds.
Yet the insurer, which ranks as Europes third biggest, remains vulnerable to declining profits and possible approaches by larger rivals Allianz and Axa, the sources said.
Generali is more focused than its main competitors on capital-intensive traditional life products, rather than on unit-linked or index-linked policies.
Two of the sources said Generali will announce an acceleration in its cost-cutting efforts at its annual results on March 16.
Generali, with a market value of 21.4 billion euros, has seen its share price tumble almost 27 percent over the past 24 months.
Its chief financial officer and general manager Alberto Minali quit in January leaving Donnet, who took over as CEO a year ago, to pursue a pledge to cut operating costs in mature markets by 200 million euros over the 2016-19 period.
The sources said the insurer has put a number of countries under review, including Belgium and Portugal where it lacks scale.
In South America it is looking to sell its local subsidiaries in Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, they said, although it has yet to pick banks to manage the process. But Argentina and Brazil are seen as core markets.
The Trieste-based insurer may need up to 18 months to finalize all the planned divestments, one of the sources said, pointing to lackluster appetite among industry players due to Generalis marginal presence in most of these countries.
Insurers that recently fled Latin American markets include Britains RSA, which sold its local business to Colombias Grupo Sura in 2015 for 403 million pounds. ($1 = 0.9507 euros) (Additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes and Gianluca Semeraro in Milan.)
News / Local
by Stephen Jakes
A 35 year old man is in trouble after he was arrested for trying to smuggle a vehicle from South Africa through the Plumtree border post.Farai Manja Katiyo was denying the charge when he appeared before a Bulawayo magistrate Lungile Ncube.On the September 11 2014 Katiyo entered Zimbabwe driving a Toyota Hiace omnibus with Botswana Registration number plates through Plumtree Border post.His temporary import permit had expired and he was supposed to extend or remove the vehicle from Zimbabwe.Police Minerals and Border Controls unit were tipped and conducted investigations leading to the recovery of the car and arrest of Katiyo.They discovered that it was fitted with local number plates.Asked to produce declaration particulars, he failed and instead produced expired temporary import permit and the Botswana registration book.Zimbabwe Revenue Authority impounded the car.The smuggled vehicle is valued at us$12000 with a potential duty of US$4 800.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has told its shareholders that it may face fines of up to $4.6 billion if federal regulators determine that the company fitted diesel control devices on its vehicles.
The Detroit News reports that FCA recently informed investors that it had received subpoenas and information requests from the U.S. Department of Justice, Security and Exchange Commission and a number of states attorneys. The company is alleged to have fitted approximately 104,000 diesel pickup trucks and SUVs with devices designed to cheat emissions tests.
In the report, FCA said If we are found to have violated any of the provisions of the Clean Air Act, we could be subject to penalties imposed by the EPA and (California Air Resources Board) as well as other government authorities.
While FCA vehemently denies any wrongdoing, the EPA says that there were at least eight auxiliary emission control devices on 2014-16 Dodge Ram 1500 pickups and Jeep Grand Cherokees with the available 3.0-liter diesel engine. The use of such devices is technically legal but regulators in the U.S. require disclosures before any such vehicles can be sold in the United States.
Such investigations could result in the imposition of damages, fines or civil and criminal penalties. It is possible that the resolution of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows and may adversely affect our reputation with consumers, which may negatively impact demand for our vehicles, FCA concluded in its statement.
PHOTO GALLERY
This Ferrari 458 Italia will need a complete makeover in order to return to its former glory, after it barked up at the wrong tree a couple of days ago.
Posted by FerrariOwnersClubNL, these images show the Italian supercar with its entire front end messed up, after hitting a tree, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
What exactly happened is a good question, but we have absolutely no background info. However, if we were to analyze the pictures, wed say that the wet asphalt may have had something to do with it.
Judging by the looks of the Ferrari 458 Italia, its occupant(s) most likely walked away, with a few bruises at most, while the supercar will need to pay a visit to the sheet metal doctor for a lot of repairs. Good thing its 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 lump, which was replaced by a turbod engine in the newer 488, is mid-mounted, right?
PHOTO GALLERY
Former U.S. Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt will face trial on April 18 in Detroit for his involvement in the German companys diesel emissions scandal.
Schmidt faces 11 felony charges during his time as the chief Volkswagens environmental and engineering center in Michigan and if convicted of all, could face 169 years imprisonment.
Schmidt was arrested on January 7 at Miami International Airport and while the defense has indicated that they may seek a postponement in his trial, he looks likely to become the first VW employee or executive to go to trial over the scandal.
Currently, the former executive is being held at a jail north of Detroit and his defense argues that he was just a small player in what was a much larger scandal.
Automotive News reports that German authorities are also investigating Schmidt, suggesting that he could face charges in VWs home country as well.
If Schmidt is charged, found guilty and imprisoned, it could pave the way for similar rulings on other high-ranking VW executives involved in the manipulation of diesel emissions testing.
PHOTO GALLERY
News / Local
by Thobekile Zhou
Norton member of parliament Temba Mliswa caused a stir in the chambers on Wednesday when he claimed that he nearly fainted when he saw Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi in the august house.Mumbengegwi made a rare appearance in parliament."Mr. Speaker Sir, I must say when I walked into Parliament, I nearly fainted when I saw the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs. True to your word, he is here and we would like to welcome him to Parliament, especially today when the xenophobia debate has been moved [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]" said Mliswa as recorded by the parliamentary Hansard.However, speaker of parliament Jacob Mudenda came to Mumbengegwi's rescue chastising Mliswa saying " Hon. Mliswa, this matter was discussed yesterday and I do not think there is any point in trying to embarrass the Minister. Your point of order does not stand".Opposition legislators routinely complain that ministers skip parliamentary sessions especially on Wednesday during question and answer sessions.Last year, opposition members of Parliament demanded that ministers absconding Parliamentary sessions be charged with contempt of court, citing Mumbengegwi as the most delinquent.
Photo: Google Street View
Kelowna Community Resources is on the move.
The not-for-profit social agency is moving to a new, larger facility at 620 Leon Ave. in downtown Kelowna.
An open house will be held at the new location on Mar. 9, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Community Resources previously operated out of a smaller space on Dolphin Avenue.
"KCR has served our community for 33 years," the organization said in a news release.
"Our move to a single location that houses all employees, volunteers and programming fulfills a long-term vision and strategic plan of our board of directors and confirms our continued commitment to serve the Central Okanagan and beyond."
The resource centre provides the following services:
It's a joke what the minimum wage is in BC. Most jobs that are held by people that get paid minimum wage work for big companies that make millions.
This is the Government helping the rich. The rich run the Government. That's the bottom line. So sick.
The cost of living is so outrageous, some people have to chose weather to pay rent or eat. Obviously they have to pay their bills or they are homeless. It just seem that the Government ignores the fact that their are a lot of people on poverty line, and they don't or won't acknowledge this.
I guess when youre wealthy you can't see the forest for the trees!
Shirl Olson
Minimum wage was never meant to be a liveable income. It was a stepping stone for youngsters/first time employees to learn the art of the work force, to move up the ladder to bigger and better incomes.
Wendy's chains are automating over 1,000 stores in the US, because of the minimum wage increase. Some Edmonton McDonalds are already using this system.
Be careful what you wish forever, you just may become unemployed.
Cathy Knorr
Something a lot of people don't realize is that a server has to tip out a percentage of the whole bill to cooks, hostesses and bartenders. So when you don't tip or cheap tip, it can cost them money to serve you. If you don't like something, talk to the manager.
Sherry Frearson
I know that a lot of people are happy with the coming increase in minimum wage. I do have friends who own their own businesses, and if the wage goes up even more, the owners will have to cut shifts.
So, those that are lucky enough to 'keep their jobs', will have to work a lot harder to cover for those that got their hours cut or also, possibly lost their job. Is the stress really worth the extra 50 cents an hour?
I also have friends who have been 'let go' because the company can't afford to pay them now from past minimum wage increases.
Good luck to everyone!
Marilyn Thompson
The explanation given by Kelownas City Clerk as to why the many, many letters and representations made by Kelowna citizens against the proposed location of the new Tourism Centre is ridiculous.
Citizen opposition to the proposed location has been part of the public dialogue for months, in fact as long as the public became aware of the plan to construct this building on our waterfront. There have been innumerable letters sent to editors and mayor and council, and to have these dismissed because they were not received within the 12 day notification period of the public hearing is nonsense, and an easy out for council. It is a total disregard and dismissal of the wishes of the citizens of this community.
If this in fact, is in the legislation, then the legislation need to be changed. One has to assume which may be erroneous that the mayor and council members are aware that the general public consensus is against this building in this location, and if they accepted the information from the clerks office that there was very little opposition, then they have forgotten they have been elected to listen to all their constituents and act accordingly.
This isnt a contest where you had to apply between January 11 and January 23 and then be told that whoops you lost. Kelownas citizens have been telling council that this building in this location is not in the communitys best interests for months and this council has chosen not to listen. We should be mad - it is, after all, our lakeshore.
Sharron J. Simpson
Photo: RCMP
Surrey RCMP already have them pegged for several break-ins, but believe a trio of suspects may be responsible for many more.
Police are seeking witnesses who may have seen one or more of the suspects alleged to have committed a series of crimes in the Fraser Heights area from December to January.
Twenty four break-ins were reported between October and December in Surrey.
On Jan. 21, police arrested Shane Takakenew Jr. for three residential break and enters that occurred the previous night near his residence.
A search warrant was executed at his home, and a large quantity of property was found. As police processed the seized property, they were able to link items to 10 break and enters in the region.
In addition, Shane Takakenew Sr. and Fabiola Diaz were also implicated.
Takakenew Jr. is facing one count of break and enter, eight counts of attempted break and enter, nine counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000 and four counts of deal with identity documents.
Takakenew Sr. is facing seven counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000 and four counts of deal with identity documents.
Diaz is facing three counts of possession of stolen property under $5,000.
Currently both Takakenew Sr. and Jr. are in custody, while Diaz has been released on bail.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Photo: Jon Manchester
BC Hydro is asking the province for environmental approval of a project that would increase the power generating capacity of a dam north of Revelstoke.
The company wants to add a sixth turbine at the Revelstoke Dam and says in a statement that the new unit would add 500 megawatts of capacity to the province's electricity system.
The dam's powerhouse was originally built for six generating units, but only four were installed by the time it began churning out power in 1984.
A fifth turbine began operating in 2010, but BC Hydro says electricity demand continues to grow, with a new record for power consumption being set during a cold snap in January.
The Crown corporation says the project, which includes building a new station west of Summerland, will cost an estimated $582 million and the earliest it would come into service is 2021.
The province is expected to make a decision on an environmental assessment certificate this fall.
Photo: Twitter
The prime minister will be back in B.C. tomorrow.
Justin Trudeau will visit Victoria, where he will go for a run with Armed Forces soldiers and Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan Thursday morning.
Then, the two will tour CFB Esquimalt.
A media briefing is scheduled for noon, along with a meeting with Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps in the afternoon.
On Friday, Trudeau will be in Vancouver. His schedule while there has not been announced.
News / Local
by Thobekile Zhou
Long standing MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is not ready to give up power in his party as he is the face of the struggle, a senior party member has said.According to MDC-T national spokesperson, Obert Gutu, the former prime minister should be given more time to lead.Tsvangirai has been at the helm of the party since its formation in 1999."Tsvangirai is not Mugabe, he is not yet President. He had never imposed himself."He's the face of the struggle. Give him a chance" said Gutu this evening in a live @ThisFlag 1980 facebook page interview.Commenting on his boss health, he said "He's looking far better than he did a few months back."Tsvangirai is battling cancer and there were widespread calls for him to step down last year when he revealed his health status.He is currently on a national outreach program.
Photo: Google Street View
An elementary school in Chase was locked down Tuesday after a drunk man ran into the building.
On Feb. 28, Chase RCMP received a report of an intoxicated male running into Haldane Elementary School, telling staff he was being chased by an assailant.
The school enacted lockdown procedures to ensure the safety of the students, said Cpl. Scott Linklater.
Police attended and shortly thereafter determined the alleged assailant was not present in the area.
The unidentified man was taken from the hospital and Linklater said at no time were threats made towards the students."
Photo: Flickr/BC Gov't
A British Columbia construction union has thrown its support behind Premier Christy Clark in the coming election campaign, saying her government's jobs plan provides work for its members.
Doug Parton, an Ironworkers' International business manager, says the NDP's opposition to major projects that include the Site C dam, George Massey bridge and proposed liquefied natural gas projects hurts employment opportunities for the union's more than 1,800 members in B.C.
At an event attended by Clark, Parton said the union never officially endorsed the Liberals in the past and the support does not mean individual members will vote for the party.
NDP Leader John Horgan says the union's endorsement does not represent the mood of B.C.'s labour movement, which traditionally supports the New Democrats.
Horgan says he supports LNG developments with conditions, and there's not enough evidence that Site C or George Massey project should be built.
The election is scheduled for May 9.
Photo: Oliver Daily News
Oliver welcomed a group of special guests into town recently.
A delegation from Oliver's sister city, Bandai, Japan, made a stop in the South Okanagan on business.
Bandai Mayor Igarashi and a group of directors and managers of Tokuitsu no Sato Kirari roadside rest area were in town to investigate importing wines and local product from the Oliver area for their business.
The Japanese rest area consists of an organic market, gift shop, restaurant and gas pumps and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
The Oliver Tourism Association hosted the group and took them to Road 13 Vineyards & Winery, Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Tinhorn Creek Winery and Hester Creek Winery.
The Town of Oliver says their guests called the trip successful, and aim to have Oliver area wines and products in their gift shop this summer.
Photo: Contributed
The Kettle Valley Station Pub held a customer appreciation event Wednesday to celebrate the restaurant's new renovations.
Its a nice fresh start, Im loving it, it's emphasizing what weve always been about, local craft and fresh flavours, said Executive Chef, James Bryan.
While both the kitchen itself and menu have gotten a refresh, Byran said the renovations were focused out front.
Food sales are solid, we just wanted to have the front of the house show what we are all about in the back."
Photo: Twitter
The former finance director of the Abbotsford Police Board is being sued for alleged embezzlement.
The board is seeking the return of $200,000 from Shelley Dallas Mickens.
Mickens spent 17 years in the role before retiring last June.
During that time, she allegedly falsified petty cash vouchers, according to the claim.
The suit alleges Mickens "took at least $192,200 in cash for her personal benefit."
The money was allegedly used to purchase or care for at least one property in the city.
with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Street Saviours
It took seven doses of naloxone to revive a pregnant woman overdosing in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
Images surfaced Wednesday of the woman lying motionless on the ground near Hastings and Main.
The Street Saviours outreach group was first on the scene, and members administered four doses of naloxone, to no avail.
"We didn't know how long she'd been down there for," Michael Legault told CTV. "Has she been down there too long? Is there going to be permanent damage? What about the baby?"
Paramedics arrived, and gave three more doses of the anti-opiate before the woman regained consciousness.
It's believed the woman OD'd on carfentanyl, a deadly drug that is claiming lives across the province.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will visit the drug-plagued neighbourhood on Friday, following the announcement of $10 million to help fight B.C.'s overdose epidemic.
"I'm glad that the prime minister is going to see for himself because it's not isolated to Vancouver, and if it hasn't hit communities in Canada yet, it's coming," said Dave Deines, vice-president of the Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia.
with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: CTV
The mayor of Courtenay says Britain's Guardian newspaper is blowing smoke over the city's reportedly terrible air quality.
Larry Jangula says he wants to clear the air over the report he calls out of whack with reality.
The Guardian study claimed dangerous air particulates in Courtenay are worse than in many big U.S. cities and the second worst in all of North America.
Its really troubling because what happened is we had a lot of people who were very angry and very concerned, and I had a lot of very negative, nasty calls and emails about it, Jangula told CTV.
He called the ranking incomprehensible.
I have absolutely no idea where they got it or what they did, he said.
"A couple of stoves could skew the entire reading.
Jangula admits inversions can sometimes create problems, but says residents can breathe easy.
The regional district will receive an air quality report in the next few weeks.
with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: RCMP
A First Nations woman is taking over at the helm of the RCMPs largest division.
Assistant Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr has been named the new commander of the B.C. RCMP, the first indigenous woman to hold the role.
She is replacing Craig Callens, who is retiring after five years as B.C.s top cop, and a total of 32 years of service.
Her career has been diverse and has provided her with a strong understanding of the provincial, municipal and First Nations service agreements, said Minister of Public Safety Mike Morris in a statement.
Butterworth-Carr comes from the Tr'ondek Hwech'in Han First Nation near Dawson City, Yukon. She joined the force in 1987.
She worked her way up the ranks, becoming the commanding officer of the Prince George detachment from 2009 to 2011, only the third indigenous woman to attain the rank of superintendent at the time.
Then in 2013, she became the first indigenous woman to lead a full division when she took over command of the Saskatchewan RCMP. Since August 2016 she has served as the Officer in Charge of Criminal Operations Core Policing in B.C.
"As someone who has worked closely with Brenda and followed her career over the last 29 years, I couldn't be more pleased by her appointment and we look forward to working with her," Morris, who is a retired RCMP superintendent, added.
Photo: The Canadian Press
A plane that crashed into a California neighbourhood and destroyed two homes was carrying husband-and-wife pilots and their grown daughter, and a mother and daughter who were friends of the family, relatives said Wednesday.
Stacey Pierce survived the fiery crash and was seriously injured while her parents, the 83-year-old pilot Nouri Hijazi and his 67-year-old wife Dana Hijazi, were both killed. Nevada resident Christy Crown, Pierce's sister-in-law, identified the three in a statement.
"He was an extremely experienced pilot, which was his hobby, his passion," Crown said of Nouri Hijazi.
"We want to say how incredibly devastated and heartbroken we are and still trying to process everything," her statement said.
The group, relatives of two junior-high age girls who had gone to a weekend cheerleading competition, was returning to San Jose on a rainy Monday when their plane crashed suddenly in Riverside, east of Los Angeles, killing three people and critically injuring two who were ejected. The girls returned safely to San Jose on a bus with their team.
Pierce's husband Richard Pierce said that his wife has been stabilized and underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon. The couple's daughter also returned to her middle school Wednesday, Richard Pierce told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Their daughter was one of the two cheerleaders. She returned to school Wednesday.
Sylvia Farelas also survived, while her 22-year-old daughter Adine was killed, Brandon Farelas, Sylvia's son, told KGO-TV. He said his mother called him before the flight and said she was worried about the rainy weather.
Sylvia Farelas had burns over 90 per cent of her body and had gone through two surgeries, family members and firefighters said.
Adine's younger sister was the other cheerleader the group had gone to see.
Before the crash, the smiling members of the team celebrated their first place trophy win at the weekend's national cheer competition, according to the group's Facebook page. Adine Farelas posted that she was "having a blast" with her mother and Pierce and looking forward to heading to the Disneyland park where the event was to be held.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Lawyer Cheng Hai has an itemized list of compensation demands from Beijing authorities over the city's smog: 65 yuan ($9) for having to buy face masks, 100 yuan ($15) for seeing a doctor for a sore throat and 9,999 yuan ($1,500) for emotional distress.
Fed up with what they consider halfhearted efforts to fight air pollution, Cheng and like-minded lawyers are putting China's legal system to the test by suing the governments of the capital and its surrounding regions.
"Some people might think that air pollution is inevitable with economic development, but they are wrong," said Cheng, 64. "We have laws to protect air quality, and major pollution can be avoided if they are fully enforced."
The lawsuits demonstrate the mounting frustration of China's middle class at the country's notoriously bad air, a topic that is expected to be discussed at the upcoming annual meeting of the country's parliament three years after Premier Li Keqiang declared a "war on pollution" at the same event.
The dissatisfaction comes even as authorities in the capital are closing factories, getting rid of coal-fired boilers and taking older, heavier-polluting vehicles off the road.
Official data show those measures are having some effect, with Beijing showing year-on-year improvements since 2013.
Yet the city's average reading of the tiny particulate matter PM2.5 considered a good gauge of air pollution is still seven times what the World Health Organization considers safe.
"We are the victims of smog and we are entitled to ask for an apology and compensation from the government," said another of the lawyers, Yu Wensheng, 50, from Beijing.
Along with Beijing, the group has attempted to sue the neighbouring province of Hebei and the port city of Tianjin. The region generally suffers the worst pollution in China and forms a front line in the central government's battle against the scourge.
The lawyers say their cases are more about drawing attention to government inaction rather than winning a settlement.
Sessions and Russia sitting in a tree. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath about meeting with a Russian Ambassador.
French presidential candidate and leader of the far-right, Marine Le Pen, could face jail time and a large fine for tweeting a violent image.
UNM is working on a 3D bio printer that could eventually print out material to use for bone and human tissue.
News / National
by Stephen Jakes
The chairman of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), Elasto Mugwadi has met Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri and given him 14 days to investigate and act against a Chiredzi-based senior cop who is facing serious allegations of torture and kidnap.In a move that is bound to boost public confidence in the human rights body, Mugwadi met Chihuri and his deputies on February 17 and ordered that they investigate the case in which Detective Inspector Henry Dhowa is alleged to have kidnapped Kariborn Nyemba who is a labour activist in Chiredzi and tortured him for days before he managed to escape to Zambia.Nyemba went missing for more than a year but speculation was rife that he had allegedly been kidnapped by Dhowa and a senior army officer also based in Chiredzi, Captain Casper Gono.The matter was eventually reported to ZHRC which instituted investigations and then ordered that the Zimbabwe National Army and ZRP investigate Captain Gono and Dhowa respectively and take appropriate action against them. This order was given in October last year but there seemed to have been no movement on the ground.Elasto Mugwadi then met Chihuri and ordered that he investigates and act on the matter within 14 days.Mugwadi confirmed the developments when he was approached by The Mirror for a comment.The Mirror is reliably informed that a team of three senior Police officers have descended on the town of Chiredzi and have to start the investigations. The officers are said to have spent almost 6 hours locked up in an interview with Dhowa and Gono at CID Chiredzi.They later interviewed Simbarashe Nyemba the brother of the kidnapped man and others involved in the matter. Sources at the Police camp said the suspects were in low spirits, something that could mean that the senior officers meant business.Simbarashe is a former Zimbabwe Sugar Milling Industry Workers Union (ZISMIWU) president."We held a meeting on February 7, 2017 with the Commissioner General of Police together with his deputies and senior assistant commissioners where we discussed the issue at length. They asked to investigate the matter further and we gave them a timeline of two weeks. As we are speaking they should be on the ground making their own investigations," said Mugwadi.Dhowa has a poor human rights record and was once sent back from international peace keeping mission in Kosovo after human rights organizations throughout the World complained against his human rights record.The mandate of the Commission is to monitor human rights issues
Photo: The Canadian Press
Former President George W. Bush on Wednesday warned against an "isolationist tendency" in the U.S. that he called dangerous to national security, at a time when the current president has faced questions about its commitment to the country's international partnerships.
The 43rd president was speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, to promote his new book, "Portraits of Courage," a volume of his paintings of military veterans.
Bush's remarks come at a time when Europeans have been skittish that President Donald Trump may promote isolationist policies. Last month, Vice-President Mike Pence reassured allies in Europe about the U.S. commitment to NATO and the country's willingness to maintain its ties around the globe.
Bush, 70, said it was not his intent to criticize his successors at the White House and he is optimistic about the future. "I don't want to make the president's job worse," he said.
But he also alluded to the Iraq War, and warned that there is a lesson "when the United States decides not to take the lead and withdraw," an apparent critique of former President Barack Obama.
"Vacuums can be created when U.S. presence recedes and that vacuum is generally filed with people who don't share the ideology, the same sense of human rights and human dignity and freedom that we do," he added.
Bush echoed remarks he made earlier this week by saying he didn't intend to criticize Trump when he said recently that a free press is essential to democracy. Trump has referred to the press as the "enemy of the people." Bush said at the library the nation needed an independent press, but added that it needs to be accurate.
Photo: Thinkstock.com
A trial by judge and jury has found Lisa Miel guilty of second degree murder over the death of Kirk Morin.
Miel was found driving Morin's truck in the Fort St. John area during a traffic stop on Sep. 6, 2015, leading police to detain Miel. After further investigation, Morin's body was found, and Miel was put under arrest.
The trial began on Feb. 6, with the guilty verdict delivered on Tuesday.
The investigation into the matter brought together Fort St. John's General Investigation Section, Forensic Investigation Section, general members, Traffic Services and North District Major Crimes.
Sentencing has not been set, yet, but Miel remains in custody, according to Fort St. John RCMP.
Photo: Darren Handschuh
A man has pleaded guilty to charges connected to a 2015 illegal drug lab fire in Vernon in which he and another man suffered severe burns.
James Karl Iverson, 23, confessed to criminal negligence causing bodily harm and arson by negligence during an appearance in Vernon provincial court on Monday.
According to police, a clandestine drug lab was discovered in the apartment on the 3400 block of Okanagan Avenue following the fire on Aug. 14, 2015.
The blaze was contained to the bathroom.
The two men hurt in the fire, aged 20 and 21 at the time, had such severe injuries they had to be flown to a burns unit in Vancouver.
Iverson's next appearance in court is for a pre-sentence report on Apr. 26, but no date has been set for sentencing.
Photo: Jasmine Aantjes File photo
UPDATE 4:20 p.m.
Environment Canada has upgraded the snowfall warning for the Coquihalla.
Snowfall total amounts between 30 to 40 cm are expected between Hope and Merritt.
A cold front will drop about 15 cm by Friday morning with another 15 to 25 cm forecast for Friday.
Travel is not recommended unless absolutely necessary. If you must travel, the weather office is recommending you keep others informed of your schedule and destination and carry an emergency kit and mobile phone.
Drivers are also asked to check DriveBC before heading out.
ORIGINAL 9:00 a.m.
Environment Canada is warning drivers of heavy snowfall expected for the Coquihalla mountain pass between Hope and Merritt.
The warning was issued just before 5 a.m. Thursday, with a total of 15 centimetres of snow expected by Friday morning.
A Pacific front will be bringing snow over coastal passes Thursday night, with the heaviest expected to hit the stretch of Highway 5.
Drivers should prepare for fast-changing and deteriorating conditions, with visibility potentially reduced suddenly during times of heavy snowfall.
"Weather in the mountains can change suddenly, resulting in hazardous driving conditions," Environment Canada said.
Drivers are asked to check DriveBC and the Shift Into Winter website for updates on driving conditions, and to adjust to winter driving behaviour and use winter tires and chains.
Photo: Contributed
A store in Revelstoke became an unplanned drive-thru, Wednesday.
RCMP said a 53-year-old woman lost control of her truck and smashed into a business about 8 p.m.
Cpl. Thomas Blakney said the driver of the white Ford pickup lost control while travelling southbound on the 400 block of Victoria Road East.
The truck slid through the T intersection of Victoria Road and 2nd Street East and crashed into a local business that was closed at the time, said Blakney. The roadway was icy and, fortunately, no one was injured.
Blakney said the unidentified woman was charged under the Motor Vehicle Act with failing to keep right.
In November 2016, I had an appointment at KGH and there were smokers sitting on the front benches in front of the entry to building.
I kindly told them, including an elderly lady who was smoking, that no smoking was allowed. Just then a young visitor came up to me and told me, using profanity, to mind my own business and that they weren't doing anything wrong. I informed her that I had recently had a transplant and that the smoke was bad for me. She said too bad.
I went in to hospital following the run in and went to information desk and asked them to call security. My appointment was about 40 mins long, and when I came out elderly lady still outside smoking. Where was security?
Smokers have more rights at KGH than non smokers.
Not fair!
Shelagh Vetter
I went to college as a single mother and now work in healthcare. Any raise, never mind a whole 50 cents, is unheard of.
I'm now back in college to once again better my income by starting my own business. Minimum wage = minimal education.
Don't like it? Work harder.
Victoria Elise
Photo: The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau started his visit to British Columbia today with a morning run alongside members of the military on a naval base in Victoria.
Trudeau and about 300 members of CFB Esquimalt ran five kilometres on a winding and hilly course through the base, which is home to Canada's Pacific naval fleet.
Trudeau's itinerary has him touring the base before a meeting with Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps.
He is scheduled to meet B.C. Premier Christy Clark later in Vancouver.
Photo: CTV
UPDATED 12:17 P.M.
Police have arrested a suspect after four separate attacks Thursday morning in Vancouver.
Just after 8:30 a.m., police were called to the intersection of West Broadway and Cambie Street, where they found a man who had been stabbed after an altercation.
The suspect fled eastbound to West Broadway and Yukon, where he physically assaulted a second victim. A third person was stabbed a short time later at Quebec and East 4th Avenue, followed by a fourth victim who was also stabbed at Main and East 2nd Avenue, said Const. Jason Doucette.
A 33-year-old Vancouver man was located, and arrested nearby without incident. He remains in police custody and is believed to be responsible for all four attacks.
Three stabbing victims remain in hospital in serious condition.
Anyone who may have witnessed any of these assaults and who has not yet spoken with police, is asked to call detectives from the VPDs Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541.
A man is in police custody following a stabbing rampage in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood this morning.
At least two people were stabbed in three separate assaults.
A bike courier was stabbed at the intersection of Cambie Street and West Broadway, where an off-duty doctor tended to the victim until paramedics arrived.
Police taped off the corner, where bloody clothes were lying on the ground.
Two more incidents happened on Main Street and East 2nd Avenue.
"All three victims have been taken to hospital for assessment and treatment," Const. Jason Doucette told CTV.
"At least two of the victims appear to have suffered stab wounds."
Witnesses say one victim was stabbed in the neck. They followed the man from a safe distance and called police.
with files from CTV Vancouver
News / National
by Staff reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe reportedly sneaked out of the country early yesterday for medical check-up in Singapore, with his entire family having already left on Monday, top government sources told NewsDay.First Lady Grace reportedly flew out of Harare on Monday to organise a charter flight for the 93-year-old leader, who is believed to have been in bad shape.Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba did not respond to questions sent to him by NewsDay. He, however, confirmed to the State media that Mugabe indeed left the country for a "scheduled" medical review in Singapore."His excellency the President left this morning for Singapore for a scheduled medical review. We expect him back in the country next week," Charamba was quoted as saying last night.Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko is the acting President.Sources told NewsDay that the First Lady flew out on Monday to organise a charter flight from Dubai as Mugabe was reportedly unable to use Air Zimbabwe."It's a tricky health situation. The usual Boeing 767 is awaiting a C-check (major aircraft service) which requires over $150 000. The airline does not have this kind of money now," an official said. "He could also not use the Boeing 737 because it would require stop-overs every four hours to refuel and other technical check-ups."Mugabe and his children who are reportedly in Dubai, have become visitors to Zimbabwe spending most of their time out of the poverty stricken country run-down by the Zanu-PF leader's policies.Although it could not be established which airline Mugabe had flown, the Zanu-PF strongman reportedly left the country around 2am yesterday."He left at 2am this morning (yesterday) after being delayed for hours because he was supposed to have flown out just after Cabinet (on Tuesday) but the chartered plane arrived late. The President could also not travel commercial because of health reasons. Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko is acting President," another source said.A source at the Harare International Airport also confirmed Mugabe had stealthily left the country using a chartered plane."There was heavy security and people were not allowed around the runway at the time he left. The plane came from outside. It's definitely not an AirZim because their planes are all here," NewsDay was told.Efforts to get comment from Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Ripton Muzenda drew a blank, as his mobile phone went unanswered while board chairperson Chipo Dyanda was not picking her phone.While officials claims, Mugabe frequently travels to the Far East to have eye-check-ups, there are reports that he is afflicted by not only old age but also prostate cancer.During celebrations to mark his 93rd birthday in Matabeleland South's Matobo district last week, Mugabe looked jaded and frothed at the mouth as he gave his speech.Mugabe just recently returned from a month-long annual holiday from the same part of the world, which according to insiders also included routine medical check-ups.Government business comes to a standstill whenever the President is away. Cabinet has met on three occasions since his return including this week before another jaunt.The Zanu-PF leader's continued trips outside the country have been blamed for bleeding an already desperate situation.Mugabe is expected back in the country on Monday.
News / National
by Staff reporter
Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's supporters - who go by the moniker Team Lacoste - say they are encouraged by President Robert Mugabe's recent hint that the warring ruling Zanu PF could hold a special congress to choose his successor.This comes after Mugabe suggested during his 93rd birthday celebration in Matobo at the weekend that his party could hold an extra-ordinary congress if he felt it was time to call it quits.Meanwhile, former zanu-pf Mashonaland Central youth chairperson, Godfrey Tsenengamu, who is facing allegations of subverting a constitutionally elected Government or alternatively undermining the authority of the President, was yesterday freed on $100 bail.Tsenengamu also stands accused of contravening the Public Order and Security Act by holding a Press conference without notifying the regulating authorities.High Court judge Justice Priscilla Chigumba ordered Tsenengamu to surrender his travel documents at the clerk of court's office.He must report at Waterfalls police station every Friday until finalisation of the criminal case and was barred from interfering with witnesses and investigations. Tsenengamu was represented by Harare lawyer Mr Zivanai Macharaga, while Mr Tapiwa Kasema from the National Prosecuting Authority appeared for the State.Tsenengamu will be back at the Harare Magistrates' Court on March 9 for routine remand.The politician unsuccessfully challenged placement on remand before a Harare magistrate. Allegations against Tsenengamu arose on February 20, when he convened a public meeting at the Media Centre in Harare without notifying the responsible authorities.The court heard that he went on to publicly and unlawfully make statements urging war veterans across the country to push President Mugabe out of office through unconstitutional means.He was quoted as telling journalists that it was time to go public about the "succession thing because some of us have since identified our candidate and its none other than Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa . . ."
News / National
by Staff reporter
Gutu told me about special ballots produced by Nikuv that can make ink travel. The rumor says ink disappears from the opposition party check box on the ballot and reappears on the ruling party's check box. "That's your suggestion?" I asked. "You seriously believe that?"
In the past three years, a new slang word has come to be popular in the Zimbabwean capital. I've heard it in professional settings and at parties. It's a conjugation of the word nikuv, to say that you were screwed. For example, "Are you trying to nikuv me?" or "I just got a flat tire on my way to this meeting, I'm so nikuved!""You want to nikuv me right now, don't you?" Obert Gutu asked me in his law office in Harare. Gutu is the spokesman for the largest Zimbabwean opposition party-Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He gave countless interviews about the 2013 Zimbabwean elections and the speculation that Nikuv rigged the results for President Robert Mugabe and his party. He said he was going to help me investigate Nikuv's true role in the elections and identify the people behind it. It was the first meeting I had scheduled upon my arrival in Harare.Plenty of people do. Right before the 2013 elections, Zimbabwean media were writing daily about the "shadowy" Israeli company. South African and British newspapers were picking up that story as well, running stories about alleged Mossad connections and former Israeli security officials arriving in Harare. In Pretoria, four days before the elections, activists organized a demonstration in front of the Israeli regional embassy.But the seriousness with which Gutu talked about the magic ballots made me wonder. He was certain that Nikuv rigged the elections, he told me, but he didn't know how to prove it. Even without evidence, or perhaps due to the lack thereof, the presence of a "shadowy" Israeli company, as described by the Zimbabwean media, had done plenty to intensify fears among Zimbabweans, who didn't really trust the electoral process to begin with.
News / National
by Staff reporter
Pay-TV provider MultiChoice Zimbabwe is putting in place alternative payment platforms following the halting of mobile money and other bank payment options for DStv subscriptions in the country.The pay-TV service provider is among businesses singled out by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya for alleged excessive and non-priority utilisation of scarce foreign currency resources in the country.Mobile money platforms run by Econet Wireless and Telecel Zimbabwe have stopped processing of DStv subscriptions in US Dollars.Econet Wireless' EcoCash has however turned to rand wallet technology, which enables users to convert their funds into South African currency for payment."The RBZ statement highlighted all current foreign outflows of which we are one," Elizabeth Dziva, spokesperson for MultiChoice Zimbabwe said.She added that "in a bid to provide convenience for our customers", MultiChoice was now looking at other "payment options".MultiChoice Zimbabwe; however, did not provide details on the new measures it was putting in place as alternative payment options.But sources in Zimbabwe said this included working out an arrangement plan with more banks and in-store kiosks in major centers in Zimbabwe.According to the RBZ, about $45m was spent on DStv subscriptions between July and December 2016 while spending on debit cards has also been high.This has forced the central bank to put in place limits on Visa and MasterCard use-limits when outside Zimbabwe.There has also been widespread speculation on what was prompting the decisions by mobile money and finance institutions that are terminating payment options for DStv subscriptions.The Reserve Bank is instructing finance institutions to be strict on foreign currency utilisation by their clients."Banks are reminded to strictly adhere to the import priority guidelines to ensure that scarce foreign exchange resources are distributed to deserving cases," the central bank governor said earlier this month.MultiChoice Zimbabwe said: "The decisions were taken by EcoCash and Telecel for their specific reasons which we are not privy to. We can therefore not comment on third party vendor decisions."Telecel Zimbabwe said in a texted message to its Telecash subscribers that "due to factors beyond our control, DStv payments on Telecash will cease on February 28 till further notice".It further said that "all other services remain available" on the Telecash platform which also handles person to person money transfers and other bill payments.
News / Press Release
by Luke Tamborinyoka
MDC-T President Tsvangirai took his Mash. Central tour to Guruve, where he engaged in a frank conversation with community leaders about the crisis facing the country as well as the next watershed election which Zimbabweans must use to usher in a new government and poise the country for growth, democracy and development.Among the people he met were 27 village heads, pastors, vendors, business people, touts, commuter bus drivers and war veterans.The trend of the issues emerging from the provinces remains the same: grinding poverty, violence, fear, intimidation as well as the continued abuse of traditional leaders, among other issues.The people's leader saw evidence of physical and emotional scars arising out of sustained Zanu PF violence in previous elections. President Tsvangirai had a tough time calming restive community leaders who have suffered violence from unpunished perpetrators who continue to roam free in the communities every day.The emerging national consensus, however, is that the next election is a Presidential election as only a new leader for the country would have the executive authority to positively impact on the lives of the people.Accompanying the President were senior officials from his office, Deputy Organising Secretary Amos Chibaya, Deputy Spokesperson Thabitha Khumalo, Women and Youth National Chairpersons Lynnet Karenyi and Happymore Chidziva, Deputy Treasurer General Charlton Hwende and National Executive members Gift Chimanikire, Gilbert Kagodora and Memory Mbondiah.Tomorrow, President Tsvangirai winds up his tour in Mash Central with an address to Bindura University students and the party's provincial assembly.On Friday, he moves to Mashonaland West, where he will wind up his national tour next Monday.
Opinion / Blogs
High rate of unemployment in Zimbabwe is becoming very dangerous for the country and if unchecked will be a disaster in waiting for the government.Policies enunciated by the government to curtail continued decline of the economy are yet to bear much fruit.These include Statutory Instrument 64 gazetted by the government to regulate or ban the importation of selected goods, Labour Amendment Act of 2015 to align the Constitution of Zimbabwe.The liquidity crunch has forced every Zimbabwean into vending hence we need new blood in the government as the current government has failed.In Mashonaland Central province dubbed ZANU PF strong holds we are working tireless to educate people on the weaknesses of ZANU PF as opposition party Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity (ZIPP)ZIPP has gathered a team of unemployed youths and training them on to do their own self jobs like tailoring, DJ and farming though not even one youth owns a land but we do theory education on agriculture.It is our wish as partners to exercise our right to vote in 2018 election and fight this high rate of unemployment.
Opinion / Columnist
Efforts by opposition parties to form a coalition are wishful thinking and machinations of some sections of the media who are attempting to advance an agenda of the western countries to remove the ruling government from power.It really surprises to hear little known opposition parties like Build Zimbabwe Alliance (BZA) calling for an alliance with other parties. BAZ is led by an American based Noah Manyika. Manyika has not been visible in the political field all along. It is only now that this American based politician is calling for unity among all opposition parties. As the next election nears, it is known that each opposition party wants to be recognized.Since 2013, opposition parties have been talking and talking of coalescing but failing. This gospel of coalition has been preached in the media endlessly, meetings have been held but nothing has come out positive. Unfortunate enough, there have been more break ups and firing of party officials rather than uniting in most opposition political parties.Isn't it that for a political party to merge with other parties it has to have grassroot support? A coalition should be a game of numbers. It won't be fair for these new kids on the political block to form an alliance with other parties who have been in this field for so long. For instance, Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF), will find it difficult to coalesce with other opposition parties. Already, ZimPF party is disintegrating. ZimPF was only formed two years ago, but as of now there are two factions that fall under the ZimPF banner.Whilst other opposition parties are busy preparing for next elections, Manyika's party and five little parties under Coalition of Democrats (CODE) are also busy running around making efforts to unite with other opposition parties. CODE was formed a year ago and five opposition parties are part of it. Since the formation of CODE, there has been much talk about it but no action is reflecting the purpose. These small parties are quite aware that they cannot make it as standalones in the next election, hence calling for a union.Complicating the matter, it has been reported in the media that Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai has been setting hard conditions for other opposition parties like ZimPF that had shown keen interest of coalescing with it. Such stringent conditions are a hindrance to the formation of the much talked union.Coalition talks by opposition parties may be cheap but actions don't reflect the words. If the truth be told, a coalition is like a marriage of convenience which has more demerits and less merits. In the event that the union is formed, there is no doubt that each member of the coalition will suffer from a sense of insecurity. Normally all the leaders of different parties would be craving for power and not necessarily serving the interest of the electorate. It will be wise for the coalition proponents to write a will as soon as they coalesce since that will would come very handy in a possible breakdown of the union moments down the road.Further to that, a slight digression from the common agenda or misjudging a partner's sentiment can be a cause for concern and can cause great damage to the union. It should not be ruled out that, every party in a coalition has certain constraints, which often force them to ignore their partners' anti-democratic activities. The leaders in the coalition will deliberately try not to criticise their counterparts because if they do so, the alliance would become null and void.Also, differences in ideologies among leaders often affect formation of these coalitions and this usually affects the output. This will also result in the growth of factionalism and fissures within the alliance which will damage the fabric of communal harmony.The other challenge with coalitions is that if a single party withdraws its support and walks out of the alliance, the entire unit faces the threat of becoming irrelevant. Opposition parties should therefore form coalitions at their own peril.
Where to find non-partisan ballot information Thank you for your non-biased bullet points explaining the three state ballot proposals in "A look at the three state...
Kautman-Jones endorses Davis Please support Meredith Davis in her re-election to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners - 8th District. I have had...
I studied skincare in Atlanta, Ga. and waxing was my favorite subject in school. Later on I lived in San Diego and waxed at the beach.
Why did you choose this business?
I chose this business because I am a very good waxer, and I am great with people. I wanted to create a business to make women feel comfortable and confident with my staff and my waxers.
What is your company's greatest asset?
My staff! I have the best staff. Some of my waxers have been with us for eight years, and they've become more like family.
Why did you choose to do business in Albuquerque?
I moved here from California for my husband, and when I opened my business it boomed! So we stayed in New Mexico and expanded our business in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
What motivates you to succeed besides the desire to make money?
I want to succeed in business for my daughter. She is the driving force to my success. Everything I do, I do it for her.
What successes in the past year are you most proud of accomplishing?
I got certified in Xtreme Eyelash Extensions. We now offer them at our Albuquerque and Santa Fe locations.
What is your company's greatest challenge?
Winter! Our winter months can be brutal. Waxing of course is very seasonal.
What contributions to the community (charitable or otherwise) are you most proud of?
Brazilian Waxing Boutique donates to Biliary Atresia Awareness Foundation. This foundation is close to my heart, since my daughter is battling this horrible childhood liver disease.
How has the internet affected your business and how do you think it might affect your business in the future?
The internet is great for business. I can stay connected with my clientele through Facebook and Instagram, and they can keep up to date with new services and deals were offering.
In what area of your business do you invest the most energy?
Waxing! Even though I own the business, I still wax 32 hours a week. I also do lashes on my days off.
If you had to choose another career or start another business what would it be?
Photography. I love taking pictures, and I have recently started a new company: J.Nouvel Photography.
What's your favorite saying or quotation?
Don't gain the world and lose your soul. Wisdom is better than silver and gold.
-Bob Marley
What inspires you?
My husband and daughter inspire everything I do. They are my motivation to be the best that I can be.
What kind of wax do you use?
Brazilian Waxing Boutique manufactures our own wax imported from Italy. It's a blend that moisturizes the skin and has essential oils.
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Since the Middle Ages, alchemists have sought to transmute elements, the most famous example being the long quest to turn lead into gold. Transmutation has been realized in modern times, but on a minute scale using a massive particle accelerator.
Now, theorists at Princeton University have proposed a different approach to this ancient ambition -- just make one material behave like another. A computational theory demonstrates that any two systems can be made to look alike, even if just for the smallest fraction of a second.
In this context, for two objects to "look" like each other, they need to reflect light in the same way. The Princeton researchers' method involves using light to make non-permanent changes to a substance's molecules so that they mimic the reflective properties of another substance's molecules. This ability could have implications for optical computing, a type of computing in which electrons are replaced by photons that could greatly enhance processing power but has proven extremely difficult to engineer. It also could be applied to molecular detection and experiments in which expensive samples could be replaced by cheaper alternatives.
"It was a big shock for us that such a general statement as 'any two objects can be made to look alike' could be made," said co-author Denys Bondar, an associate research scholar in the laboratory of co-author Herschel Rabitz, Princeton's Charles Phelps Smyth '16 *17 Professor of Chemistry.
The Princeton researchers posited that they could control the light that bounces off a molecule or any substance by controlling the light shone on it, which would allow them to alter how it looks. This type of manipulation requires a powerful light source such as an ultrafast laser and would last for only a femtosecond, or one quadrillionth of a second. Unlike normal light sources, this ultrafast laser pulse is strong enough to interact with molecules and distort their electron cloud while not actually changing their identity.
"The light emitted by a molecule depends on the shape of its electron cloud, which can be sculptured by modern lasers," Bondar said. Using advanced computational theory, the research team developed a method called "spectral dynamic mimicry" that allowed them to calculate the laser pulse shape, which includes timing and wavelength, to produce any desired spectral output. In other words, making any two systems look alike.
Conversely, this spectral control could also be used to make two systems look as different from one another as possible. This differentiation, the researchers suggested, could prove valuable for applications of molecular detections such as identifying toxic versus safe chemicals.
Shaul Mukamel, a chemistry professor at the University of California-Irvine, said that the Princeton research is a step forward in an important and active research field called coherent control, in which light can be manipulated to control behavior at the molecular level. Mukamel, who has collaborated with the Rabitz lab but was not involved in the current work, said that the Rabitz group has had a prominent role in this field for decades, advancing technology such as quantum computing and using light to drive artificial chemical reactivity.
"It's a very general and nice application of coherent control," Mukamel said. "It demonstrates that you can, by shaping the optical paths, bring the molecules to do things that you want beforehand -- it could potentially be very significant."
Part of the Ethics in Government Act is the statute allowing for a special prosecutor to investigate any person who may have committed a federal crime other than certain misdemeanors. The first step calls for the Attorney General to conduct a preliminary investigation.
The act says [i]f information received under this chapter involves the Attorney General, the next most senior official in the Department of Justice who is not also recused shall perform the duties assigned under this chapter to the Attorney General. That person is Dana Boente, Deputy Attorney General.
Perjury is a federal crime. Attorney General Sessions said this under oath - I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians. It is indisputable that he lied under oath.
We seem passionate about prosecuting street crime why should we not be as vigilant (or more so) in prosecuting crimes committed by senior federal government officials? Now is the time to decide if, in our democracy, we truly believe no man is above the law.
John C. Cavett, Jr.
Chattanooga
* * *
No man is above the law until he gets elected, appointed, commissioned, ordained, crowned, or confirmed. Then it is everyone else that is not above the law.
Stephen Greenfield
* * *
Most attorneys say a person should be considered innocent until proven guilty. Are you in full possession of all the facts?
I agree no man should be above the law. However, I wonder if the facts for a perjury conviction are "indisputable." Although you have dunked Attorney General Sessions, is a perjury conviction a slam dunk? Does interpretation and intent not matter?
Was Senator Sessions acting in his normal capacity as a senator on the Armed Services Committee of Congress or did he converse with the Russian government as a political surrogate for Trump? In his under oath testimony, he denied being a campaign surrogate to Russia. He has admitted to meeting with the Russian ambassador in his office. Apparently several other people were present when he met with the Russian ambassador. If, Senator Sessions hatched a plan to collude with the Russian ambassador in his office with witnesses present, that would be dumb and wrong. If he is convicted of breaking a law, he should pay for the crime.
It seems certain more information will come to light. Perhaps we should put his conviction and public execution on hold until we know for certain that he is guilty of a federal crime.
Deborah Scott
Chattanooga
"Within two or three years, maybe about 25 to 30 percent of cyber attacks will come through connected devices," said Martin Giles at the Economist's Innovation Summit. ( Getty Images/iStockphoto)
With more and more household devices connected to the Internet of Things, potential security problems are swiftly multiplying.
The industry needs to address those issues before the government decides to step in, said Martin Giles, a partner at Wing Venture Capital.
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"We, as entrepreneurs, need to find solutions to these very massive problems," he said. "It will take a couple of very serious incidents to provoke a Patriot Act of IoT something that's rushed out really quickly."
The discussion was part of the Economist's Innovation Summit, a daylong event held Tuesday at the Westin Chicago River North. The say also included panels on topics including the future of air travel, self-driving cars and 'hacking' living creatures.
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Giles, whose firm invests in cybersecurity and IoT companies, predicted the number of attacks from IoT devices will continue to rise.
"Within two or three years, maybe about 25 to 30 percent of cyber attacks will come through connected devices. That is actually a wake-up call," he said. "We shouldn't be waiting on government. We should be leading on this issue."
Kevin Bandy, chief digital officer at Cisco, said his company is attacked 2 million times per hour and they use those incidents to learn and shore up weaknesses.
"We monitor online bidding for hackers. We monitor hacking key codes. We take our 2 million attacks, and we literally learn the keystrokes, and we're building that into what we call digital-ready architecture and we learn from that."
Sanjay Sarma, dean of digital learning at MIT, expects the adoption of technologies will call for more regulation.
"Over time we will need some very clear regulations on privacy. For example, if you sell your Tesla, who owns your driving record Tesla, you, or the person who bought the car?"
Another panel at the summit tackled ways to market products using new tech like augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and chatbots.
"Every time there's a new technology, obviously brands want to adopt it as a way to stay current and to innovate and talk to the consumer," said Snaps founder Vivian Rosenthal. "That's no different when it comes to VR, AR, AI. "
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Rosenthal is focused on building chatbots that connect brands to consumers.
"Social media 2.0 is the messaging space," she said. "The stats show people check messaging apps before they check social apps. There's an anxiety with the brands as to how they can reach consumers in that space. It's a hard space to penetrate."
One example, she said, is Nike offering a 30-day free workout with a trainer. Another product, for Nordstrom, provides gift suggestions for Father's Day.
"The brand learns something about the user and will deliver something that's tailored to you," she said. "We call that intelligent messaging. The ability to deliver a message at the right place at the right time and with the right content is critical."
There's more buzz about the use of virtual and augmented reality to drive business, but it's still early for the tech, said Steven Kan, Google's head of global strategy for AR and VR.
"AR and VR today are where we were with mobile in the early 2000s and the web in the early 90s," he said.
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But video has been a standout in the space so far, he said.
"People want that experience of being transported somewhere else," he said. "Of literally being in a new state whether it be in the Congo or standing on the Great Wall of China."
Fellow panelist David Jones, whose venture capital firm You & Mr Jones was an early investor in "Pokemon Go" creator Niantic, said one of the reasons for the success of AR game is the lack of a need for an additional device.
"What we saw and learned from 'Pokemon Go' is if you make something really simple, it will scale and grow," he said. "AR now has a leg up on VR."
As for Rosenthal, while she works with emerging technologies all day, she eschews them at home. She doesn't even have Wi-Fi at her house, she said.
"I like to create technology, but I don't use it at home," she said. "I think technology is extremely addictive, and since I work with it all day long, I don't want to do it at night."
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Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.
Twitter @cherylvjackson
Several executives who worked for Chicago startup Raise in 2016 are turning up in jobs at other companies, pointing to some high-level departures as the gift-card marketplace announced other hires.
Yang Chao, who worked as a vice president of finance at Gogo and held management and technical positions at Motorola before joining Raise as senior vice president of finance, was named chief financial officer of Chicago-based logistics startup FourKites in February. Brent Walker, Raise's former vice president of technology, recently joined event ticket marketplace Vivid Seats as vice president of engineering.
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Other high-level employees left the startup at various points last year, including former chief security officer Justin Grudzien, vice president of strategy Josh Metnick and general manager John Courtney, who was formerly an executive at eBay.
Raise said it declines to comment on personnel. In the past six months it has announced hirings of chief people officer Maureen Calabrese, formerly chief people officer at Cision; chief financial officer Jillian Sheehan, formerly a senior vice president and CFO at construction software maker Textura; and head of engineering Dave Hoover, co-founder of Chicago-based web-developer school Dev Bootcamp.
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The company has posted openings on its website for number of positions, including a head of security and infrastructure.
Because the job titles of those coming and going differ, it's unclear whether the new hires are direct replacements for executives who have departed.
"Titles are based on experience and needs of the business," Raise chief of staff Meghan Fox wrote in an email. "There isn't a specific change we can point to outside of normal business matters. As we continue to grow and mature as an organization, we are trying to be as thoughtful as possible with the structure of our company as well as titles within the organization."
She said the company doesn't have specific numbers for its hiring goals but is focused on roles that "complement the skill sets we need." She added that the company is always looking to recruit tech talent.
Hoover tweeted Wednesday: "If you're someone who enjoys developing software developers as much as you enjoy developing software, let's talk. I'm looking for leaders."
The Illinois Attorney General's office said this week it is continuing to investigate the company after receiving multiple consumer complaints about cards worth nothing or less than their stated value.
Raise, which allows people to sell gift cards to buyers looking for a bargain, is led by 29-year-old Northbrook native George Bousis . Though the company has been considered one of the city's fastest-growing startups since it began in 2013, users of the site have complained about gift cards that don't work or that retailers later say are fraudulent.
Raise announced this week a new partnership with Maine-based CashStar, which builds consumer and B2B digital gift card programs and payments solutions for merchants, retailers and restaurants. As part of the partnership, Raise has integrated with a CashStar platform to offer digital gift cards on demand from a network of retailers and restaurants, according to a news release.
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The company, which once employed more than 300, laid off 15 percent of its workers in August. The company now says it employs about 250.
mgraham@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @megancgraham
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy is partnering with Chicago-based Uptake to keep track of wind turbines. (Sandy Huffaker / Associated Press)
Berkshire Hathaway Energy wants a better way to keep an eye on the health of its wind turbines and it's tapping Chicago-based Uptake for help.
Two subsidiaries of famed investor Warren Buffett's $84 billion energy business portfolio will use solutions from Uptake, a data analytics for industry startup, to monitor parts of their wind power fleets, the companies announced Thursday.
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The companies worked together for nearly a year on research and development before signing this deal.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy sees Uptake Wind solutions as a way to gain efficiency and productivity from its wind fleet, said Bill Fehrman, President and CEO of both subsidiaries, in a statement.
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This is the first publicly-announced customer for Uptake Wind. The company recently raised funding at a valuation of $2 billion, making it one of Chicago's most valuable privately owned tech companies.
Uptake uses sensors to collect mass amounts of data from machinery, which it analyzes and uses to alert owners to potential malfunctions or other problems.
Startups aren't the only ones providing software for renewable energy. Exelon signed a deal with General Electric in late 2016, and earlier this week, IBM spun out a company that will provide an analytics platform for smart grid and renewable energy systems.
Energy is one of six areas of focus for Uptake. It started out in construction, with an early investment and partnership with Caterpillar, and has since also expanded into mining, rail, aviation and retail.
CEO Brad Keywell , a well-known Chicago entrepreneur who also co-founded Groupon, was not immediately made available for comment.
Uptake Wind is commercially available now, though no other customers have been announced yet, the company said.
aelahi@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @aminamania
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is warning Chicago-based CareerBuilder and five other national job-search companies that some of their online search functions exclude older workers and could violate age discrimination laws.
Madigan sent letters to Indeed, Beyond.com, Ladders, Monster Worldwide and Vault as well as CareerBuilder requesting information about functions that appear to keep older people from building accurate resumes or profiles, according to a news release from her office.
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For example, one site had a drop-down menu that offered 1980 as the earliest possible start date for education or previous employment. Other sites used dates ranging from 1950 to 1970 as cut-offs.
"Today's workforce includes many people working in their 70's and 80's," Madigan said in the release. "Barring older people from commonly used job-search sites because of their age is discriminatory and negatively impacts our economy."
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The attorney general's Civil Rights Bureau, which enforces state and federal civil rights laws, is examining the practices. Excluding older workers could violate the Illinois Human Rights Act and the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
In an email, CareerBuilder spokeswoman Jennifer Sullivan Grasz said the company "is committed to helping workers of all ages find job opportunities, and is fixing this unfortunate oversight."
Ladders, based in New York, said Thursday that it has not yet received a letter from Madigan and that it does not participate in the alleged practices.
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The online job search service, which caters to professionals, does not restrict dates on resumes people submit and, in order to combat age discrimination, does not ask users for a college graduation year, Stephanie Chan, vice president of marketing, said in an emailed statement. An optional work experience section limits experience to the past 50 years.
"We have spoken publicly about this topic and feel very passionate about combating age discrimination in the workforce," Chan said. "What we have shared with job seekers is our belief that to effectively market yourself it is best not to discuss work experience from more than 20 years ago."
Beyond, based in King of Prussia, Pa., said it will be happy to respond to Madigan once it receives the letter.
"Discrimination has no part in the hiring process and that's why we take such care to help job seekers (and hiring managers) carefully consider all information they put forth during the job search process to avoid any conscious or unconscious bias," the company said in an emailed statement.
Monster, Indeed and Vault did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @alexiaer
In the nine years since Marie "Micki" Wolf and nearly a dozen other women filed an arbitration case against Sterling Jewelers, she was barred from talking openly about her claims of pay disparities and gender discrimination.
The rules for the women's case in private arbitration, where filings and proceedings are largely confidential, also blocked Wolf from seeing what other women in her case were saying in their own allegations - including claims of sexual harassment involving male managers.
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The release this week of those women's sworn statements, part of a sweeping class-action case involving 69,000 women alleging pay and promotion discrimination at the owner of Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers, brought Wolf a long-awaited relief that she could finally share her story, she said.
"All these years, I wasn't allowed to tell people what they did to me. I had to keep my mouth shut," Wolf said. "It was kind of sad. People would have to come to me discretely in the stores, like, 'Can I tell you my story?'"
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Wolf's silence was mandated by the private arbitration. Unlike the legal system, where most court records are presumed to be public, sworn statements such as those filed by women in the Sterling case are almost always kept confidential.
The Sterling arbitration case will decide whether women faced discrimination in pay and promotion practices.
In hundreds of now-public sworn statements from members of the class, men and women also allege widespread sexual harassment and discrimination that they say fostered a demeaning culture for Sterling's female employees.
Sterling's parent company, Signet Jewelers, issued a statement saying the company has "taken the allegations of pay and promotions discrimination raised in this case very seriously."
The allegations "involve a very small number of individuals," the company said, and "the distorted and inaccurate picture of our company presented in these allegations does not represent who we are."
In arbitration, both sides agree to resolve a dispute outside the public courts and under the ruling of an independent arbitrator. Companies have called it a more streamlined dispute-resolution system that can allow parties with equal bargaining power to resolve cases with fewer delays.
Many employees and consumers agree to arbitration without realizing it when they sign up for a job or a new credit card. Those arbitration clauses prevent them from taking the company to the court when a dispute arises.
Critics say this system is preferred by companies because it offers an avenue in which disputes are blocked from public view.
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"For most corporations the whole point of having an arbitration clause is preventing information from coming out," said F. Paul Bland Jr., the executive director for the law firm Public Justice, which litigates some gender discrimination cases.
Wolf, 49, said she joined Sterling in 2002 and loved her job selling diamonds, putting in long hours and securing what she said was consistently one of her store's top sales performances, with more than $1 million in jewelry sales a year.
But she was "crushed," she said, when she learned that other men in the store with less experience and fewer sales were routinely paid more money and not subjected to other examples she saw of gender discrimination.
In 2008, Wolf and roughly a dozen other women filed their case. In 2013, their attorneys filed a motion seeking class-action status for a group of women, now numbering more than 69,000, with similar pay-and-promotion discrimination claims.
Wolf said she spent years disheartened because she could not share her own story. As she saw sexual harassment cases such as former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson's now-settled lawsuit make the news, she felt she had no similar recourse - even as other Sterling employees told her privately of their own allegations.
"This was a company that was supposed to be all about the women. But yet they didn't respect women: the way they talked to them, the way they paid them," Wolf said.
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After years of requests from employees' attorneys and The Washington Post to make the records publicly viewable, attorneys for Sterling and the employees agreed to redact parts of the records, including the names of managers accused of harassment, and then make them publicly available this week.
"We have 69,000 women who have a right to know what evidence was submitted in support of their claim," said Joseph Sellers, a partner at the Cohen Milstein law firm and lead counsel for the case. "If we had been unsuccessful in getting these statements released, the public, and particularly our clients, would have no idea what evidence we had submitted."
Dawn Souto-Coons, one of the original dozen women to file the arbitration, was in tears when she was able to read some of the statements this week. The former Sterling employee, now an egg farmer in Maryland, said she could not believe how long the case had lasted and how long she had gone on without knowing what other women had faced.
Souto-Coons, 58, said she feels encouraged now knowing that she is not alone and that women's stories are finally being told. She said she hopes the newly public allegations will help persuade the company to implement new protections for women facing discrimination.
"We didn't want this just to be a slap on the wrist: Give us some cash and we'll go on our way. We wanted them to make changes," Souto-Coons said. "I always knew I would never give up. I always knew that no matter how long it took, I would stay with it."
The case could still go on for many months. A class hearing, during which witnesses will be called to testify before the arbitration judge for the first time, is scheduled for early next year.
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But Wolf said she is ready to speak her mind before the arbitrator - and for other women's stories to be told.
"I will feel so much better when I can sit down in front of a judge and tell her my story," Wolf said. "I'm excited. These women are finally saying, 'No, you can't do this to us.' "
Slowly but steadily, investors continue to let corporate boards know that "male, pale and stale" doesn't cut it anymore.
The small but growing number of shareholder votes on diversity proposals is on pace to match or exceed the record set last year, according to data compiled by ISS Analytics, which tracks proxies. Apple and Tyson Foods investors already rejected such proposals, and another eight are in the queue.
The $309.7 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, has made diversity proposals a priority in its proxy voting, aiming to break companies "out of the group think of male, pale and stale," said investment director Anne Simpson. "As evidence grows on this and fund managers focus on building diversity even in their own organizations, I think we're going to see support on this moving up."
In each of the last five years, more than 20 board diversity proposals have been brought to U.S. companies, encouraging some to change their policies and avoid a public referendum. IBM and CVS have already done so this year -- explicitly stating they will consider gender and racial diversity in their board appointments. CVS confirmed the changes. IBM declined to comment.
A vote doesn't predict success -- in fact, the opposite. Of the nine proposals that came to a vote last year at companies including Apple, LinkedIn and Skechers U.S.A., the only one to pass was at FleetCor Technologies. On average, the proposals earned about 25 percent support, according to ISS.
BlackRock Advisors and Vanguard Group, the two biggest funds by assets under management, rarely vote for shareholder proposals on diversity topics. Both firms say they prefer to engage privately with companies.
"The vote is but one mechanism we have to message the companies," said Glenn Booraem, Vanguard's head of corporate governance. "Our direct engagement with companies has the benefit of being far more nuanced than voting for or against a proposal."
Blackrock spokesman Ed Sweeney noted the company's commitment to various initiatives to raise the number of women in governance and executive leadership. "When we speak with company management and independent directors, we emphasize diversity and inclusion as key components of corporate culture and strategy," he said.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management and T. Rowe Price Associates, on the other hand, vote for diversity proposals far more often. Morgan Stanley had no comment other than to refer to it's proxy voting policy that says it considers such proposal on a case-by-base basis.
"We tend to support most of these proposals on the rare occasions when we are voting on them," Donna Anderson, vice president and global corporate governance analyst for T.Rowe Price, said in an interview. "We think the business case is pretty strong that bodies with diverse views, including boards, tend to make better decisions than non-diverse groups."
At the current pace of gains, women aren't forecast to hold 50 percent of board seats until 2055. The number of people of color appointed as directors fell in 2016 and the overall rate of minorities serving on boards has been mostly unchanged over the last decade, according to executive recruiter Spencer Stuart.
As of now, 13 percent of companies currently give specific details about the race and gender of directors named in their annual filings, said Belen Gomez, senior director of research at Equilar Inc., which tracks diversity disclosure. "The needle is moving, but it's moving slowly. I do think things are going to ramp up."
NorthStar, based in Boston, filed six proposals this year asking companies to adopt language that they would seek greater board diversity. All six agreed to add specific wording, and the fund withdrew the proposals, said Mari Schwartzer, assistant director of shareholder activism, engagement and social research at the fund.
"Companies think that they already have initiatives in place to ensure diversity," said Ivy Jack, director of equity research at NorthStar Asset Management, which brought the proposals to IBM Corp. and CVS Health Corp. "We look at it and say, 'even if you have already been doing it, maybe you need to do it differently, or you're not doing it enough, because your board still does not represent your customers, or just the general population of the country.'"
Electronics retailer Hhgregg will close 40 percent of its stores as it works to stem the red ink and turn around slow sales.
The 88 store closings include Hhgregg's Schaumburg, Bloomingdale, Arlington Heights, Niles, Springfield and Champaign locations, the company said in a news release Thursday. The Indianapolis-based retailer is also closing three distribution centers in Maryland, Florida and Pennsylvania.
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The retailer has 12 other stores in Illinois.
Hhgregg President and CEO Robert Riesbeck said the closing stores are unprofitable or located in areas that are no longer shopping destinations.
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"We feel strongly that the markets we will remain in are the right ones for our customers and our business model. Our team is dedicated to moving forward and being a profitable 132 store, multiregional chain where we will continue to be a dominant force in appliances, electronics and home furnishings," he said.
The 88 stores are expected to close by mid-April, eliminating about 1,500 jobs, Hhgregg said.
Hhgregg said last month it hired a financial adviser and investment banker to pursue a range of potential strategic and financial transactions to help it find ways to get back to profitability.
The announcement came a month after Hhgregg reported a 22 percent drop in sales at stores open at least 14 months mostly due to weak consumer electronics sales during the quarter that ended in December.
Bloomberg reported the chain is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this month.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @laurenzumbach
During a joint address to Congress, President Donald Trump honored fallen Navy SEAL Ryan Owens and his widow, Carryn. The president claims that Owens was "a part of a highly successful raid" in Yemen. However, numerous elements of the operation went wrong, resulting in not only Owens' death but also a score of likely civilian casualties. Feb. 28, 2017. (Chicago Tribune)
Another day, another tweet that cost someone their job.
Before President Donald Trump gave his speech to Congress Tuesday, Chicagoan Daniel Grilo had a job at a financial firm. The next day, he didn't.
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During the speech, Grilo, at the time a principal at Liberty Advisor Group, tweeted, "Sorry Owens' wife, you're not helping yourself or your husband's memory by standing there and clapping like an idiot. Trump just used you."
Grilo was referring to Carryn Owens, whose husband, Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, was killed during a January raid that targeted an al-Qaida stronghold in Yemen. Owens attended the president's speech and cried as Trump acknowledged her and the audience applauded.
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Hatred from the other side. I would think this is beyond what a human is capable of saying to someone, but it's not! pic.twitter.com/nNVfFWJmDh Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 1, 2017
The tweet sparked a firestorm not only on Twitter, but on several social networks including 4chan and Reddit, shredding Grilo for his comments. "You're disgusting, you don't even deserve to speak to this man who served," wrote @PolitBunny on Twitter. On Reddit, another user named "whywouldyousaythattt" wrote: "I really want to ruin this guys life over what he said. Does this make me THE LIBERAL now? ;("
Within a few minutes Grilo responded with an apology, writing, "Folks, clearly a poorly worded tweet. I apologize to all and am deeply moved by all your comments. Thank you for your feedback."
A few minutes later, Grilo, whose Twitter account said he volunteered for Hillary Clinton's campaign, apologized again, writing in reference to Trump: "I apologize, I believe parading Ryan's wife's pain like that was shameful after his morning comments." He also tweeted, "I am so happy to see you are all inspired to protect Gold Star families, and I thank you for swiftly condemning my awful tweet."
Grilo later deleted his Twitter account. The tweets were archived and circulated on the Internet.
Despite his apologies, Liberty Advisor Group deleted his profile on their website and dismissed Grilo. "The individual who issued the tweet is no longer affiliated with Liberty. ... His comments were inconsistent with the Company's values and the unyielding respect it has for the members of our Nation's Armed Forces," said a statement posted on the company's website Wednesday.
Efforts to reach Grilo were unsuccessful
On LinkedIn, Grilo's status at Liberty reads "Terminated 3/1/2017." His Twitter account has been shut down.
Grilo may have a case against his employer, according to Phillip Schreiber, a partner in the Chicago office of law firm Holland & Knight who represents management in employment cases.
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"Generally speaking, what people say on social media that is not related their employer usually is not a concern of the employer," said Schreiber. But if someone who is newsworthy makes an inflammatory post on social media, it's not difficult for someone to track that person back to his or her employer, he added. "That's when you may have consequences."
Grilo's case is unusual, he added. "The question is ... if an employee is terminated for what he or she put on Twitter on his or her own time ... is terminating someone because of that a violation of Illinois' Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act," Schreiber said. "That remains to be determined," because there are not a lot of court decisions interpreting the law in that context.
crshropshire@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @corilyns
What was your first job?
It was working with my Auntie Theresa and Godmother Auntie Rachel at my aunts landscaping business. It was a summer job. I was 12. I used to love to answer the phones and take orders as well as keep everything organized.
How did you get started in this business?
I come from a large family, so cooking for an obscene number of people has never been terribly intimidating.
Why did you choose this business?
I have always loved to cook and bake. I never dreamed that I would have a downtown location. This is a dream come true.
What is your business philosophy?
Affordable, nutritious, edible art.
What is your educational background?
I have an associates in Business Management.
What is your or your companys greatest asset?
My employees; they are working hard daily to promote my dream.
Why did you choose to do business in Albuquerque?
I love Albuquerque. Albuquerque is home. We travel with our food truck, but I love my business location in the heart of the city.
What motivates you to succeed besides the desire to make money?
I want to succeed to show my family that I can make it. My son looks up to my a lot and I just want to make him proud.
How is operating your own business different than you expected?
It doesnt stop. Just when you think it cant get any worse, it somehow does.
We are always expanding our menu. Our newest item is the Fajita plate. It has been super popular this week.
What successes in the past year are you most proud of accomplishing?
I cant wait until we start to jar our salsa, but I am happy to have a large space with local art in the heart of downtown. We are growing and always looking for new ways to help the community at large.
What do you offer that the competition doesnt?
Fresh items, healthy portions and great pricing.
How do you maintain your competitive edge?
We are always experimenting in the kitchen.
How would you define your position within the marketplace or within your market segment?
I feel that we have a good place. We started as a food truck so we still have different events with our truck, plus we offer catering.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle in operating a successful business?
Myself. I feel like I am always second guessing myself, but it is hard to have the right answer. It gets expensive having to experiment with new hours.
What was your biggest missed opportunity?
Offering free delivery to surrounding businesses sooner.
What are your growth goals?
I would love to move to an event center.
What is your companys greatest challenge?
Right now our biggest challenge is exposure. We have a great location downtown Albuquerque, but no one knows that we are there or open. We tried expanding our hours to Saturday, but business has been terrible. I hope the change in seasons will bring a new clientele to the restaurant.
What contributions to the community (charitable or otherwise) are you most proud of?
We have done 4 Free burrito days where we offered free basic burritos in exchange for donations for the less fortunate community in Albuquerque. We feed lots of people from catering left overs to food truck extras.
How has the Internet affected your business and how do you think it might affect your business in the future?
The food truck was stolen last May and within a few hours the story of our missing truck went viral. The truck was found a few days later by APD. It was a crazy week!
What words of wisdom would you offer to someone starting their own business?
Breathe.
Kim Foxx Looks To Release Some Long-Detained Inmates Unable To Pay Bond
By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 1, 2017 11:50PM
Defendants who have been in jail for an extended period of time because of an inability to post a bond of $1000 or less could soon be released on their own recognizance.
Cook County States Attorney Kimberly Foxx announced on Wednesday that her office would support agreed motions made by the Public Defender that recommend I-bondswhich would grant inmates release without posting bailin certain cases. Those cases come from a pool of 50 that the Cook County Sheriffs Office previously asked to be reviewed.
Public safety is best served by detaining those who pose a threat to our communities rather than jailing those who are simply poor and unable to post bond for nonviolent offenses, said Foxx in a statement. This costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year, and does not serve public safety.
The move is the latest step in what appears to be an inching toward bond reform in Cook County. In November, Sheriff Tom Dart called for an end to Illinois' cash bail system. Dart advocated a more thorough background check, similar to ones performed at the federal level, to decide which defendants should be released pending trial.
Activist groups, such as the Chicago Bond Fund, which seeks to raise money for defendants who cannot afford it themselves, argue that the bond system amounts to indefinite detention. "Money bail isnt an evidence-based policy. It's been proven that the overwhelming majority of these people deserve to be released with no unfair conditions," CBF co-founder Sharlyn Grace told Chicagoist last year.
A look at the numbers behind Cook County's new soda tax. How will the tax work and how much will it cost consumers? (Phil Geib / Chicago Tribune) (Phil Geib/Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
Recent layoffs in Philadelphia attributed to the city's fledgling soda tax have armed unions and beverage industry groups with new evidence of what they say will come to pass in Cook County this summer.
But county officials aren't buying it and say the comparison isn't apples-to-apples. Cook County's penny-per-ounce sweetened beverage tax which goes into effect July 1 was approved in November. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle championed the tax as a means of balancing the county's $4.9 billion budget, preventing the further erosion of important county services and boosting public health.
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Earlier this week, Pepsi announced layoffs of 80 to 100 workers at distribution plants in Philadelphia because of a 40 percent drop in sales after the city's 1.5 cents-per-ounce soda tax went into effect in January. Dave DeCecco, Pepsi spokesman, declined to comment Thursday on what impact the company expects in Cook County.
"The beverage industry has a larger market in Cook County. We project there will be a larger economic impact here in terms of layoffs and sales," said Claudia Rodriguez, executive director of the Illinois Beverage Association, an industry-backed group that has opposed the tax from the outset.
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Beyond threatening layoffs, Rodriguez said that Cook County residents can travel to suburban collar counties to buy their sweetened beverages, limiting the revenue generated for the county. The county can "avoid these negative consequences" by repealing the tax, which will apply to sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages, she said.
Frank Shuftan, Preckwinkle's spokesman, dismissed the idea that the tax will lead to mass layoffs as "one of a number of sugar-coated arguments against the tax proposal put forward by the billion dollar Big Soda industry."
A shopper passes a display of Pepsi at a market March 6, 2006, in Des Plaines, Illinois. A new study links sugary sodas and drinks to the obesity epidemic. (Tim Boyle / Getty)
"First, it is unconscionable that Big Soda is using these workers as pawns in their seemingly ongoing campaign in support of sweetened beverages," Shuftan said in an email Thursday.
The tax could lead to an increase in consumption of "healthier" beverages, such as 100 percent fruit juice and water, many of which are produced and distributed by the same beverage companies, Shuftan said. And because Cook County is larger than Philadelphia, it's less likely residents here will take their dollars to suburban collar counties just to buy pop, he said.
In an increasing number of cities throughout the U.S., including San Francisco and Boulder, Colo., public officials in need of revenue and beverage industry groups with deep pockets have been at odds over the impact of such taxes.
Revenue from the first month of Philadelphias sweetened beverage tax has surprised city officials, bringing in $57 million. (Cbs Philly/CBS Philadelphia)
This same debate continues to play out in Philadelphia, where some supermarkets have also said they're planning on layoffs because of a sharp sales decline related to the soda tax. City officials, meanwhile, have touted the benefits of the tax, which is intended to pay for a dramatic expansion of early childhood education programs.
After the Pepsi layoffs were announced Wednesday, Teamsters Local 727, which represents Chicago area workers in the beverage industry, posted a statement of solidarity with Philadelphia union members on its website.
"We certainly don't want a repeat of what happened in Philadelphia and will call on the county to repeal or avoid the tax," said John Coli Jr., Local 727 president, in the statement.
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gtrotter@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
WGN-Ch. 9 morning news co-anchor Dan Ponce and his wife, Amy, are heading north.
On Feb. 28, the couple listed their four-bedroom house in the Irving Park neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side for $724,000, and they are moving to the North Shore.
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A member of a Chicago broadcasting dynasty, Ponce is the son of "Chicago Tonight" host Phil Ponce and the brother of former WMAQ-Ch. 5 reporter Anthony Ponce. In April 2014, Dan Ponce and his wife paid $615,000 for the house in Irving Park, which at that time was newly built.
Features in the nine-room house, which sits on a corner lot on a tree-lined street, include 3 baths, a fully finished lower level with 10-foot ceilings and a large rec room, a three-zoned sound system, custom window treatments and lighting, and a kitchen with custom cabinets, quartz countertops, Viking appliances and a butler's pantry.
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"We love our house in the city. It's a really special house," Ponce told Elite Street. "Now, we're looking forward to going to the North Shore, which is where I grew up."
Ian Schwartz of Coldwell Banker is the listing agent.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 16 (VHT Studios)
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 5 Billionaire Ken Griffin, Illinois richest man, paid $58.75 million in November for the top four floors in the Near North condominium building at 9 W. Walton St., known as No. 9 Walton. This photo shows a rendering of the lobby. (JDL Development / E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune (inset))
Gary Solomon, a key conspirator in the federal bribery scandal that brought down former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, was "the mastermind of the corrupt arrangement" and should be sentenced to nine years in prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
"His numerous acts of corruption, deceit and obstruction were not the result of a momentary lapse in judgment," prosecutors said in their sentencing memorandum. "They were not isolated acts constituting aberrant behavior. Instead, they were part of a pattern of corruption that he engaged in over an extended period of time."
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Solomon's attorneys, in their pre-sentencing memo, argued their client has cooperated with prosecutors, shown remorse and should face no more than 18 months in prison.
Solomon is scheduled to be sentenced later this month for his role in a corruption case that rocked Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration and the city's troubled school system. The co-owner of the SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates education consulting companies, Solomon was charged in October 2015 with multiple fraud and bribery charges.
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He pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud last year and admitted his role in a scheme to bribe Byrd-Bennett with a percentage of the value of contracts the then-CPS CEO steered to the education consulting companies.
Byrd-Bennett, Emanuel's hand-picked schools chief, pleaded guilty shortly after being indicted to a single felony count of wire fraud for steering multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts to Solomon and his firms in exchange for the promise of up to $2.3 million in kickbacks.
Prosecutors indicated in Wednesday's filing that they expect to request a seven-and-a-half year sentence for Byrd-Bennett.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Byrd-Bennett lied to FBI agents when they first approached her in April 2015 while executing search warrants at her Ohio home and offices belonging to the SUPES entities. She also "lied and minimized her conduct" initially with the government, before reversing course and testifying before a grand jury in June 2015.
But, prosecutors said, "she cooperated first, and she cooperated fully."
In Solomon's defense filing, attorneys pointed to a number of "uniquely mitigating circumstances," including former Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale's defense of the training contracts at the core of the government's indictments.
Solomon's lawyers also noted that Emanuel's office and CPS knew of Byrd-Bennett's relationship to SUPES Academy, and "solicited Solomon's assistance in convincing (Byrd-) Bennett to join CPS."
The filing tries to shift much of the blame for the case to Byrd-Bennett. "To the extent that anyone 'engineered' (the government's word) a bribe, it was Bennett, not Gary, because Bennett repeatedly and aggressively pursued a firm commitment relating to her compensation," the defense filing said.
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Prosecutors dismissed those efforts, and said Solomon "disputes the scope of the scheme and the significance of his role."
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"Solomon made more money than anyone else, yet he is trying to apportion blame and economic responsibility equally to deflect attention from his dominating role in the scheme. He profited the most from this corruption, and he should pay the most," the government's filing said.
The SUPES and Synesi companies were charged as part of the original 23-count indictment prosecutors leveled against Byrd-Bennett, Solomon and co-owner Thomas Vranas in 2015.
Guilty pleas from each company for one count of wire fraud have also been entered, and U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon's office said each company could face fines as high as $6.4 million, plus a total of $254,000 in restitution that Solomon and his co-defendants would collectively pay to the school district.
The defense filing said Solomon has already paid CPS $84,667 in restitution.
Vranas pleaded guilty last April to a single count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.
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jjperez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @perezjr
The popularity of the Negroni cocktail in U.S. bars has led the maker of a key ingredient, Campari, to bottle the drink. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)
In Italy, the Negroni is a grandpa drink.
Not over here. In the States, it's a popular cocktail, seemingly beyond generational bias, that has fueled through-the-roof sales of Campari, the bitter Italian liqueur essential to its makeup. So as a Negroni lover, it was a shock to hear that bit of truth from Dave Karraker, vice president of engagement and advocacy for Campari America, based in San Francisco. When in Rome, drink Campari and soda or Campari and orange, apparently.
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Yet here the Negroni is ascendant. In the past five years, the mix of Campari, sweet vermouth and gin has pushed Campari sales from 50,000 cases per year to an expected 100,000 this year, says Karraker. Two things happened in the U.S. in the past 10 years to set the stage, says Karraker: "The rise of bartenders as real craftsman," which fueled the comeback of classic cocktails. And "the palate in the U.S. became more bitter." The Negroni, certainly a classic (nearly 100 years old), and certainly sporting a bitter edge (from the Campari), became bartenders' darling. You could say, as Karraker did, that the Negroni is having a moment, except that the moment is yearslong and shows little sign of ending.
Gruppo Campari, Campari's Milan-based parent company, would be stupid not to capitalize on that growth. Campari is not stupid. Enter the bottled Negroni, a pre-mixed cocktail released last fall. It's made in Milan in the same facility as Campari, but sold only in the States, the test market, says Karraker. It retails for about $40 for a liter bottle. Along with Campari, the bottled drink is made with London dry gin (contracted from a secret distillery in the U.K.) and a custom-mixed sweet vermouth from Cinzano (also a Campari-owned brand), and is 26 percent alcohol.
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Karraker says the test is limited to the U.S. because of the popularity of the cocktail here.
And how's that test going? Karraker wouldn't say. If it goes well, though, it might be easier to find a bottle. Now, it's available in only a few markets (California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York City, South Florida, Washington, Chicago, New Jersey and Connecticut).
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How's it taste? As a Negroni devotee, I must say right off that in this case, freshly made is better. But also, bottled is pretty good. The vermouth is a bit too prominent, but otherwise a good drink.
Why would you buy it? You don't want to stock a bottle of each spirit to make a Negroni from scratch at home. You want a drink easier to mix than the proper 1-to-1-to-1 ratio. (Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but I admit to coming home late on a worknight and being grateful that I could just open the bottle one bottle, not three and pour.) A convenient all-in-one-bottle drink is also easy to transport on vacation, as we did last summer. This pre-dated Campari's ready-to-drink Negroni, but we mixed our own batch, pouring it into a screw-top bottle. The ease of it was much appreciated in our little cabin in the Ontario woods.
It's not so odd, really, to pre-mix a Negroni. Indeed, batch cocktails and aging (in bottle or barrel) of those batches has been another recent bartending trend, now spilling over into the home. The Negroni is a leading go-to drink for such experimentation, largely because it is all spirits, meaning there is little to degrade in bottle.
And those aficionados will tell you, in bottle or barrel, a Negroni gets better. After six weeks or so, you've got a smoother, more integrated drink, as Gary Regan describes in his most excellent book, "The Negroni."
If the Negroni does well, will Campari try selling more pre-made drinks? Karraker, the man who put sbagliato (a Negroni with prosecco instead of gin) in cans for a giveaway at a New York City cocktail event three years ago (and got soundly chastised by HQ: "How dare you can Campari!"), was noncommital. In Italy you already can buy bottled Campari and soda, as well as a bottled Aperol spritz (Aperol being another Campari-owned brand). Maybe those will be imported? Or the Americano (the precursor to Negroni, made with soda water instead of gin), he mused, maybe it would do well here.
jxgray@tribpub.com
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Frozen spheres of cheese. Ham-wrapped baguettes containing exactly nothing. An air-filled foam of carrot that still manages to taste like the most intense carrot you've ever eaten.
Part museum exhibit, part history retrospective, Next's latest menu, El Bulli, is a culinary retrospective focused on its namesake, the most famous restaurant in the world, its dishes re-created, and in some instances reinterpreted, by Grant Achatz, Dave Beran and the rest of Next's kitchen-wizard team.
Considering that Next made its debut in 2011 by re-creating the work of circa-1906 Escoffier, perhaps taking on Escoffier's modern equivalent, Ferran Adria, is a logical step. But El Bulli was regarded by many as the finest restaurant in the world; setting aside the skill and scholarship required to capture that dining experience, consider the ambition, the nerve, the confidence it takes just to make the attempt.
Very few of the people who make their way to Next will have also dined at Spain's El Bulli (which closed in 2011), myself included, which renders moot the question of whether Next's menu tastes just like El Bulli's. The question, rather, is how well Next continues the conversation El Bulli started, challenging diners' assumptions and raising food to the level of conceptual art.
There are 29 courses, though many of these are single-bite experiences, stretched out over some four hours of dining, and each of Next's tables is seated once, which partly explains the just-under-$500 tariff. Each dish comes from the El Bulli playbook; indeed, the menu lists each dish's catalog number on the El Bulli website, and the year in which the dish appeared.
Tables at El Bulli were graced, always, by a single red rose; in a nod to that tradition, each table at Next sits under a single rose, hung upside-down by wires so thin the roses appear to be suspended midair, a sort of Valentine's-Day-at-Hogwarts effect.
The visual surprises continue from there. After a rather straightforward flash-frozen caipirinha opener (the dish a nod to Adria's pioneering work in the use of liquid nitrogen), made vividly memorable by a burst of concentrated tarragon, a trio of courses hit the table, including cold trout roe improbably captured in a hot tempura-fried cocoon, and the "air baguette," a long baguette-shaped cracker, hollow on the inside but wrapped in carpaccio-thin slices of Iberico ham.
One course appears to be a green egg yolk (I might have paired it with the ham and started a Seussian theme), but instead is a barely jelled mix of fine olive oils, to be taken in a single, oysterlike slurp. This dish was born from pharmaceutical technology, which explains why it's delivered on a medicinal-dosage spoon.
Audience participation is sometimes required. Spanish cava accompanies at least eight courses, but at various times guests are given vials of pineau des Charentes (a French aperitif) and Farigoule (a thyme-flavored liqueur) and, even zanier, eye-dropper bottles of orange bitters, to mix into the sparkling wine. A remarkable cauliflower couscous dish comes with a "sauce" of solidified aromatics and directions for mixing. A spice plate arrives in quiz form, a clock-face array of spices (a few grains of each) that guests are invited to identify from a list of possibilities. (When the humbling answer key arrives, it might be best not to look.)
The carrot air incredibly light, astoundingly intense is served in a curved glass bowl that originated in El Bulli itself, though Beran said that Next bought them from an Austrian collector. Next has but 19 of these dishes to handle 62 diners, so the dishes are washed and polished frequently. ("I live in fear," Beran says, "that one will get chipped.")
Among the heavier dishes (heavy being a relative term here), three dazzlers are the eel topped with bone marrow, served on an edible nasturtium leaf; coconut-filled cuttlefish "ravioli" over crisp, crunchy mung beans; and paper-thin mushroom carpaccio with tiny pieces of rabbit kidney.
For all the sleight-of-hand and perception challenges, the menu progresses rather traditionally: Cocktail, snacks, light dishes, heavier dishes, cheese, dessert. Of course, the cheese course is a frozen, party-balloon-size sphere of Maytag blue cheese, and desserts include a composition of chocolate in five distinct textures and "doughnuts" that are molded freeze-dried coconut rounds dipped in bitter dark chocolate, one of many burst-in-your-mouth experiences.
The finale consists of inflated latex gloves atop curved-bottom bowls, the white hands waving goodbye as the bowls wobble. Inside exactly one of these contraptions are a few passion fruit marshmallows a little sweet at the evening's conclusion, and one final surprise on a menu with an endless supply of them.
953 W. Fulton Market; nextrestaurant.com
Tribune rating: Four stars
Open: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday
Price: Approximately $485 includingbeverages, tax and gratuity
Credit cards: A, DS, M, V
Reservations: Prepaid tickets available online only
Noise: Conversation-friendly
Other: Wheelchair accessible; valet parking
Ratings key: 4 stars, outstanding; 3 stars, excellent; 2 stars, very good; 1 star, good; no stars, unsatisfactory. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
This review originally was published in Februray 2012.
New works from Michael Winterbottom, Zosia Mamet and freshly minted best-picture studio A24 will have their world premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival when the New York gathering kicks off next month.
They anchor a slate of scripted and documentary movies that will be showcased by the Robert De Niro co-founded festival, now in its 16th year.
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Winterbottom takes the wraps off "The Trip to Spain," the latest installment of his combo TV-film franchise that began in 2010 with "The Trip," a series that was edited into a feature. In it, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon played meta versions of themselves on a culinary tour of northern England.
In the third installment (Italy came a couple years back), the pair find themselves in the land of paella and late dinners. The series hits British television in April, while IFC will release the film stateside.
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Meanwhile, Sophie Brooks directs Zosia Mamet in "The Boy Downstairs," a story of romance and real estate set in New York, as the "Girls" star takes a thus-far rare lead role in a feature.
And in "The Lovers," indie auteur Azazel Jacobs' ("Terri") takes a look at a stale marriage that unexpectedly reignites. The movie stars Tracy Letts and Debra Winger; A24, the studio behind "Moonlight," is scheduled to release the picture in May.
It's hardly the only movie at Tribeca about a veteran coupling: French auteur Guillaume Canet directs and stars in "Rock'n Roll," a satire about an aging famous couple, playing opposite real-life partner Marion Cotillard.
"Flames," from Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker," is a scripted movie that loosely follows the filmmakers' real-life relationship through various paces over five yearsand, by influencing how that relationship unfolds, creating an art-imitating-life-imitating art vibe.
And Oren Moverman the writer of Love & Mercy" and director of "The Messenger" will unveil "The Dinner" in the U.S. for the first time. Based on Herman Koch's bestseller, it centers on two brothers and their spouses (Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall) in a story about family and politics.
A total of 78 movies will make their world premiere at the New York confab, organizers said. Of the 98 movies showing overallabout a 20% reduction from last year--a third are directed by women, they noted.
Tribeca had the advantage of being one of the first festivals to do the bulk of its programming after the election. Though many of the movies, particularly narrative titles, exist apart from the political landscape, they could have a role to play in the current complicated era.
"We're living in a moment when truth and objectivity seem unstable," said director of programming Cara Cusumano in an interview. "There's huge potential for art and storytelling to overcome that and helps things feel more true." While nearly all of the movies were completed before the election, many read differently after Nov. 8, she said.
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Also on the world-premiere front, Ed Helms plays the title character in Dito Montiel's "The Clapper," in which Helms "stars as Eddie Krumble, a professional audience member who gains unwanted notoriety when a late-night talk show turns his life into a national obsession, threatening his budding relationship with gas station attendant Judy (Amanda Seyfried)."
In what is surely the most motley indie-film cast in some time, the movie features Tracy Morgan, Adam Levine, Rob Gronkowski, Mark Cuban and Alan Thicke in one of his last screen appearances.
And "Dawson's Creek" writing veteran Liz W. Garcia will debut "One Percent More Humid," a collegiate coming-home story starring Julia Garner and Juno Temple.
Making its U.S. premiere is "Chuck," in which Liev Schreiber stars as the real-life inspiration for Rocky Balboa in a film directed by foreign-language film Oscar nominee Philippe Falardeau. (The movie was called "The Bleeder" when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September).
While those films are largely apolitical, the festival will also world-premiere a number of documentaries, many of which touch on topical themes.
Sebastian Junger directs, with Nick Quested, the latest film about Islamic State and Syria, "Hell on Earth." The film, which takes both a personal and macro look at the war-torn region, follows Sundance notables such as "Cries From Syria" and "City of Ghosts." It reunites Junger and Quested, who worked together on the acclaimed 2010 verite hit "Restrepo" (co-directed by Junger and the late Tim Hetherington and produced by Quested).
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In the same region is Till Schauder"s "When God Sleeps, " about the Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi, who provoked the anger of the country's clerics with his subversive protest lyrics.
Among the other documentaries making their world premieres at Tribeca with modern echoes, are Pacho Velez and Sierra Pettengill's "The Reagan Show," a formally unconventional movie that argues for the 40th president's TV savvy; "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson," the latest work from "How to Survive a Plague" helmer and veteran journalist David France, here exploring the suspicious death of the titular transgender figure; and "A Gray State," Erik Nelson's look at the 2014 death of "alt-right" figure David Crowley, with Werner Herzog as executive producer.
Also noteworthy is Greg Kohs' AlphaGo, about the connection between an ancient Chinese board game and artificial intelligence, in a tournament setting.
Tribeca opens April 19 with "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of My Life." A screening of Chris Perkel's documentary, based on the mogul's memoir, will be accompanied by a concert featuring Davis associates Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson and Earth, Wind & Fire.
[ See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour ]
steve.zeitchik@latimes.com
Twitter: @ZeitchikLAT
Wynton Marsalis, top, talks with members of the audience while performing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at the Chicago Symphony Center on March 1, 2017. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
We've known for a long time that the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra stands as an ensemble of virtuosos.
But that term generally refers to the level at which musicians play their instruments. In the case of the JLCO members, though, it also signifies the way they wield their pens.
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The program that brought the band to Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center on Wednesday evening cast a welcome spotlight on how these artists compose. For the repertoire did not feature the acknowledged masterpieces and forgotten treasures at which this organization long has excelled but, instead, works written by its versatile personnel.
That's a far distance from the program the band played during its first appearance in Orchestra Hall, nearly a quarter-century ago in September 1992. On that night, what was then called the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra making its Chicago debut on its first national tour offered an all-Ellington program exploring various facets of the master's wide-ranging art.
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Since then, the band has established itself as the world's pre-eminent large jazz ensemble, and music director Wynton Marsalis has encouraged his colleagues to add to its book. The value of that approach was apparent throughout an appearance that crowded Orchestra Hall, the large audience accommodated via the terrace seating behind the stage (though when the band plays the more typical Friday-night installments of Symphony Center's jazz series, extra seats on stage usually are required).
The evening's tour de force came from the vivid imagination of trombonist-composer Chris Crenshaw, whose "Pursuit of the New Thing" was drawn from his aptly named suite, "The Fifties A Prism." Each movement of the work illuminates a particular sound of that fertile decade in American music, the "New Thing" finale addressing the innovations of alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman.
Yes, you could hear the longing blues sensibility that coursed through many of Coleman's melodic lines and the nonchordal, profoundly linear way of structuring music that defined Coleman's "harmolodic" methods (a self-styled idiom that was as widely reviled at the time as it is broadly revered today). But Crenshaw extended that philosophy across an orchestral palette, at the same time handing considerable musical responsibility to alto saxophonist Ted Nash and trumpeter Marsalis.
Without mimicking the work of Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry (who revolutionized jazz in the late 1950s alongside bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Billy Higgins and others), Nash and Marsalis captured the freewheeling sense of melody-making and stop-start rhythmic elasticity of Coleman's syntax. The orchestral interruptions and interlocutions added to the elements of surprise, which were ample. So much so that some in the audience applauded more than once for what they understandably believed to be the end of a composition/improvisation that was not yet finished.
For those who lament that jazz today lacks humor, Crenshaw's "New Thing" argued deftly to the contrary. A spirit of subterfuge and comic timing drove a great deal of this piece, as did its poetic lyricism. Perhaps only two musicians who have worked together as long as Marsalis and Nash could have played this cat-and-mouse game so nimbly.
Nash, who recently won two Grammy Awards for music from his "Presidential Suite" (recorded by the Ted Nash Big Band), led the JLCO in the work's "Jawaharlal Nehru" movement. The composer explained that he crafted its themes to reflect the tonal inflections and cadences of Nehru's vocal delivery, and indeed its incantatory nature and narrow pitch range evoked human speech. But the movement's shimmering ensemble colors and slow-but-sustained orchestral crescendo proved equally compelling, attesting to Nash's translucent way of writing for large ensemble.
Among the evening's other highlights: the slashing brass lines of a Marsalis "Offertory" from his "The Abyssinian Mass" (one of the best recordings of last year); the gorgeous reed-choir writing of bassist Carlos Henriquez's "The Bronx Pyramid"; and a tender evocation of classic Dizzy Gillespie in Vincent Gardner's "Ooh-Yadoodle-E-Blu For Me and You" (which closed with hypnotic orchestral vocal chant).
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JLCO reedist Victor Goines, who's also director of jazz studies at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, gave the evening its most vivid passages of romance in "The 'It' Thing" from his "Untamed Elegance" suite. To hear Goines' long, plush strands of melody on tenor saxophone set against a softly nocturnal orchestral backdrop was to realize, anew, the singularity of what these musicians can articulate in sound.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will collaborate with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in new arrangements of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" at 8 p.m. Friday at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.; phone 312-294-3000 or go to www.cso.org.
Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
hreich@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @howardreich
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
"Feud: Bette and Joan" chronicles the cruel rivalry between two women during the making of 1962's "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" - a horror film about a cruel rivalry between two women. You may be relieved to hear, then, that Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, who play Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, respectively, got along.
"Yes, we did," Sarandon says with a laugh. "I said to Jess, at the closing of the whole thing, I said, 'Thank God we got along,' because (the project) was hard. It was really challenging."
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Series creator Ryan Murphy ("American Horror Story," "American Crime Story") echoes the sentiment. "We had a nervous first week, because we didn't want to do impersonations. The first two days, I wanted to quit."
"I was fighting against a female-impersonator version of (Davis), the cliche you see of her all the time," Sarandon explains. "And she is over-the-top, so what do you do about that?"
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Lange faced a different challenge. "I remember saying to Ryan, 'I don't know how to play this character. I don't know who she is.'" Lange gained insight after researching Crawford's childhood and, she says, "acknowledging the incredible artifice, the creation of Joan Crawford," and then playing to what was "always just barely beneath the surface."
Getting behind such facades is precisely what the series, which premieres March 5 on FX, endeavors to do. Fans and foes have long bathed in the gossip of Bette and Joan's enmity: While filming a fight scene, Davis actually kicked Crawford in the head. Crawford wore weights during a scene when Davis carried her to exacerbate Davis's back pain. Such details typically call to mind sound effects of screeching cats. "Feud" is different.
"Getting eight hours, you have a chance to delve into the complexity," Sarandon says. "It was a bigger question than just their b----iness." (Like much of Murphy's work, "Feud" is an anthology. The second season is subtitled "Charles and Diana.")
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland in "Feud." (Kurt Iswarienko / FX)
In the first episode, Olivia de Havilland (Catherine Zeta Jones) clarifies to an interviewer, "Feuds are never about hate. Feuds are about pain." And these depictions of Davis and Crawford are heartbreaking. We meet them in their 50s as alcoholics whose careers have dried up because, as Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci) rhetorically asks, "Would you give either of these broads a toss in the hay?"
The notoriously shrewd Warner Bros. boss encourages "Baby Jane" director Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina) to manipulate Davis and Crawford, keeping them at each other's throats because rumors of the on-set antics would sell more tickets later.
"Feud" also asserts that Warner and his ilk are the reason Bette and Joan battled to begin with. "They were fighting a culture that has 'It Girls' that says there is only one girl at a time," Murphy opines. "It creates a competitive culture, and men use that to their advantage by pitting women against each other."
"It minimizes the power they have collectively," Sarandon adds. "And that still is going on. Every 'Real Housewives' of wherever - the least imaginative story line is always the women pitted against each other."
The surprise success of "Baby Jane" launched an entire genre of horror, unflatteringly labeled Psycho-Biddy. These films typically feature an older, crazy, murderous and - most damningly - jealous woman. Davis and Crawford would go on to star in several. "It's like Joan says (in the first episode)," Lange recalls, "there are three roles for women in Hollywood: the ingenue, the mother or the Gorgon. They had gotten to the last period."
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"Baby Jane" is pure camp. And Murphy does layer in echoes of the film - for example, when Crawford spies a larger number on Davis' contract, a sting of horror music plays. But these moments are more than just homage. "Treating inequality and sexism as a horror movie - that's what I tried to do," Murphy says. (The idea calls to mind what Jordan Peele's film "Get Out" does, more overtly, with the topic of racism.)
Not that "Feud" doesn't have a light touch. It brims with juicy details (Crawford washed her face with witch hazel and ice cubes every morning) and historical figures (gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, played by Judy Davis, and her many fabulous hats). Murphy says, with endearment, "Some of the stuff these women did was bats--- crazy and hilarious."
Several factoids, such as the tidbit that Davis' wig in "Baby Jane" had been worn by Crawford in a previous picture, came to Murphy directly from Davis' mouth. He wrote to her as a child, and she wrote back. They kept up a pen-pal relationship, and when he became a journalist, more than a decade later, she granted him an interview.
"I had never been to L.A. before," he says, recalling his arrival at Davis' door, with flowers, a couple of months before her death. "She dressed up for me. She was wearing a Patrick Kelly suit and a wig."
The 20-minute interview turned into four hours. "We just chain-smoked in her living room," he says. "I ran out of questions and started asking her very personal things."
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Murphy asserts that he made the project from "a real place of love and respect. Both women were misunderstood and were victims of their time. They died alone, underappreciated and unhappy." Have times changed?
Susan Sarandon, left, with Jessica Lange in "Feud." "Television has stepped into the void that movies left for actresses," Lange says. (Suzanne Tenner / FX)
"Ageism is huge in our culture, the idea that beauty is equated with youth," Lange says. "I am not in a romantic film with a man who is 20 years younger. But no one would think twice about casting a man in his 60s with a leading lady in her 30s. That has a lot to do with the fact that men are at the helm - and maybe they have some kind of inflated idea about themselves."
But both actors cited a strong sense of camaraderie among women in the business today. Sarandon is hopeful about the rash of female comedians who've had success "making great films that star a bunch of women - Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, Tina Fey."
And Lange argues "that television has stepped into the void that movies left for actresses. Some of the best work by women, in the last 5 or 6 years, has been on television." (Lange has won two Emmy awards working with Murphy in "American Horror Story.")
"That is a modern idea - that women are better and stronger together, unified as a force," Murphy says. "It was a tragedy that (Davis and Crawford) could have been allies and friends. They had more in common than anyone at the time. They were both married four times, Academy Award winners, single mothers. I wish they had unified. I think that they would have been happier."
Sarandon and Lange have much in common with Davis and Crawford as well, as Academy Award-winning actors in the third act of their careers. In fact, they are each more than a decade older than their on-screen counterparts were in 1962. "It shows how far we've come in terms of taking care of yourself and living healthier," Murphy says.
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Further, Sarandon and Lange, as producers on "Feud," have a financial stake in the property, as Davis and Crawford did in "Baby Jane."
"Susan and Jessica gave Bette and Joan the happy ending that they should have had," Murphy says. "They realized that the way to win was to win together."
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
SAUL, Northern Ireland Down a wooded lane, the modest stone church with its round tower sits isolated amid gently rolling fields. They are emerald green, even on a dull winter's day.
Though the church is only 85 years old, its history stretches back another 1,500 years to the year 432, when a young missionary from Britain set foot in Ireland, encouraging people to worship Christ in a thatched-roof barn with walls of sticks and mud.
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While his Roman name was Patricius, we know him as Patrick. Thanks to him, Saul, a County Down hamlet roughly 20 miles south of Belfast, is considered the cradle of Christianity in Ireland. Not only did Patrick preach on the site, he also died here March 17, 461.
"The Celts described this as being a very 'thin' place, a very spiritual place where it seemed easy to connect with the divine," said the Rev. Henry Hull, a Church of Ireland (Anglican) minister in the nearby market town of Downpatrick. "If you go there in the peace and quiet, you certainly have a transcendent sense of the presence of God."
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The Republic of Ireland with countless attractions from Blarney Castle to the Guinness brewery gets far more visitors than Northern Ireland, with its well-publicized troubled past. But it's the United Kingdom's portion of the island that justifiably lays claim to St. Patrick. His steps are easily retraced in Antrim, Armagh and Down, the counties in which he lived for 35 years.
Patricius first arrived in Ireland at age 15 as a slave. After marauders kidnapped him from his home, probably in what's now Wales, he spent six years' servitude on Slemish, a 1,500-foot mountain about an hour north of Belfast.
"I tended the livestock every day and often prayed," Patrick wrote. "Before dawn I rose to pray, in snow, in frost, in rain."
After bisecting checkered farm fields along a frighteningly narrow road, visitors arrive at Slemish, where a stone marker sits beside the somewhat-daunting mountain rescue station. For the physically fit, the hike up in good weather takes about an hour. For their efforts, walkers are rewarded with stunning scenery stretching across the North Channel to Scotland.
After escaping his masters, Patrick returned to Britain where he had a vision to again cross the Irish Sea to convert the sun-and-moon-worshipping Druids. He reached land just a mile or so from Saul.
"Ireland was described by the Romans as Hibernia a rock at the end of the earth," observed Tim Campbell, director of the St. Patrick Centre museum in Downpatrick. "So literally, this was land at the end of the world."
Situated at the base of the Hill of Down, the center features compelling displays that use the slave-turned-saint's own words. They are spoken by Belfast-born actor Ciaran Hinds.
"We actually had a script, a script by St. Patrick himself from the 400s," Campbell said. "You're being taken around the exhibition by this voice from the 400s, St. Patrick himself."
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A path up the hill leads to the 12th century Down Cathedral. While the imposing building is certainly impressive, most visitors are drawn to a slab of rock outside, beneath which the saint is believed to be buried. The stone's inscription is simply "Patrick." People are often seen touching the rock or placing flowers on it.
Fifty miles to the west, in the city of Armagh, another towering cathedral traces its origins to Patricius.
In the year 445, as Patrick continued to preach the gospel, he built a church on the site of what's now the Church of Ireland's St. Patrick's Cathedral.
"This was the first building that commenced the city of Armagh," lay minister Leigh Vage said of the modest original structure. The current, cross-shaped church, a relative newcomer, was built in 1268.
In addition to sharing the history of the cathedral's namesake, Vage also takes visitors to the underground crypt, the final resting place of 30 medieval aristocrats. Ancient stone carvings displayed in the crypt led archaeologists to believe the site was used for Celtic worship centuries before Patrick arrived.
Considered the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, Armagh is home to the archbishops of both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholics also have a cathedral named for St. Patrick here, across a valley from the Anglican worship site.
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The towering cathedrals soar in stark contrast to the small, pastoral church in Saul, where services are still held Sundays at 10 a.m.
Each March 17, on the anniversary of Patrick's death, a pilgrimage to the saint's grave begins in Saul. Led by a piper and people carrying Christian crosses, people walk to Down Cathedral, where an ecumenical service is held. A wreath is laid on the stone slab outside before participants gather for a traditional lunch of Irish stew.
While Northern Ireland is often defined by a historic religious divide, Tim Campbell points to the saint as a symbol of "reconciliation and bringing people together."
"You can work in the spirit of St. Patrick. It (March 17) doesn't have to be a day of snakes and shamrocks and green beer," he added. "It's wonderful that there's a signpost to Ireland, but there is a serious message in it."
Jay Jones is a freelance writer.
If you go
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Several airlines have nonstop flights from the U.S. to Dublin, about 100 miles south of Belfast. Flights to Belfast typically connect in London.
A rental car is essential to visit the many sites in Northern Ireland associated with the patron saint. Driving is on the left side of the road.
The St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick is an excellent place to get oriented before venturing out; www.saintpatrickcentre.com.
Search "St. Patrick's Trail" on the Northern Ireland Tourist Board's website, www.discovernorthernireland.com, for a comprehensive list of places to visit.
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Chicago Now Has Not Gone A Day Without A Shooting For 2 Years
By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 2, 2017 3:21PM
Crime scene tape (Photo by LukaTDB via Shutterstock)
Chicago's gun violence tally is grim no matter how you slice itChicago has logged 44 murders for the month of February, and 167 other shooting incidents, according to new Chicago Police Department data.
The numbers have been trending up for a couple years now, but as the city's police force struggles to tamp down on shootings, the city has come under increased national scrutiny thanks to the fear-mongering comments of President Donald Trump, who has falsely likened Chicago to a war zone.
Unfortunately, Chicago passed another grim gun violence milestone of sorts the other day. It has officially been over two full years since the city went a day without a shooting.
Feb. 28, 2015a colder day than Chicago's current Winter In Name Onlyno one was reported shot in the city. By comparison, on this year's stormy but relatively warm Feb. 28, at least six people were shot, according to http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/It-Has-Been-2-Years-Since-No-One-Was-Shot-in-Chicago-415149373.html">the Tribune, including a 71-year-old and a 33-year-old man who were both shot in the feet while standing on the street in Gage Park after people inside a car drove by and opened fire, and a 29-year-old man shot in the stomach in Austin.
Chicago's violence has continued to troublingly outpace last year's unusually high year; the Tribune's tally shows the city has logged over 103 homicides this year and over 513 shootings, compared to 101 and 466 by the end of February last year.
WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence will deliver the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame on May 21, his office said Thursday.
Notre Dame has attracted presidents, prime ministers and other VIPs to its graduation ceremonies, but Pence will be the first sitting vice president to give the university's commencement address, his office said.
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Pence was born in Columbus, Ind., graduated from Hanover College in Hanover, Ind., and earned a law degree from Indiana University. He represented east-central Indiana in the House of Representatives from 2001-13 and was Indiana governor from 2013 until early this year.
Notre Dame will confer an honorary doctorate of law to Pence, the country's 48th vice president, at the ceremony.
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"It is extraordinarily humbling to return to my home state and address the graduates of Notre Dame," Pence said in a statement.
"The young adults in the Class of 2017 will leave school with the charge and opportunity to make new discoveries and assume leadership roles that will make a profound impact benefiting the lives of millions of people. The hopes of their parents and our country go with them as they enter a world filled with optimism for the future," the statement said.
kskiba@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KatherineSkiba
Two Chicago police officers suffered minor injuries when their vehicle was rear-ended by an SUV early Thursday in the Printers Row neighborhood, police said.
A Mitsubishi SUV going south in the 500 block of South State Street about 12:20 a.m. hit the police vehicle and a CTA bus.
Two officers went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, according to police. Nobody on the bus was reported injured.
Chicago police on Wednesday warned Bronzeville neighborhood residents of a man who tried to lure two young teenage girls into a gray minivan over the weekend.
The girls, ages 13 and 14, were near Fuller Elementary School, 4214 S. St. Lawrence Ave., about 1 p.m. Saturday when the man tried to get them to get into his gray minivan, according to a community alert.
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The man gestured to the girls and waved for them to approach as he followed them.
The man followed the girls for about three blocks east on 42nd Street until he reached Cottage Grove Avenue, according to the alert. When he reached Cottage Grove, he turned left and headed north.
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The man was described as black, with a medium complexion, black hair and brown eyes. His hair was in a ponytail. He was driving a gray minivan.
Anyone with information on the man is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-747-8380.
Jonathan A. Ramos, 22, seen in Chicago on March 1, 2017, had been charged with aggravated battery and manufacture and delivery cannabis, but prosecutors on Monday dropped the charges against him. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Cook County prosecutors dropped felony charges this week against a Northwest Side man accused of shooting and paralyzing a 15-year-old boy who authorities say robbed him at gunpoint during a drug deal gone bad.
On Monday, prosecutors tossed aggravated battery and manufacture and delivery of cannabis charges against Jonathan A. Ramos less than a month after they were filed, according to court documents and the Cook County state's attorney's office.
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A state's attorney's spokeswoman said prosecutors dropped the case because of "insufficient evidence," but did not elaborate. She did say there were no immediate plans to refile criminal charges against Ramos.
Ramos' attorney, Edward D. Johnson III, said prosecutors didn't explain why the charges in the Feb. 1 shooting were dropped, but he said he didn't think there was evidence to convict his client.
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"No one really wins in this case. If this case had gone to trial, it would have only wasted a lot of money and I think my client would have prevailed," Johnson said.
The suspended prosecution came as a relief to Ramos, who faced between six and 45 years in prison if convicted of the aggravated battery charge alone. Though relieved that the case against him was over, Ramos, 22, said he remains shaken by the shooting that left the teen permanently injured. He insists that he did not shoot the teen, but nonetheless said the incident made him re-examine his life choices.
"That actually struck my heart. It definitely made me think about a lot of changes in life," Ramos said in a telephone interview with the Tribune this week. "Maybe the couple of bucks weren't worth hurting anybody's kid," he said. "It's been a very hard month dealing with that whole situation. I still think about it, he was only a kid. It really touched my heart. I have kids myself."
Police said the incident began when Ramos went to the 3800 block of West Lawrence Avenue to sell $80 worth of marijuana. The teen then pulled a handgun and snatched the marijuana from Ramos before fleeing on foot, Assistant State's Attorney Jullian Brevard told a judge last month.
Ramos then chased the teen, tackling him about a block away, prosecutors said. Ramos began punching the teen before taking away the black .45-caliber handgun he was carrying and pistol-whipping the boy with it. Ramos then stood over the teen and shot him in the back, police alleged.
Ramos, who had no previous criminal record, admitted he'd gone to sell marijuana and a brown Louis Vuitton belt to a friend of a friend to make of few extra bucks to support his longtime girlfriend and two young daughters. But Ramos said that quickly into the meeting, his new customer put a gun in his face and fled with the clear plastic bag of green buds.
Ramos said he realizes that his fateful decision to chase after his robber one that he says he now regrets nearly changed the course of his life.
"I hopped out of the car with my adrenaline rushing, a little frustrated, and I took off running after the kid," Ramos admitted, though he said he didn't know the robber's age at the time. "I didn't know he was a kid at the moment. It was dark," he said.
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He also rejected the prosecution's claim and the claim by at least one eyewitness that he stood over the boy and shot the teen in the back. He agreed that he chased after the robber and tackled him, but said the gun discharged as they both tumbled to the pavement.
"His elbow hit the (ground) with the gun in his hand and the gun hit the (ground), and all I remember is I heard a loud pop," Ramos said. "From there I didn't recognize or realize that he was injured at the moment."
Ramos said he and the teen continued to struggle on the ground, neither of them initially realizing that the younger man had been injured. Ramos said the teen reached for the gun, which had slipped away after discharging, but that Ramos managed to grab the pistol first. It was at this point they both realized the bullet had hit the teen.
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Despite knowing that he would likely be arrested, Ramos said he still dialed 911 for help. "I threw the gun to the side. I went to call the police, and I tried to get the kid some help," Ramos said.
Attempts to reach the teen's family for comment weren't successful.
After a month of quick court appearances, Ramos was convinced the shooting had put him on a different course that would end with a long prison sentence. "Of course, anybody would," he said. "In this situation, I'm pretty sure people would especially when you have two little girls you would figure you're losing the rest of your life. You're going to see some major (prison) time, and you won't come out to see your children. It actually did touch my heart a lot. It had me thinking for some time (about) the consequences."
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Ramos said he's well aware of the real dangers of selling marijuana, even at a time when its recreational use is gaining steam nationally. But in a line of work that has seen him robbed at gunpoint before and shot at least once, Ramos said he's looking forward to a new life free of violence.
"I'm definitely up to living my life, working, getting my daughters what they need. Honestly, these streetsI'm actually looking for a whole change."
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy
An outraged Cook County judge on Thursday convicted a woman of the 2013 murder of her granddaughter, saying she found overwhelming evidence that the killing was "exceptionally brutal" and that 8-year-old Gizzell Ford had been tortured to death.
Those findings by Judge Evelyn Clay mean Helen Ford, 55, faces up to natural life in prison for the killing of Gizzell, who was nicknamed Gizzy and was a straight-A student who was looking forward to starting fourth grade.
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"That child suffered a slow and agonizing death," Clay said as Gizzy's aunt sobbed in the packed courtroom. "That little body looked like it had been pulverized from head to toe. ... Her treatment (of Gizzy) was evil."
The grandmother showed no emotion on hearing her fate. Except for when she took a pass at the last minute on testifying in her own defense, she had shown the same stoic look throughout the four-day trial despite often-harrowing testimony.
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In a front-page article Thursday, the Chicago Tribune detailed the harrowing account of Gizzy's death. The bright girl had written entries into two journals excerpts of which were made public at her trial that showed her mood took a much darker turn as the summer break of 2013 progressed and the abuse worsened.
"I hate this life because now I'm in super big trouble," she wrote July 11, two days before her strangled, badly beaten body was found clad only in a pair of torn green underwear in the family's West Side apartment.
Prosecutors say the 70-pound girl had been tortured to death, beaten from head to toe by a 275-pound grandmother who sometimes wore a belt around her neck that she used for punishment.
In addition to the two journals entered into evidence at Ford's trial, prosecutors played cellphone videos showing Ford and Gizzy's father berating her for breaking rules as the terrified girl was forced to stand a sock or rag stuffed in her mouth. She was tied to her father's bed for days, denied food and water, and once punished for trying to sneak a drink from the toilet, according to testimony.
The father, Andre Ford, who had long been bedridden with chronic scleroderma, was also charged in Gizzy's murder, but he died in Cook County Jail of an apparent heart attack in August 2014 while awaiting trial.
In closing arguments earlier Thursday, prosecutors said that even before Gizzy was strangled, she was already dying of kidney failure because her grandmother and father deprived her of water and food for days.
"What happened to Gizzell was an abomination," Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Romito told the judge. "It makes you lose faith in the human race."
Ford's, lawyer, Jennifer Hodel, an assistant public defender, portrayed her client as an overworked grandmother who may have abused and neglected Gizzy but never intended to kill the child.
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Hodel also argued that Gizzy was an out-of-control girl who harmed herself. She told the judge her grandmother tied up the girl to prevent her from further harming herself. She asked that the judge instead find Ford guilty of involuntarily manslaughter.
"She was unable to overcome what she had on her plate," Hodel said of the grandmother. "Is she guilty of not asking for help? Absolutely. ... Is it first-degree murder? It is not."
But Romito blasted the defense's version of events as "absolute lies."
"The only thing we have left of this child is her memory, and it's a good one," Romito said of Gizzy, a spelling bee winner, two-time student of the month and volunteer in the young authors program at her school.
Prosecutors said that they believe an open, maggot-infested wound found on the back of Gizzy's head was caused by her head rubbing on a metal pole when she was tied to her father's bed for days. She was kept there as a virtual prisoner after school ended in June until her death less than a month later, prosecutors said.
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The wounds to Gizzy's face were so severe that a Chicago police forensic investigator with 30 years on the job wept as she described them in court a highly unusual display of emotion from a seasoned crime scene professional testifying at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
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"I'm sorry, this never happens," Officer Nancy DeCook said as tears streamed down her face after she viewed a photo of the dead child's badly bruised face.
Gizzy's death marked yet another indictment of the state's beleaguered and chronically underfunded child welfare system, which has operated under a federal consent decree for decades. An investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had visited the family's West Side home a month before Gizzy's slaying, and a child-abuse doctor who examined Gizzy found a suspicious injury on her buttocks weeks before her death but did not report any suspected abuse, a Tribune investigation found.
A Cook County judge had awarded temporary custody of Gizzy to her father eight months before her death. The father, an unemployed felon who lived with his mother in the South Austin community, had argued the girl's mother was homeless and failed to get their daughter to school regularly.
Both prosecutors and Ford's attorney agreed that the grandmother never should have been given custody of Gizzy. Romito called the ruling "a disgrace" and said Ford wanted custody so Gizzy could help care for her bedridden father. Prosecutors have also argued in court papers that Ford was also after income from child support or state aid.
sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
In a rainbow-striped journal she'd scrawled her name on in pink marker, Gizzell Ford wrote about her love of school the fun she had jumping rope, dressing up for a special day and even diagramming sentences.
Over the summer of 2013, though, the diary took on a much darker tone. The 8-year-old, nicknamed "Gizzy" and living with her father and paternal grandmother in an apartment on Chicago's West Side, wrote of her pain after being forced to squat in place for half the day and then made to stand "an hour or two."
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"I know if I be good and do everything I'm told I won't have to do punishments," Gizzy wrote in pencil.
About a dozen pages from the journal entries were made public for the first time this week as her grandmother, Helen Ford, went on trial for Gizzy's murder.
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As the abuse continued, the journals show the straight-A student dreamed of the start of school in August when she could leave home for the safety of fourth grade. But by July, her once-neat handwriting had become a jagged scrawl.
"I hate this life because now I'm in super big trouble," she wrote on July 11 while two cousins were away at summer camp.
Two days later, after officials missed opportunities to uncover the abuse in the weeks before, Gizzy's strangled and badly beaten body was found on the floor of her father's room clad only in a pair of torn green underwear.
Prosecutors say the 70-pound girl had been tortured to death, beaten literally from head to toe by a 275-pound grandmother who sometimes wore a belt around her neck that she used for punishment.
In addition to the two journals entered into evidence at Ford's trial, Cook County prosecutors played cellphone videos showing Ford and Gizzy's father berating her for breaking rules as the terrified, emaciated girl was forced to stand a sock or rag stuffed in her mouth. She was tied to her father's bed for days, denied food and water, and punished for trying to sneak a drink of water from the toilet, according to testimony.
The father, Andre Ford, who had long been bedridden with chronic scleroderma, died in Cook County Jail of an apparent heart attack in August 2014 while awaiting trial.
The wounds to Gizzy's face were so severe that a Chicago police forensic investigator with 30 years on the job began to weep as she described them in court a highly unusual display of emotion from a seasoned crime scene professional testifying at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
"I'm sorry, this never happens," Officer Nancy DeCook said as tears streamed down her face after she viewed a photo showing the deceased child's badly bruised face.
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Judge Evelyn Clay, who is presiding over the grandmother's bench trial on six murder counts, could rule on her fate as soon as Thursday following closing arguments by lawyers.
Gizzy's death marked yet another indictment of the state's beleaguered and chronically underfunded child welfare system, which has operated under a federal consent decree for decades. An investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had visited the family's West Side home a month before Gizzy's slaying, and a child-abuse doctor who examined Gizzy found a suspicious injury on her buttocks weeks before her death but did not report any suspected abuse, a Chicago Tribune investigation found.
A Cook County judge had awarded temporary custody of Gizzy to her father eight months before her violent death. The father, an unemployed felon who lived with his mother in her apartment in the South Austin community, had argued the girl's mother was homeless and failed to get their daughter to school regularly.
Gizzy's maternal aunt, Frances Mercado, 32, testified at the trial that the Fords began making excuses why the mother's family couldn't see the girl. She said she dropped off an Easter basket for Gizzy in March 2013 but didn't see her again until four months later when she identified her body at the morgue.
Gizzy's half-brother, now 10, testifying in a soft voice with only his head visible above the witness stand, said he, too, had been physically abused by his grandmother during weekend visits to the home. He said his grandmother sometimes whipped him with a belt and forced him to do squats and hold a book above his head. He said his father was always bedridden and did not inflict any physical abuse.
The Tribune is not naming the boy because of his age.
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The half-brother said he saw his grandmother hit Gizzy in the mouth with a spatula, force her to eat hot peppers and make her stand at length on one foot while holding her arms out. When Gizzy complained about the pain, Ford stuffed a sock in her mouth, he testified. When Gizzy began crying, the grandmother beat her with a belt, he said.
When prosecutors showed him a photo of his half-sister smiling, the boy began crying, pushing his glasses back onto his head and wiping his eyes with both hands.
"She was very nice," he testified. "She liked to make friends and stuff. She was very happy. She liked to play a lot."
Gizzy was tied to her father's bed for up to a week at a time and denied food and water, testified her cousin, Zamar Winters, now 16. Winters said Gizzy was only set free to use the bathroom, and he recalled her once trying to sneak a drink from the toilet. On her last Fourth of July, she had tried to jump out a second-floor window in an apparent suicide attempt, he said, but her grandmother grabbed her by the back of her shirt.
Prosecutors played video taken by Gizzy's father on the grandmother's cellphone that illustrated some of the abuse taking place.
"She's getting defiant," Andre Ford could be heard saying while videotaping his daughter as she kept her head down and swayed from side to side. "She says she wants me to kill her. She also says she wants to kill herself."
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"Stand up! Do your squats!" the father ordered Gizzy.
"You see how she's acting?" the grandmother said. "She lies about every single thing."
Another video played in court began with the grandmother saying Gizzy "made herself throw up" to avoid doing squats. A sock or rag was stuffed in the child's mouth.
"They're the most haunting images any of us will see until the end of our days," Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Romito told the judge in opening remarks. "She had a terrific smile, beautiful, full hair and wonderful penmanship. What Helen Ford did to her reduced that child to something completely unrecognizable."
Each morning since the trial began Monday, Ford, 55, has walked slowly into Judge Clay's courtroom leaning heavily on a cane, wearing blue jail clothes and dark glasses with her hair in a ponytail. She has displayed no emotion, even when prosecutors displayed graphic photos of the crime scene, until Wednesday when she wept after declining to testify at the last moment.
In her opening remarks, Ford's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Judie Smith, said the grandmother was "overworked, overwhelmed and overcome" while caring for her bedridden son as well as three grandchildren. Calling Gizzy a "tragically troubled young lady," Smith suggested that the girl had inflicted her own injuries, saying she took out her frustrations in life "by injuring herself."
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According to testimony, paramedics responding to a report of a child struggling to breathe had at first been barred by Ford from entering her second-floor apartment. She said Gizzy had been having one of her "fits" but had recovered, testified paramedic Katie Hoppenrath.
Hoppenrath pushed past Ford and found the girl lying dead next to the father's bed beside a bloody pillow and pajamas. Blood was splattered on a wall and a TV that was switched on. The father was lying in bed with a laptop wearing only his underwear, the paramedic testified.
Investigators found ligature marks on Gizzy's hands and ankles, and electrical wire wrapped around the bottom of a bedpost. Semen was later discovered on the girl, but not enough DNA could be extracted to determine its source, according to testimony.
It was obvious that Gizzy had been dead for some time, said Hoppenrath, who at times struggled on the witness stand to keep her composure.
Lauren Woertz, an assistant medical examiner, told the judge that Gizzy had been strangled and that blunt force trauma contributed to her death.
Much of the hair on the back of the child's head had been pulled out, Woertz testified, and a gaping wound was infested with maggots something Woertz said she had never seen except in decomposed bodies.
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A few weeks before she died, Gizzell used a black pen to write in her journal about her excitement over a planned day out with family.
"I hope that I don't mess up today because I really want to be able to just sit down, watch T.V., talk and play with everybody. I am going to be great all day.
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Love,
G.F.
I am going to be a beautiful smart and good young lady. I can do anything I put my ... smart mind to. People say I'm smart and courageous and beautiful."
But later, Gizzell added a script in pencil under the words "I am going to be great all day."
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"Not true," the child wrote. "I failed."
sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
A man was killed in a crash in the 3400 block of South Halsted Street about 4:30 a.m. on March 2, 2017. (WGN-TV)
A man died early Thursday after losing control of his vehicle and crashing into a building in the Bridgeport neighborhood, Chicago police said.
Just before 4:25 a.m., a man heading north in the 3400 block of South Halsted Street sideswiped a parked vehicle. The driver of the parked vehicle was warming up the car when the incident happened. He was not injured.
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The man who had been heading north then lost control of his car, hit a light pole and crashed into a row of brick storefronts. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials had not yet identified the man. There were no other reported injuries.
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The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Check back for updates.
The tornado-driven winds that devastated parts of Ottawa on Tuesday seemed to materialize in seconds, some witnesses recall, and in a small house along State Street, one of the city's main arteries, Toby Johnson and his husband, David, decided to seek safer quarters next door.
That's where Toby's father, Wayne Tuntland, lived. His house had a basement, relatives said; the Johnsons' house did not.
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They headed over just as Tuntland, who was outside working in his backyard, began to go in as well. But before any of the men could reach the door, the wind uprooted a giant tree and sent it crashing to the ground.
The tree was heavy enough to crush two cars in the men's shared driveway, and Tuntland, 76, was killed beneath its weight, authorities say.
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David Johnson, 31, was struck, too, and died of his injuries a day later. But according to Johnson's family, his death was an act of sacrifice the tree hit him after he pushed his husband to safety.
"I was told that it happened so fast," said Johnson's sister, Jennifer Lara. "It was almost like (Johnson) saw it coming and pushed his husband away."
Tuntland and Johnson accounted for two of the three deaths in Illinois related to the storms. Thomas McCord, 71, was killed outside Crossville, in the far southeast part of the state, when he sought shelter in an outbuilding near his house, authorities said. Some officials said that tally was miraculously low given the ferocity of the storm.
The National Weather Service recorded six tornadoes in northern and central Illinois, with the one that struck Ottawa and the neighboring town of Naplate rated as one of the strongest EF3, which has a wind speed of around 155 mph.
Officials said the tornado struck between 4:41 and 4:59 p.m., churning close to the Illinois River as it traveled west for 11 1/2 miles. It damaged or destroyed about a fifth of the buildings in Naplate and struck numerous homes in the southern part of Ottawa.
The LaSalle County coroner's office said Tuntland had been burning debris in the backyard when the storm whipped up. Lara said one of his grandsons had just called him into the house when Toby and David Johnson crossed over.
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"It just hit in seconds," she said. "They didn't have time to run in the house."
Toby Johnson was injured when the tree came down but was treated at a local hospital and released Thursday morning, officials said.
Lara described her brother, who was married two years ago, as caring and compassionate.
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"He did whatever he could to help anybody," she said. "He was just such a great guy."
The family has created a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses. Service arrangements are pending.
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman
Chicago police on Wednesday released photos of a man suspected in an attempted carjacking in Ukrainian Village last month.
On Feb. 15, a woman was sitting in her car in the 2000 block of West Chicago Avenue when a man came up, opened the drivers side door, grabbed her by the chest and tried to push her down, police said.
The woman was able to force him off her and out of the car.
The would-be carjacker then got on a westbound Chicago Avenue CTA bus and exited at Kedzie Avenue. He was last seen walking north on Kedzie.
Johandra Falcon, 24, is charged with illegally purchasing a firearm for a convicted felon. (Chicago Police Department)
A Northwest Side woman was charged Thursday morning with illegally purchasing a weapon for a convicted felon, Chicago police said.
Johandra Falcon, 24, of the 2100 block of North Spaulding Avenue, was charged with one felony count of purchasing a firearm with intent, unlawful delivery of a firearm to a felon and filing a false report, police said.
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Officials said Falcon made a false report that her residence was burglarized April 26, 2016, and that firearms were taken.
Chicago police detectives and ATF members discovered Falcon had used false information to purchase the weapons Jan. 19, 2016, and then delivered them to a felon, police said.
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Falcon was arrested Wednesday in the 3900 block of North Newland Avenue. She was scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon at a bail hearing.
Durbin & Duckworth Call For Sessions To Recuse Himself From Russia Investigations
By aaroncynic in News on Mar 2, 2017 6:12PM
Dick Durbin / Getty Images / Photo: Alex Wong
During his confirmation hearings, Sessions was questioned by Senator Al Franken as to whether the Trump administration mightve had contacts with the Russian government during the campaign. Under oath, Sessions said he was unable to comment on it but he didnt havedid not have communications with the Russians.
As it turns out, he did, according to investigators with the Justice Department who say he in fact, spoke with the Russian Ambassador twice in 2016.
Remember, hes a former prosecutor, member of the Senate for 20 years, Durbin told Politico. Hes been pretty tough himself on witnesses, asking lengthy lists of questions, so I expected that he [came to his confirmation hearing] with that understanding. While the Senator isnt yet calling for his resignation, he did tell the Dallas News and Tweeted that Sessions should recuse himself from investigations into potential election tampering by the Russian government.
AG Sessions must recuse himself from any #RussianConnection investigation. https://t.co/VQavEeHlaV Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) March 2, 2017
"If he does it sooner rather than later, it may give him a chance to explain his side of the story," said Durbin, who added that the exchange between Franken and Sessions was odd. If he had answered the question in error, that's one thing, but to volunteer a wrong answer needs some explanations, he said.
Duckworth was much harsher in her condemnation, saying in a statement emailed to Chicagoist Sessions must immediately recuse himself to ensure a fair investigation into the administrations potential ties with the Russian government and if he refuses or its found he lied under oath, the Attorney General must resign.
With each passing day the need for a public, transparent, impartial and independent investigation into this Administrations ties with foreign adversaries, as well as into who knew what and when they knew it, only grows, said Duckworth. Our national security and the integrity of our democracy could very well depend on it.
In his address to Congress, Trump noted that more than 4,000 people were shot last year in Chicago. (Los Angeles Times)
WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush said Wednesday that he asked President Donald Trump to come to Chicago and the president said he would, but the White House wouldn't even confirm the two had spoken.
"I cannot confirm that the conversation took place nor any travel plans to Chicago in the very near future," said Helen Ferre, a White House spokeswoman.
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Rush, 70, a South Side Democrat with crime-ridden areas in his district, said he extended the invitation to the president before Trump's address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress, said Stephanie Gadlin, Rush's spokeswoman.
"I said, 'Mr. President, rather than, you know, highlighting and grandstanding on the killings in Chicago ...' I invited him to come into my district in Chicago," Rush said in an interview Wednesday. "And he said, 'I'm coming into Chicago.'"
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The city is not friendly territory for the president, who as a candidate last March canceled a campaign rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago after angry protesters gathered inside and outside the UIC Pavilion. Since being elected, the president has frequently brought up the city's problem with violent crime.
In Trump's speech on Tuesday, the president echoed a torrent of earlier remarks and tweets about Chicago crime. He said more than 4,000 people were shot in the city last year alone and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher. "This is not acceptable in our society," he said.
Trumps speech was more campaign promises on steroids. Little substance. Lots of threats. I asked him to come to Chicago. He said yes. Bobby L. Rush (@RepBobbyRush) March 1, 2017
After the address, Rush tweeted: "Trumps speech was more campaign promises on steroids. Little substance. Lots of threats. I asked him to come to Chicago. He said yes."
Rush on Wednesday said Trump could not continue to "lament" what's happening in Chicago without coming in with "prescriptive" solutions. He said that he wants Trump to "really bear witness to where violence is occurring," see the conditions that "force people to give up hope" and meet with families who have lost loved ones and with funeral directors.
Rush said Trump could direct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to halt the flow of illegal guns into Chicago. "The word 'guns' never flows from his lips," Rush said. "He talks about 'shootings,' 'killings,' 'bad guys' but never 'guns.'"
He said Trump doesn't mention guns because his supporters hold the "distorted" view that their gun rights are under threat.
He also said the president could "put the muscle" on firms to open manufacturing plants in the city and help Chicago get more economic aid, jobs, capital and black-owned banks.
Rush said he would follow up on his invitation to Trump through a mutual friend, TV host Steve Harvey.
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Twitter @KatherineSkiba
Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to meet with Chance the Rapper on March 3, 2017. (Nancy Stone, Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Chance the Rapper said he'll meet with Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday to talk about funding for Chicago Public Schools after the governor had to postpone a previous meeting to assess storm damage in north-central Illinois.
"Update: The Governor and I are now scheduled to meet Friday morning, I'm more than appreciative of him taking time to discuss funding CPS," the Grammy winner tweeted Thursday.
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The two were initially scheduled to meet Wednesday, but Rauner spent that day visiting tornado-stricken Ottawa and Naplate. The road to their planned Friday meeting started when Chance born Chancelor Bennett connected with Rauner on Twitter last month.
Rauner's Twitter account congratulated the 23-year-old for winning best new artist, rap album and rap performance at the Grammys. Chance responded by thanking the governor and saying he'd "love" to set up a meeting.
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Rauner's office confirmed the meeting is scheduled for Friday but declined to say when or where it would take place.
Chance has previously been vocal about Mayor Rahm Emanuel and violence in Chicago. In a recent interview with Katie Couric, the rapper said he'd like to see politicians approve a temporary state budget to fund after-school programs that could help curb violence.
"I like to work at the earliest level of it and get people involved in jobs and in schooling and in the arts early," he told Couric. "You don't have any respect for life if you don't have anything going on, or respect for anyone else's life if you don't have anything going on."
CPS recently sued Rauner and the Illinois State Board of Education, alleging the state hurts Chicago by maintaining "separate and unequal" systems for paying for schools.
hbemiller@chicagotribune.com
SPRINGFIELD Senate Democrats on Wednesday accused Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner of sabotaging efforts to pass a plan to end the state's historic budget impasse by picking off GOP lawmakers wary of crossing their party's de facto leader.
Republicans dismissed the allegations as scapegoating for a plan that's not ready for prime time. The public drama unfolded after a long day of behind-the-scenes negotiations, as Senate leaders had hoped for a vote on some of the more controversial portions of the multipart plan. That effort has struggled to get off the ground amid broad opposition from unions, the business community and conservative groups alike.
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In the end, no votes were held. Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said there would be little-to-no GOP support from anyone beyond Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno. While Democrats have a supermajority in the Senate, they are unwilling to go it alone on the various tax hikes and pension changes included in the budget package.
"As you all know, this has been a bipartisan venture it's going to take support from both sides of the aisle to pass this legislation. Unfortunately, I've been informed that the governor decided to interject himself in this process and doesn't want this approved in this form," Cullerton told senators.
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For months, Cullerton and Radogno have tried to cut a deal without the input of Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who have spent much of the last two years at loggerheads. But Republican lawmakers who rely on the deep-pocketed governor's campaign contributions were reluctant to vote on anything he may later reject and asked him to weigh in on the matter.
Rauner did just that during his Feb. 15 budget address, saying he would only sign off on an income tax increase if it came with a permanent property tax freeze. The Senate plan called for a two-year moratorium on property tax increases. The governor also wanted spending limits and tougher restrictions on the state's workers' compensation system for employees hurt on the job, contending it's too expensive for employers.
Democrats say they were working to address some of those concerns, but would not simply bow to the governor's demands. For instance, they said they were willing to consider a two-year property tax freeze and give local voters the option to extend it by three years. Opponents argue that a permanent freeze would hobble school districts and other government bodies that rely on those funds to provide services.
While Cullerton declined to detail how he believed Rauner derailed talks, his No. 2 accused the governor of threatening Republicans who planned to vote in favor of the legislation. Republicans already were the target of attacks from conservative groups aligned with Rauner.
"We've been told that (Rauner) has called them into his office one by one and threatened them if they voted on this grand bargain," said Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park. "This is really difficult here because my Republican colleagues who have been working in good faith have been undermined by a governor who does not want this deal to cross the finish line."
A Rauner aide called the allegations "outrageous," and said the governor and his staff frequently meet with lawmakers on a variety of issues.
"We appreciate the hard work of the Senate in trying to pass a bipartisan agreement that can become law. Some progress has been made, but more work is needed to achieve a good deal for taxpayers," Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a statement.
Sen. Jason Barickman, a Republican from Bloomington, said Democrats were trying to use Rauner "as a scapegoat" for a plan that was not fully baked.
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"I think that in the big picture, getting this right is as important as getting it done quickly, so one need not take precedent over the other," Barickman said.
For her part, Radogno dismissed the notion that she was being hung out to dry by Rauner and her caucus members, saying she believes both sides want to reach an agreement to end the suffering caused by the budget stalemate.
"To a person, the people that I have spoken with have been sincere, honest, willing to compromise. With that kind of attitude in this chamber I have no question in my mind that we're going to bring this thing in for a landing," Radogno said.
As for the reluctance of her fellow Republicans?
"Well I guess maybe when you are leading you've got to get people to follow along, and it takes some of them a little bit longer," Radogno said.
mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com
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hbemiller@chicagotribune.com
BERLIN German authorities have arrested two Syrians suspected of being members of the extremist Nusra Front, one of who is alleged to have been involved in the murder of dozens of civilians.
The federal prosecutor's office said Thursday that 35-year-old Abdalfatah H.A. is suspected of war crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013. The statement says he carried out "so-called Shariah death sentences."
A spokeswoman for the prosecutors' office, Frauke Koehler, declined to confirm German media reports that the man came to Germany as an asylum-seeker.
The other suspect, 26-year-old Abdulrahman A.A., belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah H.A. and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013.
The men, whose surnames weren't published due to German privacy rules, were arrested Thursday and Wednesday in the western cities of Duesseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided. They were due to appear before a judge Thursday.
Prosecutors said the Nusra Front unit the men belonged to also included Abd Arahman A. K., a Syrian in his early 30s who was arrested in Germany last June on suspicion of being part of a plot to carry out a bomb attack in Duesseldorf.
Human rights groups have pressed governments to bring people suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria to trial, as part of an effort to resolve the long-running conflict.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, or ECCHR, said Thursday it has helped submit the first criminal complaint in Germany against six high-level Syrian military intelligence officials, in the hope that federal prosecutors will take up the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction. This allows German courts to try crimes committed outside the country, though legal experts say that they are unlikely to do so unless there's a reasonable chance of bringing the perpetrators to Germany.
The ECCHR complaint was filed together with seven Syrian torture survivors and two Syrian lawyers. "In Syria there is total impunity, which produces further violence. Without justice there will be no political solution to the conflict," Mazen Darwish, one of the Syrian lawyers, was quoted as saying in a statement.
Senior House Democrats are calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign after revelations that the former Alabama senator did not disclose meetings he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States during his Cabinet confirmation hearing.
"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement released late Wednesday night, adding that "Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country."
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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is also demanding a special counsel to investigate the Trump administration for ties to Russia, "given AG Sessions' false statements about contacts with Russia."
And House Oversight and Government Affairs ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., called for Sessions to resign. He criticized the attorney general for keeping "secret" his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, even after then-national security adviser Michael Flynn was fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with the same Kremlin official.
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"When Senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks," Cummings remarked in a statement. "Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."
In a statement following the report, Sessions denied he had met with "any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false," he said.
Republicans were more cautious in their remarks, but there were signs that they could step up calls for an outside investigation of the Trump team's ties to Russia as a result of the Sessions news. Right now, the probes are being handled by the House and Senate Intelligence panels, and the FBI is investigating what the intelligence community's interference in the election to aid Trump, and the Trump's teams possible ties to Kremlin officials.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said at a CNN town hall Wednesday night that if that if there is any substance to allegations regarding the Trump team and Russia, then Sessions cannot be the person to assess them.
"If there is something there and it goes up the chain of investigation, it is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make that decision about Trump," Graham said, stressing that Sessions' contacts with the Russian ambassador could have been "innocent."
"There may be nothing there," he continued. "But if there's something there that the FBI believes is criminal in nature, then for sure you need a special prosecutor. If that day ever comes, I'll be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than Jeff."
Said frequent Trump critic John McCain, R-Ariz.: "I think we have to know more about it before we make a judgment."
The growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers calling for Sessions' resignation or recusal marks the most serious demands yet to remove Sessions -- a Trump campaign adviser -- from the chain of command in a probe at the Department of Justice he heads. Previously, Democrats demanded that Sessions to recuse himself from Russia-related proceedings and some lawmakers continued to insist on recusal in the wake of the latest revelations.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., -- a leading progressive and Trump antagonist -- repeated calls for a special prosecutor to probe Russian influence in the elections and ties to Trump. She also called on Sessions to resign.
She tweeted: We need a special prosecutor totally independent of the AG. We need a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia.
Warren followed with another tweet: And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions - who should have never been confirmed in the first place - to resign. We need it now.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, also weighed in on Twitter: I'm thinking Jeff Sessions is not the right person to investigate Jeff Sessions.
Several Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday night questioned whether Sessions had lied under oath when he testified at his confirmation hearing in January that he had not had any communications with Russian officials. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., asked whether the former senator provided false statements in his testimony to lawmakers.
Quigley tweeted: It is unconscionable and unacceptable for a United States attorney general-our nation's top law enforcement official-to lie under oath.
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The Washington Post's Mark Berman contributed to this report.
As a sculptor of recycled materials, Alfred Vorreyer found creative inspiration in junkyards across Illinois.
Like the one in downstate Dowell, an old coal town that he happened upon on his way home from a trip to Texas.
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"It was just eerie," Vorreyer told Illinois Issues, a state magazine, in December 1996. "But for me, there was a lot I could use. There had been flooding that year, and a lot of the farmers couldn't get into their fields. They were bringing old farm equipment to the junkyard just to make some money."
The longtime New Lenox resident used that salvage to create forged iron sculptures, mostly in the shape of animals, some small enough for tabletops and others much larger and intended for outdoor display.
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Over the years, working with materials like old copper tubing and various metals from discarded items, such as car parts and farming equipment, he created thousands of sculptures that he exhibited at art fairs and galleries and in specialty shops around the state and country.
"It was always so mysterious to me how he chose his materials and where they came from," his daughter Alison Joy said. "Growing up, we weren't surrounded by (Thomas) Kinkade paintings. We had metal fish hanging on our walls, and iron vultures and a big, steel praying mantis in our backyard."
Vorreyer, 86, a longtime member of the Illinois Artisans Program, died of congenital heart disease Feb. 4, at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, his family said.
Born in Chicago, Vorreyer grew up in Berwyn, and later Cicero, where he was a graduate of Morton East High School.
At 19, he landed a job in Chicago as a stationary engineer at the University of Illinois Medical Center, where he worked until retiring in 1991. He was also a longtime member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399. During the 1950s and '60s, Vorreyer also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
He began sculpting in the early 1960s, after eating in a restaurant filled with interesting sculptures.
"He looked around and said, 'I could do that!'" said his wife of 61 years, Elaine. "Then he went home and set up a workshop in the garage.
"From the start, I knew he could draw," she said. "But as time went on, I began seeing a deeper, more artistic side."
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Vorreyer joined the Illinois Artisans Program in 1985, not long after it was started to support and showcase the work of Illinois artists, mostly through artisan shops run by the state. The program was disbanded in 2015 because of a lack of funding.
The program's membership included painters, sculptors, jewelry makers and even an apricot pit carver, with art that usually reflected an Illinois bent. For example, Vorreyer's pieces were often created out of old iron railroad ties and spikes, a nod to the influence of railroads on Illinois' history.
"The first time I saw Alfred's sculptures, I thought, 'This is so wonderful!'" said Carolyn Patterson, a former director of the program. "There was something just so unique, and the idea that the materials he chose could still be rotting away in some old junkyard."
Vorreyer's artwork was displayed at all three of the artisan shops run by the state, and according to Patterson, it was in one of those shops that former Gov. Jim Thompson spotted his sculptures gophers made out of railroad spikes and decided to take several with him to Japan to give as gifts to government officials.
"His art could bring a smile to anybody's face," Patterson said.
Up until recently, Vorreyer was still at it, creating a giant, whimsical-looking spider last summer out of an old propane tank found on a farm.
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"All I know is that his sculptures will still be around long after the rest of us are gone," his daughter said with a laugh.
Vorreyer also is survived by four other daughters, Leslie Gale, Lori Lynn Kmet, Sharon Rae Boshears and Bonnie Sue; and five grandchildren.
Services were held.
Joan Giangrasse Kates is a freelance reporter.
For a writer in exile, the setting couldn't have been more welcoming: a stately mansion overlooking Lake Michigan on the campus of Loyola University. A sunny, freakishly warm February afternoon. And a gathering of a several dozen people, eager to offer support and refuge to the two guests of honor: Syrian writer Osama Alomar and Nigerian writer Unoma Azuah.
The crowd was assembled in the drawing room of the nearly century-old Piper Hall for the launch of a new Chicago City of Refuge initiative for exiled writers a collaboration of the International Cities of Refuge Network; PEN International, an association of writers; the Chicago Network for Justice and Peace; and the Guild Literary Complex. Alomar and Azuah each read from their published works, discussed the events that pulled them away from their homelands and took questions from an audience keen to know how the Trump administration's efforts to curb immigration were affecting their lives.
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They weren't, directly each writer had become a U.S. citizen in recent years and, although they expressed wariness about President Donald Trump's worldview, they chose to focus that day on the oppression their friends and family still experience in Nigeria and Syria.
As a lesbian, Azuah was ostracized in Nigeria, where there is no legal protection for homosexuals and violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people is common. She came to the United States for graduate school and lived in several American cities before settling in Chicago.
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Alomar was born and raised in Syria, where he began his writing career. He writes in Arabic but teamed up with his translator, C.J. Collins, whom he met in Damascus years before the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. Alomar moved to the U.S. to pursue new writing opportunities, and started driving a taxi in Chicago to pay his bills. While Alomar drove his cab around, Collins worked through the English translations of Alomar's "very short stories" from the front passenger seat, in between fares.
After about nine years in Chicago, Alomar says he is homesick for Syria. But instead of going home, where war wages on, he is settling in Pittsburgh for a year, where a residency through the Pittsburgh City of Asylum program will provide housing and financial support so that he can focus on building his writing career in the U.S.
Chicago's City of Refuge initiative might eventually offer such residencies, but Nick Patricca, a professor emeritus at Loyola and one of the initiative's founders, said that for now the group has launched with modest ambitions. Presently, it is supporting writers who have relocated to Chicago on their own by promoting their work and helping them develop connections within the arts community.
lweber@chicagotribune.com
Lara Weber is a member of the Tribune Editorial Board.
Read Unoma Azuah's "An ode to Chicago: My city of refuge."
Read Osama Alomar's very short stories.
The Washington Post, in yet another bombshell story, reports:
"Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump's campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions' confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
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"One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator's office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race."
During Sessions' confirmation hearing, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked him what he would do if it came out that anyone associated with the Trump campaign had contact with the Russians in the course of the 2016 campaign. Sessions said, "Sen. Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities." That wasn't the truth, since he participated in discussions. He continued, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I am unable to comment on it." His spokeswoman argues that when they spoke, Sessions was not acting as a surrogate, but rather, in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. But The Post's reporting has so far found no senators on that panel who met with Kislyak last year.
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The Post report continues:
"In January, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) asked Sessions for answers to written questions. 'Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?' Leahy wrote.
"Sessions responded with one word: 'No.' "
The accuracy of that depends on whether he was contacted "about" the election.
In written questions, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked, "Will you commit that, if you are confirmed as Attorney General, you will recuse yourself from any investigation into whether President-elect Trump or any of his family, campaign staff, business associates or advisors had any communication with Russian officials or operatives during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, or had any connection to, knowledge of, or involvement in Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election?" Sessions responded, "I am not aware of a basis to recuse myself from such investigations. However, if a specific matter arose where I believed my impartiality might reasonably be questioned, I would consult with Department ethics officials regarding the most appropriate way to proceed. As I made clear at my confirmation hearing, I will always be fair and work within the law and the established procedures of the Department." How he could not see that his own communications would be at issue is puzzling.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., flat out accused Sessions of "lying under oath." She called for him to resign as attorney general, declaring him "not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country."
Sessions' position is increasingly untenable. According to another Post report:
"House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said during an appearance on MSNBC Thursday morning that Sessions should bow out to maintain 'the trust of the American people.'
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"Minutes later, House Oversight and Government Reform committee chairman Jason Chaffetz joined McCarthy's call, tweeting that 'AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.' "
There are two issues here: Must Sessions recuse himself, and did he mislead the Senate?
As to the first, he cannot be both a subject of inquiry and the investigator. His own conversations are of material interest to the investigation. He has no choice but to recuse himself. "He clearly has to recuse," Harvard law professor Larry Tribe told me. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee (and is a former prosecutor), succinctly told me, "Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself from investigations related to Russian interference in our democracy. He said he would if there was a conflict of interest, and it is clear that there is."
At least one conservative legal scholar agrees. "It seems to me that he has to recuse himself from the decisions about the investigation into Russian efforts to influence our elections at the very least to avoid the appearance of a conflict even if nothing untoward happened," says John Yoo, former Justice Department lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. "That means the decision will fall to the Deputy AG, Rod Rosenstein."
Others were more heated in their assessments. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Md., ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, put out a written statement, declaring, "It is inconceivable that even after [former National Security Adviser] Michael Flynn was fired for concealing his conversations with the Russians that Attorney General Sessions would keep his own conversations secret for several more weeks." Cummings said Sessions' statement denying contact "was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks and he continued to let it stand even as he watched the President tell the entire nation he didn't know anything about anyone advising his campaign talking to the Russians." He concluded, "Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose resolution of inquiry to demand information on the Russia investigation was voted down on a party-line vote (!), told me, "If the Washington Post revelations are accurate, Attorney General Sessions must at the very least recuse himself not only because his impartiality is now tainted, but he may now be a subject of investigation himself." He added, "It is now abundantly clear to anyone watching this administration's conduct that an investigation, conducted by an independent prosecutor, is critical to getting the truth given all we know and all we have yet to find out."
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Other Democrats echoed that demand. Rep. Eric Swalwell, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the CIA Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement Wednesday night, which read in part, "It's time for the Attorney General to immediately step aside from any investigation involving ties between President Trump and Russia. Reports that Trump advisor Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador to the United States twice last year, but failed to disclose those contacts when specifically asked during his confirmation hearing, are cause for great concern."
Now, it is possible but unlikely that Sessions did not recall the meetings with the Russian ambassador. His excuse that he was not officially acting as a surrogate or that the conversation was not about the campaign doesn't absolve him over his blanket statement to Franken that he was unaware of contacts or his assertion to Durbin that he didn't know of any reason he would need to recuse himself in an investigation of campaign figures speaking with Russian figures.
He should be immediately recalled to the Senate to explain his actions. Talk of "perjury" is premature, since such a charge would require, among other things, an intent to deceive. But members of Congress plainly think that Sessions was trying to hide something. Nadler told me, "If it turns out he lied under oath, he of course will be subject to criminal prosecution and should immediately resign." Swalwell likewise stated, "At best, he was careless with a subject of great importance; at worst, like General Michael Flynn, the Attorney General lied about prior contacts with Russia."
Perhaps not coincidentally, on Monday, Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, who has been cheerleading for Trump and denying a need to investigate, finally came out with a statement agreeing to examine the Russia scandal, including contacts between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. CNN reported:
"Tensions escalated Monday between Nunes and the top Democrat working on the Russia investigation, Rep. Adam Schiff, after Nunes said he had seen no evidence yet of Russian officials communicating with Trump campaign aides and Schiff said it was too early to tell.
"Schiff later told CNN's Erin Burnett that if high-ranking intelligence officials have been communicating with the White House about the investigation, it 'threatens the integrity of the organizations and I think they ought to call a halt to that.' "
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The question at this point is whether any Republican, especially one enlisted to help spin Trump's defense, can be entrusted with this investigation. Given the latest development, the answer for more and more Americans will be an emphatic no.
Washington Post
Jennifer Rubin is a Washington Post columnist.
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President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 2, 2017, after his return on Marine One helicopter. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
In his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump undercut his efforts to lead the country into a "new chapter of American greatness" when he prioritized constructing "a great, great wall." For it is creating space for collective empowerment, not building walls, that defines effective, sustainable leadership in our country today.
My belief in the leadership tenet stems from the first moment space was taken from me. My grandfather, a former Illinois governor who had just been released from prison, came to our home and played "bear trap," a game in which he caught me between his knees, depriving me of self-composure until I gasped for air. As I grew older, my struggle for space around Dan Walker continued, as he would trap me with accusations about my vision for political and legal change until he wore down my sense of agency.
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For a while, I believed the only path to leadership was one in which we citizens have to fight for the very space we need to realize our potential. But, in fact, the opposite is true. Leadership is about creating space, not barring others from it.
My grandfather believed in this principle of leadership too. Against all odds, he won over the people of Illinois by walking the entire state in 1971 to learn how he could fight for people's agency in the face of Chicago's machine politics. In large part, he succeeded. His reputation as a man of the people is evidenced by the interstate border signs that he changed to "The People of Illinois Welcome You" from "The Governor Welcomes You." When he lost his re-election bid, however, his efforts to promote collective empowerment fell by the wayside.
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Without this leadership tenet, my grandfather, despite his accomplishments, ultimately limited his own potential after that election. Once a contender for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, he gave up these ambitions and later became the second of four Illinois governors to be criminally convicted, albeit for acts unrelated to his tenure as a public servant.
A familiar concept in leadership development circles requires space for both agency and accountability. It does not mean that we treat one another like snowflakes. Nor does it mean that anything goes. On the contrary, it is a vital, complex vehicle in which we check and balance each other to enable one another's potential.
And, when we choose to, Americans implement this leadership canon well.
The way in which we've structured our government, our laws, our religious institutions, communities, families and our very selves is founded upon this bedrock of creating space for collective empowerment. It is what gave rise to our federalist form of government, which carves out space for states' rights while checking and balancing states' power to ensure that it serves rather than undercuts the very civil liberties that underpin our individual and collective growth.
Protecting space so that we can reach our potential leads to collective empowerment by increasing our understanding of ourselves and of one another. It is a challenging concept that draws on the power of our diversity.
The opposite of this philosophy also rings true, in that the construction of walls promotes disconnection and conflict. Living in a culture susceptible to fear, building space for collective empowerment is hardly an easy task.
But it can be accomplished on a macro level through legal and institutional change, and on a micro level through personal agency and accountability.
As we build our nation's next generation of leaders, the way in which we create space for one another is dependent upon our own understanding of power, informed by our identities and experiences. We must learn when to step up and when to step back. When to create space for ourselves and when to boldly leave that space when invited into spaces different from our own.
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The acts of leadership that were celebrated when my grandfather died were those in which he tore down walls in order to create space: when he fought housing segregation, when he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. on Chicago's Southwest Side; when he issued executive orders prohibiting corrupt practices by state employees while also creating a legal vehicle for them to unionize; and when he shone a spotlight on people's fight for their own agency in the face of police brutality at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, calling out the government's failure to hold the police accountable. Creating these spaces of collective empowerment through agency and accountability is how my grandfather's leadership is remembered today. They are, after all, what sustainable social progress and the institutions that protect it depend upon.
Tuesday night, when Trump called on Congress to dream "big, and bold and daring things for our country," he failed to explain how to do so.
Creating space, not building walls, is how.
Angela Walker, an international attorney in Washington, D.C., focuses on civil and criminal government investigations.
Chance The Rapper's Meeting With Gov. Rauner Is Back On, For Friday
By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 2, 2017 7:06PM
The previously canceled meeting between Chance the Rapper and Gov. Bruce Rauner has been rescheduled. The two will meet on Friday morning to discuss funding for Chicago Public Schools.
Rauner and the Chicago-native rapper were originally slated to meet on Wednesdaybut those plans were shelved after tornadoes battered south and central portions of the state. The governor spent portions of Wednesday and Thursday surveying the damage downstate and meeting with victims of the extreme weather. Two people were killed in Illinois due to the storms.
After some doubts as to whether and when a rescheduled meeting would occur, Chance Tweeted on Thursday afternoon that the meeting was back on, set for Friday. "I'm more than appreciative of him taking time to discuss funding CPS," he wrote.
Update: The Governor and I are now scheduled to meet Friday morning, I'm more than appreciative of him taking time to discuss funding CPS https://t.co/gjCXe6Vs8Q Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 2, 2017
As recently as Thursday morning, Chance's camp hadn't received information on a reschedule, he wrote.
As of right now, my meeting with @GovRauner is still "cancelled" with no new info on a reschedule. https://t.co/nSCmJVeOBW Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 2, 2017
But a representative from Rauner's office on Thursday morning told Chicagoist by email that they had reached out to Chance's team to confirm a new date.
Eleni Demertzis, of the governor's office, said ahead of Chance's confirmation:
"The Governor is traveling the state to survey the damage of the deadly tornados that hit this week. He is meeting with families who lost their homes and thanking first responders for their service. He looks forward to hearing from Chance and we have reached out to his team to reschedule our meeting."
Chance (rather brilliantly) requested a meeting after Rauner sent a seemingly anodyne message on Twitter to congratulate the hip-hop supernova on his triple win at the Grammys.
So perhaps some miscommunication aside, things seemed to have worked out: the governor fulfilled his official and moral obligation by meeting with the victims of the storm; and the very necessary meeting to which he previously agreed with one of hip-hop's most preeminent social consciences will still happen. The only question that remains is just how much state funding Chance can convince him to pony up for CPS. If anybody can do it...
Maybe I'm taking it too personally, but with President Donald Trump calling the press "the enemy of the American people" I'm having flashbacks to my personal encounters with a dictatorship. Among them was a nagging sense of being watched. It was unshakable, even by turning around and seeing no one behind me on the streets of Athens in 1973.
A military junta then ruled Greece, where I led a semester-abroad program for American college students. Because we were in a remote area of Crete when my assistant's father died, it took a while for a member of the tourist police to find us. It took my assistant a couple of days to get to Heraklion, the island's capital, by bus, take a ship to Athens and book passage on a flight to the U.S.
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As she was about to board, another tourist police officer came up to her and said: "We're all very sorry for your loss." That he could pick her out in a crowded airport, and knew why she was there, suggests that the tourist police had additional duties beyond helping foreigners book hotel rooms.
Now, I don't think myself uniquely qualified to referee the noisy debate between those who see fascism in America's future and others who say that's a fantasy of sore-loser liberals.
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First of all, missing from the Greek variety was a common ingredient of totalitarianism: A demagogue who persuades the masses that his battles are their battles. Hitler was a rabble-rousing orator. Mussolini coined the term "fascist" from the word for a Roman official's badge of office symbolizing his promise to restore Italy's ancient glories.
Greece's democracy was overthrown in 1967 by colorless, virtually unknown and low-ranking army officers. Six years later, their regime was coming apart at the seams. That gave me a peek into its working parts analogous to the view of human innards that an X-ray provides a physician.
What I saw was both tragic and comical. Upon seizing power, the junta of the colonels, as it was known, imprisoned thousands of real or imagined opponents. That occurred in slow motion on the island of Lesbos, according to a friend of mine, a wealthy landowner there.
The blueprint for the colonels' coup was a contingency plan of the previous government. Left-wing Greeks and right-wing Greeks had been at each others' throats since World War II. So if a communist plot was brewing, no-goodniks were to be rounded up and notables given protection. But in the junta's version, the two lists were commingled en route to Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos. So its perplexed officials took both communists and landowners into custody until the junta sent someone to sort them out.
Once in power, the junta was determined to purge its subjects of bad habits. Totalitarian regimes often preach that society is out of whack because of an infection of un-German, or un-Italian, behavior. The colonels focused on a hallowed tradition in Greece that is familiar to any tourist who ever dined in a Greektown restaurant back home.
Exuberant by nature, Greeks celebrate most any occasion by dancing snakelike around tables of revelers who smash plates on the floor. The breaking glass is accompanied by cries of "Opa!" But not in the nightspots of Athens, once the junta declared plate-smashing decadent.
Yet rock music could still be heard, and that became the junta's Achilles heel. The rulers could intimidate lawyers and judges. Editors got the message that criticism wasn't good for their own or their publication's health. But it was the Age of Aquarius, and Greek young people, like their counterparts elsewhere, were not going to be denied the music of their generation.
The junta tried weaning them off rock. It banned miniskirts, long hair on men and the peace sign to no avail. The University of Athens became a fortress of youthful resistance. Students hungered for news of the outside world, and I lived near the university. More than once, I was asked to translate American colloquialisms found in the Village Voice, the newspaper of New York's bohemian set. For some reason, the colonels allowed it to circulate even though the junta had banned other foreign publications.
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Month after month, the Greek letter "zeta" was scribbled on walls, painted out by the authorities, and scribbled again. An abbreviation for "he lives," it began as a way of honoring Grigoris Lambrakis, a leftist political hero assassinated in 1963. But it became a symbol of the resistance itself, which became only stronger with each successive attempt to stamp it out. Their elders joined the students.
In 1974, the junta collapsed like the proverbial house of cards. By then, I was back in the United States. But now I am wondering if the junta might have held on, had it been fronted by a demagogue.
Like, for instance, someone who could claim, "I know more than the generals," and win passionate followers by accusing the press of printing "fake news."
rgrossman@chicagotribune.com
Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool stands with community and faith leaders on Feb. 14, 2017, at Lindblom Math & Science Academy in Chicago to announce a lawsuit against the state of Illinois and Gov. Bruce Rauner. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Over the years, Chicagoans have grown accustomed to increasingly dire CPS budget threats. The district has ransacked its fiscal bag of tricks, borrowed aggressively and spent flagrantly, slashed administrative costs, and demanded that Springfield fill the financial gaps. But the district is still about $130 million in the hole in this fiscal year and the end of that school year is in sight. Oh, and CPS also is on the hook for a massive teachers pension payment due June 30.
Cue CPS' latest threat: If a Cook County judge doesn't grant CPS a fast-tracked preliminary ruling in its lawsuit against Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Illinois State Board of Education, then the district warns that it could have no choice but to close its doors early. And not by just a day or two. It could close three weeks early on June 1, not the scheduled June 21.
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Is CPS CEO Forrest Claypool serious or is this a high-stakes bluff? Unclear. He voiced a disclaimer: "I want to make clear that's the worst-case scenario," he said of the June 1 date. "It could be any number of days in between or it could be none at all if we are successful on this thing."
Still, threatening to end the school year early is an alarming order of magnitude high on the scale of CPS desperation. It's a nuclear option.
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It's hard to see how Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who campaigned aggressively a few years back to extend the CPS school day and year, would acquiesce. Emanuel has often touted student gains attributed partly to more classroom instruction. Graduation rates are up; so are test scores. Many Chicago students have notched real academic progress that would be imperiled if the year were chopped short. Strong finish to the school year? Nah, kids, go home.
"I don't take that decision (to end the school year early) lightly," Emanuel said Wednesday. "It's not the first choice and it's not the right choice."
We agree, wholeheartedly. Even if CPS' doomsday threat sways the judge, it's unclear how a ruling would swiftly funnel funds to CPS. More likely this is about pressuring lawmakers in Springfield.
One of these days, maybe Emanuel and Claypool will lay into their fellow Democrats starting with the leaders from Chicago who've long controlled the legislature but who've never bothered to reform the state's school funding formula. The Illinois Senate passed a "pension parity" bill Tuesday that would send $215 million to CPS. But that's a long way from the governor's signature.
At Claypool's max, the shortened school year could save $91 million or more but also would violate state requirements on the length of the public school year. The district says its savings figures include the loss of some state aid because the district would fall below the number of ISBE-required student attendance days. Even with the early close, however, the district still would be short millions and that would include $5 million in savings from cutting summer school for most elementary students.
A shortened year would bring a mad scramble for students, teachers, administrators and parents. But the repercussions of such a disastrous decision wouldn't end with this school year. How many Chicago parents would think seriously about whether they want to send their children to such a chaotic school district next fall? You think CPS student enrollment is cratering now? Just wait.
Much of this turmoil could have been averted. But CPS passed a wishful-thinking budget last year, relying on a Springfield rescue and a teacher's contract concession that never materialized.
The district its students, teachers and parents are paying the price of that unfounded optimism. Wishful budgeting can't happen again. Next year's budget can't hinge on money not in evidence. Better for CPS to focus on downsizing its real estate footprint to fit its declining student population than to lop off weeks of instruction. Instruction days crucial classroom time aren't bargaining chips.
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Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
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I am the parent of a 4-year-old child who attends preschool in East Garfield Park. I wanted to make sure that she went to a great elementary school, but I had no idea Chicago Public Schools had an application deadline if I wanted to send her to a selective-enrollment school, magnet school or a school zoned outside of my neighborhood. Fortunately, my child's teacher reminded me that I needed to apply to schools for my soon to be 5-year-old.
Every time I sat down to start looking at schools, I became overwhelmed. How was I supposed to know which one of these schools was a good school? Their websites all seemed fine. Recruiters sporadically provided us information about different charter schools, but I still didn't know how to make the best choice for my child.
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Before I knew it, the Dec. 9 CPS deadline had come and gone. I didn't know what to do. Did this mean all of my child's options were gone? Had I sealed her fate?
Luckily, my child had a phenomenal teacher who steered me in the right direction. She put me at ease and helped me navigate all the different options. She emphasized the importance of looking at a school's ratings and making sure it is a good fit for my family. I was able to find the different applications and apply to all the schools I wanted.
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I read an article in the Chicago Tribune about a new easier process for CPS kids to apply to high school. I just finished this crazy process for kindergarten and I can't even imagine how complicated it might be in eight years for high school. Something needs to change. Families cannot spend all of their time trying to figure out how to apply to schools, where to find the applications, and how to adhere to all the different applications criteria.
I urge the city to create a simple process to make it easier for high school, so that I will not have to go through this complicated process for my daughter in the future.
Voshanae Hamilton, Chicago
We don't need to tell you that Chicago is a great city for beer. But now, thanks to craftbeer.com, there's a definitive best beer bar in Illinois. And it just so happens to be located here in Chicago.
Links Taproom in Wicker Park was named the best beer bar in Illinois in the annual Great American Beer Bars competition conducted by the Brewers Association website for beer fanatics. Readers were asked to nominate their favorite craft beer bars in their state based on a number of criteria: atmosphere, staff, beer selection and special events.
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Though only in its toddler years, Links dominated the vote. The taproom opened in early 2014 and offers 36 American craft beers on tap at any given time, as well as three on cask.
To celebrate their win, Links will launch its gigantic "Party Time Sausage Trey" offeringtotaling more than $100 worth of grubavailable through the end of March Madness. Starting Wednesday evening, they tapped four rare kegs: 4 Hands Madagascar, Ballast Point Peach and Apricot Sour Wench and Ale Asylum Spawn Series 019 IPA.
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Links is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Friday and until 3 a.m. on Saturdays.
@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com
Picture SoulCycle. Now, picture SoulCycle without the bikes. Add in trampolines. That's Bellicon, the country's first "rebounding" studio, which uses mini-trampolines for a mix of cardio and muscle toning without the impact of a treadmill on your joints. SwissJump is the studio's newest class, mixing rebounding and dancing for all skill levels. 11 a.m. $15 for first-time attendees, $23 for returning customers.
Swim like a mermaid, dance like Beyonce or pair beer with yoga. These aren't your mother's workouts. We rounded up some of the most unique sweat sessions happening in Chicago this weekend so you can get moving.
THURSDAY, MARCH 2
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Beyonce Dance & Twerk at The Brass Ring
2539 W. North Ave. 312-966-2759
We can all agree that Queen B is the ultimate of all #fitspo, and this class from pole and dance studio The Brass Ring can help you get closer than ever to her godliness. Unlike other classes offered, this one doesn't have any prerequisitesyou won't be using the pole, but that's something you can work up to later. 7 p.m. $25. Register: thebrassring.com
SATURDAY, MARCH 4
Major Taylor
Major Taylor Chicago March Ride for Coffee
Major Taylor Cycle Club of Chicago
If biking is the way you prefer to burn your calories, the Major Taylor Cycle Club of Chicago has just what you're looking for. This 25-ish mile ride from Uptown to the North Shore 'burbs includes a stop for Starbucksbecause, of course. Rides are hosted the first weekend of every month. 9 a.m. Free. Register: eventbrite.com
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SUNDAY, MARCH 5
Om Tour Session Yoga at On Tour Brewing
1725 W. Hubbard St. 312-796-3119
In case you've been living under a rock, let us explain: Beer yoga is a thing, and Chicago is hopping on that bandwagon with gusto. On Tour Brewing is one of a few breweries in Chicago offering BYOM (as in, bring your own mat) all-levels yoga classes before letting you drink those calories back right after. 10 a.m. $19. Register: eventbrite.com
Mermaid School at AquaMermaid
828 S. Wolcott Ave. 877-279-2767
How many times in your adult life have you thought, "Screw this, life would be so much better as a mermaid"? Never? Stop lying to yourself. This fitness class mixes your childhood "Little Mermaid" obsession and your desire to get killer abs. There's a reason why mermaids originated as sirens pulling sailors to their deaths. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. $60. Register: eventbrite.com
Bends & Blends at Pinstripes
435 E. Illinois St. 312-527-3010
Gone are the days of blowing off your workout for brunch plans. This super cheap yoga class at Pinstripes includes a complimentary mimosa and a $5 discount off their brunch buffet, so it basically pays for itselfand preemptively burns those brunch calories. Just remember to make a brunch reservation beforehand. 9 a.m. $5. Register: eventbrite.com
@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com
From plunging into the icy waters of Lake Michigan for charity to sampling suds with fellow beer lovers at Windy City Brewhaha, here's what we're up to this weekend.
TAKE THE PLUNGE
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Longing to take a dip in Lake Michigan? Do it this weekend at the 17th annual Chicago Polar Plunge on Sunday, March 5. Suit up and dip, dive or plunge into the icy waters to support the athletes of Special Olympics Chicago. The frigid festivities kick off at 10 a.m. at North Avenue Beach (1603 N. Lakeshore Dr.), with waves at 10:30, 11 and 11:30 a.m. It's a little less crazy when you're raising money for a good cause, right? Register for a spot at sochicago.org.
A GREEN FILM FEST
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Learn a little more about the environment and sustainability during the One Earth Film Festival, kicking off in Chicago this weekend. The sixth annual fest, which spans March 3-12, boasts 47 screenings of 30 environmental films in various locations across the city and surrounding 'burbs. The Garfield Park Conservatory, Peggy Notebaert Museum and Adler Planetarium are just a few spots hosting screenings. Almost all showings are free, though a $6 donation is suggested. More information: oneearthfilmfest.org
Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >
BEER BASH
Beer lovers of all levels can sip suds at the fifth annual Windy City Brewhaha this Saturday, March 4, at the Revel Fulton Market (1215 W. Fulton Market). Sample beers from over 30 breweries, including pours from Cruz Blanca, 2 Fools Cider and One Trick Pony Brewing. Enjoy 15 3-ounce tastings over the course of one of two sessions, which run 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. General admission tickets cost $52 and designated drivers get in for $20. Tickets: windycitybrewhaha.com
SERIOUSLY SATIRICAL SHOW
Get the giggles this Saturday, March 4, at Whirled News Tonight, a comedy show that puts a satirical twist on current events. Performed at The iO Theatre (1501 N. Kingsbury St. 312-929-2401), audience members can cut out articles from several local and national publications and tack them onto bulletin boards onstage. The cast will then randomly select articles to base their improvisation on. The show starts at 8 p.m., and admission is $14. Tickets: ioimprov.com
PARTY HARDY '80s PROM
Forgot to plan a weekend outing? Stop spazzing! Grab your boy toy or best gal pal, throw on a retro costume and, like, totally head to Chicago's '80s Prom (because nobody puts Baby in the corner). The throwback bash will be held on both Friday and Saturday nights, March 3 and 4, from 8-11 p.m. in the Ravenswood United Church of Christ gymnasium (2050 W. Pensacola Ave.). Take it to the max with all you can drink beer, wine and "Pretty in Pink" punch, '80s music, a taco bar, prom photos and a costume contest for $39 per person. Tickets: eventbrite.com
@RianneCoale | rcoale@redeyechicago.com
G.O.A.T.
It was announced last week that Jay Z will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this June. "Why is this a big deal?" you may ask. "We all know Jay Z's great." True, but he's the first rapper to ever be inducted, demonstrating possibly a sliver of progress in the music industry. With this honor and twins on the way, it's shaping up to be a big year for Jay Z, but he still can't make Tidal happen.
Wine about it
Since 2001, Earth has seen 15 of the 16 warmest years on record, according to NASA. Not great for our planet, but apparently great for wine. Alsace, a region in France known for its white wines, is apparently receiving a lot more attention for its reds thanks to the warmer climate. Doesn't seem like a fair trade, but now you have more wine to try.
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Coming soon
Clear your calendar next Tuesday. Amy Schumer is back with a new stand-up special. "Amy Schumer: The Leather Special" premieres on Netflix March 7. Her 2015 HBO special earned three Emmy nominations, so let's see if Schumer has upped her game in the past two years.
The digit
17
That's the percentage of directors, writers, producers, editors and cinematographers that were female working on 2016's 250 top-grossing movies. Had it won, "La La Land" would have been the first Best Picture winner in 12 years to feature a woman nominated for Best Actress. Now it's 12 and counting.
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The quote
"Donald Trump has 22 acting credits. He collects $120,000 a year in his Screen Actors Guild pension fund. He is a Hollywood elitist Steve Bannon is a failed film writer and director. That's the truth, that's what he's done. He wrote a Shakespearean rap musical about the L.A. riots that he couldn't get made."
George Clooney on president Donald Trump and Steve Bannon's connections to Hollywood in a Canal+ interview
A Chinese antique vase that was previously mistaken as a replica was sold at 810,000 (around $1 million) at Birmingham auctioneers Fellows in the UK, a record price for the house.
The Chinese fish vase sold at 810,000 (around $1 million) in the UK. [Photo/fellows.co.uk]
The wucai fish vase, intricately decorated with small golden carp, lotus blossoms and undulating grass, dates from the Jiajing reign (1522-1566) of China's Ming Dynasty.
The vase's first estimated value by the auction house was 1,800, after examinations suggested that it lacked the sophistication of an original piece. Eagle-eyed bidders found that the piece actually was a 500-year-old valuable antique.
"We are delighted with the house-record sale of the Chinese wucai vase. This vase was consigned via a Chinese client," Mark Huddleston, senior specialist of the auction house said. "Bidding began at 1,000 pounds and, with a handful of telephone bidders plus the usual hundreds online."
"One bidder even flew in from Japan and has a number of these in his collection," Huddleston added.
Fellows auction house said that the low opening price was requested by the seller, and as the auctioneers doubted the vase's authenticity, that became the starting point.
Fish jars (originally made with domed covers) from the Jiajing period were among the most desirable of Chinese porcelains. The price of the fish vase sold this time was akin to fully authenticated pieces.
Members of the nonprofit Ingage Unlimited in Arlington Heights (pictured) recently traveled to Peru for a service trip. (Jennifer Haidu / HANDOUT)
Water that's fit to drink. Air that is free from the stink of sewage. A house with bricks that cannot melt.
These are just a few of the things appreciated by six selfless women when they traveled to the remote reaches of Peru in February to teach a church what Bible school is all about.
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For 10 days, Jennifer Haidu, of North Barrington, Cindy Malin, of Lake Zurch, Chris Pappas, of Lake Zurich, Rev. Sara VandeBerg, of Barrington, and Rev. Charisse Jensen, of Palatine, left the comforts of suburbia to serve the flood-ravaged, adobe-hut dwelling residents of Chiclayo the fourth largest city in Peru.
They were led by Carolyn Muir, founder of the Arlington Heights-based nonprofit Ingage Unlimited, which tries to create bridges between global needs and resources. The group works to provide leadership training for 60 volunteers and guide more than 150 day-camp children at the group's field partner the Impacto Cristiano church.
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Rev. Paul Pistone and his wife, Debbie, founded Impacto Cristiano from scratch more than five years ago after having witnessed the immense need for spiritual help in Chiclayo.
Many of the local children have witnessed the horror of their own parents being murdered or jailed. Others have experienced the ravages of prostitution or addiction. The church now acts as a safe haven for more than three generations of local residents.
"In that culture, the kids take care of each other because they have to," said Haidu, who taught more than 50 children. "The minute we walked in the door, they loved us and we loved them."
To say the residents of the shanty town were poor is like a drop in the buckets of rain water that wash through their collapsed roofs.
"It was clear to all of us that these people have nothing, but they are so joyful," Haidu said.
Malin agreed, saying the trip made her "appreciative and mindful of our resources."
She recalled how every residue of paint or crumb of Playdough used in projects would be carefully saved by even the youngest of children.
"They are so good at honoring what they have," she said.
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The Ingage volunteers said the residents also were surprisingly generous, bringing offerings to the church in the form of bits of food, used shoes and other items.
"As poor as they were, everybody could donate something," Haidu said.
Pappas added: "They don't waste a thing."
Pappas prepared for the trip by interviewing teachers that she knew.
"The power of teams is that everyone has their unique gifts to offer," she said. "One single positive role model in a child's life can make a difference."
Ingage members hope to maintain a relationship with the church.
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"The time and energy poured into this weeklong event to provide a safe place for children to sing (led by Pastor Sara), play and learn amazed us all, and we were truly blessed to be a part of this experience," Muir said. "There is nothing more exciting than to be a part of a team that is walking alongside people, building relationships, sharing resources and learning from one another in a cross-cultural context."
Jensen's most cherished memory is of a little 10-year old girl named Katherine.
"She longed to learn English words and to talk with me, but most days, she would silently come and stand by me and just quietly be with me. We connected somehow, and I still remember how her smile could light up a room. It was a love that transcended language."
Kimberly Albrecht is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
A University of Illinois student accused of killing her newborn baby in a residence hall bathroom in March will plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors, her lawyers said Thursday.
Lindsay L. Johnson, a 20-year-old agricultural communications major from Monee, had faced up to 75 years in prison if convicted of the first-degree murder charges she faces. Her lawyers, Tony and Evan Bruno, declined to comment on what charges Johnson would plead guilty to on April 7, saying only that it would resolve the criminal charges filed against her.
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"With the loving support of her family, Lindsay has made the difficult decision to enter into a plea agreement in April that will resolve the criminal charges filed against her," the lawyers said in a statement released following Johnson's appearance before Judge Tom Difanis in Champaign County court Thursday morning.
Santa Clara University law professor Michelle Oberman, who has written two books about mothers who kill their children, said sentences for women who are convicted of neonaticide, as the act of killing an infant within the baby's first 24 hours of life is known, can run the gamut from probation with counseling to decades behind bars.
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Oberman, who has studied hundreds of such cases over the past 20-plus years, said women with competent legal representation generally receive sentences of no more than a year or two in prison, with many getting probation. The unremitting shame and stigmatization that mothers convicted of killing their newborns experience is often seen as punishment enough by judges, who see no positive in putting them behind bars, researchers said.
Johnson was charged with first-degree murder, child endangerment and concealment of a homicidal death in April after allegedly suffocating her infant son shortly after giving birth in the bathroom of her dorm suite at Bousfield Hall in Champaign on March 13, 2016.
Police, who were summoned to Johnson's dorm to check on a student reported to have been in the bathroom for several hours, found evidence that a child may have been born in the bathroom and went searching for Johnson, who had left prior to their arrival.
Officers found her on campus later that evening wearing a backpack with the deceased newborn boy inside, prosecutors said.
Johnson told police she had given birth earlier in the day, but that the child was not breathing when he was born, according to a state's attorney's office news release.
When told that a witness had reported hearing a baby crying, Johnson admitted the boy was alive when he was born and that she may have tried to quiet the crying child by putting a towel or hand over his mouth, the state's attorney's office said.
Forensic analysis of Johnson's phone showed a history going back to September 2015 of searches made for information on pregnancy, pregnancy symptoms, miscarriage, home abortions, and how to manage physical signs of pregnancy after the loss of a baby, the state's attorney's office said.
Word of the incident spread swiftly across the University of Illinois campus, eliciting mixed reactions that ranged from anger and disgust to tempered pity and concern over Johnson's mental state.
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Those who knew her described Johnson as a quiet but congenial girl who played the trumpet for the Marching Illini, loved country music and excelled academically.
"She's a very kind person, really," one friend said shortly after Johnson's arrest. "I've never really seen her angry or upset by very much."
Tammy Cowger, whose son Dakota was a close friend of Johnson's at Peotone High School and who chaperoned Johnson and other Peotone High School students on Future Farmers of America field trips, said she was at a loss after reading coverage of Johnson's arrest.
"I was shocked when I read it because that's not her personality at all. Not at all," she said. "She's one of those kids you would want your kids to hang out with. She was just like your typical high school girl."
Friends and acquaintances of Johnson's said she'd hidden her pregnancy from those close to her and had been spending much of her time with her boyfriend, a fellow marching band member.
One friend who asked to remain anonymous said Johnson had appeared to gain weight but that he thought nothing of it because it was normal for her to dress in baggy sweatpants.
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The Champaign County state's attorney's office declined to comment on the case.
While State's Attorney Julia Rietz had previously called Johnson's "an unusual case" and said she had never encountered one like it, neonaticides are believed to occur hundreds of times each year in the United States.
The similarities between such cases are striking enough that researchers consider the behavior a syndrome and draw a clear distinction between mothers who kill their babies within the first 24 hours and mothers who kill their infants or young children older than a day.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
Women who commit neonaticide are rarely mentally ill, but rather manage to delude themselves and others throughout their pregnancy, Oberman said.
"They just wish it away," she said. "Maybe I'll have a miscarriage. Maybe I'm not really pregnant."
Their avoidance of reality means these expectant mothers almost never seek prenatal medical care and fail to make any advance preparations, experts say.
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While harming the child is not something these mothers anticipate doing, once thrust into the situation of having to handle a live childbirth on their own, they panic and act impulsively.
"The same thing that led her to conceal her pregnancy will lead her to put the baby in a toilet or put a towel over the baby and smother it," Oberman said.
zkoeske@tribpub.com
Twitter @ZakKoeske
Illinois State Police crime scene investigators and the FBIremove the floor of abasement on Margaret Street in Joliet on Feb. 23, 2017. Investigators were looking for the remains of Will County sheriff's Deputy Robin Abrams, who has been missing since 1990. (Warren Skalski / Chicago Tribune)
Investigators have completed digging under a basement in a Joliet home they began searching last week in connection with a 27-year-old missing person case, officials said.
Illinois State Police Sgt. Patrick Callaghan confirmed Thursday that investigators had finished digging up a basement of a home in the 100 block of South Margaret Street. Investigators said "new leads" and "credible information" in connection with the 1990 disappearance of former Will County Sheriff's Deputy Robin Abrams led them to the home.
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Callaghan declined further comment on the investigation and would not say whether human remains were found buried beneath the home's basement. A spokesman with the Will County state's attorney's office also declined comment.
But Kevin Stevenson, chief deputy coroner in the Will County coroner's office, said his agency had not been called out to the site. If human remains had been found, the coroner's office would have been notified, Stevenson said.
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Before she disappeared, Abrams had filed a civil rights lawsuit against a former Will County sheriff's official with whom she said she had an affair. Abrams claimed in the suit that the official was responsible for her losing her job with the sheriff's office.
According to sheriff's department records, Abrams was hired Jan. 11, 1988, and fired Dec. 21 of the same year, just three weeks before her probationary period was to end.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
Abrams, who was 28 when she disappeared, was last seen Oct. 4, 1990, when she and her father, who was an Orland Park police officer, exchanged waves as their cars passed each other on a rural Will County road near Beecher. She was scheduled to testify in a deposition regarding the lawsuit nearly three weeks later.
Her 1989 red Dodge Daytona hatchback was recovered 11 hours later by police in south suburban Harvey. Her keys were still in the ignition inside the locked car.
Harvey police said at the time that a nearby resident saw the vehicle dropped off by two men in what was described as a tow truck. Another resident reported that someone was trying to break into the car. In addition to the keys, police found Abrams' camera inside the car.
Three days later, a woman telephoned Abrams' father saying his daughter's purse was found three blocks away from the car's location. The missing woman's wallet and credit cards were gone, but her checkbook was still in the purse.
For years, Abrams' sister, Jody Abrams Walsh, has devoted her time to seeking justice for her sister. Walsh could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday. Her cousin, Sheri Luigs, declined comment when reached Thursday.
Investigators with the Illinois State Police and the FBI have been at the Joliet home, which was built the same year Abrams disappeared, for more than 1 1/2 weeks. Investigators declined to say what specifically led them to the home but did say neither the current nor former homeowners were involved in the case.
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Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
President Donald Trump waves as he walks across the tarmac toward Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, right, before they boarded Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on March 2, 2017. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)
I think the sooner questions are resolved about ties between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign, the sooner he can get on with the business of making America great again.
Questions about Russian interference in the U.S. election won't go away. Intelligence agencies and Congress are investigating how Russia is using cyber warfare to influence public opinion in America, Europe and elsewhere.
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President Trump and Republicans who control Congress will have a harder time convincing Americans of the need to repeal and replace the health care law, cut taxes and advance other parts of their domestic agenda when stories about Russia keep dominating the news cycle.
This week, Trump and Republicans enjoyed a brief surge in popularity. He was praised for appearing presidential during his Tuesday night address to Congress. For about 24 hours, there was a sense that Trump's record-low approval ratings might have hit bottom.
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There was talk he hit the "pivot." His address, though devoid of facts and specifics, sounded optimistic. For a day, Trump's ability to unite the American people seemed almost feasible. That was nice while it lasted.
Then on Wednesday night, The New York Times reported aides to President Barack Obama left a trail of intelligence "bread crumbs" for investigators exploring connections between Trump and Russia.
Also Wednesday night, The Washington Post reported Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice with the Russian ambassador during the election campaign and failed to disclose those conversations during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing.
The goodwill and positive momentum generated by Trump's speech to Congress quickly evaporated. Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, called on Sessions to resign, saying he committed perjury by lying to Congress.
Sessions campaigned for Trump. The White House on Thursday described the revelations of Sessions meeting with the Russian ambassador as a partisan attack by Democrats. Sessions was acting in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the White House told Fox News, not as a representative of Trump's campaign.
Thursday morning, Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, called for Sessions to recuse himself from the Justice Department investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Thursday afternoon, Sessions said he would recuse himself "from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States."
Pressure is mounting on congressional Republicans to agree to an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate connections between Russia and the Trump campaign. Democrats continue to insist on a 9/11-style commission, while Republicans thus far have permitted only queries by committees subject to partisan influence.
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Democrats, loose-lipped intelligence agents, the press and other "enemies of the people" will not drop the issue. Until the questions are sufficiently resolved, there will be a steady stream of stories leaked to the media from intelligence sources and American allies, followed by more calls for independent investigations and resignations.
The constant negative coverage will continue to depress Trump's approval ratings and distract from Republican efforts to keep the focus on creating jobs and growing the economy.
I think it's in the best interests of Trump supporters and congressional Republicans to support thorough, independent investigations of Trump's connections with Russia. Until the air is cleared, questions about potential conflicts will continue to nag the administration. GOP legislators might pay a political price for placing party before country by dragging their feet.
No one knows what the investigations might reveal. "We don't know what we don't know," newsman Dan Rather wrote on Facebook Thursday. Usually, it's not so much the crime as the cover-up that damages political careers.
Michael Flynn, for example, resigned as national security advisor after it was revealed he "misled" Vice President Mike Pence about his conversation with the Russian ambassador.
Americans will tire of the relentless drip of stories about Trump and Russia. Watch what happens when I write, "Hillary Clinton's emails." Do you feel a twinge of nausea in your stomach? Do you want to just forget the topic and move on to something else? I bet you do.
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I think the "nothing to see here" response by Trump and Republicans is an ineffective political strategy. Questions will continue to dog the party in power about what Trump knew and when he knew it, and conflicts over his business dealings.
The threads between Trump and Russia are numerous. There's Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, who worked for pro-Russia Ukranian politician Viktor Yanukovych. Recent revelations of hacked text messages between Manafort and his daughter raise questions about whether Russians were trying to blackmail Manafort, Politico reported on Feb. 23.
There's Wilbur Ross, newly confirmed Secretary of Commerce, who served as vice chairman of the Bank of Cyprus. The bank is part owned by Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" reported Monday night.
Rybolovlev, the "King of Fertilizer," paid Trump $100 million in 2008 for a Florida house that Trump bought for $40 million two years earlier, Maddow reported. The Bank of Cyprus chairman is former head of Deutsch Bank, which paid a $630 million fine for laundering illegal Russian money, according to Maddow.
Then there's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former CEO of ExxonMobil. The company stands to earn billions of dollars by producing oil from 63 million acres on which it bought drilling rights in Russia and the Arctic, if U.S. sanctions against Russia are lifted, The New York Times and others have reported.
There's that Feb. 19 New York Times report about Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, hand-delivering a proposal to Flynn in his office a week before he resigned as national security adviser.
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The Times report said the proposal outlined how Russia wanted to use "compromising material" to remove the current Ukraine leadership and install a government more friendly to Russia. Ukraine voters would then be asked to approve a referendum to allow Russia to lease Crimea, the territory seized by Russia in 2014, thus clearing the way to lift U.S. sanctions.
Any one of these threads deserves independent and thorough investigation by Congress and intelligence agencies. The implications are potentially more serious than the 2012 Benghazi attack. Congress should devote at least as much time and resources investigating all the ties between Trump and Russia as it did scrutinizing Benghazi.
If Trump were to make public his tax returns, he might dispel some of the questions about potential conflicts and his campaign's ties to Russia. But he's not legally obligated to release them, so questions remain.
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, coauthored a piece in the magazine's latest issue titled, "Trump, Putin and the New Cold War." His magazine's reporting provides historical context about Putin's motives for wanting to disrupt free democracies.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
The report cites a 2013 "doctrine" spelled out by Valery Gerasimov, Russian chief of general staff, who explained the use of tactics that "include efforts to shape the political and social landscape of the adversary through subversion, espionage, propaganda, and cyberattacks."
This mounting body of evidence helps paint a clearer picture of ties between Trump and Russia. I believe additional revelations by the press, intelligence agencies and U.S. allies are forthcoming.
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Republicans and Trump supporters face a choice. They can support independent, thorough investigations that will put to rest questions about Trump's connections to Russia. If there is nothing improper in the relationships, Trump and his supporters should have no reason to object to calls for transparency.
If, on the other hand, Trump and Republicans resist efforts to get to the bottom of Russian efforts to interfere in America's 2016 election, I think they'll continue to have to respond to damaging revelations and accusations of obstruction.
Those who choose that path risk paying a political price for placing their party before country.
tslowik@tribpub.com
Twitter @tedslowik
In contrast to the Illinois budget situation, Minnesota's budget surplus is projected to grow to $1.65 billion this year. How did Minnesota do it? They stimulated the economy by raising the minimum wage and increasing income taxes. Something to think about Illinois voters.
William, Oak lawn
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How ridiculous is it that the Democratic women in the House of Representatives wasted time to send out a memo requesting they all wear white to President Donald Trump address to Congress. What are they a sorority? For a salary of $174,000 plus a year, quit wasting time and get to work fixing our country.
I was appalled that President Donald Trump has taken away the protection for our waterways. We have spent billions to start cleaning the waterways from the contamination put there by industry and now he is going to let them pollute them again. Does this man not realize how important our fresh water sources are? He is going to bring back industry but that industry is going to be manned mostly by robots. So unless someone has the necessary training to work in that type of environment, people aren't getting their lost manufacturing jobs back and corporate American makes more money.
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Luckily, not all the channels were running the mutual admiration society Tuesday night, so I was able to watched MacGyver. The applause after every sentence made me want to gag. This president promises the world, but can't back it up. Obamacare was to be removed and replaced day one according to his promises during the campaign, it wasn't. Then it was going to be removed and replaced when Tom Price was in place, it wasn't. Now, "who knew it was so complex?" Everyone but Trump and his advisers. I wouldn't mind giving this man a chance if he would admit he wasn't handed a "mess" and that he starts realistically fixing problems instead of stroking his ego.
Chicago
I watched President Donald Trump's speech to Congress last night. I listened with amazement his vision for America and all it's people. He also asking Congress members of both parties to "unite" and work together for a better America. All I saw on the Democratic side was disdain and hatred on their faces for our elected president. Never in my life have I seen such ignorance.
R.D.
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State Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) chairs the House Committee on Aging, which will be holding a hearing next week on a proposed change to a program that provides for in-home care for the elderly. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
In her role chairing the House Aging Committee, State Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) will be overseeing a hearing March 9 on a proposal that would change the mechanism through which thousands of Illinois senior citizens receive home care.
The plan put forward would create a two-tiered system out of the current Illinois Department on Aging's Community Care Program, which is designed to help seniors stay living in their own homes as long as they can.
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According to an online report from the Illinois Department on Aging, enrollment in the program grew from 40,965 enrollees in 2005 to 83,787 enrollees in 2015.
"Illinois' aging population will also more than double by 2030, with an expected 57 percent increase in individuals aged 60 plus over the next 15 years," the report states.
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The department estimates that by 2020 the existing Community Care Program would cost about $975 million. So, to save about $225 million, the suggested new setup would provide a system similar to the current one for Medicaid-qualifying seniors, while those who don't meet Medicaid's requirements would go into a second pool, called the Community Reinvestment Program.
That Illinois Department on Aging report claims that for Fiscal Year 2017 there are 43,672 individuals who would be in the Community Reinvestment Program and 45,766 would be in Community Care Program /Medicaid offering. For the next fiscal year, 44,564 would be in Community Reinvestment Program and 35,828 in Community Care Program /Medicaid.
According to the Illinois Department on Aging State Plan on Aging FY2017 - FY2019, for participants who are Medicaid eligible, the state receives a match of up to approximately $200 million from the federal government which is returned to the general revenue fund. For individuals who are non-Medicaid eligible, Community Care Program services are funded entirely through the general revenue fund.
In a statement, Illinois Department on Aging Director of Communications Veronica Vera said, "The Illinois Department on Aging has gathered input from stakeholders to ensure the state has a thoughtful, person-centered program to protect and care for our increasing number of older residents for many years to come. Modeled after a successful demonstration program IDoA oversaw in FY2007, CRP will allow us to add a larger menu of services for our seniors to maintain quality of life in their homes utilizing the same process we currently have within our Aging network."
Critics, though, have concerns with the change.
In a statement, Ryan Gruenenfelder, Director of Advocacy for AARP Illinois, said, "The new program will erode seniors' access and continuity of care while lacking critical background checks for some in-home and community service providers. The proposed rule changes deeply cut senior care resources, and in so pose a grave risk for thousands of vulnerable seniors to face premature nursing home placement."
Gruenenfelder added that as the state seeks solutions to its budget crisis, the new program would wind up costing the state more in the long run as displaced seniors move into nursing homes costing up to three times more than the current Community Care Program.
"If Illinois is committed to rethinking its budget priorities and implementing cost-saving policies, we must invest in our state's current senior care program with greater resources while implementing meaningful reforms, requiring greater accountability, and championing broader service options under the Medicaid waiver," Gruenenfelder said.
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Moeller said another of those concerns comes from changes that would allow for the use of ridesharing services to take Community Reinvestment Program seniors to appointments. Another is that moves such as moving washers and dryers to make them more convenient for the elderly to use or making other design changes to homes in place of having in-home care could leave seniors more isolated.
Moeller noted that with the state's continuing budget quagmire, the plan being put forward illustrates that any cuts that might eventually be made to any state-funded programming will have long- and short-term consequences.
The House Aging Committee hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, March 9 in Room 118 at the Capitol Building in Springfield.
mdanahey@tribpub.com
A recent parolee from the Illinois Department of Corrections was arrested early Wednesday morning in Elgin with a baggy of powdered sugar which he hoped to sell as cocaine to make money, according to Elgin police.
John M. Grothe, 44, of Chicago, and another man were stopped by Elgin police in the area of Grove Avenue and National Street at about midnight after an officer saw them jaywalk, according to reports. After the officer confirmed Grothe was a parolee, he was subjected to a search and was found with the baggy and sugar packaged similarly to how controlled substances are sold on the street, according to police. Grothe told the officer he had planned to sell the sugar on the street.
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He was charged with a class 3 felony count of manufacture, delivery, advertising or possession of a look-alike substance.
Bail was set at $25,000, and he was given a March 15 court date.
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Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Elgin police assured Latinos attending a Conversacion con la Comunidad Tuesday that officers are not an arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and are not working to deport undocumented immigrants who are abiding the country's laws.
"We don't call immigration if we have contact with you," Elgin Police Sgt. Eric Echevarria said.
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Elgin police do report the immigration status to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of people charged with multiple felonies or violent crimes, such as criminal sexual abuse, Echevarria said. The names of those people is passed onto the department, which will deport them after a conviction or prison term, he said.
Echevarria led the discussion, conducted in Spanish, at Iglesia Carismatica Puerta De Sion, 19 Center St., Tuesday night. Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda and City Manager Rick Kozal were also on hand to speak.
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A recurring question was Elgin police's working relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Are you working with ICE?" an audience member asked in Spanish.
Swoboda outlined what police do, and have done for years, when arresting an immigrant who is living in the U.S. illegally charged with a serious crime. There will be no change in that policy, he said. Last year, Elgin police made 3,515 arrests and 10 were held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said.
"The city of Elgin does cooperate with ICE, we are not ashamed of that," Swoboda said, adding the people referred to ICE are a danger to the whole community.
Elgin police will not and are not planning to go door-to-door on immigration raids, he said, to applause. The police department is not an arm of the federal government, Swoboda said.
Asked if Elgin could become a sanctuary city, Swoboda said there are different definitions of "sanctuary city." It would be a decision city officials would need to make, he said.
Kozal said the city's Human Relations Commission is researching the topic.
Other questions focused on what immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally should do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes to their door. "Can immigration come into your house?" asked another person. "What are our rights if someone comes to our door?"
One woman said someone came to her door and knocked aggressively, telling her to open the door for the police. Elgin Det. Elias Acevedo said residents should call 911 if someone is being aggressive, even if they claim to be a police officer.
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"Be very careful, there are people who take advantage of the situation and if you don't feel safe or feel threatened, call 911," Acevedo said.
There are a lot of people trying to scare immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally, especially on Facebook, Swoboda said. This week, there were posts falsely claiming Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted 50 immigration raids in Elgin, he said.
Elgin police were invited to hold the meeting at the church by Pastor Jose Luis Hidalgo. The church often hosts community-wide events and guest speakers. In the past, the Mexican consulate has come to the church to help people get their matricula, Mexican identification card, he said.
Hidalgo finds immigrants who is living in the U.S. illegally are scared about what is reported in the news about immigration. "People are not wanting to go out and are gathering all their money together to go home," he said, which is not good for the U.S. economy, he added.
He tells people just to make sure they work using their own names, have permission to drive and have insurance and it will be OK, Hidalgo said. "They seem to relax after that," he said.
Elgin police used Tuesday's meeting to reinforce they are there to protect everyone. "We are here for you," Echevarria said.
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Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Elmhurst Unit District 205 superintendent Dave Moyer has had his contract extended for two years.
Citing a host of accomplishments during Moyer's 20 months on the job, the District 205 School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to add two years onto the Moyer's contact, which was scheduled to expire in June 2018
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"We are proud of the district's accomplishments and because we believe Dr. Moyer is the best superintendent to keep the district moving forward," the board is extending his contract, board President Shannon Ebner said, reading from a statement from the board.
"Dr. Moyer is a visionary leader who is committed to raising the bar and closing the achievement gap for all students," Ebner said.
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The salary and benefits for Moyer provided in his contract will continue in the new contract, according to Chris Blum, chairman of the board's Finance and Operations Committee. Moyer's base annual salary of $225,951 and benefits will be reviewed by the board at the end this school year, along with the salaries and benefits of all administrators, and "may be increased by a modest amount," Blum said.
Blum said the board considered whether it should wait until after the new board is seated after the April 4 election before approving the contract extension.
"The board concluded that it was appropriate to act now, given that the current board hired Dr. Moyer and has closely evaluated his performance," Blum said, also reading from a prepared statement. "This consensus was enhanced by the fact that there will only be one new member of the board, given that there are now only three candidates for the open three positions and two of the candidates are incumbents."
Blum also said that acting on the contract now would help the district retain and recruit teachers and administrators this spring.
Some of Moyer's listed accomplishments highlighted by the board::
A record high ACT score for the 2016 graduating class of 24.7.
York High School being one of 433 schools in the United States and Canada named to the AP District Honor Roll for having increased participation and maintained or improved pass rates in Advanced Placement classes during 2013-16.
Eleven of the 12 schools in the district meeting or exceeding state standards in math.
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Successful pilot of the Eureka Math curriculum at the elementary and middle school levels, which will be implemented in all elementary classrooms in 2017-18.
Successful second year of the Mobile Learning Implementation, utilizing Chromebooks in fourth through 12th grades.
A community engagement campaign known as Focus 205 that has extended over a two-year period.
A balanced operating budget for fiscal year 2017.
The district having the highest financial rating from the Illinois State Board of Education and fund balances above the minimum established in board policy.
Moyer's vision has not always been embraced by all, Ebner pointed out.
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"Ours is an involved community and change is always difficult, especially for the change agent," Ebner said. "Together, we have stretched and grown."
Ebner said an analysis of Moyer's work over the past 20 months satisfied the board that that he has demonstrated progress toward meeting the district's key performance indicators and outcomes.
Moyer credited District 205 staff members with making many of the results happen.
"We do have a staff of professionals and there is a direct correlation to quality work," Moyer said.
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press
Aspiring artists at the Glencoe Public Library start on Feb. 23 with their attempt to replicate Vincent van Goghs "Starry Night." (Daniel I. Dorfman / Pioneer Press)
They came from varied professions, such as doctor, real estate brokers, and sales manager. Yet for one night, a group of 16 all had the same goal: aspiring artist.
On Feb. 23, a collage of village residents and non-residents, dressed in aprons, spent two hours at the Glencoe Public Library attempting to produce a replica of Vincent van Gogh's 1889 classic "Starry Night" painting.
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"What we are trying to do is get people to use their hands and get away from electronic (media) where you can actually do something and create something of your own," said Sunshine McCarthy, an art instructor with Pinot's Palette, a studio chain that coordinated the event.
The students in Glencoe were tasked with creating their own version of the impressionist's iconic work.
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"It is an easily recognizable painting," McCarthy said. "Most people know what it looks like and they know what to expect."
For the library, the art class served as an opportunity to showcase different types of programming.
"We are experimenting with encouraging creativity in the community," library spokeswoman Grace Hayek said. "We are trying to make the library to have more things for more people."
As varied musical selections - from Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" - played, the participants, forewarned that it could be a messy evening, gathered at their easels with acrylic paints in shades of blue, yellow, white, orange, teal and gold.
McCarthy guided participants on how to paint the background first with swirling clouds, then stars and rolling hills, with a tree coming last.
"A lot of people are afraid they are going to do badly, so it is confidence" (they need), McCarthy said. "Once they realize they can do it, they are more likely to have fun."
That was just the right atmosphere for James Noel of Highland Park, who remembered painting during his medical residency.
"It is a very complicated piece, but doing it this way step by step it makes it a little more pleasurable than looking at the canvas and trying to do it on your own," Noel said.
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The event was a way for students to have some fun, in particular for four friends who came together.
"I love that I can follow something and I don't have to make it up on my own," said Glencoe's Ashlee Thompson, one of the quartet. "I can't wait to do it again."
Noel was happy with his rendering, and with the experience.
"Now that painting is over, I forgot how therapeutic painting really is," he said. "It is like reading a book. It takes you out of your own world and you escape reality, and so for that moment, everything stands still. It is just the canvas and you, and whatever is in front of you."
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
The once peripheral status of international schools in China has had a growing reputation among wealthy families across the country.
With the hope of sending their children to the world's renowned universities and escaping from the stressful competition of the National Higher Education Entrance Exam, more parents are sending their children to international schools despite the colossal expenses. [File photo]
With the hope of sending their children to the world's renowned universities and escaping from the stressful competition of the National Higher Education Entrance Exam, more parents are sending their children to international schools despite the colossal expenses.
But will international schools truly lead the way to the world's prestigious educational institutes? The answer is definitely "no".
Despite a kaleidoscope of reasons for sending children to international schools, parents are beginning to realize that an international education is an irreversible course.
Admission to international schools is an opportunity available to rich families only. According to Zheng Yonghua, whose daughter is at an international school in Shanghai, the cost of the international school she attends is about 20 times the expense of a Chinese education. The tuition -- in addition to boarding, living, extracurricular learning and overseas travelling -- is at least 100,000 yuan (US$14,540) a year.
But money alone cannot have a final say.
As the size of applications to international schools has surged during the past few years, schools have tightened their admissions by denying candidates with no foreign identities or backgrounds. Moreover, parents are asked to be highly involved in community services and school curricula, and the children should also have a basic command of English that enables them to communicate in classes.
"It is ridiculous to have a child apply for international schooling without speaking English," Zheng Yonghua said, explaining that the lessons and programs in the schools are all in English.
Beijing Huijia Private School was among the first privately owned international schools in China. It began to open pedagogic lessons for those who expected to be accredited with foreign diplomas in 1997. From then on, international schools have flourished. There are also international classes in Chinese high schools.
Bao Xiaojuan, who used to teach in international schools, said, "The segregation among students in international schools is severe, as the children only befriend with those who speak the same language. So there are English groups, Chinese groups and French groups."
According to Bao, due to the lower levels of discipline compared to Chinese schools, many students in international schools indulge in hedonism.
A report on those who wish to study aboard while attending high schools, initiated by Fan Aiai from the Graduate School of Education, Peking University revealed that students applying for international study are usually those ranked between 26 and 50 percent with regards to grades. They are from wealthy families with annual incomes above 500,000 yuan (US$ 72,730.45).
But once they choose to be international students, they have decided a future in which they can no longer take part in the National Higher Education Entrance Exam and have to study abroad at young ages -- a track they have difficulty changing, the report disclosed.
District 225 officials have raised concerns about the possibility of sharing an expanded parking lot with the Glenview Ice Center, saying it would pose traffic and security concerns.
In September 2016, the Glenview Park District began conducting a feasibility study of expanding the Glenview Ice Center after community members approached park district officials and expressed interest in expanding the 44-year-old facility, park district spokeswoman Melissa Brand said in an email.
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At a recent Special Revenue Facilities Committee meeting, a consulting firm recommended expanding the ice center from one and a half sheets of ice to two and a half sheets of ice, Brand said.
A number of sites are being considered to either expand the ice center or build a new facility, and the firm will prepare a financial analysis and make a final recommendation once all the options are considered, Brand said. The final recommendations will be presented to the Glenview Park District Board of Commissioners in April, she said.
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But at the Feb. 13 District 225 Board of Education meeting, Supt. Michael Riggle told the school board that park district officials have asked the administration to consider sharing an expanded parking lot between the ice center and the Glenbrook High Schools Off-Campus building, which is used for special needs education and evening high school. Riggle said the school district, which currently allows ice center users to park in the off-campus building lot, has concerns about designated parking spaces for students and faculty, security and traffic if the parking lot is expanded.
"We are willing to look at shared use if (the park district) can guarantee safety, security and guarantee that no one will be invading our spaces that we can hold school the way we normally do without the disruption," Riggle told the board.
Board member Bruce Doughty said that Riggle's "principles are spot on" with regards to security and safety.
Brand said that no proposal has been made between the two districts regarding expanded parking.
In 2009, the school district denied a park district proposal for a potential "land swap" between the two facilities, according to a school district board report. In the land swap, the park district would have built another rink on the off-campus building parking lot, and the school district would have used the land near the ice rink parking lot to build an additional field at Glenbrook South High School, it said.
The school district denied the land swap because the cost was "very close" to the price of an artificial turf field "which would result in many more hours of use than another natural field," the report said.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @Akukulka11
I'm not going to bury the lede. Nowadays, the buried aren't safe anyway.
Here's what my cousin, Phil Goldfarb, emailed to my family last week: "I am certain that all of you heard about the vandalism at the Congregation Chesed Shel Emeth cemetery in St. Louis. There are three family members buried there.
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Rosa Levinson Froug (1864-1907). She was the wife of Abraham Froug, mother to Mike, Bill and Laura Froug. Great-grandmother to Brenda, Mary and Lisa. (Lisa was my mom's flower-girl; I was Mary's flower-girl.)
Rosa Froug Smulian (1869-1915) and her husband Jacob Eli Smulian (1870-1941). Parents of Ohren, grandparents of Ronnie (who was named after Rosa), and great-grandparents of Steven, Andrew, Sally and Betsy."
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Here, I insert a little family background. Most of my mother's family comes from what is now Oklahoma. Though she was born and raised in Tulsa, her father, Ohren Smulian, lived the Jewish version of the wild west, riding a horse to and from his one-room schoolhouse, playing hooky to go skunk hunting, and claiming Stroud, I.T., as his earliest address. The I.T. stands for Indian Territory. Remember, Oklahoma didn't gain statehood until 1907.
So why are my relatives buried in St. Louis? Phil, a professional genealogist, explains.
"For Rosa Levinson Froug, the answer is that there was no Jewish cemetery in Tulsa when she died. (Rose Hill did not open until 1913.) Furthermore, most Jewish cemeteries did not accept anyone who committed suicide. Rosa Froug, upon discovering that her husband Abraham was having an affair with her niece Molly, committed suicide."
Well there's a little bit of juicy family lore I didn't know about. Looking for a place to bury Rosa, the family settled on Chesed Shel Emeth. I'm guessing the St. Louis cemetery either had more lenient rules, or they had what was surely the first "don't ask, don't tell" burial policy.
After the burial, Abraham married Molly. The newlyweds left Stroud, either by choice or at the strong encouragement of an outraged mob, and moved to Little Rock, Ark. Manifest Destiny comes in many forms.
The cemetery saga continues. According to Phil, the other Rosa underwent surgery for cancer "at the Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and died there. Since her sister-in-law was already buried at Chesed Shel Emeth(she was) buried there as well."
That's two headstones accounted for. And the third? "When Jacob Eli Smulian died, he was buried in St. Louis next to his wife."
Incidentally, my great-grandfather Jacob Smulian served as the Mayor of Stroud, Okla., from 1912 to 1914. When President Taft traveled by railway to see the west, Mayor Smulian convinced Taft to get off at Stroud for a "meet and greet." Stroud newspapers claim this made him a very popular mayor.
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Three of my relatives lay in Chesed Shel Emeth, meant to rest in peace after eventful lives.
My take away? Dig through history. Discover the lives. Then recognize, with outrage, that the recent desecration adds a contemporary and shameful chapter to their stories.
Sally Higginson is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
The College of Lake County's Grayslake Campus is set to host the One Earth Film Festival. (Dan Moran / Lake County News-Sun)
The One Earth Film Festival, sponsored by the Green Communities Initiative, includes free film screenings in Grayslake and Waukegan.
Walk-ins are welcome, but the festival producers suggest participants obtain tickets ahead of time online, especially for the virtual-reality film "Valen's Reef." Donations are accepted. To obtain tickets, visit www.oneearthfilmfest.org/lake-county-films-2017.
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Saturday
1:30 p.m., "Hometown Habitat," Prairie Crossing School, 1531 Jones Point Road, Grayslake
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Filmmaker Catherine Zimmerman will attend the screening, which shows people from all over the country as well as in Grayslake creating native plant landscapes.
Sunday
5 p.m. "Years of Living Dangerously: Uprising"
Christ Episcopal Church, 410 Grand Ave., Waukegan.
Film stars America Ferrera and Sigourney Weaver take viewers to communities, including Waukegan, struggling to transition from fossil-fuel based energy sources to renewable energy sources. Waukegan residents featured in the film will be there for discussions.
March 10
"A Plastic Ocean" and "Valen's Reef"
5:30 p.m. for "Valen's Reef," 6:30 p.m. for "A Plastic Ocean,"
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College of Lake County, Building A Auditorium, 19351 W. Washington St., Grayslake.
Some images could be disturbing in this film about how plastics are harming the ocean, its inhabitants and humans. "Valen's Reef," a virtual reality film will be shown before and after "A Plastic Ocean." A limited number of participants can view "Valen's Reef," which requires wearing a headset.
March 11
"Shifting Sands" 2:30 p.m. with Spanish subtitles
Waukegan Public Library 28 N. County St., Waukegan
A region where rare plants grow next to smokestacks is revealed.
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"Before the Flood" 6:30 p.m. with Spanish subtitles
College of Lake County, 19351 W. Washington St., Building A, Auditorium, Grayslake
The National Geographic film features Leonardo DiCaprio traveling to five continents and the Arctic to witness climate change with scientists and political leaders. Some images could be disturbing.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
Catherine Zimmerman filmed homeowners throughout the nation, including residents in Grayslake creating native landscapes, for her movie Hometown Habitat, to be shown March 4 at Prairie Crossing in Grayslake. (One Earth Film Festival)
Participants in the One Earth Film Festival in Lake County can experience a virtual reality movie in which they feel as if they are underwater with some of the 600 types of colorful coral and 1,700 species of fish in Indonesia.
The virtual reality film, "Valen's Reef," can be experienced before and after the movie "A Plastic Ocean" is shown on March 10 at the College of Lake County in Grayslake.
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It's one of five films being shown Saturday-March 11 for the film festival. One will be at Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake, two at CLC, one at the Waukegan Public Library and another at a Waukegan church. Participants will have the opportunity to meet a filmmaker, talk about issues with speakers and get involved with local Lake County projects to help the environment.
The virtual film will likely be the highlight of the festival, which is sponsored by the Green Communities Initiative, said Sally Stovall, one of the group's founding members.
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"We've gone a step beyond this year to feature this experience. It should be quite spectacular," she said.
The initiative formed six years ago has been bringing environmentally related films to Chicago and the suburbs in February and March for the past six years, with the public invited to view the films for free.
"I'm finding Lake County is a very conservation-minded county. It's also very diverse," Stovall said. "We are working to find different ways to bring messages to the people and to communicate with them."
Participants in the One Earth Film Festival can view a virtual reality movie, Valens Reef of an Indonesian coral reef at the College of Lake County in Grayslake on March 10. (One Earth Film Festival)
Two of the films have Spanish subtitles, and two include stories involving Waukegan and Grayslake residents. Discussions and resource fairs will be held before and after most of the movies. Waukegan residents who appeared in one of the movies, "Years of Living Dangerously," scheduled Sunday, will answer questions before and after the movie, which shows the tension between those who believe their health issues are related to a coal plant and those who depend on the plant for their livelihood.
Green Community Connections, a grass-roots sustainability group, was formed to spread awareness of the environment "from climate change to why we should compost our organic waste, why we should conserve water and why we should drive fewer miles in our cars," said Cassandra West, one of the group's founders.
The members started the festival in Oak Park, expanded into the Austin neighborhood in Chicago the next year and then into the collar counties including Lake and DuPage, she said. Roughly 500 members of the public attended films the first year, and 5,000 attended last year, West said.
"Our primary goal is to help people to find some way to take action," Stovall said, and she believes it's working. Surveys show that 96 percent of respondents who have attended one or more films said they had either strengthened sustainable practices, adopted new sustainable practices or done both, she said.
One of the movies to be shown during the One Earth Film Festival in Lake County features native landscaping done at Prairie Crossing community in Grayslake. In this photo, a blazing star blooms in summer at Prairie Crossing. (Sheryl DeVore / Lake County News-Sun)
Participants said they were biking more, conserving water, composting and researching sustainability issues, she said.
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David Husemoller, sustainability coordinator at CLC, said that's what he appreciates most about the film festival.
Husemoller said at CLC's two screenings, March 10 and 11, participants can visit action tables to gain ideas on helping the environment.
"The energy you get from watching such powerful films can inspire you to take action," Husemoller added. "There will be opportunities to connect with community groups working to improve things here in Lake County."
Stovall said she's seen several of the films that are being shown in Lake County. "Hometown Habitat," to be screened at Prairie Crossing on Saturday, "is beautiful,' she said.
"'You see all these beautiful native plants, the bees and the butterflies and the life that surrounds these plants," Stovall added. Filmmaker Catherine Zimmerman is scheduled to be at the screening of the documentary, which shows how residents of Florida, Arizona and Prairie Crossing are working to create native landscapes.
Stovall said the film sends a message of bringing nature home and working together. "It's really hopeful," she said.
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"A Plastic Ocean," shown at CLC March 10, however "is not hopeful," she said. "But it is not hopeless."
She added that "it's a little hard to watch," saying it might not be appropriate for young children. The film shows how plastics entering the oceans end up in the fatty tissues of fish, which humans eat.
"It's the kind of film that gets you thinking, 'How can I reduce the amount of plastic I use?'" she said.
Before and after the showing, participants can experience the virtual reality movie. Participants will receive headsets they can wear so they can experience "actually being there," Stovall said.
Stovall added that "it's showing something people might not be likely be able to experience in person. There are studies that show how an experience like this can increase someone's empathy" toward issues such as environmental causes, which can lead to action.
In addition, a resource fair will follow the movie, and participants can create plastic sculptures.
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Being involved in the film festival as a volunteer is what she's been called to do, Stovall said.
"I'm doing this for my children and my grandchildren," she said. "It's my passion."
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
With fewer fires, the Waukegan Fire Department is trying to do more drills for their younger firefighters. (Frank Abderholden / News-Sun) (Chicago Tribune)
The Waukegan Fire Department has seen a turnover from highly experienced firefighters to younger ones in recent years, and at the same time, the department is responding to fewer actual fires even though its call volume continues to increase.
That's why Fire Chief George Bridges has emphasized training over the last 10 months, and recently, the department was given the go-ahead to use an old office building at 2634 Grand Ave. for drills. According to Bridges, a third of the department's personnel has less than 10 years of experience, and 17 percent of the firefighters have less than five years on the job.
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"When we have an opportunity to train, we are all over it," he said Wednesday outside the old office building, also known as the Orchard Lane Medical Building near Quonset Pizza.
The structure has been empty for a few years and is a concern for neighbors, because homeless people or drug users would sometimes break in or use a rear stairway and landing area, according to Fire Marshall Steven Lenzi.
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"The new owners of the property allowed us to use it for training before it is torn down," he said. "This is phenomenal for us."
"This is much appreciated," Bridges said.
The owners are Howard and Ronnie Stillman, who have purchased and rehabilitated used car dealerships in the city and another office building at McAree Court. Their plans are to tear the medical building down and offer the property for redevelopment, according to their Realtor Nick Nicketakis of CBS Realtors.
"Since my office is just down the street, I'd like to see a Culver's go in there," he said with a laugh.
Lenzi said the office building has been perfect for training because it isn't often firefighters can practice breaking through locked doors, "and there are a lot of those," he said. The department does have a door simulator at one of the firehouses, but it's not the same, he added.
"Any time you have an old building, it is so much better," Lenzi said. "By staying active in training, we are teaching the young guys without an actual fire."
The building also offered multiple connected rooms and waiting rooms that provide a sort of maze for the firefighters to practice going through when the building is charged with artificial smoke from a machine to the point you can't see someone standing next to you.
Firefighters still have to use a hose as a way to find their way back out, or when there are many rooms, they leave a firefighter in a doorway and he's called "orientated man," said Battalion Chief Brett Stickels, who in charge of training.
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"Rooms off of rooms can be very disorientating," Stickels said. "We can also use thermal imaging to keep track of the firefighters so they can always find their way out. (We've) really beefed up our training over the last 10 months."
The training also includes live radio traffic and sending one crew to find the fire in this case, a red cone over a flashlight, because the building is too close to other buildings for a live burn where they carry a charged waterline. Another two crews are sent in to search for victims, which are really 175-pound dummies, with one hidden on the first floor and another in the basement.
On Wednesday, there was also a self-escape drill where firefighters used their Halligan bars as a step to help them escape from a room through a high window when they get trapped by a fire and are cut off from their team, said Lenzi.
The fire marshal added that besides giving the younger firefighters training, this recent opportunity also gave mid-career firefighters who have been promoted and have taken over leading the crews a chance to practice with them in full gear with a fully charged line and zero visibility.
During the drill, training leaders also set off firefighters' alarms to signal a downed firefighter in various rooms so crews, despite the blaring of the alarm, had to be alert to hearing a firefighter's alarm and go to his or her rescue.
Lenzi said the department has gone from 150 fires a year to just fewer than 100, but its call volume has increased 10 percent. He added that even though crews are still busy, actual fire experience is harder to come by, making simulations more critical.
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"Over the last week, we've had 150 (firefighters) rotate through the building for various drills," Lenzi said. "We're tearing this building apart from the inside out."
Chief Bridges had the last word, saying that "training is very important to keeping us all safe."
fabderholden@tribpub.com
Twitter @abderholden
Despite a tornado watch and heavy rain, about a hundred people turned out Tuesday for a meeting over $2.4 million in proposed cuts for Lake County's largest elementary school district.
The Woodland School District 50 school board approved 17 line-item budget cuts, which add up to about $1.8 million annually and about $5.8 million over four years, but rejected six other proposed cuts.
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The rejected cuts would have meant fewer assistant principals, special education teachers, English language learner specialists, and reading and math specialists across Woodland School District 50's schools.
Limited staff means that students that need extra help are already not receiving services, said eighth-grade teacher Sharon Anday, whose fourth-grader is among those students.
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Anday was so upset by the proposed cuts her prepared remarks had to be read by another person at the meeting.
"People are spread so thin," she added after the statement.
The cuts were among $2.4 million in proposed reductions to be phased in over the next four years to address falling enrollment and disappearing state aid, district officials said.
"I think there was a false assumption by many that we're heartless community members and parents here, when the reality is we're stark proponents of this district, and our teachers and the education that we provide," board Vice President Tony DeMonte said after one of the 22 proposed motions didn't have a single supporter to bring it to the floor for a vote.
"There's just a reality component of the financials," he continued. "We have to be able to pay bills. I would love to give everything to everyone, and I think everyone here would, including the people that are running for board. You want to do that, but there's a reality component to our jobs that's incredibly unpopular."
Without the cuts, the district is set to fall below the board-mandated minimum fund balance which ties the minimum amount the district has in the bank to 25 percent of its annual expenditures in coming years, Robert Leonard, the district's associate superintendent and chief school business officer, has said.
The rejected cuts mean the district is about $2.2 million shy of the $8.1 million total over four years it originally said it needed to keep that from happening, according to a News-Sun analysis of the items approved and rejected Tuesday evening.
Teachers who spoke at Tuesday's meeting, as well as a community forum earlier last month, proposed looking at the district-level administrative office for cuts and consolidation of positions.
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While the teachers argued that past cuts had disproportionately affected building staff, board member Terry Hall said the district office went from about 50 people in 2008 to less than 40 now.
The approved cuts included eliminating six Elementary School teachers, four Intermediate School teachers and four seventh-grade teachers next school year, as well as four eighth-grade teachers in the 2018-19 school year.
The board also approved the elimination of one Spanish language teacher for 2018-19 and one physical education, one music and one family and consumer science teacher for 2019-20.
The votes for those items fell mostly on 4-3 lines with DeMonte, Hall, board President Chris Schrantz and Secretary Vince Juarez always voting yes and member Carla Little voting yes some of the time.
The conversation centered on whether the cuts would push classroom sizes above where the board thought they should be.
While the district said the sizes would stay within its stated goals, Little said she felt some of those ranges were too high.
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The class sizes should be taken into consideration with other support positions, DeMonte said, adding that he thought the district should take a look at how best to meet the needs of its growing low-income and English learner populations.
The district might end up realizing that it needs to provide "services we haven't even thought of," he said.
The board also OK'd the elimination of the secretary to the superintendent, a part-time assistant bus mechanic and a part-time assistant for the operations and facilities department starting next school year, as well as a grounds position starting 2018-19.
Just under $460,000 in reductions aimed at overtime, staff computers, curriculum software, copying costs and workers compensation were also approved, all but one unanimously.
emcoleman@tribpub.com
Twitter @mekcoleman
" these sorts of totalitarian regimes never feel secure."
That was Professor Victor Cha of Georgetown University, and an experienced government official, in a National Public Radio interview broadcast on Feb. 25. He was commenting on the grotesque murder of Kim Jong Nam, estranged half-brother of North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un.
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Kim Jong Nam was killed in a Malaysia airport. His murderer used the lethal nerve agent VX. This frightening amber-colored liquid is odorless and tasteless, and kills almost immediately through devastating muscle spasms. South Korean intelligence officials have stated that North Korean government agencies orchestrated the killing.
North Korea is an economic wreck. The world's last remaining truly totalitarian dictatorship held a Communist Party Congress May 6 to 9 in 2016. Tight control of the enormous show was self-evident. The last party congress was held in 1980, an occasion for regime founder Kim Il Sung to indicate succession of power to his son Kim Jong Il.
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Current dictator Kim Jong Un, son of Kim Jong Il, assumed power following the death of his father in 2011. He wore a business suit for the Communist Party Congress, a departure from the usual uniform. Kim publicly acknowledged economic challenges, long overdue but also a remarkable understatement.
The Communist Party Congress took place in a context of continuous friction, occasional violence and erratic aggression regarding South Korea. In 2013, North Korea announced a "state of war" with South Korea and threatened nuclear attack. Pyongyang abruptly abrogated the 1953 armistice agreement ending the Korean War and cut the military "hot line" communications link with the south.
During this period, Pyongyang temporarily prevented South Korean workers from entering the Kaesong industrial center, located six miles north of the demilitarized zone separating the two nations. In February 2016, South Korea shut down the center to protest Pyongyang provocations. The center had been an important source of hard currency.
Developments in recent years could have been the prelude to war, including two atomic bomb tests in 2016 and a relatively advanced long-range missile test in February 2017. Yet there is no concrete evidence that North Korea is mobilizing to invade South Korea. Moreover, Pyongyang's nuclear military capabilities are growing but remain rudimentary. Missile tests have included some limited success, but also failure.
Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
Kim publicly criticized those in the military "developing a taste for money" amid reports of corruption. As part of a major military shake-up, Kim assumed the rank of Marshal of the People's Army. He has been ruthless in executing those suspected of disloyalty, including close family members.
In March 2016, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2270, which significantly strengthens sanctions on North Korea. These include bans on importing coal and minerals, and restrictions on cargo ships and financial transactions. China and Russia generally support sanctions, though with specific exceptions.
President Barack Obama's moderate language and emphasis on international cooperation was consistent and welcome. In the current deteriorating situation, the U.S. rightly decided to deploy anti-ballistic missile systems in South Korea. Beijing and Pyongyang, predictably, angrily protested.
In the new U.S. administration, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster bring outstanding credentials. Both are general officers, in the Marine Corps and Army respectively. Both have been combat commanders. McMaster wrote the influential book "Dereliction of Duty," an impressive scholarly analysis of the Vietnam War. Their engagement probably makes another terrible Asia war less likely.
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Professor Cha describes weakness beneath bombast in Pyongyang. The challenge is applying pressure for positive change.
Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."
acyr@carthage.edu
After eight years of trying to sell his property, owner Robert Spiel Jr. hopes demolition will attract a buyer.
On Wednesday, the Building Review Board recommended approval of a demolition request for his house, which was designed by notable local architect Stanley D. Anderson.
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During the Building Review Board meeting, Spiel explained how his parents hired Anderson's firm in 1946 to build a house in the 200 block of Westleigh Road.
Anderson was raised in Lake Forest, graduated from Lake Forest College and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in France and worked for architect Howard Van Doren Shaw before starting his own firm, according to the website www.Stanleydanderson.com. Among his local designs are Lake Forest High School in 1935, Lake Forest Hospital in 1941 and Northern Trust then First National Bank in 1930.
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The house was completed in 1947 and Spiel, then age 4, moved in with his parents, Robert and Marie Swift Spiel. The house was then located on 20 acres of property. Sometime later, the eastern half was sold, leaving 10 acres.
When his parents died, Robert Spiel Jr. moved in with his wife, Gail. About eight years ago, after their children had left for college, the Spiels decided to sell the property. Their aim was to sell the property to a developer who would build a small subdivision on the 10 acres but retain the house. That, however, didn't happen.
"A big impediment to any buyer was the house," said Chuck Byrum, an attorney hired by the Spiels. "That didn't fit in."
Spiel Jr. hired Susan Benjamin, an architectural historian, to research the house. During the Building Review Board meeting, she described a 1951 addition by Anderson, which was followed in 1989 by another addition by a different architectural firm, which almost doubled the size of the house to more than 6,000 square feet. More importantly, she said, the second addition consumed the Anderson exterior and left only a portion of Anderson's work in the house's interior.
"From the exterior, there is nothing reflecting the integrity or design sensibility (of Stanley Anderson)," Benjamin said. "The house no longer has significant integrity to make it historically or architecturally significant."
Board member Robert Reda agreed.
"I didn't recognize anything from Stanley Anderson there," he said.
Cathy Czerniak, community development director for the city of Lake Forest, recommended approval of the demolition request, adding that "I have never seen a property owner work harder to save a house."
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The Building Review Board voted unanimously to recommend demolition of the property. While the Lake Forest City Council will make a final decision, the council relies heavily on the recommendation of the Building Review Board. A date for the city council consideration has not been set.
Paul Bergmann, who attended the hearing, said he was okay with the decision. Bergmann's father, Bill, was a draughtsman and later owner - of Anderson's firm, and helped design the original Spiel house in 1946, as well as the 1951 addition.
"What is left is all interior spaces," Bergmann said. "It's not often I will support tearing down a Stanley Anderson house."
Spiel Jr., who lives in the house, said he never expected to still be trying to sell the property after eight years.
"At first, we thought that when you sell a house in Lake Forest, it takes a few months," Spiel Jr. said.
mlawton@pioneerlocal.com
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A villager fires his gun to welcome visitors as part of a show held in the village.
Kuang Huimin, from Hengshan, Hunan province, is a documentary photographer who focuses on topics such as environmental protection and social change.
Since 1989, the 52-year-old has been visiting a village in Southwest China's Guizhou province, where he has taken more than 80,000 photo for his book Changes in Biasha.
The 2,500-plus inhabitants of Biasha, 7.5 kilometers from Congjiang, the county seat, are of the Miao ethnic group and are known as China's last gun tribe.
For hundreds of years, they have held on to their unique traditions - using guns in ceremonies and to practice their marksmanship.
"Bia" means a "place with lush trees and grass" in the Miao language.
During the past 27 years, Kuang has traveled back and forth to Biasha more than 40 times, staying there for between seven and 15 days.
Before 2005, he stayed in villagers' homes, but now uses guesthouses. "The villagers were all very nice to me, but I didn't want to bother them all the time," he said.
With the development of tourism, more guesthouses were built. "It is much more convenient for travelers and photographers like me," he added.
Biasha has been transformed from a quiet, tranquil village into a well-known tourist spot, and the rapid rate of change has been the subject of many of Kuang's photos.
He believes that Biasha is in the grip of a generation gap: "The elders still preserve the traditional lifestyles. I've asked some older men how they feel about the changes in Biasha, and they told me they had nothing to do with them."
The younger generation, meanwhile, has been influenced by modernization. Since 2004, an increasing number of young people have moved away to become migrant workers in large cities. "Sometimes I have seen them getting together and chatting animatedly about their experiences and stories," Kuang said.
When he had dinner with his family during Spring Festival in 2009, Wu Jie, a young man from Biasha, told his brothers that the biggest benefit of migrating was learning to compose music and sing at a music training institute. Kuang captured the scene.
He has also noticed that married villagers would rather live by working the land at home, especially if they have more than two children to care for. In 1998, Gun Lashui went to work in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. He came home to get married in 2002 and has never set foot outside Biasha since.
It was once a tradition in Biasha that when girls married outsiders they were not allowed to return home. But now things are different. Kuang noticed that a girl who married a man in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, came back to see her family: "She returned with a refrigerator and a color television. The economic condition of her family was totally changed."
The Lusheng Festival - the most important celebration among people of the Miao ethnic group - is celebrated on the 19th day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar. The villagers dress up for the day, worshipping their ancestors in traditional ways, and the men play the lusheng, a type of reed pipe, and tell stories and the history of Biasha.
"Now, villagers play the lusheng for visitors every day, and some of the women have even joined the performance team," Kuang said.
He planned to conclude his project in 2014, but he found it difficult: "Biasha is changing all the time. Every time I went there, I saw new things."
Last year, the villagers began to build a reservoir in Zaizhang.
"Just within a few months, the wooden bridges and trees that I had photographed were gone. The changes have occurred too quickly, really," he said.
Kuang considers Biasha to be a microcosm of Chinese villages. "It is more than just a small village. It reflects a picture of the whole society. My photography project about Biasha may never end."
A new word takes on an odd life of its own in "Frindle," presented by Griffin Theatre at Metropolis March 6-17. (Griffin Theatre)
Words have power. That's what Nicholas Allen learns when the youngster decides to start calling a pen by a different name in "Frindle." Griffin Theatre is bringing its adaptation of Andrew Clements award-winning novel to Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 Campbell St., Arlington Heights, March 6-17. The only weekend performance is 11 a.m. March 11.
The play tells how the use of the word frindle for pen spreads to the dismay of the young man's language arts teacher Mrs. Granger. It escalates from being used in Nicholas' school to his town and then, amazingly, around the world in this creative work. The show is recommended for children in grades 3-6 who may start inventing words once they see it!
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"Frindle" is part of Metropolis' Stories in Action! Series which consists of educational productions designed to promote imagination and bring families together through the creative arts.
Tickets are $14 for adults; $12 for ages 12 and under.
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For details, call (847) 577-2121 or go to metropolisarts.com.
Cosplay for a day
Make your own mini dragon eggs, enter a Cosplay Contest, watch Rick Aspin impersonate Captain Jack Sparrow or visit ten local comic artists at Artist Alley. These are only a few things families can do at Comic Con Barrington, 1-5 p.m. March 5 at Barrington Area Library, 505 N. Northwest Highway. Registration is required.
For details, call (847) 382-1300 or go to www.barringtonarealibrary.org.
St. Paddy's Day isn't far away
Start celebrating by bringing the kids to Ela Area Public Library, 275 Mohawk Trail, Lake Zurich, 3-4 p.m. March 4 to hear the Ragged Rascals Irish Band. They will perform rousing versions of Irish street ballads. Registration is required.
For details, call (847) 438-3433 or go to eapl.org.
More Irish lore
A shamrock scavenger hunt will be a highlight of Schaumburg Park District's Shamrock Scramble, for children ages 1-6, at Bock Neighborhood Center, 1-2 p.m. March 12. There will also be craft projects and a treat. The cost is $5 per child for residents; $7 for nonresidents. Register by March 10.
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For details, call (847) 985-2141 or go to parkfun.com.
Sunny outlook
You and your children will view our nearest star through a filtered telescope during Sun Gazing, 1 p.m. March 5 at Crabtree Nature Center, 3 Stover Road, Barrington Hills. You will also learn about the sun at this free event.
For details, call (847) 381-6592 or go to fpdcc.com
Lake County health officials confirmed Thursday another case of mumps at Barrington High School, bringing the total to two confirmed cases within the past week.
Officials with the Lake County Health Department are becoming more concerned about the situation since eight other probable cases are suspected at the high school, based on diagnosis by individual doctors, said Lisa Dallmeyer, a communicable disease specialist for the Lake County Health Department.
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"There is something going on at Barrington High School," she said.
Brian Harris, superintendent at Barrington School District 220, said in a district message Thursday "several suspected cases of mumps" have been reported at Prairie and Station Middle Schools.
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District officials initially notified parents, students and staff of the first confirmed case of mumps in a districtwide message Feb. 28, describing how a student contracted the viral disease known to cause fever and swelling.
An adult at Barrington High School has the second confirmed case of mumps, Dallmeyer said. She categorized the two case confirmations at Barrington High School as a "cluster," which is less severe than an outbreak, she said.
A cluster, Dallmeyer said, is defined as a group of cases that health workers only can link together by place and time
"But we can't link them by people, meaning one person linked to another," she said.
An outbreak happens when three cases have been confirmed within 50 days, said Epidemiologist Victor Plotkin with the Lake County Health Department.
"In this case, there's been two cases within one week," he said.
During outbreak situations, adults, who may have had contact with an infected person, only are recommended to receive a second vaccine, Dallmeyer said.
Teenagers already are required to have two vaccines for mumps, measles and rubella when they enter school as young children, she said.
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If children have never been vaccinated for mumps, measles and rubella, they still can be immunized for the three viruses at any time, Dallmeyer said.
District 220 spokeswoman Morgan Delack said district officials are working to send out more information about the two confirmed cases of mumps at Barrington High School after being notified of the additional case Thursday.
"We're telling people who are experiencing symptoms to go see a doctor and don't come to school," Delack said.
The Lake County Health Department has said the "hallmark" symptoms of mumps are swelling or pain close to the jaw, or on both face sides of the face.
A person also may experience headaches, low-grade fever, earaches, sore throat or cough, according to the department.
The disease is commonly spread through sneezing, coughing, sharing of cups or other items that have come in contact with saliva, the department said. Those suspected by a doctor of having mumps should stay home for five days after the onset of swelling.
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For information, call the Lake County Health Department at 847-377-8130.
tshields@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter @tshields19
As the legal battle intensifies over proposed housing for the homeless near Lake Zurich, a Lake County Circuit Court judge recently denied a request from opponents of the proposal that would have prevented the project from going forward.
In rejecting the group's motion, Judge Thomas M. Schippers reaffirmed his earlier decision this past November allowing the homeless housing project to proceed.
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In 2015, the Lake County Housing Authority first attempted to hand over its former assisted living facility, called Midlothian Manor, to PADS of Lake County, which wanted to manage the site as housing for chronically homeless individuals.
A group of residents, called Residents for an Engaged Community, living in residential neighborhoods near the facility since have tried to fight the proposal in court, saying the project poses safety concerns to nearby residents and also could diminish their property values.
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On Wednesday, Schippers said he did not believe the homeless who would stay at facility would cause a hardship to nearby residents, said Dan Shapiro, an attorney representing the homeowners.
"The judge also felt we did not have a likelihood of success on the merits of appeal," Shapiro said.
Members with Residents for an Engaged Community said they stand a greater chance of winning with the Illinois Appellate Court, where the group has filed an appeal.
"We are not surprised with Judge Schippers' ruling. It would have gone against his own decision in November," said Larry Schaedel, a member of Residents for an Engaged Community who lives near the proposed project. "We believe this (appellate court) will be an independent venue."
David Northern Sr., executive director and CEO of the Lake County Housing Authority, lauded Schippers for upholding his previous ruling on the issue.
"The judge made the right decision based on merits of the case," he said.
If allowed to go forward, the project would turn the former Midlothian Manor into a 14-unit building serving chronically homeless individuals, some of whom with mental illnesses, housing authority officials have said. PADS staff would be on site to provide various services to the homeless, they said.
The Lake County Zoning Board of Appeals initially approved the project before reversing course in May 2015 after Residents for an Engaged Community tried to appeal the board's decision.
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The group of citizens argued at the time the proposed use for the building, located near single-family homes, should be classified as a "group living" site, which would have prohibited PADS from using it to house the homeless under the zoning code.
The housing plan ultimately landed in court after housing authority board members voted in July 2015 to file a legal review of the Lake County Zoning Board of Appeals' decision in May 2015 not to issue the permit.
Following Schippers' ruling in November 2016, the housing authority secured an occupancy permit for the former Midlothian Manor but can't open the facility since court proceedings are ongoing, Northern has said.
Residents for an Engaged Community, meanwhile, have taken the issue directly to the public, organizing a community meeting in February to share concerns about the proposal. The meeting drew more than 150 residents, many of whom said the well-intended project should be located elsewhere.
Since the meeting Feb. 20, board members with Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 also have intervened, issuing a statement that urged the housing authority, PADS and the Lake County Board to address residents' questions so "a successful transition can occur."
District 95 released the statement after members with Residents for an Engaged Community addressed district board members during a meeting Feb. 23 about the group's safety concerns with the housing proposal, the group has said.
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But District 95 board members said they also have questions about the proposal. The proposed project is located a couple of miles from Lake Zurich High School and May Whitney Elementary School.
"We believe that in the long run, communities are stronger when they can integrate quality social services for their neediest members, and we believe these supports are essential," the District 95 board statement reads.
tshields@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter @tshields19
Three men who allegedly went shopping earlier this week with a handful of counterfeit $100 bills between them have been arrested by Naperville police.
Felony charges of forgery have been filed against Charles S. Boyd, 18, of the 1400 block of South Homan Avenue in Chicago; Terrel K. Griffin, 19, of the 1300 block of North Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb; and Jermaine J. Norris, 20, of the 400 block of South 21st Avenue in Maywood, according to records on file in DuPage County Circuit Court.
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Naperville police Cmdr. Lou Cammiso said the men were arrested Monday evening after they had been "alleged to have been passing numerous, fraudulent $100 bills at stores, (including) some along Route 59."
Court records showed Boyd and Norris allegedly used a phony $100 bill that night to obtain merchandise from Bed, Bath & Beyond, 704 S. Route 59, while Griffin used a fake $100 bill to make a purchase at Shoe Carnival, 304 S. Route 59.
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Employees of both stores summoned police after discovering the allegedly counterfeit money, Cammiso said. Boyd, Griffin and Norris were still in the area when police arrived on the scene, and allegedly were found to have several bogus bills in their possession, he said.
Cammiso did not say whether the men might be part of a larger, more sophisticated counterfeiting ring.
An examination of online court documents revealed Boyd, Griffin and Norris have no prior criminal records. All three are free on bond and scheduled to appear March 27 in court.
Attempts to reach Griffin and Norris by telephone Thursday for comment were unsuccessful.
Boyd, when reached Thursday by phone, said only, "Don't put me in no paper."
wbird@tribpub.com
The Naperville Country Club has been ordered to refund nearly $700,000 to former members under a ruling made in DuPage County Court. (Naperville Country Club)
The Naperville Country Club Board of Directors acted improperly when it amended the club's bylaws concerning initiation fees, and must return nearly $700,000 to 27 former club members, a DuPage County judge has ruled.
Attorneys for the board of directors have asked Circuit Judge Dorothy French Mallen to reconsider her Feb. 8 ruling in favor of the ex-club members. That request is to be heard March 24, according to court documents.
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The 27 onetime club members in December 2015 filed suit against the board, demanding it enforce a longstanding provision in the club's bylaws. The provision mandated repayment of a portion of the initiation fee upon any member's death or resignation from the club.
Board members in early March 2015 had amended the bylaws, eliminating former club members' rights to receive any money back from initiation fees. That, in turn, eliminated the club's obligation to refund any money, court documents said.
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A year's worth of legal maneuvering and testimony ensued, with French Mallen ultimately siding with the former club members.
"Both by amending its bylaws and by communicating that decision to each plaintiff, the club did engage in anticipatory repudiation of its obligations to each plaintiff," French Mallen wrote in the two-page order, adding "each of these acts constitutes a breach of contract" under state law.
Court records showed the 27 former club members are owed a total of $683,290. It could not be learned, and court files did not indicate, whether any penalties were imposed or punitive damages assessed.
John J. D'Attomo, of the Nisen & Elliott law firm of Chicago, represented some of the former club members in the lawsuit. D'Attomo declined to discuss the case at length, saying only "we now look forward to working with (the Naperville Country Club) to promptly bring all claims in the litigation to an amicable resolution."
Club Manager Tim Anderson would not discuss the ruling Thursday, saying "I can't comment on it at this time."
Attempts to reach other attorneys and former club members involved in the lawsuit were unsuccessful.
Naperville Country Club occupies unincorporated land north of Chicago Avenue near Naperville's far east side. The land originally was a cattle and goat ranch owned and operated by the Sleight family, who in 1921 sold it to the club's developers, according to information posted on the club's website.
wbird@tribpub.com
Three 18-year-old men whose argument over an iPhone triggered a high-speed chase have been arrested on myriad charges, Naperville police said.
Vincent R. Fus, of the 5200 block of South Oak Park Avenue in Chicago, has been charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property in the incident, according to DuPage County Circuit Court records. He also received traffic tickets for reckless driving and disobeying a traffic control device, records showed.
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Kyle A. Miller, of the 5800 block of South New England Avenue in Chicago, was a passenger in Fus' car, police said. He received municipal citations for vandalism and unlawful possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor, records indicated.
The third man, Rordan C. Stanton, lives in the 1400 block of Patterson Avenue in North Aurora. Records showed he was ticketed for reckless driving and disobeying a traffic control device.
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All three were arrested early Sunday morning following the incident that began at an undisclosed location in downtown Naperville and ended more than four miles away, at 87th Street and Naper Boulevard.
Police Cmdr. Lou Cammiso said Fus was at the wheel of a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, with Miller in the passenger seat. The men allegedly "confronted (the) occupants of a black Hyundai Sonata driven by Stanton, and accused them of stealing one of their iPhones," Cammiso wrote Thursday in an email.
Miller "then allegedly broke the mirror on Stanton's car," Cammiso said. "Stanton, fearing for his safety drove away, but was followed by Fus."
"This turned out to be a high-speed chase through the (downtown) area, and ended in a police traffic stop" near 87th Street and Naper Boulevard, Cammiso said. Both Fus and Stanton allegedly "admitted excessive speed," and that they had run at least one red light, he said.
The property damage charge against Fus stemmed from his allegedly rear-ending Stanton's Sonata with the Malibu sometime during the chase.
An examination of online court documents indicated Fus, Miller and Stanton do not have criminal records. All three are free on bond, and their preliminary court dates are pending.
The men could not be reached for comment.
Cammiso added the disputed iPhone "was never located, and the 'find my Phone' app indicated it was still in the downtown area."
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wbird@tribpub.com
A state senator from Chicago Heights recently filed a bill that I think is long overdue. It would allow Illinois farmers to cultivate industrial hemp, but only as part of research projects approved by the state.
It's a start.
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At least a dozen other states have begun the process of legalizing hemp for commercial purposes. It is, however, produced as a crop in more than 30 other countries, many of which ship it to the United States to be processed into a variety of products.
People usually claim the reason hemp is not grown here is because you can't tell it from the marijuana plant that is grown for its psychoactive products. I doubt that's true because I can tell them apart. The variety grown to be smoked is short, stubby and highly branched. The variety grown to make rope, clothing and other products is tall, slender and has relatively few branches.
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The fact that two dissimilar varieties are part of the same species of plant is not that unusual. Bell peppers, jalapenos and most of the peppers we eat are all varieties of the same species.
I've been told the real reason farmers aren't allowed to grow hemp is because the owners of large tracts of trees for newsprint didn't like the competition from the easier to process hemp. Similarly, chemical manufacturers who made products using petroleum were worried that hemp would cut into their profits. So, in the late 1930s they talked the Congress into banning all varieties of the plant.
I have no way to verify that, of course, and it may not be true. But it sounds exactly like something the Congress would do, doesn't it? In fact, it's the same kind of thing they're still doing today. The rich special interests get the laws they want, regardless of whether they're good or bad for the rest of us.
And hemp would be extremely good for Illinois. Those of us who live in the Chicago area tend to forget Illinois is primarily an agricultural state with seemingly endless fields of corn, soybeans, pumpkins, wheat and sorghum. That's why you and I, and all residents of farm states have to speak out against things like the border adjustment tax.
I didn't think much about hemp until a Connecticut company hired me to deal with a problem in their factory. They made tea bags, hospital gowns, cigarette papers and similar products. Unfortunately, they had to import all their hemp from overseas, which greatly raised their costs and forced them to deal with irregular quality.
I was astonished how easy it was to digest and bleach hemp and how much it cut down on the number of toxic chemicals required. Hemp paper products last longer and can be recycled more often.
Hemp plants produce four times more paper per acre than trees and mature in 120 days as opposed to 20 years. Hemp is three times more productive than cotton, and supposedly yields fibers that are softer, stronger and more durable. Hemp requires only modest amounts of water, and no herbicides or pesticides. I've been told that half the world's herbicides and pesticides are used to grow cotton.
While you can't smoke hemp, you can eat it. The seed, which accounts for half the weight of a mature plant, is more nutritious and can be made into more kinds of foods than soybeans. Hemp oil can be used for lubricants, fuels and a wide variety of things we now make from petroleum.
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If there ever were a good reason to ban the growing of hemp, which I doubt, it no longer exists. The plant could greatly benefit Illinois farmers and spawn the development of local companies to produce hemp products. I just hope our very frustrating Legislature can finally get their minds around the idea of raising something besides taxes.
bill.mego@sbcglobal.net
An absorbent boom or "skimmer" helps filter the water in a retention pond outside the Edward Hospital Cancer Center in Naperville. Diesel fuel that was discovered Wednesday morning on the surface of the pond has migrated into the nearby DuPage River, officials said. (Bill Bird / Naperville Sun)
The oil and diesel fuel that flowed into the DuPage River from an Edward Hospital retention pond was the result of Tuesday night's torrential rainstorms, not a fuel leak, a hospital official said Thursday.
Joseph J. Zaehler, the hospital's administrative director of building services, said he met with an investigator from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the source of the hazardous waste that filled the pond.
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Zaehler said the IEPA representative concurred with the findings of the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office, whose investigators determined the fuel had not come from the pond's triple catch basin or two emergency generators on the hospital grounds.
"Whatever (fuel) there was on the surface of our lots got flushed out" by the heavy rains and winds Tuesday night, Zaehler said. That caused an oily slick to form on the surface of the retention pond, and prompted the hazardous material response operation by the Naperville Fire Department, he said.
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A boom, or "skimmer," filters water flowing from a culvert and into a retention pond on the campus of Edward Hospital in Naperville. Authorities said an unknown amount of diesel fuel found Wednesday in the pond apparently made its way downstream and into the DuPage River near downtown Naperville. (Bill Bird / Naperville Sun)
The pond in question is adjacent to the Edward Cancer Center and the hospital's emergency helipad, a short distance upstream from the river. Firefighters on Wednesday installed six white, absorbent booms or "skimmers" at strategic points near the hospital's north parking deck and on the pond, where stormwater flows into and out of the area.
Zaehler discovered the trouble Wednesday morning while on his daily patrol of the campus grounds. He immediately called the fire department.
Two double-walled, subterranean storage tanks supply diesel fuel to two generators in a nearby building. The generators switch on in the event of a hospital-wide electrical power outage or similar emergency.
The building that houses the generators is equipped with "catch basins" designed to prevent maintenance fluids and other foreign liquids from escaping and getting into storm sewers, Zaehler said. The basins are monitored by underground sensors, he said.
Zaehler on Wednesday had filled two plastic vials with two liquids he discovered inside the generator building, one black and one tan in color. The unidentified liquids were to have been tested by a private laboratory for their content and potential toxicity.
"We do take these matters seriously," Zaehler said of hospital officials. "But we did our due diligence, and the (fuel) did not come from our generators or buildings, so this is a closed matter."
Spokesmen for the IEPA and the state fire marshal's office on Thursday did not return messages for comment on the matter.
It is not known how much fuel or oil ended up in the river, or what effect, if any, it might have on the local ecosystem.
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wbird@tribpub.com
Lesley Livingston, author of the teen novel "Valiant," is one of four authors visiting the Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park on March 10. (Magic Tree Bookstore)
Four top authors of novels for teens will visit Magic Tree Bookstore, 141 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, at 5 p.m. March 10, as part of the Penguin Teen on Tour. They are Renee Ahdieh ("The Wrath & the Dawn" and "The Rose & the Dagger"), Natalie C. Anderson ("City of Saints & Thieves"), Alwyn Hamilton ("Rebel of the Sands" and "Traitor to the Throne") and Lesley Livingston ("The Valiant").
"These authors are hot right now, and their books are big, lush, vivid stories," said Beth Albrecht, owner of Magic Tree. She added that the authors are all "young, smart, strong women who are redefining heroines to be strong, tough and save themselves, but still feminine. It's part of the trend I love which reaffirms that girls can be strong and smart and like a girl, rather than having to act like a boy."
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The event will include a panel discussion with the authors led by local author Betsy Bird.
Admission price is purchase of one book.
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For details, call (708) 848-0770 or go to magictreebooks.com.
They'll grow to love nature
Songs and play experiences will help kids, ages 15 months-3 years, get acquainted with nature at a Seedlings Play Group at Brookfield Zoo, 1st Avenue and 31st Street, Brookfield. You and your child will meet a different animal each week. Sessions are 9 a.m.-10 a.m. Tuesdays, March 7-28 or Saturdays, March 11-April 1. The cost is $64 per session.
For details, call (708) 688-8342 or go to czs.org/playprograms.
Learn worth of Earth
Learn about climate change and sustainability during One Earth Film Festival: Youth and Family Programs, March 4 at Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St. There will be films and activities for ages 3-8, 9:30-10:15 a.m. Children ages 9-13 will see films and engage in discussions, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Afterwards, teen Elise Pope will share stories of outback camping in Canada.
For details, call (708) 383-8200 or go to oppl.org.
Happy BirdDay party
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George, the double yellow-head Amazon parrot who calls the Oak Park Conservatory home, will be the guest of honor at KidsFest, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. March 5 at 615 Garfield St., Oak Park. The free event will include educational activities for kids.
For details, call (708) 725-2400 or go to www.pdop.org.
March marchers
Bagpipers, marching bands, Irish dancers, Medinah Shriners, local police and fire departments and others will march along Madison Street in Downtown Forest Park during its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, 1-2:30 p.m. March 4.
For details, call (708) 366-2543 or go to forestparkchamberofcommerce.org
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 5, 2016. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
Mrs May is coming to Beijing - and there's going to be plenty to talk about.
The British prime minister is heading to China to talk over how to take the "golden era" in China-U.K. relations to "new heights." Top of the list is the thorny question of how to get world trade back on track. Both countries need it. Despite China's booming consumer economy, a slowdown in world trade is bad for growth. And for the U.K. which has run a trade deficit for over a decade, new exports are vitally needed to stop our surging dependence on booming consumer credit.
But Britain will have to confront the new reality that today's global economic governance is part of the problem - not part of the solution. Not only do we need the U.K. and China to partner in taking on the new surge of protectionism, we need a joint plan for global institutions that are better equipped to accelerate global growth. That means keeping up the pressure for reform of the IMF and the World Bank - but crucially it means a bold new U.K.-China plan to accelerate the development of the New Silk Road vision, set out by President Xi in 2013.
With a more protectionist America, the New Silk Road could prove a vital new space where free trade can flourish. Today, that trade is held back by a lack of infrastructure, skills, and treaties. Few powers are as well-equipped as Britain and China to drive progress and what should emerge from the China-U.K. summit is a bold, inspiring declaration to transform the oldest trade route in the world into the biggest trade route of 21st century.
The idea has some deep roots on which to draw in Europe. Years ago, President Sarkozy of France proposed a grand new design for a Union of the Mediterranean to boost the old markets of northern Europe, and the old Roman Empire. But in the years that followed, the idea was lost. Now, we need the vision more than ever - not least because of the shifting geo-politics of the Middle East.
As the oil price stays low, countries around the Gulf are struggling with huge new budget deficits. For many Arab nations, the expensive social contracts put in place after the Arab Spring, require an oil price of around $85 a barrel. Yet those prices are unlikely to return any time soon, and without economic change, youth unemployment across the Arab world may hit 30 percent triggering new, widespread instability. Policy-makers in Britain know that the best defense against a fanatical Middle East, is a flourishing Middle East - and this is something a New Silk Road should help deliver.
It would be a mistake, however, for the president and prime minister to stick to foreign policy. Because it is trouble at home that is fuelling the rise of populism, nationalism and protectionism across the Western world.
Spiraling inequality, record immigration and the new threat from extremism are combining to create a new politics of fear, ruthlessly exploited by insurgent political parties. Many workers have not seen a pay rise - in real terms - since the turn of the century. Half the jobs created in Europe since the financial crash have been part-time or temporary, condemning millions to earn a livelihood which is at best uncertain.
The world's failure to find a solution to the crisis in Syria and Western failures in Libya mean that a million people landed on the shores of Europe last year, in the greatest movement of people since the Second World War. Meanwhile, ISIS has become the world's deadliest terror group, launching attacks every 84 hours.
Unless the world joins forces to offer new answers, there is a real fear that in Europe, this year's elections in Holland, France and Germany will only strengthen the hand of those who want to turn back the clock and build ever stronger borders.
The new dialogue on "inclusive growth" launched at the G20 in Hangzhou is one opportunity for the world to think anew - not about ending the market but mending the marketplace, so the wealth we are creating together is more fairly shared. But new economics requires a new politics of security and a new plan for the Middle East.
From the ashes of the last great global crisis in the 1930s, progressive thinkers in America, the U.K. and Europe invented a new kind of state designed to equip millions of our citizens with a security the marketplace could never offer. But it was cursed by our failure to stop the drift to war. Today, once again, we need to think anew about the state to offer security and opportunity in new times. And with it must come a new vision for peace in our time.
Liam Byrne is the Member of Parliament for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Inclusive Growth, a member of the International Trade Committee and a proud supporter of the National Association of the Children of Alcoholics.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Five candidates seeking to replace Oak Park Village Clerk Teresa Powell greeted voters during a League of Women Voters event held March 1 at the Oak Park Public Library.
Powell, who previously announced she would not seek another term, will be succeeded by one of five candidates Loreen "Lori" Malinski, Elia Gallegos, James Robinson-Parran, Victoria "Vicki" Scaman or Mas Takiguchi.
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Scaman, who is the current chair of the village's Liquor Control Review Board, also has experience working for Oak Park Township, and wants to use the clerk's position to bring transparency and diversity to village government.
"I believe highly in efficiency, and I want to bring that efficiency to the clerk's office," Scaman said. "I'll be using [my experience] in the clerk's office to make sure our commissions have diversity. What I bring are strategic planning skills to bring the community together with shared decisions."
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Gallegos, a nine-year village resident, worked for 12 years in the banking industry and currently works for the Village of Oak Park as a grants coordinator.
"I want to make more information accessible through the village website and use social media to let the residents know there are all these meetings they can attend," Gallegos said. "I have a passion to serve as a public servant. Listening and taking action is key to a positive community. I don't have a voting right as village clerk, but I can gather information from organizations and residents to build relationships, and bring that back to staff members and trustees."
Robinson-Parran, a 30-year resident of the village, said he wants to improve the engagement between the residents and their local government.
"We are all in this community because we thought diversity and inclusion were better than fear and division," Robinson-Parran said. "You cannot have a good community if you're not engaged. If elected, I'm only going to promise two things: transparency and access to it. When it comes down to it, you'll have an ear in the room and a voice in the system. A lot of the day-to-day work of the clerk involves a lot of accurate record keeping, so that when this stuff is brought up at meetings, [the village board] is able to make good decisions."
Malinski, a 20-year village resident, recently served as the director of development for Oak-Leyden Developmental Services, and has experience working with the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation.
"I like to connect people and connect them to resources they would need," Malinski said. "I have very close ties with the business community, and I have a vast knowledge of the social service agencies in Oak Park. I can bring them together and be a connector. I'd definitely establish a clear form of communication from staff to trustees and all elected officials."
Takiguchi, a 35-year Oak Park resident, said he has been involved in a variety of not-for-profit and community activities, and has experience working with the OPEDC.
"I like to solve problems," Takiguchi said. "How can we get more people to vote and registered to vote? How can we make the office of village clerk more responsive and integral to the lives of the people? I think that's an interesting puzzle. Social media is great and a strong tool in the toolbox, but not all of us check emails. Sometimes [residents] crave interaction with a person and the clerk. It's a time-consuming effort, but to achieve the high-quality information that would be helpful to the village board, [we have] to maintain and use that individual contact."
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The Consolidated General Election will take place April 4, with early voting beginning March 20.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
With spring right around the corner, the timing seemed to be perfect when I heard from the folks at U.S. Waterproofing, a basement waterproofing service company.
"We get the most calls in the spring, when people sell their home or from people who just bought one," said Matt Stock, president of U.S. Waterproofing. "It's those calls from buyers who have a surprise, undisclosed and expensive basement leak that break our hearts. We know they weren't prepared for that kind of expense upon moving into their new home."
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A third-generation family member in the basement waterproofing business, Stock said he began assisting his family in all-things-basements when he was 12.
In 2012, Stock launched the U.S. Waterproofing Learning Center, to educate homeowners, real estate agents, home inspectors and others concerned with home improvement, waterproofing, and repair. Below, he dishes out some good, sound advice.
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1. What is the best way a person can waterproof their home?
For starters, we are all about education. We make a committed to educating homeowners (from first time homeowners to 30-plus-year homeowners) about waterproofing. That's why we created the Learning Center. You have a waterproofing question? We have the answer at www.uswaterproofing.com/learning-center.
What we tell them on the Learning Center and in person is that homeowners should take as many preventative measures as they can. Often times, basement leaks occur due to clogged/overflowing gutters, oversaturated soil packed in above the foundation line, when downspouts are not extended far enough away from the house, or due to open or clogged window wells. Every few months, take a quick tour of your house to make sure these things are taken care of.
Other regularly overlooked waterproofing issues include not maintaining sump pumps inside the house. Sump pumps have expiration dates. Most only last five-10 years.
Taking preventative waterproofing measures can help save homeowners a lot of money in the long run. If homeowners thoroughly investigate their house, taking all necessary precautions ... but are still experiencing leaking, then we suggest they call a reputable waterproofing company. A reputable company will provide a homeowner a free estimate.
2. What does your firm offer in services as far as waterproofing goes?
We offer a number of waterproofing services all over the Chicago area. Services such as basement waterproofing, seepage crack repairs, window well installation and repair, foundation repairs, crawl space encapsulation, and sump pump and backup sump pump installation.
We also provide polyurethane concrete raising and yard drainage systems, to name a few more.
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3. With spring right around the corner, what should people be doing to avoid basement flooding?
Well, spring started way earlier this year, didn't it? This was one of the wettest Januarys we have had in our 60 years of business.
More often than not, spring flooding usually occurs because window wells are not maintained or sump pumps aren't working properly. We recommend homeowners cover their window wells and also make sure their drain is free of debris to prevent clogging. We also recommend investigating the reliability of their existing sump pump. A typical sump pump lasts roughly five to 10 years.
Another reason for flooding is a backup in their sewer pipes. But that type of work requires a plumber. Homeowners may consider installing a flood-control or overhead sewer system but again, that's a job for a certified plumber.
Felicia Dechter is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
Kevin Corotis, 17, of Oak Park Boy Scout Troop 2, recently collected used bikes for Working Bikes, a nonprofit organizations that refurbishes old bicycles and gives them to new homes in underserved areas. The bike drive took place Feb. 18 at Beye Elementary School.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the bike drive?
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A: Basically, I held a drive in which people from my community would bring old, unused bikes. My volunteers prepared them to be shipped to Working Bikes, and they were trucked over in two trips. Once at Working Bikes, they are fixed and some are donated to people in Chicago who need them. Mountain bikes are sent to areas in Africa or South America and donated to people who need them in their daily lives. I was actually told the next shipment will go to Jordan, so maybe a couple of the bikes I collected will go to people in Jordan.
Q: Why did you choose this project?
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A: Before I had a driver's license, biking was the way I got to places. I thought some people don't even have bikes to get to the places they need to be. I also thought that pretty much everyone has old bikes in their garages that they used years ago, but stopped using them, and I figured I could make a difference in a lot of people's lives.
Q: How many bikes did you collect during the drive?
A: Eighty-eight bikes.
Q: Why did you want to work with Working Bikes?
A: I had heard how they sell used bicycles cheap to people in Chicago. When I came to visit, I was amazed by the sheer number of bicycles they have. I thought they would be a great medium to get the bikes I collected to the people who need them.
Q: How did you feel about the success of the drive?
A: I felt pretty good because this project has the potential to really influence peoples' lives. I also felt good because bikes are a great mode of transportation that don't harm the environment. The drive itself happened on a great day, and I had some lifelong friends help out, which made it really enjoyable.
Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.
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sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
A document filed with the city of Park Ridge concerning development plans for a new condominium and commercial building is making waves in the mayoral race.
An application attached to architectural drawings on file with the city for a 22-unit development at 400 W. Talcott Road list Bill Gold as the owner and includes the address and phone number of Troy Realty on Chicago's northwest side. But representatives of Troy Realty President Hubert Cioromski and Vice President Bill Gold deny their company has any association with the project.
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They say their company's address was filed with the city in error, which a representative from Neri Architects confirmed with the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate on Thursday. Architect Michi Mho said the mix-up occurred because there are two men named Bill Gold who are part of real estate and development projects in the area but only one who is associated with 400 W. Talcott.
"Our client's name is [also] Bill Gold," Mho said. "In our database, we had business dealings with Troy Realty and they have a Bill Gold there. The wrong contact information was transferred from our contact list."
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Mho said correct information for the development company, Vine Place LLC, has been included on building permit applications submitted to the city. Mho said Thursday that he "corrected the information on the application and forwarded the updated one to the proper city official in the hopes that they can replace it."
Jim Brown, director of community preservation and development for the city of Park Ridge, confirmed Thursday in an email that the city had received the corrected application.
The proposed development at 400 W. Talcott was most recently at the center of a lawsuit filed by several area residents who alleged the Park Ridge Appearance Commission had improperly approved the design. In January, a judge dismissed the suit, siding with the city's argument that the residents lacked legal standing to file the lawsuit, said City Attorney Julie Tappendorf.
Early on, residents also objected to the proposed four-story development, saying, in part, that it was too tall and dense for the area.
A message left with a phone number associated with Vine Place LLC and Bill Gold was not immediately returned.
The issue of 400 Talcott Road ownership entered the Park Ridge mayor's race due to candidate Lucas Fuksa's ties to Troy Realty President Hubert Cioromski. Cioromski, who is looking to redevelop the site of the former Park Ridge VFW property at 10 W. Higgins Road and will require city approval, is Fuksa's campaign chairman.
Cioromski said he is supporting Fuksa because the two are friends and he feels Fuksa is the best candidate for mayor. Both Fuksa and Cioromski have denied that their partnership in the campaign has anything to do with helping Cioromski's future development move forward.
"If we were supposed to be doing something covertly or out of the ordinary, I don't think I would be the one who would be his campaign chair, have my name all over his campaign or be working to get him elected," Cioromski said. "I just think he's the better candidate. I think he's a sharp, up-and-coming lawyer, and that's why I'm behind him."
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Cioromski said plans for the 10 W. Higgins property have not been determined as of yet. The City Council voted to annex the property from unincorporated Cook County last year.
jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
A Lowell woman who admitted she was drunk and fled the scene after she struck a woman who was changing a flat tire on the shoulder of the highway was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison.
Danielle N. Stovall, 32, wiped away tears as she apologized to Megan Nilson, who was seriously injured in the 2015 crash.
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"I'm not the same person I was a year ago," Stovall said, her eyes red from crying. "I am so sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone," she said as her voice quivered. "I found a new way of life going to AA and working the steps. Not a day goes by that I don't think of this accident. I'm so sorry for the pain I caused."
Stovall was charged with leaving the scene of accident with serious bodily injury.
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Nilson said she was 22 and had just accepted a job as a dental hygienist after earning her degree when she had a flat tire on Aug. 13, 2015, on Interstate 65 in a construction area. Nilson said her car was at least 8 feet from the driving lanes when she was struck. A witness followed Stovall, who was driving a Dodge Intrepid, as it drove about 7 miles to the Indiana 2 exit and parked at the Super 8 Motel. Stovall's blood alcohol level was .12
Nilson suffered a broken leg, deep cuts on her buttocks, wrist and thigh, extreme pain and other injuries and said she underwent three surgeries and was out of work for nine months.
Defense attorney Steve Mullins presented testimony from Stovall's father, Thomas Stovall, an assistant public defender in Cook County, Ill., who said his daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 17. He detailed his daughter's problems since then that included post-partum depression and drug and alcohol abuse.
Danielle Stovall found a rehab center that could address both her mental health and substance abuse issues, her father said. "She's been doing fantastic since then," he said.
Mullins asked Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez to craft a sentence that would allow Stovall to continue to address her issues.
The plea agreement filed Jan. 4 outlined a maximum six-year sentence. The charge is punishable by three to 16 years, with an advisory sentence of nine years.
"The significance of what happened here is so significant that part of me says six years is not enough," Vasquez said. "You are the poster child of when a person fails to take advantage of the support they have and get their act together."
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Briana Robinson, of Gary, is a company member of Thodos Dance Chicago, which presents "Full Circle" on March 11 at Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of Cheryl Mann Productions) (Cheryl Mann Productions)
It is a bittersweet time for dancer and choreographer Briana Robinson, of Gary.
Her piece "Uncovering" is part of Thodos Dance Chicago's "Full Circle" March 11 at Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago, but the 25th anniversary show also marks the contemporary dance ensemble's final company performance.
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"We actually didn't find out until fairly recently the company was disbanding," said Robinson about Thodos Dance Chicago, which shifts to more project-based work in mid-March.
"It was quite a shock but it's exciting at the same time because it's a really huge opportunity to have my piece performed not only in Skokie at North Shore but also at the Auditorium Theatre. That's really huge as well. I'm really grateful. It's such a blessing."
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"Uncovering," which was performed Feb. 25 as part of Thodos Dance Chicago's "Timeless Motion" at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, was first presented in 2016 during the company's "New Dances" series at Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago.
"It's about strengths," said Robinson about "Uncovering," which is set to music by Portico Quartet. "It's a really personal piece about discovering not only my inner strength but the strength I believe is available from God as well.
"The piece is in three different parts. The first part is a reflection of a pseudo strength where you claim to be strong or are pretending to be OK and have this facade up. The second part is more about being vulnerable and allowing yourself to discover strengths through weakness.
"Then the last part is about discovering sincere strength and realizing it's available to you, within you and around you and you have to access it."
Robinson began dancing at her church when she was about 7 years old.
"It just became my passion. It was the way I was able to communicate, the way I was able to express myself," said Robinson, who attend third through fifth grade at Highland Christian School in Highland.
"I knew it was something I wanted to do forever and something that is a constant challenge. When I found out I could do it as a career, I was like, 'I'm going to go for it.' "
Robinson, who is in her third season as a Thodos Dance Chicago company member, began formal dance training at age 11 at Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts in Gary under the direction of Larry Brewer and Michal Davis. She competed as part of Emerson Dance Alliance, was a member of National Honor Society, was part of the student council and served as salutatorian for the class of 2009.
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"I just felt like I always was surrounded by a lot of people who were encouraging me," she said.
"So many people say there's not a lot of good coming out of Gary but I never really experienced that. I really was surrounded with so much encouragement from my family, my friends, my teachers at Emerson. That was always a positive experience for me."
Although Robinson's future is uncertain after "Full Circle," she said she would like to give back.
"I definitely want to keep dancing with different companies if I'm able to," said Robinson, who received her bachelor of fine arts degree from the Julliard School in New York City where she performed works by William Forsythe and Ohad Naharin.
"My ultimate goal would be to open a performing arts center in Gary because I feel like going to Emerson and having that opportunity there really helped to motivate me to pursue different goals, not even just associated with dance but just as an artist overall.
"I feel like that's something that the city needs a hub of creativity for young people to have that outlet to reach out to."
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Part of Auditorium Theatre's "Made in Chicago" Dance Series, "Full Circle" includes "Acid Reign," which Brian Enos created for Thodos Dance Chicago's silver anniversary season, and the Chicago premiere of Bella Lewitzky's "Nos Duraturi," which is supported partly by a National Endowment for the Arts award.
The program also features "Changing Strangers" by Thodos Dance Chicago founder and artistic director Melissa Thodos and her "The Wheel Trilogy," featuring "Reaching There" from 1986, "Getting There" from 2011 and "There," which makes its world premiere during "Full Circle."
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Thodos Dance Chicago
When: 7:30 p.m. March 11
Where: Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago
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Tickets: start at $29; discounts available for groups of 10-plus
Information: 312-341-2300, www.auditoriumtheatre.org or www.thodosdancechicago.org
Etc.: program is titled "Full Circle"
Longtime educator and public servant Jose Arredondo is being remembered as a man who loved his large extended family, the communities he served and inspiring young people to further their education.
Arredondo, of Merrillville, died Monday, just days before his 83rd birthday.
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"My dad was the sixth of 10 children. He loved getting together, having meals with my aunts and uncles, cousins and their kids We have a huge family," said his son, Joseph Arredondo, of Valparaiso.
Joseph Arredondo said his father, who taught at all levels from elementary school to college, was happy when inspiring young people to further their education.
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"He saw how many doors education opened for him," Joseph Arredondo said.
He said Arredondo entered politics thinking he could make some change for the better and missed politics when he decided to get out of it. But doing so also allowed him to return to what he loved -- education -- Joseph Arredondo said.
According to the obituary written by Joseph Arredondo's wife, Elizabeth, Jose Arredondo began his teaching career at St. Mary School in Griffith. He also taught at Emerson High School in Gary, was principal of Edison High School in Gary, served as assistant superintendent for the School City of East Chicago and was a professor in the Valparaiso University Department of Education.
He was the founder of H.O.P.E., a youth program that provided college scholarships, and initiated a mentoring program while teaching at Valparaiso University that encouraged college students to become pen pals to elementary students in East Chicago.
Arredondo's political career included serving as a state representative, Lake County auditor and Lake County sheriff.
He was he founder of the East Chicago Ballet Folkloric and co-founder of the Mariachi Acero, both of which are student programs.
Arredondo also served in the U.S. Army Honor Guard.
Roy Dominguez, a Merrillville attorney and a former Lake County sheriff, called Arredondo a mentor.
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Dominguez said he first met Arredondo when he was in elementary school in Gary in the 1960s and Arredondo was his teacher. Dominguez and his mother later distributed fliers for Mr. Arredondo when he was running for state representative.
"My family has always been supportive of Jose Arredondo," Dominguez said. "He loved our community, but first and foremost, he was a wonderful family man."
In addition to his son Joseph, Arredondo is survived by his wife of 55 years, Dolores Arredondo, daughter Felice (Tim Salber) of San Jose, Calif., daughter Monica Arredondo of Merrillville, sisters Juanita (Guadalupe, deceased) Sanchez and Camila (Rolando) Trevino, brothers Ramon (Patricia) and Lorenzo, sisters-in-law Eugenia Arredondo, Eva Arredondo, Esther Serna, Juanita Salaz and Rebecca Sanchez and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents Miguel and Maria Arredondo, and siblings Jesse, Socorro, Sylvester, Miguel and Mary.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Andrew the Apostle Church, 801 W. 73rd Ave., Merrillville, with the Rev. Brian Chadwick officiating. A short visitation will take place at the church at 9:30 a.m.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
In what he said was the first of what will be quarterly town hall meetings, Porter County Councilman Andy Bozak gave an overview of the role of the council and fielded questions from the audience.
Bozak, R-1st, a former member of the Burns Harbor Town Council, was selected by caucus in early January to take the council seat after Republican Jim Biggs, who previously held the post, was elected as a county commissioner representing the North District.
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"I kind of wanted to explain what we do as opposed to the commissioners," Bozak said Wednesday at the Westchester Public Library, adding commissioners are the legislative branch of county government. "We are the financial arm."
While council members can't pass ordinances, Bozak told his constituents they could still come to him with matters for the commissioners and he would get back to them.
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He provided some background on the county's foundation, funded with $132 million of the proceeds from the 2007 sale of the county hospital. Additional money from the sale is still rolling off of other investments before it's invested in the foundation, and $10 million was held back for capital projects, including the county's new animal shelter.
The foundation board, comprised of the seven members of the council and the three commissioners, will meet March 21 to begin discussion about how best to use the proceeds.
"There's a lot of people who want (funding) so there will be a lot of discussion about what to do with it," he said.
Chesterton Town Councilman Emerson Delaney, R-5th, had questions about how the new animal shelter would be funded once it's up and running. The shelter, on Indiana 49 between the sheriff's department and the Expo Center, is expected to open by June 1.
"I'm not sure about that. It was all done before I got on the council. I'll get back to you," Bozak said.
Democrat Bob Poparad, who lost his at-large seat on the County Council in the November election and previously held the District 1 seat, said the shelter will be funded with tax revenue and through a fee collected from municipalities, half of which goes to the shelter and half of which goes to the sheriff's department, which oversees animal control.
Emerson, who said not all of the county's municipalities had been paying the annual fee, said the way the fee is calculated, by call volume, "has always been a point of contention," and suggested a more equitable funding solution, like a tax increase that amounted to $3 a year.
"I think that might be the way to go and it would be a softer blow to the citizens of Porter County," Delaney said.
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Bozak also fielded a question about where he thought cuts could be made in the county budget during budget hearings in the fall, something Bozak said the council would look at and discuss.
"We provide a service to taxpayers," said County Recorder Jon Miller, "so I think you're going to find it's hard to cut things."
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.
Too bad Trump's high-sounding words have nothing whatsoever to do with his sewer-dwelling deeds.
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If Gary superintendent Cheryl Pruitt cannot do her overpaid job, then she should quit instead of hiring a $50,000 a year helper.
Indiana State Senator Brandt Hershman has learned quickly from KellyAnne Conway and Sean Spicer how to rebut what he said regarding "net metering," then blaming a liberal special interest group. Not to worry Brandt, once the EPA is gutted, your power company stock should triple!
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There was a mishap at the Oscars because the wrong envelope was given. Trump claimed that the fiasco was caused because they made fun of him. I guess everything really is about him.
The Gary School Corporation is laying off 11 more people after all the other people they laid off and the schools they've closed. They can't take care of anything, so the state is going to take over their financial situation ($110 million) by July for some possible loan forgiveness. But they're going to hire a consultant attorney Clorius Lay for a 20 hour per week position at $4,166 a month or $50,000 a year? You have to be kidding us or do you just think we're stupid. Mr. Lay all ready holds several different positions in several different places, and there's only so many hours in a day; He can't be everywhere. Again, follow the money. Everyone there is getting rich, and the students are the losers.
Wow, President Trump nailed it last night in his congressional speech. He actually just repeated what he promised in his campaign speeches, but he did it in a much more diplomatic style. He indeed does plan to make America great again.
Brian Cullinan, the Steve Bartman of the Oscars
Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
Trump was a big supporter of Brexit, I wonder if he would also support Calexit. I'd love to retire to the country of California and avoid his disasters in the making. Sad!
So a Republican state senator from Buck Creek, Sen. Brandt Hershman, lies through his buck teeth to influence votes on a bill that will give more money to the utility companies and less to Hoosiers. Then he blames the whole thing on a fictitious "liberal special interest group". But you just keep voting straight R. Nothing to see here, folks!
The Donald did it again taking credit for events and issues that he had little or nothing to do with. He or someone on his staff should fact check information before he takes credit for it. Many items and issues in his speech had nothing to do with him as they were already in place, completed or attributed to others.
Well, thank goodness that Bobby Cantrell got out of federal prison just in time to help Mike Repay change the face of the Democratic Party in Lake County. Folks, it's time to stop this insanity once and for all.
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From the response by the Democrats, we are in for four more years of nothing being done by the Congress. The four top people from each party should sit down in a locked room with a case of beer and wine and not be allowed out until they reach some binding agreements to do what the American people elected them to do.
Repeal of so-called "Obamacare" has become a personal issue for GOP congressmen. They just want to deny Obama any accomplishment, and could care less about what is good for their constituents. So, millions are going to pretty soon find themselves without insurance. But relax, this is all part of Making America Great Again!
Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly
On February 17, 2017, about two weeks ahead of China's annual Political Consultative Conference to be kicked off on March 3, 2017 and China's annual People's Congress to be kicked off on March 5, 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on China, for the first time, to GUIDE the global community in the effort to make the world order more just and more reasonable at the National Security Seminar.
I interpret this vow as the clarion call for Chi-globalization which I predicted in the book chapter "Chiglobalization? A Cultural Argument" included in the book China in the Era of Globalization edited by Sujian Guo & Baogang Guo published in 2009.
At many occasions in the past, Xi had called on China to merely PARTICIPATE in the creation of a new world order or LEAD in new economic globalization. Xi's call on China to take leadership in improving the world order is significantly above and beyond China's leadership in economic globalization.
It occurred at the historic moment when leaders of the existing unjust and unreasonable, thus consequentially bankrupt, world order such as the US and UK have begun to retreat from or resist against globalization.
Such a shift to taking the comprehensive leadership from a followership or partial leadership in global affairs not only symbolizes China's growing confidence in the Chinese approaches to improve global governance by creating global institutions such as AIIB, but also China's readiness to integrate domestic and global affairs into a new form of synergy or symbiosis.
What is more, it indicates a grateful China's kind-hearted willingness to accept the baton of human civilization to build upon the strengths of the existing globalization in return for the benefits China has reaped from its four decades' participation in the existing world order led by the US.
Some of the benefits China have entertained include China's current rank of No. 2 economy in the world, the rise of its three hundred million middle-class population, and about six hundred million people lifted out of poverty.
Informed by the Chinese experience of reform and opening up during the past forty years and even the revolutions during the 160 years since the Opium War, the current Chinese leadership is fully aware that a more open China means a more prosperous China which further implicates a more prosperous world.
On a deeper level, the contemporary Chinese development model, inherently pragmatic, is consequentially open-ended, diverse and cosmopolitan, defying any single ideological definition out of the modern Western dualistic thinking.
Inheriting from and further developing out of the experience of the traditional Chinese integration of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, contemporary China has hammered out a new ideological complex-a trinity or synergy of Confucianism, Marxism & Capitalism.
While Confucianism is credited for maintaining social harmony and reasonableness in public policy in China, Marxism is credited for justice and equality. Capitalism is obviously credited for bringing economic freedom and consequentially wealth both among people and the regions of Chinese society and between Chinese society and all parts of the world.
As I stated in "Chiglobalization? A Cultural Argument": "It is neither Chinese culture alone nor the American culture alone that has been propelling China into the status of a global superpower with increasing possibility to overtake the US in the next half of this century.
It is the creative fusion of the Chinese culture and the American (Western) culture, or, to use Joshua Ramo's words, Chinese culture's capability for localizing foreign cultures which has made China the top contender for the status of the next superpower in the 21st century."
China has been socially, politically, and economically successful so far not because of a single ideology excluding the other two, but because of the creative symbiosis of the three apparently contradictory yet mutually complementary ideologies.
Unlike China, Western countries such as the US and UK has executed wide and thus wild swings from one single ideology to another, i.e., from globalization to populism, from liberalism to conservatism, causing imbalance and instability both domestically and globally.
In contrast, the creative mix of the Chinese model provides balance and stability, justice and equality, inclusion and cosmopolitanism. This unique Chinese model of diversity, inclusivity and balance did not come out easily, though. It took a lot of blood and sweat on the part of Chinese people during the past 160 years since the Opium War. Ultimately, it is the yield of 5000 years' Chinese history of trial and error.
Such a model has been extended in China's effort to assist in the development of Africa during the past decade and has yielded some remarkable results. It is also being further extended to the One Belt and One Road project which China proposed and initiated more than three years ago, a global platform for new globalization. It is anticipated that the Belt & Road Summit for International Cooperation, to be hosted by China in Beijing, May 2017, will give a big push to this global initiative.
President Xi Jinping's call on China to guide the global community in the effort to make the world order more just and reasonable should not only be interpreted as a call for both China and the world to study and creatively apply this uniquely cosmopolitan Chinese model in their practice, but also should be understood as an invitation for the upcoming China's Political Consultative Conference and China's People's Congress to more deeply ponder this model and create related policy tools and public goods to make the world more just, more secure and more win-win. In this sense, these two upcoming congresses or the so-called "two sessions" will make history by prioritizing global governance issues for the first time in the history of P. R. China. Therefore, these two congresses deserve heightened global attention.
Jia Wenshan, Ph. D., Professor, School of Communication, Chapman University Research Fellow, the National Academy of Development & Strategy, Renmin University of China
Pueblo state Senate candidates dispute claims made in 'dark money' ads
Incumbent Nick Hinrichsen and GOP challenger Stephen Varela have denied claims made by outside groups spending big money on competitive races
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Flash
Mongolia reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China policy on Monday during the visit by the country's foreign minister, after bilateral relations were disrupted by the Dalai Lama's visit to the landlocked country in November.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil in Beijing on Feb. 20, 2017. [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn]
A long-standing, stable, mutually beneficial and equal relationship with China is Mongolia's primary foreign policy goal, Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil said in Beijing.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi after their two-hour-long talks, Munkh-Orgil said Tibet is an inseparable part of China and Tibet-related issues are China's internal affairs.
Mongolia made efforts to repair ties with China and promised it would never allow future visits by the Dalai Lama, a political exile with ambitions to split Tibet from China under the guise of religion.
Hailing the Mongolian foreign minister's statement, Wang said it was important for the two countries to boost ties from a new beginning.
The two countries should outline high-level communication, synergize China's Belt and Road Initiative with Mongolia's Prairie Road program and promote cooperation in various fields, Wang said.
Munkh-Orgil said the Belt and Road Initiative would bring great opportunities for Mongolia's development, adding that Mongolian Prime Minister Jargaltulga Erdenebat will visit China and attend the Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in May.
He also thanked China for its support during Mongolia's financial difficulties.
Vice President Li Yuanchao also met with Munkh-Orgil on Monday, during which both sides agreed to protect the political foundation for bilateral relations.
Being a soldier in basic training! Wow! I recommend that to any of our young teens fresh out of high school! What a reality check! Taught me a lot of life long values.
How did you get started in this business?
I worked for a guy that did foam and fell in love with the business.
Why did you choose this business?
I didn't like roofingit is a hard business to do with the intense heat of New Mexico's summersbut I felt that installing insulated roofs was important to our customers and not enough energy saving contractors installing these roofs were around back then.
What is your business philosophy?
Provide the best, longest-lasting roofs for the best price possible. A roof that will be trouble-free. Now who has ever heard of a trouble-free flat roof? We have. We install them all the time.
What is your educational background?
BS in psychology.
What is your companys greatest asset?
Our staff. They're hard-working, dedicated guys.
Albuquerque is very well served with spray foam roofs. The Phoenix area has more spray foam roof installers than any other type of roof. It's a natural fit for our desert Southwest climate.
What motivates you to succeed besides the desire to make money?
Making customers happy and satisfied. I love visiting the customer a year after the install and they tell me how not only did they have no leaks but their home was so much warmer that winter and so much cooler that summer.
The challenges: The economic climate, its harder and more difficult to run a business (we've had to advertise more than ever) and the pressure to keep all our employees working.
What do you offer that the competition doesnt?
We provide insulated roofs. Our roofs are a minimum of 11/2" thick! Ask the others how thick their roofs are! Most other roofs are the thickness of a dime! We also provide the longest fully transferable warranties in the business.
How do you maintain your competitive edge?
By keeping our prices reasonable and our quality the best.
Economic challenges, keeping our employees busy with plenty of work.
What are your growth goals?
No growth goals. We want to keep the same size, to grow makes it difficult to control quality.
What is your companys greatest challenge?
Maintaining zero money owed to all creditors. By having no debt, we can afford to go through slow times.
What contributions to the community (charitable or otherwise) are you most proud of?
Donating all the labor to San Antonio Church in Questa. Questa is the town I was raised in. So being asked to provide a full price quote for the services you offer is big in a small town like that. Then telling them we are doing a $30,000 job for just the cost of materials made them very grateful and it made us all feel good to be part of this grand project.
Before most people knew what spray foam was, we were concerned about optimizing search results to be number one in the spray foam category. That was when there were many companies competing. Now we are number one. We are working on being number one on roofing categories. We will get there.
In what area of your business do you invest the most energy?
Putting our name out in front of people so they know about us. Networking, talking to lots of people too.
If you had to choose another career or start another business what would it be?
I haven't given it much thought but if I were to start another business it would have to be something that has equal value to the customer that no one else offers.
What words of wisdom would you offer to someone starting their own business?
Diligence. Don't expect to be profitable the first year. Buy as much as you can on a cash basis without using credit.
Quality remains long after price is forgotten.
If you had a chance to live anyone elses life, whose life would it be?
Tori Ashley. She is goal driven, a hard worker, and determined to succeed. She is basically the female version of me, but with a greater capacity for love and craziness that I cant seem to grasp. I would like to do a Freaky Friday exchange with her.
What book are you currently reading or whats your favorite book?
Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsh, a N.Y. Times best-seller in the mid 1990's.
Do you have a hero or mentor--business or otherwise?
Denis Waitley and Jim Rohn. Both have some great advice, as Waitley said "life is a perception through the eyes of the beholder" in other words "if the light is off inside of youif you are sick or depressed, the light is off in the whole world, the whole world is sick and depressed" So TURN THAT LIGHT ON INSIDE OF YOU! Jim Rohn said, If you don't have a plan for your life you'll end up fitting into someone else's plan and chances are they don't have much planned for you.
If there is one thing about Albuquerque or New Mexico that you could change, what would it be?
Having more lakes and maybe a beach with an ocean! Not just endless beach!
What do you look for in prospective employees?
Loyalty, discipline and hard workers.
What inspires you?
Visiting with new customers and learning something new every day.
Three passions outside of work?
Lip synching or karaoke with the family.
Anything else you would like to add?
As I have developed my business, I have seen how much people really appreciate when I, the owner, talk with them and explain what's wrong with their roof or what is causing their leak. Many are frustrated because they have just gotten a new roof (less than 2 years oldand its already leaking!) They want to have the confidence that we can solve their leaky roof.
Flash
Russia is ready to withdraw its military base from Kyrgyzstan at any time, visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at a joint press conference following a meeting with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev here.
Putin said the air force base in Kant was opened in 1999-2000 at the request of the then Kyrgyz leadership when the country suffered from terrorist attacks by terrorists from Afghanistan that crossed the border.
"It was opened to be able to effectively fight with international terrorists. Whenever Kyrgyzstan says that the country has strengthened its armed forces, we will immediately withdraw our military base," Putin said.
The Russian president stressed that the presence of the Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan is to ensure safety in the country.
"Since we started to strengthen relations within the Collective Security Treaty organization, it goes without saying that we will further strengthen the armed forces of Kyrgyzstan. If Kyrgyzstan sees it right to do so, we will discuss it," Putin said.
For his part, Atambayev said that the issue of strengthening the Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan was not discussed at the meeting.
"I would like to note that Russia, on the contrary, wants to help us to strengthen our armed forces," said Atambayev.
Putin arrived on Tuesday in Bishkek for an official visit after his visit to Tajikistan on Monday. The two heads of state also discussed the entire spectrum of their bilateral relations, the implementation of joint projects and further cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union.
By Dezan Shira & Associates
Editor: Tongyu Zhang
Upgrading science and technology innovation is a critical component of Chinas 13th Five Year Plan covering the years 2016-2020, as the Chinese government aims to upgrade its tech capabilities. As part of this effort, on December 27, 2016, the Ministry of Finance (MOF), General Administration of Customs (GAC), and State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued a joint notice (Cai Guan Shui [2016] No.70) to standardize the duty-free import process of scientific and technological research equipment by scientific research institutions, technology development institutions, and schools.
Meanwhile, since being published in 2015, the two notices regarding deduction of R&D expenses (Cai Shui [2015] No. 119 and SAT announcement [2015] No. 97) were implemented in 2016. Therefore, now is a particularly relevant time to consider R&D related tax incentive policies for foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) to review for effective tax planning.
Support of duty-free imports for science and technology innovation
Regarding foreign-invested R&D institutions in China, Notice No. 70 is applicable for those approved as foreign-invested R&D centers by provincial level authorities of commerce, finance and taxation, as well as local administration of customs.
According to the Notice, the import of scientific research, sci-tech development, and teaching supplies, which domestic suppliers cannot manufacture or for which they are unable to meet performance requirements, are exempt from import duties and import VAT. In addition, teaching books, materials, and relevant scientific research imported by scientific research institutes and schools, are exempt from import VAT. Note that the list of duty-free items may be reviewed within the announcement, Cai Guan Shui [2016] No. 72.
Considerations for additional deduction policies of R&D expenses
Scope of R&D activities
R&D activities refers to systematic activities that an enterprise conducts to obtain and apply new science and technology knowledge creatively or substantially to improve its technologies, product (services), and processes.
However, as the definition of R&D activities is rather vague, Notice No. 119 uses a negative list form to exclude activities and certain industries (as listed below) that do not apply to the pre-tax additional deduction policies.
Activities:
Conventional upgrades of the enterprises products (services);
Direct application of certain technological research results;
Technical support activities provided by the enterprise to its customers following commercialization;
Repetitive or simple changes to existing products, services, technologies, materials, or processes;
Market surveys or management studies;
Quality control, testing and analysis, repair and maintenance in industry (service) process; and
Research in social sciences, arts, or humanities.
RELATED: Audit and Financial Services from Dezan Shira & Associates
Industries:
Tobacco manufacturing;
Lodging and food and beverage (F&B);
Wholesale and retail;
Real estate;
Leasing and commercial services; and
Entertainment.
Deductible R&D expenses
If R&D expenses incurred by an enterprise in its R&D activities have not formed intangible assets and are included in the current periods profit or loss, 50 percent of such R&D expenses will be deducted from the taxable income amount of the current year. If intangible assets are formed, pre-tax amortization will be made based on 150 percent of the costs of the intangible assets.
The specific scope of R&D expenses include:
Staff and labor expenses consisting of salaries, pensions and insurance of personnel engaging in R&D activities directly, and the service fees of external R&D personnel;
Direct costs include materials, fuels and power expenses directly consumed by R&D activities and relevant manufacturing, purchasing or testing expenses for different stages of the R&D procedure;
Depreciation of instruments and equipment used for R&D activities;
Amortization of intangible assets used in R&D activities;
Design fees for new products, fees for formulation of new processes, clinical trial fees for new drugs, and onsite testing fees for exploration and development technologies;
Other expenses directly related to R&D activities, such as technical books and materials expenses, expenses for evaluation of R&D results and so on. Note that the total amount of these expenses shall not exceed 10 percent of the total amount of R&D expenses allowed for additional deduction.
Special matters
For expenses incurred by R&D activities carried out by an external organization or individual entrusted by the enterprise, 80 percent of the actual amount shall be included in the entrusting partys R&D expenses and allowed for additional deduction. However, expenses of R&D activities carried out by an overseas entrusted entity are not able to apply to additional deduction.
In the case of a project with high technical requirements and large investment which requires centralized R&D by an enterprise group, such a group may, based on the principles of matching corresponding rights and obligations as well as expenses and gains, share the actually incurred R&D expenses among benefiting member enterprises to allow the related enterprises to compute their respective additional deduction.
Declaration and filing of R&D expenses deduction
Enterprises should submit a Filing Form for Enterprise Income Tax Incentives and the R&D project documents to complete filing with the tax authorities no later than the annual computation and settlement tax declaration, and retain the following materials for future inspection:
Proposal and approved resolution for the independent, entrusted, or cooperative R&D project;
Composition of the organization or project team for the R&D project, as well as name list of the R&D personnel;
Contract for the R&D project, which should be registered with the science and technology administrative authorities;
Explanation on distribution of expenses of staff undertaking R&D activities and instruments, as well as equipment and intangible assets used for these activities;
Balance sheet of R&D projects, breakdown of distribution of R&D expenses, and the actual benefit-sharing ratio;
Subsidiary ledger for R&D expenditure;
Expert opinions issued by local science and technology administrative authorities; and
Other materials stipulated by the provincial tax authorities.
Key takeaways
In consideration of Chinas economic and political environment, it is now reasonable for FIEs to evaluate the gains and losses of relocating some advanced-technological business activities in China, such as R&D research and high-tech manufacturing. Apart from the tax incentives, FIEs can also enjoy the relatively lower labor cost for skilled workers and professional researchers.
Nevertheless, FIEs should pay attention to the implementation of the additional deduction of R&D expenses for two main reasons. First, R&D activities are complex, covering the full stages of business procedure. Secondly, identification of R&D expenditure is indistinct in practice, with taxation authorities maintaining a level of administrative discretion. Therefore, it is important for enterprises to keep in contact with local taxation authorities, as well as seek opinions from professional advisors.
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An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017
Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.
New Considerations when Establishing a China WFOE in 2017
In this edition of China Briefing, we guide readers through a range of topics, from the reasons behind foreign investors preference for the WFOE as an investment model, to managing Chinas new regulations. We discuss how economic transformations have favored the WFOE, as well as the investment models utility, and detail key requirements that businesspeople need to examine before initiating the WFOE setup process. We then walk investors through the WFOE establishment process, and, finally, explain the new and idiosyncratic Actual Controlling Person regulation.
The British Council and Peking University have jointly hosted the China-UK Cultural Heritage High Level Dialogue on 28 Feb 2017 in Beijing.
Carma Elliot, director of British Council China Minister in Culture and Education, delivers the keynote speech during the forum. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
With the support of the China State Administration of Cultural Heritage and Capital Normal University, cultural heritage experts from both countries were invited to exchange and discuss potential future collaboration.
This dialogue is part of a series of cultural skills dialogues the British Council hosts in China. The British Council has been contributing to the development of UK-China cultural industry by delivering a series of meetings, forums and training in China on museums, theater management, cultural heritage, gaming and fashion. These dialogues receive support from the China Prosperity Fund, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Five experts from five British cultural institutions took part in this dialogue: Historic England, Bath World Heritage Site/World Heritage UK, the Institute of Conservation, Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site, and Oxford Preservation Trust. More than 50 Chinese experts from all over the country were invited. They presented on topics such as cultural heritage preservation and the transformation of buildings and spaces, while also examining case studies like the preservation of the Great Wall in China and the development of ancient villages such as the Dong ethnic group in China's southwestern regions.
The start of a golden era of collaboration and exchange between the UK and China began in 2015 with the UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange. Both the UK and China have splendid and rich cultural heritage. Cultural heritage protection is also one of the priorities for China's 13th Five-Year Plan.
Starbucks Coffee [File photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]
Starbucks's debut in Italy with the Milan Reserve Roastery has been confirmed Wednesday by its chairman and CEO Howard Schultz in Milan.
The establishment will be located in a former post building in Milan's Piazza Cordusio, and be the first Starbucks Roastery to open in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
It will open in 2018 with some 350 employees, Schultz said.
"This store will be the culmination of a great dream of mine -- 34 years in the making -- to return to Milan with one of the most immersive, magical retail experiences in the world," he said.
Starbucks has established collaboration with the historic bakery Princi in Milan, which will provide all of the baked goods. Following the Roastery opening, Italian licensee and business partner Percassi will open a small number of Starbucks stores in Milan for the balance of 2018.
Starbucks has the ambition to show its interpretation of coffee to Italians, he argued.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala expressed his suppot for Starbucks opening in his city. "As mayor and as a citizen of Milan I am pleased that an international company, known for its standing and reliability such as Starbucks, has decided to invest in our city," said Sala.
Brazil's national oil company, Petrobras, closed a deal on Tuesday to sell 2.225 billion U.S. dollars of assets to French giant Total as part of its continuing diversification plan.
According to a Petrobras statement, the deal is part of a broad alliance to work on upstream and downstream. It sees Petrobras transfer to Total 22.5 percent of concession rights to the Iara exploration area, including the Sururu, Berbigao and Oeste de Atapu oil fields. It also transfers 35 percent of the Lapa field concession area, which began production in December.
Petrobras is not exiting the two fields fully as it shall retain a majority interest of 42.5 percent in Iara and 10 percent in Lapa.
Finally, Petrobras has sold to Total a 50 percent stage in Termobahia, a power generation company with two thermal plants in the northeastern state of Bahia.
The beleaguered Brazilian oil company is facing a major need to cut costs as it faces crippling debt and a loss of market confidence after a corruption ring was found within its ranks.
In 2016, Petrobras announced a divestment plan, which included raising 19.5 billion U.S. dollars through the offloading in assets in 2017 and 2018.
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The Chinese government has announced ambitious plans to improve the country's transport infrastructure in the next few years.
The State Council on Tuesday issued a document to expand the transport network during the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016-2020).
By 2020, the country will have 150,000 kilometers of railway lines, 5 million km of roads, 260 airports and 2,527 berths for vessels over 10,000 tonnes.
High-speed railways will increase to 30,000 km, connecting more than 80 percent of cities with a population of more than 1 million.
The government aims to build a modern transport system that is safe, convenient, efficient and green by 2020, according to the document.
China has already weaved enormous networks of railroads, expressways and ship routes, which have smoothed its rapid economic expansion during the past decades.
"China tops the world in the length of high-speed railways, expressways and urban rail transit networks, and the number of berths for vessels over 10,000 tonnes," Li Pumin, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a press conference Wednesday.
"Seven of the world's 10 largest ports in terms of container throughput are located in China," Li added.
The country's transport investment totaled 13.4 trillion yuan (1.95 trillion U.S. dollars) between 2011 and 2015, about 1.6 times that spent from 2006 to 2010.
However, China transport infrastructure still cannot satisfy the increasing demand of the nation's economic and social development.
"Infrastructure lags behind in less-prosperous central and western regions, connectivity with bordering countries needs further improvement, transport safety is still in grim situation, and investment and financing mechanisms require continued reforms," Li said.
To fix the weak links, a total of 15 trillion yuan will be channeled into transport infrastructure improvement projects by 2020, including 3.5 trillion yuan for railways, 7.8 trillion yuan for roads and 500 billion yuan for water transport.
The government promised strengthened policy support in land, investment and subsidies for such projects.
"We have scrapped more than 90 percent of administrative approval procedures...and channeled more energy into reforms on financing mechanisms, including eight demonstration projects allowed to use private investment," said Zheng Jian, deputy head of the NDRC's basic industries department.
"More efforts will be made to improve planning and regulation to ensure the implementation of the plan," Zheng said.
The government also expects improved transport systems to help reduce poverty, saying revolutionary bases, impoverished and border areas, and regions inhabited by ethnic groups will see more favorable policies.
Sanyou is not a traditional Tibetan village name. Translated as "three haves," the name is shortened from "have health, house and jobs."
The new village is along a plateau river in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. Its name reflects the heartfelt hopes of some of the poorest people living on the Tibetan Plateau.
Sanyou village is the first settlement for 712 people living below the poverty line in Tibet. They moved here last year from infertile land to seek jobs that will keep them out of poverty.
In 2006, the Lhasa government spent about 40 million yuan (about 5.7 million U.S. dollars) to build 184 houses on what used to be rocky land. Now the village is administered by Dagar township of Qushui county in Lhasa.
Nyima Tsering is one of the members of the Party branch of the village. He takes charge of a dairy farm in the new settlement.
As the youngest son of a farmer, Nyima Tsering used to live in a cramped house with his parents, sisters and their families. In 2000, he dropped out of high school when his oldest sister died, in order to take care of her sons.
"Disease cost my family a huge fortune. I'm a man, and it is my job to take care of them," he said. Both of Nyima Tsering's parents are in poor health.
"I worked in the fields during farming season, and took odd jobs in the city, but no matter how hard I worked, the money I earned today would be used up tomorrow," he said.
When an intense anti-poverty campaign started last year, the city government rolled out relocation solutions for poor families like Nyima Tsering's.
Sanyou's residents came from 10 villages in Qushui county.
"Some people wanted to move into new houses, but many were hesitant at first," said Mao Xin, head of Dagar township.
In order to dispell their doubts, many of the farmers were hired as workers to build the new settlement. "We let people build their homes, so they could be more emotionally involved," said Mao.
Nyima Tsering also participated in building the new houses and his dedication won the hearts of his fellow villagers and got him elected to the villagers committee.
Houses in Sanyou mostly have two floors with white walls, golden-lacquered doors, and a yard. The most spacious is 165 square meters and the smallest is 108 meters.
Tashi Doje, 61, lives in one of the bigger houses with six family members. In almost all the houses, there is a buddha altar on the second floor.
Tashi Doje sold his old house in his hometown and rented out his pasture land to a rich farmer. His family earned about 98,904 yuan (about 14,333 U.S. dollars) last year from farming and working at dairy and chicken farms in the village.
"Leaving the old home was not easy, but I didn't have to spend a cent for my new house, and my children can go to better schools in the town," said Tashi.
A clinic and a kindergarten have also been built in the new settlement.
Last year, about 130,000 people were lifted out of poverty in Tibet. More than 460,000 people are still living below the poverty line in the region.
Nyima Tsering's son was born at the end of last year at their new home. "I decided to call him Tsere Phurza, meaning intelligence and auspiciousness," he said.
"We had five or six babies born in the new village last year, and I hope they will never have to experience poverty," he said.
The nomination period for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s fifth term chief executive election ended on Wednesday, with altogether three candidates qualified to run for the vote to be held late March.
During the nomination period starting from Feb. 14, the Returning Officer at the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) has received nomination forms from Tsang Chun-wah, former Financial Secretary of the SAR government, Woo Kwok-hing, a retired justice, and Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, former Chief Secretary of the SAR government. Their nomination forms are ruled valid by the Returning Officer, making the number of candidates in the election three.
Ip Lau Suk-yee, a lawmaker, declared that she will end her campaign to run in the chief executive election as she was not able to get enough nominations from the Election Committee.
According to Hong Kong Basic Law and other related laws, a Chinese citizen of no less than 40 years of age who is a permanent resident of Hong Kong SAR with no right of abode in any foreign country and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of no less than 20 years, is eligible to be nominated as a candidate.
A candidate must submit the nomination form subscribed by no less than 150 members of the Election Committee and each member can nominate only one candidate.
The election will be held on March 26, when the Election Committee composed of nearly 1,200 members elects by secret ballot the Hong Kong SAR's fifth chief executive to be appointed by the central government.
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Over the past 22 years, Yu Jiahua, 65, has spent several days every month patrolling a mountain looking for poachers in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Jiuding Mountain, a 10 minute walk from Yu's village, is surrounded by hundreds of square meters of forest and has many wild animals.
"In the 1960s, there were hundreds of thousands of wild animals," Yu said.
Yu was born in a small village and can identify animals just by the footprints. His family also used to hunt.
"We hunted birds and animals before, but we had rules." Yu said. "We never hunted young or female animals."
Since the 1980s, many illegal hunters have flocked to Jiuding Mountain and poached large numbers of wild animals to sell them. Many poachers even set the mountain on fire, forcing the animals to flee so they can catch them.
"The escaped animals were killed by illegal hunters waiting at the foot of the mountain and those trapped in fire burned to death. Their screams made your toes curl," Yu said.
Poachers also used wire ropes, not traditional hemp ropes, to set traps, leaving no opportunities for animals to escape.
Such unsustainable hunting had left the mountain almost empty of wild animals by 1994.
In 1995, Yu, his brother and some villagers organized a patrol team to drive the poachers away, but animal hunting was a way for many people to make money. It was not easy to stop them, and Yu and his team would encounter dangers on patrol.
Yu still remembers the four poachers with shotguns that threatened to kill him.
"I will shoot you if you stop me," a poacher shouted.
To expand the patrol team, Yu established a wild animal and plant protection association in 2004, attracting more than 100 people to join.
Since then, the team has patrolled the mountain more than 10 times every year.
"On the one hand, we continue to stop illegal hunting. On the other hand, we monitor the latest information about wild animals in the region," Yu said.
Several years ago, Yu set up infrared cameras on the mountain to track endangered animals.
Thanks to his anti-poaching group, illegal hunting has fallen dramatically over the last 22 years.
"Farmers now have more methods to make money. Illegal hunting is decreasing, but not disappearing," Yu said. He even found a shotgun left in a cave on his latest mountain patrol.
The number of wild animals on the mountain is slowly increasing.
"There were less than 10 golden pheasants in 1995, but now the number has risen to 700," Yu said.
Yu's sons and grandsons have all joined the patrol team, which is supported by government subsidies as well as donations.
"It will take a long time to restore the ecosystem," Yu said. "Guarding the mountain has become our family mission, and we will not give up halfway."
A research institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University is building a world-class scientific talent team, aiming to attract more than 600 experts from home and abroad in three to five years, Chinanews.com reported on Thursday.
Ji Xiangdong, a senior professor at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, said the center has sent out invitations for young scientists worldwide, with quite a few being China-born.
The Tsung-Dao Lee Institute was established in November last year after Tsung-Dao Lee, a renowned American-Chinese physicist, proposed the plan.
Tsung-dao Lee and Yang Zhenning (Chen-Ning Franklin Yang) received the 1957 Nobel Prize in physics for their work on parity nonconservation of weak interaction, becoming the first people of Chinese origin to become Nobel laureates.
With a focus on particle physics, quantum physics, astronomy and astrophysics, the institute is modeled on world-famous research centers such as Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark and Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton.
Ji said the global experts will be provided benefits that will match similar research institutes, including salary, children's education and medical insurance.
Chinanews report said the institute has already made some achievements in dark matter and quantum physics.
Ji said the center is going to serve as a gathering of top scientists as well as a platform for international communication. It also aims to lead physics experiments as well as scientific discovery. Besides, Ji said he hopes that the institute will become a popular science base so as to make science more "down to earth".
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The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Thursday underscored building a clean online and offline environment for social harmony.
The office announced it will launch more campaigns in 2017 to crack down on piracy and online pornography to ensure the healthy development of children and young people.
Issues in live-streaming video, instant chat services and pop-up ads will be dealt with, said the office.
The office also urged early detection and punishment for illegal academic journals as well as blackmail by fake journalists.
In 2016, Chinese law enforcement confiscated over 16 million illegal publications and banned more than 14,000 websites disseminating harmful information.
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Iran's president on Wednesday called for dialogue and political procedures to settle regional conflicts, Press TV reported.
Tehran supports dialogue and mutual respect to settle differences, said Hassan Rouhani. "We should make efforts to immediately put an end to war, bloodshed and foreign interference in the region."
"Iran stresses respect for the territorial integrity of regional countries and is against any violation of territorial integrity in the region, especially in Syria and Iraq," Rouhani said during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) 13th plenary session in Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
Rouhani described Iran and Turkey as two major countries of the region and called for further Tehran-Ankara cooperation in all sectors, which he said would benefit the two states as well as regional peace and stability.
Erdogan, for his part, said that Tehran-Ankara cooperation was essential to the settlement of regional woes and anti-terror fight.
Jiang Wei.[Photo/Official Weibo account of Beijing First Intermediate People's Court]
When talking about open trials of cases involving corrupt officials, Jiang Wei, a post-80s judge from a court in Beijing has had more experiences than almost anybody else.
After graduation from Tsinghua University's School of Law with master's degree in 2005, Jiang joined Beijing First Intermediate People's Court and later became a criminal court judge, according to Beijing Evening News.
In 2014, he was appointed as the vice-presiding judge of the court's No 2 Criminal Tribunal, as he was one of the youngest and brightest judges in the country's judicial system.
In the nationwide fight against corruption launched in 2012, the fall of two "big tigers", or high-ranking officials, impressed him the most.
One was Tian Xueren, former deputy governor of Jilin province, who was in 2013 charged with receiving 85 bribes worth more than 19 million yuan ($3.1 million) from 1995 to 2011.
Jiang Wei still remembers the morning of Nov 1, when he was sitting across Tian Xueren at the courtroom of No 2 Criminal Tribunal. As the presiding judge of the trial, he announced the judgment in a strong voice that Tian Xueren was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived him of political rights for life, along with the confiscation of the money he received in bribes. Tian pleaded guilty and didn't appeal to a higher court.
On July 17, 2014, at the same court, Jiang Wei announced another significant verdict: Wang Suyi, former head of the United Front Work Department in the Party's Inner Mongolia committee, was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes. He was accused of taking bribes worth more than 10.73 million yuan ($1.71 million). Like Tian, Wang didn't appeal to a higher court.
Facing the "big tigers", Jiang admits sentencing the "big tigers" was a high pressure job as he had to make sure that the judgment was as fair as possible.
"Sometimes it's like a contest between you and the defendants," Jiang Wei said. When referring to Wang Suyi, Jiang said during the first arraignment, he told Wang that it's him who made Tian Xueren's verdict last year, "When they know you're an experienced judge, they will respect and cooperate with you better." Jiang said.
Jiang has so far handled a dozen of corruption cases concerning ministerial-level officials, with the highest illicit money from a case reaching over 20 million yuan ($3 million).
"The proceeding of criminal cases usually take seven or eight months, not counting some cases with several supplement investigation," Jiang said. Unlike the civil cases, criminal cases involving corruption and delinquency are more complicated and time-consuming.
In addition, Jiang has dealt with several major white-collar crime cases involving real estate, commerce, internet, among which the highest value of case recorded was 396 million yuan ($57.7 million).
"In general, a copy of the written judgment contains 20,000 to 30,000 words, and needs at least four or five revisions." Jiang said. "Even a tiny mistake in high-profile cases can have major consequences." he said.
Over the last couple of years, Jiang has dealt with more than 140 cases, and not a single lawsuit or complaint has been filed in any case.
"I like being a judge; it's a mentally challenging work." A competent judge must work hard and make decisions after serious considerations.
"When I became a judge 10 years ago, I decided to devote myself to this job." Jiang said.
Hu Kaihong:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to our press conference. In the past few weeks, we have invited the heads of many government departments to brief you on Chinas economic and social development.
Today, we have Mr. Guo Shuqing, who has just taken up his post as chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). He will explain how the banking industry is supporting supply-side structural reform, and then take your questions. We have also with us the two CBRC vice chairmen, Mr. Wang Zhaoxing and Cao Yu, and the CBRC chairmans assistant, Mr. Yang Jiacai.
Guo Shuqing:
First, please allow me to make a general introduction of the banking industrys reform, development and surveillance works. Later, Ill take your questions.
In 2016, the banking industry completed all its tasks of the year and ensured a good beginning for the implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020).
By the end of 2016, the Renminbi and foreign currency assets of Chinese banking sector reached 232.25 trillion yuan, up 15.8 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 0.13 percentage points higher than the previous year. The balance of deposits and loans increased in a stable way. At the end of the year, the balance of Renminbi and foreign currency loans totaled 112.06 trillion yuan, increasing12.7 trillion yuan, or 12.79 percent, from the beginning of the year. The balance of Renminbi and foreign currency deposits was 155.52 trillion yuan, a gain of 15.74 trillion yuan, or 11.27 percent. Asset quality remained stable. The non-performing loan rate was 1.91 percent, down 0.02 percentage points on the year; net profits of the banking industry exceeded 2 trillion yuan. Regarding commercial banks, the non-performing loan rate was 1.74 percent, up 0.07 percentage points; net profits totaled 1.65 trillion yuan, up 3.54 percent; the average return on the asset and capital ratios remained basically unchanged, registered at 0.98 percent and 13.38 percent respectively. The banking industry is now better prepared to handle risk. The loan loss reserve, the non-performing loan provision coverage ratio, the non-performing loan provision ratio and the capital adequacy ratio of commercial banks remained basically unchanged at 2.67 trillion yuan, 176.4 percent, 3.08 percent and 13.28 percent respectively. Generally, the systemic risks of the banking sector remained under control.
This year, we will fully implement the guiding principles of the Central Economic Work Conference. Specifically, we will carry out four tasks.
First, we will be more active in supporting and implementing supply-side structural reform.
Regarding market-based debt-for-equity swaps, currently, the total value of such contracts has exceeded 430 billion yuan. The value of contracts implemented surpassed 40 billion yuan. In the next stage, we will increase policy support, enhance professional guidance and strengthen risk monitoring to promote further progress.
We will remain active but prudent in regard to the trial program to allow commercial banks to participate in combined debt-equity investments into startups and small businesses.Based on the special national conditions, we will explore new financial service modes for technological innovation companies. We will also support trial banks to diversify their service modes according to their internal conditions.
The banking sector will play a more active part in supporting supply-side structural reform of the agricultural sector. More loans will be given to rural areas, farmers and small and micro-sized enterprises. The efficiency of targeted poverty alleviation and financial inclusion will be improved. Weak links of financial services will be fixed.
Second, we will further improve service to real economy. We will continue to improve banking services and tackle the bureaucratic work style of some banks.
Third, we will take firm actions to stop illegal financial practices. According to the requirements of the Central Economic Work Conference, we will attach greater importance to risk control and prevent all kinds of systemic financial risks. Currently, cross-market financial products have become a major problem due to their complicated and unpredictable nature. The emergence of such products should be blamed on lack of an appropriate regulatory mechanism. Without a well-established mechanism, the banking industry will be exposed to grave risks. Therefore, we must review existing regulations, make new ones where necessary, revise outdated ones and abolish those that are deemed unsuitable.
Fourth, we will comprehensively improve banking personnels quality. One has to be very strong to strike iron. Its the job for the banking industry to handle various risks, and its the CBRCs duty to monitor management risk. We must increase the awareness of risks and always be ready to deal with worst-case scenarios. Only in this way can we fulfill our duty as a regulator.
Thats all I want to say. Thank you.
Hu Kaihong:
Thank you, Mr. Guo. Now, the floor is open to questions. Please identify your media outlet before raising questions.
Phoenix TV:
I have a question about mixed business regulations. We noted that recently the PBOC, together with the CBRC, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), is working on a guiding opinion about unified regulation. In your view, what is the biggest challenge in achieving this unified regulation? Is there any plan from the CBRC concerning the mixed regulations this year?
Guo Shuqing:
Your questions really hit the key point. Shadow banking, regulatory arbitrage, passageway business and lengthy supervision chain, all these issues have received much attention. At present, different financial institutions, such as commercial banks, trust companies, fund companies, securities companies and insurance companies, have carried out their own asset management activities, following different regulations and rules. This has resulted in disorders and made more capital flow to the virtual economy. So, we are working on a common regulation. I have to say I dont know much about the progress, because this is my third day in office. As far as I am concerned, we will make a unified regulation based on the most basic standards. These standards should be achievable and observed by all parties concerned. On this basis, each institution and industry can implement their respective standards. In this way, we can increase the transparency of asset management products, curtail supervision chains and tighten supervision of shadow banking. Furthermore, we can reduce the amount of capital disguised in other forms and make it more transparent. Id like to invite my colleague to explain further.
Cao Yu:
Asset management business, or wealth investment business, in the banking industry has played a positive role in such aspects as deepening financial market reform, promoting real economy growth, increasing citizens' property incomes and advancing transformation of banks. By the end of last year, the book balance of wealth investment funds reached 30 trillion yuan nationwide and such products generated revenue of 977.3 billion yuan.
The CBRC has paid much attention to wealth investment business. We will further improve the regulation formulation in this regard to strengthen supervision. The new regulation, which has attracted much concern, has been under revision for a long time. Based on existing regulations, we are working on a new management method targeting emerging problems so as to advance the transformation of wealth investment business in an orderly manner. The management method is almost mature. As for the supervision on big asset management business, the PBOC has joined hands with the CBRC, CSRC and CIRC to formulate a unified regulation on asset management products. It is going smoothly. The CBRC will actively cooperate with the PBOC and other agencies.
Reuters:
My question is also about risk. We have noted the rapid expansion of non-loan assets on bank balance sheets over the last five years, and particularly joint start-ups and city banks. In some cases, these non-loan assets surpass loan asset on bank balance sheets. How is the CBRC moving to control risks in the financial system? Can we expect the growth of these assets to diminish?
Guo Shuqing:
Well categorize them based on various conditions, drawing conclusions by taking into consideration the differences of banks and products. However, generally speaking, we follow the fundamental principle of scrutinizing those assets that appear on the balance sheet. Ill ask my colleague to provide more details.
Wang Zhaoxing:
In recent years, in line with market-centered financial evolution, market- oriented reform of interest rates has progressed, and comprehensive development of banking businesses is underway. They have actually brought about two major changes: rapid growth of non-credit assets that, in fact, have come to outweigh credit assets and the expansion of off-balance sheet businesses that end up outperforming those on the balance sheet. They have emerged as a result of the increasing driving force coming from the market, as well as the deregulation of interest rates. There are also supervisory bodies attempting to decentralize banking risk by encouraging multiple bank assets and debts as well as diversified profit revenues.
Besides, the role of the market has been increasingly accentuated; this, entails the growth of bank extra-services and market-oriented and intermediary businesses. We treat them differently as they are not entirely negative compared to those involved in schemes shunning supervision, getting involved in arbitrage and circulating banking loans inside the financial system rather than handling them in the real economy.
Moreover, we in no way seek to oppose and interrupt the diverse developments of banks, yet we should be increasingly vigilant about possible risks. When doing so, we will first encourage further development of banking credit services either by loans or other approaches to ensure funds are dispensed in support of the real economy. Second, well make sure risks are transparent and controllable. Third, we will secure the sufficiency of reserves and capital in a bid to offset potential dangers. As a result of Chinas financial progress, market development and emergence of multiple banking services, those businesses cannot be simply described as right or wrong. However, at the same time, we will observe the issue from the three aspects I mentioned above to improve supervision and regulation. Thank you.
CCTV:
Just now, Mr. Guo mentioned that we need to improve the ability of financial services to serve the real economy. Since last year, a lot of debt committees have been established in China. The debt committees are aimed at solving the problems of zombie enterprises and overcapacity. Can you tell us the achievements of debt committees? Are there any further steps to be taken in reforming and innovating the system? Thanks.
Guo Shuqing:
Judging from my work experience, debt committees provide a good method. There are many banks providing loans to enterprises, especially to large and medium size enterprises. Therefore, unanimous action and deployment is welcomed by the local governments and the enterprises when it comes to the issues of enterprise structural adjustment and risk disposal. It is also beneficial for banks as it can prevent fear caused by information asymmetry. Currently, the debt committee is a good method for banks, enterprises, local governments and other stake holders to resolve problems, even serious problems, such as insolvency, bankruptcy liquidation and debt restructuring, because all parties have their resources and can negotiate together. The effect is much better in the process of dealing with zombie enterprises. We will continue to watch and determine future developments.
When I worked in Shandong, the debt committee played a great role in the process of structural adjustment and debt restructuring for a mineral group. More than 40 negotiations were held and a satisfied result was reached by all parties. Therefore, this is a good way to resolve debt issue as all parties can get the best protection for their rights.
Cao Yu:
Until the end of last year, there were 12, 836 debt committees established in China, involving a total credit amount of 14.85 trillion yuan. Through the debt committees, a win-win situation could be reached for banks and enterprises while reducing the negative influence on the daily operation of banks and enterprises brought by unilateral action. Thanks.
Bloomberg News:
My question is about debt-for-equity swaps. Will CBRC encourage more banks to participate? How to address the risk of private capital in participating? Isnt it just prolonging the life of zombie companies and how can it be resolved? Thanks.
Guo Shuqing:
It has been highlighted that debt-for-equity swaps should follow market rules as well as the laws. Administrative orders and administrative negotiations are not allowed. Zombie enterprises are not allowed to participate in debt-for-equity swaps. We have carried out more than 40 billion yuan worth of swaps with more than 400 billion yuan in agreement. It is a sustainable method. The relevant laws and regulations will be improved during the process. However, our effort is helpful for structural reform on the supply side, especially for de-leveraging. It can also help enterprises get out of difficulties. Thanks.
21st Century Business Herald:
I have two questions. First, theres a rumor, Mr. Guo, that you will be in charge of the reform of the regulatory system, for example merger of CBRC, CSRC and CIRC. What can you say about this? Second, there has been a further increase of non-performing loans in the banking industry. What will CBRC do this year to address this issue? Thanks.
Guo Shuqing:
For the first question, the interpreter just now answered on behalf of me as he used the word rumor in his translation. As for the second one, it is quite normal to see volatility in non-performing loans at a time when the countrys economy has entered a new normal condition, economic growth slows down, economic restructuring intensifies and new economic growth drivers begin to emerge. Of course, the problem this time is worse than before. However, compared to other countries, a rate of 1.91 percent of non-performing loans in the entire banking sector, and 1.74 percent of non-performing loans for commercial banks are actually not too high. We have not included such aspects like overdue loans for more than 90 days and those on the watch list in our calculations. They wont make a big difference to overall asset quality.
Ten years ago, Chinas banking industry began equity division reform before getting listed on the stock market. After radical reform, we have established an internal risk control mechanism, a market-oriented management system, a constraint mechanism as well as an external supervision mechanism. These mechanisms are complete. Against the backdrop of a complicated domestic and international situation, there might be some problems, but they are quite understandable, and the overall situation is quite healthy. With strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, support from all walks of life, especially business circles, media supervision, the unremitting efforts of all banking sector staff and the conscientious devotion of the regulatory body, Im convinced that any risks and problems can be properly solved. Thank you.
Caijing Magazine:
We know that actually the idea of a unified mix-business regulation framework has been floated for quite some time, and the Peoples Bank of China has already set up a macro-potential regulation framework. So in your point of view, what is the most suitable model of regulation for the current development of the financial industry in China? And what kind of role will CBRC play in the future financial reform of the country? Thanks.
Guo Shuqing:
Its very hard for me to answer your question since its only the third day for me to take this new appointment. I havent thought over this question yet because during the past four years, I have been working on the real economy. Last week, I was thinking about the industry transformation and upgrading in Shandong Province. For example, last year, 22 industrial transformation schemes have conducted mid-stage assessment; 23 schemes in the service industry are waiting for assessment this year; in agriculture, 46 kinds of products are ready to be assessed.
In 2016, we have completed 530,000 shantytown transformations; this year, 760,000 houses of shantytown transformation have been approved. In rural areas, we have to transform road, power, housing, toilet and other areas. Last year, we planned to transform 2 million toilets; but actually, we have finished 4.01 million. If you asked me what the most suitable model for toilet transformation is, I know it exactly; but if you asked me what the most suitable model of financial regulation is, I know nothing at present. Im very sorry I cant answer your question now. Thank you.
Dragon TV:
I have two questions. First is about real estate. Last year, the price of real estate in first- and second-tier cities grew extremely fast. Lots of prime lots appeared, most of which are reliant on bank loans. Mr. Guo, could you give us an introduction about how is the banking sector going to help alleviate the rising of house prices. And what will CBRC do to strengthen loan regulations coordinated with real estate control? Thanks.
Guo Shuqing:
Real estate finance is an important part. Currently, 1/4 of bank loans go to real estate market. Last year, 45 percent of new bank loans went to the real estate market. We are highly alert to a property-value bubble, and will do related research very seriously.
However, the most significant characteristic of the real estate market is the huge difference between different places. Different cities have to face different kinds of property bubble and risks. Therefore, in the financial regulation field, we hope banks will stand on actual reality and invest capital in real estate steadily and cautiously, including both towards individuals and property developers. Several years ago residents used to buy houses using their own deposit or by borrowing money from relatives and friends. In recent years, people like to rely on bank loans to buy houses. Last year, nearly half of the new bank loans were real estate loans, most of which are personal housing mortgage loans. Generally speaking, personal loans are not a huge proportion, and its leverage ratio is not high, but we have to pay close attention to the trend.
Wang Zhaoxing:
Chinas real estate market is an emerging market featuring rapid growth, which made great contributions to Chinese economy, fiscal levies, as well as capital and profit growth of Chinese banks. As for real estate credit policy, we insist on a differentiated policy. We will limit those real estate loans containing bubbles and speculation, and destock some loans in third- and forth-tier cities. During the process of urbanization, housing demand especially rigid demand is also the loan demand which could improve peoples housing conditions and needs to be supported. By doing so, it will not only promote the real estate market to develop healthily and steadily, but also assure bank loans are safer.
Shanghai Securities News:
I have two questions. My first question is about the debt-to-equity swap. Is there a target, for example, to make its scale grow to a trillion yuan? In addition, with regards to setting up institutes, have you drawn up some preconditions, or is the CBRC drafting specific regulations? Since the investment-loan linkage and the debt-to-equity are being promoted, will you revise the relevant articles on limiting investment from banks in the Law on Commercial Banks?
My second question is about illegal fundraising. Ezubao and the Fanya Metal Exchange in Kunming drew much public concern, mainly because the incidents happened without prior warning with blurred boundaries in terms of their legality. Did the CBRC ever consider how to solve this problem from an institutional perspective? The CBRC said in the past that it planned to hasten the unveiling of regulations on dealing with illegal fundraising. How is this progressing?
Guo Shuqing:
We answered your first question just now. Theres no preset target. The more than 400 billion yuan (US$) we mentioned was merely the face value of the deals we signed. The swap hasn't been fully completed. We will conduct detailed research about the accommodating regulations and will make them based on laws before piloting them. As for your question concerning illegal fundraising, Yang Jiacai will answer this question.
Yang Jiacai:
The question on illegal fundraising you asked just now did receive much public attention, since it was one of the diehard problems in China's economic and social development. The issue exposes every several years, especially when the economy goes downward. In the past two years, illegal fundraising was flagrant, causing serious harm. However, it's indeed difficult to spot such activities at an early stage. How we could identify them at an early stage when they haven't become full-fledged is a focus of our research.
Entrusted by the State Council, the CBRC heads the national inter-ministerial joint meeting on combating illegal fundraising. Dealing with illegal fundraising isn't the CBRC's statutory duty; we and other members of the joint meeting have come up with many measures.
Illegal fundraising is a process in which love becomes hatred, and the dallied becomes the forsaken. In the preliminary stage, people are bound by common interests, so that few will disclose it, although local governments all encourage such disclosure with incentives. But we didn't see many disclosures. Why? Because they share common interests from the beginning.
We are currently drafting an administrative act, the Regulation on Dealing with Illegal Fundraising. This regulation was drafted by members of the joint meeting and has taken into consideration opinions from all provincial governments as well as from all ministries. We submitted the draft to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council last July, which in turn, conducted in-depth research while extensively collecting the opinions of ministries and local governments. The regulation is now being perfected by the Legislative Affairs Office, which is actively seeking its promulgation.
Second, who will be the enforcement agency? Now there's no authorized law enforcement institution for the cracking down on illegal fundraising, so we need such an administrative law enforcement department. Currently, local governments handling of illegal fundraising is usually a responsibility by local financial offices.
The office was called the Bureau of Financial Supervision when Guo Shuqing was working in Shandong. Such an agency existed at all levels of government. In each city, there was a vice mayor especially in charge of financial affairs. Therefore, there was fewer illegal fundraising in Shandong than elsewhere.
Another issue is that we should make clear the legal liabilities of the people involved in illegal fundraising. Usually, illegal fundraising involve three subjects, namely, the initiators, the assistants and the participants. It's important to make clear what liabilities these three subjects will take.
For example, if we disclose a cheater and warn you off him, you ignore the warning. In the end, when you break up, you start to call yourself a victim and want to find trouble with the government. This may not make sense. Moreover, we will make clear and standardize the procedure, methods and approaches. The regulation, when it is promulgated, will be of great help in dealing with illegal fundraising. Thank you.
Wang Zhaoxing:
With regards to the debt-to-equity swap, this time it features no set requirement with regard to its scale, goal or progress. Parties involved will take fully independent ways to carry this out, like dating and marriage completely independent, self-governing and free. The government wont interfere in the issue, just as there is no arranged marriage.
Guo Shuqing:
Not even a match-making agency.
Wang Zhaoxing: This is a reorganization plan formed by all parties based on negotiation for the best or at least better results.
People's Daily Online:
Last week, the CBRC issued the Guidelines for the Depository Business of Peer-to-Peer Lending Funds, which has drawn widespread attention in the industry. In recent years, supervision of the new internet finance industry has become more and more specific. Could you give us a brief introduction to the next steps of CBRC's supervisory direction and focus? I have another question. Mr. Guo, will you attempt to register or experience an internet finance business in the future, or have you already had such experiences?
Guo Shuqing:
I will answer your second question first while leaving your first one for Mr. Cao. I have never tried internet finance before, and whether I will try it or not in the future depends on circumstances. But, my family members are very familiar with this business and they have tried in this field many times. I think online shopping and new means of payment, such as Yu'E Bao payment, mobile payment, and Quick Response code scanning, are really very helpful to the real economy, but we must guard against the risks resulting from them.
Cao Yu:
It should be said that the essence of internet finance is still finance, and the rules which internet finance abides by are still financial rules.The Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Internet Finance, issued by 10 ministerial departments including the People's Bank of China in 2015, has clearly stipulated CBRC's responsibility in supervising peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending services. It should be said that, our current supervisory system framework for the P2P online lending service has basically been completed.
Caixin.com:
How would you solve the problems related to Hengfeng Bank's violations of laws and regulations, which have been exposed by a number of media outlets, and other such similar kind of problems? Thank you.
Guo Shuqing:
Speaking of this question, I think it has some relationship with me because I served as governor of Shandong Province where Hengfeng Bank is based. But the relationship is not too close, because the bank is in Yantai City's jurisdiction.The bank's stock ownership is composed of state-owned shares and other dispersed shares, and it is directly supervised by CBRC. Mr. Cao knows well about it, so I would like to invite him to further answer this question.
Cao Yu:
The problems reflected in the public opinions are being checked and tackled by CBRC in conjunction with the Shandong provincial government. If there are any illegal acts to be found, the parties concerned will be severely punished in accordance with the law. Presently, the business in Hengfeng Bank is proceeding stably and orderly.
Guo Shuqing:
I have one point to add. Currently, Hengfeng bank is conducting the shareholding system reform which is aimed at further standardizing and rationalizing all its internal and external structures and relations. As soon as conditions are right, it will be pushed to the capital market for public listing.
China Securities News:
Last year, the investment-lending linkage pilot program was launched. What has been the progress of the pilot program? Is there any plan to approve additional institutions on this program? The second question is about private banks. The private bank program was also launched last year. So far, according to the statistics released by CBRC, the program was running pretty well. This year, some private capital and listed companies have again expressed a desire to set up private banks. So what will be the trend of private bank development this year? Thank you.
Guo Shuqing:
The investment-lending linkage pilot program is in the trial and exploration stage. We should be positive and prudential with regards to the program. So far, there is no detailed plan for it, but a bank has done their capital landing, and they are boosting their progress. I noticed a question from the list, asking if there is no such program in the United States and European countries, or if it is not a mainstream practice and so can it work in China? In my opinion, it is not a major problem. China can have something that the United States doesn't have, such as spicy hotpot. But what we have to pay attention to is the possibility that linking investment and lending will bring more risks, so it's better to combine it with innovation in science and technology.
For the second question, it is a good thing that private capital enters the financial market, and it is necessary for China's economic development. It's especially necessary for the areas that the financial service doesn't cover or fully cover and that have inadequate competition. But there is also a big risk that we have to take notice of. We must adopt some measures to prevent a minority of people or capital from controlling the bank and turning it into a cash machine for connected transactions. Taking public deposits for their own investment will no doubt bring high risks, which may result in serious consequences. We have to prevent this from happening.
Wang Zhaoxing:
We all know that China's current financial pattern is dominated by bank-led indirect finance, which accounts for 90 percent of all indirect finance. Most of the banks are traditional banks, which specialize in traditional credit operations, including liquidity loans and fixed asset loans. They are not familiar with risk identification, judgment, measurement and management on high-tech innovative enterprises, which is a big challenge for banks. Meanwhile, these enterprises feature light assets, with high uncertainties and risks, without any tangible assets for mortgage, so they have also encountered many difficulties in financing.
With this background, we initiated the investment-lending linkage pilot program, making equity investments for start-ups and growing enterprises and supporting them with bank loans later to establish a complete supporting chain. As a brand new exploration, the program also means a lot of risks and challenges for traditional banks. So we encourage pilot projects.
We have selected five cities for pilot projects, including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Xi'an and Wuhan. A total of 10 banks are involved. In addition to setting up new institutions, we are also preparing negotiations with technology enterprises that may receive equity investments in the future. A project database will be built. Once the subsidiary companies are approved by the State Council, the project will be on the fast track.
Cao Yu:
Now, Ill briefly introduce our work on private banks. A pilot program on private banks was carried out in 2014 during which we approved five such banks. In 2015, we made systemic preparations and improved various rules. By 2016, we saw normalized and regular operation of private banks. Therefore, we approved the establishment of 12 more last year, three of which have already started business. The operation of private banks last year was generally smooth. By year-end, the total assets of the existing eight private banks reached 180 billion yuan, and their outstanding loans stood at about 80 billion yuan. These banks have already begun serving the needs of society and the overall economy, and the legal and orderly operation of private banks has been achieved. Thank you.
Guo Shuqing:
Thank you all for your attendance, today. You are always welcome to offer your advice and suggestions on our work.
Hu Kaihong:
Todays press conference ends here. Thank you every one.
The 13th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is held in Pakistani capital Islamabad on March 1.
The mega "Belt and Road (B&R)" initiative is catching global attention faster than many people had expected. Interestingly, it was mentioned both directly and indirectly at the 13th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in Pakistani capital Islamabad on Wednesday.
Set up in 1985 by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey and later expanded in 1992 to include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, the 10-member ECO is a formidable forum of nations with about half a billion population.
The 13th Summit was attended by presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, Prime Minister of Kyrgyz Republic, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan and Special Envoy of the Afghan president. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired the meeting.
Though China is not part of the grouping, its representative, Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, was invited as a special guest to address the summit. In fact, he was the only representative to address the summit as a guest speaker.
The theme of the Summit was "Connectivity for Regional Prosperity," which assumed special significance in the backdrop of monumental project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) being implemented by Pakistan and China to link up the two nations through a network of infrastructure projects.
The CPEC is part of the greater Chinese dream project of Belt and Road through which China aims to link up the world for greater connectivity to facilitate trade and commercial activities.
Prime Minister Sharif was the first to refer to the B&R when he talked about the importance of the CPEC in the context of increasing connectivity among the ECO members. He said that "perhaps no project better symbolizes Pakistan's conception of win-win cooperation through connectivity, than the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor."
He also said that it was "gratifying that CPEC is now being recognized as a catalyst for energy infrastructure, transport connectivity and trade in the whole of South and Central Asia."
A day before the summit, Pakistan's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz said at the meeting of ministers of the ECO nations that the member states can get benefit of the CPEC and can use the Gwadar seaport, which was built through Chinese assistance and now its operational control is also with China.
The CPEC in fact terminates at Gwadar, thus linking up western China with the warm waters of the Arabian Sea and through it with the Gulf, Africa and Europe.
The presence of a senior Chinese official was also reassuring that the ECO region may at some point be directly getting involved in the projects of CPEC undertaken under the ambit of B&R.
Speaking as special guest, Mr. Zhang Yesui said that the ECO will help promote China's initiative of "Belt and Road cooperation" for greater regional integration, development, and prosperity.
He also urged the ECO countries to step up strategic communication and cooperation for greater and in-depth regional cooperation. He said ECO countries have friendly ties with China in terms of cultural linkages, proximity, and old China Silk Road.
The summit was a great success as it adopted Islamabad Declaration and Vision 2025 delineating a road-map for greater regional cooperation and integration over the next 10 years.
As the ECO leaders made commitment to focus on projects to increase connectivity, it is matter of time that some of them will link up with the CPEC. In fact, the expansion of ECO in 1992 was made with an objective to provide sea access to the landlocked Central Asian states, which had won independence after the demise of the USSR.
The Gwadar port is at the end of one of the shortest route from Central Asia to the open sea. With a full operational seaport, an international airport which is being built by China as part of the CPEC projects, and industrial parks to facilitate trade, Gwadar is but natural destination of several ECO nations, which may reap the benefits of mega Chinese projects.
There are reports that Iran has already expressed desire to become part of the CPEC. There is also possibility that a multi-billion dollars gas pipeline project to provide Iranian gas to Pakistan may be further expanded to China along the CPEC route. It shows that the B&R and its related schemes offer endless possibilities for the world.
Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Flash
The Syrian army captured the historic citadel of Syria's ancient oasis city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, after battles with the Islamic State (IS) group, a military source told Xinhua.
The Syrian army and allied fighters captured the Palmyra citadel west of the city, as well as the Qatari Castle southwest of Palmyra amid a collapse in the ranks of the IS militants, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The IS fighters are fleeing toward the residential part of the city, he added.
The Syrian army unleashed a counter offensive 47 days ago to retake Palmyra, after the IS militants captured it for the second time last December.
The source said the city could entirely fall back to the army forces soon.
IS takes the city important as it connects areas under the terror group's control in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour with areas under its control in the eastern countryside of the central province of Homs.
Palmyra contains monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.
Syria has many prehistoric, Greek, Byzantine and Islamic heritages. Before the crisis, Syria had attracted many multinational archaeological missions coming for new clues of historical facts on the development of civilizations.
Flash
The United Nations and humanitarian agencies said that the number of people displaced by the ongoing fighting in western Mosul in north Iraq has continued to surge, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here on Wednesday.
Since Feb. 25, people have fled western Mosul on an average of about 4,000 people per day, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing.
"Humanitarian assistance to displaced families is ongoing, at security screening sites and in displacement camps," the spokesman said.
"Humanitarian partners were also able to enter parts of western Mosul for the first time yesterday to establish humanitarian access in areas recently retaken from Da'esh," also known as the Islmaic State (IS), he said.
The troops' advance toward western Mosul came after the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Feb. 19 the start of an offensive to drive the extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of Tigris River which bisects the city.
In late January, al-Abadi declared the liberation of the eastern side of Mosul, or the left bank of Tigris, after more than 100 days of fighting against the IS militants.
However, the western side of Mosul, with its narrow streets and a heavy population of between 750,000 and 800,000, appears to be a bigger challenge to the Iraqi forces, according to the United Nations estimates.
Mosul, 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
Flash
Iraqi security forces on Wednesday fought heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militant group in the western side of Mosul, while other forces continued advancing in rural areas in the west of the city, the Iraqi military said.
Federal police and interior ministry special forces, known as Rapid Response, carried out clearing operation in the buildings and streets of the recently-freed neighborhoods of Jawsaq and Tayaran in the southern outskirts of Mosul, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
During the day, the clashes left 15 IS militants and a sniper killed and destroyed four booby-trapped buildings, two car bombs and a bomb-making site, according to the statement.
The clearing operation came as the troops recaptured the neighborhood of Jawsaq and secured the foot of its strategic bridge across Tigris, locally known as 4th Bridge, bringing the troops at the edges of the old neighborhood of Dawassa, where some of main government buildings located.
The commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Serves (CTS) continued progress in the neighborhood of Wadi Hajar in the city's southern outskirts and managed to seize 70 percent of the neighborhood amid fierce clashes with IS militants, the statement said.
CTS special forces also completely cleared the residential buildings of Mamoun neighborhood, while conducted initial progress in the adjacent Mansour neighborhood, leaving some 40 IS militants killed.
Outside the city, the army's 9th Division and Shiite paramilitary Hashd Shaabi unit are advancing through an open desert in the west of Mosul.
The operations in the west of Mosul were aimed at severing the road between western Mosul and the IS-held town of Tal Afar to prevent the extremist militants from resupplying or retreating as they come under pressure from Iraqi forces advancing from the south.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced the start of an offensive on Feb. 19 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.
Flash
Malaysia will revoke visa-free entry for citizens from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) starting from Monday, Malaysia's Bernama news agency reported on Thursday, citing deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The decision came after a DPRK man with the passport name of "Kim Chol" was murdered by two women at the Kuala Lumpur Airport on Feb. 13. The police believed the two female suspects, along with four other DPRK nationals, planned and carried out the attack.
Zahid said the decision was made after taking into account national security as a priority, according to the Bernama report.
Malaysia indicted the two female suspects on Wednesday for murder. The third suspect, a DPRK national called Ri Jong Chol, is still in police custody but his remand period will end this Friday.
Zahid told the media he will be briefed on the handling of Ri, saying whether the police will release Ri or prosecute him will be known on Thursday.
Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that grants visa-free treatment for DPRK citizens and is the only one that enjoys visa-free entry when its citizens enter DPRK.
A diplomatic row emerged between the two countries as the DPRK side accused the Malaysian side of "colluding with hostile forces" and delaying the release of the body. The DPRK government also sent a high-level delegation to Malaysia to discuss about the matter.
Malaysia insisted its objectivity and professionalism in the investigation.
Flash
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then a Republican senator, spoke with Russian ambassador twice during Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year, and he didn't reveal it at Senate hearings for his confirmation, U.S. media reported Wednesday.
Sessions spoke on the phone privately with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak from his office in September, said the reports.
Two months before the phone talks, Sessions also met with Kislyak and talked to him informally when attending an event held at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation along with 50 other ambassadors, Sessions' spokeswoman Sara Isgur Flores admitted to local media.
"It was short and informal," the spokeswoman said, adding that as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, Sessions regularly met foreign ambassadors.
"Last year, the Senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, (South) Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors," Flores said in a statement.
Sessions was not trying to mislead fellow senators when he said during his confirmation hearing that he had not had contacts with Moscow, the spokeswoman said.
During the hearings, when asked what he would do if he learned a member of Trump's campaign had communicated with the Russian government over the course of the 2016 campaign, Sessions responded: "I'm not aware of any of those activities ... I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Officials at the Justice Department said Sessions did not consider his talks with Kislyak relevant to the lawmakers' questions and did not remember their discussion in detail.
The U.S. FBI is probing possible communications between Trump campaign aides and Russian officials. Sessions was an early Trump supporter and one of his top advisers during the campaign.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Wednesday night that if the FBI determines Trump's campaign illegally coordinated with Russia, Sessions should recuse himself from making the decision whether to pursue prosecutions.
"If there were contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, they may be legitimate; they may be OK. I want to know what happened between the Trump campaign, the Clinton campaign and the Russians," Graham said on CNN.
Meanwhile, Democrat Elijah Cummings, a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called on Sessions to resign immediately.
Trump's first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn stepped down last month after it was reported that he had discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak in December, and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the details.
Flash
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday unveiled his plans on a "new chapter" of Europe, ushering in an era of soul-searching for the bloc hit hard by Brexit.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (L) and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani attend a joint press conference after Juncker addressing the "White Paper on the Future of Europe" at European Parliament, in Brussels, Belgium, March 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]
Addressing the European Parliament's plenary session, Juncker said the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome "will not simply be a birthday of celebration, it will also be a birth moment of the EU at 27".
"Let's turn the page and commence a new chapter in our history," he said.
The white paper laid out five "pathways to unity" for the EU's remaining 27 member states. It was hammered out by the College of Commissioners on Wednesday after a spate of debates, seminars and meetings that have been taking place since Feb. 22.
The white paper set out five scenarios for the EU in the next decade, each offering a glimpse into the potential state of the the EU.
The first scenario, titled "Carrying On", envisages the EU27 focusing on delivering its positive reform agenda in the spirit of the Commission's New Start for Europe from 2014 and of the Bratislava Declaration agreed by all 27 member states in 2016.
The second scenario foresees an EU with "nothing but the single market".
The third scenario, titled "Those Who Want More Do More", would see the EU 27 member states proceeding as it is now but with willing member states doing more together in specific areas such as defense, internal security or social matters.
The fourth scenario, titled "Doing Less More Efficiently", envisages the EU27 focusing on delivering more and faster in selected policy areas, while doing less where it is perceived not to have an added value.
The fifth scenario, titled "Doing Much More Together", foresees member states deciding to share more power, resources, and decision-making across the board.
"It is the start of the process, not the end, and I hope that now an honest and wide-ranging debate will take place. The form will then follow the function. We have Europe's future in our own hands," said Juncker.
The white paper came weeks before British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to activate the Article 50 clause in Britain's EU membership by the end of March.
Article 50 refers to the formal procedure by which an EU member state notifies the European Council that it intends to leave the block.
Leaders of EU members states are due to discuss the white paper at a summit next week in Brussels. They will meet again in Italy on March 25 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which founded the predecessor of the EU.
This year is regarded as a crunch time for the EU, as several member states are set to hold general elections and euroskeptic leaders have the upper hand in the Netherlands and France in the polls.
Flash
French presidential candidate Francois Fillon confirmed Wednesday that he would be summoned on March 15 by the investigating magistrates over alleged fake jobs.
Francois Fillon attends a press conference in Paris, France on March 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]
But the 62-year-old conservative candidate said he would not withdraw from the presidential race.
"Only universal suffrage and not a prosecution can decide who will be the next President of the Republic. I will not give in, I will not surrender. I will not pull out," he said.
"My lawyer was informed that I would be summoned on March 15 by the examining magistrate to be questioned," he told a press conference.
It is unprecedented that a summon for questioning be launched a few days after the naming of the judges, without them having studied the case, on the simple basis of a police report manifestly biased, Fillon said.
Fillon is suspected to have paid his wife Penelope for 10 years as a parliamentary assistant without her having done the job, and also to have paid his children for questionable assignments.
A judicial inquiry into charges of the misappropriation of public funds, misuse of assets and the handling of stolen property was opened on January 25.
Last Friday, the charges were enlarged to include "insider influence and breach of mandatory declarations to the High Authority on transparence of public life".
"I will answer the judges' summons ... I will tell them my truth, which is the truth," Fillon said.
At the end of January, he had at first promised that he would withdraw from the race if he were formally charged, before taking a step backward in mid-February.
On Wednesday, Fillon once again presented himself as a victim of the justice system.
"The rule of law has been systematically violated ... The presumption of innocence has completely and entirely disappeared," he argued.
Since the revelation of the "fake jobs" scandal, Fillon has tried to continue his campaign in an always murkier context, but no longer makes appearances other than in closed sites, for fear that he could be met with raucous protests.
Fillon is also experiencing internal setbacks to his campaign, as his European and international affairs representative Bruno Le Maire announced Wednesday that he was resigning.
"I believe in keeping one's word," Le Maire said in a tweet, referring to Fillon's earlier promise to withdraw from the race if placed under investigation.
According to several polls, Fillon would be eliminated in the first round of voting, to the benefit of the the candidate of the extreme right Marine Le Pen and the founder of the En Marche movement Emmanuel Macron.
A sensational video purportedly by the Islamic State terrorist group, featuring an ethnic Uygur militant threatening to "shed blood like rivers" in attacks on Chinese targets, may or may not be what it was meant and believed to be, though some experts do see it as the "first", "direct" threat the terrorist organization has leveled against China.
But it justifies the Chinese government's worries regarding the seriousness of terrorist threats on home soil, given that some members of terrorist forces such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement have been colluding with international terrorist organizations such as IS.
However, more often than not these concerns have met with denial and dismissal from the West: The most popular Western narrative of late being innocent Uygurs rebelling against Han-Chinese "repression".
The killing of a Chinese hostage in 2015 by the IS group and increasing recent evidence of Uygur fighters joining jihadists in Syria and Iraq via Southeast Asia have made Beijing's critics haver somewhat, and the video lends further credence to Beijing's claims, especially the oft-ignored assertions of links between domestic and foreign terrorist elements.
Although the authenticity of the video warrants suspicion and needs verifying, a 2016 study by Washington-based think tank New America reported more than 100 Uygurs from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region had joined IS. It also identified Xinjiang as the single largest source of foreign IS fighters outside of Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
The video might just have borrowed the IS name in order to amplify its intimidating effects. But the footage of ethnic Uygurs undergoing terrorist training is a familiar element of similar previous terrorist propaganda.
The terrorist propaganda may lead to chain reactions in Xinjiang and beyond once it reaches its intended audience. It will also inspire heightened vigilance and precautions.
But it would be completely wrong to assume this is a hot potato that can be left to Beijing alone. There can be no more telling proof that terrorists threaten China as well as other countries.
The alleged IS fighter made it very clear the terrorists are targeting "infidels across the world", and they want to plant their flag "over America, China, Russia".
Whether or not the video is an authentic IS production, it reinforces the irrevocable fact that terrorism knows no national boundaries.
If the fight against terrorism continues to be bogged down in quarrels over definitions and standards, the whole world will remain vulnerable to the threats of terror.
A pedestrian walks past skyscrapers including, left to right, the Leadenhall building, also known as the Cheesegrater, the Aviva Tower, 30 St Mary Axe, also known as the Gherkin, and The Scalpel, in London. [Photo/Agencies]
Chinese firm CC Land confirmed it is in talks to buy the tallest building in City of London for 1.02 billion pounds ($1.26 billion), in the largest Chinese investment in the United Kingdom's real estate market if the deal is completed successfully, after a report in the Daily Telegraph.
Hong-Kong listed CC Land is controlled by Chinese property magnate Cheung Chung-kiu, one of the largest players in the real estate market in Chongqing. The tower the company seeks to buy is 122 Leadenhall Street, widely known as the "Cheesegrater" for its shape.
CC Land is seeking to buy out both British Land and Canada's Oxford Properties, joint venture partners in the 225-meter-high building, according to the report.
British Land, which owns 50 percent of the Cheesegrater said it and Oxford Properties, which owns the other 50 percent, were in advanced discussions regarding the possible sale of their interests in the Leadenhall Building.
"It is not certain that these discussions will lead to a sale of the building," according to British Land.
CC Land said in an announcement on Wednesday that the board of the company noted that there has been media coverage in relation to a potential acquisition of the Leadenhall Building, and "the board would like to inform the market that the company is in advanced discussions with respect to the potential acquisition of the Leadenhall Building and the company will make a further announcement if and as appropriate".
No formal agreement has yet been entered into with respect to the potential acquisition, so the potential acquisition may or may not materialize, the announcement said.
In January, CC Land acquired One Kingdom Street in Paddington for 292 million pounds.
Analysts said that Chinese investors have been actively spending on properties in London since the beginning of the year, which reflects their intention to diversify their asset portfolio globally, particularly when prices in the UK market are at a level they find adequate.
According to research by Savills, a London-based real estate services provider, Chinese investors spent 805 million pounds on property in London's West End in January.
Inner Mongolia innovation to get boost from eight science zones
Eight scientific research zones are to be established in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The eight zoneswhich bring the national total to 46will aim to promote innovation-driven economic growth and enhance China's international cooperation in the field.
The list was recently released by the Ministry of Science and Technology, which includes 46 science zones across the nation.
The aim of the zones is to enable China to take advantage of global scientific resources and increase its international influence in certain industries.
The eight zones, which involve a number of well-known brands such as Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd, are in cities including Hulunbuir, Ordos and Baotou, covering the agriculture, animal husbandry, rare earth materials, and clean energy sectors.
"Inner Mongolia has built-in advantages in terms of both its natural environment and its species. With these scientific zones, Inner Mongolia could absorb international science and technology power to make a better use of its resources," said Yu Guangjun, director of the Institute of Economics at the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences.
One of the highlights of these zones, which offers great potential for international cooperation, will be the development of the rare earths industry, a major sector in Inner Mongolia.
Wang Yan, a senior engineer at the Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths, said: "In recent years, our company has built up connections with various countries such as the US, Japan, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and France, launching projects on a global scale, covering aspects of the research and development of mineral resources and environmentally friendly materials."
"Our foreign investment has amounted to more than 20 million yuan ($3 million) in recent years," said Wang.
Zhang Jianqiu, chief executive officer of dairy giant Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd, which is benefiting from the establishment of the zones, said Yili has long been devoted to integrating onshore and offshore research and development resources and establishing a global innovation network.
According to Zhang, Yili has already set up a global network covering Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas. Its high-tech and high-added-value work now accounts for more than 40 percent of its total business. In addition, it launches new products at an annual rate of more than 100.
Yu, from the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences, added that the scientific research zones will contribute to raising China's independent research and development level, and enhancing its global scientific and technological competitiveness.
These aspects are important as China seeks to upgrade its economy, he added.
"We feel honored to be recognized as one of the eight scientific zones in Inner Mongolia. We are devoted to ensuring our regional horse industry boost the scientific and economic development of Inner Mongolia, and further benefit China as a whole," said Pamir, founder and general manager of Ewenki Kexing Horse Industry Co Ltd.
A Lotte Mart in Beijing, Feb 28, 2017. [Photo/China Daily]
South Korea's Lotte Group has suffered from sluggish growth in its retail business in China, analysts said.
Revenues of Lotte Group's hypermarkets sector slipped by 2 percent to 2,516 billion South Korean Won ($2.2 billion), as a result of its mediocre performance in China, according to its annual report released last month.
The group saw its same store sale growth in China decline by 14 percent in 2016 while its overall global sale growth slowed by 3.8 percent despite the growth in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Lotte Group has planned to close three retail stores in China in 2017 due to declining performance in 2016, the South Korean conglomerate said earlier.
Jason Yu, general manager of market research firm Kantar Worldpanel China, said: "Merely a regional player, Lotte hardly could compete with international or domestic retail giants in terms of scale. Lotte, which has no less than 1 percent of market share, has limited advantages in terms of merchandise, prices and shopping experience. It will also be under pressure from e-commerce where many South Korean brands can be bought online."
Lotte has 174 overseas hypermarket outlets and 115 of them are in China.
Zhao Ping, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, under the Ministry of Commerce, said: "Lotte's entry into China was mistimed. It came after other foreign retail giants such as Carrefour were expanding and occupying the market share in China. As a latecomer, most of its stores are located on the outskirts of cities, and the brand identity is not very familiar to consumers."
The unconventional locations and the lack of a brand identity have led to a drop off in consumer loyalty, Zhao added.
Yang Wenli, a 28-year-old economics researcher at a university in Beijing, said: "I have only been to Lotte's department store and duty-free shop in Seoul. But I have never shopped in its supermarket in Beijing, because I didn't know it existed here. Also, local brands such as Wumart can meet all my daily needs."
A Lotte supermarket in Beijing was fined 44,000 yuan ($6,400) by the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce for posting illegal advertising, Chinese media reported on Tuesday.
Since its first entry into the Chinese market in 1994, the Lotte Group has invested 60 billion yuan but it did not pay off as it expected.
Job seekers check out information on companies at a career fair in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/China Daily]
Those who were made redundant in capacity cuts to be supported
China needs to re-employ an additional 500,000 workers who were made redundant as a result of capacity reduction in the coal and steel industries this year.
Despite facing downward pressure on economic growth, the government plans to keep the unemployment rate in urban areas below 4.5 percent, according to a top human resources official.
In 2016, China created 13.1 million new jobs for urban residents, marking the fourth consecutive year in which more than 13 million new jobs were created. The registered unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 4.02 percent, almost 0.5 percentage points lower than the goal set for the year, Human Resources and Social Security Minister Yin Weimin told a news conference organized by the State Council Information Office on Wednesday.
Yin Weimin, human resources and social security minister. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Yin said 726,000 workers from 1,905 companies in the coal and steel industries who were made redundant as a result of capacity cuts have been re-employed last year. In May, the Ministry of Finance announced 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) in aid for coal and steel companies to resettle workers who had been made redundant, with about 30 billion yuan having been used last year. Local governments have also been asked to provide financial support and create jobs for workers made redundant as a result of capacity cuts.
"The government will give more support to the laid-off workers, especially those in their 40s and 50s, by providing them with training and helping them find job opportunities," he said.
Despite capacity reduction and downward pressure on economic growth, China has maintained the registered unemployment rate in urban areas at about 4.1 percent in recent years owing to economic restructuring and reform.
China's GDP exceeded 74 trillion yuan in 2016, with an economic growth rate of 6.7 percent, among the best in the world, Yin said.
"Between 2006 and 2010,1 percentage point of GDP growth helped create 1 million jobs. The number jumped to 1.7 million between 2010 and 2015, and further increased to 1.9 million in 2016," he added.
With economic structure optimized, more jobs are created, with the service sector likely to be more effective in creating jobs than the secondary sector. Last year, the service sector contributed 51.6 percent of China's GDP, 11.8 percent more than the secondary sector.
Yin said the government's economic reform, including tax reform and encouraging entrepreneurship, has been effective.
"Last year, an average of about 15,000 new companies were registered every day, up 3,000 year-on-year, which helped create 40 percent of the new jobs," he said.
The country also faces a challenge this year to create jobs for a historic high of almost 7.95 million university graduates, 300,000 more than last year.
Yin said the ministry will encourage graduates to work for grassroots organizations and offer tailored services for those who have difficulties in securing themselves a job.
An investor checks stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, February 24, 2017.[Photo/VCG]
BEIJING - A senior official Wednesday called for a cautionary approach when investing pension funds, tempering expectations that a large amount of pension funds would enter the stock market.
"The investment of pension funds does not necessarily mean putting them into the stock market -- that is just one of the choices," said You Jun, vice minister of human resources and social security, at a press conference.
Pension funds are the "lifeline" of ordinary people and the priority, should they be invested, is safety, You told reporters, adding that risks must be managed and investment returns ensured.
China is trying to increase the value of its locally managed pension funds to cope with the needs of its aging population.
Pensions are traditionally held by banks or used to purchase treasury bills. They are now allowed to be invested in a variety of financial products, including bonds and stocks.
Since the end of 2016, seven provincial-level regions have entrusted their pensions to the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) in the hope of more diverse and higher returns.
A total of 360 billion yuan ($52.33 billion) is being transferred from bank accounts across the country, operated by local authorities, to the NCSSF for investment, You said.
The move has been, and will continue to be, closely monitored amid calls for more long-term institutional investors to stabilize the market, which suffered plunges in the summer of 2015.
The government has set a 30 percent limit on the proportion of pension funds tied up in stocks.
Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. [Photo/VCG]
Guo Shuqing, new head of China's bank regulation agency, said on Thursday a unified system is in the pipeline to oversee asset management products across different financial sectors.
The system's aims include reducing the risk of shadow banking and pumping more capital into the real economy, he said.
The unified regulation would comprise a foundation for regulators in banking, securities and insurance to follow, Guo said at a news conference, where he made his debut as chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
Those regulators will be free to build on that foundation by creating rules requiring higher standards, he said. No specific date has been announced for the new system's rollout.
"Some cross-sector financial products are nested in multiple layers. Nobody knows where the capital eventually flows to. This phenomenon is the result, to a large extent, of lack of regulations," he said.
"We'll go through regulations on various types of banking business, and promptly update those that lag behind the latest developments in the banking business and risks, and abolish outdated rules."
The unified regulation clearly requires more regulatory coordination, analysts said.
Academics are calling for reform of the financial regulatory framework, involving banking, securities and insurance watchdogs, which are now operating under independent and isolated conditions.
But Guo said hearsay that he will lead the merging of the central bank and three regulatory commissions is only "rumors", without elaborating whether they will be merged in the future.
Instead, banking regulators will take an active part in and fully cooperate with the building of a coordination system among the central bank and three financial regulators, he said.
This will involve greater information sharing and coordination, as well as improving monitoring, early warning and prevention systems and control of systemic risks, Guo said.
The unification of regulations on asset management across different sectors in China is expected to cut back on companies using loopholes to avoid the rules.
Zeng Gang, director of banking research at the Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Currently, different financial institutions have their own asset management products under different regulatory requirements. Each asset management product is quite different from the others in terms of its sources of money, group of clients and destination of investments.
"As asset management regulations are different across sectors, a financial institution can invest its products in those of other institutions in other sectors ... to avoid certain regulations in its own sector. By making a unified basic regulation on the same standards, regulators will solve the problem."
The central bank, along with the regulators in the three sectors, also will build a statistical system and a database for financial products to have a clear understanding of where the money comes and goes, according to Zeng.
"If regulators find the money goes into an area they disapprove of, they can call off that particular business. The increase of regulatory costs will also motivate banks to inject more capital in the real economy," Zeng said.
The Tesla Model X car is displayed on media day at the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, Sept 29, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]
Tesla's revenue from China more than tripled to $1.07 billion last year, rekindling faith that the country will eventually become the company's biggest market as predicted by Tesla boss Elon Musk.
China contributed more than 15 percent of Tesla's $7 billion total revenue last year, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Sales from the United States reached $4.2 billion or 60 percent.
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2003, the company has been seen as a "disrupter" in the traditional auto industry and is one of the leading electric car maker.
The surge in China sales comes after a soft year in 2015 when Tesla's revenue fell by a third, due to slow deliveries and orders.
Last month, Zhanjiang city in Guangdong province announced that the first four Tesla superchargers have been set up and put into use. The plug-in speeds up the charging process by up to 16 times.
All up, the country plans to build 800,000 charging points this year, including 100,000 public ones, for electric vehicles to meet increasing demand, according to the National Energy Administration.
More electric cars are already sold in China than in the rest of the world combined, according to an earlier report by Reuters.
A woman says goodbye to her dog at a dog kindergarten in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo/China Daily]
One of my friends has had a poodle called Snow for years. It recently gave birth to four puppies, and she asked if I would be interested in having one.
"It's not much work taking care of a puppy, all you need to do is walk and feed him," she said.
But she was also quick to add: "For Snow, I just buy imported dog food since I have no time for cooking, that costs 1,000 yuan ($145) a month including snacks. Her liver is not functioning well, and the doctor has prescribed some liver supplement health products, which cost approximately 300 yuan a month."
I hesitated.
"It's getting more convenient to keep a pet now unlike before. There are pet hospitals everywhere and if you need to leave town, just find a pet-sitting place for 200 yuan a day and she'll be taken good care of. Oh, by the way, dog clothes shops totally blow your mind and the vests are just adorable."
"You can also take him to dog cafeterias when he's older. There are also dog social networks, dog swimming pools, bring-your-dog cinemas and bring-your-dog bars, and a dog kindergarten too."
Stunned, I turned down the offer.
According to market research firm Euromonitor, some 30 million households, or nearly 7 percent of the nationwide total, owned a dog in 2015.
The National Bureau of Statistics said China is the third in the world for dog ownership, behind only the United States and Brazil.
Total consumption in the pet industry on the Chinese mainland reached 97.8 billion yuan in 2015, and is likely to surpass 200 billion yuan by 2020.
Multinationals including Mars and Nestle all want a piece of this big pie, while some domestic dog food brands like Nory Pet, Aojia and Nusunpet are also vying for a share.
Dog food sales alone are expected to almost treble to over $760 million by 2019, Euromonitor data show, as increasing disposable incomes make keeping a pet an affordable luxury for more Chinese, especially in more developed cities.
A friend of mine, Chen Yu, a 37-year-old doghouse owner in Hangzhou, said raising a dog is more of a symbol of success and wealth for many Chinese, especially purebred dogs.
My neighbor recently bought a pet insurance for her Akita dog and signed up for a dog kindergarten for him in the daytime when she's at the office, which is what I'm already about to do for my 10-month-old son.
The Akita that have origins in northern Japan have become very popular with Chinese thanks to their mild temperament and being loyal to their owner, he told me.
A purebred dog costs some 30,000 yuan and most of the queuing buyers are wealthy couples with no kids or single females, said Chen.
Obviously raising a dog is not just about feeding, walking and cleaning up after them. As a mother and working professional, I simply cannot afford to have a dog, no matter how good it may make me feel.
Employees work inside a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua in the southern Guangdong province May 26, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]
Subsidiary Sakai Display to invest $8.86b in facility
Sakai Display Products Corp, a subsidiary of the world's largest electronics contractor Foxconn Technology Group, began construction of the world's largest 8k-resolution panel factory in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, on Wednesday.
The factory, with an investment of 61 billion yuan ($8.86 billion), will mainly produce the 10.5 generation panel, substrate glass and related product lines, and serve as a major supplier for Japanese TV set maker Sharp Corp, according to the company.
Earlier, SDP completed registration of a wholly owned subsidiary in Guangzhou, the SAKAI Sio International Guangzhou Co Ltd, which will be responsible for construction and operation of the panel factory.
The panel facility, following Foxconn's opening of its first processing line in Shenzhen in 1988, has become the largest overseas investment project in Guangzhou since China embarked on reform and its opening up in 1978.
"It will not only be a panel processing factory, but a concept of building an ecological town featuring high-end technology in the city of Guangzhou," said Terry Gou, chief executive officer and chairman of Foxconn Technology Group.
Gou made the remarks during an opening ceremony on Wednesday in Zengcheng, a suburban district of Guangzhou, where the project is located.
According to Gou, the panel factory had also helped encourage a number of major electronics suppliers to move their business to Zengcheng.
"The 8k-resolution technology will be widely used in TV displays and medical treatment, traffic control and smart homes, helping to build a healthier living environment featured by high-end technologies," said Gou.
He refused to respond to reports of Foxconn planning to open another large LCD panel factory in the US state of Pennsylvania, saying the issue remains under discussion.
"We are focusing on expansion of panel productions in this Guangzhou facility to meet the growing demand of high-end panels in the TV set market," said Gou.
According to Gou, construction of the factory will be completed within two years, helping it become the world's largest and most advanced 8K processing facility.
The facility will mainly produce 65-inch and 75-inch panels, helping to create more than 15,000 jobs and generate 92 billion yuan in production value each year.
Lin Jiang, a professor with the Sun Yat-sen University, said Foxconn's new operations will be of great importance to help attract more IT businesses to the Pearl River Delta region.
China Tower Corp gets busy optimizing infrastructure of the country's mobile companies
In a quiet street in western Beijing stands a building, not new, not tall, not clad in fancy glass common to modern high-rise office towers. In fact, the building is so ordinary looking that you would barely notice it when passing by. Even two nearby restaurants had to close due to the sparse human traffic.
But this building is where China experiments with one of the most drastic reforms in State-owned enterprises. It is the headquarters of China Tower Corp, a company with more than 300 billion yuan ($43.5 billion) assets. The enterprise is a pilot project for China to restructure State-owned enterprises and to give the market a bigger role in the telecoms sector.
China Tower came into existence in 2014 to handle the tower assets of the country's top three mobile telecoms carriers. By adopting the "sharing economy" model, the plan was to avoid overlapping construction in telecoms infrastructure and to boost efficiency.
"From the first day China Tower was established, we shouldered the mission of reform," Liu Aili, chairman of China Tower, said in the company's sparsely decorated office. The company rents four floors of the building as offices.
In 2015, China Tower marshalled 203.5 billion yuan worth of existing telecoms tower assets from its clients and shareholders China Mobile Communications Corp, China United Network Communications Group Co and China Telecommunications Corp.
Since then, it has been working hard to make the most of existing towers and to promote the sharing rate of newly built ones. By installing multiple base stations on one tower, the company has saved the three carriers the expense of 500,000 towers.
That equals 88 billion yuan less in infrastructure costs and helps reduce the land use by 15 square kilometers.
"The model has significantly lowered costs and boosted efficiency," said Xiao Yaqing, chairman of China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
The reform also goes deeper than sharing infrastructure resources. Compared with other State-owned enterprises that are overstaffed, China Tower only has 91 management personnel, overseeing roughly 18,500 employees. In comparison, the average level among SOEs of an equal size is 300.
Even by the standard of its US counterpart, the American Tower Corp where one employee manages 25 towers on average, the China Tower is leaner, with one person overseeing 125 towers, the company said.
"We recruit online, process procurement online and coordinate work via our IT system," said Tong Jilu, general manager of China Tower. The company has a procurement team of only eight members responsible for laying down purchasing standards, while leaving local staff with the final say.
"With all processes listed online, each tower has its own balance book to ensure fairness and transparency," said Tong. "I can't recall any supplier coming to us for questions in the past couple of months."
Tower manufacturers are also quick to embrace the all-going-online strategy. The Hebei province accounts for 60 percent of all towers made in China. Shortly after China Tower was established, it signed a deal with the Hebei provincial government to help upgrade the traditional manufacturing sector.
China Tower set up unified standards for towers, and encouraged the province's more than 100 tower constructors to form five big groups.
Wang Changchun, general manager of Hebei Yixin Communication Equipment Co Ltd, a key tower manufacturer in China, said after China Tower set up the online purchasing platform, the company's operating costs went down significantly.
"Thanks to the guiding role by China Tower, we are transforming from small-and-scattered family workshops to standardized production plants," Wang added.
China Tower Corpa timeline
July 2014
China Tower Corp is established
Oct 2015
Absorbs 203.5 billion yuan telecom tower assets from China's top three mobile carriers
Dec 2015
Saves about 50 billion yuan in expenses on nearly 265,000 telecom towers
Jan-Nov 2016
Saves 30.6 billion yuan in expenses on nearly 190,000 telecom towers
Nov 2016
Owns and operates more than 1.7 million telecom towers
2017
Plans to go public
SOURCE: CHINA TOWER CORP
China Tower Corp is moving into new business areas, as it steps up its efforts to make better use of its 1.7 million telecoms towers across the country.
In an industrial park in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, stands a smart electric pole. It is equipped with base stations which can receive telecoms signals, an air monitor, surveillance cameras and an advertising board. When connected to electricity, it can also function as a charging point for electric cars.
Such telecoms towers have been put into use in Nanjing, Hangzhou and other cities. It is part of broad efforts by China Tower to diversify its business, amid expectations that the number of towers will surge in the coming years.
Tong Jilu, general manager of China Tower, said: "In the near future, the number of telecom towers will be higher in our cities. With access to both wired and mobile networks and linked to a good power supply, our towers can be shared by different industries."
Currently, the country's top three telecoms carriers have a combined 94 percent stake in China Tower. China Reform Holdings Corp, a government-backed investment firm, accounts for the remaining 6 percent.
China Tower aims to go public this year, so as to broaden the financing channels, optimize the capital structure and improve corporate governance.
Xiang Ligang, a telecoms expert and chief executive of the telecoms industry website cctime.com, said telecom towers are valuable assets because they occupy real estate, connected to the internet and electricity.
"Although it takes three to five years to build a nationwide network of towers, the telecoms infrastructure can be of great appeal and is irreplaceable once established," Xiang said.
China Tower is also partnering with the China Earthquake Administration to build a digital system which can better collect real time earthquake data. To take advantage of telecoms towers' ability to send and receive digital signals, the Beijing-based company has also teamed up with QXWZ.com to leverage China's Beidou satellites to offer better mapping and navigation services.
Peter Liu, research director at consultancy Gartner Inc, said it was of great importance for China Tower to experiment with new business opportunities, because that would help prepare for future volatility in the telecoms industry.
Han Xu in her formal uniform. [Photo/VCG]
On the evening of Feb 27, Han Xu was on her way to the cinema before her phone buzzed. The call was from the local police bureau.
A 60-year-old man was found dead at a hotel. Suspecting it was murder, police immediately called Han Xu, a f orensic expert, for an on-the-spot investigation.
It took Han about half-an-hour to finish her work professionally and extract evidence.
Han, 28, graduated from the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2013. She planned to work at a hospital where she interned in Tianjin, but by chance, she learned about an opportunity to become a legal medical examiner at the National Police University of China.
Han has always looked up to her father, who is a policeman, since she was a little girl. She applied to get into the course in Northeast China's Liaoning province and was admitted.
After graduating in October 2015, she came to Central China's Wuhan to work as a f orensic expert.
Han said she was not scared of dead bodies because of her medical training background, though sometimes she finds it hard to read the death notices and see relatives crying.
Besides on-site investigations, one major part of her work is to give a detailed explanation of the cause of death to grieving relatives, as they are more inclined to accept the reality then.
"Corpses don't talk, but we can speak for them," Han said. She has investigated over 100 death scenes in the past year and a half.
Han said her job has also made her treasure time and life more.
Editor's note: This is the seventh story in a series of previews on the two sessions - the annual gatherings of the nation's top legislature and its top body of political advisers. The sessions will start later this week.
China's outbound mergers and acquisitions are likely to decline slightly this year, due to the changing global environment, experts said.
Chinese companies' interest in going overseas or acquiring companies outside of China is still very high, but the overall number and value of deals will be reduced, due to Western countries' changing attitudes toward Chinese investment, said Edward Tse, founder and CEO of Gao Feng Advisory Co, a global strategy and management consultant.
"Chinese companies' overseas investment will certainly be lower than the peak level in 2016, but I don't think there is going to be dramatic drop," he said.
Last year, China's outbound M&A surged by 142 percent in volume and by 246 percent in value, to a record $221 billion, according to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
A report by Rhodium Group said the European Union continues to be a favorite destination of Chinese investors, with more than 35 billion euros ($36.9 billion) of outward foreign direct investment transactions last year - an increase of 77 percent from 2015.
Germany and the United Kingdom accounted for more than half of total incoming Chinese investment last year.
The United States was the largest recipient of Chinese outbound foreign direct investment last year, with $45.6 billion in completed acquisitions and greenfield investments. However, President Donald Trump has said the US will take a tougher stance toward Chinese companies.
Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said that to date, EU authorities have not rejected any major investment in the EU. He said the EU is becoming increasingly worried about state intervention in international investments in its economy, and rising populism is putting pressure on decision-makers.
He said the EU member states should remain open and make sure that international investors in the EU have a predictable and transparent investment environment.
"For Chinese companies, it is important to see that their investment ideas in Europe are basically accepted and are granted in the right and proper legal setting," he said.
Hu Tianlong, a research fellow with the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University of China, said M&A deals in technology industries worldwide will be more difficult for Chinese companies this year.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi is greeted by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.Aaron Bernstein / Reuters
Top diplomats agree regular high-level contacts will keep relationship healthy
State Councilor Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reaffirmed on Tuesday the importance of a constructive bilateral relationship between their two countries and agreed to further develop ties.
During their meeting at the US State Department in Washington, Yang said that in a phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in February, the two sides agreed to work together to achieve greater results in further developing China-US relations.
In line with the consensus reached by the two heads of state and following the principles of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, China is willing to ramp up exchanges with the US in all areas and expand cooperation and coordination on regional and global issues, Yang said, according to a Foreign Ministry news release.
He also said the two sides should respect each other's core interests and major concerns.
The efforts will ensure sustained and healthy development of China-US relations and benefit the people of the two nations and the world as a whole, Yang said.
Tillerson said the two presidents have set a positive tone for the development of their ties.
He said the US is willing to work with China to look at bilateral relations from a broader perspective and strengthen high-level dialogues and exchanges. In addition, he said the two sides will expand cooperation in various areas and deal with sensitive issues through consultation, according to the news release.
In their meeting, Tillerson and Yang affirmed the importance of a constructive bilateral relationship and of regular high-level engagements between the US and China, according to acting US State Department spokesman Mark Toner.
"The secretary and the state councilor discussed the importance of improving and maintaining a mutually beneficial economic relationship between the two largest economies in the world," Toner said.
They also discussed areas of mutual concern, including the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, according to Toner.
He said China invited Tillerson to visit Beijing, and the US diplomat expressed interest in doing so in the near future.
Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said the interaction between top diplomats from the two countries could create a favorable environment for a possible meeting between Xi and Trump.
"It also helps to ensure the stable development of China-US relations at a time when Trump adjusts Washington's foreign policy early in his presidency," Li said.
Xie Yang gives an interview. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Chinese authorities have refuted foreign media reports that a Chinese lawyer had been tortured in police detention, saying that these allegations were fabricated to tarnish China's image.
Xie Yang, a lawyer in Hunan province, was probed on suspicion of subversion and disrupting court order in July 2015. He then began living under surveillance and legal proceedings began in January, according to a report by Global Times on Wednesday.
However, since October, many foreign media organizations have reported that Xie was tortured by police in detention, including beatings and lengthy interrogations. But these allegations were made up by another Beijing lawyer, Jiang Tianyong, Global Times reported.
An independent investigation team set up by the Hunan Provincial People's Procuratorate also concluded that the allegations are fake, the report said.
Xie Yang, who is now awaiting trial, also said that he slept nine hours a day, and medical checks show that he is in good health.
Jiang, whose lawyer's license was revoked by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice in 2009, has been held under criminal detention since December on suspicion of subversion and illegally holding classified documents, the report said.
Jiang confessed that he deliberately fabricated the torture stories because he was unsatisfied with the Chinese government and wanted to change China's current political system.
"I'm willing to confess to my crime," he was quoted as saying.
Jiang said he's fully aware that such stories would cater to the taste of Western media, which is keen to report negative China stories, particularly relating to torture. By using the Western media, he could attack the Chinese government and tarnish the image of China's judicial organs, according to Global Times.
The report said Jiang managed to contact Xie's wife in September 2015 and won her trust to become Xie's attorney. Jiang then told her how to fabricate stories about Xie being tortured to exert pressure on Chinese authorities.
Jiang edited the piece and published it in a series, and also sent the stories to an activist overseas, as the man said he hoped to submit the piece to the European Commission of Human Rights, Jiang was quoted as saying.
"We've probed the police officers, people who stay together with Xie under residential surveillance and Xie himself, and concluded that the torture allegations are fake," an unnamed director of the investigation team was quoted as saying.
"Left-behind" girls in rural China, whose parents have moved from their hometown in search of work in cities and towns, have a smaller chance of attending school than their male counterparts, due, in part, to a long-held perception that men are entitled to more privileges than women, according to a recent research.
The Annual Report on Left-behind Girls in China's Rural Areas (2016), issued on Wednesday by the China Social Welfare Foundation, found that 78.9 percent of parents in villages are inclined to bring their sons with them to bigger cities for better education. In addition, when they only have finances to pay for one child's higher education, 97.5 percent of them would choose sons over daughters.
China's compulsory basic education system waives most fees for elementary and middle schools, resulting in 96.1 percent of girls in rural areas attending school from ages 6 to 11. However, only 79.3 percent have access to high school education when they are aged 15 to 17, the research found.
"Dear Mom and Dad, please do not treat me and my brother differently. When my brother does something well, he gets rewarded. What about me? No reward at all. Even when I do something well, you will say, 'This is not good enough, it should have been done better'," one girl wrote on a questionnaire issued by the research team.
Liu Yan, of the foundation, said that when his team first started the research, they thought they could draw parallels between left-behind girls and girls in poverty.
"I was wrong. There is no such correlation. Financially, they can be doing fine. What makes their situation different is the lack of parenting. They crave their parents' love, just like any child, but they do not have it," Liu said.
"Some girls are told money means happiness, so they associate making money with being happy, but no one tells them why. That situation can easily drive young girls in the wrong direction," he added.
Yuan Guilin, a professor at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's International Research and Training Center for Rural Education, described left-behind girls as the "underdogs of underdogs".
"The organization has found a good angle to help the girls, by paying attention to details like whether they put on underwear, what they eat and drink, and how fairly they feel they are being treated," Yuan said.
A villager fires his gun to welcome visitors as part of a show held in the village.
Photographer has captured almost three decades of development in a once remote village where firearms are key
Kuang Huimin, from Hengshan, Hunan province, is a documentary photographer who focuses on topics such as environmental protection and social change.
Since 1989, the 52-year-old has been visiting a village in Southwest China's Guizhou province, where he has taken more than 80,000 photo for his book Changes in Biasha.
The 2,500-plus inhabitants of Biasha, 7.5 kilometers from Congjiang, the county seat, are of the Miao ethnic group and are known as China's last gun tribe.
For hundreds of years, they have held on to their unique traditions - using guns in ceremonies and to practice their marksmanship.
"Bia" means a "place with lush trees and grass" in the Miao language.
During the past 27 years, Kuang has traveled back and forth to Biasha more than 40 times, staying there for between seven and 15 days.
Before 2005, he stayed in villagers' homes, but now uses guesthouses. "The villagers were all very nice to me, but I didn't want to bother them all the time," he said.
With the development of tourism, more guesthouses were built. "It is much more convenient for travelers and photographers like me," he added.
Biasha has been transformed from a quiet, tranquil village into a well-known tourist spot, and the rapid rate of change has been the subject of many of Kuang's photos.
He believes that Biasha is in the grip of a generation gap: "The elders still preserve the traditional lifestyles. I've asked some older men how they feel about the changes in Biasha, and they told me they had nothing to do with them."
The younger generation, meanwhile, has been influenced by modernization. Since 2004, an increasing number of young people have moved away to become migrant workers in large cities. "Sometimes I have seen them getting together and chatting animatedly about their experiences and stories," Kuang said.
When he had dinner with his family during Spring Festival in 2009, Wu Jie, a young man from Biasha, told his brothers that the biggest benefit of migrating was learning to compose music and sing at a music training institute. Kuang captured the scene.
He has also noticed that married villagers would rather live by working the land at home, especially if they have more than two children to care for. In 1998, Gun Lashui went to work in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. He came home to get married in 2002 and has never set foot outside Biasha since.
It was once a tradition in Biasha that when girls married outsiders they were not allowed to return home. But now things are different. Kuang noticed that a girl who married a man in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, came back to see her family: "She returned with a refrigerator and a color television. The economic condition of her family was totally changed."
The Lusheng Festival - the most important celebration among people of the Miao ethnic group - is celebrated on the 19th day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar. The villagers dress up for the day, worshipping their ancestors in traditional ways, and the men play the lusheng, a type of reed pipe, and tell stories and the history of Biasha.
"Now, villagers play the lusheng for visitors every day, and some of the women have even joined the performance team," Kuang said.
He planned to conclude his project in 2014, but he found it difficult: "Biasha is changing all the time. Every time I went there, I saw new things."
Last year, the villagers began to build a reservoir in Zaizhang.
"Just within a few months, the wooden bridges and trees that I had photographed were gone. The changes have occurred too quickly, really," he said.
Kuang considers Biasha to be a microcosm of Chinese villages. "It is more than just a small village. It reflects a picture of the whole society. My photography project about Biasha may never end."
Chai Pingyan contributed to this story.
BEIJING - China on Wednesday released its strategy on cyberspace cooperation.
The International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace is the first China has released regarding the virtual domain.
The aim of the strategy -- jointly building a community of shared future in cyberspace -- illustrates China's approach to cyberspace cooperation. Notably one that is based on peace, sovereignty, shared governance and shared benefits.
The strategic goals of China's participation in international cyberspace cooperation are: the safeguarding of China's sovereignty, security and development interests in cyberspace; the secure and orderly flow of information on the Internet; improved global connectivity; maintaining of peace, security and stability in cyberspace; enhancement of international rule of law in cyberspace; the promotion of the global development of the digital economy; and deepening cultural exchange and mutual learning, according to the strategy.
China's plan of action includes promoting the building of rule-based order in cyberspace, expanding partnership with other countries, boosting institutional reform in Internet governance, jointly combating cyber terrorism and crimes, and protecting individual privacy in cyberspace.
China supports Internet-based innovation and entrepreneurship, and is committed to assisting developing countries with cyber security capacity building, it said.
The country supports the formulation of cyberspace trade rules and effective policy coordination among countries, said the strategy.
China will work with other countries to strengthen global information infrastructure to facilitate the smooth flow of information, and facilitate cyber culture cooperation among countries, according to the strategy.
With the animation, comic and games industry as a priority area, China will carry out practical cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road, encourage Chinese enterprises to provide online cultural products and services catered to local needs based on local cultural resources, said the strategy.
The strategy was issued by the Foreign Ministry and State Internet Information Office.
Chinese authorities presented awards to 10 female scientists on Feb. 28, in an effort to honor their remarkable achievements in the natural sciences. The awards were also intended to promote gender equality in the country's academic community.
The China Young Female Scientists Awards (CYFSA), an annual award honoring leading female scientists in China, was co-founded in 2004 by the All-China Women's Federation, the China Association for Science and Technology and L'Oreal China. This year's winners, outstanding experts in the fields of biomedicine, mathematics and materials science, all achieved great scientific progress through their cutting-edge research.
"I've received many awards as a scientist, but this one is quite unique," Tian Mei, a professor of medicine at Zhejiang University, told Thepaper.cn, adding that receiving the award makes her feel responsible for promoting gender equality in Chinese academia. Tian won the award for her research on molecular imaging technologies.
Du Lan, an expert in warning radar technologies, said that there is no biological difference between men and women when it comes to intelligence, but female scientists may face more obstacles in their academic careers compared to their male colleagues.
"Ever since I became a mother, I have to find a balance between my family and my career. I hope more public attention can be given to female scientists so that they can chase their scientific dreams," Du reflected.
Sexism in the academic community has dampened many female researchers' enthusiasm for the industry. According to Thepaper.cn, all the winners have, at one time or another, had people question their ability to carry out research because of their gender.
"The award was established 13 years ago. The winners have demonstrated advanced research skills, and we hope the award can offer more models for female researchers, encouraging them to stick with science," an executive from L'Oreal told Thepaper.cn.
Chinese has been added to the graduation exam list by an Italian high school and 29 students will take the test this year, the Guangming Daily reports quoting Italian local media.
Sophie Scholl, a high school specializing in linguistics, in Trento, northeastern Italy, has become the first school in the country to list Chinese as a graduation exam subject.
The Chinese course has been running at the Italian school for five years, and 145 of its 910 students have chosen to study the language.
Maria Silva Boccardi, director of the school, said Chinese will become a global language in the future and they set up the course because many students had asked for it.
"There were only a few schools (in Italy) who provided trial Chinese courses back then, but now, Chinese courses have become a crucial part of our overall teaching plan and we are welcoming our pioneer batch of graduates this year," she said.
Roberto, a Sophie Scholl student who is going to take the Chinese test before graduation, said writing Chinese characters is the most difficult aspect of learning the language.
"Although leaning Chinese is difficult for Italian students, when considering looking for better job opportunities overseas, China would definitely be my top choice," he said.
Maria Assunta Contino, a Chinese teacher at Sophie Scholl, said apart from the Chinese language, the school also provides Chinese history courses, and questions about Chinese history and cultures will also show up on the graduation exam.
Some students from Sophie Scholl are also heading to Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, for an educational exchange with local Chinese students during the summer holiday this year.
Statistics show that there are now about 150 schools providing Chinese courses in Italy, according to Guangming Daily.
A woman surnamed Huang rows a boat in Qiaogang town, Beihai city, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Feb 28, 2017. Huang, 80, returned to China from Vietnam about 40 years ago, and has been working on boats for 30 years. Although now with a family spanning four generations and despite most boats today being engine-powered, she still rows her boat to help transport fishermen and generate a small income. Huang said she is not used to sitting around and doing nothing and will keep rowing the boat as long as she can. [Photo/China News Service]
(ECNS) - After two children fell to their death from the fourth floor of a shopping mall, a lawyer said the father could be criminally liable for at least one fatality.
The father was holding two children, about 2 to 4 years old, when they looked down over a glass barrier at the mall in northern Tianjin.
Eyewitness said one child fell five floors to the basement level while the second also fell as the father tried to grasp the first.
Wang Youyin, a lawyer with Shengyun Law Firm in Beijing, said he believes it is highly possible the father will face criminal charges in the death of the second child.
He failed to fulfill his obligation of safe attendance, Wang explained.
The lawyer also called for the shopping mall to better ensure the safety of visitors, although its regulations may already satisfy the national safety standard.
Local police said the children included a brother and sister.
The tragedy gained wide attention on the Internet, provoking discussions on parenting as well as ensuring safety.
China vows strengthened crackdown on illegal publications
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-03-02 15:03
BEIJING - The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Thursday underscored building a clean online and offline environment for social harmony.
The office announced it will launch more campaigns in 2017 to crack down on piracy and online pornography to ensure the healthy development of children and young people.
Issues in live-streaming video, instant chat services and pop-up ads will be dealt with, said the office.
The office also urged early detection and punishment for illegal academic journals as well as blackmail by fake journalists.
In 2016, Chinese law enforcement confiscated over 16 million illegal publications and banned more than 14,000 websites disseminating harmful information.
CHANGCHUN -- China plans to build a national park 60 percent larger than Yellowstone National Park as a sanctuary for highly-endangered Siberian tigers and Amur leopards.
The Jilin provincial forestry department said on Thursday that the national park plan has been approved by the central authorities. It is designed to encompass 14,600 square km in northeastern provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang, bordering Russia's Primorsky.
Fan Zhiyong, Species Program Director with WWF Beijing, said the national park initiative is helpful in linking separate wildlife protection areas in the region, which would pave the way for wider China-Russia cooperation in wildlife protection in the region.
A comprehensive plan and pilot for the national park is expected to be carried out before 2020.
The Jilin provincial government has vowed to start preliminary work to prepare for national park management by the end of 2017.
Due to excessive logging in the 1950s, the ecosystem in the area was degraded, driving wild Siberian tigers to near extinction. A field survey jointly carried out by scientists from China, Russia and the United States in 1998 found evidence of only 6 to 9 wild Siberian tigers in the area.
With a logging ban in full effect in northeast China since April 2015 and decades of natural protection efforts, the number of tigers has rebounded. Experts estimated that there are currently five wild Siberian tiger families, or 27 in total, living in Jilin.
However, space limitations within nature reserves in China and Russia have restricted the natural growth of the species in the wild.
Ge Jianping, deputy director of Beijing Normal University and a tiger expert, said there are at least 35 tigers and 70 leopards in protected areas covering 4,000 square km. The area is far from enough space to accommodate the wild carnivores.
He said geological conditions on the Chinese side are more favorable than across the border for the endangered species.
"It is vital for China to make a long-term mechanism in order to consolidate and sustain the progress in protecting wild Siberian tigers and Amur leopards," he said.
WWF expert Fan said the planned national park is not only important for the survival of the endangered species but also for the protection of biodiversity in the northern temperate zone.
According to the forestry department, a monitoring and rescue center for wild tigers and leopards will be established along with other scientific and research facilities as the national park plan is implemented.
The national park is expected to become a channel for international exchange in wild animal protection, said Lan Hongliang, director of the Jilin Forestry Department.
He said national park management can help boost China's cooperation with international organizations, improve transparency in information exchanges and law enforcement, and break barriers in cross-border ecological corridors for wildlife.
China hopes national park management will be more efficient than current government-led wildlife protection.
The country's first national park pilot started last year in the Sanjiangyuan area in southwest China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to protect the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang (Mekong) rivers. It is expected to officially open in 2020.
Deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from Northeast China's Heilongjiang province arrive at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2017. The fifth annual session of the 12th NPC will open on March 5. [Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING -- Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) are gathering in Beijing for the top legislature's annual session, which will open on Sunday.
NPC delegations from outside Beijing all arrived in the capital on Thursday, and preparations for the session are complete, according to the press center of the fifth session of the 12th NPC.
Deputies from Northeast China's Heilongjiang province were the first to arrive.
NPC deputies are elected by people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The armed forces elect their own. Deputies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan follow separate election rules decided by the NPC.
Lawmaker Tan Zhijuan, a researcher on agriculture from Heilongjiang, has brought two bills, one on agricultural cooperatives and the other on supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector.
Lawmaker Weng Guoxing from East China's Fujian province, a medical doctor, said this year he would continue to focus his attention on health reform.
Documents for the meeting are translated into seven ethnic minority languages, including Mongolian, Tibetan and Uygur, and several foreign languages, including English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The NPC session will deal principally with the government work report, the central government budget and draft General Provisions of Civil Law.
The government work report will be delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening of the session when growth targets for the year will be unveiled.
The draft General Provisions of Civil Law have gone through three readings since June last year and are expected to be approved.
BEIJING -- China's procuratorates secured the return of 43 fugitive suspects from abroad in the first 11 months of 2016, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) revealed on Thursday.
The suspects, who returned from 19 countries and regions, include 15 on a list of China's top 100 fugitives in an Interpol "red notice," said Song Hansong, an anti-corruption official with the SPP.
A total of 548 million yuan ($80 million) of funds are involved in the cases.
Among them was China's most-wanted graft fugitive Yang Xiuzhu, who had been on the run for 13 years. She finally returned to China on Nov. 16, 2016 and turned herself in to authorities.
The return of these fugitives is a great deterrent to other fugitives, Song said.
The national strategy of synergizing the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei reaches its third anniversary this month, a project that has initiated enviable progress within the three regions and has received widespread acknowledgement.
"The long-term strategy of integrating three provinces and municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will contribute to balancing resources of the three regions, establishing their economic development zone positioning to have complementary advantages," said Jing Linbo, director of the Chinese Evaluation Center for Humanities and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Jing added that implementing the long-term strategy is not as easy as initially thought. "We should get rid of regional protectionisms that the local governments are concerned about boosting their own GDPs. Instead, we should seek economic efficiency on a broader scale," said Jing.
Wang Jefferson, principal of A.T. Kearney, shares similar ideas. "The strategy plays a crucial role in the integrated and synergetic development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province. The three regions should not be treated separately. On the contrary, we should regard these places as a whole ecosystem, and carry out industrial restructuring and upgrading within this system," Wang said.
Jing, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also acknowledged the importance of the integrated strategy in absorbing overseas investments. "I think we should encourage attracting foreign investments, not only because of the money inflows, but the related mechanism lying behind. In the meantime, we should also take full advantage of domestic investments, setting up a good balance," said Jing.
Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, greets the media at a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. Zou Hong / China Daily
Nation contributed a third of world economy
China will continue to be the engine of global growth as its economic fundamentals remain strong and resilient, a senior official said on Thursday, dismissing the pessimism regarding the country's economic prospects.
Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said China has made a good start in its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) and the country contributed about a third of world growth in 2016, more than any other country's contribution.
"China's steady growth has brought in greater demand, investment and products to the world economy and created many opportunities for cooperation," Wang said at a news conference.
China's growth target, as well as its policy and reform priorities, will be closely watched as the annual meetings of the country's top legislature and political advisory body open this week.
The country will also help improve global prosperity and regional infrastructure as it pushes the Belt and Road Initiative, Wang said.
The value of investment in 53 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached $14.5 billion last year, he said.
The annual meeting of the National Committee of the CPPCC, the country's top political advisory body, will open on Friday.
The National People's Congress, the top legislature, will convene on Sunday, with lawmakers reviewing and elaborating on Premier Li Keqiang's Government Work Report.
The consensus among economists is that China will keep its growth target unchanged at about 6.5 to 7 percent this year. The government will likely adopt a more expansionary fiscal policy by raising its budget deficits, while keeping its monetary policy neutral or even tighter to curb financial risks, they said.
Other reform priorities will include deepening supply-side reform, cutting excessive industrial capacity and reducing the burden for the corporate sector.
Ding Shuang, head of Greater China economic research at Standard Chartered Bank, said policymakers will emphasize economic and financial stability during the meetings and may raise the budget deficit to 3.5 percent of GDP, from last year's 3 percent, to maintain growth.
"In light of the impact of a cooling property market on investment and consumption, we think a more expansionary fiscal policy and higher budget deficit are needed to prevent growth from falling significantly below 6.5 percent," Ding said.
Xu Hongcai, an economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said China will likely achieve 6.8 percent GDP growth in the first quarter, as the economy has made a mild recovery since last quarter.
"With improved foreign trade, domestic investment and manufacturing activity picking up, I expect the growth momentum to continue at 6.8 percent in the first quarter," Xu said.
"While the correction in the property market and decline in auto sales will weigh on economic growth, the rise of the new economic drivers, such as tourism, high technology and the innovative industry will offset the negative impact," he said.
PARIS Tiny fossils that scientists say are the oldest ever found offer evidence of life on Earth 3.8 to 4.3 billion years ago, when our planet was still in its infancy, researchers reported on Wednesday.
Even at the more primitive end of the spectrum, "the microfossils we discovered are about 300 million years older" than any runners-up, said Dominic Papineau, a professor at University College London, who made the discovery.
Dating puts the fossils "within a few hundred million years" of the formation of the solar system, he said.
The results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.
The emergence of life not long after Earth formed would suggest it also could emerge on watery worlds outside our solar system at comparable stages of formation, the scientists said.
"If life happened so quickly on Earth, then could we expect it to be a simple process that could start on other planets?" asked the lead author, Matthew Dodd, a graduate student at the London Centre for Nanotechnology.
Earth and Mars are believed to have had liquid water on their surfaces at the same time, he noted.
"We could expect to find evidence for past life on Mars 4 billion years ago," Dodd said.
But it may be that Earth was "just a special case", he added.
The tiny fossils half the width of a human hair and up to half a millimeter in length take the form of blood-red tubes and filaments formed by ocean-dwelling bacteria that fed on iron.
Locked inside white, flowerlike quartz structures known to harbor fossils, they were found along what were once warm-water vents on the ocean floor, most often in deep waters.
Such iron-rich, hydrothermal systems still exist and are home to bacteria that may be similar to those unearthed by Dodd and his colleagues.
The site of the discovery, the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt in Canada, contains some of the oldest sedimentary rocks known on Earth.
Scientists say they formed between 3.77 and 4.29 billion years ago, and may have been the habitat for the planets first life-forms.
It is still not known when, or where, life on Earth began, but these deep-sea vents are seen as a good candidate.
Earth is thought to be about 4.57 billion years old, scientists said.
AFP
Cheng Shirong
After twenty three years in prison, Chen Man was acquitted of homicide and set free. When he arrived home and saw his parents again, he expressed gratitude to Cheng Shirong saying that "Cheng is my second mother and I will remember her all my life and reward her kindness".
Chen was given a suspended death sentence with probation in the year 1994 for murder and arson. Having known about the case, 60-year-old Cheng Shirong thought it was mishandled and fought hard for it to be reexamined; finally, after 11 years, those efforts bore fruit.
Wang Zhong, Chen's mother, said "We met Cheng Shirong, a colleague of Chen Man's father, on an agricultural tour in 2005. We told her about Chen Man's case. She had studied law and went online to find relevant information and then fought for the reexamination of the case."
Considering herself as a go-between, she appealed to judicial bodies for a retrial and to the general public for support. She also sought help from legal experts and lawyers.
In fact, Cheng was not a legal expert but had studied law by herself. The only thing that made her authoritative was that she had passed the national judicial exams by self-study. Based on her legal knowledge, senior Cheng studied Chen's three case files for two months and discovered that the evidence listed in the judgment documents appeared to be insufficient to prove his crime.
She sent appeal letters to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme Procuratorate and even went there in person to have the case reviewed, but got no response. But she never gave up. In 2011, Cheng Shirong learned to use microblog and started posting relevant material.
"I spent several months reading, analyzing and listing important points of the files and systemized an introduction to the case. Then I contacted as many experts and lawyers as possible and documented their names. Over the last eleven years I have sought help from more than 100 legal experts and lawyers," Cheng Shirong said.
But difficulties were always there. In May 2009, Chen Man's parents received a letter from the Supreme People's Court saying that they wouldn't rehear the case which made Cheng feel desperate.
"But how could I bear to give up? His parents were more than 80 years old and they phoned me every several days. Sometimes they couldn't dare to ask about the case, they could only extend their greetings to me," Cheng said.
Then there was a turning point. In July 2013, under the initiative of renowned lawyer Li Jinxing, a group specializing in vindication was established. With the involvement of lawyers, a series of activities were held including seminars and campaigns to appeal to judicial bodies and all sectors of society.
Thanks to those efforts on February 16 2015 Chen's lawyer received a notice of review from the Supreme People's Court and promptly launched an appeal seeking a reversal of judgment.
South Korea's Lotte Group has suffered from sluggish growth in its retail business in China, analysts said.
Revenues of Lotte Group's hypermarKets sector slipped by 2 percent to 2,516 billion South Korean Won ($2.2 billion), as a result of its mediocre performance in China, according to its annual report released last month.
The group saw its same store sale growth in China decline by 14 percent in 2016 while its overall global sale growth slowed by 3.8 percent despite the growth in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Security Council fails to adopt resolution on Syria sanctions
By Xinhua | China Daily | Updated: 2017-03-02 07:26
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt a draft resolution aiming to impose sanctions over alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria as Russia and China vetoed it.
For the resolution drafted by the United Kingdom, France and the United States, nine council members voted in favor. Two veto-wielding powers Russia and China, along with Bolivia, voted against. Kazakhstan, Egypt, Ethiopia abstained.
If adopted, the draft resolution would have imposed asset freeze and travel bans on individuals and entities associated with the Syrian government based on allegations of chemical weapon attacks made by a joint probe of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The joint inquiry has concluded in its reports that the Syrian government was involved in the use of toxic chemicals as weapons in three cases, and the Islamic State had used mustard gas in one case.
Chinese Ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi said investigations on the use of chemical weapons are still ongoing and "it is too early to reach a final conclusion."
He said the council should support the joint inquiry to carry out its investigations in a professional manner and make conclusions with accurate, detailed and solid evidence.
"We oppose the use of chemical weapons by any state, any organization and any individual under any circumstance," he added.
The vote came when a new round of intra-Syrian peace talks in Geneva is underway.
Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said the draft was put to a vote based on a doctrine of western states despite the efforts taken in Geneva to settle the Syrian crisis. "We see this as an attempt to retard and undermine the current political and diplomatic efforts," he said.
The draft resolution would also have banned supply of helicopters to the Syrian government. Safronkov said the measure would undermine counterterrorism as well as humanitarian relief efforts in the country.
(China Daily 03/02/2017 page12)
SEATTLE - Airport officials and civil rights lawyers are getting ready for President Donald Trump's new travel ban mindful of the chaos that accompanied his initial executive order but hopeful the forthcoming version will be rolled out in a more orderly way.
The new order was expected as soon as Wednesday. A draft suggested it would target people from six of the original seven predominantly Muslim countries but would exempt travelers who already have visas to come to the United States.
The latest draft in circulation no longer includes Iraq. Four officials told The Associated Press that the decision followed pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq's inclusion on the list given its key role in fighting the Islamic State group.
Since last month's ban, which courts have put on hold, a section of the international arrivals area at Dulles International Airport outside the nation's capital has been transformed into a virtual law firm, with legal volunteers ready to greet travelers from affected countries and ask if they saw anyone being detained.
Similar efforts are underway at other airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International, where officials have drawn up plans for crowd control after thousands protested the original ban.
"The plan is to be as ready as possible," said Lindsay Nash, an immigration law professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York who has been helping prepare emergency petitions on behalf of those who might be detained.
Trump's initial action, issued on Jan 27, temporarily barred citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya from coming to the US and halted acceptance of all refugees.
The president said his administration would review vetting procedures amid concerns about terrorism in those seven nations.
Protesters flooded US airports that weekend, seeking to free travelers detained by customs officials amid confusion about who could enter the country, including US permanent residents known as green-card holders.
Attorneys also challenged the order in court, including officials from Washington state. That lawsuit, which Minnesota joined, resulted in a federal judge temporarily blocking the government from enforcing the travel ban, a decision unanimously upheld by a panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Many civil rights lawyers and activists have said they don't believe a new order would cure all the constitutional problems of the original, including the claim that it was motivated by anti-Muslim discrimination.
Last week, analysts at the Homeland Security Department's intelligence arm found insufficient evidence that citizens of the seven Muslim-majority countries pose a terror threat to the US.
"It's not enough to just tweak an order and not change the nature of why it was issued in the first place," said Rula Aoun, director of the Arab American Civil Rights League in Dearborn, Michigan, which sued over the initial ban and is prepared to do the same with the rewrite if necessary.
A volunteer law student from the University of Washington sits at a station in the arrivals hall at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday.Ted Warren / Associated Press
(China Daily 03/02/2017 page12)
Strengthening relations with Beijing is vital for the British capital, amid the uncertainty of Brexit, said the Lord Mayor of the City of London following his visit to China.
Andrew Parmley said he hopes to use his year as Lord Mayor to promote teaching of Mandarin in the United Kingdom's schools and to encourage British tourists to visit China.
"Through understanding comes tolerance and friendship," he told China Daily on Tuesday.
video
Chinese TV viewers typically say that Chinese nature documentaries are not as good as their Western counterp arts. But, a new China Central Television documentary series shot in high-definition is getting an unprecedented response.
Four episodes ofAerial Chinawere screened by CCTV's Documentary Channel during the Lunar New Year festival, and the rating for the documentary series on Douban.com, the country's top TV and film fan website, is 9.4 points out of 10, putting it at the top of the documentary ratings list.
Commenting on the ratings, Yu Le, 36, director of the series, says: "When people recommend a documentary, they always say something like 'It's a production by the BBC', but not this time."
Speaking about how the documentary series was made, he says: "Even the most familiar things look different from a height.
"We wanted to show how beautiful this familiar country is, and this was possible thanks to our time up in the air."
Hao Jingfang wins the Hugo Award for best novelette with her work Folding Beijing in 2016. Her latest project is the film The Last Brave Man, directed by Yang Chao. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Science fiction, a dominant genre in Hollywood, has yet to find its feet in the Chinese movie industry. But change is underway.
Hugo Award-winning novelist Hao Jingfang and Yang Chao, director of Crosscurrent, an internationally acclaimed Chinese film, have teamed up to bring The Last Brave Man to the country's moviegoers.
Based on a 2012 novel of the same title by Hao, the film will be set in an ambiguously-defined futurist world.
The film is likely to be released in late 2018 or early 2019.
The author became the first Chinese woman to win the coveted prize for her other novelFolding Beijingin 2015.
Yang, a fan of the genre, made his debut with Passages, a feature that won him the Camera d'Or at Cannes in 2014.
Crosscurrent won awards in Berlin and Taipei.
Seen through the perspective of a clone refugee who is betrayed to his rulers, The Last Brave Man film is expected to explore what human cloning may mean for society.
Jing Tian plays the lead role in The Glory of Tang Dynasty. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The Glory of Tang Dynasty, a Chinese TV series that showed romance, warfare and court conspiracy amid social upheaval of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), ended on Wednesday.
Viewers earlier had expected the series to fail, given their experiences in recent years with shows full of historical inaccuracies and poor storytelling. But it was a surprisingly popular production. The 60-episode series premiered on Jan 29, on Beijing TV, Anhui TV and a Tencent online platform, during this year's Spring Festival.
By last week, it had more than 4 billion views on Tencent, with the rating on the site reaching 8.3 of 10.
"TV series targeted at the youth aren't necessarily away from mainstream values," Jiang Lei, vice-president of H&R Century Pictures, which created the series, recently told a Beijing event. "We aim to bring out the essence of traditional Chinese culture and use modern expressions and approaches to attract young people."
The Glory of Tang Dynasty, which focuses on the love story of Li Yu, an emperor, and Shen Zhenzhu, a woman of high birth, is aided by the grandiose historical background of the An Shi Rebellion (755-763), which pulled the empire down from its zenith and pushed it into a long depression.
"We had to conform to basic historical facts while writing the script," says Liu Fang, the scriptwriter of the series. "Then we placed fictional plots into the framework. The romance created a foundation for the story but it also sought to express a love for the country."
Director Liu Guonan says when he first read the script, he felt that romance was the dominant theme. So he asked his team to get the historical context into the picture.
A probable reason for lower viewer expectation initially was that Shen's role was being played by Jing Tian. The 29-year-old actress was most recently seen in Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall, which is still being screened in North America. But most of her earlier works had either flopped or didn't get praised.
Her performance in the series seems to have broken that record, although some say it could be attributed in part to the costumes and script.
When The Glory of Tang Dynasty debuted, it gained about four points of 10 on Douban, China's leading website for film and TV reviews. Now it has increased to seven.
"Though historical TV series have dominated our screens, it's surprising that no big production earlier focused on the An Shi Rebellion, a key event in Chinese history," says Liu Yeyuan, a media professor at the Communication University of China. "Until now, young people's understanding of the time was largely rooted in Tang poetry. The new series offers them a chance to revisit history."
Liu Yeyuan also says the exchanges between China and other countries along the ancient Silk Road can create an emotional resonance today.
Yin Hong, a media professor at Tsinghua University, say: "Making a successful youth-genre TV series doesn't mean just hiring popular young idols. Instead, it means to create figures that have positive energy and echo what young people pursue today."
Both scholars agree The Glory of Tang Dynasty is an effort to make historical TV series look real as opposed to the recent crop of fantasy tales.
Even so, Yin says this production has its drawbacks.
"A good TV series should be able to get audiences hooked no matter from which episode they start to watch," he says. "However, in The Glory of Tang Dynasty, I had to watch from the very beginning to figure out the story."
Perhaps the situation is somewhat like what Dushe (poisonous tongue) Movie, a major film critic on Chinese phone app WeChat, says: "The Glory of Tang Dynasty gets so many good comments on WeChat, not because it's great, but because there are so many poor TV series today."
Inner coffin of Seshepenmehyt of ancient Egypt. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The British Museum's highly-acclaimed A History of the World in 100 Objects has already attracted more than 1 million visitors during its world tour. This week, the exhibition began its China leg of the tour. It's on at the Beijing's National Museum of China until May 31, before traveling to Shanghai Museum from June to September.
The exhibition evolved from a broadcasting series that the London museum started in partnership with the BBC in 2010. Each 15-minute program introduced one of 100 objects from the museum's collection that revealed the communication methods of various human cultures over the course of 2 million years.
The exhibition is not intended to show the differences between cultures, but what they have in common.
China's Global Newspaper
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A Chinese mobile phone user scans the QR code on the bicycle of bike-lending service Mobike on a road in Shanghai, Aug 17, 2016. [Photo/IC]
BIKE-SHARING SERVICES operated by platforms such as Mobike have become an effective solution to the "last mile" problem for urban commuters, Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng said on Monday. Sznews.com commented on Wednesday:
Bike-sharing services have boomed since the middle of last year and swept across the country in just a few months. It is estimated that in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, there are over 320,000 sharing bikes and at least 2 million citizens are using them per dayfar more than those hailing cabs.
It is no exaggeration to say Mobikes and its rivals have become a major commuting choice. But how to manage them and hold unruly users accountable remains a thorn in the side of local governments.
In other words, online discussions and censures are not enough to deal with the problems of bike sharing, which range from illegal parking and rising maintenance costs to vandalism.
In Shenzhen a number of city roads are accessed by both vehicles and bicycles without the needed lane separators, which poses a threat to cyclists many of whom are "forced" to ride with cars and buses due to the lack of exclusive bicycle lanes.
Misuse of sharing bikes is another problem. Disorderly parking and damage to the bikes are no longer news to most people.
The situation will only worsen as bike-sharing apps keep dispatching bikes to more cities, adding to the daily pressures facing urban management. Urging users to exercise self-discipline yet refusing to embrace the truth that bike-sharing services are now part of the mainstream is not a feasible solution. More bicycle lanes are needed along with systematic legislative efforts to regulate and protect the emerging industry.
People gather to protest the land swap contract between the military and Lotte Group in Seoul, South Korea, Feb 27, 2017. [Photo/VCG]
Despite strong Chinese and Russian opposition, the Republic of Korea's defense ministry signed a contract with the Lotte Group on Tuesday for a land swap that will enable the deployment of a US anti-missile system.
The deal will speed up the deployment of the US' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in the ROK, which jeopardizes China's national security and regional peace.
Although the two allies say the system will safeguard the ROK from any missiles fired at it by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the THAAD will by no means make the ROK safer. Designed to intercept ballistic missiles at an altitude of 40-150 kilometers, it will not shoot down the short- and medium-range missiles of the DPRK that fly at an altitude of less than 40 km.
Instead, the deployment of THAAD will only exacerbate the estrangement between the ROK and the DPRK, and likely prompt the DPRK to seek a greater sense of security by speeding up its weapons program.
Beijing has made its position unequivocally clear, repeatedly urging the ROK to reconsider its decision. It has made no bones about the fact that it opposes the ROK's deployment of THAAD. Not only because it is a provocation to the DPRK that threatens regional stability, but also because it breaks the strategic balance in the region. The system's radar, which has a range of more than 2,000 km, can peer deep into China's territory, compromising China's military deterrence capability, and damaging its security interests.
Indeed, rather than being a means to enhance the ROK's security as claimed, the deployment of THAAD in the ROK will make the country part of the US' global missile-defense system that targets countries such as China and Russia as potential enemies. By riding on the war chariot of the United States, the ROK is letting itself be drawn into the superpower's geostrategic game.
Even though the current situation leaves China no option but to take countermeasures to safeguard its own interests and security, that does not mean the door to talks aimed at breaking the stalemate in bilateral relations has been shut.
While Washington has adopted a divide-and-dominate strategy in Asia, Beijing is seeking to resume Six-Party Talks for the good of all in the region.
The ROK should take concrete steps to repair the damage it is doing to both bilateral relations with China and the multilateral efforts to resolve the DPRK's nuclear issue.
The ball is in the ROK's court.
Participants at the second Wuhan Hackathon concentrate on their coding. The Hackathon was held in Hubei province on Oct 29, 2016.[ SONG ZHENTAO/CHINA DAILY]
Editor's note: On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cyberspace Administration of China jointly released a document titled "International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace". Full text below:
Preface
Chapter I. Opportunities and Challenges
Chapter II. Basic Principles
1. The Principle of Peace
2. The Principle of Sovereignty
3. The Principle of Shared Governance
4. The Principle of Shared Benefits
Chapter III. Strategic Goals
1. Safeguarding Sovereignty and Security
2. Developing A System of International Rules
3. Promoting Fair internet Governance
4. Protecting Legitimate Rights and Interests of Citizens
5. Promoting Cooperation on Digital Economy
6. Building Platform for Cyber Culture Exchange
Chapter IV. Plan of Action
1. Peace and Stability in Cyberspace
2. Rule-based Order in Cyberspace
3. Partnership in Cyberspace
4. Reform of Global internet Governance System
5. International Cooperation on Cyber Crimes and Cyber Terrorism
6. Protection of Citizens' Rights and Interests Including Privacy
7. Digital Economy and Sharing of Digital Dividends
8. Global Information Infrastructure Development and Protection
9. Exchange of Cyber Cultures
Conclusion
Preface
Cyberspace is the common space of activities for mankind. The future of cyberspace should be in the hands of all countries. Countries should step up communications, broaden consensus and deepen cooperation to jointly build a community of shared future in cyberspace.
Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, 2015/12/16
Today, the rapid advancement of information technology represented by the internet has brought about new ways of social production, created new space for people's life, opened new horizons of state governance and enhanced people's ability to understand and shape the world.
As the common asset of human society, the internet has turned the world into a global village. In the interconnected cyberspace, countries are bound together by intertwined interests. It is in the shared interests and also the responsibility of the international community to safeguard peace and security, promote openness and cooperation and foster a community of shared future in cyberspace.
International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace provides a comprehensive explanation of China's policy and position on cyber-related international affairs as well as the basic principles, strategic goals and plan of action in its external relations on that front. It aims to guide China's participation in international exchange and cooperation in cyberspace for the next period of time, and encourage the international community to come together to enhance dialogue and cooperation and build a peaceful, secure, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace and a multilateral, democratic and transparent global internet governance system.
Range Rover Velar, British premium carmaker Jaguar Land Rover's all-new SUV, makes its global debut in London on Wednesday. [Photo by Du Xiaoying/chinadaily.com.cn]
The Range Rover Velar, British premium carmaker Jaguar Land Rover's all-new sport utility vehicle model, made its world debut in London late on Wednesday.
JLR sold 583,000 vehicles in 2016 worldwide, with the Chinese market alone contributing more than 20 percent of the total sale.
China was JLR's largest single market last year, followed by the UK and United States. The company sold 119,000 cars in China in 2016, 59,000 of which were locally produced at its Changshu plant in East China's Jiangsu province, including the Range Rover Evoque, Discovery Sport and Jaguar XFL, which is available only in the Chinese market.
Indonesian Siti Aishah leaves a Sepang court after she was charged with the murder of a DPRK national in Malaysia March 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday blasted the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) for assertion of Pyongyang standing behind the death of a DPRK national in Malaysia last month, saying it was "groundless blame."
"The US and the South Korean authorities are kicking up an anti-DPRK smear campaign," said the state-run KCNA news agency.
A DPRK national identified as Kim Chol was attacked on Feb 13 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. After seeking help from the airport staff, he died en route to hospital.
Malaysian Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said Sunday that the man died a painful death minutes after being swabbed with a high dosage of lethal VX nerve agent.
The KCNA, however, slammed ROK authorities for "spreading rumor" from the very beginning that the dead man was killed with poison, which it says drives a wedge between the DPRK and Malaysia.
It also accused the ROK and the United States of using the case with a political purpose to tarnish the image of the DPRK and attempting to bring down its social system.
The KCNA doubted the autopsy results released by the Malaysian side. It even warned of "stronger measures for self-defense" in order to protect the sovereignty and dignity of the country should Washington and Seoul keep using "political chicanery" to undermine the DPRK system.
Three suspects -- an Indonesian woman, a Vietnamese woman and a DPRK man -- are being held in police custody in Malaysia. Police 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.
The two female suspects in custody were charged Wednesday with the murder of the DPRK man. The death penalty will be applied if they are convicted.
Francois Fillon, former French prime minister, member of the Republicans political party and 2017 presidential election candidate of the French centre-right, reacts as he makes a declaration to the media at his campaign headquarters in Paris, France, March 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
PARIS - French presidential candidate Francois Fillon confirmed Wednesday that he would be summoned on March 15 by the investigating magistrates over alleged fake jobs.
But the 62-year-old conservative candidate said he would not withdraw from the presidential race.
"Only universal suffrage and not a prosecution can decide who will be the next President of the Republic. I will not give in, I will not surrender. I will not pull out," he said.
"My lawyer was informed that I would be summoned on March 15 by the examining magistrate to be questioned," he told a press conference.
It is unprecedented that a summon for questioning be launched a few days after the naming of the judges, without them having studied the case, on the simple basis of a police report manifestly biased, Fillon said.
Fillon is suspected to have paid his wife Penelope for 10 years as a parliamentary assistant without her having done the job, and also to have paid his children for questionable assignments.
A judicial inquiry into charges of the misappropriation of public funds, misuse of assets and the handling of stolen property was opened on January 25.
Last Friday, the charges were enlarged to include "insider influence and breach of mandatory declarations to the High Authority on transparence of public life".
"I will answer the judges' summons ... I will tell them my truth, which is the truth," Fillon said.
At the end of January, he had at first promised that he would withdraw from the race if he were formally charged, before taking a step backward in mid-February.
On Wednesday, Fillon once again presented himself as a victim of the justice system.
"The rule of law has been systematically violated ... The presumption of innocence has completely and entirely disappeared," he argued.
Since the revelation of the "fake jobs" scandal, Fillon has tried to continue his campaign in an always murkier context, but no longer makes appearances other than in closed sites, for fear that he could be met with raucous protests.
Fillon is also experiencing internal setbacks to his campaign, as his European and international affairs representative Bruno Le Maire announced Wednesday that he was resigning.
"I believe in keeping one's word," Le Maire said in a tweet, referring to Fillon's earlier promise to withdraw from the race if placed under investigation.
According to several polls, Fillon would be eliminated in the first round of voting, to the benefit of the the candidate of the extreme right Marine Le Pen and the founder of the En Marche movement Emmanuel Macron.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (front) addresses the "White Paper on the Future of Europe" at the European Parliament, in Brussels, Belgium, March 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]
BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday unveiled his plans for a "new chapter" of Europe, ushering in an era of soul-searching for the bloc hit hard by Brexit.
Addressing the European Parliament's plenary session, Juncker said the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome "will not simply be a birthday of celebration, it will also be a birth moment of the EU at 27."
"Let's turn the page and commence a new chapter in our history," he said.
The white paper laid out five "pathways to unity" for the EU's remaining 27 member states. It was hammered out by the College of Commissioners on Wednesday after a spate of debates, seminars and meetings that have been taking place since Feb 22.
The white paper set out five scenarios for the EU in the next decade, each offering a glimpse into the potential state of the EU.
The first scenario, titled "Carrying On," envisages the EU27 focusing on delivering its positive reform agenda in the spirit of the Commission's new start for Europe from 2014 and of the Bratislava Declaration agreed by all 27 member states in 2016.
The second scenario foresees an EU with "nothing but the single market."
The third scenario, titled "Those Who Want More Do More," would see the EU 27 member states proceeding as it is now but with willing member states doing more together in specific areas such as defense, internal security or social matters.
The fourth scenario, titled "Doing Less More Efficiently," envisages the EU27 focusing on delivering more and faster in selected policy areas, while doing less where it is perceived not to have an added value.
The fifth scenario, titled "Doing Much More Together," foresees member states deciding to share more power, resources, and decision-making across the board.
Asked which scenario is in his favor at a press conference following the address, Juncker said "I'm not going to give a preference to one option over the other, but I would exclude the option according to which the EU would just turn into a single market, nothing else."
Women gather at a water collecting point at the internally displaced people's camp in Bama, Borno State, Nigeria, August 31, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
UNITED NATIONS The UN Security Council was heading to West Africa on Wednesday night to examine the threat posed by Boko Haram to the countries most affected by the Islamic extremist group Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, all four of which also face a serious humanitarian crisis.
France's UN ambassador, Francois Delattre, told reporters that "this is the first time ever that the Security Council will visit the region" and members want to support those four countries "in their fight against terrorism." In Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, and the extremist group has moved into the three neighboring countries.
A UN humanitarian coordinator said last month that malnutrition in Nigeria's northeast was so pronounced that some adults were too weak to walk and some communities had lost all their toddlers.
Council members were flying to Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, where their initial meetings were scheduled to start Friday. They then plan to go to Chad and Niger, then on to Nigeria, where they will also visit a camp in the north for people displaced by Boko Haram.
Delattre said the council will be encouraging the governments to facilitate access for humanitarian aid and to adopt "a comprehensive approach to address the root causes of terrorism."
British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said council members will engage leaders of the four countries on what they are doing in response to Boko Haram and on how they are coming together "to tackle what is clearly a cross-border threat." "This is not just terrorism in one box," with development, good governance, the environment, climate change and the humanitarian crisis in separate boxes, Rycroft said.
"Everything is interconnected," he said. "The golden thread between good governance, justice, civil society, the role of development flows straight into preventing conflict, so we want to make sure we have a broad view of all of the factors at play."
At a donor conference last week in Oslo, UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said 14 countries had pledged $672 million over the next three years to prevent a famine in the four African countries around the Lake Chad basin.
O'Brien said in a telephone briefing to UN reporters from Yemen's capital, Sanaa, that the pledges include $458 million for 2017 about a third of the $1.5 billion needed. He described that as a "very positive and a good news story."
AP
What's been called China's game-changing decision to terminate its domestic ivory trade in 2017 including closing at least one-third of its registered traders and processors by the first quarter of the year has been applauded by wildlife activists, as well as some kids in the United States.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai has replied to about 20 letters from primary school students in California and Massachusetts who wrote to thank China for its latest move to ban its ivory trade, the embassy said on Wednesday.
Following regulations released on Dec 30 by the State Council, China is expected to shut down up to 15 ivory processing and 60 sales enterprises by March 31, and the rest by year's end.
The regulations followed a temporary ban China slapped on all ivory imports for commercial purposes in March 2016.
There are 34 designated factories and 143 retail outlets in China that are permitted to legally operate in the processing and trade of ivory, according to statistics from the State Forestry Administration in Beijing.
In his letter, Cui thanked the US students for their enthusiasm for protecting wildlife, adding that in China, it is public consensus that wildlife should be protected and illegal trade should be stopped.
"In fact, China has been doing a lot more than just protecting the elephants," Cui said. "If you have a chance to visit China, you will find a lot of endangered animals well protected in their natural habitat: giant panda (as you all know), snub-nosed monkey, Tibetan antelope, red-crowned crane, Manchurian tiger, to name just a few."
Cui encouraged the young people of both countries to join hands and work together to create a better future for all life on Earth.
Around 20,000 elephants are killed illegally each year across Africa, primarily to feed the global demand for ivory, Xinhua reported in January.
In September 2015, leaders of China and the US committed to enacting nearly complete bans on ivory trade in each country. In early July, a near-total ban on commercial trade in African elephant ivory went into effect in the US.
Carter Roberts, president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, noted that "two of the largest ivory markets have taken action that will reverberate around the world".
In particular, Roberts hailed China's ban as a "game changer" for elephant conservation, according to WWF's website.
On Feb 24, Kaddu Sebunya, president of the African Wildlife Foundation, wrote in an op-ed in China Daily's Africa edition, "We must build on China's ivory ban to help boost development without detrimental environmental impacts."
video video video
New Zealand Ambassador John McKinnon said his country is particularly interested in how free trade and climate change are reflected and discussed in the upcoming annual meeting of China's top legislature and political advisory body.
In an exclusive interview with China Daily, McKinnon said he expects the two countries to upgrade the existing free trade agreement, which was signed and took effect in 2008 to boost bilateral trade. New Zealand was the first developed economy to sign such an agreement with China.
The annual meeting of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will kick off later this week as one of China's most important political events.
The New Zealand-China relationship is very strong and is characterized as a comprehensive strategic partnership as announced by President Xi Jinping and former prime minister John Key in 2014, McKinnon said.
"One of the most important ways we've been building on the partnership is to look at how to upgrade the free trade agreement. Since then, there's been a huge growth in the trade between our two countries. And that is continuing and now we are reaching new areas such as services, e-commerce and many other such aspects of trade," he said.
On the two sessions, the ambassador said: "There are two areas that are particularly of interest to us. One is following on from President Xi's speech at Davos when he presented China's strong position on globalization, international trade and an open economy. These are things we very much welcome and we will be interested to see how they are reflected in Premier Li Keqiang's Government Work Report and also in the subsequent discussions at the congress."
He said the second area covers climate change. A few weeks ago, Zhang Yong, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission met with New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett in New Zealand during the first ministerial-level dialogue on climate change. "They discussed a number of areas of interest. That will be the focus of our follow-up discussions between officials and between our leaders," the ambassador said.
"Like many others, I am particularly interested to see how the National People's Congress responds to them."
US Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Sessions to become US attorney general on Capitol Hill in Washington, US January 10, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
WASHINGTON Attorney General Jeff Sessions talked twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season, communications that spurred calls in Congress for him to recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the US election.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, did not disclose those discussions at his confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with officials of the Russian government.
Sessions replied that he had not had communication with the Russians.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Wednesday night that "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer."
AP
DHAKA - Buddhists in Bangladesh are brimming with inner pride as with the support of China, a new stupa has been built as a monument to house sacred relics and honor an ancient Buddhist scholar.
The stupa, in part, memorializes and honors the Buddhist scholar Atish Dipankar Srijnan, who was born in 980 AD and died in 1053 AD, with the sanctuary being opened at the place of his birth in Bangladesh.
Originally named Chandragarbha by his parents, Atish was born into a royal family in the Vajrayogini village on the outskirts of the country's capital city of Dhaka.
The newly-constructed memorial to the saint and philosopher, who historically was known for his unique character, erudition, scholarly attributes, and spiritual eminence, opened to the public on Tuesday.
In attendance at the monument's opening ceremony was Chunyi, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, who attended as a chief guest, and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang was also present as special guest.
A host of dignitaries including Bangladeshi government officials were also present at the inaugural ceremony held at the magnificent new stupa.
The Chinese government has been highly lauded by Bangladeshi's Buddhist community as well as broader society for its immensely generous support in building the stupa to honor Atish.
The ashes of Atish, who was on a mission to preach peace, teach knowledge and share culture with China, including his expertise in mathematics and construction, were returned by China to Bangladesh in 1978.
Since then, Atish has become a symbol of a stronger China-Bangladesh relations. In fact, a mausoleum has been built in the village of his birth with support from the Bangladeshi government.
Sanghanayaka Suddhananda Mahathero, president of Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha, said, "Atish Dipankar, beloved, beloved son. We are so grateful to you."
BRASILIA - Carnival revelers were still dancing in the streets of Brazilian cities on Wednesday but for President Michel Temer's government it was back to the reality of mounting corruption allegations that threaten its survival.
"Out with Temer" was a frequent chant against the unpopular president during the annual celebrations across a country hit by record unemployment and fed up with its political leaders.
On Wednesday afternoon the jailed former CEO of Brazil's biggest engineering group, Marcelo Odebrecht, was questioned by a judge investigating donations made to Temer's 2014 campaign, when he was the running mate for leftist leader Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached last year.
A source with access to Odebrecht's deposition said he confirmed an illegal payment to Rousseff's campaign manager Joao Santana, but added that he could not say if the then-president or her running mate knew about it.
Odebrecht said former finance minister Guido Mantega negotiated under-the-table donations for the 2014 campaign that totaled 300 million reais, but he denied they were bribes to obtain government contracts, the source said.
Odebrecht, who is seeking leniency to lower a 19-year sentence for corruption and money-laundering, said Temer did not directly request a donation at a dinner in 2014, though the matter was discussed in a general way.
The massive investigation into bribery and political kick backs, dubbed Operation Car Wash, threatens to bring down members of Temer's inner circle and has generated political uncertainty that is undermining business confidence and prolonging Brazil's two-year recession.
Electoral court judge Herman Benjamin is seeking to determine if a 10 million reais ($3.2 million) contribution allegedly sought by Temer was paid from graft money, as claimed by another Odebrecht executive in plea bargain testimony.
Temer has said the donation was legal and duly registered, but Benjamin could recommend annulling the Rousseff-Temer ticket, which would lead to the president's removal and election of a new leader by Congress if it is upheld by the full court.
The graft scandal endangers Temer's efforts to push unpopular austerity reforms through Congress aimed at curbing a growing budget deficit that cost Brazil its investment grade credit rating in 2015.
"The President's biggest challenge now is to prevent the CarWash investigation paralyzing his reform agenda in Congress," a Temer aide told Reuters, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the government's worries.
The crisis will deepen in the next few weeks when Brazil's top prosecutor Rodrigo Janot will ask the Supreme Court to make public plea bargain statements of 77 Odebrecht executives who are expected to name up to one-third of Brazil's federal lawmakers for taking kickbacks.
Among the politicians at risk is Temer's chief of staff, Eliseu Padilha, who is on medical leave after prostate surgery but will have to face questions about a package of 1 million reais he allegedly requested as part an undeclared contribution from Odebrecht.
A lawyer and longtime friend of Temer's, Jose Yunes, has approached prosecutors to confirm the package was handed over at his office for Padilha but that he had no idea that it contained cash, leaving the chief of staff in a difficult position.
Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR -- A DPRK diplomat on Thursday brushed off Malaysia's investigation result that shows the DPRK man died here was killed by chemical weapon, saying he likely died of heart attack.
Ri Tong Il, spokesman of a DPRK delegation to Malaysia, said the DPRK man had a history of heart decease, had received treatment from time to time and normally could not travel without medicine.
Ri claimed that medicine for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure were found in the man's belongings.
Malaysian police said the man was killed by VX nerve agent.
Describing the chemical as highly toxic, Ri raised the question that how the man died on the spot while the two suspects survived and police and medics who attended to the man were not contaminated.
He said samples should be sent to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for verification.
Ri said his delegation had met with Malaysian officials to settle the issue and had made a request to have a look at the body for identification.
"The DPRK's request is simple, that is the return of the deceased body of the DPRK citizen as soon as possible," he said.
The two female suspects were charged with murder by a local court in Malaysia on Wednesday.
By Cecily Liu in London and He Wei in Shanghai | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-03-03 01:01
The British government is offering stronger support to exporters expanding into China's massive consumer market through cross-border ecommerce sales channels as Brexit creates uncertainty about the UK's trade links with Europe.
Chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership Roger Marsh (R) and Zhang Lei, CEO of Kaola.com during the signing ceremony. [Provided for chinadaily.com.cn]
On Thursday, the local government in the city of Leeds signed an agreement in Hangzhou with the Chinese ecommerce platform Kaola.com that will support exporters from Leeds in selling within China.
The agreement follows on from a six-month pilot project to put 25 companies from Leeds on Kaola.com's platform last year. They are involved in selling perfume, alpaca wool bedding, skincare products, ceramics and glass tiles, toys and clothing. Successful sales among the initial 25 firms led to the new agreement, which looks to help more Leeds exporters follow the same path.
Roger Marsh, chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, said the deal supports both the United Kingdom's vision of increasing exports and Leeds' vision of becoming an international trading hub. The agreement was signed by both Marsh and Kaola.com's CEO Zhang Lei.
"There is an enormous appetite to export into the expanding middle-class market developing at pace in China," Marsh said.
Zhang said Kaola.com sees the UK market as an important source of premium-quality products for the Chinese market, and through collaboration with the Leeds government, Kaola.com hopes to find more high-quality British brands for its platform.
"We also hope to find more well-known British brands that are not yet well-known in China, and help them grow their brands' popularity in China. This process will also satisfy Chinese consumers' demand for increasingly high-quality products."
Kaola.com has more than 5 million daily users, according to the company.
During the past year, the British government has been pushing for additional exports to China, especially through the use of large Chinese ecommerce platforms that allow exporters to sell products to China's massive consumer market with very little upfront investment.
Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox said in January that his team was working "to connect British suppliers to China's major ecommerce platforms, establishing reliable distribution channels for instant online sales between the UK and China".
Last year,the government agencyUK Trade and Investment, launched a China-UK Cross-border Ecommerce White Paper in London in partnership with the Bank of China. It was aimed at helping British exporters understand China's cross-border ecommerce market conditions, regulations and policies.
The white paper launch in London was attended by more than 10 Chinese cross-border ecommerce platforms, including Kaola.com. They held meetings with about 70 British exporters. Others attending included Alibaba and JD.com.
Although official figures on UK-China ecommerce trade are not available, growth is already being felt by ecommerce logistics firms, including STO Express, which saw its China-UK shipment volume in 2016 grow by 50 percent.
"China will become an increasingly important market for British exports, especially after Britain leaves the European Single Market," said William Franklin, founder of the London-based China Investors Club.
But Franklin also pointed out that, despite the optimism of Leeds' local government, the city's may have limited ecommerce products to offer to China because its economy is dominated by sectors such as advanced engineering, green technology, automotive and agriculture.
Contact the writers at cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com
PLEASE NOTE!
Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!
All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!
(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
(Photo : US Army) M777 firing
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The range of the U.S. Army's towed long-range howitzer, the 155 mm M777, will be increased to almost three times to counter Russia's 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV 152 mm self-propelled gun (SPG) with a range of 70 km.
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The standard M777 in service since 2005 will be upgraded to the M777ER, whose range will be increased to 70 km using a rocket-assisted round from 24 km firing conventional rounds. The range boost will be achieved by increasing barrel length by 2.4 meters. Despite this, the new gun will only be 450 kg heavier than the original, which weighs only 4,200 kg.
Concern about being outranged by the Russian Koalitsiya-SV triggered the effort to upgrade the M777. The howitzer equips most U.S. Army light and medium weight combat brigades, including light infantry, mountain, airborne, air assault, and Stryker brigades. It also arms the U.S. Marines.
Giving the M777ER its longer range will be the XM1113 rocket-assisted round, which uses a rocket motor to extend range, and the XM654 supercharge. Other improvements include an autoloader and a new fire control system.
Despite these improvements, the M777ER will remain relatively immobile compared to its opposite number, the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV.
This Russian SPG was first seen in public in 2015 during rehearsals for the Moscow Victory Day Parade and has since entered service with the Russian Ground Forces in limited numbers. The 2S35 will supplement and later replace the 2S19 Msta self-propelled gun.
The U.S. Army is playing catch-up as it upgrades the M777 in response to the new strategic situation where combat against ill-equipped insurgents will be replaced by high-intensity, high tech combat against near peer foes such as Russia and China.
Tests of the M777ER will continue through 2018. If successful, the new barrel and technologies will be extended to the M109 self-propelled 155 mm howitzer nicknamed Paladin equipping the Army's heavy brigade combat teams.
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(Photo : US Army) The THAAD AN/TPY-2 radar. that can look deep into Chinese and Russian territory.
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Chinese armchair generals claim there are ways China can easily defeat -- even in peacetime -- the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) air defense system to be emplaced in South Korea a few months from now.
One of these weekend experts said China can blind THAAD's radars system, a feat which is quite easy, claims Song Zhongping, a retired officer who used to serve in the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF).
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"In peacetime, China also has measures to counter the THAAD system, for instance, making it 'blind,' which is very easy. The PLA is entirely capable of doing that," claims Song.
"Making it 'blind' is a choice, but it will require damaging or even destroying THAAD's radar system. So this is a 'hard measure,' normally implemented by a directed-energy weapon or laser weapon.
"Apart from this, we can also make THAAD useless through electronic interference and feigned military activities, because such activities can interrupt the functioning of the THAAD system," said Song.
Song, however, said China won't attack THAAD in peacetime. Despite this, China has various measures to destroy THAAD in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, so it will not pose a threat to China during the war.
The main threat posed by THAAD is its X-band radar that can monitor China's military deployments and missile-launches, which will seriously undermine China's nuclear deterrent, according to Song.
Another pundit claims that since Russia also faces a THAAD threat on both its eastern and western borders in Europe, China and Russia should work together to counter THAAD.
The possibility still exists of forcing South Korea to abandon THAAD, said Xu Guangyu, a retired PLA major general and a senior advisor of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.
"South Korea is fully aware of our capability, so we don't need to conduct extra military actions or movements to display our muscle at this moment," said Xu.
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TagsTerminal High Altitude Air Defense, THAAD, china, People's Liberation Army Rocket Force
A group of about two dozen Christian leaders signed a letter published on Tuesday enumerating the need for Christians to make the year of 2017 the Year of Good News, and encouraging them to share the gospel.
In a time of fake news, distracting news, divisive news, disorderly news, and, sometimes, depressing news, we as Christians and as leaders want to recommit ourselves to making sure that the Good News of Jesus cuts through it all, the letter states. We call upon Christians in America to make 2017 The Year of Good News.
The letter, which was written by Greg Laurie of the Harvest Crusades, was signed by leaders such as Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; author Max Lucado; Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; and Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; among others.
We need a national miracle to heal our political, racial, and cultural divisions, and that miracle is found in the power of Jesus to change our hearts, the letter continues.
Therefore, we commit to preach louder than our nations politics, and we aim to make the message of Jesus Christ transcend the monopoly of our media. We confess our only hope of unity is on the level ground at the foot of the cross of Jesus, and our only hope of healing is in the victory achieved through His empty tomb.
Through the letter, Laurie also calls on Christians to share the gospel with everyone they can at every opportunity they can, and on pastors to preach the Gospel boldly and pray intentionally for revival.
The letter is open for signature to the public, and the leaders urge Christians to use the #YearofGoodNews on social media.
Share this with your friends and lets make Good News go viral, wrote Franklin Graham in a Facebook post in which he shared the letter.
The Montana state Senate passed a bill that would require doctors who terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks for medical emergencies to try to do so by inducing labor or cesarean section, and then to try to give life support to the baby.
Abortion is already banned in the state, but the current state law makes exceptions to save the mothers life during late-term pregnancy. The bill would make that current law even more restrictive to effectively ban abortions all together by requiring the doctors to try keeping the baby alive.
Those who violate the measure would be charged with felony.
Most say the bill is unlikely to become law, as Montana Governor Steve Bullock has expressed support for abortion and will likely veto the measure. The Senate, which voted 32-18 in support of the bill on February 23, failed to gather two-thirds of the votes in favor of the bill to be able to override a possible veto.
Senator Albert Olszewski, who is the bills primary sponsor, said the bill was inspired by a real situation, a situation where a late-term pregnancy put a woman in a life-threatening condition and had to deal with this horrible decision of being told she had to terminate this pregnancy.
The bill offers two methods of terminating a pregnancy, Olszewski said, and both would produce a live birth and its safe for the mother.
Critics of the bill, such as Senator Diane Sands, say its too extreme.
They either have to be a miracle worker or a felon, Sands was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying. Its by far the most extreme measure Ive seen ever proposed in Montana.
Planned Parenthood Montana has stated that it would challenge the bill in court if it becomes law.
More than 100 Coptic Christian families have fled their homes in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt due to rising levels of violence against the religious group in recent months, according to media reports.
In just the past month alone, seven Coptic Christians have been killed in the Sinai Peninsula, including the most recent February 23 incident of a man who was shot and killed in front of his wife and family.
In December, more than 25 were killed at a suicide bombing incident at a major Coptic cathedral in Cairo.
Though no one has taken responsibility for the attacks, most believe they were carried out by the Sinai Province branch of the Islamic State, known as the Wilayat Sinai.
The Wilayat Sinai published a video online on February 19 threatening to kill all Christians in the region.
There will be more operations in the near future, if God wills it, as you are our first target and our preferred target in our war, the video states.
You followers of the Cross, you traitors of all ties know that warriors of the Islamic State are watching you, and our blessed invasion wont be our last on you. Because whats coming is worse and hotter than boiling oil, so wait and see, we will be victorious, it continues.
Egyptian media and the Christian community in Egypt estimate that about 118 Coptic Christian families have fled their homes in Al-Arish, located in the Sinai Peninsula.
Most of these internally displaced families have taken shelter in Ismailia province, according to Egyptian media, and are being provided with housing and resources from the government. Some are staying in private residences and churches.
Theyre exhausted, with urgent needs for food and childrens clothing, Nabil Shukrallah of the Evangelical Church, told the Associated Press. Theyre terrified of the violence and brutality.
Retreating from battle can be a failure of nerve, a sign of defeat, or a tactical move. In any case, its one of the most difficult military maneuvers to pull off with minimum loss of life.
In our March cover story, Rod Dreher argues that Christians have lost not merely a cultural battle but the war itself. In skirmish after skirmishabortion, divorce law, public piety, and human sexualitythe nation has adopted sub-Christian and anti-Christian ways. Add to that the legal assault on our ability to freely express and live our faithwell, it feels to Dreher and others that while the war is over, the battle is more fierce than ever.
But its not as if secular America is the bad guy and the church is the good guy. Dreher recognizes that much of the church has been co-opted by the secular, and much of the secular has taken on the aura of religion. In the chaos of battle, it is sometimes hard to tell who is on whose side. Dreher calls for a Christian retreat in part to admit how badly the culture war has gone. But this retreat is not a failure of nerve nor a sign of defeat (Jesus is still Lord), but a tactical withdrawal to regroup the church for the days ahead.
We think his Benedict Option is an intriguing idea well worth pondering, which is why we asked four leading thinkers of diverse opinions to ponder it. Specifically, we asked:
In a time of weakening institutions and in an increasingly pluralistic age, what is the best way for Christians to strengthen their local Christian community?
What is the role and mission of the church in times like these? For if the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it, as Jesus said (Mt. 16:18), one can presume that the church ...
1
What does it really mean to be family-friendly?
The term often applied to all-ages programming and welcoming environments takes on a new meaning in the workplace, where it refers to increasingly popular employee benefits like paid family leave and flexible schedules.
Last year, legislators in 20 states considered family leave mandates. Such lawscurrently enacted in four states and Washington, DCrequire employers to cover a portion of wages while a new mom or dad stays home with his or her new child. During his address to Congress this week, President Donald Trump said his administration wants to work with the legislature to help ensure new parents that they have paid family leave.
Meanwhile, millennialsyoung parents with shifting expectations for workare seeking out better policies from their companies, and forward-thinking workplaces from Starbucks to Etsy are boosting family benefits on their own.
Adequate paid leave and subsidized childcare is the most significant way an employer can support workers families, according to University of Texas sociologist Jennifer Glass. Her 22-country study found these policies notably impact working parents happiness and quality of life, citing examples primarily from the tech and business sectors.
In theory, the demand for paid family leave fits well with Christian values, which encourage and celebrate marriage and the raising of children. What could be more pro-family than polices that allow parents to be home with their child during the first weeks of the childs life? How then do explicitly Christian institutions navigate paid parental leave and other flexible work policies?
We strive to create a culture where the family ...
1
Calvary Announces University-Wide Tuition Reduction Contact: Dr. Skip Hessel,
816-425-6199
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 2, 2017 /
For more information regarding this tuition reduction and tuition discounts, please visit
Share Tweet Contact: Dr. Skip Hessel, Calvary University 816-425-6199KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 2, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- As promised by President Christopher Cone in his inaugural address, Calvary University has announced an across-the-board tuition reduction as well as tuition discounts to qualifying prospects. In appreciation of our Armed Forces and those who serve in full-time vocational ministries, Calvary announced a significant benefit to these men and women and their dependents. Calvary University, formerly Calvary Bible College & Theological Seminary, has gone through many significant changes since Dr. Cone took on the presidency in 2016. As in the past, Calvary University is committed to providing the highest quality Bible-centered education in all of its 40+ degree programs in Bible, ministry, counseling, education, music, theater, and business administration. Calvary is equally committed to being accessible and affordable, and appreciates your support as Calvary continues to labor diligently to fulfill the mission of preparing Christians to live and serve in the church and in the world according to a Biblical worldview.For more information regarding this tuition reduction and tuition discounts, please visit www.calvary.edu
home World Dozens of Canadian doctors decline to take part in euthanasia
Dozens of Canadian doctors who have initially signed up to provide lethal medications to patients have now backed out and want their names taken off the list, according to medical officials.
In Ontario, at least 24 doctors have asked to be removed from a voluntary list of physicians who are willing to participate in Canada's Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) law, which was passed in June. Another 30 doctors have requested to be put on temporary hold, according to National Post.
The doctors were not required to provide a reason, but some have said they now want "a reflection period to decide whether medical assistance in dying is a service they want to provide," according to a health ministry spokesman.
Dr. Jeff Blackmer, the CMA's vice-president of medical professionalism, said that he cannot disclose the exact number of doctors opting out, but he asserted that "it's enough that it's been noted at a systemic level."
"We're seeing individuals, or groups of physicians who are participating and really feel like they're alleviating pain, alleviating suffering," he remarked.
"And then we're seeing doctors who go through one experience and it's just overwhelming, it's too difficult, and those are the ones who say, 'take my name off the list. I can't do any more,'" he went on to say.
As of Feb. 17, 137 doctors in Ontario have volunteered to participate in assisted suicide. Of those, 30 doctors are only willing to assess a patient's eligibility and not administer lethal injection or prescribe life-ending medication.
Under federal law, euthanasia and assisted suicide is allowed for patients with a "grievous and irremediable" condition and "enduring suffering." But the law limits the procedure to people whose death is "reasonably foreseeable."
Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, was not surprised by the news that doctors are withdrawing from the euthanasia program. "It's counter-intuitive to the human person to kill someone," he said.
He predicts that only a few doctors in Canada would be willing to perform the procedure and all the other doctors would be forced to refer the patients to them.
Last year, several Canadian hospitals have announced that they will not be participating in the euthanasia program due to their religious convictions.
home US Florida church sees rise in membership after breaking away from PCUSA
First Presbyterian Church (FPC) of Haines City has seen a considerable increase in its membership since it broke away from the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) in 2015 due to theological differences.
In April 2015, FPC Haines City voted 328 to 16 to leave PCUSA, due in part to the mainline denomination's increasing acceptance of homosexuality, The Christian Post reported.
The congregation just had its departure and its membership with the theological conservative Evangelical Covenant Order (ECO) of Presbyterians finalized in February, according to spokesman Pastor Jeff Winter.
Winter explained that the vote to be released by the local presbytery occurred in November, but the church needs to wait three months before it is officially dismissed.
"During those three months, members of the presbytery have the opportunity to contest the vote if they so choose. No one protested, thank God," he said.
According to Winter, 128 new members have joined since the vote, putting its current membership at 570.
"For this church, that is a significant number. Generally speaking, our new members are attracted to this church because we stand for biblical truth and seek to apply it to our relationships and in our culture," he said.
FPC Haines City was formerly a member of the PCUSA Presbytery of Tampa Bay, which retains congregations that have between 1,000 and 2,900 members.
Patrice Hatley, head of staff for the Presbytery, has confirmed that the proper steps to be officially dismissed from the denomination have been completed.
"This was as a result of significant time of discernment, studying and prayers, and meetings on the part of the Presbytery-appointed Administrative Commission," said Hatley.
"The Administrative Commission proposed a nominal financial settlement along with other administrative contingencies, all of which were approved by the Presbytery and have been satisfied," Hatley added.
In 2015, a report from the Office of the General Assembly of PCUSA indicated that the denomination had less than 10,000 member churches following an exodus of Bible-believing pastors. As many as 34,000 black churches reportedly broke ties with the PCUSA during that period.
FPC Haines City is now affiliated with the ECO, which was officially created at a gathering in Florida in 2012.
Last September, ECO announced that it has reached the milestone of 300 member congregations. It revealed in a recent newsletter that it now has over 330 member churches.
home US Homosexuality and Islam poses challenge to Christian broadcasters, says NRB president
Jerry Johnson, the president of National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), has warned that homosexuality and Islam poses a challenge to the freedom of Christians broadcasters in America.
In his opening address to attendees of the NRB's Proclaim 17 meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Monday, Johnson stressed the importance of First Amendment rights of religious broadcasters.
He noted that Christian broadcasters are facing challenges from homosexuality and Islam, and he urged Christian leaders and broadcasters at the event to connect, discover and advance the future of Christian content, according to The Christian Post.
Johnson further noted that in other countries, broadcasters and other religious communicators can face penalties for discussing same-sex marriage and Islamic intolerance in a manner displeasing to authorities or certain segments of societies.
The NRB head pointed to incidents when Christians were ostracized in the U.S. due to their objection to same-sex marriage. He highlighted the cases of Kelvin J. Cochran, the Atlanta Fire Chief who was laid off because of his beliefs, and the Benham Brothers, who lost the chance to host a show on HGTV because of their remarks that were deemed to be "anti-gay."
On the subject of Islam, Johnson warned that terrorism and violence were not the only problems. "But it's the intolerance. It's the sharia. It's the blasphemy codes," he said.
"Is there any country where the majority is Islam [and] it's safe for someone to convert from Islam to Christianity? Is there any culture dominated by this worldview, where you can critique Muhammad or the Quran? It is absolutely antithetic to freedom of speech, freedom of religion or freedom of the press, and we must be aware of this and alert to this," he added.
Johnson also highlighted a case in Canada when one NRB member had his license pulled and was ordered to pay a fine for using the word "Muslim" instead of "Islam" during a show. He warned that the quickest way to lose the freedom of speech is to refrain from using it.
"We can and we must make and we will make NRB to the First Amendment what the NRA is to the Second Amendment," he said.
This year's convention, in which the NRB celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, featured speakers such as Devon Franklin, R.C. Sproul, Lee Strobel and Eric Metaxas.
home US Illinois pregnancy centers contemplate emergency injunction against law requiring abortion referrals
Attorneys representing the pregnancy centers that sued Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner over a law that requires them to refer pregnant women for abortions have said that they are willing to consider filing an emergency injunction to allow the facilities to continue providing their services.
Senate Bill 1564, which requires doctors, pharmacies and pregnancy centers to counsel on "benefits" of abortion, or refer women to abortionists, was passed last July and went into effect on Jan. 1.
In February, over a dozen women's health organizations filed a lawsuit against Rauner, arguing that the law is in violation of their religious or moral convictions.
Some pregnancy centers have been forced to discontinued their medical services and another center with more than one location has stopped accepting new clients to avoid violating its pro-life mission or risk being shut down.
While two pregnancy centers, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and an ADF-allied Chicago attorney, were granted a temporary injunction in December, other centers in the state remain vulnerable, according to Tom Ciesielka of the Thomas More Society.
Ciesielka told Life Site News that the law left the state's more than 90 not-for-profit pregnancy resource centers with little choice but to sue because it "unconstitutionally abridges their free speech and interferes with their religious beliefs."
Thomas More Society initially filed a lawsuit on behalf of two pregnancy resource centers in early February. The group is now representing 18 women's health organization from across the state in the complaint. The lawsuit has since been amended because there were other centers that also needed protection from the law.
Ciesielka said that Thomas More attorneys would consider filing for an emergency injunction in the case of a lengthy wait for a court hearing.
"The new law requires these pro-life centers, and only them, to discuss 'benefits' of abortion with their clients and to name abortion providers upon request," said Thomas Olp, an attorney with the group.
"In my view, the law is nefarious and pernicious in its targeting of pro-life physicians and pregnancy resource centers," he added.
Laura Petigoue, who founded Hope Life Center in Sterling, Illinois, with her husband, said that the law was "monstrously prejudicial." She said that her organization has been serving the community for 30 years, and it is the only one that is dedicated to providing women with medical services and education to help them make informed decisions about unwanted pregnancies.
"Now we have had to suspend all our medical services because this new law mandates us to serve these women in a way that is harmful to them and to their unborn children," she said.
home Entertainment Jennifer Garner says she's willing to work with Donald Trump, urges Hollywood peers to engage
Liberal actress Jennifer Garner has said that she is willing to work with Donald Trump to make sure that he fulfills some of his campaign promises.
After traveling to her hometown in West Virginia last year, Garner saw that many of the people there were supporters of Trump. She saw it as an opportunity to hold the president accountable for the promises he made to the working class people.
"I'm looking forward to helping him make good on what they saw as promises, a mandate from him, that he was going to make their lives better," she said in an interview with The Washington Post.
The actress saw the need to deal with Trump after talking to some people in economically depressed areas in West Virginia, where the president gained his largest margin of victory.
"People felt like Trump really understood them, that he was going to come in and create jobs for them. They felt like they needed something to just turn everything upside down," she remarked.
Garner said that she knows some of her friends "want to turn their back to this administration .a.a. [and] just wouldn't even want to engage," but she is taking a different approach.
"If he's willing to help the poor kids who got him elected, then let's do it. They certainly think he's going to," she added.
Garner, who campaigned for Hillary Clinton this past election, has been a board member of the non-profit organization Save the Children. It is known primarily for its international projects, but it also focuses on education programs in poor rural communities in the U.S.
The actress, who has starred in faith-based movies, such as "Miracles From Heaven," has been urging Congress and state governments to fund reading and literacy programs that include all-day kindergarten. Save the Children has its own reading programs that it administers in schools and during in-home visits.
On Friday, Garner met with several top staff members on Capitol Hill, and she attended the annual National Governors Association winter meeting on Saturday to deliver the keynote address.
A potential meeting with Ivanka Trump, who is advocating for more funding for child care, had been canceled due to scheduling conflicts, but Garner is still optimistic about meeting with the presidential daughter again soon.
home US Pennsylvania judge rules against school district in transgender bathroom case
A federal judge in Pennsylvania has issued an injunction against a school district policy that prohibited three transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity.
In October the three transgender senior students filed a lawsuit against Pine-Richland School District north of Pittsburgh after the administrators enforced a policy that required them to use bathrooms that corresponded to their biological gender.
The policy was instituted after some parents and students complained about having to use restrooms with the opposite sex. It was intended to be a temporary solution while administrators are considering a more permanent solution. According to World, there are 10 unisex restrooms in the school that are available for all students.
The injunction that was issued by U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak on Monday will allow the students to use bathrooms of their choice while their case against the school proceeds in court.
Hornak predicted that the plaintiffs, two biological males who identify as female and one biological female who identifies as male, were likely to win the case on equal protection grounds.
He said that the school district failed to present evidence that the students violated anyone's "physical or visual privacy."
"Other than perhaps one report received by the high school principal in October 2015 from a student that 'there was a boy' in the girls bathroom ... followed by a parent inquiry along the same lines in early 2016, there have been no reports of 'incidents' where the use of a common restroom by any one of the plaintiffs has caused any sort of alarm to any other student," the judge wrote.
Hornak argued that both the boys' and girls' bathrooms have locking, enclosed stalls, while the urinals at the boys' bathrooms have privacy screens.
One of the students, Elissa Ridenour, 18, said that she was relieved to hear the news about the ruling, and she and the other students will start using bathrooms of their choice.
"Even though it's such a small win, it really is huge in this respect. I'm very happy and it's a relief," she said.
The ruling came after the administration of President Donald Trump rescinded federal guidelines that allowed transgender students to use public school bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identities. The administration said that the issue will now be left to the states, not the federal government.
home World Sudanese government fears Muslims will be led to Jesus, says pastor
A Christian pastor has claimed that the Sudanese government has been demolishing churches and imprisoning its pastors because of its concern that Muslims will turn to Jesus Christ.
In an interview with International Christian Concern's East Africa team, two South Sudanese pastors who were recently imprisoned in Sudan spoke about the separation of the two countries in 2011.
Pastor Michael Yat said that after South Sudan gained independence in 2011, he moved with his family to Juba in 2012. In 2014, he traveled to Khartoum on assignment with the South Sudan Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
"Little did I know that Sudan had declared war against Christians. So, I was arrested the second day after preaching in a certain church in Khartoum. That is when I was put in jail that lasted me nine months," said Yat, as reported by The Christian Post.
Yat said that the government does not want Christians in the country, especially those who can speak Arabic fluently, "because they fear that they can easily reach out to the Muslims and win them to Christ."
"They do not allow pastors to reach out to Muslims in Khartoum, Darfur and the Nuba mountains. These are strictly Muslim dominated areas," he went on to say.
Pastor Peter Yein Reith, who was imprisoned alongside Yat in 2015, said that Sudan has operated as an Islamic State since the secession of South Sudan in 2011. He suggested that persecution will continue in the country because the efforts of Christians are bearing fruit.
Several pastors have been arrested by the Sudanese government in recent months, prompting groups such as the American Center for Law and Justice to launch a petition for the pastors' freedom.
The group is calling for the release of Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal, who were imprisoned based on trumped-up national security charges. Petr Jasek, a Czech aid worker who was imprisoned in connection with the pastors' case, was recently released after the Czech Foreign Minister visited Sudan.
Jasek revealed that he endured physical beatings and psychological torture from other prisoners who were reportedly members of the Islamic State.
Last week, four other Christians were arrested and charged with destroying a sign that indicated Muslim ownership of a school called Evangelical School of Sudan. Although they were released on bail, they are still experiencing difficulties in reclaiming the school.
Sudan has been listed as the fifth most difficult country to live as a Christian in the Open Doors 2017 World Watch List. Open Doors noted that the country has almost always been ranked in the top 20 since 1993.
Buried Alive For Three Days: Christian Drugs Worker Speaks From Beyond The Grave
Burial alive is most people's nightmare, but the Christian founder of drugs charities and addiction centres is willingly spending three days underground.
John Edwards, 61, is a former drug addict and alcoholic who has devoted his life to helping others with the conditions following what he describes as 'an incredible encounter with God' 27 years ago. He has set up drugs rehabilitation centres and homeless projects and is now spending three days and nights in a specially designed 'coffin' in the grounds of a Belfast church. Edwards is using the publicity to broadcast messages of hope from beyond the 'grave'. His coffin 8ft long, 3.5ft high and 4ft wide has been equipped with a camera and he is connected to the outside world via a hatch for supplies including hot water bottles when he is cold. Water is available through a pipe and he has a caravan toilet.
He is broadcasting his experience on Facebook and interacting with viewers who are commenting on his experience. In one episode he urged people to confess their sins, 'talk it through' with God and give their problems to him.
Edwards himself lost more than 20 of his friends to addiction and suicide and says on his website he was homeless, suicidal and had been in psychiatric hospitals. He now counsels people in despair through his Walking Free ministry.
He told the Belfast Telegraph his plan was to speak to people 'from the grave before they get there and give them hope'.
'When the lid is closed and you're underground, and you hear the soil getting thrown on top of the coffin... it is freaky,' he said.
It is not his first time underground; he spend three days buried in Halifax in the north of England last year.
Five Christians Jailed In Ongoing Chinese Crackdown
Five Chinese Christians are being jailed for buying and selling Bible devotionals in an ongoing state crackdown on religious freedom.
Four women and one man were arrested last June over possession of the 'officially forbidden Christian devotional books'. Last week a court in north-eastern Liaoning province handed down a range of prison sentences from three to seven years, according to China Aid, a human rights charity.
Pastor Li Dongzhe and Piao Shunnan were given a seven-year sentence. Zhao Chunxia and Li Yuan were given five-years and Shi Jinyan three years.
In a separate case the wife of another pastor imprisoned for selling Christian books told of how he was forced to falsely increase the value of the books so his jail sentence could be lengthened.
Xu Lei, wife of imprisoned Guangfu Church member Li Hongmin, said her husband was coerced into changing the value of the books from 40,000 Yuan ($5,820.00) to 50,000 Yuan ($7,275.00). It meant when he was taken into police custody on June 2 2016 he was charged with 'illegal business operations' and faced three years in prison.
Despite being arrested more than eight months ago Li is yet to be charged. He has had two court sessions without verdict where the government's prosecutors asked more about his church's activities than the selling of books.
The cases are part of an ongoing crackdown on religious freedom in China with churches frequently targeted with cross removals and sporadic arrests.
Indian Clergyman's Anti-Women Rant Goes Viral
A video of an Indian clergyman is causing controversy after it went viral, appearing to show him suggesting women should be 'drowned in the depths of the sea'.
It's not certain from the reports in India which church Father Sharlom is part of.
His six minute rant, which was recorded almost a year ago, but which has only been widely shared in the last few days, sees him rail against the way Indian women dress.
He says, 'Bible verses say, "those who provoke you into sin should be drowned in the depths of the sea, with a rock tied to their bodies." If you [women] arouse men, you're the sinner.' It's unclear which passage of Scripture he was referring to, but there is no quote which matches this in the Bible.
The video, which was shared on Facebook has prompted strong responses from Christians, women's groups and other individuals. Speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church, Father Paul Thellakkat in Kochi said, 'What that preacher has said is unwarranted. No priest has the right to dictate a dress code to women.'
Mail Online reports that, 'Father Sharlom was approached for comment but was reluctant to discuss the video.
He told NDTV, "I have not uploaded it and the video has been edited with vested interest," before reportedly hanging up the phone.'
India has a deeply problematic record on gender equality. The Times of India reported that in 2016, 'India rose 21 places in gender equality rankings, but it still stood at an abysmal 87 out of 144 countries evaluated by the World Economic Forum.
Is Christian growth keeping pace with Islam?
Christian growth has stagnated globally while Islam's numbers have almost doubled, according to one researcher.
In a report by Dick Slikker, of the Christian mission consultancy group Project Care, information from the World Christian Database reveals that Christians made up 34.5 per cent of the world's population in 1900, while in 2010 they were 32.9 per cent.
This is contrasted with Islam's growth over the same period, at 12.3 per cent of the population in 1900, rising to 22.5 per cent by 2010. The data shows that the number of Muslims exceeded the number of Roman Catholics in the early 1980s.
Growth and decline in the Christian churches has been divided across various regions, but the general pattern has been that more 'western' industrialised countries have seen their Christian populations decline, while developing countries are seeing increased growth.
The most prominent growth can be seen in Africa where the Christian population increased by 37 per cent between 1900 and 2010. Islam grew only 10 per cent in the same period, making Africa the place where Christians have grown at a faster rate than Muslims.
Within Africa, the fastest growing Christian regions are Eastern Africa, and the Sub Saharan areas of the continent, which both saw 50 per cent Christian population increase between 1900 and 2010.
The most substantial decline for a single continent is in North America, with an 18 per cent drop in Christian affiliation between 1900 and 2010. Europe is in a similar situation with a drop of 16 per cent, while Oceania and Latin America both had declines of 3 per cent.
Focusing on specific regions within continents, the single greatest decline is found in Western Europe, with a drop from 99 per cent Christian in 1900 to 69 per cent in 2010. In the same region Islam's numbers have increased from almost zero per cent in 1900 to 6 per cent in 2010.
Mr Slikker speculates that the decline seen among Christians, especially Protestants, in North America and Western Europe is attributable to "increased materialism, secularism, rationalism, rejection of the notion of spiritual authority outside of oneself".
In the case of Oceania, Mr Slikker notes that while Christianity has declined by 3 per cent between 1900 and 2010, the data also reveals that Christian numbers were rising in that region until 1970.
"It would be of considerable interest to identify the factors behind such developments to learn if any distinct lessons might be apparent," he said.
Asia was the only continent apart from Africa to see Christian growth. The Christian population there grew by 6 per cent between 1900 and 2010. The Islamic population grew by 10 per cent.
Read the report in full here
Islam Will Surpass Christianity As World's Largest Religion By 2070, Pew Predicts
Islam is the fasting growing religion in the world, and will be the largest in the world by 2070, new research suggests.
A study updated this week by the Pew Research Centre titled 'Muslims and Islam: Key findings in the US and around the world', suggests that Islam will grow by 73 per cent by 2050, compared with only 35 per cent growth for Christianity.
The entire world population is expected to grow by 37 per cent, meaning Islam will grow at nearly twice the rate of the world. In 2010 Christians numbered 2.17 billion, and Muslims 1.6 billion. By 2070 those numbers will reach 2.92 billion and 2.76 billion respectively.
In the US, Muslims are predicted to make up 2.1 per cent of the population by 2050. They currently make up approximately 1 per cent of the population, numbering around 3.3. million. In Europe, Muslims will reach 10 per cent of the population by 2050.
Atheism and non-religious identification will decline, the report says. While such groups will grow in North America and Europe, globally they will decline from 16.4 per cent of the population to 13.2 per cent by 2050.
The reports suggest two factors behind Islam's rapid growth. Muslims have the highest fertility rate, at 3.1 children per woman. Muslims also have the youngest average age 34 per cent are aged under 15.
The reports suggests that most people in majority Muslim countries have an unfavourable view of ISIS. Often, people in predominantly Muslim countries were as concerned about the threat of Islamic extremism as those in the West.
Pakistani Christian Woman Raped, Forced To Marry And Convert To Islam Says She 'Prays For Freedom'
A Pakistani Christian woman who was forcibly married, converted, abused and raped by her Muslim employer has spoken about her experience, and how she wishes to be freed from her forced marriage.
Mother of three and divorcee Fouzia Sadiq, 31, had taken up employment as a cleaner to support her family. She claims her employer, Muhammed Nazir Amjad, began making unwanted sexual advances to her. When she reported his behaviour to his daughters she says she was beaten and sent away. Days later, she was returned to Amjad's home, where she says he raped her, forced her to convert to Islam and made her marry him.
Fouzia's story, which began in July 2015, was reported widely last year. Fouzia described her experience in captivity. She said: 'I thought God had left me and wanted to end my life. I stopped praying and hated myself. I thought I was evil and had done something to make God hate me.
'I felt dirty and unclean all the time the monster made me do things I am so ashamed of. But I had no choice. It made me angry that God was blaming me.
'I reached my lowest point and tried to commit suicide by taking some pills. I was rushed to the hospital and the monster used the opportunity to remove my ovaries, so I would not have any more children.'
The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) has been advocating for Fouzia and her protection. The humanitarian group gave Fouzia a secret phone to use and she was able to escape Amjad and find safe refuge.
BPCA says Fouzia's chance of escaping Pakistan was denied by Pakistan's British embassy and the United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Last year, under intense pressure, Fouzia's family returned her to Amjad. The BPCA assisted Fouzia in escaping again in October 2016, providing her with a safe house and protective care. Fouzia is currently safe but remains in Pakistan, technically, the BPCA says, as a fugitive from 'justice'. It said in a statment: 'Fouzia has described a despicable existence in the home of Muhammed Nazir. She was forced to cook and clean for him, was beaten and tortured by Muhhamed Nazir and his family and was required to satisfy his sexual desires at his whim.
'Fouzia spent most of her time alone and would weep daily praying for freedom. When she was returned by her family to the monster who had terrorised her so brutally, she reached her lowest point. Fouzia at that point started to engage in self harm.'
Fouzia said: 'I could not even kill myself, I felt totally helpless. I realised I was not getting out of this life on my own and asked God to forgive my mistrust in Him. I decided to use any spare minute to pray for freedom.
'The only time I felt any peace was when I prayed. God was my only company.
'One day my cousin secretly gave me a phone that the BPCA had provided, I realised God had not forgotten me. He was there for me just as he had always been.
'With the phone I was able to escape the clutches of a monster and his evil family. Now I pray for freedom from the forced marriage that I am shackled by.'
She is campaigning for an annulment of her marriage, but it is expected she will lose her case. The BPCA is raising funds for a professional solicitor to help Fouzia, and has launched an appeal for her to be granted asylum in the West.
It has also launched a petition calling for an end to abduction and forced marriages in Pakistan.
Pastor And Four Churchgoers Accused Of Pushing 'Possessed' Woman Into Bonfire Before She Died From Burns
A pastor and four members of his congregation have been arrested in Nicaragua after a mother accused of being 'possessed' by the devil was allegedly pushed into a bonfire before dying.
Vilma Trujillo Garcia, who was 25, died on Tuesday, five days after being rushed to hospital in the Nicaraguan capital Managua with first degree burns over 80 per cent of her body, the Mirror reported.
The five suspects include a 23-year-old church minister, Juan Gregorio Rocha Romero. The suspects were held after Vilma's grieving husband Reynaldo Peralta claimed she had been stripped naked and tied up next to the bonfire before being pushed on top of it.
The incident happened in the rural community of El Cortezal in north-eastern Nicaragua.
Rocha Romero, a pastor at the Assemblies of God Church, is claiming that the woman threw herself on the fire to rid herself of 'bad spirits' inside her.
'God told her he was going to remove that bad spirit from her and asked us to start a fire because that's where the spirit was going to be expelled,' the pastor told a local paper.
He insisted that no-one had touched Vilma, and added: 'We were praying when we looked at her and saw she was on fire.'
However, one of the four alleged accomplices, Eneyda del Socorro Orozco Tellez, is reported to have told investigators during questioning: 'God made a revelation to me. He told me to make a bonfire in the church patio and said we should take Vilma and tie up next to the flames and pray so that the devil left her sick body and threw itself on the fire.'
According to the daily newspaper La Prensa, a police report on the tragedy had concluded that the pastor had ordered worshippers to gather up firewood and start praying for her before his alleged accomplices threw her onto the flames.
Franklin Jarquin Hernandez, another of the detainees, told the paper that Vilma had been possessed by a 'bad spirit' after committing adultery.
'She had her life companion and committed an error with another man and she was claiming to be a Christian and fasting and I'm sure God punished her in that way and she became possessed by the devil,' he said.
'It was a bad spirit that pushed her and she fell on the fire.'
Vilma, who was the mother of a boy aged five and a girl aged two, died at around 4.30am local time on Tuesday at Antonio Lenin Fonseca Hospital in Managua after five days in intensive care.
Her husband, speaking shortly before Vilma's death, said: 'My wife spent eight days prisoner in that congregation and her sister told me that to burn her, they got some firewood together and then they pushed her naked on the flames.
'She's got burns on her face, legs and arms and her kidneys and liver have been badly damaged.The doctors have told me 80 per cent of her body is affected and they don't think she'll pull through. I don't think my wife was possessed at all. What they did to her was witchcraft.'
The husband claimed that, far from committing adultery, Vilma had instead been raped, adding: 'I went to confront the man I was told was responsible but had to leave him alone because he was carrying a rifle.'
Disturbing pictures showed Vilma being transferred to hospital with bandages on her face after being retrieved from the fire while barely alive.
The five suspects are expected to be formally charged in the coming days after being transferred to Managua by police, who said they were treating the case as murder.
A police spokesman has named the three male and two female suspects aged 23 to 28 at a press conference.
'Possessed' Woman Burned Alive In Alleged Exorcism Ritual
A woman said to be possessed with evil spirits was reportedly burned alive as a priest and several parishioners allegedly performed an exorcism ritual on her.
Vilma Trujillo, 25, was taken away from church by Pastor Juan Gregorio Rocha Romero and four members of the Church of the Assembly of God in the northeastern village of El Cortezal, Nicaragua on Feb. 22, according to the newspaper La Prensa.
They removed all of her clothes and tied her arms and legs before tossing her onto a flaming pyre at a location in the capital Managua, the report said. Those who abducted her allegedly tried to drive away the evil spirits inside her before they tossed her onto the flaming logs.
The woman was rescued by her relatives and rushed to a hospital in Managua. However, she died from her injuries on Tuesday.
Police arrested Romero and his cohorts on Feb. 24. At the police station, Romero claimed innocence, saying the victim was responsible for her own death. "She hung up and fell into the fire" because she knew that she was "demon possessed," Romero said. "And when we were praying, we looked at her and she was on fire."
The victim's husband, Reynaldo Peralta Rodriguez, said his wife was kidnapped while attending church service last week. They live in the town of Rosita, which is 300 miles northeast of Managua.
Church members thought Trujilo was possessed after she allegedly tried to attack people with a machete.
Rodriguez vehemently denied the accusations. "It's unforgiveable what they did to us. They killed my wife, the mother of my two little ones," he said. "Now what am I going to tell them?"
The Assemblies of God, meanwhile, issued a statement denying that Romero is one of its leaders.
Nicaragua's First Lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo told state media that Trujillo's abduction and burning were "deplorable and to be condemned," according to The News.
"Something like this cannot happen again," she stressed.
Splits Among Bishops Over Brexit Exposed By Lords Vote
Bishops are called to show unity on controversial issues such as homosexuality.
But last night those Bishops who voted in the House of Lords, several of them heavyweights, were divided on an amendment to the Government's legislation triggering article 50 in order to press ahead with Brexit.
Peers overwhelmingly rebelled against the Government by passing an amendment demanding a guarantee of rights for EU nationals already in the UK.
The Government defeat, by 358 votes to 256, came thanks to an alliance of Labour, Liberal Democrats, cross-benchers, seven rebel Tories and two Bishops.
The Bishops who voted for the amendment, and therefore against the Government, were the Bishop of Newcastle, Christine Hardman and the Bishop of Leeds, Nicholas Baines.
Bishop Baines, who is tipped by some church insiders to be the next Bishop of London, wrote on his blog: 'The people have spoken, but the concerns of nearly half of them also need to be heard.'
On the other side, the Government was backed by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres and the Bishop of St Albans, Alan Smith.
Archbishop Sentamu, who voted for Britain to remain in the EU in the referendum last June,said in the debate that he was one of the people who had left Uganda in opposition to Idi Aminexpelling Asians - 'so I know how minorities can feel'.
But he surprised some by insisting that the legislation was simply about allowing article 50 to be triggered, and compared it to the start of a race.
'On your marks, get set, bang,' he said. 'Then they take off and it will take two years to run this race and during the running of the race we want to make sure concerns come back.'
The Archbishop added: 'I want to suggest that we leave the Bill as it is. Pass it as quickly as possible and, after all the speeches about guaranteeing European citizens their right to remain, let us do it as quickly as possiblebut do not attach it to this Bill. As far as I am concerned, that is not revising or scrutinising the Bill. It is simply adding material which I do not think is very helpful.'
But Bishop Baines added on his blog: 'It is clear that the Lords will not stop Article 50 from being triggered. But, the central plank of the Brexit campaign that parliamentary sovereignty be restored to "the people" of the UK surely means that this parliament should be encouraged to do its job as part of the democratic process. Does anyone really think that had the referendum gone the other way, the Leavers would have declared, "Well, the people have spoken and we must shut up, accept it and embrace membership of the EU without comment, demur or debate"?
'"The people" include not only the 48 per cent who voted to remain in the EU, but also those younger people who have (or will have before the two-year negotiation period is concluded) reached the magic age of suffrage and will endure or enjoy the consequences of "the deal" that is done on their behalf. The people have spoken, but the concerns of nearly half of them also need to be heard as together we build the new country and settlement chosen by the majority in the referendum.'
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was among the remaining 21 bishops who did not vote in the debate.
You can read the full debate on House of Lords Hansard, and see which way each peer voted on the Lords' website.
2 Christian Street Preachers Convicted Of Public Order Offences By U.K. Court For Saying 'All Muslims Will Burn In Hell'
Two Christian street preachers were convicted of public order offences by the Bristol Magistrates' Court in the U.K. on Tuesday after they publicly stated that Muslims are going to hell and that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell were found guilty during the four-day trial of using "threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress, thereby, and the offence was religiously aggravated," reported Christian Concern.
A third man was also accused of the same offences, but his case was dismissed. Charges were slapped on the street preachers after they allegedly offended a crowd in Bristol back in July last year. A witness claimed that they made statements such as "Allah does not exist" and "all Muslims will burn in hell."
The crowd who gathered before the preachers were reportedly agitated because of their comments. When the police arrived at the scene, Overd was said to have "gone over the top" since he "wound up people."
Police took them to Patchway Custody Centre in Bristol where they were held for several hours. They were charged under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Public Order Act 1986.
Even though the preachers said in their defence that they were only speaking truths from the Bible, prosecutor Ian Jackson argued otherwise. "To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to God is through Jesus, that cannot be a truth," Jackson said in court.
The preachers' counsel, Michael Phillips, called the prosecution a "modern-day heresy trial dressed up under the public order act."
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, also agreed. "Overd and his friends are motivated by love. They want to share the Good News of Jesus with people who might not otherwise hear it. Sometimes that means addressing the false claims of other religions or ideologies," she said.
This was not the first time Overd was charged, according to The Christian Post. Back in 2014, he was already charged for "causing offence" when he publicly declared that the Islamic prophet Mohammad was wrong for marrying a nine-year-old girl. Because of his statements, police had to forcibly remove him from the area.
Trump's Inauguration Pastor Samuel Rodriguez Sets Up 'Safe Havens' For Undocumented Immigrants
An evangelical pastor who prayed at Donald Trump's inauguration is offering a 'safe haven' for undocumented immigrants at his Sacramento church.
Sam Rodriguez Jr, who led prayers at Trump's January inauguration, has been vocal in his support and welcome of immigrants and those fearing deportation, as Time reports.
Rodriguez is the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), and leads the New Season Christian Worship Center. In January New Season church set up 30 cots in its building to provide safe shelter for anyone fearing the future following Donald Trump's executive order on federal deportation.
'The anxiety in Christian conservative, evangelical churches has grown exponentially, because many of our worshipers, many of the families we serve, many of the families in our pews, may very well lack the appropriate documentation, even though we have a don't ask don't tell policy,' Rodriguez said.
The safe haven programme is intended to provide protection and spiritual encouragement for those who are afraid. It also protects those afraid of domestic abuse. Harbouring undocumented immigrants does violate federal law, and the church says there is no plan for what to do if officials come demanding its immigrants. 'We are just there offering assistance, giving them a sense of hope, peace,' said Charlie Riviera, leader of the safe haven programme.
Rodriguez has been a keen advocate for refugees and vulnerable immigrants, often clashing with Trump on the issue. He stood against Trump's plan to deport 10 million undocumented immigrants and build a border wall with Mexico. He encouraged Trump to allow child immigrants (known as 'Dreamers') to be allowed to stay and find employment in America, and urged him not to separate families through deportation.
'We have every desire to work with President Trump in finding a solution to our immigration crisis, one that addresses his objectives and stops illegal immigration, and deports those involved in nefarious activity, but protects the Dreamers and the god-fearing, hardworking families that are here undocumented,' Rodriguez said.
He remains concerned that Trump will target all undocumented immigrants for deportation, rather than focusing on violent criminals.
Praying at Trump's inauguration, Rodriguez quoted Jesus' teaching in the beatitudes, in Matthew 5: 'God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs,' he said. 'God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted...God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.'
While Most White Evangelicals Support Trump's Travel Ban, Most Black Protestants And Catholics Oppose It
Some 76 per cent of US white evangelicals are in favour of Donald Trump's controversial travel ban, new surveys suggest.
Polling studies by the Pew Research Centre suggest that while most Americans disapprove of President Trump's executive order banning refugees from several Muslim majority countries, three quarters of white evangelical protestants (74 per cent) support then ban.
In sharp contrast, the majority of black Protestants (84 per cent) disapprove of the ban, alongside most Catholics (62 per cent).
Trump's executive order banned any immigrants travelling from seven majority Muslim countries to the US. It has been a source of intense criticism abroad and at home, and has been caught in legal turmoil after being blocked by federal judges. Some 89 per cent of Democrats oppose the ban, while most Republicans (81 per cent) support it.
Most of the religiously unaffiliated, also known as 'nones', oppose the executive order (74 per cent).
The study also showed that three-quarters of white evangelical protestants are 'very concerned' about Islamic extremism across the world, and 69 per cent said they were 'very concerned' about radical Islam in the US.
Only 32 per cent of religious 'nones' said they were concerned about Islamic extremism abroad, and just 27 per cent were concerned about the threat in the US.
Fifty-one per cent of white evangelicals said that there was a 'great deal' or 'fair amount' of support for extremism among US Muslims.
The support for Trump's order from white evangelicals is in line with the group's traditional conservative affiliation. Donald Trump won the presidency with the overwhelming support (81 per cent) of white evangelicals.
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Pete Hefflin was a leader of the Texas environmental movement. He fought against pipeline companies, decried corporate greed, and helped open the largest protest camp in West Texas aimed at blocking the Trans-Pecos pipeline.
But as Hefflin talked about protecting sensitive natural resources for the future, he was hiding his past. This week, at a pipeline protest in Presidio County, sheriff's deputies arrested him, fingerprinted him and confirmed that they had in custody not Pete Hefflin, but Pedro Rabago Gutierrez, a man arrested and imprisoned multiple times in California for serious crimes - rape and drug dealing among them - before fleeing the state at least 10 years ago as a wanted man.
The arrest stunned protesters at the camp, where he was the head of security, and sent the environmental groups with which the man worked into damage control.
"He was part of our circle. He was part of our family," said Frankie Orona, executive director of the Society of Native Nations, a San Antonio-based environment and American Indian advocacy group at which Gutierrez was a member of the board of directors. "But then again, we've always been about holding people accountable, and in this situation, he was definitely wrong. I am upset with him."
The Sierra Club said it, too, was surprised by the news, but urged the protest to continue, noting that the Trans-Pecos pipeline was within two months of completion. "We don't see it as something that will deter the movement," said Vanessa Ramos, a spokeswoman for the environmental nonprofit. "This is much bigger than one person."
Energy Transfer Partners, the Dallas company building Trans-Pecos, declined to comment.
Gutierrez, 56, has a long criminal history, according to the California Department of Corrections. In 1984, he was sentenced to nine years for forcible rape, seven years for forcible oral sex and three years for possession of a controlled substance with an intent to sell, the California Department of Corrections said. He served the sentences concurrently and got out of prison about six years later, released on parole.
Between 1990 and 1997, he was reimprisoned at least five times for parole violations, according to corrections records, and in 1998, was convicted of having sex with a minor under 18. He went back to jail, but gained parole again in April of 2002. The California Department of Corrections never heard from him again.
It's unclear when Gutierrez resurfaced in Texas as Pete Hefflin, but four months ago, he galvanized the movement to block the Trans-Pecos pipeline.
At a November meeting of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission, Gutierrez and about 100 other activists gathered to protest the pipeline, which runs from near Pecos to Mexico and by Big Bend Ranch State Park. Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, sits on the commission.
At the meeting, the activists lined up to address the commission. Most spoke of the beauty of West Texas and the ruin of the pipeline's construction. But only one - Gutierrez - got Warren to agree to meet in person.
The meeting never happened. Gutierrez lambasted Warren on social media. "You're a coward and I'm calling you out," he said in a Facebook video.
In December, Texas activists, following the example of protesters trying to block another Energy Transfer project, the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, worked to open three West Texas camps. Gutierrez helped set up one, Two Rivers camp, on private land near Big Bend Ranch State Park, and became the camp's head of ceremonies and of security.
Gutierrez, who lives with his wife in the Houston area, was the leader who stayed most often at the camp, other activists said, and became well-loved.
But, about two months ago, a Presidio County Sheriff's deputy got a tip that Gutierrez, still known as Hefflin, was wanted in California under a warrant issued in 2007, according to the sheriff's office incident report.
That day, as Gutierrez waited for his wife to get out of jail after a protest, the deputy, Angel Velasquez, asked to see Gutierrez' identification. He gave the officer a Social Security card. Velasquez let Gutierrez go, but checked the card. It came back as a fake.
On Sunday, Velasquez ran into Gutierrez again.
Protesters had gathered at a pipeline construction site near Elephant Rock by the old ghost town of Shafter, the incident report said. Velasquez called it in, and the state told him to arrest Gutierrez.
Protesters quickly surrounded Velasquez, stabbing their fingers, yelling and demanding to see the warrant. Several deputies stood by, including Sheriff Danny Dominguez, whose body camera caught the whole incident. Velasquez loaded Gutierrez into a truck and drove off.
"They bark like little Chihuahua dogs," Dominguez said in an interview. "But they don't got no bite."
The deputies took Gutierrez to the border patrol checkpoint, 30 miles away, to take his fingerprints. Gutierrez admitted who he was, the incident report said.
Gutierrez is being held in Presidio County jail, awaiting his return to California. Some protesters, while shocked, hate that his criminal history was dredged up.
Lori Glover, founder of the Big Bend Defense Coalition and owner of the land on which the Two Rivers camp sits, said the penal system was cruel and vengeful.
"He served his time, made a new start," she said. "I was unaware of any of this past history. Despite that, I feel very privileged to have worked with Pete Hefflin."
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Violet Chachki did some shopping during a tour stop in Houston.
The "RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 7 winner stopped by Erotic Cabaret in Montrose to pick up a few things Wednesday, including #corsets and #rhinestones.
IT TAKES TWO: 'Drag Race' power couple Sharon Needles and Alaska in Houston
Chachki posed with a pair of pink bags amid peekaboo drawings and heeled boots.
"Just cleaned out the Erotic Cabaret in Houston," Chachki wrote on Instagram.
Wade
Chachki was in town with burlesque star Dita Von Teese, whose Art of the Teese includes Wednesday and Thursday (tonight) stops at House of Blues.
Von Teese invited Chachki, also known for slinky burlesque numbers, to join shows in Chicago, Dallas and Houston.
FLASHBACK: A conversation with Dita Von Teese
Houston fan Wade attended the Wednesday show and snapped a photo with Chachki.
Tickets for Thursday's show are $40-$143 and still available. Von Teese even had Texas-shaped confetti cut for the Houston and Dallas shows.
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Some Montrose-area businesses will have more flexibility in the way they provide parking for their employees and customers as the result of a plan approved Wednesday by Houston City Council that relaxes some city parking requirements.
The council approved an application for a so-called "special parking area" submitted last year by the Montrose Management District. Officials with the district said relaxed parking rules would make it easier to attract new businesses and maximize available parking.
"We think this is the beginning of doing some great things as it relates to parking," said Tony Allender, the district's director of special projects.
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The special parking area, he said, allows the flexibility to address "complexities or unique features of a particular area."
"We have within the Montrose area a pretty substantial parking deficit in our commercial areas," Allender said.
Residents in the area, however, have raised concerns about how the new rules would affect overflow parking near their homes. Business owners outside the proposed district have spoken out, too, claiming they would suffer by not being included.
Allender said the district has created a broader plan to deal with parking issues that don't necessarily require city approval. That includes expanding the district's security services to keep streets safer and exploring the addition of parking garages and enhancements to intersections and pedestrian areas.
Within the special area, new businesses will be allowed to park up to 80 percent of cars belonging to their customers and employees, instead of the usual 25 percent, up to 800 feet away in off-site parking or 1,000 feet if valet service is offered.
As part of an update to the city's off-street parking code, businesses will be able to provide off-site parking within 500 feet of their properties rather than 250 feet.
The special parking area boundaries are along Westheimer from Mandell to Taft and along Montrose from Hyde Park to Harold.
The district collects assessments from commercial property owners to make improvements and promote economic development. It proposed the special parking area last year and in January, the Houston Planning Commission voted to recommend that City Council approve the group's application.
The special parking area will be re-evaluated in two years.
Six people were wounded Wednesday morning in a domestic dispute turned car chase that ended in a crash in southeast Houston.
The Houston Police Department responded to an 8:55 a.m. call from a woman who was in her car, fleeing her ex-boyfriend. She called police while driving near the intersection of East Orem Drive and Martindale Road, about two miles away from where the chase would eventually end.
A naked man was arrested near Spring Forest Middle School on Thursday after he allegedly hid from Houston police conducting a rape investigation.
At about 4:30 a.m. on March 2, police responded to a call for a sexual assault in progress at the Bateswood Manor Apartments, 777 Bateswood Drive, Houston police spokesman John Cannon said.
Houston ISD has announced the hiring of a new chief of staff and chief financial officer.
Cynthia Wilson, now the chief of staff for Dallas ISD, will lead the Houston ISD's staff. Meanwhile Rene Barajas, who is currently deputy superintendent and CFO of the Garland ISD, will take over the district's finances.
Both new hires have more than 20 years of experience in public schools. Barajas will join the district March 20, while Wilson will start in April.
Wilson served as a superintendent of the Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 in South Carolina before going to Dallas ISD. She also is a former HISD staff member, having served as a regional and area superintendent, school principal, assistant principal and teacher.
As a key member of the superintendent's cabinet, Wilson will serve as a line of communication between the superintendent and others who report to him. She will coordinate with the superintendent and his other cabinet members, as well as provide oversight to the district's board services department.
Carranza said he was eager to welcome Wilson back to HISD.
"She not only has knowledge of our district but tremendous experience in supporting a diverse and urban school district," Carranza said. "Her skill set will be valuable to our district as we continue to focus on providing the best environment for students and staff and improving engagement with school stakeholders."
Barajas has been a chief financial officer for 8 years, having previously served as an assistant superintendent for business and support services for the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District as well as a business manager and internal auditor for other public school districts in Texas.
His job duties will include planning and managing the district's annual budget and developing long-range budget plans. He also will direct the district's offices of the controller, tax and finance, budget/financial planning, Medicaid finance, benefits and procurement.
Carranza said Barajas was the top candidate for the position.
"He has exceptional experience in managing a public school district's financial portfolio and will be an asset in overseeing our budget to ensure the district is providing services effectively and efficiently," Carranza said.
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Two known MS-13 gang members, formerly of El Salvador, appeared in Houston court Wednesday to hear charges against them in the kidnapping and torture of one victim and the "satanic" killing of a second.
Diego Hernandez-Rivera, 18, and leader of the group Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, also known as "Diabolico," were arrested Monday on charges of aggravated kidnapping in one case and murder in a second in the shooting death of an unidentified woman's body earlier this month on a Houston road.
Hernandez-River and Alvarez-Flores laughed, smiled and waved for the media cameras during Thursday morning's hearing. Both are immigrants in the country illegally, according to court records.
The men remained Thursday in the Harris County jail under $300,000 bond that was set at a later court hearing before state District Judge Maria Jackson.
In the kidnapping case, the female victim allegedly ran away from school around Feb. 2, to an apartment on Glenmont. There she tried to leave and was held against her will for four days and sexually assaulted by one of the gang members.
The victim was then held for around 14 days at a different location on Gessner.
MISSED THE STORY? MS-13 gang members face murder, kidnapping charges
According to the charges being read in a court hearing Wednesday morning, this victim told detectives that there were six gang members living at the apartment who forced her to ingest drugs and alcohol to keep her in an intoxicated state during most of her time there.
She was also held down while Alvarez-Flores tattooed the image of a grim reaper from her knee to her foot.
On Feb. 16, the body of another young woman was found in west Houston, lying along the curb at the 9900 block of Sharpcrest Street. The victim in the aggravated kidnapping was able to identify her only as "Genesis," another girl also at the apartment on Gessner.
According to the court hearing, Genesis allegedly made an outburst against the gang members' satanic rituals and shrine, which wound up leading Flores to declare the "Beast" required a soul sacrifice.
When the kidnapping victim woke up the day after the incident, Genesis was gone.
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When police found her, she had been shot once in the head and chest. Investigators believe she was shot by Hernandez-Rivera and Alvarez-Flores at another location and dumped on Sharpcrest.
Prosecutor Lisa Collins told the judge Thursday that Hernandez-Rivera told police that he led the woman to a remote area and shot her twice.
Both suspects are identified in court records as MS-13 gang members from El Salvador. Both men would be held by federal immigration authorities if they are able to make bail, Collins said.
Both men have requested a court-appointed lawyer, and their cases have been assigned to the 339th district court with Judge Maria Jackson.
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Just ten months after he was released from prison, a 25-year-old Houston man with gang ties and a laundry list of prior convictions was identified as the man killed after shooting two Houston police officers on Tuesday.
Before the latest outburst of violence, Earl Donnell Riley had previously been arrested for multiple burglaries, marijuana, driving while intoxicated, felon in possession of a weapon, criminal mischief, trespassing and evading arrest - and that was just in the past eight years since he reached majority age.
The Louisiana native - who boasted a "Most Hated" tattoo across his back, according to prison records - has been linked to a criminal gang called the 52 Hoovers, a subset of the Crips with members in northeast, south and east Houston, a police union official said Wednesday.
Riley's long crime spree ended Tuesday morning, when he was fatally shot after opening fire on Officers Ronny Cortez and Jose Munoz.
Cortez, 49, a 24-year Houston Police Department veteran, remains in Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center with a bullet lodged near his spine.
His family issued a statement Thursday evening.
"We would like to thank all of our friends, family and neighbors for the great network of support and good wishes," according to the statement. "Ronny is a protector and has always been there to help those in need. Right now, we are making sure he gets the best care possible since he is the one in need."
The family praised the memorial Hermann Red Duke Trauma Institute and said the Houston Police Department "has been absolutely golden" in responding to the family's needs.
"We ask that everyone continue to send prayers our way as Ronny continues his recovery. We are eternally grateful for your love and support," the statement said.
Munoz, a 10-year veteran of the force, was shot in the foot. The 34-year-old was released from the hospital Wednesday night.
The shooter used a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, HPD Chief Art Acevedo said Wednesday.
Court records show that Riley was arrested last month on Valentine's Day, just two weeks before he shot and wounded the police officers. He was charged Feb. 15 with driving drunk and keeping an open drink in his passenger seat.
Prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the DWI charge on Feb. 16 due to a lack of probable cause, court records show; the judge ordered Riley's release.
When he was 19, Riley was arrested under circumstances similar to Tuesday's incident.
HPD officers were chasing Riley in April 2010 after he was suspected in a string of burglaries in a Spring Branch West neighborhood, about 10 miles north of the southwest Houston neighborhood where he shot the officers on Tuesday.
Officers pursued him on foot and arrested him in a neighbor's back yard, according to a sworn statement. On Tuesday, he shot and wounded the officers who found him hiding in backyard storage shed a few houses away from the home he allegedly burglarized.
Riley wasn't arrested for the 2010 burglary until more than a year later, and the case was ultimately dismissed. But in early 2011, Riley pleaded guilty to home burglary for a different break-in the same day and was sentenced to three years in prison with 19 months credit given for time spent in jail awaiting trial. He was released in August 2011 on mandatory supervision, according to prison records.
Then in 2013 he pleaded guilty to another home burglary as well as felon in possession of weapon, after stealing a gun from a Houston home. That netted him another three-year sentence. He was released from state prison in May 2016.
One lawyer who represented him in an earlier case said he remembered nothing about the future shooter.
"The name sounds vaguely familiar," said another.
A baggage handler at Austin Bergstrom International Airport is facing several decades in federal prison after he was accused of stealing firearms from the luggage of passengers, authorities said.
Ja'Quan Johnson, 25, is accused of stealing "numerous" handguns from airport luggage between Nov. 29, 2016 and Feb. 2, 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
Federal prosecutors also alleged that Johnson traded some of the stolen weapons for marijuana. Police in Austin have recovered seven firearms that they can link to Johnson, officials said.
He has been charged with theft from an interstate shipment. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Johnsonfaces 10 years in prison for each stolen firearm.
GALVESTON A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter Thursday rescued a crew member with a broken leg from a tanker near Galveston Island in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard said.
The leg of the 35-year-old chief engineer on the 1,092-foot tanker Ingrid was broken after being struck by an anchor chain, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The ship's master called the Coast Guard at 6:35 a.m. and said that the engineer, whose name was not released, needed medical attention.
Two crosstown Houston law schools reached a settlement Thursday in a trademark spat over the name and branding at the older institution.
After hitting an impasse in settlement talks earlier this year, the University of Houston and South Texas College of Law Houston hammered out a draft agreement after two days of mediation this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo.
Officials at both schools said they are still waiting for the UH Chancellor and the South Texas board to sign off on the deal. The schools agreed not to comment on the terms of the deal or their feelings about the nine-month detente, officials said.
The UH regents hired a team of top-tier lawyers in June after South Texas College of Law changed its name to Houston College of Law and switched to a red color scheme. UH lawyers said its law center owned the rights to the word "Houston" in an educational setting.
The hefty legal team for the private South Texas College of Law matched them toe-to-toe, arguing law students would not be confused by the two very different law schools.
But in October, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled that UH was likely to win at trial and he ordered South Texas to stop using the name starting with "Houston."
South Texas reverted to its original name, but adding the word Houston at the end, a revision UH officials said they approved.
It appeared the major conflicts had been resolved, and Ellison suggested the parties figure it the final details out privately. In January, the discussion halted over monetary issues and the status of various trademark applications and registrations still in play.
The law schools asked the judge to send the case to formal mediation.
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Dallas-based restaurant chain Dave & Busters is getting what appears to be some negative blowback this week after a biker group made up of military veterans said it was harassed at a Michigan location.
MLive in Grand Rapids first reported on the story on Wednesday, detailing how a group of American Legion Riders were confronted by management at a Kentwood, Michigan D&B location on Saturday, Feb. 25.
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According to biker Victor Murdock a general manager at the location told the group of bikers that they had to remove their riding vests, or colors, turn them inside-out or leave the premises. The bikers attire apparently violated the chains dress code policy which prohibits clothing that promotes evidence of gang affiliation, according to MLive.
The vests have patches of the American flag, the Prisoner of War flag and a bald eagle.
Founded in 1993, the American Legion Riders are a well-known veterans' biker group, complete with by-laws and membership rules. This is not a group affiliated with criminal activity or other nefarious acts. According to the Legion website, there are at least 106,000 American Legion Riders in over a thousand chapters.
Its website also shows at least nine chapters in the Houston-area alone.
Murdock is with the American Legion Riders Post 179 out of Grandville, Michigan.
According to Murdocks description of the events last Saturday, staff confronted them just as they entered. He was first asked to remove a beanie cap.
"Then I turned to my right, and the manager was standing right there," he told MLive. "He placed his hand on my chest and said, 'You're not coming in here.' He basically explained to me their company policy and said I can thank Chicago for this -- whatever that means -- that anything gang-related you can't wear there.
Murdock said that the staff and the company has the American Legion bikers confused with something sinister.
"A lot of our members are war veterans," he told MLive previously. "When they wear our jackets they usually have the battalion they served in. It's not just a jacket. It's a badge of honor."
Murdock never served but his father did. He joined the group as a show solidarity with military veterans.
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After word got out about the treatment of the bikers via social media the companys VP of marketing released a statement in the hopes of clearing the air. They expressed that they will also review their dress code going forward.
"We recognize the need to educate our team members about the American Legion, and have reached out to the local American Legion Post 179, and the national organization for guidance," Vice President of Marketing April Spearman wrote in the statement this week.
"Dave & Buster's is extremely grateful to all of our active military members and veterans, and we are honored to have them as valued guests," she continued in the statement. "We remain fully committed to our military and will work with the American Legion and Mr. Murdock on ways we can support their mission and their community."
Dave & Busters was founded in Dallas in 1982 by David Corriveau and James "Buster" Corley. There are over 80 locations in the United States and Canada. The company went public in 1995.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo blasted the city's body-camera provider, WatchGuard Video, on Wednesday, saying issues with battery life have lead him to slow the city's ongoing rollout of 4,100 cameras.
"I think they think I'm their stockholder," Acevedo said after a Wednesday news conference about officers wounded in a shooting Tuesday. "We're going to do our due diligence to make sure we have the right technology ... and the right approach."
Referencing a report in the Wall Street Journal that noted the battery issue, Acevedo added that he had met with WatchGuard's CEO.
"When a vendor goes to the media instead of talking in good faith, it tells me that they're more interested in the bottom line," the chief said.
WatchGuard representatives could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Neither Acevedo nor Mayor Sylvester Turner gave a timeline for the "pause" in the camera rollout, but Turner downplayed the risk of a lengthy delay and said the review was not a prelude to switching vendors. The selection of a body camera vendor was a heavily lobbied effort when City Council voted on the program's first phase in late 2015 under former Mayor Annise Parker, in a process some council members said felt rushed.
"In some cases I think they've moved to replace some of that equipment, some of those batteries, or they're coming up with better technology. We're looking at all of that," Turner said after Wednesday's council meeting. "I view this as only a temporary pause to deal with those technical issues."
Turner said officials still are reviewing Acevedo's request, made shortly after he was hired to run HPD late last year, to have the devices activate automatically when patrol officers exit their vehicles. The chief said slowing the rollout would provide more time to discuss that issue.
There are about 2,000 body cameras on the streets right now, the mayor said. The original plan called for about 4,100 cameras to be deployed.
Last spring, council voted to spend the first $1 million of what is expected to be $8 million over five years to buy servers and other equipment to store video collected by the cameras, plus staffing costs. That followed the initial $3.4 million equipment contract with WatchGuard.
The initiative has experienced a few hiccups.
Last August, disruptive protesters angry about a shooting not fully captured by either responding officer's camera forced the City Council into recess.
KHOU reported last year that the district attorney's office identified hundreds of cases in which no video was available, despite cameras being assigned to the officers involved, as well as dozens of cases in which police sent the videos to prosecutors after the cases had been closed.
Councilwoman Brenda Stardig, who chairs the council's public safety committee, was one of four members opposed to the initial November 2015 launch of the program with WatchGuard. She said she has heard from a handful of officers that the cameras' battery life has been a problem.
"The efficiency issue is one of the factors I'm concerned about," she said. "They need to be on the street. They don't need to be worried about charging and recharging and making sure the camera is doing what it's supposed to be doing. We have a shortage of manpower as it is."
Turner said it is important that any technical issues be addressed.
"You don't want them to have the body cameras on, the batteries are not being charged, so to speak, and then all of a sudden something happens and you don't have the footage and the excuse is, well, the battery died," the mayor said. "That hurts the credibility of the system. So, we're certainly asking the manufacturer to make sure he addresses those problems."
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
More Employers in Quebec Will be Able to Bypass LMIA Advertising Requirement
More Employers in Quebec Will be Able to Bypass LMIA Advertising Requirement
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The government of Quebec has expanded the list of occupations for which employers do not need to advertise an open position before hiring a foreign worker.
Canadian employers hiring temporary foreign workers typically must advertise an open position in multiple places before an application for an application for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) may be submitted. However, this requirement is waived for employers in Quebec hiring for certain positions.
This simplified process is known as a facilitated LMIA.
Employers applying under the facilitated LMIA process are not required to provide proof of recruitment efforts. These efforts would entail advertising the job for at least 28 days, interviewing candidates who fulfil the position requirements, and proving to the government of Canada that there is no Canadian citizen or permanent resident who is ready, willing, and able to be hired for the position, necessitating the hiring of a foreign worker.
The latest update to the list of facilitated occupations was revealed on February 24, and the new list came into effect immediately. A transitional period of 30 days is granted to the employer or his/her representative to allow for the examination of an application submitted according to the previous years list.
Although most of the occupations that were on the previous list are also on the new list, 16 new occupations have been added.
The government of Quebec requires that a temporary foreign worker who comes to a job on this list has at least a general education certificate equivalent to a high school diploma (DES) or equivalent. In addition, in jobs where a higher level of education is usually required, the candidate must meet the requirements of the position.
It should also be noted that the list concerns the hiring of workers, not business owners.
Facilitated LMIA list for Quebec
The following list of occupations is in effect as of February 24, 2017. Newly-added occupations are in bold.
NOC OCCUPATION TITLE 0124 Advertising, marketing and public relations managers 0601 Corporate sales managers 1111 Financial Auditors and Accountants 1121 Human Resources Professionals 1222 Executive Assistants 1223 Human Resources and Recruitment Officers 1225 Purchasing Agents and Officers 1241 Administrative assistants 1243 Medical administrative assistants 1311 Accounting technicians and bookkeepers 2131 Civil Engineers 2132 Mechanical Engineers 2146 Aerospace Engineers 2171 Information Systems Analysts and Consultants 2173 Software Engineers and Designers 2174 Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers 2175 Developers / Web Developers 2231 Civil engineering technologists and technicians 2232 Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians 2233 Technologists and Technicians / Technicians Industrial Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering 2234 Estimators / Construction Estimators 2241 Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians 2253 Drafting Technologists and Technicians 2281 Technicians / Computer Network Technicians 2282 User support technicians 2283 Information systems testing technicians 3012 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses 3111 Specialist Physicians 3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians 3131 Pharmacists 3141 Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists 3142 Physiotherapists 3143 Occupational Therapists 3214 Respiratory Therapists, Clinical Perfusionists and Cardiopulmonary Technologists 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists 3222 Dental hygienists and dental therapists 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses 4021 College and other vocational instructors 4152 Social Workers 4212 Social and community service workers 4214 Early childhood educators and assistants 4215 Instructors of persons with disabilities 5131 Producers, Directors, Choreographers and related occupations 5241 Graphic Designers and Illustrators 6221 Technical Sales Specialists Wholesale Trade 6231 Insurance agents and brokers 6321 Chefs 6322 Cooks 6331 Butchers, meat cutters and fishmongers retail and wholesale 7231 Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors 7246 Telecommunications installation and repair workers 7311 Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics 7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics 7321 Automotive Service Technicians, Truck and Bus Mechanics and Mechanical Repairers 7333 Electrical Mechanics
Two occupations from the previous list have not been included on the new list. These are:
Computer Engineers (except Software Engineers and Designers), National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2147; and
Medical Laboratory Technologists and Pathologists Assistants, NOC 3211.
Canadian employers: To learn more about your options for hiring foreign workers, please contact wp@canadavisa.com. A legal expert will provide a free consultation.
Foreign workers : If you have received a job offer from a Canadian employer and wish to submit an inquiry about getting a work permit and working legally in Canada, please complete the form on this page.
2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved
Akkineni Naga Chaitanya is getting ready to tie knot, but his bride is not Samantha Ruth Prabhu! We are talking about the reel life not real life. Currently Chaitu's upcoming untitled venture under the direction of Kalyan Krishna is in production stage and will hit the theaters in the second half of 2017. Two gorgeous divas, Rakul Preet Singh and Lavanya Tripathi are playing the female lead role. In one of the scene, Naga Chaitanya gets married to the actress in this venture. So the team has erected lavish set under the supervision of art director Sahi Suresh, in Annapurna studios. It has also come out that the makers are spending bomb to make the set grandeur. We have to wait and see until the release to know with whom Chaitu got married. The upcoming family entertainer saga is being produced under the banner of Annapurna studios.
After warping the shoot of his directorial venture with Chaitu, director Kalyan Krishna will helm a megaphone for King Nagarjuna. Currently Nag is busy in upcoming horror comedy saga Raju Gari Gadhi 2 under the direction of anchor turned director Omkar.
Bernadette Toots M. Feuling, 87, of Chippewa Falls passed away peacefully Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, at home surrounded by family and love.
She was born into this world Aug. 17, 1929, in Tilden with a twinkle in her eye. She was the fourth of five children born to August Butz and Lousie (Benish) Loew. She grew up working on the family farm on County Hwy. C. As a child one of her fondest memories was shooting squirrels and skunks behind the barn with her mother.
She met the love of her life, Wayne, in 1953 at the T & C Tavern, which was owned by Waynes parents, Don and Richardine Feuling. Wayne was home on leave from the Navy and his mother, Richardine told him he should ask Toots out on a date. He did and they were married Jan. 14, 1956, at St. Peters Church in Tilden. They enjoyed 61 wonderful, loving years together.
Toots loved to fish. She was good and lucky at it. She always made sure her line was in the honey hole. She and Wayne spent over 30 summers at the Six Lakes Resort in Chetek, where she could fish every day. She enjoyed bowling, dancing and listening to polka music, playing cards and cribbage. She was always on the go...no moss growing under her feet!
She took many road trips with wonderful friends all over the U.S. Trips to the casino were fundays. She often started each day with, what are we doing today? It was always a new adventure.
She was a funny, amazing, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved to have all her children and grands close. She taught her three children many life lessons. The most memorable were how to fillet a fish the right way, how to check the oil on their cars and most important, to just be nice to everyone they meet.
She will be in our hearts but sadly missed by her husband, Wayne; daughter, Cathy (Rocky) Bergevin; sons, Duane Du Bug (friend, Felice Johnson) and Randy (Cathy) Feuling; grandchildren, Lindsey (Pat) Jordan, Nate (Samantha) Bergevin, Cory Bergevin, Missy (Cory Brown) Feuling, Emilee (Jake) Hepfler, Carlee (Wes) Segebrecht and Sissy (Mike) Knopps; and the greats, Benny, Tatum and Ellis, Isaac, Cali, Kendall and Payton and Sydney, Kaleb and Kate; her sister, Geraldine Goulet; sisters-in-law, Bev Wild, Bernice Loew and Blanche Loew; brother-in-law, Ken Klimek; and many wonderful nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Toots was preceded in death by her parents, Butz and Lousie Loew; her in-laws, Don and Richadine Feuling; her brothers, Kenny, Bob and Pete Loew; her sisters-in law, Darlene Adams, Yvonne Ginther, Debbie Klimek and Sis Loew; her brothers-in law, Clayton Goulet, Bernard Wild and John Adams; and many good friends and relatives she will be happy to see again.
A memorial Mass will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at Holy Ghost Church in Chippewa Falls. The Rev. Justin Kizewski will be celebrant of the funeral Mass. Burial of cremains will be in the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner at a later date.
Friends may call from 11 a.m. until the time of services at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at Holy Ghost Church in Chippewa Falls.
Horan Funeral Home in Chippewa Falls is in charge of arrangements.
Family and friends may express condolences online at www.horanfuneralhome.com.
Colleen McCain Nelson attended her share of presidential press briefings about tragic shootings as a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal. So it struck her as odd that President Trump offered no statement for several days following an apparently race-motivated shooting last week in Olathe, Kansas.
Nelson, who returned to her native Kansas in December to take over as editorial-page editor of the Kansas City Star, brought up the White Houses silence in an editorial board meeting on February 27, the day after the newspaper ran a rare front-page editorial condemning the attack. A man had walked into a bar the previous week and allegedly told two India-born engineers to get out of my country before opening fire, killing one of them, injuring another, and also injuring a bystander who tried to stop the shooting.
The resulting editorial, which described Trumps silence as disquieting, ran in print on Tuesday and quickly drew attention from Washington, DC, and around the country. People around the world were immediately and rightfully horrified, the editorial noted. But our president? Mum. Later that day, addressing a joint session of Congress, Trump finally condemned the shooting.
Nelson, 42, who shared a Pulitzer as an editorial writer for the Dallas Morning News before her tenure at The Wall Street Journal and return to opinion writing with the Star, spoke with CJR about the power of local newspaper editorials, her red-state editorial boards constructive-but-firm approach with Trump, and her own politics. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
CJR: Tell us about the backstory, the thinking behind this editorial.
Nelson: The Kansas City Star newsroom has been pretty consumed with this story over the last week. As it played out, it became clear the story had a resonance beyond Kansas Cityboth national and international implications. So as an editorial board we discussed what we should say about the shooting, and over the weekend the Star took the unusual step of running a front-page editorial. The editorial had the headline, To be truly great, America must be kind. We wrote about the fact this is not who Kansas City is, and we dont share the views about immigrants the shooter reportedly professed. We thought that was important message to send in Sundays newspaper. On Monday morning, we continued to talk about the shooting, so I suggested the idea at our editorial board meeting that we say something about Trumps silence. By that point, several days had passed. He had said nothing. He had opportunities to say things. So the board settled on the message and put it in Tuesdays newspaper ahead of the speech.
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CJR: Trump started out his speech to a joint session of congress on Tuesday with a reference to the shooting. Do you think the editorial played a role?
Nelson: I hope so. Its hard to know exactly what the tipping point was, but I definitely think we helped advance the conversation. It certainly appeared our editorial had an impact far beyond Kansas City. We posted on Monday night, and pretty quickly people across the country, and media organizations around the country, were tweeting it. We were not the first to ask the question, but when the Kansas City Star, which covers two red states that supported Trump, suggested Trump should say something, it appeared to have some resonance.
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CJR: How did it stack up with other editorials in terms of traffic, feedback, and other metrics?
Nelson: Its up there. We had immediate feedback. Its clear our readers and those across the country were reading it. I heard from so many folks in DC and around White House journalism. It was a fairly organic response; the piece quickly started circulating, and it gained a lot of attention and a lot of positive feedback.
CJR: Was this a galvanizing moment for the newsroom, a recognition of the power behind what you say?
Nelson: Absolutely. Its always encouraging and gratifying to see our voice matters, that our reporting and our editorials can make a difference. Thats what we aspire to do every day. Some days you wonder if you are making a difference. This was one of those very unique days where you felt like what you did really mattered.
CJR: Youve had a lot of support from the community, and across the country, for your editorials on the shooting. Has there been any push back?
Nelson: Ive heard from readers whove said that Trump was under no obligation to comment on this, and that a president cant comment on every shooting that happens in the entire country, and that wed be wrong to criticize him in any way for not weighing in on this. These are the opinion pages, and readers disagree with things we put on the opinion pages every day.
CJR: The Star endorsed Hillary Clinton (before Nelson arrived). So I guess the threats of canceled subscriptions already ran their course.
Nelson: (Laughs) They may have gotten that out of their system. I do hear from readers with very strong feelings about Trump every single day. A lot of them have me on speed dial.
CJR: Talk about why you came back to Kansas City and whether you feel like youre having more of an impact as a journalist in a red state.
Nelson: I grew up in Kansas, so this is the home turf for me. I was at The Wall Street Journal for the last five years, and I covered the last two presidential campaigns, and Obamas second term in the White House. It was an amazing job, and I loved it. But by the same token, I knew I didnt want to be a White House reporter forever. One thing I missed, having left a regional newspaper, I missed being at a newspaper where youre connected to a community, and where you feel a connection to your readers, and see more of a direct impact. The chance to come back here and lead the editorial page was too good to pass up. Ive loved hearing from readers every single day how passionate they are about their local newspaper and also on occasions like this, actually seeing our work have an impact.
CJR: It wouldnt be surprising to see an editorial like this from The New York Times, but talk about the different power coming from a hometown newspaper?
Nelson: Our readers are quick to remind me every single day that both Kansas and Missouri voted for Donald Trump. Any time we are critical of Donald Trump, I get phone calls to that effect, and readers inevitably remind me Trump won Missouri by 19 points. Were not The New York Times, and we dont come down on issues where they would come down. When Trump took office we wrote an editorial saying the country should give him a chance. Weve tried to approach Trumps presidency with a constructive approachto praise him when its deserved and to criticize him when the White House is in chaos. Were not an editorial board that reflexively criticizes. So we hope when we do it has an impact with readers.
CJR: Tell me about the experience of switching between covering politics as a reporter and writing editorials and leading an editorial page. Was there a large learning curve or did it come natural?
Nelson: Ive had an interesting path. I was at the Dallas Morning News for 12 years, with the last six years on the editorial board. Then I went back to reporting, covering politics at The Wall Street Journal. So it wasnt an entirely new experience.
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CJR: How much different is it running an editorial page in your hometown?
Nelson: I certainly loved Dallas and became attached to Dallas, but theres just something different about your home turfI grew up in Salina, Kansas. You have a different connection to this place. Im now writing about a place Ive known my whole life, and sometimes youre writing about things that hit very close to home.
CJR: In terms of the power of local news and editorials, what must you do to keep the audience in such a difficult time for newspapers in terms of economics and trust among readers?
Nelson: Its a really interesting moment to be in opinion journalism. I think were all feeling our way through what is a very different kind of presidency. Our goals on the editorial board are to be constructive and not shrill. I think theres a lot of anger and frustration in politics, and its really easy to let that boil over into what we write. Were trying to be constructive, consider our readers point of view, but not be afraid to say things in a strong way when its merited.
Were trying to strike the right balance, and see shades of gray.
CJR: What are your own politics?
Nelson: It sounds kind of boring to say, but Im fairly centrist. It depends on the issue. When you cover politics for a long time, you realize neither Democrats nor Republicans have a monopoly on good ideas, or bad ideas, or lousy candidates. Im a little unpredictable.
CJR: Anything else?
Nelson: Covering the White House, I was in the briefing room over and over again when President Obama came out and commented on shootings that had an impact on the entire country. I had literally a second-row seat when Obama weighed in at moments like this. So it certainly was noticeable that President Trump did not choose to comment.
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Cory Schouten is a senior editor at CJR. He previously served as managing editor at Indianapolis Business Journal and a reporter for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
This Land Press, the Tulsa-based startup founded in 2010 to bring literary journalism to Middle America, will suspend publication of its celebrated magazine this spring. The small editorial staff disbanded in January; founder and editor Michael Mason has returned to the healthcare industry, where he worked previously, and plans to complete a book. A letter to readers ends on a note of optimism about This Lands future, but there are no immediate plans for ongoing publication.
Publisher Vincent LoVoi, the lawyer-turned-venture capitalist whose seven-figure investment turned This Land into one of the most audacious local news experiments of the past decade, says that finding and telling stories from the heartland remains his goal. The break, he says, will give him an opportunity to explore how best to financially sustain that mission. This Lands retail operation, which brings the magazines design aesthetic to everything from T-shirts to narrative olfactory soaps with scents based on the publications articles, will remain open. Two forthcoming anthology issues, the Race Reader and the Religion Reader, will close out the magazines seven-year run.
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This Land received praise from journalistic kingmakers like David Carr, who wore a This Land T-shirt at speaking engagements, and A.O. Scott, who called it the future of local media, though theres an irony in relying on such names to argue the magazines importance. The publications print run might be best appreciated as an experiment in giving homegrown stories from flyover country the same depth, scope, and rigor as those produced by national magazinesan effort as radical in its own right (and as easily mischaracterized as elitism) as the fight for locally grown food.
When I first interviewed Mason for CJR in 2011, he said his mission was to uncover a decades worth of surplus stories in Oklahoma and Middle Americastories that traditional media had overlooked in their rush to keep pace with the news cycle. That decade quickly became a century. This Lands most important story revealed that Tate Brady, a founding father of Tulsa who remained the namesake of several neighborhoods and buildings, had helped to engineer the citys notorious race riot in 1921. Another highlighted a recent history of sexual abuse at a school run by a local megachurch. This Land stories commonly applied an in-depth narrative treatment to an Oklahoma landmark, subculture, or personality with which readers might have previously only had passing familiarity. One of my favorite recent examples told the story of young homeless Oklahomans who bonded over their shared devotion to the rap group Insane Clown Posse.
The publication included many contributions from novice writers, and sometimes this showed in the prose or the reporting. But as a regular reader I learned that This Land was engaged in a deeper project than could be contained in any one issue: It was restoring the narrative topsoil that had eroded from a part of the country unused to hearing its own stories told.
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This Land attempted to bring for-profit literary journalism to a state thats poor and sparsely populated. I wrote an in-depth profile for CJR in 2012 that detailed the publications unorthodox business model, which rested on the idea that stories contained a lasting value that an ephemeral stream of news updates couldnt achieve. Billing itself as Oklahomas first new media company, This Land used an initial $1.3 million of investment capital to produce stories for print and digital platforms as well as for video, radio, and television, with the hope that each medium might accrue enough long-term revenue to sustain the enterprise.
At the peak of its operations, This Land produced content for a website, a biweekly broadsheet, an iPad edition, an hour-long weekly radio show, a half-hour weekly television show, and a wide array of products for its retail store. But the television and radio operations proved difficult to monetize, and both were shuttered by 2015.
Members of the video team went on to produce two feature documentaries under the This Land umbrella. The first premiered at Sundance and the second, Far Western, will premier in the US later this year. The films were among the most ambitious examples of This Lands sensibility, but they were discrete documentary efforts rather than multi-platform genre innovations, and not sufficient to fuel the growth of a new media company.
The textual side of This Land reverted in 2015 from a biweekly broadsheet to the perfect-bound quarterly more typical of literary magazines. A broadsheet might not sound particularly innovative, but seeing the beautiful front-page illustrations and provocative headlines proudly displayed on the counters of barbeque joints and greasy spoons throughout Tulsa is one of my favorite memories from visiting This Land on its home turf. The ability to buy brisket burnt ends and photo essays from the same cashier stirred something in my working class journalists soul. This Lands recurring presence in these places was illustrative of its ambition to tap Tulsans on the shoulder and say, Hey, look around at this place we all live in.
It wasnt until I encountered This Land that I realized the possibility that homegrown media might play a role in giving people a deeper sense of the place they inhabit.
The quarterly was beautifully designed, and packed with even more of the voices and stories that distinguished This Land. Still, the format felt a bit more daunting than the biweekly, losing something of the conversational quality that had defined the publications approach.
And while This Land is hardly unique in extracting more attention than dollars from its community, the matter is further complicated by This Lands identity as a community and regional voice that did not always line up with the geographic constraints of its business model.
According to numbers provided to me by LoVoi, web traffic averaged a steady 100,000 sessions per month during This Lands most popular years, while print subscriptions peaked at 1,800. Many among that audience came from places outside of Oklahoma, while revenue streams like advertising and events depended on readers being close to home. A large portion of This Lands Web traffic came from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where many Oklahomans move for work. Other readers came from farther afieldfrom New York and Chicago and San Francisco, heartland expats or people who just liked good writing. Finding a way to capture and monetize an audience rooted in Middle America is a primary concern for LoVoi as he contemplates the publications future.
This Land laid bare the emotional content of what its like to live in a place. This is why it resonated with me, despite my lack of an Oklahoma connection.
I grew up in an oil town bordering the Navajo Reservation in northwest New Mexicoa place that had its own version of Tulsas complicated relationship to race, class, religion, and environment. Like the vast majority of the country, my community had no way of telling its own story with any depth. It wasnt until I encountered This Land that I realized the possibility that homegrown media might play a role in giving people a deeper sense of the place they inhabit. We had a newspaper, but we didnt have stories. Most culture of value was shipped to us from the coasts, so thats where I shipped myself when I decided to become a journalist. A critical piece of This Lands legacy so far is its effort to convince a generation of young writers and artists that they are needed on the home front. (Last July, I attempted to follow This Lands example and partnered with them for a longform story set in my home state.)
When I visited This Lands offices last fall, I spoke with interns who had a refreshing lack of interest in my coastal bona fides. That attitude stems from This Land founder Michael Mason, who managed to write for national magazines and publish a book with Farrar, Straus and Giroux without leaving his home state. Mason was known to go through as many as 30 drafts with a writer for a This Land story, but he combined this level of care with a laid-back management style that attracted the offbeat talent that gave the publication its voice. This Lands first radio producer offered to live in a tent and work for free, and was offered a job instead. Most prominent among This Lands contributors was Lee Roy Chapman, a self-taught Tulsa historian and investigative journalist who died in 2015. A collection of Chapmans work can be purchased from This Lands website, with the proceeds benefiting his young son.
Along with these contributors, Mason managed to assemble, in just seven years time, the largest single body of art and literature about the Middle of America that the region might ever see.
For me, the unique beauty of This Land was the ethos that was created by the work and effort of all the people involved, Mason told me when we spoke a few days ago. There will be this legacy of beauty and wonder that was curiously assembled in the middle of the country. Theres no reason why it cant happen again.
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Michael Canyon Meyer is a freelance journalist and former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter at @mcm_nm.
North Dakota Man Assaults Friend Then Scams Insurer
A North Dakota man was arrested and charged with insurance fraud, according to an announcement by the states insurance department.
Weston Aho was charged with insurance fraud, a class C felony, and is scheduled to appear in court on March 13 in Ward County.
The North Dakota Insurance Fraud Unit learned a claim was filed for medical coverage against Ahos policy after a friend had fallen off one of Ahos horses. After the claim was paid, it was discovered that Aho had actually assaulted the friend and that Aho lied to the company in the claim.
South Carolina Man Burned Down Restaurant for $700K in Insurance
Authorities say the owner of a Sumter County, S.C., restaurant burned down his business on purpose and collected nearly $700,000 in insurance money.
Sumter County deputies told media outlets that 57-year-old Ronald Cantey was arrested Monday about seven months after the fire at The Compass restaurant near Turbeville
Investigators say evidence shows Cantey was at the restaurant about five minutes before the fire was reported.
Cantey said after the restaurant burned in July that he put his heart and soul into the business for five years and was devastated.
Cantey was charged with second-degree arson, making a false insurance claim and burning personal property to defraud an insurer. He was in jail awaiting a bond hearing and it wasnt known if he had an attorney.
Florida Insurance Company Employee Arrested for Defrauding Company
Jennifer Summerlott, a licensed customer service representative, was arrested following a scheme that allegedly bilked her Ft. Lauderdale-based employer, Fairway Insurance Group, LLC (Fairway) out of more than $1 million. Summerlott is accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to defraud her employer through the use of fake insurance invoices to reroute company funds for her personal financial benefit.
Summerlott served as the accounts payable and commercial lines manager for Fairway from 2006-2015. In 2015, account irregularities were noticed by other Fairway staff members who, after suspecting that they might have uncovered insurance fraud, reported their findings to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The case was referred to insurance fraud investigators within the Department of Financial Services Division of Investigative and Forensic Services (DIFS).
The subsequent investigation revealed that between 2010 and 2015, Summerlott allegedly created and submitted dozens of fake electronic invoices that were supposedly from various insurance companies that regularly conducted business with Fairway. Summerlott would then prepare company checks tied to Fairways company account to pay these fabricated invoices. Doing so enabled Summerlott to retrieve the fake payments and divert them to a personal bank account.
In addition, DIFS investigation found that Summerlott refinanced 40 insurance policies that Fairway clients had previously paid in full. As a result, Fairway received checks from third-party financing agencies to cover the cost of the insurance premiums. Summerlott used those payments to cover up the massive company losses that accrued as a result of her fake invoice scheme.
Summerlott was arrested February 27, 2017, and transported to the Broward County Jail. She has been charged with four first-degree felonies, including organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, criminal use personal ID and diverting insurance trust funds.
This case will be prosecuted by the Broward State Attorneys Office, 17th Judicial Circuit. If convicted, Summerlott faces up to 30 years in prison.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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State Rep. Greta Johnson, who has served in the Ohio House of Representatives since January 2015, will resign that position and begin serving March 27 under Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro as deputy director in the department of law, insurance and risk management.
(Ohio House of Representatives)
AKRON, Ohio -- State Rep. Greta Johnson will leave the Statehouse to serve as Summit County deputy director of law, insurance and risk management under Executive Ilene Shapiro.
Johnson, who has served in the Ohio House of Representatives since January 2015, will resign that position and start with the county March 27, earning $78,000 annually.
"Ilene has been a mentor to me for many years and I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of her team," Johnson said in a news release. "I am excited to join in her vision for Summit County and I will bring my skills as an attorney and an advocate for working class people to the executive's office. "
"During her time as a State Representative, Greta has demonstrated the tenacity, intelligence and courage that make her an ideal fit for the County," Shapiro said in a statement. "I am confident that she will serve the residents of Summit County well in her new position, as she has done for the past two years in the Ohio legislature."
Prior to her election in the 35th District, covering Barberton and Wards 6, 7, 9 and 10 in Akron, Johnson served as a prosecutor for Mahoning and Summit counties, and the city of Akron.
She graduated from the University of Akron School of Law in 2004, after earning a bachelor's in secondary education in 1999 and master's in higher education administration in 2001.
At the statehouse, Johnson has been a proponent of women's health and equality issues. As a former prosecutor, has been active in protecting the rights of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She has also been a staunch advocate for Ohio children, arguing for an improved education system.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Some customers of Verizon Wireless are reporting new problems on top of old woes surrounding unexplained data usage.
The issues are related to Verizon's discontinuation of Backup Assistant, a service that allowed cellphone customers to automatically back up all of their contacts, along with their phone numbers and email addresses. That way, if their phone was lost or damaged, the contacts could be transferred to a new phone.
Verizon has been phasing out Backup Assistant and encouraging customers to instead use the Verizon Cloud app to back up contacts, as well as photos and other information on cellphones.
However, the Verizon Cloud app is causing some people's cellphones to suddenly devour data.
Having a back up of your contacts and photos sounds great, but it may not be great if it's causing your phone to consume tons of data without your expressed consent.
A key issue: If you download the Verizon Cloud app, the default setting allows the Verizon Cloud to back up your contacts, photos and video using data. In reality, you likely would prefer the service to work only when you're on free Wi-Fi and your home, office or wherever. (To change this setting on an iPhone, go to Settings, then Cellular, then go all of the way down to Verizon Cloud. Turn data off. White is off; green is on. There are similar settings to turn off data for one app on Androids, but they vary by phone.)
The Verizon Cloud is a separate service than iCloud, which is available to people with iPhones and other Apple products. But the principle is the same: You should check your settings to make sure it backs up your information only while you're on free Wi-Fi.
The Verizon Cloud app also asks users for permission to use their location. If permission is granted, that can also consume data and potentially violate privacy as the phone tracks the user's location throughout the day.
Verizon has been phasing out Backup Assistant. A large chunk of customers were notified last month the service would end Feb. 14 and that customers would need to download Verizon Cloud to continue saving their contacts.
Since September, the Plain Dealer has been investigating reports of thousands and thousands of Verizon customers who say Verizon suddenly started charging them hundreds or thousands of dollars extra, supposedly for unexplained data use.
Complaints to the Federal Communications Commission that month about data usage at Verizon increased tenfold that month. The FCC is reviewing the complaints to decide whether to launch a formal investigation and consider possible enforcement action.
The Plain Dealer's investigation has focused on many problems, including:
Settings on people's phones, especially when they change phones or when their apps update automatically. The settings concern things such as allowing apps to work in the background, even if the person isn't on his phone.
Settings on people's phones that lead to huge data consumption, especially on iPhones, when people update their phone's software and don't realize one of hundreds of new settings allows data to be consumed in large volume without their knowledge or awareness.
Glitches in Verizon's billing system that miscalculates customers' data usage.
New settings that allows phones to use data at night, even when no one is using the phone and the owner is sleeping.
Highlights of past Verizon coverage:
Verizon has acknowledged an increase in complaints about data usage and last fall vowed to work with every customer. But customers nationwide say that in most cases, Verizon refuses to correct their bills.
In some well-publicized cases, Verizon has wiped out customers' humongous monthly bills, including $9,000 for a Florida woman, $20,000 for a Cleveland-area non-profit and $3,000 for a South Carolina man.
LORAIN, Ohio -- A man accused of crashing his car with a child inside as a result of a heroin overdose made his first court appearance before a judge in Lorain County.
Nathan Carroll, 29, and his wife Samantha Schigel, 24, both face child endangering charges. Carroll faces additional charges of driving with a revoked or suspended license, operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs and alcohol and other charges in the incident that happened Monday evening.
Attorney Michael Duff made a court appearance Thursday on their behalf and entered not-guilty pleas.
Carroll is free on a $3,000 bond and Schigel was released on a $1,000 bond, a court bailiff said.
The arrests happened about 5 p.m. Monday after a passerby saw a 2006 Chrysler Town and Country drive off of West 24th Street onto Leavitt Road and up a curb, according to a police report. Carroll passed out after driving up the curb.
Police gave Carroll two doses of Narcan, an opioid overdose remedy, and paramedics administered more Narcan when they arrived on scene, according to the report. He woke up and was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center.
Officers learned Schigel suffered an overdose across the street in the 2300 block of Westview Court, the report says. Officers said Schigel and Carroll were snorting a substance they thought was heroin just before Carroll decided to leave to go get food for the family with the child in the car, according to the report.
The infant, whose age is not listed in a police report, was not harmed and is currently in the custody of a family member, Lorain police Lt. Ed Super said.
If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
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"A United Kingdom" is based on a true story.
(Courtesey of Fox Searchlight)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "A United Kingdom" is based on the true story of Seretse Khama, a tribal prince from Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and his marriage to the white British commoner Ruth Williams.
It's 1947, and Khama, played by David Oyelowo, is an African prince is studying in London and preparing to lead his small country when he meets and falls in love with Williams, played by Rosamund Pike.
Both the British and Bechuanaland governments oppose the marriage, as it defies the apartheid/racial segregation policies that rule southern Africa. Williams' father disowns his daughter for marrying an African, and Khama's uncle does the same to his nephew.
The seemingly star-crossed couple battle the British government when it tricks Khama into coming back to Britain, only to exile him from his own country, initially for five years and later permanently. He is stuck in London while his pregnant wife is stranded in Africa.
Oyelowo and Pike have great romantic chemistry throughout the film. They sell that lasting love affair with uncanny ease. Pike also brings Williams' struggle to adapt herself to life in a small, poverty-stricken African village into vivid relief.
"A United Kingdom" revisits the bad old twilight days of British colonialism that saw Third World countries robbed of their riches for the colonizers' ill-gotten and ultimately short-term gains. As political humorist P.J. O'Rourke once described the bumbling Brits of yore, "They once ruled half the world but still haven't figured out central heating."
International politics come into play in the last third of the movie, as Khama maneuvers (with the help of the British press) to get permission from the British government to return to his country, where he seeks to establish a democracy.
"A United Kingdom" combines history, romance and political intrigue for a solid and ultimately satisfying dramatic story.
REVIEW
A United Kingdom
Who: With David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Terry Pheto, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton, Laura Carmichael and Abena Ayivor. Directed by Amma Asante.
Rated: Not rated.
Running time: 111 minutes.
When: Opens Friday.
Where: Cedar Lee Theatre, 2163 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.
Grade: B
Jasmine Conaway
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Melissa Fuentes' only wish is that East Cleveland police find her 15-year-old daughter and bring her home safe.
Jasmine Conaway went missing Thursday from Carrington Youth Academy on Noble Road. But Fuentes is concerned about conflicting information she is getting about her daughter's disappearance.
Fuentes and Jasmine's father, Kevin Conaway, were told by police that she went missing at 9:30 p.m. But when Fuentes eventually got the police report Wednesday, it said that her daughter went missing just after 11 p.m. and it wasn't reported until shortly after 1:30 a.m.
Jasmine's father got a call from Carrington Youth Academy, a treatment youth facility, at 5 a.m. Friday, not from police, Fuentes said.
East Cleveland Police Chief Michael Cardilli declined to speak to cleveland.com when Fuentes went to get the police report.
"No one seems to want anything to do with it (the case)," Fuentes aid. "Everyone seems to want to give us the runaround."
Fuentes said she was told by the youth academy that her daughter got into an fight with another female at the academy and both went missing.
Jasmine was wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue sweatpants and red shoes when she was last seen, Fuentes said. However, she said the police report described Jasmine as wearing a black shirt, black pants and flip flops.
Jasmine hasn't taken medication prescribed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in more than a year, Fuentes said.
Fuentes claimed that many girls that have left Carrington Youth Academy and gone missing. Robert Cassillo, chief operating officer for the youth academy, said less than one percent of those in the youth academy leave and don't come back.
The youth academy is a staff-secured, unlocked facility. Staff can't put their hands on someone if they are walking toward the door, according to the facility's policy, Cassillo said.
"If a youth makes the decision to walk off campus all we can do is redirect as much as we can," he said.
The majority come back, he added.
If someone does walk away, a critical incident report is put together and a missing persons report is immediately filed with police by the youth academy, he said.
From there the county's 696 kids hotline is notified, followed by the county and the guardians of the child, Cassillo said.
The youth academy works hard to make the residents stay, he said.
"You do have some select youth that have it in their mind (to leave)," Cassillo said.
Jasmine was put in Carrington Youth Academy after a domestic violence incident with her mother, Fuentes said.
The teen's father doesn't want to speak for just his missing daughter but for all other missing daughters.
"Really no one is paying attention to them, that's why they are still missing," he said.
Fuentes said she spoke with East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King, but felt he wasn't interested in finding her daughter.
"The mayor was very nonchalant when I spoke with him," Fuentes said. "Three times I was interrupted because he was driving in his car and he came across people who he hadn't seen."
King did not return a call seeking comment.
Fuentes, Conaway and other family members and friends stood in front of East Cleveland City Hall Wednesday, hoping police would come out. Among those in the group were Alianna DeFreeze's father, Damon, and stepmother Wytonya. Alianna, 14, was found dead after disappearing in January.
Wytonya doesn't want Fuentes to go through the unbearable pain that she went through with Alianna and will be supporting her.
"I mean even though it's been a month, you know since she's been gone, everyday when me and my husband walk past her room it's still hard.....," Wytonya said.
Jasmine as a history of running away, Fuentes said. Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call East Cleveland police at 216-451-1234.
WASHINGTON President Trump addressed Congress on Tuesday night.
Or was it the state Duma?
And how can you tell the difference?
Trump uttered some 5,000 words and spoke for 60 minutes, but not one of those words was Russia, and not one of those minutes was devoted to the so-far successful effort by our geopolitical adversary to undermine American democracy.
The FBI and intelligence community have unanimously charged that Vladimir Putins government interfered in the U.S. elections in its successful attempt to get Trump elected. Ties between Trump and his team and Russia have been well established, right up through contacts with the Russian ambassador during the transition that led to the resignation of Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn all while Trump has promised a friendly new approach to Russia.It was hard to ignore this elephant, even in a room as large as the House chamber. And yet Trump excised it, like Trotsky from Soviet photos.
Putin could not have done better nor could he have appointed better men to investigate Russias interference in the U.S. election than those now charged with doing it.
Consider Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and head of the House investigation into Russia.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that Nunes participated in a White House-led effort to knock down a New York Times story asserting the Trump campaign had contacts with Russian intelligence. On Saturday, Nunes said at a forum in California that Flynn, who was pushed out over the Russia controversy, is an American hero, and he was doing his job. On Monday, Nunes, the man responsible for overseeing the Houses probe into the Russia matter, assembled reporters and declared: The way it sounds to me is its been looked into and theres no evidence of anything. Of contacts between Russia and Trump lieutenants, he said, What Ive been told ... by many folks is that theres nothing there.
Nunes even offered Trump and Flynn an alibi, saying they were so busy that Trump couldnt have possibly directed Flynn to call the Russian ambassador to talk about sanctions. And Nunes said a special prosecutor should be called in only if serious crimes have been committed. ... But at this point, we dont have that.
It was a trip through the looking glass: The very purpose of an investigation is to determine whether crimes have been committed; if you have proof, you dont need an investigation.
Nunes, who served on Trumps transition committee, has already said executive privilege prevents him from examining discussions between Trump and Flynn. And Nunes echoed Trumps claim that the real scandal isnt about contacts with Russia but about the unauthorized leaks about such contacts.
And this man is supposed to lead an impartial investigation? You might as well ask the Kremlin to conduct one.
You dont need to be a partisan Democrat to know that, as former president George W. Bush told NBC, we all need answers on Trumps Russia ties. But the congressional Republicans leading the investigation have already declared their partiality. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also participated in the White House campaign to debunk the Times report.
During the previous administration, seven congressional committees issued eight reports on the Benghazi affair and that was before the two-year Select Committee investigation concluded. Now we have the White House pressuring the FBI and senior intelligence officials to debunk allegations against Trump.
So where are these crack investigators now?
Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has offered a bevy of excuses: He doesnt need to probe the Flynn affair because its taking care of itself; other panels could better protect sources and methods; he didnt want to pry into the private systems of a political party; and he wont personally target the president.
The pressure not to probe must be considerable. On Friday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told HBOs Bill Maher that youre going to need to use the special prosecutors statute and office to probe the Russia-Trump matter. But on Monday, Issa retreated, saying he would support an independent review but not a special prosecutor because theres no individual under suspicion.
Nunes, serving as judge and jury, told reporters Monday that it was ridiculous to suggest Flynns transition talks with the Russian ambassador violated the law prohibiting private citizens from conducting foreign policy. We should be thanking him, Nunes declared, not going after him.
Good idea. And after they thank Flynn, the Duma investigators should send chocolates to Putin.Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.
The race for Hong Kong's top job has narrowed down to three candidates in an election set for March 26.
On Wednesday, an election committee consisting of primarily Beijing loyalists selected retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, former chief secretary Carrie Lam, and ex-financial secretary John Tsang to run for Chief Executive.
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's former chief secretary and candidate for the city's top job of Chief Executive Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The 59-year-old Lam, widely seen as China's preferred candidate, secured 572 of the committee's 1,200 votesjust 29 votes shy of the 601 needed to win the job. Meanwhile, Tsang and Woo got 160 and 179 votes, respectively. As a special administrative region of the mainland, Hong Kong is unable to democratically elect its own leaders so Beijing has final say on the matter. Lam has a 95 percent chance of winning, Danny Gittings, associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, told CNBC on Thursday. Hong Kongers seem to agree; a survey commissioned by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) last month revealed 65.9 percent of respondents believed Lam would win the race. "Beijing has been quick to throw its weight behind Lam as the popularity of the region's pro-democracy candidates has grown," political intelligence firm Stratfor said in a Wednesday note. Mainland officials reportedly met with Hong Kong's pro-China camp last month and conveyed Beijing's decision to promote Lam, even allegedly asked electors to change their votes in her favor, Stratfor continued.
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China is dominating the global resources game. Thomas Kuhlenbeck | Getty Images
When iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) surged to a record high last week on expectations about Beijing's infrastructure plans, spot prices in Australia jumped soon after. This pattern demonstrates China's growing clout in commodity price setting even when analysis of the market says price should move in the opposite direction. Prices of the steel-making material have since come off, but China-originating global price gyrations underscore how far the country has come in pricing power on both the spot and in the futures market, particularly for heavily-traded products like copper, which is regarded as a barometer of economic health. "Over the last two years, the drivers of global metal price discovery have, in our view, shifted to the East," Citi analysts wrote in a report on Feb. 19. As the largest consumer of a range of commodities from iron ore to soybeans, China has long sought to be the price-maker, rather than a price-taker, for the raw materials it needs. To facilitate its entry into a greater role in price discovery, commodity exchanges, such as the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and the DCE were set up in the 1990s.
[China] is facing the chance of a lifetime to become a global pricing center for commodities. Fang Xinghai China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman, in 2016
As recently as May 2016, the vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Fang Xinghai, reiterated the Asian giant's ambition to call the shots in commodities pricing even as he underscored fierce competition for the position, according to various media reports. However, China's role as a price-maker has been elusive as volatility in its tumultuous markets across a range of commodities was attributed to excessive speculation, particularly by the large number of individual retail investors. A commodity financing scandal in 2014 also hit overall confidence. Still, there's no stopping China as trading volumes in the mostly actively traded SHFE copper contract have increased nearly 50 percent in the last six years. Now, SHFE copper trade volumes have outstripped those on the traditional global bellwether, the London Metal Exchange.
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In Shanghai, the average daily turnover in the most actively traded copper contract was about 3.02 million tons in 2016, Citi noted. In contrast, average turnover of the most actively traded copper contract on the LME in 2016 was equivalent to around 1.5 million tons of copper per day. While investors are aware that price swings in Chinese futures are often magnified due to the sheer amount of trades going on daily, they are unable to completely shut the noise out due to the inevitable spillover into international markets. "China is playing a more and more important role in the futures trade. So far, the Chinese traders tend to be more short term-oriented and quite 'speculative," trader and president of Lin Asset Management, Chen Lin, told CNBC. "A lot of traders in the U.S. hate it, but it is the global trend, as China is the number-one consumer of many of these metals." However, there are limitations and flaws to SHFE's lead in pricing that are worrying the market, and its activity appears to be based primarily on speculation rather than supply-demand dynamics. "The LME copper market has good levels of liquidity at least two years forward, while in contrast, the SHFE copper market has little contract liquidity further forward than about three months," Citi analysts wrote. This is evidenced by the turnover of the most actively traded contact on each exchange. On the SHFE, the benchmark contract accounts for the most of the turnover, while that on the LME accounts for just 40 percent, the house added. This lack of depth in Shanghai's trading activity makes it challenging for investors to hedge their trades. There are other difficulties. For now, trading on Chinese commodity exchanges is still encumbered by a lack of foreign exchange convertibility and limited foreign participation due to regulations. "The SHFE market remains very short term and local in focus, but with an increasing spillover onto levels of global volatility," Citi added. "This has perhaps been the most striking feature of Chinese futures markets, rather than the impact on price determination per se."
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However, one dilemma that these stocks face is that they will require legislation in order to keep climbing. Both Emcor and MasTec could benefit if the President gets his way on various issues, but could still do well without an infrastructure bill.
" Emcor and MasTec are quintessential Trump stocks, the kind that have a right to roar if the new, kinder, gentler Trump comes to the hill more often," the " Mad Money " host said.
Jim Cramer noted a different demeanor about President Donald Trump in his speech on Tuesday night. He spoke in measured, hopeful tones while reiterating his intent to spend on infrastructure.
On the campaign trail, Trump talked about building new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools and hospitals, with numbers ranging between $500 billion and $1 trillion. In his speech on Tuesday, Trump sided with the $1 trillion number, although Cramer found that to be misleading.
Trump doesn't want to actually spend that much money, Cramer said. He wants to issue a tax credit so that companies can invest in $1 trillion worth of projects.
However, ever since Trump was sworn in, the infrastructure space has become more questionable. Republicans control Congress and absolutely hate spending money. Some critics have also said using tax credits to promote infrastructure spending is basically just giving it away to companies that would have built the projects anyways.
When it comes to MasTec and Emcor, what really matters is getting Congress to pass an infrastructure bill, which doesn't seem likely to Cramer anytime soon. The first priority on their plate is clearly health care, and it could take time to find an Obamacare replacement.
The good news is that even without an infrastructure bill, Cramer said these two companies still stand to benefit from the Trump administration because they do work in the oil and gas space, especially MasTec.
Emcor is a bit more complicated because it recently reported a soft quarter with weaker-than-anticipated full-year guidance, which prompted the stock to get crushed. However, when Cramer dug into the quarter, he found that the losses that drove Emcor's earnings miss were mostly one-off issues.
Even without the help from Washington, Emcor could do well because of growth in nonresidential construction, and MasTec because of its communications business that will gain strength with the implementation of 5G. Both companies could also benefit from a turnaround in oil and gas.
"I like Emcor as a value play here, and MasTec is on fire, although I hate to chase, so I suggest you wait for a pullback in that one before you do any buying," Cramer said. "Or if you justifiably can't resist, then buy some now and wait to buy the rest until it comes in."
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After Trump's speech, the shoe is now on the other foot. Investors wonder if Democrats could now break ranks and embrace the idea of repatriation of foreign cash and lowering the corporate tax rate.
Before Tuesday, Cramer heard that some Republicans could break ranks with the President, making it almost impossible for anything to get done.
"The impossible 24 hours ago now seems downright likely today, which is why we put on such a magnificent rally," the " Mad Money " host said.
Jim Cramer didn't count on President Donald Trump showing up on Tuesday night in front of Congress with a tone that sounded presidential.
Additionally, many traders on Wall Street believed that the rally had gone as far as it could go with Trump. After 13 days of a record-breaking winning streak, the market had become dull. The collapse of Target 's stock was like a fire alarm that investors had overstayed their welcome.
"Of course, that all turned out to be wrong," Cramer said.
First, investors should never short a dull market. Second, the market is full of bullish rotations. Groups that rallied first need to consolidate and then go higher, like they did on Wednesday.
There was another element at work that isn't being discussed.
"This is a bull market," Cramer said.
When Cramer got into the stock market back in 1979, people could freely admit when there was a bull or a bear market. Those days are over now because anyone that says the bull is hard to bet against instantly becomes a target. It's just too easy to pull up the video and pick apart how that person was wrong if things go bad.
On the other hand, no one ever openly criticizes the big money managers who tell investors to sell. They never get confronted for scaring investors out of potentially huge profits.
"If everyone is cowed and so few have the courage to say 'this is a bull market and it is hard to bet against,' then you are going to have moments like today where the whole thing just explodes higher," Cramer said.
That, coupled with a kinder and gentler Trump, Cramer said, explains how the bull suddenly came alive and trampled the bears.
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Richard Mille is famous for making some of the most technologically advanced and expensive timepieces on the planet.
Yet the man who pioneered the use of space materials in watches comes up with many of his ideas sitting in his 18th-century French castle, admiring his fleet of antique cars.
"It's a paradox, I know," Mille told CNBC's "Secret Lives of the Super Rich." "I love everything that is modern and I live in a 1771 castle. And I have these old cars. Maybe I need to see a shrink!"
Mille has built what some say is the most successful new luxury watch brand of the century. His watches, often priced at more than $800,000, usually sell out by the time they launch. And at a time when many luxury Swiss watch brands are stuck in recession, Mille's sales rose 20 percent last year to more than $220 million, according to industry data boosted by their extreme technological advances and limited production.
Next to watches, cars are Mille's true passion. Specifically, old race cars. Rather than the typical office, Mille works from a plush garage on his Brittany estate that houses a fleet of some of the rarest and most important race cars of the past. From behind his upstairs desk, the watchmaker can look out over a collection of cars he calls "his babies."
"In the morning when I come, I say, 'Hello, my babies,' and at night, when I leave, I say, 'Kiss kiss, have a good night.' It's friendly, I love that."
Many of the cars are worth millions, though Mille bought them years ago before classic race cars started soaring in price. Among the favorites in his collection: legendary racer Bruce McLaren's first Formula One Car, the M2B from 1966. Mille said he's had repeat offers for the coveted piece of racing history but would never sell.
"For me, it was a dream to own this car because it's one of the most important," he said.
Another of Mille's favorite cars: The Ferrari 312B that won the 1970 Italian Grand Prix and was also driven by Mario Andretti. Experts say it's worth well over $3 million.
"This car, for me, is the most beautiful Formula One ever," Mille said.
He doesn't just admire his cars, he also drives them sometimes at a nearby track and sometimes on the small country roads near his estate. He says he loves to drive his Lancia Stratos, a legend of European rally races, to pick up fresh Normandy oysters from a nearby market.
Mille also owns a rare 1970s Porsche 917 and a 16-cylinder Formula One racer.
As different as they may seem, Mille said classic race cars share some of the same principles as his watches. The most important racers in history mark new moments in technological innovation, with a new experimental engine or new aerodynamics or design.
"It's exactly what I like to do in the watches," Mille said. "Make pieces of art, doing something that represents a significant moment in watch history. These cars have got a meaning, have got a history."
Indeed, Mille said his watches known as "racing machines for the wrist" derive much of their inspiration from his cars. Even though he competes in an industry dominated by companies that have been making watches for more than 100 years, Mille is always looking for the next breakthrough.
"With these cars, engineers would have a crazy idea, and poof, they put it on the paper and they do it. So everything was coming from the imagination, from fantasy. But they make it happen," he said.
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A consortium of Japanese banks is planning to use distributed ledger technology better known as blockchain from a Google-backed fintech start-up to make domestic and international payments.
This follows a successful implementation of a pilot program, where the 47-member consortium used technology from blockchain start-up Ripple for a cloud-based payments platform called RC Cloud. The platform allows member banks to do real-time money transfers in Japan as well as make cross-border payments at a significantly lower cost.
"The objective of the consortium is to make domestic and cross-border payment efficient by taking advantage of the latest distributed ledger technology available in the world," Emi Yoshikawa, Ripple's director of joint venture partnership, told CNBC.
The consortium was launched in October and represents over 30 percent of all banks in Japan, according to Yoshikawa . Members include AEON Bank, Nomura Trust and Banking, Resona Bank and Mizuho .
Many small banks that process low volumes of payments have to rely on their larger peers to clear the transactions because of a high fixed annual cost for membership at the clearing houses. As a result, they have little control over the fees they are charged per transaction, making it expensive and unprofitable.
"Existing infrastructure favor high-volume processors," Dilip Rao, managing director for Asia Pacific at Ripple, told CNBC. "(They) get the cheapest price."
This is where blockchain which is the basis for Ripple's technology comes in. It records and stores all of the transactions online securely on a peer-to-peer network, which eliminates the need to have an intermediary bank or a central hub to do the clearing and settlement.
"With distributed ledger technology, it doesn't matter because the little guy can speak to another little guy and it's just as cheap if they did 10,000 transactions or two," Rao said.
According to analysis done by Ripple, looking at retail remittances and corporate payments, distributed ledger technology has the potential to bring down transaction costs by 60 and 50 percent, respectively.
Yoshikawa said she expects 10 to 20 more banks to join the consortium this year, which will bring the total number of members to between 50 and 60 about 40 percent of all Japanese banks. The commercial phase of RC Cloud is expected to start in the fall of this year.
While Japan's adoption of technology is diverse from smartphones to smart cars its banking system has traditionally been conservative in adopting new technologies and systems.
But in a bid to become a key fintech player in the region, Japanese authorities and banks are taking note of blockchain.
The Bank of Japan has talked about exploring distributed ledger technology and its potential uses. Last year, the central bank announced a joint research project on blockchain with the European Central Bank.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a member of the global blockchain consortium R3 and one of Japan's largest financial institutions, is looking to develop its own digital currency, MUFG Coin, for potential, large-scale commercialization and to serve small-scale retail bank customers.
Rao said Japan was very different to the rest of the world when it came to new developments in fintech like blockchain.
"They have had a lot of interest in bitcoin, blockchain and is more aware of crypto-currencies."
Clarification: This article has been updated following a clarification about a quote from Emi Yoshikawa.
Investors buoyed by President Donald Trump's speech to Congress piled into stocks on Wednesday, but veteran trader Art Cashin told CNBC "the bill is still yet to be paid."
"It's going be interesting when we get to the changes in the debt ceiling, etc. They won't be able to talk their way through that. That's going to need action," the director of floor operations for UBS Financial Services said in an interview with "Closing Bell" on Wednesday.
"The president's speech was masterful in the sense that he looked very presidential and that seemed to catch his opponents by surprise, but legislatively they've got a lot of work ahead of them."
In his first speech to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump reiterated his calls for tax reform and repealing and replacing Obamacare, as well as stressed his efforts so far to bring jobs and investments back to the U.S.
Investors apparently liked what they heard. U.S. equities surged to all-time highs on Wednesday, with the the Dow closing above 21,000 for the first time. The climbed 1.4 percent to 2,395.96 after briefly breaking 2,400 for the first time.
"What you learned about markets, which was not known before today, was that what they prefer is hearing what priorities are and what the resolve is as opposed to hearing details," Terry Haines, head of political analysis for Evercore ISI, told "Closing Bell."
Carryn Owens, widow of Navy SEAL, William Ryan Owens, reacts after being recognized by President Donald Trump during his address to a joint session of Congress in the Capitol's House Chamber, February 28, 2017. Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images
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The Associated Press quoted a senior U.S. official as describing a three-page list of information gathered from the compound, including information on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's training techniques and targeting priorities. Pentagon officials confirmed that to NBC News, but other U.S. officials said the information on that list was neither actionable nor vital. One senior Pentagon official described the information gathered as "de minimis," and as material the U.S. already knew about. However, another U.S. official said the information contained hundreds of contact details from a variety of communications apps, suggesting possible links to the Europe and the U.S.
Questions continue to swirl around an operation in which the Navy SEALs lost the element of surprise and quickly found themselves in a major firefight. The raid had first been proposed to the Obama administration, where officials viewed it as a significant and risky escalation. They decided to leave the decision about whether to launch to the Trump administration.
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The leader of Silicon Valley's top start-up factory, Y Combinator, warned in a blog post published Wednesday that a lot of start-ups are raising too much money and in the process selling too much of their companies to investors.
Sam Altman replaced Y Combinator founder Paul Graham as the organization's president in 2014, and has uncommon insight into trends in Silicon Valley start-ups, as hundreds of start-ups pass through Y Combinator every year.
He noted that several years ago, when investor money was relatively scarce, the best advice to start-ups was to "raise as much as they reasonably could."
But over the last five years, Altman says, there's been unprecedented demand from investors to put money into start-ups, and a lot of young companies are chasing unnecessary dollars and high valuations and in the process giving up way more of their companies than they should.
He writes:
It sounds like a better deal to raise $5 million on a $10 million pre-money valuation (selling 33% of the company to investors) than $615,000 at a $2.4 million pre-money valuation (selling ~20% of the company to investors, which is what Airbnb did). But this is only true if you put the money to exceptionally good use. Otherwise, you may end up with a lower dollar value of the equity you keep. Today, each percentage point of Airbnb is worth about $300 million. I expect them to be worth more in future. If you hope your company will one day be extremely successful, then treat your equity as such.
He also warns that founders who sell too many shares in their companies early on will find it harder to raise rounds later.
In other words, if you think you've got a hit on your hands, take only the money you absolutely need for growth, otherwise you'll be kicking yourself later.
This advice comes on the eve of the largest tech IPO in several years: Snap, formerly known as Snapchat, is expected to go public on Thursday at a valuation of $24 billion.
Snap co-founder Evan Spiegel clashed with early investor Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners over some of the terms of the investment, including Lightspeed's right of first refusal to later fundraising rounds, according to a report in The New York Times. The company later got Lightspeed to agree to drop those terms. Lightspeed still owns a little less than 2 percent of the company, which will be worth about $1.4 billion when Snap goes public tomorrow.
The logo of SoftBank is displayed at an entrance of a shop in Tokyo's shopping district Ginza on February 8, 2017.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday it obtained a court order last month to freeze the assets of unknown traders who posted more than $3.6 million in profits on potential illegal insider trading before Softbank announced a deal to acquire Fortress Investment .
The SEC has alleged that unknown customers of Singapore-based broker-dealer Maybank Kim Eng Securities and U.K.-based broker-dealer R.J. O'Brien Ltd. possessed material non-public information on the deal and purchased Fortress derivative securities known as contracts for difference (CFD). CFDs are prohibited in the U.S.
After the market close on February 14, Japan-listed Softbank announced plans to acquire Fortress Investment for around $3.3 billion, or $8.08 a share, a nearly 39 percent premium over Fortress' closing share price on February 13. On February 15, Fortress shares surged nearly 29 percent to close at $7.99.
The Singapore-based broker-dealers' customers purchased 950,000 Fortress common shares on February 14 before the market close and then entered orders to sell those shares the next day before markets opened for an around $1.7 million profit, the SEC statement said.
"We are currently assisting, and extending our full cooperation to the relevant authorities investigating this matter. We wish to clarify that neither Maybank Kim Eng nor any of its employees is a party to this litigation," Maybank Kim Eng said in a statement to CNBC Asia.
The U.K.-based broker-dealers' customers bought Fortress CFDs from February 10-14, representing around 1.055 million Fortress shares, then closed most of those contracts on February 15 for a profit of around $1.9 million, the SEC said.
Do you feel safe browsing online?
Have you ever been a victim of credit card fraud?
Thirty-nine percent of North Americans have been affected by cybersecurity crime in the past year alone, Symantec Chief Executive Greg Clack told CNBC on Thursday. "I think that's a very big crisis."
"I'm really excited about bringing digital safety to our customers," Clark said in an interview on "Squawk Box." And despite recent earnings misses from peers Palo Alto Networks and FireEye , Clark doesn't think there's "weakness" overall in the sector.
Network security company Palo Alto Networks reported fiscal second-quarter revenue Tuesday that missed forecasts, and its shares plunged nearly 17 percent in after-hours trading. The company's stock was up slightly in early trading Thursday.
In February, shares of FireEye plummeted on news the software maker's quarterly revenue fell short of expectations. The company also announced its chairman and chief financial officer were leaving the company. FireEye shares were up slightly in early trading Thursday.
Symantec has a better story to tell, as the company has managed to drive revenue growth and top analysts' earnings expectations over the past three quarters, Clark said.
"We feel really good about the future," he told CNBC, speaking specifically to the opportunities provided by Symantec's latest major LifeLock deal.
Last November, Symantec announced it was acquiring U.S. identity theft protection services company for $2.3 billion, in a move that it hoped would boost sales at Symantec's Norton unit.
"We feel good about taking Norton subscribers and offering them protection through LifeLock," Clark said in the "Squawk Box" interview.
The LifeLock transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Symantec's 2017 financial results, and the company also reaffirmed its 2018 earnings guidance in a press release after the announcement in November. Symantec said it expects the purchase to be accretive to earnings in 2019.
Shares of Symantec are up more than 22 percent for the year and more than 42 percent over the past 12 months, after a small gain Thursday morning.
In 2007, the Corojo farm owned by the Eiroa family in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras began a program called Bayer CropScience. Developed by the Bayer Corporation, CropScience is a program of best practices for agriculture and manufacturing that promote concepts such as environmental, consumable crop safety, bio-friendly pesticides, industrial safety, and biosecurity. The Eiroas would become the first tobacco company to implement such a program Now ten years later, the Eiroa family continues to execute on these best practices and this program is an integral part to how the family approaches its business for both farming and cigar production. In addition, the tobacco operations of the Eiroa family remain the only ones to continue to follow and implement the Bayer CropScience program. It is a program that the Eiroas feel gives them a strategic advantage in the tobacco market.
The Eiroa family was well-known for owning the Camacho Cigar brand. While the Corojo farm would implement Bayers Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for its agriculture operations, Camacho would implement Bayers Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). After the sale to Camacho to Davidoff, former Camacho President Christian Eiroa would go on to found the CLE Cigar Company. Meanwhile Christians father, Julio R. Eiroa, continued to run the Corojo farm. Late in 2015, Julio asked his other son, Justo Eiroa, to join him in not only running the Corojo farm, but also to help him launch his own cigar brands under JRE Tobacco Company. The Honduran-based operations of the Corojo farm, JRE Tobacco, and CLE Cigar Company have all continued implementation of the Bayer CropScience program.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the operations of the Eiroas Corojo farm and Julio Eiroas factory where he produces the lines for JRE Tobacco Company. It not only provided me an opportunity to see their operations from seed to shop, but it also provided me an opportunity to see the Bayer CropScience program in action.
Bayer CropScience is present from the moment you enter the Corojo farm or the factory area. In fact, as soon as I approached either area, I could not help but notice a bright green edifice. This structure serves as a disinfection station. This was a mandatory checkpoint where a series of disinfectant processes would take place before you could enter. The bright green color is indicative of the Bayer CropScience practices in action. It is present on buildings, signs, and other artifacts.
Before entering the farm or factory, each of us was required to walk through a disinfectant chamber. As each of us walked through, we were sprayed with odorless disinfectant mist.
After going through the Disinfectant Chamber, each of us headed over to a sink where we required to do a hand wash with two different types of disinfectant cleaners.
On the Corojo farm, there was an extra step. While we were all required to exit our vehicle so we could go through the Disinfectant Chamber and Handwash, our vehicle was also subject to a spraying process.
Before entering a building, such as the factory or a greenhouse at the farm, we were required to put our shoes through a disinfectant foot bath.
Another important component of the Bayer CropScience program is the establishment of an on-site medical facility. I saw two of these facilities one on the Corojo farm and one adjacent to their factory. Bayer works with the Eiroas to set up the facilities and ensure that good medical practices are followed. The medical facilities are available to employees and their families.
Each medical facility is staffed with an on-site doctor.
There are a wide variety of medicines that are available at both the medical facility by the farm and the factory.
And walking around the Corojo farm, the presence of Bayer CropScience is quite prominent. Other practices implemented include: no eating, no drinking, no smoking, and general cleanliness.
As a part of the program, the operations are reviewed by the Bayer CropScience team on a regular basis to ensure they are being carried out in an efficient way.
By implementing Bayer CropScience practices into the operations, the Eiroas made a decision to which they believe leads to better end products whether at the farm or the factory. From a personal standpoint, there was an extra level of satisfaction in the end products knowing that these practices are in play. From the various factories I have visited, I have not seen such a program at the level that the Eiroas are doing with Bayer CropScience.
Finally, there is a cloud of uncertainty with the premium cigar industry now subject to regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One thing was quite clear, with the practices the Eiroas have implemented at their farm and factories, I believe they may have head start over the rest of the field.
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied meeting with any Russian officials during the course of the presidential election to talk about the Trump campaign, he told NBC News in exclusive remarks early Thursday.
"I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign," he said, "and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I don't have anything else to say about that."
When asked about the calls by Democrats to recuse himself from investigating any alleged ties between Trump's surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government, Sessions added: "I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself. There's no doubt about that."
More from NBC News:
Sessions Met With Russian Ambassador but Didn't Mislead Senate: Spokeswoman
Democrats Demand Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resign Over Russian Meetings
WH Ethics Office Says Kellyanne Conway 'Inadvertently' Plugged Ivanka Trump's Clothes
Sessions' spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night that he had met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before the presidential election last year in his capacity as a then-senator, raising questions about whether he misled fellow senators during his confirmation hearing in January.
His spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, told NBC News on Wednesday that Sessions, who was a prominent Trump surrogate last year, did have a conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak last year. The meeting was first reported by The Washington Post.
MSNBC tweet
But she said "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer" because Sessions was asked during the hearing about "communications between Russia and the Trump campaign" and not about meetings he took as a member of the Armed Services Committee.
Sessions had one private meeting with the Russian ambassador last September as part of his capacity as a senator, the Justice Department told NBC News.
The other encounter came after he gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in July and a group of ambassadors approached him. He did not have a one-on-one meeting with the Russians at the time.
Democrats have called for a select committee or special prosecutor to delve further into claims of Russian interference in November's election and whether the Russians yielded influence on the campaign.
If Sessions is a potential witness in any investigation, he must decide whether to recuse himself, appoint a special prosecutor or do nothing.
House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday that he also thought Sessions should recuse himself from Russian-linked investigations.
"I just think for any investigation going forward, it would be easier," McCarthy said.
watch now
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will remove himself from any current or future investigations related to President Donald Trump 's election campaign amid backlash over his testimony about contacts with Russia. But a late Thursday report from The Wall Street Journal raised questions about the use of his campaign funds for the trip to Cleveland to attend the Republican National Convention and where he met with the Russian ambassador. The report cited a person at the convention and campaign finance records. In a news conference Thursday, Sessions said Justice Department staff recommended that he recuse himself from probes "in any way" related to Trump's campaign. Critics questioned whether Sessions could be impartial in investigations related not only to Trump's campaign, but also the president's conduct more broadly, due to his role as an adviser to Trump's campaign. "I feel like I should not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in," Sessions said. He also defended his testimony in which he appeared to mislead senators about his contact with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the United States. He said that, due to the framing of Democratic Sen. Al Franken's question to him, he "focused (his) answer on" whether he met the official in his role as a campaign surrogate, not his position as a then-senator. "In retrospect, I should have slowed down and said I did meet with one official a couple of times and that was the Russian ambassador," Sessions said Thursday. Sessions said he will send a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday or Friday clarifying his testimony.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions answers questions during a press conference at the US Justice Department on March 2, 2017, in Washington DC. Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images
Sessions has faced increasing pressure after a Washington Post report that he met twice with Kislyak before the 2016 presidential election. The report sparked questions about whether he contradicted his testimony to the Senate and prompted bipartisan calls for recusal from Russia-related probes. The top Democrats in both the Senate and House urged Sessions to resign. Sessions oversees the Justice Department and FBI, which have led investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the election and any links between Russia and Trump associates. Sessions' recusal will put a deputy in charge of the investigations that relate to the Trump campaign, but it is not entirely clear how broad that recusal will be. Asked about possible Trump campaign contacts with Russia during his January confirmation hearing, Sessions said he had "been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign." He said he "did not have communications with the Russians" and was unable to comment on alleged contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian officials. On Thursday, Sessions said "it's possible" that he met with Kislyak beyond the two times he acknowledged but is not sure. He added that he does not believe he met with any other Russian officials. Trump said Thursday that he has "total" confidence in Sessions as the top U.S. law enforcement official. Trump told pool reporters in Virginia that he thought Sessions "probably" testified truthfully about the issue during his confirmation hearing. Trump previously said he did not think the attorney general should recuse himself from any Russia-related investigations, which some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle urged. Trump joined House Speaker Paul Ryan and many Republicans in saying Sessions should not distance himself from Russia-linked investigations outright. A Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, told MSNBC on Thursday that "recusal is a good step" but "it has to be broader than the campaign." After Sessions' remarks, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused him of making a "sorry attempt to explain away his perjury." She again called on him to "resign immediately." Trump has also defended former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, whose resignation was sparked by contradictions to top White House officials about his conversations with the same Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Ryan noted that the House and Senate intelligence committees are still investigating the extent of Russia's influence in the 2016 presidential election and argued the probes are best served staying within the committees. He added that lawmakers have seen "no evidence" to determine that associates of the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials.
Hoping to remedy this inequality, Bialik and Rauch's five co-stars, including actress Kaley Cuoco, have reportedly agreed to take $100,000 pay cuts. This bold commitment is putting pressure on the network to provide something close to parity for all seven members of the cast: The money given up by their co-stars could be used to raise Bialik and Rauch's wages to $450,000 per episode. As Bialik's nominations prove, Bialik and Rauch have become integral to the show's world. Additionally, Rauch's character recently had a baby with Helberg's character. Both actresses would be sorely missed by fans if they were to leave the show, and they could use that popularity as leverage in the next round of negotiations like Emmy Rossum of Showtime's "Shameless" recently did.
The altruism of the "Big Bang Theory" cast highlights the problem of wage inequality in the television industry. But TV is hardly the only sector with a pay gap. A Glassdoor report found that media had the fifth-largest gap in compensation between men and women. The healthcare industry is the most unequal. One survey reveals that the compensation gap between female and male partners at law firms in the U.S. is a massive 44 percent. Ideas to tackle the pervasive problem include having companies publish compensation data broken down by gender and banning negotiation altogether. Still, while discussions of the pay gap are common, coworkers making sacrifices to make compensation fairer across the board is not. The actions of the "Big Bang Theory" cast exemplifies one way that coworkers can help each other draw attention to the issue of, and negotiate for, pay equality.
When debate heated up earlier this week concerning a major British book retailer's operation of stores resembling independent sellers a little too closely, some outraged customers accused the company of deception.
But according to the managing director of Waterstones, the bookseller in question, this more unusual approach to branding is all part of his company's jostle for market share with online retail giant Amazon .
James Daunt, Waterstones managing director, told CNBC via telephone that "the only way to counter Amazon" was to win customer loyalty, rather than reducing prices. For Daunt, this was best executed with an understanding of the "need to be idiosyncratic to high streets." As far as Waterstones was concerned, he was keen to "overturn the conventional idea of branding," that fonts, logos and signs should all be uniform.
Daunt detailed that he was pushing a "culture change" at the company which embraced the mindset of independent sellers, and without doing so, fellow bookseller across the pond "Barnes & Noble will have a very tough time."
Since the Waterstones story made national press in the U.K., Daunt said that he had received roughly 40 e-mails asking for such pseudo-independent shops to be opened in various areas across the country. The company is "only going into places where independent bookshops have been and closed," he added.
Daunt clarified that while the shops in question operate under a completely different name, they are clearly run by Waterstones a major giveaway being that they accept company loyalty cards.
Barnes & Noble, the largest bookseller in the U.S., told CNBC via e-mail that they were "testing various store concepts," though did not give any clues as to what these could be "for competitive reasons."
According to the Office for National Statistics, the U.K. retail sales in its "Books, Newspapers & Periodicals" category has declined in the past few years, with weekly sales in 2016 being down six percent in comparison to a year earlier.
Waterstones is not the only chain retailer to experiment with unbranded stores. Starbucks confirmed to CNBC via telephone that they currently operate one store under completely separate branding. Roy Street Coffee in Seattle has been open since 2009, describing itself on its website to be "inspired-by-Starbucks."
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While President Donald Trump , promising reform on healthcare, tax and a "great wall" on the southern border, his namesake son was also hard at work - to the north.
Donald Trump Jr., leading his adult siblings - minus Ivanka - and their spouses, to the grand opening of the $360 million (Canadian dollar) Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver, in the face of local criticism.
Mayor Gregor Robertson boycotted the ceremony; Vancouver City Councillor Kerry Jang told CNBC he believes the Trump brand is no longer a symbol of luxury.
"It's now synonymous here with bigotry and sexism and that type of branding has no place in the city of Vancouver ... it's like a beacon of racism."
Jang has led a local campaign against the new hotel, which the Trump Organizati
on hails as the city's second-tallest building.
"I think Donald Jr. called me disgusting and [said] I should be ashamed of myself. He also said that about the Mayor and the Premier of the Province. So you know it's typical Trump rhetoric."
News of the latest Trump hotel comes as Insights West research showed 65 percent of British Columbians, and almost half of Canadians overall would be either 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to boycott a hotel, restaurant or store located in a Trump branded property.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging network ChargePoint will expand into Europe after securing $82 million in funding.
The funding round announced Thursday is the largest in the Silicon Valley company's history, and forms part of a larger Europe-focused fundraising round, which is expected to close above $100 million. It's being led by Daimler but other investors include the likes of BMW i Ventures, Linse Capital and Braemar Energy Ventures.
The investment will enable ChargePoint which claims to be the largest EV charging network in the world - to expand its EV charging network in a new market, connecting businesses and drivers across Europe. The firm's Europe operations will be headquartered in Germany and Daimler executive Axel Harries is set to join ChargePoint's board of directors.
ChargePoint currently connects more than 33,000 independently owned charging spots and over 7,000 sites across the U.S., Canada, Australia and, most recently, Mexico. The network enables consumers to charge under one uniform network, rather than requiring them to sign up to various different accounts.
The expansion across Europe will see the firm concentrate initially on markets in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the U.K., where use of electric cars is most prevalent, however it plans to "follow demand" as it grows across new markets, ChargePoint's chief executive Pasquale Romano told CNBC.
Top Democrats issued demands for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to immediately resign late Wednesday following news that he met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the 2016 presidential campaign.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts were among those who called for the attorney general to step down.
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign," Pelosi said in a statement. "There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians."
In a series of strongly worded tweets, Warren said that Sessions must step down.
Tweet 1
And in a statement, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, said, "Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."
Tweet 2
In a statement Wednesday night, Sessions replied to news of his two meetings with Sergei Kislyak, the Russian Ambassador to the U.S.: "I have never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Sessions was asked during his confirmation hearings by Sen. Al Franken what he would do if he learned that "anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign," Sessions replied:
"I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
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Sessions' spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, told NBC News that the then-senator did have a conversation with Kislyak last year but that "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer" at the hearing.
Flores told NBC News that Sessions was asked about "communications between Russia and the Trump campaign, not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee," so "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer."
While some Democrats were calling on Sessions to resign, other lawmakers intensified demands that a special prosecutor be named to lead an investigation into ties between Russian officials and Trump campaign aides.
"This is even further proof of the need for an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate Russian interference with the 2016 election," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee.
Calls also mounted for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation conducted by the FBI on the matter.
"If reports are accurate that Attorney General Sessions a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump met with Ambassador Kislyak during the campaign, and failed to disclose this fact during his confirmation, it is essential that he recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians," said Rep. Adam Schiff, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
"This is not even a close call; it is a must," Schiff added.
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
The mining equipment maker lost an adjusted 6 cents per share for its latest quarter, 3 cents a share less than analysts had been anticipating. Revenue was below Street forecasts, although the company said its cash flow is improving as commodity prices rebound.
The Snapchat parent priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, above the expected range of $14 to $16 a share. That values the company at about $24 billion, in the biggest technology IPO since went public in 2014.
Shake Shack reported adjusted quarterly profit of 9 cents per share, in line with estimates, while the restaurant chain's revenue beat forecasts. Comparable-store sales were less than analysts had been expecting, but the company did raise its sales guidance for the full year.
Box lost 10 cents per share for its latest quarter, a loss that was 4 cents a share smaller than analysts had been anticipating. The cloud software provider did see revenue and billings beat estimates, and its cash flow has turned positive for the first time since it went public.
Broadcom came in 15 cents above estimates, with adjusted quarterly earnings of $3.63 per share. The chip maker's revenue was slightly above Street projections. The company, which is a major supplier for , said it expects healthy demand for its products to continue.
The drugmaker ended development of an experimental leukemia drug, after the treatment's toxicity led to a number of patient deaths. Juno had partnered with in development of the treatment.
CEO Marissa Mayer will not get a 2016 cash bonus or a 2017 annual equity award, following an investigation into Yahoo's 2014 security breach. The probe found that Mayer and other senior executives did not "properly comprehend or investigate" the breach that led to more than 500 million accounts being compromised.
The oilfield services company delayed its annual 10-K filing, saying it needed more time to complete an internal investigation of its financial reporting procedures.
The company reported its first decline in annual profit since it was formed more than a decade ago. The beer brewer's results were hurt by depressed beer sales in Brazil, its second-largest market.
The financial services giant announced new perks for holders of its high-end Platinum card, amid increasing competition in that part of the market from players like and . Among them: $200 a year in Uber rides, increased access to airport lounges, and higher credits for spending. The card's annual fee is increasing to $550 from $450.
The food services company was added to the "Conviction Buy" list at Goldman Sachs. Goldman cites new contract wins and expanding profit margins, among other factors.
The Victoria's Secret parent reported a February same-store sales drop of 10 percent, wider than the 4.7 percent consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
For an entrepreneur who has built a social media empire on the idea that people like to share what's going on in their lives immediately and often, Evan Spiegel is obsessed with privacy. He doesn't give much away. He doesn't tweet or post on Instagram. In fact, the easiest way to find pictures of Spiegel online is to follow his fiancee, Australian model Miranda Kerr.
Snap's irreverence in its public filing is in line with the way Spiegel has run Snap, as well as his own life. To begin with, the company is located in Venice Beach, Calif., not Silicon Valley. "We love LA, our office is on the beach, and that's pretty nice," Spiegel said at a reCode conference in 2015. "Frankly, for us, it's nice to get a little space from everything going on there, so we can really focus on our business." Spiegel, the son of two successful lawyers, grew up privileged in Los Angeles. In high school, he wrote out a budget to convince his parents that he deserved a monthly allowance of almost $2,000.
Spiegel dropped out of Stanford when he was just a few credits shy of graduating to work full-time on Snapchat. In 2014, a cache of leaked emails between Spiegel and his fraternity brothers when he was in college at Stanford revealed an offensive attitude towards women. He has since apologized. In 2013, Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion. Then only 23 years old, Spiegel refused the offer. The media response was incredulous. A college dropout shut the door in Zuckerberg's face? Why? According to a Forbes profile, Spiegel said, "There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn't very interesting." In a 2015 address delivered at the USC Marshall Undergraduate Commencement, Spiegel framed his decision somewhat differently. "I'm asked one question most often: 'Why didn't you sell your business? It doesn't even make money. It's a fad. You could be on a boat right now. Everyone loves boats. What's wrong with you?'" But, he said, "I am now convinced that the fastest way to figure out if you are doing something truly important to you is to have someone offer you a bunch of money to part with it."
We are who we are today, right now. Evan Spiegel co-founder of Snap
Spiegel intended Snapchat to be the social media platform where users can live in the moment as their more authentic, unpolished selves.
"This traditional social media view of identity is actually quite radical: You are the sum of your published experience. Otherwise known as: Pics or it didn't happen. Or, in the case of Instagram, beautiful pics or it didn't happen AND you're not cool," Spiegel said in a speech he delivered to the AXS Partner Summit conference in 2014.
"Snapchat says that we are not the sum of everything we have said or done or experienced or published. We are the result," he said. "We are who we are today, right now. "We no longer have to capture the 'real world' and recreate it online. We simply live and communicate at the same time." His idea has resonated. Snapchat sees 161 million daily active users globally, with 60 million of those in the United States and Canada. Those users spend between 25 and 30 minutes a day on the platform.
As a manager, Spiegel says he knows he has some work to do. He's decisive, but he changes his mind frequently. "I'm not a great manager. I try to be a great leader. And for me that's been going through a process of, not how to be a great CEO but how to be a great Evan, and that's really been the challenge," Spiegel said at the reCode conference. And he's had to move fast, since the industry does. "I think the key thing there, in all that, is just trying to grow as quickly as possible," Spiegel said. "Again, I probably can't say this enough, but we're in a business that is growing really, really quickly, and at the same time evolving and changing really, really quickly."
In his commencement address, Spiegel also reflected on why he participated in his Stanford graduation ceremony, even though he hadn't completed enough coursework to graduate.
He attended because, in the moment, he "didn't want to be left out," but, he said, "it only recently occurred to me, while preparing this address, how totally absurd this whole charade was. It reminded me that oftentimes we do all sorts of silly things to avoid appearing different."
I am now convinced that the fastest way to figure out if you are doing something truly important to you is to have someone offer you a bunch of money to part with it. Evan Spiegel co-founder, Snap
Spiegel advocated for having the courage to defy expectations. "Conforming happens so naturally that we can forget how powerful it is. We want to be accepted by our peers, we want to be a part of the group. It's in our biology. But the things that make us human are those times we listen to the whispers of our soul and allow ourselves to be pulled in another direction." Also in the speech, Spiegel told the story of Bob Rauschenberg erasing the work of his artistic idol Bill de Kooning. The effort took Rauschenberg two months, and then their contemporary, Jasper Johns, framed the results. "I love this story because Bill de Kooning had the humility to recognize that the greatest thing we can do is provide the best possible foundation for those who come after us. We must welcome our own erasure."
"No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth."
Plato
"This country has shed more blood for the freedom of other people than all the other nations in the history of the world combined, and I'm tired of people feeling like they've got to apologize for America."
Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN)
In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell, the author of 1984
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.""Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.""A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.
Former French Economy Minister, Founder and Leader of the political movement 'En Marche !' and candidate for the 2017 French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during his meeting on February 4, 2017 in Lyon, France.
French presidential candidate and current frontrunner Emmanuel Macron on Thursday criticised the protectionist and environmental policies of U.S President Donald Trump.
"Mr Trump would be making a grave mistake by going back on his predecessor's commitments towards the climate," said Macron, speaking after he unveiled his election manifesto.
Alexa may have stolen the show at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year, but it's Assistant that is in the limelight now. At the Mobile World Congress, one of the biggest industry conferences in the world, device makers launched a number of smartphones that come with Google Assistant already installed. Google Assistant is the search giant's artificial intelligence-powered voice assistant to rival Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Cortana. It was introduced last year to replace Google Now, and was originally only available on the company's Pixel smartphones, its smart home speaker called Google Home, and via its chat app Allo. But on Monday, Google said it is beginning to roll out Assistant to all phones running its Android operating system version 6.0 or newer. Google Assistant was introduced on LG's new G6 smartphone and the HMD Global Nokia devices at MWC.
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The U.S. technology giant's move comes after Amazon continues to aggressively push Alexa onto new devices. At CES, Amazon announced Alexa would be integrated with LG refrigerators and even Ford cars. But it began to step on Google's feet when Amazon announced that Alexa would be on the Huawei Mate 9 smartphone in the U.S., which runs Android. "It is little surprise Google has come out with all guns blazing at MWC. It must be reeling from the decision to include Amazon's Alexa on the Mate 9 when it was announced," Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, told CNBC by email on Tuesday. "Amazon has taken an early lead with Alexa and Google needs to exploit the enormous reach of Android smartphones to rapidly get the Google Assistant into the hands of consumers before they get wedded to the Alexa ecosystem." Nearly 9 of every 10 smartphones globally run Android, giving Google a huge consumer base to start off with. "I think in general, whether this is rolling out to lots of devices or not, we now have user feedback, it will help us improve the product," Gummi Hafsteinsson, product management director at Google, told CNBC in an interview at MWC on Tuesday. "The engagement is more important to that than anything else. We get both positive and negative feedback and use that to make the product better. Hopefully, we will see the product get better faster."
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google Inc., discusses the Google Pixel virtual assistant during a Google product launch event in San Francisco on Oct. 4 2016. Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Russia's attempt to influence elections is nothing new, former CIA Director James Woolsey told CNBC on Thursday. But the United States should take a novel approach in how it retaliates, he said.
"The Russians have been doing this for decades in one way or another," Woolsey, who is now a partner at Lux Capital Management, said in an interview with "Power Lunch" from the sidelines of the YPO Edge summit in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Woolsey, who served as director of the CIA under President Bill Clinton, said Russian intelligence normally goes after different religious groups, as well as elections around the globe.
"What's new is to use cyber in trying to influence their neighbors' elections, including us. And that's something we shouldn't put up with," he said.
Woolsey thinks that instead of just investigating the role of Russian intelligence, the U.S. should go after Russia where it hurts its economy. He suggests automobiles in the U.S. have the ability to use more than one fuel, such as methanol or wood alcohol, so that when drivers fill up, they have a choice.
"That would make the Russians very unhappy and I think probably a lot more willing to be decent."
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia used hackers to try to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election. There have also been questions about contacts between those in President Donald Trump's camp and Russian officials.
On Wednesday night, it surfaced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign.
On Thursday, Sessions told NBC News that he did not meet with "any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign." His spokeswoman said the discussions came in his capacity as a senator on the Armed Services Committee.
As McDonald's "confronts the reality" of its need to revive its business, the company is placing a big bet on mobile and other tech platforms.
Adopting mobile ordering has given many restaurant chains a boost, but it hasn't come without pain, even for industry leaders like Panera and Starbucks .
Starbucks, which has seen great success with its mobile order and pay app, reported in January that an increase in digital orders actually hurt its same-store sales. Congestion at the hand-off counter caused incoming customers to leave without making a purchase, despite lines at the register being short, Kevin Johnson, Starbucks' president and soon-to-be CEO, said, at the time.
McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook told CNBC on Thursday that the company has been "mindful" of the additional demands and are working to create a platform that suits the needs of both the customer and the kitchen.
"We've been very mindful that if we're going to be creating demand, can we meet that demand?" Easterbrook said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "Can our kitchens keep up and our managers do a great job? So, we will actually link from end to end as your place your order and it's integrated into our kitchen operation so we can actually meet the demand that we'll be creating. So we're confident there's no hurdles as we grow our business."
The golden arches was late to the mobile game, but is expected to launch the product in 20,000 restaurants by the end of 2017.
McDonald's also is adding self-service ordering kiosks to its restaurants.
"We find customers prefer the kiosks because, particularly larger groups or moms with kids, like to spend a bit more time, they can dwell, they can have fun putting the order together, they can customize it easier and they don't have that stress that sometimes they feel at the front counter when they feel rushed," Easterbrook said.
He noted that all of its restaurants in France have been fully integrated with this technology. There they found it also decongests the area at the front counter.
"It's a win for customers and smooths our operation as well, which is great," he said.
The kiosks are part of McDonald's "experience of the future," which is coming to about 650 restaurants this year, bringing the chain's number of these stores to nearly 2,500.
The burger giant will also be exploring delivery in the U.S. in an attempt to meet customer demand and changes in how consumers want to get their food.
McDonald's already has a large delivery presence in Asia which accounts for 10 percent of system sales in that market and is hoping to capitalize on the growing industry demand by offering delivery in America. It is currently testing out several models, both in-house and via third-party providers.
Easterbrook noted that 75 percent of the population in its top five markets the U.S., France, the U.K., Germany and Canada are within three miles of a McDonalds and 85 percent are within five miles of a chain.
"The reality is the customer demand exists already for home delivery," Easterbrook said. "So, it's not like we have got to go out and create a market. There's a market there that we simply do not currently meet."
The story for retail in Hong Kong is not exactly new, and it's not exactly rosy.
Continuing the decline for the 23rd month, the territory's retail sales for the month of January fell 0.9 percent on year. The drop is smaller than in December, but that could be the effect of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday falling in January rather than February.
The Hong Kong government supported this viewpoint, saying it would "be more meaningful to examine the figures for January and February combined, when available, to have a clearer picture of the underlying trend."
The slowdown in inbound tourism, the rise of e-commerce and sky-high rents have for a while squeezed business for Hong Kong retailers.
Now, the Hong Kong dollar (pegged to the U.S. dollar) has strengthened against the Chinese yuan , and is hurting business as well.
Dickie Wong, executive director of research at Kingston Financial Group, told CNBC that mainland Chinese shoppers are now opting to go to Europe instead of Hong Kong because currency changes mean the price difference between China and Hong Kong on big-ticket items has narrowed.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNBC on Thursday he got emotional at times during President Donald Trump's address to Congress.
When Trump honored fallen Navy SEAL Williams Ryan Owens and his widow, Carryn Owens, the California Republican said he was "brought to tears."
"It was a moving experience," McCarthy said on "Squawk Box."
Carryn Owens, who attended the Tuesday night speech, cried during the tribute and thunderous applause.
The president also defended the special forces strike that killed Owens in Yemen. Trump authorized the air and ground attack, which came on Jan. 29, nine days after he took office. Planning started while President Barack Obama was in office.
Owens' father, Bill, sharply criticized Trump, telling The Miami Herald he cringed at the thought of having to shake the president's hand at the ceremony for the arrival of the fallen SEAL's remains at Dover Air Force Base.
"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 newspaper.
Trump said in his address: "I just spoke to [Defense Secretary James Mattis] ... who reconfirmed that, and I quote, 'Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.' Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity."
Trade rules between Canada and the United States are about to change, big-league. Minimizing damage to Canada will be the Canadian government's biggest challenge. Under normal circumstances, you'd expect some give-and-take negotiations, with net positives for both the United States and Canada. But we are not dealing with a traditional Washington.
There are two sources of upheaval; both come from the GOP. The first is congressional Republicans' "A Better Way" plan, which includes a 20 percent border tax on imports and tax exemption of U.S. exports. The second is President Donald J. Trump's interest in "tweaking" Canada-U.S. trade.
Something will give.
President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Feb. 13, 2017. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Today, Canada-U.S. trade is essentially balanced (unlike U.S. trade with Mexico), but its impact is different in each country. Roughly 25 percent of Canada's GDP stems from trade with the United States, but American trade with Canada accounts for merely 2 percent of U.S. GDP. Canada has little economic leverage to negotiate at a federal level, and changes to the trade rules hit Canada harder than the United States. The biggest change in the congressional Better Way blueprint is the addition of a consumption tax. All well and good, except it excludes taxation of exports, which is great for an inward-looking "America First" supporters but poor for trade partners like Canada.
The border tax idea would effectively end NAFTA and its predecessor, the underlying Free Trade Agreement. Economists predict the Canadian economy could lose at least 1.5 percent of GDP because of such new trade barriers. Canada would be forced to retaliate. A weaker Canada will have less productivity to share with the United States. Right now there's more juice to be squeezed from Canada, but the United States can expect diminishing returns as the Canadian economy retracts from American protectionism. A smaller apple produces less juice, even if you squeeze it harder.
Canadian politicians have pointed out the disproportionate impact Canadian trade has on 35 U.S. states. ... Finding a way to get the states and provinces to the table could be Canada's best strategy.
Canada's government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has adopted a smart approach get ahead of change, and show great eagerness to engage with the United States. Negotiate bilaterally and quickly without Mexico at the table. This strategy might mitigate damage, but it's unlikely negotiations will result in concessions to Canada, such as a change in dispute mechanisms. For example, Canada's longstanding desire to change the softwood lumber rules to allow subsidies will not be solved. It may get worse.
Canadian politicians have pointed out the disproportionate impact Canadian trade has on 35 U.S. states. It is conceivable the GOP may carve out the deeply integrated supply chains for manufacturing and commodities exchange that occur under NAFTA in these 35 states. Effectively, this would create a 'mini NAFTA.' Actually, more like a renegotiation of the FTA and Auto Pact.
Politicians in the 35 states may pressure the federal government to maintain elements of the status quo. Their supply chain is so well integrated, the job upheaval would be punishing for all involved. Those states would neither want a trade war nor the decrease in economic activity resulting from new trade rules.
Finding a way to get the states and provinces to the table could be Canada's best strategy.
Trump's idea of 'tweaking' don't trust it
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First, the latest: On Wednesday night, it surfaced that Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign. Sessions' office confirmed those reports on Thursday. A Sessions spokeswoman said the meetings came as part of Sessions' job as a senator on the Armed Services Committee. Sessions was a U.S. senator for Alabama before being appointed to President Donald Trump's cabinet.
I didn't have did not have communications with the Russians. Jeff Sessions U.S. Attorney General, during his confirmation hearing
But during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 10, Sessions said "I didn't have did not have communications with the Russians," when asked directly by Senator Al Franken about alleged "continuing exchange of information" between Trump surrogates and the Russian government during the presidential campaign. Franken's question came about because U.S. intelligence agencies including the NSA, CIA and FBI concluded that Russia used hackers to try to sabotage America's 2016 presidential election. Those attacks against U.S. democracy prompted the Obama administration to slap sanctions on Russia, which already was under 2014 sanctions for attacking Ukraine. Trump said on Thursday afternoon that he does not think Sessions should recuse himself from the investigation into ties between Trump's surrogates and Moscow, though several Democratic and Republican lawmakers have said he should not oversee a probe into his own administration. Here's a round-up of other links and alleged links between Trump's inner circle and Vladimir Putin's Russia:
Michael Flynn was untruthful about his contacts with Russia
Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigned Feb. 13 after scrutiny into his discussions about the Russia sanctions with some of the country's officials ahead of Trump's inauguration.
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Flynn admitted that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his communications with Russia's ambassador about U.S. sanctions in the weeks before Trump took office. Pence, who was initially kept in the dark after others in the White House discovered that Flynn had been untruthful, repeated Flynn's false claims unknowingly. Trump denies that he asked Flynn to talk to the Russians about sanctions.
Paul Manafort was linked to a Putin puppet
Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman until August of last year, left the campaign after reports linked him to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who helped Russian President Vladimir Putin in his efforts to control Ukraine. The Associated Press had reported that emails showed a firm run by Manafort carried out a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Yanukovych's party to influence American public opinion between 2012 and 2014.
Trump admires Vladimir Putin, and says so
Trump repeatedly expressed admiration and respect for Putin throughout his campaign. On Sept. 7, Trump said Putin had been a leader of his own nation "far more" than President Barack Obama had been of the United States, adding that Putin "has very strong control over a country. Now, it's a very different system and I don't happen to like that system." Trump said repeatedly during the campaign that he had no relationship with Putin, but in a 2013 interview he said "I do have a relationship with Putin ..." TWEET: Does Donald Trump have a relationship with Vladimir Putin? There have also been multiple reports linking Trump's business interests to Russia. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., told Russian daily Kommersant that "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets," adding that "we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Vladimir Putin runs Russia as virtual dictator, and the country has no legally guaranteed freedoms. Russia fomented a civil war in neighboring Ukraine and annexed one of its provinces after Ukraine kicked Yanukovych out of office and put pro-Western leadership in his place. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LafargeHolcim is "ideally positioned" to profit from substantial infrastructure spending in the U.S. according to Chief Executive Eric Olsen, after the world's largest cement maker reported better-than-expected earnings results Thursday.
Olsen said the Swiss-French company, which is the leading cement producer in the U.S., would stand to make significant gains following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Tuesday that he will seek approval from Congress for a $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
"We believe we stand to benefit very well from these investments going forward a trillion (dollars) of investments in infrastructure is a real commitment," Olsen told CNBC on Thursday.
The bullish outlook for the U.S.'s leading cement producer followed better-than-expected earnings figures in the final three months of 2016. LafargeHolcim reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of 1.61 billion Swiss francs ($1.59 billion) which beat the average analyst forecast of 1.52 billion francs in a Reuters poll.
"I think the important thing to remember about the U.S. is that, yes there is going to be, we believe, a big commitment and a big increase in infrastructure investment but as well the overall cycle in our industry is on the upswing. And we would expect (this upswing) to continue to be that way at least for the next three, four (or even) five years," Olsen added.
However, LafargeHolcim's earnings were somewhat tainted as the company confessed to taking "unacceptable" measures in order to keep its Syrian plant open, after allegations had surfaced its employees had dealt with arms groups in the country.
"For us at LafargeHolcim, (the code of business conduct) is absolutely uncompromising," Olsen told CNBC on Thursday.
"We will take all the necessary measures to address this situation," he concluded.
Several Republican lawmakers on Thursday called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from investigations into any alleged ties between President Donald Trump's surrogates and the Russian government.
Another top Republican, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, appeared to support the idea but later issued a clarification.
Sessions, a Trump campaign surrogate, is under increasing pressure following a Washington Post report that he met twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States before the 2016 presidential election. The report appears to contradict his denial in confirmation testimony to the Senate.
On Thursday, Sessions told NBC News that he did not meet with "any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign." His spokeswoman said they came in his capacity as a senator on the Armed Services Committee.
Sessions oversees the Justice Department and FBI, which have led investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the election and any links between Russia and Trump associates. Sessions told NBC on Thursday that he will recuse himself "whenever it's appropriate," but did not say he will distance himself from Russia-related investigations specifically.
Asked about possible Trump campaign contacts with Russia during his January confirmation hearing, Sessions said he had "been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign. He said he "did not have communications with the Russians" and was unable to comment on alleged contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian officials.
On Thursday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told MSNBC he thinks Sessions should recuse himself from Russia-related investigations.
"Based on what we've read and the information is not complete I think the attorney general should further clarify and I do think he's going to need to recuse himself at this point," the Utah Republican said. He added that he came to his conclusion because of how Sessions answered questions in his testimony.
Chaffetz tweet: AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself
McCarthy, R-Calif., also told MSNBC he thought it would be "easier" for Sessions to step back from any potential Russia-linked investigations.
"I think, the trust of the American people you recuse yourself in these situations ," he said on "Morning Joe." "I don't have all the information in front of me, I don't want to pre-judge, but I just think for any investigation going forward you want to make sure everybody trusts the investigation, that there's no doubt within the investigation I think it would be easier from that standpoint."
However, McCarthy later backtracked on "Fox and Friends," saying "I'm not calling on him to recuse himself." He added that "it's amazing how people spin things so quickly."
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said it "would be best for him and the country" if Sessions recused himself from investigations. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also said it would be best for Sessions stepped back from any probes.
Many Democrats urged Sessions to recuse himself, while some went a step further in their responses to the Post report. Lawmakers including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called on him to resign.
However, many Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, defended Sessions' actions and signaled they would not push for him to recuse himself from Russia-linked investigations.
Editor's note: This story was updated with McCarthy saying he is not calling for Sessions to recuse himself.
Cans of Monster Energy Drink are displayed on a shelf at a convenience store in Kentfield, Calif.
Shares of Monster Beverage closed up more than 12 percent on Thursday after the energy drink maker posted better-than-expected quarterly revenue and announced a new $500 million stock buyback plan.
On Wednesday, the Corona, California-based beverage company reported fourth-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share, in line with estimates, on revenue of $753.8 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast revenue of $722.2 million.
"We are pleased to report continued progress on the strategic alignment of our distribution system with Coca-Cola bottlers, both domestically and internationally," Monster Beverage Chairman and CEO Rodney Sacks said in a statement.
Monster Beverage's board of directors also approved a new buyback program for the repurchase of up to $500 million of the company's outstanding common stock. The timing of the share repurchases will depend on several factors, including market conditions, the company said.
Monster Beverage's stock is up more than 6 percent year-to-date.
When President Donald Trump fired now-former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn last month for meeting with the Russian ambassador during the transition period, the Democrats clearly smelled blood in the water. Now their feeding frenzy is fixed on Attorney General Jeff Sessions for meetings he had during the election period with the very same Russian ambassador that he failed to disclose. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has even just joined a chorus from his party calling on Sessions to resign.
This is a scandal! A Conspiracy! The end of the Republic!
Not so much.
In fact, while it was bad enough to lose Flynn, if Sessions is forced to step down it will be worse news for the White House, America, and even the anti-Trump Democrats who can't let go of their still unproven Russian conspiracy theories.
There are two big reasons why.
First, there is simply no evidence of any wrongdoing and even the "appearance of impropriety" argument here is more than a normal stretch. Second, this particular Russian conspiracy nonsense is doing serious damage to the entire country politically and culturally. And the people promoting this theory are actually suffering the most damage themselves.
Let's start with the "evidence" in this case. It turns out one of the "meetings" was an informal encounter on the sidelines of the GOP convention in July. The second appears to have been a routine visit by Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to Sessions' office in September when Sessions was a member of the Senate Armed Services committee.
As for allegations that Sessions lied under oath by not disclosing these meetings during his confirmation hearings, Sessions spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said there was nothing "misleading about his answer" to Congress because he was asked during the hearings about "communications between Russia and the Trump campaign, not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee." And Flores later noted that in 2016, Sessions had over 25 conversations and meetings with foreign ambassadors.
A closer look at the actual questions and their context in the hearings sure seems to prove Flores right. Senator Al Franken asked Sessions a question about campaign dealings and here's how that exchange went:
Franken: If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign what will you do? Sessions: Senator Franken, I'm not aware of uh any of those activities. I had been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communication with the Russians and I'm unable to comment.
Other than Sessions not adding the phrase "about the campaign," after saying "I did not have communication with the Russians," there's no "there" there. Watch the video for yourself of the exchange and decide if you see anything resembling a big lie or scandal at all.
In America, we don't indict senators on committees that deal with foreign relations for having meetings with the officially recognized ambassadors of major powers. The encounter at the Republican Convention also appears to have occurred in a group setting and can hardly be called a "meeting." And the question he was asked during his confirmation hearing was clearly about formal and/or nefarious Russian involvement in the Trump campaign and not connected to his routine meetings a member of the Senate. Sessions was never even working directly with the Trump campaign anyway, he was simply an early supporter of the candidate. All of that distinguishes Sessions greatly from Flynn, who allegedly discussed U.S.-led sanctions against Russia late last year.
But we have a bigger problem than just the fact that so many people are jumping to wild conclusions about Sessions with no evidence. The more dire issue is that we have two sources for this Russian hysteria who don't seem to care how much damage they're causing along the way. The first source is the Democratic Party, which has become obsessed with creating a retroactive election scandal and a scapegoat for its stunning loss in that election. That's a big problem for everyone because it keeps the Democrats from coming to grips with the true reason for their loss and reconnecting with the voters who rejected them in November. And for non-Democrats, this is bad news because whipping up anger and fear over supposed foreign tampering in our election sets an unnecessarily nasty tone to our already broken political dialogue.
But don't just blame the Democrats for this obsession. Because the second source of the Russian scandal hysteria is the political class that includes lots of elected Republicans and a boatload of federal bureaucrats and their allies in the news media. Right on cue, we started hearing from them last night when Republican Senator Lindsey Graham basically called for a special prosecutor to look into allegations of Russian connections to the Trump campaign. Graham's statement was the anchor for the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza's analysis this morning saying that it will be "suicide" for the GOP if they don't appoint a special prosecutor.
Cillizza has that half right. If the GOP appoints a special prosecutor and shines an indefinitely long-lasting light on this alleged scandal, it will be suicide alright, but suicide for the Democrats who will be all that much more distracted by a story that will keep them from fixing all the problems that lost them the White House in 2016 and the Congress in 2014. The only question is whether the Republican Congressional leadership will be Machiavellian enough to realize this and feed this one-sided destructive frenzy. You can already hear the 2018 GOP midterm congressional candidates shouting at every campaign rally something to the tune of: "While the Democrats were focused on a baseless Russian conspiracy theory, we were bringing jobs back to America!" In other words, the Democrats better be careful what they wish for on this one.
And let's be honest about why Sessions is being targeted, because there are probably other members of the White House team that have had innocuous and routine meetings with Russian officials over the last 12 months. Sessions is the point man on policies the Democrats and the political class abhor, especially the promised crackdown on illegal immigration and increased voter ID laws. These are issues the left is understandably worried about as they believe they will affect their election chances for decades to come. Like Flynn, whose unique focus on radical Islam as the only serious cause of global terror put him at odds with the political class during his time in the Obama administration, Sessions has already slayed some sacred cows. In that sense, Sessions is more of a danger to them than President Trump himself.
That said, Sessions should probably recuse himself from any probe into Russia's ties to the Trump campaign. Even some Republicans like Congressman Jason Chaffetz have called for that. Frankly, that would probably be doing Sessions a favor as that will help him focus on his more important goals at the Justice Department. There's nothing for Sessions to gain by even appearing to have any oversight into such an investigation.
But that's as far as Sessions should go. This attempt to undermine the election results by picking off members of the Trump cabinet needs to stop now or it will never stop. President Trump and Flynn seem to have caved under the pressure because of what still looks like harmless disclosure foul ups on Flynn's part. It may have been the most honorable thing to do, but it sent the wrong message of encouragement to overly partisan forces with little or no concern for the collateral damage their vindictive campaign is doing to the republic.
And after Tuesday night's speech by President Trump drew uncharacteristically bi-partisan praise, the anti-Trump forces seem to be getting more desperate and dangerous than ever. Yes, the timing of this Sessions news coming right after the successful speech is suspect, too. America seems to have really liked the message and the messenger they heard it from Tuesday night, and not a scandal that still has no real evidence to back it up. It's time for the Democrats to calm down for their own good and the administration to show some backbone for the country.
Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny.
For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
Obama administration officials rushed to ensure intelligence of Russia's suspected election hacking and possible connections to Donald Trump's campaign was preserved after they left office, The New York Times reported.
Citing three anonymous former U.S. officials, the Times said the goal in the final days of the Obama administration was to leave evidence for future investigators and to prevent future meddling in U.S. elections.
The sources told the Times that U.S. allies had provided information of meetings in European cities between Russian officials and associates of Trump. U.S. intelligence agencies also intercepted communications of Russian officials discussing contacts with Trump associates, the Times reported.
On Thursday, embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied to NBC News that he had met with any Russian officials during the course of the presidential election to talk about the campaign. With one Republican House leader calling for him to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, Sessions added: "I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself. There's no doubt about that."
Read the full report from The New York Times here.
Editor's note: This story was updated after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he is not calling for Sessions to recuse himself.
Rex Tillerson will act only in the nation's best interests now that he is secretary of State, the man who succeeded him as Exxon Mobil chief told CNBC.
"Having worked with Rex for many years, Rex is going to make the decision that is best for our country," Darren Woods said in a "Squawk Box" interview that aired on Thursday. "His personal circumstances or where he was in the past, I have no doubt that is not going to play in his decision making."
Asked if he's spoken recently to Tillerson, Woods said, "He's been pretty busy, and I've been pretty busy."
Since Exxon has business with Russia, Tillerson was questioned extensively during his confirmation hearing about his ties to Moscow, and whether he perceives Russian President Vladimir Putin as a friend or foe of the U.S. in light of intelligence showing Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.
"I don't really have a view or a prognosis on the relationship between our countries," Woods said. "We have a mix of businesses in Russia, we have a very successful business on the east coast that is not affected by the sanctions. We continue to invest and manage [there]."
Woods spoke to CNBC on Wednesday at the New York Stock Exchange, where Exxon held its annual meeting with analysts. He said if he needs help navigating his new job as chairman and CEO of the world's largest publicly traded oil producer, he'll seek counsel from resources within the company.
"I have a great board. We have a very experienced, knowledgeable, diverse board all are very supportive. I had a year as a president serving on the board to get to know all of them," Woods said. "Any questions I've got ... they're my first stop."
The 52-year-old Woods was elevated to president of the company in 2016 in preparation for the 64-year-old Tillerson's mandatory retirement at age 65. The succession plan was speeded up late last year when Tillerson became President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of State. Woods formally took the helm on the first of the year.
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Saudi Arabia is committed to integrating its financial markets with the rest of the world, the country's market regulator told CNBC, as for the debut listing of state-owned oil and gas company Saudi Aramco.
The Kingdom aspires to become the Middle East's de-facto capital market and one of the world's largest, Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, vice chairman of Saudi Arabia's Capital Markets Authority (CMA), told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Thursday. "That can be a big driver of economic growth in the country." Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil exporter and the flow of petrodollars through its economy and around the world is a potent source of investment capital. In order to achieve the aim of capital market hub, Saudi Arabia is changing regulatory requirements to gain more foreign players, reflected by recent changes to qualified foreign investor (QFI) rules. As of June 2015, certain QFIs could directly trade on the local stock exchange, known as the Tadawul. Last year, QFIs also became eligible to subscribe to initial public offerings (IPOs). The Kingdom is also changing its market settlement policies, moving to the international 'T+2' settlement cycle from its previous 'T+0' cycle to better satisfy foreign investors.
The Saudi Stock Exchange, also known as the Tadawul All Share Index, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images
"We think of it as someone who has a beta max video in a VHS world. It doesn't matter who's technically superior if you can't play with the rest of the world," said El-Kuwaiz, who is travelling in Asia to attract the region's investors via the QFI framework. Because the QFI framework is geared more towards asset managers, the CMA is also developing a parallel program for strategic investors that will enable direct investment into publicly-traded firms. "When Saudi Arabia opened up, we started to see demand not just from financial investors but also from strategic investors looking to take stakes in the country," he explained. International firms looking to take a stake in a publicly traded firm in the form of M&A transactions or strategic investments will now be allowed to do so thanks to this new program, he said. El-Kuwaiz was unable to offer any insights on Aramco's international listing, noting that the decision laid in the hands of advisers and underwriters. Speculation is that the IPO, slated for next year, would offer 5 percent of the firm and raise as much as $100 billion, valuing Aramco at around $2 trillion. "The Saudi market regulator is a disclosure-based regulator so our main point of concern is to make sure that any IPO, whether its Aramco or any other, discloses all the required information for investors to make the right call."
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Moments after Snap opened officially for trading on the New York Stock Exchange with a 40 percent-plus surge from its IPO price, the hot technology company got its first official Wall Street analyst rating ... a sell.
Small research firm Pivotal Research Group slapped a sell rating on Snap shares and a $10 price target, below their $17-a-share offering price and far below the $24 price they opened at for trading late morning Thursday. The company is the first to issue a rating on the hot technology IPO, according to Factset.
Snap "is significantly overvalued given the likely scale of its long-term opportunity and the risks associated with executing against that opportunity," wrote Pivotal's Brian Wieser in the March 2 note. "Significant ongoing dilution from share-based compensation will likely represent an additional negative consideration for the stock."
Bigger research shops associated with banks are barred from issuing coverage on IPOs for which they were underwriters for a period of time after the offering. This is so they cannot be seen as influencing the price of the stock for their friends across the Chinese wall in investment banking. But independent shops like Pivotal are free to do so.
"Investors in Snap will be exposed to an upstart facing aggressive competition from much larger companies, with a core user base that is not growing by much and which is only relatively elusive," Weiser continues in the note. "It has a promising and innovative advertising offering, but so far it is still mostly unproven and difficult to quantify its ultimate scale."
Weiser told CNBC in an interview that the stock is being lifted by IPO euphoria alone.
There are people who bought the stock just "because they think the next person will pay more for it. That doesn't seem like a very sound way to invest in my view," he said.
Thirty minutes after it had opened for trading, nearly 100 million shares had already changed hands.
Pivotal also brings up Snap's controversial capital structure, which gives founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy majority voting power. The class A shares exchanging hands on the NYSE give buyers zero voting rights.
"Investors will also be exposed to what appears to be a suboptimal corporate structure operated by a senior management team lacking experience transforming a successful new product into a successful company," the note says.
Despite a sizzling IPO, Snap's founders said they're not hot on the trail of Facebook 's scale, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.
"We're not just chasing growth," co-founder Bobby Murphy exclusively told the LA Times.
Shares of Snap traded in heavy volume on the first day in the public market, with 200 million shares the entire size of the offering changing hands. But at around $33 billion in market capitalization, the company was still less than a tenth of the size of fellow internet advertising company, Facebook.
CEO Evan Spiegel recognizes that investors have been asking if Snapchat is the "next Facebook," the LA Times reported. Spiegel told the LA Times that Snap could become just as valuable as Facebook, just with fewer users than Facebook's massive 1.9 billion user base.
Spiegel told the LA Times he'd rather investors focus on engagement than user growth. He said he sees a benefit in the company's value being determined by the public market, the report said.
"We'd rather inspire creation because we know a derivative of that is growth," Spiegel said.
For more insider commentary on the Snap IPO, see the full article at LATimes.com.
Share prices rose as high as $26.05, according to FactSet, and fell as low as $23.50.
The stock opened shortly before 11:20 a.m. on Thursday in New York, and started trading at $24 a share, rising 41.2 percent from its pricing at the open. The company, trading under the ticker SNAP, priced its public offering at $17 a share on Wednesday.
More than 200 million shares the entire size of the offering changed hands over the course of the day, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the total volume of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Snap shares closed their first day of trading up 44 percent at $24.48 a share, quenching a long drought in the market for tech IPOs.
John Spiegel (C), father of Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, reacts as Snap Inc. shares open for trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, March 2, 2017 in New York City.
The opening price of $24 puts the company's market capitalization at about $33 billion, about the size of Marriot and Target. Twitter's market cap is about 11 billion, while Facebook's is about $395 billion.
The young ephemeral photo messaging company posted a $515 million loss last year. At least a few Wall Street analysts reacted skeptically to the offering, issuing "sell" ratings on the stock.
Nonetheless, investors have bet on its quickly growing revenue and visionary leader, 26-year-old co-founder CEO Evan Spiegel. Spiegel arrived at the stock exchange on Thursday morning to ring the opening bell, with supermodel fiancee Miranda Kerr in tow, documenting with pictures on the app.
The Venice, California-based company, which serves augmented reality and cinematic advertisements to its young adult audience, could be a bellwether as other start-up giants, such as Airbnb and Uber, mull a public offering. The IPO was 12 times oversubscribed, sources said.
Snap enters the public market a day after the three major U.S. stock indexes posted their best session of the year. About $5 billion changed hands in Snap stock that's roughly on par with what Twitter saw on its first day. However, that's much less than the $23 billion that changed hands in Facebook and the $25 billion that changed hands in Alibaba on their first day of trading.
Here's how the company stacks up so far to other big tech IPOs, according to CNBC analysis of data from FactSet and Renaissance:
Facebook went public on May 18, 2012 , priced at $38 per share. It gained only 0.61 percent in its debut closing at $38.23.
-Deal Size: Almost $16 billion
, priced at $38 per share. It gained only 0.61 percent in its debut closing at $38.23. -Deal Size: Almost $16 billion Twitter went public on Nov. 7, 2013, priced at $26 per share. It gained 72.69 percent in its debut closing at $44.90.
-Deal Size $1.82 billion (shares used to calculate do not contain the overallotment)
priced at $26 per share. It gained 72.69 percent in its debut closing at $44.90. -Deal Size $1.82 billion (shares used to calculate do not contain the overallotment) Alibaba went public on Sept. 19, 2014, and priced at $68 per share. It gained 38.07 percent in its debut closing at $93.89.
-Deal Size $21.77 billion (not including overallotment or green shoe)
and priced at $68 per share. It gained 38.07 percent in its debut closing at $93.89. -Deal Size $21.77 billion (not including overallotment or green shoe) LinkedIn went public on May 19, 2011, and priced at $45 per share. It doubled in its debut, gaining 109.44 percent to close at $94.25.
-Deal size $352.8 million
CNBC's Leslie Picker, David Faber, Robert Hum Fred Imbert and Gina Francolla contributed to this report.
But buyers are in an unusual predicament: They'll have almost no power over the company, since shares offered negligible voting rights, said McNamee, co-founder of technology investment firm Elevation Partners, which invested in Facebook and Yelp.
Snap started trading at $24 a share on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, rising 41.2 percent from its pricing at the open. About 100 million shares changed hands in the first 30 minutes of trading by far the most active stock on the NYSE after it opened shortly before 11:20 a.m. on Thursday in New York.
"I think tech companies make a terrible mistake trying to create their own rules, and trying to make themselves separate from the core economy," McNamee told CNBC's " Squawk Alley " on Thursday. "Whether it's staying private for much longer or not having voting."
But technology investor Roger McNamee was seeing red: Red flags, that is. McNamee said that the company's unique share structure may result in a lack of needed oversight from investors.
Investors in Snap's public offering were seeing green on Thursday, as the stock popped around 50 percent from its pricing.
"I think it insulates them in a way that allows them to do as many dumb things as smart things," McNamee said. "Look at some of these unicorns some of which also have had very, very limited voting on the part of their investors. Many of them have done incredibly stupid things."
Investors can play a key role in calling out young start-ups when they misbehave. Uber, for instance, has faced heat from investors over some aspects of its culture. Theranos an embattled blood-testing start-up that has fallen from fame had concentrated power in the hands of the founder.
Still, Snap would be far from the first company to get away with a unique financial situation. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has unique control over his company. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page also retain a hefty stake. And Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was secretive about his shares, his biographer wrote, in keeping with the idea that "ordinary rules didn't apply to him." (The S.E.C. is also reportedly investigating whether Snap has been completely transparent with investors.)
"It really bothers me when people have no voting," McNamee said. "Does it bother me as much as the stock price? No. Because the stock price stops me from investing way before the no voting."
Like many big tech companies before it, Snap may well fall below its IPO price at some point, McNamee said.
"I don't think it will take all that long to get back down there," McNamee said. "I think cool heads will be more successful. It will be a great trade let's see how long it lasts. ... Eventually people are going to look at the fundamentals. It's going to be very hard for the fundamentals to catch up to the valuation we're talking about today."
Eric Hippeau, on the other hand, thinks Snap will excel. Hippeau is managing partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, which has invested in viral media companies like Thrillist, BuzzFeed, Distractify and NowThis.
"We had a duopoly [in digital ads]: Facebook, Google. I think they're going to continue to do well," Hippeau said. "But now there's a new player on the scene."
With "incredibly cool" and "truly brilliant" management, McNamee said he thinks Snap is a brave and clever company. But he said he separates the performance of the company from the performance of the stock.
"Snap is a network of younger people who are having fun. It's hard to pry those people away from the network," Hippeau said.
Taco Bell may be ditching its Naked Chicken Chalupa, but it's got a few other items poised to take its place.
The innovative fast-food Mexican chain is testing three new menu items across the U.S., hoping at least one of them will tempt your taste buds.
Doritos Quesalupa Crunch: A Doritos Locos Taco wrapped in a cheese-filled Quesalupa shell available in Cincinnati, Ohio, until April 8 for $3.49 to $3.99.
A Doritos Locos Taco wrapped in a cheese-filled Quesalupa shell available in Cincinnati, Ohio, until April 8 for $3.49 to $3.99. Chicken Enchilada Burrito: A burrito filled with rice, sour cream, cheese and two rolled chicken tacos with red enchilada sauce available in Flint, Michigan, until April 8 for $2.99.
A burrito filled with rice, sour cream, cheese and two rolled chicken tacos with red enchilada sauce available in Flint, Michigan, until April 8 for $2.99. Caesar Crunchwrap: A Crunchwrap filled with chicken or steak, Parmesan cheese, romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, corn chips, tomatoes and cheese available in Nashville, Tennessee, until April 8 for $2.99.
Taco Bell is no stranger to limited-time menu items. In 2016 the company launched several short-lived products in an effort to differentiate from its competitors and boost sales.
The Airheads White Mystery Freeze, the Cheddar Habanero Quesarito, the Triple-Double Crunchwrap and Walking Nachos, are just a few of the products that consumers saw last year.
Restaurants have begun to rely heavily on quirky menu items to drive sales and attract new customers. Taco Bell, in particular, has had a rich history of innovation and several of its limited-time promotions have become part of its permanent menu.
The chain's Doritos Locos tacos, introduced in 2012, are an example. The company currently offers three different flavored taco shells, Cool Ranch, Nacho and Fiery.
As for the Naked Chicken Chalupa, despite proving to be a popular item at Taco Bell chains around the country, the company will be pulling it from the menu.
Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch told the AP that the Naked Chicken Chalupa always was planned as a limited-time offer, but exceeded the company's expectations. A date for the end of its run hasn't been announced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Your package of Brawny paper towels is going to look a little bit different this month.
The Georgia-Pacific brand is replacing its burly, flannel-wearing hunk with a woman in a nod to Women's History Month.
"There are women and girls everywhere who exhibit strength and resilience in their lives, and that's the inspiration behind the Brawny #StrengthHasNoGender campaign," Frances Morgan, senior brand manager at Georgia-Pacific, said in a statement.
Although this is the company's second year of this initiative, it's the first time they've replace the iconic Brawny Man with a Brawny Woman.
In addition to the limited-time packaging, the company will be showcasing a series of short films on its website that highlight women in STEM fields science, technology, engineering and math and making a $75,000 donation to Girl's Inc, an advocacy group focused on inspiring young girls to enter these fields.
"STEM is among many areas of society that are underrepresented by females, and we felt this would be a powerful platform to address this issue," Morgan said.
If Sigve Breeke, Telenor Group's President and CEO, could go back in time he would have studied more languages and travelled the world at a young age.
"My strong advice to the 20-somethings of today is try to build a world of experience," Breeke, who runs of one the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies, told CNBC's "Life Hacks Live" series at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
"Don't go into your career too early. Try different things. If you want to be a successful business person of today's global business, you need to know a little bit about a lot of things, rather than going very deep in one topic."
His advice challenges conventional thinking of focussing on one area and building up niche industry experience early in a career.
"I would advise young people to travel abroad, take up a job in a foreign country and try something completely different," he said, citing the fast-changing global state of business and industries.
He advises young people learn Chinese, adding he wished he spoke it himself. "It is not just about the language but about understanding the Asian and Chinese culture," he said.
"But it is hard to learn," he admitted.
Breeke wasn't always in business. He started his career in public service, working his way from local politics to becoming Norway's Deputy Minister of Defence.
He said he pivoted to business with the aim to make the world a better place than he found it. Despite working in the telecom sector for two decades now, his biggest challenge is to stay updated.
"To be a CEO, you need to understand what's out there," he said. "I've been spending a lot of time, meeting customers and startups to understand what's going on both in society but also in business. To stay relevant, that's a challenge."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Getty Images
When former elementary school teacher Tami Zuckerman dreamed up the idea for VarageSale, a Toronto-based site that runs local online garage sales, she had no shortage of funding options. After her husband, Carl Mercier, a developer and serial entrepreneur, helped her build and launch the site, the couple began hunting for capital and raised an undisclosed amount in seed and Series A funding from both Canadian and U.S. backers. Then, in April 2015, they pulled in $20 million in a Series B round in October 2014 from the Silicon Valley firms Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, bringing the total raised from all investors to $34 million.
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"For them it was really about our retention numbers," said Zuckerman. "Fifty percent of our members were coming back to the app six times a day. One of the investors said they hadn't seen that kind of activity since they invested in WhatsApp."
Zuckerman, whose firm has grown to 55 employees since 2012, isn't alone in finding that Canadian start-ups like her own are being taken seriously by investors. Thanks in part to a large-scale government commitment to supporting high-growth job-creating businesses, many homegrown start-ups are attracting financing from both Canadian venture capital firms and U.S. firms, which often invest alongside them. Last year Canada saw four venture capital deals above 100 million Canadian dollars (USD $76.3 million as of Feb. 23), compared to 2015, when there were none, according to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. "Tech is seen as an important sector for the country," says Zuckerman. It's a very visible one, too. "You routinely see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau show up in the same room where all the founders show up," said Ben Baldwin, founder of ScaleDriver, a Toronto management consultancy that advises executives on building innovation, and founder of The Founder City Project, a network of start-up and scale-up founders.
Trudeau's action plan
Statistics tell the story. Venture capital investment in Canadian start-ups hit a 15-year high with $3.7 billion invested in 571 financings last year, according to Thomson Reuters. Growth was driven by large-cap deals with 14 companies raising rounds of $50 million or greater, smashing the record hit in 2000. The sectors attracting the most funding: information technology, life sciences and clean tech. While this is just a fraction of the $58.8 billion U.S. market, it is a trend with an upward trajectory.
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One major driver of funding for innovative companies has been the Canadian government's Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP), which established four private-sector-led funds of funds to back promising businesses. The goal: to help develop a more robust local VC marketplace. Starting in 2014, the Government of Canada began teaming up with provinces to make capital commitments to the funds of $1 for every $2 pledged by private-sector investors, up to a maximum of $50 million each. The Government of Canada put in $340 million, enabling four private-sector funds to raise a collective total of $1.4 billion. So far, $886 million of the money has been committed to 21 new and emerging venture capital funds, and 186 Canadian firms have received funding.
You routinely see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau show up in the same room where all the founders show up. Ben Baldwin founder of The Founder City Project
The first fund, the Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, which reached its maximum fund size of $300 million in 2015, has committed capital to six venture capital fund managers and made direct investments in fast-growing Canadian companies, such as Wattpad, Vision Critical, Silanis, eSentire and FreshBooks. OMERS Ventures, the venture capital arm of Canada's largest pension fund, has also poured money into the start-up ecosystem. It has backed about 30 start-ups in the five years since it launched, says Sid Paquette, a managing director. He believes it is the only direct-investment pension fund in Canada investing in the venture asset class. "It's absolutely not common," he said.
Building a marketplace
Unlike in the United States, public money is the primary driver of the Canadian venture capital market. "Predominantly it is pension plans investing in funds and it is family offices investing in funds," said Paquette.
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With financing abundant, start-ups are aiming higher. "It seems like every week, there is a $25 million or $50 million financing announced in Canada," said Karamdeep Nijjar, a venture capitalist at iNovia Capital in Toronto. "The bar has been raised. I think people are not just interested in being acquired by a bigger player but becoming that bigger player on their own." Section 116 of the Income Tax Act of 2010 has also helped spark investments in start-ups, says Ameet Shah, a partner at Golden Venture Partners, a seed-stage fund in Toronto whose start-up, Five Mobile, was acquired by Zynga in July 2011. The change in tax law liberated foreign backers of Canadian start-ups from filing pages of documents if a company in which they have invested is sold. "It has made it a lot easier for U.S. investors to invest," said Shah.
The talent chase
The latest initiative designed to fuel entrepreneurial companies is the Canadian government's proposed Global Skills Strategy, designed to make it easier to attract "low-risk, high-skill talent." Expected to take effect later this year, it aims to make it possible for companies to get a work permit visa for potential hires within two weeks. "That would really help companies like ours," said Allen Lau, CEO of the fast-growing, Toronto-based storytelling platform WattPad, which has 130 employees. "There's no such thing as too much talent. This will help us to attract talent on a global basis to help us scale the company." Certainly, even with all of the government support, the Canadian venture capital scene has a long way to go before it is as robust as Silicon Valley's. "There aren't that many funds in Canada designed to serve this industry," said Michael Litt, co-founder of Vidyard, a video platform for business in the Kitchener area, near Toronto, that has raised $70 million in three rounds of financing. "However, bringing money across the border and raising money stateside doesn't seem to be an issue." Litt now runs a fund that has invested in 50 start-ups. "The advice I always give these individuals is they should definitely go south of the border," said Litt. Given the favorable exchange rate, notes Zuckerman at VarageSale, "U.S. funding goes a lot further in Canada."
By Elaine Pofeldt, special to CNBC.com
Watch: Trudeau on immigration
A White House internal review of strategy on North Korea features the possibility of both military force as well as regime change in order to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons threat, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing sources familiar with the process.
The strategy review, reported to have begun a fortnight ago, combined with U.S. President Donald Trump's January vow to prevent North Korea from ever testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. The report which could not be verified by CNBC - hints at a possible shift in U.S. foreign policy which could potentially rattle allies of both nations.
Defense ministers from the U.S., South Korea and Japan pledged to strengthen intelligence communications in the aftermath of North Korea's most recent test-fired ballistic missile on February 12. Pyongyang, which had been banned from testing nuclear or missile-related technology by the United Nations, faced international condemnation for its most recent missile test.
The White House was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Thursday.
Read the Wall Street Journal's full article here.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has "total" confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions as the top U.S. law enforcement official faces backlash for his Senate testimony about contacts with a Russian official.
Trump told pool reporters in Virginia that he thought Sessions "probably" testified truthfully about the issue during his confirmation hearing. He added that he does not think the attorney general should recuse himself from any Russia-related investigations, which some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have urged.
Sessions, who advised Trump during his campaign, is under increasing pressure following a Washington Post report that he met twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States before the 2016 presidential election. The report appears to contradict his denial in confirmation testimony to the Senate.
Asked about possible Trump campaign contacts with Russia during his January confirmation hearing, Sessions said he had "been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign." He said he "did not have communications with the Russians" and was unable to comment on alleged contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian officials.
Trump joins House Speaker Paul Ryan and many Republicans in saying Sessions should not distance himself from Russia-linked investigations. Several top Republicans have called for Sessions to recuse himself, while the top Democrats in both the Senate and House urged him to resign.
Sessions oversees the Justice Department and FBI, which have led investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the election and any links between Russia and Trump associates. Sessions told NBC on Thursday that he will recuse himself "whenever it's appropriate," but did not say he will distance himself from Russia-related investigations specifically. Sessions has said his conversations were as part of his duties as a former senator, not as a Trump campaign surrogate.
Trump has also defended former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, whose resignation was sparked by contradictions to top White House officials about his conversations with the same Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.
Ryan noted that the House and Senate intelligence committees are still investigating the extent of Russia's influence in the 2016 presidential election and argued the probes are best served staying within the committees.
He added that lawmakers have seen "no evidence" to determine that associates of the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials.
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Richard Cordray holds a uniquely awkward position in President Donald Trump's Republican-controlled Washington. He leads the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulation bill signed by President Barack Obama. With complaints from corporate America urging them on, the White House and congressional Republicans are exploring ways to fire him or curb his power, if not abolish the office altogether. Courts haven't resolved whether Trump has that legal authority. Meantime, Cordray, 57, continues serving his five-year term, which expires in July 2018, as if the presidential transition never happened. He scours the financial marketplace for misbehavior like that of Wells Fargo , which CFPB fined $100 million for opening unauthorized accounts in what has become the bureau's signature enforcement action. The former Ohio attorney general earlier an undefeated five-time champion on "Jeopardy" is a potential candidate for governor of that state in 2018. In a diner in his hometown of Grove City, Cordray discussed the furor around him and his agency. What follows is a condensed, edited transcript of their conversation.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray. Getty Images
CNBC's John Harwood: Let's play "Jeopardy!" The category is federal regulators, and the clue is biggest target on his back in all of Washington.
Cordray: I don't know how to answer that.
Harwood: Wait, isn't the answer, "Who is Richard Cordray?"
Cordray: It may be. In some ways, it's a mark of respect and appreciation for the fact that we are doing something for people across this country. We're standing up for consumers against large financial companies. That's the job.
Harwood: Do you see what you are doing at CFPB as consistent with the message of Donald Trump and the desires of his voters?
Cordray: I think it's consistent with what most Americans want. What do people do when they're suddenly being harassed by a debt collector, called at all hours of the day and night? Can't get them off their back, can't get them to realize that maybe this debt isn't one that they even owed in the first place. To have somebody who will stand on their side who will try to do something about it. I think people want that.
Harwood: For you personally, is this a job worth fighting for?
Cordray: I think that the independence of a consumer watchdog is very much worth fighting for. It's really important work.
Harwood: What do you expect to happen?
Cordray: Day in day out, I go in and do my job. We have had significant matters in this past year. We had the matter against Wells Fargo where just to remind your viewers well over a million accounts were opened where consumers didn't know anything about it, weren't asked for their consent, often it cost them money. That was a major, major violation, and we took action against that.
I think if you're doing things, people will criticize you. But are you going to stop doing things just because you're criticized? You know, and sometimes that's a badge of honor. Richard Cordray
Harwood: Do you think it's fair to say that, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Washington overreacted?
Cordray: What I would say is that there clearly was not enough done before the crisis. And if you look at the mortgage market, in particular, the lending became completely irresponsible. As long as they could just sell 'em off to Wall Street, it was all OK. That blew up the economy. So, do we want to go back to that? Is that where we want to be? I don't think so. Does the pendulum swing, and swing sometimes too far? Those are things that are legitimate to talk about and people should talk about that.
Harwood: The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial, said your agency is lawless. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who is an independent-minded senator, refers to you as King Richard. People say, "He's a dictator." What do you say?
Cordray: First of all, I think it's completely ill-founded. There's never specifics in those kinds of claims. But what I would say is, accountability is really at the heart of this agency. We're all about holding financial companies, large financial companies, accountable for complying with the law and treating people fairly.
Harwood: Do you not accept that you need to be accountable to someone in government who is elected by people?
Cordray: Sure. We are accountable. I have to be accountable to Congress; I have to testify in front of them four times a year. I'm accountable to the courts; they oversee what we do. And if we get something wrong, we fix it, just like everybody else does.
Harwood: Doesn't accountability mean that somebody in government above you can fire you or change your budget?
Cordray: Well, what they can do is replace you from time to time. That's the way the independent agencies work. Nobody's talking about firing Janet Yellen at the Federal Reserve. Nobody's talking about firing other independent agency heads. That's the principle of our government.
Harwood: Part of choices and freedom is people have different options. And so when you say, "No, Payday Lender, you can't make that kind of loan" is a net result of that, is that there are some people who are not going to get things that they want and could use at that moment?
Cordray: What I would say is what we need to do is do the research, look at the data, and understand how these markets work. And there are products in these markets that are in need of reform.
Harwood: And when people say that's what both individual liberty and free enterprise entails, you say what?
Cordray: Common-sense rules of the road that everybody has to abide by can be helpful in a marketplace. If you're driving down the road, you don't simply say, 'Anybody can go anywhere they want. We can move over to the left side if we feel like it today, and we can we can pass on the berm if we want.'
I have made it clear and I'll make it clear here to you that I'm quite happy to sit down and talk to anybody. Cordray, on a possible meeting with President Trump
Harwood: One of the charges you hear thrown at Trump and his administration from the left is he's an authoritarian. That's exactly what they say about you.
Cordray: Yeah. I think if you're doing things, people will criticize you. But are you going to stop doing things just because you're criticized? You know, and sometimes that's a badge of honor.
Harwood: Do you operate under the notion that the principal impetus for your work is to go after a relatively narrow group of people who abuse consumers? Or do you think that there is a broad propensity for the entire industry to exploit, take advantage, hurt consumers?
Cordray: In virtually every marketplace, there are some players, some participants who are willing to bend the rules and push the envelope to get an advantage, and hope and expect that they won't get caught; and they'll be able to do that. In the debt collection market, for example, there are people who do that. They will harass and abuse and oppress consumers, just to squeeze payments out of them, and hope and expect that if anybody ever tries to hold them accountable, they'll be able to, you know, weasel out of it somehow. I think in other markets there are times where there are market dynamics that make it difficult for people. So, for example, in the lead-up to the crisis, when the mortgage underwriting standards were starting to deteriorate, it became very difficult for community banks and credit unions, in particular, who had standards that they adhered to for years, and suddenly people were coming in asking for loans and they'd say, 'No, we can't make that loan. That won't work.' But they knew they'd go down the street and get it from somebody else. It becomes a very difficult dynamic for them. 'I'm giving up market share, or I have to I have to lower my standards in a kind of race to the bottom.' And that's where regulation can play a part in upholding basic standards.
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Harwood: The reason I ask the question is I do think that some people in business bridle at the idea that Democrats in general, maybe President Obama in particular, people like you, begin with the presumption that people in business have bad motives.
Cordray: I don't begin with the presumption that anybody that I deal with has bad motives political people, business executives, people in the nonprofit sector, other colleagues in government. I assume good motives on the part of people unless proven otherwise. And for the most part, that makes your interactions more productive.
Harwood: Would you like, by the way, to sit down with the president and explain to him your perspective on your agency?
Cordray: I always enjoy sitting down with anybody to talk about our work and try to explain why I think it's so important. And what I hear from people, I hear in this community and across the country as to how this is helping them and how it's giving them a chance to deal with problems that they sometimes fought for months or for years and never could make any headway. So, yeah, I would love to have that opportunity.
Harwood: Have you talked to anyone senior at the White House about talking to the president?
Cordray: I have not had a chance to talk to the president.
Harwood: People like Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, or Steve Bannon?
Cordray: Well, look. I have made it clear and I'll make it clear here to you that I'm quite happy to sit down and talk to anybody. Love to have the chance to talk to him about our work, hear whatever criticisms or other points of view they may have, and try to talk those through. I think we can reach a lot of common ground in terms of protecting consumers.
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Harwood: The president spoke to a lot of people who feel they've been on the wrong side of economic trends and the establishment, the system. Talked about his opponent being too close to Wall Street. And yet he comes into office, he has a director of the National Economic Council who's from Goldman Sachs , and some other people who've worked at these big Wall Street firms. Do you see those two things as necessarily in conflict?
Cordray: I'd rather look at what people actually do. If people are actually going do things that help Main Street then I think that's what we want.
Harwood: What impressions do you draw from what you've seen of this new administration so far?
Cordray: Well, it's only been a month. So, you know, I'd say it's very early. But I think, like I when I first came to Washington and came to work at the Consumer Bureau, Washington's a different place.
I don't think anybody really wants, when they come face-to-face with it, to go back to the days before the financial crisis and the kinds of risks that this economy was running that blew up in our face in the end. Cordray
Harwood: Are you concerned that the work that you've done is going to get wiped out?
Cordray: I don't think anybody really wants, when they come face-to-face with it, to go back to the days before the financial crisis and the kinds of risks that this economy was running that blew up in our face in the end. So, I don't believe that that's likely to occur. But I will say if you care about what you're doing, you care about it. And you worry that later it'll be done differently; you do the best you can and at some point, you know, there's bigger forces in the universe than you and me. That's life.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential campaign season last year that he did not disclose at his confirmation hearing in January. Democrats are demanding that Sessions resign. (AP)
In Obama's final days, some White House officials spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election, and about possible contacts between associates of Donald Trump and Russians, across the government, according to the New York Times.
A White House internal review of strategy on North Korea features the possibility of both military force as well as regime change in order to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons threat, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Darren Woods, the new chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil (XOM), tells CNBC his former boss Rex Tillerson works for the U.S. as secretary of State, not Big Oil. Woods also said the oil giant needs to be nimble in this OPEC-driven oil market.
McDonalds (MCD) plans to make $1.7 billion of capital expenditures this year, as the fast food chain continues some efforts already underway to win customers back and takes some new steps. (CNBC)
American Express (AXP) plans to significantly increase benefits on its Platinum charge card for the second time since October, a move intended to help it better compete with JPMorgan's (JPM) popular Sapphire Reserve card. (WSJ)
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), the world's largest brewer, is considering further cost savings and won't pay bonuses to its top brass following a weaker-than-expected end to the year on a slump in Brazil. (WSJ)
Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer will not get a 2016 cash bonus or a 2017 annual equity award, following an investigation into Yahoo's 2014 security breach. (Recode)
As Uber faces troubles, rival ride-hailing service Lyft has reportedly been quietly pitching investors, looking to raise at least $500 million in a new funding round at a $6 billion to $7 billion valuation. (WSJ)
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is selling the former Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to focus on the Tropicana, another iconic property on the strip that Icahn acquired. (WSJ)
[The stream has ended.]
President Donald Trump plans to highlight his plans for an American military buildup Thursday from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
Trump will speak from the USS Gerald R. Ford, a new ship in Newport News, Virginia.
The president has said he will seek a $54 billion defense spending hike in his first budget. That marks about a 10 percent increase, and Trump wants to offset it with major cuts to the State Department and other federal agencies.
"I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense sequester and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history," Trump said in his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.
Retail industry CEOs who recently met with President Trump spoke in favor of tax reform in general but against the border adjustment feature at the center of the Ryan-Brady tax reform bill developed by in the House of Representatives.
They are missing the forest for the trees by focusing on the narrow impacts of tax changes on their companies rather than the big picture benefits of reform for their customers and the overall economy. Ultimately, a stronger economy with rising incomes and better job creation means more money for families to spend in stores and online. That's what the Brady-Ryan tax plan will meana stronger economyand that's good for retailers, even if they don't see it that way quite yet.
The border adjustment feature in the Brady-Ryan tax proposal sets up a corporate tax system that taxes all sales made within the United States the same regardless of where the company selling something is located or whether the production occurs in the United States or overseas.
The current corporate tax system, in contrast, typically means a lower tax rate for firms that produce overseas and import into the United States. U.S. firms that move production overseas do better than American companies that produce here because they get to put off paying taxes on the profits they make by producing in other countries.
But foreign firms that sell into the U.S. do the best of all, because the U.S. corporate tax rate is higher than other countries' taxes. It is disappointing that companies move jobs and production lines overseas, but the backward incentives in the U.S. tax system make this no surprise.
The Brady-Ryan tax plan will flip the situation. The proposal includes lower tax rates, strengthening U.S. job creation and economic growth, while giving both businesses and American families a simpler tax system. The border adjustment in the proposal addresses the vexing aspects of the U.S. tax code that today lead firms to shift their profits or invert their corporate structure to move their headquarters outside the United States.
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> An overflow audience of more than 200 people Monday attended an information session on fake news.
Rex Smith has been with the Times Union for more than 20 years, the last 15 as its editor. He noted the depths to which the journalism industry has fallen in the publics eye early on when, after introducing himself, he added that his position used to be one of prominence in any community.
As an editor who reads nine newspapers a day, Smith is fully aware that fake news has been around for many years. He held up two front pages from other newspapers where screaming headlines proved his point.
But with the election of president Donald Trump the words, fake news, have been given a new and more prominent platform.
To give voters a better idea of how to recognize fake news and respond to it, the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County asked Smith to speak on the topic.
His presentation Monday at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library drew interested parties from across the Capital Region.
Smith also decided to use part of the platform to discuss the state of journalism in general and his companys efforts to stay relevant.
When people talk about the media what they mean is what theyre seeing on television, Smith said. Increasingly, newspapers are for local news. Whats close to us is the main factor in whats important to us. People tend to trust local news. The economics of our business make it unwise to focus our resources on news you can get elsewhere.
As he wove his way into describing fake news and how it is created, Smith expressed concern that his company sells space on its website for sponsored stories. The sponsored stories, he said, may not adhere 100 percent to the ethics of journalism, which he had just finished discussing moments before.
What concerns me is the stories are under the Times Union banner, he said. The Internet is awash with stories that are almost true.
To demonstrate that point, he explained an almost true story he saw on Facebook regarding the Washington Post being paid $6 million to publish disinformation on President Trump.
The kernel of truth in the story was the connection between Amazons owner Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, which Bezos also owns. If one wanted to squint really hard, one could almost say that any money paid to Amazon is money paid to the Washington Post.
It looks like real news and people believe it, Smith said.
Another example of fake news, Smith said, is the claim that six companies own 90 percent of the media.
Those facts are simply not true, he said. Yet Ive had that figure thrown back at me in a letter to the editor. We live in a hyper-partisan time. There are people who will take issue with anything you publish. There are some people, where when they are presented with data, they will dig in even further and believe their position that much more.
Smith believes that due to the equal divisions among the populace and the equal divisions within the media that represent them, the U.S. may be in the process of becoming more like Great Britain which has had Tory and Labour newspapers for years.
Our challenge is to be as straight and accurate as we can possibly be, he said. Were now in an environment where there are a lot of things being tossed around that are not true. We have to salute reality. We have to respect facts. Our job is to hold the powerful to account. If he is stating things that are untrue we have to point that out, even at the risk of unpopularity, even if the president of the U.S. labels us an enemy of the people.
When he opened the floor to questions there were only a handful. Most questioners simply wanted to know more on how to filter out fake news from real news or TV reporters from TV personalities. Smith suggested they move from cable TV to broadcast TV.
There wont be as much news there, but their standards are tighter, he said. When you have all those hours to fill like cable TV has youre going to start getting analysts and commentators rather than straight news reporting. Print investigation is a different skill. TV is show business.
When a questioner asked Smith the central question of the night, what is it that can tip a reader off to fake news, he was quick to answer.
You have to source-out the stories youre reading, he said. It takes extra effort by news consumers. Pay attention where youre getting the information from. Look at the sources track record. You may want to go to the legacy media sites, the mainstream media. I believe we are the people you can trust.
The LWV video of the discussion can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/Gw_82v2kloo
OWEGO, N.Y. Nearly 90 employers will participate as Tioga County holds its annual job fair next Wednesday, March 8 in Owego.
The event is scheduled between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Owego Treadway Conference Center on Route 17C in Owego, Tioga County said in a news release issued Tuesday.
The 86 participating employers will have open jobs that they are hoping to fill, Tioga County said.
Employment opportunities will include positions that range from entry level to professional and cover a broad spectrum of occupations.
Organizers will provide job seekers with a packet at the job-fair registration desk. Itll include a list of employers, table number, and jobs available with that employer.
Any job seekers who want more information on the jobs available, or who would like to pre-register for the job fair, can visit their local workforce office.
The Tioga Employment Center is located at 1062 Route 38 in Owego. The centers staff is available by phone at (607) 687-8483.
A list of employers is available on the Tioga County website under the Tioga Employment Center (tiogacountyny.com).
Job seekers can also access the New York State Department of Labor website at newyork.us.jobs to view current open positions. They can also visit individual employer websites to view their job postings, organizers say.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Cornell University and Clarkson University will use grant funding to support projects they say will generate nearly 40 manufacturing jobs.
Cornell secured three grants for separate projects, while Clarkson will use one grant award, FuzeHub said in a news release issued Wednesday.
FuzeHub, an Albanybased nonprofit organization, helps small to medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York State by matching them with technical and business resources.
It awarded a grant of nearly $59,000 to the Cornell Center for Materials Research, an award of $75,000 to the Cornell Nanoscale Science & Technology facility, a grant of nearly $75,000 to Cornell University, and an award of $75,000 to Clarkson University.
The grants will help the schools work with manufacturing partners to create up to 10 jobs at each firm.
FuzeHub awarded the funding from the Jeff Lawrence Manufacturing Innovation Fund.
Lawrence, who died in 2015, was a top executive at the Albanybased Center for Economic Growth, the manufacturing extension partnership (MEP) center for the Capital Region, and a supporter of New York manufacturing and entrepreneurial communities.
The manufacturing-innovation fund, which was established with $1 million annually for five years, supports activities designed to spur technology development and commercialization across New York state.
FuzeHub is administering the fund as part of its role as the Empire State Development (ESD)-designated statewide MEP center.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Thursday 2
When We Rise: The People Behind the Story (KOAT-7 7pm) ABC takes a look at some of the real-life personalities behind its four-night LGBT history miniseries. Gay rights activists Cleve Jones, Roma Guy, Ken Jones, Diane Jones and Cecilia Chung talk about their part in the movement.
Friday 3
Cesar Millans Dog Nation (Nat Geo Wild 7pm) Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan continues to milk the whole dog thing, traveling the nation with his son visiting with nonprofit, dog-based organizations and meeting with various dog lovers.
Saturday 4
Custody (Lifetime 6pm) Viola Davis, Hayden Panettiere, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ellen Burstyn and Dan Fogler star in this family court drama that was clearly not made for Lifetime.
Belladonna of Sadness (TCM 12:15am) Kudos to TCM for digging up this edgy and obscure Japanese animated film from 1973. The psychedelic (and more often than not, static) imagery relates the story of a peasant woman who is banished from her village and makes a deal with the devil to gain witchy powers. A handful of retrograde sexual ideas aside, the film tries hard to drive home a feminist message. Despite the fact that director Eiichi Yamamoto is most famous for his work on the seminal cartoon Astroboy, this erotic anime borders on the X-rated.
Sunday 5
The 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards (TBS/TNT/truTV 6pm) Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Beyonce, Bruno Mars and all the other radio-friendly usual suspects are here
Making History (KASA-2 7:30pm) Adam Pally (The Mindy Project) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) star in this goofy comedy about a nerdy college professor who builds a time machine and starts mucking around with history all Bill & Ted/Hot Tub Time Machine-style.
Time After Time (KOAT-7 8pm) The 1979 film almost everyone has forgotten gets a weekly reboot. In case you forgot, its about H.G. Wells (sexy Freddie Stroma) traveling through time to fight Jack the Ripper (the also-sexy Josh Bowman).
Feud: Bette and Joan (FX 11pm) Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as aging Hollywood icons Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, shown famously clashed with one another while shooting 1962s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) produces this 8-episode series.
Monday 6
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Cartoon Network 6:30pm) This non-3D computer animated prequel to the popular movie series finds would-be serious scientist Flint Lockwood struggling through his awkward high school years.
Tuesday 7
Shes in Charge (TLC 8:02pm) School guidance counselor Veronica Pooh Nash-Poleate helps her fans with their problems. If youve never heard of her, dont worry, shes internet famous. Her basic message? Eat meat, stay out of the ocean, radiate love.
People Icons (KOAT-7 9pm) Because the world needs more celebrity gossip, People launches this network news show, starting with tonights topic: Celebrity love stories. Weve got Beyonce and Jay-Z, Prince William and Kate, the Obamas and more. Please, People, tell me more about William and Kate!
Wednesday 8
Survivor (KRQE-13 7pm) Get ready for the 34th season of CBS hit reality show competition. Thats a mere 14 more than M*A*S*H* and Seinfeld combined.
The holidays are creeping up on us
State Says No to New Constitutional Convention
As right-wing special interests get closer to forcing the convening of a new constitutional convention, legislators in Idaho decided Wednesday to protect voters constitutional rights and reject the dangerous idea.
In a 24-11 bipartisan vote, the Idaho Senate voted down a proposed call for an Article V convention to enact a balanced budget amendment. The action capped a three hour floor debate in which members of both parties warned about the dangers of a runaway convention and the lack of rules to govern a new convention. Common Cause previously organized members in Idaho to contact legislators and oppose calls for a new constitutional convention.
As laid out last May in Common Causes Dangerous Path report, a convention must be convened if 34 states pass resolutions demanding it. There are no rules that govern how a convention would proceed however, and no way to limit its scope. Our civil liberties, constitutional rights, and recent Supreme Court decisions could be on the chopping block, jeopardizing the right to vote, marriage equality, free speech, healthcare access, and immigration.
Earlier this week, the Wyoming legislature passed a call for an Article V convention. Special interest and corporate lobbying groups, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) now claim to have 29 live applications for a convention, just five states short of reaching their 34-state goal.
The Supreme Court today, in Bethune-Hill v Virginia State Board of Elections, remanded the case back to the federal district court to determine whether legislators, in drawing lines for 11 districts shortly after the 2010 Census, used race as a factor to dilute the voting power of Black voters in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
Racial gerrymandering deprives voters of their voices in elections, said Kathay Feng, CA Common Cause executive director and redistricting director. Like partisan gerrymandering, these schemes benefit some voters over others, resulting in the manipulation of elections. Such practices fundamentally harm our democracy. We applaud this decision and anticipate that the federal court will evaluate these districts with the holistic approach required and strike down these racially-gerrymandered lines.
The plaintiffs, Virginia citizens, argue that legislators had improperly used race as a factor in redistricting 12 districts. While the Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of that argument, its majority held that the lower court had failed to give sufficient weight to relevant evidence that could have demonstrated improper racial motivation. Writing for the majority today, Justice Kennedy said the lower court should have analyzed conditions district by district as part of a holistic analysis to determine the legislators predominant motive.
In the ruling Justice Kennedy cited precedent, noting that [t]he harms that flow from racial sorting including being personally subjected to a racial classification as well as being represented by a legislator who believes his primary obligation is to represent only the members of a particular racial group.
Court observers are reading Justice Kennedys opinion for potential willingness by the Court to reevaluate the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering cases as well, an issue that was left open in Veith. The Court has the opportunity to issue a definitive opinion on the matter in Whitford v. Gill.
Common Cause, along with New Virginia Majority, filed an amicus brief before the Eastern District of Virginia in 2015. Among other things, the brief included analysis by SUNY Binghamton academics, including from elections expert Prof. Michael D. McDonald, that graded potential alternative plans. Some alternative plans could have been put into place that would have ensured protection of plaintiffs and others so situated equal protection rights under the Constitution.
To read todays Supreme Courts opinion, click here.
Common Cause has also filed a complaint against North Carolina state legislators for unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering in Common Cause v. Rucho. To read more, click here.
Common Cause has also filed briefs in multiple courts in Shapiro v. McManus, a challenge to Marylands partisan gerrymander. To read more, click here.
A lucky few developers will be able to get their hands on a low-cost Windows virtual reality headset starting this month. Microsoft announced Wednesday that the Acer Mixed Reality Developer Edition headset will start rolling out to a handpicked batch of software makers starting the end of March, with more coming later.
This marks the first release of a Windows Mixed Reality headset, which Microsoft first previewed last year. The headsets are supposed to stand out from the crowd because of a lower price and their support for "inside-out" tracking that uses sensors on the device to determine a user's position, rather than relying on external trackers to gather that information. That's why Microsoft is calling them mixed reality headsets.
The headset will give software makers a way to test applications they're building before the expected consumer release of the hardware during the winter holiday season this year.
Launching the developer program is part of Microsofts overall push to get developers to build apps for Windows Mixed Reality devices, including the Acer headset, plus other devices from ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and 3Glasses. Those headsets are running the same Mixed Reality shell that powers the Microsoft HoloLens, but they differ in approach.
The HoloLens has a transparent visor that's designed to overlay digital objects on the physical world. The Acer headset and others like it are supposed to take information about the physical world and bring it into virtual reality.
The announcement also marks Microsofts official rebranding of the Windows Holographic shell to Windows Mixed Reality, a nod to its utility beyond the HoloLens. The goal behind the system, which will be coming to every PC with the Windows 10 Creators Update, is to provide a consistent substrate for building apps that run in 3D virtual spaces, whether they're displayed by headsets with transparent or with opaque visors.
Microsoft will also be providing guidance on how to build apps for the new opaque headsets from scratch, as well as how to port apps from the HoloLens or from other virtual reality platforms.
Game developers interested in getting their hands on the hardware can sign up for the ID@Xbox program. Its unclear if the tech giant is prioritizing certain countries with this initial rollout, or if the headset will be globally available to qualified teams. The company also wouldnt provide pricing information on the developer hardware.
Theres more coming in the future for Windows Mixed Reality. Microsoft said it plans to bring similar experiences to the Xbox One family of devices in 2018 but declined to offer specifics about what that entails.
This year's Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona offered all the delights I've come to expect the gracious hosts, waiters, cops, beautiful venues and a great subway system.
But something about the MWC exhibits and the international workers manning those booths this year was a little different, almost odd, when compared with my previous six visits. That oddness probably had a good bit to do with international politics and the young presidency of Donald Trump, which will inevitably affect the tech and wireless industries, if not every other business sector and worker.
"What's the world of Trump like?" a woman asked me at a booth of telecom companies from Greece. "We know he hates us all, not just the Greeks."
[ See Computerworlds roundup of Mobile World Congress. ]
"I don't want to talk about Trump," a visitor from China told me sternly on my morning walk into a hilly park called Montjuic. I hadn't even mentioned Trump, but the man from China knew I was American.
Almost every vendor I met on the show floor seemed to either avoid the Trump ascendency entirely or was deeply curious to know the pulse of America. I tried to stay busy and on schedule, so I shrugged off the Trump queries and got back to the business at hand: When will smart city tech catch on broadly? Why did Samsung wait to release its Galaxy S8 smartphone? How has Huawei of China grown to become the third-largest smartphone maker in the world in a few short years? Will 5G wireless be widely deployed in the U.S. by 2020?
Kevin Burden, an analyst at 451 Research and longtime friend, made an insightful comment near the end of the conference. He said 2016 wasn't a great year for many telecomm companies, so many of their booths featured exhibits on emerging technologies in an attempt to find new lines of business. Visitors saw smart city tech at Verizon and AT&T, for example, and even augmented reality and virtual reality displays, he said.
Both wireless carriers also showed how they are now content providers, as well. AOL news anchor Katie Couric talked on a large screen in a Verizon theater. Executives from both carriers boasted about their road to 5G, with its greater bandwidth. (I was assured it will be rolled out by 2020, but how widespread is another question.) As wireless competition in the U.S. has grown, wireless service revenues are not growing as fast as in years past, putting a premium on all manner of new technologies for growth.
The story of Huawei's rise to global prominence was put dramatically on display when hundreds of journalists cursed and pushed at the start of the weeklong trade show to get inside a venue to see the company's new, higher-priced P10 smartphone. Burden noted that Huawei got its start by selling low-cost phones, a strategy that seems to have been picked up by both Lenovo with its Moto phones and HMD with its Nokia phones.
But Huawei will be challenged in the U.S., Burden noted, partly because of the difficulties of taking on successful companies like Samsung and Apple that are willing to take on newcomers with lawsuits over patent infringement and other tactics.
Some of the most promising technologies I saw at MWC came from city government IT officials who have developed smart city concepts and pilots. The chief technology officer of Barcelona mentioned the city has a portal to allow citizens to report government corruption. The deputy CIO of Moscow said the city has a pilot project underway to use artificial intelligence to detect lung cancer with 97% accuracy through computer analysis of CT scans.
Some future technology envisioned by cities will eliminate jobs, some of the city officials admitted. It was reassuring to hear Barcelona CTO Francesca Bria speak of her city's desire to include computer-based initiatives to help retrain the work force in coming years.
What is most gratifying about attending a show like MWC is how it demonstrates that technology can provide answers for many looming global concerns, including sufficient energy, water and food supplies. A great example of tech's promise came from an interview with Thomas Engel, manager of John Deere's enterprise innovation strategy.
Deere's electric tractor
Deere demonstrated an electric tractor prototype at an agriculture trade show in Paris the same week as MWC in Barcelona. Engel also described how Deere has been making tractors and harvesters that operate with automatic guidance systems for more than a decade. Deere's GPS and sensor-based technology is designed to make sowing and reaping of crops more efficient, partly by making each pass of a tractor more precise.
Over a large field on enormous farms in eastern Europe, Engel said, a tractor might travel 30 minutes in one direction before turning around to make another pass. On such a large field, inches can make a difference in crop yield. Deere is trying to eliminate errors that could become bigger when multiplied by many farms over many years, Engel said.
Farmers are still riding in the cabs of large tractors and combines, even though they aren't really needed for the guidance, he said. "An autonomous tractor with no driver and no cab is technically feasible," he said, but there's not been a strong case made that doing so would create significant savings.
Deere is also aware of other advancements in technology, including robots to cultivate vegetable fields, Engel said. In some parts of the world, robots could be needed because field laborers are in short supply, he said.
Infrared sensors are also being used to detect protein levels in harvested grain to derive a more accurate count of a crop's nutritional value.
All of Deere's tech ideas stem from a set of forecasts about global population growth that will require food production to double by 2050, Engel said.
"It's important to increase yields through precise farming," he said. "Technology is a key to get there. It's a race."
That sounded optimistic in an unsettled world.
BARCELONA -- Venerable smartphone brands Motorola, Nokia and BlackBerry got new life at Mobile World Congress 2017, but that was primarily due to the influence of Chinese and Finnish manufacturers that have licensed the names.
One new Android smartphone, the BlackBerry KEYone, was launched by TCL Communication, based in Huizhou, China. The phone has both a touchscreen and a physical keyboard, with 52 keys that can be used as shortcuts to find apps and functions. It goes on sale in April for $549.
HMD Global of Espoo, Finland, launched three budget Android phones under the Nokia brand the Nokia 3, 5 and 6, starting at $147 with screens ranging from 5 inches to 5.5 inches in size. A 2000 classic handset was revised the Nokia 3310 but with a slimmer size and a color screen.
[ See Computerworlds roundup of Mobile World Congress. ]
Chinese vendor Lenovo announced the Moto G5 and G5 Plus with prices starting at $178. Only the G5 Plus will be sold in the U.S. It will be available on Motorolas website for $229 for the 16GB version.
The business model for the Lenovo- and HMD-throwback branded phones seems to be to gain market share with low-cost devices, much as Huawei of Shenzhen, China, has done for years, said Kevin Burden, an analyst at 451 Research. Huawei pursued a model of introducing low cost phones for years, and has now grown to become the third-largest phone maker in the world. In the U.S. however, the company is in 10th place, according to market research firm IDC.
In addition to its low-cost approach, Huawei in January announced the Mate 9 smartphone at a pricey $600; and at MWC launched the P10 and P10 Plus featuring Leica camera optics. The P10 starts at 650 ($687) with 64GB of storage. Neither will be sold in the U.S., but could be purchased unlocked. They have radio bands that work with some U.S. carriers.
[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ]
Burden said it will be difficult for Huawei to be a challenger to Apple and Samsung in the U.S. smartphone market any time soon. However, he said Huawei could reach the top market share globally in a few years, given its aggressive marketing, design and manufacturing approach.
It was 20 years ago this month that consumer electronics companies Sony and Toshiba launched a new home video format called Digital Video Disc, or DVD. The format promised a four-fold increase in resolution over VHS and the permanence of music CDs, in that the video would not degrade as you played it.
The DVD had a lot of promise. It would be a new optical format for PCs, since the CD-ROM format had reached its capacity rather quickly, and it would also be used as a new format for music, called DVD-Audio. But the launch in the U.S. on March 19 was centered around home video.
It's hard to overstate how different and primitive things were back then. We all had CRT televisions that used a 4:3 aspect ratio and watched movies using the TV's built-in speakers. DVD used a format called Dolby Digital 5.1, a 6-speaker surround methodology that virtually no one knew anything about, and none of the stereo receivers had it built-in.
DVD rolled out in seven cities around the U.S. before its national launch. Los Angeles was one of them, and it was my home, so I decided to become an early adopter for once because the format had so much promise. This meant a $600 investment in a Dolby Digital amp that connected to my receiver, $800 for a shiny new JVC DVD player, and a few hundred to increase my speaker count.
The choice of movies, though, stunk. Fox, Paramount, Disney and Universal did not support the format at launch, so many movies were unavailable and would not be for years. The studios feared theft of the content and people stealing perfect copies of their work. Bootleg VHS was one thing, since they degraded, but a DVD copy would never degrade, and they were rightfully concerned after the events of 1999 (more on that later).
Then came a second threat to DVD: retailer Circuit City took the format and created a bastard child called Divx. Divx was different in that you had to connect a phone line to the player and basically get approval to watch it. You could buy the movie for $4.50 and watch it once, then pay $3.25 to watch it again, or pay $12.49 for unlimited viewing.
It rubbed everyone the wrong way. This was Circuit City and the studios trying to control our viewing habits and get more money out of us for each viewing. The reaction among internet fans of DVD was incredible, with sites like The Digital Bits leading an unrelenting anti-Divx charge. I had a front row seat for it all as a reporter for TechWeb at the time and yeah, I was a little biased.
Divx came out in 1998 and crashed and burned spectacularly. In the process, I think it also took down Circuit City. At the time of DVD's launch, Best Buy was a modest chain, but it threw its support behind DVD fully. On every DVD board I read, people swore they would never set foot in Circuit City again for the Divx effort. They all supported Best Buy and gave it their business. The result is Best Buy is a retail giant while Circuit City is dead. No doubt there were many more variables, but CC's ill-fated Divx project had at least something to do with its fall.
In 1999, the holdouts were starting to come on board. Stephen Spielberg was among the last to do so, not even allowing movies he executive produced to be released on DVD, until that year.
And then it happened. A kid in Norway named Jon Johansen produced a small utility called DeCSS, which copied the video file off a DVD, removed the encryption, and wrote the video back out without the encryption. Thus perfect copies were made, realizing the fear of every studio.
At the time, I had a friend who worked in the MPAA's anti-piracy division who sent me a link to DeCSS and asked me to see if it worked. It did. One day later I was doing a demo for the CTO of the MPAA along with other folks, and there were some unhappy faces in that room. I was later told that they were on the phone to legendary MPAA chief Jack Valenti before I even got out of the parking garage.
I tracked down Jon on IRC and spoke with him at length. He told me that a PC DVD player made by a company called Xing failed to encrypt their deprotection key, so he was able to make DeCSS from that. He agreed to be interviewed and didn't mind me using his name. He was 15 and lived in Norway. "What are they going to do to me?" he joked. Oh, just spend the next several years trying to destroy your young life.
My stories ran on Wired News and drew 400,000 views. In 1999, that was a lot. I was interviewed by CBS Radio and NPR. And man did all hell break loose. For me it was a technology story but it fast became a legal one, so I stepped back and let Wired News's resident legal writer, Declan McCullagh, handle it. I had hoped that since DVD was still in its early days they could do some kind of firmware upgrade to fix the security and render DeCSS useless, but they never did, and now DVD ISOs clog BitTorrent.
DVD would survive studio boycotts, Divx and DeCSS to thrive. By 2003, sales surpassed VHS. It created a collector culture that didn't exist in VHS, since the discs didn't degrade in quality. Also, with DVD extras, studios started adding director's cuts, deleted scenes, behind the scenes interviews, and other interesting qualities. People built libraries in the hundreds and even thousands.
In 2006 came another problem: a format split. DVD's resolution is 720x480, while high definition TV is 1920x1080. That's actually six times the resolution. HDTV was coming into play and suddenly DVDs looked like VHS by comparison.
Two competing factions came out with HD-versions of DVD. Sony had Blu-ray, a completely new design with higher capacity, while Toshiba led the way with HD DVD, a derivative of DVD with a lower capacity. After a two year fight (2006-2008), Blu-ray gained momentum and Toshiba threw in the towel. It was in some ways a Pyrrhic victory. Blu-ray won the physical media war only to have its lunch eaten by on-demand and streaming.
And so here we are 20 years later. Video stores have all but vanished from the retail landscape. Sony is no longer an electronics company beyond the PlayStation, and Toshiba is in such dire financial straits it may not survive. DVD-Audio never went anywhere despite being a massive improvement over Compact Disc audio. Circuit City and Blockbuster are dead. DVD as a format is fading and the studios have all sharply reduced their home video efforts.
Gone are those spectacular special edition DVDs like the four-disc special editions New Line Home Video issued for "The Lord of the Rings" movies or the amazing nine-disc "Alien Quadrilogy." Studios just stopped caring.
I had held out hope that the rise of 4K resolution would spark a revival of the DVD format because as it is, HD video streaming is compromised compared to a Blu-ray DVD. Netflix and the cable companies have to compress the daylights out of the video to send it down the old copper wires that make up so much of our infrastructure. As it is, feasible 4K streaming is years off. But it seems people just don't want to go out and get a disc only to return it a few days later.
DVD is even dying on the PC. More and more PCs come without an optical drive now, and I'm even seeing some towers for system builders that have no 5.25" drive bays.
But you know, we have a history of discarding technologies and then realizing what we've lost. Print books are coming back into favor, as is vinyl for music. Maybe DVD will get a boost from 4K.
One thing's for sure, no one could have predicted what the first 20 years of DVD would be like, so don't even try to guess then next 20.
Daniel Hannan is an MEP for South-East England, and a journalist, author and broadcaster. His most recent book is What Next: How to Get the Best from Brexit.
Later this morning, MEPs will vote to strip Marine Le Pen of her immunity, allowing her to be prosecuted in France. Her offence is, to British eyes, a strange one. In an ill-tempered Twitter exchange, a French journalist likened her party to the Islamic State. She responded by tweeting an image of IS atrocities, with the words Daech cest ca! (This is Daesh!)
Now she finds herself being prosecuted under a French law that prohibits the circulation of violent images. Its hard to avoid the suspicion that, had a mainstream socialist tweeted the same image, no one would have batted an eyelid.
It is almost certain that the European Parliament will vote to see her in court. MEPs have immunity from prosecution in their home countries, though it can be lifted by a majority vote. In theory, their colleagues should vote to uphold immunity when the accusation is political, but not when it involves, say, a driving offence. In practice, as everyone well understands, a completely different test is applied. If the accused MEP is a goody-goody federalist, immunity is automatically upheld; if he or she is a Eurosceptic, it is always withdrawn.
When, for example, a senior Christian Democrat, a fanatical Euro-integrationist, was wanted by the German tax authorities for failing to declare his income, the Parliament rallied round. When, on the other hand, UKIPers or French souverainistes say the wrong thing, even if they say it in the chamber, the law is allowed to take its course.
This, though, isnt a column about Le Pen, whose baleful blend of socialism and anti-immigrant anger is already making France an uglier place. Its a column about incongruities between the British and European political traditions.
That a British politician could be prosecuted for tweeting a gruesome image is almost unthinkable. At least as unthinkable as, say, a British burqa ban, or a British law against Holocaust denial. Dont get me wrong: plenty of European countries have laws of this sort while remaining robust democracies. Its just that such prohibitions are outside our political norms. The relationship between state and citizen evolved differently here.
I am reminded of the incongruities almost every day in Brussels. The European Parliament has, for example, just adopted a rule that allows its President to suspend the broadcasting of a session if any MEP engages in what he considers to be defamatory, racist or xenophobic language. That offending MEP can be sanctioned in various ways, including a fine of up to 9,000. What constitutes xenophobic language? Good question. A previous parliamentary report defined opposition to the euro as monetary xenophobia. Could an MEP who used vivid language to tear into the euro be fined? Who is to say?
It all seems bizarre to a Brit. The right to say what you please in Parliament is integral to our system. The Bill of Rights affirms that the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.
To repeat, Im not trying to suggest that the EU is groaning under some kind of tyranny. Plainly, a democratic and open society can exist with restrictions of this sort. Its simply that, again and again, we are reminded of the fundamental incompatibility between the two systems. One is evolved, organic, haphazard and open; the other rational, planned, regulated and dirigiste. One is based on the common law a dispersed system which grows like a coral, each judgment serving as a starting-point for the next case; the other on the Bonapartist model, where laws are written down in the abstract and then applied to specific cases. One assumes residual liberty; the other assumes licensing.
Obviously, things arent always clear-cut. Ireland uses the common law and Scotland doesnt. Some EU states are more liberal than others. The British system has had its Continental mimics from Voltaire onwards; and the Continental system its British advocates.
It is fair to say, though, that a difference in outlook has prejudiced Britains relationship with Brussels from the start. Without that difference, Brexit would not have happened.
This is worth repeating because, even now, some Remainers insist on interpreting the vote as a rejection of free trade, or of globalisation, or of cordial links with our neighbours. It was nothing of the kind. Theresa May is right to keep saying that we intend to act as the EUs closest friend. But we shall do so as an independent country, living under its own laws. Our relationship will be based on alliance, not absorption.
What a relief. I used to get agitated whenever there were votes of this sort in Parliament. As long as we were EU members, I felt that we were somehow implicated. But, soon, itll be none of our business any more. The EU will be free to evolve in whatever direction it pleases with our goodwill and support. I cant tell you what a sense of peace that brings.
James Frayne is Director of communications agency Public First and author of Meet the People, a guide to moving public opinion. The focus of this column is Theresa Mays conservatism for ordinary working people.
Donald Trump is aggressively warring with the American media, while Theresa May is sidelining the media here. Trump behaves like the media must be destroyed; May behaves like it must be put in its place. Their approaches are different but both reject the rules the media demands they play by. How will they fare?
Unlike May, Trump communicates constantly. While he holds occasional broadcast interviews and press conferences, he prefers to communicate directly with the public through Twitter. This is to get his message out directly to the public and because he wishes to undermine trust in the mainstream media who he blames for dishonesty and who some supporters blame for many of the cultural problems they believe America faces.
It seems unlikely in the extreme hell be successful. Trumps operation looks to be an incompetent shambles and the hard-edged cultural policies he favours are surely destined to fail. The mainstream media will heap blame on him and his administration and its unlikely voters will collectively decide Trumps opponents and the negative media were to blame. It would be stretching credibility to suggest Trumps policies would garner substantial sympathy from the media if he were more approachable to them. But its reasonable to assume he might get a more positive hearing were he to play their game.
Theresa May sees the media differently. She doesnt seek either to go over its head or to destroy it. She seeks to focus on the job of Government and wants journalists and commentators to simply report the news as its made. Shes made it extremely clear she wont provide endless news stories, pictures or commentary to journalists.
With Labour in disarray and the Conservatives united, normal political rules dont apply. She doesnt need positive coverage to maintain competitive advantage over Labour. Where things will get complicated for May is when the Brexit process runs into difficulties, which it surely must when companies actually leave Britain and the economy shows signs of wobbling. Even Brexit-supporting media outlets will report such stories prominently.
At that point, May will need the media to present her as a competent leader with a vision for Britains future and a plan to get us there. While her brand is built on competence, she is untested as a leader, having been leader of the Conservative Party for as long as shes been Prime Minister. As we saw with Gordon Brown, a reputation for competence can soon become a reputation for flat footed plodding. She needs to fill in the gaps that exist in her image.
Theres a reason successful politicians appear to be media obsessed: successfully portraying a positive image is a crucial aspect of actually leading and governing. A reputation for honesty, competence and intelligence makes it more likely that announcements will be taken at face value and every mistake viewed within proper context. It doesnt mean politicians will get away with everything all the time but it makes everything easier.
Trump will need to call off the war with the media at some point at least for a time and May will need to engage more actively than shes previously done. Its comforting for leaders to imagine that they can either have a direct line to voters or that they can let their actions speak for themselves but its a fallacy. You have to learn to love the media in the end.
CORNWALL, Ontario Cornwalls Summer Beer Fest just made a big announcement about the festivals entertainment. With tickets set to go on sale Mar. 8, Seaway Food Festival recently revealed that Multi-Platinum Canadian hip-hop artist, Classified would be taking the stage at Lamoureux Park this spring.
Were excited, but we know that for the past three years weve been building a successful event people want to be part of, said Sebastien Manigat, Director of the Seaway Festival. Weve been keeping this under wraps for two weeks, and were eager to see how many people we can bring to the park.
Manigat, a self-proclaimed Classified fan, feels the Nova Scotia natives wide-ranging appeal will bring more people out to the event. We really struck a chord with Classified, said Manigat. Personally, I think hes fantastic and will help draw a younger crowd.
Following the success of his 2016 album, Greatful, which featured the likes of DJ Premier, Snoop Dogg, and Saukrates, Classified will be hitting the stage along with his six-piece band. Continuing to generate buzz on a national and international scale, his token style and sound are a well-blended cross between hip-hop and rock. He will close out a full day of music, craft beer and fine food tasting.
While Manigat and his team are still working on rounding out the lineup, he says that there are a few more surprises around the corner.
The concert is sort of a thank you for spending day with us, said Manigat. In extending this thanks, Seaway Food Festival will also be working with Limelight Music Academy to put together a local lineup.
If people liked what we did at Beer Fest in the past, theyre going to love what weve got planned this year, said Manigat. Tickets for the June 24 event will be available for purchase on Wednesday, Mar. 8 starting at 1 p.m.
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Researchers have found the reason why the number of marriages is declining and divorce cases are rising in South Africa. Reports of commercialization of the custom in the country make it difficult for people to marry.
Professor Dori Posel and Dr. Stephanie Rudwick of the University of KwaZulu-Natal have discovered that the cost of lobola is a significant factor behind the declining number of marriages in South Africa. Lobola is referred to as bride wealth. It is in a form of cash or in kind the husband to be or his family will give to the family of the bride. Some people in the region do not consider people married unless they had gone through the practice of lobola.
Rudwick said that poor families are struggling to pay for the customary ritual contributing to the declining number of marriages. Most young men find it difficult to come up with the amount asked by the bride's family, according to Rudwick.
Data from Stats South Africa found that from 2013 to 2014, there was a decline of 12.5 percent in customary marriages. However, during the past decade, there was a massive decline.
The average cost of wedding in South Africa in 2016 was $5,400 to $6,100 for 80 to 100 people according to Great Occasions wedding planner. However, prices could easily shoot up to $15,300.
While marriages are declining in South Africa, divorce rates are steadily climbing up. Stats SA showed that there are 23,885 divorces in 2013. By 2014, it had climb up to 24,689. It is alarming that 75.6 percent of the marriages solemnized by the Department of Home Affairs end up in divorce.
The most common age of divorce in South Africa is 42 years old for men, and 38 years old for women. Most divorces takes place after five to nine years in marriage. Most divorce cases are initiated by women with 51.7 percent than by men with only 34.4 percent.
See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Letters Trump and EPA Dear Alibi, Trump and Republican leaders are unapologetically focused on removing all regulations and laws that were established to safeguard the American people from industries who pollute our environment. Scott Pruitt's selection to head the EPA is proof of their intent. They call it business-friendly. Have people forgotten the reasons why these regulations were put in place? Industry leaders are focused on profits. Historically they have shirked responsibility for burning rivers, smog, high cancer rates, lead and mercury poisoning, extreme weather events and extinctions. The 99 percent of Americans will pay with their health and tax dollars.
Support Early Childhood Services Dear Alibi, The New Mexico Early Childhood Development Partnership strongly supports the establishment of an Early Childhood Services/Education Department. Two bills proposing the creation of such a department have been introduced this session. We commend Senator Morales and Senator Padilla for their leadership on this issue. These bills are not proposing that we expand government. Rather, they aim to increase coordination and effectiveness by bringing together the myriad of early childhood programs and services currently managed by a number of state agencies. Establishing an early childhood services/education department will elevate the prominence of early childhood. New Mexicans have a long history of support for children and families. We know that 85 percent of a childs brain develops before the age of 5. We are fortunate in that our Legislature and the Executive support funding early learning opportunities. Lets take this important step to ensure that all children in our state receive a great start.
On Overpopulation Dear Alibi, I write this letter sincerely believing that it will not be published: 40 years of writing on this very subject have fallen on deaf ears, but I write. I must because, honestly, I don't know what else to do. People throughout the world, I fear, have now been pushed beyond that eleventh hour. The recent US election, merely exemplifies how far from a reasonable center human society has strayed. But I could have predicted this when I was 13 years old. The #1 threat to human survival, as I see it, is human overpopulation. From food scarcity and water rationing to war, plague dwindling resources, environmental degradation, extinction of plant and animal life, climate change, civil unrest, economic and political instability, mass migrations of refugees, threats to national securitythe list goes on. I can't think of a one that hasn't been strained almost to the breaking for the competing demands of nearly 8 billion people on planet Earth. There is a logical solution to the problems we face, but very few seem to want to hear it. It is the sacred cow that must never be offended. Instead of suffering the horrible worldwide holocaust lying in wait, we could, instead, opt to bring fewer of us into the world. What I see is a disturbing mix of tribalism, antiquated cultural traditions that no longer serve us and serious religious overtones; whatever it is, the planet can no longer support our lifestyle choices, nor over a hundred years of hiding our heads in the sand. My parents had six children. I am #5 of 6 I wish they'd stopped at three.
Thank You for Helping Me Resist! Dear Alibi, Thank you for your Issue 5 Fight! article by Carolyn Carlson. Ive already taken some of her suggestions and contacted my representatives. Please keep up the good work of getting the word out about how we can resist!
Cloud News
AWS Apologizes For Cloud Outage, Blames Typo
Joseph Tsidulko
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Amazon Web Services Thursday said an employee trying to debug its billing system entered a command incorrectly, causing the four-hour outage that disrupted service to Amazon S3 clients around the world earlier this week.
In a postmortem detailing the events that led to Tuesday's high-profile disruption, AWS apologized for the impact on customers and outlined the changes it is making to prevent the problem from occurring again.
The crash started with a bad command entered during a debugging process on its S3 billing system at 9:37 am PT in the provider's Virginia data center that serves the eastern region of the United States.
[Related: Partners: AWS Outage Puts Spotlight Onn Private Cloud Advantages]
An employee, using "an established playbook," intended to pull down a small number of servers that hosted subsystems for the billing process. Instead, the accidental command resulted in a far broader swath of servers being taken offline, including one subsystem necessary to serve specific requests for data storage functions, and another allocating new storage, AWS said in the postmortem.
"Removing a significant portion of the capacity caused each of these systems to require a full restart. While these subsystems were being restarted, S3 was unable to service requests," the postmortem said.
The restart process then took longer than expected, largely due to the cloud's growth in recent years, AWS said.
"While this is an operation that we have relied on to maintain our systems since the launch of S3, we have not completely restarted the index subsystem or the placement subsystem in our larger regions for many years. S3 has experienced massive growth over the last several years and the process of restarting these services and running the necessary safety checks to validate the integrity of the metadata took longer than expected," AWS said.
Even after restarts are completed, problems typically persist a while longer due to backlogs created from the downtime, said Mat Elis, CEO of Cloudability, a cloud management software vendor.
Think of the analogy of a series of phone lines, Elis said.
"Normally the phone lines receive five calls a minute. The phone system went down, and callers get an engaged tone, so they start calling back. After one minute there are 10 callers, after five minutes 25 callers, all trying to call the five lines."
That kind of scenario, with robots instead of human callers, is what happened at AWS. After the reset, automated systems across Amazon's massive customer base tried to resume stalled processes, such as uploading or downloading files to and from S3, all at once. It takes time for a provider to catch up with backlog and resume normal operations.
Amazon has already modified the tool used to pull down the intended servers, which allowed "too much capacity to be removed too quickly," the statement said.
The tool has been updated to remove servers slower and add safeguards that prevent removing servers in situations where it will bring the system below a minimum level of capacity.
"We are making several changes as a result of this operational event," said AWS.
Tuesday's outage took down many popular websites and enterprise services like Slack and Trello that rely on the public cloud giant. That not only embarrassed the cloud leader, but delivered a marketing windfall to rivals.
"This is going to force a Google conversation. They just handed Google thousands of customers," Jamie Shepard, senior vice president at Google partner Lumenate, told CRN earlier this week.
Storage News
Veeam Intros First Native Snapshot For Cisco HyperFlex
Joseph F. Kovar
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Veeam is working with Cisco Systems to provide what it calls the first native snapshot capability for Cisco's HyperFlex hyper-converged infrastructure offering.
Veeam, which develops data protection technology for physical, virtualized, and cloud environments, next month plans to release an update to its data protection software that provides direct native snapshots of data on HyperFlex appliances, said Andy Vandeveld, vice president of global alliances for the Baar, Switzerland-based company
"With the integrated solution, there's no need to back up and then do snapshots from vSphere," Vandeveld told CRN. "We can do snaps direct, outside the production virtual machines. It's a more elegant solution to get the snapshots from storage and not from the hypervisor."
[Related: 23 Powerful Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Products]
The new solution is targeted at Veeam partners who also work with Cisco UCS and Cisco HyperFlex, Vandeveld said. He was unable to specify how many of Veeam's 35,000 worldwide channel partners also worked with Cisco, but said they number in the thousands.
The new Veeam offering, while designed in conjunction with Cisco's developers, is designed as a meet-in-the-channel solution, which means channel partners do the actual integration of the two companies' products, Vandeveld said.
The Veeam solution for Cisco HyperFlex is important as a new way to bring data from an increasingly common platform into service providers, said Matt Chesterton, CEO of OffsiteDataSync, a Rochester, N.Y.-based service provider with a focus on data protection and Infrastructure-as-a-Service.
The HyperFlex business is growing quickly, Chesterton told CRN. "According to our Salesforce data, we run into HyperFlex quite a bit."
OffsiteDataSync offers off-site data protection from data centers throughout the U.S. and in three other countries in Europe and Asia, and uses Cisco UCS as its back-end technology, Chesterton said.
That Cisco infrastructure makes it important to be able to connect to customers' Cisco solutions including HyperFlex to ensure customer operations and data protection, said Jim Klossner, OffsiteDataSync's chief technology officer.
"Having a single Cisco management solution to scale the infrastructure is important," Klossner told CRN.
Veeam has done a good job of integrating its snapshot technology with other vendors like Nimble Storage as well, which is important, Chesterton said. "Snaps on virtual machines are a deal-breaker in some cases," he said. "Especially in the enterprise where virtual machines can't always be snapshotted."
Smartphone Innovation
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium may just be the iPhone 7 Plus alternative some have been searching for. In connection with Mobile World Congress 2017, Sony unveiled one of the most innovative phones at the show. But how does the large-screen smartphone match up to its closest counterpart in the Apple universe, the iPhone 7 Plus?
In the following slides, the CRN Test Center compares the Xperia XZ Premium to the iPhone 7 Plus on specs, features and price.
In 2015, two cybersecurity breaches at the Office of Personnel Management prompted the federal government to take steps to ensure that personal information will not be compromised in the future.
Most of that work, however, was basically closing the barn door after the horse had run off. The General Services Administration (GSA) moved quickly to award government-wide Federal Supply Schedule Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) for identity monitoring, and data breach response and protection services. According to the GSA, the BPAs have an estimated value of $500 million.
So we are spending $500 million to deal with the aftermath of the breaches (and possible future breaches), but somehow we never have enough money to prevent these breaches from the start. It begs the question of where that money was before the problem?
Well, of course, thats a line item that is difficult to get through the federal budgeting process. In these austere days, Congress isnt likely to provide mission to the moon funding to pre-empt possible problems.
And yet possible problems, as we have already seen, are increasingly likely as we rely more on IT infrastructures that may not be up to the challenge of increased use. The hard truth is that many IT systems in both the public and private sector were designed in the storybook days before cybersecurity became an issue. Federal programs that depend on IT infrastructure also tend to have complex supply chains, which can make systems vulnerable to things like clandestine listening, pattern analysis and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Down the road, better coordination between technology vendors and buyers before the acquisition process will be able to stem some of the cyber tide (more on that later). Thats great for future purchases, but what do we do in the meantime with what we have now?
Defense in depth a moat to defend the castle
The right approach to security in IT infrastructure begins by accepting that stopping every cyber attack is an impossible strategy. Similarly, static security certifications and set-and-forget IT systems are a thing of the past; we need to vigilantly rethink access controls and vulnerabilities patching.
While technology vendors continue working on making their products and components less susceptible to attack, a practical approach to security now means looking at defense in depth solutions.
Defense in depth looks to manage risk with a broad range of defensive strategies. That way, if one layer of defense fails, bad agents still need to get through another layer and another. This strategy is already used in some private sector networks. Financial services firms, for example, typically have numerous security measures in place. Bad actors have to get past barricades and cross the moat before they can get into the castle.
By making it harder for adversaries to access your system, these bad actors may choose easier targets. Without a defense in depth strategy, it is easy to be overwhelmed by even unsophisticated tactics like DDoS attacks.
The need for better procurement processes
Ultimately, however, security for the federal government (and private sector enterprises) is going to need help from industry. Technology companies are going to need to treat security as a fundamental feature in their products from day one. That means putting security up front in product development, with a sound plan and security features designed into products from the start.
At the same time, the purchasing authorities need to bring their security needs front and center. Some necessary steps:
Build IT security into your contracts, and develop standards for what secure computing must look like. Your Chief Information Security Officer needs to be actively involved in this process, and your contractors must be responsible for maintaining whichever system you settle on.
Stop trying to reinvent the wheel, and start seriously leveraging existing industry standards. Similarly, make sure that the certifications and standards industry is already using are adequate to the level the government needs.
Get out of hardware procurements, and start buying infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Be clear on what your particular industry needs (and keep in mind that federal cloud offerings are months behind the commercial cloud in terms of offerings).
This last point is important to elaborate. Does your preferred provider offer orchestration tools for deleting and building apps? You want apps to be able to easily scale up or down; this elasticity ensures the long-term viability of your network.
Likewise, make sure that your provider offers Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools for life-cycle management. You need to be able to extend on-premise IAM tools to the off-premise cloud data center environment.
As weve seen, stopping attacks and unauthorized access of network platforms demands a coordinated enterprise approach to mission assurance and cyber defense. A strong defense alone will not mitigate risk.
In future columns well take a closer look at other ways to improve cyber security including the role your workforce plays in limiting your susceptibility to hacking.
No demands, you can add your comments over on Facebook if you want.
Everyone makes mistakes. But working at Amazon Web Services means an incorrectly entered input can lead to a massive outage that cripples popular websites and services. That's apparently what happened earlier this week, when the AWS Simple Storage Service (S3) in the provider's Northern Virginia region experienced an 11-hour system failure.
Other Amazon services in the US-EAST-1 region that rely on S3, like Elastic Block Store, Lambda, and the new instance launch for the Elastic Compute Cloud infrastructure-as-a-service offering were all impacted by the outage.
AWS apologized for the incident in a postmortem released Thursday. The outage affected the likes of Netflix, Reddit, Adobe, and Imgur. More than half of the top 100 online retail sites experienced slower load times during the outage, website monitoring service Apica said.
Heres what set off the outage, and what Amazon plans to do:
According to Amazon, an authorized S3 employee executed a command that was supposed to "remove a small number of servers for one of the S3 subsystems that is used by the S3 billing process," in response to the service's billing process working more slowly than anticipated. One of the parameters for the command was entered incorrectly and took down a large number of servers that support a pair of critical S3 subsystems.
The Index subsystem manages the metadata and location information of all S3 objects in the region, while the placement subsystem manages allocation of new storage and requires the index subsystem to be functioning properly to correctly operate. While those subsystems are built to be fault tolerant, the number of servers shut down required both to be fully restarted.
As it turns out, Amazon hasn't fully restarted those systems in its larger regions for several years, and S3 has experienced massive growth in the intervening time. Rebooting those subsystems took longer than expected, which added to the length of the outage.
In response to this incident, AWS is making several changes to its internal tools and processes. The tool that was responsible for causing the outage has been modified to take down servers more slowly and to block operations that will take capacity below safety check levels. AWS is also evaluating its other tools to make sure they have similar safety systems in place.
AWS engineers are also going to start refactoring the S3 index subsystem to help speed up reboots and reduce the blast radius of future problems.
The cloud provider has also changed its Service Health Dashboard administration console to run across multiple regions. AWS employees were unable to update the dashboard during the outage because the console relied on S3 from the affected region.
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Growing up on the citys East Side, Frank Borres worked in journalism before establishing a marketing and multimedia communications company, American View Productions, in 1984. He now lives on the West Side with his wife, Sali.
The longtime community activist has served on a number of community boards and commissions over the years, including his present role as president of the West Side/West End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone for the past 11 years and president of the Citywide Leadership NRZ for eight years.
Borres, 60, is also now head of the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce. He recently told Hearst Connecticut Media how he began his career and activism, what his goals are in his new role and what his hopes are for Bridgeports future.
Q: Youve been active in city issues for years. When did that activism start?
A: In some ways it started when I became a broadcast reporter out of college in 1979, first in radio then for News 12. Working in Bridgeport, I was motivated to cover stories that cast light onto issues that Connecticut and Bridgeport residents needed to be exposed to.
Q: What have your goals been in leading the West Side/West End NRZ? Have you been able to achieve any of your goals?
A: My goals are to develop more community participation, but that has been challenging. I believe the corridors of Fairfield Avenue, State Street, Park Avenue and Clinton Avenue must be enhanced. As they go, so does the neighborhood and local commerce. The Klein must be supported, we need a new Bassick High School, the old factory buildings in the West End must be renovated to complement the community, remaining industry must be supported, the Hubbell property must be developed, and the old library building and park at State Street and Fairfield Avenue rejuvenated.
Q: What are your goals as the new head of the chamber?
A: I and my fellow chamber members want to advocate more publicly for the business community. We need to help the city in its efforts to attract commerce. We need to earn the respect of our fellow entrepreneurs so that they may join in our fight.
Q: Do you see Mayor Ganim having a good vision for the city?
A: Mayor Ganim deserves credit for understanding that first we must have a city that is attractive to residents and visitors. He wants to rid the city of blight and litter and I agree with that wholeheartedly. The fact that he negotiates with unions to cut the taxpayers costs is also very important. ... What I would like to see is a clear articulated direction and branding for the city that Bridgeporters can get behind and investors and developers can sink their teeth into.
Q: Where do you hope to see Bridgeport in five years?
A: I believe we are at a crossroads it could go either way. The federal and state governments must develop an urban agenda incentivizing private investments in former industrial cities as well as entitlement reform encouraging parents who want to stay together and work out of poverty. Bridgeport must show investors that it will do the heavy lifting to lower taxes. ... I imagine a city where children are the priority, families are staying together, real estate investments are being made, property values increase, and businesses relocate jobs to Bridgeport. If we can dream it, we can make it so.
BRIDGEPORT - Oscar Zyggy Hernandez will remain in a Pennsylvania prison for possibly another week as officials there try to get a Spanish interpreter for him.
Officials in the Centre County Courthouse said Friday they will not be able to get an interpreter for Hernandez, who is wanted here for the murder of his girlfriend, 26-year-old Nidia Yubi Gonzalez, until next week.
We are really just a small town and usually dont have need of Spanish interpreters, said a court officer who did not want her name used.
Hernandez has yet to appear in court to decide whether to waive extradition to Connecticut or oppose it.
Hernandez is waiting to be served with a warrant from Bridgeport police charging him with murder, attempted murder and first-degree assault. He is also facing charges in Pennsylvania in connection with a pursuit on Interstate 99 there with his young daughter in the car that ended in a crash.
Police said Hernandez, who had previously been deported after being convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend in Stamford, in a jealous rage stabbed to death and critically wounded her female friend in their Greenwood Street basement apartment early Friday morning.
Hernandez then fled in a rental car with their 6-year-old daughter, Aylin, sparking a multi-state Amber Alert.
In the early morning of Feb. 24, police officers Phillip Norris and Jarah Mathews-Dixon were flagged down on Greenwood Street here by Jose Martinez, the owner of a yellow, single-story house there.
Police said Martinez was very upset and told the officers they needed to go to the rear of his house where there was an entrance to a basement apartment. The officers found Gonzalez lying face down on the floor just inside the entry way, unresponsive and suffering from multiple stab wounds.
Told a child lived there, police said the officers searched the apartment, and while they didnt find a child, they found a second woman lying on the floor under a round kitchen table, suffering from multiple injuries. She was taken to St. Vincents Medical Center.
Police said Martinez told them he heard the second woman screaming for help and ran out to the basement apartment where he found both victims.
NEWTOWN - The 10 families whose lawsuit against the worlds largest dealer of AR-15 rifles was dismissed last year say their case should be reinstated, arguing that the Sandy Hook massacre was no accident.
The notion that what happened at Sandy Hook on December 14, 2012, was unimaginable is a lie, argues the families lawyer, Josh Koskoff, in 50-page brief submitted to state Supreme Court this week. Sandy Hook was simply gratuitous, senseless proof of what was already known: preparation is no match for an AR-15.
The families argument that Remington is liable for the massacre of 26 first-graders and educators by an AR-15-wielding 20-year-old named Adam Lanza was thrown out of Superior Court in October. The judge ruled that Remington is protected by federal law against claims when people misuse firearms.
The families are sticking to their argument that Remington was liable, saying the company ssly marketed the semi-automatic rifle to civilians.
Remington has until May 1 to respond to the brief. A court date to hear both sides of the appeal has not been set.
The families argue that the Remington rifle used by Lanza was developed as a weapon of war so powerful, so accurate and so destructive to the human body, it vanquished the need for skilled hands or forgiving terrain.
Over the last several decades, scores of Americans - not soldiers but civilians - have witnessed firsthand the effects of that mechanical prowess - not on battlefields, but in malls, movie theaters, places of worship and schools, Koskoff writes in the families brief. (Remington) did not question the wisdom of selling the militarys superlative combat weapon to civilians.
Remington lead attorney Jonathan Whitcomb of Stamford could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
From the beginning, Remingtons attorneys have argued that the company manufactured a legal gun that was lawfully sold to Nancy Lanza, Adam Lanzas mother.
On the day of the massacre, the socially isolated 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, took the AR-15 from an unlocked closet and shot his way into Sandy Hook School, committing the worst crime in Connecticut history.
The families argue that Remington is liable because it negligently marketed the AR15 to Lanzas generation.
Where others feared the catastrophic risk posed by these weapons, Remington saw a different problem: insufficient civilian demand for the AR-15, Koskoff writes in the families brief. Its solution was to develop a new market among a younger demographic of users and to do so by employing a targeted marketing campaign linking the AR-15 to macho vigilantism and military style insurrection.
The families case was considered a longshot from the start. But as the case progressed through Superior Court to the point where a trial date was set in 2018, observers began to view it as a potential landmark case.
The lawsuit became an issue in the Democratic presidential primary between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who disagreed about a 2005 federal law that shields the gun industry from most claims when firearms are used in crimes.
Sanders supported the law, Clinton voted against it.
But the debate was beside the point: The law allows claims against the industry if people can prove a company negligently entrusted a firearm to the public.
The families appeal seeks to reverse the Superior Court decision and return the lawsuit to pre-trial preparations.
[The] ten families whose lives were shattered on December 14, 2012, do not seek to hold defendants liable for simply selling a weapon used by a young school shooter, the brief reads. [T]hey seek to hold defendants liable for their own specific wrongdoing.
rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
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WESTPORT Detectives are investigating the possible cause of an accident Saturday night that sent a car plunging into the chilly Saugatuck River, leaving one passenger dead.
Police are considering the dark and rainy conditions and that the husband and wife in the car were from out of state and possibly lost, among possible contributing factors, Westport Police Lt. David Farrell said Wednesday morning. The department believes no foul play was involved, and the man, Richard Lamendola, died from drowning, the State Chief Medical Examiners Office said Monday.
The woman was rescued quickly through a joint firefighter, police and EMS effort after diners at the Whelk Restaurant on Riverside Avenue heard screams for help from the river. She told rescuers her male companion was still in the water. Lamendola, 76, of Syosset, N.Y., and his wife were in a car that plummeted into the river from a State Boat Launch off of Elaine Road in Westport around 7 p.m. on Feb. 25.
I couldnt be happier with the efforts of Fire, EMS and Police, Police Chief Foti Koskinas said Wednesday morning. We believe it happened during the downpour when very heavy rain was coming in, and its too early to determine what the exact circumstances were.
Detectives are also examining the cars GPS history, following up with the woman and processing evidence, Farrell added. Koskinas said the department still has a number of interviews to conduct.
We want to learn if there was a way that it could have been prevented and to give the family some closure of why things happened the way they did, Koskinas said.
After diners at the Whelk heard screams for help coming from the water and called police, who then contacted the fire department and joint dive team, rescue efforts began around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25. Fire Chief Robert Yost praised the quick thinking of the diners and rescue workers.
Yost on Tuesday called the womans rescue a joint effort and operation overseen by a unified police and fire command, along with EMS aid. Farrell said he was truly proud of the police, firefighters and EMS who responded Saturday.
Two emergency responders first to the scene boarded a civilian boat with keys on board and pulled the woman from the water. A firefighter acted heroically, Farrell said, swimming out in the cold water to get to the woman shortly before the boat could, an effort he believes may have saved her life.
She alerted the responders a man in the car with her was also in the cold river. A police officer spotted the man from the Bridge Street bridge, according to Yost. EMS gave the man, Lamendola, CPR and he was taken to Norwalk Hospital.
In the case of incidents involving a boat launch, like Saturday nights tragedy, the states Department of Energy and Environmental Protection evaluates what happened to determine whether any factors contributed to an accident and discern if any safety changes need to be made, according to Connecticut DEEP Communications Director Dennis Schain.
He added on Tuesday that Westport Polices final accident report will help the department with evaluating the State Boat Launch following Saturdays incident.
Chris Marquette contributed reporting.
Gentlemen
Everybody was a gentleman.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, after meetings last weekend in Washington with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, both of whom he has roundly criticized.
The shame
One of the shames of Connecticut is that we tolerate the most economically and racially segregated schools in the nation, and we need the data to fix that.
We must rethink the U.S. response to infectious disease. Here's why.
Butler County Landfill officials were pleased with an early February court ruling that appears to put the landfills expansion on more solid ground.
They would be even more pleased, as would their employees and BCLs vendors, if they knew the Butler County Board of Supervisors was not going to appeal District Judge Mary Gilbrides ruling in the landfills favor.
Gilbride ruled on Feb. 7 that the County Board "should have approved" BCL's application to expand by 110 acres to the south of its existing permit. The expansion would add 30 years to the landfill's life.
On Feb. 21, the County Board met in executive session for a half hour on the topic. No action was taken after the session was over. The County Board meets on Monday.
BCL and its attorneys contend that the issue all along is the construction of a five-mile concrete road, essentially a heavy-duty highway, to carry traffic from Nebraska 92 on the south and State Spur 12B on the north. The road is County Road R, known as Landfill Road. Its a road avoided by most traffic except for the more than 100 semis a day that carry waste from 20 counties to the landfill.
The road, said Waste Connections District Manager Kelly Danielson, has been the main issue all along. The landfill has beefed up the road with grading and the hardest, most durable rock materials to hold up to the truck traffic. Chemicals have been applied to help control dust.
The dust is a major complaint, along with wear and tear caused by the truck traffic.
Part of the landfills pitch to expand the landfill included BCL covering the $5 million price tag for the road.
The paving is not going to happen until we get local siting approval, said Steve Mossman, the Lincoln attorney who represented Waste Connections in the landfills successful appeal.
Danielson acknowledged that the landfills neighbors have been unhappy with the road conditions and the dust.
It would be unfortunate for the landfills neighbors if the county delayed the paving, Danielson said.
Aside from County Road R, BCL also has offered to create a new road surface on County Road Q through Octavia. Trucks traveling that road from the north kick up a lot of dust that adversely affects the village.
NDEQ approval
BCL still needs to get approval for its expansion plans from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. That appears likely, said Mossman, who has handled the permitting process for others, including Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs.
Mossman said the NDEQ approval is more of just an engineering issue. It is not based on public opinion. Theres more certainty.
However, once the County Board essentially accepts Gilbrides ruling, BCL will begin the engineering of the road. The county would be in charge of approving road design and will own the roadway.
Danielson said that with construction coming for the Downtown Improvement Project in David City, there could be potential for cost savings by teaming up with local contractors and suppliers of materials such as concrete.
An appeal, however, would slow the process and lead to more costs for taxpayers footing the legal bills. Mossman said Gilbrides 22-page ruling speaks strongly in favor of BCLs case.
What they would be doing by appealing is delaying the inevitable, Mossman said.
The county has already spent nearly $90,000 in legal fees to counter BCLs appeal.
It seems like the phrase, Throwing good money after bad, Mossman said.
Danielson said that the ruling was a relief for BCLs employees, and moving ahead on expansion would be even more reassuring. The end of the legal battle also would help calm the nerves of BCLs vendors.
We have 16 families that have livelihoods depending on the landfill, Danielson said. Theyve been stressed and worried about the future of their jobs.
COLUMBUS The rusty, worn-out benches in Frankfort Square are being replaced with an opportunity to memorialize loved ones in the downtown park.
Columbus City Council members voted last week to purchase 24 benches from Florida-based The Park Catalog at a total cost of $15,313, or $638 apiece including shipping.
The black, metal benches will replace the two dozen Behlen-built models that were added at Frankfort Square more than 30 years ago as part of an Eagle Scout project.
Public Property Director Doug Moore said the current benches have been damaged over time by the weather and skateboarders and bikers who use the seats as grind rails.
The new benches, which Moore described as pretty plain-Jane, have a design that makes them more difficult to turn into an impromptu skate park.
They will also feature nameplates that allow the benches to be dedicated through donations.
Moore said three of the benches have already been sold to donors, leaving 21 of them up for grabs at a cost of $750 each, which covers the purchase price and plaque.
The benches have already been ordered, but need to be manufactured and shipped to Columbus. Moore said he hopes to have them installed this summer, with nameplate information added as donations come in.
The public property director said the city is contacted regularly by people looking for potential memorials, but options are limited beyond trees or high-dollar pieces since there are only so many benches and picnic tables in Columbus.
Most of our trails have enough benches on them, said Moore, who can be contacted at 402-562-4240 for information on a bench memorial.
COLUMBUS A 54-year-old Columbus man convicted of a third sexual assault involving children will serve time in prison.
Platte County District Court Judge Robert Steinke sentenced William McGuire to 16 to 20 years in prison for his conviction of attempted first-degree sexual assault in connection with a Sept. 24 incident involving two young girls, ages 4 and 2, at the city mans Fourth Street home.
The charge is a Class IIA felony, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. The judge gave McGuire credit for 127 days already served in the county jail.
Steinke imposed the sentence after listening to the defendant offer an apology to the victims and their family members in the courtroom.
Im sorry for all the pain Ive caused everybody, McGuire told the judge and court spectators.
Steinke thought the apology rang hollow considering McGuires history of sexually assaulting children over the last three decades.
Youve taken no responsibility for your sex offenses, said Steinke, pointing to the presentence investigation of McGuires prior convictions.
The report also noted the results of the Vermont scale of sex offender risk, which rated the defendant a high risk to reoffend.
Steinke said McGuires third offense came only two years after he was released on parole in Texas for an aggravated sexual assault of a young boy in 1998. McGuire served 16 years of a 22-year sentence in a Texas prison cell.
The defendant was also convicted of attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child in Kearney County in 1987.
Family members of the defendant exchanged a few angry words with supporters of the victims as they left the courtroom.
Court documents in the local case describe a Columbus Police investigation that began with a report of a sexual assault at McGuires home while he babysat the young girls.
The report led to a forensic interview conducted at the Northeast Child Advocacy Center in Norfolk in which the 4-year-old girl described the assault and identified McGuire as the offender, according to Investigator Jaymee Levanders probable cause arrest statement.
During a subsequent interview of McGuire, the defendant admitted that on a number of occasions he had children at his residence to be babysat, which was a violation of his parole restrictions, the investigator wrote in her statement.
In an act of betrayal and dishonesty, the House of Cronies, Dodgy Donors and Has-Beens voted last night by 358 to 256 to amend the Brexit Bill, insisting talks cannot begin without guarantees to EU citizens now living in Britain.
If made law, the Lords amendment will seriously undermine the Governments bargaining hand and betray the 1.2million Britons on the continent who have yet to be offered any such guarantees.
As their Lordships are well aware, Theresa May is pushing hard for a deal that upholds the rights of all expats British and continental.
The House of Lords, pictured, voted last night 358 to 256 to amend the Brexit bill
Indeed, if she had her way, we would have an agreement already. Its the bloody-minded Brussels bureaucracy, not her, which is bargaining with family lives and happiness.
So if this insidious amendment is allowed to stand, it risks leaving our own people high and dry.
But last nights vote was also dishonest, since its chief purpose was clearly not to put EU expats minds at rest, as the ermined Remoaners claimed.
No, this was a naked bid to sabotage Brexit by creating difficulties for Mrs May in triggering formal negotiations.
MPs must reject the amendment and send it back to the Lords. If the unelected Upper House persists in seeking to frustrate the peoples will, it will surely be signing its own death warrant.
Milking the prudent
One by one, the chickens let loose by George Osborne during his six years at the Treasury are coming home to roost.
By imposing swingeing taxes on second homes, he wrecked the buy-to-let market. His two-year delay in revaluing business rates greatly increased the shock for struggling firms.
Meanwhile, his hefty increases in stamp duty have all but frozen sales of the most expensive homes, with the perverse effect of reducing Treasury revenues.
But of all the former chancellors legacies, none has been more damaging than his punitive tax raid on insurance premiums, which has hit all responsible owners of houses, cars, pets and buildings.
Lord Chancellor Liz Truss, pictured, looks increasingly out of her political depth
And the pain is to get worse. First, Mr Osbornes successor Philip Hammond signalled last autumn that the premium tax is to rise again in June for the third time in two years to a crippling 12 per cent, hoovering up 18billion of our cash over the next three years.
And now Justice Secretary Liz Truss, who looks increasingly out of her political depth, has rubber-stamped massive increases in compensation to accident victims, which will drive up car insurance premiums by hundreds of pounds.
Didnt the Tories come to power on a pledge to stand by those who do the right thing? So why are they disincentivising people from doing the right thing by taking out insurance?
The pinkest of Tories
Writing a piece for the Guardian (naturally), David Cameron reveals he is to head a commission for the London School of Economics on how best to distribute foreign aid to fragile states!
This paper has long questioned the ex-prime ministers Tory credentials. By choosing Britains most Left-wing paper to announce his job promoting this Left-wing cause for Britains most Left-wing university, he confirms all our doubts.
Put to one side that the elderly, sick and dying in our country have been shamefully starved of resources.
As the Mail has long argued, defence is the first duty of any Government. Yet under Mr Cameron, the armed forces budget was cut and cut again.
What use can any country be to the worlds poor, if it allows itself to be crushed by its enemies?
As the number of Sharia courts operating behind closed doors - and beyond the reach of British law - continues to grow apace, a new documentary has exposed what really happens during the shadowy proceedings.
There are believed to be 85 Sharia courts in the UK, and last night Channel 4's Extremely British Muslims aired footage captured inside Birmingham's Central Mosque as a council dispensed its strict religious form of justice.
Viewers witnessed the struggle of mother-of-four Fatima, 33, as she sought permission to divorce the drug dealer husband she says has emotionally abused her throughout their 14 year marriage.
The Islamic court, which seeks to provide Muslims with resolutions to financial, familial and marital disputes according to the principles of their faith, granted Fatima's request.
But that she was forced to plead her case at all is in stark contrast to the divorce process for Muslim men, who need only tell their spouse 'I divorce you' three times in order to free themselves of a marriage.
Fatima visits the Sharia Court to obtain a divorce from her husband of 14 years who has been in prison for the past two years
Dr Amra Bone is the only female judge to sit in the Sharia Court in the UK, she helps to deal with requests relating to the break down of marriages
Inside the Sharia Court that specialises solely in divorce for Muslims along with two other judges
Under Islamic law, marriage is a legal bond and social contract between a man and a woman, but the marriages are not binding under UK law.
On Extremely British Muslims, Fatima had to explain exactly why she no longer wants to be with her other half to the three judges, one of whom was the only female Sharia Court judge in the country, Dr Amra Bone.
Fatima wished to be granted a divorce, and claimed she has been a victim of emotional abuse.
'I've been on my own with the children, [with] no support from him and there was emotional abuse,' she said.
She refused to take him back even after Dr Bone said that her husband was willing to change.
The documentary, filmed over a year, heads into Birmingham Central Mosque (pictured) and gives an eye-opening insight into the lives of modern British Muslims
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: THE RISE OF SHARIA JUSTICE IN BRITAIN The Islamic Sharia Council (a registered charity) was founded by the late Shaykh Sayyid Matawalli ad-Darsh in 1982. A 2015 Daily Mail investigation revealed that 85 Islamic courts - most attached to mosques - were dispensing 'justice' across the UK at the time. It told how the fate of vulnerable Muslim women was placed in the hands of elderly clerics, who were heard to lay out medieval-sounding rulings to those seeking an escape route from an ill-fated marriage. It cited the Dutch Academic Machteld Zee's Choosing Sharia, which describes a senior cleric claiming it was wrong to prosecute men who rape their wives, and another who, upon learning of the plight of a woman who had not seen her errant husband in four years, refuses her divorce application and lectures her instead on the 'scientific reasons' for polygamy. Zee, an atheist, argued that there is enormous cultural pressure on Muslim women to settle family disputes via Islamic rather than normal courts. Under Islamic law a man need only say 'I divorce you' three times to his wife to end his marriage - but a woman needs the approval of a cleric, and the process incurs a fee. The Islamic Sharia Council vigorously disputed much of what was reported in Zee's findings at the time. It came after hard-line Islamists declared their intention to implement a 'Sharia law zone' in the London suburb of Waltham Forest in 2011. The ISC deals largely with marriage and divorce, but occasionally looks at financial and family disputes in search of resolutions that conform to religious principles. They operate outside of UK law, but lay down judgements which can be given full legal status if approved in national law courts. Hearings are usually held behind closed doors. Best-selling author Martin Sixsmith described in a Daily Mail article last month how he was told of one case in which the Sharia court decided a man had the right to exact the death penalty on his neighbour's children after they objected to the idea of marrying his own children. Sharia law, derived from the religious rules of Islam, relates to all aspects of a Muslim's life, from dress, to marriage, to diet and hygiene.
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In the first episode of the Channel 4 documentary series it looks at how relationships and marriage work for Muslims
'There's no love or trust and I fear him. I am 100 percent [convinced], there is no looking back' she explained.
ISLAMIC DIVORCE An Islamic marriage contract or nikah is not valid in UK law, so some couples choose to also have a civil ceremony or marry in a registered mosque. If they have done so, and later decide to divorce, it must be done through the UK courts. However, if the couple only has a nikah, the husband can divorce his wife by pronouncing 'talaq' three times or on three separate occasions, depending on the branch of Islam. A wife, however, can't unilaterally divorce her husband and has to approach a Sharia council and pay a fee. Advertisement
While she waited for an answer she explained that after a couple of months of marriage her husband 'started to show his true colours' and things soon spiralled 'out of control'.
Fatima had gone against her parents' wishes when she first married him and admitted she regrets rushing into the marriage.
The presiding judge Dr Amra Bone informed Fatima that her marriage has been dissolved and reflected on Fatima's case.
'This is a marriage of choice [as opposed to an arranged marriage]. The wife is discovering afterwards, he has been on drugs.
'We think it's very important for the family to play a role in finding out what the boy is like before anything happens, and in cases where they've already fallen in love it is in fact too late.'
Sabrina and Bella are two of the women who will feature in the groundbreaking show
Extremely British Muslims airs Thursday on Channel 4 at 10pm
Australian journalist Sarah Wilson has opened up on the shocking toll her crippling anxiety has taken on her, revealing she has self harmed and once tried to jump out of a moving car to 'stop her thoughts'.
The 42-year-old television presenter and blogger is well known internationally for her book and program I Quit Sugar, spoke candidly to Marie Claire about her lifelong battle with anxiety.
'I ran a knife across my middle once, hoping the graphic splitting of flesh would render things more real and stop the thoughts,' she said of one overwhelming occasion. 'Its all I want the thoughts to stop.'
The wellness ambassador said that has 'anxiety spirals' where she feels she needs to escape
Sarah Wilson (pictured) is well known internationally for her book and program I Quit Sugar
The wellness ambassador has spoken about suffering from bulimia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar, and now believes all those issues stem from her anxiety.
She told the magazine about some of her most difficult moments dealing with the condition, including when she was travelling in Hawaii with a new boyfriend.
Ms Wilson described how her anxiety manifested itself in her sleep routines, and how she was driven to self-harm when in the grip of an 'anxiety spiral'.
'I grasped at my stomach, clawing. I often clutch at my stomach when Im in a spiral, digging my fingernails in and scraping away,' she explained.
Ms Wilson said that she she flees when these spirals come on, once running down a mountain with no shoes or bra on
The 42-year-old said that she once tried to jump out of a car on a highway to escape
Ms Wilson said that these incidents, brought on by her anxiety, have happened throughout her life she when felt trapped.
'In such moments, Ive run 10 kilometres down a mountain in the dark room with no shoes and no bra during my first anxious spiral in the presence of my first boyfriend George. I ran through Florence at 2am another time, with no idea where I was heading,' the 42-year-old said.
The 42-year-old spoke to Marie Claire Australia for their April edition about her battles with anxiety
'After Hawaii, I had several episodes like this with this man. I tried to jump from a car on a highway. I tried to jump out of a window in an AirBNB in France during a trip that appeared outwardly so Instagram-perfect.'
She went on to explain that because she's high functioning, with a successful career and seemingly Instagram-perfect life, many people don't realise she's struggling.
But, the 42-year-old said, that 'high-function' is sometimes a result of her anxiety, but she's seen as okay because she's doing something.
Ultimately she describes anxiety as 'befuddling', but says that she is dealing with it how she can.
Sarah Wilson is speaking at a Marie Claire x VAMFF International Womens Day Breakfast on March 8th, in Melbourne.
Her book First, We Make The Beast Beautiful, is also out now, published by Macmillian and priced $34.99
She dreams of becoming the first woman in a wheelchair to compete in Miss World, and despite a disappointing qualifying round, she is refusing to give up.
Justine Clarke failed to achieve one of the coveted top two spots at the South Australian finals - a preliminary pageant leading up to the official global contest.
The 26-year-old - who suffers a lower leg deformity - is now determined to compete in the national finals in a bid to pursue her dream of appearing on the world stage.
To compete in the national finals, the stunning blonde will have to raise the most money for the children's charity Variety via her fundraising campaign.
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Justine Clarke (pictured) became the first Australian woman in a wheelchair to compete in the Miss World Australia contest
She didn't qualify for the coveted top two spots in the South Australian finals last month but the 26-year-old is determined to hit the national stage
'[I] didn't win. [That should be it] for some people but for me I'm going to go to nationals,' she told Today Tonight Adelaide.
'I want to get to the world so I could compete with any other girl in the world as the first wheel chair person.
'Hopefully I will be winning, there's no hopefully winning. There will be "I will be going to the finals".'
The young Adelaide woman, who has been in a wheelchair for two years, also opened up about the stereotypes of living with a disability.
'There's more to me than just being in a wheelchair,' she said.
But the pageant journey is not over yet as she's determine to take out the third spot (pictured of Miss Clarke shopping for a new dress with the two finalists)
The young Adelaide woman, who has been in a wheelchair for two years, also opened up about the stereotypes of living with a disability
Miss Clarke is set to hit the stage again after failed to qualify for her state's pageant contest
The 26-year-old suffers a 'lower leg deformity' and was keen to be involved with the competition due to their 'Beauty With a Purpose' movement
'You do get told "you can't do this, you can't do that because of your differences".
'Let me be in a wheelchair. Some people think "you're not beautiful because you're not walking".
'But to me, I'm like "well, I'm sitting down, at least I don't have to walk,' she said as she laughed, adding: '... Well that's their opinion.'
Despite her incredible journey, the young woman has not yet revealed the circumstances surrounding her disability.
As her two children learned to walk, Leah Alstin, from Geelong, Victoria, was too scared to take them alone to the park.
The 33-year-old had was terrified that Milla and Chad, now aged seven and five, would get out of their prams and run away - and that she wouldn't be able to catch them.
This is due to Leah's Friedreich's ataxia, a rare inherited disease that progressively damages the nervous system.
One of the first symptoms of the disease is poor coordination, something Leah noticed as a 17-year-old struggling to climb the steps of her high school.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Leah said both she and her mother had thought it was originally was an ear infection.
Leah Alstin (pictured with her husband and children Milla, seven, and five-year-old Chad) suffers from Friedreich's ataxia, a rare inherited disease that damages the nervous system
The first symptoms are poor coordination, something Leah noticed as a 17-year-old struggling to climb the steps of her high school
But they were shocked when her tests came back and and she was diagnosed with FA.
At first, FA didn't have a huge impact on Leah's life. She went to university in Geelong, where she met her husband and eventually settled down.
But as she got older, the symptoms of the progressive disease only became worse.
Four years ago, Leah broke her ankle and had to spend three weeks in a Melbourne hospital where she lost all of her muscle tone.
It was then that Leah realised she would have to start using a walking frame for assistance, a fact that was difficult for Leah to accept.
'I felt like I lost some of my independence and I also felt a little bit insecure and self-conscious that people would stare at me and make up their own assumptions as to why I use a walking frame,' she explained.
It also made Leah second-guess her ability to be a good mum.
'It's my job to look after my kids and be strong for them,' she said.
The condition has become worse with age, and Leah used to avoid taking her children to the park because she was worried they would run away and she wouldn't be able to catch them
Now Leah uses a walking frame both inside and outside the house so that she can continue being around her friends and family wherever they go
'So, in the beginning, I felt - "Well, if I need help as well, how am I going to look after them?".
'I was scared it would make me feel like less of a mum, less of a wife and less of a person.'
Leah was able to disguise her need for the frame when her children were still using prams, but as they got older she found herself avoiding the outside world.
She would force a friend or her husband to join her on trips with Milla and Chad to the park, and avoided going shopping or to the beach.
But, thanks to the support of her family and friends, Leah said she slowly learned an important lesson.
'My friends have really stuck by me and that's made me realise it's okay not to be okay,' she said.
The mother-of-two has since started her own social media campaign to get the word out about Friedreich's ataxia with the #showusyashoes movement
Leah is taking pictures of her shoes, and encouraging others to do the same with her hashtag, to help spread awareness about FA and the struggles that it comes with
'People still love me for who I am. Its taken awhile to realise that, but now I think I have.'
Leah also realised that when it comes to her children, she's just like any other mum.
'I'm their mum, I'm who they see all the time. Even though I use a walking frame it's normal to them,' she said.
'They never really talk about how mum is unsteady on her feet. It's just normal, and it makes me feel normal.'
Leah now uses a walking frame both inside and outside the house and is hoping to spread awareness to help others understand why she needs the extra help.
The mother-of-two has since started her own social media campaign to get the word out about Friedreich's ataxia.
Leah has also been documenting her struggles on Instagram to give people a peek into what life is like with FA
Leah's campaign, titled #showusyashoes, was inspired by her love of fashionable and comfortable footwear.
She was organising her collection when the idea hit that shoes would be the perfect way to spread awareness about FA to everyone in the community.
'I want to appeal to everyone, not just people who might have a disease,' she said.
'And I thought, well, fashion and shoes can appeal to so many - men, women, kids, students - and has such a range.'
Leah began taking pictures of her shoes and posting them on Instagram with the #showusyashoes hashtag as she documents her own struggles with FA.
It has inspired others to join the movement, which is now being adopted by the Friedreichs Ataxia Research Association in the United States.
Leah is hoping that the campaign will help spread awareness and let people know that FA exists.
'It really helps when people know and understand what condition I've got...if you can stop a few stares on the street then I think that's helped,' she said.
The mother-of-two hopes to spread awareness and act as a role model for her kids
Leah also plans to speak to researchers and gene therapists on the panel at an upcoming Friedreich's ataxia scientific symposium, where she hopes to make her condition more 'real for them'.
'They're in the scientific world and the medical world, doing all this textbook stuff,' she said.
'But it's good if they actually meet people that deal with this every day.'
Leah, who knows that her condition is going to get worse, is holding out hope that one day they will find a treatment or cure.
'The future for people with FA diagnosis is quite scary,' she said. 'You can lose the ability to walk, talk, hold yourself up.'
'You can lose your vision, your hearing, it affects everything in the body.'
'But, in comparison to some diseases, we have sometimes a little bit of time on our side.'
Leah is hoping to spend the time she does have being a role model to her children.
'I want to show them that its okay to not be okay, to show emotion,' she said.
'And how to deal with these setbacks in life.'
They shared a womb and have been inseparable ever since - even going on to marry another set of identical twins.
Now sisters Asyl and Aiym Binazarova, from Kazakhstan, are pregnant at the same time.
The twins married identical brothers Zholdasbek and Torebek Tolepbergenuly in a joint ceremony wearing matching outfits, and are now both expecting as they each approach their second wedding anniversary.
And the similarities don't end there - both brothers are trainee vets and the sisters are each studying to be teachers, and the couples even live together in one house.
Zholdasbek and Torebek admit they sometimes find it hard to tell the twin sisters apart
The foursome met after Zholdasbek started chatting up a pretty girl in a shop - and jokingly asked if she had a sister
Spot the difference: Zholdasbek and Torebek Tolepbergenuly married Asyl and Aiym Binazarov in a joint ceremony
The twins wore identical dresses and makeup for the wedding
The foursome met after Zholdasbek started chatting up Asyl in a shop - and even jokingly asked if she had a sister for his twin.
He was shocked when she said yes and explained that she was also an identical twin.
Zholdasbek said: 'I asked if she had a sister, as I was with my brother, and was amazed when she told me that she had a twin.
'As we are both twins as well, we got to talking, and things went from there.'
The brothers, both trainee vets, had always joked that the reason they were single was because they were waiting to meet twin sisters - just like teachers Asyl and Aiym.
The couples are celebrating two years since they first met - and both of the wives are pregnant for the second time
The twin sisters were studying to be teachers when they met the brothers
The two couples married after a whirlwind romance at their home in the city of Aktau in south-western Kazakhstan's Mangystau Region.
But Zholdasbek and Torebek, 23, admit they sometimes find it hard to tell their wives apart.
Torebek said: 'During the wedding we got confused, because we could not identify our wives. They also had identical makeup on.'
Since their wedding both of the couples have become parents. Zholdasbek and Aiym have a son, while Torebek and Asyl have a daughter
Zholdasbek and Torebek pictured with either Asyl or Aiym. The twin brother popped the question at the same time and both got yes the same time
Since their wedding both of the couples have become parents. Zholdasbek and Aiym have a son, while Torebek and Asyl have a daughter.
The couples are celebrating two years since they first met - and both of the wives are pregnant for the second time.
The families currently live together in a three-room flat but plan on building their own house.
The identical sets of twins have caused an internet sensation with many speculating as to whether they would end up with twin babies.
A mother said she still suffers from guilt over her son who died from dehydration because he was not getting enough milk nearly five years after he passed away.
Jillian Johnson and her husband Jarrod, from Southern California, opted for a hospital that encourages breastfeeding because they thought nursing would be the healthiest option for their newborn son Landon.
The couple, who are in their thirties, were heartbroken when, after less than one month of life, their son's life support machine was turned off. He had needed the equipment after sustaining a brain injury as a result of lack of oxygen from dehydration.
Tragic: Jillian Johnson and her husband Jarrod, who are in their thirties, lost their son Landon, pictured, after he suffered a brain injury as a result of lack of oxygen from dehydration
Heartbroken: The couple, from Southern California, thought nursing would be the healthiest option for their newborn son
Landon was born by cesarean section on February 25, 2012, and died on March 15 of the same year. If he had lived, the child would now be five years old.
Jillian, who works in finance, and Jarrod, an automotive industry worker, have since had two daughters, Stella, three and Aliona, one.
They still celebrate Landon's birthday every year with a cupcake, singing Happy Birthday and writing his name in the sand.
To mark his fifth birthday, Jillian wrote an account of their experiences in which she said she still suffers from guilt and regret.
'If I had given him just one bottle, he would still be alive,' she wrote on Fedisbest.org.
She added: 'The best advice I was given by one of his NICU doctors while he was on life support is, "Sure breast is best, but follow with the bottle."
'This way you know your baby has eaten enough.if only I could go back in time.
Nursing problems: But he died at less than a month old after suffering from dehydration because he was not getting enough milk
Suffering: Jillian said she still with guilt and regret five years on from Landon's death
Struggle: To mark his fifth birthday, Jillian wrote an account of their experiences in which she said she still suffers from the trauma of his death
'I still have many, many days of guilt and questions what if I wouldve just given him a bottle? And anger because how would I have known.'
Before Landon's birth they read numerous parenting books and attended classes where they were told by multiple sources that breastfeeding was crucial to bringing up a healthy child.
After his birth, Jillian said Landon was 'on my breast - all the time' and she was told by lactation consultants that he had a 'great latch'.
One said she may have an issue producing milk because she had polycystic ovarian syndrome - a hormonal disorder - which they told her could affect milk production.
She said Landon cried 'all the time' except for when he was feeding and she started to nurse him 'continuously'.
Jillian wrote: 'When I asked them why he was always on my breast, I was told it was because he was "cluster feeding"...I had no idea that he was inconsolable because he was starving literally.'
They were told they could take Landon home - despite his weight loss - but within hours he was seriously unwell.
Mixed signals: Jillian said Landon cried 'all the time' except for when he was feeding and she started to nurse him 'continuously'
Honored: They still celebrate Landon's birthday every year by writing his name in the sand
Remembered: Stella, three and Aliona, one, pictured, share a cupcake and sing Happy Birthday to Landon to celebrate his short life
'So we took him home.not knowing that after less than 12 hours home with us, he would have gone into cardiac arrest caused by dehydration,' she wrote.
It was not until her next child, Stella, was born that Jillian realized that Landon's crying had been abnormal.
'He was just crying out from his hunger. But I didnt know. I shouldve known. I still struggle daily feeling as though I failed him,' she wrote.
Since his death she said she has learned to forgive and the 'true meaning of "life is short"'.
Jillian wanted to speak out about her experiences before but she said she feared being 'judged'.
She insisted she is not anti-breastfeeding but advocates people 'educating themselves' through organizations such as The Fed is Best Foundation.
She told Daily Mail Online: 'I had the opportunity to get the dialogue started and it needed to be done. I only wish I did it sooner.
'I'm so grateful knowing there's a foundation dedicated to educating parents on the importance of feeding your newborn - whether supplementing or breastfeeding. I'm pro-feeding. Plain and simple.'
Taking a leaf out of the Duchess of Cambridge's book, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has shared her own adorable snap of her son Prince Oscar on his first birthday.
The royal, 39, shared the adorable black and white image of the youngster grinning and proudly showing off his four front teeth.
She also released two new official portraits of his big sister Princess Estelle who turned five on 23 February, beaming cheekily for the camera as she clambers over the back of the sofa.
Fans of the Swedish royals will no doubt be delighted with the photos from the Princess who has been notably absent from public life since before Christmas.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden took a leaf out of Kate's book by releasing her own photo of Price Oscar to celebrate his first birthday
Princess Estelle, who turned five on 23 February, gives the camera a cheeky grin as she clambers over the sofa
Her last public engagement was on 20 December and she has not made any public appearances since, even missing her aunt Princess Brigitta's birthday celebrations in January.
In February, the Swedish court informed the press that Princess Victoria and her husband Princes Daniel were taking a private holiday abroad.
The long-planned trip is set to continue into this month, and was organised to give the Crown Princess to spend quality time with her children while they're still young and neither is in school.
She is not expected back on royal duties until later this month.
The young royal, who bears a remarkable resemblance to her mother Crown Princess Victoria, recently celebrated her fifth birthday
Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel are currently enjoying an extended family break to have quality time with their children while they're still young
Oscar Carl Olaf was born weighing just over 8lbs at the Karolinska University Hospital in the Swedish capital of Stockholm last February and is third in line to the Swedish throne after his sister.
His proud father Prince Daniel was seen crying tears of joy as he announced his son's birth to the press, adding that they had kept the sex of their new arrival a surprise until he was born.
He then added: Estelle is of course really enthusiastic and happy about being a big sister.'
Doting big sister Estelle does some colouring with her younger brother who has just turned one
Crown Princess Victoria, 38, married Daniel, a former gym teacher on June 19, 2010 at a wedding that brought together the elite of European royalty in Stockholm.
When Victoria accedes to the throne, she will be the first queen of the Bernadotte dynasty, which has reigned over Sweden for two centuries.
The current royal family has experienced renewed popularity in recent years due in part to the fairytale marriage of children of the sovereign couple, who have all married commoners, and the arrival of grandchildren.
This Easter, UK shoppers are looking to Italy for inspiration as Italian breads look set to be more popular than traditional simnel cakes.
Waitrose will launch two Italian sweet loaves in time for the holiday to satiate our growing demand for these bread-cake hybrids - as it's revealed sales of panettone sky-rocketed by 56 per cent last year.
As well as an Easter version of the classic Christmas treat made using hot cross buns, the supermarket will also launch a 9 dove-shaped yeast bread called a Colomba di Pasqua. The enriched fragrant loaf will also be on sale at Carluccio's.
The Colomba di Pasqua (pictured) is baked in the shape of a dove and traditionally has a 'nocciolata' topping of crunchy sugar and almonds. It was originally commercialised by a Milanese baker who saw its potential to rival the popularity of panettone
WHAT IS A COLOMBA DI PASQUA? Colomba di Pasqua means Easter dove in Italian and in that country, the sweet spiced loaf is traditionally made on Good Friday and eaten over the course of the Easter weekend. Baked in a similar way to panettone, contains candied fruits and is glazed with sugar and topped with a crunchy sweet topping known as a nocciolata. It is traditionally made in the shape of a dove - an Easter symbol. Advertisement
Baked in a similar way to panettone, the Colomba is similarly spiced and also contains candied fruits.
But it is traditionally made in the shape of a dove - an Easter symbol of peace - and made on Good Friday.
It comes amid an increasing demand for Italian enriched loaves.
Sales of Italian bread have risen by 40 per cent at Waitrose, compared to just 15 per cent for sales of simnel cake.
Jane Goodson, bakery buyer at Waitrose comments: 'There is no longer a one cake fits all approach and shoppers will often buy more than one Easter treat to meet the tastes of their guests. While traditional cakes will always have their diehard fans, shoppers are looking to buy more unusual versions such as our colomba or hot cross bun panettone'.
Waitrose said demand for flavoured breads from Italy has skyrocketed in the last two years.
The demand has been particularly for panettone, prompting the supermarket to release a variety of flavours - including Prosecco flavour last Christmas and a hot cross bun panettone for Easter this year.
Waitrose will be selling both the Colomba di Pasqua (left) and an Easter hot cross bun panettone (right) for 9 each this Easter
Jane Goodson, bakery buyer at Waitrose said: 'We're really excited about the return of Colomba bread as we know our customers love sweet breads such as panettone with sales growing last Christmas by over 56 per cent we're expecting Colomba to be just as popular this Easter.
'Colomba is a delicious seasonal delicacy which can be eaten on its own or served with fresh berries and cream or drizzled with chocolate for a more indulgent finish to an Easter meal.'
The Arden & Amici Colomba di Pasqua with Nocciolata Top is available in Waitrose branches nationwide from March 27 and will cost 9. The Waitrose Hot Cross Bun Panettone is also 9.
Chemicals in head lice treatments and dog tick sprays could lead to behavioural problems in young children, research suggests.
Pregnant women exposed to pyrethroids - a group of synthetic chemicals used in common pesticides - were more likely to have children who develop social behaviour problems by the age of six, a study found.
Pyrethroids are commonly used in crop insecticides but are also used to treat humans with head lice and scabies, and are sometimes used in mosquito repellents.
Chemicals in head lice treatments and dog tick sprays could lead to behavioural problems in young children, research suggests
They are also used in products designed to rid pets of fleas and ticks.
The chemicals were developed by British scientists in 1960s as a safe alternative to organophosphates.
But the new research, by French academics at the University of Rennes, suggests they may not be as safe as previously thought. However, other scientists were sceptical of their findings and the researchers themselves were cautious.
The chemicals work by damaging the nerves of insects - and the researchers suspect this action may also affect the development of a childs brain.
The researchers, whose work is published in the BMJ journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, tested the urine of 3,421 women who were between six and 19 weeks pregnant, measuring the levels of five pyrethroid metabolites.
Six years later, they went back and assessed the children of 287 women who had taken part in the initial study.
Psychologists visited the children at home to carry out behavioural assessments.
The scientists found that women who had been exposed to high levels of pyrethroids were more likely to have children with internalising behaviours, which include fearfulness and social withdrawal.
Pyrethroids are commonly used in crop insecticides but are also used to treat humans with head lice and scabies, and are sometimes used in mosquito repellents
The scientists also tested the urine of the children themselves, and those with the highest levels were about three times as likely to display abnormal behaviour.
This included internalising behaviour and externalising behaviour, such as aggression and bullying.
This researchers stressed their study was merely observational - and no solid conclusions could be drawn about cause and effect.
And they said accurately assessing pyrethroid exposures is notoriously difficult because the chemicals are cleared from the body in just a few days.
But they suspect the chemicals might alter neurochemical signalling in the brain, altering a childs development.
Dateline: Uzbekistan
Film licensing authorities in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan have blocked the release of a locally made action movie because it does not star Morgan Freeman. Its not that all Uzbekistan-made action films are required to employ the venerable American actor. Its just that the new thriller Daydi (Rogue) prominently featured Mr. Freemans image on the movie poster and in the trailereven though he does not appear in the film. Timur Films is accused of hijacking Freemans image from the 2015 direct-to-video film Last Knights, which costars Clive Owen. Daydi, on the other hand, stars Uzbek actor Mirolim Qilchev as a police officer fighting various well-armed bad guys. According to the government- affiliated Podrobno news agency, Timur has not yet commented on the controversy but has delayed the films release pending a ruling from other local authorities.
Dateline: Scotland
A small town in Scotland has become so fed up with speeding drivers that residents have started posing as police officers to discourage the lawbreakers. People in the village of Hopeman employ reflective vests and hairdryers in their bid to stop speeders from exceeding speeds of 60 miles per hour along a stretch of road leading out of the area. Standing alongside the main B9040 road, the fake fuzz hope that drivers mistake them for actual police officers with radar guns. Its very dangerous. The speed that the traffic is doing through Hopeman is quite serious, especially when the kids are going to school in the morning. Its quite alarming, Moray Councilor Dennis Slater told BBC News. This is why some of the residents have resorted to taking out hairdryers and putting on hi-vis vest to try to slow the traffic. Constable Roy Cook of the Lossiemouth policing team admitted to The Press and Journal in Aberdeen, We have had a number of complains regarding speeding in Hopeman, which we will continue to address.
Dateline: Ohio
An elementary school student contacted local police when she needed helpwith her homework. Unfortunately, it turns out police arent so great at basic math. The Marion Police Department shared screen captures taken by mother Molly Draper after her 10-year-old daughter, Lena, asked the police to give her some assistance with some difficult math problems. After locating the police departments page on Facebook, the fifth-grader said, Im having trouble with my math homework. Could you help me? After sending out an automated message saying that the page is not monitored 24/7, an actual police officer responded to Lena, asking what she needed help with. Well I dont understand (8+29)x15, Lena answered. The officer behind the Facebook page, Lt. B.J. Gruber, helpfully informed her she needed to add up the numbers in parenthesis first. Unfortunately, the officer swung and missed on the second math problem (90+27)+(29+15)x2, telling the student to take the answer from the first parenthesis plus the answer from the second parenthesis and multiply that answer times two. Unfortunately, the officer forgot the order of operations rule PEMDAS, which says problems must be solved in the following order: Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. Maybe I should have mentioned that History was my favorite subject before answering, Gruber later told reporters.
Dateline: Florida
Apparently, hes going to make America high again. Police in Hernando County seized hundreds of individually wrapped heroin packages stamped with the image of President Donald Trump. Tampa news station WFLA reports law enforcement officers found 5,500 packages of heroin following a six-to-eight-month long investigation. It is believed the heroin was purchased in the Northeast and shipped to Florida via the postal service. Some of the packets bore the names or images of other notorious figures, such as Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. Authorities were at a loss to explain the purpose behind Trump brand heroin, but noted that dealers often stamp batches of heroin with individual street names. Police arrested 46-year-old Kelvin Scott Johnson on suspicion of heroin trafficking and other charges in connection to the Trump heroin. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said the dealer made a big mistake using Trumps picture.
COLUMBUS Pat Jenkinson had only been a nurse for a few years when she arrived in Columbus.
It was 1972, a transitional period for Jenkinson, who moved here from Illinois, and for health care in the community with the merger of St. Marys Hospital and Behlen Memorial Hospital.
Jenkinson fit right in, though, as a nurse in the intensive care unit. When she became a nurse in the late 1960s, ICUs and critical care units were starting to emerge.
She enjoyed working with patients in the ICU and seeing the early years of the program in town. The work was so rewarding that Jenkinson spent 45 years at Columbus Community Hospital before retiring last June.
The 68-year-old registered nurse still works part time at Occupational Health Services, where she administers flu shots and assists with patient wellness.
Over her career, she has helped countless patients and clocked thousands of hours, including three decades working nights, tending to patients and mentoring and training new nurses.
Recently, she received the DAISY Award, an honor given to an extraordinary nurse. CCH is a partner with the international program and recognizes a nominated nurse with the award on a quarterly basis.
Few have the longevity and experience Jenkinson has. In her nomination, she was praised for being flexible throughout her career by responding to the emergency room, obtaining EKGs and mastering computer charting. She also made ambulance runs with Midwest Medical Transport for a number of years, riding along with patients as they were driven to hospitals mainly in Omaha and Lincoln.
It was a difficult decision to retire, but Jenkinson said it was becoming a challenge for her to keep up with the changing technology.
We were charting on computers. We were ordering things on computers. I learned all that but it was too much. When I started, it was all paper and phone, she said.
She became a licensed practical nurse in 1967, then went back to school to be a registered nurse. When her older sister moved to Nebraska, Jenkinson followed and began working in Columbus. She met and married Arthur Jenkinson and the two had four children.
A successful career in nursing requires compassion, knowledge and ability, Jenkinson said. The profession brings a lot of gratification, but it doesnt come easy.
Nursing is very hard work. I dont know if the young people who come into nursing know that," she said. "The reality of it is that it is very hard work. Its 14 hours (a day). Sometimes you dont get lunch. You are on your feet. You are not sitting down. There is a lot of nights, there is a lot of (working on) holidays. I missed a lot of things with my kids because I was at work."
However, being a nurse allowed Jenkinson to do what she loves most help others.
I have always liked taking care of people, she said.
The majority of NHS trusts are failing patients, a damning new report has ruled.
Inspections by the Care Quality Commission reveal that four out of five UK hospitals are unsafe as they buckle under the weight of increasing demand.
Worryingly, 81 per cent of 136 assessed trusts were deemed inadequate or requiring improvement, while 11 per cent received the lowest possible safety rating.
The CQC's chief inspector, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has said the NHS 'stands on a burning platform' following the first round of worrying reviews.
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Damning: The first round of comprehensive inspections of England's 136 acute non-specialist NHS trusts and all 18 specialist trusts painted a bleak forecast
More than half of specialist trusts (53%) were rated as requiring improvement in terms of safety, while 7 per cent of 199 urgent and emergency services were deemed inadequate.
Unsurprisingly, core issues of concern included bed occupancy, poor knowledge of sepsis and kidney injuries, long waiting lists, under-staffing in wards - including A&E - and poor control of infections.
Agency workers who were unfamiliar with hospital protocol also caused alarm, as did insecure storage of medicines - some of which were beyond their use-by date.
Urgent and emergency services and medical care had more ratings of inadequate and requires improvement than good or outstanding, the report said.
Ultimately, Prof Richards concluded that the model of acute hospital care which once worked well for the NHS 'cannot continue to meet the needs of today's population', specifying that a toxic combination of cuts and demand are creating 'difficult-to-manage situations that are putting patient care at risk'.
He added that safety remains a 'real concern' with many trusts failing to learn when things go wrong.
Worrying: 81 per cent of 136 assessed trusts were deemed inadequate or requiring improvement, while 11 per cent received the lowest possible safety rating
He added there's a 'wide variation in quality' between hospitals and the services within the, with even some good hospitals had pockets of 'very poor quality care'.
The scale of the challenge that hospitals are now facing is unprecedented - rising demand coupled with economic pressures are creating difficult-to-manage situations that are putting patient care at risk. Professor Sir Mike Richards
Ministers argue the findings should be used to weed-out poor practice, but Richards insists the scale of the challenge is 'unprecedented'.
Sir Mike said: 'We have witnessed some fantastic care and examples of innovative practice, but we have also found a wide variation in quality both between hospitals and between services within the same hospital.
'Safety remains a real concern, often due to a failure to learn when things go wrong.
'Strong leadership that instils a culture of learning and an environment where staff are listened to can play a vital part in bringing about improvements.
'Overwhelmingly, we see staff behaving in a caring way, which is supported by what we hear from patients. The unwavering dedication and commitment of staff shines out from our inspection reports.
HOSPITALS REVIEW: THE FINDINGS - Inconsistent management of life-threatening conditions such as sepsis and acute kidney injury - Ineffective audits of key safety priorities and quality improvement projects - Poor infection control practice, particularly inconsistent hand hygiene and isolation practices - Staff not consistently receiving essential safety training - Poor management of medicines, including some out of date or insecurely stored - Unsatisfactory checking and maintenance of equipment or of the environment - Insufficient record keeping and information systems that were not fit for purpose - Communication breakdowns leading to incomplete care plans or tests and treatments being delayed/repeated unnecessarily Advertisement
'What is clear is that while staff continue to work hard to deliver good care, the model of acute care that once worked well cannot continue to meet the needs of today's population.
'The NHS now stands on a burning platform - the need for change is clear, but finding the resources and energy to deliver that change while simultaneously providing safe patient care can seem almost impossible.
'What this report demonstrates, however, is that transformational change is possible, even in the most challenging of circumstances - we have witnessed it, and seen the evidence that making practical changes to the way that care is delivered can benefit patients.'
His foreword to the report adds: 'The scale of the challenge that hospitals are now facing is unprecedented - rising demand coupled with economic pressures are creating difficult-to-manage situations that are putting patient care at risk.'
An NHS England spokesman said: 'CQC are right to praise dedicated NHS staff for delivering great care under pressure, and they are also right to argue for the more profound changes now being planned in how acute hospital care is delivered across England.'
That said, NHS staff were applauded for their caring attitudes to patients, and the report shows no hospital trust has been given the lowest rating for providing a caring atmosphere for patients.
'Frontline staff are the heroes of our reports,' the authors wrote. 'We have found high levels of compassionate care in virtually every hospital.'
The regulator introduced a new inspection programme in 2013 following the publication of the public inquiry report into the care scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
An electronic armband which produces mild electric shocks can reduce migraine pain just as well as drugs, a study has found.
The device uses electrical stimulation to block the pain signals from reaching the brain, scientists claim.
Researchers said the armband had the advantage over drug treatments in that it had no side effects.
The patch which is wireless and can be operated by a smartphone app was tested on 71 people who had migraine, suffering between two to eight attacks a month.
Appy go lucky: The device uses electrical stimulation to block the pain signals from the brain
Participants were asked to apply the device to their upper arm soon after the start of a migraine and use it for 20 minutes.
They were not supposed to take any medications for migraine for two hours.
The devices were programmed to randomly give either a placebo stimulation at a very low frequency or one of four levels of active stimulation.
Electrical stimulation produced by the patch was below painful levels in all cases.
A total of 299 migraines were treated with the device during the study, which was published in the journal Neurology.
Pain from the agonising headaches were found to be reduced by up to at least 50 per cent in nearly two thirds of the participants (64 per cent) two hours after treatment.
This compared to 26 percent of people during the sham stimulation.
Alternative: Technological advancements may be a fresh option for people who find conventional medicine unhelpful
For those who started with moderate to severe pain, their pain was reduced to mild or no pain in 58 percent of people at the highest level of stimulation, compared to 24 percent of those during the sham stimulation.
In the same group, 30 percent said they had no pain after receiving the highest level of stimulation, compared to 6 percent of those receiving the sham stimulation.
A migraine is often felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head, often accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light or sound.
EPILEPSY DRUG MAY TACKLE MIGRAINES A drug used to treat epilepsy could end the migraine misery for millions of sufferers, scientists claim. Known as Lyrica, it relieves a seizure-like phenomenon believed to be the underlying cause of the blinding headaches. It works by stopping a wave of brain cells, preventing the debilitating symptoms of migraines, a study found. And in research from British Columbia University on genetically-engineered mice, the drug was shown to boost calcium levels, with a diminished supply known to spark headaches. Advertisement
It affects around one in every five women and around one in every 15 men.
David Yarnitsky, of the Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa Israel, said: These results need to be confirmed with additional studies, but they are exciting.
People with migraine are looking for non-drug treatments, and this new device is easy to use, has no side effects and can be conveniently used in work or social settings.
These results are similar to those seen for the triptan medications for migraine.
The researchers also found that starting the stimulation within 20 minutes of the start of a migraine was more effective, with 47 percent reducing pain when starting early, compared to 25 percent who started after 20 minutes.
Dr Yarnitsky said one limitation of the study was that during the sham stimulation participants often stopped the treatment before the 20-minute period was done.
This may indicate that they knew the stimulation was not active, and thus they were no longer blinded to the study, which is a challenge in any sham stimulation study.
Acupuncture can be used to relieve pain in sufferers of repetitive strain injuries, new research suggests.
Currently patients with carpal tunnel syndrome - common in office workers - undergo physiotherapy or surgery to assist them.
It is caused by a nerve in the wrist being squeezed and subsequently alters an area of the brain related to touch, scientists claim.
But the new study found the ancient Chinese practice rewires the brain and helps to combat the aching and tingling sensations.
New research suggests that the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture can be used to relieve pain in sufferers of repetitive strain injuries
Participants were given brain scans after receiving electro-acupuncture - similar to the traditional method but instead uses electricity to generate impulses - on their affected hand.
They were also assessed by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers after having the same treatment on their ankle opposite their injured hand.
Others received 'sham' acupuncture - where placebo needles were placed near their affected region.
Both real and sham acupuncture patients said symptoms improved, the researchers also found.
Study author Dr Vitaly Napadow said that it could possibly work by rewiring the primary somatosensory cortex in the brain.
This is the region which receives signals related to the sense of touch, and is known to be affected by pain.
Currently patients with carpal tunnel syndrome - common in office workers - undergo physiotherapy or surgery to assist them through their pain (stock)
While he also noted that the treatment method helps to increase blood flow to the affected areas, known to fight discomfort.
However, the sham treatment method could work through the placebo effect, he added.
ACUPUNCTURE TO CURE HOT FLUSHES They're the bane of many women's lives during menopause and often keep sufferers awake at night. But in September scientists discovered a way to reduce the frequency of hot flushes and allow women to get a much better sleep. Acupuncture treatment - where fine needles are inserted into certain points in the body - could help to cut the side effects from the menopause. Almost half of women who experienced eight weeks of the treatment reported a 50 per cent decrease in hot flushes, a study by Wake Forest University found. Advertisement
Dr Napadow said: 'Acupuncture is a medical therapy that originated in China several thousand years ago.
'But despite its long history, the intervention itself - particularly when coupled with electrical stimulation - has significant similarities to many conventional therapies.
'A large body of clinical research exploring acupuncture for chronic pain disorders has demonstrated that it may be marginally better than a placebo procedure in reducing pain ratings.'
This comes after a report in January claimed that acupuncture could help men with premature ejaculation.
Scientists from the University of Sheffield found that Chinese herbal medicine and a Korean topical cream both had significant desirable effects.
While a study last month also discovered that acupuncture could stop babies suffering from colic from crying so much.
The Swedish researchers noted that the practice could help to reduce the distress of babies with the condition.
This is the astonishing moment a patient serenaded surgeons with his guitar while he had his brain tumour removed.
Rolden Batista, 40, was handed his instrument in the middle of a complex operation to remove a heart-shaped growth.
And to the relief of the Brazilian surgeons conducting the procedure, he played out a popular local song.
Last year, he was plagued by a series of seizures which alerted to him to something being wrong.
The communications engineer, from Santos, immediately underwent tests at his local hospital.
And X-ray scans revealed that he had a heart-shaped brain.
He told local media: 'I was told that I had to undergo a surgery and there were two methods.
'One totally sedated or, two, to wake me up during surgery.'
But because the second option had a much greater chance of success, he decided to choose that.
Rolden Batista, 40, from Brazil, was handed his instrument in the middle of a complex operation to remove a brain tumour
Surgeons explained how it was the quickest way to discover if they had made an error during the procedure to remove the heart-shaped tumour (X-ray of the growth)
Mr Batista added: 'The doctor then came up with the idea of making me play guitar in the middle of the operation.'
I was told that I had to undergo a surgery and there were two methods. One totally sedated or, two, to wake me up during surgery. Rolden Batista, 40
Surgeons explained how it was the quickest way to discover if they had made an error during the procedure.
For if he was unable to recite the song, it would have given them a chance to remap the area of his brain that control movement, speech and senses before it was too late.
Mr Batista also mesmerised his wife after ringing her during the middle of the operation to tell her that he felt like a 'warrior'.
Local reports suggest that he is now at home and recovering from the procedure.
in 2015, another Brazilian man stunned doctors by playing The Beatles song 'Yesterday' on his guitar while having brain surgery.
Mr Batista also mesmerised his wife after ringing her during the middle of the operation to tell her that he felt like a 'warrior'
Anthony Kulkamp Dias, 33, was conscious during his operation to remove a tumour and played the instrument for the surgery team.
WHY CAN PATIENTS BE AWAKE DURING BRAIN SURGERY? Brian surgery is often performed on patients who are conscious. It is performed in a similar manner as conventional surgery. It is the preferred technique for many surgeons in the removal of lesions close to important regions of the brain. By staying awake, surgeons can continuously monitor that they haven't accidentally affected some of their brain functions. Advertisement
The news comes after MailOnline previously reported on the case of Roger Frisch, a concert violinist, who was able to help surgeons locate the exact spot in his brain to place an implant by playing his instrument during the operation.
Mr Frisch, a concert master with the Minnesota Orchestra, was diagnosed in 2009 with essential tremors, a condition that occurs when sections of the brain that control movement start sending abnormal signals.
He needed an operation in which a tiny electrode would be implanted into his brain, which doctors assured Frisch would enable him to control the condition at the flick of a switch.
But in order for the electrode to work, it had to be implanted in exactly the right position.
Because surgeons can operate on the brain without the patient feeling pain, they asked Mr Frisch to play his violin to see in real time how the tremor is responding as they place the electrode.
The world's first 'smart condom' which rates a man's sexual performances and can detect STIs has been created by scientists.
The i-Con Smart Condom is billed as the newest form of wearable technology in the ever-growing market.
Providing a range of statistics, including duration, speed and girth measurements, male users are able to assess their sexual prowess.
The device also records the amount of calories burnt, different positions and can detect chlamydia and syphilis.
The i-Con Smart Condom is billed as the newest form of wearable technology in the ever-growing market
All information will be kept anonymous - but users 'will have the option to share their recent data with friends, or, indeed the world'.
In a similar way to other health monitoring devices, it will use nano-chip and bluetooth technology to relay the data to a smartphone app.
Over 90,000 people have already pre-ordered the product which will be released later this year at the price of 59.99.
The ring - which comes with a one year warranty - is worn at the base of the condom, is adjustable for size, and can be worn multiple times.
It has an integrated micro USB port so it can be recharged, with each charge lasting about six to eight hours.
British Condoms, which has been delivering condoms and other products since 1999, revealed last year that it was developing the unique product.
Providing a range of statistics, including duration, speed and girth measurements, male users are able to assess their sexual prowess
THE 100 FERTILITY 'CONDOM' A 100 'condom' has helped hundreds of couple become parents just two years after its launch, figures released in November showed. Experts revealed the success rate of the over-the-counter device, which does the exact opposite of what condoms are usually used for, is around 20 per cent - almost as effective as IVF. But the device, called The Stork, costs 100 in the UK which is 4,900 less than a cycle of IVF in the UK and at $80 it is considerably less than IVF in the US where cycles cost about $12,000. Advertisement
Adam Leverson, lead engineer on the i.Con project said: 'Not only have we innovated the world's first smart condom ring - that'll measure pretty much every aspect of performance in the bedroom - but now I'm pleased to confirm that it will also have built-in indicators to alert the users to any potential STIs present.'
Aaron Slater, spokesperson for Nottingham-based British Condoms, added: 'We knew we were on the cusp of creating something special with i.Con, and bringing a new meaning to "wearable tech".
'But being advocates of safe sex, we wanted something more, and the addition of an STI indicator has certainly done that.
'With over 96,000 pre-registrations for the product, we know that this is a complete game-changer.'
The i.Con is currently in final stages of testing before its release later this year.
Those who pre-register will receive updates and be offered the chance to buy before the product gets launched to the general public.
It was February 22. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee invited the heads of private hospitals and nursing homes for some words of wisdom over lunch packets.
As the clock struck one, Banerjee asked the audio-visual channels to take their position and shoot the programme live.
With nothing but a microphone in hand, she made the hospital honchos stand in the firing line.
Two phones Banerjee? West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has launched a scathing attack on the healthcare system
It was a surgical strike of a different kind, but no less significant, secretive and sudden than PM Narendra Modi's one on high denomination notes.
In a firm and no-nonsense tone, she called up the authorities, one by one, and fired salvos. 'Have you stopped the kidney racket in your hospital?'
The shell-shocked person was trying to refute when in flew another missile: 'We have reports from the Centre.'
She was not firing in the air. Armed with documents and reports of a survey, she was hitting where it hurt the most.
'Why is your billing so exorbitant that the patient is forced to take law unto their own hands,' she questioned, adding, 'I have reports that patients are being forced into life support system to fleece money. Bills are exaggerated and doctors are made to prescribe high-end medicines and costly treatment to jack up the expenses.'
Lakhs of patients are currently waiting at top hospitals for life-saving transplants but there is a shortage of available organs
She held everyone at gun-point. 'A hospital is not a slaughter house. Neither is it a factory of brick and mortar where the principal agenda is to make quick money. Try to be humane, more caring. After all, it is a noble service. Healthcare cannot be purchased,' Banerjee prescribed.
The bombardment went on for two long hours; at the end of which the authorities were left baffled and looking for cover.
The growing grievances and discontent of people against private healthcare system found a voice, and she emerged as people's chief minister by empathising with those who mortgaged their land, property and sold everything to pay the sky-high hospital bills.
The eye opener for her was an exorbitant bill of Rs 25 lakh an MLA had to pay for treatment of a close relative at a private hospital.
She immediately sent an investigative team to enquire as to how the private hospitals were harassing and fleecing the patients to no ends.
Didi's 'surgical strike' on the health sector left authorities gobsmacked (photo for representation only)
After surveying 942 private hospitals out of 2,088 registered ones, the government has show-cause notices to 70 and cancelled the licence of 33. More are on the anvil, even reputed ones of the city.
The state government is bringing in a Bill to set rolling a 10-member team of Health Regulatory Commission under a retired judge of Calcutta High Court.
The commission will monitor the functioning of the private healthcare units and keep a tab on billing and the method of treatment. The government wants transparency from the private players, who are out to gain commercially.
According to an officer of the health department, the majority of these hospitals got land from the government for a token amount of Rs 1.
'But these places, without bothering to reserve a certain percentage of beds for the economically weaker section, have turned the healthcare institutions into moneymaking industry,' he rued.
Some well-known hospitals on Kolkata's eastern fringes had a huge market in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Northeastern states.
But for the last few years, the Bangladesh patients are moving to southeast Asian countries because treatment is turning out to be expensive.
The hospital industry has always been flourishing in West Bengal and the chief minister could ill afford to lose health tourists, which is also a reason for pulling up the hospitals.
Medical reimburements of MPs set to get a limit
Biman Banerjee, Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, is all set to put a cap on the medical bills an MLA is liable to get reimbursed.
Dumbstruck by the huge expenses on account of medical bills the MLAs claim from the government, Banerjee is working out on the ceiling limit to keep a check on the sky-high claims.
There is a general propensity among the people's representative to get admitted to expensive private hospitals and nursing homes when they fall ill, even though they might be publicly claiming that government hospitals and healthcare facilities are the best.
Since there is no limit on the amount that gets reimbursed, the bills are enormous, always several lakhs.
Biman Banerjee (left), Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, at an all-party meeting
What struck the Speaker was a claim of Rs 25 lakh that an MLA submitted before the Assembly. On investigation, he found that a private hospital, where the MLA was being treated, forced him to get admitted to the most high-end bed of Rs 25,000 when beds of much lesser amount were readily available.
'Since an MLA is entitled to 100 per cent reimbursement, nobody bothers about the shooting bills. This has been the practice ever since the Left Front rule,' said an MLA from South 24 Parganas.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now asked the Speaker to rein in the MLAs and their ostentatious habit of going for the most high-end private healthcare institutes for treatment.
Soon, the Speaker will issue an order reminding the MLAs that in the absence of any particular facility or treatment in a government hospital, the MLAs can try out other options.
Even then, his foremost task would be to avoid the luxurious and expensive care.
The maximum limit an MLA will be reimbursed on account of hospital bed will be Rs 8,000 per day. There will be many such caps on the use of medicines, diagnostics and laboratory facilities.
Stylish comrade in a fix
Ritabrata Banerjee seems to be more at ease in theorising Marxism in parliamentary debates than practising it on the ground.
The CPI(M) MP recently posted a picture on Facebook where he was seen flaunting an Apple wrist-watch and a Mont Blanc pen.
And, when a techie from Bengaluru made a snide remark, pointing out the 'un-communist' lifestyle of the MP, Banerjee threatened to take drastic action against him.
Ritabrata Banerjee has drawn the ire of many after threatening action against the critic
The picture created quite a storm online, even drawing the attention of senior leaders such as Mohammed Salim who lost no opportunity to criticise Banerjee for growing too big for his boots.
Although Banerjee tried to argue back that the watch and the pen were gifts, he could not justify as to why he chose to lodge a complaint against the techie.
The state party committee has now warned the politician and released a statement saying that his act was 'vindictive,' 'intolerant' and the party does not support it.
The party's general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, on the other hand, asked his comrades to not use social media for airing grievances against their party men. He also said the party will come up with a guideline on the use of social media.
Cops have reportedly accumulated enough evidence against Umar Khalid, who could be in trouble once the chargesheet is filed
The Special Cell of Delhi Police is further delaying filing a chargesheet in the case relating to JNU student Umar Khalid to save itself from 'further embarrassment' after a 'shoddy' probe done by the south district police last year, it was claimed.
However, sources said the police have accumulated enough evidence against Umar Khalid, the main organiser of the last year's February 9 event on the JNU campus - and said he could be in trouble once the chargesheet is filed.
Khalid was reportedly solely responsible for putting up posters and banners across the campus inviting the students to gather for a protest march against 'judicial killing 'of Afzal Guru and in solidarity with 'struggle' of Kashmiri migrants, at varsity's Sabarmati dhaba.
Highly-placed sources claimed that the draft of the chargesheet is ready but once it is filed in the court, it will raise some questions over the probe as 'the findings show that Kanhaiya Kumar [former JNU student union president] didn't raise anti-national slogans as made out to be.'
The content of the chargesheet prepared by Special Cell sleuths is only based on the footage and allegedly fails to gather concrete evidences in support of the investigation carried out by the local police.
Sources said they were waiting for the right time to file the chargesheet due to the elections.
Khalid was reportedly solely responsible for putting up posters and banners across the JNU campus
Other sources close to the investigation said Alok Verma, the then Delhi Police chief, allegedly didn't want the chargesheet to be filed during his tenure, despite it being ready.
The initial investigation was conducted by south district police after which Kanhaiya was arrested under the charges of sedition.
His arrest was followed by Umar Khalid's and Anirban Bhattacharya's.
The evidence with Special Cell is only against Khalid, Anirban and few other Kashmiri students.
However, police failed to take action against the Kashmiri students who were seen raising anti-national slogans on the JNU campus.
Requesting anonymity, a senior police officer said: 'In an investigation of sedition case, police can file chargesheet until three years of the case being registered.
'So we are utilising the time in and concentrating in our investigating.'
The Delhi Police has reportedly examined 40 videos of the event.
The Law Commission, which has embarked on a gigantic exercise of sourcing public opinion on the contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC), has sought to dispel fears raised by Muslim and Christian groups assuring them that personal laws will not be touched 'beyond the extent permitted by the Constitution'.
In his first interview after receiving over 40,000 responses to a questionnaire on the proposal, commission chairman Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan told Mail Today that the focus of the exercise is only to end gender discrimination and social injustice.
The effort is to synergise family law with gender equality, he said, ruling out any attempt to end plurality of laws.
Presently the Constitution allows most religions to regulate matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance through their own civil code
The ruling BJP has been pushing for such a common code despite resistance from rivals and even some allies.
Religious minority groups have opposed the plan, saying such a common law would interfere with their codes of conduct.
Terming the number of responses to the questionnaire 'overwhelming', Chauhan said in a lighter vein that 'now it has become like counting money which has accumulated in a temple hundi'.
'We will not go outside the constitutional framework,' he said. 'So there is no reason for anyone to have any kind of apprehension. It is a comprehensive exercise of the revision and reform of family laws.
'The objective is only to address discrimination against various groups and harmonise various cultural practices.' said Chauhan.
Chairman Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan told Mail Today that the focus of the exercise is only to end gender discrimination and social injustice
Articles 25 to 28 of the Constitution guarantee every citizen the right to practice and promote their religion peacefully.
Asked about fears raised from various quarters that the UCC would infringe this fundamental right, the former Supreme Court judge said, 'We are making it clear that we are not touching any constitutional right of any individual.
'We are very mindful of that. Whatever we will do, will be within the framework of the Constitution and law of the country.'
The demand for a uniform civil code essentially means unifying personal laws to have one set of secular laws that will apply to all citizens of India irrespective of the community they belong to.
The BJP had also promised UCC in its poll manifesto ahead of the 2014 general elections.
The Constitution right now allows most religions to regulate matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance through their own civil code.
Chauhan's remarks assume significance against the backdrop of bodies like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) refusing to even debate UCC.
They had rejected the questionnaire, terming it an 'affront' on their personal laws and even accused the law panel of behaving like an agent of the Narendra Modi government - arguing that the proposed common code is a threat to the country's pluralism and diversity.
The Centre had previously argued that triple talaq is 'misplaced' in a secular country like India
However, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India last month came out in support of UCC on the condition that it confirms the 'spirit and mandate' of the Constitution.
'Why can't there be a healthy debate on the issue?' Chauhan asked. 'That is the purpose behind the questionnaire. Why should the commission take a decision without knowing what the people want?
'According to us, this is the most democratic approach and Article 44 of the Constitution says the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code. So this whole exercise has the backing of the Constitution also.'
The 16-point questionnaire includes questions on what are the subjects that the UCC should include or exclude, if all religions should have common grounds for divorce and if UCC will ensure gender equality.
It also seeks views on talaq, polyandry, polygamy. Asked about the nature of reforms, Chauhan said, 'Only after going through responses will we decide how we will have to proceed.
'We ourselves do not know what the code will be.' The commission issued the questionnaire after law ministry on July 2 last year asked it to examine all issues pertaining to the code and submit a report.
There are 200,000 homes on prime Sydney real estate sitting empty because foreign investors have bought them with no intention of living in them or renting them out, a leading real estate expert claims.
Douglas Driscoll, the chief executive of Starr Partners, estimates the number of unoccupied homes has almost doubled from 120,000 in 2011, in a city which is already the second most unaffordable in the world after Hong Kong.
Mr Driscoll believes the empty homes are a major contributor to Sydney's housing crisis, which has seen prices double in the past eight years and rise at an average of $222 a day.
'Foreign investors are only exacerbating the problem by buying properties and leaving them vacant,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
There are 200,000 homes in prime Sydney real estate sitting empty because foreign investors are snapping them up, a real estate boss claims. File photo
Foreign investors are accused of buying properties and leaving them vacant (terraces in inner-city Paddington pictured)
'(It) only gained genuine momentum in 2012 and in just a few short years we are already seeing 10-20 per cent of property being sold in some pockets to offshore buyers, which leaves a lot of Australians on the sidelines.'
Mr Driscoll said the government needed to realise the effect of empty homes on housing affordability and urgently start addressing it.
'Foreign investment is not the elephant in the room, it is a heard of elephants in the room and more needs to be done,' he said.
'These properties should be offered for rent, but if they were to hit the open sales market, it would certainly help alleviate the sparsity issue we are currently facing.'
The chief executive of Starr Partners said empty homes were affecting housing affordability
Sydney's housing crisis has seen prices double in the past eight years and rise at an average of $222 a day
Inner-city areas of Sydney are regarded as being more likely to have properties left vacant
Mr Driscoll said hotspots included anywhere in the inner-city or where new houses or apartments were going up, such as Alexandria, Waterloo, Green Square, Sydney's city centre, Parramatta, and even Blacktown.
'There are some developments where you can see straight through apartments because there's no furniture,' he said.
'In my own building in Kirribilli there's 35 units and three of them are left empty.'
He said Chinese buyers were used to not receiving much of a return on investment and believed tenants lowered property values by putting 'wear and tear' on them.
'They bring that same mentality over here without doing the research,' he said.
The real estate boss said Chinese investors were leaving properties empty to avoid wear and tear if they weren't receiving much return on them
'A lot of them are also buying their children's future, even if they are only in their teens, they are buying them now in highly desirable inner-city areas.
'When their children are old enough they send them off to university and that's where they live. So they might sit empty for three or four years.'
He said Australia was also an attractive location because homes were much bigger than those in Asia.
'On average, an Australian home has 89 square metres of floor space, while a country like China has about 33 square metres of space,' he said.
The head of Starr Partners wants financial penalties imposed for investors who left properties vacant for more than 12 months
Douglas Driscoll argued a shortage of rental properties, caused by investors refusing to lease them out, was creating social and economic problems
Mr Driscoll's said investors didnt get capital gains tax concessions if the property was uninhabited for more than 12 months, but more needed to be done.
'The government should introduce significant financial penalties or inordinate property taxes for any property owned by a non-resident that is known to be empty for more than 12 months,' he said.
'NSW accounts for half of all investor mortgage finance. Such a strong level of investor interest in Sydney is pushing up the price of our dwellings and its time for government intervention to reduce this.
'Im certainly not against foreign investment or property investment as a whole, but I do believe it has led to the market becoming hugely out of kilter, causing a multitude of social and economic issues.'
He said this policy wasn't aimed at holiday homes because those were almost always outside metro areas and not adding to housing affordability woes.
Foreign investors snapping up properties are pricing young people out of Sydney's housing market
Investors are more likely to be hoarding properties in Sydney (in places like Eastwood in the city's north pictured) than in regional areas, the Starr Partners chief executive said
Douglas Driscoll praised Mirvac's Olympic Park development in Sydney's west for setting aside flats for first-home buyers and only requiring a five per cent deposit
Mr Driscoll applauded developments like Mirvac's new high-rise project in Olympic Park, in Sydney's west, where the first 60 of 690 flats were set aside for first home buyers for only a five per cent deposit.
A housing affordability survey last month ranked Sydney as the second more unaffordable city in the world behind only Hong Kong.
The median house price now stands at $1.1 million, 12.2 times the average annual wage, and dropping to $850,000 when units were included.
It doubled since 2009, increasing 16 per cent in the past year alone, with the most sought-after suburbs rising by more than $1,000 a day.
Supermarkets have been accused of ignoring the 5p plastic bag charge by using a 'ridiculous loophole' allowing them to charge online shoppers 40p for unlimited numbers.
Environmental campaigners and MPs have said it needs to be stopped because it offers no incentive to reduce bag use unlike the strict rules followed at the checkout.
Charging 5p inside the supermarket means shoppers took home six billion fewer plastic bags in 2016, down to 500million from seven billion just before the charge was introduced in 2015.
Yet Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose all charge a flat 40p fee for deliveries based on the eight bags usually needed for an average online shop - but some shoppers say excessive bags are often used.
The law states that councils should fine supermarkets up to 20,000 because it means bags are being sold at below the 5p legal threshold - but anecdotally it appears this is not being applied, one Government source said.
Labour MP Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, told MailOnline the situation was ridiculous while Green co-leader Caroline Lucas says the 40p flat fee 'risks fatally undermining the gains from charging'.
Weekly shop: Sainsbury's has been branded 'wasteful' after it delivered 53 shopping items in 23 carrier bags including some containing single items
Upset: Shoppers have vented their anger online when they have been given too many bags by online retailers charging a flat 40p fee as opposed to a per bag rate
Evidence: This Sainsbury's shop came with several items packed one item per bag
Policy: Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose all charge a flat 40p fee for plastic bags for bagged-up deliveries based on average of eight needed for an average shop
Mistakes: Online shoppers have revealed that in some cases excessive bags are being sent by supermarkets - sometimes even if they don't request them
Yesterday it was revealed that Sainsbury's delivered 53 shopping items in 23 carrier bags to mother-of-two Andrea Berry, 38, even though she only paid for eight.
Have you had an internet shopping disaster? Email news@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement
Labour MP Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, told MailOnline the situation was ridiculous.
Capping the costs of plastic bags does not act as an incentive for people shopping online, she said.
She added that supermarkets had to be much more careful about how they told staff to pack shopping.
How four of the major supermarkets charge the 40p flat fee for bags Sainsbury's A flat fee of 40p is charged for each online grocery order. Customers can also opt for a bagless delivery. Tesco Customers who opt for a bagged online order are charged a flat rate of 40p. Their website says: 'We've worked this out based on the average number of bags needed to pack an order. You can avoid the charge by opting for a bagless order'. Asda Home shopping customers who receive deliveries pay a flat 40p per order if they ask for bags. Some items such as meat are delivered in bags for hygiene reasons - these bags are free of charge. Waitrose If you choose to have your delivery in carrier bags, Waitrose will charge a flat rate of 40p per delivery. You can choose to have your collection bagless, or in carrier bags. Morrisons Carrier bag charges of 5p apply both in-store and online. They offer a 5p incentive for the return of bags from the previous shop. Ocado They charge 5p for single-use plastic carrier bags and apply the same online because 'it's fairer on everyone if we only charge for the exact number of bags used to pack your shopping'. Shoppers are given 5p for every used bag they give back to recycle. Advertisement
There are lots of items that are pre wrapped already. There are plenty of things like boxes of cereal that can be quickly unloaded from a palette,' she said.
Whilst there will always be individual circumstances for fragile items, but 23 bags for 53 items is just ridiculous.
Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, told MailOnline: 'A flat rate cost for unlimited plastic bags risks fatally undermining the gains from charging.
'With the evidence in favour of a 'per bag' charge so abundant there's no reason whatsoever for allowing supermarkets to set their own rules by offering a flat rate. Instead customers should pay a modest 'per bag' rate and supermarkets should make sure that they use as few bags as possible in their deliveries.
'Britain is taking real strides towards reducing our plastic waste and we could go even further if we end this loophole.'
Kate Parminter, Liberal Democrat DEFRA spokesman said: 'The whole point of introducing the 5p charge was to reduce the number of unnecessary plastic bags which are thrown away and end up in landfill.
'Consumers are cutting the number of bags they use and its unfair if supermarkets dont do the same. When someone does an online shop and they are being charged for bags they expect only the minimum needed to be used. Shoppers are doing the right thing: supermarkets should do the same.'.
Social media has plenty of examples where shoppers have complained about being given excess bags, sometimes because supermarket staff are putting just one item in each one.
Last year Martin Wingate tweeted photographs of a bottle of Tabasco sauce in a plastic bag with nothing else, and another with aluminium foil also in a single bag.
He then tweeted the supermarket and said: '@sainsburys good excessive use of plastic bags on the home delivery'.
Roisin Rogers also tweeted pictures of her Asda shop with three bags all containing single items.
She said: '@asda @AsdaServiceTeam my online delivery, good to see you take not wasting plastic bags seriously'.
In June last year Tim Bunton photographed how Asda had put two small bags of children's snacks in a single bag.
He wrote: '@AsdaServiceTeam home delivery just arrived. Glad to see the saving on plastic bags is being put to good use!!'
Anger: MPs Mary Creagh and Caroline Lucas say that the flat rate should simply not be allowed
The new law to charge 5p for plastic bags was brought in in October 2015 and has had a huge impact on the number used.
More than seven billion single-use plastic bags were handed out by the main retailers in 2014.
Are supermarkets really allowed to charge a flat fee? Large retailers must charge for plastic bags used for deliveries and online sales, including click-and-collect and collections. The number of bags used isnt always known until delivery takes place so this means retailers can charge for an average number of bags for multi-bag deliveries, as long as 5p or more is charged per bag overall. They are encouraged to offer bagless delivery as an option - this will cut down on waste. Any supermarket's local council should inspect them to check they are following the law. Inspectors can visit the shop or store at any time to make test purchases and demand records. Inspectors dont have to give a warning but can carry these out as secret shopper exercises. If they find a problem they can issue a 20,000 fine but it is not clear if that is happening. Advertisement
But in the six months that followed the introduction of the charge in England in October 2015, that figure dropped to just half a billion.
That means six billion fewer bags will have been taken home by shoppers in 2016.
Ministers said this was the equivalent to the weight of roughly 300 blue whales, 300,000 sea turtles or three million pelicans.
The 5p charge has also resulted in donations of more than 29million from retailers towards good causes, including charities and community groups.
The Mail launched its Banish the Bags campaign in an effort to reduce the waste, cost and environmental damage associated with the billions of plastic bags given away each year, a symbol of our throwaway society.
The Mails campaign, which began in 2008, swiftly received cross party political support and was backed by a string of large retailers though some of the major supermarkets tried to fight it tooth and nail.
The countrys biggest retailer, Tesco, opposed mandatory charges insisting it could deliver reductions in the number of bags given away at tills through voluntary means. Initially, ministers gave big stores the chance to clean up their act without the need for a new law.
But it appears there could be a problem in the online shopping sector.
Mother-of-two Andrea Berry has branded Sainsbury's 'wasteful' and its staff 'lazy' after it delivered 53 shopping items in 23 carrier bags including some containing single items.
She placed an 103 order online and the weekly haul was delivered to her door on Tuesday morning as usual.
But the IT consultant was baffled when the Sainsbury's driver started handing her near-empty plastic bags, most containing only one or two items.
And she couldn't resist lining up the 23 bags on her kitchen floor for a photograph so she could shame the 'lazy' supermarket's staff.
Savvy shopper: Mother-of-two Andrea Berry, 38, (left) from Hampshire, placed an 103 order online (right) and the weekly haul was delivered to her door on Tuesday morning as usual
Every meat product was double wrapped and packed in separate carriers while one mango was given its very own bag.
She said: 'I imagine the pickers go around the aisles and pick things up in order, but they don't seem to have used any common sense.
'It's just lazy. It's probably someone who's not really thinking about what they are doing, but I'm guessing it happens with all their customers.
'The staff clearly don't think, "I've got half a dozen fruit and veg items so they can all go in together" - even that was divided between three or four bags.
MailOnline has approached Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Waitrose for comment.
Up to 100 Pepsi workers are set to be laid off, with the company blaming a Philadelphia soda tax for the cuts.
But the move has been branded a 'new low' for the industry by the city, which accused Pepsi of 'holding hostage the jobs of hard-working people'.
The company, which employs 423 people in the city, claims the tax has caused a 40 per cent slump in its sales.
Pepsi said it has suffered a 40 per cent slump in sales because of the tax, meaning it has no choice but to cut jobs
In June last year, Philadelphia City Council approved a 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks - which amounts to $1.44 on a six-pack of 16-ounce bottles.
The move was introduced to fund an ambitious early childhood education programme, the city said at the time.
Company spokesman Dave DeCecco told the Philadelphia Inquirer: 'Unfortunately, after careful consideration of the economic realities created by the recently enacted beverage tax, we have been forced to give notice that we intend to eliminate 80 to 100 positions, including frontline and supervisory roles.'
But a city spokeswoman hit back: 'The soda industry sunk to a new low today. They are literally holding hostage the jobs of hard-working people in their battle to overturn the tax.'
The company employs 423 people in the city, and says 80 to 100 will be laid off, but the city has hit back
She said that Pepsi had reported $6billion in profit over the past year, and said people should be 'skeptical' about whether the cuts are due to the tax.
It comes a month after Canada Dry Delaware Valley announced 35 jobs are set to go, while Jeff Brown, who owns ShopRite stores in the city told the Inquirer that as many as 300 jobs are at risk.
The city said 191 teaching positions and 60 support staff jobs have been created.
Russian warplanes bombed US-backed fighters in several small villages in northern Syria after they mistakenly thought Islamic State group forces were in the area, a US general says.
Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said on Wednesday Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages to the south and east of Al-Bab in Aleppo province, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties.
The Russians apparently had observed Islamic State fighters moving from the area and wrongly assumed that other forces remaining were jihadists during the attack on Tuesday.
'We had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS, yet... actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces,' Townsend told reporters in a video call from Baghdad.
Russian warplanes bombed US-backed fighters in several small villages in northern Syria after they mistakenly thought Islamic State group forces were in the area, a US general says
The SAC forms part of a broader alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) comprising Kurdish and other groups that the United States has been training and advising to lead the anti-IS fight.
US troops operating less than three miles from the villages observed the bombing and communicated the error, which was then passed to the Russians through a 'deconfliction' hotline the two powers have established to avoid mishaps.
'It became apparent that the strikes were falling on some of the Syrian coalition positions,' Townsend said.
Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages to the south and east of Al-Bab in Aleppo province, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties
'Some quick calls were made to our deconfliction channels and the Russians acknowledged and stopped bombing there.'
The Russian defense ministry denied conducting air strikes but confirmed communication through the hotline.
'During these talks, the US Air Force representative expressed concern that Syrian and Russian airplanes could inflict an unintentioned strike on US-controlled armed groups while carrying out combat missions against (IS) south of Manbij,' the Russian ministry said in a statement.
'This information was taken into account by the Russian command. Not one strike was carried out by Syrian or Russian aviation on the districts pointed out by the American side.'
About 500 US troops are in Syria, almost all of them special operations commandos. Their role is currently limited to advising local forces and staying behind front lines.
Hardly straightforward to begin with, the anti-IS fight in civil war-torn Syria is growing ever more complex.
Russia is using air power to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad but also sometimes strikes IS.
A member of Free Syrian Army uses a mine detector in the Syrian town of Al Bab after the town center was freed from Daesh terrorists on February 24
Turkey has moved into northern Syria and is battling IS while also trying to keep US-backed Kurdish forces in check. And America is trying to support the Kurds while not alienating ally Turkey.
'It's a very complicated battlefield situation where essentially three armies and an enemy force have all converged within the same grid square,' Townsend said.
'Everybody should keep their sights focused on ISIS... and not fighting deliberately or accidentally one another.'
Anti-IS operations in Syria will eventually center on Raqa, the supposed capital of the 'caliphate' that IS declared in 2014.
Given the political sensitivities, questions abound on the extent to which Kurdish forces would be involved in the offensive and whether they would enter the city.
A fighter of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, looks with binoculars as he sits next to anti-tank weapons in the village of Sabah al-Khayr
Townsend said he expects the Kurds to take part in the Raqa offensive 'in one form or fashion.'
'The facts are there are Kurds from Raqa and larger Raqa district and province. So there are Kurds from there, local Kurds who will participate.'
Separately, Townsend said between 12,000 and 15,000 IS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, an indication of a significant dwindling of the jihadists' forces.
The US military only provides periodic updates on estimates of IS fighters but in 2015 and 2016, the Pentagon put the number at between 20,000 and 30,000 in the two countries.
Townsend said the remaining forces are split about equally between Syria and Iraq, and are still able to cross the border.
Every trade has its master - in this case its billionaire - no matter how humble it is.
A self-made entrepreneur who once dashed between cities to deliver goods for clients has built an impressive courier empire and is now one of China's richest men.
Wang Wei, the boss of SF Express, has seen his personal worth rocketing to a whopping 22.5 billion (189.9 billion yuan) since his company went public last week.
Wang Wei is now the third richest man in China thanks to his company SF Express. He was pictured speaking during SF Express's listing ceremony on February 24
With 120,000 employees and 13,000 offices, SF Express is the biggest Chinese courier firm
Zep Lee (right), the International Business Unit CEO of SF and Ray Li (left), the International Business Unit CFO and CMO pose with SF courier envelope and courier box
This means the 46-year-old has become the third richest man in China, after property tycoon Wang Jianlin, worth 25.6 billion, and e-commerce mogul Jack Ma, worth 23.5 billion.
SF EXPRESS: CHINA'S COURIER KINGDOM Wang Wei founded SF Express in Shunde, Guangdong Province, in 1993. Now one of the world's largest courier companies, SF Express started from six staff. As of 2016, the company has more than 120,000 employees, 13,000 offices, 150,000 vehicles and planes, according to the company's website. The company established its own airline, SF Airline, in 2009. A total of 38 cargo planes deliver some 1,400 tonnes of packages every day within China and to over 200 countries. Advertisement
SF Express completed its back-door listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Friday.
The listing has made SF Express the biggest Chinese courier company by market capitalisation, surpassing its rival ZTO Express which went public in October on the New York Stock Exchange after raising 1.4 billion.
The move has also made Wang Wei, the chairman and founder of SF Express, a multi-billionaire.
The share price of SF Express was 5.93 (50.18 yuan) when the market opened at 9:30am on February 24.
Since then, the company has reached limit-up in five consecutive days. Its share price rose to 8.26 (70 yuan) when the market closed on Wednesday.
As a result, Wang Wei's assets have ballooned to 22.2 billion (188.6 billion yuan).
If SF Express's share price continues to grow at the current rate, Wang is expected to overtake Wang Jianlin and become the richest man in China.
Wang's fortune rose to 22.2 billion after SF Express went public on Shenzhen Stock Exchange
This means Wang, 46, is now the third richest man in China, after property tycoon Wang Jianlin (left) and e-commerce mogul Jack Ma (right)
SF Express's share price rose to 8.26 (70 yuan) when the market closed on Wednesday
Almost every resident in China has received or sent a SF Express package at one point in the past decade. Wang Wei's 120,000-strong delivery team zip around Chinese cities and towns, delivery anything from a million pound business contract to a bag of chicken feet.
The legend of the mega-rich man started 24 years ago when Wang Wei, a fabric dealer at the time, had trouble mailing his samples from Guangdong to neighbouring Hong Kong for his clients to see.
Two decades ago, the only way for Chinese people to send letters and parcels was to go through the state-owned postal system, which was slow and costly. Same-day courier was a concept unheard of even to the most ambitious businessmen.
Having seen an opportunity in the market, Wang, at the age of 22, reportedly borrowed 11,800 (10,000 yuan) from his father to start a courier company in the city of Shunde.
With six employees, SF Express helped factories in Guangdong mail business products to Hong Kong, which was still a British colony.
SF Express has its own airline which boasts a fleet of 38 Boeing aircraft. SF Airlines delivers 1,400 tonnes of goods every day
The company has over 120,000 employees, 13,000 offices, 150,000 vehicles and 36 planes
Wang was born in Shanghai to a Russian translator father and university teacher mother. He moved to Hong Kong at the age of seven and grew up there.
A low-profile man by nature, Wang rarely gives interviews.
In a 2011 interview with Guangzhou Daily, the man explained his motivation of building SF Express: 'Many Hong Kong people had factories in Guangdong at the time, and they had the demands (for courier service).
'So I thought: 'Why don't I start a courier company myself?' As a result, I founded SF in Shunde with some partners.'
He recalled that he had to deliver parcels himself in the early days of the company. '[We] carried our backpacks and our suitcases travelling between Hong Kong and Guangdong every day.'
By offering cheap and punctual service, SF Express quickly expanded.
By 1997, four years after SF Express's establishment, it had gained a monopoly on the courier market between Guangdong and Hong Kong, according to Shanghai-based financial media Yicai.com.
The year 1997 marked the hand-over of Hong Kong from British rulers to Chinese Communist Party. After that, the trade between two sides of the border grew dramatically, which propelled Wang's business to increase by leaps and bounds.
Meanwhile, Wang set up franchise branches throughout China.
Wang Wei started his delivery empire with a small company in Shenzhen with just six staff
Wang rang the bell last week on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange market as SF Express was listed
In 2003, Wang decided to speed up SF's delivery time by chartering cargo aeroplanes, something unprecedented to private courier companies in China.
Thanks to China's e-commerce boom since 2005, SF Express benefited from the huge market online shopping had created which saw billions of items needed to be delivered daily.
In 2009, chartered aeroplanes could no longer satisfy Wang's business appetite. He set up his own airline, SF Airlines, to dispatch packages.
To date, 1,400 tonnes of packages are sent by Wang's fleet of 38 Boeing aircraft on a daily basis, including five B767s, 16 B757s and 17 B737.
In explaining his road to wealth, the modest man said there is only one way to build a successful business, that is to be 'daring, creative and responsible'.
Having grown his fortune from 12,000 in debt to a staggering 22 billion, Wang has written an incredible rags-to-riches story - and it all started with his backpacks and suitcases.
A man threatened to 'knock out' a woman after she confronted a couple who allegedly took photos of her at a bus stop.
Alexandra Clay, 21, was waiting for a bus in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood in April last year when she noticed an older woman with a 'professional-looking camera'.
'She wasnt being discreet, she was about five metres away from me,' Ms Clay told Daily Mail Australia.
'It was obvious a photo was being taken in my direction.'
Alexandra Clay, 21, confronted this woman (left) after she allegedly refused to delete photos of Ms Clay taken without permission. The man (right) became involved after Ms Clay touched the woman's camera
'I saw there were at least six photos of my face extremely close-up,' Ms Clay told Daily Mail Australia
Curious as to what the woman took photos of, Ms Clay at first sat behind the woman after they boarded the bus.
'I saw there were at least six photos of my face extremely close-up,' Ms Clay told Daily Mail Australia.
'The pictures were zoomed in on my head and shoulders, you couldn't see any background- that's how close they were.'
Angry over the invasion of privacy - Ms Clay confronted the woman and asked her to delete the photo, filming the exchange on her phone.
'In the video her [The older woman's] voice is so quiet, but at one point she asks me what I'm doing and I tell her I'm filming her.
'You can just make her out saying ''two can play at that game'' and she tries to use her camera again.'
Ms Clay - unwilling to have more photos of herself on the woman's camera - can be seen placing her hand gently on the camera.
That was when a man in a blue shirt sitting across the aisle becomes involved, rising from his seat and approaching the 21-year-old.
'Put that down or I'll knock you out,' he can be heard saying - balling up his fist and demanding that Ms Clay stop filming.
Angry over the invasion of privacy - Ms Clay confronted the woman and asked her to delete the photo, filming the exchange on her phone
The woman said ''two can play at that game'' and tried to use her camera again, Ms Clay said. The 21-year-old can be seen placing her hand gently on the camera to deter her
'Put that down or I'll knock you out,' the man can be heard saying - balling up his fist and demanding that Ms Clay stop filming
Eventually the bus driver intervened, telling the man to sit down. At that point Ms Clay decided to get off the bus at an earlier stop.
'He [the driver] asked if I wanted him to close the doors or call the police but I didn't want to hold up the others that were on the bus.
'They never told me why they have the photos and they never deleted them,' Ms Clay said.
'I remember being particularly angry as it happened on my birthday - I couldn't believe it.'
And despite reporting the incident to police, Ms Clay was told there was nothing authorities could do.
Eventually the bus driver intervened, telling the man to sit down. At that point Ms Clay decided to get off the bus at an earlier stop
Despite reporting the incident to police, Ms Clay was told there was nothing authorities could do
She released the footage after she crossed paths with the couple on Thursday morning, when she saw them on another bus.
'I didn't want to be on the same bus as them - so I had to wait for the next one, which made me 10 minutes late for my new job.
'I just hate that nearly a year later it's still having an impact on my life even though I didn't do anything wrong.'
She says around seven other people have come forward with their own alleged experiences with couple after she posted the footage.
One claims the pair are in fact brother and sister and are often seen around local supermarkets.
Chris Guest More (pictured) became one of the UKs most wanted criminals after he fled to Spain following the shocking torture and murder of Brian Waters in June 2003
Tens of thousands of crime suspects are on the loose because of the near perilous state of policing.
The official watchdog says many cases are being shelved without proper investigation, emergency calls downgraded and victims left in danger.
Almost 46,000 suspects are now on the police wanted database including 343 sought for murder or manslaughter and 1,012 for rape.
The hard-hitting report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary accused the 43 forces of England and Wales of failing the public.
Zoe Billingham, who heads the watchdog, said: We are leading to a very serious conclusion regarding the potentially perilous state of British policing in this report. We are raising a red flag: it is a large red flag.
Her inspection concluded that:
A shortage of detectives and investigators amounted to a national crisis;
Constabularies wrote off too many domestic abuse cases;
2,700 sex offenders had not been fully assessed for the risk they posed to the public;
Only 19 per cent of the public had seen a beat bobby in the past month as the decline of community policing continued;
Gangs of dangerous criminals were not being formally classified and monitored.
Police unions blamed crippling cuts to budgets as part of the national austerity drive.
Since 2009 the year before the Tory-led coalition came to power forces have lost around 21,500 officers. Miss Billingham said the issues facing the police were not solely down to the budget cuts imposed by the Government.
Twenty per cent of the 45,960 wanted suspects on the database were being sought for theft and one in eight for violence. Other main categories included terrorism and firearms offences.
HMIC said it had serious concerns that forces were taking insufficient action to actively find suspects. It added: Too often suspects wanted in connection with crimes are not being tracked down relentlessly.
Among those who have fled justice is a man alleged to have shot dead a teenager and then a mother of three 12 months later.
THE FUGITIVES WHO ARE WANTED FOR RAPE AND MURDER Chris Guest More MURDER Chris Guest More, 39, became one of the UKs most wanted criminals after he fled to Spain following the shocking torture and murder of Brian Waters in June 2003. Three men were jailed but More has never been found after fleeing 36 hours after the attack in Tabley, Cheshire. His millionaire father Christopher was jailed for nine months in 2004 for assisting an offender after visiting his son in Malaga with cash and clothes. David Ungi MURDER David Ungi, 24, is thought to be in the Netherlands after fleeing Britain 18 hours after the 2015 drive-by shooting of Vinny Waddington, 18, in Liverpool. Arif Chowdhury CHILD ABUSE Arif Chowdhury, 20, the suspected ringleader of a gang who allegedly raped a girl of 13, fled after he was freed on bail. Police believe he is hiding in Bangladesh. Kevin Thomas Parle MURDER Kevin Thomas Parle, 36, fled Liverpool after the shooting of Liam Kelly, 16, in 2004. A year later he became a suspect in the killing of mother Lucy Hargreaves. Sultan Amari RAPE Syrian migrant Sultan Amari, 46, fled to Turkey during his trial last year for raping a university student in Chester. He was given 11 years jail in his absence. Costas Sampson RAPE Costas Sampson, 26, a Greek Cypriot, fled the country on the day he was due to stand trial for the rape of a girl he met in a London nightclub in 2010. Advertisement
Others on the run include a Syrian migrant rapist who fled to Turkey half way through his trial last year. HMIC found that the details of at least 67,000 people suspected of committing offences were not on the database if stopped in another part of the country it would not flag up that they were wanted.
Inspectors said the public was being left at unacceptable risk because some hard-pressed forces were downgrading emergency calls. This meant officers would be permitted to respond to a call within an hour, instead of the standard 15 minutes.
Another tactic was that of failing to send officers to domestic abuse incidents. The 128-page report said the unwelcome practices had the effect of artificially suppressing the demand for the police to take prompt and effective action. The watchdog said this was a form of rationing of police services.
One in five investigations were never taken further because the victim did not support police action. In domestic abuse cases, this rose to a third. Inspectors said some forces were using this option to close investigations prematurely.
The report said: Overuse of this outcome is likely to mean that far too many perpetrators of extremely harmful domestic abuse crimes are not being brought to justice and victims are being failed by the police.
Miss Billingham said: We have seen how some forces are attempting to reduce pressure on their teams by artificially suppressing or downgrading calls upon their service, reducing their ability to take the most effective and prompt action. This is often an unintended consequence of recent changes forces have made, frequently in response to the challenge of austerity, and as they struggle to respond to increasing and ever changing levels of demand.
Consequently, some basic things are not being done. We found evidence of fewer arrests being made, some crimes are being shelved without proper investigations and suspects are not always being relentlessly tracked down.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Brian Paddick, a former senior police officer, said: It is totally unacceptable that police officers, who are doing more than anyone can reasonably expect of them, are being forced to downgrade life at risk calls.
How long before someone dies because there is no police officer to respond? The police are not doing enough to keep us safe from some of the most dangerous criminals. Hundreds of killers and rapists are not being kept under control. These people should not be on our streets.
Lucy Hastings, of the charity Victim Support, said victims were being let down.
Overall, one force was judged to be outstanding, 28 were good, 13 required improvement and one was rated inadequate. Michael Barton, the National Police Chiefs Council spokesman for crime operations, said it was disappointing that HMIC had concerns that some forces were falling short.
He blamed budget reductions and the loss of thousands of officers and staff, adding: Its a simple reality that we are required to prioritise more.
Steve White of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said: What we are seeing is a service that is only being driven by cost constraints and some areas of policing are on the critical list and heading towards intensive care.
Brandon Lewis, the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, said: 'I am pleased that two-thirds of forces are rated in todays report as either good or outstanding.
'But a number clearly still have to do more to deliver the services communities expect and deserve. Those identified as inadequate or requiring improvement must take urgent action.
'I am also concerned by HMIC's findings over wanted suspects not being recorded on the Police National Computer. Police chiefs must respond swiftly and decisively to HMICs recommendation, to ensure this unacceptable situation is rectified.'
A man has kissed his wife goodbye before being buried alive inside a coffin in the grounds of a church in Belfast.
John Edwards, from Dublin, Ireland, will stay underground for three days in his tiny home, which has electricity, WiFi and a duvet and pillow.
Mr Edwards, who is in his 60s, hopes his stunt will raise awareness for Walking Free, his charity which helps self-harmers, drug addicts, alcoholics, suicidal people and those with eating disorders to start their lives afresh.
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John Edwards, from Dublin, Ireland, kissed his wife Trish goodbye before being buried alive inside a coffin in the grounds of a church today
John Edwards, the founder of Walking Free, a charity set up to help suicidal and addicted people, has been buried alive
The former drug dealer and alcoholic will stay underground for three days in his tiny home, which has electricity, WiFi and a duvet and pillow
His wife of 20 years, Trish, posed for the cameras with a mock tombstone while Mr Edwards was buried on the site earlier today
The shocking stunt is set to raise awareness of the needs of despairing people while John broadcasts stories of hope from a coffin
His wife of 20 years, Trish, posed for the cameras with a mock tombstone while he was buried on the site earlier today.
As a former drug addict and alcoholic himself, Mr Edwards knows the kinds of difficulties faced by recovering substance abusers.
During his two decades as an addict Mr Edwards had cancer twice, a liver transplant and Hepatitis C, experienced homelessness, and at times felt suicidal.
He became clean and sober 23 years ago - the same year as founding the charity.
While his friends and family watch from above ground this week, Mr Edwards hopes to offer his advice to people across the world.
'I know this is a radical move but people are continually contacting me who are either suicidal or who know friends or family who are,' he told Belfast Live.
He added: 'My plan is to speak to them from the grave before they get there and show them hope.'
The devoted Christian, who says he overdosed around 20 times during his years as an addict, is using the hashtag #GraveChat in the hope that he can use social media to spread the word about his venture.
He has already broadcast several live video streams on his Facebook page from his morbid home.
He was buried on Wednesday and will spend three days underground.
As a former drug addict and alcoholic himself, Mr Edwards knows the kinds of difficulties faced by recovering substance abusers
The grave is big enough for Mr Edwards to sit up and lie down in but he won't be able to stand up
John Edwards has been buried alive to raise awareness of drug addiction and depression
While his friends and family watch from above ground this week, Mr Edwards hopes to offer his advice to people across the world
The devoted Christian, who says he overdosed around 20 times during his years as an addict, is using the hashtag #GraveChat in the hope that he can use social media to spread the word about his venture
Mr Edwards has completed the challenge once before in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in July 2016.
In an introductory video on his website, Mr Edwards said: 'We know the steps to freedom here at Walking Free.
'And we want to take you by the hand, we want to talk to you straight, we want to be loving and gentle with you but strong with you as well, to help you get that place.
'You have a future.'
European mega-retailer TK Maxx has confirmed it will open in Australia, selling heavily discounted designer clothes and homewares.
TJ Maxx, like other off-price retailers and fast-fashion chains such as Zara and H&M, offers chic and trendy clothes at lower prices to lure shoppers from department stores such as Myer and David Jones.
Spokesperson for the company Tessa Buenen told Inside Retail TK Maxx's 'off-price' model is unique to the Australian market.
European mega-retailer TK Maxx has confirmed it will open in Australia, selling heavily discounted designer clothes and homewares
Shoppers are excited about TK Maxx opening in Australia (Facebook post pictured)
TK Maxx stocks major brands, up-and-coming-labels and 'one offs' at reduced prices, and is set to disrupt Australia's department store sector (stock image)
MEET TK MAXX TJX Inc.s brands include TK Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. TK Maxx currently operates over 500 stores throughout the UK, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and The Netherlands. It offers mens, womens and childrens apparel as well as toys, bath and beauty products and homewares ranging form kitchen utensils to furniture. Advertisement
'Australian shoppers are extremely savvy and value orientated, so we think our offer is going to be a winning formula here and we're very excited about our growth opportunities for this market,' she said.
The company currently owns 35 Trade Secret outlets across Australia and will start converting them to TK Maxx stores from April, with a number of new locations set to open throughout the year.
TK Maxx is famous for its 'treasure hunt' shopping experience because customers love 'the thrill of the find,' Ms Buenen said.
'Because of the way we buy, we have several deliveries per week with thousands of new products hitting shop floors. This means that no two stores are the same, and with new products arriving regularly there will always be something new and fresh for shoppers to discover on a visit to our stores,' she said.
As an example of the savings Australians are set to make, Moda In Pelle black heels normally retail for $110 AUD but TK Maxx is selling them online for only $25 AUD.
Trade Secret is part of TJX Companies Inc., a leading 'off price' apparel and homewares retailer in the US and worldwide.
TJX is headquartered in the US and operates over 3,600 stores globally.
'There's certainly lots of expats and Australians here who are already familiar with the brand so we're excited to bring TK Maxx to Australian shores,' Ms Buenen said.
Urbanears headphones normally retail for $144 AUD, TK Maxx is selling them online for $41 AUD
William Hunt silk tie (left) normally retails for $110 AUD, TK Maxx is selling it online for $12 AUD. Moda In Pelle black heels (right) normally retail for $110 AUD, TK Maxx is selling them online for $25 AUD
TK Maxx is headquartered in the US and operates over 3,600 stores globally
It's the provocative program exploring racism in Australia, but one participant believes it is in fact promoting another type of prejudice.
Sydneysider Nick Folkes, the leader for the Party For Freedom, says SBS's The Truth About Racism has been skewed by the broadcaster to suit their own agenda.
Mr Folkes traded barbs with the host Yassmin Abdel-Magied on Wednesday, in a segment purported to show Folkes had less sympathy for people of colour. But he believes they are only showing one side of the story.
'It's completely biased. SBS is only interested in showing the token white guy as a bigot and a racist,' Mr Folkes told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr Folkes has been embroiled several heated rows on the show, most notably with the host, Ms Abdel-Magied
Chairman of the Party for Freedom leader Nick Folkes (pictured outside the Supreme Court of NSW in 2015) believes SBS's The Truth About Racism is biased
The show, which focuses on scientific research, is hosted by Muslim activist Ms Abdel-Magied, who sparked controversy on Q&A when she claimed Islam was the most feminist religion and supported Sharia Law as a code for people to live by.
Mr Folkes, the son of a Russian-refugee mother, said he was deprived of a chance to voice his own opinions on closing Australia's borders.
'They never really gave me a chance to voice my opinion, it was a stitch up. I have a right to express my identity,' Mr Folkes said.
'They just put the token white guy in this multicultural landscape. It wasn't about being an Australian, it was just promoting negativity around our national identity.'
This week's program thrust four pro-immigration participants in a room with Folkes - the leader of an anti-immigration party - to compare their reactions when a needle was inserted into the hands of both a white person and a black person.
Their brainwaves were measured to check who they showed more sympathy for. Mr Folkes, the only Caucasian to take part, was found to display less sympathy when the black person received the needle.
When asked if that was accurate, he admitted: 'Pretty right. Pretty spot on.
The show is hosted by Ms Abdel-Magied, who triggered outrage last week when she denied Islam's supposed links to sexism
Mr Folkes arrives carrying an Australian flag to a rally commemorating 10 years since the Cronulla riots
Mr Folkes, himself the son of a Russian refugee mother, said he was deprived of a chance to voice his own opinions on closing Australia's borders
Mr Folkes stormed Gosford Anglican Church last year with a group dressed as Muslim extremists
Mr Folkes, who celebrates the Cronulla Riots and stormed Gosford Anglican Church last year dressed as a Muslim extremist, said he doesn't believe Australia is racist country.
'SBS is always trying to push the message we'are all racist. I believe Australia is tolerant county, and most people don't make opinions based on skin colour.'
When asked why he held such negative views of immigration coming from a refugee background, Mr Folkes said Australia is letting in the wrong migrants.
'We are letting in far too many Muslim, black and Asian refugees. We're being robbed of our identity. We need to return to a policy based on Europen migrants.'
The Party For Freedom leader said he believes Australia is largely a tolerant country
His political party celebrates the Cronulla Riots by selling memorabilia including a $49.99 t-shirt
When asked about Australia's previous anti-immigration sentiment towards Europeans such as Greek and Italians, Mr Folkes admitted this was an issue in the past.
'There were some problems in the past, but they were never a threat to our culture. It's third world immigration that's the issue: I feel like a stranger in my own land.
SBS defended against the criticism, telling Daily Mail Australia the program gave Mr Folkes a chance to speak his views as well as challenging them.
'As one of five participants in The Truth About Racism, Nick Folkes had the opportunity to discuss his views and share his experiences, but as with all of those involved he also had his views challenged through experiments that tested the science behind racial bias.'
Kelly Landry claims she was forced to go to the police because she believed her husband had driven past her house in his luxurious black Aston Martin, a court has heard.
Ms Landry also believed a man had been taking photographs of her house and a woman in disguise had been looking through her front gate on the same afternoon.
The moments on the afternoon of February 22 were all captured on CCTV footage which was shown to a packed courtroom during a two hour hearing at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.
Ms Landry became alarmed after her brother called her around 2.15pm and said, 'I don't want to alarm you but Anthony is out the front of your house', the court was told her statement to police said.
But Anthony Bell denied he had driven past the house, telling Magistrate Barnett he was at his offices at King Street Wharf at the time where he supposedly drove past the house.
Celebrity accountant Anthony Bell has arrived at court with his 85-year-old mother Shirley
'It wasn't me,' Mr Bell said.
He even denied being the woman wearing a head scarf and large sunglasses who was seen out the front of the exclusive Watsons Bay property.
'Do you own a wig?' his lawyer, Chris Murphy, asked him during examination. 'No,' he replied.
'Have you ever dressed up as a woman?'
'No'.
The magistrate then said: 'It never even occurred to me I was being asked to make a finding that was supposed to be your client in drag. '
Mr Bell's lawyer called evidence from his executive assistant Melanie Santos and the complex's security guard.
Both told the court Mr Bell was at work at the time the Aston Martin drove past Ms Landry's house.
His estranged wife Kelly Landry is pictured here outside Waverly Court in January
The pair were seen joking and laughing as they walked into the Downing Centre in Sydney
King Street Wharf guard Daniel Saluni said his CCTV footage captured Mr Bell parking his car at the complex around 12.43pm and staying there until 5.29pm.
Mr Bell's Aston Martin Vanquish car has different features to the one Ms Landry saw on CCTV, defence witnesses said. The car Kelly Landry saw was 'definitely not the vehicle,' Mr Saluni said, adding that the rooftop had a different shape.
The court heard Ms Landry was also concerned over two incidents where Mr Bell allegedly stepped onto the jetty which leads to the house while picking up his children on his boat.
Police acting on Ms Landry's behalf asked the court to change the apprehended violence order that applies to Mr Bell to prevent him coming from within 50m of the premises.
The prosecutor argued she had genuine fears. But Magistrate Barnett refused the application.
'I am not suggesting for one moment that the fears expressed by Ms Landry are not genuinely held by Ms Landry,' he said.
But he said the 'facts as she perceives them' didn't justify changing the order.
Earlier, Mr Bell arrived at court with his 85-year-old mother for a second time following another twist in the legal battled with his estranged wife.
Mr Bell is being represented by veteran criminal defence lawyer Chris Murphy
A suited Mr Bell laughed and smiled as arrived at the Downing Centre Local Court arm-in-arm with his elderly mother, Shirley, on Thursday morning.
Police prosecutors have told the court they want to change the conditions of Ms Landry's apprehended violence order against the financier. It is unclear what the changes will be.
The court was told Mr Bell, represented by veteran criminal defence lawyer Chris Murphy, will oppose the change at a hearing later today.
Under the current terms of the court order, he must not approach where Ms Landry lives, as well as the usual AVO rules preventing him from stalking or harassing her.
The appearance comes just weeks after Mr Bell's lawyer claimed in court he had a document that would 'destroy' the prosecution case.
Mr Murphy told the court Mr Bell and his mother were 'very stressed' by the situation with Ms Landry, a former Getaway presenter.
The couple, pictured here in 2010, separated earlier this year after Ms Landry claimed Mr Bell pushed her and embarrassed her. Mr Bell has denied these claims
The former Getaway host has kept largely mum about the highly publicised ordeal
Mr Bell has denied claims he pushed Ms Landry and embarrassed her in front of her friends. Ms Landry declined to comment to Daily Mail Australia this week.
While she did not appear in court on Thursday, she was seen leaving the courthouse following the hearing.
She has kept largely mum about the highly publicised ordeal since police hit Mr Bell with the AVO in early January, with friends saying 'the truth will prevail'.
The case continues.
Health and care workers looking after dying people in their final days must do more to ask about spiritual beliefs, experts have said.
Spiritual wishes were only documented for one in seven people who died in hospitals in England who were able to communicate in their final days, a 2016 report found.
Now the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has urged health and care workers to do more to ensure they take into account cultural, religious or social preferences of adults in their final days.
Spiritual wishes were only documented for one in seven people who died in hospitals in England
A new quality standard from the health watchdog sets out standards of care for those aged 18 or over in their last two to three days of life.
Nice said that of the half a million deaths each year in England, three-quarters of these deaths were anticipated by medical staff.
It has set out a series of measures which should help those in their final days.
People should be given an individualised care plan and dying people, and those important to them, should be given opportunities to discuss the care they want to receive.
This should include asking the person where they want to be cared for and any cultural, religious or social preferences.
It also sets out a series of reviews for health and care professionals, including how they may need to anticipate that a patient will need to switch from an oral medication to an injected one.
Their hydration needs should assessed daily, Nice said.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) serves both the English NHS and the Welsh NHS
'Control of pain and other distressing symptoms is very important for dying people, but good end of life care goes far beyond that,' said Sam Ahmedzai, emeritus professor of palliative medicine and specialist member of Nice's quality standard committee.
'It includes asking about the dying person's spiritual, cultural, religious and social preferences.
'Only by attending to these issues and concerns can we deliver truly individualised care for each person and those important to them.
'How we are cared for can make a big difference to our final days, and lives on in the memories of family and friends.
'Nice wants to put the dying person and those important to them at the heart of decisions.
'This means asking people what they want and providing what they need, whenever possible.'
Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive of Nice, added: 'We know the vast majority of people in this country receive very good care at the end of life, but this isn't always the case.
'Our guidance will support doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals so that they can work together to ensure that people die with dignity, whenever possible in the place of their choosing and with their symptoms effectively controlled.'
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has urged health and care workers to do more to ensure they take into account cultural, religious or social preferences of adults in their final days
Commenting on the document, Claire Henry, chief executive of the National Council for Palliative Care, said: 'We all have a right to good quality end of life care, although not everyone currently receives this.
'This standard for the care of dying adults will help people nearing death to receive the care they deserve.'
The Revd Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England's national adviser on medical ethics, added: 'This guidance builds on Nice's 2011 recommendations for care at the end of life that highlighted the essential need for spiritual and religious care to be made available to all.
'It is distressing that currently 85% of patients in acute hospitals are not offered this care because their wishes are not sought.
'The new Nice guidelines remind us that we must do better and they underscore the vital role that chaplains play as part of a multi-disciplinary team in delivering holistic care at the end of life.
'It is important that their role is recognised, encouraged and supported in the interests of delivering better patient care.'
Twelve years ago Katrina Thomas served six months in prison, thinking she would never be able to vote again because of a felony conviction.
She found out when she was released that the Legislature had passed a bill in 2005, the year she entered prison, that allowed her to vote two years after her sentence was complete.
Now she is fighting for others to remove the two-year wait and allow them the right to vote as soon as their sentences are complete.
Thomas testified Wednesday in front of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on a bill (LB75), introduced by Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne, that would repeal the waiting period.
Before 2005, the state had a lifetime voting ban for those convicted of felonies.
Wayne, who intends to make LB75 his priority bill, told the committee the roots of disenfranchisement were racial, and the state cannot escape the context of that history.
After the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1870 gave citizens the right to vote, regardless of race, states created disenfranchisement laws, using the word felons as the vehicle. In Alabama in 1901, for example, a state senator said he knew a white man who beat his wife would not be charged with a felony, but he couldn't say the same about a black man.
"It's that type of history of prosecutorial abuse that disenfranchised many African-Americans," Wayne said.
A compromise bill (LB53) in the Nebraska Legislature passed in 2005 allowed ex-felons to vote two years after their sentences were served, returning the vote to 50,000 Nebraskans.
That was a huge step in the right direction, said Nicole Porter, of the Washington-based The Sentencing Project. But the two-year ban, she said in an interview, left the state on the list of the most restrictive states nationally.
People who have completed their sentences are expected to rejoin society by being good citizens and paying taxes.
"You lose people's participation if they don't have the right to vote, and their energy and enthusiasm may be impacted," Porter said.
Other conservative states have repealed their post-sentence voting bans, including Texas and Nevada, she said.
A study by Nebraskans for Civic Reform, "Removing the Wait: Disenfranchisement in Nebraska," released Wednesday, showed Nebraska is depriving more than 7,000 citizens who have completed their felony sentences of the right to vote.
The total number, including those in prison and jail, on parole or probation, is more than 17,500.
One of every 18 black Nebraskans -- 5.6 percent -- is deprived of the right to vote, compared to one of every 81 -- 1.2 percent -- total adults in the state.
Porter said disenfranchising people who have fully served a sentence offers no public safety benefit.
The evidence shows that people with criminal histories returning to their communities with the right to vote have lower rates of recidivism, compared to people that don't.
An article in the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal, on the violence of voicelessness, said the harms of disenfranchisement far outweigh its benefits, further alienating and isolating people when they are trying to re-integrate into society.
It communicates to the offender that total rehabilitation is impossible, and is thought to lead to more criminal activity.
"When we're in prison, we're just a number," Thomas said. "And then you tell us when we get out, you're still not a citizen."
People coming out of prison have so many concerns already, about finding a job, paying rent, reuniting with their children.
"It's just so empowering if you are able to vote," she said. "I think it really helps you to be more conscious of the things that you choose to do. ... It keeps you in check."
Former Sen. Lowen Kruse, who co-sponsored the 2005 bill with Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek and has met with inmates in the prisons over many years, told the committee his disappointment with that bill is that so many felons don't know they can vote after two years.
He remembered a former felon he met going door-to-door during his campaign who told him, through tears, that he would give anything to be able to take his kids to see him vote so they would know he was like other fathers.
Shakur Abdullah, who was sentenced as a juvenile and released from prison after 40 years, and is still waiting to be able to vote for the first time, said his inability to vote makes him a second-class citizen, with a status of taxation without representation.
"When you think of this as a faceless issue, I want you to remember my face," he said.
Wayne told the committee voting rights of felons can no longer be a partisan issue.
"Today, 150 years later, we can no longer disenfranchise people who simply made a mistake in life. When they have completed their sentence they should be able to have one of the most precious things that many people have died for and to this day they are still fighting for, he said.
No one testified in opposition to the bill, which was advanced to the full Legislature with a 5-1 vote.
Former expenses-scandal MP Douglas Hogg compared the worries of EU nationals to those of Asians in Idi Amins Uganda.
They were packed deep in the House of Lords yesterday afternoon when peers competed hard to muscle and gum their way into the Brexit debate. The place boiled with crossness. It surged with a determination to Make A (Moral) Gesture.
Amazing scenes. Have so many oldies ever behaved so adolescently?
Here was an unelected House of Parliament pushing out its chest, saying weve got a right to set the Prime Ministers negotiating hand. Under discussion was the right of EU citizens to continue to live here after we leave. Labours Lady Kennedy of the Shaws, a lawyer, set herself up as the spokeswoman of people who had written to lobby her.
Ah, so the Lords is now a representative Chamber, but representing only those who write to it?
Lord Tebbit (Con) was booed and raspberried for calling the EU citizens foreigners. But thats what they are, said a frail Tebbit. More gales of hatred. Yes, hatred that is what it felt like. The mood on the pro-EU benches, mainly Lib Dem and Labour, was ugly.
Lord Lawson, with his matadors-cap hairdo, stood in the hope of making a short speech. Siddown! yelled Europhiles. Lord Lawson disobeyed them.
There was once a time back when they were confident of their unelected power when the Upper House was a model of mildewed politeness. But that was before the European Union was given a bog-washing by our voters. That was before the place had an infusion of sharper-elbowed political careerists. That was before the political climate in this country took a turn against this red-benched chamber of inertia merchants.
Now they feel endangered and they have started to bare their fangs.
My turn! shouted a man who wanted to speak (it sounded like former MP Lord Davies of Stamford but I cannot swear to that). No, MY turn! indicated his Labour colleague Lady Symons. Shes a woman! said a third. I dont care. Ive been waiting all afternoon, snarled the first man. And they were all on the same side!
The debate on the amendment to the crucial legislation was far more bad-tempered than most sessions in the House of Lords, which prides itself on a genteel atmosphere
Repeatedly the Chief Whip, Lord Taylor whose job it is to keep order in the House had to raise his voice and restore a modicum of calm. He and others were met with jeering, hissing, quavery yelling. How several of them didnt have blue-faced collapses, it is hard to say. Walking sticks were practically whacked over heads. Geriatric, anti-democratic chaos.
As for the content of the debate, it proved a steeplechase of self-virtue, peer after peer standing to talk of his or her principles and morals.
Former expenses-scandal MP Douglas Hogg (he was the one with the moat, you may recall) was the first to rebel against the Tories. He talked to the House about the moral high ground he really did! and compared the worries of EU nationals to those of Asians in Idi Amins Uganda.
Hogg is back in Parliament because he is an elected hereditary, Viscount Hailsham. His wife Sarah used to be John Majors policy chief. She is also a peer, so it is 600 a day for the moat fund when they both clock in at the Lords.
Lord Bowness (Con) said it was quite impossible to believe Brussels would ever mistreat British expats in the EU. We should rule out diplomatic tit for tat and give foreign residents full rights. Lord Bownesss coat of arms is decorated with sausage dogs. Make of that what you will.
Lord Strathclyde (Con), less trusting than Lord Bowness, argued that setting a unilateral position on EU nationals would imperil our expats on the Costa del Sol and elsewhere.
Round the House were various faces from the past: Neil Kinnock, John Birt, David Puttnam, Norman Lamont, Ivor Richard, Michael Howard. It was like a bad version of Dr Who. Melvyn Bragg (Lab) said he was a member of a bullied minority because he was a Remainer. Diddums. But theyre hardly a minority at Westminster!
Disney CEO Bob Iger (above with his wife, journalist Willow Bay at the Oscars on Sunday) is rumored to be considering a presidential run
Disney CEO Bob Iger is considering a move in to politics and is primed to make a 2020 run for president, sources close to the businessman said on Wednesday.
Iger, 66, has even consulted his good friend former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg about a possible run, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
His rumored foray into politics comes after years of encouragement from fellow Democrats to run for office.
In June, Iger said he wouldn't rule out in public service but did say it wouldn't be for governor or senator.
He plans to remain at Disney's helm until 2018, after which point he will be free to launch a second career.
President Trump's jump straight from the boardroom to the White House is now reportedly fueling friends' hopes he will now reconsider.
Iger has not commented on the rumors. Disney did not immediately respond to requests on Wednesday night.
In June, he told THR how he wanted to 'give back in some way'.
'I will not be specific about any office. I wouldn't rule in or rule out.
'Honestly, I'm interested in politics, I'm interested in giving back in some form, performing some sort of civic duty.
'But I'm not exploring a run for governor or senator or anything along those lines. I'm focused on running Disney,' he said.
Willow Bay, Iger's journalist wife, is opposed to the idea.
Iger is already said to have consulted his friend, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg (above together with their wives in 2007) about making the transition from business to politics
Iger will remain at the helm of Disney until 2018 but said he would not rule out a foray into public service
'My wife is dead against it and has said, "Not with this wife"'. My relationship with her is good enough and important enough to me to not challenge her convictions in that regard,' he said in a November interview with Variety.
Iger is not the first business heavyweight to have his name thrown around in speculation over who may run on the Democratic ticket in 2020.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is one possible contender having embarked on a ministerial tour of the US's 50 states which Silicon Valley sources say is in aligned to his new focus on public persona.
Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who he counts as a friend, took office in 2001 after a dazzling career in business.
A Hollywood makeup artist has put her wedding on hold as she and her fiance desperately search for their missing dog.
Trendee King and James Galley, from San Jose in California, launched a no-expense spared search two weeks ago when their beloved dog Theo disappeared.
King, a 34-year-old makeup artist, was in Los Angeles buying her wedding dress when the one-year-old Brussels Griffon escaped from a pet sitter's house on February 13.
Trendee King and James Galley, from San Jose in California, launched a no-expense spared search two weeks ago when their beloved dog Theo disappeared
The one-year-old Brussels Griffon escaped from a pet sitter's house on February 13
The couple have since offered a $3,500 reward, hired a pet detective, plastered thousands of posters around the South San Francisco Bay area and even searched with a Bloodhound.
They decided to postpone their wedding indefinitely and say they won't get married until their beloved pooch is found.
'When you have a dog a little less than a year that you are falling madly in love with, and he is lost and you don't know where he is, your mind goes to a million scenarios,' King told FoxNews.
'I have to take each day one day at a time, step by step.
Trendee King and James Galley decided to postpone their wedding indefinitely and say they won't get married until their beloved pooch is found
The 34-year-old makeup artist (left) was in Los Angeles buying her wedding dress when her fiancee (right called to say their dog had escaped from a pet sitter's house
The couple have since offered a $3,500 reward, hired a pet detective, plastered thousands of posters around the South San Francisco Bay area and even searched with a Bloodhound
'Theo is my best friend, we did everything together - grocery shopping, the dog park - we slept nose-to-nose. There's something in me that knows he's alive and knows he's OK. All of this is happening for a reason.'
Galley, an executive at a Silicon Valley media company, bought the Brussels Griffon for his fiancee after she dropped her life in Los Angeles to move to San Francisco for his job.
King has worked with clients including Paula Abdul, David Beckham, Laurence Fishburne and a number of TV reality shows.
The couple also launched a social media campaign and regularly update their Facebook pages with tips that have been called in.
Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday outlined his vision for stronger military co-operation between EU nations - in what will be interpreted as a push towards an EU army.
In a blueprint on how the bloc will operate after Brexit, he envisaged a European defence union in which member states will pool military resources and even buy equipment together.
The European Commission President said in one such scenario, defence cooperation would be deepened and more money would be poured into EU missions abroad.
Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday outlined his vision for stronger military co-operation between EU nations - in what will be interpreted as a push towards an EU army
Joint procurement was put forward as one idea, with more integrated capabilities between member states.
His white paper came just days after the German military merged one of its divisions with Czech and Romanian brigades.
A UK report released yesterday warned such plans for an EU army are a threat to Nato and to Britains strategic assets.
Pooling EU resources risked encouraging member states to cut defence budgets even further, former Major General Julian Thompson warned.
In his Veterans for Britain report he said EU defence integration plans risked dragging the UK into procurement coordination via a defence single market.
He said the plans generate an alarm bell in relation to Nato, because Europe needs to be able to work closely with the US - including equipment compatibility - rather than focusing on smaller states.
Though Junckers paper was not an explicit proposal, its repeat references to closer military union underline the European Commission presidents wishes.
The highly-contentious idea of an EU army has faced strong opposition from the UK, but the EU boss outlined how being a soft power is no longer powerful enough.
Juncker has a vision of a European defence union in which member states will pool military resources
In the paper he outlines five possible scenarios for the future of the EU.
In the most radical proposition towards a federal European system, the EU chief set out how a European Defence Union could be formed.
If the EU did much more together, he said: Defence and security are prioritised. In full complementarity with Nato, a European Defence Union is created.
Cooperation in security matters is routine.
In a scenario where the EU sticks to its current course, he says the fight against terrorism would be stepped up in line with the willingness of national authorities to share intelligence.
He says: Defence cooperation is deepened in terms of research, industry and joint procurement. Member States decide to pool some military capabilities and to enhance financial solidarity for EU missions abroad.
In another scenario: A group of Member States decides to cooperate much closer on defence matters, making use of the existing legal possibilities.
This includes a strong common research and industrial base, joint procurement, more integrated capabilities and enhanced military readiness for joint missions abroad.
During a speech to the European Parliament after publishing the white paper, Mr Juncker confirmed his desire for a stronger military union and called for countries to increase defence spending.
Some MEPs immediately seized on the declaration as a concession to Donald Trump, who has urged Nato members in Europe to meet their two per cent spending commitments on defence.
Last month he said Europe must not cave in to US demands to raise military spending, saying he was against being pushed into this.
BRUSSELS CHIEF'S VISION FOR EURO ARMY
Germany and Romania agreed to deepen their defence ties in a deal last month, but the countries have a long history of military co-operation. During the Second World War, Romania joined Adolf Hitlers Axis alliance in a bid to destroy Soviet communism. Old allies: Nazis at a fascist rally in the Romanian capital Bucharest in 1940 Germany offered Romania military protection and Soviet Union territory, in exchange for its loyal support. On June 22, 1941, German forces, backed by Romanian combat troops, marched towards Stalingrad. In addition, the Romanian army supported the SS as it massacred Jews. Nazi Germany also pressured Slovakia to join the alliance by offering economic aid. Advertisement
Last month defence ministers from Germany, Romania and the Czech Republic pledged to deepen their defence ties.
The Czech Republics 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade and Romanias 81st Mechanized Brigade are to work closely with Germanys 10 Armoured Division and Rapid Response Forces Division.
Under Nato rules, smaller armies can integrate their capabilities into an organisational structure provided by a larger framework nation.
With these two arrangements, the Czech Republic and Romania each agree to contribute a brigade to a German-led multinational division, said Natos Camille Grand during the formal signing ceremony.
He added that the Framework Nations Concept brings a new dimension to the way Nato approaches multinational cooperation and capability development.
The three Allies will begin their cooperation through joint training and exercises starting this year.
Just days ago diplomats said the EU would set up a new military unit as part of its plans for greater defence cooperation.
The Military Planning and Conduct Capabilities (MPCC) unit would be responsible for the EU training missions in Somalia, Mali and Central African Republic.
EU countries have agreed on all the major outstanding issues, according to four diplomats and two EU officials.
Senior Tories have rejected the prospect of Douglas Carswell returning to the party because they believe his feud with Nigel Farage is helping to destroy Ukip.
The Clacton MP defected from the Tories three years ago, but he could now be kicked out of Ukip in a row over whether he helped stop Mr Farage getting a knighthood.
Mr Carswell is thought to have had secret talks about returning to the Tories at the next election, but Conservative Party figures yesterday dismissed the idea, with one saying many would prefer Mr Carswell to remain as Ukips sole MP as his presence continues to provoke strife.
Douglas Carswell (left) defected from the Tories three years ago, but he could now be kicked out of Ukip in a row over whether he helped stop Mr Farage (right) getting a knighthood
He said: Douglas is more useful where he is in Ukip than if we took him back. For the past two years he has helped Ukip remain plunged in a seemingly unending civil war. Why would we want to stop that?
If Douglas defected back to the Tories it would help send a message that Ukip had served its purpose, but at the moment, with him there, his constant feud with Farage seems to be helping rip the party apart.
Ukip has been embroiled in its latest civil war since it emerged Mr Carswell had joked about how Mr Farage had not been knighted in the New Years Honours for his role in the Brexit vote. Leaked emails show Mr Carswell said that Mr Farage should instead be given an OBE for services to headline writers.
Mr Carswell was summoned to a meeting with Ukip chairman Paul Oakden on Tuesday after the partys ruling national executive committee (NEC) asked him to investigate allegations the MP played a role in blocking a knighthood for the former leader.
Mr Farage yesterday attempted to duck questions about the honours during an interview on BBC Radio 4s Today programme
Ukip MEPs will discuss the issue with party leader Paul Nuttall this morning at the European Parliament in Brussels. They do not have the power to remove Mr Carswell but could recommend that the NEC is asked to kick him out.
Mr Farage yesterday attempted to duck questions about the honours during an interview on BBC Radio 4s Today programme. He eventually claimed he did not particularly want a knighthood, but then added: If something came along I might accept it.
When Mr Carswell joined from the Tories in 2014, Mr Farage welcomed him by calling his defection the bravest and most honourable thing I have ever seen in British politics. But yesterday Mr Farage said: Hes been working against us ever since the General Election, working with his Tory friends, and working, frankly, not just to divide Ukip, but to neutralise Ukip in the referendum campaign. We should have got rid of him a long time ago. Hes behaved very dishonestly.
Asked about claims Mr Carswell was in talks with the Tories about switching back, Mr Farage said: Did he ever leave the Conservatives?
He added that Mr Carswell had to go because I dont want my successor to have to put up with the same sabotage and division that I did.
Mr Carswell last night insisted he was 100 per cent Ukip.
During his time with the Tories, Mr Carswell frequently rebelled against his party on Europe. In December 2015, then-prime minister David Cameron joked in the Commons about how Mr Carswell had fallen out with Mr Farage, saying: Im not surprised that he is giving his new boss as much trouble as he used to give me.
A millionaire rogue landlord parked his 200,000 white Ferrari on the pavement outside court as he appeared before magistrates to appeal a conviction for illegally evicting tenants.
Zahid Khan, 30, had previously been found guilty of six charges at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, when he was accused of forcing out the tenants who had rented a luxury home from him in Moseley, Birmingham.
The working professionals who had rented Khan's 700,000 house claimed he and another man ordered them to leave the property, threatening to change the locks if they refused to comply.
A millionaire rogue landlord parked his 200,000 white Ferrari on the pavement outside Birmingham Magistrates Court
Zahid Khan was originally found guilty of six charges relating to a luxury home he let to professionals
The court was told Khan's luxury six-bedroom home had holes in the ceiling, a faulty electrical socket and tripping hazards on the stairs
Almost three years ago, Khan was ambushed by thieves who stole his brand new 250,000 Rolls Royce and demanded a cash ransom
The court was told Khan's luxury six-bedroom house, which boasted a swimming pool and home cinema, had holes in the ceiling, a faulty electrical socket and tripping hazards on the stairs.
Millionaire businessman Khan was originally found guilty of six charges and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service, but at an appeal the court upheld only three of the charges, and dismissed three others.
Magistrates upheld his convictions for interfering with the peace and comfort of tenants, failing to provide adequate smoke alarms, and failing to obtain an HMO licence for the property, the Birmingham Mail reports.
However, they cleared Khan of failing to ensure the property was kept in good and clean decorative repair, failure to ensure the internal structure of the property was maintained in good repair; and failure to ensure that any fixtures, fittings or appliances were maintained in good repair.
The car he parked outside court is just one of his fleet of expensive vehicles including a Rolls Royce, pictured
Khan's car collection includes more than one Ferrari, including the 458 Spider he parked outside court (not pictured)
Khan has said he is planning to appeal the remaining three charges he was convicted of
He arrived at court in a white Ferrari 458 Spider, worth around 200,000 - just one of his fleet of expensive cars.
Khan left the vehicle parked on the pavement outside the court building while he faced magistrates.
The court had originally been ordered by the court to pay 5,700, but he was slapped with an additional charge of 2,000 following the appeal.
Trainee pilot Khan was accused of intimidating tenants who had rented his luxury home
The court had originally been ordered by the court to pay 5,700, but he was slapped with an additional charge of 2,000 following the appeal
Millionaire businessman Zahid Khan has previously boasted about his playboy lifestyle
Khan told the Birmingham Mail he would be further appealing the remaining three convictions, adding that he also planned to bring a civil claim against the tenants, who he alleged had damaged his property.
He said: 'I will be re-appealing for the whole case to be thrown out as I have overwhelming evidence which supports my innocence.
'The council have not carried out their enquiries fairly and failed to bring forward the main witness who was responsible for the let.'
Khan previously said the court battle had cost him 15,000 so far, saying he was willing to spend more to get justice.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is facing demands to abandon a planned increase in insurance premium tax and give drivers a break in next weeks Budget.
The Government has already been under pressure over Justice Secretary Liz Trusss announcement of a new injury payout rate that could see up to 300 added to the premiums of older drivers.
Now the Chancellor is under fire over insurance premium tax a levy put on all premiums which will raise 18billion over the next three years from car, home and private medical cover.
Under fire: Chancellor Philip Hammond in the Commons. He is facing demands to abandon a planned increase in insurance premium tax and give drivers a break in next weeks Budget
Another increase the third in two years is due to come into force in June, and Treasury figures show it is expected to raise nearly 1billion extra a year.
Drivers also face a sharp rise in premiums from March 20 when the changes to the injury payout rates come into effect.
On Tuesday, Mr Hammond said ministers would progress urgently with a review of the way rates are set, following a meeting with insurance industry executives.
Signalling a retreat, Mr Hammond suggested the law could be changed at an early stage, raising hopes the method by which the rate is calculated could be scrapped to ease the impact on motorists.
But last night opposition politicians and motoring groups warned the insurance premium levy was a tax on people who behave responsibly and urged Mr Hammond to reverse Junes rise.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: The Chancellor should drop the large insurance hike. It is time to give drivers a break'
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: The Chancellor should drop the large insurance hike. It is time to give drivers a break. Car owners pay enough in tax to drive on usually pretty poor roads, and dont need the Government coming to them over and over again to fleece them for more cash.
Edmund King, president of the AA, added: Consumers dont have bottomless pockets and this insurance premium tax is a swingeing tax on responsible behaviour. People will simply not bother to insure their homes or will consider driving illegally.
Ministers have faced accusations of stealth increases in the insurance premium tax, which was raised twice by George Osborne.
The Government has already been under pressure over Justice Secretary Liz Trusss announcement of a new injury payout rate
In 2015 it stood at 6 per cent. It is now at 10 per cent, but as a result of changes announced in last years Autumn Statement, it will rise to 12 per cent in June a doubling in just 18 months.
A report published today by campaign group the TaxPayers Alliance suggests the cumulative effect of the changes will swell the Treasury coffers by 11.6billion over the course of this Parliament.
John OConnell, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: This arbitrarily high tax is simply a revenue-generating tool for the Treasury at the expense of businesses, consumers and taxpayers.
The Chancellor has hinted at bringing it up to the same level as VAT, but that would be treading a dangerous path towards even more misery for low-income groups like young drivers using their cars to get to work.
The Government should call off future increases and instead cut it instead. Treasury officials point out that ministers have frozen fuel duty for seven years in a row, significantly reducing the costs of filling up a car.
Ministers have also changed the law on whiplash to crack down on insurance fraud, which is predicted to save drivers an average of 40 a year on their premiums.
Last night a Treasury spokesman said: Insurance premium tax is a tax on insurers, not consumers, and only applies to 20 per cent of all premiums.
The Government has to make difficult decisions on borrowing, taxation and spending; the increases in insurance premium tax will ensure that we are able to continue to fund vital public services.
A motoring campaign group backed by 146 MPs has urged the Chancellor to cut fuel duty or freeze it for longer in next weeks Budget. In a letter to Mr Hammond, FairFuelUK said the tax which is pegged at 57.95p per litre for both petrol and diesel until next year should be reduced by up to 3p to bring it closer to the levies charged in other developed countries. The campaign group, which is represented in the House of Commons by Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, said the UK has one of the most punitive rates in the world.
A boy, 12, has been rushed to hospital and may have a permanent brain injury from drinking too much alcohol.
Paramedics found the boy unconscious at a home in Ayr, northeastern Queensland, after an ambulance was called about 1.30am on Wednesday morning.
The 12-year-old was taken to Ayr Hospital and was later airlifted to Townsville Hospital, where he remains in a stable condition, a Queensland Ambulance spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
A boy was found passed out at a home on Darwin Street (pictured) in Ayr, northeast Queensland, and taken to hospital
He was rushed to Ayr Hospital (stock image) by ambulance about 1.30am on Wednesday morning after consuming alcohol
Police believe the boy may have also been chroming, a deadly cocktail of household chemicals that is inhaled to create a high, Townsville Bulletin reported.
A source told the paper the boy may have suffered permanent brain injuries.
A Queensland Police spokesman said an investigation was taking place but could not elaborate.
The boy may have been connected to a break and enter at a home, where alcohol was stolen, the Townsville Bulletin reported.
The 12-year-old may be suffering permanent brain damage, a police source reportedly said
Almost one in five children are expected to have missed out on their first choice of secondary school this year in what would be the worst admissions round in eight years.
A poll of councils on National Offer Day found only 82 per cent of 11-year-olds received their top choice, meaning that some 18 per cent missed out.
It would mean around 70,000 children will be forced to accept a place at other schools, with many having to commute further from their homes than they would wish.
A poll of councils on National Offer Day found only 82 per cent of 11-year-olds received their top choice, meaning that some 18 per cent missed out (file photo)
The last time such a high proportion missed out on their first choice was 2008.
The situation was the worst in London, where in some boroughs half missed out, while outside the capital Birmingham fared worst with 33 per cent doing so.
Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers
Last year, nationwide one in six - 15.9 per cent - did not get their top preference, amid a 2.8 per cent rise in applications, with 548,006 submitted in total.
It comes as secondary schools struggle to accommodate a pupil bulge transferring from primary schools following a baby boom which has been fuelled by migration.
Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers said: We hope that parents and children get the secondary school place of choice.
We know, however, for many this will not be the case resulting in children being separated from siblings or primary school friends and for some will result in travelling longer distances.
Such anxiety at this important stage in childrens education is unnecessary.
The Government has consistently refused to address the school place crisis effectively.
The poll, by the Press Association, covered 60 local councils that responded to questions, plus 33 London boroughs.
SCHOOL CHOICE BY AREA The best areas for getting the top choice secondary school are: :: Cornwall 98 per cent :: Central Bedfordshire 97 per cent :: East Riding 96 per cent :: Portsmouth 96 per cent :: Wigan 96 per cent :: Dorset 96 per cent :: Wiltshire 96 per cent :: Shropshire 96 per cent :: St Helens 96 per cent :: Derbyshire 95 per cent Worst areas for getting first choice secondary school 2017: London :: Hammersmith and Fulham 53.48 per cent :: Westminster 56.43 per cent :: Wandsworth 58.19 per cent :: City of London 58.82 per cent :: Kensington and Chelsea 61.05 per cent UK wide :: Birmingham 68.6 per cent :: Oldham 73 per cent :: Bristol 74 per cent :: Manchester 75 per cent :: Sandwell 75 per cent Advertisement
It also indicated that councils are facing a rise in applications again this year, and many are seeing a fall in the proportions of pupils offered their first choice.
Out of 52 councils that gave information, 24 had seen a drop in the proportions of pupils winning their favoured school, while only 17 had seen a rise.
And out of 50 that gave data on application numbers, 43 had seen a rise in the numbers of families applying while only seven had seen a drop.
In July, an official forecast from the Department for Education revealed three quarters of a million new school places are needed in England in the next ten years.
A bulge in pupil numbers will continue for the next decade, with 750,000 new places needed by 2025, the forecast said.
By then, schools will have faced 16 consecutive years of rising pupil numbers with many having to expand buildings or squeeze more children into classrooms.
Between 2009 and 2016, the school system already expanded to take in an extra 470,000 pupils.
And from 2016 to 2025, the projection says there will be another 10 per cent of pupils in the state school system, up from about 7.4 million to about 8.1 million.
The increase has been driven by a rising birth rate - and the analysis said this reflects an increasing number of non-UK born mothers, who tend to have bigger families.
The forecast added direct immigration of pupils has had only a very small effect.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: The proportion of parents getting a place at their first choice of school remains stable, and last year almost all parents got an offer at one of their top three preferred schools.
Nearly 600,000 additional pupil places were created between May 2010 and May 2015, and the Government is now pushing ahead with the creation of a further 600,000 new school places as part of its wider 23 billion investment in the school estate up to 2021.
A 'loner' university student admits making and then planting a ball bearing bomb on a London tube train, his barrister has told the Old Bailey.
Damon Smith, 20, who has Asperger's syndrome and is originally from Devon, allegedly left a 'viable improvised explosive device' on a Jubilee Line Underground train at North Greenwich Tube station on 20 October.
The black Adidas bag containing the bomb was abandoned on the train between Southwark and London Bridge.
In the dock: Damon Smith (pictured left and right) admits making and then planting a ball bearing bomb on a London tube train - but may claim it was a a hoax
Held: Officers discharged Tasers during his arrest on Holloway Road, north London, after a suspicious device was blown up in a controlled explosion in October last year
Two concerned members of the public spotted it and alerted the driver at North Greenwich station.
Both the train and platform at North Greenwich were evacuated and the device was then made safe by a snipping a wire.
At a hearing at the Old Bailey yesterday Smith's lawyers said there was no dispute he was responsible for placing the device and the issue will be what his intention was.
His barrister Abigail Penny said: 'Mr Smith does not deny placing the device in the Underground or creating it.'
But a previous hearing was told he intended to plead not guilty and will claim it was a prank.
Smith, originally from Newton Abbot, Devon, did not appear at the hearing.
He is due in court on March 30 and is expected to either deny or admit the charges then.
At a previous hearing, prosecutor Kathryn Selby described the incident on the Tube saying: 'The driver initially phoned through to say he had found lost property. He looked inside the bag and saw the device left within it.'
The bag contained a clock, wires, a live power supply, an explosive charge and ball bearings, said Ms Selby.
The driver called the station and SO15 counter terrorism police were called.
The bomb would have caused injury if the initiator had functioned, said Ms Selby.
Smith got on the train at Southwark and got off one stop later at London Bridge.
Investigation: Police taped off and searched Smith's home (pictured) in Bermondsey, south London, shorty after his arrest
Support: Following Smith's arrest raids were carried out at the home Smith shared with his mother Antonitza (pictured outside court) -
The southeast London station was closed until 6:50pm with disruption caused to the Jubilee line throughout the day.
Smith (pictured) had started an IT course at London Met University three weeks before the bomb was discovered
Following his arrest on October 21, the day after the bomb was discovered, police searched four addresses linked to Smith.
Raids were carried out at the home Smith shared with his mother, Antonitza, in Bermondsey, south London, and at his grandparents former home in Newton Abbot, Devon.
Smith moved to London from Devon in May and started an IT course at London Met University three weeks before the bomb was discovered.
Smith is charged with unlawfully and maliciously making an explosive substance with an intent by means thereof to endanger life or cause serious injury to property or enable another to do so.
He is alleged to have made or acquired the substance between October 18 and October 21.
A construction worker who was killed after a steel beam fell and crushed him while he was working on a barge leaves behind a pregnant wife and a 14-month-old toddler son.
Tim Macpherson, 32, from Newcastle, died at Sydney's Darling Harbour just before 4pm on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Maritime Union of Australia confirmed to Daily Mail Australia.
The rigger is understood to have been helping a crane driver move a heavy steel beam when it hit another beam. One fell and crushed him.
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union said Mr Macpherson didn't stand a chance.
'The top of his torso was crushed. Unfortunately he was dead instantly,' the union's New South Wales secretary Brian Parker said.
Scroll down for video
Newcastle father Tim Macpherson leaves behind a wife and a 14-month-old son
Tim Macpherson took these pictures of the Barangaroo construction site in the months before he died
The Newcastle construction worker and father, who took this image, was killed by a steel beam
'The first people that got there have given that indication.'
The man was understood to have been working on the Barangaroo ferry hub project for about six months.
His family visited him at the construction site recently, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The man's death was the first fatal incident at the Barangoo site, but there have been at least 1,500 accidents or injuries in recent years.
But Mr Parker said the accident could potentially have been prevented.
A terrible tragedy: Newcastle construction worker leaves behind a wife and a young son
'Nobody should be in the vicinity of the area when heavy lifting is being carried out. He shouldn't have been there,' he said.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Union of Australia said it was recently prevented from carrying a safety inspection at the site.
Paul Keating, a spokesman for the MUA, said he had tried to inspect the site in November last year after his union was informed about concerns to do with the site.
Mr Keating told Daily Mail Australia that he and a colleague went down to inspect the barge after receiving a tip that the construction site was a 'sub-standard operation.'
'We proceeded to go down to inspect the workers and the barge.
'We were met at the site by a manager from McConnell Dowell who refused our right of entry.'
The rigger is understood to have been helping a crane driver move a heavy steal beam when it hit another beam and one fell and crushed him
He added: 'On behalf of myself and the MUA, our thoughts are with the family in this most devastating time.'
NSW Police and Safework NSW are investigating the accident and it is understood the man's workmates have been offered counselling.
NSW Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance has offered his condolences to the man's family and colleagues.
'I trust our NSW government agencies will cooperate fully with all investigations into this very sad incident,' he said in a statement.
A spokesman for SafeWork told Daily Mail Australia that they will be issuing notices to stop work at the site.
'Initial inquiries indicate workers were working on a steel structure when it has toppled, impacting another structure, which struck the worker, causing fatal injuries.' he said.
He was understood to have been working on the Barangaroo ferry hub project for six months
'SafeWork will be issuing notices to stop work at the site and directing the business to review its systems of work.
'SafeWork's investigation remains ongoing.'
Contractor McConnell Dowell said Mr Macpherson was an employee of a local labour hire company.
'Our thoughts are with the man's family at this extremely difficult time,' McConnell Dowell's Australian managing director,Jim Frith said.
'We are providing his employer with all the assistance they need to support his family, and all affected staff are being offered support and counselling.'
This is the heartwarming moment a two-year-old girl born deaf in one ear hears her own voice for the first time.
Teyana Skye Gladden from Greenville, South Carolina, was given a hearing aid last Wednesday.
Until then, the toddler had only been able to listen to muffled sound and had never properly heard her own voice because she was born deaf in one ear and with Microtia, severe deformity, in the other which limited her hearing.
Her mother Olga Arnold filmed her speaking softly for the first time at Anderson-Oconee Speech & Hearing Services after having a bone anchor hearing device fitted last week and a video of the visit has since gone viral.
In one tear-jerking moment, Teyana turned to her weeping mother to comfort her: 'It's OK mama!' in her newly discovered voice.
Ms Arnold, who works as a plus size model and hospital receptionist, said it was a 'miracle' moment.
Speaking to DailyMail.com on Wednesday, the 29-year-old said her daughter was adjusting well to the new hearing aid and had begun dancing along to music she could never hear before.
Teyana Gladden, two, heard her own voice clearly for the first time last week after having a bone anchor device fitted. The toddler was born deaf in one ear and with limited hearing in the other due to Microtia, severe deformity which occurs in utero
'She likes it because it's a head band which she wore for so long. She is talking a lot lower now and she's starting to understand sound.
'If we're in the car with music on she's starting to move to the beat because she can hear it properly for the first time. It's really sweet,' she said.
All smiles: Teyana, still clutching her favorite teddy, couldn't hide her excitement as she familiarized herself with her voice
Teyana was born in 2014 with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare congenital heart disease which stops oxygen reaching the heart.
Ms Arnold was told by doctors while pregnant that Teyana would undergo her first surgery shortly after birth and may only live to the age of one.
At two months old, she was airlifted to Charleston to for an open heart operation and has been recovering since.
Born at 4lbs 9oz, Teyana was considered premature. Her ears hadn't developed properly in the womb as a result of her condition.
The little girl also needs a g-tube to be fed at night and at one point had trouble growing hair.
Her five-year-old brother Jordyn was born with epilepsy and also has several doctors appointments a week.
'We have been through a lot health-wise but my babies keep beating the odds.
'Teyana gives me strength, she gives us all strength. She is a feisty little two-year-old!' Ms Arnold said.
At nine months old, Teyana received her first hearing aid to allow her to hear muffled sound. She wasn't aware of the volume of her own voice until she received the second aid last week.
The two-year-old's mother Olga Arnold (above) shared a video of the special moment online which has since gone viral
New look: Teyana with Dr. Brian Curis (left) after receiving her hearing aid. Her mom said she was enjoying wearing the device because it is on a headband, one of her favorite accessories
Teyana was born three weeks early, weighing just 4lbs and 9oz and with the congenital heart disease Tetralogy of Fallot. She is pictured at two days old
The toddler underwent her first heart surgery at two months old. She is still fed with a gastronomy tube at night which she has had since her first operation
BONE ANCHOR AIDS Bone anchor hearing aids allow people who are hard of hearing listen to their own voices. Sound is heard in two ways: through air conduction and bone conduction. The lower frequency, caused by vibrations in the bone, allow us to hear our own voices and become aware of a our own volume. Bone Anchor Implants send the vibrations around the damaged part of the outer and middle ear and through the bone directly inside the ear. For children under five, the soft headband passes the same vibrations - at a weaker frequency - through the ear to the bone to then be carried down to the cochlea. Source: Cochlear Advertisement
TETRALOGY OF FALLOT Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart defect which means the heart is not receiving enough oxygen. It has four main properties: - A hole between the lower chambers of the heart - An obstruction from the heart to the lungs - The aorta (blood vessel) lies over the hole in the lower chambers - The muscle surrounding the lower right chamber becomes overly thickened Symptoms include blue-tinged skin and shortness of breath. Surgery is typically performed the first year of life, followed by ongoing care. Source: American Heart Association Advertisement
She posted the video to Teyana's Heart, a Facebook page documenting her daughter's health journey, and has since been inundated with messages of support from social media users around the world.
'It all came unexpectedly, I didn't expect to get this kind of reaction.'
A GoFundMe page raising money for Teyana's care has seen donations skyrocket since the video emerged. It stood at $6,330 on Wednesday night.
Teyana's five-year-old brother Jordyn has epilepsy
The money will be used to help meet the cost of Teyana's ongoing care. In March, just a few days after her third birthday, she will learn from doctors when she will undergo another operation to repair her heart.
'We'll find out in March when her next open heart surgery will be.
'This isn't going to be a full repair, she'll need to have another one after that,' Ms Arnold said.
Despite the constant to and froing of hospitals and doctors appointments, the toddler stays in high spirits.
'She doesn't tire of it yet.
'Her big brother plays a big part, when he comes to see her to make sure she's happy she's OK. As long as she has love around her, she's all right.'
The hearing aid Teyana was fitted with is a bone anchor device on a headband that is suitable for children too young to undergo implants.
When she's five, the recommended age for having the surgery, her family will allow her to choose whether or not she wants it.
'We're going to let her decide. We aren't comfortable doing a surgery that's not absolutely necessary,' Ms Arnold said.
Teyana lives with her mother and brother in Greenville. Her father, Twan Gladden, is nearby and sees her often.
President Donald Trump was asked if he knew Jeff Sessions had met Russia's ambassador before the election - and said: 'I wasn't aware at all.'
The president's extraordinary intervention came as Sessions faced a firestorm over whether he lied to the Senate during confirmation hearings by failing to disclose his two meetings last summer with Vladimir Putin's man in Washington.
But the president also said he has 'total' confidence in his attorney general and does not think he should recuse himself from Justice Department investigations involving Russia.
'I don't think so,' he told reporters asking about recusal on Thursday, as he visited the USS Gerard R. Ford in Newport News, Virginia.
Despite saying he did not know of the meetings with Sergey Kislyak, he stood by his DOJ chief as Session took fire from Democrats for failing to disclose the conversations during his confirmation hearing.
Asked if Sessions told a Senate panel the truth about the communications, Trump gave only a half-hearted endorsement, however.
'I think he probably did,' Trump said.
Scroll down for video
President Donald Trump says he has 'total' confidence in his attorney general and does not think he should recuse himself from Justice Department investigations involving Russia - but offered a lukewarm endorsement of his truthfulness
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday morning that while he twice met with Russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign season, he was speaking with him in his capacity as a senator, not as a campaign adviser to Donald Trump
He gave into Democratic and Republican demands on Thursday afternoon and announced that he was recusing himself from 'any matter relating in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States'
Then-senator Sessions had a private conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak (pictured above) last September in his office - but did not disclose it. That did not stop the Russian from being at the Joint Session of Congress addressed earlier this week by the president
WHAT SESSIONS SAID WHICH STARTED LIES ROW - AND COULD COST HIM HIS JOB During Jeff Session's Attorney General confirmation hearing on January 10 he was question about the Trump campaign's relations with Moscow. Sen. Al Franken: 'If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign, communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what would you do? Jeff Sessions: 'Sen. Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities. 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.' Advertisement
Democratic lawmakers are demanding Sessions' head over the revelation that he met with Russia's ambassador to the United States twice last year and did not bother to mention it during his confirmation hearing.
Sessions met them partway on Thursday afternoon and announced that he was recusing himself from 'any matter relating in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States.'
'I feel like I should not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in,' he said.
Sessions said that a meeting had previously been set for today to discuss the the matter. At it, his staff recommended that he recuse himself, and he concurred.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly deferred to Sessions as he spoke to reporters on Air Force One a half hour before the attorney general's press conference, saying numerous times that he'd let the former senator speak for himself.
He did defend Sessions' interactions with Kislyak on the whole, though.
'He was literally conducting himself as United States senator,' Spicer said. 'This is what senators do.'
House Speaker Paul Ryan had earlier said that he sees no 'purpose or reason' for Sessions to back away from an investigation unless he himself is the target of the probe.
Ryan said at his weekly press conference that he meets with ambassadors 'all the time' and there is nothing unusual about the former Alabama senator's conduct.
The Republican leader wouldn't involve himself in charges of perjury coming from Democrats.
But he said broadly, as he responded to a New York Times report about Barack Obama aides spreading information in their final days about the Trump campaign's contacts with the Russians prior to the election, 'never have we ever seen any evidence' that an American or person on the Trump campaign was working with the Russians on election meddling.
'I think Democrats are lighting their hair on fire to get you to cover this story,' he told a reporter. 'There's nothing new we haven't seen here. This is stuff we've been going over.'
House Speaker Paul Ryan said late Thursday morning at his weekly press conference that he did not see any 'purpose or reason' for Sessions to take himself off an investigation - unless he himself was the subject of the probe
A separate report Wednesday night put Sessions in hot water for failing to mention his conversations with Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, at his confirmation hearing.
That amounts to 'perjury,' House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic legislators have said.
Prior to learning about the Kislyak contact Democrats had called on Sessions, a Trump backer in the election, to recuse himself from any Justice Department investigations into the Oval Office occupant's links to Russia.
GOP legislators doggedly refused join them.
This morning Republicans changed their position - as did the attorney general later - but Sessions was already taking on water. Democrats had moved on and were calling for his resignation.
'We are far past recusal. Jeff #Sessions lied under oath. Anything less than resignation or removal from office is unacceptable,' Pelosi said on Twitter this morning.
RESIGN NOW: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday at a news conference that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to go
Scores of Democratic lawmakers have called for Sessions to resign in the wake of claims that he perjured himself at a his confirmation hearing, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (left) and the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (right)
Sessions (shown at his confirmation hearing) failed to disclose two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States in answers to Sen. Al Franken, a liberal Minnesota Democrat at his hearing
SESSIONS CRISIS WAS A YEAR IN THE MAKING March 3, 2016: Trump names Sessions as chairman of his 'national security advisory committee'. July: Sessions gives a speech to the Heritage Foundation at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. On the sidelines, he speaks to ambassadors including Sergey Kislyak. September 8: Sessions hosts Kislyak in his office in the Capitol. November 18: The Alabama senator is announced as the nominee for attorney general. January 10 2017: Al Franken, the Minnesota Democratic senator, asks Sessions at a confirmation hearing about claims of Russian links to the Trump campaign. He answers: 'I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians.' The questioning is under oath. February 9: Sessions is formally sworn in as attorney general after a vote along party lines to approve him. February 13: Trump tells his National Security Advisor Mike Flynn to resign over lying to Mike Pence about having phone conversations with Kislyak after the election. February 15: Reports surface in the New York Times that a number of Trump associates had repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials before the election. March 1: The Washington Post reveals that Sessions met with Russia's ambassador twice in 2016, contradicting what he told the Senate. The White House calls it an 'attack against the Trump administration'. Sessions' spokeswoman says the meeting was unrelated to his campaign activities. Democratic March 2, 8am: Sessions tells NBC News: 'I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign and those remarks are unbelievable to me and false and I don't have anything else to say about that.' 10am: Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer becomes the most senior Democrat to publicly demand that Sessions resign. 11am: House Speaker Paul Ryan says Sessions should recuse himself from any Russian investigation. 3pm: President Trump speaks to reporters on the USS Gerald R. Ford and says he 'was not aware' of the meetings. 4pm: Under pressure, Sessions holds a press conference at the Department of Justice to announce he is recusing himself from making any decisions about investigations into Russian meddling in the election. Advertisement
Scores of Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, followed in her footsteps.
'Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, the Attorney General should resign,' Schumer said.
Sessions met with Russia's ambassador twice last year during Donald Trump's campaign run but claimed during his Senate confirmation hearing that he 'did not have communications with the Russians' in his capacity as an adviser to then-candidate Trump.
Despite being asked by Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken about contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian officials, Sessions declined at the time to disclose his private conversations with Kislyak during the Republican National Convention in July and subsequently in his Senate office in September, The Washington Post reported.
In Cleveland, at the RNC, Sessions encountered Kislyak at an event for ambassadors that was sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. Sessions was a speaker.
Kislyak approached the U.S. senator after his remarks, the Justice Department says. The Russian ambassador and other diplomats invited Sessions to attend their events; he did not commit.
Sessions said Thursday at a news conference that the second meeting came at the request of the Russian ambassador's office.
'We met with him, two of my senior staffers were there, and maybe a younger staffer too, and they [were] both retired army colonels and not politicians, and we had a...we listened to the ambassador and what his concerns might be,' Sessions said.
In addition to sanctions the United States slapped on Russia for its incursion in Ukraine, Sessions says he an Kislyak talked about a missions trip the senator made to Russia in 1991 and terrorism.
The talks came at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to influence the presidential race.
Sessions says he doesn't remember the contest coming up.
'I don't recall. But most of these ambassadors are pretty gossipy...and this was in the campaign season, but I don't recall any specific political discussions.'
The White House aggressively defended Sessions on Thursday morning, saying in a statement to media outlets that '[t]his is the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats. General Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony.'
'lt's no surprise Senator Al Franken is pushing this story immediately following President Trump's successful [Tuesday] address to the nation.'
Franken said Thursday on CNN that Sessions' comments during his confirmation hearing were 'extremely misleading.'
'He should have said, "I met with Russia's ambassador a couple times but we didn't discuss the campaign."'
Sessions had released a statement late Wednesday saying he had 'never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the [Trump] campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.'
He maintained his innocence in an NBC interview Thursday morning, but he met Democrats' demands and offered to recuse himself from investigations pertaining to Russia as he hustled to save his job.
Sessions asserted to NBC News, I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me and false, and I don't have anything else to say about that.'
DEMOCRAT SENATOR GOING AFTER SESSIONS WASN'T TRUTHFUL EITHER Missouri Democratic senator Claire McCaskill lead the charge against Sessions - saying she had never met the Russian ambassador. But that position was contradicted by her own Twitter account. It showed that she had met him once and called him once. Surprisingly, McCaskill brazened out the apparent hypocrisy. She told USA Today the meeting was with around a dozen other senators. And she said: 'The Russian ambassador has never called me. 'The Russian ambassador has never requested a meeting. I have never met with the Russian ambassador one-on-one.' Advertisement
Asked if he would step aside from Justice Department investigations into Russia's election-year computer hacking and other political meddling, Sessions said: 'Well, I've said that whenever it's appropriate I will recuse myself, no doubt about that.'
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz urged him to do just that. So did House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Justin Amash and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.
Ryan said Thursday that Sessions should withdraw from an investigation if it directly involved him, and had indicated that he would.
'Honestly, we meet with ambassadors all the time. I did a reception about a hundred yards that way with like a hundred ambassadors last year. I don't even remember which, all the ones I met with and took pictures with,' he said as he defended Sessions.
'It's really common for Members of Congress to meet with ambassadors....As to the rest of it, I would just defer you to Jeff sessions and the Senate Judiciary Committee.'
The GOP leader further rejected Democrats' calls for a special prosecutor to be appointed.
'You have to protect the sources and methods of our intelligence gathering capabilities, especially with adversaries like Russia,' he said. 'And that is why the committee of jurisdiction, which is supposed to protect those methodologies, should be the intelligence committee.'
Democratic lawmakers now say it's not good enough.
Pelosi and others, namely Senators Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Dianne Feinstein, have called for Sessions to resign in the wake of the claims that came several weeks after former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was fired, in part, for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his own contacts with Kislyak.
Democratic lawmakers now say recusal it's not good enough - Sessions needs to step down
The Russian ambassador is widely considered to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington by US intelligence officials.
Richard Painter, who served as the White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, tweeted late Wednesday night that '[m]isleading the Senate in sworn testimony about one own contacts with the Russians is a good way to go to jail.'
'Perjury is a felony and may be punishable by prison for up to five years,' Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, ominously tweeted.
The latest claims about the attorney general will raise further questions about Washington's relationship with Moscow.
Federal investigators have been looking into possible contacts between Trump advisers and Russia for months, along with clues pointing to Russia's role in political hacking during the campaign.
Even some Republicans such as House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said Thursday, before Sessions' announcement that he should recuse himself
The House and Senate intelligence committees have pledged to conduct a bipartisan probe into Trump and his administration's ties to Russia, as well as claims that Moscow could have influenced the election.
Some Democrats have requested a special prosecutor, although Ryan has argued against it, saying the investigation should be carried out by congressional committees.
'AG #Sessions should resign. This is exactly why we need an independent special counsel to investigate #TrumpRussia,' Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey said this morning.
Schumer said at a press conference and on Twitter, 'DOJ must appoint a special prosecutor who is beyond reproach, completely impartial, w/out any significant ties to either political party.'
Sessions himself, who worked on Trump's presidential campaign, said earlier this week he would 'recuse myself from anything that I should recuse myself on.'
House Majority Leader McCarthy, a powerful California lawmaker, said Thursday morning that Sessions should follow through.
'I think it would be easier from this standpoint, yes,' McCarthy said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' after he was asked if Sessions should recuse himself from any inquiry related to his contact with Russian officials during the campaign.
Chaffetz, the House Oversight head, agree with him on Twitter. 'AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself,' he said.
At a protest in front of the Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon that was organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn and other activist groups, Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin mocked Republicans like Chaffetz who were changing their tune - and the Trump White House.
'The Trump administration has a staff infection,' he said. 'Every day we learn about another high-ranking Trump official who has been entangled with the highest levels of the Russian government, and Vladimir Putin, the former chief of the KGB.'
As demonstrators erupted into the chant 'he lied under oath' Raskin told them, 'You know how we know that he lied under oath? Because today the Republicans are saying he should recuse himself. And yesterday they were saying he shouldn't recuse himself.
'They say recuse, we resign,' he said, kicking off a new mantra.
The dozens of progressive activists who had planted themselves outside DOJ also chanted 'Sessions must go' as they held up signs that said '#RESIST' and 'SESSIONS: RESIGN' while lawmakers spoke.
Even though Sessions has said he will recuse himself, the latest revelations may persuade Republicans that a special prosecutor is needed to conduct an independent inquest.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday night during a CNN town hall broadcast that 'if there is something there, and it goes up the chain of investigation, it is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make this decision about Trump.'
'So they may be not there may be nothing there, but if there's something there if the FBI believes is criminal in nature, then, for sure, you need a special prosecutor. If that day ever comes, Ill be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than Jeff.'
A spokeswoman for Sessions claimed the ex-senator's contact with Kislyak was not unusual because he sat on the Senate's Armed Services Committee at the time. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill pushed back on Twitter - he claim was later found to be false
The Post reported that Sessions first spoke with Kislyak in July while acting as one of Trump's top foreign policy advisers. They then met again in September in Session's office in his role as a member of the armed services panel.
But when asked by Franken at his January 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing what he would do if he learned that anyone with ties to the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government in the past year, he denied any having any communications with Moscow.
'I'm not aware of any of those activities,' he responded. Then he said with no prodding, 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.'
Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy later pushed Sessions in a written question about his communications with Russian officials.
'Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?' Leahy wrote.
Sessions responded with a single written answer: 'No.'
On Thursday morning Leahy issued a blistering statement calling on Sessions to steer clear of any investigation related to the fallout.
'No more excuses, recuse yourself and appoint a Special Counsel immediately, and come clean about any contacts you had with the Russians,' the far-left senator said.
'I am deeply concerned that Attorney General Sessions, under oath, misled the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to direct questions from myself and Senator Franken about his contacts with Russian officials. It is an egregious breach of public trust that Attorney General Sessions has not already recused himself. Now we must ask whether he has perjured himself.'
The attorney general said Wednesday that he did not consider the meetings with the Russian ambassador relevant to the lawmakers' questions during his confirmation hearing.
'There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer,' said Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessions' spokeswoman. 'He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.'
Flores added that the news of Sessions' failure to disclose his communications with the Russian ambassador were 'the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats.'
At his news conference later in the day, Sessions said he answered the question the way he did because he 'was taken aback a little bit about this brand new information, this allegation, that surrogates, and I had been called a surrogate, for Donald Trump, had been meeting continuously with Russian officials.
'And that's what struck me very hard, and that's what I focused my answer on, he stated. 'With retrospect, I should have slowed down, and said, "But I did meet one Russian official, a couple of times," that would be the ambassador.'
Pelosi has on Thursday morning branded his confirmation hearing denial 'apparent perjury' as she called on him to resign.
'Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate,' she said. 'Now, after lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign. Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign.'
Dozens of progressive activists planted themselves outside the Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon
They chanted 'Sessions must go' and 'he lied under oath' as lawmakers spoke
Protesters also held up signs that said '#RESIST' and 'SESSIONS: RESIGN'
The Democratic leader's colleagues linked up with her in droves.
'Jeff Sessions lied under oath about his contacts with a country that's actively trying to undermine our democracy. So yes, he should resign,' California Rep. Mark Takano said.
Congresswoman Judy Chu of California said: 'Jeff Sessions lied to his Senate colleagues & American people about his meetings w/ Russians. He has betrayed trust already & must resign.'
Pelosi ally Jan Schakowsky of Illinois wrote, 'Under oath, Jeff #Sessions said: "I did not have communications with the Russians." He did. That's perjury. He must resign.'
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Sessions needs to be investigated by his own department.
'The @FBI must investigate Jeff Sessions for lying to Congress under oath #Perjury,' Jeffries tweeted.
Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern accused Sessions of participating in a Trump administration 'cover up' as he called for him to step down.
'Americans deserve the truth on #TrumpRussia lies. #Sessions is part of the cover-up,' he wrote on Twitter.
A previous message blasted Republicans for burying their heads in the sand. 'What universe is Jason Chaffetz living in? Republicans need to wake up. #Sessions is past recusal & must resign now,' McGovern said.
Congressman Tim Ryan, who earlier this year went head-to-head for a leadership pot with Pelosi, said recusal 'isn't enough, AG Sessions must resign. We need a 9/11 style commission to fully investigate Trump Administration ties to Russsia.'
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, refused to give her former colleague any cover as she scolded him on Twitter.
'I've been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years.No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com.' she said.
Her claim was later found to be false - she has indeed met with Kislyak before.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, asked Sessions during the confirmation hearing what he would do if he learned that anyone with ties to the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government in the past year
Despite being asked about contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian officials at his confirmation hearing, Sessions he failed to disclose his own meetings
In a series of tweets, Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote: 'It's a simple q: "Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election?"
'Jeff Sessions answered "No." Turns out he met with the Russian Ambassador. Two months before the election.
'Now Jeff Sessions is AG - the final say on the law enforcement investigation into ties between the Trump campaign & Russia? What a farce.
'This is not normal. This is not fake news. This is a very real & serious threat to the national security of the United States. We need a special prosecutor totally independent of the AG. We need a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia. And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place - to resign. We need it now.'
Fellow Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, also called for Sessions to step down.
'It is inconceivable that even after Michael Flynn was fired for concealing his conversations with the Russia, that Attorney General Sessions would keep his own conversations secret for several more weeks,' he said.
'His statement was demonstrably false, yet... he continued to let it stand even as he watched the President tell the entire nation he didn't know anything about anyone advising his campaign talking to the Russians. Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue,' he said in a statement posted to Twitter.
Graham, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, did not call for Sessions' departure but insisted he should recuse himself from the decision of whether to pursue prosecution.
And he told CNN that the meetings may have been 'legitimate.'
'If there were contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, they may be legitimate; they may be OK. I want to know what happened between the Trump campaign, the Clinton campaign and the Russians.'
He had harsher words for Trump over his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
'When it comes to Russia, he has a blind spot. The bottom line is that Putin is disrupting democracy everywhere,' Graham said.
Even before the allegations that Sessions kept quiet about his meetings with Russian officials last year, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa broke ranks to see that the former senator was not in a position to oversee such an investigation and urged the administration to appoint an independent prosecutor.
'Any review conducted must have the full confidence of the American people, which is why I recommended an independent review,' Issa said Monday in a statement.
Sen. John McCain said that Trump and his administration had to start taking the Russian threat more seriously.
Resign: In a series of late night tweets, Senator Elizabeth Warren demanded an investigation into Russia's role in the election, a separate special prosecutor and the resignation of Sessions
House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes said he has not received any evidence that anyone in Trump's orbit was in contact with Russians during the presidential campaign
'Have no doubt, what the Russians tried to do to our election could have destroyed democracy,' he said. 'And that's why we've got to pay a hell of a lot more attention to the Russians and the things they're doing in Europe and right now, they're trying to determine the outcome of the French election, and they're using cyber.'
Sessions' spokesman said that he held 25 meetings with foreign ambassadors last year as senator.
Trump has denied knowing that any of his campaign advisers were in contact with Russians during the campaign. He has also said he has no financial ties or other connections to Russia.
The party divide on the probe is evidence that partisan discord is already seeping into House and Senate investigations of the Kremlin's interference.
Both Republicans and Democrats say they can still conduct bipartisan probes, but there are renewed calls for a special prosecutor amid a related revelation that the White House enlisted the GOP chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees to push back on news reports claiming Trump advisers were in contact with Russians.
In the House a simmering dispute exploded on Monday between the intelligence committee's top Republican and Democrat.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he has not seen any evidence from the intelligence community that anyone in Trump's orbit was in contact with Russians during the presidential campaign.
Nunes, a member of Trump's presidential transition team, has admitted that the White House asked him to talk with one reporter about the matter.
He says Trump's team didn't give him any guidance on what to say. The congressman said he told that reporter the same thing he'd said to many other reporters in the course of discussions.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, also of California, said the panel has not reached any conclusion on whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, Russian officials or any Russian contacts.
Sessions (left) and Trump (right) arrived for his first joint address to Congress yesterday. Both parties have pledged to launch a probe into the president and Washington's ties to Russia
The latest claims about the attorney general will raise further questions about Trump's relationship with Putin (file picture)
'Nor could we,' he said. 'We have called no witnesses thus far. We have obtained no documents on any counterintelligence investigation and we have yet to receive any testimony from the FBI of potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia.'
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Russia's activity with regard to the 2016 election has been 'investigated up and down.'
'If there's nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate,' Spicer declared.
Trump was asked Monday whether he would support a special prosecutor to investigate Russia's influence on the 2016 election. Instead of answering that question, he said, 'I haven't called Russia in 10 years.'
According to a White House description, the last time Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin was January 28. The White House says Putin initiated the call. Trump's last known trip to Russia was in 2013 for the Miss Universe beauty pageant in Moscow.
Trump has denied knowing that any of his campaign advisers were in contact with Russians during the campaign. He has also said he has no financial ties or other connections to Russia.
A blind man who was beaten by a teenager at a bus stop on the Central Coast has branded his attacker scum.
John Jenkins, 62, was knocked over and kicked in the torso while he was on the ground during the callous attack on Mann Street in Gosford around 10pm on Wednesday.
Wesley Barton, 19, pleaded guilty to assault and assault occasioning bodily harm.
John Jenkins, 62, was knocked over and kicked in the torso while he was on the ground
A 17-year-old boy who was with Barton was also taken into custody, but later released.
Barton was refused bail in the Gosford Local Court on Thursday due to being an unacceptable risk of re-offending.
He is due to be sentenced next month.
Mr Jenkins was treated for cuts above his eye, on his elbow and finger and pain in his jaw.
The callous attack occurred at a bus stop (above, file photo) on Mann Street in Gosford at around 10pm on Wednesday
As he left hospital, Mr Jenkins told 9News he was unaware of what was happening to him at the time and doesnt remember much of it.
Scum, he said, when asked what he thought of the man who attacked.
Especially a blind man, that was the problem. I wouldnt have known they were even hitting me or anything.
Mr Jenkins, who suffered a stroke years ago, added: I was catching the bus home into East Gosford.
I dont even remember anything.
A California grandfather has died, two weeks after what witnesses and his family described as a vicious attack by two Pitbulls dogs in his neighborhood.
Valentin Herrera, 76, died Monday, after the assault in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles.
The father of three and grandfather of seven was walking his own dog, a five-year-old Pomeranian named Dodger, when the two canines attacked just a block from his house, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Dodger died immediately and Herrera was taken to the hospital, where he had brain and arm surgeries. He died Monday just received a visit from his his wife of 50 years.
The dogs, which were two and three years old, were placed in quarantine pending a dangerous dog hearing.
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Valentin Herrera (pictured), 76, died Monday, almost a month after what has been described as a violent attack by two Pitbull-like dogs in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles
The family (pictured with Herrera, front row left) is paying tribute to the man they described as a loving husband, who sometimes worked six days a week, 12 hours a day
The dogs that are believed to have attacked Herrera (pictured), which were two and three years old, were placed in quarantine pending a dangerous dog hearing
A witness who witnessed the attack told CBS News how he saw the two dogs jump at the elderly man.
'They just attacked him. Just like that. They didn't even growl or nothing. One jumped on the man, and the other one came out of the yard and jumped on the man and knocked the man down,' Frank Carrasco told the network.
The attack was reported around 5.20pm a block from his Lincoln Heights home on February 2, according to KTLA. Carrasco recounted seeing Dodger being attacked, followed by Herrera.
'I saw these two pit bulls pulling something apart I thought it was a piece of couch,' Carrasco said. 'And the dog was probably ahead of him walking, so when they attacked the dog, he was maybe a house down. When he walked up in front of the pit bulls' house, that's when they attacked him.'
Witnesses and relatives told the station Herrera was attacked after trying to rescue his own dog.
Herrera's family initially thought the grandfather, who had diabetes and dementia, would recover after surgery.
The father of three and grandfather of seven (pictured after the incident) was walking his own dog, a Pomeranian named Dodger, when the two canines attacked just a block from his house
Herrera (pictured in a wedding image) spent several weeks in the hospital and died not long after receiving a visit from his wife of 50 years
But they explained in a Go Fund Me created to cover funeral expenses that after three weeks in the hospital, doctors told them his brain had stopped functioning, after which the family decided to 'let him go and rest'.
'He was waiting for my mom to go in and say her goodbyes and then he left,' his daughter Irma told ABC7.
His son Luis explained what he believes happened when the two dogs attacked his father.
'I think the dogs pulled him down, and he hit the back of his head,' he said. 'My dad had a beautiful heart. So sad to see the way he died.'
The owners of the two dogs told CBS Los Angeles they were heartbroken by the tragic incident and planned to attend the meeting.
Herrera's family, meanwhile, is paying tribute to the man they described as a loving husband, who sometimes worked six days a week, 12 hours a day.
Herrera (pictured being taken away after the attack) had brain and arm surgeries but doctors ultimately told his family his brain had stopped functioning
The grandfather was walking his own dog, a five-year-old Pomeranian named Dodger (pictured), who was attacked and killed immediately
His grandson Joshua described him as 'a strong man with the best work ethic one may ever have seen'.
'He spent most of his life waking up at 1am to go to work at 2am and get off at 10am, all so that my family and I can have the life that we have in America,' the grandson wrote.
'My family has gone from living in Mexico to being citizens in America, all because of him and his drive to want what is best for his family.
'He worked as a young man to pay for my father, grandma and aunt to come from Mexico to the States and I am forever grateful for his sacrifices, because without him I wouldn't be where i am today and neither would my family.'
The family intends to file a civil lawsuit after sorting out the funeral.
The children of a woman brutally murdered by a family member have revealed their heartache at growing up without their mother.
Lateesha Nolan's cousin Malcolm Naden was convicted of her murder in 2012 after spending seven years on the run following her disappearance in January 2005.
Kiesha, Erica, Jayden, and Kayla searched for answers their entire childhood before their mother's remains were found in November 2016.
Lateesha Nolan was brutally murdered by her cousin Malcolm Naden in 2005
The 24-year-old's four children Kiesha, Erica, Jayden and Kayla have revealed heartache at losing their mum
Naden was convicted of her murder in 2012, after spending seven years on the run
Now after twelve years of torture, they hope to give her the farewell she deserves.
The siblings have started a crowdfunding account to assist them with this and are hoping to raise $10,000.
'In early 2005 our beautiful 24-year-old mother was murdered by a family member,' Kiesha, the eldest of the four children, posted on the page.
'On this day our lives changed forever and our childhood was over.
'For seven years we didn't know what happened to our mum and we never got to say goodbye.
'For twelve years we searched for her and endured the most horrific sadness and loneliness a child should ever have to go through.
Last November some of Ms Nolan's remains were found, bringing 'some closure'
Ms Nolan's father Mike Peet is seen here outside the Supreme Court of NSW after watching the sentencing of Naden
'We have no mother to share our achievements, to cuddle us when we feel lonely and sad or just to be there for us.'
Some of Ms Nolan's remains were found on the banks of Macquarie River south of Dubbo, NSW late last year, bringing the family some closure.
Kiesha said she and her siblings were now trying to raise money in order to give their mother a 'final resting place'.
In 2013 Naden, seen here in 2012, was sentenced to life in prison for two murders
Some of Ms Nolan's remains were found on the banks of Macquarie River south of Dubbo, NSW
'With your help we will be able to achieve this and give her a farewell she deserves. Any help you can give would be greatly received and our thanks and love go out to you all,' her post ended.
In 2013 Naden, a former shearer and abattoir worker, was sentenced to life in prison after facing court on two murder charges.
He was convicted of Ms Nolan's murder, as well as the murder of Kristy Scholes, 24, who was staying with him at his grandparent's house in Dubbo when he strangled her in June 2005.
George W. Bush has denied criticizing President Donald Trump, despite lauding the freedom of the press and warning about isolationism.
The 43rd President, who left office in 2009, this week described a free press as 'indispensable', said there were questions to be asked over the Trump administration's links with Russia, and said US immigration policy should be 'welcoming'.
But yesterday he insisted his comments were not intended to blast the current White House incumbent.
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Former President George W. Bush said his intention was not to undermine President Trump when he made the remarks about a free press
Donald Trump has been vocal with his views on the media, and has branded some news outlets 'enemies of the people'. He has both claimed some news about him is fake, while also hitting out at officials for leaking information to the press
Speaking at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, where he is promoting new book Portraits of Courage - featuring his paintings of veterans - he said he did not want to undermine the president.
He told reporters, The Washington Post reports: 'Im asked the question, "Do I believe in free press?" and the answer is absolutely, I believe in free press.'
He continued: 'Power is very addictive and it's corrosive if it becomes central to your life and therefore there needs to be an independent group of people who hold you to account.
Bush, 70, made the comments at a book launch for Portraits of Courage, which features his paintings of veterans
'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."'
Trump has previously branded sections of the press 'enemies of the people' and hit out over what he claims is 'fake news' and leaks from officials.
The 43rd president of the USA has said that the country needs an independent press to hold those in power to account
Speaking to Today's Matt Lauer on Monday, former president Bush said: 'We need an independent media to hold people like me to account.'
He also said 'we all need answers' about links between Trump's team and Russia, and when asked about the controversial executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries responded: 'I am for an immigration policy that is welcoming and upholds the law.'
Bush, 70, said it was not his intent to criticize his successors at the White House and he is optimistic about the future.
'I don't want to make the president's job worse,' he said.
Earlier this week Bush appeared to direct barbed criticism of Trump while appearing on the Today programme
He told reporters: '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 also alluded to the Iraq War, and warned that there is a lesson 'when the United States decides not to take the lead and withdraw,' an apparent critique of former President Barack Obama.
'Vacuums can be created when US presence recedes and that vacuum is generally filed with people who don't share the ideology, the same sense of human rights and human dignity and freedom that we do,' he added.
But he said that when he left office he vowed not to try and second guess his successor, and this would continue.
He told reporters: '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.'
The widow of a man allegedly murdered by an illegal Mexican immigrant has told U.S. Congress she blames Immigration and Customs Enforcement for her husband's death.
Julie Nordman testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in Washington D.C. on Wednesday as the debate over illegal immigration continues to heat up.
Nordman's husband Randy was murdered in their home at New Florence, Missouri in March 2016 allegedly at the hands of illegal alien Pablo Antonio Serrano-Vitorino.
Julie Nordman spoke of how her husband Randy was murdered as she testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday
She told the committee of the terrifying moment she was forced to hide in the attic and wait for police to arrive as her husband was shot dead.
Serrano-Vitorino is also charged with killing four other men the day before in Kansas City.
Nordman said her husband's alleged killer had been in custody three times in the 18 months prior, but federal officials had failed to deport him.
'Had they just done their jobs and followed the laws, my husband would still be alive, and so would the four other innocent victims he brutally murdered,' Nordman told the committee.
'Instead, every day that I'm at our house, I'm reminded of this tragic event.
Julie Nordman's husband Randy (above) was murdered in their home at New Florence, Missouri in March 2016 allegedly at the hands of illegal alien Pablo Antonio Serrano-Vitorino
Nordman said her husband's alleged killer had been in custody three times in the 18 months prior, but federal officials had failed to deport him
'I wish you could bring my husband back, but we all know that can't happen. What you can do, is make sure that this doesn't happen to another innocent family in the future.'
Nordman told the committee that no one from ICE or the government contacted her after her husband's death to show remorse.
Serrano-Vitorino was deported in 2004 after a two-year jail sentence, but he managed to illegally re-enter the U.S.
Authorities missed two chances in 2015 to deport him after he faced domestic battery charges in June and traffic offences in September.
The traffic violations triggered an ICE order to have him detained, but it was sent to the wrong agency and Serrano-Vitorino remained free.
She told the committee of the terrifying moment she was forced to hide in the attic and wait for police to arrive as her husband was shot dead
Family and friends of mother-of-four Renee Mitchell are 'devastated' her killer, Graham Anthony George Sloane, 69, could be out of jail in 16 years.
Sloane was sentenced to a minimum 18 years in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday but, factoring in time already served since his arrest in 2014, he could be released in 2032.
Family spokesman Jake Kevill says Ms Mitchell's husband, Dale, and their sons are angry the murderer could one day walk free.
'They wanted life,' he told reporters outside court.
Renee Mitchell (pictured) was stabbed to death near a bush reserve car park just a few hundred metres from her Windale home, south of Newcastle on November 11, 2014
Sloane (pictured) was jailed for a minimum of 18 years in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday but, factoring in time already served since his 2014, he could be released in 2032
'(Mr Mitchell) just wanted to say he's not happy with the verdict - he'd rather he (Sloane) be in longer.'
Another family member, who did not want to be identified, said the whole family was 'absolutely devastated'.
Sloane, 69, was found guilty in January of stabbing Ms Mitchell to death near the car park of a bush reserve just a few hundred metres from her home in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Windale, south of Newcastle on November 11, 2014, and leaving her body where it laid.
Handing down the sentence, Justice Helen Wilson said Sloane's attack was 'brutal and pitiless', and the former army sergeant had shown no remorse or contrition for his 'terrible crime'.
Jurors during the one-week trial rejected the defence assertion that Sloane should only be found guilty of manslaughter due to an 'abnormality of the mind' at the time of the killing.
Justice Wilson said there was no dispute Sloane suffered from bipolar disorder at the time of the offence but 'it is its severity and its relevance ... that is in question'.
Sloane, 69, was found guilty in January of stabbing to death Ms Mitchell near the car park of a bush reserve near her home in November 11, 2014 (Pictured: Family members embrace outside the Newcastle Supreme Court on Thursday)
Spokesman Jake Kevill (pictured) said Ms Mitchell's family were not happy with the verdict and said they wanted a life sentence for Sloane
Sloane had known Ms Mitchell for several years through her job as an aged-care nurse, but their friendship soured, and Justice Wilson said it was not clear how he coerced her into leaving her home half-dressed and with her children out the back after he turned up uninvited on the evening of her death.
'I am satisfied, however, that Mrs Mitchell left the house under some form of compulsion from the offender,' she said.
Justice Wilson described how Sloane drove Ms Mitchell the short distance to the reserve, where she likely tried to escape before he attacked her with a knife that was never found. Its blade would have been at least 15cm long.
Ms Mitchell, 38, suffered 16 wounds, five of which were deemed 'significant' during an autopsy. They included two deep stab wounds to the heart and one to her neck.
Medical evidence presented during the trial showed those wounds were so severe Ms Mitchell could have survived only 'for minutes at best'.
'Mrs Mitchell must have been terrified and in pain during this savage assault,' Justice Wilson said.
Family spokesman Jake Kevill (pictured) outside Newcastle Supreme Court where Sloane was jailed for stabbing Ms Mitchell to death near the car park of a bush reserve
Family spokesman Jake Kevill says Ms Mitchell's husband, Dale, and their sons are angry the murderer could one day walk free (Pictured: Dale Mitchell (second right), and Mr Kevill (right))
Various medical and psychological assessments after Sloane's arrest concluded he was 'disconnected from reality' and displayed a combination of depressive and hypo-manic symptoms.
However, Justice Wilson said that from the evidence presented, it was apparent he had deliberately misled investigators and doctors and was still able to control his actions.
'He simply chose not to,' she said.
Therefore, his moral culpability for the murder was not significantly lessened by his mental illness.
Sloane is no stranger to the jail system. He was jailed for eight years in 1997 for manslaughter after strangling to death his then mother-in-law, Barbara Wilson, 72, but was released on parole after five years.
He will be eligible for parole in 2032.
Former President George W Bush warned that Vladimir Putin will 'push and push and push until somebody stands up to him' in an appearance on Ellen Degeneres' show due to air Thursday.
The 43rd commander-in-chief also told the host about his friendship with Michelle Obama, saying it had surprised many people - and admitting that Barack had never quite hugged him like the former first lady.
Bush, 70, laughed as Ellen showed pictures of him struggling to put on his plastic poncho during Donald Trump's inauguration, just like his mother in the past, joking the problem must be 'genetic'.
The interview took on a more serious tone when the former president emphasized the need for a free and independent press, offering a strong response against Trump's war on the media.
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Former president George W Bush, 70, showed off a few dance moves as he arrived on Ellen Degeneres' show to tape an appearance due to air Thursday
Bush, who appeared on the show to promote his new art book Portraits Of Courage: A Commander In Chiefs Tribute to Americas Warriors, walked in doing a little dance - although he did ask the host to give him more lessons in the future.
Ellen at one point displayed a photo of Michelle Obama hugging the former Republican president during the opening the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History And Culture in September last year.
The image went viral at the time, especially as it painted a rare moment of affection in an increasingly acrimonious political climate.
'That surprised everybody, that's what's so weird about society today, that people on opposite sides of the political spectrum could actually like each other,' Bush told Ellen.
'But you're closer to her than Barack?' the host asked.
'Well let's put it this way - he's never given me a hug that way,' the former president replied.
Ellen gave the 43rd commander in chief a plastic poncho with 'THIS END UP' written in big letters so that he wouldn't struggle to put it on like he did at President Trump's inauguration
Photos of Bush wrestling to put on his plastic poncho under the rain during the January 20 inauguration (pictured) went viral after the event
Ellen also asked Bush about his friendship with Michelle Obama and displayed a photo of the former first lady hugging the 43rd president in September last year (pictured)
Ellen asked whether it was tough for him to attend Trump's inauguration, given that his own brother Jeb at one point competed with the mogul in the presidential race.
Bush however assured her it was not a difficult moment, telling her, Jeb gave it his best shot.'
'It's a beautiful experience to watch the peaceful transfer of power, and I'm glad I went,' he added.
The 43rd president then had a good laugh at himself as Ellen made him relive the moment he struggled to put on a plastic poncho while sitting among the crowd at the inauguration.
Photos of his mishap also went viral, this time mainly due to their comic potential.
Bush joked that it was his first time putting on a poncho, and when Ellen displayed photos of his mother Barbara also wrestling with the garment on a previous occasion, said: 'It's genetics!'
The host eventually gave him a custom plastic poncho with 'This end up' written in big letters, to prevent any further issues.
In a more serious part of the interview, Bush told Ellen that he remained optimistic about the country's future despite current divisions.
'I think this isn't the first time our nation's ever been divided,' he said.
'I remember what it was like when I got out of college. There was a Vietnam War and a draft, there were major race riots, there were political assassinations, the President was nearly impeached and a lot of people thought the country was going down the tubes. And it turns out we're too strong to go down the tubes. And so I'm very optimistic.'
In a more serious part of the interview , Bush told Ellen that he remained optimistic about the country's future despite current divisions
Bush (pictured next to Putin in 2008) then revealed how his contentious relationship with Putin had begun after the Russian president mocked his dog, a little Scottish Terrier named Barney
Ellen shared this snap of herself with former President Bush on Instagram, joking that 'you run into the darnedest people backstage' at her show
The former president, however, insisted he was out of politics and happy to remain 'off the stage', adding that he doesn't think it 'serves the nation or the office of President to have a former president criticize his successors'.
Ellen then asked him about President Trump's contentious approach to the media, prompting Bush to express his strong support for the press.
'Here is what I believed when I was president, post-president the nation needs a free and independent press,' he said. 'And the reason why is, is that power can be very corrupting and we need a press court to hold politicians to account, including me. And I didn't like it sometimes when people said things, you know, about me but you know that's the job.'
He described the relationship between the media and the president as 'symbiotic', joking that he was dropping 'a big word' on Ellen and telling her: 'Don't ask me to spell it.'
'I used to tell some, you know, a lot of these tyrants when I would visit with them as president that they needed to have a free press,' he added.
'And I would point to our country as an example where, you know, power doesn't make you immune to criticism or to corruption investigations and so, I'm a big believer in the free press just like I'm a big believer in free religion.
'You can worship or not worship and you're equally American. It doesn't matter how you worship or who you worship.'
Bush, who appeared on the show to promote his new art book, showed off his moves but asked Ellen to teach him more about dancing in the future
Bush then revealed how his contentious relationship with Putin had begun after the Russian president mocked his dog, a little Scottish Terrier named Barney.
The former commander in chief said he had introduced his pet to Putin, after which Putin 'kind of dissed him'.
'He looked at him like "You think that's a dog?" Anyways, so a year later, Putin said, "Would you like to meet my dog?" Laura and I were with Putin in this Dacha outside of Moscow and she said yeah, I would like to meet him,' Bush said.
'And out comes a giant hound kind of loping across the yard and Putin looks at me and says bigger, stronger, and faster than Barney. And you know, it speaks volumes when you listen to what somebody says. So, in other words, he's got a chip on his shoulder.'
'And so yeah, I had a contentious relationship with him and I think whoever the president is, is going to find out that Putin will push and push and push until someone stands up to him.'
Ellen joked, 'So Trump should get a hound', causing Bush to laugh and reply: 'Not bad.'
When Cristobal and Josefina Salinas opened Burrito House in downtown Schuyler, the couple still lived in Madison.
But Cristobal knew the hourlong commute would be worth it.
He talked to the building owner and he said, I think this is the one,'" said Jose Salinas, whose parents started the popular restaurant 16 years ago.
Schuyler had a sizable Latino population then, but nothing like it is today.
Jose, who has worked with his parents since high school and now serves as manager and co-owner, said the business draws a good mix of customers.
For customers, we have 50-50 Hispanic and not-Hispanic, he said. We have all kinds.
Cristobal and Josefina still work shifts at the popular Mexican restaurant, as well.
The whole family was on hand Feb. 18 when the Burrito House received Schuyler Area Chamber of Commerce's business of the year award during an event at the Oak Ballroom.
It was a shock, said Jose. It was a surprise. We were members of the chamber of commerce since 2001."
RoseAnn and Verlyn "Buck" Kracl are this years honorary chamber members.
The Kracls own and operate Kracl Garage and Wrecker on Road E, but the award acknowledges their years of community service.
Buck volunteered with Schuyler Fire Department for 11 years and RoseAnn was involved with the firemens auxiliary for 15. Theyve also supported community fundraising through the garage.
Whenever theres events going on we do some sponsoring, raffle tickets, things like that through the business, said RoseAnn. Try to support as many organizations as the money allows.
RoseAnn has a long list of charity walks she participates in. Whether its supporting the Shriners, American Heart Association or American Cancer Society, she's ready.
I am walker, she said.
RoseAnn said the community gave back to them while Buck was recovering from an infection in his leg. She said people from across town brought them food and drove them to doctors appointments.
Its just a good community, she said. I cant say anything bad about it at all.
The Legacy Award went to the family of the late Berlon Lonnie Spies.
Spies and a business partner started a manufactured home business in 1970. After his partner left, he built Lonnies Homes as a leading manufactured homes dealership and opened Gold Court Estates.
Spies grandson-in-law Ron Anderson now runs Gold Court Estates, which is home to approximately 500 Schuyler residents. Anderson said Spies was very intelligent and good at business.
He was also a good negotiator at business and knew what he wanted, said Anderson. He also was known as being very direct and to the point.
Spies, who passed away in 2012, also had a secret soft side. Anderson said Spies made special arrangements with residents when they had medical issues or fell on hard times.
He was very generous behind the scenes, said Anderson. He never made his generosity known.
Anderson and his wife, Spies' granddaughter Karrie Weber, make the commute from their home in Lincoln to run the business because it's important to the family.
Schuyler is still very much part of their lives, said Anderson. Theyre proud that theyre providing something for the community.
As the community continues to grow and attract new residents, Anderson said the business will be here to serve them.
Were providing a significant number of homes for people, he said. Its nice that weve been here for so long and we look forward to being here another 50 years.
A fraternity pledge claims that he was raped by a frat boy at the University of Minnesota.
The alleged victim told police that he had been pledging a fraternity at a off-campus apartment in Dinkytown, on January 29, when what had started out as a consensual encounter suddenly turned violent.
His attacker had then tried to blackmail the young male student with photos and video to 'silence' him about the assault, he told the authorities.
A fraternity pledge claims that he was raped by a frat boy at the University of Minnesota (file picture)
It is not clear whether the alleged rapist actually filmed or took photos of the incident, according to the Star Tribune.
The victim said that the frat boy also threatened to keep him out of the fraternity unless he followed his instructions.
He also received a threatening message via Snapchat warning him not to tell anyone about the incident, he told police.
No one has been charged over the alleged rape.
But a first-year student has since been suspended from the fraternity while an investigation is carried out.
The fraternity did not respond to reporters' requests for comment.
A four-year-old Kentucky boy pleaded with his mother to have his hair cut to match his black best friend's in the innocent hope their teacher would no longer be able to tell them apart.
Jax Rosebush and Reddy Weldon, five, live in Louisville, Kentucky, and attend preschool together.
Reddy was adopted with his older brother from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014 by local pastor Kevin Weldon and his wife Debbie.
On Friday, Jax asked his mother Lidia if he would be allowed to cut his hair to match his friend's in an adorable plot to trick their teacher.
She shared his request on Facebook, telling friends: 'The only difference Jax sees in the two of them is their hair.'
The little boys have since gone viral and, to Jax's delight, now have matching haircuts.
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Jax Rosebush pleaded with his mother to have his hair cut so that he could match his friend Reddy Weldon in the innocent hope their teacher wouldn't be able to tell them apart
In her original Facebook post, Lidia said: 'He said that he wanted his head shaved really short so he could look like his friend Reddy.
'He said he couldn't wait to go to school on Monday with his hair like Reddy's so that his teacher wouldn't be able to tell them apart. He thought it would be so hilarious to confuse his teacher with the same haircut.'
She posted a photograph of the pair from Christmas time, adding: 'I'm sure you all see the resemblance.
'If this isn't proof that hate and prejudice is something that is taught I don't know what is.'
After being inundated with gushing messages from Facebook friends who were bowled over by his innocence, she took the boys to the salon for Jax to fulfill his wish.
'It just struck me as funny that Jax doesn't even notice that Reddy is a different color,' she told KSLA.
Jax's mother shared his adorable plea on Facebook, sharing this photograph of the boys at a recent Christmas party. She was bombarded with messages from social media users who were touched by his innocence
Jax had his request fulfilled at a hair salon in Louisville on Wednesday as his friend watched on
'When he describes Reddy he never mentions it. I thought with all the hate in the world today, we could use this lesson from an almost 5-year-old.'
Jax's mother said he believed it was the only difference between the pair
Pastor Weldon was equally as touched by Jax's haircut request, taking it as proof his son had settled in seamlessly to his new home.
'My sons do not look like me but we are family all the same. We share the same last name, love each other with all we have, and are a forever family.
'One day when I am gone, they will inherit all that I have and carry on our family name.
'It's really cool to see that move on from our family right into his relationships with his friends. There's an innocence children have that sometimes we lose.
'If we could get some of that back, I think it would be amazing,' he said.
Pastor Weldon adopted Reddy and his older brother from the Democratic Republic of Congo two years ago.
Reddy and his brother were adopted by Louisville pastor Kevin Weldon and his wife Debbie from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014
They were stuck in the African country temporarily by a bureaucratic freeze which stalled children who'd been adopted from leaving the country for months and their adoptive mother share this video plea to have them brought home to her in the US. Reddy is pictured, right
The boys were among hundreds who became stuck in the country when its president put a temporary freeze on exit letters even though families had already gone through the bureaucracy of adoption.
His wife Debbie made a frantic plea for help at the time, appealing to the then president Barack Obama and Angelina Jolie to step in.
'Please help our kids come home! My children are stuck in Congo and they are asking for your help!' she said.
She shared heartbreaking video of the boys in their native country telling the camera: 'Please help us to come home.'
The Weldons were able to pick them up eventually in December 2014 to bring them back to the US.
An Ohio State University student who decided to just tell the truth about why she turned in an assignment late was met with a pretty great response from her teacher.
Rachel Harriman emailed her history professor last week to apologize for sending in her assignment a few hours late.
The 19-year-old revealed it was because of her boyfriend had unexpectedly dumped her over the weekend.
Rachel Harriman, 19, emailed her history professor last week to apologize for sending in her assignment a few hours late after she was unexpectedly dumped by her boyfriend
The 19-year-old revealed in her email that it was because of her boyfriend had unexpectedly dumped her over the weekend
'I am so sorry for how late I am submitting this synopsis,' Harriman wrote.
'My boyfriend unexpectedly broke up with me yesterday evening and I was a complete, unfocused mess who did not account for such a time consuming hiccup to affect my Sunday productivity.
'This will obviously not happen again, as I am no longer 'in a relationship' and will have no one to break up with me next Sunday.'
Harriman tweeted a photo of her email and it quickly went viral as people rallied to her defense.
Harriman tweeted a photo of her email and it quickly went viral as others rallied to her defense
Her history professor opted to accept the late assignment and even went a step further by offering up some advice
While some were willing to defend her honor, others offered to date and later break up with her to guarantee future extensions of her assignments.
Her history professor opted to accept the late assignment and even went a step further by offering up some advice.
'Dear Rachel, Well, life happens. Seems like a good time to go to Europe,' he wrote.
Harriman ended up with a B+ on her history synopsis.
A 69-year-old male swimmer in his 60s has died on Sydney's Bondi Beach.
Two people - a male and a 66-year-old female - were pulled from the water around 4.45pm on Thursday, according to police.
When paramedics arrived, lifeguards were trying to resuscitate both swimmers, police said.
The man went into cardiac arrest and died at the scene, according to 9News.
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A male swimmer has died at Sydney's Bondi Beach
The man and a female were pulled from the water with a female swimmer around 4.45pm on Thursday
When paramedics arrived on, lifeguards were trying to resuscitate both swimmers
The woman was unresponsive and has been rushed to St Vincent's Hospital in serious condition.
She was in critical condition but stable condition as of 8pm.
The pair are international tourists and are related to each other. They were at the beach with a group of other people, police said.
The woman is believed to have had family with her at Bondi Beach.
Surfer Nicholas Wright, who was at the scene, told 9News there 'was quite a strong rip.'
'I saw a surfer trying to help a guy,' he said.
A police spokeswoman said NSW Ambulance would be preparing a coroner's report.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers.
The woman was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital in serious condition
An Iranian film shows the US Navy being destroyed by missiles in the Gulf, tearing American flags from their masts.
Animation Battle of the Persian Gulf II imagines a response to an American attack on the country's nuclear program.
Director Farhad Azima said the film's release, which coincides with the beginning of the Trump administration, is coincidental.
A trailer for an Iranian film shows the US Navy being destroyed by missiles in the Persian Gulf, tearing American flags from their masts
Animation Battle of the Persian Gulf II imagines a response to an American attack on the Iranian nuclear program
He said: 'This is a response to hundreds of (anti-Iranian) American movies and video games.
'We are saying that if you fire one bullet against Iran, a rain of hot lead will be poured on your forces.'
The film cost 250,000 to make and has begun showing in the city of Mashhad, where it was produced.
Director Farhad Azima said the film was made in response to anti-Iranian films in the U.S. He said: 'If you fire one bullet against Iran, a rain of hot lead will be poured on your forces.'
The film cost 250,000 to make and has begun showing in the city of Mashhad, where it was produced. It will be rolled out to other cities in the next few weeks. Pictured, the American flag is ripped from a ship by a missile
It is the sequel to a production about the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, which begins with a U.S. attack on an Iranian nuclear reactor. Pictured, missiles fly towards U.S. navy ships
It is the sequel to a production about the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, which begins with a U.S. attack on an Iranian nuclear reactor.
In the film, a character who closely resembles General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, leads a single vessel against more than a dozen American warships.
When a U.S. commander orders him to surrender or die, he replies: 'General, I am not a diplomat, I am a revolutionary!'
As the missile arcs towards a Navy vessel, the flag is tugged away. In the film, a character who closely resembles General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, leads a single vessel against more than a dozen American warships
He warns that any American soldiers taking part in an attack on Iran 'should order their coffins,' before his forces destroy the whole U.S. fleet. Pictured, missiles fly through the sky
The U.S Navy's fifth fleet, which is based in Bahrain and is responsible for naval operations in the Persian Gulf, declined to comment on the film
The real-life Soleimani has directed Iranian-backed forces in Syria, where they are aiding President Bashar Assad, and Iraq, where they are helping the government battle the Islamic State group
He warns that any American soldiers taking part in an attack on Iran 'should order their coffins,' before his forces destroy the whole U.S. fleet.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain and is responsible for naval operations in the Persian Gulf, declined to comment on the film when contacted by AP.
The real-life Soleimani has directed Iranian-backed forces in Syria, where they are aiding President Bashar Assad, and Iraq, where they are helping the government battle the Islamic State group.
In recent years he has gained near-mythic status in Iran, where he is seen as resisting U.S. hegemony in the region.
It is the sequel to a production about the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, which begins with a U.S. attack on an Iranian nuclear reactor
In the Persian Gulf, the real-life U.S. Navy has accused Iranian forces of harassing its vessels in recent months
Pictured, the rocket launch of the Iranian missiles. In recent months, tensions between Iran and the U.S have risen
In recent years General Soleimani has gained near-mythic status in Iran, where he is seen as resisting U.S. hegemony in the region
Pictured, a soldier prepares to launch a strike. In the trailer, the soldiers swing down from helicopters and stake out a forest area
In the film, an Iranian base (pictured) sets off a series of missiles, which shoot up into the sky, intended for the U.S. Navy
In the Persian Gulf, the real-life U.S. Navy has accused Iranian forces of harassing its vessels in recent months.
In recent months, tensions between the two countries have risen.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal, and his administration put Iran 'on notice' last month after it tested a ballistic missile.
Iranians were meanwhile angered over Trump's travel ban, which temporarily barred their entry to the United States before it was blocked by the courts.
Washington has long warned it would take military action to prevent Iran from developing an atomic weapon, while Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
Pictured, an Iranian weapon shoots a missile out into the sea, blowing back an Iranian flag with the force. A cloud of black smoke emerges afterwards
A squadron of soldiers cock their guns in a forest and are preparing to fire
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal, and his administration put Iran 'on notice' last month after it tested a ballistic missile
Iranians were meanwhile angered over Trump's travel ban, which temporarily barred their entry to the United States before it was blocked by the courts
Washington has long warned it would take military action to prevent Iran from developing an atomic weapon, while Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful
The only North Korean arrested over the dramatic airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam is to be freed, Malaysia said on Thursday, as a North Korea official claimed there's a strong indication that Kim Jong-Un's brother died of a heart attack.
The moves came the day after two young women appeared in court charged with murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with a banned nerve agent.
Despite Malaysian officials saying Kim Jong-Nam was poisoned, a North Korean official in Malaysia has claimed that there is a strong indication that he died of a heart attack.
Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said 47-year-old Ri Jong-Chol would be released on Friday.
North Korean Ri Jong-Chol (pictured) is to be released on Friday after Malaysian officials could not find sufficient evidence to charge in him connection to the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam.
Malaysian police speak about detained North Korean Ri Jong-Chol, who was suspected of having involvement in the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half brother of leader Kim Jong-Un. His release comes just days after two women were charged with murder in the case
'He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him,' Apandi said. 'He has no proper [travel] documents so we will deport him.'
Seven other North Koreans are wanted in connection with the killing, including a diplomat and an airline employee who are believed to be in Malaysia.
Four others are thought to have fled to Pyongyang on the day of the murder.
Ri was arrested days after Kim suffered an agonising death when he was attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he waited to board a flight to Macau on February 13.
CCTV footage shows two women approaching the heavyset 45-year-old and appearing to thrust a cloth in his face.
Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later, without reaching hospital.
Swabs of the dead man's face revealed traces of the VX nerve agent, a synthetic chemical so deadly that it is classed as a weapon of mass destruction.
Seven other North Koreans are wanted in connection with the killing, including a diplomat and an airline employee who are believed to be in Malaysia
Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, center, is escorted by police officers as she arrives at Sepang court in Sepang, Malaysia on Wednesday. She was charged with murder, and if found guilty, she could be hanged
Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong (left) leaves court after being charged with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam. She could also be hanged if she is found guilty
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, were charged with murder on Wednesday. If found guilty, they could be hanged.
Siti, wearing a red T-shirt, was brought in first to hear the murder charge read out before being taken away. Huong, also dressed casually, then heard the charge in Vietnamese.
Huong's lawyer S. Selvam said she told the court in Vietnamese: 'I am not guilty.'
Neither woman was asked to enter a plea and their trial is not expected to begin for several months.
However, after hearing the charge, Huong's lawyer S. Selvam said she told the court in Vietnamese: 'I am not guilty.'
Selvam added his client was 'nervous as she is facing a murder charge'.
Both women say they thought they were taking part in a prank video but police have dismissed the claims.
Huong was caught on CCTV walking through the airport wearing a T-shirt with 'LOL' written on the front.
Facing their fate: Siti Aisyah, left, is escorted by police officers out of Sepang court and Doan Thi Huong leaves, right
A heavy armed police presence surrounded the women in court on Wednesday
Huong is escorted for Sepang Magistrate Court after the hearing on Wednesday. The women maintain their innocence in the case
They appeared to be wearing bulletproof vests as they were escorted from the building, with Huong looking tired as she was lead away.
South Korea has consistently pointed the finger of blame at North Korea, citing what they say was a standing order from Kim Jong-Un to kill his exiled half-brother.
Pyongyang - which has never acknowledged Kim's identity - has denied the charge and disputes the autopsy, claiming Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.
Kim Jong-nam (seen above in 2001) died on February 13 and police say a nerve agent was found on his face
The two countries, which had enjoyed relatively warm relations, have been at diplomatic daggers drawn since the killing.
On Thursday Kuala Lumpur, which had earlier recalled its ambassador, said it was cancelling its visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang.
The government was implementing the change on the grounds of national security, Malaysian news agency Bernama quoted deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.
The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, the report added.
'We are not looking for enemies but if they use Malaysia as a platform to carry out their agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international diplomatic front.' Ahmad Zahid told a public event.
'We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of the people. Do not think you can use Malaysia to do what you want to do. Do not use Malaysia to carry out your illegal activities,' he added.
Doan Thi Huong was captured walking through the airport on CCTV wearing a LOL T-shirt on the day Kim Jong-Nam was killed
Shocking pictures show Kim Jong-nam slumped in a chair having been poisoned. He later died on his way to the hospital
Malaysia was one of only a tiny handful of countries around the world that had such a visa waiver scheme with North Korea.
A senior Malaysian official told AFP that the government was mulling further 'downgrading diplomatic ties' with North Korea.
'Malaysia is considering shutting down its mission in Pyongyang,' he said, as well as the expulsion of the North Korean ambassador following his 'baseless allegations', a reference to accusations of bias in the murder probe.
Malaysia formally established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 1973 and opened an embassy in Pyongyang in 2003.
It has provided a channel between Pyongyang and the wider world in recent years, with Kuala Lumpur serving as a discreet meeting place for talks between the regime and the United States.
Up to 1,000 North Koreans currently work in Malaysia and, like expats worldwide, their remittances are a valuable source of foreign currency for the isolated regime.
It is not clear how widely known Kim's fate is at home, but on Thursday South Korean activists said they will send millions of leaflets about his murder across the border by balloon.
They said the text on them would describe the North's leader as 'a devil who killed his own brother'.
The older generation are often heard complaining that school has got easier for today's youngsters.
But this challenging year 7 maths homework question left an entire family scratching their heads.
The question, which asked 11-year-olds to work out a series of equations involving fractions, baffled the mother of a girl who attends a school in Springfield, Queensland.
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This challenging year 7 maths homework question left an entire family scratching their heads, but can you work it out?
The girl said it took her mother, aunt and grandmother 45 minutes to solve the brainteaser.
She added that they needed the help of the internet to find the answer to the challenging question.
'My brain is fried now and this is the easiest year of high school,' the mother told Springfield News.
The woman, who is studying business administration, added: 'How the hell is an 11-year-old supposed to work this out? To me, its just way too much.'
'They've been back six weeks and there has been only three days that she has actually wanted to go to school.'
The question asked the children to work our the denominator and numerator on fractions.
The answer is: 2/8 + 2/3 = 12/48 +32/48 = 44/48 = 11/12
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an increase in the intensity of 'snap readiness combat checks' for military forces on his 'western enclave' of Kaliningrad - which is only 200 miles from the Swedish coast - prompting the Stockholm government to reintroduce conscription.
The 6,000 square mile area south of Lithuania is Putin's only port in the Baltic which remains ice free around the year.
Last year, Putin deployed his feared SA-21 Growler anti-aircraft missile system to the enclave - covering his naval base.
Sweden has reintroduced conscription as a result of the massive increase in Russian military activity around the Baltic region, including the major deployment the SA-21 Growler anti-aircraft missile which can shoot down jets at a range of 250 miles
The Growler, pictured, is one of the most advanced air defence missile systems in the world and is being deployed widely across Russia's western border providing cover for troops from western air attack. It can even shoot down incoming missiles
Sweden has reintroduced military conscription over conflict fears in Eastern Europe as Vladimir Putin continues to prepare Russia for war
Sweden has announced the reintroduction of conscription as a result of the increased Russian aggression in the Baltic region
The young conscripts will join the army at 18 and spend approximately 11 months with the service
Now, the system is operational and can protect his ships, troops and ballistic missiles from air attack.
Sweden has reintroduced military conscription over conflict fears in Eastern Europe as Vladimir Putin continues to prepare Russia for war.
The Nordic country's government approved plans to bring the system back amid difficulties filling the ranks on a voluntary basis.
Sweden mothballed compulsory military service in 2010, but military activity in the Baltic region has increased since, in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Scandinavian nation is concerned over Russia's military build-up around the Baltic - including the massive increase in military activity in Kaliningrad.
Putin's military build-up in the region is being carried out under the umbrella of his Growler missile system - which he calls the S-400 Triumf.
The Nordic country's government ruled today on bringing the system back amid difficulties filling the ranks on a voluntary basis (file picture)
Russian troops have been increasing the frequency and intensity of its readiness drills, prompting fear in the west
Putin even ordered a Russian flotilla through the English Channel last October for a brief deployment to the Mediterranean
Putin has also sent his strategic bomber fleet on missions, testing UK and NATO response times to the sorties
Last month, Putin ordered a massive readiness exercise to prepare the area for air attack.
Roman Martov of the Baltic Fleet's air defence arm told the Tass news agency: 'Under the drills' plan, the fleet's radar reconnaissance has practiced detecting a notional enemy's air attack in the designated area of responsibility and aiming the S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile system to destroy the targets detected. The combat crews of the Pantsyr-S1 anti-aircraft missile/gun system provided cover for the S-400 complexes.'
Putin has deployed his Growlers from an area covering his Northern fleet, down along Russia's western border and into the Crimea.
He also has Growlers based in Syria, covering much of the Mediterranean - including RAF Akrotiri.
NATO is deploying troops to Estonia as a response to the increasingly hostile actions of the Russians.
More than 1,000 troops from Britain, France and Denmark will arrive this month.
Putin even ordered a Russian flotilla through the English Channel last October for a brief deployment to the Mediterranean
Russian troops have been increasing the frequency and intensity of its readiness drills, prompting fear in the west
NATO has also deployed reinforcements to Poland on its eastern flank.
In September, non-NATO-member Sweden stationed permanent troops on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland. Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist described the move as sending a signal after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its 'increasing pressure' on the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
There have also been reports of airspace violations by Russia's military aircraft in the Baltics and a military buildup in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which sits across the Baltic Sea from Sweden.
Under the plan approved Thursday, at least 4,000 18-year-olds could be called up each year.
Enrolment should be made possible from July 1, and basic military training with compulsory service from January 1.
Swedes will still be able to volunteer for military service.
Sweden expects eventually that 13,000 young people will be called upon and 4,000 will be enrolled.
Conscription was introduced in Sweden in 1901, but had gradually winded down and was formally canceled 109 years later. During the Cold War era, nearly 85 per cent of Swedish men were drafted into the army due to the nearby threat of the Soviet Union. The average term of service was around 11 months.
In 2015, Sweden's military expenditure dropped to 1.1 percent of its gross domestic product, down from 2.5 percent in 1991 as the Cold War came to an end, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Sweden also said it was going to increase military spending by 15 per cent because of the Russian threat.
The Scandinavian nation is concerned over Russia's military build-up around the Baltic - including the massive increase in military activity in Kaliningrad.
Putin's military build-up in the region is being carried out under the umbrella of his Growler missile system - which he calls the S-400 Triumf.
Sweden has announced the reintroduction of conscription as a result of the increased Russian aggression in the Baltic region
Sweden, which is not a NATO member, is upgrading its military, with a sharp hike in spending (file picture of Swedish jets)
Last month, Putin ordered a massive readiness exercise to prepare the area for air attack.
Roman Martov of the Baltic Fleet's air defence arm told the Tass news agency: 'Under the drills' plan, the fleet's radar reconnaissance has practiced detecting a notional enemy's air attack in the designated area of responsibility and aiming the S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile system to destroy the targets detected. The combat crews of the Pantsyr-S1 anti-aircraft missile/gun system provided cover for the S-400 complexes.'
Putin has deployed his Growlers from an area covering his Northern fleet, down along Russia's western border and into the Crimea.
He also has Growlers based in Syria, covering much of the Mediterranean - including RAF Akrotiri.
NATO is deploying troops to Estonia as a response to the increasingly hostile actions of the Russians.
More than 1,000 troops from Britain, France and Denmark will arrive this month.
NATO has also deployed reinforcements to Poland on its eastern flank.
It has reassigned troops to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland and urged local governments to step up contingency planning for a future war.
Celebrity accountant Anthony Bell denied he 'dressed up as a woman' with a 'headscarf and large sunglasses' or drove past his estranged wife's waterfront home.
In a bizarre moment in a Sydney court on Thursday, Mr Bell gave evidence rejecting claims by his estranged wife Kelly Landry that he had driven by her Watsons Bay home in a black Aston Martin, or that he knew anything about a 'disguised' woman peering through her front gate.
Ms Landry went to police on February 22 claiming Mr Bell had been near her home, which was against the terms of an apprehended violence order in place between the pair.
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Kelly Landry is seen leaving the courthouse on Thursday following the bizarre hearing
But Mr Bell told the Downing Centre Local Court that he was at his office at King Street Wharf at the time he supposedly went past the waterfront home.
'It wasn't me,' Mr Bell said.
He then went on to even deny being the woman wearing a headscarf and large sunglasses who Ms Landry reported to police as peering into her home.
'Do you own a wig' Mr Bell's lawyer Chris Murphy asked.
'No,' Mr Bell said.
'Have you ever dressed up as a woman,' Murphy asked, to which Mr Bell replied 'No'.
Ms Landry went to police on February 22 claiming Mr Bell had been near her home, which was against the terms of an apprehended violence order in place between the pair
Kelly Landry is seen leaving the courthouse on Thursday after she went to police claiming Anthony Bell was seen outside her house
Celebrity accountant Anthony Bell has arrived at court with his 85-year-old mother Shirley
Magistrate Barnett then said: 'It never even occurred to me I was being asked to make a finding that was supposed to be your client in drag. '
The court heard Ms Landry, a former model and television presenter, went to police after her brother claimed he saw Mr Bell outside her home, about 2.15pm.
Ms Landry told police she had also seen a man taking photographs of her house and a woman in disguise looking in her front gate.
His estranged wife Kelly Landry is pictured here outside Waverly Court in January
The pair were seen joking and laughing as they walked into the Downing Centre in Sydney
Daniel Saluni, A security guard at the office complex where Mr Bell works gave evidence that his CCTV footage captured Mr Bell parking his car around 12.43pm on that day and staying there until 5.29pm.
Mr Bell's executive assistant Melanie Santos also gave evidence that her boss was at work the day in question.
The court heard Ms Landry was also concerned over two incidents where Mr Bell allegedly stepped onto the jetty which leads to the house while picking up his children on his boat.
Mr Bell is being represented by veteran criminal defence lawyer Chris Murphy
The couple, pictured here in 2010, separated earlier this year after Ms Landry claimed Mr Bell pushed her and embarrassed her. Mr Bell has denied these claims
Ms Landry has been living at the property with her mother, her mother's partner, her brother and his boyfriend since her marriage breakdown, the court was told.
Mr Bell, who is now living in Bondi, has not lived at the property since Christmas Day.
The couple has a nanny who works for them for '50 to 60 hours a week' who helps manage the children.
Mr Bell said he often picks up the children from the jetty out the back of Ms Landry's house, saying 'the children like going on the boat'.
The former Getaway host has kept largely mum about the highly publicised ordeal
Police acting on Ms Landry's behalf asked the court to change the apprehended violence order that applies to Mr Bell to prevent him coming from within 50m of the premises.
The prosecutor argued Ms Landry had genuine fears, but the magistrate refused the application.
'I am not suggesting for one moment that the fears expressed by Ms Landry are not genuinely held by Ms Landry,' Magistrate Barnett said.
But he said the 'facts as she perceives them' didn't justify changing the order.
Ms Landry did not appear in court but was seen walking out of the courthouse following the hearing.
Missing: Joshua Wilson, nine, was last seen outside a school in Sydney's north
A nine-year-old boy who went missing from outside a school in Sydney's north has been found.
Police launched a desperate search for Joshua Wilson on Thursday afternoon.
He was last spotted outside the gates of Asquith Public School, on Dudley Street, at about 3pm.
Police said they had 'serious concerns' for Joshua and asked anyone who had seen him to come forward immediately.
Thankfully he was found on a train at Waitara Railway Station at about 6.20pm.
The white, blonde-haired boy had been described as wearing a blue shirt and grey shorts and is about 150cms tall.
New South Wales Police thanked the public for help finding Joshua.
Joshua Wilson was last spotted outside the gates of Asquith Public School (pictured)
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
Students from a NSW North Coast high school have been filmed fighting each other in a series of videos posted to social media.
One of the videos features a teacher's efforts to break up a fight between two girls at Kyogle High School as they pull each other's hair and throw punches.
Another features two young boys punching each other and throwing each other around by their shirts as a group of teens watch on and film it with their phones.
The footage was posted to YouTube and North Coast Crime Facebook page this week, with a warning that 'one punch can kill.'
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Students from Kyogle High School, on the NSW North Coast, have been filmed fighting each other in a series of videos posted to Facebook this week (pictured)
'Should police officers be attending high schools to talk about violence or should we leave it to parents to educate their children about what sort of behaviour is acceptable?' the Facebook post said.
In a response to the shocking videos, Kyogle High School Principal Gae Masters addressed parents on social media.
'I would like to assure you that whenever the school becomes aware of violence or inappropriate behaviour on school grounds it takes disciplinary action, as has been the case with the incidents filmed,' she said.
One of the videos features a teacher's efforts to break up a fight between two girls at Kyogle High School as they pull each other's hair and throw punches (pictured)
In a response to the shocking videos, Kyogle High School Principal Gae Masters addressed parents on social media (pictured)
'The school has a strict mobile device policy, including disciplinary action for any student found to have been filming inappropriately.'
'We would greatly appreciate your support in reinforcing the importance of respectful behaviour and of not misusing technology, including distributing inappropriate footage which can encourage unsafe behaviour.'
A spokesman with the Department of Education told 9News Kyogle High School is working with police.
'The school is not aware of any serious injuries resulting from the incidents referred to. Staff are trained to manage inappropriate behaviour, and this can include calling police if necessary.'
In another devastating blow to ISIS, Syrian troops backed by Russian jets have finally recaptured Palmyra from jihadis.
The Kremlin and the army confirmed they had regained control of the historic city, as ISIS fled the area.
Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces had battled through the desert for weeks to reach the oasis city.
Syrian regime fighters take position as they advance to retake the ancient city of Palmyra, from ISIS fighters
An army statement carried on state news agency SANA said its forces had 'regained control over Palmyra and surrounding territory after a series of successful military operations'
Palmyra has traded hands several times during Syria's six-year civil war and become a symbol of the terror group's wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture, a Kremlin spokesman told news agencies in Moscow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said that the jihadists had totally withdrawn from the desert city but not before mining several areas.
'The Syrian army is still clearing neighbourhoods of mines and has not spread out into the whole city yet,' said its director, Rami Abdel Rahman.
An army statement carried on state news agency SANA said its forces had 'regained control over Palmyra and surrounding territory after a series of successful military operations'.
IS has suffered a string of setbacks since taking over swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its two main strongholds of Mosul and Raqa both face assaults by forces backed by a US-led coalition.
ISIS first seized Palmyra in 2015 - when it become a symbol of the terror group's wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control
The jihadists first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples.
They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the city in December when the government was focused on seizing rebel-held east Aleppo.
Before ISIS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But many of the structures have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.
Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's Palmyra push, and its warplanes continued to bombard ISIS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported.
A decades-old ally of Damascus, Moscow launched an air campaign in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces out of second city Aleppo last year -- thanks in large part to Russian support.
Jihadists had totally withdrawn from the desert city - but not before mining several areas
On another battle front against ISIS, fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they would cede several villages to the government as part of a deal brokered by Russia to avoid conflict with Turkey.
Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August that it said aimed to counter both IS and the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as 'terrorists'.
The surprise announcement by the SDF marks the first time that US-supported fighters offered to cede territory to Assad's forces.
It said the territory to be handed over lay between the towns of Manbij and Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed fighters captured last week from ISIS, to create a buffer zone between them.
Ankara meanwhile renewed its threat to bomb Kurdish fighters unless they withdrew from Manbij, a former bastion of IS that is now under SDF control.
The Turkey-backed rebels launched their advance on Manbij on Wednesday, initially seizing two villages but losing them to the SDF by Thursday.
Six rebels and one SDF fighter were killed, the Observatory said.
The profusion of forces operating in Syria has muddled the battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had bombed SDF fighters mistakenly believing they were IS.
The Russian defence ministry denied carrying out the air strikes.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture
Russia meanwhile, has accused Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), of 'sabotaging' sputtering UN-led Syrian peace talks in Geneva and questioned their ability to reach a deal.
'The results of the first days of the intra-Syrian dialogues, as before, raise questions over the ability of the Syrian opposition representatives to reach a deal,' Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Moscow had earlier called for 'terrorism' to be added to the agenda of the talks, which have so far focused on three topics: governance, the constitution, and elections.
But the HNC late Wednesday refused, having previously accused Assad's regime of wanting to turn the focus to terrorism as a distraction from political questions.
The Geneva talks, the fourth round of UN-sponsored negotiations in the war, are expected to end by the weekend, though no formal timeframe has been set.
Donald Trump is set to delegate the power to launch anti-terror raids, similar to one which cost the life of a Navy SEAL in Yemen, according to insiders.
The president is reportedly keen to give more authority to his defense secretary, retired Marine Gen Jim Mattis.
White House sources claim Trump wants to speed up the process for launching time-sensitive missions, which US generals feel stalled during Barack Obama's presidency.
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White House sources claim Trump wants to speed up the process for launching time-sensitive missions, which US generals feel stalled during Barack Obama's presidency
But the move will raise questions over the administration's attitude to US and civilian casualties, which Obama was very cautious about, the Daily Beast reports.
In some cases, such as freeing hostages, it states, Mattis may be given pre-approval to launch strikes without waiting for White House approval.
Currently, US commanders have the authority to launch missions in declared war zones, but Trump's proposal would give generals a freer hand in locations such as Somalia, Libya and Yemen.
As commander in chief, the president will usually approve risky missions.
Navy SEAL William 'Ryan' Owens and an estimated 25 civilians died during a raid in Yemen last month, and six US officers were injured
Owens' father, Bill Owens, refused to meet the president and described the raid as rushed
On January 29, Navy SEAL William 'Ryan' Owens and an estimated 25 civilians - nine of who were under the age of 13 - died during a raid in Yemen, and six US officers were injured. An Osprey military helicopter had to be destroyed because of damage it sustained.
Owens' father, Bill Owens, blasted the president, refusing to meet him and describing the raid as rushed.
Speaking about the operation in which his son died, Bill Owens told the Miami Herald: 'Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into [President Trump's] administration?'
An Obama administration insider told The Daily Beast: 'Obama gave a lot of leash to commanders in the fieldbut not on everything'
He branded the raid a 'grand display', pointing out that for the past two years ground forces had not been deployed in Yemen.
Yet in an interview with Fox News, Trump said: 'This was a mission that was started before I got here.
'They explained what they wanted to dothe generalswho are very respected, my generals are the most respected that weve had in many decades, I believe. And they lost Ryan.'
But the president said it had yielded 'tremendous amounts of information', and in Congress branded the SEAL 'a warrior, and a hero'.
President Trump branded Navy SEAL William 'Ryan' Owens 'a warrior, a hero' in Congress this week
Nevertheless NBC News has questioned the amount of information gained from the mission, citing intelligence sources.
An Obama administration insider told The Daily Beast: 'Obama gave a lot of leash to commanders in the fieldbut not on everything.
'Its all about controlling escalation. Do I want to give someone else the authority to get me deeper into a war?'
The official said striking against targets in countries in which the US is not involved in conflict is usually the result of a 'back and forth' between the Oval Office and military chiefs.
Trump's administration reportedly believes that streamlining the process will make it more effective in dealing with ISIS threats.
A young woman was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as she left a press conference where she had urged President Donald Trump to protect so-called 'Dreamers' like her who are in the process of renewing permission to remain in the United States legally.
Daniela Vargas, 22, who is originally from Argentina, was detained by ICE agents who pulled over a friend's car on a nearby freeway after she left a coalition of clergy and civil rights lawyers in Jackson, Mississippi.
Vargas was seven years old when her parents brought her from the city of Cordoba, Argentina.
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Daniela Vargas (pictured) was one of several so-called Dreamers who spoke out at the press conference Wednesday. A few hours later she was under detention by ICE
She graduated from high school in 2013, attended community college and started at the University of Southern Mississippi, aspiring to be a math professor.
Miss Vargas, who is eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said at the press conference: 'A path for citizenship is necessary for DACA recipients but also for the other 11 million undocumented people with dreams.'
She recalled watching ICE agents taking away her father and brother and said: 'I was scared for my life.'
DACA, which allows people who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for work, was launched by President Barack Obama in 2012 but Trump has suggested he will keep it.
Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California, tweeted: 'Talking publicly about fears of deportation is not a crime and should not get someone detained.'
Another senator, Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said he was seeking more information on her case from the Department of Homeland Security.
Sen Durbin tweeted: 'Disturbing that ICE may have followed her from an immigration press conference.'
Vargas' DACA status expired in November and she applied to renew it last month after saving up for the $495 application fee.
Several Dreamers were invited to the joint session of Congress this week by Democrats as President Trump (pictured) made his first address. He has said he will retain DACA
Her attorney, Abigail Peterson, said she had been granted the two-year protection twice before, in December 2012 and in November 2014.
Ms Peterson said detaining someone with a pending DACA application was 'very unusual'.
'Why they would move forward the way they have is, honestly, mind-boggling,' she said.
ICE spokesman Thomas Byrd said Vargas was taken into custody in a 'targeted immigration enforcement action' after the agency verified her DACA status had lapsed.
He said: 'ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately.'
ICE said a federal immigration judge would now 'decide whether or not she is eligible for immigration relief'.
She's Mississippian by heart. She doesn't see a future for herself in Argentina Angela Stuesse
Vargas' lawyers expect she will be detained in Louisiana, where they will try to get her released on her own recognizance.
They said they did not know where her father Daniel, 55, and brother Alan, 26, were being held but believe they have not yet been deported. The family came to the US from Argentina.
Angela Stuesse, a family friend and anthropology professor at the University of North Carolina, said: 'She's Mississippian by heart. She doesn't see a future for herself in Argentina.'
An executive order President Trump issued in January compels federal immigration agents to step up enforcement, but Trump has said they would focus initially on criminal offenders.
The father of missing airman Corrie McKeague says he believes more than one person covered up the reason his son disappeared.
Corrie McKeague, 23, has been missing since September last year after he went out with friends in Bury St Edmunds.
Police yesterday arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to the case.
Officers are also preparing to search a rubbish tip which Mr McKeague's mother believes may contain his body.
Corrie McKeague went missing in September A man has been arrested by police investigating his disappearance. His father Martin (right) said he thinks more than one person is involved
Corrie's father, Martin McKeague, said yesterday that he believes a group of people could be hampering the investigation.
He wrote on Facebook: 'In my opinion there's not just one person out there who is perverting the course of justice in the investigation into Corrie's disappearance, but several.'
He also shared a police statement concerning a knife which was found near where Mr McKeague went missing, but which is not thought to be linked to the disappearance.
Mr McKeague quoted the police as saying: 'Police are in possession of this knife after the person it was handed to was spoken to and brought it to the police station.
'The area where the knife was found was searched during the initial stages of the enquiry and no knife was located at that time, it cannot be said when this knife was left in the area or by whom and there is no link between this and Corrie at this time.'
Mr McKeague's mother has also spoke out in regards to the arrest and said the man was not a friend or relative of her son.
Police are now preparing to sift through thousands of tons of rubbish at a dump in Milton near Cambridge.
Investigators made the link to the landfill after a bin lorry made a collection in the area where Mr McKeague was last seen.
Police released CCTV of two people in the area at the time of Mr McKeague's disappearance
Police have released footage of two people they wish to speak to after they were spotted in the area where Mr McKeague was last seen.
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said: 'We are continuing to make progress on the investigation and we will be starting the landfill site search as soon as the preparatory work is complete.
'We have been carrying out a lot of enquiries behind the scenes and our work continues to find the truth about what happened to Corrie.'
Mr McKeague's mother, Nicola Urquhart, 48, said: 'I've spoken to the my other sons, Makeyan and Darroch, and the rest of the family, and were just trying so hard not to read more into this than their might be.
'It might end up being nothing or might end up being huge so we don't know. There actually isn't anything that I know that the police haven't put out there.
'They obviously contacted us to let us know that they had somebody in custody and they would be interviewing them.'
Mr McKeague and girlfriend April Oliver. His mother has said she thinks his body may be found
Mrs Urquhart has previously said there is a 'good possibility' her son's body will be found at the landfill site.
Speaking last month, she said: 'I think there's a good possibility that that's where he could have ended up, because I try to look at things logically.
'What we know is that he's not left on foot, he's not still in there now, so he's left in a vehicle. That means he could have gone in a bin and then in the bin lorry, or in one of the other vehicles that were there.
Mrs Urquhart added: 'I don't think anyone who has put Corrie there is going to come forward - they would have done it by now.
'But if someone knows how someone is behaving, if they are behaving oddly, we're going to find Corrie if he's in that landfill, so come forward now, so whoever has put him there doesn't get away with saying he's fallen in a bin and it's an accident.
'At least give us some more closure, not just finding Corrie, but also how he got there and what happened to him.'
Detectives have so far spent more than 300,000 in their search to find Mr McKeague, including using Cadaver dogs, trained to sniff out dead bodies.
Mr McKeague was last seen walking through Bury St Edmunds after a night out in September
The investigation is one of the most expensive ever carried out by Suffolk and Norfolk Constabularies.
Mr McKeague's family have also raised more than 50,000 to draft in private investigators to help and have organised three private searches in their desperate hunt for clues.
Since Corrie's disappearance, it has also emerged that his girlfriend April Oliver, 21, is pregnant with his child.
Miss Oliver said Corrie did not know about the baby which is due in late spring or early summer.
Corrie is originally from Fife in Scotland and moved down to Suffolk to live at RAF Honington where he worked as a gunner and team medic in the air force.
Anyone with information about his disappearance is asked to call the incident room at Suffolk Police on 01473 782019.
Richard Pitkin, 65, and his 58-year-old wife, Sarah, were found dead at their home in Stowmarket
A builder who ran a tearoom with his wife stabbed her to death and then hanged himself in a murder-suicide at their 16th century home.
Richard Pitkin, 65, killed his 58-year-old wife Sarah at the home they shared in Stowmarket, Suffolk, on Sunday.
Home Office post-mortem examinations found that Mr Pitkin hanged himself and that his wife died from multiple stab wounds. Police are treating her death as murder.
The couple, who had a son and three daughters, moved to the market town from London in 2006 after they bought the Grade II-listed Harlequin House.
Three years later they opened the Harlequin Tea Room and Mrs Pitkin was in charge of the business until it closed two years ago.
They lived in their 300,000 semi-detached property with their teenage daughter Tisha and their son Tommy, who worked with his father.
Historian Steve Williams, 66, knew the pair for around ten years and said the community was 'shaken that anybody could get to that level of despair.'
He said: 'They always seemed to be the perfect couple. Always friendly. Always seemed to be a typical happy couple.
'I don't know what happened and it's dangerous for me to speculate. But something really sensational must have tipped the balance.
'We're just shaken that someone that level-headed could get to those depths of despair.'
A Suffolk Police spokesman said: 'Home Office post-mortem examinations were carried out and concluded that Sarah Pitkin had died as a result of multiple stab wounds. Her death is being treated as murder.
'Richard Pitkin's death was found to be as a result of hanging and is not being treated as suspicious.
Neighbours said the couple (pictured) had four children, two of whom lived at home and another two who had moved away to university
'The police investigation is continuing, but detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths and a file will be passed to the coroner in due course, on completion of police enquiries.'
The double tragedy shocked residents in the town and one neighbour said they were a 'lovely couple' whose deaths did 'not make sense'.
Mr Pitkin owned a highly regarded carpentry and decorating business, while his wife was the deputy manager in a charity shop.
Mr Pitkin (pictured) was well known in the market town of Stowmarket
A neighbour also described how Mr Pitkin 'worked incredibly hard' running his business from his home.
He said: 'It is tragic, really tragic. They were a lovely couple.'
Stowmarket mayor Barry Humphreys added: 'It's a big loss to the town. I knew Richard and Sarah and they were a really nice couple. They will be sorely missed by everyone.'
Rachel Backshall, director of marketing at St Elizabeth Hospice - where Mrs Pitkin was assistant manager - said she was a 'well-loved member of the team'.
She said: 'Sarah was an energetic character, full of life and joy.
'She was imaginative and creative and brought a real sense of fun to the shop. She will be sadly missed by us all.'
Police forensic teams have carried out a thorough search of the picturesque family home, where vases of flowers adorn each of the 11 windows that face the street.
A van marked as belonging to Richard Pitkin and Son Carpenters and Decorators was also parked at the house, which has well-kept flower beds at the front.
The pair, who moved into the property in 2009 (pictured), had previously turned part of their home into a tea shop but closed it down two years ago
An Indian woman was burnt to death in a funeral pyre - hours after doctors had pronounced her dead, it has been claimed.
Medics said the 24-year-old, named as Rachna Sisodia, had died of a lung infection at Sharda hospital in Greater Noida, in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state.
Her husband Devesh Chaudhary, 23, took possession of her body at 1.27am and drove with it and some friends to a funeral pyre location in Aligarh, two hours away, where at 8am they began to cremate her.
But there are reports that somebody then dragged the woman off the funeral pyre, believing her to be still alive.
A woman named as Rachna Sisodia (left) was accidentally burnt to death in a funeral pyre after doctors wrongly pronounced her dead hours earlier, it has been claimed. She is pictured with husband Devesh Chaudhary
She showed no signs of life thereafter but a post-mortem examination showed charred particles in her windpipe and lungs, say police, which would not have been present if she had not been breathing.
Two doctors working together said the cause of death was not lung infection but in fact 'shock caused by being burnt alive'.
Rajesh Pandey, a senior police superintendent, told local media of the doctors' verdict.
A police spokesman added: 'This happens when someone is burnt alive. The particles go inside with the breath. If a person is dead, such particles cannot reach the lungs and the windpipe. So, the doctors concluded that the woman was burnt alive on the pyre.'
Medics said the 24-year-old, named as Rachna Sisodia, had died of a lung infection at Sharda hospital in Greater Noida, in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state. Indian women's rights campaigners are pictured during a demonstration last year
In another development, the dead woman's maternal uncle Kailash Singh has reportedly accused her husband and ten others of sexually assaulting and killing her.
Police are taking the accusations seriously but all the men have disappeared, they say.
However, the doctors at Sharda maintain that Rachna did in fact die at their hospital and post-mortem doctor Pankaj Mishra says he cannot even be sure that the body he examined was that of Rachna, due to the extent of the burns on it.
Devesh told local media, from an unknown location, that his in-laws were trying to frame him and his relatives in a bid to acquire his property.
Doctors have also preserved a piece of bone for conducting DNA tests, which was handed over to the police. They did not say when DNA test results would be available.
A police officer in Rochester, New York, has been criticized by his chief after he let several women twerk on the hood of his car after they were refused entry into a nightclub.
A video was posted on Twitter at the weekend showing several women gyrating provocatively on the hood of the patrol car as two officers watched.
It was clearly a light-hearted interaction between the women and the officers but Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli was not amused.
Most people on Twitter saw the video as fairly harmless, with only a small minority feeling it was offensive or disrespectful to the police
He issued a statement saying: 'We, as leaders of the Department, hold the Rochester Police Department, its uniform and its symbols in the highest regard.
'We expect all our officers to do the same. Our professionalism, both on- and off-duty are a reflection of all police officers.'
Ciminelli added: 'Although the RPD personnel did not intend for this to occur, the result was an inappropriate and unacceptable image for the Rochester Police Department. This matter has already been addressed accordingly.'
He said: 'I don't think it was targeted or out of disrespect, they just thought it was going to be funny if we do this. None of us found it funny.'
But the man who took the video has suggested Ciminelli should lighten up.
Chris Barber told local TV station 13WHAM: 'The women asked the cops if they could dance by their car.
'The RPD officers were being respectful to the females who made a request.'
It is a far cry from the hostile relations displayed between police and the African American community in recent years, which culminated in the killing of five officers in Dallas in July last year.
Mr Barber explained that the women had been denied entry into the Pearl nightclub in Rochester in the early hours of Saturday morning because one of them was wearing sweatpants.
Their desire to twerk on the dancefloor having been frustrated, the women sidled up to the cops, who were parked in an alley, and asked an officer if they could twerk by his patrol car.
Mr Barber said: 'He said "I'm going to turn my back real quick", which is kind of a way of saying not yes, but not saying no.'
The police officers reportedly thought the girls were just going to take selfies by the car and did not have time to react when they climbed on the car hood
Later it emerged the officers thought the girl were simply going to take selfies of themselves in front of the car and had no time to react when one suddenly climbed onto the hood.
Ralph Gagliano, of the police union, the Rochester Police Locust Club, said: 'We're constantly being told it's important to interact with the public. It was appropriate how he reacted to the situation.
'His intention was to allow these girls to take a photo in front of the car. They decided to carry on and bring attention to themselves.'
On Twitter most people saw the funny side and saw it as a harmless dance but a minority found it offensive and disrespectful.
@akachela tweeted: 'Why is the RPD apologizing? This is the best community outreach they've done in months.'
Rochester Democratic Socialists tweeted jokingly: 'Twerking on police cars is part of our strategy portfolio actually.'
But Amber Nicole tweeted: 'Stay classy, Rochester. Your tax dollars at twerk.'
An American journalist documented the moment he claims he was given a police escort to leave a predominantly migrant suburb of Stockholm after he and his camerawoman were followed by masked men.
Tim Pool and his colleague Emily Molli were in the 'no-go zone' of Rinkeby, Sweden, when police told them to leave after they began to be followed by people who apparently objected to them filming on Wednesday.
Police, however, have disputed Pool's claims that police escorted them out of the area, saying they were unable to find specific reports filed about the incident in their system.
Pool has been traveling around Sweden on a trip funded by Paul Joseph Watson, a writer for right-wing website Infowars who promised to pay for a trip to the country for any journalist who claimed it was safe following claims that Sweden's perceived migrant problems were overblown.
Chicago journalist Tim Pool claimed he and his film crew were escorted out of Rinkeby, Sweden after being followed by masked men
Police, however, said Pool and his film crew were not given a police escort and simply left at the same time
Pool has been traveling around Sweden on a trip funded by Paul Joseph Watson, a writer for right-wing website Infowars who promised to pay for a trip to the country for any journalist who claimed it was safe
On Wednesday, Pool and Molli traveled to Rinkeby, where riots broke out after President Donald Trump warned of migrant problems in Sweden last month. Nine out of ten residents in Rinkeby are immigrants.
'You look at what's happening last night in Sweden,' Trump said in a speech in February. 'Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible.'
During a video uploaded to Pool's YouTube channel, he and Molli are seen speaking to a third man, before they say police have told them to leave the area.
'Several men started masking up and following us. Police told us to leave and had to escort us to our car,' he wrote in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
Molli reiterated Pool's thoughts in her own Twitter posts on Wednesday.
'Wasn't expecting such a quick reaction of masking up as soon as we got to the Rinkeby center. Camera was down at my side most of the time,' Molli wrote. 'we asked an officer if he thought we could get an interview from a local, he advised it would probably start trouble.'
After they left the area, Pool recapped what happened in a later clip in the video, in which he said he asked police about 'no-go' zones, which are apparently unsafe to travel into.
He said that police told him that there are problem areas, where officers can't go in unless they have two units, where one cop will watch the other officer.
Pool told The Local that police officers noticed people around Pool and Molli started putting up their hoods and 'whispering to each other'.
'So the cop was like 'maybe it would be smart if you were to leave now, that's my tip for you',' Pool said. 'They got in their car to escort us out and we just had to walk alongside their vehicle, and they followed us to our car. As we were walking there were people following us, yelling things.'
Police, however, said that Pool and his crew did not have a police escort leaving the area.
'Our understanding is that he didn't receive an escort. However, he followed the police who left the place,' Stockholm police press spokesperson Kjell Lindgren told The Local.
Swedish police had to investigate riots in Rinkeby last month after clashes started when a police car arrested a suspect and people started throwing stones at them
Frida Nordlof, a police officer in the Jarva district, told the Stockholm newspaper Mitt i that there were extra police officers in the area because of a poetry event that was happening that night, and they planned on a lot of visitors.
'When Tim Pool took out a camera and started filming a group of young people they pulled their hoods up and covered their faces and shouted at him to stop filming,' she told Mitt i. 'The officers then told Tim Pool that it was not wise to stay there in the middle of the square and keep filming.
'Then the patrol was going to Rinkeby Academy and that's where Pool's team had parked their car so it was more out of coincidence that they followed each other there.'
Pool, a journalist from Chicago, first made headlines during the Occupy Wall Street protests, where he primarily used his phone to film clips for social media and live broadcasting.
Sweden hit the headlines recently when Trump warned of crime caused by migrants while at a rally in Florida.
He was mocked on social media and forced to admit that he was referring to a report on Fox News rather than an actual event.
Sweden hit the headlines recently when Trump warned of crime caused by migrants while at a rally in Florida. Pictured above, fire fighters in the suburb Rinkeby following riots in February
A police man investigate a burned out car in the suburb Rinkeby following a break out of riots in February
Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he was 'surprised' by Trump's comments.
A forgotten suburb of Stockholm, Rinkeby is where brazen youths openly deal heroin and other drugs inside the entrance to the only train station. Stolen goods are on sale at the red brick over town square.
School attendance levels are of great concern in the sprawling immigrant ghetto, where a massive 89.3 per cent of residents were born outside Sweden. Unemployment rates are among the highest in Sweden, at 15.4 per cent.
The recent rioting in Rinkeby has been blamed on a hardcore group of criminals from immigrant backgrounds.
These gangs have no links to radical Islam or any other religious groups, police sources have confirmed.
The far right Swedish Democrats claim last month's carnage at Rinkeby was a direct result of mass immigration to Sweden.
The country has run a liberal immigration policy for over 20 years, accepting tens of thousands of refugees every year including huge numbers of Kurds, Iraqis and Somalis.
The system reached breaking point in 2015, following the arrival of over 160,000 refugees to Sweden during Europe's refugee crisis.
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Britain will be hit by up to two inches of snow today after being battered by 60mph wind gusts overnight.
Many parts of the UK's western coast are on flood watch today with 46 alerts and nine more serious warnings in place across England and Wales, as some areas face a cocktail of rain, sleet and snow.
And, after temperatures fell to -5C yesterday, the country faces a wet and cloudy weekend with freezing overnight weather expected but daytime readings could make it into double figures on the south coast.
A Fiat 500 sits abandoned in the snow on the A57, near Glossop, Derbyshire, as the Snake Pass road was closed this morning
The A57 closure causes havoc for commuters today who regularly use it to travel between Manchester and Sheffield
The DFDS Dunkerque Seaways arrives in blustery conditions at the Port of Dover in Kent today
A windsurfer in the sea off East Wittering beach in West Sussex today after Britain was hit by 60mph winds overnight
A dog walker on West Wittering beach in West Sussex today in blustery conditions as the UK prepares for a chilly weekend
Kitesurfers in the sea off West Wittering beach today as conditions in the South presented a contrast to snow in the North
Two women crossing Millennium Bridge in London today feel the full force of a windy and cold - but sunny - day in the capital
Three young women hold onto their hats as they make their way across Millennium Bridge on a windy day in London today
Today, a band of rain, sleet and snow which has been affecting parts of Ireland, northern England, north Wales and the north Midlands overnight will continue to affect some parts of the North West in the morning rush hour.
The Met Office has issued a weather warning for up to 0.8in (2cm) of snow at lower levels in areas of Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and South and West Yorkshire.
Forecasters also warned of up to 2in (5cm) at levels above 1,000ft (300m), while slippery conditions are likely on pavements, cycle paths and untreated roads where snow has fallen - and difficult driving conditions are possible.
Elsewhere 60mph wind gusts arrived on the west coast of Cornwall overnight, with gusts of more than 50mph on other parts of the south coast and a breezy morning forecast inland too.
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The Met Office has a snow warning for the North West (left), where there are more than 50 flood alerts or warnings (right)
Beautiful morning: The sun rises at dawn today behind a fishing boat moored off the East beach in Selsey, West Sussex
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution Lifeboat Station is seen in front of a stunning sunrise in Selsey this morning
The sun rises behind a fishing boat in Selsey today as other parts of the country prepare for up to two inches of snowfall
Meanwhile the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales have issued 46 flood alerts and nine warnings. Six of the warnings are for the Somerset coast while the other three are for the Wye Estuary.
Tomorrow will be dull and wet with outbreaks of rain moving up from the South West and while it should remain largely dry for central Scotland until the evening, showers will move into Caithness through the day.
Saturday will be cloudy and wet, with outbreaks of rain persisting for much of Britain, except for the South West where it will be largely dry with a few showers, and Sunday will see plenty of cloud with further outbreaks of rain.
Yesterdays UK low temperature was -4.6C in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, while the average mean temperature for Britain in March is 5.5C.
A glorious view of the Northern Lights this morning over Alnmouth in Northumberland at the St Cuthbert's Cross
This spectacular display of the Aurora Borealis is seen over the Cairngorm National Park near Balmoral last night
A 'bucket list' display of the Northern Lights is in full view over the Holy Island causeway in Northumberland this morning
The Northern Lights are also visible over St Abb's Head Lighthouse in Berwickshire, 14 miles north of Berwick-upon-Tweed
One day after a 32-year-old worker died at a construction site at Barangaroo, an Aboriginal elder has come out and said the 'cursed' area needs a smoking ceremony to 'cleanse' it.
Aboriginal elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grosvenor, 67, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday a spate of tragedies in Barangaroo, at Sydney's eastern end of Darling Harbour, could be the result of a curse and called for an immediate 'smoking ceremony'.
'I think there should be a smoking ceremony to cleanse and bless the sorry business in that area,' Aunty Dixon-Grosvenor said.
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The death of a man at a construction site (pictured) in Sydney on Wednesday is the latest in a series of tragic incidents at Barangaroo
'Smoking ceremonies cleanse any bad feelings or karma in that area, which is so sacred to the Darug people.'
Aunty Dixon-Grosvenor's call for a smoking ceremony follows the tragic death of 32-year-old Tim Macpherson who was crushed to death when a large metal beam fell on him at the Barangaroo Ferry Hub worksite about 4.40pm on Wednesday.
Mr Macpherson left behind a 14-month-old son and a wife who is three months pregnant.
His death was the latest in a series of tragic incidents to happen at Barangaroo, which members of the Aboriginal community warned was cursed.
Tim Macpherson (pictured with his wife and son) died tragically as he was crushed under a steel beam while working at a Barangaroo site
Tim Macpherson (pictured with his wife) died tragically as he was crushed under a steel beam while working at a Barangaroo site
Mr Macpherson left behind a 14-month-old son and a wife who is three months pregnant
Barangaroo was named after the wife of Aboriginal warrior Bennelong in 2005, much to the dismay of some members of the indigenous community who claimed they were not consulted in the decision.
Aunty Dixon-Grosvenor said indigenous people should have had much greater input, 'especially Darug people'.
'We weren't consulted, we didn't have a chance to think about it or anything,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
Emergency services were called to a barge on the water in Darling Harbour (pictured) about 4.40pm on Wednesday in regards to the 30-year-old man's death
Barangaroo was named after the wife of Aboriginal warrior Bennelong (pictured) in 2005
Barangaroo was the wife of Bennelong, an Aboriginal man who was viewed as a traitor within his community because of his close relationship with white settlers.
In contrast, his wife Barangaroo, was a well-respected and admired woman in the community.
Aboriginal journalist Amy McQuire told the Sydney Morning Herald Barangaroo's 'name and her legacy have been reduced to a suburb'.
'Her name has been put to something that (doesn't) benefit Aboriginal people I think Barangaroo would be dead against it,' she said.
Members of the Aboriginal community have precioulsy warned the area could be cursed (Pictured are Koomurri people performing a Smoking Ceremony and Dance during at Barangaroo Reserve for Australia Day)
An Aboriginal man rows a boat in Marrinawi Cove after recieving fire from Me-Mei (Goat Island) during the WugulOra Morning Ceremony in January
While Aunty Dixon-Grosvenor said the string of tragedies, including Wednesday's death, was not a direct result of the curse, she said it was important Barangaroo was cleansed as soon as possible.
'I think until that happens, there's not going to be a good energy,' she said.
'We need to do these ceremonies to be able to bring everyone in and start the healing. Let us move forward.
'It's important for young Aboriginal people to have access to their culture and spirituality, I'd like to see that more acknowledged and respected and to give aboriginal people their rightful place in their traditional areas.'
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pictured overlooking Barangaroo
Darlene Hoskins-McKenzie, an activist and Bidjigal and Yuin custodian, told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2014 that she instantly felt something was wrong when the name was announced.
'That name should never have been given to that site,' she said.
'When they first named it Barangaroo, I got chills down my spine.''
Two men have died at construction sites in Barangaroo in over just over three years.
Before Mr Macpherson's death on Wednesday, a second man died in January 2014 when he fell 30 metres to his death.
A 3.9 tonne hung dangerously from the 51st floor of Barangaroo skyscraper after it was damaged lowering heavy machinery in November 2016 (pictured)
Just a few months later in March 2014 an underground fire broke out at Barangaroo, threating to topple a 50 metre crane.
More than 2,000 people were forced to evacuate from nearby buildings.
A 3.9 tonne hung dangerously from the 51st floor of Barangaroo skyscraper after it was damaged lowering heavy machinery in November 2016, prompting another evacuation.
Wiradjuri Poet Lorna Munro told SBS in 2014 she agreed the project was incorrectly named.
Cranes are seen atop skyscrapers in the Barangaroo development
'I'd probably say that there is a negative energy in the area. Especially naming such a site after a woman who was against European development,' she said
Ms Lorna said Barrangaroo was a 'strong, staunch black woman' who would likely not be happy her name was used for the development.
In January, Koomurri people and representatives of aboriginal groups from around Australia performed a Smoking Ceremony and Dance at Barangaroo Reserve as part of Australia Day celebrations.
It was performed during the WugulOra Morning Ceremony at Walumil Lawn.
David Gill, 55, owner of the South Lakes Zoo in Dalton-on-Furness, Cumbria, has had a colourful personal and professional life over the last two decades
The owner of a zoo where 500 animals have died in just five years boasted on Facebook claiming to be a 'huge success' even though a keeper was mauled to death by a tiger in 2013.
David Gill, 55, owner of the South Lakes Zoo in Dalton-on-Furness, Cumbria, declared he had good fortune because he 'always pursued a different style of management to the norm'.
But the entrepreneur has had a colourful personal and professional life over the last two decades.
Mr Gill first hit headlines in 1997 when a white rhino escaped from an enclosure and he was found guilty of endangering the public.
He also started an affair with a zoo hand Shelley Goodwin, then 16, who he later married.
His wife left him and took the couple's two children with her.
Mr Gill later separated from Ms Goodwin.
Mr Gill's wife left him when he had an affair with 16-year-old zoo hand Shelley Goodwin. The pair later married then separated
A recent Barrow Council report revealed between December 2013 and September 2016 486 animals died at the zoo. Pictured, Mr Gill with current wife Frieda
In 2008, the zoo owner was stabbed by a jilted husband when he discovered Mr Gill and his wife were having an affair.
Former Rugby league player Richard Creary, 38, slashed at Mr Gill's neck after he and Alison Creary were caught in bed together.
He escaped from the ordeal in his pyjama bottoms and Creary was jailed for five years.
Horrified visitors shared shocking photos of a bleeding giraffe (left) and penguins without water (right) at the scandal-ridden zoo.
A recent Barrow Council report revealed between December 2013 and September 2016 486 animals died at the zoo, with the authority set to decide whether to grant the site a new licence next week.
Visitors have shared shocking photos of a bleeding giraffe and penguins without water at the scandal-ridden zoo.
Horrified hospitality worker Laura Ainsworth, 21, claims she witnessed a giraffe's ears and horns bleeding during a trip to South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, last Wednesday and said many animals were in enclosures which seemed to small.
Mother-of-one Alex Grant, 26, from Bolton said: 'After we had only been there an hour, the children were already asking to go home and were crying'
Two other parents who visited the zoo during half term also claim they witnessed poor conditions including penguins allegedly left in a tank without water.
Laura, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: 'South Lakes Zoo was awful. There seemed to be no regard for animal welfare at all. The giraffe enclosure, which housed three giraffes, was barely big enough for three horses.
'The room was not tall enough and one of the giraffes had badly cut its ear bending down to get food from the children. This was more than just a graze.
'The zoo should be shut down and the animals taken to a zoo which regards animal welfare more highly.'
Mother-of-three Sara Dunbar, 25, visited South Lakes Safari Zoo last Tuesday and claims she witnessed penguins left in an empty tank without water.
Sara, whose children are aged seven, three and five, said: 'A lot of the enclosures were empty and the animals just looked depressed. It was horrible.
Laura Ainsworth, 21, from Bolton said: 'The zoo should be shut down and the animals taken to a zoo which regards animal welfare more highly.' Pictured, a tiger and a wolf in muddy enclosures
'Even my seven-year-old noticed they looked poorly and upset. A lot of the birds had feathers missing and a llama seemed to have a skin issue.
'The penguins had no water, they were all just stood in a tank with no water in it. It just didn't feel right.
'The zebras were locked up in little paddocks no bigger than a shed and the camels were pressed right up against metal fencing.
'It really got to my eldest son, he loves animals and he didn't want to come back.
'It was heartbreaking - I have never seen a place so run down with so many animals that did not look like they were having a decent life.
Sara Dunbar said: 'The zebras were locked up in little paddocks no bigger than a shed and the camels were pressed right up against metal fencing.'
Alex Grant said the group of children and mothers saw an ill vulture falling off its perch. She said: 'That was a disturbing sight'
'It was not a nice place to be. If we hadn't have driven so far we would probably not have even stayed as long as we did.'
Mother-of-one Alex Grant, 26, from Bolton, visited South Lakes Safari Zoo last Monday with two-year-old son Gabriel as part of a group of four mums and four toddlers.
Alex said:'We walked past a vulture that was in a cage with a sign saying it was being given medical treatment, but when we saw it a second time it had fallen off its perch and was on the floor.
'That was a disturbing sight - I keep birds and to see one on the floor like that is normally a sign they are dying, it is not natural for them to come off their perch like that.
In 2008, the zoo owner was stabbed by jilted husband Richard Creary (left) when he discovered Mr Gill and his wife Alison (right) were having an affair
'After we had only been there an hour, the children were already asking to go home and were crying. The whole thing was just a shambles.'
A spokesman for Barrow Council said: 'The council will be considering the application made by Mr David Gill for a fresh licence to operate South Lakes Safari Zoo at a hearing scheduled for 9am on Monday, March 6.
'The council has published their reports on Friday, February 24 and will make no further comment at this time.'
An RSPCA spokesman said: 'These pictures are really upsetting. It is extremely alarming to hear that such a large number of animals have died, many of preventable causes, while in the care of this zoo in Cumbria. We are now looking into these latest findings.
'We believe animals should only be kept in captivity if good welfare can be assured.'
Zoo keeper Sarah McClay, 24, was mauled by a Sumatran tiger at the tourist spot in 2013
In 2001, Mr Gill paid 30,000 in compensation to a pregnant zoo keeper who was scared to feed the tigers.
He had reportedly ordered Lara Kitson, 23, to climb up a 16ft ladder, which she thought would endanger the baby.
Zoo keeper Sarah McClay, 24, was mauled by a Sumatran tiger at the tourist spot in 2013.
Three years later, the zoo was fined 255,000 for health and safety breaches as the tiger escaped because of a 'defective bolt'.
The animal park was also fined a further 42,500 as another zoo keeper had fallen from a ladder when preparing to feed big cats a year after Ms McClay died.
Seven healthy lion cubs were put down at just five days old, according to the report, which labelled it 'management euthanasia'.
The council also revealed a monkey's body was found behind a radiator and a jaguar had to be put down when it chewed off its own paw.
Welfare charities have called for the zoo to close down.
Mr Gill declared on Facebook he had good fortune because he 'always pursued a different style of management to the norm'
A spokesman for Barrow Council said: 'The council will be considering the application made by Mr David Gill for a fresh licence to operate South Lakes Safari Zoo at a hearing scheduled for 9am on Monday, March 6.
'The council has published their reports on Friday, February 24 and will make no further comment at this time.'
An RSPCA spokesman said: 'These pictures are really upsetting. It is extremely alarming to hear that such a large number of animals have died, many of preventable causes, while in the care of this zoo in Cumbria. We are now looking into these latest findings.
'We believe animals should only be kept in captivity if good welfare can be assured.'
South Lakes Safari Zoo have been approached for comment.
Becoming a fully-functioning adult can be hard for young people - so a public library has decided to step in and help.
North Bend Library in Oregon is offering a course in 'adulting' - to help people who are living away from their parents for the first time.
Among the subjects covered are cooking, setting budgets and getting a job.
The library is offering an 'Adulting 101' course, where they can learn about cooking, getting a job and setting budgets
Although it's aimed at people aged from 18 to 25, the library said there are no limits on the ages of those who can come along.
Instructor Clara Piazzoli told KCBY: 'I also lived in a dorm in my first year of college, and I lived in varied apartments, some of which didn't have kitchens and didn't allow you to have kitchen supplies, and so I left home not really knowing how to cook and I ended up getting very inventive and teaching myself a lot of these tips.'
After the library posted a flier on Facebook, it was widely applauded.
Karen Cancilla wrote: 'This is exactly what every community needs!!'
The library has been praised for launching the unusual course, which is aimed at people aged from 18 to 25
Jasmine McAfee posted: 'I wish there wasn't an age limit. I'm in my 30s and need to learn to adult better!'
The library responded to her comment: 'There is not an age limit, it is geared toward the 16-25 group but anyone is welcome to come.'
It seems to have gone down well with parents too.
Chris Toney, whose children went along to the first class, said: 'I just think it's important for children to learn these kinds of things from someone other than their parents because sometimes they don't listen to their parents and this actually gave a lot of good information for the kids to use.'
The Guardian has come under ferocious attack from Scottish nationalists over two cryptic crossword clues they claim imply Nicola Sturgeon is racist.
The left-wing newspaper's puzzle yesterday morning sparked fury from some north of the border, after they realised the answer to one clue, 'sturgeon', was followed by the another answer, 'racist'.
Supporters of Nicola Sturgeon went online to accuse the newspaper of implying the First Minister was bigoted.
Two apparently 'unrelated' crossword clues in yesterday's Guardian caused anger in Scotland
Nationalists insisted the consecutive crossword clues implied Nicola Sturgeon was racist
Nationalists writing on Twitter branded The Guardian an 'attack dog for the UK'.
Ysabelle Stewart tweeted: 'So the racist crossword is real. Let's be clear about this - the Guardian is pure British establishment. They are an attack dog for UK.'
Jacquie Johnstone added: '@guardian your crossword today is in my view accusing our elected first minister of being a racist. Subliminal, no. Blatant lack of respect, yes.'
One Twitter user told the paper she had cancelled her subscription and another asked: 'Why did you imply in your crossword that Nicola Sturgeon was racist?
'Why are you stirring it up? Call yourselves liberal?'
Others branded those attacking the paper 'paranoid' and insisted the idea was a 'conspiracy theory'.
Scottish nationalists blasted the paper on Twitter, with one vowing to cancel her subscription
The crossword clues, which the Guardian insist are 'entirely unrelated', were set by the veteran crossword compiler Picaroon, who has also created puzzles for the Spectator under the name Lavatch.
A spokesman for the newspaper said: 'The answers to 12 across and 14 across in the cryptic crossword in question are simply positioned next to each other and are entirely unrelated.'
The row comes just days after London mayor Sadiq Khan was also attacked by Scottish nationalists after he implied in a speech that there was 'no difference' between nationalism and racism.
Nicola Sturgeon said the Labour politician's comments were 'spectacularly ill-judged', tweeting: 'It is an insult to all those Scots who support independence for reasons of inclusion & social justice.'
Mr Khan insisted he was not calling the SNP racists or bigots.
German police have arrested two suspected members of an al-Qaeda offshoot - with one accused of war crimes involving the murder of dozens of civilians.
Abdalfatah HA is accused of killing 36 employees of the Syrian government together with his Nusra Front unit in March 2013, prosecutors said in a statement.
The 35-year-old asylum seeker carried out so-called Shariah death sentences, the statement said.
German police (file picture) have arrested two suspected members of an al-Qaeda offshoot - with one accused of war crimes involving the murder of dozens of civilians
Abdulrahman AA, 26, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013, it added.
The men were arrested in the cities of Dusseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided.
The men were detained by police from the western states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia who also searched their apartments.
Separately, the southern state of Bavaria announced the arrest of a 33-year-old Bosnian who is believed to have supplied the Sunni militia Junud al-Sham with several vehicles.
Abdulrahman AA, 26, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin, south of Homs (pictured) in November 2013, prosecutors say
German federal prosecutors have launched around a dozen investigations concerning alleged war crimes committed in Syria or Iraq, alongside dozens of cases of suspected membership of jihadist groups.
The investigations have gained momentum following the arrival of over a million asylum seekers since 2015, including hundreds of thousands of people from Syria and Iraq.
Last July, in the first such conviction in Germany, a German jihadist was sentenced to two years in prison on war crimes charges after posing for pictures in Syria with the severed and impaled heads of two government troops.
A groom-to-be who died just six hours into his stag do had a large amount of cocaine in his system, an inquest has heard.
Father-of-three Shaun Ennis, from Buxton, Derbyshire, and group of friends flew to the holiday resort of Magaluf in Majorca last summer.
They went straight to local bars but, within hours, 31-year-old Mr Ennis told his future brother-in-law he did not feel well and started convulsing.
Groom-to-be Shaun Ennis (left and right with his fiancee, Kiri Robinson) died just seven hours into his own stag do in Magaluf after collapsing suddenly at his hotel
Friends and relatives battled to resuscitate Mr Ennis with father Brian trying the kiss of life but, despite their desperate efforts, he could not be saved and passed away at the scene.
Mr Ennis had been due to marry the love of his life, Kiri Robinson, the month after his death.
A coroner this week heard that a post-mortem examination of Mr Ennis in the UK found 'high' levels of cocaine in his system.
Pathologist Deirdre McKenna told the inquest that the effect of the drug on his heart caused his death, the Buxton Advertiser reported.
Recording a verdict of misadventure, Coroner Dr Robert Hunter said: 'I don't think people fully appreciate the dangers that cocaine can pose to the heart.
Painter and decorator Mr Ennis moved from Stretford when he was 14 to live in Buxton with his mother Sheila Pink.
He was a former pupil of St Antony's Catholic College and had three children, aged 14, nine and six at the time of his death.
Father-of-three Shaun Ennis and 17 friends had flown to the holiday resort of Magaluf
Samoa may see a rush of visitors this year after its tourism agency posted an image of a handsome man posing on one of the country's famously blue beaches.
Samoa Tourism posted the image of the man on its Instagram account last week with the hopes of enticing tourists to its islands.
'Is Samoa on your 2017 wish list? Discover the home of vibrant warm waters and sparking beaches,' the post read.
Samoa Tourism posted an image of a handsome man on its Instagram account last week with the hopes of enticing tourists to the country (pictured)
'Is Samoa on your 2017 wish list? Discover the home of vibrant warm waters and sparking beaches,' the post read (stock image)
The image quickly attracted a lot of attention on social media (pictured)
The image quickly attracted a lot of attention, with many tourists declaring they had added the country to their wish list.
'He the tour guide?' one woman commented.
'How much does he cost? Whoops, I mean the holiday,' another said.
'Ummmm. Didn't really notice the water. Way too distracted,' a woman joked.
'I swear this isn't the reason why I've always wanted to go to Samoa,' a woman laughed.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi said in a press release earlier this year that tourism has had a huge impact on the economic and social growth of the country (stock image)
Many tourists declaring they had added the country to their wish list (pictured)
'Wow. Such a beautiful place. On my list. If only,' another person commented.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi said in a press release earlier this year that tourism has had a huge impact on the economic and social growth of the country.
'Tourism is the mainstay of our economy and we have selected to continue pioneering sustainable tourism, as we have stated in our tourism sector plan and vision that by 2019 Samoa will have a growing tourism sector.'
A Chinese woman, called Lina, has been punched in the face in a horrific racist attack outside a Sydney shopping mall
A Chinese woman has been punched in the face in a horrific racist attack outside a Sydney shopping mall.
The woman, called Lina, was waiting to cross a road outside Burwood Plaza when a white man confronted her and shouted: 'Get out of my country.'
Lina tried to walk away but the man continued to abuse her before punching her in the face, leaving her with blood pouring from her face.
Witnesses driving past as the stranger launched into the vicious attack tried to stop him by beeping their horns, only for the man to start hitting their cars.
Lina, a Chinese Australian, told Sydney Today that the man hurled 'a series of insulting words' at her before punching her.
She has described the incident at about noon on February 4 as a 'severe racial attack'.
Lina was able to call the emergency services and was treated by shocked passers-by before police arrived.
A woman who was driving past the shopping centre at the time of the attack said she beeped her horn at the attacker in the hope other drivers would try to help the victim.
She told SBS Mandarin that her beeping only succeeding in distracting the man, who then started hitting her windows.
The motorist, who did not wish to be named, said she had no option but to drive away because her child was in the car.
The woman, called Lina, was waiting to cross a road outside Burwood Plaza (pictured) when a white man confronted her and shouted: 'Get out of my country'
She drove back to the scene a few minutes alter to check on the girl, to find her covered in blood but being helped by other witnesses.
The mother said: 'Even if it is not considered as a racial attack, I think we still need to be concerned.
'I hope my witness [evidence] can help the police to fast track the case.'
The attacker has been described as being aged between 55 and 65 years old, thin and between 173 and 178cms tall.
He had blonde, grey hair and was wearing a light coloured t-shirt, grey or blue trousers and was wearing glasses.
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The bean counters behind the infamous Academy Awards envelope blunder are now being protected by bodyguards paid for by their bosses after receiving death threats.
Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz have faced a barrage of abuse, leaving chiefs at their employer, PricewaterhouseCooper, fearful for their safety.
The mistake meant that La La Land was accidentally announced as Best Picture instead of real winner Moonlight by presenter Faye Dunaway.
Cullinan had moments before handed the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty, prompting chaos at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood before shocked audiences were told what had happened.
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Andrea Cullinan, the wife of Brian Cullinan, visits a Ralph's store in Malibu alongside a bodyguard who has been hired after threats to the family's safety
Dynamic duo: Accountants Martha Ruiz and Cullinan have been fired from all future Oscars telecasts (above on the red carpet)
Following the blunder, pictures of Cullinan and Ruiz's homes were posted online and a stream of threats were directed at the accountants.
As a result, PwC bosses decided they and their families should be given protection.
Among the vile messages directed at them, TMZ reports, were: 'You f****** idiot, I will f*** you every day'.
Another read: 'I hope you get fired and get cancer.'
In pictures which emerged from backstage at Sunday's show, Cullinan can be seen glued to a television monitor broadcasting Stone's acceptance speech for Actress in a Leading Role while holding multiple envelopes and his phone.
La la land: Backstage photos from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles show Pricewaterhouse Coopers accountant Brian Cullinan gawking at Emma Stone on a monitor (right) while ignoring Warren Beatty (left hugging Casey Affleck)
Too many choices: In Cullinan's hand are a jumble of envelopes (above) and his phone, just seconds before he hands the wrong one off to Beatty
Everyone else in the room is looking at Warren Beatty in the photo, who at that moment was hugging Casey Affleck after his Actor in a Leading Role win for Manchester by the Sea.
Cullinan then handed off the wrong envelope to Beatty, but while the Bonnie & Clyde actor was blundering on stage with Faye Dunaway the accountant was completely oblivious to what was going on because he was too busy tweeting his picture of Stone.
A photo shows the entire backstage crew and production staff with their eyes glued to the monitor, and Cullinan typing away on his phone.
This is why it was announced by Academy president Cheryl Boone Issacs on Wednesday that Cullinan and his co-worker Martha Ruiz had been fired from their posts and barred from working any future Oscar ceremonies.
It is unclear why Cullinan was even holding the Leading Actress envelop as the accountants rehearse the ceremony and he would have been aware that he was not responsible for handing off that award.
Furthermore, the self-proclaimed Mat Damon look-alike may have been eager to quickly get his photo of Stone because he knew he had only once chance since she would not be part of the team that won Best Picture and therefore only backstage at that moment.
Seduced by Stone: Cullinan is later seen ignoring the monitor while Beatty and Faye Dunaway are flubbing the Best Picture winner and busy on his phone tweeting Stone's photo (above)
Ship adrift: Cullinan (right) was again seen keeping his distance from Beatty before he went out on stage
The objects of their affection: Cullinan stares at his phone (left); Stone stares at her Oscar (right)
Checking it twice: Cullinan was seen looking at a program (above) that clearly spelled out what envelopes he needed to hand out and when
Cullinan shared an image of Stone after she won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role which had a time stamp of 9.05pm on Sunday.
'Best Actress Emma Stone backstage!' he wrote to his followers, adding the hashtag 'PwC' - a firm no-no in the eyes of the Academy which 'highly discourages' taking photographs of stars backstage or posting on social media, a source who was also working at the event told DailyMail.com.
A look back at Sunday night's telecast reveals that the picture was posted on Twitter by Cullinan two minutes after Beatty and his Bonnie & Clyde co-star Faye Dunaway took the stage at the Dolby Theater at 9:03pm to present the last award of the night.
The two said a few brief words and then threw to the clip package featuring the nine nominees in the category.
At 9:05pm Beatty opened the envelope for Best Picture, with his first response after pulling out the card being to look inside for a second card and then appearing confused by what he was looking at.
He stalled for a bit and then showed the card to Faye Dunaway, who at 9:07pm declared La La Land the winner, an announcement that brought the producers and cast of the film to the stage, including Stone who entered from backstage where Cullinan had just taken her picture.
It was not until 9:10pm that Cullinan could be seen racing out from backstage to fix the situation however, and Moonlight was not revealed as the actual Best Picture winner until 9:13pm that night.
Entrance: Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took the stage holding the wrong envelope at 9:03pm (above) to introduce the Best Picture clip package
Starstruck: Cullinan tweeted this photograph of Stone backstage at 9:05pm, the same time that Beatty was opening the wrong envelope
Giving it a go: At 9:05pm Beatty opened the envelope to announce the Best Picture winner (above), but was delayed in revealing the winner because of his confusion
Deep delay: Cullinan did not run out on stage to try and remedy the situation until 9:10pm (Cullinan above on left with Martha Ruiz of PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Selfie time: Brian Cullinan (left with Oprah Winfrey in 2015, right with Matt Damon in 2016) is the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant who handed off the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty at Sunday night's Oscar ceremony
Cullinan remained on stage while the Moonlight cast began to come up and accept the award that was rightfully theirs, standing by Ruiz.
He then exited with the cast and was seen returning backstage just behind one of the stars of the film, Janalae Monae.
Cullinan then appeared to quickly flee the scene, as he was nowhere to be found while the rest of the cast and Beatty filed in after the shocking moment.
Beatty can be seen on the backstage camera at one point apologizing to Moonlight director Barry Jenkins before saying: 'T hats one of the strangest things thats ever happened to me.'
Previously released backstage footage from the awards telecast on Sunday also shows that Cullinan may have been more focused on taking that picture of Stone than checking to see that he had handed off the correct envelope.
All-access footage shows the moments before the Oscars Best Picture Gaffe when Emma Stone returns backstage after collecting her Best Actress award to face a scrum of photographers with Leonardo di Caprio who'd presented the statue to her
Winners: Stone and di Caprio were circled by photographers and admirers - among whom was Cullinan who waited to snap a photograph of Stone once the scrum had cleared
Popular girl: The actress then hugged three admirers - including Best Actor winner Casey Affleck (left) and Brie Larson (right) before she was photographed by Cullinan as the rest of the guests prepared to hear who had won Best Picture
Disbelief: Beatty could later be seen apologizing to Moonlight director Barry Jenkins backstage (above)
Heading for the door: Cullinan (far right) could be seen returning backstage behind Moonlight star Janelle Monae (left) after the final award before quickly fleeing the scene
The stage manager who witnessed Cullinan hand the wrong envelope to the stars, Debbie Williams, said in an interview with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain that soon after La La Land was declared the winner in the category, the startled accountant stated: 'Its the wrong answer, its the wrong answer, its not that movie.'
Thomas said that Cullinan did not rush out at that moment however and instead began to check with fellow accountant Martha Ruiz, with the two trying to figure out the situation.
'It seemed to us to take a very long time,' said Thomas.
Cullinan, who enthusiastically posed for selfies and on the red carpet earlier in the night, later deleted the post of Stone.
In an interview before the show got underway, he told Australian show Studio Ten there was a 'a lot of pressure' not to get it wrong.
'It's a lot of pressure but it's also a lot of fun. This is a great night to be a part of.'
PwC took ownership of the catastrophic mistake on Monday, issuing a statement to say it had 'failed' the Academy.
'Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner,' said the financial firm.
The company has been trusted with handling the Oscar ballots for 82 years and is no doubt reeling from Cullinan's mistake.
Unreal: Moonlight director Barry Jenkins held his hand to his mouth in disbelief while stars Trevante Rhodes and Mahershala Ali looked on stunned
Worth the wait: Jenkins, producer Adele Romanski, Naomi Harris, Trevante Rhodes and Mahershala Ali wore matching looks of disbelief as they approached the stage
Emotional moment: Mahershala Ali and Naomi Harris couldn't mask their bewilderment as they made their way to the stage
Surprise: Shirley MacLaine (left) was almost as shocked as the Moonlight cast (Trevante Rhodes on left, Andre Holland on right) as they emerged the rightful winners
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs summed up the botched award presentation as 'horror'.
'I just thought, "What? What?" I looked out and I saw a member of Pricewaterhouse coming on the stage, and I was, like, "Oh, no, whatwhats happening? What what WHAT ? What could possibly...?"
'And then I just thought, "Oh, my God, how does this happen?" How. Does. This. Happen. And it was such a wonderful show,' she told The New Yorker afterwards.
Stone was quick to clear up that she had no part to play in the blunder.
'I also was holding my best actress in a leading role card that entire time,' said Stone backstage.
'I don't mean to start stuff, but whatever story that was - I had that card.'
The beginning of the end: Warren Beatty entered from stage right and can be seen walking to the podium holding an envelope that clearly said 'Actress in a Leading Role' (above)
Cullinan emerged on stage with the right envelope moments later as stunned PwC aides looked on
Not good: Ruiz and Cullinan look on after handing the correct envelope to Beatty, who reportedly refused to hand it over to stage manager Gary Natoli (center)
Disbelief: Ryan Gosling (left) and Emma Stone (right) could be seen on stage as they learned about the mistake (above)
It was only Cullinan's fourth Oscar ceremony, and he was stationed at the stage right entrance used by Beatty and his Bonnie & Clyde co-star Faye Dunaway when they walked out to present the award for Best Picture at the ceremony.
It seems to be his favorite perk of the job, that and the many interviews and television appearances it comes with, photos of which he frequently posts on social media.
Rough night: Cullinan (above in 2015 with Matthew McConaughey) is stationed at one of the entrances to the stage to hand out the envelope announcing the winner in each category
Paparazzi: In addition to posing for photos with celebs when he can, Cullinan also snaps backstage pics of some stars (Sofia Vergara left in 2015, Reese Witherspoon and Kate Winslet right)
Big deal: Cullinan posted grabs from his Fox News interview over the weekend (above)
In addition to his Oscar duties, Cullinan is a US Board Member at PwC and Managing Partner for the Southern California, Nevada and Arizona Markets - and according to the company, a Matt Damon lookalike.
In the past four years, Cullinan has managed to snap photos with a number of A-list celebrities at the Oscars, and happily shares the photos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Among the celebs he has posed with are Oprah Winfrey, Matt Damon, Chrissy Teigen.
Cullinan has also taken backstage shots of a number of stars, including Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara and Kate Winslet at the 2016 ceremony.
Cullinan spoke about his job in an interview with his Cornell alumni magazine a few years back, raving about the celebrity access it affords him and telling a story about how Samuel L. Jackson has a photo of him on his cell phone.
'Everyone who goes out [on stage], you're hanging out with right before,' said Cullinan.
'I was standing next to and chit-chattingit's mostly small talkwith Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Bette Midler, Matthew McConaughey. To see all those people in the course of about an hourit's a unique spot to be in.'
PwC earlier issued a statement to confirm he was responsible for the mistake.
'The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.
A paedophile who left a four-year-old boy with brain and spinal injuries after using pliers to inflict injuries has been jailed for life.
Dean Cardiss, 33, 'took pleasure' from torturing children, inflicting horrendous physical, sexual and mental abuse on his young victims.
Cardiss, of Leeds, West Yorks, is also thought to have used a horse whip on the boy, attacked him with a Samuari sword and used a wooden plank to beat him.
Dean Cardiss, from Leeds, was jailed for life after he was found guilty of carrying out sadistic abuse on young children
Medics were shocked when they examined the extent of the boy's injuries and said he would have been in agony when they were inflicted.
Prosecutors at Leeds Crown Court described how Cardiss took 'obvious pleasure' in causing injuries to the boy.
The boy appeared 'lifeless' when he was taken to Leeds General Infirmary in 2015 suffering from head injuries and had bruises and burns to his body.
He had also suffered injuries to his spinal cord and had fractures to his vertebrae, heel and pelvis.
Doctors also found evidence that the boy had been sexually abused.
Cardiss was also found guilty of violent offences against two girls when they were aged around three or four years old.
Cardiss used hair straighteners and hair dryers to inflict burn injuries against the girls. He also used the back of a red hot hair dryer to inflict a 'branding' mark to the boy's body.
Cardiss denied any offending at his trial, blaming others for inflicting the injuries.
He was found guilty of one offence of wounding with intent, five offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm, one offence of assault by penetration and nine offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Judge Guy Kearl, QC, told Cardiss he was imposing the life sentence because he was 'intelligent and manipulative' and posed a danger not only to children but adults.
Leeds Crown Court, where he was told he would serve a minimum of 11 years in a life sentence for his abusive crimes
He was told he must serve a minimum of 11 years in custody.
The judge said: 'The offences can best be described as you torturing those children.
'The public needs protecting against you for the foreseeable future.'
Detective Chief Inspector Warren Stevenson, of West Yorkshire Police, said: 'Cardiss was responsible for inflicting a horrendous catalogue of abuse on the victims, who were vulnerable and defenceless young children.
'The nature of the injuries he caused to them, particularly to the young boy, indicate that these were systematic and deliberate acts from which he derived some sort of sick satisfaction and sense of power.
'The evidence identified during our investigation shows that he is clearly a controlling bully of the worst kind and we hope the significant sentence he has received will provide some reassurance to the families of the victims and to the wider community who will be understandably shocked by what he has done.
'We will always treat any offences of abuse against children very seriously and we have specialist safeguarding officers who will continue to work closely with their colleagues in local authorities and other partner agencies to protect children from harm.
'This was an extremely challenging case where painstaking efforts were required to get the accounts of these young victims, and we are very grateful to all the health and social care professionals who played their part in bringing this case to a successful conclusion.'
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The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is currently working on an exploratory opinion on the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) post 2020, requested by the European Commission's Vice-President Frans Timmermans.
This opinion will feed into a communication on simplifying and modernising the CAP, which is due to be published in November 2017.
The rapporteur on the opinion, Guillaume Cros (FR/PES), Vice-President of the Occitanie regional council, together with his expert would be happy to meet with representatives of local and regional authorities and other stakeholders for a consultation and an exchange of views on this important topic for local and regional authorities.
The consultation will take place on:
8 March 2017 between 14:30 and 18:30 in the Committee of the Regions building (Rue Belliard 99-101, B-1040 Brussels) Room JDE 51
After an introduction by the rapporteur, the audience will be invited to exchange their views with the rapporteur.
To shape the debate, a working document will be sent in the coming days to the registered participants. Your comments and reflections will be welcomed on 8 March. Likewise, should you have any position papers relevant to the subject, be so kind to send them to us by e-mail using the address below.
The meeting will be held in French with simultaneous interpretation, allowing you to speak in English, German and Polish as well. Please note that the rapporteur's mother tongue is French.
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED
Please note that due to security reasons - only registered persons have access to the Committee's building.
A dream wedding in Thailand turned deadly after celebratory gunfire shot off by guests killed an innocent neighbour.
Sumet Lomrob, 25, posed in wedding pictures on Sunday brandishing two automatic assault rifles while his wife, who has not been named, stood next to him her white dress. The couple took similar photos for their wedding invitation.
Hours later, as his friends and family paraded through the country road near his village letting off gunfire, a stray bullet hit Thanet Kinwong, 37, as he sat in front of a friend's home.
Sumet Lomrob, 25, and his wedding party let off celebratory gunfire while walking through the roads of the Chonburi province of Thailand, and accidentally killed neighbor Thanet Kinwong. Lomrob and his wife had posed with assault rifles in their wedding invitation (pictured above)
Thanet was killed instantly when the bullet - let loose from about 100metres away - struck the left side of his chest.
The wedding party first denied any involvement but five guests and the groom have now been charged after handing themselves in to the police station in Chonburi province of Thailand.
Police said that four men had admitting to firing guns during the parade. They were Wasin Kongkaew, 20, Arthit Lomrob, 20, Jirapat Lomrob, 20, and Tinnaphat Charoensiri, 23. A fifth man, Sahaphab Saboorum, 21, later turned himself in.
The groom confessed to owning one of the guns used by his friends and relatives and was charged with possession of illegal weapons.
The wedding party first denied any involvement but five guests and the groom have now been charged after handing themselves in to the police station
Lt Col Prasith Mansri said officials were still investigating which gun fired the bullet that killed the innocent man. Pictured above, the men who were arrested are guided into a police vehicle
The case sparked outrage on social media and the dead man's widow Weerawan Suppachon, 47, branded the men 'heartless'.
She said: 'I want to know what their hearts are made of. Why did they dare fire a volley of shots in a residential area, where there are hundred of homes?'
Lt Col Prasith Mansri said officials were still investigating which gun fired the bullet that killed the innocent man.
The groom was released on bail while the five gusts were remanded in custody before a court hearing next week.
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has lost her European parliament immunity from prosecution in an obscene videos case that could see her jailed for three years.
The 48-year-old leader of the far-right Front National (FN) now faces being summoned by a French judge, and being charged with 'distributing violent images'.
Le Pen caused outrage by using Twitter to publish films including one showing the decapitated U.S. journalist James Foley.
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen (pictured) has lost her European parliament immunity from prosecution in an obscene videos case that could see her jailed for three years
Now EU parliamentarians have voted to strip Ms Le Pen, who is an MEP, of immunity that would have protected her from legal action.
The decision will now be communicated to an examining magistrate in Nanterre, the Paris suburb, who has the power to summon Le Pen for an interrogation.
She could then be charged before the French presidential elections start in April. It follows Ms Le Pen refusing to cooperate with the French judicial authorities over a separate case in which she is accused of creating fake jobs in the European Parliament so as to embezzle money from the EU.
In turn, Le Pen has complained of a political plot, saying: 'This only shows French citizens what the EU is, what the European Parliament is it's all part of the system that wants to stop the French people's candidate that I am.'
Le Pen posted an image of freelance journalist James Foley's decapitated body on Twitter
Le Pen posted the three pictures in December 2015 during a Twitter spat with a journalist who compared the FN to jihadi terrorists.
John and Diane Foley, the father and mother of James Foley, said the uncensored picture of their son - who was executed in 2014 - was used by Le Pen for political gain.
Other images showed a man on fire in a cage, and another being run over by a tank.
An investigation was launched by French prosecutors for the crime of 'distributing violent images', but Le Pen refused to cooperate, saying she was exempt as an MEP.
Members of the EU's legal affairs committee voted to lift Le Pen's immunity earlier in the week, and the decision has now been ratified by the full parliament.
If she is convicted, Le Pen could face three years in prison, or a fine of more than 60,000.
Foley's parents, John and Diane Foley, hit out at her for posting the image for political gain
Although MEPs have immunity from prosecutions in order to protect their freedom of speech, countries can request for these to be lifted at any time.
Lifting the immunity will apply to the tweets, and not to the fake jobs allegations that could eventually see Le Pen jailed for 10 years.
Ms Le Pen last lost her EU privilege against prosecution in 2013, after she compared Muslims praying in the street because they had no mosques to occupying Nazis.
She was accused of 'incitement to discrimination over people's religious beliefs', but was cleared after a trial in 2015.
Ms Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has a string of convictions behind him for racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
He remains the honorary president of the FN, and also another of the party's leading MEPs.
Polls suggest Ms Le Pen will win the first round of French presidential elections in April, but is then expected to lose the second round.
The current favourite to win is independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, who today outlined his manifesto for government.
A Sydney Muslim psychologist and ABC religion contributor writer has called on her 'brothers and sisters in Islam' to keep reproducing so their religion can one day overtake Christianity.
Hanan Dover made the seemingly tongue-in-cheek comments on Facebook next to a story predicting that Islam will surpass Christianity to become the most popular religion in the world by 2070 - along with the hashtag #creepingsharia.
The Pew Research Centre, based in Washington DC, this week released research forecasting Islam's share of the the world's population will equal the Christian share - at roughly 32 per cent in 53 years' time.
Sydney Muslim psychologist Hanan Dover encouraged Muslims on Facebook to reproduce
Hanan Dover's Facebook post says Muslims should 'exercise our Weapons of Mass Reproduction'
Ms Dover, who works as a psychologist at Bankstown in Sydney's south-west and is a court-appointed psychologist for terror suspects, posted a Facebook message about those findings.
'Dear brothers and sisters in Islam,' she wrote.
'We need not do anything except exercise our Weapons of Mass Reproduction.
'The most non-violent approach of taking over the No. 1 spot through love making.'
Hanan Dover said Islam could become the world's No. 1 religion 'through love making'
Next to the word 'takbir', which an Arabic Islamic term for 'God is the greatest', she included the hashtag: 'creepingsharia'.
Ms Dover is the founder of the Mission of Hope charity for Muslims and runs eight psychology practices in Sydney, known as Psych Central.
She is also a controversial figure.
The Australian Federal Police last year alleged she knew of plans by Islamist sympathisers to leave Australia and fight with Islamic State but she had said nothing, the Herald Sun reported in September 2016. Ms Dover denied the allegations.
Hanan Dover told a forum at the University of Western Sydney in 2002 that homosexuality was forbidden in Islam
The psychologist says Lebanese Muslim GP Jamal Rifi has 'zero expertise in radicalisation'
The court-appointed psychologist slammed Lebanese Muslim GP Dr Jamal Rifi who is praised by both sides of politics for his work tackling radicalisation
The psychologist has a history of attacking secular Muslims in Facebook posts.
She has previously slammed Sydney-based Lebanese Muslim GP Dr Jamal Rifi, who has been praised by both sides of politics for his work to tackle Islamic radicalisation.
'For crying out loud a million times, Dr Jamal Rifi who has zero expertise in radicalisation and extremism should not be given air time,' she said on Facebook in October 2015, after he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.
'Since when do radicalised youth, whatever that is supposed to mean, need medical doctors?
'Far out. Only a narcissistic type chameleon will try their very best to keep themselves relevant. He is the perfect example.'
This was also in the days after 15-year-old schoolboy Farhad Jabar shot dead accountant and father-of-two Curtis Cheng outside the New South Wales Police headquarters at Parramatta, in Sydney's west.
Hanan Dover in October 2015 accused A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw of doing a journalistic beat-up about the Parramatta shooting
The psychologist also accused A Current Affair of misreporting the Parramatta shooting in October 2015
In another post, Hanan Dover described A Current Affair as 'racist journalistic vomit'
Ms Dover, who has written opinion pieces for the ABC's Religion and Ethics website, attacked A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw during that same week.
She had objected to an initial Nine Network report which said the gunman was of Middle Eastern appearance, even though the killer, who police shot dead, was born in Iran.
'This is the level of racist moronic journalist beat-up that we have to live with,' she said on Facebook.
'Tracy is not "possibly" a moron, she is one.'
She added A Current Affair was 'racist journalistic vomit' in another Facebook post from October 2015.
Farhad Jabar was 15 when he shot dead accountant Curtis Cheng outside the New South Wales police headquarters at Parramatta, in October 2015
The psychologist said one of her colleagues knew Farhad Jabar, before he shot dead an accountant in Parramatta
During that same week, she published another Facebook post which said a colleague of hers knew Farhad shortly before he was shot dead.
'My community colleague is the person who had close contact with him before his death,' she said.
In 2002, she told a forum at the University of Western Sydney's Bankstown campus that homosexuality was forbidden, or haram, under Islamic law.
'If Allah loves homosexuals, he will also loves thieves, murderers, liars, hypocrites, criminals,' she said.
'How can Allah accept a behaviour that he has told us is not permissible?'
'Did Allah make a mistake and say that homosexuality is haram for about 1400 hundred years and when humans are ready, they can start disobeying my laws, being a progressive civilisation, and I will start accepting all evils? C'mon.'
Despite that, she signed a media statement with other Islamic community leaders in June 2016 expressing sympathy for the 49 people killed at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
A 14-year-old girl who has been missing since Tuesday night could be with a 37-year-old man, police claim.
Shiloh Jackson, also known as Shilo Miller, was last seen at a Lake Illawarra home, south of Wollongong.
Police said they are seriously concerned for her welfare and have been told she could be with David Miller, a 37-year-old man from the Oak Flats area.
Shiloh Jackson, 14, was last seen at a Lake Illawarra home, south of Wollongong, on Tuesday (pictured)
Shiloh is Caucasian with a medium build and blonde hair. She is between 155-165cms.
Mr Miller is between 175-180cms tall and has a slim build with brown hair.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers.
Ebola nurse Salome Karwah, 28, from Liberia, died after giving birth to her fourth son. She was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2014
An Ebola nurse who was named Time magazine's person of the year in 2014 has died after giving birth to a son.
Salome Karwah, 28, from Liberia, gave birth to Jeramiah by cesarean section on February 17.
But husband James Harris claims medical staff were unwilling to touch her because she was a survivor of Ebola.
The mother-of-four, who tested negative for the disease, was re-admitted to hospital when she experienced complications after the birth.
Mr Harris said his wife started having convulsions and foamed at the mouth.
He told NPR: '[The doctor] was checking Facebook.
'Nurses came to help me, but the doctor told me that she would not touch her, and that if [Salome] stayed [at the hospital] she would die.'
He said that hospital workers did not treat her as quickly as they could have because of lingering superstitions about Ebola survivors.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Francis Kateh, told the BBC: 'We have to do a thorough investigation.'
Husband James Harris claims medical staff were unwilling to touch her because she was a survivor of Ebola. Chief Medical Officer Dr Francis Kateh said the matter is being investigated
During the Ebola crisis of 2014, Ms Karwah lost her mother, father and brother to the disease.
The couple, who met in 2013, both caught the disease in the summer of 2014.
Ms Karwah, who was pregnant at the time, her sister and Mr Harris survived the outbreak.
When they recovered, they were hired by Doctors Without Borders to help care for sufferers at their unit in Monrovia.
Ms Karwah caught Ebola in the summer of 2014 but miraculously survived, along with husband James Harris and her sister. She was hired by Doctors Without Borders to help after she recovered
While working for the charity, Ms Karwah was not afraid to touch people with the disease and soothed crying babies back to sleep.
As she had survived the usually deadly disease, she could touch sufferers and not be at risk of contracting Ebola again.
At the end of 2014, the nurse was named by Time Magazine, along with a group of 'Ebola Fighters' as Person of the Year.
She married Mr Harris in January 2016.
As she had survived the usually deadly disease, she could touch sufferers and not be at risk of contracting Ebola again. She was able to comfort her patients and sooth babies to sleep
Ms Karwah's friend Adolphus Mawolo has launched a crowdfunding page to help support Mr Harris, who is unemployed, and his four children.
Mr Mawolo hopes to raise $20,000 to pay for medical bills, food, clothing and shelter.
To donate, visit his GoFundMe page.
Derry McCann admitted the charges of rape and robbery against him committed earlier this year
A convicted rapist has admitted 'sustained and systematic' rape of a stranger hours before he married his pregnant fiancee.
Derry McCann, 28, attacked the 24-year-old woman in a park in Hackney, east London, as she walked home after a night out with friends in the early hours of January 13.
McCann tied the knot at The Vestry in Bromley-by-Bow later that day and posted pictures of himself with his new wife on his public Facebook page.
It mirrors a similar assault for which he was jailed in 2006, after he attacked a lawyer in a park in east London, telling an accomplice he would 'have fun with this one'.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum of nine years, and the judge said there was a risk he would strike again.
The defendant, of Hackney, east London, fixed his eyes on the ground as he pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, one count of assault by penetration and one count of robbery at Snaresbrook Crown Court on March 2.
Honorary Recorder Martyn Zeidman told the rapist he had carried out a 'terrible' crime and faced a 'very, very long time' in prison.
First dance: Derry Flynn McCann, 28, pictured with his new wife on their wedding day - the groom has since admitted rape, robbery and assault carried out that day
McCann played 'mind games' with his victim after dragging her into the undergrowth, taunting her by asking what she thought he would do next, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
McCann also snatched the woman's mobile phone and bra, the court heard.
Kate Bex, prosecuting, said: 'It was about midnight, just a little after, and the victim was walking a short distance home having been out to an art gallery, socialising with friends.
'She was almost within sight of her own front door when she skirted round the side of the park on her usual route home.
'She avoided walking through the middle of it because that was too dangerous, she walked around the side, but unfortunately when near the exit of the park the defendant grabbed her arm and pulled her to one side.
'He began a sustained and systematic attack, best described as mind games in an attempt to control her. Asking the victim what she thought he was going to do to her before actually carrying out the acts.
The attack took place in Victoria Park, Hackney, pictured, in which a 24-year-old woman was sexually assaulted
'He behaved oddly in other respects in interacting with the victim concerning the condom he used when he penetrated and ejaculated.'
McCann will be sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 28.
The court heard that in May 2006, when he was 17 and on a tag for burglary he preyed on the 30-year-old trainee lawyer as she made her way home through an east London park.
After snatching the woman's handbag he chillingly told an accomplice: 'I'm gonna have some fun with this one.'
He then dragged her down to the secluded banks of a pond in Mile End Park to inflict a string of disturbing sexual assaults.
McCann began his assault by biting her on the cheek before alternately beating and raping her.
During the prolonged assault he told her she was his girlfriend and he wanted her to have his child before saying he was going to chain her up in his basement where he kept other women.
Snaresbrook Crown Court where McCann will return for sentencing on April 28 after admitting rape and assault
A detective at the time said he put his victim through a 'life-changing trauma that will haunt her for the rest of her life'.
Judge Lindsay Burn had expressed deep concern over his 'clinical enactment of a catalogue of sexual desires', which amounted to 'torture'.
The judge said: 'Some of the most bizarre and worrying features of the evidence was your repeated threats to kill the complainant and your change of mood.
'On the one hand you were a sexual aggressor, then you almost completely switched to the role of boyfriend, talking to her in a normal way.'
Judge Burn was so concerned about him he ordered a transcript of his sentencing remarks to be sent to the governor of the prison.
He said: 'In my judgement there's a very substantial risk that you will commit further serious offences in the future and your conduct will cause serious harm to your victim or victims.'
As McCann was given a life sentence, with a minimum of nine years before he can be released on parole, he yelled out: 'B*******, you don't know me. F*** all you c****.'
He also warned the prison guards not to touch him as he was led away.
McCann's furious family were then escorted out of the building by 12 officers after shouting at the judge for jailing their 'innocent' son.
Crown Prosecution Service London reviewing lawyer Andrew Held said: 'This was a terrifying, violent and prolonged attack involving rapes committed by a man intent on inflicting fear and psychological suffering.
'The strong prosecution case which led to today's guilty pleas included victim testimony, an ID parade, CCTV footage, and bad character evidence based on a similar rape committed by McCann in 2006.
'I would like to thank McCann's victim for her courage in helping bring this prosecution and hope his conviction provides some sense of justice for her.'
Kevin M Sullivan, 61, of Atlanta, was sentenced to six years in jail for downloading child porn
A professor has been jailed for six years for using the Emory University Wi-Fi download 8,000 images of child porn.
Kevin M Sullivan of Atlanta tried to cover his tracks by using his personal computer on the college's internet system.
The 61-year-old was logging onto a banned site in Switzerland to gain access to the illegal pictures.
US Attorney John Horn said Sullivan will be on seven years of supervised release after his sentence.
He told AJC: 'Sullivan downloaded thousands of files depicting the sexual abuse of children.
'He attempted to cover his tracks by using his personal computer on the internet system at Emory to download the images.
'As predators continue to try to develop new methods to feed and download child pornography, we will continue to find them and prosecute them.'
The former epidemiology professor was caught when agents were tipped off in October 2014 by Swiss authorities who seized a server that was hosting child pornography.
The pedophile was a professor of epidemiology at Emory University (pictured) in Atlanta
When they scoured the logins, it appeared someone in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory was using the Wi-Fi to download pictures.
The university's IT department liaised with detectives and it was discovered the site was being accessed by the pedophile.
Agents swooped on his office when he left work in June 2015 and found child porn on his laptop and external hard drive.
He was arrested at home, where his computer also showed evidence of banned images.
As well as the time he will serve in prison, Sullivan must pay a $15,000 fine.
Laura Beal, 33, from Exeter in Devon, quit her local force after 13 years because she felt the constabulary was being run like a business
A former 'poster girl' police officer has posted a scathing resignation letter on Facebook which slams understaffing and budget cuts.
Laura Beal, 33, from Exeter in Devon, quit her local force after 13 years because she felt the constabulary was being run like a business.
The dedicated officer said she was distraught, but could no longer cope with what the job had become.
She said her patch often had no emergency cover and coppers are left to suffer unsupported.
Ms Beal became a 'poster girl' for the force back in 2010 - featuring in the 'You matter, we care' campaign.
But in a letter addressed to chief constable Shaun Sawyer and posted on Facebook she criticises the force for her role 'becoming something I didn't want to be'.
She revealed she was forced to cover her Mid Devon patch with just one other response officer and they were always forced to work alone.
They would also often be diverted to emergency incidents in other areas - leaving the patch with no emergency cover at all.
Scroll down for the full letter
She wrote: 'I joined in 2004 having followed in my father's footsteps and was so proud to call myself a Police Officer.
'However, as my career has progressed the total lack of support both governmental and from the Chief Officer Group has made me lose all faith in the job I loved.
'I am expected to go on patrol covering Mid-Devon with one other officer most days and this is meant to be adequate staffing and safe.
'How this can be acceptable is beyond belief. I have always worked to the best of my ability as I had pride in what I did. This however is not possible any more.'
Ms Beal became a 'poster girl' for the force back in 2010 - featuring in the 'You matter, we care' campaign
She said her patch often had no emergency cover and coppers are left to suffer unsupported
WHAT IS THE TRUTH OF POLICE NUMBERS? Despite grumbles from senior officers, police numbers are broadly similar to when Tony Blair opened the spending taps. In March 1998 when Labour had been in office for around ten months police strength, excluding long-term sick officers, in England and Wales was 124,759. By last year, the figure was 118,779, nearly 6,000 fewer. But there were also 11,043 police community support officers meaning there were a total of 129,822 police and PCSOs in the 43 forces. PCSOs were introduced in 2002. Senior officers and the Police Federation, which represents the rank and file, have bemoaned the axe being taken to full-time officers. But the boom in numbers under Labour coincided with a splurge in spending. Between 1997-98 and the peak year of 2009-10, direct Government funding for the police soared in real terms from 7.4billion to 9.5billion some 28 per cent. But after the 2010 General Election the incoming Tory-led Coalition forced chief constables to tighten their belts. Central government funding to police forces fell by 2.3billion or 25 per cent between 2010-11 and 2015-16. Critics who warned that this would lead to a field day for criminals were proved wrong. Offending actually fell. In the year to last September, there were 6.2million crimes, figures show. In 1995 there were more than 19million. Advertisement
In the letter, which has been shared hundreds of times on social media, Ms Beal said the stress of her job was making her ill.
She added: 'I am and was a good Police Officer and you are losing more and more every day.
'Staff are not coping, and are suffering because there is no one looking out for them.
Please take it from someone who has been personally affected.
'Front line response is where you need to focus your time and money.
'This is where the buck stops. We are always called upon when things need doing and when things go wrong in every department.'
In the letter, which has been shared hundreds of times on social media, Ms Beal (pictured with her partner) said the stress of her job was making her ill
Since she posted the letter this week Ms Beal said she has been stunned by the positive response she has had from the public.
Speaking today, she said things had been getting progressively worse since Theresa May, while Home Secretary, announced policing reform in 2010 to make drastic cuts.
Ms Beal said: 'I could see the job I loved and the people I respect get ruined because of an organisation that puts its employees last.
'I know it's personal but I thought I'd share my resignation letter so everyone knows what this means to me and that it's not been an easy decision. '
In the letter, which has been shared hundreds of times on social media, Ms Beal said the stress of her job was making her ill
She added: 'I was not able to mentally cope. It is so sad. It all started when Theresa May announced she was cutting all the numbers when she was Home Secretary.
'If I was a member of the public, I would be concerned. How are we able to serve the public if we are not mentally able top do it? There is not enough of us.
'I am gutted that I am being forced out of a job that I love, and I was bloody good at.
'This is only going to get worse unless they stop the cuts and put people back on the front -line.
'Every year things have got worse and more and more cuts are made. I was becoming the old sweat in the corner; miserable but not doing anything about it.
'Instead of just sitting there in silence I wanted to take control of my life. There is just not enough of us. We are drowning and you can not function.
'You only have to look at all the comments to see that. There are so many people saying they wish they had the guts but can not do what I have done.'
in a letter addressed to chief constable Shaun Sawyer (pictured) and posted on Facebook she criticises the force for her role 'becoming something I didn't want to be'
Ms Beal, who says she has worked in response her whole career, was also a sexual offences liaison officer and grew up wanting to follow in her father's footsteps.
She added: 'My dad was a police officer I grew up with all his stories. It was the proudest day of my life when I followed in his footsteps.
'I have not heard anything from the force about me going public and I don't expect to.
'But the support I have had has blown me away and everyone has been so lovely. I keep getting floored, but it has obviously touched a nerve.
'I am shocked. There are so many people saying they have been treated the same way I have.
'It is just not right and it is about time something was done about it.'
Ms Beal is now launching her own dog grooming business in the area.
Supt Jim Colwell, Devon Commander, said he was 'sympathetic to the reasons she gives for leaving the force' and thanked her for her 'loyal service'.
'Hearing of an officer resigning is sad, particularly when this is done so publicly,' he said.
'We do hear concerns from officers and staff and recognise where they are feeling the strain.
'We acknowledge that these issues undoubtedly have an impact on staff wellbeing.'
He said there had been a series of initiatives including a 'peer support network, a counselling service and we have implemented the Blue Light programme developed by mental health charity Mind, aimed at emergency services staff'.
MS BEAL'S RESIGNATION LETTER I am Police Constable 6552 Laura BEAL on Response covering MID-DEVON and I am writing this to you to inform you that as of this date; Tuesday 28th February 2017 I am resigning my post as Police Constable. This will be my 13th year as a Police Constable as this has been my life since I was 19 years old. I am sure that what I am about to say will not be knew information to you, but I feel I owe it to myself and my colleagues to tell you my reasons for leaving. I joined in 2004 having followed in my father's footsteps and was so proud to call myself a Police Officer, however as my career has progressed the total lack of support both governmental and from the Chief Officer Group has made me lose all faith in the job I loved. I am expected to go on patrol covering MID-DEVON with one other officer most days and this is meant to be adequate staffing and safe. How this can be acceptable is beyond belief. I have always worked to the best of my ability as I had pride in what I did. This however is not possible any more. As a result of the way I have been treated within this organisation I have to undergo Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as I now suffer with anxiety, depression and stress. I would rather take the massive pay cut and quit than spend one day longer in a job that is making me ill. I am and was a good Police Officer and you are losing more and more every day, only to be replaced by new recruits who have little to no people skills however are able to answer exams effectively. I have seen Police Officers who are completely incompetent get promoted because it's been too difficult for higher management to manage them so promoting them and moving them is the easy option. I have also seen incredible supervisors in their roles be moved because a space needed filling. I am sure you have bigger and more important things to be doing than listen to what seems to be a standard resignation letter from an upset employee, but I implore you to please hear this; Your staff are not coping, and are suffering because there is no one looking out for them. Please take it from someone who has been personally affected and has been so low she has wondered what the point of it all is, and only through her friends and family been able to see that there is more to life than Policing. Front line response is where you need to focus your time and money. This is where the buck stops. We are always called upon when things need doing and when things go wrong in every department. I was one of the lucky ones and have had the personal support at home to get out however there are so many that are unable to do so because they are either alone or financially dependent on the organisation. We are more like a business now in how we function in relation to finance and 'customer' relations, yet we are so far behind on employee rights. I am leaving before this job kills me both physically and mentally. I am not only sad because I see what is potentially an amazing career get ruined by hypocrisy and lack of funding; but also because I know I am not the only one going through this and not everyone that needs the help and support will be as lucky as I am to be able to leave. I have so many I people I love still in the job and I want so much for their lives to get better and you have the power to make that possible. It is your responsibility to make this right; the front line needs more officers, leadership and managerial support. Advertisement
A man has allegedly attacked his ex-girlfriend's new partner with a machete, slashing him on the arm.
CCTV footage captured the alleged attack on Wright Street in Adelaide's inner city around 10.30pm on Wednesday night, according to 9News.
A man can be seen pushing another man as a young woman tries to intervene and shouts for help.
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CCTV footage captured a man allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend with a machete in Adelaide on Wednesday night (pictured)
A man can be seen swinging the large knife as a woman tried to intervene and yelled for help (pictured)
Suddenly one of the men is seen suddenly swinging a machete, cutting the other man on his arm.
Police said the men are known to each other.
Joe Liu, a nearby shop owner, told 9News the two men were fighting over a woman.
'I reckon it was about a girl, that's what they said,' he said.
'I think the ex-boyfriend tried to fight the boyfriend.'
Police said the men are known to each other (pictured)
Mr Liu said the size of the knife was 'quite shocking.'
The injured man was taken to hospital to be treated.
Police said they know who the suspect is but have yet to arrest him.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers.
A Tory aide has been charged with rape in an attack that allegedly took place in an MP's office.
Samuel Armstrong, 23, of Danbury, near Chelmsford, Essex, is accused of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
Mr Armstrong, chief of staff to Craig MacKinlay MP, has been bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday March 31.
In October the office of the MP for South Thanet, Kent, was raided by six uniformed officers and sealed as a crime scene.
Sam Armstrong (pictured right with David Cameron) will appear in court on March 31 accused of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault
Sam Armstrong, left, chief of staff to Craig MacKinlay MP, right, has been charged with allegedly raping a woman in Parliament last year
There was no immediate response from Mr Mackinlay, who suspended him after his arrest.
But at the time his spokesman said: 'Craig was made aware of an allegations against a member of his staff and following a request from police and parliamentary officials, gave access to his office'.
In press reports following his arrest Mr Armstrong is said to have been drinking with a group of Tory aides and female guests at the taxpayer-subsidised bar on the Parliamentary estate.
A woman then claimed she went with him to Mr Mackinlay's parliamentary office in the nearby Norman Shaw North complex of the estate where she was raped.
Mr Armstrong, who has posed for pictures with former Prime Minister David Cameron, was banned from entering the Parliamentary estate until further notice.
Police were called to the Palace of Westminster at around 1am after the alleged victim raised the alarm.
The Norman Shaw buildings on the Embankment by the Thames were the Metropolitan Police HQ before New Scotland Yard opened nearby in Westminster.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Detectives from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command investigating an allegation of rape have charged a man.
'Samuel Armstrong, 23, of Copt Hill, Danbury, was charged on Thursday, March 2 with two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration.
'He has been bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, March 31.'
The deadline to sign up for this free community event that is open to all is Nov. 16.
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"We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night."
The son of a Bangladeshi immigrant is to follow in the footsteps of Princes William and Harry after winning a 76,000 scholarship to the prestigious Eton school.
Kaashif Kamaly, 15, will swap Forest Gate in the East End of London for the hallowed halls of the world-famous public school after winning a two-year scholarship.
He will rub shoulders with the elite when he takes his place at the school near Windsor, Berkshire, to study A-level Maths, Chemistry, English Literature, Biology and History next September.
Kaashif, who has an older brother, Ihtisham 21, and a younger sister Tasneem, nine, is looking forward to going to Eton but insists he won't forget his roots.
Kaashif Kamaly, 15, is predicted to get all A* grades in his GCSE exams and earned himself a two-year scholarship at Eton
The 15-year-old studies at the Forest Gate Community School in east London (pictured) and the school is rated Ofsted Outstanding
He said: 'My family have struggled their entire life to make a better future for me and my siblings. I am a product of that environment.
'I haven't known privilege like many of the pupils at Eton.
'I have this extraordinary opportunity that I will grab with both hands but it won't change who I am and where I have come from, nor would I want it to.'
Kaashif credits his immigration officer father, Shah, who works at Heathrow Airport despite a disability.
His mother was born in Bangladesh, while his father was born in the UK but returned to Bangladesh to be educated. He moved back to London after to school to work when he was a teenager.
He described his father as being his 'hero' for instilling the work ethic that has helped him succeed.
He added: 'My dad has a lot of injuries, shattered knee and slipped disc, but has instilled moral and ethics that you have to work, you have to pay your way in the world.
'He crosses London every day to work at Heathrow airport to work as an immigration officer. He is always at work trying to make life better for his family. He is my hero.'
Kaashif currently attends Forest Gate Community School, where despite over two thirds of pupils being classed as disadvantaged, the school is rated Ofsted Outstanding.
Kaashif (right, next to his father Shah) is looking forward to going to Eton but insists he won't forget his roots
It was ranked 14th best in the country for GCSE results and this year won the Evening Standard Best School in Challenging Circumstances award.
Kaashif, who is predicted A* in all his GCSEs, added: 'Eton is a fantastic school, probably the best in the country, but what the teachers have helped me achieve at Forest Gate Community School is even bigger.
'The pupils at Eton are sons of Kings and Queens, Lords and Judges. In this area, there are many, many social problems.
'Gangs, drugs, crime, poverty, these are common issues in Newham. Teachers won't have had to help pupils at Eton deal with that.'
Eton, founded by Henry VI in 1440, has produced a host of leading public figures, including the former Prime Minster David Cameron and Home Secretary Boris Johnson Prime Minister.
Other well-known Old Etonians include cultural figures such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Orwell, Hugh Laurie and Damian Lewis.
Kaashif added: 'It is much harder to help someone make something of themselves coming from this background than it will be at top independent schools. The journey we have to take is much harder and longer.
'That doesn't make me feel intimidated. Instead it has built a fire inside me. It just means I have to worker harder, work longer.
'It doesn't bother me. It is something I have had to do my entire life. It is no struggle. What my dad has had to do to make a good life for his family, that is struggle.'
Kaashif is the second pupil from Forest Gate Community School to have won a scholarship to Eton after former pupil Ishak Ayiris earned a place at the prestigious school in 2014.
Kaashif (centre) was photographed with his father Shah (left) and his brother Ihtisham (right)
Eton (pictured) has produced a host of leading public figures, including the former Prime Minster David Cameron
He is now studying at the School of African and Oriental Studies.
Headteacher Simon Elliott said: 'Something has happened at this school that even as headteacher is difficult to quantify.
'We have students now who despite coming from one of the poorest areas in the country have the same belief as pupils at top independent schools, that nothing is out of their reach.
'This is the kind of success we believe should and could be replicated at other schools with a similar profile to ours. Background should be no barrier to belief and ultimately success. We have proved that.'
FOREST GATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL Number of pupils: 2,045 Fees: None Uniform: Black blazer with logo, plain white shirt, tie, optional jumper, plain black trousers or a plain black skirt Advertisement
ETON COLLEGE, BERKSHIRE Number of pupils: 1,320 Fees: 12,354 a term Uniform: Black tailcoat and waistcoat, false-collar and pinstriped trousers. Pupils typically wear a white tie Advertisement
Because his father works the family are not eligible for pupil premium money but are said come from a low socio economic background.
He has received a 100 per cent scholarship to Eton which means the family meet a low-income threshold.
None of Kaashif's family have ever been to university.
Iran could purchase warships, submarines and missiles as early as 2020, when a United Nations resolution banning them from acquiring sophisticated weapons is lifted, according to the US Office of Naval Intelligence.
The resolution's expiration will 'allow Iran to pursue foreign acquisitions that have been inaccessible since sanctions were imposed', according to a new assessment of Iran's naval forces.
The weapons ban will be lifted in 2020 as part of an international deal struck in July 2015 between the United States, five allies and Iran in hopes of curtailing the country's nuclear program.
A UN resolution banning Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons expires in 2020. The expiration will 'allow Iran to pursue foreign acquisitions that have been inaccessible since sanctions were imposed', according to a new report on Iran's naval forces.
The weapons ban will be lifted in 2020 as part of an international deal struck in July 2015 in hopes of curtailing the country's nuclear program. Pictured above, Iranian navy fires a Mehrab missile during the "Velayat-90" naval wargames in the Strait of Hormuz in 2012
The new 44-page assessment of Iran's naval strategy and capability, titled Iran's Naval Forces: A Tale of Two Navies, was obtained by Bloomberg News and is an update of a 2009 publication.
The report describes Iran's current military strategy as 'ballistic missiles, naval forces, and proxies in the region.'
'Each of these potentially provides the means to target Iran's regional neighbors, or military forces based or operating in the region,' the report said.
According to the publication, Iran is likely to continue to deploy weapons that its engineers have copied from foreign designs, including the 'Hoot' high-speed torpedo 'and potentially a supersonic' anti-ship cruise missile.
When the ban expires, 'Iran may look to foreign acquisitions of ships and submarines with a wide array of weapons suites', the publication said, suggesting that Iran has already entered negotiations with Russia to acquire a coastal defense cruise missile.
The report describes Iran's current military strategy as 'ballistic missiles, naval forces, and proxies in the region'. Pictured above, Iranian military ships frigate "Alvand" (right) and light replenishment ship "Bushehr" are seen docked for refueling in 2014
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has pledged to get tough with Iran
Iran's Navy already operates 14 North Korean-designed Yonoclass midget submarines produced in Iran that can carry two heavyweight torpedoes, according to the report.
The report references two Iranian navies: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been loyal to Iran's religious leadership since 2007, and is responsible for boats in the Persian Gulf, and the conventional force operating outside of the Persian Gulf.
Since taking office in January, President Donald 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.
Trump said last month that 'Iran has been put formally put on notice' for firing a ballistic missile, and later imposed new sanctions on Tehran.
In January, 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's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has called for a 'full review' of the Iran deal, is meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency
The chief of the UN atomic watchdog will hold talks on Iran's nuclear deal on Thursday for the first time with senior officials from the the administration of Trump, who has branded the it 'the worst deal in history'.
The 2015 deal between Tehran and major powers placed restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The accord will be the main topic of Yukiya Amano's talks in Washington, officials involved in the dealings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday.
Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has called for a 'full review' of the accord, is among the senior US officials Amano will meet, they said.
Amano, whose agency is in charge of policing those nuclear restrictions under the deal, has publicly argued in favour of the agreement, describing it as a 'net gain'.
Trump's administration has not directly said the United States will back out of the UN agreement.
During his nomination hearing, Defense Secretary James Mattis said that the deal 'is an imperfect arms control agreement - it's not a friendship treaty' but, 'when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.'
A man has been shot in the buttocks in an apparent drive-by shooting in Sydney's west.
The 36-year-old man was reportedly heard screaming for help after he was shot shortly after 10pm on Thursday evening.
Police found the man with a gunshot wound on Janus Street, in Glenfield, alongisde a number of bullet casings, suggesting several shots were fired.
Two motorcycles were seen leaving the scene, police said.
A man has been shot in the buttocks in Sydney's west. Pictured, police at the scene
The man has been taken to hospital in a stable condition and will undergo surgery.
The street has been placed on lockdown while forensics officers comb the crime scene.
A witness told the Daily Telegraph: 'I was in bed and I heard a couple of motorbikes riding up the street and then heard four to six gun shots.
'I ran to my husband and said "did you hear that?". Next thing, I asked my neighbour and he said yes he heard them. Then a few minutes after, we saw police screaming down the street.'
New South Wales Police were unable to confirm whether the violence was linked to a drive-by shooting in Chester Hill, also in Sydney's west, on Wednesday night.
A 39-year-old man was shot in the head and the hand but was able to walk away after the incident and is in a stable condition.
Surrendered: Phoebe Jo Chapman, 42, turned herself in to the Lowndes County jail on Tuesday morning
A high school teacher in Georgia accused of sleeping with three of her male students has accepted a plea bargain which means she will do no jail time.
Phoebe Jo Chapman, 44, surrendered to the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office in Valdosta in April 2015 and was initially charged with three counts of sexual assault.
The charges stemmed from three separate encounters with different boys, all of whom have since graduated.
But WCTV reported yesterday that Chapman had pleaded guilty to second degree cruelty to children.
Under the plea bargain she will not go to jail and will not even have to register as a sex offender.
Chapman was fined $2,000 and sentenced to four years' probation.
As part of the deal she is precluded from having any contact with the victims or Lowndes County Schools.
Chapman resigned from her job at the school back in 2015.
Northern Ireland is going to the polls in a snap election that could define the future of devolution.
Voters are casting their ballots to select a new Assembly for the second time in less than a year.
The powersharing coalition executive led by the two largest parties at Stormont - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - collapsed in January.
If the former partners top the polls again, they will have three weeks to resolve their deep-seated differences and form a new administration.
Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, voted in St Patrick's primary school in her home village of Clonoe, Co Tyrone today
The re-imposition of direct rule from London is on the cards if the post-election talks fail to mend tensions.
DUP leader Arlene Foster voted at Brookeborough primary school in the heart of her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
The former first minister chatted with local people outside and said hello to the gathered media.
Forty miles away, Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill filled out her ballot paper in St Patrick's primary school in her home village of Clonoe, Co Tyrone.
She was joined by daughter Saoirse and son Ryan. He has just turned 18 and was voting for the first time.
'It's great that so many people are coming out to vote,' said Mrs O'Neill.
The Ulster Unionists and nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which have presented themselves as an alternative cross-community partnership, are bidding to wrest control away from the fractious former allies.
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt was accompanied by wife Lynda Bryans and son Peter as he voted at Gilnahirk primary school in east Belfast, while SDLP leader Colum Eastwood arrived at the Model Primary School in Londonderry with wife Rachael and his young daughter Rosa.
'It's a dry day so hopefully that will mean a high turnout,' said Mr Nesbitt.
Mr Eastwood said: 'This is a very important election. I think it's probably the most important election since the Good Friday Agreement.'
Leader of the cross-community Alliance Party, Naomi Long, voted along with her husband Michael at St Colmcille's parochial house in the east Belfast constituency where she was once MP. She smiled and shook hands with a voter as she left.
Polling stations opened at 7am and will close at 10pm.
DUP leader Arlene Foster voted at Brookeborough primary school in the heart of her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency
Voters have been casting their ballots at polling stations across Northern Ireland, including this one in South Belfast
The DUP and Sinn Fein have fallen out over the unionist party's handling of a botched green energy scheme and a host of other issues.
Former DUP first minister Peter Robinson has warned politicians to step back and avert a headlong rush towards the destruction of devolved government.
If the three-week post-election deadline passes, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is legally obliged to call yet another election.
But, in those circumstances, the Government may well move to pass emergency legislation to suspend devolution for the first time in 10 years.
While the Assembly election will not change how Theresa May's Government treats talks to leave the European Union, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is a key Brexit issue.
Five Assembly seats are up for grabs in 18 constituencies, with the overall number returned falling from 108 to 90.
A total of 228 candidates are running.
Former Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in January in protest over the DUP's handling of the massively overspent Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is paying grants to businesses worth more than the cost of running the wood biomass boilers.
That forced the dissolution of the institutions, which need nationalists and unionists in government to operate, and Mr Brokenshire called a snap election.
The next ballot had been due to take place in May 2021 after a poll last May.
Northern Ireland uses the single transferable vote (STV) proportional representation electoral system.
Counting will start during daytime on Friday with the last results not expected until later on Saturday.
All the main Stormont parties reduced the number of candidates fielded, in line with the downsized Assembly.
The largest party, the DUP, is running 38 - six fewer than last year.
Sinn Fein dropped five, from 39 to 34.
The UUP has 24 candidates - two fewer than in 2016 - while the SDLP is down three on 21.
The Alliance Party nominated 21 Assembly hopefuls, down two.
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A British couple has sold their home to go on a round the world adventure with their toddler.
Terry Constant, 36, and his wife Jennifer, 32, decided to quit the rat race, sell all of their possessions and hit the road to start a new life abroad with their one-year-old son Ethan.
The intrepid travellers were fed up of working 12-hour shifts and never having enough time to spend with their child.
Terry Constant, 36, and wife Jennifer, 32, decided to quit the rat race, sell their possessions and hit the road to start a new life abroad with their one-year-old son Ethan
The intrepid travellers were fed-up of working twelve-hour shifts and never getting time to spend with their newborn baby
Struggling to find an adequate work-life balance, they also wanted to take advantage of foreign travel now, in case it becomes tougher for Britons in the future following the Brexit vote.
The family, from Brislington, Bristol, waved goodbye to modern-day suburbia, long commutes and 900-a-month nursery fees and hit the road.
They sold their three-bed semi and bought a 14,000 motorhome - first heading to Santander in Spain on January 21.
The family have so far scaled snow-capped mountains in northern Spain, enjoyed luscious sandy beaches in Portugal and camped on a nature reserve with elephants.
Mr Constant, who previously worked in logistics, says the family has ditched their salary packets and now live off a modest 800 a month.
The family have so far scaled snow-capped mountains in northern Spain, enjoyed luscious sandy beaches in Portugal and camped on a nature reserve with elephants
Terry, who previously worked in Logistics, says the family has ditched the salary packets and now live off a modest 800 a month
He said: 'Our families think we are absolutely mental.
'They couldn't believe it when we said we were selling our house and going to live in a motorhome. I was working from 7am to 7pm and never got to see my son.
'I was paying someone else to raise him - our nursery fees were 900 a month.
'I wanted to spend time with my son and show him how awesome the world is. He is really enjoying it and we're loving spending 24/7 with him.
'There's nothing like the feeling of packing up your life, clearing out the unnecessaries and starting a new chapter.
'The world is out there for us to see, and what better way to watch our little one grow up.'
Terry said: 'I wanted to spend time with my son and show him how awesome the world is. He is really enjoying it and we're loving spending 24/7 with him'
'There's nothing like the feeling of packing up your life, clearing out the unnecessaries and starting a new chapter. The world is out there for us to see, and what better way to watch our little one grow up,' Terry added
Mrs Constant said she went back to work as a charity fundraiser in September last year after finishing maternity leave but became disillusioned within a month.
She explained: 'After a month I admitted to Terry, is this it? Sitting in an office, staring out of the window wanting to be with my son.
'It was costing us 900 a month in nursery fees.
'We were spending our entire social budget on nursery fees and thought is this it? Are we going to work our a**** off to pay bills?
'Within 24 hours we decided we were going to sell our house and turn our lives upside down.
'The only way we could afford to do it was to sell our house. We took the big decision and risk to quit our jobs,' said Jennifer. 'We picked up a motorhome and decided to go travelling. The three of us are pretty much on top of each other'
'I think it was a big shock that we were going to leave. We wanted to spend time travelling round Europe while we can. We wanted to evaluate what we wanted to do in our lives,' Jennifer said
'The only way we could afford to do it was to sell our house. We took the big decision and risk to quit our jobs.
'We picked up a motorhome and decided to go travelling. The three of us are pretty much on top of each other.'
Explaining the impact that Brexit had on their decision, she added: 'I think it was a big shock that we were going to leave. We wanted to spend time travelling round Europe while we can.
'We wanted to evaluate what we wanted to do in our lives.
'It gave us another reason to get off the property ladder. We decided to go travelling and see how Brexit affects the UK.'
The couple have been documenting their journey in a blog called, Travel as They Grow
They sold their three-bed semi and bought a 14,000 motorhome - first heading to Santander in Spain on January 21
The couple have been documenting their journey in a blog called, Travel as They Grow.
They plan to spent four months travelling around Spain and Portugal before returning to the UK for a short spell.
The pair hit the headlines back in 2011 when they shocked guests at their wedding by dedicating the ceremony to their first love - Marmite.
The ceremony featured mini jars of the food stuff for all guests and a Marmite-tiered wedding cake.
They got hitched in front of 60 guests under a 1,000-year-old oak tree in Llangadog in the Brecon Beacons in July 2011.
This is the dramatic moment a conniving benefit fraudster who swindled the taxpayer out of nearly 200,000 was arrested before being jailed for seven years.
Angel Jackson, 52, of Mitcham, Surrey, used three different identities and acquired a 1million property portfolio without 'ever working a single day'.
She was confronted at home but claimed to be the sister of Angel Duffy - which was in fact her second identity - and said she would 'get my passport tomorrow'.
Confronted: Ghanaian-born Angel Jackson, 52, of Mitcham, Surrey, acquired a 1million property portfolio without 'ever working a single day'
Jackson used three different identities (pictured) to help her fraudulently claim the money
But police held up a photo of Mrs Duffy, saying it looked 'very similar' to her, and the woman was arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation.
The moment of her arrest was revealed in a preview of the first episode of series two of the BBC's Britain on the Fiddle tonight, which looks at tax and benefit fraud.
Ghanaian-born Jackson created a complex web of lies to claim housing benefit, income support and compensation between 2002 and 2012.
Croydon Crown Court heard last year how she claimed she was wheelchair-bound but was spotted on CCTV using the treadmill at her luxury block's private gym.
Jackson - who fraudulently obtained 191,000 - claimed for properties she didn't live in, in the names of people who didn't exist, and for accidents that didn't happen.
She was confronted but claimed to be the sister of Angel Duffy - which was in fact her second identity - and said she would 'get my passport tomorrow'. But she was arrested by police (right)
The prosecution last November even admitted that they did not know her real name or date of birth, and she was found guilty of 32 charges relating to fraud.
Judge Adam Hiddleston described her as a 'vain and self-important person' with a 'staggering contempt for the court', branding her a 'professional fraudster'.
Jackson, who already owned a house in Mitcham, bought two swanky flats in the same block with its own gym in Croydon in 2005 for more than 300,000.
She fraudulently claimed housing benefit for each of them and also tried to wring every penny in compensation from two car accidents using invented passengers.
Shocking deceit: Ghanaian-born Jackson created a complex web of lies to claim housing benefit, income support and compensation between 2002 and 2012
Jackson (left, appearing at Croydon Crown Court for the trial in her wheelchair) was described as a 'vain and self-important person' with a 'staggering contempt for the court'
However, she was caught when doctors spotted two separate X-rays on two separate claims were almost identical.
How Angel Jackson was confronted at home INVESTIGATOR: At the moment the problem is we think you might be Mrs Duffy. ANGEL JACKSON: I gave you my licence. I: Yeah, I know, madam, but it's very easy, madam, to apply for a driving licence. AJ: I can get my passport tomorrow if you want. I: This is a photo we've got of Mrs Duffy. AJ: Yeah, that's her. I: That's her? It looks very similar to yourself madam. INVESTIGATOR 2: Let's hold those two photos. I mean, you know, if you ain't, you must be sisters? AJ: Yeah I'd say that, otherwise she wouldnt let me stay here for free like that, she would not. That's why I even told you that if you want, I can organise for her to come. I: We do believe, you know, that you are Mrs Duffy, alright, so if you listen to my colleague. INVESTIGATOR 3: I'm arresting you on suspicion of fraud by false representation. AJ: I tell you, it's just not me. Advertisement
When her home was raided in 2012, officers found 22,000 in 50 notes in a wardrobe, reams of counterfeit paperwork and 12 mobile phones.
Jackson lured her soon-to-be husband, Irish-born Thomas Duffy, by telling him she was a 'lady of traditional values', before buying a house with him in 2002.
At the time she was still claiming housing benefit and went behind his back to get his UK residency to support her own.
The pair had married on Valentine's Day in 2002, but she stopped him from telling his family and yet she didn't even allow him to live with her.
The court heard 'whenever he needed to sign something presented to him by his wife, his glasses would disappear'.
In July 2005, Jackson bought another property, a 150,000 flat in south London, in her husband's name, without him knowing - and two months later bought another flat in the same building, this time in her own name, for 152,500.
She lied to her husband that the home they owned together was being repossessed and that he had to move out - all to support a housing benefit claim she had made.
Jackson got four-and-a-half years in jail for the fraud, two years for creating false documents, and six months for illegally evicting the tenants - all consecutively.
After the verdict last year, Croydon councillor Hamida Ali said: 'Angel Jackson's fraud cheated taxpayers in Croydon and across the UK out of thousands of pounds, so I'm very glad to see the court has found in our favour.'
Series two of Britain on the Fiddle begins on BBC One tonight at 9pm
Gillian Neeson, who was sacked after four years as headteacher of a primary school by Argyll and Bute Council
A primary school headteacher was 'cavalier and slapdash' with school funds and failed to declare a 200 donation from a parent, a hearing has been told.
Gillian Neeson was dismissed by Argyll and Bute Council and could be banned from teaching as she faces a hearing at the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
She claimed to have spent hundreds of pounds on staff room furniture, but kitted out the room with pieces from a home she was selling and claimed ferry trips she was not entitled to, the hearing was told.
It is also said she claimed expenses for school trips she did not attend, and failed to record a cash donation from a councillor or to account for the money.
At the hearing in Edinburgh on Thursday, Mrs Neeson admitted the facts of several of the allegations against her but her lawyer denied she had acted dishonestly.
Mrs Neeson, who was headteacher at St Muns School from 2009 until her dismissal in 2013, which it is understood she is contesting was unfair, faces a total of eight charges.
A clerical assistant at the primary school, Marie Glancy, gave a written statement to the hearing in which she stated: 'In my experience previous headteachers were always very professional with finances.
'Her attitude towards money was slapdash and very cavalier. She didn't keep written notes or documentation of money.'
Fiona Johnston, Argyll and Bute council's quality improvements officer, told the hearing: 'I believe Mrs Neeson was aware of what she was doing.
'There were too many occasions when actions were taken by Mrs Neeson which she could not explain or which came to light as being inaccurate.'
Mrs Neeson said she'd spent 220 on furniture for the staff room, but the table that arrived was spotted as being one from a home she was trying to sell
She added: 'Around May 2013, three of the largest schools in my area were subjected to an internal audit which raised a number of financial inaccuracies at St. Muns so an internal investigation was necessary.
'Miss Neason submitted her claim form [for] six months of expenses including a ferry ticket for 73.
'On investigation we found the tickets had already been purchased by the school as the ticket numbers were the same. At the investigation Mrs Neeson said she had put in the wrong details.
'There were four claims relating to travelling to meetings. Minutes showed that Miss Neeson hadn't attended these meetings or had been present through a video link instead.'
The witness said that on 18th February 2013, 400 in cash was given to Mrs Neeson from the London trip account.
'When reminded about the 400, Mrs Neeson said she had used it to purchase a table and chair from Homebase for the staff room that cost between 200 and 275. She finally settled at 220,' she said.
St Muns in Argyll where she was headteacher for four years. Mrs Neeson's hearing will last up to six days
When the table arrived at the school 'it was not new and was covered in scratches' said Ms Johnston.
Mrs Neeson's solicitor, Alastair Milne, read out the conclusion from Argyll and Bute's disciplinary hearing in which he said investigators found 'bad administration' at the school but that Mrs Neeson had not acted 'inappropriately or dishonestly'.
Mr Milne said there was evidence of problems going back to 2005, four years before Mrs Neeson started at the school, and that ferry tickets had been bought for other members of staff.
Mrs Neeson faces being banned from the classroom as she attends the teaching hearing
She added: 'Mrs Neeson was in the middle of selling her home at the time and photographs on Rightmove showed the same table in her home.
Mrs Neeson admits that on February 8, 2013, she took possession of 400 in cash, collected for a pupils' trip to London, but denies asking for the money.
She also admits that between August 23, 2012 and March 5, 2013 using funds from the School's General Purpose Fund Account to purchase ferry tickets to travel from work to home but denies acting dishonestly.
She admits between 30 October 2012 and 22 March 2013 claiming duplicate ferry ticket claims but again denies dishonesty.
Also admitted is that between May 8, 2013 and June 27, 2013, she failed to record a cash donation of 200 from a pupil's step parent to the school.
And she admits failing to log a donation - the amount of which was not disclosed - given to her from public official, Councillor McQueen, and failing to show what the money was spent on.
The hearing, which is expected to take six days, continues.
A grammar school in Germany has slapped a ban on the 'provocative' prayer sessions of Muslim pupils on its premises.
The headteacher of the Johannes Rau Gymnasium in the western city of Wuppertal said other children and staff were disturbed by Muslims rolling out prayer mats in classes and other public areas.
She also said there was discomfort about 'ritual ablutions' - such as the washing of feet - being carried out in school toilets.
The Johannes Rau Gymnasium in Wuppertal, Germany, has slapped a ban on the 'provocative' prayer sessions of Muslim pupils on its premises.
Now a ban has been enacted on all Muslim schoolchildren forbidding them from praying on school premises.
A written order from headmistress Christiane Genschel and assistant headmaster Rainer Kokenbrinker has been given to all teachers at the school stating that 'clearly visible praying' is no longer to be tolerated.
The letter, titled 'Religious Operations in the School', reads: 'In recent weeks it has been seen that Muslim schoolchildren are visibly praying, signaled by ritual ablutions in the toilets, the rolling out of prayer rugs and the taking of appropriate body postures. This is not permitted.'
It is understood that children who are not Muslims have felt uncomfortable witnessing the prayer rituals of those who are - especially at a time when Germany is seeing police raids on a weekly basis aimed at smashing radical Islamic cells bent on causing death and destruction.
The letter states that teachers should enforce the ban in a 'friendly' manner. But the new edict has whipped up a storm of protest on social media networks.
A written order from headmistress Christiane Genschel and assistant headmaster Rainer Kokenbrinker has been given to all teachers at the school stating that 'clearly visible praying' is no longer to be tolerated. Pictured, the Johannes Rau Gymnasium
According to German law, there is no explicit article banning prayers at school. The freedom of religion is protected by the German state itself.
But in 2011, the Federal Administrative Court ruled in Leipzig that a Muslim high school student from Berlin should not be allowed to pray in the school as it threatened to 'damage the peace of the school.'
The court justified the decision by saying school peace was more important than individual rights.
The local government in Dusseldorf has become involved. Spokeswoman Dagmar Gross said; 'The prohibition of prayer in a provocative way in public schools is to promote peaceful coexistence and secure the peace of the school.'
Thieves took vital anti-seizure medication belonging to a 12-year-old Iranian girl whose arrival in the United States for emergency eye surgery has been delayed by the controversial travel ban introduced by President Donald Trump.
Alma Kashkooli, 12, had been scheduled to arrive from Tehran on January 31 for planned eye surgery at a Pittsburgh children's hospital.
But the op - needed to save her eyes and treat her rare and severe medical condition, named glycosylation - was postponed when President Trump signed an executive order banning anyone arriving from Iran.
Iranian Alma Kashkooli, 12, arrived at JFK airport to get emergency eye surgery that is only available in the United States. She is pictured above being wheeled out of customs by her mother Farimeh Kashkooli
Eventually, after the ban was overturned, she was allowed in and arrived at New York's JFK Airport on February 6.
But on February 8 her luggage, including vital medication in a suitcase, went missing from Turkish Airlines' baggage office at the airport.
The following day Alma had a seizure. She had been allowed to take a small supply of the medication onto the plane but, with the suitcase missing, her parents were terrified she would run out.
Alma's mother, Fahimeh Kashkooli, 33, told the New York Daily News she contacted Turkish Airlines: 'I was on the phone all the day and night. I contact them, and in a very poor and low manner, they didn't respond properly.'
Port Authority cops eventually tracked down the suitcase on February 21 and arrested Abdul Rahim, 67, and Juneab Hashimi, 55, in Brooklyn.
Both men have been charged with felony grand larceny and have been released pending trial.
Rahim said the airline had lost two pieces of his luggage when he flew into New York from Pakistan in August last year and were at the baggage office on February 8 to receive compensation. They claimed they spotted the suitcase, thought it was Rahim's and took it by mistake.
Hashimi, a disabled security guard, said: 'We didn't know there was medicine in the bag. We had no idea. What would we want with somebody else's medicine? I'm disabled. I have bags of my own medicine.'
Mrs Kashkooli is planning to sue the airline in a personal injury lawsuit and said: 'Between the people who stole my luggage and the airline, there is no difference.'
Turkish Airlines was unavailable for comment.
Alma's disorder impairs the cells' ability to communicate with each other and as a result severely complicates vision, development and coordination. The little girl can barely walk or talk and is also prone to seizures.
For years she had been traveling to the US to see her mother and get advanced medical treatment, including a previous surgery in San Diego, for the extremely rare condition that took several years to be diagnosed.
The young girl had been scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on January 31 - two days after the travel restrictions took effect - for a planned surgery at a Pittsburgh children's hospital
The surgery she needs is to treat her condition known as congenital disorder of glycosylation, which severely complicates vision, development and coordination
Her mother is living in the United States on a student visa while she earns a master's degree at New York's Fordham University School of Law.
'I cannot express my feelings in words. I was in pain every single moment, but now I feel so much better,' said Alma.
When the travel restrictions were issued two days before her daughter's flight, Kashkooli was rendered nearly speechless.
For years, the young girl had been traveling to the U.S. to get treatment and see her mother who is living in the United States on a student visa while in law school. The girl's current visa allows her to remain in the country as long as her mother's student visa remains valid
But the child's visa became useless when the restrictions went into effect. It has since been revalidated under a court order temporarily halting enforcement of the restrictions
'I couldn't tell her, my little angel, that you're considered as a threat for this country,' she said.
Kashkooli was in an impossible position when Trump signed the controversial executive order last month restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.
She could not go and bring her daughter back from Iran because she might not get back in herself, and she could not get her child to the United States for urgent surgery.
'This little girl has a valid visa, and got caught up in a conflict with which she has no connection,' said attorney Gordon Caplan, whose New York law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher is representing the family pro bono.
Alma's current visa allows her to remain in the United States as long as her mother's student visa remains valid.
The child's visa became useless when the restrictions went into effect, but has since been revalidated under a court order temporarily halting enforcement of the restrictions.
Erich J Eastman, 18, and Noah B Rogers, 19, both University of Missouri students from Columbia, Missouri were arrested on Monday for allegedly harassing a Jewish classmate for months, police said.
Eastman and Rogers were were held in the Boone County jail and later released, each on $1,500 bond, reports the Columbia Daily Tribune.
University of Missouri students Noah B Rogers, 19, (left) and Erich J Eastman, 18, (right) are facing harassment charges after a Jewish student reported being the target of anti-Semitic notes and comments for months
Eastman and Rogers were held in the Boone County Jail (pictured) and later released, each on $1,500 bond
University of Missouri police were called to McDavid Hall on campus, where they spoke with the alleged victim, a male student, who said the duo had regularly been taunting him with anti-Semitic notes and comments since August.
The university's interim chancellor Hank Foley denounced the accused students' behavior.
'This behavior is abhorrent and antithetical to our core value of respect,' Foley wrote in an email to the campus community. 'It simply will not be tolerated.'
Both Eastman and Rogers could be expelled from the university, Foley said.
University of Missouri police were called to McDavid Hall on campus, (pictured) where they spoke with the alleged victim who said Rogers and Eastman had harassed him since August
Eastman (left) and Rogers (right) are both music majors at the University of Missouri
The Boone County Prosecutor's Office and the university's civil rights office will investigate the case.
'Please know we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that Mizzou is a welcoming and safe campus,' said Foley, using a popular nickname for the university.
Jessica Caldera, a Boone County assistant prosecuting attorney who was assigned the case against Eastman, said she will decide whether to file charges once she receives information from university police.
Recent vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Missouri and Pennsylvania have stoked fears that anti-Semitism has taken hold since Donald Trump was elected president.
Many high-profile incidents have led organizations to warn of a rise in hate crimes, including numerous bomb threats at Jewish centers nationwide.
Joe Biden has hit out at Donald Trump calling his attacks on the press and judiciary corrosive.
The former Vice President said the Republican's attempts to smear American judges ruling on his executive orders would cause citizens to lose faith in the courts.
Addressing Trump's attack on the free press, Biden warned it was 'one of the most dangerous things out there'.
Joe Biden delivers the speech at the Bipartistan Policy Centre in Washington DC
Barack Obama presents a teary Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January
Barack Obama's former right-hand man made the remarks at the Newseum in Washington DC where he was handed the Patriot Award for political courage and leadership from the Bipartistan Policy Centre.
Joe Biden tosses a football with his son
He said: 'What worries me the most is the almost drumbeat of denigration of the institutional structures that govern us.'
'When you delegitimize the courts, you delegitimize the legislative body.
'It's corrosive and it it makes it impossible to reach compromise.'
In a tweet last month, the President called the media the 'enemy of the American people', something Biden was saddened by.
'To question the actual legitimacy of a free press is one of the most dangerous things out there,' he said.
'The degree that we depart and denigrate our institutions and the fourth estate, I think we really, honest to god, honest to god, weaken our ability for self-government.
'We undermine it and become weaker and not stronger.'
Joe Biden (right) served as Barack Obama's Vice President for eight years
As well as serving as Obama's Vice President for eight years, he was also Delaware's longest-serving Senator, and said he had encountered plenty of bad press during his time in politics.
Talking to reporters, he said: 'I have taken my fair share of hits from the press, being covered by the very best and some of the worst.
'Some of you press guys are lousy just like some senators are lousy, doctors are lousy, lawyers are lousy. But it doesn't matter.
'We should never challenge the basic truth that an independent and free press is the fundamental element in functions of our democracy.'
A former Miss USA who was publicly shamed by President Donald Trump and then forced to enter rehab after testing positive for drugs is thanking him for saving her life in an emotional essay.
Tara Conner, who won the title of Miss USA in 2006, opens up in a piece published in USA Today about the dark places her life was heading when she tested positive for cocaine eight months into her year-long reign.
She was in danger of losing her title, but instead President Trump decided to give her another chance if she was able to complete a stay in rehab.
'It was 10 years ago that I got out of treatment, and I thank him for my 10 years of recovery,' writes Conner, 31, who represented Kentucky in the pageant.
'I will always be profoundly grateful. He saved my life and, essentially, made me great again.'
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Praise: Tara Conner (above in 2009) penned an essay thanking President Donald Trump for saving her life by forcing her into rehab back in 2006 while she was the resigning Miss USA
Blessed: 'I will always be profoundly grateful. He saved my life and, essentially, made me great again,' writes Conner, who had been using cocaine at the time (Conner left in the 2006 Miss USA pageant, right in 2013)
Timing: Conner tours the country speaking about addiction and recovery, and published her essay one day after President Trump promised to renew war on drugs (above on Tuesday)
Conner managed to create quite the controversy when her partying ways made headlines back in 2006, with rumors swirling that she was seen making out with Miss Teen USA Katie Blair and had been bringing men back to the apartment she shared with Blair and Miss Universe Zuleka Rivera in one of the Trump Organization properties in New York City.
'I was 20 in 2006 when I was crowned Miss USA. Few people knew my name and my "Miss USA story,"' writes Conner.
'Later that year, millions knew my name because of my real story, the story I didn't want shared. I became famous as "Mess USA" when my boss now the president of the United States tossed me into rehab after I tested positive for cocaine.'
Conner goes on to write how incredible President Trump was in that moment, refusing to humiliate her any further and giving her a second chance.
Later in the piece she details how difficult her upbringing had been, and some of the factors she believes may have turned her into an addict.
'My uncle molested me when I was 3. When I was 14, my parents' rocky relationship ended in divorce and my grandfather, my protector who gave me unconditional love when no one else would, died,' writes Conner.
'That same year, on a cheerleading trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I was offered vodka from a gallon jug that the girls got from older boys, and I jumped at the chance to fit in. I so desperately needed to feel like I belonged somewhere!'
She then adds: 'I swore off alcohol the next day, but addiction had its claws in me and by later that year, I was addicted to morphine. From that point on, my life became a series of alcohol and drug-induced incidents followed by me trying to cover my tracks and maintain appearances.'
Conner wrote her piece in response to the renewed war on drugs President Trump said he would wage while speaking to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
'The president vowed in his speech to Congress that "we will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth - and we will expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted,"' writes Conner.
'I am confident he will keep his promises. As is the case with one in every three American households, substance use disorders impacted his own family, and he now has the power to help millions.'
In the years since she received treatment for her issues with drugs and alcohol Conner has become a advocate for recovery, and travels the country giving speeches and talking to those who are struggling with addiction.
Conner even gave a TED Talk earlier this year at the University of Nevada about addiction and recovery.
Make a change: President Trump refused to take away Conner's title however and in a press conference said: 'I've always been a believer in second chances' (Conner above at her 2006 press conference before heading to rehab)
Loved up: Conner has a boyfriend of her own these days, actor Dan Sanders-Joyce (above), and frequently posts photos of the couple on Instagram (above in 2016)
Heartbreak: There were also rumors that Conner (being crowned in 2006 on left) was seen making out with Miss Teen USA Katie Blair (right in 2006) and had been bringing men back to their apartment at the time
On December 19, 2006, Conner appeared at an emotional press conference where she openly cried while apologizing to both President Trump and the Miss USA organization for her behavior over the previous months.
That is when President Trump said he would not dethrone the reigning Miss USA, telling reporters: 'I've always been a believer in second chances.'
President Trump, who is a teetotaler, then opened up about his own brother's battle with alcohol.
Fred Trump Jr. passed away when he was just 42 from alcoholism, and his death is the reason why President Trump does not drink.
Conner entered rehab immediately and emerged after two months in February of 2007, sitting down with Matt Lauer on Today and admitting she had been addicted to cocaine.
She was 21 at that time, and soon Conner became a favorite of Trump's, who had her appear in the MTV reality show Pageant Place later that year, despite the fact that she had passed the crown on at at that point.
It was while appearing in that series when Conner learned from President Trump that her drug usage and inappropriate behavior had been reported to him by Miss Teen USA Blair.
President Trump said Blair did this because she thought Conner was trying to steal her boyfriend.
Conner has a boyfriend of her own these days, actor Dan Sanders-Joyce, and frequently posts photos of the couple on Instagram.
And she will never forgot what President Trump did for her over a decade ago.
'The president should also know that I am committed to supporting him in any way that I can. It is the least I can do considering what he did for me,' writes Conner.
Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has slammed a Federal Circuit Court judge for suggesting courts needed to treat Aboriginal people differently.
Matthew Myers, who is heading a federal inquiry into indigenous imprisonment rates, said existing laws were unfair on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
'Not all laws do disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but I think if you look at some specific laws youll find that they do,' he told Guardian Australia.
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Federal Circuit Court judge Matthew Myers said some laws affected indigenous people more
Mr Mundine, who previously chaired the the prime minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, described the judge's comments as regressive and an endorsement of 'softer' sentences.
'For decades and decades, my grandparents and my parents and a lot of other indigenous people out there fought for the rights to be treated equally, to be able to function within the Australian community,' he told Andrew Bolt on Sky News on Thursday night.
'This is a regressive step and I just can't believe it.'
Mr Mundine, a former national president of the Australian Labor Party, described the inquiry as 'idiotic and crazy' and a 'complete joke'.
Warren Mundine, the former head of the prime minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, said the judge's inquiry into Aboriginal imprisonment rates was 'a complete joke'
'We've got to stop doing these stupid things,' he said.
'We cannot take a softly, softly pussyfoot approach to this because we've been doing that for decades now and record has shown us it only gets worse.
'While we go on pretending, taking this softy, softy approach and letting people off all you're going to end up with is more broken communities and indigenous people with broken bones.'
Warren Mundine (right) told Andrew Bolt the judge's comments were 'regressive'
Myers, who is also Australia's first indigenous commonwealth judge, had cited Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data from October last year, which found remand rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had increased by 238 per cent in New South Wales during the past 15 years.
'The importance cant be lost on the fact that were talking about individuals,' he said.
'These are peoples real lives. These are mums and dads, aunties and uncles, grandparents, that have been incarcerated, and theres big knock-on effect and you cant lose sight of the humanity. These arent just numbers, these are people.'
Attorney-General George Brandis in February appointed the judge to head an Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates.
A discussion paper is due to be published in June with a final report to be released in December.
A teenage mother has refused life-prolonging cancer treatment in order to give birth to her baby boy, even though she has been told she will die.
Rhianna Truman, 17, was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Adamantinoma in 2012.
When the teenager from Hawke's Bay in New Zealand fell pregnant in 2016, she was offered cancer treatment she was told would slow the disease and prolong her life.
But Ms Truman refused the treatment when she learned it would also put her unborn baby at risk.
'When I found out I had cancer I was scared,' she told Stuff.
Rhianna Truman, 17, (left) was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Adamantinoma but refused treatment when she fell pregnant with Daeshaun (right) in 2016
'But when I found out I was pregnant, I was like 'this is my reason, this is my chance to make something good out of my life and be a proud mother, and for him to eventually be proud of me'.'
Ms Truman gave birth to a healthy son named Daeshaun at the end of 2016.
Daeshaun is now four-months-old.
Ms Truman said she was 'blessed' to have Daeshaun who she described as her 'world'.
Ms Truman underwent surgery to remove bone in her leg in 2012, which successfully removed the cancer.
'I was clear from cancer and continued with my life,' she wrote online.
But in 2015 she was told the cancer had moved into her lungs and as a result, she had very little chance of surviving.
'I was told because it's such a rare form there was little chance of finding a cure,' she said.
'I have recently been told that finding a cure for my cancer is like 'finding a needle in a haystack'.'
'Hi my name is Rhianna and I am a 17-year-old mum to Daeshaun. I have cancer that has spread to my lungs which there is currently no cure for,' Ms Truman wrote on her charity page
Ms Truman's doctor delivered the devastating news last week that she would not live for much longer.
She was told to make a bucket list 'and do it now'.
Ms Truman revealed cancer rocked her to the core and made her too scared to go to sleep at night.
'Some days I don't go to sleep because I get scared I won't wake up,' she told Stuff.
In an effort to make her last remaining days together with Daeshaun more comfortable, Ms Truman shared her story online on Thursday on charity page Givealittle.
'I have decided to set up a page to help me make memories with my son and live our lives with as much fun and happiness while I'm well enough to enjoy it,' she said.
Five people were injured after a hospital's roof collapsed in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday.
The incident occurred at an entrance of the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, near the maternity ward.
Five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries following the collapse. There were no fatalities.
Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa said that the five people who sustained injuries in the collapse were: two members of the public, two construction workers and one hospital staff member.
Staff and patients were evacuated from Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday after a portion of the roof collapsed in to the sixth floor
Head of Gauteng emergency medical services Arnold Malotana said that there were 12 people working in the area where the structure occurred
Dr Steve Moeng, the head of the trauma department, said the injuries sustained were soft tissue injuries.
He said that none of the victims needed urgent operatins or ICU care.
Meanwhile, Ramokgopa said that social workers were contacting the families of those injured to let them know what happened.
'We are focusing on removing debris, assessing whether anyone is trapped,' Ramokgopa told Bhekisisa.org.
Witnesses told Eyewitness News that medical personnel were waiting on site as workmen dig through the rubble to see if anyone is trapped underneath.
Head of Gauteng emergency medical services Arnold Malotana told Bhekisisa.org that there were 12 people working in the area where the structure occurred.
A hospital worker who wished to stay anonymous said the workers were fixing water leaks.
While it is unknown if people are still stuck under the rubble, a preliminary search showed no signs of of people buried underneath
'Water leaks from there every day,' the hospital worker said.
Gauteng's Department of Health released a statement following the roof collapse.
The statement said: 'The Gauteng Department of Health wishes to inform the public that five people were injured at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital when a section of the roof caved in on Thursday afternoon.
'The injured are made up of two construction workers, two members of the public and one hospital staff member.
'The incident happened while private construction workers were filling-in a leaking section of the roof.
'Emergency services are on the scene and working hard in the main entrance of the hospital where the incident happened, trying to ascertain if there are no other people trapped under the rubble.
'Gauteng MEC for Health, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa is at the scene, and has assured the public that the incident is confined to the main entrance of the hospital and, as such it has not affected othe rareas of the facility.
'We want to assure the public that we share their concerns in terms of patient safety, while confirming that the incident is confined to the main entraince of the hospital, so patients are not affected.'
Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa said that the five people who sustained injuries in the collapse were: two patients, two construction workers and one hospital staff member. Dr Steve Moeng, the head of the trauma department, said the injuries sustained were soft tissue injuries
The Charlotte Maxeke Hospital has more than 1,000 beds.
Jack Bloom, a member of the Democratic Alliance in the local Gauteng province, told News 24 that he had previously sent out several press releases warning that the hospital was not structurally sound.
He said that after recent rains, he was worried about the stability of the building's roof.
In October 2016, he sent out a press release after he noticed 'two buckets to collect water that leaks from broken ceiling panels on the hospital street level'.
He said there were leaks in several rooms, in the paediactric clinic as well as a storage room 'becuse of faeces that leaked into it from the ceiling last year'.
"Last year, surgery had to be stopped in one of the theatres because of leaking water. Large ceiling panels are missing at Ward 348 Radiation Oncology, with a huge bucket placed underneath to collect water," Bloom's press release said.
"There are also leaks in other parts of the hospital and in the parking garages. Sewage is sometimes mixed in as well, causing a foul smell."
He said at the time that he was concerned about 'structural defects'.
At the time, he said: 'In 2012, there was a report on structural defects at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital that warned that the X-ray department should be evacuated as it could collapse.'
City minister Simon Kirby has been humiliatingly stripped of responsibility for defending financial services during Brexit.
The key duties have been transferred to former Tesco executive Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, who was made Commercial Secretary to the Treasury in December.
The shift took place near the end of January, but has only just been confirmed by the department.
The shake-up follows reports that senior City figures were unhappy with Mr Kirby's credentials, after he was unable to provide detailed answers about the government's approach to Brexit.
There have been reported that senior City figures were unhappy with SImon Kirby's lack of credentials in banking and finance
The deal negotiated for the City will be crucial in defining whether the overall Brexit arrangements are a success
Mr Kirby had no experience in banking or finance before entering politics, having founded a local radio station in Brighton that became Juice FM.
A Treasury spokesman said: 'The Economic Secretary's portfolio is exactly as each of his predecessors, he is responsible for financial services policy and the Government's overall strategic relationship with the UK financial services sector.
'As Britain exits the EU, we will seek the best possible deal, including for our world-leading financial services sector.
'As you would expect, to reflect the importance we place on this policy area we have increased resourcing from ministerial level down'.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe brings business experience to the brief, having served as an executive director for Tesco from 2006.
She has also sat on the boards of professional services firm PwC as well as Metro AG and ITV.
She was also president of EU trade association EuroCommerce from 2012 to 2014.
The City Of London Corporation welcomed news of Baroness Neville-Rolfe's expanded role in the Square Mile.
A spokesperson said: 'We look forward to working with Baroness Neville-Rolfe in her new City brief.
Former Tesco executive Baroness Neville-Rolfe was made Commercial Secretary to the Treasury in December
'It is essential that the City's voice is heard loud and clear during the Brexit negotiations, especially after Article 50 is triggered later this month.
'As an industry we contributed over 176 billion to the economy in 2015, account for over 2.2 million jobs across the country and are a key element of a strong and sustainable economy.'
Mr Kirby will still be in charge of banking reform and regulation, and other parts of the financial services brief including asset management, insurance, and the public stake in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.
Row: Dena Bryant, who is 'born and bred' in Grantham, says one nurse who thought she was a health tourist told her: 'You do not look English, and you are not white'
A deaf woman has accused hospital staff of 'interrogating' her over whether she should get free NHS treatment because they said she looks foreign.
Dena Bryant, who is 'born and bred' in Grantham, says one nurse who thought she was a health tourist told her: 'You do not look English, and you are not white.'
Ms Bryant, who is profoundly deaf and of native American heritage, says NHS staff had refused to believe she was British because of how she looks.
She also struggles to communicate verbally because of her disability and often relies on lip reading and sign language to communicate with others.
Describing her ordeal she told BBC Lincolnshire: 'I am a born and bred Gingerbread girl [slang for a Grantham resident], who was interrogated as to whether I was English or not.'
She said: 'She [the nurse] took me into a cubicle and started saying where are you from? She said it again and started the interrogation. She then said 'where are you from originally?' I said that if you look at my files I was born in the hospital and have come here all my life.'
She added: 'I was standing there, thinking about running away - I felt frightened'.
She claims that her ordeal went on for around three hours until she was treated by a doctor in A&E for an arm injury. He was the first to accept she is deaf and British, she claims.
The hospital has launched an investigation.
Maxine Hughes, head of operations at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, said: 'We are sorry to hear of Ms Bryant's concerns.
'We will of course investigate the complaint and talk to Ms Bryant as soon as possible.'
From April a change in the law means that NHS staff must charge foreign patients 'upfront' for any non-emergency care they get.
Probe: Grantham Hospital (pictured) has apologised and says it will be investigating what happened
Hospitals are also being told to ask all new patients for passports and utility bills when they first arrive to check they are entitled to NHS care.
Those which fail to show they are collecting enough money from patients at the end of the year may be fined.
Last week a damning report from the Commons spending watchdog accused the NHS's billing system for health tourism of being in chaos. The Public Accounts Committee blamed hospital staff and GPs for failing even to identify which patients needed to be charged.
It coincided with a hard-hitting BBC documentary which revealed how one Nigerian mother who gave birth to quadruplets had racked up a bill of 500,000. Priscilla, 43, went into early labour at Heathrow after being turned away from the US.
Two of the babies have since died. The other two are still being looked after at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in West London and their mother will not be able to repay even a fraction of their costs.
Although the rule change will not apply to maternity care, ministers are hoping it will help stop the NHS being seen as an 'international health service'.
Government research has estimated that health tourism costs the taxpayer up to 2billion a year.
An Ohio couple were arrested on Tuesday less than a block apart after police say each overdosed on drugs while caring for their five children.
Nathan Carroll, 29, was discovered by police officers passed out in his minivan with an infant in the backseat after the vehicle veered off the road in Lorain.
When police went to the man's residence down the street, they found Carroll's girlfriend, 24-year-old Samantha Schigel, who also overdosed in front of their other children.
Both parents had to be revived with the heroin antidote Naloxone and were then booked into the city jail on counts of child endangerment.
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Parents OD: Nathan Carroll, 29 (left), and his girlfriend Samantha Schigel, 24 (right), were arrested on Tuesday in Ohio after police say each overdosed on drugs while caring for their five children.
Carroll was also charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, implied consent, driving under suspension and failure to control, according to a police report cited by The Morning Journal.
The incident began unfolding at around 5.30pm Tuesday when officers from the Lorain Police Department responded to West 24th Street and Leavitt Road after getting 911 calls about a man who appeared to have passed out behind the wheel of a green minivan with a baby in the backseat.
Responding officers found Nathan Carroll unresponsive inside a 2006 Chrysler Town and Country sitting on a lawn along Leavitt Road after narrowly missing a tree.
Cleveland19 reported that Carroll was blue in the face and was having trouble breathing. Police concluded that the man had overdosed on drugs and began administering Naloxone while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
The minivan Carroll was driving was registered to his partner, Samantha Schigel, who lives in the 2300 block of Westview Court.
When officers walked over to the home, located just down the block, the door was answered by a young child who informed them that her mommy was sleeping and they could not wake her up.
The woman then came downstairs and the officers observed that she also appeared to be high on drugs.
The 29-year-old admitted that she and Carroll had both snorted some powder that she believed to have been heroin. The woman claimed that it was her first time using drugs and that she did it to treat pain.
Officers found Schigel at this home in 2300 block of Westview Court in Lorain, where a child answered the door and said her 'mommy was sleeping and they could not wake her up'
Carroll then got in the minivan with their infant in tow to get something to eat, Schigel told police.
While talking to the cops, Schigel blacked out several times, prompting them to treat her with Naloxone and call for a second ambulance.
Both parents were later transported to Mercy Hospital before being booked into the Lorain City Jail.
When officers searched the family's home, they allegedly discovered 0.2 grams of white powder that tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, and a rolled up $1 bill with powder residue.
Carroll and Schigel's five children, including the infant in the minivan, were taken into the custody of Lorain County Childrens Services and then released to their grandparents.
According to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3,300 people in Ohio died from accidental drug overdoses in 2015, up 21.5 per cent from the previous year.
Ohio ranked among five states with the highest number of deaths caused by drug overdose, trailing West Virginia, New Hampshire and Kentucky.
The Air Force captain who was attacked by a former astronaut in a bizarre love triangle 10 years ago says that she remains traumatized by the incident.
'I do still have anxiety,' Colleen Shipman, 40, told Inside Edition. 'I do still look over my shoulder a lot.'
On February 5, 2007, Shipman was assaulted in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport by NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak.
Shipman had just started dating another astronaut, Bill Oefelein, who broke off his affair with Nowak after he met Shipman.
Nowak waited nearly an hour at the airport for her romantic rival, donning a trench coat as the woman looked for her bags.
The security footage from Orlando International Airport depicts Nowak arriving at 12:33am on February 5, then following 10 to 15 yards behind Shipman, who was on her way to the baggage-claim area.
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Colleen Shipman (above), the Air Force captain who was attacked by a former astronaut in a bizarre love triangle 10 years ago, says that she remains traumatized by the incident
On February 5, 2007, Shipman was assaulted in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport by NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak (left). Shipman had just started dating another astronaut, Bill Oefelein (right), who broke off his affair with Nowak after he met Shipman
Nowak raced 900 miles from Houston to the Orlando airport to confront Shipman, wearing an astronaut diaper so she wouldn't have to stop.
She was arrested after she attacked Shipman in the parking lot, shortly after the video was taken.
The video does not include footage of the attack.
Before Shipman arrives, Nowak goes off camera for about five minutes and reappears. Nowak stands and intermittently paces, carrying a bag on one shoulder.
Nowak raced 900 miles from Houston to the Orlando airport to confront Shipman, wearing an astronaut diaper so she wouldn't have to stop. She was arrested after she attacked Shipman in the parking lot, shortly after the surveillance video above was taken
Nowak is seen on the left during her initial court appearance in Orlando on February 6, 2007. The photo on the right shows her shortly after her arrest the previous day
At one point she hurriedly walks to the baggage escalator, then reappears moments later. Shipman arrives about 50 minutes after the cameras show Nowak appear in the waiting area, and Nowak follows when she leaves.
Nowak appears to be standing just a few feet away as Shipman waits for her bags.
After a couple of minutes, the former astronaut pulls on and buttons a light-colored trench coat.
The end shows someone with a trench coat running.
Nowak pepper sprayed Shipman who was able to drive away, but it would later come to light Nowak brought a host of items that seemed indicative or kidnapping and murder.
A BB gun, a four-inch knife and a steel mallet lead to the astronaut being charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder, which were later reduced to burglary and misdemeanor battery.
Nowak was married to Richard Nowak, with whom she had three children. Lisa Nowak and Oefelein had an affair for two years, which he ended when he became interested in Shipman in 2006.
'I do still have anxiety,' Shipman, 40, told Inside Edition. 'I do still look over my shoulder a lot'
There is a happy ending to the story, though. Shipman and Oefelein wed and started a new life in Alaska
They also have a four-year-old son (seen above with his parents)
There was no overlap between Oefelein's relationship with Nowak and Shipman, which is why the couple said they never perceived her as a threat.
Nowak, 54, would eventually plead guilty and serve two days in jail.
She was fired from NASA soon afterward and was placed on a year of probation.
Shipman now says the incident has left her scarred to the point where she never leaves her home without a gun.
Shipman has taken up writing fiction books as a way of helping her overcome the past. She recently published her first novel, Eerie (above), using the pen name C.M. McCoy.
'It was absolutely debilitating. I didn't leave the house for a six-month period at one point,' she said.
'To this day, I'm always armed. I am armed all the time, 24/7.'
'If somebody were to sneak up on me, I'd jump out of my skin, and I can't help it,' she said.
There is a happy ending to the story, though.
Shipman and Oefelein wed and started a new life in Alaska.
They also have a four-year-old son.
'I call him the best husband ever, because he is,' she said of Oefelein.
'And I tell him every day. He makes me laugh every day.'
Shipman said that she has taken up writing fiction books as a way of helping her overcome the past.
She recently published her first novel, Eerie, using the pen name C.M. McCoy.
Overall, she is content with life. 'I'm not saying I'm happy that that happened, but I like where I am right now,' she said.
The mother of a three-year-old girl who died after an onslaught of sexual abuse has revealed her horror after being told the harrowing details of her daughter's final days alive.
Kyhesha-Lee Joughin died in 2013 after weeks of sickening abuse, which her mother Danielle Joughin branded 'disgusting'.
Her father Matthew Lee Williamson had pleaded guilty to Kyhesha's manslaughter but denied fatally harming the child.
Ms Joughin slammed Williamson for failing to protect their girl.
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Mother Danielle Joughin (left, outside court) has condemned her daughter's treatment while she was in the care of her father, Matthew Lee Williamson (right)
Kyhesha-Lee Joughin died in 2013 after weeks of sickening abuse, which her mother Danielle Joughin branded 'disgusting'
Williamson's housemate Christopher Kent avoided jail with a two-year suspended sentence after admitting manslaughter last year
'It's hard to comprehend really. No one helped her. It's disgusting,' Ms Joughin told the Courier Mail.
She added that Williamson and his housemate Christopher Kent - who avoided jail with a two-year suspended sentence after admitting manslaughter last year - deserved to be jailed.
The distraught's mother's words came after a judge unexpectedly adjourned Williamson's sentencing to investigate whether he suffered a 'psychological abnormality'.
After hearing two days of evidence, Justice Roslyn Atkinson was anticipated to hand down her findings on Thursday as to what role Williamson played in Kyhesha's painful death and his appropriate punishment.
But Williamson's case was adjourned until March 16 after his defence barrister Michael Copley requested a report into whether a 'psychological abnormality' contributed to his conduct towards Kyhesha.
Williamson testified he didn't take his daughter to a doctor despite her vomiting green for days, having obvious bruising on her face and leaving blood in her nappies
Matthew Lee Williamson is being sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court for the manslaughter of Kyhesha-Lee Joughin, who died in March 2013
Williamson told the court on Thursday Kyhesha complained to him she was bleeding, but he didn't take her to a doctor
Photos provided to the court show a rope tied around a bedpost that Williamson is said to have used to keep Kyhesha-Lee locked in her room
Williamson's former housemate, Christopher Kent, has served 19 months in jail after also pleading guilty to Kyhesha's manslaughter. Pictured is the rope that kept the little girl from leaving her room
The court heard Kyhesha's infection from an internal injury was so painful she would not have been able to eat, drink or move in the 12 hours before her death.
'I was afraid I'd lose her to welfare ... because of the state she was in,' Williamson said.
Williamson conceded he also ignored proof his daughter was being sexually abused when she showed she was oozing blood from her genitals and told him she 'didn't want any fingers up her bum anymore'.
'I didn't think anything of it at the time,' he said.
But prosecutor Phil McCarthy suggested that never happened and Williamson made up the incident to hide his sexual abuse.
'You concocted that story because Kyhesha died and you knew someone would examine her,' Mr McCarthy said.
'That's not true,' Williamson replied.
This image shows the state of Kyhesha-Lee's bedroom in the unit she lived at with Williamson in Petrie
The court heard Williamson asked his housemate Christopher Kent to get rid of a bong that was in the house before he called 000 when he found Kyhesha dead on the floor
Williamson is said to have used a rope (pictured left) to keep Kyhesha-Lee locked in her room for 'up to 18 hours a day'
At the time of her death Kyhesha was living with Williamson and Christopher Kent, who the court heard engaged in 'unorthodox sexual conduct' together.
Kent, who previously spent 19 months in jail before pleading guilty to manslaughter and receiving a two-year suspended sentence, told the court on Wednesday he witnessed Williamson regularly abusing the girl.
'It was like two adults fighting,' Kent said.
He said Williamson, who generally slept through the day, would lock his daughter in her bedroom for hours on end and would become enraged when she then ended up throwing her faeces inside the room.
Williamson admitted using rope to keep Kyhesha locked away but claimed it was to stop her from getting out at night.
He also denied a raft of abuse allegations, including using a large sex toy on Kyhesha, punching her in the stomach, posing naked with her and pulling on her ear until it bled.
Williamson admitted using a rope to lock Kyhesha in her bedroom for almost 18 hours at a time but claimed it was to stop her spilling milk from the fridge when she got out at night
Pictured is the rope tied from the bedpost and connected to a door handle to keep Kyhesha-Lee's door closed
Williamson is here pictured here leaving court in 2015 after he was granted bail for a second time
Both men blame each other for the violent and sexual assaults on the child.
Williamson wept in the dock as photos of Kyhesha were shown to detail the extensive bruising she had when she died.
But the court heard when Williamson found her lifeless body his first action was to ask Kent to remove a bong from the house before calling triple-zero.
Outside court, Kyhesha's grandfather Doug Joughin said the delay was a 'curveball'.
'We just want closure so we can just carry on,' he said.
Children as young as 12 who suffer with anxiety and mental health issues could be treated with medicinal cannabis, in an Australia-first trial.
The trial is being lead by former Australian of the Year, psychiatrist Patrick McGorry, and implemented through Headspace centres, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Due to start in June, it will target young people aged 12-15 years who suffer with mental health issues.
Children as young as 12 who suffer with anxiety and mental health issues could be treated with medicinal cannabis, in an Australia-first trial (stock image)
Participants will receive two to four daily powder capsules of cannabidiol for 12 weeks and the impact on their condition will be monitored.
Cannabidiol is the non psychoactive component of cannabis.
In the past, European studies have shown it is effective in treating anxiety and depression in adults.
The drug reportedly interacts with receptors in the brain to regulate fear and anxiety-related behaviours.
The trial is being lead by former Australian of the Year, psychiatrist Patrick McGorry (pictured). Participants will receive two to four daily powder capsules of cannabidiol for 12 weeks
Professor McGorry is receiving private philanthropic funding through the Lambert Initiative for the trial, the first of its kind in the world looking at the effects of cannabidiol in young people.
Prof McGorry told Newscorp the trial is for people who have not had success with traditional therapies.
The trial, one of the first in the world for youth, will be implemented through Headspace centres for people aged 12-25 years
He said alternative medicines to antidepressants were desperately needed.
'We need to get innovative and look at alternative therapies to help reduce this burden that is growing among our youth.'
Paul Amminger, senior research Fellow at Orygen, who is conducting the study with Professor McGorry, said if the treatment was successful it would help thousands of anxiety sufferers.
Eight asylum seekers from the same family have been found guilty of gang-raping a German tourist in Austria and jailed for between nine and 13 years.
The Iraqi nationals had gone on trial in the Austrian capital, Vienna, accused of the New Year's Eve 2015 attack on the 28-year-old teacher.
Prosecutors had originally charged nine men with 'abuse of a defenceless person and rape in a very humiliating and agonising way for the victim.'
But the court on Thursday dismissed charges against one of the suspects. A court statement said that the victim has been awarded 25,000 euros in damages.
All eight convicted men - who cannot be deported because Iraq is deemed too unsafe for them to return to - launched immediate appeals against their sentences.
Eight asylum seekers from the same family have been found guilty of gang-raping a German tourist in Austria. Police escorted suspected ringleader Alaa Al-J. (right), Mohammed Al-A. (red t-shirt) and Mustafa Al-J. (covering his face) into the court for an appearance in February
One of the accused, Mohammed Al T., arrived in court covering his face and looked to the ground as he was led in to court for an earlier appearance
At the opening of the trial in February the court heard how the woman, identified only as Sabine K., was 'blind drunk' when she went with the men to an apartment.
Most of the men deny the charges but DNA from six of them was found in or on her body.
The court heard how the victim arrived in Vienna on December 28, 2015 to spend the New Year with a female friend in the city.
Shortly before midnight on December 31 they wandered into the city centre to join crowds celebrating the arrival of 2016 and at 2am were seen drinking in a bar-restaurant called Cactus.
Shortly before 3am Sabine's friend noticed she was no longer there and was told by another patron that the men she had been talking with had 'taken her away.'
The defendants, aged between 22 and 45, all arrived in Austria between May and December 2015 via the Balkan route.
At the time of the attack, five of them had cemented their right to stay, the applications of the other four were still pending.
Judge Petra Poschalko heard how the woman was taken by four of them to an apartment in Vienna's Rustenschacher Allee, where more men were waiting.
Marwan Al-J was one of nine Iraqi men charged over the gang-rape of a German woman
Sabine later said she found herself naked on a double bed being assaulted by the men one after the other.
Her lawyer Karina Fehringer told the court that her client was assaulted in the dark so she could not identify the men.
After the attacks, which went on for several hours, the victim needed in-patient treatment at a trauma clinic and now is under psychiatric care for post traumatic stress disorder.
She had a breakdown before the trial and was too fragile to be in court to face her attackers.
Only one man, Mohamed Al-A., 31, admitted his role in the rapes and he sobbed in court as he said he was 'really drunk' on vodka at the time.
His Muslim faith may forbid him to drink alcoholic beverages, but on New Year's Eve he said he made an exception and drank vodka. 'I was really drunk,' he said, and he further admitted; 'this act is a crime in Iraq.'
The Iraqi nationals had gone on trial in the Austrian capital Vienna (file picture) accused of the New Year's Eve 2015 attack on the 28-year-old teacher
He was with co-defendants Nazar Al-J., Mohammed Al-T. and Alaa Al-J. in the Cactus bar who took the victim back to the apartment. The other defendants - Hader Al-A., Mustafa Al-J., Nael Al-J. and Marwan Al-J. - lay in wait for her there.
Another defendant, Sabah Al-J, was acquitted at court today.
Medical experts testified the woman was raped multiple times and sodomised. The victim said she yelled at them, in German: 'No, I don't want this.' Then in English: 'Listen to me, just a little bit.'
Alaa Al-J. was said to be the rape ringleader. After it was over Mohammed Al-. escorted her to a toilet in the flat where he took a selfie with her on his mobile phone.
Later he and Alaa Al-J. escorted her to a nearby tram stop where they tried to stem her sobbing by saying in English: "Don't cry."
After she went to police, a tracking app on her mobile phone led officers to the rape scene. The app showed that her ordeal lasted from 4.20am to 6.20am on January 1 2016.
The court heard that with the exception of the man who confessed, none of the others have shown remorse.
Several denied rape even in the face of the DNA evidence. One man claimed that the woman had been 'offered' to them by relatives: another that she was a willing participant in whatever took place.
Boeing is investigating a blunder which led to the personal information of all 36,000 employees being sent to a worker's wife.
The company employs people in four states - but the incident is believed to have involved the aircraft manufacturing plant in Everett, near Seattle, Washington.
KOMO News reported that in November an employee accidentally sent a spreadsheet containing private information to his spouse, something that did not come to light until January.
A line of Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets are parked at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. Last month more than 7,000 Boeing workers in the state learned that their personal information had been accidentally divulged
Boeing said the spreadsheet contained names, ID numbers and accounting codes as well as birth dates and social security numbers.
Boeing employs 36,000 people across four states, including at this plant in Renton, Washington
In February the company wrote a letter to 7,288 employees in Washington state, notifying them of the incident and offering free credit monitoring.
Boeing also informed the state of Washington's Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
The company has since destroyed copies of the spreadsheet and said they did not believe the information had been misused.
It is not clear if the employee was sacked or faced any disciplinary action.
It appears he had asked his wife for help formatting the spreadsheet and did not realize it contained sensitive information.
As well as Washington, Boeing employs significant numbers of people in South Carolina, Louisiana and at its corporate headquarters in Chicago.
Government officials in the Bahamas have revealed that a group of the famed swimming pigs died from eating too much sand, and not because tourists plied them with alcohol.
The island hogs, found dead near 'Pig Beach' on Big Major Cay, had 'a good amount of sand in their stomach,' Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries V. Alfred Gray told a reporters on Tuesday.
'The report is in place, I have not had the chance to digest the total contents of it but I am satisfied that the pigs died from ingestion of sand material,' Gray said in remarks reported by Tribune 242.
Gray stressed that blood test and toxicology screen results were still pending, which might reveal additional contributing factors in the deaths, which wiped out about a third of the uninhabited island's pig population over the course of last week.
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Actress Bella Thorne (left) snapped these vacation pics of her and sister Dani Thorne (right) cavorting on Pig Beach in January. At least seven pigs were found dead on the island in The Bahamas last week, and officials now believe eating sand is to blame
The autopsy results countered suggestions that rowdy tourists had killed the pigs by feeding them beer, wine and rum on booze-fueled vacations
Theories had abounded in the mysterious die-off, which hit hard the major tourist attraction in the sparkling Caribbean waters about 80 miles south of Nassau.
Bahamas Humane Society President President Kim Aranha had theorized that accidental poisoning of some kind may have been to blame.
The seagoing swines' co-owner had a more diabolical theory, that rowdy tourists had gotten the pigs too drunk.
'We have people coming there giving the pigs beer, rum, riding on top of them, all kinds of stuff,' Wayde Nixon told the Nassau Guardian.
Gray seemed convinced that the answer had been right on the beach all along, though.
'Some people feed the pigs as they swim in the water, other people throw things on the sand for them to eat from the sand,' he said Tuesday. 'You know sand is indigestible, sand cannot be digested.'
'Sand not being able to be passed out by normal processes or digested had something to do with those animals having died,' Gray added.
The island swine gained global fame when this episode of The Bachelor featured them last year
Local legend dates the pig colony to a shipwreck long ago, but the phenomenon may have more recent origins.
Nixon claims he set four sows and one boar loose on the island in the 1990s, amid fears that 'Y2K' computer issues would bring social collapse at the turn of the millennium.
The idea was to create a sustainable food supply to tap in the event of a catastrophe, he told the Today show.
In recent times, the prestigious porkers have attracted a bevy of celebrity guests to their pristine island getaway.
In January, actress Bella Thorne shared vacation snaps from the island as she cuddled with a precious piglet in her bikini.
And last summer, Donald Trump Jr was spotted on vacation with wife and kids cavorting with the pigs.
Actress Amy Schumer was at the luxurious porcine retreat just last week, posting a picture from Pig Beach on Instagram Friday.
Donald Trump Jr with wife Vanessa and their five kids, pictured on Big Major Cay last summer
Vanessa Trump is seen posing with a sunbathing swine in this vacation photo
Comedienne Amy Schumer is seen on Pig Beach in this photo posted to Instagram on Friday. Reports of the pigs dying surfaced over the course of last week
Gray, the government minister, has called for new restrictions to protect the roughly 15 pigs remaining on Big Major Cay.
'If we put a rope up around a certain area, you can go and swim with the pigs and take photographs,' he told reporters on Tuesday.
'Thats what it was intended to be, but people have taken the liberty to feed them and the worst part is when they throw the food on the sand, the animals will eat it.'
That, he believes, is how sand got it the pigs' stomachs.
'If you want to swim with the pigs thats fine, but we believe that feeding them is going to be a problem.'
More than 100 Australian terrorists fighting overseas for ISIS could return home at any point because of several flaws in new counter-terrorism laws.
The security laws, which were introduced by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in 2015, were created to strip terrorists with dual-nationality of their Australian citizenship.
But this week, The Herald Sun revealed Mr Dutton was asked to submit amendments to the laws designed to stop terrorists including those fighting in Syria and Iraq from returning to Australia.
More than 100 Australian terrorists fighting overseas for ISIS could return home at any point because of several flaws in new counter-terrorism laws. Pictured is senior Islamic State terrorist, Australian Neil Prakash
The counter-terrorism laws were introduced by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton (pictured) in 2015
One of the flaws is officials must show the suspected terrorist is also a citizen of another country, which require the help of officials in Syria and Iraq who have refused.
A second fault is that only those working for a 'declared terrorist organisation' can be stripped from their Australian citizenship.
Islamic State is the only declared terror group, according to the Herald Sun.
A third flaw is that the law is that it can't be backdated and may not apply to terrorists who were pictured fighting overseas for ISIS before it was introduced.
The counter-terror laws previously underwent 27 amendments so it to be passed.
So far only one person extremist Khaled Sharrouf has lost his Australian citizenship, despite him being reportedly killed two years ago.
Hamza El Baf (left) has fought for IS in Syria, as well as former Melbourne man Mounir Raad
Sharrouf gained infamy after his young son was pictured on social media holding a severed human head in 2014.
He went to fight with Islamic State in Syria in 2013, a year after being released from prison for his role in a terrorism plot.
In 2015, there were unconfirmed reports Sharrouf had died in a drone strike in Mosul.
The federal government has previously warned Australians extremists could return home soon because of the deteriorating presence of IS in the Middle East.
'We believe there are about 100 Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq supporting terrorist organisations, and we will take every step we can to prevent them coming home,' Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told the Herald Sun.
Perth student Muhammed Sheglabo (pictured) has also fought with extremists in the Middle East
Zehra Duman (left), who moved from Melbourne to Syria to marry Autralin jihadist Mahmoud Abdullatif in 2014, is now recruiting wives for jihadis. Pictured right is jihadi bride Hafsa Mohamed, from Sydney
However, Cabinet minister Christopher Pyne on Friday rejected claims of serious loopholes in dual-citizenship laws as a 'sensational beat-up'.
'The laws were never designed to keep all foreign fighters out of Australia,' he told Nine Network.
'They were designed to take away the citizenship of dual citizens.'
Mr Pyne admitted Australian authorities had to prove an alleged fighter held citizenship of another country - something Iraq and Syria had so far refused to help with.
'You can't make people stateless,' he said.
The minister insisted Australia had some of the toughest laws in this area and if security agencies wanted extra powers the government would respond.
Mr Pyne said at least one person has had their citizenship stripped.
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said the opposition to a bipartisan position on the issue.
'If there are any amendments to legislation required, we will be cooperative as we have been the whole way through,' he said.
He agreed people could not be left stateless.
Those people fighting overseas include: senior Australian terrorist Neil Prakash, Sydney jihadi bride Hafsa Mohamed, Hamza El Baf, Perth student Muhammed Sheglabo, Melbourne man Yusuf Mohamed Yusuf and Mostafa Mahamed Farag who has ties to Al-Qaeda.
Zehra Duman, who moved from Melbourne to Syria to marry Autralin jihadist Mahmoud Abdullatif in 2014, is now recruiting wives for jihadis.
Mounir Raad, from Melbourne, is also fighting with extremists overseas.
Yusuf Mohamed Yusuf (pictured), formerly of Melbourne, has fought in Syria
A 22-year-old mother was horrifically branded with hot tongs by her husband and his father because she received a call from an unknown number.
The woman, named Jhamku, suffered burns all over her body because she they suspected she was having an affair.
Her husband, Bhagga Gameti, and his father, Lehri Lal, reacted angrily and spoke to the caller, but could not identify who he was.
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Jhamku, suffered burns all over her body after being attacked after receiving a call from an unknown number
The brutal attack saw her suffer injuries to her legs, face, chest and genitals after she was burned with hot tongs
They first beat her with sticks before burning her legs, face, chest and genitals with hot tongs.
The helpless woman, who has a toddler son with her husband, kept crying for mercy but they did not stop torturing her, and a large crowd gathered outside their home in Udaipur, Rajasthan in northern India.
Her ordeal lasted for two hours before she was left to writhe in pain.
A large crowd gathered outside the home in Udaipur, Rajasthan, but her ordeal lasted for two hours
The victim told the Hindustan Times: 'They branded my body parts, including private parts, with a hot iron rod and fled from the house when locals raised an alarm on hearing my cries for help.'
It was only after news spread to nearby villages that Sunday's incident was reported to local police, but Bhagga was not arrested until Wednesday.
Social worker Bhojraj Singh said: 'I heard of the incident from a volunteer stationed near the village.
'I sprang for her help and took the matter to the police. At first the police had not registered a case of domestic violence against the woman.'
Jhamku was sent to her parent's house where she is being given medical treatment at home.
Om Kumar, police officer who is handling the case said: 'We have arrested the husband and will arrest the other accused if he too is found guilty during the course of investigation.'
A murder suspect has been pictured bleeding in his mugshot after being arrested having spent five days on the run.
Alex Deaton, 28, is suspected of strangling his girlfriend before shooting dead a 69-year-old churchgoer and injuring a jogger, which sparked a massive manhunt.
The suspected killer, from Mississippi, has now been arrested after a police chase resulted in him crashing his stolen car before the vehicle burst into flames.
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Suspected killer Alex Deaton, 28, who led police on a high-speed car chase before he crashed
Alex Deaton is said to have strangled his girlfriend Heather Robinson (pictured) to death
Video courtesy of KSN:
The FBI, Rankin Police and CrimeStoppers had offered $27,500 for information that could lead to finding the 28-year-old.
Deaton is charged with first degree murder and aggravated assault for allegedly strangling his girlfriend, 30-year-old Heather Robinson at their apartment in Brandon, Mississippi.
Her body was discovered Friday afternoon when a deputy and a family member went to the apartment for a welfare check.
Miss Robinson died either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Police say the number of charges could increase.
Officials had offered $27,500 for information that led to finding Alex Bridges Deaton
Police also want to question him about the shooting of Brenda Pinter, who was found fatally shot Thursday evening inside an office of Dixon Baptist Church.
After the violent spree, he stole a car from a couple in New Mexico on Tuesday.
Mississippi public safety commissioner Marshall Fisher told NBC: 'He's led us on quite the chase these last few days, and everybody here is very happy that he's in custody.'
On Wednesday, the Kiowas County Sheriff's Department chased Deaton in a stolen Honda Accord.
Officers used spike sticks to stop the car, but the fugitive ran into a convenience store where he shot the clerk and robbed his Cadillac.
He made his way down Interstate 70 and cops had to follow him once again in a high-speed chase, which eventually ended when spike sticks were deployed for a second time.
Deaton crashed the car and it ended up on its roof and on fire.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey told NBC: 'This guy apparently didn't care who he had to kill or what he had to do.
'I don't know what his end goal was.'
Deaton was chased by police officers and he eventually crashed the car he stole from a clerk
Alex Deaton is accused of strangling his girlfriend Heather Robinson (left and right) to death
It is not clear what Deaton's connection was to Pinter and he has not yet been charged in this case.
Nothing was stolen from her office or her car.
He is also suspected to be the man who shot a jogger in the thigh 5am Friday morning.
The woman said she was shot by a man with facial hair out of a white SUV, similar to Robinson's white 2012 GMC Arcadia SUV with a Mississippi Nurses Foundation tag that was reported missing when her body was found.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey to the Clarion-Ledger: 'Something inside him appears to have snapped.'
Deaton is also wanted for questioning for the shooting of Brenda Strickland Pinter (pictured)
Alex Deaton (pictured) shot a clerk and stole a car from him days after a violent spree
Alex Deaton (right) is accused of killing his girlfriend Heather Robinson (left) by strangling her
The store clerk was airlifted to hospital and his condition is unknown.
Deaton's last known contact with anybody was with his mother.
She said her son had sent him a series of texts she described as jumbled and unidentifiable.
The woman who publicly forgave the race hate gang members who terrorized her and other guests at an 8-year-old boy's birthday party has spoken for the first time of the traumatic experience and the extraordinary courtroom moment she came face to face with her attackers.
Hyesha Bryant, 34, had taken her children - then aged six months, seven and ten - to what was meant to be a happy celebration of her friend Melissa Alford's grandson's birthday in July 2015.
But what began as a 'perfect day' descended into chaos, panic and fear when 10 men and five women riding under the gang name 'Respect the Flag' tore into the Douglasville, Georgia neighborhood in a convoy of trucks.
They brandished guns, spewed racial slurs and threatened to kill the partygoers and, chillingly, their children too.
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Hyesha Bryant, 34, who was at the eight-year-old's birthday party terrorized by racists shouting the 'N' word and waving the confederate flag, has told of the extraordinary moment she came face to face with her attackers in court and decided to stand up and forgive them
Hyesha said about Monday's sentencing of the gang members: 'I heard the jail sentences and I was shocked. I wanted to see justice served but I looked at them and I thought, 'You're just babies and you have ruined your lives.' And I felt such compassion for the children that they are leaving behind'
Jose Ismael Torres, 26, and the mother of his children, Kayla Rae Norton, 25, were sentenced to a combined total of 35 years, with 19 to be served in prison
The couple were members of a group called 'Respect the Flag,' and were joined by a caravan of other people who shouted at adults and children that they would 'kill y'all n*****s,' while proudly displaying confederate flags
On Monday, Judge William McClain handed down the final two sentences in the case in Douglas County Court.
Jose Ismael Torres, 26, and the mother of his children, Kayla Rae Norton, 25, were sentenced to a combined total of 35 years, with 19 to be served in prison.
They were found in violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Both were also found guilty of making terroristic threats and Torres was convicted on a third count of aggravated assault.
Now, in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Hyesha has shared the details of that horrific day.
Speaking for the first time, she has told of the impact it had, the fear she battled to conquer and the painful conversations she was forced to have with her children in its wake.
She explained how, on witnessing Torres and Norton's sentencing, she was flooded with compassion for their children and compelled to tell them that she forgave them.
Hyesha said: 'I heard the jail sentences and I was shocked. I wanted to see justice served but I looked at them and I thought, "You're just babies and you have ruined your lives." And I felt such compassion for the children that they are leaving behind.
'There has to come a point where it stops. There has to be a point when we can erase this racial line and erase the hate. So I had to tell them, 'I'm not mad at you. I forgive you.'
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Hyesha has shared the details of that horrific day in July of 2015. She said: 'We decided to all have one big party and barbecue and Melissa's yard is big enough. I hired the bouncy castle and the snow cone machine. People brought chips and food and drink, there was music. It was a perfect day'
But later in the afternoon, several of the gang 'Respect the Flag' stopped at the party and approached the partygoers and the house. More than one carried a gun - Torres wielded a black pump action shot gun. Another carried a knife; another wielded a tire iron. Pictured, women at the sentencing break down in tears
She said: 'At that moment you could hear clearly all the N words and the F words and 'We're going to kill you all. We're going to kill some n****** today.' Pictured, Hyesha speaks to Kayla Norton and the court
'It's something that they needed to know and I needed to say. It's the right thing to do. It's the Christian thing to do.
'I can't sit here every day with anger and hate in my heart. That would destroy me. So I forgave them.'
The grace shown by Hyesha in the courtroom on Monday and now, sitting in the front room of the family home she shares with husband Marcelle and their three children, is all the more remarkable when set against the events that took place on that summer day two years ago.
There has to come a point where it stops. There has to be a point when we can erase this racial line and erase the hate. So I had to tell them, 'I'm not mad at you. I forgive you.'
It was a joint celebration, she explained, with the little boy's father sharing his birthday, her own daughter's birthday just around the corner and a mutual friend about to leave town.
She said: 'We decided to all have one big party and barbecue and Melissa's yard is big enough. I hired the bouncy castle and the snow cone machine. People brought chips and food and drink, there was music. It was a perfect day.'
But in neighboring Paulding County the members of 'Respect the Flag' were staging their own, warped, version of a party.
According to Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner, 15 to 20 members gathered that morning to conduct a ride throughout the day with confederate flags prominently displayed on their trucks.
They began that morning and into the early afternoon, and each place they went 911 call centers were flooded with calls.
They harassed black customers in the parking lot of Walmart and Grands Convenience Store. They made threats and hurled racial slurs and epithets, with many becoming ever more drunk and abusive as the day rolled on.
Terrified, Hyesha called 911. It seemed, she recalled, to take forever for the police to come. And when they did, she said simply, 'They did not make me feel safe.' Indeed when handing down his opinion on Monday, Judge William H McLain expressed his disbelief that none of the gang were arrested that day
Then, at 3:45 PM, one of the members of the group who had been 'spinning his wheels' while doing U-turns blew a tire. When he pulled over to change the tire, the party going on in the plot just next to Interstate 20 caught the gang members' attention.
Hyesha recalled: 'I remember seeing the trucks going past but I didn't think too much of it. Being from Douglasville you get used to seeing the flag and you couldn't really hear too much over the music at that time.
'But then I saw they were coming back. They jumped the median and slowed up and now it was like, 'Okay what's up?'
We had no weapons. I said, 'Get the kids inside.' They said, 'Leave them little ones, they can get one too.'
Hyesha and others approached the trucks to see if they were okay. She said: 'At that moment you could hear clearly all the N words and the F words and 'We're going to kill you all. We're going to kill some n****** today.'
'I was like, 'Are you serious? Can't you see there are kids here?' And by the way this was a mixed party - there were white people and bi-racial. It wasn't just one group.'
Several of the gang were now on foot approaching the partygoers and the house. More than one carried a gun - Torres wielded a black pump action shot gun. Another carried a knife; another wielded a tire iron.
Tears rose up with the memories as Hyesha continued: 'We had no weapons. I said, 'Get the kids inside.' They said, 'Leave them little ones, they can get one too.'
Terrified, Hyesha called 911. It seemed, she recalled, to take forever for the police to come. And when they did, she said simply, 'They did not make me feel safe.'
Indeed when handing down his opinion on Monday, Judge William H McLain expressed his disbelief that none of the gang were arrested that day.
Instead it would take a later incident, an attack on a white man that led to the gang members' arrests and ultimate indictments for their behavior across that day.
Hyesha had to tell her son: 'No, we don't hate anybody. And your family loves you. It's only a few people who are like that.' I never thought I'd have to have this conversation in 2015, or 2017'. Pictured, Kayla Norton stands and speaks on her own behalf in front of Superior Court Judge William McClain
Hyesha said: 'The police told us all to get back. We were like, 'But we called you!' They spoke to the gang. They shook their hands and they allowed them to leave. They had terrorized us and they just let them leave.'
Hyesha continued: 'After they all left the fear was so present. We tried to go back to the party and forget about it but it just didn't work, people started leaving.'
Hyesha packed up the bouncy castle and snow cone machine. Everyone, she said, was afraid the trucks might return.
'We felt stalked,' she said. 'Because they had already gone past and come back. What was to stop them coming back again?'
For a while, she admitted, every truck that drove by their home prompted a spike of fear.
'We didn't know why they had come in the first place. We didn't know if they'd come back. My husband walked me out every morning. We didn't allow the kids to play outside.
So we talked about slavery, we talked about history, we talked about the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King. He said, 'Mommy did they say that word to Martin Luther King?' I said, 'I'm sure he heard it quite often.'
'We even wondered about trick or treating that year. But it got to a point when I thought I can't be afraid. I have kids. I can't punish my kids for fear of what other people might do.'
It is a great sadness to Hyesha that, however she might try to move on with, the events of that afternoon have inevitably taken a degree of innocence from her oldest son.
Almost 11 at the time of the incident, he alone was really old enough to ask the questions she was forced to answer, however unready she felt.
She explained: 'My oldest said, 'Are you okay mommy? Are you safe? Did they hurt you?' I said, 'No, Mommy's good. Mommy's here to protect you. You don't ever have to worry.'
'Then he said, 'They used that word you won't let us say - what does it really mean?' So I'm having to break down this word to him.
'So we talked about slavery, we talked about history, we talked about the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King. He said, 'Mommy did they say that word to Martin Luther King?' I said, 'I'm sure he heard it quite often.'
'To try to explain these things to him. It's taken a part of his innocence from him. He said, 'Mommy I have white aunties and cousins am I meant to hate them? Do they hate me?'
Today, Hyesha is keen to look forward and to shake off the memories of that July day. The wife, mother and school bus driver is also a student of Strayer University, with a 4.0 GPA and is due to graduate magna cum laude in Criminal Justice in May
'I told him, 'No, we don't hate anybody. And your family loves you. It's only a few people who are like that.'
'I never thought I'd have to have this conversation in 2015, or 2017.'
Judge McClain expressed similar dismay during sentencing. Referring to the the law under which the gang members were prosecuted, he noted that it was passed in 1860.
He said: 'It criminalizes threatening crimes of violence with intent to intimidate or frighten people. It also criminalizes burning crosses with the same intent.historically it's a rather obvious response to the actions of the Klan and other racist hate organizations that rose up in the aftermath of the Civil War.'
In his 35 years in court, he said, this law has essentially come to be applied to domestic violence situations.
'And then,' he continued, 'All of a sudden we go back to the 1860's and people are waving Confederate flags, using racial epithets and threatening African American citizens in our community.'
And that particular day. Hyesha said she did feel, 'scared, bullied, harassed, stalked and terrorized.'
Yet if any of the thugs riding their trucks had asked her if she 'respected the flag,' she would have said yes.
'I know the history of the flag. It's not about racism. It's about war and conflict. For some it's about honor. It's about the nation coming together. It doesn't offend me. It's a piece of cloth and it's history is about more than race.'
With her grace and dignity, Hyesha has arguably shown more true respect than the racist gang who co-opted the symbol for their own hateful cause.
Today, Hyesha is keen to look forward and to shake off the memories of that July day.
The wife, mother and school bus driver is also a student of Strayer University, with a 4.0 GPA and is due to graduate magna cum laude in Criminal Justice in May.
She doesn't have time, she said, for hate.
'When it came to it, in the moment in court I didn't know what else to say but 'I forgive you.'
'We don't want to have chaos and anger and hate. There has to be a point where somebody stands up and shows positivity and love and respect. Because that's what this boils down to: respect for others.
'I just thank God for my family. I thank God for my friends. And I thank God that this case, at least for now, is finally over.'
Jean-Claude Juncker's frustrations boiled over in the European Parliament when debating with MEPs on the future of the EU.
During the debate, which lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes, Mr Juncker laid out five different plans for the EU.
When MEPs quizzed him on what his preferred option would be, he refused to answer.
Jean-Claude Juncker's frustrations boiled over in the European Parliament when debating with MEPs on the future of the EU in Brussels
The President of the European Commission said: 'S**t. What do you want us to do?'
Mr Juncker avoided breaking parliamentary protocol by pronouncing the French swear word slightly incorrectly saying merte instead of merde and used the term again to add: I would say sh*t if we werent in the EU parliament.
The president admitted there was a plan that he favoured, but he could not push it through as it would give ammunition to his critics.
When MEPs quizzed him on what his preferred option would be, he refused to answer
He told Brussels: 'So we are putting forward on this occasion a number of different scenarios.
'Not all of them have met with approval, Im sure that you will understand that amongst the scenarios put forward there is one that I would like more than the other four.
'But if we were simply to put that forward then there wouldnt be any discussion and voices would be raised against us saying that we had stifled the debate and saying that we had not listened to the voices of our citizens.'
Mr Juncker's white paper maps out the five ideas, which include carrying on as normal, only keeping the single market or to expand on the ties between EU nations.
Mr Juncker's white paper maps out the five ideas, which include carrying on as normal, only keeping the single market or to expand on the ties between EU nations
In another scenario, the politician proposed that member states who wanted to do more than trade together could.
He also said the EU could do reduce the number of areas that member states cooperate in, streamlining their mission.
Yesterday, Mr Juncker said in parliament: 'It would do us all good if we simply stopped Brussels-bashing, EU-bashing.'
Despite being the granddaughter and daughter of two pro-life presidents, Barbara Pierce Bush expressed her support for the abortion-providing Planned Parenthood organization on Wednesday.
The former first daughter was the keynote speaker at the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas' annual luncheon, held at Fort Worth's Omni Hotel.
In her speech, the 35-year-old said she was 'very proud to stand with Planned Parenthood' because of the services it provides to women.
'I am proud to stand with Planned Parenthood not only because women, regardless of where they are from, deserve to live dignified, healthy lives, [but] ... because its a really good investment.
'We know that when women are healthy, their families and their children are healthier too,' she wrote.
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Barbara Pierce Bush was the keynote speaker at the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas' annual luncheon on Wednesday. She's pictured above at a different event last year
Bush didn't mention abortion once in her speech, but that didn't stop critics from protesting the event.
More than a dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel on Wednesday, holding up signs reading 'We don't need Planned Parenthood' and 'I am the pro-life generation'.
'Its important to make sure theres a consistent and sustainable pro-life presence at events like this,' on protester, 23-year-old Jillian Ferguson, told the Star Telegram. 'We dont want to leave Planned Parenthood unchallenged, especially with George W. Bush having left such a pro-life legacy. We dont understand why Barbara Bush would go against that legacy.'
More than a dozen protesters held a demonstration outside of the luncheon, held at the Omni Hotel in Fort Worth, on Wednesday
Bush did not mention abortion in her speech. Planned Parenthood provides abortions, but federal funding does not go towards these procedures
Lawmakers in Texas recently tried to stop Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, but a judge stopped the order
Each year, the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas books a famous figure to speak at their annual luncheon. Past speakers have included Gloria Steinem and Erin Brokovick.
Bush said that she agreed to speak at the event in October, but had no idea that the election would fall in Trump's favor - putting Planned Parenthood funding even more at risk.
'I was under the assumption things would go differently,' Bush said of the election. 'Thats not a political statement.
Bush is pictured center with her father, President George W. Bush (right), grandfather President George H.W. Bush (bottom), and twin sister Jenna Bush Hager (left)
Bush's father was pro-life, but her mother is pro-choice. From left to right: President Bush, Barbara Pierce Bush, Laura Bush, Mila Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, Poppy Bush and Henry Chase Hager
'I thought the cards were going to fall in a different way. And I could not be more happy that I said yes [to speaking at the Fort Worth luncheon] now,' she said.
The event raised $400,000 for the organization's Greater Texas chapter.
Since the GOP took control of both the White House and Congress, the Republicans have been threatening to defund Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions - despite the fact that no federal funding goes towards these procedures.
The fight against Planned Parenthood has been especially fraught in Texas, where lawmakers moved to stop Medicaid payments to the organizations 30 health care centers in the state.
But last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the move, saying the state did not provide 'even a scintilla of evidence' that Planned Parenthood was unqualified to provide medical services.
During her speech, Bush said that her time working on charity projects with her parents inspired her to found Global Health Corps, a non-profit that helps fight for health equality in Africa and the United States.
'Our belief that health is a human right is not reflected in today's reality,' she said. 'Millions of people's potentials and futures are undermined simply because they do not have access to the health care that they deserve. We have these incredible tools to solve problems, yet health systems are weak, and we need new leaders to fix them.'
Planned Parenthood is one of the organizations that Global Health Corps partners with to 'confront solvable health challenges'.
'It is so exciting to know we have the tools to solve so many problems,' Bush said. 'We know this is just the beginning.'
'To me, Planned Parenthood is a one-stop shop for everything that has to do with women's health and all social problems that don't have to do with women's health,' she continued. 'I hope you all realize the incredible investment that you're making for both women and also their kids, their kids' education and their income level.'
The White House is hiring leading Vladimir Putin skeptic Fiona Hill to join the national security staff, despite President Donald Trump's repeated expressions of admiration for the Russian strongman.
Hill is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the liberal Brookings Institution and a former U.S. intelligence officer.
She is a co-author of the book, 'Mr Putin: Operative in the Kremlin,' where she urges Putin to bring the 'Russia, Inc.' system he created into the 'real world' and to be less of a 'CEO and Mafia Don.'
Her hiring was reported by Foreign Policy, which cited a White House official.
The White House has hired Brookings Institution scholar Fiona Hill, who has written critically about Russian President Vladimir Putin, to join its security staff
In July, at a time when what the intelligence community believes to be Russian-backed hacking, she penned an op-ed titled: '3 Reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin Might Want to Interfere in the US Elections.'
Her writings make clear she views Putin with suspicion. 'Putin approaches his dealings with the United States with the logic of a covert operative, steeped in plots and conspiracies. He also uses an intelligence operatives tools,' she wrote in the article. 'Hes prepared to fight dirty, and he relies on the element of tactical surprise to ensure maximum effect.'
The White House confirmed the anti-Putin hire at a time when the administration is under increasing scrutiny for its Russia ties before and after the campaign.
Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn quit his post after weeks under pressure after his own contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. were revealed.
The intelligence community claims Russian President Vladimir Putin directed hacking of the U.S. elections, and Fiona Hill penned an article explaining why he might want to interfere
President Donald Trump has expressed repeated admiration for Vladimir Putin
NO FAN: Fiona Hill co-wrote a book about Putin that emphasized his KGB background
On Wednesday night, the Justice Department confirmed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice with the Russian ambassador last year, although he failed to disclose it during his confirmation.
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi immediately called for Sessions to resign, and he faces increasing calls to recuse himself from ongoing investigations into possible Trump Russia connections.
Trump himself repeatedly praised Putin during the presidential campaign, called for improved relations with Moscow, and spoke skeptically of sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are each investigating Russian election hacking.
This week it was revealed that the FBI reached a deal just weeks before the election to pay ex-British spy Christopher Steele, who had compiled a dossier of information purporting to reveal compromising information the Russians had on Donald Trump.
News of Hill's hiring emerged as the administration was under fire for its Russia ties. Former NSC advisor Mike Flynn resigned under pressure, and attorney general Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador twice during the campaign
Hill took a skeptical view of the chance of thaw with the Russians after the elections
The agreement, which ultimately fell apart, would be for Steele to continue his work, sources told the Washington Post and confirmed to NBC.
The bureau made the arrangement at a time when a 'dirty dossier' of information Steele had compiled including now-discredited salacious details was in its possession.
The dossier, parts of which were discredited, laid out possible compromising material the Russians had on Trump.
Hill took a skeptical view of the chance of thaw with the Russians in an interview with the Atlantic.
'The Russians will get all giddy with expectations, and then theyll be dashed, like, five minutes into the relationship because the U.S. and Russia just have a very hard time being on the same page,' she said.
Trump said in July, 'If we could get along with Russia, wouldnt that be a good thing, instead of a bad thing?'
Foreign Policy reported that NSC chief of staff Keith Kellogg hired Hill before Flynn's departure.
She is a dual U.S.-British citizen who was a U.S. intelligence officer between 2006 and 2009.
Her portfolio would include Europe and Russia.
Former President Barack Obama was named the 2017 winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Thursday for carrying on his fellow Democrat's legacy.
'President Kennedy called on a new generation of Americans to give their talents to the service of the country,' Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, said in a statement.
'With exceptional dignity and courage, President Obama has carried that torch into our own time, providing young people of all backgrounds with an example they can emulate in their own lives.'
Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present Obama with the award May 7 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced Thursday that Caroline Kennedy (left) will present Obama with the 2017 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his 'enduring commitment to democratic ideals and elevating the standard of political courage'
Caroline Kennedy will present the award with her son, Jack Schlossberg (right), May 7 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston
'Humbled to be recognized by a family with a legacy of service,' Obama said in his official Twitter account.
The award is presented annually by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.
It is named for Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, 'Profiles in Courage.' The book tells the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular positions.
'Faced with unrelenting political opposition, President Obama has embodied the definition of courage that my grandfather cites in the opening lines of 'Profiles in Courage': grace under pressure,' Schlossberg said.
'Throughout his two terms in office, he represented all Americans with decency, integrity, and an unshakeable commitment to the greater good.'
'President Kennedy called on a new generation of Americans to give their talents to the service of the country,' Caroline, said. Above, JFK and Jackie with their daughter Caroline in 1958
Former President Obama tweeted: 'Humbled to be recognized by a family with a legacy of service'. The award has been given out annually since 1989. Obama is the third former U.S. president to earn the award, joining Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush
Obama is being recognized for 'his enduring commitment to democratic ideals and elevating the standard of political courage in a new century,' the foundation said, citing the expansion of health care options for millions, restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba and leadership on an international climate change agreement.
The award has been given out annually since 1989.
Last year's winner was Democratic Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Obama is the third former U.S. president to earn the award, joining Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
Other winners include U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Ukraine President Victor Yushchenko and former U.S. Rep. Carl Elliott Sr., D-Ala.
A convicted felon posed as the drummer with Canadian rock band Nickelback in a bid to get his hands on $25,000 worth of high-end microphones.
Lee 'Wooky' Koenig, 45, from Florida, claimed to be Daniel Adair when he placed an email order with Lewitt Audio, a firm based in Austria.
But the company checked with the band to verify the order, which proved to be Koenig's undoing.
Daniel Adair noticed Lee Koenig (pictured) had configured his drums in the same way as the Nickelback star
The band's security specialist asked Adair about the order and the drummer told him he had never placed such an order with Lewitt, who are based in Vienna.
Adair began some internet sleuthing and found Koenig's Facebook on which he claimed to be a 'hall of fame' drummer who had toured with the Beach Boys, Billy Joel and Tito Puente.
The wannabe rock star described his interests as: 'Hot fudge, fishing and rocking the s*** on my drums.'
Adair even noticed that Koenig had set his drums up the same way that he does.
The real Daniel Adair (second, left) said he knew nothing about an order for microphones which had been submitted to the Austrian company
On the order Koenig had claimed to be Adair and had made out his girlfriend was the band's publicist.
Adair, 42, eventually called the cops in Florida and this week Koenig was arrested in Port St Lucie on two felony fraud counts and booked into the county jail.
The Smoking Gun reported that when a police officer asked Koenig if he had defrauded any other bands the suspect 'invoked his rights to have a lawyer present'.
Nickelback are one of Canada's biggest rock exports but Adair (right) turned internet sleuth to track down Koenig (left)
Koenig is a convicted felon who served more than two years in state prison for fraud in 2009 after he pocketed $100,000 raised during a series of concerts which were supposed to be for charity.
The real Daniel Adair and the rest of Nickelback set out on a North American tour in June. They will visit 44 cities, including Tampa in Florida.
But Koenig's chances of snaffling a backstage pass are fairly doubtful.
Al-Qaeda has confirmed their second-in-command Abu Khayr al-Masri was killed by a US drone strike.
The attack in Idlib, north west Syria last week, is believed to have been carried out using a new type of munition using a far lower explosive yield to reduce civilian casualties.
The terror organisation said Abu Khayr al-Masri, who they described as a 'hero', was 'killed during a Crusader drone strike'.
Abu Khayr al-Masri was killed in a drone strike last week while a passenger in this car
It is believed the car was targeted by a new type of munition instead of high explosives
Masri has been described as 'jihadi royalty' and was number two to Ayman al-Zawahri.
In a statement released earlier, al-Qaeda said: 'All of al-Sham (Syria) will bear witness to the latest crime of America and the Crusader alliance,' the statement said, in reference to the US-led coalition bombing jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
It also expressed its condolences to Qaeda's current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
A US official said this week that Washington was investigating reports that Masri had been killed in a US strike in or around the city of Idlib in northwest Syria.
The US has escalated its bombing campaign of the province, mostly ruled by al-Qaeda's former Syrian branch, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.
In early February, the Pentagon said it killed 11 Al-Qaeda operatives there.
Masri is a son-in-law of Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and is believed to be Zawahiri's deputy.
Masri, also known as Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abdulrahman, joined Zawahiri in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group in the 1980s before they enlisted with Bin Laden in the 1990s.
US intelligence believe al-Masri was involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
He was detained with several other Al-Qaeda figures in 2003 in Iran and held until 2015, when they were traded for the release of an Iranian diplomat who had been seized by Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch.
Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute described al-Masri as 'jihadi royalty,' as a longstanding member of Al-Qaeda's central Shura Council and 'one of Ayman al-Zawahiri's closest long-time confidants.'
The weapon did not break the Kia Rio saloon's windows or scratch most of the paintwork
The interior of the car suffered extensive damage, but was not set alight by the impact
His death would 'almost certainly necessitate some form of response, whether from Syria or elsewhere in the world,' he said.
Trump has put tackling so-called 'radical Islamic extremism' at the top of his agenda.
He is currently considering a review of the fight against the Islamic State group, aiming to intensify the campaign and is poised to revive efforts to ban travels from certain Muslim-majority countries.
Masri's presence in Idlib province underscores the importance that country has gained in Al-Qaeda's strategy, analysts said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said earlier this week that a February 26 coalition raid on the town of Mastumah in Idlib province had killed Masri.
'In the last two to three months, the US has vastly escalated its air strikes on Al-Qaeda leaders, training camps, and meeting points,' said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
'This indicates that they are working off a hit list,' he said.
The drone strike took place in Idlib province, close to the border with Turkey
Masri was born in the Nile Delta city of Kafr al-Shaykh in November 1957, during Gamal Abdel Nasser's rule.
He was one of the most prominent figures in Al-Qaeda to have roots in the era before the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Soufan Group, a private security and intelligence consultancy.
'It was in al-Masri's guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed briefed top Al-Qaeda leaders about the planning of the September 11, 2001 attacks,' the Soufan Group said.
According to Treasury Department sanctions, Masri was previously responsible for coordinating Al-Qaeda's work 'with other terrorist organisations.'
Charles Robson (pictured) was awarded the Zulu War medal which has now been bought for 132,000
A medal awarded to one of the defenders of Rorke's Drift, which was immortalised in the film Zulu, today sold for a record 132,000.
Driver Charles Robson was the personal servant to Victoria Cross hero Lieutenant John Chard, who was played by Stanley Baker in the classic 1964 movie.
The pair were part of the 140-strong British garrison which successfully defended the Rorke's Drift mission station in 1879.
Lt Chard was the commanding officer and organised the epic defence which saw them defy all odds to see off the 4,000 marauding Zulu warriors.
For 12 hours the British repelled the spear-carrying tribesmen with accurate shooting and brutal hand-to-hand combat.
The Zulus eventually retreated with 350 of their number killed compared to 17 British.
Lt Chard was awarded the Victoria Cross - the highest award for valour in the face of the enemy - as was Lt Gonville Bromhead, who was played by Michael Caine in the film.
Robson received the Zulu War medal which today sold for a hammer price of 110,000. With fees added on the overall price paid by the private telephone bidder was 132,000.
The staggering sum is a record for a non-VC Rorke's Drift medal.
It easily beat the existing record of 84,000 paid for the Zulu War Medal of private Michael Minehan last December.
A spokesman for London auctioneers, Dix Noonan Webb, said: 'The extra price reflects the fact that the defence of Rorke's Drift is still regarded as one of the most heroic episodes in British Military History.
Mr Robson was awarded a Zulu war medal (pictured) and it has now sold for a staggering 132,000
Lieutenant John Chard was played by Stanley Baker (pictured, left next to Michael Caine) in the classic 1964 movie, Zulu
'Medal collectors tend to like a great story behind their medals and stories don't get much better than Rorke's Drift. It remains one of the most epic actions in military history.'
Robson, from Tooting, south London, joined the Royal Engineers aged 18 in 1873 and was detailed to be Lt Chard's batman and groom three years later.
The pair were transported to South Africa at the start of the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879.
When they arrived the duo were ordered to go to Rorke's Drift along with four Royal Engineers and repair a pontoon bridge.
Mr Robson received the medal (left) after he was part of the 140-strong British garrison which successfully defended the Rorke's Drift mission station in 1879 - which was portrayed in Zulu (right)
After completing the task the four servicemen were ordered back to the main British camp at Isandhlwana.
Hours later the camp was attacked by the Zulus resulting in the slaughter of 1,350 men, a huge disaster for the British army.
Several riders who escaped rode on horse back to Rorke's Drift 10 miles away to inform the men the Zulus were coming.
Seventy-five minutes later 4,000 warriors appeared over the hills and attacked the mission station.
Robson helped build the defensive walls before taking up a position from where he had a clear field of fire to where his master's wagon was parked.
RORKE'S DRIFT: BATTLE CONSIDERED ONE OF BRITAIN'S GREATEST VICTORIES WAS PART OF A WIDER BLOODY CONFLICT THAT COST 8,000 LIVES The name of Rorke's Drift led to the much-loved film starring Stanley Baker (left) who played Lieutenant John Chard It was on January 22 1879, on the Natal border with Zululand, in South Africa, that the tiny British garrison of 140 men - many of them sick and wounded - fought for at least 12 hours to repel repeated attacks by up to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The defence was rewarded by Queen Victoria's government with no fewer than 11 Victoria Crosses. The name of Rorke's Drift led to the much-loved film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine. The movie, which is still celebrated more than 50 years after it was made, saw Baker play Lieutenant John Chard, while Caine played his right-hand man, Lieutenant Goville Bromhead. After fighting day and night the Zulus eventually retreated after 351 of the men died and 500 were wounded. It was part of the wider Anglo - Zulu war took place during 1879. The conflict began because the Zulu kingdom presented an obstacle to British imperial ambitions in southern Africa. The British invasion of Zululand began on January 11 1879, with the British objective being an eventual federation in Africa. The battle of Isandlwana erupted on the 22nd of January 1879, 11 days after the British started their invasion. 20,000 Zulu warriors attacked 1,800 British, colonial and native troops and 400 civilians. The Zulus, who had more numbers, overwhelmed the British, killing over 1,300 troops, while around 1,000 Zulu soldiers were killed. The battle of Rorke's Drift started almost immediately after, ending on the 23rd. The Battle of Ulundi on the 4th of July 1879 effectively ended the Zulu-Anglo war, with the defeat of the Zulu forces by the British when over 5,200 British and African soldiers razed the capital of Zululand after defeating the main Zulu army. The war ultimately ended with a British victory, and Zulu independence. Advertisement
As the battle developed Lt Chard made a note of where Robson was placed. He wrote: '...the Zulus were wrecking the camp and my wagon in spite of the efforts of my batman, Driver Robson, who had directed his particular attention to keeping the Zulus off this wagon in which were, as he described it, our things.'
Lt Chard and Robson returned home to Britain nine months later to a hero's welcome.
They took in an unofficial tour of the country and had an audience with Queen Victoria at Balmoral.
Robson left the army in 1894 and died in London in 1933 aged 78.
A woman could soon be reunited with the six-year-old son she has not seen for more than three years.
Afsana Lachaux and estranged husband Bruno Lachaux have been embroiled in legal proceedings since shortly after son Louis was born.
The youngster lives with his father in the Middle East and Mrs Lachaux has not seen him since late 2013.
But Mr Lachaux, a French aerospace engineer in his 40s based in Dubai, has told a High Court judge in London that he will bring Louis to England to see Mrs Lachaux in the near future.
Afsana Lachaux, a French engineer who works in the Middle East, said she did not want to see Bruno Lachaux when answering barristers' questions at a public hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London last month
Mr Justice Mostyn has explained Mr Lachaux's promise after analysing the latest stage of litigation at a public hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
The judge said if Mr Lachaux did not keep his word he might consider ordering him to bring Louis to the UK.
He told Mr and Mrs Lachaux to 'move on' and 'work together as parents'.
The judge had been asked to make rulings relating to the status of the pair's marriage.
Mrs Lachaux met her ex-husband, who worked in aviation, in India in 2008, married him two years later and gave birth to Louis
He has ruled in favour of Mr Lachaux by concluding that a divorce granted in Dubai, in the UAE, should be recognised in England.
Mrs Lachaux, who is English and lives in London, had launched divorce proceedings in England.
But the judge said any decrees granted in England would be set aside.
He said Mr and Mrs Lachaux and Louis could be named in reports of the case.
Mr Justice Mostyn said the couple's relationship had soured within months of marriage.
He said the couple had lived in the Middle East and five years ago Mrs Lachaux had left home and disappeared with Louis.
Mother and son had been found 19 months later.
A Dubai judge ruled that the little boy should live with his father.
Her case even prompted the Foreign Office to issue a warning to British women living in the UAE that in the event of a marriage breakdown they will face custody proceedings under sharia law, irrespective of their religion or nationality
Mrs Lachaux was found guilty of kidnapping and given a suspended prison sentence. She has not seen her son since.
Mrs Lachaux was screened off from Mr Lachaux when giving evidence to Mr Justice Mostyn.
She said she did not want to see Mr Lachaux when answering barristers' questions.
Mr Justice Mostyn said seating arrangements in Court 50 at the Royal Courts of Justice should be reorganised.
Mr Lachaux moved to a press bench at the side of the room and a curtain was drawn between him and Mrs Lachaux.
'I loathe the sight of him,' Mrs Lachaux told Mr Justice Mostyn.
'More than I loathe the sight of him, I loathe myself for sleeping with him and being with him.'
She complained of his 'denigration and degradation' of her.
Mr Lachaux said Mrs Lachaux had been violent towards him and 'threatening'.
Mr Justice Mostyn said evidence did not paint a 'picture of domination and coercion' by Mr Lachaux.
The judge said he thought that Mrs Lachaux 'gave as good as she got'.
A soldier has been snapping shots of illegally parked police vehicles for six months in Florida.
Glen Carr, an active-duty Army major, is behind the photographs, the Miami New-Times reported.
The 40-year-old has submitted at least 125 complaints, along with images, about the cars to departments around Miami-Dade County, the newspaper said.
Glen Carr, an active-duty Army major, has been snapping shots of illegally parked police vehicles for six months in Florida
He told the outlet: 'It's not like I'm against them. I just want them to be better at what they do. I feel they don't hold each other accountable.'
Carr was in Maryland teaching his teenage daughter how to drive four years ago as two police vehicles, which didn't have their lights on, were speeding on an interstate, the newspaper said.
Unable to find a reason for police to speed on an interstate without their emergency lights on, Carr complained, with authorities saying they'd look into the matter, according to the report.
Carr recalled: 'I was able to show my daughter, hey, they were wrong; the police can be wrong too. But they have to be accountable.'
The 40-year-old has submitted at least 125 complaints, along with images, about the cars to departments around Miami-Dade County (file photograph)
He then started to photograph police around Virginia and Maryland who broke traffic and parking laws and would file complaints.
Carr is an MBA candidate at the University of Miami and relocated this past summer to go to the school, telling the Times: 'It's much worse here than anywhere else I've lived.'
Several police forces have said they'd speak to officers, though Carr's been ignored by others, the Times reported.
Complaints that he'd submitted to Miami Police somehow vanished, the report said.
Carr explained: 'I don't know if they were losing them on purpose or by accident.'
The soldier then sought out the Civilian Investigative Panel, which determined that 15 Miami officers snapped by Carr broke both Florida law and department rules by illegally parking, the newspaper said.
Lucy Powell, 22, was prescribed the NHS pill Yasmin but was left struggling to breathe
A 22-year-old student almost died after suffering a rare side effect from the contraceptive pill that left her with blood clots on her lungs.
Lucy Powell, of Brighton, East Sussex, was prescribed the popular NHS pill Yasmin to take every day to prevent her from getting pregnant.
But she was left struggling to breathe after it caused blood clots to form on her lungs, blocking a pulmonary artery.
The Sheffield Hallam University criminology student left doctors baffled as her symptoms were originally misdiagnosed as a chest infection.
Miss Powell said: 'I was very shocked, and incredibly worried. I thought it was pneumonia or some type of infection.
'It wasn't until I was admitted to hospital that there was the mention of blood clots which they attributed to me being on the pill.
'Doctors explained that pulmonary embolisms are treatable but are also serious and potentially life threatening. If the clot had blocked a main artery to my heart it could have caused sudden death.
'My GP did say there was a slight increased risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) with the combined pill but that it was unlikely.'
Treatment: The criminology student (pictured with her boyfriend Kane in hospital) left doctors baffled as her symptoms were originally misdiagnosed as a chest infection
The first signs of anything being wrong came around Christmas time when Miss Powell noticed she was getting easily out of breath.
By the New Year, she realised something was seriously wrong when she could not even walk short distances without having to constantly stop to catch her breath.
The following week she had rapidly deteriorated and was left unable to eat. Miss Powell was also coughing up blood and was bed ridden with a high fever.
When she finally saw the doctor after a friend convinced her to go, she was relieved when the doctor said it was 'probably an infection' and was given antibiotics.
PULMONARY EMBOLISM: THE FACTS A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in the pulmonary artery, the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. This blockage usually a blood clot is potentially life-threatening because it can prevent blood from reaching the lungs. The symptoms of a pulmonary embolism can sometimes be difficult to recognise because they can vary between individuals. However, the main symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath and coughing. The main treatment for a pulmonary embolism is an anticoagulant, a type of medication that stops your blood clotting easily. In the UK, 47,594 cases were reported in the 1-year period between 2013 and 2014, according to the most recent data available. While in the US, more than 600,000 people in the US have a pulmonary embolism each year, with 10 per cent dying as a result of it. Most of those who die do so within 30 to 60 minutes after symptoms start, figures suggest. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement
Miss Powell, who had been on the pill since last December, did not want to waste the emergency services's time over what she thought was a simple chest infection - but she did not improve.
She also dialled 111 in a panic but said the adviser suggested that all she needed was rest. On one occasion, she was not feeling well enough to even attend a nurse's appointment and missed it, which could have proved a costly mistake.
Miss Powell said: 'I went to a medical centre on the January 18 where I was prescribed antibiotics and told it was likely I had an infection such as pneumonia. I also had a GP appointment on the 25th where I was told he thought I had a post-infective cough.'
Fortunately, Miss Powell was able to attend a second appointment and this most likely saved her life.
Doctors noticed her blood oxygen level was in the low 80s and called an ambulance to rush her to A&E at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.
She spent four hours having electrocardiograms, blood tests and even a heart scan before a CT scan the following day.
The scan revealed she had a large blood clot on each of her lungs, as well as damage to her left lung because of the blood supply being cut off to the lung tissue.
Luckily, Miss Powell stopped taking the pill when she fell really ill on January 9, as the clot continued to grow and the pill would have only increased this.
She was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, a type of deep vein thrombosis, and was kept on oxygen while on a drip of strong antibiotics and saline for two weeks.
Although she has been discharged from hospital this month, Miss Powell is still recovering from her ordeal.
Miss Powell (right, with her friend Jodie) had a large blood clot on each of her lungs, as well as damage to her left lung because of the blood supply being cut off to the lung tissue
She said: 'I currently have to self inject (15,000 units of dalteparin) everyday and will be on blood thinning medication for anywhere up to six months, possibly longer.
'I'm a lot better but I do get short of breath still and I have missed nearly the entire university semester so I have lots to catch up on. It will take time for the lung damage to heal and for the clots to dissolve.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF TAKING THE PILL? Blood clots: Oestrogen in the pill may cause a womans blood to clot more readily, which could result in deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, a stroke or a heart attack. Cancer: The NHS says research suggests users of all types of hormonal contraception have a slightly higher chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared with women who do not use them. But ten years after women stop taking the pill, their risk of breast cancer goes back to normal. Advertisement
'I am so grateful to all the NHS staff at the hospitals and doctors surgery. I can't thank them enough for what they have done for me.'
Miss Powell has now been tested for antiphosphilipid syndrome, which is a condition where the blood clots quickly, and should the test be positive, she means she would to take blood thinner medication for the rest of her life.
She is hoping that by sharing her story it will raise awareness of what could happen when taking the contraceptive pill so other women can make an informed choice.
Miss Powell added: 'I personally told all my girlfriends and my sister to come off the pill straight away but I also understand that for some it is a very convenient and seemingly safe option.
'I would just want girls to be making their own choice whilst being fully aware of the all the risks and not pushing them to the side thinking it'll never happen to them, cases like mine are a lot more common than you might think.'
A teen girl has been awarded $4.1 million after she sued her father, claiming he caused a car crash that left her with permanent spinal injuries.
The girl, only identified as Ms Kim, was 14 when she was riding in the back seat of her father's car on February 23, 2013.
Her father, Isaac Kim, allegedly drove through a stop sign in Tenafly and smashed into another vehicle, according to NJLawJournal.com.
Ms Kim to suffer two herniated discs in her neck and one in her back.
A teen girl, only idenitifed as Ms Kim, has been awarded $4.1 million after she sued her father for allegedly causing a 2013 crash that left her with permanent spinal injuries. A jury in Bergen County Court (pictured) awarded her the money and a judge dismissed request for a new trial
She is still in pain despite therapy and acupuncture, and needs to have more surgery, according to the Journal.
An attorney for her father's insurance company offered her a $15,000 settlement before the trial, but she turned it down, according to NJ.com.
On December 19, a jury in Bergen County awarded her the money.
Andrew Fraser, partner at Sparta law firm, Laddey, Clark & Ryan, said in a statement at the time of the verdict that they were disappointed with the outcome.
'We continue to be disappointed by auto insurance companies who trivialize these cases.
'The insurance company had a chance to settle fairly with the Kim family but instead forced them to trial,' Fraser said.
Her father, Isaac Kim, reportedly drove through a stop sign at the corner of Atwood Avenue and North Summit Street in Tenafly. His vehicle then smashed into another vehicle causing Ms Kim to suffer two herniated discs in her neck and one in her back
In New Jersey, when a person is seriously and permanently injured in a car crash, the person who caused the crash is responsible for the resulting injuries and their insurance company is responsible for compensating the injured person.
'The Kims understood that this was not a personal matter, but rather one of the insurance company not fairly working with them to resolve the case,' said Kim family attorney, Russell Warren of Englewood Cliffs, according to Laddey, Clark & Ryan.
Superior Court Judge Charles Powers dismissed Allstate's request for a new trial last month.
New York medical examiners investigating the mysterious death of a Russian diplomat are contradicting the police conclusions in the case.
Sergei Krivov, a 63-year-old security officer, was found dead on the morning of Election Day November 8 at the Russian Consulate in New York.
Initially, the New York Police Department ruled that the death was caused by a head wound, according to BuzzFeed.
But the city's medical examiner now says that Krivov died of internal bleeding related to a tumor.
'The medical examiner's findings do not include head trauma,' Julie Bolcer, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner's office, told BuzzFeed when asked about the discrepancy.
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The building above on East 90th Street in New York City was listed as Sergei Krivov's last known address - even though it is not a residential building
'The medical examiner did not find that. That is not in the findings.'
The examiner's conclusions add another wrinkle to the odd case, which apparently also involved the FBI despite earlier denials.
The bureau helped the NYPD investigate Krivov's death, according to BuzzFeed.
A US intelligence official told BuzzFeed that the FBI failed to find anything suspicious in Krivov's death.
Neither the FBI or the NYPD was willing to comment on the BuzzFeed story.
On December 19, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov (left), was assassinated by a gun-wielding Turkish police officer (right) at a photo exhibit in Ankara
Initially, there were reports that Krivov died after falling from the roof of the consulate.
But Russian officials then said that the cause of death was a heart attack that made him fall and hit his head.
The NYPD closed the case without specifying a cause of death.
Krivov was known to be in charge of a top-secret encryption program that encoded and decoded messages sent between the consulate and Moscow.
That means it was his responsibility to prevent US spy agencies from bugging the consulate.
Though he was believed to have resided in Manhattan, Krivov's name does not appear in public records.
Peter Polshikov (left), a high-ranking diplomat in Russia's Foreign Ministry, was shot dead in his Moscow flat on December 19, the same day as the Ankara assassination. His body is seen being dragged out by police on the right
The only address on file was a building that isn't even a residence.
The building at 11 East 90th Street is an office building owned by the Smithsonian to service its neighboring Cooper Hewitt design museum.
Krivov is the seventh Russian diplomat or top government official to die under less-than-clear circumstances since November, according to Axios.
On January 9, Andrei Malanin, the Russian consul in Athens, was found dead in his apartment (seen above from the outside). Greek police said they found no evidence of a break-in
On December 19, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was assassinated by a gun-wielding Turkish police officer at a photo exhibit in Ankara.
On the same day, another diplomat, Peter Polshikov, was shot dead in his Moscow apartment.
Polshikov was shot in the head by an assailant while he was home with his wife in the Balaklavsky Prospekt section of the Russian capital.
Oleg Erovinkin (left), the former head of the KGB, was found dead in the back of his car on December 26. He was suspected of helping former British spy Christopher Steele (right) compile a dossier that contained unconfirmed allegations against President Donald Trump
He was said to be a high-ranking diplomat who worked in the Latin American department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to the Mirror.
A week later, Oleg Erovinkin, the former head of the KGB, was found dead in the back of his car, according to The Telegraph.
Erovinkin, who was an aide to former deputy prime minister Igor Sechin, is suspected of helping former British spy Christopher Steele compile the now-infamous dossier that contained unconfirmed allegations against President Donald Trump.
In late January, Moscow's ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin (above), died after suffering from 'a brief illness.' He was 67 years old
On January 9, Andrei Malanin, the Russian consul in Athens, was found dead in his apartment.
Greek police said they found no evidence of a break-in. There has also been no definitive conclusion as to what or who caused the death.
The investigation is ongoing.
In late January, Moscow's ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, died after suffering from 'a brief illness.' He was 67 years old.
Officials said he died of a heart attack, according to The Hindu.
Russia's combative ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin (seen far left with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin), died suddenly in New York after being taken ill at work, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 21
Russia's combative ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died suddenly in New York after being taken ill at work, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 21.
The ministry gave no details on the circumstances of his death but offered condolences to his relatives and said the diplomat had died one day before his 65th birthday.
It declined to comment on reports that Churkin had been taken to a hospital shortly before his death.
A US government official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the case, said that Churkin had died of an apparent heart attack.
A 'tsunami' of raw sewage which caused havoc in Southern California last month may have been deliberately released by someone in Mexico.
More than 143 million gallons of raw sewage has spilled into the Tijuana River in Mexico, crossing the border as the river flows into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on the California side of the frontier.
The tidal wave of effluent began on February 2 and only stopped last week.
It was initially blamed on the failure of a sewage collector pipe.
The Tijuana River flows into the ocean near Imperial Beach, California (pictured) and people were warned against swimming in the sea after the sewage tsunami STOCK PHOTO
But the Mayor of Imperial Beach, Serge Dedina, told the Los Angeles Times: 'This was like a tsunami of sewage spills. What's worse is it looks to me like this was deliberate.'
He said: 'It saves (them) a lot of money in pumping costs, and ultimately, they can get away with it and do it all the time, just on a much smaller scale.'
Foul odors were reported as far north as Coronado but the U.S. federal regulators have failed to obtain an explanation from the Mexicans about what went wrong.
The International Boundary and Water Commission said the tsunami stopped when a major pipe near where the Alamar and Tijuana rivers had been fixed.
Dave Gibson, executive officer of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, told the LA Times: 'Was the spill intentional? Well, yeah. It appears they were working on the pipeline. I don't believe that it was a question of it failing.'
'At least a notification would be a good neighborly thing to do, to let us know what was coming down the river before it got here so we could alert the public,' he added.
The Tijuana River (pictured) flows across the border near San Ysidro, California STOCK PHOTO
San Diego County beaches were already off-limits to swimmers and surfers at the time because of runoff as a result of recent storms.
Over the years, several large sewage spills on both sides of the border have worsened conditions in the Tijuana River, one of the most polluted waterways in the country.
But relations between the US and Mexico have deteriorated markedly since Donald Trump was elected President, having campaigned on a distinctly anti-Mexican platform.
Old sewage infrastructure in Tijuana, Mexico, and the lack of plumbing in some residences there have been blamed for the problem.
Imperial Beach, popular among surfers, was closed for days in 2012 after a pipe broke in Tijuana and spewed nearly three million gallons of sewage into the ocean.
An eight-year-old girl who was found dead in her Chicago home had written a diary entry stating, 'I hate this life', just two days before her grandmother fatally beat her, prosecutors said.
Helen Ford, 55, is on bench trial on six counts for the murder of her granddaughter Gizzell Ford who was killed in July 2013.
The child, who was also known as 'Gizzy,' was found beaten on the floor of her father's bedroom wearing only torn green underwear, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Gizzell Ford, 8, (left) was allegedly beaten to death by her grandmother, Helen Ford, 55, in their Chicago home in 2013
On July 11, 2013, two days before her murder, Gizzy had written a journal entry stating: 'I hate this life because now I'm in super big trouble.'
The body was discovered after a paramedic responded to a call of a girl who was having trouble breathing, the paper said.
When Ford blocked the woman from entering, the paramedic pushed through to find the Gizzell dead on the floor next to a bloody pillow.
Officials said the girl was found so badly beaten, most of the hair on the back of her head had been pulled out and medical examiners found maggots in a gaping head wound that had been left untreated.
Haunting diary entries were read for the first time in court today, uncovering a long history of abuse that the girl endured.
'I know if I be good and do everything I'm told I won't have to do punishments,' she wrote.
The girl's father, Andre Ford, who died in jail in 2014, had been bedridden due to an autoimmune disease
Cook County prosecutors said Ford beat the 70lb girl from head to toe and even wore a belt around her neck to use for punishment.
The pages in the diary showed the girl had documented the times she was 'good' or bad-behaved.
Weeks before her death she wrote: 'I hope that I don't mess up today because I really want to be able to just sit down, watch TV, talk and play with everybody.
'I am going to be great all day.
'Love, G.F.,' she wrote.
She later wrote underneath the same entry: 'Not true. I failed.'
The child had also written about her excitement to start the fourth grade the next month, to escape her home.
Gizzell had been under the custody of her grandmother and lived in the apartment with her father as well. Andre Ford, who died in jail in 2014, had been bedridden due to an autoimmune disease.
Ford had been the girl's only caregiver after she told a judge that the mother was homeless and could not get her to school.
The apartment building where Gizzell lived with her grandmother and bedridden father
Prosecutors also used cellphone video footage as evidence, which showed the father and grandmother stuffing a rag or sock into the girl's mouth as they scolded her for breaking the rules.
'She's getting defiant,' Andre Ford is heard saying in the video.
'She says she wants me to kill her. She also says she wants to kill herself,' he says as the child kept her head down and swayed from side to side, the site reported.
Court testimonies also revealed that Gizzy was denied food and water and was sometimes tied to her father's bed for days. The girl was once punished for trying to sneak a cup of water from the toilet.
Gizzell's diary also revealed she was punished by having to do squats for 'an hour or two', The Chicago Tribune said.
The eight-year-old's younger half brother, now aged ten, testified in court and stated he was also abused by his grandmother as well. He said Ford would force him to do squats and hold a book above his head, but he said his father did not abuse him.
He also told the court he had witnessed Ford hit Gizzy with a spatula, force her to eat hot peppers, and make her stand on one foot. The grandmother would beat her with a belt when she began to complain or cry, the boy said.
The Chicago Tribune said an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigator had visited the home a month before her death. A child-abuse doctor examined the girl's body and found injuries on her buttocks, however the suspicious marks were not reported.
Gizzell's maternal aunt said she had not seen her niece in months because Ford would often make excuses that would not allow her to see the girl.
The businesswoman behind the Article 50 court case has threatened another legal challenge unless Theresa May guarantees a 'meaningful vote' on any new deal with the EU.
Gina Miller said she could not think of 'anything better to do' with her money than ensuring the PM brings the package back before the Commons.
The comments came after campaigners obtained legal advice that Britain's 'actual withdrawal' will have to be authorised by a fresh act of Parliament.
Ms Miller, who infuriated Brexit supporters by challenging Mrs May in court, said the Government would have to be 'incredibly careless' to ignore the law a second time.
Gina Miller said she could not think of 'anything better to do' with her money than mounting another legal challenge to the government
The House of Lords could inflict a second defeat on Mrs May over the Brexit Bill on Monday by re-writing the draft law to demand a meaningful vote on the final deal.
If the amendment either fails or is defeated by MPs, Mrs Miller warned it could prompt a new legal challenge.
She told the Independent: 'Would it not be easier for the Government to accept the amendment for a vote at the end of the negotiations in 18 months' time now, rather than facing legal challenges in 18 months' time?
'The Government tried to ignore the law once before, doing it twice would be incredibly careless.'
In a separate interview with BBC Radio 5 Live Daily she said: 'It is my money and my decision and my actions, and I can't think of anything better to do with the success I have.'
The government suffered its first defeat over the Brexit Bill last night when the House of Lords backed an amendment ordering Mrs May to guarantee the future status of EU nationals already in the UK.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR THE BREXIT BILL? The Lords finished the 'committee stage' of the crucial legislation last night. After another detailed debate, peers will give the Bill its 'third reading' next Tuesday and send it back to the Commons. At that point the government will have to consider whether to accept amendments that have been passed - or get MPs to overturn them. That could trigger a bout of 'ping pong' - where disputed legislation is passed back and forth between the Houses. Advertisement
Downing Street immediately made clear that the PM would seek to overturn the vote when the legislation goes back to the House of Commons later this month.
However, they are facing the prospect of a second setback in the Lords next week on an amendment that would require a 'meaningful' vote on Britain's final withdrawal.
While Mrs May has promised a vote on any agreement with the EU, Remainers fear it will only be held when it is too late to return to the table and renegotiate.
The Open Britain campaign group has sought to stiffen opposition in the Lords by circulating details of legal advice it has obtained from three leading QCs - Sir David Edward, Sir Francis Jacobs and Sir Jeremy Lever.
According to the group, the advice states 'actual withdrawal' will require a 'full act of Parliament' once the terms of any deal are known and that legislation would also be required if the Brexit negotiations ended without an agreement.
Theresa May has pledged to trigger Article 50 by the end of this month despite the stinging defeat in the House of Lords
The House of Lords tonight overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the crucial legislation that would force the PM to make a commitment before a deal is struck with Brussels
Labour MP Chuka Umunna warned ministers could face another court battle unless they were prepared to amend the current legislation.
HOW GINA MILLER ENTERED THE BREXIT BATTLE June 2016: Brexit vote secured at the EU referendum June 2016: Gina Miller lodges legal action questioning whether Theresa May can invoke Article 50 without Parliament passing a new law. November 2016: The High Court defies expectations and backs Miller in an embarrassing defeat for the government. May vows to appeal. November 2016: In the aftermath of the result, Miller is subject to a torrent of abuse, prompting arrests to be made. December 2016: All 11 Supreme Court Justices consider the issue in an historic constitutional law case that lasts four days. During the hearing, a symbolic Commons vote is held endorsing the triggering of Article 50. January 2016: Supreme Court judges uphold the High Court ruling. May vows to press ahead with her plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March. February 2016: Legislation for Article 50 is rushed through the Commons un-amended in a landmark series of votes. Advertisement
'It is completely unacceptable for the Government to only offer Parliament a 'bad deal or no deal' ultimatum at the end of the negotiations,' he said.
'The Government should accept the amendments that give Parliament a meaningful vote and a real choice at the end of this process.
'That's the democratic and patriotic thing to do. We don't want any more time, effort or taxpayers' money spent on court cases.'
The threat of further legal action will cause fury among Brexiteers about attempts to derail the process of leaving the EU.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has insisted the government is 'on track' to invoke Article 50 by the end of this month.
'The most important thing in this is that we will conclude in time to present the Article 50 letter and will do so in terms that are in the interests of both ourselves and the European Union,' he told journalists during a visit to Copenhagen today.
In other developments today, the head of the CBI warned leaving the European Union without a deal on future trade arrangements would be 'not only wrong but irresponsible'.
Paul Drechsler, the CBI president, says that if the UK is left to fall back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules after Brexit it will open up a 'Pandora's Box' of unforeseen consequences for the economy.
Mrs Miller spearheaded the legal challenge that forced the government to pass legislation before the PM triggers the Article 50 process
In a keynote speech in the City of London, Mr Drechsler will warn that British firms exporting to the EU would face tariffs of 90% on their products without an agreement as well as a raft of new regulatory hurdles to negotiate.
While some businesses were already preparing for such a 'worst case scenario', others were unable to do so because the costs were too high.
With Theresa May on course to invoke Article 50 marking the start of the formal process of withdrawal from the EU by the end of the month, Mr Drechsler will highlight the deep unease among the business community over what happens next.
'Right now, it feels like we're just reaching the top of the Article 50 rollercoaster.
'Any minute now, maybe next week, maybe the week after that we'll suddenly drop into the twists and turns of negotiations,' he will say according to advance extracts of his speech .
Ms Miller's legal challenge infuriated supporters of Brexit and she has clashed publicly with Nigel Farage, pictured
Businesses on both sides of the Channel, he will say, are concerned at the implications for future trade if the Government is unable to reach a deal with the remaining 27 member states.
'We should be under no illusions about what this would really mean. A 'no deal' scenario would open a Pandora's Box of economic consequences,' he will say.
'Here in the UK and across the continent firms are worried about this 'worst-case scenario'. Some are getting ready for it to reduce economic damage.
'Some won't prepare because they're hoping for a deal. But in reality many firms can't prepare because the cost of change is simply too high to even consider it.
'The Prime Minister is confident that a deal can be achieved - and we agree. But to those whose first and only choice is for Britain to walk away without a deal, I say you're not only wrong but irresponsible.'
When a 74-year-old woman went into a cardiac arrest on board a JetBLue flight this week, responding Port Authority police officers began performing CPR on her and did not stop until she was revived more than an hour later.
Paula Rodriguez was traveling on board JetBlue Flight 1289 from Newark Liberty International Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday morning when she suffered a massive heart attack just a few minutes after the 7am takeoff.
The plane was immediately diverted to John F Kennedy International Airport, landing there 30 minutes later.
Heroes: Port Authority police officers Brittany Lukenovich and Jeffrey Leiter (pictured together) are being hailed as heroes for helping save the life of 74-year-old Paula Rodriguez
Rodriguez boarded JetBlue Flight 1289 at Newark Liberty Airport Tuesday morning en route to Puerto Rico but collapsed with a massive heart attack a few minutes after takeoff
En route to JFK, a flight attendant went to work trying to resuscitate Rodriguez, but without success, reported the New York Daily News.
When the aircraft touched down in New York, Port Authority police officers Brittany Lukenovich and Jeffrey Leiter took over the situation, using a portable defibrillator to try and restart the patients heart.
The duo continued their efforts trying to resuscitate the passenger until paramedics arrived and rushed her to Jamaica Hospital, where she finally regained a pulse.
On the way to the hospital, EMTs continued working on Rodriquez while Officer Leiter drove the ambulance.
In all, it took the flight attendant, the two officers and the paramedics about an hour-and-a-half to restart the patient's heart.
Lukenovich and Leiter performed CPR on the patient for 80 minutes until she was taken to Jamaica Hospital (pictured), where she finally regained a pulse
Rodriguez remained at the critical care unit on Wednesday. Staff at the hospital declined to comment on the patients status when reached by phone Thursday morning.
Tuesdays JetBlue flight from New Jersey to Puerto Rico, which normally lasts about three hours, ultimately arrived in San Juan shortly after 2.30pm local time, 10 hours and 23 minutes after the initial takeoff.
White House officials took efforts in the closing days of the Obama administration to analyze and spread information about Russian election interference, driven by a concern that the material might get buried by President Trump, according to a report.
Intelligence agencies rushed to analyze raw intelligence material about Russia connections, going over months-old material as the extent and possible motives of what the agencies say is Russian election hacking emerged, the New York Times reported.
White House officials made efforts to ask specific questions at intelligence briefings as a way to get the information into the record and be archived for examination later. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are probing possible Russian interference, according to the report.
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Obama White House officials hurried to analyze and spread information about Russian election interference in the days before President Trump took office, according to a new report
As the inauguration approached, White House aides 'grew convinced that the intelligence was damning and that they needed to ensure that as many people as possible inside government could see it,' the Times reported.
Whether it was the intent or not, the spreading of information would have expanded the universe of possible leakers. President Trump has railed against 'illegal' leaks during the tumultuous start of his administration.
Some of the information that came out included information from transcripts of phone contacts between Russia's ambassador to the U.S. and now-resigned national security advisor Mike Flynn.
The paper reports there were also efforts to pass reports and sensitive material to Congress, where lawmakers are constantly writing the administration in search of information under its control.
The State Department sent a batch of 'secret' documents to Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin days before Obama left office, according to the article. The documents were responsive to a Cardin request, and dealt with Russia's global campaign to influence elections.
At the time, Trump's top security advisor was Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, was already under scrutiny for his close Russia ties, having accepted payment for a speech in Moscow where he was seated next to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Flynn ultimately resigned after weeks on the job after revelations about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before Trump took office.
Trump blasted 'illegal' leaks following Flynn's resignation.
The administration rushed to process and spread information about alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections in the final days of the Obama administration
Some top Trump advisors, including former national security advisor Mike Flynn, had already come under scrutiny for their Russia ties
Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Russia's ambassador to the United States twice during the second half of 2016, the Justice Department confirmed
The article describes efforts across different parts of the bureaucracy to preserve information about Russian interference and possible Russian contacts with Trump officials
The paper reports that the motivations of the White House officials were 'to ensure that such meddling isnt duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.'
White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded to the story by saying, ' The only new piece of information that has come to light is that political appointees in the Obama administration have sought to create a false narrative to make an excuse for their own defeat in the election.
There continues to be no there, there,' he said.
Former White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said: 'This situation was serious, as is evident by President Obamas call for a review and as is evident by the United States response' a reference to Obama's expulsion of Russian intelligence officials before he left office.
When the intelligence community does that type of comprehensive review, it is standard practice that a significant amount of information would be compiled and documente,' Schultz said.
The paper said its report was based on more than half a dozen current and former officials. Efforts also were undertaken narrow the number of people who could access information about sources and the identities of foreigners being monitored presumably as a way to keep it out of too many hands in the incoming administration.
The FBI is conducting an investigation into Russian election interference, and the House and Senate Intelligence panels are conducting their own Russia probes.
A Justice Department official confirmed Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, last year. Sessions testified that he 'did not have communications with the Russians.'
Senator Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi each called for Sessions to resign following the revelations.
Feezan Hameed, masterminded a vishing scam which saw 750 businesses conned out of 113 million
The ringleader of the UKs biggest cyber fraud has denied plotting an identical scam from inside his prison cell.
Feezan Hameed, 26, was jailed in September 2016 for masterminding a vishing scam which saw 750 businesses conned out of 113 million.
Hameed, from Glasgow, was sentenced to 11 years in prison after a court heard he partied with popstars while splashing out on Rolex watches, jewellery and trips to Dubai.
Nicknamed Fizzy, he owned several luxury motors including a Bentley and a Lamborghini after the scam made more than 2 million every month.
His younger brother and the gangs accountant, Nouman Choudhary, 22, was given three-and-a-half years for conspiracy to launder cash through property investments in Scotland and Pakistan.
Victims were contacted by scammers claiming to be from the Lloyds or RBS anti-fraud department who would dupe them into revealing their account details.
These were then raided for vast sums of money which were transferred through various accounts supplied by corrupt bank employees before eventually being withdrawn from banks and ATMs - often just hours after the original fraud.
The Glasgow-based conman spent his money on luxury cars and watches, left. Pictured right is piles of cash seized by police after his arrest
Appearing via video link at Southwark Crown Court Hameed denied one count of conspiracy to defraud relating to allegations that he ran an identical scam from behind bars.
Sat in his HMP Hull cell, he was wearing a smart blue shirt with a white collar during the short hearing, but went back to his cell before entering his pleas.
His barrister Tanveer Qureshi entered the plea formally on his behalf.
Choudhary denied one count of conspiracy to defraud at an earlier hearing.
The pair are due to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court on 3 April.
Peru Two drug mules Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid are in talks with producers to appear on Big Brother, it has been claimed.
The British duo were jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle cocaine worth 1.5million out of the country to Spain.
They travelled to South America to carry out the smuggling plot at the beginning of August 2013, after hatching the criminal plan in the Balearic island of Ibiza.
And now, the 24-year-olds are in 'advanced talks' to turn their reputation from convicted criminals to reality TV stars by appearing on the Channel 5 show.
Michaella McCollum (left) was jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine out of the country with fellow Briton Melissa Reid (right)
McCollum is seen out and about shopping in her hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland
They travelled to South America to carry out the smuggling plot at the beginning of August 2013, after hatching the criminal plan in the Balearic island of Ibiza, but were arrested (shown)
While the pair denied talks were underway, a source told The Sun: 'Michaella has made no secret of her dream to become a reality TV star.
Shes spent the last six months trying to build up her profile and her image. Big Brother has been chatting to her about getting her on the next series of the show.
'Her accomplice Melissa is less excited by the whole showbiz world but, because of the pairs theme, producers think they would be the ideal signing.'
It comes after Michaella McCollum was snapped in a revealing green swimsuit sitting on the sand and paddling in the surf in Spain earlier this week.
The 24-year-old, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was enjoying her new-found freedom after being jailed four years ago along with Reid.
McCollum had moved just two months earlier to work as a dancer in a bar for the summer.
It comes after Michaella McCollum was snapped in a revealing green swimsuit sitting on the sand and paddling in the surf in Spain earlier this week
The 24-year-old, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is enjoying her new-found freedom after being jailed four years ago along with Reid
McCollum, pictured handcuffed as she arrives for a court hearing, in Lima, Peru, on December 17, 2013
The 24-year-old Micahella, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, was enjoying her new-found freedom after being jailed four years ago along with Reid
Just months after returning home, pictures emerged showing her enjoying new found freedom with a break in Marbella, Spain.
Despite the part Spain played in her trafficking plot, it appears to be a favourite destination for her after new pictures emerged of her enjoying time on the beach.
On the weekend she was spotted on a balcony in her home city, drinking and speaking on the phone, before coming down to street level.
But while trying to rebuild her life, and cash in on her notoriety, McCollum is believed to have alienated a lot of locals and provoked the ire of dissident republicans.
One republican source told MailOnline: 'People are not happy with her... If she wants to show genuine remorse she should not be flaunting herself by arranging photoshoots.
'Dungannon is well known as a hotbed of republicanism. And people are not happy with her.
Food packages containing cocaine was found in the luggage of Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid
Melissa Reid in the courtroom in Callao, Peru, during a hearing with a local judge in 2013
'People were prepared to give her a fair crack of the whip and let her start again, but all she is a self-confessed drug dealer and drug carrier.
'She is prostituting herself about the place with these photoshoots and it is getting the attention of the wrong people as far as she is concerned.
'She had the audacity to put up a picture on her Facebook page paying tribute to the Loughghall Martyrs, making herself out to be some sort of republican.
'That didn't go down well and it hasn't been forgotten and people aren't happy with her at all.'
The 'Loughghall Martyrs' is a term used by republicans to commemorate eight IRA men shot dead by the security forces in the Co Armagh village of Loughghall in 1988 in an ambush.
While trying to rebuild her life, and cash in on her notoriety, McCollum is believed to have alienated a lot of locals in Ireland and provoked the ire of dissident republicans
Melissa Reid of Glasgow, Scotland walks next to immigration officers before boarding a flight at Lima's airport in Callao after her release in 2016
'She is profiting from ill-gotten goods and extending her time in the limelight by continuing to associate herself with er recent paste.
'People are beginning to get sick of her.'
The source did not rule that she could be under direct threat of attack from dissident republicans. He said: 'I wouldn't know.'
Dungannon has always had the reputation of being a centre of mainstream and now dissident republican politics and terror groups.
He added, 'She is prostituting in the media yet her only claim to fame is being a drug dealer and smuggler.
'I know people were "ripping" [angry] when she put that picture up of the Loughghall Martyrs.'
In one Instagram post, McCollum wrote: 'Life is so much simpler when you stop explaining yourself to people and just do what works for you'
She and Reid had each been sentenced to six years and eight months in jail after admitting to trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country.
The pair, who initially protested their innocence, were found in possession of 11kg of cocaine hidden inside food packets in their luggage as they prepared to board a flight from Lima to Madrid.
McCollum was released on parole last March after serving less than half of her sentence but was initially required to stay in Peru, where she carried out voluntary work.
Reid was released from prison in June last year, flying back to Scotland shortly afterwards.
Speaking previously about her experience in Lima's Ancon 2 prison, McCollum described how she shared a cell with seven other prisoners including Reid.
They slept on concrete bunks and used a hole in the floor as a lavatory, she would reveal.
The family of a nurse who was stabbed to death inside her Tennessee apartment is pleading for help in finding the 23-year-old's killer.
Tiffany Ferguson was found unconscious in her bed suffering from multiple stab wounds around 5.40am on Tuesday by her roommate who was awoken by screams inside their Wedgewood condo and also found their front door open, police say.
Ferguson was immediately taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Her family is pleading for help in finding the individual who took her life away.
'Anybody that can help us find who did this, we need this for closure,' Molly Cox, the 32-year-old sister of the victim, told The Tennessean. 'She didn't deserve this.
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Tragic: Tiffany Ferguson (above) was found unconscious in her bed suffering from multiple stab wounds around 5.40am on Tuesday
Ferguson (above), a 23-year-old nurse, was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival
Surveillance video filmed outside the apartment located in the 700 block of Wedgewood Park shows an unidentified male suspect (above) walking around the building. Police believe he is Ferguson's killer
'We were supposed to have lunch yesterday. She had the day off and was coming to home to visit. Now, she's gone. It's senseless.'
Police say surveillance video filmed outside the apartment located in the 700 block of Wedgewood Park shows an unidentified male suspect walking around the building where Ferguson lived.
Investigator say the man was looking for open vehicles and open apartment doors, and wore a hooded sweatshirt, ripped blue jeans and boots.
Eventually the suspect entered Ferguson's condo through the front door, which was unlocked and began searching inside for valuables to steal.
Authorities say the suspect left with items from the condo at least one time before going back inside.
There was a confrontation that resulted in Ferguson, who worked as a nurse at Saint Thomas West Hospital, being stabbed inside the apartment, police say.
Ferguson's (above) older sister, Molly Cox, is begging the public for help in finding the person who killed the young woman. Cox said: 'Anybody that can help us find who did this, we need this for closure. She didn't deserve this'
Police have increased patrols in the neighborhood (condo above) and a meeting is being scheduled with Wedgewood Park apartments board members and Midtown Precinct Sgt. Michelle Jones to speak about the case
Dozens of social media posts online pay tribute to Ferguson, and many friends and family members of the young woman have changed their Facebook profile photos to a picture of her.
Cox said that her sister had a 'big heart'.
'Her heart was so big. She made all of us want to be better,' Cox emotionally said.
'She loved fitness, cooking and was a foodie especially after she moved to Nashville.
'She would always take us to random hole-in-the-wall restaurants to try.'
Ferguson grew up in Loretto, which is about 100 miles south of Nashville near the Alabama border, with her parents, Cox and her twin sister, Ali Staggs, the newspaper reported.
She graduated from Loretto High School and went on to attend the University of North Alabama.
After graduating from college in 2015, Ferguson accepted a job at Saint Thomas West Hospital.
President and CEO of Saint Thomas Health, Karen Springer, said in a statement that the hospital staff is heartbroken over her loss.
'She was a rising star in nursing having been selected to participate in our nursing residency program just after graduating college,' Springer said.
Anyone with information about the case or suspect is asked to call police at 615-742-7463.
A convicted sex offender from Illinois has been sentenced to eight years in prison for making secret video recordings of young boys in a men's room at Wrigley Field.
Nichols Gregor, 37, of Villa Park, was handed down his punishment on Wednesday by Cook County Judge Michael McHale after he pleaded guilty to charges related to the June 2016 incident.
The father of a 12-year-old boy was washing his hands in the bathroom at the ballpark when he noticed Gregor holding a black object in his right hand pointed at his sons groin as the boy used a urinal trough.
Predator: Nichols Gregor, 37, pictured left and right in two different booking photos, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for making secret video recordings of young boys in a men's room at Wrigley Field
Ballpark arrest: Gregor was busted at Wrigley Field in June 2016 after secretly recording a 12-year-old boy in the restroom
Busted: The victim's father spotted Gregor holding a black object pointed at his sons groin as the boy used a urinal trough
Gregor was standing so close to the child that he rubbed shoulders with him, prosecutors said, according to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times.
When confronted by the father, who demanded to know what he was doing, Gregor tried to walk away, then insisted to the man, 'I didn't take any pictures,' according to an incident report.
Repeat offender: In 2011, Gregor pleaded guilty to charges of possession of child pornography and illegal taping of minors and received a six-month jail sentence
The father and another man held Gregor down until police arrived to arrest him.
Prosecutors said investigators recovered a cellphone, digital recorder and two cameras from Gregor.
The devices contained surreptitiously made recordings of males using the urinal and stalls, including several who appeared under the age of 18.
In 2011, Gregor pleaded guilty to charges of possession of child pornography and illegal taping of minors and received a six-month jail sentence. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
That conviction stemmed from an incident that occurred in February 2010 when Gegop secretly recorded a 14-year-old boy in a bathroom during a swim meet in St Charles.
Chicago Tribune reported that the victim's parents were able to get a license plate number for Gregor, allowing police to track him down to his then-residence in Lombard, where they seized a computer storing hundreds of child pornography videos and images of boys in the locker room at a Lombard swimming pool.
More than 120 diners celebrating a baptism fled without paying their bill 2,000 restaurant bill after the main courses.
The Romanian diners, who had paid a deposit of 900 (770) to eat at the El Carmen restaurant in Bembibre, north-eastern Spain, fled as waiters were about to serve dessert.
Restaurant owner Antonio Rodriguez told the BBC: 'It happened in the space of a minute. It was something they had planned and they left in a stampede.'
More than 120 diners celebrating a baptism fled the El Carmen restaurant (pictured) in Bembibre, Spain without paying their bill 2,000
The party had eaten starters, a main course and 30 bottles of alcohol, which came to almost 3,000.
Mr Rodriguez called police but said had little hope of being repaid.
He added that this was the first time in 35 years working in the restaurant trade that he had seen a party walk out in this manner.
Officers told El Pais newspaper they had not yet traced any of the diners.
Police have launched an investigation after a man's body was found in a wheelie bin.
Officers were called to the scene in an alleyway in Gateshead yesterday, where they made the discovery.
They are treating his death as suspicious and have arrested a 36-year-old man, who remains in police custody.
According to horrified locals, the unnamed victim could have been stabbed before being placed in the bin.
Officers were called to the scene in an alleyway in Gateshead yesterday, where they found the body in a bin
Northumbria Police are still working to formally identify the victim and speak to his next of kin.
Resident Jade Bambrough, 23, Northbourne Street, told Chronicle Live: 'I think our wheelie bin went missing and police have been asking about this, and their emphasis was about the bin.
'Then I heard the body was found in a bin but I haven't been told that by the police.
'Maybe I'm putting two and two together and I'm thinking it could be our bin that was used.
'I might have watched too many Miss Marples as I think it could be my bin that has been used to put the body in.
'I had heard movement of wheelie bins in the back lane, it's a good job I had my pyjamas on because I didn't go out and look.'
Michael Scott, 39, Northbourne Street, also told Chronicle Live: 'Some people are saying it was a stabbing and the body was found in the wheelie bin in the back lane.
'Police have been asking if people have heard any movement of wheelie bins.'
Northumbria Police (pictured at the scene) are still working to formally identify the victim and speak to his next of kin
A police spokesman said: 'On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 1, police received a report expressing concern for a man in a back lane in Northbourne Street.
'Officers attended and found the body of a man in a wheelie bin. Police enquiries are ongoing to formally identify the victim and speak to his next of kin.
'Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances behind his death but police are currently treating it as suspicious.
'A 36-year-old man has been arrested and remains in police custody at this time.
'A cordon remains in place at the scene and extra officers are on patrol in the area to carry out enquiries and speak to any concerned members of the public.'
Anyone with any information is aked contact police on 101 quoting log 594 01/03/17 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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Fighter jets and the sound of artillery were heard across Northumberland National Park as the Army engaged in an intensive training exercise.
Using live firing and simulated training, UK forces were joined by French and Danish troops as they prepared for their role as part of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.
Pictures taken from the exercise show troops in full combat readiness displaying the full power of NATO forces.
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British soldiers from the 1st Artillery Brigade were joined by NATO soldiers from France and Denmark as they engaged in an intensive live training exercise designed to simulate war conditions. The UK assumed responsibility for NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force as of January and put into practice their operation readiness at Northumberland National Park
Regular and reserve units from Newcastle, North Yorkshire, Edinburgh, Wiltshire and Somerset took to the Otterburn Ranges in Northumberland to allow the synchronisation of air and artillery firing within a war-fighting scenario - designed to respond to emerging security challenges posed by Russia, as well as the risks emanating from the Middle East and North Africa
Troops used AS-90 Braveheart 155mm self-propelled howitzer lightly armoured artillery piece. The Braveheart fires missiles with a range of 24.9km, weighs roughly 45 tonnes, and can fire six rounds per minute for three minutes or two rounds per minute for 60 minutes. The AS-90 was used to devastating effect in operations in Iraq
An F-15 fighter jet is seen overhead. The twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft has been perfected for dog-fighting manoeuvres and strategy. The F-15 fly can fly at low altitudes, at night and in any weather conditions and is capable of attacking ground targets with a range of precision-guided and unguided weaponry - used recently against the Islamic State
The Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) is part of NATO's enhanced Response Force which was agreed at the 2014 Wales NATO Summit. It was decided then that the Alliance's collective defence was to be strengthened to eventually consist of 20,000 personnel with Land, Air, Maritime and Special Forces components
Around 1,500 troops are taking part in the training exercise over the next two weeks. Soldiers from Estonia, France and Poland, as well as those from Denmark and France saw the latest 'dome simulators' which provide training before moving to live firing supported by F-15 fighter jets overhead, again replicating real life battle conditions
Troops were pictured using the L118 light gun, a 105mm towed howitzer. The weapon has been a favourite of the Royal Artillery for more than 30 years and was used effectively in the Falklands as well as in Bosnia, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. It can fire off six rounds per minute at a maximum range of just over 17kms while it's capable of destroying a tank within 800m
Jennifer Lazar (above), 36, and a homeless man, 38, were behind a Walgreens in Manatee County, Florida, just before 10:00pm on Monday
Florida police arrested a woman who was found to have drug paraphernalia shortly after she was spotted having sex with a homeless man, authorities said on Wednesday.
Jennifer Lazar, 36, and a homeless man, 38, were behind a Walgreens in Manatee County just before 10:00pm on Monday, according to the Bradenton Herald.
Lazars hair was wild, which initially prompted a police officer to suspect that the two were fighting.
But it soon became clear that Lazar and the man were having some fun, the man told Manatee County Sheriffs.
The two had apparently arranged to meet behind the Walgreens because the man was legally not allowed to be at Lazars home.
The sheriffs deputy though noticed that the two were acted unusual and jittery.
Upon closer inspection, the deputy saw Lazars track marks the marks on her skin which are left whenever there is chronic use of hypodermic needles.
Another deputy on the scene searched the area and found needles on the ground nearby as well as a bag full of heroin not far from where they were standing.
A search of Lazars purse turned up a needle, alprazolam pills, and two smoking pipes.
Upon closer inspection, the deputy saw Lazars (above) track marks the marks on her skin which are left whenever there is chronic use of hypodermic needles
The two had apparently arranged to meet behind the Walgreens (above) because the man was legally not allowed to be at Lazars home
Lazars hair was wild, which initially prompted a police officer to suspect that the two were fighting. But it soon became clear that Lazar and the man were having some fun, the man told Manatee County Sheriffs. The alley behind the Walgreens is seen in the image above
Alprazolam is a potent anti-anxiety medication that is more commonly known by its brand name Xanax.
Lazar has a history of drug possession and prostitution-related charges.
She is currently being held at Manatee County jail on drug possession charges and possession of drug paraphernalia.
An eight-year-old refugee from war-torn Syria has been melting hearts after showing his compassion for a dog that had been hit by a car.
Huseyin El-Hasan, one of five children of a Syrian refugee family living in the city of Kilis in southern Turkey, saw the injured dog by the side of the road.
Seeing that the dog was cold and shivering, he ran home to fetch a blanket, which he wrapped around the animal to try to keep it warm until help arrived.
An eight-year-old refugee from war torn Syria showed a dying dog kindness in its final moments, as it lay on the roadside having been hit by a car. Huseyin El-Hasan wrapped the dog in a blanket and stroked its head while waiting for vets to arrive to try and save it
The young boy comforted the wounded dog in its final moments and despite vets arriving to treat the animal, it couldn't be saved. Nonetheless the kindness of the young boy has melted hearts around the world
The dog was a stray which had been run over by a hit-and-run driver in the city which lies close to the Syrian border and just 42 miles from war-ravaged Aleppo.
Eyewitnesses had lifted it from the tarmac and placed it by the roadside where Huseyin spotted the dog and decided to do what he could to help.
The little boy begged passersby to help the injured dog and he stayed with it until a team from the Kilis Municipality Veterinary Directorate arrived on the scene.
Huseyin El-Hasan (left) begged passers-by to help the dog who was unable to move. He waited with the dog until workers from a local vets arrived to help
The dog, which had suffered serious injuries to its rear legs, was taken in an animal ambulance to a veterinary clinic where it sadly later died. Huseyin issued the plea afterwards: 'Please drive carefully, what had the dog done wrong?'
The dog, which had suffered serious injuries to its rear legs, was taken in an animal ambulance to a veterinary clinic where it sadly later died.
A Kilis Municipality Veterinary Directorate spokesman said: 'The dog was taken on a stretcher into an ambulance car and then to a vet where unfortunately, despite all interventions, the dog could not be saved due to internal bleeding.'
Huseyin was devastated to hear the bad news and issued a plea to local motorists.
After hearing of Huseyin's kindness the deputy mayor of Kilis arrived at his home to thank him for his kindness and gave his family blankets and food in return for his kind gesture
He said: 'The cars are all driving very fast, please drive carefully. What had the dog done wrong?'
Huseyin's kindness was noticed by the deputy mayor of Kilis, Cuma Ozdemir who vistited the young boy's home with gifts to thank him for his gesture.
He gave the refugee's family food and blankets and thanked him for his efforts.
It may seem like a small and simple affair to some, but [Huseyin] has done a great deal for humanity, and putting his own blanket on the dog when he was cold made us feel very moved, Cuma told Haber Turk.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested in the fatal road rage shooting of an eight-year-old Houston girl.
Jacobe Dante Payton was taken into custody and charged with murder related to the tragic death of eight-year-old De'Maree Adkins.
He is being held at Fort Bend County jail on $500,000 bond, according to Bob Haenel, spokesman for the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.
Payton allegedly killed the little girl during a road rage incident on Saturday.
Adkins and her mother, Latoyia Thomas, 39, were going east on the intersection of West Fuqua Street and Sam Houston Parkway on their way home from the hairdresser when their Honda Accord hit a southbound Pontiac Gran Prix, investigators said.
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Jacobe Dante Payton, 19, has been arrested and charged with murder in the fatal road rage shooting of eight-year-old De'Maree Adkins (left). The girl was in the car with her mother, Latoyia Thomas (right) at the time of the incident on Saturday
The girl was in the backseat of the Honda (above) when Thomas was involved in an accident while driving. After the crash, the driver of a Pontiac pulled up next to Thomas's Honda, rolled down a window and began firing a gun
Police said the Pontiac Grand Prix and a third car - a dark four-door sedan - were speeding when the Pontiac was hit by the vehicle the girl was in.
After the crash, the driver of the Pontiac jumped into the sedan, Thomas said.
But before it drove off, the sedan pulled up next to the Honda and someone leaned out of the window with a gun.
Thomas said the individual began firing at her and her daughter, who was in the backseat.
'Each one of those bullets hit the back of my car where my baby was,' said Thomas. 'I pulled her out of the car; I didn't even know she had been hit. I thought she was still asleep.'
That's when Thomas noticed the blood on her jacket.
'I pulled her shirt up, and she got shot - the bullet went in the right and came out the left side,' Thomas said.
The little girl was pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Hospital. Thomas was not injured.
Of the incident, Thomas said: 'Each one of those bullets hit the back of my car where my baby was. I pulled her out of the car; I didn't even know she had been hit. I thought she was still asleep.'
But Thomas noticed blood on her jacket and the little girl was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital. Above Thomas is pictured with her daughter at a younger age
'She was a good girl, honor roll student, full of life. They took my baby away from me, why?' Thomas said.
Adkins was a student at Houston Independent School District's MacGregor Elementary and had just begun learning to play the violin.
Police say an arrest was made due to them receiving information from community members about the shooter.
'Glory to God... tears of joy,' Thomas said in response to news of the arrest.
'If (anyone has) any information, if they know any information, please come forward. There are more suspects on the loose, and they took an innocent 8-year-old's life.'
Police say Payton has two assault cases pending in Fort Bend County - one case accuses the 19-year-old of hitting a male victim in January 2015 and the other case alleges that he slapped a woman, according to the Houston Chronicle.
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A German retirement home has recreated the communist era to help residents with Alzheimer's and dementia.
The Alexa Seniors' Residence in Dresden has redecorated rooms with garish 1970s wallpaper, furniture and photos from the former German Democratic Republic.
Bosses claim the so-called 'memory rooms' have been so successful that many residents have started going to the toilet on their own and eating independently again.
Some of those who were bed-ridden after an Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis have even been able to get up since the makeover.
Seniors now enjoy shopping in a 1970s-style store that sells everyday products from the era, while a photograph of Erich Honecker, the general secretary of the East German communist party looks over them.
The Alexa Seniors' Residence in Dresden has redecorated rooms with garish 1970s wallpaper, furniture and photos from the former German Democratic Republic. Seniors can even enjoy shopping in a communist-style store (pictured) that sells everyday products from the era
The home's director, Gunter Wolfram, claimed the new look happened almost by accident after staff set up an old projector for a film night and got hold of a GDR-era scooter (pictured) as a prop
The home is now full of products of the former German Democratic Republic (left). Pictured right a sign reads 'Tagesbetreuung', which translates as 'Day Care'
The home's director Gunter Wolfram claimed the new look happened almost by accident.
He told Bild newspaper: 'We wanted to set up a projector room to show old films, and we got hold of a GDR-era scooter as a prop.'
Since then staff kept supplying the 'props' and now several rooms in the home look exactly how they would have done almost five decades ago.
The results have been completely remarkable, according to the home's occupational therapist Alicia Schoppe.
She said: 'It was bit like in the movie Awakenings,' Ms Schoppe told Bild, referring to a film based on the life of neurologist Oliver Sacks who discovered how to resuscitate catatonic patients.
'Many of them have started eating independently again, they go to the toilet on their own, even some who were bed-ridden have got up,' she added.
Staff continued to bring in 'props' and now several rooms in the Alexa Seniors' Residence (pictured) look exactly how they would have almost five decades ago
Bosses claim the so-called 'memory rooms' have been so successful that many residents have started going to the toilet on their own and eating independently again. Pictured: A resident plays a Communist-era card game
The Paris home of French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was raided by police today as he prepared to make a campaign speech 450 miles away.
Mr Fillon faces prison over a burgeoning fake jobs scandal involving his British-born wife Penelope.
The couple, both 62, have been summoned before a judge where they face being indicted for a range of charges including embezzlement, which is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Judicial police working to the examining magistrates today entered Mr Fillons Paris flat and gathered evidence connected to the case, according to an investigating source.
The Paris home of French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was raided by police today as he prepared to make a campaign speech 450 miles away
Mr Fillon faces prison over a burgeoning fake jobs scandal involving his British-born wife Penelope (pictured together)
Mr Fillon was meanwhile in the southern city of Nimes, preparing to speak at an election meeting tonight.
It is thought that staff let detectives into the Paris flat, as Ms Fillon is thought to be permanently based on the familys country estate.
She has only been seen in public once since the scandal broke, and has not uttered a single word in her defence.
Both the Fillons are expect to be charged on March 15th just five weeks before France goes to the polls to chose its next head of state.
Mr Fillon, who used to be prime minister, said he was the victim of a political assassination and accused judges of not following the correct legal procedures.
He is directly accused of paying his British-born wife hundreds of thousands of pounds while pretending she was his parliamentary assistant.
Mr Fillon is also accused of paying the couples two eldest children, Charles and Marie, from public funds when they were students.
I did not use public money I gave work to those close to me because I knew I could trust them, Mr Fillon said at a Paris press conference on Wednesday.
Mr Fillon has been barracked during almost every public appearance after been placed at the centre of a criminal enquiry into fraud
TIMELINE: FILLON'S 35 YEARS ON THE POLITICAL STAGE March 4, 1954: Born in Le Mans, northwestern France. 1980: Marries Welsh-born Penelope Clarke. The couple go on to have five children. 1981: Elected deputy for the conservative RPR party led by Jacques Chirac. Wins re-election several times. 1993: Becomes a minister for the first time, taking on the higher education portfolio. He holds several more ministerial portfolios in successive rightwing governments. 2003: Implements major pension overhauls as social affairs minister during Chirac's presidency. 2007-12: Serves as prime minister under president Nicolas Sarkozy. 2012: Runs for the leadership of the rightwing UMP party but is defeated by Jean-Francois Cope in a vote tainted by accusations of fraud. November 27, 2016: Nominated as the centre-right presidential candidate, beating out primary rivals Sarkozy and former prime minister Alain Juppe. January 25, 2017: Revelations by the satirical and investigative paper Le Canard Enchaine of alleged 'fake jobs' for Penelope lead to a judicial inquiry. Advertisement
He has meanwhile refused to step down as the Republicans candidate in two round elections that take place in April and May.
So many anti-corruption demonstrators have been stalking Mr Fillon that at the weekend he complained that France was on the verge of a civil war.
These claims were wildly mocked, as Socialist government ministers attacked Mr Fillon for trying to portray democratic protest as insurrection.
Up until the allegations were made public, Mr Fillon was the firm favourite to become president, but his poll figures have now collapsed.
Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front candidate, is now expected to win the first round of the election, despite facing a fake jobs fraud scandal of her own.
Then Emmanuel Macron, the independent candidate who used to be financial minister, is expected to win in the second round.
Luis Alarcon Jr. stole a police car and led cops on a 30-mile chase before being caught
A handcuffed suspect escaped custody by stealing a police SUV and leading cops on a 30-mile long chase through Texas before crashing into a grass embankment beneath the freeway.
The chase began just after midnight on Thursday, when an unnamed Grand Prairie, Texas police officer picked up Luis Alarcon Jr. from Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
Alarcon was being treated after having been arrested for drug possession.
The officer used a wheelchair to cart the handcuffed and shackled Alarcon out to the SUV and was in the process of returning the wheelchair to the hospital, when Alarcon managed to work his way from the back of the police SUV into the driver's seat and take off.
'The officer got about 15 feet away when he observed his patrol carrolling off,' Grand Prairie Police Det. Lyle Gensler told CBS DFW.
Grand Prairie cops and two Dallas police officers, who happened to be at Parkland Memorial at the time of the incident, saw Alarcon driving off and pursued him for half an hour before Alarcon crashed the SUV into a grass embankment beneath the freeway near Haltom City, Texas.
The police SUV that Alarcorn stole and crashed after leading cops on a 30-minute chase
The embankment that Alarcon crashed down after losing control during the police chase
According to Fox 4, police were able to track Alarcon's movements during his aborted escape through the computer system inside the SUV.
Alarcon was then taken back into custody and transported to Grand Prairie jail without incident, reports the Star-Telegram.
There were no injuries, but the SUV was damaged, police told NBC DFW.
Following the wild ride, Alarcon faces new charges including stealing a police car and evading arrest, in addition to his original narcotics charge.
Det. Gensler told CBS DFW that the Grand Prairie police department would investigate whether their officer violated any departmental policies while he was moving Alarcon from the hospital to his SUV.
Tom Hanks has bolstered his already impeccable 'nice-guy' bonafides when on Thursday he presented the White House press corps with an expensive new espresso machine, replacing the one he had gifted in 2010.
The two-time Academy Award winner surprised the reporters covering the Trump administration with a stainless steel Pasquini coffee maker, which retails for more than $2,200.
The lavish gift was accompanied by a stack of Illy coffee pods and a typewritten note from the 60-year-old Sully star, which read: 'Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Especially for the Truth part. Tom Hanks.'
Keeping them grinding along: Tom Hanks on Thursday had this high-end Pasquini espresso machine delivered to the White House press room to replace the one he had gifted in 2010
The writing on the wall: The gift was accompanied by this typewritten note that read: 'Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Especially for the Truth part. Tom Hanks'
The drawing included in the letter is an illustration titled, 'Fresh, Spirited American Troops,' by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin
The letter, which was pinned to the wall of the White House press room, also featured an illustration titled, 'Fresh, Spirited American Troops,' by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, as the Boston Globe pointed out.
Veteran Reuters correspondent Steve Holland shared images of Hanks' lavish offering along with the missive and thanked the actor on behalf of 'the schlubs in the WH press room.'
Repeat gift-giver: The 60-year-old Sully star presented the White House press corps with the first coffee maker in 2004
It marks the third time that the Hollywood heavyweight, famed for his random acts of kindness, has shown support for White House correspondents by ensuring they were well-caffeinated.
In 2004, the Forrest Gump actor was visiting the White House press room when he noticed that it lacked a coffeemaker, so he generously sent one to the journalists covering then-President George W. Bush.
'I hope this machine will make the 24 hour cycle of news a bit more pleasant,' Hanks said at the time.
On a return visit to the White House in 2010 for a special screening of his HBO series The Pacific, hosted by then-President Barack Obama and the First Lady, Hanks stopped by the briefing room to check on his gift.
Hanks, who was accompanied by Steven Spielberg, was pleased that the java-brewing gizmo was still going strong, but he expressed mock dismay at its less-than-pristine condition, CNN reported at the time.
You know you are supposed to clean this after every use, Hanks joked. You are supposed to wipe that off. Look at the buildup there!
Checking on his present: On a return visit to the White House in 2010 for a special screening of his HBO series The Pacific, Hanks stopped by the briefing room to take a look at his gift (pictured)
Not impressed: Hanks expressed mock dismay at the espresso maker's less-than-pristine condition, pointing out that the machine should be cleaned after every use
Before taking his leave, the generous actor promised reporters to send them an updated model.
'Let me see what I can do for the poor slobs of the fourth estate,' the Oscar winner quipped.
A few days later, a brand-new coffee machine was delivered to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
A heartbroken mother who helplessly watched as her daughter was murdered before her eyes has revealed her anguish at not being able to save her life.
In February 2014, Marlene Locke's abusive husband Raymond John Mead, 52, pinned his stepdaughter Sherelle Locke, 23, to the couch before stabbing her in the chest.
Mead was sentenced to life in prison in November 2016, however Ms Locke, 44, said the moment she watched her daughter die will haunt her forever.
Sherelle Locke, 24, was stabbed in the chest at her mother's home in 2014, by her stepfather
Sherelle's mother Marlene Locke watched on in horror as her daughter was murdered before her eyes
In November 2016 Mead, 52, was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 20 years. He is pictured here with Ms Locke and their daughter Zavannah
'I will never be able to get that vision out of my head of her being killed before my eyes and not being able to help her,' she told The Sun.
'But I want my story to be told as a warning to women in situations like mine.'
The night Sherelle was killed, she had gone to spend the night at her mother's house in Boronia Heights, Brisbane, for a quiet evening on the couch reading catalogues and watching TV.
Mead came home about 11.30pm after a night of drinking, and began rifling in the kitchen drawers.
'Sherelle pointed out something funny in her catalogue and we both burst out laughing,' Ms Locke told The Sun.
'Suddenly, Ray charged into the room, his face twisted with rage,' she said.
Ms Locke said Mead approached Sherelle and struck her. She thought her husband had punched her daughter in the chest.
But when he 'staggered' back from the 24-year-old, her mother saw she was 'clutching her body', and realised something was seriously wrong.
Ms Locke (right) is pictured here with a supporter outside the Brisbane Supreme Court after her estranged husband was found guilty of her daughter's murder
'He'd stabbed her in the heart with a knife from the kitchen,' Ms Locke said.
Mead then held his wife against a wall so she was unable to help her dying daughter, who was screaming that she was bleeding.
'I sobbed as I heard Sherelle howl that she was bleeding, but Ray kept his grip around my neck,' Ms Locke said.
'He told me she deserved it,' she added.
For ten minutes Mead held her against the wall, until his stepdaughter went silent. Mead said her daughter was very pale and there was 'so much blood'.
Ms Locke called an ambulance and paramedics worked tirelessly to save the young woman, but it was too late.
The night Sherelle (right) was killed, she had gone to spend the night at her mother's (left) house in Boronia Heights, Brisbane, for a quiet evening on the couch
'My beautiful daughter and my best friend was gone.'
At the sentencing hearing for Mead last year, Ms Locke said seeing her daughter being murdered was the most 'unbearable experience' of her life.
'Witnessing my daughter Sherelle being murdered right before my own eyes is the most devastating, heart-breaking, horrific, unbearable experience and pain I have ever been through in my entire life and I will never be able to get that vision out of my head,' she said in her victim impact statement read to the court.
The court also heard that Mead blamed his stepdaughter for problems in his marriage to her mother.
Sherelle, a mother of three, had urged her mother to leave the abusive relationship
Ms Locke told The Sun that after she and Mead married in 2008, he became controlling and cut her off from friends and family.
The 44-year-old also revealed that when she was twelve weeks pregnant with his child, they got into an argument and he kicked her in the stomach.
The baby was unharmed and Ms Locke gave birth to Zavannah later that year. The couple also went on to have a son, Owen.
She fled to her daughter Sherelle's house, before going to the police and taking out a domestic violence order against her husband.
Sherelle, who had three children herself, had begged her own mother to leave Mead, but Ms Locke felt powerless as her husband had control of their finances.
In November 2016 Mead, 52, was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 20 years.
Mead did plead guilty to manslaughter but was found guilty of murdering Ms Locke.
He was additionally sentenced to two years for assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and 12 months for retaliation against a witness, which are to be served concurrently.
He will be 72 years old before being eligible to apply for parole.
The distraught partner of a woman who was shot in the chest at a Melbourne home has said he 'knows who did it'.
The 50-year-old mother-of-six was rushed to hospital after being found in the Glenroy house in the city's north at 11.50pm on Thursday with a gunshot wound to her chest.
On Friday morning, the woman's partner was held back by their two sons as he tried to get past police tape while yelling at officers to 'not touch' him.
The partner of a woman who was shot in the chest was held back by their two sons as he tried to get past police tape while yelling at officers to 'not touch' him
'Ask, but don't touch,' he yelled at officers while trying to get past the police tape
'Ask, but don't touch,' he yelled at officers while trying to get past the police tape.
The man's son then stepped in to physically remove him from the front of the home.
On being asked what he knew about the shooting, the man reportedly said he 'knew who did it,' according to 3AW.
He said he was driving all night 'in the truck' and was not home when the shooting happened.
According to neighbours, the gunman was wearing a motorbike helmet when he arrived at the property, 7News reported.
On being asked what he knew about the shooting, the man reportedly said he 'knew who did it'
On being asked what he knew about the shooting, the man reportedly said he 'knew who did it'. The home where the woman was shot is pictured
The woman is fighting for life at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
One of the woman's sons spoke from outside the property, saying he was 'lost for words'.
'It's very surreal, very surreal,' he said, according to The Herald Sun.
Two illegal immigrant gang members from El Salvador who had a Satanic shrine in their Houston apartment are suspects in the killing of one teenager and the kidnapping of another, authorities said.
Gang leader Miguel Angel Alvarez-Flores, 22, who also goes by 'Diabolico,' and 18-year-old Diego Alexan Hernandez-Rivera appeared in Houston court Wednesday on charges of aggravated kidnapping and murder.
The MS-13 gang members laughed, smiled and waved in court.
Prosecutors said the two kidnapped a 14-year-old girl after she left school around February 2, holding her in an apartment where she was raped by a gang member.
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Miguel Alvarez-Flores (right) smiles and waves at news cameras in Houston court on Wednesday, as the gang leader known as 'Diabolico' and his partner 18-year-old Diego Hernandez-Rivera (left) faced charges of aggravated kidnapping and murder
The 14-year-old victim told police that the two MS-13 gang members kept her prisoner for weeks, drugged her, raped her, and gave her a tattoo by force
Two known MS-13 gang members, formerly of El Salvador, Miguel Alvarez-Flores, left, and Diego Hernandez-Rivera appear in court in Houston on Thursday
After four days, the girl said she was taken to a different apartment where six gang members lived, and Flores kept a makeshift Satanic shrine.
Authorities say she was held against her will there for two weeks, given drugs and alcohol to keep her disoriented, and sexually assaulted by some of the men.
She also said she was held down while Flores tattooed a giant grim reaper from her knee to her foot, the Houston Chronicle reported.
She told investigators that a second girl she only knew as 'Genesis' also was held at the apartment.
Police investigate the scene where the second girl was found dead on February 16
Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, (left) who also goes by 'Diabolico,' and 18-year-old Diego Hernandez-Rivera appeared in Houston court Wednesday on charges of aggravated kidnapping and murder
Cops release photo reconstruction of girl the pair 'lured into the woods and killed' to find out her identity Authorities released the facial reconstruction image of one of the pair's alleged victims in a bid to identify her Authorities released the facial reconstruction image of one of the pair's alleged victims in a bid to identify her. The girl - aged between 15 and 25 - was found dead on the morning of February 16. She was also shot in the neck and torso. Police said Rivera had confessed to leading the woman to a remote area and shooting her. The photo was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on behalf of Harris County officials. The girl is described as being Hispanic, around five feet tall and 108 pounds. Her hair was dark and wavy, and she had pierced ears. She was also wearing three metal rings, one with an elephant pattern, one with leaf-like patterns, and one with small reflective stones. A previous image of the woman, taken after she died, was released by the The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences on February 21. Police are asking anyone with information to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). The victim was also wearing three metal rings, one with an elephant pattern, one with leaf-like patterns, and one with small reflective stones Advertisement
Genesis lashed out at their captors by destroying the makeshift Satanic shrine, the first victim told police.
Flores responded by sacrificing a cigarette to the gang's shrine, but then said the 'Beast' required a soul sacrifice, according to the court hearing.
When the 14-year-old girl woke up the next day, Genesis was gone.
That girl was found shot dead in the head and chest on February 16, and has not yet been identified.
Police said Rivera had confessed in the shooting.
The gang member says crew boss Flores told him 'Prepare yourself, it's your turn,' according to police.
The two men then took Genesis from the apartment on the pretense of meeting a dealer to buy weed.
Rivera shot the woman in the head, killing her, and the older gang member Flores then took the gun and fired a second shot in her chest, police believe.
The dead girl is described as being Hispanic, around five feet tall and 108 pounds.
Her hair was dark and wavy, and she had pierced ears.
Police released a composite sketch of the unidentified victim, asking anyone with information to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
Rivera and Flores are each being held on $150,000 bond in Harris County Jail.
However, federal authorities have placed a hold on the illegal aliens, meaning they would be taken into federal custody if released on bail.
Both men have requested a court-appointed lawyer. They are scheduled to appear in court on April 18.
The gang that is terrorizing America: 10 illegal immigrant members of MS-13 among 13 arrested in New York for killing three high school students
Thirteen members of the same gang were arrested in New York on Thursday for allegedly killing three high school students.
The trio, including two best friends, were attacked with a machete and baseball bats as they walked through their suburban neighborhood.
Thirteen alleged members of local cliques of the MS-13 street gang were charged with a slew of violent crimes and seven murders over a five year period, prosecutors and police announced.
Among the dead: Brentwood High School students Nisa Mickens, 15, Kayla Cuevas, 16, who were ambushed by a carload of other teens on Sept. 13, and their former schoolmate Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, whose corpse was found on the grounds of an abandoned state psychiatric hospital following his disappearance in June.
Nisa Mickens, 15, (left) Kayla Cuevas, 16, (right) from Long Island, New York, were were ambushed by a carload of other teens on September 13 and killed. Thirteen members of the MS-13 gang were arrested on Thursday in connection with the slayings
Law enforcement officers take one of the MS-13 street gang members into custody in Central Islip, N.Y., on Thursday
Evelyn Rodriguez, mother of Kayla Cuevas, 16, stops to talk members of the press gathered outside U.S. District Court Thursday, March 2
MS-13: The brutal, machete-wielding gang that became the first organization to be declared an international criminal group The ultra-violent street gang MS-13 was the first to be designated as an international criminal group. The gang was founded by immigrants fleeing El Salvador's civil war more than two decades ago. Its founders took lessons learned from that brutal conflict to the streets of Los Angeles and built a reputation as one of the most ruthless and sophisticated street gangs, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jason Shatarsky. With as many as 10,000 members in 46 states, the gang has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking. The group's violence using a machete to hack a victim to death or shooting someone in the head in broad daylight, for instance surprised authorities and even rival gangs. 'They saw a level of violence that hadn't been seen before,' Shatarsky said, adding that as the gang has expanded it has also become more sophisticated than many rivals. The gang, which is allied with several of Mexico's warring drug cartels, has a strong presence in Southern California, Washington and Northern Virginia, all areas with substantial Salvadoran populations. Among the most high-profile killings attributed to MS-13 in Virginia was the 2003 slaying of a pregnant teenager who had become an informant. Brenda Paz, 17, was stabbed to death and her body was left along the banks of the Shenandoah River. Advertisement
The killings came amid a national conversation about illegal immigration, and prosecutors revealed in a news conference that 10 of the 13 indicted suspects were citizens of El Salvador or Honduras who were in the U.S. illegally, including most of the people directly implicated in the murders.
Last December, Donald Trump referenced the killings in Brentwood during a profile for his Time magazine 'Person of the Year' award after being elected president.
Two other killings of Brentwood youths, ages 15 and 19, whose bodies were discovered last year in secluded spots in the hamlet, remain unsolved.
Gang violence has been a problem in Brentwood and some surrounding Long Island communities for more than a decade, but Suffolk County police and the FBI began pouring resources into a crackdown after the killings of the high school girls sparked outrage.
'While violence and brutality are trademarks of the MS-13 gang, the murders of these three teens are particularly disturbing,' U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said in announcing the indictment Thursday.
Cuevas was targeted last summer by a group of four gang members, including two juveniles, because she had been feuding with MS-13 members at school and on social media. The posse, which had been roving in a car looking for gang enemies, attacked when they came across her walking with Nisa in the street.
'(Nisa) Mickens was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, hanging out with her childhood friend,' Capers said.
Robert Mickens, Nisa's father, said he felt blessed that police had made arrests.
'I've got some type of closure even though my daughter is not back. It's closure to my family,' he said.
Pena-Hernandez was an alleged MS-13 gang member who was lured to the grounds of an abandoned state psychiatric hospital by fellow gang members he thought were his friends, Capers said. Those friends turned on him and repeatedly stabbed him to death, he said.
His death had gone largely publicly unmarked until police began discovering corpses in the weeks after Cuevas and Nisa died.
Some people complained that police, school officials and others were not doing enough to stem the violence. Since then, police have arrested more than 125 suspected MS-13 gang members in Brentwood and elsewhere.
A poster shows pictures of two of the slain teenagers and an offer of a reward
The gang, also called Mara Salvatrucha, is believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s by immigrants fleeing a civil war in El Salvador.
It grew after some members were deported to El Salvador, helping to turn that country into one of the most violent places in the world. It is now a major international criminal enterprise with tens of thousands of members in several Central American countries and many U.S. states.
One of Trump's priorities is a crackdown on immigrants who are in the country illegally and have committed crimes. He promised as much in his December interview with Time magazine, when he referenced a Newsday story about the killings.
'They come from Central America. They're tougher than any people you've ever met,' he said. 'They're killing and raping everybody out there. They're illegal. And they are finished.'
A woman is suing SoulCycle, after allegedly impaling her leg on one of their 'dangerous' stationary bikes.
Donna Wood, 42, said the incident happened when she was taking a class at the Beverly Hills, California location on January 31, 2016.
She says she was getting off the bike when she accidentally dug her thigh into the bar holding resistance weights at the back of the bike.
A woman is suing SoulCycle, claiming she impaled her leg on one of their stationary bikes. According to court documents the woman said she injured herself on the part of the bike, at the rear, that holds freeweights
The incident happened last year at the club's location in Beverly Hills, California (above)
'Her weight shifted, and caused the support bar/beam for the saddle bar/weight bar to cut even more deeply into the flesh of her upper thigh, essentially impaling Donna Wood's right leg,' court documents filed on Thursday, and obtained by the New York Daily News, read.
'Though (Wood) screamed for assistance, because the class was in cool-down mode and music was still playing loudly and the room still dark, she was not heard or seen for several minutes,' the suit says.
The dark atmosphere and loud music are typical of SoulCycle classes, a popular exercise class among celebrities - including former first lady Michelle Obama, who was spotted leaving a DC location last week.
Wood says that once staff finally noticed her injury, they didn't offer any assistance or call an ambulance.
'Bleeding profusely and in severe pain, (Wood) arranged for an Uber cab to transport her to a local hospital,' the court documents read.
Wood reportedly received 50 stitches for the injury at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the wound later became 'severely infected'.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court (SoulCycle is headquartered in New York City), accuses the company of negligence for their allegedly unsafe bikes.
Wood is seeking damages in the case, to be determined at trial.
Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Michelle Obama shared 'a genuine expression of affection' for one another during that moment when they were photographed embracing in Washington last September, the 43rd commander-in-chief said on Thursday.
Bush told People that he developed a lighthearted rapport with the former first lady, who took a liking to his sense of humor.
'Anybody who likes my sense of humor, I immediately like,' Bush told People.
Bush, 70, and Obama, 53, found time to strike up a friendship while seated next to one another during official events, like the recent opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and Nancy Reagan's funeral.
Former President George W. Bush (left) and former first lady Michelle Obama (right) shared 'a genuine expression of affection' for one another during that moment when they are photographed embracing in Washington last September
At the museum opening, Bush and Obama were photographed in a warm embrace. The image went viral and is often considered the definitive snapshot of their relationship.
In July, Bush and Obama held hands while singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic during the memorial service for five police officers killed by a sniper in Dallas.
Bush was evidently swinging his arms and appeared to be enjoying himself, prompting some to criticize him for not acting appropriately during a solemn occasion.
'I can't remember where else I've sat next to her, but I probably have a few wise cracks and she seemed to like it okay,' says Bush.
'I needle her a little bit and around her, I'm fairly lighthearted. [The Obamas] are around serious people all the time and we just took to each other.'
Bush has been making the rounds on media in recent days to promote his latest undertaking - an exhibition of his oil paintings depicting US military veterans.
Bush, 70, and Obama, 53, found time to strike up a friendship while seated next to one another during official events, like the recent opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture on September 24
'I can't remember where else I've sat next to her, but I probably have a few wise cracks and she seemed to like it okay,' says Bush. Bush's wife, Laura (far left), Bush, Michelle Obama, and former President Barack Obama are seen above on September 24, 2016
In July, Bush and Obama held hands while singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic during the memorial service for five police officers killed by a sniper in Dallas
Bush was evidently swinging his arms and appeared to be enjoying himself, prompting some to criticize him for not acting appropriately during a solemn occasion
The exhibition will open Thursday at the former president's library in Dallas.
The collection, on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas until October 1, features 66 portraits and a four-panel mural.
Bush's paintings pay tribute to the nearly 100 wounded or traumatized personnel who he has known personally since leaving the White House in 2009.
As the 43rd US president Bush had commanded the US military members, who all served in the wars he launched in Iraq and Afghanistan following the attacks on September 11, 2001.
The former commander-in-chief released on Tuesday a book titled 'Portraits in Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors,' which includes images of the portraits and the veterans' personal stories.
Bush said he wanted to use the paintings and book to highlight the veterans' struggles with post-traumatic stress and the transition to civilian life.
While Bush has been busy painting, his good friend Michelle Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama, are expected to soon get busy writing.
During the ceremony in Washington, Bush enlisted the then-president to take a photo of him posing with a family. Bush then posted the photo with a message of thanks to Obama on his Instagram account
Earlier this week it was learned that the Obamas had signed a deal with publisher Penguin Random House, which will pay the former first couple a whopping $60 million for their memoirs.
'We are absolutely thrilled to continue our publishing partnership with President and Mrs. Obama,' the chief executive of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement.
'With their words and their leadership, they changed the world, and every day, with the books we publish at Penguin Random House, we strive to do the same.'
Dohle then added: 'Now, we are very much looking forward to working together with President and Mrs. Obama to make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance.'
As part of the deal penguin will also donate 1million books in the Obamas name, a move that might have taken down the price paid in the deal.
A Bond girl is hoping to represent her borough as a Tory candidate in the next election.
Model and actress Catherine McQueen, who has worked for top fashion houses Dior and Chanel, lingerie brand Ultimo and appeared in lads' mags Loaded and Maxim, is looking to represent the Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward in London.
The 38-year-old, who is also a well-known DJ, appeared in the 2002 move Die Another Day starring Pierce Brosnan, playing a Russian model.
Model and actress Catherine McQueen is looking to represent the Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward in London
Speaking this week, Ms McQueen said she wanted to stand as a Tory candidate for Camden next year.
She is due to stand in the area where she now lives, the Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward, a Labour stronghold.
She said she wanted to crack down on anti-social behaviour in the area, adding: 'You have people late at night running through the back streets screaming, p****ng in the streets, throwing up - and then in the day you get drug pushers trying to sell.'
The model told the Camden New Journal newspaper: 'Camden Town may always have had a reputation for being a bit dirty and grimy, but I don't think it used to be dirty, grimy and dangerous. I don't think people used to get murdered.'
Ms McQueen added: 'This a place for families to live - there is a community, good schools.
'I looked up what people were saying and somebody had commented that Camden Town was like 'downtown Mogadishu' on Saturday nights and I just thought, "Is that what people think of our area?"
'I like what the Tories say about aspiration, for working to get best life you can and business.
'I think you should be able to say business without it being a dirty word.'
And delighted residents living in Camden said council meetings will 'never be the same again' if Ms McQueen gets elected as a Tory councillor in May next year.
Ms McQueen said she wanted to stand as a Tory candidate for Camden next year
Delighted residents living in Camden said council meetings will 'never be the same again' if Ms McQueen gets elected as a Tory councillor in May next year
Ms McQueen is due to stand in the area where she now lives, the Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward, a Labour stronghold
Richard Grange, 37, said he would 'get along to town hall' if she won a seat.
He said: 'I remember Catherine from her days when she modelled for Loaded, so I'd definitely be getting down to the town hall.
'It will be a huge change from the normal fusty lot of people sitting around in council meetings.'
Simon Harris, 36, added: 'Meetings will never be the same again - jaws will be dropping across the council chamber.'
An ex-police officer in Florida was arrested and charged with attempted manslaughter in relation to the on-duty shooting of a teen during a December arrest that was captured on camera.
Former Rockledge police department Cpl. Nicholas Galluzzi turned himself into the Brevard County Jail on Thursday morning. He immediately posted bond and was released, according to State Attorney Phil Archer's office.
Galluzzi shot and wounded Alexzander Houston, 17, during an attempted arrest in December, as Houston was being sought over a series of car burglaries with Anthony Pierre, 16.
Police say officers first responded to the area of Hawk and Cogswell streets just before midnight on December 1 after residents called 911 about two individuals breaking into cars, Rockledge Police Department spokeswoman Donna Seyferth told WESH.
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Former Rockledge police department Cpl. Nicholas Galluzzi turned himself into the Brevard County Jail on Thursday where he was charged with attempted manslaughter in relation to the on-duty shooting of a teen during a December arrest that was captured on camera (above)
Galluzzi shot and wounded a 17-year-old boy - one of two teens being sought over a series of car burglaries. At the time of the shooting, the 17-year-old was lying face-down on the ground (scene above)
The two suspects fled from officers in a white Toyota Corolla and during the chase a police cruiser was hit by the suspect's car.
'Officers tried to stop that vehicle, that vehicle fled, actually striking one of their vehicles, one of our patrol cars, as it fled,' she said.
Authorities say the Corolla crashed into a ditch and Pierre got out of the vehicle and fled the scene.
Houston surrendered at the scene and was shot once by Galluzi while lying face-down on the ground, the State Attorney's Office said.
After the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the use of deadly force by Galluzzi, the State Attorney's Office filed the charge.
Galluzi, who was a 17-year veteran of the force, resigned from the Rockledge police department on December 19.
Both teens were charged for their roles in the burglaries and chase.
About 90 seconds after the shot was heard, another officer ran over (left) and began to put gloves on (right) before searching the teenager
Police say the 17-year-old and another teenager were trying to escape the officers in this car when it crashed
Houston was charged as a juvenile with three counts of burglary, grand theft and petite theft.
Pierre was charged as an adult with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, fleeing and attempting to elude and numerous burglary-related charges.
Footage of the incident begins by showing an officer standing over the teenager, who is lying on the ground on his stomach with his arms stretched out.
Seconds later, a gunshot can be heard, and immediately afterwards the 17-year-old rolls over and starts screaming in pain.
Galluzzi is then heard shouting: 'Don't move... put your hands out.'
The former officer then continues to shout, 'don't move' at the teenager, who is still screaming in pain.
The 17-year-old then says, 'why'd you shoot me', to which Galluzzi replies,' you kept moving your hands.'
The 17-year-old is then heard saying: 'Oh my god, bro. I'm just a teenager.'
Another officer who is searching the 17-year-old asks Nicholas Galluzzi - who shot the teen - where he tasered him. Galluzzi replied: 'He wasn't tased, he was shot'
About one minute and 30 seconds passes in the video before another officer kneels down next to the teen and starts searching him for a weapon.
He is heard screaming throughout the clip, before the second officer asks Galluzzi where he tased him.
'He wasn't tased, he was shot,' Galluzzi replied.
The teenager was then taken to the nearby Holmes Regional Medical Center for treatment for a gunshot wound to the chest, Brevard County spokesman Don Walker said at the time of the incident.
Rockledge Police Chief Joseph LaSata said the 17-year-old was with a 15-year-old burglary suspect, and they crashed the white sedan into a police car while trying to escape the scene, according to Florida Today.
The parents of a desperately ill baby will today beg the High Court to keep him alive as doctors say it would be better to let him die.
Seven-month-old Charlie Gard suffers from a genetic condition so rare he is believed to be only the 16th person diagnosed with it in the world.
His heartbroken mother and father are now in a race against time to raise money for Charlie, their only child, to receive pioneering treatment in the US.
And they were devastated when his doctors in Britain said his life support should be withdrawn so he could die with dignity.
Heartbroken Connie Yates and Chris Gard are in a race against time to raise money for their son Charlie (pictured together) to receive pioneering treatment in the United States
Now the court will decide Charlies fate, with an initial hearing taking place in London today.
Last night his mother Connie Yates, 31, said: We love our child with every ounce of our being and we want whats best for him.
Its as if Charlie is being sentenced to death. Charlie has a form of mitochondrial disease, a debilitating condition which saps energy from the bodys organs and muscles.
Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where Charlie is in intensive care, is asking the High Court to sanction withdrawing his life support.
A hospital spokesman told the Mail: Charlie has a very rare and complex disease, for which there is no accepted cure.
We have tried to strengthen Charlie and give him the best possible chance of survival. But his condition has continued to deteriorate and we now feel we have exhausted all available proven treatment options.
Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital in London, where Charlie is in intensive care (pictured), is asking the High Court to sanction withdrawing his life support
'We appreciate how hugely distressing this is for his family and we continue to support them in every way we can, while advocating, what we believe, is best for Charlie.
Charlie was born on August 4 last year, weighing a healthy 8lb 3oz.
But instead of developing normally he got weaker, and aged eight weeks he was admitted to hospital.
Miss Yates, a carer for young adults with learning difficulties, and her partner Chris Gard, 32, a postman, have kept a bedside vigil.
Mitochondrial disease affects the bodys cells and can cause heart, liver, kidney, breathing, sight and hearing problems.
Charlie is in a stable condition and not believed to be in any pain, his parents say, with the disease manifesting itself as weakness in his muscles.
Miss Yates (pictured left with Charlie) wrote about how her son's plight has taken a toll on her (shown right)
He is being kept alive with a ventilator to aid his breathing and a nasal tube for food and water.
Mitochondria are often described as the tiny power stations of our bodies, supplying the energy cells needs to function.
If cells do not have enough energy, then the bodys organs and tissue do not work properly.
Approximately one in 200 babies born in the UK have slight genetic mistakes that can cause mitochondrial disease, although severity varies and symptoms may not be noticed at all.
Charlie has a particularly rare type known as mitochondrial depletion syndrome.
Charlie was born on August 4 and delighted his first-time parents (shown) when he began smiling at six weeks. But his health declined and at eight weeks he was admitted to hospital
There is no known cure, but Charlies parents have found a US doctor trialling a pioneering treatment.
They are trying to raise money to take their son abroad a huge cost, as he would need a private plane with paediatric intensive care facilities and staff.
Miss Yates said: Charlie literally has nothing to lose but potentially a healthier, happier life to gain.
'So we were shocked and horrified to find we are being taken to court and them asking for Charlies life support to be switched off.
To donate to Charlies appeal, visit www.gofundme.com/please-help-to-save-charlies-life
'Every little flicker of his eyes tell us we're doing the right thing'
By Alison Smith-Squire
Officially there is no cure for mitochondrial disease, but Charlies parents (pictured) discovered an American doctor is trialling a pioneering treatment
There is a routine Connie Yates and her partner Chris Gard have got into over the last five months. Every morning, shortly before 10am, Chris leaves his home, which these days is a small room reserved for parents of gravely sick children at Great Ormond Street Hospital, to visit his seven-month-old baby, Charlie.
Staff there are familiar with his frequently weary, but steadfastly positive presence arriving on the ward, as the doctors are finishing their rounds.
He then makes his way to the intensive care unit, where little Charlie awaits. For the next 14 hours, he will sit by his sons side, stroking his hand, reading him stories and chatting to him telling him it wont be long until hes back home, going for walks in his pushchair, to the park to feed the ducks.
At 11am, Charlies mother joins him. The couple will share a hug and a few catch-up messages, before they take turns to lie on the bed and cuddle Charlie. They leave only briefly, usually one at a time, to get a sandwich or coffee.
At midnight, Chris goes back to their room their flat in Bedfont, south-west London has not been slept in for months to get some sleep. Miss Yates will stay until 4am, occasionally stroking her babys downy head as he sleeps, and soothing him as he wakes.
After kissing Charlies cheek, she whispers: Keep fighting and well keep fighting for you. And she will head off into the dark, and climb into bed next to Chris, before another day begins.
This is the routine that has given them hope over the last five months, as they await the treatment that potentially could save their much-adored boy.
Charlie has mitochondrial disease, a degenerative genetic condition which stops the bodys cells producing enough energy to function. We need to be there, we need to spend every waking hour with him, says Miss Yates.
Chris Gard, 32, a postman, from Bedfont, South-West London, have kept a bedside vigil for his son (pictured together)
We know we may not have much time left. In those precious moments in that hospital room we are a family together, a team. If we change his nappy, he moves his arms. Occasionally, he manages to open his eyes. It is such a struggle because this wretched disease affects every part of the body it even makes his eyelids weak.
But if we lock eyes we can see him trying to open them wider. And we feel that our presence calms Charlie. Its not much, but every little flicker convinces us that we, his Mummy and Daddy, are doing the right thing to not give up on him.
But that is exactly what they fear medics at Great Ormond Street are doing. They claim it is not in the best interests of Charlie to continue his life-sustaining treatment. Last week the hospital applied to the High Court for the little boys artificial ventilation to be withdrawn ending his life. We were shocked and horrified to find we are being taken to court and that the hospital are asking for Charlies life support to be switched off, Miss Yates told the Daily Mail.
Charlie is in a stable condition and not believed to be in any pain, with the disease manifesting itself as weakness in his muscles, his parents say
I cant put into words how horrible it is to see court papers with our babys name on them. Its as if Charlie is being sentenced to death.
Our parental rights are being stripped yet we are not bad parents. We love our son and want the very best for him.
Charlie was born a healthy 8lb 3oz in August last year, after a problem-free pregnancy. Aged just six weeks he began smiling, and his proud first-time parents were overjoyed.
Charlie was such a bonny baby, remembers Miss Yates, 31, a carer. I breastfed him from birth and he was reaching all his baby milestones, gurgling and smiling.
But by eight weeks old I started to get worried. He was losing weight, and, as other babies seemed to grow more robust, he seemed to lose strength.
I took him to our local hospital but he rapidly declined. He choked on his milk and after developing aspiration pneumonia in October, he was transferred to Great Ormond Street.
Tests revealed Charlie had mitochondrial depletion syndrome so rare he is believed to be only the 16th sufferer in the world. Tragically, it seemed to be inherited from his parents who did not know they carried the rare gene.
Doctors said there was little they could do for the condition, which leaves muscles so weak even the lungs cannot function without a ventilator. Ill never forget the day a doctor sat both of us down and said gently there was nothing they could do, Miss Yates said. The best thing we could do was to let our son slip away.
However, the couple refused to believe nothing could be done.
Six-month-old Charlie Gard is believed to be only the 16th person in the world to be diagnosed with his ultra-rare genetic condition
Miss Yates said: I spent countless days and nights on the internet researching the condition, speaking with doctors and scientists and eventually found a new treatment called nucleoside bypass therapy being trialled in the US.
By giving Charlie the compounds a healthy person naturally produces called deoxynucleosides Charlies DNA could potentially be repaired.
The NHS couldnt pay because the scientific proof needed isnt yet published. But I spoke with a neurologist in the US and two others doctors, who are confident it will work, and we set up an online page to raise the 1.2million needed.
Mr Gard claims he and his partner spoke with UK consultants who initially appeared supportive, and indicated they were prepared to wait while the couple found the money.
But they were dealt another blow when last month a partial do not resuscitate order was put on Charlie.
Miss Yates said: We were with Charlie when one day a lawyer turned up. After ushering us into a side room he dealt some devastating news. While ventilation would be continued, the doctors felt it was not in Charlies best interests to give him any other treatment.
Charlie (pictured with father Chris) has an ultra-rare form of mitochondrial disease, a debilitating condition which saps energy from the bodys organs and muscles
So if he had a heart attack and died his heart would not be restarted. We were shocked but the way it was presented to us we had no choice. Optimistic Charlie could be saved, the couple launched their fundraising page. Miss Yates recalled: Within hours money flooded in and our campaign was trending on social media with celebrities donating money.
Every day we woke to messages from people weve never even met who identified with our nightmare. They kept us going.
As their fund has grown it last night stood at around 50,000 Charlie has grown too. Miss Yates said: When he went on life support in October he was terribly underweight but being tube fed he gained weight, and grew from this tiny, scrap of a thing to a gorgeous, beautiful, seven-month-old with dimples.
The couple were stunned to read in court documents that UK doctors believe it is in Charless best interests not to undergo nucleoside therapy with concerns over maintaining Charless dignity. When I read them I felt sick, said Miss Yates. It was as if suddenly all our hope had been taken away. It seemed so cruel and pointless.
She continued: We cant just let our baby die when there is hope and treatment available that might help him.
If Charlie receives this treatment and it does work it wont just be his life thats saved, it will be many more children in future who are born with this horrible disease. If he dies at least we will have done everything we possibly can. Like any loving parents, we will do whatever it takes to save our babys life.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions removed himself from all investigations involving the presidential campaign in a stunning turnaround to save his job on Thursday afternoon.
Just hours after revelations that he didn't tell Congress about his meetings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., he announced he was recusing himself from all investigations connected to the presidential election.
He said he made his decision after consulting his staff, and informed the White House of his decision today.
Sessions made his announcement two hours after President Trump declared 'total' confidence in him, following almost 24 hours of calls from Democratic lawmakers for him to resign.
Whether it will be enough to save his skin is still to be seen - but Sessions was bullish as he announced the decision.
'My staff recommended recusal. They said that since I had involvement with the campaign I should not be involved in any campaign investigation,' Sessions told reporters in a hastily-called press conference in the Department of Justice.
President Trump had also he didn't think Sessions should have to recuse himself.
The president also said he had no idea that Sessions had met with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice during the campaign.
After Sessions made his stunning announcement, Trump released a statement saying, 'Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional.'
The the president attacked Democrats. 'This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win. The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!'
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Not quitting: Jeff Sessions said he would sit out any decision on prosecutions which could arise from current investigations into whether Russia meddled in the election - but that he had not lied to the Senate
President Donald Trump says he has 'total' confidence in his attorney general and does not think he should recuse himself from Justice Department investigations involving Russia - but offered a lukewarm endorsement of his truthfulness
Sessions said his statement during his confirmation hearing, when he said he hadn't met with any Russian government officials, was 'honest and correct as I understood it at the time.'
He said he would write the Senate Judiciary Committee to amplify his answer.
'This announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation,' Sessions said in a statement.
With Sessions out, other Justice Department officials would oversee any investigations of the Trump campaign and its contacts with Russia.
Sessions said the conversations with the 'gossipy' ambassador, which involved members of his staff, touched on a range of issues, including Ukraine, and terrorism.
He said he had met with the Ukrainian ambassador the previous day.
'It got to be a little bit of a testy conversation at that point,' Sessions recalled.
WHAT SESSIONS SAID WHICH STARTED LIES ROW - AND COULD COST HIM HIS JOB During Jeff Session's Attorney General confirmation hearing on January 10 he was question about the Trump campaign's relations with Moscow. Sen. Al Franken: 'If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign, communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what would you do? Jeff Sessions: 'Sen. Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities. 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.' Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy later pushed Sessions in a written question about his communications with Russian officials. 'Several of the President-elect's nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?' Leahy wrote. Sessions responded with a single written answer: 'No.' Advertisement
'He said something about inviting me to have lunch. I did not accept that, and that never occurred.'
Sessions indicated that when it came up at his hearing, it didn't occur to him to mention his meetings with the ambassador.
'I don't recall and don't have a sense of any connection whatsoever about that,' he said.
Reflecting on it at another point, Sessions said, 'With retrospect, I should have slowed down, and said, "But I did meet one Russian official, a couple of times," that would be the ambassador.'
Intelligence figures are said to regard Kislyak as a recruiter of intelligence assets and one of Moscow's most important spies.
Before the press conference, Trump was asked if he knew Jeff Sessions had met Russia's ambassador before the election - and said: 'I wasn't aware at all.'
The president's intervention came as Sessions faced a firestorm over whether he lied to the Senate during confirmation hearings by failing to disclose his two meetings last summer with Vladimir Putin's man in Washington.
Despite saying he did not know of the meetings with Kislyak, he stood by his DOJ chief as Session took fire from Democrats for failing to disclose the conversations during his confirmation hearing.
Asked as he visited the USS Gerard R. Ford in Newport News, Virginia, Trump was asked if Sessions told a Senate panel the truth about the communications. He gave only a half-hearted endorsement.
'I think he probably did,' Trump said.
Sessions used the press conference to explain his decision.
The former Alabama senator who became the first senator to endorse Trump, and was a frequent adviser who also appeared at Trump rallies said the believed it would be a conflict to be involved in an investigation of the campaign.
Democrats, led by Sen. Charles Schumer, have been making the same point.
'I feel like I should not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in,' Sessions said.
Sessions was asked about the White House's statements saying he shouldn't recuse himself.
'I did share with White House counsel, or my staff has, that I intend to recuse myself this afternoon,' he responded.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Democrats still want Sessions to resign from the Justice Department
House Speaker Paul Ryan said late Thursday morning at his weekly press conference that he did not see any 'purpose or reason' for Sessions to take himself off an investigation - unless he himself was the subject of the probe
RESIGN NOW: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday at a news conference that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to go
Sessions' decision removes one major political headache by giving the Democrats what they had been calling for.
But it won't end the pressure his agency is under. Sessions noted that he as of yet has no confirmed deputy attorney general, who might oversee any Trump investigation if he recused himself.
And Democrats still want him to resign.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, one of the first lawmakers to demand he step down this morning, said in a tweet, 'AG #Sessions sorry attempt to explain away his perjury is totally inadequate. He must resign immediately.'
Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton similarly said, 'Recusal is too little too late, Attorney General Sessions. You've compromised your integrity and our country; it's time to resign.'
Before Sessions' crisis press conference, Moulton said that Sessions should have his former Senate aides procure his schedule to prove that the meeting with Kislyak was on the up and up.
'Sessions wants us to believe he and Kislyak didn't talk politics at the RNC. Have you ever watched the Super Bowl and not talked football?'
Freshman Sen. Kamala Harris of California clobbered him in a tweet, as well. 'Sessions lied under oath before Congress. Recusal isnt enough. He must resign.'
Pennsylvania's Dwight Evans wrote, 'Recusing is not enough! He must resign, lying to the American people is unacceptable. #Sessions must go!'
Sen. Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, said Session's announcement was 'insufficient.'
'He must resign. His actions have cast a dark cloud of doubt over the department he now leads and underscore the need for Congress to establish a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate Russias meddling in our democracy,' Hoyer said. 'His defensive comments today and Republican inaction to hold this Administration accountable ought to concern every American.'
THE SPICE IS (NOT) RIGHT? White House press secretary Sean Spicer pre-taped an interview with 'Fox & Friends' on Thursday, before Sessions announced that he would hold a press conference at 4:00 in the afternoon. Weekend co-host Abby Huntsman asked him if he agreed with Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who called on the attorney general to recuse himself from probes into the Trump campaign's alleged Russia connections. Sessions did just that hours later, but Spicer said it was entirely unnecessary. On whether he agrees with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that Sessions should recuse himself: 'Look, theres nothing to recuse himself' over, Spicer said. 'He was 100 percent straight with the committee and I think that people are choosing to play partisan politics, [for] which they should be ashamed of themselves.' 'Hes been 100 percent straight,' Spicer said of the attorney general. 'The testimony and the question he was asked is whether or not he was aware of Trump campaign officials doing something in their capacity as campaign officials and information he had gotten past. That answer is consistently no.' 'He was aware of it. He made a statement that was 100 percent accurate. And he stands by that,' Spicer said. Advertisement
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was one of the first lawmakers to demand he step down this morning. She's sticking to her guns
Republican lawmakers were sticking by Sessions, however, on Thursday evening. They called his decision to recuse 'good' and 'honorable.'
'While I dont believe the Attorney General acted improperly in his Senate confirmation hearing, I do believe that transparency and trust require even the appearance of a conflict of interest be avoided,' GOP Congressman Raul Labrador said.
'I commend him for his quick actions to preserve the trust of all Americans in the impartiality of their justice system.'
Montana Sen. Brian Schatz said after watching the presser that he doesn't understand why his Republican colleagues aren't backing away from Sessions.
'I'm confused why more GOP electeds aren't jumping ship. Doesn't require courage anymore. Now it's MORE risky to stick with admin.'
Sessions downplayed his meeting with Kislyak, even describing the conversation as 'testy' when the subject of Ukraine came up.
SESSIONS CRISIS WAS A YEAR IN THE MAKING March 3, 2016: Trump names Sessions as chairman of his 'national security advisory committee'. July: Sessions gives a speech to the Heritage Foundation at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. On the sidelines, he speaks to ambassadors including Sergey Kislyak. September 8: Sessions hosts Kislyak in his office in the Capitol. November 18: The Alabama senator is announced as the nominee for attorney general. January 10 2017: Al Franken, the Minnesota Democratic senator, asks Sessions at a confirmation hearing about claims of Russian links to the Trump campaign. He answers: 'I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians.' The questioning is under oath. February 9: Sessions is formally sworn in as attorney general after a vote along party lines to approve him. February 13: Trump tells his National Security Advisor Mike Flynn to resign over lying to Mike Pence about having phone conversations with Kislyak after the election. February 15: Reports surface in the New York Times that a number of Trump associates had repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials before the election. March 1: The Washington Post reveals that Sessions met with Russia's ambassador twice in 2016, contradicting what he told the Senate. The White House calls it an 'attack against the Trump administration'. Sessions' spokeswoman says the meeting was unrelated to his campaign activities. March 2, 8am: Sessions tells NBC News: 'I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign and those remarks are unbelievable to me and false and I don't have anything else to say about that.' 10am: Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer becomes the most senior Democrat to publicly demand that Sessions resign. 11am: House Speaker Paul Ryan says Sessions should recuse himself from any Russian investigation. 3pm: President Trump speaks to reporters on the USS Gerald R. Ford and says he 'was not aware' of the meetings. 4pm: Under pressure, Sessions holds a press conference at the Department of Justice to announce he is recusing himself from making any decisions about investigations into Russian meddling in the election. Advertisement
Russia invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea in 2014, prompting U.S. and international sanctions.
'I thought he was pretty much of an old style, Soviet-type ambassador. And so, we talked a little bit about terrorism as I recall. And somehow the subject of the Ukraine came up,' Sessions aid.
'I had had the Ukrainian ambassador in my office the day before, and got to listen to him ... [saying]: 'Russia had done nothing that was wrong in any area, everybody else was wrong with regard to the Ukraine.'
'It got to be a little bit of a testy conversation at that point. It wrapped up, he said something about inviting me to have lunch. I did not accept that, and that never occurred,' Sessions said.
The row started when Senator Al Franken of Minnesota asked Sessions about Russia at his January 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing.
'If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign, communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what would you do?' Franken said.
'I'm not aware of any of those activities,' he responded.
Then he said with no prodding, 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.'
Sessions said his recusal related to any existing or future investigations of 'campaigns for president of the united states' language that would suggest he also won't be involved in any investigations related to Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Sessions decision came despite the Republican leadership spending much of the previous 24 hours saying he did not need to recuse himself.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly deferred to the attorney general as he spoke to reporters on Air Force One a half hour before the press conference, saying numerous times that he'd let the former senator speak for himself.
He defended Sessions' interactions with Kislyak on the whole, though.
'He was literally conducting himself as United States senator,' Spicer said. 'This is what senators do.'
House Speaker Paul Ryan had earlier said that he sees no 'purpose or reason' for Sessions to back away from an investigation unless he himself is the target of the probe.
Democratic lawmakers had demanded Sessions' head over the revelation that he met with Russia's ambassador to the United States twice last year and did not bother to mention it during his confirmation hearing.
Ryan said at his weekly press conference that he meets with ambassadors 'all the time' and there is nothing unusual about the former Alabama senator's conduct.
The Republican leader wouldn't involve himself in charges of perjury coming from Democrats.
But he said broadly, as he responded to a New York Times report about Barack Obama aides spreading information in their final days about the Trump campaign's contacts with the Russians prior to the election, 'never have we ever seen any evidence' that an American or person on the Trump campaign was working with the Russians on election meddling.
'I think Democrats are lighting their hair on fire to get you to cover this story,' he told a reporter. 'There's nothing new we haven't seen here. This is stuff we've been going over.'
GOP legislators doggedly refused join them.
This morning Republicans changed their position as Sessions took on water. But Democrats had already moved on.
'We are far past recusal. Jeff #Sessions lied under oath. Anything less than resignation or removal from office is unacceptable,'Pelosi said on Twitter this morning.
Scores of Democrats, including Schumer, followed in her footsteps.
'Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, the Attorney General should resign,' Schumer said.
Sessions - and the White House - will now have to see whether Republican legislators unite behind Sessions, and whether Democratic lawmakers continue their calls for resignation.
The row centers around the fact that Sessions met with Russia's ambassador twice last year during Donald Trump's campaign run but claimed during his Senate confirmation hearing that he 'did not have communications with the Russians' in his capacity as an adviser to then-candidate Trump.
Despite being asked by Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken about contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian officials, Sessions declined at the time to disclose his private conversations with Kislyak during the Republican National Convention in July and subsequently in his Senate office in September, The Washington Post reported.
In Cleveland, at the RNC, Sessions encountered Kislyak at an event for ambassadors that was sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. Sessions was a speaker.
Kislyak approached the U.S. senator after his remarks, the Justice Department says. The Russian ambassador and other diplomats invited Sessions to attend their events; he did not commit.
DEMOCRAT SENATOR GOING AFTER SESSIONS WASN'T TRUTHFUL EITHER Missouri Democratic senator Claire McCaskill lead the charge against Sessions - saying she had never met the Russian ambassador. But that position was contradicted by her own Twitter account. It showed that she had met him once and called him once. Surprisingly, McCaskill brazened out the apparent hypocrisy. She told USA Today the meeting was with around a dozen other senators. And she said: 'The Russian ambassador has never called me. 'The Russian ambassador has never requested a meeting. I have never met with the Russian ambassador one-on-one.' Advertisement
The talks came at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to influence the presidential race.
Franken said Thursday on CNN that Sessions' comments during his confirmation hearing were 'extremely misleading.'
'He should have said, 'I met with Russia's ambassador a couple times but we didn't discuss the campaign.''
Sessions had released a statement late Wednesday saying he had 'never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the [Trump] campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.'
He had then maintained his innocence in an NBC interview Thursday morning, but he met Democrats' demands and offered to recuse himself from investigations pertaining to Russia as he hustled to save his job.
Sessions asserted to NBC News: 'I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me and false, and I don't have anything else to say about that.'
Asked if he would step aside from Justice Department investigations into Russia's election-year computer hacking and other political meddling, Sessions said: 'Well, I've said that whenever it's appropriate I will recuse myself, no doubt about that.'
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz urged him to do just that. So did House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Justin Amash and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.
Ryan said Thursday that Sessions should withdraw from an investigation if it directly involved him, and had indicated that he would.
'Honestly, we meet with ambassadors all the time. I did a reception about a hundred yards that way with like a hundred ambassadors last year. I don't even remember which, all the ones I met with and took pictures with,' he said as he defended Sessions.
'It's really common for Members of Congress to meet with ambassadors....As to the rest of it, I would just defer you to Jeff sessions and the Senate Judiciary Committee.'
The GOP leader further rejected Democrats' calls for a special prosecutor to be appointed.
'You have to protect the sources and methods of our intelligence gathering capabilities, especially with adversaries like Russia,' he said. 'And that is why the committee of jurisdiction, which is supposed to protect those methodologies, should be the intelligence committee.'
Democratic lawmakers say it's not good enough.
Pelosi, Schumer, Warren and others have called for Sessions to resign in the wake of the claims that came several weeks after former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was fired, in part, for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his own contacts with Kislyak.
A spokeswoman for Sessions claimed the ex-senator's contact with Kislyak was not unusual because he sat on the Senate's Armed Services Committee at the time. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill pushed back on Twitter. It turned out the tweet was untrue: She had met him once and called him once.
The Russian ambassador is widely considered to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington by US intelligence officials.
Richard Painter, who served as the White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, tweeted late Wednesday night that '[m]isleading the Senate in sworn testimony about one own contacts with the Russians is a good way to go to jail.'
'Perjury is a felony and may be punishable by prison for up to five years,' Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, ominously tweeted.
The latest claims about the attorney general will raise further questions about Washington's relationship with Moscow.
Some Democrats have requested a special prosecutor, although Ryan has argued against it, saying the investigation should be carried out by congressional committees.
Schumer said at a press conference and on Twitter, 'DOJ must appoint a special prosecutor who is beyond reproach, completely impartial, w/out any significant ties to either political party.'
At a protest in front of the Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon that was organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn and other activist groups, Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin mocked Republicans like Chaffetz who were changing their tune - and the Trump White House.
'The Trump administration has a staff infection,' he said. 'Every day we learn about another high-ranking Trump official who has been entangled with the highest levels of the Russian government, and Vladimir Putin, the former chief of the KGB.'
As demonstrators erupted into the chant 'he lied under oath' Raskin told them, 'You know how we know that he lied under oath? Because today the Republicans are saying he should recuse himself. And yesterday they were saying he shouldn't recuse himself.
'They say recuse, we resign,' he said, kicking off a new mantra.
The latest revelation may persuade Republicans that a special prosecutor is needed to conduct an independent inquest that doesn't answer to Sessions himself.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday night during a CNN town hall broadcast that 'if there is something there, and it goes up the chain of investigation, it is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make this decision about Trump.'
'So they may be not there may be nothing there, but if there's something there if the FBI believes is criminal in nature, then, for sure, you need a special prosecutor. If that day ever comes, I'll be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than Jeff.'
Dozens of progressive activists planted themselves outside the Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon
They chanted 'Sessions must go' and 'he lied under oath' as lawmakers spoke
Resign: In a series of late night tweets, Senator Elizabeth Warren demanded an investigation into Russia's role in the election, a separate special prosecutor and the resignation of Sessions
Even before the allegations that Sessions kept quiet about his meetings with Russian officials last year, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa broke ranks to see that the former senator was not in a position to oversee such an investigation and urged the administration to appoint an independent prosecutor.
'Any review conducted must have the full confidence of the American people, which is why I recommended an independent review,' Issa said Monday in a statement.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has been among those calling for Sessions to appoint a special prosecutor who does not report to him, to take over an independent investigation.
She did not issue a new statement immediately after Sessions' presser but had on Wednesday called on him to resign.
'And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place to resign. We need it now.'
Sen. John McCain said that Trump and his administration had to start taking the Russian threat more seriously.
'Have no doubt, what the Russians tried to do to our election could have destroyed democracy,' he said. 'And that's why we've got to pay a hell of a lot more attention to the Russians and the things they're doing in Europe and right now, they're trying to determine the outcome of the French election, and they're using cyber.'
Trump has denied knowing that any of his campaign advisers were in contact with Russians during the campaign. He has also said he has no financial ties or other connections to Russia.
The party divide on the probe is evidence that partisan discord is already seeping into House and Senate investigations of the Kremlin's interference.
Both Republicans and Democrats say they can still conduct bipartisan probes, but there are renewed calls for a special prosecutor amid a related revelation that the White House enlisted the GOP chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees to push back on news reports claiming Trump advisers were in contact with Russians.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he has not seen any evidence from the intelligence community that anyone in Trump's orbit was in contact with Russians during the presidential campaign.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, also of California, said the panel has not reached any conclusion on whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, Russian officials or any Russian contacts.
'Nor could we,' he said. 'We have called no witnesses thus far. We have obtained no documents on any counterintelligence investigation and we have yet to receive any testimony from the FBI of potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia.'
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Russia's activity with regard to the 2016 election has been 'investigated up and down.'
'If there's nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate,' Spicer declared.
Trump was asked Monday whether he would support a special prosecutor to investigate Russia's influence on the 2016 election. Instead of answering that question, he said, 'I haven't called Russia in 10 years.'
According to a White House description, the last time Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin was January 28. The White House says Putin initiated the call. Trump's last known trip to Russia was in 2013 for the Miss Universe beauty pageant in Moscow.
Trump has denied knowing that any of his campaign advisers were in contact with Russians during the campaign. He has also said he has no financial ties or other connections to Russia.
The 'big three' US broadcast networks' coverage of President Donald Trump's first month in office was overwhelmingly hostile, according to a study released on Thursday.
The Media Research Center, a conservative-leaning entity aimed at 'exposing and combating liberal media bias,' says that 88 percent of the broadcast news on CBS, ABC, and NBC has been hostile to Trump.
'A new American President is always a big story, but TV news is obsessed with the Trump administration - and not in a good way,' according to MRC.
The study found that the evening newscasts on all three networks combined to report on the president and his administration for 16 total hours which is more than half (54 percent) of all news coverage during this period.
The 'big three' US broadcast networks' coverage of President Donald Trump's (above) first month in office was overwhelmingly hostile, according to a study released on Thursday. Trump is seen on Thursday leaving the White House and heading toward Marine One in Washington
The study specifically focused on statements about Trump and the administration made by non-partisan figures, like reporters and commentators, on the newscasts of the big three networks - ABC, NBC, and CBS
The data covers the period that ranges from Trump's inauguration on January 20 until February 18.
'While most new presidents enjoy a media honeymoon, the tone of Trump's coverage was nearly as hostile (88% negative) as we found during last year's presidential campaign (91% negative),' the study found.
The study specifically focused on statements about Trump and the administration made by non-partisan figures, like reporters and commentators.
The MRC accuses the three networks of providing a disproportionate amount of air time to Trump critics.
It cites the over three hours of coverage devoted to Trump's travel ban on nationals from seven countries in the Middle East and Africa.
'The three evening newscasts spent more than 3 hours (188 minutes) on this topic alone, accounting for about one-fifth of all of the Trump administration's coverage,' the MRC said.
It criticized NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt for beginning his January 30 newscast against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty, 'which for nearly 130 years has symbolized the welcome arms of a country of immigrants.'
After Trump signed the executive order cracking down on undocumented aliens, Jim Avila of ABC News said that the administration gave 'a stern warning to all 11 million undocumented living in the United States, most of them law-abiding and paying taxes and working, that they are no longer safe to stay here.'
The study faults the networks for failing to devote enough coverage to 'Senate Democrats' calculated strategy of obstructing the confirmation process' of cabinet nominees.
The networks are also accused of giving excessive air time to stories of anti-Trump protests.
A love-struck woman has the 'best train ride ever' after her partner of 10 years proposed during the busy morning commute, at the same place where they met.
Ryan Jacka, 35, popped the question to Hannah in carriage four of Melbourne's Frankston line on Friday morning - with a little assistance from the train driver.
'I was half-asleep when I heard the drivers voice says there was an announcement for two special guests,' Hannah Dittrich, 27, told Daily Mail Australia.
'Everyone was looking around to see who it was, then he said our names and I looked at Ryan and thought ''you b****r'''.
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Ryan Jacka, 35, popped the question to Hannah in carriage four of Melbourne 's Frankston line on Friday morning - with a little assistance from the train driver
The couple that commute together stays together: The love struck passengers met 10 years ago after they caught the same train at the same time
Video captured the moment the nervous husband-to-be knelt on one knee in front of the stunned Ms Dittrich in a full view of delighted morning commuters.
And everyone on board could not contain their excitement as Hannah said 'yes'.
It was a moment nearly 10 years in the making since the pair clapped eyes on each other on a crowded train carriage.
'We were catching the same carriage at the same time every day and would say hi to each other,' Ms Dittrich said.
Eventually Ryan plucked up the courage and asked his future bride to dinner.
And despite his grand gesture, the 27-year-old says her future groom is not a typical romantic.
'It was about 10 years worth of romance in one day,' she said.
'But he does have his moments.'
Mr Jacka recruited the Metro team to help him in his romantic plan, they set up cameras and greeted the pair when they disembarked at Caulfield station.
'I did tell metro we might use the train for the wedding venue,' Ms Dittrich joked.
'But I think we'll stick to something a little more conventional'.
Hannah (left) was 'half-asleep' the train driver makes a 'special announcement' about her and Ryan and had to be woken up 'with a bit of a kiss' by her husband-to-be (right)
A stunned Hannah is 'half asleep' when the train driver makes a 'special announcement' about her and Ryan
The pair shared a loved-up kiss to applause and well-wishes from their fellow passengers
'It was about 10 years worth of romance in one day': Despite his grand gesture, the 27-year-old says Mr Jacka is not a typical romantic
Speaking to 3AW, Mr Jacka said he thought it was 'a fitting place to pop the question'.
'She had no idea it was coming. We were just on our way to work. The train was pretty packed. I think they were stunned.
It's not the usual thing you see on your way to work on a Friday morning.'
'I had to wake her up at first with a bit of a kiss. She had absolutely no idea.'
It was a moment nearly 10 years in the making since the pair clapped eyes on each other on a crowded train carriage
The romantic proposal was the source of many train related puns on the Metro Trains Twitter page, who congratulated the couple on their upcoming nuptials
Mr Jacka said Ms Dittrich had no idea the proposal was coming: 'We were just on our way to work. The train was pretty packed. I think they were stunned'
Not the usual thing you see on your way to work on a Friday morning! The couple are now enjoying a day off work as they celebrate
In footage of the engagment the pair share a loving kiss to applause and well-wishes from their fellow passengers.
The proposal was the source of many train related puns on the Metro Trains Twitter page, who congratulated the couple on their upcoming nuptials.
'We're thrilled that you choo choo choose each other. Wishing you a long life of happiness and love together,' they posted.
'Next stop: the wedding!'
In another image of the blissfully happy couple posing outside the train was captioned: 'Couples that commute together, stay together.'
Another responded: 'Congratulations, and may their matrimony be as smooth as their railway journey.'
Fellow train passenegrs also took to social media to congratulate the newly engaged couple
Pictures show the horrific scars that remain on a little boy's face and head three years after he was mauled by his father's pet pitbull-mastiff.
Orlando Shepherd, from New Zealand, avoided jail and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service almost three years after his dog Musha mauled his four-year-old son at their home in Otahuhu, stuff.co.nz reports.
Shepherd was also ordered to undergo 12 months of supervision and pay $130 in costs during his sentencing at Manukau District Court on Thursday.
Orlando Shepherd (pictured with his son) has avoided jail over his pet pitbull-mastiff's vicious attack on his four-year-old son in 2014
He had been charged with owning a dog that attacked a person by Auckland Council after the August 2014 incident.
Three earlier sentencing hearings were delayed for various reasons including Shepherd firing his lawyer and trying to fight his guilty plea.
But Judge Frances Eivers said Thursday's one would go ahead after prosecutors alleged Shepherd was delayed them 'intentionally.'
Judge Eivers said Shepherd's then four-year-old son had been playing with 18-month-old Musha outside while Shepherd and his mother were in the kitchen.
The boy, now aged seven, spent 10 days in intensive care after the dog attacked him
After hearing his son's yells, Shepherd rushed to stop the attack and his pet lunged at him.
Shepherd hit the dog until it stopped and ran off to another part of the property.
The dog was later destroyed and Shepherd's son spent 10 days in intensive care and required surgery on multiple wounds.
Auckland Council had wanted a jail sentence in a bid to send a message to the owners of dangerous dogs.
Crown prosecutor Richard Marchant said figures showed the number of dog attacks had increased in recent years, the NZ Herald reports.
He asked for a sentence of 14 months.
Days before the attack, Shepherd had posted a photo of his dog on Facebook, captioned: 'Mess with me, I'll eat you alive.'
Shepherd said he was 'lucky' to avoid imprisonment after his dog Musha attacked his son
But his defense counsel said the post was 'stupid' and had haunted the father ever since, according to the Herald.
The judge said a jail term for Shepherd was not appropriate as the victim of the attack was his own son and he had responded to it immediately.
But although he did not intend for his son to be attacked, it was still his responsibility.
Judge Eivers also noted that the dog's previous owners had warned not to leave the child alone with Musha.
'You must live with that for the rest of your life,' she told him.
After the hearing, Shepherd said he was 'lucky' to avoid imprisonment.
'It's scarred me for life. I was scared. I saw the whole thing,' he told stuff.
He added that his life had turned upside since the incident and he and his son, now seven, had been forced to sleep in a garage and their car after he lost his house.
Shepherd is now staying with sons and sees his son every two weeks.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has 'total' confidence' in Jeff Sessions, and appears to be standing by his attorney general after he said he had recused himself from investigations concerning Russia's contacts with the president's campaign.
Trump was answering questions reporters shouted in his direction as he toured the USS Gerald R. Ford, a new aircraft carrier, at a Virginia shipyard.
The president also said he didn't think Sessions should recuse himself from the potential Russia probes, saying, 'I don't think so.'
Sessions did just that a few hours later, telling reporters that because he advised the Trump campaign, he would steer clear of weighing in on any investigations stemming from unproven accusations that Russian officials worked in concert with Trump's campaign aides.
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President Donald Trump says he has 'total' confidence in his attorney general and does not think he should recuse himself from Justice Department investigations involving Russia - but offered a lukewarm endorsement of his truthfulness
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday morning that while he twice met with Russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign season, he was speaking with him in his capacity as a senator, not as a campaign adviser to Donald Trump
Sessions faced a firestorm on Thursday after The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that he had met with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak Vladimir Putin's man in Washington before the presidential election.
Sessions said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he had not had any such contacts, but later clarified that he meant to say he hadn't engaged in conversations with Russian officials as part of his campaign duties.
He told NBC News: 'I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me and false,'
It's common for a U.S. senator especially one who, like Sessions, served on the Armed Services Committee to meet with high-ranking foreign officials. The newly minted attorney general said he met Kislyak in his capacity as a senator.
Trump hadn't known until the Post story emerged that the meeting in Sessions' office had ever occurred.
'I wasn't aware at all,' the president told reporters aboard the USS Ford.
Then-senator Sessions had a private conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak (pictured above) last September in his office - but did not disclose it. That did not stop the Russian from attending Trump's address earlier this before a Joint Session of Congress
Asked if Sessions told a Senate panel the truth about his communications with Kislyak, Trump offered only a half-hearted endorsement.
'I think he probably did,' Trump said.
The Russian ambassador is widely considered to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington..
WHAT GOT ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS IN TROUBLE During Jeff Session's Attorney General confirmation hearing on January 10 he was question about the Trump campaign's relations with Moscow. Sen. Al Franken: 'If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign, communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what would you do? Jeff Sessions: 'Sen. Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities. 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.' Advertisement
Other Republicans, too, saw more molehill than mountain in Democrats' dire allegations that Sessions had perjured himself during his confirmation hearing.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he saw no 'purpose or reason' for Sessions to back away from any investigation in which he himself wasn't a target.
'I think Democrats are lighting their hair on fire to get you to cover this story,' he told a reporter. 'There's nothing new we haven't seen here. This is stuff we've been going over.'
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, however, smelled blood by mid-morning.
Sessions' misstep amounts to 'perjury,' she claimed.
'We are far past recusal. Jeff #Sessions lied under oath. Anything less than resignation or removal from office is unacceptable,' she added on Twitter.
Pelosi's counterpart in the Senate, the minority leader Chuck Schumer, followed in her footsteps.
'Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, the Attorney General should resign,' the New Yorke firebrand said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said late Thursday morning at his weekly press conference that he did not see any 'purpose or reason' for Sessions to take himself off an investigation unless he himself was the target of a probe
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday at a news conference that Sessions had to go
In addition to a tense September meeting in his office also attended by at least two Sessions aides the attorney general briefly met Kislyak at a July event for foreign ambassadors sponsored by the conservative Heritage Foundation,
Kislyak approached Sessions after he delivered remarks.
Contact between the two men came at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to influence the November presidential race.
But when asked by Sen. Al Franken at his January 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing what he would do if he learned that anyone with ties to the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government in the past year, he said, 'I'm not aware of any of those activities.'
Then Sessions offered: 'I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.'
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, asked Sessions during his confirmation hearing what he would do if he learned that anyone with ties to the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government in the past year
Despite being asked about contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian officials at his confirmation hearing, Sessions failed to disclose his own meetings
The White House aggressively defended Sessions on Thursday morning, saying in a statement to media outlets that '[t]his is the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats. General Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony.'
'lt's no surprise Senator Al Franken is pushing this story immediately following President Trump's successful [Tuesday] address to the nation.'
Franken said Thursday on CNN that Sessions' comments during his confirmation hearing were 'extremely misleading.'
'He should have said, "I met with Russia's ambassador a couple times but we didn't discuss the campaign."'
Sessions had released a statement late Wednesday saying he had 'never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the [Trump] campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.'
The Victoria Cross won by a hero of the Somme who led his men in a gallant defence after they were accidentally left behind enemy lines has today sold for 288,000.
The prestigious gallantry award and other medals of Corporal George Sanders were bought by the millionaire Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft, who owns the world's largest collection of VCs.
Cpl Sanders' medal will now go on public display with the rest of Lord Ashcroft's collection at the Imperial War Museum.
The Victoria Cross, left, won by hero of the Somme Corporal George Sanders, pictured right, has sold for 288,000
The brave corporal was one of nine British servicemen to receive the VC on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Although his unit had achieved their objective of occupying German positions, the slaughter of nearly 20,000 Allied soldiers led to orders to retreat.
But the group didn't get the message and instead held their ground.
With all the officers and NCOs killed, it fell on Cpl Sanders to take charge, rousing the men and organising their defence.
He and a band of 30 comrades repelled repeated German attacks over two days with little ammunition and no food or water.
Not only did the men stand firm but they also managed to rescue some British soldiers who had been captured by the Germans.
The 19-strong group were later relieved and Cpl Sanders was recommended for the highest award for gallantry.
The prestigious gallantry award and other medals of Corporal George Sanders were bought by the millionaire Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft
He was sent back to England in November and received a hero's welcome in his home city of Leeds before being presented with the prestigious decoration the next day by King George V at Buckingham Palace.
After returning to the Western Front, Cpl Sanders was promoted to Captain and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery during an overwhelming German assault at Kemmel Hill in April 1918.
He was shot in the arm and leg in the action and was last seen stood on top of a pill box rallying his men and firing his revolver at the enemy 20 yards away.
After the action he was listed as missing and it wasn't until three months later he was able to write to tell his family he was alive and being held prisoner by the Germans.
His Victoria Cross and Military Cross were passed down through the family over the years and were sold for the very first time at London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb.
The medal group had been given a pre-sale estimate of 220,000, but sold for a 240,000 hammer price. With all the fees added on the total price paid was 288,000.
Of the nine VCs awarded on the first day of the Somme, six are in museums with the other three held privately.
A spokesman for Dix Noonan Webb said: 'This is a very happy outcome to the sale.
'The Victoria Cross and other awards won by George Sanders will now go on display in London where they will be seen by visitors from all over the world.'
Auctioneers Pierce Noonan said: 'The courage and powers of leadership shown by Sanders are almost beyond belief.
'He must have realised that the British offensive had halted and had no idea of when, or even if, his small group would be relieved.
'But he organised the defences and told his men that it was their duty to hold on when many lesser mortals might have decided to surrender.
'It was astonishing gallantry from a young corporal who had been in the Army for just over 18 months.
Cpl Sanders' medal will now go on public display with the rest of Lord Ashcroft's collection at the Imperial War Museum
'Sanders was one of nine men who won the BVC on July 1, 1916 and one of only three to survive the war.'
Capt Sanders, from New Wortley, Leeds, enlisted in the Territorial Force Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment and went to France in April 1915 when he was aged 21.
At the Somme his battalion were held in reserve while the Ulster division went over the top in the first wave.
His unit were ordered forward at 9am and they supported the Ulstermen against the formidable German strongpoint of the Schwaben Redoubt.
After the band of 30 men were left behind the young corporal set about organising their defence.
After the war Capt Sanders worked at the Meadow Lane Gasworks in Leeds and during the Second World War was the commanding officer for the Home Guard at the works.
He died in 1950 aged 55 following a long illness.
His medal collection, which was sold along with an archive of documents and photographs, included the VC, MC, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and George VI Coronation Medal.
President Trump's first few weeks in office have been fraught with a series of ethics missteps that likely could have been avoided with proper training.
It has been revealed that the administration reportedly passed on an ethics training program for senior White House staff, Cabinet nominees and other political appointees that both of the past two administrations took part in.
The program would have provided those officials with training on leadership, ethics and management, according to documents obtained by Politico.
President Trump's first few weeks in office have been fraught with a series of ethics missteps, that likely could have been avoided with proper training. He spoke Thursday in Newport News, Virginia, at a rally about his defense budget
Documents show that the training sessions would have covered many of the issues that have become major road blocks in the early days of Trump's administration, such as working within existing laws and executive orders, and provided guidance on how to navigate Senate confirmation for nominees and political appointees.
They also show that that the programs could have provided guidance on issues such as how to deal with congressional and media scrutiny, and how to work with Congress and collaborate with agencies.
In a letter sent by the General Services Administration contracting officer Matthew Gormley, and obtained by Politico, it was noted that 'the requirements as defined by the RFQ do not accurately reflect the current needs of the Presidential Transition Team'.
The program was expected to cost $1million, and was authorized for the first time in 2000.
The cancellation notice, sent on January 10, expanded on its reasoning, saying: 'As a result of a change in the Presidential Transition Team leadership after the November 8, 2016 election, there have been changes in the PTT's goals for the political appointee orientation program'.
This change in the Presidential Transition team refers to Vice President Mike Pence's taking the reins from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
This change in the Presidential Transition team refers to Vice President Mike Pence's (left) taking the reins from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Vice President Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan flank President Trump for his address to joint sessions Tuesday
Gormley further referred questions to an agency spokesperson, who did not answer a request for comment by Politico.
After the story was first published, a White House spokesperson made a statement, saying that as a prerequisite for employees to enter the White House campus and get their badges, they did undergo several ethics training sessions.
However, they also said that they wanted to avoid spending all of their transition funds, and that the program could be considered wasteful by Republicans.
The lack of this training, however, may have fueled a series of early missteps by Trump's administration, as many political appointees said that they received little training and the period between the election and the Inauguration was hectic.
Among those missteps that could have been avoided include Kellyanne Conway's use of the White House press room to plug Ivanka Trump's fashion line, or the exchanges between former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and Attorney General Jeff sessions with Russian officials before they took office.
Having an operation is always a stressful time as this 82-year-old in China showed.
An image has emerged on social media of a nurse hugging the elderly woman in an operating room.
The nurse has since been praised online for her care a touching act in order to comfort the elderly woman, reported the People's Daily Online.
82-year-old Yan was scared and seen trembling until a theatre nurse came to give her a hug
Yan Zhaogen, 82, was admitted to a hospital in Changzhi, China's Shanxi province for surgery to repair a bone fracture on February 27.
In a tweet on China Central Television's Weibo account, reporters claimed Yan was seen trembling in the operating theatre and looked like she was about to cry.
The surgery took place at Changzhi Medical College Affiliated Heji Hospital.
One theatre nurse, Zhao Kaili, came up to Yan and held the elderly close in her arms.
'Don't be scared, granny. Take a nap, we are staying with you,' said Zhao.
The nurse has been praised online for her care a touching act in order to comfort the elderly
One web user said to have a similar experience before that a male nurse sang a song to her
Most commentators are touched by the nurse's act and praised the nurse as angel
It is not clear how long the surgery took but Chinese media claimed the surgery was successful and Yan is now recovering.
The picture was widely shared on Weibo, Chinese social media, as users praised the nurse's act.
One web user commented that the nurse has a big heart to take care of elderly patients.
Many said that Zhao is 'an angel' to the granny because she gave her hope.
Weibo user 'Orange blueberry jam' share a similar experience: 'A male nurse once sang a song to me while he was pushing me into the theatre.
'He told me I will be fine after a sleep.'
Images show 17 pupils in China forced to cram into a seven-seat van .
Traffic police in Lujiang, Anhui province caught the vehicle on March 1 and found the 17 primary school students stuck in the van
According to the People's Daily Online, the driver is being investigated for dangerous driving.
The children were discovered in the back of a van which was meant to carry seven people
The right way: The children were escorted onto a licensed school bus to get them home
Bad: Traffic police seized the vehicle after discovering the primary school students inside
According to reports, traffic police seized the unlicensed school bus after stopping the vehicle on suspicion of being overloaded.
The car's legal capacity was seven people but was carrying 17 students plus the driver at the time.
Shocking: The children could be seen standing and huddling in the back of the vehicle
Lujiang police announced they had launched an investigation into the driver
Police also noted that the vehicle was not licensed as a school bus.
The vehicle was immediately seized and the students were transferred to a regular school bus with two police escorts.
On March 2, Lujiang police announced they had launched an investigation into the driver who was interrogated at the scene.
Scientists have created a functioning mouse embryo in the laboratory by using stem cells in a world first scientific breakthrough.
The researchers created the artificial embryo using two types of stem cells the body's 'master cells' and a 3D scaffold on which they can grow.
The discovery is hoped to shed light on the development of life in its earliest stages - and could explain why two out of three miscarriages occur during early pregnancy.
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The stem cell-modelled embryo is pictured left at 96 hours. An embryo cultured in vitro for 48 hours from the blastocyst stage is pictured right. The researchers say that two show remarkable similarity, and have hailed the work a 'masterpiece'
HOW DID THEY DO IT? Researchers created the artificial embryo using two types of stem cells the body's 'master cells' and a 3D scaffold on which they can grow. The particular stem cells that will eventually make the future body are the embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Previous attempts to grow embryo-like structures using only ESCs have had limited success. This is because early embryo development requires the different types of cell to coordinate closely with each other. But scientists managed to overcome this by using a 3D scaffold known as an extracellular matrix. Using this, they were able to grow a structure capable of assembling itself and whose development and architecture very closely resembled the natural embryo. Advertisement
Making an embryo naturally would use sperm and egg cells, implanted in a womb.
Stem cells can make any cell in the human body.
But making them grow into complex three-dimensional structures, like an embryo, or human organs, in a laboratory has foiled scientific efforts to date.
Embryonic stem cells do not turn into the cylinder shape of an embryo on their own, but need a helping hand from other cells, which would be present in the body, but not in the laboratory.
To help them along, the scientists used two different kinds of stem cells - embryonic stem cells and another kind of stem cell which acted as a 3D 'scaffolding' to hold the developing embryo in place.
This other kind of stem cell, called a trophoblast stem cell, goes on to create the placenta in a normal mouse embryo.
The research, by Sarah Harrison and Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz at the University of Cambridge was hailed as a 'masterpiece' yesterday by fellow scientists.
When an embryo is conceived naturally, a sperm and egg cell fuse to form a zygote. The zygote goes through rapid division until it becomes a blastocyst
Professor Zernicka-Goetz said the key to the breakthrough was the 'extra-embryonic' cells that acted as a scaffold.
She said: 'Both the embryonic and extra-embryonic cells start to talk to each other and become organised into a structure that looks like and behaves like an embryo.
'It has anatomically correct regions that develop in the right place and at the right time.'
The two different types of stem cells communicate telling each other where to go, the authors said.
The scientists used two different kinds of stem cells: embryonic stem cells (blue) and trophoblast stem cells (nude) which acted as a 3D 'scaffolding' to create the embryo
She added: 'We knew that interactions between the different types of stem cell are important for development, but the striking thing that our new work illustrates is that this is a real partnership these cells truly guide each other.
'Without this partnership, the correct development of shape and form and the timely activity of key biological mechanisms doesn't take place properly.'
The artificial embryo followed the same pattern of development as a normal embryo and was 92 per cent similar to a normal mouse embryo.
The artificial embryo followed the same pattern of development as a normal embryo and was 92 per cent similar to a normal mouse embryo. Pictured left is the embryo after 72 hours, middle is after 96 hours, and right after 100 hours
EMBRYOS IN SPACE In 1996, Nasa astronauts attempted to develop mouse embryos in microgravity aboard the Columbia space shuttle. Those which had been exposed to the microgravity environment stopped growing The space embryos stopped development at a key stage, when a central axis is established down the middle of the embryo, to orientate the cells as they become more specialised and develop into major sections of the body. The findings led researchers to believe that gravity is crucial to this axis being established. Advertisement
The embryo is unlikely to develop into a normal mouse, if implanted in a womb, as a further kind of stem cell would be needed which would create a structure called a 'yolk sac', which would provide nourishment to the growing bundle of cells.
Professor Zernicka-Goetz said this development could help human embryo research by overcoming a major barrier, a shortage of embryos.
Currently, embryos are developed from eggs donated through IVF clinics.
She said: 'We think that it will be possible to mimic a lot of the developmental events occurring before 14 days using human embryonic and extra-embryonic stem cells using a similar approach to our technique using mouse stem cells.
'We are very optimistic that this will allow us to study key events of this critical stage of human development without actually having to work on embryos.
'Knowing how development normally occurs will allow us to understand why it so often goes wrong.'
Dr Andrew Chisholm, Head of Cellular and Developmental Science at Wellcome Trust said: 'Professor Zernicka-Goetz's work really shows the importance of basic research in helping us to solve difficult problems for which we don't have enough evidence for yet.
'In theory, similar approaches could one day be used to explore early human development, shedding light on the role of the maternal environment in birth defects and health.'
Professor Zernicka-Goetz recently pioneered a technique to develop human embryos to 13 days after fertilisation.
Researchers said this development could help embryo research overcome a shortage of embryos. Pictured is a naturally conceived mouse embryo in the early stages of development.
But calls by her and other scientists for the legal limit of 14 days to be extended, have been dismissed by the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority.
Dr Dusko Ilic, Reader in Stem Cell Science, King's College London, said of the research: 'Another masterpiece of recreating in vitro [in the laboratory] the earliest steps of embryo development coming from the Zernicka-Goetz lab. '
'A beautifully conceived and executed study demonstrating interplay of different cells in different cellular compartments within the first days of mouse development'.
Prof James Adjaye, Chair of Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, Heinrich Heine University, said the research meant 'it will now be possible to better study and understand why certain gene mutations affect normal embryo development.'
A rocket carrying a classified US satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office has been launched from California.
The Atlas 5 rocket lifted off at 9:49am on Wednesday, and roared away into a clear sky over Vandenberg Air Force Base.
All systems were going well when the launch webcast concluded about five minutes into the flight, as is customary during such missions.
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An Atlas 5 rocket carrying the NROL-79 mission is launched at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on Wednesday, March 1, 2017
WHAT IS THE NRO? The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is the US Government agency in charge of designing, building and launching America's intelligence satellites. It was created in 1961 and was then declassified to the public in 1992. They provide reconnaissance support to the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DoD). Advertisement
The satellite, dubbed NROL-79, is described only as a national security payload for the NRO.
The once-secret office operates an array of intelligence-gathering satellites.
The launch was conducted by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and the Air Force's 30th Space Wing.
Consuming rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen, the Atlas 5 rocket produced about 860,000 pounds (3,827 kilonewtons) of thrust.
As the vehicle climbed out of Earths atmosphere and into the vacuum of space this increased to 933,000 pounds (4,152 kilonewtons).
After 1 minute and 21 seconds the vehicle surpassed the speed of sound, according to Space Flight Insider.
The rocket carrying a classified U.S. satellite dubbed NROL-79 is described only as a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office
Laura Maginnis, vice president, Government Satellite Launch, said: 'I am so impressed by the incredible teamwork between the NRO, US Air Force our industry partners and the ULA team that resulted in today's successful launch.
'The integrated mission team overcame many challenges this flow including delays associated with the Vandenberg Canyon Fire last year.
'Thank you to all of the men and women who worked to deliver this critical asset for our nation's security', she said.
The launch was conducted by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and the Air Force's 30th Space Wing
The NRO is the US Government agency in charge of designing, building and launching America's intelligence satellites
The NRO provides reconnaissance support to the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DoD)
The NRO is the US Government agency in charge of designing, building and launching America's intelligence satellites.
It was created in 1961 and was then declassified to the public in 1992.
They provide reconnaissance support to the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DoD).
The Atlas 5 family of rockets have been used by the US government since 2002.
In January of 2006, Atlas 5 set a new world record during the launch of the New Horizons mission, for the fastest spacecraft at time of leaving Earth's atmosphere more than 36,000 miles per hour.
As the vehicle climbed out of Earths atmosphere and into the vacuum of space this increased to 933,000 pounds (4,152 kilonewtons). After 1 minute and 21 seconds the vehicle surpassed the speed of sound
A rare gold coin dating back to the 15th century and worth 15,000 ($18,000) has been unearthed by an amateur treasure hunter - who thought it was a bottle top.
The prized coin was made during the brief 86-day reign of King Edward V who was murdered in the Tower of London.
Brian Biddle, 64, found the Angel coin using a metal detector in a farmer's field where it had laid undisturbed for 533 years.
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A rare gold coin (pictured) has been unearthed by a heating engineer. Experts identified it as an Angel coin with an image of Archangel Saint Michael slaying a dragon (left) and the legend 'Edward Di Gra' (outer ring of text) which shows it was minted during the reign of Edward V
WHO WAS KING EDWARD V? Following the death of Edward IV, his 12-year-old son, also Edward, was made King. The young monarch's reign only lasted 86 days before he vanished into a dungeon in the Tower of London along with his brother Richard. It is widely believed they were murdered on the orders of their uncle, who then succeeded Edward V as Richard III. Advertisement
The land in Tolpuddle, Dorset, had been repeatedly searched over the years by members of the Stour Valley Search and Recovery Club before Brian turned up with his detector.
The heating engineer realised he was getting warmer in his hunt for a piece of treasure when his device sounded the alarm.
Mr Biddle said: 'At first I thought it was a bottle top as we find a lot of things like that. But once I got it out of the ground I realised it was a gold coin.'
Mr Biddle, from Bournemouth, took his lucky find to the Dorchester Museum.
Experts identified it as an Angel coin with an image of Archangel Saint Michael slaying a dragon and the legend 'Edward Di Gra' which shows it was minted during the reign of Edward V.
Following the death of Edward IV, his 12-year-old son, also Edward (pictured), was made King. Edward V's reign only lasted 86 days before he vanished into a dungeon in the Tower of London along with his brother Richard, where he was likely murdered
Brian Biddle, 64, found the Angel coin using a metal detector in a farmer's field in Tolpuddle, Dorset, where it had laid undisturbed for 533 years
The earliest surviving portrait of Richard III in Leicester Cathedral
Following the death of Edward IV, his 12-year-old son was made King but the young monarch's reign only lasted 86 days before he vanished into a dungeon in the Tower of London along with his brother Richard.
It is widely believed they were murdered on the orders of their uncle, who then succeeded Edward V as Richard III.
Edward V's reign lasted from April 9 to July 4 but the coin was struck under the orders of Lord Hastings, chamberlain of the Royal Household, who was executed on June 13.
Mr Biddle was declared the owner of the coin which is now to be sold this month at auction in London with a pre-sale estimate of 15,000 ($18,400).
Mr Biddle will split the proceeds 50-50 with the farmer who owns the land where the coin was discovered.
Peter Preston-Morley, a coins expert at auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, said: 'The story of the little princes in the tower, as they have become known, still fascinates us more than 500 years later and arguments over whether or not Richard was responsible for their deaths are still going on.
'This coin is a very fine and extremely rare find. Very few specimens are known to exist.'
Engineers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have undergone a large-scale operation to replace the 'heart' of one of its biggest experiments.
The complex and delicate procedure took place 100m (330ft) underground and is the first major upgrade to the world's largest machine.
LHC officials have described the upgrade as a 'heart transplant', and say the machine's CMS experiment will get a new 'pixel detector', which works like a camera to capture and read the paths of sub-atomic particles.
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Engineers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have undergone a large-scale operation to replace the 'heart' of one of its biggest experiments. This image shows the CMS experiment that has been deconstructed in order to install a new 'pixel detector'
WHAT IS THE CMS USED FOR? CMS and an additional experiment, known as Atlas, both contributed evidence to the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012. The Higgs Boson was the final particle needed to confirm the Standard Model of Physics - which says everything in the universe is made from the most basic building blocks called fundamental particles. These particles are governed by four forces: Gravity, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear. But there are physical phenomena observed outside of this Standard Model. CMS and Atlas have been helping to fill in the final missing pieces, such as evidence for dark matter or an extension of the standard model known as 'supersymmetry', which adds extra subatomic particles to the theory. LHC officials hope that CMS's new upgrade will help them in this endeavour. Advertisement
CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) is one of the four main particle detectors along the LHC's snaking, circular tunnel.
It collects more than 10 million gigabytes of data every year.
The Large Hadron Collider is a 17 mile (27km)-long tube accelerator that smashes particles together at the speed of light.
Scientists can then search for physics phenomena, such as new sub-atomic particles, in the resulting debris.
It is hoped that the LHC machine can help scientists better understand the makeup of the universe.
More than 1,200 particle magnets funnel a beam of particles along the machine's enormous tunnel, buried under the French-Swiss border.
At certain points along the tunnel the beams cross and this is where the particles collide.
And large experiments, like CMS, record the outcomes of these collisions.
The heart of the CMS component is its pixel detector.
The pixel detector unravels and then reconstructs the paths of particles after each collision.
The better the pixel detector, the better and more accurate CMS's particle readings are.
'It's like substituting a 66 megapixel camera for a 124 megapixel camera,' Austin Ball, technical co-ordinator for the CMS experiment, told BBC News.
Put simply, the pixel detector takes images of particles that are superimposed on top of one another, and then need to be separated.
Because the LHC's performance has been upgraded in recent years, 'rather than having 25 or 30 protons collide with each other, yielding 25 or 30 superimposed pictures, we're now expecting to have to deal with 50 or 60 superimposed pictures', said Mr Ball.
This required a 'step up' in technology, he added.
The tricky operation took place 100m (330ft) underground and is the first major upgrade to the world's largest machine. The entire structure of CERN's CMS experiment has been pulled apart (pictured) to make room for the new equipment
The upgrade operation is so delicate and complex that it took engineers two months to pull CMS apart in preparation for the new parts. Pictured is LHC engineers working on the first half of CMS's pixel detector upgrade, which was installed earlier this week
'There are limits to the camera analogy - it's a 3D imaging system. But the point is that the new system is more powerful at disentangling the effects of having multiple collisions superimposed on top of each other,' Mr Ball said.
'We were looking ahead when we decided to build this device and install it now.
'But as it turns out, the performance of the accelerator has improved so rapidly over the past couple of years that this is the time we need to make the change to exploit the accelerator's full potential - for new physics, and the study of existing physics.'
The LHC has been out of action since Christmas while it undergoes maintenance and upgrades.
The second half of the new pixel detector was lowered into the underground chamber where LHC is held earlier today. The CMS experiment (pictured), one of two 'multi-purpose' experiments at LHC, played a key part in discovering the Higgs Boson in 2012
The CMS experiment (pictured here after being pulled apart for the upgrade) is one of the four main particle detectors along the LHC's snaking, circular tunnel, and collects more than 10 million gigabytes of data every year
Provided all improvements run smoothly, the machine will be up and running again in Spring.
The upgrade process is so complex that it took the team until last week to be ready to replace CMS's pixel detector.
One half of the new detector was installed earlier this week, with the second half of the device - weighing around 40 kilos - put in place today.
More than 1,200 particle magnets funnel a beam of particles along the machine's enormous tunnel, buried under the French-Swiss border near Geneva
Artist's impression of the Large Hadron Collider, which is a 17 mile (27km)-long tube accelerator that smashes particles together at the speed of light. Scientists search for physics phenomena, such as new sub-atomic particles, in the resulting debris of these collisions
A crane lowered the machinery 100 metres into the cavern where the CMS experiment is buried.
It was placed on a platform with slide mechanisms that took it to the central section of CMS.
It took engineers around an hour to put the final piece of the pixel detector in place.
CMS and an additional experiment, known as Atlas, both contributed evidence to the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012.
The Higgs Boson was the final particle needed to confirm the Standard Model of Physics - which says everything in the universe is made from the most basic building blocks called fundamental particles.
More than 1,200 particle magnets funnel a beam of particles along the machine's enormous tunnel (pictured), buried under the French-Swiss border. At certain points along the tunnel the beams cross and this is where the particles collide
The LHC is the world's largest machine and its tunnel interior is kept at sub-0 temperatures 24 hours a day. This image shows the machine's long underground tunnels as it was being built before operations began in 2008
These particles are governed by four forces: gravity, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear.
But there are physical phenomena observed outside of this Standard Model.
CMS and Atlas have been helping to fill in the final missing pieces, such as evidence for dark matter or an extension of the standard model known as 'supersymmetry', which adds extra subatomic particles to the theory.
LHC officials hope that CMS's latest upgrade will help the team in this endeavour.
'We have to make sure that our detectors can keep up with what's being thrown at them... we're trying to access rarer processes, and to do that you need to produce and record more collisions between protons,' Mr Ball said.
'Very often, only slight deviations from theoretical predictions are the clues to new things we should be looking for.'
An incredible diamond-shaped chunk of ice has been captured from space by Nasa.
The natural-coloured image shows a piece of ice floating in the bright blue of the Caspian Sea in winter.
The startling white chunk of ice has probably broken away from the thicker sea ice and become grounded - anchored to the bottom of the sea.
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The image, taken by Landsat 8's Operational Land Imager, shows the Volga Delta and Caspian sea separated by a shelf of sea ice. A diamond-shaped piece of ice, which is about 1km across, has become detached
WHAT CAN WE SEE? The brown areas on the left are part of the Volga Delta. Just off-shore (to the right of the brown area) is a well-developed expanse of consolidated ice. This is just metres deep. Further off shore a large piece of white and grey-white diamond-shaped piece of ice has become detached. This is drifting into an area covered by young, thin ice. Advertisement
The image, taken by Landsat 8's Operational Land Imager, shows the Volga Delta and Caspian sea separated by a shelf of sea ice.
The Delta is just visible on the left of the picture.
Off-shore (to the right of the brown area) is a well-developed expanse of consolidated ice which is just metres deep.
Further off-shore a diamond-shaped piece of white and grey-white ice has become detached.
The natural-colour images demonstrate the variety of ice types that can form in the northern Caspian Sea, which stretches from Kazakhstan to Iran.
'This "island" of white ice is most probably a piece that detached from the ice field,' said Alexei Kouraev, a scientist at the Laboratory of Geophysical and Oceanographic Studies in France.
It might look like that the ice diamond is on the move but it's more likely it broke away from the thicker sea ice and then became grounded, according to the Nasa Earth Observatory.
'Instead, the wind is pushing the thin ice around this grounded ice, creating a "shadow" of open water behind it', it said.
The natural-colour images demonstrate the variety of ice types that can form in the northern Caspian Sea, which stretches from Kazakhstan to Iran
In this image you can see hummocks to the right of the diamond-shaped piece of ice. Hummocks occur when pieces of ice are pushed together and some is forced upwards
In the north of the Caspian Sea, which is 600 miles long, temperatures are colder and water is less saline, which means it sits more shallow.
As a result, northern areas are more prone to freezing in wintertime than the southern bit.
The false-colour in the third image shows thermal data.
This map shows the difference in temperature: Orange depicts where the surface is warmer which also tends to be where the ice is thinnest. Blues and whites show colder areas, including the main ice pack and grounded ice
HOW ICE HUMMOCKS FORM Next to the diamond-shaped ice island you can see hummocking. When weak, thin ice forms over the sea, it can become broken up by currents, waves and the wind. These can drive the pieces to pile up on top of each other. When these then become locked back into an ice floe, they form hummocks which can extend down several metres. Advertisement
Orange depicts where the surface is warmer which also tends to be where the ice is thinnest.
Blues and whites show colder areas, including the main ice pack and grounded ice.
'With the advance of spring and rising temperatures, ice on the Caspian will soon disappear. All of the ice is first-year ice, meaning that it should not survive the summer', said Nasa.
Next to the diamond-shaped ice island you can see hummocking.
When weak, thin ice forms over the sea, it can become broken up by currents, waves and the wind.
These can drive the pieces to pile up on top of each other.
When these then become locked back into an ice floe, they form hummocks which can extend down several metres.
The last woolly mammoths were far from hairy when the species died out, growing a faded satin coat due to their mutated DNA, according to new research.
The mammoth also had a poor sense of smell - and sex life - just before being wiped out after suffering a 'mutational meltdown', the study found.
Experts say this can happen when a once-thriving species reaches the brink of extinction, as small populations develop mutations caused by inbreeding.
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The last woolly mammoths were far from hairy when the species died out, growing a faded satin coat due to their mutated DNA, according to new research. Pictured is a 39,000-year-old female woolly mammoth found frozen in Siberian ice in 2013
THE MUTATIONS OF THE FINAL MAMMOTHS The final living mammoths migrated to Wrangel Island, north of Russia's eastern tip, to escape hunting and a warming climate. Due to genetic mutations caused by inbreeding, they had lost many olfactory receptors, meaning they had a poor sense of smell. Faulty DNA also changed the animals' urinary proteins, which can impact social status and mate choice. And the island mammoths had mutations that likely created an unusual translucent satin coat. Advertisement
Woolly mammoths were one of the most common large herbivores in North America, Siberia, and Beringia until a warming climate and human hunters led to their extinction on the mainland about 10,000 years ago.
Small island populations persisted until about 3,700 years ago before the species finally disappeared.
Now scientists at University of California, Berkeley, have analysed the genetic makeup of the species' final survivors.
They found a host of genetic faults that could have been the final nail in the mammoth's coffin.
The new findings have implications for animal conservation today.
They also offer insight into evolution, and serve as a warning for those interested in bringing the woolly mammoth back to life, known scientifically as 'de-extinction.'
There are at least three teams trying to rebuild the whole mammoth genome.
The projects could one day become a template to recreate actual mammoths.
But the California research shows some mammoth genomes carry an abundance of damaging mutations.
Scientists compared the DNA from the fossilized remains of a mainland mammoth dating back 45,000 years ago to one that lived about 4,300 years ago.
They used the DNA of an Indian elephant as a control.
The final mammoths' small gene pool doomed them to a poor sense of smell and sex life just before being wiped out. Lyuba, pictured here, is the world's most well-preserved mammoth. The female specimen went on display at the Natural History museum in 2014
The study used DNA from two mammoth specimens. The older specimen was dug up in Oymyakon, Siberia, and lived 45,000 years ago. The younger fossil was found buried on Wrangel Island, north of Russia's eastern tip, and lived around 3,700 years ago
HOW MIGHT SCIENTISTS REVIVE THE MAMMOTH? 'De-extincting' the mammoth has become a realistic prospect because of revolutionary gene editing techniques that allow the precise selection and insertion of DNA from specimens frozen over millennia in Siberian ice. The most widely used technique, known as CRISPR/Cas9, has transformed genetic engineering since it was first demonstrated in 2012. The system allows the 'cut and paste' manipulation of strands of DNA with a precision not seen before. Using this technique, scientists could cut and paste preserved mammoth DNA into Asian elephants to create an elephant-mammoth hybrid. Advertisement
The recent genome came from a mammoth that had lived in a group of about 300 animals on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, North of the Eastern tip of Russia.
Wrangel Island was the final refuge of the iconic Ice Age beast before they went extinct after being driven north by rising temperatures and hunting.
The older fossil was dug up in Oymyakon, Siberia.
The mammoth had once roamed the Siberian permafrost at a time when mammoths were one of the most common large herbivores in the world.
A warming climate and human hunters led to their extinction on the mainland about 10,000 years ago, driving the last few onto Wrangel Island.
Evolutionary biologist Dr Rebekah Rogers, of the University of California, Berkeley, was one of the new paper's coauthors.
Image of a mammoth skull on display at a Siberian museum. 'De-extincting' the mammoth has become a realistic prospect because of revolutionary gene editing techniques that allow the precise selection and insertion of DNA from specimens frozen over millennia in Siberian ice
Artist's impression of Woolly mammoths near the Somme River, France. The new study serves as a warning to scientists reviving the woolly mammoth that the specimens used could have faulty DNA
She claims that after DNA analysis, the team realised that the mammoth from the isolated Wrangel Island outpost had 'bad mutations'.
The mutations interfered with key gene functions, and could have contributed to the species' eventual demise.
The animals at Wrangel had lost many olfactory receptors, which detect odours, as well as urinary proteins, which can impact social status and mate choice.
MAMMOTH FACT FILE The woolly mammoth roamed the icy tundra of Europe and North America for 140,000 years, disappearing at the end of the Pleistocene period, 10,000 years ago. They are one of the best understood prehistoric animals known to science because their remains are often not fossilised but frozen and preserved. Males were around 12 feet (3.5m) tall, while the females were slightly smaller. Curved tusks were up to 16 feet (5m) long and their underbellies boasted a coat of shaggy hair up to 3 feet (1m) long. Tiny ears and short tails prevented vital body heat being lost. Their trunks had 'two fingers' at the end to help them pluck grass, twigs and other vegetation. They get their name from the Russian 'mammut', or earth mole, as it was believed the animals lived underground and died on contact with light explaining why they were always found dead and half-buried. Their bones were once believed to have belonged to extinct races of giants. Woolly mammoths and modern-day elephants are closely related, sharing 99.4 per cent of their genes. The two species took separate evolutionary paths six million years ago, at about the same time humans and chimpanzees went their own way. Woolly mammoths co-existed with early humans, who hunted them for food and used their bones and tusks for making weapons and art. Advertisement
The genome also revealed the island mammoth had mutations that likely created an unusual translucent satin coat.
'There is a long history of theoretical work about how genomes might change in small populations,' Dr Rogers said.
'Here we got a rare chance to look at snapshots of genomes 'before' and 'after' a population decline in a single species.
'The results we found were consistent with this theory that had been discussed for decades.'
Earlier this month Harvard University scientists announced plans to use gene editing technology to splice the preserved DNA of a frozen mammoth carcass with the DNA of an Asian elephant. The procedure they will use is illustrated in this graphic
The woolly mammoth roamed across Europe, Asia, Africa and North America during the last Ice Age and vanished around 3,700 years ago, probably due to a combination of climate change and hunting by humans (stock image)
Called a 'genome comparison study', the California team's work has implications for animal conservation and evolutionary theory.
Dwindling populations created a 'mutational meltdown' in the DNA of the last woolly mammoths, which had survived on Wrangel until just 3,700 years ago before the species finally disappeared.
The discovery gives researchers the rare opportunity to see what happens to the genome as a population declines, and supports existing theories of genome deterioration stemming from small population sizes.
The study also offers a warning to conservationists: Preserving a small group of isolated animals is not sufficient to stop the devastating effects of inbreeding and genomic meltdown.
Dr Rogers said that when she first started the project, she was excited to be working with the new woolly mammoth DNA sequences.
She said: 'It was even more exciting when we found an excess of what looked like bad mutations in the mammoth from Wrangel Island.'
Dr Rogers also praised the work of study coauthor Professor Monty Slatkin.
'He has spent his career developing mathematical models of how genomes will look different when population conditions change,' she said.
'With only two specimens to look at, these mathematical models were important to show the differences between the two mammoths are too extreme to be explained by other factors.'
Do students learn as much when they read digitally as they do in print?
For both parents and teachers, knowing whether computer-based media are improving or compromising education is a question of concern.
With the surge in popularity of e-books, online learning and open educational resources, investigators have been trying to determine whether students do as well when reading an assigned text on a digital screen as on paper.
Between 2013 and 2015, the researcher gathered data from 429 university students drawn from five countries (the US, Japan, Germany, Slovenia and India) to determine whether students do as well when reading an assigned text on a digital screen as on paper
The answer to the question, however, needs far more than a yes-no response.
In my research, I have compared the ways in which we read in print and onscreen.
Between 2013 and 2015, I gathered data from 429 university students drawn from five countries (the US, Japan, Germany, Slovenia and India).
The students in my study reported that print was aesthetically more enjoyable, saying things such as 'I like the smell of paper' or that reading in print is 'real reading.'
What's more, print gave them a sense of where they were in the book they could 'see' and 'feel' where they were in the text.
Print was also judged to be easier on the eyes and less likely to encourage multitasking.
Almost half the participants complained about eyestrain from reading digitally ('my eyes burn'), and 67 percent indicated they were likely to multitask while reading digitally (compared with 41 percent when reading print).
At the same time, respondents praised digital reading on a number of counts, including the ability to read in the dark, ease of finding material ('plenty of quick information'), saving paper and even the fact they could multitask while reading.
But the bigger question is whether students are learning as much when they read onscreen.
A number of researchers have sought to measure learning by asking people to read a passage of text, either in print or on a digital device, and then testing for comprehension.
Most studies have found that participants scored about the same when reading in each medium, though a few have indicated that students performed better on tests when they read in print.
The problem, however, with learning-measurement studies is that their notion of 'learning' has tended to be simplistic.
Reading passages and answering questions afterwards may be a familiar tool in standardized testing, but tells us little about any deeper level of understanding.
Some researchers are beginning to pose more nuanced questions, including one scholar who has considered what happens when people read a story in print or on a digital device and are then asked to reconstruct the plot sequence.
The answer: Print yielded better results.
Another aspect of learning is to see how outcomes differ when students are doing their reading in less prescriptive experimental conditions.
One study let students choose how much time to spend when reading on each platform.
When students were asked on which medium they felt they concentrated best, 92 percent replied 'print.' For long academic readings, 86 percent favored print. Participants also reported being more likely to reread academic materials if they were in print
The researchers found that participants devoted less time to reading the passage onscreen and performed less well on the subsequent comprehension test.
This finding is hardly surprising, given the tendency so many of us have to skim and search when going online, rather than reading slowly and carefully.
In my study, one student commented: 'It takes more time to read the same number of pages in print comparing to digital.'
Another complained: 'It takes me longer because I read more carefully.'
How does the learning question relate to educational goals?
There is much buzz today about wanting students to be good at critical thinking.
Definitions of that goal are elusive, but it's pretty clear they involve being able to understand complex ideas, evaluate evidence, weigh alternative perspectives and construct justifiable arguments.
STUDENTS FEEL MORE CONCENTRATED WHEN READING PRINTED BOOKS Between 2013 and 2015, researcher Dr Naomi Brown gathered data from 429 university students drawn from five countries (the US, Japan, Germany, Slovenia and India). The students reported that print was aesthetically more enjoyable, saying things such as 'I like the smell of paper' or that reading in print is 'real reading.' When asked on which medium they felt they concentrated best, 92 percent replied 'print.' For long academic readings, 86 percent favored print. Participants also reported being more likely to reread academic materials if they were in print. What's more, a number of students indicated they believed print was a better medium for learning. One said:'It's easier to focus.' Others stated: '[I] feel like the content sticks in the head more easily' and 'I feel like I understand it more.' By contrast, in talking about digital screens, students noted 'danger of distraction' and 'no concentration.' Almost half the participants complained about eyestrain from reading digitally ('my eyes burn'), and 67 percent indicated they were likely to multitask while reading digitally (compared with 41 percent when reading print). Advertisement
To become proficient in critical thinking at least in a literate society students need to be able to handle text.
The text may be long, complex or both.
To make sense of it, students cannot skim, rush ahead or continually get distracted.
So, does reading in print versus onscreen build critical thinking skills?
The comprehension studies we talked about earlier tell us little about the kind of reading we recognize as necessary for serious contemplation or analysis.
An alternative approach, at least for starters, is asking students about their digital and paper-based reading patterns much as physicians ask for histories (along with physicals and lab tests) to figure out what ails their patients.
While my own study didn't directly measure learning, it did query students about their reading patterns and preferences.
The responses to some of my questions were particularly revealing.
When asked on which medium they felt they concentrated best, 92 percent replied 'print.'
For long academic readings, 86 percent favored print.
Participants also reported being more likely to reread academic materials if they were in print.
What's more, a number of students indicated they believed print was a better medium for learning.
One said:'It's easier to focus.'
Others stated: '[I] feel like the content sticks in the head more easily' and 'I feel like I understand it more.'
By contrast, in talking about digital screens, students noted 'danger of distraction' and 'no concentration.'
Obviously, student perceptions are not the same thing as measurable learning outcomes.
And my research didn't probe connections between reading platforms and critical thinking.
However, a pattern did emerge: Print stood out as the medium for doing serious work.
Convenience is one big consideration: More than 40 percent of participants mentioned convenience (including easy access to materials) as what they liked most about reading onscreen
At the same time, we cannot ignore other factors impacting students' decisions about what reading platform to chose for school work.
Convenience is one big consideration: More than 40 percent of participants in my study mentioned convenience (including easy access to materials) as what they liked most about reading onscreen.
Money is another variable.
Students were highly conscious about differential prices for print and digital versions of reading materials, with cost often driving choice.
As one student put it: 'Cost rules everything around me.'
Many students revealed a mismatch between finances and learning.
When queried about which reading platform they would choose if cost were the same, 87 percent said 'print' for academic work.
We also need to keep in mind the growing trend for universities to adapt their curricula to fit the proverbial 'procrustean' bed of a digital world a world tailor-made for skimming, scanning and using the 'find' function rather than reading slowly and thoughtfully.
Professors now toy with ditching long or complex reading assignments in favor of short (or more straightforward) ones, moving closer to digital reading patterns in the nonacademic world.
This world hypes condensed versions of texts and shorter reading material that is bite-sized to begin with.
The question then is how can universities help students read text thoughtfully, reflectively, and without distraction on digital devices?
One key could be adaptation.
Research suggests students may be overconfident about what they are understanding when they read digitally.
Teaching them to be mindful in their digital reading (for instance, by writing down key words from the reading) may help in learning.
Another form of adaptation is happening in the realm of digital hardware and software.
Modern screens cause less eyestrain, and annotation programs continue to improve.
Some digital reading devices now come with tools enabling them to digitally approximate physical page flipping and multiple place-marking.
However, in my view, while short-and-to-the-point may be a good fit for digital consumption, it's not the sort of reading likely to nurture the critical thinking we still talk about as a hallmark of university education.
Most people feel displeasure when they hear the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard, or a knife scratching a plate.
While there isn't an English word to describe this feeling, Spanish speakers have a specific word for the feeling: Grima.
Grima can provoke phsyiologcal responses such as an increase in heart rate, and it is so unique that psychologists now say it is an emotional experience rather than a reflex - and as such could be treatable.
Grima is so unique that psychologists are even suggesting it's different from other emotions such as disgust
Dr Inge Schweiger Gallo, a researcher at Complutense University of Madrid and lead author of the study, told New Scientist that she studied grima for personal reasons.
'For as far as I can remember, Ive had problems touching foam rubber,' she said.
'Whenever I have to use it, for example, in packages, I try to ask somebody else to touch it for me.'
Dr Gallo and and team of researchers began their study by asking Spanish speakers what the word grima means to them.
Most people described it as an 'unpleasant sensation' and also used words such as 'shivering,' 'sounds' and 'repulsion'.
Things that made people feel grima included squeaking sounds, scratching things with fingernails and scratching surfaces.
GRIMA CAUSES A PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE The researchers studied the effect that grima-eliciting noises had on people's bodies. They found that when people had a grima response, their heart rates fell slightly and then increased sharply before going back to normal after approximately six seconds. However, when they heard sounds labelled disgusting on unpleasant, their reaction was different. Instead, the heart rate fell more sharply and went back to normal more steadily. But both grima sounds and disgusting or unpleasant sounds had an effect on skin conductance - when the skin momentarily becomes a better conductor of electricity - a sign of physiological change. Advertisement
They also said that grima was more unpleasant than disgust.
The researchers also studied English and German speakers, who both don't have a word for grima.
When they heard noises that elicited a grima response, their heart rates fell slightly and then increased sharply before going back to normal after approximately six seconds.
However, when they heard sounds labeled 'disgusting' or 'unpleasant', their reaction was different.
Instead, the heart rate fell more sharply and went back to normal more steadily.
But both grima sounds and 'disgusting' or 'unpleasant' sounds had an effect on skin conductance - when the skin momentarily becomes a better conductor of electricity - a sign of physiological change.
The Spanish participants were then asked to try to suppress their responses to grima sounds.
These participants then rated grima sounds as less unpleasant than before, but their ratings for 'disgusting' sounds didn't change.
The lead author of the research, Dr Inge Schweiger Gallo, said she studied grima for personal reasons. 'For as far as I can remember, Ive had problems touching foam rubber,' she said. 'Whenever I have to use it, for example, in packages, I try to ask somebody else to touch it for me,' she said
The researchers said that this suggests reactions to grima sounds aren't a reflex like they are for 'disgusting' sounds, but are instead an emotional experience that can be influenced by thought.
So, while grima has similarities to disgust, its triggers and effect on the body are different, and grima also has an effect on people who don't have a word for it in their language.
And although grima is mostly associated with certain sounds, it can also be triggered by the feel of certain materials such as cork, velvet or sponges.
Although grima is mostly associated with certain sounds, it can also be triggered by the feel of certain materials such as cork, velvet (pictured) or sponges
Researchers still don't know why grima noises trigger such a strongly unpleasant reaction, but a 2006 study led by Ig Nobel prize winner Dr Francis Fesmire found that sound frequencies in the middle of the audio range were most irritating and are similar to the warning cries of chimpanzees.
The researchers who conducted that study suggested that our reactions to grima sounds have their origins in predator-avoidance instincts from our evolutionary past.
Sounds in this frequency range, 2000-5000 Hz, cause the ear canal to resonate, so the sound transmits particularly efficiently.
Researchers have suggested that our reactions to grima sounds have their origins in predator-avoidance instincts back in our evolutionary past. Sounds in this frequency range, 2000-5000 Hz, cause the ear canal to resonate, so the sound transmits particularly efficiently. A 2012 study found that sounds in this range activate a part of the brain called the amygdala (pictured) which is involved in fearful responses and increases activity in the auditory cortex
A 2012 study found that sounds in this range activate a part of the brain called the amygdala which is involved in fearful responses and increases activity in the auditory cortex.
Another reason why grima sounds trigger such strong responses is because they sound rough and have the same effect as a when a person screams.
We have yet to explore all of what the ocean has to offer, but a recent find has suggested that aliens may have already beaten us to it - if a group of alien hunters are to be believed.
Thousands of miles below the North Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of California, lies what a Martian researcher believes is a two and a half mile wide crawling circle.
The conspiracy theorist has stated that the anomaly is under artificial control and is parked outside of what could be an alien base.
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Thousands of miles below the North Pacific Ocean lies what a Martian researcher believes is a two and a half mile long crawling circle. The conspiracy theorist has stated that the anomaly is under artificial control and is parked outside of what could be an alien base
A 'CRAWLING CIRCLE' Using the coordinates 4.250044,-28.712918 in Google Maps, Tyler with SecureTeam10 claims to have spotted a saucer-shaped object on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of California. Tyler believes the object is under some type of artificial control, intelligent control. It is 2.81 miles in diameter and has traveled at least 46 miles from its starting point. Tyler argues that if the object was a rock, the path would be straight. Where as this path is 'zig-zagging' on the sea-floor'. Advertisement
The latest sighting was published to the web by SecureTeam10, which is known for sharing bizarre and unexplained sightings.
As youre seeing here, we have some very strange lines that almost look like a large vehicle was moving on the bottom of the ocean, the YouTuber who goes by the name of Tyler said in the video.
Now some have said these are actually sonar lines created by oceans scanning the ocean floor.
However, some of these tracks definitely seem to be dug into the soil and are complete with shadows and basically look like massive trenches that arent just images artifacts or sonar readings or anything like that.
He zooms in on the saucer-shaped object that sits some 3,000 feet below the surface, which can been using the coordinates 4.250044,-28.712918 in Google Maps.
And surrounding the object appears to paths.
This looks dug into the sand and in middle of this long path, which heads over to this area that holds some very anomalous items, explained Tyler.
We see this large circular object and an obvious path created by this object.
Look at this thing zig-zagging, look at it moving around.
As youre seeing here, we have some very strange lines that almost look like a large vehicle was moving on the bottom of the ocean, the YouTuber who goes by the name of Tyler said in the video. Now some have said these are actually sonar lines created by oceans scanning the ocean floor'
He zooms in on the saucer-shaped object (pictured) that sits 3,000 feet below the surface, which can been using the coordinates 4.250044,-28.712918 in Google Maps. And surrounding the object appears to paths
So we have this pattern carved completely out of the bottom of the ocean soil and it leads up directly to this almost perfectly circular object.
According to the tools provided by Google Maps, the object is 2.81 miles long, which some may assume is a rock, but Tyler said if that was the case the path would be straight- not a zig-zag.
A two and a half mile long, circular object, which again, is a perfect circle, he said.
This looks dug into the sand and in middle of this long path, which heads over to this area that holds some very anomalous items, explained Tyler. We see this large circular object and an obvious path created by this object. Look at this thing zig-zagging, look at it moving around'
According to the tools provided by Google Maps, the object is 2.81 miles long (4.61km), which some may assume is a rock, but Tyler said if that was the case the path would be straight- not a zig-zag
What object this large is moving under the ocean, zig-zagging like this as if under some artificial control, intelligent control, he asked.
And measuring the path also raises questions as the object appears to have traveled 46 miles from its starting point.
Tyler points out other circular objects and doughnut-shaped objects along the trail to a larger structure, which he says it is like a driveway leading up to a mansion.
The perfect circle parked outside what could be an alien base appears to have something inside of it, but Tyler does not make a guess to what it could be.
'What is moving at the bottom of our ocean, he asked.
ABDUCTED BY ALIENS? IT MAY BE SLEEP PARALYSIS Agents Mulder and Scully may have said 'the truth is out there' in the X Files, but it may instead be buried inside the brains of people who claim they have been abducted by aliens. Those who believe they have had a close encounter of the so-called 'fourth kind' may suffer from false memories or sleep paralysis, a psychologist has claimed. A rare form of the condition, which can involve hallucinations or the feeling of being dragged out of bed, may explain 'alien abductions' that people sincerely believe happened but can't remember. Writing for The Psychologist, Christopher C French, of Goldsmiths, the University of London, who specializes in the psychology of paranormal belief and experiences, said there are plausible explanations for why people 'see' flying saucers and think they have been abducted. He noted that most of the people making these claims are clinically sane, but their belief in life in outer space may influence what they see or feel in strange situations. Advertisement
Tyler points out other circular objects and doughnut-shaped objects along the trail to a larger structure, which he says it is like a driveway leading up to a mansion
It is just scary to think a 2 and a half mile long object that is moving this way.
While were up staring at the sky all day, we have 90% of our oceans uncharted and Ive said it before, we have an alien system in our oceans.
Although many would argue that Tylers allegations are too bizarre to be true, he isnt the first alien hunter to make these claims.
Last June, Scott C Waring shared another sighting found using Google Earth that suggest a perfect pyramid lies under the Pacific Ocean just west of Mexico.
Marcelo Igazusta, a researcher in Argentina, was the first to lay eyes on the mysterious underwater structure, which was discovered last month.
Using the coordinates 12 8'1.49 'N 119 35'26.39' W, Igazusta claims to have spotted a beam of light shining from the darkness of the Pacific Ocean just west of Mexico - leading him to this 'monumental discovery'.
The perfect circle parked outside what could be an alien base appears to have something inside of it, but Tyler does not make a guess to what it could be
Well-known alien hunter, Scott C Waring, picked up the discovery today and shared it with his followers.
'It's a perfect pyramid that measures 8.5 miles across one side of its base,' Waring writes in his blog UFO Sightings Daily.
'That's a conservative estimate, it could be up to 11 miles across.'
The massive structure may be hard to make out, as it looks like a blur on the screen, but if you envision a pyramid and squint while looking at the area it might appear in front of your eyes.
What object this large is moving under the ocean, zig-zagging like this as if under some artificial control, intelligent control, Tyler asked. And measuring the path also raises questions as the object appears to have traveled 46 miles from its starting point
Waring explains that this 'perfect pyramid' is adjacent to the ancient Mayan and Aztec pyramids in Mexico.
Although the ancient pyramids were constructed by humans, Waring says 'Only aliens could accomplish makings such a massive structure' --referring to the one underwater.
'Even if this is not a UFO that landed in the ocean that was being used as an alien base, it is still a monumental discovery,' he writes.
'An 8.5 mile pyramid biggest the world has ever known.'
Google Earth may be the new go-to source to find evidence of alien life here one Earth.
New computer simulations reveal the shock wave created when a chunk of ice breaks off a glacier.
This shock wave causes sea ice to shift and can even spur widespread fracture, increasing the chances of subsequent breakage events.
Understanding these processes could help scientists to better predict how melting ice will contribute to sea-level rise.
When the first calving event happens, it sends a shock wave through the cluster of ice. At first, it causes compression, which later leads to slow expansion. This process is illustrated in the simulation above
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ICE BREAKS OFF When the first calving event happens (when ice breaks off from a glacier), it sends a shock wave through a cluster of sea ice known as the melange. At first, it causes compression, which later leads to slow expansion. As a result, the event can initiate widespread breakage of the sea ice. This reduces much of the pressure on the glacier terminus, increasing the risk of further calving. Advertisement
The new study from California Institute of Technology examined the effect of the melange breakup on iceberg calving or the process of shedding chunks of ice.
Melange is a floating aggregation of sea ice and icebergs, and scientists have long speculated that it may apply enough force on a glaciers terminus to suppress calving.
In the winter, the icebergs that make up the melange freeze together, creating a frozen iceberg logjam that prevents more material from breaking off.
But, as the weather gets warmer, the sea ice begins to thin, eventually allowing for the first calving event in the summer.
The new animation from Caltech reveals the effect of this process.
I developed a computer model that stimulates how the first iceberg calving of the warm season creates a shock wave that travels through the jammed melange, breaking it up, says Alexander Robel, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Postdoctoral Scholar and Stanback Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech.
The simulations are made to resemble the fjords in Greenland.
As the weather gets warmer, the sea ice begins to thin, eventually allowing for the first calving event in the summer. The animation shows how melange responds to pressure applied by the movement of a glacier
These are narrow channels of water prone to trapping melange.
Not only does the spring sea-ice breakup rely on the thickness of the ice in within the melange, but the simulations revealed the shape of the channel plays a role as well.
When the first calving event happens, it sends a shock wave through the cluster of ice.
At first, it causes compression, which later leads to slow expansion.
As a result, the event can initiate widespread breakage of the sea ice.
The new study from California Institute of Technology examined the effect of the melange breakup on iceberg calving or the process of shedding chunks of ice. Melange is a floating aggregation of sea ice and icebergs
This reduces much of the pressure on the glacier terminus, increasing the risk of further calving.
The process could eventually lead to rapidly rising sea levels, Robel explains.
If the rate of iceberg calving from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets accelerates, sea level rise may also accelerate to rates that could reach several metres per century over the next several centuries, Robel wrote in the study, published to Nature Communications.
Ocean and atmosphere warming in the Arctic have already caused longer periods of sea-ice-free conditions, which may lead to a transition from currently slow calving, predominantly occurring in the summer to rapid calving, occurring throughout the year.
There is, however, also the possibility that the increased runoff from the melting ice could create a layer of cold, fresh water, spurring the formation of more sea ice.
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Whether it's the thrill of bathing in the Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls or the chance to savour a cup of tea brewed at its Malaysian source that appeals more, there are incredible experiences out there to suit every type of traveller.
From encountering penguins in the Antarctic, to spotting tigers in India, from discovering Patagonia's otherworldly landscapes, to boarding the Hogwart's Express from the Harry Potter films, the experts at Lonely Planet Traveller have revealed the world's best 100 travel experiences in their latest issue.
As such, MailOnline Travel has selected 10 of the 100 highlights featured in Lonely Planet's April supplement, which celebrates its 100th issue.
Trek through Patagonia, Chile
The grandest sight of all is that of the peaks of Cuernos del Paine towering over the icy blue Lake Pehoe, above
A walk through Torres del Paine National Park brings one surreal landscape after another: a shock of turquoise lake floats beneath an emerald forest; chiselled rock towers soar nearly 2,000 metres out of the barren steppe.
Just 50 years ago, only sheep enjoyed these privileged views. Today, the former estancia (ranch) is Chiles premier national park.
Steppe, forest, Andean desert and shrubland are all found here, but the grandest sight of all is that of the peaks of Cuernos del Paine towering over the icy blue Lake Pehoe.
Torres del Paine ranks among South Americas most accessible parks, with clearly marked trails. Day walks offer a taste of the magic, but there are richer rewards for those who strap on their hiking boots for longer explorations.
Refugios, or trekkers huts, placed at five-hour trail intervals, mean that days end in a hot meal, warm shower and comfy bed.
Plan a trip to Torres del Paine with antarespatagonia.com, verticepatagonia.com and fantasticosur.com.
Balloon ride over Bagan, Myanmar
For a grand overview of Bagan, dreamiest of all is to take to the skies in a hot-air balloon and glide over the ancient city
In its heyday, between the 11th and the 13th centuries, Bagan at the heart of modern Myanmar was a rich and cosmopolitan place which had links with Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and China. Its wealth was invested in its religious buildings.
Only a fraction of the original city remains, but in their age and scale, the ruins are reminiscent of the Angkorean temples of Cambodia.
The temples are dotted across a plain, and visitors gravitate towards any lofty viewing spots towards sunset the odd hillock, or a balcony on one of the temples for a grand overview of Bagan. Dreamiest of all is to take to the skies in a hot-air balloon and glide over the ancient city.
Transinduss Essential Myanmar tour includes the option of a hot-air balloon ride over Bagan with transindus.co.uk.
Have a cuppa at the source, Malaysia
Spread out over 1,200 acres of gently rolling hills filled with waist-high tea plants, the Boh plantation is Malaysias most prolific producer of black tea
In tropical Malaysia, the Cameron Highlands are synonymous with three things: cooler temperatures, pastoral beauty and tea.
These hills got their name during the British colonial period, and much of the architecture still looks like a corner of Surrey transported more than 6,000 miles. The focus then, as now, was on the tea plantations.
Spread out over 1,200 acres of gently rolling hills filled with waist-high tea plants, the Boh plantation is Malaysias most prolific producer of black tea.
The hills stretch as far as the eye can see, punctuated only by gentle streams, water-wheels and the occasional building, including a mock Tudor mansion. In another, more modern space, visitors come to enjoy high tea with a view over the hills, and to watch the tea-pickers whose labour makes it all possible.
Find Cameron Highlands tours at cameronsecrets.com and authentic luxury at cameronhighlandsresort.com.
Board the Hogwart's Express, Britain
The Jacobite a steam-hauled service that has doubled as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films
The West Highland Line is the most beautiful railway route in Britain. It runs from Glasgow to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, before the final wild stretch to the west-coast port of Mallaig.
While the mountainous 122-mile GlasgowFort William leg is covered by modern trains (including the Caledonian Sleeper from London), the final 42 miles is courtesy of The Jacobite a steam-hauled service that has doubled as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films.
Crossing the majestic Glenfinnan Viaduct (pictured), theres a glimpse of Loch Shiel, before the train climbs through forests of ash, carpeted in a tartan of bluebells and bracken. Trailing clouds of steam, The Jacobite clatters through this mythical landscape, breathing hard.
Book tickets for The Jacobite at westcoastrailways.co.uk.
Drive a classic car in Amalfi, Italy
There are many rides for rent in Sorrento from dinky Fiat 500s to Jaguars, Ferraris and bright red Alfa Romeo Spiders
It is a fantasy straight out of a James Bond film: taking the hairpin bends of the road that runs along Italys Amalfi Coast in a classic convertible car.
There are many rides for rent in Sorrento from dinky Fiat 500s to Jaguars, Ferraris and bright red Alfa Romeo Spiders.
The cars hug the hot tarmac as they round the sharp corners. Above, craggy rock faces veer up to the sky; below, they plummet to the deep blue Tyrrhenian Sea.
Purring along at a moderate speed is the best way to take in the memorable views and, of course, not to mess up ones hair.
Spider Lifestyle rents out classic cars for Amalfi Coast drives at spiderlifestyle.com.
Step onto an Alpine Glacier, Switzerland
Its a rarer and still more awe-inducing experience to put crampons on your boots, rope yourself to a mountain guide and scale the glacier edge the height of a two-storey house to explore its strange and ever-changing surface
Switzerlands Aletsch Glacier is the biggest in the Alps at 14 miles in length.
Most visitors take in the view from above the car-free mountain villages of Bettmeralp and Riederalp without setting foot on this mighty river of ice, which moves about 30cm a day on average, and whose tongue is made from snow that fell 800 years ago.
Its a rarer and still more awe-inducing experience to put crampons on your boots, rope yourself to a mountain guide and scale the glacier edge the height of a two-storey house to explore its strange and ever-changing surface.
Here, streams of meltwater snake across the ice, and plunge into potholes with an echo from the frozen depths.
Explore the Aletsch Glacier with guides from nearby villages at aletscharena.ch.
Explore the temples of Angkor, Cambodia
On the vast site is the Bayon, where a forest of carved heads bestows vague smiles on visitors, and Ta Prohm, above, left much as the rest of Angkor once was, with silk cotton trees enveloping the ancient blocks of sandstone
In the Khmer language, Angkor simply means city. At its peak a thousand years ago, it was home to nearly a million people, and covered a greater area than any city before the Industrial Age.
This ancient metropolis at the Cambodia emerged from jungle-cloaked obscurity in the 19th century to astound Western imaginations, but locals had never completely abandoned its temples, some Hindu, some Buddhist in inspiration.
Angkor Wat is the most famous: its the worlds largest religious structure, a representation in stone of the Hindu universe and the star of a massive temple city built by dozens of rulers who considered themselves part god, part king. Monks still pray in its incense filled halls.
Elsewhere on the vast site is the Bayon, where a forest of carved heads bestows vague smiles on visitors, and Ta Prohm, left much as the rest of Angkor once was, with silk cotton trees enveloping the ancient blocks of sandstone.
Cox & Kings runs tours in the country focusing on Angkor and Siem Reap, visit coxandkings.co.uk.
Climb Sydney Bridge, Australia
Unlike most similar feats of engineering around the world, visitors scale Sydney Harbour bridges arch regularly and legally
From the inside, Sydney Harbour Bridge is a maze of steel. Known locally as The Coathanger, it has served as a symbol of the city ever since it opened in 1932.
And unlike most similar feats of engineering around the world, visitors scale the bridges arch regularly and legally. Dressed in blue-and-grey jumpsuits, led by guides and attached to a safety line, climbers head up through a lattice-like network of studded girders, as the city unfolds below.
Skyscrapers seem to crowd the waters edge at Circular Quay, which sweeps around to the jutting lip of land where the Sydney Opera House stands it joined the bridge as an Australian icon in the 60s.
From the crest of the arch, 134 metres high, Sydney is a 360-degree panorama of coves, cliffs, beaches and jetties, set around the broad, sparkling waters of the harbour.
Climbers have to leave their cameras along with other loose items in lockers at the start, but the guide is on hand to capture the moment.
Book a bridge climb at bridgeclimb.com.
Take a dip in the Devil's Pool, Zimbabwe
Brave travellers sit in pools right at the cataracts edge, such as Devils Pool reached from the Zambian side
Victoria Falls make their presence known from far across the bush.
First comes a faint rumbling, like rush hour traffic on a distant motorway; then, a low grey cloud comes into view, squatting on the horizon.
The full force of Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders) is apparent at the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, where the plains fall away.
From the rim, the Zambezi plunges 100 metres, hitting the ground so hard it creates a mist that rises a quarter of a mile through the air, like rain that has decided to fall upwards.
The visitors who wind their way along the paths that skirt the falls are soon drenched by spray. Others sit in pools right at the cataracts edge, such as Devils Pool, reached from the Zambian side.
Peering into the gorge ripped through the Earth, there is no sign of the bottom, just a boiling whirl of clouds, speared by a series of rainbows.
See victoriafallstourism.org for more details. Get a view of the falls from a helicopter with zambezihelicopters.com or explore in depth with &Beyond.
Climb up to Meteora's monasteries, Greece
These monasteries in northern Greece, such as Moni Agiou Rousanou, above, were the work of hermit monks, who scaled sheer cliff faces to their building sites.
Meteora looks like a place made not by man, but by a higher power that parted the skies and placed a few buildings on top of columns of rock.
These monasteries in northern Greece such as Moni Agiou Rousanou, were the work of hermit monks, who scaled sheer cliff faces to their building sites.
To them, Meteoras inaccessibility was an asset, a place of retreat from the bloody incursions of the Ottoman Empire, and offering a lofty seclusion that quite literally brought them closer to God.
These days, cliff faces are dotted with rock climbers: Meteora is one of the best places in the world to practice the sport.
The Greek adjective meteoros means suspended in the air, and though access to most of the monasteries is easier today, the sense of being removed from earthly shackles still runs strong.
On Foot Holidays runs a walking tour of Meteora with onfootholidays.co.uk.
Europe undoubtedly boasts some of the world's most awe-inspiring sights and tourist attractions.
But while guide books may praise such masterpieces as the Eiffel Tower and the Vatican, some tourists just aren't impressed.
From overcrowding and high prices to disappointment when confronted with their real size, travellers have taken to a US-based online forum to share what they believe are Europe's most overrated attractions.
Tower of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
'It's just... a not particularly notable tower that happens to be slanted, and not even as slanted as one might think,' said Matthew Gordon, from Toronto, Canada
Italy's famous 14th century leaning tower was in fact designed to be vertical but it began to tilt during construction. Today it attracts more than six million tourists a year.
But Matthew Gordon, from Toronto, Canada, was not impressed. 'I saw it on a tour in 2007,' he wrote on online forum Quora: 'I didn't want to bother with it...The tower was underwhelming.
'It's just... a not particularly notable tower that happens to be slanted, and not even as slanted as one might think. I don't recall being allowed to go inside. It's a one-minute photo op.'
Mona Lisa, Louvre Musem, Paris, France
Leonardo Da Vinci's iconic work of art is one of the most celebrated paintings in the world and is housed in the Louvre, which welcomes 7.3 million visitors in 2016.
But many visitors to the masterpiece are frequently let down by the size of the painting, the glass around it and the hordes of selfie-stick wielding tourists.
If you are struck by awe and rush to the Louvre in order to see the Mona Lisa, be prepared to have your heart shattered into a thousand pieces
Amey Apte, from Houston, US said: 'A very highly-hyped tourist attraction in Paris... It takes a long time to reach the esteemed location of the painting after navigating the near-endless labyrinth of this humongous museum and swarms of excited tourists.'
'What you do not expect,' added Mihnea Nastase, from Brussels, Belgium, 'is the painting being 30 by 21 inches. You dont expect to almost lose sight of the Gioconda due to the tens of tourists trying to snap a quick picture.'
'The painting is encased in bulletproof glass, with guards on both of its sides who are ready to face the never-ending tourist hordes.
'Even if you can get past the sinister atmosphere and try to enjoy the painting, you will probably be too far away to notice most of its details.'
Nastase finished with a dramatic flourish: 'If you are struck by awe and rush to the Louvre in order to see the Mona Lisa, be prepared to have your heart shattered into a thousand pieces and have them blown away by a gusty wind which will make each piece sink into the sands of time.'
Abbey Road, London
Abbey Road pedestrian crossing in northwest London was once made famous by the Beatles when they were photographed striding across it for the front cover of their 1969 album, Abbey Road.
Despite the road still being a busy thoroughfare for traffic the crossing has become a highly popular stop for photo opportunities - but not everyone is impressed
Danny Williams, who lives in Brazil, complained: 'Abbey road in London is the biggest waste of time for various reasons. It's just a road which you can cross. The crossing was moved so its not even the right place anymore. Its a busy road in London making it a dangerous place to take a picture'.
Stonehenge, Wiltshire
'I know that it's supposed to be pretty amazing since we don't know how it got there, but to be honest- it just looked like a pile of big rocks stacked,' said KM Hesley
Stonehenge and its iconic circle of stones - a masterpiece of engineering - is one of the wonders of the world and the best-known prehistoric monument in Europe.
But KM Hesley doesn't see why. He shared: 'The most overrated tourist destination that I have been to, would have to be Stonehenge.
'I know that it's supposed to be pretty amazing since we don't know how it got there, but to be honest- it just looked like a pile of big rocks stacked (Well, that's what it is). Anyways, I wouldn't really recommend driving out of your way to go see it.
'In England, there are so many other amazing and wonderful sites you can see, but Stonehenge is probably the most overrated.'
The Blarney Stone, Blarney, Ireland
Kissing Irelands famous Blarney Stone - an iconic stone is set in a wall of 15th century Blarney Castle - is said to give a person the gift of eloquence and persuasiveness.
James O'Connor, from Connecticut, US, certainly had a lot to say about it: 'Ireland is a fabulously friendly and beautiful country to visit, but this tourist ripoff is over the top goofy.
'After waiting forever to get up into the tower of a mostly demolished Blarney Castle near Cork, in Ireland, you get to lie on your back on the cold stones, crane your neck down through a hole in the floor and kiss a stone on the outer wall polished smooth from millions of previous guests doing the same thing; and you get to pay 12 Euros for the privilege last I knew the price.'
He added: 'So avoid this one. As the Irish would also say, "It's a load of malarkey."'
The Eiffel Tower, Paris. France
Paris's most recognisable monument was in fact supposed to only be a temporary attraction when it was erected in 1889 for the World Fair. It was saved when city officials noted its value as as a radiotelegraph station.
However, many people believe the iron structure is no asset to the city and something of an eyesore. Even famous 19th century author, Guy de Maupassant reportedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant everyday to avoid looking at it from the outside.
Alexander Martirosian, from Germany, appears to be of the same opinion, stating he disliked the monument for the following reasons: 'It is totally overcrowded, It is ridiculously expensive to go up, [there are] tons of pickpockets and you can see the tower from any building in Paris, the view right in front of it is actually not nice.'
Manneken Pis, Brussels, Belgium
'The statue is just plain and simple,nothing artistic about it. Its highly over rated tourist spot not worth your time,' Kunal Sathe, from Mumbai, India, said
This famous Brussels landmark translates literally to Little Man Pee and is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.
But Sudarshan Narayanan, from Chennai, India, seems to see no reason for its fame. 'Manneken Pis was clearly the biggest let down for me,' he wrote online, 'I went there expecting a big sculpture/ fountain, but realised to my dismay that the replicas of it that were sold in shops were bigger that the real one ( it was only about 60 cm tall). And I'd never have noticed it had my friend not pointed it out to me.
Kunal Sathe, from Mumbai, India, agreed: 'The statue is just plain and simple,nothing artistic about it. Its highly over rated tourist spot not worth your time and its damn crowded thru the day (sic).'
The Vatican, Rome, Italy
Vatican City in Rome houses St. Peter's Basilica,above, but travellers complained about overcrowding
Vatican City in Rome houses such gems as the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums and is home to the pope.
This doesn't mean Erin McLaughlin, from the US, was overawed - but it was her fellow visitors that were to blame.
'The Vatican might be the most frustrating tourist trap I've ever encountered,' she said. 'I wanted nothing more than to stop and wonder over all the interesting things the Church has, er, "acquired" over the years. But the Vatican is not a place where you will be able to stop and look at anything.
'Instead you will be railroaded straight through as though you are cattle going to the slaughter. I couldn't even enjoy the Sistine Chapel due to the sheer number of people and the physical force exerted by the crowd.
'I have never been so terrified of being trampled in my life. I'd go back, if someone convinced them to let in 1/10 as many people as they allow in on an average day - I was not there during high season.'
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If you're a fearful flier than these electrifying images of a lightning storm outside an aeroplane window are set to fill you with dread.
Off-duty pilot Santiago Borja Lopez captured the terrifying moment a bolt of lightning struck through the night sky over the Amazon rainforest.
The powerful shot shows a flash of white illuminating the inky-dark sky, with a sea of clouds ballooning around it.
These stunning images show you exactly why you should always ask for a window seat on a plane. An off-duty pilot recently captured an incredible view of a cloud-shattering storm - this shot was taken over the Ecuadorean Amazonia on a hot night en route to Europe
After taking this jaw-dropping snap from the cockpit of his passenger jet over Colombia Amazonia, he commented:'I've never seen lightning like this one. What sets the path of lightning?'
Mr Borja said that this shot was taken: 'Flying over the Colombian Amazonia about to enter Ecuadorian airspace to descend over the Andes into Guayaquil'
Based in Quito, Ecuador, his work for a major South American airline often involves flying over regions that experience amazing natural phenomenon.
Mr Borja said he had 'never seen lightning like it' before and incredibly he had his camera out at just the right time.
The pilot was flying on a commercial Boeing 767-300ER en route to Europe when the lightning suddenly struck.
During the flight Mr Borja also captured a range of other images, showing voluminous clouds which he said 'looked like a nuclear explosion'.
In images from other flights, the pilot captured menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes.
Otherwise known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus are the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning.
Although this storm looks formidable, Mr Borja said he never felt frightened while travelling past it. This picture won third place in the 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Award
An ominous storm over Panama City: Cumulonimbus clouds are created through convection, often growing from small cumulus clouds over a hot surface
Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. Otherwise known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus are the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lighting. Above, this snap was captured over Ecuador and Colombia
CUMULONIMBUS CLOUDS Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes. Otherwise known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus are the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning. The base of the cloud is often flat with a dark wall like feature hanging underneath, and may only lie a few hundred feet above the Earth's surface. Advertisement
The base of the cloud is often flat with a very dark wall like feature hanging underneath, and may only lie a few hundred feet above the Earth's surface.
Cumulonimbus clouds are created through convection, often growing from small cumulus clouds over a hot surface.
They get increasingly big until they represent huge powerhouses, storing the same amount of energy as 10 Hiroshima-sized atom bombs.
Although a storm he photographed in Panama looks formidable, Mr Borja said that he never felt frightened while travelling past it.
He has previously said: 'These days aircraft have advanced equipment to circle around storms this big without entering any dangerous zones.
'The storm may look close but it was actually several miles away.
'We did not even experience any turbulence the entire flight due to this storm - it was so easy to see and avoid that we circled around it very easily.'
Pilot and photographer, Santiago Borja, had to get the timing of his photography just right and capture the storm when it was illuminated by a flash of lighting. Above, this snap was captured over the Colombian rainforest
Mr Borja said this shot was taken on 'one of those clear days over Miami'. The base of the cloud is often flat with a very dark wall like feature hanging underneath, and may only lie a few hundred feet above the Earth's surface
Cumulonimbus clouds are created through convection, often growing from small cumulus clouds over a hot surface. They get taller and taller until they represent huge powerhouses, storing the same amount of energy as 10 Hiroshima-sized atom bombs
Mr Borja said of this image: 'Mooning Around - At 2900m in Quito, Ecuador, this is what I call a supermoon'
Describing the Panama pictures, he added: 'I felt a great sensation of admiration and respect as I took the photographs, you can feel the great power of the storm as it continuously flashes out the entire sky around it.
'It is purely illuminated by a single lightning generated inside the storm. The rest of the time it is so dark you cannot see anything but a few stars.'
Mr Borja started capturing his in-flight experiences some time ago. His voyages are documented via Instagram and his website. He now carries his camera everywhere, just to get the perfect shot when it strikes.
When John Mellencamp swung by The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday, he dished about his still troubled relationship with his ex-girlfriend Meg Ryan.
The 65-year-old musician admitted that he loved the actress but she is not exactly a fan of his after their relationship ended.
Mellencamp said: 'Oh, women hate me. I loved Meg Ryan. She hates me to death.'
The pair reportedly dated from 2011 until August 2014, whereupon they briefly broke up, and they then reunited two months later only to split again in 2015.
The wound hasn't healed: When John Mellencamp swung by The Howard Stern Show, he dished about his still troubled relationship with his ex-girlfriend Meg Ryan, expressing his 'love' for her but saying: 'She hates me to death'
Though he's attempted to clear the air between them since their final rift, 'She just doesnt want anything to do with me. And I don't blame her.'
He'd been explaining to Stern and his co-host Robin Quivers that 'women hate me,' musing: 'I think its because Im a child.'
The Indiana native expanded on his self-description: 'I throw fits, I gripe, I complain. Im moody. Every bad thing that a fella can be, thats me.'
The history: The pair reportedly dated from 2011 until August 2014, whereupon they briefly broke up, and they then reunited two months later only to split again in 2015; they are pictured here in May of 2011
Before dating Ryan, he'd had three marriages: to Priscilla Mellencamp from 1970 to 1981, Victoria Granucci from 1981 to 1989 and Elaine Irwin from 1992 to 2011.
'I was married to Elaine for 20 years. Elaine and I are still good friends,' he said, revealing at one point: 'Other than Elaine, of all the girls, [Meg] was fantastic.'
He'd also dated Christie Brinkley from September 2015 until last August, the upshot being that 'We're still friends' who 'still talk.'
Still amicable: He'd also dated Christie Brinkley from September 2015 until last August, the upshot being that 'We're still friends' who 'still talk'; they are pictured last May
When Quivers brought it to his attention that a number of women who've dated him don't 'hate' him, he clarified that 'They hate me when they're with me.'
At another point, however, he did share a warm memory of his relationship with Ryan, which had occurred once each of them were past their peaks of fame.
On public notoriety, 'She said it best. She says: "John, we've both already been to the moon, we don't need to go back,"' Mellencamp recalled on The Howard Stern Show.
He previously vowed to keep his romance with Rachael Lee private.
And Braith Anasta, 35, has revealed why he is reluctant to discuss his personal life, telling Kyle and Jackie O on Thursday that his experience with ex Jodi Anasta scarred him.
'I keep it private because I've sort of been there done that before and it didn't work out too well,' he said.
Tight-lipped: Braith Anasta, 35, has revealed why he is reluctant to discuss his personal life, telling Kyle and Jackie O on Thursday that his experience with ex Jodi Anasta scarred him
'People do get scarred by it ... I'm not embarrassed at all - you just give so much and everyone knows your business and it comes back to bite you.'
In January, the former NRL star said he is 'extremely happy' dating Bondi personal trainer Rachael.
'Rachael and I are extremely happy together but we will be keeping this private,' he told The Daily Telegraph.
Content: In January, the former NRL star said he is 'extremely happy' dating Bondi personal trainer Rachael
'You learn from your past relationships. Happiness is all I want. I've learnt over the years it is good to keep some things private so we are doing that.'
Braith and Neighbours star Jodi announced their separation in 2015 after three years of marriage and six months later, he was linked to single mum Rachael.
Earlier this week, the Fox presenter was left red-faced after media personality Matty Johns mocked his split from Jodi as he co-hosted the network's new 24-hour NRL channel.
Awkward: Earlier this week, the Fox presenter was left red-faced after media personality Matty Johns mocked his split from Jodi as he co-hosted the network's new 24-hour NRL channel
Putting him on the spot: 'I've got to tell you though Tara, marriage is tough, and Braith you'll back me up on that. Isn't it true?' Matty said
Matty was congratulating fellow presenter Tara Rushton on her engagement to Melbourne Storm player Cooper Cronk when he turned to Braith.
'I've got to tell you though Tara, marriage is tough, and Braith you'll back me up on that. Isn't it true?' he pointedly said.
Braith, who shares a three-year-old daughter with ex Jodi, managed to laugh off the awkward moment.
'Very tough. No advice from me Matty, don't be asking me any questions,' he replied.
His father Richard is known to be a charmer with the ladies.
And on Thursday's Kyle and Jackie O Show, son 'Prince' Christian Wilkins, was quizzed on the Today show reporter's long-reported rumoured fling in the past, with Hollywood actress Eva Mendes, 42.
'I didn't realise it was public knowledge,' the 21-year-old socialite joked, after being probed by co-host Kyle Sandilands on the size of his 62-year-old father's manhood.
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'I didn't realise it was public knowledge': Prince Wilkins joked about father Richard's 'rumoured fling' with Eva Mendes on the Kyle and Jackie O show on Thursday
Probing: 'Who's that girl that he dated?' Kyle asked Christian, adding: 'It was a secret, a movie star'
'Who's that girl that he dated?' Kyle asked Christian, adding: 'It was a secret, a movie star'.
'Eva Mendes,' Jackie O, interjected.
'What's the go with that?' Kyle prompted Christian, who replied jokingly: 'I didn't even actually realise it was public knowledge, so there you go'.
It has long been rumoured that Today entertainment reporter Richard has hooked up with actress Eva Mendes in the past.
Richard is rumoured to have had several encounters with the now mother-of-two, who is now happily in a relationship with actor Ryan Gosling, in the past as part of his reporting duties for the Today show.
Channel Nine confirmed to ninemsn.com that Christian was joking during the chat.
Meanwhile, Richard has long had a reputation for being quite the ladies' man.
Ladies' man: Richard has had a string of relationships with high-profile personalities in the past. He welcomed his son Christian with his second wife Michelle Burke
The showbiz reporter previously dated actress Rebecca Gibney when they were both younger.
The 52-year-old beauty revealed she'd been 'madly in love' with the charismatic character at the time.
'I gave him a rose and he took it on the plane and I said "I'll see you soon sweetheart".'
'He gave the rose to the flight attendant who he was having a fling with!' she confessed to Nova 96.9's Fitzy and Wippa last year.
The journalist has had a string of high-profile relationships with other Australian personalities including Totti Goldsmith and Collette Dinnigan, with whom he had his youngest child, Estella.
Christian was born to Richard and his second wife Michelle Burke.
She's a dedicated follower of fashion.
And Emma Roberts made quite the arrival as she landed in Paris on Wednesday in time for the remainder of Paris Fashion Week.
The Scream Queens star dressed casually but stood out thanks to her statement shades as she made her way through the crowds with her celebrity stylist pal Brit Elkin.
Touching down: Emma Roberts made quite the arrival as she landed in Paris on Wednesday in time for the remainder of Paris Fashion Week
The niece of Oscar-winner Julia Roberts was casual for her travels in a pink turtleneck sweater that featured a scalloped collar.
She completed the look with black trousers and boots.
She kept any sign of tiredness hidden after her long flight from LA to Paris with her dark shades, while a slick of lip colour brightened up her look.
Best pals: The Scream Queens star dressed casually but stood out thanks to her statement shades as she made her way through the crowds with her celebrity stylist pal Brit Elkin
Looking chic: The niece of Oscar-winner Julia Roberts was casual for her travels in a pink turtleneck sweater that featured a scalloped collar
Coming through: Emma held tight onto her friend's arm as they navigated the busy airport
For her appearance at the 89th Academy Awards, Emma worked with partners Brit and Kara Elkin, who also styled Priyanka Bose of the Oscar-nominated film Lion at the ceremony.
Emma arrived at the award show in a spectacular Armani Prive gown that supported eco-conscious fashion through the organization Red Carpet Green Dress.
'@kakeykake & I are so excited to be supporting eco conscious fashion w @redcarpetgreendress, dressing these 2 strong & beautiful women for the Oscars #oscars2017 #oscars2017,' Britt explained on Instagram.
Pretty in pink! The Scream Queens actress was casual for her travels as she departed LA in the same look the day before
Frequent flyer fashion: The niece of Julia Roberts was smartly dressed in trousers and boots
Friends with benefits: Emma and Brit are best friends and collaborators on Emma's red carpet style
Glowing: Emma had a pep in her step after a glamorous Oscar weekend
The vintage plunging couture dress originally debuted in Paris in January 2005. It incorporates embroidered crystals and jet beads featured in a two-tiered skirt.
Emma later changed into another green fashion ensemble, also vintage Armani Prive, when she arrived alongside beau Evan Peters at the Vanity Fair Oscar-night party.
Going green! Emma hit the Oscar red carpet in a eco-friendly recycled gown styled by Brit and Kara Elkin that supported Red Carpet Green Dress
He's been enjoying a blossoming new romance with girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough.
And Today show host Karl Stefanovic, 42, was uncharacteristically lost for words on Thursday, when guest Tom Gleeson took a jibe at his love life on Thursday.
The normally talkative Channel Nine host took an awkward pause after the comedian joked about him making headlines recently.
Awkward: Karl Stefanovic was uncharacteristically lost for words on Thursday, when Today show guest Tom Gleeson took a jibe at his love life
'I always find it fascinating to watch you when you really go for that jugular on someone, and they don't know,' Karl said.
The pair were discussing Tom's Hard Chat segment on ABC's The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, when he playfully blindsided the TV presenter.
'Like they don't see it coming. I could do that for you right now, Karl, I reckon we should have a second session actually now that you're back in the papers,' he chuckled.
Shock: The normally talkative Channel Nine host took an awkward pause after the comedian joked about him making headlines recently
'I always find it fascinating to watch you when you really go for that jugular on someone, and they don't know,' Karl said to which Tom replied: 'Like they don't see it coming. I could do that for you right now, Karl, I reckon we should have a second session actually now that you're back in the papers ... I just feel like we'd have a lot to chat about'
Smitten: The awkward moment comes just days after Karl, 42, and Los Angeles-based model Jasmine, 33, were pictured grabbing McDonald's in Bondi
'I just feel like we'd have a lot to chat about.'
A shocked Karl paused before pretending to hang up the phone, saying 'boop, boop.'
His co-host Lisa Wilkinson could also be seen laughing: 'Don't take his call,' she joked.
Happy: According to a recent Woman's Day story, Karl and Jasmine are now 'so committed to each other' they are 'looking for a place to rent together in Sydney'
Tom tried to justify his comment, saying: 'Look you opened the goal and I just kicked it right through.'
At this point, Karl managed to laugh it all off saying, 'Its like 10-nil.'
The awkward moment comes just days after Karl and Los Angeles-based model Jasmine, 33, were pictured grabbing McDonald's in Bondi.
The pair, who have not publicly confirmed romance reports, are believed to have picked up fast food last month before heading back to their love nest at the luxurious QT hotel.
A day prior, they were seen enjoying an outing aboard a luxury boat in Sydney.
According to a recent Woman's Day story, Karl and Jasmine are now 'so committed to each other' they are 'looking for a place to rent together in Sydney.'
The TV host confirmed his split from wife of 21 years Cassandra Thorburn in September.
The estranged couple share three children: Jackson 16, Ava, 11, and River, 10.
The Royal House Of Windsor
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Protocol dictates that no commoner may lay a hand on a royal person. Its a rule that courtiers occasionally have to impress on presidents and deluded celebs who imagine their status entitles them to a matey hug or a cuddle.
But a rare film clip, shot on board a Navy flagship in 1947 and revealed on The Royal House Of Windsor (C4), showed a cheeky midshipman really chancing his yardarm, by giving the 20-year-old Princess Elizabeth a saucy pat on the bottom.
Note to Young Hornblower: that is not whats meant by all hands on the lower deck.
The Royal House Of Windsor is a six-part series from Channel 4 that takes an in-depth look at the history of the family
The future Queen and her younger sister, 16-year-old Princess Margaret, were sailing to South Africa with their parents for their first royal tour, aboard HMS Vanguard.
Newsreels captured an exuberant game of tig, with the princesses in floral-print dresses and the officers in immaculate whites, dodging in and out amid fits of giggles.
The heir to the throne couldnt have objected very much to the hands-on style. She wrote of the 1,700-man crew to her former nanny, Marion Crawford: There are one or two real smashers, and I bet youd have a wonderful time if you were here.
Amid the recent glut of royal documentaries and dramatisations, this series stands out for the unexpected excellence of its sources. The archive footage is often being shown on TV for the first time, such as the colour film of the Royal Familys arrival at Capetown in blistering 40c heat.
Some sizzling quotes have been uncovered, too. We heard Labours Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Daltons withering verdict on George VI in 1946: As inanimate as an animate monarch could be.
But there was also royal photographer Cecil Beatons brilliant summary of the Queen Mothers personality a marshmallow made on a welding machine.
The most incisive insights came from the diary of the Kings private secretary, Sir Alan Tommy Lascelles. The handwritten pages, also never seen before on television, described Georges fits of rage and frustration, when he ground his teeth and shook his fists at the heavens.
Lascelles had a codeword for these outbursts: Gnashville.
It was moving to discover that the Kings temper was tried not only by his failing health and fears for the Empire, but by his fury at racial segregation in South Africa.
When he learned he was not permitted to pin medals on the chests of black troops, because they were unclean, he seethed that the government lackeys were like the Gestapo and he wanted to shoot them all. Good-humoured and reasonable as always, his wife the Queen soothed him: You cant shoot all of them.
Benidorm
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At quite the other end of the social scale, the erstwhile queen of Brookside, Doreen Corkhill, made a sparkling turn as Benidorm (ITV) returned.
Actress Kate Fitzgerald, best-known to viewers with long memories as chancer Billy Corkhills missus in that long-gone Scouse soap, bowled up as a randy gran downing shots at a tacky tourist disco.
The fun of Benidorm is not the set-up, which went stale long ago, or the toilet gags, which were cruder and smellier than ever.
Nigel Havers (right) made an appearance as a dodgy dentist in Benidorm last night
Its the superb ensemble cast, led by Sherrie Hewson as hotel manager Joyce by turns snooty and formidable, like the love child of Hyacinth Bucket and Henry Cooper.
Nigel Havers dropped in, as a dodgy dentist. His lounge lizard manner makes anything sound suggestive Nige was born for Benidorm.
She's the Melbourne-born supermodel with roots in the Middle East.
And Shanina Shaik is proudly representing her cultural heritage on the new cover of Harper's Bazaar Arabia, shot by famed photographer Ellen von Unwerth.
The 26-year-old stars alongside Moroccan-born Hind Salhi and Tunisian-born Hanaa Ben Abdesslem for the publication's 10th anniversary issue.
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Stunning: Shanina Shaik is proudly representing her cultural heritage on the new cover of Harper's Bazaar Arabia, shot by famed photographer Ellen von Unwerth
Shanina posted the cover to her Instagram account on Thursday and her fans rushed to the comments section to show their support.
'THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!!' one wrote. 'I'm so glad they put Arab females on an Arab cover.'
Shanina's father was born in Singapore with Pakistani and Saudi Arabian ancestry.
Culturally diverse: Shanina's father was born in Singapore of Pakistani and Saudi Arabian background
The Victoria's Secret model opened up to Life and Times in 2014 about growing up in Australia and having no fashion models to look up to as a teenager.
'I get asked all the time about who inspired me growing up and I cant give one name,' she described. 'I never saw anyone who related to me.'
She's now confident her status as one of the world's most in-demand models is contributing to the changing ideals of what being Australian looks like.
Empowering: She's now confident her status as one of the world's most in-demand models is contributing to the changing ideals of what being Australian looks like
'Myself and others are changing the perception of what it means to be Australian and I couldnt be more proud,' she expressed.
The brunette beauty turned heads over the weekend at Sir Elton John's Academy Awards viewing party.
She then wowed on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, stunning in a sparkling black gown that accentuated her slender figure.
She's rumoured to have split with her girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon who she met during her time on The Bachelor.
And now Megan Marx has broken her silence, telling Daily Mail Australia exclusively week: 'I've had a pretty rough couple of weeks.'
The 27-year-old Bali-based beauty has been on holiday with friends in Indonesia while Tiffany returned to their hometown of Perth last week.
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'I've had a pretty rough couple of weeks': The Bachelor's Megan Marx, 27, broke her silence after rumours she's split with girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon, in an exclusive statement to Daily Mail Australia this week
'I've had a pretty rough couple of weeks so it was the perfect break,' Megan told Daily Mail Australia of the trip.
The blonde bombshell used a photo shoot in Flores, Indonesia, to no doubt keep her mind off the challenging time.
Photos saw Megan smouldering in front of the camera, covering her assets with her arms, and posing by a tree on a beach.
No longer? Megan and Tiffany - who connected after failing to find love with The Bachelor's Richie Strahan - recently moved to Bali together
Megan and Tiffany - who connected after failing to find love with The Bachelor's Richie Strahan - recently moved to Bali together.
The pair have been dating for eight months, but recently hinted that things could possibly be over for them.
Tiffany surprisingly returned to Australia last month, and shared a cryptic post to Instagram that saw her looking out at the beach.
'Creature comforts': Tiffany hinted at the possibility of a split, sharing a cryptic post to Instagram that saw her looking out at the beach, captioned with hash-tags 'back home' and 'lost in life'
In happier times: Megan and Tiffany - who connected after failing to find love with The Bachelor's Richie Strahan - recently moved to Bali together
The 30-year-old said she was 'back home' and 'lost in life,' calling her two pet dogs her 'creature comforts.'
This week, Tiffany was also seen belting out Adele's Rolling in the Deep, singing the lyrics: 'we could of had it all.'
Megan also shared a snap a week ago to her Instagram, that saw her posing on a boat and claiming she needed 'solitude.'
Not shy: After their run on The Bachelor Australia, the blonde bombshells were known for their scantily-clad displays on Instagram
All for show? Another image previously shared to Instagram, saw the reality stars embracing on a bed
Fans took to both ladies' comments section to share their thoughts on the perceived break-up.
'Im broken-hearted,' one supporter wrote to Tiffany.
'Hard to assume but the sign says you arent together anymore. I really thought you were my #relationshipgoal.'
She stars in the highly anticipated miniseries When We Rise, which documents the history of the gay-rights movement.
And Rachel Griffiths has hit out at the current political climate in Australia and said she believes the series will spark up much-needed conversation about marriage equality in Australia.
'Our most vulnerable are being scapegoated as the reason for whatever imagined difficulties we are having,' the Australian actress told OK! magazine.
Speaking out: Australian actress Rachel Griffiths believes 'our most vulnerable are being scapegoated' in the current political climate, as she spoke with OK! magazine about her new miniseries When We Rise
The Brothers and Sisters star added: 'There seems to be a global movement to animate our 'fear brain'. There's anxiety, and the tendency to pick on the weaker individuals.'
Rachel shot to fame in the 1994 smash Muriel's Wedding, and has maintained a successful acting career for over two decades, most recently starring in the Oscar winning film, Hacksaw Ridge.
And When We Rise looks set to be another hit for the 48-year-old, who is one of a long list of big names appearing in the four-part-series alongside Mary Louise Parker, Whoopi Goldberg and Guy Pearce.
New role: The much anticipated four-part series also stars Whoopi Goldberg and fellow Australian Guy Pearce
Rachel also revealed to OK! that she is close with fellow Australian co-star Guy, with the two both living in close proximity in Melbourne.
'We bump into each other at airports, markets... all the Melbourne boltholes where we can hide out on the other side of the world,' she told the publication.
However, despite recently relocating home to Australia, Rachel stunned on Sunday night in Hollywood, stepping out to attend Elton John's post-Oscars bash.
Hollywood favourite: Despite recently relocating home to Australia, the brunette beauty dazzled at Elton John's post-Oscars bash
The brunette beauty wore a black gown with a thigh-high split as she dazzled on the red carpet.
Married since 2002 to artist Andrew Taylor, mum-of-three Rachel is protective of her private life , but revealed to the publication that the family just welcomed a French bulldog named Rhino into their family.
'Everything they do with the dog delights me,' the star said of her three children, Adelaide, Clementine and Banjo.
She's making a name for herself in the modelling world, following in her famous sister Kate's footsteps.
And Lottie Moss proved she has an eye for style as she rocked a glam look away from the runway on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old looked gorgeous in a tiny black mini dress and over-the-knee boots as she enjoyed a girls' night out with Made In Chelsea star Frankie Gaff.
Girls' night out: Lottie Moss proved she has an eye for style as she rocked a glam look away from the runway on Wednesday
Lottie flaunted her trim pins, despite the chilly temperatures, in her skimpy choice of dress.
She added a pair of black suede boots and made some concession to the cold with a cosy furry jacket.
Clutching her phone and a small bag, Lottie styled her locks into loose waves.
Leggy: The 19-year-old looked gorgeous in a tiny black mini dress and over-the-knee boots as she enjoyed a girls' night out with Made In Chelsea star Frankie Gaff
Not feeling the cold? Lottie flaunted her trim pins, despite the chilly temperatures, in her skimpy choice of dress
Cosy coat: She added a pair of black suede boots and made some concession to the cold with a furry jacket
Her pal Frankie chose a more dressed down look, opting for leggings, trainers and a denim jacket.
Meanwhile, Lottie decided to treat herSnapchat followers to a new bikini selfie over the weekend.
The budding model posed for the saucy snap on Sunday wearing just a coral crochet bikini, pushing down her floral shirt so it only covered her arms.
Lottie, 19, showed off her tattoo in the picture, a row of three sparrows fluttering across her torso, similar to her supermodel sister Kate's tattoo of two sparrows at the base of her spine.
Going casual: Her pal Frankie chose a more dressed down look, opting for leggings, trainers and a denim jacket
Saucy selfie: Lottie flaunted her trim figure in a pink crochet bikini in the sexy image which she shared with her Snapchat followers on Sunday
Lottie's coral bikini, from swimwear designers Bamba, featured a tiny white daisy sewn onto the bottoms and was secured around the model's slender hips with ties.
She wore her blonde locks loose in a tousled bed-head style in the scintillating snap.
The Topshop model has had a busy few weeks, appearing in London, New York and Milan Fashion Weeks and attending their glitziest parties.
And on Saturday the jet-setter was in Hollywood at the Bvlgari pre-Oscar Celebration at the iconic Chateau Marmont Hotel.
She turned heads in a ruched dove grey shirt dress as she arrived at the star-studded dinner.
Jet-setter: After New York, London and Milan Fashion Weeks Lottie attended the Bvlgari pre-Oscar Celebration at the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Saturday
Showing no sign of jet lag, the British model showcased her flawless glowing complexion under minimal make-up, accentuating her eyes with lashings of mascara.
The thigh-skimming ensemble showed off her long lithe legs.
Featuring button detail cap sleeves, she accessorised with a delicate necklace and a chain strap clutch.
Legs-eleven: The model sister of Kate Moss, 19, flaunted her legs in a ruched dove grey shirt dress at the glitzy event
Lottie, who is dating Made In Chelsea's Alex Mytton, posted plenty of snaps from Milan Fashion Week, including a picture with Bella Hadid, Winnie Harlow and Jasmine Sanders at the Bvlgari Dinner Party, calling the models 'my @bulgariofficial girls'.
The saucy bikini selfie is not the first time Lottie has shared a picture of herself in a skimpy outfit on social media.
The beauty thrilled her followers when she posted a picture of herself kneeling on a bed sporting a black lacy bra, matching knickers and suspenders.
Lottie threw a lilac silk cover-up over her shoulders and played with her tousled blonde locks in the image, which she captioned: 'Mondays are for being lazy'.
Suspenders: Lottie thrilled fans when she posted a picture of herself kneeling on a bed, sporting black lacy underwear and suspenders
On holiday in Barbados, the social media savvy star went one step further, posting a stream of pictures of herself in a very skimpy bikini.
In one snap, she glanced over her shoulder while flaunting her toned bottom in a thong.
The cheeky model captioned the image: 'Let me know when u have seen enough pics of my bum' (sic)
Cheeky: Lottie flaunted her bottom in a snap from her holiday in Barbados. She captioned the saucy image: 'Let me know when u have seen enough pics of my bum' (sic)
They've been making an impression in the US touring with Ariana Grande.
And it looks like America has made an impression on Little Mix too, with the girls dressing as cowgirls in a new Instagram video message to their fans.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall looked thrilled to tell their supporters that their latest single from album Glory Days will be No More Sad Songs featuring Machine Gun Kelly.
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Yee-haw! It looks like touring America has made an impression on Little Mix, with the girls dressing as cowgirls in a new Instagram video message to their fans
Accompanying the video was the message: 'You guys have shown us so much so we had to give you something back!! We are SO excited to announce that our next single is.... #NoMoreSadSongs and this special version will feature the one and only @MachineGunKelly Cant wait for you to hear it on Friday!'
Both Perrie and Jade rocked stetsons for the short clip, with the latter also wearing a stars and stripes bikini and Daisy Dukes.
Showing off her toned midriff in a tiny black crop top, Perrie sported some skintight snakeprint trousers.
Excited: Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall looked thrilled to tell their supporters that their latest single from album Glory Days will be No More Sad Songs featuring Machine Gun Kelly
Leigh-Anne put on a very busty display in a plunging denim top with matching hotpants, while Jesy looked great in a black leather top and camo hotpants which highlighted her slender thighs.
On Wednesday the girls attended a CD signing at FYE in a Philadelphia shopping mall.
Dressed more conservatively than in their Instagram announcement, the girls put on a close display as they prepared to greet fans.
Meet and greet: On Wednesday the girls attended a CD signing at FYE in a Philadelphia shopping mall
Perrie sported thick-rimmed glasses and a tidy updo for the occasion, while her three bandmates all opted for variations on the jumper dress.
Little Mix are no doubt still on a high from scooping the Best Single award at the BRITs for their break up anthem Shout Out To My Ex.
Battling it out in a star-studded category, the victory was made all the more sweeter by the group pipping Perrie's ex Zayn Malik to the title.
Amy Schumer revealed during a chat show appearance Wednesday that she taped her latest stand-up special before the US presidential election.
'It's kind of good. I was still feeling some joy and had this thing ''hope'' in my body,' she said on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
The 35-year-old comedienne said her Netflix stand-up show Amy Schumer: The Leather Special was taped in Denver.
Stand-up special: Amy Schumer appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday to promote her upcoming Netflix stand-up special
'Every comic I love wore leather and later regretted it,' Amy told Seth.
Seth, 43, asked if her leather outfit was squeaky.
'No. I have a complete thigh gap,' Amy said in a self-deprecating quip.
The Trainwreck star wore a long-sleeved black blouse and matching trousers for her appearance on the NBC chat show.
Before election: The comedienne revealed that Amy Schumer: The Leather Special was taped before the US presidential election
Chat show: Seth welcomed Amy to the NBC chat show
She accessorized with a white string bow around her neck and asked Seth to be on 'bow watch' since she tied it herself.
Amy also talked about her group of gal pals who she's been friends with since middle school and high school in Long Island.
Seth showed photos of Amy on vacation with her friends in the Bahamas.
Self-deprecating humor: Amy joked about having a 'complete thigh gap' and being 'frail'
Leather special: The Trainwreck star said her favorite comics have worn leather so she did also
Amy said that since she's 'like rich now' her friends expect paid vacations from her.
'If I don't take them twice a year, they're like ''You've changed'',' Amy said.
Amy also shared that she's going to be on Family Feud with her kin.
Group vacations: Amy talked about going on group vacations with her longtime friends
'My family lives for Family Feud,' she said.
She said her family unlike others do not say 'Good answer' no matter what the response.
'My brother had an answer and we were kind of ''What's your problem?'',' Amy said.
Game time: Seth held up a photo of Amy and her family wearing matching jackets for Family Feud
She and her family wore team jackets with stitching on the back reading Let's Play The Feud.
'Best day of my life,' Amy said.
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special will be available Tuesday, March 7, on Netflix.
Katherine Jackson, mother of the late Michael Jackson, has told a court that she is too afraid of her nephew-in-law Trent Lamar Jackson to return to her home in Los Angeles.
According to the NY Daily News, the Jackson matriarch, who is 86, said in legal documents filed Wednesday that she is 'under a doctor's care' in London, England, 'in part because of the stress this situation with Trent is causing me.'
She was granted a temporary restraining order February 9 against Trent after alleging she is the victim of elder abuse and that he has neglected her health needs.
Living in fear: Katherine Jackson, 86, (pictured in 2014) has said she is too afraid of her nephew-in-law Trent Jackson to leave London and return home to Calabasas, California
Trent, 52, who is related to Katherine via her husband Joe's side of the family, had been living in a guest house in the grounds of her Calabasas, California, home after serving for years as her personal driver.
Katherine states in her filing that she was bullied by Trent and resorted to desperate measures to escape his constant monitoring.
'I believe he has put cameras and bugs in my home, so the only place I can try and have a private conversation is in my bathroom,' she wrote.
She also claimed, according to TMZ, that she believes Trent has copied the key to her bedroom door, and she gets dressed in her closet out of fear he will walk in on her unexpectedly.
'I used to be very social with my friends, like playing Scrabble, walking around in the park, sharing meals, but Trent has given them various reasons why I am not available,' she added.
Court order: Katherine claimed Trent, 52, (pictured) placed 'cameras and bugs' in her home. A judge in LA Wednesday refused Trent's request to void a temporary restraining order against him obtained by Katherine on February 9 after she claimed to be the victim of elder abuse
Trent, the son of Joe Jackson's half-brother, attended a court hearing in LA Wednesday seeking to have the TRO against him removed.
The temporary restraining order banned Trent from using Katherine's credit cards, staying in the guest house and coming within 100 yards of her.
He claimed through his lawyer he is not a threat to Katherine, the NY Daily News reported.
The judge denied his motion to dismiss and set another court hearing for March 23.
It's complicated: Katherine is the mother of late superstar Michael Jackson and was by his side during his 2005 molestation trial as was his father Joe Jackson, pictured March that year
In a sworn statement, Katherine's daughter Rebbie, who is with her in London, said that Trent failed to call paramedics when her mother 'passed out' as Trent was driving her to Las Vegas.
'Instead of calling an ambulance, Trent called one of my nephews who told him to take her to the hospital,' Rebbie wrote.
'The doctors at the hospital said she was dehydrated and had high blood pressure. Instead of bringing her home where she wanted to be, Trent took her to a hotel in Santa Monica again away from her kids.'
Rebbie claims Trent is looking to control her mother for his own financial and personal benefit.
It's the longest-running international singing competition.
And in a surprise announcement by SBS on Thursday, Julia Zemiro, 49, and Sam Pang, 43, will not return to Eurovision 2017, as hosts.
'Handing over to the next team on a high,' Julia confirmed in a statement released by the free-to-air network, adding that it's been 'eight amazing years.'
'Handing over to the next team': SBS' Julia Zemiro (right) 49, confirmed in an official statement released by the SBS network on Thursday, that she and Sam Pang (left) 43, will not be hosting Eurovision 2017 after 'eight amazing years'
'Eight amazing years hosting Eurovision; what a wonderful and hilarious ride,' Julia gushed in the official statement.
'Growing up in a French household in [Sydney's Bondi Junction], I fell in love with this amazing contest ever since Abba won the competition. The languages, the characters, the songs and the sequins have always held a warm place in my heart.
'It's hard to say goodbye but thrilled to be handing over to the next team on a high - douze points,' the French-born personality continued.
Leaving on a high: 'It's hard to say goodbye but thrilled to be handing over to the next team on a high - douze points,' Julia continued
Fond farewell: Sam also confirmed the news in a statement released by SBS: 'I'd like to thank SBS for the opportunity to explore the world and share that experience with all those back home'
Sam also confirmed the news in a statement released by SBS: 'I'd like to thank SBS for the opportunity to explore the world and share that experience with all those back home,' he said.
'But there are only so many sequins, burning pianos, power ballads and singing Russian grannies one man can celebrate in a career, and the time has come for me to pass that privilege on to a new team,' he continued.
It's not known at this stage who will replace the popular duo, however SBS will announce on Tuesday the new performing artist selected to represent Australia, in Eurovision 2017.
First Australian entrant: Guy Sebastian (centre) 35, took on the honour of being the first Australian to perform in Vienna, Austria, in Eurovision 2015
Vocal: The former Australian Idol winner came in at fifth place for his rendition of Tonight Again
The long-running international singing competition will take place this year in the Ukraine from the 9th of May.
Eurovision is a battle predominately between European countries, with Australia only being introduced as an entrant in 2015.
Guy Sebastian, 35, took on the honour, performing Tonight Again in Vienna, Austria.
Lending her voice: Fellow Australian Idol contestant Jessica Mauboy, 27, performed the previous year in Copenhagen, Denmark, but was not considered as an entrant
The former Australian Idol winner came in at fifth place.
Fellow Australian Idol contestant Jessica Mauboy, 27, performed the previous year in Copenhagen, Denmark, but was not considered as an entrant.
Meanwhile, last year saw Dami Im coming in at second place with her rendition of Sound of Silence in Stockholm, Sweden.
The 28-year-old took out the title of 2013's The X Factor Australia.
White hot: Last year saw Dami Im coming in at second place with her rendition of Sound of Silence in Stockholm, Sweden
The Young and the Restless star Amelia Heinle and her former co-star and husband of 10 years Thad Luckinbill are getting a divorce.
Luckinbill, 41, filed the petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, citing 'irreconcilable differences', according to TooFab.com.
The couple met on the daytime soap where they played husband and wife Victoria Newman and J.T. Hellstrom.
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Split: The Young and the Restless star Amelia Heinle and her former co-star and husband of 10 years Thad Luckinbill are getting a divorce
The two had starred together on The Young And The Restless where they played Victoria Newman and J.T. Hellstrom, who married, had a child and divorced
Luckinbill left the show in 2010 while Heinle, 43, still stars on it.
The couple share two children - Thaddeus, 10, and Georgia, 8 - and he is seeking joint custody of the kids.
The actor and producer, who is an executive producer of La La Land, requested that the issue of spousal support be addressed at a future date.
Heinle also has an adult son with her first husband Michael Weatherly.
Seeks divorce: Luckinbill, 41, an executive producer on La La Land, filed the petition Wednesday, citing 'irreconcilable differences' and seeking joint custody of their two children
She's the queen of boho-fashion.
And Vanessa Hudgens nailed it once again, as soon as the sun came out in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old actress looked effortlessly stunning, as she flashed her black lacy bra beneath a salmon jumpsuit.
Boho queen: Vanessa Hudgens nailed it once again, as soon as the sun came out in Los Angeles on Wednesday
She looked set to welcome the warmer weather, after a rainy few weeks in Southern California, in the revealing outfit.
The beauty supped on an ice-coffee as she really got into her summer vibe.
She even added a straw hat over her glossy dark tresses.
Racy: The 28-year-old actress looked effortlessly stunning, as she flashed her black lacy bra beneath a salmon jumpsuit
The High School Musical beauty - who currently has a gig on NBC's new show Powerless, which is set in the Marvel world - carried an over-sized leather tasseled handbag and wore Adornmonde earrings.
The star also has another exciting project in the works.
Vanessa is slated for a role in the forthcoming film, The Prenup, which will start filming in June.
Suns out: She looked set to welcome the warmer weather, after a rainy few weeks in Southern California, in the revealing outfit
Covered: She even added a straw hat over her glossy dark tresses, as a fan stopped her to chat
Cheeky display: Her underwear was clearly on show, in the loose-fitting outfit
Caffeine hit: The beauty supped on an ice-coffee as she really got into her summer vibe
Busy lady: The High School Musical beauty - who currently has a gig on NBC's new show Powerless, which is set in the Marvel world - carried an over-sized leather tasseled handbag
Hitting the road: She was beaming as she got into the vehicle
According to Comingsoon.net, Vanessa will join Emile Hirsch in a new romantic comedy.
The plot of the film centers around the aftermath of an American investment banker suggesting to his British bride that they should get a pre-nuptial agreement the night before their wedding.
The leading man will be played by Hirsch, while Alice Eve will play the blushing bride-to-be.
Hugh Bonneville, from Notting Hill and Downton Abbey, will play Emile's character's father in this anticipated rom-com.
Jonathan Lynn will write and direct the film.
She's the busy model, who recently welcomed her second child to actor Sam Worthington.
And it appears Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) has only just made time in her hectic schedule to view her husband's latest flick Hacksaw Ridge.
The 29-year-old Australian stunner admitted on Instagram to viewing the film for the first time on Thursday, despite the film premiere occurring in September.
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'Just saw this': Lara Worthington admits to JUST watching husband Sam Worthington in flick Hacksaw Ridge five months after its premiere
Sam and Lara were absent from the film's multiple premieres, as Sam was believed to be filming new flick The Shack.
The stylish blonde posted a still from the World War II epic on Thursday with the caption 'just saw this @hacksawridge' with a thumbs-up emoji.
Her husband was pictured in the shot, in which he plays an army unit leader in the feature film based on an extraordinary true story.
Thumbs up! The stylish blonde posted a still from the WWII-based film on Thursday with a thumbs-up emoji on top of her husband's army unit leader character
Award winning: Sam's film Hacksaw Ridge has since won multiple awards, including two Oscars, since the film made its world premiere in September last year
Since the film's global premiere four months ago, the film has earned awards at the 2016 AACTA Awards and Critics' Choice Movie Awards.
Most recently the film won two Oscars at the 89th Academy Awards for best film editing and best sound mixing.
Lara recently showed interest in Sam's work by posting a picture from the set of new flick The Shack.
On set: Lara recently showed interest in Sam's work by posting a picture from the set of new flick The Shack
Sam and Lara, who married in 2014, welcomed their first son Rocket Zot in March 2015.
They welcomed their second child in October, but have not yet revealed the name of the newborn.
The family are based in New York.
They've been dating for three years.
And Gwyneth Paltrow chose Brad Falchuk's 45th birthday to finally make it fully Instagram-official.
The 44-year-old actress shared a picture looking cosy with the Glee co-creator, on Wednesday.
Happy Birthday! Gwyneth Paltrow chose boyfriend Brad Falchuk's 45th birthday to finally make it fully Instagram-official
She captioned the low-light snap: 'Happy birthday, handsome.'
They look to be in a dark-wood clad room, perhaps sharing a romantic birthday dinner judging from the moody soft lighting.
The Goop founder is wearing a white frilled shirt, and has her blonde locks loose and in a centre parting.
She appears to be wearing only minimal make-up, with mascara defining her eyes, and her skin looking flawless in the shot.
Icy trip: Brad has previous posted a rare few pictures with the actress
Happy families: And Gwyneth included him in her Thanksgiving montage, as well as her ex and her mum
Clearly Gwyneth likes a Pisces, as Brad's birthday falls just a day before that of her ex-husband Chris Martin - who turns 40 on Thursday.
The Sliding Doors beauty rarely comments on her relationship with Brad - who also created Scream Queens, but seems to be making it clear that they are consciously-coupled.
It's one of the very few times he's popped up on her social media - he made an appearance in a montage at Thanksgiving but is noticeably absent most of the time.
Memorable night! He also posted a picture of his girlfriend alone outside the White House, after they attended Barack Obama's farewell party in January
Plugging her wares: And he also joked around with her cookbook on his feed
He has shared a few pictures of the Shallow Hal star - who shares her two children Apple, 12, and 10-year-old Moses with her Coldplay frontman ex, from whom she split in 2014.
He posted a picture of his girlfriend alone outside the White House, after they attended Barack Obama's farewell party in January, as well as a snap together on vacation in Iceland last year.
Brad shares his two children Brody and Isabella with his ex-wife Suzanne Bukinik.
Jessica Lange brought the old time glamour and Susan Sarandon wore the pants at the LA premiere of their new FX series Feud.
The Oscar-winning actresses rocked contrasting outfits to the red carpet event Wednesday night.
Lange, 67, stars as Joan Crawford and Sarandon, 70, plays Bette Davis in the limited series that tells the story of one of the most infamous and bitterest rivalries in Hollywood movie-making history.
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Feud stars: Susan Sarandon, in a white suit and funky shoes, and Jessica Lange, in a glamorous damson gown, were a study in contrasts at the LA premiere of the FX series Wednesday
Crawford and Davis worked together one time - in the 1962 classic What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?
The on-screen story of the feuding actress sisters played out in real life too behind the scenes as neither Crawford nor Davis gave the other any quarter during filming.
The series premieres on FX this coming Sunday, March 5.
True story: Lange, 67, stars as Joan Crawford and Sarandon, 70, plays Bette Davis in the story of one of the most infamous and bitterest rivalries in Hollywood movie-making history
Old school: Lange looked lovely in her off-the-shoulder number with her blonde hair cascading in curls as she greeted fans after exiting a classic car at the premiere in Hollywood
Modern: Sarandon also arrived in a sleek black vintage automobile and posed for photos alongside the gleaming machine
Flashed some flesh: The actress showed off some cleavage by wearing a black corset underneath her jacket and went sock-less in her lace-up shoes
Lange looked lovely in an off-the-shoulder damson gown.
The full-length number hugged her figure revealing her hour-glass curves and she wore her blonde hair cascading in curls.
Sarandon wore a white suit with cropped pants.
She added a black corset underneath her jacket that revealed some cleavage and she went sock-less in a pair of funky white and black patterned lace-up shoes.
Leggy: Catherine Zeta Jones, 47, wore a two-tone number with white long-sleeved off-the-shoulder top and long black skirt with a slit at the front. She added funky black statement heels
Nice ride: The wife of Hollywood star Michael Douglas arrived in a vintage silver Rolls Royce and looked radiant as she posed with her luxurious dark hair falling around her shoulders
Also on hand was Catherine Zeta Jones who plays actress Olivia De Havilland and who serves as the guide and narrator to the audience about what they see unfolding.
The Welsh actress, 47, wore a two-tone number with a white long-sleeved off-the-shoulder top and a long black skirt with a slit at the front.
The wife of Hollywood star Michael Douglas arrived in a vintage silver Rolls Royce and looked radiant as she posed for photos with her luxurious dark hair falling around her shoulders.
She added funky black statement heels and rocked black polish are her finger and toe nails.
His idea: Feud creator Ryan Murphy was dapper as usual in a tailored dark suit with casual black shirt and shiny black shoes
Pals: Actress Sarah Paulson found time to catch up with her American Horror Story co-star Lange
Chequered: Paulson, 42, who plays actress Geraldine Page in Feud, showed up in a calf-length black-and-white check dress with black piping on the bodice and a full skirt
Sarah Paulson, who plays actress Geraldine Page in the series, showed up in a calf-length black-and-white check dress.
The outfit had a tailored bodice with black piping and buttons and long sleeves.
The full skirt fell in loose pleats and she added black sandal heels.
Former Mad Men star Kiernan Shipka showed up in a black ballerina-style skirt with off-the-shoulder bodice that bared her shoulders.
The 17-year-old, who found fame as Sally Draper on the hit AMC series, added black leggings and pointed toe metallic pumps.
In Feud, she pays the adopted daughter of Bette Davis.
All grown up: Former Mad Men star Kiernan Shipka showed up in a black ballerina-style skirt with off-the-shoulder bodice that bared her shoulders
Stylish: The 17-year-old, who found fame as Sally Draper and plays Bette Davis's adopted daughter in the FX series, added black leggings and pointed toe metallic pumps
Ryan Murphy's The People v. O.J. Simpson star Courtney B. Vance came out to support Feud with wife, actress Angela Bassett.
Among the guests on hand at the premiere were Chicago Fire star Taylor Kinney and husband-and-wife actors Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass.
Also on the guest list were actress Britt Lower and Glee star Darren Criss with girlfriend Mia Swier.
Supporting cast: Ryan Murphy's The People v. O.J. Simpson star Courtney B. Vance came out to support Feud with wife, actress Angela Bassett
Solo: Chicago Fire star and former fiance of Lady Gaga, Taylor Kinney was dapper in a black suit with white shirt and black tie
Coordinated: Husband-and-wife actors Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass wore matching colored ensembles
Interesting outfit: Actress Britt Lower dared to bare in a tiny black sleeveless crop top and a navy blue skirt with a folded waist
She's expecting her first child with husband Dane Rumble in July.
And from clips shared to her Instagram story on Thursday, Nikki Phillips looked to be taking pregnancy in her stride.
The 33-year-old Sydney-based model, showed off her burgeoning baby bump in a crop top and leggings, as she engaged in a light resistance and strength-based workout.
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Baby on board! Pregnant Nikki Phillips, 33, showed off her burgeoning bump as she powered through a light workout, captured to her Instagram story on Thursday
Nikki was taken through her paces at Sydney's The Fitness Playground, by personal trainer and fitness model Laura Basta.
With a swiss ball supporting her back, the blogger began a series of squats, engaging her glutes and thigh muscles.
Donning Puma apparel, the Oceania ambassador for the brand showed off her lithe arms and burgeoning baby bump in a black crop top.
Mother-to-be: Nikki Phillips expecting her first child with husband Dane Rumble in July
Slow and steady: With a swiss ball supporting her back, the blogger began a series of squats, engaging her glutes and thigh muscles
In style: Nikki was sure to promote Puma's activewear range during the workout session, no doubt fulfilling her duties as an Oceania ambassador for the brand
A pair of coordinating full-length leggings clung to her enviably trim legs.
Sweeping her blonde locks into an effortless up-do, Nikki appeared to sport a minimal amount of makeup.
The expectant mother then took to the floor, lying on a mat, with her feet propped up onto a swiss ball.
Raising her hips slightly off the ground, Nikki used her heels to bring the ball towards her glutes, toning the lower part of her body.
The beauty later took to the gym's machinery, working on yet more squats, before using a resistance band to tone her arms.
Booty-ful: Taking to the gym's machinery, Nikki once again engaged in a series of squats
Looking good! The television personality's growing baby bump was in full display as she performed a series of reverse hack squats
The workout comes shortly after Nikki took to Instagram, announcing that the baby's gender will soon be announced in an upcoming post on bynikkiphillips.com.
A snap shared to the social media site on Wednesday, saw the television personality drawing attention to her growing belly in a tight black camisole dress.
Holding her 19-week first-trimester stomach, the Kiwi stunner was proud to show off her changing frame.
'I feel you every morning, afternoon and night you're very active!' she said of the unborn baby.
'Slowly starting to browse baby sites and maternity stores but it's so overwhelming... so may just eat some ice cream instead,' Nikki joked of her pursuits in motherhood so far.
As she described her current pregnancy state, she may have hinted at the sex indirectly: '#19weeks just starting to really show now and boy is it growing.'
Bumping along nicely: The workout comes shortly after the Kiwi stunner took to Instagram, announcing that the baby's gender will soon be announced in an upcoming post on bynikkiphillips.com
Baby joy: Nikki and husband Dane Rumble announced they are expecting their first child together via Instagram on Monday, with a picture of them holding baby shoes
An Instagram post on Monday saw Nikki and her husband Dane confirming that she's already four months pregnant.
'Its no Beyonce post but our best adventure yet is on its way,' the post began with the happily married pair holding baby shoes.
'Baby Phillips Rumble is due early July and we are beyond excited, slightly terrified but utterly blessed.'
She added: 'We can not wait to meet our little miracle. Ive always dreamed of being a mother, but never knew it could be... read about our journey in the coming weeks on my blog #19weeks #pregnant #babyphillipsrumble.'
The couple announced their engagement in 2013 during a trip to Hong Kong.
Feeding the soul is just as important as feeding the body.
And Kim Kardashian was certainly intent upon reaping the benefits of southern comfort as she dined with Kanye West at a soul food jazz eatery in Los Angeles.
The 36-year-old beauty and her blonde-haired rapper husband were seen at trendy restaurant and club Bandera on Wednesday.
Feeding their spirits: Kim Kardashian was intent on reaping the benefits of southern comfort as she dined with Kanye West at a soul food jazz eatery in Los Angeles on Wednesday
Kanye, 39, wore all black as he strolled beside his wife in a pair of Yeezy boots for the casual night out.
Kim chose to step out in faded ripped jeans with a high waist and frayed at the bottom.
She unusually covered up by wearing a long-sleeved white sweater.
Cheer up! Kanye, 39, didn't look very happy as he left the eatery with his reality star wife. He was dressed in an all-black ensemble with a pair of Yeezy boots as he followed behind
Has lost weight: Kim chose to step out in faded ripped jeans frayed at the bottom and with a high waist that flattered her slimmed down butt
No flesh flashed: Unusually for the buxom celebrity, she decided to cover up her ample assets with a long-sleeved sweater
Looking her best: She rocked long hair extensions that fell to below her waist and showed off her newly lasered brows and facial skin with some light make-up
Kim was spotted earlier that day wearing the same outfit at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to kick off its 2nd Annual Make March Matter fundraising campaign.
The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star was accompanied by Grace Rose, 14, and Saylor Pierson, 6, who are both former patients of the hospital.
The reality star rang a ceremonial bell with the two young ladies to officially launch the month-long campaign.
For show? The couple's date night comes after recent reports they have made a decision to be seen together more in public after rumors of trouble in their marriage
Satisfied: The duo looked have enjoyed a good meal at the soul food restaurant
The kick-off event, entitled Mega Miracle Day, featured remarks from Kardashian West about her support for CHLA and why she holds the non-profit close to her heart.
She passed on her usual glam looks and instead dressed for comfort in a white top and ripped jeans for the charity event.
In her remarks, the mogul mentioned that she has had friends whose babies have spent time at the hospital.
She also said that she and her famous family love visiting the Children's Hospital to bring a smile to the faces of young patients and their families.
Giving back: Kim Kardashian West joined Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to kick off its 2nd Annual Make March Matter fundraising campaign on Wednesday
Kickoff trio: The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star was joined by Grace Rose, 14, and Saylor Pierson, 6, who are both former patients of the hospital
The older of her two partners in kicking off the campaign was Rose, who was treated by CHLA for Cystic Fibrosis.
Barely a teenager herself, the young entrepreneur and philanthropist has created a successful pre-teen clothing line, Rosie G, which helps fund CF research.
Her line is now sold at Nordstrom, among other retailers.
Pierson, the spritely blonde in the trio, received care at the hospital because she was born with a heart defect.
She had multiple lifesaving procedures in her first few weeks of life and spent about 300 days of her first 18 months in the hospital.
She is currently doing well and enjoying kindergarten.
How to help: To find out how to participate in the CHLA charity campaign, visit their website at MakeMarchMatter.org
The initiative aligns CHLA with local businesses who rally community participation to support childrens health.
More than 100 local businesses and corporate partners have committed to help the hospital exceed its $1 million goal to provide critical, life-saving care for every child they treat.
Dawn Wilcox is the Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at CHLA.
To find out how to participate in the charity campaign, visit their website at MakeMarchMatter.org.
Chill: Just a day prior she was spotted leaving the Beauty Park Medical Spa with sister Khloe
She's known for her eccentric fashion choices.
And Patricia Arquette, 48, failed to disappoint while running errands at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The Academy Award-winning actress was spotted wearing a cowboy hat that she paired with an oversized t-shirt and little else.
Modern cowgirl: Patricia Arquette, 48, failed to disappoint while running errands at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles on Wednesday
The oblong stripped dress was longer in the back than the front and looked more like a very large men's dress shirt than an actual women's frock.
The slit at the side of the dress came so far up her thigh, it almost showed her hips.
She paired the dress, which also included patches in various places, including at the elbows, with a pair of knee-high suede boots.
The Boyhood star went makeup free under her large black-rimmed glasses and appeared to be multi-tasking as she took a phone call while she shopped.
Bedtime wear? The oblong stripped dress was longer in the back than the front and looked more like a very large men's dress shirt than an actual women's frock
Makeup free: The actress appeared to be wearing very little makeup during her casual outing to the outdoor mall
She also juggled multiple bags, including a black purse she wore criss-crossed over her body and a multi-colored patchwork bag with different colored squares
Her blonde hair up, that was up in a ponytail, was squished down by her straw hat.
The actress, who made headlines this week for calling out the Academy Awards for failing to honor her sister Alexis, appeared to go unnoticed among the many shoppers at the popular outdoor mall.
The actress told Vanity Fair at the afterparty on Sunday night that it was 'unfortunate' the actress was omitted.
Trans actress Alexis Arquette, was among those omitted, from the In Memoriam section of the live Oscars broadcast Sunday night.
The actress made headlines this week for calling out the Academy Awards for failing to honor her sister Alexis, who is transgender, during the In Memoriam segment
Alexis died in September, from HIV complications, and had more than 70 acting credits to her name.
Her sister said it would have meant a lot to the trans community to see one of their own honored at the Oscars.
'Were living in a time right now where trans kids cant even go to the bathroom in schools and theyre diminished in society. Its really unfortunate that the Oscars decided they couldnt show a trans person who was such an important person in this community. Becausetrans kidsit could have meant a lot to them,' Arquette told the magazine.
She is known for her eclectic style and expressive personality.
So it was only fitting that Paris Jackson was spotted in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old was joined by a female pal for her outing.
Fits her personality! Paris Jackson, 18, was spotted in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday
The daughter of the late Michael Jackson was comfortable in a tank top layered under a hoodie.
Paris added a pair of green cargo trousers and sandals to her look.
The pretty starlet accessorized with layered necklaces, a ring and shades.
Girls' day! The teen was joined by a female pal for her outing
Although Paris' father was a legendary pop star, the teen has been carving out a career on her own.
In January, she appeared in a military, vintage-inspired photo shoot for Chanel, and also graced the cover of Rolling Stone.
'Plenty of people think I'm ugly, and plenty of people don't. But there's a moment when I'm modeling where I forget about my self-esteem issues and focus on what the photographer's telling me, and I feel pretty,' she said of her modeling work.
'And in that sense, it's selfish.'
Casual Wednesday: The daughter of the late Michael Jackson was comfortable in a tank top layered under a hoodie
In an interview with Good Morning Britain, uncles Tito and Jackie Jackson gave their blessing for Paris and two brothers to join the world of showbiz.
'I guess it's in their blood,' said Jackie.
'They watched us growing up when they were young. They love the business. That's what they want to do, so go ahead and do it. That's how we look at it.'
Abigail Breslin looked pretty as a petal on her latest red carpet.
The 20-year-old actress rocked an Asian-inspired number for opening night of her new play All The Fine Boys on Wednesday night.
She looked absolutely fantastic in the yellow number as she arrived at the Ford Foundation Studio Theatre in New York for the production by artist-driven company The New Group.
Pretty as a petal: Abigail Breslin rocked an Asian-inspired number for opening night of her new play All The Fine Boys on Wednesday night
The long dress featured purple and red roses printed all over it as it was held together by large black buttons.
Abigail teamed the look with a long black coat and matching suede booties.
Her blonde locks were put in a ponytail as she sported natural, complimentary make-up on her face topped off with shiny pink lip.
Big night: The 20-year-old star's long dress featured purple and red roses printed all over it as it was held together by large black buttons
Natural beauty: Her blonde locks were put in a ponytail as she sported natural, complimentary make-up on her face topped off with shiny pink lip
She was even joined by her co-stars for a few snaps as they even playfully posed rubbing Erica Schmidt's belly.
All The Fine Boys is a coming of age tale of two teenage girls in Eighties suburban South Carolina.
This was not the only bit of excitement for Abigail as the poster for the Dirty Dancing TV special was released on Wednesday.
Hugged up: She hugged co-star Isabelle Fuhrman in one of the snaps
Fantastic four: Castmates Joe Tippett, Isabelle, Abigail and Alex Wolff - pictured from left to right - hugged on opening night
Aww: Everybody then posed for a cute snap where they rubbed co-star Erica Schmidt's belly
Love: Peter Dinklage supported his wife at the premiere
The image is an exact replication of the icon pose Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze made for the 1987 hit film.
This time around Abigail and Colt Prattes have the lead roles. The remake debuts on ABC in May.
Abigail shared the poster on social media and wrote in the captioned: 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner. #DIRTYDANCING #MAY24th #ABC', referring to the film's most famous line.
Looks familiar! Earlier in the day the poster for the Dirty Dancing TV special with Abigail and Colt Prattes was released
Classic: And the image is an exact replication of the icon pose Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze made for the 1987 hit film
Abigail looks remarkably like Grey.
Prattes stars as Johnny Castle - the dance instructor role made famous by Swayze.
She dyed her hair brunette, from blonde, for the three-hour musical version - which will not be a live broadcast.
Transformed: The 20-year-old actress dyed her hair brunette, from blonde, for the three-hour musical version on ABC in May
Glam: Abigail has grown up since she starred as wannabe pageant star Olive aged 10, in the hit independent film Little Miss Sunshine (pictured July 2016)
Abigail was just 10 years old when she starred as wannabe pageant star Olive in the hit independent film Little Miss Sunshine.
She is joined by Sarah Hyland as Lisa and Nicole Scherzinger plays Penny.
Nicole revealed that she almost turned down the part, played by Cynthia Rhodes in the classic 1987 film, because she harbours strong anti-abortion beliefs.
The UK X Factor judge admitted that her family is 'really hardcore' against termination because her mother had her at the tender age of 18.
Original: Patrick Swayze played Johnny, a dance instructor who taught Baby to do the Mambo
The 38 year old explained to The Daily Mail: 'I was like a crazy thing because, my family, my Papas a Bishop and my familys really hardcore against abortion.
So I got the role and I almost didnt take it because I didnt want to promote abortion, because my character has an abortion.
But I was like, hopefully they can learn from you know her ways and I can be a positive influence.
My mum got pregnant with me when she was 17 and had me when she was 18. She chose.
Her parents were never going to let her have an abortion. So I came out, so I just want to you know encourage everybody to keep your babies.
Penny falls pregnant in the original film and opts for an illegal abortion, forcing Baby to step in and dance with Johnny Castle, who was originally played by Patrick Swayze.
The character's life hangs in the balance due to the dangerous procedure, with leading lady Baby's doctor father forced to step in and save her.
Will & Grace actress Debra Messing has been placed in the role of Marjorie Houseman, Baby's mother.
The TV special is directed by Wayne Blair and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton) and features songs from the original Dirty Dancing, as well as additional musical performances.
It's been just over ten years since his son, Steve Irwin, tragically lost his life in a stingray attack.
And spotted recently in a rare sighting was the reclusive Bob Irwin, 77.
The personality and grandfather of Bindi and Robert Irwin, was seen in Kingaroy in Queensland, after visiting a doctor's clinic.
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Stepping out: Spotted recently in a rare sighting was the reclusive Bob Irwin, 77
Clad in the family's iconic khaki, Bob wore a shirt with black shorts and boots as he braved the summer heat.
Missing from the outing was his wife of 12 years, Judy.
Kingaroy is located approximately half an hour away from his 240-hectare bush property, called Camp Chilli.
He was seen walking to his car and putting items in his top pocket.
Errands: The personality and grandfather of Bindi and Robert Irwin, was seen in Kingaroy in Queensland, after visiting a doctor's clinic
Scorching conditions: Clad in the family's iconic khaki, Bob wore a shirt with black shorts and boots as he braved the summer heat
Retreat: Kingaroy is located approximately half an hour away from his 240-hectare bush property, called Camp Chilli
Bob claims he still speaks to his late son from beyond the grave, and often speaks to him for advice.
'I'm connected with him constantly in a spiritual way that's your subconscious mind rather than your conscious,' Bob said.
'Some people believe it in it, some people think it's a whole load of rubbish,' he added.
'I'm connected with him constantly': Bob claims he still speaks to his late son (pictured with Terri Irwin and children Robert and Bindi in 2004) from beyond the grave, and often speaks to him for advice
'I'll go into a meditative state': It's been just over ten years since his son, Steve Irwin, tragically lost his life in a stingray attack
Family ties: Seen is Australia Zoos satellite property Ironbark Station near Blackbutt
'We don't encourage people to come here': He added he enjoys living on his property (pictured)
'If I'm having a hard day and things aren't going all that well, I'll go into a meditative state and I may talk to Steve. He gives a little bit of advice here and there. I'd rather keep those things to myself. It's a pretty personal situation.'
He added he enjoys living on his property.
'We dont encourage people to come here,' Bob said.
'If theres animals that need to go into a halfway house well sometimes take them, harden them up a little bit prior to release. But we dont even do a lot of that anymore. Im getting too old. We have koalas, kangaroos, bandicoots, echidnas. No crocs though, mores the pity.'
Bob - who is estranged from his grandchildren and Steve's wife Terri - confirmed he no longer speaks to them.
Bush life: 'If theres animals that need to go into a halfway house well sometimes take them,' Bob said
Broken relationships: Bob - who is estranged from his grandchildren and Steve's wife Terri - confirmed he no longer speaks to them
Cafe owner Evelyn Green - who has met Bindi, Robert and Terri when they come into her business near Blackbutt - said the family rift would 'break Steve's heart.'
'Hes up there watching. Just to know theyre not family family, its sad to hear. Hopefully one day theyll rekindle and get to know each other.' she said.
Blackbutt local Iris Crumpon added that the town are saddened about the family drama.
Opening up: Cafe owner Evelyn Green (pictured) - who has met Bindi, Robert and Terri when they come into her business near Blackbutt - said the family rift would 'break Steve's heart'
'Hes up there watching': Evelyn is seen here with the Irwin family
'That is so cruel': Blackbutt local Iris Crumpon added that the town are saddened about the family drama
'That is so cruel. That is shocking. I know, as a grandmother, I would be devastated if my five grandchildren were taken off of me, and I wasnt allowed to talk to them,' she said.
'Its especially sad because poor Steve passed, and they have a mother but not a father figure, even though they have a grandpa.'
Last year, Bob released memoir, called The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy.
Memories: Last year, Bob released memoir, called The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy
While it delves into positive memories of Steve's formative years, it also contains harrowing details surrounding the loss of his son and the impact of his death.
'As self-protection, I never watch Steve on television. I choose not to remember the date he passed,' wrote Bob in a chapter titled 'Return To Cattle Creek'.
During a promotional appearance on Channel Seven's Sunrise late last year, Bob gushed about his vibrant son.
'[Steve] was an amazing kid, even when he was born. He could not wait to get into the world.
Family favourite: The Irwins regularly visit the Bunya Nut Cafe
'Eight minutes after I got to hospital they brought out this ugly little thing, that turned out to be Steve.'
Steve was tragically killed in September 2006, after he was pierced by a stingray barb while filming a documentary on Australia's deadliest animals.
Following his death, it was widely reported that a rift between his wife Terri and Bob had torn the family apart.
Sad: Steve was tragically killed in September 2006, after he was pierced by a stingray barb while filming a documentary on Australia's deadliest animals
Drama: Following his death, it was widely reported that a rift between Terri and Bob had torn the family apart
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the 5th annual AACTA Awards late last year, Bindi claimed her grandfather became reclusive in the years following Steve's death.
'Everyone deals with grief differently,' she said. 'When my dad passed away he chose to distance himself from everything that dad loved the most.
'At the moment were really just respecting his wishes because he hasnt had anything to do with us for a long time and he decided his own path. Thats important so good for him.'
Family: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the 5th annual AACTA Awards late last year, Bindi claimed her grandfather became reclusive in the years following Steve's death
The episode of Real Housewives Of Sydney showed a boozy harbourside dinner that ended in a cat fight.
And the Gogglebox teams didn't hold back in their assessment of the brawl, with posh Di speculating the housewives couldn't have gone to any of Sydney's prestigious private schools and must have instead attended a public school.
But on Thursday RHOS' Victoria Rees fired back at the perceived slight on Instagram, revealing that she and co-star Nicole Gazal O'Neil attended Kambala, one of Sydney's most prestigious schools.
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'Nicole and I both went to Kambala': RHOS' Victoria Rees FIRES BACK at Gogglebox's Di as she labels the housewives public school girls after infamous first episode cat fight
Sunday night's debut of RHOS saw a boozy dinner culminate in a cat fight where Victoria threw Athena's much mocked 'fish net' shawl into the water.
Then on this week's episode of Gogglebox, Art dealer Di speculated to her husband that the Housewives behaviour indicated none of the ladies could have gone to one of Sydney's blue ribbon private schools for girls.
'I don't think they went to Ascham [School] or Kambala [School] - I think this lot were probably at Vaucluse High!' She said.
Sassy response: Art dealer Di speculated to her husband that their behaviour meant none of the ladies would have gone to Sydney's blue ribbon private schools for girls
Touche girl! Taking to Instagram Victoria wrote in response: 'Nicole and I both went to Kambala we loved it'
Taking to Instagram Victoria wrote in response: 'Nicole and I both went to Kambala we loved it.'
The high drama of the episode wasn't lost on the rest of Gogglebox's stars, who couldn't believe their eyes as the argument continued to escalate.
Tom offered his own withering assessment of the show to his partner Wayne, describing the housewives as 'f***ing Sydney street women' and 'bogans with money'.
F***ing Sydney street women!' Gogglebox stars describe the RHOS housewives as 'bogans with money' after boozy harbourside spat over coat
The end scenes of the episode saw the women turn on each other during a boozy harbourside dinner.
After Lisa Oldfield labelled Krissy Marsh 'Chewbacca' because she wouldn't stop talking, the property mogul shot back: 'I'm not hairy I've been lasered Johnny can vouch for that!'
'She just say something about her husband and her pubic hair? Kerry asked her mother and daughter in shock.
'Look Chewbacca back off': After Lisa Oldfield labelled Krissy Marsh 'Chewbacca' because she wouldn't stop talking, the property mogul shot back
What is happening? The high drama of the moment wasn't lost on Gogglebox viewers, who couldn't believe their eyes as the argument continued to escalate
That's one way to end a fight! Things came to a head when Victoria Rees took Athena's much-mocked 'fish net' wrap and through it into the water
Other members of the Gogglebox team couldn't hide their excitement with Angie exclaiming 'oh my god... oh my god this is so good!' while Yvie enthusiastically mimicked Athena's finger pointing.
Victoria's bold move left Gogglebox viewers gasping, with Tom saying: 'I would pick that f***ing old mole up and I'd chuck her over with it.'
But others were more positive, with Matt Dalton remarking: 'She might catch a fish!'
With his role on HBO's Game of Thrones, Peter Dinklage is surely used to the spotlight.
But on Wednesday, it was all about wife Erica Schmidt, as the couple of 12 years enjoyed a date night out.
The actor supported his better half at the opening night of her play, All the Fine Boys, in New York City.
Date night! On Wednesday, Peter Dinklage, 47, supported wife Erica Schmidt, 41, at the opening night of her play, All The Fine Boys, in New York City
The 46-year-old looked dapper in a three piece suit, dressed down with a set of denium trousers.
Peter completed his look with a set of trendy boots.
Pregnant wife Erica looked pretty in a printed dress and minimal jewellery.
He cleans up nice! The actor looked dapper in a three piece suit
Glowing: Pregnant wife Erica, 41, looked pretty in a printed dress and minimal jewellery
This will be the second child for Peter and Erica.
The couple are parents to one daughter, whom the theater director gave birth to in 2011.
They have been married since 2005.
Her big night: Also attending the event was show star Abigail Breslin, 20
Cherished moment: The shows cast, including Abigail, Joe Tippett, Alex Wolff and Isabelle Fuhrman, sweetly put their hands on their director's belly
Also attending the play was show star Abigail Breslin.
According to Playbill, The Dirty Dancing actress and Isabelle Fuhrman play two young girls who have a 'sexual awakening;' one with a with a senior crush and the other, with a man from church.
The off-Broadway play also features actors Joe Tippett Alex Wolff.
On Tuesday, she was seen touching down in at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport with her boyfriend Karl Glusman in preparation for the city's Fashion Week.
And with the festivities in full swing, Zoe Kravitz stepped out in fine style on Wednesday night, as she attended Yves Saint Laurent Beauty's exclusive bash.
The actress, 28, turned heads as she arrived at Carre des Sangliers in a deeply plunging black minidress, which was cinched at the waist with a bold metallic clasp.
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Party girl: Zoe Kravitz attended Yves Saint Laurent Beauty's Paris Fashion Week party, held at Carre des Sangliers on Wednesday night
She teamed the long-sleeved number with open-toe black patent heels, while several chunky rings and duster statement earrings further ramped up the glamour.
The stunning California girl's platinum tresses were swept into a chic topknot, while her natural beauty was enhanced with only a light dusting of shimmering makeup.
Zoe was accompanied to the bash by her boyfriend Karl, who cut a dapper figure in a fitted black suit as he mingled with fellow guests at the bash.
Wow: She wowed in a deeply plunging black minidress as she arrived at the exclusive bash
Ready to mingle: She was joined by her boyfriend Karl Glusman and model Edie Campbell
Topknot: Actress Zoe's striking platinum tresses were swept into a chic topknot for the bash
Sparkle: Wearing a range of sparkling rings, Zoe also posed for a shot with model Staz Lindes
On Tuesday, she was one of the VIPs among the crowd at Yves Saint Laurent's autumn/winter 2017 fashion presentation.
Zoe, daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, has been getting rave reviews for her part in hit TV series Big Little Lies.
The HBO drama tells the tale of three mothers whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.
Bright: Staz went for a brightly-patterned asymmetrical dress, while Anja Rubik opted for black
She's so fancy: British singer Charli XCX attracted attention in a floral embroidered denim suit
Monochrome: Dancer Juliette Gernez showed off her slender legs in a monochrome ensemble
On the list: (L-R) Actress Lola Le Lann and model Valentina Sampaio were among the guests
Model behaviour: (L-R) Models Cuba Tornado Scott and Vanessa Moody arrived in black outfits
As well as Zoe, the show boasts an all-star cast, featuring the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Shailene Woodley.
They are joined by Alexander Skarsgard, James Tupper and Adam Scott, who play their husbands in this gritty drama.
Nicole Kidman recently opened up about working with the daughter of ex Lenny- who she dated from 2003-2005.
Speaking to Net-a-Porters weekly digital magazine about working together in Big Little Liars, the 49-year-old actress said: 'Well, I knew Zoe because I was engaged to her father. Its all in the family!'
Sole sister: Staz showed off an eye-catching pair of shimmering shoes as she posed at the bash
Events: The event was just one of many that have happened around Paris during Fashion Week
Match: AaRON musical duo Olivier Coursier, left, and Simon Buret went for matching suits
Partying: YSL Beauty CEO Stephan Bezy and Journalist Loic Prigent partied the night away
She had earlier arrived in Paris earlier looking low key in a sleek black outfit and camel-coloured trench coat.
But in just a few hours, Karlie Kloss had glammed up in a sophisticated low cut black dress and a chunky layered silver choker as she attended a Paris Fashion Week event.
The 24-year-old supermodel wore her blonde hair in a straight blonde style while teaming her silver necklace with pair of dangling matching earrings.
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Glammed up and ready to go: Karlie Kloss cut a sophisticated figure in a little black dress as she attended an event at the Cercle de lUnion Interalliee on Wednesday night
A pair of closed toe black heels and a silver clutch completed the look
The model was attending an event at the Cercle de lUnion Interalliee where Nadja Swarovski was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Nadja is the great granddaughter of the companys founder Daniel Swarovski and, according to WWD, her company 'has sponsored numerous initiatives at the historic palace' over the last 30 years, 'including providing lighting systems for the Kings Chamber and Madame de Pompadours apartment.'
Striking: The 24-year-old supermodel wore her blonde hair in a straight blonde style while teaming her silver necklace with pair of dangling matching earrings
Bringing the dazzle: Karlie's necklace and compact clutch bag perfectly complimented her look
Chic: Karlie's dress features spaghetti straps and a pleated design on her skirt
Karlie likes to travel light during her trips abroad, recently describing her wardrobe staples to Elle Australia.
'I always try and look at the weather ahead for wherever Im going and I always pack basic wardrobe staples,' she said. 'I have my toiletries all in carry-on size and Ive got an airplane outfit.
'Im always cold and hot on airplanes so I always switch into sweatpants, socks a T-shirt and a hoodie. And I always bring a swimsuit with me just in case, even if its for the swimming pool at the hotel.'
Sleek and sophisticated: Karlie had earlier sported an all-black ensemble and sleek camel coat as she jetted into Paris for Fashion Week
The star's appearance came just days after her stunning red carpet showing at this year's Vanity Fair bash.
The model, 24, sported a red one-shoulder column dress which featured a thigh-high split.
The ravishing red ensemble was very different from the Stella McCartney white caped gown which Karlie donned for the 89th Academy Awards.
The American model, who appears to have attended the event without her boyfriend Joshua Kushner, added a political twist to her ensemble by pinning a distinctive blue ACLU ribbon to her hip, worn in protest of President Trump's travel ban.
Dannii Minogue's ex-boyfriend Kris Smith has revealed how he was the one to walk out on his relationship with the pop star.
Speaking before his eviction on Thursday night's episode of I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, the English model, who shares son Ethan, now six, with the Australia star, said the decision 'absolutely ripped my heart out'.
Dannii and Kris' relationship broke down in 2012, and the the former rugby league star told fellow camper Steve Price he had to leave because it just wasn't healthy.
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'It absolutely ripped my heart out': Dannii Minogue's ex-boyfriend Kris Smith has revealed how he was the one to walk out on his relationship with the pop star during I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! on Thursday night
'It got to a point where Dannii - it wasn't working for anyone,' an emotional Kris explained.
'We didn't wanna get in silly bickering arguments in front of Ethan. So the hardest thing I've had to do was leave.
'[Ethan]was very young but I didn't ever wanna see him in an environment where it's a little bit bitter or argumentative.'
But while Kris ultimately ended the relationship, he said the heartbreaking moment was 'nothing I wanted'.
'All I ever wanted in life was to settle down with one woman and have kids with one woman,' he said.
'... Yeah, it absolutely ripped my heart out but it was for the best.'
'I turn around and see a woman': The 38-year-old former English rugby league player told his celebrity camp mates how a chance nightclub encounter on holiday for his 30th birthday changed his life
While Kris spoke about the breakup, he also described happier times with Dannii and her 'incredible' sister Kylie.
He said the two famous sisters were 'Just normal people that love their family time, love a home-cooked meal, want to sit down in the trackies and watch trash TV'.
'It was great but very surreal to see the circle that they live in. But when they're in the home environment they're just like everybody else,' Kris explained.
During his chat with Steve, he also described how he and Dannii got together, revealing he met the brunette beauty after she spotted him dancing and called him over.
Kris told his celebrity camp mates how a chance nightclub encounter during a holiday in Ibiza for his 30th birthday changed his life.
Caught each others eyes on the dance floor: The two met at a nightclub while Kris was on holiday with his mates in 2008 (Pictured in 2009)
Love at first sight: The two were inseparable, spending every day of his trip together but soon the time came for him to leave (Pictured in 2011)
'They dragged me on the dance floor, and I'm telling you I have some of the best moves.
'I ripped the dance floor up and I turn around and see a woman, she's in the VIP area,' Kris said. 'She's looking at me and I go, "Oh, nice."'
The model was then accosted by a heavily tattooed man and immediately thought he was about to get into a fight because the woman he had been looking at was already taken.
'It was great but very surreal to see the circle that they live in': Kris gushed about their four year 'amazing' relationship, which saw the birth of their son Ethan in 2010
'He said, "What's your name?" I asked why. He said, "Dannii wants to meet you."
'[now] she's the mother of my child,' Kris gushed.
He explained that from that moment the two were inseparable, spending every day of his trip together - but soon the time came for him to leave.
'She said, " I want you to stay a few more days."
'Just normal people that love their family time': Kris said the sister loved nothing more than watching trashy television in their trackpants
'When they're in the home environment they're just like everybody else': The department store ambassador also forged a bond with Dannii's sister Kylie
'I said, "I'd love to. I can't afford it", Kris told his I'm A Celebrity campers.
'I told mates I was on holiday with. A mate, Steve, came up [with] an envelope, a birthday card.
'He'd bought me a new ticket home and enough to stay there. Without him none of that [relationship and child] happens.'
'It wasn't working for anyone': But Dannii and Kris' relationship broke down in 2012, with the model telling Steve he had to leave because it just wasn't healthy
Kris gushed about their four year 'amazing' relationship, which saw the birth of their son Ethan in 2010.
The department store ambassador also forged a bond with Dannii's sister Kylie.
'She's incredible, she's as down to earth as you can be,' he said.
Meanwhile, after his elimination he told News Corp that the previously unnamed ex-girlfriend with whom he is reconnecting is model Maddy King.
He said he and she 'had a couple of conversations about certain things.'
'Im still single, kind of, it is complicated,' he concluded.
He's swapped his Lothario ways for a one woman life.
And Gary Beadle looked more than happy to have undergone the transformation as he enjoyed a recent trip to Dubai with his stunning girlfriend Emma McVey, in which they threw themselves into a number of beach high jinx.
The 28-year-old Geordie Shore star looked hunky in simple black shorts while the incredibly beautiful model flashed her flawless curves during a spot of paddle-boarding.
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Careful! Gary Beadle looked more than happy to have undergone the transformation as he enjoyed a recent trip to Dubai with his stunning girlfriend Emma McVey, in which they threw themselves into a number of beach high jinx
Gary soared to fame in 2011 as one of the first stars of Geordie Shore, where he now remains the only original cast member as the show enters its 14th series.
Having just finished filming the show, it seems he was delighted to be with his girlfriend, who looked nothing short of sensational in her skimpy bikini.
Emma, who previously dating TOWIE star Mario Falcone, looked totally enamoured with her boyfriend as they kissed and cuddled in the pool.
The patterned two piece looked stunning on her figure as she showed off her taut abs and lithe limbs, with tie sides and a halterneckline.
Stunner: The 28-year-old Geordie Shore star looked hunky in simple black shorts while the incredibly beautiful model flashed her flawless curves during a spot of paddleboarding
Hot stuff! Emma's taut abs looked phenomenal in the slinky two piece
He's a lucky guy! Gaz is certainly lucky to have such a sensational girl
Hot stuff: He could not keep his hands off the beautiful model
Strutting her stuff: Emma's phenomenal curves were a fine view on the shore
She flitted between having her hair in loose waves and scraping into a high ponytail - she also flaunted her naturally dewy complexion.
Gaz has become renowned, throughout his five year stint in the spotlight, for his Lothario ways yet he insists he's a changed man due to his enduring romance with current squeeze Emma.
And he appeared to take a swipe at his former Geordie Shore paramour Charlotte Crosby when he said his dalliance with Emma, who has dated since August, is more 'normal'
He told the Sun: 'I was with the right girls at the wrong time. Ive made mistakes, like cheating, but Im trying not to do that again. My current girlfriend Emma is great.
Hold me close: Gary soared to fame in 2011 as one of the first stars of Geordie Shore, where he now remains the only original cast member as the show enters its 14th series
Oh my! The stunning star looked sensational in her chic bikini which lift little to the imagination
Hot stuff: The stunning star looked happy to be in the sun
Ripped: Gary looked hunky in his black shorts
Finding the right balance: Emma got a fit of the giggles as Gaz momentarily lost his balance
Peachy! The duo proved team work is dream work as they carried the board into the sea
Lying around: Emma showed off her taut abs as she reclined on the board
Off they go: The couple strutted the stuff across the beach
'Our relationship is different to ones Ive had before, because they were all in the public eye. This relationship feels more normal.'
He confessed, contrary to his laddish persona, he is something of a wallflower when it comes to 'tashing on'.
'You wouldnt think it, but I am quite shy. I can have sex on camera on Geordie Shore because thats just me with one person in a room, but put me in front of 50 people with a microphone and I would freeze.'
Snuggling up: He confessed, contrary to his laddish persona, he is something of a wallflower when it comes to 'tashing on'
Legs eleven! Looking beach ready clearly came easy to the beautiful star
Playing around: The couple could not stop laughing as they played around
Gaz's Northern charm has certainly captivated the ladies with the quiffed heartthrob enjoying a string of high-profile romances .
Best known is his explosive on-off five year fling with pillow lipped Charlotte Crosby.
The pair's stormy romance ended for good last June when Charlotte revealed she suffered an ectopic pregnancy while Gaz was holed up in the Ex On The Beach house.
Chatting away: The happy couple were beaming at each other in the pool
Doing the hard work! The couple looked happy as they bobbed along
The writing may well be on the wall for Wayne Rooneys Manchester United career, but wife Coleen ensured their children were reading something rather less dramatic as she led a host of celebrities honouring World Book Day on Thursday.
Embracing the playful theme, Coleen, 30, dressed sons Kai, seven, and three-year old Klay as the titular character from author Francesca Simons illustrated book series, Horrid Henry.
In a series of images shared across Instagram, the two boys both sport ginger wigs over the blue and yellow outfit worn by the fictional prankster.
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Double trouble! Embracing World Bood Day, Coleen Rooney, 30, dressed sons Klay, three, and 14-month old Kit as the titular character from author Francesca Simons illustrated book series, Horrid Henry
Captioning one such image, Coleen wrote: World book day 2017 double trouble!! Horrid Henry x 2.
Elsewhere Geri Horner ensured daughter Bluebell was also involved in the annual celebration, which encourages children to actively read by providing them books of their own.
Opting to dress her oldest child as the Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll's whimsical fantasy Alice In Wonderland, the former Spice Girl was seen applying the youngster's lipstick in an image shared on social media.
'#worldbookday Bluebell - queen of hearts doing her make up,' she captioned the shot.
Mischievous: In a series of images shared across Instagram, the two boys both sport ginger wigs over the blue and yellow outfit worn by the fictional prankster.
The Queen of Hearts: Elsewhere Geri Horner ensured daughter Bluebell was also involved in the annual celebration, which encourages children to actively read by providing them books of their own
Meanwhile Gemma Atkinson celebrated the occasion while honouring her commitment as co-host for Manchester radio station Key 103.
Sharing a short video with her fans, the 32-year old actress made a game attempt at mimicking the central character from Eric Carle's children's picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Captioning the clip, she wrote: 'Happy world book day from the @key103manchester studios! I'm the hungry caterpillar.... obviously.'
Impressive: Sharing a short video with her fans, Gemma Atkinson made a game attempt at mimicking the central character from Eric Carle's children's picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Fancy dress: Fearne Cotton and young son Rex also celebrated the annual event, although the 35-year old presenter admitted fancy dress was a daily occurrence for her oldest child
Adorable: The Saturdays star Rochelle Humes and her JLS husband Marvin Humes sent their three-year-old Alaia-Mai in as Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz
Fearne Cotton and young son Rex also celebrated the annual event, although the 35-year old presenter admitted fancy dress was a daily occurrence for her oldest child.
Posting a shot of the four year old dressed as a squid, she wrote: 'World book day is like ever other day for Rex. He wears his squid hat. The only fancy dress he'll tolerate.'
The Saturdays star Rochelle Humes and her JLS husband Marvin Humes sent their three-year-old Alaia-Mai in as Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz.
Impressive: Elsewhere former glamour model Nicola McLean's two children, Rocky and Striker Williams, were respectively dressed as hapless Superman alter-ego Clark Kent and Odlaw from illustrator Martin Handford's Where's Wally book series
Looking good: Rio Ferdinand, 38, also got in on the act by sharing a snap of his three children with late wife Rebecca Ellison - Lorenz, Tate and Tia
'My little Dorothy desperately trying to click her heels,' she wrote alongside a short video of the youngster.
Elsewhere former glamour model Nicola McLean's two children, Rocky and Striker Williams, were respectively dressed as hapless Superman alter-ego Clark Kent and Odlaw from illustrator Martin Handford's Where's Wally book series.
Captioning the shot, the 35-year old wrote: 'So cute #worldbookday #odlaw #clarkent.'
Rio Ferdinand, 38, also got in on the act by sharing a snap of his three children with late wife Rebecca Ellison - Lorenz, Tate and Tia.
Dressed as The Cat in the Hat, Where's Wally and FC Barcelona's Brazilian striker Neymar, the three children stand side by side with their eyes to the ground.
Captioning the shot, an enthusiastic Rio wrote: '#worldbookday my little ones have gone for it this morning!! The make up was on point too!!'
Chip off the old block: Fitness fanatic Joe Wicks, best known for his Channel 4 show The Body Coach, got a young fan involved in the annual celebration
Fitness fanatic Joe Wicks, best known for his Channel 4 show The Body Coach, got a young fan involved in the fun.
Posting on Instagram, the personal trainer, 31, shared an image of the youngster dressed as himself, complete with long wig and pencilled on stubble.
'Happy World Book Day from the mini Body Coach #WorldBookDay #thebodycoach #leanin15,' he wrote alongside the snap.
Designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an annual celebration of reading, World Book Day honours the work authors and illustrators in more than 100 countries across the world.
They are fast approaching their one year anniversary.
And Olivia Buckland proved her flame with her hunky boyfriend Alex Bowen is burning brighter than ever as they threw themselves wholeheartedly into a sun-drenched Barbados break on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old stunner, who met Alex during her stint on Love Island last year, left nothing to the imagination as she slipped into a stunning sheer swimsuit which showed off her perky cleavage and endless legs.
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Hot stuff! Olivia Buckland proved her flame with her hunky boyfriend Alex Bowen is burning brighter than ever as they threw themselves wholeheartedly into a sun-drenched Barbados break on Wednesday
The stunning star soared to fame in June when she starred on the second season of the rebooted version of the ITV2 show, where she went on to meet Alex and enjoy a month of bikini-clad frolics in the sunshine.
After a rocky start to their relationship, with Alex bedding Zara Holland in the house, the couple came out on top - with the Wolverhampton-born hunk popping the question to the blonde beauty in December.
The duo could not keep their hand off each other as they dipped into the sea - with Alex's devoted interest in his girlfriend totally understandable as they cosied up.
Her sports luxe one-piece boasted a sheer body with a monogrammed trim in a contrasting black colour, with straps crossing over at the back.
Holding on tight: The 24-year-old stunner left nothing to the imagination as she slipped into a stunning sheer swimsuit which showed off her perky cleavage and endless legs
Kiss, kiss: She could not resist planting a kiss on Alex's lips
Hold on tight: Her extension-enhanced tresses were worn in loose waves extending down her back while she shielded her make-up free face with mirrored sunglasses
Her extension-enhanced tresses were worn in loose waves extending down her back while she shielded her make-up free face with mirrored sunglasses.
Olivia's array of tattoos helped enhance her beach babe look, as she showed off the various inkings on her legs - including a new duo on the back of her calves.
Alex meanwhile coordinated with his girlfriend with his bold array of tattoos, with his hunky torso emphasised by the huge 'chest piece'.
Be careful! Olivia flashed more than expected in her sheer swimsuit
Inked up: Olivia's array of tattoos helped enhance her beach babe look, as she showed off the various inkings on her legs - including a new duo on the back of her calves
Together forever: The couple's engagement came as a shock to the reality world, after her and Alex met a mere ten months ago, yet she is insistent their future is sparkling
The couple's engagement came as a shock to the reality world, after her and Alex met a mere ten months ago, yet she is insistent their future is sparkling.
The stunning star revealed they do have plans for children - but will keep an integral element of their love story quiet particularly their various on-screen romps.
She told MailOnline: 'We have said we want kids eventually. We just want to enjoy our time together, we have a lot to do, experiences to have, holidays to take.
'It will be nice but maybe not in the next seven years. I'm still a baby anyway. I would never let my kids watch Love Island! There's not as much controversy in sex on TV as there used to be. But I won't be showing my kids Love Island. Maybe keep it secret from them for quite a while.'
Hot mama: Having forged a successful career as a beauty guru, Olivia admitted to her biggest regret - having lip fillers at the tender age of 21. She admits how infuriating it is when followers accuse her of having enhanced lips as the initial injections wore off after six months
Protective: In January, Alex lashed out at a cruel troll who claimed Olivia's lips and breasts were fake. Of the scenario he said: 'I had my lips done November 2015 and whenever people ask me I say I did have them done'
Having forged a successful career as a beauty guru, Olivia admitted to her biggest regret - having lip fillers at the tender age of 21. She admits how infuriating it is when followers accuse her of having enhanced lips as the initial injections wore off after six months.
In January, Alex lashed out at a cruel troll who claimed Olivia's lips and breasts were fake. Of the scenario he said: 'I had my lips done November 2015 and whenever people ask me I say I did have them done.
'But that's why I get upset when people say I did have them done because I was really against it when I had them done. For people to accuse me of it still when I haven't had them done is really upsetting for me because I really hated it when I had them. I don't want any other girls to make the same mistake.
'If they say that about me, Alex sees how much it bothered me before. He loves me natural and without my make-up. He doesn't like when people say nasty things about me or upset me. He is protective and that's nice.
She revealed exclusively to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that she had a 'pretty rough couple of weeks,' after rumours emerged she had split with girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon.
Now former Bachelor star Megan Marx has stripped off for a 'very womanly' raunchy beachside photo shoot that she described as the 'perfect break' after 'a rough couple of weeks'.
In a series of stunning images, the blonde beauty sizzled as she posed topless, barely protecting her modesty with her arms.
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Beach babe: Former Bachelor star Megan Marx has stripped off for a 'very womanly' raunchy beachside photo shoot that she described as the 'perfect break' after 'a rough couple of weeks'
In one shot, Megan looks over her shoulder and off camera, with sand and water covering her.
Her hair is wet, seemingly fresh from a dip in the beach, and her makeup includes dewy foundation and lashings of mascara.
The statuesque star in another image, poses front on to camera, showing off her washboard abs as she stands in khaki bikini bottoms.
Sizzling: The statuesque star in another image, poses front on to camera, showing off her washboard abs as she stands in khaki bikini bottoms
Hot to trot: In another frame, the personality - who hails from Perth but is now based in Bali - gazes at the camera as she showcases her long legs
In another frame, the personality - who hails from Perth but is now based in Bali - gazes at the camera as she showcases her long legs.
She can also be seen sitting suggestively on the sand, taking in the sunset.
The sultry shots were taken on Komodo Island in Indonesia, near Bali.
Megan told Daily Mail Australia about the shoot, saying the photographer wanted something 'very womanly.'
'Skin and salt in a location untouched,' Megan said.
Sultry: She can also be seen sitting suggestively on the sand, taking in the sunset
The 27-year-old beauty has been on holiday with friends in Indonesia while Tiffany returned to their hometown of Perth last week
'I've had a pretty rough couple of weeks so it was the perfect break,' Megan told Daily Mail Australia of the trip.
Megan and Tiffany - who connected after failing to find love with The Bachelor's Richie Strahan - recently moved to Bali together.
The pair have been dating for eight months, but recently hinted that things could possibly be over for them.
Tiffany surprisingly returned to Australia last month, and shared a cryptic post to Instagram that saw her looking out at the beach.
If you've got it! Megan told Daily Mail Australia about the shoot, saying the photographer wanted something 'very womanly'
Split? Megan and Tiffany (pictured together) recently hinted that things could possibly be over for them
'Lost in life': Tiffany surprisingly returned to Australia last month, and shared a cryptic post to Instagram that saw her looking out at the beach
The 30-year-old said she was 'back home' and 'lost in life,' calling her two pet dogs her 'creature comforts.'
This week, Tiffany was also seen belting out Adele's Rolling in the Deep, singing the lyrics: 'we could of had it all.'
Megan also shared a snap a week ago to her Instagram, that saw her posing on a boat and claiming she needed 'solitude.'
In happier times? This week, Tiffany was also seen belting out Adele's Rolling in the Deep, singing the lyrics: 'we could of had it all'
Sailing the seas: Megan also shared a snap a week ago to her Instagram, that saw her posing on a boat and claiming she needed 'solitude'
Fans took to both ladies' comments section to share their thoughts on the perceived break-up.
'Im broken-hearted,' one supporter wrote to Tiffany.
'Hard to assume but the sign says you arent together anymore. I really thought you were my #relationshipgoal.'
She's known for her flowing brunette locks.
But on Wednesday, Catherine McNeil shocked her fans by sporting a Beatles-esque bowl cut on the runway at Paris Fashion Week.
The 27-year-old strutted her stuff for designer Lanvin in a flowing white dress and matching fishnets.
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New look: Catherine McNeil shocked her fans by sporting a Beatles-esque bowl cut on the runway at Paris Fashion Week
She added an edgy twist to the ensemble with leather ankle boots and a matching vest.
The stunner also walked in designer Dries Van Noten's 100th show.
For that, she switched up her look with an over-sized fur coat and brown corduroy pants.
Work it: The 27-year-old also walked in designer Dries Van Noten's 100th show
This isn't the first time that Cat has shown off her new bowl cut to the world.
Last month, at New York Fashion Week, the beauty flaunted her new 'do at the Alexander Wang show.
The 27-year-old found fame after winning the Girlfriend Magazine model search at fourteen and was part of the top 30 models of 2000 in Vogue Paris.
Cat is also known for her colourful love life, having previously been engaged to model Miles Langford and actress Ruby Rose.
They're the family known for making their opinions apparent on Australia's television shows.
But Goggleox's Matt Dalton has shared an interesting view on how to eat Shapes, revealing that he likes to suck the spice off the biscuits before putting them back in the box.
The eating habit revealed in this week's episode divided Matt's family, with his wife Kate quick to label it 'weird' and wasteful.
Is it weird? Gogglebox dad Matt Dalton reveals bizarre BBQ Shapes habit of licking the biscuit before putting it back in the box because 'I just want the spice'
Kate called her husband out on the bizarre eating method while he was watching TV with their two daughters Millie and Holly.
'You've got this thing,' Kate exclaimed. 'Matthew, look at how many times you open Barbecue Shapes, you lick them, you put them back in!'
'I give them to the dog,' Matt interjected, 'The dog has them!'
'You lick them, you put them back in!'Kate called her husband out on the bizarre eating method while he was watching TV with their two daughters Millie and Holly
But Kate labelled the habit wasteful causing Matt to defend his actions, explaining: 'It's not wasteful, I just want the spice!'
The TV dad went on to explain that while he was a fan of the food's flavour, sometimes the biscuits were fried not baked.
'They're fattening, so I just have the spice, give the rest to the dog,' he concluded. 'Everybody wins.'
'It's not weird!' The TV dad went on to explain that while he was a fan of the food's flavour sometimes the biscuits were fried not baked
'But that is weird Matt,' Kate retorted, not impressed by his explanation. 'You throw away the whole packet of the Barbecue Shapes.'
'It's not weird. It's not weird!' Matt fired back.
The exposure of Matt's divisive biscuit eating style comes as married couple Lee and Keith listed off their go-to choices for Chinese takeaway last week.
'But that is weird Matt': Kate labelled the habit wasteful causing Matt to defend his actions, explaining: 'It's not wasteful, I just want the spice!'
However, the scene was hilariously edited to include side-by-side footage that showed another Gogglebox pair, friends Zina and Vivian, poking fun at the standard non-Asian's typical Chinese order.
The conversation for both Gogglebox pairs was sparked as they were watching the program 'Gok's Chinese Takeaway', in which TV presenter Gok Wang traveled to Spain to take a look at Barcelona's Chinese dining.
'It's actually so funny, whenever we go to a Chinese restaurant and see a table that aren't Asian ordering food we always say, 'Fried rice!'' Vivian said, beginning to list off typical choices.
Making fun: Googlebox pair Zina and Vivian predicted the typical non-Asian Chinese order
The show then cut to Lee and Keith reclining on their suede lounge, with Lee asking Keith, 'What do we normally get? Go on!'
What ensued was a back-and-forth between the two pairs.
'You like your special fried rice,' Keith said, to which Lee agreed, before the show cut back to Vivian.
Fried rice, spring rolls and lemon chicken: Lee listed off her favourite dishes
She continued listing typical choices- spring rolls and lemon chicken, before Zina added, 'Steak and black bean!'
All three options were then listed off by Lee and Keith as their favourites.
'That's all we get really, isn't it?' Keith stated.
'Yep,' replied Lee, 'And it's beautiful!'
The segment ended with a cut back to Zina and Vivian laughing hysterically at nailing the cultural stereotype.
They met on the set of Step Up eleven years ago and married in 2009.
And Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan looked as loved up as ever as they enjoyed a holiday in the sunshine.
The dreamy pair were pictured in Hawaii with dance lover Jenna, 36, showing off her gym-honed body in a mismatched bikini.
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Makin waves: Jenna Dewan showed off her gym-honed abs in a mismatching bikini as she joined her buff husband Channing Tatum on the beach in Hawaii
She showed off her ample assets in a yellow bikini top which she teamed with patterned blue bottoms, after slipping off her denim hotpants.
She also made sure to keep the sun off her face, opting for a trendy hessian visor as she hid her eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses.
Her Magic Mike star husband showed off his chiselled physique in a pair of dark board shorts as they enjoyed a walk on the beach.
Stunning: She showed off her ample assets in a yellow bikini top which she teamed with patterned blue bottoms, after slipping off her denim hotpants
Channing tried his hand at paddle boarding while Jenna splashed through the waves to get a closer look.
The couple have a daughter together called Everly, three who was not pictured with them on the day.
And Jenna recently revealed she keeps her designer pieces to hand down to her firstborn.
In fact, she told InStyle, that the sequined Rachel Roy gown she donned on the Oscars red carpet in 2013 would be saved for her.
The dress was a Pre-Fall 2013 piece that stylist Brad Goreski helped her pick out for the night. With a plunging neckline and open back, it was seriously sexy especially since Jenna was eight months pregnant at the time.
She said: 'I actually kept the red carpet dress I wore at the Oscars this black dress when I was pregnant for her just so she could have that, because I thought that's neat, that she wasn't born yet but she went to the Oscars,' Jenna said in a new interview with the fashion magazine.
She left her job as a regional newsreader in Tasmania to search for love on national television.
And despite succeeding in her goal, having fallen in love with mechanical plumber Lee Elliott on The Bachelorette, Georgia Love has admitted the gamble could see her struggle to be employed as a journalist again.
The 27-year-old told The Daily Telegraph that she believes being 'vulnerable' on the reality show could see her find it hard to get journalism work, but has fortunately fallen in love with her work as a regular guest on Studio 10.
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'I'm loving being back in the media': Georgia Love fears she will struggle to find journalist work after Bachelorette stint but 'absolutely loves' her gig as a regular guest on Studio 10
Georgia said she appreciates that her no-holds-barred reality TV appearance last year could be a turn off for news organisations.
'News directors might have a hesitation in having seen me be so vulnerable on the show and talk about my opinions and my views and things like that,' she said, 'as journalists, were not meant to.
'I understand that was a risk in going on the show for me, but I certainly still have a passion for (journalism) and Im loving being back in the media,' she said.
But since leaving her job as a newsreader for WIN News in Tasmania to appear on The Bachelorette, Georgia has found success as a television panel host and media personality.
Risked it for love: Georgia said she understands that her no-holds-barred reality TV appearance could be a turn off for news organisations
Previous work: Georgia left her job as a newsreader for WIN News in Tasmania to appear on The Bachelorette
She has guest hosted The Project on one occasion and appears as a regular guest on daytime chat show Studio 10 since the end of last year.
Georgia has also incorporated her paid advertising gigs into her considerable presence on Instagram, where she boasts more than 142,000 followers.
Recently she and Lee took part in a romantic Valentine's Day themed advertising campaign promoting a new brand of apples.
All loved up! Recently she and Lee took part in a romantic Valentine's Day themed advertising campaign promoting a new brand of apples
Behind the desk: She has guest hosted The Project on one occasion with popular results
Georgia said she has never had 'a strong goal' for her career given the changing nature of the industry and is happy to see where things take her.
But she gushed about her current role on Studio 10, which she is head over heels in love with.
'Theyre just such a welcoming team and they welcomed me to their crazy little morning TV family. Im absolutely loving being back in that TV news world, its what I know and what Ive always done, so Im very happy to be back there doing that.'
On Sunday, she caught the attention of viewers as she stripped off for a raunchy romp in the inaugural episode of her new BBC miniseries SS-GB.
And it all appears to be familiar territory for Kate Bosworth, 34, as she had previously shed her clothing for love scenes with Jean-Marc Barr - as well as the film's lead star Josh Lucas - in the 2013 movie Big Sur.
The blonde beauty is seen baring all in newly resurfaced images from the film, which is based on Jack Kerouac's novel of the same name and covers the time he spent in Big Sur, California.
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Familiar territory: Kate Bosworth is seen baring all with Jean-Marc Barr in newly-resurfaced scenes from her 2013 movie Big Sur
Kate plays Willamine 'Billie' Dabney, the mistress of Jack's close friend Neal Cassady. She then goes on to have an affair with the writer.
The California film set is also where the screen star met and fell in love with her director husband Michael Polish.
Last week, she also got temperatures rising in a similar scene, though she protected her modesty with her hands as she lay on top of her handsome on-screen beau, played by Sam Riley.
Baring all: The Hollywood actress is seen showing her bare boobs as she romps in bed
Demanding: She plays the increasingly demanding Willamine 'Billie' Dabney in the movie
Novel idea: The film is based on Jack Kerouac's novel of the same name and tells the story of his time in Big Sur, California
The other woman: In the film, she plays the mistress of Neal Cassady, played by Jean-Marc
Putting on a very sultry display, Kate - who plays Barbara Barga on the show - cosied up to one another as they shared a steamy smooch.
Not afraid to show off her incredible figure, Kate also reclined on a green sofa before using one of the cushions to shield her bosom.
The BBC miniseries deals with an alternative reality in which the Nazis won World War II based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Len Deighton.
Another lover: Her character then goes on to embark on a steamy affair with Neal's close pal Jack Kerouac, played by Josh Lucas
Chat: The photogenic pair enjoy a long conversation in the midst of her passionate moment
Something to write home about: Kate now plays an American journalist in the BBC's SS-GB
Set in Nazi-occupied London, the drama is based on the premise that the Germans won the Battle of Britain.
British actor Sam plays lead, British Detective Douglas Archer, who finds himself working under the brutal SS in occupied London and investigates what appears to be a simple black market murder.
Starring alongside him, Kate plays American journalist Barbara Barga, who becomes inextricably linked with the murder case that Archer is investigating.
Steamy: SS-GB kept viewers' attention last Sunday, when a love scene between Kate and Sam Riley was aired
Chest a glimpse! Daring to bare all, the MTV Movie nominee could be seen protecting her modesty with her hands as she lay on her front on a sofa
Two's company! Kate looked comfortable as she rested on her handsome co-star
Pucker up: Putting on a very sultry display, the pair cosied up to one another as they shared a steamy smooch for the cameras
On display: Not afraid to show off her incredible figure, Kate also reclined on a green sofa before using one of the cushions to protect her modesty
Sam said of his character: 'Archer is a compelling and complex character. He is a good guy struggling to reconcile his job as a policeman within the repressive Nazi machine.
'Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have written a gripping screenplay that pays homage to Len Deightons novel. I am very much looking forward to working with this talented team.'
Kate added: 'I am thrilled and honoured to be a part of this incredible team, bringing an iconic novel to the screen.'
SS-GB is available to watch on iPlayer and continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.
Cheeky! Kate's peachy posterior was on full display during the raunchy scenes
Under wraps: The pair kept their modesty with careful positioning of their arms and body
Cosy: The duo looked comfortable and content as they worked on the sizzling scenes
Taking it easy: Kate rested her head on her co-stars chest during the raunchy scenes
They haven't had a hit in decades, but Hunters and Collectors were thrust back into the spotlight this week after the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) asked them to change their name 'to discourage people from hunting animals' ahead of duck-hunting season.
And now a number of stars have come out to defend the iconic rock band from the overzealous activists, including The Bachelor's Osher Gunsberg and radio host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald.
Taking to Instagram, Osher wrote: 'As a person who only eats plants - this is why we can't have nice things.'
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Stop the madness! Osher Gunsberg and Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald have slammed PETA after the animal rights group asked Australian band Hunters and Collectors to change their name
Meanwhile, Nova personality Fitzy said on-air that PETA's actions were 'political correctness gone mad.'
Ashley Fruno, The Australian associate director of campaigns for PETA, wrote to the Hunters and Collectors personally on Thursday to urge the band to change their name.
'We feel sure that it was never your intention to promote the killing of intelligent, sensitive, and defenseless animals,' Ashley's letter began.
Name change? Iconic Aussie rock band Hunters and Collectors were urged by PETA to change their name to discourage people from 'killing defenseless animals'
She continued, 'But your name may nevertheless make hunting seem appealing to your fans'.
'Nearly 300,000 Australian waterbirds face an agonising death during hunting season, which opens in Victoria and Tasmania next week,' she wrote.
Ashley concluded, 'As your Adelaide reunion show is coming up, now is the perfect time for a band namelift.'
The band has not yet responded to the letter, which was posted to PETA's Australian website on Thursday.
Fighting for their rights: Ashley Fruno (pictured) The Australian associate director of campaigns for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wrote to the band personally
Protests: Ashley is an outspoken campaigner for the animal rights organisation and has stripped off for the cause at protests in North Korea and Thailand
'Changing its name would be a win-win situation for the band', Ashley was quoted as saying on the site.
She added: 'The name would no longer be synonymous with animal suffering, and the move would help persuade people to aim for less violent hobbies.'
Ashley is an outspoken campaigner for the animal rights organisation and has stripped off for the cause at protests in North Korea and Thailand.
Plea: 'We feel sure that it was never your intention to promote the killing of intelligent, sensitive, and defenseless animals. But your name may nevertheless make hunting seem appealing to your fans' Ashley's letter began
Animal welfare: 'The name would no longer be synonymous with animal suffering, and the move would help persuade people to aim for less violent hobbies,' Ashley says
Last year, in an article for The Daily Telegraph, the activist argued that people who hurt animals are more likely to commit domestic abuse.
She wrote, 'Those who abuse animals also tend to use more dangerous forms of violence and controlling behaviour towards their partners'.
Hunters and Collectors are set to perform at Adelaide's Clipsal 500 on March 4.
Via Asian Correspondent.com, an important article: Amid internal dysfunction, can WHO help Vietnam defeat Zika? Excerpt:
The firestorm that was the Zika outbreak in Brazil has largely passed since last year, but the mosquito-borne virus remains a stubborn global health threat.
Cases have been popping up in a number of Southeast Asian countries for years Thailand has reported nine cases in the past five years but health officials in Vietnam are worried they could soon be dealing with a Zika pandemic.
By January, Ho Chi Minh City had over 200 cases on its hands.
Even if the Vietnamese public health system had taken steps forward over the past few years, it is still ill-prepared to handle an outbreak. Vietnams structural healthcare issues make trying to handle any kind of potential pandemic a frightening prospect.
The Vietnamese government spends 7.2 percent of its GDP on healthcare, surpassing its neighbours, but the country still has far too few doctors and hospital beds to meet the high (and growing) demand.
And even though Communist Vietnam has traditionally seen healthcare as a basic pillar of its relationship with the public, lacking facilities and maddeningly opaque bureaucracies still come standard.
Like in China, Vietnams move from a strictly Communist to a more commercialised healthcare system from the 1980s created a two-tiered system.
The percentage of people insured might be rising and out-of-pocket costs are falling, but many poor Vietnamese remain uninsured and still have to choose between unbearable expenses or not seeking treatment at all.
What makes the decision even harder for rural Vietnamese is that the doctors in their areas have flocked to the cities, even when urban hospitals are severely overcrowded.
The ratio of health workers and hospital beds to people stands at 7-8 healthcare workers and 25 beds for every 10,000 Vietnamese. The global average, by comparison, is 15 healthcare workers and 30 beds per 10,000 people.
The gap between the current healthcare capacity and what Vietnam would need to handle a crisis means the country, like many other developing nations, will have to rely on the World Health Organisation (WHO), which offers support to national health authorities as one of its primary missions for help.
Unfortunately, the organisations most recent attempts to combat crises do not inspire much confidence.
In 2015, an expert panel brought together by the Harvard Global Health Institute and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine did not mince their words in condemning the WHOs response to the Ebola crisis.
The panel called the response an egregious failure and pointed out fatal delays, such as realising in March 2014 the Ebola outbreak was out of control, but waiting until August to declare an emergency.
Again, when the link between Zika and microcephaly became apparent in Brazil, public health experts called out the WHO for inexplicably sitting back on Zika.
Compounding the WHOs technical shortcomings is its dwindling funding.
To support its cumbersome and costly setup, with a head office in Geneva and six semi-autonomous regional offices (Vietnams is in Manila), the WHO relies on the overwhelming support from voluntary contributions by countries that are increasingly frustrated with its performance.
It is no secret that this Real Housewife loves animals but now her business is really going to the dogs.
Lisa Vanderpump has launched a new dog store come rescue shelter which takes dogs from the mean streets to the gilded streets of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
The 56-year-old and husband Ken Todd usually are busy opening restaurants but this time decided to open Vanderpump Dogs in West Hollywood, California, to help pooches in need.
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It's a dog's life: Lisa Vanderpump opened her new dog shelter and pet store, Vanderpump Dogs, in West Hollywood, California, on Wednesday night
Of course Lisa being Lisa could not just hang up the 'open' sign, she had to throw a big bash on Wednesday night.
And the power of Lisa and the cuteness of puppies seems to have created a little bit of magic - it made the stars of Vanderpump Rules and their nemesis Lala Kent get along.
The ladies of Sur - Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Scheana Marie and Katie Maloney - turned out in force as always.
But the shock was the arrival of former Sur host and ex Vanderpump Rules star Lala.
Boss' babes: The ladies of Sur - Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Scheana Marie and Katie Maloney - turned out in force as always
Unexpected guest: The power of Lisa and the cuteness of puppies seems to have created a little bit of magic, it made the stars of Vanderpump Rules and their nemesis Lala Kent get along. Lala quit the show last year
Rose under the bridge? But looks like someone is ready to head back to work, as not only did the model turned host come to the event - she happy posed up with those she had considered her enemies
The 25-year-old quit the show after a season of drama which saw her accused of sleeping with a married man who lavished gifts upon her.
The rumors saw her and the other female stars go head-to-head episode after episode until she quit.
Recently she reportedly even got into a verbal altercation with Kristen in and off-camera incident at Sur.
Back for good? The 25-year-old - seen here with Lisa's husband Ken Todd - quit the show after a season of drama which saw her accused of sleeping with a married man who lavished gifts upon her
Dressed to impress: Lala did, however, seem intent on making the other stars green with envy, wearing a tight velvet emerald dress to the launch party
Who whore it better? Whether by design or otherwise, Scheena - who was one of the few to befriend lala - also wore a green velvet dress but opted for a cleavage-bearing version
But looks like someone is ready to head back to work, as not only did the model turned host come to the event - she happy posed up with those she had considered her enemies.
Lala did, however, seem intent on making the other stars green with envy, wearing a tight velvet emerald dress to the launch party.
Whether by design or otherwise, Scheena - who was one of the few to befriend lala - also wore a green velvet dress but opted for a cleavage-bearing version.
Pampered pooch: Of course the night was actually all about Lisa and the dogs so the Beverly Hills Housewives star brought along her beloved dogs Gigi and Harrison (pictured)
One and done: For her launch, Lisa wore black jumpsuit which had a plunging neckline but was tied together tightly so not to bare too much like her Vanderpump Rules staff
Theme dressing: Lisa wore the one piece with a sequined dog embellished jacket draped over her shoulders
Kristen was also showing a lot of front in a plunging black and white patterned jumpsuit.
Katie opted for an all-in-one look as well while Stassi kept warm but turned up the heat in some thigh high boots and a sweater dress.
Of course the night was actually all about Lisa and the dogs so the Beverly Hills Housewives star brought along her beloved dogs Gigi and Harrison.
New friend?The star was also seen cuddling up to another pooch, a big basset hound
MIA: While her Vanderpump Rules stars, which also included Tom Schwartz, came, her fellow Housewives were nowhere to be seen
Still supportive: Former Housewives star Joyce Giraud made sure to attend and helped Lisa by looking after Gigi
The star was also seen cuddling up to another pooch, a big basset hound.
For her launch, Lisa wore black jumpsuit which had a plunging neckline but was tied together tightly so not to bare too much like her Vanderpump Rules staff.
Lisa wore the one piece with a sequined embellished jacket draped over her shoulders.
Warm and fuzzies: Also attending the launch was Leona Lewis and her boyfriend Dennis Jauch, who both opted to wear furry coats
While her Vanderpump Rules stars, which also included Tom Schwartz, came, her fellow Housewives were nowhere to be seen.
Former star Joyce Giraud made sure to attend and helped Lisa by looking after Gigi.
Also attending the launch was Leona Lewis and her boyfriend Dennis Jauch, who both opted to wear furry coats.
Party people: Lance Bass and his husband Michael Turchin made the party into date night
Just a little kiss: The couple were also quickly won over by two small terriers who they showed some serious puppy love to
Lance Bass and his husband Michael Turchin made the party into date night.
The couple were also quickly won over by two small terriers who they showed some serious puppy love to.
Lisa has long worked to help rescue dogs both in Los Angeles and also to try to save dogs from the Yulin Dog Meat festival in China.
Dog lovers: Ken and Lisa created the Vanderpump Dogs Foundation and this store will help fund that
Her new store will continue those efforts by helping find dogs homes locally with the profits going to her Vanderpump Dog Foundation that aims to try stop the annual festival in China.
Speaking at the party to NBC news Ken joked about Lisa's newest venture: 'I'm not making any profit. It's all going to the dogs. My life has actually gone to the dogs.'
Lisa explained how the Vanderpump Rules store will work: ''So what we're going to do is take dogs from the kill shelter, really high-risk dogs and we give them grooming and we have them Vanderpuffed kind of glam them up.'
Pooch palace: Vanderpump Dogs will continue their rescue efforts by helping find dogs homes locally and prfits from the shop will go to try stop the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China
Fences star Viola Davis won Oscar gold for best supporting actress Sunday night, but it was only last year that she began to feel fully confident in her skin.
'My confidence took time. It really did, to come into myself,' the 51-year-old cover girl admitted in the March 13 edition of People.
'At first, I just wanted to try really hard to make people see that I was pretty, that I wasn't just the drug addict from [the 2002 drama] Antoine Fisher, so it was about proving something to someone.'
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'My confidence took time': Fences star Viola Davis won Oscar gold for best supporting actress Sunday night, but it was only last year that she began to feel fully confident in her skin
The HTGAWM star continued: 'It wasn't until the last year that I was like, "Okay, I'm done with that."' I just want to look like me, good me. I just want to be satisfied with how I look. With every year that passes, [you have to slay] another dragon.'
Viola overcame an impoverished upbringing in Rhode Island living in apartments that were 'condemned and rat-infested' and she didn't have a lot of friends.
'I was one of those people that everyone knew, but I didn't have a lot of friends. I didn't date or do any of that stuff. I was overweight and very, very shy,' Davis - a self-described 'geek' - recalled.
'I was definitely not a snazzy dresser and definitely didn't wear makeup.'
The 51-year-old cover girl told People: 'It wasn't until the last year that I was like, "Okay, I'm done with [trying to make people see me as pretty]."' I just want to look like me, good me. I just want to be satisfied with how I look. Every year that passes, [you have to slay] another dragon'
'I didn't date': Viola overcame an impoverished upbringing in Rhode Island living in apartments that were 'condemned and rat-infested' and she didn't have a lot of friends
Training: The South Carolina-born thespian (R) earned a full scholarship to Rhode Island College, thanks to federal program TRIO Upward Bound, and went on to prestigious Julliard School
'I would jump in trash bins with maggots looking for food, and I would steal from the corner store because I was hungry.'
The South Carolina-born thespian earned a full scholarship to Rhode Island College, thanks to federal program TRIO Upward Bound, and went on to prestigious Julliard School.
'It took many years of getting knocked down and getting back up to finally say, "Okay, I think I'm pretty tough. I've got this,"' the Broadway veteran said.
'I was always looking for a way to express what was in me, my thoughts, and I found it through theater, so that was where I thrived. [Otherwise] I probably would have imploded.'
Pictured in 2015: Viola's confidence was also helped, in part, thanks to her glam squad - stylist Elizabeth Stewart, hairdresser Jamika Wilson, and make-up artist Autumn Moultrie
'Go Viola!' The Suicide Squad star - who's a Grammy away from an EGOT - is the adoptive mother of six-year-old daughter Genesis with her husband of 13 years, Julius Tennon
Renewed! And on February 10, ABC renewed How to Get Away with Murder for a fourth season to premiere in September, so fans can expect more from Professor Annalise Keating
Viola's confidence was also helped, in part, thanks to her glam squad - stylist Elizabeth Stewart, hairdresser Jamika Wilson, and make-up artist Autumn Moultrie.
The Suicide Squad star - who's a Grammy away from an EGOT - is the adoptive mother of six-year-old daughter Genesis with her husband of 13 years, Julius Tennon.
'She is the light of our lives,' she gushed.
'I never had a house; Genesis has a house. But we hold her accountable for everything.'
Davis and the 63-year-old Batman v Superman actor have collaborated together in six films, most recently the 2016 courtroom drama Custody.
And on February 10, ABC renewed How to Get Away with Murder for a fourth season to premiere in September, so fans can expect more from Professor Annalise Keating.
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Mischa Barton has made a mini comeback of sorts.
After a series of disasters earlier this year that included screaming on her balcony and damaging her apartment building with a U-Haul moving truck, the 31-year-old actress appears to have sprung back to life in a stunning photo shoot.
On Wednesday The OC vet wore a skimpy string bikini as she was posing for a bottled water company on the pristine shores of Huntington Beach, California.
Beach beauty: Mischa Barton looked like a golden girl as she modeled on the shores of Huntington Beach, California on Wednesday afternoon... but did she have a little help from the airbrush?
A tall drink of water she is: The OC vet looked sensational in a bikini as she was posing for a bottled water ad
The New York native appeared radiant and glowing as she modelled 138 Water with fashion photographer Malachi Banales.
But her incredibly flawless has sparked speculation she may have had a little help from the airbrush for this campaign.
There was not a single imperfection on her body as she paraded around in a red, white and black with a Tiki pattern. The bottoms tied on the sides and the top had thin spaghetti straps.
Knockout: Her flattering bikini was red, white and black with a Tiki pattern. The bottoms tied on the sides and the top had thin spaghetti straps
She clearly has been hitting the gym: The blonde beauty looked toned and tanned as she walked on the beach in her little two piece that did little to cover her up
The Beautiful Life: TBL star, who came to fame with 1999's The Sixth Sense, also wore long gold earrings with a matching cuff bracelet.
The Once And Again vet posed like a Victoria's Secret Angel as she put a hand on her head, pushed out a hip, touched her neck and sat with one knee up.
Despite all the hoopla over her private life, Barton has been very busy with her career.
Pretty perfect look: The New York native appeared flawless as she was modeling for 138 Water with fashion photographer Malachi Banales
Added accessories: The star, who came to fame with 1999's The Sixth Sense, also wore long gold earrings with a matching cuff bracelet
A different look: The star layered in clothes outside her apartment in LA in early February
She has four films in post production, including The Malevolent (a horror film with Carolina Bratanova), Father (a drama with Paul Sorvino and Daryl Hannah), The Basement (another horror film, this one with Tracie Thoms) and Executor (an action film with Markiss McFadden).
The London-born beauty also is in pre production on The Toybox, a road trip movie with Jeff Denton.
And she has complete the film Monsters At Large, a family film with Stephen Tobolowsky.
This 138 Water photo shoot comes after she crashed a rented U-Hail truck into an apartment building in mid February.
The Notting Hill actress was moving out of a building where she had been living in the same neighborhood.
Barton moved all of her belongings into the U-Haul truck and drove to another building located right below the Sunset Strip. It appears as though she miscalculated the height of the carport at the building, as the top of the moving truck slammed into the overhead support beam and became stuck.
A video taken moments after the crash shows Barton shaken and saying that everything she owns is inside the U-Haul. The clip also shows Barton speaking with authorities in front of the moving truck and damaged building.
It's unclear why the actress moved out of her old building, but photographs show the same U-Haul truck parked outside of her building as her belongings were being moved inside.
Move over Alessandra, Gigi and Kendall! The Once And Again vet posed like a Victoria's Secret Angel as she put a hand on her head, pushed out a hip, touched her neck and sat with one knee up
She still works a ton: Despite all the hoopla over her private life, Barton has been very busy with her career
Her name gets movies made: She has four films in post production, including The Malevolent (a horror film with Carolina Bratanova), Father (a drama with Paul Sorvino and Daryl Hannah), The Basement (another horror film, this one with Tracie Thoms) and Executor (an action film with Markiss McFadden)
According to TMZ her old neighbors complained that Barton was disruptive 'to the point cops were called every few months.' It's also unclear where Barton parked the truck with her belongings inside since moving out on Wednesday.
Days earlier she was seen heading to a bar in West Hollywood where she was 'drinking and smoking until 3am', according to Yahoo. The actress was at Barney's Beanery, where she enjoyed 'drinks and cigarettes' in between a game of pool, Yahoo reported.
The former OC star's outing came just weeks after she had a 'meltdown' where two of her neighbors called 911 saying that Barton had threatened to kill herself.
'My downstairs neighbor is hysterically crying in the backyard and says she's going to kill herself,' said a female neighbor in a 911 tape obtained by TMZ.
Two more: The London-born beauty also is in pre production on The Toybox, a road trip movie with Jeff Denton. And she has complete the film Monsters At Large, a family film with Stephen Tobolowsky
The past is in the past: This 138 Water photo shoot comes after she crashed a rented U-Hail truck into an apartment building in mid February after she had a meltdown from what she said stemmed from being given GHB
'She's screaming and she just keeps on saying 'I want to die' and then she's like 'I'm going to kill myself' and then she just keeps on, yeah, it's all nonsensical. But I'm very concerned.'
That woman then added: 'They've been called there a bunch. They go see her at least every couple of months because she loses it.'
Another individual who called, this one a man, said: 'I have a neighbor who's on her back patio just screaming.' He later said: 'She's saying that it's all over, that everything is done and then just wailing. I mean, she's hanging half over her back fence right now.'
She must be getting better with age: Here Mischa is seen in a pink one-piece bathing suit while on vacation in Spain in July
Barton claimed that she had been given the date rape drug GHB following the incident, which led to her being hospitalized after paramedics arrived on the scene.
In previously released footage of the meltdown, which appeared to be filmed by a neighbor, Barton could be seen ranting and raving while she hang over a fence in her backyard.
The actress, wearing a loose white t-shirt, could be heard wailing as she rocked back and forth. 'Ah, planet Earth. Um, bye,' says Barton at the top of the video. 'Like, like anybody. Oh my God, it's over. I feel it. And it's angry.'
She later says: 'Oh my god, and my mother. I always knew it. Oh you f***** witch. I knew it. What a witch. I was right, I was right.' She then breaks down in tears and begins to wail again.
It is then that she starts to say: 'We're dying, we're dying. I knew it, I knew it. I don't want anybody to know. Oh my god, it's terrifying. Whoaaaaaaa, you're angry. Oh, I feel you. Oh, I'll be your conduit. Yeah. Yeah. F*** yeah. F*** yeah. F*** yeah you Ziggy Stardust, I always knew it. I always f***ing knew it.'
Her big TV days: The actress with her The OC co-stars (from left) Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody and Benjamin McKenzie as they arrive at the 2003 Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, California
A headline-making love life: She used to date Brandon Davis in 2004, left, and in 2006, right, with Cisco Adler
Barton then falls off the balcony and back onto her patio, but quickly gets back up.
She later said in an interview with People that she went out with a group of friends on the evening before the incident, and it was then that she was drugged. 'While having drinks, I realized that something was not right as my behavior was becoming erratic and continued to intensify over the next several hours,' said the actress.
'I voluntarily went to get professional help, and I was informed by their staff that I had been given GHB. After an overnight stay, I am home and doing well.' Barton thanked the staff at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for their care at the time while also asking that the media respect her privacy.
He's been dubbed the 'villain' in this season of Married At First Sight.
And Anthony Manton's co-workers appear to have no sympathy for the racing commentator, who last week bemoaned his portrayal on the reality show.
'He's blowing up about it (how he's coming across), but what did he expect?' a source at the 33-year-old's work place, Sky Racing, told The Daily Telegraph.
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He had it coming? A source at Anthony Manton's work place, Sky Racing, has condemned his behaviour on Married At First Sight
The insider went on to suggest that Anthony invited the backlash over his behaviour by signing up for the series.
'Reality shows are for people who dont have a profile and desperately want one, not for people who have something going on that they could lose,' they claimed.
It comes after the Sydney-based contestant raised eyebrows with crude comments he made about wife Nadia Stamp, 36.
'What did he expect?' A source at the reality star's work place spoke out about the backlash towards his comments, suggesting he invited the criticism by signing up to the series
'You've been frigid': It comes after the 33-year-old received backlash over his 'frigid' comment towards wife Nadia Stamp
'We've had problems with intimacy,' he told producers in a preview clip for Sunday's show.
'For lack of a better word, you've been frigid,' he later told Nadia.
His comment was met with a slew of backlash, with fans taking to Twitter to condemn his behaviour.
Slammed: Fans took to Twitter to blast the racing commentator, with one calling his attitude 'archaic'
'Anthony claiming Nadia's frigid - no mate, with the way you've acted nobody would want to jump you,' one viewer Tweeted.
Another outraged fan Tweeted: 'Nadia "frigid"? Rest assured we've all been called that by Mr Unf******** Teeny Weeny.'
Other fans chose to critique Anthony's personality in more general terms, with one Tweeting: 'I don't know what scares me more, Anthony's archaic attitude, or Nadia's willingness to put up with it.'
'Can't wait to see Nadia ditch Anthony', quipped another fan.
'I know I haven't been portrayed in the best possible light': The Sydney-based racing commentator claims he has been heavily 'edited' in the show
Meanwhile, Anthony has spoken out about the show's portrayal of his character, claiming he has been heavily 'edited'.
'I know I haven't been portrayed in the best possible light. There's so much stuff that is edited out,' he told The Daily Telegraph.
'In my case, there needs to be a villain in these shows, and I happen to be it on Married At First Sight,' he continued.
Rachael Finch and husband Michael Miziner welcomed a little baby boy on Thursday.
And now they want YOUR help to name him.
Posting to Facebook on Thursday night, in a video the pair called out fans to help name their bundle of joy who Rachael calls an 'absolute angel.'
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Can you help? Posting to Facebook on Thursday night, in a video the pair called out fans to help name their bundle of joy who Rachael calls an 'absolute angel.'
Rachael also said her unnamed son is 'sleeping and feeding well' as she simply glowed despite enduring a long birth just a few hours prior.
The model and Myer Ambassador made the announcement of his arrival on her Instagram page on Thursday afternoon.
She posted a sweet snap of her Michael cuddling their bundle of joy, writing in a caption alongside it: 'Life has never felt more complete. Wow. 2.3.17 Our new little man.. @mikemiziner'.
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'Life has never felt more complete:' Rachael Finch and her husband Michael Miziner welcomed their second child, a baby boy, into the world on Thursday
Makeup free, the 28-year-old was positively glowing as she cradled her sweet newborn, who was wrapped in a striped baby blanket.
Rachael gave birth to her baby boy right on her due date. The couple also share a daughter, Violet, three.
Just a day before, the energetic fitness instructor was seen strolling around in high heels after appearing on the Kyle and Jackie O show.
How did she do it? Just a day before, the energetic fitness instructor was seen strolling around in high heels after appearing on the Kyle and Jackie O show
Mother-like-daughter: The couple also share a daughter, Violet, three
While many heavily pregnant women would be resting up in their pajamas, Rachael was doing a radio interview with the popular duo.
She looked immaculate in a tight-fitting blue dress and pair of sky-high designer stilettos as she exited the studios with ease.
The Townsville-born star kept her 185,000 Instagram followers up-to-date with the progress of her pregnancy.
Incredibly baby body! The Townsville-born star kept her 185,000 Instagram followers up-to-date with the progress of her pregnancy in numerous glamorous frocks
Rachael recently opened up about varying experiences with her second pregnancy compared to her first.
'It's so different and I didn't expect it to be so different,' she told Thinkergirl: The Podcast.
The former Dancing With The Stars contestant explained how she had only '10 days of morning sickness' with Violet and has had 'four months straight of morning sickness' with her second baby.
'Think about a disgustingly long haul flight from somewhere like LA, with food poisoning,' she exclaimed. 'That is it, for 24 hours a day.'
'It's so different and I didn't expect it to be so different': Rachael recently opened up about varying experiences with her second pregnancy compared to her first
Working mum: It's unclear whether the mother intends to take time off following the birth of her second child. She told The Grace Tales she took six weeks out of her busy schedule to focus on settling into her new role when Violet was born in 2013
Yummy mummy: Rachael looked incredible throughout her pregnancy. She is pictured here at the Myer Spring 16 Fashion Launch in Sydney, last August
Rachael married her Dancing With The Stars partner Michael in early 2013, announcing her first pregnancy soon after.
She revealed the courtship was 'nice' and 'respectful', telling the Sunday Telegraph they 'didn't kiss for months.'
'It was a very nice, respectful relationship for a long time, but we were dancing every day. We kissed just at the very end,' she told the publication.
In September 2013, their daughter Violet Rachael Miziner arrived.
The mother told The Grace Tales she took six weeks out of her busy schedule to focus on settling into her new role.
The model opened up about 'reconnecting' with a former flame he has 'a lot of feelings for' during his stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
And now Kris Smith has revealed he was speaking of model ex Maddy King.
The 38-year-old admitted to KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O on Friday: 'I'm not back with an ex girlfriend, but I've back talking to an ex girlfriend.'
Secret's out! I'm A Celebrity's Kris Smith confirms model Maddy King as former flame he's been 'reconnecting' and 'fixing things up' with on Friday's Kyle And Jackie O after being voted out of the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle on Thursday
However it was ex Bachelor star Keira Maguire that cheekily let Maddy's name slip in the interview, to which Kris didn't deny.
'I'm not going to rob a bank with you big mouth,' he quickly retorted to the blonde firecracker as he confirmed the ex girlfriend was indeed the 25-year-old stunner.
Radio shock jock Kyle insisted Kris should get back together with Maddy, as he said: 'I like you and Maddy together. You belong together.'
'Big mouth': It was ex Bachelor star Keira Maguire that cheekily let Maddy's name slip in the interview, to which Kris slammed Keira for exposing and didn't deny it
'I've back talking to an ex girlfriend': Kris said he wasn't with his ex again, but he was talking with Maddy again (pictured in August 2016)
Kris thanked Kyle for the sentiment: 'Thank you Kyle, she's a good girl.'
Rumours swirled that the secret ex he was in contact with was Maddy, after she had uploaded posts cheering him on in the South African jungle on her Instagram.
One post read: 'Sending lots of love and luck your way! X.'
After team-mate Tziporah Malkah called Kris 'anti-Semitic' and a 'chauvinist' during a heated argument on the show, Maddy rushed to her ex-beau's defence, telling Yahoo!: 'Kris is a really kind and amazing guy. He is definitely neither of those comments.'
'She's a good girl!' Kris gushed about his former flame on air after shock jock Kyle Sandilands claimed the couple should get back together as they 'belong together'
'I have got a lot of feelings for her': Kris admitted in the South African jungle that he was speaking to an ex girlfriend regarding 'fixing things up' between them
In the jungle Kris admitted he had a secret girlfriend, telling celebrity Tegan Martin 'I'm not single' and later told Ash Pollard that the woman he is dating is in fact an ex-girlfriend he was 'reconnecting with'.
'I have got a lot of feelings for her. I am reconnecting with my ex and everything else. It is fresh. We are talking again about fixing things up,' he said.
Maddy and Kris had dated on and off for four years, ending their relationship last year.
Former flames: Maddy and Kris had dated on and off for four years, ending their relationship last year
'Im still single, kind of': The model appeared to hint that he could be in the process of getting back together with Maddy in an interview with News Corp
Meanwhile, after his elimination he told News Corp that he and ex Maddy 'had a couple of conversations about certain things.'
'Im still single, kind of, it is complicated,' he concluded.
Kris attracted attention from both Ash Pollard and Keira Maguire on the show, but insisted he was not interested in either.
Heartthrob: Kris attracted attention from both Ash Pollard and Keira Maguire on the show, but insisted he was not interested in either
Noor Salman, whose case is being prosecuted in Florida, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the charge of assisting her husband in his bid to help a terrorist organization
A US federal judge in California on Wednesday agreed to release on bail the widow of the gunman who killed dozens of people at an Orlando nightclub last year.
US magistrate Donna Ryu set bail at $500,000 for Noor Salman pending her trial on two charges related to the assault by her husband Omar Mateen on the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida that killed 49 people.
Prosecutors had argued that Salman, who was arrested in January in connection with the massacre, should be kept behind bars because she posed a threat to society. They have until Friday to appeal the judge's decision.
In handing down her ruling, Ryu said there was no proof Salman had any connection to the Islamic State jihadist group or had exhibited extremist views.
She also said there was no evidence Salman posed a risk of flight or a danger to the community.
"I agree with the pretrial service recommendation and find that Ms Salman has rebutted the presumptions of both risk of flight and danger to the community and that she can and should be released pursuant to strict conditions that will reasonably mitigate those risks," Ryu said.
She ordered the 30-year-old, who had a four-year-old son with Mateen, to wear an electronic monitor while living with her maternal uncle in northern California, where she grew up.
The ruling essentially puts Salman under house arrest, allowed to leave only for court appearances, to meet her attorneys or for medical appointments for her and her son, Ryu said.
Salman, whose case is being prosecuted in Florida, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the charge of assisting her husband in his bid to help a terrorist organization.
She also faces up to 20 years in prison on the second charge of lying to investigators.
Police killed Mateen in a shootout. During the attack, he had called dispatchers to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Whether Snapchat can expand beyond its core base of teens and millennials remains a big question mark for the company
As Snapchat's owner makes its Wall Street debut, the key question for investors is whether the vanishing-message app is on its way to glory or despair.
Wildly popular with young smartphone users keen to share messages that don't linger, Snapchat is alternately viewed in the social media world as a winning bet such as Facebook or a lackluster performer like Twitter.
Snap Inc. priced its initial public offering (IPO) Wednesday at $17 a share to raise $3.4 billion and give the California startup a hefty valuation of $24 billion. It's the largest US tech firm to make a market debut since Facebook in 2012.
Analysts at the venture equity firm Goodwater Capital said in a report that the company has positioned itself "as the most significant competitor to Facebook in social networking."
Snap has some strong credentials, Goodwater noted: more than 158 million daily active users creating 2.5 billion "snaps" per day in 20 different languages, $936 million in revenues expected in 2017, and partnerships with major brands and publishers.
"Snapchat is well-positioned to scale rapidly and take market share in the $652 billion global advertising market," the report said.
Analyst Debbie Williamson of eMarketer said Snap has "revolutionized" the way young people communicate and been creative with features for users and advertisers.
"It has a pretty long runway ahead," she said. "I think of it in the context of where Facebook was early on."
Both companies got early locks on a young generation, with the potential to add older users with time.
"It always makes sense to stay in tune with what young people are doing, and Snapchat has really struck a chord with young people," Williamson said.
Snap's prospects outside the US market are less clear, she added, saying it faces tougher competition as Facebook and others mimic Snapchat's features.
- Scale or sink? -
Some analysts are skeptical about Snap, however, pointing to the example of Twitter, which has seen only modest increases in its user base since its 2013 IPO, and now trades well below its offering price.
Lou Kerner, manager of the Social Internet Fund and a partner in the venture investment firm Flight VC, said he is avoiding the offering, concerned that Snapchat's user engagement may have already peaked.
Snap's IPO filing left out details about historical trends for user metrics, he said -- typically not a good sign.
"We know all products have lifecycles -- you can look at Twitter for a lesson," he added.
Others said potential investors should be wary of Snap's hefty valuation.
"Snap is a great company at the valuation of $500 million," Global Research Equities analyst Trip Chowdhry said. "It is a total disaster at anything beyond that."
At $22 billion, he added, "it really shows the private markets are totally detached from reality."
Investors should learn a lesson from other onetime tech-sector stars that failed to live up to expectations, Chowdhry said.
"If you are a fundamental investor, you should be on the sidelines, you should not play the IPO," he said.
"Basically, Snap is not a durable company. The foundations are flimsy -- zero technology, zero stickiness, hyper inflated, and zero governance."
- Generation gap -
Whether Snapchat can expand beyond its core base of teens and millennials remains a big question mark for the company.
Goodwater said its January 2017 survey of 2,076 participants from the United States revealed that Snapchat has 16 percent share of "favorite social apps" among leading social apps for users under 30 years old, but only three percent among older users.
Snapchat's user base is "quickly expanding into older demographics, with more than 50 percent of its US daily new users coming from the over 25 age group," the report said.
A separate survey by the research firm eMarketer projects 70.4 million Americans will use the platform this year, and that growth will slow through 2021.
The survey noted that 6.4 percent of Snapchat's users will be between the ages of 45 and 54, as the platform attracts users with new services such as partnerships with television networks for mini-episodes.
"Much of Snapchat's growth is being driven by older Americans," eMarketer said.
Vandalized tombstones are seen at the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery, February 26, 2017, in Philadelphia
The US authorities have offered support to Jewish communities in the wake of a series of threats and attacks since President Donald Trump's election in November.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is advising Jewish communities and offering protective measures, DHS Secretary John Kelly said in a statement issued late in the day.
"DHS has Protective Security Advisors in all 50 states who serve as liaisons to government, industry and community leaders, and who provide expertise on protective measures, threat reporting and security awareness," he said.
The advisors will offer support "in terms of training, protective measures, exercises and information sharing."
Counterterrorism experts have also provided Jewish communities information about available federal help, Kelly added.
It includes "facility vulnerability assessments, as well as assistance to connect organizations with active shooter preparedness and bombing prevention training and guidance, tabletop exercises, protective measures, guides and other tools to strengthen security," he said.
At least 100 Jewish community centers and schools in 33 states have reported bomb and other threats since the start of the year.
Last weekend, vandals broke and overturned more than 500 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.
The attack came a week after more than 100 headstones were damaged at a Jewish cemetery in St Louis, Missouri. The incident prompted a visit by Vice President Mike Pence.
After remaining silent on the Missouri attack for several days, Trump decried the anti-Semitic threats as "horrible" and "painful" last week.
However, concern is rising about his embrace by white supremacist groups and an "alt-right" movement given a platform on Breitbart, the online news outlet once headed by Trump's chief White House strategist Steve Bannon.
The White House also raised eyebrows on International Holocaust Remembrance Day late last month by issuing a statement that made no mention of the six million Jews killed in the Nazi genocide.
During a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump criticized the recent threats against Jewish community centers and condemned the apparently racially motivated killing of an Indian immigrant in Kansas City.
He said those attacks "remind us that while we may be a Nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms."
Girls practice ballet moves at Alwanat Cutlural Centre in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya, south of the capital Cairo
In Egypt's conservative southern province of Minya, young girls in black leotards and white tights wobble on their tip toes to classical music in a room painted with colourful motifs.
"Look forward, stretch your arms," a male instructor calls out to the girls aged four and above.
They try to mimic their teacher, a professional ballet dancer from the capital, as he gracefully raises his arms over his head.
It's a surprising scene in the traditional province, which more often makes headlines for family feuds or sectarian violence against its large Coptic Christian minority.
But the founders of the Alwanat Centre in Minya city are determined to make it the first ballet school in the wider Upper Egyptian province of the same name.
"Society is a bit insular in Minya. They say there's some extremism here," says Marco Adel, one of the centre's founders.
"We want children to be more open to life, to like art," says the 33-year-old law graduate, who is an avid drawer.
In the almost two years since ballet lessons started at the centre, they have become a great success, with parents driving up to one hour from nearby towns to bring their children to lessons.
- Male instructor -
Around 160 students aged four to 26 -- including boys -- now flock to ballet lessons at the Alwanat Centre in Egypt's Minya city, up from 15 after classes were launched in May 2015
Christine Essam, whose daughter Eleina is learning ballet steps at the centre, says she and her husband thought carefully about signing their four-year-old up for classes.
"Most people around us -- whether family or friends -- were against it. They'd say: 'Couldn't you find anything other than ballet?'"
"Girls in Upper Egypt are expected to wear modest clothes," the 26-year-old pharmacist says, adding it is a "bit hard" to make dance socially acceptable.
Around 160 students aged four to 26 -- including boys -- now flock to lessons at the centre, Adel says, up from 15 after classes were launched in May 2015.
Most Muslim girls and women who come to learn ballet wear a headscarf, he says, and they can choose to learn with one of the centre's three female instructors, including two who also don the Islamic hijab.
But for more than a month, the centre has also had a male instructor.
Mamdouh Hassan, a professional dancer with the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, travels the 240 kilometres (150 miles) from Cairo every weekend to teach the next generation.
Adel says a few parents have complained about a man teaching their daughters, but eventually the instructor was accepted.
"At first, we were a little surprised. But we were told he was very experienced and we trust the centre," Essam says.
- 'Thrilled' father -
The founders of the Alwanat Centre in Minya city are determined to make it the first ballet school in the wider Upper Egyptian province of the same name
Vivianne Sobhi, the mother of seven-year-old Farah, says social barriers have started to break down in Minya.
"These days girls go swimming in swimsuits," the 27-year-old teacher says.
Running a ballet school hundreds of kilometres from the capital is not without its challenges.
Male instructor Hassan was once two hours late because the motorway from Cairo was closed due to fog, and the centre had to order ballet shoes from the capital as none were available in the southern city.
Adel says the Alwanat Centre -- which also offers zumba and music classes, as well as theatre and cinema workshops -- was born of "personal efforts".
"But the culture ministry or sponsors are welcome to help," Adel says, pointing to the centre's small rooms.
But parents seem happy.
As he helps his five-year-old daughter Heaven arch her back for a gymnastics move called a bridge, Adel Gerges says he is thrilled with her experience at the centre.
"We were deprived of all of this during our childhood," says the 35-year-old pharmacist.
"We won't make the same mistake with our daughter."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany
German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks Thursday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on stemming illegal migration to her country, during a two-day trip that will also include Tunisia.
Turmoil exploited by people smugglers since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi has made Libya, which neighbours Egypt and Tunisia, the main gateway for African migrants seeking to make dangerous Mediterranean crossings.
Merkel, who faces elections in September, has been under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in over one million migrants since 2015.
"There are routes for illegal immigration from Libya to Germany. We have a lot of mutual concern and interest in putting an end to this," she said at a press conference with Sisi.
"The question now is how to stop human trafficking and prevent the opening of a new route for escaping to Europe through Egypt," she said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo on March 2, 2017
She added that Germany would continue providing technical support for Egypt to monitor its long border with Libya.
Merkel has urged the North African states to step up border controls and speed up repatriations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.
After meeting Sisi, Merkel is scheduled to meet Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Egypt's top Muslim cleric.
She will depart to Tunisia on Friday to meet Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.
Merkel is joined by a business delegation that could sweeten the diplomacy with investments badly needed by both countries, which are grappling with sluggish economies, jihadist attacks and high unemployment, especially among youths.
- Holding centres -
Asylum seekers in Germany
"Without a political stabilisation of Libya, we won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya who are responsible for by far the most arrivals in Italy," Merkel said in her latest weekly podcast.
The trip is part of a larger diplomatic push by Merkel, who last year visited Mali, Niger and Ethiopia. She had also planned a trip to Algeria last week, but it was called off after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika fell ill.
Germany, which this year holds the G20 presidency, has also announced investment partnerships in Africa with the long-term goals of reducing poverty and deterring people from leaving in the first place.
Last year, Berlin spearheaded an EU agreement with Ankara that helped sharply reduce the influx of migrants through Turkey and western Balkan countries.
But as with the Turkey deal, the negotiations with the North African countries have been clouded by human rights concerns.
In particular, an idea floated by Merkel's interior minister -- for North African countries to build holding centres for returned migrants -- has been rejected by Merkel's centre-left coalition partners and by rights groups.
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel -- whose Social Democrats hope to topple Merkel this year -- dismissed the idea, saying: "I doubt that all this has been really thought through".
- 'Dodgy deals' -
Human Rights Watch noted that Egypt banned protests and jailed thousands of people, while outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood movement president Mohamed Morsi whom Sisi, a former army chief, overthrew in 2013.
Repatriating Tunisians and Egyptians who do not need protection can be "legitimate" if they are treated fairly, the New York-based rights group said.
"It's another thing entirely to pursue dodgy deals that could trap asylum seekers and migrants from elsewhere in countries like Tunisia and Egypt that cannot guarantee decent treatment or meaningful access to asylum," said Judith Sunderland, a Europe and Central Asia director for the group.
At the press conference with Sisi, Merkel said she broached the topic of Egypt's controversial NGO law which critics say will stifle civil society.
"We also spoke about civil society in general and I affirmed that the rule of law and a diverse civil society are very important for the development of the country and the society," she said.
Merkel is under huge pressure at home to achieve results in an election year, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the national parliament for the first time.
Public fears in Germany have been heightened by several jihadist attacks last year -- especially the truck rampage by Tunisian immigrant Anis Amri at a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people in December.
A year before, sexual assaults by large groups of mostly North African men on New Year's Eve against women in Cologne provoked outrage in Germany.
The lower house of the Philippine parliament votes on a bill reimposing the death penalty for narcotics trafficking, March 1, 2017
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign to bring back the death penalty for drug-related crimes has cleared a major hurdle, with supporters backing it in congress but critics denouncing the planned killings as "inhumane".
The death penalty bill, along with a proposed measure to punish children as young as nine as adult criminals, are key planks of Duterte's controversial drug war that has already claimed more than 6,500 lives.
A majority of politicians in the lower house of congress passed a second reading of the bill on Wednesday night, clearing one of the biggest obstacles in proponents' plans to make the death penalty legal by May.
A third and final reading still needs to be held next week, although with no more debates both sides agree passage is a formality. Then the Senate, which is similarly dominated by Duterte's allies, would pass a counterpart bill.
"We have hurdled the most difficult part," congressman Reynaldo Umali, a sponsor of the bill, told AFP.
Opponents voiced anger the Philippines would bring back the death penalty, 11 years after it was revoked, highlighting among many concerns a corrupt justice system that would lead to innocent people being executed.
Philippines drug war
"The decision is inhumane, shameful and blatantly disrespectful," Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary for public affairs at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said in a statement sent to AFP.
"Let me reiterate this, criminals should be punished and victims should be aided, but the punishment should not be death. Due to our flawed and dysfunctional criminal justice system, there is a great chance that innocent people may become victims of wrongful convictions."
The Catholic Church, which counts 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, had led the opposition to abolish the death penalty in 2006.
Secillano and opposition lawmakers also criticised the tactics used to ensure the bill was passed, such as curtailing of debates and only allowing a vote by voice so lawmakers would not be specifically identified as having supported it.
The speaker of the house also threatened to strip lawmakers of committee leadership positions if they voted against the bill.
"This is a chamber of puppets and bullies," congressman Edcel Lagman, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, said after his efforts to block the bill were voted down.
- Just drug crimes -
The bill limits the death penalty to drug-related crimes.
Possessing 500 grammes of marijuana, or 10 grammes of cocaine, heroin or ecstasy, would be crimes punishable by execution, as would manufacturing and selling drugs.
A relative of a victim of extra-judicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war arranges photographs of victims on the grounds of a church in Manila on March 1, 2017
People who commit serious crimes such as murder and rape while under the influence of drugs could also be executed.
However committing those crimes without being under the influence of drugs would only be punishable with jail terms.
The bill allows for execution by hanging, firing squad or injection.
Duterte won presidential elections last year after pledging an unprecedented campaign to eradicate illegal drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people.
Since he took office in June, police have reported killing more than 2,550 people in the drug crackdown, claiming all the deaths were in self defence, while more than 4,000 others have died in unexplained circumstances.
Rights groups and other critics have said Duterte is presiding over widespread human rights violations, with Amnesty International warning the killings could amount to a crime against humanity.
"The move by the Philippine Congress to reinstate the death penalty constitutes another step backward for human rights which are already under threat from Dutertes abusive 'war on drugs'," Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phelim Kine said on Thursday.
Many Filipinos support Duterte and his drug war, arguing extreme measures must be taken to halt crime.
After capital punishment, another priority bill for Duterte is a companion bill lowering the age of criminal liability to as low as nine years old, from 15 currently.
Tanzanian riot police stand guard during a celebration in Dar es Salaam in 2015
Tanzanian civil society organisations have launched a year-long campaign calling on the government to respect freedom of expression and assembly.
Launched on Wednesday, the campaign "seeks to safeguard the freedoms of assembly and expression," said a statement from Tanzania's Legal and Human Rights Centre, one of the eight organisations behind the move.
"Without freedom of expression and freedom of assembly there can be no development," they said of the campaign which involves putting on seminars, discussions and debates.
Since taking office in 2015, President John Magufuli has been accused of heavy-handed and authoritarian rule and of passing laws limiting fundamental rights.
One such law is the 2016 Media Services Act which restricts the activities of journalists, bloggers and users of social media, which is currently being challenged in court, with civil society groups saying it undermines press freedom and free speech.
"We recommend that the above laws be reviewed and reformed so as to ensure that they comply with Constitutional and international standards," they said.
They also said there had been a "two-pronged attack" on freedom of assembly by the government and police.
"People must be allowed to peacefully assemble and associate with others so that they can share their opinions on issues affecting their lives," the groups said.
Public demonstrations and political rallies have been repeatedly blocked or broken up under Magufuli who has demonstrated little patience with dissent.
Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrive for a meeting in Hanoi with family members of Japanese veterans living in Vietnam on March 2, 2017
Japan's royal couple on Thursday listened to the tearful stories of Vietnamese children who were abandoned by their Japanese soldier fathers after WWII, a symbolic meeting in Hanoi aimed at healing wounds between the former war foes.
The 83-year-old Japanese emperor Akihito and his wife, Michiko, are on their first visit to Vietnam, the latest in a series of trips to former battlegrounds.
The elderly couple shook hands and comforted more than a dozen children of the some 700 Japanese military men who decided to stay in Vietnam for a decade after their country's defeat in the second world war.
It was under Akihito's father Hirohito that Japan first sent troops into Vietnam in 1940 when the country was a colony of France.
After the war many of the soldiers stayed on, married Vietnamese women and began raising families as they helped revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh secure independence from Paris, a little-known chapter of the two countries shared histories.
But they were ordered to leave the country in 1954 and "encouraged" by the Vietnamese government to leave their families behind, said Hatsuhisa Takashima, the emperor's press secretary.
"It might be possible that Vietnamese authorities thought that it was not good for Vietnamese people to jump to a quite new environment," he said.
The half-Japanese children left behind often endured painful ostracisation at home, while their mothers struggled to raise families on their own and were criticised for cosying up to the former occupying forces.
"I understood that families of ex-Japanese soldiers here encountered many difficulties," Emperor Akihito said after listening to tearful stories of separation.
"We are thankful for the attention by the Japanese emperor and empress," said 94-year-old Nguyen Thi Xuan, a former war bride who raised three half-Japanese children on her own and never remarried.
"War brought nothing to us. I only want peace for both countries of Vietnam and Japan," Xuan said.
Tran Duc Dung, whose Japanese father trained Vietnamese military men during the war, said he was eager to forget the hardships and discrimination his family faced.
"It's time to close all that happened in the past. My only wish now is to be recognised by the Japanese government as a Japanese citizen," Dung told AFP.
Akihito's visit is laden with personal symbolism.
Under Hirohito, considered an emperor god by his followers at the time, Japan embarked on its rapid and often brutal colonial expansion across Asia that still stalks regional relations.
But Vietnam and Japan have built up a warm relationship since diplomatic relations were established in 1973, pushed together by business ties and, increasingly, a mutual suspicion of China.
Japan is now a top aid donor and a leading investor in the communist country. It also welcomes thousands of Vietnamese to its universities.
Akihito and Michiko will fly to Hue the former imperial capital on Friday and then on to Thailand on Sunday.
The late Kim Jong-Nam (left) and his half-brother Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean leader
The murder of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother in a crowded Malaysian airport has made headlines worldwide -- although not, in so many terms, in the North itself.
Kim Jong-Nam, 45, the eldest son of the North's late ruler Kim Jong-Il and once seen as his heir-apparent, had lived a life of exile in China after falling out of favour.
He died on February 13 after being attacked by two women from Indonesia and Vietnam, allegedly hired by the North's agents.
South Korea and Malaysia have blamed the North, while Pyongyang has angrily denied involvement and accused both of trying to frame it and "smear" its reputation.
Here are some comments from key figures in the unfolding drama.
- South Korea slams 'paranoid' leader -
A day after the assassination, Seoul's spy chief, Lee Byung-Ho, told lawmakers that Kim had issued a "standing order" years ago to kill Jong-Nam -- a plan driven by the young leader's "paranoid personality".
"The assassination, if confirmed done by the North, would be a sign of Kim Jong-Un's paranoid personality rather than a calculated move to remove a political threat," Lee was quoted as saying by lawmakers after a closed-door briefing.
"There was one (assassination) bid in 2012, and Jong-Nam in April 2012 sent a letter to Jong-Un saying 'Please spare me and my family,'" multiple lawmakers quoted Lee as saying.
The South Korean government has since criticised use of the banned nerve agent VX as an "act of terror" and a "blatant violation" of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
South Korean foreign minister Yu Byung-Se described the murder as "a wake-up call... to North Korea's chemical weapons capability and its intent to actually use them".
"In the wake of this heinous act of using chemical weapons in Malaysia, we have to seriously consider what steps we should take in the coming weeks and months," he said.
- Malaysia fumes -
The rare, Cold War-style murder triggered widespread anger in Malaysia and sent diplomatic tensions with Pyongyang -- with which it has unusually strong ties -- soaring. Kuala Lumpur on Thursday cancelled a visa-free travel deal with North Korea.
Earlier, it recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang in protest and summoned Kang Chol, the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, for questioning by police -- which Kang has so far has refused.
"The ambassador has been informed of the process involved (in the police probe) but he continues to be delusional and spew lies and accusations against the government of Malaysia," Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Aman said last week.
Malaysia's health minister confirmed that Jong-Nam would have suffered a "very painful death" after the attack, dying within 15 to 20 minutes.
The two women -- who have been indicted -- shoved something onto Jong-Nam's face, according to leaked CCTV footage.
"I am outraged that the criminals used such a dangerous chemical in a public area," Malaysian Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said last week as angry protestors waved a banner reading "Respect Malaysia" outside the North Korean embassy.
- North Korea blames 'smear campaign' -
So far the North has not confirmed the identity of the victim, referring to him only by a pseudonym he used, Kim Chol, and as a citizen who carried a diplomatic passport.
For more than a week after it happened, the North's official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) made no reference to the killing, and when it did, it condemned a Malaysian autopsy as "illegal and immoral" and demanded the body be handed over.
The North maintained there was no clear evidence blaming it for the murder and accused the South, the US and Malaysia of framing Pyongyang as part of a "smear campaign" against the nation and its leader.
"The reckless moves of the US and the south Korean authorities are aimed to meet the dangerous political purpose to tarnish the image of the dignified DPRK and bring down the social system in it," KCNA said this week, using the North's official name.
"This being a hard fact, the US and the south Korean authorities are kicking up an anti-DPRK smear campaign, groundlessly pulling it up," it said.
China -- which is the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline, but is increasingly frustrated -- has banned all coal imports from its neighbour for the rest of this year.
The North did not release an official response but an essay published by KCNA lashed out at Beijing "mean behaviour", saying it was "styling itself a big power" but "dancing to the tune of the US".
British former war correspondent David Fox waits to attend his trial in Denpasar on Indonesia's Bali island on March 2, 2017
Indonesian prosecutors Thursday demanded a one-year jail term for a British former war correspondent on trial for allegedly using hashish on the resort island of Bali.
If former Reuters journalist David Fox, 55, is handed a one-year sentence, it would include time already served, meaning he could be released from jail in a matter of months.
Prosecutors will recommend a jail sentence for Australian businessman Giuseppe Serafino, 48, who was detained before Fox and led police to the journalist, at a later hearing.
The pair are charged with using, possessing and transporting hashish after allegedly being caught in possession of small amounts of the drug in October.
After being arrested, Fox admitted to police that he had been using hashish for years due to the stress of covering conflicts.
The former Reuters journalist covered wars and disasters in countries including Bosnia, Rwanda and Iraq.
At Thursday's hearing in the Balinese capital Denpasar, prosecutor Erawati Susina said that Fox's actions were "against the government's programs which are aimed at eradicating illicit drugs".
Under Indonesia's tough anti-drugs laws, he could face several years in jail but Susina said prosecutors were seeking a lenient sentence as Fox was a first-time offender and had admitted his wrongdoing.
"We request the panel of judges sentence David Matthew Fox to one year in prison, with time he served in detention deducted," Susina said.
Judges do not have to follow prosecutors' sentence recommendations but they often do.
The trial is likely to finish in a matter of weeks, with the verdict and sentence handed down after Fox's defence team is given the chance to make a final statement.
Authorities raided Serafino's house after a tip-off that a foreigner living there had been using drugs. Police found about seven grams (a quarter of an ounce) of hashish, after which Serafino said Fox had helped him buy the drugs.
Fox was later arrested and police found 10 grams of hashish in his pocket and at his house, along with smoking equipment.
Indonesia has some of the toughest anti-narcotics laws in the world but the pair will escape the death penalty as they have not been charged with trafficking.
Iraqis carry belongings as they flee Mosul during an offensive by security forces to retake the western parts of the city from Islamic State group on March 1, 2017
The gunshot rang out as civilians tried to escape the west of Mosul, where Iraqi forces are battling jihadists, killing a father as he fled with his family.
"The sniper shot him in the head. His family was all around him, the children and his wife, they were crying," said Maysun, who saw the shooting as she fled Mosul's Maamun neighbourhood.
"They didn't want to leave his side, but we made them continue because it was so dangerous," the 35-year-old told AFP at a camp for the displaced near Iraq's second city.
More than 28,000 people have streamed out of west Mosul since February 19, when security forces began a push to wrest control from the Islamic State group, according to International Organization for Migration figures.
They are fleeing fighting and food shortages, but they face horrifying scenes as they leave.
"There were bodies in the street as we walked, children, pieces of bodies," said Safana, 23, as she waited in a food distribution queue in the Hamam al-Alil camp.
She said IS fighters had told people to leave her neighbourhood of Maamun in west Mosul.
"They came in the morning and said if we hadn't left by evening they would kill us," she said, adjusting her yellow headscarf.
Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service has faced "fierce" resistance from IS in southwest Mosul, and the jihadists have targeted fleeing civilians, according to senior commander Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi.
- Heartbroken -
The battle for Mosul
He told AFP around 15 fleeing civilians had been killed by jihadists in the past 10 days, with more wounded.
Safana, who like many of those fleeing Mosul declined to give her family name, said civilians had been trapped in their homes during heavy clashes.
"Our neighbour's house was hit by a mortar round and the whole house collapsed on top of them."
"We managed to pull out two wounded people," her sister Shaimaa interjected.
"But all the rest were dead, and their bodies are still under the rubble."
Among those killed elsewhere in the area known as the Maamun Flats was 10-year-old Rusud Saddam, whose mother was inconsolable as she walked along a highway to reach transport to a camp for the displaced.
"My daughter was standing in the corridor in the house... the mortar round hit and she's gone," she wept from behind a black face veil.
"They broke my heart... I left her in the cemetery. I left her in the cemetery and I came."
Some of the displaced were moving from areas already under Iraqi military control, afraid of the ongoing fighting and eager to move to safety.
Others escaped across the front line, waiting until they saw Iraqi forces in the distance and running towards them with white flags.
- 'Physical, psychological trauma' -
More than 28,000 people have streamed out of west Mosul since February 19, when security forces began a push to wrest control from the Islamic State group
At the Hamam al-Alil camp, 4,000 tents have been put up to receive arrivals, and more than 14,000 people have already been registered, said administrator Nader Samir.
He said the camp, run by a local NGO with UN support, was struggling with several basic problems, however.
"Our major need is for medical treatment. We don't have any capacity and we have yet to get a response from the government on our request for help," he told AFP.
He said the camp also had no electricity, because funds for a generator and fuel have yet to be released by the government.
Dozens of men and women were lined up at the camp in separate queues, waiting for food being distributed by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Many of the displaced described surviving on a single meal a day.
"We had virtually no food and Daesh fighters came into our house and took what we had left," said Khaled Mohamed, 24, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
"I'm afraid for my relatives who are still inside, I don't know if they will be killed."
Samir said civilians were arriving hungry, thirsty and traumatised.
"They're suffering physically and psychologically, from what they've seen -- torture, executions, death."
The Roman amphitheatre in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, pictured on March 31, 2016
Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces are again battling to retake from jihadists, has become a symbol of the Islamic State group's wanton destruction of cultural heritage.
The city and its ruins, designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980, have traded hands several times during Syria's civil war.
IS first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the site's monuments and temples. IS fighters were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the town last December.
The latest offensive to retake the city saw government forces break through its western limits late Wednesday, but their advance has been slowed by landmines laid by retreating jihadists.
Before the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the city of 1,000 columns and a formidable necropolis of more than 500 tombs attracted more than 150,000 tourists a year.
- Ancient trade hub -
Although the precise date of its founding is unknown, Palmyra's name is referred to on a tablet dating from the 19th century BC as a stopping point for caravans between the Mediterranean and the east.
Syria's ancient city of Palmyra and its ruins, designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980, have traded hands several times during the civil war
It was during the Roman Empire -- beginning in the first century BC and lasting 400 years -- that the oasis city rose to prominence.
Despite being surrounded by desert, Palmyra developed into a wealthy metropolis thanks to trade in spices, perfumes, silk and ivory from the east.
Known to Syrians as the "Pearl of the Desert", Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were some of the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
Some 210 kilometres (130 miles) northeast of Damascus, its name means City of Palms. It is also known by the Arabic name Tadmor, or City of Dates.
The city's temples were built after it was declared a free city by Roman emperor Hadrian in 129 AD, which allowed it to collect its own taxes.
In the third century, Palmyrenes beat back the Romans in the west and Persian forces in the east in a revolt led by Zenobia, who became queen after her husband died in mysterious circumstances.
By 270 AD, Zenobia had conquered all of Syria and parts of Egypt. Her forces advanced into what is now Turkey before they were defeated by the Roman emperor Aurelian near Antakya.
- Campaign of destruction -
The remains of the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra after it was destroyed by the Islamic State group in Syria
IS, which considers statues of humans or animals as blasphemous, overran Palmyra on May 21, 2015.
Three months later, the jihadists beheaded Palmyra's 82-year-old former antiquities chief Khaled al-Assaad and launched a campaign of destruction against treasured monuments.
They destroyed the ancient shrine of Baal Shamin, attacked the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and blew up the Arch of Triumph, which dated from around 200 AD.
They also destroyed a dozen of Palmyra's best preserved tower tombs and the famed Lion of Al-Lat outside the city's museum.
The jihadists even used the city's ancient amphitheatre as a venue for public execution-style killings.
Syrian government forces, backed by Russian warplanes, recaptured the city on March 27, 2016, but IS fighters stormed back in on December 11.
In early January, IS launched a new demolition operation, destroying Palmyra's tetrapylon monument and the facade of the city's Roman amphitheatre.
Malaysia said there was insuffient evidence to charge Ri Jong-Chol
The only North Korean arrested over the dramatic airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam is to be deported, Malaysia said Thursday, as it announced the abrupt cancellation of a visa-waiver programme with Pyongyang.
The moves came the day after two young women appeared in court charged with murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with a banned nerve agent.
Attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali said 47-year-old Ri Jong-Chol would be released and deported on Friday.
"He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him," Apandi said.
"He has no proper [travel] documents so we will deport him."
Kim Jong-Nam suffered an agonising death within 20 minutes of being attacked with the nerve agent
Seven other North Koreans are wanted in connection with the killing, including a diplomat and an airline employee who are believed to be in Malaysia.
Four others are thought to have fled to Pyongyang on the day of the murder.
Ri was arrested days after Kim suffered an agonising death when he was attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he waited to board a flight to Macau.
CCTV footage shows two women approaching the heavyset 45-year-old and appearing to thrust a cloth in his face.
Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later, without reaching hospital.
Swabs of the dead man's face revealed traces of the VX nerve agent, a synthetic chemical so deadly that it is classed as a weapon of mass destruction.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (right) ordered the killing of his half-brother Kim Jong-Nam, according to South Korea
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, were charged with murder on Wednesday. If found guilty, they could be hanged.
Both women say they thought they were taking part in a prank video but police have dismissed the claims.
- Visa waiver -
South Korea has consistently pointed the finger of blame at North Korea, citing what they say was a standing order from Kim Jong-Un to kill his exiled half-brother.
Kim Jong-Nam (grey suit) speaks to Malaysian security guards after he was attacked in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13
Pyongyang -- which has never acknowledged Kim's identity -- has denied the charge and disputes the autopsy, claiming Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.
In a press conference at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the Norths deputy envoy to the United Nations, Ri Tong-Il, reiterated Pyongyangs assertion that Kim had died of a heart attack and that South Korea was peddling conspiracy theories regarding the use of nerve agents to damage the North's image.
"A strong indication for the cause of death is a heart attack," said Ri who flew to Malaysia three days ago.
The senior diplomat dismissed the use of a toxin and once again urged Malaysia to release Kims body to the North Korean authorities.
The two countries, which had enjoyed relatively warm relations, have been at diplomatic daggers drawn since the killing.
Doan Thi Huong (left) and Siti Ashyah have both been charged with the February 13 assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un
On Thursday Kuala Lumpur -- which had earlier recalled its ambassador -- said it was cancelling its visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang.
The government was implementing the change on the grounds of national security, Malaysian news agency Bernama quoted deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.
- 'Downgrading ties' -
The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, the report added.
"We are not looking for enemies but if they use Malaysia as a platform to carry out their agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international diplomatic front," Ahmad Zahid told a public event.
"We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of the people. Do not think you can use Malaysia to do what you want to do. Do not use Malaysia to carry out your illegal activities," he added.
Malaysia was one of only a tiny handful of countries around the world that had such a visa waiver scheme with North Korea.
A senior Malaysian official told AFP that the government was mulling further "downgrading diplomatic ties" with North Korea.
"Malaysia is considering shutting down its mission in Pyongyang," he said, as well as the expulsion of the North Korean ambassador following his "baseless allegations", a reference to accusations of bias in the murder probe.
By J. Keeler Johnson ("Keelerman") Twitter: @J_Keelerman
The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues on Saturday with two major Derby prep races at Aqueduct and Gulfstream Park, including the $400,000 Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II). We're reaching the point where every prep race has serious Derby implications, for major qualification points are on the line and Derby dreams can be prolonged or dashed at any moment.
We'll focus our attention this week on the Fountain of Youth, Gulfstream's penultimate prep race for the Kentucky Derby...
Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II)
Although the race has drawn eleven horses, the recent announcement that early Kentucky Derby favorite McCraken will miss the March 11th Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) could have an impact on the Fountain of Youth field. The trainers of Beasley and Lookin for Eight are thinking of scratching to await the Tampa Bay Derby, which could leave the Fountain of Youth with just nine starters, and also a decidedly less contentious pace.
Assuming that Beasley and Lookin for Eight do scratch, that would leave Takaful and Three Rules as the likely pacesetters, with Talk Logistics another that could show speed. This could allow race favorite Irish War Cry to settle into a perfect trip just behind the leaders, and from there, he should be very tough to beat.
Regular readers of this blog know that I have been very excited about Irish War Cry since his maiden win at Laurel Park, and my excitement has only grown in the ensuing months. Following a game win in the Marylander Stakes on December 31st, Irish War Cry made his two-turn debut in the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) here at Gulfstream last month and delivered a huge performance. After setting the early pace, Irish War Cry kicked away turning for home and won by a decisive 3 lengths despite racing a bit greenly in the homestretch.
Granted, Irish War Cry got a great setup in the Fountain of Youth-the fractions he set (:24.14, :47.92, and 1:11.87) were definitely on the slow side, and his lead was pretty much uncontested. In addition, runner-up Gunnevera had to steady on the far turn and lost his momentum at a critical point-you can make a case that Gunnevera would have finished much closer with a better trip.
However, I think it's important to note that from a visual perspective, Irish War Cry looked fantastic. He was absolutely full of run in the homestretch, bounding home with authority while running his final sixteenth of a mile in a quick :06.15 seconds despite appearing to be a little unfocused. I got the impression that Irish War Cry had a ton left in the tank and was even more superior than his margin of victory implies.
As a son of Curlin, Irish War Cry should only continue to improve, and judging from his impressive late-running maiden win, I think he might be even better rating off the pace with a target to chase. Furthermore, his most recent workout-in which he rated behind a workmate before pouncing in the homestretch-was eye-catching with a powerful gallop-out, and it drew rave reviews from clockers and others in the industry. Irish War Cry will be a short price (I expect him to go off at much lower than 5-2), but I don't think he'll be beaten.
Practical Joke is another runner that could draw significant wagering attention. Trained by Chad Brown, Practical Joke won the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) and Champagne Stakes (gr. I) last year and ran well enough in his two-turn debut to finish third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), beaten 7 lengths while finishing well clear of the rest of the field.
Practical Joke didn't get the best setup that day, racing wide while trying to close ground, so there's certainly room for improvement in the Fountain of Youth. He's been training steadily at Palm Meadows for his return, posting six straight workouts at a half-mile or longer, including a pair of bullet five-furlong breezes in February. Chad Brown does well with horses coming off layoffs, and actually won the Swale Stakes (gr. II) at Gulfstream last month with Favorable Outcome, another colt that hadn't run since the Breeders' Cup. I would expect Practical Joke to be ready to roll off the layoff, although defeating Irish War Cry could be a challenge.
As mentioned earlier, Gunnevera finished a strong second in the Holy Bull despite losing his momentum while rallying on the far turn. Although he won a pair of graded stakes races as a two-year-old, including the Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (gr. III), I believe the Holy Bull was his best run to date, and after drawing post two, he could be in the position to work out a ground-saving trip under four-time Eclipse award-winning jockey Javier Castellano.
My only hesitation is that Gunnevera has been training almost non-stop since last May; he did take a one-month break from breezing after the Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes, but came right back on December 31st with five furlongs in a bullet :59 4/5 at Gulfstream Park West. With seven starts under his belt already, I'm not certain that Gunnevera has as much room for improvement as colts like Irish War Cry and Practical Joke, although he likely won't need to take a step forward to hit the board again.
So in essence, if Beasley and Lookin for Eight withdraw from the race, the Fountain of Youth could turn out to be a rather chalky event dominated by the three favorites. One longshot that is a bit appealing is the speedy Takaful, who is training well and could be set to rebound after a last-place finish in the Jerome Stakes (gr. III) over a muddy track last time out. He had previously won a 6 -furlong maiden race at Belmont by eight lengths before finishing third in the nine-furlong Remsen Stakes (gr. II), a race that might have been too much too soon. As a son of Bernardini out of a Distorted Humor mare, he's bred to handle this distance and could get brave if able to clear the field from his wide draw and secure the lead, although that's a big if with Three Rules drawn to his inside.
But to put it simply, I think Irish War Cry is something special-a very talented colt with the potential to keep progressing and win the Kentucky Derby. I expect him to deliver a big run in the Fountain of Youth, and even though he'll be a short price, he is my selection to win. And just for fun, let's see if we can call the straight superfecta: Irish War Cry, Practical Joke, Gunnevera, and Takaful.
Now it's your turn! Who do you like in the Fountain of Youth?
*****
The Unlocking Winners Road to the Kentucky Derby Handicapping Challenge is back for a third consecutive year! Please be sure to post all entries, prime horses, and stable additions on the official contest page. Thanks, and enjoy the racing!
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J. Keeler Johnson (also known as "Keelerman") is a writer, blogger, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. He is the founder of the horse racing website www.theturfboard.com.
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on July 21, 2016 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking during an interview with the official Cuban Prensa Latina agency, in the capital Damascus
Seven Syrian torture survivors, two lawyers and a human rights group have filed a criminal complaint in Germany against secret service officials of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the initiative said Thursday.
The complaint names and seeks international arrest warrants against six high-level officials of the Syrian Military Intelligence Service, in whose Damascus prisons the claimants say they were tortured or witnessed torture.
According to witness testimony, prisoners were beaten with pipes, sticks and meat hooks on chains, given electric shocks, burnt with cleaning chemicals and stabbed with pencils, the broken-off tips left inside their flesh.
"We cannot just look on at the horror of Syria," said Wolfgang Kaleck, head of the Berlin-based non-profit legal organisation that launched the case, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).
"We have to start describing what is happening in Syria with words and legal categories," he said in a statement.
"Germany can and must react to grave human rights violations such as torture, massacres and sexual violence in Syria."
The case accuses the Assad regime of having carried out "systematic and widespread torture targeting opponents and activists... for several decades".
Germany's federal prosecution service welcomed the complaint, with a spokeswoman saying it may provide further evidence to support its own ongoing investigation into Syrian war crimes launched in 2011.
The new complaint alleges crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in three Damascus prisons between October 2011 and July 2015, based on the testimonies of 12 witnesses, seven of whom are complainants.
The Syrian ex-detainees, men and women aged 26 to 57, are joined by Syrian lawyers Anwar al-Bunni and Mazen Darwish, who have both themselves been victims of torture and abuse in Syrian regime cells.
"In Syria there is total impunity, which produces further violence. Without justice there will be no political solution to the conflict," said Darwish.
Bunni added: "Massive human rights violations must not remain unanswered. This is clear since the Nuremberg trials. Torture is absolutely forbidden."
The complaint was launched under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the German judiciary to become active in cases where neither the victims nor the perpetrators are German citizens, said the ECCHR.
Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for three decades until 2011
Egypt's top appeals court on Thursday acquitted Hosni Mubarak of involvement in the killing of protesters during a 2011 revolt, ending the final trial for the strongman who ruled for 30 years.
Mubarak had been sentenced to life in 2012 but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later.
Thursday's ruling by the Court of Cassation is final.
The trial was Mubarak's last, after prosecutors levelled various charges against him following his February 2011 resignation.
He was accused of inciting the deaths of protesters during the 18-day revolt, in which about 850 people were killed as police clashed with demonstrators.
Mubarak, 88, has spent most of his time in a military hospital since his arrest in 2011.
In January 2016, the appeals court upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons on corruption charges.
But the sentence took into account time served. Both his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were freed.
Six years after his overthrow, most of the charges brought against his regime members have been dismissed while the country still recovers from the aftermath of the uprising.
The revolt had ushered in years of instability that drove away tourists and investors, decimating the economy.
Mubarak's Islamist successor, Mohamed Morsi, served for only a year before the military ousted and detained him in 2013, launching a deadly crackdown on his supporters.
Morsi and hundreds of Islamists have been sentenced in mass trials, although many of them are appealing the verdicts.
A former air force chief and vice president, Mubarak became president after jihadists who had infiltrated the army shot dead president Anwar Sadat during a military parade in 1981, also wounding Mubarak.
He remained defiant throughout his trial.
"I did nothing wrong at all," he told a private broadcaster after receiving the life sentence in 2012 over the deaths of protesters.
"When I heard the first verdict I laughed. I said: 'Ha!'."
Apparently referring to economic growth, he said: "The last 10 years showed more results than the 20 years before, including telephones and so on, and then they turned against us."
Critics say that the abuses they fought under Mubarak have returned with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who toppled Morsi.
Morsi's overthrow sparked a jihadist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers.
It has also led Sisi to argue that while he supports human rights, the dangers facing the country also require a firm hand.
Israeli soldier Elor Azaria was sentenced to 18 months in jail by a military court in Tel Aviv, on February 21, 2017
A military court postponed on Thursday the jailing of an Israeli soldier convicted of shooting dead a wounded Palestinian, pending his appeal.
Elor Azaria was sentenced by a military court on February 21 to 18 months in jail after an exceptional trial that captivated Israel and highlighted deep divisions in public opinion.
He was due to begin his sentence on March 5, but an appeals court accepted the defence's request to delay the sentence.
"The imprisonment will be postponed until the result of the appeal," appeals court judge Orly Markman said, adding that Azaria would be confined to base in the meantime.
Defence attorney Yoram Sheftel said he would be ready to begin the appeal within six weeks.
"I am rejoicing," he said after the court ruling.
Azaria appeared in court Thursday in full military uniform and smiling broadly.
His father Charlie also welcomed the ruling.
"I hope that the spirit of justice there was at the hearing today will continue throughout the entire appeal," he told journalists.
The March 2016 shooting in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was caught on video by a rights group and spread widely online.
It showed Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, lying wounded on the ground, shot along with another Palestinian after stabbing and wounding a soldier, according to the army.
Azaria then shoots him in the head without any apparent provocation.
Azaria said he feared Sharif was wearing an explosive belt and could blow himself up, a claim judges rejected.
His 18-month sentence, with another 18 months suspended, was condemned as too stern by rightwing politicians and labelled too lenient by Palestinians and rights groups.
The decision to appeal was controversial, with three of Azaria's lawyers announcing Wednesday they were resigning from the case.
In a statement, the lawyers said they believed avenues other than an appeal would be preferable to Azaria.
The outspoken Sheftel, who only joined Azaria's defence team in January, won his fame successfully representing Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk in the appeal against his death sentence in Israel in 1993.
"I stand here alone, but beside me there are millions," he said at the beginning of Thursday's court session, referring to opinion polls that show public support for pardoning Azaria.
The case came against the backdrop of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October 2015.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has led calls for him to be pardoned, a process that cannot occur until after the appeal.
Military leaders have said the conviction is important for the institution's reputation.
The Palestinian government described the 18-month sentence as a "green light to the occupation army to continue its crimes."
Amnesty International said the sentence did "not reflect the gravity of the offence," while the UN human rights office said it was an "unacceptable" punishment for "an apparent extra-judicial killing."
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Al-Qaeda has confirmed that top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri, believed to be the organisation's number two, was killed in an air strike by the US-led coalition in Syria
Al-Qaeda has confirmed that top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri, believed to be the organisation's number two, was killed in a drone strike by the US-led coalition in Syria.
The killing of Masri, described by analysts as "jihadi royalty," could serve as a major security coup for US President Donald Trump early in his presidency.
Two branches of the global jihadist group, including the powerful Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), announced Masri's death in a statement dated Wednesday.
Calling him a "hero," the statement said Masri "was killed during a Crusader drone strike" in Syria.
"All of al-Sham (Syria) will bear witness to the latest crime of America and the Crusader alliance," the statement said, in reference to the US-led coalition bombing jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
It also expressed its condolences to Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Air strike in Syria
A US official said this week that Washington was investigating reports that Egyptian-born Masri had been killed in a US strike in or around the city of Idlib in northwest Syria.
The US has escalated its bombing campaign in the province, mostly ruled by Al-Qaeda's former Syrian branch, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.
In early February, the Pentagon said it killed 11 Al-Qaeda operatives there.
Masri was a son-in-law of Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and believed to be Zawahiri's deputy.
Also known as Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abdulrahman, Masri joined Zawahiri in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group in the 1980s before they enlisted with Bin Laden in the 1990s.
US intelligence believe Masri was involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
He was detained with several other Al-Qaeda figures in 2003 in Iran and held until 2015, when they were traded for the release of an Iranian diplomat who had been seized by Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch.
- 'Hit list' -
Al-Qaeda top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri's presence in the Idlib province, pictured here in December 2016, underscores the importance that Syria has gained in Al-Qaeda's strategy, analysts said
Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute described Masri as "jihadi royalty," as a longstanding member of Al-Qaeda's central Shura Council and "one of Ayman al-Zawahiri's closest long-time confidants."
The Qaeda statement warned the "US and its allies, agents and spies that the more martyrs they kill, the more determined we will be to achieve victory and avenge them."
Trump has put tackling so-called "radical Islamic extremism" at the top of his agenda.
He is considering a review of the fight against the Islamic State group, aiming to intensify the campaign, and is poised to revive efforts to ban travel from certain Muslim-majority countries.
Masri's presence in Idlib province underscores the importance that Syria has gained in Al-Qaeda's strategy, analysts said.
Masri was born in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh in November 1957, during Gamal Abdel Nasser's rule.
He was one of the most prominent figures in Al-Qaeda to have roots in the era before the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Soufan Group, a private security and intelligence consultancy.
"It was in Masri's guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed briefed top Al-Qaeda leaders about the planning of the September 11, 2001 attacks," the Soufan Group said.
According to Treasury Department sanctions, Masri was previously responsible for coordinating Al-Qaeda's work "with other terrorist organisations."
Syrian regime fighters take position as they advance to retake the ancient city of Palmyra, from Islamic State (IS) group fighters on March 2, 2017
Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group Thursday, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the jihadists.
Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.
The oasis city has traded hands several times during Syria's six-year civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture, a Kremlin spokesman told news agencies in Moscow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said the jihadists had totally withdrawn from the desert city but not before mining several areas.
"The Syrian army is still clearing neighbourhoods of mines and has not spread out into the whole city yet," said its director, Rami Abdel Rahman.
An army statement carried on state news agency SANA said its forces had "regained control over Palmyra and surrounding territory after a series of successful military operations".
Syrian government oust IS jihadists from Palmyra
IS has suffered a string of setbacks since taking over swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its two main strongholds of Mosul and Raqa both face assaults by forces backed by a US-led coalition.
The jihadists first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples.
They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the city in December when the government was focused on seizing rebel-held east Aleppo.
Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But many of the structures have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.
Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's Palmyra push, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported.
A decades-old ally of Damascus, Moscow launched an air campaign in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces out of second city Aleppo last year -- thanks in large part to Russian support.
- Turkey threatens US allies -
Islamic State (IS) group jihadists first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples
On another battle front against IS, fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they would cede several villages to the government as part of a deal brokered by Russia to avoid conflict with Turkey.
Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August that it said aimed to counter both IS and the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists".
The surprise announcement by the SDF marks the first time that US-supported fighters has offered to cede territory to Assad's forces.
It said the territory to be handed over lay between the towns of Manbij and Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed fighters captured last week from IS, to create a buffer zone between them.
Ankara meanwhile renewed its threat to bomb Kurdish fighters unless they withdrew from Manbij, a former bastion of IS that is now under SDF control.
The Turkey-backed rebels launched their advance on Manbij on Wednesday, initially seizing two villages but losing them to the SDF by Thursday.
The Observatory said clashes were ongoing southwest of Manbij late Thursday.
The profusion of forces operating in Syria has muddled the battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had bombed SDF fighters mistakenly believing they were IS.
The Russian defence ministry denied carrying out the air strikes.
- Sputtering peace talks -
The oasis city of Palmyra has traded hands several times during the six-year civil war in Syria
Russia on Thursday accused Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), of "sabotaging" sputtering UN-led Syrian peace talks in Geneva and questioned their ability to reach a deal.
"The results of the first days of the intra-Syrian dialogues, as before, raise questions over the ability of the Syrian opposition representatives to reach a deal," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Moscow had earlier called for "terrorism" to be added to the agenda of the talks, which have so far focused on three topics: governance, the constitution, and elections.
But the HNC late Wednesday refused, having previously accused Assad's regime of wanting to turn the focus to terrorism as a distraction from political questions.
"Progress in the Geneva round must not be held hostage by the Riyadh platform," lead Syrian negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari told reporters, referring to the Saudi-backed HNC.
The Geneva talks, the fourth round of UN-sponsored negotiations in the war, are expected to end by the weekend, though no formal timeframe has been set.
Spencer Hays poses next to his favorite masterpiece by French painter Edouard Vuillard "Les Premiers Pas" at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris in 2013
The American art collector Spencer Hays -- who had donated more than 600 artworks to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris -- has died suddenly aged 80, the French culture ministry said Thursday.
His gift of paintings by post-Impressionist French masters including Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis was worth more than 350 million euros ($368 million), the biggest donation to a French gallery since World War II.
The colourful businessman, who began his career as a door-to-door book salesman for the Southwestern Company in Texas before rising to become its majority shareholder, was awarded the Legion of Honour with his wife Marlene Hays.
The couple had also built a perfect replica of an 18th-century Paris mansion, the Hotel de Noirmoutier, in Nashville where they lived.
French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay said Hays was "a great friend of France, a great friend of the arts and of the Musee d'Orsay".
The museum also paid tribute to a great Francophile and philanthropist.
"Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, Spencer Hays grew up in a poor family, far from the museum world," it added in a statement.
Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, pictured at President Donald Trump's address to Congress, is at the center of a political storm over the US administration's contacts with Moscow
Russia's ambassador Sergey Kislyak was all smiles as he glad-handed US lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill to hear President Donald Trump's maiden speech to Congress.
Two days later he was at the heart of a very Washington scandal, after Trump's newly-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions was accused of lying about meeting with the Kremlin's envoy.
Fellow diplomats told AFP that Kislyak, a veteran of many years of US-Russian diplomatic rivalry, would be amused by the spat, the latest to trouble Trump's efforts to form a government.
The 66-year-old engineering graduate has been at the heart of the Moscow foreign policy establishment since the days of the United States and the Soviet Union's Cold War stand-off.
Married and with one adult daughter, he is coming towards the end of what has been an eight-year stint in Washington marked by spy scandals, a failed "re-set" in ties and now political intrigue.
Already, one member of Trump's top team -- short-lived national security adviser Mike Flynn -- has been forced to resign after controversy over his contacts with Kislyak.
Now Sessions has been forced to recuse himself from any investigation related to the Trump campaign -- whose ties with Russia are under scrutiny from all sides -- after he admitted to two encounters with Kislyak in the run-up to the vote.
- Spy master? -
In Washington's febrile atmosphere, where disgruntled foreign policy and intelligence officials are stirring opposition to Trump, some reports have even described Kislyak as a spy master.
Russian officials scoffed at this, blaming a mood of anti-Russian paranoia, and Washington-based diplomats played down the claim.
All ambassadors of course have contacts with their countries' spies, but is Kislyak really -- as some US reports now allege -- a top recruiter for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency?
"Honestly speaking, I only have one question: is this the lowest the western media can reach or can they sink even lower?" demanded Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman.
"I will tell you a military secret: diplomats work, they work and their work involves making contacts in the country they are in."
There are, of course, Russian spies in Washington. In December, the outgoing US president Barack Obama ordered 35 of Kislyak's colleagues at the Russian mission expelled as foreign agents.
And Kislyak was ambassador in 2010 when US counter-intelligence rounded up 10 Russian sleeper agents, including estate agent Anna Chapman, who became a glamorous media sensation.
But if Kislyak spent any of his career at the SVR or the KGB it does not show up on his official biography, which portrays a successful but hitherto low-key progress through foreign ministry ranks.
He was based in the United States throughout the Cold War 1980s, first as an official at the Russian mission to the United Nations in New York, then as first secretary of the embassy in Washington.
He had a series of senior bureaucratic and technical roles in Moscow through the 1990s before becoming Russia's ambassador to both Belgium and NATO in 2003 and then a deputy foreign minister in 2008.
As ambassador he has been discreet, but he gave a rare news conference last year and lamented: "We were able to end the Cold War, but most probably we weren't able to build post-Cold War peace."
- Diplomatic circuit -
As a member of Washington's diplomatic circuit, he is not the most high-profile socialite, but he likes to boast that his residence has one of the best chefs in the District and he entertains at home.
In the run-up to November's election, diplomats from both friends and foes of the United States were keen to build ties with figures -- like Sessions or Flynn -- who were close to Trump.
But Kislyak's role is under scrutiny because US intelligence agencies believe Russian government propagandists and hackers tried to hurt Hillary Clinton and to help Trump's rise.
And, as Michael McFaul, US ambassador to Russia between 2012 and 2014, tweeted: "Let's not be naive folks. Kislyak obviously was meeting Sessions because of his role in Trump world. That's his job."
According to the United Nations, more than 440 people have died or gone missing in January and February while crossing from Libya in the depths of winter, when the sea is at its most treacherous
Some 970 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya on Thursday, Italy's coastguard said, as the numbers attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe continue to rise.
Even before Thursday's arrivals, more than 13,400 people had arrived on Italy's shores so far this year -- an increase of 50 to 70 percent compared with 2016 and 2015.
According to the United Nations, more than 440 people have died or gone missing in January and February while crossing from Libya in the depths of winter, when the sea is at its most treacherous.
The migrants rescued Thursday were crammed into four rubber dinghies, a small wooden boat and another larger one.
Italy's coastguard said it coordinated the rescue operations with a Norwegian vessel under the command of EU border agency Frontex and two humanitarian ships manned by the SOS Mediterranee aid group, Doctors without Borders and the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms group.
The coast guard also received a distress signal from a sailboat that left Greece with about 85 migrants on board heading to southern Italy, but the boat never made it out of Greek waters.
It was rescued by a Maltese vessel that happened to be in the area, and the migrants were taken to the southern Greek port of Kalamata.
European efforts to close the migrant route at the Greek end of the Mediterranean are thought to lie behind the increased flow to Italy, with most departures taking place from the west of Libya, just 300 kilometres (190 miles) away from the Italian coast.
European countries are considering new measures aimed at blocking the migrants' arrival, alarming aid groups which fear people stranded in Libya may suffer mistreatment.
Six years after the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, Libya is still in chaos and the country has become a major launching pad for migrants seeking to enter Europe.
Sessions steps aside from Russia probe under pressure
WASHINGTON (AP) - Under intensifying pressure, Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly agreed Thursday to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian meddling in America's 2016 presidential election. He acted after revelations he twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress.
Sessions rejected any suggestion that he had tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, saying, "That is not my intent. That is not correct."
But he did allow that he should have been more careful in his testimony during his confirmation hearing, saying, "I should have slowed down and said, 'But I did meet one Russian official a couple of times.'"
The White House has stood by Sessions in the latest controversy to dog President Donald Trump's young administration, though officials say they first learned about his contacts with the ambassador from a reporter Wednesday night. Trump himself said Thursday he had "total" confidence in Sessions and didn't think he needed to recuse himself - not long before he did.
One of Sessions' conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak occurred at a July event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. At that same event, the ambassador also spoke with Carter Page, who briefly advised Trump's campaign on foreign policy, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion.
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Russia's top diplomat at center of Trump controversy
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration's back-to-back controversies over its Russian ties now have at least one thing in common: Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Moscow's top diplomat in the U.S. has become the Kevin Bacon of the Trump White House's Russia imbroglio. A Washington fixture with a sprawling network, he has emerged as the central figure in the investigations into Trump advisers' connections with Russia. In a matter of weeks, contact with Kislyak led to the firing of a top adviser to the president and, on Thursday, prompted calls for the attorney general to resign.
Separately, a White House official confirmed Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn met with Kislyak at Trump Tower in December for what the official called a brief courtesy meeting. Flynn was pushed out of the White House last month after officials said he misled Vice President Mike Pence about whether he and the ambassador had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call.
At issue Thursday were two meetings between Sessions and Kislyak - one in July and another in September, at the height of concern over Russia's involvement in hacking of Democratic officials' emails accounts. Intelligence officials have since concluded Moscow ordered the hacks to tilt the election toward Trump. In his confirmation hearing, the Alabama Republican denied having contact with any Russian officials, neglecting to mention the meetings with Kislyak, which were first reported by the Washington Post.
The Russian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
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Sessions story takes different shape on different outlets
NEW YORK (AP) - Reports about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' two meetings with Russia's U.S. ambassador became a textbook illustration of the vastly different shapes a story takes in today's media world.
The story moved with lightning speed Thursday across the media ecosphere, from the Washington Post's initial revelation the night before, to hours of political combat, finally to Sessions' announcement - broadcast live Thursday afternoon on broadcast and cable news networks - that he would remove himself from any investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election.
"This is really going to take the temperature down on Capitol Hill," MSNBC's Kasie Hunt said following Sessions' news conference.
Perhaps. The story about Sessions' meetings with the Russian ambassador, with the backdrop of still unanswered questions about Russian ties to Trump, had enough mystery to make it politically malleable: why did they take place and what was said? Some Democrats called for Sessions' resignation, while many Trump supporters saw nothing wrong.
Less than 24 hours after the Post story broke, the chyron on CNN's screen read "Sessions Under Siege." He was in a "firestorm." Meanwhile, the Breitbart News web site had another take: "Fake news: Media, Democrats distort remarks to target Jeff Session."
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10 Things to Know for Friday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:
1. SESSIONS STEPS ASIDE FROM RUSSIA PROBE
The attorney general acts after revelations he twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress.
2. RUSSIA'S TOP DIPLOMAT AT CENTER OF TRUMP CONTROVERSY
Observers note Sergey Kislyak, who has bounced between U.S. and Moscow for most of his long career, is a somewhat unlikely figure to cause imbroglio.
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Not so urgent anymore? Trump's new travel ban delayed
NEW YORK (AP) - President Donald Trump was barely in office when he signed an executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. There was not a moment to waste, he said, because any delay would allow the "bad dudes" to rush into the U.S.
Then federal courts struck down his ban. The White House said a new version would be coming.
That was a month ago. The urgency seems to have faded.
There has been no further legal appeal. And announcement of a replacement order has been repeatedly postponed, a reflection of legal difficulties, shifting administration priorities and politics. It now won't be unveiled until next week at the earliest, says a White House official.
"The holdup flies in the face of the mythology as to why they needed to rush the bill in the first place," said Doris Meissner, who was head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service for President Bill Clinton. "It was a contrived argument and a reflection of inexperience and a rush to fulfill a campaign promise."
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Malaysia condemns use of chemical weapon in Kim killing
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia ramped up the pressure on Pyongyang on Friday, issuing a statement condemning the use of a banned toxic chemical weapon in the killing of the half brother of North Korea's leader.
Malaysia has not directly accused North Korea of being behind the Feb. 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam, but the statement from the Foreign Ministry comes hours after a North Korean envoy rejected a Malaysian autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim, saying the man probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
The statement from Malaysia's Foreign Ministry said it was "greatly concerned" with the use of the toxic chemical and condemned the use of such a chemical weapon under any circumstances.
"Its use at a public place could have endangered the general public," said.
The death of Kim, the estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler, has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. The autopsy is especially sensitive because North Korea had asked Malaysia not to perform one, but authorities said they had to under the law.
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Syrian army retakes town of Palmyra as IS defenses crumble
BEIRUT (AP) - Syria's military announced on Thursday it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group as the militants' defenses crumbled and IS fighters fled in the face of artillery fire and intense Russia-backed airstrikes.
The development marks the third time that the town - famed for its priceless Roman ruins and archaeological treasures IS had sought to destroy - has changed hands in one year.
It was also the second blow for the Islamic State group in Syria in a week, after Turkish backed opposition fighters seized the Syrian town of al-Bab from the militants on Feb. 23, following a grueling three month battle. In neighboring Iraq, the Sunni extremist group is fighting for survival in its last urban bastion in the western part of the city of Mosul.
For the Syrian government, the news was a welcome development against the backdrop of peace talks underway with the opposition in Switzerland.
"You are all invited to visit the historic city of Palmyra and witness its beauty, now that it has been liberated," the Damascus envoy to the U.N.-mediated talks, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told reporters in Geneva.
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Caterpillar offices raided in probe related to Swiss unit
CHICAGO (AP) - Federal law enforcement officials raided three central Illinois facilities of manufacturer Caterpillar on Thursday as part of an investigation the company said may be related to business with its Swiss subsidiary CSARL.
Officials from three federal agencies, some wearing jackets that said "police, federal agent", searched the Peoria, Illinois, headquarters of Caterpillar, one of the world's largest makers of construction and other heavy equipment. Facilities in East Peoria and Morton, Illinois, also were raided under a federal warrant, U.S. Attorney's office spokeswoman Sharon Paul said.
"We believe the execution of this search warrant is regarding, among other things, export filings that relate to the CSARL matter," Caterpillar said in a statement later on Thursday, referring to its Swiss subsidiary.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott said in an email that the company was cooperating with law enforcement.
Paul said the agencies involved included the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit, the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s office of inspector general. She declined to comment further on the details of the investigation.
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Trump slump? Signs of drop in international tourism to US
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. Travel Association on Thursday said the Trump administration's immigration policies are hurting tourism.
The nonprofit industry organization said in a statement that there are "mounting signs" of "a broad chilling effect on demand for international travel to the United States."
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters disputed the contention, saying: "It takes several months for each month's international arrival statistics to be processed and released to the public. To claim the executive order has had an impact on travel would be premature."
But the U.S. Travel Association's statement added to a growing chorus of concern from the travel industry over the impact of Trump administration policies on tourism.
Earlier this week, the tourism agency NYC & Company revised its 2017 forecast to predict a drop in inbound international travel to New York City, with 300,000 fewer visitors compared to 2016. It would be the first drop in visitation to New York since the start of the recession in 2008.
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'Stay classy, USC:' Ferrell to speak at school's graduation
LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Stay classy, Trojans."
That twist on Will Ferrell's catchphrase from "Anchorman" could come in handy when the comic actor gives an address at this year's commencement at the University of Southern California.
USC announced Ferrell's role Thursday, saying in a statement that he'll be the featured speaker at the May 12 ceremony.
The "Saturday Night Live" alum is also a USC grad, and one of its most famous fans and biggest boosters.
He graduated from the Los Angeles school with a degree in sports information in 1990 and is often seen walking the sidelines of Trojans football games.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida doesn't just want to let people stand their ground, it also wants to make the state prove they didn't commit violence in self-defense before taking them to trial.
Florida has been seen as a leader in giving citizens immunity in cases of self-defense, its "stand your ground" law serving as an emotional point of debate after several high-profile shooting deaths, including that of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.
While at least 22 states have similar laws that say people can use force - even deadly force - to defend themselves from threats, Florida could soon be the only one that spells out that prosecutors have to prove defendants weren't acting in self-defense before taking someone to trial.
FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2016 file photo, George Zimmerman looks at the jury as he testifies in a Seminole County courtroom in Orlando, Fla. Florida doesn't just want to let people stand their ground, it also wants to make the state prove they didn't commit violence in self-defense before taking them to trial. While at least 22 states have similar laws that say people can use force - even deadly force - to defend themselves from threats, Florida could soon be the only one that spells out that prosecutors have to prove defendants weren't acting in self-defense before taking someone to trial.(Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP, Pool)
That's under a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Rob Bradley, who says his legislation "isn't a novel concept."
"We have a tradition in our criminal justice system that the burden of proof is with the government from the beginning of the case to the end," he said.
Bradley's bill is a response to a state Supreme Court ruling that the burden of proof during self-defense immunity hearings is on defendants, as has traditionally been practiced in Florida and elsewhere. According to a legislative staff analysis of the bill, only four states mention burden of proof in their "stand your ground" laws - Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina - and all place the burden on defendants.
Bradley filed the bill last year, but it died without House support. This year, it's ready for a full Senate vote when the session begins next week and it already has been approved by one of two House committees assigned to hear it, indicating better chances this year.
The bill has received passionate opposition from people who feel the existing law already can be abused, and will be used even more by people who commit violent crimes and claim self-defense. Florida has many examples that find their way into the debate, most notably neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman's fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.
But Zimmerman isn't the only case.
Lucy McBath's 17-year-old son Jordan Davis was fatally shot by Michael Dunn during an argument over loud music outside a Jacksonville convenience store. And in the Tampa Bay area, retired police officer Curtis Reeves is wrapping up a "stand your ground" pretrial hearing claiming self-defense when he fatally shot Chad Oulson in a dispute over a cellphone at a move theater.
In the Zimmerman and Dunn cases, neither requested a pre-trial hearing, though the "stand your ground" law was presented in jury instructions and both claimed self-defense at trial. Zimmerman was acquitted and Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder at a second trial after a jury couldn't come to a decision at his first.
Still, McBath believes the way the law currently reads is why the jury couldn't reach a decision, and she thinks expanding "stand your ground" protections could benefit others who should otherwise be convicted of crimes.
She told lawmakers the law "encourages citizens to shoot first and ask questions later." She said Bradley's bill is dangerous and would make it harder to keep people safe from gun violence.
"This legislation would effectively require defendants who raise stand your ground defenses to be convicted twice," she said. "Having lived through this grueling experience first-hand with two trials for my son's murder, I can attest to the anguish and the pain that this process elicits. We should not make it harder for family members to achieve the justice that they deserve."
Stand your ground is not just about guns, though it is often discussed along with other gun bills in Florida. The defense can be used after any act of violence to protect oneself, whether it's punching, stabbing, shooting or striking someone with an object.
Marissa Alexander's life also was changed by gunfire, though she is a supporter of "stand your ground" and of Bradley's bill. Alexander was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 for firing a gun near her estranged husband. She argued it was a "warning shot" to protect herself from an abusive husband and unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's "stand your ground" law in her defense. Alexander's conviction was later thrown out on appeal and she was freed after reaching a plea deal in 2014.
"I feel like you go into that kind of situation guilty until proven innocent," she said, adding that the bill would help people like her by forcing the state to prove their case before trial. She added that it could set a trend if it passes.
"Florida kind of sets the tone and other states follow," she said.
BEIRUT (AP) - Syria's military announced on Thursday it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group as the militants' defenses crumbled and IS fighters fled in the face of artillery fire and intense Russia-backed airstrikes.
The development marks the third time that the town - famed for its priceless Roman ruins and archaeological treasures IS had sought to destroy - has changed hands in one year.
It was also the second blow for the Islamic State group in Syria in a week, after Turkish backed opposition fighters seized the Syrian town of al-Bab from the militants on Feb. 23, following a grueling three month battle. In neighboring Iraq, the Sunni extremist group is fighting for survival in its last urban bastion in the western part of the city of Mosul.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. (SANA via AP)
For the Syrian government, the news was a welcome development against the backdrop of peace talks underway with the opposition in Switzerland.
"You are all invited to visit the historic city of Palmyra and witness its beauty, now that it has been liberated," the Damascus envoy to the U.N.-mediated talks, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told reporters in Geneva.
"Of course, counterterrorism operations will continue until the last inch of our territory is liberated from the hands of these foreign terrorist organizations, which are wreaking havoc in our country," he added.
The Damascus military statement said troops gained full control of the desert town in central Syria following a series of military operations carried out with the help of Russian air cover and in cooperation with "allied and friendly troops" - government shorthand for members of Lebanese militant Hezbollah group who are fighting along Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.
IS defenses around Palmyra had begun to erode on Sunday, with government troops reaching the town's outskirts on Tuesday. The state SANA news agency reported earlier that government troops had entered the town's archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, around mid-day, then the town itself, as IS militants fled the area.
This is the Syrian government's second campaign to retake Palmyra. It seized the town from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again 10 months later.
Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, had said earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister that Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes.
The Syrian government's push has relied on ground support from Hezbollah and Russian air cover, according to Hezbollah's media outlets.
Archeologists have decried what they say is extensive damage to its ruins.
Drone footage released by Russia's Defense Ministry earlier this month showed new damage to the facade of Palmyra's Roman-era theater and the adjoining Tetrapylon - a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.
A 2014 report by a U.N. research agency disclosed satellite evidence of looting while the ruins were under Syrian military control. Opposition factions have also admitted to looting the antiquities for funds.
IS militants have twice used the town's Roman theater as a stage for mass killings, most recently in January, when they shot and beheaded a number of captives they said had tried to escape their December advance. Other IS killings were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum and in a former Russian base in the town.
The developments in Palmyra came against the backdrop of the talks in Geneva, which have been without any tangible breakthroughs so far. Diplomats and negotiators have set their sights on modest achievements in the latest round, after a week of discussions centering on setting an agenda for future talks.
On Thursday, U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura held another round of meetings with both the government delegation and opposition groups.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters Wednesday that "the parties have agreed to ... discuss all issues in a parallel way, on several tracks."
After a Damascus request, the issue of terrorism is also on the table, he had said. Russia is a key sponsor of Assad's government.
A top Syrian opposition negotiator, Nasr al-Hariri, said the talks would likely culminate in a closing ceremony on Friday and the parties may be back in Geneva for further discussions in a few weeks.
Setting the agenda and strategy to guide discussions has proven difficult as the main conflicting parties dig in their heels over form and semantics.
In Turkey, the country's foreign minister said that with the completion of an operation to retake the IS-held town of al-Bab in northern Syria, Turkish troops will head to the Syrian town of Manbij next, to oust U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists and a threat to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that Turkey would not shy away from attacking the Kurdish group that dominates the Syria Democratic Forces, which captured Manbij last year after weeks of deadly fighting with IS.
He renewed calls for the new U.S. administration not to support the Kurdish forces. Cavusoglu stressed that an operation to take Manbij had not started yet, but acknowledged that skirmishes between Turkish-backed forces and the Kurdish fighters may have occurred.
That front line in northern Syria was further complicated by a concurrent announcement by the Syrian Kurdish side on Thursday that they had agreed with Russia to withdraw from some of the territory between al-Bab and Manbij, to make room for a buffer.
The Manbij Military Council, part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said that under the deal, they will withdraw from a front line with rival Turkish-backed forces near the Euphrates River. This will allow Syrian government forces to create a buffer between them.
However, Cavusoglu denied any such agreement was reached.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government. The Turkish and Syrian authorities have long regarded each other with thinly-veiled hostility.
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Soguel reported from Geneva. Associated Press writers Philip Issa in Beirut, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
Syrian chief negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of Syria to UN New York, informs to the media after the round of negotiation between the Syrian government and the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura (not pictured), at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. (SANA via AP)
In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. Arabic reads, "Central Military Media, Homs, Syria." (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP)
In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, Syrian forces prepare to fire on an Islamic State group's position, at the ancient city of Palmyra in the central city of Homs, Syria. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. Arabic reads, "Central Military Media, Homs, Syria." (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. (SANA via AP)
In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, Syrian forces prepare to fire on an Islamic State group's position, at the ancient city of Palmyra in the central city of Homs, Syria. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. Arabic reads, "Central Military Media, Homs, Syria." (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Four Central European nations have hammered out proposals for the European Union that are intended to strengthen the voice of member nations and avoid divisions, Poland's prime minister said Thursday.
Beata Szydlo spoke following a meeting with her counterparts from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
The meeting was held days ahead of the March 9-10 EU summit in Brussels and a special March 25 anniversary summit in Rome. A key issue at these meetings will be the future standing of the currently 28-member bloc after Britain leaves.
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka,Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico leave after a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Szydlo said that the joint declaration of the so-called Visegrad Group for a "better Europe" was agreed on Thursday and will be presented in Rome.
It calls for EU institutions to take care of issues directly concerning Europeans, like security, protected borders, dignity, justice and equal treatment for each of the member states, Szydlo told a news conference.
One "serious problem" cited by the group was the lack of uniform food standards throughout the EU, which some central European members say means they receive inferior food.
"We believe there is a double standard on the European Union market," said Hungary's Viktor Orban.
"We have to avoid ... having Europe use our countries and markets as a garbage dump," Orban said.
The group appealed to EU officials to take a "serious approach" to the issue.
The declaration also calls for a strong EU market with no protectionism or divisions and for greater control by member nations over the legislative and decision-making processes. The group, which joined the club in 2004, says that EU decisions are made in Brussels by politicians who do not seek the opinions of the member nations.
Szydlo's talks with Orban, Slovakia's Robert Fico and Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic were also believed to have included the Polish government's opposition to a second term for Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, as European Council head.
Tusk's 2 -year term ends in May. He is the only candidate for the position and enjoys general support, but is the long-time political rival in Poland of the leader of Poland's ruling conservative party.
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This story has been corrected to show Orban's first name is spelled Viktor, not Victor; and to show the declaration is for a "better Europe" not "better union."
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Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico leave after a press conference that concluded their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a press conference after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The prime ministers of four Central European nations met Thursday to discuss ways of strengthening the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico leave after a press conference that concluded their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a press conference after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The prime ministers of four Central European nations met Thursday to discuss ways of strengthening the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico leave after a press conference that concluded their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The prime ministers of four Central European nations met Thursday to discuss ways of strengthening the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right, shows a document next to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The prime ministers of four Central European nations met Thursday to discuss ways of strengthening the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico shakes hands with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka shakes hands with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico pose for media before their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico walks with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shakes hands with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka speaks to Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico shakes hands with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, before a Visegrad group meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico pose for media before their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from right, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico arrive for a group photo before their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The leaders of the four nations, known as the Visegrad Group, are meeting in Warsaw in a search for common positions on key issues ahead of upcoming summits in Malta and Rome.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime ministers of the Visegrad group countries, from left, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico attend a press conference after their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 2, 2017. The prime ministers of four Central European nations met Thursday to discuss ways of strengthening the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc.(AP Photo Czarek Sokolowski)
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Salome Karwah survived Ebola after it killed both her parents and seven other relatives, then returned to her clinic to help countless others as she had become immune to the deadly virus. Her face graced the cover of Time magazine when it recognized the brave health care workers battling Ebola in 2014.
But in a heartbreaking reminder of just how strong fear remains in Liberia, her husband says the nurses on duty were too afraid to touch Karwah when she experienced complications after childbirth last month.
"I personally went into the emergency ward to bring a wheelchair to take my wife into the operation room," James Harris, a psychosocial counselor, told The Associated Press.
James Harris, the widower of Salome Karwah, feeds his child outside his house in Monrovia, Liberia. Thursday March. 2, 2017. Salome Karwah survived Ebola after it killed both her parents and eight other relatives, then returned to her clinic to help countless others as she had become immune to the deadly virus. But in a heartbreaking reminder of just how strong fear remains, she died after childbirth complications as her husband says health workers in Liberia were too afraid to touch her. She was just 31. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)
Karwah died two weeks ago at age 31, several days after her fourth child - a son named Solomon - was delivered by cesarian section. It was a tragic end for a woman who had fought tirelessly against the stigma of Ebola.
"Salome's own experience of Ebola gave her incredible empathy for the patients that she worked so hard to care for," said a statement from Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF. "Our many staff who remember working with her speak of her strength and compassion, but also of her smile.
"She made a huge contribution to MSF's work at the height of the outbreak in Monrovia."
The outbreak in West Africa was the deadliest ever of the virus, with about 11,300 people killed. Ebola is spread through bodily contact with the fluids of someone sick enough to show symptoms.
While the World Health Organization declared an end to the outbreak in June 2016, some Liberians still wrongly fear that survivors can transmit the virus.
Tolbert Nyenswah, the man who led Liberia's Ebola fight and now heads the country's newly established National Public Health Institute, said he could not confirm reports that health workers were frightened to treat Karwah because of her Ebola survivor status as she suffered seizures.
He said the death was being fully investigated to know "what really went wrong."
"Normally if a cesarian section is conducted, the person is supposed to stay in the hospital for seven days and monitored to see whether there are complications," Tolbert said. "But to my understanding, that protocol was breached; she spent less than that in the hospital and was discharged, and when she was facing complications her husband took her back to the hospital to seek further care."
The hospital has not commented. Liberia's chief medical officer, Dr. Francis Kateh, told the AP he understood the husband's feelings. But he then echoed the mistaken belief that survivors can transmit the virus, saying that "the hospital knew she had Ebola and they operated on her, which put them at more risk."
Her husband told the AP that it was the hospital that decided to discharge her prematurely even though "her blood pressure was high each time it was taken" after the C-section and he wanted her to stay a bit longer.
James Harris said he blames the hospital for his wife's death "because they had her waiting in a vehicle for three hours" before she was attended to. He said what really hurt was "a nurse on duty, instead of attending to the emergency, was standing by the front counter busy on Facebook."
Friends of the family have set up a GoFundMe page to help Harris and his children, and already they've raised more than $3,000.
Liberia already had one of the world's highest rates of maternal mortality before the Ebola outbreak. Before the epidemic began in 2014, a woman had a one-in-10 chance of dying in childbirth, compared to 1 in 8,000 on average in developed countries, according to government statistics.
The situation has been so grim that one pilot program after the Ebola crisis trained midwives how to perform cesarians, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency.
More than 4,800 people died of Ebola in Liberia during the epidemic, with more than 10,000 cases across the country. Among them, 184 health workers were killed.
With no approved specific treatment for Ebola, it was through the supportive care of people like Karwah that many survived.
"If a patient doesn't want to eat, I encourage them to eat. If they are weak and are unable to bathe on their own, I help to bathe them," she said in a 2014 interview, according to MSF. "I help them with all my might because I understand the experience - I've been through the very same thing."
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This version corrects to say she lost nine relatives to Ebola.
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Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The judge who presided over the acquittal of Casey Anthony in a murder trial televised live around the world said Thursday that an accidental killing is the most logical explanation for her 2-year-old daughter's death.
Former Judge Belvin Perry Jr. told The Associated Press that the theory that makes the most sense to him now, based on the evidence presented at trial in 2011, is that Anthony accidentally used too much chloroform while trying to quiet Caylee, and the infant died.
"You have a child that can become cranky, that you want to go to sleep. That is a simple way to do it," said Perry, who is now in private practice. "What we tend to forget is, chloroform was used to render people unconscious long before we had anesthesia."
FILE - In this July 5, 2011 file photo, Casey Anthony sits at the defense table during the second day of jury deliberations in her murder trial in Orlando, Fla. In a Wednesday, March 1, 2017 interview with the Orlando Sentinel Judge Belvin Perry said Anthony may have been trying to quiet the child, Caylee, with chloroform and accidentally used too much. Perry says it's a theory and if jurors in Anthony's 2011 trial had come to that conclusion, they might have convicted her of second-degree murder or manslaughter. (AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool, File)
Asked to respond on Thursday, one of her attorneys, Cheney Mason, said: "I've got your response: She was acquitted."
Anthony, now 30, was acquitted of first-degree murder and convicted of misdemeanor counts of lying to law enforcement after defense attorney Jose Baez told jurors that the toddler accidentally drowned in the family pool.
Prosecutors said Anthony used chloroform and then suffocated the child by putting duct tape over her mouth. The toddler's remains were found five months after she disappeared, in a wooded area not far from where the Anthonys lived. Authorities were never able to establish the cause of death.
"I'm disturbed that Mr. Perry would once again go to the press with his thoughts about the case. There is no reason for him to do that," Mason said. "I don't know what motivated Mr. Perry to do this or why. All I can say is: Everybody is entitled to an opinion."
Florida's Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from making public comments about any pending cases, but it says nothing about former judges talking about cases that are over. A 2011 opinion by Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee says nothing in the code restricts a judge from talking about a high-profile case once it is finished.
Perry said the case came up this week only because he was asked about it by a reporter from a community newspaper who was interviewing him for an unrelated story. Other local media then made inquiries about his theory.
Perry said the chloroform theory is one of several regarding Caylee's death he has been examining since he began reviewing trial transcripts at the time of last summer's fifth anniversary of the trial.
"You can't say what happened because you weren't there, but you can talk about the probabilities," Perry said. "Then you can assign whatever weight you want to a theory, and you ask yourself, 'What is more logical?'"
RUKBAN CAMP, Jordan-Syria Border (AP) - U.N. agencies are ramping up aid delivery to tens of thousands of war-displaced Syrians stuck in the desert on Jordan's sealed border, after months of being denied access, but harsh weather and anxious crowds often disrupt one of the U.N.'s most complex missions anywhere.
Illustrating the logistics challenge, a U.N. convoy taking journalists to a new health center near the Syrian encampment of Rukban got bogged down for hours after heavy rains mixed with hail turned the hard desert floor to mud. After nightfall, Jordanian armored personnel carriers repeatedly had to pull the SUVs out of the soggy soil.
For Rukban residents huddling in flimsy tents and makeshift shelters just a few miles away, the flooding was one more of many hardships, including scarce food and inadequate medical care. Anemia and respiratory illnesses are widespread in Rukban, where two-thirds of the residents are women and children, U.N. health officials said
In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 photo, Jordanian border guards using armored personnel carriers try to pull U.N. cars that are stuck in a flooded area in the remote desert along the Jordan-Syria border. U.N. agencies are ramping up aid delivery to tens of thousands of war-displaced Syrians stuck in the desert on Jordan's sealed border, after months of being denied access. Yet harsh weather and anxious crowds often disrupt one of the U.N.'s most complex missions anywhere. (AP Photo/Karin Laub)
"I live in a small tent, two meters, and I had to leave my tent yesterday because of heavy rain," said a 39-year-old woman from Rukban who had come to the U.N. health center Wednesday with her 3-year-old daughter, Hawraa, who she said suffered from an infection. "I spent the night at my neighbor's place. The situation is bad."
Another woman, a mother of six in her early 30s, was seeking treatment for an ear infection at the health center. She said her youngest son, Hamid, died in Rukban at the age of seven months as a result of severe diarrhea.
The two women spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions for talking to the media.
Rukban and a smaller border camp, Hadalat, have grown gradually over the past two years, as Jordan - already host to more than 650,000 Syrian refugees - restricted entry to Syrians fleeing civil war. Population figures are in flux, but the two camps are believed to house between 70,000 and 80,000 residents. Nearly 5 million Syrians have fled their country since the conflict began six years ago.
The camps are located in the area of two parallel earthen mounds, or berms, that roughly mark the border.
Initially, U.N. agencies were able to deliver food and other supplies to the camps from Jordanian territory. In June, Jordan sealed its border in response to a cross-border car bomb attack that killed seven Jordanian soldiers and was claimed by the Islamic State group. Aid shipments were halted, with the exception of one drop of supplies by crane, and conditions worsened in the camps.
In a further complication, rival armed groups and tribes compete for control in the camps. Jordanian military officials have said the IS group is trying to expand its influence over the area, while militants have carried out several attacks in Rukban.
In November, after months of negotiations with Jordanian authorities, U.N. agencies set up an aid distribution center between the two berms, west of Rukban. Separately, a health center was established several miles away, on Jordanian territory.
Food and other supplies are distributed by a private Jordanian contractor, under guard from Jordanian troops, because aid workers are not allowed into the area between the two berms. U.N. officials monitor the distribution remotely through cameras set up on two towers.
Between November and January, some 15,000 families in the two camps received one month's worth of food, along with hygiene kits, blankets and plastic sheets, said Shada Moghrabi of the World Food Program. However, daily distributions had to be canceled 14 times because of bad weather or problems with crowd control, she said.
Aid officials said they are trying to ensure supplies don't fall into the hands of black marketers or armed men by asking each family to pick up its allotment, but acknowledged there is no control over what happens once the coveted goods reach the camp.
Food is available in the camps for a price, but many can't afford to buy staples such as tomatoes or potatoes to make up for the shortfall of rations, said the two Rukban women interviewed at the clinic.
The mother of six said she believes those who picked up her rations because she couldn't go herself skimmed off the top before handing her the food.
"There is no food, and I can't afford to buy food, my neighbors help me and give me food," said the second woman, whose husband left her on her own in the camp.
Maeve Murphy, a senior official at the U.N. refugee agency in Jordan, acknowledged the shortcomings, but said getting supplies to the berm is difficult.
Aid trucks travel six hours every day from the nearest Jordanian town of Rweished to Rukban and back, including 100 kilometers (60 miles) on bumpy desert terrain, she said.
"This is probably the most complex and challenging" of any U.N. humanitarian response, she said.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Rescue teams in South Africa have asked the military to help find a 5-year-old boy who fell into a disused mine shaft last weekend.
Military officials arrived at the scene Thursday after fruitless efforts to locate Richard Thole, who disappeared into the shaft while playing Saturday near his home in Boksburg, near Johannesburg.
Emergency responders say the shaft is 140 meters (460 feet) deep and contains potentially lethal gas as well as acidic water. An underground fall of rocks on Wednesday further hampered the search.
In this photo taken Wednesday March 1, 2017, mine rescue workers operate at a shaft where a boy has been missing since the weekend in Boksburg, South Africa. Rescue teams in South Africa have asked the military to help find a 5-year-old boy who fell into a disused mine shaft last weekend. Military officials arrived at the scene Thursday after fruitless efforts to locate Richard Thole, who disappeared into the shaft while playing Saturday near his home. Emergency responders say the shaft is 140 meters (460 feet) deep and contains potentially lethal gas as well as acidic water. (AP Photo/Renee Graham)
The area where the boy fell is known as Jerusalem, with makeshift homes constructed over old gold mines. Authorities say it is unsafe and that the residents should move. One resident, Zodwa Mashabane, says the ground under her home is sinking.
BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest developments on the ground in Syria and at the Geneva peace talks. (all times local):
8:45 p.m.
The head of the Syrian government delegation at the Geneva peace talks has criticized Turkey's "aggression" and says his nation has the right to defend itself from foreign forces on its soil.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. (SANA via AP)
Bashar Ja'afari, who is also his country's ambassador at the United Nations, says Damascus considers the presence of Turkish troops on Syrian soil "a military aggression."
He said on Thursday that the Syrian forces "reserve our right to use our all the means available ... to expel the Turkish forces from our territory."
Earlier, U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said they will withdraw from a front line with rival, Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces near the Euphrates River, to allow government forces to create a buffer between the mutually-hostile sides.
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8:15 p.m.
Syria's U.N. ambassador has lambasted an opposition delegation at the Geneva negotiations, saying it's "holding the talks hostage" by refusing to have the issue of counter-terrorism on the agenda.
Bashar Ja'afari also on Thursday accused the main opposition delegation - which includes exiled politicians as well as representatives of armed factions - of obstructing efforts to form a single opposition delegation.
The main opposition delegation has the backing of Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Western nations.
Ja'afari says there are "terrorists" in their ranks and that their loyalties lay with foreign intelligence agencies rather than the homeland.
He made the remarks after an hours-long meeting with U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura who is trying to get three opposition factions and the government delegation to set an agenda for future talks.
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7:40 p.m.
Al-Qaida has confirmed that its deputy leader, known as Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Syria.
The group praised al-Masri as a hero and "wise leader" with a "long career of contributions" to holy war, or jihad, in a statement on Thursday.
It says he was killed in a "Crusader strike" in Syria, calling it "another in the crimes of America and its Crusader alliance."
The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist organizations, said al-Masri - the nom de guerre of Egyptian militant Abdullah Mohammed Abdulrahman - may have been killed in a strike on Sunday on a vehicle in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.
Al-Masri was general deputy to Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became the top leader of al-Qaida when Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011.
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6:10 p.m.
Syria's military has announces that it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group for the second time in a year.
The army statement released on Thursday evening says that government forces are now in control of the town, following a series of military operations and with the help of Russian air cover and in cooperation with "allied and friendly troops" - shorthand for Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
IS defenses of the town had begun to erode on Sunday, with the government troops reaching Palmyra's outskirts on Tuesday.
This is the government's second campaign to retake the desert town. It seized Palmyra from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again 10 months later. Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.
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4:45 p.m.
The Kremlin's spokesman says President Vladimir Putin has been informed by Russia's defense minister that Syrian government forces have taken control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes.
Dmitry Peskov says Putin was given the report on Thursday by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to Russian news agencies. The reports did not give details or elaborate on the extent of Russian air support.
Syrian state media said the government forces battling the Islamic State group re-entered Palmyra earlier in the day, aiming to retake the historic town that they had lost to the militants in December.
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2:30 p.m.
U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish troops say Russia has brokered an agreement between them and Turkish-backed opposition fighters. The deal seeks to avoid clashes between the two mutually hostile rivals, both fighting the Islamic State group in northern Syria.
The Manbij Military Council, part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, says that under the deal, they will withdraw from a front line as rival Turkish-backed forces near the Euphrates River.
This will allow Syrian government forces to create a buffer between them.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara there was no such agreement between Russia and the Syrian Kurds.
Kurdish-led forces captured the northern town of Manbij from IS last August, prompting Turkey to deploy troops into northern Syria.
Turkey considers the Kurdish forces a terrorist organization, linked to its home-grown Kurdish insurgency. Turkish troops are stationed in the Syrian town of al-Bab, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Manbij.
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2:15 p.m.
Syrian state media say that military forces have entered Palmyra in the quest to again take the town from the Islamic State group.
Palmyra, home to some of the world's most prized Roman ruins, was seized again by IS in December.
Syria's state news agency SANA says that government troops entered the town's archaeological site on Thursday. It said IS militants were fleeing from the area.
IS defenses began crumbling on Sunday, with the government reaching the town's outskirts on Tuesday.
Activist-run Palmyra News Network says the advancing forces have pounded the town with artillery and airstrikes.
This is the government's second campaign to retake Palmyra. It seized the town from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again 10 months later.
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1:15 p.m.
Turkey's foreign minister says with the completion of an operation to retake the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab, Turkish troops will head to Syrian town of Manbij next, to oust it of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists and a threat to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday said Turkey would not shy away from attacking the Kurdish group that dominates the Syria Democratic Forces and which captured Manbij last year after weeks of deadly fighting with the Islamic State group. He renewed calls for the new U.S. administration not to support the Kurdish forces.
Cavusoglu added that an operation to take Manbij had not started yet, but acknowledged that skirmishes between Turkish-backed forces and the Kurdish fighters may have occurred.
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10:50 a.m.
The United Nations envoy to Syria is working round the clock in a bid to secure a modest victory in the fourth round of talks held in Geneva.
Staffan de Mistura is due for another round of meetings Thursday marking a week of bilateral talks with the government delegation and opposition groups.
A top Syrian opposition negotiator told journalists overnight Wednesday the "envoy is really keen to start a political process on the basis of a clear agenda."
Nasr al-Hariri said the talks would likely culminate in a closing ceremony Friday and the parties may be back in Geneva for further discussions in a few weeks.
Setting the agenda and strategy to guide discussions has proven difficult as the main conflicting parties dig in their heels over form and semantics.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. (SANA via AP)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. (SANA via AP)
In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, Syrian forces take up positions during fighting between Government forces and Islamic State group militants in the ancient city of Palmyra, near Homs, Syria. Syrian state media says government forces have reached the edge of Palmyra and are poised to reclaim the historic town from the Islamic State group. Arabic reads, "Central Military Media, Homs, Syria." (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A California billionaire has donated $5 million for flood relief efforts in San Jose.
Kieu Hoang is a one-time refugee from Vietnam who built a fortune in medical products. He presented a check to city officials Wednesday. The money will go toward a relief fund that counts the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, and the Salvation Army among its recipients.
City officials ordered more than 14,000 residents to evacuate part of the city last week as water flooded homes and temporarily shut down a portion of a major freeway.
FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2017, file photo, cars are partially submerged and covered in mud from receding floodwaters in San Jose, Calif. California billionaire Kieu Hoang donated $5 million to flood relief efforts on March 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
Assistant City Manager David Sykes said earlier this week that an initial estimate put the damage costs at $73 million in the city alone.
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Five workers have been kidnapped from a gold mine in eastern Congo, including ones from France and Tanzania, and rebels are demanding $1 million in ransom, a local official said Thursday.
The Congolese, Tanzanian and French workers were abducted Wednesday from Banro Mining Corp.'s Namoya mine, said Kabambare administrator Balthazar Hemedi Kabemba. An investigation has been opened, but members of the rebel group Rahiya Mutomboki have left leaflets around the mines threatening its workers.
"These five workers, including one Frenchman and one Tanzanian, are still in the hands of their captors. Though the captors have not been identified, witnesses say they were armed with AK-47s," the official said.
The French Foreign Ministry confirmed that a French national was kidnapped and said it was in contact with Congolese authorities to ensure the release of those captured.
The captors are in direct contact with the Canadian mining company, Kabemba said, and have asked for $1 million in ransom. They also are seeking a guarantee that the company will carry out basic contractual agreements to build infrastructure in the area, including schools, roads and a health center.
The rebel group has criticized the mining company for not giving access or jobs to young miners who had been working on the site before it took over.
Banro's Namoya mine manager Crispin Mwetwedu confirmed that the subsidiary of the Canadian company has received an anonymous call demanding a ransom.
The Rahiya Mutomboki rebel group last year attacked a convoy of vehicles belonging to the company, seizing trucks and demanding ransom for their Tanzanian and Kenyan drivers.
Congo is home to multiple militias vying for control of its mineral-rich land.
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This version corrects to say that just one French national was kidnapped.
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Associated Press writer Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro in Beni, Congo contributed.
The three actresses starring in Hershey Area Playhouses new production of The Cemetery Club are some of the areas most accomplished.
Among the three of them, Linde Stern, Lisa Lutton Weitzman and Terri Mastrobuono have been in dozens of shows on central Pennsylvania stages over the years. Now the three veterans, who self-deprecatingly call themselves The Crones, are turning their attention to a comedy drama from 1980 by playwright Ivan Menchell.
In The Cemetery Club, three Jewish widows named Ida, Lucile and Doris bond and bicker during their once-monthly meetings for tea and remembrance of their dead husbands.
They are thrown into disarray when an a widower named Sam arrives on the scene. Will romance bloom, and will this development ruin long-standing friendships?
The Cemetery Club demonstrates that love is not something that happens only to the young. For their part, The Crones say they seek out theater pieces like this because it celebrates the unique experiences of growing vintage.
Cory Wilkerson, the shows director, said mature actors are an often-ignored talent pool who can have trouble finding works that reflect the full human experience, including love and romance.
This group is the first in central Pennsylvania to actively pursue such ground-breaking work.
The Cemetery Club will run for just three shows this weekend, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday in the community playhouse, Sand Hill Road and Cherry Drive in Derry Township.
Anne Frank
With anti-Semitism seemingly on the rise in the United States Jewish community centers received 48 bomb threats in the month of January, according to the Washington Post Open Stage of Harrisburgs 18th annual production of The Diary of Anne Frank can serve as a stark reminder of the Jews tragic past.
This beautifully rendered tale of the Holocaust, which Frances Goodrich and Albert Hacket adapted from the non-fiction book Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, is set in The Netherlands during the Nazi occupation.
Thats where young Anne Frank hid with members of her Jewish family in the attic of a Dutch family from 1942 to 1944, as Jews were being killed by the millions in Adolf Hitlers concentration camps. The family was eventually discovered, and Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belson concentration camp when she was just 15.
While Frank did not survive the the Nazi purge, her writings did and they form the basis of this moving story about coming of age in a time of great suffering.
Open Stages production of The Diary of Anne Frank will be offered over a six-day period starting Tuesday at Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in downtown Chambersburg, with Erin Shellenberger in the title role. Student matinees will be held at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday through Friday (March 7-10), with a single public performance at 2 p.m. March 12.
Comedy
Theres a struggle of another sort in The Spitfire Grill, a musical comedy with serious overtones set to go on stage at Oyster Mill Playhouse next week.
Based on a 1996 film of the same name, The Spitfire Grill tells the story of Percy, a recent prison parolee who is trying to rebuild her life while working as a waitress at the small-town restaurant in Wisconsin.
Some of the restaurants regular customers are highly suspicious of Percy and her mysterious past, but warmhearted owner Hannah has little patience for that. When Hannah is injured in a fall, Percy and others must work to save the Grill, including holding an essay contest to find a new owner.
The Spitfire Grill, featuring music and lyrics by James Valcq and Fred Alley, ran Off-Broadway in 2001. It is often funny, but also deals seriously with issues of redemption hatred, compassion and small-town economics.
OMPs production runs March 10-26 at the community theater in East Pennsboro Township.
CAIRO (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Egypt's president on Thursday to discuss ways of slowing migration to Europe.
Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said ahead of the trip that Germany wants to help Egypt strengthen its coast guard and crack down on illegal trafficking across the Mediterranean, where thousands of migrants die at sea each year.
Merkel held talks with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi shortly after her arrival, and is expected to meet with businessmen, civil society representatives, and Muslim and Christian leaders before heading to Tunisia on Friday. It is her first visit to Egypt in a decade.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
Merkel is believed to be seeking a deal similar to the one reached between the European Union and Turkey in which Ankara blocks migrants and refugees from traveling onward to Europe in exchange for economic aid.
Human Rights Watch last week described Merkel's visit as part of a European effort to "externalize responsibility for migrants and asylum seekers."
"Ensuring safe and swift returns of Tunisians and Egyptians who are not in need of protection is legitimate, as long as the procedures are fair," said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director for the New York-based rights group.
"It's another thing entirely to pursue dodgy deals that could trap asylum seekers and migrants from elsewhere in countries like Tunisia and Egypt that cannot guarantee decent treatment or meaningful access to asylum."
It was not clear if Merkel would raise concerns about human rights in Egypt, where the government has waged a wide-scale crackdown on dissent since the military overthrew an elected Islamist president in 2013. Thousands have been jailed since then, and the government has banned all unauthorized protests.
Merkel's delegation includes several German CEOs who were expected to discuss investment opportunities during the meeting with el-Sissi, who is struggling to jumpstart the economy after years of unrest.
She attended the inauguration of a Siemens megaproject to build three new power plants in Egypt. Siemens signed an 8 billion euro deal with Cairo two years ago that aims to boost Egypt's power generation capacity by around 50 percent by May 2018.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
BERLIN (AP) - Turkey's justice minister canceled plans to meet with his German counterpart Thursday after local authorities in southwest Germany withdrew permission for him to use a venue to hold a political rally.
Bekir Bozdag, a member of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, was scheduled to speak at an event in Gaggenau, near the French border. The rally was part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum on increasing the powers of the president in Turkey.
Bozdag, speaking to Turkish reporters during a visit to France, said the German authorities' decision to withdraw the permit was "unacceptable." He was canceling a meeting with his German counterpart in protest and was returning to Turkey.
A man holds a poster with the slogan '#FREEDENIZ' during a protest in front of the Turkish embassy in Berlin, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. Demonstrators protest against the police custody of Deniz Yucel, a correspondent in Turkey for the German daily newspaper 'Welt'. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
"The fact that Germany, which at every opportunity speaks of freedom of expression ... has canceled a meeting of the Turkish community is unacceptable," Bozdag said. "How can we speak of democracy in a country that does not allow one meeting to take place?"
Bozdag recalled that German authorities had previously not allowed Erdogan to address a meeting by video, but said leaders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is also outlawed by Germany, were frequently allowed to address supporters in the country by video.
"The doors are being opened wide when it comes to the terrorist organization," he said.
Authorities in Gaggenau on Thursday withdrew permission for a local venue to host the event, citing insufficient space for the number of people expected, but said they couldn't rule out that the rally might be held elsewhere.
A separate rally Saturday in Cologne with Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci was also canceled after city officials said organizers had misled them about the purpose of the event, saying they were initially told it would be a theater performance.
Germany's opposition Left Party and the nationalist Alternative for Germany party welcomed the Gaggenau authorities' decision, but urged the government to take a stronger stance against Turkish officials campaigning in Germany.
The German government has indicated it has no plans to prevent Turkish officials from speaking to the 1.4 million Turkish voters in Germany. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters on Wednesday that Germany wants to lead by example on issues of freedom of speech and assembly.
Still, Turkey's foreign ministry said the German ambassador in Ankara had been summoned to explain the withdrawal of the permit in Gaggenau.
Relations have been worsening between Berlin and Ankara over the detention in Turkey of Deniz Yucel, a correspondent for the German daily Die Welt.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Turkey to free Yucel and said Wednesday night that "independent journalism must be able to exist; journalists must be able to do their job."
Yucel, 43, was detained in Istanbul on Feb. 14 over his reports in Welt about a hacker attack on the email account of Turkey's energy minister. He wrote defiantly in Welt on Thursday that "even though they robbed my freedom, their interrogations and reasoning still make me laugh."
Yucel, who has both German and Turkish citizenship, was jailed Monday pending a trial on charges of terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred. On Wednesday he was taken to a prison in Silivri, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Istanbul.
The case was expected to have been discussed Thursday evening between Bozdag and German Justice Minister Heiko Maas in the meeting that was canceled.
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Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey. Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report from Berlin.
People wait outside the Rotenfels festival hall in Gaggenau, southern Germany, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Justice minister Bekir Bozdag, a member of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, was scheduled to speak at a rally in Gaggenau, near the French border, as part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum on introducing a presidential system in Turkey. Authorities in Gaggenau withdrew permission for a local venue to host the event, citing insufficient space for the large number of people expected, but said that it was possible the rally could be held elsewhere. (Christoph Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police cars park in front of the Rotenfels festival hall in Gaggenau, southern Germany, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Turkish Justice minister Bekir Bozdag, a member of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, was scheduled to speak at a rally in Gaggenau, near the French border, as part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum on introducing a presidential system in Turkey. Authorities in Gaggenau withdrew permission for a local venue to host the event, citing insufficient space for the large number of people expected, but said that it was possible the rally could be held elsewhere. (Christoph Schmidt/dpa via AP)
FILE - In this April 16, 2016 file photo, Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag waits for a ceremony at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey. Bekir Bozdag, a member of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, was scheduled to speak at a rally in Gaggenau,, Germany near the French border Thursday, March 2, 2017, as part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum on introducing a presidential system in Turkey. Authorities in Gaggenau withdrew permission for a local venue to host the event, citing insufficient space for the large number of people expected, but said that it was possible the rally could be held elsewhere. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)
MOSCOW (AP) - A senior lawmaker called it "hysteria." The Foreign Ministry said it was "media vandalism." And the Kremlin lamented the "emotional atmosphere" currently in Washington about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' meetings with a Russian diplomat, saying it could thwart efforts to mend relations.
The uproar is widely seen in Moscow as part of efforts by President Donald Trump's political foes to block any possible attempts at a rapprochement with Russia.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters he did not know anything about the meetings last year between Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Sessions, who at that time was a U.S. senator. Sessions also was a policy adviser to Trump's campaign.
Matryoshkas, traditional Russian wooden dolls, including a doll of U.S. President Donald Trump, top, are displayed for sale in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Trump has repeatedly said that he aims to improve relations with Russia, but Moscow appears frustrated by the lack of visible progress as well as by support from Trump Administration officials for continuing sanctions imposed on Russia for its interference in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
News of the two meetings has spurred calls in Congress for Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. Sessions' office has said the meetings were in his capacity as a senator rather than as a Trump campaign adviser.
Peskov argued it was normal for an ambassador to meet with officials and lawmakers, adding that "the more such meetings an ambassador has, the more efficient his work is."
Asked if the accusations against Sessions smacked of McCarthyism, he answered cautiously that it's not the Kremlin's job to make judgments about U.S. domestic policy.
Peskov described the reaction to the news of the Sessions' meetings as "an emotional atmosphere leading to resistance to the idea of any U.S.-Russia dialogue."
"The negative effect for the idea to develop at least some dialogue with Russia is evident," he added.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, was more combative, denouncing what she described as the U.S. "media vandalism."
"Let me open a military secret for you: It's part of the diplomatic job to have contacts in the country they are posted to," she said sarcastically. "It's their obligation to meet with officials and members of the political establishment."
Zakharova also drew a literary allusion to George Orwell's "1984."
"The media in the United States have become such a Big Brother, moving far beyond professional ethics and their own competence, raising accusations and passing judgments by fabricating false information," she said.
Alexei Pushkov, the head of the information policy committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, described Democrats' demands for Sessions' resignation as a "borderless paranoia."
"Hysteria in the U.S. has driven politicians into a trap," Pushkov tweeted. "You met a Russian? That's an end to your career. You concealed it? You go to prison. The spirit of Joseph McCarthy has been waiting for its hour to come."
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to improve relations with Russia, but Moscow appears increasingly frustrated by the lack of visible progress, as well as by the support from Trump administration officials for continuing sanctions imposed on Russia for its interference in Ukraine.
Most Russian observers and news media cast the news over Trump's alleged links with Russia as attempts by the Democrats to undermine the Republican's agenda.
Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, a group of leading Russian foreign policy experts, said "the highest level of paranoia vis-a-vis Russia" in the U.S. makes any thaw in relations unlikely.
"The whole hysteria in the United States around Russia and the unprecedented presence of Russian issue and Russian factor in the U.S. domestic politics to me has one particular aim: to limit any space for maneuvering for President Trump in a relationship with Russia as much as possible, not to allow him to change the nature of relationship," Lukyanov said.
"From this point of view their efforts are successful, because we see that his tone is changing," he added.
Lukyanov ridiculed the portrayal of Russia as a "kingmaker everywhere in the world" and deplored what he called a "self-defeating and self-destructive approach" by the U.S. establishment.
"Everything we hear isn't harming Russia that much but is harming the credibility of the United States," he said. "If Americans themselves believe that countries and leaders outside the U.S. can decide how they vote, that's very bad."
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Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva, Jim Heintz and Alexander Roslyakov contributed to this report.
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - Federal prosecutors said Thursday they had captured the members of a violent street gang who killed three high school students, including two girls who were inseparable best friends and were attacked with a machete and baseball bats as they walked through their suburban neighborhood.
Thirteen members of local cliques of the MS-13 street gang were charged with a slew of violent crimes and seven killings over a five-year period, prosecutors and police said.
Among the dead: Brentwood High School students Nisa Mickens, 15, and Kayla Cuevas, 16, who were ambushed by a carload of other teens on Sept. 13, and their former schoolmate Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, whose corpse was found on the grounds of an abandoned state psychiatric hospital following his disappearance in June.
FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2016 file photo, a poster displayed at a Suffolk County police precinct in Bay Shore, N.Y., offers a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for the slayings of Nisa Mickens and her lifelong friend Kayla Cuevas. Federal agents said Thursday March 2, 2017, that they have caught the members of a violent El Salvadoran street gang who killed three teenagers last year, including the two girls who were inseparable best friends at their Long Island high school. (AP Photo/Michael Balsamo, File)
The killings came amid a national conversation about illegal immigration, and prosecutors revealed 10 of the 13 indicted people were citizens of El Salvador or Honduras who were in the U.S. illegally, including most of the people directly implicated in the killings.
Last December, Donald Trump referenced the slayings in Brentwood during a profile for his Time magazine Person of the Year award after being elected president.
Two other killings of Brentwood youths, ages 15 and 19, whose bodies were discovered last year in secluded spots in the hamlet, remain unsolved.
Gang violence has been a problem in Brentwood and some surrounding Long Island communities for more than a decade, but Suffolk County police and the FBI began pouring resources into a crackdown after the killings of the high school girls sparked outrage.
"While violence and brutality are trademarks of the MS-13 gang, the murders of these three teens are particularly disturbing," U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said in announcing the indictment Thursday.
Kayla was targeted last summer by a group of four gang members, including two juveniles, because she had been feuding with MS-13 members at school and on social media. The posse, which had been roving in a car looking for gang enemies, attacked it they came across her walking with Nisa in the street.
Nisa "was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, hanging out with her childhood friend," Capers said.
Nisa's father, Robert Mickens, said he felt blessed that police had made arrests.
"I've got some type of closure even though my daughter is not back," he said. "It's closure to my family."
Kayla's mother, Evelyn Rodriguez, said after an initial court appearance for some of the defendants that she was glad authorities had identified her daughter's killers, "but it is also a sad day."
"They'll be judged ... twice," she said of the suspects, who could face the death penalty if convicted.
Pena-Hernandez was a MS-13 gang member who was lured to a wooded area by fellow gang members he thought were his friends, Capers said. Those friends turned on him and repeatedly stabbed him to death, he said.
His death had gone largely publicly unmarked until police began discovering corpses in the weeks after Kayla and Nisa died.
The indictment superseded one filed against five men last year, accusing them of the fatal shootings of two men in Central Islip in 2013, the killing of a man in Brentwood in 2014 and the slaying of a 16-year-old boy in Central Islip in 2015.
The gang, also called Mara Salvatrucha, is believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s by immigrants fleeing a civil war in El Salvador. It grew after some members were deported to El Salvador, helping to turn that country into one of the most violent places in the world. It's now a major international criminal enterprise with tens of thousands of members in several Central American countries and many U.S. states.
One of the Republican president's priorities is a crackdown on immigrants who are in the country illegally and have committed crimes. He promised as much in his Time interview, referencing a Newsday story about the killings.
"They come from Central America. They're tougher than any people you've ever met," he said. "They're killing and raping everybody out there. They're illegal. And they are finished."
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Associated Press writer Claudia Torrens contributed to this report.
BALI, Indonesia (AP) - A prosecutor sought a one-year jail sentence Thursday for a former Reuters war correspondent who is on trial in Indonesia on charges of possessing hashish.
British national David Fox was arrested Oct. 8 along with Australian Giuseppe Serafino on the tourist island of Bali, where police confiscated a total of 10.09 grams (0.36 ounces) of hashish from Fox's clothing and house.
In her sentencing demand at the Denpasar District Court, prosecutor Erawati Susina said the defendant was guilty of violating the country's 2009 law on narcotics, under which such drug possession could face a maximum four years in prison.
British national and former news correspondent David Fox, left, sits in a court room during his trial in Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Indonesian police arrested Fox during October 2016 for allegedly possessing hashish. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
However, she sought leniency due to Fox's politeness during the trial where he confessed and apologized for his mistake.
Fox, 55, worked for Reuters for 20 years but was fired in 2011 for making an off-color remark in an instant-messaging system while covering the 2011 Japan tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdowns, has told police he used the drug to overcome stress caused by covering conflicts.
After the hearing, he told reporters he was embarrassed and apologized to his family, friends and Indonesians for causing trouble due to the case.
Fox and his lawyer are scheduled to submit the defense plea next week.
Police first raided the house of Serafino in the beachside town and resort area of Sanur, where they seized 7.32 grams (0.26 ounces) of hashish. His arrest led to the detention of Fox at a bar run by Serafino.
Serafino, 49, is being tried separately and the prosecutor will submit the sentencing demand for him next week.
Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers are often executed. More than 150 people are on death row, mostly for drug crimes. About a third of them are foreigners.
Eighteen people convicted of drug-related offenses, mostly foreigners, have been executed since President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took office in October 2014.
British national and former news correspondent David Fox, right, sits in a court room during his trial in Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Indonesian police arrested Fox during October 2016 for allegedly possessing hashish. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
NEW YORK (AP) - Tina Brown has some secrets to spill.
The British-born author and magazine editor has a deal with Henry Holt and Co. to publish the diaries she kept during her years running Vanity Fair, the publisher told The Associated Press. "The Vanity Fair Dairies" comes out in November.
Brown was editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair from 1984 to 1992, when the magazine covered the fall of Princess Diana's marriage to Prince Charles, among other news, and published such headline-making covers as the one of a naked, pregnant Demi Moore. Brown's diaries also touch upon her marriage to journalist and publisher Harry Evans and her "battles in the boys club" of publisher Conde Nast.
FILE - This April 6, 2016 file photo shows magazine editor Tina Brown at the 7th Annual Women in the World Summit opening night in New York. Brown has a deal with Henry Holt and Company to publish the diaries she kept during her years running "Vanity Fair," the publisher announced. "The Vanity Fair Dairies" comes out in November. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
After Vanity Fair, Brown edited The New Yorker and helped found Talk magazine and The Daily Beast.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A former sheriff's deputy has been accused in Georgia of trying to sexually assault female inmates.
The Savannah Morning News reports (http://bit.ly/2lw75qW) a grand jury indicted 63-year-old Deon Lamont Gibson on Wednesday on a charge of sexually assaulting a female inmate and four counts of attempting to sexually assault female inmates at the Chatham County jail.
Gibson is accused of making physical contact with a handcuffed inmate in her cell in 2015. He's also accused of taking an inmate to a closet and trying to kiss her in 2014. He's charged with similar conduct against at least two other female inmates in 2014.
Gibson also faces charges of making false statements and influencing a witness.
The 13-year veteran was fired in February 2015. It's unclear if he has an attorney.
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Information from: Savannah Morning News, http://www.savannahnow.com
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday dismissed the U.S. government's securities fraud lawsuit against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who still faces criminal charges of duping wealthy investors.
But the ruling by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant is a significant victory for Paxton, who is scheduled to stand trial in May on felony securities fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty and faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted.
The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was nearly identical to the case brought by criminal prosecutors. Both allege that Paxton of misled investors in a high-tech Texas startup by not disclosing he was being paid by the company.
FILE - In this July 29, 2015 file photo, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a hearing in Austin, Texas. A federal judge on Thursday, March 2, 2017, dismissed the U.S. government's securities fraud lawsuit against Paxton, though the Republican still faces criminal charges of duping wealthy investors. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Mazzant said in his Thursday ruling that Paxton had "no plausible legal duty" to disclose his arrangement. Last year, Mazzant had tentatively dismissed the case against Paxton but gave federal regulators another chance to strengthen their case. But he was again unimpressed.
"Paxton's conduct simply does not give rise to liability under the federal securities laws as they exist today," Mazzant said.
Paxton has been unsuccessful in convincing criminal courts to also dismiss his case. He is now scheduled for trial nearly two years after being indicted.
Paxton's criminal trial is scheduled to take place in Collin County, a conservative Dallas suburb where Paxton lives and where a grand jury indicted him in 2015. But prosecutors told state District Judge George Gallagher that a "two-year long crusade" of lawsuits, social media posts, leaks and a public relations blitz surrounding the case has made it impossible to get a fair and impartial trial and have asked to move the venue.
Gallagher has not yet ruled on that request.
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Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) - The European Union will review Slovenia's complaints over a permission granted to Croatia to use the Teran red wine brand in the 28-nation bloc, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday.
Slovenian winemakers have warned the EU that Croatia has presented "partly forged" documents while getting the permission from the bloc's executive arm to use the Teran name last week.
EU neighbors Slovenia and Croatia have long been at odds over the use of the Teran label. Slovenia says it has exclusive rights to the brand, which it considers a national treasure.
Juncker said in Slovenia that "we'll come back to this issue after having given a careful examine to the new facts."
"We have to check the new reality," Juncker said. "My impression is that we will have to reconsider."
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar has asked Juncker to suspend the whole process.
"Slovenia will do everything to protect its interest," Cerar said, reiterating the government position to use all legal means to challenge the Commission's decision.
The Commission said Croatian producers will be able to use the Teran name for the wine made in the Croatian part of the Istrian peninsula the two countries share, and on condition that the name Hrvatska Istra, or Croatian Istria, on the wine bottle label is bigger than the Teran name.
The thick red wine produced from Refosco vine grapes in Istria near the Adriatic coast is known for its distinctive aroma which resembles the scent of wild berries.
During the joint media conference with Cerar, Juncker said he tasted Teran and "it is excellent."
The Slovenian "minister of agriculture was trying to convince me to taste more, but knowing that we had a press conference I did resist this friendly invitation," he said.
Slovenia and Croatia, both former republics of Yugoslavia, have been at odds over a number of other issues, including their long-standing border dispute on the Adriatic Sea.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Mississippi investigators joined counterparts in Kansas on Thursday, hoping to secure evidence and interview the suspect in a three-state crime spree that included two Mississippi slayings, a New Mexico carjacking and the shooting of a store clerk west of Wichita.
The store clerk, 19-year-old Riley Juel, was in stable condition at a Wichita hospital after Wednesday's shooting in Pratt, Kansas.
That's where suspect Alex Deaton, 28, is suspected of stealing a car, which he later crashed, leading to his capture.
This Kansas Highway Patrol photograph provided by the Ellsworth County, Kan., Sheriff's Office shows 28-year-old Alex Deaton. Deaton, accused of killing two in Mississippi, was arrested in Kansas after police ran a stolen SUV off the road in a fiery crash Wednesday, March 1, 2017. (Ellsworth County Sheriff's Office via the Kansas Highway Patrol via AP)
Now, the question is who prosecutes him first.
Authorities said Deaton is believed to have strangled his girlfriend, Heather Robinson, 30, late Wednesday, Feb. 22, or early the following day at her apartment in Rankin County, in the Jackson area.
He's suspected of then driving her white SUV to nearby Neshoba County, where 69-year-old Brenda Pinter was shot to death at a church she was cleaning on Feb. 23. Authorities say he also is suspected of wounding a jogger in Rankin County on Friday morning in a drive-by shooting. He is then believed to have headed west, still in Robinson's SUV.
Rankin Sheriff Bryan Bailey said authorities began to link the Mississippi crimes once Robinson's body was found Friday afternoon, when police found that her SUV was missing.
Bailey said Thursday that the SUV has been recovered in New Mexico, where Deaton is suspected in the Tuesday carjacking and brief abduction of two hikers, one of whom was shot and wounded after they pulled the release lever in the trunk of their Honda to escape.
Sandoval County, New Mexico, Sheriff's Lt. Keith Elder said Deaton then briefly stole a van and forced the woman to get in. When she jumped out, Elder said, Deaton returned to steal the couple's Honda. He was spotted in a Honda Wednesday morning. He eluded police, but was captured later Wednesday after the theft of the car at the Pratt Kwik Stop, where Juel was shot.
Juel told KSN News in Wichita on Thursday that he felt "something wasn't right" when the suspect walked into the store while Juel was working his overnight shift. He said Deaton came directly to the counter and demanded the keys to Juel's car but did not ask for money. When he handed the keys over, Deaton shot him at point-blank range, Juel said.
"I was just scared I was going to die, 'cause I was losing a lot of blood and I was going through a lot of pain," he said. "That's the one thing I was just telling myself: 'You cannot die; you have too much friends and family.'"
He was able to call 911 and was alert until help arrived. He said he's grateful to be alive and thanked the police officer who first arrived for "helping me, talking to me, keeping me there. If it wasn't for him, I probably would've gone to sleep," he said.
Juel underwent surgery and is expected to be hospitalized for about a week.
Bailey said he believes Robinson was killed because she was trying to break up with Deaton.
Neshoba County Sheriff Tommy Waddell said he doesn't know why Pinter was killed.
Bailey said he hopes Mississippi authorities will get the first opportunity to prosecute Deaton. He said investigators from Rankin, Neshoba and the MBI were briefed Thursday morning on the Kansas and New Mexico cases. They hoped also to speak with Deaton.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation coordinated a meeting in Great Bend involving its agents and those from Mississippi, spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said. She said investigators want to ensure that evidence at several crime scenes is being properly collected but "it might take some time to decide the question of extradition."
Deaton's family issued a statement to Jackson media outlets Thursday.
"Our family is deeply shocked, saddened and horrified at all that has unfolded since last Wednesday. We are devastated and completely heartbroken for all that has happened," it said. "Our family is in a state of disbelief. " It went on to say that Deaton's family was praying for the victims and their families.
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McGill reported from New Orleans.
Dee Fagans home is the epitome of charm and character.
I welcome all my guests with a little sign each night, she says, pointing to a sign that welcomed ABC27 during the visit.
But it takes more than that to run her bed and breakfast in Silver Spring Township. Fagan showed her occupancy permits and registration certificates that took months to lock down but allow her to operate.
Many Airbnb hosts may not want to go through all the regulations that we have to go through, Fagan said.
Many short-term hosts do not adhere to laws, especially when it comes to paying county and state hotel room taxes. The tax is usually just a few dollars per stay and its used to promote local tourism.
It could be in the hundreds of thousands a year if we really were to capture all of it, said Shireen Farr at the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau.
Its a deficit Cumberland County is now addressing with educational social media blasts. Farr read one of the blasts.
If you are advertising on a hosting site, you need to register and pay the county hotel tax, she read.
Another says, You are operating a business if you collect money from a third party for a short-term stay in your home.
Colleges, car shows and other attractions draw more Airbnb guests to Cumberland County. Fagan says she just wants to be part of the growth.
All were looking for is a level playing field, she said.
Similar concerns were voiced at a town meeting in Elizabethtown. Its a state and national problem. The Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association is pushing for legislation by the end of this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A congressional panel has introduced a $578 billion spending bill to keep the armed forces operating through the end of September.
The legislation offered Thursday by the House Appropriations Committee tracks with the funding levels authorized in the annual defense policy bill signed into law late last year by former President Barack Obama.
The full House will meet next week to consider the spending bill for the 2017 fiscal year.
Military personnel salute as Air Force One, with President Donald Trump aboard, departs from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, March 2, 2017, en route to Virginia to meet with sailors and shipbuilders on Gerald R. Ford CVN 78 aircraft carrier, a $12.9 billion warship, that is expected to be commissioned this year after cost overruns and delays. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump has promised major increases in defense spending to rebuild what he's called a depleted American military. As a down payment toward that goal, Trump is expected to send Congress soon a $30 billion supplement to the 2017 measure.
The Pentagon and other federal agencies are currently running under a stopgap spending bill that expires April 28.
BRUSSELS (AP) - Belgian authorities detained a suspect who was driving a car with gas canisters in his trunk Thursday, setting off a security alert in the center of Brussels.
The prosecutor's office said a busy part of the capital was closed off and a subway station closed during the evening rush hour.
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said authorities acted quickly as a precaution "since the driver was known by judicial authorities and it was unclear why the gas canisters were there."
Police stand in back of a cordoned area in the center of Brussels on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Belgian authorities have closed off part of the center of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Van Wymersch said a bomb squad carried out two controlled explosions involving items from the car while the suspect was being interrogated.
No detonator or explosives were found, and only one of the two gas canisters was full, she added.
Saint Gilles Mayor Charles Picque described the driver as "a radicalized person, so it was normal to take precautionary measures."
However, Van Wymersch cautioned not to jump to conclusions about a possible extremist motive.
The canisters were discovered after police pursued a car they observed speeding and running red lights.
The local transport authority said late Thursday that the Porte de Hal metro station closed on police orders, while a perimeter was established above ground.
Belgian security services have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway last March 22, killing 32 people.
Police and members of the bomb squad investigate an area in the center of Brussels on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Belgian authorities have closed off part of the center of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Police officers stand at a cordon during the investigation of a suspect car in the center of Brussels on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Belgian authorities have closed off part of the center of Brussels and a subway station after a suspect was detained with gas canisters in the trunk of his car. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - Police say a teenager assaulted and robbed a 72-year-old woman, bound her and locked her inside a closet in her suburban Philadelphia home, where she was not discovered for four days.
Prosecutors said Thursday the 17-year-old boy is being charged as a juvenile with attempted homicide and other offenses.
The woman first noticed Feb. 22. that her Chester County house had been burglarized. When she returned from work that night, police say the boy grabbed her.
The victim told police the boy told her "You'll be home with Jesus soon" when he choked her until she lost consciousness. Police say the woman was locked in a closet without food or drink.
Relatives found the woman malnourished and dehydrated in the closet.
The teen had recently fled a behavioral health facility.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey doctor was indicted Thursday on charges that he sold prescriptions for addictive opioid painkillers to people who had no medical need for them, including one man who died from an overdose.
Dr. Byung Kang, of Little Falls, was charged with one count of "strict liability" for the drug-induced death of 26-year-old Michael Justice, of Clifton. Justice's mother had called Kang 18 months earlier threatening to call police if he didn't stop prescribing her son oxycodone, according to a statement from Attorney General Christopher Porrino.
Kang's attorney said he hadn't yet reviewed the indictment that also charges Kang with money laundering, tax fraud and drug distribution. Kang's wife and receptionist, Soo, also was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and tax-related counts.
"Doctors are supposed to preserve health and life, but Dr. Kang allegedly turned his back on all medical and ethical standards, not to mention all standards of human decency," Porrino said. "By indiscriminately peddling this dangerous painkiller - which has been the gateway to so much opiate addiction, misery and death - Dr. Kang allegedly caused the death of a vulnerable young man and put himself on a par with every street-corner drug dealer."
Kang sold 90-count prescriptions for 30 milligram oxycodone pills for $150 to $200 to numerous patients who didn't have a medical need, Porrino said.
He was first arrested last May and charged with illegally distributing oxycodone after an investigation by the state and Drug Enforcement Administration. He entered a consent order with the state Board of Medical Examiners in July prohibiting him from practicing until further action.
"Unfortunately, this is another example of a doctor who was allegedly more concerned with his financial health than the health of his patients," said Carl Kotowski, special agent in charge of the DEA's New Jersey division.
HERNDON, Va. (AP) - Police have released the name of the officer in a fatal shooting in northern Virginia.
A statement from Col. Edwin Roessler Jr., police chief of Fairfax County, said Thursday that Master Police Officer Lance Guckenberger was involved in the Jan. 16 shooting.
Police said that Mohammad Doudzai barricaded himself in his Herndon house after shooting and wounding his two brothers. Authorities say he went to the door with a knife and was shot by Guckenberger.
A federal judge had granted an order barring Roessler from releasing Guckenberger's name. The judge later canceled the order.
Roessler says Guckenberger, a 16-year department veteran, was involved in two nonfatal shootings - in 2005 and 2010. Both were found to be lawfully justified.
Criminal and administrative investigations into January's shooting are continuing.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota officials are bracing for billions of dollars in additional health care expenses if congressional Republicans enact a plan they're discussing to replace the Affordable Care Act, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press.
The planning document shows that the GOP proposal, a draft of which was circulated last week, would cut $1.3 billion next year from the state's low-income health care program that covers roughly one-sixth of its 5.5 million residents. By 2021, the losses would accumulate to more than $5 billion, eventually costing the state $6 billion a year starting in 2029. That analysis was prepared by the state's Department of Human Services, which runs those programs.
It illustrates the uncertainty states across the nation are grappling with over how President Donald Trump and Congress will reshape the health care law championed by President Barack Obama. And it provides one of the first concrete estimates of what the emerging GOP plan would cost a state that expanded Medicaid.
FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2017 file photo, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton speaks in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota officials are bracing for billions of dollars in additional health care expenses if congressional Republicans enact a plan they're discussing to replace the Affordable Care Act, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press. Dayton said this week that he wants to wait and see how the federal government proceeds on health care. (AP Photo/Jim Mone File)
Some states fear that the final product will force states to choose between cutting popular health care programs for low-income residents or picking up far more of the tab. Democratic and Republican governors alike have expressed alarm about potential changes to Medicaid as members of Congress have faced backlash at town halls in their home districts.
The possibility that Minnesota could be on the hook for more federal costs is weighing heavily on some state lawmakers as they start assembling a new, two-year budget. If the Medicaid changes were passed, a top Minnesota Democrat said it would undoubtedly trigger cuts to critical coverage for elderly and sick residents.
"We're making promises we're not going to be able to keep," state Sen. Tony Lourey said Thursday.
Minnesota is one of 31 states - plus the District of Columbia - that participated in Medicaid expansion, a marquee part of Obama's health care law that helped expand coverage to an additional 10 million low-income residents.
The draft legislation would end that expansion and reduce overall spending by providing states with a fixed, annual amount per recipient in response to Republican criticism that states currently have little incentive to keep expenses under control. Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper said that was a grave mistake, calling it "code for cuts to programs for the poor, elderly, and people with disabilities."
The financial hit that states may face varies drastically based on how many residents are covered on Medicaid and to what extent the federal government currently covers those costs. In a letter last week, a group of seven Republican governors urged Trump and Congress not to shift the financial burden to states.
"We must ensure that people do not have the rug pulled out from under them and are not left without access to care, especially during the transition," according to a copy of the letter obtained by the AP.
Minnesota and many other states covered many low-income residents before the health care overhaul, but the Medicaid expansion sent out more federal dollars and covered more people. To shift that funding back, Lynn Blewett of State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota said, is "going to be very hard to go backward and get to where we were before the ACA."
The Medicaid change is just one of many pieces of the evolving GOP plan to replace Obamacare. Their proposals also call to eliminate the mandate that every American buy health insurance and scrap fines on individual who don't have coverage while maintaining some of the law's most popular components, including a requirement that insurers allow young adults to remain on parental coverage until they turn 26.
According to the planning document, the changes could entirely eliminate Minnesota's so-called Basic Health Plan, a supplemental program called MinnesotaCare that covers nearly 100,000 "working poor" residents. Only Minnesota and New York have implemented those plans, and coverage in both has soared since the health care law was implemented.
The potential funding loss adds to turmoil in Minnesota's health care system. Lawmakers took an extraordinary measure earlier this year to offset massive premium increases for shoppers buying coverage on their own, tapping $312 million of rainy day funds to help keep down monthly rates.
Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton said this week that he wants to wait and see how the federal government proceeds on health care.
"To try to anticipate what they're going to do when they don't know themselves ... is really impossible," he said.
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Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington contributed to this report.
SPRINGDALE, Ohio (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence promised small business executives in Ohio on Thursday that the Trump administration will "lift the weight of Obamacare" off them and U.S. families with a better plan that puts the American people first.
"The Obamacare nightmare is about to be over," Pence said at Frame USA, a picture frame manufacturer in in suburban Cincinnati. "We're going to replace Obamacare with something that works."
Accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Pence told a gathering of workers and others after touring the factory that there will be "an orderly transition" to a plan that will lower costs without increasing the size of government. He said businesses would benefit from lower costs and less regulation.
Vice President Mike Pence, center right, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, third from right, are given a tour of the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The former governor of neighboring Indiana said he spoke earlier in the day with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who has expressed concern about the fate of those who gained Medicaid eligibility through the overhaul. Pence said the administration will assure that "the most vulnerable ... are seen to and taken care of." Pence said "state-based solutions" would be used.
Democrats and other supporters of the Affordable Care Act strongly dispute that it's been the disaster depicted by Trump and Republicans, and say scrapping it risks leaving millions of people uninsured if the replacement plan has shortcomings. Some critics have also said GOP rhetoric is creating uncertainty about the future.
Pence didn't take press questions and didn't mention during his public comments in Ohio the political storm back in Washington over Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russian contacts during the presidential campaign.
Some two dozen people protested Pence's visit from across the street. One sign read, "They are lying." One man loudly yelled: "Boo, Mike Pence."
Vice President Mike Pence, center, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, right, are given a tour of the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Vice President Mike Pence places an autographed campaign hat on the head of an audience member after speaking at the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, right, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, speaks at the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss healthcare and other issues while engaging in a "listening session" with small business owners. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a "listening session" with small business owners at the Frame USA facility, Thursday, March 2, 2017, in Springdale, Ohio. Pence visited Ohio to discuss repealing Obamacare and other issues. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Stoke midfielder Ibrahim Afellay is looking forward to putting his injury problems behind him after signing a new contract.
The Holland international, who missed eight months in 2016 with a serious knee ligament injury, has committed his future to the club until 2019.
EXCLUSIVE: Ibrahim Afellay has signed a new contract, committing him to #SCFC until at least the summer of 2019 #DEVOT10N pic.twitter.com/02Lv6EDph6 Stoke City FC (@stokecity) March 2, 2017
Im very happy, Afellay, who joined the Potters in 2015 from Barcelona, told the clubs official website.
From the first day I came to the club I felt at home and Im looking forward to the future and to doing good things with this club. I hope we can continue to progress and develop.
Ibrahim Afellay receives treatment on injured fingers at Stamford Bridge
Afellay returned to action in December and has made 10 appearances so far.
The injury is all in the past now, he added. I think Ive showed that Im back in business and Im just looking forward now, working hard every day and trying to make the best of everything.
Young adults are more likely to feel lonely than older people, despite having vastly more digital friends, a report suggests.
Nearly nine in 10 people (89%) aged between 18 and 34 have felt lonely at some point in their lives, compared with seven in 10 (70%) over-55s, a survey from Nationwide Building Society found.
People aged between 18 and 34 have an average of 103 online friends around four times the 27 online friends that over-55s have typically, the research found.
(Dominic Lipinski/PA)
The younger age group also has 17 friends who they see offline typically, compared with an average 12 for the older age group.
Twice as many people in the 18 to 34 age bracket said they feel lonely all the time compared with those aged 55 plus, at 8% compared with 4%.
The survey of 2,000 people also found that generally, people who always feel lonely are much more likely to have fallen victim to a financial scam.
(Anna Gowthorpe/PA)
The research found that 7% of people feel lonely on an ongoing basis, meaning they always feel disconnected or isolated from society.
More than a third (36%) of people in this group said they had fallen victim to fraud compared with 9% of people who do not consider themselves to be lonely.
Romance scams, lottery or prize draw scams, energy saving scams and clairvoyance scams were among the frauds that people who always felt lonely said they had fallen for.
(Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Common reasons for people feeling lonely were that they lacked confidence, felt depressed, found it hard to make friends or found it difficult to meet like-minded people, the survey found.
Chad Rogerson, Nationwides head of customer vulnerability and diversity, said people who feel socially isolated can sometimes be more willing to respond to a stranger on social media or via email.
He said: While human contact is essential and should be encouraged, particularly where feelings of isolation are involved, wed always urge people to be mindful of the risk of falling victim to a scam.
A woman showing signs of depression
Nationwide is taking part in an industry campaign called Take Five, which encourages people to pause for thought before responding to requests.
The research also found that on average, Britons have 65 friends online compared with 14 traditional friendships.
A quarter (25%) of those surveyed said they spend more time interacting on social media than in person, rising to nearly two-thirds (65%) of those who describe themselves as always feeling lonely.
Just under one in 10 people (8%) surveyed said they will go a week without seeing any friends.
Part of a hospital roof has collapsed in South Africas largest city, injuring five people and forcing some patients wrapped in gowns and blankets to temporarily leave the building.
Rescue workers were assessing whether anyone was trapped in the rubble at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg, where a section of roof fell near the main entrance, close to the maternity department.
Construction workers were fixing part of the roof when it collapsed, according to Gwen Ramokgopa, the provincial health chief.
Emergency staff work at the scene of a roof collapse at the Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johannesburg (AP)
MEDIA STATEMENT: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CONFIRMS STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE AT CHARLOTTE MAXEKE ACADEMIC HOSPITAL pic.twitter.com/CSEaJ7Djhk Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) March 2, 2017
She said the injured included two patients, two construction workers and one hospital staff member.
The rest of the hospital is safe. The problem is contained to the entrance and the area is cordoned off, Ms Ramokgopa said.
Stones had been moved on to the section of roof that later collapsed, said Jack Bloom, a member of the Democratic Alliance, an opposition party.
He also cited hospital staff as saying in the past that there were leaking roofs and other structural problems in the building.
Beauty Mashaba, a patient who left the building after the collapse, was relieved.
Thank God, because I am out in safety and I am alive even though I am in shock right now, she said.
Electronics and appliance retailer hhgregg announced it is closing 88 stores, including four in the Midstate, as it struggles to turn a profit.
The local stores slated to close include the location on Jonestown Road in Lower Paxton Township, the Carlisle Pike store in Hampden Township, the location on Louks Road in York, and the Fruitville Pike store in Lancaster.
Nationwide, the closures will result in about 1,500 people losing their jobs.
The company says current inventory in the affected stores will be sold over the coming weeks with final closings expected to be completed by mid-April.
We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us, said Robert J. Riesbeck, hhgreggs president and CEO. The company will continue to operate 132 stores.
In Pennsylvania, hhgregg is also closing stores in Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre, Dickson City, Wyomissing, Downingtown, Pittsburgh, King of Prussia, Erie, North Wales, Langhorne and Whitehall.
The companys distribution sites in Philadelphia, Maryland and Florida will also shut down.
A new two-shot Taser capable of causing more pain to suspects has been authorised for use by police forces in England and Wales.
The Government said the device is not more powerful than those currently used by officers, but the new X2 can be fired twice if it misses or does not subdue the target on the first go.
A double-shot may increase the risk of muscle injury, the body advising the Government on their use said, but overall the medical effects of the new Taser are in line with those expected in other similar devices.
An Avon and Somerset police officer holstering a Taser X26 (Ben Birchall/PA)
Deployment of the X2 should be continuously reviewed until enough information is available to provide confidence that the system performs in the manner anticipated, the Scientific Advisory Committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons added.
The new device was given the green light by the Home Office following calls from police to replace the current model.
Policing Minister Brandon Lewis said: The Government is committed to giving the police the tools they need to do their job effectively - we must ensure our officers have access to the best, and most up-to-date technology available.
Tasers are an important tactical option for the police, particularly in potentially violent situations where other tactics have been considered or failed.
Bella Sankey, director of policy, said: The use of Tasers has grown vastly since their introduction - but regulation remains woeful.
Initially intended for firearms officers only, theyre now available across the frontline - and there have been far too many examples of completely inappropriate use, with the BME (black and minority ethnic) community and those with mental health conditions most affected.
The X2, replacing the current X26 Taser, is a smart device with improved features, according to managing director for Taser UK Matt Spencer.
By Benet Koleka
TIRANA, March 1 (Reuters) - Albanian villagers who accuse an energy company of damaging their homes by fracking will get full compensation, the country's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.
A group of the villagers from western Albania walked more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) to the capital Tirana and set up camp outside the energy ministry on Saturday to protest.
In a televised address, deputy prime minister Niko Peleshi said the villagers would get full compensation from the state budget and from the energy company, Bankers Petroleum, following an evaluation of the damage.
The protesters greeted the announcement with cheers of "Zharreza," the name of the village with the most damaged homes.
Their leader, Qani Rredhi, said that out of 700 houses, 570 were damaged and 70 were not habitable.
"Since 2010 we have suffered earthquake tremors of high intensity at various times, usually at night, even 30 quakes a day," he told Reuters.
Fracking involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure through drill holes to prise open shale rocks holding gas and oil, a process used widely in the United States but which has proved controversial in parts of Europe due to concerns about potential damage to the environment.
Bankers Petroleum spokeswoman Laura Cela said the company would abide by the government's demand for it to stop using water injections in the region, but that it would only pay compensation if this was found to have caused the tremors.
The energy ministry said in a statement it had agreed with Bankers, owned since September by China's Geo-Jade, to contract an independent expert to rule on the causes of the tremors. (Reporting by Benet Koleka; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Alastair Macdonald
BRUSSELS, March 1 (Reuters) - Britain believes a post-Brexit free trade deal with the European Union would ease problems that its withdrawal from the EU will create on the Irish border, London's Northern Ireland minister said on Wednesday.
Speaking to Reuters after meeting EU officials and lawmakers in Brussels, James Brokenshire echoed calls from Dublin and the EU for Brexit negotiations to ensure a new EU external land border across the island of Ireland would remain "frictionless" to avoid disrupting peace in the troubled British province.
Negotiations will not start until Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggers Britain's withdrawal some time this month but Brokenshire said he had been assured of understanding in Europe of the significance of preserving a 19-year-old peace deal under which people and goods now cross unimpeded across the border.
For travellers, he stressed the importance of an arrangement between London and Dublin dating back to Irish independence nearly a century ago, and the fact that EU member Ireland is, like Britain, not in the bloc's Schengen passport-free zone.
Asked about the potential disturbance to trade once Britain leaves the EU's single market as May has said it will do, Brokenshire said London was open to deals on the EU customs union rules that could ease the flow of goods across the island.
Were the EU to agree to British proposals of a comprehensive free trade agreement, that would address Irish economic issues:
"We're very clear on having a desire to have that free trade agreement," Brokenshire said. "I think that that is the best way to facilitate trade and business and to support the economy on the island of Ireland. That ability for businesses to be able to conduct their work in that integrated way is an important part."
But EU leaders are reluctant to agree to the sweeping free trade deal May wants if, as she also wants, Britain ceases to accept free immigration from the EU or EU judicial supervision.
Businesses on both sides of the Irish border fear disruption if EU rules apply in the south but not the north, adding to fears of a resurgence in militant violence, some of it linked to organised crime, if physical border controls were reintroduced.
Brussels officials say they would like to start talks on the Irish issue early in negotiations but are reluctant to open talks on trade in general before London agrees to other EU demands, including settling its outstanding bills to the Union.
Brokenshire declined to comment on whether negotiations on the Irish issue and the trade deal should be run in parallel.
Asked whether efforts to ensure an open border on Ireland could mean obstacles for people or goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, he ruled that out:
"The concept that we would creating a new border across the Irish Sea is absolutely not what we are talking about," he said. (Editing by Dominic Evans)
By Peter Apps
March 1 (Reuters) - For much of the last week, the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has been patrolling the South China Sea. It is just the kind of display of Washingtons power and global reach that the U.S. Navy excels at - both to reassure allies and, in this case, send a message to potential foes.
How much longer Washington will be able to perform such operations unchallenged, however, is an increasingly open question.
Some military experts project that within a little more than a decade, Chinas Peoples Liberation Army Navy may have more warships than Washington under its command. Beijings military buildup is part of its strategy to dominate many disputed territories in the South China Sea - and push America back.
Retaining U.S. global military dominance is at the heart of President Donald Trumps plan to up Pentagon spending by $54 billion, or roughly 9 percent. That alone, however, will not be enough to maintain Washingtons regional military edge. Chinas own defense budget has increased by double digits almost every year for the last two decades - although it slowed slightly last year. More importantly, Beijing is also adopting a range of tactics to which Washington lacks a truly effective response.
While Washingtons approach in Asia has always been focused on its ability to move aircraft carriers through Chinas backyard, Beijing has been doing everything it can to tilt the strategic balance against its possible foes. Its a strategy that includes new weapons systems, considerable conventional naval expansion but also a host of other tactics including building naval bases, floating power stations and artificial islands.
Some current and former U.S. military officials believe it is a question of when, rather than if, a regional conflict takes place. What seems equally plausible is a decades-long - and perhaps largely bloodless - confrontation remaining just below the threshold of anything that might trigger actual war.
That may well be Chinas plan.
Its a game that Beijing has played in increasing earnest since 1995, when the Chinese military fired several missiles and conducted military maneuvers around Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province. U.S. President Bill Clinton responded by sending two aircraft carriers to patrol the waters between Taiwan and mainland China, a move that Beijings military could do little to stop without sparking a war it knew it would not win.
Since then, China has focused on gaining the ability to keep U.S. forces - particularly aircraft carriers - out of its immediate neighborhood. Many analysts believe it now possesses enough weapons technology - submarines, missiles and strike aircraft in particular - that U.S. planners would be reluctant to risk their carriers that close to Chinas coast again.
China is believed to have thousands of ballistic missiles aimed at the island, as well as naval weaponry to destroy nearby warships. Some experts believe Beijing might try to regain control of the island sometime in the next two decades.
Beijings next immediate goal appears to be expanding its military capability much further out - to a number of potentially energy-rich atolls and islands claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Beijings most grandiose claims in the South China Sea were rejected last year by the U.N.s top international maritime court. China has, however, continued to build and expand, particularly around the disputed Scarborough Shoal. The Chinese military landed on the islands - also claimed by the Philippines - in 2012 and have since built up their presence there.
From these disputed bases, Beijings military claims a range of air and sea areas under its jurisdiction, demanding foreign aircraft and ships register with them. American, Australian and other military forces make a point of flouting these rules - which have little international legitimacy - with relative impunity.
No one has a strategy to stop the Chinese. At his confirmation hearings, new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised eyebrows by suggesting U.S. forces might somehow deny China access to the disputed islands. That would almost certainly start a war, however, and the idea has not been mentioned since.
In many ways, what has happened in the South China Sea resembles a more gradual version of what Vladimir Putins Russia achieved in Crimea during its 2014 takeover - using armed men without uniform to change the reality on the ground before Ukraine or its allies could react.
In Ukraine, Russia later proved itself willing to use more overt - although still officially denied - military force to seize control of some Russian-speaking areas in the east of the country. The question in the South China Sea is whether Beijing might consider something similar - and what might happen if it does.
China has also become increasingly focused on acquiring the kind of high-level, high-value military assets that the United States has used against it in the past. Chinas first aircraft carrier - a former Soviet vessel rebuilt - is becoming ever more effective, although it remains primarily used for training. In December, it conducted what appeared to be its first long-range patrol outside Chinas coastal waters. China is also constructing its first domestically built carrier and reportedly working on another.
Such ships are important to Beijings international image - witness the attention Russia got through sending its only carrier to conduct airstrikes in Syria late last year. So are the ballistic missile submarines that - like Russia - Beijing is increasingly building, a stark reminder to any potential enemies of the cataclysmic consequences of outright war.
According to some estimates, over the next 10 to15 years, China could build its fleet to a total of 500, including up to four aircraft carriers and 100 submarines as well as smaller but sophisticated corvettes, patrol boats and other combat craft. That compares to Trumps planned expansion of the U.S. Navy to some 350 vessels, including a larger proportion of more powerful vessels, but spread across the entire world.
In sailing through the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the Carl Vinson has once again shown Americas military might. In the event of an actual war, however, it is far from clear how long such a massive vessel would survive before being sunk.
In any case, the Carl Vinson will be gone next week - although other forces will remain - and the Chinese will still be building. (By Peter Apps)
SANTIAGO, March 1 (Reuters) - Chilean police raided the offices of Brazil's Odebrecht in capital Santiago on Wednesday, as part of a widening investigation into bribes paid by the conglomerate on construction projects across Latin America.
A Chilean prosecutor will travel to Brasilia this month to work with Brazilian colleagues questioning Odebrecht executives, national public prosecutor Jorge Abbott told journalists.
There were "certain people that we want to talk to in respect of events that may have occurred in Chile that could eventually be constituted as a crime," he said.
Odebrecht, Latin America's largest engineering group, agreed in December to pay a record fine and has admitted to paying bribes to officials in 12 countries, mostly in Latin America, to help secure lucrative contracts.
Prosecutors from 10 countries, including Chile, are forming a task force to share evidence in the case.
Chile's prosecutors are also looking into allegations that Brazil's engineering group OAS illicitly channeled funds to Chilean political campaigns. OAS offices in Santiago were raided last month.
Odebrecht's website does not list any current projects in operation in Chile. (Reporting by Erik Lopez, Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by David Gregorio)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 1 hour):
SWITCH TENDER
Poland's finance ministry to hold a switch tender at which it will offer bonds due April 2019, April 2022, November 2022, January 2026 and July 2027 in exchange for papers due April, July and October this year.
WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE
Warsaw's Stock Exchange is expected to announces changes to its main indexes composition after markets close.
CYFROWY POLSAT
Poland's Cyfrowy Polsat said on Wednesday it sees fourth-quarter consolidated net profit 100 million zlotys ($24.60 million) higher due to a one-off tax gain.
LOTOS
Polish refiner Grupa Lotos said on Wednesday that costs associated with refinery outages would reduce 2017 consolidated operating profit by about 200 million zlotys ($49 million).
MBANK
Polish lender mBank, a unit of Germany's Commerzbank CBKG.DE, said on Wednesday it did not plan to pay a dividend from last year's net profit.
FURNITURE
Polish state-run investment fund PFR will provide support for local furniture producers to help them conduct acquisitions in Poland and abroad, Rzeczpospolita daily said quoting PFR representative.
CIECH
State-run investment fund TFI PZU increased its share in chemical group Ciech to 12 percent raising questions whether the move was designed to help the state regain control over the company, Rzeczpospolita daily said.
Last year officials from Poland's anti-corruption agency CBA entered the Warsaw offices of Ciech and Kulczyk Holding in an investigation into the previous government's privatisation of the chemical group.
PKP ENERGETYKA
PKP Energetyka, which specializes in power engineering services, looks to tap the German market with new orders, Rzeczpospolita daily quoted the company's CEO as saying.
URSUS
Truck tractor maker Ursus plans to start production of electric delivery vans, comparable in size to fiat Scudo, Puls Biznesu daily said quoting Ursus Chief Executive Officer.
ELECTION
Ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party may change election law in order to increase it's chances in municipal election, planned for late 2018, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said.
****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 4.0658 zlotys) (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau)
COLMAR, France, March 2 (Reuters) - A French appeals court said on Thursday that it was postponing a decision on the possible extradition of former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, who was a guerrilla commander during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
Authorities had detained Haradinaj as he flew into France on Jan. 4 following a request from Serbia, which says he is a war criminal for his role in leading a guerrilla insurgency in its former southern province of Kosovo.
The arrest further strained brittle diplomatic ties between Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence with Western backing in 2008 and has demanded Belgrade drop its efforts to prosecute people linked to the conflict.
Haradinaj's Alliance for the Future of Kosovo party has urged French authorities to stop all legal actions against him.
Serbia said in January it would refuse to extradite people sought by France if it failed to hand over Haradinaj. (Reporting by Gilbert Reilhac; Writing by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Matthias Blamont)
PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) - France is working with Congolese authorities to free one of its citizens, who was part of a group kidnapped at a mine run by Banro Corp, the French foreign ministry said on Thursday.
"We are mobilised and are in contact with the Congolese authorities to shed as much light as possible on what happened, and in order to free our compatriot," a spokesman for the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Banro said earlier on Thursday that suspected militiamen had kidnapped five workers - a French national, a Tanzanian and three Congoloese - at its Namoya gold mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Gareth Jones)
ABUJA, March 2 (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on indefinite medical leave in Britain, has spoken to the King of Morocco by telephone, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
The statement was the latest reassurance from the presidency that all is well with Buhari despite concerns for his health.
King Mohammed VI called Buhari on Wednesday and the two discussed the latter's health as well as work on a Morocco-Nigeria crude oil pipeline, the spokesman said.
Buhari has been in London for six weeks on medical leave, raising questions about his capacity to govern Nigeria.
The president's office has posted pictures on social media of Buhari recuperating to allay rumors his health was worse than publicly acknowledged, though none have been published for more than a week.
For now, there is no word on when Buhari will return. (Reporting by Felix Onuah)
By Elisabeth O'Leary and Elizabeth Piper
LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - The British government is confident it can seal a good divorce deal with the European Union which will win over the people of Scotland but may never please its pro-independence ruling party, Scottish minister David Mundell said.
Mundell, Britain's secretary of state for Scotland, told Reuters the government was 'taking note' of warnings that Scottish leaders are gearing up for a vote which could split the more than three-century-old union between Scotland and England.
But the British government does not believe another vote on independence should take place, he said.
"We are aware and take note of what the Scottish government say and do. It would be complacent not to do that," he said in an interview at his office overlooking a parade ground just steps from Prime Minister Theresa May's official residence.
Mundell, the only elected Conservative lawmaker for Scotland in the British parliament, said the government wanted a good Brexit deal for the whole country, but did not say whether there were particular aspects that would soothe Scottish concerns.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who became leader in 2014 after an unsuccessful referendum to break away and whose Scottish National Party holds 56 of Scotland's 59 seats, has increased the volume on demands that Scotland must have a vote if the country is forced into a "hard Brexit".
She says Scotland should have a chance to decide its future because, unlike England and Wales, it voted to stay in the EU at a June referendum and to maintain preferential access to the bloc's single market and free movement of labour.
Sturgeon also wants to make sure Edinburgh has a say over fisheries and farming policy - areas where Britain might look for compromise in EU talks.
NO APPETITE?
But despite her accusations that the British government's "sheer intransigence" over Brexit is driving Scotland towards independence, Mundell said he doubted whether there was, or would be, appetite for a new vote soon, citing polls.
Last month, an opinion poll conducted by BMG showed that support for independence had risen to 49 percent, not enough to guarantee success of such a vote, but for Sturgeon's Scottish National Party, a sign that Scots do not like May's Brexit plan.
Mundell said that while there could be another referendum, it would "require the agreement of the UK government".
May has repeatedly said that there should be no second referendum, but the calls for exactly that add further uncertainty ahead of some of the most complicated negotiations Britain has waged since World War Two to leave the bloc.
She has said that a good deal for Britain will be a good deal for Scotland and Mundell disputed accounts by Scottish officials that the government was not listening to them.
He said there had been "six meetings in the two week period up until the end of last Thursday" but Sturgeon says the British government has not seriously considered a document she presented in December laying out Scotland's Brexit options.
The Scottish minister doubted whether any agreement with European Union would be welcomed by Sturgeon's party.
"Will we be able to please the SNP in this process? No. I can absolutely, categorically guarantee that," he said. "But will we be able to satisfy Scottish public opinion? Yes, by getting a good deal ...The SNP will have to accept that." (Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Spicy smells and Spanish sounds filled the cafeteria as student cooks offered a taste of the world to guests at the inaugural Carlisle High School World Language Banquet.
Teacher Heather Bosniak said guests included students from the high schools world language program and their immediate family members as well as a few district administrators and the world language teachers at the school.
As diners tasted the food, they were asked to vote for their favorite savory and favorite sweet dishes. The top three in each category will be awarded prizes on Monday as the school kicks off National Foreign Language Week.
Bosniak said the students were not limited to making a recipe from countries that speak the language they study. Thats how Polish chrusaki (angel wings) and South Korean bulgogi made it to the serving table.
A lot of our students because were in such an international community decided to make heritage dishes, Bosniak said.
Recipe cards placed next to each dish served two purposes: to alert people to potential allergens and to let people know what they are about to eat.
Hopefully, everybody that comes tonight is a little adventurous, Bosniak said.
Student help
About 60 students cooked for the event, while others made displays on cultural topics. Students in the Chinese language program, offered in conjunction with Dickinson College, demonstrated Chinese calligraphy.
Senior Sarah Ebert, senior, played Enrique Iglesias Bailando on the ukulele. Shes been playing the ukulele for about a year, but also plays trumpet and piano and is the drum major at Carlisle High School. While paying careful attention to all the musical elements of the performance, Ebert also had to make certain she had the correct pronunciations and inflections for each word of the song since a slight variance could convey a completely different meaning.
Its definitely a challenge when youre playing a song thats not in your native language, Ebert said.
Ebert said the awesome event showcases some of the classes that arent as visible as science classes, which have the science fair, or English classes, which offer opportunities for publication. Plus, the idea of a dinner is perfect since students in language classes tend to be interested in learning about other cultures.
What better way to do that than with food? she said.
Freshman Alex Rouse, a second year German student, wore a traditional German dress and braids to the dinner. German language and culture isnt new to Rouse, who lived in Germany as part of a military family for four and a half years starting when she was only a few months old. She said the dinner was a good idea because it helps to spread awareness of other cultures, especially with so many students having connections to the Army War College.
Bosniak said the high school begins classes in Spanish, French, and German in eighth grade so it is possible for students to complete five years of language by the time they finish high school. Bosniak said the dinner will become an annual event.
We wanted to start a new tradition something that would get students and families interested in language and culture, she said.
KIEV, March 2 (Reuters) - At least eight miners were killed in a methane gas explosion in a coal mine in western Ukraine's Lviv region on Thursday, the Ukrainian emergencies service said.
The service said 34 miners had been at a depth of 550 metres when the explosion ripped through the mine at 12.46 local time (1046 GMT).
A further six miners were injured in the blast and 20 others were being brought back to the surface unharmed, it added.
Although mine safety has improved in recent years, fatal accidents are still relatively common in Ukraine's ageing pits, most of which date from the Soviet Union.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman cancelled a planned meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Kiev to fly to the area of the accident, the government's press service said.
Ukraine operates around 20 coal mines, while a further 60 are in Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Alessandra Prentice and Gareth Jones)
DUBAI, March 2 (Reuters) - Kuwait has chosen a consortium led by NBK Capital to advise on an initial public offer of shares in the Az-Zour North One power scheme, state news agency KUNA said on Thursday.
The government plans to launch the emirate's first IPO for an independent power project this year, selling 50 percent of the Az-Zour North Independent Water & Power Project.
Kuwait and other Gulf states are promoting independent power projects, in which companies other than public utilities invest in and operate power plants, to reduce the burden on state budgets and increase efficiency.
Az-Zour North One, with a capacity of at least 1,500 MW, is 40 percent owned by France's Engie, Japans Sumitomo Corp and Kuwaiti firm AH Al Sagar & Brothers.
Kuwaits sovereign wealth fund the Kuwait Investment Authority, the Public Institution for Social Security, and the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects hold 60 percent. (Reporting by Hadeel El Sayegh, Writing by Reem Shamseddine, Editing by Andrew Torchia and Susan Fenton)
ZURICH, March 2 (Reuters) - LafargeHolcim said one of its cement plants probably paid protection money to armed groups in Syria to keep the factory running in the war-torn country.
The embarrassing disclosure follows an internal investigation and highlights the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones. French prosecutors are also investigating the cement group's activities in Syria.
"It appears from the investigation that the local company provided funds to third parties to work out arrangements with a number of these armed groups, including sanctioned parties, in order to maintain operations and ensure safe passage of employees and supplies to and from the plant," the world's biggest cement maker said in a statement.
It said it could not establish the ultimate recipients of the money and declined to say how much money had been paid in 2013 and 2014.
"In hindsight, the measures required to continue operations at the plant were unacceptable," the Swiss company said. It is setting up a new ethics and risk panel and further steps designed to boost regulatory compliance.
A judicial source in France told Reuters prosecutors were looking into the company's comments and could widen their investigation, but no decisions had been taken yet.
The inquiry was launched last year after allegations appeared in the French media.
French newspaper Le Monde reported in June that Lafarge, which merged with Switzerland's Holcim in 2015, had paid taxes to Islamic State to continue operating.
Two human rights group said in November they had filed a legal complaint in Paris against Lafarge, saying some of its work in Syria may have made it complicit in financing Islamic State and in war crimes.
LafargeHolcim had issued a statement in November denying it had financed "designated terrorist organisations".
Lafarge owned a cement factory in Jallabiya in northern Syria, between the IS stronghold of Raqqa and the town of Manbij. The company repatriated its expatriate staff in 2012 due to fighting in the region, which came under IS control in 2013.
Fewer than 30 employees from the original workforce of 240 were on site when the plant eventually closed in September 2014.
LafargeHolcim on Thursday said the deteriorating political situation in Syria had posed "very difficult challenges for the security and operations of the plant and its employees."
It said the site was an important source of employment in the region and played a vital role in supplying Syria with essential building materials.
"Shutting down the operations while we were providing basic goods to civilians and had several hundred people making a living from our operations was a difficult decision and one that we considered very seriously," a LafargeHolcim spokesman said.
"Once the decision to close had been taken in 2014, we acted responsibly to remove our personnel from the site as quickly as possible."
LafargeHolcim said it did not expect the case to have a material financial impact on the company. (Reporting by John Revill in Zurich and Chine Labbe in Paris; Editing by Michael Shields/Keith Weir)
VIENNA, March 2 (Reuters) - An Austrian court sentenced eight Iraqi asylum seekers and refugees on Thursday to between nine and 13 years in prison for the gang-rape of a 28-year-old German woman in Vienna more than a year ago, a court spokeswoman said.
The men were found guilty of assaulting the woman in an apartment where two of the men were staying during the 2015/16 New Year celebrations. A ninth accused was acquitted.
The victim, from the northern German state of Lower Saxony and who was visiting a friend in Vienna, was awarded damages of 25,000 euros ($26,265).
The court spokeswoman said both the prosecution and defence had indicated they might appeal the verdict or sentencing.
The nine Iraqis, aged between 21 and 47 years, were arrested in Vienna and two other provinces in summer. All have either applied for, or been granted, asylum.
The case helped fuel public debate over immigration and crime, a central theme of last year's Austrian elections, which saw a far-right candidate come within a whisker of the presidency.
Although detailed statistics are not published, the police have said that in general there has been a rise in petty crime since 2015's big migrant influx but no significant increase in serious crimes like murder and rape.
Austria has not seen sexual assaults on the same scale as those in the German city of Cologne on New Year's Eve more than a year ago. But attacks involving immigrants, like a series of sexual assaults in the city of Innsbruck at the end of last year, continue to attract close media scrutiny. ($1 = 0.9518 euros) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle)
GEORGETOWN, March 2 (Reuters) - The South American nation of Guyana could send future oil production to Trinidad and Tobago or Suriname for refining, a government official said on Thursday.
Exxon Mobil Corp and partner companies say they have found between 800 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil off the coast of Guyana, with production expected for 2020.
"We recently had some overtures made by the government of Trinidad and Tobago ... they are operating right now below optimum and they are importing oil from Nigeria," Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told reporters.
"Suriname has also indicated a willingness to do refining for Guyana. Why? Because they too have a refinery which is performing under par."
Guyana, which currently does not produce oil, is considering whether it would make economic sense to build its own refinery, Trotman said.
The crude discovery triggered a diplomatic dispute with neighboring Venezuela, which lays claim to a portion of Guyana as part of a long-standing border dispute. Guyana says the countries' border was settled over a century ago.
Venezuela has in the past supplied crude to Petrotrin's 168,000-barrel-per-day Pointe-a-Pierre refinery in Trinidad, but is no longer doing so amid ongoing oilfield production problems. (Reporting by Neil Marks; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Sandra Maler)
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - At least two additional officials in Donald Trump's presidential campaign said they spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyan at a conference on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention last July, USA Today reported on Thursday.
The newspaper said J.D. Gordon, who was the Trump campaign's director of national security, and Carter Page, another member of the campaign's national security advisory committee, both said they met the ambassador.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who also met Kislyan at the conference of diplomats in Cleveland that coincided with the Republican convention to select Trump as the party's presidential candidate.
(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Beech)
As part of its long-term sustainability and CSR drive, DFCC Bank recently launched a commemorative staff tree-planting initiative where a tree is planted to celebrate each and every staff members birthday. Additional trees are also planted at key sites, where reforestation is a priority and these programmes are carried out in collaboration with Reforest Lanka, a non-profit society committed to the protection and extension of forest cover in Sri Lanka.
Staff members whose birthdays are celebrated each month receive a personalised invitation to attend the tree-planting campaign. They also receive an e-tree dedication certificate after the tree planting campaign which provides the link to find the exact location of the planted tree on Google Maps.
In January alone, DFCC Bank planted a total of 960 trees in Aranayake, 160 of which were planted to commemorate staff birthdays in January. Furthermore, to coincide with Independence Day celebrations, a further 1,000 trees were planted alongside the Kaduwela Kadawatha Highway, out of which 100 seedlings were planted in commemoration of staff birthdays in February. In addition, DFCC Bank will plant 1,000 trees at the University of Jaffna during the latter part of February.
These tree-planting programmes were attended by staff members and their families, as well as members of the local community, who came together to support the Banks initiative.
Commenting on the initiative, Arjun Fernando, CEO DFCC Bank, stated, I would like to extend my congratulations to the DFCC Sustainability Unit and the entire team for successfully launching this initiative. In a short period of time, we have planted approximately 2,000 trees and actively engaged team members at every level of our organisation. This initiative has helped to instil a greater commitment towards protecting the planet and operating as a responsible corporate citizen internally which is in line with one of our core values; being socially responsible.
The trees planted will help to reforest key areas across the island, whilst giving back to the planet at large. The trees will help to improve soil quality in the areas and minimise soil erosion, whilst returning much-needed oxygen to the environment.
The European Union Ambassador, Tung-Lai MARGUE, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, outlines that the current government is on the right track and has made many improvements. He also articulates the EU position on the GSP + trade facility and future cooperation. Excerpts of the interview follow.
How do you look at the present status of relations between the European Union and Sri Lanka?
We all know there has been a tremendous improvement in our relationship since 2015. The fact is that these relations were not very good earlier. It was very difficult to find areas of cooperation. The improvement in relations has very much to do with the new government that came into power with the agenda for reforms. You know the EU has been supporting this government. We continue to support it for further reforms. We believe this government has made progress in a number of areas. There have been a lot of improvements. There still need to be further steps taken in a number of areas. Fundamentally, they are on the right track. This has had a positive impact on our relationship. There has been support from the highest level - the European Heads of European institutions and the Foreign Affairs Ministers. We are consolidating our policy dialogue, which is an important element. This is not just people meeting and chatting. Trade, of course, is an important element. It is connected to GSP plus. Development cooperation is also an important element. This is taking place in a structured way.
We are close partners. We really hope that in the coming months, a number of commitments that have been made will be realized.
How do you specifically analyse the performance of the government in terms of fulfilling pledges made to the international community and others?
Well, it is a process. It is a difficult process without any doubt. You know there are a number of challenges. Constitutional reforms are among them. However, we expect that in the context of international forums such as the UN and the commitments made by the government which cosponsored the resolution, it will deliver on these commitments to its people. All these commitments are made for the people of Sri Lanka and for reconciliation, so that there is no reverting to war or conflict.
The government is to seek an extension of the timeline for the implementation of these commitments. Will the EU support it?
It is not for me to say what the position of the EU will be. This is still under debate. We are starting the process in Geneva. What I would like to say is that this government has not had a lot of time to put into place the commitments mentioned in the resolution. Perhaps the timeline was overambitious. But I am quite sure the outcome will be positive. There is no way to make a U-turn.
"In the coming years, I am quite sure there will be tremendous development in trade between the EU and the countries in the region here"
How hopeful are you that this government will deliver on those lines?
You can see things in two ways. I think you can look at the glass as being half empty or half full. We believe it is half full. We believe more progress on issues is in the pipeline. There have been a number of improvements that we have noted, particularity in terms of legislation and the ratification of a number of international conventions. That is very welcome.
The Office of Missing Persons is a good element, although it has not been implemented. There are a number of positive signals. We would like the constitutional reforms to proceed because these were part of major commitments made by the President when he campaigned. These are also commitments made by the coalition government. What is so important is that they address the key issues that need to be looked at if the country wants to have a prosperous future in terms of devolution, the role of the presidency and electoral reforms. These elements are key components in terms of ensuring reconciliation.
When it comes to the constitution-making process, how does the EU cooperate with the government?
First of all, this is the role of the government. They have ownership of it. Whenever they request assistance, we can help in terms of capacity building and expertise. Beyond that, is for the government to do.
We have observed stark policy differences between the two parties- one headed by the President and the other by the Prime Minister - regarding the contours of the new Constitution. How do you look at it?
I remain optimistic. Yes, we are reading and learning of things that can sometimes be surprising. I know the complexity of internal policy in this country is high. It is clear that coalition parties sometimes have divergent views. It needs strong leadership. It is the case with trade policy. Certain parties are more for liberal economic approaches, whereas others want to protect existing rights in certain areas and the policy is less clear on what is to be done to State-owned enterprises.
There are announcements that Sri Lanka is likely to get the GSP plus benefit. There are commitments made by the government in this regard. How far has the government implemented these commitments to secure the facility?
As you know, the European Commission has given the green light to the request by Sri Lanka to get the GSP plus. But it is not the end of the process. There has very recently been a request for a two-month extension of the period in order that things may be assessed more carefully by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. So, it is for these two bodies to make a decision in the coming weeks. There are areas where we would like to see further progress. The European Parliament is eager to look at the outcome of the UN resolution. This will take place before the end of the assessment period.
Tremendous improvement in EU-SL relations under new Govt.
There are still areas needing further progress
The Govt. is on right track
Remains positive that Sri Lanka will get GSP
What is the period actually?
It is up to mid-May. The European Parliament and the Council have to say whether they are in agreement with the Commissions position.
"The European Commission has given the green light to the request by Sri Lanka to get the GSP plus. But it is not the end of the process "
There are 27 international conventions to be ratified by the government of
Sri Lanka.
These are to be ratified and implemented. These are conventions applied to all countries which apply for the GSP + benefit. This is not something we have tailored specifically for Sri Lanka. These are conditions every country wanting to get GSP plus agrees to fulfil.
Is the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to be replaced with a new counter-terrorism law as part of them?
It is part of a key convention. If you look at the international obligation there, it is not that the convention prohibits the government from having counter-terrorism measures or provisions. It is allowed because you know that terrorism is a key threat to a number of countries, not solely for Sri Lanka. The matter is not about having measures. These measures need to be proportionate and respect key aspects of human rights, including how suspects should be handled, detained and produced for trial. These are the kinds of elements we are looking for.
The government has promised to change the Prevention of Terrorism Act in accordance with the international standards on human rights. We have a formal commitment from the Prime Minister that this will be happening with the agreement of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
In your analysis, how beneficial will the GSP+ be for Sri Lanka?
Well, I think it is obvious that if you get it, you will be allowed to export to the worlds largest trading block without any tariffs on your products apart from a few agricultural products. It is going to be a tremendous advantage. You need to realize that there are only eight countries in the world that presently have GSP plus. I am sure that Sri Lankan entrepreneurs will take advantage of it. This does not mean that they will not have to put in all the effort to be at the highest level of phytosanitary and sanitary conditions. These are standards that need to be respected.
How do you look at the total economic potential of the EU in the current context, in which it is embroiled in its own problems with one country leaving it and some others threatening to leave?
So far, there is only one certainty. That is Brexit. Other elements are parts of political debates. I do not see a major risk of other countries leaving the EU. What is clear is that even with the departure of the UK, the EU remains a very important player at the international level. You talk about countries leaving. I also see countries that are waiting to enter the EU. This also needs to be considered. Bosnia and Serbia are two examples.
What is the total economic potential of the EU in the context of new emerging economic powerhouses in the world?
You should not underestimate the capacity of the EU enterprises in certain key areas. We lead in terms of research and new technology. In the coming years, I am quite sure there will be tremendous development in trade between the EU and the countries in the region here. We have just concluded an FTA with Canada. I also understand that Japan and Mexico are very keen to conclude FTAs with the EU.
The new government is hailed by some sections of the international community for restoring democracy. Elections are a key element of democracy. However, the local government elections have been postponed. What is your position on it?
Even in Europe, there are postponements of local elections. I am not trying to interfere with the decision-making process of Sri Lanka. Obviously, if there has been a commitment by this government to hold local government elections, it should take place in the interests of democracy. My role here is not to say what the reasons are and what should be done.
Ajai V Singh, Founder and President, Colombo Fashion Week
New edition includes fashion films, ethical fashion, art connect and with it Celebrates Colombo
The summer season witnesses HSBC Colombo Fashion Week celebrating its 14th year since inception and being one of the most celebrated fashion showcases in the sub-continent. This season, in line with its vision, CFW will expand the scope of the fashion industry with multiple initiatives that aim at developing and showcasing Sri Lanka's fashion design industry to the world and to the fashion consumers of Sri Lanka.
This is something CFW has managed to execute successfully for the past decade. Since its inception this platform has aided the local fashion industry in gaining much needed momentum in aspects of fashion education, fashion retail, designer development, and in creating opportunities for designers to showcase their work internationally.
Hosted by Hilton Colombo, its base for the last few years, General Manager Manesh Fernando quotes Its been a great partnership that has benefitted all of us throughout the years, which has placed Sri Lanka on the global map as being a must visit destination not only for sun, sea, culture and adventure, but for fashion too. Hilton Colombo is also committed to the development of youth and such events as CFW provides opportunities for emerging designers and we fully endorse it.
'Celebrate Colombo' is one of the themes of the week long activities that brings Colombo alive through the eyes of fashion and related industries. This also aims to showcase Colombo from the tourism perspective as a city that is vibrant and creative. The week of CFW will start from the 13th of March and will go on till the 18th and show collaborations with art, film, food, knowledge workshops, designer pop-ups, ethical fashion, and the emerging designer showcase.
This is an interesting milestone of ten years of association between HSBC who has been the principal partner of CFW and been an important part of that journey. Commenting further, Mark Prothero CEO for HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives, said This year also coincides with our 125th anniversary in Sri Lanka which is a milestone year for HSBC. As we complete ten years of title sponsorship of undoubtedly the biggest fashion extravaganza in the country, we hope our customers will experience an exciting show this year. HSBC is happy to play an important part in supporting the upliftment of the fashion industry at large.
Dasantha Foneska, CEO Vsion Care, Ramani Fernando, Sulaiman Alkaabi CEO etislat Sri Lanka, Akram Casim - MD, Colombo Jewellery Stores, Sutheash Balasubramanim - MD, Sri Lankan Toursim promotion Bureu, Mark Pothero, CEO HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives, Ajai V Singh - Founder President, Colombo Fashion Week, Manesh Fernando- General Manager - Hilton Colombo, Sharmila Bandara - Marketing Director Unileaver personal Care, Dirk Flamer Caldera - Director Colombo Fashion week,Rajeev Garg- Director Finance and Deputy General Manager, One Galle Face, Shalindra Fernando - CEO, Olu tropical water and Wine world
Colombo Fashion Week has formed relevant and strategic partnerships with Sri Lankas leading brands and they all play an important role in pushing the annual event to international level, Colombo Jewellery Stores as the Official Jewellery Partner, Ponds as the Official Beauty Partner, Ramani Fernando as Official Hair and Make-up Partner, Olu Tropical Water and Wine World as the Official Lifestyle beverage partner, Etisalat as the Official Digital Solutions Provider, Vision Care as the Official Eyewear Partner, Leo Burnett Sri Lanka and MSLGROUP Sri Lanka as the official PR Partner, Quintessentially Sri Lanka as the Official Concierge Partner, and our partnership with The Residences at One Galle Face all who share and extend their support towards the vision and aspirations of CFW.
CFW is expanding the scope of the fashion industry by creating a unique platform that sharpens the focus for the development of fashion in Sri Lanka. This direction is based on the thinking that related creative industries co-exist and have a common denominator that leads itself to the overall development of the creative environment, said Ajai Vir Singh Founder and President of Colombo Fashion Week.
30 designers are set to showcase over a period of four days. Some of the international designers include Gaetano Navarra, Abraham and Thakore, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Bibi Russell, RimZim Dadu. The Sri Lankan designers list will feature Darshi Keertisena, Upeksha Hager, Charini Suriyage, Ramona Oshini, Maus, Dimuthu Sahabandu, Conscience, Meraki, Fouzul Hameed, Jaishree, Amilani Perera, Catherine Rawson, Peronie Stefel, Lovi Ceylon, Nilanka among others.
Emerging Designer Showcase
The Emerging Designer Showcase will see 10 high potential designers take the ramp, this is an exciting part of the week, where the next generation of designers showcase their talent. The designers have been mentored in honing their skills and guided through the CFW creative process, the shows will take place at a new location at the Hilton Colombo. This will be Day 1 of the shows, on the 15th of March.
Ethical Fashion Day
CFW will also be reintroducing Ethical Fashion Day this season, keeping in line with the founders vision of Fashion-For-Good or Good Fashion that brings about goodness in the society and to the environment. Ethical Fashion Day is scheduled for 17th March, it is one of the pillars of CFWs foundation. The ideology of this is to celebrate fashion and its craft, and its connection as a whole with the environment. There will also be a series of ethical talks conducted by industry experts on the way forward for ethical fashion.
Knowledge Workshops
This has been one of the drivers of CFW to bring young and established designers to expand and enhance their skill sets conducted by experts in their fields. CFW carefully assesses the skill sets that need to be enhanced and creates workshops around it.
There will be two workshops to be held on 15th of March, - Fashion Styling and Fashion Illustration. Both workshops are being conducted by experts from India and US.
1- minute - Fashion Film Festival
This is a new initiative by CFW to enhance Film presentations. It's a unique collaboration between designers and film directors to produce a 1-minute-Fashion-Films shot on a smartphone. It's a film presentation of their ideation of Summer collections and the inspiration behind it. These will be shown as a Film Festival at CFW.
Art Connect
This is an interesting collaboration of Art connecting with Fashion under the theme 'Second Skin'. This is a new concept of two creative fields connecting to create an interesting expression. Five major artists will present their interpretation under the theme 'Second Skin' on the 13th of March. This is first of its kind to be shown in Colombo.
Fashion + Food
Every season, CFW partners with premier restaurants in Colombo to curate unique, limited edition menu's that will provide attendees and guests with fashion influenced gastronomical experience. Fashion + Food allows the chef to present their creative expression through interesting menu's. Fashion and Food starts from 13th to 19th March at Lab and Graze Kitchen at Hilton Colombo, Cafe Francais by Pourcel, Rare at Residence by Uga Escapes.
The United Nations wouldnt be the same after January 20, roared president-elect Donald Trump in a tweet after the outgoing Barack Obama administration in a startling diplomatic manoeuvre got the UN Security Council to pass a unanimous resolution condemning Israels settlements in occupied Palestinian lands.
Days later he tweeted again: The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad! He also suggested the United States could cut its funding to the organisation.
According to a draft executive order, seen by the New York Times, the Trump administration wants a 40 percent cut in its contribution to the UN. The US is the largest contributor to the UN budget 22 percent. A huge cut or the threat of a cut will certainly make any UN secretary general to compromise his or her hallowed policies in the larger interest of the UN projects ranging from poverty alleviation and promoting education to peacekeeping and climate change. Last year, the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meekly removed Saudi Arabia from a list of war crimes against children, hours after the oil kingdom warned it would slash its funds to the world body.
Trump supporter John Bolton, who was President George Bushs envoy to the UN, once infamously said that if the 38-storey UN building lost 10 storeys today, it wouldnt make a bit of difference. Bolton was considered for the post of Secretary of State by the Trump team and later for the post of National Security advisor in the wake of Gen. Michael Flynns resignation over his alleged promise to the Russian envoy that the US would lift some of the sanctions linked to Moscows war in Ukraine.
After Trump assumed office on January 20, he appointed Nikki Haley, a hardliner, as the United States Permanent Representative to the UN. Unlike her predecessor, Samantha Power, who was known for her human rights activism, Haley is known for her politics and entrepreneurship. Though a daughter of immigrant parents hailing from Indias Punjab state, she supports tough laws to crack down on illegal immigrants. Prior to entering politics as a member of South Carolinas House of Representative, she was running a multimillion-dollar upscale clothing firm, her family business, and was at one time president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
When Trump invited her to take up the post of UN envoy, she was the Governor of South Carolina, carrying the honour of being chosen to deliver the Republican Partys response to President Obamas State of the Union address last year.
Her predecessor Power, known for her activism against genocide, had put aside her lofty campaigns and fell in line with the Obama administrations policy of politicising human rights to further the United States national interest. Shame on you, she shouted at Russia, Syria and Iran for what was happening in Ukraine and Syria. But she spoke very little against Israels atrocities in the Gaza Strip and Saudi Arabias war on Yemen, where a large number of civilians including children have died in indiscriminate air attacks. Her silence during the vote on the December 23 anti-Israeli resolution at the UNSC was the loudest she spoke for the Palestinian cause. The United States decision not to oppose the resolution during the lame duck days of the Obama presidency was too little too late. Moreover it was seen as a move aimed at soothing the troubled conscience of President Obama rather than any love for world peace or the Palestinian cause.
Whatever it is, it became an occasion for the Trump team to say the UN would not be the same after January 20. But one can say with much certainty that democratising the UN system or broadbasing its decision making process is far from Trumps intention. What he probably meant was that the US would do what it wants irrespective of the UN process and would go even beyond what the George W. Bush administration did in disregarding UN mechanisms to prevent conflict. The rot started during the Ronald Reagan presidency, during which the US openly declared that it would not accept the rulings of the International Court of Justice. Since then, the US had been, with arbitrary actions, undermining the UN system. Perhaps, the Obama presidency was an exception.
Haley came to the UN on January 27, weeks after the new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, a socialist politician from Portugal, outlined his vision to revive the global body by urging member-states to uphold their international obligations, including their commitment to world peace and measures to save the environment.
The very first day in office as UN envoy, Haley put the world body on notice.
Addressing a media conference at the UN headquarters, she issued a stark warning to foes and friends alike that the Trump administration would hold to account those who did not back the United States. Youre going to see a change in the way we do business, she said. Our goal with the administration is to show value at the U.N., and the way well show value is to show our strength, show our voice, have the backs of our allies and make sure our allies have our back as well. For those who dont have our back, were taking names; we will make points to respond to that accordingly.
Her warning -- amid threats to slash funds for UN peacekeeping operations -- reminds us of President George W. Bushs Either you are with us or with the terrorists statement made at the launch of his war on terror in October 2001. Interestingly, Bush is now trying to distance himself from Trump policies though there is hardly any difference.
Notwithstanding the Trump administrations threats to the world body, Russia and China called the US bluff on Tuesday and vetoed a resolution against Syria. The tough-talking Haley only denounced Russia and China for voting against the resolution cosponsored by the US, France and Britain.
The US dominated UN system is fast changing, with Russia and China asserting themselves at international bodies. The US, from January 1990 to December 2003, used its veto on 11 occasions, while China and Russia used their vetoes twice each during the same period. But since 2004, the US has used its veto only on five occasions, while China had used its veto seven times and Russia 13 times, largely against resolutions supported by the US. (http://research.un.org/en/docs/sc/quick).
China, aspiring to be the world number one power, has also stepped up its role at the United Nations, increasing its support for peacekeeping and development aid.
If Trump walks the talk and slashes the UN funds, the world body needs to map out a strategy to work without the US or even take the UN headquarters to Geneva as it once did to enable Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to address the world body after the US denied him a visa -- or even to Beijing.
Each legislative session thousands of bills and amendments are introduced in the Pennsylvania Legislature. Only a fraction become law, and an even smaller portion receive wide media coverage.
These bills impact the lives of people living in Pennsylvania every day.
Each week The Sentinel will highlight one of the bills that has not received widespread attention.
About the bill
Fake news: the term came front and center during the presidential campaign.
It has since been used in reference to stories that are designed to look like news stories but are entirely made up, news stories with factual inaccuracies or poor context and even in some cases the term has been thrown around in an attempt to undermine factually accurate reports.
Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery County, has introduced House Bill 661 which would require teaching media literacy in public schools for students in first through 12th grade.
As the 2016 election progressed, the prominence of intentionally false stories made to appear as legitimate news reports increased, Briggs wrote in a letter seeking co-sponsors. While it may be difficult to determine how much affect this fake news had on the outcome of the election it is, at a minimum, a disservice to our public discourse. Regardless of a persons political affiliation, opinions should be grounded in facts.
The bill would require the state board of education to develop a curriculum for media literacy that would be taught in public schools in the state.
The curriculum, which is to be made publicly available on the state board of educations website, would be focused on developing critical thinking skills; understanding how media messages shape culture and society; identifying target marketing strategies; naming techniques of persuasion used; recognizing bias and misinformation; discovering parts of a story that are not being told; and evaluating media messages based on personal experiences, skills, beliefs and values, according to the bills language.
Briggs wrote in his co-sponsorship that young people are particularly susceptible to believing fake news.
I believe resources should be made available to help them understand how to analyze the media they consume, he wrote.
The joint opposition today said it would file cases against Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in the Supreme Court next week, regarding allegations made by him against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in connection with the issuance of the gazette notifications linked to the Central Bank (CB) bond issue.
Joint opposition MP Bandula Gunawardane told a media briefing that Minister Karunanayake had challenged Mr. Rajapaksa to take legal actions against him and added that a leader like Mr. Rajapaksa was not worthy of such a challenge since he was the one who had taken up the challenge to end the 30-year long terrorism in Sri Lanka.
Therefore, Mr. Rajapaksa does not need to take legal actions against him, as the joint opposition we will file many cases against him on the matter. The gazette notification was issued in January, 2015 in connection with the Appropriation Bill (2014-No.41). However, the issued gazette notification included details related to years 2011-2013. It is not acceptable, he said.
He said Minister Karunanayake and the government were attempting to put the blame of the issue on Mr. Rajapaksa and former CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, and to sweep the issue under the carpet. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)
Video by Buddhi
Two police teams have been deployed at the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport and Mattala International Airport to prevent the suspects involved in the Kalutara prison bus shooting from fleeing the country following information that there were such moves.
Police today said information had been received that some suspects in the shooting incident are planning to flee the country using fake passports.
Police spokesman DIG Priyantha Jayakody said the police had identified the main suspect and others involved in the shooting where seven people including two prison officials were killed in Kalutara on February 27.
He said all details of the identified suspects had also been given to airport officials and Investigations are in progress to arrest the suspects.
Earlier police revealed that the shooting was carried out by two prominent underworld gang leaders in Kaduwela and the Southern Province.
Seven people including notorious underworld figure Aruna Damith Udayanga Pathirana alias Samayan and two prison guards were killed, when gunmen opened fire at the Black Maria when they were being transported from the Malwatte Prison in Kalutara. (Darshana Sanjeewa)
Reaffirming several reports published in the recently highlighting physical ragging to be intrinsic to the university subculture, fifteen students from the Peradeniya University were apprehended recently on grounds of brutally ragging eight freshers. Despite our effort to expose the severity of ragging in several universities in the past few weeks, ragging is unabatedly perpetuated.
Peradeniya University is in the limelight once again for ragging
A group of freshers had been taken to a solitary house in Megodakalugamuwa by fifteen, second year students of the Agriculture Faculty of the Peradeniya University, who sexually abused and tortured the victims. When the place was raided the perpetrators were caught in action. The victims were found stripped naked. There are photographs and videos of the rag that took place.
Acting on an anonymous complaint the senior student counsellor of the Agriculture faculty and Marshalls had gone to the rented house in a remote area three miles away from the university to discover the horrendous manner in which freshers were ragged. Thereafter police assistance was sought and the victims were hospitalised. The fifteen suspects were further remanded yesterday till March 16 under the orders of the Kandy Chief Magistrate.
Physical ragging still in operation
The Daily Mirror has already revealed the extent of the physical, sexual, mental and verbal ragging prevalent in State universities through accounts we received from lecturers, parents and students of the Colombo University, Sabaragamuwa University, Ruhuna university and the Rajarata university. Their grievances have not still been addressed. We have received detailed accounts from students subjected to ragging. If they boycott the seniors activities or not comply with their rules, freshers are not merely ostracised but also humiliated, abused, threatened and physically attacked. One female student under conditions of anonymity said how male students were beaten when the female students refused, or were reluctant to obey the seniors orders. Strong willed students have surrendered to the seniors on grounds that the university administration has not taken adequate action to stop the rag when they complained.
Students are afraid that they might be forced to drop out of university
Lecturers should go beyond their comfort zones to win the confidence of students and help them lodge complaints
We hope the recent enlightens the VCs, Deans, lecturers and student counsellors
From a students perspective they are afraid to complain because the backlash
Prof. Mohan De Silva, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission
Prof. Mohan De Silva, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission said that without anyone coming forward and complaining, action cannot be instituted against culprits. It is true that people can make false complaints especially if the complainant is completely anonymous to the authorities. However, from a students perspective they are afraid to complain because the backlash can outweigh the positive outcome. The university authorities should look into such complaints whether or not their credibility is ascertained as the present situation is so dire that anonymous complaints cannot be regarded as untrue.
Samantha Vithanage, a third year Management student at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, who initiated an anti-ragging campaign, was murdered at a meeting on ragging in 2002. There have been incidents where anti-raggers and those who complained have been assaulted, harassed or acid thrown onto them.
Students are afraid that they might be forced to drop out of university if they dont adhere to the policy of the irrational and sadistic raggers. The Daily Mirror learns that this fear has compelled many to participate in the recent protests against SAITM though the students did not personally believe in the cause the protests were staged against. The university sub culture which perpetuates ragging does not appreciate the opinion of the individual.
"Their silence is the raggers victory. When speaking to students we were quite surprised to note their submissiveness"
Deans and lecturers of certain faculties are equally complicit in perpetuating ragging. They may categorically state that ragging is not accepted and is prohibited. But behind the closed doors of lecture halls, canteens and hostels grave human rights violations take place. Several reports we received were from individuals who had complained to the university authorities though their complaints have not been effectively looked into.
Lecturers should not limit themselves to merely advising students on why they should not accept rags. Instead lecturers themselves should go beyond their comfort zones to win the confidence of the students and help them lodge complaints. Freshers themselves need to complain and pursue action against the offenders. Their silence is the raggers victory. When speaking to students we were quite surprised to note their submissiveness. They believe adherence to the illogical policy of the seniors to be essential to survive in the university. This also raises the concern as to whether our youth are capable of standing on their feet.
Ragging is crippling our youth who have strived to enter State university. The violence encountered at the university has made many disillusioned and many have dropped out. Students are not ragged in certain faculties but this does not mean that freshers are independent. Seniors continue to interfere with their lives and intimidate them. The severity of ragging is escalating. Raggers have found ways to continue their schemes by blindfolding the university administration. They have become trickier and more manipulative. A torture house was discovered recently and the whole country was shocked and dismayed. However, this is not the only instance of extreme brutal and downright deplorable ragging.
Student counsellors and Marshalls in certain faculties have been powerless to put an end to or control the situation. We are yet to see any positive signs of ragging being wiped out though there are significant steps being taken to curb it. We hope the recent torture house enlightens the Vice Chancellors, Deans, lecturers, student counsellors and other staff members of all universities of what they may have overlooked or ignored in their universities, and take appropriate action.
The suspects will either be suspended or expelled
Prof. Upul B.Dissanayake - Vice chancellor of the Peradeniya University
Speaking to Daily Mirror Prof. Upul Dissanayake, the Vice Chancellor of the Peradeniya University said the suspects would either be suspended or expelled after the incident was inquired into. At the moment the suspects are in remand custody. They will be charged under the Anti-ragging Act. We have suspended the fifteen students indefinitely. In the meantime we are appointing an inquiry board and we will conduct a proper inquiry at the end of which they will be punished according to the offence. They will be either suspended or expelled, he said.
"Within the university premises there is no way of ragging students. This is why they have taken a new initiative to go somewhere else"
He added that there were videos and photos of the physical rag that took place. But we are not divulging them because they will be used before courts, he said.
Within the university premises there is no way of ragging students. This is why they have taken a new initiative to go somewhere else, away from the university. There are counsellors, proctors, deputy proctors, and the staff who are all vigilant and therefore they cant rag students within the premises, he said.
When asked if lectures were conducted as usual, he said that the university functioned though the second year students of the Agriculture faculty have been requested not to come to the university. Lectures are conducted as usual, but due to the SAITM issue the medical faculty is not functioning. We have asked second year students of the Faculty of Agriculture not to come to the university. We have made them out of bounds because of this particular incident, he added.
We cant use violence to change students perception
Lahiru Weerasekara- Convener of IUSF
In his comments to the Lahiru Weerasekara, the convener of the Inter University Students Federation said as the IUSF they opposed any form of abuse within or out of the university. People ask why we dont get onto roads and demonstrate, but this is not a problem we can solve in that manner. We have a programme to prevent and eradicate ragging in universities, he said.
We hope to have in-depth discussions with students and lecturers to solve this problem. Ragging is not found only in universities, but also in certain schools, in the army, police and offices. We cant use violence to change students perception. It can be changed through knowledge and then we can develop brotherhood, he added.
Actions taken since the latest incident
Consequent to the Daily Mirror recent incident, the University Grants Commission has set up an online complaint mechanism to complain on any form of ragging, intimidation or harassment. It can be accessed through http://ugc.ac.lk/rag/ and the victims confidentiality is maintained and the site promises to act promptly. Complaints can be made to the UGC through their hotline 0112-123700 and 0112-123456. President Maithripala Sirisena has asked the IGP to coordinate with university authorities to take action against ragging.
"People ask why we dont get onto roads and demonstrate, but this is not a problem we can solve in that manner "
Diary of a fresher and the tragedy of the University system
The following is an account sent by a first year university student
We enter university at 7am, in our long skirts, blouses, rubber slippers and plaits with a knot at the end, to simply commence the rag. I did try to avoid the morning rag, but they note you, single you out and your rag merely gets worse.
We are verbally abused on a frequent basis, we are forced to eat from one rice packet in groups of six and we are forced to do numerous tasks that we wish not to at the raggers bidding.
My friend and I avoided the lunch rag on the first day of university, but as we were going to class we got caught. A group of seven male raggers scolded the two of us in Sinhala filth; they forced us to look into their eyes while they yelled at us. I just felt a sudden surge of anger, I am 21 years this year, and we have waited for university to open for more than a year, why should we tolerate such hate for no reason. Some people even had the nerve to say that the rag is fun and I will surely enjoy it, but the rag is just an excuse for the frustrated to spew hate at the innocent. We are forced to know everyones name and village, but I honestly cannot make friends or let alone remember names under the pressure.
"I stood up to wash my hands in the jam-packed almost stuffy canteen. A ragger who clearly saw that I had just eaten directed me to another table to eat again"
On the first day in the interval I was confused because I knew the rag was in the canteen, I tried to tell many people that we do not have to go to the canteen. But, my fellow strong willed batch mates simply kept walking into the lions mouth. If we all refused to go into the canteen, there is no way that they can rag us. My friend and I did walk away from the canteen, but a ragger found us and said that if we do not go to the canteen they would make the rag for our batch worse. We had to comply.
I was in a group of six, and we had to share a rice packet. The boys are not allowed to sit and eat; they have to eat though, while standing. I ate in that group of people that I hardly knew yet. I did not fuss because I was scared that they would make me do something worse if I did go against them. My friend though, had beef and rice, and people in our table said that they did not eat beef. She then ate it alone in her lunch box. A ragger suddenly came up to her and said, ubata load da. She completely froze. He told her to stop eating; my group of 6 had almost finished the rice packet. There were some oily capsicums that were half eaten, in the rice packet, we were almost going to throw the packet away, but my friend was forced to eat the capsicums as a punishment for eating alone.
I felt so sad and powerless. I stood up to wash my hands in the jammed packed almost stuffy canteen. A ragger who clearly saw that I had just eaten directed me to another table to eat again. The new group that I went to had almost finished eating, and the ragger was screaming into my ear saying, Eat! Eat! Eat! and I had to eat the scraps from that rice packet. I honestly felt my bile rising. Another girl who has high blood pressure was yelled at by two raggers, because she laughed while eating.
After the canteen rag, I went to the wash room. A group of raggers saw me going and started yelling at me for no reason. Since, I was wearing a T-shirt instead of a blouse with my skirt, a sleazy ragger came up to me and said that he could see everything underneath my shirt. I truly felt disgusted. After I came out from the wash room, he once again reminded me that he could see everything underneath my clearly opaque shirt. We cannot even go to the washroom in peace.
My friends and I formed a group and planned to escape the evening rag, which was after lectures. But, many declined to join us and said that they would rather face the rag and that they were scared to escape. There are many exits in university, other than the main gate, that we could have escaped from. But, after our final lecture the raggers had positioned themselves in every exit path.
"The new group that I went to had almost finished eating, and the ragger was screaming into my ear saying, Eat! Eat! Eat!
and I had to eat the scraps from that rice packet. I honestly felt my bile rising"
But, our group still stood strong and we passed the raggers who were yelling at us and left from the main gate. We did feel triumphant, but it was for a trifling moment. We got messages from unknown numbers saying that the raggers would be waiting for us in the morning, and we better get ready. Some batch mates told us that their rag got worse and that some boys got hit because of us. I do not know the validity of these comments, but I know that my batch had the choice to join us and leave the rag too. The raggers also asked our batch to corner the 7 girls who left the rag.
A senior told me it was better to comply with the rag, otherwise we get left out from university activities and it becomes difficult to join clubs and sports. This repercussion is unfortunately how the raggers perpetuate the submissive mentality within us.
Our fear gives the raggers their power and authority. If we are united as a batch we can defeat the rag. But, that would be a utopian reality, because many are afraid to stand against it and some even enjoy the rag and act as messengers to the seniors.
Some even believe that the rag makes us stronger. But, it truly makes us weaker as we become submissive to a completely false authority. I feel like the rag culture has completely warped our mentality. It has made us both weak and disunited.
The administration knows what exactly is going on, however they simply turn a blind eye towards it. There are a few lecturers who are completely against the rag and they tell us to stand up for ourselves. The university hands out pamphlets on numerous occasions stating the anti-rag laws, however nothing is being implemented. Our precursor batch complained about the rag, and this simply prolonged the rag. It is also difficult to procure evidence of the rag, because we are not allowed phones or electronic devices during the rag.
Every parent dreams of his or her child qualifying for university education. People work hard sometimes through back breaking physical labour undergoing hardships and agonies to support childrens education, as university education is perceived as the pinnacle of academic achievement in youth and gateway to prosperity. People undergo difficulties however and consider their sacrifices worthwhile when children succeed in entering universities.
Aspiring young ones exuding great zeal and energy fall all over themselves and burn midnight oil to make the university dream come true, in order to accomplish bright futures they envision. What greets these blossoming youth from a diversity of backgrounds and social strata from affluent elites to those who are compelled to shed sweat, blood and tears and break their backs to make ends meet as they step in to the universities is so horrendous and beyond imagination.
Freshers to universities are subjected to ragging, a practice that forms part of university sub-culture. It is performed by seniors to bully and ridicule newcomers. In some cases seniors mercilessly inflict severe physical and mental harassment including physical abuse with sadistic sexual connotations.
"People are fast becoming techno savvy. They can easily gain unrestricted access to pornographic material in various websites containing obscene & sexually explicit videos and photographs through laptops and hand held devices"
Parents are feeling apprehensive for the safety of their children particularly when they enrol in universities from distant places and stay in hostels, as they could easily become soft targets of marauding gangs of raggers. Techniques and forms of ragging in practice have assumed degrading inhuman cruel and vulgar characteristics over the years which manifest diabolical and despicable conduct on the part of senior students deserving outright condemnation. It underscores persistent moral decadence brought about by the prodigious influence of the neoliberal global capital market socio economic model together with the sweeping changes occasioned by the advanced digital computing and communication technology, which has spread into every segment of the society including the so-called educated.
Vast spread of information and communication technology has been growingly attracting youngsters towards social media like Face book and Twitter. People are fast becoming techno savvy. They can easily gain unrestricted access to pornographic material in various websites containing obscene & sexually explicit videos and photographs through laptops and hand held devices. Abundant availability of obscene and lewd materials psychologically influences the conduct of perverted elements in younger generation including educated youth entering universities. They are driven to seek fulfilment of irresistible and far-fetched notions of sexuality without regard for the feelings of others. So ragging perpetrated in concealed chambers of torture could be a means of achieving such sinister ends. Moreover seniors could also be motivated by the desire to inflict pain on newcomers to avenge for the suffering they had undergone through ragging. So it appears that ragging is a nefarious practice handed down to successive batches of students as part of the villainous legacy of university sub-culture.
It is a practice that forms part of university sub-culture
Seniors are motivated by the desire to inflict pain on newcomers to avenge suffering they had undergone
What happened at the Peradeniya University should at least open the eyes of the highest authority
Mechanisms of enforcing disciplinary control within the university system should be bolstered
A couple of sensational cases reported in the past demonstrate how menacing and torturous ragging could prove and how its traumatic impact had ruined the lives of helpless innocent and aspiring youth with full hopes of excelling in what they were good at.
In 1975, Rupa Rathnaseeli, a female student attached to the facility of Agriculture in the University of Peradeniya jumped from the Second Floor of the Hostel to avoid a candle being inserted in to her vagina. She was paralysed for the rest of her life. She was not punished by a marauding psychopath or a criminal hiding to prey upon in some isolated corner of a remote village. She was tortured by the villains and barbarians in the guise of education produced by the nefarious sub-culture prevalent in universities. She was punished for none other than her own ability to excel in studies and earn a seat in the temple of higher learning. She committed suicide in 2002 having failed to make a living and overcome unbearable burdens.
Although details of many heart rending cases of ragging could be produced, it is restricted due to space constraints. How extreme forms of physical abuse, sexual vulgarities and exploitations perpetrated on youth straight from schools could help in their orientation to the university environment is incomprehensible. If defies logic and does not stand to reason. If ragging is a getting to know exercise, there could be better ways of doing it whereby raggers as well as those being ragged could jointly enjoy some pleasant and convivial moments leading to formation of lasting comradeship. For that purpose there is no need for newcomers to be subjected to continued ill-treatment for unduly long periods of time making university life hell for them.
What is reported could only be the tip of the monstrous ragging ice-berg prevailing within the university system and best part of the atrocities committed on freshers could still be remaining concealed. There could be many more chambers of torture operating in and outside universities where seniors are unleashing bestialities on innocent newcomers in the name of ragging to derive gratification of demonic pleasures. Some members of the body politic espousing Marxist ideology who relish taking moral high ground and steal limelight on matters of public interest and resort to protests at the drop of a hat nowadays cry foul about SAITM. However, they are conspicuously keeping mum on matters such as crass rip-off of needy, sickly and those who are unable to make their ends meet by elite medical professionals whose education has been funded by tax payers money. Although there is strong opposition to higher education in private institutions there is hardly any word being said about thriving private medical practices conducted by many professionals produced by the so-called free education who charge exorbitant fees. It is well known that professionals in private sector are given to prescribing a whole gamut of expensive medical tests, procedures and reports primarily for commercial reasons irrespective of whether they are of any benefit to the patients concerned. No union or any political grouping openly speaks about such irregularities and injustices.
Similarly, political movements which have got their tentacles extensively spread within the university system to achieve their own agendas are keeping mum about the degrading and inhuman treatment meted out to new comers by the seniors in the name of ragging, despite their solemnly declared claims to stand for students rights. Those could be the invisible hands that manoeuvre student activities to achieve their political ends. By remaining silent such movements are only exposing hypocrisy and callousness.
"They are driven to seek fulfilment of irresistible and far-fetched notions of sexuality without regard for the feelings of others. So ragging perpetrated in concealed chambers of torture could be a means of achieving such sinister ends"
Govt of Yahapalanaya captured reins on the plank of protecting human rights. It is duty bound to protect innocent children who work hard and enter universities to pursue higher education. The Government should leave no stone unturned in ensuring that stringent measures are in place to enforce laws of the land against whoever infringing the human rights of new-comer students. Moreover, the mechanisms of enforcing disciplinary control within the university system should be bolstered with more muscle and teeth to make their tasks effective. What happened in the Agriculture Faculty of the University of Peradeniya should at least open the eyes of the highest of the land and the Government apparatus before it is too late to tell the ruffians and bullies that enough is enough and there should be no more abuse in the name of ragging.
Range Rover family grows with the addition of the new Velar
Velar is to be built exclusively in Britain
Range Rover contributes 10bn annually to the UK economy
Range Rover is Britains largest luxury export, accounting for 85% of all luxurycars built in the UK
Jaguar Land Rovers renaissance continued today with the launch of the Velar, the fourth member of the 47-year old Range Rover family. In a further show of support for the British car industry, the company confirmed the Velar will be built exclusivelyat itsflagship Solihull plant in the West Midlands.
Since going on sale in 1970 the Range Rover family, heralded Britains greatest luxury export, has grown to include the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque. Together they have helped transform the fortunes of the UKs largest vehicle manufacturer, accounting for 85 per cent of all premium cars produced in Britain and contributing 10bn to the UK economy every year.
Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover CEO, said: The expansion of our product range and building this British designed and engineered car in the UK is a sign of our confidence in British manufacturing. We are leading the global premium car industry with our commitment to our home market and our heart, soul and headquarters will always be in the UK.
Built using Jaguar Land Rovers leading lightweight aluminium architecture and powered by the latest ultra-clean UK-built Ingeniumpetrol and diesel engines, the new Velaris positioned between the Range Rover Evoque and the Range Rover Sport.
The Range Rover Velar is the thirdmodelto be launched at the Solihull manufacturing plant in just two years.It follows an injection of 1.5bn in new facilities and technologies at the plant which began with the Jaguar XE and F-PACE - proving that flexible high-tech manufacturing brings more models to the market, attracts more customers and creates more high-skilled jobs for the United Kingdom.
Production of all Jaguar Land Rover models at the four UK manufacturing plants directly supports more than 40,000 British jobs and a further 250,000 in the supply chain. In the past six years the company hasmore than doubled its workforce to support global demand for its products. Last year Jaguar Land Rover sold 583,313 cars more than one every minute, 44 per centof which were Range Rovers.
The Range Rover Velar will be sold in more than 100 markets globally and is available to order from summer 2017. The online configurator is open later today. The Velar will be on display at the Design Museum in London until 6 March for customers who are eager to see it in the flesh.
The car will also form the centrepiece of a new exhibition documenting 45 years of Range Rover, Velar to Velar, which opens at the Solihull manufacturing plant on 28 March. To book on this tour visit: http://www.solihull.landroverexperience.co.uk/
The SLMC by law mandated to enter and make inquiries at recognised universities and institutions to ascertain if such universities and institutions conformed to prescribed standards
The Ceylon Medical Council, instituted under colonial rule and later renamed and improved as Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), is legally mandated to take care of the communitys and the peoples health.
Legally it can sue and be sued. Sadly the SLMC official website does not say what its vision and mission are. It has a tab in the toolbar for FAQs but no FAQs. The SLMC has to maintain registers of practising medical doctors, dentists, nurses, and other allied professionals, but they are not posted on the website.
Information like the number of registered medical practitioners, specialists, dental surgeons, foreign graduates, who sat the Act 16 examination are all missing.
Prescribed standards for medical faculties and reports of quality evaluations of medical faculties are not available either.
Even short profiles of academic and professional achievements of the members of the SLMC are not given. In short, the official website of the SLMC is a primitive and pathetic presence on the world wide web. (Accessed on 26 February, 2017 athttp://www.srilankamedicalcouncil.org/ )
It would be interesting to know what information they could provide if requested under the RTI Act now in force.
The SLMC by law is mandated to enter and make inquiries at recognised universities and institutions to ascertain if such universities and institutions conform to
prescribed standards.
If they fail to conform to prescribed standards, the SLMC can recommend to the Minister to withdraw such recognition. And it also means, recognition of medical faculties at the end, is a political decision.
The SLMC stands exposed on this mandate as a political tool, incapable of honouring its own professional and independent presence.
The story of the SAITM controversy begins with its management applying to the UGC in 2011 for approval and acceptance of the medical faculty as a degree awarding institute.
It was then a University Grants Commission (UGC) headed by a Chairperson personally picked by President Rajapaksa.
The UGC recognised SAITM as a medical degree awarding institute and in its annual report of 2011 on Page 02 says
Another major important task in 2011 has been the recognition of South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (Pvt.) Limited (SAITM) and Institute of Information Technology (Guarantee) Limited (SLIIT), as Degree Awarding Institutes for specific degree programmes with a view to developing higher education in the country.
What is more important in the context of mass agitations against SAITM fuelled by SLMC decisions, is the fact that Prof. Carlo Fonseka was a member of the UGC in 2011 that recognised SAITM as a medical degree awarding institute. A few months later in January 2012, handpicked by President Rajapaksa, Professor Carlo Fonseka was appointed Chairman of the SLMC by the then Health Minister
Maithripala Sirisena.
Chaired by Prof. Carlo Fonseka the SLMC had legal powers under Section 19A of the Medical (Amendment) Act No. 30 of 1987 to investigate SAITM After giving not less than two weeks notice in writing, enter a recognised university or institution and make such examination and investigations thereon and such inquiries of the members of the relevant faculty, as may be necessary for the purpose of ascertaining whether,
(a) Courses of study provided by such university or institution leading to the grant or conferment of a medical qualification
(b) The degree proficiency required at examinations held by such university or institution for the purpose of granting or conferring any such qualifications and (c) the staff, equipment, accommodation and facilities provided by such university or institution for such course of study.
If that responsibility was duly carried out by the SLMC in 2012, it would have denied all reasons and space for any protests and controversy over SAITM we see now.
As a member of the UGC that recognised SAITM as a medical degree awarding institute, Prof. Carlo Fonseka had the extra responsibility as Chairman of SLMC to ensure quality or refuse registration of its medical students till quality was adequately matched.
It is quite obvious the SLMC and Prof Carlo Fonseka as Chairman never wanted to examine and investigate SAITM during the Rajapaksa regime. Nor was the GMOA threatened to go on strike Till SAITM is abolished.
Exposing their political nudity 09 months later with the defeat of Rajapaksa in January 2015, Prof. Carlo Fonseka with GMOA backing, manipulated the fact finding report of the SLMC in September to oppose SAITM. He then wrote to the Minister of Health to say the SLMC could not recognise the SAITM medical degree.
Meanwhile, the 2010 Annual Report of the SLMC the last to be posted in their website says, the Council had accepted a medical graduate from the Kazan State Medical University of Russia, on a Personal to the holder basis as that university was not accepted by the SLMC.
Reason given is that the graduate had filed an FR Petition (SC/FR 405/2009) against the Council. Surprisingly the GMOA had seen no wrong in that proving there were no proper standards adhered to, when the SLMC and the GMOA did not want to.
This irresponsibility, this muddling of issues, and political subordination by the SLMC, is not due to political stooging alone. It is the very procedure of constituting the Council that leaves it open to political intrusions and thus for corruption.
It is the very sectarian, undemocratic procedure that makes it possible to appoint political stooges and allow the Council to be totally controlled by State sector medical professionals with GMOA domination.
That is made possible as the Act leaves no representation for any other profession and for the community. It is taken for granted that the medical profession is the only qualified profession that could decide on everything related to health and therefore its exclusive presence is enough to decide on peoples health.
That is how the whole Council of 23 members came to be medical practitioners with all eight medical faculties in State universities, and another representing the Dental Faculty included.
Under 12 (1)(a) of the Act, the Chair of the Council is decided by the President. The Health Minister appoints four more of his choice under 12(1)(f) of the Act.
This does not make the Medical Council take care of community and peoples health and wellbeing, but makes it jealously guard the interests of the medical profession.
The GMOA on the strength of the Government medical practitioners are only fighting for free education and never for Free Health .
Their logic is plain and selfish.
They demand free education to become medical doctors at the expense of taxpayers and then the right to continue selling healthcare at prices they determine to the very taxpayers, who paid for their free education.
They work for private medical care at the expense of free health. It is therefore hard to believe and there is no necessity to believe the medical profession and the GMOA is interested in the health and wellbeing of the community and the people.
Sri Lankan people are therefore at crossroads.
They need serious reforms in education from pre-school to higher education including universities and tertiary/vocational education to turn out better professionals and skilled and educated youth.
But SAITM has virtually blindfolded that need with political campaigning on sectarian slogans of the GMOA and petty political interests of the JVP and other splinter Left groups.
The SAITM nevertheless now brings to the fore, the necessity to completely change the purpose and how the SLMC should be constituted to address the needs of society.
In our culture of professional selfishness and arrogance, the SLMC to be left at the hands of the medical profession alone would be too dangerous to the health of the nation.
The way out would be to include other professions as community representations. It has to provide provincial community representation as well, to make it a nationally representative body.
The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) in fact has Federal State Medical Boards supporting it.
Theres federal representation brought through Federal State boards. They have highly reputed professionals including community representation with seven women out of the 13 in the elected board.
Their election procedure is democratic and transparent, unlike here in Sri Lanka.
The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) also has federal and provincial representation in a Council of 52 members. The public elect up to five members and the medical undergraduates through their Canadian Federation of Medical Students elect two representatives.
The Council elects its Executive Board at its annual meeting for regular deliberations on routine matters.
The General Medical Council (GMC) of Britain has 12 elected members with six elected to represent the community, called lay members. Lay members are not from the medical profession and represent other disciplines. Interestingly in the present GMC, five of the six lay members are women.
Health of the nation cannot and should not be a monopoly of the medical profession. The foremost regulating body therefore should include a wide representation both in terms of professions and
geographical provinces.
In terms of other social segmentations it is necessary to ensure representation from women to youth, from ethnic and religious representation and the private sector. Such broad representation to be brought in, we need an electoral system that can be transparent and democratic. In short, the present SLMC has to be completely overhauled for the benefit of society. That remains the lesson learnt from the SAITM controversy.
In the coming years, Asia is deemed to play a crucial role in the world order with its fast growing economies. Against this backdrop, The Daily Mirror spoke to Prof. Swaran Singh from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi to explain some recent trends of the region. Singh is a Professor of International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), a Visiting Professor at the Research Institute of Indian Ocean Economies (Kunming, China) and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of National Security Studies of Sri Lanka. He is also the President of the Association of Asia Scholars and the General Secretary of the Indian Congress for Asian and Pacific Studies. Excerpts from his interview follow.
Pictures by Nisal Baduge
It has been said that South Asia would define the 21st century and the future of the world. What sets this region apart from any other region?
We say that the invention of the steam engine in the 19th century led to naval fleets, making some countries great powers. Then, in the 20th century, we had the nuclear revolution, which created superpowers of two countries. The source of power in the 21st century however, is with the people and 1/4th of the human race is in South Asia.
This is going to be a distinct strength of the region, whether the citizens are in South Asia or all over the world. It doesnt matter where they are, because they are closely linked to South Asia due to its ancient culture and a history going back 5000 years. So even when our nationals travel to other places, they are rooted in the culture and traditions of this region. They continue to be South Asian even if they have lived abroad for three generations. Our population is what will make South Asia an important region in the world and define how we grow as a race.
The enormous capability that each person has and how productive they will be to society is enormously different to what it was and the time and space shrink is making us more connected.
Starting off with current events. The attack on Mosul has started in an attempt to capture key areas held by ISIS. Asia has felt the presence of this group through its attacks, like with what Pakistan has been experiencing for the past week and through its recruitment. Will the recapture of land from ISIS have any effect in Asia?
The capability of Al Qaeda to recruit from anywhere in the world has catapulted when it comes to ISIS. They are able to recruit people from almost 50 countries. The rise of ISIS and the violence in our societies is partly due to restlessness since we are not comfortable in adapting to change. This leads to the overreaction of people and nations and is a result of the technological infusion. It does have a direct impact on South Asia since we are all connected. They can recruit from South Asia and those who are recruited may bring back agitation to the region.
Another prevailing issue is maritime piracy. The Malacca Strait overtook Somali waters to become the most dangerous waterway in 2014. Asia itself is unique compared to Africa, since almost every country has access to an ocean. Should the initiative of combatting piracy be spearheaded by one nation or should each nation engage in it on its own?
As human activity increasingly expands in enormous volumes, there is only a limited amount of land we have. So human activity, from trade to the exploitation of resources, has shifted from territory to waters. We are also shifting in terms of global activity from the North Atlantic and Europe to Asia, and Asia has far more connections to oceans. Our understanding of life therefore has to shift from territory to oceans.
With this shift I dont think we have a choice in doing things individually. Nation states were created only 350 years ago. Now with this whole time and space shrink, we are becoming even more connected. So we must all pool our resources to deal with this problem. We are talking about a blue economy to attain the sustainability of the human race via the oceans which are not the ownership of any country. These are shared territories, so we all have to work together.
In relation to working together to solve problems, lets look at SAARC. Many are doubting its effectiveness and relevance in the 21st century. We saw these issues highlighted when the 19th summit had to be postponed due to a border dispute. What is the benefit of regional organisations in South Asia? Will SAARC ever have any benefit in the future in this contentious region?
First of all as I said, we would always be connected, so we would have to operate at a regional level. It is not a matter of choice. Secondly, all regions have contentions. Europe had wars. Mexico and USA have conflicts. So we are not unique in having problems. True, the India- Pakistan issue derails some initiatives.
On whether SAARC is delivering, I think we are too ambitious at times. The EU which is far more advanced in human development, took 50 years to grow. We are only 27-years-old. If you look at SAARCs achievements, we have a common understanding in combatting terrorism long before Western countries even became aware of it. Look at the anti-climate change initiatives. I agree that we have been lacking in the implementation of all this but we have taken initiatives, set up secretariats and task forces. We are not as developed as the rest of the world, therefore implementation remains our limitation, but SAARC will deliver. The whole inclusion of observers is a reflection of South Asian confidence in allowing others to come in.
We formally hear Sri Lankan statements that they will not allow their space to be used by China for military purposes. But suddenly, a submarine pops out to anchor and is full of political symbolism
Human activity, from trade to the exploitation of resources, has shifted from territory to waters.
As Sri Lanka is a good friend of India, India would perhaps expect to know of it in advance. If we think it is a threat, we know how to respond
Hambantota port that is being created with the 99 year lease, turning debt into equity, and the large industrial zones are all part of the assets China is creating, which could impinge on the wider understanding of security
A common understanding in combating terrorism long before Western countries became aware of it count among SAARCs achievements
Whenever there is a trust deficit, even the smallest thing can become an overreaction. We have a trust deficit with China. So no matter what happens, we read into it
The issue with the 19th summit was the Jammu-Kashmir problem. 13 years after the ceasefire between the two States, the agreement is in serious trouble with analysts stating that this is because Pakistan needs to regain the prestige lost after the surgical strike on POK launch pads. Will the situation ever resolve itself?
My answer is of a freelancing academic and I dont speak for any Government. I think we will find a solution because one day we will simply forget it. We have fought each other for 70 years and killed millions but have gained nothing, and increasingly these issues will become less important compared to others, especially with the shift from terraferma to oceans, outer space and virtual space. Old obsessions with territories will gradually go away. We were conscious of territorial sovereignty after colonization. Officially we may not say we are giving territory to each other but one day we may just forget about it.
You said that borders would disappear, however Asia can be regarded as the capital of nuclear weapons, with China, North Korea, India and Pakistan increasing their arsenals. Is this a threat to the region and the world?
During World War II there was a race as to who would build the bomb first and ensure survival. This initial madness is no longer there. The number of nuclear warheads is rising, yes, but the estimates made then were that there would be 50 countries. Thats not the case with countries now, who are even giving up their weapons. India, Pakistan and China have not entered into a mad race but are instead letting scientists take their own time in development.
"Just like borders, nukes too will gradually have less importance. We are now talking of climate change as a bigger threat"
We still think there is some excitement in having nuclear power but most other states haven given it up.
When I was studying, we used to talk about the end of the human race and there were movies like Armageddon, but now we dont even hear about it. Therefore just like borders, nukes too will gradually have less importance. We are now talking of climate change as a bigger threat. Hopefully, we will learn that nuclear science is destructive and such a focus is being seen in India and China.
Nuclear weapons equals North Korea. How do we deal with this nation, especially with South Korea having internal problems themselves with their President being impeached. What should be Asias response?
From the moment nuclear weapons were discovered, the USA was obsessed with being master of them. When it came to North Korea it outsourced the responsibility to China, who became the Convenor of the Six Party Talks which were supposed to resolve the problem. USA understood that North Korea needed an Asian solution and this meant that China was the most important country, since it has been the strongest ally of North Korea.
We cannot call North Koreas bluff. The reason for them having these capabilities however, is internal. For the regime to stay in power, they have to concentrate on nationalism and distract people from real internal issues. So to solve the problem of North Korea, we have to inject some means of development into the country and the country most capable of doing this is China. Other countries can work alongside China, like the Sunshine diplomacy of South Korea, to raise the development levels of North Korea.
Speaking of China, it seems to bring about the need of a police force to police the police with her South China Sea expansion policy. This is a country that blatantly disregarded a judgement from a tribunal in the Hague on this matter. Can Asia collectively do anything?
There is no doubt that China has achieved unprecedented economic growth in the last three decades. That has given them unusual leverages which multiply with a one party rule. That is the reality. We need to look at what is feasible, not purely what is desirable. The most interesting example is the 12th June judgement coming from the Arbitration Court in the Hague, which was on a case being filed by the Philippines. However, the petitioner, President Duterte himself doesnt care about the judgement. He made visits to Beijing and has said that they could take the island so long as they provide investment and aid.
Therefore China has different leverages.
We cannot always assume that institutions will deliver. We have to be sensitive to the fact that the Chinese have also had some of these claims for a long time, since the Ming dynasty. It is open to interpretation whether we agree with the claims or not. Other countries like Japan and the Philippines are also building islands. So legalistically, everyone is breaching the norm. Moreover, when China signed UNCLOS, they had already made a reservation to the clause making arbitration obligatory, as did two dozen other countries.
Lets look at a threat where the petitioner does mind. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which is a 46 billion dollar investment has been called unacceptable by Prime Minister Modi. Is it a threat to India?
It is not a threat to India but it is definitely a project impinging on Indias national security interests. This has been an unusual relationship from the beginning, with a completely atheist State engaging a religious republic. President Xi Jinping promises 46 billion dollars of overall investment in Pakistan which has about 250 billion dollars of an economy in total. Therefore, 46 is a lot.
In addition, this is the only time in history where a country has wanted a 10,000 strong force to protect its engineers and assets. Why do you need such an investment for an economic project? Who are the enemies there? China is very conscious about internal opposition that may erupt as well as any Indian opposition. Ours is based on a legalistic position where, according to international law, a country cannot be investing in foreign territories which it believes are disputed territory, and China is such a country.
Most of the world is condemning President Trump for his proposed border wall with Mexico. However India itself has fences with Pakistan and Bangladesh. What is the need for such a construction? Are they even effective in stopping immigration?
A wall or a fence is only a temporary solution which shows that you are unable to manage your relations. I am doubtful whether the wall will become a solution. Despite the fences we have, people are still coming across. Mexico and USA also have a fence but they still have drugs coming to the North and arms going to the South. It is not a one-sided problem.
Fences are not 100% effective due to the geography surrounding them. There could also be human errors and flaws that allow people to overcome fences. They are therefore merely crisis management tools and dont solve problems. This is in light of the shift from territory to other spaces like virtual and outer space. You cannot place borders in those places and stop the flow of people or knowledge. It is better to handle things without a wall since it reflects a failure to manage.
Moving on to relations with Sri Lanka. Leaving aside all diplomatic language, in all honesty, how much of a threat is Chinas investment in Hambantota especially after the submarine issue? Sri Lanka does act as a road block in the naval exercises of India.
If a nation knows and understands a threat to its wider security, it will take action to resolve the issue. So, a problem arises if things occur that India does not understand. For example, we formally hear Sri Lankan statements that they will not allow their space to be used by China for military purposes. But suddenly, a submarine pops out to anchor and is full of political symbolism. This is different from just moving around. Because Sri Lanka is a good friend of India, India would perhaps expect to know of it in advance. If we think it is a threat, we know how to respond. But when a very country close to us suddenly shows such activity, it is a surprise. Even the Hambantota port that is being created with the 99 year lease, turning debt into equity, and the large industrial zones are all part of the assets China is creating, which could impinge on the wider understanding of security. Confidence has to be built. If a country is thinking of changing policy, they can do whatever they want but other countries that assume they are also partners would like to be taken into confidence.
Submarines are also fundamentally offensive weapons. When they start showing up in Pakistan and Bangladesh, that makes this one popping up to be perceived by India in a different way. But thats also okay as long as neighbours keep each other in confidence, because whenever there is a trust deficit, even the smallest thing can become an overreaction. We have a trust deficit with China. So no matter what happens, we read into it.
Forty years down the road, what will the South Asian region look like post-Trump and post-Brexit? We already have repercussions with the USA cancelling the TPP, which has heavily affected Japan.
Since we are talking long-term, I think some of these near term trajectories will not be relevant. Trump as an individual is not important but the rise of Trump as a trend is. This is visible in France, Germany and the Philippines. Democracies which are the most fashionable forms of government are seeing the masses throwing up new leaders, and even if a leader is from an elite class he has to carry the sentiments of the base.
The base is empowered today because of technology, so they determine the politics. That will be the trend of the future. The economic and social models of lifestyle we have created will change. More pressure will be exerted now on ensuring sustainability on environmental issues and going back to national frameworks. These trends may come up and trigger new tensions. When the USA starts withdrawing from the global road, China will fill those shoes. There are discussion whether the TPP should invite China now to fill the vacuum. There will always be other countries willing to fill the vacuum but the fundamental change is that human beings will be far more mobile, travelling and working from around the world. They will also be far more capable. Therefore, the identity of South Asia will be formulated by South Asian societies rather than South Asian States. States will have to re-engage other stakeholders such as the media, NGOs and civil society. South Asia will go back to its societal identity and we may see it becoming far more cohesive.
He says that there is no need for Policemen to carry weapons in the North, as they were only needed to prevent thefts and other minor offences, at a time when sophisticated weapons are used in almost all robberies.
Pushes for Police and Land Powers for the North
The Theras statement likely to disturb the JHU, which thinks differently
The party calls for his resignation after his decision to act independently in Parliament
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Parliamentarian Ven. Athureliye Rathana Thera, who is in the centre of a controversy over his recent statement that he would be an independent member in Parliament, has attempted to create another controversy during the inaugural conference of his organisation, the Sri Lanka National Council (SLNC) on Tuesday.
The Thera, possibly the most liberal character in the JHU, had told in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena that Police and Land Powers should be devolved to the Tamil dominated Northern Province.
The war is over. Therefore we can give the Tamil people a Police force with civil administrative powers, he had said adding that there was no need for Policemen to carry weapons in the North, as they were only needed to prevent thefts and other minor offences.
Instead of the khaki uniformed colonialist Police personnel in the High Security Zones, we could simply deploy Police officers clad in white uniforms in the Northern areas without firearms, the Thera stated. In fact, Police and land are two subjects already devolved to the Provincial Councils as far back as 1987 through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was promulgated as a result of another contentious political development, the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord signed between Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
However, no President had so far issued a Gazette notification authorizing the formation of a Provincial Police Division and the Provincial Land Commission as provided by the said Constitutional Amendment for the practical devolution of those powers.
Hence, Ven. Theras suggestion could be implemented simply with a Presidential order without going through Parliament.
However, even former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who accused former Presidents J.R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa and D.B. Wijetunga of not issuing the Gazette notification with regard to Land and Police powers to the Provincial Councils, when she was elected the Chief Minister of the Western Province in 1994, did not think it fit to issue it when she was voted in as President later in the same year.
It is interesting to note that Ms. Kumaratunga, who not only has been agitating for devolution of powers to the Provincial Councils since the concept was mooted in 1980s but also faced the anti-devolution violence soon after that did not sign the Gazette during her 11 year tenure as President.
Her husband, the actor-turned-politician Vijaya Kumaratunga had to sacrifice his life partly due to his pro-devolution stance.
The JHU is at odds with Ven. Rathana Thera after he declared recently that he would act as an independent member in the Parliament- a statement tantamount to rejecting the political leadership of the JHU and the leaders of the party including its Chairman Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera- had openly called for his resignation from Parliament.
The party, one of the harshest detractors of devolution of powers in general and Land and Police powers in particular, might have been further provoked by Ven. Rathana Theras statement, in favour of granting Land and Police powers to the Provincial Councils.
The Sri Lanka National Council of Ven. Rathana Thera is an entity that emerged prominently during the last Presidential election and expressed views different from those of the JHU.
For instance, the SLNC was then for the abolition of Executive Presidency, whereas the JHU wanted only to prune some of the powers vested in the Executive President.
Revival of this organisation with an idea anathema to the JHU in the wake of an already simmering conflict might further distance the Thera from the JHU.
However, Ven. Theras stand on granting Police Powers to the Provinces seems to be problematic in a practical sense.
He says there is no need for Policemen to carry weapons in the North, as they were only needed to prevent thefts and other minor offences, at a time when sophisticated weapons are used in almost all robberies.
The general assumption among the large majority of Sinhalese in the country is that devolving Police and Land powers to the Provinces is inimical to the national security and the territorial integrity, in spite of many safeguards that had been included in the 13th Amendment. However, contrary to the popular presumption that a carte blanche has been granted to the Provinces when the Land Power is vested in them, the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that State Land was vested in the Central Government and not in the Provincial Councils. Interestingly, this landmark judgment was delivered five days after the Northern Province polled overwhelmingly in favour of greater autonomy for the region, with former Supreme Court judge C.V.Wigneswaran at the helm. Similarly, the Constitution provides for so many safeguards in respect of Police Powers as well.
Despite another belief that granting Police Powers meant creating an autonomous Police Independent of the national Police, the Constitution provides IGP shall be the head of the Sri Lanka Police, which shall be divided into the National Division and a Provincial Division for each Province.
And the decision making high ranking officers of the Provincial Division from ASPs upwards would be those seconded from the National Division.
The head of the Provincial Division, a DIG would be appointed by the IGP with the concurrence of the Chief Minister of the Province.
Allaying fears of many further the Constitution says Upon the declaration of an emergency in the Province, the President may assume such powers and responsibilities of the Chief Minister and the Provincial Administration in respect of public order within the Province.
Also the IGP has also been authorised to deploy units of National Division in any Province, where a State of emergency is declared for the restoration of public order.
Nonetheless, apart from the propaganda by the fear-mongering politicians in the south, Tamil leaders on their part have failed to dispel fears and doubts among the Sinhalese or furthered them with some of their actions taken in times of desperation and rivalries among them.
The best case in point was the cold-blooded murder of 41 Provincial Trainee Police personnel by the ruling party of the North-Eastern Provincial Council in 1989.
When the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) that had been deployed under the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord was ordered to leave the country by President Premadasa in 1989, the administration of the merged North-Eastern Provincial council was left at the mercy of its enemy, the LTTE.
The Chief Minister of the Province Varadharaja Perumal hurriedly recruited Tamil and Muslim youth to the newly formed Civil Volunteer Force (CVF) as a forerunner to his Provincial Police Division, under a Gazette notification issued by the Central Government.
Nevertheless, when the IPKF de-induction from Sri Lanka was started, a desperate ruling party of the Province, the EPRLF singled out 41Muslim CVF personnel and shot them dead before disbanding of the CVF, for reasons hitherto not known. The then State Minister for Defence, Ranjan Wijeratne referring to the incident in the Parliament stated that the Chief Minister had gone mad to such an extent that he had killed his own Police personnel. The recent resolutions adopted by the Northern Provincial Council calling for an international investigation into the Human Rights allegedly violated by the security forces and claiming that Tamils had been subjected to genocide during the war also might have heightened the fears and doubts of the south on the usage of powers devolved to the provinces.
Besides these negative factors in respect of granting Police Powers to the Provinces, one cannot expect President Maithripala Sirisena to tread a path that even President Kumaratunga feared to, in spite of Ven. Rathana Theras thought provoking transformation.
Today is World Wildlife Day with the vision being to celebrate and raise awareness on the worlds wild animals and plants. On December 20, 2013 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed March 3, the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
This years theme is Listen to the Young Voices based on the fact that almost one quarter of the worlds population is aged between 10 and 24. The UN says vigorous efforts need to be made to encourage young people as the worlds future leaders and decision makers to act at both local and global levels to protect endangered wildlife.
According to the UN, the engagement and empowerment of youth is high on the agenda of the United Nations and this objective is being achieved through the youth programmes of various UN organisations and the UN Secretary Generals Envoy on Youth
In September last year, CITES members gathered at Johannesburg in South Africa. They adopted the first CITES resolution on Youth Engagement. This year world youth are being urged to rally to address ongoing major threats to wildlife, including habitat change, over-exploitation or illicit trafficking.
Youth are the agents of change. We are already seeing the positive impacts on conservation issues made by some young conservation leaders around the world. If they can help make a change, you can too! the UN says.
The UN expresses the hope that in every region, Governments, law makers, enforcement officers, Customs officials and park rangers are scaling up their efforts to protect wildlife. The UN also urges citizens, young and old, to protect wildlife and their habitats.
We all have a role to play. Our collective conservation actions can be the difference between a species surviving or disappearing. Its time for us to listen to the young voices. the UN adds.
In Sri Lanka also we hope the National Government will give the awareness or encouragement and empower young people through schools, universities and other institutions to play a key role in protecting our endangered wildlife species, including the majestic elephant, which has played and is playing a historical role in our country.
We hope that student organizations, instead of provoking groups to protest at peak times on issues connected to political agendas, will rise beyond narrow mindedness or extremism and empower our youth to come to the front and centre of protecting endangered fauna or flora.
The World Wildlife Fund says our vision must be to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. From our experience as the worlds leading independent conservation body, we know that the well-being of people, wildlife and the environment are closely linked. That is why we take an integrated approach to our work. Were striving to safeguard the natural world, helping people live more sustainably and take action against climate change. We spend time working with communities, with politicians and with businesses to find solutions so people and nature can thrive. Our projects are innovative, collaborative and based on scientific evidence. And we think big. We run a number of Global initiatives focussing on the regions and challenges where we can make the biggest difference - from the Arctic and the Amazon to responsible fishing, the WWF says.
Sri Lankas Department of Wildlife Conservation says its vision is the conservation of wildlife heritage for present and future generation. It says it is working with others to ensure conservation and wildlife heritage through professional management.
To what extent the vision is being practised may be a wild guess with subject Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera claiming at a meeting this week that effective steps have been taken to solve the so-called humanelephant conflict. We hope the Government and the Department will mobilise young people for the battle against habitat change, including deforestation, over-exploitation or illicit trafficking in endangered species.
Government notifies Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017
Published: March 2, 2017
The Union Government has notified the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017 to prohibit the holding, transferring or receiving of scrapped old Rs.500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes from 31 December, 2016,
This law makes possession of more than a certain number of the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes a criminal offence.
Key Features of Act
It ends the liability of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government on the demonetised Rs.500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes.
It prohibits the holding, transferring or receiving of demonitised notes from 31 December, 2016 and confers power on the court of a first class magistrate to impose the penalty.
Possessing more than 10 pieces of old notes by individuals and more than 25 pieces for study, research or numismatics purposes will attract a fine of Rs. 10,000 or five times the value of cash held, whichever is higher.
Fine of a minimum of Rs, 50,000 will be imposed for a false declaration by persons for being abroad during the demonetisation period (9 November-30 December, 2016).
Background
The Union Government had demonetised old Rs.500 and Rs. 1,000 notes from November 2016 on the recommendations of the RBIs central board to eliminate unaccounted money and fake currency notes from the financial system. As a follow up, The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017 was passed by Parliament in February 2017 and received assent of President Pranab Mukherjee on 27 February 2017. The law aims to eliminating the possibility of running a parallel economy using demonetised currency notes. The demonetisation had abruptly sucked out 86% of the currency in circulation in the form of Rs.500 and Rs. 1,000 out of the system.
Month: Current Affairs - March, 2017
Topics: Bills and Acts Current Affairs - 2017 Demonitisation National RBI
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Delhi Police activities have shocked me ever since I was a young boy in the 1950s. Since I lived in a "posh" house in an affluent colony, I could watch and even put in a word or two, protesting police manhandling of servants, chowkidars and even municipal workers.
Often the reason was gambling where barely Rs 20 or Rs 25 changed hands. Some constables wanted a cut, others were happy to be treated to tea or "golgappas" at the local sweet shop. The more senior were more careful. One sat with me and as we ate a few sweets he told me of the increasing thefts in a nearby colony. I didn't see him again for a year.
He told me that he'd caught the thieves, but one of them worked for a VIP, so he was transferred to old Delhi. Later, when my stepfather - a senior police officer - arrived and was posted to Telangana in Naxalite operations, I saw another side.
These policemen were armed and gave no quarter. A human rights activist who I came to know well, told me categorically that relatively few Maoists were taken alive, because of orders from "above". Now such reports are commonplace in areas like Bastar and Chhattisgarh. And it is widely believed that innocents are also killed in cross-fire or due to mistaken identity.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the police have been politicised. This leads me to the strange interaction between the Delhi Police and Jawaharlal Nehru University between February 2016 and today.
On the night of February 9, 2016, a meeting was organised by some students where they allegedly shouted "anti-India" slogans. The new ultranationalist JNU vice-chancellor had the security collect information on the students involved, helped further by the ultranationalist ABVP.
With this scanty evidence, Kanhaiya Kumar, JNU Students Union president, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested under the very serious charge of sedition. Sedition, a 1870 law, Section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code, is applied not because of offensive slogans but if there is incitement to violence.
But for JNU, which was unpopular with then Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the Union government, different standards apply. Interestingly, Gandhi ironically termed the sedition law the "prince of all laws" as it considered "disaffection against the King" to be sedition, and the Mahatma pleaded guilty and was jailed. Also of interest is the fact that last month, February 2017, the president rated JNU the best central university in India, despite some powers that be.
JNU vice-chancellor Jagadesh Kumar is a known right-winger who is trying to dismantle statutes and rules of the university. Photo: India Today
So the three students accused of sedition were jailed and tried. But the judge hearing the case immediately spotted the weakness of the sedition charge as pointed out by lawyers, that there had been no incitement to violence. And in the case of Kanhaiya, he had not been part of the protest, nor had he put up or held any "anti-Indian" posters.
So the JNU students came out on bail. But with strict orders from above, the Delhi Police continued to try making a case against the "JNU Three". Yesterday morning, a first page Times of India report came out titled, "Police fail to prove sedition case against Kanhaiya".
Poor Delhi Police, despite all their efforts they couldn't jail Kanhaiya. According to journalist Rajshekhar Jha, "the chargesheet nowhere says Kanhaiya raised anti-India slogans but does say he did nothing to stop them or the event". Witnesses would question this. However, Jha makes a peculiar statement: "Regarding Kanhaiya, cops have left it to the court if charges are to be framed against him, sources say."
Now this is highly irregular. It is for the police to collect evidence. On the basis of the evidence found, a charge is framed by the police. The court can then certainly change or add to the charge. But if the police states that Kanhaiya never raised "anti-India" slogans, then how can it ask that the court frame charges?
Jha also reports that "the chargesheet to be finalised under Section 121A (sic)", the actual Section is 124A, "and criminal conspiracy is before the police commissioner and a final nod for submission is awaited". And who are the witnesses to this "criminal conspiracy?" JNU administration, ABVP, DSU and security guards.
The vice-chancellor is a known right-wing person who is trying to dismantle statutes and rules of JNU. He was pulled up by the Delhi High Court for not punishing eight ABVP students who roughed up Najeeb Ahmed, the night before he disappeared.
ABVP students are highly unreliable. The DSU is a small far-Left students group. The large Left student organisations like AISA, AISF and SFI were not asked about the incident. Why not? The most intriguing aspect is of the nine "outsiders", all Kashmiris, none of whom were from JNU. They were the only nine identified by videos which "showed 140-odd protesters".
So the Delhi Police and its witnesses could only identify nine outsiders out of more than 140. Even for them severe incompetence. And what did the Delhi Police do with these protesters? Jha writes, "After assuring them that no legal action, that is arrest, would be taken, their statements were recorded. A few have gone to Kashmir and some refused to come back..."
So another first by the Delhi Police. Outsiders who were Kashmiris, with Kashmir being one of the issues in the protest, were not charged, and let off without any action. The moral of this story is clear.
The Supreme Court has done well to delink the issue of instant divorce among Muslims from the larger question of a common civil code. This brings the focus back to the vexed issue and stops the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) from obfuscating it to garner Muslim support.
Dogma
Many ordinary Muslims, including women, are unaware of Islamic jurisprudence, so think that this is a universally accepted religious dogma which they must support. This misunderstanding emanates from the unity displayed by Indian ulema of all sects on their male chauvinist rights to treat their wives as slaves.
While ulema keep fighting among themselves on minor theological differences, there is perfect unity on this issue. Even ulema whose school of thought does not allow this evil practice, support AIMPLBs un-Islamic position. Ahl-e-Hadiths, for instance, follow Hanbali Law and, like Saudis, do not accept triple talaq in one sitting as valid. But the general secretary of Ahl-e-Hadith, Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi, is adamant that the Centre and the courts should not interfere in personal matters of religion.
Same is the case of Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, renowned Shia Muslim cleric and vice-president of the (AIMPLB). The Jafri school of thought that Shias follow invalidates the practice of instant triple talaq. Shias themselves do not practice it. Maulana Sadiq advises Sunnis to rethink the issue, but remains with AIMPLB that endorsed triple talaq in its counter-affidavit to the Supreme Court.
Many ordinary Muslims, including women, are unaware of Islamic jurisprudence, so think that this is a universally accepted religious dogma which they must support.
Other prominent Muslim clergymen in India also take this self-contradictory position. Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani, of Jamiat-ul-Ulema, for instance, admitted in a TV discussion: Imam Abu Hanifa has gone to the extent of saying that jis ne ye kaam kiya wo haram fail ka murtakib hua," meaning whoever does this has committed a haram (forbidden) act. Imam Abu Hanifa is the founder of the Hanafi school of thought that most Muslims of the Indian subcontinent follow. He considers triple talaq a haram act.
No wonder, immediately after its creation, Pakistan took steps to abolish the practice, along with other un-Islamic practices in the Anglo-Mohammedan Law that still goes by the name of Muslim Personal Law in India.
Bizarre
AIMPLBs own position is no less self-contradictory, and is indeed quite bizarre. While endorsing it, it also calls instant triple talaq an abhorrent and prohibited practice. Its law book Majmooa-e-Qawaneen Islami, says in Article (267): Talaq-e-bidat (the hateful, un-Quranic way of giving talaq, that is, triple talaq in one sitting) is prohibited (mamnoo); however, if one does give such a talaq-e-bidat, the talaq will be valid, and the talaq-giver will be sinful.
Article 269 of the Qawaneen, however, takes the cake. As an average Muslim understands, in Islam intention is all-important. So much so that when a Muslim stands up for prayer, its not considered enough that he is doing everything that is done in prayer. He has to specifically state that he intends to pray. Now read what AIMPLBs law book says in the matter of triple talaq: Talaq-e-Sareeh, that is, talaq by using clear and plain words effect divorce whether one intends divorce by them or not.
It must have been based on this that the Deobandi fatwa told a young Muslim husband that even if you wrote the word talaq thrice in jest while chatting playfully with your newly wedded wife online, your divorce is final and you cannot remarry her unless your wife performs halala, that is, marries someone else, consummates her marriage, sleeps with the new spurious husband for a few nights, and gets a divorce from him later.
Practice
Halala is the most obscene social practice among Indian Muslims which has the blessings of all sections of ulema. This practice will be automatically eliminated if triple talaq is abolished or three talaqs uttered in one session are considered one Quranic talaq, as is done in 22 Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, Morocco, Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. Even Sri Lanka with less than 10 per cent of Muslims in its population, has managed to reform Muslim personal law and make it more gender-just.
India alone has been unable to move forward. If the government keeps waiting for approval of ulema, it is never going to happen. Ulema are not going to accept the Quran as their guide anytime soon. For them Sharia with 90 per cent of its rules based on Arab tribal customs is the source of legislation.
They call Sharia divine, even though it was first codified 120 years after the demise of the Prophet and has been changing since from time to time and place to place. All hope now lies with the Supreme Court.
India, South Korea talk about possibility of revising DTAC
Published: November 8, 2012
At a high level meeting b/w India and South Korea, both the nations discussed the possibility of revising Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). Discussions included expanding information sharing b/w the taxation authorities and cooperation in modernizing the customs system of both countries. Cooperation in public procurement and measures to develop co-financing infrastructure projects were also part of discussions.
Month: Current Affairs - November, 2012
Topics: 2012 India-International Relations
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Vulture population rises in India
Published: November 15, 2012
As per a recent report by the Bombay Natural History Society (BHNS) rapid decline in the number of critically endangered Indian vultures has stopped. Indias vulture population has risen for the first time in last 20 years, after a sharp decline in their numbers by more than 99%. Vulture numbers decreased in India from 4 crore in the early 80s to less than 1 lakh in 2011.
Why Vulture numbers were fast declining in India?
Diclofenac , a painkilling drug administered to cattle, is the main cause of mass extinction of vultures.
, a painkilling drug administered to cattle, is the main cause of mass extinction of vultures. Vultures, which have a digestive system robust enough to even digest disease-causing pathogens found in rotting meat of dead, do not have a critical enzyme that breaks down diclofenac and die of renal failure after eating carcasses of cattle administered the drug.
and after eating carcasses of cattle administered the drug. Vultures feeding on cattle either die from acute kidney failure within a few days or lose their ability to reproduce.
Diclofenac is a painkilling drug administered to cattle.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put vultures on its list of critically endangered species.
The three most common species of vultures and there approx. numbers in the India are:
Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), also known as the Indian vulture (44,000) White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) (11,000) Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) (1,000)
Month: Current Affairs - November, 2012
Topics: 2012 November 2012
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Showcasing that talent does not stop once you are 65 years of age, the Farmington Presbyterian Manor hosted the annual awards ceremony on Feb. 24 for the Art is Ageless art show.
We are honored to exhibit artwork by seniors, said Heidi Beyer, marketing director for Presbyterian Manor. 'Art is Ageless' is unique in featuring only the works of artists age 65 and older. Our artists prove that art, in any form, is an ageless ambition.
Artists from all over Southeast Missouri converge on the manor for the three-day event to display their works of art in 15 different categories.
The exhibit and competition always draws a wide array of impressive artwork from talented seniors, said Beyer. We had 77 entries this year from artists from Festus to Cape Girardeau.
Working in conjunction with the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, the regional art show is open to anyone age 65 and older and offers many different venues for artists to compete in as either a professional or an amateur artist.
In the last eight years, I have entered every year except for one year and that was when I was in a nursing home because of a stroke, said Phyllis Kluver, who entered a piece of work in the Christmas Amateur category. I always have a lot of fun at this show.
Many of the artist who participate in the show did not realize their artistic capabilities until much later in life.
I didnt start painting until I was 50 years old. I had some health issues and had to retire, so I took some classes at Jefferson College and learned to paint, said Janet Krause, who won Best in Show for her painting Oh God, Oh Country. I think this is a great event. It shows there is still a lot of talented people over 65 years old.
This years Peoples Choice Award was awarded to DeeAnne Hansen, for her piece Acrylic and this year Judge's Choice was present to Iris Vincent, for Above & Beyond.
Art is Ageless Art Exhibit is held annually at the Farmington location as well as 16 other Presbyterian Manor communities in Kansas and Missouri. Those who took first place in their division or earned Judges Choice and Best in Show are invited to compete against artists from the other communities in Wichita, Kansas. The winning artwork will be highlighted in the 2018 Art is Ageless calendar.
Winners in the Farmington Presbyterian Manor Art is Ageless juried competition were:
Christmas (professional): Juanita Rapp Wyman, Primary Pine Trees Light-up the Snowy Landscape
Christmas (amateur): Lynette Satterthwaite, And Then in a Twinkling
Drawing (professional): Victoria Gallagher Cummings, Evening
Drawing (amateur): Susan E. Corvick, Morning Light
Fiber Arts (professional): Diane Dickerson, Moon Over the Mississippi
Mixed Media/Crafts (professional): Diane Dickerson, Four Faces of Eve
Mixed Media/Crafts (amateur): June Yoder, Button Doll
Needlework (amateur): Helen Kripplaben, First Song
Painting (professional): Rita Francis, Goldfinch and Sunflower
Painting (amateur): John R. Laughlin, Soaring Free
Photography (professional): Juanita Rapp Wyman, Breakfast on the Balcony
Photography (amateur): Marty Riley, Inside Burfordville Mill
Quilting (amateur): Marie Saunders, Monkey Wrenched
Sculpture/3-D (professional): Gene Thompson, Moores Stove Company
Sculpture/3-D (amateur): Iris Vincent, From the Past
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the exploration, development, and recovery of minerals and precious metals located primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. It also holds a 100% interest in the Western Foreland exploration project covering an area of approximately 2,407 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company has a strategic partnership agreement with China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. to examine exploration, development, and acquisition of mineral projects, as well as production, smelting, and logistics opportunities in Africa. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. was formerly known as Ivanplats Limited and changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. in August 2013. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Farmington Mayor Mit Landrum began the Feb. 27 meeting by stating the council would take care of a piece of business that should have been done years ago.
At that point, Landrum invited former Mayor Dr. Charles Rorex to the front of the audience.
When a councilperson leaves their seat, it is customary for the council to present a plaque in recognition of their years of service.
In Rorexs case, Landrum said, that presentation was never made.
He was on the city council from 1998 to 2003, Landrum said. The city never recognized him for that service. We wanted to correct that terrible omission.
Landrum said serving on the council is more than just attending the regular sessions two times a month.
Its a dedicated effort, he said. All the people behind me have been great city council members and Charlie was a great city council member when he was on (the council). It is my pleasure and privilege to present you with this token of service and an apology, Charlie, for being so tardygetting this to you.
On behalf of the people of Farmington, Charlie, thank you so much.
Those in attendance gave Rorex a standing ovation. He told the crowd it was a privilege to serve the great citizens of the city.
It was also my pleasure to work with great administration, the employees here in Farmington are doing a great job, Rorex said. I want to thank you, as members of the council and mayor, for the good job youre doing and the years of service youre giving for this city.
It continues to grow beyond my thoughts. Its because of you, the administration and the employees of Farmington.
In other business, the council approved through a second reading and council action an ordinance approving a boundary adjustment at Mineral Area Park at Weber Road.
The request was made by Parkland Health Center. A first reading on the ordinance was held earlier this month following a public hearing on the request.
This is part of the old Mineral Area Hospital campus, City Administrator Greg Beavers said after the meeting. This involves the single-story building there on Weber Road that previously had doctors offices and a Walgreens Pharmacy on that site. There are two houses just immediately to the east of that also belong to the hospital property.
Although no official confirmation has been made, it was previously announced a portion of the complex would be donated to the county by Parkland Health Center for the location of a county morgue.
(The hospital) intends to give the two houses to Habitat for Humanity, he said. The intent is after that, Habitat will tear those houses down they are on our enforcement list for nuisance properties and build some nice, new houses on the property.
Also on the councils agenda was an ordinance that was carried over from the Feb. 9 council meeting regarding a special use permit for the operation of a day care.
During that meeting, a manager of an adult business located near the proposed area at 120 Holly Tree Lane expressed concerns over the location violating the companys policy of not being located near children.
After much discussion at that meeting, the council decided to table a vote on the ordinance which was up for a first and second reading and council action in regular session to clarify the requirements for a day care facility located near an adult business.
There was discussion at the meeting as well, when council first had to make a motion to untable the ordinance.
Beavers explained the original ordinance regulating adult businesses not being located within 1,000 feet of children was put in place after this business opened.
It seems the ordinance relates to similar businesses wanting coming in within those boundary requirements not when businesses relating to children are located within that area. One item pointed out was the fact St. Paul High School is located within that boundary area.
Beavers noted any adult businesses at the current location could not reopen at the location should it close and cease operations.
The council approved the ordinance by a vote of 6 to 0. Ward IV Councilmen Garett Boatright and Mark Kellogg were not in attendance.
Also approved were two resolutions under consent agenda the first being a contract with Visu-Sewer and the second appointing Laura Yates on the Park Board.
The council also held a first reading on an ordinance authorizing filing of applications with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility commission on behalf of the city.
It was also reported the sales tax receipts through January were up 4.6 percent over the previous year.
The council next meets on March 9.
Salzgitter AG, together with its subsidiaries, engages in steel and technology businesses worldwide. It operates through five segments: Strip Steel, Plate/Section Steel, Mannesmann, Trading, and Technology. The Strip Steel segment manufactures branded and special steels, such as hot-rolled strip steel and steel sheets, sections, tailored blanks, and components for the construction industry. The Plate/Section Steel segment produces various high-grade heavy plates for engineering, shipbuilding, and mechanical engineering, as well as trades in scrap. The Mannesmann segment is involved in the manufacture of line pipes, HFI-welded tubes, precision and stainless-steel tubes, and spiral-welded and longitudinal-welded large-diameter pipes; and seamless and welded tubes for the energy, automotive, and mechanical engineering sectors. The Trading segment operates a European sales network, as well as trading companies and agencies worldwide. The Technology segment engages in the provision of machinery and plants for the filling and packaging of beverages, as well as special machinery engineering for shoe manufacturing and elastomer production. The company also provides IT, facility management, logistics, automotive engineering, and research and development services, as well as supplies raw materials. Salzgitter AG was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Salzgitter, Germany.
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA provides dialysis care and related dialysis care services in Germany, North America, and internationally. It offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure. The company also develops, manufactures, and distributes dialysis products, including polysulfone dialyzers, hemodialysis machines, peritoneal dialysis cyclers, peritoneal dialysis solutions, hemodialysis concentrates, solutions and granulates, bloodlines, renal pharmaceuticals, and systems for water treatment; and non-dialysis products, such as acute cardiopulmonary and apheresis products. In addition, it develops, acquires, and in-licenses renal pharmaceuticals; offers renal medications and supplies to patients at homes or to dialysis clinics; and provides vascular, cardiovascular, endovascular specialty, vascular care ambulatory surgery center, and physician nephrology and cardiology services. The company sells its products to dialysis clinics, hospitals, and specialized treatment clinics directly, as well as through local sales forces, independent distributors, dealers, and sales agents. As of February 23, 2022, it operated 4,171 outpatient dialysis clinics in approximately 150 countries. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.
My bill, HB 817 was heard in the Veterans Committee this week. HB 817 would mandate that the POW/MIA flag be flown on state buildings if they already have the proper flagpoles to fly the flag. By only requiring those state buildings that have the necessary equipment to fly the flag, we will be boosting Veterans morale and costing no money to the state. In 1997, President Clinton proposed that the POW/MIA flag be flown 6 days per year. However, the national VFW wrote a paper that clearly stated they believe it should be flown every day. I have been working with Dennis Sweet and other VFW members on this bill as a way to show all of our Veterans that we respect their sacrifices. Missouri has over 3,200 service men that have not returned home and are unaccounted for. Flying the MIA/POW flag will help show Missourians respect and remembrance for those who have given their lives to protect our state and country.
On a good note regarding the state budget. The Governor has announced that the state will receive another $52 million in funding as the result of a legal settlement. Governor Greitens said the money will be used to restore previously made cuts to home and community based services ($41 million) and K-12 transportation ($11 million).
Four bills caught my attention this week.
HB 138 expands access to virtual education programs for Missouri students by allowing them to enroll in virtual courses. These are usually advanced topics that the schools cannot offer due to lack of funding. With the bill, the courses will be paid for with state funds that would normally go to the school district.
HB 288changes the law regarding unemployment benefits. Currently unemployment benefits are available for 20 weeks. This will reduce it to 13 weeks if unemployment is below 6 percent. The bill also requires increasing the unemployment trust fund minimum balance. This will keep the state from borrowing from the federal government during high unemployment, thus keeping taxes lower for businesses and reducing Missouris dependence on the federal government.
HB 151 would bring Missouri in compliance with the federal REAL ID law passed in 2005. REAL ID raises the proof of identify for IDs and also requires states to retain information they receive for 10 years. Currently, our Missouri IDs are not accepted on military bases and in 2018 Missouri IDs will not be accepted in airports. Its important to note the bill will still allow anyone concerned with sharing their personal information can still obtain the regular non-compliant license if they so choose.
HB 655extends the tax credit donations made to pregnancy resource centers to 2026. Currently Missouri can issue up to $5 million annually in tax credits for donations made to these centers. Many of these centers offer free services and provide valuable resources and knowledge and support to women in crisis or an unplanned pregnancy. I was honored to meet with Ellen Masulit-Fischer representing the Caring Hearts Pregnancy Resource Center and to meet a client of the Pregnancy Resource Center, Lana and her beautiful two week old baby.
I had the pleasure of meeting with several organizations from my district. I met with a large group of people from BJC. Visited with Occupational Students who were here for Occupational Day at the Capitol, including student Marissa Bonney. Also was able to visit with Stacy and Tim Azinger representing the L.I.F.E center in Farmington and also visited with people from Alliance for Life.
Thank you to all who write in or call my office with their concerns and for those who take the time to travel to Jefferson City. I appreciate hearing from you and it is an honor to serve as your State Representative.
Please contact me at 201 West Capitol Avenue, Room 115-H, Jefferson City, MO 65101 Email: mike.henderson@house.mo.gov
The St. Francois County Commission appointed four new members to the St. Francois County Public Housing Authority Board (PHAB) when it met in regular session Tuesday in the courthouse annex.
County Clerk Mark Hedrick explained to the commissioners why it was necessary to appoint four new members to the PHAB.
"Bill Tucker came in who is with East Missouri Action Agency (EMAA)," he said. "He sort of oversees this particular board. It does say St. Francois County, but it covers more than one county.
"The problem was that they felt there were conflicts of interest with four on the board because they were also on the EMAA board who receives the funding for PHAB. So, the people that give the funds said they need to make a new board and take away this conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest."
According to Hedrick, four people were recommended for the board. One would be appointed for four years, one for three years and two for two years.
"So when you make your appointments, you need to do it that way," he said. "I don't have any recommendation and they had no recommendation on who receives which terms."
Commissioner Patrick Mullins explained that after a recent audit of PHAB finances, there had been some discrepancies and the auditor thought it would be best to replace the four PHAB members to "err on the side of caution."
The commission subsequently appointed Denny Ward of Southeast Missouri Transportation Service to a four-year term; Stephanie Parks of the St. Francois County Board for the Developmentally Disabled to a three-year term; Stephanie Bennett of the Southeast Missouri Family Violence Council to a two-year term; and Laura Miller to a two-year term.
In other action, the commissioners approved the emergency purchase of a new walk-in cooler for the Juvenile Department, as well as the sale of several of the department's surplus property; OK'd the 2016 financial statement; opened bids for several upcoming county road projects and administered the oath of office to Louie Seiberlich as the new county auditor.
The county commission will next meet at 10 a.m. March 7 on the third floor of the courthouse annex.
The day after a tornado hit the northern part of the city of Perryville, resulting in the death of a 24-year-old Perryville man traveling on Interstate 55, a massive cleanup project has begun and community members are reaching out to help friends and neighbors in their time of need.
Perryville is located in Perry County, approximately 30 miles north of Cape Girardeau.
The whole trek [of the storm] was around 13-15 miles in Perry County, and from what they can tell it was down the whole time, said Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf. So, it encompassed more than the city, but it tore things up pretty good every place it went.
Last night we couldnt see it was dark and storming but since daylight it has cleared up and people were out in mass helping all their friends and neighbors and they are making progress.
Schaaf explained that the Perryville Fire Department has been canvasing the affected neighborhoods to make sure everyone is OK and to keep track of how many structures were damaged or destroyed by the tornado.
When they go to a house, theyll check it and then mark it off with a GPS coordinate and put it on their computer map, he said. The chief has come up with 180 homes that were checked and he said about 60 percent of those had moderate to total damage.
Schaaf added that, despite initial reports that two lives were lost in the storm, only one death has been confirmed the motorist on Interstate 55 who has been identified as Travis Koenig.
I understand there were also 10 or 11 minor (injuries) from these areas, he said. The people were able to get out on their own they were able to be rescued from the basement. They were all minor injuries scrapes, bruises and minor cuts. They all walked into the ER, got checked out, treated and released to go somewhere and spend the night.
According to the sheriff, one of the biggest issues the community is facing right now is the significant number of utility workers who have descended on the city to restore fallen power lines and other essential services, in areas that suffered significant damage. As of Wednesday, more than 1,100 residents were without power.
Theyre making a lot of progress with that too, but its probably going to be another couple of days before we get those things open for good, he said. Highway 61 north of town is going to be closed probably until sometime [Thursday] to anyone other than people who live there and volunteers who are helping.
Schaaf noted that the Perryville police, along with members of his department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, are patrolling the affected areas to make sure sightseers and scavengers dont become a problem.
Former state representative and businessman Steve Tilley, a lifelong Perryville resident, described the results of the tornado as devastating.
It not only causes all the monetary loss and all the property damage, and the unfortunate loss of life, but I think the community is rallying around as I would expect them to, he said. I think the outreach and the offer of volunteerism and help has been amazing and it extends beyond Perryville.
"Ive had people reach out to me from as far away in Missouri as Joplin offering to be helpful. The outpouring of support is amazing and the willingness to help when your neighbors have had a tragedy. Its a pretty heartwarming experience.
I think our state reps are on top of this. Theyve done a great job, as well as our state senator. Youve got Sen. [Wayne] Wallingford who represents Perryville and youve got state representatives Rick Francis and Kevin Engler who represent part of Perry County. Theyve already been in meetings with the governor this morning. I believe their hope would be, if the governor can do it, to declare it a disaster area, an emergency area. Hopefully that will open the door to not only state but also federal resources and help the families that are struggling.
Francis, R-Perryville, and Engler, R-Farmington, announced Wednesday that they are working closely with the governors office to organize relief efforts for families in their districts. The representatives thanked the governor for responding quickly to the severe weather by dispatching relief teams and resources to assist those who were affected.
We would like to thank Gov. Greitens for responding quickly to this tragedy in our districts. Our thoughts and prayers are with our constituents, friends, neighbors and family in Perryville," said Francis and Engler. They added, We will be working closely with Governor Greitens to assist with the needs of our community.
Greitens reportedly deployed a strike team Tuesday night that included SEMA, the Department of Public Safety, Canine Search and Rescue teams and the highway patrol to provide resources in the community.
Francis and Engler said they plan to be in the district on Thursday to help their constituents, friends and family members with the recovery effort.
Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, released a statement Wednesday afternoon regarding the tornado damage in Perryville.
The devastating results of last nights storms leave me with a heavy heart," he wrote. "However, I believe the community will work together and become stronger after this natural disaster.
"As the neighborhoods surrounding Perryville move to clean up the damage left behind by the tornado, I offer my condolences to the family who has lost a loved one in this tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with you today.
"I also want to recognize and thank the governor and his team for their quick response to the storm. If either I or my staff can be of any assistance, please give our office a call 573-751-2459.
BISMARCK, N.D. An attorney for a flight attendant who plans to plead guilty to making bogus bomb threats on two Skywest flights in 2015 says Justin Cox-Sever is likely to serve far less than the maximum prison sentence of 50 years.
Federal Public Defender Neil Fulton says federal sentencing guidelines call for about 1 years behind bars, although sentences can vary depending on the results of a presentence investigation.
Cox-Sever is from Tempe, Arizona. He's accused of making bogus bomb threats on a flight from Charlottesville to Chicago and on a flight from Minneapolis to Dickinson, North Dakota.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to charges related to interfering with an aircraft. He's due in court June 1.
A Charlottesville man has pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine.
According to evidence presented in the citys federal courthouse on Thursday, 35-year-old Ricco Jamel Harris distributed crack cocaine throughout the Central Virginia between late 2012 and November 2015. The evidence established that Harris was a major supplier of cocaine in Charlottesville who gave cocaine to members of a major drug distribution ring operating out of the Culpeper area.
During that timeframe, agents from the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement task force made a series of controlled buys from Harris and seized more than 75 grams of crack cocaine during a traffic stop. It was ultimately determined that Harris was responsible for the distribution of more than 4 kilograms of crack cocaine.
Four suspects in a credit card skimming scheme that resulted in $18,000 worth of fraudulent charges are being extradited back to Virginia after the Miami-Dade Police Department assisted in apprehending them on Monday and Tuesday upon their recent re-entry into the United States from Cuba.
According to a news release from the Louisa County Sheriffs Office, four legal immigrants from Cuba Breisys Martinez, 23; Yesenia Rodriguez-Lopez, 21; Braya Hernandez, 32; and Julio Marquez-Franco, 29 obtained several victims card information from the Elk Creek Store and New Bridge Market in Louisa County in December. The suspects are residents of Hialeah, Florida.
Locations in Fredericksburg, Richmond, Fairfax County and Maryland also were affected, according to the release.
The Louisa County Sheriffs Office believes there are other cases that have not been reported.
A total of 56 warrants were obtained for the four suspects. Each suspect is facing more than a dozen charges related to credit card fraud and forgery.
The Sheriffs Office is asking anyone who thinks that he or she may have been a victim in this case to contact the Louisa County Sheriffs Office Public Information Officer Tabethia Cosner at tcosner@louisa.org.
RICHMOND Citing a climate of fear and uncertainty, the administration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday issued guidance to Virginia's public schools on how to respond if immigration officials seek information about students and their parents.
The nearly 1,200-word memo from State Superintendent of Instruction Steven R. Staples reminded school workers not to disclose a students immigration status and encouraged officials to develop a plan for what to do if a childs parent or guardian is deported.
President Trumps unprecedented modifications to long-standing immigration policies have led to fear and uncertainty in many of our communities, McAuliffe said through a spokesman. So let me be clear: the Commonwealth will continue to be a welcoming place for all students and families, and my administration remains committed to honoring our constitutional obligation to provide each and every pupil with a free and high-quality public education, regardless of immigration status.
The states Department of Education is not aware of a recent instance in which a student's caretaker had been deported, but has fielded concerns from public school officials across the state unsure of how to quell students anxieties, Staples said. In turn, administrators have asked for help interpreting what they should and should not do if federal officials ask for information.
"Guidance is more helpful before anything happens than after," Staples said in an interview. "We really sat down and tried to give both legal and practical advice."
Last week Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and Chicago Public Schools' chief education officer issued similar guidance to public school workers faced with a growing uncertainty over how far the presidents pledge to bolster immigration enforcement may extend.
Staples issued the advice to local superintendents on Tuesday afternoon as reports trickled out that Trump might be open to a compromise on immigration reform that could include a path to citizenship for some undocumented residents.
That opening - which came in remarks to select media - was not included in Trumps address to Congress late Tuesday in which he reiterated his commitment to aggressive immigration enforcement, and touted the establishment of an office dedicated to assisting victims of crimes perpetrated by undocumented immigrants.
The office was included among executive orders Trump signed in January that target so-called sanctuary cities; seek to speed the pace of deportations; expanded the circumstances under which someone would be prioritized for removal from the U.S.; and ramp up hiring of immigration officers.
These more robust efforts will not reverse a standing policy against conducting enforcement activities on school grounds, said a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But school officials remain wary.
Its a wrenching feeling in our guts that children can not only physically be afraid, but emotionally be afraid, that their parents may not be there when they go home, Virginia Board of Education President Billy K. Cannady Jr. said in a meeting last week.
Staples focused the memo around four questions that were composites of queries his office received from superintendents. The first few hinged on ascertaining school officials' role in the balance between students' rights and immigration officials' authority; the last asked what schools should do to prepare students for a situation in which their caretaker were deported, and what actions schools can take to be supportive of students and families who fear deportation.
All boil down to this, Staples said: How do you protect kids while living up to your expectations as a public official?
The state does not gather nor are school districts allowed to provide information about students' immigration status. The data are not tracked, nor are they needed, said Staples.
"I don't think schools see the need to classify students around (status)," Staples said. "It's really about the child in front of me - how do I meet their needs?"
For many school workers, where a student was born and how they got here has not been critical, but all that has changed as rhetoric around immigration enforcement ramped up with the election of Trump.
"It didn't matter," Staples said. "(Then) all of a sudden - it did matter."
State Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, said state education officials should provide guidance to local districts but questioned whether the advice would clarify a complicated situation or further confuse people living these issues on a daily basis.
He said officials on the state and local levels have been quick to grandstand over immigration issues, but noted that enforcement is a federal responsibility.
"My hope is that this won't cause anymore confusion about whose responsibility is whose," Landes said. "I think that ultimately the federal government trumps whatever the state government has to say about all this."
Left to discern for themselves what the coming months will bring, undocumented immigrants are availing themselves of legal workshops designed to inform them of what rights they have if they come in contact with enforcement agents, said Tanishka Cruz with the Legal Aid Justice Center's immigrant advocacy program.
Cruz said two meetings last month drew crowds of between 150 and 200 people to meetings in Central Virginia, where advocates helped immigrant parents lay out their wishes for what should happen to their children if they were deported.
"You don't want to try to figure all of this out when you're in the middle of all that chaos," Cruz said. "Right now it feels for a lot of people like everything is out of control; but you can't stop going to work, you can't stop sending your kids to school; and you can't be paralyzed by fear."
How to stop snoring
Some 37 million Americans snore, making grunting, whistling, choking, snorting and/or chain sawlike sounds on a regular basis, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
The bothersome noises occur when the airway narrows or is partly blocked during sleep, often thanks to nasal congestion, floppy tissue, alcohol or enlarged tonsils, explains Consumer Reports.
Your snoring can not only ruin your partner's shut-eye but also is a red flag for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is marked by noisy stops and starts in breathing during sleep, and hikes risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia and hypertension. And 34 percent of men and 19 percent of women who snore routinely have OSA or are at risk for it, says the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Consumer Reports offers this advice on how to stop snoring -- for yourself or for the person you share a bed with.
Start With Lifestyle Steps
-- Ease a stuffy nose. Over-the-counter nasal strips "may help keep nasal passageways open," says Romy Hoque, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. You can also rinse your nose with an over-the-counter saline solution or stand in a steamy shower.
-- Elevate your head. You can buy a special pillow to lift your chin and keep your tongue from blocking the back of your throat as you sleep. Any wedge-shaped pillow will do, Hoque says.
-- Sleep on your side. To keep from rolling onto your back during the night, which triggers snoring, place a body or bolster pillow against your back.
-- Avoid alcohol for four hours before bed. Alcohol relaxes your airway muscles, constricting airflow.
-- Quit smoking. Tobacco smoke can irritate throat membranes.
-- Lose excess weight. "Fat around the neck compresses the upper airway and impedes airflow," says Raj Dasgupta, M.D., assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In fact, OSA has been associated with a neck circumference greater than 17 inches in men and greater than 16 inches in women.
Try Exercises to Strengthen Your Mouth and Tongue
Snoring occurs when soft tissue in your throat partially blocks the airway, and airflow causes the tissue to vibrate, producing the telltale noise. Some research suggests that strengthening the mouth and tongue may help prevent snoring.
Consumer Reports suggests trying these exercises (perform each 20 times):
-- Exercise 1: Push the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth and slide the tongue backward.
-- Exercise 2: Suck the tongue upward against the roof of the mouth and press the entire tongue against the roof of the mouth.
-- Exercise 3: Force the back of the tongue against the floor of the mouth while keeping the tip of the tongue in contact with the bottom front teeth.
-- Exercise 4: Elevate the soft palate (the back of the roof of the mouth) and the uvula (the fleshy protrusion that hangs from the soft palate) while making the vowel sound "A."
To learn more, visit ConsumerReports.org
How to avoid being gouged when buying eyeglasses
For the approximately 64 percent of Americans who wear them, prescription eyeglasses are part medical device and part fashion accessory. But when it comes to buying them, the choices -- and the trade-offs -- can be overwhelming.
Consumer Reports surveyed more than 91,000 readers and also shopped for glasses themselves, online and in walk-in stores, to discover the pros and cons of different vendors. Here's what they learned:
-- Doctors' offices and independent eyeglass shops. Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents bought their glasses from one of these sources. They gave these sellers high marks for lens and frame fitting, employee knowledge and follow-up service. But frames and lenses tended to cost more than elsewhere: Readers shelled out a median of around $400, two to three times what you might pay online or at a discount store.
-- Major eyewear chains. Since they have many locations, buying eyeglasses at eyeglass chains can be convenient. Consumer Reports' readers reported good follow-up service from most chains, too. But in other areas, survey ratings varied depending on the company.
-- Warby Parker and Zenni Optical. Each of these stores sells only its own brand of glasses. Warby Parker retails both online and in brick-and-mortar locations in 18 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada. In the seven years since it launched, Warby Parker has become a major player, offering glasses with single-vision lenses for $95, including an anti-reflective coating. But if you order progressive lenses, those prices can rocket to nearly $300 -- far more than the prices Consumer Reports found at some other retailers.
As for all-online retailer Zenni Optical, you can try on frames only virtually, by uploading a photo of yourself. And it, too, has a 30-day warranty. Still, Zenni's frames with basic single-vision lenses start at less than $10, and upgrading to progressives begins at just $28. Survey respondents who bought from Zenni spent a median of just $69 for a complete pair of glasses, making them the survey's lowest-cost retailer.
-- Large discount chains. Costco and Wal-Mart are low-cost one-stop spots for buying eyeglasses where you can do everything from having your eyes examined to getting your finished glasses adjusted for fit. Frames can be inexpensive at these stores. At Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, Consumer Reports found basic, plastic progressive lenses for as little as $79. Costco charges $130 for high-definition progressive lenses, which, as with all Costco lenses, include an anti-reflective coating. That's about half what you'd pay at many walk-in stores. But if you need basic, plastic single-vision lenses, you can pay as little as $29 at Wal-Mart, about half as much as at Costco.
-- Online retailers. While only about 5 percent of respondents bought their glasses online, nearly twice as many browsed online before purchasing at a walk-in store. Even if you don't plan to buy from a website, the price information you get might help you negotiate your way to a discount from a walk-in store.
To learn more, visit ConsumerReports.org
The state will spend the next eight months studying ways to bring under control a part of the budget thats currently growing unchecked.
Virginia lawmakers honed in on the Children's Services Act last session of the General Assembly, which in large part has no spending cap and has seen a spike in expenditures because of a steady rise in the number of students diagnosed with autism. Parents of special needs children worry the study sets the stage for cuts that could leave them without access to needed services.
Autism diagnoses in public school children have jumped six-fold since 2001, with 18,256 cases identified last year, according to the Virginia Department of Education. In the 2001-2002 school year, autistic students comprised 1.63 percent of students with special education needs. That jumped to 11 percent last year.
That growth has been one of the main drivers of a swelling budget for the Children's Services Act, which includes tuition at private schools for students with special needs and foster care spending. Expenditures increased 16 percent between fiscal years 2013 and 2016 - to $364.1 million from $314.2 million, according to data from the Office of Children's Services.
Spending on tuition for special education placement in private schools has increased the most - to just under $140 million last fiscal year from around $100 million in fiscal year 2013.
"What were seeing is pretty steep and sustained growth in one category," said Scott Reiner, executive director of the Office of Childrens Services. "Thats one reason why its getting so much attention."
While lawmakers didnt mandate any immediate changes - to the relief of a group of parents of children with special needs and school administrators - lawmakers directed the states budget, education and social services officials to work together to rein in costs. They are to submit a report to leaders of the General Assemblys finance committees by Nov. 1.
There is no cap on the amount of money spent on placement in private schools for special education. If a local school committee and the children's parents agree that a specialized school is the best option, the state and the local government have to pay the tuition.
On average, the state pays 65 percent of the tab, and the local government pays 35 percent. No federal funds are used to offset the cost, Reiner said.
"We have had about 1,200 new kids with autism every year for past five to six years," said John M. Eisenberg, assistant superintendent over the Division of Special Education and Student Services for the Virginia Department of Education. "We think that is causing a pretty big spike in the Children's Services Act world."
Sen. Siobhan S. Dunnavant, R-Henrico, and Del. John M. O'Bannon III, R-Henrico, who both put forward budget amendments this session related to the Children's Services Act, said the cost increases need to be brought under control.
O'Bannon said the program might be more cost-effective if the state's school systems are accountable for the funding themselves.
Educators coordinate "a set of services that somebody needs, and they ship the bill back to social services," he said.
Dunnavant said she wants to challenge the Department of Education to think of more affordable ways to educate students with special needs.
The cost "is escalating and its becoming an unsustainable number," Dunnavant said.
When the proposal first came out, private day school educators and parents were worried a shift to the Department of Education would lead to fewer referrals for specialized education.
Brian McCann, president and CEO of Faison Center, a nonprofit that specializes in educating and treating children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities, said he was pleased lawmakers backed off their original proposal, but he plans to stay involved as the issue is studied over the next several months.
"This is a good first step, and I think that weve got a lot of work to do collaboratively with the legislators and all the other stakeholders to make sure the end result is positive for everybody," McCann said.
If local school jurisdictions are responsible for the funding themselves, they may be less likely to approve placements in private schools, he said. That could lead parents of students who are currently placed in a private day school to keep that placement even if their child may be ready to transition back to public school.
McCann said he understands the need to bring costs under control, but he supports "innovative" approaches, such as through public-private partnerships between schools and specialists who are trained to educate children with serious disabilities.
"The question is, can public schools provide a free and appropriate public education that children with special needs are entitled to under federal law within the public school setting?" McCann said. "That's always going to drive the discussion. If there are ways they can do it, thats fantastic, but weve got to understand that may not always be the case."
At Faison, for example, teachers are trained to deal with behavioral outbursts that sometimes accompany other disabilities, he said. In a public school setting, those behaviors often are not tolerated and can lead to expulsion.
Dilshad Ali, mother of a 16-year-old boy who attends school at Faison Center, said she called Dunnavant and O'Bannon's offices when she found out about their proposed amendments because she feared she could lose his slot at the school.
She was assured that the legislation wouldn't take away anyone's placement in private special education schools. Still, she worries that attempts to curtail funding will reduce the number of slots in the future.
She said she tried to explain the process to lawmakers so they would know how hard it is to get placed in a private school - and so they would hear first hand that it is necessary for her son, Daanish, who has permanent head trauma because he repeatedly injured himself.
"Its not something thats done willy-nilly, and its not something thats handed to you," Dilshad Ali said of attaining private placement. "You have to prove that its absolutely necessary for your child to be in a private school rather than in a public school, you have to have the documentation to back yourself up, and you have to be able to prove that he was failing in the public school system - and its not an easy thing."
By the time Daanish Ali got to 5th grade at his Henrico County elementary school, he was hurting himself so often and so severely, his parents and a team of special educators agreed public school wasn't the place for him anymore.
Dilshad Ali said it was good for her son to interact with peers in public elementary school - and it was good for other students to learn about inclusiveness, kindness and respect.
"I was not thrilled when he moved to a private setting because I knew what we were giving up," Dilshad Ali said. "...But do I think he can handle it the way high school class is set up and taught for a kid like mine? I don't think he can."
RICHMOND Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday called on House GOP leaders to drop a legal fight over 11 House of Delegates districts and to let an independent, nonpartisan panel redraw new boundaries that lawmakers could approve in a special session.
Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, termed the governors idea entirely premature. Howell, on a press call with other House GOP leaders, said the redistricting case is far from over and that he does not think it will affect House elections in November.
Howell also termed the governors request fairly hypocritical, citing McAuliffes role as co-chair of the 2020 Redistricting Fund, a national push to elect Democratic governors who could oversee their states redrawing of congressional and legislative boundaries after the next U.S. census.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday instructed a lower court to re-examine whether the General Assembly unconstitutionally packed too many African-Americans into certain districts. The ruling raises the possibility of a new political map that could reshape the GOP-controlled House of Delegates.
Mark E. Elias, a Democratic lawyer, brought the redistricting challenge on behalf of a group of African-American voters. All 100 seats in the House are up for election in November. Republicans now hold 66 of the 100 seats.
This ruling sets the stage for protracted litigation at taxpayer-expense and further delay that will cast a shadow over our upcoming legislative elections unless we find a more productive path forward, McAuliffe wrote to Howell and House Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, the House GOPs designee to become speaker when Howell retires in January.
So today, I write to ask you and the House Republican Caucus to drop your defense of Virginias gerrymandered map and work with me on the nonpartisan redistricting plan our commonwealth deserves.
To accomplish this, I ask that you agree to settle this litigation in a way that empowers the General Assembly to redraw the eleven House of Delegates districts that have been sent back to the District Court, McAuliffe added.
Once that settlement is finalized, I am prepared to call a special session in order to pass new lines that have been prepared by an independent, nonpartisan panel. If we act quickly, we can finalize a new map before the 2017 legislative elections and prevent Virginians from voting yet again in unconstitutional gerrymandered districts.
Howell reiterated Thursday that he was disappointed with the court ruling, but added that the plaintiffs in this case did not prevail and House GOP leaders are confident they will win the next round in court.
In the legislative session that ended Saturday, House Republicans defeated measures aimed at nonpartisan redistricting.
Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, said on the conference call that the responsibility for drawing electoral boundaries lies with the legislature and that lawsuits would result no matter who draws the lines.
Howell accused the governor of political gamesmanship and Cox added: Weve seen this M.O. from the governor a lot a lot of bluff, a lot of boldness frankly, overstating the case dramatically.
Mark Braden of BakerHostetler LLC, one of the lawyers retained by the House of Delegates, asserted on the call that the case will not affect the upcoming election. Its too late, Braden said.
In response to a question, Jones estimated that redistricting fights over Virginias congressional and legislative boundaries have cost Virginia taxpayers perhaps $1.5 million to $2 million.
He blamed Democrats, whom he said have embarked on a nationwide strategy to do in the courtroom what they couldnt do at the ballot box.
To those who advocate "shopping for lowest costs for health care: Have you tried out your advice?
Bottom line: Shopping for health care is not akin to shopping for the best cost on a TV or an automobile.
I have seen suggestions like "Tell your care provider how much you will pay for a service and if they won't accept that amount, go someplace else." This would require multiple options for providers or for physicians to have the authority to determine their charges, which is always possible.
Then there is the advice to comparison shop across multiple facilities for the cost of a service. Again, this option assumes availability of multiple choices with similar outcomes for a given procedure.
If there are options, be prepared to spend a significant amount of time determining who can provide information to you, the consumer, on the cost of services (actually the billing amount). The "cost" of service depends on the price negotiated with the health facility by each health insurance plan for each billing code. The same procedure may have several billing codes based on whether it is ordered as a preventive, diagnostic or treatment measure, with different costs for each code. You will need the correct billing code to obtain information on the charges.
In addition to the procedure itself, there are associated costs: physician charges, charges by specialists, lab charges, among others.
The hospital will not be able to provide information on any provider charges and often will not be able to provide information on lab or other related charges, as those services may or may not be ordered depending on what is deemed necessary when the procedure is performed.
I am sure there are many other situations affecting cost of a given health care procedure, making cost comparison a challenge when it comes to health care.
To all our elected officials: Follow your advice to constituents regarding comparison shopping before you recommend this approach as a panacea for our health care challenges.
Dorothy Gray, Fluvanna County
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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Community members are invited to get to know Fauquier Healths new CEO Chad Melton at a meet and greet event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 2. The gathering will be held in Fauquier Hospitals Sycamore Room.
Interested residents are welcome to meet Melton, hear about his vision for Fauquier Health and ask questions. Members of the LifePoint Health senior management team will also be in attendance. Refreshments will be served.
Despite the passage of two decades and the assessment of 10,189 leads, the Virginia State Police continues to actively pursue the disappearance and murder of a 25-year-old graduate student whose body was found in Culpeper County, according to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
Alicia Showalter Reynolds was last seen alive driving along U.S. 29 from Baltimore to Charlottesville when she disappeared March 2, 1996.
Her Mercury Tracer was found abandoned later that same day in Culpeper County. Two months later, her remains were discovered in a field that had recently been cleared of trees in the rural community of Lignum, located in the southeastern part of Culpeper County.
According to witnesses who observed Reynolds white Mercury parked on the southbound shoulder of U.S. 29 on March 2, 1996, a white male, about 35-45 years old with a medium build and light to medium brown hair was stopped with her vehicle. The man, described as between 510 to 60 tall, was driving a dark-colored pickup truck, possibly a green Nissan.
As news spread about Reynolds abduction, several other female subjects came forward advising that a white male had either stopped them or attempted to stop them while they were traveling along U.S. 29 in Culpeper County.
State police remain hopeful that this case will come to a successful resolution and continue to encourage the public to come forward with any information related to the investigation. Anyone with information pertaining to the abduction and murder of Alicia Showalter Reynolds is asked to contact the Virginia State Police Culpeper Division toll-free at 1-800/572-2260, or the Bureau of Criminal Investigation toll-free at 1-888/300-0156 or by e-mail at bci-culpeper@vsp.virginia.gov.
but NOBODY vetted Barack Obama after Barack Obama politicized his own mother's cancer
for his own political gain during the 2008 democratic race, and then again in the presidential debates.
Did Barack Obama tend to his own mother in any personal way
during her last couple of years of life, when she was dying of cancer in Hawaii?
If I am wrong, or can be proven wrong about my concern, then I will stand corrected.
But until then, the timeline I have been able to put together shows that Barack Obama
chose to finish writing his book instead of being with his mother.
With apologizes to the filmmaker for politicizing his film,Or, did Barack Obama CHOOSE to fly over Hawaii, where his mother was dying of cancer,so he could go to Bali to finish writing his book about his sperm donor father?
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Yatra will list over 90 properties on its website and encourage the growth of homestays in Madhya Pradesh
Mumbai: Online travel company Yatra.com todays said it has signed an agreement with Madhya Pradesh government to jointly promote homestays in the state. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Yatra will promote all the state tourism approved homestays, where travellers can book a room with a local family or the entire house, a release issued here said.
"We are pleased to announce this partnership and aim to promote homestays in the state. We believe that this partnership will offer best-in-class stay experience for the tourists visiting the state.
Strengthening our eco-system for homestays, we are aggressively working towards promoting homestays across the country, which will also generate employment for the local population and help contribute to the economy of the nation," Yatra.com COO (B2C) Sharat Dhall said.
As a part of this partnership, Yatra will list over 90 properties on its website and encourage the growth of homestays in Madhya Pradesh, giving tourists a very homely experience.
With an aim to establish itself as the largest homestays curator of over 3,000 homestays across 130 cities across the country, this month the portal is planning to sign two more MoUs with the Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments.
Yatra.com had recently signed MoU with Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat governments. The company provides information, pricing, availability and booking facility for domestic and international air travel, domestic and international hotel bookings, holiday packages, buses, trains, in-city activities, inter-city and point-to-point cabs, homestays and cruises.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal during the seminar on "Food Processing in India- Collaborative Opportunities" in Tokyo.(Photo: Twitter)
New Delhi: Japanese companies are keen to invest in India's food processing sector especially in fruits, vegetables and spices, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said today.
Badal, who is on a three-day visit to Tokyo leading an industry body CII delegation, today met Japanese Agriculture Minister Ken Saito to discuss ways to improve bilateral trade between the two countries.
She highlighted the opportunities that India offers in the food processing sector. Badal also met top officials of Japanese food companies. "We had positive interaction. The Japanese government and companies are keen to strengthen ties in the food processing sector.
They are looking for more business opportunities in India," Badal told PTI over phone from Tokyo. Japan, the fourth largest investor in India, is presently sourcing sea food from India. It is now keen to invest in the processing of fruits and vegetables as well as spices and make India a prospective base and export hub, she said.
"One of the Japanese firm engaged in manufacturing of tomato paste wants to become a global leader and is looking at India for sourcing the commodity in huge quantity," she added.
Badal met officials of companies such as Marubeni Corporation, Isetan Misukoshi Holdings, Housefoods Corporation, Japan Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, Mitsui Foods, Royal Host and Kohyo Company, Nissin Foods, Yakult and Fuji Oil Holdings.
A Japanese delegation is expected to participate in the forthcoming World Food Fair here in November this year and explore business opportunities in India, she added. With low food processing level in India, Badal sought cooperation and partnership from Japanese companies in the area of technology.
"Japan is more keen to source agriculture produce from India which are non-genetically modified," Badal said. The minister said there is huge potential for Japanese investment in India's food processing sector as only 12 firms out of 380 food companies have presence in the country.
At present, NPS subscribers can shuffle their investments among equity, corporate bonds, and government securities only once a year.
New Delhi: Pension fund regulator PFRDA has tweaked investment norms to allow subscribers of National Pension System to change their asset allocation twice in a financial year.
The new norms will come into effect from next financial year beginning April 1, the Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA), which is the regulator of NPS, said.
At present, NPS subscribers can shuffle their investments among equity, corporate bonds, and government securities only once a year. "In order to provide more choices in terms of investment option and asset allocation ... the subscribers/corporates will have the choice for change of the investment option as well as asset allocation ratio two times in a year," the regulator said in a circular.
NPS subscribers get two options for investment Active (flexibility to choose own asset allocation across equity, corporate bonds and government securities) or Auto Choice (investment is done as per the age).
They can allocate funds among equities, corporate bonds and government securities.
The government's flagship social security programme, NPS restricts investment towards Equities Fund to 50 per cent of contribution amount for both Tier I and Tier II accounts.
However, subscriber can invest up to 100 per cent in corporate bonds or government securities fund.
The changes in the norms will be applicable for both the existing pension corpus as well as to the prospective subscriptions. The option will be available separately for tier 1 and 2 accounts. However, the choice of change of pension fund remain only once in a financial year.
New Delhi: Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said on Thursday that economic and political systems in India have not developed maturity for nuanced interventions and tend to take recourse to bans and restrictions.
Our economic and political system has still not developed the maturity to have finely calibrated interventions for problems. We have recourse to blunt instruments, bans, restrictions etc. In the areas of competition policy, I think we need to have nuanced intervention wherever problem arise, he said.
He voiced concerns that judiciary has acquired more authority and the society has become highly litigious and vouched for independent regulatory institutions that are free from political interference.
Anything happens and it goes to litigation and appeal. So we have become a highly litigious society. Everything is going to appeal and courts. The judiciary and the judicial type bodies have acquired much more authority and power than the legislators, he said at an event.
In such scenario, he added, there is a need to find ways to expedite the process of taking and implementing decisions. There is this feeling that finally everything has to be adjudicated by the courts and the Supreme Court in particular. So, we are kind of getting a funnelling of decision making and its getting getting jammed and blocked, he said. So how do we make our country less litigious and how do we expedite things. I think, these are the challenges for all, he said.
Mumbai: Ali Fazal made his acting debut live on stage as a theatre actor.
During one of his performances, he was spotted by none other than Rajkumar Hirani's assistant and Ali was cast in 3 Idiots. Since then, there's been no looking back for this young, dynamic actor who's been climbing the steps of fame with great vigour. Ali was recently seen shooting for the final schedule of Fukrey Returns and even took to social media announcing the wrap of his film. Now its being heard that he will soon resume shooting his upcoming Hollywood project.
Amidst the two packed schedules, Ali will be making a brief appearance on stage in a play titled Crab which is produced by QTP and is part of the Writers Block this year. Set to be performed in 3 cities starting from Chennai, Ali will be seen in this drama essaying the role of Rocky. The play explores entangled relationships in today's day and age as four individuals are stuck to each other in a situation. The play has been written by Ram Ramatham and Argya Lahiri.
Despite his busy schedule Ali, who had committed to the play, ensured he rehearsed during the shoot of Fukrey Returns and before he commences the final schedule of Victoria and Abdul he will be doing the three shows of the play in India.
Speaking about it, Ali said, "I was kicked to have the opportunity to be back on stage. Last I did theatre was White Rabbit Red Rabbit which was exhilarating and I couldn't be more honoured to have performed a play of that stature. I had some time in between shoot on Fukrey and Victoria and Abdul and Crab was an exciting play I wanted to be a part of. Everyone from production to my director to co-actors are extremely grounded and such a talented bunch. Doing theatre amidst all the work kind of reinstates a sense of great confidence in an actor which I cherish a lot.
"I am looking forward to performing the play and hoping everyone likes what we have put together. It's an interesting play that takes on the plight of entangled relationships in today's day and age given in a situation where these 4 central characters are stuck to each other and I play the part of Rocky."
Apart from Alia, Mahesh Bhatt has two more daughters Shaheen and Pooja.
Mumbai: Mahesh Bhatt filed a police complaint on Wednesday after he received an extortion call from a man, who demanded Rs 50 lakhs from Bhatt and threatened to kill his daughter Alia and wife Soni Razdan, if he failed to meet the demand.
Fearing for the safety of his family, Bhatt filled a complaint at the Juhu Police Station on Wednesday under section 387 (causing a person to fear death or grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion).
Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said, "Offence under the section for extortion is registered at Juhu police station. The anti-extortion cell is investigating the offence. As of now no arrest has been made in connection with the offence, but investigation is going on progressively."
The filmmaker later took to Twitter on Thursday, confirming that there was indeed an extortion call and threat to his family, but it was resolved jointly by the Maharashtra Police and Uttar Pradesh Police. He thanked the police teams with Gratitude.
The call was first made on February 26 and the caller provided details of his bank account to transfer the money. The caller, named Sandeep Sahu and aged 24, was reportedly traced to Uttar Pradesh and has been detained.
Warren Beatty holding the card reading 'Moonlight' after he and Faye Dunaway had mistakenly announced 'La La Land' as the winners. (Photo: AFP)
Los Angeles: The two accountants found at fault for botching the climactic announcement of the winner for best picture at the Academy Awards have been officially declared unfit for any future Oscar duty, organizers of the ceremony said on Wednesday.
Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, blamed for the envelope mix-up that led 'La La Land' to be being erroneously named best film before 'Moonlight' was declared the actual winner, are still employed as partners of the prestigious accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a company spokesman said.
But the pair will no longer be permitted to tabulate Oscar votes or hand out envelopes containing winners' names at Hollywood's most highest honors, a spokesperson for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences said.
PwC, the overseer of Oscar balloting for 83 years, had earlier taken full responsibility for Sunday's unprecedented gaffe, which stunned the star-studded Dolby Theatre crowd in Hollywood and a live television audience of millions worldwide.
PwC said Cullinan had mistakenly handed best-picture presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the back-up envelope for best actress in a leading role, an award bestowed on Emma Stone for 'La La Land' a short time earlier.
Beatty, admittedly befuddled at seeing the card he pulled from the envelope, hesitated for several moments before handing it to Dunaway, who immediately announced 'La La Land' as the winner.
The 'La La Land' cast and producers were already on stage giving acceptance speeches when the mistake was recognized, leaving it to the musical's producer, Jordan Horowitz, to interrupt the proceedings with the announcement that 'Moonlight' really had won.
"Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner," the accounting firm said in a statement.
Cullinan was found to have posted a now-deleted backstage photo of Emma Stone on Twitter just after she won her Oscar minutes before the mix-up -- a departure from official duties widely seen as likely to have distracted him.
By tradition, two sets of sealed envelopes containing the names of all 24 Oscar winners are held by two PwC accountants on opposite sides of the stage, to be handed out to the respective presenters as each category is announced. The two accountants also are supposed to memorize the winning names.
A day after the incident, the Academy apologized to all affected, including presenters Beatty and Dunaway, and said it will "determine what actions are appropriate going forward."
The first-look poster of director Sivas Vivegam, starring Ajith, Kajal Aggarwal and Akshara Haasan, created a frenzy on social media. There were allegations that Ajiths chiselled body in the poster was photoshopped. However, director Siva cleared the air saying that Thala worked hard to get into shape, and get the desired look!
Earlier, it was speculated that the film was eyeing a release on the Ramzan weekend. But now, it looks like the release has been postponed to August. A source in the know tells us, As of now, the makers are considering August 10 or August 24 for a grand release. Since the SivakarthikeyanNayanthara starrer Velaikkaran is releasing on August 25, Vivegam team might consider releasing on August 10. Also, it all depends on the completion of post-production work.
The last schedule of Vivegam is all set to commence soon in Bulgaria in the second week of March, which will be followed by the patch-work scenes in Chennai. The team is planning to concentrate more on the post-production. A second look poster and a teaser of Vivegam will be released soon. In Vivegam, Ajith plays an investigative officer while Kajal will be seen as his wife. Produced by Sathya Jyothi Films, the music is scored by Anirudh Ravichander.
The film portrays Hindu religion in a derogatory manner, a female Muslim character is seen masturbating and its characters use abusive language, the order said.
Kochi: The Central Board of Film Certification has refused to issue certificate to Malayalam movie Ka BodyScapes stating that the movie 'glorifies' gay and homosexual relationship.
"Ka Bodyscapes" is about three young people in Calicut Haris, a gay painter; Vishnu, a rural kabaddi player, and their friend Sia and their struggle to find space and happiness in a conservative Indian city. It stars Adhithi, Tinto Arayani and Arundhathi.
The film portrays Hindu religion in a derogatory manner, a female Muslim character is seen masturbating and its characters use abusive language, the order said.
The order refusing certificate, issued by A. Prathibha, regional officer of the Central Board of Film Certification, Thiruvananthapuram, was sent to Jayan Cherian, the director of the movie.
Its official, Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani (chairman of the CBFC) put the final nail in my coffin! Cherian said in a Facebook post.
"I havent decided what to do. Let me talk to my lawyers and take a decision," Jayan said.
"The second revising committee unanimously recommended 'Refusal' of certificate of the film. They felt that the film is glorifying the subject of gay and homosexual relationship, nudity accentuating vital parts of male body (in paintings) in closed shots in the whole movie. The film is explicit of scene offending human sensibilities depicting vulgarity and obscenity through the movie. The religion of Hindu is portrayed in a derogatory manner especially Lord Hanuman (shown in poor light as gay) which may cause law and order problem in society. The film contains posters depicting homosexuality throughout the movie and derogatory remarks against women. The film has references to Hindu organisations indirectly which is unwarranted." the order said.
Here is the letter that has been issued by the Central Board of Film Certification:
Last month, Prakash Jha's upcoming production "Lipstick Under My Burkha" was denied certification by the CBFC for being "lady oriented" and containing "abusive words".
Washington: Deep-freezing donated organs might one day help improve the transplant supply but scientists must first figure out how to thaw the delicate tissue without it cracking. Now researchers are taking a first step toward that goal, using nanotechnology to create super heaters for preserved tissue.
University of Minnesota researchers call their approach "nanowarming," and they reported Wednesday that it safely and rapidly thawed larger amounts of animal tissue than today's tools can.
The trick: Bathe pieces of tissue in magnetic nanoparticles and then beam radiofrequency energy to activate them. The nanoparticles act like microscopic heaters, evenly warming the tissue surrounding them, concluded the research published in Science Translational Medicine.
Years of additional research are needed before attempting to thaw human organs.
"We are cautiously optimistic that we're going to be able to get into a kidney or maybe a heart. But we are not, in any way, declaring victory here," said University of Minnesota mechanical engineering professor John Bischof, who led the research team.
Doctors have longed to create an organ bank much like sperm or heart valves can be frozen and preserved for long periods, and specialists say the new research is an important proof of concept.
"If you could pull this off, it would really be transformational," said Dr. David Klassen, chief medical officer at the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system.
About 119,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant, and last year there were 33,599 transplants performed. One of the many challenges is that organs can't be stored for long outside the body about four to six hours for a heart or lung, for example.
And they're stored in a decidedly old-fashioned way for the race to a needy recipient, infused with a cold preservation solution and set with ice inside a cooler, Klassen noted. That's cold enough to slow cellular activity but they're not frozen.
A kind of cryopreservation that uses such a fast, deep freeze that tissue looks glass-like potentially could allow organs to be stored for longer periods.
But today's thawing technology only works well with small or simple types of tissue. Try it in larger, more complex tissue and damaging ice crystals form, even cracking frozen tissue much like an ice cube cracks when it's dropped into water, Klassen explained.
Bischof's team turned to metallic nanoparticles iron oxide for their new approach. To keep the tissue stable, warming would have to be super-fast and evenly dispersed.
The nanowarming could heat 10 to 100 times faster than previously attempted methods, Bischof said. After nanowarming, small samples of human skin cells and pig arteries were as healthy-looking as those thawed by today's standard heating.
Larger samples of pig heart tissue too big for today's heating tools also were thawed by the new technology without signs of damage, the researchers reported. Afterwards, the researchers were able to wash away the nanoparticles.
Working with entire organs will require infusing the nanoparticles deeper into nooks and crannies. Already the researchers are testing the approach with frozen rabbit kidneys. A heart may be easier, Bischof said, because of its hollow chambers.
The research was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Army.
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu tourism has carved a unique position for itself in emerging as first among the Indian states in attracting domestic tourists during 2016 for the third consecutive year. And it is likely to retain the same number uno position with regard to receiving foreign footfalls, for the third time.
Over all, India had seen 165.3 crore domestic footfalls last year. Tamil Nadu alone has welcomed 34.43 crore domestic visitors during 2016 as against 33.34 crores the previous year and 47.25 crore foreign national during the year gone by as against 46.85 crore foreigners during 2015.
The increase in footfalls not only indicate the growing patronage for the exotic destinations in the state but also project the image of a peaceful state in the country, a senior tourism official said.
The department has been laying special focus on improving the amenities and the tourism officials led by TTDCs managing director H. S. Meena took up effective campaign blitzkrieg to showcase the attractions in Tamil Nadu, the official pointed out.
Given the patronage, the state is likely to retain its first rank in terms of luring the foreign nationals in 2016 too. The state caught the nations attention when it edged out Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and even Andhra Pradesh and occupied the first position in receiving both domestic and foreign tourists
2014. It repeated its performance during 2015 and now its spectacular performance in 2016.
Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have maintained the first and second
rank respectively while Madhya Pradesh has gained several ranks to reach the third position leaving Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra at the succeeding fourth, fifth and sixth positions.
West Bengal surpassed Telangana to attain the seventh position rendering Telangana at the eighth, followed by Gujarat and Rajasthan. The top ten States in terms of number of domestiv tourist visits (in crores), during 2016 are: TN (34.43), Uttar Pradesh (22.96), Madhya Pradesh (18.47), Andhra Pradesh (15.85), Karnataka (12.98), Maharashtra (11.54), West Bengal (7.45), Telangana (7.15), Gujarat (4.28) and Rajasthan (4.15).
Employees are constantly found talking about how frustrating their jobs are and how they want to quit soon but cant decide when. An employee found the most unique to resign from his job when he went ahead and wrote it on toilet paper.
According to a media report, a Reddit user couldnt take it anymore and decide to quit his job and wrote to his boss on a toilet paper that his boss certainly did not expect. The resignation letter read I have chosen this type of paper for my 2 week resignation as a symbol of how I feel this company has treated me, and ironically, how it is disposed of is where I feel the company is going.
The unique resignation has gone viral with over 9 lakh views and many people have sympathised with the person and even telling him to quit immediately. Many were even hoping that he doesnt need a recommendation from his previous boss because he was definitely not going to get one.
New Delhi: Two persons have been arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old school girl after offering her a lift outside Uttam Nagar metro station in southwest Delhi, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Vikas (26) and Manjeet (27), they said.
The girl alleged that the accused allegedly offered her a spiked drink and then took her to a flat in Gurgaon where they took turns to rape her yesterday, police said.
They dropped the girl outside her house after the incident. She later narrated the incident to her parents, they said.
The victim told the police that the accused picked her up from outside Uttam Nagar metro station while she was on her way to school, police said.
One of the accused stays in the same area as the victim and the other's sister is married into the same neighbourhood, they said.
On the basis of the girl's complaint, a case under relevant sections of IPC and POCSO was registered at Bindapur police station, police said.
Surender Kumar, DCP (Southwest) said Vikas was arrested yesterday and Manjeet was nabbed today, adding that their car has also been seized.
Police is trying to identify the flat where the victim was allegedly gangraped.
Jaipur: An 18-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide in Dausa district after he was not allowed to take the state board examination that started today, police said.
Rakesh Meena, a Class 12 student, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his rented accommodation by his landlord this morning, the SHO at Kotwali Police Station, Sanjay Godara, said.
It is suspected that the boy committed suicide after he was not allowed to take the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education exam. The reason behind him being denied the admit card is yet to be ascertained, he said.
A case under Section 174 (unnatural death) has been registered, the SHO added.
The residents of Pooja colony in Ghaziabad noticed the accused taking away the little boy in the absence of his mother. (Photo: Representational Image)
Ghaziabad: A jilted lover has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping the 3-year-old son of his female colleague in Ghaziabad, police said on Wednesday.
Tronica police arrested Aakash on February 27 for abducting the son of his female friend who had turned down his marriage proposal many times, SHO Tronica city, Babar Raza Zaidi said.
He said that the residents of Pooja colony in Ghaziabad noticed the accused taking away the little boy in the absence of his mother.
On finding her child missing, the mother approached the police and a case was registered against the accused under Section 363 (kidnapping) of IPC, police said.
A raid was conducted at the house of Aakash at Mittal Colony here and the child was found, they added.
Bengaluru: A woman software engineer has accused her father-in-law of sexually harassing her and her husband and mother-in-law of supporting him.
She has filed a complaint with the Basavanagudi police station but police are yet to start the probe, as the accused are in the US. The 28-year-old woman married techie Raghunandan about a year ago.
Later, he moved to the US on work and she here stayed with his parents. Her father-in-law Venkatapathi allegedly misbehaved with her and also touched her inappropriately on a few occasions. When the victim told her husband that she wished to stay with him in US, Raghunandan allegedly demanded dowry.
"The complainant said she arranged for some gold jewels and went to the US to stay with her husband. A few months later, her in-laws moved there too and Venkatapathi resumed his harassment. When she told her husband, he allegedly asked her to 'adjust'. Even her mother-in-law supported her husband. Unable to bear it, she returned to India a few weeks ago," an official said. Police have decided to transfer the case to All Woman police station in Halasuru Gate.
Nazir, 56, a resident of New Gurappanapalya, is a repeat offender and has cases against him in 11 police stations. (Representational image)
Bengaluru: Notorious car thief Pilakal Nazir has been arrested by the Madivala police on charges of stealing a high-end car worth around Rs 35 lakh from Chennai. Investigations revealed that he had worked as a police constable in Bahrain.
Nazir, 56, a resident of New Gurappanapalya, is a repeat offender and has cases against him in 11 police stations. Police said Nazir used to work as a constable in Bahrain and was arrested after gathering credible information.
He was picked up for questioning and he admitted that he had stolen a Hyundai Santa Fe from Hyundai Motor service centre in Thiru Vi Ka Industrial Estate at Ekkaduthangal in Chennai. Based on his information, the stolen car was seized.
During questioning, he confessed that he had worked as police constable in Bahrain from 1998 to 2006, after which he quit the job and returned to Bengaluru. When he was caught earlier, he had claimed he worked as security guard in Bahrain, but investigations revealed that he was a constable there, an official said.
Nazir had earlier stolen brand new cars from showrooms. He has 10 cases against him in city police stations and one in Chennai.
Ms Khairun Bee, a resident of Talabkatta, was approached by travel agent Ali Shah Basha and his sister regarding a job in Riyadh in December 2016. (Representational image)
Hyderabad: A 45-year-old woman is being held captive at her Arab employer's residence in Riyadh since two months. Ms Khairun Bee, a resident of Talabkatta, was approached by travel agent Ali Shah Basha and his sister regarding a job in Riyadh in December 2016.
The woman agreed as she had a handicapped son who was not in a position to work, said Mr Amjadullah Khan. He added, The agent and his sister lured the woman and five others. They were taken to Mumbai on December 14, 2016 and from there to New Delhi and Riyadh. Khairun Bee was asked to work in four houses as a maid.
After reaching Saudi the woman lost touch with her family, and whenever her daughter Hameeda Begum approached the agent told them that she was well. But after two months a lady called me from abroad said that my mother was ill with high blood sugar and thyroid problems and was in hospital. The agent demanded Rs 2 lakh to bring her back, said Hameeda Begum.
She added, No salary was paid to my mother from the time she started working. We have doubts about the condition of the other women as they have to work in 4-5 houses, and its taking a heavy toll of their health. They are also not paid. We have urged the police to take action against the agent and bring back my mother.
When contacted DCP V. Satyanarayana said, We have received a complaint from Hameeda Begum and have forwarded it to Bhavani Nagar police station. We have also formed teams to nab the agent.
The agents are not only from Hyderabad, but also from Mumbai and New Delhi. Airport officials are also involved. I discussed the issue with the commissioner, and soon we will form special teams to nab the culprits, V. Satyanarayana added.
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the Jawahar Bagh Park case of Mathura. (Photo: PTI)
Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the Jawahar Bagh Park case of Mathura where more than 20 people, including two police officials, were killed last year during a drive to evict squatters.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma passed the order on a bunch of PILs demanding a CBI probe.
The court had reserved its judgement on February 20 after hearing arguments from both sides.
Among those who had moved the court with the demand for a CBI inquiry are Delhi-based BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and Mathura resident Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.
Besides, interlocutory applications were filed at a later stage by Archana Dwivedi and Prafull Dwivedi, wife and brother respectively of slain Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi.
The order comes as a jolt to the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.The state government had remained opposed to a CBI inquiry into the matter, pointing out that it had set up a commission of inquiry comprising a retired judge of the High Court.
In a statement issued from Delhi, Upadhyay welcomed the order, saying, "The violence at Jawahar Bagh in June last year was not an ordinary law and order issue.It related to unlawful occupation of public land, worth about Rs 5000 crore, by self-styled cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav and his followers".
The Uttar Pradesh government had, in January 2014, granted permission to Ram Vriksh Yadav's organization Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah to hold a demonstration inside Jawahar Bagh for two days.
However, members of the group went on to occupy the sprawling public park for more than two years.
Following a High Court order, the squatters were evicted from the park amid large scale violence.
A huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the huts that had been erected inside the park during the period of illegal occupation.
There were reports that the park had been converted into a "quasi republic" with its own currency and penal system and people staying there had been issued ration cards and cooking gas cylinders with Jawahar Bagh as the address.
Varanasi: BJP will repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha electoral success and form a majority government in Uttar Pradesh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.
Addressing the 'Varanasi Vyapari Sammelan' (traders meet) in Varanasi, he hailed the Central government's demonetisation policy and said the move had won the confidence of many people.
"The demonetisation scheme was in the best interest of the countrymen. People residing in rural areas, who were once not our voters, voted for us this time due to this great step. Our party courageously took the stand on demonetisation, which will make a positive impact on the economy of the country," he said.
"The world has accepted that India's economy is the fastest growing economy," he said.
Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "BJP is going to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh with full majority like it did at the Centre after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections."
He also hit out at the Opposition for targeting BJP for not having a chief ministerial face for the UP assembly elections.
Jaitley pointed out that the electorate had chosen Narendra Modi, long before he was declared the Prime Minister nominee of BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
"During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the electorate of this country accepted Modiji first, afterwards our Bharatiya Janata party (workers) accepted him and at the end, our parliamentary board nominated him, and we even won the elections," he maintained.
"After 1984, it was for the first time that a political party got a clear majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls," he said, adding that history will be repeated in the UP elections.
Hitting out at the rival Congress, Jaitley said the party was reduced to winning only 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as it "only worked for its personal benefit, not for the nation."
"Now BJP has become the pan India party," he asserted. Jaitley also attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for "distributing tickets to criminal candidates, paving way for 'Goondaraj' (hooliganism) and doing caste-based politics."
"Akhilesh boasts of one expressway in the state, while Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is constructing 255 highways at half the rate of the tender given by the UP government for its expressway," he added.
New Delhi: The CBI has recorded the statement of businessman Vipin Khanna in connection with its probe in the case of payment of alleged commission by aircraft maker Embraer to clinch the USD 208-million deal with India.
The agency is probing the alleged payment of USD 5.70 million as commission to seal the deal, sources said.
The deal for three aircraft, which were to be used by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for air-borne radar systems, was inked with Embraer in 2008.
According to defence procurement rules of India, middlemen are strictly barred in defence deals.
They said Khanna, who is a suspect in the FIR registered by the CBI, was also asked about his alleged links with people whom he is understood to have approached to influence the deal.
The agency has received records from the United States about the deal. On the basis of these documents, the CBI also asked Khanna to clarify the money trail of the alleged commission.
Embraer has been under investigation by the US Justice Department since 2010 when a contract with the Dominican Republic raised suspicions, the report said.
The sources said 87-year-old Khanna might be called again in connection with its probe.
A Brazilian newspaper had alleged that that the company had taken the services of middlemen to clinch deals in Saudi Arabia and India.
After the CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry, Embraer had said in a statement, "Since 2011, Embraer has publicly reported that it has been conducting an extensive internal investigation and cooperating with the authorities on investigations regarding alleged violations of the FCPA.
"The company voluntarily expanded the scope of the investigation, systematically reporting the progress of the case to the market.
"The company is not party of the legal proceedings in Brazil. Therefore, it does not have access to the information contained therein," it had said.
Chennai: Deeply disappointed with the move by traders in Tamil Nadu to boycott Pepsi and Coca Cola products, the Indian Beverage Association on Wednesday said the decision was against proven fundamentals of robust economic growth and violates the rights of the consumer to exercise choice.
In a statement, the IBA said the decision of the traders association in Tamil Nadu was against the clarion call of Make in India by the Union Government and said the two companies together provide direct employment to 2,000 families in TN and more than 5,000 families indirectly, through their extensive supply chain.
IBA hopes that good sense will prevail and that consumers will continue to have the right to exercise their choice in Tamil Nadu. IBA is open to engage with any organisation that has a diverse point of view, the IBA said in the statement issued on Wednesday. Traders in the state have decided to boycott products manufactured by Pepsi and Coca Cola.
It also said products manufactured by Coca Cola and Pepsi are of global standards and one of the safest available. No less than the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Indian its order passed on October 22, 2013, after noting FSSAI's submission said that basis the existing consumption patterns prevalent in India, ingredients present in aerated beverages do not pose any health hazard, the statement said.
The IBA claimed that the two companies play a critical role in improving the livelihood of over 2 lakh retailers, who earn more than Rs 400 crore in income by selling products manufactured by the two companies. The companies also sustain the interests of thousands of Tamil farmers, by procuring agri-produce, the statement said.
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Chennai: The Madras High Court on Thursday directed Tamil Nadu government to consider the representation made by former MLA M Appavu to ban river sand mining.
Appavu submitted that in 2002, the Madras High Court, while dealing with a PIL, directed the state government to constitute a committee to conduct a scientific survey on the river sand quarrying and submit a report.
The committee suggested use of crushed stones and as an alternate material to natural sand for construction activities.
In spite of the recommendation of the use of crushed stones and, the usage of river sand continues in all construction activities, Appavu contended.
Due to continuous river sand mining, the state was facing rapid drying up of rivers, lakes, ponds, leading to water scarcity and drought.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said India must be well-prepared to deal with chemical and biological warfare in the wake of changing threat perception and security concerns.
Referring to reports of use of chemical weapons in recent terror attacks in Afghanistan, he said India should have an effective system in place to prevent potential consequences against use of chemical or biological weapons.
"The reports which are coming from the southern and northern parts of Afghanistan... I have seen photographs of local population suffering from blisters. At this moment, I don't have confirmation on this, but the photos were quite disturbing.
"We should be prepared for any kind of warfare," he said during an event organised by the DRDO.
Echoing Parrikar's concerns, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said the Armed Forces must be prepared for all kinds of threat.
"Although chemical weapons have been banned by the United Nations, it could be used by an adversary," he said. Parrikar and Rawat were speaking at an event where the DRDO handed over Nuclear, Biological, Chemical(NBC) Reconnaissance Vehicle and NBC drugs to the Army.
There were reports which suggested use chemical weapons in certain areas in Northern and Southern Afghanistan as people there had blisters and wounds.
More than a dozen people were killed in near-simultaneous attacks in Kabul yesterday. In the first attack, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun fight between the police and several attackers.
A bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul in the second attack.
Bengaluru: Karnataka government has scrapped the project to construct a steel bridge flyover in Bengaluru to ease traffic between the city and its international airport.
A decision has been taken to scrap the steel bridge. I have already spoken to the Chief Minister," NDTV quoted Bengaluru city development minister K George as saying.
The decision seems to have been taken after the controversy over an alleged diary that the Income Tax department recovered from Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's parliamentary secretary K Govindraju during raids last year.
The diary allegedly has an entry of Rs 65 crores against a mention of a steel bridge. The opposition has alleged that the amount was a bribe paid for the project.
Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa has claimed abbreviations of the names of top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh and party treasurer Motilal Vohra, were also mentioned in the diary. He alleged that bribes were paid to these leaders.
The project, which required an investment of about Rs 1,800 crore, had faced backlash from the people of Bengaluru as about 812 trees had to be chopped off for the construction of 6.7 km-long steel bridge.
As many as 8,000 people, including prominent personalities like actor and film maker Prakash Belawadi, BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar and BJP spokesperson S Suresh Kumar had protested against the project.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had stayed the construction of the bridge following massive protests in the city.
Hyderabad: Sunayana, the widow of Srinivas Kuchibhotla killed in the US in an apparent hate crime, on Wednesday urged the leaders of global tech industry to keep defending human rights as they too employ a large number of immigrants.
"Thanks to people like Satya Nadella (CEO-Microsoft) and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg (Founder-Facebook), Sundar Pichai (CEO-Google), Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights," she said in a Facebook post.
"We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, it's an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I don't want anyone to go through what my family and household went through," she added.
She also thanked the Telangana government for extending support to bring the body of Srinivas back home from the USA. "I will now ask same question - on what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, it's not based on the colour of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them after-ward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
"Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrant's mind, Do we belong here. Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?" she wondered.
She also expressed her desire to go back to the USA and continue to work for Intouch Solutions where she is currently employed.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting at a restaurant in Kansas on Wednesday night. Another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the incident.
Scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75.
New Delhi: The navy on Thursday successfully test- fired an anti-ship missile for the first time from an indigenously built Kalvari class submarine, describing the launch as a significant milestone in enhancing its "sub- surface" warfare prowess.
The weapon was fired from the submarine, the first of Indias six Scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75, and it "successfully hit" a surface target during the trial in the Arabian Sea.
All the six diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with the anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat, the defence ministry said, noting these missiles will provide the vessels the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges.
"This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navy's sub-surface warfare capability," the ministry said.
The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
Chennai: In a major relief to leading soft drink manufacturers, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed two PILs against supply of Thamirabarani river water to co-packers of Pepsi and Coca Cola.
Last November, the Madras High Court had restrained Pepsi and Coca-Cola from using water drawn from the Tamirabarani river for their bottling plants.
The Madurai Bench of the high court had given the interim injunction on a PIL filed by Prabakar, Secretary of Tirunelveli Consumer Protection Association.
The petitioner had contended that drawing of water for the bottling plants of these companies deprived farmers of their livelihood, who were unable to take up farming activities.
The companies paid only 37.50 paise per 1,000 litres of water extracted and sold their beverages at a much higher cost, he had alleged.
He had submitted that the Public Works Department had not permitted the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) to provide water to the bottling units of these companies. Yet SIPCOT supplied water to the soft drink makers, thus affecting farmers in five districts.
Allowing supply of Tamirabarani water to the two companies would affect lives of people in five districts, the petitioner had said and sought its sale to be stopped.
New Delhi: Amid a raging controversy over free speech, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said he supports freedom of expression, but within the legal framework.
I believe in freedom of expression but it has to be within reasonable legal framework, he said.
On the sidelines of a DRDO event, Parrikar was asked to comment on the controversy surrounding Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur who had launched a campaign against RSS-backed ABVP.
The defence minister, however, clarified that his comments were not related to any particular incident.
The 20-year-old Kaur became the centre of a controversy after she launched a social media campaign against the ABVP which has been under attack after some of its members were allegedly involved in violence at Ramjas College on February 22. She allegedly received rape threats following the campaign and drew criticism from a Union minister and a BJP MP.
On the issue of the alleged leak of question papers of an army recruitment examination, Parrikar said the defence ministry has recommended a CBI inquiry as the case has inter-state ramifications.
On Monday, the army had ordered a high-level court of inquiry (CoI) into the alleged question paper leak. Referring to the Kabul blasts and possible use of chemical weapons, he said that the army should be well-prepared to tackle any challenge.
As per the reports which are coming from the southern and northern parts of Afghanistan, I have seen photographs of the local population having suffered from blisters. (due to possible use of some chemical weapons). At this moment, I dont have a confirmation on this matter but the photos are quite distressing, he said.
The minister said India will have to be prepared for any kind of nuclear or chemical attack, adding the armed forces must remain alert and prepared for any challenge. More than a dozen people were killed in two terror attacks in Kabul on Wednesday.
The near-simultaneous attacks struck the Afghan capital around noon on Wednesday. First, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun battle between the police and several attackers. In the second attack, a bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul.
New Delhi: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said the government fully supports freedom of expression while criticising those who "abused" DU student Gurmehar Kaur on the social media.
The Union Law Minister said "Kaur is a proud daughter of a martyr and we should respect her and her privacy".
"All those abuses against her (Kaur) on social media is totally wrong," Prasad, who also holds portfolio of Communications & Information Technology, said.
20-year-old Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on social media over her stance against RSS-backed student body ABVP and for a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.
Prasad said the government fully supports freedom of expression for every ordinary Indian who can criticise the government and the prime minister.
However, Prasad asked "those who are talking about freedom of speech, should it allow disintegration of India and Kashmir's independence?" as he added that calling for disintegration of the country is not acceptable.
Kaur, a student of Lady Shri Ram College, affiliated to Delhi University, is the daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh who was killed in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on August 6, 1999, four days after Pakistani troops withdrew from Kargil.
Tirunelveli: Upset over the Madras High Court order allowing Pepsi and Coca Cola to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in this district for manufacturing soft drinks, a large number or persons today stood in knee deep water in the river to express their ire.
They also protested against the "laxity" on the part of the authorities in handling the case.
The protesters also shouted slogans against the state government for not taking necessary steps to prevent the carbonated water companies from drawing water from Thamirabharani, when the farmers in the was facing acute water shortage for their farming activities.
The High Court on Thursday allowed the Cola majors to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in Tirunelveli district for manufacturing soft drinks besides packaged drinking water.
The Court had in November last year banned the firms from drawing water from the river.
The soft drinks companies sought a direction on lifting the ban on the ground that they were using only the surplus water in the river.
The order has come even as a call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi soft drinks came into effect yesterday with its President A M Vikrama Raja declaring drinks as 'toxic' for consumption.
Srinagar: The police in Kashmir have said that a top militant, Bilal Ahmed, of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin has been arrested by security forces in southern Pulwama district.
The Hizb is a frontline indigenous militant outfit active in Jammu and Kashmir for the last two-and-a-half decades.
A police spokesman said here that the militant Bilal Ahmed was captured following a tip off in Palpora village of Pulwama by the members of its counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) who were assisted by Armys Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF in the operation launched early Thursday morning.
The arrested militant has been taken to an interrogation centre, the police sources said.
Meanwhile, two persons identified as Abdul Gani Dar and Mudassir Ahmed Rather, both from south Kashmir, were killed when the truck they were travelling was hit by a trailer at Sherbibi Nachalana along the Jammu-Srinagar highway overnight. The police said that efforts are on to arrest the driver of the trailer.
Lucknow: Police on Thursday initiated steps to withdraw 'Y' category security to Gayatri Prasad Prajpati as the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister remains elusive.
"We have initiated the process to withdraw his 'Y' category security," a senior Lucknow Police official said.
A person enjoying 'Y' category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos.
"Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon," he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the minister's assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.
A UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of "severe trauma" and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS.
A DSP-rank officer, investigating the matter, recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from AIIMS Medical Superintendent.
The statement was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Police teams were dispatched out of the state capital when Prajpati could not be located in his official residence in posh Gautampalli area here.
Acting on Supreme Court orders, police made frantic efforts to nab him and after having failed to do so they might even apply for cancellation of his passport so that the minister cannot escape from the country.
Interestingly, the minister was earlier seen moving freely from one place to other in his constituency seeking votes.
The last time Prajapati was seen in public was on February 27 when he spoke to the media saying he will win with a huge margin and will work under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav once again.
49-year-old Prajpati is facing imminent arrest following an FIR lodged against him and six of his accomplices on the apex court order at Gautampalli police station here on February 18 under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act.
The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged an FIR against Prajapati on the apex court's order for his alleged roles in separate cases of gangrape and an attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter.
Surat: An arrest warrant was on Thursday sought against Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel for not appearing in a court in Surat.
Hardik has a sedition case registered against him in the city. As per the bail condition, he has to appear before a court here every week.
His lawyer Yashwant Vala on Thursday requested for an exemption for his client from appearance before district judge Geeta Gopi. Hardik could not come because he had to attend some social functions, the lawyer said.
The judge then allowed Hardik to appear on March 15. However, prosecutor Nayan Sukhadwala opposed this concession and demanded an arrest warrant against Hardik.
By remaining absent Hardik violated the condition imposed by the high court while granting him bail, he said. The judge said she would hear the application for warrant on Friday.
Jerusalem: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has held talks with Israels top leadership here as part of preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modis much- awaited visit, the first by an Indian premier to the Jewish country. Modi is expected to visit Israel by the middle of this year.
Doval landed in Israel on Thursday and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office. Doval also met his counterpart, Israels acting National Security Adviser and Head of the National Security Council, Brig. Gen. (retd) Jacob Nagel. The discussions revolved around Prime Minister Modi's expected visit this summer", officials said.
Doval left for India later in the day concluding his short trip. Indias relations with Israel have made steady progress since the two countries established diplomatic relations 25 years ago in January 1992, irrespective of the party in power in New Delhi, but a prime ministerial visit to Israel has been long-awaited.
President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in October, 2015, in what was the first such visit by an Indian Head of State to the Jewish country.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin made a reciprocal visit last year at Mukhejees invitation in what was the second visit by an Israeli Head of State to New Delhi coming after a gap of almost 20 years.
The only visit of an Israeli Prime Minister to India happened in 2003 when Ariel Sharon visited New Delhi during the tenure of Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Modis visit is being discussed amid talks of a close chemistry between him and Netanyahu. The two leaders have already met twice on foreign soil on the sidelines of UN-related events and are said to have been in touch with each other over phone.
I am happy that often we can talk easily on telephone, we can discuss everything. It has very rarely happened. In your case it has happened, Modi had told Netanyahu during their meeting on the sidelines of Paris climate summit in 2015.
The Israeli premier had then promptly responded by saying, in your case too. Indias abstention in a UNHRC vote in 2015 on a UN report critical of Israels offensive in the Gaza war of 2014 was described by many here as a sign of a qualitative leap in relations which had transformed into completely normal ties without any hangups with many crediting the closeness between the two prime Ministers for the change in heart.
New Delhi, however, later clarified that the vote was a principled stand it had taken with the International Criminal Court having a reference in the resolution and did not mark any shift in policy.
Bengaluru: After months of turning a deaf ear to the growing anger among the citizenry on plans to build a steel flyover across one of the most beautiful stretches in the heart of the city, the Siddaramaiah government on Thursday, abruptly called off plans to construct the Rs 1800 crore eyesore that was fast becoming a monument to alleged Congress corruption.
As Bengaluru's activists and environmentalists celebrated their unexpected victory, and took credit for the government's apparent climbdown, that would save over 800 trees from being cut down, with some saying that a rap on the knuckles by the National Green Tribunal could be the cause, the real reason for the government's backing off may lie elsewhere.
Specifically - the 'Diary wars' and the unsubstantiated but nonetheless damaging accusations on payoffs that may have been a little too close to home that was threatening to snowball into a major corruption scandal, a little more than a year before state polls.
The Govindaraju Diary, dismissed as "fake" by the ruling Congress was the final straw, as it has a specific mention of the Steel Flyover Project and the monies paid against it.
Sources in the party said that the revelations in the diary of the chief minister's parliamentary secretary were deeply embarrassing. The party tried to counter this by releasing a diary, purported to belong to Lehar Singh Siroya, a BJP functionary and MLC. But that failed as it did not grab the attention of the media and public as much as the Govindaraju Diary did.
Continuing with his allegations of kickbacks, the BJP state president, B.S. Yeddyurappa upped the ante when when he alleged that Rs 65 crore was paid to family members of the chief minister, Siddaramaiah.
This went viral in electronic media. The government tried to put up a brave front before the media and public, but insiders said the BJP's sustained bid to destroy his reputation had deeply rattled the CM camp.
The decision to tackle the charges head on was one of the plans but at a hurriedly called meeting, convened by the CM camp of all the city ministers and MLAs at a brain storming session at Bengaluru Development minister, K.J. George's residence on Monday, the issue was discussed threadbare.
Those who were present felt the party's image was getting mauled at the hands of an increasingly hostile media and a combative civil society that refused to back off.
"If this campaign continued it would be difficult to win back the seats we hold in the next elections. To stymie the opposition's campaign and to retrieve the party's sagging image, it would be better to drop the project," many legislators and ministers including R. Ramalinga Reddy and others proposed to the chief minister.
Senior ministers concurred with this idea when it was informally raised with them, after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Thereafter, CM Siddaramaiah told Mr George to announce the scrapping of the flyover project on Wednesday.
Instead, Mr. George only announced he was dropping the steel flyover project after he seemed to be paying heed to a group of city MLAs at a meeting on Thursday, where they said they were getting unpopular and stood little chance of being re-elected in the coming polls if the government did not rectify the looming water shortage and the feeling that the steel flyover was a priority over drinking water.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is yet to give his nod on accepting an honorary doctorate from Osmania University.
The varsity has proposed to award the doctorate to Mr Rao during the OU centenary celebrations to be held in April, but has been waiting for his approval.
Its been nearly six months since the proposal was mooted by the university. Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari, who holds the education portfolio, along with OU Vice-Chancellor Prof S. Ramachandram, had proposed the doctorate to the CM, when they met him at the CMs camp office discuss arrangements for the centenary celebrations.
However, the CM neither gave any consent nor refused the proposal, but kept the issue pending since then.
With April 17, the date for the celebrations fast approaching, the education department and university officials are now in a flux over how to go about because the university has also proposed doctorates to a few other prominent personalities along with the CM.
President Pranab Mukherjee has been invited to hand over the doctorates. The varsity wants to announce the doctorates for others along with CM, but with no communication from Mr Rao in this regard, officials are now banking on senior ministers and TRS leaders to know whether the CM is interested or not in accepting the doctorate.
An OU official said, We have received nearly 110 applications for doctorates right from 1969 Telangana movement activists and families of Telangana martyrs. Those who played major role in Telangana agitation between 2009 and 2013 have also applied. Various social and students organisations submitted representations seeking doctorate to CM. We will seek the opinion of CM before announcing Ph.D. All these proposals will be discussed in the special meeting of OU executive council to be held in a week or two.
The OU had awarded doctorates to 48 personalities since its inception. Prominent among them are Dr B.R. Ambedkar, former PM Manmohan Singh, Palestine leader late Yasser Arafat etc.
The last doctorate was awarded to Arun N. Netravali, an Indo-American computer engineer in 2001.
Kochi: President Pranab Mukherjee has condemned violators of women and campus hotheads, saying a society or state cannot be considered civilised if its citizens behaviour towards women is uncivilised and those in universities propagate a culture of unrest.
Mr Mukherjee was delivering the sixth K.S. Rajamony Memorial Lecture on India@70 here on Thursday.
The Presidents words struck a chord as it came in the wake of heinous attacks on women, especially that of a leading actor in Kochi, and a spate of student agitations, especially fanned by right-wingers, in Delhi.
When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the woman as divine. Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test, said Mr Mukherjee. He bemoaned the plight of institutions of higher education. It was tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet. There should be no room in the country for the intolerant Indian, Mr Mukherjee said.
India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Our society has always been characterised by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent, he said.
He said political activists must listen to the people, engage with them, learn from them and respond to their needs and concerns. Lawmakers must never take them for granted. They must focus on the task of law-making and raising of issues of concern to the people as well as finding solutions to their problems, he added.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an unprecedented death threat issued publicly against a chief minister, a RSS leader in Ujjain offered a bounty of Rs 1 crore to anyone who beheads Pinarayi Vijayan. The threat was issued by RSS pramukh of Ujjain Dr Kundan Chandravat at a public meeting organised in Ujjain as part of nationwide protests against the killing of Sangh workers in Kerala. While holding the chief minister responsible for the murders, Chandravat said Pinarayi had no right to live in this country. The threat was issued in the presence of Ujjain MP Chintamani Malviya and local MLA Mohan Yadav. CPM politburo condemned the threats being issued by RSS leaders against the Kerala Chief Minister.
The RSS has reconfirmed that it spearheads the politics of violence and terror as has been clear in Kerala in the recent months, the politburo said in a communique and demanded immediate action in accordance with law. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the RSS had revealed its true colours as a terrorist outfit. Will Prime Minister and his government stop remaining silent ? "The silence of the government is an endorsement that emboldens the RSS to issue such obnoxious heats," he said. The video of hate speech went viral on social networking sites inviting widespread criticism against the RSS leader. When contacted Madhya Pradesh police chief Rishikumar Shukla said that he had not gone through the speech yet and would look into the matter. To a question whether action will be taken against the RSS leader as demanded by the CPM, the DGP said let me first look into the matter.
With the hate speech receiving widespread condemnation, RSS central leadership was forced to distance itself from Chandravats remarks."The Sangh does not support any form of violence. RSS has nothing to do with Chandravat's statement. We believe in protesting democratically," said National Joint Prachar Pramukh of RSS J Nandakumar. Meanwhile, CPM state secretariat called for state wide protests on Friday to demand the arrest of Chandravat. This is the first time that a death threat has been issued against the chief minister publicly and that too by a leader associated with the ruling party, the CPM said.
Excerpts of Chandravat's statement. We don't want to submit memorandum but also issue death warrants to these Leftists. The chief minister is fanning hatred against RSS as he is afraid that the Sangh is gaining ground. He is picking and killing our pracharaks. They have killed over 300 RSS workers" he said. I Dr Kudan Chandravat is making this announcement from this stage. I have property and thats why I am making this announcement. Go and get me the head of Vijayan, I will given Rs 1 crore. I will give house and land to him. He has no right to live in this country. Have you forgotten when 56 were killed in Godhara after that 2000 went to burial ground. You have killed 300 pracharaks and workers. We will garland bharat mata with the heads of 3 lakh Leftists, he threatened.
According to I-T sources, all the owners of the high value cars were asked to be present at the Income-Tax Office on Monday for giving statements.
Chennai: The income-tax department has summoned the owners of the swanky cars that were seized by the city police on Sunday for alleged speeding and rash driving on East Coast Road. According to I-T sources, all the owners of the high value cars were asked to be present at the Income-Tax Office on Monday for giving statements.
I-T officials indicated that that they would like to know the source of funds for the owners to buy such cars. We don't know if the cars were owned by the drivers against whom the police had booked a number of cases. We would like to check the finance part regarding the purchase of the cars. They may belong to the drivers, firms or other family members. We hope they will have satisfactory explanations for our questions on money used to buy the cars when they appear before us on Monday, a senior income-tax official said.
The police, after seizing the cars 3 Lamborghinis, 2 Porsches, 2 Audis, a Ferrari, a Mercedes Benz and a BMW, which are valued at several crores of rupees - moved them to a shed in a facility of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) located behind Kanathur Police Station off ECR, for safe-keeping.
The 10 drivers of these cars were booked for rash driving or riding on a public way, act endangering life or personal safety of others, driving dangerously, racing and speed trials, besides causing noise pollution.
One more section was added in the case of a Lamborghini's driver identified as Raghav Krishnan who drove his car over a police inspector's foot. He was charged under IPC section 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty).
Kochi: Cultural activities are the easy targets for the cuts in expenditure all over the world, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday, as he emphasised on public funds for investment in culture.
Addressing the latest edition of 'Kochi-Muziris Biennale' here, he said contemporary art is one of the most significant ways of expressing thoughts, emotions, concerns and ideas that are current, that are relevant to us in the present time.
"We need the arts. All over the world cultural activities are easy targets for spending cuts. But if the state is to act as the catalyst, then what must be its role? What institutions must be built up, and what confidence measures should be taken?
"The Kochi Biennale Foundation is a good case study of what is possible when differing agencies come together to pursue profound goals: to value culture, and the achievements of the human spirit, to celebrate the human imagination, and to make those achievements key markers of development," the President said.
The Kochi Muziris Biennale is an international festival of contemporary art organised by the Kochi Muziris Foundation in association with the Kerala government.
The Biennale, which is today known as the People's Biennale, has cemented Kochi's status as a cosmopolitan city brimming with potential and ideas, Mukherjee said.
"Kerala has always been known for its secular approach towards art and culture. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is a proud symbol of this approach and the sense of oneness and inclusivity that exists here," the President said.
He said public funding for the arts provides support, offers certainty and the opportunity to touch the lives of vast numbers of people.
Public funds have the power to act as seed funding, giving others the confidence to invest in the creation and innovation of cultural organisations like the Kochi Biennale Foundation, the President said.
Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, among other dignitaries, attended the function.
Gandhinagar: Shoes were on Thursday hurled at Gujarat Home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja outside the state Assembly building when he was about to address the media.
Shouting "down with corruption", a man identified as Gopal Italia launched the projectiles at a surprised Jadeja but missed his target. He was then overpowered and taken away by police personnel.
A police official said the man was "mentally unstable" and claimed to be a government employee.
The incident happened during the recess hour of the ongoing Budget session when Jadeja came to address the media near the public entry gate of the state Assembly premises.
Gandhinagar Range IG R B Brahmbhatt said Italia has been detained for questioning and preliminary investigation has revealed that he is "mentally unstable and frustrated".
"A man named Gopalbhai, aged around 30 years, walked up to Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja when he was preparing to address the press, and hurled shoes at him. He works as a clerk at Dhandhuka (Ahmedabad district) SDM office," Brahmbhatt said.
"We have taken him for questioning, and preliminary investigation reveals that he is mentally unstable and frustrated for reasons that are not clear yet. We will take action against him after questioning," he added.
While being taken away by police, Italia told media that the attack was on the "dictatorship and arrogance" of the state government.
"Government is bent on dictatorship. I am a government employee, and I am angry at the government's way of dealing with issues like unemployment, corruption, and prohibition.
I am angry and like a common man, I have thrown shoes at the government's arrogance," he said.
The ruling BJP was quick to point fingers at opposition Congress for the incident.
"I condemn the way Congress is creating anarchical situation in the state. It is not the right way to oppose, and I want this to be properly investigated as I believe it is Congress which is behind all this. In a democracy, we have every right to put forth our demands, but this is not the way to do so," State BJP President Jitu Vaghani said.
Congress condemned the attack, and said that public should rather use elections to express their anger and frustration rather than hurling shoes or ink at leaders.
The case involving the out-of-state magazine salesman accused of raping two women and harassing another in Benton County has been delayed after originally being set for trial next week.
LaDerrick Monquell McCray, 21, of Gulfport, Mississippi, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, sexual abuse and unlawful penetration in connection with three separate incidents in Corvallis, Philomath and Benton County over four days in August 2016. According to court records, the case was scheduled for a 10-day 12-person jury trial beginning March 6, but both the defense and prosecution agreed to a continuance Friday.
On Monday, court-appointed defense attorney Robert Corl motioned to withdraw from the case Monday citing health reasons.
McCray, who has been booked at the Benton County Jail on $500,000 security since his August arrest, faces 12 total charges eight felony and four misdemeanor charges after being indicted by a Benton County grand jury in September.
The alleged victims are three females, aged 17, 19 and 22, from Benton County.
Originally, McCray was alleged to have had sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old female in Philomath who was incapable of consent by reason of mental incapacitation and/or physical helplessness, but the grand jury amended the charges to replace the reason of mental incapacitation and/or physical helplessness with forcible compulsion.
McCray was working as a door-to-door magazine salesman for an out-of-state company at the time of the alleged incidents and has no ties to Oregon, prosecutors said previously.
McCray is next scheduled for a status check in the case on March 13.
Chennai: A 30-year-old transgender committed suicide by jumping into the Adyar river from the Kotturpuram Bridge, on Thursday afternoon. Her lifeless body was pulled out of the slush after a 90-minute rescue operation.
Sources said the deceased, identified as Muruga aka Suji (30), was a resident of Kotturpuram Slum Clearance tenements. She leaped off the bridge when Manoharan, a sub-Inspector attached to Kotturpuram Police station and on patrol, was trying to reach out to her, following alerts from the neighbourhood.
Subsequently, Manoharan alerted his superiors and the TNFRS control.
Before the TNFRS rushed to the scene, Abhiramapuram Police Inspector J Prabhu entered Adyar with a boat and personnel borrowed from Madras Boat Club.
The TNFRS vehicle had to approach the river from a lane on the other bank as the rescue operation going on had become a crowd puller with motorists stopping their vehicles freely on the bridge and looking over the retaining wall curiously.
Suji had taken to heavy drinking since Monday and came to my place drunk. I chided her and turned her away to get some sleep before she could go out. About 10 minutes later, I got a call saying that Suji had leaped into Adyar, Suji's aunt Poonkodi recalled while she waited on the bridge with tears while her niece was being brought out.
The Kotturpuram bridge, a bizarre suicide point in the city, has accounted for more than 20 suicides in the past 10 years. The frequency had gone up with the suicide of the celebrity husband of a well-known vocalist in the City, which was reported on Dec 20, 2012.
Eleven days later, an unemployed techie jumped into the river from Kotturpuram bridge from the same spot. The same night, a youth from Velachery attempted to jump but was saved by passersby. The very next day another auto driver attempted to jump into the river from the same spot in an inebriated condition.
A senior manager of a nationalised bank jumped into the Adyar in Nov-ember 2014. Subsequently, the civic body raised the parapet wall of the bridge to 4 metres as a suicide barrier. The spot still remains ghoulishly popular with those willing to take the extreme step.
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "misleading" the country with his "blatant lies" on various issues including the "coconut juice" jibe on Rahul Gandhi, for which it demanded his apology.
The Opposition party hit out at Modi for not fulfilling any of the promises made to farmers, ex-servicemen and the poor and accused him of doing "treachery" with farmers.
"Blatant lies, jumlas and disinformation have become the hallmark of India's Prime Minister. The truth is that Modi ji does not speak the truth," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.
Showing a video of Rahul's speech in Manipur and that of the Prime Minister at a rally in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leader said it is more than apparent in the video that Modi is trying to mislead the nation and people of Uttar Pradesh.
Surjewala was referring to a remark made by the Congress vice president about progress made by a northeastern state which is essentially part of India's growth story.
"Modiji does not want people of Manipur and northeastern states to progress and participate in India's growth story. So Modiji must now apologise not only to the Congress party but to the entire nation. He should express regrets publicly for misleading people in UP as also the entire country by twisting and by falsifying the words of the leader of the principal Opposition party," he said.
"It does not behove a Prime Minister. Modiji has lowered the dignity of the office of Prime Minister and he should be ashamed about it," he added.
"We are sorry and sad in saying these words about Prime Minister of India who has become a habitual offender in telling lies."
Modi took a jibe at Rahul's reported remark that he was waiting for the day when packaged "coconut juice" from Manipur would sell in London. During his poll campaign in Manipur, Rahul had talked about 'Narangi' juice, the Congress claimed.
Surjewala also attacked Modi accusing him of "lying" about and "fudging" the growth numbers and of talking about the welfare of poor but increasing LPG prices steeply and imposing transaction tax on ATM usage. He also charged him with "treachery" with farmers.
"By giving fudged figures, you are attacking the economists who have shown you the mirror of truth on account of demon of demonetisation. Does Modi ji forget that from fake encounters to fake figures, can never cover the real truth.
And the real truth is this," he said.
Surjewala also said Modi promised farming communities in UP, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, to include certain communities in OBC list, besides paying farmers 50 per cent more than their cost as MSP.
"Now for 2.5 years, Modiji has not fulfilled the promises made. That shows absolute treachery an falsification of promises by Narendra Modi. India's farmers are large-hearted and even if you do treachery with them they will pardon you if you do course correction on important issue. The ball now lies in Modi ji's court."
He also said that by "abusing known economists, Modiji cannot hide the truth and the truth is that incompetence and malgovernance have become the hallmark of of Modiji's type of functioning".
Chennai: DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Wednesday celebrated his 65th birdhday at the Dravidar Kazhagam headquarters in the city after paying homage at the memorial of the Dravidian movements founder E.V.R. Periyar indicating that he had patched up with the parent body after differences over the DKs support to AIADMK to stay in the government.
Early in the morning, Stalin went to DMK president M. Karunanidhis Gopalapuram residence and got the blessings of his father and mother Dayalu Ammal. Later, he went to Anna memorial and paid tributes to the DMK founder.
At the DK headquarters Periyar Thidal, DK president K. Veeramani welcomed Stalin and offered a shawl to him.
Stalin cut his birthday cake at the DK headquarters in front of cadres and people. Commenting on Stalins visit to the DK headquarters, Veeramani said There can be differences of opinion between the DK and DMK. But, the ties between the two parties is not a kind of alliance, but an unbreakable relationship.
Earlier, Veeramani had condemned the activities of the DMK in the Assembly during Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamis vote of confidence on February 18.
From DK headquarters, he went to DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagans house at Kilpauk and got his blessings. Later, he celebrated his birthday at his Alwarpet residence with his wife Durga, son Udhayanidhi, daughter Senthamarai and grand children. DMK Rajya Sabha MP and his sister Kanimozhi, besides the other sister Selvi conveyed their greetings to Stalin.
The DMK leader went to party headquarters Anna Arivalayam where he was given a grand welcome. A large number of books was given to him as gifts, following his request earlier and a jallikattu bull was among the gifts.
The Anna Salai stretch from Teyanampet to Marina beach witnessed traffic congestion from the morning due to the arrival of DMK cadres to the headquarters and the procession led by Stalin.
He also visited the Little Flowers School at Thousand Lights to celebrate the birthday with differently abled children.
Among those who greeted Stalin through phone included Congress vice president Rahul Gandh, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress in-charge for Tamil Nadu Mukul Wasnik, Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Pon. Radhakrishnan, TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundarrajan, CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan, VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss and film star Rajnikanth.
Bengaluru: Demanding a CBI probe into tendering process adopted by the state government for the controversial steel flyover project, state BJP president B.S.Yeddyurappa on Thursday said his party would continue the agitation in support of an inquiry though the state government took a decision to scrap the project.
He told the media here his party would insist on an inquiry as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was allegedly involved and his family received Rs 65 crores as mentioned in the diary purportedly belonging to Congress MLC K Govindaraj. "We also demand an inquiry into the role of ministers who made payments of Rs 500 to Rs 600 crores to party leaders in Delhi. The state government has scrapped the proposed project following apprehensions about BJP's agitation. Moreover, contractors were hesitant to come forward to take up the project," he added.
When members of civil society and environmentalists opposed the project, the government had defended steel flyover on grounds that it would not yield to pressure from the civil society. How come it has taken a sudden decision to drop the project?, queried Mr Yeddyurappa.
In Mysuru, the former CM labelled Siddaramaiah as the most corrupt CM in the country and insisted that his family had received a kickback of Rs 65 crore in the flyover deal.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Yeddyurappa challenged Siddaramaiah to hand over both the Govindraju and Lehar Singh diaries to the CBI for investigation. " It will then be proved that a Rs 65 crore kickback was received in the steel bridge project by the CM's family and it will become inevitable for Mr Siddaramaiah to resign. Mr K J George too may have to get ready to resign. But I will be satisfied only with Mr Siddaramaiah's resignation," he said.
After several rounds of voting and almost by the end of the election campaign, it is clear that this election in Uttar Pradesh was an issue-less election. There is hardly an issue which dominated the mind of voters in UP from the western region to Purvanchal. What dominated the election campaign were allegations and counter-allegations, charges and counter-charges and rhetoric. Like in other elections, even in the current Assembly election in UP, the political parties began their campaign with the fancy word development, which seems attractive to voters as well, but very often conversation tends to end with a strong sense of either caste or religious identity. Caste identity and in some contexts religious identity is shaping the choices of voters in UP. The party that had managed to form a better social coalition is likely to be ahead in the electoral race in the state. There is no wave in these elections like there was no wave in the 2012 and 2007 Assembly elections. It is only the number of seats won by the Samajwadi Party in 2012 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 2007 made many people believe (retrospectively) that those were wave elections. It is unfortunate that demonetisation, which affected the livelihood of millions of people, did not become an issue in these elections. Findings from the studies conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies confirms that people have divided opinions on this matter, but this is not the key issue shaping how they vote.
Looking at the issues raised by political parties in different election rallies, one thing is clear: no party is keen on making demonetisation an issue. The BJP refrained from making demonetisation an issue out of fear that this might remind people of the hardships they had to face while depositing and exchanging money. More so, this might remind millions of people who lost their livelihood, farmers who suffered losses due to demonetisation. Even the non-BJP parties (SP, Congress or BSP) have been hesitant in making it an issue as in the present discourse, those opposing demonetisation would be seen as the one standing in support of black money and corruption. Parties possibly cant afford to be seen as supporting corruption and black money. The election campaign mostly began with development rhetoric, but finally centred around caste and religious issues. If this was not the guiding principle of voting for the people of UP, then why would Mayawati again and again make an appeal to Muslims to vote en bloc for the BSP? The electoral prospects of the BSP largely depend on how Muslims are voting in these elections, a strong dalit-Muslim coalition can result in Ms Mayawati leading over other political parties in the current electoral contest in UP. But the big question is can that happen? Another question that should worry the BSP is: will Ms Mayawati be able to hold on her dalit votebank? There is a strong possibility of shift in the non-Jatav dalits away from the BSP, signs of which were visible in last Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections held in 2014. Muslim votes are crucial even for the electoral success of the SP-Congress alliance. This alliance hopes to get en-bloc support from Muslim voters.
If this works in their favour, the alliance could take a lead, as the numerically-strong Yadavs seem to be voting for the alliance in large numbers. But the leaders of the alliance have been careful about not wooing Muslim voters openly in their campaign due to the fear of counter-polarisation of Hindu votes against the alliance. The leaders of the alliance in their rallies have always put the work of the current government on the forefront of their election speeches and banking heavily on the slogan Kaam bolta hai. This slogan seems to be going down well with voters as the government did manage to do reasonably good work, though nothing exceptional. But what makes the people believe in this slogan is the good image of Akhilesh Yadav, who is accepted amongst people as a good chief minister. The BJP hardly has any state-level leader to match Mr Yadavs popularity and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though still very popular, is not being able to motivate voters in as large numbers as the party needs to steer a clear victory. This has resulted in a situation where the BJP is also dependent upon Muslim votes for the partys victory, not in a positive way but in a negative way.
What may take the BJP ahead of others in the electoral race in UP is either the consolidation of Hindu votes or the split of Muslim votes. In an attempt to divide Muslim votes in UP, knowing well that the prime consideration in the minds of Muslim voters will be to vote for the party that can defeat the BJP, it tried hard to divide the attention of voters about which party is in the electoral race. At times BJP leaders did mention that the real contest of the BJP is with the BSP, with the sole aim of confusing voters so that their votes may get divided. If the BJP succeeds in doing this, it may take a clear lead over the rival parties or the SP-Congress alliance. The party seems to get a lot of upper caste votes and has succeeded in attracting sizeable proportion of non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav dalit voters towards it. True, the support amongst these sections of voters has made the electoral contest interesting, brought the BJP in serious contest, but its electoral success in UP also depends upon Muslim votes. A split in Muslim votes, advantage BJP; a consolidated Muslim vote will put the BJP on the backfoot. The identity of caste and religion remained the focus of the election campaign for most parties and the issues of demonetisation, unemployment, poverty and other livelihood matters got pushed back. The final electoral outcome in UP would depend upon how well the party managed to weave in the social arithmetic based on either caste or religion, or both.
The first lot of better equipment, including weapons, is being delivered to military units in Jammu and Kashmir before heightened terrorist activity sets in as we advance towards summer, especially in high-altitude areas. The new weapons are also being despatched to the Line of Control, and to the international border. More than in the fight against terrorism, its in the skirmishes against Pakistani forces that the inadequacy of some weapons used by our forces has been profiled. Lighter bulletproof vests, lighter guns, better communication devices, boots that can withstand the impact of improvised explosive devices and specialised night-fighting capabilities have been spoken of over years. Re-equipping the troops is, of course, a continuing process.
In the context of extremism and terrorism in Kashmir, that has seen a resurgence in the past two years, its to be underlined that some major incidents that have occurred in Baramulla and Jammu and the airbase in Pathankot (that is in Punjab, but very close to J&K) havent resulted from equipment deficit. The culprit has been reckless disregard by the Army and the Air Force of the most rudimentary considerations of security, such as perimeter protection and defence; in short, failures relating to overlooking the first principles. Well-trained terrorists found it a cakewalk to stroll into a major defence area and attempt to create a hostage-like situation. Whats really galling is that the three major events of a big enough magnitude to provoke war between nations occurred in close proximity to one another in time. This suggests criminal neglect, and a failure to take the obvious lessons by the ministry of defence.
Parliament is yet to ask the right questions in this regard. The ruling establishment is of course apt to view any questioning of the functioning of the defence establishment as an anti-national, even unpatriotic, activity. If this remains the attitude, we may expect complacency, inefficiency and corruption to flourish unhindered. While its good that the security forces will have better equipment, theres no sign yet of the Centre taking steps to stop the vulnerable sections of people, specially the impressionable youth in the Kashmir Valley, from falling prey to extremism and terrorism encouraged by the jihadist elements nurtured by Pakistan. Its also necessary to have effective non-lethal gear the pellet guns which blinded many in Kashmir last year does not fall into this category for crowd control. But its crucial to find social and political ways to dissuade people from hindering security operations by forming crowds.
Pakistan is furiously cobbling together alternative geostrategic tieups with the prospect of a questionable future looming large with its traditional ally, the United States. Having escaped the first wave of Donald Trumps formal censure via the proposed seven-country immigration ban, Islamabad is equally aware of the parallel risks in punting exclusively on Beijing. China is the hardheaded apostle of realpolitik and its ostensible all-weather friendship with Pakistan is bereft of any cultural, civilisational or emotional context. It is the marriage of convenience and circumstances, forever susceptible to the vicissitudes of the fickle, need-based approach. Chinas economic largesse, for example the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its convenient non-preachy tolerance of Pakistans complicity in terror (often with a tacit encouragement e.g. Beijings invaluable help in stalling the designation of the Pak-sponsored, Masood Azar as an international terrorist), is a temporary counterpoise and relief to wary Pakistanis.
Pakistans two other principal blocs of geostrategic participation Saarc and Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) are both floundering for Pakistan. While the OIC is mired with its own existential, imploding and sectarian challenges, Saarc has been less than propitious in recent times, with India lending the cold shoulder in the last Saarc meet in Islamabad. This has led to Pakistan investing in direct bilateral relationships (free trade agreements with Turkey and Saudi Arabia), as well as wagering on nascent blocs like the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO). The ECO is a sub-set of the OIC as it is a bloc of Muslim-majority countries, which span from Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan to the Central Asian countries a geographical land mass that interconnects the landlocked, energy-rich Central Asian region with the Mediterranean ports in Turkey to the Arabian Sea ports in Iran and Pakistan. However, the latest ECO summit in Islamabad too got a flavour of Pakistans increased international and regional isolation, when Afghanistan decided to send an unmistakable message of its displeasure to the host nation, Pakistan.
Afghanistan refused to send the requisite high-level representation in the form of the President, chief executive or its foreign minister (all other member countries were represented by the seniormost officials). This open AfPak hostility is in the dark backdrop of the bitter innuendos and cross-accusations that has typified the Pakistani narrative vis-a-vis its neighbours India, Iran and Afghanistan. The tone of Afghan belligerence and impatience towards Islamabads duplicity and insincerity has come a long way, since the initial long rope extended to the Pakistanis by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Today, the fingerprints in most terror attacks on Afghan soil are traceable to the benefactors in Pakistan, and worse, the Pakistani establishment. From the attack on the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif to the recent Pakistani shelling on the fractious AfPak border, the slide in the relationship is blatantly confrontational. This buildup of fractures was evident to all when the Afghan President lambasted Pakistan in the Heart of Asia summit at Amritsar last November, with Pakistans adviser to PM on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz in the audience he lashed out at the Pakistani offer of aid by saying, We need to identify cross-border terrorism and a fund to combat terrorism. Pakistan has pledged $500 million for Afghanistans development. This amount can be spent to contain extremism, and further added: Afghanistan suffered the highest number of casualties last year. This is unacceptable... Some still provide sanctuary for terrorists. As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldnt last a month.
In a quid pro quo, the Pakistanis have upped the counter-ante on the ostensible sanctuaries of anti-Pakistani militants in Afghanistans eastern borders. The bloody attack in the shrine of the Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh, which left nearly 100 dead by the ISIS-Khorasan faction, has led to a reverse accusation and fingerpointing at Afghanistan. Even though the ISIS Khorasan faction is predominant in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, and is embroiled in a bitter slugfest with the Afghan National Army it didnt stop the Pakistanis from shifting blame on its deteriorating security situation and growing intolerance on the footsteps of the Afghan government. The tit-for-tat that followed saw the Pakistanis brazenly asking the Afghans to hand over 76 alleged militants, while the Afghans retaliated almost immediately with their own list of 85 militants (mostly from the ISI-aided Haqqani Network), supposedly in Pakistan along with a further list of 32 training centres! Earlier in the year, on meeting the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Qamar Bajwa, the Afghan President had presciently stated: Those who have claimed responsibility for these recent attacks freely operate, live and recruit in Pakistan, but so far there has been no action against them. After the Sehwan terror strike, a perfect role reversal ensued with Islamabad summoning Afghan officials for strong words and a dossier of names to be neutralised.
This Pakistani blame game with Afghanistan is eerily reminiscent of the India-Pakistan equation wherein the terror sanctuaries get conveniently brushed under the Pakistani carpet with a rote non-state-actors line. This dangerously ensures that the Pakistanis continue investing in their flawed belief of retaining strategic depth, by supporting extremist organisations in the neighbouring countries. However, the vexatious jihadist ecosystem that the Pakistanis have singularly created and harnessed over the years, has a dynamic of its own that often spills out of the control levers of the Pakistani establishment and afflicts a bloody toll on its creator. This self-inflicted misery cannot be deflected onto Pakistans already suffering neighbours. Like India, the Afghans have lost faith and patience in Pakistans words and actions. The onus of dismantling the terror infrastructure in the Asian subcontinent resides squarely in Pakistan once the fundamental shift in policy and outlook is enforced by Islamabad, the parallel collapse in the terror industry in Afghanistan and India is virtually guaranteed. The latest angst in the AfPak relationship is an evitable and extended outcome of the Frankensteinian project conceived by Pakistan itself.
Isro is developing an engine for the controlled descent. The spacecraft is ready and ground trials are going on at Mahendragiri.
Chennai: Aiming the next year's launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation is conducting descent experiments on simulated craters for the Chandrayan-2 mission, according to Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar.
While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Vels University convocation here on Wednesday he said, "Chandrayan-2 is different from the Chandrayan-1 mission and it needs to have a control decent on Moon."Isro is developing an engine for the controlled descent. The spacecraft is ready and ground trials are going on at Mahendragiri. We are planning to have the Chandrayan-2 launch in the first quarter of 2018," he said.
On upcoming missions, he said, "The GSLV Mk-II rocket with Saarc satellite will be launched at the end of March and GSLV Mk-III rocket will be launched in April."In his convocation address, he said, "Isro is moving forward with the development of advanced earth observation satellites, communication and navigation satellites, interplanetary missions, astronomy missions, heavy lift launchers and cryogenic engines."He also awarded honorary doctorates to Atomic Energy Commission chairman Sekhar Basu, Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) director P.Sivakumar and Actor S.Sathyaraj.Vels University Chancellor Ishari K Ganesh presided over the convocation. The university vice-chancellor V Thamizh Arasan welcomed the gathering.The University conferred degrees to 1872 students, which include 31 gold, 24 silver, 22 bronze medals.
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At present, some feature phones are already being manufactured in India at Foxconn facility. Mehta said the company is even evaluating development of 4G feature phone.
Finnish firm HMD Global, which has right to market Nokia brand, is likely to make all devices of the historic phone company in India including the iconic "Nokia 3310".
"We will attempt to ensure all our products are made in India. We will source all our product from India," HMD Mobile India Vice President Ajey Mehta told PTI here.
HMD Global, which has struck a 10-year brand licensing agreement with Nokia for mobile phones and tablets, will launch a new version of the 17-year old 'Nokia 3310' during April-June for around Rs 3,500 a unit. It will also bring in Android-powered Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 to India during the second quarter itself. Taiwanese electronic company Foxconn is manufacturing partner of HMD Global.
At present, some feature phones are already being manufactured in India at Foxconn facility. Mehta said the company is even evaluating development of 4G feature phone.
"We are evaluating all opportunity in the market," Mehta said, adding India is very important market for HMD Global.
"All consumer requirements are fed up to the product team at our company which then develops the final product," Mehta said.
The company will sell Nokia phones through both offline and online channels.
"Whichever channel will help reach us to consumers, we will go with that. We will be channel agnostic both offline and online. We currently cover close to 80,000 retailers but we plan to increase that in the future," Mehta said.
He said the company is also boosting its after sales service channel and will have direct presence in at least around 250 towns in the country by the time phones are launched.
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The president of the Islamic Education Society discovered an envelope inside a mailbox on Monday containing a threatening note, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. (Representational Image)
Washington: Two mosques in the US state of Maryland have received threatening letters calling for the 'slaughter of Muslims', in apparent hate crime incidents.
Two Islamic centres in Silver Spring, Maryland, received violent threats by mail.
The president of the Islamic Education Society discovered an envelope inside a mailbox on Monday containing a threatening note, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.
Police said this incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The faithful at the mosque are still reeling after the terrifying message was dropped in their mailbox.
"It's heartbreaking, but we can't control anything. I don't know what in their mind they want to do," Taiyab Mohiudden, trustee of the Islamic Education Society of Maryland, was quoted as saying by CBS Baltimore.
Mohiudden found the note tucked in with the regular mail, and it read, "I will pay USD 100 to charity for every Muslim slaughtered."
A note containing the same message was also found at a Muslim community centre just a few kilometres away, New York Daily News reported.
The message also came on an index card. Police said the envelope also had stamps from Europe.
"It really created anxiety and anger in me as well. Because what kind of person could leave a note like that?" Zainab Chaudry of CAIR said.
The mosque incidents come as amid a wave of bomb threats to Jewish community centres in New York, Michigan, New Jersey and other states.
In the past week, dozens of gravestones were vandalised in Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia. Also, last week, an Indian was killed while his friend was injured in a hate crime.
32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, was killed after he was shot by a navy veteran.
Kuchibhotla's Indian colleague Alok Madasani was injured when the 51-year-old shooter opened fire on them, yelling "get out of my country". A third person, an American who tried to intervene, was also injured in the incident.
President Donald Trump has condemned these types of attacks.
"We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms," he had said.
BROWNSVILLE Councilors at Tuesday's Brownsville City Council meeting said goodbye to one of their own and praised a young woman for her actions in alerting a family their home was on fire.
Nan Van Sandt served eight years, but did not seek re-election in November. She was able to attend the January meeting, at which a ceremony had been planned.
She called her time on the council an honor.
I believe that we worked together to do our best for the citizens of our city, sharing a vision of building community, improving infrastructure, practicing responsibility and working to make our town a safe and desirable place to live for citizens of all ages, Van Sandt said.
She added that council members did not always agree on how to achieve goals and challenges, which were many, but the fact that we all shared the same vision kept us focused and able to work through our differences with respect. I only wish our federal government would take some lessons from us.
Van Sandt went on to praise the virtues of small towns.
Folks in small towns do not all share the same politics any more than those in large cities do, Van Sandt said. But I think we seem to do a better job than they do on working together. In fact, in all of our varied community organizations, we do not let politics get in the way of friendships, respect and working together.
Van Sandt, 60, was first elected to the council in 2008.
A Registered Nurse, Van Sandt said she was wanted to keep local businesses economically healthy, but prevent urban sprawl.
As a citizen, you can be sure that I will continue to be involved in our community, Van Sandt told the council. The opportunities for involvement here are, as you know, endless.
The council had already presented Van Sandt with a gift for her service.
Mayor Don Ware also honored Amanda Wright with a framed certificate of appreciation. Shortly after midnight on Jan. 9, Wright was passing by a home at 527 Kirk Ave. that is owned by Kevin and Suzanne Archer. She noticed flames and went to the door of the home to notify the couple, who were sleeping.
Firefighters from Halsey-Shedd, Lebanon and Sweet Home responded to the blaze, which destroyed the 1,163-square-foot home that was built in 1910.
The Archers were not injured, but the structure valued at $127,000 was a total loss.
Mayor Ware noted that Wrights actions unselfishly saved lives by awakening and alerting Kevin and Suzy Archer that their house was on fire, and helped them escape the blaze moments before the roof collapsed.
The proclamation added, Thank you for your watchful eye, heroic response and unselfish actions, resulting in saving lives and nearby properties. You are a valued member of our community.
Washington: North Koreans have gained unprecedented connectedness with greater access to media and devices like cellphones over Kim Jong Un's five-year rule.
But private citizens' embrace of a state-controlled network has opened the way to unparalleled state censorship and surveillance in the long-isolated, totalitarian country.
A US-government-funded report, released today, said technology is giving North Korean authorities "more modern forms of control" as they step up efforts to stop foreign content creeping in.
"North Korea not only demonstrates technological sophistication but also has the ability to dictate what devices their citizens use, and they have complete control over hardware and software that essentially no other country does," said Nat Kretchun, co-author of the report by the consulting group Intermedia.
While the global explosion of network communications and internet use over the past two decades has provided surveillance opportunities for both authoritarian and democratic governments, North Korea's case is unique.
The communist government prohibits public access to the World Wide Web. Outside media trickles in, but with significant challenges.
The state's stranglehold over the flow of information was first subverted during a famine in the 1990s when informal markets emerged and citizens began trading with each other.
For the past decade or more, outside digital devices and content have flowed into North Korea across the border from China, enabling people to watch forbidden content, typically South Korean and Chinese soap operas.
The Intermedia report, which is based on interviews with North Korean defectors, refugees and travelers, found more such information making its way in over the past five years, notwithstanding Kim's intensified efforts to stop it. He took power after his father's death in late 2011 and has cracked down on smuggling and illicit viewing of foreign media.
Nearly every segment of society, from the elite in Pyongyang to farmers in inland areas, has access at least to televisions and DVD players, the report found. North Koreans have shifted toward using thumb drives instead of compact discs as they can hold more content and are easier to hide and share.
Former US President George W Bush released on Tuesday a book titled "Portraits in Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. (Photo: AP)
CHICAGO: After putting down his executive pen, former US President George W Bush picked up a paint brush - and the hobby has become something of a career. An exhibition of his oil paintings depicting US military veterans will open on Thursday at the former president's library in Dallas.
The collection, on display at the George W Bush Presidential Center in Texas until October 1, features 66 portraits and a four-panel mural.
Mr Bush's paintings pay tribute to the nearly 100 wounded or traumatised personnel who he has known personally since leaving the White House in 2009.
As the 43rd US president, Mr Bush had commanded the US military members, who all served in the wars he launched in Iraq and Afghanistan following the attacks on September 11, 2001.
The former commander-in-chief released on Tuesday a book titled "Portraits in Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors," which includes images of the portraits and the veterans' personal stories.
Mr Bush said he wanted to use the paintings and book to highlight the veterans' struggles with post-traumatic stress and the transition to civilian life.
"They're stories of courage, injury, recovery, willingness to help others," Mr Bush said during a Wednesday forum at the Reagan presidential library near Los Angeles, as part of his book promotion tour.
"And I also wanted to highlight the invisible wounds. That's my biggest concern."
Mr Bush's book has already shot to the top of Amazon's best-seller list, and the former president plans to donate profits from its sale to his presidential center's work aiding veterans.
He said the paintings would not be sold in his lifetime but would be endowed to his foundation.
Matt Amidon, deputy director of the Military Service Initiative at the George W Bush Institute, said the veterans have found it "incredibly meaningful... to have a former commander-in-chief to take the personal time to paint each one of them."
All-but-retired from public life, the 70-year-old Bush spends most of his time at his Texas ranch, where he first started painting in 2012.
He was inspired to explore his artistic side by famed former British prime minister Winston Churchill, who also painted in retirement.
"I basically said, what the hell, this guy can paint, I can paint," Mr Bush told a laughing audience at the forum, adding that it helped him stay active in retirement.
US magistrate Donna Ryu set bail at $500,000 for Noor Salman pending her trial on two charges related to the assault by her husband Omar Mateen on the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida that killed 49 people. (Photo: Twitter)
Los Angeles: A US federal judge in California on Wednesday agreed to release on bail the widow of the gunman who killed dozens of people at an Orlando nightclub last year.
US magistrate Donna Ryu set bail at $500,000 for Noor Salman pending her trial on two charges related to the assault by her husband Omar Mateen on the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida that killed 49 people.
Prosecutors had argued that Salman, who was arrested in January in connection with the massacre, should be kept behind bars because she posed a threat to society. They have until Friday to appeal the judge's decision.
In handing down her ruling, Ryu said there was no proof Salman had any connection to the Islamic State jihadist group or had exhibited extremist views.
She also said there was no evidence Salman posed a risk of flight or a danger to the community.
"I agree with the pretrial service recommendation and find that Ms Salman has rebutted the presumptions of both risk of flight and danger to the community and that she can and should be released pursuant to strict conditions that will reasonably mitigate those risks," Ryu said.
She ordered the 30-year-old, who had a four-year-old son with Mateen, to wear an electronic monitor while living with her maternal uncle in northern California, where she grew up.
The ruling essentially puts Salman under house arrest, allowed to leave only for court appearances, to meet her attorneys or for medical appointments for her and her son, Ryu said.
Salman, whose case is being prosecuted in Florida, faces up to life in prison if convicted of the charge of assisting her husband in his bid to help a terrorist organization.
She also faces up to 20 years in prison on the second charge of lying to investigators.
Police killed Mateen in a shootout. During the attack, he had called dispatchers to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Washington: President Donald Trumps promise to use existing funds to begin immediate construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border has hit a financial roadblock, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The rapid start of construction, promised throughout Trump's campaign and in an executive order issued in January on border security, was to be financed, according to the White House, with "existing funds and resources" of the Department of Homeland Security.
But so far, the DHS has identified only $20 million that can be re-directed to the multi-billion-dollar project, according to a document prepared by the agency and distributed to congressional budget staff last week.
The document said the funds would be enough to cover a handful of contracts for wall prototypes, but not enough to begin construction of an actual barrier. This means that for the wall to move forward, the White House will need to convince Congress to appropriate funds.
An internal report, previously reported by Reuters, estimated that fully walling off or fencing the entire southern border would cost $21.6 billion - $9.3 million per mile of fence and $17.8 million per mile of wall.
DHS officials did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Trump has said he will ask Congress to pay for what existing funds cannot cover and that Mexico will be pressured to pay back U.S. taxpayers at a later date.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he will include funding for a border wall in the budget for next fiscal year. He has estimated the cost to be between $12 billion and $15 billion.
Many Republican lawmakers have said they would vote against a plan that does not offset the cost of the wall with spending cuts.
In the document it submitted to Congress, the DHS said it would reallocate $5 million from a fence project in Naco, Arizona, that came in under budget and $15 million from a project to install cameras on top of trucks at the border.
The surveillance project was awarded to Virginia-based Tactical Micro, but was held up due to protests from other contractors, according to the DHS document. Tactical Micro could not be reached for comment.
The DHS only searched for extra funds within its $376 million budget for border security fencing, infrastructure and technology, so it would not have to ask for congressional approval to repurpose funding, according to the document.
Contractors cannot begin bidding to develop prototypes until March 6 but more than 265 businesses already have listed themselves as "interested parties" on a government web site.
Those interested range from small businesses to large government contractors such as Raytheon (RTN.N).
The Justice Department said on Wednesday night, March 1, 2017, that the two conversations took place in 2016 when Sessions was a senator. (Photo: AP)
Washington: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions came under fire late on Wednesday after the Washington Post reported he met with Russia's ambassador to Washington twice in 2016, seemingly contradicting statements he made in Senate confirmation hearings in January.
The revelation cast a fresh cloud over President Donald Trump's administration, which has repeatedly denied any suspected ties between members of his election team and Russia, which US intelligence says interfered in the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.
The White House quickly labelled the report an attack by partisan Democrats, confirming the meetings but arguing Sessions did nothing wrong.
In a statement Sessions said: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
But with US intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, and four Congressional committees examining the Russia scandal, Democrats demanded that Sessions, the Trump administration's top law enforcement official, recuse himself from investigations, and for Congress to name an independent special investigator to oversee a broad probe.
"Given AG Sessions' false statements about contacts with Russian officials, we need a special counsel to investigate Trump associates' ties to Russia," said Democrat Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Washington Post reported late Wednesday that Sessions, formerly a senator who advised Trump's campaign on foreign policy and other issues, met Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting.
Sessions, however, told his confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10 that he did not know of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russia. "I did not have communications with the Russians," he said under oath.
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the Senate, called for Sessions to step down.
"After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russian, the attorney general must resign," she said.
Democrat Elijah Cummings of the House of Representative's Oversight Committee echoed that call in a statement.
"When Senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks," Cummings said.
"Attorney General Sessions should resign immediately, and there is no longer any question that we need a truly independent commission to investigate this issue."
A White House official dubbed the latest report an "attack." "This is the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats," the official said.
"Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."
Sessions was confirmed as attorney general on February 8, moving in place to oversee Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation probes into the alleged communications between Trump campaign officials and Moscow.
The New York Times reported two weeks ago, citing US intelligence sources, that three campaign staff -- including campaign chief Paul Manafort -- had communicated with Russian intelligence officers.
The White House also labeled that report "false" and has accused Democrats, the media and the intelligence community of a political effort to undermine the Trump administration.
The Washington Post report emerged as Democrats had begun warning the White House and Republican lawmakers against trying to shut down any investigations of alleged Russian interference.
The warnings came after Trump's staff sought to enlist the FBI, reportedly the CIA and two Republicans who head committees leading the Russia investigations, to knock down media reports on the alleged links.
US intelligence chiefs announced in December that they had concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind a hacking and misinformation campaign to hurt Clinton and boost Trump's chances to win the November 8 presidential election.
But they have not made their evidence public, and the Kremlin denies it.
It is not clear how many North Koreans are aware of the fate Kim Jong-nam, who was killed with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur's international airport, allegedly by two young women acting on Pyongyang's orders.
Seoul: South Korean activists will send millions of leaflets about the poisoning murder of the half-brother of the North's leader across the border by balloon, they said on Thursday. It is not clear how many North Koreans are aware of the fate Kim Jong-nam, who was killed with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur's international airport, allegedly by two young women acting on Pyongyang's orders.
The North has angrily denied involvement and accused Malaysia for colluding with South Korea to frame it, while only referring to the victim by a pseudonym, without clarifying his relationship with Kim Jong-un.
The leaflets - to be flown across the border by giant, gas-filled balloons - contain details of the murder and pictures including one of a dying Kim Jong-nam slumped in a chair at a clinic in the airport.
The text describes the North's leader as "a devil who killed his own brother".
"We will start launching the leaflets in mid-March," said activist leader Park Sang-Hak, a defector who leads the Fighters For Free North Korea group.
The move was intended "to let our North Korean compatriots know the act of extreme brutality committed by Kim Jong-un", he added in a statement.
News from the outside world is banned or heavily censored in the North, as the Kim dynasty rules the impoverished, isolated nation with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult.
The leaflets also contain assertions by Seoul's spy agency that Kim Jong-un had executed many Pyongyang officials and ordered the half-brother's murder to strengthen his grip on power.
The text claimed that Jong-un - son of Kim Jong-Il's third wife - had ordered the assassination of Jong-nam because some viewed him as having a better claim to inheriting the leadership as their father's first-born son.
Conservative South Korean activists, including many North Korean defectors, have sent leaflets northwards for years, infuriating Pyongyang, which has at times threatened military strikes in response.
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko meets with a Japanese community in Vietnam at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, March 2, 2017. (Photo: AP)
Hanoi: Japan's emperor expressed sympathy to the Vietnamese families abandoned by Japanese soldiers after World War II during his landmark visit to the Communist country.
Akihito and Empress Michiko, in the first ever visit by a Japanese emperor, met with a wife and 15 children of former Japanese soldiers in Hanoi on Thursday. He told them that he understands their difficulties and hopes that bilateral relations will continue to develop.
"I understand that the Japanese soldiers who remained here experienced tough times and their families here also had numerous difficulties," he said through a translator. "I feel that peace is very precious."
Some 600 to 800 Japanese soldiers remained in Vietnam after Japan's surrender in 1945 and they helped train Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh with their military expertise to fight the French colonial forces.
The first group of 71 soldiers was forced to leave after the Communists defeated French forces in 1954, abandoning their wives and children, who faced difficulties and discrimination.
The last group of soldiers left the North in 1960, but were able to bring their families.
Nguyen Thi Xuan, 92, was the only one among the few surviving wives who was healthy enough to meet with the imperial couple.
Xuan told the emperor while weeping that she was "very moved" to meet with them and was grateful for them spending their time taking care of the families of Japanese who were left behind.
Xuan told the emperor that her Japanese husband spent nine years fighting the French with Viet Minh and when he left in 1954, she had to raise her four children, including one born after he left.
"It was so hard for you," the emperor comforted her. Xuan and her husband only met for a reunion 52 years later. Cao Khanh Tuong was one of the 15 children of ex-Japanese soldiers to meet with the imperial couple.
"I really hope that the historic visit by the emperor and empress will help to connect us with our countrymen in Japan for better understanding," he said.
Tuong said families with Japanese blood used to be faced with discrimination. "Our neighbours would not allow their children to play with us, calling us sons of Japanese fascists, I was very sad," he said.
Tuong's father was forced to return to Japan in 1954, leaving behind his wife and four children. He was five years old then. "He told us that he would come back to take us to Japan in two years when the country was reunited, but it never happened," Tuong said.
Under the Geneva agreement, the country was divided into Communist North and pro-French South and general elections were to be held to reunite the country in two years.
The elections never took place and war with the United States soon followed.
"He's very nice and intelligent, he speaks fluent Vietnamese," Tuong said about his father, adding that the family received a letter and some toys from him in 1956 and another letter in 1958, after which they had no information about him.
The family only heard through the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry that he was alive until after the Vietnam War ended in 1975 and he could not come visit before he died in 1993, Tuong said.
Akihito said he was glad to see the relatives of former Japanese soldiers. "I'm glad to know that you still have special feeling... toward Japan," he said "I hope the bilateral relations will continue to develop."
Akihito will tour the ancient capital of Hue and leave for Thailand on Sunday to pay respect to the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej and meet with new King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun before returning home.
An internal White House review of strategy on North Korea reportedly includes the possibility of direct military action or regime change to counter the hermit kingdoms nuclear threat. Deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland held a meeting with other officials to discuss the US response to a fresh series of provocations from the North, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mr McFarland requested for all options to completely overhaul American foreign policy towards Pyongyang, including for the country to recognise North Korea as a nuclear state and the possibility of a direct conflict.
The proposals are now being vetted prior to review by President Donald Trump. During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes two-day summit in February with Mr Trump, US officials on several occasions stated that all options were under consideration to deal with North Korea, according to a person familiar with the discussions.It was clear to the Japanese side that those options encompassed a US military strike on North Korea, possibly if Pyongyang appeared ready to test an ICBM.
The European Parliament lifted French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's immunity from prosecution for tweeting gruesome images of violence. (Photo: AP)
Strasbourg: The European Parliament on Thursday lifted French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's immunity from prosecution over her tweeting of images of Islamic State atrocities.
The move paves the way for France to pursue a case against the far right National Front leader, after prosecutors launched a probe in 2015 over the graphic pictures, which included the decapitated body of US journalist James Foley.
"The result is clear, a big majority is in favour of the lifting of immunity," acting parliament speaker Dimitrios Papadimoulis said.
The ruling is effective immediately for Le Pen, a National Front MEP, European Parliament officials told AFP.
But the decision concerns only the tweets, and not a separate probe into allegations that Le Pen misused public funds when hiring a parliamentary aide, they said.
The development is the latest twist in France's dramatic presidential election campaign, coming a day after rightwing candidate Francois Fillon vowed to continue his bid for power despite the fact he is to be charged over his own fake jobs scandal.
Le Pen addressed the tweets in 2015 to a French television journalist who had likened her party to the jihadist group.
The images were tweeted with the caption "This is Daesh" (an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group). They showed Foley's bloodied body with his decapitated head on his torso, as well as a man on fire in a cage, and a victim being driven over by a tank.
Police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre launched an investigation into "the dissemination of violent images".
Le Pen dismissed the inquiry as a "political" attempt to derail her presidential bid, in which she is predicted to win the election's first round in April but lose a run-off in May.
"I sent two or three photos of Daesh atrocities and I said 'This is Daesh.' I denounced this atrocity," she told French broadcasters on Thursday ahead of the EU vote.
"Why investigate me and not others? I am a lawmaker and I was denouncing Daesh in my role as a lawmaker," she added. "It's a political inquiry."
On Tuesday Le Pen criticised efforts to lift her immunity as "part of the system that wants to stop the French people's candidate that I am."
Le Pen has so far refused to attend a police interview over the investigation into her tweets.
French police have also opened a probe against Gilbert Collard, a National Front lawmaker in France, who tweeted a similar violent image on the same day.
Last month the French national assembly refused to consider a request to lift his immunity after deciding it was not "sufficiently specific".
Foley, a freelance journalist, was captured in Syria in 2012 and beheaded in August 2014.
His bereaved parents John and Diane said they wanted the images removed immediately, accusing Le Pen in a statement of using the "shamefully uncensored" picture for political ends.
While Le Pen is forecast to finish first in April 23's election first round, her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron is considered the favourite to win a run-off vote on May 7.
Berlin: German authorities have arrested two Syrian nationals who allegedly were members of the extremist Nusra Front one of them is accused of war crimes involving the murder of dozens of civilians.
The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement on Thursday that 35-year-old Abdalfatah HA allegedly committed war crimes by killing 36 employees of the Syrian government together with his Nusra unit in March 2013.
The statement says he carried out so-called Shariah death sentences.
The other one, 26-year-old Abdulrahman AA, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013.
The men were arrested on Thursday and on Wednesday in the cities of Duesseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided.
Take a drive through the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area 10 miles north of Corvallis, and what you notice mostly is a lot of scrub brush and blackberry brambles.
But if you could turn back the clock 70-some years, youd see something very different.
From 1942 to 1946, this was the heart of Camp Adair, a sprawling Army cantonment built on commandeered farmland that trained more than 100,000 GIs for combat in World War II. The base, made up of 1,800 buildings laid out with military precision, housed up to 40,000 people at any one time, making it Oregons second-largest city (although Vanport, a vanished Portland suburb that also owed its origins to the war, could make the same claim).
The camp was decommissioned in 1946, and virtually all of its structures were either dismantled or hauled off the site and put to new uses elsewhere. In 1950, the U.S. government turned over about 1,800 acres of the former cantonment to the state of Oregon, and since then the area has been managed as wildlife habitat, with public uses including hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, shooting and archery.
Now, though, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife wants to shine a light on the areas rich military history by preserving at least some remnants of the old Army base and managing the site for cultural as well as wildlife resources.
The agency hosted a public meeting in Corvallis Wednesday night to talk about its plans, and 18 people turned out to share ideas for managing the property and swap stories about Camp Adair.
Daniel Pettit, an Oregon Department of Transportation archaeologist on loan to ODFW, said a consulting firm hired to survey the site found a surprising amount of infrastructure from the old base from concrete foundation footings to roads to water and sewer lines right where the Army left it, slumbering under a blanket of blackberry vines and native vegetation.
They determined that a lot more of the base was left out there than anyone anticipated, Pettit said.
Building on that preliminary data, a more detailed survey of the area was conducted last summer.
At this point, Pettit said, we know where each former building was on the site and how much is left of it.
More than 1,000 buildings once stood on the property that now makes up the wildlife area, Pettit said. Close to half of those were barracks, where enlisted men slept in bunks after long days of training. But there were all kinds of other structures as well from administrative offices and post exchanges to rec halls, movie theaters, post offices, banks and churches.
This base really was a city, he said.
For more than half the historic structures on the site, the foundations are mostly or entirely intact, Pettit added. What hed like to do is preserve some of those foundations and install interpretive signs to remind visitors of the bustling military encampment that played a key role in training Americas fighting forces for World War II.
That idea got an enthusiastic reception from the history buffs in the audience, but Pettit was quick to point out that E.E. Wilson remains a wildlife preserve and there are no plans to convert it to a living history museum.
We really want to manage it for wildlife and habitat, too, he said.
Keith Kohl of ODFW said the agency intends to tear out the invasive blackberries and restore most of the area to a more natural state, and that will require clearing out some of the old building remains.
What we want to do is turn it back to the original Willamette Valley grassland, he said. We want to remove, where we can, the concrete.
He also noted that ODFW has limited resources and that areas such as E.E. Wilson are managed primarily to serve the needs of hunters.
Weve only got so much money, he said, and the money we have for this stuff comes from the hunters of Oregon.
Still, Pettit said, there may be grants available to help finance historic preservation work on a portion of the old Army post. He encouraged people interested in the history of Camp Adair to seek private donations and volunteer their services to help out with the project.
Were really hoping we can work with local community members to organize some sort of volunteer group, he said. Definitely, the success of this is going to depend a lot on people who want to organize in the local community.
Ultimately, Pettit said, the state hopes to improve the area for all its users, from wildlife to hunters to history buffs.
The goal is to make a plan for the future of E.E. Wilson that balances restoration of wildlife habitat with the preservation of Camp Adair and the celebration of its unique history, Pettit said.
The man, who is in his 60s, will stay underground for three days, to raise awareness for Walking Free. (Photo: Facebook)
Dublin: John Edwards, from Dublin, Ireland was buried alive, on Wednesday, in a coffin in the grounds of church in Belfast to raise awareness for a charity that aims to help drug-addicts, alcoholics and even those with suicidal tendencies.
According to Belfast Live, the man, who is in his 60s, will stay underground for three days, to raise awareness for Walking Free. The charity initiative, which he started 23 years ago, helps drug addicts, alcoholics and people with suicidal tendencies and eating disorders, to start a new life. His little haven is equipped with electricity, WiFi and a duvet and pillow.
As a former victim of substance abuse for two decades, Mr Edwards knows well the challenges that addicts face while recovering.
His family, his wife of 20 years, Trish, and his friends were present on Wednesday as he went inside the coffin and underground. I know this is a radical move but people are continually contacting me who are either suicidal or who know friends or family who are, he told Belfast Live.
He wishes to give hope to people from the grave, using the hashtag #GraveChat on social media and spread the word. He has already broadcast several live video streams on his Facebook page from his morbid home.
He posted an introductory video on his website, where he said, We know the steps to freedom here at Walking Free. And we want to take you by the hand, we want to talk to you straight, we want to be loving and gentle with you but strong with you as well, to help you get that place. You have a future.
Nations pledged tens of millions of dollars for family planning programmes on Thursday at an international conference in Brussels to make up for the gap left by President Donald Trumps ban on US funding to groups linked to abortion.
Some 50 governments attended the hastily convened one-day conference.
Early on, total pledges were already exceeding 100 million dollars, with Sweden, Canada and Finland each promising 20 million euros ($21 million).
The conference, hosted by the prestigious Sunni Muslim Al-Azhar institute, comes as sectarian conflict continues to ravage the region and after a spate of jihadist attacks on Christians in Egypt. (Photo: AFP)
Cairo: Leading Muslim and Christian clerics in the Middle East issued a statement Wednesday urging against linking Islam to terrorism, following a conference in Cairo on co-existence.
The conference, hosted by the prestigious Sunni Muslim Al-Azhar institute, comes as sectarian conflict continues to ravage the region and after a spate of jihadist attacks on Christians in Egypt.
It also comes after US president Donald Trumps administration shifted from the vaguer language of its predecessor by identifying its fight as against radical Islamic terrorism.
Former president Barack Obama, who led an international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, had argued that calling the jihadists Islamic gave them legitimacy.
A closing statement read by Azhars Sheikh Ahmed Tayeb demanded Islam not be associated with terrorism.
The conference demands that those who link Islam and other religions with terrorism immediately stop, he said.
Judging Islam by the criminal actions of some who associate with it opens the door to describing all religions as terrorism, which justifies extremist modernists argument that societies must be rid of religion, he added.
The two-day conference was attended by Muslim muftis and Christian clergy such as Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, as well as representatives of US and British churches.
The statement urged fostering understanding and equality between religions.
IS, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq, views Christians as enemies who should either be killed or subjugated.
In Egypt, the groups affiliate called for war on the Coptic minority after bombing a church in December, killing 29 people.
The jihadists say they base their views on verses in the Koran and sayings of the prophet Mohamed, which moderates like Tayeb argue have been taken out of context.
Violence including air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition since March 2015 -- after the Huthis overran capital Sanaa -- has killed more than 7,500 people and left 19 million in need of humanitarian aid. (Photo: AP)
Al-Jarrahi: Wrapping their children in plastic sheets to stave off the winter cold, Yemeni families driven out of the historic port of Mokha are struggling to adjust to the harsh life of internal displacement.
We were doing fine in our own homes, on our land, says Zahra Aqlan, 55, who fled the Red Sea town in January.
The mother of five chose had no choice but to move to Al-Jarrahi, 100 kilometres (60 miles) up the coast, after she lost her husband when a rocket exploded on their street.
She now faces the daunting task of feeding her children with no access to resources in an impoverished country torn apart by war.
There is nothing to drink here. Nothing to eat, she told AFP in Al-Jarrahi. Were looking for aid just to keep our children alive.
Yemen has witnessed increasingly intense fighting between troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
Violence including air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition since March 2015 -- after the Huthis overran capital Sanaa -- has killed more than 7,500 people and left 19 million in need of humanitarian aid.
In January, fighting intensified along Yemens strategic western coastline as loyalists pushed to regain ground seized by the rebels.
The pro-government troops on February 10 took Mokha, once famed as the export hub of coffee grown in the Yemeni highlands, and announced they aimed to take the main Red Sea port of Hodeida next.
Zahra and her children are among an estimated 1,500 families who have been driven out of Mokha since January, seeking refuge further north.
Some have erected tents in a plot of land that appears to be unclaimed in Al-Jarrahi. Many others, however, are sleeping in the open air.
The UNs refugee (UNHCR) and migration (IOM) agencies on Wednesday said that more than 48,000 people had in recent weeks fled hostilities in Mokha and nearby Dhubab.
UNHCR spokeswoman for Yemen Shabia Mantoo told AFP that Yemeni civilians were fleeing with nothing but literally the clothes on their backs.
The whole country is suffering, Mantoo said. People move from one place to another because it gets just as bad.
Despite UN efforts to provide emergency shelter during the winter cold, internally displaced Yemenis continue to struggle, according to Asef Aidrous, a local official working with displaced families in Al-Jarrahi.
The number of those displaced increases every day with the ongoing fighting around Mokha and the Hodeida coastal areas, Aidrous explained.
Life of misery
Zahras story is echoed across the makeshift camp, where many families sleep on flattened cardboard boxes.
Abdullah Mohammed, a labourer who left Mokha for Al-Jarrahi, said he has reached the point of desperation.
Our belongings were destroyed. My home was destroyed. We have nothing, Abdullah said in a calm voice of acceptance.
We fled Mokha under shelling and left everything behind, recalls Mohammed Salem, once a dock worker in Mokha.
But unlike Abdullah, Mohammed says he cannot accept the life of misery in Al-Jarrahi.
Millions of Yemeni lives have been thrown into turmoil by the war, with many facing repeated displacement and the looming threat of starvation.
UN humanitarian aid chief Stephen OBrien on Monday said Yemen faces a serious risk of famine.
The United Nations has called for $2.1 billion (2 billion euros) in aid for Yemen, where UN mediation and seven ceasefire accords have failed to end a conflict that has also wounded at least 40,000 people.
A 17-year-old orphan girl was raped by her relative in May 2016. (Photo: Representational/File)
Islamabad: A Pakistani man has been arrested for allegedly raping and impregnating a 17-year-old orphan girl after she rejected his marriage proposal.
The assault took place in May 2016, but the incident came to light only after the girl was unable to hide the resultant pregnancy and had to report the matter to the Ramna Police Station in January 2017.
According to the Express Tribune, the victim was staying at her maternal uncles house Sector G-12 for a few days, when her aunts brother asked her to marry him. When she refused, he locked her up
The 17-year-old victim was allegedly intoxicated and raped for three to four days after she had refused the proposal from her aunts brother.
The victim told police that last May, she was staying at her maternal uncles house Sector G-12 for a few days, when her aunts brother approached her. The girl also accused her aunt of assisting her brother in the crime, by locking the door to her room from the outside.
The girl also alleged that the perpetrator also threatened to kill her brother if she told anyone about the assaults. The maternal uncle, however, was unaware of what had transpired.
The girl went back home after a month and did not reveal her ordeal to anyone, but was compelled to tell her relatives, when her pregnancy reached an advanced stage in January.
The police arrested both suspects after doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences confirmed that the victim was seven-months pregnant.
A police officer said that the suspect had confessed his crime and that the allegations would be confirmed once a DNA test was conducted.
The suspects sister, who is accused of facilitating the crime, was arrested after her pre-arrest bail was turned down by a sessions judge. However, she filed a fresh bail plea before Additional District and Sessions Judge Javed Iqbal Sipra, which was accepted on February 27 against a bail bond of Rs 100,000.
A trial will begin once the police complete their investigations and submit their report to the court.
Agitating Jats in Haryana will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Thursday in support of their various demands, including reservations in government jobs and educational institutes for the community.
"Several Jats from Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital at 11 AM ," Yashpal Malik, the president of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), which is spearheading the protest, said.
However, protests by Jats at different places in Haryana continued peacefully for over a month now. The paramilitary forces are keeping a vigil at many places in the state, officials said.
Malik claimed that the protesters have started non- cooperation with the government and will not pay electricity and water bills and also the instalment of loans that they owe to the government.
Jats will submit a memorandum on the quota issue to the President, he said, adding they also plan to gherao Parliament, the date for which will be announced during the Delhi demonstration.
Besides seeking quota in education and government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) 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.
As many as 30 people were killed and property worth 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.
Sunayana, the widow of Srinivas Kuchibhotla killed in the US in an apparent hate crime, today urged the leaders of global tech industry to keep defending human rights as they too employ a large number of immigrants.
"Thanks to people like Satya Nadella (CEO-Microsoft) and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg (Founder- Facebook), Sundar Pichai (CEO-Google), Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights," she said in a Facebook post.
"We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, it's an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I don't want anyone to go through what my family and household went through," she added.
She also thanked the Telangana government for extending support to bring the body of Srinivas back home from the USA.
"I will now ask same question on what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, it's not based on the colour of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them after-ward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
"Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrant's mind, Do we belong here. Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?" she wondered.
She also expressed her desire to go back to the USA and continue to work for Intouch Solutions where she is currently employed.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting at a restaurant in Kansas on Wednesday night. Another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the incident.
The controversial steel flyover project has been cancelled by the Congress government on Thursday, according to media reports.
Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said that the steel flyover not to be constructed.
The 6.9-km steel flyover was to connect Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal with an extension on Sankey Road up to LRDE complex.
The project was vehemently opposed by the civil society and commuters due its impact on greenery of the city. They argued that steel flyover is not required at the cost of 800-odd trees as the city is known for its trees.
Read: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/576789/cries-against-steel-flyover-get.html
Also, the opposition party leader BS Yeddyurappa had accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of taking Rs 150 crore as kickback for sanctioning the controversial steel flyover.
Read: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/596143/cm-took-rs-150-cr.html
However, the Cabinet had approved the contentious infrastructure project. The six-lane 6.9-km steel flyover was suppossed to pass through Basaveshwara Circle, High Grounds, Windsor Manor, Cauvery junction, Mehkri Circle, Sanjaynagar and connect Hebbal flyover.
Read: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/573062/cabinet-approves-steel-flyover-project.html
Details awaited.
Speaker Paul Ryan on behalf of the US House of Representatives has condoled the death of an Indian techie in a racially-motivated shooting by an American.
Ryan met visiting Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar yesterday and expressed the House's condolences on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was senselessly murdered last week in Kansas.
"Our peoples must continue to stand together," he said.Ryan's comments over the incident came hours after US President Donald Trump condemned as "evil" and "hate" the fatal Kansas shooting in which Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian Alok Madasani was injured by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before opening fire on them.
The two work for technology firm Garmin. Jaishankar is currently visiting the US to hold consultations and talks with Trump administration officials to develop a roadmap of the Indo-US ties for next four years.
Thirteen Indian fishermen were today arrested by the Sri Lankan navy, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to dash off a letter to the Centre seeking its intervention.
Taking up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, in a letter, said the state government was "extremely" concerned over such incidents and sought Centre's intervention into the matter.
Such incidents of the arrest of "our fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy (should) be taken up strongly at the highest diplomatic level to ensure the safety and security of our fishermen in the Palk Bay," he said.
"The Government of Tamil Nadu is extremely concerned about the continuing apprehension and detention of our fishermen and their boats," Palaniswami said.
The fishermen were arrested while fishing near Katchatheevu islet.
At present, 48 fishermen and 122 fishing boats, including those detained today, were under Lankan custody, the Chief Minister said, adding, boats and fishing gear which were their only means of livelihood were still "impounded" in Lanka.
He said late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had earlier repeatedly pointed out that Sri Lanka was following "a deliberate strategy of keeping the apprehended fishing boats of our fishermen in custody and thereby completely impairing their only source of livelihood."
"Without their livelihood base, these fishermen are in a state of despondency. Though the Government of Sri Lanka committed to consider the release of these boats, no decision has been taken in this regard," he said.
The chief minister urged the Centre to take up "this serious issue with the highest authorities of the Sri Lankan Government and ensure the immediate release of the precariously berthed boats which continue to suffer great damage with every passing day," he added.
The Centre should secure immediate release of the 48 fishermen and 122 fishing boats, without any delay, he said.
The International Maritime Boundary Line with Sri Lanka "is itself a matter that is sub-judice in the Supreme Court of India," Palaniswami said.
He recalled that Jayalalithaa, as Opposition Leader in 2008, had filed a case in the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of the Indo-Lanka agreement on ceding Katchatheevu islet to the island republic.
The state government had later impleaded itself in the case. Palaniswami also reminded the Centre of the state government's demand for the release of Rs 1,650 crore deep sea fishing package for the fishermen.
Library Uncorked, a wine tasting and silent auction, will be held at the main branch of the Albany Public Library from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The event is held by the Friends of the Albany Public Library and it benefits childrens literacy efforts.
The centerpiece in the auction this year is an 8-inch reproduction of the Portlandia statue, which was donated by Albany City Council member Ray Kopczynski.
The statue is one of 500 miniatures created, and only one has been offered for sale, according to a news release.
Portlandia was placed in downtown Portland in 1985 and, at roughly 34 feet tall, it is the second-largest copper repousse statue in the United States. The Statue of Liberty is the largest such sculpture.
Other Library Uncorked auction items include tickets for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, winery tours and tastings, gift certificates to local restaurants and more.
Last year, two antique French bronzes of the goddess Diana were donated to Library Uncorked, but they didnt sell initially.
Those went to a San Francisco auction house. One was purchased for $4,500, and the other for $1,400.
Jacopettis is catering this years Library Uncorked and will be pouring vino from several wineries, local cider and beer.
Tickets are $25 each and are available from the main library branch, 2450 14th Ave. S.E., or from the downtown Carnegie library, 302 Ferry St. S.W.
For more information, call Nancy Powell of the Friends of the Albany Public Library at 541-928-4400 or the main branch of the Albany Public Library at 541-917-7580.
Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said that a sales ban on Coca Cola and Pepsi in Tamil Nadu is against the democratic values of the country and would only foster black marketing.
Badal rued that "politics" was being played on the issue, and such a ban was against the democratic values of the country. "I am not in favour of banning things because this gives rise to black marketing," she told PTI when asked about her comments on the development in Tamil Nadu and its impact on FDI.
The Minister, who is currently on a visit to Japan leading a delegation of industry body CII to woo investments in Indian food processing sector, said: "As a democratic country, we have the right to eat what we want to eat."
She added, "Someone who wants to drink Cola will find Cola despite all odds. This (the ban) will increase black marketing and corruption." A call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi came into effect yesterday with its President A M Vikrama Raja declaring the drinks as 'toxic' for consumption.
Raja had earlier proposed a ban on sale of these brands at the height of pro-jallikattu protests in the state in January, where it was widely claimed that many international groups may have been behind the ban on the bull taming sport.
"About 70 per cent of the (15 lakh) traders have decided to boycott the sales of Coke and Pepsi from today onwards for their toxic nature. Whatever you find on the shelves of the stores are leftover stocks which were not taken back by the (distributing) agencies," he had said.
Expressing disappointment, the Indian Beverage Association had yesterday said: "This is against the proven fundamentals of robust economic growth, and against the clarion call of Make in India".
"The products manufactured by Coca-Cola and Pepsi are of global standards and one of the safest available," it added.
Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba, along with investment firm SAIF Partners, will pump in USD 200 million in Paytm's online marketplace unit.
Alibaba Singapore E-Commerce Pvt Ltd will invest USD 177 million in Paytm E-Commerce Pvt Ltd, the demerged unit of digital payments company, One 97 Communications that operates under Paytm brand.
The remaining amount will come from SAIF, an early investor in One 97, according to a filing with the Registrar of Companies. Post the investment, Alibaba Singapore E-Commerce will have a shareholding of 36.31 per cent, while SAIF Partners India will own 4.66 per cent in Paytm E-Commerce.
Paytm declined to comment on the matter. This deal is expected to pave the way for the much-awaited entry of Alibaba into India, where the Chinese firm will go head-to-head with American online retail giant Amazon and homegrown player Flipkart.
Alibaba also stake in Indian online marketplace Snapdeal. Earlier this week, Paytm launched a separate smartphone app and website for its online marketplace called Paytm Mall and is aggressively hiring people for expanding the operations.
One97 Communications has three units -- Paytm E-Commerce, Paytm Payments Bank (payments bank and mobile wallet service) and Paytm Mobile Solutions.
Haryana Minister Anil Vij today asserted that renaming Indus Valley Civilisation as Sarasvati River Civilisation as per the proposal of a panel headed by the state CM will not be "rewriting" but "correcting history."
Vij made the assertion while supporting Sarasvati Heritage Development Board's proposal to rename Indus Valley Civilisation as Sarasvati River Civilisation, saying the mythical river actually existed once.
"It's an appropriate recommendation made by the board, chaired by the chief minister, as the river is no more a myth and its existence was a reality," Vij told reporters outside the state assembly.
Asked if changing the name of Indus Valley Civilisation wouldn't be rewriting history, Vij said, "When historians talked about Indus Valley, they thought Sarasvati river was a myth and that's why they did not mention it. Sindhu river was flowing and they named it everywhere."
"No one should call Sarasvati a myth since it has already been proved that the river was present. Now recent research, backed by ISRO and other reputed agencies, Sarasvati's path has been deciphered. Many things are being found at Rakhigarhi (in Hisar district) or where ever the river's path has been traced to Pakistan border," said Vij.
"So, it should be renamed as Sarasvati River Civilisation," he said.
Discarding suggestions that renaming the Indus valley civilisation reeked of the BJP agenda to "saffronise" things, Vij said "We are not rewriting history, we are correcting it."
Vij also said a large number of Harappan sites have been found in Haryana over the years.
"The nomenclature of the Indus Valley Civilisation should now be changed to the Sarasvati-Indus civilisation," he said.
The largest Harappan site Rakhigarhi and the oldest Bhirrana are both in Haryana. The state government is restarting excavation at Kunal in Fatehabad district, he said.
Haryana Archaeology and Museums Department, in collaboration with the Indian Archaeological Society and National Museum, New Delhi will soon undertake excavation at Kunal in district Fatehabad, the earliest Harappan sites in Haryana.
Vij said Kunal is located in Tehsil Ratia in district Fatehabad on the banks of now dried up river course of ancient mighty river Sarasvati.
In a written reply to a question by Congress MLA Karan Singh Dalal, the Haryana Assembly was earlier informed that "the scientific evidence/material relied on by the Government in respect of development of Sarasvati river and its heritage is derived from multiple sources and is substantial."
The Haryana government had earlier constituted Saraswati Heritage Development Board to take up research on river Saraswati.
Advocating free thinking in university campuses, President Pranab Mukherjee today said students and faculties must engage in "reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagating a culture of unrest".
He also said it was tragic to see students caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet. His comments come in the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between RSS-affiliate ABVP and Left-backed AISA supporters in the Delhi University and a raging debate over free speech and nationalism following recent tweets of one of the varsity's students Gurmehar Kaur.
"It is tragic to see them (students) caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet," Mukherjee said while delivering the sixth K S Rajamony Memorial Lecture here.
Underlining ancient glorious culture of universities in the country, he said, "Our premier institutions of higher education are the vehicles on which India has to propel itself into a knowledge society."
"These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking," he said.
Mukherjee also cautioned against the exploitation of "fault lines" in the society, intolerance and attack on women. He said there should be no room in the country for the "intolerant Indian" as this nation has been a bastion of free though, speech and expression since ancient times.
The society has always been characterised by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion, the President said. "Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," he said.
The views of Kaur, daughter of an army officer killed in action against militants, evoked sharp reaction from Union minister Kiren Rijiju who went on to ask, "who is polluting her mind".
Kaur was allegedly threatened with rape on her Facebook page and was mocked by sportspersons and celebrities who questioned her pacifist approach.
"Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test," he said.
In terse comments, Mukherjee said he does not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens' behaviour towards women is uncivilised. "When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine," he said.
Mukherjee said the country must be conscious of the fact that democracy requires constant nurturing. "At no cost should we allow the exploitation of the fault lines. Those who spread violence must remember that Buddha, Ashoka and Akbar are remembered as heroes in history; not Hitler or Genghis Khan," he said.
According to the President, the nation and the people must always come first. "Let us strive to arrest the moral decline in our society and ensure that our core civilisational values find firm root. Let us exert ourselves to strengthen India's pluralism and diversity. Let us be uncompromising in rooting out violence, prejudice and hatred," he said.
Mukherjee, who has been in public life for almost six decades, advised lawmakers and political activists to listen, engage, learn from people and respond to their needs and concerns.
Asking the lawmakers not to take the people for granted, he said they must focus on the fundamental task of law making and raising of issues of concern to the people as well as finding solutions to their problems.
"No one who holds any elected office has been invited by the voters to occupy that office. Each one has gone to the voters and pleaded for their votes and support. The trust placed by the people in the political system and those elected should not be betrayed," he said.
The President said our legislatures and Parliament must not turn into arenas for combat. "Floor tests are not meant to be muscle tests. The opportunity to represent the people is not a right or entitlement but a moral obligation and duty. Our elected representatives owe it to the people of our country to act as models of exemplary conduct," he said.
Mukherjee said if the Parliament and legislative assemblies become dysfunctional, it results in not just paralysis of those institutions but create and adverse impact across the system. "The debate and discussions which ought to take place in the open in the House of Parliament and assemblies cannot be replicated elsewhere. When they cease to function effectively, issues spill out onto the streets. The very basis of our democracy gets undermined," he said.
He red flagged interruptions in Parliament saying it has increased from 9.95 per cent in 10th Lok Sabha to a shocking 41.6 per cent in the 15th Lok Sabha and about 16 per cent in the 16th Lok Sabha (up to the 10th session).
Mukherjee said although production of wealth must necessarily be one of the predominant objectives of state policy, this must be imbued with the principle of equality on which there can be no compromise.
"An egalitarian society can only be created when growth is inclusive. It is important to ensure that there is justice and equality of opportunity and the state does not create conditions in which the privileged few gain at the cost of the multitudes who suffer endemic poverty," he said.
The BJP today urged the EC to deploy women force at polling booths in the last two phases of the UP Assembly polls to check identity of burqa-clad female voters and prevent bogus voting, leaving some Muslim bodies fuming.
In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, the party said, "The BJP demands that to establish the identity of burqa-clad female voters in the sixth and seventh phase of the UP polls, women police and central paramilitary forces be posted at sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths".
BJP leaders J P S Rathore and Kuldeep Pati Tripathi said in the letter that a large number of burqa-clad women exercise their franchise and there was a possibility of false voting.
"Adequate deployment of female police would ensure proper checking of women voters, and at the same time, minimising incidents of bogus voting," they said. A large number of constituencies going to polls in the last two rounds on March 4 and 8 fall in Muslim-dominated districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The demand by the saffron party, however, did not go down well with Muslim organisations, with some of them accusing BJP of deliberately indulging in "polarisation politics".
Mahila Muslim Personal Law Board Chairperson Shaista Amber said, "Till now, the election and voting process have been rather smooth, and the Election Commission deserves a round of applause for this. However, in a bid to polarise the votes in the sixth and seventh phase, the BJP has now come up with this strange demand".
She said this act of BJP smacked of its "sick mentality". "Whether a woman is wearing burqa or ghoonghat, no one has the right to offend her womanhood and dignity," she said.
Shia Personal Law Board spokesperson Yassob Abbas said, "This is a deliberate tactic of the BJP to polarise the votes. We would not tolerate even an iota of insult to burqa."
He said even non-Muslim women living in villages wear 'pallu' (veil). "Will the pallu (of non-Muslim women) be removed to check and verify their identity?" he asked, adding "It is better not to do any politics over burqa".
Senior member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said, "Ever since the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections have started, a conscious attempt has been made to target Muslim women".
"It started with triple talaq, which has fallen flat on the face of the BJP," he said. He also said that as per the laid down provisions of law, a voter is allowed to cast his or her vote only after the poll official cross-checks and verifies the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) card. "I think that there is a planned attempt to keep Muslim women voters away from voting," he said.
Saharanpur-based Islamic seminary of Darul Uloom Deoband refused to comment.Muslims make up around 19-20 per cent of UP's population of nearly 200 million.
Out of 403 assembly constituencies in UP, there are nearly 120 seats where the percentage of Muslim voters is more than 20 per cent (Muslim-dominated seats) and in certain parts of eastern UP, their population is up to 27 per cent.
The decision to shift Telecom Secretary J S Deepak has surprised bureaucratic circles as well as the telecom industry.
Deepak has been named Indias next Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Wednesday night. The change comes at a time when the industry is divided over the mobile tariff rates offered by new operator Reliance Jio. As a head of the Telecom Commission, Deepak has opposed unrestricted freebies offered by any telecom operator to attract customers, as the sector is already suffering from heavy debt.
A 1982 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, Deepak, who is presently attending the Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, has been shifted with immediate effect from the Telecom Ministry and has been made Officer on Special Duty in the Commerce Department, a upgraded post from the director level position, said an official order. As per the order, he would have to assume charge as ambassador from June 1, and will serve till the date of his superannuation which is July 31, 2018.
Though the reason for his transfer was not known, one view is that the government wanted to put an experienced person in the WTO wing as Deepak already served in the Commerce Ministry as Indias chief negotiator at the WTO and for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, the mega Free Trade Agreement being negotiated by 16 countries.
But his sudden transfer surprised many in the Telecom Industry as he is credited with successfully conducting the first ever e-auction of spectrum in 2010 that fetched government over Rs 1.06 lakh crore in 2010, while also setting the roadmap for future auctions.
India-born PepsiCo chief Indira Nooyi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and apprised him of PepsiCos investment in India and increased use of local fruit juice in its beverages.
Nooyi also offered her company's help in the governments efforts to achieve national development goals.
As I shared with Prime Minister Modi, PepsiCo is well-positioned to help the government deliver on the national development goals he has outlined for farmers and supporting their livelihoods, she said in a statement after the meeting.
The prime minister and I had an engaging dialogue on how PepsiCo is making investments to grow, process and use more Indian-grown fruit juice in our sparkling beverages... We also discussed our launch of new Quaker Oats products that take traditional recipes and add in whole-grain Quaker Oats to help Indians start their day in a healthy way, Nooyi said in a statement.
PepsiCo has plans to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India in the next four years and more than double its business in the country.
Last year, PepsiCO had cut sugar content in its 7UP brand by 30% and replaced it with plant-based sweetener.
I recount a day dream experienced after reading the flood of tributes to Kenneth Arrow, often described as the founding father of the modern Social Choice theory. He is best known for his Impossibility theorem. He demonstrated that it was impossible to formulate a social preference ordering or voting system that can consistently and sensibly reflect the preferences of a set of individuals with diverse views.
Apparently, simple conditions of democracy or non-dictatorship, full individual sovereignty, unanimity (if all individuals in a group, prefers choice a over b, the group should also so prefer a to b), freedom from irrelevant alternatives (if some alternative choices have been ranked, removal of one of them should not change the ranks of other choices) and uniqueness of group rank imposed together in a choice situation result in erratic behaviour.
This was in 1951. The Noble Prize came in 1972 making him the youngest winner. The dream wandered from Arrow, to another work inspired by this lucidly simple proof. This was the Theory of the second Best of Richard Lipsey and Kevin Lancaster in 1956. Simply put, it enunciates that in a sub-optimal equilibrium, resetting one condition to optimality, without simultaneously resetting all other conditions optimality gets you worse-off than originally. It is thus better to consciously strive for second best solutions rather than optimal situations.
The dream drifted back to another work for which Arrow is famous his work on endogenous growth or Learning by Doing or simply, in a very colloquial sense, corporations and organisations get better and more efficient with time if they simply keep focussing on what they are doing.
The dream unaccountably wandered off to the differences between the Indian and Chinese growth stories. In Maos time, both countries were equally deficient on most parameters compared to the advanced economies. Both had similar sized economies.
India was, if anything slightly ahead on most parameters. Enter Deng Xiaoping in the post-Mao era. He retained non democracy by whatever name you call it but, together with his successors, systematically reset all governance processes relating to matters economic towards optimality conditions as per suggestions of US trained advisors. Not at once or equally in all provinces and they are admittedly still nowhere there, but systematically and continuously.
Equally admittedly, China is facing all sorts of problems in these troubled times, but which country isnt? It is equally true that sooner or later they will run into the challenge of reconciling their politics of governance with their management of economics, but as off now are already five times larger in size than India. Also, though a predominantly manufacturing/export manufacturing-oriented economy, they have a service sector more than twice the size of the entire Indian economy and a digital or e-economy larger even than the US digital/e-economy.
What about us? We are undoubtedly a robust democracy. Also, notwithstanding what one set of politicians say about the others, governance practices have mostly been well intentioned. All governments have grappled with reform and growth problems.
Development and growth have both undoubtedly happened. All policies invariably focus on securing optimality. All states are equally important for allocation of investment and infrastructure. Manufacturing-based employment has always been offered to all states (backward area development, freight equalisation etc).
Similarly, provision of justice (each case equally important, no acceleration at any cost), affirmative action (simultaneous and equal in all institutions) or citizenship/human rights has been consistently given priority. In no specific case can any fair person accuse the state for being consciously partial unless it was to a minority or the disadvantaged. All laws apply with equal rigour in metropolitan as also rural centres.
Ramshackle cities
The dream then flitted off to the sorry fact that despite all this, we all experience ramshackle cities, educational and health systems, reservation riots and increasingly ever higher levels of unemployment. The social stress levels have gone up. Any or every event can set off riot like conditions-whether it is a bullock cart race or a college debate or even a simple celebratory get-together over a meal.
If you ask any adult, they all express a strong desire for change, even if it implies paying more. They are willing, to pay more for treatments at a government hospital. All they want is due attention, with adequate equipment in hygienic conditions. None likes getting fleeced at a private set up but all perforce go there. All say that the same hospitals/ cities/universities were outstandingly good in the 1960s/ 1970s but have deteriorated.
If you ask any doctor or bureaucrat, serving or retired, for ideas on how to restore quality, each will give his/her personal opinion that granting fullest autonomy and corporate governance thereby creating a public institution which is neither private sector or governmental is now the best way forward. But then, the same ideas had occurred in the previous and earlier decades. The word autonomous is now often used to describe the same institutions and yet autonomy is still felt required? The dream wrestled with the paradox before flitting off to another paradox.
India is among the most difficult countries on ease of doing business index. We apparently have the most stringent procedures for environmental clearance. It often takes years to get clearances. Manufacturing is our smallest sector. Yet environmental pollution is our biggest problem. Similarly, construction laws and rules are extremely complex and time consuming. Even extending a balcony in a flat involves multiple authorities/permissions. Yet though India has an official Urbanisation Index of about 30%, the World Bank satellite night light based assessment places it nearer 60%. How can World Bank be so wrong?
The locked spirals of paradoxes woke me up wondering what on earth Indian day to day problems have anything to do with Arrows work or even other paradoxes like Fallacy of Composition and Money Illusion much liked by theorists. Maybe the answers are blowing in the wind as Bob Dylan, the current Noble literature prize winner, once crooned?
(The writer is former chairman, Exim Bank of India)
President Donald Trump loves the song My Way, bristles at the slightest alterations in his daily routine, and lashes out when the world wont accept him on his own terms. Then, when that does not work, he tries something completely different.
Trumps well-received address to Congress on Tuesday night, a conciliatory speech in which the word we outnumbered the word I by 3-to-1, represented precisely that kind of shift. Just last week, Trump shouted himself hoarse branding the news media enemies of the American people at a time when he was working on an address that invoked the better angels of his own nature, national unity and an end to trivial fights.
This does not represent a pivot, it is not a fundamental change of approach, and it does not mean that Trump plans to abandon his tweet-first-and-ask-questions-later style. But it is a recognition by the White House, that what it had been doing was not quite working and that a softer sales tactic was needed to sell the same hard-edge populist agenda he campaigned on, people close to Trump said.
It was not a reset speech, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday, as Trumps team basked in its best news cycle since he took office 41 days ago. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and a Trump ally and adviser, said, The thing people dont get about Trump is how quickly he learns he moves fast so hes going to be using different approaches.
He started out with a set of attitudes and assumptions, and hes gradually learning which ones are worth keeping and which ones he needs to throw out, Gingrich said. On Tuesday he rose to the occasion because he knew the country was watching. That doesnt mean next Tuesday he wont have a 20,000-person rally where he strikes a different tone.
Striking that presidential tone, as Trump did on Tuesday, was an important political move for a commander in chief facing historically low approval numbers and scepticism from fellow Republicans.
Republican Senate and House members were cheered by the presidents optimistic message. But in private, they are becoming increasingly anxious about the administrations reluctance to present a detailed plan on how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, as well as offer a more specific budget document than a brief outline circulated last week, a $1 trillion infrastructure package that is still in the theoretical stage, and an as-yet vague proposal to cut corporate taxes.
Some Republican senators noted in private that nationalist edges on illegal immigration still cut through the speech, despite all the cushioning of the language. Democrats were even less charitable.
Come on, there was no pivot, and there isnt going to be one, said Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. The speech wasnt as harsh as some other ones, but it was basically the same things hes been saying all along. It had the same terrible policies on immigration and other issues.
The speech, current and former Trump staff members said, was conceived as a bookend to the inaugural address, which was intended to be short and businesslike to project the new presidents impatience in enacting his America First agenda that included quickly killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and beefing up border security.
Aware that Trump would be speaking to the largest television audience since his inaugural, his messaging team led by his chief strategist Stephen Bannon; his top policy adviser Stephen Miller and speechwriter Vince Haley, with input from his counsellor Kellyanne Conway, his spokeswoman Hope Hicks and a handful of others took pains to soften his often incendiary language.
And they were pleased with the contrast between his slashing, improvisational speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday and his dignified delivery on Tuesday all of which showcased Trumps political range, according to one person close to the team. Trump also resisted any instincts he may have had to ad-lib.
But Trump faces weeks of significant governing challenges that might soon overshadow the success of the speech and the weeklong schedule of follow-up events around the country by him and Vice President Mike Pence.
Two people briefed on how Tuesdays speech to Congress was crafted said the lack of details was an intentionally evasive manoeuvre, using phrases that allowed different groups to read in what they wanted. It buys the president more time to change the narrative that his White House is short-staffed and in disarray.
But none of a dozen people in Trumps orbit said they had expected him to sustain the tone of measured magnanimity in the speech.
Inside the White House, the success of the address three-quarters of respondents polled by CBS approved of Trumps message was greeted with relief after weeks of controversy over the presidents reported ties with Russia, the botched rollout of his immigration executive order and the resignation of his national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The question of when, or whether, Trump will ever move away from his brash, in-your-face style to a more sedate and conventional approach has been dogging the former real estate developer since the earliest days of his presidential campaign.
False pivots
There have been nearly as many false pivots as real crises: Trump was expected to adopt a kinder-gentler attitude after an Access Hollywood recording of him making lewd comments about women surfaced last fall, but after a short statement of contrition he went back on the attack.
The moment that came closest to Tuesday nights change of tone came on election night when Trump called for unity and an end to a vicious political war he had so vigorously pursued.
Its time for America to bind the wounds of division have to get together, the stunned winner told his supporters at a Manhattan ballroom that night. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. Its time.
But over the next few months, Trump often adopted a harsher and darker tone in interviews, speeches (often off-the-cuff) and on Twitter. He cannot afford that approach now, as he moves into the tougher, more public process of trying to push a legislative programme through Congress.
On Wednesday, Trump who loves to linger in front of the cameras before ceremonial White House events hustled the news media out of the Roosevelt Room after 30 seconds to begin his first real nuts-and-bolts negotiating session with Hill Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader. We are here to start the process, a solemn-faced Trump said. It begins as of now.
International New York Times
The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking a ban on water supply from Thamirabarani river in Tirunelveli district to the co-packers of cola companies.
When a couple of public interest litigations (PILs) came up for hearing at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, Justices A Selvam and P Kalaiyarasan questioned the petitioners as to why a similar case was not filed against other companies that were drawing water from the same river.
The courts decision came a day after many traders in Tamil Nadu decided to stop selling Pepsi and Coca Cola from March 1. The petitioners argued that the two companies were drawing water from the river, which in turn was affecting farming. In their counter affidavit, the co-packers of PepsiCo rejected the charges that they did not exploit the water from the Thamirabarani river.
The state government also said only surplus river water was supplied to the companies. However, after a detailed hearing, the court vacated the interim orders and dismissed the writ petitions, holding that there was no environmental impact on account of PepsiCo fetching water from the river.
District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj said Karnataka is the only state in the country that offers highest subsidy to diesel used by mechanised fishing boats.
The minister told reporters here that Karnataka has 3,600 boats and the government provides a subsidy of Rs 115.52 crore.
The maximum quantity of diesel eligible for subsidy in a year in Karnataka is 90,000 litres. In Maharashtra, which has 10,000 boats and provides Rs 100 crore subsidy, gives a subsidy of only 45,000 litres in a year.
Matsayamela
Madhwaraj said that youths who have applied for feasibility report by November 21, 2016 are being given the reports. He said Udupi Matsayamela-2017 will be organised from March 3 to 5 at Malpe Beach.
An exhibition and demonstration on development of fisheries and fishing activities in the district will be held. A variety of dishes made from fish and stalls on the research and academic activities in the field of fish industries, sand art expo, aquarium preparation and cultural programmes will be the attractions of the mela, the minister said.
Members of AdvaMed India on Tuesday expressed concern over the recent capping of prices of coronary stents. They said it would limit the options for patients.
Addressing a panel discussion in the city on Tuesday, members of this trade association for medical devices said the government must introduce alternative measures to provide affordable healthcare to all.
Varun Khanna, chairman, AdvaMed India Working Group said long term tax exemptions and cuts in customs duty would ensure that the cost of medical devices is brought down considerably.
According to AdvaMed, duty amounts to 20% of the cost, taxes are10-15% and 16% is transport cost. If the government addresses these issues, the cost would come down considerably, they said.
Dr Sharan Shivraj Patil, chairman, Sparsh Hospitals, who was part of the discussion, said price capping on medical devices would adversely impact the growth of the healthcare sector.
Many doctors living abroad want to return to India as the same quality devices are available here. But such decisions would discourage them from coming back as options are limited, he said.
Dr Patil said both the medical device industry and doctors work in partnership. If the enthusiasm of the industry is curbed, we can forget about innovations, he said.
He said the government also ought to focus on better investments that benefit the Indian industry at large. Quoting an example of threading implants, Dr Patil said companies in India did not have a tool to measure the precision of these threads. This has forced doctors to import the device even though it is manufactured in the country.
In the election strategy helmed by party vice president Rahul Gandhi, the Congress is not pulling any punches when it comes to countering Prime Minister Narendra Modis aggression on the campaign trail.
Congress leaders have paid back in equal measure, often matching barb for barb and acronym for acronym of Modis stinging criticism of the party and its leadership in more than a month-long election campaign in five states.
As Modi mocked Rahuls purported reference to selling coconut juice from Manipur in London, Congress leaders went into an overdrive to describe the prime minister as a habitual offender in telling lies. Congress circulated video clips of Rahuls election speech to stub out Modis coconut juice jibe.
Rahul Gandhis video is universally available. You must watch it... He didnt speak about coconuts, but about pineapple juice. Prime Minister Modi is just making up things, said Randeep Singh Surjewala, incharge of the AICC communication department.
Surjewala hit back at the BJP, dubbing it a Bahut Jhoothi Paathshala (School of Lies) and describing Modi as a professor in the art of peddling lies.
Modi should stop being the professor of lies and must apologise not to the Congress alone, but to the entire nation for misleading the people by falsifying the words of the leader of the principal Opposition party, he said. At a rally in Maharajganj on Wednesday, Modi had ribbed Rahul over selling Made in Manipur coconut juice in London and setting up potato factories.
Rahuls coconut juice remarks could be traced to inaccurate reports in a section of the media about his speech in Manipur.
You grow lemon, oranges, pineapples here. I want a day when someone will drink pineapple juice in London and see Made in Manipur on the pack, Rahul had said at a rally on Tuesday. It seemed the BJP managers had picked certain inaccurate media reports to ridicule Rahul.
On the campaign trail, when Modi dished out the acronym SCAM to refer to the Samajwadi Party, Congress, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, Rahul tried to turn the tables, saying SCAM stood for Service, Courage, Ability and Modesty.
The BJP has deployed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to reach out to the trading community in Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency of Varanasi.
Jaitley, in his bid to assuage the feelings of traders, ploughed through encouraging latest GDP growth figures to argue that demonetisation has expanded the social base of the party and busted the myth created by the Opposition that note ban has hit the poor hard and made the countrys economy sluggish.
Varanasi is also home to a large numbers of traders, essentially saree business, and note ban had impacted the weavers as payments are mainly made through cash.
People had said the economy will become sluggish and it will impact the GDP. But thats not the case. In November and December, I had said that revenue figures are showing increase in excise and VAT collections. Despite the currency squeeze, the GDP figures have improved. It clearly indicates that our target to integrate black money economy with the formal economy is happening, Jaitley said.
Hinting that note ban has helped the BJP to consolidate the votes of non-Yadav most backward castes, the Union minister stressed that the partys traditional voters continued to remain with it and new people were joining in. We have not seen this kind of expansion in so many decades, he remarked.
Jaitley quoted the recent civic poll results in Maharashtra and Odisha to insist that people in some states have already given their mandate in favour of note ban. We won in slums where the BJP does not get votes. In Odisha, too, our strength grew in tribal areas and we will see similar reactions in Uttar Pradesh, Jaitley said.
The BJP on Thursday demanded an Enforcement Directorate (ED) enquiry into the charges that co-operative banks illegally sanctioned Rs 251 crore term loan to Harsha Sugars, in which Congress leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar is the managing director.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, BJP general secretary and MLA C T Ravi said a consortium of seven co-operative banks had sanctioned the loan against a total security of 51 acres of industrial land worth only about Rs 1.69 crore in Savadatti taluk of Belagavi district. It is a Vijay Mallya-like case in Karnataka. The Congress government has enabled its leader to obtain huge sums of loan by throwing all rules to the winds, he charged.
Besides, Lakshmis brother has been allotted 15 mega watt-capacity solar power generation project by the government. Her brother has submitted 10 online application forms for the project in a span of 59 seconds to obtain the projects. It is a biggest fraud in the government in the name of farmers, he charged.
We also have information that Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd has purchased large quantity of coal from an Indonesian company. People related to Harsha Sugars are said to be benami owners of the company. We will release all documents in this regard shortly, the BJP leader said.
Ravi demanded that the government should withdraw all charges against former Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) chairman Gonal Bhimappa and other members following its decision to accept Karnataka Administrative Tribunal order on the recruitment of 2011 batch gazette probationers.
An Indian national who worked as a policeman in Bahrain for eight years is now accused of stealing 11 high-end cars in Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai.
Pillakal Nazeer, 56, police believe, loves cars priced at Rs 15 lakh or more. A resident of New Gurappanapalya, he worked as constable in the West Asian nation on contract basis between 1998 and 2006 before returning to Bengaluru.
Mallesh B, inspector, Madiwala police station, narrated Nazeers exploits as he went from one city to another in search of luxury automobiles. He will visit car showrooms as a customer.
Speaking English fluently and dressed impeccably to show that he is rich, he will go for test drives only to never return. In other instances, he bluffed car showroom staff into allowing him into their godowns. Showing his cleverness, he made off with new cars. In some cases, he stole cars parked at service stations.
To evade arrest, he never crossed any toll plaza on the day of the theft. He spent at least three days in villages, changed the cars number plate and drove into another state. He sold the stolen cars in big cities.
His luck ran out when some of his neighbours curious about how he was driving a new high-end car every other day called the police last week. Policemen who arrived at his house were astounded to find a Hyundai luxury car worth Rs 35 lakh there. On their instruction, he submitted documents of the cars purchase but they turned out to be fake.
Upon further examination, the cars engine and chassis number were found to be registered with a Hyundai showroom at Thiru Vi Ka Industrial Estate Ekkaduthangal in Chennai. Police contacted the showroom and it emerged that a man had stolen the car from the godown. The inspector said Nazeers wife caused a ruckus and tried to prevent the police from arresting him.
The Congress leaders from Tumakuru district on Thursday demanded that G Parameshwara should be allowed to continue as KPCC president till 2018 Assembly polls.
Party MLAs, K N Rajanna and Rafiq Ahmad, Tumakuru MP Mudduhanumegowda and former legislator Venkataramanappa said in a joint press conference that the party should face the next assembly elections under the leadership of Parameshwara and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The chief minister has fulfilled almost all the promises made by the party during the 2013 Assembly polls.
The state Congress president chief has organised the party successfully ever since he was given the responsibility of leading the party in the state.
A delegation of state party leaders will soon meet the high command in Delhi and urge it to allow Parameshwara to continue as the KPCC president, Rajanna said.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.
A right delayed is a right denied.Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
Martin Luther King Jr.
No one is born hating another person People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
Nelson Mandela
We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist
James Baldwin
There is a fine line between free speech and hate speech. Free speech encourages debate whereas hate speech incites violence.
Newton Lee
The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.
Albert Einstein
In a first of sorts, a district and sessions judge, who was earlier deputy registrar of the Lokayukta, has been penalised Rs 10,000 by the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) for not furnishing information under Right To Information (RTI) Act to an applicant who had sought details from the Lokayukta office.
Gopal Krishna Rai, who is now Ramanagaram district and sessions judge, has also been ordered by Information Commissioner Chandre Gowda to pay Rs 3,000 as compensation to the RTI applicant.
RTI applicant S Bhaskaran had sought details regarding the visitors log register maintained at the main entrance of the Lokayukta office in M S Building in Bengaluru. He had sought details of the people who visited the Lokayukta office between November 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013, purpose of their visit and whom all did they visit in the office.
When Bhaskaran was denied information, he went for a first appeal under section 19 (1) of the RTI Act and the first appellate passed orders that the information be made available to him. But even after the first appeal, when information was denied to him on the grounds that it was personal in nature for being furnished under the RTI Act, he went in for a second appeal under 19(3) of the Act. The appellate not only passed orders to provide information on the visitor's log book in Lokayuktas office, but also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Rai, who was public information officer and deputy registrar in the Lokayukta at that time.
The information I sought for was to prove that a mala fide intent did exist in trapping of a police inspector for corruption by Lokayukta officials around the time of the officers promotion, Bhaskaran told Deccan Herald.
India has lifted its objection over appointment of a nominee of Pakistan as the Secretary General of the Saarc, signalling a thaw in bilateral relations.
With New Delhi withdrawing its objection, Islamabads nominee Amjad Hussain B Sial took over as the new Secretary General of the Saarc at the secretariat of the eight-nation bloc in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
He succeeded Nepals Arjun Bahadur Thapa, who relinquished the office after completing his three-year-term on Tuesday. New Delhi earlier objected to Sials take-over as the new Secretary General of the Saarc. It, however, withdrew its objection recently, paving the way for Sial to take over the top office at the bloc's secretariat in the capital of Nepal.
The Saarc rule required Thapa to be succeeded by a nominee of Pakistan. Islamabad nominated Sial, a senior officer of Pakistan Foreign Service, to be the next Secretary General of the Saarc.
New Delhi, however, argued that his appointment should be confirmed by the Council of Ministers a body comprising the foreign ministers of all the eight member nations as stipulated by the Article V of the Memorandum of Agreement on establishment of the Saarc Secretariat.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers was scheduled to take place just before the 19th Saarc summit, which was to be held at Islamabad in November last year.
It, however, could not take place, as the blocs proposed 19th summit itself was postponed after India pulled out of it to protest continued export of terrorism from Pakistan, particularly the September 18, 2016 terror attack on an Indian Army camp at Uri in northern Kashmir.
Islamabad had to postpone the summit, as most of the other Saarc member nations too agreed New Delhi that the situation in the region was not conducive for holding the conclave. India and Pakistan also decided to hold a meeting of Permanent Indus Commission by the end of this year.
A group of students assaulted their collegemate at the government college here for refusing to wear saffron shawl on Wednesday.
Final year BA students Raghavendra, Jeevan, Sandeep and 4th semester student Abhishek waylaid and attacked Jayant Naika, also a 4th semester student, as he was not wearing the shawl on arriving at the college. He later lodged a complaint at the city station.
The assaulters surrendered in the court, which granted them bail.
The iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel will go under the hammer while the licence of another five-star hotel Le Meredian will be cancelled over dues of Rs 523 crore, the New Delhi Municipal Council said on Thursday.
These two decisions were pending for sometime due to legal battles between the NDMC and the two hotels. Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said it supports decision of the NDMC.
The decision was publicised by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through a tweet, Important decisions todays NDMC meeting-open auction of Taj Mansingh, cancel Le Meridian Hotel licence, 240 days TMR (Temporary Muster Roll) every year to all death cases.
Both hotels are built on land owned by the NDMC. They are leased by the companies that own the hotels.
Actor Gajendra Chouhan will complete his tenure as the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on Friday.
He wanted an extension of his term which remained marred by students protests over his appointment in the first few months and lasted for altogether a year and seven months.
Chouhan had made a request to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for extension of his term. But, official sources indicated that the ministry was unlikely to accept his request.
The ongoing tension between the ABVP and Left-backed student unions further escalated as a poster demanding freedom for Kashmir and Palestine appeared on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on Thursday evening.
ABVP supporters in the JNU accused the Left-leaning Democratic Students Union (DSU) for putting up the poster which read, Freedom for Kashmir! Free Palestine! Right to Self Determination Long Live! DSU.
The JNU administration ordered the removal of the controversial poster soon after the matter was brought to its notice. Umar Khalid, who was booked on charge of sedition for raising anti-India slogans during an event organised in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on February 9 last year, is associated with the DSU.
Rapist outfit
Earlier, the ABVP also put up several hoardings and posters calling All India Students Association (AISA) rapist and showing pictures of mutilated bodies with title communist violence on Delhi University campus. The AISA took serious exception to the hoardings and posters.
The ABVP has resorted to hate-mongering by putting up provocative hoardings on campus trying to justify the violence unleashed in Ramjas incident. The entire campus was filled with hoardings of random mutilated bodies calling it an outcome of communist violence, the AISA leader Kawalpreet Aman said.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) took out marches in Delhi University, demanding action against students who raised Azadi slogans for Kashmir and Bastar recently.
Hundreds of students joined marches amid heavy police deployment in the city, chanting slogans like Bharat mein rehna hai toh, Vande Mataram kehna hoga (chant Vande Mataram to live in India) and Na Marxvaad, Na Naxalvaad, Sabse Upar Rashtravaad (neither Marxism nor Naxalism, above all is nationalism).
What happened in JNU, Jadavpur University and Ramjas college? Some people are raising anti-India slogans, the issue of separatism, independence to Kashmir. You (students) want to celebrate such people who carried out attack on Parliament. What does it mean? Naidu told a television channel. Such sloganeering by some students was vitiating the atmosphere in the universities, he added.
Its all being done by the outsiders. People who have lost the elections are now trying to fight an ideological battle using the campuses. This is not acceptable to the country. Unity and integrity of this country is paramount to this government, Naidu said, categorically blaming the Congress and the Left parties for the prevailing situation.
The ABVPs save DU march comes after news channels on Wednesday aired a video footage showing students raising Azadi slogans for Kashmir and Bastar during a protest at Delhi Universitys Ramjas College last week with a disclaimer that the authenticity of the video clip was not confirmed.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the Congress and Left parties were creating divisive atmosphere on campuses.
He said those in universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet, he said, delivering the 6th K S Rajamony Memorial Lecture in Kochi.
Referring to Nalanda and Takshashila as not mere geographical expressions but representations for the idea of free thought, the President said premier institutions of higher education were vehicles on which India had to propel itself into a knowledge society.
Mukherjee said there should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian. India has been, since ancient times, a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution, he said.
Mukherjee, however, underscored that the time has also come for collective efforts to rediscover the sense of national purpose and patriotism that alone can lift our nation on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity. The nation and the people must always come first...Let us exert ourselves to strengthen Indias pluralism and diversity. Let us be uncompromising in rooting out violence, prejudice and hatred.
If there is an aberration that curtails free thinking and free exchange of views, its the responsibility of the society to correct it, he said.
The President also said leaders and political activists must listen to the people, engage with them, learn from them and respond to their needs and concerns.
Mukherjee noted that no one who holds any elected office has been invited by the voters to occupy that office. Each one has gone to the voters and pleaded for their votes and support.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent, apparently alluding to the current unrest in Delhi colleges.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Thursday disclosed the names of 20 hospitals, including two in Karnataka, against whom it received complaints on over-charging for coronary stents.
The disclosure comes after the ceiling price of these medical devices was fixed.The two Karnataka hospitals on the list are St. Philomenas Hospital in Vivek Nagar of Bengaluru, and Cauvery Hospital in Siddartha Layout, near Teresian College in Mysuru.
The NPPA, however, is yet to receive the supporting copies of the bills from the complainants in both cases. While the authority released the details of 24 complaints, there are multiple complaints against Metro Hospital in Faridabad and KEM Hospital in Mumbai.
The only government hospital on the list of over-charging entities is the Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. The hospitals were given a week to respond to the NPPA. If their responses fail to satisfy the authority, it can recommend prosecution against these hospitals under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
Last month, the drug price control authority fixed the ceiling price of drug eluting stents at Rs 29,600 and bare metal stents at Rs 7,260 after a long legal battle and multiple rounds of discussions involving stent manufacturing and importing companies, public health campaigners and other wings of the government.
The price control was brought in after incorporating coronary stents into the National List of Essential Medicine, whose ceiling prices are fixed by the NPPA. But the order is yet to be implemented in letter and spirit by the hospitals, which are weighing options including hiking the procedure cost in order to keep the rates of angioplasty packages more or less the same.
Other hospitals against whom NPPA received complaints include Sun Medical and Research Centre at Thrissur; Max Hospital at Saket in Delhi; Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai; Ram Murti Hospital in Bareilly; Bharat Heart Institute in Dehradun; Nidan Hospital in Sonipat; Six Sigma Medicare and Research Ltd in Nasik; Healing Touch Hospital in Ambala and Global Hospital in Jalandhar.
These outfits are also accused of non-compliance of an official order, as per which the hospitals are to mention the cost of the coronary stent along with its brand name, manufacturers name, batch number and other details in bills. From the 11 bill copies that NPPA received, it is clear that hospitals are not following this order. Bills of other 13 complaints are awaited.
Price control on stents would reduce profiteering in the supply chain. Resistance by the importers, some cardiologists and other vested interests is not unexpected, but must be overcome through public pressure and effective regulatory action, said Arun Mitra, former chairman of the ethical committee at the Punjab Medical Council.
The state government has decided to adhere to its stand and not denotify fruits and vegetables from the Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (Regulation and Development) Act, despite the Centre aggressively pushing for agri-market reforms.
As many as 21 fruits and eight vegetables, including apple, orange, banana, potato, onion and tomato, are notified under the KAPMC Act, 1966. The Act makes it mandatory for farmers to sell their produce only to the licensed merchants at the mandis of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) by paying the commission and other charges.
Denotification of fruits and vegetables, according to the Centre, will put an end to a chain of commission agents between the farmers and the consumers, creating a win-win situation for both. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made a strong pitch for the denotification and promoting contract farming in his 2017-18 Budget presented recently.
But the Karnataka government holds a different view. We have no intention to denotify perishables (from the Act). Even now the farmers are free to sell their produce directly to consumers anywhere, including APMC yards. Moreover, the government will not be in a position to intervene and provide justice to the farmers if the traders refuse to pay judicious price, Additional Secretary to Co-operation department (APMC reforms) R Manoj said.
As per the Department of Agriculture Marketing, cost to the supply chain due to handling of fruits and vegetables at APMCs is only 6% of the total cost of the produce. Cost of supply chain include 5% commission and 1% hamali and other handling cost. This cost will be significantly higher in unorganised sector due to involvement of middlemen at multiple levels.
Interestingly, the ruling Congress has refused to denotify perishables despite directions from the party vice president Rahul Gandhi to all the Congress-ruled state governments in 2014. Instead, the Karnataka government exempted levy of market fee on farmers (1.5% on fruits and 1% on vegetables) and made a provision for retail sales at APMC yards.
Chairman of Food Processing Committee of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries Bharat Shah said APMCs help farmers get competitive price to their produce due to the involvement of large number of traders. Besides, the farmers get necessary logistical support such as storage place at APMCs. As far as consumers are concerned, prices of fruits and vegetables are normally the lowest at APMCs compared to other places, he added, opposing the move to denotify perishables.
The decision spelled a big victory for all those who had vociferously campaigned against the project questioning its utility, its huge financial and environmental costs. For nine months, the state government had refused to budge, despite stiff resistance to the flyover from different quarters.
Citizens were concerned that the Rs 1,791-crore project, based on a car-centric mobility vision for the city, would also require the felling of 812 fully grown trees. A group of citizens had also approached Governor Vajubhai Vala seeking his intervention.
The public outcry, combined with incessant social media campaign, received a boost when the National Green Tribunal stayed the projects implementation.
Designed to ensure a seamless commute to the Kempegowda International Airport, the flyover was to connect Basaveshwara Circle and Hebbal and, by the governments reckoning, ease traffic on the busy road. But much cheaper and feasible alternative road options to the airport were ignored till the recently concluded airshow forced a rethink.
The project had caused huge embarrassment to the Siddaramaiah government after the Opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress of taking a bribe of Rs 65 crore to award the contract.
The sudden decision to scrap the Rs 1,791-crore project was announced after a meeting convened by Bengaluru Development Minister K J George to discuss the drinking water needs of the city with the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and elected representatives.
George made the announcement after hearing the opinions of some elected representatives, a few of who demanded that the minister take a stand on the project in the wake of allegations and doubts looming over it.
At the meeting, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Dinesh Gundurao said the party would invite blame even if the project was executed well.
Why should we take risks and get a bad name? Gundurao said, offering friendly advice to his party colleague. When Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali demanded an inquiry, George lost his temper and said he would speak to the chief minister right away and see if the project could be scrapped.
We dont want people to see the completed project and say the Congress built it by looting them...If people are caught in traffic chaos, you people are responsible for it, he told Limbavali. George meant the BJP when he said you people.
In the midst of the arguments, George called Siddaramaiah. After the meeting, George said, I am really pained to say the project has been called off. The chief minister has said I can cancel it. The paper work for the cancellation will be initiated after Cabinet approval.
The project was meant for the public and we have not taken a single rupee, contrary to the allegations made in connection with the diary, he said. He was referring to the BJPs charge that the Income Tax authorities had found a diary in the house of MLC K Govindaraju, showing how much politicians had pocketed for sanctioning the project.
Faced with the prospect of an adverse National Green Tribunal ruling, the government decided to abandon the project, sources said. By seemingly giving in to the Opposition demand to scrap the flyover, the government has not only saved face, but also regained the moral high ground, political observers said.
The state government on Thursday scrapped the vexed steel flyover project that had kicked up a huge political storm. The unprecedented collective citizens protest against the controversial project has finally had its desired effect.
A software engineers wife has sought action against her father-in-law for attempting to molest her.
She has also sought action against her husband and mother-in-law for asking her to cooperate with him. The woman said she was physically and mentally harassed for dowry.
The victim hails from Tumakuru, but currently stays with her parents in Basavanagudi here. The victims husband and his parents reside in Indiranagar.
She got married on April 7, 2016. In a complaint to the womens police station, Basavanagudi, the woman said her husband flew to America within a week after the wedding. Her father-in-law would inappropriately touch her and invite her for physical contact. He would also abuse her in filthy language.
The victim complained to her mother-in-law, but the latter directed her to cooperate. She contacted her husband in America and told him about the attempts of molestation. But he directed her to adjust with his father. He threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate.
She told the police that her husband had promised to arrange for her visa so that she could join him, but he never fulfilled his promise. Rather, he demanded Rs 5 lakh and ornaments worth Rs 2 lakh so that he could arrange visa for her. She spent money from her pocket, flew to America and joined him.
The woman said the in-laws joined the couple in America within a few days. The father-in-law continued his behaviour there also. She returned to India as she could no longer bear the torture.
Dowry harassment
She claimed that her parents had presented her husband two gold chains, a wrist watch and Rs 2.5 lakh as dowry during the wedding. Besides, her parents had spent Rs 10 lakh for the wedding.
The police have booked the trio under IPC section 498 A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) besides sections 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, DCP (South) S D Sharanappa told DH.
The police said that they have issued notices to the victims husband and mother-in-law as they are in America. They are yet to question the father-in-law.
A losing battle in court and political onslaught by the rival BJP forced the Congress government to abruptly scrap its pet but highly controversial project of building a 6.9-km-long steel flyover from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal.
Although activists and citizens groups welcomed the decision, the governments move left them perplexed. Sources in the government, however, said it was not a sudden decision necessitated by a volley of accusations thrown by BJP legislators.
The decision to shelve the project was taken for administrative as well as political reasons. The government, sources in the Congress said, was fighting a losing battle in the National Green Tribunals Chennai bench, where a case has been filed against the project by two Bengaluru-based activists.
Sources said the petitioners members of Citizens Action Forum (CAF) and Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) had a strong case. In contrast, the governments case was weak. It seems the government got enough hints that its not going to win the case. It decided to shelve the project to avoid further embarrassment, sources said.
The tribunal is expected to pronounce the judgement in a week or two. It had given the petitioners and the respondents time to make submissions, if any, before the final hearing.
Though the government was allowed to undertake pre-construction work and soil testing, it did not mean it had won the case. But the government was confident. It had been maintaining all along that there was no need for environmental clearance for the project, the sources said.
The petitioners argued against the project and asked the government to explore other options such as alternative roads to the airport. The biggest stumbling block to implementing the project was the lack of environmental clearance. The Bangalore Development Authority (one of the respondents in the case) argued that the steel flyover was exempted from environmental clearance, but every project of such magnitude will have environmental impact, which should be assessed, the sources said.
Kickback nail in coffin
As if the legal hurdles were not enough, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappas specific accusation that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah received Rs 65 crore in kickbacks to clear the project pushed the Congress to the back foot. It was the final nail in the coffin.
Sources in the Congress said that when MLC K Govindarajs diary (which purportedly lists kickbacks paid to Congress leaders and the media) came up for discussion at the partys co-ordination committee meeting, it was decided to put an end to the controversy as it could potentially damage its electoral prospects in Karnataka in general and Bengaluru (which has 28 Assembly seats) in particular.
Water meeting
At a meeting of the citys MLAs called by Bengaluru Development Minister K J George to discuss the water crisis in the summer, Congress MLA N A Haris demanded that the steel flyover project be discussed first. BJP MLAs opposed it but ministers Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda, MLAs Dinesh Gundu Rao, Munirathna, S T Somashekhar and others backed Haris. This led to heated arguments between Congress and BJP legislators.
At one point, George voluntarily declared there was no need for the project when there were so many charges of corruption against the government. He then said he would make an announcement on the project after speaking to the chief minister. He spoke to Siddaramaiah over phone, and an official statement was put out soon after.
Stating that the government scrapped the project under pressure from the BJP, Independent MLC Byrathi Suresh, who is an associate member of the Congress, walked out of the meeting. Anekal MLA, A Narayanaswamy, recorded his dissent. Govindaraj was conspicuous by his absence.
Transcription
1 NEWS CORRESPONDENTS For correspondents address, visit Gayla R. Postma News Editor Sarah Boonstra Classes Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone Anita Brinkman Classes Huron, Chatham Jenny degroot Classes BC North-West, BC South-East Larry Edsall Classes Arizona, Red Mesa Doug Evenhouse Classes Northern Illinois, Wisconsin Karen Gorter Classes Holland, Zeeland, Northern Michigan, Muskegon Henry Huisjen Classes Kalamazoo, Lake Erie Calvin Hulstein Classes Atlantic NE, Hackensack, Hudson Jonathan J. Kim Classis Pacific Hanmi Rachel dekoning Kraay Classes Alberta North, Alberta South & Saskatchewan Noah Kruis Classes Grand Rapids East, Grand Rapids North Amy Rycenga Classes Muskegon, Northern Michigan Ryan Struyk Classis Thornapple Valley Amy Toornstra Classes Columbia, Pacific Northwest Roxanne Van Farowe Classis Southeast U.S Sophie Vandenberg Classes Hamilton, Niagara, Toronto Brenda Visser Classes Eastern Canada, Quinte Heidi Wicker Classes California South, Central California, Greater L.A., Carolyn Koster Yost Classes Georgetown, Grandville, Grand Rapids South Louis Tamminga In Memoriam articles If your region is not listed here, please contact the news editor. ALL PHOTOS BY GAYLA R. POSTMA A Firsthand Look at Rebuilding Haiti In Haiti, it never ends, one relief worker I met recently in Haiti told me. He was right. It was early November, and on top of losing an estimated 200,000 people to the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, the remaining displaced and traumatized population now had Hurricane Tomas hovering to the south and a cholera epidemic spreading from the north. Although Tomas did not make a direct hit, it dropped enough rain on the mountains to cause major flooding. Cholera deaths have topped 2,000 as I write this. The situation in Haiti can indeed seem hopeless. Yet Christian Reformed personnel are providing help, comfort and hope, backed by $12 million dollars, $8 million of which came from CRC donors. Their optimism and commitment to being agents of change in Jesus name amazed me as they drove me past acres of tent camps on rutted roads lined with garbage and earthquake rubble. Port-au-Prince, Haiti s capital, is a noisy, crowded city of 3 million. Some headway has been made in clearing rubble, but ample evidence of the earthquake remains. These missionaries from the U.S. and Canada make up Sous Espwa (Source of Hope), an integrated team sent by Back to God Ministries International, the media ministry of the CRC Christian Reformed World Missions Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). Even more remarkable are the Haitian leaders I met, the ones who lead the Christian organizations with whom Sous Espwa works. These leaders lost family members, friends, homes, and churches. Yet they continue ministering, ever hopeful of the healing message they bring to their communities. The following stories are about only a few of those leaders and how, with the help of the Christian Reformed Church, they are rebuilding Haiti, one day at a time. Broadcasting a Message of Hope Reformed Perspectives, or Perspectives Reformees as it is known in Haiti, has been broadcasting a gospel message of hope despite facing enormous challenges after the earthquake. Radio is still the primary method of mass communication in Haiti. Rev. Sem Hypolite, director of the program, lost his home and Rev. Sem Hypolite, director of Perspectives Reformees, a radio ministry in Haiti 10 THE BANNER January
2 acheck thebanner.org for the expanded story. Sous Espwa Staff Ad and Coby DeBlaeij Rev. Zachary King Rev. Sharon Seegar-King Jenny LeMahieu Lesley Millar and San Diego Toussant Howard and Ruth Van Dam Lorigiana Meneide had to send his wife and baby to live in the countryside. His assistant, Margalita Petion, lost her mother. Many of Haiti s large radio stations were destroyed by the quake, driving up the cost of air time. Nevertheless, the program has aired a number of messages recorded by Rev. Paul Mpindi specifically for post-earthquake Haiti. Mpindi is the French-language minister for Back to God Ministries International. Despite the earthquake, 3,000 Haitians continue to work on their related Bible study lessons. In addition to covering the cost of a replacement home for Hypolite, $55,000 will fund new radio messages in Creole, the language far more Haitians speak than The Sous Espwa building in Port-au-Prince French, said Lesley Millar Toussant, with Sous Espwa. And there will be a trained pastoral counselor available at the ministry follow-up center to listen and pray with people. (See or backtogod.net/.) Independence for the Injured Please, Give Me a Limb is the newest program of Ministe pou Devlopman Kretyen, or MDK. An estimated 10,000 people in Portau-Prince lost limbs as a result of the earthquake in a city that was Pastor Lemete Zephyr collects equipment for people who have lost limbs. already home to several hundred thousand people with amputations. Rev. Lemete Zephyr, director of MDK, collects equipment for them to use: walkers, canes, crutches, wheelchairs. They register with and receive their equipment through local churches, which allows MDK to also help them with earning a living. If funding can be found for it, a microcredit program will help people with amputations start small businesses. In this society, amputees are rejected, seen only as someone to be helped, Zephyr said. We re also educating society through radio and conferences to accept and give opportunities to amputees. MDK also trains pastors and deacons and produces simple Bible study and discipleship materials in Creole. New materials are available to help deacons doing pastoral care in a post-earthquake society. Leadership is the key to change, said Zephyr. Community members can organize and have more impact. (See org/welcome.html.) One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Pwogram Fomasyon pou Oganizasyon Dyakona or PWOFOD also trains deacons and leaders to help transform communities using literacy and micro-credit programs. After the earthquake this ministry worked with people at Camp Bethel, a tent city that received little aid because of the danger of gang-related violence. The deacons helped people get organized, lent tools for clean up and rebuilding, and arranged food distribution. But the ministry s office building was completely destroyed, which also meant a loss of rental income that helped fund its programs. The micro-credit program was wiped out after some people with loans died, others moved away, and still others lost everything they had. continued on p. 13 Rev. Pierre Merisier coordinates a ministry that trains deacons to help transform communities through literacy and micro-credit programs. January 2011 THE BANNER 11
3 Haiti: It Isn t Just About the Houses The bulk of the $12 million collected by the Christian Reformed Church for Haiti is bankrolling simple wood houses in five small communities of the Leogane region, Two young children were able to move from their tent (right) to a new home (behind them). where 85 percent of the people lost their homes. So far, half of the 1,700 planned houses have been built. Leogane, the epicenter of the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, is 29 cratered kilometers (18 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, and it s where the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee s International Disaster Response team has focused its rebuilding efforts. The WASH program (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) has become more urgent with the spread of cholera in the region. It includes installing wells and latrines, handing out soap and purification tablets, and providing education on proper sanitary practices. But sometimes a house and clean water aren t enough. That s the easy part. Much more complicated is alleviating people s trauma and fear, which can keep them living in a tent even when their own home is undamaged. I went with Cleeford Dalce to a small community meeting in Masson. Men and women of all ages gathered in a small clearing, along with children who should Cleeford Dalce (right) addresses a community meeting in Masson. Consultant Jos Joosse of CRWRC demonstrates the tap at an artesian well. have been in school but whose parents can t afford the fees. Dalce is a social worker who goes into the tent camps both to conduct surveys to see who needs what and to help people with their fears. Dalce told me of one woman whose home was deemed safe but who wouldn t move back into it. She was too afraid. After we talked awhile, now she lives in her house, he said. The meetings don t always go well. Some are angry that they haven t gotten a house yet. Others are angry that property owners receive priority. But the meetings give people a place to share their stories and fears and to learn stress management techniques. I had a bad stomach, Mme. Henri told the small group gathered. She wore a white skirt and top that were startlingly clean in a place where recent rains had turned everything to mud. I learned to drink more water, and I received counseling. Now it is much better, she said. Another man shared a similar story. After registering a number of families and giving them ID cards, Dalce led some stretching exercises, drawing laughter from many of the women. As we climbed into the truck to leave, an older man pulled Dalce aside to speak privately. He s having trouble in his marriage ever since the earthquake, Dalce sighed as he returned and climbed into the driver s seat. It isn t just about the houses. To support the work in Leogane, contact CRWRC at or (Canada) or (U.S.). Gayla R. Postma 12 THE BANNER January
4 a Check thebanner.org for the expanded story. continued from p. 11 Pierre Merisier, program coordinator, said it has been difficult for staff to see the program get set back like this. We were close to being self-sustaining, he said. It is quite hard for us to get out of this. We ourselves feel like small children, set back again. Rev. Ernst Jean-Louis, literacy coordinator, noted that they have to be careful with their preaching because people are angry with governments, the international community, and God. If a person has lost a husband and two kids, how do you talk about God s love? he asked. We re Rain left behind by Hurricane Tomas caused major flooding in Leogane. working on how to present good news in times of tragedy. He also noted that more people are attending and getting engaged with the church. Some see hurricanes, earthquakes, and flooding as signs that we are in end times, that time is short, he said. The CRC is supporting this program by providing a pre-fab building for an office, along with furniture and computers. The program will receive an extra $20,000 for each of the next two years until a new building is constructed. Volunteers from North America are expected to be instrumental in that project. The ministry will also receive $15,000 for cleanup and a survey at Camp Bethel. Pastor Ernst Jean-Louis, literacy coordinator: The fact that our security is in God is now more real in our lives. Haitian CRC as Salt and Light The Christian Reformed Church of Haiti continues to be salt and light in the communities where it has congregations, particularly in the Jacmel area, south of Portau-Prince. Leaders of the Haitian CRC have suffered too. E. Jean Edouarnus Estivil, Haitian CRC diaconal coordinator, ran home after the earthquake to find his three-story home in Port-au-Prince collapsed with his mother and two sisters inside. He was able to free one sister, but they couldn t get his other sister out until well into the night. She suffered partial paralysis. When they were able to dig out his mother s body, Edouarnus drove her until the roads were impassable, then carried her another six hours on foot to make sure she had a proper burial in Jacmel. He also lost his best friend, Caleb, national youth coordinator for the Haitian CRC. Caleb, like so many other young adults, was in late-afternoon classes at his university when the walls came crash- ing down. Caleb was never seen again. Sous Espwa provided Edouarnus with a new home, where he is now the sole provider for his seven siblings. Edouarnus said he received great comfort from fellow Christians such as Jenny LeMahieu and Zach King from Sous Espwa, and now he comforts others. The God of all comfort comforts us so that we can comfort E. Jean Edouarnus Estivil, Haitian CRC diaconal coordinator, lost his mother, his best friend, and his home in the earthquake. those in any trouble, he said, quoting 2 Corinthians 1. Rev. Elihu Metellus, president of the Haitian CRC, was helping complete construction of a new church building when the quake struck. The building survived intact, but Metellus learned that his own church in Jacmel had been destroyed. Many other buildings in that town were also leveled. With $130,000 from the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Haitian CRC will provide community members with cement for home repairs. It will also help 100 vendors restart their small businesses. January 2011 THE BANNER 13
5 Rev. Elihu Metellus, president of the Haitian CRC, was helping complete work on a new church building when the earthquake struck. He soon learned his own church had been destroyed. Tents went up in any available space. Son-beam International from West Michigan will help rebuild the Jacmel church. Helping Schoolchildren CRECH helped 124 teachers from 33 schools provide group therapy and trauma counseling for more than 3,000 children following the Tents alongside a once-beautiful church, now destroyed earthquake. CRECH also picked up the tab for the teachers salaries for months while parents couldn t pay. CRECH is the Consortium for the Reinforcement of Christian Education, founded by Christian Reformed World Missions and others to support Christian schools and write curriculum for them. Director Louisenette Casseus reported that up to 70 percent of their 400 schools now meet in tents. Because of wind and rain, the teachers walk home carrying all their supplies, bringing them back again the next day, she said. There may be an initiative to help rebuild schools, but details are not yet available. For more information, see org. Indeed, in Haiti, trouble never seems to end. Haitian Christians know from hard experience that there is ultimately only one solution for Haiti. As Rev. Jean-Louis said, The fact that our security is in God is now more real in our lives. And so these leaders carry on, one day at a time, trusting God to provide strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Gayla R. Postma Banner News Editor Louisenette Casseus, director of CRECH, which supports Christian schools: Schools are meeting in tents. Teachers now walk home carrying all their supplies, bringing them back again the next day. For more information or to donate to any of these programs, contact Christian Reformed World Missions at (U.S.) or (Canada). Or visit www. crwm.org and type project giving guide in the search box. 14 THE BANNER January
Transcription
1 ARI AND ARI PRESENT ARI AND ARI PRESENT Quest mesor ah Quest Buried in Africa We d been to Ethiopia numerous times since the 1980s, and our latest jaunt was actually just a few-day stopover on the way to Uganda (that s for another time). Yet all our previous visits centered around the Gondar region, the area where about 90 percent of Ethiopian Jews originated, and on this trip we decided to go somewhere different we wanted to see the remnants of the Jews of Tigray. Our schedule was tight: Shabbos was to be spent with Israeli friends including the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. That left us Friday to shecht for the Jews of Ethiopia and only Thursday to explore the northern area of Tigray. Timing was everything, and we finally found the man who could put it together for us: Amram Aklom. He is a native son, an expert on the Jews of Tigray, has led groups back on roots tours, and his brother Fereda Aklom was a larger-thanlife hero who was pivotal in the secret Operation Moses airlift at the end of Our own connection with the Beta Yisrael, or Ethiopian Jews, actually goes back to the mid-1980s, when we traveled there on several missions for the North American Conference of Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ). The first question people asked then was: Who are they? Whether they are descendents of Shlomo HaMelech and the Queen of Sheba, locals who were converted by Yemenite Jews over the centuries, descendants of Jews from southern Egypt (Elephantine) who made their way down the Nile, or just a Jewish-like Christian sect, what is indisputable is that throughout the centuries they kept their own identity and were reviled by their neighbors as Jews, called a host of derogatory names including falasha, meaning stranger in Ge ez, and buda, meaning evil eye. Although there is no way to definitively prove their origins, in 1973 Rav Ovadiah Yosef ruled based on centuries-old piskei halachah that the Ethiopian Jews are fully Jewish, accepting an alternate theory they themselves propound, that they are descended from the Tribe of Dan. Not all poskim agreed. Rav Moshe Feinstein s letter on the subject was typical of those who did not fully accept their Jewishness. He stated then that we are dealing with people who want to live as Jews, are literally dying to be Jewish, and it is a mitzvah to help them. In fact, after the first mass airlift, the Chief Rabbinate instituted a policy of giyur l chumrah, which would unequivocally fix various problems of lineage and status. When Menachem Begin was elected prime minister of Israel in 1977, one of his first actions was to get the Ethiopians recognized as Jews for purposes of the Law of Return, and then directing the head of the Mossad to arrange their aliyah. And this is where Fereda Aklom comes into the picture. Fereda was born in 1949 in the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray. Like Jews around the world, his parents pushed him to get an education so that he could get ahead in life. He studied education in 48 MISHPACHA photos & text by Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Ari Greenspan 13 Sivan 5773 May 22, 2013 MISHPACHA 49
2 Addis Ababa and in 1976 was appointed principal of a school. He then convinced ORT a secular, international Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes vocational training and education to open two schools in Tigray, and was soon after appointed head of the city council in his town of Inda Aba Guna. The following year, in 1977, Israel and Ethiopia signed a guns-for-jews deal that the Ethiopians demanded be absolutely secret. Fereda organized the transport of Jews from the north to Addis Ababa, from where they would be airlifted to Israel. But following the aliyah of the first 200 people, then-foreign minister Moshe Dayan revealed the operation in a press conference. The Ethiopian government instantly terminated the deal, froze ties with Israel, and expelled all Israelis. Fereda was threatened with the death penalty and fled to Sudan. With the cash from selling his wedding ring, he sent desperate cables to the US, Canada, and the Geneva ORT office relaying his whereabouts and requesting assistance in getting to Israel. He then spent months living in the alleys of Sudan scrounging for food to survive. The Geneva letter eventually made its way to the Mossad office in Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, due to political instability in Ethiopia, Christian and Muslim refugees were streaming across the Sudanese border, and that letter planted a wild idea in a Mossad agent s head. He transmitted a message to Fereda: Stay put. The idea was to have the Jews join this exodus into Muslim, anti-israel Sudan and from there the Mossad, which as yet had no infrastructure in Sudan, would somehow get them out. Soon Fereda found himself in the center of a top-secret mission to transfer the Ethiopian Jews to Israel via Sudan. Fereda s story is complicated and often harrowing he spent several years operating in hostile territory as a lone wolf until the Sudanese secret police put a bounty on his head. He managed to get to Israel, but not before laying the groundwork for Operation Moses, a complex alliance between the Israel Defense Forces, the CIA, the US embassy in Khartoum, mercenaries, and Sudanese state security forces. From November 21, 1984, to January 5, 1985, the operation flew some 7,800 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan directly to Israel. Thousands of Beta Yisrael had fled Ethiopia on foot for refugee camps in Sudan; an estimated 4,000 died during the grueling, dangerous trek. The operation was abruptly terminated by the Sudanese on January 5, 1985, after Prime Minister Shimon Peres publicly confirmed the airlift, leaving some 1,000 Ethiopian Jews stranded in hostile territory. Many were evacuated later in the US-led Operation Joshua, and six years later, Operation Solomon brought an additional 14,000 Beta Yisrael to Israel directly from Ethiopia. Fereda settled in Beer Sheva but continued to make numerous trips back to neighboring African countries in order to help his brethren, until his untimely passing in early 2009, during a visit to Addis. And while Fereda was the legendary hero, his brother Amram modestly admits that he and another brother were no small part of the clandestine operation in Sudan. Message from the Mossad When we made our first trips to Ethiopia in the mid-1980s soon after Operation Moses, many families had been separated, as it was the able-bodied young people who were able to make the journey to Sudan. Many women with children and the elderly stayed behind. With the passage of time we can finally expose the following story. As young 20-somethings, we traveled deep into the wilds of Africa on a mission. Today, a cell phone works everywhere, but in those days, there were barely any telephones. Once you got to your destination, you were incommunicado, in an enemy country with no real contact with the outside world. Via NACOEJ, we had been entrusted with a message from the Mossad. We were to inform specific people that a particular bus stop in Sudan that had been a contact point was now dangerous and not to be visited. We were told to reach a certain Sheffero Desi in the town of Bahar Dar on the southern tip of Lake Tana and give him the message. Both the streets and floors of Bahar Dar were dirt, and there were A yahrtzeit candle left on a grave in Tigray by a relative from Israel is one remnant of Jewish life in this northern province (top). Back in the 1980s, Ari and Ari on a mission from the Mossad enjoy a salami on Lake Tana The idea was to have the Jews join this exodus into Muslim, anti-israel Sudan and from there the Mossad, which as yet had no infrastructure in Sudan, would somehow get them out no house numbers. Being the only whites in town, we attracted an entourage of kids who followed us. We finally found what we thought was his house and walked in. The house had no Jewish symbols, for that would have meant imprisonment or worse, but as we looked up on the walls around the single room, we saw a poster of people on a beach. We noticed that there was Hebrew writing on it and realized that it was from an Israeli paper. That was the sole Jewish symbol he could have in his life. Sheffero wasn t home, but his son told us to come back after dark. That night, trying to retrace our steps, we suddenly heard footsteps chasing us, followed by a whispered shalom. It was Sheffero. He made us jump a ditch and quickly took us across a muddy field into a tuckle, the round mud hut with a thatched roof that is a typical Ethiopian house. Inside, with cow skins on the walls and a bench going around the room, were ten men, each of whom told us his tale of woe and oppression. One man was a cashier in a hotel and $500 more than a year s salary was found missing. He was being blamed and stood to go to prison for many years. We understood that we had the rare opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim, the redemption of prisoners. We gave him the money in front of everybody and he was saved from jail. Today Sheffero s family lives in Beit Shemesh, and we ve stayed in touch, with Ari G. treating some of his kids in his dental clinic. Before our 2009 trip back to Ethiopia we contacted Sheffero, who informed us that his wife was there and we should meet her. Nineteen years earlier, her brother tried to escape to Sudan to get to Israel, but he was never heard from again and presumed dead. Suddenly, out of the blue he contacted them. He had been imprisoned for all those years and was finally freed and she had gone to see him. It wasn t exactly Beit Shemesh, but we met up with her in a hotel in Gondar City. On another occasion, Ari G. was at a wedding in Jerusalem and spotted a familiar-looking Ethiopian chef. The chef recognized Ari and explained that he was Sheffero s son Abebe. Ari told him that when Abebe had his first baby boy, Ari wanted to do the bris. True to 50 MISHPACHA 13 Sivan 5773 May 22, 2013 MISHPACHA 51
3 teaser text here teaser txt here teaser text here teaser xt here teaserext here teasertext here teasertext The Ark is supposedly kept in an armed building and guarded by one priest, although no one has ever seen it With back-to-basics farming, we could finally understand the art of winnowing. Plus, we learned why oxen shouldn t be muzzled. They love to snack while they work his word, Abebe called Ari G. in 2012 with the good news and a request to be the baby s mohel. It was a defining moment in a relationship between two sets of such different Jews that had stretched over 30 years and three generations. It was a difficult time for Ethiopia in the late 1980s, when we first visited. The last emperor of Ethiopia was Haile Selassie I, heir to a dynasty that claimed to trace its lineage back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (known in Ethiopia as Queen Makeda, Empress of Aksum). He ruled from 1930 until he was violently deposed in 1974 by a radical Marxist, Mengistu Haile Mariam. Mengistu s reign of terror is believed to have claimed the lives of over 1.2 million people. Before returning the bodies of loved ones, the regime would bill families of its victims for the bullets expended in executions. Obviously, the mere suggestion of involvement in Zionist activity in Ethiopia was enough to get one jailed and tortured. The brutal Mengistu reign was dominated by numerous wars, rebellions, and famines. Among the many factions fighting the regime at the time was the Tigrayan People s Liberation Front (TPLF), and although there were still Jews and ancient Jewish sites in Tigray, throughout the 80s and early 90s it was unsafe for us to visit the region. Now, years later, we decided that the time had come to explore the region and see what Jewish memories remain. On to Aksum We had arranged that we would be back in Addis for Shabbos, so when we landed from Israel at 5 a.m. Thursday morning we hopped on a flight to Aksum (or Axum), the historical capital of Tigray, to track down any remnants of the Ethiopian Jews there. Aksum may not be such a major metropolis, but it played a notable role in a region that was once home to Jews scattered throughout hundreds of villages. Although the area draws few Jewish tourists besides those with family roots, it s actually a popular tourist destination, as the city was the center of a significant empire for over 1,500 years. Local tradition claims that the Aron Bris Hashem the Ark of the Covenant, is housed in one of the churches in Aksum. According to legend, after the Queen of Sheba visited Shlomo HaMelech she had a son called Menelik I. He grew up in Ethiopia but later visited and lived with his father in Jerusalem. Upon returning home, the tradition goes, he brought the Aron with him and there it remains. We Jews, of course, believe that there is no truth to this myth, but couldn t resist driving by the church where this holy artifact supposedly remains. The Ark is supposedly kept in an armed building and guarded by one priest, although no one has ever seen it. Thanks to Amram we were able to connect with a history professor at Aksum University who is especially interested in the legacy of the local Jews. Samuel Kidane was waiting for us when we landed, and even arranged for the university s 4x4 and driver. Off we went deep into the dry countryside, passing ancient monasteries and farmers working much like our forefathers did in biblical times. We noticed that they were performing the dishah (threshing grain) and zoreh (winnowing) just as it was done thousands of years ago. Wanting to understand these biblical activities better, we stopped to join a group of farmers in the field. First we participated in winnowing and slowly shook the grain into the wind. Lo and behold, the wind carried off the chaff. We then observed threshing of grain. This process of 52 MISHPACHA 13 Sivan 5773 May 22, 2013 MISHPACHA 53
4 F 2. F 1. ALL THAT S LEFT Relatives come back with candles to honor their loved ones 2. DESERT SACRIFICES Ari and Ari discovered the mountain behind the village of Bet Mariah, where an altar was once erected 3. PROTECTING HIS PLOT The last Jew of Beit Mariah returned from Israel in order not to lose his land 4. GRAVE RESULTS Relatives marked this tomb in blue, but not before a tree managed to grow out of the stone 1. F 3. F4. loosening the edible part of the wheat from the chaff was done before winnowing by having oxen walk in circles on the grain. The farmer pointed out to us that these animals had their mouths tied shut so they could not eat from the grain that they created. This, in fact, is exactly what the Torah forbids when it states lo sachsom shor b disho do not muzzle an ox when it is threshing grain (Devarim 25:4). We continued west from Aksum toward villages that had once had sizable, vibrant Jewish communities. The area didn t look like the Ethiopia we knew; the landscape and fauna were so different from what we were used to in Gondar and in Addis Ababa. Even the animals were different. Here camels wandered the fields, something you don t see in the more southern regions. Amram told us the legend of the origin of the Jews of Tigray. Many years ago, one of the leaders of the Beta Israel community had a dream that G-d would lead them back to Israel as He did at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. This man gathered a large following and attempted to reach Israel, but the plan failed and many died en route. The surviving remnant settled in Aksum and the surrounding villages. The exodus in the early 80s was far more successful and though many died on the way, thousands did make it to Israel. During our ride we asked Samuel what the non-jewish locals thought of that attempted mass exodus. The locals, he said, were afraid that the Jews might be secretly supporting one of the other militias. The TPLF called a three-day conference, demanding that the Jews explain why they were leaving. But the Jews insisted that there was no subterfuge, no treachery, simply a desire to return to the land from which their forefathers had been exiled. Grave Reality Ultimately, we reached our destination of the once-vibrant Jewish community of Inda Aba Guna. The Ethiopian Jews had once been mocked by their neighbors for always washing themselves for Shabbos and in accordance with the laws of family purity. To accommodate this need, most Jewish villages were built near a river or lake, and this was true of Inda Aba Guna as well. As we drove across a bumpy field, we saw a solitary wall in the distance, surrounding what was once the synagogue. The broken glass on the top of the wall was to prevent people from breaking in. We were quite surprised to see an old Magen David rusting over one of the windows, and upon entering the structure, we saw where the aron kodesh had been located within the shul. We looked across the valley and saw the village where Fereda had grown up, and on the way out we passed a bustling school. Samuel confirmed our hunch: what is now a government school had once been the Jewish ORT school that Fereda founded. Samuel also took us to two Jewish cemeteries, far off the beaten path in hills deep inside the territory. Traditionally, the Jews here marked their graves with just a pile of stones and no headstone or memorial at all. Yet we noticed an interesting phenomenon. The relatives of these deceased have been coming back from Israel to visit their family plots, keep them up, and pray over them. Most remarkably, small yahrtzeit candles from Israel are found on many tombs in the cemetery. Near the front of the cemetery is a large monument topped with a huge Magen David (which they call David s cross ). The local population asserts that for generations and until today, a tiger and serpent sleep on that spot and guard it, an indication of its significance as the burial site of Abba Tsegay, the first local religious leader. On the way back, Samuel took us to another smaller cemetery that had all but disappeared, in the village of Slehleka. This town had been known as the village of Beta Israel, and had been a center of pottery, one of the crafts the Jews specialized in. Once we got to the main path of the village, Samuel scooped a local child off the street, took him in our jeep, and had him direct us in the direction of the cemetery. Then the driver and the child stayed behind as Samuel and the two of us headed toward the darkening horizon to find a few Jewish graves. It was soon pitch-dark, yet we traipsed down dirt alleys and into a field with hyenas baying in the distance to find a few isolated tombs. 54 MISHPACHA 13 Sivan 5773 May 22, 2013 MISHPACHA 55
5 Bed bugs can live anywhere and are not just restricted to your bedroom. They can live anywhere period! These pesky critters usually lodge themselves in tiny nooks and crevices. They tend to hide in some of the most unlikely places such as in between doorknob handles, under carpets, cracks in the wall and even possibly your shoes. So next time before you wear your shoes, make sure to dust them out or else you might be in for a rude surprise. Concerned You May Have Bed Bugs? Schedule a K9 Inspection * When used in conjunction with a ThermaRid treatment. SpECIal * Hassle-Free Total Bed Bug Eradication Through Heat Treatment $ parkmg.com Samuel insisted that this had been a large burial ground, and due to the absence of Jews to maintain it, it shrinks every time he visits. The High Point Not far from Inda Aba Guna is the village of Bet Mariah. As we entered, we were struck by the sight of a mountain seeming to pop up out of the flat plain adjacent to the village. When we arrived amid growling dogs and eager children, we too were excited, for we had been told that at the top of this mountain was a Jewish mizbei ach (although private bamos were actually halachically prohibited). Neither Samuel nor Amram had ever been there; they were pretty sure no tourist had ever ventured up to see it. While the reed-thin Ethiopians nimbly hopped up the mountain, we limped and krechtzed our way up, gasping for air and chiding ourselves for being so out of shape. Only upon our return to Israel did we discover that it is well over a mile above sea level and called the roof of Africa, and thus the air is quite thin. When we finally reached the site, panting, we found ourselves by a pile of stones, a gal avanim, which had been used as a prayer site. The jury was out on whether they actually did animal sacrifices there, but what we do know is that every Shabbos and on holidays Jews would make the trek up the mountain and offer their prayers to Hashem. As we stood looking down on small clusters of huts in the distance for miles around, we could imagine that for 2,500 years there was a vibrant Jewish presence in Ethiopia, and we pictured Jews streaming from the nearby villages to this mountain sanctuary. The Last Jew After the mountain climb, a man in his 60s who recognized our yarmulkes came up to us, greeted us with shalom and began to speak in Hebrew. He is Jewish and had made aliyah with the rest of the Ethiopians years before, but didn t want to lose his farmlands, so he returned to try to work them. He was sad, lonely, and a recent widower, and had recently decided to return to Israel, as he was too old and tired to work the land alone. We made our way back from the countryside to Aksum. Returning to our hotel, after having been up and moving for close to 48 hours, we were ready to hit the sack. Only then did our hosts tell us that a formal dinner had been arranged with the president of Aksum University, which has 10,000 students, to see how we could collaborate in the future. We realized then, that they thought we had come as part of an Israeli university research project. How disappointing. First we had to explain that we could only eat the canned tuna fish and crackers that we had brought and not partake of the fried chicken and soup on the menu. And rather than dash their hopes of collaboration, we explained, to their delight, that in addition to being involved in university research, we were also writers for an important Jewish periodical called Mishpacha magazine, and that they would get great exposure. In the end the university president didn t show up, but in truth we did discuss ideas for collaboration. Erev Shabbos we flew back to Addis early in the morning. There, in the backyard of what for close to a century had been the local shlacht hoiz, we shechted 150 chickens and three sheep for our friend and host Menashe and his extended family. The koshering took almost until Shabbos, so we zoomed back to his house, finished up some cooking and then got ready for a relaxing Shabbos with a fascinating Friday night meal. Among the guests were Israeli ambassador Belaynesh Zevadia and her husband, whom we had contacted and asked to join us. She is the first Ethiopian-Israeli to be appointed as an ambassador. And there was an additional gain for our new friend, the professor from Aksum University. We made a shidduch between the ambassador and Samuel, and they are now in professional contact. So in the end, everyone benefited, but the luckiest of the lot was us, having the opportunity to see up close the remains of an ancient community, yet being privileged to live in an era, and in the Land, where we ve witnessed the ingathering of the furthest-flung of the exiles.
In the running to win Googles Lunar XPrize, TeamIndus is all set to become one of the first (and the only Indian) private space startup to reach the moon. And in their mission, they have undertaken a lot of interesting sub-initiatives. For example, you can get your name inscribed for as little as Rs. 500/- on a small aluminium object that will be taken to the moon as part of this mission. Romantic gestures apart, another initiative is Lab2Moon, a global challenge for students under 25 years of age to imagine, design and build a project that will be taken to the moon as well.
25 ideas were shortlisted among all the participants in January 2017, and among those, the winners will be announced on March 15, 2017. Some of the participants in the TeamIndus Lab2Moon competition have really interesting ideas, like studying photosynthesis on the Moon, and yet another proposes brewing beer to study yeast formation. Yes, beer on the moon - you read that right.
Moonshots
We all appreciate the process behind brewing, says Team Original Gravity. The team is comprised of Srivathsan Kalyan, Han Lu Ling, Neeki Ashari. There is a chemical and biological science behind it. The beauty of brewing beer is that you can produce so many different outcomes just based on the procedure. Home brewing has become a massive hobby and culture, especially in San Diego. We decided to integrate our hobby for brewing with a scientific emphasis: understanding the viability of yeast in space.
The shortlisted entries come from several countries including India, Peru, Italy, United States, United Kingdom, Spain and Mexico. The shortlisted teams have each been assigned mentors from TeamIndus, each of whom will work closely with the teams to ensure that the standards needed for space grade experiments are observed and maintained. The experiments have created excitement in the corporate world with a few companies expressing interest in supporting the teams in their efforts.
Team Lunar Leap
If youre wondering whether the beer brewing experiment is the only outlandish idea, you could not be wrong. The Lunar Leap, an Indian team in the competition aims to send tardigrades to the moon. For those of you who havent heard of these little microscopic creatures, they are the toughest beings known to mankind and the moon will soon be their ultimate test. Choosing tardigrades for our experiment was a natural choice., states the team, comprising of Keertivardhan M Joshi (24), Aditya Bujurke (24), Harshavardhan M Joshi (24). These are arguably the toughest creatures on earth and if were to survive on the moon, we need to understand as to how these creatures protect themselves in harsh conditions. Already, many researchers have been successful in replicating genome sequence of tardigrades in human cells and have observed reduced damage when exposed to radiations.
Jokes about moonshots and space-worms aside, these experiments, although being done by students under the age of 25, are no childs play.
The difficulties
Technically, we have encountered problems with gas leakage and 3D printed parts., says Team Luna Dome. Team members Samuel Brass (20), Nicholas Doughty (20) and Elliot Robinson (19) have proposed an experiment designed to sustain an earth-like atmosphere in a small dome on the lunar surface for a prolonged period of time. As we are working on a tight budget, doing a lot of our work in makeshift workspaces and with a very restricted project timeline, we are hugely limited to what we can build. That's not to say we are limited in what we hope to achieve, however. Using a clothes iron to weld Mylar sheets together in our kitchen has to be one of those moments. But using engineering intuition to overcome the issues we encounter only makes the outcome that much more satisfying.
Team Luna Dome
And if you think they could just get over the problems with a can of lunar-grade beer from fellow team Original Gravity, they also had their fair keg (horrible pun intended nonetheless) of problems. The largest challenge would have to be temperature and the inability to outgas. The temperature fluctuations are not ideal for yeast (-10 to 45 C) nor for the outgassing in space. quotes the team. To avoid this issue, we had to calculate the ideal ratio of fluid to canister volume, such that the beer would incorporate the perfect amount of carbonation without the possibility of exploding.
But what is important is that they overcame these challenges nonetheless and found it within their abilities to compete in Lab2Moon, with a chance of putting their experiments on the Moon, and their names in the record books of science. And their success is bound to be inspiring to fellow students and space aspirants.
Inspiration and cracking the Space question
A lot of times its going to get hard to stay interested, with immense technical challenges getting in the way. Team Luna Dome explains, find ways to keep feeding the fire, and you will be surprised what hurdles you can overcome. In practical terms, get involved in projects at school and university that go beyond the scope of your curriculum. In many cases, this does mean doing more work, but often the benefits reaped far outweigh the effort.
The mounting render for Team Luna Dome's experiment
To many, space exploration might appear to be a wasted effort. To be fair, there are a lot of problems plaguing our planet that could use the share of investment and effort that is given to space research and exploration. But space has its benefits.
Most Space explorations are carried out to understand the universe, trace back the origin of life on earth and predict the future changes in the cosmos. While these are some of the bigger objectives, space explorations also come as wonderful opportunities for the scientific community in developing technologies that are helpful for the well-being of humankind, Team Lunar Leap elaborates, with an example, many experiments carried out by NASA on human prostate cancer cells in space have helped in a big way in developing cancer cure methodologies. The micro gravity conditions in space slow down processes like protein synthesis, tissue formations, gene mutations etc. and help to capture them stage by stage. This has led us towards a better understanding of these processes and has catalysed research back on earth.
Mission Mars
Frankly, we couldnt resist asking them if the same experiments would work on Mars. Team Original Gravity said they wouldnt change a thing. So beer is beer, be it the Moon or Mars.
Building a human habitat on Mars would have to be different, though, which is what Team Luna Dome thinks as well. Unlike the moon, mars has a substantial atmosphere. It also has much stronger gravity. How would this change our design? Not much, some of the programmings would be altered to account for the different atmospheric pressures encountered. There would also have to be more environmental protection, such as dust protection.
The team from India, Lunar Leap, also has a similar opinion. Theyve stated, Since there are a lot of electronic circuits and water present on board our experiment module, we need to thoroughly analyse the temperature to which the module will be exposed to during travel to mars and on the Martian surface upon landing. This analysis will be very critical in providing insulations and other cooling systems if necessary.
The Winner
An eminent international jury comprising Dr. K Kasturirangan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, Dr. Alain Bensoussan, Former President of Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and Former Chairman of Council, European Space Agency and Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan, Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, have been examining the experiments in detail over the last few months and will be announcing the winner soon on March 15. But one thing is for sure, no matter who qualifies to put their experiment in the TeamIndus spacecraft, it would be a huge victory for science and aerospace research in India.
The real Hyperloop company has just landed in India, they said. When Hyperloop One shared its vision for India on February 28, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Hyperloop One CEO, Rob Lloyd and others present, painted a rosy picture. However, Hyperloop is a long way away from becoming a reality.
Hyperloop One has almost finished building a test track in the deserts of Nevada right now. The company says it will demonstrate proof of technology in a few months. It claims freight transport on a Hyperloop will start from 2020-21, while it should be ready for passengers by 2021-22.
We spoke to Nick Earle, Senior Vice President, Global Field Operations, Hyperloop One, to understand the technology, the challenges in development and what this technology is all about. Earle said Hyperloop is not a luxury toy for rich people. Read the full interview below.
Nick Earle, Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations, Hyperloop One
We just talked about connecting a billion people, but the Hyperloop can take only about 28 people at a time, right? Whats the possibility of scaling this?
To be clear, the pod doesnt take just 28 people at a time. The pod is of variable length, it is an autonomous vehicle. The pods move, lets say about 20 seconds apart. So, the pod could take, maybe 60 people at a time. But to your point, its not 6000 people. However, 60 people every 20 seconds is still quite a few people.
Now, if you have a network of Hyperloops, you can change the lives of a billion people. If we had a fibre access between here and the building next to us, it wouldnt change Delhi. However, when the Internet let you reach out to London or anywhere else, it changed peoples lives.
In terms of ridership, were looking at anywhere from low-end 6000 passengers per hour to a high-end of 20-25000 per hour. If we need more, you just build another pipe.
When we talk about the feasibility studies being done. A lot of the teams (from the Hyperloop One Global Challenge) here also said their routes will go through these studies. Could you explain what goes into these studies?
To answer that question, youve got to define what are we studying. Its the feasibility of an individual route. First of all, you have to identify a route, you have to look at the ridership, the type or demographic, because the money collected from tickets never pays for any public transportation system worldwide. So, if the tickets dont pay for it, then something else has to.
That something else is the government top-up (subsidy), which is determined by a standard formula, called the Wider Economic Benefits (WEB) formula. It has to do with which type of people are moving across locations and its benefits on the economy.
In the studies weve done so far, our WEB is three-to-four times of any transportation system or metro system. This is because were 10-15 times quicker. You may say, well youre not 10-15 times quicker, but remember that other means of transport will stop. We only stop at the place you want to get off. High speed rail is high speed when its moving, but its stationary when it stops.
Hyperloop One has extended its test track in Nevada, to 500 metres. Image Credits: Hyperloop One
As a result, were 10-15 times faster from a journey point of view. This gives us larger WEB results and hence we can get larger subsidies from the government. The teams here have all done their calculations and shown how and why their routes make sense. The feasibility study, sort of, looks at the first pass of this.
Typically, what it does is, it gets the cost to about 50%, considers what the size of the pod should be etc. If this passes, then it goes to the next stage, where a detailed feasibility study is done. The first study takes about three months, while the second takes about 10 months. In the second study, you sort of design an architects plans for the system, from inside the pods, to the tubes, the experience at the stations etc.
After youve done that, you now have the intellectual property (IP), which you then sell to companies through an open tender process. So whoever does the design owns the IP. The entities that will create this IP are ourselves, and our partners, including private companies.
The test that we saw in the desert earlier (video below) was obviously a prototype, but have you reached the speeds expected, now, given the photo we saw today (photo above)?
That was a test of the linear motor, but it was steel on steel. We simply wanted to show that weve built a whole new motor. Were now on the seventh generation of that motor, weve put the magnetic levitation inside the tube and put the tube caps to suck the air out. Thats where we are at right now. In the next few months, we will run the very first test.
The definition of that test will be that we will put the pod inside the tube, we will accelerate it, it will levitate and accelerate. Then, we turn the power off, we hold it in place with the magnets, it stays in place, doesnt touch the sides and decelerates, and finally stops (most importantly).
So, no, we havent reached the speeds expected, but we will prove that in this test. This will be a public event as well, we will webcast it live. This is the proof of technology, thats what we mean by the Kitty Hawk moment.
That will be the final test for Hyperloop then?
Thats the proof of technology. Its a Hyperloop, but not one you put passengers on. Once you have the proof of technology, you then spend a few months extending the tubes, so it goes faster. Then we work on bringing costs down, by using different materials etc. and innovating. And then you bring it to a country (probably India) and build a 30-40km version. Here, you need a station, two tubes. Its still not a 500km version, but its a fully working version, because thats what regulators need. Thats a proof of operation.
How will you deal with specific challenges that countries pose. As in how will you localise Hyperloop?
Were actually open to localising the design. One of the advantages of being amongst the first countries to adopt this is that we actually can take inputs from these countries. For example, one of the first first regulators weve worked with are in Dubai. Theyve set specific requirements in order for us to get safety certifications. So we say, Oh Ok, and we start changing the design.
Now, what we dont want to do is design different Hyperloops for every country. But the first ones we build will actually influence the rest of the world.
Were creating a configurable system, that can be adapted around the world. Were also building interoperability standards so different transportation systems can physically connect, and so Hyperloops from different companies can work together.
Note: A study conducted by Hyperloop, in connecting Stockholm to Finland, found that the price of traveling on a Hyperloop was a tenth of airfare for the same distance. The ticket prices were about 28.
About interoperability with other public transport, those, especially in India, are based on primitive technology. How will you get around that?
I wouldnt say primitive, but earlier technology, yes. Weve actually talked to Deutsche Bahn about this, at length. The challenge is interoperability wasnt seen as a key requirement when they were built.
Were building interoperability from day one, because being from CISCO, we know, CISCO got this right. It wasnt the only networking company, but it created standards that others operated on. We, as a company have the opportunity to publicise our standards and others will too, while independent bodies will decide the standards as well.
Well never be able to interoperate within the software in a Siemens train, but the app that allows you to get the timetable, put your credit card in and book, that can be linked through open APIs. So, an Uber can be linked. We can have interoperability at the application level and with autonomous cars in future, and between different Hyperloop suppliers, because there will be more suppliers in future.
Last question: I went live on Facebook just a while ago and a lot of people asked about the safety mechanisms in such a system. How do we answer that?
Thats a good question. Let me give you three-four answers the first answer is that none of us know yet, until we do the proof of operations with regulators.
However, lets look at a few things: People said, your face would peel off on a Hyperloop. I say to you, look, youve been on an airplane, it started accelerating, went up in the air (travelled at 600mph), decelerated and stopped. Thats what Hyperloop does, were 0.2g, were a quarter of the the acceleration of a Tesla in Ludicrous mode. The only difference is we dont work in the sky, because we bring the low pressure to the ground.
So, first of all, were just like an airplane. By the way, were a controlled environment, so theres no turbulence in a Hyperloop, hence you could argue that were safer. Secondly, once youre in it and its moving, theres no electricity. Its like a spaceship.
The Orca Pod, a Hyperloop pod prototype proposed by Hyperloop India, one of the teams in SpaceX's Design Challenge
People say, what if the tube was breached? Well, if the tube was breached, air comes in, it rushes in. But unlike an aircraft, when air rushes in, all the pods slow down together. So, there are some inherent advantages.
But, what we have to do is show are evacuation procedures, fire procedures, that the pods dont crash into each other. Thats why the regulatory safety processes are typically 12-18 months long. Theyre giving you hundreds of scenarios, saying what if this happens?
Weve got to go through all of these processes and thats why were working with regulators to define the safety case. There isnt a safety case for the Hyperloop, because it doesnt exist. Just like you cant use regular road rules for autonomous cars.
Bangalore-Chennai 20mins, Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram 40min, Delhi-Mumbai 80min, Mumbai-Bangalore-Chennai 63min and Mumbai-Kolkata 190min.
At a recent event on Feb 28, Hyperloop One, the company behind the hyperloop effort, revealed their Vision for India, in which they made a strong pitch for the Indian market to adopt the Hyperloop technology to make transportation across the country faster than ever. As part of the event, multiple routes were proposed by Hyperloop One and the teams participating in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge. And now, Hyperloop wants to know which routes you want to see in the project.
Among the options are some routes between Bengaluru and Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram, Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Bengaluru-Chennai and Mumbai-Kolkata.
India, vote for your fav route from 1 of our proposed 5. Now traveling doesnt need to take days! #VisionForIndia https://t.co/TGd8IxVsKh pic.twitter.com/L7h5DPy21j HyperloopOne (@HyperloopOne) February 28, 2017
Those of you from Mumbai who are rejoicing at the thought of so many options, as you can see, right now the popularity lies with the Bengaluru to Chennai route revealed at the event. Maybe you can blame all the techies who want to have a comfortable Dosa breakfast and report to their offices in under half hour!
Jokes apart, the Mumbai to Kolkata route is an ambitious suggestion and will be connecting four major cities in the longest travel time (among the routes) of 190 minutes. If this route does see the light of the day, it wont be surprising if this sees a huge amount of traffic, since the Kolkata-Hyderabad route definitely suffers from a lack of options when it comes to fast trains.
Statistically speaking, according to this Indian Railways document, the North region generates the most number of passengers (at least 50% more than any other region) if we go by passengers originating on home line. And out of the suggested routes, only the Mumbai-Delhi route services that region partially. Perhaps a few more suggestions are due. What do you think of the route options available? Which one is your favorite? Or do you have a completely different idea? Let us know in the comments below and dont forget to take the poll here.
Seagate, the American storage tech company, has been making Hard Disk Drives for a better part of almost 40 years now. The company began its journey to transform data storage back in 1978, as Shughart Technology, named after its ex-IBM co-Founder Alan Shugart. At the time, the companys first product was a 5.25-inch HDD with a mere 5MB of storage capacity, the first disk drive in the world to fit in that form factor. Heres what it looked like back then -
Fast Forward 39 years and the companys most premium HDD tops at 10TB of storage, with plans to release a 20TB storage monster by 2020. However, in this era of cloud, and a much smaller, faster and durable alternative in the form of Solid-state drives (SSDs), not to forget toughened competition from rival WD, Seagate faces multiple growth challenges which it has to overcome.
We spoke to the companys Senior Vice President for Global Sales & Marketing, Ban Seng Teh, on the sidelines of a forum organised by the company in Singapore. Here is what he had to share.
B.S. Teh, SVP - Global Sales & Marketing, Seagate
Q: What do you have say about the market moving towards SSDs?
A: Let me cite some figures from several research companies. There are two ways of looking at this. If you look at the revenue from HDD and SSD today, the revenue from HDD is still 50% greater than the revenue from SSD. The revenue for SSD is growing faster when compared to HDD. But the probably after 5 years, it will not be the same. Overall the revenue from both HDD and SSD is growing. We would like to lead in the HDD space. But then, a lot of players are playing in this 20 billion dollar business. So in short, we see SSD as growing very quickly and HDD as stable. We are strategising to participate in the growth of the SSD space, but in areas that make sense for us like enterprise SSD space.
Q: What is your SSD strategy? Do you think not having one will hurt the company in the future when the price of flash memory modules go below magnetic disks?
A: What we see is that, especially in the last few years, a crossover if you will, especially in the client environment from HDD to SSD. We have anticipated that and we believe that its going to continue to happen. We believe that in 5 years, more than 90% is going to be flash or SSDs for that matter and we know that its going to happen. So, the HDD business is going to change. Today, just over 20% of our revenue comes from the PC business. So, we have already seen that migration. More and more of our businesses are moving over to the cloud and the non-PC environment, where we believe the demand for HDDs will continue to be robust, simply becuase they need very very large capacity. We do not believe that the price of flash is going to go down to a price cheaper than HDD. We believe that HDD will continue to exist.
We know that SSD is growing and we have a strategy to participate, We may not be going out to sell NAND Flash to Apple right away. We have to be smart about going to the market with SSD. We have very strong control of the technology we acquired from LSI (a flash supplier now owned by Seagate).
Q: Does Seagate have any plans to enter mobile storage like WD?
A: No, we dont have any plans for mobiles and cameras. It is a flash domain as there is no value proposition for a hard drive to be there. Regarding entering into the flash space, we are already into building SSDs for the small enterprise markets, but not consumer markets. But then, we are coming up with different solutions for this. We have announced our partnership with DJI at CES. We are not talking about putting a drive in a drone. But, then we wish to help them to stream the data they have collected directly on the drive.
Q: Can you talk about the reasons for the recent shutdown of Seagates China HDD plant?
A: Yes. I think it was on January 10, 2017. The reason is that the profile of the industry has changed. We are no longer shipping the volume of units that we were shipping before. We were shipping less units, but those with higher capacity. If you look at this from a factory operations level, they focus more on units. Since the number of units has come down, we dont need so many factories. But our revenue is growing because we are shipping high capacity drives. To give you a perspective, 5 years ago, the total market size per quarter would go up till 170-180 million units. Today it just goes between 100-110 million units. This is a huge reduction. So earlier when we had an industry factory footprint to support a 180 million business, and now it has come down to 110 million, everybody has got to size their factories down. So it is a part of the evolution or the shift in business.
Q: Can you give us a timeline on the launch of the 16TB and 20TB HDDs?
A: I think it doesnt need any announcements. Launching such high capacity hard drives is just more of a direction. We believe that we would be able to get to a 18TB drive in 2018 with the kind of technology that we have. We are still developing the roadmap and we are not in the position to comment on when we are going to launch one.
Q: Are these going to be based on the Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology that you were talking about?
A: No. We are looking at the different technologies that we have access to. We look at the best technology to deploy for a particular drive. At this point, HAMR is the most expensive and the hardest technology. For example, if we can come up with an 18TB Hard Drive in the existing SMR technology, we will come up with that. If we couldnt do such a thing, we would leapfrog with the technology. So in short, this is just a stepping stage for us. But, in the horizon, HAMRwould be the toughest and the most expensive technology.
Q: Any plans to get the recently showcased Advanced Encryption Software from your Government Solutions portfolio to India?
A: No. We dont have any plans. But, we have a strong interest in it. We have got already work and development going prior to this with the US Government and security agencies, so its easier to extend. Once we have a solution in place, we can bring it to different markets. Yes, we certainly have a plan for this and we are engaging with the local authorities at a regular basis for the implementation of this security feature.
Q: What do you think about reports published by BackBlaze?
A: Naturally, we feel bothered when someone says something negative about the company. We take everything very seriously to see if there is any truth in what they are writing about. We have direct contact with BackBlaze and we talk to them about how they are working. I guess this was because of some of the legacy products. You should look at some of the new data that they have. I am saying that we try to understand the problem and the issue. We always try to meet the highest quality standards. It is quite apparent from that data that also serves to confer to the new drive.
Q: Recently the FBI has demanded data from Google stored outside of the US. What are your views on data privacy? Do you feel that user generated data should be available to enforcement agencies?
A: Well, it is different for us in comparison to companies like Apple or Google. They focus more on data privacy, not us. Obviously we respect data privacy and we think that it is a very big initiative for us. We believe that privacy of the data is extremely important and it is extremely valued by our customers. This is why we help them by coming up with solutions for protecting their data. Data Privacy is absolutely important for a company like us.
Base Resources provided preliminary exploration results of the extensional and infill drilling programme completed to date for its Kwale Mineral Sands operations in Kenya on Thursday.
The AIM-traded company said the strong drilling results clearly demonstrated the potential to grow resources and mine life to the north and south of existing project reserves.
Additional mineralisation was discovered, extending the footprint of the Kwale South Dune Deposit to the south by 950 metres and east by up to a further 500 metres.
The firm also reported the discovery of a new dunal mineral deposit at Mafisini, a continuation of the Kwale South Dune Deposit mineralisation, with recorded intercepts over a contiguous 1240 metres of strike and up to 480 metres in width.
It also discovered new dunal mineralisation and marine sediments in the NE Sector, adjacent to the Kwale Central Dune.
As previously announced, the company commenced an aircore drilling program in the December 2016 quarter, within its Special Prospecting License 173, Base Resources board explained in a statement.
The drill programme aims to provide mine life extension to the Kwale Operations by exploring two previously identified prospective areas adjoining or near the existing Kwale Operation ore bodies - the south-west sector and north east sector.
Of the drilling completed up to 23 February 2017, 361 holes had been completed in the SW sector to 5,726 metres and 43 holes had been completed to 1,119 metres in the NE sector.
At the Kwale South Dune Deposit edge, 53 holes were completed to 720 metres, along with 140 infill drilling holes completed to 2,059 metres.
Additionally, an airborne geophysics program - conducted in 2015 - covering the south coast region of Kenya from Mombasa to the Tanzanian border, identified a series of exploration targets that were subsequently confirmed through ground reconnaissance.
The full exploration results were made available via the London Stock Exchange Regulatory News Service.
French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron's odds of reaching the Elysee palace improved during the latest week, a poll confirmed.
According to the latest weekly poll from Elabe, in a hypothetical 'run-off' vote in the French presidential elections scheduled for 7 May, backing for the independent centrist candidate was at 62.0%, three percentage points above the prior week's tally.
Meanwhile, support for his most likely opponent, Far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen, was pegged at 38.0%, which was down by three points.
However, Le Pen was still seen as the most likely victor in the first round of voting set for 23 April.
Elabe said 27% of voters surveyed still backed her, against 24.0% for Macro and 19.0% for Fillon.
As of 1557 GMT the yield on the 10-year French sovereign bond yield was down by one basis point to 0.91%.
French National Front leader Marine Le Pen has lost her right to parliamentary immunity in the country after MEPs decided to allow French prosecutors to take legal action over her use of graphic images of IS killings on Twitter.
Le Pen had been protected by immunity laws from the European Union after the prosecutors pursued her in relation to a law in France which bans the use of graphically violent images and those which incite terrorism.
However, a plenary session of the European Parliament convened on Thursday to approve the removal of the MEP immunity for Le Pen.
The politician, who has gained momentum ahead of the French presidential election later this year, posted three images of killings by IS members in 2015.
The series of angry tweets sent by Le Pen in December 2015 were in response to a French journalist who compared her FN party to the radical Islamic group.
It is not the first time that Le Pen has run into such legal issues at the European Parliament. Four years ago, she had her immunity lifted by the institution after she made derogatory remarks about Muslims praying in public.
Elections will take place in France in April and May to determine the next president of the country, with current polls suggesting that Le Pen will triumph in the first round, but was likely to lose to centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in May's second round.
Former prime minister Francois Fillon was previously seen as the favourite to take over from Francois Hollande this year, before falling victim to a series of scandals, including allegations that he paid his wife a salary for a non-existent position.
The parent company of popular picture messaging app Snapchat has priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, with latest trading suggesting it will enter the NYSE at around $22 per share.
Snap Inc. announced the release of 200m shares of Class A common stock, raising an initial $3.4bn in its flotation. According to the figures, Snap will have a market value of $24bn, making it the biggest tech flotation since that of Facebook in 2012.
In its initial IPO filing, the company estimated that its shares would be originally priced at between $14 and $16.
Trading on Snap is expected to begin on Thursday in the New York Stock Exchange, and investors are bouyant despite reports of slowing user growth for the app.
Sales in the company are growing fast however, rising to more than $400m in 2016, while many believe that that figure will top $1bn at the end of this year.
"Snap shares look set to fly when they begin trading in New York today after being priced at $17, above its target range," according to Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital.
"With the Dow closing above 21,000 for the first time the IPO comes at an incredibly bullish point for US, and indeed global, equities. Of course such bullishness is reminiscent of the dotcom bubble and this could be a high watermark for the market."
Many investors are still worried about Snapchat's ability to make a profit however, after a string of losses being reported in the recent years. It reported a loss of $515m in 2016, over $140m more than it lost in 2015.
The app launched in 2011 and quickly found success among teenagers and millennials as a trendier alternative to existing social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
"It will be interesting to see what path Snap takes in the coming weeks, and whether investors appetite for the stock can last longer than the length of one of the app's images," added Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex.
Sunrise Resources ' shares are up almost 5% as it reported rapid progress by Magmatics in testing of the CS Deposit for the production of natural pozzolan, and was pleased it could move so quickly to certification testing.
"The uniform performance of samples from across the surface of the deposit is very encouraging," said executive chair Patrick Cheetham in a statement.
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Shares in TechFinancials are up a third on confirming it expects to receive a dividend payout of $1.53m from subsidiary DragonFinancials, following on from an earlier payment by that company.
DragonFinancials has declared a final dividend pay-out of $3m, payable by 15 March, for 2016, of which TechFinancial's portion was $1.53m, in line with its 51% stake in that company.
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AIM-listed investor FastForward Innovations is to sell its stake in investee company SatoshiPay, a nanopayments provider, to Blue Star Capital, a technology investment firm, for 500,140.
The company will sell its entire holding in StaoshiPay of 1,471 shares, subject to approval by Blue Star's shareholders at the next general meeting on 20 March.
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Savannah Resources announced on Thursday that, further to its recent cash placing and subscription to raise 2.24m, announced on 22 February, the company's chairman Matthew King and it major shareholder Al Marjan had now subscribed for 19,205,564 new ordinary shares at a price of 5.25p each, raising cash proceeds of 1.01m.
The AIM-traded company said in addition, it granted options over 10,700,000 ordinary shares, and was to issue a further 1,688,870 ordinary shares in the company in relation to employee remuneration.
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AIM-listed pharmaceutical Diurnal has signed a marketing and distribution deal with Israeli healthcare products firm Medison Pharma for its adrenal insufficiency therapies.
The deal will commercialise Diurnal's Infacort and Chronocort products which treat congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in Israel, which the company sees as a significant market opportunity given the estimated higher prevalence of CAH in the country.
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Home collected credit lender Morses Club updated the marker on its trading for the 52-week period to 25 February on Thursday, ahead of its preliminary results announcement, due on 27 April.
The AIM-traded company said trading performance for the period continued to show strong growth and was in line with the board's expectations.
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Property management, insurance and ancillary services provider HML Holdings announced the acquisition of the block management business of Gordon & Company Property Consultants, the flats and estates property management business of Gordon & Company, on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm said its southern and western England subsidiary HML Andertons acquired the business and share capital of G&CPCL for an initial purchase price of 1m.
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Science Group's shares are up more than 3% thanks to an improved full-year pre-tax profit and dividend resulting from what it called a "very satisfactory" performance.
Science said revenue rose to 36.9m, from 31.2m, and statutory pre-tax profit improved to 3m, from 2.4m. Its total dividend was 4.2p a share, up from 4p a share.
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First Derivatives announced on Thursday that it has signed a contract with an unnamed Fortune 500 engineering solutions company for the use of its 'Kx' technology within precision manufacturing.
The AIM-traded company said 'Kx' had been selected as the high-performance, time-series data historian and analytics platform in the next version of the client's fault detection product range, expected to be released in mid-2017.
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Gresham House said the UK Financial Conduct Authority has approved the proposed subscription by the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund.
Late last month, specialist asset manager Gresham said The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, acting as the Administering Authority for The Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund, intended to become a strategic investor in the company.
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Plexus Holdings' shares are up more than 2% after it was awarded a well order from Nexen Petroleum U.K. Ltd for the Glengorm exploration well in the Central North Sea.
Under the deal terms, Plexus would supply Nexen with its POS-GRIP wellhead and Tersus mudline equipment.
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Shares in Galantas Gold are up more than 1% as it said the the second part of the private placement has closed.
Melquart Ltd subscribed for 5.72m shares and was the only subscriber in the second closing of the placing. The purchase took Melquart's stake to 13% of Galantas' issued capital.
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AIM-listed oil and gas firm 88 Energy is planning to raise up to AU$17m (10.6m) following the announcement that it will start drilling at its Alaskan site.
The company is to raise up to AU$17m at a price around AU$0.037 (0.023) per share and pending the equity fundraising its shares have been suspended on the Australian Securities Exchange, while 88 Energys shares will continue to trade on AIM.
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Cyber security firm Osirium Technologies has expanded into the Asia Pacific with its privileged access management product now available in the region.
The company, which floated on AIM last April, has appointed two business developers in the Asia Pacific as part of its commitment to the region to recruit distributors and associated business partners.
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AIM-listed intellectual property service provider Tekcapital expects a step-up in sales as it launches its sled product, which allows incapacitated people to be moved down stairs at speed in the event of an emergency evacuation, in the European Union.
Medical device company Belluscura, which Tekcapital owns a 65% stake in has launched Slyde, a compact sled for moving people down stairs or over rough ground.
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Base Resources provided preliminary exploration results of the extensional and infill drilling programme completed to date for its Kwale Mineral Sands operations in Kenya on Thursday.
The AIM-traded company said the strong drilling results clearly demonstrated the potential to grow resources and mine life to the north and south of existing project reserves.
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Safeland announced on Thursday that Barnet Councils planning committee had resolved to grant planning consent for the company's application to demolish the existing buildings at 12-18 High Road, East Finchley, London.
The AIM-traded firm said it had plans to construct a new block of 21 flats, comprising eight one-bedroom flats, 12 two-bedroom flats and a three-bedroom flat, together with 265 square meters of office accommodation on the ground floor.
Transcription
1 Psychology Research, ISSN May 2013, Vol. 3, No. 5, D DAVID PUBLISHING New Highlights About Worries, Coping, and Well-Being During Childhood and Adolescence Margarida Gaspar de Matos University of Lisbon; New University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team, Lisbon, Portugal Tania Gaspar Lusiada University; New University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team, Lisbon, Portugal Jaqueline Cruz, Ana Matilde Neves University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team, Lisbon, Portugal The aim of this study was to understand what children s and adolescents worries are and the strategies used to face them. Two studies were carried out. Study one had a sample of 1,207 Portuguese children and adolescents, 48.4% boys, attending 5th to 9th grades, mean age 12.5, participated in a first approach to children and adolescents theories about worries and coping with worries. Study two had a sample of 527 Portuguese children and adolescents, 46.8% boys, 5th to 9th grades, mean age 12.4, aimed to replicate study one and to go in depth on worries and coping and gender differences. Confronted with questions about the frequency of worries, the impact of worries, the kind of worries and how to cope with them, it was clear that the majority of children and adolescents get worried frequently, part of them let worries interfere significantly in their lives, and the best coping strategy is distraction, less frequently they seek social support, try to calm down or engage in health compromising behaviours such as drinking or eating or being violent. Other strategies were reported but none of them was frequent as these ones. Family, peers (getting supported) and leisure time (getting distracted) are important issues in young people s well-being but they play differential roles. School seems part of the problem but never part of the solution. The role of personal competences such as resilience, self-regulation, and problem-solving appears less frequently in these age groups. Mental health is a forgotten area in health promotion in schools, but indeed being worried frequently without being able to solve worrying issues does not contribute at all for children and adolescents well being and furthermore is able to interfere with the so feared school success. The implications for health promotion interventions in families and in schools are discussed. Keywords: adolescence, coping, school-based interventions, well-being, worries Introduction Anxiety appears as a common, functional, and transitory experience and its nature and intensity can vary to a large extent, depending on the individuals period of development. In this sense, it allows children and Margarida Gaspar de Matos, Ph.D., Full Professor, University of Lisbon; Researcher, New University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team. Tania Gaspar, Ph.D., Professor, Lusiada University; Researcher, New University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team. Jaqueline Cruz, ME.d., Researcher, University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team. Ana Matilde Neves, Student, University of Lisbon; Aventura Social Research Team.
2 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING 253 adolescents to engage in new, unexpected, or dangerous situations (Mash & Wolfe, 2002). However, the intensity of anxiety can increase and often become chronic or dysfunctional from a social and emotional point of view. Several studies are unanimous in considering depression as a very common pathology in childhood and adolescence (Rosen & Schulkin, 1998; Harrington, Rutter, & Fombonne, 1996). Some studies have demonstrated the existence of a relation between anxiety and depression in adolescents and adults (Kovacs & Devlin, 1998; Pine, Cohen, Gurley, Brook, & Ma, 1998). In order to analyse this association, Matos, Barrett, Dadds, and Shortt (2003) carried out a cross-sectional study with Portuguese children and adolescents, aged 10 to 17, attending the 6th, 8th, and 10th grades in public schools. The subjects were also evenly distributed in terms of gender. These researchers confirmed a significant association between depression and anxiety. Children and adolescents use a great diversity of coping answers in different domains (in their school performance, family-life, and social environment). They differ nonetheless, in stress situation evaluation and in coping strategy assessment. The effects and type of answer in any given situation that causes stress depend on personal characteristics and abilities (Wenger, Sharrer, & Wynd, 2000). Some researchers reported the existence of a positive relation between maladaptive coping strategies and different disorders (Endler & Parker, 1990). Selffge-Krenke (2000) stated that children and adolescents with pathological behaviours use maladaptive coping strategies, which in the future can increase their pathological behaviours, resulting in a vicious cycle. Depressed adolescents showed a higher number of stressful life events and a higher use of maladaptive coping strategies before the onset of these events (Selffge-Krenke, 2000). One of the factors that seem to have a great effect on the anxiety levels of children is their worries, particularly their number and intensity (unlike frequency, which did not show to have a significant effect). In particular, intensity of worry was the variable that seemed to differentiate a non-clinically referred child from a clinically referred one, being strongly associated with the later (Weems, Silverman, & La Greca, 2000). Children and adolescents worries act as anticipatory cognitive processes, disturbing thoughts related to more or less realistic events, and the worries have been associated to a lower well-being perception and indeed increase during adolescence, in part due to increasing cognitive abilities allowing anticipatory (negative) thoughts about negative future outcomes, but also because while growing older children face numerous personal and social challenges, increasing sources of worry (Matos, 2005). Leisure seems to be a key issue in children and adolescents, protecting them against worries and promoting their well-beings therefore being highlighted as a useful investment regarding education and health policies for young people. The same happened with school success, family bonds and social peer relationships (Matos, 2005; Matos et al., 2007; Matos & Sampaio, 2009; GTES (Grupo de Trabalho Educacao Sexual), 2010). In the study conducted by Weems et al. (2000), the area that stood out as generating both the biggest number, the more intense and more frequent worries was school, having the personal injuries and disasters areas also shown high level scores in number and intensity. Most of the studies that focus on children and well-being incorrectly forget to target as well their teachers and their parents as important actors (Gaspar, Matos, Foguet, Ribeiro, & Leal, 2010; Gaspar, Matos, Ribeiro, Leal, & Ferreira, 2009). Indeed, it was pointed out that what is valued regarding perceptions of well-being is
3 254 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING different according to children s views or to their parents perceptions: Parents do not value peers and peer friendship as much as their children and parents think that their children value financial matters more than they really do. Talking to parents, friends, or keeping the problem to themselves are referred by teenagers as the most used strategies to deal with worries, with parents being the most reposted source of information which adolescents worry about. However, especially older teenagers seem to tailor their information seeking methods to the specific worry at hands (Brown, Teufel, Birch, & Kancherla, 2006). Although worry is often associated with mental disorders, being considered as cognitive component of anxiety often associated with depressive mood (Matos, 2005; Matos et al., 2007), stressful life events play a (real) role in the worrying process, indeed vulnerability appears to increase as stressful life events exceed the number of four (Simoes, Matos, Tome, & Ferreira, 2009) independently of the intensity of the negative events. It was pointed out that there is a lack of inclusion of young people s own perspectives while studying their emotional states, their worries, what really matters for them, and their proposals for increasing their own well-beings (Matos, 2005; GTES, 2007). Most of the studies reviewed were based on a quantitative approach surveys and self-reported questionnaires (Matos, Barrett, Dadds, & Shortt, 2003; Gaspar et al., 2010; Gaspar et al., 2009; Simoes et al., 2009), or targeted clinical populations or they were population studies designed for other public health monitoring aims, and not specifically aiming to understand worries and solutions and the perception of well-being, from the children and adolescents perspectives. The aim of this study was to understand in depth what are indeed children and adolescents worries, events, thoughts, or feelings that may trouble them and put them apart from well-being therefore becoming more prone to a low mood or depression and school failure. Moreover, we want to know what strategies they use to cheer up or to calm down, in short to regulate their emotional states. Methods Procedures Both studies followed strict international ethical and privacy norms, namely a scientific board approval and an ethical board approval, school authorizations, parental consent, anonymity guidelines, and voluntary-based participation. A questionnaire with open questions and close questions was administered in the classroom and took an average of 50 minutes (a regular class length) to fill in. Researchers were available to answer pupils questions. This study follows all ethic recommendations regarding research on humans and got the approval of the ethical committee. Participants Study one. The sample consisted of 1,207 Portuguese children and adolescents, 48.4% boys, the participants were selected from six public schools in Lisbon area. Classes were randomly chosen from each of the five grades, from the 5th to the 9th grade (from nine to 17 years old). Mean age was 12.5 years old (SD = 1.6), and 61.5% of the children and adolescents were 12 to 14 years old (modal class was 12 years old with 23.3% of the participants). Study one was the first approach to children and adolescents worries and their ways to cope with worries. Study two. The sample consisted of 527 Portuguese children and adolescents, 46.8% boys, the
4 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING 255 participants were selected from three public schools in Lisbon area. Classes were randomly chosen from each of the 5 grades, from the 5th to the 9th grade (from nine to 17 years old). Mean age was 12.4 years old (SD = 1.7), and 58.4% of the children and adolescents were 12 to 14 years old (modal class was 12 years: with 21.8% of the participants). Study two meant to replicate study one and to go in depth on worries and coping, analysing gender differences. Measures Children and adolescents were confronted with four questions and for each question they were requested to refer to only one situation: 1 Frequency of worries; 2 Effect of worrying in your daily life; 3 Types of worries; and 4 Strategies to cope or to get rid of worries. Results As previously mentioned the main objective of this study was to understand in depth what are indeed children and adolescents worries, events or thoughts or feelings that may trouble them and put them apart from well-being, therefore being more prone to a low mood or depression. Moreover, we want to know what strategies they use to sheer up or to calm down, in short to regulate their emotional states. Study one was a first approach to children and adolescents theories about worries and coping with worries. Study two meant to replicate study one and to go in depth on worries and coping and gender differences. Study One Regarding the general questions about frequency of getting worried and the impact of worries (see Table 1), it seems that worries, especially worries that interfere with daily life, are a real issue in children and adolescents, with 18.6% of the children and adolescents reporting being worried several times a day and 22% being worries in a way that they cannot think or do anything else. Table 1 General Questions About Self-perception Regarding Worries How often are you worried? Study one ( N = 1207) Study two (N = 527) Several times a day 18.6% 19.3% Several times a week 26.1% 24.7% Several times a month 18% 20.8% Almost never 37.3% 35.2% How intense is worry in your life? Study one ( N = 1207) Study two (N = 527) An intense worry that does not allow me to think of anything else 22% 28.2% A worry that troubles you but let my life keep going 33% 29.6% I have worries but I do not let them interfere with my life 33.9% 34.0% I worry about nothing at all 11.1% 8.1% The most popular worry was related to school success or failure or success in general, and was pointed out by 40.6% of the children and adolescents, followed by problems with friends or family (see Table 2). The most popular solution to get rid of worries was using distracting/leisure (57.3%) followed by seeking social/familiar
5 256 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING support. A few reported inadequate strategies such as eating, drinking, cutting oneself or getting violent to someone else, but in a lower extent. Table 2 Study One Worries and Coping With Worries (N = 1,207) What worries you more? Percentage (%) School and related matters 48.6 Family and related matters 15.4 Friends/love and related matters 13.1 Others 22.9 What do you do in order to get rid of worries? Percentage (%) Seek support and speak with friends 15.3 Seek support and speak with family 3.7 Distract from problems 57.3 Try to calm down/cheer up 1.7 Inadequate coping strategies (eating, hitting, drinking, cutting oneself, getting isolated) 2 Others 20 Study Two Study two replicated pretty well the pattern of results obtained in Study one: getting worried and the impact of worries (see Table 1) are a real issue in children and adolescents, with 19.3% of the children and adolescents reporting being worried several times a day and 28.2% being worried in a way that they cannot think or do anything else. In study two, a gender comparison was carried on. Regarding the frequency of being worried there were no gender differences ( 2 (4) = 2.97, p = 0.563), but when analysing the way worries interfere in daily life there were gender differences ( 2 (3) = 9.882, p < 0.005), with boys more frequently worrying about anything at all (12.7% boys and 4.8% girls), and girls more frequently being so worried that they cannot think about anything else (24.3% boys and 31.1% girls). Regarding the frequency of being worried there were age differences ( 2 (32) = , p < 0.05), but the analysis of cells percent and adjusted residuals did not show a clear age pattern, perhaps because of the reduced number of children in the extreme age groups ( 9 10 years old and years old). When analysing the way worries interfere in daily life there were no age differences ( 2 (24) = , p = 0.548). The most popular worry was related to school success or failure, school marks and other study matters reported by 56.3% of the children and adolescents, and the second more popular worry was family and family life. In this second study, friends, and love affairs were responsible for less of the reported worries when comparing with the participants in study one (see Table 3). Concerning the ways they use in order to cope with worries, distraction is the more frequent strategy used by 50.7% of the participants, together with seeking help and support from peers or family. A few reported inadequate strategies such as eating, drinking, cutting oneself or getting violent to someone else, but in a lower extent.
6 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING 257 Table 3 Study Two Worries and Coping With Worries (N = 527) What worries you more? Percentage (%) School and related matters 56.3 Family and related matters 14 Friends/love and related matters 4.4 Others 25.3 What do you do in order to get rid of worries? Percentage (%) Seek support and speak with friends 11.7 Seek support and speak with family 3.7 Distract from problems 50.7 Try to calm down/cheer up 4.8 Inadequate coping strategies (eating, hitting, drinking, cutting, getting isolated) 7.8 Others 21.3 When analysed by gender, it seems that girls have more worries related with school and friends. Regarding how to cope with problems, girls more frequently seek for social support and boys more frequently engage in inadequate strategies (see Tables 4 and 5). Table 4 Study Two Worries and Coping With Worries (Boys) What worries you more? Percentage (%) School and related matters 50 Family and related matters 13.7 Friends/love and related matters 2.1 Others 34.2 What do you do in order to get rid of worries? Percentage (%) Seek support and speak with friends 3.7 Seek support and speak with family 1 Distract from problems 57.6 Try to calm down 6.3 Inadequate coping strategies (eating, hitting, drinking, cutting, getting isolated) 10.5 Others 20.9 Discussions and Conclusions Putting both studies together, about 1/5 of all children and adolescents report being worried several times a day, and about 1/4 report worries that significantly interfere with daily life do not allowing them to think or do anything else. It is therefore clear that worries are phenomenological sound during adolescence.
7 258 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING Table 5 Study Two Worries and Coping With Worries (Girls) What worries you more? Percentage (%) School and related matters 61.3 Family and related matters 14.3 Friends/love and related matters 6.3 Others 18.1 What do you do in order to get rid of worries? Percentage (%) Seek support and speak with friends 18 Seek support and speak with family 5.7 Distract from problems 45.3 Try to calm down 3.7 Inadequate coping strategies (eating, hitting, drinking, cutting, getting isolated) 5.7 Others 21.6 In both studies, school (school success and in general school matters) is always a worry and never presented as a solution or a resource to deal with life worries. Leisure/distraction is the best solution to cope with life worries, and they are never presented as problems or worries. Regarding the general questions about coping with worries (see Table 1), it seems that children and adolescents are better finding strategies to get rid of situations and bad feelings (distracting themselves) than to change behaviour in order to achieve their own objectives or to try to solve problems, or even seek for social support. As it looks obvious that school and school success is part of children and adolescents worries, and never pointed out as a part of the solution, and considering that sometimes worries are apprehended as so intense that indeed prevent thinking and acting, it is quite troublesome that school cannot find its way helping children and adolescents dealing with life worries, solving daily life problems (school matters included), and even offering some guidance or support on how to manage facing and overcoming worries. The present results confirm partially the study conducted by Weems, Silverman, and La Greca (2000) in what the worries about school is concerned. However, personal injuries and disasters did not seem relevant here. The method to obtain information can be an issue because in the present studies an open question was presented (and children did not have injuries and disasters as relevant). One can imagine that if injuries and disasters was an item to mark Yes/No, a large amount of children would mark Yes asserting that it is a worrying matter (although not a real worry in their lives). Interestingly family was a big source of worries, but not a so good resource for coping with worries. Interestingly in study two, friends were less presented as a source of worries and similarly presented as a source of social support. Unlike Brown, Teufel, Birch, and Kancherla s (2006) study, talking to parents was not a strategy to deal with worries but rather talking to friends or keeping the problem to themselves. However, Brown et al. (2006)
8 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING 259 also pointed out that older teenagers seem to better differentiate their strategies according to the type of worry they have in hands. As it was pointed out earlier, leisure/distraction seems to be a key issue in children and adolescents coping with worries, being therefore a useful spot in education and health policies for young people, the same happened with social peer relationships (Matos et al., 2007; Matos & Sampaio, 2009; GTES, 2007). The results of both studies allow to defend the inclusion of a few topics as relevant specific contents to be discussed in school based programs: from one side specific training aiming at helping pupils to build on self-regulation and problem solving, from another side helping pupils to acquire specific strategies aiming at increasing positive peer social support and in general social support. The importance of facing school success and future positive expectation as one issue related to children and adolescents mental health and well being is also strengthened (Matos et al., 2007; Matos & Sampaio, 2009; GTES, 2007; Simoes et al., 2009). Although the samples used in both studies do not have national significance, they are broad samples covering all school grades evenly (from the 5th to the 9th) grade. Furthermore, classes were randomly selected from the schools chosen to assure an even gender, age and school type distribution. Besides the limitations found, this study managed to propose a sound insight into children and adolescents minds in what worries and its solutions and perception of well-being are concerned. Mental health is the forgotten and under-addressed area when planning health education and promotion in schools. Increasing emotional literacy, meaning by this the ability to be aware of one s emotions, to be able to express them in an appropriate way and to be able to regulate mental states, as stated by Armstrong, Galligan, and Critchley (2011), together with the ability to seek for health in the social networks, and to be able to maintain a social support network, is perhaps the best bet to improve children and adolescents well being and mental health, furthermore allowing an increase of their resilience that can even buffer the effect of negative events on their mental health and well being. References Armstrong, A., Galligan, R., & Critchley, C. (2011). Emotional intelligence and psychological resilience to negative life events. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, Brown, S., Teufel, J., Birch, D., & Kancherla, V. (2006) Gender, age and behavior differences in early adolescence worry. Journal of School Health, 76(8), Endler, N. S., & Parker, J. A. (1990). Multidimensional assessment of coping: A critical evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, Gaspar, T., Matos, M. G., Foguet, J., Ribeiro, J. L., & Leal, I. (2010). Parent-child perceptions of quality of life: Implications for health intervention. Journal of Family Studies, 16(2), Gaspar, T., Matos, M. G., Ribeiro, J., Leal, I., & Ferreira, A. (2009). Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents and associated factors. Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies, 9(1), GTES. (2007). Relatorio final, do grupo de trabalho para a educacao sexual (Final report on Health education in school, Ministerial commission GTES). Retrieved July 13, 2011, from Harrington, R., Rutter, M., & Fombonne, E. (1996). Development pathways in depression: Multiple meanings, antecedents, and end-point. Development and Psychopathology, 8, Kovacs, M. K., & Devlin, B. (1998). Internalizing disorders in childhood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 19(4), Mash, E. J., & Wolfe, D. A. (2002). Abnormal child psychology (2nd ed.). EUA: Wodsworth Thomson Learning. Matos, M. G. (2005). Comunicacao, gestao de conflitos e saude na escola (Communication, conflict management and health in schools). Lisboa: CDI/ FMH.
9 260 NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT WORRIES, COPING, AND WELL-BEING Matos, M. G., Baptista, M. I., Simoes, C., Gaspar, T., Sampaio, D., Diniz, J. A., Sardinha, L. (2007). Portugal: From research to practice Promoting positive health for adolescents in schools. In Social cohesion for mental well-being among adolescents. WHO/HBSC FORUM 2007, Copenhagen, Denmark. Matos, M. G., Barrett, P., Dadds, M., & Shortt, A. (2003). Anxiety, depression, and peer relationships during adolescence: Results from the Portuguese national health behaviour in school-aged children survey. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 18(1), Matos, M. G., & Sampaio, D. (2009). Jovens com saude: Dialogos com uma geracao (Youths with health: A dialog with a generation). Lisboa: Texto Editores. Pine, D. S., Cohen, P., Gurley, D., Brook, J., & Ma, Y. (1998). The risk for early-adulthood anxiety and depressive disorders in adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, Rosen, J. B., & Schulkin, J. (1998). From normal fear to pathological anxiety. Psychological Review, 105(2), Selffge-Krenke, I. (2000). Causal links between stressful events, coping style and adolescent symptomatology. Journal of Adolescence, 23, Simoes, C., Matos, M. G., Tome, G., & Ferreira, M. (2009). Ultrapassar adversidades e vencer os desafios (Overcoming adversities and winning challenges; manual for promoting resilience for parents and professionals). Lisboa: Aventura Social e Saude/Faculdade de Motricidade Humana. Weems, C., Silverman, W., & La Greca, A. (2000). What do youth referred for anxiety problems worry about? Worry and its relation to anxiety and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28(1), Wenger, N., Sharrer, V., & Wynd, C. (2000). Stress, coping, and health in children. In V. Rice (Ed.), Handbook of stress, coping, and health implications for nursing research, theory, and practice (pp ). California: Sage Publications, Inc..
United States President Donald Trump's nominee for the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, said on Tuesday that he was ''shocked'' to read about India's recent successful launch of more than 100 satellites in one go. Coats suggested that in view of India's unprecedented progress, the US needs to pick up. "I was shocked the other day to read that India, on one rocket launch, deposited more than 100 satellites in space," Coats told lawmakers on Tuesday during his confirmation hearing for the position of Director of National Intelligence. He also said that the US cannot be seen lagging behind such advances. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had launched 104 satellites in a rocket from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh on 15 February. It has for some years been taking on large-scale commercial projects to put satellites of other countries in space, apart from its success in launching the Chandrayaan unmanned moon mission. India, in September 2014, had become the fourth country after the US, Russia and the European Space Agency to successfully guide a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. "They may be small in size with different functions and so forth, but one rocket can send up, I think it was 104 platforms," Coats said. If confirmed by the Senate, Coats will be in charge of major American intelligence agencies, including the CIA. With the launch of 104 satellites, India has become the first country in the world to successfully carry and launch so many satellites in a single mission. The historic launch reportedly overtook the 2014 Russian record of 37 satellites in a single launch (See: Isro leaps into history with launch of 104 satellites in one go). Out of the 104 satellites, three were from India, 96 from American companies and the remaining belonged to firms based in Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Most of the satellites launched were owned by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based Earth-imaging company.
Huge crowds attended the funeral Mass of the late Joe ORourke at St. Patricks Church in Donegal Town this morning which was indeed a testament to the respect in which he was held, not only in Donegal Town, but throughout the North West.
The late Mr. ORourke passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday last surrounded by his family in Aras Mac Suibhne in Mullinasole.
The Mass was celebrated By. Fr. Willie Peoples PP who was assisted by Fr. Seamus Dagens, Fr. Danny McBrearty, Fr. Frank McManus, Fr. Herbie Bromley and Fr. Rory Brady.
Joe O'Rourke with his wife Louie pictured overlooking Donegal Bay.
Welcoming the large crowd to the church Fr. Peoples said, Joe ORourke was well known for his charity and kindness. He helped so many people in need, people that we might never hear of. He helped people keep their dignity with his own humility through his work with the St. Vincent de Paul and his own private visits.
Charity is a virtue and a virtue that Joe used well.
Fr. Seamus Dagens in his homily told the congregation,Today we all join together in celebration of Joes life but also pray for consolation for his family.
Joe O'Rourke in younger days.
Joe was blessed with a long and fruitful life reaching the age of 83 years and in all that time retained the gift of faith which he received as a child.
He met his wife Louie in 1954 and married soon afterwards and had a large family of five children and 10 grandchildren. He had a superb business acumen owning three businesses in the town - Foodland, the Four Masters Bookshop and a large Cash and Carry and wholesale business.
Joe has good sense - when he decided to retire he stuck to his convictions and passed the baton on.
He was a deeply religious and caring man - his religion did not end after Mass on a Sunday afternoon. He carried it with him at all times. He was a very non judgemental person and spent 60 years in the St. Vincent de Paul with his friend and neighbour, John Murphy. He helped many people but that was always in a very private manner - he never sought the limelight, he just went about things in his own way.
In latter years his health deteriorated but like the man he was he bore his illness with great fortitude.
We will always remember Joe as he was - his existence is now on a new shore in communion with God. The Lord has said, There are many rooms in my house - there is no doubt that Joe is already well settled in one of them.
As his remains left the Church on his final journey, to St. Agathas Cemetery in Clar for burial, a guard of honour was formed by members of the St. Vincent de Paul.
Joe is survived by his wife Louie, sons Phillip and Colm, daughters Marie, Michelle and Stephanie and a large extended family and many friends.
May he rest in peace.
Author Adam Davis has released his latest self-help book, Be Awakened: A New You in 40 Days.
Davis previously published the devotional book Spirit & Truth: 52 Encouraging Messages for Americas Law Enforcement. His latest book came out in January, and a portion of book sales will benefit a non-profit organization funding law enforcement training and assistance.
While serving in law enforcement, Davis published his first book under the name J.A. Davis. The book led to numerous opportunities and a business was born. In September 2015, Davis founded his business Enlivify.
Be Awakened is intended to help people infuse their stagnant lives with purpose and passion and drive them to pursue the things that excite them.
Davis is a husband, father, small business owner, and writer. He focuses on helping small business owners and individuals achieve their goals and live the life of their dreams. He has been a contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine as well as The Huffington Post. He has been featured on FoxNews.com and The Blaze Radio Network.
The book is 220 pages and sells for $19.99. Visit www.AdamDavis.co for more information.
Not a dry eye was seen in the Performing Arts Center at Enterprise High School Wednesday night.
Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the EF4 tornado that ravaged the City of Enterprise, taking with it the high school, numerous homes, businesses and the lives of eight high school students and one resident. Members of the community affected by that tragedy gathered together to honor the lives that were taken and remember the strength and resiliency of the community in the following days, months and years.
Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell recalled a city that was gripped by fear and sorrow open their hearts to others selflessly and without question.
The best way we could honor the nine precious lives we lost that day was to fight back and to rebound, Boswell said. I believe the remarkable recovery of this community has memorialized those lives.
Megan Parks Sims, Student Government Association president in 2007, remembered former President George W. Bush coming to the school to witness the devastation and reminding him not to step on the treasured mosaic tile Wildcat that was still intact at the school.
The former president took the time to send a heartfelt video message as well, letting Enterprise know that it hadnt left his thoughts.
You rebuilt, you survived and you thrived, Bush said. In so doing you honor the lives taken from you and comfort their families and remind us all what the best of America looks like.
Former Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim Reese shared countless stories of heroism, courage and determination that he said defined the faculty, staff and students of the system that he loved.
Even with the tears and with the grief, when I saw the resolve in the faces of our employees I knew that we were going to be okay, Reese said.
Rick Rainer, Enterprise High Schools principal on the day of the tornado, spoke with unabashed tears, saying they were just memories rolling down his face.
We all carry the memories in our own way, Rainer said.
He spoke of the thousands of people that stepped in to help from first responders in the city and around the state, to schools across the state, business owners and even a young boy from North Carolina across the country who broke his piggy bank to send his $3.96 to the school.
We always appreciate the love and support given to us, Rainer said. I thank all of you for what you did and what you continue to do.
The night was also filled with music from 2008 EHS graduate Stewart Halcomb who found that music can help heal others and defined his choice in pursuing music as a career. The Enterprise Encores lifted their voices to celebrate the lives of those tragically lost and former EHS teacher Chris Duke brought his guitar to the stage in remembrance.
Transcription
1 EUPOL - Serving Afghanistan Online Weekly Newsletter, 30 th July European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan Photo by: Aziz Basam / 23 July 2009 Kabul City Police in Action Headlines: Election Security Air Support Plan Training Center and Conference Room Officially Opened at the KCP HQ KCP Receives Donations for the Ring of Steel Project The Portrait: Aidas Navickas of Lithuania EUPOL PRESS OFFICE
2 Election Security - Air Support Plan Helicopter exercise at the Afghan National Police Academy Election Security Training H.E. Minister Haneef Atmar requested Deputy Minister Dauod Dauod and Lieutenant General Abdul Rahman Rahman, the head of Kabul City Police to develop an Air Support Plan to enhance security in Kabul during the Presidential election period. EUPOL officer, Adrian Denby who is mentor to General Rahman was asked to assist in developing the plan. In conjunction with the Counter Narcotics Air Interdiction Unit (AIU), who have supplied three MI17 helicopters, an Air Support Plan was produced, which has been named Operation Eagle Eye by the Afghan AIU. Chief Inspector Denby says By utilizing the intelligence and security agencies, we are able to deliver an intelligence led high visibility air support presence at critical site locations throughout Kabul. The plan also provides an important support function to police operations on the ground, including intelligence gathering, delivering a quick reaction force and providing a casualty evacuation capability. Page 1
3 On the 23 rd July a media event was organised at the Police Academy in Kabul. Included within this was a training exercise, which demonstrated the capability to provide a quick response to a kidnap incident and an air evacuation of a casualty. EUPOL officers Henrik Rose and Michael Lilleballe worked in conjunction with Lt. Colonel Ronald Ells (CSTC-A) to deliver the necessary training to the Afghan Police. capability widely throughout Kabul. They argue that this will serve to reassure the communities of Kabul, by demonstrating the police commitment to public safety. They also state that it will send a strong deterrent message to terrorists and criminals operating in Kabul. Chief of Kabul City Police Lt. General Abdul Rahman Rahman EUPOL and MoI officers participated at the helicopter exercise training Chief Inspector Denby states Both Henrik and Michael have worked very hard to ensure that the Afghan s police have reached a high level of competence. They have also delivered the necessary training within a very short period of time. Present at the media event was a film crew, who recorded the training exercise. It was televised across five Afghan National TV channels. The planning team for this operation state they are keen to publicise this new air Lt. General Rahman states This is yet another excellent example of cooperation between the Afghan National Police and International agencies operating in Afghanistan. It will have the benefit of assisting in the prevention and detection of terrorist and criminal activities in Kabul. The Deputy Minister of Counter- Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior praised the work done by EUPOL and other international partners and wished success for the best implementation of the program in the upcoming presidential and parliamentarian elections. Page 2
4 Training Center and Conference Room Officially Opened at the KCP HQ Head of GPPT Detlef Karioth, Head of Kabul City Police Abdul Rahman and EUPOL D/HoM Peter Horst The ceremonial presentation of keys for the newly constructed training and conference centre at Kabul City Police (KCP) headquarters took place last week. Deputy Head of Mission Peter Horst, the Head of GPPT Detlef Karioth, Head of Project Management Satu Elo and Project Manager Lee Davies were all present at a short informal gathering in the new conference room as it was officially opened by Lt General Abdul Rahman Rahman, Head of Kabul City Police. The General thanked EUPOL and the GPPT for their efforts and expressed his gratitude at having new facilities that would enable the KCP to continue with the training that will support the police reform programme and the Integrated Security Plan. Deputy Head of Mission Peter Horst said The official handover of the renovated training facility at Kabul City Headquarters constitutes a further step of progress with regard to the Kabul City Security Project. The additional classrooms will enable the KCP to accelerate the education and training activities of Kabul City Police, in particular prior to the forthcoming elections. I would like to thank all contributors to this project notably the German Police Project Team for funding most of the expenses. Finally I give my assurance that EUPOL AFG will keep up its commitment and assistance to enhance the quality of the Afghan National Police. KCP and EUPOL will organise a booking system for the new rooms which will allow the KCP, EUPOL and the GPPT to share the use of the new facility. Page 3
5 KCP Receives Donations for the Ring of Steel Project Chief Inspectors Reidar Vang and Jesper Christensen with Afghan colleagues at the handover ceremony EUPOL donated traffic cones, vehicle search mirrors, reflective jackets and strips of cordon to the Kabul City Police (KCP) as part of the Ring of Steel (RoS) project. The RoS project basically consists of 31 strategically placed checkpoints, which will improve the KCP s control of all traffic entering the centre of Kabul and also enabling the KCP to shut down the centre of the city in case of an emergency. To support this effort, Kabul City Police Project Team (KCPPT) made numerous assessments of possible sites for these checkpoints and the number of men and equipment needed. An Afghan police at the handover ceremony Page 4
6 The KCPPT has delivered courses in checkpoint duty to 522 police and Mobile Support Unit courses to 400 police. A further 49 checkpoint supervisors and 24 Mobile Support Unit supervisors are also being trained. All of these efforts are being made to support the Ring of Steel and KCP in order to prevent insurgent attacks in Kabul city. Chief Inspectors Reidar Vang and Jesper Christensen provided KCP with 290 traffic cones, 31 vehicle search mirrors, 150 reflective vests, 50 reflective jackets and 31 rolls of cordon strip. In the future there is a plan to provide more equipment to further support the project. Colonel Khalilullah Dastiyar, Chief of operations at KCP and Colonel Qader Gul, Commander of the brigade for Ring of Steel and Mobile Support Units were also present at the handover ceremony. Both of them thanked EUPOL for its continuous support to the ANP especially to the KCP. The funding for this equipment comes from the United Kingdom and Denmark and the total costs are approximately 15,000 US Dollars. KCP officers at the handover ceremony for the equipment Page 5
7 The Portrait: Aidas Navickas of Lithuania The 38 years old Police Commissioner- Inspector from Marijampole City in Lithuania is an experienced Surveillance Unit mentor with EUPOL. Inspector Aidas was born in Marijampole City and he joined the Lithuanian Police force in From he worked as the Chief of the Surveillance Unit for Marijampole County s Operative Activities Service. In 1995, inspector Aidas graduated from the Agriculture Academy of Lithuania. In 2004 he was the Chief of the Internal Investigation Group in Lithuania, where he gained in depth experience in dealing with investigative matters. From he was deployed to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, where he worked with the Directorate of Organized Crime (DOC), Surveillance Unit. As this was my first international mission, it was a good Inspector Aidas also studied law at the University of Lithuania, graduating with a bachelors degree in Law in opportunity to improve my skills working alongside other colleagues both nationals and internationals Says inspector Aidas. Page 6
8 Since March 2008 he has been working in the EUPOL mission in Afghanistan. He was first deployed as a CID Adviser in Ghowr province, Chaghcharan Police HQ. He successfully conducted trainings His Present position in EUPOL is Mentor/Adviser to the Surveillance Unit of the Ministry of Interior. The main task is to concentrate on the development and reorganisation of the new Commissioner Inspector Aidas Navickas (right) with Afghan and International colleagues with local CID officers regarding crime recording, post bomb blast scene management and crime scene management. In cooperation with the US army Police Mentoring Team (PMT), anti riot and check point training were also conducted for the Afghan National Police (ANP). In February 2009, he was deployed to EUPOL HQ in Kabul as a CID Mentor/Adviser to the Ministry of Interior. centralised Surveillance Unit, as well as special training for Surveillance Officers in Kabul City s existing Surveillance Unit. Aidas says A couple of weeks ago we successfully completed a four-week training on the Basics of Surveillance and also very soon there will be a special technical equipment training for all Surveillance Units in Kabul. Aidas is married and is the father of a ten-year-old son. Page 7
9 EUPOL TODAY (July ) EUPOL s mission strength is currently 256 internationals (166 police officers, 17 Rule of Law experts, 73 civilian experts) and 170 nationals. The 256 internationals are deployed as follows: 165 at the EUPOL HQ in Kabul (including five assigned to the International Police Coordinating Board, IPCB Secretariat); 91 in the regions; and 3 providing support within the Mission Support Element in Brussels. EUPOL - Serving Afghanistan is the bi-weekly online magazine of the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan. Our aim is to provide an overview of EUPOL activities throughout the Country. Text and photo contributions from the provinces are most welcome. Editorial Staff Consultants: EUPOL Political Advisors Peter Van Raaij Aziz Basam Mission Statement: EUPOL Afghanistan shall significantly contribute to the establishment under Afghan ownership of sustainable and effective civilian policing arrangements, which will ensure appropriate interaction with the wider criminal justice system, in keeping with the policy advice and institution-building work of the Community, Member States and other international actors. Further the Mission will support the reform process towards a trusted and efficient police service, which works in accordance with international standards, within the framework of the rule of law and respects human rights. COUNCIL JOINT ACTION 2007/369/CFSP of 30 May 2007on establishment of the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan Page 8
Spring is here Im ready for it! Ive been looking for a few new spring decor pieces to add to our home and found so many pretty options to share with you! Everything from the cutest ceramic pots to some great faux florals, the prettiest pillows, and some stylish pieces to dress up your front porch. Lets get to it (post includes affiliate links full disclosure statement available {here}
I already bought two of {these tutti pot planters} (the medium size with oranges and large size with lemons) and am so excited to get them they couldnt be any cuter! FYI, I havent received mine yet but read in the reviews that the orange bowl is larger than the listed dimensions (it actually measures closer to 8 in diameter and 6 in height).
I also bought {these faux cherry blossoms} (they come in a set of 3) a few weeks ago and am really impressed by how realistic the blooms are! I put them in the large basket (a Country Living fair find) on top of the armoire in our guest room: The stems themselves arent super realistic so the only place I might not use them would be in a glass vase where theyre visible.
Another faux option that I found last year is {these faux orchid blossoms} that come in a set of 10 they arent quite as gorgeous as the cherry blossom but after a little fluffing (they arrive pretty smushed) I think they look really nice for the price! I have them in twin glass vases on my fireplace mantel: Both faux floral stems are pretty long so you may need to cut a few inches off of the bottom of the stems depending upon what youre putting them in.
Other favorites are {this striped throw} that comes in several color options, {this darling floral watering can}, and {these glass beads} which are really similar to this strand of beads that Ive had for years and makes the best decorative book topper on your coffee table:
I also love {these wood candlesticks} that come in gorgeous spring colors and would look great on a fireplace mantel or a spring table, {this clementine hand towel} to add some spring color to your kitchen, and {this bunny ring holder} which would be a super cute Easter gift. And one last thing that Id been eyeing for a while and just came back in stock are {this set of two blue and white planters}: I love that they come with holes pre-drilled in the bottom and pretty bamboo drip trays theyd be cute filled with herbs in your kitchen or you could add a pretty plant to one to keep for yourself and give the other away as a sweet gift!
I have two of these pillows including {these striped pillow covers} in the 22 square size in smoke they are the prettiest blue/gray and beautifully embroidered! Theyre definitely more than I usually spend for pillow covers but have been worth it Ive loved them so much that Ive kept them on our banquette year-round.
I also have a pair of {these rose block print pillow covers} that are currently on sale:
If youre not much of a wreath person but want to do something to dress up your door, {this dragonfly door knocker} is perfect for year-round use! It comes in two sizes and four different finish options Im especially smitten by the brass:
I wish I knew what door color that was such a pretty shade of green! If youre like me and add seasonal wreaths to your door year-round, there are loads of gorgeous spring wreaths to choose from. Ive always loved lemons for spring and think that {this simple spring wreath with lemons & greenery} is gorgeous, as is {this wreath thats a colorful burlap wrapped bouquet}: Its the kissing cousin to {this gorgeous lemon wreath} I got a few years back from the same shop and am going to use again this spring:
Check out {this post} on my favorite spring wreaths for more spring wreath options!
For planters, Ill reuse {these urn planters} that Ive had for a few years now. I didnt fill them last spring since we were down in NC but this is what they looked like with mums this fall fall: My urn planters were out of stock for a while but right now theyre back in stock and on sale in all three colors! Im also crushing hard on {these white fluted planters} so pretty!
Home Off beat Saudi Arabian King's Massive Contingent Needs 27 Aircraft To Move Around oi-Sukesh
Saudi Arabia's King Salman is due to visit Indonesia on Wednesday. And he's bringing a contingent of nearly 1,500 people along for the nine-day trip.
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Home Two wheelers India Yamaha Registers A Consistent Growth In February oi-Kennedy Paul
India Yamaha Motor has registered sales growth of 20 percent in the domestic market for the month of February 2017 when compared to the same period last year.
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Louth Deputy Declan Breathnach has expressed his sadness at the death of the late PJ Bradley, who passed away today following a short illness.
"I wish to extend my sincerest condolences to PJs wife, Leontia, and their family and friends at this very sad time.
PJ was a proud Down man, and above all else, a proud Irish man.
Elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the SDLP in 1998, having previously been a member of Newry and Mourne District Council since 1981, PJ not only gave a lifetime of service to his community, but reached out across the political divide to build bridges with people from different faiths and backgrounds. He was a well-respected member of the business community in Warrenpoint and a committed Gael.
He worked tirelessly for his community in Burren and Ballyholland. PJ put the needs of the community in Burren, Ballyholland and Warrenpoint first.
I worked with him at part of the Memorandum of Understanding between Louth and Down and can say that PJ was absolutely fearless in his commitment to achieving an end to violence in the North.
"PJ was incredibly proud of his family, and I have no doubt that he took enormous pleasure seeing his daughter Sinead elected to the Assembly last year to represent South Down.
"He worked hard over many years to ensure open lines of communication between successive Irish Governments and had deep and abiding friendships with many people in the Fianna Fail party. He was selected as a member of the All-Party Consultation Group on Commemorations and I know that he took great personal satisfaction from this work and the hugely successful 1916 Centenary Commemoration events.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a anam dhilis.
I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather.
More on who I am is here.
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There were at least 166,000 job vacancies across Australia in December, indicating substantial labour demand from the business community. That said, employers are struggling to fill around 30% of skilled job vacancies. With 720,000 unemployed Australians looking for full- or part-time work, theres plenty of untapped labour. So, why do so many vacancies remained unfilled?
Part of the problem is a lack of work-ready job candidates. The Department of Employment has found that for each skilled vacancy, there are (on average) 11.5 applicants, and while 7.4 held relevant qualifications only 1.9 applicants are deemed suitable. Why are so few qualified candidates deemed suitable? Candidates dont have the level of experience employers are after or they lack important employability skills (e.g. communication skills, teamwork mindset, English proficiency).
jobactive
The Australian Governments $6.6 billion job placement program, jobactive , helps employers address a mismatch between job vacancies and job-ready candidates. Employers can tap into a network of jobactive providers from over 1,700 locations across Australia to connect with screened and job-ready candidates that fit their business needs.
Employers can approach their local jobactive provider for tailored recruitment services at no cost to their business. Alternatively, they can advertise vacancies through the jobactive website or free app (available from iTunes and Google Play). To ensure a supply of job-ready candidates for these businesses, jobactive providers work with reliable and ambitious job seekers to help them obtain the skills local employers need and overcome barriers to employment.
There are financial incentives for business that employ job seekers through jobactive. Businesses that meet the eligibility criteria, can access wage subsidies of up to $10,000 by hiring mature age workers (50+) or workers aged 15 to 24 years of age. Meanwhile, businesses that hire eligible job seekers who are 25 to 29 year of age, principal carer parents, in long-term unemployment or indigenous can obtain up to $6,500 in wage subsidies.
Success stories
The employment relationships facilitated by jobactive have been mutually beneficial. There are career progression opportunities for job seekers and businesses gain access to workers who are eager to excel.
Jessica, a Byron Bay mother of three, had been absent from the workforce for two years while she cared for her youngest two children. When she decided to find employment again, she found it challenging due to her parental obligations she was only available between 9am and 3pm on work days, and not during school holidays.
By connecting with jobactive, Jessica could obtain work experience with Elements of Byron while she undertook a Diploma of Beauty Therapy. After completing her work experience hours, Jessica was offered employment with the resort, working in the reception area. She aspires to secure a position in the spa department once she completes her diploma.
Elements of Byron General Manager Leon Pink praises Jessica for her willingness to work across multiple departments at the resort, explaining that it demonstrates diversity and enthusiasm. He says she has a bright future at the resort.
When Kylesha, relocated from Cairns to Sarina, a small town in Queensland, she had been unemployed for a year. Through jobactive, she connected with Mudth-Niyleta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation, a local healthcare provider. Following six months of work experience performing administrative and maintenance tasks, she was brought on as an aged care employee, working two days a week while undertaking training in her field.
Kylesha credits the opportunity with developing her confidence and people skills, while the Mudth-Niyleta CEO, Sam Raciti says Kyleshas personality, including her willingness to give it a go, is consistent with the corporations culture and the approach to delivering client programs.
Find your local jobactive provider today.
For more information on how jobactive can help you in the hiring process, watch the below video Puma Service Station:
Wayne is the Site Manager for Puma Service Station on the Gold Coast. His local jobactive provider made things simple when he hired console operator Edward. If youre looking for the right staff to fit your business, find out how jobactive can help https:jobactive.gov.au/find-the-right-fit
Maine Beacon reported that 8 Democrats-- 2 in the state Senate and 6 in the House-- signed on to Yesterday thereported that 8-- 2 in the state Senate and 6 in the House-- signed on to Paul LePage's plan to roll back a just-passed minimum wage increase . And by "signed on," I mean co-sponsoring a bill that would target restaurant workers. What LePage, his GOP allies and those 8 Democrats want to do is overturn the voter-approved ballot measure, which won in November 417,132 (55.5%) to 334,774 (44.5%). How big a deal are those numbers? Hillary won the state with 357,735, beating Trump's 335,593. Measure 4-- the minimum wage increase-- beat both candidates substantially and beat the winning marijuana legalization measure to boot! These are the Democratic co-sponsos of the anti-worker GOP bill:
Sen. Bill Diamond (Cumberland County)
Sen. Jim Dill (Penobscot County)
Rep. Robert Alley (Beals)
Rep. Martin Grohman (Biddeford)
Rep. Brian Hubbell (Bar Harbor)
Rep. Louis Luchini (Ellsworth)
Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio (Sanford)
Rep. Catherine Nadeau (Winslow)
Amy Halsted, campaign manager for Mainers for Fair Wages, the coalition that supported the minimum wage referendum, explained that "The median hourly wage for a waiter or waitress in Maine is just $9.06, including tips. They are twice as likely to live in poverty and three times as likely to access food stamps to feed their families. These legislators need to hear from us right now about not betraying the will of the voters and not cutting the minimum wage. No legislator should support cutting the minimum wage, but for Democrats in particular to try to betray the voters and attempt to cut the subminimum tipped wage after leaders like President Obama, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and womens and workers rights groups have worked so hard to increase it is absolutely unacceptable."
As you've probably guessed by now, my reason for reporting this isn't specifically because of Maine or even this (worthy) issue. It's because of Democrats. If you want to oppose the minimum wage and the right of the voters to raise it, why not just switch parties and become a Republican?
The GOP isn't fooling around. They have a national agenda-- a highly toxic one, that will role back all the progress made since FDR was president. As Trump's proto-fascist chief advisor, Steve Bannon, admitted boasted, "Thats all going to be deconstructed and I think thats why the regulatory thing is so important."
Yesterday, for example, the House voted on the so-called SCRUB Act to put together a new agency to find regulations to repeal, primarily science-based public health and safety protections. It passed 240-185 . Republican Walter Jones was the only Republican to vote against it. These 11 Democrats, primarily very right-wing Blue Dogs, crossed the aisle to vote with the GOP:
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Jacky Rosen (NV)
Bobby Rush (IL)
Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)
Kirsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)
Tom Suozzi (NY)
Another example: the EPA. When he chose Scott Pruitt to head the agency , there could have been no doubt what his intentions were. I was dismayed on February 17 when the Senate voted to confirm Pruitt even before reading the Big Oil documents he was hiding that a court had just ordered released. Two Democrats-- both up for reelection in 2018-- voted with the GOP: Heidi Heitkamp (ND) and Joe Manchin (WV), the two Dems who cross the aisle most frequently, looking to please home-state Trumpists and brazenly thumbing their noses at their own base.
Did it surprise anyone when Trump's budget included ripping nearly a quarter of the EPA budget out from under them-- and it wasn't to lower Scott Pruitt's salary. If Congress approves it, that will mean $8.1 billion that would have been used to keep water and air from being polluted (by people very much like those in Trump's cabinet-from-hell), will instead be used to... build a wall along the southern border? Finance another tax break for multimillionaires and billionaires? Increase military spending even even more ridiculously than it already is? Look at this comparison? It's already completely repulsive. Trump wants to make far more so.
Trump has released Pruitt from any kind of pre-confirmation leash he was on to start aggressively rolling back regulations that in any way touch on the climate change programs Obama had begun. Tuesday, Trumpanzee signed an executive order that will lead directly to plenty of dirty water.
Raul Grijalva is the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and just before Trump gave his speech Tuesday night, he noted that "If this budget is enacted the way he wants it, hes effectively dealt a very significant death blow to the EPA." And there are even some conservative Republicans who fear that Trump and Pruitt are too extreme. People in Idaho may be extremely conservative-- Trump won the state 409,055 (59.2) to 189,765 (27.5%)-- but they also appreciate a clean robust environment. Far right Republican Mike Simpson has been in Congress since 1999. Yesterday he gulped when he saw Trump's numbers. "If theyre trying to get rid of the regulatory regime and a few things like that, you could probably make some cuts... I dont know if they can be as big as what theyre talking about."
R.L. Miller, head of ClimateHawksVote cut right to the chase: "America is going to run an uncontrolled experiment: will a mixture of 76% clean air and water, and 24% dirty air and water, poison the body politic?"
-- Nathaniel Rich, in "Joan Didion in the Deep South" (NYRB, 3/9)
But the writing itself -- the cool majesty of her prose, written as if from a great, even empyreal distance, elevating personal experience into universal revelation -- has an immaculacy as intimidating as Chelsea porcelain. South and West offers for the first time a glimpse inside the factory walls.
they are also something more unsettling. Readers today will recognize, with some dismay and even horror, how much is familiar in these long-lost American portraits. Didion saw her era more clearly than anyone else, which is another way of saying that she was able to see the future.
a sense which struck me now and then, and which I could not explain coherently, that for some years the South and particularly the Gulf Coast had been for America what people were still saying California was, and what California seemed to me not to be: the future, the secret source of malevolent and benevolent energy, the psychic center.
Didion admits the idea seems oxymoronic, but she is onto something. Part of the answer, she suspects, lies in the bluntness with which Southerners confront race, class, and heritage -- distinctions which the frontier ethic teaches western children to deny and to leave deliberately unmentioned. "In the South such distinctions are visible, rigid, and the subject of frank conversation."
This kind of thinking seemed retrograde in the Seventies. From the vantage of New York, California, even New Orleans, it still seems so today. But this southern frame of mind has annexed territory in the last four decades, expanding across the Mason-Dixon Line into the rest of rural America. It has taken root among people -- or at least registered voters -- nostalgic for a more orderly past.
This kind of thinking seemed retrograde in the Seventies. From the vantage of New York, California, even New Orleans, it still seems so today. But this southern frame of mind has annexed territory in the last four decades, expanding across the Mason-Dixon Line into the rest of rural America. It has taken root among people -- or at least registered voters -- nostalgic for a more orderly past.
in which the men concentrated on hunting and fishing and the women on their cooking, their canning, their prettifying; when graft as a way of life was accepted, particularly in politics, and segregation was unquestioned; when a white supremacist running for public office was a totally explicable phenomenon; when a wife knew better than to travel through strange territory with a bikini and without a wedding ring [i.e., as Didion herself did during her Gulf tour].
An unquestioned premise among those who live in American cities with international airports has been, for more than half a century now, that Enlightenment values would in time become conventional wisdom. Some fought for this future to come sooner. Others waited patiently. But nobody seemed to believe that it would never arrive. Nobody, certainly, in Los Angeles or the Bay Area, which since Didions reporting has only accelerated in its embrace of an ethic in which the past is fluid, meaningless, neutered by technological advancement. In this view the past is relegated to the aesthetic realm, to what Didion describes in California Notes as decorative touches -- tastefully aged cutlery and window curtains. In this view the past was safely dead and could not return to bloody the land.
Two decades into the new millennium, however, a plurality of the population has clung defiantly to the old way of life.
They still believe in the viability of armed revolt. As Didion herself noted nearly fifty years ago, their solidarity is only reinforced by outside disapproval, particularly disapproval by the northern press. They have resisted with mockery, then rage, the collapse of the old identity categories. They have resisted the premise that white skin should not be given special consideration. They have resisted new technology and scientific evidence of global ecological collapse. The force of this resistance has been strong enough to elect a president.
Didion goes further, suggesting that the past is also the future. Now that we live in that future, her observations read like a warning unheeded. They suggest that Californias dreamers of the golden dream were just that -- dreamers -- while the dense obsessiveness of the South, and all the vindictiveness that comes with it, was the true American condition, the condition to which we will always inevitably return. Joan Didion went to the South to understand something about California and she ended up understanding something about America.
The instant reviews of President Donald Trumps speech to Congress on Tuesday night are in, and some of them are raves. Trump had scarcely left the House chamber when Fox Newss Chris Wallace credited him with reinventing the art of giving speeches to joint sessions of Congress. I feel like, tonight, Donald Trump became the President of the United States, Wallace opined. His colleague Dana Perino didnt go quite that far, but she did rate the performance the best speech heTrumphas ever given.
To be sure, these were two Fox News analysts speaking, albeit two of the more independent-minded ones. But the praise for Trumps performance wasnt confined to the conservative media. Over on CNNthe Presidents least favorite fake news networkDavid Axelrod, the former Obama adviser, commented, If Im on the Trump team, Im very, very happy with this speech. . . . There will be an afterglow from this speech. He should get a bump in the polls.
Eying these Christians offering praise to the lion that is out to devour them, Slates Jacob Weisberg remarked on Twitter, Enemies of the people giving Trump positive reviews for not sounding like a ranting dictator. It certainly seemed that way. If there was anything fresh about what Trump said to Congress, it was largely stylistic. He didnt pivot; he merely pirouetted, and then he dug into the same political ground he has already claimed.
About all that happened was that Trump, perhaps feeling saddled by low approval ratings, caved to the normal conventions of political communication. These rules dictate that, on august occasions such as a speech to Congress, Presidents talk politely and try to avoid giving offense. They leaven the heavy fare they are bearing with moments of optimism and humanity, promise the viewers some goodies, and offer up some notes of inclusion. Trump did all these things, and he even deployed some uplifting prose. If his Inauguration speech sounded like it had been written by Steve Bannon suffering from a migraine, Tuesdays appeared to have been the work of a professional speechwriter.
Rather than starting things off with his dystopian world view, Trump began the speech with a reference to Black History Month, saying, We are reminded of our nations path toward civil rights and the work that still remains to be done. He condemned the recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents, and he also mentioned the shooting of two Indian immigrants last week, in Kansas, which, hitherto, he had shamefully ignored. His message, he said, was one of unity and strength. Channelling Ronald Reagan, he added, A new chapter of American greatness is now beginning.
This tone was markedly different from the one Trump had struck as recently as last week, at the cpac conference, and the television pundits swallowed it whole. In substantive terms, however, Trump didnt give an inch, or even a millimetre. . . .
[D]etails of how he would bring about his ambitious goals were lacking. But rhetoric wasnt. Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways, gleaming across our very, very beautiful land, he promised. He also pledged massive tax relief for the middle class, and much lower corporate taxes, too. He also said, I am going to bring back millions of jobs, and that he would work with Congress to create a better health-care system for all Americans.
Absent from Trumps discussion of these issues was any proper explanation of how any of his proposals would be paid for. He did say his trillion-dollar infrastructure plan would be financed through both public and private capital, but he didnt provide any details, and the words budget deficit didnt once cross his lips.
Nor did he mention Russia or climate change or the robust job growth he inherited. His only use of the word environment came in reference to the violent crime wave that he falsely claims is sweeping the nation. We want all Americans to succeed, he said, but that cant happen in an environment of lawless chaos. . . .
#
Our story thus far: In summer 1970 Joan Didion took a swing along the Gulf Coast, gathering notes for a piece she never wrote describing how something important for the future of the country was observable in the South. Didion has now published those notes, along with notes she gathered during a trip to San Francisco in 1976 to cover Patty Hearst's trial for, in book form, asThe book is almost self-recommending just for the extended look it gives us at the working method of one of the great nonfiction writers of this or any other time. It is, as Nathaniel Rich described it, "in one regard, the most revealing of Didions books" a seemingly "far-fetched claim to make about an author who has written about her ancestry, her marriage, her health, and, with painful candor, her grief -- Didions readers are, after all, on familiar terms with the personal details of her life."So, Rich writes, while "Didions notes . . . surpass in elegance and clarity the finished prose of most other writers," and provide "a fascinating record of this time," he argues thatSo what did Didion, Californian to the core, see along the Gulf Coast in 1970? In her notes she reports --We've already seen Rich respond, "How could the hidebound South, in its perpetual disintegration and defiant decadence, at the same time represent the future?"Rich proceeds, as I noted Friday, to look a bit at the nature of that "frank conversation," that "bluntness with which Southerners confront race, class, and heritage," with those "visible, rigid distinctions," then writes:I left off Friday asking, "Do you see where Rich is heading? At this point, the smart thing to do, it seems to me, is to turn the floor over to him.What is this "nostalgia for a more orderly past" that has drawn rural America to "this southern frame of mind"? It's a past, Rich suggests,At this point, I remind readers of the connection I set out to make between Didion's '70s discoveries and the mind-blowing changes in American culture represented by sitcoms like, with its quietly subversive caustic look at traditional "family values," and especially, gleefully thumbing its nose at traditionally reflexive, mindless Christian pieties and homophobia. These seem to confirmt the feeling a lot of us have that American society has changed irrevocably on ways that ever so recently would have seemed unimaginable.As indeed it has -- for many Americans. But not for a significant bloc of Americans. Here's Rich again:," this time when Enlightenment values would become conventional wisdom.I've paused here only for effect, to allow the proposition to sink in. Rich goes right on:"A writer from the Gulf South," Rich notes, "once wrote that the past is not even past."The groundwork for what eventually became the Age of Trump, I've argued repeatedly, was laid during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who told America that it didn't have to be bound by reality if it found the real thing unpleasant -- that it could in fact." In the decades since, the American Right has gone way beyond this. By the time of George W. Bush, they were fully off the truth standard. All that mattered was sounding the lies that Americans wanted to hear, and in crafting those lies he had the masterful assistance of one of America's greatest lie-mongers, Karl Rove.Nowadays every right-winger is his own Karl Rove, or has one of the dime-a-dozen imitators to call on. Some of us still find it hard to believe that it's really possible to get away with lying of the scope and scale practiced by the creature no esconced in the Oval Office.And now, merely by managing to deliver a speech in which the Man of Orange didn't appear as a raving psychotic, in many circles his presidency is deemed to have been "rebooted." Not everyone was fooled, though. As John Cassidy begins his newyorker.com response, " Don't Be Fooled. Donald Trump Didn't Pivot ":The president appears to have relearned the rhetoric of happy-sounding goals, things he wouldn't know how to do even if by chance he wanted to do them.Does anyone believe the American people won't go right on buying Trump bullshit as long as it's couched in this nonpsychotic way?
EBRD and its donors support vital improvements to urban infrastructure
Better water, improved public transport, cleaner cities these are only some benefits of the EBRDs and its donors activities. They improve the daily quality of life for millions of people from Morocco to Mongolia and help local businesses thrive.
There are still some problems with the access to drinking water in Central Asia, but this is getting better and the EBRD and its partners supported our comprehensive work in Khujand, says Sodiq Mirkhalikov, Director of the Khujand Water Company in Tajikistan.
This helped us improve more than 100 km of water pipes and supply and install pumping and cleaning equipment to cover more customers. We also installed water meters to introduce transparent billing and increase collection rates.
In 2016, EBRD investments to modernise municipal infrastructure were supported by many donors, including the European Union, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Taipei China, United Kingdom and multi-donor Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environmental Partnership (E5P) Fund, Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Fund (NDEP) and Early Transition Countries Fund.
This included seven water and wastewater, two district heating/energy efficiency, five municipal transport and five solid waste projects signed during 2016. The activities continued to target those countries facing the strongest transition challenges in eastern Europe, the southern Caucasus and Central Asia.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, for example, the EBRD has continued to work with the EU to improve water supply and wastewater management in secondary cities throughout the country: including Uzgen, Toktogul, Balykchi and Maili-suu.
These efforts continue to build on the work already supported in Cholpon-Ata, Kara-Suu, Kyzyl-Kiya and Osh and are addressing urgently needed infrastructure rehabilitation needs and ensuring longer-term sustainability and resilience of the networks.
Sweden, the NDEP and other donors also extended their support for water and wastewater investments benefiting 400,000 citizens in Lida, Orsha and Polotsk in Belarus. These are expected to bring significant environmental benefits as they help local utilities upgrade wastewater treatment to EU standards and reduce pollution of the Baltic and Black Sea basins.
The EBRD also continued efforts to improve municipal transport. In Kremenchuk in Ukraine, the Bank helped the trolleybus company acquire 50 new low-floor trolleybuses and extend its service to 50,000 inhabitants living across the Dnieper River.
Moreover, 143 environmentally friendly buses are now cruising the streets of Georgias capital Tbilisi. Both purchases were supported by E5P* grants.
Across the EBRD regions, many urban centres struggle with increasing numbers of inhabitants and outdated, often energy-intense infrastructure or services, which contribute to increasingly poor air quality.
This is why in 2016 the Bank launched its Green Cities Framework to support governments, municipalities, municipal-owned and private companies to meet these environmental challenges and improve peoples quality of life in cities.
The EBRD started the work in Moldovas capital Chisinau with a 10 million loan to improve energy efficiency in more than 100 public buildings. It was supported by a 5 million grant from the E5P.
Further activities are planned in 2017 with an initial focus on cities in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and in the Western Balkans.
The pressure on municipal services is also particularly high in Jordan and Turkey as a result of the large influx of Syrian refugees. This affects water and sanitation, solid waste management and urban transport. The existing infrastructure and services were already in need of an upgrade before and are now extremely stretched to serve the increasing number of people.
In 2016, the EUs role as donor has been vital to tackle some of these challenges. A 30 million grant will help the Water Authority of Jordan construct a solar energy system to power three to five water pumping stations. This will lead to more reliable and energy efficient services.
The EU also contributed a 5 million grant to a 7.5 million EBRD loan to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Al-Shaer solid waste transfer station. This will generate enough energy to power 8,000 households annually.
The UKs Department for International Development provided a 5 million grant to co-finance an EBRD investment worth up to 180 million to support the Greater Amman Municipality with a comprehensive solid waste programme.
This is part of a larger UK contribution of 30 million to strengthen Jordans capacity to cope with the refugee inflow.
Modern services and a reliable infrastructure are very much needed to support the ever-growing communities living in cities across the world. They are also vital to build a sustainable, greener future for future generations. The EBRD and its donors are leading this effort in urban centres from Cairo to Ulaanbaatar.
*The Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) is a multi-donor fund managed by the EBRD. Donors include the European Union (the largest contributor), Armenia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Taipei China, Ukraine and the United States.
The European banking sector growing together and growing apart
Speech by Sabine Lautenschlager, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB,
at the LSE German Symposium,
London, 2 March 2017
Two major events provide the frame for my speech today. Both of them took place in June one in 2012, the other in 2016. One of them took place in Brussels, the other here in the United Kingdom. One of them made Europe grow together; the other made Europe grow apart.
On 28 June 2012 in Brussels, the leaders of the EU decided to take banking supervision to the European level and explore the idea of a fully fledged banking union. They took a decisive step towards a more united Europe. On 23 June 2016, the people of this country voted to leave the European Union. They took a decisive step away from a united Europe.
Both events while very different in nature will fundamentally change Europe. From the perspective of banks and their supervisors, both events have had and will have a huge impact. Let us take a closer look.
Growing together European banking supervision
In June 2012, the euro area was a bad place to be if you were an investor, a bank or a country that had lost the trust of the markets.
On 1 June that year, the Financial Times wrote Spain suffers 100 billion exodus. In the days thereafter, its front-page stories focused on ailing Portuguese and Spanish banks. In mid-June, its headline was Fears rise over EU handling of debt crisis.
By then the markets had driven the bond yields of some euro area countries to new heights. In other words, if the governments of those countries wanted to sell bonds to finance their debt they would have to pay much more. The media started speculating about a break-up of the euro area, as did some politicians.
Two weeks later though, something had obviously changed. On the last day of June, the Financial Times, on its front page, said Markets rebound following EU deal.
What had happened?
What had happened was that an EU summit had taken place in Brussels. There, the leaders of the EU agreed on a package of measures to stabilise the euro area. They decided on a 120 billion pact for growth; they decided that the rescue funds, the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability Mechanism, could directly recapitalise banks under certain conditions; and they pledged to use the instruments of the rescue funds flexibly and efficiently.
Another important element of the package was to create a Single Supervisory Mechanism, as it was called. Banking supervision was to be taken from the national to the European level.
Just two years later, European banking supervision became reality. In November 2014, the ECB began to supervise banks in the euro area. But how does the new European system work? And why is it better than the old national ones?
Some people think that the ECB has become the sole supervisor of all banks in the euro area. Well, it is true that European banking supervision has put an end to the patchwork of national supervision. But in essence, it is a common European undertaking.
In the euro area, we divide banks into two groups: large ones and small ones. And it is the 126 largest banking groups which are directly supervised by the ECB they are called significant institutions and account for 82% of the euro areas banking assets. For each of these large banks, we have set up a Joint Supervisory Team, or JST. These JSTs are headed by ECB staff and comprise supervisors from both the national authorities and the ECB. It is these teams that actually supervise the banks. They are at the heart of European banking supervision.
Alongside the 126 largest banking groups, there are around 3,300 smaller ones, the less significant institutions. These banks are still directly supervised by the national authorities. Nevertheless, the ECB plays a role, too. Together with the national authorities, it develops and implements supervisory standards for the smaller banks, and it ensures that supervisors apply these standards across the euro area.
And not only is the day-to-day supervision of banks a joint task. Decisions are also jointly prepared and adopted. The main bodies in this regard are the Supervisory Board and the Governing Council of the ECB. The Supervisory Board is chaired by the ECB and includes representatives from all the national supervisory authorities. The Governing Council of the ECB in turn comprises the governors of all the euro area central banks and the Executive Board members of the ECB.
It is true to say that national authorities are no longer responsible for supervising their largest banks. But they share their knowledge and experience with the ECB, which directly supervises the largest banks and oversees the entire system of European banking supervision. We have joined forces to make the banking sector safe and sound.
In my view, this was the right thing to do. Over the past decades, the financial system has turned into a global village. As a result, a crisis, say, affecting a single bank can quickly spread around the entire globe as happened in 2008. This is particularly true for monetary unions such as the euro area. Here, problems can spread even faster and may threaten the financial stability of the entire union.
Therefore, European banking supervision brings real benefits. It allows us to look beyond national borders and national interests. When we supervise banks and take decisions, we take a truly European view.
At the same time, we can compare banks across the euro area and gain many more insights than national supervisors could. We can draw on a huge pool of expertise as our analyses are based on the knowledge and experience not only from the ECB but from across Europe and beyond. All in all, the ECB itself brings together staff from 28 different countries. So not only do we have lots of data and information but we also have the resources to analyse it. All this helps to spot potential problems early on and thoroughly assess their impact.
We can combine the best approaches to banking supervision from 19 different countries. We can ensure that high standards are uniformly applied in the entire euro area. This creates a stable and predictable business environment for banks that operate across borders. Wherever they go in the euro area, they are supervised to the same standards and methods.
The idea of harmonisation goes beyond supervision; it is the theme of the entire European banking union. In January 2016, a European resolution mechanism for banks was introduced. It ensures that banks across the euro area can be resolved according to the same rules. A European deposit guarantee has not yet been agreed upon but even without one we have made good progress. Altogether, the banking union helps to create a level playing field for banks.
This is the ground on which a truly European banking sector can emerge. And contrary to what some people say, a large common market is better than isolated national ones. A common market creates more jobs, more income and more wealth. On that note, let us move to the second part of my speech.
Growing apart Brexit and the banks
It seems that by now we have got used to political events that defy all expectations. Last June, however, it was still a new thing. So when a majority of the people of the UK voted to leave the EU, it sent a shockwave not only through Europe, but around the world.
Indeed, on 23 June 2016, the future changed or to quote Yogi Berra: The future aint what it used to be. But what exactly the future will be is still unclear. Official negotiations on Brexit have not even started, and they will take years to conclude.
Meanwhile, a cloud of uncertainty is now hanging over everyone, including the banks. Despite this uncertainty, the banks need to act now to be well prepared for any outcome. But what does Brexit mean for the banks? Well, let us for a moment assume that there will be a hard Brexit in the sense that the UK would turn into a third country from the perspective of the EU. As a result, the UK and its banks would lose their access to the single EU market. Why is that?
Currently there are around 40 banking groups in the UK that operate in the EU market. Some of them are British, of course; others are global investment banks, for instance, from the US. And there are some smaller groups with roots in Asia and the Middle East.
How do these banks currently access the EU market? Many of them use the EU passport, which was introduced in 1993. The passport was actually one of the first major steps towards a truly European banking market. When a bank is licensed in one Member State of the EU, it can conduct business in any other Member State no additional licensing is required.
In the event of a hard Brexit, these banks would lose the passport. Those banks that fully rely on it would have to seek another point of entry. Most obviously, they would have to obtain a licence in an EU country.
And this is where European banking supervision comes in: it is the ECB that grants banking licences throughout the euro area for large and small banks alike. Moreover, we have no stake in whether UK banks set up shop in Paris, Dublin, Frankfurt or any other euro area city. We are neutral.
However, there is one issue on which I have strong views.
Our objective is to make the banking system safe and sound. I therefore expect banks which are seeking a licence in the euro area to meet our standards. There will be no race to the bottom in banking supervision.
In particular, I do not see the ECB issuing banking licences to empty shell companies. Banks which plan to permanently book all exposures back-to-back with another entity in London might be in for a disappointment. This is not about a full ban of back-to-back booking. We rather aim at ensuring both an adequate local management of all material risks and the resolvability of the euro area entity.
Needless to say that I would certainly not accept banks booking all exposures with the euro area entity while having their risk management and internal control systems outside the euro area.
As we expect many banks to apply, I urge them to make up their minds and contact us early on. We will then decide on an appropriate path for them to meet our expectations. But one thing has to be clear: eventually, all banks will have to fulfil the high standards of European banking supervision.
We are talking to the banks, of course. And what we hear is that some of them are thinking about taking other paths into the EU market. They are considering complementing or even replacing licensed subsidiaries with other entities investment firms or branches, for instance. Such entities, however, would not come within the scope of European banking supervision. They would continue to be supervised at the national level.
Still, investment firms can be quite large and might conduct bank-like business. In countries such as the UK or the US, the largest investment firms are supervised by banking supervisors. To achieve greater consistency, regulation in the EU might be adapted the intermediate holding company might be a part of a potential solution. The current review of the European banking rules might provide an opportunity to do so. For those banks we directly supervise we will in any case keep a close eye on the risks that result from different group structures and from relations between different entities of the same group.
Securing continuous market access will be the most pressing issue for UK banks theres no doubt about that. We know that some of them have already started to address this issue. And yes, time is of the essence.
Market access is just the first step. Related to it are hundreds of other even more technical questions. How to treat financial and risk relations between existing and new entities in the euro area and related UK entities? How to deal with the internal models that UK banks might want to use in their newly established EU entities? How best to continue the fruitful cooperation with our colleagues from the Prudential Regulation Authority? After all, our banking systems will remain closely connected.
Brexit might cut through a sector that is deeply connected. Keeping the sector together will be a complex task legally, operationally, organisationally. From whichever angle you look at it, it will be difficult. I have only scratched the surface here, but that much should have become clear.
Still, I can assure you that we are prepared for any scenario. Whatever the UK and the remaining 27 EU members agree upon, European banking supervision stands ready to contribute to a safe and sound banking sector.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have talked a lot about UK-based banks that operate in the EU. What about banks on the Continent that operate in the UK? Well, they face the same uncertainty and the same challenges. I therefore urge these banks as well to prepare for the new future.
Brexit will shake up the banking sector; theres no doubt about that. But how will it affect London as a financial centre?
Just two Tube stations away from here is Mansion House. It was there, on 10 November 1986, that the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was invited to speak at the Lord Mayors banquet. In her speech, she said that the City serves not only the City, but the nation as a whole. This was two weeks after the government had established a new legal framework which deregulated the stock exchange. The Big Bang, as it was called, attracted banks from around the world and turned London into a global financial centre.
It became a magnet for banks. And the resulting scale effects have made it even more attractive. Today, it offers liquid markets, specialist services, solid market infrastructures and a huge pool of talent. More than a million people work in the financial sector and another million work in related services. Altogether, the sector generates about 11% of Britains GDP.
And theres no doubt either that the Single Market increased Londons appeal. Because of EU passporting, banks enjoy unlimited access to the European market, as I said just now. And they make the most of that opportunity. Their business in the other 27 EU countries accounts for about one-quarter of revenues of the UKs financial services.
Take, as an example, the clearing of derivatives that are denominated in euro. A large number of these deals take place in London more than 75% in some asset classes. The ECB is involved in the oversight of UK central counterparties through supervisory colleges and a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK authorities. This framework enables us to monitor risks to the euro also due to good cooperation with our British colleagues and legal certainty afforded by the European Court of Justice.
In view of Brexit, some might now ask whether it would make sense in the future for the majority of euro clearing to take place outside the EU. Well, that depends on whether the new framework will offer us the same level of involvement as we have today. And it depends on whether the new framework will be strong enough to ensure financial stability in the euro area.
To sum up: access to the European market is important for the financial sector. And the financial sector is important for the British economy. Losing that access would therefore have an impact not only on the banking sector itself but also on the UKs economy. We are talking about jobs, income and prosperity.
The question therefore is: will London remain a global financial centre? Yes, it will. But at the same time, it might lose part of the business, while Europe might attract some of it. The race is on, and many cities are competing for the banks either to keep them, in the case of London, or to attract them, in the case of other cities in Europe. In the end, there probably wont be a winner- takes-it-all scenario. Some banks might go to Dublin, some to Paris, others to Frankfurt or elsewhere in Europe.
As I said, the ECB is neutral. Still, the competition must not result in a race to the bottom with regard to regulation, supervision or taxation neither in the UK nor in the rest of Europe. Such a lowering of standards might work in the short term, but in the long term it would do more harm than good. That is why European banking supervision will not change its policies in the wake of Brexit.
In fact, strong rules and strong supervision should attract banks they boost the reputation of banks, increase peoples trust, and thats good for business. And above all, strong rules serve a purpose: they help to prevent future crises not only at a national but also at a global level. And financial crises can be very costly.
The financial sector will always test the boundaries of regulation; it will always look for the best deal globally. We therefore need global rules to make the financial sector a safe place. Countries which believe that they can secure national financial stability without global rules may actually endanger the financial sector everywhere.
So Sam Woods, head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, was quite right to say in his Mansion House speech last year: The UK financial system must be robustly regulated and supervised whatever the outcome of the governments negotiations with the European Union. The same is true for the European banks, of course. This approach makes for a safe and sound banking sector and should not change.
Conclusion
The euro area has grown closer together. The single currency has been complemented by a single banking supervisor and a single resolution authority. This was a major step towards safe and sound banks as well as towards a stronger economy. To be sure, the euro area faces some serious challenges, but I am convinced that they are better tackled jointly rather than individually.
Still, the UK is charting a course away from the shores of Europe and into a vast and empty ocean. That makes me think of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who said: If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. It seems that many people in the UK indeed long for the endless immensity of the sea. To them it stands for independence from the EU and for freedom.
However, building a ship and sailing the seven seas still requires collecting wood and assigning tasks and work. These may seem to be small details, but in the real world, the devil is in the detail. Today I have touched on some of the details that will affect the banks and these are very intricate and difficult to handle. Now just imagine that there are many other sectors where Brexit will trigger equally complex issues.
The goal should be to find a workable solution that is in the interests of both the British people and the people of the EU. We all have an interest in strong banking supervision and mutual cooperation. And that is a strong foundation.
Thank you for your attention.
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Two Michigan House Democrats are calling for the resignation of Gary Naeyaert, the head of Betsy DeVoss anti-public education group Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) following remarks he made at a Senate Education Committee meeting on Tuesday. GLEP was founded and is heavily funded by the billionaire Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. During his testimony, Naeyaert expressed frustration over what he perceives as a lack of action by State School Reform Officer Natasha Baker and said he wanted to shake her, like I like to shake my wife.
Reps. Kristy Pagan (D-Canton) and Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) released a statement today calling on Naeyaert to resign for his offensive comments which GLEP dismissively referred to as a poor choice of words.
In their statement, Geiss said, The comment made by Mr. Naeyaert while testifying before the Senate Education Committee is absolutely unacceptable and intolerable. He should take full responsibility for his actions and resign from his position immediately. We are living in a world where one in three women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Casual reference to domestic violence as a valid way to change a womans mind should not only be unspeakable, it should be unthinkable.
Referencing GLEPs casual dismissal of Naeyaerts statement, Pagan went further: Calling Mr. Naeyaerts comments a poor choice of words is just as disturbing as what he actually said, she said. Normalizing domestic violence in this way takes away the seriousness of how dangerous and sometimes deadly this crime can be. Mr. Naeyaerts comments reflect his comfort and ease in advocating physical aggression toward women. Organizations focused on creating better education systems for our children should promote safe learning and teaching environments and should strongly condemn violence in all forms. Mr. Naeyaerts comments were irresponsible and reprehensible, and therefore, he should resign immediately.
Despite GLEPs apology, Naeyaert himself has not publicly apologized. Given his history of bombast and arrogance, this comes as little surprise, I suppose.
Here is the video of Naeyaert making his odious remarks:
Cybersecurity startup Capsule8 this week announced that it has raised US$2.5 million to launch the industrys first container-aware, real-time threat protection platform designed to protect legacy and next-generation Linux infrastructures from existing and potential attacks.
CEO John Viega, CTO Dino Dai Zovi and Chief Scientist Brandon Edwards, all veteran hackers, cofounded the firm. They raised seed funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, as well as individual investors Shandul Shah of Index Ventures and ClearSkys Jay Leek.
The cloud has catapulted Linux to the most popular platform on the planet, and now the use of container technology is exploding, said Bob Goodman, a partner at Bessemer. Yet there has been no world-class commercial security offering focused on securing the Linux infrastructure until now.
Capsule8 is solving the difficult problem of providing zero-day threat protection for Linux, whether it be legacy, container or some combination of the two, he added.
Linux Focus
Windows protection tends to focus on find the bad executable, which makes sense in that environment because bad executables are ubiquitous in an attack, noted Capsule8s Viega.
However, that approach doesnt work well in a Linux environment, so Capsule8 focuses on detecting and protecting against system compromise, he told LinuxInsider.
The other typical approach in Linux is a network appliance, Viega said. However, there is not much context on the network, particularly as end-to-end encryption starts to become ubiquitous in the enterprise, so this approach doesnt find much and leads to many spurious alerts.
The result is that most Linux compromises either go undetected or are a surprise companies find their data on a forum at a later date and they find they had no clue they were attacked, he explained.
Among the most noteworthy incidents, the company cited the massive breach at Yahoo, which went undetected for years until the stolen data showed up on the Web.
While Linux-based systems present many of the same security problems as Windows-based systems, the biggest difference in attacks can be found around malware, according to Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud research at Trend Micro.
While we do regularly see malware targeting Linux systems, its a more common occurrence that the malware implanted on Linux systems is there to be distributed to Windows clients connecting to that Linux system, he told LinuxInsider.
On the defensive front, theres a stark contrast in the amount of effort required to support the rapidly changing software on Linux platforms, Nunnikhoven pointed out.
Given the nature of Linux and GNU, release cycles are a bit more erratic, and theres a lot more variation that requires a mature and robust response by security providers, he said.
Customer Base
Capsule8 already has signed up customers for its prerelease product, including SourceClear and Namely.
Capsule8 is the first product that supplements SourceClears predeployment detection with runtime threat protection for Linux systems, CEO Mark Curphey said.
There are three core principles that should guide decision making when adopting new technology, suggested Daniel Leslie, director of cybersecurity and technology at Namely. They are scalability, maintainability and security.
Protecting infrastructure at scale without sacrificing stability or performance is essential, he said.
Analytics vs. EDR
Capsule8 likely will take an agent-based approach primarily focused on visibility, speculated Adrian Sanabria, senior analyst for information security at 451 Research.
Theyre talking about gathering tons of details about whats going on with the operating system, processes, applications, network connections, file activity, etc., he told LinuxInsider.
I think EDR (endpoint detection and response) is actually the best and closest comparison I can find it is more like that, based on the details I can find so far, Sanabria maintained.
Theres a big difference between security analytics products and EDR, in that EDR products tend to be workstation-based, and none of them are container-aware that I know of, he pointed out.
On the container side, theres a lot of competition already, Sanabria continued, but none of the container security startups are doing Linux security. The one exception would be Trend Micro. The latest release of Deep Security includes container-aware support, and the product actively defends against attacks, whereas it sounds like Capsule8 will initially just be a monitoring product.
Commercial container security is probably Capsule8s best bet for growth, he suggested.
451 does a lot of enterprise surveying on a regular basis, Sanabria noted, and Ive got to say, Linux Security is one thing Ive never seen on the list of pain points even at the bottom of the list.
How and Why Collapse Happens
We take our civilization for granted. But its fragile and pushing way beyond sustainable limits. How and why do civilizations collapse? In this program, well hear from specialists who studied the end times of the Indus civilization of India and Pakistan, and the Maya of Central America. Then well wrap up with a tough solution for our tough problems: a new book outlines how we could use World War Two style mobilization to save the climate and the ecosphere from their developing collapse. Our three guests are Cameron Petrie, Takeshi Inomata, and Laurence Delina.
You are tuned to the Radio Ecoshock special on collapse how, why, and how to avoid it. Thats three interviews. Lets get going.
Download or listen to this program in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
CAMERON PETRIE THE COLLAPSE OF THE INDUS CIVILIZATION
The history of human civilization is short. But scientists are exploring how people adapted, or collapsed, during earlier changes to their climate. That information could help us now, as we go into a rapid shift.
Were going to go back about 5,000 years, toward the start of human organization. Thats when the Indus Civilization formed around the Indus River of northwest India and Pakistan. A new article in the journal Current Anthropology draws on studies by the Banaras Hindu University, and the University of Cambridge in the UK. Well talk with the lead author, Dr. Cameron Petrie from Cambridges Division of Archaeology. Educated at the University of Sydney, Dr. Petrie went on to specialize in the archaeology of India, Pakistan and Iran.
Dr. Cameron Petrie, Cambridge
Our interview is based on new science in this paper Adaptation to Variable Environments, Resilience to Climate Change: Investigating land, water and settlement in Indus northwest India. It was published in the journal Current Anthropology in February 2017. I think its an exciting look into the origins of civilization, and the way this early experiment in human organization failed. Its now apparent that a shift in climate played a big part.
Theres a very good article about all this in this article published by the University of Cambridge Division of Archeology. As the article says:
The Indus Civilization developed in a specific environmental context, where the winter and summer rainfall systems overlapped. There is now evidence to show that this region was subject to climate change during the period when the Indus Civilization was at its height (c.2500-1900 BC).
Download or listen to this 24 minute interview with Cameron Petrie on Radio Ecoshock in CD Quality or Lo-Fi
One of the sure signs of climate collapse was the record of water levels in a nearby lake. That lake more or less vanished during a drought that lasted several hundred years. That can be validated by a method of comparing rainfall recorded in the dripping stalagmites in various caves in the Middle East.
Petrie and other scientists are following up with the TwoRains project, funded by the European Research Council in 2015 and running until 2020.
So it looks like there was no sudden war or event that ended the Indus civilization. The farmers there were very adaptable, but when the monsoons shifted for too long, they had to abandon their large buildings, and move somewhere else, likely further east into modern-day India. I wonder if California could also depopulate in the future, if a hundred year drought kills off large-scale agriculture there as the climate shifts. We dont know, but we do know that kind of blow has fallen on civilizations in the past.
TAKESHI INOMATA THE COLLAPSE OF THE MAYA
In our current hyper-modern civilization, a lot of people worry about collapse . They have different reasons why it could happen. One of the big debates is whether civilizations tend to break up quickly, or fade away slowly. This paper actually studies two periods of collapse: the classic civilization which broke up around AD 150-300, and the later civilization which collapsed around between 800 and 900 AD.
In each case, the cities emptied out, but there were two different results. After the first collapse, dynasties developed which became the rulers of the second Mayan civilization. But the second collapse never recovered although the Mayan people still populate southern Mexico and Guatemala.
If the international order breaks down, or the grid fails for some reason, some of us hope for new local governments and greater freedom. Others fear the multi-billionaire families will continue as dynasties ruling during another Dark Age. This research into the Maya suggests it can go either way.
A series of papers over the last dozen years suggest a long-lasting drought created tensions that led to regional wars. Inomata and his team cited a half dozen climate-leaning studies in their paper references. Climate change was one factor that helped the Mayan civilization collapse, but it was not the sole driver. Wars and economic stress were also evident.
Our guide to the collapse of the Mayan civilization is one of the worlds experts. Takeshi Inomata is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. He also has a Chair in Environment and Social Justice. Dr. Inomata has published books, popular articles, and many key papers on thousands of years of the Maya people.
Dr. Takeshi Inomata
Takeshi Inomata is the lead author of a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Its the most accurate yet on WHEN, and at what pace, social and economic upheaval happened in Mayan culture. That helps explain how this advanced civilization came apart, until the cities were abandoned.
We talk about the new paper titled High-precision radiocarbon dating of political collapse and dynastic origins at the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. It was published Dec 19th, 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Download or listen to this 16 minute interview with Takeshi Inomata on Radio Ecoshock in CD Quality
One advance of this paper is the detail of the chronology established. Perhaps for the first time, we can see how collapse developed over time, as the Mayan civilization emerges from the fog.
Note that the principal Mayan city studied in this paper Ceibal Guatemala is not that far away from, the rebellious state of Chiapas Mexico. The Zapatista claimed links to the Mayan culture, although their famous leader Subcomandante Marcos was not Mayan.
OUR GUEST WROTE THE BOOK ON THE MAYA
Probably the best print guide to the Mayan civilization was written by Takeshi Inomata and Stephen D. Houston. Its called The Classic Maya available on Amazon or course, or here from the publisher.
This is more information from WIKIPEDIA on Mayan Civilization
History
3.1 Preclassic period (c. 2000 BC 250 AD)
3.2 Classic period (c. 250900 AD)
3.3 Postclassic period (c. 9501539 AD)
3.4 Contact period and Spanish conquest (15111697 AD)
3.5 Persistence of Maya culture
Mesoamerica was one of six cradles of civilization worldwide. The Mesoamerican area gave rise to a series of cultural developments that included complex societies, agriculture, cities, monumental architecture, writing, and calendrical systems. The set of traits shared by Mesoamerican cultures also included astronomical knowledge, blood and human sacrifice, and a cosmovision that viewed the world as divided into four divisions aligned with the cardinal directions, each with different attributes, and a three-way division of the world into the celestial realm, the earth, and the underworld.
During the Mayan collapse around AD 800950, Europe was also in a time of collapse, dispersed in Medieval kingdoms with a relatively strong Papacy. The Middle East and parts of Asia were in a time of empire, following the fast spread of Mohammedanism.
THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON MAYAN COLLAPSE
Note that while this paper references changes in rainfall, other papers have suggested climate change played a more important role.
For example check out this article in BBC News
There are abundant theories about what finished off the Maya. There are the old favourites invasion, civil war, collapsing trade routes but ever since the first Central American ancient climate records were pieced together in the early 1990s, one theory has become particularly popular: that the Maya civilization was ultimately doomed by a period of severe climate change.
In the centuries immediately before the Maya collapse the so-called Classical Age between about AD250 and 800 the civilization boomed. Cities flourished and harvests were good. Climate records (which mostly come from the analysis of cave formations) show that during this time the Maya area had received relatively high rainfall. But the same records show that, starting in about AD820, the region was ravaged by 95 years of punctuated droughts, some of which lasted for decades.
That article references a different study:
The political collapse of Chichen Itza in climatic and cultural context Julie A. Hoggarth, published in Global and Planetary Change, March 2016.
Takeshi Inomata et al do say:
These major waves of political disintegration in both the Preclassic and Classic collapses may have corresponded with prolonged droughts, which may have exacerbated deteriorating social conditions.
LAURENCE DELINA: WWII-STYLE MOBILIZATION TO SAVE THE CLIMATE
Scientists and pundits suggest we need World War Two style mobilization to fight climate change. But what will it really take? If we had the will to save ourselves from devastating climate change, what could we do? Thats the task of a new textbook from Dr. Laurence L. Delina. Hes a Postdoctoral Associate at The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Thats at Boston University. Laurence is also the Rachel Carson Fellow at LMU University in Germany. I reached Laurence in Munich.
We talk about the new book Strategies for Rapid Climate Mitigation Wartime mobilization as a model for action? Note there is a question mark at the end of that title. The book explores what could work, IF world governments decide for action.
The book comes with a foreword by one of my climate heroes, Dr. Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber. Early on, Schellnhuber dared to ask the question: what if we go beyond 4 degrees C of heating? There were two conferences on that. The first was at Oxford I believe. I broadcast Shellnhubers speech from the second, held in Australia in September 2009. Find that program here, and my detailed notes on his speech here.
Download or listen to this 20 minute interview with Laurence Delina on Radio Ecoshock in CD Quality or Lo-Fi
You may also be interested in a paper Laurence co-authored last year: Strengthening the climate action movement. That is a whole other interview.
WRAPPING UP
We are out of time, for this show and for the environment where we were born. Pass it on please, by sharing this program or this blog through your social media channels.
If you are able to help me keep producing Radio Ecoshock, I need that help. You can sign up for a monthly donation, or make a one-time donation of any amount, on this page.
Im Alex Smith. Thank you for listening, and caring about our world.
By Craig Cox and Soren Rundquist
The Trump administration is threatening to remove safeguards that protect the drinking water of more than one-third of Americans.
Some 117 million people get at least some of their drinking water from small streams. For 72 million people in 1,033 counties, more than half of their drinking water comes from small streams. Ensuring that their water is safe means keeping the water in these streams clean.
Right now, the Clean Water Act protects these streams from pollution. But this week President Trump issued an executive order directing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to rescind or revise the Clean Water Rule or replace it with a new rule.
https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/836940968259616768 expand=1]
This critically important rule determines which streams, rivers and lakes are protected from pollution by the Clean Water Act. The rule also extends protection for millions of acres of wetlands that filter drinking water.
Industry and agribusiness have been pushing for years to roll back the Clean Water Rule and protect only the biggest streams and rivers. Now theyve found a friend in the Trump administration.
Small streams are where big rivers start and the best science confirms that dirty streams means even dirtier rivers. Millions of Americans drink water directly connected to 234,000 miles of small, potentially unprotected streams.
In 21 different states, small streams provide drinking water for 1 million or more people. More than 5 million people in each New York, Texas and Pennsylvania get drinking water from small streams, as do more than 3 million in each California, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, North Carolina and Arizona.
Environmental Working Group, from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Geographic Information Systems Analysis of the Surface Drinking Water Provided by Intermittent, Ephemeral and Headwater Streams in the U.S.
President Trumps executive order immediately threatens drinking water for millions of Americans, but its not the only threat. Dozens of lawsuits seeking to gut the Clean Water Rule have been filed by industry and agribusiness and states catering to those interests. Congress could meddle with the Clean Water Act itself to deny protection to small streams and wetlands.
The Clean Water Rule is a common-sense safeguard supported by a majority of Americans. It is supported by many cities and towns that depend on unpolluted drinking water sources and natural infrastructure like wetlands to filter pollutants and absorb floodwaters. Small businesses that rely on clean water and healthy wildlife habitats, such as craft breweries and outdoor recreation companies, also strongly support the Clean Water Rule.
Undermining, weakening or rescinding this vital rule is a gift to corporate polluters and Big Ag and a threat to public health and the environment.
The Environmental Working Group analyzed data from a 2009 EPA study that examined regional patterns of dependence on intermittent, ephemeral and headwater streams to supply public drinking water systems in the United States, using the most recent, valid data available.
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The EPA mapped a Source Protection Area or SPA, for every public drinking water system. The agency defined an SPA as the area upstream from a drinking water intake that provides water to a public drinking water system during a 24-hour period.
The EPAs approach likely underestimates the contribution small steams make to drinking water supplies. Small streams feed the large rivers that millions of people rely on for drinking water, but are too far upstream from the drinking water intake to be included in the EPAs analysis.
In the map below, the blue shaded area is a SPA. Water from streams in the SPA will reach the intake, indicated by a red dot, within 24 hours.
In all, the EPA assessed 413,104 miles of waterways within SPAs. The assessment found that 57 percent or 234,459 stream miles, were intermittent, ephemeral or headwater streams.
Environmental Protection Agency, Geographic Information Systems Analysis of the Surface Drinking Water Provided by Intermittent, Ephemeral and Headwater Streams in the U.S.
The Environmental Working Group used the EPAs data to identify the number of people living in counties that depend most on small streams. We defined these as counties where:
100 percent of residents depend on surface water for drinking water.
More than half of the streams providing source water are intermittent, ephemeral or headwaters streams.
The local utility serves at least 1,000 people.
Craig Cox is the senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the Environmental Working Group. Soren Rundquist is director of spatial analysis at the Environmental Working Group.
By Nika Knight
The state of Michigan has declared that Flints drinking water meets all federal water quality standards, ending a program Wednesday that reimbursed residents for most of their water costs in the wake of the lead crisis.
Yet Flint residents still cant drink the water and the announcement was met with outrage.
They want to make it look like theyve resolved this thing, that its fixed, Tim Monahan, a carpenter who survived Legionnaires disease caused by the poisoned water supply, told the Washington Post. Its been three years and we still cant drink the water.
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has appeared eager to declare the water safe. Yet the New York Times reported weeks ago that while the water supply now meets federal standards, because the aged lead-tainted pipes have yet to be replaced it is still not safe to drink.
Residents have also been skeptical of state officials claim that the water does, in fact, meet federal regulatory standards.
Theyre not telling the truth about the water testing, Melissa Mays, a community advocate with Water You Fighting For, told NBC. Theyre saying theyre in compliance, but everyone here has had to learn the Lead and Copper Rule and theyre not. People are still testing way high for lead, as well as bacteria that the states not even looking at.
At a news conference, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver argued that the state should continue to reimburse residents for their water until they can safely drink it without purchasing a filter. This is a trust issue, thats what it is, said Weaver, according to the Post. Weaver also criticized Michigan officials for giving residents short notice that the water bill credits were coming to an end.
Today Flint residents are paying full price for poison water and the mayor cancels her open office.
?: Activist Lisia #FlintWaterCrisis pic.twitter.com/uXz9UFCBdf Mari Copeny (@LittleMissFlint) March 1, 2017
Last year, officials came under fire for threatening to shut off the water supply to Flint residents who were behind on their bills.
Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams.
In the first comprehensive review of the more than 4,000 native bee species in North America and Hawaii, the Center for Biological Diversity has found that more than half the species with sufficient data to assess are declining. Nearly one in four is imperiled and at increasing risk of extinction.
The new analysis, Pollinators in Peril: A systematic status review of North American and Hawaiian native bees, revealed that more than 700 species are in trouble from a range of serious threats, including severe habitat loss and escalating pesticide use.
The evidence is overwhelming that hundreds of the native bees we depend on for ecosystem stability, as well as pollination services worth billions of dollars, are spiraling toward extinction, said Kelsey Kopec, a native pollinator researcher at the Center for Biological Diversity and author of the study. Its a quiet but staggering crisis unfolding right under our noses that illuminates the unacceptably high cost of our careless addiction to pesticides and monoculture farming.
The widespread decline of European honeybees has been well documented in recent years. But until now much less has been revealed about the 4,337 native bee species in North America and Hawaii. These mostly solitary, ground-nesting bees play a crucial ecological role by pollinating wild plants and provide more than $3 billion in fruit-pollination services each year in the United States.
The key findings:
Among native bee species with sufficient data to assess (1,437), more than half (749) are declining. (Click here to see a list of the bees as well as their status and geographic range).
Nearly one in four (347 native bee species) is imperiled and at increasing risk of extinction.
Many of the bee species lacking sufficient data are also likely declining or at risk of extinction, highlighting the urgent need for additional research.
The declines are caused primarily by habitat loss, heavy pesticide use, climate change and urbanization.
These troubling findings come as a growing body of research has revealed that more than 40 percent of insect pollinators are highly threatened globally, including many of the native bees critical to unprompted crop and wildflower pollination across the U.S.
To assess current population trends and threats as comprehensibly as possible for the 4,337 described species of North American and Hawaiian bees, Center for Biological Diversity staff reviewed the current conservation status of 316 species as established by state, federal or independent research. We then conducted a comprehensive review of all available literature on native bees to determine a status for an additional 1,121 species.
Were on the verge of losing hundreds of native bee species in the United States if we dont act to save them, said Kopec, who spent more than a year analyzing the data. Almost 90 percent of wild plants are dependent on insect pollination. If we dont act to save these remarkable creatures, our world will be a less colorful and more lonesome place.
The assessment highlights five imperiled native bees that offer a vivid snapshot of the unchecked threats driving declines in many native bee species:
Yellow carpet solitary bee: This dark, olive-green bee, whose fate is intertwined with its floral host and Californias dwindling vernal pools, is severely threatened with extinction.
Sunflower leafcutting bee: This spectacularly large bee used to be seen patrolling sunflower stands throughout the Great Plains; it is now in steep decline and rarely seen.
Wild sweet potato bee: Known for its unique three-lobed snout, this bee, once commonly seen foraging across much of the East, is now dangerously imperiled.
Gulf Coast solitary bee: Completely dependent on the disappearing coastal plain honeycombhead plant and the barrier-island sand dunes where it nests, this bee is now found only within a shrinking portion of its range along the Gulf Coast.
Macropis cuckoo bee: This nest invader, which takes over the nests of other bee species to lay its eggs, was once common across much of central and eastern North America but is now considered that regions most endangered bee.
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Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, is facing a familiar legal battle over its proposed Rover Pipeline.
A Hare Krishna community in West Virginia is challenging the project on religious grounds, saying that the pipelines planned route could cut through sacred lands.
The New Vrindaban community in Marshall County was once Americas largest Hare Krishna settlement, and is home to the Palace of Gold, an ornate temple that has been described as Americas Taj Mahal.
The religious organization, which has been trying to rebuild itself since the 1980s after being rocked by numerous scandals, happens to sit on the gas-rich Marcellus Shale. The commune has more or less welcomed gas leases as a means to repair its crumbling infrastructure and start new projects, and has reportedly netted more than $4.3 million in royalties.
While the religious organization signed leases in 2010 and 2014 to sell the natural gas under its properties, according to its federal lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Wheeling on Tuesday, those leases do not allow for any surface disturbances and blocks off sacred areas from outside intrusion.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the lawsuit seeks to block Rovers legal request for immediate access and possession of the pipeline pathway through two of the communitys seven sacred temples. Energy Transfer Partners wants to build the pipeline on a permanent 50-foot-wide right of way about 3,000 feet long on the two properties, offering property owners $7,000.
But the complaint states that the project infringes on religious freedom as it seeks to take a non-metaphorical bulldozer through the Vrindaban Parties property, and in turn, through their most sincerely held holy sites.
The lawsuit also argues that Rover cannot meet the legal burden of demonstrating a compelling governmental interest building the pipeline through New Vrindabans holy grounds, according to the Post-Gazette.
Energy Transfer Partners 713-mile Rover Pipeline will run from West Virginia, eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania into Michigan and eventually Canada. The $4.2 billion pipeline is designed to transport 3.25 billion cubic feet of domestically produced natural gas per day.
Energy Transfer Partners
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipelines construction last month, thereby allowing the company to file eminent domain lawsuits to seize property from owners even if they are unwilling.
But as Gabriel Fried, an executive agent and board member in the Krishna community, told the Post-Gazette, These are sacrosanct properties.
Our goal is to protect these properties, he continued. Were not trying to stop the pipeline or progress. Were amenable to finding a route we and the company can be happy with.
A court hearing over the Krishna lawsuit will take place on Thursday in Wheeling.
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We are not here to stop the Rover Pipeline companys pipeline, rather wed like to come to an understanding that our sacred spaces are not harmed, Vrindavan Das, the director of communications at ISKCON New Vrindaban, told 7News. That would be very disturbing to our residents and pilgrims.
The New Vrindaban community is not alone in opposing the interstate pipeline. Fifty-eight property owners in Michigan have been affected by an eminent domain lawsuit filed in federal court by Energy Transfer Rover Pipeline earlier this month.
They want to build an access road through our property, but we have not agreed to that yet, Marion Township resident William Atkinson told Livingston Daily. Im not happy about eminent domain. I dont think its right they can do that.
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The United States designated Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. It also designated several Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad, which receive substantial support from the Iranian regime.
The U.S. continues to counter Irans support for terrorism, destabilizing regional activities, human rights abuses, and ballistic missile program, including, when appropriate, through sanctions and by working with allies and partners in responding to these activities.
At the Munich Security Conference held recently in Bonn, the Iranian governments role in supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region was denounced by several participants, including the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as the United States. Given the multiple, interrelated conflicts in the Middle East today, Irans continued actions and strident rhetoric undermine regional stability and threaten multiple countries, including close allies of the United States.
At the conference, Vice President Mike Pence gave clear assurance where the U.S. stands on a nuclear challenge from Iran:
Under President Trump, the United States will remain fully committed to ensuring that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon capable of threatening our countries [or] our allies, especially Israel.
In early February, the White House put Iran on notice that its malign activities in the Middle East would not go unanswered. In a move separate from U.S. commitments under the JCPOA, which was solely focused on Irans nuclear program and continues to be implemented by all parties, the Treasury Department sanctioned 25 individuals and entities involved in Irans ballistic missile development and sponsorship of terrorism.
As a result of these designations, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, meaning any assets of these individuals and entities that come into possession of a U.S. person are blocked; and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with these designated individuals and entities.
The United States is committed to holding Iran accountable for its malign activities. It is wise to make certain that Iran recognizes that what it is doing is getting the attention of a lot of people, said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and we have responsibility, along with the rest of the nations that want to maintain stability, to be absolutely clear with Iran in this regard. It does no good to ignore it. It does no good to dismiss it.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Director of Homeland Security John Kelly recently traveled to Mexico to discuss U.S.-Mexico relations.
"Although our two nations share a long history, our visit was forward-looking, focusing on common interests that would advance security and economic well-being," said Secretary Tillerson.
At times, he noted, "two strong sovereign countries. . .will have differences. We listened closely and carefully to each other as we respectfully and patiently raised our respective concerns."
The United States and Mexico reaffirmed their "close cooperation on economic and commercial issues such as energy, legal migration, security, education exchanges, and people-to-people ties," said Secretary Tillerson.Both sides also agreed that the United States and Mexico "should seize the opportunity to modernize and strengthen [the] trade and energy relationship."
Secretary Tillerson said that both countries "reiterated [their] joint commitment to maintain law and order along our shared border by stopping potential terrorists, and dismantling the transnational criminal networks moving drugs and people into the United States. Similarly, we underscored the importance of stopping the illegal firearms and bulk cash that is originating in the United States and flowing into Mexico. There is no mistaking," said Secretary Tillerson, "that the rule of law matters along both sides of our shared border."
The United States recognizes "existing U.S.-Mexican cooperation to curtail irregular migration, both by securing Mexicos southern border and by supporting efforts of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador through the Alliance for Prosperity and working with organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank to reduce violence and stimulate economic opportunity in the region."
Finally, the United States and Mexico, said Secretary Tillerson, "universally agreed on the importance of strengthening existing institutional mechanisms. The meetings were the continuation of a purposeful and productive exchange that is setting our two countries down a pathway to greater security and long-term prosperity."
OFT launch alcohol measures consultation
The Island's Office of Fair Trading is seeking feedback about the way alcohol is measured in Manx pubs, bars and restaurants.
The Isle of Man sells spirits in larger measures than in England and Wales, resulting in licencees having to use stamped measuring equipment to ensure the measures are accurate.
However, the OFT believes the lack of availability of stamped measures and free pouring mean some drinks are inaccurate.
The organisation is hoping finding a way to measure spirits more accurately will ensure consumers get what they pay for and avoid having drunk more than they realise, increasing the risk of drink driving.
The OFT is taking feedback by post, fax or email until March 31st.
MHK seeks power station maintenance details
The maintenance of the power station will be discussed when the House of Keys sits next week.
Douglas North MHK David Ashford wants to know what the remaining life expectancy of the turbines at the Pulrose facility is, and what works have been carried out over the last 12 months.
Mr Ashford is also seeking details about maintenance scheduled for the next 12 months.
Chairman of Manx Utilities Alex Allinson will provide the details on Tuesday.
The OnePlus 4 which was also dubbed as OnePlus 5 will be the upcoming flagship killer from the Chinese tech company. The forthcoming handset from OnePlus is expected to boast top caliber specs similar to high-end devices from other smartphone makers.
Tech2 has learned that OnePlus will be missing the OnePlus 4 and it has decided to jump to OnePlus 5 instead. With this move of the Chinese tech giant, it has been guessed that the Chinese consider the number '4' to be unlucky.
Moving on with the specs, the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 4 is anticipated to boast a glass body which could be made of ceramic just like the Xiaomi Mi Mix. Basically, it is predicted to have a look similar to the presently offered Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and it may also come with wireless charging technology.
Aside from that, The Indian Express stated in its article that the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 4 will arrive pre-installed with Android 7.0 Nougat upon release. When it comes with the processor, the upcoming flagship killer is speculated to be engineered with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset that is paired with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB internal memory.
The OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 4 is rumored to have a variant that is armed with 128GB internal storage, which will be expandable up to 256GB. As for camera department, it might be equipped with a 16 MP front-facing camera along with 23 MP of rear-facing snapper. The upcoming handset from OnePlus is expected to be powered by a 4,000mAh that has support for the company's much-owned Dash Charge technology.
As of this moment, there is still no available detail about the launch date and the pricing of the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 4. With this, tech enthusiasts are advised to take the above-mentioned information with a pinch of salt and always keep an eye for further details to be unveiled by the Chinese tech giant.
The successful tandem of the two lead stars in "Descendants Of The Sun" have led the fans to hope for a real life relationship between Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo. Since the top rated K-drama hit the airwaves, fans all over the world have been very interested in Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo dating news.
The palpable chemistry of Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo in "Descendants Of The Sun" made the viewers swoon with delight and their desire for the successful on-screen love team continued even after the end of the patriotic-romantic K-drama. Although Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo dating news have been circulating since "Descendants Of The Sun" started airing, the two Hallyu stars said that they are only good friends and colleagues.
The professionalism, good acting skills and killer looks are perhaps the perfect combination for a perfect on-screen couple like Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo. According to Soompi, Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo made it to the top 10 cut in Forbes list of Top 40 Power Celebrities in Korea. With the Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo dating news set aside, the fans could only hope for a reunion via a new Kdrama, movie or even an endorsement shoot together.
It has been a while since Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo have been seen together by their fans. With that in mind, will their agencies find a way to reunite the "DOTS" stars soon? Much like Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo dating news, no word about a Song-Song reunion has been released as of writing. Meanwhile, fans can see the other half of the Song-Song couple, Song Hye Kyo, grace one of the biggest magazines in Korea.
According to Drama Fever, Song Hye Kyo will be gracing the anniversary issue of W Magazine together with Yoo Ah In. A lot of fans were disappointed that the "Running Man" actor was not paired with the "Full House" actress. However, many are excited for a possible tell all interview of the 35-year old Korean beauty in W Magazine where she might be asked about Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo dating news.
Lee Min Ho and Suzy Bae are undoubtedly one of South Korea's power celebrity couples. Both big celebrities in their own right, the highly sensationalized romance of Lee Min Ho and Suzy Bae has been under the watchful eyes of the fans and critics since they revealed their relationship to the public.
Lee Min Ho and Suzy Bae seem to be very busy with their respective projects, but there are reports circulating that the Hallyu power couple might be taking a time out in their career to prepare for their upcoming wedding. Will Lee Min Ho and Suzy Bae be out of the limelight soon to prepare for their wedding and start a family?
According to Korea Portal, Lee Min Ho's upcoming album, entitled "Always," might be his final offering to his fans before shying away from the limelight. Some of Lee Min Ho's fans have already begun interpreting the significance of the upcoming album and even reading between the lines that "Always" could mean that his presence will still be around even when he is physically gone.
According to Asia One, the new album by Lee Min Ho is his way of expressing his gratitude to all of his fans who have been strongly supporting him for almost a decade. The upcoming single will premiere on March 4 at a scheduled fan meeting at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.
It is still unclear as to why Lee Min Ho might take a break from his career. He could either be preparing for mandatory army enlistment or he could be preparing for his wedding with Suzy Bae. However, Lee Min Ho and his agency have yet to comment on the career break issues, so it would be best to take the said reports with a grain of salt.
In "Criminal Minds" Season 12, Episode 15, Dr. Spencer Reid, played by Matthew Gray Gubler, will be seen going to the prison on charges of murder. And, the worst part is that the BAU team will not be able to prevent this from happening to the team's genius.
"Criminal Minds" Season 12, Episode 15, titled "Alpha Male," will have the resident genius of the BAU going behind the bars. The charges levied on him include heroin possession, a high-speed car change and also murder, TV Guide reported. Moreover, the BAU team will not be able to stop this from happening to Reid as he made an illegal trip to Mexico.
Reid's trips were to get experimental drugs for his mom from Rosa Medina, who is a doctor. But, Rosa will be stabbed to death in the motel room where they met and he will be charged with her murder. Moreover, he will also be drugged, so he will not clearly remember how things took shape in "Criminal Minds" Season 12, Episode 15.
In the prison, Reid will meet a new acquaintance, Calvin Shaw, a former FBI agent, charged with the killing of one of his informants. The character will be played by guest star, Harold Perrineau. According to reports from CBS, Harold Perrineau will be seen making recurring appearances in the show after his first appearance in "Criminal Minds" Season 12, Episode 15.
However, for Reid, life in the prison will not be easy as he will be making enemies faster than friends. "Criminal Minds" Season 12, Episode 15 will also have a group of prisoners planning to bash him up. And, sadly, Reid will appear defenseless in comparison to his attackers.
It is worth mentioning here that the executive producer, Erica Messer has also teased that the storyline of Reid will not end anytime soon. "Criminal Minds" Season 12, Episode 15 airs on March 1, on CBS.
Hmm, it seems like there could be a way for the universities to avoid the boom-bust cycle of energy:
Nationwide, things are looking up or at least stable for institutions dependent on state funding, which is up for the fourth year in a row. But at some universities, morale is looking more like it did in the midst of recession-era spending cuts.
Thanks to a boom in energy production several years ago, states such as Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming were among the leaders in post-recession higher-education spending, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Now, with energy prices down, looking at the mood on some of those campuses is like looking into a time machine for the rest of the nation, where many states have turned the money faucet back on for higher education. ...
More than 900 jobs have been eliminated from the University of Alaska system in two years, according to state figures. At the University of Wyoming, where Professor Scott R. Shaw said its "the darkest mood in years and perhaps since the Great Depression," the number of job cuts exceeded 300 and could surpass 400. And in North Dakota, where the development of the Bakken Shale helped establish the state as one of the most financially stable in the nation, 500 jobs were eliminated along with 6.5 percent of state support in the last budget.
But as those states scramble to balance budgets, many university leaders are pushing programs they believe could help lift their states out of the boom-and-bust cycles synonymous with energy economies. In some cases, states are holding onto nine-figure campus projects despite hemorrhaging money, programs, and positions. ...
State support to the University of Alaska system dropped from $375 million to $325 million in two years, Mr. Johnsen said, and the loss of over 900 university jobs is significant in a state with a labor force of about 360,000 people.
The numbers dont tell the full story, Mr. Jeffries said. Speaking about the Anchorage campus, he said the recent cuts have damaged morale and cited a faculty survey that found that 41 percent of respondents were actively seeking work elsewhere.
Out of all North African countries after the series of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings, Tunisia is exceptional. While its process of democratization is still ongoing, to make it really happen and move the country forward towards democracy, Europe must take its due part. The key to making Tunisia a successful example for the Arab world is to realize that Tunisias future lies in the same place where the 2010-2011 uprising erupted in its periphery. Tunisias peripheral regions, far away from the coasts of the Mediterranean, are were the many afflictions and challenges are buried. If left unchecked, the peripheral regions could swiftly end Tunisias battle to establish a fully-fledged democracy.
Tunisias peripheral regions suffer greatly from weak economic growth and they lag behind the economically developed coastal regions. Their high levels of poverty and joblessness are a legacy of long years of underinvestment and general negligence. Moreover, regional conflict, terrorism and organized crime have led the government to crack down on security threats in the peripheral regions, which has disrupted the informal and often illegal economic networks on which much of the population depends, but which in turn caused the local people to lose their faith in the government.
Tunisia has received generous support from its international partners since the 2011 uprising and thus has abundant resources to work with. However, it must boost its regional governance and address fragmentation within the ruling party in order to succeed. To that end, Europeans are now in a unique position to help Tunisia fight this lonely battle towards democracy through numerous measures. But what can and should the European Union do?
First, it could boost the incentives for Tunisia by offering it a membership in the European Economic Area, thus galvanizing the countrys journey towards stability. Second, the European Union should help Tunis promote the role of the countrys private sector, implement an effective mechanism for positive discrimination and strengthen civil society in the peripheries. In terms of the EU-Tunisian cooperation, Tunisia will need to create a policy unit to improve cross-sectorial planning and coordination with the EU institutions and a broader international community and come up to the table with well-defined and budgeted strategies.
Peripheral Vision: How Europe Can Help Preserve Tunisias Fragile Democracy Policy Brief by Hamza Meddeb European Council on Foreign Relations.
(The study can be downloaded here)
The Maltese presidency said that the EU should pay more to return African migrants home from Libya. The blocs current president says that Brussels should step up funding for the United Nations migration agency to return migrants stranded in Libya to their home countries further south in Africa. Italy and Malta bear much of the immediate burden of dealing with African migrants who leave Libya on dilapidating vessels. Between 2014-2016, about 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached Europe via the Mediterranean. Maltas proposal comes ahead of a summit of the EUs 28 leaders next week that will discuss putting into practice deals on new steps to stem African immigration.
The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that there are currently around 700,000-1,000,000 migrants in Libya. The organization helps 7,000 people stranded in the country to go back home this year, which means more than doubling of its return program from last year. Brussels promised to provide more financial assistance. However, the Maltese plan calls for significant increase in the number of migrants accepting voluntary returns to their country of origin beyond the current target of 5,000.
During a February meeting in Malta, the EU promised support to the UN-backed government in Libya to help stabilize the country as well as curb migration from the coast. The Libyan government is, however, afraid that if the strategy succeeds and their exit towards the old continent becomes more difficult, the country might witness a growing migrant buildup. Tripoli has therefore asked the bloc to beef up Libyas southern border and help return the people trying to get to Europe. Under the IOM program, charter planes taking off from Tripoli have already returned 589 migrants so far this year, mainly to Senegal and Nigeria. For the most vulnerable of the migrants, the IOM offers additional help to let them get started back at home.
The latest rejuvenation of the European defence project underscores more clearly than ever that EU member states will have to make not just financial but political sacrifices if they really want improved security.
Money alone will not fix it. Political cohesion and tough prioritisation within the EUs Global Strategy and Defence Action Plan will be essential at the European Councils meetings this March and June if the EU is to contribute to better defence for the people of Europe in the face of proliferating security risks and an uncertain US ally.
There are two key obstacles to more meaningful EU and wider European defence.
First, Europeans hold very differing perceptions of threats and national security interests. In the EUs culture of compromise this can mean that the European defence effort loses focus. The ambition of EU strategic autonomy set in the Global Strategy last July means very different things to different member states. Yet for meaningful progress towards really strategic autonomy, prioritisation will be a necessity, not just good practice. And, to prioritise, member states should have a shared view of the severity of each threat, its proximity and their response. This is currently missing.
Second, Europeans have very different defence and military cultures. Even though EU leaders now supposedly share the vision of the EUs Global Strategy, their decisions on how funds should be spent or what capabilities should be developed are still national. With Germany viewing defence as an extension of the political agenda, with a limited military component, and France preferring strong intergovernmental military cooperation [1], what capabilities are to be funded and how defence will be executed remain open questions. Future collective action will be tremendously difficult.
To overcome both challenges would require excellent leadership and remarkable diplomacy. Yet there are a few gradual steps that could bridge gaps and deliver results. So it is worth establishing an agenda for practical progress.
Prioritisation
A critical first step should be to narrow the current action priorities and to channel most of the available funding towards a selected few. The European Council Conclusion from 14 November takes note of over ten priority areas. And the Conclusions from 15 December are even vaguer: they only call for a comprehensive follow up and request proposals from the High Representative. Considering the limited funding available until the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework is adopted, actioning these priorities at the EU level will be a slow process [2]. It would mobilise far more action if EU member states (in conjunction with NATO where appropriate and possible) made the political effort to determine as soon as possible how European security should look in the years to come and agree on what the EU as a defence provider wants to focus on in the short, medium and long term.
Among the priorities already announced, reviewing existing capabilities and developing situational awareness should take precedence over creating new structures, developing overall military or civilian capabilities, or strengthening the rapid deployment of EU Battlegroups.
The results of a review of existing capabilities would help to remove unrealistic expectations, identify critical capability deficits and enable more efficient allocation of resources and responsibilities, thus facilitating progress on other tasks. A harmonised review would also significantly boost greater synergy with NATO on defence policies and capabilities. EU member states have not actually adopted the capability review proposal, nor have they accepted uniform assessment standards [3]. This will have to be rectified quickly if the co-ordinated annual review on defence, which is member state-driven, is to produce meaningful results.
Similarly, improved situational awareness would provide other key foundations for progress such as the mapping and monitoring of security vulnerabilities. It would assist the informed responsiveness that should shape defence planning and development at the strategic and tactical levels.
The upcoming EU Council meetings in mid-March and in June should emphasise these two priorities and set deadlines for their implementation.
NATO-EU collaboration
A second core step for strengthening European defence in the short to medium-term would be the deepening of pragmatic cooperation between the EU and NATO. Joint exercises, enhanced communication on and operational protocols for in-theatre activities, would be a substantial improvement on the still limited cooperation between the two organisations. Given the substantial overlap in membership, the nearly identical neighbourhoods they share, and the theatres of operations they have in common, better synchronisation between the two institutions is much needed. Logical further steps would lead to consolidated regional airspace and maritime surveillance, air lift or intelligence and communications protocols.
There remain significant political obstacles to be overcome, not least on the exchange of classified information. Nevertheless, the July 2016 Warsaw Joint Declaration and the parallel November 2016 European Council and December 2016 North Atlantic Council decisions on implementation have built real momentum. An even stronger member state commitment to fully coordinated EU-NATO capabilities review and development and a joint planning process and could do much for Europes security.
Structured Cooperation
Finally, to be able eventually to act independently of the US to be strategically autonomous EU member states should activate the Lisbon Treatys provision for permanent structured cooperation (PESCO). Its full potential for setting common objectives, streamlining military planning, pooling resources and agreeing on specialization could act as a bridge between the differing threat perceptions and the diverging defence cultures. Going beyond simple intergovernmental collaboration and ad hoc coalitions, PESCO offers a set legal framework of standards and practices that would lead to greater convergence and eventually integration of defences. It could also provide access to the Defence Fund with which common capabilities can be paid for.
With its original aim of establishing a defence union, PESCO is among the most practical ways in which Europeans can do more with less, addressing shortfalls in capabilities and force generation in a joined up way. However, PESCO has so far proven to be too ambitious and politically divisive. And NATO manages without an equivalent. But NATO has seen a proliferation of framework nation approaches among European Allies. These offer the EU a model for an initial approach to PESCO that could be less divisive but that still provides legal structure for EU institutions that lack NATOs defence culture. It could also generate the momentum for gradual, greater integration in the future.
These three steps, if implemented skilfully, would deliver positive net effect for European security. Facing the necessity of greater security and defence efforts and investments, national governments have to accept that these efforts and investments will yield little without embracing the political pain of tougher prioritisation, more vigorous collaboration with NATO and more determined, structured defence cooperation.
****
[1] Daniel Keohane Threes company? France, Germany, the UK and the European defence post-Brexit, Available here: http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/wcm/connect/3d35b207-f5a5-4f3e-8d21-0cae66f9e644/ARI1-2017-Keohane-Threes-company-France-Germany-UK-European-defence-post-Brexit.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=3d35b207-f5a5-4f3e-8d21-0cae66f9e644.
[2] Two windows of the European Defence Fund have been proposed. For the first, a research window, the Commission has suggested EUR 25 million as part of the 2017 EU budget, and expects that this allocation could grow to a total of EUR 90 million by 2020. The second, a capability window, would have to be agreed by the Member States, with current estimates of EUR 5 billion per year to be made available. More information can be found here:http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2016/571405/IPOL_IDA(2016)571405_EN.pdf.
[3] Bastian Giegerich, European Defence and the Emperors New Uniform,http://www.iiss.org/en/militarybalanceblog/blogsections/2016-629e/december-e473/european-defence-and-the-emperors-new-uniform-0f7b.
The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.
The US saw an addition of 1.5 million barrels of commercial crude oil for the week to February 24, which has increased the stockpiles to 520.2 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Though the addition was below analysts expectations of a 3.1 million barrel increase, successive eight straight weeks of addition have kept oil prices under check. The US crude oil production continued to power ahead at 9.03 million barrels per day (bpd).
"The EIA stats don't offer much in the way of surprises this week," said David Thompson, executive vice-president at Powerhouse, an energy-specialized commodities broker in Washington.
"Lack of weather-generated demand for heating oil will be offset in coming weeks by agricultural demand, but with refineries coming back into service, the market looks capable of meeting any increased demand," reports Reuters.
Oil likely to head lower
While the OPEC has managed a high rate of compliance, most of it comes from the oil rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has cut 744,000 bpd 153% above its target.
However, if oil prices fail to rally higher, constrained by the higher US shale oil production, it is unlikely that Saudi Arabia will continue to carry the production cuts on its shoulders for another six months.
And, if oil stocks are any indication, oil is headed down, said Matt Maley of Miller Tabak Securities. While WTI crude oil prices were up 2.2% in February, The Energy Select Sector SPDR fund (XLE) was down about 2% in the same month.
Energy stocks usually lead crude oil so if history is any guide, the decline in the XLE should be telling us that the recent bounce in WTI is not going to last, Maley said in a recent note, reports Hellenic Shipping News.
Global growth is the theme for 2017 so far.
This was highlighted by the RBA in its February statement, which opened, the global economy entered 2017 with more momentum than expected.
Currencies such as the Australian Dollar are benefiting the most from a global boom, with AUD/USD over 7% this year, and NZD and CAD also performing well.
Data continues to surprise to the upside and global PMIs are at multi-year highs across major economies. A recent note by ANZ goes as far as saying, animal spirits unleashed as the US Philly Fed Index jumped by 20 points in February to its highest level since the 1980s.
But what exactly is driving the boom? A new note out today by Deutsche Bank suggests the reason is fiscal policy. While many await more details on fiscal spending from Donald Trump and the U.S, Deutsche Bank point out it is already happening.
A Boom In Fiscal Stimulus
2016 saw the largest stimulus since the financial crisis, with policy from the worlds largest economies worth around 0.25% global GDP. Last years stimulus was also broad-based, with more countries easing fiscal policy than tightening for the first time since 2010.
This calculation by Deutsche Bank is based on the IMFs semi-annual Fiscal Monitor measuring the fiscal stance of the worlds twenty largest economies. Although the overall figures are modest compared to 2008 and 2009, the change in fiscal stance compared to 2015 is notable in two of the largest economies; China and the U.S.
Standing out is the large contribution of easing from China. Also notable is the shift in the US fiscal policy stance, which turned from strongly negative in 2015 to very positive last year. Assuming lags in transmission, the sequencing ties in nicely with the relative turn in business cycles which, as we wrote a couple of weeks ago, saw Chinese growth lift off in early last year to be followed by the US in the autumn.
Just how large the stimulus is exactly is hard to measure, as data coming out of China is notoriously patchy. However, Deutsche bank points out, our economists have noted the strong fiscal tailwinds from the booming property market and underlying indicators of Chinese growth have risen to levels almost consistent with the massive stimulus of 2009/10, the implication being that the IMF numbers may understate easing.
This sounds positive for global growth, and particularly the Australian Dollar, but there are signs that last years fiscal stimulus is already being reigned in, and the effects of this tightening may have an effect later in the year.
Have You Missed The Bus?
Fiscal stimulus has a delayed effect on global growth, so the upturn we are now experiencing is a result of stimulus earlier in 2016. However, any tightening will also have a delayed effect, and as Deutsche bank points out, this is already happening,
the IMFs 2017 forecast suggest the fiscal boost is coming to an abrupt end. China has already been tightening policy sharply since October to rein in credit growth and Eurozone fiscal slippage is likely to be less than in 2016, which leaves Trump hopes. If legislative difficulties delay tax cuts until next year, a big hole will need to be filled.
So just as everyone is focused on fiscal stimulus, it may already have passed us by. Again, all eyes are on the U.S. and Donald Trumps phenomenal plans which the market will have already priced in to a certain extent. The big risk is the market expects too much and the new administration doesnt deliver.
Commodity currencies such as AUD, CAD and NZD have benefited the most from the recent global growth and are therefore most susceptible to a reversal. When exactly this reversal could happen isnt clear. Strong PMI data out of China and Europe yesterday suggests any expectation for weakness is premature. However, 2017 is still young and the current theme of booming global growth may be very different by the end of the year.
nishant0019 said: I have ielts score 6.0
R 6.5
L 5.5
W 5.5
S 5.5
Work experience in hydro power station at Sardar sarovar 8 year
Master approved by Wes Canada
Age 30
Wife physiotherapist
Her experience 5 year
Her ielts score 6.0 Click to expand...
Federal Skilled Worker Program
You must meet the minimum level of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in English or Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 7 in French for your first official language in all four language abilities .
To get points for your second official language, you must meet the minimum level of CLB 5 in all four language abilities. Click to expand...
You do not qualify to come to Canada.It doesn't matter if you get a PNP from British Columbia or Ontario or Quebec or Nunavut - you must still meet... it is the federal government administers the the Express Entry program and issues the Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Permanent Residence in Canada, whilst the provinces simply administer their own nomination programs, which are one component of the Express Entry program (they do not issue ITA letters nor do they have the power to compel the federal government issue an ITA to a candidate).As things stand, your basic English skills do not meet that minimum requirement.According to the Government of Canada website According to the IELTS <-> CLB conversion chart, you only meet the requirements in Reading.Your Listening, Writing and Speaking scores do not meet the minimum CLB 7 benchmark, and until you can achieve a CLB 7 score, you will be ineligible to come to Canada under the Express Entry program.The above also applies to your wife. If even one of her 4 English language scores is below CLB 7 then she too will be ineligible to come to Canada.
Can anyone suggest a good hairdresser. i live in peyia and usually do my own colour as i am a hairdresser but it needs a good cut and its nice to have someone else do it for a change
Hi there,I figured I would seek some advice here before I go dive into this full stop. I am looking for some clarity on TdS renewal at the end of a CDD. It is my understanding that the end of a CDD falls under involuntary unemployment, and therefore the TdS is automatically eligible for renewal?Specific details:I'm in France on a Scientific Researcher visa (now converted to a Scientific researcher TdS). It expires this fall as does my contract (CDD) and my convection. My contract is with a public institution who sponsored me, and will not be renewed. Reality is I am finishing up as a PhD student.I am paid a salary by the institution, and will have been employed 3 years at the time of expiry.Based on my understanding of https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F15922 I think that once my CDD ends I can apply for a year extension on my TdS on the basis that my contract has ended and use that time to look for a job relative to my field? Then the extension can be further extended until which time I am no longer eligible with pole emploi? The bit which is confusing me is that the page lists Researchers separately, however they fall under the "passeport talent" visa category.Anyone have any ideas or experience?
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Dear EuroCitizen,
As you know, next week we are organising a Round Table about the implications of Brexit for British and Spanish citizens.
It has taken a massive effort to get this together, but now we have a fantastic venue (European Parliament offices on the Castellana) and some great speakers: not only a politician from the senate and another from the European parliament but top experts on health, education, legal aspects such as residence and work permits.
So this is a unique opportunity for you to find out about what Brexit could mean for you and your family.
As a group, we also need support from our members to demonstrate to the world that UK nationals are really concerned about what might happen to us when Britain leaves the European Union.
Now is the crucial time to stand up for your rights!!!!!!
Please register for the event here: https://fastfor.ms/02031 and share with your friends.
you will need to do this to get past security, as ID documents will be requested.
If you have already registered, no need to do it again, and thanks for your support.
With best wishes,
Michael Harris (Vice-president EuroCitizens)
People considering moving to the UK have probably never heard of it, but a small town near Liverpool in the north west of the country has the best quality of life in the country.Indeed, many people in the UK have probably never heard of Bebington either but the town, which is five miles south of Liverpool has been ranked by economists has having the best work-life balance and access to good schools and green spaces. The study by the Centre for Economic and Business Research and the Royal Mail, names Norwich in the east of England as the second best spot and Bournemouth on the south coast third. Nowhere in London made the top 10 list.Bebington has just 15,760 residents but it has good jobs, short commutes to work and affordable house prices which are around a quarter of the price of buying a home in London.The study also found that in Scotland, three quarters of the most desirable places to live and work are around Glasgow. Residents have shorter working hours and shorter commute times as well as access to local services, better schools and lower crime rates.More than half of the most desirable places to live and work in Wales this year are located around Cardiff and in Northern Ireland, the top locations remain around Belfast and Craigavon which benefit from easy access to local services, high employment rates and a strong education system.The rest of the locations in the top 10 national ranking were Sale in Greater Manchester in fourth place, East Cowes in the Isle of Wight in fifth place, Eastleigh in Hampshire sixth, Ipswich in Suffolk seventh, Leeds eighth, Dronfield in north east Derbyshire ninth and Reading in tenth.Newcomers in Scotland this year include Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides and Kirkwall in Orkney which rated highly due to a good work-life balance and high employment rate. But Edinburgh did not feature this year, mostly due to the high cost of housing.The research comes as the latest official figures show that net migration is falling with a significant drop in people arriving from European Union countries. The data from the Office of National Statistics is the first set of figures to cover an extended period since the UK voted to leave the EU.Numbers fell below 300,000 for the first time in two years with 273,000 net arrivals in the 12 months to the end of September 2016, down from 335,000 in the year to the end of June.The figures also show that the actual number of arrivals in the 12-month period was 596,000, a fall of 23,000 of which 268,000 of were EU citizens. But more people are arriving from Bulgaria and Romania with arrivals up 19,000 to 74,000.Overall the net flow from the EU was 165,000, the lowest for two years, with 180,000 EU moving for work related reasons, with approximately 63% of those having a definite job to go to.The number of students has fallen, down by 41,000 in the year to September 2016. The majority of the drop was made up of non-EU students, down 31,000.
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A group of community activists that raised money to save the Hays Street Bridge has lost a court battle with the city over land next to the East Side landmark that it says was supposed to be for a park.
The 4th Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed the case after ruling the city of San Antonio cant be sued for breach of contract by the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group. The group had sued the city in 2012 to prevent the 1.7 acres next to the bridge at 803 N. Cherry St. from being sold to the Alamo Beer Co.
Amy Kastely, an attorney for the group, said she was disappointed with the ruling. The group hasnt determined whether it will ask the 4th Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision or whether the group will file an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court, she said.
Deputy City Attorney Debbie Klein called the ruling a clear victory for the city.
We will continue to work with the community on smart development for the area surrounding the Hays Street Bridge, Klein said in an emailed statement.
The Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group alleged that the land had been donated as part of the effort to raise money to restore the bridge, which reopened in 2010 as a bike and pedestrian route over railroad tracks.
The group and the city had entered into in 2002 a memorandum of understanding regarding the bridges restoration. The city was accused of breaching the memorandum which the group called a contract by not developing a park.
The city maintained the property, which was donated by beer distributor BudCo in 2007, was not part of the Hays Street Bridge restoration project.
In 2014, a Bexar County district court jury found that the city failed to comply with the terms of the memorandum.
Judge David Canales subsequently issued a ruling that the city interpreted to mean that it could sell the property as long as the proceeds went toward the bridge, the San Antonio Express-News reported in 2015.
The city sold the land to a company headed by Alamo Beer owner Eugene Simor in December 2014. Simor couldnt immediately be reached for comment. But county property records show he deeded the land to a company headed by San Antonio apartment developer Mitchell Meyer in October.
Meyer didnt immediately return a call, but his Loopy Ltd. website shows The Bridge apartments are planned for the Cherry Street site. Its possible Meyers acquisition of the property is contingent on the resolution of any litigation.
Kastely said that aside from the lawsuit, the group has been working with city officials to add viewshed protection that would limit the height of development around the bridge to ensure that it remains visible from the street.
The city appealed the state district court verdict the same month it sold the land to Simors company.
The city argued, among other contentions, that it was immune as a branch of the government from being sued for breach of contract.
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The Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group responded that if the city was deemed immune from being sued, then the group should be allowed to amend its lawsuit.
The appeals court held that the memorandum concerned a governmental function as opposed to a proprietary function and therefore the city was immune from the suit. The court ruled there is nothing in the Local Government Contract Claims Act that provides for a waiver of immunity from a suit seeking to impose specific performance for breach of contract, the courts opinion states.
The group did not seek financial damages, only that the city honor the terms of the memorandum.
The ruling essentially says when the city makes a contract, (it isnt) bound unless the other party is looking for money, Kastely said.
The court also disagreed that the group should be allowed to amend the lawsuit and thus dismissed the case.
The courts opinion was written by Justice Marialyn Barnard, who was joined in the ruling by Justices Karen Angelini and Rebecca C. Martinez.
pdanner@express-news.net
Twitter: @AlamoPD
A prominent Laredo banker who drew ire as a fundraiser for Donald Trump railed against some of the president's key policies Wednesday, saying the White House needs to rethink its positions on Mexico.
Weve all seen massive positive influence from that agreement, IBC Bank CEO Dennis Nixon said in a meeting with the San Antonio Express-News editorial board. One in five jobs in Texas is tied to trade. So youd better be careful or you could end up putting Texas into a big hole and not being able to recover.
He cited the Toyota plant in San Antonio: it would not exist if it wasnt for Mexico.
Nixons comments come as Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, a Republican, departs for Mexico City to smooth relations amid Trumps calls to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, build a border wall, tax Mexican imports and purge the U.S. of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.
Texas Gov. Greg Abott, who plans to meet with Mexican leaders in a few weeks, is extremely bullish about maintaining the states $200 billion annual cross-border trade with Mexico, Pablos said Monday.
International Bancshares Corp., the Laredo-based parent company of International Bank of Commerce, has a corporate office thats a stones throw from the Rio Grande and gets a lot of business from Mexican nationals with homes and businesses on the Texas side. As such, Nixon said the bank is deeply invested in strong U.S.-Mexico trade and relations, which Trumps tough talk has put at risk.
It riled some Democratic leaders last year to learn that a business leader close to the border and from one of the nations bluest counties helped host a Trump fundraiser in San Antonio held on the same day and in the same city as the state Democratic Convention. Nixon contributed $36,100 to the Trump Victory Fund and $5,400 to Trump himself, on top of $66,800 to the Republican National Committee, according to federal campaign data.
Nixon explained himself with a June 8 fundraising letter to friends and colleagues urging them to support Trump because the other choices voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton or not voting at all were unacceptable.
We need a candidate who can cut the red tape and lift the regulatory burdens off the backs of business, so that companies can grow, expand, and create jobs, Nixon wrote. I do believe that if Donald Trump wins, he will engage in the traditional thinking of solving real problems and getting our fiscal house in order.
Still, Nixons visit to the Express-News Wednesday, the day after President Trumps first address to a joint session of Congress, was largely about the damage some of Trumps most popular ideas could do to the Texas and border economies.
Nixon highlighted how Laredo has been the primary beneficiary of NAFTA, with free trade feeding its growth to the largest inland port and third largest Customs district in the United States.
Trade with Mexico and Canada has grown from basically near zero to well past a trillion dollars, and every state of the union has benefited, he said. That is something that I dont think should be unwound because its been mutually beneficial.
He agreed with Trump that some of the countrys trade deals were unfair and that the 23-year-old NAFTA needed to be revisited to take in Mexicos newly opened oil and gas industry as well as technical advances that have transformed commerce. But he said he was frightened that Trump may be going overboard on nationalism and said border towns were already seeing a backlash against Trumps insulting tone and proposal for tariffs on Mexicos exports to the U.S.
Mexico has already done some boycotting of American institutions in Mexico, he said. Weve seen travel diminish along the border. Weve seen fewer shoppers, fewer people coming We are not going to be able to do these things without some sort of response. You slap me, I slap you back.
Plans to increase the number of Customs and Border Protection agents and spend $20 billion on a border wall missed the point that illegal immigrant apprehensions have declined from a peak of 1.6 million to about 400,000 last year, he said. He blamed the more recent surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America on a system that encouraged them to come.
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Weve gone out and increased the Border Patrol, increased the Border Patrol, increased the Border Patrol, and all theyre doing is catching more and more people that we cant process and handle with the legal system, he said.
Nixon passed out a pamphlet, Common Sense Border Security Solutions: Thoughts from Dennis E. Nixon, which among other things suggests beefing up the immigration system instead of releasing minors to relatives due to backlogged courts, clearing the Rio Grande of nonnative weeds and Carrizo cane that impede border apprehensions, and building riverside patrol roads for the Border Patrol.
As for whether hed gotten Trumps ear on his concerns, he said hed tried.
Ive mentioned it and Ive talked to him about it, he said. I havent had an hour where I could sit down and say pay attention to these issues. Ive had spurts and moments that I could talk to him and Ive talked to a lot of good people around him. And I believe theyll eventually see the reason.
lbrezosky@express-news.net
This week, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick sent every one of his employees some 11,000 people yet another apology.
It was in reaction to a six-minute dash cam video, obtained and published Tuesday afternoon by Bloomberg, showing Kalanick in a heated argument with one of his drivers.
The conversation began amicably enough with Kalanick and driver Fawzi Kamel shaking hands. Kamel asked about reduced fares in general across Ubers various offerings. (As Bloomberg noted, in 2012 an Uber Black ride cost $4.90 per mile. Now it costs $3.75 per mile.)
Kalanick explained he lowered fares to remain competitive against other ride-sharing companies, such as Lyft.
We didnt go low-end because we wanted to, Kalanick said, referring to adding services such as Uber Pool to the original Uber Black. We went low-end because we had to.
We could go higher and more expensive, Kamel countered.
Then he continued, thrusting his finger at Kalanick and telling him that no one trusts him anymore.
I lost $97,000 because of you. Im bankrupt because of you. You keep changing every day, he said, adding, You changed the whole business.
You know what?, Kalanick said over Kamels shouting. Some people dont like to take responsibility for their own (expletive). They blame everything in their life on everyone else. He climbed out of the car, spitting good luck behind him.
Good luck to you too, Kamel said, adding that Kalanick wont go far.
The video quickly sparked outrage. One Twitter user summed up the online ire, tweeting, Ju(s)t watched video of CEO of #uber, and all I can say is #deleteuber.
Kalanicks apology, also posted to Ubers website, began, By now Im sure youve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement.
The language then grows increasingly melancholy, stating the incident cannot be explained away. It continued: Its clear this video is a reflection of me and the criticism weve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time Ive been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.
It closed with Kalanick profoundly apologizing to Kamel and the driver and rider community as a whole.
Such language from the CEO suggested the apology was inspired by more than simply the video. The past few months have not been kind to company.
The biggest blow came in the form of a hashtag that spurred genuine action. After President Donald Trump issued a travel ban against seven predominately Muslim countries, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance staged a strike at John F. Kennedy International Airport. About 30 minutes after it began, Uber tweeted it was lifting surge prices at JFK.
Quickly, #DeleteUber trended on Twitter. Sparked by this, some 200,000 people reportedly deleted the app in January alone (not too difficult an action when its major competitor Lyft is available in most major cities).
It didnt help matters that, in December, Kalanick had joined Trumps economic advisory council. Finally, after the social media campaign to boycott his company, Kalanick quit the council. In a memo to his staff, he wrote, joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that.
Mere weeks later, the company again found itself in an unfortunate spotlight when former Uber engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti wrote a blog post alleging systematic sexual harassment and workplace discrimination against women at Uber.
Kalanick tweeted in response. Whats described here is abhorrent & against everything we believe in. Anyone who behaves this way or thinks this is OK will be fired. He added that there can be absolutely no place for this kind of behavior at Uber.
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He also hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to lead an investigation into these claims with the participation of Huffington Post founder and Uber board member Arianna Huffington and the companys human resources chief, Liane Hornsey.
Somewhat buried by these stories were the companys ongoing issues with self-driving cars.
In December, Uber was forced to pull a fleet of such cars from San Francisco, just a week after deployment. The California Department of Motor Vehicles deemed the service illegal as Uber didnt have the required autonomous vehicle license.
During that week, though, one of Ubers autonomous Volvos ran a red light, which was caught on video. The company originally claimed this happened as a result of human error, as every car in the fleet cars also had drivers onboard in case of emergency.
Later, internal documents obtained by the New York Times showed the problem to be a mistake in the cars programming. One document stated, the mapping programs used by Ubers cars failed to recognize six traffic lights in the San Francisco area.
Compounding Ubers woes was a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the company last week. It alleged Uber stole Google laser technology called LiDAR to build its autonomous fleet.
As the Washington Posts Michael Laris reported: Misappropriating this technology is akin to stealing a secret recipe from a beverage company, according to a blog post from Waymo, the self-driving company created by Google parent Alphabet.
Waymo said the alleged far-reaching thievery which it said was led by a former employee and involved the surreptitious downloading of 9.7 GB of confidential files and trade secrets came to light in an apparently errant email.
An Uber spokesperson said the company would review this matter carefully.
For all this, Ubers net revenue seems to continue growing unchecked.
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The City Council unanimously approved a new master plan for Brackenridge Park on Thursday, months after efforts to revitalize the park were nearly derailed over concerns that the voices of regular park users hadnt been included in the plans development.
In a separate, somewhat contentious vote, the council also agreed Thursday not to annex a 12-square-mile area along U.S. 281 for almost 17 years.
Not included in the Brackenridge master plan are earlier proposals to close roads in the park to make room for a grand lawn, the removal of internal parking areas and the addition of a tram to move people throughout the park. Those ideas were scrapped from a draft plan after a huge public outcry last year.
The centrally located, 343-acre park is a popular place for families to throw barbecues and picnic on weekends and particularly on holidays, such as Easter, when people camp in the park for days at a time. Many speakers at public meetings about the master plan last summer said the proposed road closures would limit access to the park.
The new plan still includes recommendations to restore natural features and improve water quality in the part of the San Antonio River that runs through the park; preserve and restore the parks cultural and historic features; and increase the parks visibility and pedestrian access.
Discussions on how to revitalize the park, just north of downtown between U.S. 281 and Broadway, began in 2015. A draft master plan was presented to a City Council committee last March. A series of public meetings were then planned for the summer after residents said the public hadnt been adequately engaged in discussions about how the park should be improved.
Brackenridge Park is slated to receive $7.75 million in the proposed 2017 municipal bond, which goes to voters May 6. The park also would get more parking if the bond is approved: $11.75 million is set aside for construction of a new parking facility that will serve both park and San Antonio Zoo patrons, and $2 million would fund expansion of the park and the Witte Museum Parking Garage.
But there are many other pricey items in Brackenridge that need funding, particularly restoration of the Catalpa Pershing Channel on the parks east side. That project alone could cost in the tens of millions of dollars, said Parks and Recreation Department director Xavier Urrutia.
As part of ongoing discussions about the parks future, the Brackenridge Park Conservancy is holding a summit from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Pearl Stable.
Temporary annexation reprieve
Regarding the annexation vote, the City Council has debated for more than two years what parts of Bexar County to potentially annex.
Thursdays vote to execute a nonannexation agreement with the neighborhoods off U.S. 281 in North Bexar County represented a compromise the city originally planned to annex this area as part of a large annexation plan first unveiled in 2014.
But opposition to annexation, and concerns over the citys financial projections, led to a dramatic scaling back of the plans.
Instead, the city agreed not to annex the residential area until Dec. 30, 2033. About 25,000 people live in the area, and there are about 8,600 homes, according to Deputy City Manager Peter Zanoni.
As part of the nonannexation agreement, the city negotiated several requirements for development in the area. Builders will have to adhere to the citys light pollution ordinance and to the rules of the Edwards Aquifer overlay zone, which limits certain industrial uses over the aquifer recharge zone. Also, any new residential and commercial projects in the area will have to first go to the citys Development Services Department for approval; they will also be required to meet the citys building standards.
Almost 1,519 acres, or 23 percent, of the total area included in the nonannexation agreement remain undeveloped, according to the city. About 1,200 of those acres are over the aquifer.
Last year, the city voted to annex a smaller, commercial section off U.S. 281 abutting the residential area.
District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg made a motion to deny the nonannexation agreement Thursday, arguing that residents who live off Interstate 10 West in North Bexar County an area the city plans to annex by fall 2019 werent afforded the same opportunity to negotiate.
Nirenberg, who is running for mayor, also said the city is voting to eventually take in an area that we will be ill-equipped to serve to the standards that we expect.
District 10 Councilman Mike Gallagher fired back at Nirenbergs motion, arguing that by not supporting the agreement, the District 8 councilman was also voting against the negotiated stipulations, such as the stricter building requirements. Those additions, Gallagher said, are meant to help protect the military installation at Camp Bullis, which is just west of the area. Nirenberg denied Gallaghers interpretation.
Nirenbergs motion, which District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales also supported, failed to pass. The council approved the nonannexation agreement, with Nirenberg voting no.
Several area legislators, including state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, and state Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, have filed bills to limit cities ability to annex unincorporated areas without first allowing residents of the area to vote on it.
vdavila@express-news.net
AUSTIN The Texas House and Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved measures aimed at fixing long-running problems in the states child-protection system that have left abused and neglected children unchecked for months and, in some cases, sleeping in state offices.
The votes in both chambers, following lengthy debates, were the first legislative steps to combat a shortage of caseworkers, high turnover rates and administrative miscues that have plagued the states child protection system for more than two decades, in spite of at least two previous overhauls,
The Senate measure includes a provision to outsource the management of foster care cases to nonprofits and community-based groups across the state, a change that has drawn criticism from employee groups and some child advocates. The state currently has an outsourcing pilot program in one region of Texas.
While the Senate approved its overhaul without discord, the House approved its legislation following a heated argument about immigration and racism over an amendment that eventually was withdrawn.
Texas child-protection program has been in the sights of lawmakers and state leaders since last year, when it was revealed that CPS workers were failing to see thousands of children named in abuse and neglect cases within weeks as required by state law. Some were never seen at all.
Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders demanded immediate changes, at one point dispatching state police to track down children including dozens in Harris County who had been on waiting lists for months. Officials at the Department of Family and Protective Services blamed high staff turnover rates, low pay and a mushrooming case load that had overwhelmed the system.
In December, House and Senate leaders approved more than $150 million in emergency funding to hire more than 800 new caseworkers, investigators and support staff and to provide $12,000-a-year pay hikes in a bid to curb high staff turnover.
Behind Wednesdays votes is the possibility that a Corpus Christi federal judge could place the state foster care system under court supervision and mandate sweeping changes, after declaring the system unconstitutional because its chronic operational problems have gone unaddressed for years.
Anyone arguing for the status quo is arguing for more failure, said state Sen. Charles Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican who authored Senate Bill 11 aimed at making community-based programs a centerpiece of the CPS overhaul, along with new supervision and care mandates on DFPS for children in state custody.
He defended the plan to expand the outsourcing of foster care case management services now provided by state workers.
Community-based care is an answer. They know that child the best. That child is their child, Schwertner said.
In the House, lawmakers symbolically chose two reform bill as the first bills passed by the chamber this year.
House Bill 4 by Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, would allow grandparents and other relatives who take care of abused and neglected children through the Department of Family and Protective Services kinship care program to be eligible for state assistance.
Instead of a onetime initial payment of $1,000 and an annual stipend of $500, the measure would pay caregivers about $6,200 per child to caregivers who live below the federal poverty level of $24,600 a year, for a family of four. Those with more income could receive up to $4,150 a year, depending on their annual income.
House Bill 5 by Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, would make DFPS a stand-alone agency, separated from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in hopes of speeding up its decision-making so it can more quickly address childrens needs.
The two House bills now will go to the Senate for consideration, and the Senate bill heads to the House. Both chambers must approve all legislation before it can be sent to the governor to be signed into law.
Leadership in the Senate and House made it clear Wednesday they intend to make quick work of the remaining process. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus applauded the bipartisan effort to pass all three bills.
We have taken a couple of very important steps toward providing better protection and care for children in terrible circumstances, with more to come in the weeks ahead, Straus said in a statement.
Abbott, who previously said he intends to sign reform legislation that will fix the problems, echoed the sentiment: Todays actions by the House and Senate are a significant first step toward reforming the child welfare system and creating a culture that gives every child a chance to not only survive, but thrive in Texas.
Advocates also applauded the votes.
If the state is serious about reducing the number of abused children in Texas, investment in prevention programs is essential, said Madeline McClure, CEO of TexProtects, a Dallas-based child advocacy group.
Reporter Bobby Cervantes contributed to this story.
mike.ward@chron.com
twitter.com/ChronicleMike
AUSTIN Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller again is clashing with the Legislature and threatening to unilaterally raise fees on farmers and ranchers.
Miller, a first-term Republican who ran as a hard-line conservative, has faced repeated questions about his spending decisions and weathered fierce criticism for raising licensing, registration and inspection fees by $11 million annually last year. Now, he is doubling down by promising to raise fees by an additional
$5 million unless lawmakers give his agency more funding and more power to transfer money between programs.
Were providing a protection and service to the producers and consumers of this state, Miller told a House Appropriations subcommittee last month. Im asking for the essential money to keep that service alive.
If you give us our budget tools back, we can actually lower some of these fees, he added in an appeal to the Senate Finance Committee, arguing that many agencies have transfer authority and that giving him that power would not cost the state anything.
The pleas did not go over well with lawmakers, who already are struggling to close a budget shortfall without raising taxes or tapping into the states rainy day fund.
Several powerful House budget writers decided Tuesday to reject Millers request for transfer authority, according to Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, who is chairman of a spending panel that oversees the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Commissioner Miller has proven why this body cant give him that kind of authority, Gonzales said in an interview, referring to news reports about the commissioners spending of agency money on personal trips and extravagant bonuses and salaries for friends.
Were in a tight budget cycle, said Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, before mentioning that Miller served in the House between 2001 and 2013. Im always interested when legislators go on to higher elected office and they want everybody else to be cut except them.
The burgeoning fight has echoes of 2015 and 2016, when Miller aggressively lobbied lawmakers to restore years-old budget cuts to the agency and, when that failed, raised the fees some by 100 percent or more. Miller agreed to delay the fee increases amid criticism from industry groups, dozens of lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, but he eventually implemented them in January 2016.
Miller passionately defended his decisions at that time. He said fees had not been raised in more than a decade, resulting in a lengthy backlog in inspections and other services that was hurting Texans.
This time around, the commissioner is requesting about $6.5 million to hire additional inspectors, buy new trucks, rehab the laboratory in which weights and measures are calibrated and promote Texas agriculture abroad. He also wants to regain power to transfer money between programs, carry over surplus money from one fiscal year to the next and keep the money collected from fines.
That authority is common for cost-recovery agencies that collect fees and violation dollars, Miller said, emphasizing that the nature of the collection setup meant that no taxpayer dollars would be at stake.
Miller has warned lawmakers that budget plans currently under consideration would trigger new fees and a death spiral downward, where services provided by TDA to 27 million Texans are constantly decreasing.
Asked by Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, about why he had raised fees related to certification of seeds by 141 percent last year, Miller said the increase did not cover costs and would have to go up again drastically.
Seliger and others have been unusually hostile to Millers requests in public and private. During the House hearing, Beaumont Republican Dade Phelan wondered aloud whether lawmakers could give the departments duties to another agency.
The reason for the opposition, according to multiple lawmakers, is a spate of news reports about Millers questionable spending.
Among other issues, the Houston Chronicle has revealed over the past 18 months that Miller has used agency money to fly to Oklahoma to receive a pain-curing injection known as The Jesus Shot and to travel to Mississippi to compete in a rodeo; has frequently flown first class and charged the state for cocktails; has hired nine friends and campaign aides to new high-paying jobs without giving the public a chance to apply, as required by law; and has given more bonuses in his first nine months than his predecessor awarded in his first two and a half years in office.
An investigation by the Texas Rangers confirmed that Miller used state money for personal gain, including The Jesus Shot, but prosecutors ultimately decided not to file charges.
His fiscal management has really raised eyebrows, and he hasnt done anything to give us comfort in his ability to handle a budget, Gonzales said.
Miller also faces opposition from the agriculture industry. At the legislative hearing, Steven Boyd, the managing director of Sun Coast Resources, a Houston-based fuel and lubricant distributor, decried the outrageous fees that he said had gone up about 500 percent for meters on delivery trucks, forcing him to lay off employees.
In Texas, were supposed to be pro-business, Boyd said.
Miller spokesman Mark Loeffler suggested in an interview that agency officials are still confident that lawmakers will approve their requests.
Our legislative relations staff has been working with them. Its just a matter of understanding where we are in this cost-recovery world, Loeffler said. Its workable.
brian.rosenthal@chron.com
twitter.com/brianmrosenthal
Police Chief William McManus told a City Council subcommittee Wednesday that local officials should consider whether its time for San Antonio to join the feds and the state in regulating the use of drones.
The unmanned aircraft, which can be small enough to fit in the palm of the hand (no one is suggesting regulating those) and large enough to carry action cameras, have become immensely popular and accessible in the retail market.
McManus plans to present the issue to the councils Criminal Justice, Public Safety and Services Committee turned heads and raised questions.
We brought this up because theres a need for a larger discussion, McManus said after the committee meeting. Were not having the discussion so we can over-regulate.
Councilman Roberto Trevino, a committee member and pilot, said its unclear whether San Antonio will adopt regulations for drones but suggested hed like to work with colleague Mike Gallagher on getting something on the books.
San Antonios airspace is incredibly active, and its not just from San Antonio International Airport. He noted that active Air Force bases, Stinson Field, Port San Antonio and others also contribute to air traffic.
Theres just a lot of aircraft in the area, Trevino said.
Gallagher said hes really concerned about this one and worried that drone use in San Antonio is an accident waiting to happen.
Theres already a web of regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration and the state, and its unclear what additional measures San Antonio might take. The FAAs regulations include requiring that all drones that weigh more than about 9 ounces be registered, that hobbyists not fly drones that weigh more than 55 pounds, and that no drones be flown within 5 miles of any airport without first notifying those facilities and air-traffic control towers.
The state prohibits the use of drones for conducting surveillance, McManus said, as well as flying over critical infrastructure at a height lower than 400 feet. State laws also prohibit the use of drones in public places for capturing images more than 8 feet from the ground.
Trevino suggested that San Antonio work with the FAA to carve out some park space where drone use is acceptable, even if its within the 5-mile radius of an airport.
I think its important that we do take a closer look, he said. There are people who do want to utilize those in our city limits.
jbaugh@express-news.net
Twitter: @jbaugh
More Information
Alamo anniversary events
Daily readings: Feb. 23 - March 6, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Alamo re-enactors present historical readings that illustrate what was happening during each day of the 13-day siege in 1836. Readings are free to the public, in front of the Alamo church, and last about 10 to 15 minutes.
Texas Independence Day Ceremony: Thursday, 1 p.m.
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Alamo Mission Chapter, will hold an event at the Alamo to commemorate the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence in East Texas on March 2, 1836.
An Evening with Heroes: Friday, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
A special after-hours theater event at the Alamo will portray the mood and conversations the evening before the final attack on March 6. Tours will depart every 10 minutes, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Each tour will last about 45 minutes. Tickets, at $20 per person, are on sale at the Alamo - thealamo.org.
Fiddle Fest: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Alamo presents its ever-popular Fiddle Fest, a free event on the Alamo grounds featuring a full day of western swing, bluegrass and old-time country from world-renowned artists Jason Roberts (Asleep at the Wheel, Van Morrison), Rick McRae (George Strait), and Ron Knuth (Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr.).
Remember the Mexican Soldier: Saturday, 12:45 p.m.
Primer Batallon de Mexico will hold its annual event in Alamo Plaza.
Alamo Defenders Remembrance Ceremony: Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Annual tribute will be held at the Alamo by the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association.
Dawn at the Alamo: Monday, 6 a.m.
Annual ceremony hosted by the San Antonio Living History Association will be held in Alamo Plaza.
After the Fall: Monday, 10 a.m.
Yearly ceremony of the Sons of the Republic of Texas will feature remarks by Lee Spencer White, co-author of "Joe: The Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend."
Annual Memorial Service: Monday, 2:30 p.m.
Observance organized by the DRT Alamo Mission Chapter will pay tribute to the 189 known defenders on the anniversary of the battle.
Dusk at the Alamo: Monday, 6 p.m.
Alamo re-enactors will commemorate the lighting of funeral pyres with a brief ceremony in front of the Alamo church. A memorial address delivered by Col. Juan N. Seguin to honor his fallen comrades in a ceremony a year after the battle will be recited in English and Spanish.
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AUSTIN Opponents embroiled in a years-long fight over Houstons practice of offering benefits to the same-sex spouses of city employees took their fight to the states highest court Wednesday in an effort to narrow the effect of the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark decision legalizing gay marriage.
Plaintiffs in the case argued before the Texas justices that the 2015 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage never spoke to whether such couples are entitled to the same benefits as opposite-sex couples.
Allowing Houston to continue offering benefits, such as health care, to the same-sex spouses of city employees would expand the national ruling in Obergefell v Hodges and amount to a fundamental right, said Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general representing a pair of taxpayers who brought suit against the city.
Instead, the plaintiffs and their Republican supporters, who have signed briefs and sent letters to the Texas Supreme Court, want to limit the effect of the Obergefell ruling by cutting off taxpayer-funded benefits to same-sex partners.
The plaintiffs argue the Texas Court of Appeals erred by reversing a temporary injunction stopping the city from offering benefits to same-sex spouses of employees and asked the state supreme court justices to offer guidance to lower courts that they are to comply with Obergefell but not expand on it.
Douglas Alexander, a lawyer representing the city, argued the Obergefell ruling found that marriages should be treated equally and that plaintiffs are trying to set up a case to take to back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
What we have here, is a case burdening a marriage, said Alexander, who said spousal benefits offered to opposite-sex couples must be offered to same-sex couples not because there is a fundamental right to spousal benefits, but a fundamental right that those marriages be treated equally.
Supporters of Houstons same-sex spousal benefits practices say the U.S. Supreme Court was unequivocal and clear that same-sex marriages must be treated equally to so-called traditional marriage.
Houston is sort of the flash point that gave the petitioners something to fight about here, said Kelly Sandill, an attorney representing a same-sex married couple and Equality Texas, a LGBTQ rights organization. The U.S. Supreme Court decision gives benefits to any legally married couples, it must give them to all. That is what Obergefell says. Theres no other way to read it, she said.
Members of the Texas Supreme Court peppered attorneys on both sides of the case with questions about jurisdiction, whether the two taxpayers who brought the case against the city have standing, and about the reach of the Obergefell v Hodges ruling.
Both sides left the hearing saying they felt confident in their chances of prevailing.
There is no fundamental rights to same-sex benefits under Obergefell, said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, a conservative religious liberty advocacy group, outside the Texas Supreme Court building.
The Texas Supreme Court agreed to take on the case following arm-twisting from Republican leaders and lawmakers, who urged the justices to reconsider its 8-1 decision last fall not to hear it. Seventy Republican lawmakers, conservative leaders and Christian pastors asked the court to stand up to federal tyranny of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, and in a separate filing, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the court to limit the impact of the Obergefell ruling. The states high court reversed itself in January.
Unspoken in the leaders push to get the high court to hear the case is the fact that Texas also offers benefits to the same-sex spouses of its employees.
Republicans will be eager to see how each of the nine Republican justices side on the case after almost all initially refused to hear it, said Brandon Rottinhaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
Fighting against same-sex marriage has replaced abortion as the go-to issue for conservatives, he said.
If marriage is only about whats on a piece of paper, then effectively it moots the value of being married and value of those marriages, Rottinhaus said.
The court is expected to rule by the end of June.
andrea.zelinski@chron.com
twitter.com/andreazelinski
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Two years after a prisoner riot left the Willacy County Correctional Center in ruins, county officials are weighing two offers to reopen the defunct immigrant prison.
County commissioners met in a closed session this week to consider the offers, which could bring back hundreds of jobs to this rural county suffering from unemployment levels of more than 12 percent. A final decision is expected within 14 days.
Jobs are coming back, said Commissioner Eliberto Beto Guerra. Its great news.
President Donald Trumps sweeping executive orders on immigration has compelled U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand its detention capacity, and at least two prison companies have their eye on reopening the Willacy County Correctional Center in Raymondville, including Management and Training Corp., the company that formerly operated the prison. The name of the other company has not been made public.
When MTC built the so-called Tent City in 2006, it became the largest immigrant detention center in the nation, with beds for 3,000 detainees. However, after years of alleged problems, a prisoner uprising in February 2015 destroyed much of the prison, leaving the company little choice but to close the site and lay off its 400 employees.
A few months before the riot, the ACLU released Warehoused and Forgotten: Immigrants Trapped in Our Shadow Private Prison System, a damning report that detailed prisoner complaints of poor conditions, including raw sewage that overflowed from toilets and biting insects.
In two separate 2010 reports by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Texas Appleseed, immigrant detainees complained of a lack of medical care. And in 2011, the PBS series Frontline cited sexual abuse by guards, and other physical and racial abuse in the Willacy prison.
MTC has denounced the ACLU report, claiming that detainees enjoyed life-skills courses and educational programs, and that the facility had a team of health care professionals, including a physician, nurses, a physiologist and dentists, as well as mental health visits.
Yet on the day of the riot, prisoners upset with medical care burned bedding and set fire to some of the 200-foot-long Kevlar tents where they were housed.
In December, Willacy County filed a multimilion-dollar lawsuit against MTC, asserting the company had ignored festering problems bought on by poor management, which precipitated the riot. MTC has denied the allegations.
With two offers on the table to reopen the prison, County Judge Aurelio Guerra has said county commissioners will now consider settling its lawsuit against MTC. The prison industry has infused millions of dollars into the impoverished county of roughly 22,000 residents.
Youve had people unemployed since it closed; its been devastating, Guerra said. Now theyre excited, they want a job.
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For two years, former Mayor Julian Castro was locked in the cabinet the Cabinet of former President Barack Obama.
As Housing and Urban Development secretary, Castro was serving a post that restricted his political speech, a bind that proved frustrating at times for someone the national media had dubbed a rising star of the Democratic Party.
I didnt enjoy that part of it, Castro said on Wednesday. That was one of the less enjoyable parts of the job Whatever I said reflected on the (Obama) administration, so I was, of course, extra concerned about not saying something in a way that reflected badly on the administration. Frankly, thats one of the benefits of being out of office or representing yourself in office.
This year, Castro emerged from the office to a strange new world where President Donald Trump reigns and Republicans control both houses of Congress. He moved back to San Antonio on Jan. 19, the day before Trump took power.
So what does a rising star do when dark clouds roll in? In Castros case, freed from the Cabinet, he stops mincing words.
Last month on Facebook, he wrote that the Trump administration should meet holy hell if it mobilized National Guard troops to enforce immigration laws, a proposal floated but apparently shelved by the Department of Homeland Security.
He wrote that it would be a mistake for the White House to crack down on recreational marijuana use, arguing we can sensibly legalize the drug. And he has repeatedly hammered Trump on his administrations suspicious ties to Russia.
Im using my voice on important issues health care, education, immigration, pointing out the shortcomings of this administration, Castro told me. Im going to stay active out there. Im just not running for anything right now.
At least, Castro isnt running for anything in 2018. That leaves open the possibility of running for president in 2020.
Im not going to take that off the table, he said.
Beyond social media, Castro is back on the speaking circuit, traveling the country to give paid speeches, and hes once again accepting interview requests, appearing on CNN to talk immigration with Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon.
Im going to be doing more of that, he said. I shied away from some of that as HUD secretary because I wanted to make sure I was focused on the job and I was sticking to housing policy.
While still HUD secretary, Castro learned the hard way how much the office restricted his speech when Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric asked him in a televised interview about his endorsement of Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.
Now taking off my HUD hat for a second and just speaking individually, Castro responded to Couric, it is very clear that Hillary Clinton is the most experienced, thoughtful and prepared candidate for president that we have this year.
That earned Castro a slap on the wrist from the Office of Special Counsel. The independent Washington agency concluded he had impermissibly mixed his personal political views with official government agency business.
A year later, Castro considers the episode a minor blip, but one I took responsibility for.
Castro was a popular mayor, but he has yet to use his voice in the May 6 election. Councilman Ron Nirenberg, who is challenging Mayor Ivy Taylor, recently called Castro; they met for lunch.
I told Ron when we met that Im staying out of it for now, Castro said.
Castro is finishing a memoir; a final draft is due in the Fall.
And the former HUD secretary is also taking some time out to watch television.
Hes caught a couple of the episodes, he said, of one show in particular: ABCs Designated Survivor, in which Kiefer Sutherland plays a member of the president's Cabinet who is thrust into the presidency when an explosion engulfs a State of the Union address, claiming the lives of the president and the rest of his Cabinet.
Sutherlands role: Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
bchasnoff@express-news.net
After sitting vacant for two years, a five-story building on Houston Street could soon become a pillar of downtowns emerging tech district.
Local developer David Adelman plans to renovate the historic building at 401 E. Houston St., known as the Burns building, into about 40,000 square feet of creative office space in other words, space that eschews cubicles for the open floor plans and quirky designs favored in tech hubs such as Austin and San Francisco.
The Burns building will have ground-floor retail designed with Houston Streets tech scene in mind, including a coffee shop and a restaurant with late hours where you would see people in flip-flops as much as youd see someone in a business suit, Adelman said. Its also across the street from the nine-story Maverick apartment building that Adelman is renovating and expects to open later this spring.
What were trying to accomplish is truly something different, Adelman said. Any business that wants to inspire collaboration is going to love what we have here.
Adelman, principal of Area Real Estate, called the project a leap of faith. With most office buildings, developers wait until they have tenants to renovate the space to suit their needs, he said. But Adelman will renovate the space first and rely on demand for creative office space to fill it. Renovation work is set to begin by this summer and wrap up by the end of the year.
Each of the buildings office floors will have its own theme one might be decorated in an industrial style, another with brick or Mexican tile, said Patrick Winn of New Braunfels design firm Total Art Design & Architecture, who is the lead architect for the project.
Creative office space is an important asset in the battle between cities for tech talent, said David Heard, co-founder of Tech Bloc, a group that advocates for the local tech community. Companies are more likely to locate somewhere that has the quirky office space, coffee shops and walkable neighborhoods that tech workers want, he said.
The Burns building will be a showpiece for creative office space in San Antonio, Heard predicted.
Adelmans vision is not to just throw some paint on the wall, slap some carpet on the ground, and rent it to lawyers and bankers, Heard said. What hes basically saying is, Im going to take some risk so I can complete a project thats not just about signing the next lease, but that strategically helps us build out a more enhanced downtown.
Houston Street, which once served as San Antonios premier retail corridor, is having a comeback after languishing for decades. GrayStreet Partners has created large amounts of tech-friendly office space along the street since buying nine properties there in 2015. A few blocks west, Weston Urban is creating more office space around the Geekdom headquarters and is building a 23-story Frost Tower.
City officials have been encouraging residential development downtown for years, especially since former Mayor Julian Castro marked the Decade of Downtown in 2010. Now that more people are moving to the district, businesses are following, Adelman said.
Now, I think, what youre finally starting to see is the first movers on the office side, he said. The residential-first strategy is finally paying dividends.
Adelman bought the Burns building in January from a partnership based in New York. He declined to say how much he paid, but the Bexar Appraisal District assessed the building at $4 million last year.
The Burns building, which was constructed in 1912, is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a historic property by the city. It has been vacant since 2015, when longtime tenant Bromley Communications left to move into the former AT&T headquarters at 175 E. Houston St.
Adelman plans to apply for state and federal historic tax credits for the project, and hes talking with city officials about a possible incentive package.
Adelman is working on a few other developments in the downtown area. Hes about to break ground on a 150-unit apartment building at Hemisfair known as Acequia Lofts. He also is under contract to buy about 2 acres of land across the street from the Alamo Beer Co. in Dignowity Hill, next to the Hays Street Bridge. He said hes not yet sure what he wants to do on that site.
In 2015, Adelman got approval from the city Historic and Design Review Commission to build a 305-unit apartment complex at 815 Avenue B, along the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River. But he said hes put that project on hold after becoming concerned about how many apartments were being built around it.
rwebner@express-news.net
@rwebner
The Trump Administrations turtle-slow start with the Republican-led Congress bodes ill for what it and Republicans said would be a busy legislative year.
Tax reform, replacing Obamacare, raising the debt ceiling, and a 2018 budget all await initial action.
Farm bill
The GOP chairmen of the House and Senate ag committees, however, arent waiting on any White House signal to begin work. They have a farm bill to write and pass before the current law expires in 2018.
In fact, the House committee kicked off its farm bill work with testimony on the stumbling ag economy Feb. 15 in Washington, D.C.
The Senate committee began Feb. 23 with a hearing in the backyard of Chairman Pat Roberts, Manhattan, Kansas.
Their quick 2017 start, however, does not mean a quick 2018 ending. For proof, recall the tortured path traveled by the 2014 farm bill, as Sara Wyant suggested to readers in a lengthy Feb. 10 posting at Agri-Pulse.com.
In fact, it was to be the 2012 farm bill, not 2014, and House hearings for it began on April 10, 2010.
On Feb. 7, 2014, when the bill was signed into law, no one celebrated because the brutal, four-year slugfest that delivered it had fractured decades-old political coalitions that had worked together to balance American farm and food interests that protected both farmers and the poor.
The biggest hold-up was Tea Party budget hawks whose focus was cost, not policy.
Their refusal to support any farm bill that didnt slash the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the former food stamp program, stalled the farm bill at almost every turn.
Their fiery demands were fueled even more by the ground-shifting, 2010 mid-term election.
Caught in the quicksand was Blanche Lincoln, the first woman and first Arkansan ever to chair the Senate Ag Committee. She was clobbered in her 2010 reelection bid just five months after farm bill hearings began that year.
House Ag Chairman Collin Peterson fared better he was reelected in 2010 but he lost the committees gavel to Oklahomas Frank Lucas when Republicans overwhelmed Democrats to easily retake the House.
Farm income
This farm bill fight could be even longer, harder, and costlier.
For example, in 2013, the year todays governing bill took its final shape, U.S. net farm income hit an all-time record, $123.7 billion.
Two weeks ago, however, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasted 2017 net farm income at half that, or $62.3 billion.
Will yesterdays farm policy essentially government-subsidized revenue insurance that has no ability whatsoever to lift revenue work for todays falling commodity markets, falling land prices, and falling farm income?
Not a chance, says Daryll Ray and Harwood Schaffer in their latest Policy Pennings column from the University of Tennessee.
That farm bills programs simply backfill low prices with inadequate payments and do nothing to reduce the modest amount of surplus production that is the cause of the low prices.
Doomed
In short, a new farm bill that simply updates the insurance-centric 2014 law will doom U.S. farmers and ranchers to more years of financial calamity.
Farm lenders, ag suppliers, and budget hawks, you listening?
Denying todays farm and ranch reality ensures farm policy failure and, right behind it, farm and ranch failure.
Even if ag and Congressional leaders address this evident need, it is not at all evident that the Trump White House will support any farm bill let alone much needed changes in the 2014 law. Early indications arent hopeful.
Top Trump aide Stephen Miller (who co-authored the Presidents grim inaugural address) helped sink recent immigration reform, a farm and ranch priority, while on the staff of then-Senator, now Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican.
Also, Paul Winfree, a former Heritage Foundation economist, now serves as Trumps director of budget policy. Its a lofty perch from which to advocate a long-sought Heritage Foundation goal: deep cuts in SNAP spending.
If he succeeds, the weakened farm-urban coalition that carried previous farm bills over the finish line may be gone for good.
In the meantime, the 2018 farm bill has left the barn. Where it goes from here is impossible to guess.
HARRISBURG, Pa. More than 167,000 U.S. farms locally produced and sold food through direct marketing practices, resulting in $8.7 billion in revenue in 2015, according to King Whetstone, director of the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistics Service, Northeastern Region.
The results are from the first Local Food Marketing Practices Survey released Dec. 20. The report results cover both fresh and value-added foods, such as meat and cheese.
Farms selling food directly to institutions and intermediates, such as wholesalers who locally branded the product or food hubs, brought in the most revenue at $3.4 billion.
The next category, at $3 billion in sales, was from approximately 115,000 operations with direct-to-consumer sales, such as on-farm stores and farmers markets.
Sales directly to retailers were $2.3 billion from over 23,000 operations nationwide.
Top five
The top five states by value of total direct food sales were: California, $2,869 million; Michigan, $459 million; New York, $441 million; Pennsylvania, $439 million; and Wisconsin, $431 million.
Most farms selling directly to consumers sold through outlets such as farmers markets and on-farm stores.
Number of farms
Pennsylvania led the U.S. in the number of farms selling directly to consumers, with more than 6,000 operations engaged in direct to consumer sales.
California led in sales, earning $467 million. Only 8 percent of farms selling directly to consumers across the nation did so via online marketplaces, though 73 percent of all farms using direct marketing practices had internet access last year.
The survey also concluded that more than 80 percent of all direct market food sales occurred within 100 miles of the farm, and that most farms selling to consumers were less than 20 miles from their largest grossing marketplace.
Decision makers
Approximately 300,000 people were involved in making decisions for the farms that sold directly in 2015.
Of these, 62 percent were men and 38 percent were women a higher proportion of women than among all farms, according to data from the 2012 Census of Agriculture.
The survey also found 77 percent of farms who direct marketed were established farmers, having farmed 10 or more years, and 14 percent were U.S. military veterans.
For additional survey results, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/Local_Food/index.php or the Quick Stats database at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/.
THE PLAINS, Ohio The public is invited to join state and federal agencies, groups, and citizens across Appalachian Ohio in celebrating National Public Lands Day September 30.
Rural Action is recruiting host sites in eastern and southern Ohio.
The goal for each host site is to connect people to public lands in their community, inspire environmental stewardship, and encourage public lands for education, recreation and general health.
By registering as a host site, you will be part of a regionally branded effort that is shaping up to be the inaugural Appalachian Ohio National Public Lands Day.
Rural Action, Buckeye Trail Association, Wayne National Forest and Ohio Department of Natural Resources are working together to organize the largest NPLD event in the states history.
Register
Groups and organizations interested in participating can register through Rural Action at ruralaction.org/aonpld.
Registration for host sites closes March 31. The collaborative will then switch gears and help connect volunteers to sites they would like to join for AONPLD through September.
Follow #AONPLD on social media for new developments.
NORTH BENTON, Ohio The Mahoning County Goat Herders hosted a meeting Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at OBrock Farm. During the meeting members were reminded of the Quality Assurance meeting March 4 at the South Range High School.
They discussed goat management. Christopher Greenfield did a demonstration, Learning About Goats.
The next meeting will be March 13 at 7 p.m. at OBrock Farm.
CANFIELD, Ohio The Capriculturists 4-H club met at the Greenford Ruritan Building Feb. 19, at 3 p.m.
New officers were elected for 2017: Ashley James, president; Tyler Moff, vice president; Rhianna Wolfson, secretary; Colin Meehan, treasurer; and Molly St. John, news reporter.
In new business, the club agreed to provide concessions for the Youngstown All Breed Dog Show March 19.
Rhianna Wolfson gave a health report on colds and germs; Jacob Williams gave a report on Camp Whitewood; and Ashley James gave a safety report and demonstration on safe animal handling.
The next meeting is March 20, 7 p.m. at the Greenford Ruritan Building at the Canfield Fair.
ALLIANCE, Ohio The Country Folks and Country Barbwires 4-H Clubs met recently. The 4-H officers were installed by Mr. Reynolds. Reports were given by the Health, Safety and Community Service officers. The clubs will hold a bake sale at the Washington Township firemens breakfast March 5 at the firehouse.
They will also raise money by selling Texas Roadhouse dinner rolls for $5 a dozen. Members will participate in the Marlboro Memorial Day parade May 29. The clubs were reminded that the Extravaganza will be held on July 15 and clothing judging is on July 18. The next 4-H meeting will be held at the Beechwood UM Church at 7 p.m., March 20.
CHARDON, Ohio The Breeders and Feeders 4-H club met Feb. 19 at 3:30 p.m. at the Munson Township Hall. The club introduced all new members and handed out member application forms.
The safety officer gave a report on thunderstorms. Then the club reviewed the window display, the roller skating party on March 26, the thank you letter from the dog warden, the candy bar sale, and the 4-H scholarship applications.
The club also reviewed important dates on the 4-H calendar including clover bud camp from July 13-14 and 4-H camp from June 18-24. The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
The next meeting will be held on March 26.
Funeral homes often submit obituaries to the newspaper as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we are happy to accept obituaries from family members. You may use the form linked below, or you may email Jeanne Cobert at jcobert@fauquier.com or call her at 540-270-4931.
Go to form
In an effort to reduce the lines at the Prince William landfill and compost facility, now that both are closed on Sundays, the county is encouraging residents who regularly visit such faciliti
A woman has claimed seatbelts are ''racist to fat people''.
Woman claims seatbelts are 'racist to fat people'
The anonymous woman from New Zealand was filmed driving without wearing her seatbelt because she ''can't fit it'', and has said the police are ''racist'' toward overweight people if they give her a fine for not wearing the legally required safety strap.
She said in a video filmed by a passenger in the car: ''I can't fit it, so what's the point in wearing it if I can't fit it. If they're going to give me a fine for not fitting my seatbelt, that's just being racist, to the fat people.
''They're just being racist, like what do they think the whole world is skinny or something? What about the big people?''
When one passenger points out seatbelt sizing isn't racist as overweight people aren't a race, the woman insisted she would ''sue'' if anything happened to her.
She continued: ''I could actually sue, like what if I crash, and something happens to me because the seatbelt couldn't go around me.''
The video has been viewed half a million times since it surfaced on the internet, and many people commenting on the clip have noted that seatbelt extenders are available so car users of all sizes can uphold the law.
Katherine Jackson is so afraid of her nephew-in-law Trent Lamar Jackson she is refusing to return home to Los Angeles.
Katherine Jackson
The 86-year-old matriarch - who is the mother of the late Michael Jackson - has told a court she is currently "under a doctor's care" in London, England, "in part because of the stress this situation with Trent is causing me".
In February, Katherine was granted a temporary restraining order against Trent after alleging he had abused her and that he had neglected her health.
She said in her filing to the court: "I believe he has put cameras and bugs in my home, so the only place I can try and have a private conversation is in my bathroom."
Katherine also fears Trent has copied the key to her bedroom door, meaning she has started getting dressed in her closet because she fears he will walk in on her unexpectedly, according to TMZ.
Her filing explained: "I used to be very social with my friends, like playing Scrabble, walking around in the park, sharing meals, but Trent has given them various reasons why I am not available."
Trent, 52, has been living in the guest house of Katherine's Calabasas, California, home after previously serving as her personal driver for a number of years.
However, their relationship has soured in recent times, with Katherine accusing him of bullying her and monitoring her behaviour.
Meanwhile, Trent - who is the son of Joe Jackson's half-brother - has tried to have the temporary restraining order lifted, with his lawyer insisting he is not a threat to Katherine.
Under the restraining order, Trent is required to stay in the guest house and is barred from coming within 100 yards of Katherine.
But the judge denied his request on Wednesday (01.03.17) and ordered another court hearing on March 23.
Ghost in the Shell comes to IMAX and cinemas at the end of the month, and now a brand new first look clip from the major motion picture has been revealed, showing lead character Major (Scarlett Johansson) fighting back against her oppressors who took her life. Check out the short preview debuted by Paramount Pictures below:
Based on the sci-fi property of the same name, the flick follows Major; a human-cyborg hybrid through her journey of leading an elite task force. Devoted to taking out some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet, she and her squadron will go up against an enemy with one goal to wipe out Hanka Robotics advancements in cyber technology, starting with Major.
Beat Takeshi Kitano, Michael Carmen Pitt, Pilou Asbaek, chin Han and Juliette Binoche also star alongside Johansson, making up an extremely talented cast more than capable of bringing this fan-favourite Japanese manga to life.
This big screen version of the property is said to stick very closely to its source material in terms of the story it will be telling, but that hasnt stopped criticism on Johanssons casting, with Hollywood once again being blasted for whitewashing.
Whitewashing is a term used when a white actor is cast in the role of somebody who should be a minority; in this case, Major should really be played by an actor of Asian descent. Its something that Marvel Studios movie Doctor Strange was attacked for last year, after casting Tilda Swinton in the role of somebody who again should have been of Asian descent.
Despite the controversy, the movies cast and crew including director Rupert Sanders are moving along in bringing the flick to fans. Jamie Moss and Jonathan Herman penned the screenplay
Ghost in the Shell hits UK cinemas on March 30, 2017.
by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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The Barnum Meserve are a trio ready to turn their back on the traditional boundaries set out by other rock bands, instead hoping to breath fresh life into the genre when they drop their new album next month.
The Barnum Meserve
We got the chance to put some questions to the guys about their music, inspirations, influences and more; find out what they had to say below
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
I guess a starting point would be to say that our songs a pretty cinematic. Film soundtracks play a large part in influencing some of the string and brass section Leon writes. Were also pretty unconventional compared to the average alternative rock band, mainly as we dont have guitars. Our set up is Piano, Vocals, bass guitar and drums with the added strings, brass, percussion and general noises we have in the background to some of the songs. We like to write big choruses a lot of the time. We definitely try and get those hair on the back of your neck moments in. Sometimes its difficult to describe our sound as its hard to compare us with other bands. I guess were a mix of Arcade Fire with 30 Seconds to Mars and Nine Inch Nails mixed in.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
Weve faced lots of problems! but I guess a lot of artists face similar problems in todays climate. Were living very much in a slightly cluttered industry. Theres so many bands these days that its at times difficult to get noticed. Weve found ourselves in quite a few Catch-22 situations where large labels, PR companies and booking agents wont work with you because youre not represented by a large management firm etc. Its almost like you cant get one of those aspects in place (label, management, booking agent) without already having one in place...but they wont work with you because you haven't got one of the other in place. As you can guess its pretty frustrating but weve pretty much become immune to it now fortunately. As long as were content with writing good songs and making great videos we kind of feel those other thing will fall into place eventually. Another large part of the difficulties these days is labels (or specifically A&R people) dont want to take risks. Were in a time where theyre more preoccupied with making quick wins as apposed building a career with an artist. I think at times theres a disconnect with artists and A&R representatives (and weve worked with a few over the years). At times they very much want to mold you into something thats popular at the time as they know it will (for a short period) sell. I think at times theyre very much misguided trying to look for the next big X that sounds like a current popular artist when they should really be discovering something different and artists with real talent.
How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?
Again, Id say its very difficult and not really a career path for the faint hearted so to speak. You can expect a lot of rejection and a lot of opinions. Everyone whats to tell you where youre going wrong how you should be concentrating on X. Without sounding slightly cliched, I think we still maintain staying original and having integrity along the way are the most important aspects to hold yourself to. Things like integrity will literally be tested to their very limit at times so its important to control the way youre perceived by the public e.g. you dont need to wear a leather jacket and look like Kings of Leon if you dont want to!
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
Its very important to us! creative control is the thing that makes us us. Going back to the opinions piece mentioned in the previous questions, a lot of people can give advice on how you write your songs e.g make the vocals come in sooner, shorten the chorus etc. The difficulty we find here is at times everyone thinks theyre Mozart (or probably Pete Waterman). The key thing to remember in those situations is if theyre so good at writing songs, how come they dont write songs?! Having creative control has become the most important value to a lot of independent artists. If you control your music you can control how you want people to access it which in turn is better for the artists as theyre the ones being paid.
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
Many different places from film to soundtracks to new albums. We all really have different tastes in music and at the same time all have common ground in bands we all love. One of us at any given moment will be into a film scores where another will be into Stoner rock or more ambient music. The great thing is we subconsciously let those influences into the songs. Sometimes they work, other times they dont but thats ok. Writing is very much a trial and error process. The more you do, the better you get at it. Even though were on the cusp of releasing our 2nd full length album weve probably written around 4 or 5 albums worth of songs. Some of these stay around as theres something about them, others get left by the side and that in itself is something important to note. If theres a reason no one wants to play that song, its probably because its not as good as you think it is!
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
I think wed absolutely love to collaborate with a full orchestra one day. Itd take time and organisation to transcribe all the string and brass parts but at the same time it would be epic! regarding artists and producers theres probably too many to mention that wed love to work with. Wed love to record an album in a big flashy studio one day, hey everyone has to have a dream.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
We were once stuck on the side of the motorway from around 11:30pm till 6:00am as our van broken down outside of Brighton. We literally watched the sun rise on the hard shoulder. We eventually managed to sort out getting the van towed (fortunately before all our phones completely ran out of charge). To this day, that was the most expensive show weve ever played.
Where do you hope to be this time next year?
Hopefully releasing our 3rd album. Were going to be going back in the studio later this year to record it. Its pretty different from When All Is Lost but were already immensely proud of it and cant wait to hear the finished product. Weve been writing for our 3rd album the past 2 years.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
Some awesome videos weve made with a friend to accompany a few of the songs off the album and some shows around the UK! check our Facebook page for updates and news.
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The Barnum Meserve release their 10-track new album When All Is Lost on April 21, 2017 via 34D Records.
by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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In an exclusive with The Independent, Louis Theroux has revealed the three major topics hell be delving into in a brand new film series for the BBC and, contrary to reports, he wont be focusing on President Donald Trumps rise to power.
Credit: BBC
Instead, Theroux will be looking at some of the biggest challenges America faces right now, breaking it down into murder, sex trafficking and opiate dependency.
He explained: I immerse myself in some of the most dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society. They combine hard-hitting actuality with intimate interviews.
I have been granted access to the police in several states; Ive got to know the people affected by crime; and Ive also spent time with the perpetrators of crime, with the idea of understanding the causes of it, both on a systemic level and also in a very personal way.
The three documentaries will be called Murder in Milwaukee, Sex Trafficking Houston and Opiate City, and are expected to debut at some point this year.
The first will see Theroux spend time in one of Americas most impoverished cities during a time of huge tensions between the African-American community and the authorities, following two police shootings. Theroux met with both the Milwaukee Police Department and with families and local activists to gain a rounded idea of what is being faced in the area.
Sex Trafficking Houston meanwhile will see the journalist look at the place which is regarded as the biggest hub for human trafficking in North America. Theroux here interviews those working within the industry, to explore the relationships shared between prostitutes and their pimps. Law enforcement will also play a part in the show, as Theroux discovers the justice system stuck between helping women in the lifestyle while also criminalising them.
The final film investigates prescription painkillers and how an oversubscription crisis in the country has led to a population thats now dependent on opiates and, in particular, heroin. It isnt Therouxs first look into a world plagued by drugs, so the journalist has a huge handle on the topic already, but will again be interviewing those closest to it.
Patrick Holland, BBC Twos Channel Editor commented: This is so exciting. It is always a real event to have a new series from Louis on BBC Two. This trilogy promises to be hugely timely and challenging, it has never been more important to engage with the forces shaping moder America.
by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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Samuel L. Jackson stole the letter 'L' from the set of ITV's 'Lorraine' following his appearance on Thursday (02.03.17).
Christine Lampard, Samuel L Jackson and Brie Larson
The 68-year-old actor, who stars in 'Kong: Skull Island', appeared on the mid-morning show alongside his co-star Brie Larson, to promote the upcoming American monster film, but after the interview, L. Jackson made himself at home by picking up a piece of the furnishings used to represent Lorraine Kelly to take away and decorate his own place with.
Presenter Christine Lampard, who is standing in for show host Lorraine, told viewers: "Apparently Samuel L. Jackson took such a notion to some of our set, you can see the L behind me here, they are all over the place obviously L for Lorraine clearly, but it's part of the L of Samuel L. Jackson and he wanted it and he's taken it home with him.
"So part of our set, look there's an empty space over there on the table, it was there, Lorraine will never notice I'm sure it will be fine when we tell her who took it."
Earlier in the show L. Jackson and Larson described how they had travelled to Vietnam, Hawaii and Australia while making the film.
He said: "She [Brie] was travelling way more than we were because that was her season of collecting hardware worldwide [during film awards season 2016]. So we would go some place and we would go, 'where's Brie?', 'oh she had to go back to LA and get an award', 'oh she had to go to New York and get an award.' "
Speaking about her 2016 Oscar win for the film 'Room', Larson said: "I flew from Vietnam to the Oscars and then flew back to Vietnam at like 6am the morning after the Oscars. It was very confusing because my weeks were like us climbing around on mountains and being extremely dirty, like covered in dirt all day [while filming for Kong: Skull Island] and then on weekends I would get scrubbed down and perhaps go pick up an award and then be back on Monday.
"A lot of the time we didn't have phone signal or anything so I remember distinctly showing up in Vietnam after the Oscars and just like not being able to contact anyone, I had no cell service [and thinking] 'did any of that actually happen, I have no idea', it was just a blur."
When questioned about this year's Oscars debacle which resulted in 'La La Land' wrongly being announced as winner of Best Picture, before it had to be correctly given to the cast and crew of 'Moonlight' following a mix-up of the winners' red envelopes backstage, L. Jackson said: "It was like any other night in Hollywood, it was fine."
Oscar winning actress Emma Stone tagged the Best Picture fiasco at the 89th Annual Academy Awards as one of the most horrible moments in her life.
Stone, who won the Best Actress award at the gala on February 26, was still celebrating her win when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced that 'La La Land' won the Best Picture category. Shortly after the cast walked onto the stage to accept the trophy, panicked Oscars team announced that there was a mistake as the winner was supposed to be 'Moonlight'.
"(It was) One of the most horrible moments of my life. Wow! It was just so horrible," Stone said.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company which was responsible for the Academy voting, has apologised for the mistake.
"We sincerely apologise to 'Moonlight', 'La La Land', Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture," said Brian Cullinan, a representative for the firm.
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Sunny Pawar, the eight-year-old Mumbai boy who created waves at the Oscar awards ceremony, returned home to a royal welcome on Wednesday morning.
Accompanied by his father Dilip Pawar, a former sweeper-turned-son's business manager, Sunny sat on the trolley stacked high with his luggage as he was wheeled out of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
A large number of people cheered and waved even as a battalion of journalists braced for an encounter with the young celeb. Though appearing a tad weary from the long-haul flight, Sunny was a bundle of energy. He smiled and waved back as bouncers struggled to keep their valuable subject safe from the mobbing crowds.
Some emotional elderly family members and relatives, including his grandfather Bhima Pawar, garlanded him, offered him sweets and blessed him.
The co-star of the acclaimed Hollywood film 'Lion' even took a few quick questions from the media. "I am very happy and enjoyed attending the Oscars ceremony," he told a journalist. To another, he shot back, "I will continue to study and also pursue my acting career."
The Class III student of a school at Kalina was selected out of a nationwide talent hunt of 2,000 children, around one-and-a-half-years ago, cleared the audition in Mumbai and Pune to finally land the plum role in Garth Davis's 'Lion'.
Welcoming him with a tight bear hug and tears of joy, Sunny's mother Vasu Pawar said she was at a complete loss to describe her feelings. "I have no words to express my happiness over my son's achievement," Vasu said, outside the family's modest dwelling in a hutment colony in Kalina in the eastern suburb of Mumbai.
Grandpa Bhima Pawar told a private TV channel that the entire family was extremely proud of Sunny and how he achieved so much in life at such a tender age. "We have not yet watched the film. But when it is released, our entire family will watch Sunny's performance," said Bhima Pawar as his other relatives and grandchildren watched.
'Lion' is the story of a five-year-old Saroo Brierley, who was stranded in a train which catapulted him hundreds of kilometres away from home to the busy Kolkata. There, he managed to eke out an existence on footpaths, before a young Australian couple adopts him.
The elder version of Saroo was played by Dev Patel in the film. The role of his foster parents was played by David Wenham and Nicole Kidman. Some 25 years later, Saroo takes the help of Google Earth to trace out his real family and finally returns from Australia to his home in Madhya Pradesh.
Every day when I am headed to work, I cross a busy road in Kalkaji, New Delhi. Rushing through the usual hustle bustle of the morning, every day I notice a lot of people speeding their way through the crowd. Usually, my dad drops me to work but today I opted to walk to my workplace.
I saw office goers having street breakfast, some shopkeepers lazying around and others in a hurry to open their shops. People flocking around the bus stop and auto stop to head to their destination. Engrossed in the sight, my mind got drawn towards soft sounds. I tried to concentrate to hear what it was but I couldn't understand anything. Just as I was about to cross the road and go to the other side, I stopped for a while to know where the voices were coming from.
I turned around to see a few school kids heading over to the street food vendor. The happiness on their faces was infectious. They were heading towards the food stall to savor their favorite breakfast.
The kids were happy despite one thing- they were deprived of their power to speak and hear. They were like any ordinary group of kids but they were conversing in sign language, asking the vendor to take their order and to my amazement even cracking jokes.
Don't know what suddenly happened to me but I suddenly felt a shift within. All of us with our sensory organs working absolutely fine take things for granted and never value what we have. We forget that we are blessed to have the special gift- the gift of speech and the power to listen. By penning down this note, I want all of us to stop from our busy lives and thank god for bestowing his brilliance on us and try to make use of it for a good cause.
I really wish that I could be like these kids who are satisfied with life as it has been to them.
By Arpita Chatterjee
Japanese brands and retailers are making inroads into the South Korea market, primarily due to offering latest designs and quality products. Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo set foot in South Korea in 2005 and now clocks a turnover of over a trillion won. Another retailer Daiso operates 1,150 stores and also reported sales of 1.56 trillion won in 2016."We offer cost effective products and also have a quality control team to provide high quality products, a South Korean news agency report quoted a Daiso official as saying. Our design-focused products are also well received by consumers.
Japanese brands and retailers are making inroads into the South Korea market, primarily due to offering latest designs and quality products. Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo set foot in South Korea in 2005 and now clocks a turnover of over a trillion won. Another retailer Daiso operates 1,150 stores and also reported sales of 1.56 trillion won in 2016.#
Japanese diaper brands like Moony, Merries and GOO.N have also been well received by South Korean mothers, with supply not able to meet demand. (AR)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
Coats, a leading industrial thread manufacturer, has won six awards at the 2017 American Advertising Awards by AAF Charlotte. Coats won gold awards in Art Direction and Responsive Design categories and silver in B2B Website; Branded Content; Online Campaign; and User Experience categories for its new website for the automotive industry launched in June 2016.The mini site, themed Its all in the Details, targets OEM and Tier 1 suppliers of the automotive industry and provides detailed information on Coats high performance threads as well as a unique way to submit technical and colour match sample requests. The site focuses on Coats approach to detail, which is essential for the high performance demands of the automotive industry.
Coats, a leading industrial thread manufacturer, has won six awards at the 2017 American Advertising Awards by AAF Charlotte. Coats won gold awards in Art Direction and Responsive Design categories and silver in B2B Website; Branded Content; Online Campaign; and User Experience categories for its new website for the automotive industry launched in June 2016.#
The site was designed by Charlotte-based marketing communications agency, Wray Ward.The awards were presented at a gala dinner in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 23, 2017.Organised by the Charlotte affiliate of the American Advertising Federation, the awards honour creative excellence from the Charlotte area, and form the first of a three-tier national competition. All gold winners qualify for the American Advertising Federation District awards held in spring. The national competition is in the summer for all gold winners at the different American Advertising Federations districts around the US.Hizmy Hassen, chief digital and technology officer, Coats said, Digital is a key differentiator for Coats so to have the innovation and design of our new automotive website recognised by two gold and four silver awards is a great achievement. (GK)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
Trident Group, one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of terry towel, home textile, yarn, and paper in India, has recently ventured to produce bed linen and has installed a total of five new Monforts machines on the production line. Monforts is a global leader among the manufacturers and exporters of textile machines based in Germany.Trident Group has installed five new Monforts machines for its new bed linen venture which has been commissioned in Budni, near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Central India. For the production of bed linen, Trident is using two Montex 6500 stenters, two Monfortex 8000 sanforisers, and a Thermex with CDR E-control technology.
Trident Group, one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of terry towel, home textile, yarn, and paper in India, has recently ventured to produce bed linen and has installed a total of five new Monforts machines on the production line. Monforts is a global leader among the manufacturers and exporters of textile machines based in Germany.#
Each of the machines has been installed to handle an extra-wide width of 3200 mm. The new Monforts machines were manufactured in Germany and installed by ATE Enterprises Pte Ltd, Monforts representative for India, in close coordination with the strong and able Trident technical team.Chief executive officer of the bed linen division of Trident Group, Rajesh Singh said, The installation was completed in a remarkably short time. This facility is purely for bed linen and came on-line in the shortest time we have ever seen. For five Monforts machines, it was a very impressive achievement. This new venture was launched in late 2014 to produce bed linen and by the end of Feb 2016 we were in production. The expansion into bed linen represents a US $250 million investment and included the installation of 500 air jet looms.Our production capacity is around 43.2 million metres per annum of bed linen fabric, equivalent to 7.5 million bed linen sets per annum. The bed linen unit is backed by a ring spinning unit with 190,000 spindles making the bed linen plant a vertically integrated self-reliant facility manufacturing top-quality bed linen products, he added.J.P Shukla, president bed linen dyeing and processing from Trident said, We are committed on producing the highest quality terry towels and bed linen products, and we know that Monforts can help us in maintaining our quality standards. Along with the Monforts machines, we have installed the highest quality air jet looms, continuous dyeing and processing equipment, and fully automatic cutting, stitching, and packing machines. (GK)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk India
She began drinking at the age of 16 and now it's been 68 days since Pooja Bhatt touched a drop of alcohol. It was only recently that Pooja opened up about her alcohol addiction and how she overcame it.
Take a few minutes out and read this heart wrenching interview the wildchild actress gave Mumbai Mirror
Today is the 68th day and Pooja Bhatt hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since she pulled the plug on December 24. She's gone through Christmas and New Year and even brought in her 45th birthday on February 24 without a drink. Talking about her battle with the bottle openly in the public space is part of her catharsis.
"I want to bust the stigma attached to alcoholism in our country. Women particularly are discouraged from seeking help because it's a matter of shame for the family. We don't share our pain or frailties, we cover our weaknesses and it becomes a cancer," says Pooja, admitting that in her case it was a chat with her father that led to this decision.
On December 21, Mahesh Bhatt messaged her from Delhi and they got talking about the state of the country, about leaders who in their eagerness to imprint their footsteps in the sands of time create absolute mayhem. As he was ringing off, he told her, "I love you kid." She responded, "I love you too pops. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing else worth loving in the world." He replied, "If you love me then love yourself because I live in you."
Her father had never alluded to her problem, but the text urging her to love herself, struck a chord. Pooja promised him that "from this moment I'm going to be the best 'me' I'm capable of being" and after putting down the phone wondered if going out with someone and polishing off a bottle of whisky was loving herself. The answer was a resounding 'no'.
On Christmas Day, the Bandra girl who is Christian by faith, put her phone on silent and sat in her apartment with her four cats listening to the strains of "Silent Night" wafting in from somebody's home. "I ate dinner and went to bed at 11.40 pm, sober. At midnight I heard the bells of the four churches ring and felt rejuvenated," she exults.
She took off for a holiday to Lahore, to Delhi, to several places. And while in the past she'd spent evenings alone, with a bottle of wine, in some cafe, watching the world go by, this time, she stayed away from the wine. Not just through Christmas but even the drunken revelry of New Year.
The public pressure escalated as her birthday neared. She toyed with the idea of taking one drink. "But then I asked myself if I needed it, and if I did, why stop with one glass? Why not drink the whole bottle of champagne because as somebody said, 'One drink is had with the enemy.' I called my friends to my farm, we swam at 2 am, we did many fun things, but I didn't drink," she smiles.
She'd smoked her first cigarette at 23 and has never done cocaine. But she was drinking by the time she was 16. Growing up in an Anglo-Indian environment, it was normal for wine to be passed around the table and beer opened on Sunday. Even in the film industry there were people drinking copiously.
"Alcohol is comforting, it colours your evening. It's a socially accepted narcotic even at business lunches and in the boardroom. Also, living in a fast-paced city, being in a high-stress profession, it becomes a reason to celebrate and cope with failure. Your film is a hit, you bathe in champagne, it flops, a single malt lessens the pain," she avers.
Two years ago, Pooja ended her marriage. Though the end of a 10-year relationship is akin to death, she did not give herself time to mourn. She moved on, and the world said cheers to her spirit and energy. "Before I knew it, it's a whirlwind of hedonism," sighs Pooja who can drink every man in the room under the table thanks to her Scottish genes and her father's genes. "I was born to a man who has never done anything in half measures and I inherited that. So when I drank, I drank copiously. Your appetite increases even as the alcohol does terrible things to your body, clutters your mind and colours your judgement of the people you're hanging out with."
One evening, in the middle of another mindless conversation, she asked herself if she'd be sitting there without the alcohol. The answer was another 'No' and it was time for some soul searching!
She'd seen what alcohol did to her father, how it had killed her parents' marriage. She'd been in relationship with an alcoholic and got her into the news. She'd lost a friend at 40 to alcohol and had a drink to mourn her. But all this while, it was someone else's problem, she was in control. This time, as her father had urged, she looked into the mirror unflinchingly and acknowledged she had a problem too.
"I was 45 and if I wanted to give myself 10 years of living, I had to quit now before I drank myself to the grave. I had to reclaim the sharper, brighter me which had got watered down," says Pooja.
She was in Delhi recently sharing the stage with Sanjay Dutt who admitted he'd been a shy kid and drinking had made it easier for him to talk to a girl. Pooja's never been shy or short on confidence. For her drinking was a way of deflecting reality till she became a victim of what she calls mindless drinking.
Pulling the plug
"Luckily, I pulled the plug before it became impossible for me to stop. I'm in the pink of health except for the weight I put on because I'm now a stressful producer. But being the daughter of an alcoholic makes you four times more susceptible to becoming one," she says.
She didn't need to go to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as she had strong support systems in her dad and her Cabaret director Kaustav (Narayan Niyogi). Years ago, Mahesh Bhatt had picked up his younger daughter, Shaheen and the child had moved her head away. That day he quit drinking and never went back even though as you see in the climax of Daddy, one night after returning from the shoot and pouring Anupam Kher a drink, he was tempted to take one too after everyone had left and Pooja was asleep. He asked himself who'd know and realised that he could lie to the world but not himself. He would know! "I didn't think that the girl who'd counselled her father in Daddy would one day council herself," Pooja says poignantly.
Kaustav quit drinking two years ago because if anything went wrong on the Cabaret sets, he didn't want anyone to blame it on his drinking. "No one thought he could stay 24 hours without alcohol but he proved them wrong. "For me these two are shining examples, who understand without me telling them anything," she says, but agrees for many others, institutions like AA are necessary. "There are many who want you to fail. Strangers are more supportive than some of your own because your battle makes them realise that they have failed," she points out.
Today, Pooja herself has no problem being around anyone who drinks. She has a fully stocked bar at home and even pours out drinks for friends. "If I can't be around alcohol and resist it, it means I'm not in control. Each day strengthens my resolve as I realise I have more hours to a day now. Even when I drank till 4 am, I'd be at work at 10 am but I was burning myself out. Today, I feel lighter with the excess water gone. All the drama alcohol brings is eliminated from your life," she says.
Her biggest victory was waking up to the news of her baby sister Alia Bhatt winning the Filmfare Best Actress Award. "I messaged Alia saying normally this would have been an excuse for me to crack open a case of champagne first thing in the morning. But this time I celebrated by not drinking," Pooja signs off.
Recently, Nawazuddin Siddiqui had slammed the popular award functions on Twitter for not honouring late actor Om Puri's talent at their events.
CONTROVERSIAL! Pakistani Actress Rabi Pirzada: Bollywood Especially Salman Khan Is Ruining Our Youth
He had posted a tweet...
@TheAcademy #Oscars paid homage 2 late #OmPuri, But in #bollywood award functions nobody converse single word for his contribution... SHAME Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) February 27, 2017
Now, while speaking to Hindustan Times, the 'Raees' actor revealed why he is displeased and hurt. The daily quoted him saying, "After Omji's death, whichever award function happened, his name wasn't even mentioned. Though I must admit that I don't know how many of them took place (after Puri's demise). As an actor, you feel bad because he was a legend, who made a huge contribution to not only Indian but also world cinema, if not more. As they say, 'two words' could have been spoken about him as a tribute."
He further added, "I want to clarify that my emphasis is only on popular award functions and not the country or the film industry. They (popular award shows) have become very shallow. Sometimes, I feel that they should shut down. If these award functions continue to have such an attitude, it will become shameful for good actors to attend them, because there's no seriousness attached to them. If they were serious award functions or maintained a certain gravitas about art, especially cinema, they would have paid tribute to Omji."
The actor further revealed that he has requested popular award functions not to nominate him in an categories as it irritates him.
We are so proud of your bold move, Nawaz!
Varun Dhawan: I Had To Work Hard To Make People Believe That I Am Good Enough To Be Doing What I Do
Oru Bhayankara Kamukan, the upcoming Dulquer Salmaan starring romatic comedy was supposed to start rolling by the end of February 2017. But according to the sources, the Lal Jose movie has been delayed indefinitely.
In a recent interview, producer Shebin Backer revealed that Oru Bhayankara Kamukan has been delayed, due to the highly busy schedule of lead actor Dulquer Salmaan. The movie will not start rolling anytime soon.
Earlier, Dulquer Salmaan was planning to join the sets of the movie in February, after completing Comrade In America and Solo. But, the shoot of CIA was postponed multiple times due to technical issues.
The actor finished shooting for CIA in January and later started the second schedule filming of Solo. In between, Dulquer also shot for Soubin Shahir's Parava, in which he makes a cameo appearance.
Dulquer is yet to finish the shooting of Solo and will join Oru Bhayankara Kamukan, only after finishing the project. If the reports are to be believed, the Lal Jose movie will start rolling by mid 2017.
The actor is playing a typical village Malayali youth in the movie, which depicts a breezy love story. Oru Bhayankara Kamukan is scripted by Unni R, who has earlier teamed up with Dulquer Salmaan for Charlie.
Dulquer Salmaan is a busy man with a bagful of projects in his kitty. The actor has a packed schedule with back-to-back films in the offing in Malayalam.
Now, there are certain reports doing the rounds that Dulquer Salmaan has signed another project in Tamil. The actor hasn't made any official confirmation regarding the same.
According to the reports, Dulquer salmaan has give the nod for debut film-maker Desingh Periyasamy, who earlier assisted popular film-maker Vijay Milton.
Earlier, reports also came in that Dulquer Salmaan has committed another Tamil project, which would be directed by Ra Karthick. Reportedly, this film would be in the lines of a romantic entertainer.
No official confirmation ahs been made regarding both the projects and we have to wait a little bit more to get a clear picture on the same.
Meanwhile, the actor is in the shoot of the film Parava, directed by Soubin Shahir, in which the actor will be seen playing a special role.
Dulquer Salmaan will then join the second schedule of Bejoy Nambiar's Solo, which is scheduled for a release in the month of May.
The actor's nexty big release is Amal Neerad's CIA (Comrade In America), which is expected to hit the theatres in April.
The month of March is all set to have a thunderous beginning with the grand release of Oru Mexican Aparatha, which has hit the theatres today (March 03, 2017). The film, directed by Tom Emmatty, is one of the most awaited movies of this season.
Featuring Tovino Thomas in the lead role, Oru Mexican Aparatha has an ensemble star cast comprising of actors like Neeraj Madhav, Roopesh Peethambaran, Gayathry Suresh, Sudhi Koppa, Kalabhavan Shajon and a host of newcomers in vital roles.
Here we go.... Live updates of Oru Mexican Aparatha from PVR Lulu...
9.24 AM: The pre-booking for the movie is phenomenal...
9.35 AM: It is a packed house... Electrifying atmosphere....
9.41 AM: And the show begins...
9.46 AM: Grand reception for Tovino.... He is definitely a big star in the making....
9.54 AM: A quick roundup of college life... Interesting....
10.01 AM: Hostel life has been depicted in the most realistic way in Oru Mexican Aparatha...
10.11 AM: That proposal scene has been placed perfectly in the film...
10.20 AM: Love track of Paul and Anu is getting interesting...
10.30 AM: Proceeding during the youth festival are sure to entertain the audiences...
10.41 AM: A setback for Subhash and team... What next?
10.45 AM: The song Emaanmare has been very well placed in Oru Mexican Aparatha...
11.01 AM: It's half time and so far, Oru Mexican Aparatha is really promising...
Set in the backdrop of Maharajas College, Oru Mexican Aparatha has some never seen before elements in it.
First half ends on a high note, now the stage is set for an exciting second half. Let's see how it turns out to be...
The film has released amidst huge expectations. The opening for the film is expected to be nothing less than phenomenal. Has Oru Mexican Aparatha lived up to the hype? Will the film deliver Tovino Thomas and team a big blockbuster?
11.11 AM: Goosebumps moment... Kalipo song in the background.... Tovino and Neeraj are simply rocking...
11.18 Am: Neeraj Madhav has got some of the best dialogues in Oru Mexican Aparatha so far....
11.24 AM: Time for the leader in Paul to rise?
11.34 AM: Things are getting interesting and intense...
11.45 AM: Election campaign inside the campus... Some real mass scenes for the audiences...
11.54 AM: Paul v/s Roopesh... The content gets closer....
12.20 PM: Wow... A fine twist in the tale...
12.15 PM: And that's an end to the movie...
Oru Mexican Aparatha has exactly delivered what it promised with its trailer and teasers... Talking you through the happenings of a campus and politics, it is a thoroughly entertaining ride....
Also, read some interesting facts about Oru Mexican Aparatha...
Prithviraj has always astonished us with his unconventional film choices and exceptional versatility in the roles he plays. He has never shied away from doing a negative of supporting role, unlike most of his contemporaries.
In a recent interview given to IndiaGlitz, Prithviraj revealed that he thoroughly enjoys doing multi-starrers. Prithvi stated that the idea of multi-starrers excites him, as they turn out to be excellent learning platforms.
The actor also stated that he love to interact with talented actors, which is another reason why he loves doing multi-starrers. But, Prithviraj also openly admitted that most of the actors view multi-starrers in an unhealthy manner.
Photo Courtesy: Pranav Raaj
Prithviraj also opened up about the upcoming Gautham Menon project, which is a multi-starrer, in the interview. Interestingly, the actor revealed that it was him who suggested the idea of including stars from all the four states to Gautham.
As of now, Puneeth Rajkumar from Kannada industry has been roped in for the project. Some popular actors from Tamil and Telugu industry have been in talks for the movie. Anushka Shetty and Tamannah will essay the female leads.
The team is expected to have an official announcement on the title of the movie and star cast, soon. AR Rahman will compose the music for the movie, which depicts the story of four friends who goes on a trip to the USA.
Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan
This film reunites the classic combo of Simbu-Yuvan Shankar Raja after a long time. The movie sees Simbu portraying triple characters where one would be that of an aged person.
The teaser of "Ashwin Thatha" has already generated curiosity and the teaser has been received widely. Shriya and Tammanah would spice up the screen with Simbu whilst Adhik Ravichandran calls action-cut for the movie.
VIP 2
After the overwhelming success of VIP, the second part is coming even bigger with some interesting names of cast and crew being confirmed. This Soundarya Rajinikanth directorial movie would see Dhanush himself penning the story and dialogues.
Amala Paul and Saranya Ponvannan plays the love interest and mother character respectively, Sean Roldan has been shouldered with the responsibility of composing music. The Kalaipuli V Thanu produced film will have Kajol in the key role (Seen as an antagonist) and is slated for a June release.
Dhruva Natchatiram
For the first time, a GVM film's teaser has been released without a heroine character insertion, a song promo or a cheesy romantic dialogue. The 2:30 minute-odd lengthy teaser promises the movie to be on par with Hollywood standards in terms of making.
Chiyaan Vikram looks intense and dashing in the teaser. Harris Jayaraj has been roped in to compose music for this crime-based thriller.
Thaana Serndha Kootam
The title itself seems interesting as it's a famous line from Rajinikanth's blockbuster movie, Baasha. Interestingly, the protagonist, Suriya's screen name in the movie too is Baasha.
This Vignesh Sivan directorial has Keethy Suresh as the leading lady for Suriya and Anirudh composing music. Post the success of Naanum Rowdy Than which was a laudable attempt from the director, one can expect a different attempt from Vignesh Sivan with this crime-thriller.
Vijay 61
With the remarkable success of Theri, the hit combo of Thalapathy & Atlee is back. This movie, while seeing on papers could possibly not go wrong by any means as the team formed is tailor made for a blockbuster.
Written by KV Vijayendra Prasad (writer of Bhajrangi Bhaijan), and music being composed by the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, the movie carries an ensemble casting of Samantha, Kajal Agarwal, Nithya Menen and S.J Surya.
Vivegam
After quite a brief gap of one and a half years, Thala is back in action. Ajith dons the role of an Interpol Officer in this action based movie while Siva calls the shots. After the moderate success of Veeram and a blockbuster Vedhalam, Ajith-Siva combo is joining again for the third time.
Kajal Agarwal plays the role of a heroine while Kamal Hassan's second daughter, Akshara Hassan would be seen in a pivotal character. Ajith fans are hoping for another "Aaluma Doluma" from Anirudh in this movie as well.
Viswaroopam 2
One of the most expected and anticipated sequels in the recent past. Kamal Hassan who is taking his time to clear all the legal and financial problems attached to the movie, is finally looking out in getting the movie to theatres.
Being produced by V.Ravichandran, Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, the movie is in the post-production stage and should be ready in some time to create the awe similar to the first part. Can we expect another high voltage action sequence parallel to Vishwaroopam's transformation fight sequence?
2.0
Here comes the mother of all combinations. What could happen when the biggest director of the region join hands with the biggest superstar of the country? Well, the last two times they met, they were able to churn out the first 100 Cr grosser of Indian cinema (Sivaji) and the first 250 Cr grosser of South cinema (Robo).
Being touted as the most expensive Indian movie at a cost of 350 Cr, the Rajinikanth-Amy Jackson starrer is said to complete the filming by April followed by the mega post production activity.
Akshay Kumar plays the antagonist role and AR Rahman is composing music for the movie. Thalaivar would be seen in three different avatars, Dr. Vaseegaran, the good Chitti and an Evil Chitti.
Saath Nibhana Saathiya has again dropped down on the TRP chart and the makers are trying out new ways to get their original top slot back. The viewers will soon witness a leap. Apart from the leap twist, here comes another surprise...
We had earlier reported that Tanya Sharma, who plays the role of Meera, had got into an argument with the team and was asked to leave the show. But, later everything was sorted out and she confirmed that she is still on the show.
In a few episodes, Meera is shown missing. So how will Meera make her comeback? We had also reported about Lovey Sasan's exit. Along with Lovey, two other actors - Uppekha Jain and Pratap Hada, will also be seen leaving the show. What's the reason behind their exit? How will their role end on the show? Read on to know the answers to these questions...
Meera Will Be Back According to the latest spoiler, Meera will be back on the show soon. She will go through a major transformation. The audiences will witness a major drama in the upcoming track, where it will be revealed that Bhavani had kidnapped Meera! Seeta It is known that Modi family is protecting Seeta from Bhavani. So, Bhavani will plot a plan, where she will make a deal with Modi family. She would ask her step-daughter Seeta, in return for Meera. Meera Overhears Kokila & Bhavani's Conversation Kokila would refuse to handover Seeta to Bhavani. It so happens that, Meera will overhear the conversation and misunderstand Kokila. She will also overhear something shocking and faint! Meera's Transformation Meera will start feeling Kokila feels Seeta is more important than her and distance herself from the Modi family. Meera will come back to her original (stubborn) avatar and will be seen going against the Modi family. Paridhi, Monica & Samar Exit Also, Paridhi, Monica and Samar will be seen exiting the show. Apparently, Monica's mother, who is in London, falls ill. Monica and Samar will leave to London. Kokila Kokila will also suggest Paridhi to accompany Samar and Monica. This is how, Lovey Sasan, Uppekha Jain and Pratap Hada exit the show! Lovey & Uppekha's Exit - Inside Story We had recently reported about Lovey's exit. She took to social media to inform her fans that she is quitting the show as she wants a change and needs a break. But, reports suggest there is another story behind Lovey and her BFF Uppekha's exit. Lovey With Saathiya Co-Stars According to Tellychakkar reports, Lovey and Uppekha had an ugly incident with the Director Pappu Yadav (Bhagwan Yadav) on the sets, about a month ago. Lovey A credible source was quoted by the website as saying, "The incident happened when the entire cast was rehearsing their scenes. Someone cracked a joke and all the actors started laughing. However, the Director pointed fingers at Lovey and asked her to get out of the set." Uppekha The source further added, "He also turned towards Uppekha and asked her also to leave. The girls apparently felt really humiliated and it hurt their self respect."
The source further added, "When they tried to talk it out with Co-Producer and Director Pawan Malhotra, things apparently did not fall into place. Eventually, this incident acted as a catalyst, and the girls decided to serve their notice period and move out of the show."
An actor was quoted by the website as saying, "Guess the issue could have been sorted out then and there. However, it seemed as though there was a one-sided view on the entire thing, and this hurt Lovey and Uppekha."
Director Pappu Yadav said, "Well, there are lot of things that happen between an actor and director. Does anyone leave a show because of an argument with the director? Having said this, I have no problems with them. You can ask them about the reason behind them quitting the show."
Will you miss Lovey, Uppekha and Pratap on the show? Hit the comment box to share your views...
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/01/17 -- Founders Advantage Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE: FCF) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of a 52% majority interest (the "Transaction") in Cape Communications International Inc. (which operates as IMPACT Radio Accessories and is referred to herein as "IMPACT") for a total cash purchase price of $12.0 million (the "Purchase Price"), subject to post-closing adjustments. The Transaction was completed between the Corporation, Keith Kostek, IMPACT's President and founder, and Mr. Kostek's related entities (collectively referred to herein as the "IMPACT Founders").
IMPACT designs, manufactures, distributes and retails two-way radio accessories in the land mobile radio industry under the tradename IMPACT Radio Accessories and indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Threat4 Ltd. IMPACT sells through over 1,000 dealers throughout North America, with its products being used in the field by some of the most recognized names in public safety, military, security, retail, and hospitality (including the RCMP, NYPD, GAP, the Bellagio, Wynn Resorts, Yahoo and Google). More information about IMPACT can be found at www.impactcomms.com.
The Transaction provides the Corporation with 52% of after-tax annual cash distributions up to $2.96 million (the "Annual Threshold") paid by IMPACT to its securityholders, with the IMPACT Founders receiving 48% of annual distributions up to such Annual Threshold. All cash distributions by IMPACT to its securityholders will be subject to Board approval and may be adjusted from time to time to pursue expansion or capital initiatives or other corporate purposes. To the extent that any cash distributions paid in a year are in excess of the Annual Threshold, the IMPACT Founders will receive 65% of such excess distributions, with the Corporation receiving 35% of such excess distributions.
At Closing, it is anticipated that IMPACT will have excess working capital of approximately $1.47 million (above the normal working capital for the business of approximately $3.1 million). The Corporation has agreed to pay the IMPACT Founders an additional $735,000 as a working capital adjustment within 6 months from the closing date.
As part of the Transaction, the Corporation has granted the IMPACT Founders the right to sell the Corporation an additional 22% of IMPACT for a fixed price of $5.1 million (the "Put Option"). The IMPACT Founders may elect to exercise the Put Option at any time between September 30, 2017 and March 31, 2018, provided the TTM EBITDA for IMPACT at the Put Option exercise date exceeds $4.0 million. The Corporation has 90 days to complete such acquisition if the Put Option is exercised. In the event the Put Option is exercised, the Corporation would hold a 74% interest in IMPACT and the IMPACT Founders would hold a 26% interest. Further, in the event the Put Option is exercised, the Corporation would be entitled to 74% of annual cash distributions up to the Annual Threshold and 65% of annual distributions above the Annual Threshold (with the IMPACT Founders entitled to 26% of annual distributions up to the Annual Threshold and 35% of annual distributions above the Annual Threshold).
On closing of the Transaction, the IMPACT board of directors was comprised of Keith Kostek, Stephen Reid and James Bell. For further information on the Transaction please refer to the Corporation's press release dated December 22, 2016.
Keith Kostek, President and founder of Impact, commented: "As a founder and entrepreneur, the FA Capital model was a perfect fit for me as it allowed me to add a sophisticated partner, enjoy a partial liquidity event and receive a disproportionate share of IMPACT's future growth. The IMPACT team is proud to have the Corporation as our majority shareholder and we look forward to building value for FA Capital's shareholders."
Stephen Reid, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, commented: "IMPACT is an excellent addition to our portfolio as it has a talented management team, a history of impressive revenue growth and strong free cash flow. IMPACT has earned its extensive customer list through quality products and industry leading service. We believe that IMPACT is well positioned to take advantage of the current geopolitical environment and the increased focus on public safety, military and security. It is my pleasure to welcome Keith and his team to the FA Capital family."
Further, the Corporation is pleased to announce that it has entered into an amended credit facility with Alberta Treasury Branches to increase its revolving credit facility from $17.0 million to $28.0 million and to cancel its non-revolving $5.0 million credit facility. As such, the Corporation has increased its available borrowings from $22.0 million to $28.0 million. The Corporation used its available borrowings to fund the Transaction.
Toronto-based WCM Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance advisor to IMPACT, arranging the Transaction with the Corporation (for more information visit www.wcmcapital.ca). Toronto-based Wildeboer Dellelce LLP acted as legal advisor to IMPACT (for more information visit www.wildlaw.ca). Bennett Jones LLP, a national law firm, acted as legal advisor to Founders Advantage Capital Corp. (for more information visit www.bennettjones.com).
About IMPACT Radio Accessories
IMPACT, which was formed in 2002, is a world leader in the design and manufacture of unique radio communication products for mission critical public safety, military, security, retail and hospitality applications. Headquartered in British Columbia, with a distribution center in North Carolina, IMPACT has grown to be one of the largest aftermarket brands of two-way radio accessories in North America.
About Founders Advantage Capital Corp.
The Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange as an Investment Issuer (Tier 1) and employs a long-term investment approach. The Corporation has developed an investment approach to create long-term value for its shareholders and partner entrepreneurs (investees) by pursuing controlling interest acquisitions of cash flow positive, premium middle-market privately-held entities. The Corporation seeks to win mandates by appealing to the segment of the market which is not aligned with traditional private equity control, royalty monetizations or related structures. The Corporation's innovative platform offers disproportionate incentives (contractually) for growth in favour of our partner entrepreneurs. This unique platform is designed to appeal to entrepreneurs who believe in the growth of their businesses and who want the added ability to continue to manage the business with a long-term partner.
The Corporation's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "FCF".
For further information please refer to the Corporation's website at www.advantagecapital.ca.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Contacts:
Founders Advantage Capital Corp.
Stephen Reid
Chief Executive Officer
403-540-5411
sreid@advantagecapital.ca
Founders Advantage Capital Corp.
Darren Prins
Chief Financial Officer
403-455-2274
dprins@advantagecapital.ca
Founders Advantage Capital Corp.
James Bell
Chief Operating Officer
403-455-2218
jbell@advantagecapital.ca
www.advantagecapital.ca
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2017) - Further to its September 22, 2016 news release, Cyprium Mining Corporation (TSXV: CUG) ("Cyprium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has applied with the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") to delist $750,000 in principal amount of unsecured debentures bearing interest at 12% per annum (the "Debentures").
The Company also has applied with the Exchange for approval to pay approximately $145,427.79 of interest owed on the Debenture by way of issuance of 2,908,556 common shares of the Company. This represent approximately 3,878 common shares per $1,000 of principal amount of Debentures held.
About Cyprium Mining Corporation
For further information, please contact:
Alain Lambert, Chairman and C.E.O.
E-mail: ir@cypriummining.com
Website: www.cypriummining.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains "forward-looking information" (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws) and "forward -looking statements" (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such statements or information are identified with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "potential", "estimate", "propose", "project", "outlook", "foresee" or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Such statements include, among others, those concerning the Company's anticipated plans for developments of the Company and its mining projects".
Such forward-looking information or statements are based on a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which may cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated and which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, management's expectations regarding future growth, plans for and completion of projects by Company's third party relationships, availability of capital, and the necessity to incur capital and other expenditures. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including, without limitation, operational risks in the completion of Company's anticipated projects, delays or changes in plans with respect to the development of Company's anticipated projects by Company's third party relationships, risks affecting the ability to develop projects, risks inherent in operating in foreign jurisdictions, the ability to attract key personnel, and the inability to raise additional capital. No assurances can be given that the efforts by the Company will be successful. Additional assumptions and risks are set out in detail in the Company's MD&A, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information or statements are reasonable, prospective investors in the Company's securities should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because the Company can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release are as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise this forward-looking information and statements except as required by law. Investors should note that the Potosi silver mine and La Chinche property have no established mineral resources or mineral reserves as defined by NI 43-101. .
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/01/17 -- Dealnet Capital Corp. ("Dealnet" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: DLS), is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Carl to its Board of Directors effective immediately.
Mr. Carl has a wide breadth of expertise and experience in a number of industries including capital markets, financial services, oil and gas, mining, asset management and real estate. Mr. Carl has board experience in numerous capacities for both private and public companies where he has served in roles as Executive Chair, Audit and Compensation Committee Chair as well as the Chair of Special Committees. His previous roles included the President of Credit Suisse First Boston Canada and Senior Vice President and Director of Equity Sales and Trading for BMO Nesbitt Burns. Mr. Carl holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Finance from the University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder. He was most recently the President of AGS Capital Corp, a private family office and the Executive Chairman of Canada Fluorspar Inc, a TSX-V listed company.
Dealnet is also announcing that Daniel Wittlin has stepped down as a director of the Company effective immediately in order to focus on other business ventures.
Mr. Wittlin advised the Company that due to competing demands for his time as a result of another business venture, he is unable to serve and fulfil his duties as a director of the Company. The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Wittlin for his contribution and wishes him well in his future endeavors.
About Dealnet Capital Corp.
Dealnet is an engagement enabled consumer finance company that is initially focused on home improvement finance solutions including heating ventilation and air conditioning financing and leasing. Dealnet leverages its large scale customer service and engagement technology platform to attract home improvement dealers by providing front and back office services to them resulting in dealer origination growth.
For additional information please visit www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Dealnet Capital Corp.
Michael Hilmer
Chief Executive Officer
+1-855-912-3444
mhilmer@dealnetcapital.com
Dealnet Capital Corp.
Nicole Marchand
Investor Relations
+1-416-428-3533
nmarchand@dealnetcapital.com
SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 03/01/17 -- ALE, operating under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, held its annual Partner Event for the APAC region from February 28 to March 2, 2017 at JW Marriott, Bangkok, Thailand.
Event highlights included the announcement of APAC Business Partner Awards which recognize the investment partners made in working with the ALE product portfolio over the past 12 months and their achievement to deliver customized technology experiences that meet customers' needs. The winners included:
APAC Awards
APAC Communications Partner of the Year: ABS India Pvt. Ltd.
APAC Network Partner of the Year: Logic Solutions Inc.
APAC SMB Partner of the Year: Syntel Telecom Limited
APAC Hospitality Partner of the Year: Logic Solutions Inc.
APAC Cloud Partner of the Year: Nexon Asia Pacific
APAC Distributor of the Year: Exclusive Networks Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Regional Awards
China Networks Partner of the Year: Fortune Enterprise Information Communication Co., Ltd.
China Convergence Partner of the Year: Shanghai Xundi Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd.
Hong Kong Partner of the Year: INFA Systems Ltd.
Japan Partner of the Year: AXIO Corporation
Korean Partner of the Year: HanA IT, Inc.
NEA Communications Partner of the Year: ABS Telecom Inc.
SEA Network Partner of the Year: The Communication Solution Co. Ltd.
Reseller Award
APAC SMB Reseller of the Year: Telstra Business Centre Adelaide North
These awards are an acknowledgement of partner growth initiatives, innovation and collaboration opportunities with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions over the past year in addition to the revenue targets.
Congratulating the partners, Matthieu Destot, EVP, Global Sales & Marketing, ALE said, "Our industry is always evolving, and we would not be able to ride this wave without the support of our Business Partners. We rely on each of our partners to team with us as we follow the customer into a new realm of on-demand and service driven consumption. Congratulations to those partners that demonstrated outstanding achievement in 2016 as we look forward to more joint successes in 2017 and beyond."
About Us
We are ALE. Our mission is to make everything connect to create the customized technology experience customers need. We deliver networking and communications that work for your people, processes and customers from your office, the cloud or in combination.
A heritage of innovation and dedication to customer success has made ALE, marketed under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, an essential provider of enterprise networking, communications and services to over 830,000 customers worldwide. ALE has a global reach and local focus with more than 2200 employees and 2900+ partners who serve over 50 countries.
More information on the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Hospitality Solutions and Healthcare Solutions. For ongoing news visit our Newsroom, Blog, Facebook and Twitter.
Press contact:
Amit Raj Bathla
Vice President, Marketing, APAC, ALE
Email: Email Contact
Mobile: +65 9615 7340
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday. The Australian dollar fell to 87.17 against the yen, from an early 2-week high of 87.46. The aussie slipped to 1.3781 against the euro, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3737. Against the Canadian, the U.S. and New Zealand dollars, the aussie dropped to 1.0203, 0.7644 and 1.0715 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0225, 0.7673 and 1.0739, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 85.00 against the yen, 1.41 against the euro, 0.99 against the loonie, 0.75 against the greenback and 1.05 against the kiwi. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Regulatory News:
UBS (NYSE:UBS) (SWX:UBSN) has established UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG, a wholly owned direct subsidiary of UBS Group AG, to issue future loss-absorbing additional tier 1 (AT1) capital instruments and total loss-absorbing capacity- (TLAC-) eligible senior unsecured debt, which will be guaranteed by UBS Group AG. UBS also intends to substitute the issuer of outstanding TLAC-eligible senior unsecured debt, with UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG replacing UBS Group Funding (Jersey) Limited as the issuer. Outstanding loss-absorbing AT1 capital instruments issued by UBS Group AG may in the future be transferred to UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG, subject to further regulatory review.
Under current Swiss tax law, capital instruments and debt issued directly by UBS Group AG increase the overall tax burden for the Group. However, this can be mitigated by issuing capital and debt instruments through a subsidiary, with a guarantee provided by UBS Group AG, as confirmed by the tax authorities. The Swiss Federal Council has requested the Swiss Federal Tax Administration to propose amendments to the current Swiss tax law in order to reduce the additional tax burden on debt issuances by bank top holding companies. When such changes become effective, we expect loss-absorbing AT1 capital instruments and TLAC-eligible senior unsecured debt to be issued directly out of UBS Group AG. At that point, we also expect to substitute UBS Group AG as issuer of outstanding capital and debt instruments issued by UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG. Both loss-absorbing AT1 capital instruments and TLAC-eligible senior unsecured debt are exempt from withholding tax under Swiss law.
We expect the substitution of UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG as issuer of outstanding TLAC-eligible senior unsecured debt to be completed during the second quarter of 2017. The issuer substitution will be carried out pursuant to the voluntary substitution provisions provided in the terms and conditions of the relevant instruments. Upon completion of the issuer substitution, outstanding TLAC-eligible senior unsecured debt will continue to be guaranteed by UBS Group AG, and investors' seniority of claim against UBS Group AG will remain unchanged.
Supporting documents on UBS Group Funding (Switzerland) AG are available under the "Disclosures for legal entities" section on www.ubs.com/investors
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170301006083/en/
Contacts:
UBS Group AG
Investor contact
Switzerland: +41-44-234 41 00
or
Media contact
Switzerland: +41-44-234 85 00
or
UK: +44-207-567 47 14
or
Americas: +1-212-882 58 57
or
APAC: +852-297-1 82 00
www.ubs.com
-Perjeta plus Herceptin and chemotherapy showed a statistically significant improvement in invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) for people with HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC) compared to Herceptin and chemotherapy alone
-Data will be discussed with health authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA)
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), the Breast International Group (BIG), Breast European Adjuvant Study Team (BrEAST) and Frontier Science Foundation (FS) today announced positive results from the Phase III APHINITY study. The study met its primary endpoint and showed that adjuvant (after surgery) treatment with the combination of Perjeta (pertuzumab), Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy (the Perjeta-based regimen) achieved a statistically significant reduction in the risk of recurrence of invasive disease or death (invasive disease-free survival; iDFS) in people with HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC) compared to Herceptin and chemotherapy alone. The safety profile of the Perjeta-based regimen was consistent with that seen in previous studies, and no new safety signals were identified. Full results from the APHINITY trial will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting in 2017.
"These results from the positive APHINITY study represent an important addition to the body of data for Perjeta in the treatment of people with HER2-positive early breast cancer," said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "We look forward to discussing these adjuvant results with global regulatory authorities."
Gunter von Minckwitz, M.D., study coordinator from the Breast International Group and academic study partners, added, "APHINITY provides yet another example of the importance of industry-academic collaborations and their value in advancing cancer care for people affected by this challenging disease."
HER2-positive breast cancer is an aggressive form of the disease, which affects approximately one in five people with breast cancer and is associated with a poor prognosis if left untreated. Despite advancements in the treatment of HER2-positive EBC, up to one in three people treated with Herceptin and chemotherapy may eventually see their cancer return. Treatment options are needed to improve the outcomes of people with this aggressive disease. Treating breast cancer early, before it has spread, may improve the chance of preventing the disease from returning and potentially reaching an incurable stage. Adjuvant therapy is given after surgery and is aimed at killing any remaining cancer cells to reduce the risk of the cancer returning.
In the U.S., the combination of Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel chemotherapy is currently available under accelerated approval for neoadjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early stage breast cancer (either greater than 2 cm in diameter or node-positive) as part of a complete treatment regimen for early breast cancer. This approval is based primarily on data from a Phase II study showing that nearly 40 percent of people receiving the combination of Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel chemotherapy had no evidence of microscopic tumor tissue detectable at the time of surgery (known as a pathological complete response, or pCR) compared to almost 22 percent in the Herceptin and docetaxel chemotherapy arm. The APHINITY trial reflects the commitment to evaluate the Perjeta-based regimen as part of a complete treatment approach for EBC. These data will be discussed with the FDA with the hope to convert the current accelerated approval to a full approval.
About APHINITY
APHINITY (Adjuvant Pertuzumab and Herceptin IN Initial TherapY in Breast Cancer, NCT01358877/ BO25126/ BIG 4-11) is an international, Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-arm study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Perjeta plus Herceptin and chemotherapy compared to Herceptin and chemotherapy as an adjuvant therapy in 4,805 people with operable HER2-positive EBC.
People enrolled in the study underwent surgery and were randomized to one of two arms (1:1) to receive either:
Six to eight cycles of chemotherapy (anthracycline or non-anthracycline-containing regimen) with Perjeta and Herceptin, followed by Perjeta and Herceptin every three weeks for a total of one year (52 weeks) of treatment.
Six to eight cycles of chemotherapy (anthracycline or non-anthracycline-containing regimen) with placebo and Herceptin, followed by placebo and Herceptin every three weeks for a total of one year (52 weeks) of treatment.
Radiotherapy and/or endocrine therapy could be initiated at the end of adjuvant chemotherapy. The APHINITY study allowed for a range of standard chemotherapy regimens to be used and both lymph node-positive and lymph node-negative participants were eligible for enrollment. The primary efficacy endpoint of the APHINITY study is iDFS, which is the time a patient lives without return of invasive breast cancer at any site or death from any cause after adjuvant treatment. Secondary endpoints include cardiac and overall safety, overall survival, disease-free survival and health-related quality of life.
About Perjeta
Perjeta is a medicine that targets the HER2 receptor, a protein found on the outside of many normal cells and in high quantities on the outside of cancer cells in HER2-positive cancers. Perjeta is designed specifically to prevent the HER2 receptor from pairing (or 'dimerizing') with other HER receptors (EGFR/HER1, HER3 and HER4) on the surface of cells, a process that is believed to play a role in tumor growth and survival. Binding of Perjeta to HER2 may also signal the body's immune system to destroy the cancer cells. The mechanisms of action of Perjeta and Herceptin are believed to complement each other, as both bind to the HER2 receptor, but to different places. The combination of Perjeta and Herceptin is thought to provide a more comprehensive, dual blockade of HER signaling pathways, thus preventing tumor cell growth and survival.
Perjeta Indication Statement
Perjeta is approved for use prior to surgery in combination with Herceptin and docetaxel chemotherapy in people with HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early stage (tumor is greater than two centimeters in diameter or node-positive) breast cancer. Perjeta should be used as part of a complete treatment regimen for early stage breast cancer. This use of Perjeta is based on an improvement in the percentage of patients whose cancer shrinks or disappears after treatment. Currently, no data have shown whether or not treatment with Perjeta prior to surgery improves survival.
The safety of Perjeta in combination with doxorubicin-containing regimens has not been established.
The safety of Perjeta administered for greater than six cycles for early stage breast cancer has not been established.
Important Safety Information
Side effects with Perjeta
Not all people have serious side effects; however, side effects with Perjeta therapy are common. It is important for a patient to know what side effects may happen and what symptoms a patient should watch for.
A patient's doctor may stop treatment if serious side effects happen. A patient should be sure to contact their healthcare team right away if they have questions or are worried about any side effects.
Most serious side effects
Perjeta may cause heart problems, including those without symptoms (such as reduced heart function) and those with symptoms (such as congestive heart failure).
A patient's doctor may run tests to monitor the patient's heart function before and during treatment with Perjeta.
Based on test results, a patient's doctor may hold or discontinue treatment with Perjeta.
Receiving Perjeta during pregnancy can result in the death of an unborn baby and birth defects.
Birth control should be used while receiving Perjeta and for seven months after a patient's last dose of Perjeta. If a patient is a mother who is breastfeeding, the patient should talk with her doctor about either stopping breastfeeding or stopping Perjeta.
If a patient thinks she may be pregnant, the patient should contact her healthcare provider immediately.
If a patient is exposed to Perjeta during pregnancy, or becomes pregnant while receiving Perjeta or within seven months following the last dose of Perjeta in combination with Herceptin, the patient is encouraged to enroll in the MotHER Pregnancy Registry by contacting (800) 690-6720 or visiting http://www.motherpregnancyregistry.com, and to report Perjeta exposure to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Other possible serious side effects
Perjeta should not be used in patients who are allergic to pertuzumab or to any of the ingredients in Perjeta.
Infusion-related reactions: Perjeta is a medicine that is delivered into a vein through a needle. This process can cause reactions known as infusion-related reactions. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel were feeling tired, abnormal or altered taste, allergic reactions, muscle pain and vomiting. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta alone were fever, chills, feeling tired, headache, weakness, allergic reactions and vomiting.
Perjeta is a medicine that is delivered into a vein through a needle. This process can cause reactions known as infusion-related reactions. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel were feeling tired, abnormal or altered taste, allergic reactions, muscle pain and vomiting. The most common infusion-related reactions when receiving Perjeta alone were fever, chills, feeling tired, headache, weakness, allergic reactions and vomiting. Severe allergic reactions: Some people receiving Perjeta may have severe allergic reactions, called hypersensitivity reactions or anaphylaxis. This reaction may be severe, may happen quickly and may affect many areas of the body.
Knowing if Perjeta is right for the patient
Perjeta has only been shown to work in people with HER2-positive breast cancer. A patient must have a HER2 test to know if their breast cancer is HER2-positive before receiving an anti-HER2 treatment, such as Perjeta.
Most common side effects
The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin and docetaxel as part of an early breast cancer regimen before surgery are:
Hair loss
Diarrhea
Nausea
Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever
The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin and docetaxel following three cycles of epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil as part of an early breast cancer regimen before surgery are:
Feeling tired
Hair loss
Diarrhea
Nausea
Vomiting
Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever
The most common side effects of Perjeta when given with Herceptin, docetaxel and carboplatin as part of an early breast cancer regimen before surgery are:
Feeling tired
Hair loss
Diarrhea
Nausea
Vomiting
Low levels of white blood cells with or without a fever
Low platelet count
Low levels of red blood cells
Patients are encouraged to report side effects to Genentech and the FDA. Report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Please see the full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information, including most serious side effects, at http://www.perjeta.com.
Herceptin Indication Statements
Early Breast Cancer
Herceptin is approved for the treatment of early stage breast cancer that is HER2-positive and has spread into the lymph nodes, or is HER2-positive and has not spread into the lymph nodes. If it has not spread into the lymph nodes, the cancer needs to be estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR)-negative or have one high risk feature.* Herceptin can be used in several different ways:
As part of a treatment course including the chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and either paclitaxel or docetaxel. This treatment course is known as " AC?TH
With the chemotherapy drugs docetaxel and carboplatin. This treatment course is known as " TCH
Alone after treatment with multiple other therapies, including an anthracycline-based therapy (a type of chemotherapy).
*High risk is defined as ER/PR-positive with one of the following features: tumor size greater than 2 cm, age less than 35 years, or tumor Grade 2 or 3.
Important Safety Information
Possible serious side effects with Herceptin
Not all people have serious side effects, but side effects with Herceptin therapy are common.
Although some people may have a life-threatening side effect, most do not.
A patient's doctor will stop treatment if any serious side effects occur.
Herceptin is not for everyone. A patient should be sure to contact their doctor if they are experiencing any of the following:
HEART PROBLEMS
These include heart problems-such as congestive heart failure or reduced heart function-with or without symptoms. The risk for and seriousness of these heart problems were highest in people who received both Herceptin and a certain type of chemotherapy (anthracycline). In a study of adjuvant (early) breast cancer, one patient died of significantly weakened heart muscle. A patient's doctor will check for signs of heart problems before, during, and after treatment with Herceptin.
INFUSION REACTIONS, including:
Fever and chills
Feeling sick to your stomach (nausea)
Throwing up (vomiting)
Pain (in some cases at tumor sites)
Headache
Dizziness
Shortness of breath
These signs usually happen within 24 hours after receiving Herceptin.
A patient should be sure to contact their doctor if they:
Are a woman who could become pregnant, or may be pregnant
Herceptin may result in the death of unborn baby and birth defects. Birth control should be used while receiving Herceptin and after a patient's last dose of Herceptin. If a patient is exposed to Herceptin during pregnancy or within seven months of becoming pregnant, the patient is encouraged to enroll in the MotHER Pregnancy Registry by contacting (800) 690-6720 or visiting http://www.motherpregnancyregistry.com and to report Herceptin exposure to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Have any signs of SEVERE LUNG PROBLEMS, including:
Severe shortness of breath
Fluid in or around the lungs
Weakening of the valve between the heart and the lungs
Not enough oxygen in the body
Swelling of the lungs
Scarring of the lungs
A patient's doctor may check for signs of severe lung problems when he or she examines the patient.
Have LOW WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNTS
Low white blood cell counts can be life threatening. Low white blood cell counts were seen more often in patients receiving Herceptin plus chemotherapy than in patients receiving chemotherapy alone.
A patient's doctor may check for signs of low white blood cell counts when he or she examines the patient.
Other important information
Before taking Herceptin, a patient must have a HER2 test to determine if their cancer is HER2-positive. This is because the benefit of treatment with Herceptin has been shown only in patients whose tumors are HER2-positive.
Side effects seen most often with Herceptin
Some patients receiving Herceptin for breast cancer had the following side effects:
Fever
Feeling sick to your stomach (nausea)
Throwing up (vomiting)
Infusion reactions
Diarrhea
Infections
Increased cough
Headache
Feeling tired
Shortness of breath
Rash
Low white and red blood cell counts
Muscle pain
A patient should contact their doctor immediately if they have any of the side effects listed above.
Patients are encouraged to report side effects to Genentech and the FDA. Report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Please see the full Prescribing Information, including Boxed WARNINGS and additional Important Safety Information, at http://www.herceptin.com.
About Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 255,180 people in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and 41,070 will die from the disease in 2017. In HER2-positive breast cancer, increased quantities of the Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor2 (HER2) are present on the surface of tumor cells. This is known as "HER2 positivity" and affects approximately 15-20 percent of people with breast cancer. HER2-positive cancer is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.
About Genentech in HER2-positive Breast Cancer
Genentech has spent more than 30 years studying the role of HER2 in cancer, and Perjeta is a result of this research. A diagnostic test is used to determine if a person's tumor is HER2-positive and whether treatment with HER2-targeted medicines is appropriate.
About Genentech Access Solutions
Access Solutions is part of Genentech's commitment to helping people access the Genentech medicines they are prescribed, regardless of their ability to pay. The team of in-house specialists at Access Solutions is dedicated to helping people navigate the access and reimbursement process, and to providing assistance to eligible patients in the United States who are uninsured or cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs for their medicine. To date, the team has helped more than 1.5 million patients access the medicines they need. Please contact Access Solutions (866) 4ACCESS/(866) 422-2377 or visit http://www.Genentech-Access.com for more information.
About Genentech
Founded 40 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170301006723/en/
Contacts:
Genentech
Media Contact:
Courtney Aberbach, 650-467-6800
or
Advocacy Contact:
Angela Wilson, 919-244-7758
or
Investor Contacts:
Neera Dahiya Ravindran, M.D., 650-491-5281
Karl Mahler, Ph.D., 011 41 61 687 8503
STOURBRIDGE, England, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Straightline Aviation Ltd, operators of Lockheed Martin's revolutionary new Hybrid aircraft, is specifically targeting the Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets. The company, which already has offices in the UK and US is now looking to expand its global presence with a base in the region.
The hybrid aircraft is being heralded as a game changing aviation milestone and is the result of hundreds of millions of US dollars of research and development being focused on reducing the costs of moving freight, particularly in remote locations.
The Hybrid aircraft combines technology from fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and hovercraft and does not need an airport to operate from. It can land on almost any unprepared surface including, water, ice or sand. The first aircraft will carry up to twenty tons of cargo with a range of 1400 miles, with 30% less fuel burn and 80% less carbon emissions than traditional heavy lift helicopters.
Straightline Aviation has already signed a US$850m memorandum of understanding to provide Canadian mining company, Quest Rare Minerals, with seven aircraft and having had significant expressions of interest from customers and investors in the Asia-Pacific region, believes that the Chinese market is ideally suited for the deployment of the Hybrid for similar applications.
The company has appointed Francis Chiew as Managing Director - Asia-Pacific to spearhead development. Francis has extensive experience working across the region and was instrumental in bringing airship operations into China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Australia and Japan during his time with Virgin Lightships. He joins a team of other senior former Virgin executives including founding directors Mike Kendrick, Mark Dorey and David Tait who have unparalleled experience in growing and developing global aviation businesses.
The Chairman of Straightline, Brian Kessler, who has over thirty years of experience working in China, stated, "This new aircraft is ideally suited for operations in China and will revolutionise the way we handle freight. China is a vast country not only comprising large hubs and congested commercial centres but also many remote locations. The Lockheed Hybrid can service main business centres but can also, economically and effectively, move freight to more remote areas, without the need for expensive infrastructure like roads and airports." The Lockheed Hybrid is uniquely suited for China's 'Silk Road' initiatives where roads and airports are not available. He added, "I have enjoyed my experience in China, working with innovative and technology led companies and I am sure that the area will embrace the advantages that this new aircraft offers."
Hybrid Airship Images: http://bit.ly/SLA-China
www.straightlineaviation.com
STOCKHOLM, Mar 02, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The latest annual residential map from Catella, covering analysis of 80 German residential markets, continues to show a largely positive picture. Demand will exceed supply going forward, and price effects are a result of shortages, land price increases and rising rent expectations.
The sharpest increase in rents during the past twelve months was in the "very good residential areas in the seven A locations" category, at 12%. This was followed by the "very good residential areas throughout Germany" category, at 7%. Average prices in the very good residential areas of the top 7 locations exceeded the EUR 15/m mark for the first time, and at a nationwide level average prices in very good residential areas of the 80 towns and cities analysed are now higher than EUR 10/m.
"This change is clear evidence that demand combined with rising rents is a development which is concentrated primarily to the very good residential areas in Germany. Rents have also gone up in mid-range residential areas, but the increase has been nowhere near as sharp," explains Dr. Thomas Beyerle, Head of Group Research at Catella.
With an average of EUR 21/m, Munich currently leads the field for rents in very good residential areas, while the lowest recorded figure in this category is in Remscheid at EUR 7/m. Recklinghausen is bottom of the table in the "mid-range residential areas" category, at EUR 6/m, while Munich recorded the highest value in this category as well, at EUR 17/m.
With an average top yield of 5.1%, compared with 5.5% in 2016, this figure is approaching the 5% mark for the first time since 1990, which is evident in the very strong investor interest in A locations and very good residential areas. Leading the way in the A locations is Munich, with a top yield of 3.2%. The highest recorded figure is in Herne (8.0%), followed by Cottbus (7.9%) and Hamm (6.9%).
The complete Catella map "Investment location Germany 2017 - Residential - rents and yields" is now available at catella.com/research.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Thomas Beyerle
Head of Group Research
Tel: +49 69 310-19-30-220
E-mail: thomas.beyerle@catella.de
Press contact:
Ann Charlotte Svensson
Head of Group Communications
Tel: +46 8 463-32-55, +46 72 510-11-61
E-mail: anncharlotte.svensson@catella.se
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
http://news.cision.com/catella---corporate-finance/r/catella--increasing-multiples-and-rising-rents-in-urban-centres-make-german-residential-markets-attr,c2202815
The following files are available for download:
NICOSIA, CYPRUS -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Atalaya Mining PLC (AIM: ATYM) (TSX: AYM)
AIM: ATYM, TSX: AYM
2 March 2017
Atalaya Mining plc ("Atalaya" or the "Company")
Granting of share options
Atalaya (AIM: ATYM, TSX: AYM), the European mining and development company, announces that, in accordance with the Company's incentive share option program, it has granted 800,000 incentive share options to Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibilities ("PDMRs") and management. Such options have been granted pursuant to the resolutions passed by shareholders at the Company's 2016 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") and according to the provisions of the Company's Share Option Plan 2013. In addition, the Company has granted 100,000 share options to Cesar Sanchez, CFO of the Company, as part of his contractual entitlement on joining the Company in July 2016.
The share options expire five years from the date of grant (23 February 2017), have an exercise price of 144.0 pence per share, based on the minimum share price in the five days preceding the grant date and vest in three equal tranches - one third on grant, one third on the first anniversary of the original grant date and one third on the second anniversary of the original grant date.
The 900,000 share options have been allocated as per the table below.
Name Position Number of Total Total incentive share beneficial beneficial options issued holding holding as % of (shares & Company's options) fully diluted following this issued share notification capital Alberto CEO/Managing 150,000 450,000 0.38% Lavandeira Director Julian COO 95,000 195,000 0.16% Sanchez Cesar CFO 100,000 100,000 0.08% Sanchez George GFC and 55,000 55,000 0.05% Hadjineoph Company ytou Secretary ---------------- PDMR Total 400,000 Management 500,000 ---------------- Total 900,000 ================
The Company now has an aggregate of 1,765,354 options and warrants on issue.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.
Contacts:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atalaya Mining plc Roger Davey / Alberto Lavandeira +34 959 59 28 50 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canaccord Genuity (NOMAD Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / Martin +44 20 7523 8000 and Joint Broker) Davison ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BMO Capital Markets Jeffrey Couch/Neil Haycock/Tom +44 20 7236 1010 (Joint Broker) Rider ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
Contact:
RNS
Customer Services
0044-207797-4400
rns@londonstockexchange.com
http://www.rns.com
AIM and Media Release
2 March 2017
BASE RESOURCES LIMITED
Preliminary Exploration Results
HIGHLIGHTS
Additional mineralisation discovered that extends the footprint of the Kwale South Dune Deposit to the south by 950m and east by up to a further 500m.
Discovery of a new dunal mineral deposit at Mafisini, a continuation of the Kwale South Dune Deposit mineralisation, with recorded intercepts over a contiguous 1240m of strike and up to 480m in width.
Discovery of new dunal mineralisation and marine sediments in the NE Sector, adjacent to the Kwale Central Dune.
Base Resources Limited (ASX & AIM: BSE) ("Base Resources" or the "Company") is pleased to provide preliminary exploration results of the extensional and infill drilling program completed to date for its Kwale Mineral Sands Operations ("Kwale Operations") in Kenya, East Africa. Strong drilling results clearly demonstrate the potential to grow resources and mine life to the north and south of existing project reserves.
As previously announced, the Company commenced an aircore drilling program in the December 2016 quarter, within its Special Prospecting License173 ("SPL 173"). The drill program aims to provide mine life extension to the Kwale Operations by exploring two previously identified prospective areas adjoining or near the existing Kwale Operation ore bodies: the south-west sector ("SW Sector") and north east sector ("NE Sector") (refer Figure 1).
An airborne geophysics program, conducted in 2015, covering the south coast region of Kenya from Mombasa to the Tanzanian border, identified a series of exploration targets that were subsequently confirmed through ground reconnaissance. A summary of drilling completed to the 23rd February 2017 is included in Table 1 and shown in Figure 1.
"Figures" (graphics) referenced in this release have been omitted. A full PDF version of this release, including all Figures, is available from the Company's website: www.baseresources.com.au.
Table 1. Drilling completed by location.
Location Holes Metres SW Sector (Kwale South Dune extension & Mafisini) 361 5,726 NE Sector 43 1,119 Kwale South Dune Deposit edge definition 53 720 Kwale South Dune Deposit infill drilling 140 2,059 TOTAL 597 9,624
SW Sector - Kwale South Dune Deposit extension & Mafisini Deposit
Exploration drilling in the SW Sector at Kwale has substantially increased the dimensions of the South Dune Deposit and intersected a new dunal heavy mineral sand deposit at Mafisini ("Mafisini Deposit") (refer Figure 2). The Kwale South Dune Deposit has been extended a further 950m to the south at an average of 700m across strike. The Mafisini Deposit is a continuation of the Kwale South Dune mineralisation, separated from it by a narrow alluvial lowland. Mafisini records mineralised intervals over a contiguous 1240m of strike and up to 480m in width.
Visual inspection of the Kwale South Dune Deposit extension and Mafisini Deposit mineralisation indicates a similar composition and high-value mineralogy as that reported for the Kwale Operations Mineral Resources (134.6Mt at 4.2% heavy mineral ("HM"), 26% slimes, 2% oversize and a HM assemblage of 59% ilmenite, 13% rutile and 6% zircon - refer ASX release 11th October 20161). Detailed mineralogy and resource estimation are expected to be completed in the September quarter.
[Note 1: Refer to the "2016 Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves Update for Kwale" released on 11 October 2016, which is available at http://www.baseresources.com.au/investor-centre/asx-releases/. Base Resources confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and, in the case of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the original market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.]
Representative cross sections of the discoveries are included in Figures 3 and 4 (excluding infill holes) and significant drill intercepts are included in Appendix 2.
NE Sector
Exploration drilling has commenced in the NE Sector, where the marine escarpment falls away to the coastal plain (Figure 5). Initial results indicate significant additional, high-value, mineralised dune accumulations occur on the escarpment adjacent to the Kwale Central Dune Deposit (Figure 6).
Extensive community engagement has continued in the NE Sector to obtain informed consent and access to the target drill sites located in this area. However, increasing political positioning ahead of Kenya's general elections, currently scheduled for August 2017, has produced community tensions not conducive to exploration and so the Company has decided to postpone further drilling until sentiment improves, likely to be after the elections.
Marine sediments have been intersected at the base of the escarpment in the NE Sector at around 20m above sea level (Figure 6). Mineralisation (incl. 1.5m @ 10.75% HM from 25.5m in ke001) has been discovered in what appears to be a beach placer setting. The extent of the new discovery remains to be determined by further drilling and is open in all axes.
Return of complete assays from the drilling in the NE Sector is awaited. Mineralised intercepts received to-date are included in Appendix 2. Intensive geological interpretation of down-hole results and further community engagement will be conducted prior to further drilling in this region.
Kwale South Dune Deposit - edge definition and infill drilling
Base Resources has completed a program of edge-definition drilling along the eastern margin of the Kwale South Dune Deposit (currently 88.5Mt @ 3.5% HM - refer ASX/AIM Release 11th October 20162). Results suggest that the deposit may be extended by as much as 500m east of its current location.
[Note 2: Refer to note 1.]
Additionally, an infill drill program has been completed to bring the Kwale South Dune Deposit to a (nominally) 100m x 100m drill pattern, and provide the basis for upgrading the geological confidence of Inferred and part of the Indicated Resource areas of the deposit to a Measured status. Any Inferred Resources achieving an Indicated or Measured Resource status will in turn be eligible for inclusion within the Kwale South Dune Ore Reserves. Appreciable Ore Reserve increases are anticipated from this work.
Detailed mineralogy and resource estimation are expected to be completed in the September quarter.
Competent Persons Statements
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by Mr.Richard Stockwell, who acts as contract Exploration Manager for Base Resources. Mr. Stockwell is the Principal for Hornet Drilling and Geological Services Pty Ltd, a mineral sands exploration consultancy engaged by Base Resources to manage the Company's exploration strategy in Kenya and Tanzania. Mr Stockwell is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). Mr. Stockwell consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.
Forward Looking Statements
Information in this report should be read in conjunction with other announcements made by Base Resources to ASX. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this report (or any associated presentation, information or matters). To the maximum extent permitted by law, Base Resources and its related bodies corporate and affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and advisers, disclaim any liability (including, without limitation, any liability arising from fault, negligence or negligent misstatement) for any direct or indirect loss or damage arising from any use or reliance on this report or its contents, including any error or omission from, or otherwise in connection with, it.
Certain statements in or in connection with this report contain or comprise forward looking statements. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and may be outside Base Resources' control. Accordingly, results could differ materially from those set out in the forward-looking statements.
Nothing in this report constitutes investment, legal or other advice. You must not act on the basis of any matter contained in this report, but must make your own independent investigation and assessment of Base Resources and obtain any professional advice you require before making any investment decision based on your investment objectives and financial circumstances. This document does not constitute an offer, invitation, solicitation, advice or recommendation with respect to the issue, purchase or sale of any security in any jurisdiction.
APPENDIX 1: Table 1, JORC Code 2012
Section 1: Sampling Techniques and Data
Criteria Explanation Comment Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (e.g. cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc.). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling. Sample sub-splits are collected at a standard 1.5m down-hole interval, using an on-board rotary splitter mounted beneath the drill rig cyclone. Sample gates are set at 25% of the splitter cycle, which delivers about 2kg of sample, dependant on ground conditions. Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used. Appropriate drilling equipment and driller training is a prerequisite of the drilling contract. A rotary splitter (regularly cleaned) is used for splitting drill samples in the field and a robust QA/QC and audit system is established.
Consistency in split sample weights is monitored via intermittent testing in the field with spring scales and through recording of air-dried sample weights at sample preparation. Weights are generally between two and three kilograms and this is considered representative for the detrital material being sampled. Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report. In cases where 'industry standard' work has been done this would be relatively simple (e.g. 'reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay'). In other cases, more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (e.g. submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. RCAC drilling is used to obtain a 1.5m samples from which approximately 1.2-2.5 kg is collected using a rotary splitter beneath a cyclone. The sample is then dried, de-slimed (material less than 45 m removed) and then oversize (material +1mm) is removed.
Approximately 100g of the resultant sample is then subjected to a heavy mineral (HM) float/sink technique using Lithium Heteropolytungstates (LST:SG=2.85g/cm3).
The resulting HM concentrate is then dried and weighed. Drilling techniques Drill type (e.g. core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc.) and details (e.g. core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc.). All samples are generated by RCAC drilling utilising ~71 mm diameter (NQ) air-core drill tooling. Drill holes are oriented vertically by eye. Drill sample recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed. Base Resources log sample quality at the rig as either good or poor, with 'good' meaning not contaminated and of an appropriate sample size (recovery), and 'poor' meaning contaminated or grossly over/undersized.
Ground conditions vary and as such, the use of water injection is also logged in the sample quality field for every sample interval (dry, moist, injected or wet).
No sample loss has been recorded. The configuration of drilling and nature of sediments encountered results in negligible loss. Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples. Drill penetration is halted at the end of each sample interval to allow time for the sample to return to surface and be collected. Drilling proceeds once sample delivery ceases.
Sampling on the drill rig is observed to ensure that rotary splitter remains clean. Water flush and manual cleaning of the cyclone occurs at regular intervals to ensure contamination is minimised. Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. No relationship is believed to exist between grade and sample recovery. The high percentage of silt and low hydraulic inflow of groundwater results in a sample size that is well within the expected size range. Logging Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resources estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies. Base Resources collects detailed qualitative logging of geological characteristics to allow a comprehensive geological interpretation to be carried out.
Logging of HM sinks with a microscope also is used to inform the geological interpretation. Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc.) photography. Logging of RCAC samples record sample quality, washability, colour, lithology, grainsize, sorting, induration type, hardness, estimated rock and estimated HM. The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged. All drill holes are logged in full and all samples with observed HM (and designated for assay) are assayed. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken. All samples are unconsolidated and comprise sand, silt, clay and rock fragments. If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc. and whether sampled wet or dry. Base Resources rotary split the samples on the drill rig as they are delivered from drilling (wet, moist, injected or dry). Low groundwater pressure and rotary splitting delivers a representative sample for logging. The 25% split delivers approximately 2 kg of sample for analysis.
Drill samples are dried then riffle split to produce a ~300g sample for de-sliming and oversize removal. The resultant sand fraction is then delivered to the laboratory for heavy liquid (LST) separation. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation, cont'd. For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique. Base Resources use a standard flow sheet and detailed QA/QC is undertaken.
The sample, designated in the field for analysis, is air dried, weighed and pulverized for riffle splitting. Two splits are generated of approximately 350 - 500g each and the remainder of the original sample is recorded and stored.
One split is oven dried to establish moisture content of the air-dried sample. The second split is soaked in water and a de-flocculating agent prior to attritioning and de-sliming with a 45m screen.
The sample is then dried and weighed to determine material lost (Slimes weight) during screening. The dried sample is then screened at 1mm and the oversize is weighed. The remaining dry sand fraction is then delivered to the on-site analysis laboratory (SGS) for heavy liquid separation by TBE. Quality control procedures adopted for all sub- sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples. To maintain QA/QC, a duplicate and standard assaying procedure has been implemented.
A duplicate sample is collected at the rig at every 20th sample by the application of a second calico bag to the second, 25% split chute on the splitter. Both samples are subjected to the complete sample preparation and assaying process.
In the sample preparation area, at a rate of 1:40, duplicates of the moisture content sample and screened sample are taken. These are subjected to moisture content (split 1) and de-sliming/oversize (split 2) determinations to ensure samples do not exhibit bias.
A certified standard sample is submitted in the field and a second certified standard sample is submitted to the laboratory after the sample preparation stage, each at a rate of 1:40, to monitor analysis accuracy. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation, cont'd. Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in-situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling. Analysis of sample duplicates is undertaken by standard geostatistical methodologies (QQ Plots) to test for bias and to ensure that sample splitting is representative.
Standards determine assay accuracy performance, monitored on control charts, where failure (beyond 3SD from the mean) triggers re-assay of the affected batch. Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. Given that the grain size of the material being sampled is sand and approximately 70 to 300 m, an approximate sample size of 2 kg is more than adequate. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total. Laboratory analysis of drill samples is conducted by the Kwale, onsite contract laboratory, managed by SGS.
Analysis is conducted according to a flow sheet that represents standard, best practice for the assessment of HM and is supported by robust QA/QC procedures.
Sand samples delivered to SGS are rotary split to generate a ~100g sample for LST separation. Excess sand fraction is labelled and stored.
The LST sink progresses till it clears and the sink is removed, washed in acetone, oven dried and weighed.
LST is cleaned and density checked on a daily basis. For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc., the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc. None used. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests, cont'd. Nature of quality control procedures adopted (e.g. standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. Field duplicates, sample preparation duplicates and laboratory replicates are submitted for precision and bias analysis. Standard samples are submitted to determine analysis accuracy. Verification of sampling and assaying The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel. Verification of significant intercepts is conducted by the Base Resources Exploration Superintendent. The deposit type and consistency of mineralization leaves little room for unexplained variance.
Data entry errors were identified by the Exploration Superintendent and these were corrected (where obvious) or re-assay was completed. The use of twinned holes. Twinned holes account for 4 - 5% of holes drilled at Mafisini Deposit and Kwale South Dune Deposit extensions. These will be used to determine short-range geological and assay field variability for resource modelling purposes. Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols. Data collected by Base Resources is entered digitally in the field using ruggedized computer with Maxwell Geoscience logging software. Data is downloaded daily to the site server. Migration to a Datashed Database is planned. Discuss any adjustment to assay data. No adjustments were made to data. Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resources estimation. Base Resources use a real time kinematic global positioning system ('RTK GPS') to pick up drill collar locations. Survey is completed by Company surveyors. Original drill set-out is completed by hand-held GPS. Specification of the grid system used. The grid system used is the Arc1960 (Zone 37 South). The drill pattern is based on a local grid rotation to ensure drill lines are oriented orthogonal to the trend of mineralization. The Kwale South Dune Deposit Local Grid is used at Mafisini Deposit and Kwale South Dune Deposit extensions. Location of data points, cont'd. Quality and adequacy of topographic control. A LiDAR survey was conducted in November 2013 at an accuracy of 0.015m and is available for topography modelling in the NE Sector and at Mafisini Deposit and Kwale South Dune Deposit extension areas. Data spacing and distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results. The data spacing drilling is nominally 100m North, 50m East, and 1.5m down hole for exploration results. Variations from this spacing result from line-clearing difficulties prior to drilling and drill site survey and are not a result of access or traversing issue. Whether the data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied. Based on the experience of the competent person, the data spacing and distribution is considered adequate for the definition of mineralisation and adequate for proposed mineral resource estimation. Whether sample compositing has been applied. No sample compositing or de-compositing has been applied. Orientation of data in relation to geological structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type. Sample orientation is vertical and approximately perpendicular to the dip and strike of the mineralization, which results in true thickness estimates. Drilling and sampling is carried out on a regular rectangular grid that is broadly aligned and in a ratio consistent with the anisotropy of the mineralisation. If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material. There is no apparent bias arising from the orientation of the drill holes with respect to the strike and dip of the deposit. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. All samples are numbered, with sample splits, residues and HM sinks registered and stored at Kwale site in a restricted access storage shed. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. Richard Stockwell (Hornet Drilling and Geological Services Pty Ltd) conducted two site visits to review drilling and sample preparation procedures. Minor recommended changes were made on each occasion.
Section 2: Reporting of Exploration Results
Criteria Explanation Comment Mineral tenement and land tenure status Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings. The exploration results are coincident with the granted Special Mining Lease No.23 and Special Prospecting License No. 173.
Mining on SML23 is subject to an ad valorem royalty of 2%, payable to the previous owners, and currently a 2.5% royalty, payable to the Kenyan government. The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a licence to operate in the area. There are no known impediments to the security of tenure over the area containing the reported exploration results. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. The previous owners of the project (Tiomin Kenya Ltd) undertook exploration drilling over the Kwale Project (incl. South Dune area). Tiomin data is included in the Kwale HM Resource estimations. Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. Exploration results are indicative of aeolian (dunal) detrital heavy mineral sand deposits. Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes:
If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. Intercepts are listed in the body of the release.
There are no further drill hole results that are considered material to the understanding of the exploration results. Identification of the wide and thick zone of mineralisation is made via multiple intersections of drill holes and to list them all would not give the reader any further clarification of the distribution of mineralisation throughout the deposit. Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (e.g. cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated. Exploration results are reported at a minimum 2% HM bottom cut-off over a minimum depth interval of 3m. This has been applied to ensure brevity in the release.
Kwale HM Resources are reported at a 1% HM bottom cut-off. Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail. Does not apply Data aggregation methods, cont'd. The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. No metal equivalents were used for reporting of exploration results. Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results. All drill holes are vertical and perpendicular to the dip and strike of mineralisation and therefore all interceptions are approximately true thickness. If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported. Dune deposits typically approximate a horizontal accumulation over a variable basement topography. If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (e.g. 'down hole length, true width not known'). Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. Refer to main body of release. Balanced reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. Reporting of results is restricted to type sections and more comprehensive tabulated results at a 2% HM bottom cut and a minimum 3m interval. Other substantive exploration data Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, should be reported including (but not limited to): geological observations; geophysical survey results; geochemical survey results; bulk samples - size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. Whilst mineralogical investigation is still awaited, a similar high-value assemblage, as recorded for the Kwale Mineral Resource (~19% Rutile + Zircon), has been observed on the dunal deposits during preliminary microscope investigation of exploration samples.
Some lateritic fragments have been observed in a narrow and discontinuous zone (~3-6m in thickness) near the base of the South Dune southern extension and Mafisini Deposits that will have resulted in elevated HM results returning from heavy mineral analysis. This zone will be constrained during geological interpretation and subsequent works. Further work The nature and scale of planned further work (e.g. tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling). Geological interpretation is ongoing at the Kwale South Dune Deposit extension, Mafisini Deposit and in the NE Sector. Once complete, mineralogical analysis will ensue and results will feed into updated and new resource estimates. Resource estimation of the Kwale South Dune and Mafisini is anticipated the September quarter.
Further community engagement is required to continue drilling in the NE Sector, which is not expect to take place until after Kenya's general elections, currently scheduled for August 2017. Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. Refer to main body of release.
APPENDIX 2: Mineralised intercepts in the Kwale South Dune Deposit extension, Mafisini Deposit and NE Sector areas (3m @ 2% HM bottom cut off; UTM ARC1960 Zone 37S).
Project area Hole_ID UTM_E ARC1960 UTM_N ARC1960 RL (m) From (m) Interval (m) DH Average THM DH Average Slimes DH Average Oversize Mafisini ks372 543636.1 9509281.9 88 0 4.5 3.76 26.17 0.88 Mafisini ks372 543636.1 9509281.9 88 6 6 4.37 39.47 4.48 Mafisini ks373 543719.5 9509213.5 86 3 6 2.84 36.94 6.35 Mafisini ks374 543787.4 9509148.6 82 0 3 4.61 19.90 10.61 Mafisini ks375 543812.6 9509398.5 95 1.5 3 8.72 32.65 29.80 Mafisini ks375 543812.6 9509398.5 95 6 3 3.13 69.15 2.51 Mafisini ks389 543489.0 9509154.7 83 0 10.5 4.36 28.70 1.16 Mafisini ks390 543568.7 9509077.6 81 0 12 4.20 26.77 2.01 Mafisini ks391 543637.1 9509017.5 77 0 10.5 3.94 24.55 1.15 Mafisini ks392 543707.5 9508943.4 72 0 7.5 2.20 3.97 2.07 Mafisini ks394 543517.9 9508849.2 76 4.5 3 3.39 26.37 14.57 Mafisini ks397 543298.4 9509057.7 83 0 13.5 3.73 21.93 1.67 Mafisini ks408 543080.5 9508976.0 80 0 10.5 2.89 27.77 6.85 Mafisini ks409 543026.3 9509047.5 72 0 6 3.14 44.10 2.69 Mafisini ks410 543418.0 9509209.7 75 0 6 3.34 30.17 7.01 Mafisini ks412 542874.5 9508898.2 72 0 3 2.49 17.99 1.44 Mafisini ks412 542874.5 9508898.2 72 4.5 6 2.81 26.47 5.71 Mafisini ks414 542953.7 9508822.4 80 3 9 2.66 26.52 2.13 Mafisini ks428 542801.4 9508696.6 74 6 3 2.04 27.92 12.93 Mafisini ks436 543199.4 9508056.3 56 3 3 2.37 31.07 25.18 Mafisini ks454 542768.0 9507374.5 51 6 3 2.44 44.39 0.80 Mafisini ks462 542181.3 9507905.7 31 12 3 2.90 21.13 39.82 Mafisini ks466 544017.2 9509467.8 81 4.5 6 4.15 49.55 9.72 Mafisini ks466 544017.2 9509467.8 81 31.5 4.5 3.66 57.18 8.89 Mafisini ks487 543717.9 9509333.9 92 6 3 3.45 35.49 17.90 Mafisini ks492 543544.8 9509233.3 84 0 12 3.89 28.90 2.53 Mafisini ks494 543473.8 9509298.0 68 0 6 2.48 58.23 4.79 Mafisini ks495 543628.7 9509151.8 84 0 13.5 3.96 24.73 3.36 Mafisini ks496 543664.0 9509128.9 83 0 12 3.68 26.88 3.40 Mafisini ks497 543736.4 9509056.4 78 3 6 2.79 28.47 2.00 Mafisini ks498 543827.9 9509119.3 80 3 4.5 2.39 27.70 1.81 Mafisini ks499 543676.8 9509253.5 88 0 9 3.29 31.37 5.04 Mafisini ks503 543533.9 9508975.9 78 0 10.5 2.84 26.33 1.43 Mafisini ks504 543460.3 9509042.7 82 0 15 3.35 23.07 1.83 Mafisini ks505 543382.9 9509108.1 82 0 6 3.02 20.18 0.75 Mafisini ks505 543382.9 9509108.1 82 7.5 6 3.40 28.08 1.74 Mafisini ks506 543312.8 9509178.7 74 0 3 3.22 36.00 1.08 Mafisini ks509 543188.8 9509020.3 80 3 3 2.33 30.89 1.51 Mafisini ks509 543188.8 9509020.3 80 7.5 3 2.53 26.27 3.54 Mafisini ks511 543060.1 9508868.8 84 4.5 3 2.17 27.73 2.19 Mafisini ks511 543060.1 9508868.8 84 9 4.5 2.33 26.19 3.27 Mafisini ks512 542985.4 9508932.2 79 0 16.5 3.10 25.65 4.69 Mafisini ks513 542916.4 9509001.3 70 0 4.5 2.83 26.61 1.81 Mafisini ks513 542916.4 9509001.3 70 6 3 2.89 29.82 10.08 Mafisini ks515 543056.8 9509013.7 76 0 3 2.97 26.69 1.09 Mafisini ks515 543056.8 9509013.7 76 4.5 3 3.25 36.29 1.93 Mafisini ks516 543135.5 9508942.3 83 9 3 2.10 24.57 4.05 Mafisini ks519 543338.5 9509012.9 84 3 10.5 2.33 22.14 2.05 Mafisini ks520 543259.2 9509101.4 79 0 7.5 3.64 27.77 1.18 Mafisini ks522 543424.0 9509077.7 83 0 3 3.23 21.71 0.53 Mafisini ks522 543424.0 9509077.7 83 4.5 9 3.59 25.01 1.56 Mafisini ks523 543499.5 9509011.5 81 1.5 10.5 3.20 23.95 2.24 Mafisini ks524 542924.1 9508715.2 81 0 4.5 2.09 27.26 1.66 Mafisini ks524 542924.1 9508715.2 81 6 3 2.35 34.14 3.22 Mafisini ks525 542848.1 9508787.2 74 0 9 2.54 27.44 2.30 Mafisini ks536 542838.8 9508660.9 77 3 4.5 2.10 39.37 7.68 Mafisini ks537 543353.7 9509145.3 80 0 10.5 3.31 27.17 2.47 Mafisini ks538 543611.4 9509045.2 79 0 12 4.34 26.00 3.33 Mafisini ks539 543691.9 9509089.9 81 0 13.5 3.38 31.63 2.43 Mafisini ks540 543529.9 9509111.2 83 0 13.5 3.76 23.97 1.96 Mafisini ks541 543436.0 9509180.3 80 0 10.5 4.07 30.73 3.13 Mafisini ks543 543024.5 9508901.4 82 0 13.5 2.55 22.45 1.98 Mafisini ks544 542949.7 9508968.1 75 0 10.5 3.38 25.29 2.61 Mafisini ks545 542879.5 9509037.0 64 0 3 2.27 23.64 2.28 Mafisini ks549 542925.2 9508866.8 77 0 13.5 2.94 22.41 2.81 Mafisini ks550 542837.6 9508924.2 67 0 9 2.45 23.04 5.06 Mafisini ks554 542887.2 9508751.8 79 0 10.5 2.75 27.59 2.26 Mafisini ks555 542819.5 9508817.0 71 0 7.5 2.56 24.79 5.44 Mafisini ks568 543608.7 9509191.4 85 0 4.5 3.59 22.26 0.50 Mafisini ks568 543608.7 9509191.4 85 6 7.5 3.89 26.40 2.93 Mafisini ks569 543276.5 9509213.1 66 9 3 15.19 42.02 4.48 Mafisini ks570 543368.0 9509251.8 65 0 3 2.93 31.88 1.58 Mafisini ks571 543517.0 9509271.6 79 0 10.5 3.71 38.45 4.48 Mafisini ks572 543603.4 9509322.3 88 0 13.5 3.81 29.01 1.92 Mafisini ks573 543686.5 9509368.1 93 4.5 3 2.36 36.88 17.12 Mafisini ks576 543991.5 9509252.0 79 6 3 3.07 31.73 16.43 NE Sector ke001 551155.9 9514670.6 44 19.5 12 5.27 42.38 2.73 NE Sector ke004 550928.7 9514870.5 51 0 6 2.33 12.17 1.20 NE Sector ke004 550928.7 9514870.5 51 24 4.5 4.61 32.34 0.81 NE Sector ke005 550853.5 9514942.2 61 0 10.5 4.60 16.13 1.16 NE Sector ke005 550853.5 9514942.2 61 22.5 3 2.08 39.46 0.78 NE Sector ke006 550785.3 9515005.2 68 3 3 2.16 19.81 2.33 NE Sector ke006 550785.3 9515005.2 68 7.5 3 2.14 19.08 2.84 Sth Dune Extension ks323 544726.4 9510058.5 76 3 4.5 2.07 21.61 1.20 Sth Dune Extension ks324 544804.7 9509994.6 83 0 18 3.37 19.48 0.71 Sth Dune Extension ks325 544908.6 9509910.0 94 0 22.5 3.84 21.56 0.16 Sth Dune Extension ks326 544607.7 9509747.9 82 0 21 4.42 21.20 1.74 Sth Dune Extension ks327 544679.6 9509675.8 86 0 22.5 4.37 19.70 0.81 Sth Dune Extension ks328 544756.7 9509611.9 85 0 22.5 5.17 22.15 1.25 Sth Dune Extension ks329 544832.5 9509550.4 81 0 19.5 4.95 22.87 2.65 Sth Dune Extension ks331 544908.7 9509476.7 75 0 15 2.44 16.47 0.96 Sth Dune Extension ks332 544743.0 9509896.3 85 0 21 3.88 21.31 1.87 Sth Dune Extension ks333 544676.6 9509965.9 76 0 10.5 2.50 23.26 0.97 Sth Dune Extension ks334 544534.2 9509816.8 75 0 15 3.88 23.84 1.97 Sth Dune Extension ks335 544493.7 9509856.3 68 0 6 3.24 11.87 1.27 Sth Dune Extension ks337 544442.0 9509633.9 83 0 13.5 4.64 20.80 0.97 Sth Dune Extension ks338 544512.2 9509565.7 80 0 21 6.49 21.82 1.75 Sth Dune Extension ks339 544590.6 9509498.1 75 0 16.5 4.73 22.47 3.49 Sth Dune Extension ks340 544735.5 9509361.6 65 0 7.5 2.45 8.75 0.77 Sth Dune Extension ks341 544648.5 9509428.0 70 0 13.5 3.26 16.77 1.50 Sth Dune Extension ks342 544517.0 9509286.8 69 0 6 2.84 9.25 2.59 Sth Dune Extension ks343 544449.6 9509356.7 74 0 10.5 3.51 26.93 2.69 Sth Dune Extension ks344 544376.4 9509425.8 80 0 3 5.04 21.00 0.84 Sth Dune Extension ks344 544376.4 9509425.8 80 4.5 7.5 5.26 24.82 7.13 Sth Dune Extension ks345 544304.1 9509491.0 80 0 7.5 4.14 33.08 1.16 Sth Dune Extension ks349 545396.6 9511200.0 94 12 3 3.26 60.29 6.64 Sth Dune Extension ks353 545124.0 9509546.2 80 3 10.5 2.37 22.26 0.65 Sth Dune Extension ks355 545294.8 9509558.6 79 0 10.5 2.16 23.15 0.63 Sth Dune Extension ks356 545361.7 9509606.1 82 0 12 2.23 27.27 5.75 Sth Dune Extension ks357 545438.4 9509538.1 76 0 6 2.17 25.15 1.26 Sth Dune Extension ks359 545217.5 9509628.7 85 3 6 2.88 21.80 0.32 Sth Dune Extension ks359 545217.5 9509628.7 85 10.5 9 3.56 22.77 3.58 Sth Dune Extension ks360 545159.0 9509686.6 91 0 16.5 3.58 22.35 0.20 Sth Dune Extension ks360 545159.0 9509686.6 91 19.5 3 3.77 21.72 2.92 Sth Dune Extension ks380 545707.3 9509690.3 74 0 3 2.93 14.59 1.90 Sth Dune Extension ks382 545741.0 9509797.3 76 0 7.5 2.33 32.00 1.50 Sth Dune Extension ks383 545666.9 9509861.7 91 0 3 2.48 24.56 0.86 Sth Dune Extension ks383 545666.9 9509861.7 91 4.5 7.5 3.72 28.58 10.99 Sth Dune Extension ks384 545633.0 9509760.1 85 0 12 3.26 28.34 9.05 Sth Dune Extension ks385 545457.2 9509791.2 91 0 4.5 2.66 24.03 0.49 Sth Dune Extension ks385 545457.2 9509791.2 91 6 12 4.30 27.45 10.22 Sth Dune Extension ks477 545216.6 9509626.0 85 0 18 3.27 20.71 1.75 Sth Dune Extension ks478 545294.8 9509556.4 79 3 10.5 2.54 24.96 2.04 Sth Dune Extension ks479 545121.7 9509556.9 81 0 3 2.35 15.53 0.41 Sth Dune Extension ks479 545121.7 9509556.9 81 4.5 10.5 2.48 23.52 0.78 Sth Dune Extension ks480 544901.0 9509475.9 75 3 12 2.61 20.06 0.74 Sth Dune Extension ks481 544759.0 9509618.5 85 0 24 5.73 21.28 0.86 Sth Dune Extension ks482 544600.1 9509749.6 81 3 18 4.57 21.80 2.07 Sth Dune Extension ks483 544743.9 9509891.6 85 0 19.5 4.03 21.79 2.26 Sth Dune Extension ks484 544906.1 9509906.1 94 0 15 3.97 23.47 0.20 Sth Dune Extension ks484 544906.1 9509906.1 94 16.5 4.5 4.81 14.00 1.15 Sth Dune Extension ks579 544198.3 9509450.3 64 0 3 4.45 28.06 10.68 Sth Dune Extension ks580 544239.1 9509418.5 71 0 4.5 4.17 42.26 7.59 Sth Dune Extension ks581 544268.0 9509379.5 76 0 6 4.53 39.01 5.34 Sth Dune Extension ks582 544311.8 9509346.8 78 0 9 4.00 31.39 3.31 Sth Dune Extension ks583 544347.8 9509307.6 77 0 9 2.83 30.35 1.77 Sth Dune Extension ks584 544382.6 9509279.1 75 0 7.5 2.27 27.37 1.32 Sth Dune Extension ks590 544484.7 9509320.1 71 0 9 2.78 16.11 5.41 Sth Dune Extension ks591 544416.5 9509386.0 77 1.5 9 3.74 21.22 13.17
ENDS.
CORPORATE PROFILE
Directors
Keith Spence (Non-Executive Chairman)
Tim Carstens (Managing Director)
Colin Bwye (Executive Director)
Sam Willis (Non-Executive Director)
Michael Anderson (Non-Executive Director)
Michael Stirzaker (Non-Executive Director)
Malcolm Macpherson (Non-Executive Director)
Company Secretary
Chadwick Poletti
NOMINATED ADVISOR & BROKERS
RFC Ambrian Limited
As Nominated Adviser:
Andrew Thomson / Stephen Allen
Phone: +61 (0)8 9480 2500
As Joint Broker:
Jonathan Williams
Phone: +44 20 3440 6800
Numis Securities Limited
As Joint Broker:
John Prior / James Black / Paul Gillam
Phone: +44 20 7260 1000
SHARE REGISTRY: ASX
Computershare Investor Services Pty Limited
Level 11, 172 St Georges Terrace
PERTH WA 6000
Enquiries: 1300 850 505 / +61 (3) 9415 4000
www.computershare.com.au
SHARE REGISTRY: AIM
Computershare Investor Services PLC
The Pavilions
Bridgwater Road
BRISTOL BS99 6ZZ
Enquiries: +44 (0) 870 702 0003
www.computershare.co.uk
AUSTRALIAN MEDIA RELATIONS
Cannings Purple
Annette Ellis / Andrew Rowell
Email: aellis@canningspurple.com.au /
arowell@canningspurple.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)8 6314 6300
UK MEDIA RELATIONS
Tavistock Communications
Jos Simson / Emily Fenton
Phone: +44 (0) 207 920 3150
KENYA MEDIA RELATIONS
Africapractice (East Africa)
Evelyn Njoroge / James Njuguna/Joan Kimani
Phone: +254 (0)20 239 6899
Email: jkimani@africapractice.com
PRINCIPAL & REGISTERED OFFICE
Level 1, 50 Kings Park Road
West Perth, Western Australia, 6005
Email: info@baseresources.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)8 9413 7400
Fax: +61 (0)8 9322 8912
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Itafos (TSX VENTURE: IFOS) ("Itafos" or the "Company") is pleased to provide, further to the Company's news release dated January 11, 2017, an update on the previously announced private placement (the "Offering").
The Company has agreed with Raymond James Ltd. (the "Lead Agent") and GMP Securities L.P. (together with the Lead Agent, the "Agents") that the Offering will consist of the issuance and sale of up to 22,242,982 shares of the Company (the "Placement Shares") at a price of CAD$2.10 per Placement Share for gross proceeds of up to US$35,000,000 by way of a marketed private placement on a best efforts basis. The Company and the Agents have to date received commitments for approximately US$33,000,000, including Zaff's commitment as described below. The Company has agreed to pay the Agents a cash fee equal to 6.0% of the gross proceeds from the Offering raised by the Agents from unrelated parties.
Zaff LLC ("Zaff"), a control person of the Company, is expected to acquire US$15,000,000 of the Placement Shares, of which amount it is expected to subscribe for 7,626,165 Placement Shares at a price of CAD$2.10 for an aggregate US$12,000,000, and to subscribe for 1,906,541 Placement Shares at an effective price of CAD$2.10 in lieu of a cash repayment to Zaff (the "Shares for Debt Transaction") to settle an outstanding cash advance of US$3,000,000 recently made to the Company on February 23, 2017.
The completion of the Offering, including the Shares for Debt Transaction, is subject to certain conditions, including the completion of due diligence by the Agents, the negotiation and execution of a definitive agency agreement, the execution of subscription agreements, the satisfaction of any regulatory requirements and receipt of the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), among others. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about March 9, 2017.
The Placement Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation and TSX Venture Exchange requirements.
Zaff currently beneficially owns, or controls or directs, directly or indirectly 55,573,669 shares of the Company, representing approximately 96.60% of the issued and outstanding shares (on an undiluted basis) as of the date hereof. Upon completion of the Offering, including the Shares for Debt Transaction, on the terms described herein, Zaff would beneficially own, or control or direct, directly or indirectly, 65,106,375 shares of the Company, representing approximately 81.61% of the issued and outstanding shares (on an undiluted basis).
Mr. Brent de Jong, a director of Itafos, is a related party of Zaff and, as such, declared his interest to the board of directors of the Company in connection with the Offering, including the Shares for Debt Transaction. The directors reviewed the Offering, including the Shares for Debt Transaction, and concluded that they are in the best interests of the Company. The Company did not file a material change report at least 21 days prior to the anticipated date of completion of the Offering, including the Shares for Debt Transaction, due to the Company's determination that it is in the best interests of the Company to avail itself of the proceeds and complete the Offering, including the Shares for Debt Transaction, in an expeditious manner.
This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements.
About Itafos
Itafos (TSX VENTURE: IFOS) is focused on becoming a significant integrated producer of phosphate based fertilizers and related products. Itafos has an experienced team with significant experience in the business of fertilizer operations, management, marketing and finance. Itafos owns and operates the Itafos-Arraias SSP Operations, which consists of an integrated fertilizer producing facility comprised of a phosphate mine, a mill, a beneficiation plant, a sulphuric acid plant, an SSP plant and a granulation plant and related infrastructure located in central Brazil. Itafos' exploration portfolio includes a number of additional projects in Brazil, including the Santana Project, a high-grade phosphate deposit located in close proximity to the largest fertilizer market of Mato Grosso State and animal feed market of Para State, and the Araxa Project, a high-grade rare earth elements, niobium and phosphate deposit located in close proximity to two operating mines, therefore benefiting from existing local infrastructure. In addition, Itafos owns an approximate 31.3% interest in GB Minerals Ltd. which owns the Farim Project, a high-grade phosphate deposit located in Guinea Bissau and an approximate 29.6% interest in Stonegate Agricom Ltd. which owns the Paris Hills Project, a high-grade phosphate deposit located in Idaho, United States and the Mantaro Project, a high-grade phosphate deposit located in Peru.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, statements related to the closing of the Offering, the subscription for Placement Shares, the Shares for Debt Transaction and the receipt of regulatory approval in respect of each of the Offering and the Shares for Debt Transaction. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Forward looking statements are based on a number of factors and assumptions made by management and considered reasonable at the time such statements are made, and forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include but are not limited to, the Company not obtaining the final approval of the TSXV for either the Offering or the Shares for Debt Transaction, the Company being unsuccessful in recommissioning the Itafos-Arraias SSP Operations and those factors disclosed in the Company's current Annual Information Form and Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as other public disclosure documents, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Itafos has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. The forward looking statements contained herein are presented for the purposes of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans, objectives and goals and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Itafos
Brian Zatarain
Chief Executive Officer
brian.zatarain@itafos.com
www.itafos.com
The Blueshirt Group
Gary Dvorchak, CFA
Managing Director
+1 (323) 240-5796
gary@blueshirtgroup.com
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Publishing firm Informa plc (INFMF, INF.L) said it has agreed to acquire Yachting Promotions Inc. or YPI, the operator of some of the largest yachting and boat shows in the U.S., for 106 million pounds. Completion of the acquisition is expected by early March.
The addition of YPI from Active Interest Media, or AIM, the privately-owned specialist U.S. media group, will combine several major U.S.-based international yachting exhibitions with Informa's Monaco Yacht Show in Europe.
The YPI portfolio includes the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the largest in the world.
Under the terms of the combination, Informa will acquire 100 percent control of AIM's Yacht Exhibitions business while retaining a long-term cross-marketing agreement with the parent company, replicating the structure adopted when Informa acquired Hanley Wood Exhibitions in 2014.
Stephen Carter, Informa Group Chief Executive, said, 'Following three years of private discussions, we are delighted to bring YPI into the Group. It will deepen our leadership in the growing international yachting and boating sector, with its attractive exhibitions complementing our existing ownership of the Monaco Yacht Show.'
On completion, the addition of YPI will make Informa's Global Exhibitions Division the largest contributor to Group revenues and profit, with annual sales of more than 500 million pounds. The Division operates a portfolio of about 200 major Exhibition Brands.
On 6 March, Informa will announce full-year results for the 12-month period ending 31 December 2016.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Schroders plc (SDRC.L), an asset management company, reported Thursday that its fiscal 2016 profit before tax increased to 618.1 million pounds from last year's 589.0 million pounds. Basic earnings per share were 178.3 pence, compared to 171.1 pence last year. Profit before tax and exceptional items were 644.7 million pounds, compared to 609.7 million pounds a year ago. Earnings per share before exceptional items were 186.3 pence, compared to 176.9 pence last year. Net operating revenue increased 7% to 1.71 billion pounds from 1.60 billion pounds in the prior year. Assets under management and administration went up 27% to 397.1 billion pounds from 313.5 billion pounds a year ago. Further, the company said its Board is recommending a final dividend of 64 pence per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 93 pence per share, an increase of 7%. Looking ahead, the company said its year has started well, but the firm is mindful of industry headwinds and that market returns remain difficult to predict. This is likely to weigh on client demand, particularly within the Intermediary sales channel, and create volatility in flows in the medium term. Separately, Schroders said that Philip Mallinckrodt, Group Head of Private Assets and Wealth Management, relinquished his executive responsibilities on 1 March 2017 after more than 20 years with the firm. A member of the principal shareholder group, he continues on the Board of Schroders as a non-executive Director and has joined the Nominations Committee. Private Assets and Wealth Management will report to Group Chief Executive, Peter Harrison. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Capita Group plc (CPI.L), a business process management services company, said that its Chief Executive, Andy Parker, will step down from the Group Board and leave the company later this year, to pursue the next phase of his career once a process to select a successor has been completed. The company noted that Parker has contributed strongly to the company over the last 16 years and played a key role in leading Capita, as Chief Executive, for the past three years and through the challenges of 2016. Capita's Board is commencing a process to select a new CEO. In the meantime, Parker will continue in his current role and at the appropriate time facilitate a smooth transition. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
AMSTERDAM and VIENNA, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
iDose [4 ] proprietary reconstruction technique lowers operating costs by increasing tube life
iFlow intelligent workflow platform enables consistent image quality from operator-to-operator to reduce rescans
Royal Philips(NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA) today unveiled the Access CT, its newest computed tomography (CT) solution specifically designed for healthcare organizations seeking to establish or enhance CT imaging capabilities at an accessible cost for a high return in value. Philips Access CT provides consistent image quality across a diverse patient population and a wide range of exam types, enabling healthcare organizations to expand care capabilities to treat more patients.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/472975/Philips_Access_CT.jpg )
As healthcare needs grow across the globe, many healthcare organizations are increasingly challenged to efficiently diagnose and treat a greater number of patients. Health providers looking to enhance their CT capabilities may be faced with challenges such as reimbursement cuts, patient populations with low ability to pay, or inefficiencies related to growth and expansion. For cost-conscious healthcare organizations, a value-focused CT solution such as the Philips Access CT offers the low total cost of ownership and diagnostic confidence needed to drive clinical, financial and operational efficiencies.
"Radiology is a crucial component in patient care and Philips' newest, value-centered CT solution can offer quality imaging capabilities at an accessible cost to health providers who may not have access otherwise," said Kees Wesdorp, Business Group Leader, Diagnostic Imaging, Philips. "It's always important that an imaging solution provides the right answer, the first time, but especially so for healthcare organizations that rely on a scanner to cover a wide breadth of patient needs within a more limited budget. Access CT provides the right balance of performance and value to enable organizations with limited budgets to incorporate critical, high-quality imaging capabilities into their care offering."
Philips Access CT provides a number of benefits for physicians and organizations to realize true value from their CT investment, including:
Increased Referrals - The iFlow console workflow platform enables consistently high image quality through features that simplify and automate the technologist's routine, helping providers to maintain and increase their referral base.
- The iFlow console workflow platform enables consistently high image quality through features that simplify and automate the technologist's routine, helping providers to maintain and increase their referral base. Lowering Operating Costs - Philips' iDose [ 4 ] reduces the need for tube replacement-the most significant reoccurring cost associated with CT ownership-by offering a proven reconstruction algorithm that allows providers to reduce exposure time (mA) and extend tube life.
- Philips' iDose reduces the need for tube replacement-the most significant reoccurring cost associated with CT ownership-by offering a proven reconstruction algorithm that allows providers to reduce exposure time (mA) and extend tube life. Greater Clinical Breadth - Advanced applications on the console allow hospitals to stretch their clinical capabilities from routine imaging to more advanced applications such as brain perfusion, lung nodule analysis, vessel analysis and virtual colonoscopy (CTC), while keeping costs down.
- Advanced applications on the console allow hospitals to stretch their clinical capabilities from routine imaging to more advanced applications such as brain perfusion, lung nodule analysis, vessel analysis and virtual colonoscopy (CTC), while keeping costs down. Dose Management - 70 kV scan mode can reduce dose by up to 20 percent, which is especially valuable in pediatric patients.
- 70 kV scan mode can reduce dose by up to 20 percent, which is especially valuable in pediatric patients. Maximum Uptime - Philips' 24/7 monitoring can predict issues before they arise, ensuring that providers can minimize downtime and maximize patient throughput.
With the availability of Access CT, providers have a cost-effective solution that can expand care capabilities to treat more patients. To find more information on Access CT and availability in specific countries, visit http://www.philips.com/AccessCT.
Follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for updates from the 2017 European Congress of Radiology, and visit http://www.philips.com/ecr for details on Philips' presence at the event.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 71,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at http://www.philips.com/newscenter.
For further information, please contact:
Alicia Cafardi
Philips Group Communications
Tel: +1-412-523-9616
E-mail: Alicia.Cafardi@Philips.com
Twitter: @aliciacafardi
Kathy O'Reilly
Philips Group Communications
Tel: +1-978-221-8919
E-mail: Kathy.Oreilly@Philips.com
Twitter: @kathyoreilly
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- RewardStream Solutions Inc., ("RewardStream" or the "Company"), (TSX VENTURE: REW)(FRANKFURT: JL4L) (WKN Number A2APX1) a world leader in automated referral marketing solutions has announced that experienced public market and technology executive, Juan Vegarra, has joined the RewardStream Board of Directors.
Vegarra's career in technology began in the late 1980s in information technology with the US House of Representatives. Vegarra transitioned into a senior technology evangelist role at Microsoft followed by a successful tenure as the Worldwide Director of Channel Programs for Microsoft Solution Provider Partners. In his roles with Microsoft, Vegarra travelled to over 54 countries, and significantly expanded product revenues and reach in the Americas, Africa, India, Middle East and Europe.
Since 1999 Vegarra has managed Vegarra Investments LLC, where he has lead investments in internet, software and cloud computing companies, while also serving as an active advisor and Board member. Vegarra was also the founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Vena Resources, a TSX listed mining company. During his tenure at Vena Resources, Vegarra raised over $54 million and signed over $15 million in joint venture deals, resulting in a market capitalization of over $160 million. Vegarra has also been an active investor, Board member and advisor to several TSX-Venture listed companies.
"We are very pleased to have Juan join our Board of Directors and help guide the company's future direction," said Rob Goehring, Chief Executive Officer of RewardStream. "Juan has a unique combination of skills and experiences that make him an ideal Board member for RewardStream. With his passion for software companies, experience in scaling sales channels and a strong public market background, we look forward to working with Juan on the next stage of the company's growth."
"I am excited to join the RewardStream Board of Directors at this important time in the company's lifecycle," stated Vegarra. "I believe in the Company, management team and long term vision, and believe that my skills and experience can positively contribute to accelerating the growth of the business."
Vegarra is currently the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of VuSay Technologies, a leader in socially enhanced online video services. Vegarra also acts as a mentor and advisor to MBA students at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
In addition, the Company is also announcing the resignation of Norman Brewster P.Geo from the Company's Board of Directors. The Board would like to thank Mr. Brewster for his contributions to the Company and his ongoing support.
About RewardStream Solutions Inc.
RewardStream specializes in the execution of automated referral marketing programs that help brands to acquire, engage, and retain their most valuable stakeholders - customers. By utilizing an innovative blend of marketing insight and proprietary technology, RewardStream turns an existing customer base into a powerful new sales channel for all of our clients. RewardStream delivers a scalable, real-time technology platform as the foundation of our client's referral program. The platform provides customer acquisition programs that deliver new, highly loyal customers at very low cost per acquisition rates. Our award-winning marketing solutions have powered loyalty and referral marketing programs across 39 countries for brands including Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Envision Financial, Koodo Mobile and more. For more information please visit www.rewardstream.com.
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors - including the availability of funds and the results of financing efforts - that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts:
RewardStream Solutions Inc.
Rana Vig
Vice Chairman
Rana.vig@rewardstream.com
(604) 282-7572
Rob Goehring
CEO
Rob.goehring@rewardstream.com
(877) 692-0040
www.rewardstream.com
IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTC PINK: CBIS), a U.S. company specializing in the development of cannabis-based medicines, is pleased to announce that its President, CEO and Co-Founder, Raymond C. Dabney, will be a keynote speaker and panelist at the Global Health Catalyst (GHC) Summit at Harvard Medical School on April 28-30, 2017. Additionally, Cannabis Science's Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Allen Herman, will Co-Chair a special session at the GHC Summit. Both Dabney and Herman previously presented at Harvard Medical School in November 2016.
Information on the GHC Summit is available at http://www.globalhealthcatalystsummit.org
Dabney will be the keynote speaker and a panelist for a special session on "Cannabis Science Versus Cancer and Other Malignancies." Dabney will discuss how cannabinoids can be used to treat cancer and other diseases, manage the side effects of cancer treatment like radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and potential applications of medical cannabis in global health to close the global pain divide; Cannabis Science's vision for the global health and development impact of cannabinoid-based medicines; and the need for greater public education on the importance of medical cannabis research.
Information on this special session can be accessed at: https://www.globalhealthcatalystsummit.org/medical-cannabis
Additionally, Dabney will present summit participants with an overview of the company's current drug development program, as well as with an update on Cannabis Science's Collaborative Research Agreement (CRA) with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber). In addition to co-chairing the session, Herman will participate in the discussion on the epidemiology of cancer and the utilization of opioids in Africa as opioid utilization rates reflect the pain divide. This conference affords Cannabis Science an opportunity to discuss cutting-edge cannabinoid research with some of the greatest minds in modern medicine globally, as well as to network and explore potential partnerships. In addition, through participation in this Summit, Cannabis Science will give updates on progress in the implementation of Cannabis Science's research agreement with Dana-Farber and a potential consortium agreement involving other institutions.
The GHC Summit invitation letters for Mr. Dabney and Dr. Herman can be viewed:
https://cannabisscience.com/index.php/events/826-invitation-to-the-2017-global-health-catalyst-cancer-summit-at-harvard-medical-school
On January 3, 2017, Cannabis Science entered into a CRA with Dana-Farber, one of the world's leading cancer centers. Under the terms of the CRA, Cannabis Science and Dana-Farber will jointly investigate and develop use of cannabinoids to treat various forms of cancers.
"I am excited about Cannabis Science's relationship with Dana-Farber. When I first met Wilfred Ngwa, PhD, Director of Global Health Catalyst at Harvard Medical School and Principal Investigator for the CRA, we immediately realized potential synergies on cancer research interests, and the potential to collaborate to develop cannabinoid-based medicines to treat cancer and control cancer symptoms with minimal side-effects," stated Dabney.
Dabney and Ngwa met during the Constituency for Africa's (CFA) annual Ronald H. Brown African Affairs Series in Washington, DC in September 2016, where they both were on the speaking program. Mr. Dabney is a Member of the Board of Directors of CFA, and the Vice Chairman of CFA's African Healthcare Infrastructure Committee (AHIC).
About Cannabis Science, Inc.
Cannabis Science, Inc. takes advantage of its unique understanding of metabolic processes to provide novel treatment approaches to a number of illnesses for which current treatments and understanding remain unsatisfactory. Cannabinoids have an extensive history dating back thousands of years, and currently, there are a growing number of peer-reviewed scientific publications that document the underlying biochemical pathways that cannabinoids modulate. The Company works with leading experts in drug development, medicinal characterization, and clinical research to develop, produce, and commercialize novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment for illnesses caused by infections as well as for age-related illness. Our initial focus is on skin cancers, HIV/AIDS, and neurological conditions. The Company is proceeding with the research and development of its proprietary drugs as a part of this initial focus: CS-S/BCC-1, CS-TATI-1, and CS-NEURO- 1, respectively.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing words such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward- looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc., does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward- looking statements. Safe Harbor Statement. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a 'safe harbor' for forward looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts are forward looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involved risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company is detailed from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cannabis Science, Inc.
Dr. Allen Herman
Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Email: allen.herman@cannabisscience.com
Tel: 1-888-263-0832
Cannabis Science, Inc.
Mr. Raymond C. Dabney
President & CEO, Co-Founder
Email: raymond.dabney@cannabisscience.com
Tel: 1-888-263-0832
Cannabis Science, Inc.
Investor Relations
Teresa Misenheimer
Email: teresa@cannabisscience.com
Tel: 1-888-263-0832
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Hong Kong International Jewellery Show Opens
HKTDC Communication and Public Affairs Department Joe Kainz Tel: +852 2584 4216 Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org
HONG KONG, Mar 2, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The 34th Hong Kong International Jewellery Show opened today and runs through 6 March at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the show features about 2,580 exhibitors from 39 countries and regions. They are showcasing a wide range of finished fine jewellery, including top-tier jewellery pieces, famous brands, new designer collections, as well as collectable jewellery art pieces and antique jewellery. The concurrent Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show, currently underway at the AsiaWorld-Expo, features a variety of raw jewellery materials. The two shows gather a total of about 4,480 exhibitors, forming the world's largest marketplace for the jewellery industry.HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau said that this year's International Jewellery Show, held under the theme "Tribute to Movie Queens", features displays re-creating several classic movie scenes, enhancing the glamour of the exquisite jewellery on display.Thematic zones match buyers' needsThe HKTDC organised more than 110 buying missions, comprising over 7,400 buyers from some 70 countries and regions, to visit the two shows. Dedicated zones have been set up according to buyers' sourcing requirements. Visitors looking for the most prestigious jewellery collections can visit the Hall of Extraordinary, featuring more than 100 exhibitors showcasing top-tier jewellery collections. Exhibitors include Novel Collection (Booth no.: 3B-C06) from Hong Kong, presenting a series of prestigious diamond pieces, including a US$500,000 oval-shaped vivid purple-pink diamond ring; as well as Crossfor (Booth no.: 3B-B02) from Japan, showcasing jewellery using their patented "Dancing Stone" setting technique, including a US$160,000 rose necklace with 15 "dancing diamonds." Other exhibitors include Butani Jewellery (Booth no.: GH-C02) and Lili Jewelry (Booth no.: 3B-C02) from Hong Kong, Kashikey (Booth no.: GH-E20) from Japan, CHQ (Booth no.: GH-E12) from Germany and CRIVELLI (Booth no.: GH-A10) from Italy.At the Hall of Fame, buyers can find renowned jewellers from around the world, including The Fifth Season by Roberto Coin (Booth no.: 3B-E06) and Giorgio Visconti (Booth no.: 3B-D14) from Italy, Highend (Booth no.: 3B-E10) from Thailand, as well as celebrated jewellery designer Frank Wu's eponymous label (Booth no.: 3B-D08) and Lao Feng Xiang (Booth no.: 3B-F14) from the Chinese mainland. Among the local brands are Lorenzo (Booth no.: 3B-D02) and Infinity Cross (Booth no.: 3B-F20). "Having built up a premium image among consumers, branded jewellery allows department stores, e-tailers and distributors to gain recognition from customers and thus improve the effectiveness of their promotion," said Mr Chau.Local jewellery industry sparklesHong Kong jewellers have long been sought-after by global buyers. World of Glamour gathers more than 400 local exhibitors, promoting fashionable jewellery pieces made in Hong Kong with fine craftsmanship. Exhibitors include Universal Jewellery Design Centre Ltd (Booth no.: 1E-C02), Aaron Shum Jewelry Ltd (Booth no.: 1D-D02), Brilliant Trading Company Ltd (Booth no.: 1C-F02) and LeGrand (Booth no.: 1E-A02). Buyers interested in unique and innovative designer brands can visit Designer Galleria, where several local and overseas budding designer brands offer the latest jewellery designs.Elsewhere, Wedding Bijoux focuses on bridal jewellery and wedding rings; Treasures of Craftsmanship features pieces that blend jewellery with art while Antique & Vintage Jewellery Galleria highlights the charm of classic jewellery. Twenty group pavilions have also been set up, including the Chinese mainland, France, Germany, Italy, Israel and Peru, as well as new pavilions from Portugal and the Philippines. The T-GOLD+METS pavilion displays top-of-the-line professional jewellery and watchmaking machinery, equipment, technology and supplies, while the TRENDVISION Jewellery + Forecasting pavilion provides information about the latest product trends.Promoting outstanding designsThe biennial International Jewellery Design Excellence Award marks its fifth edition this year. An award presentation will be held tonight to announce the winning pieces from 165 competing entries. Following the presentation, a Gala Dinner sponsored by Tanzanite Foundation will be held under the theme "Tribute to Movie Queens", featuring a menu imbued with jewellery elements prepared by Chef Robert Fontana, ASEAN Chairman of Disciples Escoffier International Asia. Along with the culinary experience, guests will also be treated to musical performances from classic films, enhancing the ambience for networking.Various seminar sessions and forums will be held during the fair period on such topics as diamond testing technology, gemstone laboratory report and opportunities in the mature market. The Creative Director & Forecaster of TRENDVISION Jewellery + Forecasting, Paola De Luca, will also host a seminar on Saturday to share her forecast on jewellery consumption and product trends. At the fairground, there will be a demonstration of Japanese Urushi lacquer craftsmanship as well as a number of jewellery parades and networking receptions for buyers to exchange market information.The winning entries of the 18th Hong Kong Jewellery Design Competition and International Jewellery Design Excellence Award are on display at Hall 1D Concourse, highlighting the creativity of Hong Kong and overseas jewellery designers to global buyers.Synergy with International Diamond, Gem & Pearl ShowThis is the fourth year that the HKTDC has adopted the "two shows, two venues" format for the twin jewellery shows. At the AsiaWorld-Expo, the fourth Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show kicked off on Tuesday and continues through Saturday. The show features more than 1,900 exhibitors. The three signature zones include the Hall of Fine Diamonds, gathering top diamond suppliers, Treasures of Nature, where precious gemstones and semi-precious stones are showcased, and Treasures of Ocean, presenting exquisite pearls. To facilitate buyers transiting between the two shows, a free shuttle bus service between AsiaWorld-Expo and downtown areas (including HKCEC) is provided from 2 to 4 March. Please consult the fair websites for more details.Fair Websites:HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show: http://www.hktdc.com/hkjewelleryshowHKTDC Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show: http://www.hktdc.com/hkdgpSecurity Measure: http://hkjewellery.hktdc.com/pdf/2017/Security/en.pdfPhoto Download: http://bit.ly/2mh55qOMedia Registration:Media representatives wishing to cover the event may register on-site with their business cards and/or media identification.To view press releases in Chinese, please visit http://mediaroom.hktdc.com/tcAbout HKTDCEstablished in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdcTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdcLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-councilSource: HKTDCContact:Copyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
BARCELONA, Spain, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Brazil and the European Union have signed an agreement to collaborate in the development of 5G technology, through sharing of know-how and other measures. The accord was formally announced and signed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona yesterday, by Brazil's Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications Gilberto Kassab and Gunther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society.
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIAvSetzktA
Felipe Almeida, Co-Founder and CEO of Zup Innovation , and one of Brazil's most successful young technological entrepreneurs, welcomed yesterday's announcement, saying:
"An agreement such as this can help Brazil to export technology. Normally we haveimported foreign technology and implemented it here. This can help put Brazil in thetechnological era, so more companies can create new technology and export it."
Zup Innovation is the largest private Latin American stand and delegation at the fair, and was visited by Minister Kassab after the signing of the agreement with the EU. The company is emblematic of a Brazilian tech sector which has registered dynamic growth despite a recent political crisis and economic stagnation.
HAUPPAUGE, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 --
Highlights:
CCO Bryan McGuirk to present at SATELLITE 2017
Globecomm to discuss applications for its ubiquitous IoT connectivity and Ka Band solutions
Globecomm will be located at booth 1922
Globecomm, a leading global communications solutions provider, announced today that it will be attending and presenting at SATELLITE 2017, to be held March 6-10, 2017, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
Globecomm's Chief Commercial Officer Bryan McGuirk will be discussing How Teleports Compete in a GEO-MEO-LEO, HTS and Fibered World on March 7 at 11 am, Room 201.
"I am excited to be presenting at Satellite 2017," said Mr. McGuirk. "We operate global networks and, like other teleport operators, will directly benefit from these new constellations and expected lower satellite bandwidth costs. However, we differentiate ourselves because we are experts in delivering end to end services and value-added applications such as Globecomm Connect, wireless solutions, IoT and interactive training. These and many other new applications like UHD via satellite will be more accessible with lower bandwidth costs. This unleashing of new applications can be disruptive to teleports that just do uplinks, but successful players like Globecomm are already spending significantly on R&D to ensure we are beneficiaries of these trends."
Globecomm's R&D initiatives put analytical tools into the hands of its partners and end users. As bandwidth prices decrease and more data is pushed through networks, customers will partner with providers who can best manage, secure and deliver their data in the smartest ways. This week Globecomm is announcing its new service feature which leverages and enhances IoT applications. Globecomm Connect provides web-based access to customers who subscribe to their Globecomm VSAT service, giving them access to a variety of network performance, location and equipment data.
At SATELLITE 2017 Globecomm, which previously announced it had teamed up with AT&T to provide satellite coverage in regions outside their cellular coverage, will also discuss their enhanced IoT platform, which provides ubiquitous connectivity performed seamlessly over satellite to ensure global coverage for customers. Globecomm will also be discussing their expertise in Ka Band System Integration and managed connectivity services. For more than 35 years, SATELLITE has played a critical role in determining how satellites will shape the future of our world. The show welcomes a community of aerospace professionals from every market and field of study, hailing from more than 150 nations around the world.
Globecomm looks forward to meeting you at our booth #1922.
About Globecomm
Globecomm is the leading engineering-driven, global connectivity provider serving media, maritime, enterprise and government markets in over 100 countries. We develop the smartest connectivity solutions to address customer connectivity needs across a broad spectrum of areas, including system design and integration, managed communication services including mobile and IoT, media services and mission critical networks. We are known for our unique ability to provide robust connectivity to the most remote locations under the most treacherous conditions. Globecomm is dedicated to improving communications and leverages its world class, global network to offer end-to-end, managed service communication's solutions worldwide. Based in Hauppauge, New York, Globecomm also maintains offices in Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan. For more information, please visit www.globecomm.com
BIELEFELD, Germany, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
itelligence AG presents the topics "digital value creation" and "success methods for converting to SAP S/4HANA"
The central topic at CeBIT 2017 is "digital economy." Using technology, business models and creative ideas, people shape our future world. The next-generation business suite - SAP S/4HANA - is a crucial building block for successful digitisation of enterprises. For that reason, itelligence AG is focusing its CeBIT presentations on the journey to SAP S/4HANA.
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473629/Norbert_Rotter_CEO_itelligence_AG.jpg )
Visitors to itelligence, in Hall 4, C04, will learn how to convert their ERP systems and IT processes to SAP S/4HANA, taking a decisive step towards "digital value creation." In addition to the traditional presentation of technology and methodology related to SAP S/4HANA, this year itelligence is inviting attendees to its first "Expert Days" at the stand, focusing on the topics of SCP, Industry 4.0, intelligent production and digital sales.
A strong signal for digitisation
Business experts expect this year's CeBIT trade fair to provide a strong impulse for worldwide economic growth in connection with digitisation in all areas. That's not just because the German government is in the process of preparing for the G20 summit on "Digitisation," and the Hanover trade fair is an important milestone along the way. It's also because Japan will be taking part in this year's CeBIT as a partner country. The government and private sectors of this high-tech nation from the Far East make investments worth billions of euros in research, technology and innovation year after year. For a well-structured overview, see the NTT trade fair stand in the Japan pavilion.
CeBIT partner country Japan - NTT drives digitisation in Japan
The NTT Group is one of the important drivers of efficient digitisation in Japanese society and industry. The telecommunications giant is one of the world's largest operators of high-efficiency data networks and data centres distributed over all continents.
In Hanover, NTT will discuss the key topics of this year's CeBIT: Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality, Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and the Cloud, and show them in use. Visitors will learn about the digital transformation for Smart Cities, intelligent production and agriculture, as well as sport and culture. On 21st March at the CeBIT Global Conference in Hanover, NTT will provide an overview of the status of the latest discoveries in research and development - for example, with keynotes from Toshio Iwamoto CEO of NTT DATA.
Norbert Rotter, CEO of itelligence AG, said: "As a subsidiary of NTT DATA within the NTT Group, itelligence AG has established very close links with Japan. For example, itelligence serves as a worldwide coordinator of SAP solutions within NTT DATA group."
Digitisation as a value creator
As a successful SAP consulting company and "CeBIT SAP Premium Partner," itelligence AG plays an important role when accompanying companies on the path to digital economy, with support for the appropriate SAP technology.
Norbert Rotter: "We show our visitors how they can use SAP S/4HANA to digitise their companies and to carry out the transformation into Industry 4.0. We show them how to master this technology and extract maximum business value. When we talk about SAP S/4HANA, we show you how to use Big Data, Internet of Things and Cloud for your business models, for example. All these technologies are just emerging. If companies invest in converting their ERP systems to SAP S/4HANA now, they are investing in a great, successful future with global digital value creation."
itelligence AG's CeBIT topics:
Conversion of ERP systems to SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA will be the backbone and the trailblazer for all future business models and processes. From the great flood of available information, SAP S/4HANA distils all the relevant data and uses it to control processes and increase the amount of value created in the business. Visitors will learn how they can equip their companies for the future in the networked digital economy and get to know which new options SAP S/4HANA will provide them.
Expert days: Monday, 20th March, 2017 and Tuesday, 21st March, 2017, with Lorenz Beckmann, itelligence principal for SAP HANA and SCP.
Showcase "Automated High Rack Storage"
This best-practice case maps digital warehousing processes. They are based entirely on the logistical functions of SAP S/4HANA. It comprises inventory management, location-based inventory management, material flow control as well as the hardware. The entire solution runs without sub-systems.
itelligence Industry 4.0 Methodology
Realization of Industry 4.0 takes more than digitisation of business processes. The company management needs to rethink everything, right down to the fundamental structures of the organisation. As a key component of the transformation roadmap, Industry 4.0 must not be seen in isolation, but considered in connection with a holistic digitisation strategy. It is important to employ the appropriate methodology, as highly diverse technologies need to be made to work together.
Expert day: Thursday, 23rd March, 2017, with Hans Rauwolf, management business field Industry 4.0/IoT
Business Partner Integration
Deutsche Telekom has announced that the ISDN infrastructure will be deactivated by 2018 at the latest. This will affect several hundred thousand companies, which will switch to IP solutions. For this reason, itelligence has highly-optimised, alternative solutions - for example, OFTP2-capable EDI solutions for the automotive industry. itelligence demonstrates easy use of an OFTP2 configuration in the it.x-EDIconnect solution. An emphasis is also placed on the services that itelligence provides during the conversion.
Expert day: Monday, 20th March, 2017, with Mirko Milla, team management consulting EDI solutions
Digital Sales and Service
It's never too late for more sales - especially in times of digital transformation. The only question is: how can more sales be generated? On the one hand, we must react to new digital purchasing habits, where every point of contact can be used as an opportunity. On the other hand, the underlying existing processes and especially new processes must be reflected upon and supported on the IT side. itelligence provides optimal solutions for the efficient control of the customer relationship management and how customers and sales can benefit across all sales channels.
Expert day: Tuesday, 21st March, 2017, with Michael Stump, Director Customer Engagement and Commerce
Intelligent Manufacturing
Digitisation and market changes go hand in hand and spur one another on. Customers expect new products, equipment, machines all the time - combined with new concepts for using them to add value. Engineers, product designers, shop floor workers and management must deliver. itelligence will show solutions that allow users to optimise their production, all the way to manufacturing products in "batch size 1."
Expert day: Wednesday, 22nd March, 2017, with Gunter Grobbel, Head of Presales
ERP Challenge and Exclusive Expert Discussions
How can a customer-specific product order be processed and controlled efficiently using an ERP system? This is the challenge that itelligence AG will be tackling on the "Digital ERP Stage" - the centrepiece of the special ERP show in Hall 5. In each session, two ERP providers will present their solution for a given scenario: The processes for handling a customer order for an "e.Go KART" will be demonstrated. Each solution will be put through its paces, completing all the steps involved in processing an individual customer order, from barcode to timely delivery.
Interested parties are invited to arrange an exclusive expert discussion on a specific topic area in advance. Interviews with experts will be held at stand C04 in Hall 4, in the Premium Partner section of the SAP stand.
Further information is available on the itelligence AG website. (Language: German)
itelligence is one of the leading international full-service providers of solutions in support of SAP solutions, employing about 6.000 highly qualified employees in 25 countries. As a frequently awarded SAP partner, among others SAP Hybris Gold Partner, global value-added reseller, SAP Certified in Cloud Services, SAP-Certified Provider of Hosting Services for SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud and SAP Platinum Partner, itelligence realizes complex projects in the SAP solution-based environment worldwide. The company's services in support of SAP solutions range from consulting and licensing to application management services and hosting services to proprietary industry-specific SAP. In 2016, itelligence generated total sales of EUR 777,9 million.
###
SAP, SAP S/4HANA, SAP HANA and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Media Contact:
Silvia Dicke
Tel: +49-(0)-521-91448-107
Fax: +49-(0)-521-91445-201
silvia.dicke@itelligence.de
Konigsbreede 1
33605 Bielefeld
http://blog.itelligence.de/
http://itelligencegroup.com/de/
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ZAFUL (www.zaful.com), one of the most prominent and unique online clothing stores for young women is set to open a new Arab site. This is a third step towards multi-language localization strategy. So far it has launched a French site in Sept. 2016 and a Spanish site in Jan. 2017.
ZAFUL is on a mission to establish an internationalbrand for young women's fashion. It has taken a step forward in global development in the Middle East by opening an Arabic site this month, http://ar.zaful.com/. The site is meant to widen the ZAFUL market place to most Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria as well as Israel, thus making their online shopping experience easier. Arab locals will have the opportunity to pay for their merchandise using cash on delivery system powered by BIT Co. as well as other options availed.
Consequently, the global nature of ZAFUL has enabled it to make worldwide deliveries with loads of delivery options. It has managed to provide DHL, UPS as well as Express way among many other fast delivery services. The customer can always choose the mode of delivery depending on need and security.
A Brief Overview of Middle East Consumers
The Middle East represents a different niche of consumers that are directed mostly by culture and religion. The Middle East has one of thelargest consumerbases especially when it comes to clothing. The young generation is slowly adapting some western ways fashion trends. There is still a hard line to cross when it comes to westernization. It is more about social acceptability and modesty.
Keeping that in mind, ZAFUL Middle East branch will design, stock and sell what can be culturally accepted. The clothes will be different from those sold in western countries and sold in middle-eastern countries.
Other Project
ZAFUL will also lure and entice its Arab market share by doing some local online and offline promotional activities during the holidays. The series of local activities are set to promote the brand as well as convert the clients into loyal customers.
For more information about ZAFUL Multi-Language Localization Strategy, Visit http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zaful-met-en-uvre-une-strategie-de-localisation-multilingue-611677675.html
Contact:
Name: Jamie
Email: news@zaful.com
Website: www.zaful.com
Phone number: +(1)-888-830-0888
SUMMIT (dpa-AFX) - Celgene Corp. (CELG) and Agios Pharmaceuticals' (AGIO) New Drug Application for Enasidenib has been granted Priority Review by the FDA - with a decision date set for August 30, 2017.
The companies are seeking approval of Enasidenib for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with an isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) mutation.
AGIO closed Wednesday's trading at $51.74, up 6.81%.
A study from Exact Sciences Corp. (EXAS) and Mayo Clinic released by the American Association of Cancer Research shows promise for the development of a new blood-based lung cancer test.
The study involving 398 patients (311 controls and 87 cancers) demonstrated that biomarkers in plasma, in this case, four novel methylated DNA markers, achieved a sensitivity of 91-96 percent at a specificity of 90-94 percent.
EXAS closed Wednesday's trading at $22.15, up 2.93%. In after-hours, the stock was up 4.97% to $23.25.
Juno Therapeutics Inc. (JUNO) has decided to pull the plug on its phase II trial of JCAR015 in adult patients with r/r acute lymphoblastic leukemia, referred to as the ROCKET trial.
Last November, the trial was put on hold following two patient deaths. Juno conducted an investigation into the toxicity. Considering the fact that there are other product candidates in its pipeline, which are likely to provide improved efficacy and tolerability, Juno, in collaboration with partner Celgene, has made a strategic decision to cease development of JCAR015.
JUNO closed Wednesday's trading at $25.31, up 5.28%. In after-hours, the stock was down 7.94% to $23.30.
The FDA has approved Odactra, the first allergen extract, for house dust mite allergies. Odactra, which is to be administered under the tongue, is indicated for people 18 through 65 years of age.
Odactra is manufactured for Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp., (a subsidiary of Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J.) by Catalent Pharma Solutions Limited, United Kingdom.
Shares of NeuroDerm Ltd. (NDRM) rose more than 26% on Wednesday, following positive results from its phase II trial of ND0612H for advanced Parkinson's disease.
The trial, dubbed Trial 006, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in OFF-time and increase in proportion of patients 'ON' by 8:00 am (primary and key secondary endpoints). The study also showed statistically significant reduction in troublesome dyskinesia and a complete reduction of OFF-time to zero hours in 66% of responders.
NDRM closed Wednesday's trading at $29.30, up 26.57%. In after-hours, the stock was up another 1.52% to $29.74.
Puma Biotechnology Inc. (PBYI) has a couple of catalyst to watch out for in the coming months.
The anticipated key milestones are :
-- Additional data from its Phase II CONTROL trial of Neratinib as an extended adjuvant treatment in HER2-positive early stage breast cancer using antidiarrheal prophylaxis with loperamide and other agents are expected in Q2, 2017. -- Interim Phase I/II data from NSABP FB-10 trial of Neratinib plus Kadcyla in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer expected in Q2, 2017. -- Data from Phase II SUMMIT basket trial of Neratinib in patients with HER2 non-amplified solid tumors that have a HER2 mutation anticipated in Q2, 2017. -- Data from phase III trial in third-line HER2-positive MBC patients in the first half of 2017. -- Data from TBCRC-022 Phase II trial of Neratinib plus capecitabine in HER2-positive MBC patients with brain metastases expected in Q2, 2017. -- Data from phase II SUMMIT basket trial of Neratinib in HER2-negative breast cancer patients with HER2 mutations in Q2, 2017 -- Final 5-year disease free survival (DFS) data from ExteNET Phase III trial of Neratinib as an extended adjuvant treatment in HER2-positive early stage breast cancer slated for release during the second half of 2017. -- Regulatory decisions in the United States and European Union on Neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early stage breast cancer in the third quarter of 2017.
PBYI closed Wednesday's trading at $38.05, up 3.68%.
Sangamo Therapeutics Inc.'s (SGMO) SB-913, a genome editing product candidate for the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (MPS II), has been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA.
Sangamo is conducting a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating SB-913 as an in vivo genome editing treatment for MPS II. Sangamo is also conducting Phase 1/2 studies this year evaluating in vivo genome editing treatments SB-318 for MPS I, another rare lysosomal storage disorder, and SB-FIX for hemophilia B, a rare blood disease.
Data from the above studies and from a clinical trial for a fourth lead program, SB-525, a gene therapy approach for hemophilia A, are expected in late 2017 or early 2018.
SGMO closed Wednesday's trading at $4.70, up 3.30%.
ASPiRA LABs, a Vermillion company (VRML), has signed a contracted in-network agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for ovarian cancer risk assessment test OVA1. ASPiRA's OVA1 test is U.S. FDA cleared.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan serves over six million beneficiaries throughout Michigan and surrounding states.
VRML closed Wednesday's trading at $2.35, up 1.73%. In after-hours, the stock was up 17.02% to $2.75.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - March 02, 2017) - Red Eagle Exploration Limited (TSX-V: XR) is pleased to announce the TSX Venture Exchange has approved its name change from CB Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE: CBJ) to Red Eagle Exploration Limited. On Monday March 6, 2017, Red Eagle Exploration common shares will begin trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the new symbol "XR".
Red Eagle Exploration further wishes to clarify that 4,666,700 common shares will be issued in connection with the amended acquisition agreement for the San Bartolo property and not 3,450,000 common shares, which was referred to in error in the news release dated February 15, 2017.
About Red Eagle Exploration
Red Eagle Exploration is a well-financed precious metals exploration and development corporation majority owned by gold producer Red Eagle Mining Corporation. Red Eagle Exploration has an experienced exploration and mine development team focused on building shareholder value through acquiring and developing high grade gold and silver projects with low costs and low technical risks in Colombia, a jurisdiction with prolific historic production but until recently limited modern exploration. Red Eagle Exploration owns 100% of the California Gold, Vetas Gold and Santa Ana Silver Projects, which consist of numerous historic and existing mines and where exploration is currently underway to delineate high-grade vein resources exploitable by modern underground mining methods.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Information set forth in this news release includes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation; statements about the terms and completion of the proposed sale transaction are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: failure to satisfy all conditions precedent to the transaction, including disinterested shareholder approval and stock exchange regulatory approval, and the additional risks identified in the management discussion and analysis section of the Company's interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with Canadian securities regulators. Forward looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the respective companies undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
For further information, please contact Ian Slater, Chief Executive Officer or:
Patrick Balit
Vice President Corporate Development
Red Eagle Mining Corporation
+1 778 372 2558
balit@redeaglemining.com
DUBLIN, Mar 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Agriculture drone Market Analysis By Product (Fixed Wing, Rotary Blade, Hybrid), By Application (Field mapping, Variable rate application, Crop Scouting) And Segment Forecasts Till 2024" report to their offering.
The global agriculture drone market is expected to reach USD 3,770.0 million by 2024. The increasing technological advancements in equipment and for enhancing the quality of the farming techniques have led to the increased implementation of agriculture drones in the market.
Increasing automation in the agriculture process, owing to the labor crisis, such as lack of skilled farmers, aging farmers, is also expected to positively impact the market growth. A favorable shift in the regulatory policy is also expected to allow start-ups to operate in small and large farming operations and aid in disease & water management.
Innovations in the GPS mapping field coupled with the advancements in precision agriculture are expected to propel the industry growth over the forecast period. Drones have the potential to implement better plantation with crop rotation strategies and give crucial inputs related to the daily progress of crops which is further contributing to the growth.
The companies operating in the industry are designing and manufacturing systems that are collecting the data and are incorporating them into business models. which is further anticipated to enhance the industry growth. The data gathered from drones help the farmers to improve yields; supply water, fertilizer, or chemical when needed, and are also able to map their fields, check for signs of disease, monitor crop health, and save time in the process.
The North America agriculture drones market is expected to remain the key revenue generating region with a prevalent share of the industry. The increasing adoption of the drones, in various applications including spraying, seeding, and livestock farming, has led to the enormous market share.
The Asia Pacific agriculture drone market is anticipated to witness a significant growth over the forecast period, owing to the increasing investments in R&D in the region.
Companies Mentioned
3D Robotics Inc.
AeroVironment, Inc.
AgEagle Aerial Systems, Inc.
Agribotix LLC
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd
DroneDeploy
Eagle UAV Services LLC
Honeycomb Corporation
Parrot SA
PrecisionHawk Inc.
Trimble Navigation
Ursula Agriculture
Key Topics Covered:
1. Methodology and Scope
2. Executive Summary
3. Market Snapshot
4. Industry Outlook
5. Agriculture Drone Product Outlook
6. Agriculture Drone Application Outlook
7. Agriculture Drone Regional Outlook
8. Competitive Landscape
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4x9w4h/agriculture_drone
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
HAVANA, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
The Quai D ' Orsay brand takes centre stage, marking a new and promising phase starting with an image redesign and the release of two new vitolas
This year the Alianza Habanos brought together two denominations: Habanos and Brandy de J erez .
The International Habanosommelier Contest's grand final will be held on March 3rd .
The Habano Festival has passed the mid-point of its XIX edition and continues its celebrations in a friendly and exclusive atmosphere with the Habano as the common theme.
To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:
https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8054751-mid-point-xix-habano-festival/
Yesterday, Laguito was the venue for the Tribute Evening dedicated to Quai D'Orsay, the brand that was created in 1973 by Cubatabaco exclusively for the French market. Quai D'Orsay embarks on a new and promising adventure with the release of its new design, the presentation of two new vitolas and its international distribution network to major Habanos S.A. markets.
Visitors at the evening event were able to enjoy the brand's three vitolas: Coronas Claro, and the new No. 50 and No. 54, and also enjoy a vitola from its classic portfolio, Quai D'Orsay Imperiales, reedited exclusively for this dinner. The evening featured an outstanding international Cuban musical line-up and choreographies of Maestro Santiago Alfonso's company.
Visitors attending the XIX Habano Festival were also able to enjoy the traditional Alianza Habanos that brought together two legendary denominations: Habanos and the prestigious Brandy de Jerez, from Spain. Bodegas Gonzalez Byass, Bodega Sanchez Romate Hnos., Bodegas Fundador, and Bodegas Osborne paired their exclusive brandies with two of the most appreciated Habanos: Trinidad Vigia and Partagas Serie D No.4.
Among the most important activities at this Festival, we find the XVI Edition of the International Habanosommelier Contest. The finalists are the following: Andrea Balzani (Italy), Slavomir Marek Bielicki (UK) and Felipe Rojas (Chile). In the preliminary phase participants demonstrated their knowledge of Habanos with the presentation of a pairing of their own creation that had to be different and innovative and a blind tasting of Habanos and spirits. In the grand finale participants will face a practical Habano cutting and lighting test and a descriptive tasting and pairing session with different spirits, as follow up of the staging of the last extraordinary edition.
The Festival will finalise Friday March 3rd, with the Gala Evening dedicated to the exclusive Linea 1935 from the Montecristo brand. The evening will witness the Habanos Awards ceremony and the traditional Humidor Auction, whose proceeds are donated to the Cuban Public Health System.
Izaskun Martinez (Tel: +53-521-243-89) or Cristina Andreu (Tel: +34-609-46-44-05).
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473981/Quai_Dorsay.jpg )
Video:
https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8054751-mid-point-xix-habano-festival/
Supply Demand Chain Executive Honors Sean Riley, Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain Solutions Director
Software AG (Frankfurt TecDAX: SOW) announced today that Supply Demand Chain Executive magazine selected Sean Riley, global manufacturing and supply chain solutions director at Software AG, as a 2017 "Pro to Know." This list recognizes executives who have helped their supply chain clients prepare to meet the important challenges of today's business climate.
This is the fifth consecutive year Riley has been named a "Pro to Know" in recognition of his proficiency in the supply chain and logistics field. Riley has over a decade of experience in industry and information technology, with extensive knowledge of areas such as leveraging the Internet of Things to optimize supply chains through real-time logistics visibility and prediction, and continuous dynamic supply chain capacity optimization. His expertise helps him develop solutions that assist customers in the manufacturing, logistics and transportation industries in meeting their business goals.
Riley said: "It's an honor to be recognized as a 'Pro to Know' because of the continued work to ensure supply chains are not only functional but as optimized as possible."
The Pros to Know Awards recognize supply chain executives, and manufacturing and non-manufacturing enterprises, leading initiatives to help prepare their companies' supply chains for the significant challenges of today's digital transformation. Supply Demand Chain Executive received over 300 entries for the 2017 Pros to Know Awards.
Digital transformation is a disruptive force that helps enterprises become significantly more competitive and remain healthier for the long term, as rapid change obliterates traditional business methods. Digitization helps enterprises advance standing business models and design innovative new models, augment legacy systems, generate new revenue streams, and achieve enhanced organizational agility.
The Software AG Digital Business Platform is an integrated set of powerful technologies, capabilities and methodologies for managing a digital transformation and for reshaping business designs that enable an enterprise to be more data-driven, customer-obsessed, hyper-connected and super-agile. The Digital Business Platform is offered in the cloud, as a service, on premise, or a hybrid configuration.
About Software AG
The digital transformation is changing enterprise IT landscapes from inflexible application silos to modern software platform-driven IT architectures which deliver the openness, speed and agility needed to enable the digital real-time enterprise.
Software AG offers the first end-to-end Digital Business Platform, based on open standards, with integration, process management, in-memory data, adaptive application development, real-time analytics and enterprise architecture management as core building blocks. The modular platform allows users to develop the next generation of application systems to build their digital future, today.
With over 45 years of customer-centric innovation, Software AG is ranked as a leader in many innovative and digital technology categories. Software AG has more than 4,300 employees, is active in 70 countries and had revenues of 872 million in 2016.
Learn more at www.softwareag.com
Software AG, 11700 Plaza America Drive, Reston, VA, 20190
Detailed press information about Software AG including a picture and multimedia database is available under: www.softwareag.com/press
Follow us on Twitter: Software AG Global
About Supply Demand Chain Executive
Supply Demand Chain Executive is the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage. Visit us on the web at www.SDCExec.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170309006057/en/
Contacts:
Software AG
John Stewart, +1 978 289 3185
John.Stewart@softwareag.com
Twitter: @johncorpcomms
or
LEWIS for Software AG
Zach Berger, +1 781-418-2478
SoftwareAGUS@teamlewis.com
or
Software AG
Baerbel Strothmann, +49 (0) 6151 92-1502
baerbel.strothmann@softwareag.com
or
Software AG
Byung-Hun Park, +49(0) 6151 92 2070
byung-hun.park@softwareag.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Copper Fox Metals Inc. ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: CUU)(OTC PINK: CPFXF) is pleased to report the results of the compilation of the 2015 and 2016 rock sampling programs on its 100% owned Mineral Mountain property, a Laramide age copper-molybdenum-gold project located in central Arizona.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "The compilation work indicates that a large area of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold mineralization hosted in Laramide age rocks has been identified at Mineral Mountain. This porphyry copper environment is located in the same northeast trending structural lineament that hosts the porphyry copper deposits at Casa Grande, Florence, Resolution and in the Globe-Miami district, Arizona."
Highlights:
a) A 2.5km by 1.1km northeast trending zone of porphyry style copper- molybdenum-gold mineralization has been identified. This zone includes the mineralized area delineated in 2016 (see news release dated February 8, 2017). b) The mineralized zone is hosted in potassic and phyllic altered rocks that cover an area of approximately 3.0km by 2.0km. c) The mineralization and potassic/phyllic alteration is terminated to the north by an interpreted graben. Laramide age rocks are not known to outcrop north of this structure. d) The alteration pattern is consistent with a porphyry system: a potassic core, an intermediate phyllic zone surrounded by regionally extensive propylitic alteration. e) The previously reported historical chargeability anomaly exhibits a good correlation with mineralized potassic and sericitic altered Laramide age rocks.
Mineral Mountain Project:
The Mineral Mountain project is located in the northeast trending Jemez structural lineament, the same trend that hosts the porphyry copper deposits at Casa Grande, Florence, Resolution and in the Globe-Miami district in Arizona.
Compilation:
In 2015 Copper Fox conducted a bedrock mapping and sampling program on a 400m spaced sampling grid. The results of the 2015 and 2016 bedrock sampling programs were compiled and interpreted. A brief synopsis of the review is presented below.
Alteration:
The portion of the project discussed in this news release displays a classical porphyry style alteration pattern consisting of a potassic core, an intermediate phyllic zone and an outer more extensive propylitic alteration. The mineralized trend identified as a result of the compilation work is located within potassic and phyllic altered rocks.
Potassic Alteration:
The area of copper-molybdenite-gold mineralization outlined in 2016 is hosted in potassic altered Laramide age rocks. The potassic alteration zone (potassic envelopes, secondary biotite) measures approximately 1,200m by 900m and is terminated to the northeast by an interpreted graben. The potassic alteration is restricted to Laramide age rocks and follows the same trend as the Laramide age hornblende diorite dikes located within the mineralized area.
Phyllic Alteration:
The phyllic zone (quartz-sericite +/- pyrite) surrounds the potassic zone and is terminated to the north by the same graben that terminated the potassic alteration zone. Phyllic alteration extends to the southwest over a horizontal distance of approximately 3.0km and ranges in width from 1.4 to 2.0km. At the south end of this zone, sericitic alteration extends a considerable distance into the Precambrian rocks.
Propylitic Alteration:
This alteration (hematite-epidote-late stage epidote veining) is not mineralized and surrounds the zone of sericitic alteration.
Mineralization:
The compilation of the 2015 bedrock sampling results has outlined two areas of mineralized rock located to the northeast and southwest of the mineralized zone outlined in 2016. These two areas of mineralized rock plus the area of mineralization outlined in 2016 define the mineralized trend.
Northeast Zone:
The delineation of this zone is based on 10 samples located northeast of the mineralized area identified in 2016. The mineralized samples are hosted in potassic and phyllic altered Laramide age granodiorite and quartz monzonite. The zone covers an area of approximately 1,000m by 500m and terminates against the interpreted graben. The range, average and median values for this zone are shown in the table below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analytical Values ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Element Minimum Maximum Average Median ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper (ppm) 21 8,620 1,371 127 Molybdenum (ppm) 2 168 54 36 Gold (ppb) 10 733 129 37 Silver (ppm) 0.1 57.5 9.39 1.7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mineralization in this zone is hosted in classical "A" veins, as well as in veins with sericitic and potassic envelopes. Hematite is common to the veins. Jarosite, pyrite and secondary biotite have also been observed in association with the mineralized quartz veins.
Southwest Zone:
This zone is located to the southwest of the 2016 sampled area and is defined by 18 samples, 12 of which contain either greater than 1,000 ppm copper or greater than 60 ppm molybdenum. The mineralization is hosted in steeply dipping quartz veins with sericitic envelopes. Chlorite and late stage epidote veinlets have been observed at several sample sites. Hematite is common to the mineralized veins. The range, average and median values for this zone are shown below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analytical Values ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Element Minimum Maximum Average Median ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper (ppm) 45 90,570 10,084 401 Molybdenum (ppm) 1.1 326 56 14.6 Gold (ppb) 6 323 59 16.5 Silver (ppm) 0.1 54.9 9.05 2.55 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The average and median copper concentration for this zone is strongly influenced by the sample that contained 90,570 ppm copper. Assigning a zero value to this sample, the average copper content of the zone is reduced by 50% to 5,052 ppm copper and the median value is reduced by 45% to 221 ppm copper.
The addition to the metal assemblage and alteration, the mineralized trend is characterized by a rhenium-bismuth-tellurium geochemical association, porphyry style "A" and "D" veins and chalcocite veins (with minor covellite). The main copper minerals are chalcocite, chryscolla and malachite.
Analytical and Sampling Procedures:
The sampling of outcrops, trenches and pits (where applicable) as well as mapping lithologies, alterations, and vein assemblages were completed. Rock chip samples (approximately one kilogram) were collected from bedrock to characterize the metals present in veins and other mineralized structures. Outcrop exposures within the sampled area are estimated to 10-15%. The samples were transported and delivered in person to Skyline Laboratories in Tucson, Arizona.
Samples were crushed to plus 75% -10 mesh, split and pulverized to plus 95% -150 mesh. Pulps were subjected to a multi-acid digest (HNO3, HF, HClO4) followed by analysis by ICP/OES. Gold was analyzed on a 30-gram charge by fire assay with an atomic absorption finish. Fluorine was analyzed by an ion-selective electrode. The Skyline's package code TE-5 was used to analyze the samples for the base and other trace elements. Over limits for copper, silver, arsenic and barium were determined using the TCu, FA-04 and SEA analytical code employed by Skyline. Skyline has an ISO/IEC 17025/2005 accreditation.
Quality Control:
The first sample of each batch was a field blank. One certified standard pulp was inserted into the sample stream for each laboratory batch of twenty samples. A total of 5 field blanks and 12 certified reference standards were inserted with the sample batches for which analyses have been received. All standards were within +/-5% of accepted value for the standard.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.
About Copper Fox:
Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc. hold the assets listed below:
1) 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia. 2) 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. 3) 65.4% of the shares of Carmax Mining Corp. who in turn own 100% of the Eaglehead copper-molybdenum-gold project located in northwestern British Columbia. 4) 100% ownership of the Sombrero Butte copper project located east of Mammoth, Arizona. 5) 100% ownership of the Mineral Mountain copper project located east of Florence, Arizona.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Elmer B. Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the existence of a large area of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold mineralization; the dimensions, shape, and location of the mineralized and altered areas and the average and median concentrations for copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; and the reliability of historical reports. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the dimensions, shape, or location of the mineralized and altered areas may not be as estimated; the average and median copper, molybdenum, gold and silver concentrations may not be accurate: and the existence of a porphyry copper system may not be established.
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Copper Fox Metals Inc.
Lynn Ball
1-844-464-2820 or 1-403-264-2820
BARCELONA, Spain, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On 27th February, Barcelona witnessed a great opening ceremony of one of the top 3 events in the tech industry, Mobile World Congress. The event attracted thousands of telecommunication companies, operators and device manufacturers and focused on smartphones and 5G.
Coolpad attended the event and announced its flagship smartphone: Cool S1. This device concentrates on music and gameswhile targeting younger users, who prefer value-for-money products.
Experience the Fresh Sound
The global leading audio brand Harman Kardon supported the audio system design, tuning and audio enhancement technologies. The Clari-Fi music restoration technology restores the audio quality of all types of compressed digital music including MP3 files to near CD quality. The S1 offers LiveStage Surround, a technology that enhances the listening experience with video content. During the MWC, HARMAN officially rewarded Coolpad the authentication certificate on high-quality sound.
Coolpad offers two stereo sound speakers on the S1, which can guarantee the high quality all-around stereo sound and provide higher volume than other phones. Moreover, S1 will bundle with AKG high-res earphones N18 as bonus, which typically retail for 100 EUR or more.
Smooth in Heavy Games
S1 has a high-end chip, Snapdragon 821, which is optimized in CPU, GPU, WIFI, temperature-control and power-consumption. S1 can give you the best user experience in all heavy games. S1is equipped with Xunyou mobile game accelerator, which can avoid the unstable network and ensure a smooth connection. Moreover, the strong battery with 4070 milliampere can guarantee at least 4 hoursplaying 3D mobile games.
During MWC, Mr. Peter Liu, VP & GM of Harman Embedded Audio, attended the con-interview with Coolpad. Referring to the cooperation with Coolpad, Peter contended that it is the brand recognition that promoted the cooperation. Both of the companies regard the satisfaction of users as their ultimate obligation, not only in necessary requirements but also in deep motivation. S1 is just the beginning, we can expect more elaborate products in the future.
Coolpad overseas business increases every year. Besides the current business covering 28 countries and regions, such as USA, India, Indonesia, it will expand to 46 countries, including West Europe, Latin America. Especially in West Europe, S1 will play an important role in developing this new market: it will beon sale online inMay. We expect it to be very successful.
Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473978/Coolpad_Cool_S1_at_MWC.jpg
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "European Next-generation Sequencing Services Market, Forecast to 2023" report to their offering.
The European NGS services market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2016 to 2023 to reach $605 million by 2023.
A relatively slow adopter of the technology, Europe now contributes to roughly a third of the global NGS services market size. Government-backed large-scale projects in the region such as the 100,000 Genomes Project of the United Kingdom (UK) and France Genomic Medicine Plan 2025 are poised to bring NGS to the forefront. Industry stakeholders are adapting to current market needs and aligning services with growth opportunities in research and clinical applications.
Disruptive technologies in NGS are revolutionizing the healthcare industry. Launch of high-throughput sequencers has set new service standards, with focus on superior coverage and accuracy. Low-cost and quick turnaround features have amplified NGS uptake as an alternative to traditional methods such as microarray, capillary electrophoresis, and Sanger, propelling the demand for NGS services across areas such as human genetics, plant and animal biotech, agriculture, food and drug safety, and forensics.
The research service explores current industry trends and market response to the growing sequencing demand. The NGS services market in Europe has been comprehensively studied to understand the core value proposition of game-changing service providers. Industry-wide collaborations, focusing on diversified applications and value-added services, have also been discussed.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Executive Dashboard
2. Growth Environment-Market Overview
3. Market Forecasts
4. Competitive Playbook
5. Visioning Scenarios
6. Growth Pipeline, Strategy and Implementation
7. The Last Word
8. Appendix
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qx46wf/european
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005609/en/
Contacts:
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
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Related Topics: Molecular Diagnostics
CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 --Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI), a global developer of custom engineered and application specific products and solutions, announced financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of Fiscal 2017 ended January 28, 2017.
Third Quarter Fiscal 2017
Methode's third-quarter Fiscal 2017 net sales increased $11.0 million, or 6.0 percent, to $195.6 million from $184.6 million in the same quarter of Fiscal 2016. Year over year, currency rate fluctuations decreased net sales $1.8 million.
Net income increased $6.5 million to $23.7 million, or $0.63 per share, in the third quarter of Fiscal 2017 from $17.2 million, or $0.45 per share, in the same period of Fiscal 2016.
Year over year, Fiscal 2017 third-quarter net income benefitted from:
higher sales in the Automotive and Power Products segments;
a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense;
lower legal and other professional fees of $1.5 million;
an international government grant of $1.5 million; and
lower travel and other selling expense of $0.3 million.
Year over year, Fiscal 2017 third-quarter net income was negatively affected by:
lower sales volumes and unfavorable sales mix of data solutions products in the Interface segment;
unfavorable commodity pricing of raw materials; and
increased income tax expense of $1.1 million.
Consolidated gross margins as a percentage of sales increased to 27.3 percent in the Fiscal 2017 third quarter from 25.8 percent in the Fiscal 2016 period. Gross margins improved primarily as a result of a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense, partially offset with unfavorable commodity pricing of raw materials as well as lower sales volumes and an unfavorable sales mix of data solutions products in the Interface segment.
Selling and administrative expense as a percentage of sales decreased to 12.4 percent for the Fiscal 2017 third quarter compared to 14.1 percent in the same period last year. Selling and administrative expense decreased $1.8 million, or 6.9 percent, to $24.3 million in the Fiscal 2017 third quarter compared to $26.1 million in the prior-year third quarter due primarily to lower legal and other professional fees, as well as decreased travel and other selling expenses.
In the Fiscal 2017 third quarter, income tax expense increased $1.1 million to $6.6 million compared to $5.5 million in the Fiscal 2016 third quarter. The Company's effective tax rate decreased to 21.8 percent in the Fiscal 2017 period from 24.2 percent in the previous third quarter.
Segment Comparisons
Comparing the Automotive segment's Fiscal 2017 third quarter to the same period of Fiscal 2016,
Net sales increased 8.6 percent, or $11.9 million, attributable to:
-- a 15.3 percent sales improvement in North America due to higher General Motors' center console (including production of new platforms) and transmission lead frame assembly product volumes, partially offset with lower Ford center console product volume and pricing concessions; and
-- a 3.4 percent sales increase in Asia due to improved transmission lead frame assembly and interior light and switch assembly product volumes, partially offset by decreased brake switch assembly and steering angle sensor product volumes; partially offset by
-- a 0.8 percent sales decline in Europe due to unfavorable currency rate fluctuations and lower sales volumes of ignition switch products, partially offset by higher integrated center panel and steering wheel switch product volumes.
-- a 15.3 percent sales improvement in North America due to higher General Motors' center console (including production of new platforms) and transmission lead frame assembly product volumes, partially offset with lower Ford center console product volume and pricing concessions; and -- a 3.4 percent sales increase in Asia due to improved transmission lead frame assembly and interior light and switch assembly product volumes, partially offset by decreased brake switch assembly and steering angle sensor product volumes; partially offset by -- a 0.8 percent sales decline in Europe due to unfavorable currency rate fluctuations and lower sales volumes of ignition switch products, partially offset by higher integrated center panel and steering wheel switch product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales improved to 29.8 percent from 26.9 percent due to a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense partially offset by unfavorable commodity pricing of raw materials.
Income from operations increased 28.6 percent as the result of increased sales, a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense as well as lower travel and general administrative expense, partially offset by unfavorable commodity pricing of raw materials.
Comparing the Interface segment's Fiscal 2017 third quarter to the same period of Fiscal 2016,
Net sales decreased 14.4 percent, or $5.0 million, attributable to:
-- a 15.7 percent sales decline in North America driven by lower data solutions, radio remote control and appliance product volumes; and
-- an 11.3 percent sales decrease in Europe as the result of lower radio remote control and data solutions product volumes; and
-- Sales in Asia were flat.
-- a 15.7 percent sales decline in North America driven by lower data solutions, radio remote control and appliance product volumes; and -- an 11.3 percent sales decrease in Europe as the result of lower radio remote control and data solutions product volumes; and -- Sales in Asia were flat. Gross margins as a percentage of sales declined to 22.8 percent from 23.6 percent due to lower sales, specifically in data solutions, partially offset by a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense.
Income from operations increased 160.0 percent as the result of a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense and lower overall general and administrative expense partially offset by lower sales.
Comparing the Power Products segment's Fiscal 2017 third quarter to the same period of Fiscal 2016,
Net sales increased 36.3 percent, or $4.1 million, attributable to:
-- a 46.2 percent sales improvement in Europe driven by higher bypass switch product volume; and
-- a 39.3 percent sales increase in Asia due to improved PowerRail and other busbar product volumes; and
-- a 29.5 percent sales increase in North America as the result of higher PowerRail and other busbar product volumes.
-- a 46.2 percent sales improvement in Europe driven by higher bypass switch product volume; and -- a 39.3 percent sales increase in Asia due to improved PowerRail and other busbar product volumes; and -- a 29.5 percent sales increase in North America as the result of higher PowerRail and other busbar product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales increased to 26.6 percent from 19.5 percent due to higher sales and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense partially offset by unfavorable commodity pricing of raw materials.
Income from operations improved 166.7 percent as the result of increased sales and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense, partially offset by unfavorable commodity pricing of raw materials.
First Nine Months Fiscal 2017
Methode's first nine-month Fiscal 2017 net sales increased $0.4 million, or 0.1 percent, to $596.7 million from $596.3 million in the same period of Fiscal 2016. Year over year, currency rate fluctuations decreased net sales $3.2 million.
Net income increased $7.7 million to $69.7 million, or $1.86 per share, in the first nine months of Fiscal 2017 from $62.0 million, or $1.60 per share, in the same period of Fiscal 2016.
Year over year, first nine-month Fiscal 2017 net income benefitted from:
higher sales in the Automotive and Power Products segments;
favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense;
an international government grant of $3.0 million;
lower travel expense of $1.5 million;
commodity pricing adjustments in the Automotive segment of $1.0 million;
one-time reversal of accruals related to customer commercial issues in the Automotive segment of $1.0 million;
absence of costs associated with the move of manufacturing from the Philippines to Egypt in the Fiscal 2016 first quarter of $1.0 million;
lower selling expense of $0.8 million;
decreased income tax expense of $0.3 million; and
overhead cost reductions in the Power Products segment.
Year over year, first nine-month Fiscal 2017 net income was negatively affected by:
lower sales volumes and unfavorable sales mix of data solutions products in the Interface segment;
higher stock award amortization expense of $5.0 million;
increased legal and other professional fees of $1.8 million; and
the absence of a tariff refund of $1.3 million.
Consolidated gross margins as a percentage of sales increased to 27.3 percent in the Fiscal 2017 first nine months from 25.5 percent in the Fiscal 2016 period. Gross margins improved primarily as a result of commodity pricing adjustments and the one-time reversal of accruals related to customer commercial issues in the Automotive segment, favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense, the absence of costs associated with the move of manufacturing from the Philippines to Egypt, as well as overhead cost reductions in the Power Products segment.
Selling and administrative expense as a percentage of sales increased to 13.1 percent for the Fiscal 2017 first nine months compared to 12.4 percent in the same period last year. Selling and administrative expense increased $4.5 million, or 6.1 percent, to $78.2 million in the Fiscal 2017 first nine months compared to $73.7 million in the prior-year period due primarily to higher stock award amortization expense as well as increased legal and professional fees, partially offset by lower travel and selling expense.
In the Fiscal 2017 first nine months, income tax expense decreased $0.3 million to $18.3 million compared to $18.6 million in the Fiscal 2016 first nine months. The Company's effective tax rate decreased to 20.8 percent in the Fiscal 2017 period from 23.1 percent in the previous period.
Segment Comparisons
Comparing the Automotive segment's Fiscal 2017 first nine months to the same period of Fiscal 2016,
Net sales increased 1.9 percent, or $8.8 million, attributable to:
-- a 6.8 percent sales improvement in North America due to higher General Motors' center console (including production of new platforms) and transmission lead frame assembly product volumes, partially offset by lower Ford center console product volume and pricing concessions; partially offset by
-- a 0.4 percent sales decrease in Asia due to reduced steering angle sensor product volumes, partially offset by higher transmission lead frame assembly, interior light and switch assembly and brake switch product volumes; and
-- a 6.9 percent sales decline in Europe due to lower sales volumes of ignition switch products, decreased customer funded tooling and design and development services, partially offset by higher integrated center panel, and steering wheel switch product volumes.
-- a 6.8 percent sales improvement in North America due to higher General Motors' center console (including production of new platforms) and transmission lead frame assembly product volumes, partially offset by lower Ford center console product volume and pricing concessions; partially offset by -- a 0.4 percent sales decrease in Asia due to reduced steering angle sensor product volumes, partially offset by higher transmission lead frame assembly, interior light and switch assembly and brake switch product volumes; and -- a 6.9 percent sales decline in Europe due to lower sales volumes of ignition switch products, decreased customer funded tooling and design and development services, partially offset by higher integrated center panel, and steering wheel switch product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales improved to 29.5 percent from 27.5 percent due to commodity pricing adjustments and the one-time reversal of accruals related to customer commercial issues as well as favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense, partially offset by the absence of a tariff refund.
Income from operations increased 11.5 percent as the result of higher sales, commodity pricing adjustments and the one-time reversal of accruals related to customer commercial issues, favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense, as well as lower travel and bonus expense, partially offset by higher stock award amortization expense.
Comparing the Interface segment's Fiscal 2017 first nine months to the same period of Fiscal 2016,
Net sales decreased 9.0 percent, or $9.4 million, attributable to:
-- a 10.9 percent sales decline in North America driven by lower data solutions and appliance product volumes; and
-- a 4.6 percent sales reduction in Europe due to reduced radio remote control and data solutions product volumes; partially offset by
-- a 20.8 percent sales improvement in Asia due to higher legacy product volume.
-- a 10.9 percent sales decline in North America driven by lower data solutions and appliance product volumes; and -- a 4.6 percent sales reduction in Europe due to reduced radio remote control and data solutions product volumes; partially offset by -- a 20.8 percent sales improvement in Asia due to higher legacy product volume. Gross margins as a percentage of sales declined to 21.6 percent from 23.8 percent due to lower sales, specifically in data solutions, partially offset by favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense and the absence of costs associated with the move of manufacturing from the Philippines to Egypt.
Income from operations decreased to approximately break-even as the result of lower sales and higher legal fees, partially offset by favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense, as well as lower travel and advertising expense.
Comparing the Power Products segment's Fiscal 2017 first nine months to the same period of Fiscal 2016,
Net sales increased 2.0 percent, or $0.8 million, attributable to:
-- a 24.5 percent sales increase in Asia due to higher PowerRail and other busbar product volumes, partially offset by
-- an 8.5 percent sales decline in Europe driven by lower bypass switch product volume partially offset by higher busbar product volume; and
-- a 12.2 percent sales decrease in North America as the result of lower busbar product volumes.
-- a 24.5 percent sales increase in Asia due to higher PowerRail and other busbar product volumes, partially offset by -- an 8.5 percent sales decline in Europe driven by lower bypass switch product volume partially offset by higher busbar product volume; and -- a 12.2 percent sales decrease in North America as the result of lower busbar product volumes. Gross margins as a percentage of sales increased to 26.3 percent from 18.4 percent due to higher sales, favorable commodity pricing of raw materials and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense and overhead cost reductions.
Income from operations improved 63.8 percent as the result of higher sales, overhead cost reductions and a favorable currency impact on material and labor expense partially offset by higher bonus expense.
Guidance
Methode revised its Fiscal 2017 guidance for sales in the range of $810 million to $820 million from a range of $820 million to $845 million due to prolonged weakness in its data solutions group, slower than anticipated customer product launch of its 10Gig copper transceiver and lower than anticipated revenues in its European Automotive segment. The Company revised guidance for income from operations in the range of $115 to $120 million from $102 million to $117 million and earnings per share in the range of $2.45 to $2.54 from $2.30 to $2.45.
The guidance ranges are based upon management's expectations regarding a variety of factors and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the following:
the price of commodities, including copper and resins;
currency exchange effect of the operations of foreign businesses;
the sales volumes and timing thereof for certain makes and models of pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles and passenger cars;
the uncertainty of the European economy;
an effective tax rate in the low- to mid-twenty percent range with no significant changes in tax valuation allowances, tax credit movement or enacted tax laws.
the effect on earnings per share of the repurchase of shares in Fiscal 2017;
sales mix within the markets served;
continued ability to realize manufacturing efficiencies;
no significant supplier issues or manufacturing quality events;
no unusual or one-time items; and
no acquisitions or divestitures.
Management Comments
President and Chief Executive Officer Donald W. Duda said, "We are pleased with the continued strength of our North American Automotive segment, as well as the significant year-over-year improvement in our Power Products segment in the third quarter. However, we expect the deterioration in our data group, which is projected to be approximately $10 million lower in sales year over year, will continue into our Fiscal 2018."
Mr. Duda concluded, "With over 7,000 surgeries performed utilizing our Dabir Surface with no known tissue injury, we continue to expand the number of facilities evaluating our overlay. However, the adoption of Dabir as a standard in the operating room is still a lengthy process requiring involvement of all the hospital disciplines. Every data point and evaluation confirms Dabir is a product that is superior in its benefit to address the significant need for the prevention of pressure ulcers, commonly known as bed sores."
Conference Call
The Company will conduct a conference call and Webcast to review financial and operational highlights led by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Donald W. Duda, and Chief Financial Officer, John Hrudicka, today at 10:00 a.m. Central time.
To participate in the conference call, please dial (877) 407-9210 (domestic) or (201) 689-8049 (international) at least five minutes prior to the start of the event. A simultaneous Webcast can be accessed through the Company's Web site, www.methode.com, by selecting the Investor Relations page, and then clicking on the "Webcast" icon.
A replay of the conference call, as well as an MP3 download, will be available shortly after the call through April 2 by dialing (877) 481-4010 (domestic) or (919) 882-2331 (international) and providing Conference ID number 10241. On the Internet, a replay will be available for 30 days through the Company's Web site, www.methode.com, by selecting the Investor Relations page and then clicking on the "Webcast" icon.
About Methode Electronics, Inc.
Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI) is a global developer of custom engineered and application specific products and solutions with manufacturing, design and testing facilities in China, Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. We design, manufacture and market devices employing electrical, electronic, wireless, safety radio remote control, sensing and optical technologies to control and convey signals through sensors, interconnections and controls. Our business is managed on a segment basis, with those segments being Automotive, Interface, Power Products and Other. Our components are in the primary end markets of the automobile, computer, information processing and networking equipment, voice and data communication systems, consumer electronics, appliances, aerospace vehicles and industrial equipment industries. Further information can be found on Methode's Web site www.methode.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor protection provided under the securities laws. Methode undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in Methode's expectations on a quarterly basis or otherwise. The forward-looking statements in this press release involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are detailed in Methode's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as our annual and quarterly reports. Such factors may include, without limitation, the following: (1) dependence on a small number of large customers, including two large automotive customers; (2) dependence on the automotive, appliance, computer and communications industries; (3) investment in programs prior to the recognition of revenue; (4) timing, quality and cost of new program launches; (5) ability to withstand price pressure, including pricing concessions; (6) currency fluctuations; (7) customary risks related to conducting global operations; (8) ability to successfully market and sell Dabir surfaces; (9) continued economic challenges in Europe including the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union; (10) dependence on our supply chain; (11) income tax rate fluctuations; (12) ability to withstand business interruptions; (13) dependence on the availability and price of raw materials; (14) fluctuations in our gross margins; (15) location of a significant amount of cash outside of the U.S.; (16) ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes; (17) a breach of our information technology systems; (18) ability to avoid design or manufacturing defects; (19) ability to compete effectively; (20) ability to protect our intellectual property; (21) ability to successfully benefit from acquisitions and divestitures; (22) the recognition of goodwill impairment charges; (23) costs and expense due to regulations regarding conflict minerals; and (24) the effect of any material modifications to NAFTA and other international trade agreements.
METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) ($ in millions, except per share data) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended ------------------------- ------------------------- January 28, January 30, January 28, January 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Net sales $ 195.6 $ 184.6 $ 596.7 $ 596.3 Cost of products sold 142.2 137.0 433.7 444.2 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Gross profit 53.4 47.6 163.0 152.1 Selling and administrative expenses 24.3 26.1 78.2 73.7 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Income from operations 29.1 21.5 84.8 78.4 Interest income, net (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (0.7) Other income, net (1.0) (1.0) (2.9) (1.5) ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Income before income taxes 30.3 22.7 88.0 80.6 Income tax expense 6.6 5.5 18.3 18.6 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. $ 23.7 $ 17.2 $ 69.7 $ 62.0 ============ ============ ============ ============ Amounts per common share attributable to Methode Electronics, Inc.: Basic $ 0.64 $ 0.45 $ 1.87 $ 1.60 Diluted $ 0.63 $ 0.45 $ 1.86 $ 1.60 Cash dividends: Common stock $ 0.09 $ 0.09 $ 0.27 $ 0.27 Weighted average number of Common Shares outstanding: Basic 37,217,302 38,159,789 37,297,757 38,662,487 Diluted 37,470,653 38,278,231 37,477,967 38,790,624 METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS ($ in millions) As of As of January 28, April 30, 2017 2016 -------------- -------------- (Unaudited) ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $ 268.8 $ 227.8 Accounts receivable, net 153.8 175.5 Inventories: Finished products 11.2 11.9 Work in process 9.7 9.6 Materials 41.1 44.7 -------------- -------------- 62.0 66.2 Deferred income taxes -- 11.8 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 14.5 14.9 -------------- -------------- TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 499.1 496.2 PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT 327.6 325.9 Less allowances for depreciation 239.9 232.9 -------------- -------------- 87.7 93.0 GOODWILL 1.6 1.7 INTANGIBLE ASSETS, net 7.2 8.9 PRE-PRODUCTION COSTS 17.0 9.5 DEFERRED INCOME TAXES 35.8 27.7 OTHER ASSETS 18.6 18.9 -------------- -------------- 80.2 66.7 -------------- -------------- TOTAL ASSETS $ 667.0 $ 655.9 ============== ============== LIABILITIES AND EQUITY CURRENT LIABILITIES Accounts payable $ 67.7 $ 68.2 Other current liabilities 43.5 49.7 -------------- -------------- TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 111.2 117.9 LONG-TERM DEBT 37.0 57.0 OTHER LIABILITIES 2.1 2.9 DEFERRED COMPENSATION 8.8 8.0 SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Common stock, $0.50 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized, 38,133,925 and 38,181,985 shares issued as of January 28, 2017 and April 30, 2016, respectively 19.1 19.1 Additional paid-in capital 125.2 112.3 Accumulated other comprehensive income (32.1) (8.4) Treasury stock, 1,346,624 shares as of January 28, 2017 and April 30, 2016 (11.5) (11.5) Retained earnings 407.2 358.6 -------------- -------------- TOTAL EQUITY 507.9 470.1 -------------- -------------- TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 667.0 $ 655.9 ============== ============== METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) ($ in millions) Nine Months Ended ------------------------- January 28, January 30, 2017 2016 ------------ ------------ OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net income $ 69.7 $ 62.0 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Provision for depreciation 15.8 16.0 Amortization of intangibles 1.8 1.8 Amortization of stock awards and stock options 9.8 4.8 Changes in operating assets and liabilities 9.6 (0.8) Other -- -- ------------ ------------ NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES 106.7 83.8 INVESTING ACTIVITIES Purchases of property, plant and equipment (13.2) (17.2) ------------ ------------ NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES (13.2) (17.2) FINANCING ACTIVITIES Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (1.1) (7.6) Purchase of common stock (9.8) (59.8) Proceeds from exercise of stock options 2.7 0.5 Tax benefit from stock option exercises 0.5 4.0 Cash dividends (10.3) (10.2) Proceeds from borrowings -- 63.0 Repayment of borrowings (20.0) (13.0) ------------ ------------ NET CASH USED IN FINANCING ACTIVITIES (38.0) (23.1) Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash (14.5) (9.3) ------------ ------------ INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS 41.0 34.2 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 227.8 168.1 ------------ ------------ CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF PERIOD $ 268.8 $ 202.3 ============ ============
For Methode Electronics, Inc. - Investor Contacts:
Kristine Walczak
Dresner Corporate Services
312-780-7205
kwalczak@dresnerco.com
DUBLIN, Mar 02, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Africa Telemedicine Outlook and Opportunities" report to their offering.
The report titled "Africa Telemedicine Outlook and Opportunities" provides a comprehensive analysis of e-Health scenario in Africa covering market challenges and success case studies by countries and at multinational levels.
The report discusses about the current health scenario of different countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana, Cameroon and Ethiopia. The report also provides current e-health scenario and future government plans for development of e-Health space in all countries. The report also includes trends & developments, growth drivers and major restraints, and challenges within the industry to understand current market dynamics in the industry.
The report also serves as a benchmark for existing players and for new players who wish to capitalize on the market potential and investors who are looking forward to venture into the e-Health space in Africa by providing information on success and failure case studies and optimal business model in the region.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Executive Summary
2. Appendix
2.1. Market Definitions
2.2. Research Methodology
Final Conclusion
3. Current Scenario of Healthcare in Africa
4. Kenya
4.1. State of Healthcare in Kenya
Scenario of Healthcare Providers
Country Profile
4.2. Telemedicine So Far
4.2.1. National Telemedicine Initiative
4.2.2. Colombia Africa
4.2.3. Telepathology
4.2.4. Sema-Doc
4.2.5. Pan-African e-Network Project
4.2.6. AMREF Project
4.2.7. Medishare Africa
4.3. Trends and Developments in Kenya Telemedicine Market
4.4. Challenges in Kenya Telemedicine Industry
4.4.1. Lack of Electricity
4.4.2. Confidentiality of Information
4.5. Future Plans of Government for eHealth Sector
4.5.1. Vision 2030
Specific Objective
General Objective
Investment Model for Implementation of ICT Model in Selected Hospitals under Vision 2030
4.5.2. GlobalMed Telemedicine Solutions
4.6. Conclusion
4.7. Success Case Studies in Kenya
E-Learning for Nurses
Use of MIMS
5. South Africa E-Health Market
5.1. State of Healthcare in South Africa
Public and Private Healthcare System
Expenditure
National, Provincial and Local
National Health Insurance
Burden of Disease
Telemedicine
5.2. Country Profile
5.3. Telemedicine Projects So Far
5.3.1. Teledermatology
5.3.2. Teleradiology
5.3.3. Mindset Health Channel
5.3.4. Primary Health Care Telemedicine Workstation
5.3.5. South Africa / China Bilateral Agreement
5.3.6. Rapid Deployment Field Hospital / Mobile Pathlab
5.3.7. KwaZulu-Natal Telemedicine Project
5.3.8. Project Masiluleke
5.3.9. MomConnect
5.3.10. FOLUP
5.3.11. Primary Health Care App
5.4. Regulatory Landscape
5.4.1. POPI ACT and mHealth
Principles of POPI Act
5.4.2. Telemedicine Solutions
5.4.3. State Information Technology Agency (SITA)
5.4.4. The Minimum Information Interoperability Standards (MIOS)
5.5. Conclusion
5.5.1. Key Opportunities for mHealth in South Africa in Future
5.6. Recommendations
6. Nigeria E-Health Market
6.1. State of Healthcare in Nigeria
Country Profile
6.2. Current Scenario
Healthcare IT in Nigeria
6.3. Current Policy Implementations
Other eHealth Initiatives
Conclusion
6.4. Major Challenges for the Health Care Sector in Nigeria
6.5. Government Policy Implementations for Future
6.5.1. Recommendations to Improve Health ICT Enabling Environment
6.6. Success Case Study in using ICT in Nigeria
7. Ghana
7.1. State of Healthcare in Ghana
Country Profile
7.2. Snapshot of Telemedicine Pilot Project in Ghana
7.3. Challenges in the Establishment of the Telemedicine Centers in Ghana
Requirement of Constant Government Support
Training of the Workers
Payments from National Health Insurance Scheme
Shortage of Electric Power Supply
e-Health Initiatives in Ghana
Conclusions
7.4. Success Case Studies in Ghana
Graphical Representation of MOTECH working Model
8. Uganda
8.1. State of Healthcare in Uganda
Country Profile
8.2. Current E-Health Scenario- Telepathology and Second Opinion
Use of DHIMS2
8.3. Challenges Faced in Implementing E-Health Policies
8.4. Current Situational Analysis
8.5. Government Future Policy Objectives
8.6. Success Case Study: Uganda's Approach for Health Service Delivery Through mTrac
9. Botswana
9.1. State of Health Care in Botswana
9.2. Country Profile- Botswana
9.3. Snapshot of Teledermatology in Botswana
10. Cameroon
10.1. State of Health Care in Cameroon
10.2. Country Profile- Cameroon
10.3. Current e-Health Scenario
10.3.1. ICT in Healthcare
10.3.2. MTN Health
10.3.3. eHealth-Cameroon
11. Ethiopia
11.1. State of Health Care in Ethiopia
11.2. Country Profile- Ethiopia
11.3. Current e-Health Scenario
Electronic Medical Records via SmartCare
Health-net
Telemedicine Pilot Project
11.4. Ethiopian National E-Health Strategy
12. SWOT Analysis
13. Multinational E-Health Initiatives in Africa (Case Studies)
13.1. m4RH
13.2. RAFT
13.3. Prerequisites to Start a Telemedicine Centre
14. Recommendations
14.1. Working and Business Model Selection
14.2. Partnerships
14.3. Return on Investment
14.4. Government Support
14.5. Awareness Campaigns
14.6. Optimization of ICT Infrastructure
14.7. Improving the Training and Maintenance of Infrastructure
14.8. Use of Updated Technology
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/z8wwtc/africa
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Elko District Court Department I Judge Nancy Porter
Feb. 22
Nuel Don Gilbert, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving, possessing, or withholding stolen goods and was sentenced five years in prison with credit for 27 days served. His sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for five years and ordered to submit to electronic monitoring, abstain from alcohol, and complete a substance abuse program.
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David Lee Mize, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. His sentence was suspended and he was ordered to pay $322 restitution to the Nevada Attorney Generals Office and a fine of $1,000.
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Brett Len Morrow, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years in prison with credit for 72 days served. His sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for five years and ordered to submit to electronic monitoring and abstain from alcohol, gambling and marijuana use.
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Tyler David Pool, 21, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 32 months in prison. His sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation for three years and ordered to submit to electronic monitoring and abstain from alcohol, gambling, and marijuana use.
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Marcus David Rogers, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years in prison with credit for 372 days served.
Elko District Court Department II Judge Al Kacin
Feb. 24
Lacrishna Page Shields, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to 30 months in prison with credit for 52 days served. Her sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation five years and ordered to abstain from alcohol, gambling and marijuana use.
Die Deutsche Bank hat die Einstufung fur Engie vor Jahreszahlen auf "Hold" mit einem Kursziel von 13 Euro belassen. Bei der Zahlenvorlage fur 2016 durfte die Anleger eher interessieren, wie weit der Energiekonzern mit seinen Verkaufen von Randaktivitaten vorangekommen sei, schrieb Analyst Martin Brough in einer Studie vom Dienstag. Die daraus resultierende Gewinnverwasserung konnte zwar die Aktie etwas belasten, die Dividendenrendite der Franzosen sei aber attraktiv./edh/zb
Hinweis: Informationen zur Offenlegungspflicht bei Interessenskonflikten im Sinne der Richtlinie 2014/57/EU und entsprechender Verordnungen der EU fur das genannte Analysten-Haus finden Sie unter http://web.dpa-afx.de/offenlegungspflicht/offenlegungs_pflicht.html. (Die veroffentlichen Weblinks werden von der Internetseite der dpa-AFX unverandert ubernommen.)
AFA0017 2017-02-28/09:32
ISIN: FR0010208488
Board approves agenda for AGM on March 28, 2017
Newron Pharmaceuticals S.p.A. ("Newron"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for patients with diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and pain, today announces its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016, and reiterates material events with the outlook for 2017. In addition, Newron presents the approved agenda for the 2017 AGM.
Highlights
Xadago (safinamide):
Launched by Zambon for patients with Parkinson's disease in three additional top five territories in the EU (Italy, Spain, UK) as well as Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland
U.S. FDA considers the re-submitted NDA for Xadago to be a complete, class 2 response to Complete Response Letter (CRL) of March 2016, and sets PDUFA date of March 21, 2017
Seqirus and Zambon enter into a partnership for Xadago in Australia and New Zealand (post period)
Evenamide (NW-3509):
Phase IIa study design presented at 5th Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference in Florence, Italy
Encouraging preliminary results of Phase IIa study with Evenamide (NW-3509) in patients with schizophrenia disclosed (post period)
Detailed Phase IIa study results to be presented at 16th International Congress on Schizophrenia Research (ICOSR), March 24-28, 2017, San Diego, CA, USA
Sarizotan:
IND approval for sarizotan for the treatment of Rett syndrome by the U.S. FDA
STARS trial design presented at U.S. Rett Syndrome Symposium
Initiation of STARS potentially pivotal study for patients with Rett syndrome
Start of International burden of disease study in Rett syndrome
Corporate:
Newron raised EUR 26.8 million in October 2016 via a private placement of new shares and an exercise in March 2016 of a 2015 option agreement with a U.S. institutional investor
Dennis Dionne, Executive Director for Commercial Operations, appointed to Newron's Senior Management Team as Vice President Commercial Affairs
Xadago launched in ten additional European countries
Following the 2015 European approval and the launch in Germany, 2016 saw the launch of Xadago in ten further European markets by Newron's partner Zambon. The launch in, among others, Italy, Spain, the UK and Switzerland, means that a large and increasing number of patients across Europe can now be treated using Xadago, the first New Chemical Entity in ten years to receive Marketing Authorization from the EU Commission for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. From the initial launch of Xadago in Germany in May 2015, Newron has generated cumulated royalty revenues of EUR 2.2 million on product sales by its partner Zambon. Post-period, Zambon and Seqirus announced that they have entered a partnership for the registration and commercialisation of Xadago in Australia and New Zealand.
Following the news in March 2016 that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued a CRL for Xadago, Newron announced, in July 2016, alongside its partners U.S. WorldMeds and Zambon, that the FDA no longer required the Company to perform any studies to clinically evaluate the potential abuse liability or dependence/withdrawal effects of Xadago, the key subject of the CRL. In October 2016, Newron welcomed the FDA's announcement that it considered the September 2016 re-submission of the U.S. NDA by the Company to be a complete Class 2 response.
"We are hopeful that Xadago will be approved in the U.S. on or before its PDUFA date of March 21 and that it will become available to U.S. patients, in the near future," comments Ravi Anand, Newron's Chief Medical Officer.
Progress with Evenamide
In April 2016, Newron presented a poster at the 5th Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference titled "Evenamide (NW-3509), a Putative Antipsychotic, Targets Abnormal Electrical Activity and Glutamatergic Abnormalities in Improving Psychotic Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia in a Phase II, Placebo-controlled Trial". The encouraging results of this Phase IIa study were announced post period in January 2017. Evenamide met the study objectives of good tolerability, safety, and preliminary evidence of efficacy as an add-on therapy for the treatment of schizophrenia. Detailed results of the study will be presented at the 16th International Congress on Schizophrenia Research (ICOSR), in March, in San Diego (CA), USA.
Studies initiated with Sarizotan
In May 2016, the FDA approved Newron's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the evaluation of sarizotan for the treatment of patients with Rett syndrome. Following this approval, in July the Company initiated its potentially pivotal clinical STARS study that will evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of sarizotan in patients with Rett syndrome suffering from respiratory symptoms. The initiation of the STARS study is an important milestone within the development program for sarizotan. As of December 31, 2016, the study is enrolling patients in both the USA and Europe.
As part of Newron's wider commitment to addressing the needs of Rett syndrome patients, the Company is currently sponsoring a study to evaluate the burden of disease experienced by patients with this debilitating condition and their families. The study will be comprised of two global surveys, one to be completed by at least 750 caregivers and the other by at least 210 healthcare providers(HCP). The surveys have been developed in accordance with regulatory guidance, with the final versions being used for data collection in the USA, the UK, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.
Financial Highlights
Total revenues have substantially increased to EUR 6.7 million from EUR 2.4 million (2015) in the reporting period; mostly due to Increased license income, reflecting milestone payments received from Zambon (EUR 3.0 million in 2016 vs. EUR 1.8 million in 2015) Royalties of EUR 1.7 million (EUR 0.5 million in 2015) Other income, especially Italian R&D tax credits of EUR 2.0 million (EUR 0.1 million in 2015).
Research and development expenses were EUR 12.4 million (2015: EUR 18.4 million), net of Italian R&D tax credits of EUR 4.9 million; investment was primarily made into the Evenamide Phase IIa study, the STARS potentially pivotal study in Rett syndrome patients, and the Burden of Disease study in Rett syndrome.
Cash used in operations has increased to EUR 19.6 million (2015: EUR 12.9 million).
In 2016, Newron, by placing new shares to investors, raised total funds of EUR 26.8 million, of which EUR 3.0 million related to the exercise, in March, of a purchase option for 209,364 shares by a shareholder under a 2015 subscription and option agreement, while the remaining EUR 23.8 million resulted from a private placement executed in October.
Newron's liquidity, including available financial assets and cash and cash equivalents, was EUR 46.5 million, at year-end (2015: EUR 40.9 million)
Financial Summary (IFRS)
In thousand EUR (except per share information)
2016 2015 Licence income 3,039 1,800 Royalties 1,698 475 Other income 1,989 105 Revenues 6,726 2,380 Research and development expenses, net 12,398 18,449 Operating loss 15,325 24,400 Financial income 121 (583) Net loss 15,237 22,816 Loss per share 1.04 1.66 Cash used in operating activities 19,583 12,862 Cash, cash equivalents, other short term fin. Assets 46,468 40,931 Total assets 56,591 44,380
Newron's 2016 Annual Report is available on http://www.newron.com/financial-report.
Outlook for 2017
"We look forward to the decision on the forthcoming PDUFA date for Xadago on or around March 21 and are confident that in 2017, we will see Xadago become available to patients in the USA and additional European territories. We are highly encouraged by the potential of both sarizotan and Evenamide and we look forward to continuing the development of both in the ongoing year. Our innovative pipeline is progressing well and we will strengthen our position as a leading player in the CNS disease area. We started 2017 with funds totalling EUR 46.5 million, which we anticipate will take our Company towards the end of 2018, beyond expected key value inflexion points", comments Newron's Chief Executive Officer Stefan Weber.
AGM 2017 Agenda
Newron's Board of Directors has approved the agenda below for the March 28, 2017, 10:30 am CET, ordinary Shareholders' meeting, which will take place at the Company's registered office in Bresso (Mi), Italy. The formal invitation to shareholders will be issued and disclosed in the statutory papers on or about March 2. The full invitation and supporting material will be made available on the Company's website on the same date. The agenda is as follows:
Approval of the financial statements as at December 31, 2016. Related and consequent resolutions
Appointment of the Board of Directors for the financial years 2017, 2018 and 2019 and, therefore, until the approval of the financial statements as of December 31, 2019, as follows:
- Ulrich Kostlin in quality of Chairman of the Board and non-executive director
- Stefan Weber, in quality of executive director
- Patrick Langlois in quality of non-executive director
- Bo Jesper Hansen in quality of non-executive director
- Robert Leslie Holland in quality of non-executive director
- Luca Benatti in quality of non-executive director and,
- Donald de Bethizy in quality of non-executive director
- Determination of the remuneration of the Board of Directors. Related and consequent resolutions
Dial-in to media/analyst conference on March 2, 2017, 9:15-10:15 am CET
The Newron management team will present the 2016 full year results and provide an update and guidance for 2017. The conference call can be accessed via the following dial-in numbers:
Switzerland/Continental Europe: +41 (0)58 310 50 00
UK: +44 (0)203 059 58 62
U.S. (New York): +1 631 570 56 13
Italy: +39 02 30 46 48 58
The slide deck used in the call is available at http://www.newron.com/downloads
Next events
Annual Shareholders' meeting March 28, 2017
Half year report 2017 September 14, 2017
About Newron Pharmaceuticals
Newron (SIX: NWRN) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for patients with diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and pain. The Company is headquartered in Bresso near Milan, Italy, with a subsidiary in Morristown, NJ, U.S.A. Xadago (safinamide) has received marketing authorization for the treatment of Parkinson's disease in the European Union and Switzerland and is commercialized by Newron's partner Zambon. US WorldMeds holds the commercialization rights in the US. Meiji Seika has the rights to develop and commercialize the compound in Japan and other key Asian territories. In addition to Xadago for Parkinson's disease, Newron has a strong pipeline of promising treatments for rare disease patients at various stages of clinical development, including sarizotan for patients with Rett syndrome and ralfinamide for patients with specific rare pain indications. Newron is also developing Evenamide as the potential first add-on therapy for the treatment of patients with positive symptoms of schizophrenia. www.newron.com
Important Notices
This document contains forward-looking statements, including (without limitation) about (1) Newron' s ability to develop and expand its business, successfully complete development of its current product candidates and current and future collaborations for the development and commercialisation of its product candidates and reduce costs (including staff costs), (2) the market for drugs to treat CNS diseases and pain conditions, (3) Newron's anticipated future revenues, capital expenditures and financial resources, and (4) assumptions underlying any such statements. In some cases these statements and assumptions can be identified by the fact that they use words such as will", anticipate", estimate", expect", project", "intend", plan", "believe", target", and other words and terms of similar meaning. All statements, other than historical facts, contained herein regarding Newron's strategy, goals, plans, future financial position, projected revenues and costs and prospects are forward-looking statements.
By their very nature, such statements and assumptions involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described, assumed or implied therein will not be achieved. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set out in, contemplated by or underlying the forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors. These factors include (without limitation) (1) uncertainties in the discovery, development or marketing of products, including without limitation negative results of clinical trials or research projects or unexpected side effects, (2) delay or inability in obtaining regulatory approvals or bringing products to market, (3) future market acceptance of products, (4) loss of or inability to obtain adequate protection for intellectual property rights, (5) inability to raise additional funds, (6) success of existing and entry into future collaborations and licensing agreements, (7) litigation, (8) loss of key executive or other employees, (9) adverse publicity and news coverage, and (10) competition, regulatory, legislative and judicial developments or changes in market and/or overall economic conditions.
Newron may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements and assumptions underlying any such statements may prove wrong. Investors should therefore not place undue reliance on them. There can be no assurance that actual results of Newron's research programmes, development activities, commercialisation plans, collaborations and operations will not differ materially from the expectations set out in such forward-looking statements or underlying assumptions.
Newron does not undertake any obligation to publicly up-date or revise forward looking statements except as may be required by applicable regulations of the SIX Swiss Exchange where the shares of Newron are listed. This document does not contain or constitute an offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities of Newron and no part of it shall form the basis of or be relied upon in connection with any contract or commitment whatsoever.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005198/en/
Contacts:
Media
Newron
Stefan Weber, +39 02 6103 46 26
CEO
pr@newron.com
or
U.K./Europe
FTI Consulting
Julia Phillips, +44 (0)20 3727 1000
or
Switzerland
IRF Communications
Martin Meier-Pfister, +41 (0)43 244 81 40
or
Germany
MC Services AG
Anne Hennecke, +49 (02)211 5292 5222
or
U.S.
LaVoieHealthScience
Beth Kurth, +1 617 374 8800, Ext. 104
or
Investors and Analysts
Newron
Stefan Weber, +39 02 6103 46 30
CEO
ir@newron.com
or
U.K./Europe
FTI Consulting
Julia Phillips, +44 (0)20 3727 1000
or
Germany/Continental Europe
MC Services AG
Anne Hennecke, +49 211 5292 5222
or
U.S.
LaVoieHealthScience
Beth Kurth, +1 617 374 8800, Ext. 106
PROVIDENCE, RI -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Board-certified Rhode Island plastic surgeon Patrick Sullivan, MD has been invited to speak and lead panels at the upcoming Aesthetica Super Symposium. Sponsored by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the conference will take place in New Orleans, LA from March 2-4, 2017.
Dr. Sullivan says he is honored to have been invited as a member of this esteemed faculty and to speak on a number of topics at the upcoming Aesthetica meeting in New Orleans. "It is always an honor to be asked to present your special treatments and experience to plastic surgeons from the United States and around the world," he notes. "It is also a special opportunity to discuss the importance of artistic planning of the procedure and its correlation to achieving more natural results."
The topics on which Dr. Sullivan will be speaking and moderating span from special face lift techniques, neck lift and fat grafting to eyelid surgery and new plastic surgery technologies. Although the titles and specific techniques addressed throughout each of his presentations will change, the larger message delivered will be consistent: how to achieve the ultimate goal of lasting, consistent and natural results. Dr. Sullivan's approach to plastic surgery and the key to achieving natural results starts with artistic planning. Ultimately, he believes this message will benefit the plastic surgery field as a whole. If plastic surgeons are able to provide natural results more consistently, patients will achieve their ultimate goals, and the treatments will improve throughout the field.
This year's Aesthetica Super Symposium will be held at the New Orleans Marriott from March 2nd through March 4th and will feature over 40 exhibits and presentations from plastic surgeons throughout the country.
There is an exciting section of the meeting titled Ideas and Innovations (I3) -- where Dr. Sullivan will share tips and principles that can improve results.
About the American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Founded in 1931, ASPS is the largest plastic surgery specialty organization in the world. Its website is also one of the most frequented for those looking for more information on specific procedures and locating the most qualified plastic surgeon. Their mission focuses on safety and quality of care for patients. ASPS provides support and education for its members while also holding them to the highest professional and ethical standards. To learn more, visit www.plasticsurgery.org.
About Patrick Sullivan, MD
Dr. Sullivan is Division Chief of Cosmetic Surgery at Brown University's School of Medicine in Providence, and he has been recognized as being in the top 1% of plastic surgeons in America by US News & World Report. Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology, he is a highly skilled and experienced plastic surgeon who offers a wide range of aesthetic treatments for the face, body and breasts. Dr. Sullivan is available for interview upon request.
To learn more, visit drsullivan.com.
To view the original source of this press release, click here: http://www.drsullivan.com/news-media/rhode-island-plastic-surgeon-to-share-new-treatments-at-asps-aesthetica-super-symposium-2017/
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Patrick K. Sullivan, MD
235 Plain Street - Suite 502
Providence, RI 02905
(401) 831-8300
Rosemont Media
(858) 200-0044
www.rosemontmedia.com
THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- SOURCE EXPLORATION CORP. (the "Company" or "Source") (TSX VENTURE: SOP) is pleased to announce that it will be exhibiting at Core Shack display for the upcoming PDAC International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange being held in Toronto from March 5th to 8th.
Source's management team invites current shareholders, potential investors, brokers, analysts and interested parties to visit the Core Shack display Booth # 3119B on Tuesday, March 7th and Wednesday, March 8th. to discuss the upcoming 2017 drilling and exploration programs currently underway at its flagship Las Minas property and planned maiden NI -43-101 resource estimate. The company will be displaying core from recent diamond drill programs at the Las Minas property.
About the PDAC International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange
The PDAC International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange, which is held annually in Toronto, is the world's leading convention for those interested in the mineral exploration industry.
For more information on the conference visit: http://www.pdac.ca/convention.
About Las Minas
The Las Minas Project hosts near-surface gold-silver and copper skarn mineralization and high-grade gold-silver epithermal vein deposits. The project is comprised of six mineral concessions covering approximately 1,616 hectares (3,995 acres), with several small high-grade, past-producing mines and numerous untested targets.
The district is host to one of the largest under explored gold-silver and copper skarn systems known in Mexico, and has a production history that extends back to the Aztec era. The Las Minas granodiorite intrusive measures approximately 10 kilometres in diameter and underlies the Las Minas concessions. The mineralization controls and association with magnetite appear to be similar to parts of the Guerrero Gold belt, which is the site of the Los Filos and Morelos gold deposits.
Las Minas is an early-stage exploration project and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for the targets discussed herein. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource.
About Source Exploration
Source Exploration is a Canadian based mineral exploration company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metals deposits in Mexico. Source is exploring the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas district in the Veracruz State, Mexico. The district is host to one of the largest under explored skarn systems known in Mexico and has a strong production history that dates back to the Aztec era.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the magnitude or quality of mineral deposits, anticipated advancement of mineral properties or programs, future operations, results of exploration, prospects, commodity and precious metals prices, future work programs, anticipated financial and operational results, capital expenditures and objectives and the completion and timing of mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the risks identified in the Company's disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based on the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) have reviewed or accepts responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release.
Contacts:
Source Exploration Corp.
Camille Turner
Investor Relations
604-669-7840 or 604-970-8052
Source Exploration Corp.
David Baker
Executive Chairman
604-817-4211 or 604-970-8052
Source Exploration Corp.
Brian Robertson
President & CEO
807-474-4270 or 807-251-1816
807-474-4272 (FAX)
info@sourceexploration.com
www.sourceexploration.com
STOCKHOLM, Mar 02, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Electrolux today announced it has acquired Grindmaster-Cecilware, a leading U.S. based manufacturer of hot, cold and frozen beverage dispensing equipment, including coffee machines. The acquisition broadens Electrolux offering in its food service business and will accelerate the growth of the Professional Products business area by increasing access to the U.S. market.
Grindmaster-Cecilware had net sales in excess of USD 65 million in 2016 and approximately 200 employees. The cash consideration in the transaction is USD 108 million. The company is based in Louisville, Kentucky and has manufacturing facilities in Louisville and in Rayong, Thailand. Grindmaster-Cecilware sells products under the market leading brands Grindmaster, Cecilware, Crathco, and American Metal Ware.
"We are very pleased to complement our portfolio with such an attractive range of beverage products, as the combination better meets customer needs, especially among food service chains. This move will also reinforce our presence in North America, one of the largest global markets for professional appliances," said Alberto Zanata, Head of Electrolux business area Professional Products.
Grindmaster-Cecilware, majority owned by BNY Mezzanine Partners L.P., was created in 2009 through the combination of Grindmaster Corporation and Cecilware Corporation, two companies with a more than 100-year heritage.
For more information visit www.electrolux.com/professional and www.gmcw.com.
For further information, please contact:
Electrolux Press Hotline,
Tel: 46-8-657-65-07.
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
http://news.cision.com/electrolux/r/electrolux-strengthens-professional-offering-of-beverage-products-by-acquiring-grindmaster-cecilware,c2203090
The following files are available for download:
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Plateau Uranium Inc. ("Plateau Uranium" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PLU)(FRANKFURT: QG1) is pleased to announce new metallurgical test work results from its Macusani Plateau uranium project in Peru. The work was completed by TECMMINE, a Peruvian metallurgical consulting company based in Lima, Peru, and was reviewed by Grenvil Dunn of Hydromet (Pty) Ltd. ("Hydromet"). The test work forms part of the Company's efforts to unlock value from the significant lithium resources contained within its uranium deposits.
The Company is continuing additional test work on uranium, lithium and other associated metals with the intention of further optimizing the process and establishing potential capital and operating costs for producing uranium and lithium from the Macusani deposits.
Highlights
-- The new leach test work commenced in August 2016 with samples typical of Macusani uranium mineralization from all uranium deposits considered in the Company's PEA (U-Li-rich) as well as Li-rich/U-poor samples. -- Regardless of initial uranium concentration, consistent lithium recoveries of 61 to 73% were achieved into leach solutions at temperatures between 65 to 85 degrees C using various concentrations of sulphuric acid. -- Uranium recoveries of 98-99% were achieved for Macusani uranium mineralization along with the excellent lithium recoveries of up to 73%. -- The extensive test work has streamlined the Company's understanding of the process, resulting in a simple, straightforward crush-grind with a warm sulfuric acid leaching process. -- Additional work is planned in Peru and will be followed up with further leaching and precipitation work at international processing experts, SGS Laboratories, in Australia. A representative 300 kg bulk sample of Macusani uranium-mineralization has been shipped and is already in Australia at SGS. -- The outcome of this work will establish potential capital and operating costs to produce lithium as a by-product, and will subsequently determine its potential positive impact to the Macusani project.
Ted O'Connor, CEO of Plateau Uranium commented: "These results are extremely positive with excellent uranium and lithium recoveries from the Macusani mineralization. The low temperature and simple reaction process employed indicates that atmospheric leaching is appropriate, reducing potentially excessive Capital and Operating costs associated with pressure leaching. This represents an excellent opportunity to add value to our already strong uranium project economics. The next phase of test work will be focused on establishing more detail on the CAPEX and OPEX numbers to quantify the potential value-added impact of uranium and lithium co-production."
Details
The new leach test work commenced in August 2016 using lithium-rich samples with background uranium and uranium-lithium-rich samples from the Macusani deposit mineralization. The lithium content ranges from 640 to 806 ppm Li in all samples. The uranium content ranges from background levels (7ppm U) in the U-poor samples to 568-629 ppm U in the mineralized samples from the various uranium deposits.
Several parameters were varied during the leach tests, including: crushing grind size; acid concentration; leach time and temperature. Leaching was undertaken at atmospheric pressure in stirred tank reactors employing sulfuric acid as the lixiviant. Additionally, initial scoping test work employed roasting, calcining and acid-curing.
The tests covered temperatures ranging from 50 degrees C to 550 degrees C. Although very high temperatures above 180 degrees C usually guarantee high Lithium recoveries of up to 87% in earlier test work, the objective of this most recent work was to reach potentially economic lithium recoveries at leaching temperatures below the water boiling point. The initial scoping test work employing more aggressive conditions did not confirm any significant benefit over the more moderate temperature and atmospheric pressure tank leach processes. In all, over 150 separate leach test runs have been completed in Peru over the past several months. The conclusions of this phase of test work have resulted in a very simple, straightforward flow sheet without the aggressive processing conditions normally associated with the recovery of lithium from ores.
Consistent lithium recoveries of 61 to 73% were reported from all samples employing a sulfuric acid leach at a variety of acid concentrations and at temperatures of 65 to 85 degrees C. Samples from the Macusani uranium deposits displayed consistent uranium recoveries of 98-99% across all temperatures.
Sulfuric acid consumption in the leach varied from 50-140 kg acid/tonne of material processed and was sufficient to simultaneously extract both uranium and lithium. Higher acid consumptions were related to finer grind sizes, and coarser grind sizes had much lower acid consumptions with identical lithium and uranium recoveries, thus giving upside to the potential project economics. The current, and planned test program is examining the grind versus recovery trade off with encouraging results.
Apart from lithium and uranium other elements were also leached during the tests, mainly potassium, rubidium and cesium. These will also be evaluated further in the additional leaching-precipitation work planned.
Qualified Persons
Mr. Grenvill Dunn, Pr Eng (RSA), C Eng (UK), FIChE, MSAIMM, MSAIChE of Hydromet Pty Ltd, a consultant to the Company, is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this release.
About Hydromet Pty Ltd
Hydromet Pty Limited is an international consulting company for the metals and mining industry. The company is based in South Africa and was established in 2000 by its director Grenvil Dunn. Mr Dunn is a Chemical Engineer with over 45 years of experience, particularly in mineral processing, flow sheet design and development with direct experience in uranium and lithium.
About Plateau Uranium
Plateau Uranium Inc. is a Canadian uranium exploration and development company focused on its properties on the Macusani Plateau in southeastern Peru. The Company controls all reported uranium resources known in Peru, significant and growing lithium resources and mineral concessions covering over 91,000 hectares (910 km2) situated near significant infrastructure. Plateau Uranium is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'PLU' and the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol 'QG1'. The Company has 58,043,354shares issued and outstanding.
Forward Looking Information
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning possible expected results of exploration and future exploration activities. Forward-looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that any future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with our expectations; mining and development risks, including risks related to accidents, equipment breakdowns, labour disputes (including work stoppages and strikes) or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in exploration and development; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; risks related to commodity price and foreign exchange rate fluctuations; risks related to foreign operations; the cyclical nature of the industry in which we operate; risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms or delays in obtaining governmental approvals; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the certainty of title to our properties; risks related to the uncertain global economic environment; and other risks and uncertainties related to our prospects, properties and business strategy, as described in more detail in Plateau Uranium's recent securities filings available at www.sedar.com. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and Plateau Uranium cautions against placing undue reliance thereon. Neither Plateau Uranium nor its management assume any obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements.
For more information please visit www.plateauuranium.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Plateau Uranium Inc.
Ted O'Connor
CEO
1-416-628-9600
ted@plateauuranium.com
Website: www.plateauuranium.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/plateauuranium/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/plateauuranium/
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - L Brands, Inc. (LB) reported net sales of $765.5 million for the four weeks ended February 25, 2017, a decrease of 10 percent from net sales of $849.3 million in the year-ago period. Comparable sales for the month decreased 13 percent. For February, the exit of the swim and apparel categories had a negative impact of 6 percentage points and 8 percentage points to total company and Victoria's Secret comparable sales, respectively. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
CAYIROVA, Turkey, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Turkish Association of Automotive Parts and Components Manufacturers (TAYSAD) Chairman Alper Kanca said that they were determined to become a global automotive hub in 2030
The Turkish automotive supply industry, whose large market is Europe, is taking sure steps towards its goal of becoming a global power. Turkish Association of Automotive Parts and Components Association (TAYSAD) Chairman has said "The Turkish automotive supply industry will reach its goal of becoming a global automotive hub in 2030 through the "Design, Technology and Logistics " formula. With its more than 360 members in various parts of Turkey, TAYSAD provides employment for more than 150,000 persons. Our members have a turnover of $23 billion and exports of $9 billion.77 of our members have accredited R&D centers. TAYSAD members invest everywhere in the world. 59 of them have invested in more than 156 facilities in 40 countries. Thus, TAYSAD is exhibiting a strong presence in the world automotive industry."
(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/474007/TAYSAD_Logo.jpg )
The country that exports the most vehicles to Europe: Turkey
TAYSAD Chairman Alper Kanca said, "2016 was a year in which there were very many positive developments in the Turkish automotive industry. However, there were also events that threatened to undermine economic stability and democracy. The automotive sector drives production, employment and exports in Turkey. The sector is 17th in the world in domestic market sales and 6th in European automotive sales. I say with pride that we are the country in the world that exports the most to Europe. At the end of 2015, EU countries had imported 843,000 vehicles. Following Turkey is Japan, with 480,000, South Korean, with 376,000, and the US, with 250,000."
The production of vehicles in the world will grow!
Chairman Alper Kanca said, "Our common belief as the TAYSAD administration, is that there will be an increase in total vehicle production in the world. This is because there is need and this need will be reflected in production. The essential question is this: What model will be manufactured and in which counties will this manufacturing be done? Developments indicate that Turkish supply industrialists, which lead with their quality and economy, will have a greater say."
There was great interest in the new vehicles that began to be manufactured in Turkey in 2016
Chairman Alper Kanca, making an announcement about the Toyota C-HR and the TofaAY Egea models that began to be produced in Turkey in 2016, said, "The Toyota C-HR and the TofaAY Egea, two large projects being carried out in Turkey, are receiving a great deal of attention. The Toyota C-HR, the first hybrid and crossover vehicle produced in Turkey, has begun mass production. 60% of the Toyota production plant's capacity in Sakarya will be used for the C-HR, which got off the ground due to a 350 million investment. 90% of the C-HR manufactured will be exported. On the other hand, TofaAY's Egea model is quickly on its way to breaking records. The plant manufacturing them puts out 1500 of them per day, making it the fastest producing plan in the Turkish automotive sector. TofaAY's Egea model has received great demand both from within Turkey and abroad. Therefore, a decision was made to set up a second frame assembly line. Egea will now be manufactured on a single conveyor belt, through which production will increase two-fold. An investment of 50 million will be made."
Foreign-owned companies are increasing investments in Turkey
Not only OEMs like Toyota and Fiat, but also international Tier 1 suppliers are demonstrating their confidence in Turkey through investments. Alper Kanca assessed the situation, saying "Foreign company investments in Turkey make up hopeful about the future. To give an example, the German automotive supply industry company ElringKlinger will invest in a plant in Bursa. Freudenberg decided to establish a Turkey and Middle East regional distribution platform in Bursa. The first shock absorber manufacturer in Turkey, Maysan Mando, is planning to invest a total of $130 million by 2019 to expand the range of products it makes in Turkey. Taking all of these into consideration, we see that the states of the world have confidence in the investment environment in Turkey. This makes us very proud as Turkey."
Turkey invites European countries to collaborate
Alper Kanca said that "As Turkish automotive supply industrialists, our investments have begun to bear fruit. They are continually growing and we plan new investments with our partners. Foreign investors and all of our stakeholders abroad are able to transform Turkey's potential, speed and ability to do business into opportunity. As Turkish automotive industrialists we continue to invest in Europe and want to strengthen economic integration with European countries. In order to mutually increase the confidence built with European countries, we expect positive support and cooperation from our EU partners. This situation will bring mutual economic, political and social benefits to both sides."
Figures:
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 World 2,494,969 2,634,179 2,462,253 2,442,309 2,628,245 3,076,163 Turkey 571,304 580,076 585,392 584,693 707,560 843,112 Japan 613,975 526,270 406,982 384,694 439,678 480,536 South Korea 299,765 388,230 408,266 406,376 348,815 376,142 United States 187,392 244,507 243,926 222,920 243,264 250,305 China 171,399 179,795 197,908 184,349 191,376 241,764 Morocco 4,904 20,302 64,625 99,503 168,995 188,369 South Africa 74,228 85,676 67,702 59,515 87,083 140,899 Mexico 137,767 183,971 179,622 107,429 76,118 121,799 India 227,561 234,197 162,652 175,464 107,775 98,503 Thailand 44,445 40,471 25,270 41,066 68,184 94,903
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Canadian Orebodies Inc. ("Orebodies" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: CORE) is pleased to announce results from the Company's fall prospecting programs and the discovery of a new gold zone on the North Limb property.
Gordon McKinnon, President and CEO of Orebodies said, "It is exciting that we were able discover a new gold zone in the short time we had for our fall prospecting program. This discovery enforces our belief that the North Limb is a highly prospective project in an underexplored extension of the Hemlo greenstone belt that has produced nearly 22 million ounces only 12km to the south."
North Limb Property
The North Limb Property is a large, contiguous land package totaling 428 claim units or 6,800 hectares, along the northern extension of the Hemlo greenstone belt, and is located northeast of the Williams Mine operated by Barrick Gold Corporation.
Highlights from the 2016 prospecting program carried out by Canadian Orebodies on the North Limb Project included the discovery of a new gold occurrence (the "Petrant Lake Occurrence"). Limited sampling returned two strongly anomalous gold values of 1.74 gpt Au and 1.64 gpt Au located approximately 160 metres apart from each other ((i)). The samples are spatially associated with one of the priority airborne EM anomalies identified from the 2016 VTEM Max survey the Company flew over the North Limb Property and this area is one of the targets that is planned to be drill tested in the upcoming drill program.
In late 2016 the Company completed an 823 line kilometre airborne VTEM Max geophysical survey over the North Limb Property. The survey data has generated several new high priority drill targets, including that associated with the Petrant Lake Occurrence. In total, 10 targets generated from the survey have been submitted to Geotech Ltd. for plate modeling. Once completed, Orebodies plans to test a number of these targets by diamond drilling.
Within the North Limb Property is an area covering 78 claim units referred to as "the Tongue". This area has seen no exploration since the initial Hemlo gold rush in the 1980's and has no record of ever being drilled. The Company's interest in the Tongue lies in the belief that it is interpreted to be directly up-ice from the angular float of mafic volcanic material found to the southwest in 1994 that assayed up to 16.2 gpt Au, the source of which has never been located.
In February, the Company completed a 15 kilometre induced polarization (I.P.) survey on the Tongue property which has outlined 4 high priority targets that will be tested by diamond drilling. The Company is currently evaluating bids from drilling companies with the goal of commencing drilling on the North Limb in late March to early April.
Wire Lake Property
Orebodies has the right to acquire a 100% interest in 251 claim units covering approximately 4,047 hectares that are located in the Hemlo greenstone belt (the "Wire Lake Property"). Through staking, Orebodies added an additional 39 claim units, bringing the entire property to over 4,600 hectares. The Wire Lake Property lies 29 kilometres to the northwest of the Williams Mine.
Gold was first discovered on the Wire Lake Property in 1986 and the property was explored by junior companies until 1993. Since that time the property had been dormant pending the outcome of litigation, which has now been resolved. The Company's exploration program on the property in the fall was the first in over 20 years. Previous work identified a gold bearing zone (the "Wire Lake Gold Zone") over a 2,300 metre strike length that remains open in both directions and to depth. Mineralized zones containing anomalous gold range in thickness from a few metres to in excess of 50 metres in width and with few exceptions the historic drilling has tested the main Wire Lake Gold Zone to a depth of less than 150 metres. To date, only approximately 15% of the property has been systematically explored.
During the fall of 2016, a reconnaissance prospecting program was successful in tracing out the Wire Lake Gold Zone over a strike length of 2 kilometres prior to running out of field days due to the onset of winter weather. Of the 26 samples collected, 9 assayed greater than 1.00 gpt Au, and 14 assayed greater than 0.50 gpt Au, with values ranging from nil up to 6.76 gpt Au ((i)). The Wire Lake Gold Zone remains open along strike and at depth.
The Company is currently cutting a 34 kilometre grid on the property, which will be followed by a deep penetrating induced polarization survey. The Wire Lake grid will cover the 2,300 metre Wire Lake Gold Zone and extend the survey area 200 metres to both the north and south with the goal of identifying north/south extensions.
Technical Information
Orebodies has implemented a quality-control program to comply with best practices in the collection and analysis of rock samples. Samples were transported in security-sealed bags for analyses at ALS Chemex Assay Laboratory in Thunder Bay, ON ("ALS Chemex"). ALS Chemex is an ISO 9001:2000 certified laboratory.
This press release has been prepared under the supervision of Mr. Bruce Mackie (P.Geo.), who is an independent consultant to the Company and a "qualified person" (as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101). Mr. Mackie has verified the technical data disclosed in this press release.
((i)) Readers are cautioned that grab samples are selective by nature. The grades and mineralization present are unlikely to represent future average grades on the property.
About Canadian Orebodies Inc.
Canadian Orebodies is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company with a portfolio of properties in Ontario and Nunavut. Canadian Orebodies is focused on generating shareholder value through the advancement of its two Hemlo area properties: the North Limb and Wire Lake.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the timing of future exploration work or drilling, and the expansion of the mineralization. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Canadian Orebodies Inc., including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates, currency fluctuations, dependency upon regulatory approvals, the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing and exploration risk. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information please visit www.canadianorebodies.com.
Contacts:
Canadian Orebodies Inc.
Gordon McKinnon
President & CEO
(416) 644-1747
www.canadianorebodies.com
The mobile market has undergone a number of changes in recent years, with the operator Salt (formerly Orange Switzerland) having been acquired by NJJ Capital in February 2015, and with Sunrise having been acquired by a private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners. Following an IPO in February 2016 Sunrise raised CHF2.274 billion. Shortly afterwards a 23.8% stake in Sunrise was sold to the German mobile services provider freenet. The market has also benefited from the entry of UPC, which provides mobile voice and data services as an MVNO. As a full-service provider of quad-play bundles UPC can compete more effectively with Sunrise and Swisscom.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
March 1
Brooke R. Burnett, 49, of Richland, Washington, was arrested at the Elko County Jail for trespassing; breaking, injuring or tampering with a vehicle; and disturbing the peace. No bail listed.
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Leonardo Garcia-Reveles, 32, of West Wendover was arrested at 1045 Wendover Blvd. for assault with a deadly weapon. Bail: $20,000
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Wade A. Knight, 28, of Elko was arrested at 13th and Idaho streets on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $500
_____
Yesenia Pineda, 28, of Battle Mountain was arrested on the 900 block of Lyon Avenue on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $1,000.
_____
Victoria M. Wood, 30, of Midvale, Utah, was arrested in transport on a warrant for obtaining or using another persons identification for a harmful or unlawful purpose and fraud by authorizing a credit card holder of a credit or debit card or identification. Bail: $20,000
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Rebecca M. Wrigglesworth of Elko was arrested at 2200 Idaho St. for petit larceny, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail: $1,780
The charges above do not imply guilt. Under the law, everyone is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Electrolux today announced it has acquired Grindmaster-Cecilware, a leading U.S. based manufacturer of hot, cold and frozen beverage dispensing equipment, including coffee machines. The acquisition broadens Electrolux's offering in its food service business and will accelerate the growth of the Professional Products business area.
Grindmaster-Cecilware had net sales in excess of USD 65 million in 2016 and approximately 200 employees. The cash consideration in the transaction is USD 108 million. The company is based in Louisville, Kentucky and has manufacturing facilities in Louisville and in Rayong, Thailand. Grindmaster-Cecilware sells products under the market leading brands Grindmaster, Cecilware, Crathco, and American Metal Ware.
"We are very pleased to complement our portfolio with such an attractive range of beverage products, as the combination better meets customer needs, especially among food service chains. This move will also reinforce our presence in North America, one of the largest global markets for professional appliances," said Alberto Zanata, Head of Electrolux business area Professional Products.
Grindmaster-Cecilware, majority owned by BNY Mezzanine Partners L.P., was created in 2009 through the combination of Grindmaster Corporation and Cecilware Corporation, two companies with a more than 100-year heritage.
For more information visit www.electrolux.com/professional and www.gmcw.com
Electrolux is a global leader in home appliances and appliances for professional use, based on deep consumer insight. We offer thoughtfully designed, innovative and sustainable solutions, developed in close collaboration with professional users. The products include refrigerators, ovens, cookers, hobs, dishwashers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners and small domestic appliances. Under esteemed brands including Electrolux, AEG, Zanussi, Frigidaire and Electrolux Grand Cuisine, the Group sells more than 60 million products to customers in more than 150 markets every year. In 2016 Electrolux had sales of SEK 121 billion and 55,000 employees. For more information go to www.electroluxgroup.com.
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Electrolux Corporate Communications
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Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been positioned as a "Leader" in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for SAP Application Services, EMEA. The report, authored by Gilbert van der Heiden, Neil Barton and Fabio Di Capua, was published on 31January, 2017.
The Magic Quadrant report by Gartner is focused on the full life cycle of SAP application services, spanning project-based implementation and multi-year application management services (AMS). The report evaluated 19 different software vendors on 15 criteria and placed Wipro in the "Leaders" quadrant. The full report is available here.
Elaborating on Wipro's vision and focus on SAP application services, Hiral Chandrana, Senior Vice President and Global Head, Business Application Services, Wipro Limited said, "Being recognized as a leader in this report by Gartner reflects our commitment in delivering world-class SAP engagements for our clients. It is a testimony to the trust our clients place in their partnership with Wipro and demonstrates our focus on innovation and client centricity. Our strong industry accelerators and next-gen cognitive solutions around Wipro HOLMES Artificial Intelligence Platform have been key differentiators that put Wipro at the forefront of innovation. We will continue our investments in SAP's digital platform and joint innovation with SAP, and keep strengthening our local capabilities in EMEA to be a partner of choice for SAP services in the region."
Wipro has been an SAP global services partner since 2007. Wipro continues to grow mindshare in the industry, and its consultants focused on SAP solutions are increasingly viewed as trusted partners by businesses worldwide.
About Wipro Limited
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading information technology, consulting and business process services company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology." By combining digital strategy, customer centric design, advanced analytics and product engineering approach, Wipro helps its clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, strong commitment to sustainability and good corporate citizenship, Wipro has a dedicated workforce of over 170,000, serving clients across 6 continents. For more information, please visit www.wipro.com.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Gartner Disclaimer
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005735/en/
Contacts:
Wipro Limited
Prathibha Das
prathibha.das@wipro.com
NOTIFICATION AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE EU MARKET ABUSE REGULATION OF TRANSACTIONS BY PERSONS DISCHARGING MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
March 2, 2017
Royal Dutch Shell plc announces that each of the following Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibilities ("PDMRs") have received the number of shares of Royal Dutch Shell plc as set out below following the vesting of conditional awards granted in 2014 under the Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP"), the Deferred Bonus Plan ("DBP") and the Performance Share Plan ("PSP").
Details of the LTIP, DBP and PSP can be found in the Royal Dutch Shell plc Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 (www.shell.com/annualreport).
LONG TERM INCENTIVE PLAN PDMR VESTING DATE SHARE TYPE NUMBER OF SHARES VESTED Ben van Beurden March 1, 2017 RDSA 170,321 Simon Henry March 1, 2017 RDSB 92,523 John Abbott March 1, 2017 RDSB 43,863 Andrew Brown March 1, 2017 RDSB 43,863 Donny Ching March 1, 2017 RDSA 30,779
DEFERRED BONUS PLAN PDMR VESTING DATE SHARE TYPE NUMBER OF SHARES VESTED Ben van Beurden March 1, 2017 RDSA 21,869 Simon Henry March 1, 2017 RDSB 29,035 John Abbott March 1, 2017 RDSB 17,995 Andrew Brown March 1, 2017 RDSB 18,740
PERFORMANCE SHARE PLAN PDMR VESTING DATE SHARE TYPE NUMBER OF SHARES VESTED Harry Brekelmans March 1, 2017 RDSA 35,039 Ronan Cassidy March 1, 2017 RDSB 23,102 Maarten Wetselaar March 1, 2017 RDSA 35,039
The Notification of Dealing Form for each PDMR can be found below.
This notification is made in accordance with Article 19 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
Mark Edwards
Deputy Company Secretary
ENQUIRIES
Shell Media Relations
International, UK, European Press: +44 20 7934 5550
Shell Investor Relations
Europe: + 31 70 377 4540
United States: +1 832 337 2034
LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70
Classification: Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State.
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Ben Last Name(s) van Beurden 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Chief Executive Officer Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument A ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MLX29 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) Currency EUR Price NIL Volume 170,321 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
170,321
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Simon Last Name(s) Henry 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Chief Financial Officer Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 92,523 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
92,523
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) John Last Name(s) Abbott 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Downstream Director Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 43,863 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
43,863
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Andrew Last Name(s) Brown 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Upstream Director Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 43,863 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
43,863
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Donny Last Name(s) Ching 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Legal Director Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument A ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MLX29 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) Currency EUR Price NIL Volume 30,779 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
30,779
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Ben Last Name(s) van Beurden 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Chief Executive Officer Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument A ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MLX29 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP) Currency EUR Price NIL Volume 21,869 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
21,869
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Simon Last Name(s) Henry 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Chief Financial Officer Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 29,035 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
29,035
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) John Last Name(s) Abbott 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Downstream Director Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 17,995 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
17,995
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Andrew Last Name(s) Brown 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Upstream Director Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Deferred Bonus Plan (DBP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 18,740 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
18,740
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Harry Last Name(s) Brekelmans 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Projects and Technology Director Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument A ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MLX29 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Performance Share Plan (PSP) Currency EUR Price NIL Volume 35,039 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
35,039
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated First Name(s) Ronan Last Name(s) Cassidy 2. Reason for the notification Position/status Chief Human Resources & Corporate Officer Initial notification/ amendment Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor Full name of the entity Royal Dutch Shell plc Legal Entity Identifier code 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted Description of the financial instrument B ordinary shares of 0.07 each Identification Code GB00B03MM408 Nature of the transaction Vesting of awards granted in 2014 under the Performance Share Plan (PSP) Currency GBP Price NIL Volume 23,102 Total N/A Aggregated information
Volume
Price
Total
23,102
NIL
N/A Date of transaction March 1, 2017 Place of transaction Outside a trading venue
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE: MEK) (the "Company") is pleased to report that the Company has commenced mobilizing a diamond drill rig to the Ogden Gold Project in Timmins Ontario.
The Ogden claims cover eight kilometers of strike length of the Porcupine-Destor Fault between Goldcorp's 16.5 million oz Dome Mine and Tahoe Resources West Timmins Mine. The Property is held under a joint venture in which Metals Creek owns 50%, and Goldcorp Canada Ltd. ("Goldcorp") owns 50% (as manager and on behalf of the Porcupine Joint Venture, a joint venture between Goldcorp Inc. and Goldcorp Canada Ltd.) with MEK being the operator of the project.
In a News Release dated 11 January, 2017, The Company announced results from the previous drill program which consisted of six holes (2382 meters) and was successful in further defining the Thomas Ogden Zone (TOG) and host stratigraphy. Results from the first hole, TOG-16-47, was outlined in a release dated Nov 15, 2016 and included an intersection of 5.73 g/t (grammes per tonne) gold over 8.2m (meters). Highlights from the 11 January 2017 press release included an intersection of 4.39 g/t over 12.45m from hole TOG-16-48.
This drill program will consist of 4 holes targeting Thomas Ogden (TOG), Thomas Ogden West as well as an untested Induced Polarization (IP) ground geophysical anomaly 1 kilometer west of TOG. This untested IP anomaly is interpreted to be on the main host stratigraphy.
The Company also welcomes David Jones to its Advisory board. David have been involved in publically traded and private investments for the past 25 years, with a primary focus on finance, stock distribution and investor awareness programs for junior exploration companies. The majority of the projects that he has worked on are gold or precious metals based in North America. David has also financed oil and gas exploration and development, biomedical/alternative medicine, technology start-ups, and a cellulose to ethanol technology project.
In late 2011, He became the Business Development Officer for Foraco Canada, the third largest drilling services company in the world (www.foraco.com). In October 2015, he became the Business Development Officer for Drillco Mining and Exploration (www.DrillcoMining.ca).
In conjunction to this the corporation has set 100,000 stock options at a deem price of $0.10 and will vest according to the company's stock option plan.
Michael MacIsaac, P.Geo and VP Exploration for the Company and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for this release, and supervised the preparation of the information forming the basis for this release.
About Metals Creek Resources Corp.
Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has a 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF) that stretches between Timmins, Ontario and Val d'Or, Quebec. The Company has also recently entered into a JV with Benton Resources on Metals Creeks Staghorn Gold Project in Newfoundland. Metals Creek has also made a new gold/silver discovery in the "White Gold District" on the Squid East project in the Yukon and is also engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of other mineral resource properties, and presently has mining interests in Ontario, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador. Additional information concerning the Corporation is contained in documents filed by the Corporation with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Metals Creek Resources Corp.
Alexander (Sandy) Stares
President and CEO
(709)-256-6060
(709)-256-6061 (FAX)
astares@metalscreek.com
www.MetalsCreek.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MetalsCreekRes
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MetalsCreek
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Friday, US President Donald Trump will be in Orlando, Florida, for a series of important events highlighting his educational agenda. He will be visiting St. Andrews, a private Catholic school in Pine Hills, where he is expected to drop in on a few classrooms to speak to children, as well as meeting with parents, teachers, and administrators. Trump will attend a 'listening session on school choice' at St. Andrews, a Notre Dame ACE Academy, according to Press Secretary Sean Spicer. She told reporters that education, as was noted in Tuesday night's State Of the Union address, is a top priority for the President. He is determined to provide choice for every parent, and opportunities for every child, regardless of their zip code, Spicer said. Florida's tax credit scholarship program helps many of the children in the area who cannot afford a private school to attend. Trump signaled that he would like to see similar programs expanded to private schools, but critics say such programs gut public schools. In his address to Congress Tuesday, Trump called upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. 'These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them,' he told the Congressmen. After the Orlando tour, Trump will be spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago. It will be the fourth presidential trip to his favorite resort in Palm Beach. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (hereinafter - and ESO), identification code 304151376, registered office placed at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total number of registered ordinary shares issued by company is 894 630 333; ISIN code LT0000130023. An Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO is to be convened on the initiative and by the decision of the Board of company on 2 March 2017.
The date, time and place of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders: The Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO will be held on 24 March 2017, at 1.00 p.m., on the premises of ESO (Aguonu str. 24, second floor, 207 hall, Vilnius).
The shareholder registration will start at 12.25 a.m. and will end at 12.55 a.m.
The record date of these General Meetings is 17 March 2017. Only persons who are shareholders of ESO at the end of the record date of the General Meeting of Shareholders of company shall have the right to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO.
The following agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO was approved by the decision of the Board of company on 2 March 2017 and the following draft decisions is proposed:
Agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO:
1. Regarding the approval of the Annual Report of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB for the year 2016.
2. Regarding the approval of the audited Annual Financial Statements of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB for the year 2016.
3. Regarding the allocation of the profit (loss) of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB of the year 2016.
The proposed drafts decisions of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO on the abovementioned agenda items:
1. Regarding the approval of the Annual Report of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB for the year 2016.
"1.1. Approve the Annual Report of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (see attached).".
2. Regarding the approval of the audited Annual Financial Statements of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB for the year 2016.
"2.1. Approve the Annual Financial Statements of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB for the year 2016 (see attached) audited by the audit company PricewaterhouseCoopers UAB.".
3. Regarding the allocation of the profit (loss) of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB of the year 2016.
"3.1. To allocate the profit (loss) of Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB of the year 2016 (see attached).".
Shareholders participating in the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO shall produce an identity document. Shareholders shall be granted pecuniary and non-pecuniary rights provided for by laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania. Shareholders entitled to participate in the aforementioned shareholder meeting shall have the right to authorise, in writing, a natural or legal person to participate and vote on their behalf at the General Meetings of Shareholders indicated in this notice. Such a written authorisation shall be approved in accordance with the procedure laid down in legal acts and shall be delivered to Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius no later than by the end of shareholder registration for a relevant General Meeting. Shareholders entitled to participate in the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO shall also have the right to authorise, by electronic means of communication, a natural or legal person to participate and vote on their behalf at the General Meeting of Shareholders. An authorisation issued by electronic means of communication shall be recognised as valid provided that the security of the information transferred is ensured and it is possible to identify the shareholder. Shareholders shall report the issuance of an authorisation by electronic means of communication by sending it by e-mail to info@eso.lt not later than by the end of the working day on 23 March 2017 (4:30 p.m.). The authorised person shall have an identity document and shall enjoy the same rights at the General Meeting as the shareholder represented by him would enjoy (unless the issued authorisation or laws provide for narrower rights of the authorised person). The shareholder's right to participate in the General Meeting of Shareholders shall also include the right to ask. ESO has not approved any special authorisation form of the abovementioned General Meeting of Shareholders.
The agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO may be supplemented on the initiative of shareholders of company whose shares held in company carry at least 1/20 of all votes at the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO. The proposal to supplement the agenda of the respective General Meeting of Shareholders shall be accompanied by draft decisions or, where no decisions have to be taken, by explanations on each proposed agenda item of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. The agenda shall be supplemented if the proposal is received no later than 14 before the respective General Meeting of Shareholders. Shareholders whose shares held in ESO carry at least 1/20 of all votes at the General Meeting of Shareholders of company shall have the right to propose, at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO, new draft decisions on issues that are included or will be included in the agendas of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO. Proposals on the supplementation of the respective agenda or relevant draft decisions shall be submitted in writing to ESO, Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, or by e-mail to info@eso.lt.
Shareholders of ESO shall have the right to present questions related to the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of company. Questions may be presented by e-mail to info@eso.lt or delivered to ESO to Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, no later than 3 working days before the General Meeting of Shareholders.
Shareholders will be able to vote on the agenda items of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO in writing by filling in ballot papers. At the request of a shareholder, ESO shall send, free of charge, a ballot paper to the shareholder by registered post or deliver it by hand against signature no later than 10 days before the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO. A completed ballot paper shall be signed by the shareholder or a person authorised by the shareholder. Where a person authorised by the shareholder casts a vote, a document certifying the right to vote shall be attached to the completed ballot paper. Filled and signed general ballot paper and the document confirming the voting right can be sent to the company by registered mail or delivered at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, no later before the General Meeting of Shareholders. The company retains the right not to recognize the advance vote of the shareholder or his/her authorised representative, if his/her submitted general ballot paper does not meet the requirements of Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 30 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, was received to late or is filled so that the true will of the shareholder on an individual matter cannot be determined. Electronic means of communication shall not be used for participation and voting at either of the abovementioned General Meeting of Shareholders.
Shareholders can familiarise themselves with documents related to the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of ESO, draft decisions on the agenda, documents to be submitted to General Meeting of Shareholders and other information related to the implementation of the rights of shareholders specified in this notice on the website of ESO at http://www.eso.lt from the date of this notice as well as on the premises of ESO (Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius) during working hours (7.30-11.30 a.m. and 12.15-4.30 p.m.; 7.30-11.30 a.m. and 12.15-3.15 p.m. on Fridays).
Representative for Public Relations Martynas Burba, tel. (8~5) 2514516.
Attachment:
https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=618423
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- International Wastewater Systems Inc. ("IWS" or the "Company") (CSE: IWS)(FRANKFURT: IWI) (OTC PINK: INTWF) is pleased to announce that it is currently collaborating with a licensed marijuana cultivator operating an industrial growing facility in the United States ("Cannabis Cultivation Facility").
The collaboration enables IWS and the Cannabis Cultivation Facility to exchange data and evaluate the application of IWS's thermal energy exchange technology in an industrial marijuana growing facility.
IWS has already demonstrated the environmental and economic benefits of its technology in a Canadian greenhouse installation at the Water Resource Centre in Sechelt, British Columbia ("Sechelt Greenhouse"). IWS installed a SHARC thermal energy exchange system at the Sechelt Greenhouse, which is connected to a primary building loop and used to reduce space heating, cooling & water heating costs at the greenhouse (see details: https://goo.gl/Mp0Z7u).
A study by scientist Evan Mills, with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, revealed that legalized indoor marijuana-growing operations account for 1% of total electricity use in the US, at a cost of $6bn per year. Annually, such consumption produces 15m tons of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2), equal to that of three million average cars.
IWS is working with the Cannabis Cultivation Facility to jointly evaluate the energy efficiency of IWS's thermal exchange technology when integrated with the growing facility's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) infrastructure. IWS's technology enables heating (heat transfer) and cooling (heat dissipation) applications, both a significant component of overall energy costs for the Cannabis Cultivation Facility.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Lynn Mueller, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
About International Wastewater Systems Inc.
International Wastewater Systems Inc. is a world leader in thermal heat recovery. IWS systems recycle thermal energy from wastewater, generating the most energy efficient and economical systems for heating, cooling & hot water for commercial, residential and industrial buildings. IWS is publicly traded in Canada (CSE: IWS), the United States (OTC PINK: INTWF) and Germany (FRANKFURT: IWI).
Contacts:
International Wastewater Systems Inc.
Yaron Conforti
CFO and Director
(416) 716 8181
yaron.conforti@iws-sharc.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Brionor Resources Inc. ("Brionor" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: BNR) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Definitive Share Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") dated March 1st, 2017 with Atala Resources Corporation ("Atala"), a private Ontario mining exploration company that holds a portfolio of exploration properties in Santa Cruz Province Argentina, and the shareholders of Atala (the "Atala Shareholders"); whereby Brionor proposes to acquire (the "Acquisition") all of the issued and outstanding shares of Atala (each an "Atala Share") for an aggregate purchase price of $300,000 (the "Purchase Price") payable by the issuance of common shares of Brionor (each a "Brionor Share") at a deemed price of $0.05 per Brionor Share. Under the Agreement, each Atala Shareholder shall receive 0.4382 of a Brionor Share for each Atala Share held, for a total of 6,000,000 Brionor Shares.
The closing of the Acquisition is scheduled to take place on or before March 30, 2017, and is subject to numerous conditions customary to this type of transaction, including, the receipt of the required regulatory approvals. No finder's fees will be paid by the Corporation in connection with the Acquisition.
Mr. Lew Lawrick, President of Brionor, is also a director and shareholder of Atala, and therefore, the Acquisition constitutes a "non-arm's length" transaction within the meaning of the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. (the "Exchange"). The Acquisition also constitutes a "Related Party Transaction" within the meaning of National Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special transactions ("NI 61-101") insofar as it relates to Mr. Lawrick only. There are no other "non-arm's length parties" or "related parties" in connection with the Acquisition.
In connection with the "Related Party Transaction", the Corporation is relying on the formal valuation and minority approval exemptions of respectively subsection 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of NI 61- 101 as neither the fair market value of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the Related Party Transaction exceeds 25% of the Corporation's market capitalization. The Acquisition was approved by the independent directors of Brionor and Mr. Lawrick did not participate in the discussions or the vote of the board relating to such approval.
Robert Ayotte, Chairman of Brionor commented: "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to position ourselves through Atala in a reputable very prospective region of Argentina known for its recent mineral industry precious metal discoveries. The Province of Santa Cruz in Argentina has seen over the years, important mining, development and exploration activities. The founding shareholders of Atala, have a successful history of exploration and discovery in Argentina, having been instrumental in the discovery of McEwen Mining's currently producing San Jose gold-silver mine as well as the discovery of the large Los Azules Cu porphyry project in San Juan Province. The Atala project portfolio covers approximately 103,000 hectares in 7 independent areas (El Meridano, Covadonga, Gertrudis, El Monte, La Rosita, Boleadora and Katrina) all located in the heart of the highly prospective Province of Santa Cruz, home to a prominent geologic feature, the Deseado Massif which is host to numerous precious metals producers and development stage deposits including: Anglo-Ashanti's Cerro Vanguardia Au mine; Goldcorp's high grade Cerro Negro Au mine; McEwen Mining / Hochschild's high grade San Jose Ag / Au mine; and Yamana's Cerro Moro Au / Ag project. Through this transaction, we hope to rapidly create value for our shareholders."
About Atala Resources Corp.
Atala's exploration property portfolio spans approximately 103,000 hectares in 7 independent areas in the highly prospective Province of Santa Cruz Argentina. Atala, through its 100% owned subsidiary (Atala Argentina S.A.) owns the mining rights to the El Monte, Gertrudis, Boleadora group and Katrina projects. Atala Argentina S.A. is also the parent company of AuEx Argentina S.A. ("AuEx") which it acquired from Renaissance Gold Inc. ("RenGold") in February 2014 (the "AuEx Acquisition"). In connection with the AuEx Acquisition, for a period of 10 years following the closing of such transaction, Atala shall pay to RenGold an amount of $30,000 should it complete an equity financing of minimum proceeds $1 million and an additional amount of $50,000 should it complete an additional financing for additional minimum proceeds of $1 million. RenGold may elect to receive such payments in shares of Atala or of a successor company. As such, following the closing of the Acquisition, Brionor shall assume this obligation of Atala which will remain subject to regulatory approval. Any mining rights held by AuEx at the time of its acquisition by Atala Argentina at the time of the transaction have since then been transferred to Atala Argentina.
The El Meridano, Covadonga, and La Rosita projects are subject to an underlying option agreement with a private Argentine vendor pursuant to which Atala shall make options payments to the vendor commencing on January 1st of every year for the next 6 years (US$35,000 for the next 3 years, US$50,000 in the fourth year, US$125,000 in the fifth year and US$300,000 in the last year for a total of US$595,000).
At the request of Atala and Brionor, a technical report (the "Report") has been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") on both the Meridiano and Covadonga properties. Both Meridiano and Covadonga are exploration-stage properties and neither property contains a Mineral Resource or Reserve as defined NI 43-101. The Report was prepared by Cesar Riveros MAusIMM CP (Geo) Mendoza, Argentina an independent qualified person under NI 43-101 and has been submitted to the Exchange for review. The Report will be filed by Brionor on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) concurrently with the issuance of this news release.
Covadonga Property
Covadonga is an area of low relief with poor exposure and is underlain predominantly by felsic lithic tuffs and volcaniclastic sediments that rest un-conformably on faulted blocks of older mafic volcanic units. The Cerro Covadonga project is centred around an area of NNW striking, sub-vertical, low sulfidation, epithermal veins with multi gram gold grades on the surface and a high level geochemical signature. Additionally, sparse outcrops within a hydrothermal corridor return samples with small amounts of gold and significant amounts of mercury from breccias and small veins encased in broader zones of clay (argillic) alteration thought to represent zones of steam heated alteration associated with very high level parts of a deeper, 1.5 km long structurally-controlled epithermal system.
Exploration at Covadonga has focused principally on a 2 sq. km area in the northwestern part of the property block where surface rock chip sampling and mapping defined an altered and weakly mineralized zone. This zone was previously explored with 9 exploration trenches totalling 1,127 m in length, 8 of which were spaced at irregular 50 to 200 m intervals along a 600 m long segment of the corridor. The trenches reveal multiple zones of broad alteration, up to 25 m wide, enclosing veining and brecciation not visible at the surface. Weakly anomalous gold values, together with anomalous amounts of mercury-arsenic-antimony, were returned from samples within most of these zones. At Covadonga, previous surface exploration results suggest potential for several types of targets of significant size, including possible disperse, low-grade large tonnage deposits in addition to more typical Deseado Massif discrete vein systems.
The trenches range in length from 55 to 213 m and excavated to depths of about 1.5 m and oriented in W-E directions across the corridor trend, with the exception of Trench 8, a short SW-NE trench in an outlying area east of the central part of the corridor. The trenches were spaced at irregular 50 to 200 m intervals along a 600 m segment of the corridor, with the exception of Trench 9, a reconnaissance trench designed to find a possible extension of the corridor about 500 m south of the principal target area. All trenches were sampled by taking continuous chip samples at regular 5 m intervals along trench walls, close to the floor of the trench, collecting 296 total samples representing 1,100 m of total length. Additionally, 76 select samples of variable, but typically small, size were taken from various structures or other in the trenches.
The trenches revealed zones of broad argillic alteration, veining and brecciation not visible at the surface. Previous operators interpreted these broad argillic alteration zones as steam heated alteration zones. One to several of these zones were found in all trenches except Trench 2, near the middle of the trenched corridor segment, and the two outlying trenches, Trench 8 and Trench 9, neither of which returned anomalous gold or significant amounts of mercury, arsenic or antimony, the three most-common pathfinder elements for epithermal exploration. All other trenches, including Trench 2, contain significant, albeit highly variable, amounts of one or more of these pathfinder elements with small amounts of gold commonly found in the argillic alteration zones where present.
The Covadonga project is an early stage exploration project with excellent access and infrastructure and is close to the Cerro Vanguardia Mine. Despite these advantages the area was not seriously explored prior to 2007-2008 with subsequent prospecting and trenching returning generally encouraging results. Virtually all of the currently known epithermal deposits in the Deseado Massif are classic silica-quartz vein systems which, at the surface, usually form outcrops that stand in relief above the surrounding terrain, with intervening covered, recessive weathering areas often neglected by explorers. However, epithermal mineralization that accompanies large episodic volcanic complexes such as the Deseado Massif can manifest itself in a variety of ways. The project clearly merits further exploration and the currently defined target area would benefit from:
a. New or additional detailed ground geophysical surveys, including IP Gradient and Ground magnetic survey. b. Systematic gridded shallow augur hole soil/float sampling, including an eventual in fill in anomalous areas. c. New or additional trenching. The trenches should be processed like horizontal holes.
We consider an adequate budget for these works as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gradient array IP-Resistivity, 20 line kilometers at US$600/km US$ 12,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnetic field survey, 40 line kilometers at US$100/km US$ 4,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Field mapping, reconnaissance & geochem sampling US$ 50,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trenching, 1,500m at US$40 (incl. samples) US$ 60,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample analysis, 500 samples at US$30 US$ 15,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL COST US$ 141,000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meridiano Property
Regional mapping and satellite imagery suggest the Meridiano property lies in the western part of a 8-10 km wide caldera, and the westernmost part of this feature is thought to be the site of 2.5 km wide circular diatreme complex. Andesitic to felsic tuffs in a 4 sq. km area are cut by gold-bearing hydrothermal breccias filling N to NW trending fractures and faults. Virtually all samples of these breccias contain small to significant amounts of gold, arsenic and antimony, but very little silver or base metals, suggesting that the mineralization in this area is preserved at a high level of erosion.
Exploration at Meridiano has focused on a 4 sq. km area in the northern part of the property block. Whereby 403 rock chip samples were collected. There has been 65 line-km of magnetic and 32.5 line-km of gradient array IP ground surveys undertaken, and 32 drill holes completed, totalling 4,698 m in two reverse circulation campaigns and one diamond core twin-hole campaign. The drill holes were collared within a 1 sq. km area in the northwestern-most part of the property.
Historic drill results included multiple intercepts of weak gold mineralization. Most holes hit one to several thin intervals of at least 0.10 g/t Au, and about one-third intersected wider intervals of weak mineralization interspersed with narrower higher-grade zones. Ten holes intersected "significant mineralization," here considered to be the equivalent of 1.5 meters (true thickness) of at least 0.34 g/t). These holes and their mineralized intercepts are provided in the following table:
To view the table referred to in the above paragraph, please visit this link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1087533_table.pdf
The previous drilling tested the structural corridors to a maximum vertical depth of only 138 m. The company believes these results indicate that gold mineralization within these corridors has good horizontal continuity. The mineralized diatreme model suggested for Meridiano is supported by surface sampling, mapping, geophysical surveys, and by drilling. The area encompassed by mineral showings, both at surface and depth, is sufficiently large to warrant further exploration.
Despite the drilling carried out to date, the project remains at an early stage of exploration and needs further ground work and modelling before undertaking further drilling. The currently defined target area of this project would benefit from further work in order to better define the flanks of the diatreme and the optimal drilling depth. The currently defined target areas on both projects would benefit greatly from:
a. New or additional detailed ground geophysical surveys, including IP Gradient and Ground magnetic survey. b. Systematic gridded shallow augur hole soil/float sampling, including an eventual in fill in anomalous areas. c. New or additional trenching. The trenches should be processed like horizontal holes.
We consider an adequate budget for these works as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gradient array IP-Resistivity, 30 line kilometers at US$600/km US$ 18,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pole-dipole IP-Resistivity lines, 10 line kilometers at US$1,000/km US$ 10,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnetic field survey, 20 line kilometers at US$100/km US$ 2,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Field mapping, reconnaissance & geochem sampling US$ 50,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample analysis, 400 samples at US$30 US$ 30,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL COST US$ 110,000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Properties: El Monte, Gertrudis, La Rosita, Boleadora, Katrina
The El Monte project has multiple zones of targets, the principal ones being found in a range of footwall and hanging wall breccias at the edge of a dome complex to manto type targets within the dome complex. These targets occur along a NNW striking structural zone comprising a 3km extension of semi continuous low sulfidation Au and Ag veinlets and breccias. Trenching by a previous operator adjacent to dome rocks and argillized tuffs, has revealed several zones of continuous mineralization at the surface. Historic assay results from trenching include 55 meters of 0.41 ppm Au and 13.2 ppm Ag in Trench 2 and 35 meters of 0.10 ppm Au with 7.6 ppm Ag in trench 1. The most significant surface results obtained on the property rock chip assays yielding up to 638 ppm Ag and 8.6 ppm Au. This precious metal zone follows the footwall of a through-going fault on the west margin of a rhyolite dome complex.
The target at Gertrudis comprises two mineralized structures which we refer to as the Gertrudis and David veins. These veins are some 300m apart, sub parallel and steeply dipping to the West. The Gertrudis vein extends for 800m and consists of silicified tectonic breccias with an argillic alteration halo. This NNW striking structure is steeply dipping to the WSW, and is well exposed along most of its length. The Gertrudis project has anomalous gold, up to 320 ppb, which is accompanied by high level epithermal geochemistry with anomalous Hg-Sn and As. The David vein is much less prominent and is characterized by spotty Au anomalies with high level epithermal geochemistry and is 400 m in length. The David vein is however highly significant in that the presence of two veins in parallel structures implies the potential for further veins under cover to the West. The veins are hosted in the "Bajo Pobre", a largely mafic Jurassic unit and they are covered to the north and south by Cretaceous sediments. This field relationship opens up considerable exploration potential in recessive ground to the north and south of the known mineralization.
La Rosita is atypical in the Deseado Massif in that surface mineralization occurs in a complex area of shear zones which are generally hosted in carbonate sediments and chert as well as felsic to intermediate volcanics. The geology of La Rosita comprises a small basin measuring around 4 by 4 km which is formed in andesitic and dacitic volcanics and is occupied by highly deformed cherts, limestones and siltstones which are locally altered and mineralized. Prior to 2008 no drilling had taken place on the property. Geological mapping and further sampling was carried out during 2009 by a previous operator, and this was accompanied by a geophysical, IP and ground magnetic campaign. In September of 2010, 11 diamond holes were drilled, the most interesting being DDHLR04 which included a 3 metre intercept of 0.761 ppm Au and 926 ppm Cu at a depth of 83 metres. The Company is currently using the geophysical and geological database to re-evaluate the property in terms of known regional structure and stratigraphy. We believe that further targets occur at depth in vein forming crystal tuffs associated with zones of high fluid flow potential in dilational zones.
The Boleadora Group comprises 6 cateos and 6 MDs totalling 50,000 hectares of prospective ground to the South of the San Jose and Cerro Negro Mines. The ground is largely comprised of Jurassic Chon Aike and Matilde formation volcanics and sediments and the regional structural regime is also favorable with structures striking directly to known mineralization and Cerro Negro. Analysis of Thematic mapper data has been used to produce a first pass target proposal with the spectral anomalies and lineament analysis allowing us to define 76 target areas.
Katrina is a 10,000 ha Cateo which is characterized by extensive post Jurassic marine sediments and subsequently scarce prospective Jurassic outcrop. Never the less, first pass prospecting has revealed significant evidence of strong hydrothermal activity in outcrops exposed in drainages. Intermittent but significant Au anomalies +- Ag +- As over 2.3 km NNE strike length are observed with grades ranging from 0.02 to 1.60 ppm Au, the latter occurring in white silica vein breccia blocks encased in a ferrous silica matrix.
Other than the option payment commitments on the Covadonga and Meridiano Properties (as described above) the balance of the property portfolio is subject only to normal course holding costs including land maintenance and taxes.
Key Persons of Atala:
Paul David Robinson Ph.D. - Country Manager Argentina
Paul Robinson leads all aspects of Atala's precious metal generative and project procurement activity in Argentina and has built a small focused exploration team for that purpose. Previously, Paul managed the development of the AuEx and Renaissance Gold exploration portfolios including those currently held by Atala in Santa Cruz, Argentina.
Paul has 23 years of professional experience in the exploration and spatial technology industries in the Americas and Europe. Previous work experience includes data development and management roles at the MapInfo Corporation and regional exploration, remote sensing, GIS, drill hole database management and resource modeling for Homestake Mining Company in Chile and Argentina. Paul also balanced the management of the AuEx Argentina with frequent periods of fieldwork in Nevada and Utah.
After his first degree in Geology and Geography, Paul went on to obtain an M.Sc. in "Computing for Earth Scientists" from Keele University, United Kingdom, 1990. Paul's relationship with South America started with his Ph.D. on the Stratigraphy of Coastal Ecuador from the University of Southampton which was completed in 1994. Having focused his exploration career on South America, Paul is fluent in Spanish and is experienced in Chilean and Argentina business and work culture.
Private Placement Financing
In conjunction with the Atala Transaction, Brionor will undertake a non-brokered unit private placement for minimum proceeds of $680,000 and maximum proceeds of $1,000,000 (the "Offering"). The terms of the Offering are as follows: a minimum of 13,600,000 units and a maximum of 20,000,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit. Each unit will be comprised of 1 common share and 1 common share purchase warrant exercisable at a price of $0.08 for a period of 24 months from closing.
The Offering is expected to close on or before March 30, 2017 and is subject to regulatory approval. Finder's fees may be paid by the Company in connection with the Offering and the proceeds from this financing will be used to incur the recommended exploration programs under the Report, to respect Atala's ongoing option payments described above for the El Meridano, Covadonga, and La Rosita projects and for current working capital requirements of Atala.
Following the completion of the Acquisition and Offering, Brionor will have a minimum of 67,912,465 and a maximum of 74,312,465 common shares issued and outstanding, 71.14 % of which will be held by current shareholders of Brionor ( 65.01% in the case of the maximum offering) and 8.83 % by Atala Shareholders ( 8.07% in the case of the maximum offering).
The technical information presented in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Cesar Riveros MAusIMM CP (Geo) Mendoza, Argentina an independent qualified person under NI 43-101 and the Author of the Report.
About Brionor
Brionor is a junior mining exploration company with a portfolio of exploration projects in Quebec, and a large, very prospective exploration project portfolio in in the emerging precious metals Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina pending closing of its acquisition of Atala Resources Corporation. Currently Brionor is well funded with approximately $2.7 million in cash and marketable securities.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, failure by the parties to complete the Transaction, failure to establish estimated mineral resources, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, changes in world gold markets or markets for other commodities, and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Contacts:
Brionor Resources Inc.
Lewis Lawrick
President & CEO
647-478-5307
info@brionor.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- San Marco Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: SMN) ("the Company" or "San Marco") provides an exploration update on the Chunibas Property located in Sonora State, Mexico and an update on corporate activities.
Chunibas Property Update
Exploration results from the recently completed property wide soil sampling grid (approximately 1,000 samples) have confirmed the existence of the primary gold target, 600 metres X 800 metres. Historical data has been incorporated with the Company's recent exploration work, resulting in field evidence that the north-south trending shear/vein structures coalesce in various zones along strike. This has reinforced the geological model that wider zones of gold mineralization, flanking the high-grade shear structures, some of which continue to be mined by local gambosinos (miners), where grades appear to be in the 15 g/t gold range, exist. The Company's sampling of the one to two metre-wide structures has resulted in grades up to 46 g/t gold.
Mineralized structures have been identified in the western sector of the property as well, however, additional exploration is required, since alluvial cover minimizes meaningful surface exploration beyond the one to two metre wide structures exposed at surface.
Drilling is anticipated to be the next phase of exploration such that field crews are planning and spotting drill hole locations. Since the Chunibas Property's primary mineralized area is open in all directions, drilling is expected to probe deeper and on-strike mineralized zones not explored in previous drilling.
All drill permits, surface access agreements and drill contract proposals are in place, such that drilling could commence quickly. Partnership opportunities are being investigated to fund the drilling, however, the Company is funded to support this program as required.
Warrants Exercised
During the period of November 1st, 2016 to February 15th, 2017, the Company received $717,475 from the voluntary exercise of 7,570,750 warrants. Over the period, June 1st, 2016 to February 15th, 2017, the Company's outstanding warrants have been reduced from 24,524,000 to 8,740,250.
Launch of new Corporate Website
As part of the Company's continuing commitment to shareholder communication, San Marco has launched a new responsive website to enable ease of use for shareholders to view the Company's website information across multiple platforms, including mobile devices. The website address remains the same: http://www.sanmarcocorp.com/s/Home.asp.
Prospectors and Developers Association Convention 2017 (PDAC)
Company representatives will be attending the upcoming PDAC conference held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre March 5th to 8th, 2017, in Toronto, Ontario. If you wish to arrange a meeting with management, please email info@sanmarcocorp.com.
About San Marco
San Marco Resources Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a portfolio of promising projects in mining-friendly Mexico, including the Chunibas and Mariana Projects in Sonora State.
San Marco actively pursues strategic project generation program focused on high-caliber, low acquisition cost opportunities in the North-western Mexico. The Company has a committed management team with extensive experience in Mexico and a proven track record of building shareholder value. San Marco currently has 53,851,832 issued and outstanding shares.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Robert Willis, P. Eng. President & CEO
National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure
This news release has been approved by San Marco's CEO, Robert D. Willis, P. Eng. a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data, underlying such technical information by reviewing the assay reports provided to San Marco by its independent testing laboratory.
The Company has implemented quality assurance ("QA") and quality control ("QC") programs to ensure sampling and analysis of all exploration work is conducted in accordance with the best possible practices. All sampling programs are carried out in a careful and diligent manner using scientifically established sampling practices designed and tested to ensure that the results are representative and reliable. Quality control programs appropriate to the type of sample and the mineralization are implemented, including such measures as external blanks, standards and duplicate samples. The security of samples from sample acquisition to analysis is a vital component of the sampling process. Procedures include the use of secure core logging, sampling, storage and preparation facilities as appropriate and the prompt, secure and direct shipping of samples to the laboratories. Appropriate sample security procedures are employed given the geographic and topographic conditions and the logistics created by the site location.
Forward Looking Information
Information set forth in this document may include forward-looking statements. While these statements reflect management's current plans, projections and intents, by their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the control of San Marco Resources Inc. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. San Marco's actual results, programs, activities and financial position could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
San Marco Resources Inc.
Nancy Curry
info@sanmarcocorp.com
AB Klaipedos Nafta (hereinafter - the Company), as the operator of the liquefied natural gas (hereinafter - LNG) terminal in Klaipeda (hereinafter - the Terminal), informs that during the current Gas Year lasting from the 1st of October, 2016 until the 30th of September, 2017, upon conclusion of respective agreements the Terminal capacities were allocated to AB "Achema" under below indicated conditions: 1. LNG regasification capacities: LNG regasification capacities 5.839.900.000 kWh (with reference conditions: natural gas upper heating value - 11.90 kWh/nm3, LNG expansion coefficient- 1:580 (m3 LNG/ nm3 natural gas), combustion/measurement temperature -25/0 C, pressure - 1,01325 bar). 2. Terminal capacity usage period: from the 1st of April, 2017 until the 30th of September, 2017. The Company notes that besides the above-indicated Terminal capacities allocated to AB "Achema", the capacities at the Terminal for current Gas Year were reserved by two other Terminal Users: UAB "Lietuvos duju tiekimas" and UAB "LITGAS".The Company at its website shall constantly announce and update the information regarding free capacities of the Terminal, which shall be available for acquisition during the Gas Year. Acting General Manager Marius Pulkauninkas, tel. +370 46 391763
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
ELKO While the City Council declared an end to the state of emergency, Southside property owners came out to address the council with their concerns regarding how the City handled the recent flooding.
The council chamber was filled Tuesday with property owners who wanted more help in the aftermath of the floods, including more help from police.
Kacie Ortiz does not own property in the neighborhood but said she had been helping her grandmother clean up her flooded house.
With so many properties temporarily uninhabited while the cleanup continues, Ortiz addressed the council and asked for more police patrols in the area.
With people not being in the homes, and the whole town knows they cannot go back, its basically an open invitation to come out and see what theyve got, she said.
Ortiz was also concerned that the City did not do enough to communicate which resources were available to those who experienced property damage in the floods.
Since the city was having difficulty reaching out to residents who were not always able to get information off of the Citys website, Ortiz is hoping the City has a plan in place for the floods that could come with the spring runoff.
We need more communication with the whole town, she said. Having a disaster plan would be great because it seemed like everybody was running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Ortiz was not the only attendee at the meeting who was concerned about the property of a relative. Assemblyman John Ellisons daughter Michelle Mosley spoke to the council on behalf of her father and wanted to know what the City had planned when the waters rose again.
Whats going to happen the next time it floods and her basement is covered in sewage again, she asked. There was raw sewage coming up his shower drain and toilet into his basement on the things we tried to save and he wants to know whats going to be done about that.
Larry Robb owns property in the Southside neighborhood and asked the council to rate their leadership during the floods. All four council members rated themselves highly but Robb said the lack of leadership was evident when the meeting did not include an agenda item regarding the flood damage.
In my comments I noted that this provides elected officials with the opportunity to lead. With this type of event occurring it is disappointing that people would have to ask to get this on the agenda, he said. In other cities the mayor will usually have a press conference, maybe a plan of action to guide people where to go, and I think thats why there is such public outcry.
Robb also mentioned that he was disappointed by the absence of Mayor Chris Johnson. Johnson had a prior engagement at the Nevada Legislature for a League of Cities meeting.
Councilman John Rice led the four-person meeting on Tuesday. Though he acknowledged that it would have been beneficial to have Johnson at the meeting, he also said it was important for him to meet with the members of the Legislature.
Theres a lot of important discussion that goes on with regards to Elko and all the cities in Nevada and Tuesday was that opportunity for him to be speaking with state legislators on other matters and it just happens that the timing wasnt good, he said.
Despite the frustration of the property owners, councilmen Robert Schmidtlein said the City is working on a plan to address future floods.
During the public comment period of the meeting, he said the City has already taken flooding into account with their budget.
We have $ 50,000 thats being put in the future budget to potentially figure out and analyze specifically what has happened here and what we can do to prevent and move forward, he said. All we can do is move forward here and try to figure it out.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Energizer Resources Inc. (TSX: EGZ) (OTCQB: ENZR) (FRANKFURT: A1CXW3) ("Energizer" or the "Company") announces that a Detailed Engineering Study on its 100%-owned Molo Graphite Project in Madagascar is expected to be completed by March 31, 2017. The decision to commence a Detailed Engineering Study was based on the positive results of the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) Study, which was completed this past November.
Detailed Engineering represents the final stage of project development and is performed before project construction starts and when the procurement of equipment to construct a mine is imminent. It follows Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) and consists of detailed diagrams and drawings for construction, civil works, instrumentation, control system, electrical facilities, management of suppliers, schedule of activities, cost schedules, and economic evaluation.
Former Managing Director of DRA Africa Joins as Mining Engineer Consultant
The Company announces that Mr. Johann de Bruin, former Managing Director of DRA Africa (DRA), has joined Energizer as a consultant. DRA is the largest and most successful African-based mining engineering and construction (EPC/EPCM) company, with 20 offices in 5 continents and over 3000 employees around the globe.
DRA prepared the Company's Feasibility Study on the Molo Project in 2015 with Mr. de Bruin acting at the time as the primary liaison between DRA and the Company. Mr. de Bruin also served on Energizer's board of directors from 2012 until 2014, when he stepped down to focus on his increasing responsibilities at DRA as Managing Director.
Mr. de Bruin's mandate will be to oversee all aspects regarding the operational readiness of the Molo Project as the Company prepares for the commencement of procurement for mine infrastructure. He will be specifically responsible for:
i) the review and formation of the Molo mine operating team
ii) the review of all mine-item cost structures to ensure that the project is optimally prepared for the implementation phase; and
iii) assistance in the execution of the mine plan schedule with specific focus on cost and time management control
Mr. de Bruin will support the Company's Senior Vice-President of Operations, Robin Borley, and together will ensure that the project, post-funding, meets all operational requirements during the implementation process. Mr. Borley was the former director of mining for DRA before joining Energizer full-time in 2013 as both Senior Vice-President and Director, and is an expert in project set-up and technical mining knowledge.
The combined skill-sets of both Mr. Borley and Mr. de Bruin, honed from their respective tenures at DRA, provide Energizer with an unparalleled expertise in the successful implementation and optimized delivery of complex, multi-disciplinary mining projects in developing jurisdictions, and specifically in Madagascar.
Craig Scherba, P. Geo, President and CEO of Energizer stated, "The decision to initiate detailed engineering indicates the advanced stage that Energizer has achieved in the development of its Molo Project and our expectation that we can achieve our goal to begin producing graphite by year end. The addition of Mr. de Bruin to our already solid engineering team signals yet another major milestone in the development of the Molo mine. The proven track record that Johann and Robin have in delivering complex projects in complex jurisdictions will further aid to reduce the overall project risk and is a differentiator to the many projects out there where management may lack the experience in delivering a mine. Investors can take great comfort in the fact that Energizer's team has the proven experience to deliver the project once funding is secured".
About Mr. Johann de Bruin
Johann de Bruin has an impressive track record as a seasoned mining industry engineer and executive with substantial knowledge of mining operations on the African continent, Australia and Canada.
Mr. de Bruin retired as Managing Director from DRA in November 2016 after successfully navigating DRA through the diversification of its business into Central, East & West Africa. Mr. de Bruin was responsible for leading a globalization agenda that included two significant acquisitions and a horizontal integration into energy, water and agriculture to create sustainability. During his tenure at DRA, Mr. de Bruin was instrumental in growing the mining project portfolio to include design and construction of 35 platinum concentrators, 42 coal processing plants and 12 metallurgical plants across multiple commodities, collectively valued at over $5 billion.
Energizer to Exhibit at the 2017 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange.
The Company wishes to invite all current and potential investors to visit Booth 2510 and discuss first-hand with management the latest progress and developments on its Molo Graphite Project in Madagascar. The PDAC is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from March 5th to March 8th. For more information on the PDAC, please visit www.pdac.ca/convention.
About Energizer Resources
Energizer Resources is a mineral exploration and mine development company based in Toronto, Canada, that is developing its 100%-owned, feasibility-stage Molo Graphite Project in southern Madagascar. Please see the Feasibility Study titled, "Molo Feasibility Study, National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report, On the Molo Graphite Project located near the village of Fotadrevo in the Province of Toliara, Madagascar" prepared by DRA Projects (Pty) Limited, effective date February 6, 2015.
Safe Harbour: This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are related to the timing of the completion of the Detailed Engineering Study, and the expected results of a detailed engineering study, funding of the development of the Molo Project, the results of the FEED study, implementation and commencement of the build-out of the Molo Project, commencement of production at the Molo Project, commencement of procurement for mine infrastructure, the procurement of equipment to construct a mine value engineering, continued product test results and product analysis, the permit application process and the use of the Molo concentrate to further discussions regarding potential off take agreements and funding arrangements. These are based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks, which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur or, if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive there from. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
Contacts:
Energizer Resources Inc.
Brent Nykoliation
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
bnykoliation@energizerresources.com
Energizer Resources Inc.
Craig Scherba
President and CEO
cscherba@energizerresources.com
+1.416.364.4911
DUBLIN, Mar 01, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Strategic Focus Mapping - 2017-2020 - Global Top 5 Civil Helicopter Manufacturers - Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopter, Leonardo-Finmeccanica, Russian Helicopters, Sikorsky" report to their offering.
The Global Civil Helicopter market continues to face significant headwinds with 2016 proving to be another of very difficult years for the industry as of late with global civil helicopter deliveries declining by 15% year on year in 2016 & significant pressure on order intake with continued difficulties in the offshore oil & gas sector which is impacted by the ongoing slump in oil prices & overcapacity.
The European players, which have traditionally dominated the civil helicopter segment, have been able to further consolidate their grip on the civil market by increasing their market shares further in 2016 with a better focused & aligned product portfolio mix & strategy for markets; as reflected by Airbus Helicopters' further consolidation of market share in North America.
However, Bell's two key civil helicopter programs, namely, 505 Jet Ranger X, which entered service in late 2016 and the 525 Relentless, slated for EIS in 2017, are likely to give a significant fillip to Bell's civil helicopter business & deliveries in 2017 while providing a serious challenge to European hegemony in the civil helicopter segment.
Key Topics Covered:
Strategic Focus & Priorities - For all 5 Industry OEMs producing Civil Helicopters Key Strategies, Plans & Initiatives - For the Top 5 Civil Helicopter Manufacturers Internal Factor Analysis Summary (IFAS) Framework Analysis - Analysis of Internal Environmental Factors based on Internal Environmental Scanning - For Each Industry OEM Covered External Factor Analysis Summary (EFAS) Framework Analysis - Analysis of External Environmental Factors based on External Environmental Scanning - For all OEMs Strategic Factor Analysis Summary (SFAS) Framework Analysis - Overall Combination of Internal & External Environmental Factors - Strategic Factors Analysis & Quantitative Score for each OEM Comparative Ranking of Industry Players - based on SFAS Scores Global Civil Helicopter Market - Force Field Analysis Potential Growth Opportunities & Avenues - Analysis & Insights Key Trends, Issues & Challenges Global Civil Helicopter Market - Strategic Outlook through 2024 - Demand Projections - Delivery Units & Value in $ Billion
Companies Mentioned
Airbus Helicopters
Bell Helicopters
Leonardo-Finmeccanica
Russian Helicopters
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/qvq9bg/strategic_focus
Media Contact:
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
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Weakening Syrian government would extend life of the Islamic State's caliphate
The Islamic State fought Syrian government forces more than any other opponent over the past 12 months, according to new analysis from Conflict Monitor by IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419005536/en/
Islamic State Territorial Losses Between January 2015 and 3 April 2017 (Graphic: Business Wire)
Between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017, 43 percent of all Islamic State fighting in Syria was directed against President Assad's forces, 17 against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the remaining 40 percent involved fighting rival Sunni opposition groups -- in particular, those who formed part of the Turkey-backed Euphrates Shield coalition.
"It is an inconvenient reality that any US action taken to weaken the Syrian government will inadvertently benefit the Islamic State and other jihadist groups," said Columb Strack, senior Middle East analyst at IHS Markit. "The Syrian government is essentially the anvil to the US-led Coalition's hammer. While US-backed forces surround Raqqa, the Islamic State is engaged in intense fighting with the Syrian government around Palmyra and in other parts of Homs and Deir al-Zour provinces."
Any further reduction in the capability of Syria's already overstretched forces would reduce their ability to prevent the Islamic State from pushing out of the desert into the more heavily populated western Syria, threatening cities like Homs and Damascus, the analysis said.
"If the Islamic State succeeds in capturing the Syrian government's isolated and heavily contested garrison in Deir al-Zour, the group would have a new major population centre from which to run the Caliphate," Strack said. "The capture of Deir al-Zour, the largest city in eastern Syria, could be a life-line for the group's governance project beyond the loss of Mosul and Raqqa."
Almost half of original territory lost
Between 1 January 2015 and 3 April 2017, the Islamic State lost almost 50 percent of its territory. On 1 January 2015, Conflict Monitor estimated the Islamic State controlled 90,800 km2 in Iraq and Syria. Now, the Islamic State controls 48,500 km2
"We have seen Islamic State territorial losses accelerate significantly in 2017," Strack said. "Their losses were largely driven by a greater commitment from the US to back the Syrian Democratic Forces, but also by major Syrian government advances east of Aleppo and around Palmyra."
Between 1 January 2017 and 3 April 2017, the caliphate's territory shrank by a further 20 percent to 48,500 km2. The area they control now is roughly the same size as the Dominican Republic.
Intelligence cut-off date: 10 April 2017.
Meet Jane's at the AFCEA 2017 Conference
Jane's will be exhibiting jointly with Luciad at AFCEA 2017 in Bonn, Germany from 27 to 28 April. The team will be showing wider analysis on Iraq through the Luciad platform and how Luciad's geospatial visualization combined with defense and security data from Jane's can deliver superior critical information and insight.
Appointments to view the wider analysis can be made at ADSEvents@ihs.com or http://connect.luciad.com/AFCEAGermany2017
About Conflict Monitor
Conflict Monitor by IHS Markit is an open-source intelligence collection and analysis service, which includes unrivalled data coverage of the conflict in Iraq and Syria, weekly control maps, as well as in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis by Jane's security experts.
Visit our site to learn more about the service and a free trial: https://www.ihs.com/products/conflictmonitor.html or get in touch here.
About IHS Markit(www.ihsmarkit.com)
IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 key business and government customers, including 85 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world's leading financial institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.
IHS Markit is a registered trademark of IHS Markit Ltd. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners 2017 IHS Markit Ltd. All rights reserved.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170419005536/en/
Contacts:
IHS Markit
Amanda Russo, +44 208-544-7827
Amanda.Russo@ihsmarkit.com
or
Press Team
+1 303-305-8021
press@ihs.com
PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, March 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
A new report published by Allied Market Research titled, "Global E-Commerce Logistics Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecasts, 2014-2022," projects the e-commerce market size to reach $535,895 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 21.2% from 2016 to 2022. The transportation service type generated the largest market share in 2015 while warehousing sub-segment is expected to register fastest growth during the forecast period 2016-2022. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the largest market over the forecast period.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )
Summary of the E-Commerce Logistics Market Report can be accessed on the website at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/e-commerce-logistics-market
Booming e-commerce industry, execution in 3PL, and enhanced relationships between customers & suppliers provide heightened growth avenue for the e-commerce logistics industry. Retailers have revamped their traditional warehouses to cater to the requirements of e-commerce and logistics to improve the store-level inventory accuracy and increase their ability to serve larger consignments. Further, supply chain solutions are being customized to serve the user requirements with the transformed fundamentals of product distribution and advancements in technology. Additionally, business analytics has assisted logistics professionals to increase the speed and efficiency of work processes.
The extended execution of supply chain footprint is highly opportunistic for the market growth. However, factors such as high deployment of warehouse management solutions and regulatory issues restrict the market growth to a considerable extent.
Check offers and discount on E-Commerce Logistics Market Report:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/get-discount/1860
In 2015, transportation sub-segment dominated the market; however, warehousing service type is anticipated to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period. The integration of e-commerce logistics with transportation management software (TMS) has boosted the e-commerce logistics market growth. TMS aids in planning deliveries across the supply chain. Furthermore, optimizing the flow of goods and leveraging consolidated capacity have increased the growth potential of the market. Further, the domestic operational area leads the global e-commerce logistics market and international operational area portrays the fastest growth rate in the global market.
"Asia-Pacific is the most productive market for e-commerce logistics as compared to others owing to the increasing population, globalization, upsurge in the sales of smartphones, and increasing number of netizens. Furthermore, LAMEA is projected to grow at the fastest pace over the forecast period owing to technological advancements and rising internet connectivity in the region", states Sonia Mutreja, Lead Analyst, E-Commerce & Outsourcing at AMR.
Connect to Research Analyst: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/1860
Key findings of the study:
Transportation is expected to exhibit a significant growth in the e-commerce logistics market
Domestic operational area generated the highest revenue as compared to international area and is anticipated to maintain its dominance over the forecast period
LAMEA is projected to exhibit a substantial growth during the forecast period
The key players in the global e-commerce logistics market include DHL International GmbH, Aramex International, FedEx Corporation, S.F. Express, Gati Limited, Amazon, Kenco Group, Inc., Ceva Holdings LLC, United Parcel Service, Inc., and Clipper Logistics Plc.
Summary of similar reports can be viewed at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/automotive-and-transportation/freight-and-logistics-market-report
About Us:
Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.
We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.
Contact:
Rahul Thakur
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United States
Direct: +1-503-894-6022
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Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com
LONDON, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Peter Fragiskatos, Member of Parliament for London North Centre, and Kate Young, Member of Parliament for London West, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, will make an important announcement to support entrepreneurs in southwestern Ontario.
Media are invited to tour the company prior to the official announcement.
MP Fragiskatos and MP Young will be available to answer questions from the media, following the event.
Please note that all details are subject to change. All times are local.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 2017 TIME: Tour - 11:00 a.m. Announcement - 11:30 a.m. PLACE: Tour: Stiller Centre 700 Collip Circle London, Ontario N6G 4M3 Announcement: NRC Building 800 Collip Circle London, Ontario N6G 4M3
Contacts:
FOR INFORMATION (media only):
Media Relations Office
FedDev Ontario
416-954-6652
fdo.mediarel-relmedias.fdo@canada.ca
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Precipitate Gold Corp. (the "Company" or "Precipitate") (TSX VENTURE: PRG) is pleased to announce the discovery of a new gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly at the Ginger Ridge zone, resulting from the ongoing and wide ranging exploration activities within the Company's 100% owned Juan de Herrera Project in the Dominican Republic.
Recent soil sampling at and around the Ginger Ridge Zone has identified a new gold-in-soil anomaly located approximately one kilometre ("km") east of the main drill test area. The multi-element soil geochemical anomaly has a northwest-southeast ("NW-SE") trend and exceeds 850 metres ("m") in length, with an average 100m width and is open ended to the southeast toward the eastern property boundary shared with GoldQuest Mining Corp. Currently, Precipitate field staff are carrying out comprehensive follow-up work that includes additional soil and rock sampling, detailed geological mapping and ground magnetic surveying. See the accompanying map or the Company's website for the Ginger Ridge gold-in-soil anomaly illustration map. Initial work at this new anomaly within the Ginger Ridge Zone has yielded the following preliminary results:
-- New Ginger Ridge gold-in-soil anomaly (plus other important pathfinder elements, including arsenic, antimony, silver, lead, and zinc) located approximately one km east of the main drill test area. The anomaly trends NW-SE, ranges from 75m to 250m wide by at least 850m long and remains open to the southeast; -- The soil anomaly is coincident with recently identified induced polarization ("IP") gradient geophysical anomalies; resistivity high and weak to moderate chargeability; and -- Discovery of a large barite subcrop exposure hosted in altered Tireo volcanics located within the soil anomaly. Barite is commonly associated with notable Tireo Gold Camp gold-in-soil mineral systems and with volcanogenic massive sulphide ("VMS") systems in particular.
Soil sample coverage was recently extended to the east of the Ginger Ridge main anomaly to: (i) test recently identified gradient IP geophysical anomalies in the area; and (ii) to investigate the geology on trend from GoldQuest's Cachimbo 'VMS-style' discovery area, located 2.0km northwest of Ginger Ridge.
Jeffrey Wilson, Precipitate's President & CEO stated, "We are very pleased that our expanded exploration work has identified a prospective new gold-in-soil anomaly situated immediately east of the main Ginger Ridge drill zone. The newly identified geochemical anomaly overlies a compelling geophysical target comprised of a combined coincident high resistivity and weak to moderate chargeability in a geological setting analogous to other mineralized zones that occur in the Tireo Formation. In addition, the discovery of a large barite subcrop, hosted in Tireo volcanic rocks, within the confines of the soil anomaly is an important g new development, as barite is commonly associated with Tireo gold systems. A more detailed program of surface sampling and geological and ground magnetic geophysical surveying in the vicinity of the barite subcrop is ongoing and will greatly assist with the geological interpretation of the anomaly as a possible near term drill target."
Soil sampling at Ginger Ridge now comprises an area measuring about 3.4km by 1.6km covering much of the prospective Tireo volcanic rocks in the zone. The recent soil samples were collected at 25m to 50m intervals along northeast oriented grid lines at 100m line intervals. The multi-element soil anomaly is characterized by a correlation of gold with various pathfinder elements which include arsenic, antimony, silver, lead, and zinc. The gold-in-soil anomaly is defined by values exceeding the 70th percentile (5.1 ppb). To date, gold-in-soil values within the new anomaly area range from nil to 730 ppb.
Similar field work is being conducted elsewhere within and around Ginger Ridge as the Company seeks to expand its pipeline of targets in advance of further drill testing. Additional field results will be reported as they become available.
This news release has been reviewed by Michael Moore P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Precipitate Gold Corporation, the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under NI 43-101 standards.
Rock and soil samples were bagged, sealed and delivered directly to Bureau Veritas ("BV") preparation facility in Maimon Dominican Republic where they were dried, crushed (or sieved in the case of soils) and pulped. Sample pulps were then delivered to BV facilities in Vancouver BC (an ISO 9001 accredited facility) for analyses. Samples were crushed (or sieved) to with up to 80% passing 2mm and split using a riffle splitter (code PRP70-250). An approximate 250 gram sub-sample split was pulverized to minus 200 mesh (74micron). A 15 gram sub-split from the resulting pulp was then subjected to aqua regia digestion and multi-element ICP-MS analysis (code AQ201). Rock sample results with gold greater than 1,000 ppb were subjected to fire assay (ICP-ES finish) analysis (30 g pulp; code FA330-Au).
About Precipitate Gold:
Precipitate Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on exploring and advancing its mineral property interests in the Tireo Gold Trend of the Dominican Republic. The Company also maintains assets in northern British Columbia and southeast Yukon Territory and is actively evaluating additional high-impact property acquisitions with the potential to expand the Company's portfolio and increase shareholder value.
Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.precipitategold.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Precipitate Gold Corp.,
Jeffrey Wilson, President & CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Precipitate Gold Corp.'s ("Precipitate" or the "Company") current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Company and on assumptions it believes are reasonable. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Precipitate to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the exploration concessions may not be granted on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the concessions acquired by the Company may not have attributes similar to those of surrounding properties; delay or failure to receive governmental or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation affecting mining; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Precipitate has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Precipitate does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Contacts:
Precipitate Gold Corp.
604-558-0335
Toll Free: 855-558-0335
investor@precipitategold.com
AUSTIN, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Clear Measure, Inc., a leading software engineering firm, today announced that its CEO, Jeffrey Palermo, has been named as one of five finalists within the Technology & Start-Up category for this year's Austin Under 40 Awards (AU40).
Hosted by Austin's Young Women's Alliance (YWA) and the Young Men's Business League (YMBL), Austin Under 40 selected Palermo, a military veteran, as a finalist because of his role in helping to grow the software industry nationally, as well as locally, and his role as a strong citizen and business partner, committed to supporting Austin's growth through education, children's advocacy and other philanthropic initiatives.
"The Austin Under 40 recognizes the huge growth and innovation taking place in Austin. I'm very honored to be named a finalist for this prestigious award, among a distinguished group of technology and startup professionals," said Palermo. "Clear Measure is very committed to giving back to the community and using our expertise and resources to help grow the technology profession. It's very exciting to help ignite interest in software engineering among young people in the area."
In four years under Palermo's leadership, Clear Measure has grown aggressively in the region. Austin Business Journal ranked Clear Measure the #1 Fastest growing company in their category in 2016. Palermo is highly recognized as a leader in the software industry. He was named a Microsoft MVP every year since 2006, and has presented at numerous technology industry conferences nationally and internationally. He is a published author, with articles appearing in industry magazines, and co-author of the book, ASP.Net MVC in Action.
Clear Measure embodies the definition of a good corporate citizen, generously donating to organizations such as the Austin Children's Shelter, Ronald McDonald House, the Texas Advocacy Project, SAFE Place, Austin Young Life; and also hosts the Humanitarian Toolbox Hack-a-thon, an event in which software professionals donate their time to write software for not-for-profit organizations free of charge.
Winners of the 19th annual Austin under 40 Awards will be named at an event Saturday, April 1, 2017 at the JW Marriott in Austin. Since 1998, Austin's Young Women's Alliance and the Young Men's Business League have partnered to host Austin Under 40, one of the city's premier awards events, to recognize local citizens who both lead their respective industries and exhibit a solid commitment to serving their community. The individuals are recognized in 16 categories, including Technology & Startup.
Clear Measure
Clear Measure is a custom software engineering firm that brings a sustained competitive technical advantage to growing companies. We assist mid-market executives that are concerned that their technology may not be keeping up with their competition, frustrated with their ability to scale systems & processes, or experiencing lost profitability due to inefficiencies in their software. Unlike other custom software engineering firms, we directly employ our developers, we partner with our clients to learn about their business objectives, and are intimately involved in every stage of the engagement. We manage the entire engineering lifecycle including software architecture, project management, and 24 hour support. Clear Measure is headquartered in Austin, TX. More information is available at www.clear-measure.com.
Media contacts:
Rayne Fulton
Email Contact
512-201-4118
Laura Ruffino
Email Contact
512-298-1232
EL PASO, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Premier Biomedical, Inc. (OTCQB: BIEI) announced today that the principal amounts on their outstanding convertible debts have been retired. The company acknowledged that, although it still needs capital to keep the business going, they will be more judicious in any future financing.
The company has in the past had as many as five lenders at once converting debt, as they struggled to finance their aggressive research programs on PTSD and cancer. The company has since shelved their promising cancer research program and PTSD research until they can acquire a suitable development partner. The company reports they have been in discussion with a number of potential partners with whom their promising patent-pending antibody drug for breast cancer can be developed.
"It is because of the enormous costs of our research that we decided to pivot our attention, temporarily, towards manufacturing and selling pain relief products to generate a revenue stream. We currently are selling what we consider to be the world's-best 96-hour pain patch and hemp oil roll-on applicator. We plan on introducing four more pain relief products this calendar year," said William A. Hartman, President and CEO of Premier Biomedical. The company sells their pain relief products through their website, www.painreliefmeds.com, as well as through direct distributors.
Hartman continued, "Our stock has been under enormous pressure due to the heavy amount of debt converted into shares and introduced to the market. The dilution of the stock has been a concern to us, and all of our shareholders, and to see it reach an end is a relief to us all. Going forward, we will still need to finance a portion of our operations, but we have tightened our belts and will continue to run very lean, until we can generate sufficient revenue to become self-funding. We are confident that our approach will result in a significant increase in our stock price in the future."
About Premier Biomedical, Inc.
Premier Biomedical, Inc. (OTCQB: BIEI) is a research-based publicly traded company that intends to discover and develop medical treatments for a wide range of diseases in humans. Premier has obtained, via exclusive license agreements, the technology behind three granted US Patents, multiple pending provisional patents, and a PCT Europe National Patent. Founded in 2010, Premier has partnered with the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The company's R&D efforts are centered in El Paso, TX, and their business offices are in Western Pennsylvania. The Company is a fully-reporting issuer whose common stock trades on the OTCQB marketplace maintained by OTC Markets Group, Inc. under the ticker symbol "BIEI." For more information please visit our website:http://www.premierbiomedical.com/.
Safe Harbor Notice
Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking statements" (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Premier Biomedical, Inc. cautions that statements and assumptions made in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and makes no guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time statements are made. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates made by management. Actual results could differ materially from current projections or implied results. Premier Biomedical, Inc. undertakes no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this news release.
Premier Biomedical, Inc.
William A. Hartman
President and CEO
(724) 633-7033
w.hartman@premierbiomedical.com
www.premierbiomedical.com/
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (TSX VENTURE: NOU)(OTCQB: NMGRF)(FRANKFURT: NM9) ("Nouveau Monde" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the results of an updated pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate (the "Current Resource") concerning the West Zone Deposit, located on the Tony claim Block, part of its Matawinie graphite Property. The Current Resource is summarized in Table 1 below and is compared to the pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate (the "Previous Resource") included in the Preliminary Economic Assessment report press released on June 22, 2016.
Table 1: Pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate for the West Zone(1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mineral Resource Current Resource (March 2, Previous Resource (June 22, Category(2) 2017)(8, 9) 2016)(8) ------------------------------------------------------------ Tonnage Grade (% Tonnage Grade (% (Mt)(5,7) Cg)(3) Cg (Mt) (Mt)(6,7) Cg)(3) Cg (Mt) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated 32.9 4.50 1.48 16.0 4.38 0.70 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred(4) 0.2 4.84 0.01 14.8 4.88 0.72 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ( 1) The Mineral Resources provided in this table were estimated using current Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines. (2) Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert Inferred and Indicated Mineral Resources to Measured Mineral Resources. (3) All analyses used for the Resource Estimates were performed by ALS Minerals Laboratories and delivered as graphitic carbon ("% Cg"), internal analytical code C-IR18. (4) Inferred Mineral Resources represent material that is considered too speculative to be included in economic evaluations. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources. (5) Current Resource effective March 2nd, 2017. (6) Previous Resource published June 22nd, 2016. (7) Both Current and Previous Mineral Resources are stated at a cut-off grade of 2.28% Cg. (8) Although the Current Resource is constrained within a pit envelope generated using the same economic parameters as the Previous Resource, the latter was further refined using a mine design plan. This exercise was not performed for the Current Resource. (9) The Current Resource was constrained at an elevation of 390 m above sea level (ASL) to better approximate the parameters used to generate the Previous Resource.
Eric Desaulniers commented "I am very pleased with our recent drill program which essentially enabled us to move 100% of our inferred resource into the indicated resource category. This speaks to the quality of our original drilling and the strength of the deposit mineralization. The next step will be to input this information into our optimized mine plan that will be the basis of our pre-feasibility study due out in September 2017. My team is led by in-house professionals with years of hands-on graphite production experience. Their leadership and input into our pre-feasibility study will be invaluable and gives me increased confidence in the quality of our new project economics to come."
Various characteristics of the Current Resource pit envelope are compared to the Previous Resource pit envelop in Table 2.
Table 2. Current and Previous Resource Pit Envelope Characteristics. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Resource (March Previous Resource Pit Envelope Characteristics 2, 2017)(3, 4) (June 22, 2016)(3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Length (m)(1) 2300 1690 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maximum width (m)(1) 400 400 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surface area (square km) 0.4826 0.4825 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minimum pit elevation (m)(2) 390 390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maximum vertical difference between pit depth to original surface elevation (m)(2) 145 145 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Waste to Ore Ratio 1.04: 1 0.94: 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Measured length is approximate. (2) Elevation is measures above sea level or "ASL". (3) Although the Current Resource is constrained within a pit envelope generated using the same economic parameters as the Previous Resource, the latter was further refined using a mine design plan. This exercise was not performed for the Current Resource. (4) The Current Resource was constrained at an elevation of 390 m above sea level (ASL) to better approximate the parameters used to generate the Previous Resource.
The Current Resource presented here was generated following the addition of 41 core drill holes and three (3) trenches completed in 2016. Last year's exploration work aimed at upgrading the previous West Zone resources from the Inferred Resource Category to the Indicated Resource Category by infill drilling and trenching. The 2016 work also intended to extend the resources further to the north and to the south of the West Zone following encouraging results from earlier airborne and ground geophysical surveys.
A map displaying the West Zone 2014 to 2016 core drilling and trenching locations as well as a plan view of the Current Resource is available through this link: http://nouveaumonde.ca/wp-content/uploads/PR_West_Zone_20170302_EN.pdf
Data Sources and Estimation Methods
The block model, used to generate the Current Resource of the West Zone, is based on a total of 68 core drill holes which produced 3693 samples as well as 207 samples collected from channelling work in three (3) trenches. This does not include the quality control samples which comprise of 172 duplicate, 171 blank and 82 standard samples, all of which returned within acceptable limits. In all, 17 mineralized horizons encased in paragneiss units were interpreted and modelled from this data.
The Current Resource block model for the West Zone was prepared by Yann Camus, P. Eng., of SGS Canada Inc. - Geostat ("SGS Geostat") from Blainville, Quebec, using the Genesis mining software. Interpolation was performed using inverse square distance (ID(2)) as well as different search ellipses which were adapted for the geology of the deposit. The block model was then fed to GEOVIA's Whittle software to provide a pit- constrained Mineral Resource Estimate. The parameters used to generate the pit envelope were similar to the ones used for the Previous Resource and are available below in Table 3. The pit-envelope containing the Current Resource was limited to the Tony Block property boundary to the south of the West Zone deposit as well as to an elevation of 390 m above sea level in order to better approximate the parameters used to generate the Previous Resource. Although the pit envelope confining the Current Resources was generated using the same parameters as the pit envelope for the Previous Resources, the latter was further refined using a mine design including the ramp. This exercise was not performed for the Current Resource.
Table 3. Pit Envelope Generation Parameters -------------------------------------------------- Parameters Values -------------------------------------------------- Currency CAD -------------------------------------------------- Block size 5m x 5m x 5m -------------------------------------------------- Specific Gravity 2.76 t/m(3) -------------------------------------------------- Overall slope angle rock 50 degrees ------------------------------- overburden 25 degrees -------------------------------------------------- Pit selection method Cash Flow -------------------------------------------------- Mining cost rock 6.50 $/t ------------------------------- overburden 5.20 $/t -------------------------------------------------- Mining dilution 5% -------------------------------------------------- Mining recovery 95.2% -------------------------------------------------- Rehabilitation Cost 0.61 $/t -------------------------------------------------- Processing Cost 15.84 $/t -------------------------------------------------- Processing Recovery 89.50% -------------------------------------------------- G&A 4.16 $/t -------------------------------------------------- Selling Price of concentrate 1430 $/t -------------------------------------------------- Concentration of Cg in the concentrate 97.3% -------------------------------------------------- Initial Capex 110 M$ -------------------------------------------------- Discount Rate 8% -------------------------------------------------- Target Processing Rate/yr 1.212 Mt --------------------------------------------------
It is important to note that Nouveau Monde will not be issuing a Technical Report detailing the Current Resource. Nouveau Monde has initiated work towards completing a Prefeasibility Study for September 2017 in which mining and economic parameters are expected to be updated and refined resulting in a Mineral Reserve for the West Zone.
Nouveau Monde did not perform any work on its other mineralized zones located in its Tony claim Block during 2016. The corporation will continue to focus its efforts on its West Zone deposit in the short to medium term. A map displaying the Tony claim Block including the location of all identified mineralized zones and significant results is available thru this link: http://nouveaumonde.ca/wp-content/uploads/PR_Tony_Block_20170302_EN.pdf
Nouveau Monde will be exhibiting at the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference (PDAC) from Sunday, March 5, 2017 to Wednesday March 8, 2017 in booth number 2830 of the Investors Exchange Forum. Company representatives will be on hand to speak about the updated resource as well as other exciting developments at Nouveau Monde.
About Nouveau Monde
In 2015, Nouveau Monde discovered a graphite deposit on its Tony claim block, part of its fully owned Matawinie graphite Property. This discovery resulted in the publishing of a Preliminary Economic Assessment, completed according to NI 43-101 guidelines, in June of 2016. This study demonstrated strong economics with a planned production of 50,000 tpy of high purity flake graphite over a period of 25.7 years which is expected to provide a solid operational margin and relatively low capital expenditures (see press release dated June 22, 2016). The project is located in the Saint-Michel-des-Saints area, some 120 km north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has direct access to all needed infrastructure, labour as well as green and affordable hydroelectricity. Nouveau Monde is developing its project with the highest corporate social responsibility standards while targeting a low environmental footprint (targeting a net zero carbon emission operation).
The technical information presented in this news release was prepared by Yann Camus, P. Eng., of SGS Canada Inc. - Geostat, an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated by such statements. Nouveau Monde will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by Nouveau Monde.
Contacts:
Eric Desaulniers, M.Sc., P.Geo.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Nouveau Monde
(819) 923-0333
BSD Crown Ltd. (LSE: BSD)
(the "Company")
Notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting
Ramat Gan, Israel, 2 March 2017
The Company has today issued a revised Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting ("Meeting").
The revised notice is being sent at the request of Yossi Willi Management and Investment Ltd., (the "Requisitionist")
The Meeting will be held at 9.00am (BST) on 29 March 2017 at the Hilton London Tower Bridge, 5 More London Place, Tooley Street, London SE1 2BY, United Kingdom.
The Meeting is convened for the purpose of seeking shareholders' authority to approve the amendment of the Company's articles of association, the appointment of certain external statutory directors, the appointment and remuneration of auditors, and the amendment of the Company's officers' remuneration policy.
In addition the Requisitionist is proposing resolutions to seek shareholders' authority to approve the appointment of several individuals as directors of the Company and the removal from office of all of the existing directors of the Company (apart from the Company's external director (Mrs. Iris Even-Tov) who has a statutory role under Israeli law).
Resolutions recommended for adoption by the Company
The Board is proposing to amend the Company's articles of association in order to ensure that the Company's management is represented at all general meetings, including via tele-conference. The Board is proposing to elect at least two of Mr. Gal Chet, Mr. Yair Shilhav and Mr. Shlomo Wertheim (the "External Director Nominees") as external directors of the Company. The Board believes that the appointment of at least two of the External Director Nominees as external directors of the Company complies with the provisions and requirements under the Israeli Companies Law and that their skills and capabilities would contribute to the Company's on-going business. The Board has also determined that the External Director Nominees satisfy the requirements under the UK Corporate Governance Code to serve on the Board as independent directors and that their appointment will increase the level of independence of the Board.
As required by the Israeli Companies Law, it is proposed that at least two of the External Director Nominees be elected to serve the office as external directors for an initial fixed term of three years commencing on the date their election is approved by Shareholders. If the election is approved by Shareholders, at least two of Messrs. Chet, Shilhav and Wertheim will be appointed by the Board to serve as members of each of the audit committee, compensation committee and remuneration committee.
As required by the Israeli Companies Law, at least once in every three years, it is proposed to adopt the the Company's updated remuneration policy. A copy of the full English translation of the Remuneration Policy is available in the notice in respect of the Company's general meeting which has been sent to Company Shareholders today. In order to allow the Company to further progress, finalise and publish its financial statements for the years ending 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2016 , it is recommended to approve the appointment of PWC Israel (Kesselman & Kesselman CPAs) as the Company's external auditors until the next annual general meeting of the Company and to authorise the Board, with the approval of the audit committee of the Board, to determine the remuneration of the auditors. The Board proposes to re-appoint Mr. Gregory Gurtovoy , and to elect Mr. Eli Arad , Mr. Nir Netzer and Mr. Arik Safran , as members of the Board until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting. Each such director, if so elected, will hold office until the next annual general meeting of the Company (if such director is not so elected, he or she shall be automatically removed from office).
Information regarding the backgrounds and experience of Mr. Gregory Gurtovoy, Mr. Eli Arad, Mr. Nir Netzer and Mr. Arik Safran is available in appendix 1 attached hereto.
Further details of these matters are contained in the circular which has been sent to Company Shareholders today.
The Board considers that these resolutions to be in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, the Board is recommending that Shareholders vote in favour of the relevant resolutions at the Meeting.
Resolutions proposed by the Requisionist
The following matters are proposed by the Requisionist who, in the opinion of the Board, is attempting to take over the control and management of the Company:
To remove from office all the existing directors (other than the external director); To elect Mr. Joseph Williger , Mr. Shmuel Messenberg , Mr. Avi Zigelman and Mrs. Keren Marcus as directors until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting.
Information regarding the background and experience of the proposed directors is available in the circular and the Requisionist letter which has been sent to Company Shareholders today.
The Board also considers that the election of Mr. Joseph Williger, Mr. Shmuel Messenberg, Mr. Avi Zigelman and Mrs. Keren Marcus not to be in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole. The Board considers the appointment of all of the Requisitionist's proposed directors not to be in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole and recommends that Shareholders vote against the relevant resolutions at the Meeting.
Copies of the Notice will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be made available on the Company's website atwww.bsd-c.comand from the National Storage Mechanism atwww.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.
Enquiries:
Gregory Gurtovoy, chairman of the board: office@bsd-c.com
Investment to Solidify Nimble as the CRM of Choice for Small Businesses and Fast Growing Sales Teams looking for a competitive advantage
Nimble, the pioneer of Social Sales and Marketing CRM, today announced it has raised $9 million in a Series A round of financing led by Imagen Capital Partners. Additional investors include Mark Cuban's Radical Investments, Google Ventures, Indicator Ventures and a consortium of strategic angels including Jason Calacanis, Howard Lindzon and Don Dodge. Nimble previously raised a total of $3.5M in seed funding from its early backers. Nimble will use this new capital to accelerate product innovation, strategic partnerships, and customer adoption.
CRM That Builds Itself And Works, Everywhere You Work
Nimble is a cloud-based CRM solution designed for Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite customers. Nimble offers a robust out-of-box experience through its web platform, mobile apps, and Smart Contacts browser extension. Its native, bidirectional sync integration with Office 365 and Google G Suite allows it to streamline all interactions and exchanges that take place within Email, Calendar, Contacts, and more.
Smarter Sales Insights and Social Intelligence for Your Sales Team
Nimble pioneered Social CRM and has since experienced tremendous growth by focusing on delivering the best user experience for a very specific customer segment. Nimble has attracted over 100,000 businesses to date.
"Today's legacy CRMs are too complex and hard to use, and we end up spending more time maintaining data in our CRMs than letting our CRM platforms work for us. The resulting low end user adoption is a significant cause of failure for CRMs," said Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble. "At Nimble we've solved the end user adoption issue and have built a CRM that end users love to use by seamlessly integrating with Office 365 and Google G Suite Emails, Contacts and Calendars, eliminating tedious data entry, and automating repetitive tasks. Nimble lives where users work: in email, the browser, and on their mobile devices. Our new funding will enable us to continue to delight and empower our customers with simply smarter CRM features so they can effortlessly sell more."
Nimble is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growing community of more than 100 million businesses powered by Office 365 and the 5 Million businesses powered by Google G Suite.
"I've spent years of working with legacy CRM platforms and it was always clear that the salesperson needs were underserved," said Chris Barrow, Managing Director at Imagen Capital Partners. "People want a CRM that fits into their email and social-centric life to simplify the sales process and helps them close more deals. With Nimble committing to being the best CRM inside Office 365 and Google G Suite, they have built a tool that salespeople fall in love with. We look forward to working with its leadership team as they scale their pioneering CRM solutions to the worldwide marketplace."
Nimble has been extending its pioneering Social Relationship Management Platform to work everywhere their customers work. Nimble delivers relationship insights everywhere you work including Office 365, G Suite, Outlook, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Hootsuite, iOS and Android.
Resources
Blog Post
Nimble Demo Video
Nimble Named Best CRM Four Years in a Row
Recent accolades for Nimble include; Nimble Named 2017 CRM Watchlist Winner, King of CRM by GetApp, #1 in CRM Value, #1 CRM in Customer Satisfaction and CRM Market Leader 3 years in a row by G2 Crowd. Nimble was also recognized previously as #1 Sales Intelligence in Customer Satisfaction and overall High Performer. Nimble was named #1 CRM in numerous other reviews over the past six months including; #1 CRM for Small Business by TechnologyAdvice, Highest Rated Software by Small, Mid-Size and Enterprise Business Users, Highest Rated CRM, Highest Rated Sales Intelligence, Best Software 2014 and Highest Rated Ease-of-Setup. Nimble was also recognized previously as #1 Sales Intelligence in Customer Satisfaction and overall High Performer.
ABOUT IMAGEN CAPITAL PARTNERS Imagen Capital Partners, based in Seattle and Park City, Utah, is a venture capital fund focused on investing in early-stage technology companies and businesses. The firm seeks to invest predominantly in seed and Series A rounds across the technology spectrum. Its team of experienced entrepreneurs has a significant history and track record in building entrepreneurial companies and seeks to leverage this broad industry knowledge to work with entrepreneurs who seek to innovate, challenge and fundamentally change the dynamics of new and existing markets.
ABOUT NIMBLE Nimble is the pioneer of social sales and marketing CRM for individuals and teams. It allows people to intelligently nurture relationships across email and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Nimble combines the strengths of traditional CRM, classic contact management, social media, sales intelligence and marketing automation into a powerful social selling solution. Nimble was founded by Jon Ferrara, the co-founder of GoldMine, a pioneer of SFA, CRM, Relationship Management and Marketing Automation. For more information, visit www.nimble.com. Nimble can be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Located in Santa Monica, CA, Nimble is in the heart of the Southern California Silicon Beach tech community. Nimble Voted Most Loved Santa Monica Tech Startup of 2016.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005478/en/
Contacts:
Nimble Inc.
Michaela Prouzova
310-438-5362
michaela@nimble.com
DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Music Audience Exchange (MAX) today announced it has secured $6 million in a funding round led by MATH Venture Partners and KDWC Ventures. G-Bar Ventures and Gregg Latterman, Founder and CEO of Aware Records, also contributed to the raise.
"We're redefining the role that brands play in the music industry," said MAX Founder and CEO, Nathan Hanks. "The new funds will help us accelerate adoption of our platform, which is bringing much-needed data and structure to the intersection of music and brand marketing. We're aligning brands, their agency partners, and artists and empowering them to connect deeply with audiences through music."
MAX's consumer marketing platform is built on proprietary data science that weaves together over 2.4 million artists (from mainstream stars to great talents looking for that big break), across 765 genres with over 200 consumer attributes to make the perfect brand-artist matches. The platform then distributes authentic, brand-infused content everywhere consumers engage with music.
Dr Pepper and Jack Daniel's were among the first brands leveraging the MAX Platform for partnerships with artists including NEEDTOBREATHE, Leela James, Aaron Watson, and 2017 Grammy Nominee La Maquinaria Nortena. In the last two years, MAX has expanded with programs for top agencies and category-leading brands across automotive, food, beverage, and consumer services.
Given its capabilities to target highly specific consumer segments, the MAX Platform has already powered over 40 campaigns for Ford regional dealer groups in multiple English and Spanish music genres. Early successes have led to expansion into new markets and consumer segments across the U.S.
Other major brands and agencies have shared similar success stories with MAX. The national "Summer Out Loud" campaign for Twix with pop-punk headliner, Mayday Parade, led to a significant increase in product sales across a national footprint of stores, and tens of thousands of fan entries to win a chance to meet the band.
"MAX has moved from a new marketing category innovator to dominant marketing company contender status quickly. The constant stream of brand, artist, and consumer wins led to our investment interest," said Troy Henikoff, Managing Director at MATH Venture Partners. "What MAX is doing is entirely new and extremely valuable."
MAX was founded in 2014 by Nathan Hanks, who saw the challenges artists face in promoting their careers while growing up in a family of working musicians. At MAX, Hanks is applying the lessons he learned having spent ten years immersed in digital marketing as Cofounder and President of ReachLocal, which he helped grow to 24,000 clients across 15 countries and over $500M in annual revenue. Company cofounders include music industry veteran, George Howard, who is the former President of indie label Rykodisc, a copyright and music licensing expert, and an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music and Brown University. The cofounding team also includes members of Hanks' previous team with backgrounds in brand marketing, advertising, data science, and technology.
Joining the MAX Board of Directors are: Lon Chow (Partner at KDWC Ventures) and David Carlick (Independent Director and former Chairman of the Board at ReachLocal, Inc.).
To learn more about MAX, visit: http://www.musicaudienceexchange.com/. SXSW Festival badge holders can listen to and meet MAX cofounders Hanks and Howard on March 15 at 3:30 PM during a panel entitled "The New Deal: Why Brands Will Buy Artists' Airtime." Howard will moderate the session, which will address how the music industry will experience the liberating forces currently imposing innovation on the cab and hotel industries.
About Music Audience Exchange (MAX)
Music Audience Exchange (MAX) is a consumer marketing platform that's powered by music artists, driven by data, and plays everywhere people spend time. MAX engineers the perfect mix of music and marketing that consumers lean in and listen to. The MAX Platform is built on proprietary data science that weaves together 2.4 million artists across 765 genres with 200+ consumer attributes to perfectly match brands with just the right artists, and then precisely reach the audiences they both want as fans. Brands get the growth they want. Artists get the exposure they need. Consumers get content and experiences they love.
Press Contact:
Cassady Nordeen
Blast PR on behalf of MAX
Email Contact
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, will make an announcement in support of an innovative telecommunications company.
Minister Bains will be available to answer questions from the media, following the announcement.
Please note that all details are subject to change. All times are local.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 2017 TIME: 2:30 p.m. - Tour 3:00 p.m. - Announcement PLACE: iS5 Communications Inc. #1-1815 Meyerside Drive Mississauga, Ontario L5T 1G3
Contacts:
Media Relations Office
FedDev Ontario
416-954-6652
fdo.mediarel-relmedias.fdo@canada.ca
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX: SJR.B)(TSX: SJR.PR.A)(TSX: SJR.PR.B)(NYSE: SJR)(TSX VENTURE: SJR.A) today announced that the overwhelming engagement and commitment of Canadians across the country during its PinkShirtPromise campaign has helped raise more than $750,000 for bullying prevention programs in schools across Canada.
"This year, Shaw's PinkShirtPromise campaign struck a deep chord among Canadians who have chosen to take a stand in the fight against bullying," said Chethan Lakshman, Vice President, Communications and Public Relations. "The monies raised through PinkShirtPromise will enable our charitable partners to reach more kids and youth, and make a difference in more communities than ever before."
Beginning in 2015, Shaw's PinkShirtPromise social media campaign has expanded across Canada and engaged hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have made their own pledges to join the movement against bullying by posting their positive messages on social media. The initiative supports charitable organizations who are working in communities to end bullying and provide education on prevention strategies.
This year, for every social media post using PinkShirtPromise, Shaw made charitable donations to the Canadian Red Cross, The WITS Programs Foundation, and other charitable organizations who are working to end bullying. With three times as many Canadians sharing their promises this year, including celebrities, athletes, and government officials, Shaw's donation of over $750,000 will see bullying prevention programs reach over 450 schools and 400,000 kids over the next three years.
The PinkShirtPromise campaign ran from February 6 and ended on February 22 with Pink Shirt Day. For more information on PinkShirtPromise, please visit shaw.ca/PinkShirtPromise.
About Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications Inc. is an enhanced connectivity provider. Our Consumer division serves consumers with broadband Internet, Shaw Go WiFi, video and digital phone. Our Wireless division provides wireless voice and data services through an expanding and improving mobile wireless network infrastructure. The Business Network Services division provides business customers with Internet, data, WiFi, telephony, video and fleet tracking services. The Business Infrastructure Services division, through ViaWest, provides hybrid IT solutions including colocation, cloud computing and security and compliance for North American enterprises.
Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX - SJR.B, SJR.PR.A, SJR.PR.B, NYSE - SJR, and TSXV - SJR.A). For more information, please visit www.shaw.ca.
Contacts:
For media inquiries, please contact:
Shaw Communications Inc.
Chethan Lakshman
VP, Communications and Public Relations
(403) 930-8448
chethan.lakshman@sjrb.ca
Highlighting 'Access & Accuracy' in diagnosis with the latest offerings
Presenting advanced image technology and clinical studies at Satellite Symposia
VIENNA, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --To empower radiologists around the world, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is showcasing the latest medical devices and solutions, as well as hosting symposia on advanced imaging technology and recent clinical researches at the 2017 European Congress of Radiology (ECR) from March 1 to 5 in Vienna, Austria.
Samsung will highlight solutions that focus on providing 'Improved Access and Enhanced Accuracy' in order for radiologists and radiographers to perform more confident diagnosis and better patient care. By integrating its leading capabilities in form factor innovations, Samsung's latest medical equipment helps users get to patients faster and easier with ergonomic design that is more compact and lighter. Latest upgrades in imaging features have also applied Samsung's latest analytic algorithm and image enhancing technology to help radiologists make more accurate decisions with greater clarity.
"Samsung aims to offer what radiologists and clinicians most seek from diagnostic solutions and deliver technologies that meet their needs for easier access and greater accuracy," said Dongsoo Jun, President of Health & Medical Equipment Business at Samsung Electronics and CEO of Samsung Medison. "Our commitment to European customers and radiologists around the world only grows stronger each year. Samsung is continuing to develop technologies that will bring new innovations to various medical environments."
On display at Samsung's booth are the following solutions:
Improved Access
The new award-winning mobile digital radiography GM85 offers an ultimate driving experience, and the CereTom is utilized in a wide range of market applications such as mobile stroke units:
GM85's compact design & optimized workflow: Winning the 2017 iF Design Award, the GM85 equips with a slim, ergonomic design which allows easy access around tight spaces, even in elevators by its 555mm narrow width and about 40% lighter weight (at 349kg) than previous models. Applying Samsung's world-class user-oriented design capability, the device offers a collapsible column which gives users clear visibility when moving the system and broadens access to smaller spaces. Its adaptive soft-driving control and front-bumper sensor also help make navigation safer. Moreover, the Quick-positioning allows handle-free, precise body movement by simple button clicks on the THU (Tube Head Unit).
CereTom, a portable CT scanner with versatility: The 8-slice scanner delivers rapid scan time and immediate image viewing with high-quality images in a variety of patient locations. The mobile stroke unit (MSU), a specialized ambulance or other emergency medical vehicle that is equipped with a CereTom, allows the team onboard to quickly assess whether a patient is having a stroke caused by a blood clot or hemorrhage.
Enhanced Diagnostic Accuracy
The premium ultrasound system RS80A with Prestige and ceiling-type digital radiography GC85A offers cutting-edge features that enhance diagnostic consistency and accuracy:
RS80A with Prestige's latest key features: The CEUS+, Samsung's latest contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging provides superb resolution and improved uniformity with new transmit technology. It improves the diagnosis of small lesions through clear expression of tissue boundaries and assists users achieve easier and more accurate interventional procedures. The S-Detect' for Breast helps radiologists understand characteristics of breast lesions to determine whether they're malignant or benign in a few clicks with improved accuracy.
GC85A improves image clarity and radiographer's workflow: Bone Suppression improves clarity of soft tissue when suppressing the appearance of bones in chest images. As a result, nodule detection is improved to support diagnostic assessment. The device also features a new function which allows its operation without a portable grid, which not only reduces operator's wrist overload but also eliminates alignment errors that often occur with portable grids, reducing retake rates.
Samsung Satellite Symposia
On Thursday 12:30-13:30 at Room X (2nd level), Samsung presents how advanced imaging technologies such as artificial intelligence and computer aided tool benefits in diagnosis, and on Friday 12:30-13:30 at Studio 2017 (1st level), clinical research using Samsung's contrast-enhanced ultrasound technology will be held, respectively. Please visit here, for registration.
Advanced Samsung Imaging Technology March 2, Thursday (Room X, 2nd Level) Time Topic Speaker 12:30 ~ 13:00 Artificial intelligence in Radiology (from CAD to workflow improvement) Prof. Alison Noble (Oxford Uni.) 13:00 ~ 13:30 Role of S-Detect making supporting tool to characterize focal breast lesions Prof. Tommaso V. Bartolotta
(Uni. of Palermo) Contrast-enhanced Ultrasonography: Advances and Current Status in Medical Practice March 3, Friday (Studio 2017, 1st Level) Time Topic Speaker 12:30 ~ 12:50 New tools in Multiparametric ultrasound :from guidelines to clinical practice Prof. Vito Cantisani (Sapienza Uni. of Rome) 12:50 ~ 13:10 Pediatric CEUS :Indications and Cost Effectiveness Dr. Maria Sellars (King's College London) 13:10 ~ 13:30 CEUS as a problem solving tool in clinical practice Prof. Paul S. Sidhu (King's College London)
For more information, please visit www.samsungmedicalsolution.com.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, medical equipment, network systems, and semiconductor and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com.
Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/474066/Samsung_Diagnostic_Solutions_a.jpg
Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/474068/Samsung_Diagnostic_Solutions_b.jpg
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Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recentglobal hybrid aircraft marketreport. This market research report also lists four other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005043/en/
Technavio has published a new report on the global hybrid aircraft market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)
Competitive vendor landscape
According to the research analysis, the market for global hybrid aircraft market is a niche market with very few multinational stakeholders and negligible regional suppliers. These multinational players offer heterogeneous products and services, including customized products. As the market is highly capital intensive and completely based on technological advancements, cost, quality, and reliability, the number of vendors are limited. Suppliers in the Americas and EMEA have been involved in extensive research for over decades and have dominated the market with their technical expertise.
"The existing key vendors in the market should identify and respond to the evolving trends of geopolitical situations to ensure their long-term survival in the market. These players can offer optimum and integrated solutions in response to environmental protection activities and ensure their large-scale utility. Also, providing unmanned hybrid aircraft that can take the workload off pilots and airships can take over missions with high levels of accuracy and persistence," says Avimanyu Basu, lead aerospace research analyst from Technavio.
Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=56732
Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.
Technavio aerospace and defensemarket research analysts identify the following key vendors:
Aeros
Aeros manufactures products for both military and commercial applications. Aeros in global hybrid aircraft market, offers Aeroscraft, which was developed mainly for cargo transport. Aeroscraft has also found its large-scale application in delivering supplies for disaster relief to small-scale applications like picking fresh fruits and vegetables in the fields of California's Central Valley for an overnight delivery to New York City's restaurants.
Airbus
In the hybrid aircraft market, one of Airbus's latest development is E-mobility, which aims at producing silent and CO2-free flight. Airbus's E-Fan is a key element in the Airbus Group's electric aircraft roadmap. With its technological breakthroughs and tie up with Siemens, Airbus is expected to manufacture passenger aircraft by 2030 with below 100 seats that could be propelled by hybrid propulsion systems.
Boeing
Boeing is focused on making airplanes that are sustainable in the long run and are more environmentally friendly. They mainly involve electric planes or aircraft using biofuels as an energy source. Boeing aims to reduce fuel burn, nitrous oxide emissions, greenhouse gases, noise, and field length. It also aims at making Canada its hub for aviation biofuels.
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV)
HAV focuses on creating a new mode of air transport that will offer major improvements in operating cost, safety, environmental impact, and operational flexibility. HAV combines LTA technology with helicoptersand airplanes. HAV's hybrid airships use aerodynamics and LTA technology to generate lift and potentially allow the vehicle to hover for several weeks.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin engages in the production, supply, and R&D of advanced technology systems, products, and services to global defense and aerospace industries. Lockheed Martin's hybrid airship aims to provide support to a wide range of activities in areas with little or no infrastructure. The company clearly indicates its plans to employ aviation solutions to access remote locations. It also directs its efforts to address the challenge of environmental sustainability through its hybrid designs.
Browse Related Reports:
Global Maritime Patrol Aircraft Market 2017-2021
Global Military Aircraft Modernization and Upgrade and Retrofit Market 2017-2021
Global Commercial Aircraft Avionic Systems Market 2017-2021
Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like homeland securitydefense, and space. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.
About Technavio
Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.
Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.
If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005043/en/
Contacts:
Technavio Research
Jesse Maida
Media Marketing Executive
US: +1 630 333 9501
UK: +44 208 123 1770
www.technavio.com
Ekium has obtained the Adents 'Solution Partners' certification to market and deploy Adents' turnkey serialization solution
Ekium, a major player in engineering and integration, has received the Solution Partners certificationfrom Adents, a developer of identification and traceability software. Throughout France, Ekium will market and integrate turnkey offerings consisting of Adents serialization software solutions in conjunction with Ekium's network of qualified machine partners.
To strengthen the security of distribution networks and combat the spread of counterfeit medicine, approximately 40 countries around the world have established regulations requiring the identification of each medicine box with a unique serial number.
By 2020, more than 90% of the medicines prescribed worldwide will need to be serialized. This presents challenges for pharmaceutical laboratories and manufacturers to comply with various track and trace deadlines. For the European market, per EU Directive 2016/161, serialization will be mandatory beginning 9 February 2019.
European regulations, which also impose an anti-tampering element, have added to the characteristics inherent in each country, affecting major changes in production line operating procedures. Industry players, anxious to maintain current productivity levels are increasingly seeking out technical experts to assist them with meeting compliance without negatively impacting productivity.
From an early stage, Ekium understood that serialization was not simply a "machine" problem, but that it was also necessary to handle the complex management of serial numbers via flexible software capable of evolving in a rolling, progressively stringent regulatory environment. This is why Ekium was among the first integrators to join the Adents Solution Partners certification program, which allows integrators to increase their level of skills in the marketing and deployment of Adents software solutions.
According to Laurent Perrin, CEO of Ekium: "The implementation of serialization within the required timeframe requires a quick and easy-to-install solution. We were impressed with the Adents software solution owing to its configuration speed at site level and ability to easily adapt to new regulations. The positive feedback from our clients regarding the projects in progress confirmed that we had made the right choice."
Cyril Chantrier, Adents Solution Partners Director, added: "We are very happy to have Ekium, a member of the Siemens integrators network, as one of our leading certified partners. Ekium has extensive experience in engineering in the pharmaceutical industry as a result of projects carried out for Galderma, BioMerieux, Ipsen, Sanofi, Virbac and Valdepharm. Moreover, its national reach allows it to be reactive in the management, realization and maintenance of multi-site serialization projects."
About Adents :
Adents is a leading software company providing solutions for unique product identification and traceability to help Marketing Authorization Holders (MAHs) and Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) adapt to market changes and comply with regulations on drug traceability.
Adents Seriza, a serialization solution for manufacturing sites, selected as preferred solution by Siemens for its customers
Adents Prodigi, a Cloud solution jointly developed with Microsoft and empowered by Azure technologies, allows for secure data exchange and helps leverage the power of serialization data.
Adents operates globally with offices in Europe and in the United States as well as with a global network of solution partners.
For more info, visit www.adents.com
The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302006018/en/
Contacts:
Press contact France:
Adents
Laurence Zeeraerd, +33 6 15 90 86 22
presse@adents.com
www.adents.com
Meta-Analysis Shows Superiority Compared to Other Imaging Modalities
Regulatory News:
Mauna Kea Technologies (Paris:MKEA) (Euronext: MKEA, OTCQX: MKEAY) inventor of Cellvizio, the multidisciplinary confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) platform, today announced a new peer-reviewed publication from the Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium1 highlighting the excellent results utilizing Cellvizio in improving diagnostic yield in gastric cancer, including the need for two-thirds fewer biopsies to confirm the presence of disease. The publication includes a meta-analysis of studies utilizing CLE with Cellvizio in gastric diseases, demonstrating superior results compared to conventional imaging modalities also evaluated in the study, including chromoendoscopy and narrow band imaging.
Sacha Loiseau, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mauna Kea Technologies, said, "This publication highlights a compelling opportunity to utilize Cellvizio to reduce uncertainties in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients with gastric cancer and disease. It clearly demonstrates the improved diagnostic performances, both in terms of identifying disease and guiding biopsies, when utilizing CLE in gastric cancer as compared to standard imaging technologies. Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide and is the most prevalent cancer in the Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to raising awareness of these powerful results and to expanding Cellvizio adoption to benefit more patients around the world."
Key data from the meta-analysis performed on CLE and gastric diseases include:
85% sensitivity and 99% specificity in detecting and diagnosing polyps and neoplastic lesions
94% sensitivity and 95% specificity in detecting and diagnosing gastritis and gastric metaplasia
86% sensitivity and 93% specificity in detecting and diagnosing H. pylori-related gastritis
In this same paper, the authors reminded their local experience resulting in following results:
Two-third fewer biopsies required to confirm gastric intestinal metaplasia compared to conventional imaging
Higher diagnostic yield of 65.7% for gastric intestinal metaplasia, compared to 15.7% with conventional imaging (p<0.001)
Almost one million new cases of stomach cancer were estimated to have occurred in 2012, making it the fifth most common malignancy in the world, after cancers of the lung, breast, colorectum and prostate. Half the world total occurs in Eastern Asia (mainly in China). Stomach cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in both sexes worldwide (723,000 deaths, 8.8% of the total). The highest estimated mortality rates are in Eastern Asia (24 per 100,000 in men, 9.8 per 100,000 in women)2
In their summary table, the authors considered CLE as a mature technology and not necessitating additional clinical evidence in this application, and highlighted the importance of adequate training for accurate CLE diagnosis.
About Mauna Kea Technologies
Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company focused on eliminating uncertainties related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases thanks to real time in vivo microscopic visualization. The Company's flagship product, Cellvizio, has received clearance to sell a wide range of applications in more than 40 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. For more information on Mauna Kea Technologies, visit www.maunakeatech.com
1 Publication by JWJ Lee, LG Lim and KG Yeoh. Advanced endoscopic imaging in gastric neoplasia and preneoplasia, BMJ Open Gastro, 2017
2 World Health Organization, Globocan 2012: http://globocan.iarc.fr/old/FactSheets/cancers/stomach-new.asp
Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Mauna Kea Technologies and its activities. Such forward looking statements are based on assumptions that Mauna Kea Technologies considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the anticipated events contained in such forward-looking statements will occur. Forward- looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties including the risks set forth in the registration document of Mauna Kea Technologies registered by the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des marches financiers (AMF)) on June 13, 2016 under number R.16-054 and available on the Company's website (www.maunakeatech.com), and to the development of economic situation, financial markets, and the markets in which Mauna Kea Technologies operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to risks unknown to Mauna Kea Technologies or that Mauna Kea Technologies does not consider material at this time. The realization of all or part of these risks could lead to actual results, financial conditions, performances or achievements by Mauna Kea Technologies that differ significantly from the results, financial conditions, performances or achievements expressed in such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or to subscribe for, or a solicitation of an order to purchase or subscribe for, Mauna Kea Technologies shares in any country.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302006042/en/
Contacts:
Mauna Kea Technologies
Benoit Jacheet
CFO
investors@maunakeatech.com
or
United States
The Ruth Group
Zack Kubow Lee Roth, 646-536-7020 7012
zkubow@theruthgroup.com
lroth@theruthgroup.com
or
U.S. Media
The Ruth Group
Kirsten Thomas, 508-280-6592
kthomas@theruthgroup.com
or
France and Europe
NewCap Investor Relations
Florent Alba, +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94
maunakea@newcap.fr
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The Senate voted 58 to 41 in favor of Carson's nomination, with the vote largely coming down along party lines. Just six Democrats and Independent Senator Angus King, I-Maine, joined Republicans in voting to confirm Carson, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. Republicans have praised Carson for his inspiring life story, noting that he defied the odds to become a renowned surgeon despite growing up in poverty. Meanwhile, Democrats raised concerns about Carson's lack of lack of housing policy experience as well as his conservative views on public assistance. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, one of the few Democrats to vote to confirm Carson, said he would give Carson the benefit of the doubt because of commitments he has made. 'These include his promises to address the scourge of lead hazards that threaten the health and futures of children in Ohio and nationwide,' said Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. He added, 'Let me be clear: I will do everything in my power to hold Dr. Carson accountable for making good on his promises.' The vote to approve Carson's nomination comes after the Senate voted to confirm Wilbur Ross as Commerce Secretary and Ryan Zinke as Interior Secretary earlier this week. Following the vote to confirm Carson, the Senate voted 62 to 37 to limit debate on the nomination of former Texas Governor Rick Perry as Energy Secretary. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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Technavio's latest market research report on the global liquid detergent market provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005053/en/
Technavio has published a new report on the global liquid detergent market from 2017-2021. (Photo: Business Wire)
Arushi Thakur, an industry expert from Technavio, specializing in research on cosmetics and toiletry sector says, "The increasing awareness about the advantages of using liquid detergents and steadily rising disposable incomes are leading to high penetration of liquid detergents in households globally. Vendors are experimenting with fragrances, natural ingredients, and other ways to improve the effectiveness of their products."
Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=55619
Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.
The top three emerging market trends driving the global liquid detergentmarket according to Technavio consumer and retail research analysts are:
Marketing initiatives
Introduction of liquid laundry detergent pods
Growth in online retail for personal care products
Marketing initiatives
While vendors in the market continue to invest in regular marketing activities, they are also focusing on strategies to attract regional customers. In APAC, vendors are using push marketing strategy by making consumers aware about their products to increase their penetration rates in households. One of the ways they do this is through the distribution of free samples of products to make consumers try their products. For example, Unilever distributes free samples of its Surf liquid detergent sachets to encourage consumers to try their products. The boom in organized retail in key countries in the APAC region has helped vendors in utilizing point-of-sale promotions by having a specific counter and dedicated sales staff to promote their products.
"In developed countries like the US, vendors are using the product-bundling strategy, offering price discounts on the purchase of a bundle of a brand's different product lines of laundry care products, which includes detergent, fabric conditioner, and stain removers," says Arushi.
Introduction of liquid laundry detergent pods
The introduction of liquid laundry pods by the leading players has had a great impact in the global market. The laundry pod is a one-stop solution, and the benefits offered by the pods are superior to liquid or powder detergents sold in packages; these liquid detergent pods are convenient to use and are compatible with every kind of washing machine. Though there have been some concerns regarding children's exposure to pods in the US, the trend is not likely to decline soon. Manufacturers have already taken protective measures such as changing the product packaging to protect children. Operating detergent pods in the market are from brands such as Tide (P&G), Arm & Hammer (Church Dwight), and Purex (Henkel).
Growth in online retail for personal care products
E-retailing is the fastest-growing distribution channel in the global liquid detergent market. The revenue generated from online retailing of personal care products is expected to reach USD 3 trillion by 2020. The biggest players in the online retail market for liquid detergents are Amazon, Walgreens, and Target. The growing number of online websites that offer a wide range of liquid detergent products has increased the demand for these products, especially among working parents who seek easy accessibility and convenience. The e-retailing of various products, including liquid detergent, is gaining popularity primarily because of it being a time-saving and cost-effective process of purchasing products.
Browse Related Reports:
Global Liquid Detergent Chemicals Market 2016-2020
Global Baby Laundry Detergent Market 2016-2020
Global Flavors and Fragrances Market 2016-2020
Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like pet suppliesretail systems, and toys and baby products. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.
About Technavio
Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.
Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.
If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005053/en/
Contacts:
Technavio Research
Jesse Maida
Media Marketing Executive
US: +1 630 333 9501
UK: +44 208 123 1770
www.technavio.com
Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with seven hospitals (Baptist Hospital, Baptist Children's Hospital, Doctors Hospital, Homestead Hospital, Mariners Hospital, South Miami Hospital and West Kendall Baptist Hospital), nearly 50 outpatient and urgent care facilities, Baptist Health Medical Group, Baptist Health Quality Network and internationally renowned centers of excellence. The not-for-profit, faith-based Baptist Health has approximately 16,000 employees and 2,300 affiliated physicians. Baptist Health South Florida has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net and connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/BaptistHealthSF and on Twitter and Instagram @BaptistHealthSF.
About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG) (AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 71,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.
Note: For additional media assets including photos and video, visit newsroom.baptisthealth.net/heart
Contact:
Georgi Morales Pipkin
georgip@baptisthealth.net
786-596-6534
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Financial Inc. (IGM) (TSX: IGM) today reported preliminary total mutual fund net new money in February of $533.3 million as shown in Table 1. Total assets under management were $145.0 billion at February 28, 2017, compared with $141.7 billion at January 31, 2017 and $129.0 billion at February 29, 2016. Mutual fund assets under management were $140.1 billion at February 28, 2017, compared with $137.0 billion at January 31, 2017 and $123.1 billion at February 29, 2016. Assets under management are shown in Table 2.
Table 1 - Mutual Funds Net New Money(i) Month ended February 28, 2017 Investors IGM ($ millions) (unaudited) Group Mackenzie Counsel Financial ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ All Mutual Funds Gross Sales $1,071.8 $1,268.0(1) $68.5 $2,408.3 Net New Money $450.8 $73.6(1) $8.9 $533.3 Long Term Mutual Funds Gross Sales $965.6 $1,231.4 $65.5 $2,262.5 Net New Money $402.6 $64.9 $6.7 $474.2
(i)Mutual Fund Net New Money is defined as Gross Sales less Gross Redemptions and is consistent with the terminology used by The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).
(1) During February 2017, a third party program which includes Mackenzie mutual funds made fund allocation changes which resulted in gross sales of $313.0 million, redemptions of $472.5 million and net redemptions of $159.5 million. Table 2 - Assets under Management February January February % Change % Change ($ billions) (unaudited) 2017 2017 2016 Last Month YOY -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Total Assets under Management(2) $145.02 $141.74 $129.01 2.3 12.4 Mutual Fund Assets under Management $140.12 $136.98 $123.14 2.3 13.8 Investors Group Mutual Funds $83.05 $81.31 $72.92 2.1 13.9 Mackenzie Mutual Funds $52.49 $51.19 $46.14 2.5 13.8 Sub-advisory, institutional and other(3) $13.06 $12.72 $12.81 2.7 2.0 -------------------------------------------------- Total Mackenzie $65.55 $63.91 $58.95 2.6 11.2 -------------------------------------------------- Counsel Mutual Funds $4.59 $4.48 $4.09 2.5 12.2 (2) Excludes assets managed by Mackenzie on behalf of Investors Group and Investment Planning Counsel. These assets had a value of $8.2 billion at February 28, 2017 ($8.0 billion at January 31, 2017 and $6.9 billion at February 29, 2016). (3) Includes exchange traded fund ("ETF") assets managed by Mackenzie of $200.7 million as at February 28, 2017 and $177.2 million at January 31, 2017. ETF assets include investments from Mackenzie mutual funds of $62.4 million as at February 28, 2017 and $57.6 million as at January 31, 2017.
Preliminary average mutual fund assets under management and average total assets under management for the quarter to date are set out in Table 3.
Table 3 - Average Assets under Management(4) ($ billions) (unaudited) Quarter to Date --------------- --------------- Total Average Assets under Management(5) $143.24 Mutual Fund Average Assets under Management $138.43 Investors Group Mutual Funds $82.13 Mackenzie Mutual Funds $51.78 Sub-advisory, institutional and other $12.83 --------------- Total Mackenzie $64.61 --------------- Counsel Mutual Funds $4.53 (4) Based on daily average mutual fund assets and month-end average institutional, sub-advisory and other assets. (5) Excludes average assets of $8.0 billion managed by Mackenzie on behalf of Investors Group and Investment Planning Counsel.
IGM Financial Inc. is one of Canada's premier personal financial services companies, and one of the country's largest managers and distributors of mutual funds and other managed asset products, with approximately $145 billion in total assets under management. Its activities are carried out principally through Investors Group's network of Consultants located across Canada, Mackenzie Financial Corporation's network of third-party financial advisors and Investment Planning Counsel's network of financial planners dedicated to serving the needs of their clients.
A MEMBER OF THE POWER FINANCIAL CORPORATION GROUP OF COMPANIES.
Contacts:
Media Relations:
Ron Arnst
204-956-3364
ron.arnst@igmfinancial.com
Investor Relations:
Paul Hancock
204-956-8103
investor.relations@igmfinancial.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an early draft of a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare was leaked to the media, House Republicans are said to be keeping a new draft of the bill under lock and key in secure location.
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ken., went in search of the bill on Thursday but was prevented from obtaining a copy of the legislation.
'I said I liked to get a copy and they said no go. She wouldn't tell us anything really,' Paul said in an interview with Politico after an exchange with a staffer. 'Even if I were allowed to look at it, which it didn't look like I was, how is that democracy?'
'It's literally illegal in my state to do that,' he added. 'You can understand for national security why we do it. But for goodness sakes, for a healthcare bill? It's crazy.'
Republican aides told Politico they believed the room on the first floor of the Capitol is being used for members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to read the bill.
Paul suggested in a separate interview with the New York Daily News that House Republicans are keeping the bill a secret because it is 'Obamacare-lite.'
However, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., denied reports that his committee is doing anything other than the regular process of keeping its members up to speed on the latest developments in its jurisdictions.
'We are continuing to work on drafting and refining legislative language to provide relief from a failing law,' Walden said in a statement.
He added, 'Part of that process is giving committee members and staff the opportunity to work closely together to draft a bill that reflects the concerns of our constituents and reflects our mandate from voters to repeal and replace Obamacare.'
The latest developments reflect the difficulty Republicans may have in crafting an Obamacare replacement bill that can garner support from the different wings of the party.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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NEW YORK, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- J.F. Lehman & Company, a leading middle-market private equity firm focused on the aerospace, maritime and defense industries, has completed fundraising for JFL Equity Investors IV, L.P. and affiliated investment vehicles ("JFL IV"). The partnerships were oversubscribed and closed on commitments of $833 million, reaching JFL IV's hard cap and exceeding its target of $700 million due to strong support from existing investors and demand from new clients.
Capital commitments were secured from a diversified group of more than four dozen institutions based in North America and Europe. Investors include leading public and private pension funds, insurance companies, fund-of-funds, family offices, endowments and foundations. Additional commitments were provided by members of J.F. Lehman & Company's Operating Executive Board, individual investors and the firm's general partners.
"The successful marketing of JFL IV represents a key milestone for our organization, and we are grateful for the strong support and confidence received from the institutional investor community," said Louis N. Mintz, Partner. "The demand for JFL IV clearly reflects the success of our dedicated, sector-focused strategy and strength of our team."
For the entirety of its 25-year history, J.F. Lehman & Company has focused exclusively on the aerospace, maritime and defense industries and the technologies that originate from them. Consistent with the firm's historical investment program, JFL IV will focus on control ownership positions in leveraged acquisitions of high quality companies in the firm's target industries that are headquartered in the United States and United Kingdom.
The firm's previous private equity vehicles include the 2011-vintage JFL Fund III with commitments of $575 million, JFL Fund II ($335 million) and JFL Fund I ($130 million).
Stanwich Advisors, LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor and placement agent for the offering and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP provided legal counsel for the formation of the funds.
About J.F. Lehman & Company, Inc.
Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman & Company is a leading middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors. The firm has offices in New York and Washington, D.C.
For more information about J.F. Lehman & Company, please visit www.jflpartners.com.
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2017) - RT Minerals Corp. (TSXV: RTM) (the "Company") announces that it has more than doubled the size of its 100% owned Ballard Lake gold and diamond property located approximately 50 kilometres northeast of Wawa, Ontario, through new staking. At the recommendation of the Company's geologist, Kevin Kivi, P.Geo., the Company has staked an additional 1,257 units to increase the property's size to 36,155 hectares (361 km2).
Additional staking was required to cover areas of anomalous kimberlite indicator minerals in till amongst Keating Magnetic Correlation Coefficient anomalies identified by the Geological Survey of Canada when compiling regional magnetics in the area. A Keating Coefficient highlights a magnetic response that resembles a modelled kimberlite pipe.
The new claims are subject to a 2% net smelter royalty, with 1% buyback for $1,000,000, as staking is contiguous and surrounds the original property.
Kevin Kivi, P.Geo., QP for the Company's Ballard Lake property, has explored for diamonds and gold in Canada since 1983, and approves the technical content of this press release.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Paul Antoniazzi
President and Chief Executive Officer
RT Minerals Corp.
Telephone: 604-681-3170
Fax: 604-681-3552
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relating to the Company's exploration activities, project expenditures and business plans are approximate and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities legislation. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements represent management's best judgment based on current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable, including that operating and capital plans will not be disrupted by issues such as adverse market conditions, mechanical failure, unavailability of parts, labor disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, or adverse weather conditions, that there are no material unanticipated variations in budgeted costs, that contractors will complete projects according to schedule, and that actual mineralization on properties may not achieve any category of resource(s). The Company makes no representation that reasonable business people in possession of the same information would reach the same conclusions. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, fluctuations in the price of gold, equity markets or in currency markets could prevent the Company from achieving its targets. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There is no guarantee that drill results reported in this news release or future releases will lead to the identification of a deposit that can be mined economically, and further work is required to identify resources and reserves. We seek safe harbour.
Marel's Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held at the company's headquarters in Gardabaer, Iceland, on March 2, 2017. All proposals presented by the Board were approved by the meeting.
Chairman's address
Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir, Chairman of Marel's Board of Directors addressed the meeting. "2016 was yet another good year for Marel. It was a year of strategic growth and a further strengthening of our foundations. Amidst significant shifts in the world's geopolitical landscape - resulting in both political and economic uncertainty - the strategic drivers in our industry remained intact. The immense social challenge of how to feed the world's population in the future continues to present Marel with opportunities for sustainable value creation by advancing the way food is processed," she said.
The chairman presented the proposal to pay out dividend, corresponding to 20% of net profits for the operational year 2016. "The Board of Directors is pleased to propose to the Annual General Meeting today that a dividend of 15.3 million is paid to shareholders, corresponding to 20% of net profits. This is fully in line with our dividend policy" she said. In addition, the Board of Directors has authorized management to purchase own shares in 2017 for up to a value of 15 million to be used as payment for potential future acquisitions, she said.
Asthildur also talked about the challenges that face Marel, consumers and companies worldwide today. "During the year, significant progress was made in developing and executing a formal approach to Marel's corporate social responsibility. Guiding principles for the approach to people, the planet and profit were introduced throughout the organization and Marel became a signatory to the UN's Global Compact" she said.
CEO's address
"2016 was a great year for Marel and we are at the center point of prevailing trends which are driving global economic development. Our vision and strategy are clear and we are in the position to advance food processing at a global level" said Arni Oddur Thordarson, CEO of Marel, in his address to the company's AGM.
Arni Oddur Thordarson talked about Marel's growth story, a story filled with strategic acquisitions and strong organic growth. He took the audience back to the year 2005, when Marel's revenue was 129 million and EBIT 10 million and when Marel's main focus was on the fish industry. That same year a growth strategy of becoming a global leader and a full line provider to the poultry, meat and fish industries was introduced. Arni then went through the several strategic acquisitions that later took place, the latest one being MPS Meat processing systems in January 2016. "Marel acquired MPS without issuing new shares and managed to stay within targeted capital structure of between x2-3 net debt/EBITDA. Net leverage was at x2.9 net debt/EBITDA after the acquisition and solid operational performance and strong cash flow has now driven it down to x2.25". Since 2006, Marel's revenue has grown around 20% per year on average, one-third through organic growth and two-thirds through acquisitions. This has brought Marel to its current situation; global leader in providing advanced equipment and services for the poultry, meat and fish industries with pro forma revenue close to 1 billion and 143 million in EBIT.
Arni Oddur then covered the business and financial highlights of the year 2016.
"Pro forma revenue was 983 million, compared to 819 million in the previous year for Marel stand alone. We have gradually increased the operational performance in recent years and delivered a solid operational performance with 14.6% EBIT in 2016. Earnings per share increased by 34% between years due to an improved operational performance and a better utilization of the balance sheet" he added.
Throughout the year, the modernization and maintenance business remained strong while we saw some softness in the greenfield and expansion projects at the beginning of the year. However, in Q4 we saw the order intake at an all-time high with landmark projects secured for the poultry, meat and fish industries around the globe, resulting in a strong order book entering 2017. These greenfield projects will now go into engineering phase and will start to deliver revenue in Q2 2017 and onwards. Our product portfolio is strong and we introduced several revolutionary products to the market in 2016," he added. Significant investments were also made in advancing Marel's business, upgrading manufacturing equipment as well as improving facilities and IT platforms.
Arni talked about Marel's business model that consists of three main revenue streams;Greenfields, modernization and standard equipment and service and spare parts. Recurring revenue from service and spare parts are now 36% of total revenue, compared with 7% in 2005. "Our greenfield projects are Marel's future revenue as they continue to deliver recurring service revenue and modernization revenue going forward".
Finally Arni Oddur introduced Marel's outlook and strategy. Marel is targeting 12% average annual revenue growth in the next 10 years. Marel's management expects 4-6% average market growth in the long term and the target continues to be set at growing faster than the market organically driven by innovation and market penetration. Strong financials and an experienced and united team make Marel well equipped to take on further growth through strategic acquisitions. By maintaining solid operational performance and strong cash flow a 5-7% annual revenue growth by acquisition can be pursued. Organic and acquisition growth will not be linear but based on opportunities, economic fluctuations and general economic conditions. "We are firmly committed to delivering increased value to the society, customers and shareholders by enhancing safe and sustainable food processing. We will continue to drive the growth forward with passion and discipline," he added.
Confirmation of annual accounts
The company's Consolidated Financial Statements and the Report of the Board of Directors and CEO were approved by the meeting. All proposals presented were approved by the meeting.
Board of Directors
All seven directors on the Board of Marel were re-elected unanimously. The board consists of: Astvaldur Johannsson, Olafur Gudmundsson, Arnar Thor Masson, Ann Elizabeth Savage, Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir, Helgi Magnusson and Margret Jonsdottir.
The new Board of Directors has convened and assigned roles and responsibilities. Asthildur Margret Otharsdottir continues as Chairman of the Board and Arnar Thor Masson, as the Vice-Chairman of the Board.
More information is available on Marel.com.
More information about the Annual General meeting is available on Marel.com as well as the information page for the AGM at http://www.marel.com/agm.
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Superpower-like Speed and Senses Come Together with 5G to Make the Autonomous Experience Possible
The following is an opinion editorial provided by Kathy Winter, vice president and general manager of the Automated Driving Division at Intel Corporation:
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302006194/en/
Kathy Winter is vice president and general manager of the Automated Driving Division at Intel Corporation. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
As the mom of four boys, I have spent countless hours hearing about "superheroes" and their awe-inspiring "superpowers." Each son had his favorite over the years, and often dinner-table conversation turned into a debate about which superhero was the most powerful. My boys kept me busy, and I would often tell them I had a few superpowers of my own like the ability to "run faster than a speeding bullet" when I could see them getting into trouble, or a "spidey sense" that would give me clues as to what they were up to even when I wasn't with them.
When 5G arrives, we will all get the chance to experience something akin to the superpowers we chatted about when my boys were little. It will bring to our autonomous driving world superpower-like connectivity, giving cars a near-instant advantage of time and information kind of like a "sixth sense." It will allow lightning-fast communication between cars and networks and the "things" around them, which makes it possible to detect what's coming around that next corner, or miles up the road. It will have "pipes" big enough to handle the massive amount of data that autonomous vehicles will use on a daily basis.
Press Kit: Autonomous Driving at Intel
As the leader of Intel's Automated Driving Solutions Division, I'm often asked two questions about 5G for autonomous driving: Why are you talking about 5G now when it's so far off? And, more skeptically, what's wrong with the communication technologies we're deploying today, such as DSRC and 4G LTE? I'll start with that second question because I think the answer is important to understanding how the autonomous experience is enabled. Plus the answer to that second question also helps answer the first.
Autonomous cars will need two things to operate safely: ultra-fast communication between nearby cars, things and the cloud, and near real-time data about their surroundings. Both DSRC and 4G LTE are fast. Both provide the connections to other vehicles and nearby things. But neither technology was designed for transmitting big data files really quickly. And both technologies experience a modest amount of latency, which may seem "good enough" but becomes a problem when your autonomous car is platooning with 100 other vehicles at 80 mph down the highway.
But big data files are reason enough to align autonomous driving to 5G. Let's face it, self-driving cars will consume data voraciously specifically high-definition 3D maps that will help them navigate safely. And no vehicle will have the storage capacity for all the world's maps. They'll need pieces of them relative to their immediate location like the metropolitan area where they travel daily, or the freeway system and nearby roads connecting two cities. No communications technology can handle the transfer of these big files we're talking terabytes of data. Only 5G mmWave spectrum provides the speed and bandwidth to allow quick transfer of big data files during opportunistic moments, such as when stopped at a gas station. When 5G networks are deployed, we expect much of this data to be available through edge devices, such as cellular base stations. Intel and Ericsson demonstrated how this works at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
Which brings me back to that first question: Why 5G now? For the simple reason that the work we're doing today won't manifest itself for a few years. Carmakers are making design decisions today for the autonomous vehicles that they'll deliver in 2021. With 5G expected in that same timeframe, they need to include 5G in their design plans now in order for those cars to be ready when 5G is turned on. There's a lot of work to do between now and then as far as standards, infrastructure and more. But the short of it is that 5G and autonomous vehicles must arrive together, which means planning for that arrival date today.
And Intel is doing just that. We were first to deliver a 5G automotive platform to enable carmakers to start developing their autonomous driving systems. We were the first to demonstrate live 5G over-the-air communications between the car and nearby edge devices. And we'll lead the industry to an on-time arrival of 5G and self-driving cars in 2021.
Kathy Winter is vice president and general manager of the Automated Driving Solutions Division at Intel Corporation. She joined Intel in 2016 from Delphi, where she engineered the first cross-country drive of a fully autonomous vehicle. This is the second in an occasional series of Intel newsroom editorials related to autonomous driving. To comment or reach Kathy directly, email autonomousdriving@intel.com
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302006194/en/
Contacts:
Intel Corporation
Kathy Winter
autonomousdriving@intel.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - BCBG Max Azria Group has filed for bankruptcy protection, as the fashion apparel retailer struggles to keep up with changing trends in the fashion industry. The Los Angeles company is the latest apparel giant to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after American Apparel and Nasty Gal. According to market experts, BCBG failed to keep up with the changing trends in clothing industry with shoppers now preferring to shop online as well as fast-fashion rivals that supply latest fashion clothes at a low price. BCBG is an acronym for the French phrase 'bon chic, bon genre,' meaning 'good style, good attitude.' 'Like many other apparel and retail companies, BCBG has fallen victim in recent years to adverse macro trends, including a general shift away from brick-and-mortar to online retail channels, a shift in consumer demographics away from branded apparel,' Chief Restructuring Officer Holly Felder Etlin said according to Bloomberg. The company plans to auction itself at a court-supervised auction in May or a debt-for-equity swap with its junior lenders who are owed $289.4 million. Some lenders have agreed to loan the company $45 million to help it get through bankruptcy. As part of its restructuring process, the company earlier this year closed 120 U.S. stores. BCBG is also beginning to close free-standing stores in Canada and consolidating operations in Europe and Japan. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/02/17 -- Sphinx Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: SFX)
NOTE TO READER - This press release has been refiled to correct the amount of the finder's fee which was initially and by inadvertence listed as $60,992 to $66,578, as well as the amount of the non-transferable finders Warrants which was initially listed as 918,528 to 1,011,628. The amount of the finders' fee payable to Haywood was also and consequently revised from $50,702 to $56,288. There are no other changes to the news release that was previously filed on February 28, 2017. This version of the new release includes the foregoing revisions and replaces the previous filing.
Sphinx Resources Ltd. ("Sphinx" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: SFX) announces that it has closed a non-brokered hard dollar private placement (the "Private Placement") for aggregate gross proceeds of $ 1,402,810, including $ 804,110 from subscribers identified by Haywood Securities Inc. ("Haywood") and $ 400,400 from four Quebec-based institutional funds:
-- Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec ("CDPQ") ($ 150,000); -- Capital croissance PME II, s.e.c. ("CCPME") ($ 100,200); -- Societe de developpement de la Baie-James ("SDBJ") ($ 100,200): and -- Societe d'investissement dans la diversification de l'exploration ("SIDEX") ($ 50,000).
The Private Placement was comprised of 23,380,165 units of the Corporation at a price of $0.06 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Corporation and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at a price of $0.09 per common share until February 28, 2020. The securities of the Corporation to be issued pursuant to the Private Placement are subject to a four-month hold period expiring June 29, 2017. Management and one director of the Corporation subscribed for an amount of $15,300 of the Private Placement.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to fund the Corporation's precious metals exploration projects (Cheechoo-Eleonore Trend and Chemin Troilus in Eeyou Istchee James Bay and Green Palladium in the Pontiac regional municipal county in southwestern Quebec) and for general working capital purposes. Funding for drilling the Calumet-Sud zinc project (next to the Green Palladium project) will be provided solely by SOQUEM, Sphinx's partner on that project. SOQUEM can acquire a 50% interest in the Project by carrying out exploration work totaling $450,000. The Private Placement has been conditionally accepted by the TSX Venture Exchange.
"We would like to thank Haywood, Quebec institutions, and our existing and new shareholders for their support. We are enthusiastic about the upcoming drilling programs on three separate projects: Calumet-Sud for zinc, Green Palladium for palladium and Chemin Troilus for gold, and look forward to a steady flow of news for the balance of 2017." stated Normand Champigny, President and CEO.
In connection with the Private Placement, the Corporation has agreed to pay to certain finders a finder's fee of up to 7% in cash, representing an aggregate amount of up to $66,992 and will issue 1,011,628 non-transferable finders Warrants, each such entitling the finder to acquire one common share at a price of $0.09 per common share for a period of three years from the date of grant. This amount includes finders' fees of $56,288 paid to Haywood.
CDPQ is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2016, it held $ 270.7 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. Through its CDPQ Sodemex mining portfolio, la Caisse contributes to the development of Quebec's mining industry by acquiring interests in junior mining companies and mining producers active in Quebec.
CCPME is a fund jointly set up by CDPQ and by Capital Regional et Cooperatif Desjardins for the purpose of supporting the economic development of Quebec businesses and encouraging their growth. Desjardins Venture Capital Inc. acts as the manager of CCPME.
SDBJ was created in 1971 by the James Bay Region Development Act. The SDBJ's mission is to promote the James Bay territory's economic development and the development and use of its natural resources, other than hydroelectric resources, which are Hydro-Quebec's responsibility, from a sustainable development perspective. It can also generate, support and participate in projects for these purposes. www.sdbj.gouv.qc.ca
SIDEX was established in 2001 by the Government of Quebec and the Fonds de solidarite des travailleurs du Quebec (F.T.Q.). The mission of SIDEX is to invest in mineral exploration companies working in Quebec to diversify Quebec's mineral base. SIDEX encourages companies to explore for new substances, to use new metallogenic models and to open new territories. SIDEX also helps to promote entrepreneurship and innovation.
About Sphinx
Sphinx is engaged in the generation and acquisition of exploration projects in Quebec, Canada which is recognized as an attractive mining jurisdiction worldwide. The Corporation has 83.9 million shares outstanding, including 12% held by insiders and 20% by Quebec institutions.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and activities to vary materially from targeted results and planning. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in Sphinx's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by Sphinx from time to time with securities regulatory authorities.
Contacts:
Normand Champigny
President and Chief Executive Officer
514.979.4746
info@sphinxresources.ca
www.sphinxresources.ca
For some people, the term predator control means killing mountain lions and coyotes in order to protect big game animals. For others it means hiring biologists to do studies concluding that every time you kill one predator, two will appear in its place.
No matter what we say or write about the issue, we are sure to anger a large number of people who are very passionate about wildlife. The debate has divided Nevadans, and has become the subject of a back-and-forth battle in the Legislature.
It all started at the turn of the millennium when hunters came up with the idea of adding a $3 predator control fee to Nevada Department of Wildlife big game tag applications. Their intent was to give the balance of nature a helping hand by killing predators, thus improving the chances of survival for deer and other big-game animals.
Over the years, NDOW started spending some of the money on studies focused on non-lethal control methods. Groups like WildEarth Guardians sued to block lethal operations.
In the GOP-dominated 2015 legislative session, rural lawmakers were able to pass a bill mandating that the bulk of funds be used to kill predators. When the balance of power shifted this year to Democrat control, one of the first contentious bills they pursued was a reversal of that legislation.
Introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle of Sparks, apparently at the request of NDOW, the language calling for control of predatory wildlife would be changed to the enhancement of big game animals. The new version states that federal matching funds are available under this approach, but local hunters say those funds have always been available and used.
Assemblyman John Ellison cried foul last week when the bill was fast-tracked for quick passage, without setting up a videoconference in Elko the heart of Nevadas big game country.
The bill was set for a workshop two days later, which was videoconferenced to Great Basin College in Elko and to Las Vegas. Hunters who opposed the bill say they didnt show up, either because they werent informed about it, they were told earlier that they couldnt participate; or they were already watching the workshop via the internet. They wouldnt have been allowed to comment at a workshop anyway, which follows different procedures than the hearing they were excluded from earlier.
Make no mistake, a large number of local hunters are really disturbed by this turn of events. They care deeply about northeastern Nevadas big game populations and they believe that lethal methods of predator control are necessary to protect them.
Ellison was pleased with the participation from Elko County, including the number of emails, but said There was only one person that showed up at the college because they couldnt get the word out fast enough.
Interest was also high in Las Vegas.
Mike Reese, president of the Southern Nevada Coalition for Wildlife, said his groups website got 10,000 hits in response to the predator legislation update.
AB 101 is a bait and switch bill, meaning the hunters approved paying the $3 fee and now that fee is going to something else, which is typical with government, he told the Free Press.
According to Reese, the bills sponsor went on record four times saying NDOW could still use lethal control but then struck that from the statute.
Northeastern Nevada hunters are so perturbed by this turn of events that they are starting their own wildlife coalition.
The dispute has hunters questioning the motives of NDOW.
They want to take this money and take it away from what the intent was, Ellison said, criticizing NDOW for how it has been spent. He says when predator control drops, so do deer herds, and so will the sage grouse.
Ellison would rather see the money distributed to individual counties, which could then spend it as they see fit.
He believes AB 101 will fly through the Assembly, but is hopeful that it can be stopped in the Senate.
If not, this issue could continue to get bounced around as political winds shift in Carson City a place that has its own law of the jungle.
PEORIA (dpa-AFX) - Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) said, on March 2, 2017, law enforcement authorities entered three Peoria-area Caterpillar facilities, including the corporate headquarters, to execute a search and seizure warrant. The warrant is focused on the collection of documents and electronic information. Caterpillar said it believes the execution of the search warrant is regarding, among other things, export filings that relate to the CSARL matter first disclosed in the company's Form 10-K filed on February 17, 2015, and updated in most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 15, 2017. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Patrick Bertrand to Retire
LYON, France, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Cegid, the leading French mid-market enterprise management software and cloud provider, announces that Pascal Houillon, former CEO of Sage Americas and of Sage France, has been appointed as the new CEO, effective immediately. Patrick Bertrand is retiring as the current Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Pascal Houillon brings to Cegid over two decades of highly relevant mid-market ERP software experience, mostly in senior executive positions at Sage. Pascal joined Sage France in 1989 from Saari, and went on to become Regional Director and Sales Director before leading the Sybel business after it was acquired by Sage. He held multiple leadership roles at Sage, including President and CEO of Sage France, where he was also responsible for Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland and Morocco and was most recently CEO of Sage Americas since 2010.
Pascal Houillon said: "Having followed Cegid from a privileged standpoint for the past 25 years, this is a company that I have long admired, and I am thrilled to be joining it now. Cegid is uniquely positioned with its traditional clients and in its key historical markets. It is also well-poised to exploit demand for cloud-based business solutions given its early focus on SaaS, and has opportunities to continue to grow its presence internationally. I look forward to leading the company at this crucial juncture."
Jean-Michel Aulas, founder and Chairman of Cegid, and Christian Lucas, Managing Director of Silver Lake and Cegid Group board member, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Pascal, a dynamic, international and accomplished leader, to Cegid. His extensive technology experience and outstanding track record make him well-positioned to accelerate Cegid's growth strategy and lead its talented employees."
Shahriar Tadjbakhsh, AltaOne Managing Partner and Cegid Group board member, said: "We look forward to working with Pascal and feel privileged to have his perspective and guidance at such a key time for Cegid."
Jean-Michel Aulas, together with the shareholder group, said: "I want to thank Patrick personally for his outstanding contribution since joining in 1988 and taking the helm as CEO from 2002. He was instrumental in developing Cegid into a leading French software player, and was a pioneer by launching the SaaS transition as early as 2006. Patrick will remain a friend of the Company and I wish him all the best for the future."
Patrick Bertrand is retiring as the current Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He said: "It has been a great adventure and honor to serve Cegid for almost 30 years. I want to thank Jean-Michel and all the firm's talented employees for their continued support through this period. I am incredibly proud to have led the development of Cegid and wish Pascal and the shareholder group all the best leading Cegid's next phase of growth."
About Cegid
Cegid is a leading player in the digital transformation of companies, providing cloud services and enterprise software to private companies and public entities alike. Cegid addresses the management needs of companies and public entities of all sizes in the fields of finance, taxation and human resources, and offers industry-specific solutions to companies in the manufacturing, trade, services and retail sectors as well as to the accounting profession. Based on MoBiClo', its technological concept combining Mobility, Business Intelligence and the Cloud, Cegid's innovation strategy integrates the new ways in which people use software. Cegid is an international group with more than 2,200 employees, 30 locations in France, and over 15 subsidiaries and offices worldwide. Cegid serves more than 135,000 clients and 430,000 users, including over 150,000 in SaaS mode. In 2016, its revenues exceeded 307 million. Cegid is listed on Euronext Paris. Please visit www.cegid.com.
Contact:
Herve Perret
hperret@cegid.fr
Cegid Group
52 Quai Paul Sedallian
69279 Lyon Cedex 09
Tel. 04 26 29 50 20
www.cegid.com
Marche de cotation: Euronext Paris Compartiment B
Code ISIN Action: FR0000124703
Reuters: CEGI.PA
Bloomberg: CGD FP
ICB: 9537 Software
Indices: CAC ALL SHARES - CAC ALL-TRADABLE - CAC MID & SMALL
CAC SOFT. & C.S. - CAC TECHNOLOGY - NEXT 150 - EnterNext PEA-PME 150 - CAC PME
ISSAQUAH (dpa-AFX) - Retail giant Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) Thursday announced that it will increase annual membership fees by $5 for U.S. and Canada Goldstar, Business, and Business add-on members, effective June 1, 2017. The U.S. and Canada Goldstar, Business and Business add-on members will pay now have to pay an annual fee of $60 with the increase. Executive Memberships in the U.S. and Canada will increase from $110 to $120. The maximum annual 2% reward associated with the Executive Membership will increase from $750 to $1,000. The fee increases will impact around 35 million members, roughly half of Executive Members. It is the first increase since 2011. Costco currently operates 728 warehouses, including 508 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 94 in Canada, 37 in Mexico, 28 in the United Kingdom, 25 in Japan, 13 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, eight in Australia and two in Spain. Costco is a membership warehouse club, which requires consumers to pay an annual fee to shop in its stores. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Music Audience Exchange (MAX), a Dallas, TX-based tech company that enables consumer brands and music artists to form mutually beneficial partnerships, secured $6m in funding.
The round was led by Math Venture Partners and KDWC Ventures with participation from G-Bar Ventures and Gregg Latterman, Founder and CEO of Aware Records. In conjunction with the funding, Lon Chow (Partner at KDWC Ventures) and David Carlick (Independent Director and former Chairman of the Board at ReachLocal, Inc.) joined MAX Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the new funds to accelerate adoption of its platform.
Led by Founder and CEO Nathan Hanks, MAX provides a consumer marketing platform built on proprietary data science that collects over 2.4 million artists across 765 genres with over 200 consumer attributes to match brands and artists and then distributes authentic, brand-infused content everywhere consumers engage with music.
Brands including Dr Pepper and Jack Daniels leveraged the platform for partnerships with artists including NEEDTOBREATHE, Leela James, Aaron Watson, and La Maquinaria Nortena. In the last two years, MAX has expanded with programs for agencies and brands across automotive, food, beverage, and consumer services.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017
Next Coast Ventures, an Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm focused on investing in innovative ideas and thematic marketplaces, closed its maiden fund at $85m.
Oversubscribed by $35m, the fund attracted limited partners including leading institutional investors, funds of funds and family offices.
Led by Co-Founder and Managing Directors Tom Ball and Mike Smerklo, Next Coast Ventures boasts a thematic approach to investing backed by entrepreneurial experience. The fund will concentrate on software-powered, full-stack business models designed for digital natives as well as innovative companies in the education, retail, B2B and B2C sectors, addressing surging regional demand for progressive startup capital.
To date, the firm has deployed capital from the fund into four Austin startups including Umuse, Dropoff, OnRamp and Phlur, a San Francisco-headquartered startup Cloverpop and a New York-based startup Clarity Money.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017
Sofinnova Partners, a Paris, France-based venture capital firm specialized in life sciences, held the first closing of its latest fund, at 106m.
Limited partners in Sofinnova Industrial Biotech I (Sofinnova IB I) included European institutions and major international industrial players, from energy, chemical and agricultural sectors including several returning investors from the Sofinnova Green Seed Fund raised in 2012 in the same sector.
Sofinnova IB I, which follows a series of 9 investments in the sector since 2009, is dedicated to renewable chemistry. It will be invested in startups along the value chain from the transformation of renewable raw materials, like agricultural waste or C02, to renewable end-products such as bio-plastics and other bio-sourced materials.
Based on the investment thesis that the growing market demand for innovative, renewable products leveraging non-fossil raw materials and novel technologies will produce better performing or cheaper, sustainable alternatives, the fund will seek to invest the fund as a founding and lead investor in startups and corporate spin-offs, in Europe and North America.
Sofinnova IB I will seek to invest in 8 to 10 companies during the next 3 to 4 years by leveraging a dedicated team, initially composed of Denis Lucquin, Managing Partner, Josko Bobanovic, Partner, and Michael Krel, Principal.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017
VeloCloud Networks, Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based Cloud-Delivered SD-WAN company, closed a $35m Series D round of funding.
The round was led by Hermes Growth Partners with participation from new investors Telstra Ventures and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the Government of Malaysia, and existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Venrock, March Capital Partners, Cisco Investments, and other undisclosed strategic investors.
The company, which has raised $84m in total funding, intends to use the capital to expand business, capacity and operations as it accelerates new product development, supports larger customer rollouts, and increases sales and marketing in theaters worldwide.
Led by CEO and Co-founder Sanjay Uppal, VeloCloud provides a cloud-delivered SD-WAN that enables enterprises to manage application, network, and branch and end-point implementations while optimize access to cloud services, private datacenters and enterprise applications. The companys SD-WAN includes: a choice of public, private or hybrid cloud network for enterprise-grade connection to cloud and enterprise applications; branch office enterprise appliances and optional data center appliances; software-defined control and automation; and virtual services delivery.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017
WorkHound, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based software platform for carriers to reduce driver turnover, raised $500k in funding.
The round was led by Right Side Capital Management with participation from Dynamo Fund, Twelve19 Ventures and multiple angel investors.
The company intends to use the funds to improve the product, ensure customer satisfaction and build long-term relationships.
Founded by Andrew Kirpalani and Max Farrell in 2015, WorkHound provides a software platform for carriers to keep drivers and improve their experience. It does it by leveraging smartphone feedback and ideas shared by the driver with the carrier, aggregating and turning them into actionable insights to improve operations.
Currently, the company employs four full-time team members in Chattanooga and two in Des Moines, Iowa.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017
The exhortation by trader associations in Tamil Nadu to their members to boycott Pepsi and Coca-Cola for contaminating groundwater resources is a sham. It is a weak attempt at regional protectionism and goes against the spirit of free market economics.
Tamil Nadu Traders Federation (TNTF) and Consortium of Tamil Nadu Traders Association (CTNTA) have urged the traders in the state to shun Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and promote regional brands, Kali Mark, Bovonto and Torino, which are 'mildly carbonated' from 1 March. They even intent to meet the chief minister to press for a ban on the multinational brands, say media reports. The move, they claim, is partly inspired by the jallikkattu protests, which have also been viewed as assertion of the state's cultural freedom.
Bovonto is now available across the state while Torino is confined to the southern parts of Tamil Nadu. "When there is demand, the brand owners will beef up their supply chain and retailers will go for them," said A M Vikrama Raja, president, CTNTA. The associations' aim is to force more than 20 lakh shops affiliated with them to boycott both the brands, highlighting the health and environment reasons.
However, these claims by the traders' bodies need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Environment activists do agree that any move that brings into focus the harm inflicted on groundwater resources by MNCs is welcome and must be appreciated. These are industries that use water for processes. There is a moral issue involved here as Coke and Pepsi are harmful to health, says Nityanand Jayaraman, a Chennai-based activist.
Coke and Pepsi, the poster children of water abuse and commodification of water, say activists, use two main components water and sugar. Excessive exploitation of ground water resources and also discharge of toxic wastes into the groundwater are hazardous to those who live around their factories. Sugar, another ingredient used in the making of such drinks, is a silent killer. Its harmful effects on health is well-documented and much debated.
Viewed in this context, it is ironical that TN traders' associations are boycotting Pepsi and Coke and promoting home-grown brands as alternatives to the two big global cola brands.
As Jayaraman says replacing Coke and Pepsi with local brands of 'mildly carbonated' drinks does not solve the issue of exploitation of groundwater resources. How will the situation improve by replacing an MNC with a local looter, he asks. It is merely switching an MNC with local companies that too to exploit the groundwater, he said.
He reminds that the state has been reeling under water scarcity for years now. "The scarcity is so extreme that we are even willing to kill neighbouring states for water. It is indeed strange that in such a situation the local traders are promoting a local option which is a fizzy drink too," Jayaraman said.
Even from the health perspective, their arguments fall flat. As C R Neelakandan, another activist who has taken part in many agitations in Kerala, says it would have been realistic if the traders had said switch to traditional drinks like coconut water or buttermilk.
If, as the activists suspect, health and environment are just a pretext to promote the local brands that may be equally hazardous as Coke and Pepsi, it amounts to protectionism of a more regional kind. And, as advertising guru Piyush Pandey, says this is bound to fail.
"You can't achieve anything by force," says Pandey, who is also executive chairman and national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather India and vice-chairman of O&M Asia-Pacific. (As of now, he is being proved right as only 50 percent traders have heeded the call of the associations).
He reasons that the MNCs are here only because they have been allowed an entry by the government to operate under the FDI rules. "So what are the traders complaining about," he asks.
Such moves are harmful for the economy especially at a time when prime minister Narendra Modi is inviting the world to India to do business.
"It is not right for traders to use coercive measures to stop others from selling what they deem fit as long as it adheres to the law of the land," he says.
However, traders are adamant that the 'foreign brands' are more harmful. "We are not opposing it just because these products are made by the MNCs. But it does more harm than good to the body. We decided to boycott because of the harmful content," Vikrama Raja of CTNTA has been quoted as saying in a report in the DNA.
Kerala experience
The boycott in Chennai echoes what happened in 2000 in Kerala when the bottling units of Coca-Cola (under its Indian subsidiary Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages) and PepsiCo India came under criticism for causing serious hazard to groundwater resources.
Coke had its bottling plant in Perumatty panchayat in Plachimada taluka and Pepsi in Pudusseri panchayat in Kanjikode. Both the units were accused of groundwater exploitation and polluting the ground water, affecting the livelihood of the people in the area.
In Plachimada, the Coca-Cola unit was forced to shut down by the state government in January 2006 after the affected local populace launched a long agitation. The unit was even accused of palming off its industrial waste as manure to the farmers who used it at the base of coconut trees and banana plants, which then seeped into the wells and polluted the well water and other water bodies in the area.
However, the Pepsi plant in Pudusseri continues to operate. According to Neelakandan, the government has let the Pepsi plant continue along with other beer manufacturing units in the area. The reason for the victory of the Plachimada was the unity of the local people against acute water scarcity unlike the industrial city of Pudusseri, where the locals were not united, he points out.
The ground water levels at Plachimada taluka in particular and Palakkad district in general have depleted. The area gets very less rainfall and with climate change, the situation is worsening. The Malampuzha dam water to be used primarily for agriculture is being used by the Pepsi plant in Pudussery and other beer units in the area, said Neelakandan. The damage caused to groundwater resources in Plachimada will take two decades or more to be sustainable but it will never regain its earlier status, he said.
The agitation at Plachimada had helped highlight the health hazards of fizzy drinks in general. The successive governments even came out with their suggestions of promoting coconut water and neera as alternative beverages in the state. But none of this really took off, says Neelakandan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a happy man looking at the higher-than-predicted October-December quarter GDP number. The government machinery, particularly economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, too feels the GDP figure is a fitting reply to demonetisation critics. The list includes some globally renowned names, such as Nobel laureates Amartya Sen and Paul Krugman, who had said the note ban move will have disastrous consequences on the economy.
Speaking at an election rally in Maharajganj, UP, Modi said, "On the one hand are those (critics of note ban) who talk of what people at Harvard say and on the other hand is a poor man's son who through his hard work is trying to improve the economy," Modi said at an election meeting. Modi didnt name anyone but his dig was likely aimed at the likes of Manmohan Singh and Sen.
After the latest GDP numbers came out, Shaktikanta Das, too, said third quarter numbers proved the demonetisation critics wrong. The third quarter GDP numbers are out and as you have seen the numbers completely negate the kind of negative projections and speculations made about the impact of demonetisation," Das said. An overestimation was done about the so called negative impact of demonetisation. It is very satisfying to know that it is not there. Because we still remain 7 percent plus growth country...
A better GDP number is good but a little caution is warranted before the government begins chest-thumping on the numbers and totally write off the economists/critics at this stage.
The reason is simple: Most agree that the third quarter GDP numbers are seen with an element of skepticism and, more importantly, is not backed by strong corroborative evidence. Hence there is a possibility of being revised downwards when the final numbers come out later. It would augur well for the government to take a cautious approach on the GDP numbers instead of already going on a celebration mode, to avoid possible embarrassment later.
Here are a few reasons for the Modi-government to exercise a little caution on the GDP numbers:
First, about 40-45 percent of Indias GDP and 80 percent of employment are estimated to be in the informal (this estimate vary) sector, and this is where the demonetisation-induced cash crunch has had its maximum impact. Most economists who have analysed the third quarter GDP numbers have said that the GDP data might not have captured the impact on informal economy to desired extent. About 78 percent of overall economic activities are in cash transactions. It is virtually impossible that sudden withdrawal of 86 percent of the currency not inflicting pain on their cash flows and income stream. Small traders, micro entrepreneurs constitute this segment in a major way, so are small farmers and services providers. It is possible that these segments have been hit hard and the impact, in numbers, might show with a lag. This is what Nomura has highlighted in its note saying "The inability of official statistics to capture the negative growth effects on the unorganised sectors, as the official numbers are based largely on organised sector data."
Second, some of the upside to the third quarter GDP numbers is on account of a statistical effect on account of downward revisions of the past numbers. On a lower base in the year-ago period, the current year numbers will appear to be bigger than what the absolute increase is. As Nomura report points out, the GDP growth estimate for Q4 2015 was also revised lower by 0.8 percentage points to 6.5 percent y-o-y from 7.2 percent, thereby creating a large favorable base effect for comparison. Also, there is a possibility that companies showed their cash in hand (after demonetisation) as sales, then this may be getting captured as a higher value addition in these specific sectors (as corporate data are partly used to estimate growth), Nomura said. In our view, official GDP statistics are significantly underestimating the growth impact of demonetisation," Nomura report said.
Third, besides the statistical effect, there could be another reason why the third quarter GDP numbers have come higher-than-expected. As Pronab Sen, the former Secretary of the Statistics Ministry, points out, corporates might have rushed to push their inventory out of factories and into retail outlets and also paid excise tax on these. But there is a possibility that the sales at the retail outlets did not happen because people decided to postpone purchases. Since, the GDP data is collected at the factory level but did not capture the inventories lying idle at automobile showrooms, departmental stores and other retail outlets.
In fact, the GDP figures for the January-March quarter will probably reflect the disruption caused by demonetisation more accurately, Pronab Sen told News18, adding you can only push out so much inventory but if it is piling up in retail stores and not being sold, the factories wont be able to send out manufactured products.
The bottomline is this: Behind the higher GDP numbers lies a set of factors that arent fully corroborative of the supposed growth in the economy the growth numbers seem to indicate. This might not be a figure just yet to judge the demonetisation impact. When the final, revised numbers come in the approaching months, the growth narrative (as depicted by the numbers) could take a turn on either side. Hence, a little caution is warranted when government looks at the GDP numbers. Certainly, it is risky to commence celebration this early.
Mumbai: Expressing concern over the growing acceptance of virtual currencies, RBI Deputy Governor R. Gandhi on Wednesday said these pose potential financial, legal, customer protection and security-related risks.
"We can see that in these types of virtual currencies, there is no central bank or monetary authority. They pose potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security-related risks," Gandhi said at a Fin Tech conference here organised by industry chamber Ficci, Indian Banks' Association and IT industry body Nasscom.
"No established framework for recourse to customer problem, disputes and grievances is feasible with this kind (virtual currency) of framework.
"My arguments against these virtual currencies stem from two elements, namely, the concept of confidence and anonymity. The currency should be able to sustain these two elements forever. It will impair its exalted status once either of these two elements gets affected," he added.
The Deputy Governor said virtual currencies are stored in digital electronic form and are prone to losses arising out of hacking, loss of passwords and malware attacks, adding that a number of cases had been reported where virtual currencies were used for illicit and illegal activities.
Gandhi also said the confidence in Bitcoin, or any other virtual currency based on blockchain, is also limited to its initial rounds and circles.
"The initial round is always filled with adventurists and risk seekers. The moment masses gets in, the risk avoiders get in, they will need greater confidence for its acceptance and continuance, and that can come only if an authority issues it," he said.
"It may remain a pipe dream that blockchain will eliminate currency by ushering in virtual currency. It is unlikely." he added.
On the subject of peer-to-peer lending, Gandhi said the Reserve Bank would soon release the final norms in this regard.
"We have received comments and soon we will be able to finalise it (norms)," he said.
Peer-to-peer lending is a form of crowd-funding via an online platform that matches lenders with borrowers in order to provide unsecured loans.
This Friday will mark the end of Gajendra Chauhan's tenure as the Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Though the tenure lasted only a year and seven months, it was marred by controversy and protests by students.
Ironically, the Times of India quotes Chauhan as saying that his was the best tenure as FTII chairman in a long time. He attributes his claim to conversion of post-graduate diploma courses into master's degree courses, the 'mini film city' being built in the campus and the introduction of a new syllabus and credit-based choice system.
Hindustan Times reports that Chauhan claims that he always supported his students, even while they opposed his appointment. He advised them not to indulge in politics and remain disciplined towards their work.
Chauhan was appointed as the FTII Chairman in June 2015 with retrospective effect from 4 March 2014. However, his appointment faced heavy opposition from students who alleged that Chauhan didn't have the same credentials to head the prestigious institute as those of former FTII chiefs like Girish Karnard, U Krishnamurthy and Shyam Benegal.
They alleged that Chauhan was appointed owing to his proximity with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With a strong backing by acclaimed artistes, the students of FTII staged a 139-day protest and even detained then-Director Prashant Parthabe in his office on 16 August 2015. The 35 students involved in the detention were arrested and trials against them stand pending in a Pune court. Chauhan finally managed to take over the office in January 2016, a couple of months after the strike ended. Thus, his tenure effectively lasted only 13 months.
Notwithstanding the length, Chaun's tenure was arguably the most controversial yet. While it remains the best so far in his mind, his students may think on the same page. Unless he gets an extension notice from the Central Government before Friday, the much-talked about tenure will culminate on 3 March.
A week after denying certification to Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha for being lady-oriented, the Central Board of Film Certification has now refused to certify Jayan K Cherian's Malayalam film Ka Bodyscapes for glorifying homosexuality.
Cherian took to Facebook to post the picture of the letter he received from the CBFC, denying certification to the film. "The film is glorifying the subject of gay and homosexual relationship, nudity accentuating vital parts of male body (in paintings) in closed shots in the whole movie. The film is explicit of scene offending Hindu sensibilities depicting vulgarity and obscenity through the movie. The religion of Hindu is portrayed in a derogatory manner especially Lord Hanuman (shown in poor light as gay) which may cause law and order problem in society. The film contains posters depicting homosexuality throughout the movie and derogatory remarks against women. Abusive language is used in most of the places and also a female Muslim character is shown masturbating. The film has references to Hindu organisations indirectly which is unwarranted," the letter read.
The Hindu reports that this was the third time the CBFC watched the contentious film. They had refused to certify it in the first screening back in April last year on grounds of incorporating "sensitive gay scenes, use of derogatory words against women and vulgar dialogues" in the film, as per a report by The Indian Express.
The Revising Committee of the CBFC also denied certification on similar grounds. The same report quotes, "The film has also references to lady masturbating, highlighting gay by many gay posters. The film offends human sensibilities by vulgarity, obscenity or depravity."
The Kerala High Court ruled in favour of the makers and instructed the CBFC to certify it and mention reasons for every cut that it instructs in the film. The second review committee, headed by CBFC chief Pahalaj Nihalani, also refused to certify the film, despite the High Court order. The Indian Express quotes the body as saying, "The film follows a dangerous trend of gate-keeping and moral policing content we do not approve of, especially around issues of gender, sexuality, religion and communalism."
The CBFC has given 30 days to the makers to appeal before the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, if they wish so. Currently, Prakash Jha's appeal to revise the ban of his production Lipstick Under My Burkha also remains pending before the tribunal.
Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and now Casey Affleck.
On the Oscars 2017 night, Casey Affleck won a Best Actor award for his role in Manchester by the Sea, despite the fact that two women accused him of sexual harassment on the set of his 2010 mockumentary I'm Still Here. (Affleck denied the allegations, and the suit was settled out of court.)
The Academy's refusal to acknowledge these accusations is not new. Affleck now joins the lineage of white men who have been accused of molestation and yet gone to win accolades for their work. Polanski, who had been convicted of raping a minor girl received the Best Director for his 2003 film The Pianist, and was met with a standing ovation.
As outlined by The Daily Beast, Amanda White, who served as a producer on I'm Still Here, said Affleck verbally abused her, and once grabbed her and threatened her for not wanting to stay in the same hotel room as him. White resigned from the film.
Magdalena Gorka, who worked as a director of photography on the film, said she once woke up to find Affleck in the bed next to her in his underwear. He pressured her when she tried to kick him out.
Both women say Affleck refused to honor parts of their contracts after they rejected him.
Following the backlash that followed his Oscar win and incoherent acceptance speech, Affleck spoke about the Oscars night in an interview with The Boston Globe.
He says about his lackluster acceptance speech, "I was speechless and dumbstruck. The only thing worse than not ever getting to make an Oscar speech is getting to make an Oscar speech and then having nothing to say."
He says about the lawsuits against him in another interview, "I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent," adding, "and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else.
"There's really nothing I can do about it," Affleck said, "other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time."
While Affleck and the Academy might be taking it easy with the harassment claims, many have tried to take their stand.
Brie Larson, who has campaigned for sexual abuse survivors since her performance her performance in last year's Room, announced Affleck's name with downturned eyes and pursed lips, then stood to the side and didn't clap as the rest of the audience applauded his win.
However, Larson also had to present Affleck with his Best Actor award at the Golden Globes. Her reaction then was similarly unenthused.
My aesthetic: Brie Larson not clapping for literal trash hole casey affleck pic.twitter.com/Ci5LWXLkCr Tyler Struble (@tyler_struble) February 27, 2017
All award season Brie Larson, who starred in a movie about sexual assault, had to present Casey Affleck all his awards. pic.twitter.com/L2WbQvSJNv Marnie (@ChrnclsOfMarnia) February 27, 2017
Fresh off the Boat star Constance Wu also criticized the Academy's decision to nominate Affleck:
Men who sexually harass women 4 OSCAR! Bc good acting performance matters more than humanity,human integrity!Bc poor kid rly needs the help! Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) January 24, 2017
The re-release of Rajinikanths Baasha in Tamil Nadu has revived the discussion about what makes it such a cult film and its influence on modern commercial blockbusters in South Indian cinema.
Superstar Rajinikanths Baasha was one of the defining films of the 90s and having stood the test of time, the buzz surrounding the re-release of the film on 3 March in Tamil Nadu is palpable. The digitally remastered version of the cult film is expected to take a humongous opening at box-office, and it wouldnt be surprising if the film surpasses the weeks other big releases in terms of footfalls.
Thamizhazhagan, a die-hard fan of Rajinikanth who runs a fan account (Rajni_FC) on Twitter, says, Ive been a fan of Rajinikanth all my life and I cant put in words the joy I get when I see Rajini on big screen. A lot of youngsters today might have not watched the film on big screen, but the remastered version gives us a chance to relive Thalaivars magic on big screen once again.
To celebrate the films release, Karthik O Positive, another die-hard fan of the actor who manages RBSI - a popular Rajini fan page on Facebook, and Thamizhazhagan, along with other fans, have arranged a special screening at one of the prime multiplexes in Chennai and nearly 100 auto-drivers are expected to attend the screening. It wouldnt be an exaggeration to say that Rajini is treated like a God by auto-drivers all over Tamil Nadu, considering that the actor had played the role of an auto-driver in the film.
Directed by Suresh Krishnna, the film, which originally released in January 1995, was a blockbuster and even after 22 years of its release, no discussion about Rajinikanth is complete without mentioning Baasha. It redefined the way heroism is portrayed on screen and gave a new template for mainstream action dramas.
But it wasnt just Tamil cinema that changed post Baashas release.
Such has been the impact of the film, in the past couple of decades, that it spawned several spin-offs and copy cats in Telugu cinema as well. Starting from Balakrishnas Samarasimha Reddy (1999), Narasimha Naidu (2001), Chiranjeevis Indra (2002), Simhadri (2003) to recent Telugu films like Dictator (2016), the Baasha Template continues to reinforce itself in multiple ways even today and how.
The biggest contribution that Baasha made to storytelling, perhaps, is the popularising of using flashbacks to create drama and suspense in the story.
Writer and filmmaker Gopi Mohan says, I dont know how much money the original Telugu dubbed version made in 1995, but thanks to that film, Telugu film industry would have easily made Rs 200-300 crores in the past 20 years (laughs). Almost every big star in Telugu cinema today would have acted in at least one film which was inspired from Baashas style of storytelling. Using flashbacks, as a key method of storytelling in Telugu films, became really popular after Baasha released.
In the first half of the film, theres barely a fight and Rajinikanth restrains himself for so long that it was unlike anything that people had seen back till the mid-90s. And when he broke free to reveal his true identity, just before the interval, a new brand of heroism was born.
Baasha changed everything. It broke free from the template of having to include a fight for heros introduction scene and the heightened sense of drama that the film achieved without doing much was unbelievable, Gopi Mohan says, adding, The film was also instrumental in creating a market for Rajinikanth in Telugu. Since then, every film that he has done in Tamil has been dubbed in Telugu.
Ironically, the original plot of Baasha was itself inspired from a scene (which didnt make it in the final cut) in Mukul S Anands 1991 action crime drama Hum, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Govinda.
In his biography My Days With Baasha, director Suresh Krissna recalls that it was Rajinikanth who told him about the scene where Govinda who wants to join the police force doesnt get an admission to the police academy and finally, his brother (played by Amitabh Bachchan) goes to meet the chief and comes out with a seat for Govinda. The scene was the genesis behind the whole plot of Baasha and right from the films title to the iconic punch line - Naan oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna maadiri (If I say something even once, it's as though I've said it a hundred times) - it was all Rajinikanths idea.
The star was also instrumental in convincing the films producer RM Veerappan, who was scared that fans will get angry, to retain the scene where Rajinikanth gets bashed up by the goons just before the interval fight sequence. According to Suresh Krissna, Rajinikanth even offered to pay from his own pocket reshoot that part if RM Veerappan wasnt convinced with the impact of that dramatic scene.
It wasnt just the flashbacks and drama that set Baasha apart from the rest. The film was also instrumental in popularising the concept of punch lines in films.
It began with Rajinikanth-Suresh Krissnas Annamalai (1992) and the popularity of Baasha turned the idea of having punch lines to define a heros character as a necessity. Sudhish Kamath, film critic-and-filmmaker, says, After Annamalai and Baasha released, punch lines became a norm in Tamil cinema. It almost became part of the narrative and people actually began to believe that if the hero doesnt a punch line or a trademark mannerism, shown visually, then the film wont work. Another significant aspect of Baasha, which became mainstream, was how well it depicted the dramatic transformation between the two personas of a protagonist.
Over the years, Rajinikanth might have appeared in other blockbusters like Padayappa, Chandramukhi and Endhiran to name a few, but there has never been a film like Baasha.
So whats the magic element? The magic element in Baasha is Rajinis style. Be it the way he sits in the chair or talks to the villain, everything that Rajinikanth did became the stuff of legends. The dialogues and Rajinikanths style were phenomenal and they were the biggest factors in the films success, says Dhananjayan Govind, National Award Winning Writer and Film Producer, adding, I dont think people will ever forget Baasha. You cant compare it with any other Rajinikanths film. That was the film which turned Rajinikanth into the biggest star that Tamil cinema has ever seen.
LONDON European Central Bank Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Thursday she did not expect France to follow Britain and leave the European Union and that she doubted there would be a stock market crash in the near future.French election hopeful Marine Le Pen has floated the idea of the country leaving the EU as part of her campaign, but Lautenschlaeger said: "I can not imagine France will move out of the EU.""The difficulties have been experienced by a country we are sitting in", she said at an event in London. "It is not a role model."
Speaking to reporters after the event organised by the London School of Economics' German Society she added: "You always have contingency planning for everything, but to be very clear I have no contingency plan for France exiting (the EU)because I don't believe France will exit."
She also said she did not expect a sharp tumble in European shares in the near future, although she did acknowledge "uncertainties", such as the upcoming elections in France and Germany.
(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Huw Jones)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
SINGAPORE Crude oil fell for a third consecutive session on Thursday as a record build-up in U.S. stockpiles weighed on the market, with producers boosting shale oil production.Crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, rose by 1.5 million barrels last week, less than forecast, but touching a record at 520.2 million barrels after eight straight weekly builds. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 slipped 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $53.71 a barrel by 0025 GMT. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were yet to start trading after falling in the last session.Still, oil remained locked within a tight trading range as strict OPEC compliance with output cuts offset rising U.S. oil reserves."Crude oil prices... (are) unable to break out of the increasingly tight range they have been trading in for the past month," ANZ said in a note.
"EIA data showed a pickup in the inventory build in the U.S. Stocks rose by a lower-than-expected."The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reduced its oil output for a second month in February, a Reuters survey found, showing the exporter group has boosted already strong compliance to around 94 percent.
Heftier cuts by Saudi Arabia and Angola helped offset weaker compliance by other members that agreed to limit their output.Compliance by Russia still remains weak.
Russian oil production fell in February to around 11.10 million barrels per day (bpd), from over 11.2 million in October, two sources familiar with the data told Reuters on Wednesday. It had pledged to cut its oil output by 300,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2017 (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Richard Pullin)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Despite Delhi governments doubling of the education budget, many municipal schools have failed to provide school uniforms and writing materials to students as required under the Right to Education Act, show three cases filed in the Delhi High Court. The revelation comes at a time when the capital sees an abrupt rise in dropout rates at an elementary level. Unified District Information System recorded a 5.31% jump in dropout rates in the fifth standard in the last three years.
Advocate Ashok Agarwal told Firstpost, It is the state governments legal responsibility to implement the RTE Act, in which providing children with uniforms books and writing materials is also a mandate. Agarwal said that rather than providing uniforms, two out of three MCDs still pay Rs 500 as a uniform subsidy to the student. Only North Delhi Municipal Corporation has started providing stitched school uniforms to the students studying in the schools run by it. Is it possible to get uniforms at such a low price? he asks. He also said that in many cases it has been found that poor families spend the subsidy money on other priorities leaving the student without uniform.
Such situation also add up to reasons why students from poor families drop out of school, he maintained. Earlier, an order passed by the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court on 27th August, 2014 had observed that the fixed amount for a uniform is not acceptable as a substitute for the uniform. Three cases have been filed against the three MCDs by students and parents in the Delhi High Court, demanding two pairs of stitched uniforms for each student along with timely and adequate disbursal of books and writing materials in the elementary schools.
East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), which is going through severe financial crunch, said in the court, The supply of notebooks shall start at the earliest. It is submitted that supply of 50,000 Hindi Exercise books has been received and the rest will likely to be received very soon. A sample of the exercise book has been sent to Sri Ram Institute for Industrial Research for testing.
It also maintained that approximately 10,00,000 exercise books are required for EDMC schoolchildren and the same are being acquired and distributed.
It is to be noted here that the academic session begins in April every year and the EDMC is yet to complete its process of distributing writing materials in the ongoing academic year which will end after a month.
Ashok Agarwal while appearing before the court on behalf of Master Alekh, an EDMC school student, said that NDMC has started distributing the uniforms and not fixed sum as a uniform subsidy. He submitted that it should be followed by the EDMC and SDMC also.
He also told Firstpost that though NDMC has started providing uniforms, it happened only after the cases were filed in the High Court. Moreover, he said that the NDMC has claimed to have been providing students with adequate number of uniforms and writing materials, but it is not specified as to what number of writing materials and uniforms are adequate.
Paucity of funds cannot be a pretext for not adhering to the RTE guidelines. The Delhi government must ensure that each and every provision of the Act is followed with commitment, he said.
He also added lack of adequate facilities also increase the number of dropouts in schools.
Recently, Delhi MCD schools saw drastic rise in dropouts. As per an UDISE report, 44,842 students dropped out from various schools in the last two years. Delhi High Court judge Mukta Gupta said in a meeting that 33,744 students of them were from MCD schools.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of Communist leader Govind Pansare is questioning the founder of Sanathan Sanstha, a Hindu right wing organisation, in connection with the killing.
Goa state Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief Sanjay Kumar, who is heading the investigation, confirmed to The Indian Express that they are indeed questioning the Sanatan Sanstha founder Jayant Athavale. "He was questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday," Kumar said.
Two Sanstha members, the prime accused in the case, are absconding, and the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) Mumbai bureau has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for information on them. The duo Sarang Akolkar, 35 and Vinay Pawar, 37 had gone missing in 2009, reported The Asian Age.
The report also quoted the Sanstha's spokesperson Abhay Vartak as saying that a CBI team visited their Goa ashram, and spoke to its trustee. "SIT team had visited Sanstha's Goa ashram and also spoke to the trustee. The Sanstha has always cooperated with the SIT's probe. As it is a judicial matter, we are unable to provide any more details," Vartak said.
Veteran rationalist Pansare was walking with his wife Uma in Kolhapur in February 2015 when two persons opened fire on them. He succumbed to his injuries, though his wife survived. In August 2016, the SIT took Sanatan Sanstha seeker Virendra Tawde into custody to probe his involvement in the shooting. He was named prime conspirator in the incident, while three others Sarang, Pawar and Rudra Patil were also named. Patil is also at large.
Meanwhile, the Sanstha has raised objections to the appointment of Shivajirao Rane as special public prosecutor, calling it "illegal". Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, representing the Sanstha, told Pune Mirror that Rane was appointed as the special public prosecutor by then superintendent of police, Pradeep Deshpande, which is against the law as only the Home Department has the jurisdiction.
"According to the information gathered after filing an RTI application, the state government has not issued any order of Rane's appointment as the special public prosecutor in the case. The superintendent of police does not have any authority to appoint such a prosecutor in any case," Ichalkaranjikar said.
However, Rane has responded to these claims, saying he submitted his appointment letter from Deshpande along with a government resolution that permits the SP and police commissioner to appoint a special public prosecutor in a "sensational case". He also threw further light on the Sanstha's objections to his appointment. "The Sanstha does not want me to be a special public prosecutor because I had taken an objection on sending articles in the jail meant for their members. I have submitted all the relevant proofs before the court," he said.
As argued in a previous piece on Firstpost written the day after Pansare was shot, he was a highly respected political figure in Maharashtra, a well-known name in the Communist movement, and a known critic of Right wing forces. In 1984, he wrote a popular book called Shivaji Kon Hota (Who was Shivaji) on Chatrapati Shivaji, in which he projected the Maratha king as a people's king as against his portrayal as a Hindu king by Hindu communal outfits. The book has been translated into many languages including Kannada, Urdu, Gujarati, English and Hindi languages.
"In this book, he showed how the actual history of Shivaji and how it is being used by the communal outfits. He is an outspoken person and has been speaking against the RSS and other Hindu outfits since the beginning. It had then angered the saffron outfits," Namdev Gawade, a state executive member of Maharashtra unit of CPI, was quoted as saying in the report.
New Delhi: Amid a raging controversy over free speech, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said he supports freedom of expression, but within the legal framework. "I believe in freedom of expression but it has to be within reasonable legal framework," he said. On the sidelines of a DRDO event, Parrikar was asked to comment on the controversy surrounding Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur who had launched a campaign against RSS-backed ABVP.
The defence minister, however, clarified that his comments were not related to any particular incident. The 20-year-old Kaur became the centre of a controversy after she launched a social media campaign against the ABVP which has been under attack after some of its members were allegedly involved in violence at Ramjas College on 22 February. She allegedly received rape threats following the campaign and drew criticism from a Union minister and a BJP MP.
On the issue of the alleged leak of question papers of an army recruitment examination, Parrikar said the defence ministry has recommended a CBI inquiry as the case has inter-state ramifications. On Monday, the army had ordered a high-level court of inquiry (CoI) into the alleged question paper leak. Referring to the Kabul blasts and possible use of chemical weapons, he said that the army should be well-prepared to tackle any challenge.
"As per the reports which are coming from the southern and northern parts of Afghanistan, I have seen photographs of the local population having suffered from blisters.... (due to possible use of some chemical weapons). At this moment, I don't have a confirmation on this matter but the photos are quite distressing," he said. The minister said India will have to be prepared for any
kind of nuclear or chemical attack, adding the armed forces must remain alert and prepared for any challenge. More than a dozen people were killed in two terror attacks in Kabul on Wednesday.
The near-simultaneous attacks struck the Afghan capital around noon on Wednesday. First, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun battle between the police and several attackers. In the second attack, a bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul.
Are Indian policymakers tasked with chalking out a Pakistan strategy following the script of BJP-Shiv Sena relationship in Maharashtra? Fatuous as it may sound, India's recent actions give space for such a speculation to rise. On the one hand the Centre citing the most laughable of excuses says it will oppose a private member's bill to term Pakistan a 'terror state', on the other hand it throws the kitchen sink at its favourite bete-noire on yet another United Nations platform.
On the back of these confusing signals, it is time to ask some questions to the Narendra Modi government.
What is India's Pakistan policy? The current policy (if there is one) seems to be an unstable oscillation between naive ad-hocism and macho posturing. How does it plan to tackle the relentless cross-border terrorism being devised, abetted and executed from across the border? In the wake of increasing Pakistan-supported insurgency in Kashmir, what is the NDA government doing to ensure that violent insurgencies such as the one we just emerged from are not allowed to fester again into a gangrene? Beyond periodic impotent fulminations on UN forums, how is India planning to shape the broader bilateral relationship?
It must have become boring for the UN dignitaries to watch the habitual India-Pakistan pirouette. Islamabad will open the routine by raising India's "human rights violations" in Kashmir and call for intervention. New Delhi will retaliate by asking Pakistan to dismantle its jihadi factories and stop exporting terror. As an added attraction, recent exchanges have been peppered by India's references to Pakistan's state-sponsored atrocities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
It isn't clear what strategic benefit this hackneyed routine brings for India, but the 34th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday saw yet another staging of the charade.
Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid called India an "occupying power" bent on brutally snuffing out Kashmir's right to self-determination and added that India's narrative on Kashmir being an internal affair "is factually incorrect, legally untenable and in violation of the UN Security Council resolution."
Ajit Kumar, India's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, mouthed the usual rebuttals.
In an apparent reference to Hafiz Saeed, he said, "During last two decades the world's most wanted terrorists found succor and sustenance in Pakistan." Referring to the spate of terror attacks in Pakistan's Sehwan, Lahore and other places resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, Kumar added: "Pakistan has created terrorist groups against India, these monsters are now devouring its creator." Calling for Islamabad to vacate Kashmir before invoking UNSC resolution, he said Pakistan is "the true epicenter of global terror."
Impressive. And completely meaningless.
Does the world need reminding that Pakistan is the global epicenter of terrorism? Not so long ago at the UNGA address in September last year, India had called Pakistan a "terrorist state" that runs from its soil the "Ivy League of terrorism" affecting the globe with its "toxic curriculum" and uses terror as an "instrument of state policy" which is a "war crime". Smarting and outraged at the stunning attack on Army headquarters at Uri, India's righteous indignation was evident. It appeared that the proverbial Rubicon has been crossed and words will now be translated into action.
And yet, just a few months after calling Pakistan a "terrorist state" at the UN, Rajnath Singh's office informed the Parliament Secretariat that Independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Bill, seeking to declare Pakistan a "terror state", will be opposed.
Tabling the Bill in Rajya Sabha on 3 February, Chandrasekhar cited data from 1998 to 29 January, 2017, to inform the House that 14,741 Indian civilians have fallen to terror attacks and 6,274 security force personnel have lost their lives in this period while 23,146 terrorists have been neutralized. More importantly, he stressed on the need for India to walk the talk.
"Pakistans history and track record of fostering terrorism and terrorists is long and indeed distinguishable and incontrovertible It is time that we stop running to other countries to declare Pakistan a terror state and stood up and did this job ourselves," Chandrasekhar said during the presentation.
In response, a government official told The Hindu that such a move may "jeopardize international relations under the Geneva Convention". What?
"We have diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country which includes High Commissions as well as trade relations. It will be not prudent to declare any country as a terror state as India is bound by international norms," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
What diplomatic relations are we talking about? One that rewards Modi's Lahore stopover with terror attacks? Or maybe one that fingers the old Khalistani wound?
Why were these considered views on diplomatic ties and trade relations absent when India was frothing at the mouth at the UN? Or is it that instead of a coherent foreign policy, we rely on a set of knee-jerk reactions?
When it comes to Pakistan, why do we fluctuate between vehement retribution and blissful somnolence depending on whether or not there is a terror attack? It does little for India's image as a rising, ambitious Asian power and grossly undermines its geopolitical influence when New Delhi is seen as dithering and undecided in fixing its most pressing geostrategic problem.
As Chandrasekhar had rightly pointed out in a column for The Times of India, "the tragedy in India is that the public narrative and opinion about Pakistan, waxes and wanes with terror attacks."
If we understand that Pakistan sees the asymmetric war as a legitimate foreign policy tool against a much powerful India, it stands to reason that we use the tools at our command to minimise our risks. Outbursts at UN or trying to diplomatically isolate Pakistan won't have much bearing in an international order driven by mercantile ties, self-interest and realpolitik rather than idealism. We have tried smoking the peace pipe. It has remained ineffective at best and grievously injurious at worst.
Declaring Pakistan a "terror state" is a largely symbolic move. But it goes a long way in announcing India's intent to the rest of the world. As global geopolitical order goes through a period of turmoil, India's position as an emerging economic power and a democratic counterbalance to a revisionist China remains secure. We must seize the chance to tell the world that our patience with Pakistan is ending.
Geneva/New Delhi: Pakistan created terror outfits against India and the "monster" is now devouring its own creator, India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva said on Wednesday.
Addressing the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Ambassador Ajit Kumar hit out at Pakistan for destabilising the situation in Jammu and Kashmir by promoting infiltration and cross-border terrorism, inciting, promoting and glorifying violence.
Asserting that terrorism is the "grossest violation of human rights", he said members will recognise the irony of a nation that has established a well-earned reputation of being a "global epicentre of terrorism holding forth on human rights".
"Pakistan has created terrorist outfits against India. This monster is now devouring its own creator," Kumar said, adding that in the last two decades, the most wanted terrorists of the world have found "succour and sustenance" in Pakistan.
The fundamental reason for disturbances in parts of Jammu and Kashmir is cross-border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan, he said, noting that for many years now, Islamabad has been carrying out an intense campaign to destabilise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
He further emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the situation there is an internal matter of the country.
The central government and democratically elected state government have led a system-wide effort last year to restore normalcy in the state in the wake of the Pakistan-supported violent unrest, he said in the session's 'General Segment'.
India would also like to point out that Pakistan's unwarranted references to UNSC resolutions are "grossly misleading as Pakistan was required to vacate the parts of the State of J&K under its illegal and forced occupation," Kumar said.
Kumar said the robust and mature Indian democracy proved once again that it has sufficiently strong and adequate mechanisms to redress any internal difficulties even if they are incited from outside.
He also mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a USD 12 billion package which was being fast tracked.
Normalcy has returned as 99 percent of the students of Jammu and Kashmir had taken their high school examinations and schools have reopened, he said.
His remarks came on a day when schools reopened in the Kashmir Valley after about 8 months, which included the period of unrest last summer triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
The Indian Ambassador also asserted that as the world's largest democracy with a high degree of diversity, India remains committed to the idea of a just and equitable society.
"To conclude, we will continue to participate actively in the work of the Council with a view to enhancing its effectiveness and efficiency," he said.
New Delhi: The navy on Thursday successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile for the first time from an indigenously built Kalvari class submarine, describing the launch as a significant milestone in enhancing its "sub-surface" warfare prowess. The weapon was fired from the submarine, the first of India's six Scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75, and it "successfully hit" a surface target during the trial in the Arabian Sea.
All the six diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with the anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat, the defence ministry said, noting these missiles will provide the vessels the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges. "The missile successfully hit a surface target at an extended range during the trial firing. "This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navy's sub-surface warfare capability," the ministry said.
The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the Jawahar Bagh Park case of Mathura where more than 20 persons, including two police officials, were killed last year during a drive to evict squatters.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma passed the order on a bunch of PILs demanding a CBI probe.
The court had reserved its judgement on 20 February after hearing arguments from both sides.
Among those who had moved the court with the demand for a CBI inquiry are Delhi-based BJP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and Mathura resident Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.
Besides, interlocutory applications were filed at a later stage by Archana Dwivedi and Prafull Dwivedi, wife and brother respectively of slain Superintendent of Police Mukul Dwivedi.
The order comes as a jolt to the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The state government had remained opposed to a CBI inquiry into the matter, pointing out that it had set up a commission of inquiry comprising a retired judge of the High Court.
In a statement issued from Delhi, Upadhyay welcomed the order, saying, "The violence at Jawahar Bagh in June last year was not an ordinary law and order issue. It related to unlawful occupation of public land, worth about Rs 5000 crore, by self-styled cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav and his followers".
The Uttar Pradesh government had, in January 2014, granted permission to Ram Vriksh Yadav's organization Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah to hold a demonstration inside Jawahar Bagh for two days.
However, members of the group went on to occupy the sprawling public park for more than two years.
Following a High Court order, the squatters were evicted from the park amid large-scale violence.
A huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the huts that had been erected inside the park during the period of illegal occupation.
There were reports that the park had been converted into a "quasi-republic" with its own currency and penal system and people staying there had been issued ration cards and cooking gas cylinders with Jawahar Bagh as the address.
Hyderabad: Sunayana, the widow of Srinivas Kuchibhotla killed in the US in a hate crime, has expressed her desire to go back to the US to fulfill her husband's dream.
"It is the least I could do for my Srinivas - fulfill his dreams through my eyes - and it is for this I have to come back to the USA," she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Sunayana, who works for Intouch Solutions in Kansas, also said that a question which was on every immigrant's mind was whether they belong in the country anymore and if it was safe for them to raise families there.
She also urged the leaders of global tech industry to keep defending human rights as they employ a large number of immigrants.
"Thanks to people like Satya Nadella (CEO-Microsoft) and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg (Founder- Facebook), Sundar Pichai (CEO-Google), Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights," she said in a Facebook post.
"We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, it's an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I don't want anyone to go through what my family and household went through," she added.
She thanked the Telangana government for extending support to bring the body of Srinivas back home from the US.
"I will now ask same question on what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, it's not based on the colour of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them afterward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
"Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrant's mind, Do we belong here. Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?" she wondered.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting at a restaurant in Kansas on Wednesday night. Another Indian and
his colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the incident.
In a major victory to protesting Bengaluru residents, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to withdraw the steel flyover project connecting Chalukya circle to the Hebbal flyover. CNN-News18 reports that Karnataka Urban Development Minister KJ George will soon make an public announcement regarding the issue.
The steel flyover plan had come under attack from various citizen groups over environmental concerns ever since the state cabinet approved the project in September 2016.
As part of the Rs 1,791-crore project, a 6.72-km long, six-lane steel flyover was proposed to de-congest the roads of Bengaluru. The project was expected to be completed in 24 months. The project was to be executed by Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) and Nagarjuna Ltd, with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) overseeing it.
However, the feasibility of the project came under scanner on account of the massive use of steel and the felling of over 800 trees that raised concerns among citizens and activists.
On the issue of tree felling, the BDA commissioner Rajkumar Khatri had sought to assuage annoyed protesters with assurances that 60,000 saplings would be planted in other parts of the city.
Protesting the project, noted architect Naresh Narsimhan had told Firstpost, This is a poverty of imagination. He had also added, "Any substantial infrastructure development should look ahead by at least six generations. Will this steel monstrosity that is to come over the best parts of the city be looked upon as a good thing? Not at all. In fact, it is a disaster even at the planning stage.
Several online petitions and public interest groups too protested against the project.
Many citizens had also alleged that the project indirectly encourages private sector and kills the greenery of the city.
An online petition mooted by Rajiv Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP, said, "Bengaluru needs a comprehensive mobility plan with focus and large scale investment in public transportation (and) the proposed steel flyover (gives) a strong signal (that the government) prefers to cater to the private sector," The Indian Express reported.
Historian Ram Guha and businesswomen Kiran Mazumdar Shaw had also come out in support of the protesters.
However, despite the protests, the Congress government persisted with the plan.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had defended the government's stand on the flyover. "The decision to spend Rs 1,791 crore for development was not taken just like that. It was done after a lot of deliberation, The Indian Express quoted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as saying.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju was in Manipur campaigning ahead of the Assembly election scheduled for 4 and 8 March, when he commented on Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur's video. Rijiju was reacting to an old video of Gurmehar appealing for peace between India and Pakistan. In the video that has gone viral now, Gurmehar is seen holding up a placard which said: "Pakistan didn't kill my father, war did." Her father died fighting during the Kargil war in 1999.
The video resurfaced after Gurmehar started an online campaign against the ABVP and the violence that broke out in Ramjas College last week over an invite extended to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid. Coming down heavily on the 20-year-old, Rijiju had said "the soul of the martyred father" must be crying as she is being misled by people who celebrate when soldiers die in action. In addition to this, Rijiju had also tweeted out saying, "Whos polluting this young girls mind? A strong Arm Force prevents a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded."
Who's polluting this young girl's mind? A strong Arm Force prevents a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded. https://t.co/gXHkAGi9sh Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 27, 2017
Interestingly, in an interview with NDTV, Rijiju revealed he had not seen Gurmehar's video on India-Pakistan peace before tweeting. Speaking to the channel, Rijiju said he had no idea what the controversy was about.
"I didn't know what the Gurmehar controversy was about. A journalist showed me her tweet. I responded to what Gurmehar said about her father."
He also said that he was unaware of the rape threats made to the 20-year-old student. Tired of the controversy that her tweets and video created, Gurmehar left her PG accommodation in New Delhi and moved back with her family in Jalandhar for security issues. Gurmehar had said that she has had enough and pulled out of the students' campaign on Tuesday.
"I didn't know she was being given rape threats. How would I know this has become a story in Delhi? You have the right to run any story, create a controversy," Rijiju was quoted as saying by NDTV. Rijiju jumped into the controversy when he hinted that Left-wing politicians and leaders are influencing students. After Rijiju's comment, the focus of the ongoing fracas in Ramjas College shifted to Gurmehar.
Rijiju's claims that he was not aware of the controversy around Gurmehar seems odd especially since he has repeatedly tweeted on the issue. Was the minister suggesting that he was dishing out opinions without understanding the issue?
Everyone has right of views but she said Pakistan didn't kill our brave martyr & India should shun war. India never perpetrated violence! https://t.co/2b8SHLdPRg Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 27, 2017
Freedom of expression is not a licence to shout anti-national slogans in campuses. Criticise the govt but don't abuse the motherland. https://t.co/3iqyqeLdJe
Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 27, 2017
Rijiju's admission brings forth a point which has so often been repeated in the age of social media there is hardly any difference between fact and fiction. In addition to this mayhem, everyone has a knee-jerk reaction to the chaos around them. Sample this excerpt from Rijiju's NDTV interview:
Rijiju: I was busy campaigning in Manipur. Some journalists came to me and showed me her tweet. I was out of network area. This group of journalists showed me a video that showed her saying that her father was killed by the war and not Pakistan. So only to that point, I said that there is no war going on with Pakistan right now.
NDTV: Did you see the full video or just that line?
Rijiju: I have not gone through anything. I didn't have time.
NDTV: How can you comment on anything when you have half information?
Rijiju: That's what I am saying... I don't have to say anything about that girl.
The fact that some sections of media, a few political leaders and the innumerable trolls reacted to a video of Gurmehar which was not even the point of discussion, shows that no one cared to find out when, where and why was the video recorded. They heard 'Pakistan', 'Kargil', 'Muslims', 'India', 'War', 'Army', 'Kashmir' all of which are a recipe for severe online backlash. No one cared to dig deeper, not even the Union Minister.
Fact: Gurmehar Kaur's video was recorded early in 2016 and had nothing to do with Ramjas College.
Fact: Rijiju had no clue about the video, yet he thought it was more important for him to be vitriolic rather than act like a responsible minister.
A young, feisty, independent 20-year-old was chased away from the city where she was studying. Online trolls made her life so miserable that Gurmehar decided to pack her bags and move back in with her parents. The focus had shifted to Gurmehar after a particular Union minister dished out a severe opinion based on his misplaced notions of nationalism and not knowing all the facts.
If elected Members of Parliament start hunting down dissenters, shutting down free speech and generally respond to every opinion that differs from theirs, they are fortifying every online troll. It sets, or rather has set, a very dangerous precedent where a minister of the ruling government mimes what an ordinary troll would say.
Social media is an unpredictable platform and since it has enabled every person to have an opinion, it's foolish to think that there won't be a backlash. Gurmehar too must have thought that her video and her campaign would start a dialogue, but maybe she was not prepared for a government representative to come down so hard on her and not even know what he was outraging about.
The Maharashtra Public Universities Act came into force on Wednesday after the state government issued a gazette that the Act will be effective from 1 March.
This means that a major reform in Maharashtra's higher education sector which had been praised by various legislators, political leaders and college principals has finally been implemented.
The Maharashtra Public Universities Bill, 2016 was passed by the state Legislative Assembly and Council in December last year. The Act aims at providing academic autonomy to state universities, improve their functioning and bring about higher participation of students, according to Hindustan Times.
The highlights of the Act: Structured governance through a board of deans and directors in-charge of various subjects, restarting the students council elections which were banned in 1994 due to the death of a student, introduction of choice-based credit system for students, a disputes redressal system for students and a fee-fixation committee. The bill won't be applicable to the medical and agriculture universities.
The Act states that each university will now be governed by the vice-chancellor, pro-vice chancellor, deans of faculties and seven directors. Besides, there will be a registrar, finance and accounts officer and director of sub-campuses of the university.
The Act would allow universities to conduct Board of Studies (BoS) elections, which were held up by the government for over one-and-a-half years.
The Times of India reported that many important functions like making appointments to top posts and conducting students' elections can be implemented only after statutes are out by the end of this month. "While officials such as the registrar, examination controller, who were appointed before, can continue to hold offices till the term for which they were appointed, the post of the director of board of college and university development became redundant from Wednesday," said the report.
Under the new Act, a system has been set up to grant permission to new colleges. It will offer a letter of intent for the first year during which the colleges will have to complete infrastructure building and creation of facilities. After the new college has been scrutinised for facilities, the university will then grant permission to run such colleges. The Act stresses on setting up of equal opportunity cell for divyang students and setting up of a Vishakha cell to redress complaints of sexual harassment of women. A proposal has also been made to make compulsory mercantile (double entry) accounting system to bring transparency. To prevent profiteering by unaided institutions affiliated to universities, the Act proposes to set up special committee to determine fees and a regulatory mechanism at the state-level.
Another report in Hindustan Times said that the first draft of the Act was prepared by a committee headed by former University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Arun Nigavekar in 2011. It then took the government over five years to get the state legislature's approval for the law. During that period, the then bill underwent many amendments.
The amended bill was tabled by State Education Minister Vinod Tawde in the House in December. He said, the bill was passed by a joint panel of 25 legislators from both Houses after making as many as 56 amendments. The panel also comprised two former education ministers, college owners and experts from various fields.
Speaking to Firstpost, Tawde had said that the changes will benefit students. "The new amendments are student oriented." The new act replaces Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994. "The new law will boost the higher education sector," he had added.
However, a report by The Indian Express had said that other stakeholders teachers and management feel that their democratic representation has been curtailed. The composition of statutory bodies has remained more or less the same but while the Act has added two new posts for representatives of colleges in the Senate and one in the academic council, the proportion of nominated members has increased. Now there will be at least 71 members in the Senate and half of them will be elected representatives. This has left teachers unions and former senate members disappointed.
With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to Delhi government over reports of a dead rat being found in a mid-day meal served to students at a school in south east Delhi's Deoli area. The Commission on Thursday said it has taken suo motu cognisance of the reports, issued the notice to the Chief Secretary, and sought detailed report in the matter within
four weeks, including the action taken against the agencies concerned.
Nine students of Government Boys' Senior Secondary School were taken ill on 16 February after consuming midday meal which allegedly had a dead rat in it. The students were rushed to Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had subsequently directed the Chief Secretary to monitor cooking of mid-day meals served in Delhi schools. Police had also lodged an FIR against two operators of an NGO who supplied mid-day meals to the school in Deoli.
"The Commission has observed that occurrence of such an incident, if true, amounts to violation of right to life of the children. It indicates towards serious lapse on part of the concerned agencies," the NHRC said in a statement. The Chief Secretary has also been asked to inform about the steps taken to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future, the Commission said. "Reportedly, there are 43 NGOs, which are catering to the requirement of mid-day meal to 18.46 lakh children of the schools run by Delhi government.
"They, allegedly, sublet their contracts to other organisations. In another report, carried on February 27, 95 percent of 365 meal samples failed to meet nutritional requirements in 2011-12 and 98 per cent of 322 samples failed the tests in 2010-11," it said.
Few chief ministers in India were as vilified as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was for being pro-bureaucracy. In his stint as the chief minister, he was all along accused of being influenced more by bureaucrats than politicians on the issue of governance. His style of governance is perceived to be bureaucracy-centric.
This assumes significance in the context of the ongoing tussle between the Bihar government and the states IAS association after the arrest of Sudhir Kumar, chairman Bihar Staff Selection Commission, on the charges of corruption. According to the police, there was incontrovertible evidence to implicate Sudhir Kumar in leaking the examination papers meant for recruitment of clerks. The arrest triggered a protest by 50-odd IAS officers who threatened not to obey verbal orders from their political masters.
Perhaps this silent insurrection against the authority of the government is too ominous a signal to be ignored. And luckily Nitish chose not to ignore it and is inclined to take it head on. In his speech in the state assembly on Monday, Nitish gave a clear signal that the defiance of the constitutionally elected government would not go unpunished. I have not yet got the memorandum of the IAS association. The moment I get it I will act on it in great details and set a milestone for governance in future, he told the state assembly.
Of course, Kumar is quite peeved by the manner in which a group of IAS officials conducted themselves on the issue. The manner in which the IAS officers walked to the Raj Bhavan to present memorandum against the so-called persecution of a fellow IAS officer reflected the conduct of a trade union activity. The question arises as to how this cozy equation between civil servants, particularly IAS, and the state government came under strain?
The answer to this query can be easily found if one carefully looks at the complex political equations in the state. In his first term as the chief minister after 2005, Nitish was up against the uphill task of resurrecting the state which became not only defunct but was buried deep into morass and sloth under Lalu-Rabri regime. Since Nitish enjoyed unfettered power in alliance with the BJP, he empowered the bureaucracy to regain the lost glory of the state. Remember the manner in which an IPS officer slapped a defiant warlord Anand Mohan Singh to put across the message loud and clear that the rule of law would prevail. The district magistrates and superintendents of police in the state were instructed not to get influenced by any pressure from political executives.
Contrast this with the scenario in the Lalu-Rabri regime where successive chief secretaries were reduced to the status of retainers of the chief ministers residence. There are umpteen stories about a chief secretary holding spittoon for Lalu Yadav to spit out betel juice! The state secretariat was resonated with the slogan 12 baje tak late nahin 3 ke baad bhent nahin (It is not late to come office at 12 noon and no work will be done after 3 PM). In Rabri Devis time, the chief ministers office was rarely opened as the chief minister was never interested in attending to her official work in the office. At home, her husband was de facto king.
Nitishs resurrection of the state presented a cultural contrast that shocked the states political class which was adept at manipulating the system through the bureaucracy. In Nitish Kumars time, the pendulum indeed swung to the other side as civil servants acquired the status of omnipotent. Nitish received flak within the party for encouraging the bureaucracy which tends to indulge in unbridled corruption. Since the state funding to infrastructure projects enhanced significantly and social spending was done under various central and state schemes, the reports of large-scale bureaucratic corruption multiplied.
In fact what has encouraged the bureaucracy is the incompatible nature of the political alliance between the RJD and JD (U). As of now, there are umpteen reports of many health centres and other government facilities turning out to be a source of extortion for a certain RJD ministers. In an atmosphere of uncertainty, a large section of civil servants has been switching loyalties and finding shelter in parallel power centres that have emerged at Patna.
The defiant march of IAS officials at Patna Raj Bhavan in support of the arrested Sudhir Kumar was only an indication of unsettled power equations in Bihar. By all indication, the protest by the IAS association was crass politics and intended to exploit the situation which is inherently unstable. Nitish was astute enough to diagnose the malaise and conveyed in unambiguous terms that he would use this opportunity to initiate measures that would set milestone for governance. The sooner he does so it will be better for Bihar and the rest of the country.
Its time we hung our heads in shame.
Do we seriously believe Gurmehar Kaur and 20-somethings like her in colleges or universities are anti-national? Are sports, film and political personalities slamming them for being less than patriotic really convinced that they are so?
Something is seriously odd out there. We have stopped treating the young as young. They will be a bit reckless, at times irresponsible and even foolish. But anti-national, working against the interest of the country? Come on, the assumption is not only insensitive but also cruel.
It is worrisome how even supposedly responsible people are getting drawn into this farcical nationalism debate yes, it is nonsensical because it is pointless and is meant to achieve nothing but divide people and adding decibels to it. In effect, they become a party to this branding game which seems to have no sense of rhyme or reason.
"Leave the kids of the country alone. You may not agree with their views. But you cannot snatch away their right to have an opinion on everything, including politics. If you continue to bully the young, you will soon have no individual thoughts and opinions, but a herd mentality," said actor Shatrughan Sinha in an interview with the DNA newspaper. He makes loads of sense. If only others in his party, including Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, thought along similar lines.
Who are you fighting? Someone must ask those fierce advocates of nationalism. They should also be asked how they can call themselves nationalists when they hate other Indians with such pernicious resoluteness, how their patriotism is superior to the patriotism of others and how wonderful idea like patriotism can be defined by the limited criteria of hatred for Pakistan and unqualified adulation for the Indian Army.
"Its a clear fight between the student communities worshipping the motherland, working for the glory of its rich culture and heritage on the one hand and the Left-leaning, polluted anti-nationals on the other. In Ramjas College, the students' union of the college that is democratically elected and is an independent union only advocated nationality and integrity," said Vinay Bidre, ABVPs national general secretary in an interview with Firstpost earlier.
He is entitled to his understanding of the motherland, but should the larger community be joining in to promote his fight or that of whoever he represents? It does not make sense, the same way the Lefts call for revolution did not. Shatrughan Sinha mentioned about the herd. We are, wittingly or unwittingly, becoming part of the herd.
Gurmeher apne ghar ki bachchi hai. Dont talk about harming her just because you dont agree with her opinion," he said in the interview. Its clear not many in his party and even non-political people who have become part of the nationalist brigade subscribe to such a view. Rule of the herd: follow the man in front. Stop thinking.
What is worrisome is the fact that the support from the wider group becomes the licence for thugs to move in. So, we have students being threatened with rape and murder. Of course, there are physical attacks and other acts of intimidation. Should our young be getting rape threats and physically assaulted just because they have a view?
The best solution would be to stay off the whole thing and let kids be kids. Let them enjoy the free air that the democracy allows them. None of them is anti-national, even if they belong to the Left; none becomes a threat to the country by speaking a few words.
The nationalist-patriot debate must stop in the country. It serves no purpose. It only divides the country. Something that divides Indians cannot be patriotic by any stretch of the imagination.
New Delhi: Hundreds of students from RSS-backed ABVP on Thursday staged a protest march in DU to reflect the the varsity's "nationalistic sentiments" and affirm that they will not allow any "anti-national" activities on campus. The ABVP had put up posters with photographs claiming them to be from the "violence perpetrated by the Communists" in various parts of the country. 'DU against intellectual terrorism', 'Rapist AISA go back', 'DU against anti-nationals' were few of the slogans written on the posters which drew sharp reactions from Left-affiliated groups.
"There is a conspiracy to poison the environment at DU, like they did at JNU and we will not allow that. This march was in response to the recent march of Left-groups and to give them a message that DU has nationalist sentiments," ABVP's National Media Convener Saket Bahuguna said. Defending the posters, Bahuguna said, "People are saying that the images on the posters are horrific but imagine the torture the families of these men, who were killed by the Communist goons, had to face".
The march came in the wake of recent violence at Ramjas cancel where ABVP and AISA clashed over cancellation of a seminar invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid. Chanting slogans of "Vande Matram" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai", the protesters started the march from the university's Arts faculty and after detouring the North campus with a Tricolour, the march culminated at the same place.
Reacting to the posters, Left-backed All India Students' Association (AISA) said, "ABVP resorts to hate mongering by putting provocative hoardings on campus trying to justify the violence unleashed on Ramjas campus". Slogans for 'azaadi' and 'cheeky ABVP why so creepy', had echoed in the DU campus on Tuesday during an anti-ABVP march joined by over 2,000 students and teachers against "onslaught" on universities and "curb" on dissent. Students, teachers and non-teaching staff from various universities including JNU, Jamia and Ambedkar University, participated in the protest march.
Without attempting to build a case for the police personnel, one can safely say that the police in at least two cities of this country Delhi and Mumbai have a thankless job to do. The police must have to tread a tightrope in allowing a mob to protest within the parameters of democracy, and yet, know exactly when it needs to be controlled, and try to do so without earning flak from all quarters of the society.
In the ongoing Ramjas College ruckus at Delhi University, one noise that has not yet reached a high decibel is that of high-handed behaviour of Delhi Police with the protesting students.
One slight murmur at the beginning of the fracas has already been dealt with by the police. At the onset of the crisis, several students and teachers were injured in clashes between the Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) and the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Ramjas College. Police said eight of its personnel, including an SHO, too sustained injuries.
However, following this, Joint Commissioner of Police, Devendra Pathak on Wednesday night admitted to unprofessional conduct on the part of police and said that an enquiry would be made into the incident, and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.
This is rather unusual for a police force that has not been known for decent behaviour in times of a crisis such as this.
All high-profile mass protests in the recent past have been marred by police high-handedness. Whether it was the unprecedented protest against the Nirbhaya gang rape incident, or the large-scale congregation of protesting people at India Gate and Ram Lila Maidan during the India Against Corruption movement, or the agitation of Delhi students in support of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's chairman, police earned brickbats for roughing up the protesting students.
The infamy of Delhi police apparently reached its nadir in 2016 during Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students agitation, when cops thrashed student protesters on the streets of Delhi.
Several eye-witnesses of the incident from February last year said that though there was provocation, the police could have handled the situation better without unleashing brutality. It was widely reported that in the absence of women police officers, male cops assaulted girl students in broad daylight, for which Delhi Police had received severe criticism from various quarters.
But, how come the Ramjas College controversy has passed so far without any ramification of police excess?
Former Director General of Police, UP, Prakash Singh believes that the police seem to have learnt its lessons from the past.
Police seem to have learnt its lesson from past incidents. This time the police have been doing a good job. It speaks about the leadership quality of present Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik. Handling student agitation is a tough job as it is highly volatile and police have to be objective and fair in dealing with such cases; even more so when the government is directly involved, he said.
Despite showing restraint and handling the Ramjas College episode with extreme care, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, headed by former Union Minister P Chidambaram, questioned Patnaik on 28 February and asked the latter what action did the police take over the clashes outside the college and on the alleged rape threats to Gurmehar Kaur.
The misfortune with police is that given the complexity of situation and despite doing a good job, they are at the receiving end, and are always criticized. This demoralizes police force, added Singh, also the former Director General of Border Security Force, who has worked on police reforms in India.
A senior officer in Delhi Police added, Police have been extremely cautious in handling the ongoing student agitation so that no negative message gets communicated. Government too doesnt want any controversy in this episode.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a plea of a bar dancers' body challenging the constitutional validity of a 2016 state law putting conditions on dance performances by women in bars and hotels in the state.
"Issue notice. Returnable within four weeks," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and RF Nariman said.
The court then tagged the fresh plea of 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union' with a pending petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) on the issue.
It fixed the petitions for hearing on 20 April.
The apex court is already hearing petitions, including the one filed by the IHRA, challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016.
The fresh plea, filed by 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union', has termed the new Act as arbitrary and violative of their right to earn a livelihood through legitimate means.
It alleged that the new law stigmatised their profession and unreasonably interfered with free choice of expression through dramatic performances and the right of women to practice the occupation of self-expression through such dramatic performances.
The union alleged that the term 'obscene dance' in the Act has been deliberately kept vague to allow the police to harass the women performers.
"The act of tipping or giving gifts as a token of appreciation has been customary and an integral part of traditional dance culture. This decades-old practice is akin to those performing Mujra, Lavani (traditional Marathi song and dance) or Tamasha (traditional Marathi theatre) where performers earn their living through 'bakshisi' offered by the audience as a token of appreciation of the performances.
"The said practice is widely prevalent in Maharashtra and across the country. But the Act prohibits such practice contrary to traditionally accepted form of custom, thus failing to recognise that every performance deserves a prize," the plea said.
On 21 September last year, the apex court had given interim relief to the state government by refusing to stay the operation of the new law, though it had flagged some of its provisions.
It had also allowed some dance bars which were granted licences by the state administration to continue to function under old rules and the directions issued by it.
Rameswaram: Thirteen fishermen were on Thursday arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing near Katchatheevu, a fisheries department official said.
While four fishermen hailing from Rameswaram were taken by the Lankan Naval personnel to Vadamarachi, nine others from Akkaraipettai in Nagapattinam district were taken to Kangesanthurai, Joint Director of Fisheries Amala Xavier said.
The Lankan Navy also seized their two boats.
They also allegedly damaged more than 20 fishing nets, the official said.
IAS officers in Bihar are up in arms against the state cops as over the arrests of two of their colleagues in less than a year which they see it as a collision between the bureaucracy and the police. Last week, Bihar Staff Selection Commission chief and IAS officer Sudhir Kumar and five others were arrested in connection with a paper leak scam in clerical grade recruitment examination sending ripples of dismay in the state's IAS circle.
The Bihar IAS Officers Association soon came out in support of Kumar and called for a CBI inquiry to ensure fair probe on the matter. In July last year, the Bihar association held a general body meeting of IASOA and decided to submit a memorandum announcing that it would bear the legal and logistical expenses required to investigate the 'imposter arrest' of Jitendra Gupta, Mohania SDO in Kaimur district.
Being an IAS or IPS officer always has its charm but there are occupational hazards of its own kind. Sources said since the workings of IAS and IPS officers are so public and visible, their intent and capability are questioned a lot more, unlike the army which is much more of a closed group making it harder to highlight their flaws. People tend to be judgmental in the sense that since Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are closer to the National Capital than the south Indian states of Telangana and Andhra, where real corruption happens, these states are usually perceived as the hotbeds of money-making for bureaucrats.
In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Sanjay Bhoosreddy, honorary secretary, Indian Civil and Administrative Service (Central) Association, explains what ails India's leading bureaucratic community, what makes them back comrades in legal trouble, and why apart from the glamour that the IAS tag gives how challenges on the ground are real:
Why has the IAS fraternity taken such a strong stand to protect those who have possibly compromised with the law? Wont that damage the legacy created by revolutionary officers?
Those who are corrupt must be punished. There are no two ways about that. By backing the officer, we are not backing corruption or crime, we are simply saying there is a legal method in which proceedings must be carried out. Last year, the Bihar Police had acted in a mala fide manner against Jitendra Gupta a young IAS officer, while serving as sub-divisional magistrate Mohania. Gupta was falsely implicated in a vigilance case. At that point of time also the police had violated the statutory provisions of criminal law, which was brought to the notice of the authorities. The Patna High Court had in a scathing arrangement of the Special Vigilance Unit, quashed the FIR against Gupta in light of the uncontroverted facts, terming the FIR and the consequential investigation as not bona fide and abuse of the process of law. Despite this, the Vigilance Bureau, perhaps in obfuscation of the truth, prevailed over the government to approach the Supreme Court with some new shenanigan, only to find it being reprimanded by the highest Court of this country. The Supreme Court in deprecation of the governments ingeniousness did not deem the appeal fit enough to be a case even for hearing and dismissed it on merit at the admission stage itself.
Are the police and the administrative forces not part of the same system? By backing this issue raised by the Bihar Association, arent you furthering the divide between the two?
Sudhir Kumar was arrested from his parents home in Hazaribagh in the middle of the night but the arrest was declared in Patna the morning after. This is a case of inter-service one-upmanship that the police tries to play. Why was there a need to manhandle him? Could he have run away? Kumar fully cooperated with the investigating agencies, he was neither absconding nor was found tampering with evidence, if any. Therefore, there was no need to arrest him without following the procedure and precautions of arrest as provided in Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He was also not afforded the opportunity of legal assistance.
Does dependence of political forces on bureaucracy make it believe that it is above the system?
That is a systemic problem and the IAS fraternity cannot be attacked in isolation.
Is a trade union mentality seeping into the structure and intent of associations?
IAS officers are vulnerable. They arent allowed to speak to the media or protest against the system at any forum. Going to court is an expensive option. In such a situation, only an association can put forward the case of an officer in need of justice and protection. Mostly associations are passive and rarely take up cases vigorously. Trade unions do not follow rules, they may demand what isnt legally theirs. Associations work under the guidelines laid down by the government.
If IAS officers swear by the Constitution when they take the integrity pledge, then why are they seen backing a possible corruption suspect instead of focussing on tighter discipline and vigilance? Doesnt this go against the integrity pledge that each officer is made to take?
As far as the investigation is concerned, the anti-corruption cell is autonomous because they have to follow the provisions of the criminal law. After the RTIs have been introduced, the system has become transparent. We cannot victimise and terrorise senior officers on the basis of conjecture. There are 4,700 IAS officers in the country and there may be big and small cases going on against approximately 200-250 of them, some are being chargesheeted. Are we raising our voice against the arrest or suspension of each one? Even in Guptas case, we offered only moral support only after the court had whetted the point.
IAS officers are as much a part of the system as the Army is. What role do they play in nation building?
Every stretch of land of this country is covered by Indian administrative forces, there are people posted in conflict areas at all times. I am working on a list of IAS officers who have been killed by the lack of law and order, especially in Naxal and mining areas. He says nearly a dozen have lost their lives since the 80s. Only Rs 2.5 lakh is offered as compensation whenever a death occurs. How many people know the story of Dashrath Prasad (1994 IAS officer) who was killed by insurgents in Manipur during the national games. Today, his parents are struggling to make ends meet in a village in Banaras.
Can India ever be corruption free?
One good way to tackle corruption is to fix loopholes in the system. One of these is the fact that the mines officer at the district level and the mines supervisor at the sub-district level (both of whom belong to a Type C service) can be easily bribed and it is these people who often mislead the IAS officers posted in the district. For instance, they might take a cut in the royalty from mines and minerals that go into the government treasury by toying with the quantity and quality of the resources. If top political leaders want, it is quite easy to make India corruption-free.
In what could have been deemed a landmark case on abortion laws, the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, rejected the plea of a 37-year-old woman to abort a 26-week-old foetus that showed signs of Downs Syndrome. When the plea came to the Bench, the foetus was 23 weeks old; the Supreme Court ruled in the case that since there was no danger or threat to the life of the woman, the pregnancy was to continue. A court-appointed medical board had advised against the abortion.
According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 (MTPA), the permissible limit to terminate a pregnancy is 20 weeks. In cases, where the life of mother or child is in danger, this limit can be extended after considering the report of a medical board. In the present case, the Bench consisting of Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao, took into consideration the report of a panel of doctors and ruled against the womens plea:
"As per a report of the medical board constituted to examine the 37-year-old woman, there was no physical risk to the mother in continuation of pregnancy. Everybody knows that children with Downs Syndrome are undoubtedly less intelligent, but they are fine people."
The Bench has deemed that Downs Syndrome is not a life-threatening condition, and that there is no physical risk to the mother from the pregnancy. They empathised with the fact that the child may suffer from mental and physical challenges, but stated that their hands are tied: "It is sad that the child may suffer from physical and mental challenges and its unfortunate for the mother but we cant allow an abortion. We have a life in our hands and we are also tied down by a law."
Abortion is a contentious subject in the country, in spite of Indias progress in issues revolving around sexual and reproductive rights. Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 talks about unlawful termination of pregnancy, but does not use the word 'abortion'; it talks about "causing miscarriage". It utilises the words 'miscarriage' and 'unborn child' without legally defining the meaning and scope of these words. According to the provision, there must be good faith and the purpose of protecting the life of the mother when terminating the foetus. The MTPA lays down that the termination of pregnancy cannot be after the foetus is 20 weeks old, unless the life of the pregnant mother is threatened where she is at physical risk, or grave mental anguish may be caused to her as a result of the pregnancy. It may be noted that the MTPA infringes on the right to privacy, the right to health and the right to dignity of a pregnant woman, all of which has been guaranteed by Article 21 (the right to life) by the Constitution.
In 2016, the Supreme Court allowed a rape survivor to terminate her pregnancy beyond the prescribed limit of 20 weeks at 24 weeks citing grave physical and mental challenges if she carried the foetus to term. A Bench of Justices JS Khehar and Arun Mishra granted the benefit of Section 5 of the MTPA to the petitioner and stated, "We grant liberty to the petitioner and if she desires to terminate the pregnancy, she is permitted." In 2015, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict of the Gujarat High Court that had refused to permit a 14-year-old rape survivor to abort her 25-week-old foetus.
The high court, in its judgment, did acknowledge the adverse physical, emotional and psychological effects of the decision on the life of the petitioner, but decided to go ahead with a positive and pedantic reading of the MTPA. On appeal judgment, the Supreme Court considered the recommendations of the medical panel and then decided on her best interests. In 2008, the Bombay High Court disallowed a woman from aborting her 26-week-old foetus her foetus had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of section 5 of the MTPA, but the high court stated that it could not read down section 5 as it would mean that the judiciary was usurping the power of the legislature. Again, a pedantic and strict reading of the MTPA was pursued, and the court ruled that abortion on grounds of gross abnormalities of the foetus was permissible within 20 weeks only; the court, therefore, denied the petitioner her right to abort the foetus.
In another case, R versus Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to grant the petitioner, a rape survivor, permission to terminate her pregnancy as the medical panels recommendations did not agree to an abortion. The court requested, by way of caution, doctors from Aiims to reassess the possibility of abortion. However, in the course of the proceedings, the petitioner gave birth to a baby she probably did not want to keep.
In the legal debate of the right to life of the pregnant woman versus the right to life of an unborn child, the real, substantial concept of agency of the woman is lost. To contextualise this further, the MTPA, in reality, enshrines no right of the woman to abortion. It merely puts down lengthy, procedural obstacles in the exercise of such a right. Moreover, the fact that the judiciary, more often than not, refuses to apply judicial activism in matters where the existing law is unjust or can longer provide for just remedies or solutions.
In my opinion, to depend on an appointed medical panel that may be arbitrary and capricious is setting a dangerous precedent for sexual and reproductive rights of women in India. The present Supreme Court case is witness to how the pedantic and strict reading of the law, without interpreting it in context, can be immensely threatening to the functioning of the rights system for women.
Editor's note: Uttar Pradesh is home to India's sixth largest Muslim population according to the 2011 Census, a figure whose magnitude is amplified when viewed in the context of the sheer expanse of the state and its Byzantine linkages of identities and communities. Such an examination is rendered all the more urgent considering Uttar Pradesh is now in the thick of a tumultuous election. To understand the mind of its Muslim community its anxieties, aspirations and animating impulses - political commentator and journalist Tufail Ahmed set off on the road, sending us dispatches from its far corners. Firstpost will chronicle his travels in a multi-part series. The following is the ninth part of this series titled 'Travels of a political pilgrim'.
In the majestic city of Lucknow once governed by the Shia ruler Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, journalist Kulsum Mustafa draws my attention to the following: "Sunni Muslims are a majority but they lack education. However, right among this majority there exists a minority of Shia Muslims who are doing exceptionally well in education." This profound observation sheds light on the minority syndrome which exists among Indian Muslims, but does not exist among other religious minorities such as the Sikhs, Parsis and Jains.
Asked to explain why Shia Muslims are doing educationally better than Sunni Muslims, Maulana Saidur Rahman, the principal of the world-famous Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama seminary of Lucknow, states: "There is bedari (awareness) among Shia Muslims. They understand that education is necessary for progress. The Sunnis too are becoming aware." However, the causes of Muslim backwardness in India cannot be attributed solely to a lack of awareness, especially since Sunni Muslims are politically assertive, and are demanding that the government fix their life and are unwilling to part with the 'minority' tag, a relevant political tool, especially at the time of elections.
Kalbe Jawwad, the leading Shia cleric of Lucknow who was travelling, told me by phone that the Sunni Muslims get into small businesses such as mechanics, tailoring, embroidery work, meat business and others, which excludes them from the education system early in life. In Jawwad's view, there is a strong emphasis on education among Shias who, unlike the Sunnis, first complete education before getting into work. Rakesh Dwivedi, who teaches social work at the Lucknow University, explains it further: "Small-scale entrepreneurship is prevalent more among [Sunni] Muslims than among Hindus because the latter start business activities after education while Muslims begin entrepreneurial activities before education." He suggests that any educational reform for Muslims must include a teaching component on entrepreneurship at early age.
Kulsum, who is a Shia Muslim married into a Sunni family, notes that the tradition of majlis (religious gathering) inculcates a strong emphasis on educational and social life of Shia Muslims. Majalis, the plural of majlis, are held throughout the year but especially during the month of Muharram in which Shias mourn the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. Every majlis is a socio-religious platform and has two parts: the first half focuses on social issues, while the second half is devoted to remembering the difficulties suffered by Ahle Bait, the members of the prophet's household, she explains.
While this insight into the Sunni-Shia difference in the fields of education and religion is relevant to understanding the Muslim backwardness, it is also pertinent to explain the so-called 'minority' phenomenon, which appears to shackle the development of Sunni Muslims. Islam has always been a religion of war for power. In early days in Mecca, the prophet preached Islam peacefully. After Hijrah (migration) to Medina where he established the first Islamic state, the prophet waged many wars. And right after the prophet's death, disputes arose over succession leading to two divisions among Muslims: Shias and Sunnis. "Islam is basically a war for the Caliphate," Kulsum observes.
So, in the mid-2014 when Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the chief of the jihadi-terror group Islamic State (ISIS, also known as Daesh by its Arabic initials) declared himself as the caliph of all Muslims, a congratulatory letter was released by Maulana Salman Al-Husaini Al-Nadwi, a leading Sunni scholar of Islam at the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama of Lucknow. I met him at his office. I asked him questions on the Muslim educational backwardness, his support for the Bahujan Samaj Party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, role of Islamic scholars in the life of Muslims, lack of worldly education in the syllabi of madrassas and so on. His responses were sweet and short and in phrases and half-sentences, and I felt my conversation was not progressing anywhere until I questioned him on his controversial letter to Al-Baghdadi. He came to life because this is one subject on which he had to defend himself, as he was widely criticised for supporting the Islamic State.
The first response I got from him shocked me because it was rooted in the Sunni-Shia schism in Islam. "I congratulated Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on the point that he had registered victories against Shion ke zalimana mazalim (the cruel atrocities of Shias in Iraq)," said Maulana Salman, adding that in the letter he had advised Al-Baghdadi to establish good relations with other countries as well as with India and not to kill ordinary people just because they belong to different sects, i.e. mainly the Shia sect. However, Al-Baghdadi continued to promote sectarianism (anti-Shia killings), he said, and the violence spread to other countries. Maulana Salman gave a post-facto justification for his support to Islamic State saying that he continued to watch its initial role and later wrote an essay against Al-Baghdadi which was published as a booklet.
"Now, Daesh is on the path of Kharijites. They talk about Islam but Islam se bari hain (are out of Islam)." Maulana Salman said. Kharijites were Islamic State-like forces in Islam, religiously devout and offering five-time prayers, and they would kill Muslims who in their theological opinion had left Islam. I stopped for a second on the use of the word bari (expelled/out) and asked him if the Islamic State is out of Islam. To which, he responded: "We do not consider it kafir [infidel, or non-Muslim]. It is so violent that it only thinks about its own group [as an organisation]."
"The Islamic State is not the spokesman of Islam," he said and added correctly that the war underway in Iraq over the past decade and more is also rooted in the geostrategic roles played by the US, the UK, Israel and other western powers. He was dismissive about the Indian Muslim youths who have been arrested over pro-Islamic State radicalisation or went to fight in Syria. Such youths are devoid of hikmat (wisdom) and lose sense, he remarked.
In the booklet titled, "Daesh is neither the agent of America nor of Israel It is a violent and extremist Salafi organisation," Maulana Salman emphatically states: "Lots of people understand that these people [i.e. Islamic State] are the agent of external enemies. I am saying it with full confidence that it is not so. They are gripped by their thought and beliefs. They are Salafis who do not feel at rest without declaring fatwas on takfir and apostasy." Declaring takfir means deciding theologically who among Muslims has left Islam and as an apostate is therefore liable to be killed. While the booklet correctly attributes the theological roots of the Islamic State to past theologians such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Wahhab, it is significant for another issue: the writing of this booklet is driven by purely anti-Shia clamour to capture power, a key reason why Maulana Salman initially backed Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi, a Sunni.
And therefore in the booklet, Maulana Salman lauds a conference that was called in Riyadh of 40 jihadi groups from Syria which was held to unite them against the Bashar Al-Assad regime, who heads the Shia regime in Syria. The booklet is noticeable for the fact that it doesn't imagine space for the Sunni power of Islam to co-exist with the Shia powers of the day such as Iran, Iraq and Syria. In the booklet, he speaks for the need to end sectarianism (firqawariat) from countries like Iraq and Syria but in the context of the booklet and the politics in the Middle East, the word "sectarianism" essentially means the termination of Shia power from the Islamic world, which in the unwritten imagination of Maulana Salman is necessary for the rebirth of the Sunni-led global Caliphate, which existed till 1924 when the Ottoman caliphate ended in Turkey. The battle of Karbala was the bloodiest in Islam and in fact so bloody that Muslims felt ashamed of themselves and therefore used poisoning as a method to murder Shia imams in later centuries. The battle of Karbala was also fought for control of the caliphate.
Both the viewpoints expressed by Maulana Salman and Kulsum Mustafa lead to only one definitive conclusion: the world is engaged in a continuing series of wars between the Sunnis and the Shias; it is a war of Islam for the capture and rebirth of the global Caliphate. It is Islam's war to lay siege to the global political power. This war in India transforms itself into what we understand as the minority syndrome, which is necessarily a Sunni Muslim phenomenon among the Muslims who lost power in 1857. Election times are the only times when the minority phenomenon forces the majority community to overtly behave as a minority community by wearing topi aur angochha (the Muslim cap and male scarf), Kulsum explains.
It is essentially the political behaviour of a community that does not want to behave as a minority, even though this behaviour creates victimhood and siege mentality, and therefore harms the Sunni community in educational and economic life. It is basically a Sunni Muslim tool to claim a stake in power, while the real minorities such as Shias, Jains, Parsis and Sikhs do not use it to play victimhood or to assert superiority. Lucknow-based social anthropologist Nadeem Hasnain wonders: "When will Muslims learn to live as a minority? Will they even learn or not? Why can't we understand that we cannot progress without the goodwill of the majority?" He adds: "I think our biggest complex is that we have ruled India for 800 years." When I asked Maulana Saidur Rahman, the principal of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, to explain the Muslim educational backwardness, he too diagnosed its causes in power, not in innovation, rational thought and individual initiative. "Samrajiyat (imperialism) kept Muslims backward. Everyone wants to keep Muslims backward," he said.
While it's true that Shias too lost power to the British, notably when Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned by the British, the Shia loss of power was not much. Additionally, Shia Muslims learnt to march in step with the changing times while the Sunnis did not, observes Jeelani Khan Alig, who is based in Lucknow. So, the Sunni nature of the minority phenomenon forces them to look up to the government and power to fix their economic and educational life. This siege mentality gave birth to the Khilafat movement which paved the way for the creation of Pakistan. Post-independence, India has entered a new cycle of partition, as journalist Siddharth Singh tells me, which is dividing India right in its towns and cities. I have argued earlier that India is headed to multiple partitions. The only point to understand is that the nature of this conflict is raging at the intellectual and political levels in the forms of minority politics and the communal politics masquerading as secularism in India.
Part One: Separatism and integration among Muslims in the time of Uttar Pradesh elections
Part Two: Secularism versus communalism at election time
Part Three: Is rise of religiosity on AMU campus a precursor to another 'Partition'?
Part Four: Should taxpayers be funding AMUs imams, muezzins, theology department?
Part Five: How bridging religious, worldly knowledge gap can reform Muslim education
Part Six: Be it Kairana, Muzaffarnagar or Aligarh, India is headed towards multiple 'Partitions'
Part Seven: Tracing the rise of Barelvi Islam in Indian politics
Part Eight: Farangi Mahal, once a bastion of Islamic education, looks to regain lost glory
Part Ten: Government must address 'minority' syndrome which causes social conflict
Part Eleven: Mubarakpur sits at the junction of Islamic doctrinal sects divided by Taqleed
Part Twelve: Madrassas play key role in inducing orthodoxy among Azamgarh's Muslims
The author, a former BBC journalist, is a contributing editor at Firstpost and executive director of the Open Source Institute, New Delhi. He tweets @tufailelif
New Delhi: India's top pollution regulator has rejected a global study which claimed that the country records the highest number of early deaths due to surface-level ozone.
A senior scientist of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) claimed surface-level ozone formation has, in fact, come down due to "reduction" in solar radiation and that it stays well within the safe standards in the country.
The State of Global Air report 2017, released last month, stated that surpassing China, India witnessed a 150 per cent rise in the lives lost over the past two decades from ozone pollutants. The toll in India was 13 times higher than Bangladesh's, and 21 times higher than Pakistan's, it claimed.
CPCB's air lab in-charge Dipankar Saha, however, said, "There is no violation of our standards. Anyone can say anything. I am not aware of their methodology but ozone-level is not exceeding so seriously in India."
"It is exceeding in some places, some day. But it is not a routine phenomenon. You cannot link early deaths to ozone. Moreover, solar radiation is reducing so ozone formation will be less," he said.
He said CPCB was in the process of preparing a report on the same.
Union Environment Minister Anil Dave had observed that the report was based on extrapolation "without" due scientific validation. A "proud nation" always believes in its own data, he had said.
Ground-level ozone, as opposed to stratospheric ozone which shields the earth from ultra-violet rays, is a product of chemical reaction between oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and carbon monoxide (CO) among others in the presence of strong sunlight.
As per CPCB standards, ozone levels should not exceed 100 micrograms per metre cube (g/m3) over a period of eight hours.
Monitoring data of Delhi's two stations, Shadipur and Dwarka, provided by CPCB show ozone levels touched peaks of up to 164 (ug/m3) in May last year in the city although monthly or annual average data mask the intensity of the situation.
In May, Shadipur and Dwarka saw ozone exceeding the safe limit 12 and seven times respectively. Everytime it happened between 2 pm and 10 pm.
Pablo Raez died at the end of February when his leukemia returned after a period of remission. The 20-year-old athlete from Marbella was known for his #retounmillon campaign on social networks, which he launched in September 2016 with the aim of encouraging more people to become bone marrow donors.
When his treatment began in October 2015 at the Carlos Haya Regional University Hospital in Malaga, he began a daily blog, describing the ins and outs of being a leukemia patient. A year later, he began his campaign on social networks. His target was one million donors. I want to raise awareness, I want to be of use, I want to make people feel better And its possible with your help, he explained at the time.
I want to raise awareness, I want to be of use, I want to make people feel better And its possible with your help
When Raez began #retounmillon, he had almost 225,000 followers on Facebook and more than 330,000 on Instagram. Five months later, each of his social network accounts had an additional 100,000 people. And his followers took heed, particularly in Malaga province where bone marrow donors shot up by 1,400% in the last four months of 2016. According to the Health Ministry and the National Organization of Transplants, there were 230,000 bone marrow donors in Spain before Raez went into action out of a global count of 28 million.
In his blogs, Raez focused on the importance of such donations. There is a lot of information available on Google on how to do it, he wrote in an Instagram post, and Im going to keep saying it not just for Pablo Raez but for the thousands of children who need a donor, because there are thousands with the disease and because you yourself could need that help at any time.
Raez campaigned with enthusiasm and optimism, striking poses with his muscles flexed, which became a sort of logo. As his Facebook and Instagram posts reflect, he loved sport and had an amazingly positive attitude to life. In one of his last posts on Instagram, he wrote, I don't know what will become of me, but then I have never known. What I do know is that I am finishing one fight to start another, but I will not give up. I am Pablo Raez Martinez and Im not a quitter.
The fact that it is young people who are the most sought-after donors makes Pablo Raezs campaign even more significant, as the Carreras Foundation explained on its website. Via social networks, Raez was able to reach out to a generation not reached by TV and media coverage. According to Raezs Facebook page in September 2016, the urgency for donors was not getting through to the most important audience, namely young people between 18 and 40.
In the same post, Raez pointed out: This age group is more active on social networks and it's important to reach more of them. This is why I am asking those of you who are already aware to spread the message. It's very important to create this chain in which, through luck or misfortune, I am the main link.
Raising the number of donors is fundamental if leukemia patients are going to have a better chance at recovery
Raising the number of donors is fundamental if leukemia patients are going to have a better chance at recovery. Unlike blood, which has a higher ratio of compatibility, bone marrow is hard to share. According to the Carreras Foundation, a fundamental aspect of the immune system is the genetic information contained in the cells that we call the HLA system (Human leukocyte antigen). A higher level of donor-recipient HLA compatibility is needed so that the cells from the healthy donor repopulate the patients organism without being rejected, making the patients sick cells disappear.
Pablo Raez is not the only leukemia patient to take to the social networks. In November Verne reported the story of Estibaliz, whose boyfriend Daniel posted a letter on Facebook encouraging people to donate bone marrow. For every 4,000 donors, only one is compatible. Thats why I need you to become donors, the more of you, the better. A while ago now, I promised him [Estibaliz] that we would grow old together and I need you to help me keep this promise.
English version by Heather Galloway.
Lego sets have long celebrated superheroes like Batman and Superman. But now, the Danish toy maker is honouring real-life heroines five women pioneers for the US space agency Nasa.
The proposal for the set, submitted on Lego's community and ideas page by MIT News editor Maia Weinstock, has been approved, beating out 11 other projects examined by the Lego Review Board.
"Women have played critical roles throughout the history of the US space program, aka Nasa or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration," Weinstock wrote in her proposal.
"Yet in many cases, their contributions are unknown or under-appreciated especially as women have historically struggled to gain acceptance in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)," she added.
Lego said it expects the new "Women of Nasa" set to be available by the end of the year or in early 2018.
Everything is AWESOME! @LegoNASAWomen has been approved by #LEGO and will soon be available in stores!!! https://t.co/jCqq6ce9FM pic.twitter.com/Yj2ZOOiS1h Lego NASA Women (@LegoNASAWomen) February 28, 2017
"Were really excited to be able to introduce Maias 'Women of Nasa' set for its inspirational value as well as build and play experience," the company said in a blog post.
The five women included in the set are:
Astronaut Sally Ride, who became the first American woman in space in 1983
Astronaut Mae Jemison, who became the first African-American woman in space in 1992
Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, nicknamed the "Mother of Hubble" for her role in developing the landmark space telescope
Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, who developed the on-board flight software for the Apollo mission
Mathematician Katherine Johnson
Johnson is one of three women portrayed in Hidden Figures, the Oscar-nominated film that tells the little-known story of three female African-American scientists who played a key role in Nasa's early space program.
The 98-year-old Johnson, portrayed in the movie by Taraji P Henson, attended the Oscars with the film crew on Sunday and received a standing ovation from the A-list audience.
Mumbai: The core committee of Maharashtra BJP is likely to meet on Friday to chalk out the strategy for the Mumbai mayoral election scheduled for 8 March, in the backdrop of the civic polls throwing up a fractured verdict.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve and Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar are expected to
attend the meeting, party sources said.
BJP and Shiv Sena, despite being partners in the state and central governments, fought the recently-held polls separately. Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party in the 227-member council with 84 seats, while BJP came a close second with 82. Congress finished on the third spot with 31 seats, NCP got nine corporators, and Raj Thackeray's MNS bagged seven seats.
Shiv Sena has claimed support of five Independent candidates.
The next mayor of Mumbai will be elected during the first meeting of the new House on 8 March. 4 March is the last date for filing nominations for the post, and the election will be held four days later, a BMC official said.
With no indication as yet of any post-poll alliance, it remains to be seen what strategies the political parties adopt for the mayoral poll.
Mumbai: The NCP on Thursday said it will maintain a distance from both the Shiv Sena and BJP in the mayoral elections in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, where the recent polls resulted in a hung house. State NCP President Sunil Tatkare told reporters here that his party was clear right from the start of the campaign for the civic polls across Maharashtra that it would not enter into any understanding or friendly fight with either the Shiv Sena or the BJP.
The NCP leader, however, took a dig at the Congress, which he said had struck some understanding with the Shiv Sena in some Zilla Parishads in the state. "We kept our word while Congress, which had also assured the same, tied up with the Sena in Osmanabad and Raigad Zilla Parishads. While in many seats elsewhere, they were in a friendly fight," he said. Tatkare said the party is yet to take a call on Mumbai Mayor elections and will wait to see how the situation unfolds.
"(However) Under no circumstances, will our party support the Sena or BJP (in the BMC). We feel the two saffron parties are likely to come together for power. Shiv Sena has no guts to withdraw support to the state government," he said. In a sarcastic take at Sena's stance during the campaign that the BJP-led government in the state had been put on "notice period", Tatkare said, "only they (Sena) know where is the notice period for the government in the state and whether the resignation letters carried by its ministers in their pockets are still there or torn off."
"What is the use of only criticising the government through 'Saamana' (the Sena mouthpiece). Shiv Sena should act on the criticism and withdraw support," he added. To a question on speculations that NCP may support a Shiv Sena government if such situation arises, Tatkare said, "I don't foresee mid-term elections since Shiv Sena will not pull out of the government. To install its own CM, Sena will have to withdraw support to the present government. If it does pull out and think about forming a government, we will see what to do."
On the prospects of a no-trust motion against the Devendra Fadnavis government, he said the Congress has not discussed the proposal with his party. Meanwhile, nine NCP corporators from Mumbai met party chief Sharad Pawar and discussed the the post-Mumbai civic poll situation.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday rejected the Congress-led UDF's allegation that administration has come to a standstill due to strife between top officials in government.
The opposition is trying to create 'unnecessary' problems on trivial issues, Vijayan said in the state assembly.
The functioning of a government has to be judged based on its performance, he said.
He was replying to a notice for an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition on the alleged 'cold war' between top IAS officials and Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Director Jacob Thomas resulting in 'administrative stalemate.'
He said government could take up various infrastructure development initiatives, it intervened effectively in the law and order issues besides distributing welfare pension to about 35.59 lakh beneficiaries.
"Government achieved all this in the last nine months with the active support and cooperation of civil service and employees," he said.
"Out of 18,000 files pending at the CM's office, now only 200 are pending," Vijayan said, brushing aside the Opposition charge that "files in the secretariat and CM's office is not moving."
"Officials have the freedom to work and government would protect them. Opposition is trying to politicise certain minor differences of opinion between officials," Vijayan said.
On a notice "stating that no complaints against bigwigs will be taken up" put on the notice board of the Vigilance Directorate last week, Vijayan said "direction has been issued to look into the matter."
On the functioning of the Vigilance bureau, he said guidelines would be worked out after getting necessary direction in this regard from the high court.
Attacking the government, VD Satheesan, who moved the notice for motion, alleged that officials were not taking any decision due to "fear" of probe and action by Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas, who, he alleged, "acts in a vindictive manner."
"A sword of Damocles is hanging over the officials in the form of Vigilance Director. Officials are not taking any decisions and Chief Minister remains as a mute spectator," Satheesan said.
He also brought to the notice of the House complaints and probe by Vigilance against top IAS officials including Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) KM Abraham, Additional Chief Secretary Tom Jose.
"The situation has reached such an extent that administration is not moving forward," he said.
Taking a dig at Vijayan, the Congress leader said"people used to say that Vigilance is a caged parrot or non-caged parrot. But here the vigilance is a domestic cow of the chief minister. It gives milk to the owner while strike others with its horn."
Expressing dissatisfaction over the government not taking up the issue for discussion, the opposition staged a walkout. Before walking out, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged top officials were filing cases by using 'benamis' and administration has become "inept."
After a sweeping victory in Assam last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had set its sights on Manipur, the last stronghold of the Congress in the north-east. With the state Assembly election just a few days away (Manipur goes to polls on 4 and 8 March in two phases), the state where Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had ruled for three successive terms since 2002, seems ripe for the picking.
More so as the Meities living in the valley are mostly Hindus, and with a strong Hindutva wave sweeping the country since 2014, one may think that the BJP would be a natural choice. But as of now, it is not an advantage-BJP in Manipur. In fact, the Indian National Congress is slightly ahead, but whether the numbers are enough to form a government is unclear. A hung assembly is not being ruled out by analysts in Imphal.
As of now, both the Congress and the BJP are publicly claiming that they are confident of forming the next government. Local factors, however, matter a great deal in the state. Besides, despite some defections from the Congress, the BJP does not have a solid chief ministerial face.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is popular and does attract crowds, but people know that he is a not the man they can turn to in a local situation. In the 60-member Assembly, the BJP has just two seats. Both won in by-polls in 2015. The party also can't boast of a solid organisation in Manipur.
The Greater Nagaland factor
The Hindu Meiteis see the BJP as backing the Christian tribes living in the sparsely populated hill areas of the state. This is because of the Naga Peoples Front (NPF) ruling Nagaland is aligned to the BJP. The hills of Manipur are inhabited largely by Nagas, Kukis and Zomias as well as many smaller groups. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), which has long been demanding the amalgamation of Naga-dominated areas in the region with Nagaland to create a composite homeland for the Nagas, has a strong presence in the Tangkhul areas of Manipur. This has been a key issue in the talks held between the Centre and the NSCN-IM. The least that the NSCN-IM demands giving up on an independent Naga nation, is the creation of a Greater Nagaland. The Naga-inhabited hill areas of Manipur are the key to this solution. Meiteis are wary of the BJP giving in to the NSCN-IM demands.
The hush-hush framework agreement that was signed by the Union government with the NSCN-IM on 3 August 2015, with Prime Minister Narendra Modis blessings, has also led to the speculation of Manipuri territory going to Nagaland. The contents of the pact have not been made public. And naturally, the Congress is making full use of it in the election. Though various BJP bigwigs, including home minister Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javadekar and others have tried to reassure Meiteis that Manipur will not be divided, there is deep suspicion on this score.
"It is advantage Congress in Manipur, mainly because the BJP does not have an answer to why this agreement is under wraps," said analyst Babloo Loitongbam. "The people do not want Manipur to be bifurcated," he added.
Economic blockade in Manipur
Ahead of the polls in December last year, Ibobi decided to fulfil a long-held aspiration of locals for increasing the number of districts in Manipur from nine to sixteen. Singh had said that it was done to improve the administration of far-flung areas of the state. The Nagas living in Manipur, however, are furious.
Led by the United Naga Council (UNC), they have blamed Ibobi and his Congress party of dividing Naga contiguous areas. Though this affects just one district, the local NPF with the blessings of both the NSCN-IM, the UNC has organised a blockade along the national highways 2 and 53. Manipur, like many of the North Eastern states, is land-locked and the trucks are the mainstay for suppliers. As the national highway runs through Naga-dominated areas, the valley can be easily cut off. Economic blockade has been used frequently by the Nagas, thus hardening the Meitei's attitude in the valley towards the Nagas.
Emergence of new players in Manipur
The main contest in Manipur is between the Congress and the BJP. But the NPF is also contesting in 15-seats in the hills. Human Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who was on hunger strike for over a decade for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa) from Manipur, is also in the fray. Though she ploughs a lonely trial with little money or organisation, her Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRAJA), has also fielded five candidates. She could have made a difference, if people did not turn against her when she decided to end her hunger strike in 2016.
Modi, in an attempt to woo Meitei votes, has said in an election speech that if the BJP is voted to power, the crippling blockade of the valley will be lifted immediately. This has led to jibes from Ibobi that the BJP along with its Naga allies has organised the economic blockade. The Hindu Meiteis would have as a rule opted for a Hindu nationalist party like the BJP. But suspicion of the BJPs connections with the Nagas and fear of fragmentation of Manipur is giving Congress a fighting chance.
There are 40 seats in the valley and 20 in the hills. The Nagas are likely to vote against the Congress but whether they go with the BJP or the NPF is difficult to predict. The BJPs greatest advantage is that it is the ruling party at the Centre. Most North Eastern states prefer to align with the party in New Delhi. The Congress, meanwhile, is showing little chance of a resurgence in New Delhi. These factors may weigh in with the voters. But, if Ibobi wins another term, he will be breaking a record of sorts as a four-time chief minister.
Imphal: With only two days left for Manipur polls, electoral diatribe has touched the highest pitch among political parties in Manipur, with hurling charges against each other over many issues.
On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Ram Madhav while ridiculing Manipur chief Minister Okram Ibobi 'Mr 10 Per-cent', alleged the Congress-led government has siphoned off 90 percent of the developmental funds of the state.
Addressing media-persons at BJP state unit office, Ram Madhav alleged that Ibobi government was unable to submit the utilisation certificate for the Laoktak Phumdi cleaning project worth 460 crore sanctioned by the Planning Commission.
Launching a scathing attack on the alleged 'ten per-cent commission' imposed on development projects by the Ibobi government in the state, Madhav said, "the Ibobi-led Congress government in Manipur is looting ten percent commission, thereby disrupting progress in all areas of development in the state for the last 15 years. But BJP is quite different. On the contrary, BJP is making all efforts to raise a ten per-cent of GDP," he said.
Slamming the Congress government for lack of development in the state, he charged that maximum of the developmental projects have remained incomplete. Road connectivity, medical facility, education system and public distribution system are in worst condition, he alleged. Had the state government bothered to implement all the schemes and projects properly in the last 15 years, the situation would have been different today and people of the state would be enjoying all the basic facilities by now, he said. "But the Ibobi government has failed to submit utilization/completion certificates for various development projects/schemes worth crores of rupees provided by the Centre till date," he said, adding that among them is Loktak phumdi cleaning project.
Describing Congress and corruption as two entities of same origin, he said that if voted to power BJP will investigate and book Ibobi and all his ministers for misruling and depriving the people of basic amenities for the last 15 years. All corruption cases involving congress ministers, MLAs will be entrusted to CBI when the moment BJP comes to power. We will not spare anybody, Madhav pledged.
He further charged Congress leaders with either directly or indirectly being connected with criminal activities, adding that they are involved in drug rackets. He said that in 2012 election, Congress in their manifesto had promised employment for the educated youths, but in 2017 unemployment in the state has increased triple fold, to more than 8 lakhs.
Imphal: Poll related violence are steaming up in Manipur with only two days left for the first phase Manipur polls.
Unidentified gunmen on Thursday attacked the polling office of BJP in Wangkhei Assembly Constituency by firing three rounds of gun shots. No casualty reported, police sources said.
The incident took place at Wangkhei Angom Leikai under Prompat PS in Imphal east in the wee hours of Thursday morning at about 4.45 am.
Former Minister Yumkham Erabot Singh is contesting from the Wangkhei Assembly Constituency in BJP ticket.
Strongly denouncing the attack, Kh Binashwari Devi, Secretary of Woman Social Welfare Association, Wangkhei Angom Leikai, said that such violent activities are a threat to the voters who wish to choose their right candidates in a free and fair manner.
She expressed her suspicions of Congress involvement in the attack. Earlier, some unknown persons also attacked the house of a BJP supporter at Wangkhei by pelting stones.
Meanwhile, a local woman Meira Paibis on Thursday staged protest against a bomb being placed at the office of Sagolband Development Association.
On Wednesday, some Congress workers including a Muslim priest in Mayang Imphal were reportedly beaten by BJP workers when Congress workers were on their way to home after attending Rahul Gandhis election campaign rally in Imphal.
Muslim religious clerics strongly condemned the act demanding BJP leaders action against those BJP workers.
Md Nasir Ali, an injured Congress worker in the incident narrated that four of them including Moulubi Sikandar Ali were on their way home in a Bolero from the living quarters of state Education Minister, a Congress MLA from Mayang Imphal constituency, as they missed any public transporter vehicle after the rally. Some BJP workers blocked their way at Phakchao area questioning them of supporting Congress and they were physically assaulted by said workers.
The Congress workers escaped the attack after some locals approached the incident site hearing their pleas for help. The injured priest in the alleged physical assault Sikandar Ali condemned BJP, calling it a Hindu fanatic political party for attacking a Muslim religious cleric.
As Manipur prepares to hold Assembly election on 4 March, Chief Minister Ibobi Singh finds himself cornered quite literally with his counterparts from fellow North East states seemingly coming together to blast the Congress leader over his inability to ease the economic blockade in place.
As per a report in The Indian Express, in Nagaland, where Naga People's Front (NPF) leader TR Zeliang was forced to step down last month following continued protests by tribal bodies, has hit out at Ibobi Singh, saying the responsibility of lifting the blockade rested solely on the Manipur chief minister. "The blockade was entirely Okram Ibobi Singh's creation and it depends on him whether it could be lifted or whether it would continue," said Zeliang, who was in Manipur's Senapati district recently to campaign for NPF candidates.
"Ibobi Singh had created the new districts without consulting the stakeholders, knowing well that this would result in protests. But by doing so he was expecting the valley people to back him and vote for his party. It now depends on him whether to revoke the government decision or to let it stand," he added.
Not just the former Nagaland chief minister, even his successor has joined ranks in criticising Ibobi, accusing him of inciting communal tensions in the Imphal Valley to ensure he gets more votes in the upcoming polls. Newly sworn in Nagaland, chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu said Ibobi Singh is "even more communal than his party".
According to a report in The Asian Age, Liezietsu urged the Meiteis, the dominant community of the Imphal Valley, not to fall prey to Ibobi's tricks of trying to divide the region on communal lines. "Any problem that is to be solved peacefully through dialogue must not be construed as going against any community," he said, also acknowledging the Meiteis of being a more dominant group in the region. "We expect them to play the role of elder brother by initiating measures to ensure the continuity of living together as good neighbours."
And it's not just the Nagaland leaders from across the border who have lashed out at Ibobi Singh. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have also criticised Ibobi over the ongoing blockade. "It is his (Ibobi's) duty to lift the blockade. I would have lifted it if a similar stir was launched in my state," said Khandu, according to a report in The Times of India.
Echoing these views was Sarma, formerly with the Congress party in Assam before he switched ranks and joined the BJP ahead of Assembly elections last year. "If the state government hands over its responsibility to us, we could end the blockade within 48 hours without the Centre's help," Sarma said, drawing attention to the grievous public suffering across the state border.
Imphal: Left and Democratic Front (LDF) Convener M Nara Singh has announced support to Irom Sharmila, a candidate of PRJA who is taking on the Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi in Thoubal Assembly constituency.
Nara announced to support Sharmila during an election meeting organised for Sharmila at Kongpal Kongkham Leikai on wednesday. The LDF is comprised of CPI, CPM, NCP, Manipur National Democratic Front, Peoples Democratic Alliance, Aam Aadmi Party and JD (U). The front is fielding 52 candidates including two Independent candidates. Thoubal constituency will go to the polls in the second phase on 8 March.
Announcing the front decision Nara said there would not be peace, harmony and development if the corrupt Congress government and BJP continue to rule in the state.
So the coming election is the right time for the people to change the system of the state by voting out those corrupt political parties, added Nara.
Sharmila, who fasted for nearly 16 years, came out to contest against the chief minister.
Sharmila said that it is time to defeat the politics of the chief minister and his Congress party where they buy peoples valuable votes. She said that the state has been in a condition where the rich and powerful people rule leaving no place for the poor people.
There has been no welfare of the people and development, so it is high time for the people to bring a change to end the dirty and corrupt system of the state, by choosing right leader, added Sharmila.
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Autorickshaw rally for Congress party in Thoubal district, Manipur. The state goes to polls on 4 and 8 March.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking in Manipur ahead of the Assembly polls, accused the Congress and Chief Minister Okram Singh Ibobi of creating confusion and vowed that the territorial integrity of Manipur would not be affected. Singh said that there was no law and order situation in Manipur and the major evil was the corruption by the Congress. Manipur goes to the polls on 4 and 8 March.
The BJP has been on a tear in Manipur, on the last day of campaigning before the first phase of polling. Campaigning in Manipur officially ends at 3 pm.
Activists of Kangleipak Students Association on Thursday, demanding justice for extra-judicial killings in Manipur, burned effigies of Manipur Chief Minster Okram Ibobi Singh, Addl SP AK Jaljit and ex DGP Y Joykumark on Thursday. The Kangleipak Students Association (KSA) is demanding the repeal of Afspa and justice for fake encounter cases, including the 23 July, 2009 case, in which a pregnant woman and a former PLA militant were killed in broad daylight. On Wednesday, a group of irate student activists belonging to the association allegedly vandalised the state unit office of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) situated in the heart of Imphal city after being denied a meeting with BJP leaders.
The 33-year-old Harvard-educated Erendro Leichombam, was attacked by unknown people in Manipur on the day of the first phase of polls in the state. This US-returned former World Bank Fellow, who also served in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is the convener of People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA), a party started by Irom Sharmila. Trained in Economics at the Soka University of America and in Mathematics at the University of California, Irvine, Erendro refused to live the life of an NRI and joined Irom Sharmila's party to bring about a social change in his home state.
Over 80 percent voter turnout was recorded in the first phase of polling in Manipur in 38 constituencies spread across six districts in the hill state. Officials said the final figure would go higher as this was only the preliminary report at 3 pm when polling officially ended. The second and final phase of polling will be held on 8 March.
The second and final phase of polling will be held on 8 March.
Haokip also said he was confident of the Congress winning 40 seats in Manipur Assembly polls. The second and final phase of polling will be held on 8 March.
State unit Congress president TN Haokip has said that the BJP and the United Naga Council are the two faces of the same coin.
A troop of 25 Assam Rifles apprehended four Kuki National Front (P) militants at Churachandpur on early Sunday morning. The militants were nabbed at 5.30 am. Two AK-56 rifles, two pistols, four cell phones and 148 rounds were recovered during the counter-insurgency operation. The militants were then handed over to the Churachandpur police.
HuffPost-CVoter poll has predicted that the Congress will win fewer seats than the BJP in Manipur. According to the poll, the BJP's voteshare in the state will see a huge increasefrom 2.1 percent in 2012 to 32.1 percent in this electionmeanwhile, the Congress' voteshare is estimated to fall from 42.4 percent in 2012 to 31.3 percent.
At least six persons including four women sustained injury in an IED blast near Kasturi Bridge in the hear of Imphal city on Wednesday evening at about 5.40 pm as the last phase Manipur polls ended. The police said that the two women among the five injured in the blast, which took place in the Kasturi Thong area in Imphal, were admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Science, a government hospital.
Manipur unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to file a counter-FIR against the State Election Commission (SEC) for "mentally harassing" the party's office bearers, and for allegedly creating confusion with regards to advertisements that were published in local dailies in Imphal, Manipur, on 3 March.
There was tight security at the polling stations to ensure that there was no untoward incident.
Voters stand in queues at a polling booth in Manipur. PTIVoters stand in queues at a polling booth in Manipur. PTI State Chief Election Officer Vivek Kumar Dewangan disclosed that the repolls were being held as per directives of the Election Commission.
Peaceful repolls were reported in 34 polling stations in eight districts of Manipur on Thursday.
Voter turnout of 67% recorded till 1 pm in second & final phase of voting in #ManipurElection2017 pic.twitter.com/1QXIUaMmve
Polling ends at 3 pm in the second and last phase of #ManipurElection2017 pic.twitter.com/miuhmwwktJ
State Chief Electoral Officer VK Dewangan has ordered repoll in 34 polling stations which went to the hustings in the first phase on 4 March. The re-poll will take place on 9 March from 7am till 3pm in the 34 polling stations. CEO Manipur Vivekumar Dewangan said re-polling would be held in five polling stations of Andro AC, one each in Uripok, Saikot and Singhat AC, 12 in Saikul, three in Saitu, six in Thanlon and five in Henglep.
At least six persons including four women sustained injury in an IED blast near Kasturi Bridge in the hear of Imphal city on Wednesday evening at about 5.40 pm as the last phase Manipur polls ended. The police said that the two women among the five injured in the blast, which took place in the Kasturi Thong area in Imphal, were admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Science, a government hospital.
Manipur unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to file a counter-FIR against the State Election Commission (SEC) for "mentally harassing" the party's office bearers, and for allegedly creating confusion with regards to advertisements that were published in local dailies in Imphal, Manipur, on 3 March.
There was tight security at the polling stations to ensure that there was no untoward incident.
Voters stand in queues at a polling booth in Manipur. PTIVoters stand in queues at a polling booth in Manipur. PTI State Chief Election Officer Vivek Kumar Dewangan disclosed that the repolls were being held as per directives of the Election Commission.
Peaceful repolls were reported in 34 polling stations in eight districts of Manipur on Thursday.
Elections in Manipur will be held in two phases on 4 March and 8 March with the results being declared on 11 March. Representatives from 60 constituencies will be elected.
The previous Assembly election, held in 2012, resulted in a landslide victory for the Congress, giving them 42 seats and allowing Okram Ibobi Singh to be re-elected as chief minister for an unprecedented third consecutive term.
While Manipur has been a Congress stronghold for over a decade, thanks to the leadership of Ibobi, a savvy political operator, the BJP has been upbeat about its chances, buoyed undoubtedly by its success in last year's Assam elections. All eyes are also on Irom Sharmila, who shocked many political observers by giving up her 16-year fast against the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa), and decided to enter politics.
Manipur's Iron Lady has formed the People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) and will be taking on the chief minister in his own den Thoubal constituency only time will tell if this is a masterstroke or a blunder.
Sharmila, while announcing her decision, had said: "During his 15 years of leadership he has not done anything to repeal Afspa. Since I realise that no politician shall repeal it, I am planning to contest the election, become the chief minister and repeal it."
Here are some quick facts about the state:
Number of Parliamentary Constituencies: 2
Number of Assembly Constituencies: 60
The present ruling party: Indian National Congress
Opposition Party: Trinamool Congress
Chief Minister: Okram Ibobi Singh
Governor: Dr. Najma A. Heptulla
Chief Electoral Officer: Oinam Nabakishore Singh
Political Parties in Manipur
The Indian National Congress (INC)
The Bharatiya Janata Party
The Rashtriya Janata Dal
The Nationalist Congress Party
The main regional political parties are :
Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party
Manipur State Congress party
Lok Jan Shakti Party
All India Trinamool Congress
Manipur People's Party (MPP)
Federal Party of Manipur
Manipur National Conference
Naga People's Front
National People's Party (India)
Nikhil Manipuri MahasabhaManipur Assembly Election 2017
A Madrid court has banned a bus from traveling on the streets until its full-length ad, placed there by an ultraconservative Catholic group, is removed. The examining magistrate said in a writ that the ads message aims to erode the dignity of individuals with a different sexual orientation.
The offending bus has been impounded. Victor Sainz
The decision to enforce this provisional measure, which can be appealed, was reached on Wednesday after the chief prosecutor of the Madrid region asked the judge to ban the bus from the roads as long as the discriminatory ads it displays are not taken down.
There is a risk of perpetuating the perpetration of the [hate] crime, and of disturbing the peace. And of creating a sense of insecurity or fear among people because of their identity or sexual orientation, specifically among minors who could be affected by the message, wrote the prosecutor in his brief.
I believe in freedom of expression, but it has a limit that is set by the law
Cristina Cifuentes, regional premier of Madrid
Municipal police, acting on orders from Madrid City Hall, had impounded the bus on Tuesday to prevent it from displaying a full-length ad with the message: Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Dont let them fool you. If youre born a man, youre a man. If youre a woman, you will continue to be so.
The bus ad is the brainchild of Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard), a Catholic group that has campaigned against abortion and LGTB rights in the past. The organization was also fined for allegedly violating local regulations on vehicle ads.
Protesters accused Mayor Manuela Carmena of censoring freedom of speech. Alvaro Garcia
Authorities believe the campaign could constitute a hate crime, as it appears to be designed as a reply to an earlier set of ads by a support group for transgender children called Chrysallis, whose own message was: There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas.
But Hazte Oir says the bus has been hijacked, and has vowed to take it to other Spanish cities. A group of around 20 people came out in support of the group at Cibeles Square, where the bus had been originally scheduled to arrive at noon.
A political issue The Madrid branch of the PP, which governs in the region but not the Spanish capital, is divided over the Hazte Oir campaign. Luis Asua, a candidate to become the next leader of the Madrid PP, has demanded of Cristina Cifuentes respect for freedom of expression. But Cifuentes, who is Asuas main rival in the political race, considers herself a direct target of Hazte Oir, and has stated that she believes the bus ad is an attempt at influencing the PPs internal battle in favor of Asua. Before the 2015 election, Hazte Oir chartered buses to campaign against Cifuentes.
[The council] must exercise power democratically, not through political violence, said Hazte Oir in a statement that it sent to City Hall. They should respect, just like we do, those who do not think the same as they do.
The regional government of Catalonia and the governments delegate in Madrid have also announced that they will take the issue up with state prosecutors, as they see the Hazte Oir campaign as a possible hate crime against transgender people.
I believe in freedom of expression, but it has a limit that is set by the law, said regional Madrid premier Cristina Cifuentes, of the Popular Party (PP).
The passive attitude of the regional government and of the rule of law has given wings to a small reactionary group that acts against public liberties and the rights of LGTB people, said Carla Antonelli, a Socialist deputy in the regional assembly.
English version by Susana Urra.
In a state which resides a multitude of communities, Manipur is politically active and come every election season, there is close contest between various political parties (national or regional) to win the Assembly seat.
This election season too, while we are sure that there is going to be good voter turn-out (because historically the state has had good voter turn-out) it remains to be seen which constituencies will see the closest competition. Which parties will win by a whisker?
We have analysed data provided by the Election Commission for the past three Assembly elections in the state for some constituencies where these fights went down to the wire.
After his second consecutive victory from the Thoubal Assembly constituency in the 2012 polls, Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh became the chief minister of Manipur for a record third time. His scale of victory was rather huge defeating his nearest BJP rival Oinam Indira by a margin of over 67 percent of the total votes polled.
In sharp contrast, another constituency Hiyanglam, which notably also comes under the Thoubal district to which Ibobi belongs, witnessed one of the narrowest election victories ever. Maibam Kunjo of the Trinamool Congress barely managed to defeat his Congress rival Elangbam Dwijamani Singh, he won by a margin of 17 votes.
However, Kunjo who died in August 2014 was not the only one who won by a whisker in the 2012 elections.
Out of the total number of seats (which is 60), 20 seats saw a victory margin of less than a thousand votes, which translated to a margin of less than five percentage of the total votes polled.
A close look at the narrow victories in some of these constituencies suggest that the Trinamool Congress had played a major role in bringing the contest down to the wire. The party had debuted in the 2012 polls winning seven seats.
Interestingly six of them were won by a margin of less than a thousand votes.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party also fared well in six other constituencies where it lost by a slim margin.
Two of the MLAs who had to face extremely close contests in their constituencies Irengbam Hemochandra Singh from Singjamei and Khumujam Ratankumar Singh from Mayang Imphal became ministers in the Ibobi-led Congress government.
While Hemochandra, who had also served as the Speaker of the Manipur Assembly, won by a margin of just 157 votes; Ratankumar, on the other hand, defeated his nearest Trinamool rival by a margin of less than 800 votes.
However, the trend of wafer thin margin of victories is not new in Manipur politics. In fact, in a smaller states, where constituency sizes are smaller, margin of victories can often come down to below the thousand votes mark.
In the 2007 polls, 18 of the legislators were elected by a margin of less than a thousand votes. The narrowest of the victory was achieved by Mohammad Allauddin Khan, who was re-elected from the Keirao seat by an unbelievable margin of two votes.
The 2002 polls saw even greater number of seats being won by a narrow margin of total votes polled. That election, 25 seats were won by less than a thousand votes and a margin of less than five percent.
Often lower voter turnout can lead to close contests in various constituencies. But the case with Manipur seems to be an aberration. With high turnouts, ranging over 65 percent since 2002, the hypothesis seems to not work in the state.
However, one possible reason for such pitched electoral battles seem to be the violent inter-community rivalry between the Nagas and the Kukis.
Nineteen of the 60 seats, which are situated in the hilly region, are dominated by either Kukis or Nagas. Both tribes have been at loggerheads since the 1990s. In times of sharp polarisation, coupled with the usual high voter turnout, it is often tough to pick eventual winners.
The Meitei Muslim community too holds card to the electoral fate of candidates in at least 10 seats including, Lilong, Keirao, Wabgai and Wangkhem, according to a report in The Times of India,
The 4 and 8 March elections will be interesting to watch out for. The Congress is facing an anti-incumbency wave while BJP looks to snatch its arch-rivals bastion in the northeast.
The Trinamool Congress would look to better its last performance, while the Naga People's Front would seek to expand its influence in Naga areas capitalising over the public agitation against the creation of nine new districts from Naga-dominated areas.
It is important to note that the elections are taking place amid the economic blockade backed by Naga groups and the growing rift between the Meiteis, who dominate the plains, the Nagas and Kukis.
The entry of anti-Afspa activist Irom Sharmila into the electoral fray and her decision to take on the chief minister in his stronghold Thoubal constituency adds hue to the already vibrant political scenario in the insurgency infested state.
With a multi-cornered fight on our hands, we may very well witness more close contests in Manipur.
(With inputs from PTI)
Imphal: Activists of Kangleipak Students Association on Thursday, demanding justice for extra-judicial killings in Manipur, burned effigies of Manipur Chief Minster Okram Ibobi Singh, Addl SP AK Jaljit and ex DGP Y Joykumark on Thursday.
The Kangleipak Students Association (KSA) is demanding the repeal of Afspa and justice for fake encounter cases, including the 23 July, 2009 case, in which a pregnant woman and a former PLA militant were killed in broad daylight.
The association also demanded that political parties and their candidates should give a commitment to the people that there would be no more fake encounter cases when they come to power.
On Wednesday, a group of irate student activists belonging to the association allegedly vandalised the state unit office of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) situated in the heart of Imphal city after being denied a meeting with BJP leaders.
A group of KSA members first gathered at the gate and demanded to meet BJP leaders but when they were told that none was present they went on the rampage, damaging furniture in the office and breaking the glass panes of its windows, BJP sources said.
The students left the place shouting slogans and the police were called in by BJP workers. Earlier, KSA members had reportedly tried to storm the Congress Bhavane but women office bearers of the party managed to handle the situation by placating the agitating students.
Police said investigation into the incident was on but none were arrested. Manipur goes to polls on 4 and 8 March.
On 24 February, a day after the violent assault by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Ramjas College in Delhi University (DU)s North Campus, Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD), delivered a blunt statement to the media, on being quizzed about his ministrys passivity.
"How can we [Ministry of HRD (MHRD)] intervene? They are an autonomous university. Police will investigate and take required action. Nobody... neither the university, college administration nor the students have approached us for help so far, Javadekar, who took over from Smriti Irani as the HRD minister in July 2016, said in response to a query from the media.
Javadekar's non-interventionist stance has drawn stark resentment, owing to his top executive position in the country's highest decision-making body on education. His neutrality, which is being widely perceived as silence, has clearly not gone down well in large quarters of the media and civil society.
While it might seem natural and perhaps, essential, to seek accountability from the Union Ministry of Education for a breach of order inside a state-funded university campus, Javadekar's statement has a rather polarising context to it.
When Javadekar stated that the MHRD cannot intervene in the affairs of an autonomous university, he was not entirely wrong.
If we correspond the mandate of the ministry with the nature of the events that transpired on campus, there seems to be a clear contravention. What happened in and around Ramjas, was essentially a law-and-order incident rooted in the forceful negation of constitutionally-guaranteed rights. Neither of these two components fall under the actionable mandate of MHRD. Thus, in this case, the ministry cannot step in unless a specific request comes from the university authorities.
The body that is accorded with the legitimate authority to deal with a law-and-order situation is the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). This is of greater relevance here because the MHA also controls the Delhi Police, unlike in other states where the state government is in charge. Hence, in this case, the positions taken by Rajnath Singh (Union Minister of Home Affairs) and Kiren Rijiju (Minister of State for Home Affairs) hold far greater weightage than Javadekar's, at least in immediate terms.
However, in the past three years of the BJP-led government, the MHRD has gained infamy for invading the autonomy of central universities through arbitrary use of executive authority. In fact, it is now seen as one of the most interventionist ministries in the administration.
There is no denying of the fact is that the current government, through the MHRD, has indeed tinkered with mandates by invading into the autonomous space of Indias state-funded universities. Besides political agenda-setting (like appointing Vice Chancellors from a particular ideological strand), the MHRD has initiated direct, intrusive action on more than one occasion under the leadership of Javadekar's predecessor, Smriti Irani.
The University of Hyderabad (UoH) protests, centred around the suicide of PhD scholar Rohit Vemula, dealt the biggest blow to Irani, following which the MHRD became all but synonymous to partisan policy-making and belligerent politicking in the eyes of many. She was subsequently accused of unduly intervening on matters that were beyond the MHRDs direct mandate. With no refuting, it was only during her tenure that the MHRDs reputation reached a new low in decades.
Not just in UoH, the MHRD has barged into the autonomous university space on many other instances. In May 2015, it directed the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) to take punitive action against the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle for "creating hatred atmosphere among the students". In October 2015, students from across the country accused the MHRD of dictating terms to the University Grants Commission (UGC) - an autonomous body - when the latter abruptly scrapped the non-NET fellowships.
Javadekar himself has not been a puritan, in terms of providing a politically-agnostic public service setup. In August 2016, under his leadership, the MHRD issued a directive to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to organise mass recitation of the national anthem by all students (among other lavish patriotic events) on the eve of Independence Day. With the obvious intent of infusing a top-down form of nationalism into a university known for its anti-establishment fervour, the MHRDs instructions were hardly cryptic.
However, Javadekar's stint so far tells us one thing that he is far more cautious and calculative than his predecessor. But, he is different from Irani perhaps only insofar as his PR posturing is concerned. By emphasising on the limited mandate of MHRD in context of the Ramjas violence, Javadekar has successfully preserved the BJPs ideological line for now, while conducting himself as a minister who understands the limits of his executive authority.
Its actually good that MHRD understands its power well. It could have intervened and easily supported its ideological student wing over others. But it understands the system which gives DU powers to take this up independently. We need to understand that MHRD cant intervene until there is a written communication for the same, argues Ravish Rana, Youth Political Advisor to the Dais Foundation, an education management organisation.
In light of the above, one glaring question still remains should Javadekar (and MHRD) actively intervene in the Ramjas episode? One could argue from both sides.
While a cursory statement from the HRD minister could serve well to reassure the aggrieved masses, it remains largely unnecessary and more importantly, a red herring. To follow the protocolary line, three entities are far more accountable at this moment - the Principal of Ramjas College (who retired two days after the incident), the Vice Chancellor of DU, and of course, the MHA. While we already have statements from MHA, the other two have refused to provide any remark whatsoever.
The MHRD, rationally speaking, cannot and should not be held accountable for issues at the ground level. This is simply because of the structural hierarchy in the executive setup, which gives greater authority of administration of college campuses to frontline positions like Principals and VCs.
"The bottom line is that the Principal (of Ramjas), the VC and Proctor (of DU) did not stand up for the students of the very institutions under their charge. Do we expect the MHRD to start intervening in every squabble in central universities all over India? Will you ask them to intervene in clashes between Samajwadi Party and NSUI members in Allahabad (University)?" asks Saib Bilaval, an M Phil student of modern Indian history at JNU.
Besides hierarchal realities, it is also difficult to gauge if an affirmative statement from Javadekar would have a substantial impact on the collective psyche of the affected people.
"There is no requirement of lip service condemnation if it doesn't result in a visible change. Historically, there has been no student connect with the (HRD) ministry and barely any interaction. A statement from HRD would hardly be able to pacify any group," argues Anuj Aggarwal, former spokesperson for Delhi University Students Union (DUSU).
However, realities and experiences of democratic systems tell us that public perception usually disregards embedded structures of governance. The standard tendency of both the civil society and the media is to see the government 'as a whole', rather than an aggregation of different portfolios. This becomes truer in cases of single-party majorities, that too when the ruling party carries an all-encompassing ideology.
Hence, there are many who believe that Javadekar's tepid statement amounts to institutional complicity and support for the despicable hooliganism unleashed by ABVP the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), widely regarded as the sociocultural fountainhead of the BJP.
The HRD minister, invoking autonomy of DU to maintain a stoic silence on the rampaging ABVP cadres, is his way of getting the message across to his party's student wing that they are being given a free hand. A minister more sensitive than him would have by now visited the university and assured safety to students and faculty who are under grave threat. A teacher has landed in the hospital, students are terrified, threats are being given out openly, a young woman has been terrorised with rape threats, and our Minister responsible for the university invoking autonomy sounds like someone shirking responsibility or worse supporting the violence, argues renowned documentary filmmaker and Ramjas alumnus, Rahul Roy.
"While the overall frequency of MHRDs interference might have gone down, the reluctance of the government to reign in ABVP a student organisation affiliated to the Sangh is only indicative of how it is being used by the government to arm-twist academicians and students into toeing the official line," says Niharika Tagotra, a Delhi-based political and strategic analyst.
Some others believe that the MHRD can serve to provide a bare minimum of assurance, within reasonable limits of mandate.
"The MHRD, if at all, must guarantee that the college be allowed to exercise its autonomy of holding an event on its premises. Neutrality is also not saying much, because by saying I will not comment, you are inherently saying that what happened last week was alright, says Pradyumna Jairam, a Ramjas alumnus and currently a PhD scholar at King Colleges India Institute in London.
The case is reasonable, if not absolute, on both ends. While Javadekar's passivity over the issue is in strict adherence to his ministrys mandate, his party affiliations dilute his credence in the eyes of many. With Smriti Iranis brash actions still fresh in the minds of those concerned about autonomy of universities in India, Javadekar will find it immensely difficult to re-posture MHRDs position in the public discourse.
If at all, Javadekar's statement and the reaction to it validate a single, patently obvious, point democracy is more than just state structures. It is a fluid mix of objective realties and subjective perceptions, and ignoring any one could result in a crisis of leadership.
Members of the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have planned to protest on Thursday in Delhi University against the Left students' organisations.
India Today reported that ABVP has called for on-campus exclusion of the Left.
ABVP, on Wednesday, had staged a protest outside Delhi Police headquarters, demanding that a charge sheet be filed in last year's sedition case against three JNU students.
Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested in February last year over sedition charges in connection with an event at the JNU campus during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.
ABVP had then objected to organising of that event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. While the three students are out on bail, no charge sheet has been filed in the case yet.
"One year has passed and still no charge sheet has been filled against those who raised anti-national slogans. We came here to demand strict action against them so that in future, such slogans are not raised," ABVP office bearer and president of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), Amit Tanwar, had said.
"They did it in JNU and now they are eyeing DU. To all the students, we want to say that they don't have anything to fear. They can come and study in their respective colleges and we assure that their will be no violence," he had said.
The protest comes a week after the ABVP had objected to an invitation to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to speak at a seminar in Delhi Universitys Ramjas College.
While the college administration withdrew the invitation following opposition by the ABVP, it had led widespread violence after clashes between the RSS students wing and the Left-affiliated AISA.
With inputs from PTI
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has distanced itself from the episode of the derogatory statement made by one of its functionary in Ujjain against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that received severe criticism for various quarters including the CPI(M). At a public meeting in Ujjain on 1 March, the publicity chief of RSS unit of Ujjain (sah prachar pramukh) announced a bounty of Rs 1 crore on the head of Vijayan.
If anyone beheads the Kerala CM, who is the murderer of RSS activists, and brings his head I will bequeath my property worth more than Rs 1 crore to him, Ujjain Sah Prachar Pramukh Kundan Chandrawat reportedly said to a gathering at Shahid Park in Ujjain.
According to sources, Chandrawat may be expelled from Sangh. Distancing itself from the incident and Chandrawats statement, Akhil Bharatiya Sah Prachar Pramukh of RSS, J Nandkumar said, Sangh strongly condemns the statement made by Dr Kundan (Chandrawat) in emotion. The statement made by him is not the official statement of the Sangh. Right from its inception, the RSS has remained involved in social service and building human capital, and never believed or got involved in violence. Sangh believes in protesting through democratic methods only.
Various organisations have been staging protests across the country against the killings by Marxists in Kerala between 1 and 3 March. It has come to Sanghs knowledge that at a similar programme in Ujjain, being organized by Jan Adhikar Samiti on 1 March, Dr Kundan Chandrawat made a controversial statement against the Kerala chief minister in his personal capacity. The opinion of RSS is that different people from different bodies participate in such programmes and make statements. In such case, these statements cannot be attributed as official ones of the RSS, Nandkumar added.
According to reports, referring to death of kar-sewaks at Godhra railway station and the communal riots that followed in Gujarat, Chandrawat said, They killed 56, we sent 2,000 to the graveyard.
If sources are to be believed, the RSS would expel Chandrawat as the latter being Sanghs publicity chief in Ujjain town brought bad name to the organization. Its a foolish act and he has brought a bad name to the organisation. This is against the basic culture of Sangh and strict action will be taken against him. It wont be surprising if hes shown the door, an RSS source told Firstpost. Strongly condemning the act, the CPI(M) politburo said the statement made by Chandrawat reconfirms that the RSS spearheads politics of violence and terror, as has become clear in Kerala in the recent months.
But, the RSS shouldnt forget that Chandrawat was a senior functionary of the Sangh. He was in-charge of publicity in Ujjain. The CPI(M) politburo demands that immediate action in accordance with law must be taken both by the Madhya Pradesh and the central governments. The silence of the governments is an endorsement that emboldens the RSS to issue such obnoxious threats, CPI (M) Central Committee member and state secretary, Badal Saroj remarked. Why RSS is silent on the arrest of two persons belonging to BJP and VHP in MP allegedly spies of Pakistan-based ISI and one of them is close to BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya? he questioned.
A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader and the body's Madhya Pradesh spokesperson, Kundan Chandrawat, created a stir on Thursday after he announced a bounty of Rs one crore on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans head.
According to an India Today report, Chandrawat, speaking at an event in Ujjain, accused Vijayan of the murders of several RSS members in Kerala and said he should be held accountable for the same.
Chandrawat said that he would finance the bounty for Vijayan's head by any means necessary, including selling his own property.
According to a report on ABP Live, the RSS spokesperson's controversial statement created a massive row during a protest organised by the Sangh in Kerala's Shaheed Park, where Ujjain MP Chintaman Malviya, BJP MLA Mohan Yadav and several other RSS leaders were present.
Kerala had recently witnessed a spurt of politically-motivated murders, with RSS, Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India (M) members all being accused of the killings.
Responding to Chandrawat's comments, CPM released a statement in a Facebook post condemning the leader:
The frustration of the RSS is coming out in open. CPI(M) condemns it and demands quick action. Will the BJP led state government in the state and at the Centre take any action against them? Will they come out and condemn it? If no, then it is clear which ideology they are propagating and whose government it is.
Gorakhpur: Construction of the Ram temple may not be on the BJP's manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls but Adityanath makes it clear that a saffron government in Lucknow will pave the way for it.
The fifth-term Lok Sabha member is the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development as the BJP makes a final push in its bid to capture power in the state in the last two phases of elections to be held in 89 seats.
The party won only 11 of these seats in 2012. In one public meeting after another, he comes hard on the
Samajwadi Party's "Muslim appeasement" and promises that a BJP government will protect their (Hindus') interests.
"The SP government's development is all about development of 'kabristan'. If a BJP government comes to power, it will not happen that they (Muslims) will be allowed to have a DJ show in their festival but not you during Durga Puja. The interests of the majority community have been betrayed."
"If a SP government comes back to power, then money meant for your development will go into developing kabristan. A BJP government will pave the way for the Ram temple construction," Adityanath (45) says in a string of public meetings covering different Assembly constituencies.
He said his agenda is of development for all but it is against the SP and BSP politics of appeasement of one community. He declined to elaborate, saying what he has to say he has said in his meetings.
In Berhampur, he lists a number of development works of the Narendra Modi government, including its decision to connect Gorakhpur to big cities like Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai through highways, and announcement of an AIIMS, as he exhorts the crowd of mostly Dalits and extremely backward castes to vote for the BJP.
Rajnath Singh is the tallest BJP leader in the most populous and politically-critical Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh. He is the home minister of the country and has held the posts of Uttar Pradesh chief minister, national president of the party along with important portfolios at the Centre and in the state. In these elections, he has temporarily shifted his base to Lucknow a city he represents in Parliament as an MP. These days he has a most hectic daily schedule.
Conduct a morning review of ministerial work, connect with local leaders and numerous party workers, and also coordinate with national leaders, take off on a dedicated chopper to go on a gruelling campaign that entails addressing five or six rallies nearly everyday. He then returns home after the sun has set, and once again connects with his ministry officers, party leaders state and Central to get some feedback and chalk out a strategy for the days to come. He took some time off to speak with Sanjay Singh, political editor, Firstpost on a variety of issues ranging from the day's politics, the elections, the Rahul Gandhi-Akhilesh Yadav combo, the controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'raincoat' remark at Manmohan Singh, his relations with Modi and his own prospects (in case BJP wins in Uttar Pradesh) of returning to state politics and being at the helm to take up the chief ministerial post yet again, 15 years after he relinquished this post to move to national politics.
Edited excerpts follow:
Besides being most the prominent leader in Uttar Pradesh and one of the prime campaigners for your party in these state elections, you are also home minister of the country, a position that requires full-time attention. How do you manage it?
I regularly speak with ministerial officials. I have come here (Lucknow) after clearing all the files on my desk. I am in daily contact with ministry officials and direct them when required. After all, the work has to be done through a bureaucratic system. But then I need to talk to two to four officials on a regular basis over phone, which I keep doing. And if I am in Delhi, I call for a meeting. Some days ago for instance, I had a meeting with the national security advisor, home secretary, IB director and the RAW chief, and every two to three hours, no matter where I am, I receive information about what is happening across the country.
Now that the election has been wrapped up in most areas, what is your assessment? Which way is the Uttar Pradesh election going?
The BJP will get an absolute majority.
You say this despite the fact that a section of Jats were angry in areas that went to polls in the first phase and voted against the BJP and for the RLD?
I dont believe that Jats have fully voted for the RLD. The BJP has also got a good number of votes from the Jat community.
Has this election taken a turn from development to 'Kabristan versus Samshan'. Why has this happened?
The prime ministers statement should not be wrongly interpreted. What the prime minister meant was that in the spirit of his sabka saath saka vikas slogan, individuals should not be discriminated against. There shouldn't be any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or religion. We can't do more for one community and less for another in the name of vote bank politics. If such actions are guided by need-based requirements, then there is no objection. But if that is done keeping vote bank politics in mind, then that is not good for society and the nation. Politicians should stay away from these things. Politics, as I keep saying is not only for forming the government and coming to power but to govern and build the nation.
Do you really believe that Akhileshs Samajwadi Party government has been discriminating against people on the basis of caste, community and religion on Samshan versus Kabristan or on hajj subsidies?
The Samajwadi Party government, I must tell you, has always believed in the 'divide and rule' policy. It has been its policy since the very beginning. The Samajwadi Party has never practiced politics of carrying everyone along, and neither has the BSP.
You mean to say Yadav and Muslims?
Like they say, "This community is voting for us, that community is voting for us". I can never say that this community is voting or not voting for us. If one community is not voting for us today, then it will vote for us tomorrow.
Why is the BJP accused by the Opposition of playing polarising politics?
I seriously hate politics of polarisation. I dont accept politics of polarisation in any form and in a country as big as India, it is injurious. This should never be done. Politics has to be only of insaaf and insaaniyat (justice and human values).
In these elections, many personal attacks have been launched against the prime minister by your political rivals. What do you have to say?
Everyone should be conscious of the words they use. One should also not forget that the prime minister is an institution in himself and the dignity of institutions should be respected; no attempts made to lower their dignity or break the system because the country has to pay for its consequences.
What about this 'insider-outsider' campaign by the Samajwadi Party-Congress combine?
The prime minister belongs to the country and to say that he is an outsider (laughs) has no meaning
How potent is the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance? How big a threat is the Rahul-Akhilesh friendship to the BJP?
Minus plus minus will always remain minus. Minus multiplied by minus is plus. This is no merger, two weak elements have come together to fight (laughs). But in this case, minus is adding to minus. There is no question of this alliance having an impact.
What do you have to say about Akhileshs 'Gujarat ke Gadhe' remark and the words he said about Amitabh Bachchan. It can have various interpretations?
It is most unfortunate. If I was in his place and had said something like that, I would have withdrawn my statement. Although, I have never said anything like that.
What do you think of the controversy around the prime minister's 'raincoat' remark against Manmohan. Does todays political class not understand humour and is it intolerant to sarcasm?
One should understand that the prime minister, in a way, honoured Manmohan. His government may have been mired in many corruption cases, but they haven't left a single black spot on his persona. One should not forget that the former prime minister spoke on demonetisation and called it 'the biggest organised loot or organised crime'. Who loots? The other interpretation is that the prime minister is a looter; Biggest organised crime who commits a crime? A criminal. Then by interpretation, the prime minister becomes the biggest criminal. If we had interpreted it that way, we would have become angry at him (Manmohan). But we didnt do that. But they went on wrongly interpreting the 'raincoat' remark.
Whats your opinion on Rahul Gandhi as a leader? The other day Sheila Dikshit, the Congress retired chief ministerial candidate said he needs time to mature because he is only in his 40s.
(Laughs) I will say he has my good wishes. He should emerge as a seasoned and mature leader.
Is he not mature now?
I have not said that. He has my good wishes and blessings that he emerges as a mature, seasoned, dynamic and visionary leader.
Earlier you had spoken of a 14-year vanvaas for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. What makes the BJP such a strong force 15 years after you had to relinquish power in the state?
The reasons are known to me but I will not tell you (laughs). What I can tell you is that BJP's credibility has increased. People believe that there is no difference between the words and deeds of the BJP. Also after seeing the Modi government's work and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's, while noting that there hasn't been a corruption charge against anyone, has helped. GDP growth was at its highest highest. People are seeing the Modi government performs. India is now the fastest growing economy. All these factors make BJP the most credible party.
Much is being said about the BJP not giving a ticket to any Muslim candidate. Does that not hurt the 'sabka saath sabka vikas' plank of the party?
Its true. A ticket is given on the basis of winnability. Perhaps such a candidate did not exist and therefore, was not given a ticket. But its not like that. In future, we will take care in Uttar Pradesh. Persons from the minority community should get it. We have given them tickets in several parts of the country. In Gujarat, there was no one in the Assembly, so he (a minority community member) was made an MLC and then made a minister. In Rajasthan, we have a Muslim minister. At the Centre, we have always had Muslim ministers. Now Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and MJ Akbar are ministers. It would have been better if a (Muslim) candidate had been fielded.
How much do you miss Vajpayee in these elections? You represent Lucknow, which had been his constituency and your style is also a bit similar to his.
I can never forget Vajpayee. I am deeply influenced by him. So far as his legacy is concerned, people like us cant ever become become Vajpayee. He had few God-gifted things. Even today, he is respected despite not having been in active politics for the past 10 years, but people still applaud his name.
You have worked closely with both BJP prime ministers Vajpayee and Modi. Do you find any similarities in their strengths, what makes them similar and sets them apart?
I don't think it's fair to compare any leader with another leader; you wouldnt be doing justice with either of them. Each one has his own merits, each one has a distinct working style, and that style has its own characteristics. The two of them shouldnt be compared with one another.
You are Modi's contemporary. You had been party president when he was the prime ministerial face of the BJP and now you are home minister, practically in the Number Two position at the Centre. How are your relations with him?
Our relationship remains the same as it was. But yes, we all must be conscious of the fact that he is our prime minister. Maryada and shistachar (protocols, dignity and discipline) have to be honoured. I too am mindful of that.
Lucknow: A bitter poll campaign with sharp attacks and counter-attacks came to a close on Thursday evening for the 49 Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats, the voting for which is to be held on 4 March with SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency being in focus. Assembly segments of Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency of firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, and Mau, where jailed gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari is in fray, also figure in this sixth and penultimate phase of polling.
The campaigning saw BJP state president KP Maurya likening rivals SP, Congress and BSP to different types of venomous "snakes" and "social cancer" and urging people to eliminate them by voting for the BJP. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav countered BJP saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conceded defeat in the polls by talking about a hung house. While mustering votes for BJP, Modi sought to prove wrong the prophets of doom after demonetisation saying the latest GDP data showed note-ban did not affect growth rate but rather improved it. Mocking economists, he said, "Hardwork, in fact, is much more powerful than Harvard."
Sounding highly optimistic of the poll outcome for BJP, Modi said the debate now is whether BJP will get two-third or three-fourth majority. "Never have elections gone one way like this... there had been no dearth in enthusiasm of voters in all five phases," he said. The PM also caught UP chief minister on the wrong foot and cited government website to nail him. "Life in Uttar Pradesh is short and uncertain... Uttar Pradesh resembles Saharan Africa," Modi said quoting a para from the state government's official website up.gov.in.
Modi also ridiculed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his latest "coconut juice" remark. "There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life... he recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut possesses water (and not juice) and it is grown in Kerala," he said. "It is like setting up a potato factory," Modi said referring to Rahul's earlier remarks that he wants to set up potato factories in Uttar Pradesh. As campaigning reached its crescendo, BJP President Amit Shah held a road show in Gorakhpur on Thursday. Similar road shows
Similar road shows were organised at Kushinagar and Azamgarh. During her campaign, BSP supremo Mayawati said the public is "disenchanted with BJP" due to the "wrong policies" of the
Union and the state governments and accused Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of "dreaming to destroy the state". The sixth phase of polling, the penultimate of the 7-phase exercise, will also cover some districts bordering Nepal. Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this phase, which would decide the fate of 635 candidates.
The districts going to polls in this phase are Mau, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh and Ballia. Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency has 10 Assembly seats, of which SP had won nine in 2012, but this time Mulayam has not addressed a single meeting in his parliamentary constituency. In the present phase, the prestige of Union minister Kalraj Mishra, who represents Deoria in the Lok Sabha, too is at stake, besides that of Adityanath. BJP is contesting 45 seats and its ally Apna Dal one. BJP's another ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party is contesting 3 seats. While BSP has fielded candidates on all 49 seats, SP is contesting 40 seats and Congress 9 seats.
Prominent candidates in this phase include BSP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya from Padrauna (Kushinagar), former BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva (Deoria),
Shyam Bahadur Yadav (SP), son of former Governor Ram Naresh Yadav from Fulpur Pawai (Azamgarh), SP turncoats Ambika Chowhdury and Narai Rai, who are contesting on BSP ticket from
Fefna (Ballia) and Ballia Sadar. While Mukhtar is contesting from Mau, his son Abbas is in fray from adjoining Ghosi seat in Mau district. In the 2012 Assembly polls, of the 49 seats, 27 were won by the SP, 9 by BSP, 7 by BJP, 4 by Congress and 2 by others.
There will be 17,926 polling booths in this phase. The highest number of 23 candidates are contesting from Gorakhpur and the least candidates, numbering seven are in pitted for5 Mohammadabad Gohna seat in Mau district.
Criminal ganglords, or bahubalis (as they are known in popular parlance), have always been ubiquitous to Uttar Pradesh politics, especially during the elections. Whether out in the open or lodged behind bars for committing heinous crimes, they manage to canvass for the polls and are often swept to power because of their influence and the fear they imbibe in the minds and hearts of the electorate.
A 27 February Delhi High Court ruling, however, has the potential to dent the power structures of these bahubalis and clean up the electoral process to a good extent.
The case concerns Mukhtar Ansari, a BSP candidate from eastern Uttar Pradesh's Mau constituency. It argues whether Ansari, a mafia-don turned politician, should be let out of jail to canvass for the ongoing Assembly elections in the state.
Ansari had pleaded for his release on custody parole from 15 February till 11 March (result date for the election) so that he could campaign ahead of the Mau polls on 4 March. The additional sessions judge of Delhis Tees Hazari court had accepted his plea and granted his temporary release.
Justice Mukta Gupta of the Delhi High Court, however, reversed the lower court's order after opposition from the Election Commission (EC).
This raises a pertinent question: Can the Election Commission oppose a plea for parole?
Ansari is lodged in Lucknow Jail at present, awaiting trial for his involvement in the murder of BJP leader Krishnanand Rai. At the very outset, his lawyers challenged the ECs right to oppose his plea for temporary release, contending that once the criminal law is set in motion and the matter has reached the courts, a third party cannot interfere in the process. It is only between the accused, the prosecution and the court to decide on such cases, they claimed.
Moreover, they argued that under law, the EC can act or intervene only after the polls are over that is, if Ansari or his supporters indulged in any violation of law, the Commission can only decide to cancel and go for repolls.
Ansaris lawyers stressed that EC cannot take preventive measures before the elections, by opposing the parole plea, and claimed that the EC's apprehensions of violation of law and order were far-fetched.
In turn, the EC contended that the Constitution, vide Article 324, gives it a vast array of powers to conduct free and fair elections, hence stated that it was within its rights to claim that Ansari should not be granted parole.
Moreover, The EC backed up its argument by supplying evidence to show that in 2012 and 2014, when Ansari was released temporarily, his supporters had indulged in wanton violence against the electorate.
Relying on previous landmark precedents set by the Supreme Court, the high court held that Article 324 gave a wide range of plenary powers to the EC. This included, in extraordinary circumstances, the power to even intervene in the criminal justice process. Thus, the EC did have a right to demand that Ansari should not be granted a temporary release.
Taking a positive note of the evidence provided by the EC, the court held that there was a fair probability of Ansari and his men again taking the law into their hands, thus violating the sacrosanct principle of free and fair elections.
Armed guards intimidate the electorate
The trial court order stated that Ansari should be guarded by eight armed policemen, whenever he went on campaign rallies. The EC contended that the presence of such armed guards would instill fear in the minds of voters, and would thus amount to a hindrance in conducting elections which were free and fair.
Relying on clause 3.21 of the ECs 2009 Instructions which prohibited the display and use of arms during poll campaigning the court struck down the trial judges direction of the presence of armed guarding, holding that it would tantamount to threatening and intimidating the electorate.
Right to contest doesnt include the right to canvass
Citing precedents laid down by the Supreme Court, Ansaris lawyers contended that since the right to contest is a democratic right, which cannot be taken away even if a candidate is in prison, Ansari should not be deprived of the right to campaign.
Rejecting this argument, the court held that the right to contest elections did not grant a vested right to campaign for the same. Whether to suspend a convicts sentence so that he could be granted the liberty to campaign for the polls is a matter solely within the discretion of the court, and Ansaris past track record and the present circumstances did not warrant the granting of such discretion, the court held.
Theres no such thing as 'custody parole'
According to the law, parole and furlough are available only to those convicted and sentenced for a crime, and the government and prison authorities have the sole prerogative to decide on such matters. Since Ansari was not a convict, as he was an undertrial prisoner, he was not eligible for either furlough or parole, the court held.
Justice Gupta was also critical of the trial judge because what he did in effect was to grant bail to Ansari, when he did not have the jurisdiction to do so. It was also a matter of record that Ansari had not payed for bail.
This aspect of the ruling is significant because many a time, courts set prisoners free for a temporary period even if they are not eligible for either bail or parole. And strongmen like Ansari take full advantage of the misnomer called custody parole, in order to ply their trade of the politics of fear.
Criminalisation of politics has for long been the bane of the polity, courts and the EC. There are plenty of instances where the EC lacks sufficient powers to keep criminals and goons in check, and prevent them from violating the electoral process. Seen in that light, the high courts ruling significantly strengthens the ECs hands in keeping criminals and gangsters out of politics.
Daniela Vargas, a 22-year-old born in Argentina, was arrested by US immigration officials shortly after a news conference in which she spoke out about the recent arrest of her father and her brother, both of whom are now awaiting deportation.
Daniela Vargas on Wednesday in Jackson, Mississippi. ROGELIO V. SOLIS (AP)
More information Una indocumentada argentina es detenida por agentes de inmigracion tras participar en un acto publico
Vargas, an undocumented migrant who arrived in the United States 15 years ago and has never been back to the country of her birth, is an example of the courage of the young dreamers as recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program established by former US president Barack Obama are known.
Like many of the around 750,000 beneficiaries of this program which allows people who were brought into the US illegally as children to study and work, provided they meet certain requirements she came out of the shadows to reveal her identity as a dreamer in a bid to draw attention to the cause of the country's 11 million undocumented migrants.
But Vargas was arrested after a news conference in Jackson (Mississippi) in which she talked about her desire to become a university math professor and pledged she would continue to fight this battle as a dreamer to help contribute to this country.
The arrest is another sign of the increased risk run by this group since Donald Trump arrived in the White House.
Vargass lawyer says she may have been followed by immigration officials
The president campaigned with a strong anti-immigration message and recently rolled out tough new deportation rules. Trump has said his priority is to deport undocumented migrants with a criminal record, but among the first people affected are Vargas and a mother from Arizona who was recently arrested in front of her children after living in the United States for 22 years.
Vargas was present when her father and brother were arrested on February 15, but escaped arrest because she was in the process of renewing her residency permit under the DACA program.
I dont know if this is immigration showing us that DACA applicants are fair game until their DACA is approved, the young womans lawyer said after the arrest. This seems to be the message were getting from this, which is surprising and not what I wouldve expected.
Meanwhile US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement that Vargas had been arrested in a targeted immigration enforcement action, adding the agency does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately.
Vargass lawyer noted that her client was arrested when ICE pulled over the vehicle she had been traveling in, which suggested officers had followed her. Responding to the news, Democratic senator Dick Durbin described the suggestion that Vargas was followed as disturbing, adding he had requested further information on the case from the Department of Homeland Security.
English version by George Mills.
Lucknow: Campaigning is at its peak in Uttar Pradesh, but Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has stepped out only for two public rallies this time, a stark contrast to the over 300 rallies he had addressed in the 2012 Assembly polls.
Leaders from across the political spectrum criss-crossed the entire state to woo the voters, but Mulayam mostly kept indoors.
The 77-year-old SP patron campaigned for his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting on an SP ticket from Lucknow Cantonment, and for his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is contesting from the party's Jaswantnagar bastion in Etawah.
Voting for five out the seven phases of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are already over.
His political rivals said the SP patriarch's clout has been "confined to just two" of the 403 Assembly seats in the state. In the 2012 Assembly polls, Mulayam had addressed more than 300 rallies. In the 2014 Lok Sabha general elections, he limited his
appearances to 18 rallies, one in each of the 18 divisions of the state, citing health issues.
Senior BJP leader Hriday Narayan Dikshit said, "The moment Mulayam Singh Yadav was made the party patron, his power automatically got diluted. And despite this, if he is getting a chance to campaign for even two assembly seats, he must thank his stars."
Dikshit said both the SP and BSP are "single-cellular" organisms, in which only one person eventually prevails. "As far as the SP is concerned, earlier Mulayam Singh Yadav used to prevail, and now it is the turn of Akhilesh," the senior BJP leader said. "The BSP is a single-cellular organisation. Congress, which used to be multi-cellular organisation till the time of Gandhi, gradually became single-cellular. The BJP is a multi-cellular organisation, where leaders from different walks of life are involved in elections," he said.
Veteran socialist Raghunandan Singh 'Kaka' feels, "The SP patron has become helpless and virtually hopeless." He said it is not only the SP workers who are worried and concerned about 'Netaji', people from other parties are also worried about him.
Kaka was of the opinion that Akhilesh Yadav has got diverted from the ideals of Lohia, who fought against the Congress throughout his life. "Akhilesh seems to have lost his way, and is yet to find a way out," he said.
Lok Dal president Sunil Singh said it is really unfortunate that SP, which was founded by Mulayam, is not getting his blessings.
"What is more ironic is the fact that Akhilesh has embraced the Congress today, against which his father (Mulayam) had waged a political war throughout his life," Sunil said.
Even political rivals are not hesitating from taking a jibe at Mulayam and his brother Shivpal. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while addressing an election rally at Ballia, had said, "SP patron Mulayam has punctured the bicycle, while Shivpal has broken the chain of the bicycle."
Similarly, BSP chief Mayawati, at an election rally held in Ballia, took a jibe at Mulayam and said, "Mulayam seems to have been affected by putra-moh (blind love for son), and has even insulted his brother Shivpal."
Dismissing the view in some quarters that Mulayam's clout was diminishing, Dharmendra Yadav, the SP MP from Badaun, said, "We have the blessings of Netaji. In fact each and every candidate of the SP-Congress alliance has been blessed by Netaji. So, there is no question of Netaji's clout getting weakened."
The Badaun MP, who is Mulayam's nephew, claimed that even the SP-Congress pre-poll alliance had the blessings and approval of Mulayam.
Lucknow: With the battle of ballots for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly entering the last phase, the focus of all political parties has shifted to the holy city of Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The saffron party which has a lot at stake in the last two phases of polling scheduled for 4 and 8 March has moved its war room to Varanasi, entrusting Union ministers and senior leaders with the task of strengthening the campaign with the Prime Minister in the vanguard.
The BJP is also faced with the target of quelling resentment in certain quarters over senior leaders being denied party ticket in these elections.
The importance of the area comprising 89 constituencies, which go to polls in 14 districts of on March 4 and 8, is strengthened by the fact that the prime minister is scheduled to address public meetings in Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Varanasi on 3, 4 and 5 March respectively.
Following in the footsteps of the BJP is the SP-Congress combine which has also shifted its focus to Varanasi and its campaign strategist Prashant Kishor and his team members are busy crafting Varanasi area-specific strategy.
Taking the BJP and PM head on, the SP-Congress has launched a "Dard-e-Banaras" campaign highlighting the disillusionment among the electorate over Modi's "false promises and no delivery".
Team PK has launched three videos of less than two-minute each which are played from the campaign raths or video vans around Varanasi.
Kishor claims that till date they have reached about 2,00,000 Facebook and Whatsapp users around Varanasi within a span of just a couple of days.
The volunteers of the team are also holding door-to-door campaign armed with publicity materials and personal letters from Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and street plays.
Central leaders are holding press conferences to keep the pot boiling till the D-day.
The team of Akhilesh and Rahul are also likely to hold a road show in Varanasi on 4 March and senior leaders of both the parties are camping there to oversee their strategy in the face of the moves by the saffron party.
BJP president Amit Shah has been in constant touch with party men, making frequent trips and over the past week, he stayed back in Varanasi for five nights meeting finetuning the strategy with Union ministers and party leaders.
According to BJP, this is the first time that the party has set up a new media centre near Chawka Ghat in Varanasi, where at least one Union minister addressed media persons every day to highlight achievements of the Modi government, the party's manifesto.
The minister also targets the Akhilesh government, its alliance with Congress, and the BSP.
Moreover, the party has set up a war room at its headquarters in Kashi region in Gulab Bagh area, where party workers have been assigned the task of publicising BJP programmes through social media.
A protocol cell has been set up to look after arrangements for Union ministers visiting Varanasi, while a separate Awas Vibhag (housing cell) has been formed to manage accommodation for visiting BJP leaders.
Over the past week, Union ministers who have visited Varanasi include Rajnath Singh, J P Nadda, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kalraj Mishra, Uma Bharti, Ananth Kumar, Smriti Irani, Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Santosh Gangwar, Krishna Raj and Anupriya Patel.
BSP chief Mayawati is also touring these constituencies addressing three to four election rallies a day while leaders of her party have been assigned the task of staying in contact with the electorate at the grassroots level.
New Delhi: The UP Police on Thursday recorded the statement of a 16-year-old girl, who was sexually assaulted and her mother repeatedly gangraped allegedly by UP minister Gayatri Prajapati and his aides, at the AIIMS here. The statement was recorded despite opposition by the family of the girl, admitted to a restricted ward of the hospital, and their lawyer, who accused the state police of "threatening and forcefully" recording the statement.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police rank officer, investigating the matter, reached AIIMS on Thursday and recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from the hospital Medical Superintendent, sources said. The statement was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, they added. The lawyer representing the girl, Mehmood Pracha strongly objected to the recording of statement and sought to know on what basis it was being done.
"The police threatened the mother and daughter inside the AIIMS ward, where the girl is admitted. They also snatched their mobile phones. The girl is still in trauma," he alleged. "How can they use such force to record her statement?" asked Pracha. Some Delhi Police officials were also present at the AIIMS. The UP police had already registered an FIR against Prajapati and his accomplices.
The statement of the girl's mother has already been recorded before a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Lucknow. The girl was admitted to AIIMS on 22 February.
By Hamid Shalizi and Saud Mehsud
| KABUL/DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan
KABUL/DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan An Islamic State offshoot based near the Afghan-Pakistan border is expanding to new areas, recruiting fighters and widening the reach of attacks in the region, members of the movement and Afghan officials said.Some members of the so-called "Khorasan Province" of Islamic State claimed responsibility for the recent attack on a Sufi shrine in Pakistan that killed 90 people, and IS gunmen were blamed for the deaths of six local aid workers in the north of the country, far from their stronghold in eastern Afghanistan.Any expansion would pose a new challenge for U.S. President Donald Trump, as he considers how many American troops to keep in Afghanistan where the main security threat remains the Taliban insurgency.Trump has vowed to "totally destroy" the Middle East-based Islamic State, yet has spoken little of Afghanistan, where U.S. forces have been posted for 15 years.Now he has not only the stubborn Taliban to consider, but also militants swearing allegiance to IS, although U.S. officials are generally less alarmed about its presence in Afghanistan than local officials."Daesh is not only a threat for Afghanistan but for the region and the whole world," said Shah Hussain Mortazawi, spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani's office, using a common Arabic name for the group.The extent of direct operational links between IS in Afghanistan and the Middle East remains unclear, although most fighters in the "Khorasan Province" are Afghans, Pakistanis or Central Asians.Still, three members of the group told Reuters a handful of Arab advisers helped direct propaganda, recruiting and identifying targets for attack.SHIFTING LOYALTIES
IS is suspected of carrying out several attacks on minority Shi'ite Muslim targets in Afghanistan, and the February suicide bombing at the Pakistani shrine bore some of the hallmarks of the sectarian group.That atrocity, the worst militant assault in Pakistan for two years, indicated that a group based in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar could strike deep into Pakistan territory.
"Islamic State has no proper base in Pakistan, but it has sympathizers and links in Pakistan," said one member of the group, based in Afghanistan. "Mostly the attackers and suicide bombers enter from Afghanistan to Pakistan."Western and Afghan security officials believe fighters frequently switch allegiances between militant groups, making it difficult to know who is to blame for violence."Sometimes the Taliban commanders defect to Daesh and sometimes the other way around," said Mohammad Zahir Wahdat, governor of the northern Afghan province of Sar-i-Pul, where IS and Taliban fighters are believed to be active."The situation is very unclear."Even within the group, claims are contested.The AMAQ news agency, affiliated to IS in the Middle East, said the movement was responsible for the shrine bombing, but Abu Omar Khorasani, a senior member of the Afghan chapter who sometimes speaks for IS there, denied involvement.He did, however, say IS was recruiting and expanding beyond Nangarhar to northern Afghanistan.
Pakistani counter-terrorism official Raja Umar Khattab said IS carried out attacks from Afghanistan, and his department was investigating whether the shrine bomber came from there."We are also working on an angle that a local militant group could have facilitated IS to carry out the ... blast," said Khattab, a senior officer in Sindh province."UMBRELLA ORGANISATION"
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, said U.S. drone strikes and special forces operations had killed about a third of IS fighters in Afghanistan and cut their territory by two thirds.U.S. officials say intelligence suggests IS is based overwhelmingly in Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar province. They are sceptical about reports of an increased IS presence in the northwest, where gunmen may claim a connection to the group to boost their standing.
"Certainly if you're a local official who's looking for more resources, by saying that ISIS is in your area, you're going to get more attention," said Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, the main U.S. military spokesman in Kabul.Nicholson, who has asked for thousands more troops in Afghanistan, said counter-terrorism forces planned a series of operations in 2017 to defeat IS in Afghanistan "and preclude the migration of terrorists from Iraq and Syria into Afghanistan".Still, bolstered by fighters from Pakistani and other militant groups and an active social media presence, some Afghan officials said it had become an "umbrella organization" for disparate movements.The Afghan Taliban, waging war to overthrow the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, are fiercely opposed to IS, and the two have clashed as they seek to expand territory and influence."We have almost eliminated Daesh in Afghanistan," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.Estimating numbers is difficult. Cleveland said U.S. officials believe the movement has only 700 fighters, but Afghan officials estimate it has around 1,500, with twice as many auxiliary helpers and up to 8,000 less active supporters.Those officials say fighters from Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan have come to Afghanistan, while militants forced across the border by Pakistani military operations also gravitated towards IS.Khorasani, the IS militant, said it had "thousands" of fighters and was growing.A U.S. drone strike last year killed former local IS leader Hafiz Saeed Khan, once a member of the Pakistani Taliban. Several Afghan security officials believe a former Afghan Taliban commander, Abdul Haseeb Logari, has replaced him.Islamic State began to be noticed in the region in early 2015, when loyalists took on the Taliban and al Qaeda in a bid to become the leading Islamist militant group, using tactics that stood out for their brutality even in Afghanistan. (Additional reporting by Abdul Matin in MAZAR-I-SHARIF, James Mackenzie and Josh Smith in KABUL, Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR and Syed Raza Hassan in KARACHI; Editing by Kay Johnson and Mike Collett-White)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Samia Nakhoul and Nick Tattersall
| ANKARA/WASHINGTON
ANKARA/WASHINGTON Turkey is ruling out compromise with the United States over the involvement of Kurdish militia fighters in an assault in Syria, an obstacle for Washington's plan to deploy its strongest allies on the ground in a decisive showdown with Islamic State.Donald Trump has made defeating Islamic State one of the key goals of his presidency, and his new administration received a draft Pentagon plan on Monday to accelerate the campaign.Raqqa in Syria, one of Islamic State's two de facto capitals along with Mosul in Iraq, is expected to be the scene of the final battle to crush the jihadists' self-proclaimed Caliphate sometime this year, after a U.S.-backed Iraqi government assault on Mosul already under way since October.But putting together a united ground force to take Raqqa has so far proven a confounding task in Syria, where the United States, Turkey, Russia, Iran and Arab states have all backed local forces in a multi-sided civil war since 2011. All the foreign powers oppose Islamic State, but their Syrian proxies have mainly fought against one another.Turkey, with the second largest army in NATO, is adamant that Washington should switch support for the planned Raqqa offensive from the Kurdish YPG militia to Syrian rebels Turkey has trained and led against Islamic State for the past year.For the U.S. administration, nervous about whether the Turkish-backed force is large enough and sufficiently trained, the decision sets Trump's wish for quick battlefield victories against the need to maintain its strategic alliance with Turkey.Ankara views the YPG as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in Turkey's southeast since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by both the United States and European Union."Our soldiers will not be fighting together with people who shot us and killed our soldiers and are trying to kill us," one senior Turkish security official, briefed on recent meetings between Turkish and U.S. strategists, told Reuters."This message was delivered to the Americans." President Tayyip Erdogan reinforced the point on Tuesday, saying Turkey "cannot accept" any alliance with the YPG. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told the ruling AK Party that "working side by side with any terrorist group" was out of the question.Erdogan, who had an increasingly testy relationship with President Barack Obama, has welcomed Trump's election as a chance for a fresh start. But the two NATO allies appear to be on a collision course over strategy in Syria.U.S. Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, who commands the U.S.-led coalition effort against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, told a Pentagon news briefing on Tuesday a role for the Kurds was still in Washington's plan."There are going to be Kurds assaulting Raqqa for sure," he said. "The number, the size of them, and how many Kurdish units are participating... I can't really say right now."
He said he had seen no evidence linking Washington's Kurdish allies to attacks on Turkey. He did not specifically name the YPG, which fights as part of a U.S.-backed alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that also includes Arabs.Turkish officials say the links between the YPG and PKK are beyond dispute and that the group's advances will fuel anti-Kurdish sentiment in predominantly Arab parts of Syria such as Raqqa, and threaten Syria's territorial integrity.MANY ALTERNATIVES
Turkey entered Syria last August in support of a 3,000-strong force of Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, in an operation called Euphrates Shield. It took Jarablus on the Euphrates river, cleared Islamic State fighters from a roughly 100 km (60-mile) stretch of the border, then moved south to al-Bab, a strategic town now all but secured after three months of fighting against Islamic State.Turkey's aim was also to stop the YPG from crossing the Euphrates westwards and linking three mainly Kurdish cantons it holds in northern Syria, preventing it from carving out a self-governing territory analogous to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. Turkey fears that would embolden its own large Kurdish minority to try to forge a similar territory inside Turkey.
One plan Ankara has presented to Washington would have a Turkish-led FSA force of around 10,000 push south to Raqqa from the YPG-held border town of Tal Abyad. That would roll back YPG gains and separate two of the Kurdish-dominated cantons.Washington has so far been non-committal."We told them there are many alternatives for Raqqa and they didn't disagree," said one Turkish official familiar with the talks. "They said 'we understand your sensitivities, we dont recognise their (YPG) territorial ambitions'."Turkey and its Syrian rebel force was "ready at any time to do Raqqa, after clearing al-Bab," the official said.A second senior Turkish official, exasperated at U.S. willingness to work with a NATO ally's enemy, said some in Washington argued they had already invested too much in the YPG to pull out. But he said military planning was still under way and U.S. generals had "taken all this (Turkish) feedback back to Washington."
LOCAL CONTROL
Turkey says it has another 7,000 trained Syrian rebels ready on top of the 3,000-strong force active in Euphrates Shield, to which Arab fighters from the U.S.-backed SDF would be welcome."We told them we have enough forces, enough Free Syrian Army. Your generals can see them with their own eyes," the first Turkish official said of the discussions with U.S. counterparts. "Everything needed militarily was concretely explained. They were briefed on the numbers, the strategy and the map."One possible compromise solution may be that the force that assaults Raqqa, potentially including the YPG, quickly withdraws and turns the city over to local control, including the largely Arab forces backed by Turkey."I'm not really sure it really matters what the composition is of the force that goes there to liberate it," said Townsend, the U.S. commander. "What matters really in my mind is the composition of the force that stays there and governs and secures Raqqa after it's liberated from ISIS."A similar agreement in Manbij, some 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Raqqa, quickly broke down. The YPG helped capture the city from Islamic State last year in a U.S.-backed campaign operating under the SDF umbrella, on the understanding with Turkey that it would then withdraw.Turkey says the YPG remains in the city, and the Turkish army and allied Syrian rebels attacked nearby villages held by the Kurdish militia on Wednesday, a spokesman for the local authorities in the city said.Turkish officials fear their increasingly warm ties with Russia, one of the main sponsors of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, could also complicate their efforts to deepen battlefield alliances with the United States. The Euphrates Shield operation at one point had Russian air support in the fight for al-Bab.Turkey and Russia sponsored a fragile ceasefire and recent talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Kazakhstan -- from which the U.S. was excluded.But a senior Turkish official said cooperation with Russia was a reflection of the "realities on the ground" rather than a strategic choice, and partly a result of the lack of U.S. support for the Syrian opposition."If Obama had not abandoned the Syrian opposition psychologically, politically and militarily, then maybe there would be no Russian military presence," the official said. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; editing by Peter Graff)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Tom Miles and John Irish
| GENEVA
GENEVA Syrian peace talks in Geneva edged forwards on Wednesday, for the first time in six days of U.N.-led talks, as both sides saw hope of shaping the agenda to their liking and opposition negotiators met a senior diplomat from powerbroker Russia.The opposition said President Bashar al-Assad's negotiators had been pushed by his Russian allies to address the issue of political transition - which Assad's opponents say must involve him handing over power.A source close to the Syrian government delegation said there was agreement that tackling "terrorism" - a broad term which Damascus uses to describe all armed opposition to the president - would also be on the agenda.It remained unclear whether the two goals were compatible or if the two sides were on a collision course, as in past negotiating rounds a year ago.But diplomats said the opposition's meeting with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov may be a milestone and uncomfortable for President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's ally, who regards his opponents as terrorists. Yahya Kodmani, head of the opposition delegation, told reporters that he and colleagues had made strong and clear points to Gatilov, and Russia would need time to respond."We want them to be neutral and not enemies to Syria," Kodmani said. "We want them to pressure and sponsor the political transition process. We want them to work with us on stopping terrorism in Syria."One diplomat said the opposition had been disappointed because the Russians had stuck to their long-standing positions that the rebels were too divided to negotiate with.
U.N. envoy Staffan De Mistura unexpectedly came to the opposition's hotel late in the evening after their meeting with Gatilov, but declined to comment on the process. DEEP TALKS
So far the Geneva talks have focused almost entirely on how to arrange more substantive later rounds, but both sides said on Wednesday they had held "deep" discussions with de Mistura earlier in the day.
"We notice now that the political transition subject has become the main subject on the table," opposition negotiator Nasr al-Hariri told reporters.The opposition wants to discuss "political transition" and, after hearing from de Mistura said they believed that Russia had persuaded Syria's government negotiators that it should be on the agenda of the talks. Assad's chief negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari has never accepted discussion of the subject before. The talks are governed by U.N. Security Council resolution 2254, which sets out a political transition process including plans for a new constitution, U.N.-supervised elections and transparent and accountable governance.
De Mistura wants to put those subjects into three "baskets". Two Western diplomats said the Syrian government agreed to study the baskets, but said a fourth basket should be "terrorism".A source close to the government delegation said that talks had been constructive and led to "an agreement on four equally important baskets" that included terrorism.Kodmani said there was no "terrorism basket" in Resolution 2254, and the talks should start with political transition because it is the main point.A ceasefire backed by Russia, Iran and Turkey has not stopped the fighting. Russian news agencies reported that a new round of ceasefire talks would start on March 14, and cited Gatilov as saying more Geneva talks could follow on March 20.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said government bombardment of a rebel-held area in Damascuss northeastern outskirts intensified on Wednesday, and fighting between government forces and rebels killed 13 Syrian soldiers.Government forces launched attacks around Qaboun in the days leading up to the current round of peace talks, the fiercest assault there for more than two years, according to the Observatory and a medical worker in the area. (Additional reporting by Yara Abi Nader, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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London: Prime Minister Theresa May suffered her first parliamentary defeat over Brexit after the House of Lords voted in favour of an amendment to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK after the country leaves the bloc. The Lords voted on Wednesday 358 to 256 for an amendment requiring ministers to protect the rights of EU nationals based in the UK following Brexit. In the House of Lords, May's Conservative Party does not command a majority.
The amendment backed by the Lords requires the government to introduce proposals within three months of Article 50 to ensure EU citizens in the UK have the same residence rights after Brexit. However, the government's defeat in the Lords could prove a symbolic one as MPs can remove the amendment when it comes back to the House of Commons. The vote came after a heated debate in the Lords where the government was accused of treating EU citizens like "bargaining chips".
The Department for Exiting the EU said: "We are disappointed the Lords have chosen to amend a bill that the Commons passed without amendment. "The bill has a straightforward purpose - to enact the referendum result and allow the government to get on with the negotiations." May has said that any guarantee of the rights of EU nationals must be part of a deal protecting UK expats
overseas.
The amendment backed by the Lords requires the government to introduce proposals within three months of Article 50 to ensure EU citizens in the UK have the same residence rights after Brexit. May has set an end of the month deadline to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which will trigger the two-year deadline for Brexit negotiations. MPs have already backed the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill without amendments and can remove the Lords' amendment when they vote on it again later this month.
The government is said to be confident of defeating the changes to the bill in the Commons. Jeremy Corbyn, the Opposition Labour leader who ordered his MPs to support the bill unamended when it went through the Commons, described the result of the Lords vote as "great news", raising the possibility that he might tell his MPs to back the amendment in the Lower House. "The Government must now do the decent thing and guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK," he said.
The Lords will vote next week on a further amendment which would give MPs a "meaningful vote" on the outcome of May's negotiations with the 28-member bloc. If that vote also goes against her, she could come under pressure from her own MPs to agree to that amendment passing into law. The amended bill will return to the House of Commons on 13 and 14 March, when MPs will debate whether to keep the changes.
WASHINGTON Senior U.S. administration officials have lobbied President Donald Trump to remove Iraq from a list of seven Muslim-majority nations included in an initial travel ban, and two sources said they were confident the country would not appear on a new executive order expected soon.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly all made the case to Trump to remove Iraq because of ongoing U.S. military and civilian operations in the country, according to three U.S. officials who said the Cabinet members made the case separately at recent meetings.One of the officials said the State Department was confident Iraq would not appear on a new executive order limiting travel to the United States, while a congressional aide said Iraq would be removed following conversations among White House advisers on Tuesday.Trump is expected to issue a new travel ban in coming days after federal courts blocked his Jan. 27 executive order that temporarily barred travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump has said the travel limitations were necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. Americans were deeply divided over the measure, which had some support but stirred national protests and were condemned by prominent U.S. companies and allies.
When asked whether Iraq would be left out of the revised order, the White House said it did not have any announcements on the executive order right now.A White House official said the order was likely to come on Monday.There are currently 5,200 American troops deployed in Iraq to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces in retaking Mosul - the last city in Iraq under the control of Islamic State militants.
Iraqis have fought alongside U.S. troops for years and have worked as translators. Many Iraqis have resettled in the United States following threats over their affiliation with U.S. troops. "We cannot claim we are an ally of Iraq and at the same time say all Iraqis are our enemies," said the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Lumping Iraq together with Iran and Syria, especially in a blanket fashion, only makes a hard job harder."
The United States also relies on Iraq to provide visas for a substantial contracting force that supports the U.S. military presence.Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked Trump to lift the ban on people from his country during their first phone call on Feb. 10, resisting calls from influential pro-Iranian Shi'ite politicians to retaliate against the ban. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Yeganeh Torbati, Julia Edwards Ainsley, Steve Holland, John Walcott and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Peter Cooney)
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(Corrects name in paragraph 2, adds attribution in paragraph 5)WASHINGTON A Hellfire missile fired by a CIA drone killed al-Qaeda leader Abu al-Khayr al-Masri late on Sunday while he was riding in a car near the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, a U.S. intelligence official said on Wednesday.The 59-year-old al-Masri, whose real name was Abdullah Muhammed Rajab Abdulrahman, was second-in-command to the groups leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a member of its shura council, said the official, who was briefed on the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity.He also was married to one of Osama bin Ladens daughters, the official added. CNN first reported the strike.
The official said Masri, as he was widely known, had sought refuge in Iran after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and was believed to have been in Syria helping to direct Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, an al-Qaeda branch previously called the Nusra Front, the official said.
The Iranians released him from house arrest almost two years ago, in exchange for a diplomat being held hostage in Yemen by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the official said.An Iranian diplomat held hostage in Yemen since 2013 returned home to Tehran in 2015 amid conflicting accounts of how he was freed from his unidentified abductors. At the time Iran said the diplomat had been rescued by an Iranian intelligence operation in Yemen. But Yemeni media run by the Iran-allied Houthi group said the diplomat was freed in a prisoner exchange that took place in another country. Masri's death was the end of an almost 19-year U.S. hunt for him. A second U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Masri was thought to be one of the planners of the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
(Reporting by John Walcott; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and James Dalgleish)
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US president Donald Trumps promise to use existing funds to begin immediate construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border has hit a financial roadblock, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The rapid start of construction, promised throughout Trump's campaign and in an executive order issued in January on border security, was to be financed, according to the White House, with "existing funds and resources" of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
But so far, the DHS has identified only $20 million that can be re-directed to the multi-billion-dollar project, according to a document prepared by the agency and distributed to congressional budget staff last week.
The document said the funds would be enough to cover a handful of contracts for wall prototypes, but not enough to begin construction of an actual barrier. This means that for the wall to move forward, the White House will need to convince Congress to appropriate funds.
An internal report estimated that fully walling off or fencing the entire southern border would cost $21.6 billion $9.3 million per mile of fence and $17.8 million per mile of wall.
DHS officials did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Trump has said he will ask Congress to pay for what existing funds cannot cover and that Mexico will be pressured to pay back US taxpayers at a later date.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he will include funding for a border wall in the budget for next fiscal year. He has estimated the cost to be between $12 billion and $15 billion.
Many Republican lawmakers have said they would vote against a plan that does not offset the cost of the wall with spending cuts.
In the document it submitted to Congress, the DHS said it would reallocate $5 million from a fence project in Naco, Arizona, that came in under budget and $15 million from a project to install cameras on top of trucks at the border.
The surveillance project was awarded to Virginia-based Tactical Micro, but was held up due to protests from other contractors, according to the DHS document. Tactical Micro could not be reached for comment.
The DHS only searched for extra funds within its $376 million budget for border security fencing, infrastructure and technology, so it would not have to ask for congressional approval to repurpose funding, according to the document.
Contractors cannot begin bidding to develop prototypes until March 6 but more than 265 businesses already have listed themselves as "interested parties" on a government web site.
Those interested range from small businesses to large government contractors such as Raytheon.
The Trump administration lacks the funds to pay for a wall along the US-Mexico border. According to an official document obtained by Reuters, the US government has only identified $20 million that could be used to fulfill the presidents biggest campaign promise . The latest official estimates place the cost of building this wall at over $20 billion.
The US-Mexico border in New Mexico. Christian Torres (AP)
More information Trump solo logra 20 de los 20.000 millones necesarios para construir el muro con Mexico
A month after Trump took office, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has only identified $5 million from a previous project that came in under budget, and a further $15 million from a project that has been held up, according to the document to which Reuters has had access.
The combined amount available falls short even of the Republican presidents early estimates, which had the wall costing $8 billion to build.
We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border
US President Donald Trump
Trump had also claimed that Mexico would be paying for the wall. Later he reviewed this statement, and said that the US would pay for it first, and Mexico would reimburse US taxpayers at a later date.
The White House has been gradually lowering its demands, and its latest claim was that the wall would be built using existing DHS funds.
We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border, said Trump during his first address to Congress on Tuesday evening.
Trump reacts after delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. POOL (REUTERS)
The sentence is not new, but the obstacle is. The lack of funds could pose the biggest challenge to the business tycoon who made the fight against illegal immigration the cornerstone of his campaign.
The lack of existing funds at the DHS means that Trump will need to convince Congress to include additional funding for the border wall in the 2018 federal budget. According to the latest DHS estimates, building the wall could cost $21.6 billion, and several Republican lawmakers have already said they will not support such an expense unless it is offset by public spending cuts.
This would force Trump to choose between raising the deficit which Republicans have opposed to date raising taxes to fund a project that Mexico was supposed to pay for, or slashing funds for public programs that Trump pledged he would not touch. Doing so could provide new arguments against him not just to Democrats, but to a significant portion of US society.
English version by Susana Urra.
I'd firstly like to address the dominant narrative about protest and the coverage of protest. US President Donald Trump's rhetoric gathers the reasonable anger of working people and points it like a laser at the press, at immigrants, at racial minorities, and at people who protest these injustices.
In a bid to consolidate power, Trump is in the early stages of constructing a powerful propaganda machine. And his narrative is compelling. In a Trump worldview, the press is a partisan enemy agent, and the smear of all smears biased. The protesters they write about are agitators who are disloyal and bent on sowing chaos and dissent through the realm.
I'd like to say that it is, in fact, important to parse what is happening behind the scenes at a protest. It is important to engage our critical faculties. What are the factions? Is this a grassroots movement or is a politician using inclusionary woke-speak to appeal to a potential voting base? Is it a wide and diverse coalition of organisers? How about the people on the ground? Why have they decided to participate? These are the questions an honest journalist should ask.
Furthermore, it is very important to parse the coverage of protest. When a corporate broadcast station calls armed suppression of protesters engaging in civil disobedience a "clash between protesters and law enforcement", how are they reinforcing existing narratives? If someone throws a brick at a building, shouldn't we ask who is throwing it? It is important to parse who is acting in what way for what means and what ends.
And yes, the media has bias. Journalists have bias. To have a perspective is to be human. It is important to recognise these biases, lay them bare, question them, and attempt to ask questions that add depth and nuance to a story. Nuance is the enemy of rhetorical persuasion. By questioning the frames within which information is presented, we can get closer to the truth about our world, about allocations of power, and about justice.
It is important to talk about coverage of protest because that is the lens through which we view recent actions. We cannot purport to have a clean view of the events on the ground without acknowledging this bias.
That said, let's talk about protest itself. The White House has done everything to smear anti-Trump protests as criminal, unpatriotic, disloyal, and treasonous. Though we must resist these characterisations, we must avoid making martyrs out of the protesters as well. Some movements are lionised in media narratives, as long as they don't veer into the territory of criminality. When a protest breaks with the narrative of clean-cut white people holding signs and hugging each other, it is condemned.
As journalists, we must forgo proscriptions for questions. Criminality is a top-down narrative that is generally projected onto the most downtrodden members of our society. Black boys, as young as 12, playing with toy guns, are perceived to be criminals because a century of mythmaking has associated blackness with criminality.
Similar narratives have been constructed to describe poverty. Poor people are perceived as lazy and deserving of their squalid conditions. In actuality, most people on welfare are in the workforce as well. Isn't the true problem, then, that people can be working two or three jobs and still not be earning enough to make ends meet?
When people buck the narratives constructed for them, when they start to punch upward, they are immediately designated as criminals. They have become threats to the order of things. And this is the lens through which protests are seen both by the media and by those in power.
The consequences to marginalised communities for not fighting are grave. Black children will continue to be gunned down by police officers in the street. They will be ghettoised, stuck in poverty, without any recourse. Indigenous people will be forced to cede more land and access to clean water. This is what we must remember when we consider protests. Why would people risk their bodies and their safety to fight against such a powerful system? Maybe the repercussions for not fighting are greater. Maybe struggle is the only means people have to preserve their dignity.
We must remember that people are multi-dimensional, and movements are vibrant. There are varied, and sometimes conflicting, opinions and perspectives within coalitions. We must disabuse ourselves of the notion that masses of people are either malevolent or are misled sheep with no brains, no guts, and no thoughts of their own.
Now let's talk about some of the laws being passed to codify these myopic narratives. The State apparatus relies on these stories about dissent to push draconian agendas. The narrative is for the benefit of the public and the actions are plain and simple repression. Before our very eyes, dissent is being criminalised.
Minnesota lawmakers are gearing up to pass a law that effectively litigates protest out of existence. The bill would allow the state to sue protesters for the full cost of police and crowd control, cash-strapping inconvenient protests.
Conservatives in North Dakota are pushing for a bill that would grant immunity to people who run protesters down with their cars.
And in Louisiana, a "Blue Lives Matter" bill was passed. This is a gross inversion of hate crime statutes, designed to protect marginalised classes of people from crimes based on their race status, or similar designated classes. Now, an action like resisting arrest can be classified as a hate crime against a police officer, and carry sentences of 10 years to life in prison.
The violent crackdown of dissent by law enforcement is sweeping the nation. At least 10 states have passed similar laws criminalising and dissuading any form of dissent. The opportunity cost of fighting for one's right to exist is rising. If we continue to allow top-down narratives about criminality to color our perception of protest and dissent, acts of protest and dissent actually become criminal. We must resist these narratives at every turn.
By Kole Casule
| SKOPJE
SKOPJE The EU on Thursday asked Macedonia's president to reverse a move to block a coalition including ethnic Albanian parties from forming a government, urging political leaders to step back from a dispute that risked sparking conflict.President Gjorge Ivanov on Wednesday refused to give his backing to the coalition of Social Democrats and ethnic Albanian parties, arguing its pledge to allow wider official use of the Albanian language amounted to foreign interference in Macedonia's affairs. After meeting Ivanov and other political leaders in Skopje, the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged him to reconsider. Hours earlier Russia criticised the coalition deal."I asked the president to reflect on the way forward to reverse his decision in the interest of all citizens," Mogherini told a news conference.Macedonia should "scale down the rhetoric (to) avoid that this political and institutional crisis becomes an inter-ethnic conflict or even worse a geopolitical conflict."
Relations between the country's Macedonians - who are Orthodox Christians - and ethnic Albanians - who are mostly Muslim - have long been fraught. Macedonia went to the brink of civil war during an ethnic Albanian insurgency in 2001 before EU and U.S. diplomacy helped broker a peace deal.Two years ago the country was thrown into a political turmoil over a wiretapping scandal that brought down nationalist prime minister Nikola Gruevski.Ivanov said he would not revoke his decision, calling the coalition deal a threat to Macedonia's "sovereignty, unity and independence."
Both the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE and Gruevski also oppose Zaev's deal, which this week drew thousands of protesters onto the streets of Skopje and other Macedonian cities. The Social Democrats won 49 seats in a snap election in December, two fewer than the VMRO-DPMNE. The result left neither able to form a government without parties representing ethnic Albanians, who make up a third of the population.
Earlier on Thursday Russia accused Albania, NATO and the European Union of trying to impose a pro-Albanian government on the former Yugoslav Republic.Following December's vote, leaders of ethnic Albanian parties travelled to Tirana and agreed a joint platform for negotiating with a coalition including demanding wider use of Albanian language. Macedonia aspires to join NATO and EU, but its integration is stalled over a name dispute with neighbouring Greece. (Reporting by Kole Casule; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; editing by John Stonestreet)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The chief of Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has acknowledged the group's defeat in Iraq in a 'farewell speech' and ordered his non-Arab fighters to either return to their countries or detonate themselves, according to media reports.
Al-Baghdadi ordered the closure of the Islamic State office regulating their fighters and ordered non-Arab fighters to either return to their countries or detonate themselves. Baghdadi, who had declared himself as Caliph, issued a statement titled 'farewell speech' which was distributed among Islamic State preachers and clerics on Tuesday, as Iraqi army tightened noose around the group's last remaining territory in Mosul, Al-Arabiya reported, quoting Iraqi TV network Alsumaria.
Citing the sources in the Iraqi governorate of Nineveh, the report said Baghdadi ordered the closure of the Islamic State office regulating the group's fighters and asked the group's non-Arab fighters to either return to their countries or detonate themselves, promising them "72 women in heaven."
Baghdadi, who has reportedly been wounded multiple times, carries a $10 million bounty on his head. It is not clear if he is in the besieged city, where he declared his Caliphate in 2014 after the Islamic State seized territory covering much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
Many of Islamic State leaders in Iraq have now fled towards the area controlled by the group in neighbouring Syria, it added. Iraqi forces backed by international and US aid launched a massive operation to retake Mosul on 17 October. In January, they captured the eastern side of Mosul the last Islamic State-held city in Iraq.
With inputs from PTI
The Americans have a lot to get angry about rising racial tensions and hate crimes, the new administration's immigration policy, Kellyanne Conway, Melissa McCarthy Sean Spicer, the fact that after vowing to repeal Obamacare, the president of the country makes this rather half-witted admission "Its an unbelievably complex subject, nobody knew that health care could be so complicated." Though President Donald Trump's first address to the Congress was seen as an attempt to calm overwrought nerves, a more relevant and pressing issue caught people's attention: Ivanka Trump's fuchsia Roland Mouret dress that she wore to the joint session of Congress.
Here's the offending dress.
Getting ready to leave The White House with @realdonaldtrump as he prepares to address Congress #JointSession A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Feb 28, 2017 at 5:28pm PST
A handful outraged about how Ivanka could make this heinous fashion faux pas by wearing a cocktail dress to a rather formal event, others pointed out that her wearing a French designer's creation is a clear departure from Trump's 'Buy American, and Hire American!' policy. Some even had problems with the bra strap sticking out of the $3,000 off-shoulder dress.
The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding that will be guided by two core principles: Buy American, and Hire American! President Trump (@POTUS) March 1, 2017
During his speech, Trump made this forceful appeal:
"To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the United States financed through both public and private capital creating millions of new jobs. This effort will be guided by two core principles: buy American and hire American."
The good people on Twitter pointed out that when Trump is harping on 'buy American and hire American', Ivanka's fashion choice reeked of hypocrisy. Yes, they got it all from one dress. Many recalled former first lady Michelle Obama's sartorial choices who always promoted upcoming American designers and put them in the spotlight. It's, however, time to remind them that even Michelle came under a scrutiny over some bizarre fashion charges. After her first official photoshoot as the first lady, she was criticised for showing off her bare arms. Some even speculated why she decided to go sleeveless in freezing winter and whether it was going to be her signature style statement. Must have been a slow news day.
Here are some Twitter reactions:
Dad said Buy American so Ivanka wore a French designer's dress #hypocrisyhttps://t.co/ehLQWEiOfe
Impudent Cat (@ImpudentCat) March 1, 2017
Why is the media ignoring the real question!!! Where can I buy Ivanka Trump's dress? I am sure KellyAnne will tell us tomorrow Maggie Haskins (@MaggieHaskins1) March 1, 2017
@IvankaTrump Show respect for the institutions of our democracy.Your dress is fine for cocktails but not for a joint session of Congress. VICKI SALT (@VSALTZ) March 1, 2017
@IvankaTrump this is not a party that dress is not appropriate Tx_wife (@Tx_wife) March 1, 2017
"Buy American and hire American."
Oh okay, so Nordstroms were just following Presidential orders then right? #JointAddress pic.twitter.com/gOuajs0oS3 Mo Rene (@cowgoes_) March 1, 2017
I'm sorry if this makes me a bad feminist but what is @IvankaTrump wearing? This is not a nightclub. #Jointsession daniella greenbaum (@DGreenbaum) March 1, 2017
The dress could be a game changer for the Trump family considering that many Trump products are manufactured overseas. They could either embrace everything American or treat this as fake news. Or, we could all put the dress back in the closet.
By Zohra Bensemra
| MOSUL, Iraq
MOSUL, Iraq Ninety-year-old Khatla Ali Abdallah has survived decades of turbulence in northern Iraq, but the frail grandmother who fled the battle for Mosul this week says the fighting there is the worst she has ever seen.Carried across the desert by her grandsons, under sniper and mortar fire, she was one of thousands who braved the difficult and dangerous journey out of Islamic State's shrinking stronghold in the west of the city."I'm a 90-year-old woman and I havent seen such a war," she said in a camp for displaced people south of Mosul, where she was taken by Iraqi security forces.Khatla lived through Saddam Hussein's quarter century in power, when Iraq fought wars with neighbouring Iran and Kuwait and endured a decade of devastating sanctions. That was followed by a U.S.-led invasion which toppled Saddam and led to years of sectarian war across the country.
"Even under the Saddam era, we were afraid because of the atrocities and the people killed," she said. "But nothing is compared to this phase".For pictures of Khatla click reut.rs/2mxxmdp Since the launch of the military campaign in October to retake Mosul from Islamic State, Khatla remained in her home in the city's southwestern al-Mamoun district, now in the hands of Iraq's U.S.-backed Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
At times she took shelter in her basement with the 20 chickens that she looked after - reminders, she said, of her youth when she also herded sheep and cattle."I haven't lost any chickens, not even a one little chick," she said. "We were trapped in the basement and we could hear the bullets hitting the metal roof of the chicken pen."
Her grandsons carried her for miles in the desert to reach the CTS lines, and then she was taken on a bus to a camp for internally displaced people."We just want to make it through this war," she said. "This one will make stories for generations to tell." (Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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Kuala Lumpur: A North Korean man who was held in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-un's half-brother at the airport here will be released from police custody on Friday, authorities said.
Malaysia's Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said Ri Jong Chol was "a free man" as there was "insufficient evidence to charge him".
Ri will be deported to North Korea after his release as he does not have vaild travel documents, CNN quoted Ali as saying on Thursday.
Two Asian women an Indonesian and a Vietnamese have been charged with murder of Kim, who police said was killed by smearing VX, a deadly nerve agent, on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 13 February.
Ri was the only North Korean to have been detained in the case. Investigators have also named four North Korean suspects, who are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.
South Korea has pinned Kim's assassination on Pyongyang, accusing the country of recruiting the women attackers, who said they believed they were bade only to run a prank on Kim for a TV network.
North Korea strongly denies responsibility, and its state media blamed Seoul and Washington for "resorting to political chicanery to bring down the social system in the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)".
Also on Thursday, Malaysia announced it was ending visa-free travel for North Koreans, citing security reasons.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the rule would be effective from 6 March, Malaysia's news agency reported.
Previously, citizens of North Korea and Malaysia were only required to use their passports to enter both the countries.
South Korean activists will send millions of leaflets about the poisoning/murder of the half-brother of the North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un across the border by balloon, they said on Thursday.
It is not clear how many North Koreans are aware of the fate of Kim Jong-Nam, who was killed with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur's international airport, allegedly by two young women acting on Pyongyang's orders.
The North has angrily denied involvement and accused Malaysia for colluding with South Korea to frame it, while only referring to the victim by a pseudonym, without clarifying his relationship with Jong-Un.
The leaflets to be flown across the border by giant, gas-filled balloons contain details of the murder and pictures including one of a dying Kim Jong-Nam slumped in a chair at a clinic in the airport.
The text describes the North's leader as "a devil who killed his own brother".
"We will start launching the leaflets in mid-March," said activist leader Park Sang-Hak, a defector who leads the Fighters For Free North Korea group.
The move was intended "to let our North Korean compatriots know the act of extreme brutality committed by Kim Jong-Un," he added in a statement.
News from the outside world is banned or heavily censored in the North, as the Kim dynasty rules the impoverished, isolated nation with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult.
The leaflets also contain assertions by Seoul's spy agency that Jong-Un had executed many Pyongyang officials and ordered the half-brother's murder to strengthen his grip on power.
The text claimed that Jong-Un son of Kim Jong-Il's third wife had ordered the assassination of Jong-Nam because some viewed him as having a better claim to inheriting the leadership as their father's first-born son.
Conservative South Korean activists, including many North Korean defectors, have sent leaflets northwards for years, infuriating Pyongyang, which has at times threatened military strikes in response.
By Sophie Louet
| PARIS
PARIS French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon's shrinking supporter base was eroded further on Thursday, a day after news that he faces a formal investigation for allegations he misused public funds.A Harris Interactive poll showed 25 percent of people want him to continue as a candidate, down from 35 percent a month ago, while within his Republicans party there were more resignations from his campaign after he decided on Wednesday to stay in the race.Le Parisien newspaper said Fillon's Paris house was searched on Thursday morning by investigators probing allegations that he paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros of public money to do very little work. An official at the financial prosecutor's office declined comment.A defiant Fillon said he would not give in despite suffering what he said were "weeks of attacks with disproportionate violence"."You have a fighter before you," he told cheering supporters waving French flags at an evening rally in the southern city of Nimes. "...I have no intention of giving in."Former poll favourite Fillon, who complains of unfair treatment from the justice system and media, says he has done nothing wrong.With less than two months to go to the April 23 first round vote, surveys now consistently point to a run-off on May 7 between independent candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen that Macron would win.
Macron announced a full manifesto on Thursday while Le Pen gave a speech on "intelligent protectionism", calling for the nationalisation of France's public debt."Everywhere, from Donald Trump's America, to Narendra Modi's India, from Xi Jinping's China to Theresa May's United Kingdom, economic patriotism is prevailing," she said.One of the first opinion polls partly taken after Fillon's legal woes deepened on Wednesday, when adviser Bruno Le Maire quit his campaign, showed his support dipping below 20 percent for the first time in a week and the gap widening between him and the two leaders.The Elabe poll, carried out between Tuesday and Thursday, showed Fillon on 19 percent, trailing Le Pen on 27 percent and Macron on 24 percent.
DEFECTIONS
On Thursday, campaign treasurer Gilles Boyer, deputy campaign director Sebastien Lecornu and adviser Vincent Le Roux followed Le Maire's lead, along with a number of more junior campaign staff.
Three other high-ranking lawmakers from the left wing of the party - Benoist Apparu, Christophe Bechu and Edouard Philippe - also quit the Fillon cause, saying their decision was prompted by his repeated attacks on the judiciary.The 62-year-old ex-prime minister is due to be questioned on March 15 by investigating magistrates, who will decide whether to place him under formal investigation. Supporters plan a rally in Paris on Sunday backing his campaign and protesting at his treatment.Sources in the Fillon camp have said there was a strong push by some in the party on Wednesday to have former prime minister Alain Juppe stand in Fillon's place, but that the plan was vetoed by Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president."I am convinced that Francois Fillon is about to fall," Georges Fenech, a lawmaker who led a failed rebellion against Fillon last month, told France Info radio. "It seems to me that today only he (Juppe), with all his experience, can carry the flame."Juppe, 71, has insisted he has no interest in replacing Fillon. (Reporting by Sophie Louet; Writing by Andrew Callus and Adrian Croft; editing by Mark John and John Stonestreet)
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Peshawar: Pakistani police on Thursday shot and killed a vendor outside a court in the restive northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province mistaking him for a bomber. The vendor, Ulas Khan, on a bicycle was asked to stop at a checkpoint outside a courthouse in Mardan district for search but he did not stop, said Dr Mian Muhammad Saeed, District Police Officer Mardan.
He ran in a hurry following which police fired at him on suspicion of being a bomber, he said, adding that he was immediately shifted to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. No explosives or weapons was found on his bicycle.
The incident occurred in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province where security has been tightened around the government offices after the recent wave of terror incidents.
A series of blasts in the Muslim-majority country have killed more than 100 people, including women and children. Last month, at least seven people were killed and several others, including judges, injured in two separate suicide attacks in Pakistan's restive northwest region.
Also last month, one of the deadliest suicide bombing in Pakistan in recent times struck at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan area of southern Sindh province where at least 88 people were killed and over 200 injured in an attack claimed by the ISIS.
By John Irish, Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles
| GENEVA
GENEVA Syria's warring sides both claimed U.N. peace talks in Geneva were going their way on Thursday, but the chief government negotiator and Syria's ally Russia accused the main opposition delegation of trying to wreck the talks. Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari told reporters that he had discussed "substantive issues, particularly counter-terrorism" with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura, and would continue on Friday.The government delegation has sought to focus peace talks around counter-terrorism - which is how it frames the battle with all its armed opponents - while the opposition wants to discuss political transition, which it says must mean President Bashar al-Assad giving up power. Ja'afari said the opposition High Negotiations Committee was holding the peace talks hostage, and accused some of its members of "high treason" by receiving support from Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey."The Riyadh opposition will be held responsible for any failure of the Geneva talks," Ja'afari said.Russia is seen as holding the balance of power in Syria and as being the powerbroker behind the peace talks. On Wednesday, it appeared to offer an olive branch to the HNC, enemies of Moscow's ally Assad, when Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov received the opposition leadership at Russia's mission in Geneva.
Russian media quoted Gatilov as saying the meeting had been constructive. But on Thursday, Moscow's tone soured."The talks are once again raising questions about the ability of representatives of the Syrian opposition to do a deal," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow."The so-called High Negotiations Committee is refusing to cooperate equally with the Moscow and Cairo platforms and is in fact sabotaging fully fledged dialogue," she said, referring to two smaller opposition groups that curry favour in Moscow.The same line was later repeated by Ja'afari.
The chief opposition negotiator Nasr al-Hariri said he had also held very positive discussions with de Mistura, centred on the opposition's goal of a political transition for Syria.Like Ja'afari, he also expected another meeting with de Mistura on Friday, which will mark a full week of talks, on top of some preliminary meetings. But there is still no hint of any real breakthrough, and each side has yet to accept the other's demands."The prospects are very dim," HNC negotiator Basma Kodmani said.Russia has sought to revive diplomacy since its air force helped the Syrian army and allied militias defeat rebels in Aleppo in December, Assad's biggest victory in six years of war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
It has held parallel negotiations in coordination with Turkey and Iran in the Kazakh capital Astana to reinforce a shaky ceasefire and has tried to expand the scope to cover political aspects such as a discussing a new constitution.Despite the ceasefire nominally in force since late December violence has escalated since the onset of the talks a week ago and the warring sides appear no closer to actual negotiations.Zakharova said Russia was determined to press ahead with the separate track of peace talks in Kazakhstan and was ready to include new participants in those talks, including those from the Syrian opposition who would behave constructively.A new round of Astana talks is due on March 14, although the last round in February failed to yield results. "Russia sees an opportunity here to manage the political track in a different way," said a Western diplomat. (Additional reporting by Tom Miles, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Denis Pinchuk in Moscow; Editing by Alison Williams and Dominic Evans)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A Spanish bishop has angered survivors and relatives of the victims of the 2008 Spanair air crash at Madrids Barajas airport, after saying that a drag queen event held this week as part of Carnival festivities in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , whose winner performed as the Virgin Mary and Christ on the cross, made him sadder than the disaster in which 154 people were killed.
On Tuesday, Francisco Cases, Bishop of the Canary Islands, issued a statement saying: I am sometimes asked what have been the happiest and saddest days of my time in the Canary Islands [] and which day has been the saddest. Until now I would reply: the day of the accident in Barajas involving the plane bound for Gran Canaria. From today, I will say that I am living the saddest day of my time in the Canaries.
Drag Sethlas admitted he was trying to stir up controversy
Describing the Gala Drag Queen of the Las Palmas Carnival as frivolous blasphemy, the bishop said he had watched as thousands of people shouted encouragement, applauded and voted by phone.
The Spanair flight that crashed in Madrid on August 20, 2008, leaving just 18 survivors, was headed for Las Palmas, with many local people aboard. The president of the Spanair crash victims association, Pilar Vera, who lost a niece in the accident, quickly responded to Bishop Cases comments, saying in a statement: It wasnt just 154 people who died, but also their families. We are now dead in life, condemned to fight a system that has victimized us still further by denying us justice and truth, as well as wounding us with words like yours, adding, If you have forgotten the victims, then do so completely and avoid mentioning them.
Drag Sethlas interpretes Christ's crucifixion. Elvira Urquijo (EFE)
The winner of the Carnival event, Drag Sethlas, said on Tuesday it was not his intention to hurt anybody, admitting he was looking to generate controversy, adding: I succeeded in that.
Carlos Alonso, the head of the local authority on the neighboring island of Tenerife, posted a tweet saying: Carnival is transgression but should not be used to offend the values of so many people.
Augusto Hidalgo, the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, tweeted in similar tone, highlighting Carnivals transgressive spirit, it also represented tolerance.
The Spanair victims association still wants criminal charges to be filed against Spanair executives, AENA airport administrators, and officials from plane manufacturer McDonnell Douglas, but a Madrid High Court ruled against that in 2012.
Vera has also criticized successive Spanish governments for not doing enough to help the victims and their families in the years since the disaster.
English version by Nick Lyne.
Washington: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has met US National Security Advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster and discussed counter-terrorism, bilateral relations and ways to take Indo-US ties forward.
The meeting between Jaishankar and McMaster gains significance as the top military leader was appointed as the National Security Advisor by US President Donald Trump ten days ago.
During the meeting held at the White House, the two officials are believed to have discussed issues related to security relationship, counter-terrorism, and defence partnership.
Jaishankar also met Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan and discussed various issues, including ways to enhance economic and defence cooperation between both countries.
"The relationship between the US and India is rooted in shared values of democracy and freedom," Ryan said in a statement after meeting Jaishankar.
"We had a great opportunity today to build on this critical partnership by discussing ways to enhance our economic and defence cooperation," Ryan said.
During his meeting with Jaishankar, Ryan expressed condolences of US House of Representatives on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and Alok Madasani, another Indian of the same age, injured in the shooting by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before opening fire on them.
"Our peoples must continue to stand together, and I look forward to working with Foreign Secretary Jaishankar in the years ahead," Ryan said.
Jaishankar arrived in the US on Tuesday on a four-day visit to hold talks with top officials of the Trump Administration, lawmakers and members of the think-tank community.
This is his third trip to the US after Trump was elected as the President.
Trump had earlier pledged to strengthen Indo-US ties during his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
About three weeks before his electoral victory, Trump had told Indian-Americans that in him India would have the best friend at the White House.
GENEVA Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari said on Thursday the main Saudi-backed opposition group was holding peace talks hostage, and accused some of its members of "high treason" by receiving support from Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey.The Geneva peace talks, the first under U.N. auspices in 10 months, were convened after a shaky ceasefire was brokered between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's allies Russia and Iran with Turkey. But amid repeated truce violations on the ground, Syria's warring sides appear no closer to actual negotiations, a week after beginning indirect talks."We must not permit the Riyadh platform to hold the Geneva talks hostage," Ja'afari told reporters after meeting U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura. "The Riyadh opposition will be held responsible for the failure." Ja'afari said the "Riyadh platform" - the opposition umbrella body the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) - was refusing to unify with smaller opposition groups.
He said his talks with de Mistura had focused on counter-terrorism, but his delegation had also agreed to discuss four themes simultaneously on a potential agenda for future talks.They would include a new constitution, U.N.-supervised elections and transparent and accountable governance, as well as terrorism.The opposition has been reluctant to add terrorism to the talks agenda, fearing the government will focus entirely on that issue, and not political transition, which it sees as key to progress.
"We heard that ... the Riyadh platform refused the inclusion ... of counter-terrorism," Ja'afari said."This did not come as a surprise because some members of the Riyadh delegation include members of terrorist armed groups."
The Syrian government has repeatedly labelled all armed groups that oppose it as terrorists. "Those who are protected by Israel have given away the Golan to Israel for their Israeli protection, for Israel helps them countering their own homeland, their own country, and this in my view is the worst form of high treason," Ja'afari said.He also repeated long-standing accusations that members of the HNC were agents of Turkish and Saudi intelligence services. (Reporting by John Irish and Tom Miles; editing by Andrew Roche)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Phil Stewart and Mohammed Mukhashaf
| WASHINGTON/ADEN, Yemen
WASHINGTON/ADEN, Yemen The United States said it carried out more than 20 precision strikes in Yemen targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Thursday, in the first major operations against the group since a January raid by U.S. commandos.The Pentagon said the strikes, which were first reported by Reuters, targeted al Qaeda militants, heavy weapons systems, equipment, infrastructure and the group's fighting positions. They were carried out in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan, Al Bayda and Shabwah."The strikes will degrade the AQAP's ability to coordinate external terror attacks and limit their ability to use territory seized from the legitimate government of Yemen as a safe space for terror plotting," Navy Captain Jeff Davis said, using an acronym for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.The strikes come a month since a Jan. 29 raid against AQAP. The operation, the first of its kind authorized by new President Donald Trump, was hailed as a success by the White House and other U.S. officials. Still, critics questioned the value and effectiveness of an mission which killed women and children, as well as several militants and a Navy SEAL.Trump, citing information from his defence secretary, told Congress on Tuesday that the raid yielded valuable intelligence that would "lead to many more victories in the future."Still, one U.S. official suggested Thursday's strikes - which included use of U.S. drones and manned aircraft - had been in the planning stages before the January raid.
AT LEAST NINE DEAD
The U.S. military did not estimate the number of militants killed in the strikes, but residents and local officials in southern Yemen said that at least nine suspected al Qaeda militants died in two separate incidents.They said four men believed to belong to al Qaeda died in a strike on a building in al-Saeed, an area of Shabwa province home to the al-Awaleq, the extended clan of Anwar al-Awlaki, a militant and U.S. citizen killed in by U.S. drone in 2011.Another five suspected al Qaeda fighters died when a missile fired by a drone struck a vehicle carrying weapons while travelling on a road between al-Wadie district and the area of Moujan, in Abyan province, some 40 km (25 miles) away, according to a local official.
In a separate incident, residents and local officials in the Gulf of Aden town of Shuqra in southern Yemen also reported air strikes in an adjacent mountain area where hundreds of al Qaeda militants are believed to be based.They said they heard loud explosions early on Thursday morning in al-Maraqisha, a rugged mountainous area where al Qaeda militants took refuge last year after they were driven out of Yemeni cities they had captured earlier.There were no immediate details available on damages or casualties caused by those strikes.
INTELLIGENCE ON AQAP
AQAP boasts one of the world's most feared bomb makers, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, and it has been a persistent concern to the U.S. government ever since a 2009 attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.The militant group has taken also advantage of a civil war pitting the Iran-aligned Houthis against the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to try to widen its control and influence in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, one of the poorest in the Middle East.The conflict, which U.N. officials say has killed more than 10,000 people, has also forced the United States to scale back its presence in Yemen, degrading U.S. intelligence about the group, officials say. A senior U.S. official said intelligence collected in the Jan. 29 raid however provided valuable insight into AQAP's explosives manufacturing, targeting, training and recruitment practices. (Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden and Mohammed Ghobari in Cairo, writing by Phil Stewart and Sami Aboudi; Editing by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has come under fire after the Washington Post reported he met twice last year with Russia's ambassador to Washington, seemingly contradicting statements he made in Senate confirmation hearings in January.
The revelation cast a fresh cloud over US President Donald Trump's administration, which has repeatedly denied any suspected ties between members of his election team and Russia which US intelligence says interfered in the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.
The White House quickly labeled the report an attack by partisan Democrats, confirming the meetings but arguing Sessions did nothing wrong.
In a statement Sessions, the Trump administration's top law enforcement official, said yesterday: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
But with US intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, and four Congressional committees examining the Russia scandal, Democrats demanded that Sessions recuse himself from the investigations and for Congress to name an independent special investigator to oversee a broad probe.
"Given AG Sessions' false statements about contacts with Russian officials, we need a special counsel to investigate Trump associates' ties to Russia," said Democrat Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Washington Post reported late on Wednesday that Sessions formerly a senator who advised Trump's campaign on foreign policy and other issues met Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting.
Sessions, however, told his confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on 10 January that he did not know of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russia. "I did not have communications with the Russians," he said under oath.
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the Senate, called for Sessions to step down. "After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russian, the attorney general must resign," she said.
Democrat Elijah Cummings of the House of Representative's Oversight Committee echoed that call in a statement. "When Senator Sessions testified under oath that 'I did not have communications with the Russians,' his statement was demonstrably false, yet he let it stand for weeks," Cummings said.
Since Barack Obama's era is over and social media misses having a favorite president to swoon over, it's concentrating its energies on the dashing Canadian prime minister.
Now, who else fits the bill better than Justin Trudeau? Well, a YOUNG Justin Trudeau. No surprises there.
After the internet was done creating memes on Ivanka Trump "gazing" at Trudeau, we have pictures of the prime minister's early days resurfacing on social media. After having won hearts around the world, Trudeau's young pictures are now the internet's latest possession.
Step aside young Biden. These photos prove young Justin Trudeau is who you should be hitting with a 1:37am "u up?" https://t.co/vCMiRNVTKE pic.twitter.com/q3UMWGkfje van Ross Katz (@evanrosskatz) February 28, 2017
Young Justin Trudeau could run me over with a semi and I'd say thank you pic.twitter.com/oVDwWuQEio Sarah Leckwatch (@SarahLeckwatch) February 28, 2017
you guys can have young joe biden i call young justin trudeau pic.twitter.com/Ca2Se1LgtQ rapunzel (@logicalpunk) February 26, 2017
good morning to everyone, especially young Justin Trudeau pic.twitter.com/huNoGXIknz Yodit Denu (@DenuIn_ItRight) February 26, 2017
Young Justin Trudeau could run me over with a semi and I'd say thank you pic.twitter.com/oVDwWuQEio Sarah Leckwatch (@SarahLeckwatch) February 28, 2017
But let's not objectify him, after all he is more than just a pretty face.
At 43, Trudeau became the second youngest prime minister of Canada.
Trudeau happened to be the first sitting prime minister to march the Toronto Pride Parade.
As of 29 January, 2017, 40,081 Syrian refugees have been resettled under Trudeau's government.
To reduce financial strain of the middle-class families and students, the Government of Canada increased taxes for the wealthiest 1 percent of Canadians to enable cuts for low-income families.
As promised during his campaign, Trudeau made sure that his cabinet was gender-balanced. His appointed cabinet had just as many women as men.
What's evident is that Trudeau has given us more than enough reasons to keep taking about him.
Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data
Brexit has been bad news for Gibraltar. There is no doubt that once the United Kingdom has left Europe, Spain will recover the right recognized in Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht to control or close access to the British Overseas Territory, which it was unable to do after Spain joined the European Union.
David Cameron during his 2016 visit to Gibraltar. marcos moreno
There have already been warnings about the restrictions that Spain could impose on Gibraltarians resident in Spain, as well as the repercussions on Gibraltar itself. The British government is aware of the problems, while the fact that 96% of the electorate in Gibraltar voted to remain indicates that people there are aware of the consequences of Brexit.
It will take time for the United Kingdom to leave the EU, but it will happen
Britains repeated promises that it will not hand Gibraltar over to another state or take part in sovereignty talks without its approval do nothing to change the reality of the situation. Gibraltars efforts to form a common front with Scotland to remain in the EU will come to nothing, due to its non-autonomous status, nor will its comparisons with Greenlands approach, which is the opposite of what Gibraltar wants. None of this can avoid the impact of the powers derived from the rights of the EU toward member states in relation to the successive phases of the withdrawal process: from the Council of Europe deciding on the scope of negotiations to its adopting the withdrawal text and even its ratification.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said that Gibraltar will leave the European Union with the United Kingdom, and that EU rules will cease to apply from that moment.
But Spains recent joint-sovereignty proposal offers a new approach: Gibraltarians would be allowed to apply for Spanish nationality without giving up their British passports; the territory would have autonomy and its own tax regime within the confines of EU legislation, while the border fence would be removed. Spain and the United Kingdom would share responsibility for defense, foreign affairs, borders, immigration and asylum. Spain says this solution would allow Gibraltar to continue to benefit from access to the single market and the free movement of goods and people.
Gibraltar will leave the EU with the United Kingdom
When David Cameron negotiated a new regime for the United Kingdom within the EU, he described it as the best of both worlds, although the British were unable to appreciate it at the time. Post-Brexit, joint sovereignty offers Gibraltar its own version of the best of both worlds.
Its first minister, who has already rejected it, will now have to explain to people there why he prefers to leave the EU rather than remain in it without having to give anything up, why he is turning his nose up at the offer of a privileged status for Gibraltarians, why he doesnt want to end an out-of-date colonial situation and why he doesnt want to take advantage of synergies with the Spanish-controlled Campo de Gibraltar, which in the past he has shown an interest in doing. Hiding behind the 2002 referendum that rejected a deal between the United Kingdom and Spain is not enough, given the change that Brexit will mean.
It is no coincidence that the White Paper Theresa May has just presented limits itself to saying that the British government will continue to involve Gibraltar in its working groups, will commit itself to its interests when talks begin, and will strengthen links with it.
It will take time for the United Kingdom to leave the EU, but it will happen. The people of Gibraltar will then face the crude reality of being a non-autonomous territory of a third state, with all the inconveniences and none of the current advantages. The 17th-century Spanish Jesuit writer Baltasar Gracian distinguished between those unable to see the truth because they were concerned only with fighting their corner, from those who prioritized reason over passion. Gibraltar is soon going to have to decide which of those two approaches best represents its interests.
Paz Andres Saenz de Santa Maria is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oviedo.
This article has been updated at the authors request.
English version by Nick Lyne.
Serzh Sargsyan to diplomats: Your work is visible to us
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF DIPLOMATS DAY Distinguished Diplomats, I congratulate you on the occasion of Diplomats Day. This year marks an anniversary because 25 years ago, on this very day Armenia joined the United Nations Organization, thus fulfilling our nations cherished aspiration to become a full-fledged member of the international community. A quarter of a century ago, when Armenia had reappeared on the political map of the world, the link between our country and the outside world started to work first of all through our diplomats. It is no accident that this momentous day was declared and is celebrated traditionally as the Armenian Diplomats professional holiday. There can be no doubt that the protection of the interests of the independent Armenia, which has a millennia-long history, rich traditions and culture, and those of her citizens is a huge responsibility. One of the peculiarities of the diplomatic service is often the invisibility of your work. Be assured that your work is visible to us and deserves respect. Today too our country faces multiple challenges. In our efforts to withstand them, we anticipate and require much of you, our diplomats. Just like the Armenian troops on the borders, so are you abroad and as the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not relax even for a moment, always ready to counter all encroachments against our statehood and national interests. The geopolitical realities around us have left their mark on our diplomatic service as well. Along with high professional requirements, maybe even more than in case of the diplomats of other countries, your work requires a boundless dedication and love for Fatherland. That is especially the case when you are representing a country which has to live under the conditions of war and blockade. Armenia is a peace-loving country. We, Armenians have always struggled for the right to live on the land of our ancestors, so we know all too well the value of a peaceful life. Diplomats carry their great share of responsibility in ensuring conditions for our countrys peaceful and sustainable development. I am confident that you understand that responsibility and are ready to carry it with honor. I have no doubt that you will continue to represent our country, our viewpoints and approaches at the proper level and will through your active engagement make them more audible and perceptible at the international platforms, that you will continue to bring your considerable contribution to the strengthening of our countrys external security. Distinguished Diplomats, I congratulate you once again on the occasion of Diplomats Day and wish you limitless energy to fulfill in its best the mission entrusted to you. I also wish you new achievements for the benefit and advancement of our Fatherland.
You will now be able to receive much heavier files via attachments using Gmail. Google has doubled attachment limit for Gmail to 50MB, up from 25MB.
Prior to this update, users had to reply on Google Drive to send and receive heavier files. Although the receiving attachment limit has been pumped to 5oMB, the sending size limits for attachment is still intact at 25MB. Attachment limits for other email clients like Outlook and Yahoo is 20MB and 25MB respectively.
Just yesterday, Google released Meet by Hangouts video conferencing app aimed at businesses.
Source
Lenovo Mobile Business Group has appointed Sudhin Mathur as the Managing Director Motorola Mobility India Pvt Limited. He has been inducted as a full-time director on the Motorola Mobility Board in India and has taken over as MD, Motorola Mobility India.
Sudhin will also continue to serve the role of Executive Director for Lenovo MBG India. He has been running the operations for Lenovo MBG in India since its inception in the country four years ago. Under his leadership, the brand notched the No. 2* position by both value and volume in this cluttered and competitive market, rising from the 31st position in the year it entered the market.
Sudhin has over 20 years of experience in Business Management and Consumer Marketing in industries like Telecom, Services and Office Products. He played a similar role for LG mobiles as the Business Head for India, prior to joining Lenovo MBG in May 2013.
Commenting on his appointment, Sudhin Mathur said,
I am honored to lead the India business for Motorola Mobility, the pioneers of mobile technology in the world. In the last four years, we have established Lenovo Moto as the challenger brand in the country and I am excited to lead this business further as we define a new era of mobility.
Zhuliang Ye, Vice President, Lenovo MBG APAC said,
Sudhin has been a thought leader in the Indian smartphone industry. He brings enormous amount of experience and with his distinguished track record in his prior assignments as well as at Lenovo MBG, we are confident that Sudhin will take the business to greater heights as we challenge industry conventions and redefine the smartphone sector.
FrieslandCampina Ingredients
Were a team of passionate ingredient specialists who add goodness to the foods, beverages, and businesses that nourish the world. All around our planet, demand is growing for smart solutions to food and beverage challenges. People want their products to be pure, enriching, tasty, and above all, safe. Simply put, they want more goodness from what they consume. We believe that whats inside matters. And day after day, were driven to make it better.
FrieslandCampina Ingredients operates worldwide with regional sales offices in the Netherlands, the United States, Singapore, China and Brazil. The Ingredients division reported combined sales of 1.7 billion in FY18. For additional information, please visit:
www.frieslandcampinaingredients.com.
FrieslandCampina Ingredients is part of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. The dairy company daily provides millions of consumers throughout the world with dairy products containing the valuable nutrients from milk. The annual turnover amounted to 11.6 billion euro in 2018. FrieslandCampina has locations in 34 countries and employs about 24,000 employees. The Central Office is based in the Netherlands.
Were FrieslandCampina Ingredients, passionate about adding goodness to the foods, beverages, and businesses that nourish the world.
Demand is growing for smart, sustainable solutions. Our people collaborate with a passion and focus that ensures every food and beverage solution for our customers is spot-on.
We believe that whats inside matters. And day after day, were driven to make it better.
INTERPOL denies Azerbaijani disinformation
Statement by police In a circular sent out to the INTERPOL member states on March 1, 2017 the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for Azerbaijan announced international search for a group of foreign and Armenian researchers who had carried out archaeological excavations in the territory on the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in 2016. The above-mentioned persons were announced wanted under the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan: * 116.0.8-3 (Infringement of norms of the international humanitarian right during confrontations: attack without military necessity on objects which are not in military purpose, clearly seen and distinctive, including especially protected historical, religious, educational objects, objects of art, scientific, charitable, medical objects or locations of patients and wounded persons); * 165.2.2 (Infringement of author's or adjacent rights on preliminary arrangement by group of persons and by organized group); * 183.2.1 (Plunder of subjects which have special value on preliminary arrangement by group of persons or by organized group)* * 183.2.2 (the same action, committed repeatedly); * 281.2 (Public appeals directed against the state committed repeatedly or by group of persons) and * 318.02 (Illegal crossing border of the Azerbaijan Republic committed on preliminary arrangement by group of persons or organized group either with application of violence or with threat of its application). Immediately after receiving the circulars, the National Central Bureau (NCB) for the Republic of Armenia provided the Interpol General Secretariat with necessary corroborations and clarifications, stating that the Azerbaijani side is once again trying to involve INTERPOL in politics and make it privy to political issues, which contradicts the 3rd Article of the organization's Constitution ("It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character") and threatens INTERPOL's reputation and good name. The General Secretariat, in its turn, basing upon the well-grounded information provided by the Police of the Republic of Armenia, immediately responded, sending out the Interpol member-countries an appropriate circular on the same day, in which it was said that the circulating information about declaring the above-mentioned persons as wanted contradicts article 3 of the Interpol's Constitution, therefore those persons can in no way be declared internationally wanted.
Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH
SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders
PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces
There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan
Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia
Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair
Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan
I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General
I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox
UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS
There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur
EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay
An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".
UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022
Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully
The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces
LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET
STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN
This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan
Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments
Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan
Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement
With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building
OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border
Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh
Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer won't be getting certain bonuses, according to a filing with the SEC on Wednesday, as the fallout from the massive security breach continues to roil the company. Last month Verizon was able to cut price tag for the tech-giant by $350 million because of that very same security breach.
All of that is a reminder cyber security has significantly changed. The costs are huge. Dollars and cents in a merger or sale of a company pale in comparison to someones identity being stolen when they bought something at their local store or trusted their data to an insurer.
Today, cyber security requires a new way of thinking. Too many times, in too many organizations, IT personnel have their hands full just maintaining the day-to-day operations of a companys infrastructure, let alone securing it. I know, because I have been that overworked and under-resourced IT person.
The thought used to be if you spend a lot of money to build a bigger fortress, cyber criminals cant get in, but then Target was hacked. If you can be breached via an air conditioning vendor, then there is no fortress big enough to keep cyber criminals out. How can organizations win the fight against a growing, lucrative, incentive-driven industry that recruits more cyber hackers every day? Here is a new reality for effective cyber strategy.
Determine your greatest digital assets. Of course, everyone would say, every piece of data is the most important piece of data! But it is not. Take the time to look at what your organization truly values and then judge the risks. If you assess what is most important, you will be able to make risk-based cyber security priorities.
Think creatively and segment out your digital assets to make it as hard as possible for thieves to steal your all your data in one fell swoop, a tool we employed at the White House. Remove the low hanging fruit that incentivizes those who want to steal your data.
Analyze the enemy. You cant defend against all levels of threat. They can range from massive armies of automated bots to organizations that spend a lot of time and money on sophisticated attacks. Where are your greatest threats coming from and how are they trying to attack? Are you learning from incidents suffered by your competitors and peers?
Look alive. Many organizations are breached without even knowing it. The hackers penetrate deeper than they can even digest in real time. Its like carbon monoxide poisoning. Invisible and deadly. Do you have a way to be alerted if your organization was breached and how? Information is priceless in the PR battle to mitigate a crisis.
Design a PR cyber incident fire drill. How and when you respond to your companys breach may determine the viability of your companys next move. Just ask Yahoo! or Target. As the drip, drip, drip of information came out, they lost confidence internally and externally and it was reflected in the headlines.
Today, instead of writing a bigger check to build a bigger fortress, design an adversarial-based approach to protecting your organization. Find them before they find you.
Max Everett is Managing Director of Cyber Operations for Fortalice Solutions. He has spent 20 years in IT infrastructure and cyber security leadership roles, including CIO at the White House in 2008.
Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Thursday after Russian crude production remained unchanged in February, showing weak compliance with a global deal to curb supply to tighten the oversupplied market.
Russia's February oil output was unchanged from January at 11.11 million barrels per day (bpd), energy ministry data showed, with cuts remaining at 100,000 bpd or just a third of the levels pledged by Moscow under the agreement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Brent futures ended the session $1.28, or 2.3 percent, lower at $55.08 per barrel and U.S. crude settled down $1.22, or 2.3 percent, at $52.61.
A stronger dollar also weighed on green-back denominated oil, making it more expensive for buyers in other currencies. The dollar rose to seven week highs against a basket of currencies after hawkish comments by a Federal Reserve official encouraged investors to expect a near-term interest rate hike.
The oil markets extended losses from Wednesday when government data showed crude inventories in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, rose for an eighth straight week to a record 520.2 million barrels last week.
Oil prices, however, have been unusually stable since producers agreed in November to reduce the oversupply that has weighed on prices for more than two years, with both Brent and U.S. crude locked in $5 ranges.
"I think oil is paying attention to risk markets at this point and not necessarily trading on its own news flow," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
"The CFTC data will tell you that there's very high conviction that OPEC is complying ... the question is what's the offset from U.S. producers and how much compliance you get from non-OPEC producers"
Hedge Fund and money managers' bullish wagers on U.S. crude oil has soared to a record in the week to Feb. 21, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed last week.
Separately from its deal with Russia, OPEC has boosted already strong compliance with the group's six-month deal that began in January to around 94 percent, after it cut output for a second month in February, a Reuters survey found.
"While constructive, we continue to view Saudi Arabia's willingness to sacrifice market share beyond its commitment to OPEC as more of a temporary sprint than a more sustainable effort," Tim Evans, Citi Futures' energy futures specialist, said in a note.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it was too early to say if the deal to reduce oil production would be extended beyond the end of June. OPEC, Russia and others are due to agree on output policy in the next three months.
"It is premature to talk of what we will discuss in April-May," Novak told Reuters in an interview.
Novak forecast Brent crude would average between $55 and $60 a barrel this year, with Russia's flagship Urals crude oil blend probably trading $2-$3 a barrel below that.
Federal law enforcement officials searched three facilities of heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar Inc on Thursday, prompting a sharp sell-off in the company's stock.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney Office for the Central District of Illinois, Sharon Paul, confirmed that federal law enforcement officials conducted searches at locations in Peoria, East Peoria and Morton, Illinois, but did not say why federal agents raided the three locations.
Caterpillar, in a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, said that the search may be related to an Internal Revenue Service investigation on profits earned by a Swiss subsidiary. It said that "while the warrant is broadly drafted, we believe the execution of this search warrant is regarding, among other things, export filings that relate to the CSARL matter first disclosed in Caterpillar's Form 10-K filed on February 17, 2015, and updated in Caterpillar's most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 15, 2017."
Agencies involved in the search included the IRS' Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Office of Inspector General, Paul said.
Officials at the agencies could not be reached for comment.
Caterpillar shares fell 4.3 percent to close at $94.36 on the New York Stock Exchange after trading as low as $92.84.
IRS SEEKS $2 BLN; CATERPILLAR CONTESTS
Caterpillar is fighting an Internal Revenue Service demand that the company pay $2 billion in taxes and penalties for profits assigned to a Swiss parts distribution subsidiary, Caterpillar SARL, or CSARL, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That subsidiary was also the subject of a 2014 Senate committee report that concluded Caterpillar shifted billions in profits abroad and had $2.4 billion in taxes deferred or avoided from 2012.
"As a result of those licensing and servicing agreements, over the next thirteen years from 2000 to 2012, Caterpillar shifted to CSARL in Switzerland taxable income from its non-U.S. parts sales totaling more than $8 billion, and deferred or avoided paying U.S. taxes totaling about $2.4 billion," the report said.
Caterpillar, in its 2016 annual report, said it is "vigorously contesting" the IRS demand. "We believe that the relevant transactions complied with applicable tax laws and did not violate judicial doctrines," it stated.
Caterpillar also disclosed in its report that it had received grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois seeking documents and information related to the movement of cash among U.S. and non-U.S. subsidiaries, and the purchase and resale of replacement parts by Caterpillar Inc. and non-U.S. Caterpillar subsidiaries, including Caterpillar SARL. Caterpillar said it is cooperating with the investigation and did not believe it would have a material impact on its finances.
The facility in Morton, according to the companys website, is responsible for receiving and shipping replacement parts to parts facilities and Caterpillar dealers worldwide.
Seven people, all wearing dark colored jackets marked either IRS special agent or Police federal agents, entered the Caterpillar headquarters, according to a video posted by the Peoria Journal Star. Several of the agents were armed, while others were pulling large black roller bags as they entered the building. (http://player.tout.com/pjstar/kspupi)
Caterpillar reported sales fell 18 percent in 2016 to $38.5 billion and since late 2015 it has shrunk its workforce by more than 16,000 employees and consolidated or closed 30 facilities. Caterpillar cut 12,300 jobs in 2016, including 7,700 in the United States.
It said it was considering closing two more major production facilities, including one in Aurora, Illinois, and also announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Peoria to Chicago this year.
PSA Group and General Motors hope to announce the French carmaker's acquisition of Opel within days after narrowing differences on pension liabilities at GM's European division and other issues, sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Talks are progressing well ahead of a PSA board meeting to be held before the tie-up can be unveiled, people close to the discussions said, adding the deal could be announced as soon as Monday, the eve of the Geneva car show.
The talks are not concluded, the people cautioned, and there is still no guarantee a definitive deal can be reached, or that the PSA board will approve it.
"Things are advancing as they should," said one source close to PSA. "There's a sense of confidence now."
Spokespeople for PSA and Opel declined to comment.
The two carmakers, which already share some technology and production in an existing European alliance, confirmed last month they were negotiating an outright acquisition of Opel and its British Vauxhall brand by Paris-based PSA, sparking widespread concern over possible job cuts.
The first models jointly developed under their five year-old partnership will be on display at the Geneva show, which opens to the press on Tuesday.
PSA Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said last week a full acquisition of Opel offered an "opportunity to create a European car champion" and quickly exceed 5 million annual vehicle sales. The French carmaker also expects savings of up to 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) from the tie-up, sources have said.
Difficulties soon emerged, however, over the future of a near-$10 billion Opel pensions deficit and demands by GM that the brand be barred from competing overseas under PSA ownership against its own Chevrolet lineup.
Analysts including Alexis Albert at Barclays put GM's European pensions deficit between $8 billion and $10 billion, with Opel's German operations accounting for the lion's share and the British Vauxhall unit for $1.1 billion.
The talks appeared to reach an impasse this week as GM demanded restrictions on Opel sales in China in return for covering part of the pensions hole, people with knowledge of the matter said. GM had also sought to limit its pensions contribution to $1-2 billion, one said.
PSA signaled to GM that it could not do a deal in which it shouldered the bulk of the pensions deficit, several sources said. GM boss Mary Barra publicly sounded a circumspect note when asked about an Opel sale on Tuesday.
"We've done a lot to improve the business but we're exploring opportunities to see if we can accelerate that even more because scale does matter in this business," Barra told reporters.
The carmakers have since narrowed the gap on pensions and the so-called "non-compete" agreements sought by GM, the people said, although it remains unclear how or whether they have been resolved. "We are making progress every day," said another Paris-based source.
In his public comments on Feb. 23, CEO Tavares said he saw export potential for the Opel brand under PSA ownership. However, much of the existing Opel lineup would remain dependent for years on technology and parts shared with other GM brands.
Detroit-based GM has been pressing for a deal barring those legacy Opel models from markets including China, Russia and Latin America, sources have said.
Tavares also told his board that PSA would rapidly redevelop the core Opel lineup with its own technologies to achieve swift cost savings, sources told Reuters last week.
($1 = 0.9517 euros)
(Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London, Matthieu Protard in Paris and Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; Editing by Mark Potter)
One of the most legendary cars in Hollywood history may have been found after nearly 50 years.
The 1968 classic Bullitt had two stars in it: Steve McQueen and his Highland Green 1968 Mustang GT. A more iconic on-screen duo there never was...for car lovers, at least.
However, there were actually two Mustangs used during filming: one kept neat and tidy and another that did most of the dirty work during the movies groundbreaking chase scene. The pampered star car was preserved and sold three times over the years and is very privately owned today, while the stunt car was beaten up so badly by the end of production that it was sent to the wrecking yard.
At least thats what most people thought happened to it, but a member of the Vintage Mustang Forum claims the car recently surfaced in Mexico. Its exact location undisclosed.
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Fede Garza posted photos of a Mustang that, in an ironic twist, was about to be converted into a replica of the Eleanor Mustang from the film Gone in 60 Seconds at his friends restoration shop. But when the owner of both the car and the business researched the vehicle identification number (VIN), he learned that he might have something special on his hands, which were shaking when he brought Garza the news.
If authentic, the number is a match with the missing movie car. The vehicle also features other telltale features that it could be the real deal, including reinforced shock towers, a custom 9-inch rear axle, and holes in the trunk that are presumably there to accommodate a generator used to run the in-car camera lights. Garza says the Mustang had been rotting away in Baja California Sur for 20 or 30 years, its history heretofore unknown.
Kevin Marti of Marti Auto Works in El Mirage, Ariz., is one of the worlds top experts on classic Fords and owns the exclusive license to the production records of every car the company built from 1967 to 2012. It was a report from his company that tipped off the owner to the possible treasure he had, and Marti tells Fox News that hes heading to northern Mexico on Friday to validate the cars provenance in person. Although hes only seen photos so far, he says he's very optimistic that its legit.
If Marti gives it his seal of approval, Garza says the plan is to display the car at a local Ford dealership and then send it north of the border for a proper restoration. The timing couldnt be better. Next year is the 50th anniversary of Bullitt, and a recent Ford promotional video staring Dwayne Johnson suggests that the automaker is working on a special edition of the current Mustang to mark the occasion.
Automotive journalist Brad Bowling is one of the few people who knew the identity of the third buyer of the other Mustang, but says he passed away a few years ago. He always kept the car hidden away and once told Bowling that hed only show it publically if Ford built an official Mustang museum, but his heirs have been silent on the subject since his death, so that mystery continues.
But if all goes well, and it doesnt turn out to be some elaborate hoax, the Mexican Mustang could be all fixed up and ready for its close up just in time to celebrate next year. Just dont expect to see it chasing that black Dodge Charger through the streets of San Francisco. The filmmakers may have considered the Mustang to be disposable, but its worth far too much today to end up in that ditch again.
Alec Baldwin has a yuge announcement.
The actor is taking his Saturday Night Live impersonation of President Donald Trump to the next level by writing an entire book with Kurt Anderson titled You Cant Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump. The book is scheduled to be published in November, according to the New York Times.
Anderson, currently the host of the public radio show Studio 360, is known as a founding editor of the now-defunct Spy magazine in the 1980s. There, Anderson coined a nickname for Trump, short-fingered vulgarian.
I think its fair to say that Kurt will do most of the writing, Baldwin told the Times over email. We have that arrangement whereby he doesnt put on the wig, I dont open up a Word document.
Baldwin will, however, narrate the audiobook as Trump, according to the Times.
Trump has donned the Trump wig on SNL since the 42nd seasons premiere. His frequent appearances in almost every episode since then have elicited various insults from Trumps twitter account.
Time to retire the boring and unfunny show, Trump tweeted about SNL in October. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks.
Later, in December, Trump tweeted that the NBC show is unwatchable and has also called it a hit job. At one point in December, Baldwin offered to stop his impersonation if Trump released his tax returns.
Penguin Press tweeted out the news about Baldwin and Andersons collaboration, writing, were so excited to publish [the book].
Jack Swagger has officially requested his release from the WWE.
The pro wrestler said on the podcast "Beyond the Fight" that he's done with the wrestling company.
"It's still kind of an ongoing process right now," Swagger told host Chael Sonnen Wednesday. "Basically, it came down to contract negotiations, and we were way off. They didn't value me at what I thought I was valued at."
The two-time WWE Champion said it came down to a "business decision."
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He added, "They werent giving me the opportunity to make the full amount of income I could for my family, so when you put it like that its time to go."
Swagger admitted it was "very frustrating" to perform every night and "entertain these fans" and not get the salary he wanted.
"We want to know were working towards something," he explained.
Swagger may be done with the WWE, but he's not retiring from wrestling. The 34-year-old plans to continue his career in Mexico, the U.K. and Japan. He's even considering mixed martial arts.
A rep for the WWE did not immediately return Fox News' request for comment.
What Tom Brady told Gisele Epic After She Asked Him to Retire
Tom Hanks sent an unexpected gift to the journalists working in the White House press room on Thursday.
Steve Holland, who covers the White House for Reuters, tweeted, Thankx to @tomhanks for the new coffee machine for the schlubs in the WH press room. Holland included a photo of a brand new espresso machine.
Thankx to @tomhanks for the new coffee machine for the schlubs in the WH press room. pic.twitter.com/DHVhowzd3L Steve Holland (@steveholland1) March 2, 2017
BRING TOM HANKS HOME
In a follow-up tweet, Holland revealed that the gift also included a note from the 60-year-old actor, who is an outspoken critic of President Trump.
To the White House Press Corps, it read. Keep up the good fit for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
Here is the note @tomhanks sent with the coffee machine pic.twitter.com/vFo4m1OXxf Steve Holland (@steveholland1) March 2, 2017
Especially the Truth part, it finished. Tom Hanks.
The note also included a cartoon drawing of American soldiers.
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The cartoon was captioned, Fresh, spirited American troops, flushed with victory, are bringing in thousands of hungry, ragged, battle-weary prisoners."
Hanks present comes amid growing animosity between the White House and the media.
Last week, press secretary Sean Spicer prevented reporters from CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and Buzzfeed from attending a non-televised press briefing.
Girl Scout Cookies season has arrived but instead of washing those Tagalongs and Samoas down with a glass of milk, consider a more adult beverage.
At a Vacaville, Calif. location of The Brass Tap, patrons can enjoy a flight of craft beers paired with an array of Girl Scout cookies.
With their distinctive chocolate and coconut flavor, Samoas apparently pair well with a lighter, fruity beer. The Brass Tap recommends New Glory's Mandarin Coconut Gose-- a tart and fresh wheat ale with just a hint of coconut.
If you're a shortbread lover and can't get enough Trefoils, make sure to keep some Lagunitas Stoopid Wit nearby. "The wheat beer here is really light and a little bready," Vacaville's Brass Tap co-owner Danny Jackson told FOX 40.
Of course, plenty of people can't resist the combination of chocolate and peanut butter so they go for Tagalongs. With that, Jackson recommends Track 7 Brewing Company's Nuckin Futz, a rich American porter that's brewed with peanut butter and smoked malts.
Founded by Jeff Martin in Tampa, Florida in 2008, The Brass Tap is a craft beer bar with 60 taps and 200 varieties of local, national and international beers. In San Antonio, The Brass Tap is also offering a similar Girl Scout cookie pairing.
More from FOX 40.
Pizza Hut in Taiwan set off a wave of controversy after posting a Facebook advertisement offering killer deals on their food.
The campaign ran ahead of a five-day observation of the February 28 incident in remembrance of a government uprising that came to a violent end when thousands were killed on Feb. 28, 1947.
As many as 50,000 civilians were killed by then Taiwanese leader Chiang Kai-shek.
Pizza Hut's social media team decided to ask diners if they were "Ready to celebrate 2/28?" in an ad which first ran Thursday, reports Taiwan News. But the promo also had a line that referenced to its newly reduced pizza prices as killer.
The most killer deal in Pizza Hut's history is on offer for a limited time only: For every takeaway large pizza you order online, we'll throw in two small pizzas and one 8-pc BBQ chicken for free," the chain said in the ad, according to China Post.
Hurry and click to order. Enjoy the precious extended holiday with us a pizza in one hand and BBQ chicken in the other!
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Those who saw the ad, both in Taiwan and overseas, took to social media to vent their anger and shock.
@pizzahut Taiwan Pizza Hut 'celebrating and promoting' on day of remembrance for the massacre of thousands in Taiwan is utterly disgusting. Sean Su (@taiwansu) February 28, 2017
After the ad went viral, the chain apologized and changed the wording to ask customers if they were simply Ready for the holiday?
For some pregnant women, marijuana offers a welcome reprieve from the extreme morning (ahem, all day) sickness theyve been burdened with. For others, the habit continues while theyre carrying a little. Whatever the reason, 2017 research published in JAMA found that 3.9 percent of pregnant women have used pot in the past month a jump of 62 percent since 2002.
So are more pregnant women really rolling up a joint?
Im not entirely convinced they are, but now that its legal in 29 states and more socially acceptable, more women might feel comfortable admitting it, Katrina Mark, MD, an ob-gyn at the University of Maryland Medical Center, who wasnt involved in the study, told Fox News.
And thats a good thing, other experts say.
Doctors arent here to get you in trouble, Dr. Alison Cahill, division chief of maternal fetal medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told Fox News. Letting your doc know everything youre taking can help them get to the root of your problem and offer up solutions and its probably not pot.
6 FOODS YOU SHOULD AVOID DURING PREGNANCY
Despite this, Amy Margolis, shareholder of Greenspoon Marder and director of the Oregon Cannabis PAC noted that theres no real evidence that pot in pregnancy is harmful.
From a lawyer perspective, anything you ingest when youre pregnant you want to make sure its not harming your soon-to-be-born child, Margolis told Fox News. Its easy to say that putting anything in your body is dangerous, but I dont necessarily think thats the case, she said. It should be an issue between a woman and her doctor, and they should do a cost-benefit analysis to figure out whats right for them.
And indeed, the science isnt so cut-and-dried across the board.
For instance, research doesnt consistently suggest pot causes birth defects, low birth weight, or infant mortality, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. But there are concerns about pot harming a fetuss rapidly growing brain, which can have effects on a childs growth and development as they age (poor attention, for instance). For that reason, ACOG suggests that women should stop smoking pot ideally before getting pregnant.
One study Cahill co-authored in 2016 itself found that marijuana wasnt an independent risk factor in low birth rate or pre-term birth. Yet, she points out that only two outcomes were studied (cognitive development was not) and said just because a study didnt conclude something was harmful doesnt mean its safe.
Those two ideas are not equal, she explained. (She, too, recommends women stop using before and during pregnancy.)
MAN LEARNS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WORK OUT WHILE PREGNANT IN HILARIOUS VIDEO
Besides, its pretty darn hard to prove it one way or the other. First of all, you cant ask a group of pregnant women to use and then see what happens. Not exactly ethical. And in studies its difficult to untangle it from other factors, like socioeconomic status, smoking, and using other drugs, Cahill noted.
Being open with your doctor is key. If queasiness is hitting you like a ton of bricks, for instance, marijuana will probably help.
Its really good at relieving nausea, said Mark, who has patients tell her it helps them feel normal again.
Another paper in JAMA noted that women suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum a condition of severe nausea and vomiting may be drawn to using marijuana in the first trimester.
That said, rather than lighting up or indulging in a pot brownie, Mark will guide her patients toward medication known to be safe in pregnancy, like Diclegis.
Some women feel like marijuana is more natural because it grows from the earth, but these medications have been well-studied, Mark said.
If youve ever been to a public swimming pool, youre familiar with the stinging sensation of chlorine hitting your nostrils when you approach the water. Except thats not just chlorine its also urine, a new study suggests.
The research, from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, found that the average swimming pool contains 75 liters of human pee proving true the commonly held belief that people relieve themselves underwater.
Our study provides additional evidence that people are indeed urinating in public pools and hot tubs, said lead study author Lindsay Blackstock, a graduate student at the university, according to the Guardian.
WHY YOU'RE GOING BALD AND HOW TO GET YOUR HAIR BACK
Study authors sampled 31 pools and hot tubs in two Canadian cities, and measured the concentration of the artificial sweetener acesulframe potassium (ACE), which is commonly added in processed food and goes through the body unchanged. They found ACE present in 100 percent of the samples, the Guardian reported, with concentrations that reached up to 570 times the underlying level in tap water samples. Study authors used those concentrations to approximate the volume of urine in the average swimming pool.
We did not monitor the number of pool users over the three-week time period ... so there is no way we could estimate the number of individual urination events per day, Blackstock told the news website.
WHAT YOUR PAST HABITS MAY MEAN FOR YOUR FUTURE HEALTH
Before the 2012 Olympics in London, U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps admitted that peeing in the pool is acceptable behavior.
I think everybody pees in the pool, Phelps said. Chlorine kills it, so its not bad.
Lochte said, I think theres just something about getting into chlorine water that you just automatically go.
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Common or not, peeing in the pool isnt so harmless, research suggests.
A study published in 2014 in Environmental Science & Technology, for example, found that when uric acid in human urine mixes with chlorine, a toxic compound called cyanogen chloride (CNCI) and trichloramine (NCl3) is formed, TIME reported. CNCI can harm the central nervous system, the lungs and the heart, while NCI3 has been associated with acute lung injury.
LIVING WITH CHILDREN REALLY CAN AFFECT YOUR SLEEP IF YOU'RE A WOMAN
Other research has found that compounds in urine can react with disinfectants to form byproducts called DBPs, which can cause irritation to the eyes and respiratory system, the Guardian reported. Chronic exposure to the compounds also has been associated with asthma in pool workers and professional swimmers, according to the website.
We want to use this study to promote public education on appropriate swimming hygiene practices, said Blackstock, according to the Guardian. We should all be considerate of others and make sure to exit the pool to use the restroom when nature calls.
President Donald Trumps address to the Joint Session of Congress Tuesday night perfectly expressed his vision of American greatness. The speech was dignified, unifying, nonpartisan, and clear. It was simply the best speech Trump has given either as a candidate or as president.
Callista and I were guests of Speaker Paul Ryan and sat directly across the House Chamber from the first lady. Ironically, that meant we were on the Democratic side of the House. We watched as many of the Democrats filed in and sat in icy silence. But it was remarkable to watch as Trumps message gradually eroded some of their indifference.
Trump opened his speech by reminding us of Black History Month, the viciousness of anti-Semitism and the tragedy of the recent racial violence in Kansas City, which left one Indian American dead and another Indian American injured along with a man who tried to stop the shooter. It was a powerful moment of great moral leadership and clearly surprised the Democrats.
But it was when President Trump mentioned his plan to rebuild Americas infrastructure that the ice on the Democratic side really started to break.
So many Democratic members represent poor districts with decaying infrastructure. President Trump grabbed their attention when he mentioned his plan to gather public and private support to build a trillion-dollars-worth of American infrastructure improvements.
After watching their reaction Tuesday night, I think it is very likely he will get up to a third of the Democrats to vote for a Trump-inspired infrastructure bill.
Finally, Trumps tribute to Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy Seal Ryan Owens, who was killed in action in January while on a mission in Yemen, was heartfelt and the most emotional moment of the evening.
Everyone we could see was standing and applauding, and the president himself was leading the ovation which reportedly lasted a full two minutes.
It was a poignant moment that rivaled anything we have seen since President Ronald Reagan was in office.
One of the most impressive things about Trumps speech was it highlighted how much Trump has learned and grown in the short amount of time he has been president.
This speech was more detailed, more eloquent, more inclusive, more focused, and more inviting than any speech he gave during the campaign. But the heart of the speech the core of his message was the same powerful set of proposals which enabled Trump to win the nomination, win the election and become president of the United States.
His ideals are consistent, clear and powerful as seen in his acceptance speech in Cleveland, his great speech at Gettysburg in October where he outlined a contract with the American voter, his inaugural address, and now in this joint session speech.
President Trump is a serious man focused on achieving serious results.
As a historian, I was inspired by his reference to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It so captures the best of Trumpism I want to share it with you:
"Imagine the wonders our country could know in America's 250th year.
Think of the marvels we can achieve if we simply set free the dreams of our people. Cures to illnesses that have always plagued us are not too much to hope. American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream. Millions lifted from welfare to work is not too much to expect. And streets where mothers are safe from fear schools where children learn in peace and jobs where Americans prosper and grow -- are not too much to ask.
When we have all of this, we will have made America greater than ever before. For all Americans.
"This is our vision. This is our mission. But we can only get there together. We are one people, with one destiny. We all bleed the same blood. We all salute the same flag. And we are all made by the same God.
And when we fulfill this vision; when we celebrate our 250 years of glorious freedom, we will look back on tonight as when this new chapter of American Greatness began.
"The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts. The bravery to express the hopes that stir our souls. And the confidence to turn those hopes and dreams to action.
From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears inspired by the future, not bound by the failures of the past and guided by our vision, not blinded by our doubts.
I am asking all citizens to embrace this Renewal of the American Spirit. I am asking all members of Congress to join me in dreaming big, and bold, and daring things for our country. And I am asking everyone watching tonight to seize this moment and believe in yourselves. Believe in your future. And believe, once more, in America."
Tuesday night was a real step toward making American great again.
Last week, President Donald Trump erupted with fury over a series of public revelations of private facts -- some top-secret and some office gossip -- that painted him and his White House in a bad light. The president ordered the FBI to investigate some of these so-called leaks and his own White House counsel to investigate others.
There are numerous issues related to the leaking of government information. They include the leaking of classified information, the leaking of confidential communications and the publishing of leaked material.
Here is the back story.
It is a felony to reveal classified information to any person who lacks a classified clearance, as some in the intelligence community have recently done to embarrass, control, intimidate or infuriate the president. The National Security Agency employs over 60,000 domestic spies, but they work in compartmentalized areas. Thus, not all of them have access to all the data collected by all of their colleagues. Only about 100 spies have access to the top-secret data that was leaked about the president.
When members of the intelligence community leaked lurid allegations about the future presidents alleged behavior in a Moscow hotel room, which he has vehemently denied, and when some leaked the partial transcripts of telephone conversations between retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. -- shortly before Flynn became the presidents national security adviser -- and when some leaked an intelligence report that contradicted the presidents publicly stated conclusions on the likelihood of dangerous people immigrating to the U.S. from the seven predominately Muslim countries named in the presidents now enjoined temporary travel ban, one can understand the presidential anger.
And leaks are a two-sided coin. Adding to Trumps woes caused by too much revealing is the other side of that coin -- too much concealing. This comes into play when one has a duty to reveal. That duty arises from the legal obligation of spies to pass on to their superiors -- and ultimately to the president -- all of the material information they have acquired about Americas friends and enemies.
Selectively concealing and revealing this type of intelligence data, thereby manipulating the presidential judgment, when one has a duty to reveal substantially all of it is a form of interference with a governmental function -- namely, the presidents exercise of his judgment -- and that is a felony.
As if all this were not enough for a young presidency to deal with, Trump finds himself with a White House staff leaking to the press Oval Office gossip about confidential conversations from within the White House that the participants in those conversations had every reason to believe would not be made public. This resulted in the temporary seizure of government-issued cellphones held by a dozen or so staffers so their bosses could learn whether any had spoken to the press. The cellphones episode was itself leaked, apparently by a participant not happy with it.
Whats going on here?
These events are either the growing pains of a new presidential administration, still partially staffed by those loyal to former President Barack Obama, or the product of sinister forces from people attempting to exercise their own judgment about Americas foes by frustrating and manipulating the judgment of the president -- whom the voters elected to exercise the constitutional powers to make those judgment calls. The latter situation would be perilous, as it would mean we have unelected, unaccountable and unnamed people pulling the levers of power in the field of national security.
The leaks of confidential communications from within the White House may be a pain in the neck for the president, but they are not criminal. And generally, a boss can look at an employees cellphone, as long as the employer of the boss and the employee owns the phone -- except when the employer is the government. The Fourth Amendment insulates government employees from governmental reach into its employees cellphones. Absent an employee's waiving his Fourth Amendment rights, the government may not seize work-related (governmental) or personal phones without a search warrant.
Can the media publish these leaks?
In a word, yes. The media may publish anything that is of material interest to the public, notwithstanding its level of secrecy or how it was acquired. The First Amendment -- which the courts have construed to treat the media as the eyes and ears of the public -- protects absolutely the publication by the media of leaked data, whether gossip or top-secret, that the public wants to hear.
The courts have also ruled that everything about the president is of material public interest -- meaning no criminal or civil action can be taken against the media for the publication of any leaked materials that reflect on the president as a person or as a government official. When The New York Times published a probably stolen copy of Trumps tax returns, it did so with impunity.
One can see why Trump rails against the press. Yet he has taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend the very constitutional principles that protect and liberate a free press from the anger of the government, no matter how well-grounded that anger may be. One of his predecessors who was savaged by the press, Thomas Jefferson, wrote that accountability and transparency in government are of such overriding value that hed prefer newspapers without a government to a government without newspapers.
Talk about over the top! The overblown rhetoric accompanying calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions resignation reveals that Thursdays brouhaha is driven by mere political grandstanding, not a real concern over unlawful behavior.
Theres a reason for that: the total lack of evidence that any illegal behavior occurred.
What sparked Thurdays folderol was a Washington Post report that General Sessions, while still a U.S. senator, met with the Russian ambassador last year. Twice.
To characterize the first of these encounters as a meeting strains the meaning of the wordto the breaking point. But to claim that he lied when he did not reveal these meetings during his Senate nomination hearing is even more far-fetched.
Review the record of that hearing with an eye toward context, and youll find that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) was clearly asking Sessions if he was aware of any meetings between Trump campaign staff or surrogates and Russian officials to discuss the election. Franken specifically cites a CNN story about a supposed continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trumps surrogates and intermediaries of the Russian government.
Sen. Sessions answered that he was not aware of any of those activities. Noting that he himself had been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, he said that he had had no such communication with the Russians.
Obviously, Sessions was talking about discussions concerning the election.
So what are the two meetings that Sessions had? The first came at a conference on Global Partners in Diplomacy, where Sessions was the keynote speaker. Sponsored by the U.S. State Department, The Heritage Foundation, and several other organizations, it was held in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention.
The conference was an educational program for ambassadors invited by the Obama State Department to observe the convention. The Obama State Department handled all of the coordination with ambassadors and their staff, of which there were about 100 at the conference.
Apparently, after Sessions finished speaking, a small group of ambassadorsincluding the Russian ambassadorapproached the senator as he left the stage and thanked him for his remarks. Thats the first meeting. And its hardly an occasionmuch less a venuein when a conspiracy to interfere with the November election could be hatched.
Sessions also apparently met with the Russian ambassador in September. But on that occasion, Sessions was acting as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not as a surrogate for the Trump campaign. Thats why the meeting was held in his Senate office. His DOJ spokesperson, Sarah Isgur Flores, says they discussed relations between the two countries not the election.
There was nothing unusual about this: Sessions met with more than two dozen ambassadors during 2016, including the Ukrainian ambassador the day before the meeting with the Russian ambassador.
There is no reason for Attorney General Sessions to resign. The FBI has forwarded no investigation file regarding Russian campaign shenanigans to his office for review.
It also must be pointed out that, liberal wishful-thinking to the contrary, there seems to be no evidence that the Russians actually interfered in the election.
Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told The Washington Post in December that the department had found no evidence whatsoever that hackers attacked our voting systems on Election Day.
The only interference that we know of was the hacking of the Democratic National Committees computer system. The emails purloined in that escapade embarrassed Democratic Party insiders by revealing that its claims of neutrality during the hotly contested Democratic primary were a total sham.
While the DNC may have tipped the scales against Bernie Sanders, there was no actual cyber-interference in the voting process in 2016.
UIC: Putins Visit to Central Asia and the Message to Belarus
On February 27 to 28, President of Russia Vladimir Putin visited three countries of Central Asia, namely, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Russian leaders visit was made against the background of escalation of problems in the EAEU and the CSTO, the two Eurasian integration programs. The aim of the visit was to mitigate the tensions in the Eurasian area and receive new guarantees of stability. Recently, the relations between EAEU member countries have been quite strained. At the beginning of February, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made scandalous statements, making a number of accusations and quite open threats against Moscow. At the same time, neither are Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan delighted with the bilateral economic relations. And in this context, the Eurasian Economic Union faces serious challenges and unity crisis. Central Asia Vladimir Putin started his tour of Central Asia from Kazakhstan, which together with Russia is considered the main initiator of the Eurasian economic integration. During the meeting with the leader of Kazakhstan Nazarbayev in Almaty, the parties assured that the bilateral relations are on an exemplary level and that everything is fine. Along with this, according to the official press release, the parties have specially addressed the EAEU issue. This implies that the wrinkles present in the economic union have been discussed during the talks and agreements have been reached on their settlement. After Kazakhstan, Putin travelled to Tajikistan. Here talks were held on bilateral relations, as well as joint telephone conversation was held between Russian and Tajik presidents and the President of Turkmenistan. Next, and most importantly, Putin visited Kyrgyzstan. As we have mentioned, this country is in real economic confrontation with its partner Kazakhstan. Thus, the coverage of Russian presidents visit and the statements made in Bishkek were more substantial and multilayered. From Bishkek to Belarus There are regular concerns expressed by Kyrgyzstan related to the EAEU and the Russian military base in the country. Note that Kyrgyzstan is considered the most democratic one among the post-Soviet countries of Central Asia in spite of the fact that one of the opposition leaders was arrested there on the eve of Putins visit. Putin made the following statement in Bishkek, If one day Kyrgyzstan says that they have strengthened their own Armed Forces to a degree when they will not need such a base anymore, we will leave immediately. In that way, he actually closed the topic, hinting that the aforementioned day is not close to arriving. According to Kremlins press service, a Protocol was signed in the presence of leaders of the two countries according to which Kyrgyzstan will be provided technical assistance within the framework of the process of joining the EAEU. Thus, it turns out that in its talks with Kyrgyzstan, Moscow is trying to eliminate the discontent and ensure loyalty that is in its interests. Even more noteworthy are Putins statements regarding the normalization of relations between Russia and Belarus. Russian president announced in Bishkek that he is sure that relations between Moscow and Minsk will be normalized and that he considers it fair that Belarus may be dissatisfied with some conditions. At the same time, Putin announced that Moscow will continue its support to Minsk, including supply of oil without customs duties. It was this dispute that had caused the extreme escalation in the relations between Russia and Belarus. In fact, with his Central Asian visits, Putin aimed to receive the loyalty of his EAEU partners and assure that everything is within the framework of EAEU integration, and, having major support on behalf of Astana and Bishkek, extend a hand of reconciliation to Minsk without losing face. In the end, the aim of Putins visit to the Central Asia was forgiving Minsk and calling it back to the team. Such developments in this structure once again show that EAEU is clearly guided by the carrot and stick approach, and the approach of demanding more. Creating a great shock inside the structure, the EAEU members are able to get the results they want and be forgiven. This should be an example for official Yerevan too, which has not expressed any serious concerns related to the EAEU though it is one of the sides that have suffered most from EAEU integration. Vahe Ghukasyan, Union of Informed Citizens
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, from the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.
There is nothing sublime about Nancy Pelosi. Ridiculous, however, is an apt description.
At a news conference Thursday, the former Speaker of the House denounced Attorney General Jeff Sessions as a liar, pronounced him guilty of perjury, and demanded his resignation. This comes just days after she erroneously accused the Trump White House of obstructing justice. Clearly, shes on a tear. Who knew the democratic leader, who is not a lawyer, was such an expert on the law?
What did Sessions do to deserve her condemnation? By his account, he told the truth. When asked by Senator Al Franken during his confirmation hearing about a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government, Sessions responded as follows:
Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with Russians, and Im unable to comment on it.
In a subsequent questionnaire issued by Senator Patrick Leahy, Sessions answered no when asked the following:
Several of the President-elects nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day?
As posed, the questions specifically ask Sessions about any exchange of information with the Russians pertaining to the presidential campaign and any discussion of the election itself. The attorney general insists he responded honestly. That is, he never spoke with a Russian official about either subject. In a statement, he said, I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
Sessions says he had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors in 2016 as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Twice he spoke with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kisylak.
The first meeting occurred at a Heritage Foundation conference, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, entitled Global Partners in Diplomacy. Ambassadors were invited to converse with U.S. officials, including Sessions, about national security issues, trade and other foreign policy matters. Sessions insists he talked with Kishlak only in his capacity as a Senator and never about the campaign or election.
He met with Kisylak two months later. Again, he maintains their conversation had nothing to do with electoral politics and everything to do with carrying out the functions of his job as a U.S. Senator serving on the Armed Services Committee.
Someone might want to tell Pelosi that speaking with the Russian ambassador to the United States is neither exceptional nor incriminating. After all, Kisylak is stationed here. His job is to communicate with U.S. officials. Senators take meetings with foreign diplomats all the time.
Case in point: Democratic Senator Claire McCaskell. After criticizing Sessions for meeting with the Russian ambassador and claiming she had never done so in her 10 years on the Armed Services Committee, it turns out that her own tweets betrayed her. The record shows she bragged on social media about two of her meetings with him. Dont be ashamed, Claire. It is not a crime to speak to a Russian.
Importantly, there is no evidence to suggest that the attorney general has been untruthful. The only dishonesty comes from Pelosi who has deliberately misrepresented the known facts and defamed Sessions by branding him a liar.
Pelosi is in desperate need of a primer on perjury. As a non-lawyer, she might want to take careful notes.
Under federal law, 18 USC 1621, perjury is knowingly and willfully making a false statement under oath. It is as simple as that. You wont run out of ink writing it down. You dont need to be a great thinker to comprehend the plain meaning of the statute.
If Sessions was acting in his capacity as a United State Senator and did not discuss the election campaign, then he did not commit perjury. In other words, his statements to the Judiciary Committee were truthful, not lies as Pelosi claims. Yet, armed with no evidence whatsoever, she has convicted Sessions without the benefit of a trial. Her accusations are not just baseless, given the known facts, but contemptible.
Perhaps Nancy Pelosi is the one who should resign. For being irresponsible. For leveling reckless recriminations and slurs.
Her only defense may be incompetence. It is the oft-used excuse of the Fool.
Bellwether tries to stay ahead of the headlines. Heres one youre likely to see soon: Italians, legendarily well-fed, are fed up. And that might just mean voters turn to a former comedian, who is also a convicted criminal, to solve their problems.
Like Greece, its neighbor across the Ionian Sea, Italy is unable some think unwilling -- to restrain its government spending. That has put it in conflict with the budget hawks in the European Union, of which both countries are members. Unless it abides by E.U. insistence that it reduce its deficit, Italy may not qualify for future financial support from Brussels, where the E.U. is headquartered.
Its all the result of Italys heedless spending in years past. Unemployment is 12 percent. Health care is free. Tax evasion is legendary. Corruption is commonplace, as is organized crime. And while its economy is the third largest in Europe, state-backed banks have billions of dollars of outstanding loans that will never be repaid. That has frozen businesses, which cant borrow money to generate new economic growth.
None of which makes the ruling left-of-center Democratic Party very popular. Barely clinging to power, the partys leader, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, is being challenged by two contenders even further to the left than he is. Renzi was shamed into resigning as prime minister last year after voters in a nationwide referendum rejected his plan to reform the constitution.
The defection of his left-wing cohorts increases the possibility that the Democrats will throw the Italian equivalent of a Hail Mary, and force early elections this year. Like the Mafia, this is something Italians are used to: there have been more than 60 government turnovers since the end of World War II.
The most likely beneficiary of early elections would be the Five Star Movement (M5S) an anti-establishment coalition founded in 2009 by a former television comedian, Beppe Grillo, whose rough language and bellicose speaking style bear resemblance to Donald Trumps to terrify mainstream politicians. P.S.: He also tweets.
Grillo handed off leadership duties -- he was once convicted of manslaughter and is ineligible to serve in Parliament -- but is still the ideological soul of the Movement. That leaves him free to rail against corrupt government, the European Union, and the euro, which replaced Italys beloved lira as the countrys official currency.
Though unlikely to get enough votes to form a government by itself, the Five Star Movement has caught the imagination of young Italians who are tired of their corrupt, inept and, to date, firmly ensconced political elite.
An inveterate Twitter user, Grillo may have put his finger on the national pulse with one tweet just last week: Italians patience has a limit.
An arrogant ruling class has tested that patience for decades. Italians may be ready to prove that political revenge is a dish best served cold.
The man in the Oval Office has finally captured that most elusive of Washington spirits: a presidential tone. In his Tuesday speech to a joint session of Congress, President Trump offered optimism and hope. The dark vision of his inaugural address was gone, as were the personal insults and harsh attacks that routinely appear in his rallies and tweets.
In their place were moments of grace, most especially when Mr. Trump introduced the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, promising that Americans will never forget her husband, who sacrificed his life Jan. 29 in Yemen on behalf of comrades and country.
Absent, too, was the usual rush of stock phrases masquerading as policy. Instead, the president offered serious ideas in a steady, deliberate voice.
Mr. Trumps speech did little to sway congressional Democrats, most of whom could barely bring themselves to stand when he entered the House chamber. But they were not Mr. Trumps target audience. He aimed his speech at those voters who reluctantly backed him or begrudgingly voted for Hillary Clinton, thinking as they did that America could do better. On Tuesday those voters were given hope that America just might be able to.
To continue reading Karl Rove's column in the Wall Street Journal, click here.
President Trump is expected to finalize a new travel order in the next few days, Vice President Pence said in an interview.
Pence told CBS News Wednesday that the administration is putting the finishing touches on the new executive order.
Trump has not laid out specific changes on the new plan, but The Associated Pressciting four U.S. officialsreported that the order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary ban. Those predominately Muslim countries include Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The new order includes other changes as well. The officials said the 12-page document no longer singles out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban and instead includes them as part of a general, 120-day suspension of new refugee admissions.
The officials also said the order won't include any explicit exemption for religious minorities in the countries targeted by the travel ban. Critics had accused the administration of adding such language to help Christians get into the United States while excluding Muslims.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Fox News could not immediately confirm that Iraq was taken off the list.
Trump signed his original executive order in late January. It sparked immediate confusion, panic and outrage as some travelers were detained in U.S. airports before being sent back overseas and others were barred from boarding flights at foreign airports.
The government initially blocked U.S. green card holders before offering those legal residents special permission to come into the country. It finally decided the order didn't apply to them.
The State Department provisionally revoked roughly 60,000 valid visas in all, before a federal judge in Washington state blocked the government from carrying out the ban. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.
Under the revised order, officials said, all existing visas will be honored.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Trump on Tuesday evening defended his effort.
"We will shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe and to keep out those who would do us harm," he said.
After Trump signed the original order, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi refuted the ban and said he would consider reciprocal measures. Many Iraqi lawmakers urged the government to ban Americans from Iraq in response, despite the potential effects that might have on the anti-IS fight.
Al-Abadi then met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Baghdad this month and underscored the U.S.-Iraqi partnership. And Mattis walked back comments made by Trump, suggesting that Americans could get another chance to seize Iraqi oil as compensation for its military efforts there.
"We're not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil," Mattis told reporters on that trip. Al-Abadi also met with Vice President Pence in Munich earlier this month, where the two publicly discussed ways of strengthening cooperation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
In the final hours of Barack Obama's presidency, some White House officials reportedly raced to spread and preserve information about possible communications between associates of then-candidate Donald Trump and Russians.
The New York Times, citing former American officials, reported that these officials were concerned that the information they were gaining on the Russian meddling in the election and the possible campaign contact could be compromised with the new administration, and they wanted to set up any future investigation with the information.
According to The Times, after Obama asked for an investigation into Russian tampering into the elections, officials found some "damning" evidence.
A former intelligence official confirmed to Fox News that the Obama administration was determined to keep the Russian issue alive and data on Moscow's election interference was circulated broadly.
The usual intelligence practice is to circulate assessments privately, but such was the gravity of Russia's actions that there were two versions - one for the public to digest and the other classified, the former official said.
The New York Times reported that intelligence agencies pushed forward as much raw intelligence they could analyze. The intelligence reports were also reportedly labeled a low classification level, so they would be accessible to more government workers and some European allies.
The Obama officials reportedly wanted to make sure that as many individuals with the proper clearances could see the intelligence. One of the tactics reportedly used was that officials asked pointed questions during intelligence briefings. The report said the answers to those questions are archived.
Congressional staffers have said they are unaware of any evidence that materials related to Russia are not being preserved.
But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said last week: "There is real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts and other records that could shine a light on those connections. These records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations and must be preserved."
The Times report was released the same day that allegations emerged that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with Russias ambassador to the U.S. during last years presidential campaign.
The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. investigators had examined contacts between Sessions and Russian officials and that the Justice Department was "wringing its hands" about how to proceed in the matter.
The Journal also reported that Sessions did not know that his communications were under investigation.
Reports about the meetings appeared to contradict a statement Sessions made during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., how he would respond "if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign."When contacted by Fox News late Wednesday, Sessions said, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Earlier this year, the FBI interviewed Michael Flynn, then Trump's national security adviser, about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. after the election. Flynn was fired after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Pence and other White House officials about the nature of his discussions with the envoy.
Trump, for his part, has denied that his campaign had any contact with Russian officials. The Times report pointed out that Trump has accused Obama officials with playing up the Russia story.
The only new piece of information that has come to light is that political appointees in the Obama administration have sought to create a false narrative to make an excuse for their own defeat in the election, Sean Spicer, the current White House spokesman, said, according to The Times. There continues to be no there, there.
The intelligence community has assessed that Russia's hacking of Democratic groups and operatives was carried out to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump has denied having any knowledge that aides were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election.
The White House's top ethics attorney said Wednesday that Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway "acted inadvertently" and "without nefarious motive" when she urged viewers to buy items from Ivanka Trump's fashion line during a Fox News interview.
Stefan Passantino, deputy counsel to the president on compliance and ethics, wrote in a letter to the Office of Government Ethics that he had met with Conway and resolved the matter.
Conway made the remarks in a Feb. 9 interview on "Fox & Friends," during which she reacted to reports that Nordstrom had pulled the Trump daughter's line from their stores.
"Go buy Ivankas stuff Its a wonderful line, I own some of it," Conway said while standing in the White House briefing room. "Im going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online."
Administration employees are subject to rules that prohibit them from using their official position to endorse products or services. The Office of Government Ethics recommended that the White House investigate Conway the following week.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at the time that Conway had been "counseled" about her remarks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Several senators on both sides of the aisle rushed to back Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday as he sought to blunt resignation calls from senior Democrats, following revelations he met last year with Russia's ambassador a detail omitted from recent congressional testimony.
His defenders say such meetings between senators and diplomats were routine. And Sessions even got an inadvertent boost from Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who in demanding the AG's resignation initially claimed she never called or met with Russia's ambassador -- only for tweets to surface indicating she had, at least twice.
Other former colleagues intentionally came to Sessions' defense, backing the former Alabama senator's claim he only met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in his official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Ive met with the Russian ambassador with a group, in my capacity, with a group of other senators, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told CNN. Thats in my official capacity. Thats nothing. Thats my job.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in a statement that hed talked to at least twenty ambassadors in the last six weeks.
It would have been very normal for Sessions, as a senator, to have talked to the Russian ambassador without discussing the election, Blunt said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on MSNBC that hed met with six ambassadors in the last five months. Though he hadnt met with Kislyak, Cruz said he would do so without reservations.
The statements of support came as other lawmakers -- including the two top-ranking Democrats, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer -- demanded Sessions' resignation.
The calls came in the wake of The Washington Post first reporting that Sessions met with Kislyak in July and September, despite testimony during his confirmation hearing that he had never spoken with Russian officials during the time he was a campaign surrogate for then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Sessions is maintaining he never discussed campaign matters with the Russian ambassador, and the White House has backed him.
Sessions, while an Alabama senator, in fact met often with ambassadors from a variety of countries, according to a schedule provided to Fox News by a Department of Justice spokesperson. From April 14 through Nov. 11, Sessions had 30 meetings with ambassadors, including four with the ambassador for Great Britain. The day before then-Sen. Sessions met with Kislyak on Sept. 8, he took a meeting with Ukraine Ambassador Valeriy Chaly. Though its unclear what was discussed, the back-to-back meetings occurred a week before Russia accepted a unilateral ceasefire plan in Ukraine on behalf of the separatist rebels it backs there.
Seeking to drive a stake into Sessions defense, however, McCaskill tweeted Thursday she had been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years. No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com.
Except, thats not quite true.
In a pair of tweets first unearthed by National Reviews Charles C.W. Cooke, McCaskill twice wrote messages about meetings with Kislyak, in 2013 and 2015.
Off to meeting w/Russian Ambassador. Upset about the arbitrary/cruel decision to end all U.S. adoptions, even those in process, McCaskill tweeted on Jan. 30, 2013.
On Aug. 6, 2015, McCaskill wrote: Today calls with British, Russian, and German ambassadors re: Iran deal. #doingmyhomework.
Today calls with British, Russian, and German Ambassadors re: Iran deal. #doingmyhomework Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) August 6, 2015
McCaskill later blamed Twitter's character limit for the seeming disparity in her tweets, suggesting the limit prevented her from being more specific in Thursday's tweet. She downplayed the significance of her own conversations with Russia's ambassador.
The Senate on Thursday confirmed former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as the next energy secretary, as lawmakers stepped up the pace of filling President Trump's Cabinet.
The Senate confirmed Perry on a 62-37 vote following a brief floor debate. Earlier in the day, the Senate also confirmed retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson for housing secretary.
Eleven Democrats supported Perry in the final vote, including Sens. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Mark Warner of Virginia, Tom Carper of Delaware and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Perry, who served three-and-a-half terms as governor of Texas, brings extensive experience in energy development, yet his critics noted little background in dealing with the maintenance of nuclear weapons, one of the departments primary responsibilities.
Perrys failure to remember during a 2011 GOP presidential primary debate that he wanted to eliminate the Energy Department sank his presidential prospects that cycle, but did not factor heavily into his confirmation process.
"My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking," Perry said in January during his Senate hearing.
The votes for Perry and Carson, both Trump rivals during the 2016 GOP presidential primary contest, bring the president close to having a full Cabinet after the confirmation process for weeks was held up amid Democratic pushback.
On Wednesday, former Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke easily won confirmation to be secretary of the Interior Department by a 68-31 vote.
Carson also faced little opposition, clearing the full Senate by a 58-41 vote earlier Thursday.
Two more nominees, for labor and agriculture, await confirmation hearings and neither is expected to elicit much opposition.
In the wake of controversy over the hiring of an illegal immigrant, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination to be Labor Department secretary and was replaced by Alexander Acosta, the current dean of Florida International University law school.
Sonny Perdue, the former Republican governor of Georgia, is Trumps pick to oversee the Agriculture Department.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets since Donald Trump won the presidential election.
But a majority of voters would tell protesters: its time to move on. Thats according to a Fox News Poll of registered voters released Thursday.
The poll asks, What message would you like to send to people who are protesting President Trump and his policies? Over half, 53 percent, would tell them its time to move on, while 44 percent would implore them dont give up the fight.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL FOX NEWS POLL.
Not surprisingly, these results are highly partisan. Fully 81 percent of Democrats want the protesters to keep fighting, while even more Republicans (87 percent) say its time to move on.
Some of the most widely publicized protests center on women, who voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump by a 13-point margin (54-41 percent), according to the Fox News exit poll. Those rallies include the Womens March the day after President Trump was inaugurated and next Wednesdays, A Day Without A Woman strike.
However, women are split on protesting Trump: 49 percent would tell protesters to move on and 48 percent would say dont give up. That divide comes from 83 percent of Democratic women falling in the keep fighting column, while 88 percent of Republican women feel the opposite.
By a 57-38 percent margin, men say its time to move on. Men backed Trump in the election by an 11-point margin (52-41 percent).
Overall, about one in seven voters (14 percent) say theyve taken part in a protest or demonstration since the election.
More voters have taken action in other ways. One in three has contacted a public official (33 percent) and about one in five has contributed money to a political cause or candidate (22 percent) since the election.
About three in ten Democrats (29 percent) and those backing Clinton (31 percent) have participated in a protest versus hardly any Republicans (2 percent) or Trump voters (1 percent).
Democrats are about twice as likely (30 percent) as Republicans (15 percent) and independents (17 percent) to have made a political contribution. Similarly, 43 percent of Democrats report contacting a public official compared to about one-quarter of Republicans (24 percent) and independents (26 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,013 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from February 11-13, 2017. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.
Former President Obama is getting ready to jump back into the political pool, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.
Holder said he has been talking with Obama about different ways to help the new National Democratic Redistricting Committee, according to Politico. Obama asked Holder to be chairman of the group last year.
He's ready to roll, Holder told reporters at a briefing.
Obama and other top Democrats are focusing efforts on state-level races and ending the reconfiguring of voting districts through the politically-laded process known as gerrymandering a combined effort to end Trump-ism and help their party regain control of Congress and legislatures across the country.
Politico reported that the group seeks to direct resources into winning certain state elections, push ballot initiatives for nonpartisan district-drawing commissions and wage legal wars to existing maps.
By accomplishing their goals, the group hopes it would put Democrats at a better advantage in state legislatures and the House of Representatives.
Obama indicated before leaving the White House last fall that his short-term, post-presidency focus will be on General Assembly races and redistricting after the 2020 Census. Voting districts are redrawn after a federal Census to reflect the changes in population and other demographic. Much of the redistricting across the country is done by the political party that controls the state legislature.
Marc Elias, a top election lawyer advising the group, said they expect states to file new lawsuits to change the districting maps and are guiding states on where they could see legal victories.
Holder said the fight will be more difficult with Jeff Sessions running the Justice Department. He added that the decision to throw out a challenge to voter laws in Texas was disheartening.
This is really a battle for our democracy, Holder said. The notion that people are denied their ability to cast a meaningful vote is inconsistent with who we say we are, inconsistent with what we say our democracy is about.
Fox News Joseph Weber contributed to this report.
Click for more from Politico.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke arrived on horseback for his first day of work Thursday.
Zinke joined the U.S. Park Police at their stables on the National Mall and then rode a 17-year-old Irish sport horse named Tonto to the Interior Department headquarters. Nine other park police on horseback accompanied the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL.
BSEE is pleased to welcome the new Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. "Lets get to work!" pic.twitter.com/520TMPxslr BSEE (@BSEEgov) March 2, 2017
Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said: "Secretary Zinke was proud to accept an invitation by the U.S. Park Police to stand shoulder to shoulder with their officers on his first day at Interior."
Zinke posted photos on social media. At the department, he was greeted by hundreds of federal workers, including an Office of Indian Affairs employee from the Northern Cheyenne tribe from Montana who played an honor song on a hand drum.
In late February, Russian media reported that the country signed an agreement to sell a number of Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates and help the Gulf state develop a next-generation fighter that could enter service in seven or eight years.
News of the deal between the Kremlin and the UAE came amid murmurs that Moscow is close to capping off a similar deal to send 10 Flanker-E jets to Indonesia and that Russia is slated to send a second batch of the same warplanes to China.
These deals -- and similar ones across the globe highlight the government of Russian President Vladimir Putins growing use of the Eurasian nations defense industry as a diplomatic tool on the world stage and one that appears bent on currying favor among countries with longstanding ties to the United States.
One of Russias majors goals is to reassert itself as a major global power, Hannah Thoburn, a research fellow at Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Hudson Institute, told Fox News. That means returning back to what it used to do during the days of the Soviet Union and doing things like this.
Besides being one of the countrys largest employers and huge economic driver Putin claims that Russia exported $4.6 billion in weapons and military equipment in 2016 and has a contract portfolio worth more than $50 billion experts argue that the defense industry has played a crucial role in Kremlin polices in regions less hospitable to U.S. influence.
With the exception of Ukraine and the Baltic states, there is no region in the world that Russia in recent years has asserted more influence over than the Middle East.
Given U.S. reticence under former President Barack Obama to become involved in the conflict, Russias influence has been most strongly felt in Syria, where it maintains roughly 36 fighter jets and helicopter gunships to aid President Bashar al-Assads forces in the nations ongoing civil war. The lack of U.S. action in the war-torn nation -- and its diminishing troop presence in places like Iraq -- appears to have emboldened Russia to begin reaching out to the regions more U.S.-friendly governments.
When the U.S. didnt do anything in Syria, it let Russia take the lead and now Russia is pursuing relations with other nations in the region, Thoburn said.
This isnt the first time the UAE has shown an interest in Russian weaponry. Its army uses the Russian BMP-3 armored fighting vehicle and the country looked into buying Sukhoi Su-27M jets during the mid-1990s. But coming at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Moscow, the agreement to send the warplanes to the Arab nation is seen as a particularly bold move given that the Emirati have been one of the U.S.' closest allies since the countrys 1971 founding.
The U.S. was the third country to establish formal diplomatic relations with the UAE and has had an ambassador there since 1974. The two nations have maintained a close security cooperation that increased dramatically during the first Gulf War. Currently, the U.S. Air Force bases its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors there for operations over Syria, and the UAE is using the most advanced version of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Despite these ties, the U.S. has so far denied the UAE access to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II or any of the countrys other so-called fifth generation fighter jets something government officials in the UAE have shown an interest in for several years and aviation industry insiders say this has led the Arab nation to look toward Russia for better or worse.
The UAE also has ambitions to develop its national defense aerospace industrial base, Douglas Barrie, the senior aerospace fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Aviation Week. But partnership in a Russian project is arguably not necessarily the best way to achieve this.
An alternative view might be that the move is about trying to gain leverage on the U.S. as to when and how much access the UAE might eventually get to the F-35, Barrie added.
Lockheed Martins F-35 and F-22, along with Russias PAK FA and Chinas J-20 and FC-31, are all known as fifth-generation fighters, which are defined by heaving stealth technology, high maneuverability, advanced avionics, networked data fusion from sensors and avionics and multirole capabilities. Some nations also define a fifth-generation fighter jet as being able to cruise at supersonic speeds without the use of an afterburner. As of 2017, only the U.S. has these planes currently in active service, although Chinas J-30 is in initial production.
Analysts say that the U.S.' reluctance to sell the F-35 to the UAE or any other Middle Eastern nation is based in part on the volatility of the regions governments and in part on Washingtons close ties with Israel.
The Israeli lobby in the U.S. strongly influences sales of aircraft in the region and the government usually makes military gear available to their counterparts in Tel Aviv first. It took five years for Saudi Arabia to obtain an F-15 Eagle after Israel received them.
Observers, however, say that despite the announced deal between Russia and the UAE nothing is set in stone. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis recently met with senior UAE government officials to discuss bilateral defense ties. There is also widespread speculation that President Trump could be more willing to share the countrys military might than his predecessor. Furthermore, Russia has been known in the past to pull out of military deals with little notice.
This also, however, isnt the first time that Russia has used its defense industry in an attempt to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies.
The U.S. waits for other nations to come to them and propose a deal, Thoburn said. Russia takes a much more proactive approach with its defense industry in regards to building its political influence.
At the height of the 2013 controversy over allegations that the NSA monitored communications between former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and her aides, Russian officials traveled to Brasilia to convince the South American nation to consider a bid for its Sukhoi T-50 fighter jet. At the time, Boeing had made a $4 billion proposal to supply Brazil with F-18 fighter jets.
In the end, Brazil eventually placed an order with Sweden's Saab for 36 Gripen NG jets at a cost of $4.5 billion.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Fox News' "The First 100 Days" that he hopes to see action on legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare "within the next month to six weeks."
McConnell told host Martha MacCallum that the details of any new health care legislation would be agreed upon by himself, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and President Donald Trump.
KEY REPUBLICAN WOULD VOTE AGAINST GOP'S OBAMACARE REPLACEMENT
"We won the election, and with winning the election comes a responsibility to produce results," McConnell said. "And we feel that ObamaCare is a disaster and needs to be changed."
McConnell also addressed the raft of tumultuous protests at two halls held by congressional Republicans that have coalesced around support of ObamaCare.
"Protests in America are as American as apple pie, so Im not agitated about it," McConnell said. "I dont care whether they were organized or not organized, they have a right to do what theyre doing. They dont like this new administration. What they all have in common is not a single one of them voted for people like Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell and thats OK."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was evicted from his Florida office due to the weekly protests that have occurred outside the building.
Jude Williams, the president of Americas Capital Partners and the owner of the nine-story building in Tampa, notified Rubios office on Feb. 1 that it will not renew the lease. He said the rallies have become too disruptive to the other tenants and a costly security expense for the company.
"A professional office building is not a place for that," Williams told the Tampa Bay Times. I understand their cause, but at the end of the day it was a security concern for us.
Rubios office said it was looking for a new office space. The newspaper reported that Rubios lease expired in December and the office has been working on a month-to-month basis. Now, they have until Friday to leave the building and they do not have a new location in place.
"We are actively looking for new office space, and our goal is to remain accessible and continue providing prompt and efficient service to all Floridians," Christina Mandreucci, a Rubio spokeswoman, said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
Several groups who oppose President Trump's agenda have gathered at least once a week at the building, lining up on the sidewalk to wave signs and shout messages.
Rubio's seven statewide offices have been lightning rods for demonstrations. Gatherings in front of the Tampa office have surpassed 150 people.
Williams said several of the buildings 21 tenants have complained about the protests. The demonstrations have blocked entranceways and have workers fearing for their safety.
"It's not political," he added. "It's for no other reason than good office management. Our duty is to keep a good peaceful office building environment for our tenants and that's not what they bargained for."
Rubio has other offices in Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Tallahassee and Palm Beach
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click for more from the Tampa Bay Times.
Ryan Gaydos is a news editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @RyanGaydos.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday he will recuse himself from any existing or future investigations regarding the 2016 presidential campaign, responding to bipartisan pressure to step aside from a probe into Moscow meddling amid revelations he spoke twice with Russias ambassador and didnt disclose it to Congress.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Sessions pushed back forcefully, however, on allegations he misled lawmakers. Though he testified during his confirmation hearing that he had no communications with Russia during the campaign, when he was a top surrogate for then-candidate Donald Trump, Sessions defended his answer as honest and correct.
I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign, he said.
Sessions said he did not intend to mislead anyone, suggesting he was referring in that hearing only to discussions about the campaign. Still, Sessions said he would write to the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain this testimony for the record.
"Jeff Sessions is an honest man," Trump said in a statement released late Thursday. "He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win."
The nations top law enforcement officer also answered growing calls to recuse himself from a federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. He said hes been meeting with Justice officials for weeks about the possibility and has made his conclusion: I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign.
In a written statement and at the press conference, Sessions made clear he wasnt confirming the existence of any investigation. His written statement said: Acting Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dane Boente shall act as and perform the functions of the Attorney General with respect to any matters from which I have recused myself to the extent they exist.
The press conference amounted to Sessions first public effort to calm the political firestorm that erupted overnight though by the time Sessions addressed reporters, several top Democrats already were demanding his resignation.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., went so far as to say he had lied to Congress, and repeated her resignation demand after the press conference.
Sessions narrow recusal and his sorry attempt to explain away his perjury are totally inadequate, Pelosi said in a statement. Attorney General Sessions lies to the Senate and to the American people make him unfit to serve as the chief law enforcement officer of our country. He must resign immediately.
Many Republicans jumped to Sessions defense, saying Democrats were engaged in political theater and describing Sessions meetings as routine, since he was a senator at the time.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in a statement that hed talked to at least twenty ambassadors in the last six weeks.
But Republicans including House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said earlier he should still recuse himself from the DOJ probe.
For Sessions detractors, the central problem was his testimony to the Senate during his confirmation hearing.
Asked by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., at that hearing what hed do with evidence that anyone tied to the campaign communicated with Russia last year, Sessions said: I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended Sessions, telling Fox & Friends he was 100 percent straight with the committee and Democrats were playing politics. Spicer said Sessions was referring to discussions in his role as a Trump campaign surrogate.
Earlier Thursday afternoon, President Trump said he has total confidence in Sessions, though he said he was not aware of the AGs meetings.
The Washington Post first reported that Sessions spoke twice last year with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. One discussion, in July, was described as involving a group of ambassadors after a Heritage Foundation event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention. Kislyak was part of a small group of diplomats who approached Sessions and spoke with him.
A subsequent meeting was held in September in the senators office. Justice officials said Sessions met with ambassadors in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sessions, at his press conference, offered a few details about the September meeting. He said they talked a little bit about terrorism as well as Ukraine, at which point it got a bit testy.
According to a schedule provided to Fox News, Sessions had 30 meetings with numerous ambassadors from April 14 through Nov. 11. Russia appears on the schedule only once the Sept. 8 meeting with Kislyak. The day before, Sessions also took a meeting with Ukraine Ambassador Valeriy Chaly.
But for Democrats, the revelations of any Russia discussions only served to fuel long-running accusations that Trump-tied officials have sought to conceal past contacts with Moscow. Earlier this month, Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser amid accusations he misled Vice President Pence and others over his contact with the Russian ambassador.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said earlier Thursday that Sessions should resign for the good of the country.
After the press conference, Schumer said Sessions is right to recuse himself, but the fact is he should have done so the moment he was sworn in.
He added, This episode has echoes of General Flynn's firing and continues a troubling pattern with this administration. They only do the right thing when they are caught doing the wrong thing. The administration didn't fire General Flynn until he was caught lying and the Attorney General didn't recuse himself until he was caught misleading Congress.
Schumer said Boente should now appoint a special prosecutor.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly had two conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. during last year's presidential campaign, while Sessions was still a senator.
News of the conversations were first reported by The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. investigators had examined contacts between Sessions and Russian officials and that the Justice Department was "wringing its hands" about how to proceed in the matter.
The Journal reported that Sessions did not know that his communications were under investigation.
When contacted by Fox News late Wednesday, Sessions said, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
A White House statement said the story was "the latest attack against the Trump Administration by partisan Democrats."
The Justice Department said late Wednesday that one of the discussions between Sessions and Sergey Kislyak was an office visit that occurred in Sessions' capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The second conversation took place in a group setting with other ambassadors following a Heritage Foundation speech.
Reports about the meetings appeared to contradict a statement Sessions made during his confirmation hearing in January.
Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., how he would respond "if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign."
Im not aware of any of those activities, answered Sessions, one of Trumps earliest and most prominent supporters during the campaign. I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and Im unable to comment on it.
The Justice Department said Wednesday that "there was absolutely nothing misleading about [Sessions'] answer [to Franken]. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign--not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee."
Sessions had meetings last year with more than 25 foreign ambassadors, the Department said.
The disclosure caused renewed calls for Sessions to step aside from an ongoing FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In a statement, Franken said he was troubled that Sessions' response to his question was "at best, misleading." He said he planned to press Sessions on his contact with Russia.
"It's clearer than ever now that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately," Franken said.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence said that if the reports were true, "it is essential that [Sessions] recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians.
"This is not even a close call," Schiff added, "it is a must."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., went a step further and called on Sessions to resign for "lying under oath."
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign," Pelosi said in a statement. "There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians."
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., referred to Sessions as "my dear friend" in a CNN town hall Wednesday with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., but also noted, "If theres something there that the FBI believes is criminal in nature, then for sure you need a special prosecutor."
The White House has already acknowledged that Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, misled top officials about the nature of his contacts with Kislyak. Flynn initially told Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump advisers that he did not discuss sanctions with the envoy during the transition, though it was later revealed that he did.
When Sessions was asked this week if he would recuse himself from the investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow, he said, "I would recuse myself on anything that I think I should recuse myself on. That's all I can tell you."
Fox News' Matthew Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave full backing to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday amid criticism over the former senator's newly revealed conversations with the Russian ambassador, telling Fox News he was 100 percent straight about his actions.
Several Democrats are seeking Sessions' resignation, claiming he misled Congress by testifying in his confirmation hearing that he had no "communications" with Russia.
But Spicer, speaking with "Fox & Friends'" Abby Huntsman, backed Sessions' claims that he met with the diplomat in his capacity as a member of the Armed Services Committee -- and suggested there was no intent to mislead Congress.
Well I think Senator Sessions did his job. He was asked very pointedly whether or not there had been any contact with the Trump campaign in the capacity of him being a surrogate. There was not. He was 100 percent straight with the committee.
The Washington Post first reported that Sessions spoke twice last year with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite Sessions testimony.
Other lawmakers, including Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, have said Sessions should recuse himself from the investigation into Russian influence in the election.
WATCH THE SPICER INTERVIEW ON 'FOX & FRIENDS' STARTING AT 6 A.M. FRIDAY
One discussion Sessions had with the ambassador, in July, was described as involving a group of ambassadors after a Heritage Foundation event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention. Kislyak was part of a small group of diplomats who approached Sessions and spoke with him.
A subsequent meeting was held in September in the senators office. Justice Department officials said Sessions met with ambassadors in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not as part of the campaign.
As for his testimony, the White House says that he was answering questions specifically about Trump campaign officials contacting Russians as part of the campaign.
"The testimony and the question he was asked was whether or not he was aware of Trump campaign officials doing something in their capacity as campaign officials and information he had gotten passed," Spicer said. "That answer is consistently no. He made a statement that was 100 percent accurate and he stands by that."
Spicer went on to accuse those calling on Sessions to recuse himself or resign of playing politics.
I think the people choosing to play partisan politics with this should be ashamed of themselves, he said.
Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Wednesday that President Trump was "determined to pursue" common ground with Russia, but noted that he had no plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
WHITE HOUSE STAFF TOLD TO SAVE RUSSIA-RELATED MATERIALS
"We made a strong commitment to NATO," Pence said, referencing Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. "We also made it very clear that ... were going to hold Russia accountable for ending violence in Eastern Ukraine, but in the same breath, our president continues to believe that if theres a way that we can find common ground with Russia, particularly in the fight against ISIS, hes determined to pursue that."
The vice president also reaffirmed Trump's determination to "end illegal immigration and bring sanctuary cities to an end."
"I know the president is going to evaluate every option we have in terms of the authority of the federal government to end a practice that is really not contributing to the well-being of the nation or the safety and security of our people," Pence told host Bill O'Reilly.
Pence did not specify whether Trump's hard-line immigration policies would exempt children who were brought into the U.S. illegally, saying the adminstration was currently focused on deporting criminal illegal aliens.
"Well see about some of these other issues and the remaining population," Pence said. "But were going to enforce the law, uphold the rule of law and [Trump]s going to continue the vigorous efforts to do that."
The White House is standing by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the face of mounting Democratic calls for his resignation after reports showed he spoke with the Russian ambassador, despite testimony that he did not have communications with Moscow.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday morning became the latest top Democrat to seek Sessions dismissal, while also calling for a special prosecutor and an inspector general probe.
There cannot be even the scintilla of doubt about the impartiality and fairness of the attorney general, he said. Its clear Attorney General Sessions does not meet that test for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign.
Republicans have split, meanwhile, on the question of whether Sessions should recuse himself from a Russia investigation. The top-ranking congressional Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan, said Thursday he doesnt see a purpose in recusal unless Sessions is the subject of the investigation.
He told reporters hes seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and Democrats are lighting their hair on fire to get you to cover this story.
A White House official, in a statement, described Democrats demands as a partisan attack, suggesting the controversy is timed to distract from the positive response to President Trumps address to Congress earlier this week.
This is the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats. [Attorney General] Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony, the official said.
In a statement to Fox News, the former Alabama Republican senator said, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
While Sessions is denying he specifically discussed campaign issues with the Russians, The Washington Post first reported that he did speak twice last year with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. One discussion, in July, was described as involving a group of ambassadors after a Heritage Foundation event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention. Kislyak was part of a small group of diplomats who approached Sessions and spoke with him.
A subsequent meeting was held in September in the senators office. Justice officials said Sessions met with ambassadors in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But while Sessions was serving on the Senate Armed Services panel, he also was a prominent surrogate for then-candidate Donald Trump. And in Senate testimony, Sessions denied contacts with the Russians.
Asked by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., at that hearing what hed do with evidence that anyone tied to the campaign communicated with Russia last year, Sessions said: I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it.
The Post noted that Sessions also responded, No, in a written answer when asked whether hed been in contact with any part of the Russian government regarding the election.
Officials told the Post Sessions did not consider his discussions relevant and did not recall details of what was discussed with the ambassador from Russia.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, speaking with Fox & Friends Abby Huntsman, also said Sessions did his job as a senator. He said Sessions was 100 percent straight with the committee and Democrats are playing politics.
WATCH THE SPICER INTERVIEW ON 'FOX & FRIENDS' STARTING AT 6 A.M. FRIDAY
There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer, Sessions spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. Last year, the senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign -- not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.
According to a schedule provided to Fox News, Sessions had 30 meetings with numerous ambassadors from April 14 through Nov. 11. Russia appears on the schedule only once the Sept. 8 meeting with Kislyak. The day before, Sessions also took a meeting with Ukraine Ambassador Valeriy Chaly. These meetings took place a week before a seven-day unilateral ceasefire plan was accepted by Russia on behalf of separatist rebels it backed in the conflict with Ukraine.
But for Democrats, the revelations of any Russia discussions only served to fuel long-running accusations that Trump-tied officials have sought to conceal past contacts with Moscow. Earlier this month, Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser amid accusations he misled Vice President Pence and others over his contact with the Russian ambassador.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called Wednesday night for Sessions resignation.
Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate, she said. Attorney General Sessions has never had the credibility to oversee the FBI investigation of senior Trump officials ties to the Russians. That is why Democrats have consistently called for Sessions to recuse himself from any oversight of the investigation. Now, after lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the attorney general must resign.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., also called for Sessions resignation.
All Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote to FBI Director James Comey and the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia urging a criminal probe.
Others, including Franken, have called for Sessions at least to recuse himself from a DOJ Russia investigation. The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators previously examined contacts between Sessions and Russian officials.
The critical factor may be what top congressional Republicans say next.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House oversight committee, tweeted: AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, also said: "Jeff Sessions is a former colleague and a friend, but I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself from the DOJ Russia probe."
Asked about such requests, Sessions told NBC, Ive said that whenever its appropriate, I will recuse myself, theres no doubt about that.
Fox News Matthew Dean, Cody Derespina, Kristin Brown and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.
The pundits are suddenly doing something utterly remarkable: praising Donald Trump.
For one brief, shining moment, the allegedly dishonest, corrupt, fake news media gave the new president the equivalent of a standing ovation. Trump is even drawing favorable comments from some of his harshest liberal critics.
And all it took was one good speech.
Heres my explanation in a nutshell: This is the Trump they've always wanted, optimistic, bipartisan, reasonable, obeying the conventions of Washington.
The media like unity, centrism, discipline, working across the aisle. They dont like division, extremism, chaos, stiffing the other party.
The highest praise that the press can offer the occupant of the Oval Office is that he sounded presidential. And this one has paid a price whenever he comes off as bombastic, pugilistic or undisciplined. But that changed Tuesday night.
Just look at the headlines.
New York Times: Trump Offers Up a More Hopeful Vision.
Wall Street Journal: Trump Reaches for Higher Ground.
Politico: Trump Tries On Normal.
Even the Dow broke 21,000 yesterday.
And you know the president had a good outing when CNNs uber-liberal Van Jones praises him for the moving tribute to the widow of a slain Navy SEAL: There are a lot of people who have a lot of reason to be frustrated with him, to be fearful of him. But that was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period. (And Jones got blowback from left-wing tweeters.)
Now Im sure some people are thinking wow, the pundits are easy. And it is fairly amazing, given the animosity between the president and the press, that a single speech could produce such a dramatic reassessment.
And its certainly reasonable to ask: Is this just another pivot, as we saw repeatedly during the campaign, that lasts a few days at best? Can the Twitter-happy Trump, who called for moving beyond petty fights, show that kind of restraint?
Some on the left who are unhappy with the speechs positive reception are blaming the media:
Donald Trump managed to speak for an entire hour without sounding like an unhinged demagogue, Slate says. For that, he was hailed by TV pundits across the spectrum who acted as though hed just singlehandedly defeated ISIS and restored the fortunes of the American middle class, instead of simply reading from a script that said he would do those things.
Now its true that Trump didnt really moderate his positions on Tuesday night, though he threw in child care and family leave. He left out the $54 billion in budget cuts that will slice deeply into social programs. He made a pitch for clean and clean water right after his budget folks indicated they will slash EPA spending by 24 percent.
Obviously, well quickly revert to partisan battles over immigration, taxes and Obamacare, with Trump fighting not just Democrats but many House conservatives.
But no one expects one speech to change the political landscape. It is a moment when a president tries to connect with a mass audience and give them hope that things will get better. And on that score, even many of Trumps detractors are admitting that he had a very good night.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has dropped $5.5 million on a home in a posh neighborhood in Washington, D.C.paying more for the new urban digs than for most of his properties in Texas, property records show.
Tillerson, 64, a political newcomer who served as chief executive of Exxon Mobil for 10 years, closed on the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom property in Kalorama earlier this month, according to Washingtonian magazine, which first reported the sale.
Property records show the home sold to a Texas-registered limited liability company called R2 Real Estatelikely a reference to the first initials of his and his wifes names, Rex and Renda. The sellers were Richard Hanlon, a former AOL executive and his wife, Pamela, who paid $3.15 million for the home in 2011, records show.
The home sold privately in an off-market deal, according to brokerage Washington Fine Properties, which was involved in the sale. Mark McFadden, who is listed on the website as the sales agent, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Tillersons join a cohort of high flyers in pricey Kalorama. Barack and Michelle Obama are renting a home in the neighborhood for a couple of years while their youngest daughter, Sasha, attends high school in D.C. Blocks away are Ivanka Trump and her husband, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner.
The four-story, semi-detached home is connected to its south side neighbor and is conveniently located amid a cluster of embassies, including Korea, Japan, Turkey, Mexico and Sloveniathe home country of First Lady Melania Trump.
The Tillersons new home was more expensive than many of their properties in Texas. Their vacation home in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, is valued at around $3.25 million, according to county assessment records. And they paid just $1.53 million for their 18-acre rural estate in Denton County, Texas, records show.
The State Department and a lawyer for the Tillersons did not immediately return requests for comment.
Realtor.com contributed to this article.
Officials are investigating after a bear fell to its death from a helicopter high over the jungles of Thailand last month, the Independent reports. While there's some agreement on the circumstances of the Asian black bear's untimely death, it's unclear exactly how the bear came to find itself on the helicopter in the first place.
According to the Bangkok Post, the bear was found hanging around a village near Khao Yai National Park last month. But the Phuket Gazette reports the bear was injured when officials found it last November.
And Khaosod reports the bear had spent the last decade being rehabilitated after it was found being kept as an illegal pet. Regardless, the bear found itself being transported by wildlife officials deep into Khao Yai.
There are reports of the bear, which had been sedated, waking up in the middle of the trip andfinding itself dangling in a net attached to the helicopterstarting to panic.
But an official denies the bear ever woke up. The helicopter encountered bad weather and quickly lost altitude; that's when the bear fell from the net.
It appears there may have been a problem with the net itself. The secretary of the Khao Yai Foundation wants officials to face legal action, arguing the bear should have been driven closer to where it was found and not flown deep into the jungle away from its pack.
Officials say they wanted to get the bear farther away from nearby villagers and haven't had a problem with helicopters in the past. (This country is horrified by the beating death of a beloved hippo.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: Bear Falls to Death From Helicopter
A crocodile at a zoo in Tunisia has been brutally stoned to death by a group of visitors, according to media reports.
Citing authorities in Tunis, Agence France Presse reports that the crocodile at Belvedere Zoo in Tunis was attacked by the group of visitors, who threw stones at the animals head.
BEAR DIES AFTER PLUMMETING FROM HELICOPTER
Gruesome pictures of the attacks aftermath were posted to Facebook by the municipality of Tunis, which denounced the attack as savage behavior. Pictures show the bloodied animal next to what appear to be a paving slab and a large rock.
Amor Ennaifer, a vet at the Belvedere Zoo, told AFP that the reptile died after it was struck on the head by two large rocks Tuesday. Its terrible, you cannot imagine what animals endure from some visitors, he said.
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Stones have also been thrown at the zoos lions and hippos, according to Ennaifer, who noted that school holidays, in particular, can be a difficult time.
Images of widespread littering at the zoo sparked outrage when they appeared on social media last year.
ZOO BABIES: CUTE NEW ARRIVALS
The attack on the Belvedere Zoo crocodile comes hot on the heels of a brutal incident at the national zoo in El Salvador. Gustavito, a beloved hippopotamus at the zoo in San Salvador, died last week after apparently being attacked with metal bars, knives and rocks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If you've ever caught yourself thinking, "She looks like a Sue," or "He doesn't look like a Bob," a new study may back up your instincts about whether people's names suit them. In fact, people often do "look like their names," perhaps especially those named Tom or Veronique, the research suggests.
In the study, researchers found that people could correctly match an unfamiliar face to that person's name at a rate higher than expected due to chance, according to a new study. In two experiments involving 185 participants in Israel and France, people were shown only color headshot photographs of 25 total strangers, and the researchers asked them to guess the stranger's name from a list of four or five name possibilities.
For example, a participant who is shown a face and given four names to choose from has a 25 percent chance of guessing the right name. But in the study, the 70 participants in Israel matched the correct name to the face about 30 percent of the time. [Smile Secrets: 5 Things Your Grin Says About You]
And when a similar experiment was repeated with the 115 participants in France, these men and women matched the correct name and face 40 percent of the time.
Which names were some of the easiest to connect to a face? The study found that French participants could accurately identify a Veronique nearly 80 percent of the time, while Israeli participants could accurately recognize a Tom more than 52 percent of the time.
The ability to match a name with a face requires the reliance on existing name stereotypes, said study author Yonat Zwebner, who conducted the research as a doctoral candidate at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
When people attempt to match a name to a facial image, they may use personal, social and historical information to get some clues, Zwebner and her colleagues wrote in their findings, published Feb. 27 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Names and faces
The findings also suggested that people's hairstyles play an important role in how easy it is for their names to be guessed correctly. In one experiment, the researchers Photoshopped some of the images so that a few of them clearly showed the hairstyle, ears and neck while the facial features were blurred. In a second scenario, only the facial features such as the eyes, nose, mouth and cheeks were clear, and the hairstyle and neck were digitally removed. And a third set of images showed the full facial image, including hair and facial features.
The results showed that the participants matched the correct name and face 36 percent of the time, on average, in the full-facial photos; about 33 percent of the time when the hairstyle was visible; and 30 percent of the time in the photos with only the facial features visible.
It's possible that people tend to choose hairstyles that fit the stereotype of their name, Zwebner told Live Science.
However, the overall findings also revealed that the participants were able to best match the faces to the names when the faces they looked at came from within their own culture. In one of the study's eight experiments, French study participants were unable to match Israeli names and faces at a level above random chance, and this same effect was observed when Israeli participants were asked to match French names and faces.
A familiarity with local names and faces through repeated exposure to them may help people develop the ability to know the "right" facial appearance linked with a name, the researchers said. [10 Things You Didn't Know About You]
But it was not just people who could put names and faces together; a computer could do it, too, according to the study.
The researchers developed a learning algorithm that taught a computer how to match 94,000 faces with their names. Then, the computer was presented with a new facial image and two possible names for each. Random guessing would have given the computer a 50 percent chance of being accurate, but the trained computer was shown to be 54 to 64 percent accurate when predicting a name.
The results are extremely strong support for the idea that there are indeed facial features associated with certain names, Zwebner said.
The findings also may demonstrate that names, which were chosen for us by others, can influence the way people look based on interactions with society, Zwebner said.
Zwebner suspects that a self-fulfilling prophecy or the idea that if other people expect certain things from a person, that individual may eventually fulfill these expectations may be one possible explanation for the face-name-matching effect.
If, for example, society assumes that people with the name Katherine share a similar stereotype, including those based on her appearance, then people will interact with a woman named Katherine in a way that matches this shared stereotype, Zwebner explained.
As a result, over time, Katherines become more and more like a Katherine is expected to be, resulting in a specific matching look, she said.
Originally published on Live Science.
The new basic economy airfares sound like good deals: You trade convenience for a bargain and you save some money.
Its that simple, right?
Its a little early to say for sure, but the short answer is no, Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org, a Sarasota, Fla.-based nonprofit airline consumer organization, told Fox News.
Technically, a basic economy or no-frills airfare costs around 10 percent less than a standard economy ticket. But if you want to check your bag or even pick out your seat, it could cost $25 or more, which could wipe out what you saved.
Youll pay nothing, of course, if you choose to carry your bag onto the plane. But youll be allowed only one bag, and it will have to fit under the seat in front of you. No overhead bins for you!
MISSOURI AIRPORTS MAY SOON SERVE ALCOHOL TO GO
That alone could be enough to discourage travelers from saving a few dollars by flying basic economy.
But all three legacy carriers--United, American and Delta--have made the move to compete with newer, low cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier by rolling out basic fares on several routes. Even Southwest, which typically offers cheaper fares, has felt the sting.
Industry experts view them as an attempt by the major airlines to capture-- or at least take back-- some of the budget market. Some, like Henry H. Harteveldt, founder and travel industry analyst for Atmosphere Research Group in San Francisco, believe theyre also a marketing ploy designed to help airlines compete with the big budget carriers chiefly Spirit, Allegiant, and Frontier in the U.S.
Another budget carrier, Norwegian Air, offers seasonal nonstop service between JFK, Logan and Reagan National to Martinique and Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. The service has been extended from JFK through April 30, 2017. One-way flights can be as low as $59.
The websites of the major airlines, especially American and United, spell out whats included when you fly no-frills. Theyre not hiding anything from you, Harteveldt said. Theyre very clear with their messaging about what you will get and what you will not get.
And what you will not get are some things that you always took for granted. Passengers who fly basic economy may be unable to choose their seats in advance making it difficult to sit with their companions or family members. What soft drinks and peanuts? Forget about it.
What was standard is now extra, Hudson said.
But in the end, you might not be saving that much. Harteveldt said an online search for flights on American from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale between March 7 and March 10 showed a basic economy fare of $192 and a standard economy fare of $196.
For four dollars, he asked, is it worth giving up the checked bag?
Not for frequent traveler Linda Kundell, president of Kundell Communications, a New York-based public relations firm. Id rather pay slightly more and have a little more comfort and take another small bag on board and choose the seat I want, she said.
I see them more as an inconvenience, said Camille Austin, 31, a New York City resident who travels regularly throughout the U.S. and to Mexico and needs to carry two items on board one for her laptop and personal items, the other for fragile arts and crafts she uses for her job, promoting a brand of mezcal.
Would a basic economy fare ever make sense for her?
I would try it out if I traveled a bit less, Austin said. But as a frequent traveler, she chooses convenience and comfort.
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So the bottom line, before you book an airline seat is: Buyer beware.
With anything that appears to be a bargain price, shop carefully, Harteveldt said. What looks like a bargain doesnt always turn out to be.
So are these ultra low cost, no frills fares really here to stay?
As long as we have ultra-low-cost airlines like Spirit and Norwegian, budget fares are here to stay, Harteveldt said. But he added, Its hard to say anything will last forever in the airline industry.
As long as the low-cost airlines are not only flying, but also continuing to grow, I believe well see the big three carriers keep their basic economy fares.
If you want to stay with your significant other, it's probably best to avoid vacationing in Mexico, Spain and Portugal.
Thats according to a new review conducted by the travel booking site sunshine.co.uk uncovering getaway destinations where couples are most likely to break up after visiting.
Couples who chose Mexico as their first trip away together were most likely to break up, the study said while late night party hotspot Ibiza, Spain was deemed the second-most likely destination to cause a split, followed by Portugal.
Holidays to Mexico require a bit more of a splurge than some of the other destinations on the breakup list and Ibiza is known for its carefree-party vibes, so maybe frivolous spending and too much partying are what spells future trouble for relationships, Chris Clarkson, Sunshine's managing director, told The Daily Mail.
But not all warm weather hot spots spell gloom and doom for couples.
Vacations to Tenerife (the largest of Spains Canary Islands), Cyprus and Italy, were less likely to cause trouble according to the study. Majorca and mainland Spain were also considered safe bets.
The study surveyed 2,187 people ages 18 and older from around the UK.
Of those surveyed, 1,056 respodents said they had broken up with a partner that they had gone away with in the past six months. The remaining 1,131 were still in a relationship of three years or more, during which they traveled with their partner.
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The study also reported that the average couple goes away together within five months of forming a relationship. The majority of those choose foreign destinations, instead of traveling within the U.K.
Other locations deemed risky for relationships included Cape Verde off the northwest coast of Africa and Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa.
It's interesting there was no crossover of destinations on both lists, as this makes me think perhaps there really is some truth in this, Clarkson stated.
Those wishing to enjoy a long and lasting, happy relationship with their new partners should look at booking places like Tenerife and Italy for their first trip with their amore, if this study is anything to go by; but Mexico should definitely be avoided!
Four children were killed and three other people were injured when a house fire broke out early Wednesday in a small town in southwest Oregon, officials said.
Douglas County Deputy Dwes Hutson said the children ranged in age from 4 to 13. Two adults and a 13-year-old boy survived and suffered serious injuries in the fire.
Thirty-nine-year-old James Keith Howell, 38-year-old Tabitha Annette Howell and 13-year-old Andrew Hall-Young were transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Fox 12 Oregon reported.
Killed in the blaze were 4-year-old Gwendolyn Howell, 7-year-old Haley Maher, 10-year-old Isaiah Young and 13-year-old Nicholas Lowe, who was a foster child, according to Hutson.
Hutson said at a news conference the blaze started around 2 a.m. local time, and when firefighters arrived, the home the completely engulfed in flames.
There were several people that were seriously injured that were transported, and the injured are very seriously injured, Hutson said.
Riddle is located about 200 miles south of Portland in a rural and heavily forested county.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office and the Oregon State Police Arson Investigation Unit are assisting the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in the investigation.
So far, the cause of the fire does not appear to be suspicious, according to Hutson.
Read more at KPTV.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Florida homeowner said he used his martial arts training to apprehend an alleged burglar who was stealing from his home.
Brian Burch told WBBH that he used his Brazilian jiu-jitsu training on Josue Ortiz after he found Ortiz stealing from his garage.
Burch said he walked into the garage to see Ortiz holding his jackhammer and airgun cases. Ortiz told him that his boss sent him to pick up tools from Burchs house. He then tried to flee.
MAN ACCUSED OF CARJACKING FEDEX DRIVER
Thats when Burch said he stopped Ortiz with jiu-jitsu, which he studied for over 2 years.
A neighbor who saw the scuffle called police as Burch held Ortiz down.
Once police arrived, they said they found several of Burchs tools inside Ortizs car.
They told him he got exactly what he deserved, Burch told WBBH. He had a broken nose.
Ortizs broken nose and black eye were on full display in his mugshot after he was arrested and charged with grand theft and burglary.
Read more news at WSNV.
Two alleged MS-123 gang members, Diego Hernandez-Riversa, 18, and Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, were charged Wednesday in a case involving the killing of a Hispanic woman in Houston as part of a "Satanic" ritual.
The pair had been arrested Monday and charged the following day with aggravated kidnapping in a different case.
SEVEN MS-13 GANG MEMBERS INDICTED IN KILLING OF THREE NEW YORK TEENS
The MS-13 gang, also known as the Mara Salvatrucha, has roots in El Salvador and a violent record in several countries. The MS-13 first reached into the U.S. in the 1980s and has become a notorious international street gang.
According to court documents, a 14-year-old girl was kidnapped by the men, forced to ingest drugs and alcohol and sexually assaulted.
TSA FINDS RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF FIREARMS IN CARRY-ON BAGS
In the other case, Hernandez-Rivera and Alvarez-Flores allegedly kidnapped a male victim around Feb. 2 with the intent to inflict bodily injury, sexually abuse and terrorize him, according to court documents.
According to the teenage girl's testimony to police, inside the apartment was a shrine dedicated to the gang member's Satanic beliefs.
At one point, the girl whose body was discovered -- known as 'Genesis' in court documents -- spoke out of turn in anger against the gang members' devil worship.
When the teen awoke the next morning, Genesis was gone.
Court documents chronicled what appeared to be Genesis's final moments.
The men then took her to a field, where Hernandez-Rivera was alleged to have shot the young girl in the head; Alvarez-Flores allegedly went back and shot her in the torso shortly thereafter.
The woman's body was discovered on the southwest side of Houston by police on February 16.
Both men are being held on $150,000 bond in the Harris County jail.
Jesse Lee was writhing in pain in his wheelchair while he waited. Another man, also in clear distress, lay close by on the floor.
The heart-wrenching sight inside the waiting room of the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Carolina was captured on a cellphone camera and posted on Facebook Saturday by the wife of a Marine also there to see a doctor, according to the Huffington Post.
Lee, identified by the Huffington Post as a 63-year-old Vietnam veteran, told the media outlet that he ended up waiting for five hours to be seen by medical staff.
It was the worst thing to ever happen in my life, Lee said. It was really, really bad. I waited about two hours and went up to the nurses desk to find out if there was something they could do because I could no longer stand the pain, it was making me sick in my stomach. But they told me to go sit back down in the waiting room. Then after about an hour I asked if there was something they could do.
Officials of the veterans hospital do not deny the accounts by Lee and Hanna McMenamin, who took the photos and put them on Facebook.
Sharonda Pearson, a public affairs officer at the medical center, said it is investigating the accounts and should be done with the inquiry by March 10. She said Saturday was unusually busy in the emergency department, which handled more than 100 people that day, the Post said.
All of the allegations will be investigated, she said.
On its website, the hospital says that since 1953, it has been improving the health of the men and women who have so proudly served our nation.
We consider it our privilege to serve your health care needs in any way we can.
Caterpillar confirmed to Fox News that law enforcement raided offices at the company's headquarters, exectuting search warrants on three properties in the Peoria, Ill. area Thursday.
Law enforcement is present in various Peoria-area Caterpillar facilities executing a search warrant. Caterpillar is cooperating, said Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott.
A spokesperson for the Dept. of Justice tells Fox News the FDIC Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Commerce Dept.'s Office of Export Enforcement were involved in the raid.
Federal agents arrived to Caterpillar's global headquarters mid-morning and begain seizing documents and electronic records.
The Dept. of Justice tells Fox News agents also showed up to Caterpillars East Peoria and Morton locations.
Shortly afterwards, Caterpillar stock fell, losing almost 5 percent of its value.
When asked, the Justice Dept. did not comment on the nature of the search warrants and said there has been nothing publically filed on the raids.
Caterpillar has been subponaed a few times in recent years mainly regarding its relationships with U.S. and non-U.S. subsidaries.
Caterpillar is fighting the IRS on taxes and penalties totalling about $2 billion from profits assigned to a Swiss subsidiary.
Mexican drug cartels are fueling the heroin epidemic that is sweeping the United States, according to the director of the FBI.
Addressing an audience of local residents and public safety officials at an opioid summit in suburban Virginia on Wednesday, James Comey said cartels are continuing to saturate the country with waves of highly, highly pure heroin.
The FBI chief, speaking alongside Drug Enforcement Administration acting administrator Chuck Rosenberg, painted the picture of a nationwide drug crisis thats penetrating communities of all shapes and sizes. Fighting it requires a complex strategy that involves not only traditional law enforcement but also market economics.
We cannot arrest our way out of this problem, Comey said.
Mexican cartels have cornered the heroin market in the United States with an increasingly potent product and they are selling it cheaply in order to seize demand, according to Comey. He told the audience that in some instances, traffickers have even sold their heroin at a loss in order to gain market share.
In an effort to cut overhead costs and increase profits, law enforcement officials say that the cartels are relying less on trafficking heroin from South America and are instead ramping up production inside Mexico.
The latest data from the DEA show dramatic increases in Mexican opium poppy cultivation.
Production grew 160 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to DEA estimates. And that trend continued from 2014 to 2015 with a 64 percent increase in opium poppy cultivation in Mexico.
Drug trafficking is a business and when you reduce costs of transportation, you're able to lower the price and increase the purity," Comey said.
But at the heart of the matter, according to the leaders of the FBI and DEA, is the widespread abuse of prescription painkillers, like oxycodone, which can serve as a gateway to heroin use.
Rosenberg noted that four out of five heroin users start with prescription pills.
"Sometimes we use words like 'epidemic' or 'unprecedented' or 'historic' in ways that are not really accurate," Rosenberg said. "This is unprecedented. This is an epidemic."
Data show that Rosenbergs statement is not hyperbole.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription and illicit opioids like heroin accounted for 33,091 overdose deaths in 2015. That figure, which is part of the most recent U.S. overdose data available from the CDC, marks a quadrupling from 1999.
Presenting at the opioid summit on Wednesday, one local district health official said that preliminary 2016 data for the Commonwealth of Virginia show a 33 percent spike in opioid-related overdose deaths compared to 2015.
A contributing factor behind the overall spike in opioid-related overdose deaths, according to Rosenberg, is the prevalence of fentanyl. The synthetic opioid, which is up to 100 times more potent than morphine and up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, has exploded in popularity in the last several years, prompting the head of the DEA to call it a game changer.
That spike in popularity can be attributed to its high potency combined with its low cost, relative to pure heroin and prescription opiates.
The agencys forensic laboratory system recorded a staggering 1,392 percent increase in fentanyl encounters from 2013 to 2015. And law enforcement officials are warning that drug traffickers are lacing heroin and knockoff prescription painkillers with the deadly synthetic, unbeknownst to the consumer.
Rosenberg said that the issue is causing law enforcement agencies to rethink protocols on handling illicit substances that may be or may contain fentanyl. If it were to come into contact with the skin, a concentrated dose of fentanyl, or one of its derivatives, could be fatal.
To first stave off the heroin epidemic, Comey and Rosenberg said that the FBI and DEAs enforcement strategy ultimately seeks to crush the international cartels and, in doing so, drive up the cost of illegal drugs for consumers.
Our job is to try to crack down on the supply, literally, to be very blunt, to drive up the price to make it less and less attractive for people who are addicted to pills to move to heroin, Comey siad.
Video shows an inmate at the Falkenburg Road Jail attacking a detention deputy, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Surveillance cameras show what deputies say is Kiondre Zachary coming up behind Detention Deputy D. Hernandez, and then wrapping a cloth towel around his neck. Deputies say Zachary was trying to strangle Hernandez.
CALLS FOR JAIL TIME IN MURDER OF BALI POLICE OFFICER
The two were surrounded by 72 other inmates when it happened. Deputy Hernandez managed to escape from Zachery's grasp. Hernandez, other inmates and eventually, other deputies took Zachary down and subdued him.
HCSO said Hernandez suffered a twisted ankle, bruised knee, and abrasions to his neck. Deputies commended the inmates who helped restrain Zachary and assisted Hernandez during the ordeal.
READ MORE FROM FOX 13 TAMPA.
The case against a former Fort Bliss soldier accused of a murder more than 40 years ago has been thrown out after a dispute over key pieces of evidence.
Willie James Johnson, 70, was accused of killing Doris Rivers in 1970. The murder investigation was considered a cold case until police arrested Johnson in 2015.
The case was reopened after El Paso Police Detective Michael Aman sent several items to be tested for DNA evidence, including fingernail clippings from Rivers.
Police had said DNA on the clippings matched Johnsons. However, the person who analyzed the DNA had died.
Judge Gonzalo Garcia said the evidence was inadmissible and acquitted Johnson of murder.
The state cannot appeal the ruling.
Story first appeared on KFox14.
A 14-year-old girl and her 4-year-old niece managed to hide in a bathroom and text for help after an intruder burst into their California home while they were alone Tuesday.
Savannah Jones was babysitting her 4-year-old niece in Montclair when an unknown man knocked on the door around 3:30 p.m., Fox 11 reported.
YOUNG MAN WHO WALKED MILES TO WORK NOW DRIVES AFTER POLICE RAISE CASH
Jones looked out the peephole in the front door and saw the unknown man standing on the porch. She quickly took her niece, Zoyee, into the bathroom and called her mother.
While on the phone with her mom, she heard the front door being kicked open so she hid in the bathroom with her niece.
SEARCH FOR ANSWERS AFTER PREGNANT MOM SHOT TO DEATH NEXT TO HER BABY
I was very scared not so much for myself, but just Zoyee, the teenager told KTLA. I was looking at the door and I could see the door knob move.
Her mother, Maria Muratalla, kept texting back and forth with her daughter and called a neighbor, who contacted 911.
She was very smart and brave, Jones sister Yesenia Barragan told KTLA. She did everything right.
Jones said she can only image what could have happened had the man found them.
The unknown suspect, a man in his 20s, ransacked the property, but left without finding the girls hiding in the bathroom, police say. A K-9 unit searched the area but the suspect has not been found. It's not clear how much he may have stolen.
Click for more from Fox 11.
The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling for the FBI to investigate the death of a Muslim teenager who was discovered hanging from a tree.
MUSLIMS OFFER TO PROTECT JEWISH FACILITIES IN WAKE OF ANTI-SEMITIC DESECRATIONS
The incident, which the medical examiner initially ruled a suicide, involves 18-year-old Ben Keita, whose body was discovered in a wooded area of Lake Stevens in January. He'd vanished in November.
"Ben was a happy young man," father Ibrahima Keita told Q13 Fox. He said his son had no history of depression or anxiety.
ARMY VET FACES TRIAL FOR POSTING FLAGS AT VA SITE, SESSIONS ASKED TO INTERVENE
However, the medical examiner later changed the cause of death to undetermined. Two reasons were cited, according to KIRO. The rope used to hang the teen was tied 50 feet high in the tree, and a search of the area just weeks earlier had not turned up anything.
According to Washington CAIR, Keita was found hanging in an area that was searched at least twice by police before his body was finally discovered.
The incident comes in the midst of what civil rights advocates and religious communities are calling a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate crimes. Dozens of Jewish Community Centers have been hit with bomb threats over the last two months; scores of headstones were overturned at Jewish cemetaries in St. Louis and Philadelphia; a member of Pittsburgh's Somali Bantu community is in critical condition after being severely beaten Tuesday;
Lake Stevens police told Q13 News its investigation into Keitas death remains open pending lab results.
"We just want to make sure that the expertise, the experience and the human resources of the FBI are brought to make sure everything is comprehensively investigated, no stone is left unturned," Washington CAIR executive director Arsalan Bukhari told KIRO.
"We are aware of circumstances of the individuals death and will review them with consideration of federal law," the statement read, as reported by the NY Daily News. "If warranted, we may conduct further investigation. A review does not necessarily result in the opening of an investigation."
A postal worker is facing a federal charge in Pittsburgh for stealing packages with medication that was supposed to go to veterans.
GIRLS HIDE IN BATHROOM, SEND TEXTS FOR HELP DURING FRIGHTENING HOME INVASION
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General launched an investigation after a postmaster received complaints from residents whose prescriptions weren't getting to their homes from the VA Healthcare System, U.S. Postal Service Special Agent Scott Balfour told Fox News.
Gregory Schur stole mail from May-August 2016 and was indicted March 1 by a federal grand jury, the U.S. Attorney's Office stated.
If Schur is found guilty, the U.S. Postal Service employee could face up to five years in prison and have to pay up to $250,000.
Schur is no longer employed with the U.S. Postal Service.
RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with Russias ambassador to the U.S. during last years election has the Trump administration dealing with its latest firestorm. When contacted by Fox News late Wednesday, Sessions said he never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. He called allegations that suggest otherwise false. Still, the new disclosure has Democrats calling for him to resign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said he is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country.
PENCE APPEARS ON THE OREILLY FACTOR
Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Wednesday that President Trump was "determined to pursue" common ground with Russia, but noted that he had no plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (WATCH INTERVIEW)
'HANNITY': COULTER PRAISES TRUMP'S ADDRESS
'FIRST 100 DAYS': KYLE: BLACKLASH TO TRUMP'S SEAL WIDOW TRIBUTE 'MAKES ME SICK'
A RACE TO PRESERVE INTEL
In the final hours of Barack Obama's presidency, some White House officials reportedly raced to spread and preserve information about possible communications between associates of then-candidate Donald Trump and Russians. A former intelligence official confirmed to Fox News that the Obama administration was determined to keep the Russian issue alive and data on Moscow's election interference was circulated broadly.
SNAP TO BEGIN TRADING
FOX BUSINESS: The parent company of Snapchat will begin life as a public company. Snap Inc. priced the shares in its initial public offering at $17 each, raising $3.4 billion dollars. It gives the disappearing-messaging app a valuation of roughly $24 billion. Shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SNAP. Stay with FOX Business' team of reporters throughout the day to see how investors react to the much anticipated IPO and the biggest tech offering since Facebook debuted in 2012.
VIDEO: WALL STREET IS BACK TO BREAKING RECORDS
'YOUR WORLD': SECRETARY MNUCHIN: PRESIDENT TRUMP WILL DELIVER ON TAX CUTS
OBAMA READY TO ROLL
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that former President Obama is getting ready to jump back in the political pool. Holder, who said Obama is ready to roll, reportedly said the two have been talking about ways to help the new National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
RUBIO EVICTED
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was evicted from his Tampa Bay office due to the weekly protests that have occurred outside the building. Jude Williams, the owner of the nine-story building said, at the end of the day it was a security concern for us.
COMING UP ON FNC
9:30 a.m. ET: The Senate meets to resume consideration of the nomination of Dr. Ben Carson to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Watch live on FoxNews.com
10:45 a.m. ET: House Minority Leader Pelosi holds her weekly press conference. Watch live on FoxNews.com
11:30 a.m. ET: Speaker Ryan holds his weekly press conference. Watch live on FoxNews.com
12:30 p.m. ET: Vice President Pence highlights Trump's agenda in regards to healthcare, the economy, American jobs, and the workforce in Cincinnati. Watch Live on FoxNews.com
2:30 p.m. ET: President Trump makes remarks aboard the USS Gerald Ford at the Newport News Shipyard. Watch live on Fox News Channel and FoxNews.com
Following the desecration of hundreds of graves at Jewish cemeteries and wave after wave of hoax bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools around the nation, Muslim veterans are offering their support and vow to protect these places of worship.
Im a #MuslimMarine in Chicagoland area. If you synagogue or Jewish cemetery needs someone to stand guard, count me in. Islam requires it, one such veteran tweeted on Monday.
I'm a #MuslimMarine in Chicagoland area. If your synagogue or Jewish cemetery needs someone to stand guard, count me in. Islam requires it. The Muslim Marine (@MuslimMarine) February 27, 2017
Tayyid Rashid, a 40-year-old former member of the Marine Corps, behind the tweet told .mic: "As I watch this horrible thing unfold here, I felt terrible about what happened in St. Louis and this heinous event in Philadelphia. I was moved to tears. This is absolutely not right."
The tweet has gone viral and has prompted other American Muslims to offer their support to the Jewish community.
Houston area Jewish community I spent ten years protecting our country and I will gladly protect Jewish places of worship if you need me! https://t.co/nUQpTFwxvA Khalid whalid (@Khalidwhalid1) February 28, 2017
I'm a Muslim in #Harrisburg. If your synagogue or community center needs someone 2 stand guard, I will stand guard 4 you. Islam requires it. Momin (@BhattiMomin) February 28, 2017
I'm no marine, but I'll stand guard if needed. https://t.co/qtSJ5YQ0JH That One Jerk (@1UnknownCritic) February 27, 2017
I'm a Muslim in DC. If your synagogue needs someone to stand guard, I'll stand guard. Islam requires it. https://t.co/kw4acYBuPK Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) February 27, 2017
MONEY BEING RAISED TO RESTORE VANDALIZED JEWISH CEMETERY IN PHILADELPHIA
This show of solidarity follows an online campaign called Muslims Unite to Repair Jewish Cemetery, which has raised more than $115,000 to repair the gravestones toppled over at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in the St. Louis suburb of University City, Missouri.
Earlier this week, dozens of volunteers from various faiths helped clean up the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia, which was vandalized over the weekend.
ARMY VET FACES TRIAL FOR POSTING FLAGS AT VA SITE, SESSIONS ASKED TO INTERVENE
President Donald Trump, who has been criticized as lax in denouncing the threats and other anti-Semitic acts across the country, opened his address Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress with his strongest condemnation yet.
"Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries," Trump said, "remind us that, while we are a country that disagrees on policy, we stand united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms."
According to the JCC Association of North America, centers and day schools in at least a dozen states received threats, as of Monday. No bombs were found.
It was the fifth round of bomb threats against Jewish institutions since January, prompting outrage and exasperation among Jewish leaders as well as calls for an aggressive federal response to put a stop to it.
"The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the White House, alongside Congress and local officials, must speak out and speak out forcefully against this scourge of anti-Semitism impacting communities across the country," said David Posner, an official with JCC Association of North America. "Members of our community must see swift and concerted action from federal officials to identify and capture the perpetrator or perpetrators who are trying to instill anxiety and fear in our communities."
The FBI and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division are probing the threats.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the vandalism and bomb threats serious, unacceptable behavior and said the department will "do what it can to assist in pushing back ... and prosecuting anybody that we can prove to be a part of it."
"We are a nation that is a diverse constituency, and we don't need these kind of activities," Sessions said.
Rashid said he had one message to the people behind the valdalizations and threats.
"If you truly want to establish peace in the world, you have to learn to look at the world through the realities of the oppressed," he told .mic. "If we want to establish peace and live in a country of values and principles of the constitution, we have to engage in dialogue and efforts to hear out one another."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Russian spy ship spotted "loitering" off Virginia last month has traveled south and was seen Thursday about 150 miles off Florida heading toward the Caribbean, U.S. officials told Fox News.
RUSSIAN SALE OF FIGHTER JETS TO UAE HIGHLIGHTS SHIFT TOWARD KREMLIN
The Viktor Leonov was southeast of U.S. Naval Station Mayport, the officials said.
In the past, whenever the ship sailed close to Florida, U.S. Navy aircraft would fly from Jacksonville to take a look. Officials said to expect the same response this time around.
TRUMP'S NOT TELLING THE WHOLE STORY ON TRADE, CHINA CLAIMS
United States territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from shore.
Fox News was first to report the sighting of the Russian spy ship off the coast of Delaware in mid-February. When the ship "loitered" near Norfolk, Va., it was about 19 miles from land, U.S. officials said.
The Victor Leonov was armed with an array of intelligence gathering equipment used to intercept communications and analyze U.S. Navy sonar capability. "Its lawful [and] similar to operations we do around the world," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters last month.
The Russian spy ship left its homeport in the Barents Sea near Norway, part of Russias northern fleet, around New Years Day, according to American defense officials. Following a port call in Jamaica, the Russian ship then began its voyage north along the east coast of the United States before turning south.
The ship was spotted in Havana Harbor in January 2015 as the Obama administration eased relations with Cuba.
For the past six months, an active-duty Army major studying at the University of Miami has been taking pictures of city police cars he says were illegally parked.
The Miami New Times reported Wednesday that Glen Carr, who moved to Miami in August to study at the school, has sent at least 125 complaintsalong with photographs to support his claimto police departments in or around Miami-Dade County.
YOUNG MAN WHO WALKED MILES TO WORK NOW DRIVES AFTER POLICE RAISE CASH
Its not like Im against them, he told the paper. I just want them to be better at what they do. I feel they dont hold each other accountable.
Carr, who served for nine months at remote base near the Pakistan border just after the attacks of Sept. 11, started noticing police disobeying the same laws they enforce four years ago, when he was teaching his daughter how to drive. He said he saw two police cars speeding at 80 in a 55-mph-zone without their lights on.
Carr has been ignored by some law enforcement agencies, while others promised to look in to the matter. He said he submitted dozen complaints to Miami Police, but they all reportedly disappeared.
I dont know if they were losing them on purpose or by accident, Carr said.
Authorities in Chester County have arrested and charged a juvenile in connection with a home invasion and robbery that left a woman tied up in her own closet for several days.
The 17-year-old male suspect has been charged with attacking a 72-year-old woman in her home, stealing her car and credit cards, before he left her bound and locked in a dark room for four days.
Investigators say the victim remembered getting out of her car on February 22, when she says she was grabbed from behind and hit in the head by a male dressed in all black. She was found by a family member days later.
District Attorney Tom Hogan stated, This juvenile engaged in a brutal attack on the victim, then showed a callous disregard for her life. The charged juvenile is lucky that the victim did not die. If the victim had not been found by her family, the defendant would be facing murder charges.
Police say the victim lived alone in East Brandywine Township, and had no prior contact with the suspect.
Authorities say the juvenile who was charged was residing at Devereux Brandywine, a behavioral health facility near the victim's home. He is originally from Thailand, with a local address in Media, Pennsylvania.
Click for more from Fox 29.
A transgender woman arrested by immigration agents while at a courthouse for a protective order hearing had admitted to a money order scheme weeks before, an affidavit shows.
Irvin Gonzalez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was arrested on Feb. 9 in El Paso County Courthouse.
A criminal complaint with a supporting affidavit filed Tuesday by Border Patrol Agent Humberto Chavira states that Gonzalez admitted to the crime on Jan. 13, after she and her partner Mario De Avila were caught stealing mail from blue U.S. Post Office drop-off boxes.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TAKES REFUGE IN DENVER CHURCH TO AVOID DEPORTATION
According to the affidavit, the scheme consisted in taking money orders, washing the name off with transmission fluid, adding De Avilas name and depositing the money into his bank account.
De Avila was arrested and charged with forgery.
A couple of weeks after the incident, El Paso Police Department Authorities alerted a Border Patrol agent of Gonzalezs presence in the country during a follow up interview she had openly admitted to cops that she was in the U.S. illegally. She had also volunteered that she had a protective order (against De Avila) hearing on Feb. 9.
AGENTS DETAIL 'DAILY' BORDER FENCE BATTLE, SEEK POST-OBAMA 'RESTART'
Federal officials used that information to look up her hearing and showed up to the courthouse, the affidavit says.
The case got attention from Congressman Beto ORourke and El Paso County leaders, who expressed concern over the fact that she was arrested inside a courthouse.
MAN SUSPECTED IN AMBER ALERT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY DEPORTED
The public defender representing Gonzalez filed a petition for her immediate release saying that a Border Patrol agent perjured himself because in a first version of the affidavit he wrote that the arrest happened outside the building. Security footage shows them escorting her out from the 10th floor of the courthouse.
Jail records show Gonzalez, who was charged with forgery on Feb. 15, remains in the El Paso County jail.
She was first arrested and voluntarily returned to Mexico on June 5, 2007. She was then deported again, twice in 2011, once in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
In 2011 she was sentenced to over a year in jail for crimes including domestic battery, illegal entry, and possession of stolen mail.
Federal agents detained a young Argentinian immigrant just minutes after she criticized U.S. deportation policies at a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 22-year-old Daniela Vargas Wednesday as a friend was driving her home from the news conference, hosted by local immigration lawyers, churches and advocacy groups. At the event, she spoke about how agents had already come out to her family home on February 15, when they detained her father and brother.
According to ICE, agents did not take Daniela Vargas into custody last month because she told them she was covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But the agency later determined Vargass DACA status was no longer current.
Vargass lawyers say financial constraints delayed their clients application to renew her DACA status. But they say Vargas has been in the U.S. since her parents brought her here from Argentina at the age of 7.
This is her culture, said immigration attorney Abigail Peterson. This is where her family is. This is where her friends are. This is the life that she knows. And she told me when I met with her that she would like the opportunity to go in the military if that becomes an option for DACA. I mean, she is someone who has a love for this country.
Peterson said DACA recipients, undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as minors, do not represent a high risk group that law enforcement should be targeting. She also expressed concern about the timing of Vargass arrest.
Two weeks later, after shes been in the media quite a bit, for them to now arrest her raises questions as to the incentive behind it, Peterson said.
Every day, as part of routine targeted enforcement operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fugitive Operations teams arrest criminal aliens and other individuals who are in violation of our nations immigration laws, ICE Public Affairs Officer Thomas Byrd explained in a written statement. ICE conducts targeted immigration enforcement in compliance with federal law and agency policy. ICE does not conduct sweeps or raids that target aliens indiscriminately.
Vargas remains in federal custody as she awaits a hearing before an immigration judge. Jordan Sanders, a friend who was with Vargas at the time of her arrest, expressed disbelief.
She has no criminal history, Sanders said. She's great. I just dont understand why it's happening to her.
Fox News Willie Inman and Chip Bell contributed to this report.
A 19-year-old man in California who walked miles to and from work saw his life change in the span of just a few weeks, after police helped raise money to buy him a car, and send him to college.
Jourdan Duncans commute to work was like no other. Every morning he would walk from his parents house in Vallejo, Calif. to his job in Benecia to Vallejo, Calif. a whopping seven-mile trek. It would take him two hours each way, Fox 2 reported.
COMMUNITY RAISES $60G FOR HOMELESS TEENAGER IN JUST ONE DAY
Last September, Duncan caught the attention of a Benecia police officer, who spotted him walking along an industrial road. It was kind of weird to see someone walking around on foot, Cpl. Kirk Keffer told The Washington Post.
Keffer stopped Duncan and gave him a ride home, learning his story along the way.
LAPD OFFICER HELPS DYING MOTHERS WISH FOR HER TEENAGE DAUGHTER COME TRUE
Duncan had just graduated from high school and had a job at Pro-Form Laboratories, where he worked in a packaging line from 3 p.m. until around midnight. He was saving up for college and to fix his broken-down car.
Instead of being a burden to friends or co-workers, Duncan decided to walk to work. Its not a problem for me, he told the Washington Post in September.
Inspired by the young man's story, Keffer approached his police department and the Benicia Police Officers Association and together they surprised Duncan with a new bike for him to use.
We would like to acknowledge your hard work and dedication for what you do and setting the example for kids your age, they told him, according to Keffer. Hopefully thisll make your trip easier.
But the officers didnt stop there. They started a GoFundMe campaign to raise some money for Duncan to fix his car.
The inspirational story went viral. The campaign raised more than $42,000 in four months.
The community just had an outpouring of love for him, Keffer told the Post on Tuesday. It was something the community needed, something positive at the time.
With the money, Duncan purchased a used Volkswagen Passat for $2,900 and put the rest in the bank. He has also started taking classes at Solano Community College so that he can following in the footsteps of some of his relatives and become a California Highway Patrol Officer.
Im just super proud of him. He could have went so many different ways with that money, Keffer said. Hes got a bright future ahead of him. I just hope that he continues down this path.
Click for more from Fox 2.
The man detained in Brussels on Thursday driving a car filled with gas canisters had been convicted in a 2016 terror trial, state broadcaster RTBF reported.
FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: JAILED ISIS FIGHTERS AWAIT DEATH, BOAST OF KILLING HUNDREDS
The man, who has not been identified, was convicted during a mass trial of suspects involved in the "Zerkani" terror recruiting network, according to RTBF. Some of those involved in the network had participated in the March 2016 Brussels attacks and the November 2015 Paris attacks.
The detention on Thursday set off a security alert in the center of Brussels, closing off a busy part of the capital and a subway station during the evening rush hour, the prosecutor's office said.
ISIS FIGHTERS TRY HIDING AMONG MOSUL FAMILIES
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said authorities did not want to take any chances and acted quickly "since the driver was known by judicial authorities and it was unclear why the gas canisters were there."
"We are taking the case seriously," Van Wymersch added. She said the suspect was being interrogated.
Saint Gilles Mayor Charles Picque described the driver as "a radicalized person, so it was normal to take precautionary measures."
Van Wymersch cautioned however not to jump to conclusions about a possible extremist motive.
The gas canisters were discovered when police noticed a car speeding and running red lights and pursued it.
The local transport authority said late Thursday that the Porte de Hal metro station closed on police orders, while a perimeter was established above ground. Media reported an anti-bomb squad was brought in.
Belgian security services have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway last March 22, killing 32 people.
Fox News' Greg Palkot and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Prosecutors in Bali have reiterated their calls for Byron Bay, Australia, woman Sara Connor to be jailed for eight years for the death of a police officer on a Kuta beach, saying the officer had a human right to still be alive.
MOM OF ATTACKED PARTY HOST HAS STERN WARNING FOR SUSPECTS
The family of the officer, Wayan Sudarsa, had a right to have him in their midst, Prosecutor Kadek Wahyudi Ardika told the Denpasar District Court on Thursday.
And Ardika was scathing of Connors defense submissions that the use of circumstantial evidence, known as indication or guidance evidence, apart from hard evidence like witness statements, was not allowed under the Indonesian criminal code, saying this assertion was totally wrong.
MS-13 GANG MEMBERS INDICTED IN KILLINGS OF THREE NY TEENS
He dismissed claims the circumstantial evidence violated Connors human rights with this strongly worded rebuttal: Have the (defense) lawyers also considered the human rights of the victim, Wayan Sudarsa to stay alive ... do the legal team think it is appropriate that only because of the loss of one bag owned by the defendant Sara Connor, that cost one life and at the end the bag and the things inside it were never found with the victim.
Ardika was referring to the stated reason for the fight with the officer that night on a Kuta beach - claims by Connors British boyfriend David James Taylor that the officer had stolen Connors handbag.
And Ardika suggested that the defense lawyers should read and study the Indonesian Criminal Code, the basis for judicial process, which does not ban the use of guidance evidence.
An example of circumstantial evidence is the assertion that Connors claim, that she cut up and disposed of the police officers ID cards after his death to prevent identity theft, was not rational and rather was attempt to conceal her involvement, a consciousness of guilt.
The prosecutor also seized upon Connors personal plea to the Judges earlier this week where she expressed remorse but maintained she did nothing to cause the victim to die. Ardika said this was contradictory.
Connor has maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty.
It is the defendants right to deny all the indictment of the prosecutor. But from the facts that we have from the trial, we are convinced that the defendant Sara Connor has been proven guilty of committing a crime together with David James Taylor, committing violence that caused the victim, Wayan Sudarsa, to die, Ardika submitted.
As the 46-year-old faced the closing stages of her trial in relation to the August 17 death, prosecutors were responding to Connors defense submissions, delivered earlier this week.
As expected the prosecution stood by their earlier demand that Connor be found guilty of group violence causing death and be jailed for eight years. The prosecution has submitted to the court that Connor and Taylor are not guilty of murder of the officer but are guilty of causing his death by violence. They say the necessary intent for murder was not borne out by the facts but the evidence supports a finding of a group attack.
Click for more from news.com.au
Eight Iraqi nationals are set to spend up to 13 years in prison after a court in Austria Thursday convicted them of gang-raping a German tourist in the early hours of New Year's Day more than a year ago.
ISIS FIGHTERS TRY HIDING AMONG MOSUL FAMILIES AS REFUGEE RATES SURGE
The Iraqis, aged between 22 and 48, arrived in Austria as migrants between May and December 2015. Five received refugee status.
The court awarded the victim -- a 28-year old woman -- more than $26,000 in damages, and dismissed charges against a ninth suspect. Both sides appealed the ruling, according to a court statement.
THREE SKIERS KILLED IN ITALIAN ALPS AVALANCHE, RESCUERS SAY
Four Iraqi men knew the tourist had been drinking heavily on and could not defend herself before they took her to a Vienna apartment, where the entire group took turns raping her on Jan. 1, 2016, prosecutors said. They added that when the woman regained control, she found herself naked in a bed.
She was celebrating the holiday with a friend in Vienna beforehand, the BBC reported.
All but one of the defendants denied raping the woman while some acknowledged having what they described as voluntary sex with her. But prosecutor Karina Fehringer suggested that was impossible, describing the victim as being in defenseless in an "unconscious, shock-rigid" state.
The sentences ranged from nine to 13 years, although the maximum sentence for rape is 15 years in Austria. Judge Petra Poschalko said only two of the defendants had helped the court establish the facts and only one had confessed.
Germany saw a slew of sexual assaults that same New Year's Eve -- from as many as 2,000 attackers, according to a leaked police document.
Defense lawyer Andreas Reichenbach observed that the Austria crime was committed at around the same time as the assaults in Cologne, Germany, by groups of refugees. He suggested the tough sentences might be an "additional message" that such actions would not be tolerated.
Fehringer dismissed defense claims the woman may have sent "false signals" that could have encouraged the men. The lawyer asked, "Should we stick warnings on bottles: 'excess consumption could be interpreted as agreement to have sex?"' according to the reporting of the Austria Press Agency.
Fehringer also said the victim continued to suffer post-traumatic effects from the assault, and needed psychiatric treatment.
The 48-year-old man whose charges were dismissed said he had been asleep during the assaults.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Inside a low-slung concrete building ringed by blast walls and razor wire, unrepentant ISIS fighters awaiting execution told Fox News they killed and maimed innocent civilians under "license from God" while fighting alongside radical Americans and vowed the terror army can never be truly defeated.
ISIS FIGHTERS TRY HIDING AMONG MOSUL FAMILIES
Fox News was recently given exclusive access to prisoners, who spend their days behind yellow, steel doors and freely admit to killing hundreds of people as leaders of ISIS cells around the embattled country. Iraqi officials allowed the interviews in between interrogations of their own, aimed at understanding how the terror group operates.
"I walked away, and called a number on my phone." Abu Omar, describing how he detonated a car bomb that killed 100
Abu Omar, 25, told Fox News he oversaw a cell in Baghdad and, by his own admission, carried out countless bombings.
'DANGEROUS PHENOMENON': ISRAELI MAN CHARGED WITH TRYING TO JOIN ISIS
After joining the terror group, he was initially assigned to guard a checkpoint in Mosul. There, he arrested women who werent properly veiled. For their offenses, they faced public lashing.
Omar told Fox News he was plucked from the post and trained in deployment of explosives. With his new skills, he moved up the ranks quickly before being sent to Baghdad to lead a sleeper cell charged with launching attacks against the public, he said.
He calmly described how he would pick up a car laden with explosives, always from someone he hadnt met before, and park it at a busy, pre-scouted location.
"I walked away, and called a number on my phone," he said.
As Omar melted into teeming crowds and detonated the bomb, all that remained was to wait to learn how many innocent men, women and children his twisted handiwork killed or maimed.
One bomb killed more than 100 people, including 30 women and children. Omar, who estimates he had a role in the deaths of 300, calmly described the screams and the chaotic aftermath.
Now facing a death sentence, Omar -- despite a rote admission of remorse utterly lacking in conviction -- appears untroubled by his deadly deeds. He claimed he had a license from God to kill in the name of Islam, and still believes ISIS is justified in torturing and burning prisoners of its own.
Its so difficult to get informants inside ISIS that this facility has proven a gold mine for information. Intelligence gathered here is used to help the anti-ISIS coalition target airstrikes and predict the behavior of the black-clad jihadist army. Most of its occupants face the gallows when their usefulness ends.
The interrogation program was designed by U.S. trainers. Guards told Fox News it does not include torture, and that the worst treatment they can inflict on prisoners is sleep deprivation.
Karim, 27, was ISIS' key man in Baghdad for distribution of another type of bomb, the Improvised Explosive Device, or IED. Like Omar, he showed no remorse as he recounted fighting and even killing Americans. He described his battle as a global war, and said that during his time in ISIS, he believed the caliphate would take over the world.
Alarmingly, Karim spoke of Americans he had met within the terror group. Two or three, he said, had been kept separate from the others and were part of a larger group of foreigners in charge of threats against the West.
"They were more radical than the others," he said of the Americans.
Karim described the sleeper cell in which he served as a hierarchy where communications up the chain of command were kept purposefully controlled. The system is much like the one used by Al Qaeda, where meetings are arranged at a set time and place and if someone doesnt appear -- they consider it "burnt" and the operation is scuttled.
The cold and murderous resolve of these captured ISIS fighters makes clear to officials -- both U.S. and Iraqi -- that even once the terror army is defeated, its members will morph into a stubborn and deadly insurgency similar to the one that dogged Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Should they be driven from strongholds such as Mosul and Raqqa, Syria, ISIS diehards will continue, Karim vowed, to attack from the shadows.
Islamic State terrorists desperate to get out with their lives have tried blending in with the growing crowds of innocent men, women and children escaping Mosul, an intelligence officer reportedly revealed Wednesday.
'DANGEROUS PHENOMENON': ISRAELI MAN CHARGED WITH TRYING TO JOIN ISIS
"You can tell because they are afraid. Those who are not Daesh are also afraid but it's different from the fear of those who are with Daesh," the officer told Reuters, using another name for ISIS and speaking on condition of anonymity. Terrorists who play a smaller role for ISIS, staying far enough away from the front lines, are more likely to slip through the cracks, the officer added.
Since the U.S.-backed push to retake western Mosul launched about a week ago, some 28,400 people have been forced to leave their homes, the United Nations reported. That would be the highest rate since the Iraqi military's Mosul operation began last October.
EU LIFTS LE PEN'S IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION AFTER ISIS TWEETS
Since Feb. 25, some 4,000 people have escaped the city each day, the U.N. added.
Iraqi intelligence officers have scanned the refugees for hidden fighters, pulling some from the crowds to interrogate them directly. A few locals serve as "sources" pointing out who may have ISIS connections, the anonymous officer told Reuters.
For the families trying to escape, their safety is all but assured. Many have said they're close to starving, and that sudden attacks have destroyed their homes and livelihoods.
"There is a limit to what we can endure. We are humans made of flesh and blood," Dawud Dargham said bording a bus to a refugee camp run by the Iraqi government.
The offensive started after the terrorists were pushed out of most of the territory they controlled in Iraq. ISIS had overrun the north and west in the summer of 2014.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Malaysian police on Friday released the only North Korean it had detained in the killing of the half brother of North Korea's leader, as it condemned the use of a banned nerve agent in the attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Ri Jong Chol, who had been detained since Feb. 17, four days after Kim Jong Nam's death, was handed over to immigration officials for deportation. Police never said what they had thought his role had been in the attack, but national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed Friday that Ri was released due to a lack of evidence against him.
Malaysian Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali has said that Ri would be deported because he didn't have any valid travel documents.
Two women one Indonesian, one Vietnamese have been charged with murdering Kim at an airport terminal Feb. 13. They were caught on grainy surveillance video smearing what Malaysian authorities say was VX nerve agent on his face and eyes, though both reportedly say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.
Police are searching for seven North Korean suspects, including four believed to have left Malaysia the day Kim, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed. One of the suspects believed to still be in Malaysia is an official at the North Korean Embassy.
A statement from Malaysia's Foreign Ministry ramped up the pressure on Pyongyang on Friday, saying it was "greatly concerned" with the use of the toxic chemical and condemning the use of such a chemical weapon under any circumstances.
"Its use at a public place could have endangered the general public," the foreign ministry said.
Malaysia has not directly accused North Korea of being behind the killing, but the statement came hours after a North Korean envoy rejected a Malaysian autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim, saying the man probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Ri Tong Il, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, also said that if VX had been used, others besides Kim would have been killed or sickened.
Kim's death has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. On Thursday, Malaysia announced it is scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans.
Malaysian officials say the two female suspects smeared VX nerve agent a banned chemical weapon on Kim's face as he waited for a flight at Kuala Lumpur's airport. Kim died within 20 minutes, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
Malaysia's autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim boosted speculation that North Korea orchestrated the attack. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons including VX.
North Korea is trying to retrieve Kim's body, but it has not acknowledged that the victim is Kim Jong Un's half brother, as Malaysian government officials have confirmed.
Pyongyang refers to the victim as Kim Chol, the name on the diplomatic passport he was carrying when he died. Malaysian police are doing the same; they are seeking next-of-kin who could provide a DNA sample and make a positive identification, steps they say are needed for authorities to give up the body. Kim is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau.
Khalid, the national police chief, brushed off the North Korean envoy's claim of a heart attack.
"We have our experts who are qualified to determine the cause of death of Kim Chol. Our investigations, supported by expert reports, confirmed that Kim Chol was murdered. North Korea can say what they like but the facts remain," Khalid told The Associated Press.
Malaysian police said the female suspects had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and wash their hands after attacking Kim. The police said the four North Korean suspects who left the country the day of the killing put the VX liquid on the women's hands.
Police can't confirm whether the two women may have been given antidotes before the attack. An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.
Kim Jong Nam reportedly fell out of favor with his father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met with Egypt's president during a visit to Cairo to discuss ways of slowing migration to Europe.
Merkel held talks with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi shortly after her arrival on Thursday.
She is expected to meet with businessmen, civil society representatives, and Muslim and Christian leaders before heading to Tunisia on Friday.
Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Wednesday that Germany wants to help Egypt to strengthen its coast guard and crack down on illegal trafficking across the Mediterranean, where thousands of migrants die at sea each year.
Syrian government forces recaptured Palmyra from the Islamic State group on Thursday, scoring a victory against the militants who had seized the historic town in December for the second time, a Syrian military statement said.
The military said troops gained full control of the desert town in central Syria following a series of military operations carried out with the help of Russian air cover and in cooperation with "allied and friendly troops" shorthand for the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the civil war.
ISIS defenses around the town had begun to erode on Sunday, with the government troops reaching Palmyra's outskirts on Tuesday. The SANA news agency reported earlier that government troops had entered the town's archaeological complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, around mid-day, then the town itself, as IS militants fled the area.
This is the government's second campaign to retake the desert town. It seized Palmyra from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again 10 months later.
Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.
The Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, had said earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister that Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes.
The Syrian government's push has relied on ground support from Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Russian air cover, according to Hezbollah's media outlets.
The town, according to Mohammed Homsi, the director of the activist-run Palmyra News Network, is almost entirely deserted. Islamic State fighters reportedly evacuated the last of their relatives on Sunday, he said.
Archeologists have decried what they say is extensive damage to its priceless ruins.
Drone footage released by Russia's Defense Ministry earlier this month showed new damage to the facade of Palmyra's Roman-era theater and the adjoining Tetrapylon a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.
A 2014 report by a U.N. research agency disclosed satellite evidence of looting while the ruins were under Syrian military control. Opposition factions have also admitted to looting the antiquities for funds.
ISIS has twice used the town's Roman theater as a stage for mass killings, most recently in January, when they shot and beheaded a number of captives they said had tried to escape their December advance. Other ISIS killings were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum and in a former Russian base in the town.
The developments in Palmyra came against the backdrop of Syrian peace talks underway in Geneva, which have been without any tangible breakthroughs so far. Diplomats and negotiators have set their sights on modest achievements in the latest round of talks, after a week of discussions centering on setting an agenda for future talks.
On Thursday, U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura was due for another round of meetings with both the government delegation and opposition groups.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters Wednesday that "the parties have agreed to ... discuss all issues in a parallel way, on several tracks."
After a Damascus request, the issue of terrorism is also on the table, he had said. Russia is a key sponsor of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government in Damascus.
A top Syrian opposition negotiator, Nasr al-Hariri, said the talks would likely culminate in a closing ceremony on Friday and the parties may be back in Geneva for further discussions in a few weeks.
Setting the agenda and strategy to guide discussions has proven difficult as the main conflicting parties dig in their heels over form and semantics.
In Turkey, the country's foreign minister said that with the completion of an operation to retake the ISIS-held town of al-Bab in northern Syria, Turkish troops will head to the Syrian town of Manbij next, to oust U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists and a threat to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that Turkey would not shy away from attacking the Kurdish group that dominates the Syria Democratic Forces, which captured Manbij last year after weeks of deadly fighting with ISIS.
He renewed calls for the new U.S. administration not to support the Kurdish forces. Cavusoglu stressed that an operation to take Manbij had not started yet, but acknowledged that skirmishes between Turkish-backed forces and the Kurdish fighters may have occurred.
That front line in northern Syria was further complicated by a concurrent announcement by the Syrian Kurdish side on Thursday that they had agreed with Russia to withdraw from some of the territory between al-Bab and Manbij, to make room for a buffer.
The Manbij Military Council, part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said that under the deal, they will withdraw from a front line as the rival Turkish-backed forces near the Euphrates River. This will allow Syrian government forces to create a buffer between them.
However, Cavusoglu denied any such agreement was reached.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government. The Turkish and Syrian authorities have long regarded each other with thinly-veiled hostility.
The U.S. on Thursday engaged in its first military action in Yemen since the raid that killed Navy SEAL Ryan Owens in January, three U.S. defense officials confirmed to Fox News.
TRUMP HONORS WIDOW OF FALLEN NAVY SEAL IN EMOTIONAL MOMENT
The early-morning airstrikes -- more than 20 in all -- targeted Al Qaeda fighters, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said. The strikes hit three south-central provinces suspected to have terrorist activity: Abyan, Shabwa and Bayda.
At least four Al Qaeda fighters were killed, a Yemeni official told The Associated Press.
FATHER OF NAVY SEAL DEMANDS INVESTIGATION INTO YEMEN RAID
The strikes will degrade the AQAP's ability to coordinate external terror attacks and limit their ability to use territory seized from the legitimate government of Yemen as a safe space for terror plotting. Targets of the strikes included militants, equipment, infrastructure, heavy weapons systems and fighting positions," Davis added, saying the U.S. coordinated the military action with Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Chief Petty Officer Ryan Owens was killed as part of the Navy SEAL Team Six operation against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on January 29.
Three other Americans were wounded in the operation and a $75 million aircraft was destroyed after it crash-landed bringing in reinforcements offshore. The SEAL team had engaged in a firefight with Al Qaeda militants and local villagers, lasting nearly an hour.
Critics have claimed the raid was a failure. Survivors and witnesses said at least 25 Yemenis were killed in the attack, including 10 children and nine women, The Associated Press reported.
Citing unnamed officials, critics have also said the raid gathered little intelligence.
However, one U.S. official told Fox News the intel gathered from the January raid likely provided information needed for the airstrikes overnight. Another official pushed back, saying it was not clear how much information from the January raid contributed to last nights strikes.
Al Qaeda in Yemen, seen as the militant group's most dangerous offshoot, has seized large swaths of land and entire cities since 2011, when a mass uprising forced longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.
However, the group grew in weapons and numbers after the start of the 2015 Saudi-led campaign that targeted Houthi rebels who seized control of the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to escape.
Throughout the years, the U.S. has depended on drone strikes in hunting down Al Qaeda's top leaders and operatives. In 2015, the group's leader was killed in a drone strike in the southern city of Mukalla, the provincial capital of Yemen's largest province of Hadramawt, and which fell into the hands of the group for a year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
People hold photos of their family members, who they say were killed due to their alleged involvement in illegal drugs, during a protest against extra-judicial killings in Paranaque City, Philippines.
Struggling appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg Inc. announced Thursday that it is planning to close 88 of its weakest stores, including the one in Fredericksburg, as part of its turnaround strategy.
The store, which opened in 2010 in Central Park shopping center, is one of 15 that the Indianapolis-based company will be closing in Virginia. The others include nearby locations in Short Pump, Springfield and Woodbridge.
We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us, hhgregg CEO Robert Riesbeck said in a statement. This is a proactive decision to streamline our store footprint in the markets where we have been, and will continue to be, important to our customers, vendor partners and communities.
Inventory in the affected stores will be sold over the coming weeks, with closings expected to be complete by mid-April, according to a company news release. The store closings amount to more than a third of the companys 229 brick-and-mortar stores in 20 states. Approximately 1,500 positions will be eliminated.
I want to thank each and every manager and associate in our stores and distribution centers, and their families, for their continued efforts, contributions and support, said Riesbeck. I understand this is not an easy process to go through; our history has shown that our team members will meet this challenge head-on and continue to support our customers and each other through the closing process.
He said the affected stores were either underperforming or in locations that are no longer strong shopping destinations due to changes in the local retail shopping landscape.
The appliance retailer has seen its sales slump for the past two years as it lost market share to online retailers such as Amazon while also having to compete against traditional big-box stores including Best Buy. In addition, JCPenney has muscled into the market by adding appliances to its offerings.
The New York Stock Exchange delisted hhgregg earlier this week for failing to meet the minimum listing requirement. Bloomberg last week reported that hhgregg is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this month.
The Indianapolis-based company also announced that it is closing three distribution centers, including one in Brandywine, Md. They will continue to support customer orders of all product sold in the closing locations until all product has been delivered, according to the news release.
5th WALL THEATRE
Gottwald Playhouse, 600 E. Grace St., Richmond. 804/359-2003; 5thwalltheatre.org
ALTRIA THEATER
6 N. Laurel St., Richmond. 804/592-3368; broadwayinrichmond.com.
Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella, Tony-winning musical featuring a contemporary take on the classic tale. March 10-11. $43-$83.
ARENA STAGE
1101 Sixth St. SW, Washington. 202/488-3300; arenastage.org
Watch on the Rhine stars Marsha Mason in a suspenseful drama, set in Washington, D.C., on the brink of U.S. involvement in World War II. Fichlander Stage. Through March 5. $40-$90.
Intelligence, a world-premiere political thriller, explores the cost of deception and the consequences of speaking truth to power. Through April 9 in Kogod Cradle. $40-$90.
CARPENTER THEATER
Dominion Arts Center, 600 E. Grace St., Richmond. 804/592-3400; broadwayinrichmond.com
Elvis Lives, a multimedia and live musical journey across Elvis life. March 7. $38, $63.
CREATIVE CAULDRON
ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church. 703/436-9948; creativecauldron.org
Blues in the Night, a Tony-nominated musical featuring 26 classic songs. Through March 5. $20-$30.
FOLGER THEATRE
201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C. 202/544-7077; folger.edu/theatre
As You Like It, Shakespeares comedy about love, laughter and mistaken identity. Through March 5. $35-$75.
FORDS THEATRE
511 10th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202/347-4833; fords.org
Ragtime, based on E.L. Doctorows novel, confronts both the unbridled optimism and the stark reality of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. March 10 to May 20. $20-$73.
KENNEDY CENTER
2700 F St. NW, Washington. 800/ 444-1324; kennedy-center.org
Washington National Opera: Dead Man Walking, based on Sister Helen Prejeans real-life memoirs, which also inspired the 1995 film. Through March 11. $45-$300.
Shear Madness, a whodunit comedy set in Georgetown. $50 and up.
LOW PLAYERS
LOW Community Center, 110 Sweetbriar Park Road, Locust Grove. 540/972-6385; lowplayers.org
Always Patsy Cline chronicles the friendship between Patsy Cline and a fan, Louise Seger from Houston, who befriended the star in a Texas honky-tonk bar in 1960. March 10, 11, 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 12 and March 19 at 2 p.m. $29 adults, $25 students.
QUILL THEATRE
The Branch Museum, 2501 Monument Ave., Richmond. 804/340-0115; quilltheatre.org
Historical Reading Series: Soapbox Sisters: An Evening with the Suffragettes, featuring two propaganda plays and an essay by three of the most forward-thinking women of the early 20th century: Mary Shaw, Mary Winsor and Lila Meade Valentine. March 14 at 7 p.m. $16-$20.
RICHMOND TRIANGLE PLAYERS
1300 Altamont Ave., Richmond. 804/346-8113; rtriangle.org
I Was Here, featuring Billy Christopher Maupin (along with Joshua Wortham and Tristan Dougherty) with new songs, new stories, guest appearances. March 15 at 8 p.m. $20.
Choir Boy, is a coming-of-age tale about a young man who wants to lead his prep schools gospel choir. Through March 18.
RIVERSIDE DINNER THEATER
Off U.S. 17 in Falmouth. 540/370-4300; riversidedt.com
Million Dollar Quartet follows the 1956 recording session with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Through March 5. $45$69.
Shakespeare in the Burg
Hill Schools Shelia Johnson Center for Performing Arts, 130 S. Madison Street, in Middleburg. 703/298-7664; shakespeareintheburg.com
Two Gentlemen of Verona, performed by Shakespeare in the Square. April 1 at 7:30 p.m. A brunch, with performances of the winning one-act plays, will be on April 2 at 11 a.m. $45 for Two Gentlemen of Verona, $30 for Sunday brunch.
SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202/547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org
King Charles III, a modern history play about Prince Charles accession to the throne following the death of his mother. In association with Seattle Repertory Theatre and San Franciscos American Conservatory Theater. Through March 12.
SIGNATURE THEATRE
4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. 703/820-9771; signature-theatre.org
Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, starring Emmy and Tony winner Debra Monk, is based on the real-life story of Elva Miller. Through March 26. MAX Theatre.
Midwestern Gothic tells the story of a small town and a young girl whose wild and twisted imagination drives her to create more and more bizarre diversions. March 14 to April 30. ARK Theatre.
STAGE DOOR PRODUCTIONS
Kitt Creative Studios, 810 Caroline St., third floor. stagedoorproductions.org
Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. PG-13 for mature themes. March 3-4. $10-$15.
VIRGINIA OPERA
George Mason Universitys Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. 888/945-2468; cfa.gmu.edu.
Giacomo Puccinis Turandot is an epic tale of revenge, power and love based on the ancient fable set in imperial China. March 25-26.
VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE
Hanover Tavern, 13181 Hanover Courthouse Road, Hanover. 804/282-2620; va-rep.org
Dancing Lessons, about an awkward professor with Aspergers Syndrome who seeks lessons from his neighbor, an out-of-commission Broadway dancer. Through March 26. $28-$38.
Theater Gym, 114 W. Broad St., Richmond. 804/282-2620; va-rep.org
Violet tells the story of a young facially scarred womans quest for beauty amidst the image-obsessed landscape of the 1960s. Through March 11. Recommended for ages 13 and up. Contains adult language. $20-$35.
The 19th centurys early years may seem a long ways off. Two centuries ago, in fact, if youre talking about the year President James Monroe was sworn into office.
But issues that concerned Monroe, once a Fredericksburg resident, still vex his countrymen. Then as now, education, an informed electorate and the power of party politics dominate discussions.
This Saturday at 11 a.m., those connections may grow more clear as the James Monroe Museum re-creates the fifth U.S. presidents inauguration, on the University of Mary Washingtons Fredericksburg campus.
The steps of UMWs Monroe Hall will stand in for Washingtons Old Brick Capitol (now site of the U.S. Supreme Court), where the ceremony took place on March 4, 1817, ushering in the Era of Good Feelings. Monroes swearing-in was the first presidential inaugural to be held outdoors. The temporary D.C. structure housed Congress while the U.S. Capitol was being rebuilt after British troops torched it during the War of 1812.
The Historical Trumpets and Flutes of the Armys Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps will kick off the event with a half-hour concert featuring music of Monroes era, and also play two tunes during the inaugural ceremony.
The corps is part of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), stationed at Fort Myer in Northern Virginia. Its musicians recall the days of the American Revolution, performing in uniforms patterned after those worn by the musicians of Gen. George Washingtons Continental Army.
The presidential partyincluding President-elect Monroe, his wife Elizabeth Monroe, Chief Justice John Marshall, President James Madison and first lady Dolley Madisonwill arrive by horse and carriage. An 1812-era color guard and historical interpreters from a variety of military companies will help create the scene as it happened. Marshall, a Virginian who was Monroes longtime friend and occasional political adversary, will administer the oath of office. Fredericksburg Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw and other local and state politicians will offer greetings.
The public is invited to Saturdays free event, which UMW will livestream on the internet. A reception will follow.
Monroe Hall has a few parking spaces. For other on-campus parking, see umw.edu/visitors. Details? Call the museum at 540/654-1043.
A Culpeper County school bus driver has been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery after being accused of striking the arm of a 12-year-old girl.
According to the Sheriffs Office, the driver told investigators he responded after the student pinched his arm and moved toward him again. Sheriff Scott Jenkins said the 59-year-old man told investigators that he was frustrated that day.
The driver, who was not required to post bond, is scheduled to make his first court appearance March 8.
He has been suspended from his duties pending the outcome of the incident, according to school system spokeswoman Pearl Jamison.
Four Cuban immigrants living in Florida have been arrested and charged with being part of a credit card skimming operation in Louisa County, according to the Sheriffs Office.
The suspects are accused of using skimmers to obtain credit card information from numerous victims at the Elk Creek Store and New Bridge Market in Louisa County, along with other possible locations, between Dec. 14 and Dec. 18, according to a Louisa Sheriffs Office release. A skimmer is a device implanted on debit and credit card reading machines that allow criminals to obtain account information.
The illegally obtained credit card information was used to charge some $18,000 in merchandise in Louisa, authorities said. The release said locations in Fredericksburg, Richmond, Fairfax and Maryland were also affected.
The Sheriffs Office charged Breisys Martinez, 23; Yesenia RodriguezLopez, 21; Braya Hernandez, 32; and Julio MarquezFranco, 29. Each suspect faces 14 charges of credit card fraud, possession of credit card numbers and credit card forgery.
The suspects are legal immigrants from Cuba who were living in Hialeah, Fla. The Sheriffs Office said they had traveled back to their native country, but were arrested last week by officers with the Miami-Dade Police Department upon returning to Florida. All four are currently in the process of being extradited to Virginia to stand trial.
The Sheriffs Office has identified fewer than 10 victims so far, but believes there may be other cases that have not yet been reported. Anyone who may be a victim can contact the sheriffs office at 540/967-1234.
It has been 21 years since a graduate student vanished from a Culpeper County roadside, a mysterious abduction and murder case that remains unsolved.
But the Virginia State Police said in a release on the anniversary of that crime Thursday that investigators continue to pursue the killer of 25-year-old Alicia Showalter Reynolds, whose body was found two months after her disappearance buried in a remote area of Lignum that had been recently cleared of trees.
Reynolds white Mercury Tracer was found abandoned alongside southbound U.S. 29 about five miles south of the town of Culpeper the day of her disappearance. She had been on her way from Baltimore to Charlottesville to meet her mother for a shopping trip.
Some suspect the Johns Hopkins University graduate student was a victim of the Route 29 Stalker, a man who used a car-trouble ruse to lure women into his vehicle, described as a dark-colored pickup.
Reynolds was last seen getting into a dark pickup, possibly a green Nissan, with a man. Witnesses described the man as white, between 35 and 45 years old, with a medium build and brown hair. Reynolds credit card was found later in the town of Culpeper. A parka she wore was later found in Madison County.
The state police said in its release that investigators have received 10,189 leads in the case.
In the release, the state police said they remain hopeful that this case will come to a successful resolution and continue to encourage the public to come forward with any information related to the investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police toll-free at 800/572-2260, or the Bureau of Criminal Investigation toll-free at 888/300-0156, or by email at bci-culpeper@vsp.virginia.gov.
Dequandry Q Howard told a Stafford jury Wednesday the same thing he told a county detective last year on the day his uncle, 33-year-old William Maurice Moe Scott, was killed.
He said he saw Chancellor Chop Tolliver fire a single shot into Scotts chest outside the Garrison Woods apartment complex.
Howards eyewitness account is the only direct evidence linking Tolliver to the Feb. 7, 2016, slaying. Tolliver, 20, is charged with first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Tollivers trial in Stafford Circuit Court is expected to wrap up today, the third day of the trial. Closing arguments are expected this morning before the case goes to the jury for deliberations.
According to witnesses, Tolliver was upset that morning because someone had broken into his home on Onville Road and taken money and other property. Howard said he was at Tollivers home early that morning after he learned about the burglary and saw him walk outside with a gun in his hand.
Moments later, shots were fired that led to multiple calls to the Stafford Sheriffs Office. No one was struck at that point.
Later in the morning, Howard said, Tolliver went to several residences, making what Howard described as police knocks on doors. Howard said Tolliver had mentioned three possible suspects, including Scott, in the break-in.
Police said there was no evidence linking Scott to the burglary.
Scott was outside of his home when Tolliver approached him. Howard said he heard the two men exchange words just before the shooting, but couldnt hear what was being said. He said he then watched Tolliver fire a shot and run off.
The bullet entered Scotts upper chest area and damaged a number of internal organs, including his heart and both lungs.
The murder weapon was never recovered, but prosecutors Amy Casey and George Elsasser put on evidence showing that the bullet fragments recovered from Scotts body matched shell casings found at the scene and outside Tollivers residence.
Defense attorney Kristin Kadar targeted what she described as inconsistent statements made by Howard, including those regarding which way the gunman ran after shooting Scott.
Asked by Kadar why he didnt name Tolliver when he called 911, Howard said, I was just mad. I was going off.
Much of Wednesdays testimony centered on a 70-minute taped interview Tolliver had with Detective Todd Nosal after turning himself in later that day. Tolliver made no incriminating statements during the interview and denied even being in Garrison Woods at the time of the shooting. He claimed he didnt own a gun.
Tolliver, who was living with Scotts cousin at the time, told Nosal that he and Scott were on friendly terms and that no one deserves to die like that.
Nosal testified that Tolliver was jovial during the interview and laughed through much of it. He said Scott was asking almost as many questions as he was asked.
It was a cat-and-mouse game in which both of us were trying to be the cat, Nosal said.
The Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg hopes to start a conversation about the impact of racism in the United States and what Christians should do.
The issue of racism has made local headlines in recent weeks with white-supremacist flyers found in Spotsylvania County neighborhoods and in front of campus housing at the University of Mary Washington. The church will host a four-week forum that examines the question: "How is the church called to respond?"
The forum will have a different speaker each Sunday this month from 9:4510:45 a.m., discussing racism from personal experience and what the movement for racial justice looks like. The church's pastor, The Rev. Allen Fisher Jr., will speak during the first forum, held March 5. On March 12, Stafford attorney Alda White will speak, followed by The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins on March 19.
Hawkins is the director of the Office of Public Witness, based in D.C., for The Presbyterian Mission Agency. The agency advocates for social issues to Congress on behalf of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
Michael Ransome of Northumberland County first heard about the forum from his friend, Rev. Charles Sydnor, former rector of St. George's Episcopal Church. Both Ransome and Sydnor will speak March 26.
Ransome, who is African-American, is no stranger to difficult conversations, having led a discussion about white privilege at the Northumberland Public Library last year. He dispels some of the misconceptions, including that it is limited to material benefits. Instead, Ransome describes white privilege as the fact that whites are better represented and shown in a more favorable light than AfricanAmerican people.
For example, Ransome notes that as a child, a picture of Jesus that hung on the wall portrayed Christ as European. For Ransome, that was at odds with the teaching that he was created in God's image.
The church can be a powerful voice in a community, particularly acknowledging and understanding race issues, he said.
"When the church is open to speaking about social justice issues, it is a positive thing." Ransome said. "It is very difficult to love one another without first understanding each other."
Though the conversations can be uncomfortable, Ransome said an open discussion about racism and prejudice, particularly in the church, can allow people to better understand one another, leading to greater love and respect.
"I think it is quite essential to understand each other," Ransome said. "Ultimately, you want love to be the result."
The Rev. Brittany Tamminga, associate pastor of The Presbyterian Church, said the forum came about because the congregation believes racism is an affront to the gospel of Jesus Christ. She hopes that members of the church and wider community may "understand the ways in which we, even unknowingly, participate in and benefit from the unjust systems that have led to the marginalization and suffering of our black and brown sisters and brothers."
Tamminga acknowledged that conversations about race can often be tense, but hopes the discussion about racial issues and justice in the congregation will continue in the wider community long after the forums have ended.
"Our hope is that this will not be the end of a conversation," Tamminga said, "but the beginning of one that will ultimately transform lives and perpetuate values that will affect both church and society in a positive way."
Teenage pages in the House of Delegates debated a controversial topic near the end of this years General Assembly session.
The question was something the lawmakers themselves didnt touch: Whether to remove the Capitol Square statue of former governor and U.S. Sen. Harry Flood Byrd Sr. because of his fight against school integration.
The pages, who must be age 13 or 14 by the time the General Assembly session starts, held a mock legislative session on a series of bills a week ago.
Page Matthew Kenney of Fluvanna County sponsored the resolution calling for removal of the Byrd statue and opened with a scathing review of one of Virginias most historic figures.
The issue was not partisan, he said, but one of right and wrong.
Byrd was known as one of the biggest segregationists of his time and in Virginia history, he said. Byrd very strongly opposed the integration of public schools. Harry Flood Byrd then created the political tactic Massive Resistance. It began to infect and corrupt the legislature, most of the Democratic Party.
The policy led to the closure of several public school systems in Virginia in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Kenney said.
African-American Virginians were denied the right to an education, he said, and many who are still alive are known as the lost generation.
Byrd has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life, liberty and the rights of people who never offended him.
Kenney quoted Byrds response to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that outlawed segregated schools: If we can organize the Southern States for massive resistance to this order I think that in time the rest of the country will realize that racial integration is not going to be accepted in the South.
This is what still stands outside our Capitol, said Kenney, whose father, Shaun Kenney, is a previous executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.
The debate was timely. Cities such as Charlottesville and Portsmouth have recently taken a fresh look at Confederate monuments and debated whether to move them from prominent locations; the Charlottesville City Council recently voted to relocate a statue of Robert E. Lee; a symposium on the issue was held in Richmond last weekend.
Byrd died in 1966. The bronze Byrd statue was unveiled in 1976, paid for with private money.
Byrd and his family are key figures in Virginia history. From 1923 to 1965 Byrd ran a political organization in Virginia selecting governors (in what was then a one-party Democratic state), influencing legislation and imposing conservative economic and social policies on the state, Byrd biographer Ronald L. Heinemann wrote in 2013. He had a very successful governorship in the 1920s, reorganizing state government and taxation, building highways and encouraging industrial growth and tourism. Virginias historical road markers originated with Byrd.
Other pages brought that up during the debate, which unfolded as the teenagers swiveled in the chairs normally used by elected delegates.
This gentleman only states the bad stuff he did, not the good stuff, such as pay as you go, which created many of the modern-day toll roads in Virginia, said page Charles Byrd of Fredericksburg. His mother, Vanessa Byrd, later said her son is a very distant relative of Harry Flood Byrd Sr.
By removing this statue, I think youre removing a figure of history, Charles Byrd said.
Look at George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. They all had slaves. They were racist. Youve got to understand that we were in the Southern states. We were the Confederates, he said. He urged a no vote. The line drew applause.
Sarah Warren, a page from Charlottesville, said removal of the statue would mean the use of taxpayer money to remove something that was built with private funds. She agreed that many great people in history had done bad things.
If we tear down the statue, where does it end? she said. Will we tear down the statue of anyone who has ever done something bad?
Kenney responded: You can still read about Harry Flood Byrd in a history book.
He also said private donations could be raised to pay for removal of the statue and his resolution focused only on the Byrd statue.
Audrey Anikeeff, a page from McLean, thought the resolution sounded like removal of history.
This man did what he thought was in the best interests for his people, she said. Its just a statue, she said, not something that affects peoples lives.
Kenneys resolution to remove the statue failed. Twenty-nine pages voted no, six voted yes and one voted Rule 69 vote, which lawmakers use when they have a personal interest in legislation.
Jay Pearson, the House of Delegates administrative employee who supervises the page program, said the mock debate gives the middle schoolers the chance to write their own legislation about what theyre interested in. He edits the legislation, which then goes to committees, which meet, with deadlines.
By the time we have the mock debate, all of them have had the opportunity to work in the chamber. So theyre listening to the delegates, he said. Theyll know how to yield to questions and that kind of thing.
Karen Kirkwood stood by her daughters side nearly a year ago and made a decision that continues to rip her apart.
Jaimee Kirkwood Reese, a 32-year-old mother of two, was lying motionless and connected to tubes in a hospital bed in Newport News on March 5, 2016.
The previous day, Reese, a recovering opioid addict who had been through open-heart surgery, suffered a stroke in her cell at Northern Neck Regional Jail.
More than 11 hours elapsed before she was admitted to a hospital, according to a $46 million wrongful death lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court that claims the jail staff never gave her the heart medications she was prescribed.
By then, it was too late. Reeses brain was dead, and Kirkwood, who had rushed to Riverside Regional Medical Center from her home in Maryland, was faced with deciding to turn off the machines keeping her daughter alive.
It was difficult for Kirkwood to talk about the loss of her only child when interviewed by phone from her home Tuesday. Her sister, Cheryl Emery, who traveled with Kirkwood to the hospital to see Reese, spoke on her behalf.
This should never have happened, Emery said. It just doesnt make sense, and it has affected so many people.
The lawsuit, filed in the Richmond division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, claims the jails correctional officers and medical staff failed to care properly for Reese.
The lawsuit was filed by Dorothy Ann Thompson, a relative and administrator of Reeses estate, against five correctional officers and a nurse who worked at Northern Neck Regional Jail.
This lawsuit underscores three problems that have become all too common and pervasive throughout the commonwealth: The worsening epidemic of opioid addiction, the warehousing in jails of individuals recovering from substance abuse and other nonviolent behavioral disorders, and the substandard medical care that is being administered on a daily basis to those in the states regional jails and lockups, said Mark D. Dix, Thompsons attorney, who is with the law firm Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner.
At the time of Reeses death, the jail housed inmates from Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties and the town of Warsaw. Reese was the third inmate to die at the jail since 2011, according to state records.
Reached Wednesday, jail Superintendent Ted Hull said he could not discuss many of the facts in the case because of the lawsuit, which had not been filed at the time.
He confirmed that Reese arrived at the jail with a chronic condition that she had an episode related to the condition, and that she died in a hospital.
Reeses death was reviewed internally, Hull said, but he declined to release the results of the review to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. No policies or procedures were changed as a result, he said.
The Bureau of Criminal Investigation of the Virginia State Police performs an investigation if an inmate death is unattended, which means outside a formal medical environment, like a hospital with an attending physician and/or medical staff, Hull said.
Since Reese died at the hospital, state police investigators were not contacted.
Local and regional jails in Virginia historically have policed themselves, but starting in July, the Virginia Board of Corrections will review deaths in jails to determine whether policies and procedures were followed properly.
The General Assembly recently decided to overhaul the board and give it the authority and resources to review deaths after an outcry over the suspicious death of Jamycheal Mitchell at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth in August 2015.
Mitchell, who was mentally ill, essentially starved to death waiting for a transfer to a state mental hospital.
The quality of physical and mental health care provided in jails has come under scrutiny, particularly at Hampton Roads Regional Jail, where the U.S. Department of Justice initiated an investigation last year. That jail contracts with a private company to provide health care to inmates.
Northern Neck Regional Jail, where Reese was housed, provides health care services on its own, Dix said.
Reese was taken to the jail Feb. 19, 2016, to serve a one-year sentence after she was convicted on drug charges.
Emery said Reese was a loving daughter, mother and niece, but she wound up getting involved with a man who got her hooked on drugs a few years before her death. She never had been in trouble with the law before she became addicted, Emery said.
When Reese was arrested, Emery urged her to face what she had done and accept the time in jail, Emery said. She and Kirkwood believed Reese would clean up her act behind bars and emerge as the devoted mother she once had been.
They never expected shed die within weeks of arriving.
Through Dix, her Richmond-based attorney, Thompson alleges the jails staff failed to obtain essential medical records that would have listed the medications Reese was taking after her open-heart surgery five months earlier and leg surgery two months after her heart surgery.
She had been taking three medicines to lower her blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, but she never was given any of the medications in jail, according to the lawsuit.
Court records show Reese signed documents Feb. 22, 2016, to allow the jail to obtain her medical records from the hospital where she had heart surgery. No releases were signed for the hospital where she had leg surgery.
No one at the jail attempted to get her medical records until after her death, according to the lawsuit, and neither the jails head physician nor nursing supervisor saw her for an evaluation.
Before 7 a.m. on March 4, a fellow inmate told corrections officers that Reese was unresponsive in her bunk, the lawsuit said. She had vomited on herself and had lost control of her bowels.
Instead of being taken to the hospital, Reese was taken by stretcher to a cell for medical observation, where she stayed for hours. Her vital signs were not taken until 2:27 p.m., according to the lawsuit, at which point it was noted that she could not hold her head up or stand on her own.
Still, she was kept in the cell for hours. Corrections officers drove her to Riverside Tappahannock Hospital, where she was admitted at 6:18 p.m., according to hospital records included in the lawsuit.
A brain scan confirmed she had suffered a stroke, and she was transferred to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News. The physician on duty determined she would not survive.
By 2:30 p.m. March 5, her brain stem had died.
She looked so beautiful, like she was asleep, Emery said. Her body was getting all the oxygen she needed, but you knew she wasnt there.
Reese was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m.
The Virginia writer will speak about her best-selling book and movie. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow her talk. Shetterly grew up in Hampton, where she knew many of the women featured in her book.
NOW IS the time for Washington to get to work for Americans.
President Donald Trump struck a more optimistic vision for our nation in his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. And while acknowledging significant division, he called on Republican and Democratic lawmakers to end trivial fights and small thinking to bring changes that must be made for America to thriveoverhauling the health-care system, ensuring military readiness and investing in crumbling roads, bridges, rails and airports. These are important goals for the well-being of our region, state and nation.
Obviously, to accomplish anything, the players on Capitol Hill will have to overcome deep philosophical and practical differences about the role of government. Its proper for elected officials openly debate the issues that define America. It wont be easy.
The president spoke broadly on pressing forward with issues that led to his electoral victory such as new trade deals, job creation and enforcing immigration laws, but the speechs more positive tone may prove to be the pivotal moment that many have waited to hear.
Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justicein an unbroken chain all the way down to the present, he said. That torch is now in our hands. And we will use it to light up the world. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart.
Indeed, in the hour-plus-long address, Trump steered away from attacking political opponents and brightened his often dark, foreboding view of America. Instead, he charged lawmakers to work with him for the people. The president called on the Republican majority and Democrats in Congress to join forces to finally get the job done.
The partisan gridlock during the past six years has kept Congress from reforming the Affordable Care Act, brought us sequestration budget cuts that have harmed our national defense, and put off meaningful reforms in the tax laws.
Trumps speech offered scant details on how to achieve its many goals and how to pay for them without blowing up the national debt, but the address could represent a restart for his administration, which has had a tumultuous first five weeks.
Republicans worried about their fiery, populist party head were soothed by his opening remarks acknowledging Black History Month and condemning threats against and vandalism of Jewish community centers and cemeteries. While we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms, he said. The same anti-hate message could be extended to Muslim houses of worship in America that have been defaced.
Trump also honored the widow of Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens, who was killed in a recent raid in Yemen. That moment offered a powerful message of unity as those assembled in the House chamber gave Carryn Owens a standing ovation that lasted more than two minutes.
Our differences are deep and many, but its important to realize that were all in this together.
House candidate reflects GOP values
At the Stafford GOP Committee meeting, I recently heard a talk by Republican candidate for Virginias 2nd House District, Laquan Austion. Within seconds of meeting him, one can tell he is exactly what the Republican Party has needed for years. Laquans life is the perfect embodiment of what Republicans believe in.
He tells this inspiring story of being homeless as a child, being the first one in his family to go to college and then finally purchasing his first home. Through all of Laquans achievements, he credits his hard work and the free market that provided opportunities that no government handout could.
Now, Laquan is committed to giving back to his community and making sure others have the same opportunities as he did. He is a candidate that all voters can get behind, supporting his common-sense solutions to help families in Virginia.
Adam Washington
Stafford
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The fall armyworm, less commonly known as Spodoptera frugiperda, was first detected on the African continent in Nigeria last January. One year on and it has made the 3,700-mile journey to us in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
It is not known exactly how this pest arrived in Africa, but it is suspected it was inadvertently introduced via ship or aeroplane from the Americas.
While its point of entry is unknown, its devastation to crops in western Africa was very quickly observed. A few months ago it reached Malawi in Zambia and then Zimbabwe, with devastating consequences.
See also: Read more from our Arable Farmer Focus writers
It is estimated that Zambia has lost 40% of its maize crop to this pest. This is particularly devastating as maize is a staple food across much of Africa.
This pest is difficult to control for several reasons. While the worm loves young maize, it will eat almost anything green. It has a very quick life cycle 30 days in warm climates.
The moths are strong fliers that can cover large distances and the larvae are resistant to the older insecticide groups. They bore themselves into the maize plant, plugging their entry hole with faeces and plant gum, making it almost impossible for an insecticide to reach them.
African armyworm
In South Africa, we are not totally unaccustomed to armyworm invasions. The African armyworm has attacked from time to time, usually after prolonged droughts.
I can remember my father battling an attack in the 1980s. I dont know if it is just coincidence, but this new armyworm invasion also arrived after a prolonged drought.
In my district so far the pest has only been observed in younger maize plants. My maize is older and few weeks from physiological maturity.
I have sprayed all my maize and soya crops with a later-generation insecticide to control other worm species. I am hoping it will also hold off the armyworms.
The African armyworm seems to come and then go for several decades. I am hoping this fall armyworm invasion will just be a one-off event.
Bruce Shepherd farms in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He plants 500ha of rain-fed summer crops across 3,000ha. He also runs 2,600 weaner oxen on pastures, finishing them in a feedlot with maize grown on the farm.
Story Highlights 37% say U.S. spends too little on defense; 31% say too much
62% of Republicans, 15% of Democrats say too little spent on defense
Americans divided on U.S. military strength
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In contrast to President Donald Trump's call for a massive increase in U.S. military spending, most Americans believe the country currently spends either the right amount (28%) or too much (31%) on national defense. Thirty-seven percent believe it spends too little.
Still, slightly more Americans say the U.S. spends too little on defense than say it spends too much. This has happened somewhat infrequently in Gallup's trend since 1969. All of the instances in which "spends too little" has exceeded "spends too much" have come just before, or just after, a Republican presidential administration has replaced a Democratic one. Before the 2016 presidential campaign, the last time that Americans were more likely to say "too little" than to say "too much" was 2000-2002, spanning the 2000 election as well as the aftermath of 9/11.
The percentage saying "too little" also exceeded the percentage saying "too much" when Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, after campaigning on a pledge to rebuild the military. At that time, half of Americans thought there was too little defense spending, the highest in Gallup's trend since 1969. Only 15% thought there was too much -- the all-time low.
The latest findings from Gallup's Feb. 1-5 World Affairs poll come as President Trump proposes a $54 billion increase in military spending in his first federal budget plan. While Trump's position on defense echoes Reagan's, the percentage of Americans saying the U.S. spends too little on defense is lower now than during Reagan's first month in office. This may be related to fatigue from a continuing war in Afghanistan and the recent Iraq War.
The view that the U.S. spends too much on the military reached 50% or more during the Vietnam War era of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as in 1990, after the end of the Cold War and an extensive military buildup under President Reagan.
Partisan Divide Persists in Views of Defense Spending
While 62% of Republicans say the U.S. spends too little on defense, 15% of Democrats hold that view. Though this sentiment has increased among both major party groups since 2012, it is up 20 percentage points among Republicans and five points among Democrats -- despite a slight dip for both parties in 2017.
Americans Split on Military Strength
Gallup also asks Americans to assess the nation's military strength. Forty-five percent say the national defense is not strong enough, while 43% say it is "about right" and another 11% believe it is stronger than it needs to be. These views are consistent with beliefs about military strength in each of the past two years. Before 2015, significantly more said military strength was "about right" than said it was not strong enough.
"About right" is often the dominant choice on this question, in times of peace and war. The highest sentiment of "about right" occurred in January 1990 at a time of relative peace and after an unprecedented military buildup. That year, 64% said the nation's defense was "about right," as opposed to 17% calling it "not strong enough" and 16% saying "stronger than it needs to be."
Bottom Line
President Trump's view that the military should be strengthened may find an appreciative audience with the public in some respects, as Americans consistently think highly of the U.S. military.
But Trump may face some resistance to increased defense spending from those wary of the continuing war in Afghanistan and the recent war in Iraq. While views have wavered some over the past two years, Americans do not express a clear preference for an increase in defense spending, although that is the preference of Trump's GOP base. Overall, about six in 10 Americans say military spending is either too much or about right.
Interestingly, more Americans say the country's defense is not strong enough (45%) than say the U.S. spends too little on defense (37%). Similarly, more say the government spends too much (31%) than say the nation's defense is too strong (11%). These discrepancies might indicate that Americans believe more can be done with less.
Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Story Highlights 36% of watchers more confident in Trump after speech; 11% less confident
Almost six in 10 rated the speech as excellent or good
Speech watchers were disproportionately Republican
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night had a positive effect on many of those who watched it or read news coverage about it later. Almost six in 10 of this group rated the address as excellent or good, and more than one in three said it made them more confident in Trump's abilities to carry out his duties as president.
Ratings of President Trump's Speech to Joint Session of Congress Based on what you have heard or read, how would you rate Donald Trump's speech? Would you rate it as -- excellent, good, just OK, poor or terrible? Excellent Good Just OK Poor Terrible No opinion % % % % % % 2017 Mar 1 34 23 25 7 9 2 Asked of U.S. adults who watched speech or saw, read, or heard news coverage of the speech Gallup, March 1, 2017
Impact of President Trump's Speech to Joint Session of Congress Based on what you have heard or read about the speech, are you now more confident in Donald Trump's abilities to carry out his duties as president, less confident or has there been no change? More confident Less confident No change % % % 2017 Mar 1 36 11 53 Asked of U.S. adults who watched speech or saw, read, or heard news coverage of the speech Gallup, March 1, 2017
These results are based on a sample of 504 Americans interviewed Wednesday, March 1. Forty-two percent said they watched Trump's speech live and another 30% saw, read or heard news coverage of the speech later.
The percentage of Americans who report watching Trump's speech live or reading news coverage of it after the fact is similar to what Gallup found after Barack Obama's first speech to Congress in February 2009. Nielsen television ratings for this year's speech showed 48 million viewers tuned in live for Trump's speech, slightly lower than the 52 million viewers for Obama's 2009 speech.
As is typically the case for these types of presidential addresses to Congress, those who watch are disproportionately likely to identify with the president's party. In this case, over half of those interviewed Wednesday night who watched or read news reports were Republicans. Looked at differently, 85% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they either watched live or read news reports about the speech, contrasted with 68% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
Therefore, the positive reactions to Trump's address among speech watchers partly indicate Trump was successful in reaching out to and reinforcing his base. Trump's efforts to shift Democrats' views in a more positive direction, on the other hand, do not appear to have been successful. A scant 5% of Democrats said they became more confident in Trump's abilities as president after the speech, with 15% saying they are less confident and 80% saying it made no difference. By contrast, six in 10 Republicans said the speech made them more confident.
A larger number of Democrats who watched were lukewarm about the speech rather than negative. Forty-five percent of Democrats said it was "just OK," 34% rated it poor or terrible, and 21% gave it an excellent or good rating. Republicans, not unexpectedly, were mostly positive about Trump's speech, with 89% rating it excellent or good.
The Wednesday night survey also asked speech watchers and those who saw or read news reports of the speech if they support or oppose the proposals Trump made in his speech. Almost all Republicans said they support the proposals. The majority of Democrats said they oppose them, with 22% saying they support them.
Bottom Line
Trump received generally positive reviews from the press for his inaugural address to Congress, particularly for his tone and more presidential demeanor. Those who watched the speech seem to be in general agreement. Speech watchers skewed Republican, so to some degree this positive reaction reflects the friendly nature of Trump's audience.
Democrats who watched were not necessarily hostile in their reactions, but rather were most likely to say that the speech was just OK and that it made no difference in their views of Trump as president -- views that of course were strongly negative to begin with.
It's unusual for a single speech to make a major difference in how the public views a president. In this instance, news coverage the day after the speech was focused on reports of contact between Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russia before the election, underscoring how real-world events can overtake the immediate impact of speeches in the news cycle.
It's too early to know now if the speech will have a significant impact on Trump's approval ratings going forward, but the record to date suggests that it may take a lot to shift views of Trump in a major way. Gallup analysis shows that Americans' attitudes about Trump -- both pro and con -- are unusually strongly held, and Trump's job approval has been generally stable, with his weekly average ranging narrowly between 40% and 43% in the last four weeks.
Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Explore President Trump's approval ratings in depth and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.
This week it's GDC week, the "largest professional game developers conference" where the industry comes together to talk about games, games and games. I'm sure it's an awesome experience for most people, and I'm sure you can meet a lot of great people at a conference like this.
I'm a professional game developer since 2004, I've never been there.. and that's okay.
(this is a blog pos from my weekly indie-business series over at the Orangepixel blog)
The business point of view
I understand the advantages a big conference like that can have from the business perspective. You can meet with publishers, you can talk to journalists and influencers. You can hang out with other cool indie developers and create a mutual respect that way so that when you release your new game these guys can help you influence their audience to also look at your game.
But at what cost? I mean that literally, the costs. The GDC tickets start at $299 and go all the way up to $1900, and that's only if you are amongst the early ones. If you are slightly late to get your tickets, it can run up to $2300 for the all access pass. Granted, you most likely don't need the all access pass, but even at the middle tier we're talking about $1000 per ticket.
That's just the ticket! We still need to get there, and we need to sleep and eat somewhere for those days. From Europe, a quick check at CheapTickets, reveals that a plane ticket is in the range of $1300-$2000. That's excluding the trip to the airport which at this point seems like minor travel fare.
At this point we're at $2300-$3000 and we still can't actually sleep, eat or drink when we get there. As for Hotels, from what I read, most of them are full or extremely expensive during this week, let's say we add another $1000 for a few nights ($200 per night). Sure there are probably cheaper solutions, crashing on someones couch, hostels, things like that.. now I don't know about you, but I'm not 20 or even 30 anymore: my back needs a good rest!
This is all excluding the trips from airport to hotel to conferences!
Being a "small" indie-developer, I can't justify spending at least $4000+ for a week, where I might or most likely might not, get coverage for my latest game or meet people that in some meaningful way make me recoup that amount.
So you might not opt to spend the 2+ month-wages (depending on your locale).. and that's okay!
From a personal point of view
I don't like large groups of people. So there is nothing even remotely attractive of hearing about a conference with 27.000+ people attending. Holy shit. no thank you.
Like most developers, I'm somewhat of an introvert. not shy. introvert. Being in the middle of a group of people I don't know doesn't bring out the best in me. I shut down and I look for ways to get out. I can talk and have fun with a group of people I know, and don't shy away from talking to people when in the mood for it. But being in the middle of a crowd, is not my thing.
On top of that there is all the noises, and the visuals that come at things like this. My brain would go into over-drive processing all of that for many hours into the night. I always had this problem, even in long train rides, at the end of those I'm extremely tired as my brain keeps replaying snippets of things I heard or saw. Not even sure that's a normal thing or not, but it happens to me!
Nothing about a conference like that lures me, not on a personal level and not on a business level.
And that's okay
Don't worry if you can't be there, it's okay, really it is. You are saving a lot of money, you can read up on all the big announcements online, and you get to work on your game!
I've seen multiple (starting) developers put a lot of money into GDC or PAX so they can showcase their game.. they had very few sales when they released, and aren't even close to recouping just the conference tickets. Even tho they met people, they made contacts with influencers.
Over the years I made a lot of great contacts; and I met them online only. Using social media, via email, even using linked-in! I never met most of them, I most likely never will, and it's okay! I'd like to think that my games do the talking for me.
The big indie games that are suddenly getting mentions during GDC? guess what, they would have had those mentions anyway because their game is just that awesome or pushed by a publisher. It has nothing to do with being there, they often time their PR and promotion to be in the same week which makes it seem like they are everywhere. Mostly because they have been working towards the GDC or PAX events.
Of course some face-to-face contacts with influencers could help you when you need to reach out to them to promote your new game that's about to release, and they might remember you from one of the thousands of developers they once met in that after party with all that alcohol after a long day of walking around a crowded conference. I guess that happens?
If you have a game that's really, really, REALLY awesome, then you don't need GDC, you just need to mail people showing them video or handing them a copy and they will gladly talk about your game.
If you don't have a game that's THAT awesome, you don't need GDC, you just save your time and money and make the next game.
it's okay!
Game developers who want to get their games on the soon-to-launch Nintendo Switch should be prepared for a strict submission process, at least here in the consoles early days.
Damon Baker, head of partner management at Nintendo of America and self-professed indie dev advocate told Gamasutra that selectivity is the key word right now in terms of partnerships with smaller devs, which is his area of focus.
The bigger difference between the launch of Wii U and the launch of Switch is that we realized with the Wii U, it was more of a quantity over quality mentality, he said. It was more about lets get as much content out there as possible.
He recalled that Nintendo had said itd bring 50 titles out in the Wii Us first three months, but the actual number ended up being 32 titles at launch with hardly any follow-up.
That drought of Wii U titles was also related to the fact that developers didnt quite get what Wii U was supposed to be.
We also had a bunch of experimentation going on with the [Wii U] hardware, he said. There were a ton of really cool features with Wii U, but no one really knew which one they were supposed to latch onto, or which one theyre supposed to sink their teeth into.
"There were a ton of really cool features with Wii U, but no one really knew which won they were supposed to latch onto."
In the end, the defining feature was off-TV mode, he said about Wii Us ability to play games on the tablet controller.
With the Switch, Baker plans a carefully curated indie developer lineup that will provide a constant stream of games. It's an interesting strategy, one that was similarly used at the start of PlayStation 4's life, when indie games helped fill a gap left by big-budget titles.
At a Nintendo indies (aptly-dubbed Nindies) event at Game Developers Conference, the company showed off over a dozen games, all seeming high-quality and on their way to final polishing. Steamworld Dig 2 from Image & Form was on hand, along with Mr. Shifty from Team Shifty, Shakedown Hawaii from Vblank, and Pocket Rumble from Cardboard Robot games among other titles. (There were a lot of nice chunky pixels in the room.)
With the Switch, Nintendo wanted to make sure that the messaging for the console was crystal clear within Nintendo itself, with developer and publishing partners, and with consumers. Baker said the announcement videos over the past few months have been successful in communicating that the Switch is about flexibility in playing games, no matter where you might be at home or away from home.
Having a corporate understanding of what it is that defines the system what is the niche is what its all about, he said. I think this time around we had a much better understanding of what were trying to achieve with the Switch vs. Wii U.
First and foremost that this is a console experience that you take on the go, he said. [Also] weve got multiplayer baked into the box and are really emphasizing the fun of multiplayer experiences, the fun of playing games with other people. And theres the portability the fact that you can take this on the go. Just with those elements, even without having to explain the system itself, we can explain those pillars being important to us.
Baker said those pillars for Switch games are also shared with first-party titles. By establishing those pillars early on, Nintendo was able to communicate what Switch was all about, even before early Switch devs had any hardware.
We were able to give them a running start, he said. Currently, Baker and his team is evaluating which games would be a good fit for Switch.
Right now we are being very selective about who were letting into the development environment, and through our portal, he said. Whereas with the Wii U and 3DS, we opened that up to everybody. I think our mentality was to cast that big net, [but] youd never know when the next great piece of content was coming, or where it was gonna come from, or where it was going to permeate.
This time around, were going to be a lot more conservative, Baker said. We dont want to open up the floodgates quite yet.
"This time around, were going to be a lot more conservative. We dont want to open up the floodgates quite yet."
Baker realizes theres a lot of interest among developers, but suggested that Nintendo is generally more interested in games that havent been on other consoles yet, here in the early stages of Switch.
We want to honor our fans by making sure weve got original content, that were forward-looking rather than backwards, he said. Thats not to say that there arent ports or other great content that have come out in the past couple or few years that wouldnt work perfect on Switch. Its just not a priority for right now.
That said, there are still Switch games that have been on or announced for PC, and some that were just recently on other consoles such as Stardew Valley by ConcernedApe.
Part of Nintendos Switch indie strategy is to partner with smaller, high-quality publishers. Baker said Nintendo is working with smaller independent publishers like Chucklefish, Team17, and Devolver Digital as the company gets more bang for its buck in terms of developer relationships.
In other words, Nintendo can work closely with an individual publisher, evaluate the publishers multi-game portfolio which has already been vetted and partner with multiple developers if their games make sense for Switch.
Weve got limited resources on our side as well, said Baker, explaining that tack. I wish we had a team of a hundred account managers that could give every single developer and publisher the attention they deserve, but were lean and mean as we always have been at Nintendo.
Even with all the talk about selectiveness, Baker stressed that Nintendo is still open to pitches, as always. I dont know if people have noticed as much, but we definitely have been attending all the developer conferences, all of the trade shows, he said. Weve been proactive in establishing relationships with developers and publishers across the board.
It hasnt happened overnight. Its taken the last few years to focus efforts there. And now were starting to see some of those relationships turn into actual products. Well continue to drive those relationships as well, but were certainly open to more content or opportunities.
Were just telling publishers and developers to reach out to us if they havent heard from us already. And if theyve got a pitch for the perfect content for Nintendo Switch, we definitely want to hear about it, said Baker.
A 14-page white paper produced by Play Pennsylvania and onlinepokerreport.com concludes that the state can rake in more than $400 million by 2022 should lawmakers legalize online gambling.
Legislators will soon open hearings to determine how expanded gambling statewide could help fill a multibillion gap in the state budget for 2017-2018.
Lawmakers will view the report with a skeptical eye because it was produced by Play Pennsylvania and onlinepokerreport.com two online gambling industry organizations that stand to gain by the legalization of Internet gambling in Pennsylvania, the Morning Call suggests .
"I view every piece of information about this skeptically because everyone has a bias in some way," said Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks, who chairs the House Gaming Oversight Committee, which will begin hearings March 7. "But I'm still interested in the report. We'll take everything into account."
"Of any state that has already legalized some form of online gambling or is actively exploring the idea, Pennsylvania represents the biggest economic upside," onlinepokerreport.com analyst Robert DellaFave.
There's no telling how much lawmakers will rely on the latest report, but there's little question they're counting on internet gambling to bolster state revenues, the Morning Call writes.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
Readers, we need your help to prove a merry Christmas for victims of domestic violence.
A state hearings officer has ruled that the city of Corvallis land-use rulings have violated state housing laws.
In a 25-page document filed Tuesday, the officer, John Bagg, concluded that city should use clear and objective standards when reviewing residential developments.
GPA1, a development company that is hoping to build on 200-plus acres in the Timberhill area, filed the "enforcement order" action before the Department of Land Conservation and Development after being frustrated by city denials of its applications.
Two issues were up for review by Bagg, who heard oral arguments Feb. 6. Bagg ruled in favor of the developers on the clear and objective standards issue, but he chose not to make a recommendation on the second issue, pertaining to city standards on hillside development.
I am unable to offer an answer on the slope standards issue, Bagg wrote. I suggest the issue is better confronted through a contest to a denial of a specific development application rather than in a proceeding such as this.
The Land Conservation and Development Commission is scheduled to review Baggs order at a March 20 meeting in Salem.
GPA1s representatives cheered Baggs order.
Dale Kern, a broker with Commercial Associates in Corvallis who is working with GPA1 on the project, said GPA1 is "grateful" for the ruling from the hearings officer and said it affirmed the developers' position. GPA1 looks forward to working with the city and moving forward with the greater Timberhill project in days ahead.
City attorney Jim Brewer said the city is carefully reviewing the proposed order. Brewer also noted that the city has until March 7 to file exceptions to Baggs order.
Exceptions will be considered as part of the commissions March 20 hearing.
It is unclear what sort of punishment or sanctions the city might face should the commission uphold Baggs order. Department of Land Conservation and Development officials have told that Gazette-Times that because the statute under which GPA1 filed its claim is new, there is no precedent to rely upon.
The Oregon Home Builders Association and 1,000 Friends of Oregon participated in the case on behalf of GPA1. The Northwest Alliance Corvallis, a community group that works on development issues in the Timberhill area, supported the city.
Article
Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy
The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
Micromax announces a range of Air Conditioners in India, price starts at Rs. 21,000 News oi -Rohit Micromax ACs range include 7 Split ACs and 1 Windows AC, will offer service support with more than 400 service centers across the country
Indian smartphone maker Micromax has extended its product portfolio with the launch of a new range of Air conditioners, to strengthen its presence in the AC market.
The company hosted a press meet in New Delhi, where Rohan Agarwal, Vice President, Consumer Electronics, Micromax Informatics Ltd. unveiled the complete line-up of ACs including seven 'Split ACs' and one 'Windows AC'. The AC range is priced between Rs. 21,000 and Rs. 35,000.
Micromax had first introduced ACs as a pilot project last year in June 2016. This time around, Micromax is going with a pan-India approach and the focus markets will be the top 10 states- Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
To serve its customers, Micromax has established a distribution network of over 4000 sales touch points that will sell the company's air-conditioners to consumers in India.
Consumer electronics market counts on a good service support and to meet the consumer's needs, Micromax says that the company has set up 400+ service centres to ensure strong after sales service support.
SEE ALSO: Is Micromax prepping a dual-lens camera smartphone?
In addition to the traditional retail touch points, the products will also be made available through leading E-commerce websites, in the months to come.
On being asked how the company will differentiate its air-conditioners from the already established players in the market, the Vice President mentioned the key differentiators for Micromax's ACs is the local innovation that the company have built as per consumer feedback.
These include 100% copper coils, two-way drainage, turbo cooling, 3-in- 1 health filters, GoldFin Technology, etc.
Rohan also mentioned that the company is also introducing the Micromax Home Assist application for our AC & TV consumers to help facilitate, raising any enquiry or complaints with faster response time to meet the consumer's needs.
Highlight Features of Micromax ACs
Talking about the new range of ACs, Micromax Air Conditioners will come with 'ECCO Blu Technology' to protect the condenser coil from humidity and moisture as well as prolongs the life of the condenser by up to three times.
The air-conditioners are also armed with added GoldFin Technology that prolongs life for both evaporator and condenser with a layer of anti-corrosive material.
SEE ALSO: Micromax Vdeo 5 available for sale in India at Rs. 6,749 along with a free Reliance Jio SIM
The ACs will also pack features like 2-way drainage system to help in ease of installation in oddly shaped architectures. The AC range will also come with turbo cooling, which ensures desired temperatures are reached at high speed to cool down spaces within minutes.
Besides, the Micromax ACs will also come equipped with 4-way Swing Horizontal & Vertical cooling to achieve uniform and instantaneous cooling throughout the room.
The new air-conditioners also come coupled with Anti VOC filter that is said to offer protection to kidneys, liver and nervous system by removing chemicals and harmful vapors in air with a specialized blend of oxidizing agents.
Moreover, the company also mentioned about a Vitamin C filter that fills the room atmosphere with Vitamin C to reduce the stress and to soften the skin.
Other features include- Sleep mode, Quiet operation, Self-diagnosis, Auto-restart, Auto-cleaning and Dehumidification.
What is Micromax Home assist app?
As mentioned above, the company has also announced 'Micromax Home assist app' to help consumers experience hassle free service.
Smartphone users can download the app and place their servicing requests and queries from the app itself. Users can download the Micromax Home Assist application (for AC and TV products) on their Android and iOS devices wherein they can schedule service/repair requests, installation requests and can also track them. The app will also assist potential customers to schedule demo requests.
Micromax ACs will get a 5-year warranty with first 3 free services.
Best Mobiles in India
Restrict the period of 'promotional offers', says JS Deepak to TRAI News oi -Priyanka The letter also explains how the government revenues from just the licence fee have fallen from Rs 3,975 crore in the June quarter to Rs 3186 crore in the December quarter of the current FY
Telecom Sectretary JS Deepak has written a letter to Telecom Reugulatory Authority (TRAI) of India asking it to restrict the period of 'promotional offers' by telecom players, as the government losses Rs 800 crore revenues, report ET.
"There appears to be an urgent need to revisit and review its tariff orders in the larger interest of the government revenues as well as the telecom sector," Deepak has written in his letter on February 23 to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman RS Sharma.'
The letter also explains how the government revenues from just the licence fee have fallen from Rs 3,975 crore in the June quarter to Rs 3186 crore in the December quarter of the current financial year.
Google partners with Airtel, SK Telecom for next-gen mobile networks
Recently, Telecom Commission has also asked telecom regulator TRAI to implement orders on promotional mobile tariffs in "letter and spirit" and review existing rules to ensure financial growth of the industry.
Ever since the Reliance Jio has launched its 4G services whole telecom industry has shaken and incumbents players are trying to cope with the situation by offering new tariff plan everyday.
As per India Ratings and Research, the telecom industry has lost about 20 percent of revenue due to Reliance Jio's free services.
India's largest telecom service provider, Bharti Airtel's has also reported decline in its consolidated net profit by more than half at Rs 503.7 crore in the October-December 2016 as compared to Rs 1,108.1 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16. Vodafone too posted a decline of 4.7 percent in its India revenue.
Best Mobiles in India
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Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy.
Trump's Choice For Top Intelligence Post Views Russia With 'Grave Concern'
RFE/RL March 01, 2017
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's nominee for the top U.S. intelligence post, the director of national intelligence, says he views Russia's actions on the international stage with "grave concern."
The comments by former Senator Dan Coats at a February 28 confirmation hearing come amid the mounting fallout over what U.S. intelligence officials have called a Moscow-directed hacking and public-opinion-manipulation campaign aimed at influencing the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
His testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee also comes as Trump continues to talk about the potential benefits of improved ties with Russia, including on issues like counterterrorism.
Several members of Trump's cabinet, however, have voiced stern views on Russia, including on the need to maintain sanctions targeting Moscow for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula -- a position the U.S. administration has publicly backed.
"Russia's assertiveness in global affairs is something I look upon with grave concern, which we need to address with eyes wide open and a healthy degree of skepticism," Coats told the committee.
Coats also vowed to support a thorough investigation into alleged Russian interference in the presidential election. U.S. intelligence accuses the Kremlin of meddling in order to help Trump win, an allegation Moscow denies.
That assessment was made public in January by the Office of the Director of Intelligence, which Coats would lead if he is confirmed.
"I think this is something that needs to be investigated and addressed," Coats said.
Trump initially expressed skepticism about Russia's alleged involvement but later said Moscow was likely behind the cyberattacks targeting the campaign of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
He says, however, that the hacking had no impact on the outcome of the election.
With reporting by Reuters
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/trump-pick-for -top-us-intelligence-post-coats-views- russia-grave-concern/28339629.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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Germany Poised to Mount More Raids on Turkish Imams Accused of Spying
By Jamie Dettmer March 01, 2017
Tensions are increasing between Berlin and Ankara over claims that Turkey has been using Islamic preachers in Germany to spy on supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric who President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of orchestrating last July's failed coup against him.
German police raided the homes last week of four imams suspected of collecting information on members of Gulen's religious movement. Authorities say the spying in Germany by clerics paid by the Turkish government is part of a broader espionage effort likely extending to other European countries, including neighboring Austria, with imams hiding behind religion to conduct espionage on behalf of Ankara.
An official with the federal prosecutors' office told VOA further raids couldn't be ruled out.
Call for dismissal of DITIB-affiliated imams
The deputy chairman of the German Chancellor's Christian Democratic party, Armin Laschet, called this week for the dismissal of all imams affiliated with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), Germany's largest Islamic umbrella group, which is tied to the Turkish government's Directorate of Religion, or Diyanet.
"We want an Islamic religious instruction, but it must be independent of a foreign state in the long term," said Laschet. The association oversees 900 mosques in Germany and their imams are selected by the Diyanet with their salaries paid by the religious authority.
DITIB said in a statement it will assist German federal prosecutors, but it has pointed out the raids have been on the private homes of imams and that the organization itself has not been targeted by police.
"The raids of private apartments of Muslim clerics have led to anger within the Muslim community," DITIB warned in a statement posted on the organization's web site. "Especially, since DITIB is intensively helping clarify the accusations since they first surfaced."
Officials with Germany's domestic intelligence agency said that 13 imams affiliated with DITIB sent the names of alleged Gulen followers to the Diyanet. Germany's justice minister, Heiko Maas, warned in a statement following the raids: "Whoever uses Islam as a cover for espionage cannot rely [for protection] on the freedom of religion," he said.
"If the suspicion that some DITIB imams were spying is confirmed, the organization must be seen, at least in part, as a long arm of the Turkish government," he added.
According to German federal prosecutors, last week's raids in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rheinland-Palatinate are part of an investigation triggered by a September order from Diyanet instructing imams to supply Turkey's diplomatic missions with information on Gulen supporters and sympathizers.
On a visit to Ankara in February, German Chancellor Merkel raised the issue, saying after a meeting with Turkey's prime minister that "If we have problems, for example with the Gulen movement, and Turkey has information about that, then our security authorities must discuss that with each other."
Other countries concerned
In neighboring Austria, lawmakers also are raising concerns about the activities of imams working in the country and paid for by Ankara. Green lawmaker Peter Pilz has accused the Erdogan government of operating a "global spying network," and he claims to have documents showing the espionage extends across Europe and Asia.
In December, the Turkish government recalled its religious attache in the Netherlands after the Dutch government protested his role in collecting information on Gulen followers from 145 mosques.
The Dutch protest was prompted by a Diyanet report submitted to a commission of Turkish lawmakers tasked with investigating last July's military coup attempt against President Erdogan. The report was loaded with references to intelligence supplied by imams from 38 countries about the activities of the Gulen movement.
In Scandinavia the activities of Turkish imams is attracting the attention of rights groups. The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has documented several cases since July's coup attempt of what it sees as intimidating behavior by imams linked to Diyanet. It has highlighted the Facebook postings of Yusuf Yuksel, the general secretary of the Oslo-based Den Tyrkisk Islamske Union (Turkish Islamic Union), who has called on Turks living in Norway to spy on Gulen followers.
The Stockholm Center alleges some Turks living in Norway have had their Turkish passports revoked by Ankara as a consequence of profiling and intelligence activities by Turkish imams.
In the wake of the German raids, the chief of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, Mehmet Gormez, acknowledged some imams had "exceeded their authorities" and six have been recalled by Ankara. But he has dismissed accusations imams had been instructed to act as spies.
Senior Turkish officials have reacted angrily to the espionage allegations. On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized Berlin for allowing followers of what he termed the "Gulenist Terror Group" to live in Germany.
"It is not acceptable that they have found a place for themselves in a country like Germany," he told reporters.
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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 1, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
Coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 15 engagements in Syria:
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, seven strikes destroyed seven oil refinement stills, four wellheads, a pumpjack and a crane and damaged a bridge.
-- Near Raqqa, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed six watercraft, an ISIS training camp and an ISIS maintenance facility.
Strikes in Iraq
Coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 71 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:
-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four bunkers, a weapons cache and a vehicle bomb.
-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed nine mortar systems, six fighting positions, five vehicle bomb facilities, three supply caches, three ISIS-held buildings, three vehicle bombs and an improvised weapons factory; damaged six supply routes; and suppressed 14 mortar teams and two ISIS tactical units.
-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a tactical vehicle.
-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, a weapons cache and a recoilless rifle.
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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Trump Vows to 'Extinguish' ISIS, Rebuild U.S. Military
By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2017 President Donald J. Trump told a joint session of Congress last night that the United States will work with a coalition to "extinguish" the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria from the planet.
Trump also told Congress he will forward a fiscal 2018 budget request that will increase defense spending by $54 billion and eliminate sequestration.
Carryn Owens, the widow of fallen Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens, received a standing ovation from Congress. Carryn sat in the gallery with First Lady Melania Trump.
"Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero -- battling against terrorism and securing our nation," Trump said during his address. The nation will never forget Owens' sacrifice for the United States as he fought terrorists in Yemen, the president said.
Trump listed what he has done since taking office just over a month ago. This includes directing the Defense Department to work with other agencies to develop a plan to destroy ISIS. Defense officials delivered that plan to the White House this week.
The president also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran's ballistic missile program, ordered a review of military readiness and pledged to rebuild the armed forces.
Fight, Win
"To keep America safe we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war and -- if they must -- to fight and to win," Trump said.
The fiscal 2018 defense budget request will rebuild the military and eliminate sequester, he said. It will contain one of the largest defense spending increases in American history, Trump said.
"The challenges we face as a nation are great, but our people are even greater," he said. "And none are greater or braver than those who fight for America in uniform. To those allies who wonder what kind of friend America will be, look no further than the heroes who wear our uniform."
America will lead based on the vital national interests of the United States and its partners around the world, Trump said.
"Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world," he said.
Supports NATO
The United States strongly supports the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other allies in the Middle East and the Pacific, the president said.
"But our partners must meet their financial obligations," he added.
"We expect our partners to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost," Trump said. "We will respect historic institutions, but we will also respect the sovereign rights of nations."
The United States will reach out to other nations to find new friends and forge new partnerships, the president said. "We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict," he said. "We want peace, wherever peace can be found."
Trump noted that Germany and Japan -- now among America's closest allies -- fought the United States during World War II.
"This history should give us all faith in the possibilities for a better world," the president said. "Hopefully, the 250th year for America will see a world that is more peaceful, more just, and more free."
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U.S. Department of Defense
Press Operations
News Transcript
Presenter: Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve March 01, 2017
Department of Defense Press Briefing by Gen. Townsend via teleconference from Baghdad, Iraq
CAPTAIN JEFF DAVIS: All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
General Townsend, just want to make sure you can hear us and we can hear you before we get started.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL STEPHEN TOWNSEND: Yes, I have you loud and clear from Baghdad.
CAPT. DAVIS: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. And we're pleased to be joined today by Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, who's the commander of Operation Inherent Resolve. He's coming to us live today from Baghdad to give us an update on the counter-ISIS operations that are taking place there.
General, we'll turn it over to you and then to take questions from here.
GEN. TOWNSEND: Thanks. Good morning. I'll starts with a quick overview of our main effort in Iraq, the west of Mosul, then I'll move onto Syria.
On the 19th of February, Iraqi security forces, including the Iraqi army's ninth division and the Iraqi federal police, as well as the counterterrorism service, started operations to liberate west Mosul from ISIL's brutal control. They attacked north along the Tigris River and they captured high ground, which enabled them to move quickly onto Mosul International Airport.
The airport's now under their control after a couple of days of hard fighting. Now, they've begun breaching into the outskirts of the city with the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service, federal police and army moving along three axes of advance that clear the enemy from neighborhoods inside the city, but also enveloping the city to the west.
As you recall, this tactic of presenting the enemy with multiple dilemmas proved effective when the Iraqi security forces employed it in the second phase of their operations on the east side of Mosul. It overwhelmed the enemy's command and control. So far, this method is showing promise in the early stages of fighting on the west side, but we expect very tough fighting as the Iraqis move deeper into the dense urban terrain of west Mosul.
This enemy's been preparing for this battle for some time and they've done an extensive amount of work to dig and build barriers to complicate the Iraqi advance. We've seen them use berms, T-walls, tunnels, shipping containers and vehicles in the streets to slow the ISF down and they've rigged many of these barriers with explosives.
We strike these barriers with our precision fires to help the Iraqis advance. We'll also continue to remove leadership figures from the battlefield, attack their command and control and logistics nodes, enemy weapons caches and fighting positions. Our coalition advisors are also with the Iraqi command elements. Their support accelerates the Iraqi advance even more.
In Syria, the recent liberation of al-Bab by our coalition partner Turkey and the vetted Syrian opposition has dealt ISIS another significant blow, liberating the last significant ISIS-held population center in the Aleppo district. Also, closing the door to both its supply line of new fighters and its ability to export terrorists around the world.
Al-Bab is an important crossroads to several major cities in northern Syria. Since the liberation of Dabiq in October, ISIS has used al-Bab as a logistics and command and control center in northwest Syria. Cutting off ISIS supply lines and disrupting its leadership further isolates fighters in Raqqa and the Euphrates River Valley, making it harder for ISIS to move reinforcements into Syria and export terrorists to Europe.
The coalition supported Turkey and their partner force efforts in al-Bab with more than 50 airstrikes, taking fighters off the battlefield, destroying VBIEDs, mortar and artillery pieces and denying the enemy use of dozens of vehicles, buildings, excavation equipment and weapons caches. With the liberation of al-Bab, Turkey has now secured its border from ISIS.
The coalition is encouraged by the progress against ISIS in al-Bab by the Turkish military and their opposition forces. We encourage all forces to remain focused on the counter-ISIS fight and concentrate their efforts on defeating ISIS and not towards other objectives that may cause the coalition to divert energy and resources away from Raqqa.
The U.S., Turkey and coalition partners are working together to support stabilization and local civilian governance in Manbij. The coalition's committed to the security of Turkey and will continue to work in close coordination with partner forces and allies to deliver a lasting defeat to ISIS, which remains the greatest terrorist threat to the region and the world.
We continue planning for the eventual liberation of Raqqa, ISIL's self-proclaimed capital. We are confident that the SDF forces that are isolating Raqqa will continue their recent successfully clearance operations and set the stage for the liberation of the city. This would be a major setback for the enemy.
With coalition support, they have cleared more than 6,000 square kilometers of territory in the countryside of Raqqa since they started their operation November 5th. We've continued discussing how Turkey and their partner forces might contribute to the liberation of the city. The liberation of Raqqa will bring an end to the enemy's mythology that they were ever more than a brutal, murderous terrorist group. And then we will continue working with our partners to deal them a lasting defeat.
Coalition efforts by, with and through our partners in Iraq and Syria have made significant progress. I continue to be encouraged by the bravery and commitment of our partner forces who have fought hard and made many sacrifices in their efforts to liberate their land. Their efforts protect the people of Iraq, Syria, the region and the world from a threat that needs to be eliminated for the good of all. I'm proud of our coalition troopers who are supporting our partners. They're making a huge difference here.
With that, I'll stop and I'm happy to answer your questions.
CAPT. DAVIS: We'll start with Bob Burns from the Associated Press.
Q: General, question for you about Raqqa and your comments about still talking to Turkey about how they might participate in Raqqa. How long are you willing to wait for the Turks to come up with a proposal that's acceptable to you? And can you elaborate a little bit more on whether you are ruling out or you would rule out Turkish forces participating directly?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. I think I -- forgive me if the audio's a little shaky. Bob, I heard your name and I think I got your question there about Turk participation in Raqqa.
So, right now, we're in the approach to isolation. Our Syrian Democratic Force partners have not yet closed to a siege around Raqqa as of yet. They're still moving in that direction, so we've got some time yet to examine fully all the options and consider all the options for the forces that will eventually liberate Raqqa.
So, nothing's off the table. We still have time to look at these things and plan and we're doing that with all of our partners.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next we'll go to Tom Bowman from National Public Radio.
Q: If we could stay on Raqqa for a second, first of all, do you expect Turkish forces to take part in the Raqqa operation and you're just sort of discussing numbers, number one? And also, one of the last times we saw you, you said you've trained roughly 3,000 Syrian Arabs and you would need two or three times that to take Raqqa. Can you give us a status on those efforts?
And lastly, do you expect some number of Kurdish fighters to take part in the Raqqa operation?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. Thanks, Tom.
So there were a number of questions there. Do I expect Turkish forces to participate and in what numbers? I think that was your first question. So, like I said before, we're engaged in discussions with the Turks on how they might participate in the liberation of Raqqa. And I don't know what the numbers of their participation might be.
As far as training Syrian Arabs goes, yes, I said before that we had trained over 3,000. I think the number now is over 4,000, right at that. We just graduated some here recently. I think that there are a large number of Syrian Arab forces already in the field. So, it's not necessary or possible for us to train all of them. We are training more Syrian Arab forces to thicken the force that's in the field now. And as I said, that number if over 4,000.
Quite honestly, I think you asked another question here, but I don't -- I didn't get it written down. So if you would, please repeat. I think there was a third part of your question. I don't remember what it was.
Q: As far as the Kurds go, what number of Kurds to you expect to take part in the Raqqa operation?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. So, do I expect Kurds to take part in the Raqqa operation, and what number? I'm not going to talk about numbers, mainly because the enemy watches, probably watches this show as well. So I just don't want to go to numbers. But yes, I expect Kurds will participate in the operation in one -- one form or fashion.
The facts are there are Kurds from Raqqa and larger Raqqa district and province. So there are Kurds from there, local Kurds who will participate. And I think it's probably likely that other Kurds -- these are Syrians. These Arabs, these Kurds, these Turkmen and others are Syrians, and they're liberating Syria from ISIS.
So yes, I expect there will be some Kurds that will participate. I don't think we're going to change the demographics of Raqqa by Kurds or Turkmen or any group participating in the operation. But I expect that probably all types of Syrians in northern Syria will participate in the liberation of Raqqa.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Jennifer Griffin from Fox News.
Q: General Townsend, what was the reaction from the Iraqis that you deal with daily when the executive order temporarily banning citizens from Iraq from coming to the U.S. was signed? Did it make your job more complicated?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Well, so how that played out, actually, the reaction of the Iraqis that I deal with to the executive order was actually pretty muted, and pretty level-headed and sophisticated. So, for example, I deal with Iraqis in the Iraqi security forces. They are military people like me, or they're in police forces. And by and large, they said, "Hey, we have a war to fight. That's political business; not our concern. Let's keep focused on the fight." So I appreciated that reaction.
The Iraqi political leaders and civilian leaders I dealt with actually took a very measured approach, and you can see that in their public statements right after the executive order was announced. Prime Minister Abadi refused to take any reciprocal action until he saw how this played out, and his main point was we have important work to do here, the United States and Iraq, in the fight against ISIS in this region and we can't let anything disrupt or distract us from that.
So that was the initial reaction, which I found to be helpful. They were relieved when the executive order was suspended, and now -- now they're waiting to see how that may play out here in the future. We're -- and we're waiting to see how that plays out ourselves.
Q: And did you personally have any concerns that if -- if Iraq is included in the next executive order, that it could pose problems for U.S. forces on the ground?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I'll say this. Iraq is our partner and ally. If not a treaty ally, they are an ally in the fight against ISIS. And they -- this nation is fully mobilized in this war alongside of us. They've invited us into their country to help them. They are protecting us here and we're fighting this enemy that threatens all of our countries together.
So I would prefer personally not to see anything that would reflect on that except that we have a very strong partnership. I think I'll just leave it at that.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next, we'll go to Kasim Ileri with Anadolu News Agency.
Q: Hi, general. I'm going to ask about the Syria -- the new Syrian Arab recruits for the fight for Raqqa. CENTCOM has posted some pictures of the new recruits in northern Syria, and the fighters seem to be girls and boys at their 15s. Do you have a specific condition in place for those groups not to recruit underage fighters for the fight against ISIS?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. Thanks.
That's kind of -- it was kind of -- you were kind of hard to understand, but I think I got the gist of your question, was about underage fighters. And I think you were asking me about Syria and Raqqa, but I'm not really sure about that.
I'll just say this. All of the forces that we operate with, with the United States and the coalition, are vetted forces. We don't allow child fighters, underage fighters. When we -- if we see that, we bring it to their attention, and actually, I haven't seen any examples of that or have -- none of them have come to my attention in Syria.
So again, we lay out the rules to our partners and they are vetted and expected to follow those rules. Where we have seen a couple of instances like this were with some tribal resistance forces here in Iraq a few months ago. And it turned out to be -- in a couple of cases, it turned out to be a commander's son who was wearing army fatigues and going with dad to work.
Now, dad's work happened to be with a tribal resistance unit fighting, but not unlike some of our children wearing Army suits and going off with their parents. So we brought this to the attention of some of our -- the tribal resistance leaders and said, "Look, you can't have your son here; he's underage; he can't be here at the unit where we're doing our business with you, and in uniform, and he can't be here."
And so we made that clear to them. That was -- those couple of instances were cleared up. And we haven't really had any -- haven't heard any reports of that or seen any accounts of that on the battlefield here. But I am familiar with the press reporting that you mentioned.
Q: But what I'm talking about are not the tribal forces. Rather, these are the Syrian Arab Coalition's new recruits in northern Syria that the CENTCOM has posted. And to what extent you are sure that there are not any underage fighters among the Syrian Arab Coalition's new recruits? Could you -- could you say with 100 percent surety that there are no underage fighters among Syrian Arab Coalition that have been trained by the United States or by the Syrian Democratic Forces?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. So, sounds like you're trying to box me in to an answer here. But of course, I can't say with 100 percent certainty anything. There's a war going on here. And it's the most complicated environment and situation I've been in in my life.
So, could there be something going on? Maybe. Sure. It's possible. But I'll tell you this, we don't train underage fighters, period. And if we find anything that looks like an underage fighter, we get them removed from the premises and from the formation and from our operations and activities. And I don't know how to say it any clearer than that.
CAPT. DAVIS: The gentleman from the Daily Sabah.
Q: Ragip Soylu with Daily Sabah.
General, you told the -- (inaudible) -- media that you believe Kurdish fighters are not a threat to Turkey. But YPG fighters and commanders reported -- repeatedly told several publications last year that they are planning to take the fight to Turkey once they are done with Syria.
In light of these statements, what makes you so sure that YPG is not a threat to Turkey?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. I think I heard your question, which was why do I think the YPG are not a threat to Turkey. I didn't quite hear the middle part of your question. So, I'm not really sure what you're -- how you prefaced that question.
I'll say that we have watched and operated along-side the Syrian Democratic Forces, of which about 40 percent are composed of YPG Kurds, the People's Protection units- YPG; and about 60 percent now are composed of the Syrian Arab Coalition.
Of those YPG fighters, I mean, I've talked to their leaders, and we've watched them operate. And they continually reassure us that they have no desire to attack Turkey, that they're not a threat to Turkey. In fact, they desire to have a good working relationship with Turkey and I have seen absolutely zero evidence that they have been a threat to or supported any attacks on Turkey from northern Syria over the last two years.
CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next, Lucas Tomlinson with Fox News.
Q: General, are you concerned that any increase in U.S. forces, troops into Iraq or Syria, will be seen as an occupying force and draw more foreign fighters into the region?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Yeah, so in my opening statement, I talked about our strategy of by, with and through our local partners and that's still the right way to go. It's working and our local partners are fully invested, they're leading the fight and we're just here helping them. So would I be concerned if we brought in a large number of U.S. or coalition troops without coordinating that with our local partners? I would.
I won't comment on the likelihood -- I -- I don't foresee us bringing in large numbers of coalition troops, mainly because what we're doing is in fact working. But in that event that we bring in any additional troops, we'll work that with our local partners both here in Iraq and Syria to make sure that they understand the reasons why we're doing that and to get their buy-in of that.
So, yes, I think that if we showed up with a large number of coalition troops unannounced and uninvited, I would be concerned that that would cause a problem here. But I don't think that's the way we'll go about it. I think we'll be smarter than that. Any additional forces that we decide to bring here, the coalition does, we'll work it with our partners, particularly here in Iraq and make sure that they understand and integrate.
Q: Would these U.S. forces be used with local partners in sabotage operations behind enemy lines?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I'm sorry -- was -- I think the question was would U.S. forces be used with local partners in sabotage operations behind enemy lines. Was that -- was that what you asked? I thought that's what I heard, I'm not sure.
Q: Correct. Against ISIS.
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. Okay, that's just not how we're fighting this war. As I described before, we're -- the coalition provides essentially five things to our partners. Before combat, we equip and train our partners, and once combat is joined, we provide intelligence, precision fires and advice. So the United States does have a capability to do sabotage behind enemy lines, but we're not doing that kind of activity over here.
We might support with fires and intelligence our partners as they decide to do a raid or something like that behind enemy lines, and we have. But I think it's not likely that U.S. forces or coalition forces will go with our partners, as you say, behind enemy lines to perform sabotage. That's just not how we're operating here.
Our partners are doing the fighting on the ground and we're helping them with -- with stand-off capabilities. We're just not closing with the enemy and we're not going with sabotage parties, raiding behind enemy lines.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Paul Shinkman from U.S. News and World Report.
Q: Good morning, general. Thank you for doing this.
I wanted to ask you about some reports that we've heard of ISIS fighters hiding in the migrant flows as they come out of Mosul. Can you confirm that that's happening? And on what kind of scale are you seeing that, if so? How many ISIS fighters?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. Yes, I think it's happening. I don't think it's happening on a large scale. So are there ISIS fighters, you know, concealing themselves in the flow of displaced persons coming out of Mosul? Yes. In fact, the Iraqi security forces have caught some of those.
They're doing screening. The refugees, they -- internally displaced persons flow through screening points and the Iraqi security forces screen those and the Muslawis themselves are very free to point out who they suspect as being an ISIS fighter. And we have captured -- we -- our Iraqi partners have captured some small numbers of fairly low-level fighters who I think are probably from the local area and have just had enough and just decided to get out and try to conceal themselves in the -- in the flow.
So is that happening? Yes, probably at a fairly low level. I'm not greatly concerned by it and the Iraqis are acting on it.
Q: And do you have any sense of how many ISIS fighters remain throughout all of Iraq, not just in Mosul? And do you track the extent to which they might be hiding in civilian populations elsewhere? And if so, do you have any sense of that number?
GEN. TOWNSEND: So our current estimates -- the best the intelligence community can give us right now are that there are somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria. I'm -- we assess right now that there's somewhere between 2,000 plus or minus in and around western Mosul, including the area out to Tal Afar. So that pocket there that's isolated from the rest of Iraq, probably 2,000 plus or minus a few hundred.
So are they hiding amongst the civilian populations? Certainly they are. They're doing that in west Mosul, they're doing that in Raqqa. They're hiding amongst the civilian population. Then they're doing that in other places too in Iraq and Syria, and that's what our partners are all about. We're focused on their twin capitals, Mosul and Raqqa, right now, but it's our intent with our partners to go root them out of the other population centers first and then chase them into the valleys and river valleys and palm groves and the rural areas after they've been chased out of the city.
So, yes, they are hiding amongst the civilian population all over Iraq and Syria. And we're focused on chasing them out in a sort of sequential campaign.
Q: One quick follow-up, sir, if I may. You said 12,000 to 15,000 in both Iraq and Syria. Do you have an estimate for just Iraq? Or perhaps is that number too difficult to attain because ISIS can traverse the border?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Well, I would agree with you that -- I'd probably say about half. But as you just -- as you just correctly surmised, that number is a little bit difficult to obtain because ISIS can transport across the border.
So, we currently don't have presence nor the ability to pressure the area. In the Euphrates River valley along the Syrian-Iraq border, there's an Iraqi town there, a sizable one called Al-Qaim, and a Syrian town just across the border called Abu Kamal. And the enemy has freedom of movement in there. We only have the ability to watch and strike when we see something that is definitely visible from the air to be enemy.
So until we get down there, the enemy can move back and forth across the border in that region at least fairly freely. And so, it's kind of hard to know, but for lack of a better number, I'd say roughly half.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Corey Dickstein with Stars and Stripes.
Q: Thanks, general.
There are some reports that within western Mosul a lot of the more senior leadership within ISIS has fled. I don't know how true those reports are. But have you guys seen any shifts in tactics or anything that would suggest that high leaders aren't really running the fight there?
And then can you kind of characterize what the morale among ISIS is in west -- in west Mosul? Do you expect a real, you know, fight to the very end, every ISIS fighter killed kind of situation?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. So, as far as senior leaders go, yeah, the senior leaders rarely put themselves at risk in any place for very long. They're not willing to share the risk that they demand of their fighters to fight to the death.
They'll tell their fighters in a heartbeat, "You stay here and fight to the death; meanwhile, I'm going to Raqqa; you stay here and fight to the death, meanwhile I'm going to Abu Kamal or Al-Qaim." So that's fairly common.
So it doesn't -- it's not a surprise to us that there aren't probably that many senior leaders left in Mosul. If they are, they're kind of stuck because we've isolated Mosul from the rest of Iraq and Syria. And it won't surprise me if they don't linger very long in Raqqa. They'll slip away.
And we'll -- you know, we have a specific campaign to hunt them and kill them. And we've killed an extraordinary number of leaders. In fact, almost all of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's inner circle has been killed in the last six months, six to nine months; have been killed with precision strikes by the coalition. So that's senior leaders.
And then as to the morale of the fighters, we see reports that are all along the spectrum of the enemy morale. You've got to remember that the enemy ranks are composed of several types of fighters. So, at one end of the spectrum, you have foreign fighters. Most of those foreign fighters you will recall on TV a couple of years ago them burning their passports. They -- they're committed to this. They're hard cases. They've got no where else to go. We expect to kill them. They'll fight to the death typically.
Then, in the middle, you have your average ISIS fighter and he's probably willing to follow the orders of his leadership. If they tell him to stay, he'll stay. If they tell him to go, he'll go. And then, at the other end of the spectrum, probably -- the foreign fighter percentage, those hard case guys are probably only about 10 percent of the enemy's ranks and there's probably another 10 or 20 percent that are very hardened local fighters and regional fighters.
And then, at the other end of the spectrum, you've -- you've got fighters that have been pressed into service because they feel like they have no other choice or they've been actually threatened. Their families have been threatened or they've been personally threatened or they just don't think that they can say no. And those fighters will vote with their feet at the first opportunity.
So, it's kind of hard to know what the enemy's morale is. Personally, having watched ISIL now for its two-plus years of existence, I don't expect ISIL to suddenly collapse from a lack of morale. Like I said, there's a portion that will break and run. The rest of them will fight as ordered or fight to the death.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Carla Babb from Voice of America.
Q: Hi, general. Thank you for speaking with us.
You talked a little about the fighting capabilities that we'll have in Raqqa, who's going to be making that up -- mentioned the Kurds, mentioned the Syrian Arab Coalition. What would the U.S. -- what would more U.S. military involvement in Syria look like?
And then, my second question is should more resources come to you for the counter ISIS fight, where would you like to see -- oh, he can't hear anything I'm saying.
CAPT. DAVIS: Carla, can you try again and speak up really loud?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I can't -- I can't understand her. Give her -- no, not loud. Get her closer to a microphone or something. I hear the moderator great. I heard most of the earlier questioners pretty good. I don't -- I can't hear her at all.
Q: (inaudible) -- couple of days ago. Hi, general. Thank you so much for doing this. Just to -- to --
GEN. TOWNSEND: a clarity issue.
Q: Can you hear me now?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I hear you great now. Go ahead.
Q: So, my question is what would greater U.S. military involvement look like in Syria?
And then also, second question, should more resources come to you, where you would you like to see those resources diverted in the counter-Islamic State campaign?
Thanks.
GEN. TOWNSEND: Wow. So, I'm really kind of sorry that we went to all that trouble to get that question because I don't think I can answer it.
So, as far as greater -- greater U.S. involvement in Syria look like, I've submitted some recommendations to -- through my chain of command to the new administration. The new administration is weighing those recommendations and options and I prefer not to discuss them further here while my leaders make decisions.
And then I'm really not sure what -- your second question was along the same lines. I'm just not going to talk about what our plans might be for whether we have additional forces and what they might do. Sorry.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next, ma'am, from, sorry, Bloomberg.
Q: A quick follow-up to the executive order. White House officials told us that in the revised version, Iraq won't be included in the countries that are banned from entry in to the U.S. I'm just wondering if you have any reaction to that and what that might mean for what you're doing?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Yeah, I've heard the same thing about the revised executive order. But I really don't want to comment on it because actually I've heard just as much that says they will be included again as says that Iraq won't be included again.
So until -- I don't know where our government is on that, but maybe you have some special insight. But until I see the executive order and it's coming out, I'd just assume not comment on it because I don't know what it's going to say.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next, Michael Gordon from the New York Times.
Q: General, you said earlier on in your presentation that you would encourage all forces to stay focused on the counter-ISIS fight, and not become diverted away from Raqqa. Are you seeing specific preparations or actions on the part of the Turkish military? Or are you concerned by certain statements they may have made that lead you think that perhaps the next objective might be Manbij and not Raqqa? Why did you feel the need to make that assertion?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Well, actually I was -- I think I was referring to the area around al-Bab. And, Michael, as you know, and many of you in the room there probably know, that around al-Bab all the forces that are acting in Syria have converged literally within hand-grenade range of one another.
Just this week, we have seen -- last week, we saw Turk and Turk proxy forces fighters converge with Syrian regime and Syrian proxy fighters, ISIS being in the mix there. We have YPG, Syrian Democratic Force fighters, and Syrian Arab Coalition fighters also right bumping up against each other there. And then here in the last 48 hours, we've seen Syrian regime forces advance through ISIS-held villages to essentially rifle-range or hand-grenade range with Syrian Arab Coalition fighters holding the area around Manbij.
Meanwhile, yesterday we had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS. Yet, they were actually -- on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces. They had seen ISIS move out of the area in advance of the as the regime and the Turks' advance. The ISIS fighters withdrew, and the Syrian Arab Coalition fighters advanced into those villages.
So, I just described -- tried to describe a very complicated battlefield situation where essentially three armies and an enemy force have all converged within the same grid square. It's very difficult and complicated.
And so I'm just trying -- that was my attempt to say everybody should keep their sights focused on ISIS and that's what we ought to keep our efforts focused on and not fighting deliberately or accidentally with one another. That's what I meant.
Q: Quick follow-up, sir, what were the villages that the Russian bombed? Were there any U.S. or coalition advisers with the Syrian Arab Coalition in that vicinity when they were bombed? And have there been communications with the Russians about this?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I don't really recall off the top of my head. I think you maybe asked me what the name of the village was. I don't remember the name of the village. They're just a bunch of little villages in the area there. It's south and east of Al-Bab.
There were U.S. forces in the area. Not that close; they were four or five kilometers away because remember, we're not fighting, we're not at the front, we're advising at command echelons a little bit farther back. So they were back, they observed these strikes. It became apparent that the strikes were falling on some of the Syrian Arab Coalition positions and some quick calls were made to our deconfliction channels and the Russians acknowledged and stopped -- stopped bombing there.
And so we worked out an arrangement, a deconfliction. This is something that goes on daily in the air. Not every day on the ground, but daily in the air there's a deconfliction arrangement with the Russians. And we used that mechanism and it worked.
Q: (inaudible) -- the Arab coalition -- Syrian Arab casualties as a result of the Russian bombing?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I think -- you were sort of cut off. I think you asked if there were casualties. There were -- there were some casualties from that bombing. There were.
Q: Among the SAC, among the SAC forces, among the Syrian Arab Coalition forces, they took some casualties?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Yes.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next, we'll go to -- I'm sorry, Laurent. We might give him a microphone since he's further the back.
Q: About these Russian bombings, can you say how far the villages were from Manbij?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I think your question was how far were these villages from Manbij?
I don't know, a good number of kilometers. In fact, I have a map here in my pocket. I'll pull it out and see if I can figure it out here. I don't know, probably 15 or 20 kilometers or more, I think. But I'm not really sure. Just roughly looking at my map, it looks like they were about, like I said, 15 or 20 kilometers from Manbij City.
Q: Okay, thank you and I have another question I would -- I would like to ask you.
Should the SDF lead the assault against Raqqa, do they have enough equipment, weapons to do it or would they need to be given additional equipment or weapons?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay, I think I understood your question. Should the SDF lead the assault on Raqqa, will they need additional weapons and equipment? I believe that they will.
I think our -- I think we're still in decision-making stages as to whether or not we will assault Raqqa with the SDF and what equipment they might need. But I would just say this; I've watched for four -- more than four months now, I've watched the Iraqi combined arms -- modern combined arms army attacking Mosul.
The Iraqis have all the modern types of body armor, armored vehicles, tanks, artillery, fighter jets, helicopters, and they're having a hard time taking -- it's a challenging fight taking Mosul. So I think if I, you know, transpose that to Raqqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces are an irregular light infantry force mounted mostly in pickup trucks. So, they have very few heavy weapons.
So, if I compare these two forces and I envision the Syrian Democratic Forces assaulting Raqqa, a not unsubstantial city, I think that they'll probably need additional combat power. But those decisions have yet to be taken.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Jim Michaels of USA Today.
Q: General, in your conversations with Iraq officials, have they indicated to you a desire to have continued training beyond the current fight?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. So yes, I have heard Iraqi officials express a desire to have a continued U.S. presence here after the ISIL fight. I think that probably both of our governments, the government of Iraq and the U.S. government, are interested in that, but both -- both those governments have yet to make that decision. We're just not there yet as to what the -- what or if -- if or what that might look like.
We're kind of focused on the current fight right now that I still think has a ways to go. But both governments have expressed an interest in that.
Q: Just a quick follow-up. The current training of Iraqi forces, is that mostly involved with police now to provide a follow-on security force or are there still training going on of Iraqi army combat formations as well?
GEN. TOWNSEND: We do have a particular focus on training Iraqi police right now, particularly for Nineveh Province where Mosul is because we're trying to train and field the Nineveh hold force. The long-term solution for security in these towns and villages and cities is -- are Iraqi police. So, we're very focused on that.
That said, we're still training all types of Iraqi security forces. Just today, I was out in Anbar visiting some of our partner capacity -- building partner capacity sites, our training sites out there, and I saw Iraqi army soldiers training and I saw Iraqi border guards -- troops training as well. So we're building -- training border guards for when they eventually secure -- re-secure their sovereign border with Syria.
So we're training all types of Iraqi security forces currently. We have a special emphasis on police for Nineveh because that's a current need, but we're looking down the road and training all types of them. And in fact, we've -- building a program with the government of Iraq to start re-training forces after the ISIS -- ISIS is defeated, we'll start re-training those forces to secure Iraq into the future.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next, we'll go to Paul McLeary from Foreign Policy.
Q: Hi, general. Thanks for doing this.
There's been a lot of talk about safe zones in Syria recently. Given the situation around al-Bab, I mean, it shows how complicated it is. What would you need to create a safe zone? And would the north or the south be better in order to do something like this?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. I think your question was about safe zones and what would I need.
And we're -- I think we're considering what it might take to do safe zones. We haven't been directed to establish any safe zones. I guess my first question would be safe zones for who, from what? We are building safe zones right now for all Iraqis and all Syrians to be safe from ISIS. That's -- those are the safe zones we're building right now. We're building them not just in the north or the south, but all over Iraq and Syria. Safe from ISIS.
We haven't been directed to create any safe zones beyond that. We're focused on our current fight to defeat ISIS, so I'll -- I'll just leave it at that.
CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Luis Martinez with ABC. You should give him a microphone.
Q: Hi, general. Thank you for doing this.
Just a quick follow-up on the Syrian Arab Coalition casualties that you mentioned in al-Bab. Were there fatalities among those fighters? And what numbers are we talking about? And then I have another question, sir.
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. We don't -- we don't announce casualty figures for our partners. We let our partners do that. So I -- I don't care to go into the characterization of the casualties or the number and type.
What was your follow-up question -- your second question?
Q: Yes sir, thank you.
My question -- I've heard you mention now Abu Kamal and Al Qaim, talking about their freedom of movement there and how the ISIS leaders seem to gravitate there. Is that their next safe haven in the area? And is it safe to assume that that will be the next focus of your operations after the conclusion of Raqqa and Mosul, whenever that happens? Or is it more timely to go at them right now?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. So I think anywhere we're not attacking is sort of a safe haven for the enemy and their leaders, and we know they like to go there because they can transit the border with relative ease in the Abu Kamal, Al-Qaim area.
We're hunting down there, hunting for leaders and we strike them with some regularity down there. But it's a bit out of our reach right now. Our partner's reach, really. It's out of our partner's reach right now. They're focused on Mosul and they will turn their attention to Al-Qaim and Abu Kamal in due course. So, for now, right now, I think the Iraqi -- or the ISIS leaders probably do gravitate to areas like that and anywhere else where we're not currently pressuring.
I don't care -- care to talk about when we might get to Abu Kamal and Al-Qaim. I think the enemy -- I'd prefer to have the enemy surprised to learn that information. So, I won't talk about that.
CAPT. DAVIS: The next -- this is last here -- to Idrees Ali from Reuters.
Q: Two quick follow-ups. Firstly, on the Kurds participating in Raqqa, you said they would take part in the Raqqa operation in one form or another. They're obviously already a part of the isolation phase. Are you saying they could go into Raqqa to clear it out?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Okay. I heard the second part of the question, could Kurds go into Raqqa to clear it out. I did not understand the first part of your question, which I think is related to the second. Could you repeat the first part of the question over?
Q: I'm just saying you -- you said that they would take part -- the Kurds would take part in the Raqqa operation in form or another. And since they're already taking part in the isolation, are you saying that they're going to go into Raqqa?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Well, no, I'm not saying that. I'm saying they're taking part in the isolation. It is their -- they're moving on that. They will isolate Raqqa. We're still going through various planning iterations to determine exactly what the composition of the assault force for Raqqa will be.
Do I anticipate that there will be some Kurds in that force? Yes, I do. Mainly -- first of all because there are Kurds from Raqqa. It's a predominantly Arab area, but there are Kurds from there. So, there -- there are going to be Kurds assaulting Raqqa for sure. The -- the number, the size of them and how many Kurdish units are participating in that I -- I can't really say right now.
Will -- so, will Kurds go into Raqqa? Yes, I think if they are Raqqawis, they will go into Raqqa with all of the Arabs and all the Turkmen and everybody else. Raqqa is -- a significant majority of Raqqawis, as we refer to them, are Arabs. But they're like just about any other city in this region, and our own country, as a matter of fact. You've got a mix of peoples, right? Ethnic and religious mixing in -- in Raqqa, in the city and in the larger province around it.
So, yeah, there will be Kurds attacking Raqqa and there'll be Kurds in Raqqa. The size of that force, I don't know. That's still being considered.
Q: Quick follow-up.
Earlier on, you said that you don't foresee any large number of coalition forces -- additional coalition forces being brought into Iraq and Syria. Given that the plan was just submitted on Monday by the Pentagon, I guess what should we -- what else to do you need if not additional troops in -- in the region?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Yeah, as I said when that question was asked earlier, I submitted my recommendations and advice to my military leaders and they've submitted that to the secretary of defense, who submitted it to the president.
And I don't care to comment any further while our leadership makes these decisions.
CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. And --
(CROSSTALK)
Q: And just to clarify, when did the Russians strike take place? What day did the Russian strike take place, sir -- General? Was it yesterday?
GEN. TOWNSEND: I'm sorry?
Q: Just a point of clarification. When did the Russian airstrike take place?
GEN. TOWNSEND: Yesterday.
CAPT. DAVIS: Okay, general. Thank you very much for your time. I don't know if you had any further closing comments for us. Otherwise, we will sign off.
GEN. TOWNSEND: No. Yeah, thanks for your questions tonight. Sorry I couldn't be more forthcoming about some of our future plans. You have to understand that first of all I want to give our leaders a chance to consider the recommendations they've received from the whole chain of command, and not pressure them one way or the other.
So, couldn't be that forthcoming on that. Sorry about that.
Also, I really don't want the enemy to know what our future plans are. I prefer the enemy to find out about them as they are unfolding. So, thanks for being patient with that. I know several of you asked those types of questions. I couldn't really answer them.
Also, as far as the makeup of the force that's going to Raqqa, you know, here's what I think. They're Syrians. That's who's going to Raqqa. Syrians are going to go liberate Raqqa. And we'll -- you know, when Raqqa is liberated, whatever force it is, we're all very focused on turning it over to local control.
In fact, there's an international effort that's looking at the post-liberation governance and stabilization of Raqqa. And that effort is designed to turn it over to local control for security, and local control for governance.
So, I'm not really sure it really matters what the composition of the force that goes there to liberate it. What matters really in my mind is the composition of the force that stays there and governs and secures Raqqa after it's liberated from ISIS.
I think probably most Syrians and most Iraqis are welcoming of anybody who's coming to help liberate them from ISIS. That's what I've seen. They don't really -- they're not that picky. But who sticks around matters, and that ought to be local folks who stick around and govern and secure Raqqa and Mosul and Al-Qaim and -- and Manbij, and any of those places that have been liberated from or will be liberated from ISIS.
And last, I'd just like to say again how proud I am of the troopers, of the U.S. and our coalition partners here -- some 30 nations contributing troops here in our coalition against ISIS. And they are helping our partner forces and they are keeping this region and our own countries, our homeland, safe from the threat that is ISIS.
And you -- I would like all Americans to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.
Thanks.
CAPT. DAVIS: Thank you, general. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you, everybody.
http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1099469/
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NATO Secretary General stresses value of partnership with Switzerland
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
01 Mar. 2017 - 02 Mar. 2017
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will stress the importance of the partnership between NATO and Switzerland during a two-day visit to Bern and Geneva (1-2 March 2017).
On Wednesday (1 March 2017), the Secretary General is meeting with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ms. Doris Leuthard in Bern for talks on current security challenges and options for closer cooperation between the Alliance and Switzerland.
The Secretary General will discuss security challenges in the Middle East and North Africa at the Geneva Centre of Security Policy, where he will deliver a keynote speech on Thursday afternoon (2 March 2017). In his address, the Secretary General will make the case for the importance of projecting stability beyond NATO's borders and set out how NATO can empower local forces and build resilient institutions.
During his debut trip to Switzerland as Secretary General, Mr. Stoltenberg will hold a range of bilateral talks, including with the Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Didier Burkhalter and the Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, Mr. Guy Parmelin. In Geneva, the Secretary General will meet with representatives from international organisations and NGOs, including with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr. Peter Maurer.
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12th Pacific Partnership Mission Prepares to Enhance Cooperation, Strengthen Indo-Asia-Pacific Ties
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS170301-03
Release Date: 3/1/2017 8:18:00 AM
By Commander, Task Force 73 Public Affairs
SINGAPORE (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy will join allied and partner nation forces for the 12th Pacific Partnership mission, scheduled to begin March 1.
This annual maritime operation will help improve disaster response preparedness and capacity, while enhancing partnerships with participating nations throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. This year's mission will be led by the deputy commander and staff from Coastal Riverine Group 1, embarked aboard expeditionary fast transport USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4), and will include more than 200 supporting military and civilian personnel from the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Vietnam are scheduled to host this year's Pacific Partnership mission. Medical, dental, civil-engineering, and veterinary teams will partner with host nations to conduct civic-action projects, community health exchanges, medical symposiums, and humanitarian and disaster relief (HA/DR) drills. The planned engagements and exchanges during Pacific Partnership 17 are intended to improve capacity, enhance regional partnerships, and increase multilateral cooperation for HA/DR preparedness.
"Pacific Partnership is helping improve disaster response readiness for more than a decade in dozens of nations," said Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson, commander, Task Force 73, and executive agent for Pacific Partnership 17. "Disasters threaten us all -- they ignore borders, and they disregard national sovereignty. The Indo-Asia-Pacific region averages two large disasters each year, and Pacific Partnership has been a key enabler behind many countries being more prepared today. When the distress call comes, the life-savers know who to call and what to do next because Pacific Partnership helps prepare us to manage the unthinkable."
Pacific Partnership began in response to one of the world's most catastrophic natural disasters, the December 2004 tsunami which devastated parts of southeast Asia. The mission has evolved over the years from emphasis on direct care to an operation focused on enhancing partnerships through host nation subject matter expert and civil-military exchanges.
Pacific Partnership 17 will have several other distinctions:
* Pacific Partnership will conduct mission stops in Vietnam for the fourth consecutive year. The visit by Fall River to Vietnam is in conjunction with the 22nd anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. Along with events such as the Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) maritime collaboration, Pacific Partnership underscores the deepening relationship between the United States and Vietnam.
* Pacific Partnership will engage in Sri Lanka for the first time in the 12-year history of the mission. This marks the mission's initial outreach to south Asia.
* This year's mission will return to Malaysia, where the U.S. continues to strengthen ties and cooperation.
* Pacific Partnership will continue to capitalize on the Women, Peace and Security program -- an international initiative designed to not only empower women, but also demonstrate the value of their inclusion in the planning and implementation of disaster preparedness and relief efforts for their respective countries.
"We've conducted extensive planning with our host nations and our mission partners over the last six months," said Capt. Stanfield Chien, deputy commodore of Coastal Riverine Group 1 and Pacific Partnership mission commander. "I'm very pleased with how we've come together as a team and are ready to execute this year's Pacific Partnership mission."
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45,000 Yemenis displaced due to fighting near militant-held Mukha: UN
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 5:10PM
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says about 45,000 Yemenis have been forced out of their homes over the past few weeks as a result of fighting around Mukha intensified recently by the Saudi-backed militiamen's seizure of the southwestern port city.
Shabia Mantoo, the UNHCR spokeswoman for Yemen, told AFP on Wednesday that the figure on internally displaced persons (IDPs) was based on data compiled by UN agencies.
She said that many of those fleeing the fighting around Mukha made their way north to the provinces of Ibb and Hudaydah.
"Eight thousand people have been displaced from Mukha and Dhubab (district in Ta'izz province) to Hudaydah alone, many of them with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs," Mantoo said.
Saudi mercenaries and the militants loyal to resigned Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi seized Mukha on February 10 and announced plans to occupy the country's main Red Sea port of Hudaydah afterward.
Fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who have been defending Yemen against the ongoing deadly Saudi aggression, launched an operation to liberate Mukha.
The latest number of IDPs marks a sharp rise from previous UNHCR data, which reported 34,000 displaced Yemenis in the fighting between January and February around Mukha and Dhubab.
Elsewhere in her comments, Mantoo warned that displacement was an issue gripping the whole Arab country.
"The whole country is suffering from multiple displacements," Mantoo said, adding, "People move from one place to another, because eventually it gets just as bad."
The Houthis and their allied forces are currently in control of the capital city of Sana'a, much of the country's northern highlands and most of Yemen's 450-kilometer Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in a bid to bring back Hadi to power and undermine the Houthis.
The Saudi military campaign has claimed the lives of over 12,000 Yemeni civilians, according to the latest tally provided by Yemen's Legal Center for Rights and Development, an independent monitoring group.
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South Korea, US begin annual drills as North prepares for 'merciless' counterstrike
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 9:0AM
South Korean and US forces have kicked off massive joint military drills, which are held annually, as North Korea alerts its armed forces to prepare for a "merciless" counterstrike against potential enemy aggression.
The war games began on Wednesday amid continued tensions on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea and its ally the US hold the drills every year as a signal to the North, which has been rapidly developing a missile and nuclear program.
Some 300,000 South Korean troops and nearly 17,000 American forces along with strategic US warships and air force resources took part in last year's joint maneuvers. A spokesman for US forces in Korea said the drills this year would be identical to the one held in 2016.
According to the spokesman, about 3,600 US soldiers have so far been deployed to take part in the Foal Eagle drills, which are the first of the two series of war games that will stretch over two months. But he did not provide the total number of the American forces taking part in the maneuvers.
The development comes as scores of protesters staged a rally outside the US Embassy in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Wednesday, expressing opposition to the war games and emphasizing that the drills would "bring the peninsula sharply closer to the brink of a nuclear war."
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo also held a phone conversation with his US counterpart James Mattis, "stressing the need to bolster the drills," according to a statement issued by the ministry. It further quoted Mattis as vowing an "effective and overwhelming response" against any use of nuclear weapons by the North.
North Korea has long slammed the annual war games as provocative rehearsals for an invasion.
On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the headquarters of an army unit and praised the troops for their "vigilance against the US and South Korean enemy forces that are making frantic efforts for invasion," the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Kim further instructed the troops to "set up thorough countermeasures of a merciless strike against the enemy's sudden air assault," the KCNA report added.
South Korea's Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn also vowed on Wednesday that his country would respond strongly to any provocations made by the North and seek tougher UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
"The government will strive to make the North realize the uselessness of its nuclear weapons" through a stronger alliance with the US, including with the deployment of a US missile system, Hwang said in an address marking the anniversary of his country's independence movement against Japanese colonial rule.
Seoul and Washington agreed last year to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea to counter what they perceive as the growing missile and nuclear threats from Pyongyang, a plan that has enraged Beijing.
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Taliban Suicide Bombers Kill At Least 16 In Kabul, Wound 40
RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan March 01, 2017
Afghan police say two suicide bombers have struck Kabul in attacks claimed by the Taliban, killing at least 16 people and wounding about 40.
One suicide car bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the compound gates of a district police headquarters in western Kabul as part of a coordinated attack on March 1, Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Najib Danish said.
Danish said several militants stormed into the compound and engaged police in a gunbattle inside the facility.
Thick smoke billowed above the police compound, and several rounds of small arms fire as well as other explosions were heard.
The battle took place in an area that was not far from a military training school.
Meanwhile, Danish said a second suicide bomber walked up to an office in eastern Kabul of Afghanistan's national intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, and detonated his explosives.
He said at least two people were wounded in that attack.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for both attacks on behalf of the militant group.
The attacks came at a time when the Taliban normally announces its annual spring offensive.
The Taliban in Afghanistan is seeking to reimpose its rule after being driven from power following a U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Afghan government forces have struggled to control the Taliban insurgency since the NATO-led coalition ended its combat mission in 2014 and most foreign combat forces withdrew.
According to U.S. estimates, the Afghan government now controls less than 60 percent of the country, though its forces have managed to hold on to all of the main provincial centers.
Afghan forces now face mounting pressure from a resurgent Taliban amid record casualties and mass desertions as the militants escalate attacks across the country.
Last month, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people outside Afghanistan's Supreme Court in Kabul. The so-called Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.
With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-kabul- blast-gunbattle/28340312.html
Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Trump Signals Support For NATO, Huge Defense Spending Increase
Mike Eckel March 01, 2017
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled strong support for NATO, and called for a massive funding increase for the military, as he vowed to oversee the "renewal of the American spirit."
Speaking on February 28 in his first address before a joint session of Congress, Trump repeated many of his election-campaign promises that focused on domestic concerns, arguing that U.S. cities are being ignored, American workers are suffering, health-care costs are skyrocketing, U.S. infrastructure is crumbling, and crimes caused by immigrants are on the rise.
But in a speech that included few specifics about foreign-policy goals, he also renewed his call to destroy "radical Islamic terrorism" -- in particular, Islamic State (IS) militants.
"I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS -- a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women, and children of all faiths and beliefs," he said. "We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet."
During last year's election campaign, Trump threw into question his commitment to NATO's central treaty provision -- that an attack on one member would be considered an attack on all.
That worried many alliance members, and during the hourlong speech Trump took steps to reassure them. But he also repeated his calls that alliance members do more to shoulder the burden of NATO's costs.
"We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two world wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War that defeated communism," he said to applause from lawmakers.
"We expect our partners -- whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific -- to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost," Trump said.
Even with mention of IS and NATO, specific foreign-policy concerns or proposals were absent from the speech. There was no mention of Russia, the conflict in Ukraine, the ongoing war in Syria, growing tension with China in the South China Sea, and other simmering conflicts.
In the Democrats' formal response to the Republican president's address, former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear accused Trump of "ignoring serious threats to our national security from Russia, who's not our friend, while alienating our allies."
Speaking from a diner in Lexington, Kentucky, Beshear also charged that Trump plans to deprive Americans of affordable health insurance and called him "Wall Street's champion," suggesting that he is overly friendly to financiers and big companies.
"I think in the world we're in right now, to not mention Iran, other than a brief bit on sanctions, not to mention Russia, not to mention China, not to mention North Korea -- he seemed to ignore a lot of the trouble spots that are serious, and things that as American president, he needs to address," said John Hudak, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institute, a liberal-leaning Washington think tank.
"He seemed to cherry-pick foreign-policy issues, and not really lay out a broader defense of his administration's position," Hudak said.
That lack of specificity, or the lack of a coherent foreign policy, will likely pose more uncertainty, Hudak said.
"If I were a foreign minister, I'd be on the phone with [Secretary of State] Rex Tillerson tomorrow," he said.
Increase In Defense Spending
Trump opened his speech on an upbeat note, a noteworthy contrast to his inauguration address in which he decried "American carnage" and painted a dark picture of the country.
He opened his remarks by condemning recent threats and vandalism targeting Jewish communities, and a shooting in Kansas that targeted two immigrant men from India. He paid homage to the families of law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
And he praised the Navy SEAL who died during a botched raid on an Al-Qaeda hideout in Yemen last month. The man's widow wept openly as Trump acknowledged her presence in the chamber's gallery, an acknowledgment that was met with the evening's most sustained applause.
"To keep America safe we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war and -- if they must -- to fight. And they only have to win," he said.
"I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense [budget caps], and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history," he said, again to applause from lawmakers.
Trump's budget proposals are only the first step in what even in a good year is a protracted negotiation with Congress, which has the ultimate say over the federal budget.
Lawmakers from Trump's Republican Party control both chambers of Congress, but legislators frequently push back against funding cuts to favorite programs, regardless of who is in the White House.
Some of the proposals that have already been publicized -- a 37 percent cut to U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance -- have drawn criticism from lawmakers. Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in a speech earlier in the day that foreign aid was a U.S. national-security imperative.
"I promise you, it's going to be a lot harder to recruit someone to anti-Americanism and anti-American terrorism if the United States of America was the reason why they are even alive today," said Rubio, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member.
David Petraeus, the former CIA director and commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, also echoed those comments, as he joined dozens of national-security experts in saying that diplomacy was "critical to keeping America safe."
The speech comes 40 days into his term, which by all accounts has been turbulent and at times chaotic.
The White House has been buffeted by news reports on U.S. investigations into allegations Trump's aides were in communication with Russian officials during the election campaign.
And it's been stung by criticism of its hard-line national-security measures, including a controversial immigration order affecting visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries that was suspended by the U.S. courts.
Trump returned repeatedly to the themes that ran on in the election campaign, what some observers have called "economic nationalism," and the effort to "make America great again."
"My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America. But we know that America is better off when there is less conflict -- not more," he said.
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/trump-speech-congress -defense-spending-cuts/28339059.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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British, Russian Military Chiefs Confer On Avoiding Potential Incidents
March 01, 2017
Senior Russian and British military officials have held rare talks in Moscow aimed at avoiding clashes and lowering tensions that have spiked to their highest levels since the Cold War.
Russia's armed-forces deputy chief of staff Aleksandr Zhuravlyov and his British counterpart, vice chief of staff Gordon Messenger, "discussed the state and prospects for re-establishing military cooperation," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Relations between Russia and Britain have deteriorated in the wake of Moscow's 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and its 2015 military intervention in Syria.
The Russian ministry said the talks focused on "possible steps to lower tensions, develop mutual trust, and prevent incidents during military activities."
Britain's Ministry of Defense called the meeting "an important opportunity in terms of managing risk and avoiding miscalculation."
"They discussed military issues including opportunities to reduce risks in the conduct of our respective defense activity," it said.
Britain has been one of the strongest critics of Russian aggression in Ukraine and has sent troops to eastern Europe to bolster NATO's presence in the region.
British jets have also repeatedly been scrambled in recent months due to increased Russian maneuvers near Britain.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/british-russian- military-chiefs-confer-avoiding-clashes -incidents-moscow/28339760.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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U.S. Man Jailed For Illegally Selling High-Tech Goods To Russian Military
RFE/RL March 01, 2017
A former employee of an electronics export company in the U.S. city of Houston has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for his role in a scheme to illegally export about $50 million of microelectronics to Russia.
Prosecutors said Alexander Posobilov, 62, was sentenced by a federal court in New York on February 28. Posobilov said he intended to appeal the decision.
Posobilov was convicted in October 2015 of exporting microchips and other high-technology goods to Russia, including many destined for Moscow's military and intelligence agencies.
Posobilov moved to the United States from Russia in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen in 2008. He worked as procurement director for Arc Electronics Inc, according to court filings.
Prosecutors say he acted as a right-hand man to Arc founder Alexander Fishenko, who led the conspiracy. Fishenko was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June 2016 after pleading guilty to operating as an unauthorized agent of the Russian government and violating export laws.
Prosecutors said Fishenko, Posobilov, and others schemed to sell cutting-edge microelectronics frequently used in military systems to the Russian military and others through intermediary Russian companies.
Fishenko and Posobilov hired and trained Russian-speaking salespeople to lie to vendors about why Arc was seeking these technologies and to falsify export records, prosecutors said.
Seven of Arc's top 10 clients were specially authorized by the Russian Ministry of Defense to procure parts for its military, prosecutors said.
Arc's customers in Russia included a technical research unit for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and Russian entities that built air- and missile-defense systems and that produced electronic-warfare systems, prosecutors said.
Fishenko and Posobilov were among 11 people arrested in 2012 in connection with the alleged scheme.
Two other Arc employees were tried and convicted alongside Posobilov. In addition to Fishenko, four other defendants have pleaded guilty. Three remain at large, according to prosecutors.
Fishenko's lawyers said in court documents that although Fishenko was pleading guilty to acting as an agent for the Russian government under U.S. law, he was not a "spy."
They said he intended Arc to be a lawful exporting company, but wrongly took a "laissez-faire" attitude to licensing requirements.
With reporting by Reuters and TASS
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/us-man- posobilov-sentenced-11-years-jail -selling-high-tech-good-russian- military-intelligence/28339763.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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Macedonia's President Refuses To Give Opposition Leader Mandate For New Government
RFE/RL's Balkan Service March 01, 2017
SKOPJE -- Macedonia's President Gjorge Ivanov says he has decided he will not give a mandate to Social Democratic Union (SDSM) leader Zoran Zaev to try to form a government, despite documents presented by Zaev showing he has formed a coalition that would control a majority of seats in parliament.
Ivanov -- a member of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party -- made the announcement at a press conference in Skopje on March 1.
Zaev on February 27 presented signatures from three ethnic Albanian political parties to Ivanov -- showing he has support from a total of 67 lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament to form a new government.
But under Macedonia's constitution, the president must present a potential coalition leader with a mandate to form a government before the proposed government is voted upon by parliament.
The ethnic Albanian parties have made their support for Zaev's proposed coalition government conditional on the enactment of a law that backs broader use of the Albanian language in Macedonia.
Ivanov justified his decision to withhold the mandate from Zaev, saying that "negotiations on Zaev's part" involved "a platform of a foreign country" -- a reference to the Albanian-language demands of Zaev's would-be junior coalition partners.
The nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, led by former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, has denounced calls for making Albanian the second official language of Macedonia.
Since Zaev announced his coalition deal on February 27, thousands of VMRO-DPMNE supporters have staged street protests in Skopje against the calls from the ethnic Albanian parties to make Albanian the country's second official language.
Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party won the most votes in Macedonia's December election, taking 51 seats in parliament.
But that was not enough to secure a 61-seat parliamentary majority -- and Gruevski was unable through coalition talks to gather the support of 10 other lawmakers needed to form a government.
Talks between Gruevski and the main ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), failed when Gruevski refused to accept the DUI's demand for Albanian to be declared a second official language in Macedonia.
Macedonia's constitution stipulates that if the largest party in parliament fails to build a governing coalition, the second-largest party receives the opportunity to create a government that has support from a parliamentary majority.
Zaev's Social Democratic Union won 49 seats in December's closely contested election, and in his coalition negotiations Zaev received vows of support from a total of 18 ethnic Albanian lawmakers on condition that their proposed government would pass a law that broadens the use of the Albanian language in Macedonia.
Gruevski has said the deal Zaev made with ethnic Albanian parties is a threat to Macedonia and called on his supporters to launch protests to block Zaev from forming a government.
The VMRO-DPMNE party also has vowed to use all legal means to prevent Macedonia from becoming officially bilingual, saying such a development would "redefine the unitary character" of the country.
About one-quarter of Macedonia's population of 2.1 million people are ethnic Albanians.
Macedonia narrowly avoided civil war in 2001 after an uprising by armed ethnic Albanians who sought greater rights.
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/macedonia-president -refuses-to-give-oppositioon-leader- mandate-government/28341718.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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Kyrgyz Party Claims Leader's Arrest Is Linked To Plane Crash Probe
RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service March 01, 2017
BISHKEK -- The turmoil in Kyrgyzstan over the arrest of opposition party leader Omurbek Tekebaev has taken a new turn after his political party claimed that he was targeted for prosecution to suppress evidence that a cargo plane which crashed outside the capital in January was carrying goods belonging to President Almazbek Atambaev.
A spokesman for Atambaev denied the claim, calling it a "lie."
Meanwhile, Kyrzgyzstan's Foreign Ministry on March 1 also rejected the allegations, saying that Turkey's ambassador had called the opposition's purported evidence "fake."
A lawyer for Tekebaev's Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party asserted on March 1 that law enforcement officers detained Tekebaev upon his arrival from Cyprus via Turkey on February 26 in order to prevent him from publicizing documents she said showed that goods aboard the cargo plane belonged to Atambaev and his wife.
"In order to gain [possession of] the documents before they become public the law-enforcement officers detained Tekebaev at the airport and made sure that lawyers could not reach him," the lawyer, Taalaigul Toktakunova told journalists.
"Tekebaev was unable to make the information public on time," she said.
The MyCargo 747-400 crashed on January 16 near Bishkek, killing four crew members and 35 people on the ground and setting off speculation about the ownership and destination of its cargo.
At a news conference in Bishkek, Toktakunova presented a document with what she said was a Turkish Security Service letterhead. She read aloud from what she said was a Russian translation of the document that said the Turkish security service had conducted investigations into the plane crash and concluded that "mobile phones, computers, other electronic devices, cash, valuable metals and stones belonged to the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambaev and his spouse."
Information Cover-Up?
The text she read also said that the cargo's transportation to Bishkek has been organized by a Turkish national known as "Rattlesnake" and several citizens of Turkey and Kyrgyzstan.
But Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev met personally in Bishkek with Turkey's Ambassador Metin Kilic after Toktakunova's press conference to discuss the opposition's claims.
In a statement, the ministry said Turkey's ambassador told Abdyldaev that the Turkish Security Service "does not work in such a way and doesn't give documents with their letterhead to anyone."
The ministry statement said Kilic also told Kyrgyzstan's foreign minister that the document shown to journalists on March 1 by Toktakunova was "a forged document -- a fake."
Tekebaev is deputy chairman of a parliamentary commission set up to investigate the plane crash, and had been actively involved in the parliamentary probe.
Residents of the village where the plane crashed have said that looting broke out soon after it went down, telling journalists that first responders took many smartphones and other electronic devices that had been part of the cargo and were found in the debris.
Residents also found printed instructions for electronic devices written in Kyrgyz and Russian, prompting speculation that the goods were being shipped to Kyrgyzstan.
Tekebaev has accused Kyrgyz authorities of trying to cover up information about the crash, citing contradictory statements by Kyrgyz officials and those of the company that owned the plane.
Atambaev did not visit the crash site or meet with survivors in the hard-hit village, prompting criticism and speculation about his motives.
'Unjust, Politically Motivated'
Almaz Usonov, chief of the presidential administration's information-policy department, said the lawyer's claim was "not just absurd" and "not just a lie."
"In fact, what Tekebaev's lawyers did is an obstruction of the investigation," Usonov told RFE/RL. "It is an attempt to politicize the case and hijack public opinion by attracting citizens' attention to something else."
Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of Tekebaev protested for a fourth straight day, demanding his release, and State Committee for National Security (UKMK) chief Abdil Segizbaev warned lawmakers not to "impose any pressure" on investigators.
Speaking at a protest in Bishkek, former President Roza Otunbaeva, called Tekebaev's arrest "unjust and politically motivated."
On February 27, a court ordered Tekebaev held in custody until April 25. He is being investigated in a corruption and fraud case related to allegations that he received a $1 million bribe from a Russian businessman while serving as deputy prime minister.
A former ally, Tekebaev fell out with Atambaev in 2016 over constitutional amendments that critics suspect were aimed at prolonging Atambaev's power after a November 19 presidential election in which he is barred from running by a single-term limit.
Supporters of Tekebaev say they believe the criminal investigation is aimed at preventing him from running for president.
Atambaev has defended Tekebaev's arrest, saying on February 28 that it was not politically motivated.
Tekebaev is the third member of Ata-Meken to be detained by authorities for questioning in recent weeks.
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyzstan-tekebaev- arrest-plane-crash-probe/28340874.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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Seven Nations Begin Largest Disaster Relief Preparedness Exercise in Pacific
Sputnik News
19:09 01.03.2017(updated 19:57 01.03.2017)
The exercise includes civilian and military participants from the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, which is participating for the first time.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) US forces and partners from seven nations launched Pacific Partnership 12, the largest multinational disaster relief preparedness training operation run each year in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, the US Navy said in a press release on Wednesday.
"The Indo-Asia-Pacific region averages two large disasters each year, and Pacific Partnership has been a key enabler behind many countries being more prepared today," Pacific Partnership executive agent Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson stated.
The exercise includes civilian and military participants from the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, which is participating for the first time.
Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Vietnam will host the exercise, and the Navy noted that a visit by the expeditionary high speed vessel Fall River to Vietnam coincides with the 22nd anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the former adversaries.
The Pacific Partnership exercise was created in the aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, and has focused on disaster relief, search-and-rescue training and expert exchanges, among other activities.
Pacific Partnership will conduct mission stops in Vietnam for the fourth consecutive year. The visit by Fall River to Vietnam is in conjunction with the 22nd anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. Along with events such as the Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) maritime collaboration, Pacific Partnership underscores the deepening relationship between the United States and Vietnam.
This year's mission will return to Malaysia, where the US continues to strengthen ties and cooperation.
Pacific Partnership will continue to capitalize on the Women, Peace and Security program an international initiative designed to not only empower women, but also demonstrate the value of their inclusion in the planning and implementation of disaster preparedness and relief efforts for their respective countries.
"We've conducted extensive planning with our host nations and our mission partners over the last six months," said Capt. Stanfield Chien, deputy commodore of Coastal Riverine Group 1 and Pacific Partnership mission commander. "I'm very pleased with how we've come together as a team and are ready to execute this year's Pacific Partnership mission."
Sputnik
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Beijing Planning Construction of Underwater Observatory in South China Sea
Sputnik News
03:12 01.03.2017(updated 07:39 01.03.2017)
Chinese researchers and academics have embarked on a journey to build the world's first underwater platform to allow observation of underwater activity in real time, according to Chinese media outlets.
Shanghai's Tongji University and the Institute of Acoustics, a group with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will kick off construction, the Global Times reported. While the construction will take place within the disputed South China Sea, where a slew of nations have staked territorial claims, the Institute of Acoustics, "refused to reveal the exact location and further details of the research programs on the platform due to its sensitive nature," the New Delhi TV media outlet reported. The Global Times was also denied an answer when it probed the Institute of Acoustics about the location of the platform.
On February 7, a group of researchers from 13 countries, including France, Italy, the US, and Japan departed Hong Kong to participate in the research drilling mission in the South China Sea, the Times noted. A total of 33 scientists were said to be involved. Researcher Wang Pinxian said the observational network "showcases that the country is actively joining in the international competition."
The first hole completed by drillers was named U14499A, NDTV reported. Drilling on a second hole close to U1449A is underway, the news outlet said.
Chinese state news service Xinhua reported that the drilling was completed and reached a depth of 3,770 meters below sea-level, "for collection of sediment samples." Sciencenet.cn, the Chinese news agency that first reported the construction plans, said the platform would be used to observe deep-water physical, chemical, and geological dynamics, in addition to "other purposes," which, given the amount of traffic crossing through the South China Sea for trade and military purposes, could mean Beijing will have an outpost through which to monitor commercial traffic, as well as submarine and underwater drone activity.
The South China Sea is considered to be flush with oil and gas reserves. In addition to China; Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have staked claims to waters and islands in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Vietnamese commissioned two Russian-made Kilo-class attack submarines, as reported by Vietnam's Ministry of Defense. As The Diplomat notes, "the submarines, armed with supersonic cruise missiles can threaten the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) naval base at Sanya on China's Hainan Island as well as Chinese military facilities in the South China Sea."
Sputnik
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DR Congo security forces committed rights violations against protestors in December 2016 - UN probe
1 March 2017 Defence and security forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) used excessive, disproportionate and at times lethal force to prevent and contain demonstrations in December 2016, in violation of international human rights law and standards, a UN report has found.
"Measures should also be taken, at all levels, to ensure that the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms by the population will not lead to loss of lives and other serious rights violations," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said today in a news release on the report.
The report is based on the findings of the investigation conducted by the human rights team comprising staff of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
According to the report, at least 40 people, including five women and two children, were killed between 15 and 31 December 2016 across several cities of the DRC, among them the capital Kinshasa, as well as Lubumbashi, Boma and Matadi. The victims include 28 individuals who were killed by soldiers of the Forces armees de la Republique democratique du Congo (FARDC), six by agents of the Police Nationale Congolaise (PNC) and six during joint PNC and FARDC operations.
The report also revealed that all but two of the victims were killed by live ammunition. During the same period, at least 147 people were injured by State agents, including 14 women and 18 children, and at least 917 individuals, including 30 women and 95 children, were arrested by defence and security forces.
"Such serious incidents are worrisome, particularly in the current context," said Maman Sambo Sidikou, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in the DRC, citing the need to create an environment conducive to the holding of peaceful elections.
The lack of accountability for past human rights violations, including those committed during the demonstrations in Kinshasa on 19 and 20 September 2016, may have encouraged a sense of impunity, and defence and security forces to commit further violations in December 2016.
"Once again we see serious human rights violations being committed blatantly and with complete impunity by the security forces, who employed excessive use of force against unarmed demonstrators, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and standards," said the UN human rights chief, Mr. Zeid.
He urged the Government to bring those responsible for such violations to justice and urgently adopt the law on freedom of peaceful protests and the law on human rights defenders.
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Separate Suicide Bombings Hit Kabul
By Ayaz Gul March 01, 2017
Afghan officials say a group of heavily armed Taliban suicide bombers have assaulted a district police headquarters in western Kabul, sparking a fierce gun battle with security forces.
The coordinated insurgent raid, which began with a suicide car bombing at the entrance of the facility, has at least 16 people dead and more than 40 others wounded.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, took credit for the violence, saying the group's fighters inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan forces. The insurgent group often provides an inflated casualty toll to the media.
Mujahid also claimed responsibility for an attack in an eastern part of the Afghan capital at an outpost manned by the National Directorate of Security, the Afghan spy agency.
An interior ministry statement said two suicide bombers took part in that attack. One assailant blew himself up in front of the NDS facility while the other was gunned down by security forces, it added, but gave no details about the casualties.
There are reports at least six police personnel were killed and more than 70 people wounded, including civilians. Interior Ministry Spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says an official casualty toll and details about the number of attackers will be issued once the police headquarters is secured.
Condemnation
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the violence, saying the insurgents are indulging in such violent acts to try to raise the morale of their fighters after the recent killing of one of their Taliban commanders.
Ghani was referring to the death of Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban commander for northern Kunduz province, who was killed Sunday in a U.S. drone strike.
U.S. Embassy Kabul Special Charge d'Affaires Ambassador Hugo Llorens also issued a statement to condemn the Kabul attacks "in the strongest possible terms."
"To callously target Afghan men and women who devote their lives to serving and defending their fellow citizens, as the Taliban did today, is an act of extraordinary cowardice. We share the sorrow of all Afghans over these heinous acts, which only strengthen our resolve to continue to work tirelessly in pursuit of a peaceful future for Afghanistan," Llorens said.
In addition, a spokesman for the NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan denounced the attack as a "senseless" and "shameful" act by the Taliban.
"There is absolutely no justification for this type of action. I also want to pass on our very deepest sympathies and our condolences for the victims of this absolutely atrocious act," said Brigadier General Charles Cleveland.
Taliban advances
Meanwhile, Taliban insurgents have overrun a northern district after two days of heavy fighting with Afghan security forces.
The embattled district, Tala wa Barfak, is located in northern Baghlan province. The district governor told local media Tuesday the Taliban had attacked it from different directions.
A spokesman for the Islamist insurgency in a brief statement sent to reporters claimed it has captured Tala wa Barfak and killed a large number of Afghan forces. District governor Faiz Mohammad Amiri confirmed to VOA's Afghan service that the Taliban has taken control of it.
The Taliban apparently has stepped up its attacks as the springtime approaches in Afghanistan.
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Landlocked Afghanistan Urges Pakistan to Open Borders
By Ayaz Gul March 01, 2017
Landlocked Afghanistan has used a regional summit to call on Pakistan to reopen formal border crossings between the two countries, saying barriers on trade, transit and the movement of people defy stated objectives of promoting economic cooperation among participating nations.
Islamabad, which hosted Wednesday's summit of the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization, or ECO, sealed all of the border two weeks ago, alleging militants planned and executed recent terrorist attacks across the country from Afghan soil.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Shaif chaired the meeting where the presidents of Iran and Turkey, as well as several Central Asian states, were also in attendance.
Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan, Hazrat Omer Zakhilwal, who represented his government at the conference, underscored the need for separating economics from politics to promote the ECO mission of regional connectivity for economic prosperity.
Consequences
"They [border crossings with Pakistan] have now been closed for about two weeks, causing enormous hardship to ordinary people and damage to traders on both sides. We cannot be for regional connectivity if at the same time we continue to implement barriers to trade, transit and movement of people between us," he said.
Zakhil attended the conference as a special envoy of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
"Honorable Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in the spirit of today's summit, it will be the right message if your excellency instruct the opening of our formal trade and transit routes between our two brotherly countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan," said Zakhilwal
Kabul rejects charges that anti-Pakistan militants are using Afghan soil for staging attacks in the neighboring country.
Mutual accusations
The Afghan government in turn has reiterated its long running allegations that Islamabad harbors sanctuaries and leaders of the Taliban waging a deadly insurgency in Afghanistan, charges Islamabad denies as baseless.
Mutual terrorism allegations have lately prevented the two uneasy neighbors from engaging in official talks to ease tensions.
Pakistan army spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, on Tuesday called on Afghan authorities to enhance security on their side of the border to prevent terrorist infiltrate into his country, insisting the border closure is not an "indefinite" measure.
"There are some things Afghanistan should be doing before the border reopens that can be decided through shared discussions, so that when the border reopens, no one from our side should be able to go there and no one from their side should be able to come here for terrorism."
Pakistani officials were hoping for the Afghan president to attend Wednesday's ECO summit and billboards displayed at the meeting included Ghani's picture along with other leaders.
But the rise in tensions prompted Ghani to skip the event and so did the Afghan foreign minister, who Pakistani officials say had confirmed his participation days before the summit.
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Aid Workers Forced to Relocate From Famine-Stricken Area of South Sudan
By Jill Craig March 01, 2017
Rising insecurity has forced 28 humanitarian workers to relocate from Mayendit, one of two counties in South Sudan's Unity State that three United Nations aid agencies and the government declared last month as famine-stricken.
"So this is basically an indication of just how volatile these areas continue to be," said Gemma Connell, the deputy head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in South Sudan.
VOA's South Sudan in Focus visited Leer county, the other area of Unity state that has been hit by famine, and found civilians who say they have survived on water lilies and wild fruits for the past three years. Villagers also told VOA they are unable to farm the land due to sporadic military attacks, and have been forced to live in the bush and swamps.
U.N. officials have described the famine as "man-made" a result of an economic collapse and a civil war.
A U.N. statement listed a series of recent events, including violence, looting, and denial of humanitarian access in the regions of Upper Nile, Jonglei, and Central Equatoria that "hampered humanitarian operations and placed civilians at risk." The most recent of these events is the insecurity that caused the relocation of the aid workers from Unity State's Mayendit county.
"In the days subsequent to the incident, we have been negotiating intensively behind the scenes, in addition to the public advocacy, to make sure that we can get these aid workers back in as soon as possible, and we are hopeful, all things going well, that we can get them back on the ground in the coming days," said Connell.
Connell says that food distributions for nearly 114,000 people had been completed in four locations across Mayendit prior to the withdrawal of the aid workers. She says, however, that while some national staff have remained on the ground to provide services, key humanitarian activities have been disrupted, including cholera response and other water, sanitation and hygiene programs, as well as nutrition services.
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, has asked all parties to "ensure immediate, safe, and unhindered" humanitarian access across the country.
Owusu says the South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir, has reassured the United Nations that "all humanitarian organizations will have unimpeded access to needy populations across the country." VOA requests for a response from the presidential spokesman were not immediately returned.
Save the Children released a statement condemning the recent looting of its compound and warehouse in the former Jonglei state, blaming both armed groups and members of the community for robbing more than 1,500 malnourished children of assistance from its feeding centers.
A U.N. and government report says the famine is affecting more than 100,000 people, with another 1 million people on the brink. Roughly half of South Sudan's population is projected to be severely food insecure by July.
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Trump's Newest General Being Put to the Test
By Jeff Seldin March 01, 2017
When U.S. President Donald Trump named a new national security adviser just over a week ago, current and former national security officials did more than just breathe a sigh of relief. Many expressed cautious optimism.
Those who knew or had worked previously with Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster saw his selection as a sign the barely month-old Trump administration was starting to get its footing.
McMaster came in with a reputation for being able to quickly command respect, take a room full of divergent opinions and then forge them into solid policy recommendations, all the while not being afraid to stand up to his superiors.
"He is a convincing, well-thought out strategic thinker who's able to persuade decision makers on how to do things the right way," said Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer who worked with McMaster in Iraq.
Now though, just over a week into the job, McMaster's skills, and his ability to hold the president's ear, will likely be put to the test as the White House begins to discuss the Pentagon's long-awaited plan to destroy the Islamic State terror group.
Counter-Islamic State plan
Defense officials have described the plan, delivered to the White House Monday and later presented to key staffers by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, as merely a preliminary document.
"This is really the framework for a broader discussion," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Monday. "There are a number of details that will need to be filled in as this plan moves forward."
Pentagon officials also emphasized that the plan, even is these early stages, draws upon more than just military force.
"It is a plan to defeat IS rapidly to do it on a global level with all instruments of national power in a synchronized way," Davis said. "Diplomacy is a key part of the plan."
How such a plan will fare with Trump, who has said he wants to "totally obliterate" IS, remains to be seen. And the plan's reliance on diplomacy in addition to military might could signal a potential flashpoint, especially after the administration announced its intent to cut the State Department and foreign assistance budgets by at least 30 percent.
It might seem like a daunting task even for a national security adviser as widely respected as Lt. Gen. McMaster; but, those who know McMaster believe if anyone is able to navigate the internal political schisms, it's the general.
"He's the kind of guy who will sit there and listen to opposing points of view, get the best arguments from both sides and be able to collate, put it together and present it to the president," Pregent said. "He won't just let them sit at the table and say how much things aren't working."
Pregent recounted one meeting in Iraq during which McMaster, then a colonel, was unrelenting in arguing a point with Gen. David Petraeus, who served as commander of multinational forces in Iraq.
"Gen. Petraeus said, 'Alright. I got it. Enough,'" Pregent said. "But because of his [McMaster's] adamant stance on a position, policies were changed."
NSC power struggle?
Still, a number of former national security officials question whether McMaster will be able to find a way to make sure that in the end, the president listens to him instead of other advisers like White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, who have little formal foreign and national security policy experience.
"Domestic politics is always wrapped up in American foreign policy so I'd think it would be naive to think that you could exclude them entirely," former NSC staffer Kenneth Pollack, now with the Brookings Institution, told VOA's Press Conference USA. "But we just don't know what role Steve Bannon will have."
Pollack, who has known McMaster for decades, said his hope is that McMaster will find a way "to grab control over the National Security Council and the wider American national security process."
"He's obviously a tremendous battlefield commander," Pollack added. "But he's also demonstrated a real understanding that military force can only be part of a wider foreign panoply."
Still, Bannon and Miller are not the only voices with which McMaster will have to compete. There's also Sebastian Gorka, the deputy assistant to the president who sits on the White House's Strategic Initiatives Group, a body described by some as a parallel NSC.
"The definition of victory for us is a very simple one," Gorka said last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, outside Washington. "We are going to make the black flag of jihad as repugnant around the world, not just here but around the world, as repugnant as the black, white and red swastika flag of the Third Reich."
"The brand of jihad has to be destroyed," he said.
Gorka, who did not reply to several email requests for comment, has come under sustained criticism in recent weeks from some within the academic and national security communities who question his approach.
Critics like Michael S. Smith, II, a terrorism analyst who has consulted in the past with both the White House and members of Congress, say Gorka's penchant for rejecting nuance in favor of more sweeping sentiment, while catchy, is potentially dangerous.
"Americans should pray Gen. McMaster can pull the wool from over President Trump's eyes, and help him realize Bannon and Gorka are not qualified to work on national security policy in the White House," Smith said. "But when it comes to the question of whether he can, I'm not holding my breath."
A general's perspective
There is no shortage of former officials who see reason to worry, pointing to both the lack of international experience and the rhetoric coming from White House officials like Bannon and Gorka, and from even Trump himself.
"There is this sincere and present danger of thinking that there's a military solution to almost any problem," cautioned retired Air Force Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who emphasized he was speaking on his own behalf.
Bidlack, who served on the National Security Council in the late 1990s, characterized some of the talk coming from White House officials as naive.
But he said that is where military veterans, like McMaster and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who led both NATO and U.S. Central Command, can play a vital role.
"Given the people whispering in the president's ear, perhaps it's good to have someone who's seen the battlefield, who can whisper, 'Not so fast, sir,'" Bidlack said.
Michael Pregent, who worked with McMaster in Iraq, is likewise optimistic the new national security adviser will be able to use his experience and credibility to help change the administration's tone.
"What he understands is how U.S. military power, U.S. military actions affect the population - the second and third order effects, the long-lasting ramifications of aggressive military action on a community," he said.
Pregent added McMaster is also unlikely to back down to anyone at the White House on Islamic State, Russia or anything else.
"I believe he will tell the president that Russia is not an ally in the war against IS in Syria because they will indiscriminately target a Sunni population and that Iranian militias in Iraq are not an ally in the fight against IS."
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Analysis: Should US Return North Korea to Terrorism List?
By Jenny Lee March 01, 2017
Amid calls by U.S. lawmakers for North Korea to be relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism following the apparent assassination of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, there's an apparent lack of consensus among experts on whether his death is a terrorist attack.
Ted Yoho, the Florida Republican who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, told VOA there is a "strong consensus" in Congress on returning the North to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Kim Jong Nam, 45, died Feb. 13 shortly after two women allegedly smeared the VX nerve agent on his face at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport. VX is a highly toxic substance which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
Malaysian police have detained the women and one North Korean national. Seven other North Koreans, including a diplomat based in the Malaysian capital, are currently wanted for questioning.
Although the police are still trying to determine if the North was responsible for the assassination, South Korea's intelligence agency said the killing is state-led terrorism sponsored by the North, according to South Korean lawmakers briefed by the agency.
Currently, three countries are on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism Iran, Sudan and Syria. They are subject to U.S. financial sanctions, which include restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance, a ban on arms-related exports and sales, and controls on exports of dual-use items.
Call for reinstatement
The U.S. designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism after the country bombed a Korean Air flight near Myanmar in 1987, killing 115 people onboard. Since then, the communist state is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts, according to the U.S. State Department.
In 2008, the U.S. removed the North from the list as part of a nuclear deal, in which Pyongyang agreed to disable its plutonium plant and allow some inspections. However, the North's recent provocations have prompted some U.S. lawmakers to seek to repeal the decision. Following the latest incident in Malaysia, there is another push in Congress to return the North to the terrorism blacklist.
In order to put North Korea back on the list, the U.S. secretary of state "must determine" that the North has "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," according to the State Department.
This, nonetheless, could be difficult as the U.S. government and Congress have often disagreed on what constitutes state-sponsored international terrorism. The Obama administration refused repeated calls from Congress to reinstate the North to the list, citing the statutory requirement for such action.
Statutory requirements
Joshua Stanton, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who specializes in sanctions and also maintains the influential One Free Korea blog, believes that the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, coupled with its previous bellicose acts, meets statutory requirements to put Pyongyang back on the terrorism blacklist.
According to Stanton, the regime has carried out a series of what he called terrorist acts such as threats to theaters showing the film The Interview, an action-comedy centered on an assassination plot against Kim Jong Un."
"I think it's going to be difficult for the administration to resist the pressure to [return North Korea to the list] at this point," Stanton told VOA.
Stanton, who also has assisted the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee with the drafting of North Korea-related legislation, added there is little doubt that the Kuala Lumpur killing was a terrorist act because a banned chemical weapon was used against a civilian at a public airport in a third country.
Anthony Ruggiero, who worked in the U.S. government for more than 17 years, told VOA that although there is a restricted legal interpretation of what acts of international terrorism look like, the Kim Jong Nam case "crystalizes the effort to look at North Korea as a terrorist state."
"I think you can make a case that, at least since 2008, there have been repeated acts of international terrorism, which they have supported, or in the case of Kim Jong Nam, have done themselves," said the former Treasury Department official, who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Gray zone
Daniel Benjamin, who served as the U.S. State Department's counterterrorism coordinator in the Obama administration, however, argues that the killing in Malaysia cannot be readily construed as an act of terrorism. In an interview with VOA, Benjamin, who is now the director of the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, said the case lies in a "gray zone."
While the apparent use of the deadly nerve agent in the killing is within legal parameters of designating the North as a terrorist state, assassination by itself cannot be interpreted as an act of terrorism, according to Benjamin.
"So this is a very unusual case," said the former official.
"The law is written in such a way that I think that the administration has a certain amount of flexibility in determining whether or not a country qualifies as a state sponsor," he added.
Citing a senior South Korean official, South Korean news media reported Monday the U.S. was mulling the reinstatement. In response, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday the State Department constantly reviews "all of the available information and intelligence, from a variety of sources" on the North.
"Even without being designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, North Korea remains among the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world," the spokesperson said in an email sent to VOA.
Cho Eunjung and Baik Sungwon contributed to this report.
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Malaysia charges two women with Kim's murder
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 6:33AM
A Malaysian court has formally charged two female suspects with the assassination earlier of the North Korean leader's exiled half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
The magistrates' court, in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday announced the charges against 25-year-old Indonesian citizen Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, over the February 13 killing.
More than 100 heavily armed police agents wearing balaclavas and wielding automatic weapons had secured the entrance to the court building.
The court further informed the suspects who were not asked to enter a plea that they will face the death penalty if they are convicted of the murder charge. A trial, however, is not expected to get underway for several months, according to press reports.
The pair was taken to the isolated courthouse on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur under heavy security, and pushed through and into the building through a crowd of media people.
Both women have claimed that they thought they were participating in a prank when they robbed the deadly VX nerve agent on the face of Kim as he was walking at the airport.
The VX nerve agent is categorized as a weapon of mass destruction and is internationally banned.
Malaysia has refused to turn over Kim's body to North Korea and has sought to question a North Korean diplomat in connection with his killing. Malaysian police also seek to question an employee of the North Korean airliner Air Koryo.
Kim, who attended school 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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Malaysia to Deport N. Korean National Suspected of Kim Jong Nam's Murder
Sputnik News
19:25 01.03.2017(updated 19:28 01.03.2017)
Malaysian authorities will deport a ssuspect in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, an alleged half-brother of the North Korean leader, according to media reports.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) Malaysian authorities are planning to deport a North Korean citizen, who is suspected of the murder of Kim Jong Nam, an alleged half-brother of the North Korean leader, Singaporean media reported Wednesday.
Kim was killed on February 13 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport while waiting for his flight. Following the murder, Malaysian police detained three people, including North Korea's national Ri Jong Chol, while several other suspects had left the Asian country.
Kuala Lumpur is expected to deport Ri and no charges against the suspect will be brought, the Channel NewsAsia broadcaster reported citing its source.
The news outlet had not provided details that could clarify the absence of the charges.
Kim is believed to be killed by a VX nerve agent, classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction, when he tried to board a flight to Macau.
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Malaysia Charges 2 Women with Murder in Kim Jong Nam's Death
By VOA News March 01, 2017
Malaysia charged two women with murder Wednesday in connection with the death of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Siti Aisyah, 25, from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam were under heavy security as they appeared at a Kuala Lumpur court.
The women were not asked to enter pleas in the case, but they have said they are innocent and believed they were taking part in a prank for a television show. Each faces the death penalty if convicted.
They are accused of being the two women shown on security camera footage smearing something on Kim Jong Nam's face at an airport in Kuala Lumpur last month. He died 20 minutes later from what authorities said were the effects of the powerful VX nerve agent.
Prosecutors want to try the two women together, and the pair is due back in court in mid-April. They wore bulletproof vests as they were escorted from the court back to prison.
The case has attracted huge international interest. Hundreds of reporters were at the courthouse, but only a selected few were permitted inside the courtroom. Attorney Selvam Shanmugam, who is representing Doan, told a reporter for VOA's Vietnamese service that her client stayed calm during the proceedings and was maintaining her innocence.
Shanmugam said by telephone that a delegation of "many more" lawyers from the Vietnamese bar would be arriving in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to work on Doan's defense.
The court on Wednesday also issued a gag order meant to prevent police and potential witnesses from making public statements about the case.
North Korea has not confirmed that the dead man is Kim Jong Nam. It is demanding that Malaysia release the body, as well as a North Korean suspect who is in custody.
Malaysian authorities have not said what connection the North Korean man may have to the killing, or whether he will be charged.
Kim Jong Nam was the older, estranged brother of 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.
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Fillon Refuses to Drop Out of French Presidential Race Amid Scandal
Sputnik News
14:39 01.03.2017(updated 16:40 01.03.2017)
French presidential candidate from The Republicans party Francois Fillon confirmed that he was summoned to court on March 15. Earlier today, he was questioned by magistrates investigating a 'fake work' scandal involving his wife. Fillon is joined by his former rival in the conservative primaries Alain Juppe.
"I have not misappropriated public funds I have trusted the people close to me with jobs because I knew I could count on their trust and their competence," Fillon said at the press conference.
Fillon blasted the ongoing judicial inquiry as an attempt of "political assassination" directed at him. Having pleaded not guilty in the case of employment of his family members, Fillon will now have to prove it in court.
"I won't give in, I won't surrender, I won't pull out, I'll fight to the end," Fillon said ending his speech.
Earlier, French media reported that Fillon's presidential campaign director Patrick Stefanini had offered his resignation. There has been no confirmation yet.
Fillon, who was initially one of the pollsters' favorites, saw his ratings drop after the scandal broke out in late January around his wife allegedly having been paid for jobs without exercising her duties. French media also questioned Fillon's children's employment as his parliamentary assistants between 2005 and 2007.
The French financial prosecutor's office launched an official investigation on February, 24 into an allegedly fake employment of Fillon's wife. The investigation is devoted to assignment of state funds, complicity, concealment of offenses and trading in influence.
French presidential elections are due to take place in two rounds on April 23 and May 7.
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India Test-Fires Low Altitude Advanced Air Defense Interceptor Missile
Sputnik News
11:27 01.03.2017(updated 11:42 01.03.2017)
India is in the process of inducting two layered Ballistic Missile Defense into its armed forces. Last month it had successfully test-fired the Prithvi Air Defense (PAD) missile for exo-atmospheric ranges and on Wednesday morning its Advanced Air Defense (AAD) missile hits directly to incoming missile at a lower altitude.
New Delhi (Sputnik) India has successfully test-fired advanced air defense interceptor in full operational configuration from Wheeler Island off Odisha coast at 10.15 am (Indian Standard Time) on Wednesday. Defense sources told Sputnik that the mission was completely successful.
Interceptor missile is a 7.5-meter long solid rocket propelled guided missile equipped with a high accuracy Inertial Navigation System (INS) supported by a Redundant Micro Navigation System, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator. Indian scientists had deferred November launch due to some technical shortcomings.
Defense Research Development Organization developed low altitude Advanced Air Defense missile was successfully tested last year in May as well. On 11 February this year, scientists had test-fired another interceptor Prithvi Defense Vehicle which destroyed an incoming missile at 100 Kilometer from the surface of the earth.
Indian scientists tested its inceptor missile strength within a month after Pakistan conducted the first test of its medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Ababeel.
Ababeel has a maximum range of 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles), can deliver multiple warheads, evade enemy radars, and strike multiple targets with high precision.
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Araqchi: Tehran, Moscow to review JCPOA implementation
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Geneva, March 1, IRNA -- Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that talks between Tehran and Moscow on the prospects of implementing Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are underway.
According to the Russian News Agency Sputnik International, talks continue between the two sides in the light of recent presidential election in the United States, Araqchi said.
'Sure, with Russia we have contacts and consultations at almost all levels. I recently visited Moscow, met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, my colleague; we exchanged views on different aspects of JCPOA implementation, especially in the aftermath of the new developments in the United States. We are in contacts with them at the expert level as well. Our ministers meet frequently. Last time they met in Munich. So with Russia we have excellent cooperation,' Araqchi said.
The nuclear agreement signed in July 2015 by Iran and the P5+1 group of countries comprising China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus Germany stipulates that Tehran must maintain a peaceful nature of its nuclear program in exchange for international sanctions relief.
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Iraqi forces regain control over main road out of Mosul
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 9:41AM
Iraqi government forces have managed to establish full control over the last main exit out of the northern city of Mosul amid a new joint operation with allied Popular Mobilization Units to drive the extremists out of their last urban stronghold in the country.
An unnamed Iraqi general told Reuters on Wednesday that soldiers from the army's 9th Armored Division had advanced within one kilometer from Syria Gate in Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad.
"We effectively control the road, it is in our sight," he added.
The road links Mosul to the city of Tal Afar, situated 63 kilometers west of Mosul, and extends to the Syrian border.
Meanwhile, Iraqi army forces have shot down five combat drones operated by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the skies over Mosul as they were poised to launch attacks on government troops and fighters from Popular Mobilization Units commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi.
The Joint Operations Command (JOC) also announced in a statement on Tuesday that federal police forces and rapid response teams were busy clearing buildings and roadways in the recently-liberated Jawsaq, Tayaran and Tathir neighborhoods of bombs. They managed to blow up 25 improvised explosive devices, killed a number of terrorists plus a sniper, destroyed two booby-trapped hideouts and discovered six explosive belts.
Iraqi forces destroyed a bomb-making workshop, two rocket launch pads and many motorcycles in the mentioned areas.
Additionally, Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, General Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, said the army's 9th Armored Division had liberated Damerji, a village northwest of Mosul.
The high-ranking Iraqi military commander went on to say that government forces had inflicted heavy losses on Daesh ranks during the operation, before they hoisted the national flag over a cluster of buildings in the area.
Iraqi soldiers destroyed four explosives-laden cars and 30 improvised explosive devices in the process.
Separately, Major General Najim al-Jabouri, the head of the Operations Command in Nineveh Province, of which Mosul is the capital, also pointed out that Iraqi forces had taken over the Wadi Hajar district in southwestern Mosul following fierce clashes with Daesh militants holed up there.
On February 19, Iraqi soldiers and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters mounted a new offensive to liberate western Mosul.
International aid organizations have warned against the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of civilians from western Mosul.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says some 8,000 people have fled west Mosul since Iraqi forces launched their operations to rid that part of the city from Daesh terrorists.
The UN humanitarian aid agency announced on Tuesday that it was increasing its displacement camps to cope with the large of people who have managed to escape.
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Iraqi Forces Advance to West Mosul Along 3 Axes, Prepare for Tough Fight
Sputnik News
20:49 01.03.2017(updated 20:58 01.03.2017)
The Operation Inherent Resolve commander noted that the tactic has proven to be effective because it overwhelms the enemy.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The Iraqi military is attacking Daesh in western Mosul from three directions and is likely to face fierce fighting, Operation Inherent Resolve commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
"They've began breaching into the outskirts of the city with the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service, Federal Police and Army moving along three axes of advance," Townsend told reporters.
The general noted that the tactic has proven to be effective because it overwhelms the enemy.
"We expect very tough fighting as the Iraqis move deeper into the dense urban terrain of west Mosul," Townsend added.
The commander explained that Daesh has been preparing for the battle for some time and has created obstacles on the streets to slow down the advance.
"We strike these barriers with our precision fires to help the Iraqis advance," Townsend said.
The operation to liberate Mosul from Daesh terrorists, outlawed in many countries, including Russia, began on October 17, 2016. Iraqi troops have managed to advance in the eastern part of the city, but the western part on the right bank of the Tigris River remains under militant control.
Daesh is outlawed in the United States, Russia and numerous other countries.
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Terrorists Take Flight! Daesh Chief Al-Baghdadi Allegedly Orders Retreat in Iraq
Sputnik News
13:49 01.03.2017(updated 16:17 01.03.2017)
Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has acknowledged the terrorist group's defeat in Iraq, urging his supporters to take refuge in the country's mountainous regions, independent Iraqi news network Alsumaria reported.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the infamous terrorist group Daesh (ISIL/ISIS), gave a speech in which he admitted that his organization had suffered defeat in recent hostilities in Iraq, the independent Iraqi news network Alsumaria quoted a source in Nineveh province as saying on Wednesday.
Al-Baghdadi's speech came amid reports that Daesh commanders based in the western part of Iraq's Mosul are fleeing the city.
"Calling his speech a farewell address, al-Baghdadi circulated it among Daesh preachers and explained what was going on with the group. The preachers started talking about the defeats Daesh is suffering in Nineveh province and other parts of Iraq," the source said.
On Monday, Mahmud al Surdji, a representative of Iraq's Nineveh Plain Protection Units told Sputnik Arabic that government forces had taken full control of the highway connecting Mosul and the capital Baghdad.
According to him, forces from the 9th Armored Division have encircled the Daesh terrorists near Mosul's largest electric power plant, on the west bank of the Tigris River.
He said that later this week, the Iraqi army is planning to finish its operation to free the Wadi Hajar neighborhood.
He added that the liberation of this particular district will provide the army with access to other districts of the city which still remain under Daesh control.
Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was captured by Daesh terrorists in June 2014. Iraqi and US-led coalition forces liberated the eastern part of the city in late January 2017, while its western part remains under terrorist control.
Last Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of operations to liberate the western part of the city.
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Suu Kyi aide dismisses UN pressure over abuse of Rohingya
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 3:32PM
A close aide to Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has dismissed mounting international pressure over the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state despite evidence provided by the UN of murder, rape and torture at the hands of government forces.
Win Htein said on Wednesday that recent remarks by UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee about the abuse of the Rohingya were "biased" and "unfair."
"What Yanghee Lee is doing is not fair. It's biased," media outlets quoted Htein as saying.
"We do not care about this kind of unfair report. Because we do not care, we do not worry."
Lee recently slammed Myanmar's continued discrimination against Rohingya Muslims.
The UN official has called for Myanmar to immediately end its crackdown on the Muslim minority.
Lee has said that the magnitude of violence against the Rohingya is far more extensive than the UN rights office perceived.
The UN official says Myanmar's military stands accused of committing acts of violence against the Muslims, such as slitting throats, indiscriminate shootings, burning houses with people tied up inside, and gang-raping women.
Lee is expected to turn up the heat next week by calling a formal commission of inquiry into abuses against the Rohingya.
A four-month crackdown on the stateless Muslim minority has seen over 70,000 Rohingya flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
Escapees have given the UN chilling accounts of babies being stabbed to death and people being burned alive.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize laureate who has been lionized in Western media as Myanmar's "democracy icon," has defended the military's crackdown in Rakhine, much to the dismay of the international community.
Rakhine has been under a military siege since October 2016 over a raid on a police post that was blamed on the Rohingya.
Suu Kyi, however, has described the crisis in Rakhine as "under control" and demanded that the international community stop stoking the "fires of resentment."
The bloody crackdown on the Muslims by the military has posed the biggest challenge to Suu Kyi since her NLD party won Myanmar's first democratic elections in a generation in late 2015.
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South Korea's Acting President Vows to Get Tough on North Amid Escalation
Sputnik News
08:00 01.03.2017
South Korea's Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn pledged on Wednesday to take a hard line on the North, saying it would answer for its provocations, local media reported.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) Speaking during a televised speech in Seoul, Hwang said that Seoul, relying on Washington's support, "will strongly punish any provocations and threats from North Korea."
North Korea has conducted a number of missile launches in the past months as well as its fifth and biggest nuclear test last September, prompting tighter sanctions from the United Nations.
Hwang pledged to convince Pyongyang its nuclear stockpile was useless by deploying US anti-ballistic missiles, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), to the peninsula.
US and South Korean militaries launched two-month war games earlier in the day, codenamed Foal Eagle. The Korean defense minister said the annual exercise would be on par with last year's historic event.
In turn, US Defense James Mattis reassured Seoul of Pentagon's steadfast commitment to the security of its allies, saying any use of nuclear weapons against South Korea would be met with an effective response.
Sputnik
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Putin Denies State-Sponsored Doping in Russia, Vows to Boost Anti-Doping Efforts
Sputnik News
09:21 01.03.2017(updated 09:45 01.03.2017)
Vladimir Putin reaffirmed on Wednesday that there is no state-sponsored system supporting of doping abuse in Russia, vowing instead continued anti-doping efforts.
KRASNOYARSK (Sputnik) Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed on Wednesday that there is no state-sponsored system supporting of doping abuse in Russia, vowing instead continued anti-doping efforts.
"I want to emphasize once again we have always said this there has never been, there is no, and I hope there never will be a state support system for doping in Russia," Putin said.
"On the contrary, there will only be a fight against doping," he said at a meeting on preparations for the Winter Universiade 2019 in Russia's Krasnoyarsk.
The Russian government should heed the advice of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) commission despite its shortfalls, Russian President said.
Last week, International Olympic Committee chief Christophe De Kepper cited WADA as saying at a recent meeting in Lausanne that in many cases the evidence provided in the McLaren report on Russian doping "may not be sufficient to bring successful cases."
"The most important thing is that we must listen despite these failures in the work of the independent commission. We should listen to what it has done and the result of its work," Putin said.
Speaking at a meeting on preparations for the Winter Universiade 2019 in Russia's Krasnoyarsk, he nonetheless said "we must recognize that we have identified credible cases of doping."
"This is absolutely unacceptable, and this means that the existing and existing-until-now Russian control system over doping has not worked, and it is our fault. We must say so directly and recognize it," Putin stressed.
Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he hopes a strict and effective anti-doping control system would be set up in the country with the involvement of foreign experts.
"I hope that, with the help of our independent experts and with the help of involved foreign experts, a strict, efficient and effective system for the fight against doping would be set up," Putin said at a meeting on preparations for the Winter Universiade 2019.
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Syria talks should focus on unity govt. during transition period: Russia
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 8:2PM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has underlined the need for the Syria peace talks underway in the Swiss city of Geneva to focus on warring sides reaching a consensus on how the war-torn country will be governed during the transition period.
Lavrov made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Nigerien counterpart Ibrahim Yacouba in Moscow on Wednesday.
"This agenda (of Geneva talks) in how it relates to the political process is based on the need to form a unified view of how Syria will be governed during the transition period. Or if you would like we can say to agree on some kind of national unity government for the transition period," Lavrov said on Wednesday.
However, the unity government should be formed based on a mutual agreement between the government and the entire opposition spectrum as stipulated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, he added. The measure was unanimously adopted in December 2015 in a bid to help bring an end to the conflict in Syria.
"Then according to decisions by the United Nations, the political process should focus on work on Syria's new constitution and after that, on organizing early general elections based on the grounds of this new constitution," Lavrov further said.
Elsewhere in his comments, the top Russian diplomat stressed that fighting terrorism and separating terrorists from the so-called moderate opposition are critical in the implementation of the UN resolution.
Stressing that extremists should be banned from the Syria negotiations, he said, "We cannot allow for extremist circles from organizations banned by the Security Council to leak into this political process."
Lavrov further expressed hope that the Geneva talks "will not be disrupted and that it will continue to play an important role in achieving a Syrian settlement."
Separately on Wednesday, the Syrian opposition said that they had been told by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura that government negotiators were ready to discuss a political transition at the Geneva talks.
Nasr al-Hariri, the head of the so-called High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main Saudi-backed opposition group, also said they discussed political transition and related issues with the UN envoy for the first time.
However, the Damascus government is yet to comment on the remarks.
HNC refuses to add terrorism to talks' agenda
In a relevant development on Wednesday, the HNC, which serves as an umbrella group for militants and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said that it would not allow terrorism to be added to the agenda of the UN-mediated Geneva discussions, which began on February 23.
"We will not deal with it, and if (de Mistura) adds it in any time we will not deal with it or discuss it," said HNC member Yahya Kodmani.
On the contrary, a source close to the Damascus delegation said the government's negotiators had agreed to discuss subjects such as terrorism and political issues in the peace talks.
The latest peace talks come shortly after the conclusion of the second round of the Syria peace negotiations, mediated by Russia, Turkey and Iran, in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on February 15 and 16.
Citing a source close to the talks, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday that another round of the Syria negotiations will take place in Kazakhstan on March 14.
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US seeks Turkey's role in liberating Syria's Raqqah
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 7:10PM
A US commander says talks are under way with Turkey on the role Ankara might play in the operation to liberate Syria's Raqqah, a city under the control of the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
US Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US forces purportedly fighting Daesh, was speaking via video conference from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, to a Pentagon news briefing on Wednesday.
"We are engaged in discussions with the Turks on how they might participate in the liberation of Raqqah and I don't know what the numbers of their participation might be," media outlets quoted the US military official as saying.
Washington currently has about 500 Special Operations troops in Syria. However, their activities have been limited to what the Pentagon describes as training and assisting Kurdish forces in their battle against Daesh and other terrorist groups.
The US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are said to be engaged in operations to drive terrorists out of Raqqah. They dominate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic anti-Damascus alliance.
Recently, another US commander, General Joseph L. Votel, said more American troops may be needed in Syria to step up their so-called campaign against Daesh.
Votel, the commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), has also secretly visited northern Syria to meet US-backed militant groups.
In early February, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported that Turkish military chief Hulusi Akar had presented his American counterpart, Joseph Dunford, with two plans for an alleged potential operation to liberate Raqqah.
The Turkish Air Force and special ground forces kicked off their operation inside Syria last August in a declared bid to rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and Kurdish militants.
The operation was not coordinated with the Syrian government, which has described it as a violation of its sovereignty.
Turkey's invasion has also been fiercely opposed by the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters.
After capturing the northern Syrian city of al-Bab in Raqqah province from Daesh, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the next target for the Turkish offensive should be the city of Raqqah, which is already encircled by different fronts, including Kurdish militias, the Turkish military and Syrian army forces.
Syrian army troops and allied fighters have been fighting terrorists since 2011.
Terrorists from Daesh were among the militants who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize Syria.
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Syrian forces enter Daesh-controlled Palmyra
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 1, 2017 2:34PM
Last updated at 1800 GMT, March 1, 2017
Syrian army forces have reportedly entered the ancient city of Palmyra, which fell to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group for a second time a few months ago.
"The army has entered a western neighborhood of Palmyra and has seized control of part of it," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, a Hezbollah media report said the Syrian army forces and their allied fighters had recaptured the Palmyra Citadel, situated on the city's western outskirts.
The Syrian troops also managed to retake a palace complex to the city's southwest, the report added.
Earlier in the day, an unnamed Syrian military source told Reuters that the Syrian troops, backed by Russia's air cover, had advanced to the outskirts of Palmyra, also known in Arabic as Tadmur, in the last few days and their "entry to the city will begin very soon."
The developments came on the same day as the Syrian military announced the recapture of an area called the "Palmyra triangle" a few kilometers west of the city.
Meanwhile, Syria's official SANA news agency reported that the gain followed fierce clashes between Daesh militants and the Syrian army and its allied fighters, leaving scores of the terrorists dead or injured.
Additionally, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that the government forces were expected to storm Palmyra at "any moment."
Russia has also expressed its readiness to deploy aircraft in support of the Palmyra operation.
The Syrian army, backed by Russia's counter-terrorism airstrikes, liberated Palmyra in March 2016 after Daesh held the city for 10 months.
However, Daesh managed to seize the historic city once again in December 2016 after days of intense fighting as the Syrian military focused mainly on defeating terrorist groups in eastern Aleppo.
During both of its spells in control of Palmyra, Daesh razed ancient monuments and dismantled key parts of the city's UNESCO World Heritage ruins.
The Syrian forces have been fighting different foreign-backed militant groups wreaking havoc in the Middle Eastern country since 2011.
Over the past few months, troops have made sweeping gains against Takfiri terrorists who have lately increased their acts of violence across Syria following a series of defeats in Aleppo and elsewhere.
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Russia Ceases Bombing US Allies in Syria After Deconfliction Call - Coalition
Sputnik News
20:02 01.03.2017(updated 21:58 01.03.2017)
The commander of the Operation Inherent Resolve said Moscow had stopped accidental bombing of the US-led coalition's allies after a deconfliction call.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Russian forces in Syria ceased an accidental bombing of Syrian Arab Coalition fighters near Manbij on Tuesday after the United States made a call through the joint deconfliction channel, Operation Inherent Resolve commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said at a press briefing.
"Some quick calls were made through our deconfliction channels and the Russians acknowledged and stopped bombing there," Townsend told reporters on Wednesday.
The commander stressed that Russia likely believed the area was held by the outlawed Daesh militants, who had previously moved out ahead of an advance by Turkish partners.
"Yesterday we had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that, I believe, they thought were held by ISIS [Daesh], yet they were actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces," he said.
US forces were about four or five kilometers (2.5-3 miles) away when they observed the incident and contacted their Russian counterparts.
"We used that mechanism, and it worked," Townsend said.
However, there were some casualties among the Syrian Arab Coalition, the commander added.
The airstrikes took place in a village near al-Bab, 9-12 miles from Manbij where Syrian Arab Coalition fighters were on the ground.
The United States and Russia signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding in October 2015 to ensure flight safety during combat missions over Syria.
Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.
Moscow has been conducting a counter-terrorist campaign in Syria since September 30, 2015, at President Bashar Assad's request.
Sputnik
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Much to Turkey's Dismay: US Expects Syrian Kurds to Join Raqqa Liberation
Sputnik News
19:37 01.03.2017(updated 19:46 01.03.2017)
Syrian Kurds are likely to participate in the liberation of Raqqa, according to the chief of the US-led coalition against Daesh. Apparently, Turkey will not be happy.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Local Kurds will participate in the operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from the Daesh, Operation Inherent Resolve commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said in a briefing on Wednesday.
"I expect Kurds will participate in the operation in one form or fashion," Townsend told reporters. "They are local Kurds who will participateThese are Syrians."
Earlier in the day, Turkish media reported that Ankara could forbid Washington from using its Incirlik airbase if the United States cooperates with the Kurdish forces, such as the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Popular Defense Units (YPG), during operations against Daesh in the area of Raqqa.
"We are engaged in discussions with Turks on how they might participate in the liberation of Raqqa, and I don't know what the numbers of their participation might be," Townsend said.
The city of Raqqa, which is the "capital" of the so-called caliphate proclaimed by Daesh, is a target for numerous groups fighting against extremists in Syria. Turkey and the Kurdish troops have voiced their plans to liberate the Daesh-occupied city.
Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition and terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front and Daesh, banned in a range of countries, including Russia.
On February 16, Syrian National Council Co-chair Ilham Ehmed said in an interview with Firat News Agency that the safe zones proposed by the Trump administration would be created in areas under control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
Turkish chief presidential adviser Ilnur Cevik told Sputnik on Tuesday that Ankara would be against the creation of safe zones in Kurdish areas in Syria because they might be used by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization in Turkey.
Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015 when a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) collapsed because of a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members.
Sputnik
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Syrian Army Storming Hotel Complex in Daesh-Held Southwestern Palmyra
Sputnik News
18:44 01.03.2017(updated 18:45 01.03.2017)
Syrian troops are storming the Daesh-held historic city of Palmyra.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) The Syrian government forces launched on Wednesday an offensive on a hotel complex in the south-west of the ancient city of Palmyra, an informed on-site source told Sputnik.
"The army and allies are storming the hotel district in the south-west of Palmyra," the source said.
According to the source, another group of government forces earlier launched an attack on positions of Daesh militants after liberating the Palmyra citadel.
Daesh seized Palmyra, which was the capital of the Palmyrene Empire and one of the richest cities of the Roman Empire, in May 2015. Terrorists destroyed a number of historic sights designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Arch of Triumph, the Temple of Baalshamin and the Temple of Bel. Jihadists also looted the national museum and the famous Palmyra's necropolis.
Less than a year after that the Syrian army supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces managed to liberate Palmyra. Russian specialists demined the historic center as well as residential areas of the city. Russian historians and renovators visited Palmyra in early July 2016 and prepared a report assessing the condition of the damaged sites and costs of the renovation works. However, in December 2016, the city was retaken by jihadists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the Daesh offensive on Palmyra. According to the Russian leader, the situation in Palmyra was a result of discordant actions of different players in Syria.
Sputnik
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Syrian Government Forces Capture Palmyra Citadel From Daesh - Reports
Sputnik News
17:26 01.03.2017(updated 19:36 01.03.2017)
Syrian government forces along with their allies have recaptured Palmyra citadel from Daesh on Wednesday, securing complete control of the firing range over the city of Palmyra.
The government forces also took over a palace complex to the city's southwest, the Hezbollah-run outlet reported.
"The army has regained control over the citadel in Palmyra and the mountain range to the southwest of the city. Now we are preparing to storm the city," a source told Sputnik, adding that terrorists fled the heights where the citadel is located after the army had taken the heights over the city.
The source also said that the city of Palmyra is now within firing range of the Syrian government forces.
"The Syrian army has established complete control of the firing range over the heights around the historic Palmyra citadel after Daesh terrorists had abruptly left the area," the source said.
Earlier today, Syrian government troops secured control over a strategic traffic interchange at the southern entrance to Palmyra, a source told Sputnik.
Palmyra is considered key for advancing to Daesh stronghold of Raqqa in eastern Syria. Daesh seized Palmyra, which was the capital of the Palmyrene Empire and one of the richest cities of the Roman Empire, in May 2015. Terrorists destroyed a number of historic sights designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Arch of Triumph, the Temple of Baalshamin and the Temple of Bel. Jihadists also looted the national museum and the famous Palmyra's necropolis.
Less than a year after that the Syrian army supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces managed to liberate Palmyra. Russian specialists demined the historic center as well as residential areas of the city. Russian historians and renovators visited Palmyra in early July 2016 and prepared a report assessing the condition of the damaged sites and costs of the renovation works. However, in December 2016, the city was retaken by jihadists.
Sputnik
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US Sets Up Military Base in Syrian Manbij to 'Defend It From Turkish Attack'
Sputnik News
16:14 01.03.2017
A high-ranking representative of the Syrian Democratic Forces, who wished not to disclose his name, has told Sputnik Turkiye that the US is "taking all necessary measures" to defend the Syrian city of Manbij from an attack by the Turkish military. It has set up a military base in the city and hung up its flag as a "warning sign" to Ankara.
The US is "taking all necessary measures" to defend the Syrian city of Manbij in the Aleppo Governorate, 30 kilometers west of the Euphrates, which is currently under control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), from an attack by the Turkish Armed Forces and fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the SDF representative told Sputnik Turkiye.
In particular, he said, US servicemen have set up a military base in the city and are sending an additional contingent there. They are also deploying heavy weaponry and armored vehicles to the area.
Alongside setting up the military base in Manbij, the US is deploying servicemen and armaments to the northern and western parts of the city.
"Turkey and the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) are getting ready for an attack on Manbij, and so we are getting ready to defend the city and are in constant talks with our ally, the US," the SDF representative told Sputnik.
He further explained that last week they had a meeting with Joseph Votel, the commander of the US Central Command (USCENTCOM), during which they discussed a security threat to Manbij coming from Turkey.
"We [SDF] have said that in case of an attack on the city will be forced to halt the operation to liberate Raqqa and will redeploy our forces to Manbij," he told Sputnik.
"In his turn, Votel assured us that the American side will take all necessary measures to prevent an attack by Turkish forces on the city," he added.
The SDF representative further noted that US servicemen will be holding talks with representatives from Turkey and added that the US intends to increase its contingent in Manbij, sending heavy weaponry and tanks there in order to shore up the city's defenses.
Just two days after their meeting with Votel, the US set up a military base in the city to be able to defend it from an attack by Turkish armed forces. The US flag was flown above the base.
Flying the flag, he said, is a message, a warning to Turkey that the city is under the defense of the US.
The US servicemen will also take part in round-the-clock surveillance and patrols in the west and the north of the city to be able to prevent any possible attack.
In addition, he said, armored vehicles under the US flag have been deployed in the north of the city. US servicemen have been also deployed to its western areas. On Tuesday they sent more tanks and armored vehicles to Manbij and promised that the city will also be under the defense of the US-led coalition forces.
Sputnik
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Syrian Army Destroys Daesh Bomb-Loaded Vehicles, Kills 10 Militants Near Palmyra
Sputnik News
13:31 01.03.2017
At least two bomb-loaded armored vehicles with Daesh suicide attackers heading to the Syrian army positions near the southwestern entrance of Palmyra were destroyed, according to a source.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) The Syrian army destroyed bomb-loaded armored vehicles of the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia), which the militants planned to use against the army positions near Palmyra, an informed source told Sputnik.
"At least two bomb-loaded armored vehicles with suicide attackers heading to the army positions near the southwestern entrance of Palmyra were destroyed," the source said.
The government forces and their allies managed to detect the militants and destroy their military equipment as well as 10 terrorists, the source added.
The military operations are being carried out 2 miles away from Palmyra near at-Tar caves, according to the source. The sides continue fighting over the Hayan mountain to the east of the city. Daesh militants withdrew some of their forces toward Deir ez-Zor, controlled by the government forces, the source said.
Palmyra was first taken by the Daesh terrorists in May 2015. After they recaptured the city in December 2016, the Syrian army launched an operation to retake it.
Sputnik
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War crimes committed by all parties in battle for Aleppo UN-mandated inquiry on Syria
1 March 2017 The battle late last year for control over Syria's war-ravaged Aleppo was a stage of unrelenting violence, with civilians on both sides falling victim to war crimes committed by all parties, read a report issued today by the United Nations-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
The report documents brutal tactics employed by the parties to the conflict in the country as they engaged in the decisive battle for the once iconic city between July and December 2016, resulting in unparalleled suffering for Syrian men, women and children.
"The violence in Aleppo documented in our report should focus the international community on the continued, cynical disregard for the laws of war by the warring parties in Syria," said Paulo Pinheiro, the Chair of the three-member Commission, which was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.
"The deliberate targeting of civilians has resulted in the immense loss of human life, including hundreds of children," he added.
The report notes that the siege-like tactics employed by pro-Government forces in eastern Aleppo last year trapped civilians without adequate food or medical supplies, and that between July and December, Syrian and Russian forces carried out daily air strikes, claiming hundreds of lives and reducing hospitals, schools and markets to rubble.
It adds that Syrian forces also used chlorine bombs a chemical agent prohibited under international law in residential areas, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. The Commission also notes that it received reports of use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas.
Furthermore, by late December, when pro-Government forces on the ground took control over eastern Aleppo, no functioning hospitals remained.
The intentional targeting of these medical facilities amounted to war crimes, the Commission concludes.
Attack on UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian convoy
In the course of its investigations, the Commission also examined an attack on a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian convoy in Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo's countryside by the Syrian Air Force. The attack killed 14 aid workers, destroyed 17 trucks carrying aid supplies, and led to the suspension of all humanitarian aid in the country.
"Under no circumstances can humanitarian aid workers be targeted," underscored Commissioner Carla del Ponte, adding: "A deliberate attack against them such as the one that took place in Orum al-Kubra amounts to war crimes and those responsible must be held accountable for their actions."
Indiscriminate attacks by armed groups
Further in the report, the Commission also notes that armed groups indiscriminately shelled civilian-inhabited areas of western Aleppo with improvised weapons, such as rocket-assisted munitions and mortars, resulting in extensive civilian casualties. A number of these attacks were carried out without a clear military target and had no other purpose than to terrorise the civilian population.
The report also states that in some districts, armed groups shot at civilians to prevent them from leaving, effectively using them as human shields.
It also notes that pro-Government forces on the ground, composed mostly of Syrian and foreign militias, executed hors de combat fighters and perceived opposition supporters, including family members of fighters.
Forced displacement of civilians
The 37-page document reveals that the eastern Aleppo evacuation agreement forced thousands of civilians despite a lack of military necessity or deference to the choice of affected individuals to move to Government-controlled western Aleppo whilst others were taken to Idlib where they are once more living under bombardments.
"Some of these agreements amount to forced displacement. It is imperative that the parties refrain from similar future agreements and provide the conditions for the safe return of those who wish to go back to their homes in eastern Aleppo", said Commissioner Karen AbuZayd.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011.
The report is based on 291 interviews, including with residents of Aleppo, and the review of satellite imagery, photographs, videos and medical records. It is scheduled to be presented to current session of the Council on 14 March during an interactive dialogue.
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UN: Both Sides in Syrian Conflict Committed War Crimes
By VOA News March 01, 2017
Opposing sides in the fight for control of Aleppo committed war crimes, according to a new United Nations report.
The U.N.'s latest report on the six-year conflict said the Syrian government's aerial bombing and strafing of a humanitarian convoy that killed 14 aid workers and halted relief operations were among the war crimes that were committed.
Syrian and Russian forces executed indiscriminate "daily air strikes" using cluster munitions on the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo between July and the and the fall of the city in late December, the report said. Hundreds of people were killed and hospitals destroyed, amounting to the war crime of indiscriminate attacks.
Was Russia involved?
U.N. investigators could not determine if both Syrian and Russian forces were involved in the Aleppo attacks because they jointly controlled their air space over the area "throughout the period under review."
"[They] use predominately the same aircraft and weapons, thus rendering attribution impossible in many cases," according to the report, which did not attribute any war crimes to Russia.
The report, which was released Wednesday, said Syrian helicopters employed a banned weapon, toxic chlorine bombs, on Aleppo "throughout 2016," causing hundreds of causalities.
More than 5,000 pro-government forces surrounded eastern Aleppo in an attempt to "surrender or starve" opposition forces, the report said.
Civilian deaths
Opposition groups killed and injured dozens of people when they shelled government-controlled western Aleppo, the report said. The groups also stopped civilians from leaving eastern Aleppo and used them as "human shields," and attacked a Kurdish residential district, both of which are war crimes.
U.N. investigators said the U.S.-led coalition did not carry out any air attacks over Aleppo in the second half of 2016.
The report was issued as Syrian peace talks continue in Geneva. The findings are based on 291 interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as forensic evidence and satellite imagery.
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Rule, Britannia!' Red-Faced Royal Navy Has a Slight Missile Problem
Sputnik News
18:25 01.03.2017
The British Royal Navy has not had the best luck over recent months, and now it seems that another nail is about to go into the coffin for the Fleet, which has announced that their Type 26 warships are equipped with missile launchers, however there are no missiles they can use.
Britain's Type 26 warships, which cost US$9.9 billion, are equipped with missile launchers, but unfortunately they are ill-equipped to handle them.
Construction of the first eight Type 26 warships will start in 2017, however there is the concern that the ships will be left empty. It is reported that the ammunition for the US-made MK 41 launcher is not yet in the possession of the UK military.
In November 2016, it was reported that the UK's Royal Fleet will be left without an anti-ship missile due to financial reasons, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has confirmed, leading to experts questioning how secure Britain will be without the vital weaponry.
The MoD is used to having Harpoon missiles, however due to budgetary concerns the Navy will be forced to use its 4.5 inch gun with a range of just 17 miles.
The Royal Navy suffered a further set-back, as it was revealed that they were using naval ships "well beyond their sell-by date."
A review by leading industrialist Sir John Parker into the Royal Navy shipbuilding has blasted the UK government for creating a "vicious cycle" in which ships are being ordered too late, thus increasing the costs over the long-term.
Then further humiliation was faced, when a Type 45 destroyer had to be towed back to port, two days after setting sail.
A report by the Times newspaper claims that the MoD equipment plan appears to show no money has been allocated for missiles, and no missiles have been identified to be purchased.
However, the MoD have denied this by saying that state of the art equipment will be delivered to the warships.
"The Type 26 Frigate will be delivered with cutting edge weapons and sensors that build on the excellent operational record of the Type 23," a spokesperson for the MoD said.
"Backed by a rising defense budget and a US$178 billion equipment plan, investment in the MK 41 launcher enables the Royal Navy the option of investing in a wide range of additional capabilities at short notice and according to the threat," they added.
Sources have claimed that these Type 26 warships are essential for defense and in February 2017, Sputnik spoke to Professor Anthony Glees, an expert in politics, security and intelligence from the University of Buckingham, who discussed the fact that seven of the UK's attack submarines are out of operation.
Professor Glees said that it was extremely bad timing for Britain to demonstrate to the world that its defenses are weak.
Sputnik
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Separatists Seize Ukraine Billionaire's Operations As Tensions Rise Over Blockade
Christopher Miller March 01, 2017
KYIV -- A telecom firm and a charity controlled by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov were targeted in a wave of seizures by Russia-backed separatists amid an escalating standoff over a blockade hampering commerce between separatist-controlled territory and the rest of Ukraine.
A spokesman for Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man, said on March 1 that armed separatists had taken control of an arena in the eastern city of Donetsk that had served as a staging ground for a charity that has distributed humanitarian aid since the war erupted in the region nearly three years ago.
"At the moment, we're unable to deliver any humanitarian aid inside nongovernment-controlled territory," spokesman Jock Mendoza-Wilson told RFE/RL.
Meanwhile, the director of Ukrtelecom, a leading telecom owned by Akhmetov, wrote in a March 1 Facebook post that the company had its office and equipment seized in Donetsk and was forced to halt phone and Internet services in separatist-controlled areas of the region.
"Around 200,000 of our citizens have lost the ability to interact," Mikhail Shuranov wrote.
The seizures follow an announcement by the separatists that they would take control of enterprises located on territory they hold as of March 1 in response to the road and rail blockade, which was imposed more than a month ago by nationalist Ukrainian lawmakers and veterans of the ongoing war in the east.
The blockade, whose backers have denounced what they call the "trade in blood" with the separatists, has caused almost all rail traffic in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to cease. It is opposed by the Ukrainian government.
The embargo has also hindered vital coal shipments to power stations and industrial plants in government-held areas, adding strains to a Ukrainian economy already struggling with the effects of the war that has killed more than 9,750 people since the Russia-backed separatists seized territory in April 2014.
A flare-up in fighting killed more than 40 people in January and February and led to renewed international calls for the implementation of much-violated cease-fire agreements known as the Minsk accords.
'Nationalizing' Ukrainian Companies
Separatist leaders Aleksandr Zakharchenko and Ihor Plotnitskiy raised the stakes on February 27 by announcing plans to "nationalize" Ukrainian companies in the areas they control, saying the blockade went against the Minsk agreement and was hurting businesses. They also said they would stop selling coal to Ukraine and instead send coal supplies to Russia or elsewhere.
Zakharchenko, the leader of the separatists based in Donetsk, told local media outlets on March 1 that separatists have seized 40 factories and coal mines located in areas they control.
Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko warned that Kyiv would add references to the seizures to its international lawsuits against Russia, saying that "Moscow rules the authorities" in the separatist-held areas and adding: "Russia will bear liability for this."
President Petro Poroshenko's government has long resisted striking a deal with the people enforcing the blockade, while warning that it could lead to power cuts but saying it has enough coal reserves to last through March. However, the Interfax news agency reported on March 1 that the Ukrainian government approved regulations for transporting goods to the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, a possible step toward an attempt to end the blockade.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman said the regulations came along with a plan to set up checkpoints to "track transportation and compliance with the decisions that we make."
He added: "The main thing is that everything approved will be allowed, and any other things will be prohibited, absolutely everything."
Anthracite Shortage
Efforts to end the blockade came after a shortage of anthracite coal prompted Kyiv to introduce emergency measures in the energy sector on February 15, and several steel plants in the east have already been forced to suspend production. Among them are some belonging to Ukraine's largest steel producer, Metinvest, which employs thousands of workers on both sides of the front line.
Metinvest told the Reuters news agency that it would be "unacceptable" for separatist officials to take control of its businesses, saying this would force it to halt the affected operations and possibly cost the jobs of some 20,000 people.
The trade regulations approved on March 1 had been promised on February 28 by Hroysman, whose previous attempt to compromise with the blockade participants was unsuccessful.
In a February 28 interview with Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, Hroysman warned that the blockade could have "catastrophic consequences for the Ukrainian economy."
"The political goals of the blockade are absolutely clear -- it's the destruction of Ukraine," Hroysman said. "This plays into the hands of the Russian Federation, of course, and Ukrainians are the ones who suffer. If the blockade continues, the economy will start to fall."
Other officials have called for a more confrontational approach to the blockade participants, who have vowed to maintain the blockade and threatened to step it up by blocking crucial shipments of humanitarian aid to the separatist-held areas.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has called on the government to find a way to forcibly end the blockade, and several blockade participants at two locations were attacked on March 1. The identity of the assailants was unclear.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman defended the separatist move to seize companies, saying that "regions that have been rejected by their state are in an increasingly difficult situation...in the conditions of a total blockade by extremist elements."
"So, of course, to some degree one can understand the actions of the leaders of those regions," he said.
Russia denies involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, despite what Kyiv and Western countries say is incontrovertible evidence that Moscow whipped up separatism there in 2014 and has sent troops and weapons across the border to support the separatists. The United States often refers to the fighters opposing government units as "combined Russian-separatist forces."
Timothy Ash, an economist covering Eastern Europe, commented on Twitter that Kyiv will probably have to "cut a deal" with the separatists to end the blockade, which he said is likely to persist while Ukraine's parliament is in recess.
"So likely to get worse before better," Ash said of the situation.
With reporting by Reuters and Interfax
Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine--blockade- separatists-tensions-rise/28340714.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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DPR Nationalizes Some 40 Ukrainian Jurisdiction Enterprises
Sputnik News
13:01 01.03.2017(updated 13:20 01.03.2017)
Leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko stated that external administration has been introduced at almost 40 Ukrainian-jurisdiction enterprises in Donbass because of the transport blockade in the region.
DONETSK (Sputnik) The authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) nationalized nearly 40 Ukrainian-jurisdiction enterprises in Donbass because of the transport blockade in the region, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said Wednesday.
"About 40 enterprises External administration has been introduced at almost all of them, with few exceptions," Zakharchenko told reporters.
In late January, a group of former participants of Ukraine's military operation in Donbas, including Ukrainian lawmakers, blocked on some sections freight railroad links with areas in Donbas not controlled by Kiev. They claimed that any trade with the self-proclaimed republics was illegal, and all ongoing trade transportation meant smuggling. The blockade has led to a disruption in anthracite coal supplies to Ukraine, which forced the Ukrainian authorities to introduce emergency measures in the energy sector in order to save resources.
Sputnik
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Edge data centres will account for most of the telecom server market growth and is projected to reach US$14 billion by 2026 according to a new report from DellOro Group.
A motorcycle rider who swerved to avoid hitting an animal died from injured he sustained in the crash Wednesday morning.
Jeffrey Orlena Owen, 47, of Danville, was riding a 2008 Kawasaki ZX 1400 motorcycle traveling east on Virginia 711, according to a Virginia State Police news release.
Owen was just east of Virginia 729 in Pittsylvania County when he attempted to avoid an animal and ran off the left side of the roadway at 11 a.m. Wednesday, the release stated.
Owen was wearing a helmet. He was taken to Danville Regional Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.
Virginia State Police Trooper R.C. Amos continues to investigate the crash.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday instructed a lower court to reexamine whether the Virginia General Assembly unconstitutionally stuffed African-American voters into certain districts, opening the door to a new political map that could reshape the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Anti-gerrymandering advocates hailed the high court's opinion as a victory in the pursuit of more competitive elections, though the final outcome of the case remains unclear.
With two justices partially dissenting, the Supreme Court told the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to reconsider the matter using a different legal standard that could make it easier to prove lawmakers improperly prioritized race above other redistricting criteria when redrawing House of Delegates districts in 2011. The case centers on whether the use of a 55 percent African-American voting threshold, which lawmakers defended as a way to preserve majority-black districts, amounted to impermissible, race-based gerrymandering.
"I am extremely confident that when this is examined again by the trial court using the appropriate standard, the challenged districts will be struck down as unconstitutional," Marc E. Elias, a Democratic lawyer who brought the redistricting challenge on behalf of a group of African-American voters, said in an interview.
With all 100 seats in the House of Delegates up for election this year, Elias said he expects the lower court to "move quickly so that the people of Virginia can get relief." Republicans hold 66 of the 100 seats in the House, despite Virginia tilting Democratic in recent elections in statewide races. A redrawing of the House lines would likely benefit Democrats by making Republican-held districts more competitive.
House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, expressed disappointment with the court ruling, but said, "the plaintiffs in this case did not prevail.
The Supreme Court declined the plaintiffs request to find that the districts are unconstitutional," said Howell. "The Supreme Court overruled the way in which the district court analyzed the case. We have read the courts opinion and are quite confident that we will win when we go back to the district court.
The plaintiffs claim the process unconstitutionally packed black voters into certain districts and diluted their voting power elsewhere. The GOP-controlled House has argued that the racial floor was necessary to comply with a section of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states to clear all electoral changes with the Department of Justice as a way of preserving the civil rights of black voters.
House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said the decision could force the General Assembly to reconvene to draw new boundaries for the 11 districts in question, located mainly in the Richmond, Petersburg and Hampton Roads regions.
"Were looking forward to having new lines drawn that are constitutionally defensible and give voters a chance to elect the people of their choice in their districts," Toscano said.
Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe's office said it was reviewing the opinion, but said it appears to be a "victory for democracy in Virginia."
"The governor has long-believed that Virginias Republican-drawn legislative maps are an unconstitutional racial gerrymander," said McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy. "This is the second consecutive Supreme Court decision in support of that position."
Last May, the Supreme Court upheld a new, court-imposed congressional map in Virginia after a similar racial gerrymandering challenge led by Elias, who served as general counsel for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. That case allowed Democrats to pick up the redrawn, Richmond-centered 4th District, now represented by Rep. A. Donald McEachin, a former state senator. Redistricting reform group OneVirginia2021 is pursuing a state-level challenge to the General Assembly map.
In Wednesday's opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower federal court erred by finding the challengers had to prove that racial criteria conflicted with other redistricting considerations, such as protecting incumbent lawmakers. In the majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the high court ruled that racial motives are the paramount issue, not "post hoc justifications the legislature in theory could have used but in reality did not."
"The Equal Protection Clause does not prohibit misshapen districts," Kennedy wrote. "It prohibits unjustified racial classifications."
The lower court found that race did not predominate because lawmakers considered other "race-neutral" criteria to varying degrees.
"By deploying those factors in various combinations and permutations, a State could construct a plethora of potential maps that look consistent with traditional, race-neutral principles," Kennedy wrote. "But if race for its own sake is the overriding reason for choosing one map over others, race still may predominate."
The lower court found that race was the overriding factor in House District 75, represented by Del. Roslyn C. Tyler, D-Sussex, but the racial floor was appropriate in that district because it was tailored specifically to comply with the Voting Rights Act's protections against "retrogression" in majority-black districts. The Supreme Court upheld that portion of the earlier ruling, while questioning the legislature's decision to apply the 55 percent floor to all the districts in question.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, two of the court's most conservative members, dissented in part from the opinion. Both suggested the court could have decided itself whether race was a dominant factor rather than leaving the question to the lower court.
Alito wrote that the legislature's admission that it "intentionally drew all 12 districts as majority-black districts" shows that race was a major factor and could have led the court to consider whether race had been considered constitutionally.
Thomas objected to the use of race in redistricting altogether, saying he believes portions of the Voting Rights Act are unconstitutional. To comply with the Act's Section 5, a provision adopted in 1965 to prevent black voter suppression, a state "necessarily must make a deliberate and precise effort to sort its citizens on the basis of their race."
"But that result is fundamentally at odds with our 'color-blind' Constitution, which 'neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens," Thomas wrote, citing Justice John Marshall Harlan's dissent in the infamous Plessy V. Ferguson case that upheld racial segregation of public facilities under the "separate but equal" doctrine. "Despite my sympathy for the State, I cannot ignore the Constitution's clear prohibition on state-sponsored race discrimination."
Elias said he didnt buy Thomass argument that lawmakers were in a lose-lose situation when considering race in redistricting.
The fact is that all the state of Virginia had to do was follow the law and follow the Constitution, Elias said. Instead it took a cynical shortcut.
The case is Bethune-Hill vs. Virginia State Board of Elections.
To the editor:
Before writing to the Register & Bee about Dave Granlunds Feb. 27 editorial cartoon, Undocumented Refugees, I looked at the artists biography on his website. Needless to say, all of which is quite impressive, including his service in the U.S. Air Force.
The USCG/Mayflower ships cartoon, published in the Register & Bee on Feb. 27 and depicting the current politically charged issue of undocumented refugees off of the coast of New England, seems on the surface quite cute and amusing, obviously stating his own personally held beliefs that the topic of illegal immigration is either silly, unimportant, or in support of the commonly held liberal point of view that anything conservative or Trump administration is not good.
All that said, as a citizen of the United States, a member of the USCG Auxiliary, an active member of the USCG Pipe Band and a member of the Department of Homeland Security, I respectfully take issue with the presentation of the cartoon.
To the many readers of newspapers, there is an insinuation that the USCG and Christians are somehow in agreement, that anyone other than white Christians should be prevented from entering the U.S. Have you ever heard about or read about the Mission and Core Values of the U.S. Coast Guard? How many lives of refugees and others do you think they save, not to mention all of the other important missions and services they render each day? I would respectfully direct your attention to the U.S. Coast Guard website and the Wikipedia information to find out how valuable this branch of the United States armed services really is. A very unique service with multiple functions and a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. Coast Guard core values, Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty, often risking their own lives to save and rescue others, regardless of race, religion or national origin. We will forgo the debate of political correctness, personal values, right vs. wrong, etc. My main point is that I was disappointed in the cartoon that Granlund most likely created, tongue in cheek, and thought to be very clever, but at the expense of disparaging both Coast Guard and Christians, all in the name of entertaining his liberal audience.
I believe he owes both Coast Guard and Christians an apology. I am sure that after further education about both groups, and the good they do in rendering service, relief and life saving assistance to many people on a worldwide basis, he should feel a bit embarrassed and some sense of personal shame for creating such a misleading and unwarranted cartoon. Furthermore, those newspapers and editorial pages that printed this distasteful and morally defective cartoon should likewise be ashamed of themselves.
All in all, I saw no Honor, Respect, or Devotion to Duty in Granlunds cartoon.
TIMOTHY R. CARPENTER
Danville
Two brothers convicted in a July homicide learned their sentence in Danville Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Marteno Manuel Holmes, 24, and Jahiza Shamori Jones, 24, both were convicted by a Danville Circuit Court jury last month in the shooting death of Solomon Louis Jones on July 16.
Judge Joseph W. Milam Jr. upheld the jurys recommended sentencing of life in prison plus 20 years for Holmes on convictions of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony second offense and shooting in a public place.
Milam sentenced Jahiza Jones to 34 years for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and shooting in a public place.
The defendants were on probation at the time of Solomon Jones murder. Holmes stemmed from convictions of attempted malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and two other charges. Jahiza Joness probation stemmed from a possession of marijuana with intent to distribute conviction.
After the jury handed down its verdict, the court ruled the brothers violated a condition of probation failure to obey state laws. The prison time suspended from the earlier convictions was reapplied to their sentence. Holmes received an additional 17 years and three months, and Jones received three years on the probation violations.
The morning of July 16, Delquan Jones was walking with his brother Solomon Jones on White Street when a silver SUV approached them.
Delquan Jones said Jahiza Jones was driving the vehicle and Holmes was holding a firearm.
Jahiza Joness attorney, Michael Nicholas, asked the judge to consider suspending time from his clients sentence so his client could continue working and supporting his family, especially his young child.
Danville Chief Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Petra Haskins argued against any suspended time since the brothers showed no mercy to Solomon Jones. The victim had been in a relationship with the brothers mother, but that ended before the shooting.
Holmes stood on top of [Solomon Jones] and fired shots into his back, and Jahiza drove him there to do it, Haskins said.
Holmes defense attorney, Heath Sabin, said his client has kept a positive outlook, regardless of the circumstances.
A life sentence in Virginia means a life sentence, Sabin said to Milam. There is no parole in Virginia, meaning unless Holmes wins an appeal, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Sabin asked for Milam to suspended time from Holmes sentence, to which the prosecutor argued Holmes deserved no suspended time.
Holmes has been in and out of court all the time, Haskins said. Holmes is facing a life sentence because he gunned down Solomon Jones.
Holmes stood before the court and apologized for disrupting the court proceedings after the jury handed down its recommended sentence in January.
Holmes said there is no evidence he and his brother killed Solomon Jones.
I feel sorry for what happened, Holmes said to the victims family. Then, Holmes addressed his own family.
My family going through something, too, he said. I love each and every one of yall we got to stay strong.
Livingston reports for the Danville Register & Bee.
Vancouver, March 2 2017. Triumph Gold Corp. (formerly Northern Freegold Resources Ltd.) (TSX-V: TIG) ("Triumph" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a private placement financing of 11,880,000 flow through shares of Triumph (the "Offering"). The Offering was sold at a price of $0.528 per share for proceeds of $6,272,640. The private placement is part of a charity flow through arrangement through which Goldcorp Inc. ("Goldcorp") was the end purchaser of the shares sold in the Offering. As a result of the private placement Goldcorp now owns approximately 19.9% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares.
John Anderson, Chairman of Triumph commented: "We are very pleased to welcome Goldcorp as a Triumph shareholder. We view this investment as a validation of our exploration philosophy and look forward to working with Goldcorp's technical team as we continue to advance the Freegold Mountain project."
Goldcorp has the right to maintain its pro rata ownership percentage in the Company during future financings and the right (but not the obligation) to participate in any future equity financings to the extent required to allow Goldcorp to maintain its equity ownership interest in Triumph to a maximum of 19.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares. Goldcorp will also have a 10 business day right of first refusal to match certain non-equity financing and tolling arrangements related to future exploration on the Company's properties.
The proceeds of the Offering will be used for exploration at the Company's Freegold Mountain project. Work done in 2016 identified an early stage of porphyry-style mineralization at the Revenue and Nucleus deposits that had not been targeted during past exploration. Based on that work, and the discovery of a new porphyry showing at the Generation Zone, four new exploration targets were defined and will be drill-tested during the 2017 field season. In addition, the newly assembled (2016) technical team will evaluate other showings on the property using the same highly cost effect review techniques that were successfully applied to Revenue and Nucleus in 2016.
Triumph has been advised that Goldcorp acquired ownership of the 11,880,000 common shares of Triumph at a purchase price of $0.40 per common share for a total purchase price of $4,752,000. The common shares acquired by Goldcorp represent approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Triumph. Prior to this acquisition Goldcorp did not own any securities of Triumph. Goldcorp advises that it acquired the common shares for investment purposes and will evaluate its investment in Triumph from time to time and may, based on such evaluation, market conditions and other circumstances, increase or decrease shareholdings as circumstances require. The exemption relied on for the acquisition of the common shares is Section 2.3 of National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus and Registration Exemptions. A copy of the Early Warning report to be filed by Goldcorp in connection with the acquisition will be available on Triumph's SEDAR profile. Goldcorp's head office is located at Suite 3400 - 666 Burrard St. Vancouver, BC, V6C 2X8.
All securities issued in connection with this financing will be subject to a four month hold period expiring July 2, 2017 in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. Upon completion of the private placement, the Company will have 59,694,537 common shares issued and outstanding. No finder's fees will be paid for the placement.
About Triumph Gold Corp.
Triumph Gold Corp. is a growth oriented Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company. Triumph Gold Corp. is focused on creating value through the advancement of the district scale Freegold Mountain project in Yukon. For maps and more information, please visit our website www.triumphgoldcorp.com
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tony Barresi, Ph.D., P.Geo, Vice President Exploration of the company and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Signed "Paul Reynolds"
Paul Reynolds, President & CEO
For further information please contact:
John Anderson, Chairman
Triumph Gold Corp.
+1 (604) 283-0896
janderson@triumphgoldcorp.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Not for distribution in the United States or to U.S. wire services.
Copyright (c) 2017 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - March 2, 2017) - Copper Fox Metals Inc. ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CUU)(OTC PINK:CPFXF) is pleased to report the results of the compilation of the 2015 and 2016 rock sampling programs on its 100% owned Mineral Mountain property, a Laramide age copper-molybdenum-gold project located in central Arizona.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "The compilation work indicates that a large area of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold mineralization hosted in Laramide age rocks has been identified at Mineral Mountain. This porphyry copper environment is located in the same northeast trending structural lineament that hosts the porphyry copper deposits at Casa Grande, Florence, Resolution and in the Globe-Miami district, Arizona."
Highlights:
a) A 2.5km by 1.1km northeast trending zone of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold mineralization has been identified. This zone includes the mineralized area delineated in 2016 (see news release dated February 8, 2017). b) The mineralized zone is hosted in potassic and phyllic altered rocks that cover an area of approximately 3.0km by 2.0km. c) The mineralization and potassic/phyllic alteration is terminated to the north by an interpreted graben. Laramide age rocks are not known to outcrop north of this structure. d) The alteration pattern is consistent with a porphyry system: a potassic core, an intermediate phyllic zone surrounded by regionally extensive propylitic alteration. e) The previously reported historical chargeability anomaly exhibits a good correlation with mineralized potassic and sericitic altered Laramide age rocks.
Mineral Mountain Project:
The Mineral Mountain project is located in the northeast trending Jemez structural lineament, the same trend that hosts the porphyry copper deposits at Casa Grande, Florence, Resolution and in the Globe-Miami district in Arizona.
Compilation:
In 2015 Copper Fox conducted a bedrock mapping and sampling program on a 400m spaced sampling grid. The results of the 2015 and 2016 bedrock sampling programs were compiled and interpreted. A brief synopsis of the review is presented below.
Alteration:
The portion of the project discussed in this news release displays a classical porphyry style alteration pattern consisting of a potassic core, an intermediate phyllic zone and an outer more extensive propylitic alteration. The mineralized trend identified as a result of the compilation work is located within potassic and phyllic altered rocks.
Potassic Alteration:
The area of copper-molybdenite-gold mineralization outlined in 2016 is hosted in potassic altered Laramide age rocks. The potassic alteration zone (potassic envelopes, secondary biotite) measures approximately 1,200m by 900m and is terminated to the northeast by an interpreted graben. The potassic alteration is restricted to Laramide age rocks and follows the same trend as the Laramide age hornblende diorite dikes located within the mineralized area.
Phyllic Alteration:
The phyllic zone (quartz-sericite +/- pyrite) surrounds the potassic zone and is terminated to the north by the same graben that terminated the potassic alteration zone. Phyllic alteration extends to the southwest over a horizontal distance of approximately 3.0km and ranges in width from 1.4 to 2.0km. At the south end of this zone, sericitic alteration extends a considerable distance into the Precambrian rocks.
Propylitic Alteration:
This alteration (hematite-epidote-late stage epidote veining) is not mineralized and surrounds the zone of sericitic alteration.
Mineralization:
The compilation of the 2015 bedrock sampling results has outlined two areas of mineralized rock located to the northeast and southwest of the mineralized zone outlined in 2016. These two areas of mineralized rock plus the area of mineralization outlined in 2016 define the mineralized trend.
Northeast Zone:
The delineation of this zone is based on 10 samples located northeast of the mineralized area identified in 2016. The mineralized samples are hosted in potassic and phyllic altered Laramide age granodiorite and quartz monzonite. The zone covers an area of approximately 1,000m by 500m and terminates against the interpreted graben. The range, average and median values for this zone are shown in the table below.
Analytical Values Element Minimum Maximum Average Median Copper (ppm) 21 8,620 1,371 127 Molybdenum (ppm) 2 168 54 36 Gold (ppb) 10 733 129 37 Silver (ppm) 0.1 57.5 9.39 1.7
The mineralization in this zone is hosted in classical "A" veins, as well as in veins with sericitic and potassic envelopes. Hematite is common to the veins. Jarosite, pyrite and secondary biotite have also been observed in association with the mineralized quartz veins.
Southwest Zone:
This zone is located to the southwest of the 2016 sampled area and is defined by 18 samples, 12 of which contain either greater than 1,000 ppm copper or greater than 60 ppm molybdenum. The mineralization is hosted in steeply dipping quartz veins with sericitic envelopes. Chlorite and late stage epidote veinlets have been observed at several sample sites. Hematite is common to the mineralized veins. The range, average and median values for this zone are shown below.
Analytical Values Element Minimum Maximum Average Median Copper (ppm) 45 90,570 10,084 401 Molybdenum (ppm) 1.1 326 56 14.6 Gold (ppb) 6 323 59 16.5 Silver (ppm) 0.1 54.9 9.05 2.55
The average and median copper concentration for this zone is strongly influenced by the sample that contained 90,570 ppm copper. Assigning a zero value to this sample, the average copper content of the zone is reduced by 50% to 5,052 ppm copper and the median value is reduced by 45% to 221 ppm copper.
The addition to the metal assemblage and alteration, the mineralized trend is characterized by a rhenium-bismuth-tellurium geochemical association, porphyry style "A" and "D" veins and chalcocite veins (with minor covellite). The main copper minerals are chalcocite, chryscolla and malachite.
Analytical and Sampling Procedures:
The sampling of outcrops, trenches and pits (where applicable) as well as mapping lithologies, alterations, and vein assemblages were completed. Rock chip samples (approximately one kilogram) were collected from bedrock to characterize the metals present in veins and other mineralized structures. Outcrop exposures within the sampled area are estimated to 10-15%. The samples were transported and delivered in person to Skyline Laboratories in Tucson, Arizona.
Samples were crushed to plus 75% -10 mesh, split and pulverized to plus 95% -150 mesh. Pulps were subjected to a multi-acid digest (HNO 3 , HF, HClO 4 ) followed by analysis by ICP/OES. Gold was analyzed on a 30-gram charge by fire assay with an atomic absorption finish. Fluorine was analyzed by an ion-selective electrode. The Skyline's package code TE-5 was used to analyze the samples for the base and other trace elements. Over limits for copper, silver, arsenic and barium were determined using the TCu, FA-04 and SEA analytical code employed by Skyline. Skyline has an ISO/IEC 17025/2005 accreditation.
Quality Control:
The first sample of each batch was a field blank. One certified standard pulp was inserted into the sample stream for each laboratory batch of twenty samples. A total of 5 field blanks and 12 certified reference standards were inserted with the sample batches for which analyses have been received. All standards were within +/-5% of accepted value for the standard.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.
About Copper Fox:
Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc. hold the assets listed below:
1) 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Ltd. on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia. 2) 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. 3) 65.4% of the shares of Carmax Mining Corp. who in turn own 100% of the Eaglehead copper-molybdenum-gold project located in northwestern British Columbia. 4) 100% ownership of the Sombrero Butte copper project located east of Mammoth, Arizona. 5) 100% ownership of the Mineral Mountain copper project located east of Florence, Arizona.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Elmer B. Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the existence of a large area of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold mineralization; the dimensions, shape, and location of the mineralized and altered areas and the average and median concentrations for copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; and the reliability of historical reports. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.
Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the dimensions, shape, or location of the mineralized and altered areas may not be as estimated; the average and median copper, molybdenum, gold and silver concentrations may not be accurate: and the existence of a porphyry copper system may not be established.
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
VANCOUVER, March 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc., the largest shareholder of Rapier Gold Inc. ("Rapier" or the "Company") (TSX Venture: RPR) announced today that they have released an open letter to the Company's shareholders (the "Shareholders"). The full content of the letter disclosed below will help Shareholders understand that the current leadership of the Company is broken and not acting in the best interests of Shareholders. We are not alone and at least 40% of Rapier Shareholders support our actions and agree that management and the Board are not acting in Shareholders' best interests, but are entrenching their own interests at our expense. New stewardship is needed.
As shareholders read this letter they should ask themselves, why would management and the board: In February 2016, decline a 30% premium offer which would have equated to $0.25 per share (versus $0.11 today)?
In October 2016, decline a 47% premium offer valued at $0.22 per share as part of a larger package which would have allowed Rapier Shareholders to hold 49% of a $40mm+ market cap company versus Rapier's current $8mm market cap?
Decline a superior bought deal financing at twice the current entrenching private placement?
Decline Delbrook's interim financing at a significant premium to the market price and the entrenched private placement, only to offer the entrenched private placement demanding a highly-unusual 18 month support agreement for management?
Move the record date for voting to allow for the entrenched private placement to close, and ensure the locked up support agreements for management under this placement are able to vote? Whose interests are being protected?
An Open Letter to Shareholders of Rapier Gold Inc.
Fellow Shareholders of Rapier Gold:
We are writing an open letter to Shareholders of Rapier Gold Inc. as the largest shareholder of the Company, and therefore aligned with your interests. As we have declared through public filings, Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc. ("Delbrook") controls 12,500,000 common shares of our Company, representing approximately 17.6% of the issued and outstanding common shares and over 2.25 times more than the amount owned by insiders. The ownership position we have disclosed should not be viewed as a vote of confidence in management or the Board of Directors (collectively, the "Board"), who have relentlessly destroyed value at Rapier and continue to do so today.
On February 14, 2017 we issued a press release highlighting the necessity for change at Rapier. In that press release, we proposed a stronger and more experienced group of directors, with a track record of creating value for Shareholders (the "Revitalizing Directors"). Our decision to "go public" with our concerns was not made in haste, and was the direct result of the Board's continued stonewalling of any and all attempts to create value for our Company. As noted in our press release dated February 23, 2017, we currently have significant support from over 40% of Rapier Shareholders. This level of support confirms the need for change to the Board in order to unlock shareholder value.
Our sole objective is the maximization of long term value for all Shareholders
Simply the Facts
We believe that Shareholders need to be made aware of the facts regarding the oppressive conduct, poor governance, and Board entrenchment conducted by Rapier. When presented with the facts, the need for change is obvious:
The Board is entrenched and lacks the expertise necessary to maximize value for Shareholders. In February 2016, an offer was made for shares of Rapier at a significant (30%) premium to the trading price at the time. This offer was made by a very well-funded intermediate exploration company with a proven track record of success. It is uncertain if management brought this transaction to the Board, however Shareholders clearly were not given an opportunity to vote. Instead, management let the opportunity pass. The value of this transaction would have equated to over $0.25 per Rapier share versus a price of $0.11 per share today.
The Board has gambled with the Pen Gold Property, breaching their duty of care. Changes need to be made, the status quo is no longer an option. In June 2016, Delbrook was made aware that Rapier was days away from losing the Pen South property which was under option from Rogue Resources Inc.. This property represents approximately 65% of the total acreage of the Pen Gold Property, making the loss of these claims detrimental to the strategic value of the Company's sole asset. Shareholders were forced to step up, at a moment's notice, to provide lifesaving capital through a private placement.
A proposed 47% premium transaction thoughtlessly rejected by the Board. In October 2016, the Board was presented with an offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Rapier at a 47% premium to a reference price of $0.15 (i.e $0.22 per share). The objective was to feature the Pen Gold Project as a major asset within an Ontario focused exploration company. Rapier Shareholders would have been significant shareholders (approximately 49%) of a $40mm+ market cap. company with a greater liquidity profile and significantly more experienced management team. In addition, this focused "explore-co" was to be financed with $10mm of fresh capitalalmost 5 times more capital than the Board has been able to raise in the last 3 years. The transaction was summarily rejected and not brought to Shareholders.
Actions of management negatively impacted share price. In November 2016, Rapier finalized a program which forced an early exercise of outstanding warrants, due to significant liquidity pressure. The forced exercise severely impacted the share price which declined 26.7% between the announcement of a forced exercise and the day after the program concluded. The Company raised only $590,120 through this program.
In December 2016, the above noted "explore-co" transaction was amended in order to address concerns from Rapier's Board and included bridge financing to alleviate financial distress (despite the recently raised $590,120), allowing the Company to complete a transaction. Management delayed and did not exercise good faith in reviewing the proposal. The transaction again was not brought to Shareholders.
Track record of value destruction. The Board seems more concerned with their entrenched positions than advancing the Pen Gold Project. The Board has a track record of value destruction and we encourage Shareholders to look into their previous roles with companies including, but not limited to, Luna Gold, Jennings Capital, and Minera IRL. The Board has empowered a management team who have not looked after the Company, and neither of them have a positive track record.
Depleting the treasury. Examining Rapier's Q1 2017 financials (released March 1, 2017) underscores the Board's lack of concern for external shareholders. During the quarter, the Independent Committee paid themselves $67,500 in "consulting fees" related to the October 2016 proposal, despite summarily rejecting it. In addition, the Board increased compensation for management by 106.6% vs. the same period last year. The Board is looking out for their own best interests and shareholders are picking up the tab.
Over the past months, Delbrook has engaged with the Board continuously with the sole objective of increasing long term shareholder value. We were concerned with the Board's lack of action in cases where shareholder value could have or still can be created. We fear that the Pen Gold Property is being mismanaged by an ineffective Board with a long track record of poor financial management.
The Entrenching Private Placement
Unfortunately, the Board has chosen to continue down the path of shareholder oppression by diluting Shareholders through an entrenching private placement (the "Entrenching Private Placement").
In addition, prior to the closing of the Entrenching Private Placement, the Board chose to move the date of record for the upcoming shareholder meeting in order to allow exclusive subscribers of the Entrenching Private Placement to vote their shares.
It should be noted that the Entrenching Private Placement was not made available to any existing significant shareholders of Rapier without agreeing to unconventional terms that demanded entering into an 18 month support agreement. As well, upon release of news of the placement, the Board was offered a bought deal placement (the "Bought Deal"), on much less dilutive terms, from a registered dealer. Given the Board's track record, the Bought Deal was unsurprisingly turned down. Instead, the dealer was asked to participate at the Entrenching Private Placement terms, with the stipulation that they obtained voting support agreements from all client(s). The dealer refused. The Bought Deal would have provided Rapier with over 2 times the capital announced in their press release dated February 28, 2017.
Parties currently considering participating in the Entrenched Private Placement should,
question the Board's track record of misusing funds and assume that any new funding will be focused on mounting litigation expenses, not the advancement of the Pen Gold Property;
be concerned with writing off their money in exchange for holding illiquid shares that will most likely continue to decline in value should the current Board remain; and
note that Delbrook currently has over 40% support for the Revitalizing Directors.
We remain concerned that any capital raised by Rapier while the current Board is in place will not fund exploration at the Pen Gold Project but will instead only fund mounting legal expenses.
Recent Press Release Highlighting Q1 Financial Results
On February 25, 2017 the Company issued a press release outlining the current financial state of Rapier. The press release further confirmed the deplorable actions being taken by the Board and reiterated the case for their swift removal. The press release was also filled with inaccuracies related to the transaction first presented to the Board in October 2016, and then amended in December 2016. We set the record straight on the following statements made in Rapier's press release:
"In the first quarter the Company was highly successful in continuing to carry out the Company's ambitious exploration program at the Pen Gold Project." We strongly object to the use of the word "successful" when discussing the exploration and corporate achievements of the Board. The fact is, Rapier listed in 2013 with a $0.30 private placement and now trades at approximately $0.10 per share, a decline of 66.7%. In that time, the number of shares outstanding has increased over 300%. The Board needs to stop publically congratulating itself and question their definition of success.
"the involvement of a needless intermediary shell company which would dilute Rapier Shareholders and increases liabilities." We are unaware of any significant associated liabilities with regards to the shell company. Rapier's comment on dilution is ridiculous when considering that Rapier Shareholders were to receive a 47% premium and that over $10mm of fresh capital was to be raised at this higher share price. In our opinion, the Board's objection to using this structure is simply that doing so would result in their termination.
"participation of a streaming and royalty company with terms that would be highly unfavorable to the Company and its Shareholders". In order to raise additional capital, it was suggested that a 0.5% royalty be sold on properties in the new "explore-co". A royalty of this level is inconsequential to the economics of higher grade gold projects, as typically found in the Timmins area. We would encourage the Board "to do the math" on a 0.5% royalty instead of putting vague language into a press release to mislead Shareholders.
"no ability of the Company to do due diligence on the proposed shell company or the assets proposed to be acquitted". We will politely call this a terminological inexactitude as opposed to a blatant lie. The Board was presented with a transaction in October 2016 and had over four months to examine documentation, including an electronic data room of files, and access to numerous individuals involved in the properties scheduled to be vended in. The fact is, we don't believe the Board ever intended to take this transaction seriously, and reward Shareholders by entering into a premium takeover. To do so would be against their culture of entrenchment.
Delbrook made an offer on February 26, 2017 to provide interim financing to Rapier in order to address short term working capital requirements identified in the Company's Q1 Financial Highlights. Our objective was to provide ample liquidity to support the Company until the annual general meeting, scheduled for March 30, 2017. We have offered to provide financing at a significant premium to the recent market price, as well as the terms of the Entrenching Private Placementsee the press release dated February 27, 2017 titled Rapier Rejects Two Financing Offers Superior to the Entrenching Private Placement.
In keeping with their track record of poor financial choices, the Board rejected our offer. Instead, the Board offered to include our proposed investment in its dilutive and lower priced Entrenching Private Placement with the condition that we sign an 18 month support agreement, which would further entrench management and the Board.
Failure to Meet Key Success Factors versus Thriving Peer Group
We must compare Rapier to a peer group of Ontario & Quebec focused exploration companies in order to be able to judge the success of the Board. Since the 2012 downturn of the metals and mining sector, Probe Metals, Osisko Mining, First Mining Finance and Pure Gold have all been created, and have been successful in gaining access to capital, launching and executing significant drill programs, obtaining sell side research coverage, attracting significant institutional ownership, creating trading liquidity and obtaining premium valuations. In the same period of time, the Board of Rapier has not been successful in accomplishing even one of these key success factors. In fact, shareholders are materially worse due to the direct actions of the Board. Instead of telling shareholders of their "make-believe" successes via vaguely worded press releases, this Board should spend time studying their peers to learn how strong management teams create and grow long-term shareholder value.
After reading this letter, we hope that our fellow Shareholders are no longer misled by the current ineffective management and Board. The future can be better but change is necessary.
Yours Truly,
Matthew Zabloski
Managing Director
Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc.
About Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc.
Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc. is an independent investment manager which focuses on alternative strategies. Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc. manages the Delbrook Resource Opportunities Fund, an alternative investment fund, focused on identifying and investing in unique growth opportunities within the metals and mining sector.
Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc.
1021 West Hastings Street, Suite 650
Vancouver, BC, V6E 0C3
604.229.1450
Matthew Zabloski, Managing Director
www.delbrookcapital.com
SHAREHOLDER QUESTIONS
Laurel Hill Advisory Group
North America Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184
Collect Calls Outside North America: 416-304-0211
Email: assistance@laurelhill.com
Disclaimers
Delbrook has not sought or obtained consent from any third party to the use herein of previously published information. Any such information should not be viewed as indicating the support of such third party for the views expressed herein.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters addressed in these materials are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties. You should be aware that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Delbrook does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information.
Information in Support of Public Broadcast Solicitation
Delbrook is relying on the exemption under section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102") to make this public broadcast solicitation. The following information is provided in accordance with corporate and securities laws applicable to public broadcast solicitations.
This solicitation is being made by Delbrook, and not by or on behalf of the management of Rapier.
The head and registered address of Rapier is #2270-1055 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC Canada, V6E 3P3.
Rapier has announced that it has called the AGM, to be held on March 30, 2017. Delbrook may file a dissident information circular (the "Dissident Circular") in connection with the AGM, or any adjournment or postponement thereof, in due course in compliance with applicable securities and corporate laws.
This press release and any solicitation made by Delbrook in advance of the AGM is, or will be, as applicable, made by Delbrook and not by or on behalf of the management of Rapier. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by Delbrook, provided that, subject to applicable law, Delbrook may seek reimbursement from Rapier for Delbrook's out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with a successful reconstitution of the Company's board of directors.
Any proxies solicited by Delbrook may be solicited by way of public broadcast, including through press releases, speeches or publications and by any other manner permitted under applicable laws, including pursuant to a Dissident Circular sent to shareholders of Rapier. Solicitations may be made by or on behalf of Delbrook, by mail, telephone, fax, email or other electronic means, and in person by directors, officers and employees of Delbrook or by the proposed nominees. Delbrook has engaged the services of Laurel Hill Advisory Group ("Laurel Hill") as communication advisor and as proxy advisor to assist with solicitation on behalf of Delbrook. Pursuant to the agreement with Laurel Hill, Laurel Hill will receive fees up to $125,000 plus disbursements.
It is expected that any proxies solicited by Delbrook in connection with the AGM may be revoked by instrument in writing by the shareholder giving the proxy or by its duly authorized officer or attorney, or in any other manner permitted by law.
Delbrook has filed this press release and the press release dated February 14, 2017, which contains the information required by section 9.2(4)(c) of NI 51-102 and Form 51-102F5 Information Circular in respect of the proposed nominee directors under Rapier's company profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Delbrook Capital Advisors Inc.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Mar 2, 2017) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE:MEK) (the "Company") is pleased to report that the Company has commenced mobilizing a diamond drill rig to the Ogden Gold Project in Timmins Ontario.
The Ogden claims cover eight kilometers of strike length of the Porcupine-Destor Fault between Goldcorp's 16.5 million oz Dome Mine and Tahoe Resources West Timmins Mine. The Property is held under a joint venture in which Metals Creek owns 50%, and Goldcorp Canada Ltd. ("Goldcorp") owns 50% (as manager and on behalf of the Porcupine Joint Venture, a joint venture between Goldcorp Inc. and Goldcorp Canada Ltd.) with MEK being the operator of the project.
In a News Release dated 11 January, 2017, The Company announced results from the previous drill program which consisted of six holes (2382 meters) and was successful in further defining the Thomas Ogden Zone (TOG) and host stratigraphy. Results from the first hole, TOG-16-47, was outlined in a release dated Nov 15, 2016 and included an intersection of 5.73 g/t (grammes per tonne) gold over 8.2m (meters). Highlights from the 11 January 2017 press release included an intersection of 4.39 g/t over 12.45m from hole TOG-16-48.
This drill program will consist of 4 holes targeting Thomas Ogden (TOG), Thomas Ogden West as well as an untested Induced Polarization (IP) ground geophysical anomaly 1 kilometer west of TOG. This untested IP anomaly is interpreted to be on the main host stratigraphy.
The Company also welcomes David Jones to its Advisory board. David have been involved in publically traded and private investments for the past 25 years, with a primary focus on finance, stock distribution and investor awareness programs for junior exploration companies. The majority of the projects that he has worked on are gold or precious metals based in North America. David has also financed oil and gas exploration and development, biomedical/alternative medicine, technology start-ups, and a cellulose to ethanol technology project.
In late 2011, He became the Business Development Officer for Foraco Canada, the third largest drilling services company in the world (www.foraco.com). In October 2015, he became the Business Development Officer for Drillco Mining and Exploration (www.DrillcoMining.ca).
In conjunction to this the corporation has set 100,000 stock options at a deem price of $0.10 and will vest according to the company's stock option plan.
Michael MacIsaac, P.Geo and VP Exploration for the Company and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for this release, and supervised the preparation of the information forming the basis for this release.
About Metals Creek Resources Corp.
Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has a 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF) that stretches between Timmins, Ontario and Val d'Or, Quebec. The Company has also recently entered into a JV with Benton Resources on Metals Creeks Staghorn Gold Project in Newfoundland. Metals Creek has also made a new gold/silver discovery in the "White Gold District" on the Squid East project in the Yukon and is also engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of other mineral resource properties, and presently has mining interests in Ontario, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador. Additional information concerning the Corporation is contained in documents filed by the Corporation with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Vancouver, March 02, 2017 - Nexus Gold Corp. ("Nexus" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NXS, OTC: NXXGF, FSE: N6E) is pleased to report that it has completed 1470 metres of its phase one drill program on the Niangouela permit in Burkina Faso.
A total of 14 holes were drilled totaling 1470.5 metres. Of the 14 holes drilled, 13 successfully intersected the targeted shear zone. One hole had to be abandoned due to ground conditions. Of the 13 holes, three holes reported intersections hosting visible gold. Drill holes NIA-17-DD-003, 006, and 009, reported visible gold occurring as small points, or clusters of points, with the gold present in contorted quartz veins occurring within the shear. The company has forwarded all samples for assay to ACTLAB's laboratory in Ouagadougou. The company will report all assay data once it has been received, reviewed and verified.
The Company originally scheduled a 1000 metre phase one diamond drill program on its 178 square kilometre Niangouela exploration permit. The increased 1000 metres of diamond drilling announced in the Company's February 23, 2017, news release, is designed to further test the primary quartz vein and associated shear zone at depth and along strike. The current program is targeting areas of gold anomalies identified from rock samples and Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling that was conducted by the Company in December 2016 and January 2017. The Company plans on completing the phase one diamond drill program later this month.
Board Appointment
The Company is pleased to welcome Rodney Stevens as an Independent Director. Mr. Stevens is a CFA charter holder with over ten years' experience in the capital markets, first as an Investment Analyst with Salman Partners Inc., then as a merchant and investment banker. While at Salman Partners, Mr. Stevens became a top-rated analyst by StarMine on July 17, 2007 for the metals and mining industry. Over the course of his career, Mr. Stevens has been instrumental in assisting in financing's and M&A activity worth over $1 billion in transaction value.
Mr. Stevens replaces Dean Humphreys, who resigned to pursue other ventures. The Company would like to thank Mr. Humphreys for his years of service and wish him well in his future endeavours.
About the Niangouela Gold Concession
The 178 sq km Niangouela gold concession is located on the Boromo Greenstone Belt (as is the Company's Bouboulou Gold Concession), and is proximal to the Kalsaka deposit and the Sabce Shear Zone. It is accessible by road and has one major orpaillage (artisanal workings).
In December 2016 the Company conducted an 802m rotary air blast (RAB) drill program that delineated an approximately 1,000-metre (1km) quartz vein and a 500-metre secondary strike, running oblique to the main vein. This vein has now been identified in trenches, artisanal workings and through RAB drilling. It remains open in all directions.
A total of 11 rock chip and grab samples were taken during the initial exploration phase. Eight of the 11 samples returned values of 1 gram-per-tonne ("g/t") gold or better. Best results of the 11 include sample NG005, taken directly from the primary quartz vein at 46m depth (accessed via an artisanal mining shaft), which returned a value of 2,950 g/t gold. Sample NG006 was collected from the artisanal dumps of the sheared intrusive and returned a value of 23.9 g/t gold. Sample NG007 contained coarse visible gold, and was taken from material extracted from the eastern shaft from a depth of approximately 60m, returned values of 403 g/t gold. Sample NG008 was taken from the western shaft, 10 to 12 metres west of the eastern shaft, and consisted of a single large piece of primary quartz vein containing host rock inclusions and a cluster of visible gold. NG008 returned values of 49.8 g/t gold.
About Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation, located in West Africa. It covers an area of roughly 274,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of more than 16 million people. The country has a stable political setting with a pro-mining and foreign investment stance. Burkina Faso is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa, and was the 4th largest gold producer in Africa in 2012. Eight new mines have been commissioned there over the past six years. The country has excellent geological potential. The Greenstone Belts that host all of the major deposits in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire continue northward into Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso has undergone less than 15 years of modern mineral exploration, remaining under-explored in comparison to neighbouring Ghana and Mali; both of which host world-class gold mines in the same belts of Birimian rocks.
About the Company
Nexus Gold Corp. is a Vancouver-based gold exploration and development company operating in some of the world's premier mining districts. The Company is currently concentrating its efforts on two gold projects located in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Bouboulou gold concession is a 38-sq km advanced exploration target where previous drilling has confirmed multiple zones of gold mineralization. The Niangouela gold concession is a 178-sq km project featuring high grade gold occurring in and around a primary quartz vein 1km in length and associated shear zone. For more information on these projects, please visit the Company website at www.nexusgoldcorp.com.
Warren Robb P.Geo., Senior Geologist is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
Nexus Gold Corp.
Peter Berdusco
President and Chief Executive Officer
604-558-1920
www.nexusgoldcorp.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.
Copyright (c) 2017 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
TORONTO, March 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd. (TSX:WM, FWB: WC7) ("Wallbridge") is pleased to provide an update on nickel, copper, and platinum group metal ("Ni-Cu-PGM") exploration as part of the ongoing 20,000 metre partner-funded drilling program on the Parkin properties ("Parkin") in Sudbury, Ontario.
Highlights:
Drill hole WMP-205 identifies new Ni-Cu-PGM zone at Parkin, intersecting two mineralized intervals down-plunge of the Malbeuf zone: 1.90% nickel, 0.30% copper, and 0.70 g/t total precious metals ("TPM", Pt+Pd+Au) over 0.53 metres from 757.04 metres down-hole, and 6.24 g/t TPM with anomalous nickel and copper over 1.74 metres from 764.12 metres down-hole;
Additional high-grade gold mineralization sampled from volcanic rocks adjacent to the Parkin Offset dyke, including: Two new mineralized intervals in drill hole WMP-094 including 15.56 g/t gold over 1.20 metres from 46.45 metres down-hole and 3.02 g/t gold over 2.18 metres from 40.42 metres down-hole. This is in addition to previous sampling in WMP-094 which yielded 14.74 g/t gold over 0.67 metres from 139.83 metres down-hole; and 14.70 g/t gold over 0.84 metres from 1349.16 metres down-hole in drill hole WMP-205.
"The first part of this program is mostly directed below and down-plunge of the near surface zones with the objective of identifying new deposits with larger tonnage potential. Results to date have been encouraging with new mineralization intersected and off-hole conductive anomalies identified. Nearly all drill holes have intersected wide intervals of weakly mineralized inclusion quartz diorite which is indicative of a significant Ni-Cu-PGM mineral system at Parkin", stated Joshua Bailey, Vice President Exploration of Wallbridge, "Our task is to find the traps where the sulfide in this large system has collected. We look forward to continuing drilling and testing the numerous targets on this large property, including new targets emerging from the geological and geophysical modelling that is underway".
Wallbridge's exploration on its large portfolio of Ni-Cu-PGM properties in Sudbury, Ontario, is currently focused on the fully-funded $3.96 million 2017 joint venture programs with partner Lonmin Plc (see Wallbridge Press Release dated October 13, 2016). These programs include approximately 20,000 metres drilling on the Parkin Properties. Since October, ten drill holes and one wedge-cut totaling 5,593 metres have been completed at Parkin.
Drill hole WMP-205 was a 450 metre step-out down-plunge to the north of the Malbeuf zone and identified a new zone intersecting two mineralized intervals, including:
1.90% nickel, 0.30% copper, and 0.70 g/t total precious metals ("TPM", Pt+Pd+Au) over 0.53 metres from 757.04 metres down-hole, and
6.24 g/t TPM with anomalous nickel and copper over 1.74 metres from 764.12 metres down-hole.
Drill hole WMP-206 also cut down-plunge of the Malbeuf zone with subsequent borehole EM geophysics identifying an off-hole conductor (1200 S) measuring 40 by 15 metres to the north of the hole.
Significantly, 8 of the 11 drill holes completed since October have intersected wide intervals of weakly mineralized inclusion quartz diorite ("IQD"), which is the dominant host rock for Ni-Cu-PGMs at Parkin and in Offset dyke deposits in Sudbury, generally. These provide important constraint on deeper higher tonnage targets at depth that will be tested later in the year.
In February, Wallbridge completed a large loop ground EM geophysical survey, preliminary results of which have identified several conductive anomalies that warrant follow-up. Wallbridge is also completing a constrained magnetic inversion model with preliminary results constraining the extent of mafic and ultramafic intrusions on the property. These form structural traps for mineralization where they are intersected by the Offset dykes in Sudbury and this work has confirmed several targets at Parkin which are now prioritized for drilling.
The remaining drilling in 2017 at Parkin will continue to test the growth potential of the known zones as well as test for new and larger potential deposits along strike and at depth.
Plans and sections and other figures related to ongoing exploration at Parkin are available at: http://www.wallbridgemining.com/s/parkin-offset.asp
Table 1. 2017 Ni-Cu-PGM Drill Assay Results at Parkin
Drill Hole*** From To Length* Ni Cu TPM** Pt Pd Au
(m) (m) (m) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) WMM-019 Weakly mineralized IQD, no significant assays WMM-020 No significant assays WMM-018-W5 No significant assays WMM-021 No significant assays WMP-201 451.60 456.83 1.57 0.16 0.17 0.71 0.21 0.38 0.12 WMP-201 501.33 501.66 0.33 0.46 0.11 0.14 0.07 0.05 0.02 WMP-202 208.48 208.85 0.37 1.55 0.66 1.48 0.81 0.21 0.46 WMP-202 211.16 211.72 0.56 0.27 0.77 1.22 0.41 0.27 0.53 WMP-202 215.00 216.92 1.92 0.65 0.73 1.19 0.47 0.18 0.55 WMP-202 256.39 256.69 0.30 1.19 0.39 0.63 0.30 0.13 0.20 WMP-203 286.50 293.27 7.38 0.43 0.41 1.19 0.44 0.47 0.28 Including 288.00 289.47 1.47 1.48 0.19 1.96 0.91 0.83 0.22 WMP-204 Weakly mineralized IQD, no significant assays WMP-205 757.04 759.10 2.06 0.59 0.23 0.73 0.14 0.07 0.52 Including 757.04 757.57 0.53 1.90 0.30 0.70 0.44 0.16 0.10 WMP-205 764.12 765.86 1.74 0.35 0.10 6.24 0.16 0.28 5.80 WMP-205 757.04 759.10 2.06 0.59 0.23 0.73 0.14 0.07 0.52 WMP-206 Weakly mineralized IQD, off-hole conductor, assays pending WMP-207 Weakly mineralized IQD, assays pending *Drill core length, true width is not known. ** Total precious Metals ("TPM") equals Pt + Pd + Au
In addition to the Ni-Cu-PGM mineralization, Wallbridge continues to find high-grade gold mineralization associated with quartz-carbonate-sulfide veins cutting the Archean volcanic rocks adjacent to the Parkin Offset dyke. While not a focus, this gold mineralization is intriguing and work continues to understand its significance. To date, 20 drill intersections have returned between 0.92 and 44.00 g/t gold at Parkin (Table 2). Highlights from sampling this year include:
Two new mineralized intervals in drill hole WMP-094 including 15.56 g/t gold over 1.20 metres from 46.45 metres down-hole and 3.02 g/t gold over 2.18 metres from 40.42 metres down-hole. This is in addition to previous sampling in WMP-094 which yielded 14.74 g/t gold over 0.67 metres from 139.83; and
14.70 g/t gold over 0.84 metres from 1349.16 metres down-hole in drill hole WMP-205.
Table 2. Significant Gold Intersections at Parkin Drill Hole* From To Length** Au
(m) (m) (m) (g/t) P-056 89.15 89.30 0.15 1.73 V-73-14 159.30 160.30 1.00 1.73 WCB-006 543.30 544.70 1.40 44.00 WMP-025 108.66 110.03 1.37 5.49 WMP-0821 113.29 113.86 0.57 0.92 WMP-0941 40.42 42.60 2.18 3.02 WMP-0941 46.45 47.65 1.20 15.56 WMP-094 139.83 140.50 0.67 14.74 WMP-098 99.72 99.95 0.23 1.14 WMP-118 154.86 155.05 0.19 3.27 WMP-132 120.00 121.00 1.00 2.03 WMP-142 227.69 228.99 1.30 1.36 WMP-146 468.33 468.89 0.56 2.06 WMP-146 474.80 475.60 0.80 3.30 WMP-149 159.61 161.44 1.83 1.54 WMP-149 364.77 366.00 1.23 7.03 WMP-152 142.20 142.60 0.40 2.04 WMP-196 67.60 68.00 0.40 1.05 WMP-2021 181.50 181.85 0.35 2.57 WMP-2051 1349.16 1350.00 0.84 14.70 **Drill core length, true width is not known. 1New sampling since October 2016, otherwise previously disclosed.
Table 3. Drill Hole Information Hole ID UTM E UTM N Length (m) Azimuth Dip WMM-019 510657.95 5185254.98 701 232.5 -50.5 WMM-020 510436.04 5185449 593 213 -46 WMM-018-W5 510019.06 5185146.53 1330 75.5 -80 WMM-021 510657.95 5185254.98 254 301 -45 WMP-201 509226.5 5183719.9 575 114 -55 WMP-202 509316.72 5183654.65 301 122 -47 WMP-203 509316.72 5183654.65 384 122 -56 WMP-204 509398.17 5183703.72 225 121 -45 WMP-205 509614.96 5184038.01 1350 115 -76 WMP-206 509493.34 5183898.5 600 120 -67 WMP-207 509367.2 5183663.8 250 121 -45
Samples were prepared at ALS Chemex Ltd. laboratories in Sudbury and then shipped to their analytical facilities in Vancouver. Samples were analyzed for Au, Pt, and Pd by standard lead oxide collection fire assay fusion with an atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) finish. Samples were analyzed for base metals, silver and trace elements using a four acid (HCIO4-HNO3-HF and HCI) near total digestion and a combination of ICP-MS and ICP-AES finish. Cu and Ni over-limits or samples submitted as ore grade were analyzed using HNO3-HClO4-HF-HCl acid digestion, HCl leach and ICP-AES (some conditions require an AA finish). Sulphur over-limits were analyzed using Total Sulphur by LECO.
The Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this press release is Joshua Bailey, P.Geo., M.Sc., MBA, Vice President Exploration for Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd.. Mr. Bailey has prepared, supervised and approved the scientific and technical disclosures in this press release.
About Wallbridge Mining
Wallbridge Mining is working to establish a portfolio of projects that will support sustainable production and revenue as well as organic growth through exploration and scalability.
Wallbridge is currently permitting its recently purchased high-grade gold Fenelon Mine project in Quebec and hopes to be able to make a production decision later in 2017. Wallbridge is also in discussions regarding several other advanced stage projects which could become the Company's next production platforms. These discussions benefit from the operating capabilities Wallbridge demonstrated by safely and efficiently mining the Broken Hammer deposit in Sudbury, which was completed in October 2015.
Wallbridge is also continuing active partner-funded exploration on its large portfolio of nickel, copper, and PGM projects in Sudbury, Ontario. Currently, Wallbridge is completing 20,000 metre fully partner-funded drilling program on its Parkin project in Sudbury following-up wide high-grade intersections in 2016.
Wallbridge also has further exposure to active exploration for copper and gold in Jamaica and British Columbia through its 15.5% ownership of Carube Copper Corp. ("Carube Copper") (CUC:TSX-V, formerly Miocene Resources Limited).
This press release may contain forward-looking statements (including "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to, among other things, the operations of Wallbridge and the environment in which it operates. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Wallbridge has relied on a number of assumptions and estimates in making such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the ability to acquire the necessary permits and approvals to advance the Fenelon Mine Property toward production, the ability to safely and successfully dewater the underground workings at Fenelon, the ability to add to the existing resource base at Fenelon through drilling, the costs associated with the development and operation of its properties. Such assumptions and estimates are made in light of the trends and conditions that are considered to be relevant and reasonable based on information available and the circumstances existing at this time. A number of risk factors may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or outcomes of such exploration and/or mine development to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, without limitation, whether such discoveries will result in commercially viable quantities of such mineralized materials, the possibility of changes to project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the ability to execute planned exploration and future drilling programs, the need for additional funding to continue exploration and development efforts, changes in general economic, market and business conditions, and those other risks set forth in Wallbridge's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" and in its other public filings. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and such information is inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of Wallbridge. Although Wallbridge has attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements in this press release are given as of the date hereof.
Wallbridge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this disclaimer.
SOURCE Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd.
Andrew Gillum, the young African-American Democratic Tallahassee mayor who took on the gun lobby, will formally announce his 2018 bid for Florida governor on Wednesday.Gillum, 37, has been viewed as a rising star in a party that is clamoring for relevance after Donald Trump's win in November.Gillum, who was born in Miami, plans to announce in a biographical video, which he released early to the Miami Herald. The video focuses on Gillum's hardscrabble upbringing -- he was one of seven children raised by a mother who was a city bus driver."We'd get up at 4 o'clock, 4:30 in the morning to make sure my mom could be on time to driving the bus," Gillum says in an announcement video. "We would ride the bus for two or so hours before we would transfer and get on our bus for school."It's no secret that Gillum was expected to announce a bid. On Feb. 24, Gillum spoke at Central Florida Urban League's Cornerstone Awards in Orlando, where he announced that he was "seriously considering running for governor." He has raised his profile in the past year with a speech at the Democratic National Convention.Other Democrats who have all but announced include Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, former Tallahassee Congresswoman Gwen Graham and Orlando trial attorney/medical marijuana advocate John Morgan.On the Republican side, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, House Speaker Richard Corcoran of Land O'Lakes and Senate budget chairman Jack Latvala of Clearwater are potential candidates. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is term-limited.Gillum is the only one in the group who is African American. Daryl Jones was the first African American to make a serious bid for governor in Florida, losing a primary in 2002.The Democratic Party has failed to produce a statewide candidate who has inspired South Florida voters to turn out when the president isn't on the ballot. Sagging South Florida turnout helped Scott win statewide twice.Registered Democrats lead registered Republicans by about 330,000 in Florida, but the only statewide Democratic officeholder is U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who faces re-election in 2018.Gillum was born in the Richmond Heights area in Miami and went to Frank C. Martin Elementary before his family moved to Gainesville. His parents were poor -- his father was a construction worker and struggled with alcoholism.In the video, he says that his older brothers had interactions with the criminal justice system and recounts how his mother would receive a knock on the door from a police officer."I remember very distinctly my mother closing the door, watching the tears well up in her face," Gillum says. "I made a promise to myself I wasn't going to make my mom cry like that."While a senior at Florida A&M University at age 23, Gillum became the youngest person ever elected to the Tallahassee City Commission. He was elected mayor in August 2014.Gun rights groups sued Gillum and other Tallahassee officials after city leaders declined in 2014 to repeal a ban on guns in public parks. The ordinance was null and void based on state law, but gun rights advocates wanted it stricken from city law. The First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the city earlier this month.Gillum's wife, R. Jai, is director of foundation affairs at the Florida Dental Association, and they have twin 3-year-old children, Caroline and Jackson.The video provides no specifics about his platform but speaks broadly about his goals to provide quality public education and jobs."Were it not for a good public education, caring and loving parents, a grandmother who prayed for me and quite frankly people who believed enough in me to say that I could, I wouldn't be the person that I am today," he said in the video. "It is my firm belief that every single young person ought to have that same opportunity."
Amid mounting overdose deaths, Gov. Larry Hogan pledged Wednesday to spend an extra $10 million a year to battle Maryland's problem with heroin and prescription pill abuse.The Republican governor also declared a state of emergency because of the epidemic, which officials believe led to some 2,000 overdose deaths last year."We need to treat this crisis the exact same way we treat any other state emergency," Hogan said at a news conference at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. "This is actually about taking an all-hands-on-deck approach so that together we can save the lives of thousands of Marylanders."As this crisis evolves, so must our response to it."Hogan said the emergency declaration would allow authorities across the state to "cut through the red tape" while the extra money would give teams more flexibility to address what he called "the rapid escalation of the heroin and opioid crisis in our state."The $10 million in new funding -- which Hogan said will be available every year for five years -- is a significant boost over the $122 million the state had budgeted for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to treat substance use problems in the next fiscal year.The announcement comes as addiction treatment advocates and others have called for more resources to try to get the problem under control.Final 2016 numbers are expected to show that some 2,000 people died from heroin and other opiate overdoses in Maryland last year. That's double the number from 2015. The rising death toll has been driven by fentanyl, a cheap and powerful synthetic opioid that dealers are increasingly blending into regular heroin.Del. Eric Bromwell, who is leading a work group crafting a legislative package to address the crisis, said the additional funding is welcome and could give lawmakers in the General Assembly more options."We're all working together and funding is going to be the No. 1 issue for a lot of what we want to get done," the Baltimore County Democrat said.Hogan announced a package of measures in January to address overdose deaths, including a bill to put limits on how many opiate painkillers doctors could prescribe to patients on an initial pain consultation and another to impose stiff penalties on drug dealers who supply deadly drugs. Hogan also signed an executive order creating a command center to coordinate efforts between different agencies. He said it was that group's early work that showed the need to declare a state of emergency."It became clear that in order to expedite the mobilization of our statewide response and to build on momentum already underway, we needed greater flexibility to engage our local partners and to be able to activate emergency teams in jurisdictions across the state," the governor said.Hogan also announced Wednesday that he had appointed Clay Stamp, a veteran emergency management official, to lead the state's efforts to combat the heroin problem. Stamp ran MEMA during the rioting that broke out in Baltimore after the funeral of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old who died in police custody in April 2015.Aides to the governor said Stamp would have a role in determining how the new money is spent.It's not clear how emergency powers that are more often invoked to deal with major storms will be used to battle a chronic problem like drug addiction. Stamp said in an interview that he planned to spend the next couple of weeks drawing up a list of objectives but acknowledged that right now his ideas are "still squishy."Dr. Leana Wen, the health commissioner for Baltimore, said the governor's emergency declaration was a reflection of the scale of the public health problem posed by heroin abuse in Maryland. Wen said she hopes the new money is directed to places like Baltimore, which has been especially hard hit by the epidemic."To move the needle across the state we have to focus on the areas that are hardest hit," she said. "We also hope that the governor will focus the bulk of the funding towards treatment. The reason is: We know addiction is a disease, treatment exists and recovery is possible."Between federal and state funding for the health department and Medicaid, Maryland budgeted $538 million to treat substance abuse next year.The state faces the loss of $215 million a year for treating drug use through Medicaid if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. Republican President Donald Trump and Congress have pledged to repeal the law, commonly called Obamacare.Hogan said he raised that issue in a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and other top Trump administration officials over the weekend when he visited Washington for the National Governors Association conference."I think some of that resulted in some of the comments the president made last night in his speech, where he said that they're going to make sure that the states are made whole and they're not going to let anybody be thrown off the rolls," Hogan said, referring to an address Trump made Tuesday to a joint session of Congress.Bromwell and Del. Nic Kipke, the Republican minority leader and a member of the work group, said they're striving to be nonpartisan as they debate how to respond to the crisis.But the Democratic Party injected politics into the issue Wednesday, releasing a statement in response to Hogan's announcement questioning why he was only now declaring a state of emergency despite pledging to do so during the 2014 campaign."It took two years and 2,600 deaths for Governor Larry Hogan to finally follow through on what he promised to do on day one," the statement read.
The administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner has set up a website intended to recruit people willing to work for the state in the event of a strike by union employees.The site -- called Working for a Better Illinois -- is at statejobs.illinois.gov. It asks potential employees to enter their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. It also asks them to list three counties where they are willing to work, type of job they are interested in and if they are seeking permanent or temporary employment.In a statement Tuesday, the administration said the website is part of its ongoing efforts to be prepared in the event the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union decides to mount a first-time strike against the state."We genuinely hope AFSCME leadership will not strike against taxpayers and work with us on implementing common-sense proposals like overtime after 40 hours, not 37.5," said Gov. Bruce Rauner's general counsel Dennis Murashko in the statement. "However, we must be prepared to continue government operations and provide services that citizens deserve and expect."The statement says the website "would provide a way for state agencies to efficiently identify those who would work on a temporary basis. Although individuals would be hired on a temporary basis in response to a strike, the state would then begin taking the steps necessary to fill positions permanently."AFSCME said the administration's move would leave unqualified workers trying to perform state jobs."For Governor Rauner to seek temporary strikebreakers in place of skilled and dedicated professionals is a recipe for disaster for the people of Illinois," AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said in a statement. "Instead of trying to intimidate workers with illegal threats, Bruce Rauner should simply do his job: negotiate with us toward a compromise that's fair to all."AFSCME wants Rauner to return to the negotiating table and continue bargaining over a new contract. Rauner has refused, saying the Illinois Labor Relations Board has ruled the talks are at impasse. That allows the administration to impose its last, best and final offer on the union. AFSCME has gone to court to block that.AFSCME contends the administration has "unreasonable demands" like much higher health insurance costs while imposing a four-year freeze on wage increases. The union also opposes administration proposals to privatize some state jobs.AFSCME represents about 38,000 state employees, but roughly 10,000 work in security jobs and are forbidden from striking. Of the remainder, the union said, about 80 percent participated in recent strike-authorization vote and 81 percent of them voted to authorize a strike.The vote authorized the union's bargaining committee to call a strike at some point in the future. The union would have to give the administration five days' notice in the event it calls for a strike.AFSCME executive director Roberta Lynch said the union wants to avoid a strike and is pursuing all legal avenues to prevent it.Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove, said she doesn't understand the need for the new jobs portal, when applicants could already apply whenever they wanted. She also called for both sides to come back to the bargaining table."I've always maintained that the best solution here is to try to figure out a compromise and negotiation together, because ... all of these different dynamics creates a very uncertain environment," Jimenez said. "I think the best way to solve that is to actually come to the table and talk about how we can negotiate this contract. All of these different items that are talked about can be very disruptive, not only to the workers and their families, but also the people we serve."Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, also called for the governor to reopen negotiations."I've said consistently that the governor should pull up his chair to the table and negotiate with AFSCME, and with state employees. Nothing good is going to come of the governor's continued effort that is leading toward what is undoubtedly going to be a strike of state employees," Manar said.Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, said strike replacements are not the way to go."These people are trained, these people know how to do their jobs, and they know how to do their jobs very well," McCann said. "They're taxpayers and deserve to be respected, they deserve to be negotiated with, and we need to get a contract and we need to get the state moving forward."
Description
GIS - 02 March, 2017: Government envisages the setting up of a National Employment Agency (NEA) in a bid to ensure that every citizen has access to a decent work as enunciated in Government Programme 2015-2019. To this effect, a NEA Bill will be presented in the National Assembly in May this year. The aim of the Bill is to give a new impetus to the evolution with regards the labour market. Government envisages the setting up of a National Employment Agency (NEA) in a bid to ensure that every citizen has access to a decent work as enunciated in Government Programme 2015-2019. To this effect, a NEA Bill will be presented in the National Assembly in May this year. The aim of the Bill is to give a new impetus to the evolution with regards the labour market.
In view of easing the implementation process of the NEA, a three-day seminar from 01-03 March 2017 meant for Managers, Chief Employment Officers and Senior Employment Officers from the 13 Employment Information Centres (EIC) is currently being held at Le Labourdonnais Hotel, Caudan Waterfront Port Louis at the initiative of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, Employment and Training in collaboration with Pole Emploi from France.
The training programme will focus on the following themes: strategic integration, project management and change management. It aims at inculcating the required skills to the participants as well as equip and update them on the new techniques towards ensuring successful implementation of the NEA. The NEA which will be operated by the EIC will serve as an electronic platform aimed at providing analytical and reliable information on the labour market condition at national level. A follow-up component of job applicants until placement is also included.
In so doing, Government aims at addressing the problem of skills mismatch and that of unemployment with the creation of more job opportunities for youth, women and men and make sure that job seekers are able to find employment that meet their aspirations.
It will be recalled that Government has solicited the assistance of Pole Emploi for the setting up of the NEA following a Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2015 with the French Authority. Furthermore, four experts from Pole Emploi Reunion visited Mauritius last year to take stock of the current status regarding the functioning of the EIC and the employment system in Mauritius.
Consequently, the Employment Information Centre of Vacoas was restructured and modernised with the introduction of new technology in the system for a better service delivery so as to adapt to the current demands on the labour market. The new model of the Vacoas EIC will subsequently be replicated in the other EICs across Mauritius and Rodrigues.
In a first for Hawaii, state and local agencies can now use the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Program for procuring IT services, offering the potential of leveraged pricing and streamlined purchasing and the possibility of savings to taxpayers.The news was made public on Wednesday, March 1 by the Hawaii State Procurement Office (SPO) and the Office of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS), which recently let government agencies have access to the GSA Schedule 70 for procuring IT services.SPO administrator Sarah Allen said the two Hawaii agencies collaborated to find a way to use GSA Schedule 70, which covers general purpose commercial IT services. Procedures are now in place, Allen noted, to ensure the GSA schedule works in the states best interest and yields fair and reasonable prices.We are always looking at what options our specialists have in their procurement toolbox. The GSA Schedule 70 is another tool available to the Hawaii procurement workforce, Allen said, noting that its allowable as a cooperative under state procurement law.State agencies like their local counterparts have been seeking ways to improve pricing and speed procurement for more than a decade.Using GSA schedules to leverage the feds buying power for state and local IT is something lawmakers have long contemplated though the process is not without political issues and can negatively impact small and minority businesses and local economies.In some cases, California has opted for strategic sourcing on IT procurement, still seeking the lowest price on the best product but further scrutinizing costs by consolidating contracts through re-bidding, limiting vendors and ensuring prices follow current market trends.Elsewhere, cooperatives like the National Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO) ValuePoint program, the Michigan Collegiate Telecommunications Association (MiCTA), and the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance have flexed their ability to hold competitions for multiple award contracts, lowering technology costs for buyers and sellers.GSA Schedule contracts typically contain pre-negotiated prices, delivery terms, warranties, and other terms and conditions that streamline the buying process, Hawaii ETS said in a news release. The use of some GSA Schedule 70 contracts is allowed under GSAs Cooperative Purchasing Program.This provides streamlined access to additional, cost-effective services in support of modernization projects as well as ongoing operations and maintenance, said state CIO Todd Nacapuy, who leads ETS.Its not entirely a done deal, however. Use of GSA Schedule 70 by Hawaii state and local agencies still requires each jurisdictions CIO or designee to sign off.ETS said it has given specific instructions on using Schedule 70 to executive branch departments and agencies, excluding the Department of Education, University of Hawaii, and Hawaii Health Systems Corp.Agencies can also use GSA Advantage! , GSAs e-commerce website, to search GSA contract holder products and services, research product information and make online purchases if authorized to do so.
Consolidation: Bostons open data sets are currently available on two sites, one for maps and one for everything else. The new portal collects it all in one place. Organization: To promote accessibility, data sets will now be organized into topic areas. Licensing: In the past, Bostons data had been released under a variety of licenses. Now it will all be available with a consistent public domain license, so residents can use it however they see fit. Harvard Law Schools Cyber Clinic is helping with this. Less Data: The beta has fewer data sets because the development team is seeking to avoid bringing over information that is outdated or no longer maintained. They have also created a legacy portal tag for users looking to access older information, and theyve vowed to continue expanding the breadth of available data by adding higher-quality, up-to-date sets. Open Source and User-Friendly: The beta platform is powered by an open source data management system, CKAN. It is also mobile-friendly for ease of use, and it is consistent with Boston.govs existing brand, for the many visitors who may be familiar with that.
Boston has launched a beta version of a new citywide open data platform.This project, dubbed Analyze Boston , is a work in progress, and city officials said in a statement that they hope the now-online preview will spark conversation and get feedback leading up to its official release this spring. The project's goal is to upgrade and enhance Bostons current open data portal , on which Mayor Marty Walsh has long encouraged agencies to publish their data sets.On the new site, visitors can now search through all of Bostons open data sets, interacting with that data through preview, filter and visualization tools. Developers can also integrate those same data sets with robust API , or create charts and graphs that can then be embedded on external websites.Developers emphasized five key differences between the beta and the existing portal it seeks to improve upon:The beta and the current data portal will exist simultaneously as the city moves toward the official launch. The platform is powered by OpenGov Open Data Our goal in creating the Analyze Boston platform is to better fulfill the promise of open data and open government by seeing open data not just as a collection of data sets but as a platform for sharing knowledge, said Andrew Therriault, Bostons chief data officer, in a press release. Our collaboration with OpenGov enabled us to develop and deploy this new portal more easily than if we tried to do it by ourselves. That let us focus on what we're good at finding and cataloging high-quality data sets rather than trying to deploy and manage software on our own."This portal overhaul is the most recent step in Bostons ongoing march toward its open data commitment. In July 2015, Mayor Walsh announced Bostons Open and Protected Data Policy , which encourages city agencies to publish their data sets on the open data portal, while also providing guidance for which sets must be protected, along with ways to guard them. In May 2016, Boston hired Therriault to be its first chief data officer.Other data efforts in the city include CityScore , executive data dashboards to monitor city performance, a hazard information platform for firefighters called Building Intelligence System , and a data-sharing agreement with Waze that improves traffic flow on the streets.
(TNS) -- PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island is planning to launch its long-delayed Division of Motor Vehicles computer system the first week in July, regardless of whether it wins a court fight with the company who built the system, state officials have told lawmakers."It is actually working at a great pace," Robert Hull, director of the Department of Revenue, told members of the House Finance Committee Tuesday night. "I see no reason we can't have a clear path to a launch sometime mid-summer, say sometime around July 4th weekend."The DMV computer project, which started in 2006, has missed repeated launch deadlines and in October the state sued contractor Hewlett Packard Enterprise for breach of contract. The two sides are currently preparing for trail under a Superior Court restraining order that keeps HP workers on the job at the DMV.Hull was briefing lawmakers on the computer because Gov. Gina Raimondo's 2017-2018 state budget proposes extending a $1.50 DMV transaction surcharge, which is set to expire this summer, for at least another five years. The surcharge, meant to pay for DMV technology improvements, is expected to raise $2.1-$2.2 million annually or around $11 million over five years.Even if the new computer system launches successfully this summer, Hull said the technology surcharge will be needed for ongoing maintenance and upgrades of the system.Will it become permanent, House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick, asked Hull?"It may be," he said. "I can't think in technology cycles longer than five years."Rhode Island has paid HP $13 million for the DMV computer so far and another roughly $7 million on the project in its history, according to a report from House Fiscal Adviser Sharon Reynolds Ferland.Hull said the price tag for a new system is somewhere between $40 million and $100 million, adding that Nevada recently paid $115 million for a new system.Eventually, the new computer is expected to reduce DMV wait times, although Hull said improvements would be a gradual process as workers became more familiar with the new system and it allowed more transactions to be completed online.The House Finance hearing came after a few days of longer-than normal wait times at the DMV and an hour-plus system outage on Tuesday.Monday saw average DMV wait times of nearly two hours and a maximum wait of four hours and 38 minutes, according to DMV spokesman Paul Grimaldi. The average wait time in December was around 40 minutes, according to the state's transparency portal.Hull and DMV Administrator Walter "Bud" Craddock Tuesday attributed the recent spike in wait times to heavy volume from school vacation, the start of tax refund season, increasing vehicles purchases and the usual spike at the start and end of the month.Tuesday's system outage was due to a failed connection between the DMV and the system and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators system, Grimaldi said.
(TNS) -- A handful of public housing residents on Kansas Citys West Side nibbled on cookies and tapped on keyboards Tuesday afternoon to mark a year of free internet.Yeah, free. Which, it turns out, could be a hard sell.A year ago, Google Fiber teamed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Kansas City Housing Authority to plug low-income residents into the Web.The federal ConnectHome program works to team companies that sell internet service with local housing authorities to wire families into the internet.In the year since the program kicked off, Google Fiber has hooked up 1,100 housing units in Kansas City and Kansas City, Kan. all along the way fighting the skepticism of residents who thought there must be a catch.When somebody from the housing authority knocks on the door, people assume theres a problem, said Kelvin Patterson, the local agencys ConnectHome liaison. Hes become known in the past year to residents as Mr. Google. They think theres a problem with the rent or some rule. We had to tell them, No, this is really free internet. Even then, he said, folks assumed that there was a gotcha waiting to kick in. A bill that would come later. Collection of data that Google would feed to the housing authority or to the feds. Something.So Patterson relied on people like Tamara Butler in the West Bluff housing complex to carry the free internet gospel to her neighbors.Its the best thing, she said.Her 3-year-old, Willie, uses an electronic tablet purchased from Surplus Exchange , the non-profit electronics recycler, for $22. Using programs such ABC Mouse , hes learning his colors, spelling, geography and a range of pre-school lessons. Sometimes, when the two play together, she hears, No, this is how you do it, Mommy.She used the fiber optic internet hook-up, rather than burning through the scarce data on her cellphone plan, to find a job as a certified medical assistant. Now shes using the one-gigabit-per-second connection, the same thing most Google Fiber customers pay $70 to $80 a month for, to begin online training for a nursing certificate.When Google Fiber began wiring the market with its ultra-fast connections, it went only into neighborhoods where sign-ups suggested that demand would justify the corporate expense of stretching into different areas. That left out some of the poorer sections of Kansas City.With its free connections to low-income housing through ConnectHome, Google mitigated some of that criticism that it was accentuating the digital divide between those who could afford broadband and those who couldnt bear the monthly expense.Rachel Merlo, Google Fibers local community impact manager, said more than 80 percent of the apartments and townhouses in eight select public housing complexes have had the internet service installed. Some residents are still wary that it comes without strings attached, she said, and turnover in some units has complicated other installations. The work started last February and wrapped up in Kansas City, Kan., in December.The project focused on places where school-age children live, Merlo said, to help with homework.After the residences were wired, she said libraries, Literacy KC , Surplus Exchange and other groups worked to outfit people with used laptop and desktop computers and tablets.Then the challenge was to educate people on how to use the internet, Merlo said. A lot of time they knew how to do it on their phones, but not on the desktop.On Tuesday, in West Bluffs small computer lab, 7-year-old Jaylen Bates tapped out the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by tapping a banana, an orange and clumps of clay wired into one of the laptops.Its fun, he said. And you learn stuff.
In March, California plans to launch a new online school evaluation system that provides parents, teachers and the community with key data to evaluate their local K-12 schools.Called the California School Dashboard, which has been years in the making, the Web portal is designed to give parents easy reports about their childs school or district, as well as provide detailed downloadable data that can help identify areas where schools might need help.At one glance, they can get an idea, in multiple measures, of how well their school or district is doing, Californias Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Ashley Keric told state lawmakers last week at a joint oversight hearing held by the Assembly and Senate education committees.For those that need more, deeper information, theres background information, more detailed reports, downloadable data for the data geeks that want to get into the specifics of this, he added.Information such as high school graduation rates, career and college readiness, English learner progress and suspension rates, as well as test scores, will eventually be made available on the color-coded dashboard.Both state and local school district data will be entered into the dashboard, allowing for the creation of reports that can be searched by school and by district.The idea here is to provide information back to schools and districts so that they can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, Keric said.Although the dashboard goes live in March, it will not contain all the data its architects envisioned because some of it is simply not available yet. For example, the state is collecting data for the first time this year about chronic absenteeism. And the measurements for career and college readiness will be rolled out next year.Stakeholder groups, including school districts, will also continue to suggest ways the dashboard can be improved, Keric said.The California Department of Education has been working on a new accountability system that goes beyond test scores and is more useful than the previous Academic Performance Index that gave schools a number ranking.That approach is exactly what school advocates say is needed to educate the community about the limited resources schools have and their needs.This dashboard is exactly what we have been waiting for, said Terri Burns, legislative advocate for the California School Boards Association.But whether the dashboard will be an easy tool to use is questionable, said Brian Rivas, director of policy and government relations at the Education Trust-West, which works to close student opportunity and achievement gaps.The dashboard as it sits is complex. It doesnt lend itself to comparability of districts and schools, Rivas said. Wed like to see more done to make it more useful for parents and communities.For example, the dashboard doesnt allow a user to compare schools within a district, and educational advocates say resources should be set aside to enrich the dashboard.
(TNS) - Residents of communities in north-central Illinois on Wednesday determinedly began the process of putting their towns and lives back together after tornado-producing storms a day earlier left two dead, several injured and dozens of buildings leveled."Last night everyone was in shock," Naplate Mayor Jim Rick said of his town, 3 miles southwest of Ottawa in LaSalle County. "I think this morning we see it, we'll address it and we'll come through it."The National Weather Service said its preliminary damage survey indicated a tornado registered as EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale hit Naplate. An EF3 tornado has winds between 136 and 165 mph. An EF1 tornado (winds 86-110 mph) hit Oregon, Ill., about 75 miles northwest of Naplate, the weather service said.As Rick spoke, residents of the small town of 550 were surveying the aftermath under blustery, overcast skies. Some homes appeared essentially unscathed, while next to them were homes and garages that had been reduced to kindling.The streets, which had been mostly cleared, were busy with contractors, police and firefighters. Meanwhile, crews were working to repair downed electric lines, and officials from Ameren Illinois said they expected to restore power to most of the 9,500 customers who lost service in the area by the end of Wednesday.From his front yard, Jerry Nanouski, 60, looked at the pile of rubble that used to be his garage. The storm had carried his Corvette a block away and left its rear window missing.Nanouski had just arrived home from his job as a Police Department lieutenant in nearby North Utica on Tuesday afternoon when the storm struck. All the windows in his home were blown out and the interior was severely damaged, but he said his family and his police dog escaped uninjured.It brought back memories of the night in April 2004 when he was on duty in North Utica and a devastating tornado ripped through the small town, killing eight people."It's the same thing," he said. "It happens so quick, and when it's all over, it's just devastation. Hopefully (the recovery) will be the same. They made good progress over there (in North Utica) when they were pulling it back together, and hopefully we can do the same. Get people back on their feet. Rebuild."No one in Naplate was badly hurt, even though the tornado damaged or wrecked 50 of the village's 250 homes and structures, officials said.Ottawa officials reported one fatality from the severe weather that hit their town about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. The victim, Wayne Tuntland, 76, was killed when a tree fell on him, the LaSalle County coroner's office said.Rich Ploch, chief deputy in the coroner's office, said Tuntland and an unidentified middle-aged man were in the backyard burning debris when the storm came through."A family member went outside to tell them the storm was approaching," Ploch said. "It looks like they were in the process of returning to the home. Unfortunately, the tree came down on them."In far southeastern Illinois near the Indiana border, a 71-year-old man was killed when a twister struck a small building near a house in the Crossville area, according to authorities. The man's wife was injured.At least 14 people were injured during the storm in the Ottawa area, according to a news release from St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa. The hospital treated people for injuries to their heads, knees and arms.In the neighborhood of South Ottawa, the tornado's fickle path was clear. Some streets Wednesday morning were a jumble of tree limbs and dangling power lines; other streets were almost entirely free of debris. Some houses were wrecked; others nearby appeared untouched.Anne Houk surveyed the damage outside her bungalow. Her front lawn was covered in branches, and a large piece of soffit hung from a nearby tree. Her garage was blocked by another tree, and the rear windshield of her car was blown out.Still, with her house mostly unscathed, she counted herself lucky."We fared pretty well compared to other people," she said. "We're thankful for the brick. The three little pigs did it right, I guess."Mike McGrath sat late Tuesday in the Village Hall in Naplate, wearing the wry smile of someone who had just experienced the best and worst of luck.On Tuesday afternoon, he and his wife had been at home watching TV for news of an incoming tornado when the announcer said, "It's here."McGrath, 65, glanced out the back window and saw that the sky had turned as black as midnight. Instantly, he and his wife fled into a central room and huddled in a corner."It seemed like it lasted forever, though I know it was only like a minute and a half," he said. "Then it was quiet. I got up, surveyed the damage and pretty much couldn't believe what we saw. Still can't believe it. (The house) is pretty well gone. My whole neighborhood is pretty well destroyed."McGrath and his wife, though, were uninjured.Gov. Bruce Rauner toured the area Wednesday and spoke with residents."We've got to count our blessings," Rauner said at a news conference outside a glass factory in Naplate that was damaged by the storm. "This could have been way worse. The warning system worked well. People were notified, and it's wonderful how people in the community helped each other."In Oregon, about 100 miles west of Chicago, officials said the tornado that touched down Tuesday left the community relatively unscathed."Overall, I just have to say we were pretty darn lucky," said Ogle County Emergency Management Agency coordinator Tom Richter. "We have four damaged homes, five destroyed outbuildings and two outbuildings damaged. Luckily, we didn't have any injuries no injuries at all."Richter said the storm heavily damaged some areas of old growth forest and knocked out power to about 110 residences. Power had been restored by Wednesday afternoon, he said.Connie Brooks, director of LaSalle County Emergency Management, said LaSalle County, Naplate and Ottawa have all declared themselves disaster areas, and that all contractors and insurance adjusters have to register with local authorities before they will be allowed in.Brooks asked people who want to go to the area to help residents with the cleanup to stay away for the time being."The streets are not safe yet the city and the village are not ready yet," Brooks said.Chief John Nevins of the Naplate Fire Department said the damage ranged from missing roof shingles to total destruction."We've never had anything like this before," he said. "Like anyone else, we've had high winds that take some trees down, but nothing like this."LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton said the tornado had all but destroyed the LaSalle County Nursing Home and the county's Highway Department building, which lay just west of Naplate.There were no major injuries to residents or workers, he said."The staff did a marvelous job of moving people out of rooms (as the tornado hit)," Templeton said. "Windows were blown out. The roof was extremely damaged. The front doors were sucked right out of the building and crushed."I couldn't have asked more from the staff. Some of those (residents) were scared. Some were kind of oblivious to everything that's going on and were hard to control, because they wanted to just walk everywhere. The staff was just calm. Sirens going off, fire alarms going off, but it wasn't chaotic."Keilman reported from LaSalle County.jkeilman@chicagotribune.commwalberg@chicagotribune.com2017 the Chicago TribuneVisit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) -- Fifty years ago, Americans looked into deep space and saw it as a place worth planting a flag. The space race galvanized the country, igniting a nationalistic fervor to beat the Russians to the moon that captured the imaginations of adults and children alike.But that all seems so retrograde now. Buffeted by rising costs and waning public interest, we humans largely have left the stars to satellites, robots and Hollywood scriptwriters.There hasnt been a manned mission beyond low-Earth orbit since the final Apollo moon landing in 1972. NASAs last manned U.S. mission anywhere happened way back in 2011, when the Obama administration scrapped the space shuttle program. Since then, astronauts have been hitching rides to the International Space Station aboard Russian spacecraft.Thats not an America first philosophy.Perhaps, then, its merely a sign of these resurgent nationalistic times that talk of sending people into deep space is once again in vogue. Or maybe its a sudden desire of wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to escape a planet that, once again, seems too consumed with feuding and tribalism and navel-gazing over borders.Either way, a renewed space race this one shaping up between multinational corporations and governments is an exciting distraction and could do a lot to sow unity around the world through the common language of science. administration has been pushing NASA President Donald Trumps to accelerate the timeline of a trip around the moon, long planned for 2021. A rocket, dubbed the Space Launch System, and a capsule, Orion, would carry astronauts around the moon. The U.S., Trump said in his inaugural address, is ready to unlock the mysteries of space.In that, he has a like-minded ally in Elon Musk , the California entrepreneur who is determined to launch a manned mission to colonize Mars in the coming years to ensure that humans become an interplanetary species.In the meantime, Musk said Monday, his company SpaceX has taken on a high-stakes side project: ferrying two wealthy tourists to the moon and back . The weeklong journey, which could happen next year, would take the unidentified pair past the lunar surface and outward before the spacecraft surrenders to the pull of gravity and heads back to Earth.All told, the trip would cover between 300,000 and 400,000 miles. And because we all know that, in space, no one can hear you scream, there are certainly risks.Until SpaceX, only the Russian government has agreed to bring tourists to space seven of them who have paid tens of millions of dollars to fly on Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station. The trip around the moon would be much farther.Musk says the two would-be space tourists are coming into this with their eyes open. But so far, the spacecraft that would carry them SpaceXs Dragon 2 capsule and Falcon Heavy rocket are years behind schedule and havent even flown yet . Still, in classic, swaggering space race fashion, Musk isnt too worried.This should be a really exciting mission, he told The Associated Press , that hopefully gets the world really excited about sending people into deep space again.Indeed, its time America set its sights a little higher.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. The Internet of Things (IoT) means different things to different parties. For utilities, it's about making a smarter grid by connecting electric or water meters to a central hub. For exercise enthusiasts, it relates to wearable devices that measure steps, heart rate and your sleep cycle.In the most boiled-down definition available, IoT refers to the connection of physical devices to the Internet in order to remotely control or derive information from them. While there are hundreds of ways this can be expounded, every entity has its own definition that best serves its mission, said Ted Alben, IoT practice manager for Dimension Data, during a panel discussion at the Public Sector CIO Academy* on March 1. Another way to boil this idea down is to meld informational technology (IT) with operational technology (OT).OT, according to research firm Gartner is a system of hardware and software that detects a change through the direct monitoring and/or control of physical devices in the enterprise. Melding the two together has created inherent complications.IT has been around for about 30 years, said Shilpa Kolhatkar, senior business development manager for Cisco. OT has been around since the Industrial Revolution, so more than 100 years.And the convergence of the two will no doubt hit speed bumps. The benefits of a fully integrated OT and IT and secured IoT, however, would more than pay for itself.Take, for instance, the recent downpour in California. While the state was in the middle of one of the worst droughts in recorded history, the first two months of 2017 nearly reversed those years of chronic lack of precipitation. During those storms, 11 trillion gallons of rain went underutilized," Alben said, "because [they] dont have a system capable of recognizing surplus rain and transferring it into temporary holding ponds."On a smaller scale, people often forget to turn off automatic sprinkler systems when it rains. If a software program could retrieve data from weather sensors and automatically flip the switch for sprinkler systems, the state could save hundreds of additional gallons of water.There are, however, obvious risks to an increasingly connected world. Cyberattacks have become increasingly common. Last years distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the Dyn Web hosting services that took out Twitter, CNN and CNBC, to name a few, essentially forced Internet-connected cameras and DVRs to relay thousands of terabytes of information to Dyn servers, causing a system crash, said Sean Telles of ForeScout Technologies.The mirai malware located which devices used the default login, and weaponized them, said Telles. In the shorter term, encrypting information and changing accessibility of devices is an obvious way to deter cyberattacks. But the biggest risk to the IoT is the lack of a unified standardization for products that are connected because malware will continue to affect these devices.In order to play offensively, Alben said, managers and IT leaders must come up with a standardized code for how Internet-connected devices are set up.Commons sense allows us to exclude consumer-grade devices, from state and local IT, he said, adding that we need to go further and set a model for the impending convergence. Because even when it is not necessarily a nefarious actor, the possibility for connected devices to be compromised could potentially be devastating. Even something as innocent as a system reboot, he continuted, which could potentially turn off lights at a rail station could potentially be very dangerous.The connection of devices is not going anywhere. As the advances in software continue to be paired with hardware, standardization of safety protocols is imperative to the safety of networks and people. IoT is ubiquitous, said George Akiyama, CIO of Caltrans. It is everywhere and we need a way to secure it.
(TNS) -- Cybersecurity has had a rough year.Presidential nominee Hillary Clintons campaign suffered setbacks when hackers obtained and leaked embarrassing emails. Russian hackers planted code in a Vermont power utility.Closer to home, hackers likely located overseas shut down Bingham Countys computer system on Feb. 15, forcing the county to pay three bitcoins unofficial digital currency worth about $3,500 to regain control of their system and get back to work. Last week, Amalgamated Sugar Co. notified nearly 3,000 employees that hackers had gleaned personal information listed on their W-2 tax forms.Cybersecurity was the topic Wednesday at the Idaho Technology Councils Energy Connected 2017 conference. One speaker was Zach Tudor, who oversees one of the nations leading cybersecurity teams as the associate director of national and homeland security at the Idaho National Laboratory.Tudors team focuses on protecting critical infrastructure such as utility grids, control systems and computer systems embedded in larger systems. He answered the Statesmans questions.Q: Tell me about the labs cybersecurity team.A: Across my directorate, we have about 500 people. My cyber-research team is 55 to 60 people. I have about 150 people working on wireless critical infrastructure.We have wireless technicians and people with some skills you might use working with substation equipment at AT&T or Verizon. We have 110 miles of transmission and distribution equipment for electrical. We have everything from people who climb poles to people who understand power electronic substation automation. We have people who respond to and triage attacks, whether its at a water utility or electric utility, or transportation.We also have analysts who reverse-engineer software, so if a piece of malicious software attacks infrastructure, they reverse-engineer that software, find out how it might affect the system and how to mitigate it.Q: What other kinds of systems do you research?A: One example is automotive systems. A couple of researchers went to auto-reclamation facilities and found components from three or four of the same model of car and put together the electronics systems of the vehicle radios, the navigation system, the lights. They started understanding the protocols and all the messages that go back and forth, and identified some vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them. The research was so compelling that when they wrote their next proposal, we bought them a car. They now have three cars in the lab. Were taking our expertise out to the automotive industry and working to develop some cooperative research and development agreements to help them make their systems more secure.Q: In your talk, you pointed to home thermostats as seemingly benign household systems that could be vulnerable to cyberattacks. How can those kinds of everyday items threaten bigger systems?A: In 2016, we saw an attack where someone found a vulnerability in something similar to a thermostat [with wireless capability] and used that to perform a series of denial-of-service attacks on infrastructure. It basically took control of thousands of embedded structures things like thermostats and sent them to the same address of a business with a request for information, over and over. That flooding attack caused the system to be unresponsive to the people doing actual work.Criminals are starting to figure out how to monetize those kinds of attacks, to hold a business at ransom for extortion. Without even hacking it, they can cause a system to be unresponsive so work cant get done. We are all very concerned about nation-state attacks and terrorism. But were concerned about criminal hacking, too.Q: Bingham County was recently crippled by ransomware. How is the Bingham County attack instructive for governments and businesses?A: It shows all levels of business and government are vulnerable. A lot of times, we hear about attacks at the Secret Service, or the Office of Management and Budget, or others, and think the targets are huge government entities. We have to realize theres valuable information all over the country and all over the world.Q: Hackers phish their way into systems by duping employees to download malware. That happened recently at Amalgamated Sugar. What needs to happen to prevent those attacks?A: It starts with earlier education, whether its K-12 or STEM training, to make sure we have basic hygiene around cybersecurity from a young age, because were going to be living with these systems for a long time. But we also need to educate at the business level to be more vigilant about the things we click on.Q: What role did the lab play in the response to the Ukraine power-grid hack last year?A: Ukraine asked the State Department to send some resources out there to find out what happened. The attack affected 225,000 people and 20 percent of the substations. Control operators were literally sitting with their hands on their knees, watching the mouse move without their control as somebody was turning off those lights. We believe some of the initial attacks were based on email phishing to get into the systems.We learned the Ukraine system is not as automated as our systems here, and because they were in a small geographical area, they were able to send technicians out and manually close relays to get the lights back on.Our system is so efficient because of automation. But its also distributed, so its hard for an operator to drive 75 miles to the first station, then 110 miles to the next. We have to make sure our systems are resilient to these attacks.Q: Are bigger, more complex infrastructure systems more vulnerable?A: Complexity is one of our key challenges. The ability to be efficient drives the sheer number of features in our systems that potentially make them vulnerable.They estimate 80 percent of people use 10 to 15 percent of Microsoft Words capabilities. They have all these specialized features experts use from time to time. Its similar with our digital control systems. If you are only using 10 percent, theres another 90 percent that you arent aware about, dont care about or dont know how to protect adequately that somebody else might exploit.Q: Hacking is daily news nowadays, especially following hacks of both the Democratic and Republican parties during the election. Is this the new reality?A: Its the evolution of tech. The more valuable information is put on systems, whether its control systems, databases or email systems, the more someone will go through nefarious means to get it. Ten or 20 years ago, the mindset was that we can keep hackers out of our information systems. The reality now is hackers are going to get in, so we need to have systems to detect them and be resilient to protect the data to return to business as usual.In the future, a hacker-attack news story should be: Hacker attacks IRS. No data stolen.
McLaren and Honda have both denied wild rumours their troubled works collaboration in F1 could be set to end.
Although the partnership is entering its third year, the opening of 2017 testing has been notably troubled as Honda fumbles with its brand new 'power unit' design.
After an oil tank design flaw was discovered on day one, Stoffel Vandoorne's engine was returned to Japan following a problem on day two, and Fernando Alonso had to run with 'de-rated' settings on day three.
"I can only apologise to the drivers," said Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa.
Team boss Eric Boullier, meanwhile, put a brave face on the situation, declaring that "Like any marriage, there are ups and downs".
But the perpetual 'downs' triggered a rumour in the Barcelona paddock on Wednesday that McLaren has commenced talks with Renault about a potential replacement engine supply.
"We are supposed to ditch Honda?" Boullier responded. "No. There is no plan at all."
Hasegawa, whose employer is also a significant McLaren sponsor, was asked the same question and added: "Of course not.
"I do not hide that we have difficulties, but such situations are what testing is for."
The Japanese insisted that the relationship with McLaren remains positive.
"Our relationship is better all the time. I cannot compare it to 2015, because I was not there, but we are a team and we behave as such."
As for the engine problems, he said: "We would like to introduce the latest version of the engine and test it as soon as possible.
"So next week we will have another engine and it will have changes."
(GMM)
The European Commission and a key politician have both confirmed that a potential investigation into F1 has in fact not been ruled out.
Several publications this week claimed that a letter from the competition commissioner to Anneliese Dodds showed that an investigation will definitely not take place.
But a spokesman for Dodds told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt that the publications had "annoyingly" got their reports fundamentally wrong.
"I'm going to be speaking with Anneliese about all of this when she arrives in Brussels later today and we'll think of the next steps," he said.
That next step has now emerged, with Dodds releasing an official statement declaring that the commissioner's letter did not rule out an investigation into Liberty Media's takeover of F1 or the FIA's alleged conflict of interest.
"The Commissioner has not ruled out any investigation into competition concerns in the sport," said Dodds, "not least because there is still an ongoing investigation arising from complaints from Force India and Sauber."
And in Sylt's latest report for Forbes, a source close to the European Commission said the body retains its "ability to investigate the behaviour of these companies that could be potentially against EU competition rules".
(GMM)
The Democratic governors of Washington state and Colorado, the first states that voted to legalize the drug for recreational purposes, in 2012, say their experiments have worked and that the federal government should not intervene.
A girl walking with her suffered minor injuries in the accident, which happened on the same road where an 11-year-old boy died in 2019 after being struck by an SUV.
Forget Batman vs. Superman or Captain America vs. Iron Man. In James Mangolds moving tribute to X-Mens Wolverine, Logan, its all Logan vs. Logan.
He strips away the spandex, the posse and the chaos, distilling the story down to the essence of the man, Logan, also known as Wolverine, also known as James Howlett. Whats left is the agony and the ecstasy of mutanthood, which star Hugh Jackman expresses as physical and mental torture. Logans greatest opponent is, and always has been, himself.
In this near-distant future of 2029, Logan shuns his mutant abilities. He drives a limo, racked with a hacking cough and a craving for liquor. He seems to be disintegrating before our eyes; hes grizzled and mangy and those adamantium claws dont unfurl like they used to. He mostly uses them for fending off hubcap bandits anyway.
He toils alongside Caliban (Stephen Merchant) at a secretive Mexican camp to care for Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), whom theyre keeping drugged up to keep his apocalyptic seizures at bay. Its not much of a life, or a legacy.
But this film almost isnt just about Logan, its also about Laura, a character who first began popping up in comic books in 2004. Played by newcomer Dafne Keen in her first film role, Laura boasts similar talents and characteristics to Logan, and the two share a feral rage when provoked. Shes smuggled out of a Mexican genetic engineering facility, and Logans been entrusted with delivering her to safety in North Dakota. And so begins a long, strange, dark and violent trip for Logan, Laura and Charles.
Mangold pulls no razor-sharp punches in Logan the film is horrifyingly, grotesquely violent, as Logan and Laura fight to evade the clutches of bounty hunter Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant), who wants to contain mutants and develop their bodies into weapons. In Laura, Logan finds a part of himself worth fighting for, and do they ever, particularly in one brilliant sequence paying homage to Mad Max: Fury Road.
Jackman, a gifted physical actor, demonstrates tremendous range and gives the performance of his life as the deteriorating Logan. Its a big performance, raw and compelling as hell, and his finest, most emotional work.
Its also refreshing to see an unleashed Stewart. And Keen is a wonder, a tremendous discovery. Step aside, Eleven, theres a new tough girl in town.
About halfway through Logan, Mangold, who wrote the script with Scott Frank and Michael Green, pulls the rug out from under us, with a shockingly dark twist.
This is after weve become accustomed to the sight of a tiny girl ferociously slice and dice a bakers dozen of assassins, but its still an emotional bomb blast.
Its manipulative, but after that, we know all bets are off. No one is safe in Logan.
There are repeated references to the classic Western Shane, about a good gunfighter protecting the vulnerable.
Its an apt comparison, if heavy-handed, but damn if it isnt effective, employing poignant words from the movie to do the impossible: wring tears.
Mangold turns the lens inward in the introspective Logan, subjecting this character and his legacy to an onscreen vivisection.
The themes of otherness and corporate exploitation could have been pushed further for more impact. But Mangold never strays from Jackman, who is explosive and mesmerizing in the role he made iconic.
Updated at 9:10 a.m.
WASHINGTON Attorney General Jeff Sessions talked twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign, the Justice Department confirmed, a seeming contradiction to sworn statements he gave to Congress. The revelation spurred growing calls in Congress in both parties for him to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump's candidacy and a policy adviser to the Republican, did not disclose those discussions at his Senate confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with officials of the Russian government.
Sessions replied that he had not had communications with the Russians.
In a statement late Wednesday, Sessions said, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Wednesday night that "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer."
That statement did not satisfy Democrats, who even before Wednesday had sought his recusal from the ongoing federal investigation and had raised questions about whether he could properly oversee the probe.
Sessions said Thursday in a brief interview with NBC, "I have said that, when it's appropriate, I will recuse myself."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier called the disclosure of the talks with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, "the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats." She added that Sessions "met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused Sessions of "lying under oath" and demanded that he resign. Other Democrats called on him to step aside from the investigation.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, appearing Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show, said, "I just think he needs to clarify what these meetings were." The California Republican said it isn't unusual for members of Congress to meet with ambassadors, but he added that if a question arose about the integrity of a federal investigation, "I think it'd be easier" for an attorney general to step away from the probe.
Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year in his role as a U.S. senator and senior member of the Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with Kislyak, the department confirmed.
One was a visit in September in his capacity as a senator, similar to meetings with envoys from Britain, China, Germany and other nations, the department said.
The other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Sessions gave during the summer, when several ambassadors including the Russian ambassador approached Sessions after the talk as he was leaving the stage.
Revelations of the contacts, first reported by The Washington Post, came amid a disclosure by three administration officials that White House lawyers have instructed aides to Trump to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian meddling in the American political process.
The officials who confirmed that staffers were instructed to comply with preservation-of-materials directions did so on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn.
On the Sessions revelation, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said: "If reports are accurate that Attorney General Sessions a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump met with Ambassador Kislyak during the campaign, and failed to disclose this fact during his confirmation, it is essential that he recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians."
Asked by reporters Monday about the prospect of a recusal, Sessions had said, "I would recuse myself from anything that I should recuse myself on."
At the confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota asked Sessions about allegations of contact between Russia and Trump aides during the 2016 election. He asked Sessions what he would do if there were evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was "unaware of those activities."
Then he added: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Flores, the Justice Department spokeswoman, said that response was not misleading.
"He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee," she said in a statement.
Franken said in a statement he was troubled that the new attorney general's response to his question was "at best, misleading." He said he planned to press Sessions on his contact with Russia.
"It's clearer than ever now that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately," Franken said.
Separately in January, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Judiciary Committee Democrat, asked Sessions in a written questionnaire whether "he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day."
Sessions replied simply, "No."
Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russias ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trumps campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessionss confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senators office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.
The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russias alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trumps associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.
When Sessions spoke with Kislyak in July and September, the senator was a senior member of the influential Armed Services Committee as well as one of Trumps top foreign policy advisers. Sessions played a prominent role supporting Trump on the stump after formally joining the campaign in February 2016.
At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
Im not aware of any of those activities, he responded. He added: I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
Officials said Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the lawmakers questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Kislyak.
There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer, said Sarah Isgur Flores, Sessionss spokeswoman.
In January, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) asked Sessions for answers to written questions. Several of the President-elects nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day? Leahy wrote.
Sessions responded with one word: No.
Justice officials said Sessions met with Kislyak on Sept. 8 in his capacity as a member of the armed services panel rather than in his role as a Trump campaign surrogate.
He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee, Flores said.
She added that Sessions last year had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian and German ambassadors, in addition to Kislyak.
In the case of the September meeting, one department official who came to the defense of the attorney general said, Theres just not strong recollection of what was said.
The Russian ambassador did not respond to requests for comment about his contacts with Sessions.
The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see if any lawmakers besides Sessions met with Kislyak in 2016. Of the 19 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.
Members of the committee have not been beating a path to Kislyaks door, a senior Senate Armed Services Committee staffer said, citing tensions in relations with Moscow. Besides Sessions, the staffer added, There havent been a ton of members who are looking to meet with Kislyak for their committee duties.
Last month, The Washington Post reported that Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak during the month before Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Mike Pence, the vice president-elect, and other top Trump officials. Flynn was forced to resign the following week.
When asked to comment on Sessionss contacts with Kislyak, Franken said in a statement to The Washington Post on Wednesday: If its true that Attorney General Sessions met with the Russian ambassador in the midst of the campaign, then I am very troubled that his response to my questioning during his confirmation hearing was, at best, misleading.
Franken added: It is now clearer than ever that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately.
Current and former U.S. officials say they see Kislyak as a diplomat, not an intelligence operative. But they were not sure to what extent, if any, Kislyak was aware of or involved in the covert Russian election campaign.
Steven Hall, former head of Russia operations at the CIA, said that Russia would have been keenly interested in cultivating a relationship with Sessions because of his role on key congressional committees and as an early adviser to Trump.
Sessionss membership on the Armed Services Committee would have made him a priority for the Russian ambassador. The fact that he had already placed himself at least ideologically behind Trump would have been an added bonus for Kislyak, Hall said.
Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor who until 2014 served as U.S. ambassador to Russia, said he was not surprised that Kislyak would seek a meeting with Sessions. The weird part is to conceal it, he said. That was at the height of all the discussions of what Russia was doing during the election.
Two months before the September meeting, Sessions attended a Heritage Foundation event in July on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention that was attended by roughly 50 ambassadors. When the event was over, a small group of ambassadors approached Sessions as he was leaving the podium, and Kislyak was among them, the Justice Department official said.
Sessions then spoke individually to some of the ambassadors, including Kislyak, the official said. In the informal exchanges, the ambassadors expressed appreciation for his remarks and some of them invited him to events they were sponsoring, said the official, citing a former Sessions staffer who was at the event.
Democratic lawmakers, including senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have demanded in recent weeks that Sessions recuse himself from the governments inquiry into possible ties between Trump associates and Russia.
Last week, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, became one of the few Republican representatives to state publicly the need for an independent investigation.
Sessionss public position on Russia has evolved over time.
In an interview with RealClear World on the sidelines of the German Marshall Funds Brussels Forum in March 2015, Sessions said the United States and Europe have to unify against Russia.
More than a year later, he spoke about fostering a stronger relationship with the Kremlin. In a July 2016 interview with CNNs State of the Union, Sessions praised Trumps plan to build better relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump is right. We need to figure out a way to end this cycle of hostility thats putting this country at risk, costing us billions of dollars in defense, and creating hostilities, Sessions told CNN.
Asked if he viewed Putin as a good or bad leader, Sessions told CNN: We have a lot of bad leaders around the world that operate in ways we would never tolerate in the United States. But the question is, can we have a more peaceful, effective relationship with Russia? Utilizing interests that are similar in a realistic way to make this world a safer place and get off this dangerous hostility with Russia? I think its possible.
Julie Tate, Robert Costa and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives the Chairman and CEO of Aeroports de Paris, Augustin de Romanet, on March 2nd (Photo: VNA)
He valued the ADPs investment in Vietnam, particularly in transport, and its agreement with the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) to become a strategic shareholder.
On the basis of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership, cooperation between the ADP and the ACV will help enhance bilateral ties in a more substantive manner, he said, speaking highly of the groups experience in airport operation.
Vietnam is one of few Asian countries that have provided e-visas, PM Phuc noted, describing this as a favorable condition for tourists and investors to come to Vietnam, which in turn will stimulate the growth of the aviation industry and the demand for upgrading airports.
He said the ADPs partnership with the ACV will help promote the latters capacity airport operation, thereby increasing the quality of services at local airports to the world level.
For his part, Augustin de Romanet said his group wants to make long-term investment in Vietnam and help to modernize local airports - an important momentum for socio-economic development.
He informed his host about the development of airports in France and considered this a useful experience for the Southeast Asian nation in airport upgrade and expansion.
He also hoped for continued support from the Vietnamese Government and relevant agencies for the ADPs activities in the country./.
I lived in Washington, D.C., in the early 1970s, specifically during the Watergate years. The anticipation of opening The Washington Post as it broke the ever-escalating news of the Nixon White Houses deepening involvement in the illegal activities at the Watergate Complex was electric.
Like many then, I was incredulous and overwhelmed that a sitting president could be involved in such highly illegal deeds. So much so, that I attended almost every one of the Watergate hearings in the Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill. I personally witnessed Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Colson, Dean, Mitchell and Magruder testify to Congress.
Words cannot adequately express the eerie similarity of that experience to the current burgeoning, almost daily revelations, the outright lying to the public and press and the hubris of the Trump administrations behavior as its ties to Russian intelligence operatives, diplomats and individuals involved in the hacking of the 2016 elections are exposed.
We do not yet know the identity of the contemporary Deep Throats who are leaking intelligence to The New York Times and other news outlets, but while Trump calls them criminals, I call them patriots. An investigator independent of the administration is needed to bring the truth to light.
Joseph Saldarini
Greensboro
REIDSVILLE Flames completely consumed a home on the 900 block of Montgomery Street on Tuesday evening.
Reidsville Firefighters were dispatched to 915 Montgomery Street at 8:59 p.m. and arrived three minutes later to a vacant home already fully engulfed.
Units from all three fire stations and 12 firefighters responded to the scene with two pumpers and an aerial truck to fight the blaze.
One firefighter was transported to Annie Penn Hospital from the scene Tuesday night after becoming overheated. He was medically evaluated and released with no significant injuries.
Firefighters cleared the scene at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. The home was a total loss.
Reidsville Fire Marshal Jay Harris said that an investigation is underway to determine what caused the fire, with nobody taking up residence at the address.
We were able to determine that there was a power meter in place, although Duke Power says there was no electrical service to the house, Harris said.
Harris told Rockingham Now on Wednesday afternoon that unauthorized people had been in the house on Monday. They were asked to leave by the Reidsville Police Department after a complaint. The house was secured by the homeowner prior to the day of the fire.
Two neighboring houses one next door and another across the street sustained damage to vinyl siding. Neither building sustained structural damage.
The melting of the exterior surfaces was caused by the thermal release of flames and radiating heat during the burning of the dwelling.
The Reidsville Fire Marshals Office is being assisted by the Reidsville Police Department in investigating the origin and cause of the fire.
The White House dismissed as a partisan attack questions about whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied during his confirmation hearing about conversations he had with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. while serving as a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump's campaign.
The Justice Department confirmed Wednesday that Sessions twice had contact last year with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Sessions testified during his Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 10 that he had no contacts with Russian officials.
The revelation prompted the No. 2 House Republican, Kevin McCarthy, to say it would be easier if Sessions recused himself from any probe into Russian interference in the election. Top Democrats in Congress, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, called for Sessions' resignation.
A White House official who asked not to be named on Thursday said Sessions met with the ambassador in his official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The official said that is consistent with Sessions' testimony.
Democrats say Sessions wasn't truthful when he was asked by Sen. Al Franken during a Jan. 10 confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee what he would do if he learned that anyone tied to the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government during the course of the campaign.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," Sessions said, adding that he had "been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians."
As an Alabama Republican senator, Sessions was visited by Kislyak in his Capitol Hill office on Sept. 8, the Justice Department said in its statement. He also met with the envoy as part of a small group of ambassadors after an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation in July at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
A Sessions spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, rejected accusations that he had misled lawmakers. "Last year, the senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors," she said. "He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign -- not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee."
On Thursday, Sessions was asked about the allegations by an NBC News crew. "I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign," Sessions said.
The Justice Department rejected suggestions that Sessions was misleading in his testimony, saying that as a senator he discussed relations between the U.S. and Russia during the September meeting with Kislyak. Ambassadors would often make superficial comments about election-related news, but those were not the substance of discussions, the department said.
The revelation, reported earlier by the Washington Post, has raised fresh questions about which Trump associates had contacts with Russian government officials during the presidential campaign and what was discussed. It also intensified calls for Sessions to recuse himself from probes into Russian hacking in last year's campaign.
"For any investigation going forward," you'd want Americans to "trust" findings and "it would be easier" if Sessions recuses himself, McCarthy told MSNBC Thursday. "You recuse yourself in these situations."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, weighed in similarly during a CNN town hall Wednesday night.
"I don't know that there's anything between the Trump campaign and the Russians. I'm not going to base my decision based on newspaper articles," Graham said. "If there is something there, and it goes up the chain of investigation, it is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make this decision about Trump."
Graham also said that if the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered any sign of potential criminal activities, a special prosecutor should be appointed to handle the matter.
"If reports are accurate that Attorney General Sessions -- a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump -- met with Ambassador Kislyak during the campaign, and failed to disclose this fact during his confirmation, it is essential that he recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians," Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "This is not even a close call; it is a must."
The White House official on Thursday accused Franken of pushing the story to distract from Trump's well-received address to a joint session of Congress earlier this week.
Sessions is the second Trump administration official to face tough questions about his contact with Kislyak. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was fired by Trump after it was revealed he had not accurately portrayed the content of his conversations with the Russian envoy to other administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.
"It appears Attorney General Sessions may have perjured himself by falsely denying under oath that he had contact with the Russian government during the campaign," Democratic National Committee senior adviser Zac Petkanas said in a statement. "As these meetings must obviously be included as part of the FBI investigation, the Attorney General must recuse himself immediately and appoint a special prosecutor as he cannot be expected to investigate himself."
The revelation that Sessions and Kislyak met came shortly after a report in the New York Times that the British and Dutch governments provided information to the U.S. government describing meetings between associates of Trump and Russian officials in European cities.
The story also described a deliberate campaign by Obama administration political appointees to spread information about Russia's alleged attempts to interfere in the election, as well as revelations that American intelligence agencies intercepted communications discussing contacts with Trump associates.
Eric Schultz, a spokesman for former President Barack Obama, confirmed that Obama administration officials had sought to document intelligence related to possible Russian interference in the campaign.
"This situation was serious, as is evident by President Obama's call for a review -- and as is evident by the United States response," Schultz said in an email. "When the intelligence community does that type of comprehensive review, it is standard practice that a significant amount of information would be compiled and documented."
Trump administration officials have repeatedly insisted that there was no collusion between the president's team and the Russian government. They've dismissed questions about the matter as misgivings by Democrats upset over the election results, and have said that intelligence officials -- including at the FBI -- have concluded there was no consistent contact during the campaign between Trump allies and the Kremlin.
"I think that Russia's involvement in activity has been investigated up and down," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday. "So the question becomes at some point, if there's nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate?"
Schiff said in a television interview Wednesday night that his panel would investigate allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
"We have reached a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign," Schiff told MSNBC.
The committee's Republican chairman, Devin Nunes of California, said Monday that he had not yet seen evidence of contact between Trump campaign staff and Russian intelligence agents presented by the U.S. intelligence community.
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Bloomberg's Margaret Talev contributed.
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Washington Post News Service (DC)
3/2/2017 8:00:19 AM Central Standard Time
This arrangement will allow young Vietnamese people, aged between 18 and 30, to travel to Australia for one year and undertake short-term work and study. It will also allow young Australians to work and holiday in Vietnam.
As many as 200 eligible Vietnamese applicants will be granted visas to Australia each year, and 200 Australians will similarly be able to enter Vietnam.
Photo for illustration
Im delighted to see this latest outcome in our bilateral cooperation. Young Vietnamese and Australian citizens now have the opportunity to apply for a unique cultural exchange experience. This will increase understanding between the peoples of our two countries, and contribute greatly to our economic, security and innovation partnerships, said Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Craig Chittick.
This visa will allow Vietnamese participants to engage in cultural exchange and tourism; stay in Australia for 12 months from their date of first arrival; work for the 12-month duration of their stay, but for no longer than six months with any one employer; and study for up to four months.
Following this commencement, the work and holiday visa program will reopen on July 1st every year.
Detailed information can be seen at the following web pages:
* Australian Embassy Vietnam: www.vietnam.embassy.gov.au/hnoi/Visas_and_Migration.html
* Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Australia: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/462
* Department of Labor under the Ministry of Labor, War-Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam: http://laodongkynghi.dolab.gov.vn./.
This article was written by YEC member Zev Herman. He is the president of Superior Lighting, specializing in energy efficient lighting design and retrofits.
There are two ways to come into owning a business: You either build a company from the ground up or you acquire a pre-existing company. Both options have pros and cons. For example, if you buy a business that is already established, you can potentially avoid many costs associated with starting from scratch. But either way, as a business owner, you can never escape the hiring process, especially if you want to grow.
One of the best perks about owning your business is choosing who works for you -- your best friend from kindergarten or college could be the COO of your company if you really wanted him to be. But, when it comes to hiring new employees and deciding who gets to be a part of your companys journey and success, you must approach hiring with the bigger picture of your business in mind. Here's how you can achieve this:
Related: How to Avoid Hiring a Psychopath
What to do when you buy a business that already has employees
I bought my business in 2008, when it was about 30 years old. It had loyal customers throughout South Florida and a few devoted employees, which made my goal for growing it a little bit easier. My plans involved expanding it by reaching larger markets and introducing new products -- and I needed a stellar team to help me do it.
Acquiring a business with employees who are interested in staying on the payroll doesnt happen for every founder. But it can be a fortunate situation, especially if the employees know a lot about how the business works, what it sells and who it sells to. Don't let the bigger picture slip away: If you buy a pre-existing business and have employees who want to stay on board, then I recommend giving them an evaluation.
I've learned that if you want your business to grow and consequently change, then any existing employees must be willing to grow and change with it. Therefore, after I first acquired my company, I re-interviewed its employees. I wanted to know how they might fit into the larger vision I had and how their skills and knowledge of the business and its products would come into play moving forward. When your employees share the passion you have for what you want your company to become, assimilating to new changes you bring shouldnt be too difficult.
Related: 9 Questions to Ask Candidates' References
What to look for when hiring new employees
Whether you are hiring your very first employee or your business has over 100 employees, every person you bring on to your team contributes to its overall success. You want to hire people who can do the jobs you are hiring them to do, but sometimes there are more important qualities than experience and skill.
To me, the best quality an employee can have is a learning attitude. I want to be surrounded by people who know what theyre doing, like what theyre doing and want to improve what they're doing. But I also realize that I can teach my employees a lot as long as they are willing to learn. Therefore, I encourage business owners to hire employees who want to learn and can bring a good attitude to the workplace.
When you are conducting new hire interviews, just listen. Let the interviewees do most of the talking so you can accurately gauge who they are and how they might fit in with your business. Ask them questions about how theyve approached unfamiliar projects and new learning opportunities in the past.
Related: 10 Steps to Hiring Your Start-up's World-Beating A-Team
How to manage workers new and old
The attitudes your employees bring to work goes hand-in-hand with your approach to leadership. Promote learning and open communication in the workplace by welcoming questions. Dont isolate yourself from your employees too much or you may not know when there are issues until its too late to resolve them.
Furthermore, remember why you are looking to expand your companys team: You cant do it all yourself! Perhaps you need to hire someone who can do something youre not the best at. Maybe you dont enjoy accounting, or marketing is like a foreign language to you. Well, there are plenty of people out there who do like the tasks you dont, and you can hire them to join your team.
When it comes to expanding your companys team and hiring and/or re-hiring employees, it all comes down to this one question: Can they do the job? Have a clear idea of what positions you are looking to fill, and understand what tasks need to be done and the skills required to do them. Only the best fits -- for both the job itself as well as the business -- will enable you to achieve your visions.
Related:
Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The Greek amphitheater soon on its way to Sarah Lawrence College is incredible, designed by architect Horton ONeil, the son of David ONeil and brother to actress Barbara ONeil, who played the mother of Scarlet OHara in Gone with the Wind.
The trip to Sarah Lawrence College is being made thanks to the help of a college alumna who will assist in the moving of the unusual and amazing piece of work.
This move is necessary because the amphitheater, which is on the property of David ONeil in the backcountry of Cos Cob, has been sold. The buyer wants to develop the land.
It was called the ONeil Outdoor Theater on Lia Fail Way, the street named after the Lia Fail, the ancient Irish coronation stone on which the Irish kings were crowned. It was a wonderful place with beautiful white oaks, gum trees and laurels that framed the amphitheater. According to the college, it was one of a kind in terms of its historical and architectural qualities. Losing it would have been heart breaking. It is also a loss to Greenwich of its history, just as losing so many older houses has been.
I never thought that this would happen to that beautiful amphitheater, but isnt it wonderful that there are people who hold such things to be invaluable? So we thank the school and the family of David ONeil. Im sure all those in Cos Cob and all of Greenwich will miss this extraordinary piece of work.
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One of my favorite days is the yearly re-creation of ride of General Israel Putnam, who was commanding a small number of Continental army soldiers on Feb. 26, 1779, when he escaped the British by riding down a steep slope in Greenwich.
At the event this year, visitors were greeted by Dave Loda astride a brown horse outside Putnam Cottage. Loda is a member of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, a statewide group of Revolutionary War re-enactors. The event, with crafts and demonstrations, is put on by the Daughters of the American Revolution. A highlight this year was a talk by Robert Earnest Hubbard, the author of a biography of Putnams life. What a wonderful thing, said Linda Talbarios, regent for the Putnam Hill DAR chapter.
I have long enjoyed seeing the Putnam Cottage, which is a beautiful example of that time and place, thanks to the DAR who purchased the building in 1902.
I joined my friend who is a direct descendant of the general. A cannon was fired during the reenactment of the ride, as well as the usual tours of Putnam Cottage, which is the second oldest house in Greenwich. It is a day where the history of our town as well as our country is remembered. A patriotic scene, such as this, perhaps will remind some of us of our background, whether it be for our town, as mentioned, or for our country.
I think of this given the recent destruction of a historical house and of the fact that the amphitheater at Lia Fail Way has been moved. Greenwich is getting to be known as a tear-down town, which is something that bothers me no end. However, I have learned that work is being done at the Historical Society with people who are mindful of the happenings in our town. Hopefully this will stop the fact that so much of our history has been destroyed.
The following excerpt is from the Staff of Entrepreneur Media's book Start Your Own Business. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes
If a franchise sounds too restrictive for you but the idea of coming up with your own business idea, systems and procedures sounds intimidating, there is a middle ground: business opportunities.
A business opportunity, in the simplest terms, is a packaged business investment that allows the buyer to begin a business. (Technically, all franchises are business opportunities, but not all business opportunities are franchises.)
Related: How to Start a Business With (Almost) No Money
Unlike a franchise, however, the business opportunity seller typically exercises no control over the buyers business operations. In fact, in most business opportunity programs, there is no continuing relationship between the seller and the buyer after the sale is made.
Although business opportunities offer less support than franchises, this could be an advantage for you if you thrive on freedom. Typically, you will not be obligated to follow the strict specifications and detailed program that franchisees must follow. With most business opportunities, you would simply buy a set of equipment or materials, and then you can operate the business any way and under any name you want. There are no ongoing royalties in most cases, and no trademark rights are sold.
However, this same lack of long-term commitment is also a business opportunitys chief disadvantage. Because there is no continuing relationship, the world of business opportunities does have its share of con artists who promise buyers instant success, then take their money and run. While increased regulation of business opportunities has dramatically lessened the likelihood of rip-offs, it is still important to investigate an opportunity thoroughly before you invest any money.
Legal matters
In general, a business opportunity refers to one of a number of ways to get into business. These include the following:
Dealers/distributors are individuals or businesses that purchase the right to sell ABC Corp.s products but not the right to use ABCs trade name. For example, an authorized dealer of Minolta products might have a Minolta sign in his window, but he cant call his business Minolta. Often, the words dealers and distributors are used interchangeably, but there is a difference: A distributor may sell to several dealers, while a dealer usually sells direct to retailers or consumers.
Licensees have the right to use the sellers trade name and certain methods, equipment, technology or product lines. If Business Opportunity XYZ has a special technique for reglazing porcelain, for instance, it will teach you the method and sell you the supplies and machinery needed to open your own business. You can call your business XYZ, but you are an independent licensee.
Vending machines are provided by the seller, who may also help you find locations for them. You restock your own machines and collect the money.
Cooperatives allow an existing business to affiliate with a network of similar businesses, usually for advertising and promotional purposes.
Network marketing/direct sales programs feature a low upfront investment -- usually only a few hundred dollars for the purchase of a product sample kit -- and the opportunity to sell a product line directly to friends, family and other personal contacts. Most direct-selling programs also ask participants to recruit other sales representatives. These recruits constitute a reps downline, and their sales generate income for those above them in the program.
Things get sticky when a direct sales network compensates participants primarily for recruiting others rather than for selling the companys products or services. A direct-selling system in which most of the revenues come from recruitment may be considered an illegal pyramid scheme. Thats why its important to investigate carefully before investing any money.
Related: How to Find the Right Business Idea When Starting a Business
The FTCs revised Business Opportunity Rule defines a business opportunity as a commercial arrangement in which:
A seller solicits a prospective purchaser to enter into a new business; and
The prospective purchaser makes a required payment; and
The seller, expressly or by implication, orally or in writing, represents that the seller or one or more designated persons will:
Provide locations for the user or operation of equipment, displays, vending machines or similar devices, owned, leased, controlled or paid for by the purchaser; or Provide outlets, accounts or customers, including, but not limited to, internet outlets, accounts or customers, for the purchasers goods or services; or Buy back any or all of the goods or services that the purchaser makes, produces, fabricates, grows, breeds, modifies or provides, including but not limited to providing payment for such services as, for example, stuffing envelopes from the purchasers home.
If an opportunity meets this definition, the FTC requires that it provide a one-page disclosure document to prospective buyers, which includes information on legal actions, cancellation or refund policies, earning claims and the contact information of other people who have purchased the business opportunity.
There are also 26 states that regulate business opportunities: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Different states have different definitions of what constitutes a business opportunity. If a seller meets the definition of a business opportunity in states that regulate them, it generally means he or she must register the offering with the state authorities and deliver a disclosure document to prospective buyers at least ten business days before the sale is made. (For more information on states regulations, check with consumer protection agencies -- often a part of the attorney generals office -- in your state.)
Checking it out
Researching a business opportunity is a more challenging task than investigating a franchise. And if the business opportunity you are considering does not provide buyers with a disclosure document, you get a lot less information, so you have to do a lot more legwork on your own.
Whenever possible, follow the same steps you would for investigating a franchise. Check out Entrepreneur.coms business opportunities listing (www.entrepreneur.com/bizopportunities/index.html). Contact the Better Business Bureau to see if there have been complaints against the company, and if the company is registered with D&B, a financial report will give you details on its financial standing and other information.
Also check with the regulatory agency -- either the Commission of Securities or the Commission of Financial Institutions -- in the state where the business opportunity has its headquarters. This will tell you if the company is complying with all state regulations. If you discover the company or its principals have been involved in lawsuits or bankruptcies, try to find out more details. Did the suits involve fraud or violations of regulatory laws? A copy of the petition or judgment, which you can get from the court that handled the case, will give you the answers to these questions.
Finally, see if the business opportunity seller will provide you with a list of people who have purchased the opportunity in the past. Dont let the seller give you a few handpicked names; ask for a full list of buyers in your state. Try to track them down, and talk to as many as you can. Were they satisfied with the opportunity? Would they recommend it to friends?
Related: Need a Business Idea? Here are 55
The path to buying a business opportunity is not as clearly defined as the road leading to franchise ownership. The good news, however, is that you have more freedom to make your business opportunity work. More so than with a franchise, the success or failure of your business opportunity depends on you, your commitment to the venture and the level of effort you put into it. Put that same effort into finding the right business opportunity program, and your chances of success increase exponentially.
Related:
What To Consider When Researching a Business Opportunity
The Clever Strategy That Turned an Unknown Book Into a Bestseller
5 Tips to Initiate Business in Adventure Sports In India
Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Pirelli's wet weather tyres are a work in progress, with a revised compound set to be introduced in China, according to motorsport boss Paul Hembery.
As the official tyre supplier to F1, one of Pirelli's mandates this year has been to improve the quality of its wet rubber, while also managing a change in tyre structure and width on the back of F1's 2017 rule change.
Drivers have confirmed an improvement in the wet tyre's performance and quality, but Pirelli is still determined to work on further improvements.
"We have to change the working range of the compounds," said Hembery.
"We were going to do that on the full rain tyre anyway. It was something we had been working on, particularly knowing we have got the standing start [after safety cars].
"Plus some of the comments from last season were that the drivers can't switch them on when they come through. We have been working on that and what we saw today was that the intermediate was also struggling.
"That is an effect of the width of the tyre, because the inter was the one the drivers said, 'don't touch, don't change because we're very happy with it'.
"Now we know we probably need to alter as well to match it."
Hembery was hopeful to have a revised wet tyre in time for the China Grand Prix in early April.
"I believe we will have something ready for China in terms of the first compound change here, and what we have been developing will go to the final result as something we can introduce."
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GREENWICH Police have been stepping up traffic enforcement at Greenwich High School and its main entrance on Hillside Road where a crush of cars containing impatient teenagers and parents has been causing safety concerns.
Police were out in force on Wednesday and Thursday, issuing warnings and writing tickets. Lt. John Slusarz, a police spokesman, said numerous tickets were given out by four officers assigned to traffic enforcement Thursday morning.
They were writing as fast as they could, said Slusarz.
The stepped-up enforcement was brought about when authorities felt that too many traffic infractions were going on during the morning drop-off period, when hundreds of cars are heading to the high school. The ticketing was timed to coincide with the end of winter break and the return of classes this week.
The police lieutenant said that officers were specifically looking to end or curtail the practice of drivers who stop on the east side of Hillside to discharge a passenger, who typically scurries across the road against oncoming vehicles to get to the school.
This is inherently dangerous. Theyre crossing, mid-block, between traffic, the lieutenant said.
Cops were also giving out tickets to drivers pulling U-turns, often with poor sight distance when doing so. Tickets were also given out for drivers seen texting or speaking on cell-phones. In some cases, the lieutenant said, infractions took place directly in front of officers on the street.
The potential for conflicts between pedestrians and cars has been growing through the years, according to authorities. More students are being driven to the school, as opposed to walking, biking or busing. And the residential side street on which the school was built was never intended to receive hundreds of motorists a day. There is no place for cars driving down Hillside to easily turn around.
On a typical day, one police officer is assigned to the high school to assist with bus traffic. School security officers are also present, but their enforcement powers over motorists are limited.
The police department notes that motorists can drop off passengers headed for the school at the nearby bus stops on Putnam Avenue, as long as they dont linger or interfere with buses.
The police spokesman said there would be more enforcement measures coming up this month, without revealing specifics.
Were enforcing the law, and the message is: we want to keep our kids safe, the lieutenant said.
No major accidents involving pedestrians have taken place on Hillside Road in recent memory.
rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
Things have taken a turn south for the popular restaurant. Photo: Tirzah Brott
Hip East Village Indian restaurant Babu Ji will apparently close, Eaters Ryan Sutton reports, following its second wage-theft and overtime lawsuit in just two years. When the Australian import opened in 2015, it was met with significant buzz New Yorks Adam Platt called it one of the citys best new restaurants that year and lengthy lines usually reserved for stunt pastries and milkshakes. A receptionist at the restaurant, which isnt taking reservations past March 8, initially told Eater the restaurant would close for renovations. During a second call, they were referred to the owners, who did not respond to requests for comments.
Last July, two employees filed a lawsuit against owners Jessi and Jennifer Singh, accusing them of pocketing tips and not paying overtime. It was settled for $95,000 in October, though the Singhs didnt admit to any wrongdoing. That lawsuit was filed by one Maimon Kirschenbaum, the most feared man in New York restaurants this side of the Department of Health. Along with Babu Jis owners, hes successfully sued celebrity chefs and restaurateurs like Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud, and Keith McNally.
Kirschenbaum has also been open about his media-friendly legal strategy, and the lawsuit this time around includes some fiery allegations. According to the lawsuit, threats were made by Jessi against one employees family in India (you know that in India a man paid $100,000 rupees to have someones family killed), and against the employees themselves (Im going to fuck you up). This is, legally speaking, a more serious case than the last, as such threats violate state labor law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The Singhs denied the allegations in a November filing, the same month they opened another Babu Ji in San Francisco, and the suit will be tried by jury.
Up until now, Gmail only allowed you to send and receive attachments of up to 25MB. That, however, has changed now, as the size limit for incoming emails has been increased. "Starting today, you will be able to receive emails of up to 50MB directly," Google said in a blog post.
So, this means that Google's email service will now allow attachments of up to 50MB in emails coming from users subscribed to a non-Gmail email service. Size limit for outgoing mails, however, remain the same at 25MB.
"However, just as before, you can use Google Drive to send larger attachments," the company says. Drive supports files of up to 5TB in size.
Source
Sony has pushed out a new update to Xperia X units that are part of the Japanese company's Concept for Android program. Arriving as build number 38.3.1.A.0.32C, the update brings several changes, including last month's security patch.
The update brings support for LDAC, a new Camera version, and some performance improvements. Also included is a new Glove Mode that lets you use your phone while wearing gloves.
And finally, Android security fixes for the month of February are also there. What's worth mentioning here is that the VoLTE feature has been disabled in this update due to some issue with German operators, but it's a temporary change.
Via
Introduction
We keep hearing "these aren't real Nokias!" in reference to the Android-running trio. To that we'd like to say: that's not entirely true and it doesn't entirely matter either. Yes, technically, these are HMD phones wearing the Nokia brand. And, yes, they will be manufactured by Foxconn in India.
But here's the thing - each of the three feels as solid as True Nokia's Lumia phones did, the build quality has not gone down one iota. The Nokia 6 looks as beautiful as any flagship at the MWC (even though it isn't one itself), the Nokia 5 and 3 outshine many phones in their category.
Plus, HMD is helmed by Arto Nummela - a former senior Nokia exec who joined the company in 1994. President of HMD is Florian Seiche, who has worked at Siemens, Orange, HTC and then Nokia. Many more former Nokia execs hold the top positions at HMD. That feels like Nokia enough to us.
So let the phones speak for themselves, regardless of who makes them. After all, iPhones are also made by Foxconn, but the bit that people care about is that "Designed in California" label at the back. Well, this trio bears all the hallmarks of the beloved Finnish design we used to love until the company jumped off a burning platform.
We think this time Nokia/HMD picked the right partner - Google. Microsoft wasn't ready in time, meanwhile Google has brought Android to a dominant 80% market share around the world. Stephen Elop was proven wrong - customizability did not prove to be Android's downfall.
All the same, the new Nokias run a completely untouched version of the OS. HMD also committed to "automatic" updates very soon after Google releases a patch. The Nexus dream lives on, it's just that the pure, quality, affordable Androids now brandish the Nokia logo.
We already shared our first impressions of the Nokia Android trio, now we're going in for second looks.
The GSMA is a pan-European organization that hosts the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and as part of the MWC they also hold annual Global Mobile Awards or GloMo awarding the best tech companies in various categories. In 2017 they awarded statuettes to over 40 winners. We already told you that Samsung nabbed the Best Smartphone of 2016 prize, but now we learn that Sony has won the Best new smartphone award for their latest Xperia XZ Premium.
Sony unveiled four new devices at MWC 2017 - the Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZs, Xperia XA1 and Xperia XA1 Ultra. The first of them is the current flagship with its 5.46 display with a 4K display, stunning Snapdragon 835 CPU and an updated 19 MP camera with 1/2.3 sensor size and Motion Eye technology for slow-mo videos in 960 fps.
The phone has a luminous chromium body and looked the most dazzling on the showroom floor.
Tsutomu Sato, Director of Global Product Marketing at Sony Mobile, with the GSMA award
Other winners include Amazon with its Amazon Echo with Disruptive Device Innovation award, Niantic won Judges Choice Mobile App for Pokemon, and the partnership between Reliance Jio and Samsung we told you about snatched Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets, among others.
Source
Haiti - FLASH : 30,000 Haitian migrants on the Mexican border targeted by scammers
Ariadna Estevez, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), who visited of refugees in Tijuana, Baja California, says that the majority of people trying to enter the United States today are of Haitian origin.
Estevez recalled that the Haitians began arriving in Tijuana in May 2016 and less than a year later, estimated that they are about 30,000, stranded at the border. Many had fled to Brazil after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but due to the economic crisis in Brazil, they are now trying to reach the United States.
Estevez warns the Haitians on a flyer in circulation that has attracted her attention. This flyer with the logo of a company called "Clearport" shows photos of people wearing Canadian flags, with the title "If you speak French, we have an option for you [...]" and explains "[...] If you want to find a job in Canada, give us a call or send your CV [...] Travel costs are paid by the company."
Estevez has done research on this company that seems not to exist. She says that some refugees are convinced that this company is affiliated with the Canadian government, but the Canadian Embassy in Mexico after verification confirms that this is not the case.
The researcher believes that this leaflet is linked to networks of traffickers of people who illegally drive desperate migrants to the United States or Canada. She warns that these migrants with virtually no money will have to pay back very large sums of money demanded by these gangs, working in prostitution or other forms of slavery as illegal.
According to the researcher, it is logical that these gangs consider Canada an option for Haitians because the United States is likely to expel them to Haiti if they seek asylum. She recalled that Haitians who had arrived in the United States were already likely to be deported before the new US President Donald Trump took office, but since, According to the researcher, it is logical that these gangs consider Canada an option for Haitians because the United States is likely to expel them to Haiti if they seek asylum. She recalled that Haitians who had arrived in the United States were already likely to be deported before the new US President Donald Trump took office, but since then, they are even less likely to be accepted as refugees.
Figures from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol show the number "inadmissible" Haitians arriving at the San Diego-area border crossing rose from 333 in 2015 to 6,377 in 2016. In the first several weeks of 2017, there have already been 7,589 "inadmissible" Haitians who have arrived at that U.S. border crossing.
In Tijuana, information is spreading that Haitians can be deported if they try to seek asylum in the US, prompting them to turn to human smugglers and traffickers by taking unacceptable risks .
Meanwhile, thousands of Haitians are stranded in overcrowded shelters and rare are those who can find work in Mexico more that one day on construction sites or as domestic servants, often for less than US $1 per hour...
See also :
https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-19691-haiti-mexicoto-tijuana-of-haitians-celebrates-the-independence-of-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19478-haiti-flash-thousands-of-haitians-seek-refuge-in-mexico.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18704-haiti-flash-tens-of-thousands-of-haitians-en-route-to-usa.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18700-haiti-flash-usa-resumption-of-regular-deportations-to-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18659-haiti-flash-haitians-are-fleeing-in-large-numbers-brazil-for-usa.html
SL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Politics : President Moise welcomes the success of the 2017 National Carnival
Wednesday, President Jovenel Moise welcomed the efforts made by the organizers for the success of the National Carnival. He particularly congratulated the people of Les Cayes for his hospitality during the three fat days that took place in a festive atmosphere. 23 queens and 18 kings marched on allegorical floats. Several dozen disguised groups and walking bands, and some twenty musical floats have animated the city of Les Cayes during National Carnival 2017.
The delay of the first day prevented groups from completing the course. The second fat day touched perfectly, the disguised bands were able to come out earlier and offer a much better performance. All tanks completed the course.
The Head of State underlines "The prevention system has worked well [...] the Red Cross and health care teams have done a good job. In terms of security, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) has done an outstanding job. A mobilization strongly felt at all levels, on the route and in the other streets of the city, facilitating the movement of carnavaliers in the city. This made it possible to record no death on the course during the three fat days" "[note HL --- 81 victims including 24 wounded with white arms and 62 arrests...]
Adding "State spending has been mobilized during these festivities in sustainable development projects, which can mitigate the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew."
Note that the Nippes and Grand'Anse departments participated in the Carnival parade as a sign of solidarity as Jovenel Moise wished.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Security : A bodyguard of the deputy Wanique Pierre shot down
Tuesday evening, Gerald Kebreau a bodyguard of the close security of Senator Wanique Pierre (PHTK) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19427-haiti-flash-results-of-elections-1-3-senate-complementary-legislative.html was shot down by several bullets at the head, in the commune of Trou du Nord during the carnival activities of the third fat day.
A rumor spread quickly pointing a finger at a police officer who was allegedly involved in the assassination. On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, around 1 am unidentified individuals, set fire to the residence of the said officer... these same individuals it seem, later attacked a company belonging to the Deputy Donald Dorsainvil (VERITE Constituency of Trou du Nord/Caracol) that they also burned, without knowing the exact reasons for their action, which could be of a political nature.
The authorities so far have made no official statement about these events, nor about the alleged identity of the killer, beyond the popular rumors...
TB/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - News : Zapping politics...
National carnival, 81 wounded and 82 arrests
According to unofficial information circulating in Les Cayes, more than a hundred people were injured during the 3 fat days of the National Carnival. However, according to the record of the authorities, during these three days, 81 people were wounded, 24 of them with weapons and the police made 82 arrests for misdemeanors. No loss of life has been reported https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20240-haiti-politics-president-moise-welcomes-the-success-of-the-2017-national-carnival.html
Jude Celestin : fake Facebook page
The Bureau of Jude Celestin strongly denounces the Facebook page entitled "Jude Celestin le a rive". The Bureau says that unknowns are hidden behind this page to offer false opportunities to young people on social networks. "No message from this page binds citizen Jude Celestin" the bureau asked these individuals "to stop this campaign of denigration in order not to incur penalties provided by the Haitian justice."
28 Haitians underage arrested for consumption of marihuana
As part of his campaign of morality, Danton Leger, Government Commissioner, Chief of the Public Prosecutor's office in Port-au-Prince, announced that 28 minors had been arrested for consumption of marihuana. They will be sent before their judge, Commissioner Leger announced.
New Ambassador of Chile in Haiti
The Chilean Government, through Chancellor Heraldo Munoz, informed that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has appointed a new Ambassador to Haiti. This is Patricio Utreras, who has already received the approval of Haiti, a geographer at the University of Chile, graduated from the Diplomatic Academy "Andres Bello". Prior to his appointment to Haiti, Patricio Utreras served as Minister Counselor and Head of the Chancery at the Embassy of Chile in the United States.
Donation of 600 tons of rice from Taiwan
The Government of Taiwan (Republic of China) has donated 600 metric tons of rice to the NGO "Food for the Poor" Haiti. Bishop Roger Beauvoir, the head of the NGO, thanked the Taiwanese State through its diplomat for this humanitarian aid and cooperation that has been going on since already 7 years.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Published on 2017/03/02 | Source
Hyolyn of K-pop girl group Sistar has signed with Spinnin' Records, one of the world's leading record labels in electronic dance music, her agency announced on Monday.
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"Hyolyn became the first Asian to sign with the label, and will release a collaboration single with Korean-Canadian DJ and producer Justin Oh in March", the agency said
Based in the Netherlands, a major scene for EDM, Spinnin' Records has had many world-famous musicians under its belt including Martin Garrix, Hardwell and Tiesto.
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New Study Details Driving Forces of Hawaii's Unfunded Liability Crisis
Unsustainable government salaries and pensions are worsening the crisis
News Release from Grassroot Institute
HONOLULU, HAWAII--March 1, 2017--A new study released by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii details salaries and benefits for government and private sector workers in the state of Hawaii. The study shows that unsustainably high government salaries and benefits may be putting Hawaii's pension fund in danger.
According to Dr. Keli'i Akina, President/CEO of the Grassroot Institute, "Hawaii's unfunded liability crisis has topped $23 billion for pensions and health benefits for public retirees. Salary hikes and pension spikes have worsened the debt, which is beginning to devour the state budget."
Dr. Akina continued, "The growing debt is already leading to cuts in services for public safety, education, homelessness relief efforts, and many other important government programs. It also has the very real possibility of jeopardizing the retirement benefits of public sector workers.
"The pension system in Hawaii is crumbling. While public workers deserve competitive salaries and benefits, the current system of raising taxes to afford it is unsustainable. Hawaii's citizens are struggling, and our leaders need to work together to fix the problem immediately without pushing the burden onto taxpayers or future generations."
The report shows that:
County workers in the state of Hawaii make among the highest wages in the nation, adjusted for cost of living.
Government benefits in Hawaii have grown five times faster than benefits in the private sector.
Unfunded liabilities for local government benefits have grown to the highest point in history at $23 billion.
Taxpayers pay 76 percent of the bill for government pension and health benefits for retirees, despite Hawaii state and county workers comprising only 15 percent of the total workforce.
Hawaii's government is now growing faster than the private sector.
Police and fire workers make the highest wages among all county departments, averaging over $75,000 per year, not including benefits. Keep in mind that overtime can double these numbers.
Private sector median wages are only $38,750 per year.
Increased payment for pension debt may cost taxpayers an extra $336 million every year, devouring state and local budgets.
The full report can be found at: LINK
---30---
About the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii:
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, the free market, and limited, accountable government throughout Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region.
To learn more, visit
About Grassroot President:
Kelii Akina, Ph.D., is a recognized scholar, educator, public policy spokesperson, and community leader in Hawaii. Currently, he is President/CEO of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a public policy think tank dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, free markets and limited, accountable government. An expert in East-West Philosophy and ethics, Dr. Akina has taught at universities in China and the United States and continues as an adjunct instructor at Hawaii Pacific University. In 2016, Dr. Akina was elected to a four-year term as Trustee-at-Large of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
This means that CEOs could face a delicate balancing act ahead. Its the role of business leaders to protect and nurture the employee-employer relationship throughout this turbulent time, without it, organisations will struggle to find and keep the people they need, Williams added.
The challenge for CEOs is to show that in the technological age, humans are their priority.
Only 16% of CEOs said they plan to cut their firms headcount over the next 12 months. But only a quarter of that number said this was because of technology.
The report said computers far outstrip humans when it comes to analysing vast quantities of raw data, for example. But they lack the intuition, empathy and creativity required to make sense of that data.
The intersection between man and machine can generate more value for business than either alone. It can also make many jobs more interesting and more purposeful.
Are you looking for ways to lose weight and achieve your weight-loss goals? One way is by changing
(Reuters) Hedge fund giant Citadel on Wednesday became the latest U.S. investment firm to join the Hedge Fund Standards Board, the industrys global standard-setting body said in a newsletter.
The London-based group said hedge fund managers Citadel plus Bermuda-based Hiscox Re Insurance Linked Strategies Ltd and Hong Kong-based Myriad Asset Management Ltd have joined as signatories. U.S.-based pension fund Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System, which invests in hedge funds, joined as an investor, the newsletter said.
To read the entire article, click here.
Times are changing. By 2030, one quarter of the capital areas inhabitants will be of foreign origin. Many of these new citizens are highly educated and their professional skills need to be fully utilized in society. Immigration should be seen as a great resource, being something that will bring new talent and creativity to Finland.
Election Talk gives candidates running in the municipal elections a chance to discuss their views on the increasingly international aspect of Finnish society, as well as how this will affect their work if they are elected. Voting will take place on 9 April 2017, with advance voting between 29 March and 4 April.
At the same time, the nation is becoming more and more polarized. The vast majority of immigrants will settle in the capital area, which means that its vitally important that our new citizens take part in decisions concerning themselves. They need to actively influence and help build our society.
Immigration will be a challenge for many professions. Teachers may find themselves with pupils with up to 15 different nationalities and an assortment of cultural backgrounds. It is vitally important that we get people from these different backgrounds working in a wide variety of professions kindergarten teachers, social workers, firefighters, police officers and ecclesiastical workers. There are also many entrepreneurs moving to Finland, and we warmly welcome their entrepreneurial spirit.
90% of immigrants choose to come to Finland because of work or family. Usually only 10% are asylum seekers. 2015 was an exception, when there was a boom of 33,000. The Christian Democrats think that aid should be given to those who need it most. We believe that the quota system should be strengthened for asylum seekers. Refugee crises should also be prevented or at least mitigated through the processes of development, international politics and crisis aid.
Did you know that in Heaven they only speak Finnish? The reason why is because it takes an eternity to learn! That worn-out saying is so true, but we are still wasting a lot of great talent and skills by not allowing people to learn the language while working. My party and I believe that work is the best form of integration.
I always encourage new residents to influence the city they are living in for the better, for in its welfare they will have welfare. Be active, get connected, influence people, use your vote, take part in politics and integrate yourself in Finland. Just take a leaf from the book of our non-native candidates. We at the Espoo Christian Democrats had a target for 10% of our municipal election candidates to be non-Finnish natives, which were pleased to say we have exceeded it is now 16%!
Kristiina Drotar is a candidate for Espoo in the Finnish municipal elections 2017. She is a chair of the Espoo Christian Democrats and has been a member of the Espoo Multicultural Board since 2012. Kristiina has been an assistant to Member of Parliament Antero Laukkanen since 2015 and has 30 years experience in the leadership of small and medium-sized businesses.
Statistics Finland unveiled its preliminary data on last year's economic growth on Wednesday, reporting that Finland's gross domestic product grew by 1.6 per cent year-on-year in 2016. In 2011, by contrast, the country's gross domestic product grew by 2.9 per cent from the previous year.
Finland has experienced its first year of noteworthy economic growth since 2011, despite the continuing struggles of export-oriented industries.
Last years growth was driven largely by what may be obvious to many residents of the capital region and other large urban areas: the construction of residential buildings and shopping centres has been on a marked up-tick in areas growing as a result of migration from the countryside and abroad.
Investments, especially in housing construction, gave the national economy a 1.1 per cent boost in 2016, said Samu Hakala, a senior statistician at Statistics Finland. Private consumption, he added, provided a comparable boost to the economy following an increase in the sum of wages and salaries.
Business services, such as accounting and consulting services, similarly grew substantially, heralding an increase in business activities.
The recovery of traditional export activities, on the other hand, continued to stall, according to the preliminary data.
The value generated by the chemical, forest and metals industry increased by 5.0, 5.7 and 2.0 per cent, respectively while that generated by the electrical and electronics industry decreased by 9.3 per cent year-on-year in 2016. Statistics Finland was on Wednesday not prepared to attribute the decline in the value generated by the electrical and electronics industry to any particular development.
But how did the country fare compared to other countries?
Sweden, which is also undergoing a housing construction boom, saw its gross domestic product grew at twice the rate of Finland. Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, on the other hand, reported growth rates roughly equivalent to that of Finland.
Aleksi Teivainen HT
Photo: Markku Ulander Lehtikuva
Source: Uusi Suomi
DRY-humping doggy-style? I know I never saw that stage direction in The Winters Tale when I did it for A-level. But it makes absolute sense especially in this uncompromising production.
That scene, not the only sexual simulation in the play, comes quite early and is the ferocious imagining of an emotional king convinced his wife has cuckolded him.
Normally The Winters Tale relies upon the spoken word to imply the action. But this is the daring production company Cheek By Jowl and they dont take any prisoners.
They are faithful to the text of this late Shakespeare play, but within that they pick and tear at the words to rough up the landscape and make it more challenging.
Its a rewarding experience, if dark. This is a study in the blackest and most violent of emotions: jealousy and lust.
King of Sicilia, Leontes, is a loving man who invests himself in his wife Hermione, friends and son. But he is quick to suspect infidelity when Hermione seems over-warm to his brother, King Polixenes of Bohemia.
Leontes has been bounding about the stage with arms around everyone, a gushing tap of uncontrolled love. Then he switches, almost instantly. The love becomes hate and jealousy, the mood bleakens and we see his imaginings projected back on to the stage.
His treatment of his pregnant wife is unforgivable at one stage he kicks her in the abdomen, causing a premature birth and her apparent death.
Really there are very few laughs to be had in the first act of this play, but as a look at the way reason can be so easily overpowered by rage and irrationality its riveting.
The man is a tyrant, a king and powerful enough to order the burning of his own newborn but thats averted as members of the court conspire to take her away.
Come act two, its 16 years later and we are in Bohemia where all is sunny, bright and colourful. The abandoned daughter has fetched up here and is the adopted daughter of a shepherd. Its festival time and the daughter, named Perdita, is a young woman about to taste the juiciest of the fruits of life.
This Perdita is not the sweet innocent we might come to expect. She is poised, confident, and has a mature voice which belies her years. She gives the impression of knowing what the juicy fruits are and that shes already picked some of the leaves surrounding them.
So its party time and the Bard always enjoyed a joke whilst delving into the nature of existence, so we are treated to a Jeremy Kyle-style show for a short while.
The thief, Autolycus, sings and acts as host and theres a sense of licentiousness about the place.
Shakespeare was careful in his late plays not to use his own Catholic god as a supernatural force instead he called upon old Greek gods, fairies and sprites so that no blasphemy could be inferred he lived in dangerous times.
If this all seems weird, it is but no weirder than
X-Men or The Avengers.
But the Bard still looks for redemption and we see Perdita, her beau Florizel and Polixenes brought face to face with the now-repentant tyrant Leontes and his wife Hermione miraculously restored to life.
To be honest this is a loose plot and it all gets a bit uncertain at this point, but Cheek By Jowl make the best of it and create a doubt that Hermione was ever dead in the first place.
This is a thoroughly absorbing two and a half hours with one of the countrys most celebrated companies giving a dynamic and demanding interpretation.
If you can get a ticket and they are like gold dust this week then youd be crazy to miss it.
Until Saturday.
Mike Rowbottom
Sisters Sarah Pender, who has CF, and Maeve (9) at the Orkambi protest at Leinster House
Health Minister Simon Harris has defended asking cystic fibrosis (CF) sufferers, who are campaigning for access to the life-changing drug Orkambi, to cancel yesterday's protest outside Leinster House.
The minister made the request to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland chief Philip Watt and Jillian McNulty, who suffers from the condition, at a hastily convened meeting on Monday evening.
He said yesterday that he "asked for space for important commercial and contractual aspects of the current offer to be agreed on the basis that the process can be concluded in a period of weeks".
Mr Harris had set up the private meeting to provide an update on progress in talks to agree a new price for the 'miracle' drug, which was deemed too costly at 159,000 per patient per year.
Ms McNulty, who believed she was being summoned to hear that a deal had been struck, described her shock when Mr Harris asked them not to go ahead with the protest, which attracted a large turnout.
She said the minister was wrong to make the request.
"It isn't up to a minister to ask for a protest to be cancelled," she said.
Mr Harris said he hoped to conclude a deal with Vertex, the makers of the drug, "very shortly".
It is likely that Cabinet approval may have to be sought to fund the drug, as well as extending another drug, Kalydeco, to younger children.
The HSE executive is expected to say it cannot afford to make the drugs available out of its own funds.
Vertex is believed to have presented the HSE with a package that would include the two existing drugs as well as access to another medicine, VX-661, which is in the third stage of trials.
It looks set to lead to major health benefits for CF sufferers with a specific gene mutation.
A spokeswoman for Vertex said yesterday that it submitted a new proposal in January and all outstanding questions were answered by the end of the month.
"Since then we have not heard back from the HSE," she said.
Advantage
The minister said yesterday that "at every stage in the process so far, Vertex has taken every opportunity to gain advantage by exploiting the genuine suffering of cystic fibrosis patients".
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin was among the TDs who attended the protest. Others included fellow Fianna Fail deputies Jack Chambers and Marc McSharry.
The demonstration heard several testimonies from the relatives of CF sufferers who died in their teens and early 20s. Among them was Ashling Golden, who lost her sister Grainne (21) to the disease a year ago.
A postman has been awarded 103,000 against a dog owner after he was attacked by a German Shepherd outside a house while delivering mail.
James McCreary was left with scars on his leg when he was "savagely attacked" by the fully grown dog, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said in making the High Court award.
Mr McCreary, who has been a postman for 30 years, was knocked to the ground and screamed for his life, the court heard.
He was saved by the prompt action of the owner's son, who pulled the dog off him.
Mr Justice Cross said it was a "significant case where the postman was entitled to significant damages".
Mr McCreary (53), of Wood Dale Road, Rush, Co Dublin, had sued the dog owner, Sheelagh Morris, of Mill Road, St Margarets, Co Dublin, over the incident as he delivered post to the Morris home on October 31, 2014.
Liability was admitted and the case was before the court for assessment of damages only.
Opening the case, Richard Kean, for Mr McCreary, said his client thought he was going to be killed in the ferocious attack and was left in excruciating pain afterwards.
Infected
He was left with three lacerations to his right leg, which later became infected.
Counsel said the postman, who was off work for three-and-a-half months, also suffered severe post-traumatic stress.
Mr Kean said that, on a previous occasion, the dog had frothed at the mouth and barked at the postman as he delivered mail to an outside box. This incident had been mentioned to the owner.
The court heard the German Shepherd was put down after the attack.
Mr McCreary told the court the gate was open when he pulled up at the Morris home.
He went to get the post from the back of the van when the dog charged at him, latching on to his leg.
"I was screaming 'help, help, help'. I thought this was it," he said.
"I was kicking at the dog. I hit him on the snout but I was not going to get away from this dog.
"I thought it might have lasted three minutes but it was probably 30 seconds."
He said the son of the owner dragged the dog off him and he pulled himself on his knees to his post van.
"I was a wreck. It scared the life out of me. It is a cliche to say a dog attacks a postman but this was no joke," he said.
After the hearing, Mr McCreary's solicitor, Dermot McNamara, said his client was relieved following the case.
"Postal workers cannot defend themselves against dogs who attack, however many precautions they take," he said.
Mr Jahiri attacked Anna Finnegan and her brother Karl in her home, the court heard Picture: Collins
A father-of-two stabbed the mother of his children to death after he "battered" down her front door and attacked her and her brother in the kitchen, it has been alleged.
Vesel Jahiri (35) fatally injured his ex-partner Anna Finnegan (25) at her home in west Dublin after their 10-year relationship turned sour, a prosecution lawyer said.
Patrick Marrinan told the Central Criminal Court that, while Mr Jahiri immediately drove Ms Finnegan to hospital after she collapsed on the street outside, that did not "absolve him from responsibility for causing her death".
The accused, a mechanic, of Louth Village, Dundalk, denies murdering Ms Finnegan at her home at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla, Co Dublin, on September 21, 2012. He also denies assaulting her brother, Karl Finnegan.
Protection
Mr Marrinan told the jury the accused was from Kosovo but had lived in Ireland since 1999 and was an Irish citizen.
His long relationship with Ms Finnegan had turned sour, they separated and Ms Finnegan had a protection order.
Mr Jahiri was concerned about access to his children.
A plan was put in place whereby Mr Finnegan would be with his sister in the evenings. During the day, she would have access to other members of her family, the jury heard.
On the morning of September 21, Ms Finnegan went to the Wellman Centre with her children and the accused, Mr Marrinan said.
Later, Ms Finnegan went home and was sitting in the kitchen with her brother when the door was allegedly "battered in" and the accused came in "armed with a knife and immediately went to Karl Finnegan".
It would be alleged the accused attacked Mr Finnegan, who was "struck twice with a knife, once causing a fracture to the orbit of his eye and a stab wound to his chest area".
Mr Finnegan felt faint and may have fallen unconscious but he was aware that Ms Finnegan fled outside and the accused had gone out after her.
Mr Finnegan would say he followed them eventually. There would be nobody in the case who could say they saw the accused stab Ms Finnegan, Mr Marrinan said.
Ms Finnegan ended up collapsing in the driveway. The accused put her into the back of his car and drove to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.
"It is the prosecution's case that the accused man, having stabbed Anna Finnegan, immediately regretted it and brought her to the hospital," Mr Marrinan said.
"That doesn't exonerate him, it doesn't absolve him of responsibility for what the prosecution say is causing her death."
The court heard staff came out of the hospital and brought Ms Finnegan inside to treat her and the accused drove off.
The following day, Mr Jahiri handed himself in at Cabra Garda Station, bringing with him a knife he claimed he had taken from Mr Finnegan "when he was acting in self-defence".
Confronted
Mr Marrinan said the accused's case was that he went to the house to give some money to Ms Finnegan but he was not allowed access and admitted he broke down the door.
"He says he was confronted by Karl Finnegan who had a knife or knives he managed to take a knife off Karl Finnegan and stabbed Karl Finnegan but only did so in self-defence," Mr Marrinan said.
"He denied that he stabbed and killed Anna Finnegan. He is effectively saying he stabbed Karl Finnegan and did so in self-defence and, in the course of this, Karl Finnegan stabbed his sister or, alternatively, he doesn't know how she received those fatal injuries."
The trial continues.
Sheridan offered 1,600 in compensation but it was rejected
A Wicklow man who beat his girlfriend for more than an hour and bit her on the face after they had an argument has been given a suspended sentence.
Judge Melanie Greally said Ian Sheridan (32) carried out a very serious assault involving considerable violence, but a "custodial sentence is not necessitated".
She said Sheridan had dealt with his "demons", including addressing his drink and drug problems.
The judge noted he had raised 1,600 in compensation for his former partner, Patricia Rodriguez, but she did not want to accept it. The money would instead be donated to the women's refuge Ms Rodriguez attended after the assault.
Judge Greally imposed a three-year sentence, which she suspended for three years on condition that Sheridan keeps the peace and engages with the restorative justice programme.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that, after the assault, Ms Rodriguez sneaked out of the house when Sheridan eventually fell asleep.
Harm
She never returned and spent some time in a refuge.
The couple had moved in together the month before.
Sheridan, of New Brighton Terrace, Parnell Road, Bray, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on February 21, 2015.
Gda Paul Newport told the court that Ms Rodriguez and Sheridan had an argument at their home that evening.
She left to get some fresh air and coffee before returning home. Sheridan arrived back an hour-and-a-half later.
Ms Rodriguez later told gardai she could smell alcohol from Sheridan and assumed he had been drinking.
Sheridan then grabbed her hair, punched her around her eye and bit her twice around her jaw. He also punched her all over her body. The victim said the violence lasted an hour or two and he wouldn't stop when she asked him to.
Sheridan has previous convictions for theft, public order and road traffic offences. A probation report concluded he was at a low risk of re-offending.
Fianna Fail will be told to draft its own legislation to remove water charges as the latest crisis to hit the fragile Government continues.
Housing Minister Simon Coveney is prepared to turn the tables on Micheal Martin's party if it refuses to back down in the water row.
Such a move would represent an unprecedented shifting of power within the Dail.
As Fine Gael and Fianna Fail threatened each other with an election, Government sources said they will latch on to the word "facilitate" in the confidence and supply arrangement between the two parties.
Fianna Fail water spokesman Barry Cowen has said the minority Government will collapse if Mr Coveney does not legislate for changes to the future funding of water.
Mr Coveney has insisted he will not abolish water charges in their entirety because it would result in massive EU fines.
He said it would be "very unreasonable" for Fianna Fail to demand that he introduce legislation, which the Attorney General has ruled to be illegal based on EU commitments.
Sources said Mr Coveney may try to avoid an election by putting the onus back on Fianna Fail to find a legal way of abolishing charges.
One source said the minister is prepared to tell Fianna Fail to bring its own legislation to the Dail, where the Government would "facilitate" its passage by allowing debating time.
If the bill was passed, it would be up to President Michael D Higgins to decide whether to sign it into law.
"The agreement says what it says, which is the Government will facilitate the passage of legislation," said Enda Kenny in the Dail yesterday.
Waste
"We also have an agreement in respect of the support of the major opposition party in passing the budget, which is facilitating the budget without writing it."
The dispute now centres on whether households that waste water are hit with charges.
Fianna Fail insists the 2007 Water Services Act allowed fines of up to 5,000 if households abuse water, but Mr Coveney said there is "no real mechanism to deliver that" without water meters.
Gangland boss John Gilligan is entitled to apply for housing support from the State, but will have to lay bare his sources of income, Housing Minister Simon Coveney has said.
While housing officers would need to scrutinise Gilligan's finances, his criminal history does not automatically disqualify him from state supports, Mr Coveney added.
The Herald revealed yesterday that the drugs lord wants taxpayers to fund a new home for him following the loss of three properties to the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).
It is understood that Gilligan, whose gang killed journalist Veronica Guerin 20 years ago, wants access to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), which offers some support for people who have a long-term housing need.
The convicted drug trafficker presented himself at council offices in Blanchardstown last week, claiming he is facing homelessness.
News of his claim coincided with the announcement by Mr Coveney of the extension of the HAP scheme to Dublin.
The minister said the roll-out was a "hugely significant milestone in the development of this new social housing support".
Assessment
Asked about Gilligan's plan to avail of HAP through Fingal County Council, Mr Coveney said: "I don't want to talk too much about John Gilligan. All I can say is that anybody is entitled to apply for HAP.
"They will go through a housing needs assessment. If they qualify, they qualify. That will be a decision for a housing officer."
He added that the needs assessment would be "primarily based on income".
"Obviously there needs to be a credible explanation as regards income and where it comes from," he said. "Whatever housing officer is assessing John Gilligan, they'll have to make appropriate decisions around that."
Under the HAP scheme, local authorities pay landlords directly, with the tenant making a weekly contribution based on their ability to pay.
Gilligan is believed to have raked in millions during the 1990s, when he was flooding the country with drugs. He spent 17 years in prison for drug trafficking and was released in 2014.
The 65-year-old has been living on the grounds of the Jessbrook Equestrian Centre in recent month, but the CAB is preparing to seize it on the back of the court judgment.
Ms Guerin's brother Jimmy, who is a councillor in the Fingal area, said he will try to block Gilligan getting any payment towards social housing.
The funeral procession of David (Motcha) Walsh passes through the streets of Enniscorthy
Two young daughters of a man allegedly stabbed to death by his fiancee in Australia paid a touching tribute to him at his funeral.
There were emotional scenes as David Walsh's family and friends gathered at St Aidan's Cathedral in his hometown of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
His brother, Patrick, told the congregation how his three little girls Ava, Aine and Erin "meant everything to him".
There were tears as Erin (8) and Ava (11) spoke in memory of their father.
Ava, who will return to the same church on Saturday to be confirmed, read a poem urging mourners to "see all he's left".
Applause
"You can shed tears because he is gone or you can smile because he has lived," she said.
"You can close your eyes and pray that he'll come back or you can open your eyes and see all he's left.
"Your heart can be empty because you can't see him or you can be full of the Lord you shared."
Then Erin paid her own quiet tribute and applause echoed around the cathedral.
Mr Walsh, who was nicknamed 'Motcha', was stabbed to death in Sydney early on Saturday, February 18. His , Tina Cahill (25), has been charged with murder.
The cathedral was packed with those who came to bid farewell to the young dad, who four years ago left the town to create a new life in Australia.
Parish priest Fr Odhran Furlong spoke of the devastation that had visited the family.
"David was 29 years of age, much too young, much too young to die," he said.
"In this day and age of Skype, it will be so hard for the family not to hear the voice of David again.
"They will no longer be able to talk to him, talk about the happenings at home.
"This will bring tears, will bring the realisation that something is wrong, along with the constant realisation that life will never be right again."
Speaking before the mass, Patrick Walsh said: "It's difficult to describe David, but anyone who met him will never forget him for he left a smile on everyone's face.
"He has left behind three little girls who meant everything to him. Right now, one can just picture his cheeky grin and heart-warming smile, which no doubt is still there as he looks down on us."
Mr Walsh's father, John, and his brothers Jonathan, Patrick, Barry, Steven and Kalem, carried the coffin from the church to the hearse.
National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has appealed the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) with a request for leave to intervene in the case initiated by Poland's PGNiG Supply & Trading (PGNiG ST), which challenges the decision of the European Commission of 28 October 2016 related to the OPAL pipeline. The decision effectively enables Russia's Gazprom to significantly increase the use of OPAL capacity and deliver more gas through the Nord Stream pipeline.
The press service of Naftogaz said that according to the CJEUs Statute, a legal entity may join a case before the CJEU where it can establish an interest in the result of a lawsuit submitted to the court.
Naftogaz has applied for intervention with the reference to the courts previous jurisprudence and potential negative consequences of the European Commissions decision for the company, namely decrease in natural gas transit through Ukraine, threat to the stability of gas supplies to Ukraine because of possible interruption of gas flows from Poland, impaired competitive position of Naftogaz, unexpected change in regulatory and market conditions for the company.
"Joining the case initiated by PGNiG ST will enable Naftogaz to present additional arguments and gain access to the case files. The request by Naftogaz is now awaiting consideration in the court," the press service said.
As reported, the European Commission on October 28, 2016 allowed Russian gas giant Gazprom to increase its quota in the throughput capacity of the strategic OPAL gas pipeline in Germany.
On December 4, 2016, PGNiG ST brought an action against the European Commissions decision. The company challenges the decision as it suffers from the lack of competence and contradicts the principles of legal certainty, legitimate expectations and proportionality. Furthermore, the decision is not in line with the EU policies and violates the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
On December 23, 2016, the decision of the European Commission was suspended; however, the final judgment on whether it complies with the EU legislation is still to be made.
The family of Ibrahim Halawa has said "time is of the essence" to save his life as he continues his hunger strike in an Egyptian jail.
Firhouse man Ibrahim (21) has been locked up in the North African country since his arrest at a protest in August 2013.
His case has been adjourned 19 times and Ibrahim's family is begging the Government here to urgently intervene as his health is deteriorating.
They claim guards at the Cairo jail where he is being held had to bring him out for his weekly visit from his aunt in a wheelchair on Tuesday.
In a statement yesterday, the Halawa family said: "We ask our Government to urge the Egyptian government to release Ibrahim on humanitarian grounds. We hold the Egyptian and Irish governments fully responsible if something was to happen to Ibrahim physically or mentally.
"Ibrahim's current blood sugar is 39, his hunger strike continues and, as a result, he was placed in solitary confinement as a punishment for refusing to take glucose.
"Time is of the essence to save Ibrahim's life."
Priority
Speaking last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said the welfare of the 21-year-old is his "top priority".
"The case of Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen detained in Cairo, remains my top priority," said Mr Flanagan.
"In terms of consular services, I am concerned that this matter be resolved. Again, at the earliest opportunity, that our diplomatic efforts continue.
"I want to acknowledge the fact that, during the course of a recent hearing, medical opinion was sought.
"And I understand that these medical tests are currently underway.
"We are in contact with the authorities in Egypt. I am very anxious that the best medical treatment be made available to Ibrahim Halawa and that his health and welfare concerns are paramount.
"My understanding is that he is receiving treatment in accordance with a decision of the court, which I understand stems from an application on his own part to be medically examined.
"I have raised this issue on numerous occasions in recent times and, while I would like to see the trial completed and Ibrahim returned home, in the meantime, while he remains in detention, his health and welfare is paramount."
U.S. to provide $37.5 mln to Ukraine for HIV/AIDS relief in 2017
The United States will provide $37.5 million to Ukraine in 2017 as part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
According to a report of the Public Health Center of Ukraine's Health Ministry, some $5.6 million is provided to procure medicines and medical products. Some 15,000 antiretroviral therapy courses to expand treatment, 4,000 annual courses for pre-contact prevention and 100,000 quick tests will be procured.
Some $6 million will be sent to support the healthcare system. There are no details how the rest of the funds will be distributed.
In 2017 the programs will spread to Donetsk region. The region will be the 12th PEPFAR region.
"Successful negotiations in Washington were the result of implementing the country's liabilities to increase public financing. The 2017 national budget envisages UAH 684 million to procure antiretroviral medications. This is 171% more than in 2016. The state can provide around 40,000 patients who earlier were treated under the PEPFAR program with drugs," the center said.
Ukraine imported 1.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas for the needs of Ukrainian consumers from Europe in February 2017. This was 13% more than in February 2016, the public and media relations department of Ukrtransgaz has reported.
"A total of 2.9 bcm of gas was imported to Ukraine from the EU in the first two months. Traditionally most of gas was imported using the Slovakia route 2.5 bcm," the company said.
According to the tentative information of the central dispatch department, daily imports of natural gas from Europe are 50 million cubic meters (mcm).
As reported, national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy in March 2017 plans to import at least 40 mcm of gas a day from Europe via Slovakia and in April imports volumes would be sharply cut.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has relaxed the procedure for purchasing foreign currency by clients of banks and sending funds abroad to nonresidents, the central bank has reported on its website.
Now clients of banks do not have to wait for a permit from the NBU to carry out the above-mentioned transactions. The authorized banks will inform the regulator about the transactions after they are conducted.
If the NBU have doubts towards the currency transactions of banks' clients the central bank can send an order to suspend the transactions. A statement of the NBU is required to resume them.
In addition, if clients go to another bank from the bank where the NBU had doubts about their transactions the authorized bank is to inform the regulator about it.
Another bank where clients open current accounts has the right to ask all the previous banks that services these clients to give information received from the NBU regarding doubtful transactions of the clients.
The decision is approved in NBU resolution No. 15 amending some NBU legal acts dated February 28, 2017.
The resolution will take effect on March 22, 2017.
Ukraine imported 2.82 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Europe in January-February 2017, up 30% year-on-year, the gas pipeline operator Ukrtransgaz has said.
Interfax-Ukraine calculates that this included 2.408 bcm of gas from Slovakia, 179.9 million cubic meters (mcm) from Hungary and 232 mcm from Poland.
Ukraine imported 1.37 bcm of gas from Europe in February alone, up 9% from 1.254 bcm in the same month last year.
Daily imports of natural gas from Europe are averaging at 50 mcm, according to preliminary information.
Ukraine is only importing gas via its western border - it has not imported gas from Russia's Gazprom since November 26, 2015.
Ukraine slashed gas imports 32.7% last year compared with 2016 to 11.078 bcm.
Freedom of speech is a privilege. We need to treat it that way.
columns
The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine thanks to new legislation has written off UAH 168 million of the tax debt from accounts of public joint-stock company Ukrnafta, the authority said on Wednesday, referring to Head of the Large Taxpayers Office Yevhen Bambizov.
He said that earlier attempts to the collect the debt were blocked by court. However, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada amended Article 95 of the Tax Code and permitted the head of the oversight agency without court decisions to collect debts of over UAH 5 million from companies that declaring liabilities, but not paying taxes.
Bambizov recalled that in 2015-2017 Ukrnafta gradually accumulated taxes to the budget under declared pecuniary commitments, which today reached almost UAH 12.8 billion. This sum includes the UAH 1.5 billion profit tax and UAH 400 million VAT debts.
He said that Ukraine's higher administrative court left in effect the tax order and decision to distress property issued by the Large Taxpayers Office, while acts for property distress for UAH 11.2 billion were annulled. The Large Taxpayers Office is trying to have the decision revised.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the evening on March 1 sent to Ukraine the final wording of the memorandum on economic and financial policy under the EFF program, the signing of which by Ukraine will enable the fund to consider the issue of the fourth tranche worth $1 billion, NBU Head Valeriya Gontareva has said.
"Everything is all right on the part of the NBU, I'm ready to sign it today. On the part of the Ministry of Finance, the prime minister, others ask them," the head of the central bank said at a press conference in Kyiv.
Gontareva expressed hope the document would be signed in the near future.
According to her, after signing it will take two or three weeks to conduct a meeting of the IMF Executive Board.
OSCE Envoy Sajdik confirms TCG on Ukraine's next meeting to take place March 15
The OSCE's Special Representative to the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine Martin Sajdik has confirmed the date of holding the group's next meeting.
"Next time, the Trilateral Contact Group will meet on March 15," Sajdik told reporters in Minsk on Wednesday.
The withdrawal of the conflict sides' forces and hardware in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska is slated for March 7, Sajdik said.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was also asked to facilitate the implementation of the withdrawal of forces and hardware in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska on March 7, he said.
Sajdik said that the sides confirmed their commitment to the withdrawal of heavy weapons and confirmed that security of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's observers and their property will be ensured.
The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which met in Minsk on Wednesday, was discussing the transport blockade of Donbas, Martin Sajdik, special representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said.
Its economic subgroup discussed the blocking of railway links in Donbas and the measures being taken in response by the breakaway parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, he told journalists in Moscow.
Ukraine's SBU Security Service has intercepted a telephone conversation in which the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Oleksandr Zakharchenko discusses with a Russian citizen the fate of "nationalized" Ukrainian enterprises in Donbas.
"The conversation shows Russian decision-makers are planning to transfer most of the best Ukrainian economic assets located in the occupied territories of Donetsk region to structures controlled by oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko, who fled to Russia. It is understood that taxes from the "nationalized" enterprises will not be paid into Ukraine's budget, and that profits will wind up in the pockets of ex Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych," the SBU's press service said on Wednesday.
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Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski expects the European Union to complete the implementation of its decisions on a visa-free regime for citizens of Ukraine within several months.
"We also put pressure on our European counterparts to implement the promise of a visa liberalization as soon as possible, which was presented a few months ago, and I hope, that over the next few months it will be fully implemented," he said at a joint meeting with Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Waszczykowski noted that a meeting of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) will take place in the near future with the representatives of the Netherlands, and promised that he, as the chairperson of the group, will insist on decisive steps of the Netherlands on the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
HICKORY Patrick Beaver Memorial Library held a Dr. Seuss birthday party Saturday to celebrate the cartoonist and writers 113th birthday by inviting the community of Hickory and surrounding areas.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, born March 2, 1904, wrote more than 70 childrens books, but he did not begin his career as an author.
Geisel worked in marketing for a while and he was an adman, Lisa Neal, the head of youth services for Hickory Public Libraries, said.
After graduating from Dartmouth College and attending Oxford University in England, Geisel returned to America and began pursuing a career in cartooning, a passion he had had throughout his life.
He created his most famous cartoon while working for the Standard Oil Company, Neal said.
The cartoon ad was for Flit, a common bug spray and consumer good that Standard Oil of New Jersey offered at the time.
In 1937, after being rejected 27 times, Geisel finally had his first book published, which was And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
It is almost like there are two different Dr. Seusses, Neal said. There are the readers, like Hop on Pop and then he also wrote longer, more complicated stories.
Neal explained that Geisel developed a style of books for reading practice that are fun for children to read and practice rhyming skills.
They are funny and kind of off-the-wall, Neal said. Before that, there were the Dick and Jane books, which probably werent as fun to read.
His longer childrens books, Neal mentioned, identify real-life issues, but for children.
The Butter Battle Book is all about nuclear proliferation and The Lorax is environmentally driven, Neal said. He addressed important issues in these books along with others, which I think is very unique.
The Cat in the Hat was not the only special guest at the party, but also Hickory Councilman Hank Guess and Mayor Rudy Wright came out to celebrate Geisels birthday with the community.
Our library system has programs like this all the time, Guess said. Its great that we can do things like this for our community through the library.
Guess read Dr. Seuss My Many Colored Days, which was written in 1973 and published later in 1996.
There is always a decent turnout at each of these events and its good to see the children having a good time, Guess said. We are very fortunate to have a library system like this one here in Hickory.
Wright, who read The Cat in the Hat to the group of children, explains why programs like this one promote reading and community.
I like to do anything that will instill a love for reading in kids, Wright said. It gives children memories that they will keep with them and it leaves a positive impact on their life.
Wright told a story about his librarian when he was a child telling him when new Little Blue Books would arrive, which were one of his favorites.
It meant so much to me that the librarian not only noticed me, but also noticed what I was interested in, Wright said. I was in the fourth grade then and I will never forget it.
Even though Wright is interested in everyone being involved in the community, he especially likes to see children and the elderly enjoying their time in Hickory.
I saw a lot of smiling faces at the Dr. Seuss birthday party, and its nice to see parents spending time with their children, Wright said. I would just like to thank the people of Hickory for allowing me to serve this city.
The Hickory Public Library system invites local and state government representatives to the branches for A Day in the District at least once a year.
We are very lucky to have a mayor and a councilman that are such good sports, Neal said. We gave them the choice to read to the kids, and they were very reluctant to do so, and I think they really enjoyed themselves.
In regard to the new billboard on I-40 Business outside of Winston-Salem: Real people of substance do not need to ambush others with insults, taunts, or antagonism in order to make themselves feel important.
Trish Gordon
East Bend
HB69 is a horrible idea
One of the nations leading proponents for common-sense gun laws is Gabrielle Giffords, former U.S. congressman from Tucson, Ariz.
She learned about gun safety the hard way. A man carrying a concealed weapon shot her in the head.
Arizona is one of 10 states that do not require a permit for carrying a concealed weapon. Rep. Jay Adams wants our state to join that list. He has sponsored legislation HB 69, The Constitutional Carry Act to eliminate North Carolinas ability to regulate carrying concealed weapons.
There are two bills on this topic at the 2017 regular session of the General Assembly.
These are horrible ideas, says Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes, co-chair of the NC Sheriffs Association legislative committee.
I agree. These are horrible ideas.
Recently, I wrote Rep. Adams to ask him what benefits could outweigh the risks to justify sponsoring this legislation. Heres what he said: the very possibility that a law-abiding citizens (sic) might be armed has had the desired and predicted effect on the calculation criminals make as they contemplate their illicit activity, thus chilling that behavior. This bill expands the probability in the minds of criminals that a law-abiding citizen may intervene in their actions.
Adams cited no research, no statistics. If you start to look into this it doesnt take long, Rep. Adams you will find that research shows, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, that, Weak permitting systems allow dangerous people to carry guns.
Heres more on that again based on research. Concealed carry weapon holders threaten public safety.
They can threaten public safety even if they are trying to assist in a dangerous situation. Did you know that in the 2011 shooting that injured Congressman Giffords, where the shooter killed six people and injured 12 others a man carrying a concealed weapon almost drew his weapon against another man, who had wrestled the shooters gun away, mistakenly thinking that the man was actually the shooter, but he wasnt?
Study after study shows that carrying concealed weapons does not reduce crime. It only adds opportunities for more harm.
Rep. Adams, I will feel safer in my hometown knowing that anyone carrying a concealed weapon has been trained in gun safety and gone through our states rigorous and highly regarded permitting process.
Please focus your legislative efforts on ways to improve our quality of life.
Lynn Dorfman
Hickory
Poroshenko twice spoke with Putin by phone since aggravation of situation in Donbas
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko during the escalation of the situation in Donbas has held two telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the press service of the Ukrainian presidential administration told Interfax-Ukraine.
"During the aggravation of the situation in Donbas, the president of Ukraine has held two telephone conversations with the president of Russia to stop the constant shelling of Avdiyivka and restore the power supply to the city, as well as to free the hostages, including Oleh Sentsov and Roman Sushchenko," the press service said, noting that these contacts took place in coordination with the European partners on the Normandy format.
The press service also explained that there was no separate message about them due to the ineffectiveness of these conversations.
Earlier, the Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing a source, reported that Putin and Poroshenko have had four telephone conversations since the beginning of 2017. In particular, the penultimate telephone conversation took place on February 11, the last conversation - on February 21.
A vehicle with a 10-year-old boy behind the wheel drove through a stop sign, hit another vehicle and overturned Tuesday night in Mooresville, town officials said.
Both the juvenile and the other driver suffered minor injuries.
The crash occurred shortly before 5:50 p.m. at the intersection of Shearers Road and Faith Road, said Kim Sellers, a spokeswoman for the Town of Mooresville.
According to a Mooresville Police Department report, the child, who is autistic, got hold of the car keys to a 2015 Hyundai passenger car. He was driving east on Faith Road alone and continued through a stop sign when he collided with a Honda car traveling north on Shearers Road.
Witnesses say the boy was driving recklessly and didnt hit the brakes when he approached the intersection, according to the report.
After impact, the juveniles vehicle flipped onto its drivers side. Both vehicles came to rest on the side of the road.
The boy was transported from the scene to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center for treatment and was released with minor cuts and bruises, Sellers said.
The other driver, Kathy Ann Black of Mooresville, suffered minor injuries and sought medical treatment on her own, but was not transported, the report showed.
The boy lives on Jennymaire Road, a more than two-mile drive from the scene of the crash. His family declined to comment on Wednesday.
No charges have been filed, Sellers said.
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At 10.30 pm sharp last Sunday, three SUVs bearing registration number 0786 all laden with marigold garlands entered hotel Ashoka in Varanasi city. The man on the front seat of one of the cars stepped out with his men cordoning him. A long day at campaigning had just ended for don-politician Afzal Ansari.
Once pampered by Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and snubbed by his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav, Afzal and his MLA brothers Mukhtar and Sibakatullah Ansari joined hands with Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party in January.
An individual is a prisoner of circumstances, he gets philosophical. I am a sadakchaap aadmi and not a don.
Ansari brothers as they are called wield influence among Muslim and some backward castes in four districts of Ghazipur, Ballia, Azamgarh and Mau, accounting for two dozen assembly seats. Most of these are with the Samajwadi Party and the Quami Ekta Dal that Ansari brothers ran before merging it with the BSP.
Mayawati is trying to net these poorvanchal districts that have seen years of rivalry between Ansari brothers and Hindu dons a bloody battle that felled many people, including BJP MLA Krishnanad Rai.
Mayawati is also being helped by former Samajwadi Party stalwarts such as Ambika Chaudhary and Narad Rai, who left Akhileshs company after being dropped from his council of ministers at the peak of the family feud in the Yadav family.
What political capital do Ansaris add to Myawatis kitty? Are they influential enough to help the BSP regain the territory it lost to Akhilesh Yadav in 2012 and to the BJP in 2014? Afzal has some done calculation.
The BJP swept this part in 2014. Today, it cant say with confidence which seat it is winning, Afzal says, counting constituencies where the BJP could be in trouble.
But, more than the BJP, they hurt the SP. A section of Muslims who owe allegiance to Ansaris are leaning towards the BSP in this region. In constituencies, such as Mohammadabad, Yadavs, too, are gravitating towards the BJP, at the cost of the SP.
Ansaris said they will undress Mulayam (by defeating him). Yadavs will take revenge for this, Alka Rai, the BJP candidate from Mohammadabad, told HT.
A wind of change is blowing. People want peace. Rai is widow of Krishnand Rai, another don-politician who was allegedly killed by Ansari brothers. She is pitted against Sibakatullah.
The BJP seems to be doing better than its 2012 performance in these districts but a repeat of 2014 Lok Sabhas magical performance is a difficult task. A wave is missing for all three main formulations SP plus Congress, BJP and the BSP making every constituency a battle ground. The BJP is banking on the support of backward castes and Bhumihars, who dominate this region. The BSP is wooing a combination of Muslims and Dalits. The SP-Congress alliance is depending on Yadav-Muslim combine. It also hopes to benefit from the clean image that Akhilesh Yadav is cultivating for himself.
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U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has welcomed a number of reforms, which are being carried out by the Ukrainian government.
We support the reform efforts of the Ukrainian society, she said during the conference titled "Transformation-17. What will the reforms change in the life of Ukrainians" in Kyiv on Thursday.
According to Yovanovitch, the U.S. supports Ukraine in this way. On behalf of the U.S., I can say that we are very proud to be able to maintain and support the reform efforts of Ukrainians, the diplomat said.
She noted the importance of reforms in the energy sector, which significantly increase the energy independence of the country, as well as the steps of the Ukrainian authorities to stabilize the banking system, especially commending the nationalization of Privatbank.
Yovanovitch called both the introduction of electronic declarations, and the establishment of anti-corruption organs important steps.
This is, of course, only the first steps, because only three years have passed, she said. It may seem a long period for someone, but in fact it is not that much time in the historical dimension, but the reforms are already visible, the ambassador said.
Tomorrow I will travel to Washington to tell what important reforms are taking place in Ukraine, she said.
Circa 2012: An animated discussion on the caste complexities of the state is on at the sprawling house of a prominent Jat farmer in Baraut village in Baghpat, the home district of Choudhary Ajit Singh, national president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
A few men from their neighbourhood joined the discussion. They are Dalits.
After listening intently for a while, one of them retorted, Gone are the days when we feared Jats. Today, flushed with money and muscle power, we determine the politics of Jat dominated western Uttar Pradesh.
He invited us to visit the neighbouring house where an election meeting of Dalits was underway. He was bang on. The blue flags of the BSP fluttered in Jat dominated Baraut and Baghpat as BSP won both the seats.
Two years later Chaudhary Ajit Singh lost his traditional Baghpat Lok Sabha seat in general elections, signalling the end of an era when Jats controlled the politics of West UP by pressurising the then docile Dalits to either stay at home or follow the diktats.
In a lighter vein, RLD leader Ajit Singh had once said, We believe in bullet and not ballot.
The region was infamous for caste clashes and oppression of Dalits but 2007 elections came as a watershed when Mayawati formed a majority government, giving voice to suppressed classes in the state.
Mayawatis mentor Kanshi Ram often described Uttar Pradesh as his political lab to carry out experiments to achieve their goal of changing the upper caste dominated democratic face of the state.
Way back in the mid 1980s the BSP started its political journey with full throttle attacks on upper caste to unite Dalits. After the party consolidated the base vote, Mayawati dangled carrot before the Brahmins in 2007, offering them representation in power to broaden its vote bank.
Read more| UP elections: Why voters dont reject criminals?
Ten years later a beleagued Mayawati is blatantly moving from a time-tested political trajectory of caste to communal politics, the base of which is sheer arithmetic.
Political expert Dr Badri Narayan explains, Mayawati has 25,000 to 27,000 Dalit votes in almost every constituency. As no other caste is seemingly inclining towards the BSP, she has decided to shift to communal politics. Its a strategy or experiment which may succeed or fail.
Her desperation to win the 2017 polls is reflected in her knee-jerk action of picking up Quami Ekta Dal , dumped by the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. She even compromised her prime slogan of law and order by giving ticket to infamous QED leader Mukhtar Ansari.
Ironically, in ensuing polls she faces the toughest challenge of keeping BSP, brutally bruised by the BJP alive. Linked with the party are the aspirations of millions of Dalits especially Jatavs, whose political empowerment is yet not complete.
Why Dalits Deserted Congress
The Congress represented Dalits for decades after Independence but their status in society changed only after Kanshi Ram came on the scene. He first built a network of Dalits and lower caste employees under BAMCEF ( All India Backward and Minorities Communities Employees Federation) in 1972 before floating a political party in 1984.
Though Kanshi Ram, the founder president of the Bahujan Samaj mission, hailed from Punjab, his acolyte Mayawati moved from Delhis Patparganj locality to UP contesting her first by-poll from Bijnore. He made UP his laboratory for various formulas to win elections.
Political analyst Badri Narain explains, The two sub-castes of Dalits in Punjab 17 percent Jatavs and 14 percent Bhangis --have always been at loggerheads, whereas in UP Jatavs, a major chunk of the votebank were rudderless.
According to him the BSP leader also found the menace of untouchability rampant in UP and thus decided to turn the state into Jatavarth (Jatav land).
Professor Vivek Kumar of JNU says, Dalits for the first time found a party led by their own caste as the Congress and other parties were ruled by upper caste leaders . Lower caste leaders were subservient to them.
Incidentally, Mayawati also never lost an opportunity to highlight her Dalit status. In all her speeches, she described herself as Dalit ki Beti. Kanshi Ram organised caste sammelans to unite the lower caste. The glue was their highly anti upper-caste narratives and slogans that touched the core of the voters heart. They had suffered for long and found a saviour in him.
Later Kanshi Ram tested various caste formulas and rested only after the dramatic rise of Mayawati to the chief ministers chair in 1995, after breaking away from poll partner Mulayam Singh Yadav.
It is in UP that Kanshi Ram and Mayawati tested waters in alliance with the Congress. And it is in UP that they gave country its first government by rotation in 1997 -- BSP ruled for six months followed by the BJP. But Mayawati pulled out of the coalition arrangement much before the completion of one month. Their all acts were aimed at alleviating Dalits and grabbing power.
Again it is in UP that Mayawati constructed a rainbow coalition of Brahmins , Dalits and Muslims to gain full majority in a 404-member (one member is nominated) house in 2007 and now Dalit-Muslim combination.
Alongside, Kanshi Ram worked tirelessly in states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar and Punjab but could make little headway as the BJP and the Congress dominated the states and there was little space for the BSP to expand. On the other in UP, the Congress was growing weak after the demolition of the disputed shrine in Ayodhya while the BJP was losing its most potent issue the liberation of Ramas birthplace after the demolition of the shrine .
Mayawati became the countrys tallest Dalit leader- a status once enjoyed by Jagjivan Ram.
Why Dalit-Muslim?
Mayawatis political puissance is at test. Though she is seen as an alternative to the ruling Samajwadi Party, the BJPs 2014 rise is a major roadblock as she will have to share the anti-incumbency space with the saffron brigade currently riding high on demonetisation and Narendra Modis popularity.
Secondly, the BJP has also poached her Dalit vote bank taking away some of the sub-castes.
Thirdly, she knows Muslims will do tactical voting - vote for the winning horse against BJP. However her mathematical calculations seem to be going awry after Congress and SP came together winning the battle of perception.
Mayawati has given tickets in abundance to Muslims while her trusted lieutenant Naseemuddin Siddiqui is touring the minority dominated areas. They dont trust her as she twice formed government with BJP.
Despite the weaknesses, she remains in the fight and could well be the dark horse. One can surmise her partys prospects from her statement Just as BSP today is a symbol of Bahujan Samajs dignity, Mayawati, in the opinion of intellectuals, has acquired a standing in Indian politics where in people may criticise her, even condemn her, but nobody can ignore her.
But she also realises that 2017 is a crucial election for her partys survival. She has to perform if not form the government.
Read more| UP elections: Its bumpy ride on the road to power
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address four poll rallies, including three at different locations in his parliamentary constituency, in the crucial Varanasi region between March 3 and 6 for the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh election on March 8.
The Varanasi region has 40 seats spread across seven districts.
The PM will address a rally in Mirzapur on March 3 followed by election meetings at Jaunpur and Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth ground, Varanasi, on March 4. He is also scheduled to offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanas before leaving for Delhi around 8.30pm.
On March 5, he will address a rally at Townhall ground, Varanasi, and is scheduled to interact with 2,000 prominent people of Varanasi.After an overnight stay at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) guest house he will visit Garhwa Ashram on March 6, pay tributes to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and address a rally at Rohania.
The BJP is facing a tough electoral battle in the Varanasi North and Varanasi South assembly constituencies.
In Varanasi North, the partys sitting MLA Ravindra Jaiswal is up against the SP-Congress alliance.
Similarly, Varanasi South poses a challenge to the BJP which denied the ticket to seven-time legislator Shyamdev Roy Chaudhary and gave it to Neelkanth Tiwari instead.
Though the seat is a BJP bastion, winning it may not be a cakewalk for the party this time. The BJP leaders are banking on Modis charisma to win over those unhappy with the partys decision to deny a ticket to Chaudhary.
Rohania is equally important for the BJP because its alliance partner Apna Dal (S) patron Anupriya Patel won the seat in the 2012 assembly polls. She vacated the seat after she won the Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat in 2014. The SP won the seat in the by-poll.
Patel fielded an Apna Dal (S) candidate for the seat initially but withdrew the nominee when the BJP put up Surendra Narayan Singh Aundhe.
The BJP faces tough battle from SP and Apna Dal president Krishna Patel who is contesting the seat. All three are among the five assembly segments of Modis Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.
Mirzapur and Jaunpur are equally crucial for the BJP. The party drew a blank in Mirzapur in 2012. The SP won three seats, the BSP and the Congress one each.
The SP won seven out of the nine seats in Jaunpur in 2012. The Congress and the BJP bagged one seat each.
Keen on a richer haul in the region this time, the BJP has deployed many ministers to campaign here. Four ministers and several senior national leaders of the BJP are camping in Varanasi.
With the poll race nearing the finish line, the parties are getting their top guns to address rallies here.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will hold a rally at Pindra in Varanasi on Thursday. He will take out a roadshow with Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav in the temple town on March 4.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has promised to end the crippling indefinite economic blockade in Manipur if the BJP is voted to power in the coming assembly polls.
He also said priority will be given on maintaining law and order in the militancy-hit state.
Our first task would be to end the indefinite economic blockade and all efforts will be carried out to make the state free from bandhs and blockades, Shah said at a poll rally in Imphal on Wednesday.
Emphasising on the need to restore law and order in the state, he said, Law and order will be restored and priority will be given to solve the conflict situation of the state.
On the Naga peace accord, Shah assured that it would not affect the territoral integrity of the state as had been assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banking on the development agenda, Shah promised to make Manipur a model state in five years even as he accused Congress government of not exploiting the tourism potential of the region.
The state has huge potential in the tourism sector which has not been utilised by the Congress during the last 15 years of its rule. BJP will make Manipur a model state if it comes to power, Shah said.
He said potable water will be available to the everyone in the state and conditions of roads will be improved.
Shah, accompanied by Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and former MLA Y Erabot, held a door-to-door campaign in Wangkhei assembly constituency, where he visited about 10 houses and asked for votes.
Such an interaction was the first of its kind in Manipur. It shows BJPs seriousness to bring good governance in the state, said Javadekar, who is the partys in-charge of Manipur.
The campaign shows BJPs concern about the welfare of the people of Manipur. The ideology of our party is to connect people with their representatives ... Families were thrilled when Shah came to interact with them personally, he added.
Indian film producer Mukesh Bhatt has revealed details of the death threat to his elder brother Mahesh Bhatt.
He revealed that the caller, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was threatening Mahesh Bhatt since last week.
Mukesh said, He was receiving this threat from last one week. The man threatened to kill Mahesh or his family members if he fails to give money. We immediately contacted the Bombay Police and they acted promptly in contacting UP Police. The UP Police also acted quickly and arrested the accused.
The producer further said the Mumbai Police will investigate whether he was doing it alone or was acting at someones behalf. Our security has been stepped up. We were already having security and now it has been doubled, he added.
He further said the Bollywood celebrities become soft targets for the criminals.
A man gave death threat to the film-maker on February 26 and claimed that if his demand of Rs 50 lakh was not met then it would result in the death of Bhatt. Mahesh Bhatt filed a complaint on Thursday in Juhu Police Station. The accused has been apprehended by the Special Task Force of UP Police from Lucknow.
Indian auto shares rose on robust February sales growth of some automakers, which are returning to normalcy from the red since Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised high currency notes on November 8.
Tata Motors was up 3.4% while Bajaj Auto gained 2%, Hero MotoCorp 1.8% and Eicher Motors 0.4% in the Mumbai market whose benchmark Sensex rose as much as 0.55% to 29,145.62 in intra-day trade.
Tata Motors sales grew 2% with passenger vehicle rising 12% on overwhelming response to its new crossover Hexa as well as the sustained demand for the Tiago.
Bajaj Auto sales were up marginally on tepid domestic demand but exports were up 15.6%.
Hero MotoCorp sales were down 4.8% but it is picking up as remonetisation gains momentum and consumers recover from the cash crunch.
In January, Indian automobile sales were down 4.7% even though passenger vehicles were up 14.4%, according to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
The demonetisation drive has dented consumer demand as Indians faced problems in withdrawing new currency notes from banks and ATMs.
The industry produced a total 21,086,185 vehicles including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers, two wheelers and quadricycles in April-January 2017 as against 19,882,485 in April-January 2016, registering a growth of 6.05% over the same period last year.
During April-January, sales of passenger vehicles grew by 9.2% while commercial vehicles were up 3.03% and 2-wheelers 8.3%. But three-wheeler sales dipped 1.1%.
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled a new model at a grand ceremony here.
Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Chief Design Officer, credited the final product to Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata.
I would like to thank Ratan Tata. Ever since he saw the first sketch of the Velar, he became a passionate advocate of it, McGovern said at the function.
Design has the power to enrich peoples lives... this is a vehicle with emotionally charged DNA and unquestionable pedigree, he added.
Described as one of the hottest products this year, the Velar is now open to orders from around the world, including India.
In a boost to British manufacturing, the company announced that the Velar will be built exclusively at JLRs flagship Solihull plant in the West Midlands region of England.
The expansion of our product range and building this British designed and engineered car in the UK is a sign of our confidence in British manufacturing. We are leading the global premium car industry with our commitment to our home market and our heart, soul and headquarters will always be in the UK, said JLR CEO Ralf Speth.
The Range Rover brand has been heralded as Britains greatest luxury export since the 1970s and includes the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque.
Together they have helped transform the fortunes of the UKs largest vehicle manufacturer, accounting for 85% of all premium cars produced in Britain and contributing 10 billion pounds to the UK economy every year, JLR said.
The Range Rover Velar is the third model to be launched at the Solihull manufacturing plant in two years.
Production of all Jaguar Land Rover models at the four UK manufacturing plants directly support more than 40,000 British jobs and a further 250,000 in the supply chain, a JLR statement said.
In the past six years, the company has more than doubled its workforce to support global demand for its products. Last year, Jaguar Land Rover sold 583,313 cars; more than one every minute, 44% of which were Range Rovers, the statement said.
The Range Rover Velar will be sold in more than 100 markets globally and can be ordered from later this year.
The Velar will be on display at the Design Museum in London until March 6 for customers who are eager to see the model before buying it.
The car will also form the centrepiece of a new exhibition documenting 45 years of Range Rover, Velar to Velar, which opens at the Solihull manufacturing plant at the end of March. It will be doing the motor show circuit around the world, starting with Geneva this month.
Homegrown automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is planning to set up a second base for itself outside the country, as part of its strategy to acquire 50% of automotive revenues from overseas by fiscal 2019.
M&M has been aspiring to be a global player and investments of the order of Rs 4,200-crore in farm machinery and auto sectors of several countries since 2008 are part of the plan. The company also made the biggest buyout by snapping up over 60% in Punjab Tractors in 2008 followed by SsangYong.
There is a need for us to have a second base outside the home market and we are working on it. But we cant give more details now, said a senior management member during an informal interaction with the media in Mumbai.
Rajesh Jejurikar, president and chief executive, farm equipment and two-wheelers division, said, M&M is already the no. 1 tractor maker in the world in terms of volume and is present in 30 markets, including the US, Finland, Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, China, Japan and Australia.
Talking about the global aspiration, Jejurikar explained that in 2015, the geographical mix of M&Ms farm machinery products stood at around 30% which rose to 37% in the current financial year. It is projected to jump to 50% by fiscal 2019.
Group managing director Pawan Goenka said both M&M and its South Korean SsangYong are working together to design engines on a common platform.
Both the companies will develop their own product around it which is expected to be launched by the middle of 2018, Goenka said, adding currently the company makes around 30% of its revenue from overseas.
In 2011, M&M acquired 70% stake in the then struggling SsangYong Motors for around $450 million and has turned it around since then. The two are working towards making engines for a common platform shared by both the automakers, a synergy which is expected to save about $70 million over the next five years for the group, he added.
On reports about American car major Ford is planning to collaborate with M&M in certain aspects of business, Goenka said, I will not either confirm or deny the report. It is very common for any auto company to be in talks with four to five others for a possible collaboration or partnership. But chances of such talks fructifying remain one out of five.
Goenka further said as part of its globalisation plan, M&M is focusing on mergers and acquisitions in companies which can be beneficial in reaching their desired goals. The other areas include increasing manufacturing footprint, research & development, enhancing branding and sales infrastructure are other important focus points, he added.
Goenka further said the new strategy is christened Shift @ Mahindra which will involve the group driving all its businesses - from agri to farm equipments to automotive divisions working together.
When asked about capex into capacity addition, Goenka said the company has invested Rs 12,000 crore into its 14 plants and has built enough capacity till 2020.
Since 2003, M&Ms revenue grew 16 times to Rs 63,300 crore in 2016 from Rs 3,900 crore, while its patents jumped from a mere one in 2003 to 173 during the same period.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision to ban high-value banknotes as part of efforts to stamp out corruption will have a profound and positive impact on Indias economy, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva has said.
Georgieva told Hindustan Times that demonetisation may have caused some hardship to people living in the cash economy but in the long run the move will help foster a clean and digitised economy.
What India has done will be studied (by other countries). There hasnt been such demonetisation in a country so big, she told HT in an interview late on Wednesday.
The World Bank CEOs praise is the latest for Modis November 8 decision, which culled 1000-and 500-rupee bills with immediate effect, triggering a months-long cash crunch. In November, the International Monetary Fund said it supported Indias efforts to fight corruption through currency control measures, which have since eased.
Georgieva compared Modis decision to that of the European Union, which is also phasing out high denomination bills but over a longer period of time.
While demonetisation has, in the short term, created some impact on businesses dependent on cash, in the long term the impact will be positive The reforms India is targeting are profound.
She said the governments financial inclusion programme along with the move towards digital payments and direct transfer of subsidies will help the poor.
Georgieva, who was in India for two days, travelled on a local train in Mumbai and visited the worlds biggest slum in Dharavi. She said people were eager to get a better life and that they were willing to pay more for improved services.
She also appreciated the competition among states to improve the ease of doing business saying the situation has improved.
India is the bright spot in todays global economy and it is visible in the countrys performance and more so in the aspirations of the people here, she said.
Our growth projection for India for this year is 7%. The signs are positive with the reform process underway and GST expected to be implemented soon.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said he believed in the freedom of expression within the legal ambit.
When asked about his opinion on DU student Gurmehar Kaur, Parrikar said: I believe in the freedom of expression with whatever legal restrictions are there. All freedom of expression have legal limit. You cannot barge on another persons right.
Kaur, a student of Lady Shri Ram College, had launched a social media campaign last week against the ABVP, the students union body linked to the RSS, after the outfit forced the cancellation of a seminar at Delhis Ramjas College over the participation of a controversial JNU student Umar Khalid on February 21. Violent clashes broke out the next day as ABVP activists allegedly attacked students, teachers and journalists in the campus, triggering widespread condemnation.
Kaur, trolled for taking on the ABVP in a Facebook post that went viral, said she had received rape threats.
DU student Gurmehar Kaur was trolled after taking on the ABVP with this Facebook post. (Facebook/Gurmehar Kaur)
The 20-year-old also faced severe criticism for a video message on her father, Captain Mandeep Singh who was killed in Kashmir in 1999 during the Kargil war, and her perceptions about Pakistan and war.
Non-aligned Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Serhiy Taruta has said Ukraine should not wait for Russian Federation President Volodymyr Putin to leave office before attempting to resolve the Donbas conflict. He said the Russian Federation is responsible for the war in eastern Ukraine, but that it is up to Ukraine to settle the conflict.
On Tuesday speaking to Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe, Taruta said many people in Ukraine mistakenly believe the conflict in eastern Ukraine will end when Putin relinquishes power and that's it's best to wait until then before taking steps to settle the conflict.
"The West has big problems with Ukraine, which is doing nothing to make the Minsk peace agreements work. There is no progress in the talks. There is no desire to engage in concrete talks, since many in Ukraine are waiting for Putin to die or for the Russian Federation to disintegrate," Taruta said.
The lawmaker said it is necessary for Ukraine to implement reforms and to ensure the consolidation of society today, and not wait for the end of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. But he said this is impossible when state officials continue to steel and profit from business related to the conflict.
Even as nominations to the Mumbai mayors post are just a day away, the saffron allies-turned-rivals did not make any move to initiate dialogue for a possible alliance in the civic body.
The silence between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, who got a split mandate in the recently concluded civic polls, could signal a close contest for the top job in the BMC. The party, which gets its mayor elected, will effectively have an upper hand and control the civic body.
The mayoral elections are slated on March 8.
The BJP camp, which has been in wait-and-watch mode , began making moves to bolster its seat tally.
The party is expected to go to the Konkan divisional commissioners office with its 82 corporators on Friday to register them as a group, to avoid any last-minute defections. It will also hold a meeting of its steering committee on Friday afternoon to decide the partys strategy in the BMC.
The Sena, in the meanwhile, continued its attack on the BJP through its mouthpiece, Saamna, taunting it on the ongoing nationalism debate and indicating it was unlikely to blink first and seek a tie up.
The editorial taunted the BJP for defining patriotism according to its convenience, pointing out that the party had remained silent when its legislator called army wives unfaithful.
The close contest in BMC saw the Sena win 84 seats and the BJP 82. With no party emerging as a clear winner, the tug of war is over upmanship in the BMC with the Sena is already enlisting support of four independents taking its tally to 88 seats.
Now, both the Sena and the BJP have approached the Akhil Bharatiya Senas lone corporator, Geeta Gawli, daughter of don-turned-politician Arun Gawli, for support. So far, the ABS had supported the Sena in the BMC.
The BJP, it is learnt, also contacted the fifth independent corporator, Mumtaz Rehbar Khan, who has so far not sided with the Sena, for support.
I have not made up my mind about supporting either the Sena or the BJP yet. Uddhavsaheb called me and I went to meet him out of respect. However, the meeting was cut short as he had to leave for Kolhapur. I met with senior party leaders Anil Desai and Eknath Shinde, said Gawli.
She said she was likely to meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis late on Thursday night to discuss the issue with him and other BJP leaders.
Sources in BJP, however, said the strategy in the BMC is it to get finalised with Fadnavis still holding cards close to his chest.
On Friday, we will have to finalise whether we are putting up a mayoral candidate and who it can be. Since withdrawal of the mayoral candidate can be done right on the day of the proposed election, there is still time to finalise what our final role will be in the BMC, said a senior BJP leader.
He said the party had to weigh its options carefully as antagonising the Sena by taking the mayors post away from it may have repercussions on the state governments stability.
The party may. however, look at opening back channel talks with the Sena ahead of the mayoral election. If it is serious about contesting mayors election, the party will have to enlist support of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). With MNS seven corporators, one independent and Gawli, BJP s tally will go to 91.
In such a scenario, the MNS plays is important. At the same time, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with nine corporators has unofficially indicated it will support Sena mayor if MNS supports BJP.
Meanwhile, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray skipped BJP state chief Raosaheb Danves sons wedding in Aurangabad on Thursday. While party leaders said his absence at the wedding was not intentional, it is being seen as a bid to keep pressure on the BJP. Thackeray chose to go to Kolhapur to attend a wedding in the family of Sena legislator Rajesh Kshirsagar.
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Predicting the outcome of an Uttar Pradesh election can be injurious to health. In 1993, extensively covering a UP election for the first time, when my editor asked me for an opinion, I promptly claimed that a Ram wave was sweeping across the state against the backdrop of the Babri masjid demolition. I was proven horribly wrong: The caste arithmetic of the formidable Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance trumped the emotional appeal of Ram Lalla.
Once bitten, not twice shy: Twenty-four years later, I am putting my neck on the line once again and forecasting a likely BJP win in Uttar Pradesh. In a seemingly wave-less election where 403 constituencies are witnessing fierce competition almost everywhere, this may be a big call to make. But there is reason to believe that the lotus is poised to bloom in the countrys most politically prized state.
Firstly, the sheer numbers back the BJPs claim to be UPs party number one. In 2014, the BJP-led NDA got 42% of the vote and an astonishing 73 of 80 Lok Sabha seats. While that was an unusual wave election, the fact is even a highly unlikely 10% decline in the BJP vote could be enough to give it a leadership position in the state. The SP swept to power in UP in 2012 with 29% of the vote, while in 2007, the BSP got a majority with 30% of the vote.
Some analysts have compared UP with the 2015 Bihar assembly elections, claiming that the SP-Congress gatbandhan has changed the electoral numbers game in the state. But this is a false comparison: In Bihar, we had a broad anti-BJP maha-gatbandhan (grand alliance), which meant that there was a bipolar contest and at even 34% of the vote, the BJP was pushed to a poor second place. In UP, by contrast, we have a tough triangular fight: Had the two principal players Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav fought together like Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad did in Bihar, the BJP would have struggled to make an impact. The Congress, by contrast, in UP is still a kamzor kadi or weak link in the alliance.
Second, it appears that Narendra Modi has successfully bridged the Delhi-Lucknow divide in a state election. His opposition may label him an outsider fighting the UP ke ladke, but the fact is, Modi has struck a chord in the Indo-Gangetic plain. In his adopted village of Jayapur near Varanasi, the road has been washed away, the solar panel batteries have been stolen, the toilets dont have water supply, and yet, every villager one meets, including in Dalit bastis, says they will vote for Modiji. In Varanasis paan bhandar, traders admit demonetisation has hurt them, but they still chant Har Har Modi. And on the banks of the Ganga at Assi Ghat, a mahant says the Namami Gange project is eyewash but he will still vote for the PM.
Clearly, the PM, despite unfulfilled promises and a weak local BJP leadership, still retains voter trust and goodwill. Again, the attempt to draw a comparison with Bihar doesnt quite work. In Bihar, a Nitish Kumar had addressed core issues: Roads, electricity, and crucially, law and order and womens empowerment. In UP, Akhilesh Yadavs kaam bolta hai slogan resonates only in pockets: There is a bit of a UP Shining trap in the glossy advertisements that showcase the Gomti riverbank in Lucknow but you cant ignore the darkness in a Gorakhpur village. And while his emergency crime helpline is a laudable initiative, the image of the Samajwadi Party rowdies still haunts the party. Akhilesh could still be the future of UP with a strong youth connect, but may not be its present: Weve tried Maya and Yadavs, ek baar Modiji ko bhee chance dete hain! is an often-heard refrain.
In a sense, Modi symbolically offers hope amid UPs over-arching despair. Aligned to this is the artful messaging of political Hindutva, calculated to polarise the electorate. In the 1990s, the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign overtly attempted to consolidate a Hindu identity. Now, a more devious strategy is underway to link caste and community identities to the magical word vikaas or development. The odious comparisons between availability of bijli during Ramzan and Diwali and the false claim of discrimination in laptop distribution have been designed to stoke the worst fears and prejudices in a deeply divided society.
The aggressive Yadav and minority support for the Akhilesh-Rahul combine has only accelerated the counter polarisation. As a result, a new Hindutva alliance is being cemented where upper caste interests are being aligned to the numerically large most backward castes and even non-Jatav dalit aspirations. Hindutva politics based on anti-Muslim propaganda and hope embodied in the Modi persona offer a deadly combination: The UP voter may well be intoxicated by it this time.
Post-script: One of the great joys of covering a UP election is to listen to the sharp one-liners from politically conscious voters. Ask a shop-keeper in Jaunpur on the PMs shamshan-kabrastan controversial comparison, pat came the reply: Sir, chunav hai, pehle neta hamein jeene nahi deten, ab hamein marne nahin denge! (Its election time, first leaders dont let us live; now they wont let us die either).
Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author
The views expressed are personal
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Dehradun: The Central Zoo Authority has approved in the last three years master plans that map carrying capacity in 41 zoos out of 167 in the country, and earmark a separate space for rescued wild animals, especially tigers and leopards.
A master plan is a vision document laying out a roadmap for the next 20 years on development and improvement of facilities in zoos, and maintaining a special area for rescued animals.
Certainly, zoos have their limits on housing animals. Problem occurs when rescued animals come in abundance. Under our master plan project, we have facilitated zoos to provide special areas for the rescued or injured or orphaned wild animals that will not be put on display and even stand a chance to be released in wild, Brij Kishore Gupta, evaluation and monitoring officer with the CZA, told Hindustan Times.
As many as 112 zoos have prepared master layout plans. Uttarakhands Malsi Deer Park, Pt GB Pant High Altitude Zoo or Nainital Zoo, and upcoming Haldwani Zoo are among them. After the master plans are approved, the zoos will be granted funds to strengthen the captive areas.
Malsi Deer Park in Dehradun house two leopards rescued from the wild. The big cats are also exhibited for tourists. Nainital Zoo has nine leopards, most of them are rescued.
Though Uttarakhand has two leopard rescue centres in Chidiapur (Haridwar) and Ranibagh (Nainital), sources said the area and infrastructure there are not enough to accommodate the big cats.
Nainital Zoo director Dharam Singh Meena said, We have only two enclosures for leopards and they are full. We have proposed four more enclosures so that we can accommodate more rescued leopards. We also have plans to strengthen the centre for housing rescued tigers.
Rescued tigers are sent to Nainital Zoo. Officials said the zoo has now two tigers a female rescued in 2008 and a male rescued from Haldwani a month back.
Rescue centres could be established independently or even within the zoo. We have seven rescue centres for tigers in the country -- Jaipur, Bhopal, Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati, Chennai, one in West Bengal and one in Karnataka -- where we have kept big cats rescued from circuses, CZA member secretary DN Singh said.
For a state like Uttarakhand, which tops in reporting leopard conflicts, rescue centres are the need of the hour, said Abhishekh Kumar, a wildlife activist.
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DEHRADUN: Yoga has the potential to create a new era of togetherness and harmony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
When we talk of combating climate change, we seek to move away from a lifestyle of consumption or Bhoga to one of Yoga, Modi said after inaugurating International Yoga Festival via video conferencing. He added that Yoga can prove to be a strong pillar for the people to lead a life of discipline and development. Yoga is the art of oneness, a journey from Aham to Vayam.
The International Yoga Festival began at Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh will conclude on March 7. Participants from across the globe are attending the week-long festival. The Ministry of AYUSH, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and the Parmarth Niketan Ashram are jointly hosting the event.
Modi said when a person talks about global peace, there should be peace among the nations and Yoga is the way. That is possible only when there is peace within the society. Only peaceful families can constitute a peaceful society. Only peaceful individuals can make peaceful families. Yoga is the way to create such a harmony and peace within individuals, family, society, nation and ultimately all over the world, he asserted.
Highlighting his pet programme Swachh Bharat Mission, Modi said awareness and observance of cleanliness of water bodies, land and air is crucial. Therefore, good health is a collective effort of personal well-being and environmental well-being. Through the Swachh Bharat Mission, we are attempting to establish the link between community hygiene and personal health, he said.
The PM said works such as Encyclopedia of Hinduism, when made available in various languages, increase understanding and enhance awareness of other traditions and cultures within the country. In turn, it reduces hatred, misunderstanding and increases cooperation, peace and amity among communities. The encyclopedia is the brain child of Swami Chidanand Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists held a protest march on the Delhi University (DU) campus on Thursday, demanding action against what they termed anti-national activities.
The students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the ruling BJPs ideological parent, said the protest march near the universitys North Campus Art Faculty was organised to save the Delhi University.
Students in the march were demanding strict action against all those elements who support anarchism and anti-India propaganda.
A clash took place between the members of the ABVP and the All India Students Association (AISA), a Left-leaning student organisation, at Delhis Ramjas College on February 22 that left the university campus disturbed. Trouble broke out after the colleged sent an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on Culture of Protests, which was withdrawn by the authorities following opposition by ABVP.
Khalid allegedly shouted anti-India slogans supporting the secession of militancy-hit Kashmir last February at an event on JNU campus, and was arrested on sedition charges.
Delhi Polices Crime Branch, which is probing the clashes at Ramjas College, has recorded the statements of two St Stephens College students who were allegedly beaten up by supporters of the ABVP.
The two St Stephens students a boy and a girl have alleged that they were beaten up outside the Ramjas College canteen, said a senior police officer. The girl has also alleged that she was hit with a stone, he said.
The Crime Branch team has till now received 25 complaints from both sides and is contacting students to record their statements.
We have contacted students to join the probe. AISA activists have said that they will come together to record their statement. We had also shared our email IDs with the students and in all, we have received 25 complaints, he said.
The complaints mainly pertain to being roughed up and that of molestation.
There are some complaints that have claimed that while they were being roughed up, policemen were standing there. But none of the complainants have alleged that they were beaten up by the policemen, he said.
Meanwhile, senior Delhi Police officials also met Ramjas college authorities and requested them to ensure peaceful coexistence of students of different ideologies.
Since Ramjas College witnessed large-scale violence last week, officers had a word with representatives from the college. We told them to engage with students, irrespective of the ideologies they believe in.
It was also discussed that a debate between different ideologies is essential for democracy but it should not be allowed to become violent, an officer said.
Cops are also in the process of meeting principals of other Delhi University colleges to ensure peace in the campus area.
In what could bring cheer to guest teachers ahead of Holi, the Delhi government has increased their salaries by 45% to 100 % in different categories.
About 17,000 guest teachers in Delhi are likely to be benefitted by the decision. The deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday announced that all Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) and non-CTET teachers are covered under the decision.
Sisodia, who is also the education minister, said the decision approved by the cabinet in December, has been approved by the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
After the revision, a Post Graduate teacher (PGT) will get Rs 34, 000 instead of the current pay of Rs 21, 000 per month. Similarly, the remuneration for Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) and assistant teacher has been increased to Rs 33,000 and Rs 32,000 respectively. The present salary for a TGT is Rs 18,000 and Rs 16,000 for an assistant teacher.
He said that the notification may be issued in a day or two and then the teachers will start receiving their revised salary.
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Delhiites may soon look forward to a soothing Metro commute during rush hours.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has decided to start playing music in stations on the New Delhi-Dwarka airport line and plans to extend it inside trains and across its network gradually, depending on user feedback.
The decision to roll out instrumental music on the airport line used by an average of 40,000 people a day came after a public survey last year.
As per the survey, 80% of the people desired to have light music in the station premises, the modalities for which are being worked out, said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official.
Sources say the facility may be rolled out in a month or two and the DMRC has already applied for a license from the Indian Performing Right Society and Phonographic Performance Limited. Depending on feedback, the music may soon be extended inside trains.
These two companies give license if a public transport facility wants to play music. We have public address system in the entire metro network and playing music wont be a problem, the official added.
The music will be on the lines of what plays in flights so that it doesnt annoy the passenger. Once we get the license, the facility will start at the airport line stations.
The music is part of a turnaround in the airport line after the DMRC took over in June 2013. The daily ridership jumped from 9,000 to 40,000. Many VIPs including Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, travelled on the line and have even tweeted photos. To attract passengers, the DMRC has revised the fares twice and made several other changes to ensure more people use this line. The maximum fare has been reduced to R 60 from R 180 and the minimum is now R 10 against r 30 in 2013.
On August 12, the ridership reached a peak of 50,077. Passengers traveling with Air India and Jet Airways can also check-in from New Delhi and Shivaji stadium metro station.
Commuters on the Airport Line will finally be able to pull those earphones out: the Delhi Metro is set to introduce music at its stations.
The move comes after a passenger satisfaction survey conducted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) revealed that 80% of commuters in Delhi wanted some light music to play at stations. If the idea is a hit, the Metro will extend it to other stations.
While soothing music is the perfect recipe to soothe frazzled nerves, we have a few suggestions that DMRC may want to take on-board.
One thing they absolutely must not play is
Muzak or mood music. Yes, the bland music is the preferred background score of elevators, doctors offices and department stores, but its popularity has seen a sharp decline as more and more people get turned off by how insipid it is. In fact, though muzak is supposed to calm you down with its temperate tones, surveys have found that more people are likely to leave a store in irritation if it plays muzak. And, whats more, at least one British MP has tried to get piped muzak banned from public places for good.
What tunes do other Indian public transport systems play?
The Kolkata Metro was the first to hit upon the idea Rabindra sangeet plays from station speakers. Bangalores Namma Metro stations recently introduced piped music, opting for instrumental folk tunes, Carnatic and Hindustani melodies at 30 stations, with plans to include other genres as well.
The Indian Railways also decided to go the classical route, playing a carefully selected list of instrumental and Carnatic music in its Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains.
Should Delhi Metro take some international inspiration?
New York is known for its subway performers who play or sing live. But what you did not know is that the New York Citys Metropolitan Transit Authority holds annual auditions to select some of them. The Music Under New York programme receives a high number of applications from both budding and established musicians. The Paris Metro has a similar, wildly successful programme, where it gives licenses to musicians to not only play, but hold concerts as well. Perhaps the Delhi Metro could set up its own programme to encourage art and music?
Or how about some Bollywood?
DMRC may want to steer clear of filmi music, but you cant deny that Bollywood has a song for every situation.
Here is the carefully-curated HT playlist:
As your train rolls into the station: Gadi Bula Rahi Hai, Seeti Baja Rahi Hai
Running desperately to catch the metro: Ruk Ja O Jane Wali Ruk Ja
For unexpected delays : Kab se kare hain tera intezar
Missed your train? : Kya Hua Jo Lari Chooti, Jeevan Ki Gadi Chooti
Men entering the Ladies Coach: Aap yahan aaye kis liye?
For the lets-exchange-longing-glances Metro romance?: Chalte chalte yun hi koi mil gaya tha
When you want to break laws, dance on the roof of the metro and get arrested (for the record, we absolutely do not recommend this): Chal Chaiya Chaiya
And if youre just looking for a happy, cheery song to cap your Metro ride: Yun hi chala chal rahi
Tell us what music you want Delhi Metro to play at its stations. Write to @htTweets or comment below.
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Political fault lines in the Delhi University campus are set to get deeper with another student protest even as Gurmehar Kaur, the daughter of an army martyr, told Hindustan Times in an interview that she did not want to enter politics. On Thursday, members of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and Delhi University Students Unon (DUSU) are carrying out a Save DU march in Delhis North Campus calling for a nationwide campus ban on Left affiliated organisations.
The ABVP has been at loggerheads with All India Students Assocaition (AISA),the student chapter of CPI (ML). ABVPs protest is the second in as many days after Wednesdays demonstration at the Delhi Police headquarters over what they said was police inaction against those who allegedly raised anti-India slogans at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) last year.
Watch as the march, by ABVP members and DUSU students, crosses Ramjas College:
Here are the Live updates:
2.35pm: Students again carry a giant tiranga at the Arts Faculty. Earlier, on February 27, ABVP had taken out a Tiranga Rally. At the Arts Faculty, Shaurya from Sri Venkateswara college says he had joined the protest against the attempt to bring bad name to the university.
2.30pm: Huge police presence at Arts Faculty to keep a check on the crowd. A large number of students from colleges and outside have gathered. A student from the Faculty of Law tells HT correspondent that she had come to protest against outsiders who were coming to the university for political ends and spread of misinformation.
Students of DUSU and members of ABVP take part in the march at North Campus. (Ravi Choudhary / HT Photo)
2.23pm: As the march reaches Arts Faculty, president of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) Amit Tanwar says, We will not tolerate those who talk about breaking the country.
2.10pm:Protest march reaches at Vivekanand statue at Arts Faculty. Talking to HT correspondent on ground, an ABVP member said the organisation had been wrongly framed for the violence at Ramjas college.
2pm: March by ABVP members and DUSU students crosses Vishwavidyalaya Metro station and Ramjas College. Students participating in the march tell HT correspondent that they want to raise the spirit of nationalism in the campus through the march.
1.48pm: Meanwhile, Haryana minister Anil Vij stands by his earlier statement that those supporting Gurmehar Kaur are pro Pakistan. Reacting to the uproar in the state Assembly over his statement he says, Those opposing it in the assembly have no understanding,they are siding with anti-national forces, reports ANI.
1.35pm: Chants of Bharat mein rehna hoga, Vande Matarm kehna hoga and Kashmir ho ya Guwahati, apna desh apni maati ring in North Campus where the ABVP march is on as saffron scarfs, banners and the national flags unfurl.
1.25pm: Nearly 2,000 ABVP members gather to take part in the protest. The protesters begin to march from from Arts Faculty.
1.10pm: Posters at the protest site span from freedom of expression, extolling nationalism and call for respect to standing up against anti-nationals. Some of them read Na Marxvaad, na Naxalvaad, Sabse uupar Rashtravaad (Neither Marxism nor Naxalism but Nationalism); Kam padhe likhon ka apmaan karna band karo (Stop showing disrespect for those who are less educated)
An ABVP protester shows a poster that reads: Freedom of expression only for Umar Khalid? Not for Shazia Ilmi? (Ravi Choudhary / HT Photo)
1.05pm: An ABVP activist from Rohini says he has come to be a part of the DU fights anti-nationals march. I have come here to say that such activities will not be accepted in India, he tells HT reporter at the protest site in North campus.
1pm: A PHD student in Sanskrit department, Geetika, says she has come to protest against anti-national activities in Ramjas. Have come to protest against the events to misguide youth, she says. Watch here:
An MPhil student talk about why she has come for the protest which is cald #DUagainstantinational @htdelhi @httweets pic.twitter.com/6Kmsg0K0ZE Shradha Chettri (@Shrads_chettri) March 2, 2017
12.45pm: In the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between students organisations in DUs Ramjas College, the Karnataka University postpones its convocation programme, which was to be addressed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar.
ABVP activists from different parts of the city gather to participate in DU against anti-nationals protest. (Ravi Choudhary)
12.40pm: Left leader Sitaram Yechury takes on defence minister Manohar Parrikar for his remark that all freedom of expression have legal limit. What defines legal restrictions of the Defence Minister? His whims and fancies? Restrictions are defined by our constitution, says Yechury, according to ANI.
12.35pm: Posters of alleged incidents of violence against RSS workers line the Chhatra Marg stretch. Early reports say outsiders joining the protest by ABVP.
12.30pm: Chhatra Marg towards Arts Faculty closed down by police as ABVP members gather for the protest.
12.25pm: ABVP activists begin gathering for the march outside Vishwa Vidyalaya metro station. Its banners, placards and slogans once again in the North Campus, this time for fight against anti-nationals.
12.20pm: The Save DU march by ABVP will begin from the Arts Faculty and pass through Vishwavidyalaya Metro station, Miranda College, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Ramjas College, and Law Faculty before culminating at a Swami Vivekananda statue.
12.10pm: Finance minister too joins the raging debate over the discourse of nationalism. Speaking elsewhere, finance minister Arun Jaitley says nationalism is a good word but is made out to be bad in our country, reports ANI.
Nationalism is a good word, ye toh kewal iss desh mein hai ki rashtravad bura shabd hai: Arun Jaitley,Finance Minister pic.twitter.com/i0t7dVww04 ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2017
12pm: Meanwhile, asked about his opinion on Gurmehar Kaur, defence minister Manohar Parrikar says: I believe in the freedom of expression with whatever legal restrictions are there. All freedom of expression have legal limit. You cannot barge on another persons right, reports IANS.
11.50am: Organisers say the Save DU march by ABVP has been planned to bring back peace in Delhi University which has seen unprecedented violence over a seminar at the Ramjas College. The seminar was subsequently cancelled on February 22.
Read: Ramjas row: 10 things that turned a college brawl into a battle of ideologies
11.40am: Accusing Left organisations of inciting violence on campus, Saket Bahuguna, ABVP national media convener had said, DU has been peaceful because ABVP has dominated the campus. But now we are being wrongly accused of indulging in violence. The violence on February 22 happened because there were aggressors of the Left who had come from outside.
11.30am: HC likely to hear plea filed by DU students against police action at Ramjas college last week, report ANI. Students from Delhi Universitys Law Department had approached the HC for action against cops who allegedly assaulted students and journalists at the college during a protest.
#RamjasRow: Heavy security deployment in North Campus of the Delhi University ahead of ABVP's protest today. pic.twitter.com/OrXWbb8u5v ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2017
11.20am: Delhi University is set for another day of protests and counterprotests as the ABVP will hold a march at 12pm for nationwide campus ban on Left Wing student bodies.
11.15am: Heavy police security at Art Faculty in North Campus ahead of ABVP march.
Agitating Jat leaders threatened on Thursday to disrupt supply of essential commodities to Delhi and block roads leading to the Capital if their demands for quotas in jobs and education were not met.
At a protest meeting in central Delhis Jantar Mantar, Yashpal Malik, the president of the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), said five million members of his community would return to the national capital with their tractors and cattle after Holi and intensify their demonstration.
We will not supply milk to private parties in Delhi for a day as a token protest. We have already stopped supplying milk to government plants and agencies. We have started our non-cooperative movement in Haryana, Malik said.
If demands not met, Jat agitators threaten to block all roads leading to Delhi & cut essential supplies, including water @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/VueokmA2BL Sweta Goswami (@sweta_goswami) March 2, 2017
He added that the Jat protest movement would spread all over north India soon. We have come to Delhi with determination and we will march towards the parliament, he said.
Malik was addressing a crowd of about 5,000 protestors who thronged the city on Thursday morning to pressurise the Centre for reservations. The Jats want an OBC status for the community.
In the morning, roads leading to the protest hub were choked with Jat protestors from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab, giving a tough time to motorists and commuters. Police and traffic personnel were deployed at major roundabouts and roads to manage traffic as well as the protesters.
Malik said they would submit their memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee .
We have seven demands and the government should fulfil them. We want reservations for our community in jobs and education institutions. Haryana government should immediately withdraw pending cases against our people. Others who were injured during previous protest should be given compensation and the government should give a job to a family member of the deceased, he said.
The Jat leader also demanded that action should be taken against errant police officials and also against BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini, who has been vocal against the Jat reservation.
The Jat protests turned violent last year in Haryana as thousands of people clashed with police and vandalized shops and vehicles, causing several deaths.But this time around, the protests have been mostly peaceful.
Petro Poroshenko Bloc deputies in U.S. discussed sanctions against Russia with White House officials
A delegation of the Verkhovna Rada deputies from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction during their visit to the U.S. met with high-ranking White House officials, U.S. diplomats, Congressmen and women, journalists and analysts and think tanks to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
The faction's press service on Monday said three main issues were discussed: keeping sanctions against Russia in order to deter the aggressor, compliance with the Minsk peace agreements and implementation of institutional reforms in Ukraine.
"Today the solution to the main group of questions is in Ukraine. I am sure that we must strengthen the support of our main partners and achieve concrete results by implementing reforms domestically," Serhiy Berezenko said.
A second deputy in the delegation, Pavlo Rizanenko, presented proposed economic reforms for Ukraine during the talks.
Deputies Berezenko, Rizanenko, Artur Gerasymov, Iryna Friz were members of the delegation, along with experts Heorhiy Vashadze and Serhiy Taran.
The Jat stir for quota in government jobs and education reached the Capital on Thursday, as protesters threatened to cut off food supply to Delhi and block roads if their demands were not met by March 20.
The day passed off peacefully though several thousand Jats from various states had gathered for a rally at Jantar Mantar, the citys protest zone.
But, the leaders of the land-holding community warned that five million of them would descend on the Capital, with their tractors and cattle, if the government failed to act by March 20.
Be prepared for a blockade Apart from water supply, supply of essential goods will also be curtailed, All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samitis (AIJASS) Yashpal Malik, who is leading the renewed stir, told the protesters.
Delhi depends on neigbouring states for milk, fruits, vegetables and other essentials.
Taps ran dry in several parts of Delhi in February last, as Jat protesters in neigbouring Haryana damaged the Munak canal that carries water to the Capital.
Thirty people were killed in Haryana as the protest turned violent, with heavy damage to public and private property.
The AIJASS resumed agitation across Haryana on January 29.
On Thursday, the community members from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Delhi joined their Haryana counterparts in demanding aam maafi (general amnesty).
Listing their seven demands, AIJASS chief Malik told HT the community should be given reservation by the Centre, Haryana and other states.
They also want jobs for the next of the kin of those killed in the 2016 stir, withdrawal of cases registered against the Jats and action against officers who used force against them.
The injured should be given compensation, Malik, who is from Haryana, said.
More than 2,100 cases were lodged for the violence that swept Haryana. Sixty protesters are still in jail.
The Jat leader also called for actions against BJP leader Raj Kumar Saini, who has spoken against the demand for reservation.
A Delhi MLA joined the sit-in. The Jats, who are primarily an agrarian community, have been facing discrimination for a long time. They are behind in economic matters, so the entire issue needs better handling by the government, Bijwasan MLA colonel Devinder Sehrawat (retired) told HT.
The protesters tried to march towards Parliament but were stopped near the Parliament Street police station after which they dispersed.
The Delhi government has tied with 41 private hospitals in Delhi to facilitate 30 surgeries free of charge for patients referred by government hospitals in the Capital.
To check the surgeries which will be provided free of cost, click here: Delhi govt ties up with private hospitals: The 30 surgeries you can get for free
The government will reimburse these National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers-accredited hospitals at Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates for the complete treatment.
It will including pre-surgery consultation, surgery, medicines, food and hospital stay, and follow-ups for a month after discharge.
The patients will be able to avail the facilities, if the waiting time at the government hospital exceeds one month to undergo these surgeries.
Heres the list of private hospitals/medical centres where the surgical procedures will be conducted:
Delhi Heart and Lung Institute, Panchkuian Road
Jeewan Nursing Home and Hospital, Pusa Road
Jeewan Mala Hospital, New Rohtak Road
Dr BL Kapur Memorial Hospital, Pusa Road
Tirath Ram Shah Charitable Hospital, Rajpur Road
Metro Hospital and Cancer Institute, Preet Vihar
Jeevan Anmol Hospital, Mayur Vuhar Phase I
Dharamashila Hospital and Research Centre, Vasundhara Enclave
Goyal Hospital and Urology Centre, Krishna Nagar
Deepak Memorial Hospital, Vikas MArg Ext II
Khandelwal Hospital and Urology Centre, East Krishna Nagar
Jain Hospital, Jagriti Enclave
Primus Superspeciality Hospital, Chanakya Puri
Indian Spinal Injury Centre, Vasant Kunj
Saroj Hospital and Heart Institute, Rohini
Bhagwati Hospital, Rohini
Max Superspeciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh
Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Tughlakabad Instt Area
Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Okhla
National Heart Institute, East of Kailash
Metro Hospital and Heart Institute, Lajpat Nagar IV
Bansal Hospital, New Friends Colony
Visitech Eye Care, South Extn Part II
Dr Pattnaiks Laser eye Institue, Lajpat Nagar III
Shroff Eye Centre, Kailash Colony
Rockland Hospital, Qutub Instt Area
Venu Eye Institute and Research Institute, Sheikh Sarai, Institutional Area Ph II
Max Smart Superspeciality Hospital, Saket
Max Multispeciality Centre, Panchsheel Park
Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, Punjabi Bagh
Mata Channan Devi Hospital, Janak Puri
Park Hospital, Chowkhandi
Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, Pashchim Vihar
Action Cancer Hospital, Paschim Vihar
MGS Hospital, Punjabi Bagh
Dr Kapurs The Healing Touch Eye Centre, Vikas Puri
RLKC Hospital Metro Heart Institute, Shadipur Depot
Bharti Eye Foundation, 1/3 East Patel Nagar
Panchasheel Hospital, Yamuna Vihar
PC Stone, East of Kailash
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Taking their quota stir to Delhi, several thousand Jat community members protested at the Jantar Mantar on Thursday, pressing for reservation in jobs and educational institutions.
The agitating protesters threatened to block essential services to the capital if their demands for reservation are not met. Life in Delhi will come to a standstill if reservation demands not met, the Jat leaders warned.
Jats from Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh took part in the demonstration.
They also demanded release of those jailed during last years stir, withdrawal of cases slapped against protesters, and government jobs to relatives of those killed and wounded during the protests.
Here are the highlights of the day:
4.30pm: Jat protest comes to an end after they are stopped from marching to the Parliament.
Delhi better be prepared for a bigger protest with tractors and cattle on March 20, Jat leaders warn before ending protest
3.50pm: Police set up barricades at Parliament Street police station in a bid to stop the protestors. They are unlikely to be allowed to march beyond that point.
Marching towards Parliament House, Jat agitators stopped near Parliament Street police station. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/9FsGZHVcCR Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
3.30pm: Protestors begin march towards Parliament House from Jantar Mantar.
3pm: A Jat leader at the protests says that all Jats will bring their tractors, cattle and all belongings to protest at Jantar Mantar on March 20.
2.40 pm: MLA from Bijwasan Devinder Sehrawat joins the protest at Jantar Mantar.
1.50 pm: Jat leaders tell agitators to prepare to march towards Parliament House in a while from now.
1.45 pm: Jat leaders threaten to block supply of essential commodities to Delhi and block roads in the capital if their demands are not met.
Life in Delhi will come to a standstill if reservation demands not met, warn Jat leaders at Jantar Mantar. @htTweets @htdelhi Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
1.10 pm: People at the protest venue seen clicking selfies.
Selfies all around at the Jat agitation at Jantar Mantar. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/ES0RV57UGs Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
1.05 pm: Students of Jat community studying in Delhi University join the protest at Jantar Mantar.
1 pm: The Jat agitators have informed police they will march to Rashtrapati Bhawan. Police say they will be stopped at a point.
12.50 pm: Protestors shout slogans saying Narendra Modi...Samaaj Virodhi . Women members of the Jat community liven the atmosphere by singing protest slogans at Jantar Mantar.
Women members of the Jat community protest by dancing at Jantar Mantar. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/2EDKRwjbEH Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
12.30 pm: The crowd has now swelled to around 3,500, police officials say. A small group of women seen among the protesters, largely comprising of elderly men. Agitators continue to trickle at the protest venue.
12.24 pm: Protesters at the venue being served refreshments. Meanwhile, group of ex-servicemen, who are protesting adjacent to the Jat agitators at Jantar Mantar, say reservations based on caste should end.
12.02 pm: Within an hour, number of Jat protesters at Jantar Mantar rise from few hundreds to thousands.
12.00 pm: A middle-aged man, who runs a grocery story, explains his reason for participating in the protest.
11.45 am: Protesting site jam-packed with people. The gate for entering Jantar Mantar from Patel Chowk metro station shut. Police say there is little chance that the situation will spin out of control.
11.40 am: Special Commissioners from Delhi Police visit Jantar Mantar to ensure Jat protests are peaceful. Around 600-700 police personnel and paramilitary forces have been stationed at the protesting venue.
Special Commissioners from Delhi Police visit Jantar Mantar to ensure Jat protests are peaceful. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/yUpMHVoeK6 Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
11.30 am: Jat leaders allege community members are being stopped from entering the city at the borders of Delhi. However, police denying the accusations.
11.15 am: Protesters display placards at the rally. Hardly any women participants seen, the protest is composed mostly of elderly people. Some of the Jat community members arrive in SUVs at the protesting venue.
Hardly any women at the Jat protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. Protesters comprise mostly of elders. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/7rwSQfLhKa Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
11.10 am: Members of the Jat community prepare a hukkah at their protest site.
Members of the Jat community prepare a hukkah at their protest site at Jantar Mantar. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/BTvcDn7WQV Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
11.05 am: Jat leaders warn members from misbehaving with journalists at Jantar Mantar.
Taking a lesson from the DU protests? Jat leaders warn members from misbehaving with journalists at Jantar Mantar. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/iB59YseDRT Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
11 am: About 1,000-1,500 members of the Jat community have so far gathered at Jantar Mantar for the protest.
10.50 am: Over 4,000 police personnel are deployed across the city by Delhi Police to maintain law&order during the rally by Jats.
10.45 am: Leaders of Jat community appeal to their members at Jantar Mantar to ensure their protest is disciplined and peaceful.
10.40 am: Traffic Alert: Sansad Marg closed for traffic in view of the protests by the Jat community at Jantar Mantar
Traffic Alert: Sansad Marg closed for traffic in view of the protests by the Jat community at Jantar Mantar. @htTweets @htdelhi Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) March 2, 2017
10.30 am: Members of the Jat community have started trickling in to Jantar Mantar. Protest for reservations to begin at 11 am.
Inordinate delay in Shahjahanabad redevelopment project is leading to extra spending and cost escalation, officials have estimated.
Sources said that the duct constructed on the northern carriageway to bury utility cables underground has got inundated with sludge. Delhis public works department had spent crores of rupees to construct this tube, which has been lying uncovered since its completion in 2014.
The nodal officer of the project, appointed by the Delhi High Court, has issued directions to the department to look into the matter and submit its report.
A senior official of the Delhi government said that work on the duct had come to a standstill since December 2014. This has allowed the mud to flow into the pipe because it was not covered.
The area does not have a storm water drain. Rain water flows with the sewage. As the duct was left open after its construction without any provision to prevent it from flooding, mud has slipped into it. The problem of sludge in the already laid duct on the northern side of the road will be resolved by the PWD. This will certainly add to the cost of the project. These are just some of the repercussions caused by the delay, said the official.
The decision, to create the duct measuring about six feet by six feet, was taken in September 2011 and the government was supposed to begin work on the ground by June 2012. The idea was to improve aesthetic of the Mughal era market, designed by Princess Jahanara, by shifting all overhead service cables underground.
Initially, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi was to take up the project. However, it was later handed over to the PWD and work finally started in June 2014.
All transformers placed on the surface were also to be relocated beneath the ground. The cost of this part of the project (construction of duct, shifting of utility cables, and putting transformer underground) was estimated at Rs 13.23 crore. The duct on one side of the road was completed. Work on the other side, however, came to a halt with a change of guard in the city government. As a result, the construction of the channel on the southern carriageway could not be started.
The Shahjahanbad Redevelopment Corporation has set March 20 as deadline for removing encroachment and parking regulation in the area to decongest it. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has also been asked to allocate sufficient land for relocation of such encroachers behind the Town Hall and to waive licence fee being demanded by the civic body. Earlier, they had sought Rs 2 crore for sparing the land for the purpose, the official said.
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Brace for a protest Thursday in Delhi as more than 10,000 members of the Jat community are planning a rally at Jantar Mantar, while right-wing students have called a march on Delhi Universitys North Campus.
Delhi Police dug into their reserves standby personnel for emergency situations and those from ancillary units on Wednesday to bump up the headcount along with their regular personnel and paramilitary forces for the two demonstrations.
Around 4,000 police personnel will be deployed around the city. The Jat protesters will not be stopped on the border and they will be allowed to reach Jantar Mantar. They have assured us of a peaceful, non-violent rally, a senior officer said.
The Jats, pressing for reservation in jobs and educational institution, will begin their rally around 11am. The protest at the national capital is viewed as part of their strategy to exert pressure on the Centre.
Jats from Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital at 11 am on Thursday, Yashpal Malik, the president of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), said on Wednesday.
Thoroughfares in the Capitals central districts are likely to register snarls as the protesters will arrive during the morning rush hour.
Traffic diversions will be done as and when the need arises. There will be no restrictions on the entry of protesters at border entry points to the city, but a ban on tractors will be strictly enforced.
ROUTES THAT MAY BE HIT Singhu Border and adjoining Alipur-Narela Road
NH-24 border from Ghazipur
Kapashera Border and Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road
Arterial roads around Jantar Mantar
Gurgaon-Delhi Expressway near Mahipalpur
DU march
Senior officers, however, are more worried about security at the university protest site, where the Delhi University Students Union and the BJP-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) will hold a march on North Campus around 12pm.
Around 600 police personnel, including women, will be deployed for the DU protest, an officer said.
Arrangements are being made to prevent the student march from getting violent, like it did last week when ABVP members clashed with Left-leaning and neutral students over a forced-stalled seminar in Ramjas College.
Trouble erupted when Ramjas College invited Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid for the seminar. The ABVP was against the invite to Khalid, who allegedly shouted anti-India slogans supporting the secession of militancy-hit Kashmir last February at an event on the JNU campus, and was arrested on sedition charges.
The Jat stir too had recorded large-scale violence last year. As many as 30 people were killed, and government and private property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was damaged during arson and looting in February 2016.
The AIJASS resumed their stir from January 29 this year, but the protests at different places in Haryana have continued peacefully.
Besides a rally at Jantar Mantar, the Capitals designated protest site, the group threatened that Jat farmers will stop the supply of milk to New Delhi. The Capitals major milk vends source their product mostly from the neighbouring state.
From today, we have decided to start a non-cooperation movement, AIJASS chief Malik said in Hisar.
The protesters will not pay electricity and water bills and also the instalment for loans that they owe to the government.
Jats will stop buying goods from shopkeepers who will not cooperate with us, Yashpal Malik said.
The Jats plan to submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee, and gherao Parliament, the date for which will be announced during the Delhi demonstration.
The Jat demands include release of those jailed during last years stir that turned violent, withdrawal of cases slapped against protesters, and government jobs to relatives of those killed and wounded during the protests.
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The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), will launch a protest march at the Delhi Universitys North Campus on Thursday, seeking a nationwide campus ban on Left-affiliated organisations.
The ABVP protest is the second in as many days in Delhi after Wednesdays demonstration at the police headquarters over what they said was police inaction against those who allegedly raised anti-India slogans at Jawaharlal Nehru University last year.
Police has deployed additional security personnel for the Save DU march which will start at 12 pm from the Arts faculty and pass through Vishwavidyalaya metro station, Miranda College, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Ramjas College, and the Law Faculty before culminating at a Swami Vivekananda statue.
The organisers said the march has been planned for bringing back peace in Delhi University which has seen unprecedented violence over a seminar at the Ramjas College which was subsequently cancelled on February 22.
The ABVP is accused of involvement in clashes at Delhis Ramjas College during a seminar on February 22. Right-wing activists allegedly assaulted members of the Leftist All India Students Association (AISA) during scuffles over cancellation of JNU student Umar Khalids talk at the Ramjas College.
DU has been peaceful because ABVP has dominated the campus. But now we are being wrongly accused of indulging in violence. The violence on February 22 happened because there were aggressors of the Left who had come from outside, said Saket Bahuguna, ABVP national media convener.
A senior police official said around 600 personnel including women will be deployed during the students protests for Thursdays march.
Earlier on Monday, the DUSU took out a tiranga rally and marched from Ramjas College.
On Thursday, the Delhi high court is also likely to take up a plea filed by Delhi University (DU) law students against police in the Ramjas row.
Students from DUs law department on Wednesday approached the high court for action against policemen who allegedly assaulted students and journalists during the violence at Ramjas college.
The PIL seeks formation of an independent committee of senior Delhi Police officials to investigate what led to the massive protests in Delhi University.
After the February 22 violence at Ramjas College, a Lady Sriram College student Gurmehar Kaur launched a social media campaign against ABVP. She later withdrew from the campaign after reportedly receiving rape and death threats.
The Delhi high court is likely to take up the plea filed by students of Delhi Universitys Law Faculty against police in Ramjas row on Thursday.
Students from DUs law department on Wednesday approached the HC for action against policemen who allegedly assaulted students and journalists at Delhis Ramjas college during a protest.
Two of Delhi University law students Tarun Narang and Deepak Joshi have filed a public interest litigation. The PIL seeks formation of an independent committee of senior Delhi Police officials to investigate what led to the massive protests in Delhi University last week.
It also demanded that police lodge cases under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (assaulting a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) against the police officers.
On February 22, a literary festival organised in Ramjas College was disrupted, allegedly by members of the ABVP, which led to outbreak of clashes the next day in which teachers, students and journalists were wounded on the Delhi University campus.
Following the clashes, protests and counter-protests have been carried out by students of DU and ABVP respectively in Delhi Universitys North Campus.
The confusion over stamping of hand baggage at seven airports of the country including Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport ended on Thursday, with the Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) stating that all cabin bags needed to be stamped.
The BCAS had issued a circular on February 24 saying that it has stopped stamping of baggage tags at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Cochin airports.
Read: Delhi airport to stamp cabin bag tags again as trial run fails to save time
But the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which mans airports across the country, expressed its inability to implement the order. On Thursday, a joint meeting was held between ministers of state and officials of Union ministry of home affairs and Union ministry of civil aviation at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan to discuss the modalities of implementation of the order.
The CISF had conducted trial runs in two phases at 12 airports and concluded that stamping of baggage tags could be done away with after certain modifications of security architecture in the security hold areas and installation of high definition CCTV cameras. CISF had also proposed that a committee comprising representatives of BCAS, CISF and airport operator should examine the suitability of implementing this scheme at each airport, said a CISF spokesperson.
A similar exercise was to be conducted simultaneously at the remaining 52 airports under CISF cover for recommending modifications in the security architecture and CCTV systems so that the scheme could be implemented at these airports as well.
Read: You no longer need a security stamp on your hand baggage tag at these 7 airports
From December 26, the CISF started the one-week trial run again at seven different airports. In Bengaluru, 89% of the passengers appreciated the move, while 11% said that stamp on tag is a sense of security for them. In Delhi, over 2,400 flights were covered and in some cases, during random check at boarding gates, a few suspicious items were caught. We have recommended some changes in the security structure and once the gap is filled, we will reintroduce the measure, the CISF official said.
ENDS
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The High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and Delhi government to submit a comprehensive report on the measures undertaken to prevent crime against women after the 2012 December 16 gang rape case.
A bench of justice BD Ahmed and justice Ashutosh Kumar said despite numerous directions from the court the cases of crime against women have not gone down but increased.
The court directed additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain and Delhi government senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra to submit a comprehensive report on the action taken on the various directions passed by the court so far.
Immediately after the December 16 gang rape case, the high court on its own initiated a public interest litigation (PIL) with the aim to improve safety of women in Capital.
The court is looking into the issue of increasing the number of police personnel in Delhi, installation of CCTV cameras, street lighting and identifying dark spots, among others.
In the last hearing, the court directed the city police to identify areas where it is necessary to set up more streetlights based on the crime mapping exercise it had earlier conducted.
Studies across the world have suggested that dark public areas, where there are insufficient streetlights are crime prone, the bench remarked as it directed all civic agencies to put a logo and telephone complaint number on each street light pole under their responsibility.
Advocate Meera Bhatia, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the case, said the issue of installation of CCTV cameras in the capital has been put in the backburner as both the city government and police have not done anything on it. Bhatia said the CCTV cameras have not even been installed most of the police stations here.
The body of a 53-year-old woman who was allegedly strangled to death was found at her flat in Dwarka on Monday. The womans son, who is untraceable, is the prime suspect, said police.
Identified as Meeta Jha, the woman lived in an apartment at Chandra Park in Dwarkas Sector-3 with her 28-year-old son. Her husband died a few years ago and her daughter is a doctor in London.
The murder came to light on Monday when her daughter alerted neighbours when her calls went unanswered over three days. When neighbours told her that the flat was locked from outside, the police were informed.
The door was broken and Meeta Jha was lying dead in her bedroom. Doctors told the police that the woman was possibly killed by strangulation.
Police registered a murder case and checked CCTV footage. The footage showed the womans son leaving the building on February 24. Since the body had begun to decay, it appears her son killed her, locked the house from outside and left. He is untraceable, said a senior police officer.
The son is a drug addict and is unemployed. He is notorious in the locality for his short temper and picking up fights, said the officer.
Surendra Kumar, DCP (South-West), said the victims daughter also suspected her brother. As soon as she came to know about her mothers death, she told us that her brother is a drug addict and suspected his role in the murder, said the officer.
A murder case has been registered at Dwarka (North) police station and a team has been formed to nab the suspect.
Sanctions against the Russian Federation cannot be lifted until full implementation of the Minsk agreements, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said.
"Sanctions against Russia, which have been supported by Japan along with other countries of the G7, must not be lifted until full implementation of the Minsk agreements," the Japanese PM said at a meeting with Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine speaker Andriy Parubiy on Thursday, according to the parliament's press service.
According to the press service, Abe said he is "trying his utmost to support Ukraine during his work at international forums." He expressed the hope for strengthened ties on the international arena with Ukraine, including in the United Nations Security Council.
"Lately there are more crisis situations in the world and therefore we support your position about the necessity to cooperate in order to strengthen word security within the framework of the UNSC, as well by means of the exchange of information between our respective security services."
As earlier reported by the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Parubiy from February 25 through March 3 is on a working visit to Japan.
The political discourse in India touches a new low every day. While we were busy keeping a tab on leaders targeting their opposition in Uttar Pradesh and their choice of language, a disturbing video (shot on February 22) of the Bihar minister for excise and prohibition, Abdul Jalil Mastan, surfaced on Wednesday. It showed the minister asking the crowd at a rally to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modis photograph with slippers. He also called the PM a dacoit. The comment is so vicious and ungraceful that Mr Mastans boss, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, had to step in. The BJP, however, did not give in easily. The party protested in the assembly demanding the ministers expulsion from the cabinet and former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi said: Regret by CM Nitish is not enough and Mastan should be sacked from the cabinet.
Mr Mastan has also apologised for the remark but such belated apologies mean nothing. Mr Mastan should have been careful about the use of words and thought about the repercussions before speaking out against a fellow politician and a senior leader. As we have seen and heard before, such comments, unfortunately, have become par for the course in Indias politics. From communal slurs, gender-insensitive remarks, ugly casteist ones and personal insults, its free for all and none of this does us any credit as a mature democracy. It seems to have escaped many politicians that they can make a very forceful point by using satire, sarcasm and wit much more effectively than through name calling. We often talk of cleaning up politics, but this must also include the language of discourse. The same disease has entered Parliament and assemblies. Gone are the days when the exchanges between leaders had a certain decorum and civility even during bitterest political battles. Here the example of the debates in the British parliament is a case in point. There is bitter rivalry but the manner in which rivals are tripped up is always civil even if painful. In India, come election and anything goes.
So why do politicians resort to such derogatory tactics? One reason could be that in a country with low literacy levels such as India, personal attacks --- not ideas and issues ---- go down well with people and they tend to relish such direct attacks; but a more important issue could be that majority of our representatives do very little homework before targeting their opposition. Its much easier to come to the maidan and spew venom, but very difficult to delve into facts and figures and make a cogent argument. By calling someone a dacoit, Mr Mastan cannot hide that all he has in his arsenal are venomous words, not big ideas or thoughts.
Husbands visiting married women in residential degree colleges could distract other girl students this is the astoundingly flawed logic used by the Telangana government to enforce its decree that only unmarried women are eligible to pursue education in social welfare residential degree colleges in the state.
A notification by the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutes Society specifically stipulates that applications are invited only from unmarried women. This becomes all the more confusing when taken with the remarks by the society secretary that the purpose of these colleges was to break the cycle of child marriages. This is passing strange at a time when India is actively pursuing a womens empowerment agenda. Women are seeking equality in the workplace and in education.
Education has proved to be a great enabler for an increase in the age of marriage, better health for the mother and child and better chances in the job market.
The Telangana government has no legal or constitutional right to deny unmarried women admission to colleges and this can easily be challenged in a court of law. It is also an insult to women students to suggest that they could be distracted by a visiting husband.
The Telangana government has much on its plate with the prolonged drought, farmer suicides and lack of employment opportunities. The chief minister has been occupied in offering hugely expensive gifts to temples rather than address the problems that the new state is facing.
Child marriage is prevalent across the state and education will not only help curb this but also give new opportunities to those who have been married off early. The state should be actively encouraging women who were denied educational opportunities due to early marriage to get them later.
The diktat is also a denigration of the institution of marriage as though this were a deterrent to education. As it is, womens rights are not a priority for the government in the state but to institutionalise it smacks of extreme prejudice.
Education at any point in life should be encouraged, especially among women. The literacy rate in Telangana is just 66.5% as opposed to 91.1% in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. This makes it imperative to push education all round. This exclusion of married women also sends out the wrong signal to other educational institutions that might be tempted to follow this route. The state government must scrap this ridiculous rule and ensure a level playing field for all women in the education sector.
The middleman, who was arrested by Jharkhand police for helping two Class 12 students write the board examination from home, has said some school teachers were also involved in the cheating racket and that big money exchanged hands.
Bokaro police busted the racket after arresting Pradyuman Pandey, who was carrying answer sheets from homes of two intermediate examinees for submission at the examination centre - Industrial Area High School in Balidih - on Tuesday.
Pandey runs a private school in Balidih and he divulged that he was involved in the racket for money with help of some school teachers. He said a teacher of the school Madan Sau used to help him in the job, Balidih police station in-charge AK Singh said, adding Pandey was yet to reveal the money he used to charge the students.
Police were interrogating Pandey, who also indicated the involvement of education department and administrative officials. Based on Pandeys statement, police have also lodged an FIR against the two students.
The two students have been identified as Aman Kumar and Sushmita Kumari, who apparently got the question papers well in advance and wrote the exam at home. They have been marked absent.
Jharkhand exam racket lets you cheat from the comfort of your home
The centre superintendent and accused students are yet to be arrested.
Procedures will be followed to arrest them, Singh said, adding, interrogation of Pandey was on and they were expecting more revelations.
Meanwhile, all teachers at Industrial Area High School have been removed from the examination duty after Pandeys revelation of teachers involvement in the racket.
There were 22 teachers in the school. We have removed all from the examination duty and new teachers from other schools of Bokaro have been deputed for the job, Bokaro district education officer, Mahip Kumar Singh, said.
Use of unfair means has been reported since the beginning of the examination in Jharkhand. More than 300 students have been expelled for unfair practices in the state so far.
On February 20, pictures of class 12 English question paper went viral on WhatsApp, hardly 30 minutes after the exams began, raising concerns about the use of tech gadgets and mobile phones by students in examination halls.
The Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) board exams for matriculation (class 10) and intermediate (class 12) began on February 18. Nearly eight lakh students are appearing for the exams, which end on March 7, across 1385 centres in the state.
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Shubh Agrawal, a Class 11 student, has made Lucknow proud by scoring 1590 out of 1600 on SAT for admission in undergraduate programs of universities or colleges in the United States.
This is for the first time that any student from Lucknow has achieved this feat and this is probably the highest score in India for SAT, which was held on January 21 this year.
SAT is an entrance exam created by the College Board, USA and is used by most colleges and universities in the America and globally to make admission decisions.
I can look forward to not only successfully applying to the most elite colleges in the US, including Stanford, CalTech, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and others but will also get substantial scholarship, a jubilant Shubh, a student of City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar branch, told Hindustan Times.
Shubh, the son of paediatrician father and an anaesthetist mother, scored 800 out of 800 in the maths section and 790 out of 800 in the evidence-based reading and writing in English section. The 16-year-olds marks are the second highest score possible on the test.
His overall score of 1590 represented the highest percentile rank of 99+ in India, said Abha Anant, principal of CMS Gomti Nagar.
The test comprised 4 sections, two from English (reading and writing) and two from mathematics. The result is in the form of a score ranging from a minimum of 400 to a maximum of 1600, in intervals of 10 points.
USA UnivQuest is proud to have polished this gem for the world. Shubh is also planning to write AP tests in May to strengthen his application and maximise his scholarship, Sanjeev Kumar Pandey, centre coordinator and Shubhs mentor at USA UnivQuest, said.
Pandey said around 75% of the reputed colleges and universities in the USA placed a lot of importance on SAT scores while assessing the strength of an applicant.
According to the estimate of the USA UnivQuest research team, till date, less than 1500 students across the world have achieved a score of 1590 or higher. NK Dubey, centre head at USA UnivQuest, said with these scores, the sky is the limit for Shubh.
Shubh plans to pursue a pure sciences degree in physics.
The score would help me get admission to the best universities and with ample research facilities I plan to pursue a career as a research physicist in astrophysics and space technology development, Shubh, who loves music and reading, said.
Shubh plans to pursue a pure sciences degree in physics. (Handout image)
SAT is held in 175 countries across the world and around two million students write this test annually that is offered 7 times in a year.
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The 519 students who qualified the tough National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) entrance test to get into medical colleges only to get thrown out by the Medical Council of India (MCI) say they are depressed and see no way out of their predicament. Qualifying NEET to get into another medical college next year is impossible as they have no strength left to study for the exams again, they say.
The students were issued discharge notices by MCI, and asked to vacate their college seats as they had been directly admitted without counselling. Doing so meant violation of the Supreme Court order of September 28, 2016, to state governments to hold centralised counselling and allot colleges to students based on their NEET performance.
Calling the system unfair, students say they have high NEET scores and are being asked to leave their colleges even though others with low scores continue with their MBBS course as they got admission through counselling.
I scored 252 in NEET but I took direct admission and didnt appear for counselling. MCI has cancelled my admission. But in my college, many students who have come through counselling have scored less than 200, says Pratibha, a student from Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences, Gajraula, UP.
Students of FH Medical College, Tundla, Uttar Pradesh, told this correspondent that they were losing hope. We have worked hard for the last three months, were almost medicos - we have dissected cadavers, slogged, but they are asking us to do NEET again to join a college. We are not in a condition to even think about it. Studying for NEET is not like having a cup of tea, a young student said.
A group of young medical students from Hind Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, UP said they dreamt of being doctors in a country which had a severe shortage of medical personnel. This is grave injustice against us, one of them said. After three months we are being told to leave our college. How can we be motivated to write NEET again?
In an application under RTI to MCI, this correspondent had asked how many students in medical colleges in India had been issued discharge notices in the academic year of 2016-17. Responding to the application, MCI had provided a list of 17 colleges from four states which admitted the 519 students directly.
These include Hind Institute of Medical Sciences and Saraswati Medical College, Unnao, affiliated to King Georges Medical University, Lucknow. Krishna Mohan Medical College and Hospital, Mathura, affiliated to Dr BR Ambedkar University, Agra; Rajshree Medical Research Institute, Bareilly, and Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital, Bareilly, affiliated to MJP Rohilkhand University, among others.
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The Assam cabinets decision to introduce Sanskrit as a compulsory subject till Class 8 has evoked sharp criticism from students organisations and opposition political parties in the state.
The All Assam Students Union (AASU) has criticised the decision to make Sanskrit compulsory instead of promoting Assamese in schools.
We are not opposed to the Cabinet decision of making Sanskrit compulsory in schools under the state board but the government should clarify whether now there will be the four-language formula in Assam instead of the three-language formula followed in other states, AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya said on Thursday.
Moreover, there can be no compromise with the teaching of Assamese in schools and the language has to be a part of the syllabus in the state, he added.
The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) also alleged that the move to impose Sanskrit as compulsory subject till Class 8 was a well-orchestrated conspiracy being micro managed and monitored from Nagpur (the RSS headquarter).
The state government was preparing to recruit Sanskrit teachers from outside since the state now lacks the required strength but we wont allow teachers from outside the state to be recruited in our schools, AJYCP president Biraj Kumar Talukdar said in a statement in Guwahati.
The AJYCP said it was not opposed to Sanskrit in schools since it is the ancient language which needs to be promoted and preserved in schools and colleges but we are concerned by the way the government is trying to impose the subject in the state when it knows very well that there is a shortage of Sanskrit teachers in the state.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi alleged that education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was trying to warm up to the RSS and making Sanskrit compulsory was a step in that direction.
The state government should have taken more interest and initiative to introduce Assamese in all schools in the state, including those under central boards instead of imposing Sanskrit, he added.
NSUI state general secretary Jayanta Das said that they were not against Sanskrit as it is an ancient language and must be preserved but the way the BJP government is trying to impose on the student and the education system is not acceptable.
The Assam Cabinet at its recent meeting on February 28 had taken the decision to make Sanskrit a compulsory subject in all schools under the state board.
As we head into spring, it might be tempting to go for the chop, but keep in mind one very chic advantage of having long hair: the low ponytail.
The humble ponytail has been growing in popularity on the catwalk for a few seasons now, but it was given a complete fashion overhaul for Autumn/Winter 2017. In New York, Jason Wu opted for a sleek and minimalist look, while Tory Burch added ribbons to her models ponytails for a romantic spin on the trend. JW Anderson flipped them over one shoulder in London, and Olivier Theyskens kept them slightly ruffled in Paris.
Of course, the low pony isnt consigned to the catwalks; the trend has gained traction over the past few months thanks to multiple red carpet outings. Kim Kardashian has long been a fan of the do, while stars including Blake Lively, Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Alicia Vikander have all turned to the sleek style for high-profile events over the past year. When Olivia Culpo showed up at the 89th Academy Awards last weekend with her hair slicked back, tied back and almost reaching her waist, it became official: the low ponytail is the go-to look of the moment.
Models wearing low ponytails at the fashion shows of Tory Burch (L) and JW Anderson. (AFP)
So how do you recreate the look at home? The key is precision the simplicity of the low ponytail is deceptive. This is a look that works best with straight hair, so you might want to consider ironing out any kinks before beginning. Product is also usually required to master the sleekness that elevates this to a red carpet-worthy style.
Kim Kardashians hairstylist uses the stars own Kardashian Beauty K-Body Volume Foam to flatten the tops and sides of the crown once the hair has been parted, while vlogger Claire Ashley recommends using a hair gel applied with a toothbrush to achieve the desired shine, before finishing with hairspray to banish flyaways.
A razor-sharp centre parting is the most common baseline of the low pony, but you can also opt for a deep side part and using different accessories such as strips of suede to wrap around the base of the pony, for a more personalised result.
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The Gurgaon police have arrested four people, including two women, for allegedly providing several students with fake university marksheets and degrees. The police said the four, who had set up this racket in the city three years ago, were arrested after a specific complaint was received from someone against them.
Police said they recovered 103 fake degrees and certificates of different universities from their possession. One laptop and six stamps were also recovered, they added.
Those arrested were identified as Naveen (resident of Jhajjar), Mohammad (resident of Nuh, Mewat), Anushka (resident of Rohtak) and Poonam (resident of Allahabad).
According to the police, the group was arrested from their office in Sanjay Gram near Sector 14 from where they operated and had opened an office called Ambition Education.
Many fake documents and incriminating pieces of evidence were found from their office. This includes over 300 fake certificates, said inspector Raj Kumar, in-charge, crime investigation agency 9, Sector 39.
The police claimed that when they entered the office the women tried to burn the fake degrees and blank marksheets, but were stopped.
The police also said that one of those caught had passed out of one Hapur College but found his degree to be of a fake university as it had no UGC accreditation. It was probably there that he picked up the trick, said Kumar.
This man used to offer all sorts of degrees and marksheets from Class 12 to MSc, MA, MBA, MEd, MCom, BA, BSc, and hotel management in the names of Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan, Manav Bharti University, Himachal Pradesh University, Sunrise University and Karnataka University, police said.
Read more: Beware! Delhi tops fake education boards, univs in the country
The modus operandi involved giving advertisements in newspapers promising students all sorts of degrees with charges ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs2 lakh. Local institutes are also being investigated. The group also used to induce aspirants to enrol themselves at Ambition Education, said Kumar.
The police said they used a decoy customer in order to nab the group. The accused asked our decoy the year and percentage of marks he was seeking to be put in his marksheet. He was asked to pay Rs20,000 and told to bring another Rs 25,000 the next day, said the police official.
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Thousands of visitors, employees and managers of various bars and pubs in CyberHub, Sector 29, Gurgaon and those along the Sohna Road expressed happiness after hearing the news that the Supreme Court ban on sale of liquor is not applicable to them, but only to liquor vends.
While visitors said this decision will save these places from being shut down, the employees said their livelihood would have been destroyed had the ban been applied on them .
Read more: Partys on in Gurgaon: Bars, restaurants along highways in Haryana can sell liquor
Earlier, excise department officials in Gurgaon had identified 43 liquor vends and 143 pubs in the red zone, including CyberHub and Sohna Road, along the state and the national highways.
We are ecstatic with the decision of the Haryana government for protecting the interest of the industry as well as creating a responsible culture, said Rahul Singh, Haryana chapter head, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).
Ashish Kapoor, director, The Wine Company, CyberHub, said, Its very difficult to express how happy we are right now.
We are very happy that the clarification has come. We can now run our business without any tension, Ashwani Choudhary, managing director, Soi 7 hospitality said.
The Supreme Court has fixed March 20 as the date for hearing the petition seeking clarification and modification of its recent order wherein it directed closure of liquor vends, bars and restaurants located within 500 metres of state and national highways.
The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana (HRAH) had filed a petition on February 17. In the petition, the association mentioned that while the order banning liquor sale is meant for vends, the state excise department has interpreted it in a manner that affects thousands of bars and restaurants across the state. The association filed the petition after reportedly seeking a legal interpretation of the Supreme Court order from legal experts.
Read more: Gurgaons pub and bar owners to seek clarity on liquor ban from court
Manbeer Choudhary, president, HRAH, said experts are of the view that the order pertains only to liquor vends. We will withdraw the petition once we receive the information as the petition was filed to seek clarification, Choudhary said.
The apex court order dated December 15, 2016, had directed state governments to not renew licences of liquor vends operating within 500 metres of state and national highways after April 1, 2017. The court held them as a prime reason for fatalities caused by drunk driving.
The CyberHub area gets a daily footfall of about 35,000. This goes up to 45,000 on weekends. Gurgaon earns around Rs100 crore in revenue from the liquor industry.
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The district education officer(DEO) has asked all the schools across the city to upload the profile of each student on the Management Information System(MIS), the official education portal of the Haryana government, and link them with their Aadhaar card numbers.
The move followed bulk complaints of double admission in both CBSE and Haryana board schools. With the admission criteria in Haryana board a lot less tougher and demanding on the students, many parents get their wards admitted to schools run by either of the two boards in the quest of deriving certain benefits.
The DEO has also asked schools to send him a request if they want Aadhaar enrolment camps held for students on their campuses.
Read more: Gurgaon schools cannot use private vans to ferry children from April 1
The department will put together a database of all students of the district. All schools have been asked to furnish such data as the date of admission among others.
We already have collated the data of 1,12703 students of government schools and the profiles were linked with their Aadhaar card numbers before being put up on the portal. However, the private schools are yet to send us the profiles of their students, Neelam Bhandari, district education officer, said.
According to the department, the move is primarily aimed at ensuring that no child is enrolled at more than one school at once.
Many parents get their children admitted to both government and private schools in order to avail of the benefits that they provide. The move (to prepare a database) is aimed at curbing such double enrolments, Bhandari said.
The private school authorities said they are in the process of furnishing the data and will fully comply with the directive issued by the district education officer. The students of senior classes have already started providing their Aadhaar card details to the authorities of their respective schools.
Read more: Gurgaon school agrees to roll back fee hike after parents protest
Dhriti Malhotra, principal, Manav Rachna School, said, We have already started putting up the profiles of our senior students on the portal and have requested the parents of class 6 students and upwards to ensure that their wards have Aadhaar cards. Well soon start uploading the profiles of the junior students as well.
Education authorities said the provision of Aadhaar cards will ensure the students have a valid identification document, as they are not eligible for pan card or driving licence.
Rakhi Verma, principal of Ryan International School on Sohna Road, said, We have already uploaded the profiles of all our senior students and also held a camp for Aadhaar enrolment. We have 1,700 students and from class 9 onwards, all profiles have to be uploaded as it is mandatory for registration for the CBSE boards.
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The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Germany, Pavlo Klimkin and Sigmar Gabriel, respectively, have discussed in Kyiv was to enhance the efficiency of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) in eastern Ukraine.
"We had a very good discussion, during which we first focused on how we can jointly improve within the framework of the Normandy Four group (Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia) chances for attaining peace and forcing Russia to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements," Klimkin said during a joint press conference following the talks in Kyiv on Thursday.
Ukraine's FM said talks were also held in Munich at the level of foreign ministers of the Normandy Four.
"We are now working on how to strengthen the SMM OSCE's mission, on ways to reach a real ceasefire, and, most importantly, how the SMM can effectively control, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the line of demarcation throughout the whole of Donbas, as well as the Ukraine-Russia border," Klimkin said.
Top news stories to look out for today.
Jat agitation for quota in Delhi, rally planned at Jantar Mantar
Leaders and members of the Jat community will protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding reservations in education and government jobs. More than 10,000 protestors from the states of Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will participate in the rally. The leaders of the movement have asked their supporters to stop paying electricity, water bills and the instalment of loans that they owe to the government.
Read the full story here.
ABVP to organise demonstration in Delhi University
After students and teachers of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and other universities in the capital protested against the alleged violence of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad at Ramjas College, the ABVP will hold its own demonstration today, calling for the exclusion of the Left from the Delhi University campus.
Campaigning ends for Phase 6 of UP polls
Campaigning comes to a close in 49 Assembly seats in seven districts of eastern UP that go to the polls in the 6th phase on March 4. The key constituencies in this phase are Azamgarh which elected Mulayam Singh Yadav to the Lok Sabha, Gorakhpur, the Lok Sabha constituency of BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, and Mau, where gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari is in the fray. BJP President Amit Shah will be campaigning in Gorakhpur today.
Supreme Court to hear plea of Mumbai bar girls
The Supreme Court will hear a fresh plea challenging the constitutional validity of a 2016 Maharashtra law putting conditions on dance performances by girls and women in bars and hotels of state. The fresh plea, filed by Bharatiya Bargirls Union, has termed the new Act as arbitrary and violative of their right to earn a livelihood through legitimate means. It alleged that the new law stigmatised their profession and unreasonably interfered with free choice of expression. The union alleged that the term obscene dance in the Act has been deliberately kept vague to allow police to harass women performers.
Japanese emperor to meet abandoned Vietnamese women abandoned by Japanese soldiers
Japans emperor and empress are on a landmark visit to Vietnam and are expected to express their sympathies to Vietnamese families abandoned by their Japanese soldier-husbands after World War II. Sixteen surviving wives and their children have been invited to meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
Narendra Modi will address International Yoga Festival
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the InternationaI Yoga Festival at Rishikesh festival via video link. Nearly 70 presenters and experts from more than 20 countries around the world are participating in this years festival. The week-long event is being jointly organised by the AYUSH ministry, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Parmarth Niketan and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam.
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Gurmehar Kaur to HT: Dont want to enter politics
Gurmehar Kaur may have become the face of the fight against the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), but she is not really basking in the limelight. The 20-year-old, who took to the social media to criticise the ABVP after the Ramjas College clash, said she was saddened that the issue had gained a political hue. Gurmehar said she would not take her fight with the ABVP any further, drawing a comparison to a lion that roars just once.
Read the full story here.
Govts Skill India programme off to a dodgy start; possible fraud enrolment
The government says it trained about two million youth under the flagship Skill India programme but an HT investigation has found inconsistencies in the quality of training centres and possible fraudulent enrolment. The investigation showed two of the top 20 institutes lacked proper infrastructure and didnt have enough space to train even a fraction of the claimed number of candidates. Read the full story here.
Gujarat and Bengal among zones identified as prone to insurance fraud
Insurance companies have identified several pockets in Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha as fraud-prone owing to increasing instances of fraudulent claims from these areas. Companies have complained about the high claims ratio of the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), a pro-poor government-sponsored policy that offers a renewable life cover of Rs 2 lakh for a premium of Rs 330 a year. Data revealed that 30% of the claims came within the first 30 days of the person getting insured under this scheme.
Read the full story here.
Trump administration has found only $20 million in existing funds for US-Mexico border wall
President Donald Trumps promise to use existing funds to begin immediate construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border has hit a financial roadblock, according to a document seen by Reuters. The start of construction was to be financed, according to the White House, with existing funds and resources of the Department of Homeland Security. But so far, the DHS has identified only $20 million that can be re-directed to the multi-billion-dollar project, according to a document prepared by the agency.
Read the full story here.
Kansas shooting: Heres why Indias reaction to Kuchibhotlas killing was muted
Indias unusually cautious reaction to the apparent racially motivated killing of engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in the United States last week has raised eyebrows. New Delhis response has been measured, markedly devoid of any strong outburst despite its national becoming the first possible victim of a hate crime in US President Donald Trumps tenure. Experts say Indias reaction is guided by more pressing concerns of the US putting curbs on H-1B visas, which are the lifeblood of the Indian IT industry.
Read the full story here.
UP elections: The story of caste, conflict and why predictions are becoming difficult
Atomised social groups are making predictions difficult for polls that are in final phases in Uttar Pradesh. Voters are divided on religious and caste lines. Each region of the vast state has its unique electoral characteristics.
Read the full article here.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday inaugurated the new Legislature building on the state governments transitional headquarters premises at Velagapudi in the capital region of Amaravati.
Legislative Council Chairman A Chakrapani, assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad, several ministers and legislators attended the event.
Henceforth, meetings of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature will be held at Amaravati, beginning with the Budget Session from March 6.
The Legislative Council has a seating capacity of 90 and the Assembly 230. The current strength of the two Houses is 58 and 176 respectively.
Additional seating arrangements have been made in the new Legislature building to meet future requirements.
An ultra-modern gadget has been installed on each members table which will serve as a microphone, speaker, recorder and also, voting machine.
The sprawling Houses have more legroom for the members and the seats have a sliding facility.
Keeping in mind the unruly scenes in the Assembly in the past, when the Legislature building was located at Hyderabad, the Speakers chair and podium have been placed at a higher elevation.
BJP leader Juhi Chowdhury, who was arrested for her alleged link to a child trafficking racket in West Bengal and sent to 12 days CID custody, has named some influential political personalities during her grilling, a CID source said on Thursday.
Juhi is being interrogated about her alleged involvement in the child trafficking racket. She has mentioned the names of some influential political personalities during interrogation which we cannot reveal right now for the sake of the investigation, said an officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The officer also confirmed that Chowdhury would be interrogated together with prime accused Chandana Chakraborty for clarity in the case.
We would interrogate them together as well as separately as we need the corroboration and contradiction from both of them, he added.
Chowdhury, a former leader of Bharatiya Janata Partys Mahila Morcha (womens wing) in Jalpaiguri district, was arrested by the CID on Tuesday night from Batasia area, close to the India-Nepal border in Darjeeling and was sent by a court to 12 days CID custody on Wednesday.
Following the court order, the BJP removed her from the post of the state secretary of the Mahila Morcha.
Chowdhury went to Delhi with a woman accused of child trafficking without the partys consent. She has been removed from her post in BJP as her activity is harmful for the partys image, said BJP state president Dilip Ghosh.
According to sources, Chowdhury fled to a relatives house in Nepal for a few days to escape from the investigating agency before returning to the village near the Indo-Nepal border.
CID sleuths are also looking for her father Rabindranarayan Chowdhury, a local BJP leader who looked after Juhis financial transactions.
Chowdhurys arrest came after Chandana Chakraborty, arrested earlier in the same scandal, blamed her for wrongdoing and accused the BJP leader of negotiating with political heavyweights in Delhi about her child adoption centre.
Juhi assured me she would sort out all the issues. She might have talked to (BJP leaders) Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya. I was sitting in a separate room. We are innocent. We will definitely help in the investigation, Chakraborty alleged. Both Ganguly and Vijayvargiya have rubbished the charges.
The state BJP leadership, which conceded that the party was under some discomfort after the young leaders arrest, said it would not take her side if she is found guilty.
CIDs additional director general Rajesh Kumar, meanwhile, claimed Chowdhury was directly involved in trafficking of newborn children.
However, Chowdhury claimed she was innocent. I am innocent. They cant prove me guilty, she told the media.
CID sources said the agency has recovered from fellow accused Manas Bhowmik who was arrested last month -- a diary with detailed entries about Chowdhurys connection with traffickers.
According to the diary, Chowdhury accompanied prime accused and Jalpaiguri-based child adoption centre Bimala Sishu Griho chairperson Chandana Chakraborty to Delhi on February 2 and met BJP general secretary Vijayvargiya.
Chakraborty is now in custody along with her aide Sonali Mondal for selling at least 17 children through shady adoption deals.
Vijayvargiya cast aspersions on the police action and advocated a central agency probe.
I have no trust in the police investigation. In pursuance of a conspiracy, one after the other leaders of our party are being falsely implicated and arrested. We do not trust this (Bengal) government nor their police.
This government and their police can go to any extent. So, we would like to see the matter being probed by a central agency, he said.
Actor-turned-BJP MP Roopa Ganguly said those who are levelling such detestable charges against her and a young girl like Juhi Chowdhury would have to pay for it.
The judicial commission probing the jailbreak and subsequent killing of eight alleged SIMI fugitives in an encounter in Madhya Pradesh last October began hearing depositions behind closed doors on Wednesday to the disapproval of relatives of those killed.
Everything is private and secret here, lamented the father of one of the slain men, killed by police hours after they had reportedly escaped from a high-security prison in the state capital, Bhopal.
They have not given us the copy of the FIRs of the jailbreak and the encounter or even the postmortem report. My sons body had injury marks. How did he get them? Without these documents, our lawyers cannot argue the case, he added on condition of anonymity.
The jailbreak on October 31 night and the encounter the following morning on a hilltop on the outskirts of Bhopal raised suspicion and a host of questions. Videos purportedly showing policemen firing at some of the undertrials as they lay on the ground triggered allegations that the shooting was staged and the killings were cold-blooded murder.
Read more: Chief ministers changing stance worries Muslims in MP
The state government, however, quickly applauded the policemen, with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan felicitating and announcing cash awards for the officers who participated in the operation. It was only after a nationwide outcry over the manner of the killings that the cash awards were kept in abeyance and the authorities ordered a judicial probe to establish the truth.
But human rights groups constantly accused the government of dragging its feet over the investigation.
The Madhya Pradesh government set up the one-man commission headed by retired high court judge SK Pandey by an order on November 7.
Read more: SIMI encounter: Physically unfit cop led the operation
Pandey took charge formally only on December 5 after the government allotted an office in Vindyachal Bhavan and provided him with staff, including two former judicial officers.
His initial tenure was for three months. It expired on February 7 and he has been given an extension of another six months.
Officials admitted that the commission till date has not visited the encounter site or spoken to the families of those killed. It has so far collected 5,000 pages of documents from police, jail and forensic departments and also from lawyers of the men killed in the encounter.
Read more: How SIMI evolved from moderate students organisation to banned militant group
The judges decision to hold in-camera hearings have added to the exasperation of the slain mens relatives. Some of them who came from Ujjain and Khandwa for Wednesdays proceedings said they had little option but to hope that justice would be done.
Terms of the commission Under what situation and circumstances the eight undertrial prisoners escaped from the central jail in Bhopal around midnight of October 30-31? Which officer and employee are responsible for the incident? Under what situation and circumstances, and how all the eight prisoners who escaped from the jail were killed in a police encounter on October 31 at Manikheda village. Whether the police action was reasonable, keeping in view the prevalent situation at the time of encounter. Suggestions to prevent repetition of prisoner escape. Any other subject connected to the inquiry.
Social activist Harsh Mander, however, was stronger in his reaction.
The private hearing is absolutely wrong. It goes against democratic norms. When the state is suspected of having resorted to extra-judicial killing it is necessary to hold the hearing in public with all transparency and openness. The public needs to be reassured that the state has done the right thing, at the time when the official narrative is implausible, he said.
Anand Mohan Mathur, a former state advocate general, said though the judge was within his rights, it was wrong to have a private hearing. This is a public matter and the hearing should be public. It is not a family dispute that has to be settled privately, he said.
Police complaints were filed in cities across the country on Thursday against a man after a vulgar cartoon on Prime Minister Narendra Modi was uploaded on his Twitter handle.
IP Singh, a BJP leader from Lucknow and a former Uttar Pradesh minister, said one Mitesh Patel posted the cartoon on Twitter on Wednesday and it was retweeted by at least 292 people.
I decided to file an FIR after reading the response of several women and girls, who demanded immediate police action against him.
The Karnataka unit of the BJP filed a case against the cartoonist, who is suspected to be from Gujarat, the Prime Ministers home state.
The offensive toon was not even his original, but a rip-off of a foreign caricature in which Modis images were super-imposed and the writings changed.
Our members and also those of the RSS will file cases against this across the country, BJP spokesperson Shantaram said.
Patel comes across as a person with a sick and sadist mindset who draws vicarious pleasure by causing harm to others, he alleged.
In the complaint, the party alleged that it looks like the creator of this caricature takes pride in his creation, going by the audacious way in which he has defended and justified his totally atrocious creation.
Patel, who faces arrest, was not available for comments.
He had tweeted earlier in the day that a poster is more powerful than a 1000 Godse. He offensive post was not removed either.
In Lucknow, BJP leader Singh accused the cartoonist of doing the bidding of the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress. He said the header of Patels Twitter account had a picture of Arvind Kejriwal and that proved his inclination to AAP and Congress.
Singhs argument sounded tenuous as any mischief-maker could have a Kejriwal photo on his Twitter handle and post rude remarks on Modi.
Police Inspector Kunwar Prabhat Singh of Lucknows Vibhuti Khand police station said a probe with the cyber cells help would unearth the truth.
The cartoonist faces charges such as promoting enmity between groups, publishing obscene material on social media, and inciting people to cause offence. If proved guilty under these charges, he will end up drawing cartoons in jail for a good many years.
(with inputs from HT Lucknow)
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The Congress on Thursday demanded a public apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for misleading the nation by distorting, twisting and falsifying Rahul Gandhis speech in Manipur on Tuesday.
Modiji tried to mislead the nation and the people of Uttar Pradesh about a remark made by Rahul Gandhi on the progress of a northeastern state which is essentially a part of Indias growth story. Modiji does not want the people of Manipur and northeastern states to progress and participate in Indias growth story, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters.
The Congress also showed the separate videos of the speeches of Gandhi in Manipur and Modi in Uttar Pradesh.
The truth is that Modiji does not speak the truth. That was more than apparent from a video which depicts that blatant lies, jumlas and misinformation has become the hallmark of Indias Prime Minister, Surjewala said.
Addressing an election rally in Maharajganj on Wednesday, the Prime Minister sought to ridicule the Congress vice-president over a comment he never made about coconuts growing in the northeastern state of Manipur.
Modi referred to Gandhis reported comment that he was waiting for the day when packaged coconut juice from Manipur would sell in London. Most major Indian news outlets, including Hindustan Times, had erroneously reported Gandhis so-called coconut comment.
There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life ... He recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut possesses water (and not juice) and it is grown in Kerala, said Modi. Such a talented and far-sighted leader he is.
The jibe, however, was misplaced as Gandhi, during a campaign meeting in Manipur on Tuesday, had spoken about the state taking a lead in marketing its oranges, lemons and pineapples fruits that do grow there.
The election campaign in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, that are voting to elect new assemblies has largely been bitter. Modi and Gandhi have targetted each other in public meetings. Leaders have even launched personal attacks and some have been prone to gaffes.
So, Modiji must now apologise not to the Congress party alone but the entire nation and express regrets publicly for misleading the people of Uttar Pradesh as also the entire country by distorting, twisting and falsifying the words of the leader of the principal opposition party, Surjewala said.
It does not behove a Prime Minister. Modiji has lowered the dignity of the office of the Prime Minister that he holds and he should be ashamed about it. We are sorry and sad in saying these words about the Prime Minister who has become a habitual offender in telling lies, he added.
The Congress leader also called the BJP as Bahut Jhooti Pathshaala.
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Security forces apprehended a Hizbul Mujahideen militant in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, police said on Thursday.
A joint team of army, CRPF and police apprehended Hilal Ahmad Bhat from Dahwatoo in Awantipora area last night following a tip-off, a police official said.
He said two Chinese grenades, one camouflage uniform, one knife and some other incriminating material were recovered from Bhats possession.
Bhat had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen ranks recently, the official said adding a case under relevant sections of the Ranbir Penal Code have been registered against him.
UP Police on Thursday recorded the statement of the 16-year-old girl, who was sexually assaulted and her mother repeatedly gang-raped allegedly by state minister Gayatri Prajapati and his aides, at AIIMS in New Delhi.
However, the lawyer and family members of the girl accused police of threatening and forcefully recording the statement.
Deputy superintendent of police Ameeta Singh recorded the girls statement after seeking permission from the medical superintendent. She also interacted with the girls mother.
I recorded the statement of the minor girl and the entire process was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Her mother, who is the complainant, was sitting next to me when the statement of her daughter was being recorded, she said.
Mehmood Pracha, the lawyer representing the mother, strongly objected to the recording of statement saying proper procedure was not followed.
Firstly, they did not take permission from the doctor treating the victims. Also, the police threatened the mother and the daughter. They also snatched their mobile phone. The girl is still in trauma, he alleged.
How can they use such force to record her statement? Also, on what basis were they recording the mothers statement when she has already got her statement recorded in front of a chief metropolitan magistrate in Lucknow? asked Pracha.
The mother of the minor, who claimed to have been repeatedly gang-raped for over two years on the promise of a position in the states ruling Samajwadi Party and sand mining contracts, had moved the Supreme Court, which ordered registration of an FIR against the minister and his accomplices in the February 18 incident.
According to doctors treating the girl at AIIMS, she was in a state of severe trauma.
She is living in constant fear. She is unable to sleep at night. Whatever happened with her and her mother keeps coming back to her. We have put her on medication and she is undergoing behavioural therapy, they said.
The government says it trained about two million youth under the flagship Skill India programme but an HT investigation has found inconsistencies in the quality of training centres and possible fraudulent enrolment.
Data from the schemes nodal body, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), showed just 34 institutes 0.2% of the total trained almost 40% candidates under the first phase of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana( PMKVY).
But an HT investigation showed two of the top 20 institutes lacked proper infrastructure and didnt have enough space to train even a fraction of the claimed number of candidates.
For instance, when HT visited Softdot Institute in a crowded neighbourhood near Preet Vihar Metro Station in east Delhi, it found five small rooms with minimal furniture earmarked for the scheme. Softdot claims to have trained more than 30,000 students in a year.
The institutes said they issued sub-contracts to smaller centres spread across the city to achieve the numbers but NSDC issued contradictory statements about monitoring these institutes.
Moreover, the NSDC hasnt been able to verify the mandatory Aadhaar number of more than 570,000 students a year after the PMKVY-1 ended. This is an indication, experts say, of a large number of non-existent candidates or multiple enrolments of a single candidate to inflate the total number.
The data indicates various anomalies in the scheme which the government should seriously get investigated though an independent body, said Raj Pal Arora, former member of the Construction Skills Development Council.
Other experts say the government was aware of the woeful condition of most training centers and hence slashed the number of certified institutes from 12,181 in PMKVY-1 to just 1,400 in the second.
It shows that majority of training providers either lacked infrastructure or didnt have good trainers which overall resulted in poor training in PMKVY I. Otherwise, why will NSDC reduce the number of training companies in the second phase of PMKVY? says Colonel (Retd) NB Saxena, a construction skills consultant.
But the NSDC dismissed any speculation of compromise in quality. We just enhanced the infrastructural requirement in PMKVY II and till now only 1,400 centres have been able to fulfill the requirement, said Jayant Krishna, chief operating officer, NSDC.
The scheme
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the much-hyped scheme on July 15,2015 with a corpus of Rs 1,500 crore and an aim to train 2.4 million youth. But the first phase saw just 5% placement, that too mostly in low-skill blue-collar jobs.
Despite the problems, the government upped its allocation under the skills training programme in this years budget with two new schemes and Rs 6,000 crore. The NSDC disbursed Rs 1,000 crore out of the total budget of Rs 1500 crore till December 2016.
Read | Skill India needs a Tell India: We need to match skills with real jobs
The training centres
NSDC data accessed by HT under the Right to Information (RTI) Act showed an incredible 420,513 candidates a fifth of the total -- were trained by the top 10 institutes four of them in the national capital region alone.
The fifth-largest of them, Softdot Institute, refused to answer how it managed to train more than 30,000 candidates in a year. HT found that Softdot has five centers across the city.
But another Delhi-based institute -- Possit Skill Organisation that claimed to have trained 12,955 candidates provided some answers.
Possit ran an aviation academy in Delhis posh South Extension but a receptionist told HT that the centre ran no programme under the PMKVY scheme.
For skilling, we have only three centres in Saharanpur Road, Loni; Jaitpur Raod, Badarpur and Jamia Nagar in Okhla, she added.
HT visited the three centres, all inside crumbling buildings on narrow bylanes. The centre at Badarpur had three rooms.
An employee at the centre told HT Possit entered into franchisee arrangement with 50 other institutes, driving the number of total candidates trained to 12,000-plus.
The government provides loans at subsidised rates or gives funds for other skill programmes to its training partner centres.
The PMKVY-1 manual allowed such arrangements but mandated the details be uploaded on the skill development management system (SDMS).
The conflicting responses
In an RTI reply, the NSDC said it had no role in the arrangements and didnt maintain a database. The data of training undertaken by franchises is available with concerned training partners, said the body. Trainers refuse to share franchise details with HT.
But Krishna gave a conflicting response, saying NSDC maintained complete data of training centres and training partners but refused to share it.
Saxena said this was an indication that the process manual had been flouted. Each training provider gets a unique user id and password to access SDMS and upload student details. But training providers shared id and password with multiple franchises that use the same details to upload candidate particulars, he added.
Fraudulent enrolment?
The other irregularity was found in uploading Aadhaar details of candidates. Under the scheme, a grant of an average Rs 8,000 is directly transferred to the students account through the Aadhaar details and bank accounts uploaded by the training providers on the NSDCs server.
NSDC data showed only 1.4 million people were assessed and awarded certificate while the Aadhaar numbers of 571,880 couldnt be validated.
Arora said every training provider was aware that a candidates Aadhaar number was mandatory to get the grant. If 5.71 lakh candidates Aadhaar details are not available, it means training providers either enrolled non-existent candidates or multiple enrollment of one candidate to falsely escalate total figure, he said.
Saxena agreed, saying training providers might have engaged in fraud to get a bigger share of the government grant.
Krishna told HT that under PMKVY- II, the Aadhaar ID of all trainees were validated at the time of batch creation to prevent any bogus enrolments.
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After years of delays and controversies, the Kalvari Indias first Scorpene submarine successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile at a target in the Arabian Sea on Thursday.
The submarine reportedly fired an Exocet SM 39 missile at a decommissioned tugboat, confirming that India has now been armed with a significant naval capability.
The submarine, which can carry 18 torpedoes and travel 1,020 km underwater, is expected to help the Indian Navy fulfil its long-cherished dream of becoming a full-fledged blue-water navy. The Kalvari was built indigenously, under a venture called Project 75, at Mumbais Mazagon Docks.
Under this project, the Indian Navy was authorised to build six submarines in collaboration with French firm DCNS. The Kalvari, which began undergoing sea trials in May last year, has been the first underwater vessel from Mazagon Docks to do so since May 28, 1994. The INS Shankul was the last submarine built by Mazagon Docks to be commissioned into the Indian Navy.
The next five submarines are to be rolled out from Mazgaon Docks at intervals of nine months each.
The state-of-the-art features of the Kalvari include superior stealth and the ability to launch crippling attacks on the enemy with precision-guided weapons. The attack can be carried out with torpedoes as well as tube-launched anti-ship missiles whilst underwater or on the surface. The stealth features accord it invulnerability unmatched by other submarines of the kind.
This Scorpene submarine is designed to operate in all theatres of war, including the tropics. It has been endowed with every mode of communication required to ensure interoperability with other components of a naval task force. Kalvari is capable of handling multifarious missions typically undertaken by any modern submarine, such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine-laying and area surveillance.
High-tech features
The Kalvari is built with a special kind of high-tensile steel thats capable of withstanding high yield stress, thereby allowing it to withstand high hydrostatic force while diving deeper to enhance stealth. It is also equipped with weapon-launching tubes, and is capable of carrying weapons that can be easily reloaded at sea. The vast array of weapons and sensors fitted aboard the Scorpene submarine is managed by a high-tech combat management system.
Present status
The submarine was undocked on a pontoon on April 6, 2015. After the vacuum testing and battery loading phases were completed, it was launched at the naval dockyard on October 28, 2015, and thereafter brought back for completion of the basin and harbour acceptance trials.
Following that, it was sent for sea trials.
The tiger shark of our seas
The Kalvari has been dubbed as a dreaded tiger shark protecting our coasts. In keeping with the countrys mythologies and naval tradition, its a reincarnation of the first Indian submarine to be commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 8, 1967. The previous Kalvari served for nearly three decades, before being decommissioned on May 31, 1996. Today, it has been reincarnated by Mazagon Dock as an even more powerful predator of the deep guarding the borders and maritime interests of the nation with a zeal that should go a long way in discouraging its enemies.
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India on Thursday strongly condemned the twin terror attack in Kabul killing more than a dozen people, and voiced its resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to justice.
India has been a victim of terrorist violence and understands the pain and suffering of the people of Afghanistan.
We reiterate our resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to the justice they deserve wherever they may be, the external affairs ministry said in a statement here.
It also conveyed condolences to the people and the government of Afghanistan for the loss of lives and property in Wednesdays blast. It is our sincere hope that the injured will make early recovery, it added.
The near-simultaneous attacks struck the Afghan capital around noon on Wednesday. First, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun battle between the police and several attackers.
In the second attack, a bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul.
A spokesperson for the Taliban sent a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, which he said had killed dozens of soldiers, police and intelligence officials.
Sunayana, the widow of an Indian engineer killed in a racially motivated shooting in Kansas, has expressed her desire to go back to the US to fulfil her husbands dream.
It is the least I could do for my Srinivas - fulfill his dreams through my eyes - and it is for this I have to come back to the USA, she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting at a restaurant in Kansas on Wednesday night. Another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the incident.
Sunayana, who works for Intouch Solutions in Kansas, also said that a question which was on every immigrants mind was whether they belong in the country anymore and if it was safe for them to raise families there.
She also urged the leaders of global tech industry to keep defending human rights as they employ a large number of immigrants.
Thanks to people like Satya Nadella (CEO-Microsoft) and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg (Founder- Facebook), Sundar Pichai (CEO-Google), Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights, she said in a Facebook post.
We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, its an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I dont want anyone to go through what my family and household went through, she added.
She thanked the Telangana government for extending support to bring the body of Srinivas back home from the US.
I will now ask same question on what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, its not based on the colour of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them afterward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrants mind, Do we belong here. Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here? she wondered.
After President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan on behalf of the US House of Representatives has condoled the death of the Indian techie. Ryan met visiting foreign secretary S Jaishankar and expressed the Houses condolences on the death of Kuchibhotla.
Jaishankar is currently visiting the US to hold consultations and talks with Trump administration officials to develop a roadmap of the Indo-US ties for next four years.
Our peoples must continue to stand together, Ryan said.
His comments over the incident came hours after Trump condemned as evil and hate the fatal Kansas shooting by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled terrorist and get out of my country before opening fire on the Indians.
In a big relief to soft drink majors Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Thursday lifted the ban on water supply from Thamirabarani River to their bottling plants located at Gangaikondan village in Tirunelveli district.
The bottling plants of the soda giants were located in the industrial growth centre set up by SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) in the south Tamil Nadu village, and were allowed to draw three million gallons of water per day from the river.
The courts two-member Madurai bench of justice A Selvam and justice P Kalaiyarasan dismissed the PILs seeking permanent ban on use of water by the two majors and also vacated an interim injunction granted by the court in November last year.
The high court had issued orders to SIPCOT to stop water supply to the two units last year.
The Madras high court had initially injuncted PepsiCo from drawing water from the river in November 2016. However, after detailed hearing, the high court has vacated the interim orders and dismissed the writ petitions, holding that there is no environmental impact on account of drawal of water by PepsiCo from Thamirabarani river, advocates representing Pepsico said.
This is a critical judgment, both for PepsiCo and Coca-Cola as water from this river caters to half of both the companies production capacity for south India, the Pepsico legal team said.
A PIL seeking ban on water to the giants was filed by Tirunelveli district consumer protection association secretary and former MLA, DA Prabhakar, in addition to another similar one.
The petitioner said as the two companies gobbled up huge quantities of water, estimated at 30 lakh litres per day, they should be barred from exploiting the natural resource as it was adversely affecting the farming community. He also cited a Supreme Court ruling to argue that water should not be used for commercial purposes.
The judges had, during a previous hearing, questioned why the petitioners left out other soft drink manufacturers of the region and instead filed a case against the two companies.
The soda giants denied allegations that they were exploiting river water. The government advocate submitted to the court in a counter affidavit that there was sufficient water in the river and only surplus was allowed to be supplied to the two companies.
The exploitation of natural resources is one of the major arguments put forward by domestic soft drink makers and traders who began a boycott of the two cola majors in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
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Suspected Maoists allegedly shot dead an 18-year old boy over delay in serving them food in Bihars Rohtas district, 158km from state capital Patna, on Wednesday.
Rohtas police said the incident took place at Goreya, a tribal village in Darigaon police outpost area of the district. They quoted the villagers as saying that members of Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC)a splinter group of CPI (Maoist)were involved in the incident.
Police said TPC zonal commander Anil Kushwaha alias Rakesh Mishra and 10 members of the outfit had gone to the village to attend a marriage ceremony.
Kushwaha, who was put up outside the village, demanded food at 7pm. He was then told that it was too early and it would take some more time to prepare the meal. After an hour, he reached the wedding venue and called the boys assigned to serve them the food. One of the boys who turned up was taken to the chowk area of the village and shot dead, the police said.
The deceased, identified as Jitendra Kharwar, was son of Uma Shankar Kharwar of the same village.
Police said the body of the victim lay at the chowk for hours as the villagers stayed away out of fear.
The police, who were informed of the incident after many hours, reached the village on Thursday and brought the body to Sasaram for postmortem examination.
A case was registered at the Kotwali police station here on Thursday against Bihar minister Abdul Jalil Mastan for allegedly asking a crowd at a public rally to hit the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with shoes.
The rally was organised against the Prime Ministers demonetisation move at Mastans Amour assembly constituency in Purnia district, 370 km from state capital Patna, on February 22.
Bankipore (Patna) MLA Nitin Navin, who lodged the case, accused Mastan of spreading hatred and disturbing social harmony and peace. In his complaint, the BJP lawmaker also levelled sedition charges against the minister and questioned his citizenship.
The police should also investigate if Mastan, who is the excise and prohibition minister in Bihar government, was an Indian citizen, Navin later told HT.
Kotwali station house officer Ram Shankar said the MLAs complaint had been forwarded to the Amour police station.
Earlier, a video clip showing Mastan calling his supporters to punish Modi had kicked up a controversy, with a fuming BJP demanding his dismissal from the Nitish Kumar cabinet.
After raking up the controversy, Mastan had on Wednesday tendered an apology stating that his assertion was not aimed at hurting anyone.
I apologise if my statement or statements of my people have hurt anyone, he said.
Meanwhile, a complaint case has been filed in a Hajipur court against Mastan, adds PTI.
Rajiv Kumar Sharma, advocate in Hajipur civil court, filed the complaint case against Mastan and four others in the court of chief judicial magistrate Jai Ram Prasad with a plea that he was hurt by the ministers remarks and hence a case of sedition be lodged against him (minister).
In his petition, Sharma said he saw the ministers footage on various TV channels on Wednesday and was hurt by Mastans remarks.
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A man axed his wifes right leg from the knee down after suspecting her of infidelity, kept her locked inside their home for two days, treated her wound with home remedies, and used the severed limb as a pillow.
The shocking crime happened at Udaipura village in Madhya Pradeshs Damoh district on Tuesday evening, after Harprasad, a 27-year-old tribal farmer, had an argument with wife Anita whom he accused of having an extra-marital affair.
The 22-year-old wife threatened to leave the house when the husband kept shouting at her.
Incensed by her threat, Harprasad chopped off her leg to prevent her from running away.
Then he locked her inside the house, tied a tourniquet above the wound to stop the bleeding, and treated her with a paste of lime and turmeric.
In the meantime, he wrapped the detached leg in a piece of cloth, kept it on the bed and used it as his head rest, police officer AK Nimama said on Friday.
Harprasad did not take her to a hospital fearing that his crime would be exposed.
As the couple lives alone and doesnt have children, he managed to keep his crime a secret, for some time at least.
But Harprasads father, who lives nearby, got suspicious as he hasnt seen his daughter-in-law for a couple of days. He informed police.
Police found Anita lying on a bed and a putrid smell coming out of the severed leg.
The young woman was shifted to Damoh district hospital.
A policeman said Anitas condition was critical because of blood loss, and an infection has set in on the exposed wound. Now she appears to be better.
Anita will have to live without her right leg.
Joining the chopped leg surgically is out of question. She would have got gangrene had the wound been kept untreated for some more time, a doctor said.
Harprasad has been arrested and charged with attempt to murder, which attracts a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail and a fine.
He told police he attacked Anita in a fit of rage, and panicked after realising the enormity of his crime.
A physically-challenged eyewitness in a murder case was burnt alive in Bihars Gaya district, 107km from Patna, late on Tuesday night.
The incident took place at Narawat village in Atari police station area, about 40 km from Gaya.
Police said victim Upendra Pandey, 46, was to depose in a Gaya district court on Wednesday in connection with the murder case. An FIR lodged by Pandeys wife Chinta Devi with Atari police station had named five persons as accused, the police added.
Chinta Devi said she had gone to Gaya to purchase some medicines for her husband when the incident took place. When she reached home on Wednesday morning she found the burnt body of her husband, Chinta Devi told reporters.
Pandey was an eyewitness in a murder case and the accused had been mounting pressure on him to stay away from the case, she said, adding that her husband was to appear in the Gaya district court on Wednesday.
Chinta Devi said her husband was attacked about five years back also. He was brutally assaulted and the right part of his body was paralysed, she added.
A police team, led by Atari sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Vijay Kumar, which reached Pandeys house had to face villagers ire. However, the SDPO managed to pacify the villagers and sent the body for post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, the police have launched a massive manhunt to arrest the named accused who are said to have gone into hiding.
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Police in Hyderabad on Thursday arrested a couple for selling their newborn girl child for Rs 35,000 with the help of a doctor and a couple of mediators.
While the couple was paid Rs 10,000, the remaining amount was shared by the doctor and the mediators.
The incident took place at a private nursing home in Ibrahimpatnam town on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
According to K Narsing Rao, inspector in the special operations team (SOT) of Rachakonda police, K Vanitha (26) of Sathithanda hamlet of Loyapally village, had given birth to a girl child at the local Telangana Multi Speciality Hospital on February 28.
Her husband Korra Jawaharlal, however, wanted to get rid of the baby, as she was the third girl child for them.
The couple contacted Dr Nerella Shankar of the same hospital and his friend Srinivas and struck a deal for Rs 10,000.
Shankar and Srinivas, with the help of a mediator, Shanta, traced a childless couple, E Ravi and Varalakshmi, and sold the girl child to them for Rs 35,000.
While Jawaharlal was paid Rs 10,000, the doctors and mediators shared the remaining amount.
On a tip off, we raided the hospital on Thursday and interrogated Shankar, who admitted to having committed the offence, Rao said.
Apart from the girls biological parents, police also arrested the couple who bought the child, besides the doctor and two middlemen.
The rescued girl child was handed over to the state-run Sishu Vihar, that operates under the women development and child welfare department.
The Andhra Pradesh Child Rights Association strongly condemned the sale of the baby girl.
Trading of girl children has become a big market in Telangana. The women and child welfare department has utterly failed in creating awareness among the people in rural areas about girl children. The department has a programme called Ooyala (cradle) to propagate the importance of grooming and educating girl children, but it never bothered to implement it, association honorary president P Achyuta Rao said.
He demanded rehabilitation of the rescued child and cancellation of the hospitals licence.
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The Union environment ministry plans to celebrate World Wildlife Day on March 3 by destroying ill-gotten trophies of poachers including hides, scales, horns and tusks. The items will be burned in the incinerator at Delhi Zoo in the presence of environment minister of state Anil Madhav Dave.
State chief wildlife wardens have been invited by the environment ministry to contribute to the stock being burnt. Some of the confiscated items will come from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
THE BIGGEST BURNS April, 30, 2016: Kenya burnt down 105,000 kg of ivory and rhino horns March 3, 2015: Kenya destroyed 15,000 kg of ivory tusks July 19, 1989: Kenya burnt 12,000 kg of ivory April 29, 2015: United Arab Emirates destroyed 10,000 kg of ivory April 14, 2016: Malaysia burnt 9500 kg of ivory (Source: News reports)
The Delhi Zoo was also the site of the last such destruction devised by the ministry. In 2014, at least four truckloads of confiscated items were destroyed and the incineration lasted for four days, according to Riyaz Khan, the curator at the Delhi Zoo. On that occasion, a stockpile worth Rs 20 lakh was destroyed.
World Wildlife Day is celebrated on March 3 to mark the signing of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Under CITES there are bans in place on the trade of ivory and rhino horns.
Destruction by incinerator, open burning of stockpiles or crushing of tusks and horns are all done to deter poachers. Kenya burnt down the largest stock of ivory last year in April weighing about 105 tonnes.
The ministry is not revealing how much stock will be incinerated because all state governments have not responded yet.
Supporters believe incineration stifles the market for these goods by curbing supply. Shekhar Kumar Niraj, head of wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, said that destroying the confiscated stash is important because storing it comes with risks. There is a possibility that the ivory gets out because of the connivance of officials, Niraj said, the price of these goods is always rising, the stockpiled items are at risk.
In some of the raids conducted by the bureau the items confiscated were already marked, Niraj said suggesting that they had been leaked back into the market.
Safeguarding confiscated goods also requires resources, both infrastructure and manpower.
Other conservationists support this move but believe more needs to be done. The demand side is equally important, the markets have to be closed, Varun Goswami, a conservationist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said. Demand for these wildlife products is high in countries like China and Japan because they are believed to have medicinal value.
In December last year, the Chinese government committed to stamp out the market for poached animal parts in the country by end of 2017. It was hailed as a big step towards making the trade in these items unattractive.
However, some countries in Africa like South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe have pushed for legal sales of the stocks of confiscated items and investing some of the proceeds in conservation efforts. Goswami believes that legalising ivory sales is no way to curb poaching as it keeps demand alive.
More than 1200 animals were killed by poachers in India between 2013 and 2016, as per government data.
In 2014 items that are ostentatiously luxurious were destroyed at the Delhi Zoo incinerator. India faces a somewhat peculiar problem. Some of the items may not just be high monetary value in the black market but hold sacred value like ivory idols.
The less glamorous option of incineration may be a safe choice for the government since burning stockpiles in the open like Kenya has done might invite protests and could also aggravate Delhis high pollution.
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The army may have to wait longer to induct new anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), as the defence ministry has appointed a committee to examine a Rs 3,200-crore deal that was about to be closed.
An army source told Hindustan Times that a committee, headed by a two-star general, will examine procedural aspects of the deal for Israeli Spike ATGM systems, manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd.
While India chose the Israeli ATGM over US defence and aerospace firm Raytheons Javelin system three years ago, the deal was delayed as commercial issues needed to be ironed out.
The deal was ready to be put up for clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Security. But now we will have to wait for the panels report, the source said on the condition of anonymity .
India is negotiating the purchase of 321 launchers and 8,356 fire-and-forget missiles with the Israeli firm.
The missile can destroy armoured vehicles and bunkers from a distance of 2.5 km and the army plans to equip more than 400 of its infantry and mechanised units with the third-generation ATGM systems.
The armys requirement for larger number of launchers and missiles will be met through licensed production of the ATGM systems by state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The army currently uses Milan and Konkur ATGMs built by BDL under license from French and Russian firms, respectively.
Lee Min Ho Becomes The Face Of Oppo In Thailand's Subway Billboards
Lee Min Ho remains to be one of the most popular movies and drama icons not just in Korea but all over the world. In fact, the actor is one of the most popular Korean faces in the United States. This time his pretty faced is plastered all over the subway station in Thailand given the number of endorsement deals he had with Innisfree and Oppo R9.
Early in February, the "Legend of the Blue Sea" actor was in Thailand to film his commercial for the aforementioned brands. Now, Lee Min Ho's face is all over the city specifically to the subway station. The actor's trip to Thailand has been a remarkable one a GIF even went viral as the said image revealed the actor's real nature.
The actor was in the airport when a lot of people went on to greet him. One of the fans tripped and despite being encouraged by his guards to move along, Lee Min Ho stopped in his tracks to make sure that the fan that had an accident got up alright. This thoughtful move was noted by everyone and it went viral right away.
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Given the number of endorsements the actor has in Thailand, seeing his face all over the country doesn't come as a surprise. In the newest Oppo commercials in Thailand, Lee Min Ho's face was hidden although it is not much of a secret since the actor's face is plastered all over the billboards in the subway. The promotional posters look a bit like an art exhibit given the number of posters with the actor's face. Just recently, Lee Min Ho received an award for promoting Korea all over the world and there is no denying that the actor deserves the award especially with his latest promotion in Thailand.
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Yoga will lead to a new era of togetherness and harmony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
Calling yoga the journey from me to we, Modi said: Yoga makes an individual a better person in thought, action, knowledge and devotion.
The world today is also threatened by the twin challenges -- terrorism and climate change, he said via video conference as the 29th edition of the International Yoga Festival opened in Rishikesh.
Talking on global peace, Modi said, There should be peace among nations and only peaceful families can constitute peaceful society.
Yoga is the way to create such a harmony and peace within individuals, family, society, nation and ultimately all over the world, he added.
On combating climate change, Modi asked people to move away from the lifestyle of bhoga (consumption) to one of yoga.
On the positive impact of yoga and ills of modern lifestyle, Modi said: There is ample evidence that practising yoga helps combat stress and chronic lifestyle-related conditions.
The International Yoga Festival is jointly organised by the ministry of AYUSH, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and the Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh.
Launding the recent achievements of scientists in defence and space technologies, Modi said: We in India believe in researching both the frontiers of science and technology, as also, researching deep within our souls, that is, both science and yoga.
On the cleaning of major temples and their surrounding through the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Prime Minister said: Historically temples have played a key role in our societies.
Usually, they were built on a vast area of land, and often away from the residential areas and with passage of time, they were surrounded by markets, and residential colonies.
They face unclean surroundings as a major challenge, he said.
The Prime Minister also said the project Swachh Iconic Places is now part of Swachh Bharat Mission and in the first phase, Kamakhya temple, Jagannath temple, Meenakshi temple, Tirupati, the Golden temple, and Vaishno Devi temple would be spruced up.
Appreciating the work of Parmarth Niketan and Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Modi said, Parmarth Niketan is bringing yoga to people across the world and recalled the role played by Swami, in compiling the 11-volume Encyclopaedia of Hinduism.
Works like Encyclopaedia of Hinduism, when made available in various languages, increase the understanding and enhance the awareness of other traditions and cultures within the country, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a dig at economists critical of his demonetisation move, saying hard work is more powerful than Harvard. His remarks came close on the heels of Harvard University professor Amartya Sen terming the decision to ban high-denomination notes a despotic action. Days before the PMs remarks made headlines, heres what the Nobel laureate told HT in an 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.
The worst of them of course is trying to fire someone who has a university job, in which he or she expresses a different point of view from that of the university council, chancellor or the government of the day.
I think we need public reasoning. John Stuart Mill, who is a big influence on the book, used to think about democracy as government by discussion. For that the voting system would need to be examined. It wont happen without public discussion. And also without the understanding that something is going deeply wrong. Firstly in confusing the state and the government, confusing majority and mere plurality and confusing role of people as ones who cast votes every five years and people being active participants in a democratic system by expressing their views.
It is favourable to have different public opinions on issues. If the last government did badly on that, the present government is doing worse by oppressing opposing views with a greater force. The fact that an under trial person was beaten up in custody is shameful.
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.
Its not just the present government that has done it, but the present government has done it with a greater intensity and effectiveness, using all the powers that a government can wield. These are powers of the state not powers of the government. I have worked with private and public universities both in India and abroad. I dont think anyone in Europe would say that simply because the government is financing the university, they could determine what happens in the university. That is a complete confusion between the government and the state. It is the state which is providing the funding for the university, the government of the day should not determine what the university can do.
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.
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There should be no room in India for an intolerant Indian, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday, remarks that came at a time when a raging debate on nationalism and free speech has gripped the prestigious Delhi University following on-campus clashes.
India has been, since ancient times, a bastion of free thought, speech and expression, the President said at the 6th KS Rajamony Memorial Lecture in Keralas Kochi, adding premier higher education institutes must not propagate a culture of unrest.
On February 22, clashes broke out between right-wing students group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Left-leaning All India Students Association outside Ramjas College.
The institute had sent an invite to Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar that was called off following ABVP protests. Khalid allegedly shouted anti-India slogans supporting the secession of militancy-hit Kashmir at an event on JNU campus last February, and was arrested on sedition charges.
The Ramjas College fracas reignited a debate on nationalism. The ABVP, the students wing of ruling BJPs ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said its aim was to save the Delhi University from anti-national elements. But DU students and teachers took out rallies against the ABVP, accusing the group of muzzling free speech.
There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent, Mukherjee said in his Thursday speech. The time has come for collective efforts to re-discover the sense of national purpose and patriotism.
These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking. Those in universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet, he said.
The nation and the people must always come first. Let us strive to arrest the moral decline in our society and ensure that our core civilisational values find firm root. Let us exert ourselves to strengthen Indias pluralism and diversity. Let us be uncompromising in rooting out violence, prejudice and hatred, he added.
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An RSS leader from Madhya Pradesh has announced a Rs 1-crore reward for anyone who brings the head of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, holding his government responsible for the recent killing of members of right- wing organisations in the southern state.
Kundan Chandrawat, who made the remark during a dharna in Ujjain on Wednesday, even offered to sell his properties to fund the reward.
The RSS was quick to distance itself from the announcement made by Chandrawat, the outfits Ujjain mahanagar prachar pramukh. The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh too tried to downplay it.
Several activists of the right-wing group and Keralas ruling CPI-M were killed in the recent past as the southern state witnessed a spurt in political turf war.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said in Thiruvananthapuram that he cant stop work due to such threats. The RSS has taken the heads of many people. I cant stop working and travelling due to this. Let it issue many more threats I dont care, he said.
Later, speaking to HT, Chandrawat said his remark was an expression of anger and was not intended to incite any violence or killing. He said he didnt mean to kill anybody and his words were expression of anger.
Shivaji was our ancestor. There are many Chandrawats who can sacrifice their lives for the country. There was a time when Bhagat Singh exploded a bomb to make the then deaf and dumb British government to listen to our voice. I have done the same thing to attract the attention of the Kerala government which is deaf and dumb.
Chandrawat is a Madhya Pradesh government employee working as a malaria inspector. He said he has been in the service for the past 20 years.
Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh said Chandrawat might have made the announcement on the spur of the moment. People at times lose control over their words when they are very angry, Singh said talking to reporters in the assembly premises. The way Hindus are being killed in Kerala, he said, there is anger across the country.
RSSs Indore kshetra prachar pramukh Praveen Kabra said the organisation didnt believe in any kind of violence.
I dont deny that he is an RSS office-bearer, but whatever he has said is his personal opinion. The RSS has nothing to do with it, he added.
Opposition parties, however, grabbed the opportunity to target the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP.
Leader of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh assembly and Congress leader Ajay Singh condemned the statement and demanded immediate arrest of the RSS office-bearer for his provocative statements.
The CPI also condemned the statement on its Facebook page. It said the remark is the manifestation of the RSSs mindset.
The party said the RSS is scared of the communists because they know leftists could fight the right-wing elements on the streets to defend secular values of the nation.
Kundan Chandrawat, an RSS leader from Ujjain who announced a reward of Rs 1 crore on the head of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Thursday expressed regret over his statement.
Talking to Hindustan Times over phone, Chandrawat said he made the statement as he was agitated over the killings of innocent people in Kerala.
I express my regret but I still stand by my statement. It was to wake up politicians and the Kerala government from slumber and sensitise them to the killings of innocent people in the state, he said.
He said what he wanted to achieve he had achieved. For there was a debate in the entire country over the killings of innocent people in Kerala and there was widespread concern too over the killings.
Chandrawat made the statement during a dharna organised at Ujjain on Wednesday to protest the murder of RSS workers in Kerala.
Asked what sort of regret it was when he stood by his statement, he said, I am a non-violent person and believe in the Constitution of India. I am not a politician who makes statements for votes. I expressed my regret because a section of media asked questions and felt that my statement was considered as one which might promote violence.
He said, My statement sparked a debate from the state assemblies to Delhi, thanks to media highlighting it.
In reply to a question if he expressed his regret under pressure from senior RSS leaders, he said the statement was given by him in his personal capacity, not as an RSS leader. There was no such pressure on him.
In a case of honour killing the Supreme Court sent a man from Karnataka to jail for life for killing his pregnant daughter 13 years ago.
The top court not only rejected the mans appeal against the HC verdict, punishing him with just 10-year jail term for the act, but also enhanced his incarceration period. A bench headed by Justice Kurien Joseph ruled the man deserved severe punishment for murdering his daughter and had a motive to do so because he felt ashamed when she eloped with her lover from a lower caste.
The apex court disagreed with the HC judgement that spared the convict Gandi Doddabasappa a harsher punishment and convicted him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
It would necessarily follow that the accused committed murder of his daughter Shilpa who was in the advanced stage of pregnancy and for which he was liable to be punished with either imprisonment for life or death under Section 302 of IPC alone, the bench said, ruling out death for the convict.
Doddabasappas daughter Shilpa who hailed from the Lingayat community fell in love with Ravi Kumar from the Naik community. The couple eloped and got married in court in 2002 and Shilpa started living with her in-laws.
On October 3, 2003, her father went to her in-laws house and killed her in bathroom. Shilpas mother-in-law saw him running away from the spot wth a blood-stained sickle. A complaint was lodged with the police in which it was alleged that the accused had threatened to kill Shilpa earlier also.
The trial court had acquitted the father, a decision reversed by the HC. Before the top court Doddabasappa had wished to withdraw his appeal after the SC said it would enhance his punishment. His request was declined because the SC felt 10-year jail term was not sufficient for such a heinous crime.
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Railways minister Suresh Prabhu did not present the Rail Budget this year. But his speech on Thursday at an official function here was nothing short of Budget presentation: launch of a business plan for 2017-18, rollout of Roll-On-Roll-Off service, a policy on long term contracts for freight customers and plans on scaling up the travel experience for passengers. Only his speech was outside the Parliament.
Nobody asked us to do this (make a budget presentation of sorts). But we decided to set goals for ourselves and take accountability for the tasks to be undertaken this year, said Prabhu.
The government discontinued the 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Rail Budget this year by merging it with the General Budget. Finance minister Arun Jaitley devoted all of three pages to the railways in the Union Budget and that couldnt have reflected the railway ministrys plans and vision for the coming financial year.
Prabhu made up for that on Thursday. His ministrys function had all the trappings of a Rail Budget presentation. All top officials were present when Prabhu made the 45-minute long speech about his plans including initiatives to ramp up non-fare revenues and steps to provide for a comfortable and pleasurable journey. The two ministers of state for railways Manoj Sinha and Rajen Gohain were scheduled to be there, but opted out because of preoccupations.
The ministers speech was interspersed with his recorded bytes from his earlier budget speeches in the large television screens that had been put up in the national rail museum auditorium. There was no thumping of desks as used to happen in Parliament, but this was more than compensated by the loud claps from the audience every now and then.
Other ministries and departments may not have the practice of releasing business plans or annual statements, but the railways are an operational ministry. The annual plan will help rail employees align with the overall plan of the government, Railway Board member (traffic) Mohammed Jamshed said.
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Fishermen in Tamil Nadus Rameshwaram on Wednesday said they would go on an indefinite strike to protest against the governments 45-day annual fishing ban, from mid-April to May-end, during the fish breeding season.
The ban is enforced every year and is aimed at safeguarding fishes during their breeding season and conserve fish stock.
Fishermen said they would sit on an indefinite strike as their finances get hurt by the ban.
Fishermen of five districts, involving more than 50,000 fishermen, will stop working indefinitely from March 3 and are going on a strike. Thereafter, from March 6, we are ready to sit on roads, said S Karunamoorthy, the district secretary of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Federation.
Karunamoorthy said the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, which regulates fishing in the province, needs an amendment. The fishermen group had also submitted a petition to the Tamil Nadu Government which did not receive any response.
The fishermen have refused to venture out to the sea until their demands were met.
The 45-day ban causes severe difficulties for the fishermen community, which has to manage on a meagre income during the period of inactivity.
Campaigning is at its peak in Uttar Pradesh but Samajwadu Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has stepped out only for two public rallies this elections, a stark contrast to the over 300 rallies he addressed in the 2012 assembly polls.
Leaders from across the political spectrum criss-crossed the entire state to woo the voters but Mulayam mostly kept indoors.
The 77-year-old SP patron campaigned just for his younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting on a SP ticket from Lucknow Cantonment, and also for his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is contesting from the partys bastion of Jaswantnagar in Etawah.
Voting for five out the seven phases of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls is already over.
His political rivals said the SP patriarchs clout has been confined to just two of the 403 Assembly seats in the state.
In the 2012 UP Assembly polls, Mulayam had addressed more than 300 rallies.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha general elections, he limited his appearances to 18 rallies, one in each of the 18 divisions of the state, citing health issues.
Senior BJP leader Hriday Narayan Dikshit, said, The moment Mulayam Singh Yadav was made the party patron, his power automatically got diluted. And, despite this, if he is getting a chance to campaign for even two assembly seats, he must thank his stars.
Dikshit said both the SP and the BSP are single-cellular organisms, in which only one person eventually prevails.
As far as the SP is concerned, earlier Mulayam Singh Yadav used to prevail, and now it is the turn of Akhilesh, the senior BJP leader said.
The BSP too is a single-cellular organisation. Congress, which used to be multi-cellular organisation till the time of Gandhi, gradually became single-cellular. The BJP is a multi-cellular organisation, where leaders from different walks of life are involved in elections, he said.
A string of sexual assault allegations involving clergymen is turning out to be a major embarrassment for the Catholic Church in Kerala. What is more worrying is that such incidents are popping up even after Pope Franciss call to enforce zero tolerance towards sexual crimes.
The latest in the series is the rape of a 16-year-old girl allegedly by a 48-year-old priest who was active in social circles in north Kerala. The incident came to light two weeks after the victim gave birth to a baby. Shockingly, there was a systemic attempt to cover up the whole incident and bail out the priest involved in the crime.
Many in the church now want a strict code of conduct for priest and nuns. And reformists blame insiders for the rot and say they are planning to send a letter to the Vatican City, seeking stringent steps to rein in what they call wayward priests.
Once a crime is committed, the first reaction is an attempt to cover it up. This emboldens others also to commit the same crime, said a spokesman of Catholic Laymens Association.
In the north Kerala case, police said the victims father, belonging to an economically backward family, was promised Rs 10 lakh to own up the crime. But a prompt investigation turned the tables on the priest. A maternity hospital and an orphanage controlled by the church are in the dock now. The accused Father Robin Vadakkumcherry, vicar of St Sebastain church in Kottiyoor, was arrested while he was planning to slip out of the country. Now police suspect he might be involved in similar other cases.
A powerful orator and administrator, Father Robin was actively involved with Indian Farmers Movement, that vehemently opposed two expert committee reports on Western Ghats (Gadgil and Kasturirangan) and later he was appointed as the corporate manager of 100-odd schools under the Mananthawadi Diocese.
For his disciples, the shocking incident is yet to sink in. It is like fence eating the crop. He taught us all virtues and now he shamed us all, said Francis Sebastain, a regular churchgoer in Pervavur. Let this tragedy helps the church to cleanse its stables and avoid recurring of such incidents, said Father Robins brother Jose Mathew while offering apologies to the victim.
It is a shameful incident. He brought enough disgrace to 9000-odd priests in the state, said Father Paul Thelekkat, editor of Sathyadeepam, a church-run publication. It is sad such incidents are reported frequently these days, said a spokesman of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference.
Many complaints were raised against the vicar but believers were scared to come out in the open. I was told girls were sent with this help to different parts of the state and abroad offering job opportunities, said Kannur MP P K Sreemathy after visiting the victim, now lodged in a government-run home.
This was not an isolated incident. Three months ago Father Edwin Figarez, who was a parish priest in Ernakulam district, was awarded a double life-term for raping a 14-year-old girl. Father Raju Kokkan, a priest in Thrissur district, was arrested last year for allegedly sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl. At least five major incidents of child abuse involving priests have been reported from the state in one year.
In a letter to all bishops in January this year, the Pope had begged forgiveness for the suffering of the children who were sexually abused by priests and exhorted them to take strict action to contain the sin that shamed the church.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has ranked 12 of the worlds deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria or superbugs based to the threat they pose to human health and has warned that the world could be running out of options to treat common infections.
Close to 700,000 people die worldwide each year due to drug-resistant infections and, if infection-control measures are not followed and new antibiotics not developed, casualty numbers are projected to cross 10 million people by 2050.
Among the three deadliest bacteria that need to be controlled with critical priority is carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae that made news recently for killing a woman of septic shock in Nevada. She got the superbug infection in India last year, which led to multiple hospitalizations in India and the US, confirmed the US Centers for Disease Control in January this year.
Her carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae infection was so deadly that it was resistant to 26 different antibiotics, including polymixins and tigecycline, two potent drugs for treating highly-resistant infection.
The US CDC confirmed the resistance was caused by the presence of New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1), an enzyme that directly breaks down carbapenems, a powerful class of antibiotics used to treat multidrug-resistant infections.
Superbugs to stay
With several bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, untreatable hospital-acquired infections are increasing making routine infections, medical procedures and surgeries -- such as influenza, pneumonia, caesarean sections, heart surgeries, chemotherapy etc -- life-threatening for patients.
The critical priority group includes multi-drug resistant bacteria that spread easily in hospital settings because immunity is the lowest when people are sick or recovering from medical procedures or surgery. These bacteria worsen disease and cause death from septic shock after the superbugs enter the bloodstream and reach the heart, lungs, kidneys, bones or joints to cause multi-organ failure.
Bacteria have a quicksilver ability to adapt and find new ways to resist treatment and pass on genetic material that makes other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well. Hospitals and clinicians must follow strict sterilisation and prescription protocols to ensure antibiotics are used correctly, said laparoscopic and bariatric surgeon Dr Pradeep Chowbey, executive vice-chairman, Max Healthcare.
Surprisingly, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is not included in the list, and neither are some other common infection-causing bacteria such as Chlamydia and streptococcus A and B because they are either targeted by other programmes or have low resistance to existing treatments and are yet not uncontrollable.
The threat, however, is real because treating drug-resistant infections takes longer, cost more money and produces more toxic side effects. India is battling multidrug-resistant TB, with about 2.5% of all new TB cases in the country being resistant to rifampicin, or to both rifampicin and isoniazid the two most commonly used anti-TB drugs. At the end of 2015, India had 79,000 cases of drug-resistant TB, 11% more than in 2014.
Listing solutions
Drug-resistance happens when a weak or an incomplete course of antibiotics knocks the bacteria down but does not kill it, causing it to mutate and emerge stronger. Experts fear that with an increasing number of bacteria developing drug resistance, we are headed towards the pre-penicillin era a century ago when even the mildest infection could kill.
Drug-resistant superbugs thrive in hospitals with poor infection control. Without effective drugs, doctors cannot treat patients as antibiotic resistance can make lifesaving treatments and surgeries potentially life-threatening, said Dr Chowbey. Misuse because of self-medication, non-compliance to the full course for the indication being treated and using strong antibiotics when simple ones are needed all lead to resistance, where antibiotics are anyway misused to feed livestock.
An enzyme that makes bacteria drug resistant is NDM-1 (New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1), which got the New Delhi moniker because it was first detected in 2008 in Swedish patient of Indian origin who had travelled to India. Since then, it has been detected in bacteria in the UK, US, India, Pakistan, Croatia, Canada and Japan. NDM-1 makes bacteria resistant to a wide range of powerful antibiotics, including the carbapenem, which is used to treat other superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA).
The most common bacteria that make this enzyme are E. Coli and K. pneumoniae, which cause of stomach and lung infections. When uncomplicated, these infections can be easily managed, but when the infecting agent is resistant to powerful antibiotics, the infection becomes difficult to treat and spreads easily within the body, especially in people who are ill or recuperating from an illness or a surgery, said Dr Chowbey.
This list is a new tool to ensure R&D [research and development] responds to urgent public health needs. If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time, said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHOs assistant director-general for health systems and innovation.
The world is fast running out of options but new drug discovery is not the only solution. Along with focusing on new drug research, nations must regulate misuse and overuse of antibiotics, both in the medical and livestock industry, says Dr Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).
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The increasing number of murders in Jaipur has raised serious questions about the competence of the citys law enforcing agencies.
Four murders have been reported in the city since February 28, three of which remain unsolved. The cases have also highlighted the increasing number of intra-familial crimes arising from disputes in the past.
A day after a man was arrested by Sodala authorities for killing his father-in-laws brother, a woman was found murdered in an area falling under the jurisdiction of the same police station.
Some residents were concerned after their domestic help, Sharbani Barman from Bengal, didnt turn up for a couple of days. When they reached Barmans house, they found her body. A preliminary investigation has revealed that she was strangled on Tuesday night, said Sodala station house officer Sunil Prasad Sharma.
Her husband who is absconding is a suspect, and its possible that he took their five-year-old daughter along with him, Sharma added.
A watchman, identified as Kanaram, was also found murdered in Kardhani area on Thursday morning. The police, who are yet to arrest anybody in this connection, said he was guarding a warehouse at the time of his death.
The fourth case that remains to be cracked pertains to Manoj Monga, a property dealer who was shot in broad daylight near Sanganer on February 28. Many other murders such as the killing of a woman in Muhana on February 18 also await resolution.
The entire legal framework of the state is in a very bad state, with murders and rapes occurring every day. There is an immediate need for the chief minister and home minister to chalk out a new roadmap for fighting crime, said district Congress president Pratap Singh Khachariawas.
Khachariawas said the polices morale was hit after Narendra Meghwal, the husband of BJP MLA Chandrakanta Meghwal, allegedly assaulted a police officer for issuing a challan to a party worker in Kota a few months ago. That is another reason for the increasing number of crimes here, he added.
However, additional commissioner of police (crime) Prafulla Kumar told HT that the accused have been traced in most cases. Most of the recent murders were a result of intra-familial rivalry. We have traced many of the accused and solved several cases. We are committed to better policing, and are taking strict measures to check such cases in the future, he said.
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An 18-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide in Dausa district after he was not allowed to take the state board examination that started on Thursday, police said.
Rakesh Meena, a Class 12 student, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his rented accommodation by his landlord this morning, the SHO at Kotwali Police Station, Sanjay Godara, said.
It is suspected that the boy committed suicide after he was not allowed to take the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education exam. The reason behind him being denied the admit card is yet to be ascertained, he said.
A case under Section 174 (unnatural death) has been registered, the SHO added.
Fake currency of face value Rs 56.74 lakh all in Rs 2,000 denomination -- were seized from five persons in Kolkatas Watgunj area on Thursday, police said.
The arrests were made by the anti-rowdy squad of Kolkata Polices detective department after a tip-off that the people were carrying fake notes.
The notes were all in Rs 2,000 denominations and of good quality. They will be sent to the currency printing press at Salboni for experts to examine, said Vishal Garg, joint commissioner of police (crime).
Manwar Mullah alias Ujjal, Sk Ekhlash Ahmed, Sk Abul Kalam Azad alias Suraj and Syed Rehan of Howrah district, and Balai Mondal alias Joy from Bankura district had gone to a mobile phone shop at Fancy Market in Watgunj when police nabbed them. They are all in their 20s.
They will be produced before a court on Friday, a police officer said.
Interestingly, all the bundles of notes had State Bank of Indias tag on them.
Bengal has turned out to be a major hub of fake currency since demonetisation. The Border Security Force recently seized notes of face value Rs 96,000 from Malda district.
At a time when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati hopes to return to power on the Dalit- Muslim formula, a group of Dalits from various fields are strengthening the bond between the two communities with Dalit zakat.
For Muslims, giving a small percentage of their surplus wealth (zakat) to the poor and the deprived is a part of their religious obligation. Taking a leaf out of the Islamic tradition, these Dalit members -- some of them former bureaucrats -- have launched Dalit zakat to help the have-nots.
A group of Dalits set up the Ambedkar Trust of India in 2007. President of the Trust J Ram said the apolitical organisation was guided by the ideals of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.
While embracing Buddhism at Nagpur on October 15, 1956, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar spoke on the uplift of the Dalit community. Ambedkar called upon his followers to donate five per cent of their earnings, as done by the Muslims, for the social, religious and economic emancipation of Dalits, J Ram said.
We constituted Bharatiya Dalit Zakat Foundation and decided to donate 5% of income. The membership of the foundation is 305. Along with offices in various districts of the state, it has also spread roots in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, he said.
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General secretary of the Trust Shyamlal said, Zakat is associated with Islam and Muslims. Few people are aware that Gautam Buddha was the first to propagate the idea of giving alms. He called upon his followers to donate (dana) a part of their earnings to the deprived.
Since ages Dalits have been discriminated on the ground of untouchability and varna system. Our aim is to liberate Dalits and to bring them in the mainstream of the social system. We urge the people to donate five per cent of their earning, he said.
The fund is utilised in the establishment of educational institutions, construction of houses for the homeless, scholarship to meritorious students coming from poor family, purchase of garment for poor children and establishment of hand pumps in Dalit-dominated areas.
The trust has also been assisting 22 meritorious students coming from poor families in pursuing professional courses. The students will pay back to the Trust after employment and our mission will continue, said Chandrapal, vice-president of the Trust.
To impart basic education to poor children, the Trust has set up an educational institution Ambedkar Buddha Junior High School in Chinhat. Over 90 children of rag pickers, stonecutters, daily wage labourers, street vendors and domestic help are enrolled in the school. e are giving scholarships to 11 meritorious students after the state government discontinued the scheme, he said.
A daily wage labourer Mohammad Asif, whose son Abdul (10) is enrolled in the school, said: All religions call for compassion. There is hardly any difference between Muslim and Dalit zakat. The objective is to assist the poor and deprived, he said.
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The police have found 15 more academies to be involved in leaking the questions for the Army Recruitment Board exam, which was to be held on Sunday. According to the police, the 15 institutions were in continuous contact with a Nagpur-based academy the epicentre of the racket.
The police are now taking down the details of all the academies that are spread across Maharashtra.
Last Sunday, the crime branch arrested 18 people and detained 350 students from, Pune, Goa and Nagpur for leaking the questions for the exam.
The Thane crime branch took action based on a tip-off by a local man, who runs tutorial classes. The exam was to be held at 9am on Sunday, but has been postponed to next month.
Students were given the questions and were made to practice writing answers at various venues in Pune, Goa and Nagpur.
The police said the students were caught in simultaneous raids while in the middle of practice in halls in Pune, Nagpur and the terrace of a bar near Vagator beach at Goa.
The police said the accused were paid Rs4-5 lakh for each leaked paper.
Meanwhile, a team from the Thane crime branch has gone to Nagpur to pick up three accused army clerks Nigamkumar Pandey, Dharam Singh and Ravindra Kumar, who will be produced in court on Friday.
These three people have played a vital role in the scam and have been handed over to us by the Army in Nagpur said a police officer from Thane crime branch.
A senior police inspector said, The fraudsters used to run classes in remote areas of Maharashtra and also along its border so that residents from high-end societies will not be able to approach them. The Nagpur-based academy used to lure students from other local classes with minimal fees.
There were agents who used to approach the students and lured them with the prospect of good jobs after the exams.
The police have been noting down all those who appeared for the exam in the past four years and will send a list to the Army headquarters.
READ
Army question papers were leaked from a printing press in Nagpur: Police
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1. Gajendra Chauhan on FTII tenure: My advice to students? Stay away from politics
Film and Television Institute of India chairman Gajendra Chauhans tenure comes to an end on Friday. Chauhans appointment, one of the most contentious in FTIIs 50-year history, triggered massive outrage on campus. Students relentlessly criticised the government for appointing a man, who they claimed had neither stature nor vision. After a year and seven months, Chauhan is set to leave the institute, which witnessed many changes under his leadership some controversial and some laudable.
2. Mumbai mayor election: Five scenarios
Mumbais mayor will be elected on March 8 and given the numbers in the newly elected Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), its anybodys guess who will win.
3. Shiv Sena seeks MNS support for Mumbai mayor elections
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is currently having the last laugh as the Shiv Sena is making efforts to woo him, seeking his support for the Mumbai mayor polls.
4. Day temperatures in Mumbai will surpass 40 Celsius mark by mid-April
As weather models are being collated across the country to understand the impact of the summer season, meteorologists have said the financial capital can expect a much hotter summer this year, as against previous years.
5. Flights, hotels, packaged holidays bought on the go likely to grow at a staggering rate: Study
Flights, hotels and packaged holidays bought on the go are projected to grow at a staggering rate, said a study released on Thursday. The study conducted by Euromonitor International for Criteo, a performance marketing technology company showed travel sales on mobile phones are set to rise at 67.1% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2017 and 2020.
Actor Govinda has approached the Bombay high court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a case lodged against him in Jharkhand. The case is over a song in his movie Chhote Sarkar that allegedly made a defamatory reference to Bihar.
On Thursday, Govindas counsel argued before the HC that since the alleged incident had taken place in Mumbai, the Bombay high court exercised jurisdiction over the matter and had the powers to grant him protection from arrest.
The counsel said that the case was malafide and that the accusations had been made with the object of injuring or humiliating Govinda by having him arrested.
He added that the actors personal liberty and freedom were at stake because of the case which is being heard by the chief judicial magistrate at Pakur, Jharkhand. The magistrate had recently issued a proclamation requiring the presence of the musician, the lyricists, and some other accused persons in the case.
In 1997, a lawyer from the Pakur district of Jharkhand (then Bihar) had filed a case of defamation against Govinda, his co-star in the film actor Shilpa Shetty, and several other crew members. His complaint stated that the actors and other accused persons had defamed Bihar and Uttar Pradesh over the lyrics of the song Ek chumma tu mujhko udhaar de de in the film Chhote Sarkar.
The Jharkhand police subsequently registered an FIR and the court proceedings began. A local court there had also issued non-bailable warrants against Govinda and Shetty in 2001.
The Jharkhand police had told the court that the proclamations and the non-bailable warrants had been issued because Govinda and the others had been absconding.
Govinda, however, argued that he was well known actor in the Hindi film industry and had been residing in Juhu for years. He said that he couldnt have been absconding for he has appeared in several movies since the case and that he has been present in several social events, and also in the Parliament during his tenure as an MP.
He said that he had no intention of defaming anyone and also that the film and the song were duly cleared by the CBFC.
The HC is likely to pass its orders on the plea on Friday.
Also read: You get attention in Bollywood only if youre hit: Govinda
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Film director and producer Mahesh Bhatt, wife Soni Razdan and his actor-daughter Alia Bhatt allegedly received death threats from a man in Uttar Pradesh who demanded Rs 50 lakh from the movie personality, police said on Thursday.
The accused allegedly threatened to pump bullets into Bhatts family members.
The suspect Sandeep Sahu has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh by the states specials task force (STF) and Mumbai crime branch.
Sources said UP police are questioning the suspect who was traced by the anti-extortion cell of Mumbai crime branch.
Sources said Bhatt was first threatened close to midnight on February 26 through a call to his mobile phone. A case was registered at the Juhu police station on Wednesday.
Bhatt said in tweet that the threat has been nipped in the bud by police.
A bolt from the blue in the form of an extortion call & threat to my family was nipped in the bud by the MH & UP police in tandem.Gratitude! Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) March 2, 2017
The accused, who is also said to have also sent text and WhatsApp messages to the director, allegedly asked Bhatt to deposit the money in a bank account in Lucknow.
Police said Mumbai Police anti-extortion cell has begun investigations after recording the statement of Bhatt, the father of popular actor Alia. His elder daughter Pooja is also an actor producer.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday struck down Maharashtra governments circular which stipulated knowledge of Marathi for autorickshaw and taxi drivers seeking new licences, and of the area for which a permit is sought.
A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and Anuja Prabhudessai said there was no provision in the Motor Vehicles Act or the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, empowering the government to impose such conditions either for new permits or badges for drivers.
The row between auto unions and the state government dates back to September 2016 when authorities decided to issue one lakh new permits for autorickshaws in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and also increase the number of three-wheelers by 25% in cities such as Pune, Solapur, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad.
However, while initiating the process for issuing these permits, the transport commissioner, in a circular in February 2016, stipulated that an applicant must have a working knowledge of Marathi and must know the area.
A few associations of auto-rickshaw owners and drivers from Bhiwandi and Mira Bhyander challenged the circular in the high court. They argued that there was neither the Motor Vehicles Act nor the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, allowed the government to impose such criteria.
On Wednesday, the state government, in its response, said Rule 24 of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, empowered it to frame new norms. It claimed that the conditions were imposed in the public interest.
The bench, however, observed that Rule 24 was applicable to only public service vehicles and does not cover auto and taxis.
It said the state government could not use a public interest alibi to add new conditions for new permits unless there is a specific provision under the Motor Vehicles Act or the 1989 Rules.
The judges directed transport authorities not to disqualify any licence-seeking applicant who does not speak in Marathi or is not well-versed with the area.
Government remains defiant
Despite a setback in the high court, state transport minister Diwakar Raote said the state government wont back down on the language condition for new licenses.
Marathi is the local language of Maharashtra. The Motor Vehicles Act has a provision that allows use of local language in the respective states. Moreover, the state government is ready to make provisions in the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules. There will be no compromise over Marathi language, said Raote from the Shiv Sena, which has been insisting on justice for sons of the soil.
Manoj Saunik, principal secretary for transport department, told HT that the government will plan its next step after receiving the court order.
Unions hail HC order
Taxi-auto unions on Wednesday welcomed the HC decision. On February 15 last year, our union protested the language rule of the state government. We are glad that it will be revoked now, said Shashank Rao, general secretary of Mumbai Autorickshawmens union.
Criticising the government, KK Tiwari, president of Swabhiman Taxi-Rickshaw, said, This is a victory of poor drivers and democracy. We hope the government learns a lesson from this and doesnt repeat similar mistakes in the future.
AL Quadros, leader of Mumbai Taximens, said, This is a good decision against the government, which was using the language issue for political interests.
READ
Focus on passengers safety, not just Marathi rule for auto permits, Bombay high court tells Maharahstra government
A pack of dogs chased a young leopard out of an apartment complex at Goregaon on Tuesday night. The feat was captured by a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera on the premises, the forest department said.
The incident took place at Girikunj Society at Dindoshi, Goregaon (East), which adjacent to Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). Several leopards have been seen in the area in recent months but local residents said this was the first time one entered their society.
Shailesh Rao, a resident and member of Mumbaikars for SGNP, which spreads awareness about living with leopards, said, The video clearly shows a dog is first attacked and dragged by the leopard behind some vehicles. But the dog manages to get out of the leopards grip and alert two other dogs, which rush to the spot and force the leopard to back off and return to the forest.
According to a study conducted by SGNP in 2015, dogs comprise a major portion of leopards prey base, especially for those leopards that live close to urban areas. There is a need to treat waste properly at housing societies to control the population of stray dogs, which attract the big cat, said Santosh Kank, range forest officer, Mumbai.
Tuesdays incident came a month after leopards were last spotted in a Mumbai suburb. On January 22, and again on January 31 and February 1, a sub-adult leopard was seen on CCTV footage crossing a road lined with parked vehicles near a residential complex adjacent to SGNP. A much younger leopard was seen crossing the road a minute later. The incident prompted forest officials to install camera traps to monitor the animals movements.
A team of forest officials are patrolling the area every night to prevent any untoward incidents. Residents are panicked and we are getting distress calls but there is nothing to worry about as leopard sightings are common in the area, said Kank. Teams from SGNP and Thane territorial have already begun awareness drives at the housing society.
He added, As of now we do not have such plans for the Goregaon society but regular patrolling will be done and more action will be taken if required.
Rao said that residents were aware about leopard sightings but still needed to be sensitised. An awareness drive has been scheduled with residents from Girikunj and Girishikhar over the weekend. They have been told not to panic if they spot a leopard and to inform the forest department immediately, he said.
A resident, who did not wish to be named, said that people needed to be careful while walking jogging early in the morning or after sunset. Parents need to make sure that their children are indoors after sunset and there needs to be coordination among various societies close to the park for swift communication, she said.
A survey undertaken SGNP in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India from December 2014 to April 2015 found 35 free-roaming leopards across 140 sq km, including areas outside SGNP, the Nagla forest block across the Vasai Creek, and Aarey Milk Colony.
In 2012, a leopard had snatched a dog from an apartment complex but there have been no incidents involving people of late, said Krishna Tiwari, a Mulund resident and founder of the Forest and Wildlife Conservation Society.
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The Bombay high court on Wednesday heavily censured the city collector, Ashwini Joshi, for her high-handedness in dealing with the Cambata Aviation-Eros building dispute and directed chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to personally look into Joshis conduct.
A bench of justice VM Kanade and justice PR Bora ruled that Joshis decision to seal the Eros building earlier this year, and her consequent actions in dealing with the dispute between the state and Cambata Aviation, the lessee of the Eros building, was most arbitrary and an overreach of her jurisdiction.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by the SC Cambata Trust challenging a show-cause notice issued to them by the collectors office on February 14 this year for allegedly violating the terms of its lease.
Joshi had asked the trust to respond to the allegations that it had illegally allowed for mobile towers to be installed on the terrace of the Eros building and also created third-party tenancy rights. The trust approached the high court challenging the notice.
The collector had also scheduled a hearing at her office for Wednesday morning that was to run simultaneously to the hearing in HC.
Cambata trust, however, argued in HC that the collector did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter as the state government was the owner of the land and the one to have leased it out.
At this, the bench agreed that Joshi didnt have the requisite jurisdiction and ordered that her hearing be aborted at the very minute.
Just because you are the owner of the land it does not mean that you inherit jurisdiction. Is this the way a government acts? Is the collector not bound by statutory provisions, or by the courts orders? This conduct is definitely malafide. Is this a way to make money for the state? the bench said.
The manner in which the collector is proceeding in this matter, and also her past conduct, leaves no doubt in our minds that she is bent upon passing an adverse order without giving proper hearing to the petitioner, the bench said.
We want to find out if she is behaving like this on her own accord or at the behest of the government or the cabinet, it said.
It stayed the show-cause notice issued to the trust till further orders and directed the state principal secretary to file an affidavit on the episode within four weeks.
In January this year, Joshi had sealed the iconic Eros building in the middle of the day, forcing out public from the film theatre, restaurants, and offices in the building. Another bench of HC had ordered that the building be de-sealed and observed at the time that Joshis action was arbitrary.
Read
Bombay high court asks Maharashtra to remove seal of Cambata building
Eros theatre building sealed for not paying salary to staff
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For the first time in four years, the number of applicants for online admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) quota has exceeded the available seats. Over 9, 451 students applied for the 9, 482 seats till Thursday evening-marking a 50% rise from last year. Education officials attributed the trend to increasing awareness regarding the seats.
Unaided, non-minority schools are supposed to reserve 25% of their seats for students from economically and socially weaker sections as stipulated by the RTE Act, 2009. In Mumbai, 334 schools are following the quota this year. This is the fourth year of the online admissions, which began in 2014.
Form-filling for the coming academic year, 2017-18, began on February 9. Around 6, 667 students had applied till February 25, following which the deadline for the entire state was extended till Thursday, March 2, by the state education department.
While form-filling was open till Thursday midnight, the number of applicants reached 9,451 by Thursday evening, a significant rise, compared to 6, 409 students vying for 9,664 seats across 317 schools in the last academic year. It was 4,351 in 2015-16 and 6,575 in 2014.
According to Mahesh Palkar, education officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the improved turnout is owing to various awareness drives to publicise RTE seats and an extension of the February 25 deadline. Around 2, 633 more students could apply because the deadline was moved ahead. If it wasnt then the number of applications would have been just a tad more than previous year, said Palkar.
The BMC had conducted awareness drives, put up posters and advertised in 10 daily newspapers, to inform more people about the free seats. Unlike the past three years, awareness about the RTE seats seems to be high among the public due to the constant media coverage. It has percolated the sections who stand to benefit from it, said Palkar.
An online lottery will be held next week, most likely on Monday, to allot seats to the candidates. This year, schools were given the freedom to choose their entry-level, which could be kindergarten or class 1. But activists complained that most schools are keeping the entry-level as class 1 for RTE students, while it is kindergarten for others.
What the RTE Act states
As per the RTE Act, 2009, unaided, non-minority schools have to demarcate 25% seats for students from economically weaker sections who seek admission at the kindergarten or class 1.
The schools have to provide free education till Class 8 to these students
The schools cannot charge these students fees.
The fees of these students will be reimbursed to the schools by the state government.
Who is eligible?
The RTE Act defines families with an annual income of Rs1 lakh and less as eligible for admissions to seats reserved under the quota.
Candidates from disadvantaged groups such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes or those suffering from 40% or more disability
Candidates from economically weaker sections such as Vimukta Jati Nomadic Tribes (VJNT), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Special Backward Class (SBC)
READ MORE
Maharashtra extends deadline to apply for Right to Education seats till March 2
Mumbai schools cannot cross-verify documents of RTE students: BMC
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Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) chairman Gajendra Chauhans tenure at the prestigious institute may end on Friday, if he is not given an extension by the government. Chauhans appointment one of the most contentious in FTIIs history has been a mixed bag for the institute, which witnessed a 139-day long strike from students.
Though the tenure of an FTII chairman is usually three years, Chauhan a television-actor-turned-BJP-member got a short tenure of one year, seven months. The institute underwent many changes during this period; some of which were controversial, while others were praised by the film industry.
I am happy with my tenure, under which I managed to carry out many good things, including converting diploma courses into masters degrees, introducing a new syllabus, making FTII open to all and bringing discipline to the campus, Chauhan told Hindustan Times.
I have done my best and I am happy, said Chauhan, speaking about whether he expects an extension. He added that he now wants to move on with his life.
Under Chauhans chairmanship, the FTII was able to get six of its post-graduate diploma courses equated with a masters degree, making it possible for students to leverage this while pursuing higher studies abroad.
This was something the institute had been trying to do since 2011. However, it was only in 2017 that the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) equated short-term courses with a masters degree.
The Governing Council (GC) chaired by Chauhan made several key decisions that are expected to have far-reaching consequences for the institute, which has been on the decline.
The institute was accused of high-handedness under Chauhans leadership. It denied scholarships and other opportunities to students who wanted to participate in foreign exchange programmes. The institute termed students participation in protests a disciplinary matter, leading to police cases being filed. They cited this as the reason for denying those students scholarships.
The new administration proposes to convert FTII into a holistic institute of cinema, television and allied arts, offering a varied choice of subjects related to cinema and digital media.
Besides approving a vision document prepared by the Academic Council, this year, the institute introduced a new syllabus, which aims to finish the courses in timely manner and prevent a backlog.
After a gap of two years, the institute admitted fresh students this year. It also introduced a choice-based credit system that will replace the current system of annual assessment. FTII faculty said the new system will primarily evaluate the weightage of learning in various courses offered in all the disciplines.
The premier institute had been forced to freeze admissions for a few years citing backlog a three-year batch was stretched over six years. This not only burdened students financially, but denied opportunities to prospective students.
The PK Nair committee which the government constituted after students opposed the Hewitt Report tried to find solutions to this backlog, and also addressed problems with the syllabus.
The committees 2011 report tackled problems with equipment and faculty. The corrective measures proposed by committee included bringing back FTII to its normal state of three batches by putting new admissions on hold, hiring new equipment to improve its infrastructure and curbing absenteeism of students and faculty.
Another proposal envisages setting up nine schools under the aegis of FTII, which will offer around two dozen courses, including short-term courses in music composing, animation and gaming, prosthetics and makeup, and costume design, besides core subjects such as direction, cinematography, acting, editing and sound design.
Read
Nothing wrong with my ideology: FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan
One-para CV helped Gajendra Chauhan become FTII chief
Gajendra Chauhan hasnt visited FTII office since appointment
To save trees in the Aarey Milk Colony, the citys green lung, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation has redesigned its car depot plan. The new plan has retained pockets of dense green patches within the area where the car depot has been proposed.
MMRC officials said the earlier design took 30 hectares space, while the new plan would cover 25 hectares. The MMRC is yet to assess the number of trees that will be spared the axe under the new design. Ashwini Bhide, managing director of MMRC, is positive the new design will be enough to protect Aarey Colony
The plan to build a car depot for the citys Metro line has faced a lot of opposition from citizens, environmentalist and political parties alike. Bhide said the Corporation has made efforts to considerably reduce the number of trees that need to be axed. It is not possible to create a mass transport system without affecting a single tree. When DMRC constructed metros in their first phase (in Delhi), 35,000 trees were axed and the compensatory plantation was also scientifically carried out, Bhide said.
SK Gupta, director, projects, MMRC added, In the new design, the areas with tree concentration have been left out. We cannot save all the trees but the trees in the five hectare area will continue to serve the city.
Sena objects to Aarey car shed
Adding to the tussle with the BJP, Shiv Sena corporators in the planning committee for the Development Plan have objected to the hacking of 2,298 trees in Aarey Colony to make way for a car shed for a Metro line.
While the draft Development Plan (DP) 2034 has declared Aarey a no-development-zone (NDZ), it has allowed construction activities at certain areas. In the plan, the metro site has been identified as transportation and despite several protests and campaigns by citizens, the BJP-ruled state government has given a nod for a car shed to be built in the citys green lung. Trushna Vishwasrao, Sena leader and planning committee member, said the DP must adhere to a court order that restrains authorities from hacking trees for Metro 3. Residents too have been campaigning to save trees. We have included our objection in the report.
Sena leaders said the report will be submitted to the mayor before March 7 and tabled for the new general body of 227 corporators who have to pass the revised DP draft before March 20. The revised draft is the blueprint for the citys infrastructure and was to be released in 2014.
The planning committee heard more than 12,000 objections from citizens and prepared a report. While Sena leaders and three experts appointed by the state have signed the final report, BJP group leader Manoj Kotak said he is still studying the plan.
Those maybe their personal objections, I have not taken any objection on the plan, he said. Without the plan in place, the city is in a big trouble as many projects remain stalled, said a senior architect.
Read: In Mumbai: Maha CM says Metro-3 carshed in Aarey not a prestige issue
MMRC says Kalina not feasible for Metro car shed, its back to Aarey
The Mumbai Auto Rickshaw Taximens Union one of the major auto rickshaw unions in the state has sought a fare hike by Rs3 in minimum fare. This was the fare bracket which was suggested by the one-member Hakim panel in 2012.
The leader of the union Shashank Rao said that, according as per the Hakim panels original formula, the minimum fare of auto rickshaws for first 1.5km should be Rs21 instead of existing Rs18. Also, the fare per kilometer should be Rs14, instead of Rs12.19, said Rao.
The union had put forth this demand in front of a state-appointed panel led by former IAS officer BC Khatua. The panel has been given the responsibility to review the fare revision formula that Hakim panel came up with in 2012.
The panel is likely to submit its report on the basis of discussions, representations and demands made by various auto rickshaw and taxis unions across the state.
Claiming that the amount of money earned by auto rickshaw and taxi drivers have declined since the government failed to regulate app-based taxis of aggregators, the union also demanded a one trade, one policy for all types of autos and taxis including the app-based ones. If the government does not want to regulate them (Ola, Uber), then it should neither regulate fares of autos and taxis nor their numbers. Let us charge fares arbitrarily too, said Rao.
According to RTO sources, however, even though the unions have sought huge fare hikes, there will not be any immediate hikes. It is because even if the panel suggests any revision in Hakim panel formula, the government will first have to accept the panels report before considering a fare hike.
Also read: Bombay HC revokes Marathi language rule for auto and taxi licences in Maharashtra
There is no question of the Congress supporting a communal Shiv Sena in the city, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said after a series of meetings with the party high command in new Delhi. The party will field its own mayor candidate in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation instead of supporting the Sena and has also decided to stake claim to the post of opposition leader in the civic body.
Nirupam said the party wants to send out a clear message the party has ideological differences with the Shiv Sena.
The Congress has also shortlisted a couple of names of senior corporators to field as candidates in the mayoral election to be held on March 8.
We will field our mayoral candidate in the election. The question is not about winnability of the candidate, but about clarifying a stand, Nirupam told HT.
The partys central leadership also directed its Mumbai unit to not directly or indirectly support to the saffron party. It is true that at the first meeting of senior Congress leaders after the results were announced, a few leaders were optimistic about supporting the Shiv Sena to keep the BJP at bay. But there was the idea got no support from within the party. The Mumbai unit has now come to the decision of fielding its own candidate, said a senior party office-bearer, not wishing to be named.
A section of the party leadership is also of the opinion that by claiming the post of the opposition leader, it may bag membership of the standing committee.
By supporting or abstaining from voting, the party cannot bargain with the Sena for any committee. But if the party bags the post of leader of opposition, it will automatically get the standing committee as the opposition leader is its ex officio member. With the BJP and Shiv Sena likely to go together, the Congress can easily claim the post of leader of opposition, the leader said.
The party is likely to pit senior party corporators Ravi Raja, Vitthal Lokare or Ashraf Azmi for the mayors post.
Congress has also has also approached the Nationalist Congress Party, asking it to join hands in the BMC. The parties have already agreed upon teaming up in the district councils to form the bodies. Congress has been convincing the NCP to field its candidate for the post of deputy mayor.
Both the parties are also approaching the Samajwadi Party for support in mayoral election.
Meanwhile, state and city unit chief of the party Ashok Chavan and Nirupam met party leaders in Delhi and apprised them about the performance in the civic polls held in the state last week.
READ MORE
Sena, BJP keep suspense on; mayoral polls process begins
The Byculla police on Wednesday arrested a 19-year-old Amazon delivery man for replacing a Sony PlayStation bought from the company with stones.
Mujjawar Anwar Fardhan, a resident of Bandra, cheated his employer of Rs32,290, said the police. He had ordered the gaming device along with a friend.
On February 20, Fardhan and his friend placed the order to be delivered at JJ Marg and opted for the cash payment option.
On February 22, Fardhan was given the product to be delivered to the address. He instead took the product to his friends house, removed the PlayStation and filled the box with stones,said an officer from Byculla police station.
The police said Fardhan used stones to maintain the weight of the box. he returned the device to the company, claiming incorrect address, said the officer.
The cheating came to light after Amazon employees opened the box to check the product and returned it to the manufacturer, saying it was full of stones.
Denying they had goofed up, Sony said on February 27 that it suspected the swap was made at Amazons office.
Amazon officials confronted Fardhan. He confessed to the crime. One manager registered a complaint on February 28, said the officer.
Senior police inspector Avinash Shingte from Byculla said the police were checking Fardhans criminal antecedents.
He has been booked under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust ) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was produced in a Mazgaon court and remanded in police custody till Friday.
READ
Case of cheating against Flipkart for delivering soap instead of Samsung phone
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Mumbais mayor will be elected on March 8 and given the numbers in the newly elected Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), its anybodys guess who will win.
The Shiv Sena won 84 seats, the BJP 82, the Congress 31, the NCP 9, MNS 7, SP 6, AIMIM 2, ABS 1 and Independents 5. Here are five ways things could unfold:
1. Shiv Sena and BJP alliance:
After a bitter tussle, the two parties who are still allies in the Central and state governments come together and work out a power-sharing formula. The alliance returns to power in the BMC with a solid majority of 166 in the house of 227.
2. BJP supports Shiv Sena from outside:
Sena-BJP want to reunite but no consensus on how to share power as the Sena is adamant on not sharing the mayors post. BJP wants it as an ally in state so supports Sena from outside. No role for other parties.
3 Shiv Sena vs BJP:
The two parties fail to come together and decide to contest. Congress too fields its candidate. In a three-cornered contest, Sena or BJP whoever manages to get more votes wins. As of now the Sena claims a strength of 88 with the support of 4 independents while BJP has 82. The latter can score over the Sena if it gets votes from NCP (9) or MNS (7). Fifth independent as well as Akhil Bharatiya Sena (1) may also play a role.
4. Shiv Sena wins with the support of Congress-NCP:
The Congress (31) and the NCP (9) decide to support Shiv Sena. This combination will have 128 seats 14 more than a simple majority. It may, however, lead to political instability in the state because the Congress has asked the Sena to pull out of the BJP-led government in state if it wants support.
5. Congress-NCP stay neutral, Sena wins with MNS support:
The Congress and the NCP abstain from voting. The Samajwadi Party (6) too has announced it will not support Sena or BJP. It will bring down the.civic house strength to 182 and the party securing 91 will win. In such a scenario, the MNS (7) will hold the key to victory. The MNS has said it will take a decision in favour of the Marathi manoos.
Read
Mumbai mayor election set stage for another BJP-Sena tiff
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The district collector of Mumbai has directed the University of Mumbai to refund the Rs 2 crore that was allotted for the construction of a centre for promoting Hindi language, a Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed.
The centre, named Dr Rammanohar Tripathi Hindi Bhasha Bhavan, was to be built on the university's Kalina campus and was approved by the collector in June 2014. An amount of Rs 2 crores was sanctioned for the project in January 2015 and the university was required to utilise it by March 2016.
However, till date, the university has spent only Rs2.5 lakh of the funds and there hasn't been any construction for the Hindi Bhasha Bhavan. Only the foundation stone has been laid.
Hindi Bhasha Bhavan, along with the new examination centre, student hostels and staff quarters, are some of the MU projects that are yet to see the light of the day. A number of other buildings on the Kalina campus, including a cultural centre and a green technology building, have not started functioning more than three years after their construction, due to lack of occupancy certificates.
According to a university official, the government had approved Hindi and Urdu bhasha bhavans, after some professors of the two languages approached the government and apprised it of the need for the centres to promote vernacular languages. However, neither of the two centres have materialised, so far. The university has a Marathi Bhasha Bhavan, though.
"The university always complains of lack of funds. But when they have money at their disposal, they don't use it. It seems that the current government and the university administration doesn't care about Hindi and Urdu. One should treat all languages equally," said Anil Galgali, the activist who had filed the RTI query.
University sources said that the Hindi Bhasha Bhavan wasn't part of university's plan and the funds provided for the centre weren't enough. "The university won't build anything just because someone got the government to pay for it," said an official.
However, MA Khan, MU registrar, said that the university intends to build the language centres. "The university wanted to build one structure with provisions for various bhasha bhavans and other centres. If it had spent the money and constructed the building just for Hindi Bhasha Bhavan, the space would have been blocked," he said.
Khan added that the university was preparing a master plan for construction on the Kalina campus, using funds generated by selling and transfer of development rights (TDR) on Kalina campus to Maharashtra Metropolitan Regional Development Authority.
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Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee have started to gather in Beijing for the top political advisory body's annual session, which is scheduled to open Friday.
Political advisors from central China's Henan Province were the first to arrive on Wednesday.
On Sunday, the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, will also convene its annual session. Dubbed the "two sessions," the dual gathering is significant in China's political calendar as it sets the national agenda for the year and beyond.
This year the meetings carry extra weight as they are the fifth and last sessions of the 12th NPC and the 12th CPPCC National Committee.
At the parliamentary assembly, legislators are expected to deliberate a draft decision on deputy elections for the 13th NPC, and draft methods for the election of deputies to the 13th NPC from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
The two sessions are also the first high-profile national political events held since President Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at a key CPC meeting last October.
Pledges to conform to the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core are expected to feature significantly.
"The CPC needs a strong core of leadership. Otherwise, it will have no cohesiveness or competence to lead all manners of undertakings. The endorsement of Xi as the core has come naturally, with the backing of the entire Party and the people," said Xin Ming, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
Much of the focus during the March sessions will center on the economic front, as in previous years, with a government work report to be delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to confirm the country's growth targets for the year.
China registered 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016, a nearly three-decade low, amid concerns over weak growth momentum in major economies, rising trade protectionism, domestic debt overhang, excess capacity and a highly leveraged property market.
However the growth rate was within the Chinese government's target range and outpaced most other major economies, scotching rumors of a hard landing.
Although no official target for this year will be available until the opening of the parliamentary session, China has targeted average annual growth of more than 6.5 percent during the 13th-five-year plan (2016-2020).
Explaing the plan to a key Party conference in late 2015, President Xi Jinping said maintaining an average annual growth of at least 6.5 percent was necessary to reach the target of doubling GDP and per capita income from 2010 levels by 2020.
The target is crucial for China to attain its two centenary goals: becoming a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the CPC, and a modern socialist country that is "prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious" by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.
"I see 2017 as showing considerable continuity with 2016. Growth will continue to be fueled primarily by the increasing importance of consumption as opposed to investment, and services as opposed to industry," said Nicholas R. Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
With the CPC set to hold its 19th National Congress in Beijing in the second half of the year, stabilizing the economy will be prioritized by policymakers.
A Central Economic Work Conference late last year made "seeking progress while maintaining stability" the main theme for economic work in 2017, pledging progress in supply-side structural reform.
Xu Guangjian, vice dean of Renmin University's School of Public Administration, is confident in China's ability to maintain medium-high growth of 6.5 to 7 percent.
"The domestic market is yet to be further tapped, the infrastructure sector has huge potential for investment and resident consumption keeps growing steadily," he said.
Zheng Xinye, assistant dean of Renmin University's School of Economics, suggested increasing effective supply in medical, education and housing sectors in order to meet people's needs, give people a greater sense of gain and ensure steady economic growth.
For those eyeing the effects of China's economic projects on the rest of the world, the Belt and Road Initiative will be a focus.
The initiative, which has yielded infrastructure projects, economic and trade cooperation zones, and jobs, is telling evidence of China's resolution to champion free trade and open markets amid increasing anti-globalization sentiment and rising trade protectionism.
"The Initiative signals China's active participation in global economic and financial governance. Rather than a passive player in the building and maintenance of the international economic order, China has taken on responsibilities that match its economic status and national strength," Xu said.
Lawmakers and political advisors will also take the occasion to review and discuss a draft General Provisions of Civil Law, which states the basic principles of the country's long-awaited civil code.
The drafting of the general provisions started in March 2015. Since June last year, the draft has gone through three readings at the top legislature. During the process, many opinions and revisions have been taken on board to address people's concerns, adapt to the country's needs and embody socialist values.
It is rare for a draft law or an amendment to go through three readings and not be passed. One outstanding case was the property law, which was passed in March 2007 after eight readings.
The draft states that personal liberties and human dignity are protected by the law, and is expected to be approved at the upcoming parliamentary session, a crucial first step in introducing a civil code, hopefully in 2020.
Since a decision to compile a civil code was made in October 2014, it has been treated as a necessary move to perfect the country's socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, and significant in modernizing state governance.
Compiling a civil code takes two steps: formulating the general provisions, and integrating separate civil laws into a unified code.
"The making of the general provisions and the civil code will elevate the protection of civil rights to a new height," said Professor Yin Tian with the Law School of Peking University.
"This will contribute significantly to promoting the sound development of the economy, improving state governance, and preventing state power from encroaching upon the legitimate rights of civil subjects," Yin said.
Other topics at the NPC session include a state budgetary review, military spending and law enforcement.
China announced a 7.6 percent rise in its national defense budget last year, the lowest growth in six years, breaking off a five-year run of double-digit increases between 2011 and 2015.
The increase in 2015 was 10.1 percent.
The world ended yesterday, today is action replay.
These are the words that are inscribed at the entrance of Taarak Mehtas house, says Bharat Ghelani, Editor, Chitralekha Gujarati.
A popular Gujarati columnist, humorist and playwright, Mehta passed away at 87 on Wednesday, owing to a prolonged illness. The playwright was best known for his column, Duniya Ne Undha Chashma (The Worlds Inverted Glasses) in Chitralekha, a weekly Gujarati news magazine where he first wrote his column in 1971. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015 for his literary contribution.
Mehta, who has been a resident of Ahmedabad for the last 16 years, used to write for Gujarati dailies like Divya Bhaskar, and other publications like Chitralekha. Born in 1929, he has written over 80 books and six popular Gujarati plays.
He was a father figure to us. He served the publication for 44 long years so we were all very junior to him. Despite him gaining such clout and stature, he did not have an iota of ego, Ghelani said, adding, Though Chitralekha was popular before Mehta sirs time, our circulation multiplied because of his columns.He got the publication its status and same goes for us.
Ghelani also added that he did not only produce humour but also wrote some serious plays. It is a huge loss for he Gujarati literary world. His volume of work is too big and the vacuum created would be difficult to fill in, he added.
Mehtas work was also adapted to the small screen as Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Kewal Parpani, a fan of Mehta and a regular viewer of the show, said, I have never seen him but I am feeling so low after I came across the news. His remarks and comments embedded in humour were spot on.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness at Mehtas death. Reminiscing his meeting with Mehta, Modi tweeted, I have had the privilege of meeting Mehta several times. I also got a chance to meet him when he was honoured with the Padma Shri. His work reflects unity in diversity in India.
Read
Famous writer Taarak Mehta passes away at 87
No one left Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah since it started: Producer
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is currently having the last laugh as the Shiv Sena is making efforts to woo him, seeking his support for the Mumbai mayor polls.
The MNS has indicated that it may support the Shiv Sena in the civic body.
While Raj has maintained his distance from the media, his Man Friday Bala Nandgaonkar has been dropping subtle hints, assuring the Shiv Sena of the partys support. I would like to see a Shiv Sena man become the mayor. After all, my origins can be traced back to the Shiv Sena, said Nandgaonkar.
Two days ago, Nandgaonkar said Raj will take a call on the issue, keeping in mind the welfare of the Marathi manoos.
The Shiv Sena desperately needs the support of the MNS seven corporators to run the show in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The Shiv Sena, which has 84 corporators, has been aggressively trying to cobble up a majority of 114 in the 227-member house. To gain Rajs support, the party will have to accommodate MNS men in vital committees. Raj will definitely demand his pound of flesh in exchange for his support, said political expert Surendra Jondhale.
Shiv Sena leaders have been trying to convince Uddhav Thackeray that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with its 82 corporators, is currently a bigger threat than the MNS.
Raj was angry with his cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav for spurning his alliance offer prior to the civic polls. Uddhav did not even pick up his calls at the time. Raj has not lost a single opportunity to sarcastically remind Shiv Sena intermediaries that Uddhav is responsible for the impasse as the party could have easily crossed the magic figure if the MNS and the Shiv Sena had formed an alliance.
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MNS bags just one-fourth of its 2012 tally, faces uncertain future
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The Shiv Sena on Thursday taunted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its ally in Maharashtra and at the Centre, for not slamming one of its legislators who called army wives unfaithful. It added that the definition of patriotism cannot be changed according to ones convenience.
In an editorial in the partys mouthpiece, Saamana, the Shiv Sena criticised Maharashtra BJP legislator Prashant Paricharaks statement on how army wives have babies despite soldiers being at the borders for long spells. Keeping in mind that supporters of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru are called traitors, the party asked what Paricharak should be called.
Although this attempt to malign the characters of the soldiers and their wives was horrible, there was no comment condemning the statement from anyone from the BJP. But, the Delhi police arrested Kanhaiya Kumar on the charges of sedition for raising anti-national slogans, reads the editorial.
The party added that though no constructive evidence was found of Kumar having raised such slogans, the BJP had, at that time, added fuel to the fire. It also described the a fierce tiff between Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys leftist student organisations and the BJP-allied student outfit, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
This same ABVP took a different stance on Paricharaks obscene statements. It issued threats to student organisations condemning Paricharaks statement. If this is true then one can say the fight against Kanhaiya Kumar was a farce, the editorial said.
The Shiv Sena is currently in backchannel talks with the Congress, hoping to get its candidate elected as mayor by means of the Congress active or tacit support. Against this backdrop, the party also taunted the BJP for criticising its potential alliance with the Congress when the BJP itself has forged a tie-up with Mehbooba Muftis Peoples Democratic Party in Jammu & Kashmir.
It is worrisome that politicians in independent India are using patriotism and changing its definitions to suit them, the Shiv Sena said.
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BJP-backed Maharashtra MLC sparks outrage with remarks on soldiers, later apologises
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Tie-up with Congress better than alliance with Afzal Guru-supporter Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena taunts BJP
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You will be soon able to lodge a complaint from your mobile phone and even seek immediate police assistance, if the driver of the cab or autorickshaw in which you are travelling behaves rudely or badly with you.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state government to create within two months a grievance redressal mechanism enabling passengers travelling in autorickshaws or taxies to lodge a complaint from their mobile phones via SMS, Whatsapp messages or even emails.
A division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice Anuja Prabhudessai also directed the government to connect the grievance redressal mechanism with police machinery to make immediate police intervention possible.
The judges felt the need for a separate and effective grievance redressal mechanism, although the state government has already proposed a 24x7 helpline, primarily after noticing that no immediate police assistance would be provided through it. The bench said Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, require cab and auto drivers to behave in a civil and orderly manner with passengers and also to stick to the shortest and fittest route to reach the destination.
If the driver behaves rudely with the passenger or does not stick to the route, no purpose will be served by the passenger lodging a complaint after the journey is over, said the bench, while stressing the need for immediate police assistance in emergencies. The bench directed the grievance redressal mechanism be so connected with the police machinery that authorities can immediately track the vehicle and intervene to assist the passenger.
The bench further observed that appropriate action of cancellation of permits of auto owners and badges of drivers was also required to be taken wherever they are found to have committed breach of the conditions of permit or badge or violated provisions of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, which impose a number of duties on cab and auto drivers. The duties imposed by the rules include behaving in a civil and orderly manner with passengers, not to turn down passengers, maintain vehicles in fit and proper condition, keep the vehicle clean, wear khaki uniform with a nameplate and the badge, shall in case of accident take the injured passenger to hospital, etc.
The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by associations of autorickshaw owners and drivers from Bhiwandi and Mira-Bhayander areas challenging validity of a condition imposed by state government on applicants for new auto-rickshaw permits to have working knowledge of Marathi and knowledge of topography of the area for which permit is sought.
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Bombay HC revokes Marathi language rule for auto and taxi licences in Maharashtra
The Bombay high court has asked the Centre to clarify as to why a Pakistani couple has not been deported on grounds of overstaying, despite the HC and the Supreme Court ordering deportation.
Instead of deporting the couple, the central government is considering their plea to regularise their stay in India after their visa expired in November 2016.
The division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai was irked to note that the Centre took this step despite the HC ordering that Syed Waseem Ur-Rehman and his wife Sayeda had no right to continue to reside in India after their visa expired in November 2016 and the decision being upheld by the SC. The court has asked the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs to file an affidavit clarifying their stand on the deportation of the couple
The couple had approached the HC in November 2016 through advocate Vinod Sangvikar seeking extension of visa on the ground that their application seeking Indian citizenship has been pending. The bench, however, rejected the petition holding that being Pakistani nationals, the couple had no right to get visa extension from the Government of India. Besides, the bench said, there is no law that permits the petitioners to continue to stay in India after expiry of their visa only on the ground that their applications for citizenship of India had been pending.
The visa of the couple, which is staying in India since 2009, expired on November 18, 2016, a day ahead of the scheduled expiry, on November 17, 2016 they submitted an application to the minister of home affairs seeking extension of their visa.
The bench rejected the petition saying in absence of a valid visa they cannot claim right of residence in India only on the ground that their application to the Union home minister had been pending.
The court has now posted the petition for further hearing on March 27 and the couple has been asked to appear before the court.
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Pakistani man marries Indian love, now set for deportation
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Doctors at Metro Hospital in Noida found seven plastic pouches, reportedly filled with heroin, in the stomach of a 57-year-old Afghan national. The Afghan national, Abdul Ali Noori, was admitted to the hospital by a relative and a guide.
By Thursday afternoon, doctors extracted plastic pouches carrying poisonous substance from the patients stomach. The police and narcotics officers also arrived on the scene and identified the substance as heroin.
The narcotics team collected the samples. Prima facie, it appears that the patient was carrying heroin packed in capsules that are five centimetres each in size, Vinay Prakash Singh, station house officer of Sector 24 police station, said.
Noori, a native of Kandahar in Afghanistan, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night in an unconscious state by his relative and local guide-cum-translator. Noori is still unconscious and the hospital claims that they are operating on the patient as some of the pouches had burst inside his stomach.
Noori has a history of loss of consciousness and was accompanied by a relative and a guide. However, he did not mention any local address and only submitted his passport, Chhaya Malhotra, spokesperson, Metro Hospital, said.
As Noori was in a critical condition, the doctors admitted him to the intensive care unit and carried out a computed tomography (CT) scan on Wednesday morning.
The CT scan of the abdomen showed multiple foreign bodies. We also carried out an upper GI endoscopy, which revealed multiple white cylindrical foreign bodies wrapped in plastic. Some of them possibly burst inside as we can also see swollen rice material, Dr Atul Sharma, gastroenterologist, Metro Hospital, said.
Doctors said that Noori must have consumed the pouches orally as no operation marks were seen on his body.
The police have deployed personnel at the hospital and held his relative and translator for further investigation. It is likely that Noori will be arrested if and when he gains consciousness.
Police will decide further course of action once the Narcotics team confirms that the substance was contraband. Till then an investigation is going on, Singh said.
However, Noori is a critical state and doctors said that they are trying to save his life. Repeat endoscopy or surgery might be done to remove the remaining bags from the stomach, Dr Sharma said.
Many details about Noori and the events leading to his admission remain unclear.
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The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has agreed to rejuvenate 60 ponds in villages located along the 22km stretch of 135km Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
The 22km stretch of the highway falls in Gautam Budh Nagar district and 1,270 farmers of 39 villages have given their land for the crucial project.
The NHAI, a central government agency, is constructing the Rs 5,000 crore 135 km expressway on Delhis periphery with the aim to decongest Delhi roads.
The objective of this expressway is to provide an alternative route to heavy transport vehicles bound for other states to bypass Delhi , thereby help reducing the air pollution in the national capital.
If these ponds are revived, rainwater can be recycled to recharge the depleting groundwater table, officials said. According to a Central Ground Water Board report, groundwater decreased at a rate of 3.87 metres per year in 2012 against the earlier figure of one metre per year in 2008, in the two of the largest blocks in the district Dankaur and Bisrakh (expressway is coming up in Dankaur area).
There are 929 ponds in the district and more than 505 of them have been grabbed by the land mafia.
In the meeting held with the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration on Thursday, district magistrate NP Singh asked us to rejuvenate ponds and we agreed. Work on expressway is on full swing and we will be happy to use our resources to help the administration rejuvenate ponds as they are essential to conserve rainwater, said Kishore Kanyal, NHAI project director of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Gautam Budh Nagar and Faridabad.
The district magistrate has directed subdivisional magistrate (SDM) RK Singh and other staff members to make a list of villages where these dead ponds are located.
I presented the idea to NHAI to revive these ponds because we can do this work without spending any fund. Rainwater goes down the drain as ponds in villages are dead. The NHAI with their excavation machines will dig up the soil to rejuvenate ponds, which were traditionally used to recharge the groundwater table, NP Singh said.
The administration has not set any deadline for compiling the list of ponds but the work will be done as soon as possible, officials said.
I have directed that the NHAI should revive these ponds by the time it finishes its work on the expressway in the district, NP singh said.
The NHAI is likely to complete 22km stretch by October 2017.
We are freeing ponds from all sorts of encroachment and have already revived around 200 of them with the aim to conserve rainwater, the DM said.
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Three days after a Noida-based woman was allegedly burnt to death on a funeral pyre in Aligarh, doctors of Sharda Hospital, in a press conference on Thursday, insisted that the woman had died almost eight hours before her body was cremated.
On Monday morning, around 8am, Aligarh police had recovered the body of the 24-year-old woman, while it was allegedly being cremated by her husband.The police, acting on the complaint of the victims brother, had sent the body, which was 70% burnt, for a post-mortem examination.
The post-mortem report revealed that the victim had died due to shock of burning and her windpipe was choked with soot.
The victim was admitted to Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida on the morning of February 23, with high fever and breathing problems. At 11.45pm on Sunday night, doctors declared that she died due to multiple organ failure.
There was no laxity on the part of the doctors of the hospital. We reconfirm that the patient had died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure, Dr Rahul Singh, an assistant professor in anaesthesia and critical care, said.
After the post-mortem report was released, an FIR was registered by the police against the womans husband and members of his village in Aligarh, based on a complaint by the womans family. They alleged that the woman was abducted and raped.
The duo had allegedly eloped in December 2016, sparking tension between the two families.
Questions were also raised against the medical staff of Sharda Hospital, who had declared her dead. Contradicting the post-mortem report, Sharda Hospital doctors insisted that the woman died in the hospital before they handed over the body to the womans husband.
The woman was brought to us with issues such as difficulty in breathing, vomiting and high fever. Her lungs were not functioning and there was a severe deficiency of oxygen in her body. We then shifted her to the Intensive Care Unit on the evening of February 23. We kept her on oxygen and gave her antibiotics, Dr Mehroz Alam, assistant professor, critical care department, said.
Doctors also said that the womans husband was given constant updates on the developments and deteriorating health condition of the patient. She was under our observation since February 23 and we gave her heavy antibiotics since the infection had spread to her lungs. We kept her husband informed about the developments and all procedures were done with his consent, Dr Singh said.
On the night of February 26, we carried out CPR as we couldnt feel her pulse despite heavy medication. At 11.45pm, we declared her dead after trying all methods, Dr Singh said.
Doctors also denied that the patient was sedated or heavily drugged.We just gave her antibiotics. She was not sedated with any other pill, said Dr Singh.
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Tension prevailed in Sahibabad after cattle remains, found on a land in Pappu Colony on Thursday morning, were buried in a land marked as a cremation ground for Hindus and burial ground for Muslims in the vicinity.
The remains of slaughtered cow were buried on the side of the cremation ground. However, members of the Muslim community objected to this, Priti Jaiswal, the additional district magistrate (city), said.
The district administration deployed police personnel and PCR vans to prevent an escalation of the law and order situation.
Apparently, the land comprises both the cremation ground and the graveyard. Nearly 10% of the land earmarked as the graveyard has graves but the rest of the ground (cremation ground part) is not used. People have littered this area with garbage, she said.
We disallowed the assembly of locals in the area and deployed police and PCR vans to prevent an escalation of law and order situation, she said.
Locals had protested and attempted to block the Delhi-Wazirabad Road in the morning after finding the cattle remains.
Following the burial, members of the Muslim community visited the office of district magistrate and handed over a memorandum to officials. They claimed that some persons intended to construct a temple on the land and were trying to disturb the peaceful conditions.
Police and PCR vans will be stationed in the area until further notice. Prohibitory orders are in place and no one will be allowed to disturb the peace. The remains of the animal were buried by the people who found them, Anup Singh, circle officer (Sahibabad), said.
Cattle remains have been frequently found in the city during the ongoing state assembly elections.
On February 25, locals went on a rampage and damaged several vehicles after finding remains of a bull. Four persons were arrested for allegedly having slaughtered the bull.
On February 13, cattle remains were found in adjoining Sikandarpur. Locals protested and also blocked the Delhi-Wazirabad Road. Areas around the Hindon air base have a mixed population of different communities.
In January 2016, cattle remains were found in Sikandarpur and widespread protests followed.
In December 2015, there were protests against the police in Sikandarpur following a cattle slaughter incident. Three PCR van staff and the sub-inspector and in-charge of Tulsi Niketan police post were suspended.
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The Sahibabad police took two boys into custody late Wednesday night for allegedly molesting a 15-year-old student. The girl had lodged a complaint a few days ago and an FIR was filed.
The girl had missed two pre-board examinations after she was allegedly molested by the two.
One of the boys is a classmate of the complainant, while the other is his friend. The girl is from a locality under the Sahibabad police station in Ghaziabad. In her FIR, she had alleged that the boys were molesting her for over a month due to which she missed her social studies and arts examinations.
We have taken both of them into custody and will follow legal procedure. Both of them are minors, Anup Singh, circle officer (Sahibabad), said.
The girl had also claimed that the two boys were threatening her to convert to their religion. Since the incident came to light, members of a religious outfit have also sided with the girl to protect her.
They used to follow me on a bike and touch me inappropriately while going to school and tuition. They threatened me and even told me to convert to their religion and stay with them. Initially, I did not tell my parents but when I told a friend, she told me to immediately disclose the matter to my parents, the girl had said.
One of the boys, who is the girls classmate, was expelled from the school on Wednesday after the FIR was filed. The school principal said that he took action after the girl complained against him.
The police lodged an FIR under IPC sections for outraging the modesty of women, sexual harassment, assault or use of criminal force on woman with intent to disrobe, criminal intimidation and also under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
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(Global Times) 08:18, March 02, 2017
The Three Gorges power plant, the world's largest hydroelectric power project, has generated 1 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity after 14 years in operation.
The 1-trillion-kWh mark was reached at 12:28 pm Wednesday, equivalent to 7.1 times the power consumption in 2015 of China's largest city, Shanghai, according to the China Three Gorges Corporation, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
People's Daily reported that 1 trillion kWh of electricity could supply the needs of 100 million three-member families for 5.72 years and Beijing for 10.5 years.
The same amount of electricity could also support the whole country for 60 days, the People's Daily reported.
More than one-third of the amount was sent to East China, including Shanghai, the People's Daily added.
"The Three Gorges Dam not only benefited the economy and provided energy but also reduced greenhouse gas emissions," Dai Xingyi, a professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Shanghai's Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Xinhua reported that the Three Gorges Project has reduced coal consumption by 319 million tons and carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions by 858 million tons and 8.99 million tons respectively, compared with thermal power generation, the document said.
"Therefore, it reduced the frequency of smog in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, which is located in a valley," Dai noted.
Launched in 1993, the project is a multi-function water control system consisting of a dam, 32 hydroelectric power turbo-generators with a generating capacity of 700,000 kilowatts, a five-tier ship lock and a shiplift, according to Xinhua.
The project controls floodwater, generates electricity and helps regulate the river's maritime traffic.
The hydroelectric power plant has a combined generating capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts and a designed annual generating capacity of 88.2 billion kWh, Xinhua reported.
"Hydroelectric power in China is indispensable. Southwest China features high altitudes and frequent rain, which makes the development of hydroelectric power a clear choice in the country," Dai noted.
However, in exploiting hydroelectric power, some issues remain, such as abusing some river reaches, fish migration and resettling people displaced by the construction of hydroelectric power projects, said Dai.
It is not often in the world of warships that a ship completes close to six decades in commission. The de-commissioning of INS Viraat on March 6 will bring to an end the saga of one of the most celebrated warships of our times.
The keel of the ship was laid in 1944, as World War II raged towards its bloody climax. However, the end of the war led to a halt in her construction, and it was only on February 16, 1953 that the Hermes was launched by Lady Clementine, wife of then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. After completing trials, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy on November 18, 1959.
On commissioning, she had many firsts to her credit. She was the first ship with remote controls for the main machinery, the first ship where bunks were provided to each crew member, as against hammocks on earlier ships and among the first ships which was fully air-conditioned.
On commissioning, Hermes displaced 27,800 tonnes with a capacity to carry 20 fighter aircraft and eight helicopters, and a complement of 2,100 men. The versatility of the ships design is evident from the fact that she underwent four role changes in her life. Between 1959 and 1970, Hermes served as a strike carrier; in 1970, she was converted into a commando carrier; in 1976, into an anti-submarine warfare carrier; and, in 1980 into a vertical/short take-off and landing carrier.
The last modification involved extensive refurbishment, including the famous nose job incorporating a 12 degree ski jump instead of the earlier steam catapult. This role change was propitious, for in 1982 Hermes was pressed action in the Falklands War in the South Atlantic and played a critical role in the war.
On her return, she was placed in operational reserve in 1984 and de-commissioning looked inevitable. However, by then the Indian Navy was searching for a replacement to the ageing carrier Vikrant. With Hermes being available for sale, it seemed a match made in heaven. After numerous rounds of negotiations, assessments and visits, the Indian government announced on April 24, 1986 that it had decided to acquire HMS Hermes, which was to be renamed INS Viraat.
After refurbishment, Viraat was commissioned on May 12, 1987 at Naval Base, Portsmouth, under the command of Captain (later VAdm) Vinod Pasricha. The ships transition to the Indian Navy was seamless, one in which, as time would tell, not just equipment, systems and procedures were exchanged but the enduring spirit of Happy Hermes, as she was known, was translated into that of a Vibrant Viraat.
In the three decades with the Indian Navy, Viraat faithfully discharged her role, taking part in several major operations and exercises such as Operation Pawan and Parakram. Along with her illustrious processor, Viraat served as a cradle for generations of naval aviators. Her contribution in building the maritime military strength of India is evident from the smooth induction of INS Vikramaditya into the Indian Navy.
As she lies alongside quiescent today, much like a beached grey whale, probably remembering the days when she felt the rush of waves beneath her keel and the roar of jets on her flight deck, posterity will remember the grand old lady who could be trusted to meet every commitment, and who inspired respect and loyalty among all those who served on board.
It is said that old warships never die, they are resurrected in another avatar. So maybe it for Viraat.
Vice Admiral AK Chawla was former commanding officer of Viraat
The views expressed are personal
Known for being a relatively efficient force, the Chandigarh Police have failed to make a significant headway in high-profile crime cases in the recent past. Despite having made tall claims, the police did not taste much success.
Akansh murder case
On February 9, Akansh Sen, 28, a relative of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, was allegedly run over by a BMW car in Sector 9. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).
Despite having identified both the accused Balraj Singh Randhawa, 31, who was allegedly driving the car and co-accused Harmehtab Singh Rarewala alias Farid (32), who was allegedly sitting next to him on the very first day, the cops are still clueless about the whereabouts of Randhawa. Rarewala was though arrested seven days after the murder but Randhawa continues to dodge the police till now. Despite pressuring the relatives of the accused, police failed to arrest Randhawa. Police finally have initiated proclaimed offender proceedings against him.
Sector-45 firing
The police also failed to make any arrest in a case in which three men fired at a 40-year-old financier in Sector 45 on February 23 evening. The victim, identified as Karan Singh Pehalwan, was hit by two bullets and was admitted to PGIMER in a critical condition.
He is now out of danger. The victim resides in Sector 46 and owns a shop in Burail. He hails from Kurukshetra. The assailants had opened fire in the busy market and were captured in CCTV cameras installed nearby.
Despite getting a number of CCTV footages, the city police are yet to trace the accused. A senior police officer said, We are very close to arrest them as we have identified almost all the accused.
Burglary at Sec-20 computer store
Two burglars allegedly decamped with Rs 4.25 lakh and about 40 laptops from a store in the Sector-20 computer market in the wee hours on February 25.
Despite burglars being captured in the CCTV cameras installed at the shop, cops have failed to trace them.
December gang rape
The gangrape of a 21-year-old call centre employee in the heart of Chandigarh on December 12 last year shamed the city. Even after over two months, the police are clueless about the whereabouts of the second accused who along with an auto-rickshaw driver was party to the crime. The police had arrested the auto-rickshaw driver in December.
Mercedes carjacking
Two men carjacked a Mercedes C-class car of a businessman, Sukhdev Singh Chadha (40), from the Sector 15 market in September last year. The police are yet to crack the case.
Heritage furniture from Chandigarh went under the hammer at an auction on February 28 held in French capital, Paris, and was sold at Rs 60 lakh. For the first time, Ahmadabad heritage furniture was also auctioned at the cost of Rs 18 lakh. The auction was conducted by auction house Artcurial based in Paris.
Four furniture items and raw concrete lamp post designed by Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret including teak stools from Panjab University, coffee table from administrative buildings, executive desk from Punjab and Haryana high court were auctioned.
There has been a spate of auctions of heritage furniture from the city at foreign auctions houses since 2007.
The UT administration has been unable to stall these auctions as of now. Though attempts were made earlier by sending communications to the auction houses, the administration was informed that they had purchased these items from dealers and had all the required receipts.
Interestingly, most of these items were sold as scrap in Chandigarh, not fetching more than a few thousand rupees.
City advocate writes to Union minister
City-based advocate Ajay Jagga has written a letter to Union minister of state (independent charge) for culture Mahesh Sharma stating that it is an economic offence to traffic culture property out of the country.
He stated, the property smuggled or not is a matter of investigation but the property of Chandigarh administration (created by world renowned Architect Mon Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret) is being auctioned in various countries.
Such auctions are continuing for last more than a decade, in violation of Article 51 of the Constitution, as there is no resistance from any quarters.
Meanwhile these items should be declared artefacts/art treasure, and create a museum of such articles.
Blurb: Interestingly, these items were sold as scrap in Chandigarh, not fetching more than a few thousand rupees.
Two factors were crucial in turning the tide in favour of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee polls Sukhbir Badals reposing full faith in partys Delhi unit chief Manjit Singh GK and Aam Aadmi Party deciding against supporting the Panthic Sewa Dal.
Also, outgoing DSGMC president GK was successfully able to insulate his party in Delhi against the negative noises being made in Punjab. The issues of sacrilege Guru Granth Sahib and Dera Sacha Sauda support to Akali candidates in Punjab assembly polls, which were being seen as going against the party in the state polls, were non-issues in the Delhi gurdwara body elections.
When dera announced support to Akali Dal a week before Punjab assembly polls on February 4, GK was in Bathinda and he immediately took a stand against it. He was clear in saying that dera suppport was not welcome even as a number of party candidates reportedly showed up at a dera congregation. GK sensed it that it could spoil partys prospects in Delhi gurdwara polls and his stand worked in his favour.
With AAP backing out from support to its Panthic Sewa Dal, the contest became by and large two-cornered between SAD (Badal) and Paramjit Singh Sarna-led SAD (Delhi). AAPs tacit support to Sarna camp also failed to prop up his poll stocks, as Sikhs who earlier were rallying behind AAPs Panthic Sewa Dal, rejected both. Sewa dal couldnt win a single seat. SAD (Badal) won 34, Sarnas SAD (Delhi) won 8 and two went to Akal Sahai Welfare Society and two went to the Independents.
In four years as DSGMC president, GK scored over Sarna, who remained president for about ten year till 2013. GKs sober image and his connect with the Delhi Sikhs worked in his favour. Also, the works done for the community by his father Santokh Singh in the mid-1970s and early 1980s also paid off.
I think people in Delhi ignored the issue that were talking point in Punjab. They gave Manjit Singh GK a positive vote. Also, he (GK) was able to translate work done by him into votes, said Dr Jaspal Singh, who remained general secretary of DSGMC led by GKs father.
By defeating AAP, the Congress and the radicals in the DSGMC election, the Sikhs of Delhi have sent out a clear message that they are behind the Akali Dal. The mandate is a testament of the faith of people in the SAD, said Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal after the result.
Also, the GK-led DSGMC could make Delhi Sikhs believe that demolition of piao (public tap) at Gurdwara Sis Ganj about six months ago was done at the behest of AAP government. He managed to involve maximum number of people from the community in the birth centenary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh and Banda Singh Bahadur.
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Two days after gangster Davinder Singh, alias Babli Randhawa, surrendered in a local court, the police on Wednesday arrested four more accused in financier Hardev Singh Happys murder case at Longowal on February 16.
Five persons were booked for financiers murder and all are behind bars now. During investigation, we came to know that one Dhanwant Singh of Kotra Amru village was also with the accused and his name has been incorporated in the FIR. We have launched a hunt to nab him, said senior superintendent of police Inderbir Singh.
The police have recovered two unlicensed Italy-made 7.65mm pistols, four empty magazines, 16 live cartridge and four empty cartridges from the accused, he said.
Those arrested on Wednesday have been identified as Varinder Singh, alias Mottu, Sraaz Khan and Amandeep Singh, all residents of Longowal, and Gurpreet Singh from Lohakhera village.
Three accused were nabbed from Changal village road Mastuana and Gurpreet was arrested from Lohakhera on Wednesday, the SSP added.
The five accused, including Babli Randhawa, in police custody on Thursday. (HT Photo)
The accused were produced in a court on Thursday and have been sent to police remand till March 8, said SP (investigation) Sewa Singh Malhi.
Hardev Singh Happy, 25, was shot dead at Longowal by a group of five gangsters led by gangster Babli Randhawa. After committing the crime, Randhawa posted four videos on his Facebook page, taking responsibility for the crime and celebrating the murder by joining chorus of a song, Maare hik vich fire Jat ne (The Jat has fired in the chest). He is also seen flashing a gun in the video.
Police had registered a case under Sections 302 (murder), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code and 25/54/50 of the Arms Act.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has told the Centre to submit a fresh report on foreign nationals, many of them from Pakistan, languishing in Punjab jails even after completion of their sentence.
The direction was issued by the high court (HC) bench of justices SS Saron and Darshan Singh during the resumed hearing of a suo motu petition in which the HC had asked the state to consider cases of life convicts for premature release in the light of Supreme Court guidelines laid down in July 2015 on the issue.
Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Satya Pal Jain had apprised the court that as per a report compiled in October 2016, there are 38 foreign inmates in Punjab jails. He said that the nationality of 16 inmates, reportedly from Pakistan, is unconfirmed and repatriation of three Pakistani nationals is under process, two have died and four have been repatriated.
As for other nationalities, there is one inmate from Myanmar besides two from Nepal, two from Bangladesh, one from Kenya and one from Sri Lanka whose nationalities are not confirmed. Six inmates of Bangladesh have been repatriated, Jain informed the court.
Punjab additional advocate general PPS Thethi told the court that Punjab will verify from the Amritsar jail authorities whether other particulars of the inmates can be gathered, especially for confirming their nationalities.
The Centres response was sought after Punjab told the court that nearly 38 foreign nationals who have completed their sentences were either in jails or in transit camps as they could not be released without prior permission from the central government. The fresh report has been sought by April 6.
The City Beautiful has been attracting visitors not only for its unique architecture but also for its clean and green image. But this image is beginning to get dirty, especially in its iconic Sector 17.
And traders blame this lack of cleanliness and upkeep for the waning fortunes of this central sector. So grubby is the sector that UT administrator VP Singh Badnore lost his cool after visiting it last month, and roundly rebuked the officers for not getting the area cleaned up.
But his words seem to have fallen on deaf ears as the sector is as unclean as ever. These days visitors to the plaza are greeted by garbage littered in the parking. Overflowing bins, broken tiles, and loose electricity wires in the corridors are other eyesores that spoil the sheen of this sector.
This is despite the fact that Chandigarh is vying for the clean city title under the Swachh Survekshan 2017. The traders say the authorities do try to come up with a strategy to make the plaza attractive, but other parts of the sector have been neglected for long.
Enter the sector from the parking near the MC building, and you are greeted by garbage. The tiles too are broken and the road is uneven. As you near the Neelam Theatre, overflowing garbage bins emit a stench, and the walls are stained with betel marks and graffiti, not expected in the heart of the city.
Garbage heaps are a common sight in Panchkula. (Karun Sharma/Hindustan Times)
Mission Clean Sweep Impose a fine on the litterbugs. Give this power to a few traders in every lane. Install more garbage bins so that visitors dont need to hunt for them Ninety-four safai karamcharis is a lot, but they need to be given areas of responsibility and then supervised. Like in Singapore, there should be a provision wherein visitors should be allowed to rate an area for cleanliness. Keeping in view the footfall, the sector should be cleaned twice a day (morning and evening).
Take a leisurely stroll down the plaza, and you reach the fountain stuffed with wrappers and other waste. A few metres ahead is the bridge market, which doesnt seem to have seen a broom for a long time. The floor tiles are mostly broken. Pits and potholes are commonplace as you approach the banks and shops in Sector 17 C.
The scene in Sector 17 A and B is even more dismal. The stretch near the bridge appears as if it has never been cleaned. The area behind the showrooms and shops is being used as an open urinal, and the stench is unbearable. The bank square in Sector 17 is no different. The garbage piled up in the parkings is a common sight.
Jatin Wadhwa, a Sector 17-based entrepreneur, laments that the vendors sitting in the plaza litter the place. The bins too are few and very small in size as a result of which garbage spills out.
Echoing him, Rakhi Jain, a regular visitor to Sector 17, said, I have seen this place deteriorating with time. It appears as if the most sought after market area is hardly cleaned up.
Traders say the municipal corporation needs to install more bins in the market and the visitors too need to be more responsible.
They should not litter the sector, said a trader, complaining that people have a quick snack and leave behind a trail of garbage.
The safai karamcharis need to clear the bins more than twice a day and the parking areas also needs to be cleaned regularly.
Both traders and residents suggested that a fine be imposed for littering in Sector 17.
(FIFTH OF SEVEN-PART SERIES, TOMORROW:DESIGN DEFECTS)
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Are women more likely to be bisexual than men? No. Can anal sex get you pregnant? No. Can men have multiple orgasms? No. Can a man and a woman reach climax together? No. Do men want sex more than women? No.
Do you know all that there is to know about sex? No.
So we ask Dr Prakash Kothari, Head of the Department of Sexual Medicine at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, Mumbai, and Dr Ajit Saxena, Senior Consultant Urologist and Andrologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi, for some legit information.
So here they bust a few popular sex myths, the ones weve heard so often that we confidently mistake them for facts. Its time to brush up your knowledge and find out how correctly informed you are.
Semen is entirely made up of sperms. Its quality plays a big role in the sexual performance of a man.
Sperms constitute just 0.01% of semen. The rest 99.9% is mostly water, fructose, proteins, calcium, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. The colour, consistency and quantity of semen have nothing to with the quality or the ability of a man to have sex. As men grow older, their semen may become thin, the quantity may reduce, and the colour may change from white to light yellow, but it is perfectly normal.
Women do not want sex as much after they become mothers.
Motherhood does not affect the libido of a woman in any way. However, the vaginal muscles get loose after she undergoes a normal delivery. It may affect the grip or the friction, diminishing sexual gratification.
Having sex for the first time always hurts.
It doesnt, though hymen rupture can be painful at times. Having rough sex, or without enough lubrication or foreplay; or when your partner is not ready, or uneasy, are usually responsible for painful first times.
The longer it lasts, the better it is.
As long as both the people are satisfied, the duration does not matter.
You cannot conceive if you have sex when menstruating.
True. Sperm only lives for 48 hours and a woman is usually infertile until 10 days after her cycle is over.
Regular porn watching affects your sex life negatively.
Yes. Excessive porn watching can make you delusional. It gives people unrealistic expectations, making them dissatisfied with their sex life. What you see is not possible to achieve under realistic circumstances. It can also give people serious complexes about their bodies.
No method of contraception is 100% effective.
True. There is always a chance of a condom breaking, or women forgetting to take the pill within the stipulated time. The only foolproof way is either to have anal sex, or do it when the woman is on her period.
Womens libido dies after menopause.
Nope. On the contrary, they get more sexually active after they have had their menopause. Several factors are responsible for this no risk of pregnancy, their kids have grown up, they have fewer responsibilities, and they are sexually more confident and carefree at this stage of their lives.
Old people do not have orgasms.
They do, a lot more than youd like to believe. Orgasm has nothing to do with age. Men have orgasms all their lives and there are several young women who never experience orgasms.
Oral/anal sex cannot give you STDs.
It can. HIV is a very common infection contracted through anal sex. Oral sex is not infection free either. Hepatitis B is a popular disease transmitted through oral sex.
Sex using a condom is not as much fun.
It totally depends on the preference of the people involved. Though wearing a condom during intercourse is safer, most people find condom-less sex more satisfying.
For men, ejaculation is the same as getting an orgasm.
Not always. Sometimes they can occur independent of each other. Orgasm has more to do with satisfaction while ejaculation is the release of semen, a medical phenomenon. A man may ejaculate without feeling satisfied. Most men ejaculate after they orgasm.
G spot doesnt exist.
It does, though not in the exact same spot in every woman.
It is possible to avoid pregnancy if the guy does not ejaculate inside the womans vagina.
True, but it is easier said than done. Despite best efforts, some semen invariably finds its way inside a womans vagina and the first few drops are the most potent. Called withdrawal technique, this act of a man withdrawing just before ejaculation is a rare feat, but if achieved, it prevents pregnancy.
Condoms provide 100% protection against STIs.
Nope. A few viruses can cross.
Size matters.
No, it doesnt. The normal anatomical depth of a vagina is 4 inches, plus 2 inches of compressible tissue, making it 6 inches. Only the outer one-third part of a vagina has sensation. The inner two-third is virtually insensitive. So for all practical purposes, a penis the size of two inches (in erect stage) is enough.
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Beautiful rape flower sea in Yang County, Hanzhong, northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province.[Photo: ifeng.com]
China on Wednesday announced favorable measures to develop tourism for rural areas in poverty.
The move is part of the country's strategy to eradicate poverty by 2020 through the use of targeted and precise relief measures.
The National Tourism Administration signed agreements with the Agricultural Development Bank of China and the China Citic Bank to provide financial credit for impoverished counties to build tourist attractions.
In the 2016-2020 period, poor counties with scenic areas will have updated infrastructure and public service facilities with the help of the banks.
China Citic Bank will lend 200 billion yuan (29.4 billion U.S. dollars) to fund key projects featuring construction of distinctive scenic attractions for rural areas in poverty.
China beat its annual target by lifting 12.4 million people out of poverty in 2016, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development said Tuesday.
"The progress was partly due to large financial resources, amounting to more than 230 billion yuan, earmarked by the central and local budgets," said Su Guoxia, spokesperson with the agency.
Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has issued a statement acknowledging his groups defeat in Iraq and calling on supporters to either flee or carry out suicide attacks, according to a media report.
Baghdadis statement was titled farewell speech and was distributed among IS preachers and clerics on Tuesday, Al Arabiya quoted Iraqs Alsumaria television network as saying.
Alsumaria quoted sources in the Iraqi governorate of Nineveh as saying that Baghdadi had ordered the closure of the IS office regulating the groups fighters. He also ordered non-Arab fighters to either return to their countries or detonate themselves, promising them 72 women in heaven.
Many IS leaders in Iraq had fled towards areas in neighboring Syria controlled by the group, the sources said.
Iraqi forces backed by the US and other countries have been advancing towards IS-held areas in Iraq over the past weeks. The group has suffered one setback after another in its former stronghold of Mosul.
Baghdadi, the so-called caliph of the IS, has not been seen in public for long. There have been several reports of him being killed or injured in air strikes or attacks but he has usually emerged with an audio message or statement after such reports.
US-backed Iraqi forces advancing in western Mosul fought off a counter-attack by the militants during bad weather in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.
Some militants were able to get near elite Iraqi units in southwestern Mosul, hidden among people displaced by the fighting, Reuters reported.
Iraqi forces captured eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting and launched their attack on districts that lie west of the Tigris river on February 19.
Defeating the IS in Mosul would crush the Iraqi wing of the caliphate declared by Baghdadi in 2014.
The sky has been cleared and security tightened across Beijing as the city prepares to host the choreographed annual session of its rubber-stamp Parliament, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), from Sunday.
Ahead of that, on Friday, the yearly session of the top advisory body, Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will be inaugurated.
Together, they are known as the Two Sessions or Liang Hui in Chinese, and more than 5,000 NPC deputies and CPPCC members have begun arriving in Beijing to attend the sessions.
Its almost customary for Beijings pollution to clear up in the lead-up to and during the two sessions, which last for about two weeks.
As part of the annual routine, Chinese state media has gone into overdrive in its coverage of the meetings despite the fact that very little emerges about the actual decision-making by the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Much of the focus during the March sessions will centre on the economic front, as in previous years, with a government work report to be delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to confirm the countrys growth targets for the year, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Li will signal the end of the two sessions with an annual news conference, where questions are usually vetted by the government.
Though Li will deliver the governments annual work report on Sunday - providing growth figures and sectoral outlays including the defence budget - the focus will be on the increasingly powerful President Xi Jinping.
The two sessions are also the first high-profile national political events held since President Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the CPC Central Committee at a key CPC meeting last October, state media reported. Pledges to conform to the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core are expected to feature significantly.
It will be Xis thoughts that will echo inside the walls of the Great Hall of the People, where most of the meetings including the NPC inauguration will take place.
Over the past four years, Xi's governance thoughts have been guiding China's development. The book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, a collection of his speeches, provides insight into his concepts, resolve and wisdom of governance. More than six million copies have been distributed worldwide, Xinhua reported.
The CPC needs a strong core of leadership. Otherwise, it will have no cohesiveness or competence to lead all manners of undertakings. The endorsement of Xi as the core has come naturally with the backing of the entire party and the people, said Xin Ming, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
One of the biggest scams affecting Canadians in recent years has registered a sharp decline following a police raid on a call centre in Mumbai late last year, underlining the link between India and such activity.
Known as the tax scam, it involved persons impersonating agents of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA, the equivalent of Indias income tax department) and calling consumers and threatening their targets with financial penalties, lawsuits, and even arrest if they dont pay the back taxes they supposedly owe, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
The con artists also posed as Internal Revenue Service agents while calling people in the United States.
While phone-based scams have bedevilled people in North America, there were indications a portion of those originated from rogue call centres in India.
The aftermath of the Mumbai raids, which led to nearly 70 employees there being charged with fraud and other crimes, is the clearest evidence of that link so far.
In a statement listing its Top 10 Scams of 2016, BBB said, Our number one scam from last year has been in decline. A call centre in India was raided and the dreaded Canada Revenue Agency Tax Scam dropped off dramatically.
Evan Kelly, a spokesperson for BBB in Canada, said there had been a steep 80% to 90% dropoff in complaints regarding the scam. At its peak, those complaints numbered between 300 and 400 each week.
BBB in the US reported that one in four reports on its online tool, BBB Scam Tracker, were related to the tax scam.
However, not all the news related to scams has been positive. The amount that people were defrauded of in 2016 rose to more than $90 million, a nearly 50% increase over the previous year, some of it attributed to increased reporting.
Kelly said this reflected just a fraction of the quantum of scamming that occurred as the vast majority of incidents were not reported.
According to a December 2016 statement from the US arm of BBB, there were more than 7,500 reports of the tax scam, comprising a quarter of the total, close to the percentage cited for 2015.
Kelly said, We get a lot of scams that are foreign-based, a lot are internet-based. In fact, such activity has also started using social media.
Phone-based scams still remain the largest segment of this criminal industry, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Unfortunately, some of these scams could still be originating from Indian call centres.
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The strengthening of cyber capabilities is an important part of Chinas military modernisation, the government said as it warned that the internet should not become a new battlefield.
China, home to the largest number of internet users, has long called for greater cooperation among countries in developing and governing the internet, while reiterating the need to respect cyber sovereignty.
But Beijing, which operates the worlds most sophisticated online censorship mechanism known elsewhere as the Great Firewall, has also signalled that it wants to rectify imbalances in the way standards across cyberspace are set.
The building of national defence cyberspace capabilities is an important part of Chinas military modernisation, the foreign ministry and the Cyberspace Administration of China, the countrys internet regulator, said in a strategy paper on the ministrys website on Wednesday.
China will help the military in its important role of safeguarding national cyberspace sovereignty, security and development interests and hasten the building of cyberspace capabilities, it said, but also called on countries to guard against cyberspace becoming a new battlefield.
Countries should not engage in internet activities that harm nations security, interfere in their internal affairs, and should not engage in cyber hegemony.
Enhancing deterrence, pursing absolute security and engaging in a (cyber) arms race - this is a road to nowhere, Long Zhao, the foreign ministrys coordinator of cyberspace affairs, said at a briefing on the strategy.
China is deeply worried by the increase of cyber attacks around the world, Long said.
The US has accused Chinas government and military of cyber attacks on US government computer systems. China denies the accusations and says it is a victim of hacking.
A cyber attack from China crashed the website of South Koreas Lotte Duty Free on Thursday, a company official said, at a time when South Korean firms are reporting difficulties in China following the deployment of a US missile defence system in South Korea that China objects to.
While Chinas influence in global technology has grown, its ruling Communist Party led by President Xi Jinping has presided over broader and more vigorous efforts to control and censor the flow of information online.
The Great Firewall blocks many social media services, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Google, along with sites run by human rights groups and those of some foreign media agencies.
Chinese officials say the countrys internet is thriving and controls are needed for security and stability.
Egypts top appeals court on Thursday acquitted ex-president Hosni Mubarak of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his three-decade reign, a judicial official said.
Mubarak had been sentenced to life in 2012 but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later.
Thursdays ruling by the Court of Cassation is final.
The trial was Mubaraks final one, after prosecutors levelled various charges against him following his February 2011 resignation.
A supporter of former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, plays the trumpet outside the Maadi military hospital, after the Court of Cassation acquitted Mubarak in Cairo in Egypt on March 2. (Reuters Photo)
He was accused of inciting the deaths of protesters during the 18-day revolt, in which about 850 people were killed as police clashed with demonstrators.
Mubarak, 88, has spent most of his time in a military hospital since his arrest in 2011.
In January 2016, the appeals court had upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons on corruption charges.
But the sentence took into account time served. Both his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were freed.
President Donald Trumps promise to use existing funds to begin immediate construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border has hit a financial roadblock, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The rapid start of construction, promised throughout Trumps campaign and in an executive order issued in January on border security, was to be financed, according to the White House, with existing funds and resources of the Department of Homeland Security.
But so far, the DHS has identified only $20 million that can be re-directed to the multi-billion-dollar project, according to a document prepared by the agency and distributed to congressional budget staff last week.
The document said the funds would be enough to cover a handful of contracts for wall prototypes, but not enough to begin construction of an actual barrier. This means that for the wall to move forward, the White House will need to convince Congress to appropriate funds.
An internal report, previously reported by Reuters, estimated that fully walling off or fencing the entire southern border would cost $21.6 billion - $9.3 million per mile of fence and $17.8 million per mile of wall.
DHS officials did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Trump has said he will ask Congress to pay for what existing funds cannot cover and that Mexico will be pressured to pay back U.S. taxpayers at a later date.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he will include funding for a border wall in the budget for next fiscal year. He has estimated the cost to be between $12 billion and $15 billion.
Many Republican lawmakers have said they would vote against a plan that does not offset the cost of the wall with spending cuts.
In the document it submitted to Congress, the DHS said it would reallocate $5 million from a fence project in Naco, Arizona, that came in under budget and $15 million from a project to install cameras on top of trucks at the border.
The surveillance project was awarded to Virginia-based Tactical Micro, but was held up due to protests from other contractors, according to the DHS document. Tactical Micro could not be reached for comment.
The DHS only searched for extra funds within its $376 million budget for border security fencing, infrastructure and technology, so it would not have to ask for congressional approval to repurpose funding, according to the document.
Contractors cannot begin bidding to develop prototypes until March 6 but more than 265 businesses already have listed themselves as interested parties on a government web site.
Those interested range from small businesses to large government contractors such as Raytheon.
At least two suspected militants were killed on Thursday in a US drone strike in Pakistans restive northwest tribal region, the first such attack after Donald Trump assumed American presidency, according to reports.
Drone strikes are extremely unpopular among many Pakistanis because they are seen as a violation of the countrys sovereignty, although leaked documents have shown that Islamabad and Washington have secretly colluded over some cases in the past.
The attack occurred in the Sara Khwa area of Kurram, one of seven so-called tribal districts that lie along the border with Afghanistan, where Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for more than a decade and a half.
Requesting anonymity, a local government official described the two men who were killed as militants but said their identity could not immediately be confirmed.
A second official confirmed the strike and the casualties.
The drone came from Afghanistan and returned after firing two missiles on the motorbike, he said.
The last US drone attack took place in May 21, 2016, killing the then leader of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansour as well as his driver in southwestern Balochistan province.
The very first of the more than 420 attacks occurred in 2004 under the government of President George W Bush, but it was under President Barack Obama that their use increased substantially, before tapering off in his second term.
Last year there were only three.
Drones have proven extremely controversial with the Pakistani public and rights groups. In 2013, Amnesty International said the US could be guilty of war crimes by carrying out extrajudicial killings.
The strike could be read as the first hint about President Trumps policy toward Pakistan, a country he has spoken about relatively little.
In December Pakistans foreign office said then president-elect Trump praised its prime minister Nawaz Sharif as a terrific guy and offered support for a fantastic country, in an effusive phone call that baffled many.
Trumps aides confirmed the call but gave a more toned-down account, saying the pair had a productive conversation about how the United States and Pakistan will have a strong working relationship in the future.
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A North Korean envoy rejected a Malaysian autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim Jong Nam, saying on Thursday the man probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Malaysia dismissed the claim.
The death of Kim, the estranged half brother of North Koreas ruler, has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. The autopsy is especially sensitive because North Korea had asked Malaysia not to perform one, but authorities carried it out anyway, saying they were following the law.
Also Thursday, amid growing fallout from the killing, Malaysia announced it is scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans.
Malaysian officials say two women smeared VX nerve agent a banned chemical weapon on Kims face as he waited for a flight at Kuala Lumpurs airport on Feb. 13. Kim died within 20 minutes, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
The women, who were caught on grainy surveillance video, have been charged with murder. Both say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.
Malaysias autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim boosted speculation that North Korea orchestrated the attack. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.
North Korea has denied any role and accused Malaysia of bias.
On Thursday, Ri Tong Il, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told a news conference that it made no sense to say the two women used such a deadly toxin without also killing or sickening themselves and people around them.
Ri said Kim had a history of heart problems and had been hospitalized in the past. He said he understood that Malaysian officials found medication for diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure in Kims belongings and concluded he wasnt fit to travel.
This is a strong indication that the cause of death is a heart attack, Ri said.
Former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations Ri Tong Il (L) addresses journalists outside the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur on March 2. (AFP)
North Korea does not acknowledge that it was Kim Jong Nam who died. Instead, it refers to the victim as Kim Chol, the name on the diplomatic passport he was carrying. Malaysia has confirmed that the victim was Kim Jong Nam.
National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar brushed off Ris claim of a heart attack.
We have our experts who are qualified to determine the cause of death of Kim Chol. Our investigations, supported by expert reports, confirmed that Kim Chol was murdered. North Korea can say what they like but the facts remain, Khalid told AP.
Malaysian police said the attackers knew what they were doing and had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and wash their hands. Police cant confirm whether the two women may have been given antidotes before the attack. An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
The case has badly frayed once-warm ties between Malaysia and North Korea.
While it isnt one of North Koreas key diplomatic partners, Malaysia has been one of the few places in the world where North Koreans could travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it has been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.
That could all change after Kims death.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the visa-free arrangement with North Korea will be scrapped starting Monday for national security reasons. He also slammed the North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, who has accused Malaysia of trying to conceal something and colluding with hostile forces.
We dont want to make enemies, but if they had used Malaysia for their own agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international stage, Zahid said. We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of our people. Dont ever use Malaysia as a base to do anything you like.
Earlier Thursday, Malaysian authorities said they will release a North Korean man, Ri Jong Chol, from custody Friday because of a lack of evidence. Officials never said why they arrested him. But Malaysian Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali said he will be deported because he does not have valid travel documents.
Custody of Kim Jong Nams body has become a point of contention between the two countries.
Malaysia has resisted giving up the body without getting DNA samples and confirmation from next of kin. Kim is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau.
North Korea has unsuccessfully demanded that Malaysia hand the body over.
Malaysian authorities are seeking seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom fled the country on the day of Kims death and are believed to be back in North Korea. Others sought include the second secretary of North Koreas embassy and an employee of North Koreas state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his half brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Isolated North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.
Graphic on suspects and people wanted for questioning in the death of Kim Jong-Nam on February 13 in Malaysia. (AFP)
A high-level defector from North Korea, Thae Yong Ho, told reporters from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV on Thursday that hes certain Kim Jong Un was behind Kim Jong Nams death.
North Korea is a society ruled in terror. For a big decision like killing Kim Jong Nam, no one could make a decision like that except Kim Jong Un, he said in a broadcast from Seoul, South Korea.
Thae was the deputy head of the North Korean Embassy in London until last year, when he fled to South Korea, becoming the most senior diplomat to switch sides.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday that India was committed to investing in Nepals key sectors like hydropower and irrigation, besides connecting the country to its rail network.
Jaitley was delivering a keynote speech at Nepal Investment Summit- 2017 on Thursday. He also held talks with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, and his counterpart, Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
In his meeting with Prachanda, Jaitley said foreign direct investment is a key driver for development in countries like Nepal. Investment and development bring political stability, he said.
He also said India was committed to partnering Nepal in its aspirations for growth and investment in the hydropower, irrigation, health and education sectors, as well as transmission lines, roads and bridges.
Prachanda thanked Jaitley for the support to Nepal for constructing postal roads, extension of cross border transmission lines, bridges and the recent Indian approval for Arun III project, where the government has decided to put in 57 billion.
He further urged India to invest in Nepals hydropower, tourism and agriculture, according to a statement from the Nepal prime ministers office.
They briefly touched upon the political development of Nepal, where Prachanda apprised about his governments bid to implement the Constitution and steps it has been taking in the last seven months.
He also said India was committed to connecting Nepal to Indias rail network.
Jaitleys remarks assume significance as railway minister Suresh Prabhu had said last month that India was keen to link Nepals capital of Kathmandu with New Delhi and Kolkata through a railway network in a bid to strengthen cross-border connectivity.
India has responded to Pakistans allegations of rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir at the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva by highlighting alleged atrocities in the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The two countries clashed at the UNHRC session on Wednesday evening, with Indias permanent representative, Ajit Kumar, saying the monster of terrorist groups created by Pakistan is now devouring its own creator.
Under Indias right to reply after a statement by Pakistan law minister Zahid Hamid, Alok Jha, counsellor in the Indian mission, said Islamabads trust in the methods of terror was so deep it did not hesitate from using it against its own people.
Jha specifically mentioned Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunwa provinces and the semi-autonomous tribal areas in northwest Pakistan in this regard.
While advocating restraint to others, it has no hesitation in using air power against its own people...Pakistan will be well advised to focus its energies on setting its own house in order and acting against the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on its neighbours instead of ritually taking up alleged human rights violations elsewhere, he said.
India also regretted that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation delegates had used the UNHRC session to comment on Kashmir. The OIC statement, Jha said, reflected a complete inability to understand Indias position on the issue.
OIC has no locus standi in matters concerning Indias internal affairs, Jha said.
During the discussion on death penalty, India noted there was no international consensus for or against it. Characterising death penalty as a rights issue in the context of the right to life of a convicted prisoner was deeply flawed and best remained as the inalienable right and exclusive decision of a sovereign state, it said.
Virander Paul, deputy permanent representative, said: In india, death penalty is exercised in the rarest of rare cases, where the crime committed is so heinous as to shock the conscience of society.
Indian law provides for all procedural safeguards, including the right to a fair hearing by an independent court, the presumption of innocence, the minimum guarantee for the defence, and the right to review by a higher court.
Indian laws, Paul said, had specific provisions for suspending the death penalty in exceptional cases, and juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to death under any circumstances. Accordingly, the question of whether to retain or abolish the death penalty and the types of crimes for which the death penalty is applied should remain the inalienable right and exclusive decision of the sovereign state, he added.
The session of the UNHRC runs from February 27 to March 24.
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday blasted the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) for assertion of Pyongyang standing behind the death of a DPRK national in Malaysia last month, saying it was "groundless blame."
"The US and the South Korean authorities are kicking up an anti-DPRK smear campaign," said the state-run KCNA news agency.
A DPRK national identified as Kim Chol was attacked on Feb 13 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. After seeking help from the airport staff, he died en route to hospital.
Malaysian Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said Sunday that the man died a painful death minutes after being swabbed with a high dosage of lethal VX nerve agent.
The KCNA, however, slammed ROK authorities for "spreading rumor" from the very beginning that the dead man was killed with poison, which it says drives a wedge between the DPRK and Malaysia.
It also accused the ROK and the United States of using the case with a political purpose to tarnish the image of the DPRK and attempting to bring down its social system.
The KCNA doubted the autopsy results released by the Malaysian side. It even warned of "stronger measures for self-defense" in order to protect the sovereignty and dignity of the country should Washington and Seoul keep using "political chicanery" to undermine the DPRK system.
Three suspects -- an Indonesian woman, a Vietnamese woman and a DPRK man -- are being held in police custody in Malaysia. Police 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.
The two female suspects in custody were charged Wednesday with the murder of the DPRK man. The death penalty will be applied if they are convicted.
Malaysia will cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans entering the country from March 6, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday, as diplomatic ties between the two countries frayed further following the murder of Kim Jong Nam at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
North Koreans will be required to obtain a visa before entering Malaysia for national security reasons, Bernama reported citing the deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that North Koreans could visit without a visa. A reciprocal arrangement made Malaysians the only foreigners given visa-free entry to the secretive, nuclear-armed state.
The move comes two weeks after Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport with a toxic nerve agent.
Diplomatic ties between Malaysia and North Korea have soured since the murder, which South Korea and U.S. saying it was an assassination organised by North Korean agents.
North Korea tried to convince Malaysia not to perform an autopsy on Kim Jong Nams body, and to release three suspects detained in connection with the killing.
A high level North Korean diplomatic delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and has held talks with members of the Malaysian cabinet to press those demands.
Malaysia has charged a Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman with murder, but police are also holding one North Korean man and want to question seven others, including a senior official in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia has insisted that laws of the country will be followed and has refused to release the body to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, while waiting for next of kin to come forward.
Malaysia is considering expelling North Koreas envoy to the Southeast Asian nation or shutting its embassy in Pyongyang, a senior government official told Reuters last week, when the Malaysian ambassador was recalled for consultations.
Following a Reuters report this week that the North Korean intelligence agency has been running an arms operations from Kuala Lumpur for years, the Malaysian police have said they will strike two related companies off the countrys company registry.
The severe strain on the relationship follows decades of friendly ties between the two countries.
North Korea and Malaysia have maintained cosy ties since the 1970s when former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad embraced the isolated state, in part to rebuff the United States.
Malaysian palm oil and rubber is exported to the communist state. Cars made by Malaysian national carmaker Proton have been sold to North Korea and used as taxis.
Mexican police found 11 people dead, apparently tortured, on carnival night in an eastern tourist town, the latest victims of drug-related gang violence, an official said Wednesday.
The nine men and two women were found in Boca del Rio in the violence-plagued state of Veracruz, state governor Miguel Angel Yunez told Oliva Radio station.
They were found on Tuesday night just as thousands of people in the port city of Veracruz celebrated the annual carnival festival.
An AFP photographer at the scene saw bloodied corpses, some of them naked and with their hands and feet bound.
Yunez said the killings were part of a war between drug gangs around the major port city of Veracruz.
The Zetas gang and their rivals Jalisco New Generation are fighting for control of crime rackets and drug-trafficking routes to the United States.
Officials said violence also broke out at the port on Tuesday, leaving dead two suspected criminals and a member of the navy.
Interior minister Miguel Angel Osorio on Tuesday had just announced the deployment of military police to fight drug gangs in the state.
Leading Muslim and Christian clerics in the Middle East issued a statement Wednesday urging against linking Islam to terrorism, following a conference in Cairo on co-existence.
The conference, hosted by the prestigious Sunni Muslim Al-Azhar institute, comes as sectarian conflict continues to ravage the region and after a spate of jihadist attacks on Christians in Egypt.
It also comes after US president Donald Trumps administration shifted from the vaguer language of its predecessor by identifying its fight as against radical Islamic terrorism.
Former president Barack Obama, who led an international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, had argued that calling the jihadists Islamic gave them legitimacy.
A closing statement read by Azhars Sheikh Ahmed Tayeb demanded Islam not be associated with terrorism.
The conference demands that those who link Islam and other religions with terrorism immediately stop, he said.
Judging Islam by the criminal actions of some who associate with it opens the door to describing all religions as terrorism, which justifies extremist modernists argument that societies must be rid of religion, he added.
The two-day conference was attended by Muslim muftis and Christian clergy such as Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, as well as representatives of US and British churches.
The statement urged fostering understanding and equality between religions.
IS, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq, views Christians as enemies who should either be killed or subjugated.
In Egypt, the groups affiliate called for war on the Coptic minority after bombing a church in December, killing 29 people.
The jihadists say they base their views on verses in the Koran and sayings of the prophet Mohamed, which moderates like Tayeb argue have been taken out of context.
A former army general and top aide to President Omar al-Bashir was sworn in Thursday as Sudans first prime minister since the post was scrapped in a 1989 Islamist-backed coup.
Bakri Hassan Saleh, a military officer involved in the bloodless coup that brought Bashir to power three decades ago, was named prime minister on Wednesday by the executive bureau of the presidents National Congress Party (NCP).
Today, we took the major step of appointing Bakri Hassan Saleh as prime minister, Bashir announced at a press conference after the swearing-in ceremony.
Saleh, 68, who will also retain his current post of Sudans first vice president, was sworn in at a presidential palace in Khartoum.
Bashir abolished the post of prime minister after the coup, and analysts said Salehs appointment as premier was an attempt to give the presidents decades-old regime a new look.
The appointment falls in line with reforms proposed by a year-long national dialogue held between Bashirs government and some opposition groups.
In October, after a quarter century in power, Bashir concluded the national dialogue aimed at resolving insurgencies in Sudans border regions and healing the countrys crisis-wracked economy.
The talks, launched in 2015, were boycotted by most mainstream opposition and armed groups.
Our country is at an historic moment as it harmonises all political parties and powers which took part in the national dialogue, Saleh said in a statement after taking the oath of office.
New government
A new government led by Saleh as prime minister is expected to be formed in the coming days.
All those who participated in the national dialogue will be represented at different levels of the administration, Bashir said.
Sudanese lawmakers had voted in December to reinstate the post of prime minister.
They also approved major amendments to a transitional constitution adopted in 2005 ahead of Sudans north-south split in 2011 following two decades of civil war.
Sudans President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrives with prime minister and first vice-president Bakri Hassan Saleh to take group photos with Minsters at Council of Minsters in Khartoum in Sudan on March 2. (Reuters Photo)
While the amendments give the new prime minister responsibility for executive power, the president retains the right to form a government or sack ministers.
General Bakris appointment is broadly a continuation of Bashirs rule rather than a new chapter in Sudans politics, Khaled Tigani, editor-in-chief of weekly newspaper Elaff, told AFP.
But at the end of the day it depends on the leadership that General Bakri manages to show.
Saleh, a key aide to Bashir for decades, has previously held key ministerial portfolios including interior and defence.
He has also been adviser to Bashir on national security and was head of Sudans all powerful National Security and Intelligence Service in the 1990s.
Bashir had led the 1989 coup against then-prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi with the help of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi.
Mahdi fled abroad more than two years ago but returned to Sudan last month.
A fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s, Mahdi served as prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.
His government was the last to be democratically elected in Sudan before the coup.
The Pakistan government on Thursday approved in principle a move to merge the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), long known as a base for militant groups such as the Haqqani Network, with adjoining Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
A committee formed by the government to suggest ways for developing seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies had recommended the merger of the troubled region.
Critics condemned the move, describing it as short-sighted and impractical, but those who support the decision say it will bring economic empowerment to a neglected area.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who chaired a meeting of the cabinet that approved the move, said the people of Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will be given their due rights. The cabinet accords in-principle approval to the recommendations of the Fata reforms committee, said a statement from the Prime Ministers House.
Under the plan, the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a draconian colonial era law whereby an entire tribe or community could be punished for crimes committed by an individual, will be replaced. The constitution will be amended to allow residents of Fata to elect representatives to the provincial assembly.
The merger would be completed over five years and funds will be allocated for a 10-year development package for the region. Courts will be set up and infrastructure will be created in the region.
The much talked about Fata reforms package was pulled at the last minute from a cabinet meeting in February. It was earlier pulled out in December, when the cabinet deferred the issue on the ground that a broader consensus was needed.
Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has supported the merger of Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, other parties insisted that any merger should follow a referendum in the region.
Analyst Pervez Tahir described the merger as a good idea. Political integration should happen politically, not through transitional development packages. Whatever resources are earmarked in the name of fiscal equalisation should be at the disposal of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said.
He noted that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly had already voted for the merger. This is the way to fulfill the rising expectations of the youth, businessmen and educated classes. Most political parties also support this route.
But there are others, such as former bureaucrat Rustam Shah Mohmand, who disagree. A group of parliamentarians who won their seats by just a handful of votes are now claiming to have a mandate to change the status of the tribal areas. That is a ludicrous assertion, he said.
Because firstly these elected members do not live in the tribal areas. Secondly, having been returned to Parliament by winning just a couple of thousand of votes, can they have an authority to change the complexion of the area?
Some Fata residents have said they will fight the merger because it impinges on their independence.
Since colonial times, the area has remained largely independent and the only government presence has been an agent for each of the seven agencies who acted as a liaison between the federal government and tribal committees that ran the region. All that is about to change and this worries many.
A visiting team of officials from the Reserve Bank of India has sought commitments from Nepal on tackling black money and corruption during discussions on exchanging scrapped Indian currency notes held by Nepalese citizens.
During talks with the Nepal Rastra Bank and Nepal Bankers Association, the two-member RBI team expressed concern about black money and money accumulated through corruption that could be laundered during the exchange of the banned notes.
Though the Indian officials were positive on the issue of providing exchange facilities to Nepals banking and financial institutions, they sought commitments on identifying and checking black money, Nepalese officials said.
Experts have estimated that banned Indian currency notes worth billions have been hoarded by the public and traders in Nepal.
According to Bhisma Raj Dhungana, head of NRBs foreign exchange management department, the Indian team also expressed concern on the issue of Nepals banks identifying Indian nationals who have bank accounts in the country to stash away black money.
The chances of this happening are high as the two countries have an open border and illegal money could easily be sent from India to Nepal, the Indian team said.
The Nepalese side responded that the countrys banks have mandatory provisions for seeking a copy of citizenship from every person who wants to open bank accounts. To open account in Nepali BFIs, Indians have to prove their citizenship and provide a recommendation letter from the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, the Nepalese officials told the RBI team.
During the meeting, the Nepalese side said India should allow Nepalese citizens to exchange up to Indian Rs 25,000 .
The RBI team will also visit Bhutan and assess ground realities there before framing modalities for exchanging the banned notes.
Nepals central bank has said banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes worth a total of Rs 3.6 billion is held by the countrys BFIs, including cash parked in vaults. However, the actual stock of banned Indian bills is expected to be much higher because Nepalese citizens were earlier allowed to hold Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes worth up to Rs 25,000.
People living in areas bordering India also usually stash Indian notes of larger denominations as they visit Indian markets frequently to buy goods.
The Indian governments decision to demonetise the high value notes last November caused inconvenience to many Nepalese, especially those who earn a living as daily wage labourers in India or visit the neighbouring country for medical treatment, studies and trade.
The Trump administration has been hit by a fresh storm over dealings with Moscow after attorney general Jeff Sessions was found to have not disclosed his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US in the thick of the race for the White House in 2016 in which he was a top adviser to the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Sessions, who was then a Republican senator, had met ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in his chamber in Capitol Hill in September during the peak of a controversy about Russian hacking of the computer network of the Democratic party, and once before on the sidelines of the Republican party convention in July.
During his confirmation hearing as attorney general in January, Sessions was asked what he would do if he found evidence of contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russia. Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, he had said.
To a specific question if he himself had any contacts, he had said No.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday reported his two meetings that led to calls for Sessions resignation by Democrats, who have accused him of misleading congress.
After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
Though not going as far as to join the call for his ouster, even Republicans seemed troubled about the meetings. Top lawmakers are asking Sessions to recuse himself from the ongoing investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election by the FBI, which now reports to him as attorney general.
Sessions said in a statement Wednesday he never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
Sessions, an immigration hawk and outspoken critic of the H-1B temporary visa programme watched closely by India, is the second member of Trumps team to come under a cloud for contacts with Moscow. The first, then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, was forced to resign after he was found to have misled Vice-President Mike Pence about his phone calls with Kislyak in December.
Several US lawmakers have come forward since the report to say they meet ambassadors in the course of their work Sessions office has said as a member of the senate armed services committee then, he had met several ambassadors including from India.
But Sessions did not disclose his meetings with the Russian envoy despite being asked about it specifically. The Washington Post asked all 26 members of the armed services committee if they had met the Russian ambassador in 2016. It heard back from 20 of them, and all said they had not.
Russian warplanes bombed US-backed fighters in several small villages in northern Syria after they mistakenly thought Islamic State group forces were in the area, a US general said Wednesday.
Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages to the south and east of Al-Bab in Aleppo province on Tuesday, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties.
The Russians apparently had observed Islamic State fighters moving from the area and wrongly assumed that other forces remaining were jihadists.
We had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS, yet... actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces, Townsend told reporters in a video call from Baghdad, using another acronym for the jihadists.
The SAC forms part of a broader alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) comprising Kurdish and other groups that the United States has been training and advising to lead the anti-IS fight.
US troops operating less than five kilometers (three miles) from the villages observed the bombing and communicated the error, which was then passed to the Russians through a deconfliction hotline the two powers have established to avoid mishaps.
It became apparent that the strikes were falling on some of the Syrian coalition positions, Townsend said.
Some quick calls were made to our deconfliction channels and the Russians acknowledged and stopped bombing there.
The Russian defense ministry denied conducting air strikes but confirmed communication through the hotline.
During these talks, the US Air Force representative expressed concern that Syrian and Russian airplanes could inflict an unintentioned strike on US-controlled armed groups while carrying out combat missions against (IS) south of Manbij, the Russian ministry said in a statement.
This information was taken into account by the Russian command. Not one strike was carried out by Syrian or Russian aviation on the districts pointed out by the American side.
About 500 US troops are in Syria, almost all of them special operations commandos. Their role is currently limited to advising local forces and staying behind front lines.
- Tangled lines of conflict -
Hardly straightforward to begin with, the anti-IS fight in civil war-torn Syria is growing ever more complex.
Russia is using air power to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad but also sometimes strikes IS.
Turkey has moved into northern Syria and is battling IS while also trying to keep US-backed Kurdish forces in check.
And America is trying to support the Kurds while not alienating ally Turkey.
Its a very complicated battlefield situation where essentially three armies and an enemy force have all converged within the same grid square, Townsend said.
Everybody should keep their sights focused on ISIS... and not fighting deliberately or accidentally one another.
Anti-IS operations in Syria will eventually center on Raqa, the supposed capital of the caliphate that IS declared in 2014.
Given the political sensitivities, questions abound on the extent to which Kurdish forces would be involved in the offensive and whether they would enter the city.
Townsend said he expects the Kurds to take part in the Raqa offensive in one form or fashion.
The facts are there are Kurds from Raqa and larger Raqa district and province. So there are Kurds from there, local Kurds who will participate.
Separately, Townsend said between 12,000 and 15,000 IS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, an indication of a significant dwindling of the jihadists forces.
The US military only provides periodic updates on estimates of IS fighters but in 2015 and 2016, the Pentagon put the number at between 20,000 and 30,000 in the two countries.
Townsend said the remaining forces are split about equally between Syria and Iraq, and are still able to cross the border.
Syrias army entered the ancient city of Palmyra late Wednesday after fierce clashes with the Islamic State jihadist group, several weeks into a Russian-backed assault, a monitoring group said.
The army has entered a western neighbourhood of Palmyra and has seized control of part of it from IS, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
There are clashes and heavy shelling across the historic city, where control has changed hands repeatedly over the past two years, said the monitoring groups chief.
Abdel Rahman said earlier that Syrian forces, backed by Russian soldiers, had captured a string of hilltops overlooking Palmyra, bringing them within firing range of its western half.
They are close to capturing the citadel. IS withdrew from it, but they may have left suicide bombers inside, he said.
Supported by Russian air strikes and ground troops, government forces have been battling for weeks through the desert in the central province of Homs to reach Palmyra.
IS jihadists first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy the citys monuments and temples, while also looting its many archeological treasures.
They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the town last December.
Syrian state media confirmed Wednesday that government forces were now in control of key territory around Palmyra.
Seizing control of Mount Hilal and other hilltops overlooking Palmyra is an important step towards the collapse of the terrorist groups in the city, state news agency SANA said.
And a senior military source in Damascus told AFP earlier on Wednesday that the army had also reached a strategic crossroads leading into Palmyra.
This crossroads is the key to entering the city, the source told AFP.
IS has ravaged the citys celebrated heritage, blowing up funerary towers and carrying out mass executions in the citys Roman theatre.
Last month, IS destroyed Palmyras tetrapylon monument, while satellite images showed damage to the theatres facade.
The new destruction was condemned by the United Nations as a war crime.
On Wednesday, two funeral busts damaged by IS after it first captured Palmyra were brought back to Syria after being restored in Italy.
The two busts, recovered by Syrian troops, had been badly disfigured with what appeared to be hammer blows.
Modern technology -- including a 3-D printer -- was used in the restoration of the busts which date to the second and third centuries and had been transferred to Rome via Lebanon.
- Turkey-backed forces, Kurds clash -
On another front in the multi-pronged battle against IS, Turkish-backed rebels Wednesday seized two northern villages in Aleppo province from US-supported forces led by Kurdish fighters, rebels and the Observatory said.
The rebels advanced east of Al-Bab, which they captured last week from IS, into territory held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is dominated by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) that Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.
Rebels said they captured the villages of Tal Turin and Qara... after violent clashes with the YPG.
A top US general, meanwhile, said Russian warplanes on Tuesday bombed American-backed fighters in several small villages near Al-Bab after they mistakenly thought IS forces were in the area.
We had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS (IS), yet... actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told reporters in a video call from Baghdad.
Control of Aleppo province is divided between a myriad of armed groups -- rebels, jihadists, Kurdish militia and Syrian government forces.
As President Donald Trump delays the new travel ban to savour the glowing reviews of his congress address for a while, he might consider holding it back longer in view of the setback faced by air travel after the last order, which is being called the Trump Slump.
Air travel to the US from the seven Muslim-majority nations listed in the ban order dropped by a whopping 80% between January 28 the day after he signed the executive order and February 4, according to data from ForwardKeys, the travel intelligence analyst that monitors travel patterns by analysing 16 million flight reservation transactions a day.
Air travel to the US from other parts of the world also dropped by 6.5% over the same eight-day period in 2016. For Asia Pacific, which would include India, the fall was deeper at 14%, second largest after the Middle East (other than the countries on the travel ban list) that led with 37.5%.
Our data makes it clear that Donald Trumps travel ban had a deterrent impact on flight bookings to the USA that spread well beyond the seven countries named in the ban, Olivier Jager, CEO, ForwardKeys, told HT in a statement.
His companys report in February titled Travel to the USA suffers 6.5% Trump slump started the Trump Slump label, which is now cited widely in the industry as the ban aftermath.
The report said: Whilst travel bookings on any given day can be significantly up or down compared to the same day a year before, variability over a few consecutive days is typically much less. The eight-day period coinciding with the travel ban is the first time since before the presidential election in early November that there has been a consistently long run of negative variations compared with the equivalent period the year before. For reference, inbound bookings to the USA for the whole of the past year were down.
Trumps ban, which came into effect on January 27 when he signed an executive order, caused international alarm immediately as visa-holders from these countries were detained and arrested on arrival in the US or were turned away without warning from airports that they came to board flights bound for the United States.
The order was challenged immediately by civil rights activists and lawyers and a New York court agreed, staying proceedings against two immigrants from Iraq, a country the US attacked (without justifiable cause), occupied, governed and abandoned. Multiple lawsuits followed. A federal court in Seattle, Washington, issued a countrywide stay soon after. The Trump administration appealed against it, and lost.
The president and his aides said they were resolved to press ahead and that they will not give up and will return with a new order, saying they felt extreme vetting was necessary to keep out bad dudes, as Trump has said in multiple tweets and remarks.
The appeals court, in this instance one of the most liberal of them all, ruled in favour of the Washington court and against the administration. Trump has raved and ranted against the judges, as he is known to, but he has not challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court as he should have if he felt genuinely aggrieved.
The administration chose to abandon the order altogether recognising the futility of pursuing it. It now plans to replace it with a new one that proposes to, according to leaks, to drop Iraq from the list of the countries on the ban order; and allow all existing visa-holders from these countries into the US.
Trump could and might want to drop it altogether, if he wants.
China has rejected U.S. Present Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. has lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"Since joining the WTO, China has actively carried out cooperation that not only promotes the growth of its foreign trade, but also promotes the growth of world trade, making important contributions to global economic development," said Geng Shuang, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, on March 1.
"Win-win and mutual benefits define China-U.S. economic relations. A report by the United States-China Business Council shows that bilateral trade and investment created about 2.6 million jobs for the U.S in 2015. We would like to work together with the U.S to keep deepening and expanding China-U.S. economic cooperation. This will benefit the two peoples and the world," Geng continued.
Trump made the claims about American factory losses during his March 1 speech to Congress.
Two mosques in the US state of Maryland have received threatening letters calling for the slaughter of Muslims, in apparent hate crime incidents.
Two Islamic centres in Silver Spring, Maryland, received violent threats by mail.
The president of the Islamic Education Society discovered an envelope inside a mailbox on Monday containing a threatening note, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.
Police said this incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The faithful at the mosque are still reeling after the terrifying message was dropped in their mailbox.
Its heartbreaking, but we cant control anything. I dont know what in their mind they want to do, Taiyab Mohiudden, trustee of the Islamic Education Society of Maryland, was quoted as saying by CBS Baltimore.
Mohiudden found the note tucked in with the regular mail, and it read, I will pay USD 100 to charity for every Muslim slaughtered.
A note containing the same message was also found at a Muslim community centre just a few kilometres away, New York Daily News reported.
The message also came on an index card. Police said the envelope also had stamps from Europe.
It really created anxiety and anger in me as well. Because what kind of person could leave a note like that? Zainab Chaudry of CAIR said.
The mosque incidents come as amid a wave of bomb threats to Jewish community centres in New York, Michigan, New Jersey and other states.
In the past week, dozens of gravestones were vandalised in Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia.
Also, last week, an Indian was killed while his friend was injured in a hate crime.
32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was working at GPS-maker Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, was killed after he was shot by a navy veteran.
Kuchibhotlas Indian colleague Alok Madasani was injured when the 51-year-old shooter opened fire on them, yelling get out of my country. A third person, an American who tried to intervene, was also injured in the incident.
President Donald Trump has condemned these types of attacks.
We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms, he had said.
The Theresa May government remains hopeful of keeping to the end-of-March deadline to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to leave the European Union after suffering a defeat in the House of Lords, with an amendment to its Brexit bill being passed on Wednesday.
The amendment, passed by 358 to 256, seeks to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in Britain after Brexit. EU citizens - including Goans with Portuguese passports - are reported to be in some panic after some were recently refused permanent residency by the Home Office, despite living in Britain for years.
May has refused to guarantee the indefinite stay of EU citizens after Brexit until the fate of British citizens living in 27 EU countries is decided in negotiations. The government said the bill was about the process of Brexit, not about issues such as immigration.
The Brexit bill, which authorises the May government to trigger Article 50, will now go back to the House of Commons for consideration, as part of what is known as ping-pong in British parliamentary discourse.
A bill may go back and forth between each House until both reach agreement on the exact wording of the bill this is known as ping pong. In exceptional cases, when the two Houses do not reach an agreement, the bill falls.
The Department for Exiting the EU said: "We are disappointed the Lords have chosen to amend a bill that the Commons passed without amendment. The bill has a straightforward purpose - to enact the referendum result and allow the government to get on with the negotiations.
Our position on EU nationals has repeatedly been made clear. We want to guarantee the rights of EU citizens who are already living in Britain, and the rights of British nationals living in other member states, as early as we can.
The amendment got support from some ruling Conservatives in the House of Lords, where the government does not have a majority. But government sources said the ruling benches will seek to overturn the amendment when it comes to the House of Commons next week.
Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said there is growing consensus on the issue of EU citizens in Britain: The prime minister is now increasingly isolated. Labour will continue to support this simple but effective amendment when it returns to the Commons, and urge MPs on all sides of the House to do so.
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World Trade Organisation chief Roberto Azevedo extended an olive branch to Washington on Thursday after President Donald Trumps administration announced the US was not bound by WTO rulings.
The US decision marks a clear break from past and could threaten the viability of the WTOs Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), where major trade conflicts are often adjudicated.
A letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to Congress on Wednesday outlining Trump policy reviewed the terms under which the US joined the WTO when the Geneva-based body was founded in 1995.
According to the Trump governments interpretation, Congress had made clear that Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings, said the document.
The text -- entitled The Presidents 2017 Trade Policy Agenda -- also says Trumps government will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy.
In a statement, Azevedo said it was clear that the United States has a variety of trade concerns, including about the WTO dispute settlement system.
I am ready to sit down and discuss these concerns and any others with the trade team in the US whenever they are ready to do so, he added.
Azevedo has in multiple public appearances sought to downplay the threat posed by Trump, who during his campaign called the WTO a disaster and claimed that multilateral trade deals had been devastating to the US economy.
Since 1995, the WTOs dispute settlement system has heard more than 500 cases centred on whether countries have broken agreed trading rules in areas including subsidies, customs and tariffs.
The process can be long and subject to multiple appeals, but on Monday Azevedo defended the DSB as the fastest dispute settlement system out there.
The WTO cannot punish countries that do not abide by rulings, but can authorise retaliatory measures.
Wrapping their children in plastic sheets to stave off the winter cold, Yemeni families driven out of the historic port of Mokha are struggling to adjust to the harsh life of internal displacement.
We were doing fine in our own homes, on our land, says Zahra Aqlan, 55, who fled the Red Sea town in January.
The mother of five chose had no choice but to move to Al-Jarrahi, 100 kilometres (60 miles) up the coast, after she lost her husband when a rocket exploded on their street.
She now faces the daunting task of feeding her children with no access to resources in an impoverished country torn apart by war.
There is nothing to drink here. Nothing to eat, she told AFP in Al-Jarrahi. Were looking for aid just to keep our children alive.
Yemen has witnessed increasingly intense fighting between troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
Violence including air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition since March 2015 -- after the Huthis overran capital Sanaa -- has killed more than 7,500 people and left 19 million in need of humanitarian aid.
In January, fighting intensified along Yemens strategic western coastline as loyalists pushed to regain ground seized by the rebels.
The pro-government troops on February 10 took Mokha, once famed as the export hub of coffee grown in the Yemeni highlands, and announced they aimed to take the main Red Sea port of Hodeida next.
Zahra and her children are among an estimated 1,500 families who have been driven out of Mokha since January, seeking refuge further north.
Some have erected tents in a plot of land that appears to be unclaimed in Al-Jarrahi. Many others, however, are sleeping in the open air.
The UNs refugee (UNHCR) and migration (IOM) agencies on Wednesday said that more than 48,000 people had in recent weeks fled hostilities in Mokha and nearby Dhubab.
UNHCR spokeswoman for Yemen Shabia Mantoo told AFP that Yemeni civilians were fleeing with nothing but literally the clothes on their backs.
The whole country is suffering, Mantoo said. People move from one place to another because it gets just as bad.
Despite UN efforts to provide emergency shelter during the winter cold, internally displaced Yemenis continue to struggle, according to Asef Aidrous, a local official working with displaced families in Al-Jarrahi.
The number of those displaced increases every day with the ongoing fighting around Mokha and the Hodeida coastal areas, Aidrous explained.
- Life of misery -
Zahras story is echoed across the makeshift camp, where many families sleep on flattened cardboard boxes.
Abdullah Mohammed, a labourer who left Mokha for Al-Jarrahi, said he has reached the point of desperation.
Our belongings were destroyed. My home was destroyed. We have nothing, Abdullah said in a calm voice of acceptance.
We fled Mokha under shelling and left everything behind, recalls Mohammed Salem, once a dock worker in Mokha.
But unlike Abdullah, Mohammed says he cannot accept the life of misery in Al-Jarrahi.
Millions of Yemeni lives have been thrown into turmoil by the war, with many facing repeated displacement and the looming threat of starvation.
UN humanitarian aid chief Stephen OBrien on Monday said Yemen faces a serious risk of famine.
The United Nations has called for $2.1 billion (2 billion euros) in aid for Yemen, where UN mediation and seven ceasefire accords have failed to end a conflict that has also wounded at least 40,000 people.
All the fans of Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux who were losing sleep over their split rumors should not worry anymore as the couple looked completely in love with each other at the recent Vanity Fair Oscar party. The "Friends" actress rocked the event in a sexy black gown while "The Girl on the Train" actor made heads turn with his black tuxedo.
Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux are very much together as they could not take their eyes away from each other at the Vanity Fair Oscar party. According to Mail Online, they looked lovingly at each other as they attended the party and made for a pretty portrait in their sexy dark outfits. Jennifer wore a black Versace gown with sparkling sequins and thigh-high slit. She had paired it with diamond jewelry worth $10 million and a black box clutch.
Her dressing style was flawless for the occasion and husband Justin gave her perfect company in his black tuxedo. The gorgeous gown of Jennifer Aniston and the sleek dressing style of Justin Theroux, coupled with their "made-for-each-other" looks, made them the cynosure of all eyes. What is more, her toned figure did cause many to sigh.
In related news, Jennifer Aniston also presented the "In Memoriam" at the after-party. She got quite emotional while recounting her memories about Bill Paxton who died of a stroke on Saturday, just hours before the Oscar 2017 event. She began with a tribute to Prince and Carrie Fisher, moving on to say that everyone who departed this year was a cherished member of the Hollywood family and so was Bill Paxton, her beloved friend and actor.
Jennifer Aniston was also seen getting a hug from her dear friend Nicole Kidman backstage and the "Friends" alum really owned the party with her charming persona and fabulous style. She had a great time in the company of her husband, Justin Theroux and it was evident that the marriage of Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux is rock solid despite the divorce rumors.
@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
President Donald Trump has many visions for America one of which includes landing astronauts on the moon or Mars by the mid of 2020. Trump believes that sending astronauts to a different world is "Not too a big dream," he also believes that the United States is ready to unlock the mysteries of space.
Trump wants to simply set free the dreams of American people, along with the idea of sending astronauts into space, he also mentioned creating jobs, reducing crime, curing diseases and shifting millions of Americans from welfare to work.
While these are all a part of his accomplishments, he gave no details about which destination he favors for American astronauts. The last Apollo moon mission returned to earth in 1972, since then no American has ventured into deep space. The nation has lacked the ability to launch its own astronauts since July 2011 when the space shuttle program came to an end as per Space.
At present the situation seems to be changing because of the American companies Space X and Boeing. They are currently developing a Space Station to take astronauts under multibillion dollar NASA contracts.
On the other hand NASA is working hard to get man to Mars by the mid of 2030, this was directed by former president Barrack Obama back in 2010. To succeed in this mission the agency is developing a giant rocket called "Space Launch System" and the Orion capsule to make this happen.
As for Space X and Boeing, both of their private spacecrafts should be ready by 2018 or 2019. Orion and the "Space Launch System" are already scheduled to fly together in 2018 on mission around the moon called as "Exploration Mission 1." NASA is also considering astronauts on this mission, with all the developments and as Trump says it looks like America might be ready to unlock the mysteries of space.
@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As part of the effort to further open its capital markets to foreign participants, China is discussing measures that would allow foreign corporations to take larger stakes in domestic joint-venture securities and futures brokerages, officials with the top securities regulator disclosed at a press conference on Sunday.
The officials with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) emphasized Chinas stance that overseas investors and service providers are welcomed to expand in the nation.
China now allows foreign investors to boost holdings in joint-venture securities houses, fund management companies and futures firms to a maximum 49 percent.
According to the officials, the commission has been exploring ways to introduce foreign capital and expand foreign companies investment in China during the 20-plus years since the A-share market was launched.
CSRC Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai said that there was still no timetable for the launch of an international board that would allow foreign-invested enterprises to list their shares in China, addressing concerns that the introduction of an international board may threaten the value of A-shares.
The rules involved were still being studied, but technical challenges remained, he explained, citing accounting standards as an example.
According to Fang, companies overseas follow different accounting standards and information disclosure rules than those used in China, and further adjustments are needed before a launch decision.
Global equity indexes provider MSCI will make a fourth decision on whether Chinas A-shares will be added to the index, which will be important for Chinas A-share market.
Any international stock index without Chinese A-shares is incomplete, Fang pointed out, but said at the same time that China will not make a judgment on the final results.
He said at the same time that the final decision will not move China from the opening-up or reform pace toward a market-oriented, law-based and international capital market.
The CSRC has improved a series of basic policies for the capital markets to support the development of real economy, said Chairman Liu Shiyu.
In 2016, the 248 companies that held IPOs in China raised more than 163 billion yuan ($23.7 billion), according to Liu.
He added that in the same period, listed enterprises refinanced over 1.34 trillion yuan, while 261 listed enterprises saw an increase of more than 980 billion yuan in capital through acquisitions and restructuring.
Companies that are listed on the New Third Board, China's share transfer system for small and medium-sized companies, raised more than 139.1 billion yuan, he added.
Those visible numbers gave a strong boost to the real economy, Liu said.
Since Xi Jinping was elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at the 18thCPC National Congress in November 2012, Chinas anti-graft campaign has not only drawn wide attention from its own people, but also become the spotlight of foreign media.
The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) recently hosted representatives of diplomatic missions from 113 countries and 13 offices of international organizations in China to brief them the latest progress of Chinas anti-corruption undertakings.
It is the first time that the CCDI has invited so many foreign envoys to visit the commission and communicate with anti-graft officials.
To openly talk about anti-corruption is one of the highlights of CCDIs publicity efforts in recent years. Foreign representatives believe that the event will help the outside world truly understand Chinas efforts in fighting against corruption, sent a message of openness and transparency and provide a platform for foreign parties to communicate with Chinese officials.
According to a work report delivered at the 7thplenary session of the 18thCCDI last month, the CCDI has filed investigation cases against a total of 240 officials directly appointed by the CPC Organization Department (usually officials at the ministerial level or above) since the 18th CPC National Congress, 3.6 times more than that during the 17thCPC National Congress period.
Around 6,600 officials at the section-chief level have been punished, and altogether 49,000 officials at the village level have been punished as well, 3.2 times and 2.2 times of that during the 17thCPC National Congress period respectively, the report said.
A poll conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that public satisfaction with the anti-corruption work of the CPC stood at 92.9 percent, up by 17.9 percent compared with the figure in 2012.
As anti-corruption is a global issue, Chinas exploration also provided experiences and references for other countries. David Aptsiauri, Georgian Ambassador to China, said that Chinas tough stance on corruption has achieved significant results.
I am deeply impressed that though Chinese government is stepping up the efforts to combat corruption, Chinas economic development and social stability have not been disturbed, but all the better. Policies of strengthening supervision, improving the moral standards of party members and governmental officials as well as the participation of governments, public agencies and the general public serve very important role to achieve this result.
E ndlessly mocked in poetry, song and TV shows, Slough, possibly the least glamorous town in Britain, can finally feel smug.
Its good-value houses and great commuter links, soon to include Crossrail, have propelled the Berkshire town into first place in a league table of home counties hotspots for London first-time buyers who want a house rather than a flat. Basildon in Essex comes second.
Those quitting the capital to buy a flat opt for Reading or Chelmsford, again in Berkshire and Essex respectively. Todays research, from Hamptons International, reflects how young buyers are increasingly skipping the traditional first step of purchasing a flat in London and instead moving straight to commuter spots where they can afford a house.
SLOUGHS CROSSRAIL BOOST
Hamptons found more than four in 10 houses sold in Slough are bought by first-time buyers paying an average 407,420 the average for a London flat is 501,628.
The futures funky: The Curve, Sloughs striking 22 million new library, opened last year. Sloughs council says the town is enjoying an epic period of renewal / Alamy
Slough prices have risen by 22 per cent year on year, with buyers piling into the area in advance of the launch of the Elizabeth line Crossrail which will be up and running fully by 2019. Fast trains to Paddington from Slough take from just 17 minutes now, and Elizabeth line services will reach the City in just over half an hour.
Raj Bansal, office manager at Langhams Estate Agents, admits Slough is not the greatest and warns incomers will have to wait for regeneration plans to take shape. There are not enough things for people to do, and good restaurants and bars and things to do that Londoners would enjoy are a few years away.
But on the plus side there are pretty towns very near, such as Eton, busy Windsor with its rolling acres of the Great Park, and plenty of country walks.
Slough borough council claims the town is enjoying an epic period of rejuvenation and renewal. So far the only evidence of this is a funky new 22 million library, The Curve, which opened last year. But their 1 billion investment plans, including transforming Sloughs trading estate into a sophisticated business district, and 450 million improvements to the town centre, with better shops and restaurants.
The start of something big: shops and offices in Brunel Place are part of 450 million town centre improvements planned in Slough
Included in this work is Brunel Place, a landmark scheme by Sheppard Robson architects with shops and offices near the station, due to complete next year, along with a series of new housing developments by, among others, Galliard Homes and Bellway.
BONDING WITH BASILDON
Another key location for novice house buyers is Basildon in Essex, where 42 per cent of house sales are to first-timers. The Basildon commute is 38 minutes but the average house price is just 243,725, up 15 per cent year on year.
What todays findings prove beyond doubt, says David Fell, Hamptons International research analyst, is that leaving the capital is the only way on to the housing ladder for many young Londoners. It also shows record numbers are buying out of London but they want the shortest commute as well as the best value.
FOR FLATS: CHELMSFORD, READING AND ST ALBANS
When it comes to flats, the most popular first-time buyer locations beyond London are Chelmsford in Essex, and Whitley, a south-east suburb of Reading, Berkshire. Six out of 10 flats in both locations go to first-time buyers, drawn by affordability and fast commutes, of 35 and 27 minutes respectively.
340,000: a two-bedroom flat with vaulted ceilings and allocated parking in Alfred Mews, Chelmsford. Call Home Partnership (01245 930104)
The average Chelmsford flat costs just over 203,000, up eight per cent year on year. In Whitley, the average is just over 208,000, up nine per cent.
The Crossrail effect is very much in play here. Reading will have the service from 2019, and from Chelmsford its a 20-minute train hop to Shenfield, the Elizabeth lines easternmost stop.
Chelmsford was awarded city status in 2012 and Gerald Searle, director of Balch Estate Agents, said its population is growing strongly. It is expanding and changing all the time. We have a new shopping precinct, and restaurants are springing up.
His first-time buyers tend to be in their early thirties, singles or couples, moving out from areas such as Docklands. For what they pay in rent, that is a mortgage around here. You can get a two-bedroom flat near the station for 250,000 to 300,000 and most people coming in want to be near the station.
With a little more to spend, the popular cathedral city of St Albans, in Hertfordshire is 22 minutes by train from Euston. An average flat costs 332,844, up 13 per cent year on year, but the smartest two-bedroom flats can easily cost 500,000.
Upcoming panel discussion with Berta Carrasco, Miguel Abrahantes, and Marissa Doshi
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12). The Saint Benedict Institute is hosting a panel discussion, Voices from the Global Church, followed by a festive evening of fellowship on Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. in the rotunda of the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication at Hope College.
Hope College has many Christian professors from all around the world who share their experience and unique perspective on what it means to live the Gospel from within their own cultures. Professors Berta Carrasco, Miguel Abrahantes and Marissa Doshi will tell stories of faith, persecution, interreligious communities, and what it means to grow up Christian in Spain, Cuba and India. Dessert with coffee and tea will be served.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Berta Carrasco de Miguel is an assistant professor of Spanish. After completing her undergraduate degree from the University Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid, Spain, she earned her masters and Ph.D. at Western Michigan University in Spanish womens writings, focusing on the testimony of women who were in prison during the Spanish Civil War. Related to this topic, she researches how the change of generations affects the way women define themselves. Besides her interest in womens writings, Carrasco also conducts research on hybrid learning and teaching.
Miguel Abrahantes is an associate professor of engineering. His fields of interest include modeling, simulation and control of systems in areas of robotics and mechatronics. Abrahantes current research includes non-wheeled rovers and autonomous multi-unit robot systems. He is originally from Cuba where he received his undergraduate degree in electronic engineering from the Universidad Central de las Villas. He went to Argentina for his graduate studies and finished his Ph.D. in control systems at the Universidad Nacional del Sur in Bahia Blanca before coming to the U.S.
Marissa Doshi is an assistant professor of communication. She holds a Ph.D. in communication and a masters in science and technology journalism from Texas A&M University, and a bachelors in life sciences and biochemistry from St. Xaviers College in Mumbai, India. Doshi's research draws on feminist perspectives to examine the creative and cultural dimensions of the media and technology practices. Her work has been published in journals such as Journal of Communication Inquiry, Communication Research, and Journal of International and Intercultural Communication.
The event is being co-sponsored by Campus Ministries, the campus-wide GROW (Growing Relationships through diverse Opportunities to strengthen involvement in an ever-changing World) initiative and the communication, engineering, modern and classical languages, and religion departments at Hope.
The Saint Benedict Institute is a ministry of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Holland. It seeks to promote and nurture intellectual work done from the heart of the Catholic Church, to foster an ecumenical community of Catholic Christians and friends committed to the renewal of culture, and to aid in the formation of intellectually and spiritually mature Christians by making available the riches of the Catholic tradition to Hope College and the wider community. More information can be found at saintbenedictinstitute.org.
The Martha Miller Center for Global Communication is located at 257 Columbia Ave., at the corner of Columbia and 10th streets.
Hope College will feature the address Afghanistan: to Fight or Run? by Ronald E. Neumann, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and currently president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, on Monday, March 13, at 1 p.m. in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall through the Great Decisions Global Discussion Series of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The councils Great Decisions Global Discussion Series highlights the most critical global topics facing Americans for the year as chosen by the Foreign Policy Association in New York City. The council brings experts to West Michigan to discuss the topics, with presentations at Hope in the afternoon and at Aquinas College in the evening.
Formerly a deputy assistant secretary of state, Neumann served three times as ambassador; to Algeria, Bahrain and finally to Afghanistan from July 2005 to April 2007. Before Afghanistan, Neumann, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served in Baghdad from February 2004 with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then as Embassy Baghdads political/military liaison with the Multinational Command, where he was deeply involved in coordinating the political part of military actions.
Prior to working in Iraq, he was ambassador in Manama, Bahrain (2001-2004); deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs (1997-2000) with responsibility for North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula; and ambassador to Algeria (1994 to 1997). He was director of the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs (Iran and Iraq; 1991 to 1994).
Earlier in his career, he was deputy chief of mission in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and in Sanaa in Yemen; principal officer in Tabriz, Iran; and economic/commercial officer in Dakar, Senegal. His previous Washington assignments include service as Jordan Desk officer, staff assistant in the Middle East (NEA) Bureau; and political officer in the Office of Southern European Affairs.
Neumann is the author of The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan (Potomac Press, 2009), a book on his time in Afghanistan. He has returned to Afghanistan repeatedly and is the author of a number of monographs, articles and editorials. His writings have focused most heavily on Afghanistan, stabilization and Bahrain.
At the academy, he has focused particularly on efforts to expand State and USAID personnel and upgrade their professional formation to enable the institutions to carry out their responsibilities. Neumann is on the Advisory Committee of a non-profit working in Afghanistan, the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA). He is on the board of the Middle East Policy Council.
Neumann speaks some Arabic and Dari as well as French. He received State Department Superior Honor Awards in 1993 and 1990. He was an Army infantry officer in Vietnam and holds a Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge. In Baghdad, he was awarded the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.
He earned a B.A. in history and an M.A. in political science from the University of California at Riverside. He is married to the former M. Elaine Grimm. They have two children.
Hope is an educational partner of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan (worldmichigan.org), which is dedicated to educating people in western Michigan about other countries and cultures of the world, as well as providing a forum for discussion of critical foreign policy issues. In existence since 1949, the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan is a non-partisan, non-advocacy educational non-profit organization. With 60 member companies and almost 3,000 members, it is considered one of the best councils in the national network of 100 World Affairs Councils.
The councils Great Decisions Global Discussion Series will feature a total of eight addresses on Mondays between February 6 and April 3, with additional topics including nuclear proliferation, and the complexity of U.S.-Saudi and U.S.-China relations. Six of the events will take place at Hope, and all eight will take place at Aquinas College. There is a $10 admission charge for the events at Aquinas.
More information about the presentations at Hope is available at hope.edu/greatdecisions. More information and about the Great Decisions Global Discussion Series as a whole is available at worldmichigan.org/great-decisions-2017.
Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets. The Aquinas College Performing Arts Center is located at 1703 Robinson Rd. SE in Grand Rapids.
By Maryland GovPics (2015 Preakness Stakes) [ By Maryland GovPics (2015 Preakness Stakes) [ CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
Its been a little over a year since 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah ran his final race. After winning the Breeders Cup Classic that same year, Pharoah was retired to a very lucrative career as a stud, siring what many well-heeled mare owners hope will be a new generation of superstars in his own image.
Now in his second year at stud, Pharoah will be taking a business trip to the other side of the globe. Hell be spending the latter part of 2017 in Australia, taking advantage of the Southern Hemispheres opposite breeding season.
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American Pharoah currently lives and stands at Coolmores Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. Coolmore is headquartered in Ireland and also has a breeding farm in Australia, and that downunder location will be the stallions destination.
We have been overwhelmed by interest from Australasian breeders in American Pharoah ever since he retired to stud in Kentucky said Coolmore Australias Tom Magnier. Its well recognized that he is a once-in-a-lifetime horse and the opportunity to bring him to Australia is an irresistible one.
Top international racehorses and show horses travel overseas for major competitions somewhat routinely, but in other horse breeds, traveling for stud duty is unnecessary since shipping semen is cheaper and safer. However, The Jockey Club and other Thoroughbred registries prohibit artificial insemination; all registered Thoroughbreds are produced by live cover. There are a variety of stated reasons for this. One is to preserve genetic diversity in the breed where allowing AI could lead to just a few popular stallions becoming overly dominant. Another is to preserve the financial value of breedings and of Thoroughbred foals.
Pharoahs stud fee in the U.S. is listed at private, but several sources have reported it as $200,000. His Australian stud fee for 2017 will be $66,000 (approximately $50,500 US).
According to Coolmores website, Pharoah will return home to Kentucky in time for the northern hemispheres 2018 breeding season.
Visitors are currently able to see American Pharoah at his Ashford Stud home in Kentucky through Horse Country Tours. Find out more at www.visithorsecountry.com.
Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer based in Lexington, Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com
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The Dunmore, Harbour Islands luxury resort, is delighted to announce the appointment of celebrated hospitality executive, Chorten Wangyel, as General Manager. In this leadership role, Wangyel will oversee and manage day-to-day operations of the charming Bahamian hotel nestled atop the famous pink sand beach. With more than a decade of experience in the high-end hospitality market, Wangyel has created a name for excellence with some of the most elegant five-star resorts in Asia and the Caribbean. Most recently, he served as General Manager at The Cove Eleuthera in the Bahamas where he guided the management team in its successful sale and transition to new owners, Enchantment Resorts, in 2015. With Wangyel at the helm, he led the propertys ranking in leading travel guides as one of the worlds top hotels and the very best in the Caribbean in two short years.' Prior to this position, Wangyel worked in IT management at a number of COMO Hotel & Resorts where he was able to gain first-hand experience to multiple areas of resort operations, ultimately preparing him for a role in hospitality management. Originally from a small, remote village in Bhutan, Wangyel is a graduate of the Master Certification Program in Hospitality Management from Cornell University and holds a diploma in Hotel Operations from the Institute of Hotel Management, Good Shephard, Kalimpong, India.
With a bill that includes Kendrick Lamar, Future, Lil Wayne, and many more, Miamis Rolling Loud festival might be the years hottest hip-hop event. Guess who else will be there? The biggest viral star of 2017: Danielle Bregoli, better known as the Cash Me Ousside girl.
The 13-year-old native of Boynton Beach will be holding a meet and greet at the festival, which runs from May 5-7. According to TMZ, the festival will pay her $40,000 for her appearance.
Danielle uttered the catchphrase that would propel her to stardom Cash me ousside, how bow dah? while guesting on the Dr. Phil show with her mother. Phils efforts to curb Danielles outrageous behavior dont seem to have paid off, as the foul-mouthed teenager seems to pop up in a new on-camera altercation each week. Though perhaps her viral stunts are all calculated, as shes clearly cashing in on her sensational behavior.
She has also made efforts to focus her celebrity on the hip-hop world. Last month, she dropped a self-promoting video to Everything 1K by the now-incarcerated Kodak Black, with whom she has a FaceTime relationship.
The owner of the company thats putting on Rolling Loud is also reportedly organizing Danielles 14th birthday party, which is set to go down this month.
Danielles reps tell TMZ that her minimum price for an appearance like the one she set up at Rolling Loud is $30,000. How bow dah?
Danielle
China and the US have forged a closer relationship with interwoven destinies 45 years after they signed the Shanghai Communique on February 28, 1972, a document ended 23 years of diplomatic estrangement between the two countries.
Forty-five years ago, then US President Richard Nixon started an ice-breaking trip to China, which was dubbed by himself as "the week that changed the world.
On the last day of his visit, both nations issued the Joint Communique of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, or the Shanghai Communique, laying the first cornerstone for bilateral exchanges and cooperation.
Shanghai Communique, along with the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations issued in1978and August 17 communique issued in 1982, constituted the guideline document governing bilateral ties.
Up till now, China-US relationship has become one of the most important bilateral ties in the world, whose rapid development has brought tangible benefits to both peoples.
Both countries hit a record high in terms of bilateral trade, the stock of two-way investment and personal exchanges.
Data showed that the current China-US trade has exceeded 500 billion dollars, while China invested over 50 billion dollars in the US last year. About 14,000 people traveled between China and the US each day, and a flight would take off or land every 17 minutes.
Over 40 pair of sister provinces/states and more than 200 pair of sister cities have been established between both nations. They are proven to be the best evidence of their inter-connected interests.
The Shanghai Communique and other two documents represent not only the ballast and guideline for development of bilateral ties, but also the principles the US follows when dealing with its ties with China, Gary Locke, former US ambassador to China and former US Secretary of Commerce told the Peoples Daily.
He added that based on these principles, both countries handled their differences appropriately during his tenure and their relationship was moved forward as a result.
It was the Shanghai Communique that opened the door to normalization of bilateral ties, Tao Wenzhao, researcher with the Institute of American Studies under Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS), said in an interview.
The four-decade-long course has proven that the basic principles both countries clarified when they established diplomatic relations are right, especially the one-China principle, the expert pointed out.
Those principles have been enriched by the diplomatic contacts in the past years as well, Tao furthered, adding that the 40-year-long experience and Chinas development and prosperity gave China the faith for a promising relationship with the US.
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, in a signed article published on the Peoples Daily, commented that China-US ties have come to a new starting point.
A healthy and steady development of China-US ties is not only the requirement of the times, but also the expectation of the world, the top diplomat said.
China and the U.S. should, by following through on the spirit of the phone conversation between both heads of state, enhance communication and mutual trust, focus on cooperation, manage disputes, avoid conflicts and confrontations, show respect to each other and seek win-win cooperation, so as to push bilateral ties for greater progress in the new era, Yang stressed in the article.
Dallas artist FXXXXY received some buzz last year with his single 20 Taliband. Now hes back at it with a full EP, a mixture of underground vibes and pop nostalgia called Flawed Up Shawty.
Flawed Up Shawty is me trying to stay sane and avoid the darkness that this type of recognition swallows people in, FXXXXY told PnP. Its me trying to cope with losing a relationship with somebody that held me down for so long and shooting shots at everybody whos been sneak dissing as if we dont see them. Its a lot more aggressive and less caringletting the listener hear my flaws and things thats not attractive.
Flawed up is slang for having this strong confidence even though youre not beautiful to the world or maybe looked at as not valuable, he continued. Its a reaction to whatever situation you find yourself in. Its making ugly beautiful because you have no choice.
Let us know what you think of Flawed Up Shawty.
Netflix has released the first look teaser for a new original series 'Mindhunter', which will premiere globally on Netflix in October.
The series is directed by four directors, including David Fincher who made 'Seven', 'Gone Girl', 'The Social Network', and 'Zodiac'.
The other directors include Asif Kapadia ('Amy', 'Senna'), Tobias Lindholm ('A War, A Hijacking') and Andrew Douglas ('The Amityville Horror', 'U Want Me 2 Kill Him?')
While Fincher, Joshua Donen ('Gone Girl', 'The Quick and the Dead') Charlize Theron ('Girlboss', 'Hatfields & McCoys') and Cean Chaffin ('Gone Girl', 'Fight Club') are Executive Producers.
'Mindhunter' features Jonathan Groff ('Looking'), Holt McCallanay ('Sully'), Anna Torv (Fringe) and Hannah Gross (Unless).
The series is based on the book Mindhunter: Inside the FBIs Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas and Mark Olshake.
Here's the first trailer for the new show:
Nicholas Villeneuve looked over his speech one last time. For six weeks, he had studied aircraft features, safety protocols and customer service. If he passed this final test, a flight to Chicago and back on a Boeing 767-300, he would earn his wings as a United Airlines flight attendant.
He picked up the interphone in the cramped galley and, with an ease reflecting the hours of practice in the bathroom mirror, by the pool and on the bus, announced the preflight instructions: stow large items in the overhead compartment place smaller items under the seat notify crew members if you have a Samsung Galaxy Note7.
As the jetliner took off, Villeneuve allowed himself a moment to bask in his accomplishments. All his hard work in Houston was paying off. He would graduate the next day.
Then two chimes rang out indicating it was safe for crew members to "move about the cabin," and he was back on his feet.
The test wasn't over yet.
Last year, 102,897 people applied to become a United Airlines flight attendant, a job with an average starting salary of $27,000 and travel perks. Of last year's hopefuls, 9,914 were granted face-to-face interviews. Ultimately, 2,322 people - 2 percent of those who applied - graduated from the mandatory training in Houston.
"It's easier to get into an Ivy League college than it is to get hired as a flight attendant at United," said Deb Brancato, a flight attendant who worked stints as a recruiter from 2005 through the end of last year.
Attrition, new aircraft and expanded destinations prompted a hiring push, and United expects to add 1,300 to 1,600 flight attendants this year, said Crystal Heckman, manager of in-flight services for initial training and recruiting.
More Information Paycheck What a United Airlines flight attendant can expect to earn*: Starting salary: $27,000 At 5 years: $36,000 At 13 years: $64,000 *Note: These are averages for base pay. Salaries can increase for such duties as flying international routes or being lead attendant on a flight. Source: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Paycheck What a United Airlines flight attendant can expect to earn*: Starting salary: $27,000 At 5 years: $36,000 At 13 years: $64,000 *Note: These are averages for base pay. Salaries can increase for such duties as flying international routes or being lead attendant on a flight. Source: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA See More Collapse
Getting the job requires a friendly demeanor and acute problem-solving skills, but surviving six weeks of training takes grit and determination. Trainees are uprooted from their homes, given roommates at the Hilton Houston North and tested every few days.
'From A to Z'
"We go from A to Z in every way that you can imagine," said Rhonda Jones, an in-flight training operations team leader who helped oversee Villeneuve's class. "We have to be extremely prepared. You can't make pit stops in the air."
Villeneuve, 36, lives in New York and was raised in Kingston, Jamaica. His outward confidence comes from 17 years in theater, where he's had a variety of jobs such as teaching choreography to performers in "The Lion King." He would get onstage himself if cast members fell ill.
"I think I was the best zebra in the savanna," he said.
As that first flight to Chicago got underway, Villeneuve traded his suit jacket for an apron and served drinks to first-class passengers. Beside him, fellow New Yorker Lauren Franco prepared the food and beverages in the galley. Even in heels, the trainee remained steady during bouts of turbulence.
"Maybe the New York subways taught me a little something," she said.
More worrisome than heels, however, was accidentally bumping someone in the head while serving food and drinks. That fear abated after she successfully maneuvered the food and snack cart.
The 21-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., applied for the job after seeing an advertisement for Hebrew-speaking flight attendants. Franco recalled her first flight to Israel alone and how a flight attendant, Eric, put her at ease. She hopes to be that comforting presence for other passengers. She also wants to travel the world.
Like Franco, 33 of the 39 graduates from class 1639 speak multiple languages, varying from Mandarin and Cantonese to Portuguese, French, Italian and Greek.
"The world is not all blond 20-somethings," Heckman said. "We are a global carrier our employees need to reflect the diversity in the world."
Last year, United's flight attendants ratified a joint labor contract. They previously had separate contracts left over from before Chicago-based United combined with Houston-based Continental Airlines in 2010. Brancato said getting that resolved was critical.
Average pay for flight attendants who remain with United increases to $36,000 after five years and to $64,000 after 13 years, according to the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents the United workers. Factors that could boost that base include flying international routes or being a lead attendant on a flight.
Mohamed Mbengue's interest in aviation stems from childhood. His mother worked at an airport in Senegal, in West Africa, and he'd sometimes go with her to watch planes on the runway before school.
The 30-year-old, who also lives in New York, is fluent in English and French. He also speaks Wolof and Lebou, both spoken in Senegal.
"When you're a flight attendant, you're going to meet more people from around the world," he said.
Emergency situations
He also takes pride in flight attendants' responsibility for securing aircraft and responding to emergency situations.
About two weeks into training, Mbengue approached a CPR mannequin and began tapping its chest. "Are you OK?" he asked. An instructor said the mannequin was not responding.
Mbengue's CPR compressions came a little too close together. When the exam was over, the instructor showed him the proper pace. It was one of many teachable moments.
"I'm trying to improve myself day to day," Mbengue said.
Three days later, he donned a yellow life jacket and entered a classroom where four of his classmates were loudly chanting, "Come this way, inflate vest, board now."
The room filled with a sense of urgency as trainees walked toward an inflated life raft and climbed in. One straggling "passenger" flailed like he was drowning.
"There's going to be chaos still going on," an instructor said after students pulled the straggler aboard and put up a canopy. It's important to remain in command.
During the pass-fail evacuation exam, trainees must respond to an emergency scenario. Sometimes artificial smoke is pumped into the mock Boeing 737 to simulate a fire. The lights could be turned off as if losing power, or emergency exits may be blocked.
Overall, flight attendants spend roughly three weeks on safety, security and first aid, Jones said.
"It makes me feel better about the security of the aircraft," said Jeff Price, professor of aviation management at Metropolitan State University of Denver, "to know that the airline industry has not forgotten what happened on 9/11 and has not forgotten that airplanes are still a target for terrorists."
As lead author of "Practical Aviation Security: Predicting and Preventing Future Threats," Price described flight attendants as the last line of defense. They noticed and helped thwart the underwear bomber, the shoe bomber and other terrorist attempts to detonate bombs.
"I don't think people appreciate the role of the flight attendant nearly as much as they should," he said.
New lives on call
It has been almost four months since Villeneuve, Franco and Mbengue graduated from training. They're on call at Newark Liberty International Airport, which means they're flying anywhere and everywhere, until they gain enough seniority to secure a line.
They've faced different challenges along the way. Mbengue doesn't drink alcohol, so it took him a while to confidently answer passengers' questions and make drinks. Franco bumped a passenger and spilled her coffee, though fortunately the traveler was nice about it.
"I was freaking out, and then I asked her if she hated me," Franco said.
Villeneuve, who proudly proclaimed after his test flight that he will retire at United, said the elation hasn't worn off. He gets excited waiting by the phone for assignments.
"I think you stay on that kind of artificial high for a few months," said Brancato, the recruiter and United flight attendant since August 1994.
That initial euphoria eventually fades, but pride in the job remains. Relationships forged in training, she said, last a lifetime.
Franco stays in touch with her classmates through a Facebook group, and she enjoys randomly seeing them at the airport.
"The family that we built within the class," she said, "that's what I love."
WASHINGTON - Is hydraulic fracturing - better known as fracking - safe, as the oil and gas industry claims? Or does the controversial drilling technique that has spurred a domestic energy boom contaminate drinking water, as environmental groups and other critics charge?
After six years and more than $29 million, the Environmental Protection Agency says it doesn't know.
A new report issued Tuesday said hydraulic fracturing poses a risk to drinking water in some circumstances, but a lack of information precludes a definitive statement on how severe the risk is.
"Because of the significant data gaps and uncertainties in the available data, it was not possible to fully characterize the severity of impacts, nor was it possible to calculate or estimate the national frequency of impacts on drinking water resources" from fracking activities, the EPA said in a report that raises more questions than answers.
The report removes a finding from a draft issued last year indicating that hydraulic fracturing has not caused "widespread, systemic" harm to drinking water in the United States.
Industry groups had hailed the draft EPA study as proof that hydraulic fracturing is safe, while environmentalists seized on the report's identification of cases where fracking-related activities polluted drinking water.
Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping huge volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to split open rock formations so oil and gas will flow.
The practice has spurred an ongoing energy boom but has raised widespread concerns that it might lead to groundwater contamination, increased air pollution and even earthquakes.
The reactions were reversed on Tuesday. Environmentalists cheered the new report as proof that hydraulic fracturing threatens drinking water, while industry groups complained the Obama administration had yielded to political pressure on its way out the door.
"We are glad EPA resisted oil and gas industry spin, followed the science and delivered the facts," said John Noel, oil and gas campaigns coordinator for Clean Water Action, an advocacy group.
An oil industry spokesman called the report an "absurd" reversal that changes a science-based conclusion to one "based in political ambiguity" just weeks before President Barack Obama leaves office.
"The agency has walked away from nearly a thousand sources of information from technical reports and peer-reviewed scientific reports demonstrating that hydraulic fracturing does not lead to widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources," said Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry lobbying group.
The study makes a "mockery" of pledges by Obama and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to follow science as they make decisions, Milito said. "We look forward to working with the new administration (of President-elect Donald Trump) to instill fact-based science back into the public policy process," he said.
Tom Burke, EPA's science adviser and a deputy assistant administrator, said in an interview that the removal of the phrase about "widespread, systemic" impacts came at the urging of the EPA's Science Advisory Board.
"Data gaps did not allow us to quantify how widespread the impacts are," Burke said.
Environmental groups have claimed that the finding of no widespread harm was inserted into the draft report at the insistence of the White House. Obama supports hydraulic fracturing as part of his energy strategy.
An EPA spokeswoman denied any political pressure.
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DEL RIO The state of Texas wants to stick a seismometer on Terry Hill's ranch, right next to his deer blind.
Hill, a fourth generation Texan born and raised in this Rio Grande outpost, understands the significance. He receives a few thousand dollars in oil and gas royalties a year, yet the findings of the earthquake sensor could dramatically alter the industry that helps pay his bills.
"I don't know what this is, or what it's gonna do," said Hill, 66, "but I hope it will be helpful."
Hill is among the landowners allowing the state to piece together one of the largest networks of seismometers in the United States with the aim of settling a debate that has wide implications for the future of fossil fuels. The network, stretching from New Mexico to Louisiana and Oklahoma to the Gulf, will collect data that may determine whether modern oil and gas production is responsible for an exponential rise in the number earthquakes in Texas and other energy producing states.
Scientists say it's clear there's a connection: Oil and gas operations pump billions of barrels of water deep into the earth every year, pressuring faults underground.
Politicians, industry leaders and officials of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, have steadfastly argued that there is little proof, if any, of such a connection.
Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton called suggestions that oil and gas operations cause earthquakes "a bunch of suppositions, barely even hypotheses."
"The scientist in me hesitates to make any statements that sound conclusive until we have more tests and results to back these up," said Sitton, a mechanical engineer who founded the Pasadena-based oil and gas consultancy Pinnacle Advanced Reliability Technologies.
But nearly everyone agrees that getting those results is critical. Texas airports, hospitals and highways weren't built to withstand earthquakes. And if scientists find that oil and gas operations are indeed causing them, regulators could be forced to curtail key activities in the industry. Companies would have to adapt, at a cost of untold millions of dollars, with repercussions echoing into oil fields nationwide.
The state Legislature has appropriated $4.5 million, with the oil and gas industry contributing another $1.2 million to support research seeking to answer why tremors, which shook the state barely once a year for more than a century, now arrive by the dozens. Over the past 18 months, the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas, which is leading the project, has purchased equipment, hired staff, gathered industry experts, and charted a course for 55 additional seismometers, triple the number installed in Texas.
"The oil and gas companies realize that they need to be part of this solution," said Ellen Rathje, a civil engineering professor at UT and a principal researcher on the project. "They need to understand it better. Because there's a connection."
Several hurdles remain for the seismometer network dubbed TexNet. The Legislature hasn't funded the program beyond this year. Scientists will need unparalleled cooperation from industry and regulators to understand the findings. And UT scientists still need permission from a few dozen Texas ranchers and landowners to put seismometers on their property.
Hill, who agreed in January to take the seismometer, is happy to have it. TexNet will install the device in March, the 26th installation, with 29 left to go.
"Nobody owns the land," said Hill, sitting at a Dairy Queen in Del Rio. "We're just taking care of it for God."
Just a coincidence?
Late on the evening of Oct. 30, 2008, the first of 10 earthquakes hit Irving, just south of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. They were relatively small, registering magnitudes between 2.5 and 3.0 on the Richter Scale, and did little damage. But they shook the region for more than a day, startled locals - the quakes were the first felt in the area in modern times - and ignited a public debate in Texas.
Oil and gas operations were on the verge of a transformation then. Companies had discovered horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which pumps water into wells under such pressure that the shale bedrock fractures, releasing microscopic beads of oil and gas. U.S. oil production, which had dropped by nearly half over the previous two decades to less than 5 million barrels a day, began to rise again.
The Barnett oil field, surrounding Dallas, was ground zero. By the end of 2008, companies had drilled and fracked thousands of horizontal wells there.
In the days following those first quakes, oil and gas outfits fervently denied that the tremors had anything to do with operations.
Horizontal drilling and fracking spread across the state and country, almost doubling U.S. oil production and turning the country into a key global producer.
Meanwhile, Texas, which used to get one or two noticeable quakes - 3.0 and above - each year, has averaged 12 since 2008. In 2015, 22 roiled the state.
Scientists noticed that oil and gas companies were dumping more and more waste water underground each year. And that rise tracked remarkably close to the increase in earthquakes.
TexNet has identified four Texas areas with such a rise in seismic activity they merit deeper study. And each of those areas - around Dallas, the Central Texas city of Snyder, the West Texas city of Pecos, and south of San Antonio, in the Eagle Ford field - are hotbeds of oil and gas drilling.
'We can't prove it'
Fracking, despite its controversial reputation, isn't the chief culprit for most scientists. Wastewater worries them the most.
Oil and gas drilling produces an enormous amount of salt water. That water, trapped underground after the ancient oceans receded millions of years ago, is released during fracking operations, leaving companies with about 4 billion barrels of wastewater a year, according to one estimate.
Some companies recycle the water, but that's expensive. Most in Texas inject it into disposal wells designated and permitted as permanent underground holding tanks.
As water is injected underground, pressure increases. With enough time and water disposal, that pressure can reach nearby faults, pushing them to failure.
None of that is new.
"There has been widespread recognition among seismologists since the 1960s that wastewater injection and other activities commonly associated with petroleum production can sometimes induce earthquakes," wrote Cliff Frohlich, a seismologist and University of Texas researcher, in a journal last year.
What's new is the volume of water pumped underground. As U.S. oil production nearly doubled between 2007 and 2015 to 9.5 million barrels a day, the amount of waste water injected into Texas disposal wells rose 50 percent to 12 million barrels a day, according to data collected by the Railroad Commission and compiled by the research firm IHS Markit.
Some reject any widespread connection: "You've heard a lot about what's happening in Irving and Dallas," said Sitton, the Railroad Commissioner. "I think the odds of those earthquakes being caused by disposal wells are exceptionally small."
Frohlich's response: "We can't prove it. But the evidence is pretty strong."
For oil companies, it's a bottom-line issue. Wastewater injection can cost as little as 25 cents a barrel, if they operate their own disposal wells, not including transportation costs. Paying to recycle water can cost as much as $8 a barrel.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 2 into law on June 22, 2015, establishing TexNet and authorizing UT's Bureau of Economic Geology - the state's official geological survey - to build the network, maintain it and figure out under what circumstances, exactly, disposal wells might cause quakes.
The old network, just 18 seismometers, couldn't pinpoint earthquake epicenters with much accuracy and couldn't say how close one quake was to one well.
TexNet should be up and running by middle of this year, with 73 stations, making it one of the biggest and best financed seismic monitoring systems in the country, behind such states as earthquake-prone California, which has 1,000 stations, and Nevada, with 150.
UT has asked the Legislature for $3.4 million for the next two years to continue research, a sum not included in the Senate's budget. Even if funded, TexNet scientists will have to prove more than correlation between disposal wells and earthquakes.
"If you don't have the right kind of information available, we call that speculation," said Dana Jurick, a geophysicist at the Houston oil company ConocoPhillips and a TexNet board member. "Scientific research requires data."
Six months ago, UT put a seismometer on Lee Eustace's land in Alvarado, about 30 miles southeast of Fort Worth. It's three feet underground, attached to a solar panel for power. It doesn't bother the cows, said Eustace - certainly not as much as the first earthquake he felt.
"I thought something had exploded somewhere," said Eustace, 74.
'Don't bounce back'
Parker County Commissioner Larry Walden, 59, said people blamed the earthquakes for darn near everything when they hit his county, west of Fort Worth. Cracks in houses. Cracks in foundations. Difficulty sleeping.
"There was a lady who said her hens had actually quit laying eggs because of the earthquakes," Walden said.
Walden found a spot for a seismometer on an old county-owned farm. Now it's mostly used by the local 4H club.
Christopher Ritzi was happy to help UT find a spot for a sensor in Alpine, near West Texas's Big Bend National Park. Ritzi, a biologist at Sul Ross State University, worries about drilling and pipelines, both expanding ever closer to the little town, which in the 1990s was hit by some of the biggest earthquakes in the state.
"Desert landscapes don't bounce back very well," he said. "We're playing with systems we don't fully understand."
WASHINGTON - Federal scientists forecast that Oklahoma will continue to have the nation's biggest man-made earthquake problem this year but it probably won't be as shaky as recent years.
In its annual national earthquake outlook , the U.S. Geological Survey reported Wednesday that a large portion of Oklahoma and parts of central California have the highest risk for a damaging quake this year: between 5 and 12 percent. The outlook is published in the journal Seismological Research Letters
Natural elevated quake risks exist through much of California, Seattle and the area where Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Illinois come together, known as New Madrid. Seismologists say Oklahoma's problem is triggered by underground injections of huge volumes of wastewater from oil and gas drilling.
USGS seismic hazard chief Mark Petersen says Oklahoma's recent regulation on wastewater injection is starting to work, so scientists slightly reduced Oklahoma's risk this year.
From 1980 to 2000, Oklahoma averaged only two earthquakes a year of magnitude 2.7 or higher. That number jumped to about 2,500 in 2014 then to 4,000 in 2015 as the use of an oil and gas production technique that uses millions of gallons of water boomed. It dropped to 2,500 last year, after Oklahoma restricted volume of wastewater injections, according to the study.
Petersen said he expects shaking to be perhaps slightly less than last year's 2,500, with the highest risk area shifting a bit north and east in the state. Last year also had some unusually big quakes there, including a magnitude 5.8 in Pawnee and a magnitude 5.0 in Cushing.
"We know that already in the first couple months of this year, the rates did come down," Petersen said in an interview. "This is exactly what we wanted."
Petersen said he doesn't know when or if Oklahoma will ever get back to before 2008 activity levels of far less than one a day. That depends on economic and regulatory issues, he said in a Wednesday news conference.
In a statement last week, Oklahoma gas and oil regulator Tim Baker said the state noticed earthquakes coming down, so his agency issued even more guidelines that further restricted how much wastewater drillers could inject underground.
"There's still a lot of concern in Oklahoma," Peter-sen said. "You can have additional larger earthquakes that could affect that area."
There are a couple other areas of elevated risk from man-made earthquakes in the 2017 forecast, but they are not as high as in Oklahoma. They are patches in western Texas and along the New Mexico-Colorado border. But several other areas of elevated shaking risk in the past were dropped from this year's outlook because of new regulation, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Petersen said.
The battle against poverty has been high on the agenda of Xi Jinping, President of the worlds most populous nation. Always harboring a sentiment towards the impoverished people, Xi has devoted much effort to the poverty alleviation undertakings in his career.
It is the least requirement of building an all-round moderately prosperous society and our solemn promise to ensure that the rural poor shake off poverty as planned, and that all poverty-stricken counties be delisted and poor areas lifted out of poverty as a whole, Xi reiterated his determination to fight against poverty in a recent study session held by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China(CPC) Central Committee.
In his New Year Address upon arrival of 2017, he said that "at the very beginning of the New Year, what concerns me the most is those who are still in straitened circumstances. The deepest concern of my heart is how they fare and whether they will have a good New Year and a good Spring Festival."
Xi's first taste of poverty could date back to early 1969 when he was sent to Liangjiahe village in Yan'an, Northwestern Shaanxi province, as a result of Chinas campaign to encourage educated urban youth to work in rural areas.
He was less than 16 years old when he was sent from Beijing to work as a farmer in a small village of Liangjiahe near Yan'an of Shaanxi Province, where he spent seven years. "I was struck on the abrupt turn from Beijing to such a poor place, he said, recalling the barren land, the dung used as manure as well as the poor harvest there.
He began his two-year service as a Party branch secretary of the village when he was 20 years old. Back to those days, all he wanted is to help villagers harvest more grains and earn a little pocket money.
In order to bring their dreams to reality, the villagers, under the leadership of Xi, spent days and nights to dig wells, and build terraces and sediment storage dams.
From 1982 to 1985, Xi served first as deputy secretary and then secretary of the CPC Zhengding County Committee in Hebei province.
The living conditions in the county at that time were poor as well. There was no dormitory at all, so he had to sleep on the bench in his office. Local people even did not have enough grain to gorge themselves.
Against the background, Xi expanded his footage in over 200 villages of the county to promote the household contract responsibility system, a rural reform launched then to allocate the farmers with land by contract. The farmers were entitled to any surpluses to the market or retain them for their own use.
Xihaigu, an area known as bitter barren land situated in the southern part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was also witness of Xis war on poverty.
Xi visited Xihaigu in 1997 for the first time, and the view of people's life there shocked him.
Local people even lived in caves, with nothing but bare walls, he recalled, adding that in some families, all members had to share two to three pants.
During his tenure as deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, Xi, in response to the call of the central government for counterpart assistance, led a team to assist the development of Ningxia. He also served as the team leader of a working group set up specially.
Thanks to their efforts, the dug wells and built cellars ensured local people with water for drinking and irrigation, and the potato yields were increased as a result.
Back when Xi served as deputy Party chief and governor of Fujian Province, he proposed "making real efforts to help the really poor." Poverty relief is all about solving real problems, he noted, also stressing the importance of precision in relevant efforts.
Childrens education must be ensured for the sake of the next generation, Xi stressed, emphasizing the importance of basic public facilities like roads, water, electricity, and public services as well.
He also suggested teaching people "fishing" skills based on the local conditions and their abilities. The elderly, for example, can be offered with selected varieties, feeding methods and funds to raise chickens, ducks and sheep, so that they can get out of poverty with a yearly income of a few thousand yuan, he added.
The young people can be provided with training or job opportunities, while those engaged in planting and breeding industries need the ways to increase the added value of their products, he illustrated.
Aaron Watson is giving fans a keepsake of his big RodeoHouston debut.
The Texas country star, whose new album "Vaquero" was just released, plans to record his March 7 performance for a live CD and DVD.
HEART AND HUSTLE: Aaron Watson talks to us before his big RodeoHouston show
"Houston Rodeo, what do you say we make a LIVE CD & DVD next Tuesday?! It's been an amazing week with the release of VAQUERO and I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate than at "The World's Biggest Rodeo Show"! he wrote on Instagram.
BIG ACTS: The performers that must be seen at RodeoHouston
"Come join me and my family Opening Night next Tuesday March 7th at NRG Stadium. We would love for y'all to be part of this historic night. Get your copy of VAQUERO now because we'll be playing some of the new songs along with your old favorites!"
Watson made history with 2015 album "The Underdog," which made him the first independent male artist to debut at No. 1 on Billboard's top country albums chart. His 13th album, "Vaquero," was released this month - also independently - and is also poised to make a big splash.
>>>Scroll through the above gallery to see the lineup for RodeoHouston
Two environmental groups on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the owners of a Pasadena refinery alleging the facility consistently violates clean air laws.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys representing Environment Texas and Sierra Club, alleges the Pasadena Refining System Inc. facility has routinely spewed unpermitted levels of soot, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other air pollutants over the past five years.
The lawsuit is the fourth case filed by the two environmental groups against oil refineries and petrochemical facilities along the Houston Ship Channel since 2008.
"Repeated mechanical breakdowns and operator errors have plagued the Pasadena Refinery for years, and illegal releases of pollution have been allowed to recur for far too long without being corrected," said Neil Carman, clean air program director for Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter. "Even after receiving notice of our intent to file this lawsuit two months ago, the Pasadena Refinery has reported at least six more emission events that resulted in unauthorized air pollution into the surrounding communities."
PRSI officials on Thursday said they were reviewing the lawsuit.
"We are committed to complying with all local, state and federal regulations and keeping our team's focus on safe and reliable operations," company officials said in a statement.
The 99-year-old refinery, just east of Houston, has been the source of several large releases of air pollution and several high-profile accidents.
In January, repairs to the refinery's fluid catalytic cracker unit caused the facility to release almost one ton of particulate matter. Particulate matter is a mix of microscopic particles and liquid droplets that has been linked to a range of serious health problems, increased emergency room and hospital visits, decreased life expectancy and aggravated asthma.
Last July, a lightning strike caused the plant to emit 21 tons of potentially dangerous pollutants into the air and a shelter-in-place order was called for the Galena Park area. In March, a fire and explosion injured one worker. In 2011, the refinery had another fire.
"While we greatly appreciate the willingness of Pasadena Refining officials to sit down with us to begin discussing ways to resolve the longstanding problems at this facility, we believe this company needs to make a major new commitment to environmental compliance," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas. "According to our research, PRSI released 70,129 pounds of unauthorized particulate matter in 2016 alone, making it the worst in the entire state of Texas for this type of illegal pollution."
The EPA has said that 75,000 people live within three miles of the plant. There are eight schools, a Headstart program and several daycare centers nearby.
A Belgian company called Astra Transcor purchased the refinery for $42.5 million in January 2005 and later Petroleo Brasilero SA (Petrobras) became its partner. Petrobras later took over the refinery, spending more than $1.2 billion, including its initial investment and a follow-up settlement, according to U.S. and Brazilian court records.
Those overpayments are part of a massive corruption scandal and international investigation Brazilian prosecutors have dubbed Car Wash.
The Coldspring post office will be renamed Friday in honor of slain postal carrier Eddie "Marie" Youngblood, who was shot and killed on May 17, 2013, while delivering mail on her rural route in Coldspring.
The renaming ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. Friday on the grounds of the post office, 14231 State Highway 150 W. The public is invited to attend.
The bill to rename the post office for Youngblood was written and sponsored by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (TX-08) and supported by the Texas delegation.
In a statement on the U.S. House floor on Sept. 20, 2016, Brady explained why he felt renaming the post office for Youngblood was a fitting tribute.
"Marie was so well-known on her route that her customers often stopped her just to chat as she made her deliveries. Tragically it was on this route she loved and where she was loved that her life was cut short. On May 17, 2013, this beloved daughter, mother and grandmother was killed in a senseless act of violence while she was simply doing her job," Brady said. "Justice has not yet been served but it's important that Marie's life, not her death, define her legacy. While Marie may be gone, her legacy lives on in the lives she touched. Both of Marie's sons work for the postal service and her loving husband, George, who visits her grave each and every day to keep the flowers fresh and gravesite pristine."
The post office renaming comes just two months before the man accused of her murder, James Wayne Ham, is scheduled to stand trial. Jury selection and trial is set to begin at 9 a.m., May 16, before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. Because of the nature of the case, the federal government is seeking the death penalty.
The motive for the Youngblood's murder is unclear. However, an affidavit released by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Houston following the murder suggests Ham was angry with Youngblood because he felt she was withholding his mail and rerouting it to his estranged wife, who was also a mail carrier.
Youngblood's son, George Youngblood Jr., says he wants Friday's event to be more about paying tribute to his mother and not about how she died.
"I know that everyone from the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and Congressman Brady's office have worked really hard on getting the renaming approved. It's an honor that my mom's name will be honored this way and she will be remembered. I don't want that day to be about the events that led to the renaming. I just want it to be positive," he said.
A Spring woman was found dead a day after she went missing in Belize, according to family friends and local reports.
Rickilee Mercer was last seen Tuesday, when she fell off a jet ski at Secret Beach in San Pedro.
The 28-year-old had gone out for a morning Jet Ski ride with a man she met on vacation, according to family friend Kelsey Horner.
"They were thrown off the Jet Ski and the current ripped them apart," she said. "He was saved right offshore by a boat and said that he had been swimming for an hour and a half."
Mercer wasn't wearing a life jacket at the time.
Although searchers later located the Jet Ski, Mercer's body wasn't discovered till Wednesday. She was found "in the vicinity of Blakadore Caye with apparent injuries to her neck," according to Ambergris Today.
Teddi Knight, who'd been close friends with Mercer since sixth grade, remembered the young accountant as energetic and outgoing woman.
"She's one of those people that you meet and immediately want to be her best friend," she told the Chronicle. "She has this laugh that makes you laugh. She was almost embarrassed by it but it made her so uniquely cute. She was just so so cute. And loved to dance. The girl had moves."
As word started circulating of the Texas woman's disappearance, friends took to Facebook to offer condolences and touching memories.
"I didn't know you too well but I knew, unequivocally, that you were a good soul," wrote one Facebook user.
"I pray for the comfort of your family. Rickilee Mercer, I have always used you as an example of who I want my daughter to be in her young adult life. You will always be 'my golden girl,'" wrote another.
"The sun set for you today."
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GALVESTON Arson caused a fire in January that led to the evacuation and closure of John Sealy Hospital at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report, released by the State Fire Marshal's Office following a Houston Chronicle open records request, lists the cause as incendiary/arson. "It simply means it was intentionally set," said Jerry Hagins, spokesman for the fire marshal's office.
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Purple, white and pink balloons floated above the intersection at Beltway 8 and West Fuqua. The colors were De'Maree Adkins' favorites.
As her family watched the balloons circle the pink sky Wednesday evening, they held each other and sobbed. They were still trying to grasp that the 8-year-old whom they described as a "girly-girl" had lost her life over the weekend in a random shooting at the same intersection.
Just hours earlier, Houston Police announced that an unnamed 19-year-old man had been arrested in connection with De'Maree's death.
The third-grader was killed early Saturday after she and her mother collided with a speeding car. Her mother, Latoyia Thomas, reported seeing another person drive up, get out of the car and begin shooting.
The slain girl's grandfather, Melvin Jarmon, said the family was relieved to know that an arrest had been made, but it didn't lessen the pain of losing the little girl.
"It still hurts," Jarmon said. "Nothing can replace her," he added as family, friends and teachers of De'Maree's gathered at sunset to release balloons in her honor.
Among those who mourned the girl was Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who led the family in prayer.
At an earlier news conference, he said authorities are not releasing the suspect's name because they still want witnesses to come forward. They plan to release the name in the coming days.
"We want to make sure that we don't jeopardize the investigation," Acevedo said. "We still have witnesses out there. Those witnesses, you know who you are. You need to step forward."
Acevedo said police are "highly confident" they have the right suspect, although the teen was not immediately charged in the killing. Because the crime took place in Fort Bend County, police are working with the district attorney there to file charges.
The chief declined to say whether the suspect confessed but said the department is "actively continuing" the investigation.
Previously, Acevedo said the shooting could be gang-related.
"Now, I don't know that definitively," he told reporters Monday. "But let's face it, most people don't go out in the middle of the night shooting at people."
Even though police didn't name the suspected killer, Mayor Sylvester Turner emphasized the importance of updating the community on the case.
"The reason why the announcement is being made," he said, is because of people in the community "stepping up and providing the necessary tips and the necessary leads."
Thomas was just five minutes from home after getting her hair braided when the violence broke out early Saturday morning.
The 39-year-old had ventured to a new hair stylist on FM 1960. After a long day, she was eager to make it home around 2 a.m. with Adkins, who was sound asleep in the backseat.
After shots were fired, Thomas did not realize her daughter was injured until she tried to take her out of the car. That's when she noticed the blood on her jacket.
"I told her to stay with me, stay with me," Thomas said, breaking down into tears. "Her body just went limp."
Terri Zawacki, one of De'Maree's teachers at MacGregor Elementary School, first met the little girl in kindergarten during after school pick-up. She would often hold her hand and walk her to her grandfather's car.
"Every time she saw me at school, she would come and hug me," Zawacki said. "I can't believe she's gone."
Pooja Karsan, De'Maree's homeroom teacher, said her student loved writing. De'Maree's mother cried as Karsan handed her the young girl's writing journal.
"She was always smiling," Karsan said. "She's just this adorable little girl."
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In just one week, some of Houston's most heinous killings in recent memory have taken place.
Javier Flores, 18, died one week ago after stepping between his mother and two robbers at a Subway. Eight-year-old De'Maree Adkins was slain Saturday, 21-year-old Oscar Reyes was gunned down in front of his pregnant wife a day later, and Jessica Lynn Mills, 29, was shot in front of her two young children by carjackers Monday night.
The slayings likely will fuel a perception that violent crime is becoming a norm after two consecutive years with higher than average murder totals. Criminology experts say the trend is alarming and acknowledge it could be short-lived or a sign of something more enduring.
Since January, there have been 49 homicides, according to preliminary Houston Police Department figures.
That puts the city on pace for another 300-plus year, which would be 15 percent higher than the city's 11-year average. The projected bump in murders wouldn't be unprecedented.
'Only way to go is up'
It follows a span of consecutive years with much lower totals.
Caption: Keep track of fatal shootings, stabbings and hit-and-runs reported by HPD in 2017. Source: Houston Police Department Interactive By John D. Harden | Houston Chronicle 2017
"When you have periods of low crime, the only other way to go is up," said Alex del Carmen, a criminology expert at Tarleton State University.
The New York University School of Law found that the national murder rate had increased 31 percent from 2014 to 2016. And Houston received the unfortunate distinction by the university of being one of the three cities accounting for half of the additional murders. The other two cities were Baltimore and Chicago.
The nationwide "mild bump" in murders del Carmen described also has put President Donald Trump's administration on alert. Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of a task force to reduce crime.
Now, local law enforcement officials are working to shake the notion that violent crime is plaguing the city.
"Crime goes up and down and you cannot look at two or three months' worth of data," said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. "You can't start thinking the sky is falling."
In the last five years, murders in the city of Houston crossed the 300 mark only twice - in 2015 and 2016. The previous time the city had more than 300 murders was in 2007.
However, comparing the murder rate of one year to another is like comparing apples to oranges, del Carmen said.
"One of the things you have to take into consideration is influxes in the population," he said. "Every year has a different story."
The only concrete conclusion experts know for sure is that when there's a spike in murders it means there's a spike in other crimes, too.
"When we see an increase in murders, we know other crimes are increasing, too," del Carmen said. "Police officers are often more concerned with curbing other crimes, because when those decrease so will the murders."
Of the homicides in the last week, at least three people were killed by suspects committing other crimes.
During a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner praised the city's efforts to keep the city's 2016 murder rate relatively flat compared to 2015 despite early indicators showing murders were on pace to increase 10 percent.
Turner: It's 'not OK'
He said the city responded with an "aggressive plan" that involved an extra $2 million for overtime. He said similar efforts would be implemented if necessary.
"When you have the shooting of an 8-year-old in the back of a car - this cannot be the norm," Turner said. "Those things are not OK."
The extra funding led to a decrease in the murder rate in the second half of 2016, he said
In three of the four slayings within the last week, all of the suspects are still at large. Furthermore, each killing appeared to be by someone with no relation to the victims - like in the case of De'Maree Adkins.
More than a third of all murders in Houston from 2010 to 2015 were by strangers, according to data obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety. In another third of cases, the victim's relationship to the suspect was unknown.
Data show the recent increase in Houston's murders are from killings in which a relationship was unknown.
Johnny Mata, 79, a local activist with the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, said the recent uptick doesn't surprise him.
"It's disturbing, but I've seen this before," he said. "The city always bounces back when we come together and hold each other accountable."
Wednesday was an example of the community working together when a tip led to the arrest in the murder of 8-year-old De'Maree.
Leola Jarmon, the 69-year-old grandmother of De'Maree, said the healing process has been hard, noting the randomness and senselessness of the shooting.
Jarmon was getting ready for bed when she received the news that her daughter and granddaughter were in an accident.
She was just preparing to watch her favorite late-night program, "The Rachael Ray Show."
That's when her husband got the call.
"He started yelling and telling me to put my clothes on," she said. "He said there was a wreck but wouldn't tell me anything else."
According to police, Jarmon's daughter and granddaughter were in a wreck in the 6300 block of South Sam Houston Parkway. When officers arrived, they learned that a speeding vehicle crashed into the car in which De'Maree was riding. At some point after the crash, an unknown person opened fire on Jarmon's daughter, striking De'Maree.
"She was so innocent and so smart," Jarmon said. "She was the sweetest little girl, and everyone loved her."
Engaging the community
On Wednesday, HPD made an arrest in De'Maree's case - a 19-year-old man. No other details were made available.
Even though Jarmon lost her granddaughter to what seems to be random violence, she doesn't believe Houston is becoming more violent.
A Houston resident since at least 1966, Jarmon said it might seem like crime is increasing because of the recent political statements made by Trump and his emphasis on violence on urban areas.
Del Carmen agreed.
"The president said murders are at an all-time high, and that's not true," he said. "But whether it's true or not, every time we hear of a murder or a violent crime, we start to believe it's true."
Determining what causes the murder rate to fluctuate relies on a series of factors that are often complicated, del Carmen said. However, the criminology expert said there are a few reliable strategies police departments can use to implement to lower crime.
One includes engaging the community and building neighborhood relationships.
He said building relationships with local communities allows residents to develop a deeper trust in law enforcement.
"Crime begins and ends with the community," del Carmen said. "If you engage the community, you're likely to see a decrease in crime."
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Just days after President Donald Trump told Congress that he was removing gang members and drug dealers as he had promised, immigration agents deported a 31-year-old Houston father of two American children who has been here since he was 15 and had a temporary reprieve from deportation and no other criminal record.
Jose Escobar was arrested Feb. 22 when he went to the Houston immigration office for his annual check-in. He had a provisional stay of deportation and a work permit since 2012, when he was released from immigration custody after a media and congressional campaign drew attention to his case.
His arrest is part of a wave of detentions across the country after the Trump administration released new guidelines last month making practically every immigrant here illegally, even those like Escobar who have a provisional protection from deportation, eligible for removal.
"They didn't give us a chance to do anything," said Cesar Espinosa, whose advocacy organization FIEL Houston lobbied for Escobar's case.
Escobar's lawyer, Raed Gonzalez, was notified on Thursday morning that he had been deported back to El Salvador, a country he hasn't seen in 16 years.
"This is a terrible message to send," Espinosa said. "We're afraid people are going to stop showing up to their (immigration) check-ins, and it just sends a shock wave through the community. ... It's all coming to fruition, and it's very scary."
Unlike the violent criminals Trump has said he would focus on, Escobar landed in deportation proceedings because of a simple paperwork gaffe.
His mother sent for him when he was 15 and like her, he qualified for temporary protected status for people fleeing widespread disasters in certain countries.
She assumed his permit would automatically renew when she reapplied for hers. But it didn't.
Because they had moved, they didn't receive the paperwork informing him that he had missed the deadline.
When he finally figured out what had happened, he tried to reapply for the permit but it was too late. The government had already initiated deportation proceedings. Escobar's wife, Rose, said their lawyer told him not to show up at the court hearing or he would be deported. In his absence, the judge ordered him removed in 2006.
But with no one trying hard to find him, the Escobars lived a normal life, moving to New Orleans and then back to Houston. Their son Walter was born.
On June 6, 2011, immigration agents arrested Jose as he pulled out of his driveway to go to work. His wife consulted with lawyers, created a petition on Change.org, and recruited the help of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat.
Her efforts paid off. After seven months in detention, immigration agents released Escobar in January 2012 on an order of supervision, a provisional stay of deportation in a process known broadly as prosecutorial discretion. He was required to check in with immigration agents once a year and given a temporary work permit.
It was part of a wave of reprieves announced that year by the administration of former President Barack Obama, who said he wanted to focus the government's limited resources on deporting violent criminals, rather than people with clean records who have been here for years and have American children.
But now such priorities have been rescinded. It's swept fear across the country that's been heightened by widespread raids and incidents like the arrest of 22-year-old Daniela Vargas in Mississippi this week. Vargas previously had a protected status for youth, known as Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals, that expired last November though she had filed to renew.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman did not immediately return calls.
Rucks Russell, a spokesman for Jackson Lee, said the congresswoman was on a flight back to Houston.
Late Thursday, Escobar had already arrived in El Salvador and was staying with his wife's grandmother.
His wife, Rose, was devastated, Espinosa said. She had reassured their two children, 7-year-old Walter and 2-year-old Carmen, that Daddy would eventually come home.
"He just went somewhere boring," she told them last week.
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The burglary suspect who shot two Houston police officers this week has been linked to a gang known as the 52 Hoover Crips, a criminal group that operates in northeast, south and east Houston.
The gang - also known as 52 Hoova or Five-Deuce Hoova - is implicated in a series of smash-and-grabs to steal ATM machines, the robbery of a Pasadena credit union and the rape of a 67-year-old woman over the past three years.
The gang is known for its blue colors and bandanas, blue-and-orange belts, the number 52, a pitchfork pointed upward and a six-pointed star, according to the city's anti-gang website, stophoustongangs.com.
It's also been connected - as have other street gangs - to a number of burglaries in the Houston area, particularly in areas where homes appear to be easy targets.
The shooting of Houston officers Ronny Cortez and Jose Munoz comes as Houston police and the Harris County District Attorney's Office have renewed efforts to stop burglaries and put burglars in jail.
The suspect - who died at the scene after a shootout with police - was one of at least two men believed to have been burglarizing houses Tuesday morning in a southwest Houston neighborhood near Bellfort and Beltway 8. Authorities have identified him only as a 26-year-old with a criminal record.
Another suspect - who police said was wearing a blue bandana - is still at large. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Wednesday the second suspect does not appear to have been involved in the shooting but had been seen with the other man.
Thieves hit six homes that day in the neighborhood, a typical target for burglary crews operated by local gangs, police said.
"There's always a neighborhood being targeted, and it can be anywhere in Houston," said a law enforcement gang officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
"It depends on the gang. It depends on the area."
'Call that nobody's ready for'
Officers Cortez and Munoz discovered a man hiding inside a shed while conducting anti-burglary operations in the southwest Houston neighborhood.
A struggle ensued when he refused to come out of the shed, and gunfire erupted. The officers' sergeant, J. Garza, shot the man when he emerged brandishing a 9mm handgun, police said Wednesday, offering new details about the chaotic exchange.
Cortez was shot multiple times and Munoz was shot once. Cortez, 49, a 24-year veteran officer with HPD, remains hospitalized at Memorial Hermann Medical Center with a bullet lodged near his spine, but his spirits are high and he is improving, Acevedo said Wednesday.
Munoz, 34, a 10-year veteran who was shot in the foot, left Ben Taub Hospital late Wednesday afternoon.
"Both the officers and their families are overjoyed in being alive," a visibly relieved Acevedo said at a news conference in the Texas Medical Center. "Because let there be no doubt, the person whose life was tragically ended yesterday was trying to murder two police officers who were simply trying to do their job."
Munoz's wife, Jazmin, said Wednesday she knew the risk that comes with being a police officer's wife, but she still was not prepared for the call saying her husband had almost been killed.
"It's a call that nobody's ready for," she said.
Her husband's first words to her when she arrived at the hospital Tuesday were, "We're OK," she said.
Cortez's brother, Danny, also visited the hospital Wednesday. The officer could face possible paralysis in his legs.
"He's got a long road to recovery," Danny Cortez said. "It could have gone a lot worse yesterday."
He said his brother - who was shot not far from his home - has always looked out for his neighbors. "As long as I've known my brother he would always be out patrolling the (area) he lived in," he said.
Crime that hits home
Local officials had already turned their attention to cracking down on burglaries before Tuesday's shooting.
Acevedo said he has asked the city's forensic lab to prioritize reviews of more than 1,000 pieces of evidence from burglary cases, focusing first on burglaries committed at night when intruders are more likely to encounter sleeping residents.
Burglaries in Houston have dropped significantly over the last five years, from more than 26,500 in 2012 to about 18,300 last year, but typically are difficult to solve because of lack of evidence.
"There's nothing worse than having your home burglarized," Acevedo said, at a March on Crime event Monday. "You feel so violated."
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said the shootings highlight the need for aggressive enforcement of crimes such as burglaries.
"Burglary is a crime that violates the sanctity of people's homes and the safety of their families," Ogg said. "This crime perfectly illustrates how quickly a property crime can turn violent. It is now time for those of us in law enforcement leadership to take a stand against burglars and robbers who consider Harris County an 'easy mark.'"
Ogg, who took office Jan. 1, campaigned on shifting focus away from minor offenses such as low-level marijuana cases to the types of crimes that impact residents directly.
Seeking quick profits
Capt. Daryn Edwards, who oversees HPD's Burglary and Theft Division, said investigators found twice as many neighborhood homes had been hit the day of the shooting than police initially reported.
"We have offense reports and investigations going on six homes," he said.
Burglaries are popular with criminal street gangs seeking quick profits. Gang leaders often will do surveillance on neighborhoods that appear to be easy targets, returning with a crew during daylight hours when most residents are working.
In recent years, the gangs appear to target areas that are outside their usual territory, to avoid being recognized by officers who know them, the gang officer said.
Joe Gamaldi, a vice president of the Houston Police Officers Union, said the shooter was a known member of the 52 Hoover Crips, which arrived in Houston in the late 1980s.
Crime Stoppers and the 100 Club are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the second suspect.
"We're not going to give up," Acevedo said of the continuing search. "You can wait for us to come and get you, or you can come turn yourself in."
China is willing to enhance exchanges with the U.S. at all levels from top down, expand coordination and cooperation on bilateral, regional and global affairs, and respect each others' core interests and major concerns, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi pledged when meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at White House.
The exchanges will be based on the spirit of the phone conversation between the two heads of state and principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, the top diplomat added in their Monday meeting.
A steady and healthy development of the China-U.S. ties will surely benefit both peoples and the world as a whole, he stressed.
Trump, on his part, said that he was very happy to hold the very important phone conversation with his counterpart Xi Jinping.
Stressing the great importance the U.S. attaches to its cooperation with China, he highlighted the need to bolster high-level exchanges, beef up all-round cooperation, and increase coordination and cooperation on global and regional affairs.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, was present at the meeting.
On the same day, Yang also exchanged views on how to further develop bilateral ties and other issues of common concern with Kushner, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, National Security Advisor Herbert Raymond McMaster and other senior U.S. officials.
Yang also published an article on Tuesday on Peoples Daily to honor the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Shanghai Communique, a document ended 23 years of diplomatic estrangement and confrontation between China and the U.S.
Yang called for a healthy and steady development of bilateral ties based on the communique spirit. The communique clarified the basic guidelines for China-U.S. ties, including one-China policy, mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful coexistence, and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other.
The Taiwan issue has been a sensitive issue for the bilateral ties, he stressed, adding that since China and the U.S. established their diplomatic ties, the one-China policy and the principles written in their three communique, namely the Shanghai Communique, Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and the August 17 communique, is a bipartisan consensus in U.S.
China-U.S. cooperation will bring achievement that is beneficial to both countries and the world, while confrontation will surely spell disaster for the two sides and the whole world," Yang wrote in the article.
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The University of Texas System is dropping its plan to develop a large swath of land near the Texas Medical Center, a project the University of Houston declared would undermine its ambitions to become a top-tier national university.
In announcing Wednesday that he halted the project, William McRaven, the UT system chancellor, disclosed that the intention was to build a data science center on the property. After UT's regents approved the land deal in 2015, the system acquired 300-plus acres in southwest Houston last year for about $215 million. Now the chancellor said he recommended the regents start the process to sell the land.
McRaven's decision to scrap the expansion comes after growing pressure on the system to make public its planned use for the land and amid criticism from its regents and Texas lawmakers, particularly Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. McRaven acknowledged to lawmakers in a letter made public this week that much of the land was an old oil field, though he said the property still could be fully developed.
The project took a big blow last month when two of Gov. Greg Abbott's nominees to be UT regents blasted the system's decision to buy the property in their Senate confirmation hearings.
"We have not met the needs of our current institutions. Why would we embark on this?" Kevin Eltife, one of the new regents and a former state senator, said Wednesday in an interview. "We need to take care of what we have."
The chancellor, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who began leading the UT System two years ago, took responsibility for the project's failure.
"We are through with this project and through with our expansion into Houston," McRaven said in a surprise reversal. He decided this week to stop it because he said he was concerned the effort began to overshadow work at the system's other institutions. He told board of regents chairman Paul Foster of his decision in a letter Wednesday.
From the beginning, UH boosters referred to UT's plans as an invasion that would the put the universities in stiff competition for faculty and research funding.
Tilman Fertitta, chairman of the UH System regents said the university's leaders, supporters and elected officials mounted a group effort to "stand our ground against an unnecessary duplication of resources that didn't align with the state's plan for higher education."
Whitmire, who spoke with McRaven on Wednesday, said he respected the chancellor's decision to call off the Houston project.
"I'm ready to move onto another issue," Whitmire said in an interview. "Next time, don't waste $200 million on a dump."
The chancellor said a data center in Houston would have focused on the fields of energy, health and education data research. Aspects of this data institute may proceed at the system's universities around the state, he said, adding that he recently received a recommendation from an advisory group to use the property for this purpose. The group considered as a possible model the 12-acre New York City campus that Cornell University is building to offer data and business programs, a UT spokeswoman said.
Questions about the property's environmental quality emerged in January during a state Senate finance committee hearing when Whitmire called the land "environmentally unsound."
McRaven rejected that criticism in his letter to lawmakers, though he acknowledged the university would need to spend less than $2 million to clean up the land because it was an abandoned oil field and a few of the acres were polluted by a former polymer facility on the site.
The property is at the site of the former Pierce Junction Field that once pumped more than 32 million barrels of oil in 77 wells.
In a 2002 enforcement order issued by the Railroad Commission, state officials reprimanded a former operator for failing to plug two wells, causing discharges of oil and gas wastes that were not permitted. Adjacent property is home to crushed concrete and crude oil storage facilities and a former municipal dump.
John Kirksey, a UT alum who sold the property to the university, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. Kirksey said Tuesday there was "untold amounts" of environmental cleanup of the property for 16 years before he and his partners sold the 307 acres to the UT system. The system's purchase price was roughly $18 million less than the land's $232.8 million appraised value.
McRaven told Foster, UT's board chair, on Wednesday that the system will plan to divest the land "in a manner that protects the system's investment in the property."
Despite halting the Houston expansion which he at one time called a key project, McRaven said he thinks he retains support from the university's regents.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, called the process UT used for this development project "an example in the future of how not to do it."
AUSTIN - Opponents embroiled in a yearslong fight over Houston's practice of offering benefits to the same-sex spouses of city employees took their fight to the state's highest court Wednesday to narrow the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision legalizing gay marriage.
Plaintiffs argued before the Texas justices that the 2015 decision by the Supreme Courtnever spoke to whether such couples are entitled to the same benefits as opposite-sex couples.
Allowing Houston to continue offering benefits, such as health care, to the same-sex spouses of city employees would expand the national ruling in Obergefell v Hodges and amount to a fundamental right, said Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general representing a pair of taxpayers who sued the city.
Instead, the plaintiffs and their Republican supporters, who have signed briefs and sent letters to the Texas Supreme Court, want to limit the effect of the Obergefell ruling by cutting off taxpayer-funded benefits to same-sex partners.
The plaintiffs argue the Texas Court of Appeals erred by reversing a temporary injunction stopping the city from offering benefits to same-sex spouses of employees and asked the state supreme court justices to offer guidance to lower courts that they are to "comply with Obergefell but not expand on it."
Douglas Alexander, a lawyer representing the city, argued the Obergefell ruling found that marriages should be treated equally and that plaintiffs are trying to set up a case to take it back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"What we have here, is a case burdening a marriage," said Alexander, who said spousal benefits offered to opposite-sex couples must be offered to same-sex couples not because there is a fundamental right to spousal benefits, but "a fundamental right that those marriages be treated equally."
Both sides confident
Supporters of Houston's same-sex spousal benefits practices say the U.S. Supreme Court was "unequivocal and clear" that same-sex marriages must be treated equally to so-called traditional marriage.
"Houston is sort of the flash point that gave the petitioners something to fight about here," said Kelly Sandill, an attorney representing a same-sex married couple and Equality Texas, a LGBTQ rights organization. The U.S. Supreme Court decision "gives benefits to any legally married couples, it must give them to all. That is what Obergefell says. There's no other way to read it," she said.
Members of the Texas Supreme Court peppered attorneys on both sides of the case with questions about jurisdiction, whether the two taxpayers who brought the case against the city have standing, and about the reach of the Obergefell v Hodges ruling.
Both sides left the hearing saying they felt confident in their chances of prevailing.
"There is no fundamental rights to same-sex benefits under Obergefell," said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, a conservative religious liberty advocacy group.
'Go-to issue' for GOP
The Texas Supreme Court agreed to take on the case following arm-twisting from Republican leaders and lawmakers, who urged the justices to reconsider its 8-1 decision last fall not to hear it. Seventy Republican lawmakers, conservative leaders and Christian pastors asked the court to stand up to "federal tyranny" of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, and in a separate filing, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the court to limit the impact of the Obergefell ruling. The state's high court reversed itself in January.
Unspoken in the leaders' push to get the high court to hear the case is the fact that Texas also offers benefits to the same-sex spouses of its employees.
Republicans will be eager to see how each of the nine Republican justices side on the case after almost all initially refused to hear it, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
Fighting against same-sex marriage has replaced abortion as the "go-to" issue for conservatives, he said.
"If marriage is only about what's on a piece of paper, then effectively it moots the value of being married and value of those marriages," Rottinghaus said.
The court is expected to rule by the end of June.
AUSTIN - The Texas House and Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved measures aimed at fixing long-running problems in the state's child-protection system that have left abused and neglected children unchecked for months and, in some cases, sleeping in state offices.
The votes in both chambers, following lengthy debates, were the first legislative steps to combat a shortage of caseworkers, high turnover rates and administrative miscues that have plagued the state's child protection system for more than two decades, in spite of at least two previous overhauls,
The Senate measure includes a provision to outsource the management of foster care cases to nonprofits and community-based groups across the state, a change that has drawn criticism from employee groups and some child advocates. The state currently has an outsourcing pilot program in one region of Texas.
While the Senate approved its overhaul without discord, the House approved its legislation following a heated argument about immigration and racism over an amendment that eventually was withdrawn.
Texas' child-protection program has been in the sights of lawmakers and state leaders since last year, when it was revealed that CPS workers were failing to see thousands of children named in abuse and neglect cases within weeks as required by state law. Some were never seen at all.
Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders demanded immediate changes, at one point dispatching state police to track down children - including dozens in Harris County - who had been on waiting lists for months. Officials at the Department of Family and Protective Services blamed high staff turnover rates, low pay and a mushrooming case load that had overwhelmed the system.
In December, House and Senate leaders approved more than $150 million in emergency funding to hire more than 800 new caseworkers, investigators and support staff and to provide $12,000-a-year pay hikes in a bid to curb high staff turnover.
Behind Wednesday's votes is the possibility that a Corpus Christi federal judge could place the state foster care system under court supervision and mandate sweeping changes, after declaring the system unconstitutional because its chronic operational problems have gone unaddressed for years.
"Anyone arguing for the status quo is arguing for more failure," said state Sen. Charles Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican who authored Senate Bill 11 aimed at making community-based programs a centerpiece of the CPS overhaul, along with new supervision and care mandates on DFPS for children in state custody.
He defended the plan to expand the outsourcing of foster care case management services now provided by state workers.
"Community-based care is an answer. They know that child the best. That child is their child," Schwertner said.
In the House, lawmakers symbolically chose two reform bill as the first bills passed by the chamber this year.
House Bill 4 by Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, would allow grandparents and other relatives who take care of abused and neglected children through the Department of Family and Protective Services' kinship care program to be eligible for state assistance.
Instead of a onetime initial payment of $1,000 and an annual stipend of $500, the measure would pay caregivers about $6,200 per child to caregivers who live below the federal poverty level of $24,600 a year, for a family of four. Those with more income could receive up to $4,150 a year, depending on their annual income.
House Bill 5 by Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, would make DFPS a standalone agency, separated from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in hopes of speeding up its decision-making so it can more quickly address childrens' needs.
Rep. Mark Keough, R-The Woodlands, sparked a heated debate by proposing an amendment to allow only U.S. citizens to receive the kinship payments. Democratic Reps. Rafael Anchia of Dallas and Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio denounced it as politically motivated.
"You're trying to conflate children who are in desperate need with lawbreakers, and that to me is very offensive," Anchia said. "When we got up this morning we thought we were going to talk about how we're going to protect kids, because this Legislature has failed kids."
Keough ended up withdrawing the amendment.
The two House bills now will go to the Senate for consideration, and the Senate bill heads to the House. Both chambers must approve all legislation before it can be sent to the governor to be signed into law.
Leadership in the Senate and House made it clear Wednesday they intend to make quick work of the remaining process. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus applauded the bipartisan effort to pass all three bills.
"We have taken a couple of very important steps toward providing better protection and care for children in terrible circumstances, with more to come in the weeks ahead," Straus said in a statement.
Abbott, who previously said he intends to sign reform legislation that will fix the problems, echoed the sentiment: "Today's actions by the House and Senate are a significant first step toward reforming the child welfare system and creating a culture that gives every child a chance to not only survive, but thrive in Texas."
Advocates also applauded the votes.
"If the state is serious about reducing the number of abused children in Texas, investment in prevention programs is essential," said Madeline McClure, CEO of TexProtects, a Dallas-based child advocacy group.
Reporter Bobby Cervantes contributed to this story.
AUSTIN - Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller once again is clashing with the Legislature and threatening to unilaterally raise fees on farmers and ranchers.
Miller, a first-term Republican who ran as a hard-line conservative, has faced repeated questions about his spending decisions and weathered fierce criticism for raising licensing, registration and inspection fees by $11 million annually last year. Now, he is doubling down by promising to raise fees by another $5 million unless lawmakers give his agency more funding and more power to transfer money between programs.
"We're providing a protection and service to the producers and consumers of this state," Miller told a House Appropriations subcommittee last week. "I'm asking for the essential money to keep that service alive."
"If you give us our budget tools back, we can actually lower some of these fees," he added in an appeal to the Senate Finance Committee, arguing that many agencies have transfer authority and giving him that power would not cost the state anything.
The pleas did not go over well with lawmakers, who already are struggling to close a budget shortfall without raising taxes or tapping into the state's Rainy Day Fund.
In fact, several powerful House budget writers decided Tuesday to reject Miller's request for transfer authority, according to Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, who chairs the spending panel that oversees the Texas Department of Agriculture.
"Commissioner Miller has proven why this body can't give him that kind of authority," Gonzales said in an interview, referring to reports in the Houston Chronicle and elsewhere about the commissioner's spending of agency money on personal trips and extravagant bonuses and salaries for friends.
"We're in a tight budget cycle," said Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, before mentioning that Miller served in the House between 2001 and 2013. "I'm always interested when legislators go on to higher elected office and they want everybody else to be cut except them."
At odds with legislators
The burgeoning fight has echoes of 2015 and 2016, when Miller aggressively lobbied lawmakers to restore years-old budget cuts to the agency and, when that failed, raised the fees - some by 100 percent or more. Miller agreed to delay the fee increases amid criticism from industry groups, dozens of lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, but he eventually implemented them in January 2016.
Miller passionately defended his decisions at that time. He said fees had not been raised in more than a decade, resulting in a lengthy backlog in inspections and other services that was hurting Texans.
This time around, the commissioner is requesting a total of about $6.5 million to hire additional inspectors, buy new trucks, rehab the laboratory in which weights and measures are calibrated and promote Texas agriculture abroad. He also wants to regain power to transfer money between programs, carry over surplus money from one fiscal year to the next and keep the money collected from fines.
That authority is common for "cost-recovery" agencies that collect fees and violation dollars, Miller said, emphasizing that the nature of the collection set-up meant that no taxpayer dollars would be at stake.
Miller has warned lawmakers the budget plans currently under consideration would trigger new fees and a "death spiral downward, where services provided by TDA to 27 million Texans are constantly decreasing."
Asked by Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, about why he had raised fees related to certification of seeds by 141 percent last year, Miller said that the increase did not cover costs and would have to go up again "drastically."
Seliger and others have been unusually hostile to Miller's requests in public and private. During the House hearing, Beaumont Republican Dade Phelan wondered aloud whether lawmakers could give the department's duties to another agency.
The reason for the opposition, according to multiple lawmakers, is a spate of news reports about Miller's questionable spending.
Among other issues, the Chronicle has revealed over the past 18 months that Miller has used agency money to fly to Oklahoma to receive a pain-curing injection known as "The Jesus Shot" and to travel to Mississippi to compete in a rodeo; has frequently flown first class and charged the state for cocktails; has hired nine friends and campaign aides to new high-paying jobs without giving the public a chance to apply, as required by law; and gave more bonuses in his first nine months than his predecessor awarded in his first two and a half years in office.
Use of state money
An investigation by the Texas Rangers confirmed that Miller used state money for personal gain, including "The Jesus Shot," but prosecutors ultimately decided not to file charges.
"His fiscal management has really raised eyebrows, and he hasn't done anything to give us comfort in his ability to handle a budget," Gonzales said.
Miller also faces opposition from the agriculture industry. At the legislative hearing, Steven Boyd, the managing director of Sun Coast Resources, a Houston-based fuel and lubricant distributor, decried the "outrageous fees" that he said had gone up about 500 percent for meters on delivery trucks, forcing him to lay off employees.
"In Texas, we're supposed to be pro-business," Boyd said.
Miller spokesman Mark Loeffler suggested in an interview that agency officials are still confident that lawmakers will approve their requests.
"Our legislative relations staff has been working with them. It's just a matter of understanding where we are in this cost recovery world," Loeffler said. "It's workable."
AUSTIN -- Prodded by the latest meltdown in Texas' child-protection system, both chambers of the Legislature on Wednesday unanimously approved measures aimed at fixing longstanding problems to better protect abused and neglected children.
After hours of debate, the House approved two bills that would bolster payments to relatives who agree to take in foster-care children and create a new agency to oversee the newly reformed network of care. Both bills are premised on the state continuing to oversee most casework.
The Senate approved a separate bill to make community-based programs the centerpiece of child-protection reforms, rather than have the state supervise most cases as directly, as it does now.
The three bills now will go to the other legislative chamber for consideration. They must be approved by both chambers for final approval before they can be sent to the governor to be signed into law.
State Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, said her House Bill 4 would allow grandparents and other relatives who take care of abused and neglected children in their families through the Department of Family and Protective Services' kinship care program to be eligible for payments to help. It passed 145-0.
HB 5 by Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, would make the Department of Family and Protective Services a standalone agency, spun off from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to allow it to make decisions faster. It passed 144-0.
Senate Bill 11 by Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, was approved 31-0. It would create a community-based system of care where nonprofit organizations and community-based programs would oversee most casework.
It includes a pilot program for nonprofit organizations to handle behavioral health care for children, requires managed care organizations be notified of a child's placement change within 24 hours, and mandates that children under conservatorship have medical exams within three days of entering into the system.
In January, Gov. Greg Abbott had designated reforms to Texas' child-protective services system an emergency to expedite their passage within the first 60 days of the legislative session.
Leaders of both chambers applauded the bipartisan effort to fix what most everyone agrees has been a broken system.
"We have taken a couple of very important steps toward providing better protection and care for children in terrible circumstances, with more to come in the weeks ahead," House Speaker Joe Straus said in a statement.
Abbott echoed the sentiment: "Today's actions by the House and Senate are a significant first step toward reforming the the child welfare system and creating a culture that gives every child a chance to not only survive, but thrive in Texas."
Man may be master of his fate, as the 19th century poet Alfred Lord Tennyson proclaimed, but Harris County district judges are not. These black-robed men and women are subject to the whims of a broken judicial selection system.
A case in point is the November 2016 election. Donald Trump's unpopularity in Harris County helped spur an 11-point advantage in straight-ticket voting for the Democrats. Republican district judges were swept out on Election Day, and Democratic district judges were swept in.
Elections where an R or a D before a candidate's name determines wins and losses, rather than hard work, impartiality or ability, are devastating to judicial morale and to the administration of justice.
As a result of November's Republican bloodbath, Gov. Greg Abbott has a pool of qualified former judges to choose from to fill empty benches, and as of print deadline, one criminal district court bench remains open. Mary Lou Keel, formerly the judge in Harris County's 232nd District Court, won the race for Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2, leaving the lower seat vacant.
Abbott should choose his appointment from this pool. It takes a couple of years for judges to acquire the necessary experience, and former criminal district court justices such as Stacey W. Bond, Kristen M. Guiney and Ryan Patrick are able practitioners who would do a good job on Day One.
But this silver lining is slight compared to the harm wreaked by our current method of placing judges. For at least three decades, most politicians, lawyers, judges and citizens have agreed that the current system of judicial selection - susceptible to political winds - is outdated and in need of repair. Up to now, there's been a lot of talk but no change. The inertia is particularly regrettable because there are a number of ways, minor and major, that the system could be improved.
Straight-ticket voting exacerbates the sweeps. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht have addressed the need to either limit or abandon straight-ticket voting.
State Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, has filed legislation to abolish it for all elections. His bill would require voters to make choices in individual races, rather than simply pulling the lever for an entire line-up. As we've said before, passage of this legislation would be a step in the right direction, but change shouldn't stop there.
The biggest problem is structural. In November, there were 24 judicial district races on the Harris County ballot alone, not to mention statewide and national races. Our judicial election system was adopted in 1850, when the judicial ballot was short, as pointed out by former Chief Justice Tom Phillips, a long-time advocate for judicial election reform, in an opinion piece in the Chronicle written over a decade ago ("Retention elections a sound method of judicial balloting," Page B9, March 6, 2003). Voters can't possibly educate themselves about 48 judicial candidates running for district judge and make an informed choice in each race.
Worth exploring is some form of merit appointment and retention elections, which require every judge to run on a nonpartisan "yes" or "no" ballot at the end of each term.
Lawmakers also need to lift the bar on judicial experience. Right now, candidates just have to have practiced law four years. That needs to be raised to 10 years. Otherwise, an inexperienced candidate can file in a year like 2016 and get swept into office. Criminal judges have the authority to take away people's freedom. We need the best of the best to hold office, not merely the lucky.
The November 2016 election wasn't the first sweep: In 1994, outstanding Democratic judges in Harris County were swept out of office when Republicans led by Newt Gingrich took control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Nor will it be the last if the Legislature fails to act.
Good judges don't rule arbitrarily. Nor should their political futures be determined by arbitrary events outside of their control. The current system is unjust to those dispensing justice, and needs to change.
When Donald Trump hears "San Jacinto" he probably thinks it is a guy he's about to deport. Houstonians have little reason to presume that this native New Yorker who likes his steaks well-done with a side of ketchup has anything in common with the hardworking folks who transform our city from a bayou burg into a hub of commerce and industry. And today, as Texas celebrates our independence from the egomaniacal dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, we have to wonder if our state has ever had to deal with a politician so far out of touch with the reality of Houston.
Our city runs on free trade, oil and gas, and low-cost labor. No mistake that business boosters like the Greater Houston Partnership have spent a decade advocating for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and comprehensive immigration reform.
Things in Houston aren't perfect. Far too many residents live paycheck to paycheck. The next generation isn't getting the education and skills they need to lead. But now we have to deal with a president who sees Houston's boons as a threat. It is like a doctor who misdiagnoses a cold for cancer and recommends a full slate of chemotherapy.
The radioactive solution of a border tax, import tariffs and immigrant roundups, which Trump discussed in his speech to Congress this week, will weaken the economic fundamentals of our Gulf Coast port city.
A proposed border tax or tariff risks recession for the Port of Houston's multi-billion-dollar import-export business. Texas may have declared independence 181 years ago, but our economy is still tightly wound up with Mexico. China - Trump's scapegoat for lost manufacturing - sits in second place, behind our southern neighbor, as the Port of Houston's top trading partner. Those supposedly "job killing" trade deals have attracted billions in business to our region. While Trump lambastes regulations for hurting coal, he's touting trade regulations that will hurt the import of crude and export of natural gas.
Meanwhile, anti-immigration rhetoric and enforcement has the construction industry worried about a labor crisis in an already tight market. Houston's reputation for affordable housing will take a hit if construction costs skyrocket. A similar shock will hit Texas families as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expands its reach beyond dangerous criminals and starts deporting the mothers and fathers who run Houston households. Lupe de Leon, who Chronicle reporter Dylan Baddour wrote about last week, is one of those fathers. He made a career as an undocumented laborer in Texas. Now he's a business owner preparing to send his daughter to college.
That's the sort of person who makes Houston great. And the sort of person Trump wants to deport.
The Houston Police Department already has to deal with the problem of witnesses who don't want to talk with law enforcement for fear of deportation. Continuing to promote that fear will not make Houston safer.
And at the Texas Medical Center, world-famous scientists like Dr. Peter Hotez are warning that Trump's budget cuts to research funding will cause us to lose a generation of young scientists. New visa restrictions threaten to create barriers for the foreign doctors and researchers who labor in our hospital and university labs even if research funding remains stable.
During the next four years, our local leaders have to remember that the interests of a booming Houston do not always align with the demands coming out of a failing rust belt. Business executives, civic organizations and politicians of all stripes must resist the sort of federal policies that take an axe to the pillars of Houston's economy and society. Teleprompter rhetoric will not salve the inevitable harm that Trump will bring upon our city if he's given free rein.
We invite Trump to extend his next Houston visit beyond the usual fundraiser and rally. Talk to our residents. Meet with our businesses. Skip Mar-a-Lago for the weekend and come see the reality of Houston.
We'll even serve up a side of ketchup with your well-done steak.
Actions speak
Regarding "A different tone" (Page A14, Wednesday), there is no question that the speech President Donald Trump gave to a joint session of the U.S. Congress struck a more positive tone.
However, let's not get too far ahead of the facts. First, the comments he has repeatedly made over the last couple of years and arguably before that period cannot be erased.
Also, words are cheap. Trump has consistently been loose with the facts, and his proposed budget has many economist scratching their heads as to how this will be paid.
Basing a budget on "projected" improvement in the economic situation is akin to buying a house based on what we think might be our income in a few years. Building a wall that will cost billions of dollars is ridiculous and is going to cost a lot more than any numbers he, his followers, or detractors have thrown out there.
Yes, we can give him credit for the tone of a speech he should have made months ago, but it doesn't mean a thing until we see what Trump and his Republican-controlled Congress can deliver.
George Calage, Stafford
Sorry response
Regarding "Ex-governor says Trump 'eroding our democracy'" (Page A10, Wednesday), the Democratic Party response to President Trump's congressional address was very telling. First they selected former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, an out-of-office Democrat, who would not need to worry about losing his next election due to his pre-scripted negative harangue that all things Trump are evil.
Second. Well, there is no second as Beshear never once responded to Trump's address in this so-called Democratic Party response.
This Kentucky ex-governor was ineligible to run for re-election in 2015 due to term limits and was succeeded by a Republican, while his state voted by a large margin for Trump. And it is clear he and his party still do not know why or do not care why.
Larry Volkening, Houston
In his first address to Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump once more painted a bleak picture of a country besieged by crime, drugs and terrorism. The unexpectedly positive tone he used shouldn't obscure the falsehoods at the heart of his rhetoric.
Drugs "pour in at a now unprecedented rate" across our borders, the president said, and "criminal cartels have spread across our nation." Trump pledged to stop the country's "terrible drug epidemic," return order to our "neglected inner cities" and address "an environment of lawless chaos."
Despite Trump's bluster, though, crime in the United States actually remains at or near historic lows. The president continues to dish out alternative facts on crime to justify a reactionary agenda. From a wall along the border with Mexico, to a revised "travel ban" on Muslims, to a likely crackdown on drug users, Trump needs to distort the truth to feed these policies to the American people.
For a sitting president to stand in front of Congress, and the country, and misrepresent the dangers facing us should be cause for alarm. Indeed, it's rare for a president to make the state of the union sound worse than it is.
But it's not unprecedented: Richard Nixon framed his 1968 presidential campaign around a promise to return "order" to the United States.
In Trump's inaugural address, he famously invoked "American carnage." He falsely told a group of sheriffs in February that the homicide rate is "the highest it's been in 47 years." (Trump did use the correct statistic Tuesday night at least, noting that "the murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century.")
On Tuesday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions echoed Trump's language about drugs flooding across the border and bringing violence. "My worry," he said, "is that this is not a 'blip' or an anomaly, but the start of a dangerous new trend that could reverse the hard-won gains of the past four decades - gains that made America a safer and more prosperous place."
And later, Trump strained to trace rising crime to immigration, terrorism and national security. He promised to deliver on his signature campaign promise - a border wall with Mexico - as well as locking out terrorists and restoring order to the nation.
What we heard doesn't square with reality.
Nationally, crime remains at the bottom of a 25-year downtrend, half of what it was at its peak in 1991. Last year, rates of overall crime fell for the 14th year in a row. It's true that homicides increased in some cities in 2016, as Trump stated. He spoke about Chicago, saying "more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone - and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher."
But here's what he didn't mention: Chicago is an extreme outlier. In 2015 and 2016, increases in the homicide rate were highly concentrated in a few cities. Last year, Chicago alone accounted for almost half of the total urban increase in killings. The national homicide rate remains at about 2009 levels - at nearly half of the 1991 peak.
The president's attempt to connect immigration to rising crime is also dishonest. Research has consistently demonstrated that immigrants, regardless of their country of origin, are less likely to commit violent crimes than American-born citizens.
Other presidents have preyed on Americans' darkest fears.
"If there is one area where the word 'war' is appropriate, it is in the fight against crime," Nixon warned in his 1970 State of the Union address. "We must declare and win the war against the criminal elements, which increasingly threaten our cities, our homes, and our lives."
Even President Bill Clinton used his 1994 State of the Union address to make a case for his famous crime bill, now a source of controversy, saying that "violent crime and the fear it provokes are crippling our society, limiting personal freedom, and fraying the ties that bind us."
But Trump is the first president to manufacture a cause for panic out of an aberration.Fear sells. The public generally thinks that crime is higher than it actually is, making it easy for the president to convince people to support a controversial, overbroad agenda. But bad facts make for bad policy.
In fact, Trump's commitment to alt-facts on crime distracts us from true threats, risking an increase in crime in the process.
In Chicago, for example, homicides increased by 50 percent last year. Theories include more gang violence, fewer police officers on the streets and long-simmering economic malaise. Trump said he would "send in the feds" to help fix the problem. But he has yet to respond to repeated requests from Chicago police officials, asking for training, money and federal officers to stem rising violence.
And although some communities are struggling with an opioid crisis, a renewed drug war won't break the cycle of addiction and crime - it will only send more low-level drug users to prison without any help or treatment.
Flashy proposals such as walls and travel bans may play well at rallies, and overwrought rhetoric about crime certainly grabs headlines. But the real work of "making America safe again" calls for a little less bombast, and a lot more focused action.
Chettiar is director of the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. Grawert is the John L. Neu justice counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. The Washington Post
A Lotte supermarket in Hangzhou, March 1, 2017.
South Korea's Lotte brand is on track to suffer a major loss of customers in China after the company decides to support THAAD deployment despite China's strong opposition.
Lotte signed a deal with the South Korean military on Feb. 28 to transfer ownership of its Skyhill Country Club property in Seongju, thus enabling the deployment of U.S. missile defense system THAAD, which China has called a threat to its national security and repeatedly opposed.
Boycotts against Lotte supermarkets have been staged around China since the company's intention to back THAAD was made public.
People protest in front of a Lotte supermarket in Jilin on Feb. 26, 2017, holding a banner that reads "Lotte supports THAAD, get out of China."
"I think relevant parties know full well the opposition of the Chinese people to the deployment of THAAD. I believe they have noted the voice of the Chinese people in recent days," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in response to questions about the boycott.
"As for the attitude of the Chinese government, we have stated repeatedly that China welcomes foreign companies to make investments and do business in China; China respects and protects their lawful rights and interests. At the same time, we want to emphasize that companies operating in China must comply with laws and regulations," added Geng at a press conference on Feb. 28.
A Lotte store in Shenyang, Feb 28, 2017.
Lotte, South Korea's fifth-largest family-controlled conglomerate, entered the Chinese market in 1994. It currently has about 60 billion RMB of investments in China, including more than 120 stores.
The boycott of Lotte is just one of many protests against South Korean businesses and products in China, as tensions between the two countries grow.
The Texas House on Wednesday passed two major bills reforming the states child protection rules, but not before the chamber erupted into a bitter and personal feud over whether people living in the country illegally should be able to access state money if they care for an abused or neglected child.
Rep. Mark Keough, a Republican from The Woodlands, proposed an amendment to House Bill 4 that would allow the Department to Family and Protective Services to give money to designated caregivers only if they are U.S. citizens.
Here we are starting off a program right off the bat and paying monies to somebody who is not a documented citizen, Keough said. I have a hard time with that. How in the world do we even know they are family members?
Keough argued that the bills criminal and civil penalties nod to the possibility that some will use the program to receive state money when they are not a childs caregiver.
Theres potential that a person could say that theyre a parent, brother, or sister when in reality theyre not, he said. OK, well, you say you are, but lets find out. Well, you cant find out because theyre undocumented.
It was clear nobody knew Keoughs amendment was coming. He had not discussed it with the bills author, Rep. Cindy Burkett of Garland, and had not broached the topic in several work groups with other legislators who spent the interim investigating the issue.
However, those legislative formalities did not matter much when the debate started. The amendment drew a sharp rebuke from Democrats, who questioned whether Keoughs intent was to attach what they called an anti-immigrant amendment to a bill meant to help abused and neglected children.
Youre trying to conflate children who are in desperate need with lawbreakers, and that to me is very offensive, said Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Democrat from Dallas. When we got up this morning we thought we were going to talk about how were going to protect kids, because this Legislature has failed kids.
Several times, Anchia called the bill racist and politically motivated. A lot of people on this floor feel like they need a brown vote, he said, referring to the tough-on-immigrant campaign literature he has seen in Republican primaries.
One Democrat, Houston Rep. Gene Wu, offered a tweak to Keoughs amendment by requiring those who receive state money to sign a sworn affidavit attesting to their household income. Wus decision to sponsor such an amendment earned him the ire of his Democratic colleagues.
Are you asking us to amend a bill that is already hateful to many people in this state? said Rep. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio. Its disturbing that you would seek to amend something racist in nature. Well, I dont think you find middle ground to hatred.
Wu did not respond to the charge, and his amendment passed 79 to 62.
Rep. Byron Cook of Corsicana was the only Republican who came to Democrats defense, arguing that Keoughs provision probably would not survive a court challenge and lamenting the course the debate had taken.
I dont think this holds up and in the meantime, we have kids we could take care of properly and were saying we cant do that, Cook said. What has happened to us? This is the first big bill and this is who were going to start? We can do better.
Cook likely wasnt the only Republican who thought this. He got applause from many in the chamber after his remarks. After a long deliberation with the Speaker and other members, Keough withdrew his amendment, allowing House Bill 4 to pass 145-0.
On a day when the House wanted to show its political muscle and its unity in halting child deaths in the system a factional scuffle broke out that brought the chamber to a standstill. Were used to seeing that during every legislation session, but not this early and definitely not on a bill of this magnitude.
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Malaysia's attorney general said on Thursday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man, who was arrested as a suspect following the airport killing, will be released and deported.
Ri Jong Chol, the 47-year-old DPRK man who worked at a local anti-cancer drug company in Malaysia, was arrested by the police on Feb. 17 for suspected involvement in the airport case, in which a DPRK man with the passport name of "Kim Chol" was poisoned with lethal VX nerve agent. Ri was remanded for two weeks in police custody. The remand will expire on Friday.
Malaysia's Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali did not elaborate on the reasons of the release, but local media said it was due to a lack of evidence. During the investigation, the police did not reveal the connections between him and four other suspects believed to have fled the country.
On Wednesday, the two female suspects who carried out the attack, one from Indonesia and one Vietnamese, were charged with murder. If convicted, the two will face death sentence.
Harassment is unacceptable in any setting. I certainly want everyone to know that I do not condone and have not committed such behavior, Singhal told Recode. In my 20-year career, Ive never been accused of anything like this before and the decision to leave Google was my own.
Singhal led Google's search division and left the firm in 2016 after 15 years, Reuters reported. He announced his plan to join Uber in January, saying he would work closely with Kalanick on the company's self-driving car program.
SInghals resignation comes as Uber is investigating claims of sexual harassment within its own organisation.
In a blog post published on February 19, former software engineer Susan Fowler claimed she was propositioned by her manager, and that human resources failed to do enough to address the incident.
In another of Fowlers allegations, managers said the company wouldnt order leather jackets for female employees "because there were not enough women in the organisation to justify placing an order."
The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Thursday underscored building a clean online and offline environment for social harmony.
The office announced it will launch more campaigns in 2017 to crack down on piracy and online pornography to ensure the healthy development of children and young people.
Issues in live-streaming video, instant chat services and pop-up ads will be dealt with, said the office.
The office also urged early detection and punishment for illegal academic journals as well as blackmail by fake journalists.
In 2016, Chinese law enforcement confiscated over 16 million illegal publications and banned more than 14,000 websites disseminating harmful information.
Its become a trend: With oil prices in the doldrums for a third straight year, large international energy companies are cutting back on or backing out of oilsands projects.
Many say oil prices are just too low to make new projects worthwhile. A report from IHS Markit last fall estimated that, to be economical, new operations require oil prices at US$85 to US$95 per barrel for oilsands mines, and $55 to $65 for steam-assisted gravity drainage operations.
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Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently predicted oil prices will trade in the US$50 to US$70 range until at least 2022. The price of Western Canadian Select oil closed at just below US$40 on Thursday.
The result, some experts say, is that a lot more of Albertas oil will stay in the ground a key goal of climate activists.
Here are five multinationals that are paring back or eliminating their involvement in the oilsands.
Royal Dutch Shell: No new projects
Shell is the latest company to back away from the oilsands, saying its existing operations are a cash cow, but new projects are a no go.
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We are unlikely to develop new oil-sands projects, CEO Ben Van Beurden told Bloomberg last month. There are no plans for growth capital to be invested in oil sands.
Thats bad news for hiring prospects in Alberta.
Statoil: Goodbye, oilsands (hello, Newfoundland?)
Norways state-run energy company is the worlds 11th-largest oil producer, and it has exited the oilsands completely, selling its assets earlier this year to Athabasca Oil.
The company is now eyeing entering Newfoundlands offshore oil play. It plans to drill two exploratory wells 500 km off the coast of Newfoundland this summer.
ExxonMobil: Technically, the oil isnt there
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ExxonMobil last month wrote off all 3.3 billion barrels of oil it had in the ground in an oilsands project, because that oil is no longer profitable to extract.
Under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, which ExxonMobil has to follow, a proven reserve of oil includes only that oil which can be extracted economically.
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods recently said he still sees potential in the oilsands, if the costs of production can be brought down. (Many producers are doing exactly that.)
Still, if others follow suit in writing down their reserves, Canadas stash of oil could shrink dramatically, at least on paper.
ConocoPhillips: Temporarily less oil?
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Like ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips has made some of its oilsands reserves vanish through a write-down. The company struck off some 1.15 billion barrels of oilsands product from its books earlier this year.
But it told investors last month that, if current oil prices hold up, it may be able to bring that 1.15 billion barrels of oil back on to its books.
Koch Industries: Blame it on the carbon tax
The U.S.s largest privately-held corporation, run by the famously conservative and controversial brothers Charles and David Koch, announced its cancelling its Muskwa oilsands project last December.
Koch told Albertas energy regulator that the cancellation is primarily related to economic and regulatory uncertainty.
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More than 30 years since they were last seen in Alberta, two Lethbridge sisters have been located in the United States, said police.
Anna and Kym Hakze's mother reported them missing in 2003, after she failed to see or hear from either of them in more than a decade.
According to police, the last time a family member recalled seeing the women was in the Edmonton area in the mid-1980s.
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At that time, Anna, 43, was estranged from her family and struggling financially. Despite being on good terms with her relatives, Kym, 29, disappeared with her sister. Police said the sisters were "inseparable."
Today, they would be 67 and 53, respectively.
The Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) issued several pleas for information in the case. In 2015, they posted a rare statement to social media, speaking directly to the women, and urging them to get in touch with authorities if they were still alive.
"We understand you may have walked away from your lives and it is not our intention to disrupt them. We only want to confirm that you are OK. We will not disclose your current location to your family or anyone else if you do not wish for them to know. Confirmation of your well-being is all that is needed to close your case," police wrote.
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Police investigated tips over the years, even submitting a family DNA sample during the investigation into serial killer Robert Pickton, and providing the sisters' fingerprints to a U.S. databank for missing and unidentified persons.
In 2012, investigators finally got the lead they were looking for, based on a 1984 Vancouver newspaper clipping and a tip from the public identifying two women as the missing sisters.
Did not realize they were reported missing
In February, U.S. police made contact with Kym, who no longer uses that name.
She contacted Lethbridge police to explain that she did not realize she and her sister had been reported missing after their decision to walk away from their lives in Alberta.
"After so many years its very unusual for a case like this to end with good news," said Lethbridge police Staff Sgt. Scott Woods, who oversees the criminal investigation section, in a press release.
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"Usually we find ourselves telling a family their loved one has met with some sort of tragedy or more often than not in a case of this age, never being able to provide any answers."
"After so many years its very unusual for a case like this to end with good news."
"We hope that knowing Anna and Kym are out there provides some sense of closure for this family and we are very pleased to finally have been able to do that."
The sisters have requested privacy and police will not release their names or whereabouts. They have provided the sisters with contact information for their living family members.
The Hakze family has asked for privacy as well, and will not be issuing a statement.
Also on HuffPost:
The sun was still shining when Grace Bigazis plane touched down at Calgary International Airport on June 22, 2015. It was after 9 p.m.
The 17-year-old stared in bewilderment, then double-checked her watch, wondering if she had set it to the wrong time zone. On the same day, the sun set in Kenya hours earlier at 6:30 p.m. local time. Perhaps insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it was the first of many contrasts Bigazi would strike between her previous life in Congo and Rwanda, and the one she was starting in Canada as a refugee.
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A few hours later, Bigazi, her mom and five siblings were in Red Deer, Alta., a city they learned existed just weeks before.
But life as a refugee family wasnt easy.
We knew nobody, Bigazi told The Huffington Post Canada.
She struggled with being the new girl in her Grade 12 class and adjusting to a new education system. Her mom spoke little English and couldnt find a job. She took her children to appointments and meetings to be her translators.
And then there was the $11,400 they owed the federal government.
We knew nobody.
Three months after the Bigazi family landed, they received a letter from the government saying it was time to start repaying a transportation loan for which they signed up just before coming to Canada. It covered costs for their connecting flights from Kenya to Amsterdam, Calgary and then Red Deer.
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About 94 per cent of government-assisted refugees receive financial support from the government through its Immigration Loans Program (ILP), which helps cover transportation and medical costs. Newcomers must start paying back the loans 30 days after they arrive in Canada although with system delays, the process typically takes a few months.
Advocates have urged the government to ease rules surrounding the loans for years, saying theyre too heavy a burden for those already juggling the challenges associated with resettling in a new country.
A 2015 evaluation of the loan program by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada suggested several broad adjustments. The report recommended the federal government consider giving refugees more time to settle in Canada before sending the first invoice it pointed out the United States offers a six-month grace period for similar loans.
The report also suggested the government re-evaluate the interest charged on the loans to ensure it appropriately considers refugees financial situations.
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No timeline on upcoming changes: spokeswoman
In a December 2015 response to the report, Ottawa pledged to develop a comprehensive array of policy options to address challenges with the program by mid-2016.
In February, an immigration department spokeswoman said the government is still working on it, but doesnt have a timeline.
At this time, we are unable to speculate when further information may be available on possible changes, Jennifer Bourque wrote in an email to HuffPost.
Bigazi, who now studies political science at The Kings University in Edmonton, first spoke about her familys hardships in repaying the loan when the school hosted a conference on citizenship and immigration in Canada.
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She focused specifically on young people who put off pursuing higher education in order to work and help pay off the loans. She called it a heartbreaking decision, and one she struggled with too.
Bigazis mom works a part-time job retail job at Winners, and puts in a few hours a week assisting health-care workers at a nursing home.
Was she going to use the money she was making to pay off the loan, or pay rent, or buy food? Bigazi said, explaining why she felt pressure to get a job instead of pursue studies.
The family hands over $158.26 in monthly instalments to the government. Her older sister, who was an adult when the family came to Canada, has her own loan.
Its crazy when I think that I have to pay the [transportation] loan. Now Ill also have to pay my student loan.
In the summer, Bigazi worked part-time at a grocery store to help her mom pay off the loan money she hoped to save for her education.
Its crazy when I think that I have to pay the [transportation] loan. Now Ill also have to pay my student loan, she said.
The family has $9,801.17 remaining to pay back the federal government.
Bigazi is not alone in her struggle. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), many newcomers put off school, professional training, and language classes in order to pay off the loans.
Loans devastating for some refugees
The CCR reports 76 per cent of government-assisted refugees use social assistance to meet loan requirements, while cutting back on basic expenses such as housing, food and clothing.
It is a real handicap for many [refugees] and for some absolutely devastating, Janet Dench of the Canadian Council of Refugees (CCR) told HuffPost.
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Its something Amer and Mervat Alhendawi have wrestled with ever since they arrived in Canada in May 2015. The Syrian couple could barely speak English, and owed the federal government $7,413.74 in transportation costs, which included flights from Jordan to B.C.
Amer shared his story with the Citizenship and Immigration Committee at the House of Commons in May last year.
I am getting a welfare benefit of $1,200, Alhendawi told the committee through a translator. If I pay the rent and then I pay the transportation costs, we as a family are left with only with $200.
Both Amer and Mervat are currently unemployed, and have five young children. The family now lives in Burnaby, B.C., where Amer is on a waiting list for government-funded English classes. They havent been able to make their monthly loan payment of $102.97 in four months.
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The Alhendawis have a total of six years to pay off the loan, after which the loan will accumulate interest.
The amount of time given to refugees to pay off the debt depends on the size of the loan. Refugees that owe more than $4,800 are given six years before interest kicks in, while loans under $1,200 are to be repaid in one year.
Loan repayment schedule: Loans equal to, but not exceeding $1,200, within 12 months
Loans over $1,200, but not exceeding $2,400, within 24 months
Loans over $2,400, but not exceeding $3,600, within 36 months
Loans over $3,600, but not exceeding $4,800, within 48 months
Loans over $4,800, within 72 months of issuance of the loans
Government spokeswoman Natalie Schofield told HuffPost Canada in an email that repayments go back into the program fund and help provide new loans for new refugees coming to Canada. The interest charged on late repayments help cover administrative costs.
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Interest applied to loans varies each year. In 2015, the rate was 1.38 per cent, while last year it was 0.76 per cent.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan has been pushing the Liberal government to scrap the loan program.
Weve been calling on the government to eliminate the loan for everyone, Kwan said.
The Vancouver East MP said she raised the issue with previous immigration minister John McCallum numerous times, but he did not commit to any changes.
These loans are a huge burden, she said. Refugees that come to this country are faced with extreme hardship, thats why theyre forced to leave their home country, and we want to ensure that they have the opportunity to succeed.
Kwan has met some families who only had $50 left at the end of the month, after submitting loan payments, to cover other expenses. Many relied on food banks and other charities to get by.
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Thats just insanity, Kwan said. Thats the reality that they face.
These loans are a huge burden.
In September 2016, Kwan sponsored a petition urging the government to waive all loans for refugees. It was signed by a little more than 2,000 people.
The federal government does provide exemptions and provisions to offset the burden of the loan in some cases.
Refugees can request a review of their repayment schedule if they are facing hardship. Those with special circumstances elderly or disabled refugees, single-parents, women at-risk, and large families are more likely to be granted loan deferrals of up to two years.
In rare cases, the government waives the loans all together.
The Liberal government did so for 25,000 Syrian refugees arriving in Canada between November 2015 and March 2016. The move was lauded internationally, but also criticized by some as preferential treatment.
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Bigazi arrived in Canada just months before the exemptions kicked in for Syrian refugees. She praised the Liberal government for the move, but said it still feels unfair.
Wasnt my situation dire enough? she asked.
In Canada, you can be hard pressed to find people who will willingly admit they're Nickelback fans but, believe it or not, one Florida man tried to dupe others in thinking he's a member of the band.
Lee Howard Koenig wanted so desperately to cash in on the band's fame that he's now accused with stealing the identity of Nickelback's drummer, Daniel Adair.
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According to People Magazine, 45-year-old Koenig was arrested earlier this week in Port St. Lucie after he allegedly attempted to use Adair's identity to purchase nearly $25,000 in drum microphones from an Austrian company.
According to an arrest affidavit posted by The Smoking Gun, the case was brought to the band's attention on Jan. 19, after a Nickelback representative noticed a large order of equipment ordered under Adair's name.
Adair said although his name was used to place the order, the email, address and other details used were not his.
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He combed the Internet for more information, and eventually came across Koenig, who is also a drummer albeit not as famous as Adair.
Detective Paul Griffith told the TCPalm that through amateur Internet sleuthing, Adair found out that Koenig's "drum set was the same configuration as his.
Koenig is facing two felony-fraud related counts.
On Wednesday, Vogue Arabia revealed its first print issue featuring one of the world's most recognizable models on the cover: Gigi Hadid.
For those who don't know, the 21-year-old is half Dutch and half Palestinian, making her, as Vogue Arabia editor in chief Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz says, the best "face" to front the glossy's premiere issue.
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On the mag's website, Abdulaziz notes, "The collage of countries across the Arab world are long-deserving of a place in fashion history and there's no better first 'face' to lead the charge for Vogue Arabia than Gigi, a model who defines tomorrow's entrepreneurial and dynamic generation."
We present the first cover of Vogue Arabia photographed by @InezandVinoodh featuring Model of the Year @GigiHadid. Find out more via the link in our bio. #VogueArabiaIsMe . . #___ A post shared by Vogue Arabia (@voguearabia) on Mar 1, 2017 at 9:01am PST
The black-and-white cover, shot by agency Inez and Vinoodh and styled by Brandon Maxwell, shows Hadid wearing a jewelled veil (with a cut-out hole for her eye), a gorgeous bracelet and the smokiest of eyes. In fact, there are two covers one in which Hadid's face is mostly covered, while the other shows her pout.
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Although the cover is stunning, not everyone is happy with the fact that Vogue Arabia put a white model instead of an Arab model on its inaugural print issue, despite the fact that Hadid is half Palestinian.
We present the first cover of Vogue Arabia photographed by @InezandVinoodh featuring Model of the Year @GigiHadid. Find out more via the link in our bio. #VogueArabiaIsMe . . #___ A post shared by Vogue Arabia (@voguearabia) on Mar 1, 2017 at 9:05am PST
One commentator wrote on Vogue Arabia's Instagram page, "Middle Eastern influencers deserve at least some recognition. This would have been the perfect platform for them."
Another wrote, "Couldn't find a proud Arab for the cover?" While another Instagram user wrote, "[Gigi] only mention her Arab side to escape the cultural appropriation or when it benefits her lol."
Vogue Arabia also faced criticism for its cover on Twitter.
@VogueArabia there are so many more other Arabian models who could've done this bruh she's so overrated it's sad my lonely thoughts (@MeConfessing) March 1, 2017
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@VogueArabia you never thought of having an Arabian model for you first cover... tragic celina (@petitemoll) March 1, 2017
@VogueArabia since you're starting with an awful choice here's some better options for your next covers pic.twitter.com/R50wWZKmWB jawdat (@chaosxthecalm) March 1, 2017
@VogueArabia@inezandvinoodh@GiGiHadid what about the Arab models who actually know what its like to be an Arab in todays day and age Raheema (@raaaaaaaaaayyy) March 2, 2017
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But others thought Gigi was the perfect choice for the cover.
@VogueArabia@inezandvinoodh@GiGiHadid being half Palestinian,she's the best choice for this cover. This is one of the most stunning cover. Zara (@Iam_Zaraz) March 1, 2017
@VogueArabia definitely deserved that cover! Especially that she's half palestinian. So proud of her . Jasmyn (@GigiTheMalik) March 1, 2017
However, not everyone thought that Hadid being half Palestinian made her deserving of the cover.
@trustednobody@petitemoll@VogueArabia she doesn't claim her Palestinian heritage unless she can benefit from it. bye. (@NIGGASINPARlS) March 1, 2017
Gigi however, was more than thrilled with her Vogue Arabia cover, posting on Instagram that she felt honoured to be the mag's first cover star.
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"I think the beautiful thing about there being international Vogue's is that, as a fashion community, we are able to celebrate, and share with the world, different cultures," Hadid wrote. "Being half-Palestinian, it means the world to me to be on the first-ever cover(s) of @voguearabia, and I hope that this magazine will show another layer of the fashion industry's desire to continue to accept, celebrate, and incorporate all people & customs and make everyone feel like they have fashion images and moments they can relate to... & learn and grow in doing so. Thank you @deenathe1st for your vision and for having me on this cover... by the incredible @inezandvinoodh - so much love."
For any pregnant woman who is worried about getting pregnant again while expecting, you should know the chances are extremely rare.
So rare, the The New York Times reports, that only a few human cases have been documented.
Called superfetation, this phenomenon occurs when a woman continues to ovulate after becoming pregnant, Time notes.
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"[The] fertilized egg is able to implant itself in the lining of the womb two things that wouldn't happen in a normal pregnancy. Typically, hormonal changes prevent further ovulation and thicken the lining of the uterus to preclude a second embryo from attaching," the magazine adds.
Each fetus can also have a separate amniotic sac and be born within weeks apart.
In 2009, a 31-year-old Arkansas woman named Julia Grovenburg experienced superfetation firsthand and delivered two healthy babies born two-and-a-half weeks apart, ABC news reports.
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"When [Grovenburg] had her ultrasound initially, they saw one sack, one baby developing, and that baby had a certain gestational age; then they noticed a second heartbeat in a child that was much, much younger developmentally," Dr. Karen Boyle of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center told ABC News.
"There is no prevalence or incidence in the literature. I could only find about 10 reported cases."
Kate Hill.
And last year, an Australian woman gave birth to twins 10 days apart. Kate Hill had unprotected sex with her husband Peter once, but still managed to conceive twins at two different times.
We actually did not realize how special [superfetation] was until they were born, Hill told Australias Today Tonight.
What makes this case even more rare, is that my husband and I only had intercourse one time, she added. His sperm stayed alive for 10 days to fertilize the second egg released.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is headed to Texas next week to address what has been dubbed the Davos of the energy industry.
Trudeau said in a release Thursday that he will deliver a keynote speech March 9 at CERAWeek in Houston, an influential gathering of international oil and gas executives and decision makers.
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His speech will apparently touch on how Canada has linked resource development with environmental leadership and renewable energy innovation. The release says he will also receive an award recognizing his commitment to sustainability in energy and the environment.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Natural Resources Minister James Carr are also listed as speakers.
The worlds markets are becoming increasingly integrated, and global demand for clean technology and renewable energy is growing quickly, Trudeau said in a statement. We need to work together to drive energy innovation that will meet the worlds future energy needs and create good, middle class jobs today.
This is about making our economy more competitive and leaving our kids a cleaner environment.
PM trumpets pipelines in Alberta
The announcement comes a day after Trudeau trumpeted how his government approved the controversial Kinder Morgan and Line 3 pipeline projects last November. While stumping for Liberal byelection candidates in Calgary, Trudeau charged that the previous Conservative government talked a big game about the oilsands but werent able to get a pipeline built to any ports.
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Thats not spin. Thats not a political argument, he said. Those are facts and everyone here in Alberta knows that.
Story continues after slideshow:
Vancouver Kinder Morgan Pipeline Protests See Gallery
But a quick facts section of Trudeaus release does give Tories some credit by pointing out that Canada has spent $45 billion on renewable energy over the past five years, which would include the time Conservatives were in power.
It also notes a preferred Tory talking point when it comes to the last governments approach to tackling climate change.
Between 2005 and 2014, Canadas greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector decreased 2.1. per cent while Gross Domestic Product grew by 9.6 per cent, the release reads.
Tory MPs have often cited those statistics to make the point that they were able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while growing the economy. Liberals have long argued that emissions went down during that time because of the economic crisis and Ontarios decision to phase out coal-fired plants.
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In question period last month, Ontario Tory MP John Nater tried to sound off about the last governments successes while criticizing Liberal plans to phase in a national price on carbon.
Under our government, CO2 emissions actually went down, Nater said.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said she felt compelled to explain why emissions went down under the last government.
It was nothing to do with the Conservatives. It was because the Liberal government in Ontario closed coal-fired plants and also because the economy was not doing well, McKenna said.
The fun never ends for one B.C. farmer.
Marko Kardum, who lives in Central Saanich on Vancouver Island, made headlines last month when he was pulled over by police and escorted home after trying to clear the roads with a Zamboni.
Now hes been recognized by the province.
Saanich North and the Islands MLA Gary Holman introduced Kardum to the B.C. legislature Wednesday, honouring him for finding a creative way to help his neighbours after a heavy snowfall.
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I know that most of us in this House probably own a Zamboni, but not many of us have volunteered to help out our road crews, Holman said Wednesday afternoon.
Its unclear whether he was joking about most members owning Zambonis.
Mr. Kardum represents the spirit of community volunteerism in the most Canadian [of] ways possible.
Holman also applauded Kardums energy-efficient vehicle choice.
"And I'm sure that the emission controls on the Zamboni meet current standards."
The farmer told The Huffington Post Canada that he was surprised and honoured to be invited to the legislature.
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"I didn't think it'd go that far," he said.
Members applauded him after he was introduced, which he said "put a smile on his face."
"I'm proud that I stepped up and helped the community out."
The new Chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Guo Shuqing [Photo: CGTN]
The new Chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Guo Shuqing, said that China's systematic risks in the banking sector and financial industry are controllable, and promised to properly deal with debt-to-equity swaps to tackle high corporate debt.
Guo made the remarks during his first press conference on Thursday after replacing 65-year-old Shang Fulin earlier this week as the head of the official body.
"Corporate leverage should be reduced. Now debt-to-equity swaps have used more than 40 billion yuan (5.81 billion US dollars), and we are going to introduce more policy support and risk monitoring to push for more new results of debt-to-equity swaps," he said.
Guo said that China plans to improve transparency, shorten companies' financing chain and lower their financing costs.
Vice Chairman Wang Zhaoxing also said that the banking regulatory body encourages banking assets and debts to be diversified, in an attempt not to concentrate the risks.
"Credit and loans should be ensured to enter the real economy," he said.
Reporters await for the press conference on the banking sector in Beijing on Thursday. [Photo: SCIO]
The former governor of Shandong Province succeeded Shang Fulin after the latter reached retirement age.
His appointment was highly anticipated as he is believed to have what it takes to lead China's banking sector into better times, considering his previous occupations as director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. He was once vice governor of the People's Bank of China, chairman of China Construction Bank, and chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Guo led a host of market-oriented reforms during his tenure as chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, including introducing a new policy every week on average in 2012. As the governor of Shangdong Province, he also deepened reforms to improve fiscal transparency, and axed government approvals for certain projects to facilitate business.
Six years ago, hundreds of Canadians -- among them, community leaders, environmentalists, and indigenous organizations -- gathered in front of Ottawa's Parliament Hill to push back against the Keystone XL pipeline.
The beat of a native drum kept protesters energized. Activists passed around flyers to sign people up for future campaigns. A well-oiled organizers' machine distributed rugs, water, and other items to demonstrators. That day, more than 100 people were arrested attempting to deliver a symbolic message against a proposed pipeline project.
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The fight against the XL pipeline began on the backs of the indigenous people in Canada and rapidly spread to communities along the pipeline route in the United States. The once-obscure energy project became an environmental flashpoint and eventually was put on hold by the Obama administration. The Keystone XL wasn't even supposed to be a highly charged political issue; the pipeline could have been up and running years ago, had continent-wide protesters not taken it on in its infancy.
So, when the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project began just outside of Standing Rock, the foundations of collective action had already been built. The protesters made connections across the continent to reject the outdated outlook on energy. In that story, their struggle offered us clues on how to translate moral courage and cross-border solidarity into political victories. But under the current economic model, growth takes precedence over the preservation of our natural world.
And now, Donald Trump threatens to plunge us into climate chaos. His cabinet of billionaires, who are self-described climate deniers, are determined to gut climate regulations, including resurrecting the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Trump is also expected to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, at a time when the window for action is fast closing.
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Meanwhile, in Canada, the Trudeau government is positioning itself to accommodate Trump's America by gleefully applauding the Keystone pipeline. These projects not only have a range of serious environmental impacts, with the risk of spills and water contamination but also radically undermine the effort to create clean energy security.
This is a stark reminder that a genuine political alternative must come from below: grassroots organizations interested in radical reform of environmental and economic policy must take the lead and no longer take a backseat to the established political parties. We must demand accountability, regardless of political affiliation. We cannot succeed if we are tied down to top-down politics that is inherently hostile to protest movements.
Trends like these emphasize the importance of disruptive social movements that put power in the hands of local communities: an optimistic vision of politics that draws energy from moral unity rather than fear and division. One that not only resists Trump but unites under a common core to offer a coherent alternative.
We're in a transformative political era.
Protests like the historic Women's March and the fight against DAPL are inspiring starts. A broad coalition of like-minded people who are organized around a need for a new kind of politics is emerging. Outrage is erupting in town halls across America. Last month, Louisiana saw growing resistance to the Bayou Bridge pipeline, and in Canada, activists shut down pipelines delivering tar sands oil to the U.S.
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For protesters, a breaking point that resembles the beginning of the Tea Party has been reached. Donald Trump won the presidency, but he doesn't have much of a mandate. In fighting him on issues from climate change to his xenophobic immigration policies, a large number of the public views Trump's agenda as unpalatable.
But for our collective stirring to succeed, we need to focus our energy and frustration on precise targets. That means we need to narrow down our differences and build transnational coalitions that challenge not only destructive climate policies, but also the root causes of social, economic, and political injustice that paved Trump's path to power.
This article was originally published inThe Progressive Army
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With this St. Patrick's Day falling on a Friday, it pretty much ensures that the festivities will be in full swing with most revellers not having to worry about work the next day. This is a good thing, considering how difficult it can be to wash out green dye in less than 24 hours. But "green and drunk" doesn't need to be the only theme of the night, and these great Toronto locations new and old prove it. Let's celebrate the absence of snakes in Ireland, or something!
The Shameful Tiki Room
The Queen St. West extension of a popular Vancouver venue may not look Irish at first glance, but it's got colourful (and strong) cocktails, a fun atmosphere, and a fog machine that goes off every time someone orders the Volcano (a flaming cocktail for "4 or more" people). Plus, with the Vancouver location celebrating its 4th anniversary from March 16th to March 19th, there might be some matching Toronto celebration by osmosis. Perfect timing!
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Lockheart
A suitably U.K.-themed destination for St. Paddy's revelry, this Harry Potter-inspired bar on Dundas West is another fun destination. The Befuddlement (another sharable cocktail) is likely going to live up to its name, given the long list of potent ingredients. Just like the Tiki Room, it's likely to be busy so get there early!
The Ballroom
Does it count as a theme bar if it's actually a bowling alley? Across John St. from the Scotiabank Cineplex, you're likely to find as many office parties and birthdays at The Ballroom as you are small get-togethers. But if you're looking to watch pins fall down instead of partygoers, this is the place for you. However, serious bowlers need not apply -- they'll likely be in the dim cavern of a proper bowling alley somewhere more out of the way.
Let's celebrate the absence of snakes in Ireland, or something!
SPiN
Although beer pong is a classic for a reason, this King St. West spot is for ping pong purists. Still, if you're the esoteric 'I take my beer and my pong separately' type, SPiN has 12 tables and a ton of space to enjoy your festivities. I guess just pretend the balls are snake eggs? I keep getting this holiday confused with Whacking Day.
No matter where you find yourself this March 17, just remember to play it safe. When it's time to go home, call an Uber, a cab, or take the good old TTC -- even walking can be dangerous for partygoers who've had too much. My personal trick is to leave a couple of beers at home for when that "need-one-more" itch sets in, so I don't find myself one too deep and far from home.
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What's your favourite place to go on the greenest holiday there is? Do you love St. Paddy's or hate the alcohol-fuelled chaos that awaits the city this month? Let me know in the comments below!
For many, it seems U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment is not only probable, but it is inevitable. The notion of Trump fulfilling his term as president is seemingly incomprehensible to some, which means the thought of a second term is even more baffling.
There is so much wishful thinking in the minds of many who oppose Trump. Some feel like impeachment is just around the corner. And if is not currently, then Trump will do something so reprehensible that the Republican Party will realize the folly of their ways and move forward with an impeachment process.
This is not going to happen as long as the Republicans control Congress.
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Trump's unpopularity and low approval ratings are constantly brought up as a self-evident explanation for why impeachment makes sense. The only problem is that it is not so simple.
He was arguably the most unpopular presidential candidate in recent history. He then became the least-popular nominee for a major party in the modern era. The trend has, quite predictably, continued. His pre-inauguration favourable rating was 40 per cent, which was about half of Obama's (78 per cent), as well as lower than both W. Bush's (62 per cent) and Clinton's (66 per cent), according to Gallup.
The Financial Times recently reported, Trump's record low approval ratings do not tell the full story. As president, Trump's approval rating is 88 per cent among Republicans. Surprisingly, as the Financial Times pointed out, "Trump is polling even better among constituents of his own party than Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, or Democrat Bill Clinton, were polling in the February after their inauguration." This does not bode well for the anti-Trump crowd hoping Republican voters will be the ones to turn on Trump and force the hand of their representatives.
While Trump had a press conference that was described by the New Yorker as "surreal," it was hardly out of the ordinary for Trump. This is especially apparent for anyone who watched any of his rallies as candidate.
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More importantly, however, was the executive order that was issued restricting people from seven countries from entering the United States. This immediately set-off a number of protests all over the United States. The constitutionality of the executive order was quickly brought into question and regardless of any legal argument one wants to make either in support or opposition of the travel ban, a hastily implemented, restrictive immigration order signed by Trump was unfortunately not a surprise.
After all, a major theme of his entire campaign was to take a radical approach to immigration. And while the executive order itself did not apply to the vast majority of the world's 1.6 million Muslims, we are talking about a president, who as a candidate, advocated for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on."
For an idea of how seriously the Republican Congress will handle potential scandals with the Trump White House, one can observe the Republican reaction to the resignation of General Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor.
Flynn recently resigned amid reports that he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign. This should spark an independent investigation, as there are clearly questions that need to be answered concerning the Trump administration's potential contact with Russia.
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There have been countless times over the campaign and his early presidency where he has been his own worst enemy.
However, it seems unlikely an independent investigation will take place as a result of the reluctance of many Republicans.
Even prior to Flynn's resignation, it was Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's nomination that represented a test for how seriously the Republicans in Congress are going to treat potential conflicts with Russia. Outside of a lot of "tough talk," Tillerson made it through the process with relative ease, eventually receiving the support of those who were perceived to be the biggest threats to his nomination, Republican Senators Marco Rubio, John McCain and Lindsay Graham. A fine example of what Trump refers to as "all talk, no action."
Former W. Bush speechwriter and long-time Republican insider David Frum summed up the difficulty and unlikeliness of a Trump impeachment on Sam Harris' recent podcast perfectly:
"These are political decisions. So long as that core base adheres to Trump, so long as Fox News finds it is a better marketing decision to be pumping out pro-Trump messaging than to question him, the party will, however unhappily, hold together. So long as it has a majority in Congress, in both houses of Congress, he will not be removed."
It cannot be argued with certainty that Trump will not bring himself down, as there have been countless times over the campaign and his early presidency where he has been his own worst enemy.
The quicker Trump's political opponents realize there will not be an easy way to remove him from office and that the Republicans are not inclined to start an impeachment process while they maintain control of Congress, the better positioned they will be for the midterm elections in 2018.
So with that said, there is really only one way to remove Trump from office: vote.
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The five things you need to know on Thursday, March 2
1) BREXIT RIGHTS AND WRONGS
Within minutes of the House of Lords defeat on unilateral rights to EU citizens post-Brexit last night, Government sources made clear they would seek to overturn it in the Commons. No surprise there, but it was the scale of the majority - 102 - that could embolden some Tory rebel MPs. The ping-pong ball is now not so much in the Governments side of the table, as the Remainers' like Nicky Morgan and others.
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There is likely to be another, possibly bigger, Lords defeat next week on giving Parliament a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal. Yet on that, as on EU citizens, there is zero chance of it being written into the face of the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, Im told. As former Treasury perm sec Lord Macpherson put it last night: A pleasure to vote with Viscount Hailsham [the former Tory MP who backed the EU nationals amendment] tonight. But to use his dad's term, the 'elective dictatorship' gives me few grounds for optimism.
Shadow Lords leader Baroness Smith was on the Good Morning Britain sofa defending the Lords constitutional role to make the Commons think again. But she makes clear peers wont block the Brexit bill and ministers know her most significant statement in recent weeks was that she would not support extended ping pong. So we get a weeks delay and Wednesday March 15 is pencilled in as the date for triggering Article 50 and the formal start of the Brexit process. Perfect for PMQs that day.
There were some fine speeches in the Lords yesterday, from Hailshams (for) to Michael Howards and John Sentamus (against). Norman Tebbit dropped the f-bomb (he called EU citizens in the UK foreigners) But heres one footnote: Jeffrey Archer rocked up to vote with the Government.
Meanwhile, Theresa May could be forgiven for wondering why Sir John Major and David Cameron had lunch together on Tuesday, the day after his withering Brexit speech attack on her. The Sun reports that Dave will take up an unpaid role at Oxford Universitys Blavatnik School of Government, chairing a commission on war-torn states. So far, he has no plans to oversee an academic commission on a Brexit-torn country.
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2) LOOK LEFT
Speaking after PMQs yesterday, a Labour source conceded the blindingly obvious point that if the polls stay as they are, the party is not going to win a general election. He swiftly predicted the polls would indeed turn around. Shadow Lords leader Angela Smith told 5 Live that Jez allies such as Diane Abbott have given him a year to do so, but added: If not, (let's) look at what's going to happen next.
One senior Labour MP told me yesterday that if the polls hadnt turned by 2019, then backbenchers facing the loss of safe seats would have nothing to lose" from trying another leadership challenge. Its no wonder John McDonnells talk of a soft coup, although accompanied by some outlandish social media action, resonates with many of Corbyns supporters.
There was bad news for the Corbynsceptics yesterday as Len McCluskey won a huge number of Unite branch nominations compared to challenger Gerard Coyne (though there is a health warning, that nominations dont always mean votes, and some suggest some new branches were holding their first ever meetings). McCluskey famously told the Press Gallery in 2014 that if Ed Miliband couldnt turn Labour into a proper anti-cuts party, he could back a new Workers Party under PR. We report today that Jon Cruddas suggests John McDonnell may share that thinking.
And some audio clips have emerged of McDonnell telling a Marxism conference in 2011: Ive no fetish about the Labour party, but at the moment there is still that connection with the working class, and they still keep voting for it. If we can reclaim the Labour Party, fine. If we cant, well then we need to look at a new organisational form that comes out of struggle, not just intellectual debate. McDonnell also said Labour MPs should be targeted by anti-cuts protestors as much as Tories: I want to be in a situation where Tory MPs or Labour MPs, wherever they go, its fucking kicking off.
Things kicked off after PMQs, when Corbyn held his weekly meeting with the Parliamentary Committee, and they repeatedly asked him why hed not attended the PLP on Monday. Halifax MP Holly Lynch showed him a cutting from the Observer predicting her seat could fall to the Tories, and said: Thats you, isnt it? Im told he side-stepped the question.
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3) INDY DEEP END
Theresa May yesterday infuriated the SNPs Angus Robertson in PMQs when she refused to commit to handing over all EU powers over fishing and agriculture to the Scottish Parliament after Brexit. Far, from offering more devolution, she appears to be set on a power grab for London, the SNP says. In the Times Scotland edition, Ruth Davidson fuelled the speculation by saying there should be a mature debate over who hands out the cash. The mantra take back control looks to some Scots like take back control to London.
It could be that May is simply reflecting the Tory grassroots view that devolution has gone too far. Today, ahead of the Scottish Conservatives conference tomorrow, HuffPost UK and ConservativeHome have published the results of a new poll on just how Tory activists think about Scots independence, and it makes interesting reading indeed.
The most striking finding in the study - by Winchester Universitys Centre for English Identity and Politics - is that 29% of Conservative grassroots members would actually welcome Scots independence because it would end unreasonable demands on England to provide ever greater financial and political concessions.
Fewer than a third think independence would cause serious damage to the rest of the UK, two thirds seem more sanguine. It seems the overall view is: no more Vows, and if Scots want a break-away, so be it. Winchester Unis John Denham tells me the Conservative and Unionist party seems to be morphing into an English National Conservative Party. ConHomes Paul Goodman is less gloomy, but think the results should make May sit up and take notice.
BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR
Watch the exchange that could force the resignation and perjury charges against Trumps new Attorney General Jeff Sessions. It now turns out he met the Russian ambassador twice.
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4) COPS AND BOTHERS
When Theresa May was Home Secretary she would constantly argue that shed shown that public services could do more for less. Sceptics (including fellow Cabinet ministers) felt she was simply exploiting the fall in crime that normally accompanies a full-employment economy, to make risky cuts.
Todays report from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary gives both May and her critics food for thought. It says police forces are putting the public at an unacceptable risk by rationing their response as they struggle with cutbacks. Neighbourhood policing is being eroded by stealth and domestic violence downgraded in some areas. Lead inspector Zoe Billingham says: I'm raising a red flag to warn forces of the consequences of what is, to all intents and purposes, an unconscious form of rationing."
Billingham said the failings were "not simply about money" because there was a huge variation in results across different forces. That will please the PM. But on the other hand the National Police Chiefs' Council said budgets had fallen by 22% in five years - leading to a loss of 32,000 officers and staff - and it's a simple reality that we are required to prioritise more.
5) WELFARE IN A STATE
Jeremy Corbyn got his nasty party jibe in at May during PMQs over the personal independence payments row. No10 then appeared to garble its line afterwards, suggesting Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary had been rung on her mobile last Thursday by Damian Green.
In fact, Green didnt have her mobile and got her voicemail on Monday. Abrahams hit back that he tried to call her Four days after he sneaked out the statement - and a day after George Freemans pills/anxiety blunder. Im still baffled why May tried to make it look like the DWP hadnt tried to sneak out the statement - it was a written statement, not an oral one, and made late on the day of the double by-election.
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But theres more ammunition for Labour around today, with the IFS saying that welfare cuts will drive nearly a million more children into poverty by 2022. Meanwhile, the NHS care watchdog saying the health service stands on a burning platform, with four out of five NHS trusts needing to improve on patient safety.
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Are we living in a post-graduate world? News headlines talk of spiralling debt and poor employment prospects for graduates, but despite looming fee increases the reality is much more optimistic.
The recent (quiet) announcement that tuition fees will soon increase to 9250 per year means that the price of a university education is greater than ever. Not only are the new fees eye-wateringly steep, but the cost of living is equally so. The University of Edinburgh currently estimates monthly student expenditure at between 635 and 1,280 per month without tuition costs.
With half of 2015 graduates - the first cohort to pay 9000 per year for tuition -asserting that their degree was not worth the fee, it's not surprising that many school-leavers are beginning to question whether a degree is a qualification worth having. After all, it seems positively lemming-like to sign up for a costly university course if it's going to bring you the bleak prospect of debt, menial work, and living with your parents in perpetuity.
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Add to this the well-publicised list of British billionaires who didn't go to university (think Jamie Oliver, Richard Branson, and designer Cath Kidston), and the recipe for career success seems to be no degree, and immediate entry into the job market. Some say it's the way to a happy life, too. In 2014, Kidston's cousin Kirstie Allsopp attracted press attention by encouraging girls to eschew university and aim for the holy trinity of a job, a flat, and early motherhood.
For anybody who could get one, a university education used to be a no-brainer. You may be surprised to hear that, even in a strictly economic sense, it still is. For while headlines continue to shout about a dramatic over-supply of under-skilled graduates, research tells a different story.
According to a recent report by Charlie Ball, deputy director of research at the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU), graduate unemployment in 2014/15 remained at a relatively low 6%, half the rate for non-graduates. What's more, the figure hasn't exceeded 9% in the last 20 years.
This figure could be impacted by the number of CV writing specialists who tailor professional CVs to help recent graduates stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs.
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Ball goes on to offer compelling evidence that even in an era of increased access to higher education, demand in many parts of the traditional graduate job market is beginning to outstrip supply. He also raises the important point that ever more graduates are entering the job market, making it tougher for non-graduates to access managerial and professional roles.
So, the message to would-be university students is clear: choose your course with care and get the right advice about marketing your skills to employers, and your employment prospects are better than those for your non-graduate counterparts. But what of the legendarily steep levels of debt which now come as standard with every university place?
The answer is that calculating your university debt up front can be misleading, because the amount you'll be asked to repay depends on your future earnings. Under the current system, graduates who don't fulfil their earning potential repay very little, and may even be able write off their university debt entirely. Those who enjoy great career success are asked to repay a lot.
Financial journalist Martin Lewis refers to this as a 'no win, no fee' education, and begs prospective students not to be put off by the apparently forbidding price tag. Given the graduate unemployment statistics mentioned earlier, it looks as though he's right. Not only is a university degree worth having on your CV in 2017, it's likely to remain so for some time to come.
On a pleasant day, on the terrace of my Antigua home, the island of Montserrat nestles majestically on the horizon. Occasionally, you can see the Soufriere Hills volcano (previously considered dormant) spitting out hot molten lava.
I know Montserrat well; together with Sir George Martin, we built a state-of-the-art recording studio there. With no real port, and an airport servicing only the smallest planes, it was a logistical nightmare. Nevertheless, we built a studio which became hugely successful and attracted some of the most iconic names in rock and roll. Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and The Police all recorded there, to name but a few.
But then, nature struck. First, Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island's infrastructure, before the Soufriere Hills erupted violently only a couple of years later. Just as Vesuvius famously buried Pompeii, an island which once boasted a population of 12,000 now lay beneath piles of volcanic rubble. The only safe haven was a small village called Little Bay on the extreme western tip. Thanks to the efforts of Sir George and Lady Martin, Montserrat has recovered and repopulated with Little Bay as its focal point, growing from a few hundred inhabitants to a population of over 5,000.
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22 years on, clouds are once again gathering over the island. Montserrat is one of many overseas possessions which requires the support and protection of the British government. The cost of such support has been seized upon by newspapers, convinced that the Department for International Development is frittering away a bloated budget. Montserratians are increasingly concerned that the growing pressure could cause essential funding to disappear overnight.
The media has rightly held Whitehall to account for squandering money which many feel could have been put to better use at home. I was among the many millions who were shocked to discover that 350 million from the public purse was wasted on a non-functioning airport on St. Helena, a tremendous feat of bureaucratic incompetence. Not to mention the ritualistic underage sex scandal on the Pitcairn Islands which provoked disgust and outrage across the globe.
But there are plenty of overseas territories which continue to rely heavily on our support. Once the gateway to the Mediterranean, Gibraltar could find itself cut out of key trade routes after Britain's exit from the European Union. Though equally a source of British pride, the Falkland Islands have become quite a burden on the British taxpayer. As we near the conclusion of four decades of oil exploration in the region, even discoveries of local oil and gas reserves - given the market's current deflated prices - would not guarantee their future.
Anguilla - which was reinstated as a British colony after its rebellion against the rule of the nearby St. Kitts Islands - along with Bermuda, the Cayman and British Virgin Islands, is one of a few overseas territories which can stand on its own two feet. Anguilla's healthy tourist industry and status as a popular tax haven could keep it afloat without the support of future British governments.
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But it is the exception to the rule. So, if the Daily Mail have their way, the vast majority of funding for these far-flung gems could come to an end. To take this course of action would be to abandon hundreds of thousands of people around the world who, understandably, feel as British as we do.
This would be a testament of shame to Great Britain. Although hundreds and often thousands of miles apart, these territories are as much a part of this country as the home islands. To abandon them would be to betray our shared national values of generosity, inclusivity and resilience. These territories are the outposts upon which British pride and values are broadcast before the world.
About three years ago, I went to my first bottomless brunch in London. I still remember how glorious it was, sitting down with friends at the South Place Hotel and discovering a perfectly legitimate excuse for day drinking.
Excited by the economics of fixed prices and unlimited refills for a set period of time, I wanted every day to feel like Sunday morning. Every Bloody Mary to taste like 'I'll be texting you later'. And every soup to actually be vodka.
Bloody Marys and brunch to catch-up w/ @alpday @hrichmond92 @andrewxfarrell A post shared by Harry Maxwell (@harry_maxwell) on Mar 5, 2016 at 6:24am PST
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"How could this ever get old?", I thought to myself as friends spilled the most unimaginable secrets. However I'm saddened to say that it has. London, you have ruined brunch and I want you to sit in a corner and think about what you have done.
Brunch is no longer a special or exciting occasion. Restaurateurs have been trying to cash in without respecting the art that's involved. Legitimately good brunch offerings have began to fade as management are increasingly less generous on the pour.
Bottomless brunch in London is now a mediocre, overpriced experience and it hurts. I genuinely feel a loss for brunch that's greater than the death of Nana Moon in Eastenders. RIP bottomless brunch.
So you can imagine my reluctance when a friend recently relocated to the UAE and added brunch to my visiting itinerary. "What's the point, I'm over it now, bottomless whatever," I messaged her on WhatsApp.
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"No, you have to try it!! Brunch is still a thing over here", she insisted. I conceded, but boy am I glad that I said yes! Dubai has opened my eyes to a whole new world of brunch.
Starting at the Blue Marlin Abu Dhabi, gone were preconceptions of 90 minute to 2 hour time limits. Now I was basking in three hours (yes, three hours) of unlimited cocktails (yes, cocktails) coupled with countless plates of grilled food and an attendant on the beach (yes, an attendant!).
Life in the UAE A post shared by Violeta (@violeta.am) on Oct 30, 2016 at 3:18am PDT
And it doesn't stop there. My Middle Eastern brunch experiences warmed up considerably due to 'night brunch' at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi (and the weather!). 'Night brunch' similarly lasts for three hours, but this time it involved a tapas dinner in a bar / lounge with unlimited spirits and mixer until midnight.
#nightbrunch A post shared by Harry Maxwell (@harry_maxwell) on Nov 4, 2016 at 6:26am PDT
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It's basically one big massive party as Dubai allows you to brunch in the day and brunch through the night. I wasn't even able to sample to other staples in the UAE brunch scene - Saffron at The Atlantis, Rotisserie at The Ritz-Carlton, and Bubbalicious at The Westin - so I'm actually excited about the brunch-related possibilities once again.
Vincenzo Lombardo via Getty Images
This week's onstage shenanigans at the Oscars were a complete PR nightmare, from the logistical mistakes of the wrong Best Film envelope ending up in the hands of the two film icons who are Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway to the embarrassment of the wrong portrait appearing in the In Memoriam part of proceedings, as an Australian film producer watched aghast as her picture was attributed to a recently deceased costume designer, also Australian.
It is safe to say that all the drama of the night has now given both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (or the Oscars as we know them!) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) a monumental reputational challenge - a PR headache of gigantic proportions.
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Countless questions are now being asked, not only by the world's media but also internally, and there will now be many teams, both at the Academy and at PwC, working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that this situation will never be repeated. The pressure from the media will feel relentless, particularly in a communications landscape in which the newly elected President has accused the Hollywood film community of being out of touch with ordinary Americans, so politically obsessed that the Academy even allowed these mistakes to happen.
But what most of those caught up in all the ensuing drama will not realise at the moment, as they work on issuing statements and co-ordinating interviews under this intense media scrutiny, is that the biggest PR challenge actually lays ahead of them. As the preparations for next year's awards begins, if they haven't started already, there will now be another completely new strand of intense activity.
In addition to all the usual event planning, management of the voting process, celebrity liaison, pre-publicity build up, broadcast programming, endless rehearsals etc. etc. there will now be another huge focus of time and resource. This new area of activity will be solely dedicated to communicating very clearly to both the members of the Academy and to all its global audiences including, of course, the media that this scenario will not happen again.
It will not be enough just to make one media statement. In this 24/7 media world there will need to be a series of in-depth briefings across all media and social media platforms, from CNN to Facebook and Twitter, with regular succinct explanations and clear rationales, of the new improved approach, along with an outline of who is responsible for what. And of course, all this communications activity will need to be underpinned by a continuing expression of regret for what happened, along with constant reassurances that the same mistakes will never be repeated.
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What is an appropriate way for your teenage daughter to dress? My 13 year old is quite clear that for her age it means not wearing tiny crop tops and refers to those that do as ridiculous and asking for trouble. My son on the other hand likes a girl in a crop top, but thinks at his sister's age it is too young. It's clearly a fine line.
Last summer a couple of innocent events and conversations with my kids have brought this issue to the fore and made me think not only about the messages our young girls give off with the way they dress but also about how we as parents manage it.
An end of term school trip to France for my daughter highlighted "skimpy dressing" as an issue. The Madame in charge of the trip stipulated at a parents' pre-trip meeting that the girls should not wear any tops resembling a bra or "short shorts" which caused a great deal of mirth amongst some parents as they pointed out that early July in Southern France would almost certainly be hot so shorts would be a good option for the girls surely. Madame, however, was unswerving in her views and drew a line across her own legs to indicate what length of shorts would be acceptable. Not "short shorts" meant to the knee, not above and absolutely no bottoms on display.
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Lucky for me with a pale redhead for a daughter, I spend my life in the lead up to summer seeking clothes that will keep her cool whilst simultaneously cover as much of her skin as possible to avoid sunburn, so I sat there feeling quietly smug that I already had the acceptable shorts nailed and that Madame would be happy.
My daughter however returned from the trip with stories of girls that flouted the rules and appeared at breakfast wearing the shortest of crop tops and the shortest of shorts. Each day they were told to change or stay behind, until the last day when maybe worn down by their persistence (we have all been there) they just let them get on with it.
On a different note, my son attended a party over the summer at which a girl in his group befriended some boys unknown to them and got herself into a situation my son felt uncomfortable with. As a result, he intervened and took her home in a cab but the post party analysis amongst her girlfriends in particular raised her style of dress as an issue.
When we asked our son his view he said "That's what they all wear!" He is right of course, it is the fashion inspired by celebrities to show off your perfect torso.... and really shouldn't indicate anything other than a nod to a trend and a desire to show you look after yourself.
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It is tough for our teenage girls growing up in a technology saturated world which with the endless obsession of posting picture perfect selfies, exposes them to a more mature way of dressing earlier than perhaps than they otherwise would.
All teenagers need to be allowed to experiment with clothes and make mistakes in order to develop their own sense of style and individuality, this is a normal part of growing up. However, there need to be certain parameters that also allow for change as they grow and mature.
What is appropriate for a 17 yr old is different to a 13 yr old and what one parent thinks is acceptable another will think is tarty and wholly inappropriate. It is a moral minefield but as parents we have a responsibility to reflect on our changing world and set the tone which will guide them.
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As someone who has lived and worked in the Jewish community all my life, and like others, I have become very aware of the ever-widening gulf between Jews and Muslims. There are a number of reasons for this - both internal and external.
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Around a third of Britain's 300,000 Jews live in just five North West London boroughs, with many of the others concentrated in areas of Essex, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. Around 60% of Jewish children attend a Jewish faith school.
It wasn't always this way but, over time, our community has become increasingly focussed on a few small areas of the country - leaving vast swathes with few or no Jews at all.
Likewise, many Muslims live in areas where the small Jewish population is a tiny minority - if it's there at all.
Therefore our two faiths experiences of each other are almost non-existent. We live in either a Jewish or Muslim bubble, where almost everything we know about the other is learned from the press, social media or simply hearsay.
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Of course, we meet those of other religions in the shops, the street or at work - but how many Jewish or Muslim people have real genuine friendships with each other of the kind we have with people of our own faith?
Without these friendships, and especially in the current climate, negative press stories and social media memes fuel mistrust in both communities at best, and prejudice and dislike at worst.
Add into this toxic mix the inability of our institutions to reach out to each other and you have a recipe for disaster. Most of these Jewish and Muslim communal institutions are predominantly male and both communities have strongly male leadership.
So isn't now time to give the women a chance?
A year ago, I set up Nisa-Nashim with my now close friend, Julie Siddiqi, a former Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Britain.
The idea behind Nisa-Nashim - meaning women in Arabic and Hebrew - was our thought that we could initiate change through the educated, bright, dynamic women in both communities. We wanted people who would knock down walls, rather than build them. Who would create trust in place of suspicion, and hope in place of hate. Who will be able to reach out to their own communities and role model trusting open relationships.
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Whilst the recent The Casey Review, into opportunity and integration, noted the disempowerment and exclusion of minority women, what we see is the quality and dynamism found there too.
We also recognised the key element missing from previous so-called interfaith work... friendships.
Interfaith in 2017 is often almost a business, a programme of events or activities.
We started with a different premise: that it's only when you trust one another - when you can chat on the phone, invite each other to your family celebrations and weep together over the tragedies in our lives and increasingly in the world - that you can really start to initiate change.
And once those friendships are formed - we can start to tackle the problems we have. And right now there are plenty of them, from the growth of the far right and fears about the upcoming elections in Europe to the increase in antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate crime. All of these things harm not only us, but the whole of society.
Nisa-Nashim has now grown to establish 16 local groups around the UK based on (often new) friendships. Each has two co-chairs, one Jewish and one Muslim, and a commitment to bring women together with a view to spearheading social change.
And now we are preparing for our biggest challenge yet. This Sunday, 150 women of both faiths from all around the UK will be joining us at the University of Westminster for Britain's first ever Jewish/Muslim women's conference.
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That in itself is a huge achievement, but we see it as just the start. It's what we do with the conference that counts. We are determined to challenge the negative narrative and to driving change.
Our belief is that bringing people together - by sharing and celebrating our similarities, while at the same time starting to address the issues which drive our communities apart - is a new, positive and fresh approach to challenging the prejudice, mistrust and deadlock holding us back.
And that change begins this Sunday.
Laura Marks OBE is the co-founder of Nisa-Nashim. To find our more about Nisa-Nashim and the conference, please visit www.nisanashim.org
HuffPost UK is running a month-long project in March called All Women Everywhere, providing a platform to reflect the diverse mix of female experience and voices in Britain today
Deployment of THAAD undermines public support for cooperation between China and South KoreaMOC
A Lotte department store was fined for illegal advertising in Beijing. (file photo)
The Chinese government attaches great importance to bilateral economic and trade cooperation with the Republic of Korea (ROK). Officials welcome foreign entities, including the ROK, to invest in China, and pledge to always respect and protect their rights and interests. However, the operation of foreign investors must be in compliance with Chinese laws and regulations, said a Chinese spokesperson on March 2.
Sun Jiwen, spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOC), made the comment in response to a question regarding Chinese peoples call to boycott South Korea's Lotte Group.
South Korea's Defense Ministry signed a land swap deal with Lotte on Feb. 28 to enable the deployment of its Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Chinese netizens immediately demonstrated strong opposition to the move, calling for punitive measures against Lotte.
According to Sun, the THAAD deployment by the U.S. and ROK will gravely jeopardize the strategic security interests of countries in the region, including China, in addition to undermining public support for cooperation between China and South Korea.
China is firm in its resolve to oppose the deployment of THAAD in the ROK. Relevant parties should halt the deployment process and go no further down that path.
webphotographeer via Getty Images
Three years ago my life changed forever when my mother, Krista, lost a two-year battle with cancer.
During chemotherapy, she lost her hair, of course - her eyebrows went first, then the rest. But losing her sense of taste was the final straw. Everything she ate after that point resembled cardboard, she said.
The homely dishes she had loved cooking for us - her wonderful lasagne or Thai curries - had become like ashes in her mouth. Somehow being disconnected from food in that way, losing out on one of life's most important and sustaining pleasures, was among the hardest things our family had to bear.
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That's why I'm launching Life Kitchen, a charity project to offer something new for people living with cancer, in Mum's memory. I'm aiming to raise 10,000 to get started, and you can help by backing it on GoFundMe.
Shortly after my mother was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in 2011, she and my dad renewed their wedding vows at a service in Spain in front of the whole family.
As we were about to eat afterwards, Mum picked up an apple from the table and took a bite. Her tastebuds were so dulled by that point, she didn't realise that it was in fact a skinned onion. We laughed at the absurdity of that moment, but it showed how severe her problem had become.
On December, 8, 2013, at just 47, Mum lost her battle. She had fought bravely, though the odds had been against her. Losing her hurt me terribly, but I slowly began building a career in food writing and styling - a move, I think, partly inspired by her. In an attempt to stay close to her, I still cook dishes from my childhood to find comfort and to remember her by.
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The bitter memories of my mother's struggle to find pleasure in food during treatment have stayed with me ever since. I knew I wanted to do something for other people in her situation, and so Life Kitchen will offer cookery classes for people living with cancer, and their families, focusing on taste, flavour and nutrition.
Having announced the idea on social media a couple of weeks ago, I've been bowled over with offers of support and friendship from stars of the food world including Nigella Lawson, the Evening Standard critics Grace Dent and Fay Maschler, Chantelle Nicholson, chef patron of Marcus Wareing's Tredwells restaurant, and a host of others offering to teach our classes.
On our fundraising page we've raised almost 2,000 of our target. Our first class in London will be launching soon, with logistical support from cancer charity Macmillan, which was a great help to my mother during her illness.
But we have much further to go. I would be honoured if you would consider backing Life Kitchen and help us to help people living with cancer to find pleasure and joy in food again.
Our new research finds that refugees are being forced to wait up to two years to access English language lessons.
At Refugee Action we passionately believe that refugees given sanctuary in Britain should have the right support to successfully rebuild their lives. A key part of that is access to English language lessons - learning English unlocks refugees' potential to make friends with their new neighbours, find work and volunteer.
But our survey of ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) providers finds that in many areas refugees are waiting more than a year for English lessons. For one provider the average wait is 20 months, with some learners waiting two years.
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Waiting lists for ESOL lessons are stretching to more than 1,000 and providers say the situation is getting worse, with a huge reduction in Government funding making it impossible to meet growing demand. As a result of the harsh funding environment, colleges are being forced to increase class sizes, reduce the number of ESOL hours offered to learners and reduce childcare options.
Funding for English language lessons has been dramatically reduced over recent years so it is now less than half what it was eight years ago. The Government announced a 10m investment over five years in English language classes for resettled Syrian refugees, but this does not come close to closing the estimated 42m a year shortfall in overall funding that would enable all refugees to learn English.
The British public recognises the value in funding English lessons for refugees. A recent poll by Ipsos MORI finds 60% of Brits believe the Government should invest in ESOL provision for all refugees. A tiny minority of just 3% believe the Government should provide funding only to Syrian refugees.
Recent government reports, including the Casey review, commissioned by David Cameron, highlight how vital speaking English is to effective integration.
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We speak to refugees everyday who are determined to learn English so they can start contributing to their new communities.
Nour, 24, was forced to flee Syria with his family when the civil war erupted, just as he was due to start his degree at Homs University. Ever since his father bought him his first computer as a mechanically-minded 12 year old, who liked to "take things apart", he says he has been passionate about technology and dreams of one day running his own software company like Microsoft.
Anyone who meets Nour is left in no doubt that he will achieve his ambitions. He benefitted from being able to start ESOL lessons soon after he and his family were resettled in Birmingham last year. He is now studying computer programming at Birmingham City University.
Learning English has meant Nour could get back to his studies and pursue his career goals. As part of our Let Refugees Learn campaign, we're asking the Government to ensure that all refugees have the opportunity to learn English so that they can start to rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential. This isn't a handout - it's an investment in Britain's future. The cost of two years' of language lessons is effectively reimbursed to the taxpayer after an individual's first 18 months in work at the national average wage. Enabling refugees to learn English is good for individuals and the economy.
Watch a short film we made with the creative agency Brickwall to try and give a sense of what it is like not to speak English, based on the real-life experiences of refugees:
IWF CEO busts top five myths of child sexual abuse images and videos on the internet.
The recent comments by Chief Constable Simon Bailey appear to have divided people who work in the area of child sexual exploitation into two camps - supporters, or objectors.
We work closely with the police. We're aware of the tremendous pressure on their workload and limited resources to tackle the problem.
But, there's no excuse to allow people to get away with viewing child sexual abuse images - even a low-level image is a real child being sexually abused.
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As one colleague from another charity commented to me yesterday, "what a day to be a paedophile".
Regardless of resources, you don't give out the message that viewing even a low-level image will bring few consequences.
Now for myth-busting.
Myth 1: "It's only an image". Or, "it's just a low-level image".
We have 20 years' experience viewing and assessing child sexual abuse images and videos online. Images of children are rarely a one-off. They're often part of a series. One so-called low-level image captures the early moments of a child being forced into more severe sexual acts. David Hill, one of 4,000 child migrants sent to Australia, emotionally told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse this week that some children never move on from their abuse. Imagine knowing your images are out there, being shared for someone's sexual gratification? Images are real children, who suffered real abuse.
Myles Bradbury was an Addenbrookes Hospital paediatrician who abused children in his care. In 2012 Toronto Police alerted UK police at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre but intelligence was not acted upon quickly enough as the offending was considered low-level. He was later found to be a serious contact abuser.
Coral Jones, mother of April Jones who was murdered by paedophile Mark Bridger in 2012, said to us today: "You don't know what pictures Bridger was looking at before attacking my daughter. He was looking at images hours before he went after April. It doesn't matter what images paedophiles look at. Anything can trigger them off. That child could be lucky, or might not be lucky. That family could go through hell. There are men out there looking at photos of children. A child could have a photo taken of their abuse and they will have to live with that for the rest of their life. People can be cruel."
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Myth 2: The internet industry does nothing.
The internet industry in the UK has virtually eradicated child sexual abuse content. Our latest global figures show that just 0.1% of this content globally is hosted in the UK. If images are viewed and shared in the UK, it's because people do this, using the images, which they access from their homes in the UK, found in other countries. We work globally to have these images removed but there's only so much which can be done. If other countries' internet industry took the same stance as those in the UK, there would be fewer hiding places for these criminal images.
Myth 3: Social media is "awash" with child sexual abuse imagery.
In fact, social networks are one of the least likely places we find child sexual abuse content. High-traffic sites make hosting and sharing this content difficult, because companies like Facebook and Twitter won't stand for it.
The former detective, Mark Williams Thomas, who unveiled the Jimmy Savile offences in 2012, said on This Morning (last week) that social networks are "awash" with child sexual abuse images. Last year we found just 1% of child sexual abuse images on social networking sites globally. Hardly awash.
What services we identified as hosting child sexual abuse content in 2016 in %
Image host - 72
Cyberlocker - 11
Banner site - 5
Image board - 3
Website - 2
Blog - 1
Forum - 1
Web archive - 1
Social networking site - 1
Image store - 1
It always sucks when someone well known says something you've been expounding for years.
Mark Cuban, billionaire investor, and Shark Tank personality, told BloombergTV earlier in the week that he believes software will soon begin writing itself meaning that technology will eventually kill tech jobs themselves.
Civilizations aren't murdered, the old epitaph goes, they commit suicide.
In saying this, Cuban has cracked open the door of doubt in a world of certainty that technology is the great saviour. I want to go a step further and offer hope.
In a world in which humans compete with machines, the only way to survive is not to develop more robotic skills but to focus more on the human ones.
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There. I said it. Coding is great right now but it is not the future of work. Quite the opposite. Coding is bound to become a blue collar job.
So what will be left for humans in a world in which software eats everything in sight?
Jobs that rely on the human touch!
We may well see robots cleaning tables and driving but we'll never see a robot priest or Rabbi comforting the sick. We will see robots operating - in factories and on humans - but not starting businesses.
The only way to compete against machines is to do the one thing they can't do. Be human
And the ultimate test of humanity is emotional intelligence (or emotional quotient depending on your intellectual bent!) - those so called soft skills; Being adaptable, flexible, able to work in teams, communicate, think critically (and laterally) and being comfortable with people of different ages and backgrounds.
Hugh Bradlow, the Chief Scientist at Telstra, expounded on this point at the annual Universities Australia Conference. It is Dr Bradlow's belief that in the future; "work force EQ will be more important than IQ"
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The workforce will need workers to possess different competencies and that means a greater demand for skills, which, until now, have not been front and centre for employers. More foreign language expertise, impact driven individuals and those who can make the world beautiful (not just those that make it work!) will be sought out. Arts, philosophy and literature students may be struggling now to find well-paying jobs but the demand for their skills, and approach to the world, can only grow.
Augmenting, and complementing, the hard skills you learn in formal education will be key to a successful career and future growth. You may study engineering but you'll be hired for your ability to communicate with clients in China or the creative way in which you analyse the data produced.
Additionally new literacies are going to be key to long term success - something the World Economic Forum concluded in Davos publishing a number of reports to back up this assertion.
How will you manage your life going forward if you lack the key literacies? Financial literacy is key to control over your money and civic literacy and legal literacy will be essential. How will you thrive and survive if you can't make sense of the world around you.
The interesting takeaway of all this is that the future is now. The skills you will need to develop are already in demand today. Considering your degree, and future, through the prism of this change will yield great personal results.
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So start talking to strangers, learn to read people and their body language. Learn to adapt to new ways, and new things, and most of all learn to interpret situations and make them work for you.
Toby Melville / Reuters
When Dev Patel took home the BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Lion it was undoubtedly a huge achievement for British talent. But even more so his win resonated with British South Asians who for so long have lacked true and accurate representation of themselves in cinema and television.
It's no surprise that South Asian actors have never quite been able to reach the upper echelons of the film or television industry. These spaces are usually reserved for white actors who are given roles that both challenge and develop them. For South Asian actors the roles they ever seem to land is a fleeting background appearance that assures producers they have met their diversity quota.
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However, when they are fortunate enough to bag leading roles it's usually at the expense of their cultural heritage. Take Kunal Nayyar from The Big Bang Theory for example. A London born actor, he was only able to land such a prominent gig because his character, Raj Koorthrapalli, reinforces dated stereotypes of South Asians. These include ideas that we speak with accents, can't talk to the opposite sex and allow our culture to dictate every facet of our life. The same can be said for shows closer to home including the BBC sitcom Citizen Khan, which depicts British Muslims as wayward and whose culture exists simply for audiences to laugh at.
In the case of Dev Patel, he got his first big break playing Anwar in the E4 teen drama Skins. Despite the show's good intentions as representing real British teenage life, it was obvious that Dev's role was secondary to the roles played by his co-stars Hannah Murray and Nicholas Hoult. So when he went on to surprise producers and critics, who pegged Hoult as the one destined for Hollywood, to become the breakout star after landing the lead role in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire in 2007, it felt like someone who I related to was finally being given a platform to represent British South Asians as who we really are.
This is why Dev's status as one of the world's most sought after actors feels even more important because if you look historically at British south Asian actors, this level of success just doesn't happen to people like us. And what's better is that he got to this point without having to mock his Indian heritage - if anything in films such as the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, he celebrated it. When he won the BAFTA award and stood there on that podium lost for words, it was a symbol to the children of immigrants, who spend most of their lives struggling to find a happy medium between British customs and their cultural background, that you can - and should - embrace both with open arms.
He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor again for his role in Lion at this year's 89th Academy Awards. He was only the third actor of Indian descent to be nominated in the ceremony's history. Previous nominees include Ben Kingsley in 2004 and Merle Oberon in 1932, who for much of her life hid her Indian heritage as it was only uncovered when she died.
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His nomination spoke volumes of not only how far Dev has come in his short career but also at just how much work still needs to be done to address the exclusion of BME actors and what they bring to cinema. The hash tag #OscarsSoWhite plagued the event last year and did well to highlight the issue, but now it's time for the industry to get to work on making sure this isn't the case for future generations.
Dev eventually lost out to Mahershala Ali for his role in Moonlight. A worthy victory as Mahershala became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar for a film that shone a light on the experience of queer black men. For millions of British South Asians, the fact Dev was even recognised for his work was a powerful statement that South Asians in film and television can embrace the beauty of their heritage and be celebrated for it. He may not have taken home the golden statue, but Dev has given us something far more valuable: a genuine and authentic representation of people like us for the first time.
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Ontario Geothermal Advancement Highlighted at the OGA Annual Conference
Mar 2nd, 2017 4:12 AM
Ontario Geothermal Advancement Highlighted at the OGA Annual Conference
Hon. Minister Glen Murray
Jim Bolger, President OGA, Hon. Minister Glen Murray, Stan Reitsma, Vice President OGA
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On February 21-22, the Ontario Geothermal Association (OGA) hosted their 7th annual OGA Conference - Spotlighting Geothermal Energy - which welcomed local and international leaders in the geothermal industry.The first day of the conference began with a welcome address from Jim Bolger, OGA President, followed by a Keynote Presentation made by Illinois-based Steve Smith, CEO of Enertech Global. Mr. Smith provided a detailed comparison of the cost of installation of a geothermal heating and cooling systems, and outlined what is needed to consider geothermal for residential and commercial installations.Ontarios Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Glen Murray, kicked off the second day by addressing Ontarios Climate Change Action Plan and the Role of Geothermal: What Weve Done and Where Were Going. Minister Murray re-confirmed the provincial governments commitment to work with the geothermal heating and cooling industry on carbon-reduction solutions in the future. He praised the organization for their contribution to policy development so far.A notable international presence was Martin Forsen, Manager, International Affairs, NIBE, based in Sweden. He referenced the Swedish experience of the past 30 years to demonstrate that the goals set out by the Ontario government to limit GHG emissions from homes and buildings is, in fact, achievable. The success of reducing emissions to near-zero while also reducing energy costs for end users in Sweden has been due in large part to the wide-scale deployment of heat pump technology, especially ground source heat pumps. Over the past two years, NIBE has purchased several large geothermal heat pump manufacturers in North America, signalling that they see similar growth opportunities for the technology in this market.The buzz of the Conference was the presentation from Enbridge Gas Distribution VP of Market Development and Public Government Affairs, Malini Giridhar, who outlined Enbridges plans to aggressively increase their presence in the Ontario geothermal marketplace, focusing on the new home construction market initially.The two-day conference had a popular trade show component and provided an opportunity for guests to network. The conference also explored the opportunities for geothermal in a variety of markets and applications, addressed what needs to be done to realise these opportunities, and what industry participants can do to help make the Ontario Geothermal industry reach its full potential.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend:
Trend Agency once again caught Armenian media lying, and prevented an unacceptable provocation against the US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Richard Hoagland.
On Feb. 26, Armenias Armenpress news agency repeatedly violated journalism ethics and standards by publishing an article that could have triggered a huge misunderstanding of Hoaglands words in Baku.
In the article published by the Armenpress, Hoagland allegedly used the word Artsakh while commenting on the Feb. 26 incident on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.
Meanwhile, Trend contacted Mr. Hoagland himself to confirm or deny using the mentioned word in his official statement.
In response to the request, Trend received the following letter with the original text of Hoaglands statement.
This latest incident once again underscores the urgent need for the parties to immediately resume negotiations on establishing lasting security and peace in the region, said the statement. In our Feb. 26 statement, my fellow Co-Chairs and I reiterated our call for respect for the ceasefire and a commitment to the non-use of force.
Thus, "Artsakh" is nowhere to be found.
Moreover, apparently, Hoagland protested against the distortion of his words, and the Armenpress agency completely rewrote its article, having removed the word Artsakh from it.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
Trend:
Azerbaijani Armed Forces have destroyed a sabotage group of the Armenian Armed Forces, the press service of Azerbaijans Defense Ministry told Trend Mar. 2.
On the night of March 2, sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces tried to attack the Azerbaijani positions in the Aghdere-Terter direction of the frontline.
As a result of an armed clash, Armenian side suffered losses, and was forced to retreat. The Azerbaijani side suffered no losses.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
School Superintendent Robert Putnam lays out the pros and cons of the two elementary schools on Monday.
Putnam: School Closure Matter of Space vs Finances
CHESHIRE, Mass. Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee is expected to decide whether to close one of its elementary schools on Thursday night.
Superintendent Robert Putnam says the decision comes down to space versus finances.
When the Audit and Evaluation subcommittee asked for his judgment Monday, Putnam said C.T. Plunkett in Adams offers a better space while Cheshire offers the opportunity for more staff and programming through increased transportation reimbursement.
"I'd like to be able to recommend one but that's what it comes down to: do you want space and what does space give us or do we want the possibility of $100,000 a year?" Putnam said.
If Plunkett were to remain open it would hold roughly the same number of students it does now. At Cheshire's recorded peak, it held 377 students and if Plunkett were to close, Cheshire would have to hold nearly 450 students, plus more staff. Either configuration assumes two grade levels moving to Hoosac Valley High School.
"Plunkett provides us with plenty of space ... in terms of the building we have plenty of room," he said. "We have large spaces and classrooms, and we will fit with room to spare. We will be very crowded in Cheshire."
Also, Plunkett has room for increased enrollment, Cheshire will be at capacity. Putnam said Adams population is not decreasing as fast as other communities and it would not be out of the question to see an uptick in elementary school-aged children in the community.
Cheshire, on the other hand, would allow the district to bring in nearly $100,000 more in revenue annually. He said because more students live within a 1.5-mile radius of Plunkett, closing Plunkett means more students would be eligible for transportation reimbursement. If Cheshire were to close, the district would likely receive $19,000 more a year; closing Plunkett would mean a reimbursement of nearly $116,000 a year.
Putnam said he plans to hire seven more employees, some state mandated and others recommended by the University of Massachusett's Collins Center report. He said according to the report, interventionist positions will be an upfront cost but will save the district money in the long run. Without the increased revenue, the district would not be able to maintain these positions in future budgets without increasing the town allocations.
Putnam said these positions are also needed if the district really wants to improve its state level.
"Our state leveling of three is in part attributable to our lack of interventionists," he said. "Neighboring districts typically have these positions ... and we don't have that."
With unrest in both communities about closing a school, Putnam said he was worried Adams or Cheshire would shoot down a budget if its school is closed.
"No matter what decision that we make there are going to be unhappy people and I am concerned about what happens when budgets dont pass," Putnam said. "In the event we cannot find a solution and convince people that this is the best option."
The subcommittee also agreed if the district ends up becoming a one- campus district it would make no sense to invest major funds into either elementary school. Also, it would not make sense to invest funds into one school if there are plans to renovate the other in the future.
"What is the real long-term goal and quite frankly, the vast consensus of people that I have talked to do favor a one-campus site at some point," committee member Paul Butler said. "But they don't know the cost yet. If thats truly the goal, it would make no sense to acquire any debt on the two elementary schools."
The subcommittee agreed to only make small repairs when needed until there is a clear vision of the future.
Putnam suggested they create a committee to figure out what the future of the district should look like.
He advised evaluating all the buildings, even the closed Memorial Building, to see what kind of work they actually need so if the community leans toward major repair instead of renovation, it will know which building holds the most opportunity.
"What's the appetite for our community to take on additional debt?" he said. "We have not yet seen a [statement of interest] for Plunkett and it would be great to evaluate all of the buildings at a single time so we are comparing apples to apples."
He said there is also the possibility that the district would combine with North Adams in the future and it is important to consider what buildings would be utilized in this case.
Although both schools have long-term maintenance issues that would need to be addressed if one was chosen as the permanent elementary school, the School Committee listed some immediate concerns that need to be settled before students moved in.
Subcommittee member Stephan Vigna suggested looking at the repairs as if they were not faced with closing a school and to only list critical repairs that they would likely make.
Cheshire needs a new handicapped lift for $68,000 and an electrical panel upgrade that is estimated to cost $10,000.
Plunkett immediately needs a handicapped lift estimated to cost $36,000, $13,000 for repairs to the fire alarm system and $8,000 for roof repairs in the gym.
Plunkett also needs an overhaul of the front entrance because it lets in water and repairs to the gym air handler. The exterior gym and auditorium stairs also need to be repaired and there are heating issues in the gym and third floor but these projects were not placed on the critical list because the district has been living with them for the past three years.
Business Manager Erika Snyder said there is also $57,000 for capital repairs built into the Plunkett budget and Cheshire has $13,900.
The wild card for Plunkett is the boiler room roof and wall that the town of Adams has put up $130,000 to repair. Initial estimates came in at $300,000 but the district felt it could get a better price.
Putnam said he is waiting on a new estimate, but the contractors noted that the temporary structural work the district did to keep the roof from falling may be good enough for a few years. If the moisture in the room can be controlled, it could last even longer.
Putnam said he would not pursue that unless he got something in writing from the contractor.
If the roof costs more than $130,000, the district agreement has no real protocol to follow to determine who pays for it. Usually, the price is divvied up by the number of students from each town that goes to the school, but the agreement does not take into account school closures.
Because the district leases the elementary schools from the communities it is unclear how to split the costs.
Snyder said an agreement may have to be written up between the two towns because there is not enough time to amend the agreement.
Putnam added that the towns can always allocate the money to make repairs to their buildings.
Haiti - National Carnival : Message from the Mayor of Les Cayes
"We thank all the people who have traveled in mass to come to celebrate without violence with the population of Les Cayes [...]
Thanks to the police, the Ministry of Public Works, the private sector, Civil Protection, the Presidency, the Carnival Committee and, above all, a big thank to all the young people who put themselves at the disposal of the commune and the Caranaval to make this activity a success.
Finally, I would ask all State authorities to apply the same determination that made this National Carnival a success for the development of the country.
We've finished dancing, now it's time to start building," declared Jean Gabriel Fortune, the Mayor of the city of Les Cayes.
IH/ iciHaiti
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Seba Aghayeva Trend:
Gurami Rogava, a journalist in the Georgian Imedi TV channel, was withdrawn from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys list of people declared personae non gratae, press service of the Foreign Ministry reported.
Rogava wrote a letter to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, in which he expressed respect for Azerbaijans territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of its internationally recognized borders.
Rogava also stated that he visited the occupied territories as he was uninformed about the illegality of such a visit.
In his letter, he apologized to the people of Azerbaijan and noted that his visit did not mean to promote the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
The journalists appeal was reviewed and it was decided to exclude him from the Foreign Ministrys list of people declared personae non gratae.
Visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other Armenian-occupied regions of Azerbaijan, uncoordinated with the Azerbaijani side, are deemed illegal and the names of the visitors are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys list of people declared personae non gratae.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Details added (first version posted on 15:25)
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
Trend:
The Azerbaijani Armed Forces have destroyed the enemys military vehicle, said the press service of Azerbaijans Defense Ministry March 2.
Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 144 times violated the ceasefire in various directions along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend March 2.
The Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns, 60- and 82-millimeter mortars, as well as grenade launchers.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend:
Russia has contacts with the sides of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing March 2.
Russia is committed to its position that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved peacefully, she noted.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
IDTechEx has invited a series of industrial players and leader active in graphene commercialization to contribute their opinions about the state of the technology and markets. As part of article series, we will today hear from Graphenea who write about the potential markets for CVD graphene. To contact Graphenea directly please contact the author Mr Inigo Charola on i.charola@graphenea.com To learn more about the graphene markets please refer to the IDTechEx report Graphene, 2D Materials, and Carbon Nanotubes 2016-2026: Markets, Technologies, and Opportunities . You can also meet with many industry leaders at our business-focused event Graphene Europe 2017 taking place on 10-11 May, in Berlin, Germany. New technologies - and innovations - do not arise out of nowhere as flashes of genius. They are based on finding new ways of combining existing building blocks. For Graphene to have an impact in our life, it has to be used along with other building blocks. Since it was first reported in Science Magazine "Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films", in 2004, the world scientist, leading companies and entrepreneurs has been investing resources to create a new powerful building block that can support the development of various technologies. A lot has been reported about new applications where graphene can have an impact, either creating new product categories or enhancing existing products. Creating applications has been the main challenge so far and now we can observe its fruits in many different field with high impact.
Recent industrial applications reported with high potential impact using CVD Graphene
Biosensors Current sensing technology isn't compatible with new demands for throughput, integration, and precision in biology. Graphene Biosensors are capable to provide a fusion of biology and electronics that fundamentally transforms biological testing capabilities, size and speed. AGILE biosensor chips, manufactured by Nanomedical Diagnostics , Inc, are made with graphene, that supports high sensitivity, small volumes, and a small footprint.
AGILE biosensor chips
UV LEDS Being transparent to all wavelengths, graphene represents the ideal substrate and transparent contact for ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs). Nanowires on graphene enables critical improved internal quantum efficiency, operating lifetime, and reliability, especially for deep UV. The result is UV LEDs with 10 times higher efficiency at less than 10 % of the cost of existing deep UV LEDs. This significant improvement in efficiency, reduction in energy consumption and cost advantage will radically enable new applications and improve critical applications such as water and food processing disinfection, air purification and environmental monitoring and life science measurements. CrayoNano has developed a novel technique that enables growth of positioned and vertically aligned nanowires on graphene.
UV LED Dies
Imaging: X-Ray, NIR and Night Vision The excellent responsivity and noise performance of the graphene sensors leads to high fidelity image quality with smaller X-ray dosages and competitive manufacturing costs compared to existing sensor technologies. The large dynamic range of the sensor ensures the capture of detailed images even in case of extreme intensity level variations with a single exposure. Graphene-based sensors are well suited to various applications for example medical and industrial X-ray imaging, quality control and security. Graphene sensors have an excellent detectivity performance over a wide spectrum of wavelengths from visible to NIR and SWIR light and thus they enable passive imaging in low natural light conditions. These sensors can be built on silicon substrates and integrated on CMOS wafers, which leads to a competitive manufacturing cost. Potential application areas of broad-spectrum imaging sensors include passive and active imaging solutions in low-light conditions, for example in automotive, aviation, surveillance, security and search-and-rescue applications. Imaging is one of the most active areas for CVD graphene with leading institutions, like ICFO, and companies, Emberion , developing novel products.
Night vision graphene chip Wafer scale integration for CVD graphene Graphene wafer scale integration allows many applications to be realized on commercial scale (logic, HF , optoelectronics, telecommunications, sensors and flexible electronics). Industry demands a demonstrator made with actually compatible CMOS processes, then spill-over to other applications is possible and broad adoption will begin Currently, there is no actually realized opportunity on the horizon that justifies this whole development, incentives (cost/performance) are currently not high enough for the semiconductor industry Wafer Scale Integration will allow: Diffusion of technology to semiconductor factories
Meet industry demand of a demonstrator made with actually compatible CMOS processes
Deliver very clear cost/performance advantage for the semiconductor industry to justify investments in new machinery or materials After Graphene wafer scale integration is available, many applications will be realized on commercial scale. Therefore, Graphene, as a product, will reach a new stage of industrialization. In the years since the experimental discovery of graphene this material has been produced at Lab scale and for research use, creating a certain demand of the material that has been sold at high prices and very low volumes. Wafer Scale Integration will make possible the use of the outstanding properties of graphene in real semiconductor production plants. Graphenea is working on Graphene Integration on CMOS-Fab. This development will allow large-scale manufacture of 200mm CMOS-compatible graphene wafers (SEMI Standards), with low metal contamination levels. The industrial production method will produce uniform, large-scale/high-performance graphene in high yields and a reliable manner.
Imperial Valley News Center
Secretary of State Tillerson's Meeting With State Councilor of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Yang Jiechi
Washington, DC - United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and affirmed the importance of a constructive bilateral relationship and of regular high-level engagement between the United States and China.
The Secretary and the State Councilor discussed the importance of improving and maintaining a mutually beneficial economic relationship between the two largest economies in the world. They also discussed areas of mutual concern, including North Koreas nuclear programs. The State Councilor extended an invitation for the Secretary to visit Beijing, and the Secretary thanked the State Councilor and indicated an interest in such a visit in the near future.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
Trend:
The European Parliament must contribute to the stability in the South Caucasus and making long-term political decisions, Sajjad Karim, co-chair of the Delegation to the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Association Committee, said.
Karim made the remarks in connection with MEPs illegal visit to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia.
Karim said the Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office issued three international arrest warrants this week against MEPs Eleni Theocharous, Frank Engel and Jaromir Stetina for having visited Nagorno-Karabakh region and having, through their behavior, supported the illegal regime created there.
On February 20, the MEPs named above carried out observations of a process organized locally in Nagorno-Karabakh region, he added. No official European Parliament observation mission has been organized in Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Any impression given contrary to this is therefore without merit and completely unfounded, he said. The MEPs are free to visit areas of their choosing and promote their individual beliefs. At the same time, the MEPs should responsibly pay attention to the obvious fragility of the ceasefire and the need to support the political mediation processes in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and be clear of their unofficial individual status for all such visits.
Imperial Valley News Center
Making The Technology for Exoskeletons a Reality
Washington, DC - I grew up in a small farming community in southern Georgia. My main exposure to new technology was through the annual farm equipment exposition, science fiction books and television. One of my favorite shows was The Six Million Dollar Man.
Do you remember the famous opening lines?
Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the worlds first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better stronger faster.
(If youre like me, you just heard that classic bionic sound in your mind.)
Although its not really bionics, the research community and private sector are focusing on the related area of exoskeletons. Exoskeletons are passive or active robotics that can enable the wearer to move limbs or hold objects with greater strength and stamina. Exoskeletons are not wired directly to the human body like the bionics Steve Austin had, so the biological interface issues are slightly different, but still challenging.
Today, there are more than 80 exoskeletons on the market. Despite rapid progress in the marketplace, however, there is only an incomplete patchwork of standards to govern their safety and performance.
One of my roles as program manager for NISTs National Security Standards program is to help NIST figure out the measurement infrastructure that exoskeleton manufacturers will need to prove their safety and describe their capabilities, specifically with regards to helping first responders and industry.
In January 2017, NIST brought together, for what may be the first time, the developers, researchers, and users of the exoskeleton technology community. Over 100 organizations, including 44 from industry, 35 from government, and 19 from academia, participated. Users representing the military, industry and medical communities were there to pass along what they were looking for from this technology. We were there to dream, but what was amazing to me was that, no matter the community, everyone said that they wanted this technology to help them perform normal human featsnot necessarily give them superhuman abilities.
For instance, Chris Tagatac from the Christopher Reeve Foundation said he wants the technology to help him walk again. Hes been fortunate enough to use many kinds of exoskeletons in several medical trials. He sees exoskeletons as a transitional device to keep paralyzed individuals fit while they wait for a real cure for spinal injuries.
Jim Key from the United Steel Workers said his 850,000 members want this technology to help them do their jobs. His members see exoskeletons as a way to perform at their peak levels in a safe manner.
Captain Brian Giroux from the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence told us that the increasingly heavy loads soldiers are carrying are leading to injuries in the back, knee, and other parts of the body. Like the steel workers, they want exoskeleton technologies to help soldiers do their jobs more safely and effectively. But in order to use them in the field, they need to control the weight, increase battery life, and have the ability to maintain the machines far from their bases.
While everyone was enthusiastic about exoskeletons potential, we all agreed that we need standards and test methods so that we have a common frame of reference and can communicate better about this disparate technology area and determine what is safe and effective.
I think this type of work will help bring exoskeletons to market sooner and bring us closer to having the technology to make humans better stronger faster.
National Consumer Protection Week 2017 Kicks Off Sunday, March 5
Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission and more than 100 federal, state and local agencies, consumer groups and national advocacy organizations, will participate in the 19th Annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), held March 5-11, 2017. NCPW is a nationally coordinated campaign to inform Americans of their consumer rights while providing them access to free consumer-related resources.
Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen, who will participate in the FTCs military Twitter chat on March 9, 2017, noted her anticipation for this years NCPW, highlighting her focus on the military community. She also stressed the importance of the campaign's website, NCPW.gov, which hosts a variety of resources for consumers and their advocates on topics that can help consumers make informed buying decisions and avoid scams.
I am excited to work with our NCPW partners as we protect all consumers. Im going to personally reach out to the military community online, an audience that is targeted by scammers too often, said Ohlhausen. Educating people through free resources and tools, such as those available on NCPW.gov, is one of the most effective ways we can prevent consumer harm.
Since its creation, the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection has focused agency resources and national experts on safeguarding American identities, financial records and other elements related to consumer activity.
Protecting and educating consumers are top priorities for the FTC, said Thomas Pahl, acting director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection. The tools available at NCPW.gov can help consumer advocates get the word out about NCPW in their community through local press and social media.
Along with the Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Bureau of Competition supports the FTCs consumer protection mission by protecting the competitive process, which can deliver lower prices, enhance innovation, and increase quality and choice for consumers.
FACEBOOK LIVE CHAT:
FTC staff will co-host a Facebook live video stream with USA.gov on March 7, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Staff will answer questions for 15 minutes about Ten Things You Can Do To Avoid Fraud.
To participate in English, follow USA.gov and FTC on Facebook. Ask your questions via livestream beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on March 7
Government Formation Progress in Macedonia
Washington, DC - Together with our NATO allies and EU partners, the United States has been closely following the process of government formation in Macedonia triggered by the December 11, 2016 parliamentary elections.
The United States calls on Macedonias leaders to form a new government without further delay, in a manner consistent with the constitution and Macedonias aspirations to join the European Union and NATO. The formation of a new government committed to rule of law and implementing needed reforms will help end a political crisis that has severely hindered the countrys democratic and economic development and Euro-Atlantic integration.
The United States urges all parties to put the interest of Macedonia and its citizens above all else, to work together constructively, and to fully implement all of their commitments under the Przino agreement.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
Trend:
The report on situation of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, prepared after UN rapporteurs visit to the country in September 2016, is one-sided, unbalanced and doesnt meet the spirit of cooperation, said Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev.
He made the remarks addressing a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mammad-Guliyev raised the issue of mass violation of rights by Armenia of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, who left their native lands as a result of the Armenian military aggression.
The deputy foreign minister also noted the necessity of bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Khojaly genocide, which was committed against civilians in the Azerbaijani town Khojaly in February 1992.
The diplomat called on the United Nations Human Rights Council and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to multiply efforts for restoration of rights of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.
Reading is one of the easiest ways to improve ourselves and expand our horizons, but too few of us are able to call it a regular habit.
Life is busy, but finding little blocks of time to devote to new ideas, places, and ways of thinking is one way in which we can always make sure we are moving forward.
It can be as simple as picking a great new book to keep in your bag as an option for the commute to work. If youre looking for something to pique your interest this spring, we suggest checking out Amazons top picks for the upcoming season.
You can find the full list of buzzworthy new releases here, but the 10 below are Amazon books editors top picks.
One of these recommendations might be the kickoff to a new hardback or Kindle purchase, and an incoming reading streak.
Captions have been provided by Amazon's books editors.
"Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins
(Amazon (Amazon)
When two women end up dead in the local river a town's dark past comes rushing back. Fans of "The Girl on the Train" have another twisty ride to look forward to in Hawkins' new novel of psychological suspense.
"Startup: A Novel" by Doree Shafrir
This fun and funny debut novel by a writer for Buzzfeed combines ambition, youth, love, and the tech world. No pun intended, but this one is getting a lot of buzz.
"The Trials of Apollo Book Two The Dark Prophecy" by Rick Riordan
The second book in Rick Riordan's "Trials of Apollo" series promises to be as much fun as the first. Mighty Apollo, now an awkward mortal teenager, continues his quest for redemption with plenty of hilarity and humiliation along the way.
"Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann
(Amazon (Amazon)
Grann's compelling work of narrative nonfiction delves into chilling conspiracies and prejudice surrounding one of the FBI's first homicide investigations the systematic murder of members of the wealthy Osage Indian nation.
"The Collapsing Empire" by John Scalzi
Science fiction fans are eagerly awaiting this space opera involving human colonies scattered across the universe. When the connections between those colonies are threatened by a change in physics, three individuals are thrust into a race against time to save humanity.
"One of the Boys" by Daniel Magariel
"One of the Boys" is a powerful novel about two brothers who turn against their mother during a bitter divorce only to have their father spiral quickly into unpredictable and violent behavior. An intense depiction of familial bonds and brotherhood that makes every page count.
"Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked" by Adam Alter
(Amazon (Amazon)
Where is your mobile phone right now? Chances are, it's within your reach (if not in your hand). With temptation never far away, we all run the risk of addiction. Adam Alter explores how addiction works, focusing on the explosion of technology and its role in keeping us hooked.
"Testimony" by Scott Turow
This spring Scott Turow delivers a taut new legal thriller. Former Kindle County prosecutor Bill Boom is drawn into a case he can't refuse when a lone witness comes forward with chilling information about the mass disappearance of an entire Gypsy refugee camp.
"Anything is Possible" by Elizabeth Strout
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Olive Kitteridge" and "My Name is Lucy Barton" introduces a large cast of small-town characters (including a grown-up Lucy Barton) and plumbs their emotional and psychological depths with masterful skill.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Business Insider's Insider Picks team. We aim to highlight products and services you might find interesting, and if you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners, including Amazon. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback.
Read the original article on Insider Picks. Copyright 2017. Follow Insider Picks on Twitter.
(Insider)
Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the
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From Will Smiths Bright to Brad Pitts War Machine, Netflix is pumping out high-budget movies quicker than ever before.
The latest addition to their already glistening roster is Sand Castle - starring Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road), Henry Cavill (Batman v Superman), and Logan Marshall-Green (Snowden) - the trailer for which is debuting above on The Independent. Enjoy!
Written by Chris Roessner, who was inspired by his own experiences in Iraq, Sand Castle is an honest and candid depiction of the Second Gulf War as told from the perspective of American soldiers.
Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Show all 14 1 /14 Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for A Series of Unfortunate Events: season 1 Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Malina Wiessman, Will Arnett, Cobie Smulders, Patrick Warburton Release date: Out now Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Riverdale: season 1 Starring:KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Srpuse, Madchen Amick Release date: New episodes every Friday Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for iBoy Starring: Bill Milner, Maisie Williams, Miranda Richardson Release date: Out now Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Santa Clarita Diet: season 1 Starring: Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Nathan Fillion, Patton Oswalt Release date: 3 February Netflix Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Ultimate Beastmaster Hosted by: Terry Crews Release date: 24 February Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Love: season 2 Starring: Gillian Jacobs, Paul Rust, Claudia O'Doherty Release date: 10 March Netflix Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Iron Fist: season 1 Starring: Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Rosario Dawson Release date: 17 March Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Sense8: season 2 Starring: Toby Onwumere, Doona Bae, Jamie Clayton, Tuppence Middleton Release date: 5 May Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for House of Cards: season 5 Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Neve Campbell, Joel Kinnaman Release date: 31 May Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Dear White People: season 1 Starring: Antoinette Robertson, Brandon P Bell, Logan Browning Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Okja Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Lily Collins, Steven Yeun, Giancarlo Esposito Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Alyssa Milano, Jai Courtney Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Master of None: season 2 Starring: Aziz Ansari Release date: TBC Netflix Originals 2017: All the films and TV shows to look out for Stranger Things: season 2 Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown Release date: TBC
The film marks Brazilian director Fernando Coimbra second feature-length outing, the filmmaker having previously helmed A Wolf at the Door and various episodes of Narcos season one.
Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some!!), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys), and Neil Brown Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) also star in the film.
The official synopses reads: Set in Iraq in 2003, Sand Castle follows a group of American soldiers in the early days of the second Gulf War. Bearing witness to the heat and the horror is the inexperienced Private Matt Ocre (Nicholas Hoult), who together with several fellow soldiers is ordered to the outskirts of Baqubah to repair a water pumping station damaged by U.S. bombs. But as Ocre discovers, in an atmosphere where resentment and anger fester, trying to win the hearts and minds of the locals is a task fraught with danger. Its here, in the streets, squares and schools that he discovers the true cost of war.
Sand Castle launches on Netflix on 21 April 2017.
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the
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Spring is arriving earlier than ever across the northern hemisphere, according to new research.
Leaves are starting to come out up to 22 days early across most of the south-eastern United States, while a species of sedge in Greenland is emerging from winter some 26 days earlier than just a decade ago.
In the UK, spring arrived later than last year, but the Woodland Trust still reported it was well and truly on its way on 3 February with snowdrops and hazel catkins recorded across the UK.
Snowdrops started flowering on 17 December, although the average reported date was 27 January; hawthorn and sycamore bud bursts were seen on 1 January and the first wasp queen was spotted on 11 January.
Such tangible signs of global warming are potentially dangerous as natural rhythms that have existed for thousands of years are getting out of sync.
A recent study of the emergence of different species in Greenland over a 12-year period found some were essentially entering their spring up to nearly three days earlier each year, while others were moving forward in the calendar by about half a day a year.
One of the researchers, Dr Eric Post, of the University of California Davis, who has been studying the Arctic for 27 years, told the Climate Home website: When we started studying this, I never would have imagined wed be talking about a 26-day per decade rate of advance.
Thats almost an entire growing season. Thats an eye-opening rate of change.
Recommended May urged by 100 leading scientists to press Trump on climate change
Caribou migrate to the site they studied at Kangerlussuaq during the calving season, but their movements are governed by the length of the day, rather than temperature, which is used by the plants.
By the time the caribou arrive, the plants are less nutritious so more calves are dying young.
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, Dr Post said.
The US Geological Survey produced a map showing a marked spring leaf anomaly across the south-east of the country.
Get your flip-flops and shorts out because spring is arriving very early this year at least two to three weeks early across almost the entire Southeast, from San Antonio to Atlanta to Washington, DC, it said in a recent web post.
This unusually early spring is likely to keep rolling north, already bringing surprising signs of spring to portions of the central Midwest and north-eastern states.
10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan
Punxsutawney Phil the supposedly weather-forecasting groundhog made famous by the film Groundhog Day could not be blamed for being baffled this year.
He predicted six more weeks of winter on 2 February, but by then spring was already springing well ahead of historical norms in much of the USA, the USGS said.
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With St Patrick's Day fast approaching, the inevitable onslaught of green face paint, Guinness hats and shamrock bunting, is already beginning. So maybe its time to toast the occasion with something a little different but very uniquely Irish.
If youve never heard of poitin before, youre not alone. Also known as poteen (and pronounced potcheen got all that?), this clear spirit has been called the Irish moonshine, was once illegal and boasts an ABV of anywhere between 40 per cent and 90 per cent. In short, its got a pretty colourful history.
Somewhat notorious for its potency, poitin production was illegal from 1661 to 1997 due to excise regulations. However, already distilled for centuries across Ireland by small producers who used the ingredients they had to hand, that did nothing to stop its production. Pushed into the underground, and with no official controls on production, the spirit somewhat passed into folklore, garnering both an illicit romanticism and a formidable reputation for blowing your socks off.
However, this characterful tipple is now beginning to establish itself as something a little more premium, and as a credible cocktail ingredient to boot. Theres those that will scoff at such a notion. But perhaps no-one knows more about its revival than Ciaran O Dubhthaigh who has steadily been adding more and more poitins to his menu at the Sun Tavern in Londons Bethnal Green, since opening in 2014. The pub also runs tutored tastings.
I think people are starting to appreciate it as a craft thing, and not just something that gets you pissed, he says. A good poitin should have a kick, it should have that heat, but there should be more to it. Its important that it tastes of what its made of.
So, whats that? What technically is a poitin? Per its Geographical Indication (which was awarded just a year ago), a poitin is a clear, non-aged spirit produced in Ireland or Northern Ireland, and traditionally brewed, fermented and distilled from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet molasses or potatoes. And it must be a minimum of 40 per cent ABV.
Varying combinations of these ingredients means theres a vast array of flavour profiles in the finished spirit, from earthy, savoury notes, to a fresh grassiness, sweetness, and sometimes, a little smoke.
Thats what makes it so good for mixing, says O Dubhthaigh. The alcohol gives it a nice presence, and it doesnt get lost in the drink. Weve used it a lot in Tiki drinks. It can handle citrus. Or you can use in place of rum or gin to give the classics another dimension, such as a White Negroni. As theyre all made from a different mash and have a different ABV, the brand you choose means youll get a very different drink at the end with each one. Of course, sipping neat is another option.
While there are a number of excellent poitins being produced that are only available locally, here is our pick of the best of those available more widely that offer both a decent kick, with a balance of flavour.
1. Ban Poitin, 48%: 35.45 for 70cl, The Whisky Exchange
Founded in founded in 2012 by Dave Mulligan, a bartender with a love for the spirit Ban (pronounced bawn) is produced at the Echlinville distillery in Northern Ireland from potatoes, malted barley, and sugar beet. In Mulligans words: What started out as an interest in the illicit turned into a total obsession, a determination to bring this epic piece of Irish culture out of the underground and to the modern world. Recommended served neat, over ice, or as a boilermaker when paired with a pint (Guinness would be a good choice), youll get aromas of toasted bread, and a little greenness, followed by a tingle of pepperiness. Add to that a sweetness and very soft mouthfeel which combined suggest something like marshmallow, and youve got yourself a lovely spirit, with enough complexity to really chew over.
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2. Micil Irish Poitin, 44%: 36.99 (31.52) for 50cl, The Celtic Whiskey Shop
Made in Galway and named after the distiller's great, great grandfather, this spirit is made from Irish grain and flavoured lightly with the locally sourced, water-dwelling bogbean plant. Its a recipe that has been passed down the family for 150 years, but the brand has only been commercially available since 2016, with sixth-generation distiller Padraic O Griallais at the helm. This one is an earthy poitin, with quite a sour initial bite, followed by almost honey and banana-like notes. A lingering velvety finish adds a little softness, but that pepper bite is still there. Shake with egg white, lemon juice and sugar syrup for a really excellent sour.
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3. Glendalough Mountain Strength Poitin, 60%: 38.95 for 70cl, The Whisky Exchange
Hold on to your hats, were taking a bit of a leap in strength with this one. Glendalough is another distillery on a mission to revive the heritage of craft distilling in Ireland, and is also known for its gins made from foraged ingredients, as well as its Irish whiskey. This one is made using sugar beet and malted barley which, notably, is placed in virgin Irish oak before bottling. Though Glendalough also has a 40 per cent poitin, with the Mountain Strength, you actually get a very soft, buttery, vanilla nose with very fruity, almost blackcurrant notes. Yes its strong, but aggressive this is not. That softness initially carries through when sipping, though you get that characteristic burn part way through. However, the overall impression is fruity, with a hint of wood, and some wine-like notes. As Glendalough says: Mix it, cut it, sip or straight shot it. Carefully.
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4. John O Connells Small Batch Poitin, 72%: 39.50 for 35cl, Harvey Nichols
West Cork Distillers produces a number of poitins including its own brand, Two Trees. This particular poitin is named after the OConnell family, who've been distilling for seven generations (and not all of those legally, of course). Probably the first thing to remark on is the tactile packaging, which includes its own hessian sack. All the better for smuggling with shhh. Made from barley and sugar beet, this one has a very bready, biscuity nose, but is exceptionally sweet on the palate, with that chewy, savoury cereal taste coming after a short but powerful burst of heat. Yes, again it is exceptionally strong, but theres a lot of flavour here and honestly, its not as scary as you might think a spirit of this ABV ought to be. Sip trust us, its good or use in place of dark spirits in your cocktails.
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5. Teeling Spirit of Dublin Irish Poitin, 52.5%: 29.99 for 50cl, Master of Malt
If you like your booze, youve probably heard of Teeling Irish Whiskey. The distillery claims to be the first new distillery in Dublin for over 125 years, commencing spirit production in early 2015. But the brand has much older roots with the Teeling family first distilling in the city in 1782. This triple distilled poitin uses a recipe of unmalted and malted Irish barley, meaning its pretty sweet. Theres not as many layers of flavour here as some of the other spirits in our list, but if youre new to poitin, this is a pretty good place to start. Theres a soft, creamy finish and a little fruit that add interest, but nothing to challenge and frighten you even if this is higher in strength that some of our other picks. Sip and savour over ice.
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The Verdict: Poitins
Poitin is not going to be for everyone. But there are a number of great ones that are both approachable enough for newbies, but also interesting and complex enough for those who are used to strong and complex drinks. Our pick of those has to be Ban, which delivers a beautiful depth of flavour.
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How do your eating habits change when youre stressed?
Do you lose your appetite and not want to eat at all? Or seek comfort in food and accidentally end up ploughing through a whole tray of brownies in one sitting?
Its long been suspected that stress can lead to weight gain, but a new study - the first of its kind - now suggests that long term stress can lead to gaining weight over time.
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Researchers from University College London (UCL) conducted the study on 2,527 men and women over the age of 50.
They measured the level of cortisol, the stress hormone, in two centimetre clippings of hair (about two months growth).
After taking into account variations in age and sex as well as other factors like whether someone smokes or has diabetes, the researchers found that the higher the level of cortisol (ie. the more stressed someone was), the bigger the body weight, BMI and waist circumference of the person.
Whats more, having a higher level of cortisol was also linked to persistent obesity over time.
Previous studies that have looked into the connection between stress and weight-gain have always studied cortisol levels in the blood, urine or saliva, which vary throughout the day and are affected by temporary factors.
This research is the first thats ever found a way to measure stress levels over the course of two months.
However its not actually clear whether stress causes obesity - being overweight could also be a source of stress for some people.
Lead study author Sarah E. Jackson, an epidemiologist at UCL, said that while we probably cant eliminate all stress from our lives, we might be able to find ways to control it: Even just being aware that stress might make you eat more may help.
So if you want to lose weight, perhaps it's time to stop counting calories and simply relax.
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Britain would face a Pandoras box of economic consequences if it crashed out of the European Union without a new trade deal in place, according to the president of the Confederation of British Industry.
Theresa May confirmed in her January speech at Lancaster House that the UK would not remain in the single market or a full member of the customs union and would instead seek to negotiate a new free trade deal with Europe.
But many trade experts are highly sceptical that it will be possible to conclude such a deal by 2019, when the UK is due to leave the bloc, raising the prospect that Britain could be forced to trade with Europe on minimal World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, meaning it would face tariffs on exports to the EU.
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Paul Drechsler, the CBI president, is due to warn strenuously against this outcome in a speech at Mansion House in the City of London on Thursday night.
We should be under no illusions about what this would really mean, he is due to say according to pre-released remarks.
A no deal scenario would open a Pandoras box of economic consequences. The UK would face tariffs on 90 per cent of its EU exports by value and a raft of new regulatory hurdles. Lets remember these barriers would hurt firms on both sides of the Channel.
Here in the UK and across the continent, firms are worried about this worst-case scenario. Some are getting ready for it to reduce economic damage. Some wont prepare because theyre hoping for a deal. But in reality many firms cant prepare because the cost of change is simply too high to even consider it.
A small minority of right-wing economists and a number of Conservative politicians argue that it would be economically better for the UK not to even attempt to sign a new trade deal and instead to rely on WTO rules.
Mr Drechsler was due to label this advice not only wrong but irresponsible.
In Greek mythology, Pandora, the first woman on earth, released all the evils of the world when she opened a box.
Other business lobby groups have issued similar warnings on the WTO threat.
Earlier this week the British Chambers of Commerce called for Brexit to be delayed if a trade deal had not been struck by 2019.
British car manufacturers could face 10 per cent levies on exports to the continent, under WTO trading rules.
UK food producers would also face large tariffs and painfully-reduced quotas on exports to the EU.
Last year, The Independent calculated that the cost to UK exporters of facing EU tariffs would be a minimum of 4.5bn, based on existing export patterns, and would almost certainly be many multiples of that.
Economists from the London School of Economics have estimated that the WTO route would cause an almost 10 per cent hit to UK GDP by 2030.
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Education leaders and human rights campaigners have criticised Government proposals over compulsory sex education for "ignoring" LGBT issues and creating a "get-out clause" for faith schools.
Under new laws, all children from the age of four are to be taught about safe and healthy relationships, and children in secondary schools will be given age-appropriate lessons about sex.
The move follows years of campaigning from MPs and charity groups who have successfully argued that the current curriculum is years out of date and does not reflect the dangers faced by young people today.
The news has largely been met with praise, but campaigners argue current guidelines that allow parents to withdraw their children, as well as flexible teaching for faith schools, leave cause for concern.
Human rights advocate Peter Tatchell also questioned that Ms Greenings announcement gave no mention of LGBT issues a subject MPs and charity groups say must be included in compulsory teaching.
He told The Independent: By allowing religious schools to teach sex and relationship education in accordance with the tenets of their faith, the government is giving them a get-out clause.
They will be allowed to either ignore LGBT issues or to teach that same-sex relationships are immoral, unnatural, abnormal and sinful. In either case, it will have a damaging effect on LGBT pupils.
We already know that some faith have serious problems with homophobic bullying and that they often fail to challenge it. The government's proposals offer no remedy to ostracised and bullied LGBT kids in religious-run schools.
Sex education to be made compulsory in all schools in England
Announcing the move on Wednesday, Education Secretary Justine Greening said schools across England will now be bound by the same obligation and include lessons on online dangers, pornography and sexting.
She added that statutory guidance for SRE had been introduced in 2000 and is becoming increasingly outdated.
Her statement did not address whether the new SRE proposals will require schools to teach in an LGBT-inclusive manner, however, for instance by covering same-sex relationships.
Mr Tatchell added: Disappointingly, Justine Greening is not insisting on assertiveness training to give pupils the skills and confidence to resist and report unwanted sexual advances.
"This is the the single most effective way to reduce child sex abuse, yet the government is not insisting that it is taught in every school.
Welcoming the announcement, Ian Green, Chief Executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust said that in order to full address the sexual and mental health crisis among young people, it was vital the legislation included neglected topics such as sexual health and on LGBT relationships to help tackle high rates of STIs among young people and homophobia in schools.
The Catholic Education Service also said it welcomed the Governments announcement, stating: Relationship and Sex Education forms part of the mission of Catholic schools to educate the whole person.
The group, along with teaching unions, stressed a need for flexibility, however, adding: We additionally welcome the Governments commitment to protect parental right of withdrawal and involve parents in all stages of the development and delivery of RSE in all schools.
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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 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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. 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According to the new proposals, schools will have "flexibility" over how they deliver subjects, "so they can develop an integrated approach that is sensitive to the needs of the local community; and, in the case of faith schools, in accordance with their faith."
While the policy paper states parents rights to withdraw their children from sex education will be upheld, the same paper discloses that a blanket right to opt-out is no longer consistent with English case law".
The matter has sparked rumours that parents rights will be reviewed. The Government also states it is in the process of seeking input from external groups as to how the curriculum will be drafted.
Speaking to PinkNews, LGBT charity Stonewall said it will be working with the Government to ensure [LGBT issues] are reflected in updated guidance for schools.
Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt, said: This is a huge step forward and a fantastic opportunity to improve inclusion and acceptance in education.
Currently over half of secondary school students say they never have any discussion of LGBT relationships in their lessons, and over half of lesbian, gay, bi and trans young people are bullied in our schools because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
"That is unacceptable. By mandating all schools to provide good quality, age-appropriate relationships and sex education the Government has paved the way to change that situation.
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An artificial embryo-like structure has been created in the laboratory for the first time in a historic breakthrough that could shed light on the magic behind the creation of life.
Researchers at Cambridge University were able to make what looked like an early anatomically correct mouse embryo.
While stressing it was nowhere near something that could grow into an actual animal, one of the scientists said this would without a doubt eventually be possible.
The same technique could potentially be used to build an artificial model of a human embryo, which might help scientists work out reasons why some early embryos fail to develop in the womb.
Commenting on the research, described in the journal Science, one scientist in the field described it as a beautifully conceived masterpiece.
The embryo model was made by combining two different types of stem cells, which can turn into any kind of tissue needed to make an animal, from brain to skin cells. One type forms the foetus, while the other develops into the placenta.
Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, who led the research, said: Both the embryonic and extra-embryonic cells start to talk to each other and become organised into a structure that looks like and behaves like an embryo.
It has anatomically correct regions that develop in the right place and at the right time.
Fellow researcher Sarah Harrison, a PhD student, said using human stem cells to create a similar structure in the lab was something certainly to explore.
Again it would be a model, it would never be the real thing [but could be] something thats going to help us discover what leads to pregnancy failure, she said.
The researchers said the cells seemed to organise themselves into the right structure after a three-dimensional scaffold on which they could grow was built for them.
Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goet: 'I couldn't be happier when we found the result'
Certainly, when we started the preliminary experiments, we were surprised by the amount of self-organisation we could get the self-assembly, if you will without a great amount of manipulation, Ms Harrison said.
You just need the right mix of things and theres a bit of self-organisation going on.
Further research could be carried out to discover what are the magic factors that really allow such a process, the arrangement of these cells, in what is effectively a mix of things?
Asked if the same technique could be used to create something close to a human embryo, she said: Without a doubt it could be done everything is possible eventually.
What we have done is certainly nowhere near that. Maybe its a step towards that but we havent created something thats anything like the real thing.
Its still really a model of whats going on. Perhaps somebody in the future would be able to do this.
A third type of stem cell, which would form the yolk sac, would be among the extra steps required to create a functioning embryo artificially.
Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary
Professor Zernicka-Goetz pioneered a technique that allows early embryos to develop in a lab beyond the point at which they would normally implant in the womb.
But their studies have been hampered by a lack of embryos. Being able to create something similar artificially could solve this problem.
We think that it will be possible to mimic a lot of the developmental events occurring before 14 days using human embryonic and extra-embryonic stem cells using a similar approach to our technique using mouse stem cells, Professor Zernicka-Goetz said.
We are very optimistic that this will allow us to study key events of this critical stage of human development without actually having to work on embryos. Knowing how development normally occurs will allow us to understand why it so often goes wrong.
Dr Dusko Ilic, a reader in stem cell science at Kings College London, said the research was another masterpiece of recreating in vitro the earliest steps of embryo development coming from the Zernicka-Goetz lab.
He added it was a beautifully conceived and executed study demonstrating interplay of different cells in different cellular compartments within the first days of mouse development.
And Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, of the Francis Crick Institute in London, described the paper as very interesting on a number of counts.
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Police have charged a Conservative MP's aide with two counts of rape following an alleged incident in the Houses of Parliament.
Samuel Armstrong, 23, from Danbury in Essex, was also charged with sexual assault in relation to the alleged attack in October last year.
Armstrong is chief of staff to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, but has been suspended from his duties since the allegations came to light.
He has been bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 31, Scotland Yard said.
There was no immediate response from Mr Mackinlay.
PA
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MI6 is to reintroduce the classic "tap on the shoulder" as a means of recruiting spies from black and minority ethnic groups, the agency's chief has said.
Alex Younger said increasing demand on the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) necessitated expansion and added that it needed to "attract the best of modern Britain".
Mr Younger, known in SIS as "C", was himself recruited after a tap on the shoulder, he told The Guardian. He said of his return to the tactic: "We have to go to people that would not have thought of being recruited to MI6.
"We have to make a conscious effort. We need to reflect the society we live in."
UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA
Last year the agency was revealed to be hiring 1,000 new members of staff by 2020, in response to the increasing importance of the internet and technology. Mr Younger said at the time: "The information revolution fundamentally changes our operating environment.
"In five years' time there will be two sorts of intelligence servicesthose that understand this fact and have prospered, and those that don't and haven't."
It would swell SIS' ranks to 3,500. Another 900 recruits will be sent to MI5 and GCHQ.
The former army officer told The Guardian: "Every community from every part of Britain should feel they have what it takes, no matter what their background or status. We have to stop people selecting themselves out."
The agency's head of recruitment also told the paper: "There is a perception out there that we want Daniel Craig, or Daniel Craig on steroids. He would not get into MI6." The James Bond image has "put off" people from applying, she said.
In December Mr Younger used his first public speech as MI6 head to warn that Russia and the Assad regime in Syria were creating a new generation of terrorists who could be a threat to Britain.
Mr Younger also strongly criticised states which have been using cyber and other forms of hybrid warfare to undermine Western democracies. Although he did not name Russia as one of the culprits, there was little doubt that he was pointing the finger at the Kremlin when he spoke about the "increasingly dangerous phenomenon of hybrid warfare."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend:
The investigation on the case of blogger Alexander Lapshin continues, and he has made no complaints about conditions of his detention, said Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing Mar. 2.
She noted that judicial proceedings in Lapshins regard are being prepared, adding that the blogger currently receives all the necessary legal assistance.
Currently, Lapshin is in custody in Baku Investigative Prison No. 1 (Kurdakhani Pre-trial Detention Center) of the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijans Justice Ministry, and his defense is being provided by lawyer Eduard Chernin, who was appointed by Lapshins family.
Alexander Lapshin is a citizen of several countries and has had a criminal conspiracy with Armenians living in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He also illegally visited these territories.
Lapshin is accused of violating Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.
On Jan. 17, Alexei Stuk, deputy prosecutor general of Belarus, issued a ruling on Lapshins extradition to Azerbaijan. Lapshin was brought to Azerbaijan on Feb. 7.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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The UK is set for a huge increase in super-rich people, with the number of ultra-high-net-worth Individuals (UHNWIs) set to boom in the next decade, according to a report.
Britain is expected to be home to 12,310 UHNWIs by 2026, an increase of 30 per cent from the 9,470 in the country in 2016.
But the UK's growth pales in comparison to rising numbers of the ultra-wealthy in Asia, where economies are booming.
Property consultants Knight Frank, who conducted the research, estimated the number of UHNWIs would grow globally by 43 per cent by 2026, though significant disparities are expected between different regions.
The 25 richest, healthiest, happiest, and most advanced countries in the world
The company classifies UHNWIs as people with at least $30m (24.2m) in assets.
Despite concerns over Brexit, London is expected to be the main draw for the super-rich.
In a European context, London is without doubt the dominant city for the wealthy, Liam Bailey head of research Knight Frank, told the Guardian.
London is just more accessible for more wealthy people, it is more convenient, more connected and more open than other cities. London attracts talent from around the world, and it will continue to do so.
While the UK is expected to host large numbers of the super-rich into the future, the European continent is anticipated to see a similar number as 2016 or less.
Meanwhile, one of the biggest increases in UHNWIs will be in a purportedly Communist country Vietnam. The South East Asian nation will nearly triple its number of super-rich within ten years, rising from 200 in 2016 to 540 in 2026.
Other Asian nations will also see large UHNWI increases. Indias share will rise 150 per cent from 6,740 in 2016 to 16,850 in 2026.
And China - another country with a communist government - will have 34,340 UHNWI by 2026, up 140 per cent from 14,310 in 2016.
Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Show all 10 1 /10 Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Bill Gates - $75 bn The creator of Microsoft is worth $78 billion. He has topped the list for 17 out of the past 22 years - though his net worth shrank by $4.2bn (3bn) to $75bn (53.7bn). Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Amancio Ortega - $67 bn The Spanish business who set up the Zara chain of high-street shops is worth $67 billion. REUTERS/ AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Warren Buffet - $60.8 bn Warren buffet is the world's most successful investor. Forbes rates him as being worth $60.8 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Carlos Slim Helu - $50 bn Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, is this years biggest loser with a fortune of $50 billion, down from $77.1 billion last year. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Jeff Bezos - $45.2 bn Amazons Jeff Bezos moved up to the fifth from the fifteenth spot last year; his net worth increased to $45.2 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Mark Zuckerberg - $44.6 bn The biggest gainer on the 2016 list is Mark Zuckerberg , whose fortune is up $11.2 billion for a total net worth of $44.6 billion. He is the sixth richest in the world. Getty Images Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Larry Ellison - $43.6 bn The American entrepreneur has a fortune of $43.6 billion Bloomberg Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Michael Bloomberg - $40 bn Michael Bloomberg, whose media and financial empire has created a personal fortune of $40 bn, is said to be willing to spend up to $1bn on a presidential campaign AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Charles Koch and David Koch - $39.6 bn Charles Koch, along with brother David Koch of Koch Industries are joint sixth and are valued at $39.6 billion. Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Liliane Bettencourt - $36.1 bn Liliane Bettencourt is the heir to the LOreal empire Getty Images
Asian countries are seeing increasing numbers of super-rich, as new markets open up and Western economies and politics falter.
A gathering of the super-rich, financiers and economists at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year heard that rising global inequality contributed to the disruptions of Brexit and Donald Trump.
Rising wealth disparity and inequality was seen by 750 risk experts as the most important factor in assessing global developments over the next decade.
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The Government does not consider a person having been tortured in the country they are fleeing reason enough alone to accept a claim of asylum, the immigration minister has said.
Robert Goodwill told a parliamentary debate on torture that not all proven survivors of past torture automatically qualify for protection if they cannot produce additional evidence that they would be at risk of further serious harm upon being sent back to where they had fled.
The minister clarified the Governments policy on people fleeing torture in a debate in Parliaments Westminster Hall. MPs called for the debate after a report released late last year said the Home Office immigration authorities were ignoring or mishandling serious torture evidence.
The Freedom From Torture organisation accused the Government of egregious mishandling of medical evidence. It had examined 50 cases over a two-year period, from January 2014 to December 2015.
The organisations research also found that appeal judges were having to correct the Home Offices decisions, with 76 per cent of cases involving torture going to appeal being overturned in favour of the applicant.
On Thursday Mr Goodwill said: When considering asylum claims made in the UK it is absolutely right that we offer protection to those who face torture on the return to their country.
However, this does not mean that all survivors of past torture will automatically qualify for protection. An individual needs to show there is a real risk of serious harm or persecution on return to their home country.
In some cases that situation in a country can become normalised so indeed that situation can change. Indeed we welcome when conflict finishes in countries around the world.
Of the appealed cases being so regularly overturned the minister said the Home Office wanted to get more cases right first time and that all staff received extensive training but that it was committed to continuous improvement.
He confirmed that it was the view of the British government that torture has no place anywhere in the world.
The row over torture is one of the latest in a string of controversies about the UKs asylum system.
In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A baby being taken on to MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos all images by Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A baby among refugees on a boat carrying 185 people off the coast of Libya Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea Migrants and refugees sleeping after being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos ship Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A crew from MSF's Bourbon Argos ship rescuing a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya, at sunrise Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A woman in a stretcher being lifted onto MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya Lizzie Dearden
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration warned last year that asylum seekers who say they have been tortured are facing two-year delays to be medically examined because doctors are overwhelmed by caseload.
A Home Affairs Select Committee report released a month ago found that asylum seekers coming to the UK have been placed in accommodation infested with rats, mice, and bedbugs.
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Conservative MP Peter Bone has suggested panic among EU nationals living in the UK about their fate after Brexit is being talked up.
Speaking after the Government suffered a defeat in the Lords over safeguards for European citizens residing in Britain, Mr Bone sought to downplay fears among EU nationals about their residency status once Britain quits the bloc.
It is only people who are talking up the problem that are actually causing the anxiety, he said.
The Tory backbencher made the comments on BBC Newsnight, where he appeared alongside Nicholas Hatton of the 3 Million group, which represents Europeans living in the UK.
When Mr Hatton explained his apprehension about the impact of Brexit on his right to remain in the country, Mr Bone responded: I am here to reassure you, my next door neighbours are Polish.
The vast majority of people in this country who are from the EU know that they are safe.
However, his claims appeared to contradict many EU citizens living in the UK who have voiced fears about their future after ties with Brussels are severed.
European migrants with British children have spoken about their concerns that families will be torn apart by Brexit if the automatic right to remain in the country is withdrawn.
Panic spread this week after a briefing paper was circulated that suggested the Home Office was able to remove people from the country if they did not have comprehensive sickness insurance.
Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty
Sylvia Gawron, a Polish national studying in the UK, told The Independent: I feel like EU citizens are now treated as a second class citizens nobody cares about our rights, our families and those who depend on us. We have been left in limbo wondering what is going to happen to our futures here.
The Governments immigration stance has been under the spotlight in recent weeks after a string of highprofile incidents involving deportations, both threatened and carried out.
In December, a Dutch woman who had lived in Britain for more than two decades was instructed to prepare to be deported after her application for UK citizenship was rejected.
Government suffers defeat in Lords over plan to begin Brexit negotiations
Monique Hawkins, who has two children and a British husband, said she was left "in limbo" after the surprise refusal from the Home Office.
And earlier this week a woman who had lived in the UK for nearly 30 years with her British husband was deported to Singapore.
Irene Clennell, 53, says she was forced to board a plane without warning on Sunday, after being held for nearly a month in an immigration detention centre in Scotland.
She had been living near Durham with her husband. She has two British sons, as well as a granddaughter, in the UK.
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Around 30 Conservative MPs are ready to vote to give three million EU nationals the right to stay in Britain after Brexit, it was claimed today enough to defeat Theresa May.
A peer who helped inflict a humiliating defeat on the Prime Minister in the House of Lords last night predicted a huge revolt when the controversy returns to the Commons.
Baroness Molly Meacher, an independent crossbencher, said: We understand there are 30 Tories who are saying they will vote to support this amendment.
Obviously the Tory whips in the Commons are going to work extremely hard with all sorts of bribes to get these people to vote with the Government.
I believe it can be won in the Commons on the basis of morality and principle and Tories are principled people in general.
Just three Tory MPs broke ranks when, last month, the Government blocked a bid to unilaterally protect EU nationals rights with a comfortable majority of 42
That suggests around 25 rebels will be needed when the Commons votes again, probably the week after next and some Remain-supporting Conservatives have already said they will not step out of line.
Many trust the Prime Minister after she vowed to ensure the issue is top of her wish-list when the two-year Brexit negotiations get underway, after Article 50 is triggered.
Ms May will not act until she receives the same reassurance for UK citizens living in the EU with German Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed for refusing to start early talks.
But Baroness Meacher warned EU citizens and British ex-pats could be left in a state of limbo at the end of the two-year period, adding: We know it is perfectly possible there will be no deal.
Although the Prime Minister wants to reach a deal straightaway, the EU Commissions negotiators have insisted the UKs hefty divorce bill must be settled first.
Furthermore, with French and German election within the next six months, it is possible that the fate of EU citizens will not be discussed until after then.
The Polish Social and Cultural Association has described the Prime Ministers stance as immoral, warning nationals were too scared to report hate crimes because of confusion about whether they would be able to remain.
And peers warned of the devastating consequences facing public services and the economy without EU workers as well as the fear many feel about their future.
But the pressure on Tory backbenchers not to rebel was underlined by fierce criticism of the Lords vote by leading Leave-backer Iain Duncan Smith.
It is a bit of posturing by some people in the Lords who are beating their chests and puffing out their own sense of self-importance, the former cabinet minister said.
My answer to that is jolly good, nice to hear from you, but it has no bearing on Theresa May's Article 50 negotiations.
The amendment passed by the Lords, with a thumping majority of 102, requires ministers to act to guarantee EU citizens rights within three months of triggering Article 50 which is likely to mean by June.
The scale of the defeat makes it more likely that Ms May will be defeated again next week, when peers will demand a decisive meaningful vote on her final Brexit deal.
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Draconian Government threats to abolish the House of Lords if it held up Brexit have been dropped despite peers defiance over EU citizens rights.
Instead, Downing Street praised the upper chamber for a healthy and vigorous debate after it inflicted Theresa Mays first defeat on the Article 50 Bill.
Last month, Government sources warned the Lords would be abolished if it attempted to frustrate the Bill, which the Commons had passed overwhelmingly.
House of Lords defies Theresa May over EU nationals' right to stay in UK
One un-named Cabinet minister said peers would bring an existential crisis upon themselves and sign their own death warrants.
The Prime Minister was said to be sympathetic to the idea of, at the very least, a dramatic punishment of the unelected Lords.
Peers have now held up the Brexit Bill, delaying the triggering of the EU exit clause by at least one week until the middle of this month.
But, asked if that defiance strengthened the case to finally reform the Lords, a Number 10 spokesman said: The Lords has a constitutional duty to perform and its right that it does that.
Its right that they scrutinise the legislation that is passed up to them. I think we have seen a very healthy and vigorous debate in the Lords.
The climbdown came as the spokesman insisted the Lords defeat would not prevent Article 50 being triggered by the end of March Ms Mays deadline.
We are committed to meeting the timetable that has been set out and believe this will have no impact on that, he said.
The spokesman added: Our message to MPs is that we expect this Bill to go through unamended. MPs voted it through unamended and we expect that to be the case.
It is a Bill with a very simple purpose, as we have set out before to enact the referendum result and allow the Government to get on with the negotiations.
Just three Tory MPs broke ranks when, last month, the Government blocked a bid to unilaterally protect EU nationals rights with a comfortable majority of 42
That suggests around 25 rebels will be needed when the Commons votes again, probably the week after next and some Remain-supporting Conservatives have already said they will not step out of line.
Many trust the Prime Minister after she vowed to ensure the issue is top of her wish-list when the two-year Brexit negotiations get underway, after Article 50 is triggered.
Ms May will not act until she receives the same reassurance for UK citizens living in the EU with German Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed for refusing to start early talks.
But Baroness Molly Meacher, an independent crossbencher, said: We understand there are 30 Tories who are saying they will vote to support this amendment.
And Labours Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: We urge the Government now to immediately bring forward the guarantee to protect the rights of EU nationals resident here and we are working now with our European colleagues to protect the rights of EU citizens here, but also UK citizens in the EU.
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Voters in Northern Ireland have headed to the polls in an emergency election designed to save power-sharing.
Despite fears of a disillusioned and disinterested electorate, voters are thought to have turned out in similar numbers to last Mays elections.
A spokesperson for the Northern Irish Electoral Office said turn out is expected to match that of previous polls.
Sizeable turn-out will be welcome news to proponents of the power-sharing Executive amid fears an exasperated electorate could effectively boycott the vote due to growing dissatisfaction.
The election is the second of its kind in less than twelve months, sparked by the collapse of power-sharing.
More than a decade of cross-community governance between Unionist and Nationalist politicians came to an end last month after Sinn Fein refused to work with their counterparts in the Democratic Unionist Party.
With no devolved Government left, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire was left with no choice but to call an election in a bid to elect a fresh Executive to return to governance.
Unlike Westminster elections, Northern Ireland uses a proportional representation system of single transferable vote.
This means that rather than putting an x in the box of one preferred candidate, voters rank the candidates of their choice with 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.
Brexit 'may reduce prospect of co-operation' in Northern Ireland
The first preferences of each candidate are counted to ascertain the threshold required for candidates to be elected.
After this, candidates deemed not to meet the quota are eliminated and their votes are redistributed among the surviving candidates.
Under this system, five politicians are elected per constituency. The system is designed to ensure minority views and groups attain places, as part of a requirement in the peace process to reflect multiple Northern Irish communities at the Assembly, rather than simple majority rule.
The election is likely to be a test for the Democratic Unionists, who have slumped in public opinion polls recently after it emerged they are linked to a majority financial scandal.
The Renewable Heat Incentive, known locally as the Cash For Ash scandal, was set up under DUP politician Arlene Foster and appears to have been badly mismanaged, resulting in a loss of some 400 million to the Northern Irish taxpayer.
After Ms Foster refused to stand down, Sinn Fein walked away from power-sharing, thereby triggering the election.
The Democratic Unionist Party is expected to see considerable losses at the election due to growing public dissatisfaction and concern about the Cash For Ash affair.
(Niall Carson/PA Wire (pictures by Niall Carson/PA)
Recent reforms have seen constituencies reduced from six politicians per region to five, in a bid to reduce the size of the Assembly and thereby reduce financial costs at Stormont.
However, it is expected that the reform will particularly impact on smaller, newer parties, who are more likely to run on progressive and non-sectarian agendas, prompting concerns fewer moderates will be returned to the parliament and more polarisation will occur.
Counting will begin on Friday at 8am, with first results expected to become apparent in the late afternoon.
A fuller picture of results is expected to have emerged by evening, although some constituencies may take until Saturday.
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John McDonnell has urged Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, to publish his tax returns after he said Labour would compel any British resident earning more than 1m a year to publish their records.
The shadow Chancellors comments aimed at tackling tax avoidance come as Mr Hammond prepares to set out his fiscal plans at the despatch box in next weeks spring Budget.
Speaking at the Southbank Centre in London, he said there would be no place to hide for those who avoid tax and added Labour has drawn on practices in Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden to devise its plans for tax-return disclosures for Britain's wealthiest.
Therell be no place to hide for tax avoiders under Labour. Our tax transparency and enforcement programme will clamp down on the worst avoiders, he said.
And building on the successful Nordic model, we'll introduce legislation to make public the tax returns of those earning over 1m.
Transparency and fairness is at the heart of building a decent, open society. This will help restore public trust in the tax system - and help clamp down on any avoidance.
He added: I invite Philip Hammond to publish his as well because we have a special responsibility. I just want openness and transparency.
Mr McDonnell delivers a speech on the economy at the Southbank Centre in London (Getty)
Mr McDonnell also urged the Chancellor not to ignore the pressures facing the NHS and social care in Britain after the subjects were entirely absent from Mr Hammonds Autumn Statement. Published figures indicate that tax receipts are currently higher than anticipated, he said.
"Given that we're facing an immediate crisis in the NHS and social care, I'm calling on the Chancellor to use that money to address this NHS and social care emergency.
Any measure less than this is likely to be inadequate.
The shadow Chancellors tax avoidance policy also comes after Mr McDonnell wrote in an article that there was a soft coup taking place within the party to overthrow the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
He said in the article for the Labour Briefing website published on Sunday evening that the attempt to remove Mr Corbyn was being perpetrated by an alliance between elements in the Labour Party and the Murdoch empire.
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But when asked about those comments at the speech in London, Mr McDonnell suggested they were written in haste following Tony Blairs intervention last week. He then extended an olive branch to his critics, including the former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, saying he would be willing to take advice from them as it was important for the party to unite.
He added: And, yes, that is holding out hands from my wing of the party, from Momentum we established, to those people in Progress. And, yes, Peter Mandelson. And having a constructive relationship for the future.
So, yes I will be inviting him to come and have a cup of tea, and discuss issues around common concern.
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John McDonnell is set to urge Philip Hammond not to ignore the pressures facing the NHS and social care in Britain as his sets out his fiscal plans in next weeks spring budget.
Setting out Labours three top priorities for the economy including, funding for the NHS and social care, living standards and protected public services the Shadow Chancellor will also urge Mr Hammond not to perform a Jekyll and Hyde routine at the despatch box next week.
At a major speech in London, Mr McDonnell will say: The Chancellor cannot kick the can down the road any longer, or perform a Jekyll and Hyde routine, in which he pretends that he cannot give the proper funding our NHS and social care desperately needs, while at the same time boasting better growth forecasts in the economy.
Recommended City of London calls on Chancellor to deliver stable Brexit
Or pretend the public finances are doing better than expected, yet he has to cut payments to the disabled, while continuing with tax giveaways to a wealthy few.
On the NHS and social care subjects that were not mentioned at the Chancellors autumn budget Mr McDonnell will add: It is essential that the Government use this Budget to give the NHS and social care the funding they urgently need.
The present Conservative Government has been condemned for its fast-and-loose approach to NHS spending.
With the fiscal statement falling on International Womens Day, Mr McDonnell will also cite independent estimates suggesting that 86 per cent of public spending cuts since the start of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010 have fallen on women.
The numbers behind the NHS crisis
Our public services, from education to local government to prison services, are in a deepening crisis and the burden is falling disproportionately on women, he will add. It is women who are bearing the brunt of low pay, cuts to in-work benefits, and the public sector pay cap.
Put together, this Government has created a toxic mix for women.
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The Prime Minister will on Friday accuse Nicola Sturgeon of treating politics like a game in a visit to Scotland on Friday.
Speaking at the Scottish Tories spring conference in Glasgow Theresa May will say the Scottish Government is neglecting school standards by apparently focusing on Scottish independence as an issue.
The SNP on Thursday night warned that Ms May risked further alienating Scottish opinion by presenting a brick wall of Tory intransigence to overtones of compromise.
With the union between Scotland and England under pressure in the wake of the Brexit vote, the PM will use her visit north of the border to highlight her commitment to strengthening and sustaining the bonds that unite us.
Her visit comes ahead of speculation that Ms Sturgeon is set to demand a second Scottish independence referendum in light of the latest Brexit developments. Ms May has pledged to leave the single market and end free movement, breaking SNP red lines laid out before and after the referendum.
The First Minister has said she believes she has a "cast iron mandate" to hold a second such ballot after Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU last year, while the rest of the UK voted to leave.
Ms May will tell the conference: My first visit as Prime Minister was here to Scotland. I wanted to make clear that strengthening and sustaining the bonds that unite us is a personal priority for me.
I am confident about the future of our United Kingdom and optimistic about what we can achieve together as a country."
Attacking the SNP on public services, she will say Scotland's schools are outperformed in every category by those in England, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Poland.
As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I am just as concerned that young people in Dundee get a good start in life and receive the education they need to reach their full potential as I am about young people in Doncaster and Dartford," she will say.
People in Scotland deserve a First Minister who is focused on their priorities - raising standards in education, taking care of the health service, reforming criminal justice, helping the economy prosper, improving people's lives.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during a visit to R:evolve Clothing, an upcycling workshop in Rutherglen, before making an announcement on the Climate Challenge Fund (PA wire)
The Conservatives overtook Labour to become the second largest party at Holyrood in the 2016 Scottish election.
Ms Sturgeon hit back: If the Prime Minister thinks she can come to Scotland and sermonise about where power should lie, in the manner of one of her Tory predecessors, she should remember this:
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Her government has no mandate in Scotland, and no democratic basis to take us out of Europe and the single market against our will.
But increasingly, this Tory Government seems to think it can do what it wants to Scotland and get away with it."
Additional reporting by PA
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A Conservative peer who accused the House of Lords of thinking of nothing but the rights of foreigners employed immigrants in his home.
Lord Norman Tebbit, former minister under Margaret Thatcher, paid a number of immigrants, including Europeans, to carry out household tasks and care for his disabled wife despite having condemned peers during a Brexit debate for attempting to protect the rights of "foreigners".
One Czech woman, Marketa Ziskova, said she worked in the former Conservative cabinet minister's household in 2007 as a relief carer for his disabled wife, during which she claimed she was paid minimum wage and told to address the couple as Lord and "Lady.
Ms Ziskova, who lived in Britain for nine years before returning to the Czech Republic in 2013, provided The Independent with a copy of a pay slip she said demonstrates her employment under Lord Tebbit in May 2017. She described her several months working as a relief carer for Lady Tebbit as an unpleasant experience.
"They always had foreign carers. There was me, a girl from Slovakia and another girl from South Africa, but we worked single-handed shifts," Ms Ziskova said.
When we had time off we still had to stay at their house and sleep there. We couldnt stay with friends, for example.
"We ate dinner with them and were only allowed to drink water while they drank wine. Our food was in a separate fridge and it was mainly Tescos economy.
We had to call them Lord and Lady Tebbit. It felt like they owned us. It was an unpleasant experience."
In response to the claims, Lord Tebbit confirmed to The Independent that he had employed foreign workers in his home, but denied allegations that he mistreated staff.
Government suffers defeat in Lords over plan to begin Brexit negotiations
We never shopped at Tescos, apart from to get petrol. And we never had separate meals. They had their own rooms, their own bathroom, they had a television, the peer said.
Its a long while ago and perhaps her memory I not entirely correct, and quite likely mine isnt either. But I can absolutely assure you that weve never, never had one menu for us and another for the girls working for us.
Apart from anything else it would complicate things because its a big house, but weve only got one kitchen.
Lord Tebbit said that in one instance they had supported a Polish woman who worked for them with her journey through university.
One Polish worker who returned to Poland some years ago to go to university was pretty hard up, so we had her back here every summer and every Christmas," he said.
"It meant she had no living expenses at home, and we were able to pay her so she could earn and save money to finance herself through medical school. Shes going to qualify as a doctor this year."
He added that while he had employed foreign nationals, some black, some white, their household staff was currently made up of only British workers, because they were more likely to be stayers.
For some time now weve been entirely British staffed. The thing about non-British nationals is that they tend to not be 'stayers', he said.
It comes a day after the former minister sparked anger in the House of Lords on Wednesday when he attacked the bid by peers to give a post-Brexit guarantee to three million EU citizens living in Britain.
Drawing gasps from those around him, Lord Tebbit accused peers of attempting to protect the rights of EU nationals of thinking of nothing but the rights of foreigners, before adding: Why is everybody here today so excited about an amendment which looks after foreigners and not the British?
When later asked about the remarks he made in the House of Lords about the rights of EU nationals, Lord Tebbit told The Independent: The gasps of horror in the house of Lords when I referred to foreigners thats what they are. If youre an Italian in Britain, youre a foreigner. If I go to Italy, Im a foreigner.
Of course their rights should be protected. The issue is that Ms Merkel and President Hollande because theyre in political trouble scared of AfD and Marine le Pen they want to talk tough.
Ms Merkel refused to talk to Ms May about settling the matter of the British subjects living in the EU alongside the question of EU national living in Britain. Its very simple what they have to do protect rights on both sides.
Lord Tebbit has been known to express an anti-immigrant sentiment in the past.
As an MP under John Major in 1991, he said he did not think certain immigrant communities would assimilate because some of them insist on sticking to their own culture, like the Muslims in Bradford and so forth, and they are extremely dangerous.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Samir Ali Trend:
Officials of Russian and Israeli embassies in Baku have appealed to the relevant bodies for another meeting with blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Azerbaijan, Lapshins lawyer Eduard Chernin told Trend Mar. 2.
Officials of the Russian Embassy in Baku met Lapshin once, while officials of the Israeli Embassy in Baku met him twice following the bloggers extradition to Azerbaijan, Chernin said.
The allegations that representatives of the embassies cannot meet Lapshin are unfounded, Chernin noted.
In accordance with the rules of organizing meetings, in order to meet Lapshin, one should appeal to the relevant official bodies, the lawyer said. After receiving the response to the appeal, the time for the meeting is appointed.
The lawyer noted that Lapshin has no complaints regarding detention conditions and he can meet his family members.
Armenian media reported that allegedly Lapshins spouse couldnt talk to him and received no information about him, the lawyer noted. I told this to Alexander Lapshin, told him what his wife Yekaterina said, and then got in touch with her. She said she wanted to come to Baku to meet her husband.
The lawyer also said that Lapshins mother Bella Lapshina is in Baku, and she can see her son anytime she wants.
Currently, Lapshin is under custody in Baku Investigative Prison No. 1 (Kurdakhani Pre-trial Detention Center) of the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijans Justice Ministry, and his defense is being provided by lawyer Eduard Chernin, who was appointed by Lapshins family.
Alexander Lapshin is a citizen of several countries and has had a criminal conspiracy with Armenians living in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He also illegally visited these territories.
Lapshin is accused of violating Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.
On Jan. 17, Alexei Stuk, deputy prosecutor general of Belarus, issued a ruling on Lapshins extradition to Azerbaijan. Lapshin was brought to Azerbaijan on Feb. 7.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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Several patients are trapped after the a collapsed at a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, emergency service officials said.
The at the public entrance of the Charlotte Maxeke Hospita caved in as construction workers were trying to seal a leak.
Five people were injured and it was not clear how many people were still trapped under the rubble.
Two of the injured were patients, two were construction workers while one person was a hospital staff member.
Footage on social media showed rescue workers digging at the rubble with their bare hands.
"There are several patients trapped. Rescue workers are busy on the scene at the moment trying to ascertain the safety," ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said.
Eye Witness News quoted sources at the scene saying two people were trapped in the rubble and that one person had been removed. The eNCA television channel said four people had been injured.
Jack Bloom, health spokesman for the Democratic Alliance in Gauteng, said he warned the hospital was "structurally unsound".
Sharing a picture of the collapse on Twitter, he said: "The devastation at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital - I warned years ago that the hospital was structurally unsound."
State hospitals in South Africa have been struggling with persistent underfunding for staff, equipment and facilities.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season last year, contact that immediately fuelled calls for him to recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the election.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, did not disclose those communications at his confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if anyone affiliated with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government.
Sessions answered that he had not had communication with the Russians.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said on Wednesday night that there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer.
That statement did not satisfy Democrats who even before Wednesday had sought his recusal from the ongoing federal investigation and had raised questions about whether he could properly oversee it.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, accused Sessions of lying under oath and demanded that he resign. Other Democrats called on him to step aside from the investigation.
In a statement Wednesday night, Sessions said, I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year in his role as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, the department said.
One was a visit in September in his capacity as a senator, similar to meetings with envoys from Britain, China, Germany and other nations, the department said.
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 other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Sessions gave during the summer, when several ambassadors - including the Russian ambassador - approached Sessions after the talk as he was leaving the stage.
Revelations of the contact, first reported by The Washington Post, triggered calls from members of Congress for Sessions to back out of any involvement in the FBI's probe.
If reports are accurate that Attorney General Sessions - a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump - met with Ambassador Kislyak during the campaign, and failed to disclose this fact during his confirmation, it is essential that he recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians, said Representative Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
This is not even a close call; it is a must, he said.
Asked by reporters on Monday about the prospect of a recusal, Sessions said, I would recuse myself from anything that I should recuse myself on."
At the confirmation hearing in January, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota asked Sessions about allegations of contact between Russia and Trump aides during the 2016 election.
He asked Sessions what he would do if there was evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was unaware of those activities.
Then he added: I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it.
Flores, the Justice Department spokeswoman, said that response was not misleading.
He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign - not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee, she said in a statement.
Franken, in a statement Wednesday night, said he was troubled that the new attorney general's response to his question was at best, misleading. He said he planned to press Sessions on his contact with Russia.
It's clearer than ever now that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately, Franken said.
Separately in January, Senator Patrick Leahy, a Judiciary Committee Democrat, asked Sessions in a written questionnaire whether he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day.
Sessions replied simply, No.
AP
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Hundreds of churches across America are speaking out in defiance of Donald Trumps aggressive immigration stance seeking to protect threatened communities and even offer themselves as physical sanctuaries.
Up to 800 congregations are providing help and support to undocumented migrants who are now at an increased risk of being detained. Some of them are literally offering themselves as sanctuaries, in the expectation that agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are unlikely to enter inside.
Church leaders say communities have become increasingly frightened since Mr Trump directed his administration to enforce the nations immigration laws more aggressively, unleashing the full force of the federal government to find, arrest and deport those in the country illegally. Unlike under the Obama administration, which deported hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants but prioritised those who had committed crimes, Mr Trump has told his government to also target those who have not. Mr Trump wants to hire up to 15,000 new agents.
But activists are equally preparing for a fight. Taking a leaf from the sanctuary movement of the 1980s and 1990s, when Christian communities stepped in to provide help to thousands of Central Americans fleeing the civil wars the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, was at the heart of the effort communities are preparing to take a stand.
Obama created the machinery for this. He later tried to move back from it, Pastor Noel Anderson of the non-profit Church World Service told The Independent. But now Trump is putting this machinery in overdrive.
He added: We are very concerned that these policies are happening. We have a moral responsibility to resist and some congregations are ready to risk the chance of breaking the law.
According to federal law, locations like churches and synagogues are technically public spaces that officials could enter to conduct law enforcement actions. In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo limiting ICE actions at "sensitive locations" such as schools and houses of worship.
Sadiq Khan criticises Trump's 'cruel' immigration policies
But how long that policy remains in place is unclear. Last month, ICE officers waited outside a cold weather shelter attached to the Rising Hope Mission Church in Alexandria, Virginia. At around 6.45am on 8 February, agents swooped on up to half-a-dozen men emerging from the shelter, handcuffed and detained them.
The churchs pastor, Rev Keary Kincannon, said that a number of witnesses saw the men being taken away. Since then, they have been trying to obtain information from the ICE headquarters about what has happened to the men.
The community is a little more fearful. We have had people coming forward to express their concerns, he said. We think [the Trump administration] is trying to send a message. And our message as a church, is that we will do what we do because God loves everyone.
Mr Trump has ordered officials to step up their efforts to detain and deport undocumented migrants (Reuters)
He added: We dont ask people immigration status anymore than wed their political affiliation.
The raid outside the Virginias churches homeless shelter, is just one example of the aggressive new stance being taken by ICE agents following Mr Trumps new directive.
Daniela Vargas, a 22-year-old so-called dreamer who was brought to the US as a child, watched as her father and brother, who were living in the country illegally, were detained by agents in Jackson, Mississippi. When Ms Varagas spoke out at a news conference this week alongside immigrant rights advocates, she too was subsequently detained by officials.
You know who we are and you know why were here, her friend, Jordan Sanders, told Univision about the agents.
Also last month, agents in El Paso arrested an undocumented women who had gone to a courthouse to collect details of a protective order in which she alleged she was a victim of domestic violence.
It was reported that the woman was detained, after officials may have received a tip from the womans alleged abuser, who was already in custody.
Ravi Ragbir, an activist with New Yorks Judson Memorial Church, located next to Washington Park Square, said that in recent weeks he had been travelling across the country to conduct training sessions with other churches who want to learn about becoming sanctuaries. He said that the church had received lots of calls from people very fearful about what may happen to them in the new environment.
Under Obama, there was a facade of humanity, said Mr Ragbir, whose church is one of around a dozen in New York to offer sanctuary to undocumented people. You know that the whole goal is to get rid of as many people as possible.
He added: This is why the community has to mobilise to protect the church and the space. We respond by educating everyone.
He said he believed that for now, ICE agents may be reluctant to forcibly enter a church. However, that could change.
If they come into a church to take someone, it could become violent, he said. There is a sense of tension.
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Jeff Sessions had two meetings with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign, despite saying under oath in his Attorney General confirmation hearing he "did not have communication with the Russians".
Mr Sessions, an early Donald Trump supporter, is said to have met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak once in September 2016, coinciding with US intelligence officials investigating Russian interference in the presidential election, and once in summer of that year.
The Alabama Attorney General, a policy advisor to the Republican candidate who was considered a possible Vice Presidential nominee, failed to disclose those communications at his confirmation hearing in January after being pressed about what he would do if anyone affiliated with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government.
During the hearing, Senator Al Franken drew Mr Sessions attention to a report alleging there was a continued exchange of information during the campaign between Trumps surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.
If there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? Senator Franken asked him.
Senator Franken, Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two during that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians and Im unable to comment on it," Mr Sessions replied.
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
Very well, Senator Franken, a Democrat Minnesota senator and former Saturday Night Live comedian, replied.
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, accused Mr Sessions of lying under oath and called for him to resign. Members of congress have called for the Attorney General to recuse himself from any involvement in the FBIs probe.
On Wednesday night, Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said there there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Sessions said: I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
The Washington Post, citing justice department officials, first reported that Mr Sessions, met with Mr Kislyak the same Russian ambassador who Michael Flynns communication with led to his sacking in February.
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Jeff Sessions spoke on the importance of prosecuting Bill Clinton for perjury during a television interview in 1999.
A younger version of the now Attorney General said he was concerned about a president appearing to lie under oath and that no one is above the law.
The leading Republican figure is under increasing pressure from the Democratic opposition to resign after he allegedly outright lied to the Senate about two conversations with the Russian ambassador.
I am concerned about a president, under oath, being alleged to have committed perjury, said Mr Sessions, speaking to C-Span.
There are serious allegations that that occurred. In America, in the Supreme Court, the American people believe no one is above the law. The president has gotten himself into this fix that is very serious.
The Senate were imminently due to vote on two charges of perjury and obstruction of justice against Mr Clinton, which nearly saw the Democrat impeached.
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The 42nd US President the husband of Hillary was facing unprecedented pressure to resign over his sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
He famously said I did not have sexual relations with that woman in a press conference and repeated the statement under oath in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
A Washington Post article this week revealed Mr Sessions an early advocate of Mr Trumps during his wild-card presidential race failed to disclose to the Senate in January his two conversations with Sergey Kislyak.
Democrat leader in the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said he must resign.
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Joe Bidens youngest son is in a romantic relationship with his sister-in-law, the widow of his brother, Beau Biden.
Beau, the Vice Presidents older son and war veteran, died of brain cancer in May of 2015. His widow, Hallie, is now in a relationship with Beaus younger brother Hunter.
Barack Obamas former Vice President said he and his wife had given their blessing to the relationship.
"Hallie and I are incredibly lucky to have found the love and support we have for each other in such a difficult time, and that's been obvious to the people who love us most, his son, Hunter, told the New York Post in a statement.
We've been so lucky to have family and friends who have supported us every step of the way.
Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Show all 15 1 /15 Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden watch Barack Obama's farewell speech on 11 January. Obama called Biden his 'brother' Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years US President Barack Obama speaks alongside US Vice President Joe Biden about the Affordable Care Act AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Obama listens to Joe Biden speak of his work on defeating cancer on 18 October in the White House Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama is applauded by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden while delivering his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. Vice President Joe Biden interjects as President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a reception for the 25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics at the White House in Washington REUTERS Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react after a heckler was removed for their extended interruption (Reuters) Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) as Vice President Joe Biden looks on Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack and Michelle Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden observing a moment of silence outside the White House to mark the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack Obama and Joe Biden putt on the White House putting green Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama and Joe Biden in April 2013 AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years January 1, 2013: U.S. President Barack Obama winks as he arrives with Vice President Joe Biden (L) in the briefing room Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House May 1, 2011 in Washington, DC Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice-President Joe Biden, right, confirmed that the US was looking at ways of taking legal action against Julian Assange - back in December 2010 GETTY IMAGES Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden, left, and retired military officers watch President Barack Obama sign orders to close down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009 GETTY IMAGES
The outgoing Vice President also expressed his happiness in a statement, saying: We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness. They have mine and Jills full and complete support and we are happy for them.
Hunter and Kathleen Biden reportedly separated in October 2015, five months after Beaus death.
While Hunter and Kathleen Biden have three daughters, Hallie Biden has two children with Beau Biden, who was the Delaware Attorney General from 2007 to 2015.
The death of Beau massively upset the outgoing Vice President at the time and is thought to be one of the reasons why he decided against running for President in 2016.
"No one should ever seek the presidency unless they're able to devote their whole heart and soul and passion into just doing that," Biden told ABC News last year. "Beau was my soul. I just wasn't ready to be able to do that. My one regret is my Beau's not here. I don't have any other regrets."
After his son died, he released a statement, saying: "Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.
Beaus death was not the only tragedy to hit the family. Beau was just two when his mother Neilia was killed in a car crash in 1972 that also took the life of the Vice President's one-year-old daughter.
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Michigan is reportedly the only state in the US which has a law giving police immunity from prosecution if they have sex with prostitutes during an investigation.
Bridgette Carr, a director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, is now working with Representative Gary Glenn to draft a bill to get rid of the law.
Ms Carr told Michigan Radio she became aware of the exemption a couple of years ago when Hawaii was "phasing out their exemption".
And a number of folks in the human trafficking community were upset that Michigan retained the exemption, she told the station.
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty
The exemption potentially allows police officers to have sex with human trafficking victims without facing punishment.
The reason the law is structured the way it is is because of the way the prostitution laws are written, she said.
So for law enforcement to have any power to investigate with immunity, they got all the power. And no one thought to go back and carve out a prohibition against sexual intercourse.
Ms Carr said none of the officers she spoke to said they take advantage of the prosecution.
She added: What I do know from my own clients is that people who either say they are cops, who are cops or who are impersonating cops, know about this exemption and threaten my clients with it sometimes.
Its not rampant, but it happens. And I think it says something about us as a community that we would allow this type of exemption for law enforcement, whether its used very often or not.
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Muslim students in Florida have pledged their solidarity to the Jewish community by sending bouquets of flowers to organisations and synagogues to build bonds of unity in times of great division".
Muslim Student Associations at two universities delivered heartfelt messages alongside the floral tributes to extend a hand of friendship to their Jewish neighbours.
The bouquets were delivered to the Chabad and Hillel organisations at Florida State University (FSU) and to Florida A&M Universitys Shomrei Torah and Temple Israel synagogues in Tallahassee.
We are writing this message to extend a hand of friendship. In times of great division, it is important that we stand together in unity so we hope that these flowers can be seen as a symbol of our solidarity, the note read.
FSU Muslim Student Association President Moneba Anees said the group wanted to make a gesture in light of the increase in hate crimes against minority groups since Donald Trump was elected US president.
Keeping up with the news lately has shown a plethora of very sad stories and hateful crimes against many minority groups, he told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Although we could not think of a way to help our Jewish friends and peers directly, we decided that we could show them that people are taking note of what is happening and that they have our support, love and prayers.
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 floral tributes came just days after a Jewish cemetery was vandalised in St Louis and headstones were overturned at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.
In January, 27 Jewish community centres across 17 US states were targeted with bomb threats, according to the JJC Association of North America.
The bouquets were displayed at Temple Israels Shabbat services and Rabbi Jack Romberg described the gesture as beautiful".
We all had the same reaction. We got a little teary. It was so beautiful, he told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Mr Romberg also said the Jewish community was prepared to return the gesture of solidarity to Muslim citizens if Mr Trump establishes a Muslim registry.
His pledge came after the White House halted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, in what many titled a Muslim ban.
The restrictions were later overturned by the courts, however it led many to accuse Mr Trump of Islamophobia and of specifically targeting Muslim citizens.
During his election campaign he was asked by a reporter whether there would be a database that tracks Muslims in the US, to which he replied: I would certainly implement that."
If there becomes a registration of Muslims, we're going to sign up to register, Mr Romberg said.
Their community and our community, were all feeling the pressure. Whatever differences Jews and Muslims might have had, weve got to put them aside and stand together because its the only way were going to get through the difficult times.
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One of the leading Democratic Party politicians in Washington has said under-fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath and must resign.
House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi also said the Republican, and keen Donald Trump supporter, was not fit to serve.
Mr Sessions is under increasing pressure from the opposition after the Washington Post revealed how he failed to disclose his two conversations with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign.
Now, after lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign, said Ms Pelosi.
Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign.
There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians.
Ms Pelosi, who infamously once said she could guarantee the 70-year-old billionaire would not become president, pointed to Mr Sessions confirmation hearing in January.
Mr Sessions, who was early an advocate of Mr Trumps during his wild-card race for the White House, appeared to outright deny contact with the Russians.
Ms Pelosi, who made history when she became the first female speaker in The House, added: Under penalty of perjury, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
We now know that statement is false.
In a response to Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, Mr Session's exact words were: "I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
The 76-year-old, in a statement tweeted out yesterday, said Mr Sessions has never had the credibility to oversee the FBI investigation of senior Trump officials ties to the Russians.
Mr Sessions replaced acting Attorney General Sally Yates who refused to play along with Mr Trumps immigration travel ban.
In a response this week, Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Mr Session's response at the Senate was not misleading.
Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the
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Randy Stiles learned the hard way: Having a Confederate flag tattoo that reads Southern Pride with a noose hanging off it isnt a path to success.
A lot of public ridicule came from it, Stiles, 25, said this month as he waited to get the flag on his right forearm removed. Ive got to get it gone.
Eliminating a tattoo like this takes hours under the needle and usually costs as much as $500 (406). But Southside Tattoo in Brooklyn Park, Maryland, is removing the hate for free, covering up racist and gang-related tattoos as part of its mission.
Recommended The doctor removing face tattoos to give gang members new lives
A no-cost coverup fits right into Stiless budget. Though he got the tattoo at 18 when he was young and dumb, he said the father of three now hopes to move into management at the trucking company where he works and worries the tattoo could hold him back.
Though hes not a racist, he said, the tattoo made him look like one.
Its not something I would wish on anyone, said Stiles, of Baltimore. A racist [or] gang tattoo puts a target on you.
Dave Cutlip, who runs Southside, said he and his wife developed the idea of free coverups in January after a man came into his tattoo parlor hoping to get a gang tattoo removed from his face.
Randy Stiless original tattoo of a Confederate flag with a noose and the words Southern Pride is concealed by an eagle spreading its wings (Dave Cutlip)
I could see the hurt in his eyes, Cutlip said.
Cutlip, 49, couldn't help the man, it turned out, because the tattoo was too prominent. Might he be able to help someone else? He and his wife turned to Facebook, offering free coverups for racist or gang tattoos with no questions asked.
Sometimes people make bad choices, and sometimes people change, the post reads. We believe that there is enough hate in this world and we want to make a difference.
The post was so widely shared that Cutlip turned off Facebook notifications on his phone. He books the free coverup appointments on Tuesdays and has worked with seven clients so far.
The post also led to a crowdfunding effort for the Random Acts of Tattoo Project, which Cutlip created with his wife. Cutlip doesnt take any of the money, but plans to direct it to tattoo artists in other parts of the country who cant work for free and to those with training in laser tattoo removal.
In prison and on the street, he said, some people are forced into hate groups and gangs to avoid becoming victims themselves. But later in life, a tattoo memorialising that hatred and violence works against them.
Once you do something like that, you're always going to be a victim, Cutlip said. If I can help that person, thats my ultimate goal.
The desire to cover hateful or violent tattoos isnt new. One program that removed gang members tattoos began in Virginia in 2007. In 2010, a judge in Florida ordered a neo-Nazis tattoos to be covered with makeup during his trial; the Southern Poverty Law Center funded the removal of a skinheads tattoos the following year.
Dave Cutlip fills in the eagle covering the Confederate flag tattoo on Randy Stiless arm (Washington Post)
In this corner of Anne Arundel County, about a mile south of Baltimore, where Southside sits in a strip mall, its Facebook post brought diverse queries. Cutlip was asked about covering up an iron cross and a Dead Man Incorporated tattoo from a notorious white prison gang, among other pleas for help.
The challenge wasnt confronting hateful ideology but figuring out ways to erase it. Examining a photo of a swastika tattoo a woman wanted removed from her lower back she said it cost her young son a spot in a playgroup Cutlip begrudgingly admired its dark colour and clean lines.
I hate to say it, he said. This is a great tattoo.
He decided that the Random Acts of Tattoo Project would pay for laser removal elsewhere.
Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity Show all 15 1 /15 Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity This penguin was carefully designed by Ganji Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity This delicate tree is based on one simple line Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity The black and white tattoos are all based on linear designs Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity Ganji designed this map of the world Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity The simple linear tattoo lines have become a trademark of Ganji's work Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity This bird, squirrel and turtle are all designed by Ganji Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity The artist derided the culture of "more is better than less" in an interview Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity The Star Wars themed tattoo is also based on Mo's one line principle Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity This chest piece was designed by the German based tattoo artist Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity Mo Ganji left a job in fashion to work as a tattoo artist Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity Ganji gave an interview to tattoo artist directory Tattrx Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity This elephant is borne of one single tattooed line Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity Believe it or not, this fox is also made up of one single line. Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity These three trees are one of Mo Ganji's designs Mo Ganji Mo Ganji's linear tattoos are beautiful in their simplicity This mountain scene was designed and tattoo by Ganji Mo Ganji
To cover up his Confederate flag, Stiles, who has about a dozen tattoos, settled on a replacement he deemed patriotic: an eagle. The coverup involved two hours-long sessions, with Cutlips tattoo gun humming as it injected black and brown ink under Stiless skin, the artist periodically wiping the blood away.
Casey Schaffer showed up at the shop with the word white on one forearm and power on the other. The 29-year-old said the tattoos were a result of a one-year prison stint at Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown for assault.
Schaffer said he fell in with gangs in a prison environment where everybody sticks to their own kind.
I kind of did it to try to get in and prove myself to those guys, he said. They kind of took me in, taking care of me. I thought of it as paying it back to them.
Casey Schaffer had the word white tattooed on one arm and power on the other a result, he said, of a year spent in prison. Right: A heart and two roses now conceal the white tattoo (Dave Cutlip)
Schaffers out of jail now and looking for work. He said he thinks construction would be a good fit and is also interested in nursing, but he said his criminal record and tattoos might create obstacles.
Working with Cutlip, Schaffer decided to cover up the word white with a heart and roses drawn by his girlfriend. Power could stand on its own, he said, but he decided to cover it with a hawk.
I think it looks pretty badass, he said. It works for me.
Cutlip, whos been tattooing for 25 years, said he's seen plenty of people make mistakes with ink, even involving more mundane designs. Decades later, a customer might not appreciate, say, a tattoo of a dolphin or a college beaus name.
He cant fix every bad tattoo, but he can fix some of the really bad ones.
I take each customer as they come, he said. I want them to feel that they have a say in this.
Washington Post
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Anvar Mammadov Trend:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to support the government of Azerbaijan in holding reforms in the country, Chief of the IMF Mission in Azerbaijan Mohammed El Qorchi, who is on a visit in Baku, said in an interview with Trend.
El Qorchi noted that the Azerbaijani government hasnt appealed to the IMF for the support, but if it happens, the Fund is ready to provide necessary assistance.
The IMF is ready to support countries, which are the members of the Fund, he added.
Chief of the IMF mission said that currently, the IMF only provides the necessary technical assistance.
Currently, we provide only technical assistance in various spheres, as well as conduct the supervisory policy, noted El Qorchi adding that these two instruments are the main directions of IMFs activity, and the same work is being carried out with regard to all IMF member countries.
It should be recalled that in 1995-2005, the IMF allocated loans worth $577.3 million in order to support economic reforms in Azerbaijan. Currently, these loans are completely repaid. Starting from 2005, there has been no need in Azerbaijan for IMF funds, therefore, since 2006 the IMF and Azerbaijan have been cooperating within the framework of consultations and technical assistance missions on key areas of macroeconomic policy.
The International Monetary Fund opened its office in Baku in 1992. The IMF missions visit to Azerbaijan will last until the end of this week.
The mission has already had meetings in Azerbaijans Economy Ministry, Finance Ministry, Central Bank (CBA), State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) and Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA).
The IMF mission is also expected to have meetings in Azerbaijans Ministry of Taxes, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population, State Oil Company (SOCAR), State Statistics Committee, as well as with leading commercial banks of the country.
The previous IMF mission led by Mohammed El Qorchi visited Azerbaijan in May-June 2016. During the visit, the sides discussed economic processes in Azerbaijan and reforms being conducted in the country.
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The US woke up on Thursday to a triple whammy of new media reports linking the Trump administration with Russia, throwing the White House on the defensive and sparking fresh calls for a formal investigation.
The most significant of the claims that Donald Trumps new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, met twice with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 election was first reported in the Washington Post.
Mr Sessions has issued fresh denials that he spoke to Russian officials to discuss the elections.
He told NBC News the reports were unbelievable, adding that he would only recuse himself from an investigation into Russian involvement in the election whenever its appropriate to do so.
Jeff Sessions says under oath that he has not had any contact with Russia
The Justice Department does not deny Mr Sessions met the ambassador in July and September 2016, but says that he did so in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Forces committee and not to discuss the election.
The Attorney General was an early supporter of Mr Trump as a Republican candidate and served as a policy adviser during his campaign. The Justice Department says he had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year, including two with Russias Sergey Kislyak, in his capacity as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But he failed to mention this contact in his confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign had been in contact with the Russian government, and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said this amounted to lying under oath.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores insisted on Wednesday night that there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer. Some Democrats have said the omission is grounds enough for Sessions to be relieved of his post, while Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Mr Sessions must now recuse himself of any role investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia.
The Washington Posts report was followed up by one in the Wall Street Journal, quoting sources as saying US investigators have already started examining contacts between Mr Sessions and Russian officials during the presidential campaign.
Whether that inquiry was still going on, and what its findings were, wasnt clear, the sources said.
The newspaper reported that the FBI had been leading the investigation, which was part of a wide-ranging probe by the intelligence services into communications between Trump surrogates and Russian operatives.
And separately, the New York Times reported that meetings took place during the election in multiple European cities, between Russian officials and associates of Mr Trump.
It cited three former American officials, and said the meetings had been monitored by the British and Dutch intelligence services who then in turn notified the US government under Barack Obama.
American spies had also intercepted Russian communications in which officials, including some with the Kremlin, discussed contacts with the Trump team, the Times reported.
Mr Trump has denied having any knowledge that aides were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, and such denials prompted Obama-era officials to rush to preserve any evidence to the contrary, according to the Times.
On Tuesday, White House lawyers instructed the president's aides to preserve any materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the election, three administration officials told the Associated Press.
The Senate intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has also asked more than a dozen organisations, agencies and individuals to preserve relevant records.
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 three administration officials who confirmed that White House staffers were instructed to comply did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn.
One official said McGahn's memo instructs White House staff to preserve material from Trump's time in office, and for those who worked on the campaign, relevant material from the election.
A Trump spokesman said the White House was simply taking proactive steps and called the accusations of nefarious ties between the president and Russia false and politically motivated attacks.
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Donald Trump's claim that he was willing to compromise on immigration gave many hope before his Joint Address to Congress on Tuesday. But its now being reported that it was completely untrue. And who was the source for the story? Donald Trump.
Before his speech the President told reporters at the White House that he was willing moderate his extreme stance, and potentially grant millions of undocumented immigrants legal status. "The time is right for an immigration bill as long as there is compromise on both sides," he said.
This was hailed as a dramatic shift in policy, and welcomed by many of his critics. However, in his speech to Congress Mr Trump never mentioned anything of the sort.
Almost every big claim Trump made at address to Congress was false
A senior White House official has since admitted to CNN it was a "misdirection play". This has been attacked by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who accused Trump of intentionally misleading the press. "That's a wonderful turn of phrase," he said. "Another way to describe that is a 'lie.'"
CNN's White House reporter Sara Murray, who spoke to the official, has also accused the administration of manipulating the press. "They fed up things they thought these anchors would like, that they thought would give them positive press coverage for the next few hours".
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 attorney and CNN columnist Paul A Reyes has also attacked Mr Trump for misleading the network, and labelled his actions "the great immigration fake-out". "At best, his earlier statements about immigration reform were a publicity stunt [...] At worst, this bait-and-switch was a cruel hoax millions of undocumented people who might have briefly hoped for a reprieve from possible deportation.
As President Mr Trump has pushed a hard-line stance on immigration. He has vowed to go after undocumented immigrants much more than previous administrations, leading many to fear mass deportations. He has also called for 15,000 more Border Patrol and ICE agents, who perform raids on immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.
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Christopher Steele, the former MI6 spy who prepared the explosive Trump report, has been approached about testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committees investigation into the new Presidents alleged links with Russia, The Independent can reveal.
Mr Steeles friends say it is currently unlikely he would be willing to travel to the US. But it is understood Democrats as well as some Republicans in Congress are prepared to facilitate discreet initial meetings in the UK or on other neutral territory.
John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent an intermediary to London in November last year to collect Mr Steeles dossier, which was subsequently passed personally by the Senator to FBI director James Comey.
And Mr Steele had, while carrying out his Trump inquiry, himself liaised for regular periods with the bureau.
Mr Trump has personally attacked Mr Steele, declaring the report on the Kremlin connection by the former MI6 officer as a fabricated work, put together by a failed spy.
In reality, Mr Steele was, and continues to be, held in high regard by British security and intelligence services as well as the American security officials who worked with him in the past.
It emerged this week that the FBI had, at one stage, proposed to pay him to continue his investigation into Mr Trump and his associates.
Trump denies team had contact with Russia during election campaign
But that deal fell through and Mr Steele ultimately continued to work without pay because he was so worried by what he was discovering.
Mr Steele has not yet responded to requests to meet with Senate officials described as informal at this stage for testimony, which have come over the last fortnight. But friends say he may be willing to speak about his investigation to senators and US officials if certain security conditions are met.
The development comes amid fresh revelations of the Trump administrations interaction with the Russians. It has emerged that Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, was in contact with Moscows ambassador to the US during the election campaign.
Mr Trumps national security adviser, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, was forced to resign after details of similar communications surfaced last month.
It has also emerged that in the last days of Barack Obamas presidency, officials were so worried that the incoming Trump administration would try to suppress or destroy incriminating material that they passed on information to the intelligence agencies and senior figures in Congress.
There is now similar concern that the Trump White House is trying to sabotage the Russia investigations. Democrats have asked for an inquiry into attempts by White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to get the FBI to dismiss media reports about members of Mr Trumps coterie contacting Russian officials.
The drive to contact Mr Steele and others, according to those familiar with the issue, is to try and ensure that as much information as possible is gathered by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The committee is carrying out its own investigation, separate from one being conducted by the FBI, on the Russian links and attempts by the Kremlin to interfere in the American political process. There will, however, be mutual sharing of relevant material.
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 Washington Post this week reported the plan by the FBI to pay Mr Steele, who was one of MI6s foremost Russia specialists, to continue his inquiries.
The Independent understands that the offer came after the discovery of a campaign of cyber hacking on state electoral systems in September, which led to a public charge against Moscow by the Obama administration.
Mr Steele became involved in the Trump investigation through the Washington-based firm Fusion GPS, which had been hired by Republican opponents of Mr Trump in September 2015.
In June 2016, Mr Steele joined up with the team. In July, Mr Trump won the Republican nomination and the Democrats became new employers of Mr Steele and Fusion GPS. With that contract due to come to an end with the election, the FBI stepped in with its offer of funding.
Vice President Mike Pence whispers in the Presidents ear (Getty)
Mr Steele has been regularly supplying information to the FBI. In June last year, for instance, he produced a memo which went to the bureau stating that Mr Trumps campaign team had agreed to a Russian request to dilute attention on Moscows intervention in Ukraine.
Four days later Mr Trump stated that he would recognise Moscows annexation of Crimea: officials involved in his campaign having already asked the Republican partys election platform to remove a pledge for military assistance to the Ukrainian government against separatist rebels in the east of the country.
Mr Steele claimed the Trump campaign was taking this path because it was aware that the Russians were hacking Democratic Party emails. The same day that Mr Trump spoke about Crimea, he called on the Kremlin to hack Hillary Clintons emails.
However, Mr Steele became increasingly frustrated that the FBI was failing to take action on the intelligence from others as well as him.
He came to believe there was a cover-up, that a cabal within the bureau blocked a thorough inquiry into Mr Trump, focusing instead on the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails. The MI6 officers passing of information to the FBI ceased in December last year.
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George W Bush's chief ethics lawyer has said Jeff Sessions' denial he had contact with a Russian ambassador during the Presidential campaign was "a good way to go to jail".
Mr Sessions had two conversations with Sergey Kislyak during the campaign season but, at his confirmation hearing for the Attorney General post he now holds, told senators he "did not have communications with the Russians".
An early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, Mr Sessions had been asked what he would do if he discovered "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government. He has now been accused of "lying under oath" by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader.
Commenting on the revelations, ethics lawyer Richard Painter said: "Misleading the Senate in sworn testimony about [one's] own contacts with the Russians is a good way to go to jail."
The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Mr Painter was President Bush's chief ethics lawyer from February 2005 to July 2007.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said "there was absolutely nothing misleading" about Mr Sessions' answer during the confirmation hearing. "He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaignnot about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee," she added.
And Mr Sessions said: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Mr Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year in his role as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, the department said.
One was a visit in September in his capacity as a senator, similar to meetings with envoys from Britain, China, Germany and other nations, the department added.
The other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Mr Sessions gave during the summer, when several ambassadorsincluding the Russian ambassadorapproached Mr Sessions after the talk as he was leaving the stage.
Democratic congressman Adam Schiff, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said: "If reports are accurate that Attorney General Sessions, a prominent surrogate for Donald Trump, met with Ambassador Kislyak during the campaign, and failed to disclose this fact during his confirmation, it is essential that he recuse himself from any role in the investigation of Trump campaign ties to the Russians."
Separately in January, Senator Patrick Leahy, a Judiciary Committee Democrat, asked Mr Sessions in a written questionnaire whether "he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day."
Mr Sessions replied: "No."
Mr Trump's administration was hit with a "triple whammy" of news stories concerning links to Russia on Thursday.
In addition to the confirmation hearing controversy, sparked by a story in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources as saying US investigators had already started examining contacts between Mr Sessions and Russian officials during the presidential campaign.
Whether that inquiry was still going on, and what its findings were, was not clear, the sources said.
The newspaper reported that the FBI had been leading the investigation, which was part of a wide-ranging probe by the intelligence services into communications between Trump surrogates and Russian operatives.
And, separately, the New York Times reported that meetings took place during the election in multiple European cities between Russian officials and associates of Mr Trump.
Richard Nixon's former lawyer, described by the FBI as the "master manipulator of the [Watergate] cover-up", was moved to give the current President advice.
John Dean said: "Hey Donald, a tip: Cover-ups don't get easier as they proceed. Russia tie leaks drown your joint session speech in less than 24 hrs."
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Richard Nixon's former lawyer has warned President Donald Trump over his administration's alleged links to the Kremlin.
John Dean, who was referred to as the "master manipulator of the [Watergate] cover-up" by the FBI, gave evidence against President Nixon before the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973.
"Hey Donald, a tip," he wrote on Twitter. "Cover-ups don't get easier as they proceed.
"Russia tie leaks drown your joint session speech in less than 24 hrs."
It comes amid revelations Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign last year, leading to calls for his recusal.
Mr Sessions, an early supporter of Mr Trump, did not disclose the communications at his confirmation hearing when asked what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government.
Mr Dean has previously described Mr Trump as "more Nixonian than Nixon" in his hatred towards the media.
He also compared the Trump administration's efforts to use the intelligence agencies for political purposes with Mr Nixon's attempt sto use the CIA to push the FBI away from investigating the Watergate burglary.
Mr Dean said: What I see and hear are echoes of Watergate.
"We dont have Watergate 2.0 yet, but what we have is something that is beginning to look like it could go there."
Almost every big claim Trump made at address to Congress was false
When asked whether Mr Trump could be impeached over his conduct, Mr Dean said it was an unlikely outcome due to the majority of majority of Republicans in the House and Senate.
It takes really a national change of attitude about this president before were going to have an impeachment," he added.
Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Show all 22 1 /22 Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Right today, given the fact that the House and Senate are controlled by the Republicans, theyre not going to impeach their president.
"As long as he gives them what they want and signs into legislation or signs into law a lot of the things that theyve had in their dreams for many years, theyre not going to give him any problem.
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Donald Trump's new secretary of the interior rode a horse to work on his first day in the job.
Ryan Zinke, a keen outdoorsman and a former Navy SEAL, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday.
He arrived for his first day in charge of a fifth of the United States' surface land to say nothing of natural resources below groundwith serious swagger, wearing a cowboy hat and blue jeans, in the saddle of a tall brown horse.
Honored to stand with the brave officers of @USParkPolice - these professionals put their lives on the line for us, he tweeted, after posing for photographs.
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
Let's get to work, he added, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Mr Zinke's portfolio will include overseeing the US' national parks and natural resources like gas, oil and timber, as well as managing land and services for Native American tribes.
He praised his new boss as a great president and a commander in chief I will fight with.
Mr Zinke is the 16th of 22 of Mr Trump's cabinet and cabinet-level nominations to win Senate approval. Ben Carson, his choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, cleared a Senate hurdle by a vote of 62 to 37. Mr Carson's confirmation was expected later this week.
The 55-year-old former Montana congressman resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention last year to protest the GOP's position in favour of land transfers to state or private groups.
Still, his stance on public lands has come into question in recent weeks after he voted in favour of a House rule that would allow federal land transfers to be considered cost-free and budget-neutral, making it easier for drilling and development.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Zinke at Interior should concern every lover of our great and grand national parks.
Dismissing the Republican's claim to be like President Teddy Roosevelt, Mr Schumer said: You can't be a Roosevelt conservationist if you sell off public lands.
Countering the Democrat, Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines said Mr Zinke will be a strong advocate for our public lands.
Mr Zinke, who recently began his second term as Montana's sole House member, told senators at a January hearing that federal land management should be done under a multiple-use model that allows hiking, hunting, fishing and camping along with harvesting timber, mining for coal and drilling for oil and natural gas.
He also pledged to tackle an estimated $12bn (9.8bn) backlog in maintenance and repair at national parks and stand firm against attempts to sell, give away or transfer federal lands.
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she is not convinced that Mr Zinke will be able to stand up to Mr Trump and prevent oil, gas and mining companies from unduly exploiting public lands.
Ms Cantwell also said Mr Zinke appears willing to support transfer of some federal lands to states, citing his vote for the GOP-sponsored rules package. She worries that Mr Zinke may weaken or repeal recent designations by President Barack Obama of national monuments, including Utah's Bears Ears monument.
Senate Energy Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski of Alaska called Mr Zinke an excellent choice, noting that the fifth-generation Montanan is an avid hunter, fisherman and skier.
He was born in the West. He lives in the West. He understands it, he understands its people, Ms Murkowski said.
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Mr Zinke also has firsthand experience in trying to solve problems faced by the Interior Department and has shown he understands the need for the department to be a partner of Alaska and our Western states, Ms Murkowski said.
During his hearing, Mr Zinke rejected Mr Trump's claim that climate change is a hoax, saying it is indisputable that environmental changes are affecting the world's temperature and human activity is a major reason.
I think where there's debate is what that (human) influence is and what can we do about it, he said.
Mr Zinke also pledged to work with members of Congress on monument designations, noting the strong opposition to Bears Ears by Utah's congressional delegation and governor.
I think the state should have a say on it, he said.
Additional reporting by agencies
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An internal White House review of strategy on North Korea reportedly includes the possibility of direct military action or regime change to counter the hermit kingdom's nuclear threat.
Deputy national security adviser K T McFarland held a meeting with other officials to discuss the US response to a fresh series of provocations from the North, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Ms McFarland requested for all options to remain open with regard to American foreign policy towards Pyongyang, including for the country to recognise North Korea as a nuclear state and the possibility of a direct conflict.
The proposals are now being vetted prior to review by President Donald Trump.
Abe and Trump condemn North Korea's latest missile launch
It comes as South Korea and the US agreed last week to strengthen cooperation on financial sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile test last month.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and South Korea Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho expressed "great concern" over North Korea's ballistic missile test and promised to follow through with United Nations sanctions, as well as their own, the South Korean ministry said in a statement after a call between the pair.
North Korea has condemned the start of annual US-South Korean military drills with fiery rhetoric, threatening to "mercilessly foil the nuclear war racket of the aggressors with its treasured nuclear sword".
A spokesman for the General Staff of the North Korean People's Army said the North's reaction will be the toughest ever, but did not elaborate.
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
South Korea's military said it will "resolutely" punish North Korea if provoked.
The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against potential aggression from the North.
The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
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The US raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL and up to 30 civilians reportedly uncovered "no actionable intelligence".
Although the Pentagon said the Navy SEAL raid secured laptops, hard drives and mobile phones, multiple US officials told NBC News none of the intelligence gained has been actionable or vital.
Vice President Mike Pence has denied reports the raid yielded no significant intelligence.
In an interview with CBS This Morning, Mr Pence noted that Defence Secretary James Mattis confirmed again that "significant intelligence was gathered" in the January military operation.
Mr Pence said the data Mr Owens died helping to collect will "lead to the safety and security of the American people."
Almost every big claim Trump made at address to Congress was false
William "Ryan" Owens, 36, a married father of three, was the first known US combat casualty since President Donald Trump took office.
His widow, Carryn Owens, was a guest at Mr Trump's address to Congress earlier this week, prompting an extended standing ovation from the joint chamber.
"Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies," Mr Trump said, quoting Mr Mattis.
"Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero, battling against terrorism and securing our nation," Mr Trump added.
The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters
The Associated Press quoted a US official describing a three-page list of information gathered from the raid, including information on al-Qaida training techniques and targeting priorities.
But Mr Owens' death, as well as the killing of several civilians, has raised questions about the effectiveness of the raid.
Mr Owens' father, Bill, has called for an investigation into the planning of the raid and criticised the Trump administration for its timing.
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Lawyers have ordered Donald Trumps administrations to save any potential evidence of alleged Russian interference in the US election.
Instructions were sent to White House staff after Democrats in the US Senate requested the administration and security agencies to keep all material on links between Mr Trumps aides, campaign or transition team and the Kremlin.
As part of its investigation into Russias possible role in the presidential election, the Senate intelligence committee has also asked more than a dozen groups, agencies and individuals to preserve relevant records.
Trump denies team had contact with Russia during election campaign
Officials told the Associated Press Mr Trumps staff in Washington were ordered to comply with a memo from White House counsel Don McGahn on Tuesday.
One source said McGahn's memo instructs current staff to preserve material from Mr Trump's time in office, and for those who worked on the campaign, relevant material from the election.
Chuck Schumer of New York, the leader of Democrats in the Senate, said he was worried about the potential destruction of data last week.
There is real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts and other records that could shine a light on those connections, he claimed.
These records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations and must be preserved."
A spokesperson for Mr Trump said the administration was simply taking proactive steps and called the accusations of nefarious ties between the President and Russia false and politically motivated attacks.
Mr Trump has defended Russia against his own intelligence agencies allegations of involvement in the Democratic National Committee cyber attacks and other leaks and fake news spread to damage Hillary Clinton.
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 assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election, said a report released before Mr Trumps inauguration in January by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Russias goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency.
We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.
He dismissed the findings, supported by all three main American intelligence agencies, and has repeatedly insisted he has no links with Russia and dismissed the scandal as fake news generated by his opponents and the dishonest media.
But Mr Trump has been continually dogged by questions about his advisers' ties to Russia since the campaign, which are being probed by federal investigators, while congressional committees are investigating Russia's role in political cyber attacks.
He has denied having any knowledge that aides were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, as reported by the New York Times.
Jeff Sessions speaks at his confirmation hearing in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
A new scandal was brewing on Thursday over revelations that the Presidents pick for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, met the Russian ambassador twice in the run-up to the election but did not disclose the meetings at his confirmation hearing.
The White House has already acknowledged that Michael Flynn, Mr Trump's former national security adviser, misled top officials about the nature of his contacts with the same ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.
Mr Flynn initially told Vice President Mike Pence he did not discuss sanctions with the envoy during the transition, though it was later revealed that he did.
The FBI interviewed him about the contacts days after the inauguration but he was not forced to resign until the discrepancies in his account were publicly revealed.
Democratic politicians have been leading calls for a special prosecutor to investigate Russias links to the election and Mr Trumps administration.
The Russian government has repeatedly denied interfering in the election, or allegations its intelligence agents had been in contact with Mr Trumps campaign team.
He and Mr Putin have vowed to repair tis between Russia and the US, which have been damaged by the Ukrainian conflict, escalation with Nato and the Kremlins backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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Donald Trumps Press Secretary Sean Spicer has denied fresh allegations that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied to the Senate about his communications with Russia.
Speaking on behalf of the President, Mr Spicer dismissed the controversy as partisan politics and claimed Mr Sessions was "100 per cent straight with the committee.
Mr Sessions had two conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the election campaign however, at his confirmation hearing for the Attorney General post he now holds, he told senators he "did not have communications with the Russians".
It came as US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called for his resignation, and for his alleged meetings with the ambassador to be investigated.
Mr Schumer said a special prosecutor should be appointed to conduct a probe into Russian involvement in the presidential election, and "to discover if the investigation has already been compromised" by Mr Sessions' own conduct.
"His integrity and independence have been questioned, it would be better for the country if he resigns," Mr Schumer told a news conference.
However the White House dismissed concerns about Mr Sessions' ability to investigate the Trump administrations other apparent ties to Russia.
Mr Spicer told Fox News: "Theres nothing to recuse himself."
Recommended The moment Jeff Sessions misled Congress under oath about Russia
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores also defended Mr Sessions' denial of Russian contact during his confirmation hearing, saying: "There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Sessions said: I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
It comes just weeks after Mr Trump was forced to sack his national security adviser Michael Flynn after he failed to disclose communications with Mr Kislyak during the election campaign.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Anvar Mammadov Trend:
Special interest is paid to a stand of Azerbaijan at the Gulfood 2017 exhibition which is being held in Dubai, the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry said in a message March 2.
As a result of the talks conducted between representatives of Azerbaijani and Spanish companies as part of the exhibition, one of Azerbaijani companies has already received an order to supply 128 tons of hazelnuts to the Spanish city of Valencia, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the representatives of Azerbaijani companies also met with Saudi Arabian businessmen as part of the exhibition.
During the meeting, the talks were held to export Azerbaijani meat and meat products to Saudi Arabia, the ministry said.
According to the message, the issue of establishing the Azerbaijani-Saudi Arabian joint ventures was also discussed at the meeting.
An agreement was made as part of the meetings to supply Azerbaijani pomegranate juice to Kuwait and the countrys milk powder products to Dubai, the ministry said.
According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Spain amounted to $39.25 million in January 2017, which is by 13.3 times more compared to January 2016. Thus, $35.8 million of that amount accounted for the export of Azerbaijani goods to Spain.
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Chinese state media has said that a prominent Chinese rights activist had made up fake news of torture to grab international headlines, but his defenders said the accusations were a coordinated attempt to smear his name.
State media said disbarred lawyer Jiang Tianyong, 46, was behind news reports of police torturing another detained rights activist, Xie Yang, and that Jiang had later admitted to telling Xies wife to make up details of torture in captivity to attract attention to the case.
Reports in January by The New York Times based on testimony from Xies wife and lawyer described, in vivid detail, threats and violence from the police reportedly used to force a confession from Xie.
The stories are essentially fake news, the official Xinhua news agency said in an English-language article.
The influential Global Times and a number of other state media outlets carried similar articles in Chinese on Thursday, each featuring an interview with Jiang, and many also included a photo of Xie with a shaved head, smiling, behind bars.
Jiang could not be reached for comment.
Chinese state media regularly features exposes of criminal activities by rights activists based on interviews where the accused confess their crimes. But rights groups say the questioning is usually scripted and carried out under duress.
The interviews with Jiang differed from the past in that they are the first time the phrase fake news has been used to describe media reports, probably borrowing it from Donald Trumps attack on major Western media, says Patrick Poon, China researcher at Amnesty International.
Jiangs wife, Jin Bianling, told Reuters that the authorities merely wanted to discredit him because he received so much attention in the international media.
Jin and Jiangs parents have been unable to speak to Jiang since he went missing in November after visiting relatives of Xie Yang in the city of Changsha, in central Hunan province.
Its all fake. How are they all able to interview him when his family cannot meet him? said Jiangs wife, who lives in the United States.
An individual who answered the phone at the Changsha Public Security Bureau declined to comment.
The European Union has cited Jiangs detention as reason for being extremely troubled by the deteriorating rights situation in China.
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
State media said Jiang convinced Xies wife, Chen Guiqiu, in September to make up a detailed account of Xie being deprived of sleep, placed in smoke-filled rooms and beaten so as to bring international attention to the case.
An independent investigation by legal authorities found Xie had not been tortured, state media said.
Xies lawyer, Chen Jiangang, who is not related to Xies wife, told Reuters the torture accounts were genuine, adding that he had also interviewed Xie and been told the same thing.
Chen could not be reached for comment.
Reuters
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By the age of three, he said, he could read, write and speak fluently in three languages.
Encouraged by his mother, a renowned professor of child and adolescent psychology in the UK, he had, he told one journalist, entered Princeton University at 13, before becoming the youngest registered psychologist in the history of the American Psychological Association.
And at the age of 32, Mikhy K Farrera-Brochez APA, APS, MCollT, MS DPSY, DipED was convicted of being a lying fantasist who forged educational qualifications and used his boyfriends blood for an HIV test so he could hide the fact he had the virus and work in Singapore.
As Mr Farrera-Brochez was sentenced by a Singapore court to 28 months in jail on Wednesday, after admitting six offences including lying to a public servant, possessing drugs and using forged educational certificates, it was hard to say which was the more bizarre: the child prodigy tale he told to impress or the real things he did to get convicted.
Recommended Veterans are exposing military imposters
As told to a Singapore newspaper in 2010, the story of his life involved being able to read, write and speak fluent Hebrew, Spanish and English by the age of three.
I didnt know I was a gifted child initially, Mr Farrera-Brochez told a reporter.
He also said he had been a successful laboratory rat of his mother a renowned professor of child and adolescent psychology, child neurology and gifted science and mathematics education in the UK, who had tried out many of her theories on gifted education on him.
How much, if any of it was true is unclear. Attempts to trace the renowned professor of child and adolescent psychology drew a blank, with the British Psychological Society telling The Independent that its register contained no psychologists affiliated to any academic institution under the mothers name given by Mr Farrera-Brochez.
The bewildered husband of the one UK-registered psychologist who qualified under the name given by Mr Farrera-Brochez confirmed to The Independent that the man convicted in Singapore was not her son, and that she did not specialise in any of the relevant areas.
If Mr Farrera-Brochezs mother is a renowned professor, she may be a very elusive renowned professor. The Independent could not immediately find any psychologist, anywhere in the world, with the name given by Mr Farrera-Brochez who specialised in child and adolescent psychology, child neurology, or gifted science and mathematics education.
The weirdest and most shocking news stories Show all 30 1 /30 The weirdest and most shocking news stories The weirdest and most shocking news stories What do horse semen, an elephant and a yurt have in common Leading removals company AnyVan.com operates on the premise that they can move anything anywhere, an undertaking which has certainly given them more than they bargained for over the years. In addition to the more common requests to move homes, furniture and pianos, listings have included a horse semen, live elephant, a cabinet engraved with the Kamasutra, a phallic statue, a dungeon gynaecological bondage chair, a yurt and an ice cream van The weirdest and most shocking news stories Couple find dead lizard inside the can of tomatoes A couple in Birmingham were making lunch when they found the surprise addition of a dead lizard in a can of tomatoes. Muhammad Hussain and his wife Sanam discovered the critter had managed to get into the can that Mrs Hussain had been using to cook a curry. Mr Hussain was alerted to the presence of the lizard when he heard his wife screaming as she made lunch BBC The weirdest and most shocking news stories Greggs (a bakery) has actually stopped selling loaves of bread You'd have thought a bakery would be the one place you'd be guaranteed to buy a loaf of bread. Well, not at Greggs. According to the companys website, customers are able to buy white or malted sliced loaves which are freshly baked every day. So when one customer went into his local Greggs in Burton-upon-Trent, he was surprised to be told they didn't stock them any more. According to the company, they will now focus on the food to go market, which means most of the bread that the company sells is in sandwiches AFP The weirdest and most shocking news stories Man trolls plane passengers by painting sign on his roof welcoming them to the wrong city One US homeowner has taken trolling to another level by painting a message on his roof top to deliberately trick aeroplane passengers into thinking theyve boarded the wrong flight. Mark Gubin painted the sign Welcome to Cleveland on his home which is next to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is a city in Wisconsin, some four hundred miles away from Cleveland, in the state of Ohio, prompting passengers to fear theyve accidentally boarded the wrong flight as they spy the trick lettering from the aeroplane window Google Maps The weirdest and most shocking news stories Missing cat found after spending 64 days trapped inside a mattress A family who thought theyd lost their cat as they prepared to move 3,000 miles across the US, were relieved when they found their pet inside a mattress some 64 days later. Moosie, a 2-year-old tabby cat, disappeared when Kymberly Chelf and her husband Jesse Chelf boxed up their belongings in preparation for their move from El Paso, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska. In early June, the familys belongings arrived at their new home along with a big part of their old life. When the Chelfs heard a meow coming from inside the box, Mrs Chelf said: "it just sounded like he [Moosie] was giving it everything he had just to let us know he was there." The cat had been trapped for over two months without light, food or water. Moosie emerged from the ordeal suffering from severe dehydration and with a damaged liver, but vets have said he is in a good condition, CNN reported AP Photo/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Eric Engman The weirdest and most shocking news stories There's a lottery in which the prize is a 20-year supply of bacon Indiana's Hoosier Lottery is switching from cold, hard cash to hot, crispy bacon for its prize, offering players the chance to win 20 years-worth of the stuff. $5,000 of bacon will be dished out in 20 annual instalments to winners, according to the rules, presumably because no-one has the freezer space for 20 years of bacon. It's an ingenious ploy, given that anyone who tried to eat 20 years of bacon would probably struggle to live 20 years The weirdest and most shocking news stories Demonic CIA Osama Bin Laden doll goes up for sale at auction for $5,000 One of the strangest propaganda weapons of the War on Terror has gone up for sale at auction, and it could be yours for only $5,000. The item in question is a doll of Osama Bin Laden, designed to terrify the children of the Middle East so much that they would be permanently put off from joining Islamist groups. The doll is a fairly faithful recreation of the late terrorist leader, complete with white robes, combat boots, and a scraggly black beard. The propaganda value in the bizarre toy comes from the heat-sensitive paint used on the doll's face. When children played with the doll, the heat from their hands would activate the paint, and change Osama into a terrifying green-eyed, red-faced demon, with black markings all over his face Nate D. Sanders The weirdest and most shocking news stories The mystery of the 25-year-old Australian cat which turned up in Northern Ireland An Australian cat has been mysteriously found in Northern Ireland, sparking speculation as to how he made the 12,000 mile journey. The ginger cat was picked up by Cat Protection helpers in County Armagh last week. When animal welfare officers took him to the vet for a health check, it was discovered that he had been micro-chipped in Australia. The plot thickened as the chip revealed he has also been found as a stray across the Irish Sea in London Photo: Cat Protection The weirdest and most shocking news stories Replacement found after 'over-enthusiastic' bull breaks his own penis A prize bull has had to be taken off his farmers breeding programme after he suffered a broken penis. The injury, which the Simmentall bull sustained at the beginning of the breeding season, was probably due to being over-enthusiastic, according to his owner, Tommy Moyles. According to the Irish Mirror, Mr Moyles was then forced to bring another bull, which was previously destined for the slaughterhouse, out to provide his services Ian Forsyth/ Getty The weirdest and most shocking news stories Thieves steal four pints of bull semen from Minnesota farm A group of thieves have stolen about four pints of bull semen from a farm in southern Minnesota in the US - and could sell it on for an extraordinary amount of money. Police in the town of Leroy said they are investigating the theft of a $500 storage container with around 90 filled vials. On the open market, that amount of semen would be worth around $70,000 (47,000) Screengrab via CBS News The weirdest and most shocking news stories Charcoal has become the hot new flavouring If you want to be in on the latest trend in Britain's restaurants and bars, you're going to have to feel - and indeed taste - the burn. Some words of comfort next time you overfry, overbake, overboil or otherwise burn your dinner to a crisp: charcoal, in all its dark and mysterious forms, is being embraced by some of the best in the food and drinks business. It's not just about cooking on a grill (although that's also a booming market), but charcoal as an actual ingredient bringing flavour, colour, texture and a touch of playfulness to plates of food and bottles of juice. This news comes on the heels of Burger King Japan's Kuro Pearl offering, a burger with a jet-black bamboo charcoal bun, which met with a mix of hysteria and confusion upon its launch last year. It turns out that the fast food giant was bang on: charcoal is the new, well, black Victor De Jesus The weirdest and most shocking news stories Woman claims ski accident has given her extraordinary mental powers An anonymous woman in America has told an incredible story of how she was left with extraordinary mental abilities after hitting her head in a skiing accident. The ex-student revealed that she now has a condition known as acquired savant syndrome following the heavy fall on the slopes during a family holiday. The syndrome now lends her incredible powers of memory and the writer explains how she can draw diagrams of thousands of places, with thousands of rooms, branches and doorways right down to the smallest detail in a piece for xojane.com. An individual with savant syndrome will display remarkable and sometimes spectacular talents, according Jonathan Hiles, Principal Lecturer of Health and Life Sciences at De Montford University, in an online article regarding the condition Getty The weirdest and most shocking news stories This octopus learned to use a camera faster than some humans A brainy octopus at a New Zealand aquarium has learned how to take photos - using a waterproof camera specially designed to be operated with tentacles. Rambo the octopus, a popular attraction at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand, stunned her trainers with how quickly she got to grips with the camera. Speaking to Cult of Mac, Mark Vette, Rambo's trainer, said: "When we first tried to get her to take a photo, it only took three attempts for her to understand the process. That's faster than a dog." He added: "Actually, it's faster than a human in some instances" ULI DECK/AFP/Getty Images The weirdest and most shocking news stories 4-year-old leaves home at 3am to buy a 'Slushie' drink Its commonplace to see strange sights on the night bus. But passengers were completely baffled to witness a little girl boarding the vehicle alone at 3am just to satisfy her sweet-tooth. Four-year old Annabelle Ridgeway climbed onto a bus, having been drenched in the rain and without her parents knowledge, to find a place to buy a crushed-ice beverage. Bus driver Harlan Jenifer, 52, quickly called for assistance and Annabelle was taken to a local hospital to wait for her mother YouTube The weirdest and most shocking news stories Little girl goes off on surprising tangent after being told she's going to be a big sister It starts like one of those classic, schmaltzy parent-and-child YouTube videos. 3-year-old Kathryn's dad informs her in no uncertain terms that she's going to get a little sister. 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After a number of near things, the animals were captured by means of a lasso. The owner of the llamas told local media there had actually been three llamas that got spooked and ran away near the centre of the town. He said the animals were part of a mobile petting zoo at a Sun City care centre The weirdest and most shocking news stories Madonna falls off stage at Brit Awards This years Brit awards ceremony looked set to fade from memory like so many others in recent history until Madonna fell down the stairs after a serious wardrobe malfunction. The queen of pop, 56, was making her first performance at the Brits in two decades, when just seconds into Living for Love she was pulled backwards down a flight of stairs by her backing dancers. She fell heavily on to her back, the long cape and hood she had been wearing failing to separate from her other clothes. She fell heavily on to her back, the long cape and hood she had been wearing failing to separate from her other clothes The weirdest and most shocking news stories 'Left Shark' steals Super Bowl 2015 as Katy Perry is upstaged by her out-of-time support dancer While Katy Perry strutted her stuff during the half-time show which involved multiple costume changes, an entrance on a large metallic lion and duets with Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott social media users were left star-struck by the figure now known as Left Shark. Within minutes, Left Shark had its own Twitter account which has since expanded to no fewer than six different accounts but it was not the sharks killer moves and deadly accuracy on stage that gained so much attention, but rather the fact that it had no idea what it was doing. 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The hungry hash-eaters came across seven black bags containing the class B banned substance that had been dumped at the edge of their farm in Merstham, Surrey, and started scoffing Getty The weirdest and most shocking news stories Tesco cash machine offers 'free erection' because of mistake translating sign into Welsh Aberystwyth councillor Ceredig Davies took this picture after the new cash machine became the talk of the town, explaining that 'codiad am ddim' translates colloquially as 'free erection' Ceredig Davies The weirdest and most shocking news stories Parrot returns to British owner speaking Spanish - four years after disappearing Nigel, a grey African parrot, flew away from his home in California in 2010 but was returned to his British owner, Darren Chick, after he was discovered in Torrance, California. Although the Spanish-speaking bird bit Mr Chick when he first saw him, the happy owner said: "He's doing perfect. 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As for Mr Farrera-Brochezs own academic brilliance, reports of his conviction have stated that his various educational certificates, including one supposed to be from the Sorbonne in Paris, were forged.
But, that 2010 report suggested, having turned up in Singapore in 2008, Mr Farrera-Brochez was able to secure a job at a local polytechnic, lecturing in early childhood studies and psychology studies.
That he was able to work in Singapore at all was because of his success in using his boyfriends blood to cover up his HIV status.
Singapore has banned foreigners with HIV from working in its territory. To get round this, Mr Farrera-Brochez enlisted the help of his boyfriend, a locum GP whom he had met online.
Shortly after arriving in Singapore in 2008, he visited a clinic where his boyfriend was on duty. His boyfriend had earlier taken some blood from his own arm. The boyfriend is said to have put his blood in a test tube and labelled it with Mr Farrera-Brochezs details.
The test tube with the boyfriends blood came back negative for HIV and Mr Farrera-Brochez duly got his employment pass from Singapores Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The trick worked so well that Mr Farrera-Brochez used it again to get a personalised employment pass in 2013.
The fact that the blood test was supposedly performed by a doctor and issued by a clinic gave it an aura of authority, making it virtually certain that MOM would be deceived, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhas Malhotra. His conduct evinces a blatant disregard for the authority of our laws.
Mr Farrera-Brochez succeeded in keeping up the pretence until the middle of 2016. Precisely how he was caught has not been disclosed, but it is possible he fell foul of Singapores strict anti-drugs laws.
One of the charges for which he was convicted was the possession, in May 2016, of Ketamine and cannabis.
A month later, in June 2016, he was charged with not just the drugs offences, but also in relation to forging his educational certificates and faking the HIV tests.
His boyfriend is awaiting court proceedings on charges relating to his alleged role.
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A British man who raped a sleeping backpacker at a Sydney house party has been jailed.
Scott Harry Richardson, 25, will spend at least two years and three months in prison.
He attacked a 23-year-old American backpacker while she was sleeping in 2015 at a shared house in the suburb of Redfern.
A court heard how Richardson went into the room where the victim was and took off her shorts and underwear.
Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Show all 19 1 /19 Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Afghanistan Recommendation: I urge the Government of Afghanistan to adopt legislative reforms to ensure that sexual violence offences are not conflated with adultery or morality crimes and to establish infrastructure for the delivery of protection, health and le gal services to survivors. I call on the Ministry of the Interior to accelerate efforts to integrate women into the Afghan National Police, thereby enhancing its outreach and its capacity to address sexual and gender-based violence Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Central African Republic Recommendation: I urge the authorities of the Central African Republic to ensure that efforts to restore security and the rule of law take into account the prevention of sexual violence and that monitoring of the ceasefire and peace agreement explicitly reflects this consideration, in line with the joint communique of the Government and the United Nations on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence signed in December 2012. I further encourage the authorities to make the rapid response unit to combat sexual violence operational and to establish a special criminal court Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Colombia Recommendation: I commend the Government of Colombia for the progress made to date and its collaboration with the United Nations, including through the visit of my Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict in March 2015. I encourage the authorities to implement Law 1719 and continue to prosecute cases of sexual violence committed during the conflict to ensure that survivors receive justice and receive reparations. Conflict-related sexual violence should continue to be addressed in the Havana peace talks, as well as in the resulting accords and transitional justice mechanisms. Particular attention should be paid to groups that face additional barriers to justice such as ethnic minorities, women in rural areas, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals and women abused within the ranks of armed groups. I encourage the Government to scale up its protection measures and share its good practices with other conflict-affected countries Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Congo Recommendation: I urge the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ensure full implementation of the armed forces action plan against sexual violence, to systematically bring perpetrators to justice and to deliver reparations to victims, including payment of outstanding compensation awards. I call on donors and the United Nations system to support the Government in its efforts and to pay increased attention to neglected areas, including unregulated mining regions Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Iraq Recommendation: I commend the Government of Iraq for its national action plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and urge its swift implementation, including by training its security forces to ensur e respect for womens rights. Programmes to support the social reintegration of women and girls released from captivity by ISIL are urgently needed, as is community-based medical and psychological care. The capacity of the United Nations system should be enhanced through the deployment of Womens Protection Advisers or equivalent specialists Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Libya Recommendation: I urge the national authorities in Libya to implement Decree No. 119 and Resolution 904 of 2014 to ensure redress for all victims, including those affected by the current conflict, through the establishment of multisectoral services and the adoption of legislation to categorically prohibit sexual violence Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Mali Recommendation: I urge the Government of Mali, with support from United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, to develop a comprehensive national strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence and to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers so that services can reach remote areas. I further call on all parties to ensure that conflict-related sexual violence is addressed in the inter-Malian dialogue and that perpetrators of sexual violence do not benefit from amnesty or early release Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Myanmar Recommendation: I urge the Government of Myanmar to continue with its reform agenda and, in the process, take practical and timely actions to protect and support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and to ensure that security personnel accused of such crimes are prosecuted. Sexual violence should be an element in all ceasefire and peace negotiations, excluded from the scope of amnesty provisions and addressed in transitional justice processes. It is critical that women be able to participate consistently in and influence these processes Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Somalia Recommendation: I reiterate my call to the Federal Government of Somalia to implement the commitments made under the joint communique of 7 May 2013 and its national action plan to combat sexual violence in conflict, including specific plans for the army and the police. I encourage the adoption of a sexual offences bill as a matter of priority Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life South Sudan Recommendation: I urge the parties to the conflict in South Sudan to adopt action plans to implement the commitments made under their respective communiques. I call upon the Government of South Sudan to address the negative impact of customary law on womens rights and to reflect international human rights standards in national law. I also encourage the African Union to make public and act upon the report of its Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Sudan (Darfur) Recommendation: I call upon the Government of the Sudan to grant the United Nations and its humanitarian partners unfettered access for monitoring and the provision of assistance to people in need in Darfur. Given that there has been grave concern over sexual violence in Darfur for more than a decade, I encourage the Government to engage with my Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to develop a framework of cooperation to address the issue comprehensively Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Syria Recommendation: I acknowledge the Governments invitation to my Special Representative to visit the Syrian Arab Republic and call upon the authorities, in the context of such a visit, to agree on specific measures to prevent sexual violence, including by members of the security forces. I condemn the use of sexual violence by ISIL and all other parties listed in the annex to the present report and call on them to cease such violations immediately and allow unfettered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Yemen Recommendation: I urge the authorities in Yemen to undertake legislative reform as a basis for addressing impunity for sexual violence, ensuring the provision of services for survivors and aligning the minimum legal age of marriage with international standards. I further call on the authorities to engage with local community and faithbased leaders to address sexual and gender-based violence and discriminatory social norms Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Bosnia and Herzegovina Recommendation: I urge the relevant authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to harmonize legislation and policies so that the rights of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence to reparations are consistently recognized and to allocate a specific budget for this purpose. I further call upon the authorities to protect and support survivors participating in judicial proceedings through, inter alia, referrals to free legal aid, psychosocial and health services, as well as economic empowerment programmes Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Ivory Coast Recommendation: I urge the Government of Cote dIvoire to ensure the effective implementation of its national strategy to combat gender-based violence and the action plan for FRCI, and call on the international community to support these efforts. It is critical to accelerate disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and strengthen law enforcement to ensure that ex-combatants who have been reintegrated into the transport sector do not pose a risk to women and girls who are reliant on those services. The Government and the international community must provide monitoring and awareness-raising to mitigate the possibility of a recurrence of sexual violence in the context of the presidential elections to be held in October 2015 Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Liberia Recommendation: I call on the Government of Liberia to continue its critical efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence including through the United Nations-Government of Liberia Joint Programme, and in the context of recovery from the Ebola virus epidemic Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Nepal Recommendation: I encourage the Government to ensure that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are recognized under the law as conflict victims, which will enable them to access services, judicial remedies and reparations. I further call on all parties involved in the transitional justice process to ensure that the rights and needs o f survivors of sexual violence are addressed in institutional reforms and that these crimes are excluded from amnesties and statutes of limitations Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Sri Lanka Recommendation: I call upon the newly elected Government of Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of sexual violence, including against national armed and security forces, and to provide multisectoral services for survivors, including reparations and economic empowerment programmes for women at risk, including war widows and female heads of household Countries where sexual violence has become a way of life Nigeria Recommendation: I encourage the Government to implement its national action plan on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) to ensure that womens protection concerns are mainstreamed throughout its security operations. I also call upon the authorities to guarantee security in and around internally displaced persons camps and to extend medical and psychosocial services to high-risk areas
She awoke to find him on top off her.
When she asked him to stop, he said "This is what you want, isn't it? This is what you want?" the court was told.
Other people in the house told the court they heard her shout: "I can't believe this happened. I was raped."
Richardson, who pleaded not guilty, said in his defence he entered the room and thought the victim was a friend, whom he tried to hug, but left once he realised his mistake.
"The offender knew from the outset that the victim was not consenting. There was no effort to obtain consent," Judge Chris Hoy said on sentencing Richardson, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"His conduct was a disgraceful intrusion interfering with the intimate and personal integrity of the victim. He forced himself upon her breaching the ordinary and proper boundaries of moral and physical interaction between men and women."
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The Mayor of Calais has reportedly banned the distribution of meals to migrants in a bid to prevent a new refugee camp from forming in the area, just months after the Jungle was demolished.
Natacha Bouchart said she was personally opposed, even if it is difficult to say so on a human level to any humanitarian efforts in the region, including setting up showers and distributing meals, La Voix du Nord reports.
The Les Republicains politician also claimed handing out meals posed a security threat to the area.
Legal documents setting out the restrictions were reportedly posted near to the site of the demolished camp.
The mayoral decree said the regular, persistent and large presence of individuals distributing meals to migrants threatened the peace and security of the area.
It also banned any repeated, prolonged gatherings in the area, making handing out food impossible.
However charities said the decree would not change their approach.
We have handed out food both day and night for two months, and we will continue to do it for a simple reason: people are hungry, Gael Monzy with charity Utopia56 said.
Calais's refugee children have a message for the UK government
L'Auberge des Migrants charity president Christian Salome said a ban would affect refugee children the most.
Adults will always find a way to buy food in the shops, but for minors it will be a real problem they have no money at all, he told The Guardian.
Frances interior minister Bruno Le Roux repeated several times there would be no new camp in Calais during a visit on Wednesday. However, he added: We will not prevent the distribution of meals.
It came as more than 400 migrants, mostly unaccompanied children, returned to northern France in recent weeks.
France moved more than 6,000 migrants, many fleeing poverty and war in their homelands, from the site of the makeshift camp in the port city last October.
Most were sent to reception centres around the country in a bid to calm growing local anger.
Migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa have streamed into Calais for years, hoping to cross the short stretch of sea to Britain by leaping onto trucks and trains, or even walking through the tunnel under the Channel.
Recommended Refugee children in France have started turning back to Calais
Last year, it was widely thought the Government would take 3,000 lone children from European refugee camps after Lord Alfred Dubs forced the Government to accept an amendment on the matter when the Immigration Act passed through Parliament.
However, the Home Office unexpectedly announced the scheme would end after 100 more children reached the UK, bringing total numbers to 350.
A separate scheme to bring unaccompanied refugee children with direct family links to Britain under the Dublin convention was also closed.
Now the Home Office has confirmed it has agreed with French authorities to reconsider some of these Dublin cases.
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Frances leading presidential candidate has attacked Donald Trump while laying out his election manifesto.
Emmanuel Macron, the former economy minister, urged the US President not to pull America out of a landmark agreement struck in Paris to combat climate change.
Mr Trump would be making a grave mistake by going back on his predecessor's commitments towards the climate, Mr Macron said, while pledging to continue Frances strong relations with the US.
I will forge a very strategic alliance with our Chinese partner on this subject.
Mr Macron said he disagreed with Mr Trumps environmental policies and protectionism but hoped to continue cooperation on intelligence and counter-terror operations.
The Presidents threat to impose a border tax on German cars and unravel Barack Obamas global warming initiatives have unnerved much of Europe.
Mr Macron warned that the EU would have to raise tariffs on American exports if the US did the same on European goods, in line with World Trade Organisation rules.
I dont want to go down that path, but we would respond if the wrong choices were made, he added.
Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters
The candidate also took issue with Mr Trumps economic policies, which he claimed would hurt the spending power of an American middle class dependent on produced in lower-cost countries.
I think Mr Trump is wrong to advocate protectionism for his own economy, he added. The United States is one of the most open economies in the world.
Mr Macron previously had a dig at the President when he invited American scientists, academics and entrepreneurs at odds with the Trump administration to move to France last month.
The 39-year-old quit Francois Hollandes Socialist government and launched his own centre-left En Marche! party to run for the presidency.
He has been buoyed by scandals hitting former frontrunner Francois Fillon and the far-right leader Marine Le Pen both of whom are under investigation over their spending.
Little attention has so far been directed to Mr Macrons policies but his standing at the head of polls is likely to turn increased scrutiny on the potential president.
Key manifesto points aim to increase national cohesion and put French values at the heart of education, while reforming employment, the welfare system and taxation.
Urging French workers to embrace mechanisation a source of frequent strikes he said: Work is going to change and we will be part of that change. We will go with it and we will transform the balance of forces.
Marine Le Pen has been engulfed by scandals over EU spending and sharing Isis propaganda on Twitter (Reuters)
Mr Macron pledged to hire 10,000 more police officers and improve cohesion between security services after a litany of failures identified in the wake of terror attacks in Paris, Nice and elsewhere in France.
He is calling for an international roadmap against Islamist extremism but did not vow to extend Frances controversial state of emergency or implement floated measures like removing French citizenship from dual nationals.
As his main rival, conservative former Prime Minister Mr Fillon, is investigated over allegations he paid his wife and children for parliamentary work they did not do, Mr Macron proposed a ban on officials employing relatives and friends.
He also wants to slim down both chambers of the French parliament and prohibit MPs from carrying out consulting work to ensure leaders who are exemplary and accountable.
An ardent supporter of the EU, Mr Macron wants to revitalise the European dream by boosting the single market and currency in the post-Brexit Europe of 27.
His budget programme includes proposed savings of 60bn (51bn) over five years in austerity measures that could prove controversial, while keeping the national deficit to below 3 per cent of economic output
As Mr Macron was laying out his vision for France, his two rivals were being dragged deeper into scandals over the alleged misuse of public funds.
Fillon announces he will not be standing down from the French presidential race
Mr Fillon has defied pressure to stand down amid a judicial investigation into the Penelopegate affair, with a flash opinion poll by Harris Interactive showing that only 25 per cent of people now want him to continue as a candidate.
Members of his own Les Republicains party called for him to leave the race and three top aides have quit the campaign, but with just weeks until the first round of voting on 23 April, there is no time for new primaries.
Mr Fillon denies any wrongdoing and has stepped up his attacks on a French judiciary he insists is biased against him as part of a political assassination.
I have been singled out by the judicial system. It's as if I had to be brought down at all costs, he said in an interview with the Midi Libre newspaper.
Meanwhile Ms Le Pen, the leader of the Front National, is refusing to attend police questioning over allegations she misused EU funds to pay for parliamentary aides.
In a fresh blow, the European Parliament voted to lift her immunity from prosecution on Thursday, for tweeting gruesome images of Isis brutality a crime punishable by three years in prison under French law.
Opinion polls predict the first round of the election to be closely fought between Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen, with around a quarter of the vote each and Mr Fillon trailing on 20 per cent.
That would leave Mr Macon and Ms Le Pen in a second-round showdown on 7 May one the far-right leader is forecast to lose heavily.
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A school in western Germany has banned the use of prayer rugs and other traditional Muslim rituals saying it is provocative to other students, sparking a debate about freedom of religion.
The Gymnasium Johannes Rau, in the city of Wuppertal, sent a letter to staff in February saying Muslim students had been using prayer rugs and performing ritual washing in the restrooms, and that they should get a friendly reminder it's not permitted and will be reported to the administration.
After strong criticism when the letter was posted last week on Facebook, municipal authorities said the wording was unfortunate and the school had only meant to bring affected students in to discuss a solution to allow their prayer, Bild newspaper reported on Thursday.
Authorities say the school was, however, legally allowed to stop people praying in a provocative manner.
According to Deutsche Welle, the letter said: "In recent weeks it has been increasingly observed that Muslim pupils in the school building are praying, clearly visible to others, signalled by ritual washings in the toilets, the rolling out of prayer mats, and taking up certain postures."
"This is not permitted."
A spokeswoman for the local district council told DW: "The ban on praying in a 'provocative way' in the school is intended to promote peaceful coexistence and ensure the school peace."
Additional reporting by agencies
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A man accused of massacring 36 civilians in the Syrian civil war has been arrested in Germany as a crackdown against suspected extremists continues.
He and another detained Syrian national were allegedly members of al-Qaeda's affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, which was linked to Isis at the time.
The German federal prosecutors office said Abdalfatah HA, 35, joined the terrorist group in 2013.
Syrian government loses ground to Nusra Front and ISIL
A spokesperson said he was charged with killing 36 Syrian government employees who were protected under international law, in a war crime with low motivations a legal definition in German that encompasses racially and religiously motivated crimes.
Abdalfatah HA was among members of a jihadi unit who were deployed to carry out a death sentence handed out by a self-styled Sharia court, prosecutors said.
He was arrested alongside another Syrian man, 26-year-old Abdulrahman AA, in police operations in Giessen and Dusseldorf.
He is alleged to have founded the unit of Jabhat al-Nusra with another suspected prosecuted in Germany, managing its funding and transport.
Both he and Abdalfatah HA were trained as fighters and equipped with Kalashnikovs, fighting in operations against Syrian government forces including the capture of the countrys largest weapons depot near Mahin in November 2013.
Refugees settle in Germany Show all 12 1 /12 Refugees settle in Germany Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, plays with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, in the one room they and Mohamed's wife Laloosh call home at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany A refugee child Amnat Musayeva points to a star with her photo and name that decorates the door to her classroom as teacher Martina Fischer looks on at the local kindergarten Amnat and her siblings attend on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The children live with their family at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany. Mohamed and Autur live at an asylum-applicants' shelter in nearby Vossberg village. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Ali Hussein ((L), 19, and his cousin Sinjar Hussein, 34, sweep leaves at a cemetery in Gieshof village, for which they receive a small allowance, near Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, looks among donated clothing in the basement of the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to Mohamed, his wife Laloosh and their daughter Ranim as residents' laundry dries behind in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asya Sugaipova (L), Mohza Mukayeva and Khadra Zhukova prepare food in the communal kitchen at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Efrah Abdullahi Ahmed looks down from the communal kitchen window at her daughter Sumaya, 10, who had just returned from school, at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asylum-applicants, including Syrians Mohamed Ali Hussein (C-R, in black jacket) and Fadi Almasalmeh (C), return from grocery shopping with other refugees to the asylum-applicants' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat (2nd from L), a refugee from Syria, smokes a cigarette after shopping for groceries with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, and fellow-Syrian refugees Mohamed Ali Hussein (C) and Fadi Almasalmeh (L) at a local supermarket on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. All of them live at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian refugees Leila, 9, carries her sister Avin, 1, in the backyard at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to them and their family in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Somali refugees and husband and wife Said Ahmed Gure (R) and Ayaan Gure pose with their infant son Muzammili, who was born in Germany, in the room they share at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity, and are waiting for authorities to process their application for asylum 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel pauses for a selfie with a refugee after she visited the AWO Refugium Askanierring shelter for refugees in Berlin Getty Images
The pair are to be investigated by Germanys federal court of justice in the latest case opened as part of an intensified wave of terror probes in the country.
Another member of their cell, bombmaker 31-year-old Abd Arahman AK, was arrested in Germany in June.
Representatives for the federal prosecutors office and interior ministry told The Independent they could not confirm whether the suspects arrested on Wednesday and Thursday were asylum seekers, or when they had arrived in Germany.
Jabhat al-Nusra was started as the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda, linked to its Iraqi branch headed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
He declared the merger of the two groups to create the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in April 2013, but an ensuing power struggle with Jabhat al-Nusra leaders resulted in Isis breaking away and being cut off by al-Qaeda.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi attempted to merge al-Qaeda in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra in 2013 (REUTERS) (Reuters)
Jabhat al-Nusra has also attempted to distance itself from al-Qaeda, announcing the severing of ties and rebranding itself in efforts to avoid international air strikes and gain backing from Syrian rebel groups.
Its most recent incarnation is as a leading member of the Islamist alliance Tahrir al-Sham, which aspires to operate its own Islamic emirate in Syria.
Members of Isis, the Taliban and other extremist organisations have been identified among more than a million asylum seekers who have arrived since the refugee crisis.
The revelations have increased pressure on Angela Merkel, who promised increased security operations following a string of Isis-inspired terror attacks in the country.
Immigration and extremism are two of the key issues leading into Germanys federal elections in September, where the right-wing Alternative fur Deutschland party is expected to enter the Bundestag for the first time.
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Sweden has decided to reintroduce a military draft for both men and women over security concerns and a growing threat from Russia.
The Nordic country mothballed compulsory military service seven years ago, but military activity in the Baltic region has increased since, in the wake of Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014, prompting Sweden to step up military preparedness.
Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said the left-leaning government is reintroducing the draft because of a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden.
Under the newly approved plan, at least 4,000 18-year-olds could be called up each year, starting in January.
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
As in the current system, Swedes will still be able to volunteer for military service. The policy affects residents born after 1999.
The country abolished the draft in 2010, when only men were eligible, because there were enough volunteers to meet the regions military needs.
We have had trouble staffing the military units on a voluntary basis and that needs to be addressed somehow, Mr Hultqvist told public service radio SR.
The governments decision entails the call-up of 4,000 men and women for military training in 2018 and 2019, and Mr Hultqvist told SR motivation would be an important factor when selecting the recruits for service.
Fox News expert on violent immigrants in Sweden turns out to be violent immigrant
Sofia Hultgren, who turns 17 later this year and thus could be drafted in coming years, said many young Swedes viewed lengthy careers as military professionals as something odd and old-fashioned.
I think many see it as something lame, something your father did, when there are so much other fun things to do, Hultgren, a student, told Reuters.
Still, she welcomed the reintroduction of military service and said she would consider such training even if she did not want to make it a career.
I think this can give a feeling of comfort. Conscription strengthens our defence when we see so much ugliness in the world, she said.
Sweden, which is not a Nato member, is currently in the process of upgrading its military with a sharp hike in spending, and has reassigned troops to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland, besides urging local governments to step up contingency planning for a future war.
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Isis has been driven out of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra for a second time under three months after jihadis retook their former stronghold.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, claimed the Syrian army had fully recaptured the militant stronghold on Thursday, although monitors said air strikes and clashes were ongoing.
Regime commanders said the victory dealt a major blow against terrorists deprived of Palmyras symbolic cultural and historical status.
Vladimir Putin was informed of developments as his forces backed regime troops in the assault, raining bombs down on militants from planes and helicopter gunships.
Troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad pushed into Palmyra from its famed Roman ruins after days of fierce fighting with jihadis, who have heavily mined and booby-trapped the city during their retreat.
Regime forces are being supported by Russian air strikes and militias backed by Iran and Hezbollah, who were part of the original campaign to retake Palmyra in March last year.
The Russian President personally celebrated the victory, appearing via video link at a concert in its grand amphitheatre, but his allys focus on Aleppo allowed Isis to sweep back in.
Playing for Palmyra Russia holds a concert in the ruins
With rebels in eastern Aleppo defeated, Assads focus has turned back to the city, which Isis turned from an internationally beloved historical attraction into a theatre for its brutality and destruction of cultural artefacts.
Isis staged mass executions amid Roman ruins in its first and second periods of control, publicly killing victims including teachers in the Roman theatre in January.
Syrian government forces have reached the area, posting photos of themselves in sight of Palmyra citadel and at a nearby Qatari-built palace online, but have not penetrated the city centre.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense bombardment continued on Isis positions but the majority of militants have already been withdrawn.
The regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities have not been able until the moment to enter the inside of the city because Isis booby-trapped and planted mines in many points inside it, observers said.
As Russia announced victory, the Palmyra Coordination group said air strikes and rocket fire continued in the modern part of the city, also known as Tadmur, reporting dozens killed in continuing clashes.
Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Show all 10 1 /10 Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Graffiti on the ancient stones reads in Arabic Shooting without the permission of the chief is prohibited Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Damaged artefacts lay inside the museum of the historic city of Palmyra Reuters Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Syrian pro-government forces rest by Palmyra Citadel as they take control of the city from the hands of Isis Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces The UNESCO world heritage site appears surprisingly intact after its recapture from the militant group Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Many had feared the ancient city would be destroyed following its capture by Isis in May Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Smoke billows from the Palmyra Citadel as Assads forces drive the Jihadist group from the city Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Palmyra is one of the most important cultural centers of the world Unesco says Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Pro-government forces play football in the streets following the recapture of the city Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces The extent of the destruction caused by Isis 10 month occupation of the city has yet to be fully realised Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces The City Council of Palmyra building in ruins Reuters
Footage showed helicopter gunships launching air strikes in intense battles, while Isis sent two suicide car bombs into regime lines on Wednesday.
Propaganda videos sent out by the terrorist group showed militants using a seized tank behind trenches and heavy guns against a column advancing from the west.
Recommended Isis rigs mass grave with landmines to kill investigators
The groups channels fell silent on Palmyra on Thursday, despite providing updates from battles elsewhere, supporting activists report of a mass retreat.
Isis first captured it in May 2015 but was driven out in March the following year after a high-profile offensive by the Syrian government and Russian forces.
As troops were pulled out of the city to fight in the final stages of the battle of Aleppo in December, jihadis seized the opportunity to overrun weakened defences and gain control once more.
The group has destroyed several ancient monuments in the Unesco World Heritage Site in acts condemned as a war crime by the United Nations, while looting other treasures to sell for profit.
A satellite picture shows the damage in the Tetrapylon and the Roman Amphitheatre in Palmyra (Reuters)
Most recently, Isis has razed the landmark Tetrapylon a platform with four columns at each corner and the facade of Palmyras Roman theatre.
Its retreat from the city comes amid continuing territorial losses in Syria, including the city of al-Bab, and Iraq, where government forces are battling to drive jihadis out of Mosul.
Jean-Marc Rickli, a research fellow at Kings College London and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, said regaining Palmyra had been symbolic for Isis but its loss was more in line with trends seen elsewhere.
It was a military blow for both the Russians and the Syrian army but the general picture is that Isis will be losing more and more territory, he told The Independent.
They will count on opportunistic strikes to score victories easily, and there are plenty of locations where they could do that in the future.
Dr Rickli said Isis territorial losses will eventually force it to revert from being a proto-state with its own institutions, back to its origins as an insurgency movement.
He added: Were moving from a strategy of territorial control to guerrilla operations where they attack and retreat.
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An Israeli policeman who admitted urinating on a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner must stand trial, Israels High Court has ruled.
The case, which initially included allegations of physical and sexual assault by two police officers at the Maaleh Adumim police station in 2007, was initially closed by the Justice Ministrys internal investigations department.
But the Palestinian petitioned the court, prompting High Court Justices Salim Joubran, Noam Sohlberg and Isaac Amit to reject the attorney generals decision concerning one episode involving one of the officers.
We were convinced that the evidence was thoroughly investigated several times, the judges wrote, Haaretz reported, but added they ruled in favour of the plaintiff in part ... in relation to the charge that the policeman had deliberately urinated on the plaintiff in order to humiliate him.
The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Getty Images The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child
The officer denied the allegation throughout the interrogation but when he was told his DNA had been found on the plaintiffs clothes, he admitted the incident had taken place but insisted it was an accident.
He claimed to have taken the handcuffed and blindfolded detainee to the bathroom, then asked the plaintiff to stand to the side once he had finished so he too could use the toilet.
The policeman said he asked the prisoner to kneel so he would be in an advantageous position should something happen.
He said when the detainee moved unexpectedly, he turned and caught hold of him, and added that it was probably while moving that drops of urine dripped onto his clothes.
When asked why he had denied the incident had taken place, he told investigators he had felt ashamed of his blunder, the Times of Israel reported.
The justices said the officers response could be seen either as an admission or a lie and ruled the court should decide.
Palestinian man shot by Israeli soldier as he lies on the ground
It comes after an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier has said he will appeal an 18-month prison sentence for killing a wounded Palestinian assailant.
Elor Azaria was serving as an army medic in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, when two Palestinians stabbed and wounded another soldier.
One assailant was shot dead and the other was wounded. Eleven minutes later, he took aim with his rifle and fatally shot Abd Elfatah Ashareef, 21, who was lying on the ground unable to move.
A three-judge military court convicted Azaria of manslaughter last month and rejected his contention he believed the man still posed a threat.
Imposing punishment lighter than a three-to-five year sentence requested by the prosecution, the court noted the Hebron incident had been Azarias first combat experience and that his record had been unblemished.
The Palestinian government said the term imposed by the court had given Israeli soldiers a green light to carry out executions without fear of real punishment.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Anvar Mammadov Trend:
Mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is now in Baku, discussed the current situation in the banking sector with leading Azerbaijani banks, said head of the Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) Zakir Nuriyev.
The sides discussed the decisions made by the regulator Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Authority on stabilization of situation in the banking sector and the impact of these decisions, he told reporters in Baku.
No specific proposals were made by the IMF mission. We mulled the impact of the reforms being implemented in the sector, as well as plans of the banks for further development, Nuriyev said.
He also noted that restructuring of the banking sector was not discussed during the meeting.
This issue was discussed at the meeting of the IMF mission with Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA). But I think and this idea was also voiced by the FIMSA management that today the situation in most of the countrys banks is gradually stabilizing, Nuriyev said.
Capital of the majority of banks corresponds to the norms established by the regulator [50 million manats], and work is being carried out in the remaining banks to bring capital in line with the requirements.
The IMF missions visit to Azerbaijan started Feb. 28 and will last until the end of this week.
The mission has already had meetings in Azerbaijans Economy Ministry, Finance Ministry, Central Bank (CBA), State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) and Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
The International Monetary Fund opened its office in Baku in 1992.
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Rainbow people make this, says Mussalem as he resets the mystical-looking stones decorating the sand. He is talking about The Rainbow Family of Living Light the Oregon-born group committed to achieving peace and love on earth which holds gatherings in Egypt. From all over the world they came here to feast, to play music, just to be in a natural place. Some very intelligent, very wise. He looks up and smiles: Some crazy.
Though I might not be in The Rainbow Family myself, packing a 10 eBay tent with snapped poles, boots now bound by duct tape and shouldering a rucksack held together with string, a few days into Egypts first long-distance hiking route its clear to which category I belong.
The 137-mile-long Sinai Trail, or Darb Sina, is part of a Middle East-wide hiking network voted the number one new trail in the world by National Geographic. Its neither the longest or the hardest of the worlds long-distance routes but hiking a landscape steeped in history, guided by Bedouin whose lives are intertwined with the land, is definitely one of the most rewarding.
Recommended The country with twice as many pyramids as Egypt
These days life is hard for the Bedouin of Sinai. Generations past led pilgrims through the mountains to the 6th century St Catherines monastery or far further beyond to Mecca. In recent years events such as the Arab spring, revolution, coup detat, insurgency and an airliner bombing have curtailed tourism in Sinai. This trail creates work in a difficult time, says Mussalem. But not just any work.
Sometimes ropes were necessary to haul each other over obstacles (Nick Redmayne)
We are worried a little bit about our culture the young Bedouin, they dont know much, says Nassr, another guide. We want to keep travelling, living the simple life. We want to keep our tribes, our families together. Training new guides means there will be others to carry on. The trail is the collective endeavour of three Bedouin tribes, championed by local volunteers, and an NGO with no help from the government.
Breaking camp along the trail (Nick Redmayne)
Since leaving the Gulf of Aqaba at Ras Shitan on the Sinai coast weve walked through desert wadis, squeezed through intestinal gorges, and used rope to haul each other through epic boulder fields. The route is expected to take 12 days, ending on the summit of Egypts highest mountain, Jebel Katarina.
Now around 35km in we reach the towering stack of Jebel Milehis in south-east Sinai. Below, pillared rock formations carpeted with soft, ochre sand create a natural amphitheatre. The caravan relaxes into a disarray of tents, bed rolls and bags. This is home for the night. The camels settle too into nosebags of corn, for once silent in their deep-seated disdain for our enterprise.
We number 22, mostly Egyptian along with resident foreigners and a few visiting ones. Bedouin guides from southern Sinais Tarabin, Muzeina and Jebelaya tribes lead the way, supported by a changing cast of trainee guides, cooks, cameleers and camels. Ours is the first group to brave the entire trail.
Cameleers overtake hikers en route to the evenings camp (Nick Redmayne)
In the morning its the ascent of Jebel Milehis. Steep at first, weathered sandstone is clean and firm, the easy grip a welcome change from soft sand. The party is soon strung out, the two Mohameds leading us wiry, surefooted Jordanians to the fore as usual. I inhabit the sweaty midfield, exchanging exaggeratedly polite chitchat with an Egyptian translator fascinated by British idioms. Im still glad we got rid of you bastards, he says. Soon the track loses its sense of humour. Precipitous ledges test nerves but when help is needed a firm Bedouin hand is never far away.
At the first ridge hard-won height is grudgingly ceded as the path drops in a rearwards approach to the summit. We walk in full sun, sweat stinging our eyes. Nassr points out petroglyphs on jutting boulders social media from another age. Look at the camel tails theyre up. A tribal skirmish is recorded in stone. Riders gallop, spears and bows raised. These are the victors.
Petroglyphs record a tribal skirmish near Jebel Mileihis (Nick Redmayne)
Now begins the real climb. An indistinct path zigzags across a scree face. Be careful, Mussalem, there are many loose rocks, think of the persons below. He is right. Tumbling rocks and shouts of warning punctuate the ascent. Pausing to drink I peer down. The landscape appears unforgiving and it is.
The initial summit of Jebel Milehis (Nick Redmayne)
Eventually the summit dome heaves into view. Alternately baked by the sun and chilled by desert nights, bare rock acquires ceramic fragility, tinkling as we walked over it. Looking east, the Gulf of Aqaba is visible, beyond it rises the emphatic ridgeline of Saudi Arabias mighty Hejaz mountains. One of the Jordanians takes out a flute and plays. His companion rolls a cigarette. Others lay on their backs, keffiyehs covering their faces. Six mountains lie along the trail.
Surefooted Jordanians Mohamed and Mohamed rest up with sweet tea and cigarettes (Nick Redmayne)
After the immense expanse of the Blue Desert, 18 hikers remain, with sickness, fatigue and muscle strain having retired there others. These guys have grown stronger, more confident. Making camp by torchlight, harried by bone-chilling winds, levels us all. Ahead it is higher, colder and more remote.
Final camp on the summit of Jebel Katarina (Nick Redmayne)
Entering the High Mountains of Egypt, a circle of jagged peaks surrounding Jebel Katarina, morning sunshine accompanies flurries of frost shaken from tents. Jebel Katarina delivers its promise of an unrelenting climb, opposed by icy winds and taunted by false summits. Firewood gathered along the way is strapped to rucksacks. Conversations are lost to buffeting gusts. Private thoughts, expletives for each misplaced footfall, compete with laboured breathes and thumping heartbeats.
One of the small businesses struggling to survive the absence of tourists at Jebel Musa (Nick Redmayne)
The sun sets over Africa as we reach the highest point. Photographs are taken, embraces exchanged. Burnt umbra skies bleach, fade to grey, then darken. Later, huddled around a smoky fire, sheltered by the walls of a half-enclosed refuge, Nassr pours glasses of hot chocolate for some and so-called Egyptian champagne for others. (Not bad actually better than some proseccos.) The people of the villages, theyve heard about those who walked Darb Sina. Its been a long time since so many have trekked, says Nassr. The Bedouin are happy, there will be work again. And each one of you, now you have a story.
Travel essentials
Getting there
Turkish Airlines (0844 800 6666; turkishairlines.com) flies from Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and London to Sharm El Sheikh up to four times a week; from 265 return. Note that British airlines are currently barred from flying to Sharm El Sheikh. See the latest guidance.
Hikers will need to take a taxi from Sharm El Sheikh to begin the trail. Sinaitrail.org will book; a one-way ride should cost 500 Egyptian pounds (approx 25 sterling).
Hiking there
Sinaitrail.org co-ordinates treks with Bedouin tribes, from 7,500 Egyptian pounds per person (approx 380). The next departure is 4 April.
More information
The blog gotellitonthemountain.net offers more guidance and advice.
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My respect for him rose when he emerged from the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday to face the media. The inquests into the murder of 30 of his customers at the hands of an Islamist gunman at Sousse in Tunisia had just ended after six weeks of harrowing testimony from the bereaved relatives.
Mr Longman appeared shortly after many of the victims' families announced they would sue his company for putting their loved ones in harms way.
Recommended Tunisia attack survivor demands terror warnings from holiday companies
Facing a barrage of interrogators, he apologised with dignity: On behalf of everyone at TUI UK, I would like to again extend our deepest sympathy. We are so very sorry for the pain and loss those affected have suffered.
Then he added: On that day, the world changed.
Yet for almost everyone, it didnt.
Unquestionably the lives of the victims families were devastated. For Mr Longman and his colleagues, years of anguish (and litigation) began. Hundreds of thousands of Tunisians lost their livelihoods because their pathetic fellow citizens shooting spree put the nation on the no-go list.
But for the vast majority of people, and specifically travellers, the planet remained a repository of natural and manmade riches, populated overwhelmingly by kind, generous and tolerant people. And two years on, this world of wonders is less risky and more accessible than ever.
Any suggestion to the contrary is as absurd as the assertion by a Tunisian official, interviewed in Sousse by the BBCs Orla Guerin, that his country is 100 per cent safe. Of course it isnt: Tunisia has a long, leaky frontier with the failed state of Libya, hundreds of returning jihadists and a history of terrorism aimed at tourists. And I would gladly take my family there tomorrow.
Time to get real, everyone. While it may be of little comfort to the bereaved relatives, some positive results should flow from the Tunisia inquests. But that requires travellers, and the travel industry, to sharpen up.
Holidaymakers must engage more with the destination they plan to visit, from improving their cultural awareness to assessing the official warnings. People must decide what is a tolerable risk for them. But they need the honest support of the travel industry.
Three months before the Sousse massacre, cruise passengers visiting Tunisias leading museum were attacked; 22 people from 10 countries died at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, as part of its campaign to destroy the Tunisian economy.
The victims families heard how TUI had played down the earlier massacre. Call-centre staff and travel agents were given a crib sheet intended to bat away customers concerns. The two-page document, which didnt mention terrorism, can be summed up as a dozen different ways of saying: Its business as usual and if you want to change or cancel your holiday, youll pay the normal financial penalty.
By July next year, when the EU Package Travel Directive takes effect: holidaymakers will be able to cancel without penalty if a terrorist atrocity of such magnitude were to happen at their intended destination. But starting right now, Mr Longman and his rivals must be big enough and open enough to say, for example: Hey, theres some amazing bargains in Turkey and Egypt. Thats because many people are worried about what the Foreign Office says is a high threat of terrorism. But if you are prepared to tolerate a small amount of risk, the overwhelming odds are that you will have a great trip.
The British travel industry is the best in the world, yet it has an unfortunate tendency to defensiveness. I believe the travelling public will welcome transparency as part of an understanding that the ultimate responsibility for risk assessment rests on the sunburnt shoulders of we seekers of sun and wonders.
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The US Secretary of State, former oil industry mogul Rex Tillerson, has not responded to a request from the United Nations most senior climate change official for a face-to-face meeting amid concern about the Trump administrations stance on global warming.
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), told a conference about the issue in Chicago that progress towards a low-carbon economy was now unstoppable with many businesses already making the transition.
However she admitted the UNFCCC was worried about rumours that the US could withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Ms Espinosa also smiled about the prospect of a Mexican woman trying to talk about global warming with the United States new leadership given Donald Trumps talk about building a wall between his and her country to prevent migration, dismissal of climate science as a Chinese hoax and remarks about being able to sexually assault women because he was a celebrity that helped spark the worldwide Womens March protests.
After her speech in Chicago, she struck a conciliatory tone as she revealed her request for a meeting with Mr Tillerson had not produced a response.
I have not heard back. It is understandable at the beginning of an administration, Ms Espinosa said, according to Bloomberg.
They are a very important partner to us, and Im looking forward to working together.
She made clear the importance of the United States to the worlds efforts to limit global warming to below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and as close to 1.5C as possible the target agreed at the Paris Summit.
We are of course worried about rumours that the possibility of the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement and the convention on climate change, she said.
It would be very bad if there were a change of position in the US. Thats why Im looking forwards to engaging with the US as a partner.
But she suggested the momentum behind efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions was such that they would carry on regardless of the views of political leaders.
A lot of US businesses are really going into the agenda of sustainability and some are making their own commitments in emissions reductions in their own operations, Ms Espinosa said.
10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan
An incredible amount of cities have embarked on ambitious goals; some states like California have been for many years in the forefront of this agenda.
In International Petroleum Week, I was very encouraged to hear how much some of the oil and gas companies are realising that the future of their industries is in a transformation into clean energy companies and they have embraced this in their own interest.
The transformation has started. I think its unstoppable.
A US State Department spokesman told The Independent: "We have nothing to report on a possible meeting at this time."
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Theresa May told us that Britain will celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration this summer with pride. This was predictable. A British prime minister who would fawn to the head-chopping Arab autocrats of the Gulf in the hope of selling them more missiles and then hold the hand of the insane new anti-Muslim president of the United States was bound, I suppose, to feel pride in the most mendacious, deceitful and hypocritical document in modern British history.
As a woman who has set her heart against immigrants, it was also inevitable that May would display her most venal characteristics to foreigners to wealthy Arab potentates, and to an American president whose momentary love of Britain might produce a life-saving post-Brexit trade agreement. It was to an audience of British lobbyists for Israel a couple of months ago that she expressed her pride in a century-old declaration which created millions of refugees. But to burnish the 1917 document which promised Britains support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine but which would ultimately create that very refugee population refugees being the target of her own anti-immigration policies is little short of iniquitous.
The Balfour Declarations intrinsic lie that while Britain supported a Jewish homeland, nothing would be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine is matched today by the equally dishonest response of Balfours lamentable successor at the Foreign Office. Boris Johnson wrote quite accurately two years ago that the Balfour Declaration was bizarre, a tragicomically incoherent document, an exquisite piece of Foreign Office fudgerama. But in a subsequent visit to Israel, the profit-hunting Mayor of London suddenly discovered that the Balfour Declaration was a great thing that reflected a great tide of history. No doubt we shall hear more of this same nonsense from Boris Johnson later this year.
Although the Declaration itself has been parsed, de-semanticised, romanticised, decrypted, decried, cursed and adored for 100 years, its fraud is easy to detect: it made two promises which were fundamentally opposed to each other and thus one of them, to the Arabs (aka the existing non-Jewish communities), would be broken. The descendants of these victims, the Palestinian Arabs, are now threatening to sue the British government over this pernicious piece of paper, a hopeless and childish response to history. The Czechs might equally sue the British for Chamberlains Munich agreement, which allowed Hitler to destroy their country. The Palestinians would also like an apology since the British have always found apologies cheaper than law courts. The British have grown used to apologising for the British empire, for the slave trade, for the Irish famine. So why not for Balfour? Yes, but.... Theresa May needs the Israelis far more than she needs the Palestinians.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets Theresa May
Balfours 1917 declaration, of course, was an attempt to avoid disaster in the First World War by encouraging the Jews of Russia and America to support the Allies against Germany. Balfour wanted to avoid defeat just as Chamberlain later wanted to avoid war. But and this is the point Munich was resolved by the destruction of Hitler. Balfour initiated a policy of British support for Israel which continues to this very day, to the detriment of the occupied Palestinians of the West Bank and the five million Palestinian refugees living largely in warrens of poverty around the Middle East, including Israeli-besieged Gaza.
This is the theme of perhaps the most dramatic centenary account of the Balfour Declaration, to be published this summer by David Cronin (in his book Balfours Shadow: A Century of British Support for Zionism and Israel), an Irish journalist and author living in Brussels whose previous investigation of the European Unions craven support for Israels military distinguished him from the work of more emotional (and thus more inaccurate) writers. Cronin has no time for Holocaust deniers or anti-Semites. While rightly dismissing the silly idea that the Palestinian Grand Mufti, Haj Amin al Husseini, inspired the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe, he does not duck Haj Amins poisonous alliance with Hitler. Israels post-war creation as a nation state, as one Israeli historian observed, may not have been just but it was legal. And Israel does legally exist within the borders acknowledged by the rest of the world.
There lies the present crisis for us all: for the outrageous right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu is speeding on with the mass colonisation of Arab land in territory which is not part of Israel, and on property which has been stolen from its Arab owners. These owners are the descendants of the non-Jewish communities whose rights, according to Balfour, should not be prejudiced by the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. But Balfours own prejudice was perfectly clear. The Jewish people would have a national home ie, a nation in Palestine, while the Arabs, according to his declaration, were mere communities. And as Balfour wrote to his successor Curzon two years later, Zionism is of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices [sic] of 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.
Cronins short book, however, shows just how we have connived in this racism ever since. He outlines the mass British repression of Arabs in the 1930s including extrajudicial executions and torture by the British army when the Arabs feared, with good reason, that they would ultimately be dispossessed of their lands by Jewish immigrants. As Arthur Wauchope, the Palestine High Commissioner, would write, the subject that fills the minds of all Arabs today is the dread that in time to come they will be a subject race living on sufferance in Palestine, with the Jews dominant in every sphere, land, trade and political life. How right they were.
Even before Britains retreat from Palestine, Attlee and his Cabinet colleagues were discussing a plan which would mean the ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Palestinians from their land. In 1944, a Labour Party statement had talked thus of Jewish immigration: Let the Arabs be encouraged to move out as the Jews move in. By 1948, Labour, now in government, was announcing it had no power to prevent money being channelled from London to Jewish groups who would, within a year, accomplish their own ethnic cleansing, a phrase in common usage for this period since Israeli historian Illan Pappe (now, predictably, an exile from his own land) included it in the title of his best-known work.
Protesters disrupt hearings for Israeli ambassador nominee
The massacre of hundreds of Palestinian civilians at Deir Yassin was committed while thousands of British troops were still in the country. Cronins investigation of Colonial Office files show that the British military lied about the cleansing of Haifa, offering no protection to the Arabs, a policy largely followed across Palestine save for the courage of Major Derek Cooper and his soldiers, whose defence of Arab civilians in Jaffa won him the Military Cross (although David Cronin does not mention this). Cooper, whom I got to know when he was caring for wounded Palestinians in Beirut in 1982, never forgave his own government for its dishonesty at the end of the Palestine Mandate.
Cronins value, however, lies in his further research into British support for Israel, its constant arms re-supplies to Israel, its 1956 connivance with the Israelis over Suez during which Israeli troops massacred in the Gaza camp of Khan Younis, according to a UN report, 275 Palestinian civilians, of whom 140 were refugees from the 1948 catastrophe. Many UN-employed Palestinians, an American military officer noted at the time, are believed to have been executed by the Israelis. Britains subsequent export of submarines and hundreds of Centurion tanks to Israel was shrugged off with the same weasel-like excuses that British governments have ever since used to sell trillions of dollars of weapons to Israelis and Arabs alike: that if Britain didnt arm them, others would.
In opposition in 1972, Harold Wilson claimed it was utterly unreal to call for an Israeli withdrawal from land occupied in the 1967 war, adding that Israels reaction is natural and proper in refusing to accept the Palestinians as a nation. When the Palestinians first demanded a secular one-state solution to Palestine, they were denounced by a British diplomat (Anthony Parsons) who said that a multinational, secular state would be wholly incompatible with our attitude toward Israel. Indeed it would. When the PLO opposed Britains Falklands conflict, the Foreign Office haughtily admonished the Palestinians it was far removed from their legitimate concerns, it noted although it chose not to reveal that Argentine air force Skyhawk jets supplied by Israel were used to attack UK forces, and that Israels military supplies to Argentina continued during the war.
A year later, Margaret Thatcher, according to a note by Douglas Hurd, included armed action against military targets of the occupying power as a definition of terrorism. So the Palestinians could not even resist their direct occupiers without being criminals.
UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 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Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. 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On an official visit to Israel in 1986, Thatcher said that she regarded discussion of Jerusalem as internal politics. In 2001, Tony Blairs government granted 90 arms exports licences to Israel for defensive weapons including torpedoes, armoured vehicles, bombs and missiles. There is much, much more of this in Cronins book, including Blairs useless and disgraceful period as peace envoy to the Middle East and the growing business contracts between British companies and Israeli arms providers to the extent that the British army ended up deploying Israeli-made drones in the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Outside the EU, Theresa Mays Britain will maintain its close relations with Israel as a priority; hence Mays stated desire less than a month ago to sign a bilateral free trade agreement with Israel. This coincided with an Israeli attack on Gaza and a Knesset vote to confiscate ie, steal yet more lands from Palestinians in the West Bank.
From the day that Herbert Samuel, deputy leader of the Liberal Party and former (Jewish) High Commissioner for Palestine, said in the House of Commons in 1930 that Arabs do migrate easily, it seems that Britain has faithfully followed Balfours policies. More than 750,000 Palestinians were uprooted in their catastrophe, Cronin writes. Generations of dispossessed would grow up in the camps. Today, there are around five million registered Palestinian refugees. Britain was the midwife of that expulsion.
And this summer, we shall again be exhorted by Theresa May to remember the Balfour Declaration with pride.
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Donald Trump has done plenty of flip-flopping over the course of his unlikely rise to power. Hes changed his mind multiple times about repealing Obamacare, prosecuting his political opponents for no reason and whether he should spend $500bn deporting millions of people nobody can find. Its actually pretty difficult to keep up.
Yet against all odds, the one election promise Trump cannot seem to let go of is the claim hell drain the swamp of big politics and eradicate any and all trace of corruption in Washington. It was a great campaign slogan, and millions of Americans really bought into it. For whatever reason, they truly believed a greasy Manhattan billionaire with a penchant for running businesses into the ground could help clean up politics.
Six weeks into Donald Trumps presidency, and that corrupt political bog we all used to scoff at has devolved into a muddy hellscape covered in smog so thick you couldnt cut it with a knife. Instead of draining that swamp, the President has spent the past month and a bit needlessly bending over backwards to prove to us all just how great he is at wallowing within one.
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
Seriously, it seems like one of Trumps minions tosses a little more dirt in the pit every day and if Trump doesnt start cracking the whip and cleaning house soon, this mess hes creating for himself will inevitably send the guy packing long before we stumble into 2020.
Trumps latest migraine? It turns out his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, lied under oath to Congress about palling around with the Russian government.
To be fair, Jeff Sessions has always been a dodgy guy least of all because hes a climate change sceptic who voted against banning torture and has allegedly missed out on jobs before in the past for making racist jokes and slagging off the NAACP.
But when youre Americas new chief lawyer and supreme authority on justice and moral integrity, youve got to admit that lying under oath is hitting a new low. And bearing in mind its Sessions whos supposedly leading an FBI investigation into whether the Russians cheated the American people by tipping Novembers general election in favour of his orange boss, its not hard to see why Democrats and Republicans alike are now calling for his head to roll.
Almost every big claim Trump made at address to Congress was false
With any luck, it will and Sessions wont even be the first big fish that Trump will have been forced to gut and sacrifice to the gods of politics in order to save his own skin. Hell, just a few days after Trump took the helm, one of his top national security advisers got fired for illegally talking shop with the exact same Russian guy Jeff Sessions lied to Congress about never having met with.
Vladimir Putin is probably jumping for joy, because the last time Russia was this culturally relevant, Milli Vanilli reigned supreme on the Billboard charts. But somewhere in that horrible bog were still calling Pennsylvania Avenue, the mood is considerably more sombre because the Trump administration simply cannot seem to get itself out of this perpetual, full-blown crisis mode.
Recommended US media turn screw on Trump with fresh reports of Russia links
The President is currently sitting on about four dozen lawsuits against him, executive orders are getting blown out of the water by court judges, his aides are dropping like flies and now one of his right hand men has been caught lying on camera and under oath about potential dirty dealings with a country Trumps own party thinks is Americas number one geopolitical foe.
Every time it looks like things cant get any worse for Donald Trump, he always manages to surprise us with another unconstitutional doozy. Hes really got quite a knack for it. But if Trump wants to stay in power for the next four years and keep his fragmented support base in one piece, hed better start treading a bit more carefully.
After all, even Republicans can only handle so many lies before they start to lose patience and a swamp can only get so muddy before nature decides to take its own course.
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Rarely the crime; invariably the cover-up. So it has been since long before Richard Nixons resignation over the Watergate break in. And so it is today. President Donald Trumps National Security Adviser, Mike Flynn, lasted just 24 days before resigning over a conversation he had denied. Now, Trumps attorney general, Jeff Sessions, stands accused of lying to Senators about contacts he, too, had during the election campaign. It is not at all clear that he will be able to tough it out.
One conclusion that could be drawn is that Trumps associates are prone to the same casual attitude to the truth as he appears to be. But this is not what the charges of concealment are really about: would either man have been called to account as he has, if the contacts in question had not been with Russians? Would a call to a British diplomat, for instance, have been so suspect or thought so problematical as to be glossed over by the American concerned? I doubt it.
Indeed, the UK ambassador in Washington came in for criticism back home for errors of almost the opposite kind: for failing to cultivate the Trump team. At least the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak, cant be accused of that. All other things being equal, he would be in line for a medal recognising his stellar contribution to bilateral relations.
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
But all other things are not equal. The reason why first Flynn and now Sessions are in anyones sights is that their supposed misdeeds feed into a theme that unites a very broad Washington coalition. Democrats, anti-Trump Republicans, members of the outgoing Obama administration, and sections of the diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence establishment all agree that Trump is vulnerable, even culpable, on Russia.
Their motives are mixed and overlap. There is the belief that Russia used nefarious means to help Donald Trump to power. Not to the point where the election was actually subverted by Russia. Oh no, the US electoral process, the actual voting and the count, retained its integrity. But Russian interference, including the hacking of the Democrats computers and ensuring anti-Clinton material reached the public domain, tipped the balance in favour of Trump. Or so the story goes.
And it suits a lot of people. Democrats find it easier to blame Russia than accept that they lost in a fair fight. There is still a large US constituency that sees Russia as Enemy Number One and a smaller section whose jobs actually depend on the continued perception of Russia as a threat. They saw Trumps campaign pledge to try to improve relations with Moscow as a betrayal of the national interest and their own. Then there are those who regard any avenue that might lead to Trumps removal as worth pursuing, and at the moment the most promising avenue leads through Russia.
Thus far, six weeks into Donald Trumps presidency, the anti-Trump, anti-Russia alliance has notched up some successes. It saw off Mike Flynn, regarded as the chief advocate for Russia in Trumps administration, largely by virtue of his attendance at a dinner with Vladimir Putin. It may have encouraged cabinet nominees to be harsher on Russia at their confirmation hearings than they would otherwise have been which may be why Sessions went wrong.
Its most conspicuous success, though, was Trumps decision to omit Russia completely from his address to the joint chambers of Congress earlier this week. After a campaign in which relations with Russia had been one of his few consistent pitches, this omission was glaring. Was it a policy change, or a tactical retreat?
There will be those a relatively small part of specialist opinion in Washington, but probably more in the country at large who will hope that it is only a tactical retreat. I have to agree. Not only because a US-Russia thaw could help solve some of the most intractable problems around the globe, but because the actual evidence against Russia is so thin and some of the methods used against the Trump camp smack of a witch hunt.
Lets take a few of the claims. Did Russia try to manipulate the US election? The intelligence services report, in its declassified version at least, reveals only how ill-informed US intelligence appears to be. It also fails to make a crucial distinction. Every intelligence service worth its salt would have tried to probe behind the scenes of this unusual campaign. Trying to manipulate the result is something different, but Russia seemed as unprepared for a Trump victory as anyone.
Did individuals around Trump make or maintain links with Russia? Some, such as Sessions as a member of the Senate armed services committee, and Rex Tillerson as CEO of Exxon-Mobil had professional reasons for their Russia contacts, which predated any association with Trump. Given, however, that a shift in Russia policy was a headline of the Trump campaign, it would make sense for one or more of those close to him to sound out the possible reception in the Kremlin. If they talked to the Russian ambassador, why not? He was doing his job, and they theirs.
No, no, say Trumps accusers, any such contacts would have broken the (1799) Logan Act, which makes it illegal for a private citizen to negotiate with a foreign power. It is hardly needs to be said that the circumstances in 1799 were rather different, or that low-key contacts between trusted associates and foreign diplomats have not featured in every US presidential transition to date. This seems one of the more trivial charges.
Then there was the way Mike Flynn was trapped by the leak of material from tapped phone calls and emails to prove that he had spoken to the Russian ambassador. Is this a justified use of state power not the bugging, but the leak for this particular purpose? Trump described it as criminal, and I tend to agree. It looked very like payback by the CIA and others for Trumps scepticism about their hacking accusations against Russia.
With hindsight, Trump may wish he had not sacrificed Flynn so soon. His enemies smelled blood and hastened their pursuit. Amateur sleuths are now trying to track contacts of Trump allies with Russians around the world. And Chris Steele the British ex-spy who compiled the dossier on Trumps supposed Kremlin links is being rehabilitated via social media in an effort to expose Trump as financially, or by reputation, in hock to the Kremlin.
What does all this say? Those hostile to Trump would like it to show that he is essentially a rogue president who must be de-fanged if he cannot be deposed. Perhaps, though, it shows something else: that there interests feeling so threatened by this unorthodox president that they are prepared to use all the resources of the state against him? It may be too early to decide. But you have to delve back to the early Cold War for a time when Americans could be branded traitors merely for their associations. Just now, that infamous question are you now or have you ever been? seems uncomfortably close.
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There were a surprising number of commentators willing to give President Trump the benefit of the doubt following his address to Congress on Tuesday. Perhaps the absence of a full-frontal attack on the media caught Donald-watchers off guard. Modest attempts to reach out beyond core supporters and an appeal to American optimism received generally favourable coverage. Never mind that much of what the President said was not backed up by facts.
In the aftermath of his speech, even the famous Trump Twitter feed has been quiet, aside from an upbeat message on Thursday referencing stock market gains and consumer confidence. All in all, we appear to be in the middle of a mini-charm offensive. The question is whether it can last and, if not, what is most likely to break the spell?
Russia remains the issue that has the greatest capacity to undermine the Presidents new-found sense of calm. Democrats will seek to oppose him on any number of policy matters. But on the question of whether there were links between Mr Trumps campaign team and Russian officials in the run-up to the election, the danger to the President is that not all Republicans will fall behind him simply out of broader loyalty to the Grand Old Party.
In that context, it is highly significant that Christopher Steele, the former MI6 operative who was behind the explosive dossier linking Mr Trumps team to the Russian government, has been approached by the US Senate Intelligence Committee with a view to giving evidence to its enquiries into the subject. The fact that US politicians are said even to be prepared to facilitate initial meetings on neutral territory either the UK or elsewhere speaks volumes for their desire to get to the bottom of exactly what Mr Steele knows about connections between Mr Trumps coterie and the Kremlin.
These latest revelations are unlikely to go down well with the White House. The President has made it his business to attack Mr Steeles credibility, calling him a failed spy and referring to the claims in his intelligence briefing as fabricated. Meanwhile, his supporters already appear set to disrupt the enquiries by the intelligence committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Reince Priebus, the Presidents Chief of Staff, is said to have asked the FBI to dispute media reports of contacts between Mr Trumps circle and the Russians. And David Nunes, the Republican chair of the House intelligence panel, was condemned by the committees top-ranking Democrat for making public assertions about an alleged lack of evidence against Mr Trump associates.
Yet for every attempt to undermine ongoing investigations, new disclosures seem to emerge. In the latest twist, it was confirmed by the Justice Department that Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice met the Russian ambassador to the US during the election race. This came after he told his confirmation hearing in January that he did not have communications with the Russians. Mr Sessions says he did not mislead the hearing because he had been asked about meetings involving the Trump campaign, not meetings he had in his capacity as a senator and member of the Armed Services Committee.
Ultimately, allegations of improper links between the Presidents campaign team and a Russian administration which appears to have been bent on influencing the outcome of the election are about as serious as it gets, for all that Mr Trump may try to dismiss them as fake news. It is imperative that the Congress intelligence committees and the FBI carry out their investigations fully, fairly and openly. Hearing what Christopher Steele has to say about it all would be a bold and positive move; and may help us understand whether Russia will, in the end, be Trumps bear-trap.
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I am not a bargaining chip. I am a proud adopted son of Liverpool who swapped the Netherlands for the UK 24 years ago. I have a beautiful British wife and two gorgeous British daughters who are proud to call me papa rather than daddy.
I have lived in Liverpool all of my adult life and have been lucky enough to play a small part in the regeneration of this wonderful, international city, whose inhabitants voted overwhelmingly in favour of Britain remaining part of the EU.
I have witnessed first-hand the positive difference the EU has made to Liverpool and other parts of the UK that for years were ignored and left behind by those in power in London and the South-East. I am very proud of the positive contribution made by EU immigrants like myself. We are nurses, doctors, teachers, cleaners, chefs, carers, marketing professionals, musicians, sales assistants, drivers, social workers and so much more. We are also your family, friends and neighbours.
I didnt have a vote in the EU referendum and I can just about accept that. I am proud of the people of Liverpool for getting their vote right but feel desperately sad about the overall referendum result and everything that has happened in the UK since.
I am astonished by Theresa Mays determination to press ahead with a hard Brexit and feel angry about the governments refusal to guarantee the rights of EU nationals currently living in Britain to remain, which is something all sides of the debate agreed should happen. Do I think I will be asked to leave? Probably not. Do I feel less welcome, less valued now than I did a year ago? Absolutely. And I am worth more than that
Jonne Quint Liverpool
The Lords should be applauded for their performance
How heartening to watch the high quality debate in the House of Lords on Article 50, with amendments seeking to protect the rights of residence of EU and UK citizens. The moral and humanitarian case to grant residency before Article 50 is triggered was overwhelming.
It is surprising that none of the Lords backed up the moral case, with the economic/social one. The three million EU citizens living in the UK are mostly economically active, paying taxes, are younger, with many working in rather than using the NHS and social care provision; thus are significant net contributors to the UK economy and society. By comparison, of the 1.3 million UK citizens living in the EU, with for instance some 400,000 living in Spain. Many of those retired, supported by UK funded pensions but with their health and social care paid for by the Spanish Government under EU reciprocal arrangements.
If the UK fails to guarantee right of EU citizens residence, then many will leave; as already reported in your columns. That will mean the UK will be both short of workers, many in skilled professions such as healthcare, and tax revenue. In return, those UK retirees currently living in Spain and elsewhere in the EU, may have their right to health and social care removed, causing many to repatriate to the UK. Net result, increased pressure on the NHS, social care provision and housing, with no corresponding increase in tax receipts.
But to the myopic, BREXIT obsessed, economically illiterate May Government, the will of the people (52 per cent who voted but only 37 per cent of those entitled to vote) and her rabid right wing will have been sated, even if the UK economy and society are infinitely poorer.
L N Price Address supplied
Brexit will decrease government spending
Hospitals and general practice, social services, local authorities, schools, the military, the railways, prisons and the probation service and now the police have all been declared by authoritative reports in recent months to lack sufficient staff, resources, and finance to carry out their functions competently. Have we ever had such failure and administrative chaos across such a multiplicity of different state-funded organisations?
When these issues are raised with this Brexit-obsessed Government, the response or lack of it seems by implication to be a mix of there isn't a problem, or it isn't a priority, or we can't afford the appropriate solution, or it is not something for government to resolve. But a failure to deal with these issues, however complex they may be, must inevitably lead to larger problems of social breakdown in the future. Yes, we have a major debt problem, and money cannot be thrown around carelessly as socialist governments in the past have had a tendency to do. But a conscientious government has to come up with credible and affordable solutions and to make practical moves to carry them through.
If the outcome of Brexit is as financially disastrous as many of us still fear, with Treasury predictions of a 10 per cent drop in GDP and a collapse in the UK tax take of up to 66bn (and therefore a large decline in government spending power), most of these problems can only get a great deal worse. The staffing crises especially in health and education will certainly deteriorate further, as more EU professionals return home, and if we are to pursue much more restrictive immigration policies.
Gavin Turner Gunton
The death tax is justified
With the report of government's proposals for social care costs to be paid out of inheritances, there is the emotional cry to reject the death tax. Let us remind rejecters that in the vast majority of cases significant inheritances are to the well-off and are something for nothing and we know how greatly that something for nothing is typically condemned by the well-off when manifested as social benefits for the poor, disabled and the elderly struggling to get by.
Peter Cave London, W1
When will Sturgeon start representing all Scots?
Nicola Sturgeon tells us that time is running out for the UK Government to come up with a solution to her grievance about Brexit that will satisfy her. Why is time running out? We do not yet know what the terms of Brexit will be. Ah, but the point is that Sturgeon is itching to call for another Scottish referendum. After all, there hasnt been one since September 2014. Do election-weary Scots really want another referendum? The polls suggest not. Is there any point in having a referendum before we know what the terms of Brexit are likely to be? No.
I am aware that Sturgeon has a single-minded one-item agenda and a mass of party members who are baying for a new referendum. It would be refreshing if she were to put the interests of Scots ahead of the interests of her party and her single agenda and desist from threatening, demanding and complaining.
Jill Stephenson Edinburgh
We should not tolerate gender inequality
Charlotte Gill is right that gender inequality remains an unfinished business. Women still face an uphill battle to demonstrate their mettle and worthiness. We must arm ourselves with economic inclusion, humility, humanity, honesty, equitable education, social justice, gender equity, mutual respect, political pluralism, religious tolerance and cultural diversity.
This is important nowadays when there seem to be no easy solutions to global warming, rising income inequalities; when our societies seem to be drifting towards polarization, populism, protectionism, homophobia, deep public disenchantment with globalisation and when some parts of the world are simmering with anger, resentment, separatism and rancour and experiencing a steady stream of refugees and asylum seekers. We should not tolerate any socially tolerated violation of human rights towards women and allow them to fulfil their unmet aspirations.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob London
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How will we cope with losing half of all our doctors (More than half of European doctors are thinking of leaving UK over Brexit, Adam Lusher, 1 March) or did you not mean to include all the UK born ones? No wonder there was a vote for Brexit when we especially the media have failed for so many decades to call ourselves European. It may make for snappier headlines but it has had long term consequences.
Tansy Hepton Huddersfield
But will they walk the walk?
Apart from the obvious retort that British doctors are European and that you mean Doctors from Continental Europe when you talk about half of European doctors wanting to leave, lets see how many actually fulfil their promise. They earn more money in the UK than they would in their own country of origin. And the quality of life for a European doctor in the UK is not so bad.
People who voted for Brexit wanted more control so that more English speaking doctors and nurses from Britain can be trained in the future to reduce the reliance on overseas staff. It is simply scandalous that the NHS has to rely on foreign doctors and nurses from abroad, particularly where they have been trained at the expense of poorer countries like the Philippines and are poached to work here with higher salaries. That is morally repugnant.
Philip Pound London, SE26
More like an understatement
Adam Lushers article rightly points out dangers inherent in demotivating EU citizens currently working in the NHS. I also wonder whether his article actually understates the future problems. Many British health workers will be older than their EU colleagues and are now approaching retirement thus increasing the importance of foreign workers in the NHS. It can be suggested that we should train more of our own doctors rather than poaching them from other countries but this is a long term solution to the problem. Training medical staff takes time and money, both I fear are in short supply.
Robin White Hampshire
You couldnt make it up
Day after day, organisation after organisation, are in effect saying, along with The Independent, that it will be to our tremendous disadvantage to leave the EU. Even Boris Johnson is now saying that we have had 70 years of peace in Europe because of our trade connections. All the organisations speaking out, be it the NHS, universities or security services, are the experts, the people who know. And then along comes the referendum and misinformed or at least uninformed voters. May and her government insist that a badly informed or misinformed minority of the population determine that we leave the EU. You really couldn't make such a ridiculous course of events up.
Paul Priestley-Leach Swanland
Its a hard call
Regarding the new law re using mobiles while driving, if you are in a queue of traffic that is clearly not moving e.g. motorway closed by accident, can you still not use a mobile? Obviously many people would want to advise people that theyre going to be late.
Kathy Hall Derby
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
Kazakhstan over fulfilled its obligations to cut oil output within the deal with other oil producer countries reached in Dec. 2016, Sputnik Kazakhstan news agency quoted Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev as saying.
Within the deal with OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers Kazakhstan has committed to cut oil output by 20,000 barrels per day from November 2016 level since Jan. 1 2017.
"In January, I can say that we have fulfilled and exceeded our obligations The oil output was reduced by over 30,000 barrels," Bozumbayev said.
The minister went on to add that it is expected that February output was on the agreed level as well. However, if it was a little exceeded, oil production cut in January will cover this surplus, he said.
In December 2016 OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices.
Non-oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 bpd starting from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months, to take into account prevailing market conditions and prospects.
OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486,000 bpd.
Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
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The police service has to be congratulated for keeping itself afloat during a period in which budget cuts have threatened to sink it. Across the range of measures and forces assessed, performance has declined in 41 areas and improved in 38 others, although the narrative does not seem to match the optimism of the gradings. Police officers, particularly frontline, response team officers, are facing overwhelming pressure to cope with increasing demand, resulting in them not being able to deliver the professional investigation and the care for victims that they desperately want to provide.
Neighbourhood policing, always the first to be hit when budgets are tight, is in decline and with it, police effectiveness in preventing crime. When young people feel unsafe, they arm themselves with knives, with devastating consequences, for example.
Control rooms try to cope with the demand by down-grading immediate calls to soon and under-assessing the immediate danger victims may be in. This has the inherent risk that police officers do not get to the scene of a serious crime until it is too late, until a victim has suffered serious harm or, heaven forbid, has lost her life. While some may call the actions of control room staff reprehensible, they are only doing this when there are simply no more police officers to send.
The impact of inadequate resources is evidenced by the fact that some forces, who have improved their protection of vulnerable victims, are criticised for doing so at the cost to other areas of policing. Nearly half of forces are not doing enough. There is an increasing concern the local policing is being eroded but at the same time there is a national shortage of detectives, described by HMIC as a crisis. Traditional street-based crime is heading in the wrong direction while police forces are not keeping pace with the way peoples lives are moving online and increasingly being subject to online crime. HMIC is concerned about the workloads of the teams supervising registered sex offenders while the national lead for child protection suggested this week that those who view child sex abuse images should not be prosecuted if they pose no other threat to children because they are overwhelmed. Even when offenders have been identified, many forces do not do enough to circulate them as wanted or to arrest them.
What this report does not do, is to highlight the other pressures the police service is under. Historic child sex abuse investigations, the public inquiry into undercover policing, the sins of the past that are now haunting the present, effectively mean the police are trying to deal with 120 per cent of current demand with only 80 per cent of the resources.
The Home Office intends to pass on further cuts of between 3 per cent and 6 per cent to the police service because it has nowhere else to go to make the savings. Just as the police service mops-up when society and other public services fail, it is expected to soak-up these cuts. It is unsustainable.
Brian, Lord Paddick is a Liberal Democrat peer and retired police officer. He was the Lib Dem candidate for the London mayoral elections of 2008 and 2012
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Just typing the date as I sit down to write this article 2017 feels like an act darkened with shadows and loud with echoes. The centenary of the February Revolution (whose start is dated to 23 February in the old Julian calendar, and 8 March in the Gregorian calendar commonly used today) opens Russias year of revolution, with landmark anniversaries, now falling one after the other until the end of the year and beyond.
The February tumult, which brought the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II a dynasty and an empire signed away with almost as little drama as was to attend Mikhail Gorbachevs resignation and the dissolution of the Soviet Union 74 years later was known to every Soviet schoolchild as the bourgeois revolution. It was treated, in the great communist scheme of things, as little more than the warm-up act for the Great October Revolution, when the Bolsheviks, under Lenin, seized power.
This is one reason why the February anniversary is less contentious in todays Russia than that of the October Revolution, which presents not only President Vladimir Putin and his circle in the Kremlin, but Russian historians and indeed many ordinary Russians with a dilemma.
Indeed, it is not at all clear, with eight months or so to go, whether Russia will hold any official commemoration at all, come that centenary; and if it does, what its tenor will be.
A solution of a kind was found for the pageant staged at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. The year of revolution was depicted with a great deal of noise, a flush of red and orange, and a great many guns and banners. For the purposes of that pageant, though, the revolution was only one stage in the great march of Russian history from medieval times to the 21st century. There was no need for historical detail, and no need to take a view upon it.
The centenary is different. It demands that any commemoration be faithful, so far as possible, to history. It also cries out for Russia, and Russians, to take a view.
Yet this is not as simple as it might seem, even at a distance of 100 years, and even with the Soviet Union itself consigned to history.
It was in fact easier to pass a judgement at the end of 1991, when the demise of both Communist rule and the Soviet Union was widely seen as undoing the Bolshevik revolution. Some of Soviet communisms arch foes, including the philosopher-writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, returned from exile. Preparations were made for the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church in emigration to be reunited. The last Tsar and his family were reburied. There was even talk of the monarchy being restored. The previous 70-plus years could be seen as a tragic mistake.
Vladimir Putin says Donald Trump didn't use prostitutes because he's met so many beautiful women
Now, however, it is more complicated. Russia is not like France, which still tends the revolutionary flame more than two centuries on. But nor is it like England, where the revolution failed and the monarchy was restored.
The Soviet system that resulted from the revolution lasted too long to be expunged from history at least so long as the USSR remains within living memory but not long enough to determine Russias worldview to this day.
Bolshevik fighters in Petrograd in 1917, following the revolution that ushered in seven decades of communism (Getty)
A quarter century after the Soviet collapse, the legacy of the Bolshevik Revolution is deeply polarising, in a way it could not be in Soviet times. There are Russians who denounce Bolshevism and all its works and hail the collapse of Soviet communism as a merciful deliverance. They may have family who chose exile after 1917; they may have lost relatives in the Stalin purges, or seen off fathers, husbands and brothers to the front in 1941-5 who never came back. For many others though, the revolution, while violent and cruel to many, gave their families opportunities they would never have had so long as the Tsar ruled.
Many are reluctant to speak ill of Stalin, regarding him as Lenins heir and a great leader in war. Many others are deeply ambivalent, recognising that while the Bolshevik Revolution brought benefits, including education, to those at the bottom of the social pile, it also destroyed not just the aristocracy, but the first flowering of a middle class the best of us, as some still say.
These conflicting views are the tiger that Putin has had to ride through all his years in power.
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He has avoided being thrown, in part by insisting that the history taught in Russian schools should be as inclusive of Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky as of Andrei Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. His approach has entailed some steps back, including the revival of the Soviet-era national anthem (same tune, new words). That Lenin remains in his mausoleum on Red Square also testifies to the difficulty as yet of rewriting the Bolshevik legacy.
There is also a more recent reason for Russias ambivalence towards this centennial year of revolution, which is to be found in the so-called colour revolutions around its borders: the 2005 Orange Revolution and the 2014 Euro-Maidan in Ukraine, and the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia, as well as in the Arab Spring. Whether or not Russians believe that these uprisings were orchestrated by the West, they fear that their country could be next. Some of the very same people who revere the Bolshevik Revolution find the prospect of a new revolution deeply subversive.
Compared with the controversies now swirling around the October (Bolshevik) Revolution, the February bourgeois Revolution draws fewer passions. Its failure, however, which ultimately enabled the Bolsheviks to seize power, raises questions that were debated at the time and are being debated again today.
The central one is this: in other circumstances (without, say, the exigencies of the First World War or the 1911 assassination of reformist Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin) would Russia have been able to modernise and democratise at the same time? Could it have become a modern country like any other, or was the failure of the provisional government and Russias first democratically elected Constituent Assembly proof, perhaps, that Russia and democracy were incompatible, and maybe remain so?
One Russian response to the collapse of the Soviet Union was a new interest in the decade immediately before 1917, and a popular approach was to ask whether Russia could not rewind and simply pick up where its development was so brutally broken off.
An anthem to that thesis was a film, Stanislav Govorukhins The Past We Have Lost, which offered an elegiac portrait of those pre-revolutionary years. Since then, though, much of the romance has worn off. It is unrealistic to expect that 2017 will reconcile Russians to a legacy of revolutions that continues to divide.
Irish Life acquired the Velasco building at the corner of Grand Canal Street and Clanwilliam Place in Dublin city centre for 58m
Despite the slow start to the Dublin investment market this year, CBRE has raised its outlook for prime investment property values. At the beginning of the year its director Marie Hunt had been forecasting that prime yields were expected to remain stable this year.
Now, however, the firm's latest bi-monthly report says that yields for prime high street and prime office assets may harden - in other words, further rises for prime commercial property values could be on the cards.
She attributes this improved outlook to a noticeable intensification in the appetite for prime investment opportunities in the Irish market over recent months with international core capital, mainly German and French institutions, remaining active buyers.
"The market is well supported by the underlying strength of occupier markets, which is continuing to drive rental improvements in all sectors," Ms Hunt says.
"What we have seen recently is that there are more long-term investors focussing on prime and less focussing on secondary. This polarisation has meant that we now expect to see some slight hardening in prime office yields, say from 4.65pc to 4.5pc, as new transactional evidence emerges. Prime high street retail yields could move from 3.25pc to 3pc, probably by mid-year," she adds.
All other prime sectors are expected to see stable yields ranging from 4pc for super-prime shopping centres up to 5.5pc yields for both industrial and student accommodation.
Interestingly, prime multi-family residential yields are averaging 4.8pc, which is almost on a par with the traditional trophy assets of prime shopping centres, now at 4.75pc. Retail warehouse yields, meanwhile, stand at 5pc.
On the other hand, a separate analysis for all types of office investments shows that the highest equivalent gross yield at the end of 2016 was the 8pc generated in the north Dublin suburbs. This survey by MSCI in conjunction with BNP Paribas Real Estate showed the lowest gross yield at 5.1pc was recorded in Dublin's south docklands. This suggests that office prices are higher there than those in Dublin 2 and 4, where gross yields average 5.7pc across all grades. North docks and IFSC yields average 6pc and Dublin 1 at 6.2pc.
Dublin's south suburbs, which includes Sandyford and Leopardstown, is generating 6.5pc while Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire are out at 7.8pc.
But Marie Hunt advises that there is currently less appetite for secondary properties due to a heightened perception of risk in a more uncertain backdrop, which could affect their pricing as the year progresses.
"We could see yields on other assets softening as opposed to hardening, so the gap between prime and secondary could widen as appetite for prime intensifies," she adds.
"The occupier markets continue to perform well, buoyed in particular by the strength of continued employment generation in the Irish economy."
She has noticed an increase in active requirements for office accommodation in Dublin over recent months, with several mandates in play at present including some that are specifically Brexit-related.
"Once Article 50 is officially triggered, demand is expected to escalate further. Following what has been a relatively slow start to the year, we expect to see a meaningful improvement in activity in the Irish commercial real estate sector over the next couple of months, assuming sufficient product comes available to match underlying volumes of demand," she says.
Nevertheless, last year's record 4.5bn of investment spend is not expected to be matched in 2017 now that deleveraging activity has slowed and in the absence of a significant number of trophy sales, which were prevalent in 2016.
Among the investment transactions currently in the pipeline is Irish Life's forward-funding of the new Grant Thornton headquarters at 13-18 City Quay, Dublin 2. While yet to be completed, this deal is expected to be valued at more than 125m and, with a possible rent roll of more than 6 million, is expected to generate a net initial yield of about 4.65pc.
The same institution also bought the Velasco office building in Dublin 4, which Ardstone Capital is redeveloping in conjunction with Hardwicke.
Separately, Ardstone also sold 2 Harbourmaster Place in the IFSC to German investor Real I.S. AG for 53.75m.
Another IFSC office building, the Dublin headquarters of JP Morgan, sold for a sum in the region of 40m.
Hines purchased the Montrose student accommodation scheme near UCD in Dublin 4 for 37.7m. Meanwhile, in west Dublin, investment firm Carysfort Capital, headed by Michael Looney, is expected to generate a net initial yield of 6.75pc from the purchase of a multi-family investment of 160 apartments and 167 car spaces at St Edmund's, Liffey Valley, west Dublin, for over 36m.
In the industrial sector, a distribution facility at Aerodrome Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, was sold for 28m, while an office complex at Fumbally Square, Dublin 8, was sold for about 24m.
While there are six properties currently being marketed separately with a combined value of 138m, Ms Hunt says the current biggest frustration in the market is the scarcity of prime product.
Partly in response to this shortage, she reports a notable increase in investors seeking forward-funding opportunities and also looking for investments in what she refers to as 'alternative' sectors.
"Indeed, investors the world over are becoming increasingly agnostic about what specific sector they are targeting and focussing more on long-term income generation potential in a myriad of new sectors."
These sectors include residential blocks for the rental market, purpose-built student accommodation, hotels and healthcare.
She also expects supply of investment opportunities to improve over the coming months as the market approaches the traditional selling season.
There has also been an increase in the number of private investors bringing assets to the market for sale over recent months, which will hopefully alleviate pressure to some extent.
I was in Cork last Friday to speak to the DPS Group, the engineering and project management specialists, and I took the opportunity to invite a group to discuss the issues affecting property and construction in the city.
My experts were Aiden O'Dwyer, director of DPS Group's operations in Cork, Isobel O'Regan, commercial director with Savills, and Dr Brian Turner, economics lecturer at UCC. I soon learned that Cork is approaching a 'tipping point' to a new and exciting, self-sustaining scale.
There is a wave of property and infrastructural development in the city, which, if handled correctly, can transform Cork as a place in which to live and work. The most important of these is the relocation of the port of Cork from the city centre. Roll on-roll off (RORO) ferries are due to join the passenger ferries at a new port at Ringaskiddy. This opens up exciting development sites for offices and apartments on both sides of the river - similar to the Dublin docklands.
Prime property is in demand and John Cleary's office scheme at 1 Albert Quay saw 16,250 sq m (175,000 sq ft) let at final rents approaching 296 per sq m, and the investment sold to Green REIT. Cleary is due on site next month at City Gate Plaza, Mahon, an office scheme of 25,000 sq m (270,000 sq ft). Isobel O'Regan advised that prime city rents are now at 323 per sq m.
Cleary is also close to completing The Capitol, a 10,000 sq m (108,000 sq ft) retail and office scheme on Grand Parade, where three quarters of the space is pre-let. O'Callaghan Properties are awaiting planning permission for an office scheme of 32,000 sq m (345,000 sq ft) at Albert Quay, and intend to go on site this year.
Other schemes include Kent Station, a joint venture between BAM and Clarendon Properties, on a 2.5 hectare site. CIE sold the 'air rights' for a 10pc share of the income. The scheme, to provide offices, apartments and a hotel, is now being master-planned. O'Flynn Construction have just announced that they are to build 184 houses in an 80m investment.
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My group felt this is a crucial time to get planning, infrastructure and 'joined-up thinking' right. Everyone identified the two major infrastructural blockages in Cork as the Dunkettle roundabout and the N28 (Cork to Ringaskiddy) road. The Dunkettle roundabout is adding 15 minutes each way to journeys into the commercial area of Little Island.
Aiden O'Dwyer pointed out that with a lot of heavy pharma business and future pharma infrastructure to be developed around Ringaskiddy, better access is needed to open up sites. It was noted that the N28 runs through Housing Minister Simon Coveney's constituency, and that his possible elevation to Taoiseach would do no harm to the prospects of getting the new route built.
However, O'Dwyer cautioned that the current Dunkettle roundabout configuration is relatively new infrastructure, which underlines how infrastructural planning has to be got right, first time, for this next burst of development.
Cork is very strong in the pharma and IT sectors and Apple, and others, are currently investing heavily. O'Dwyer said these sectors are watching the 'Trump factor' carefully, as any clampdown could have a big effect. There is a potential short-term wave of development to get projects to the stage where it wouldn't make sense to stop them. Brexit is an uncertainty factor, but more so in agriculture, where Kerry Group and Dairygold are big players in the region.
Brian Turner pointed to reduced air connectivity as a problem, and all agreed that the old Cork airport terminal should be leased on soft terms to a low-cost operator. Norwegian Airlines' new flights to the US were welcomed, although there will be more flights from Shannon than Cork.
My contributors praised the Tyndall ICT research centre and the Ignite business innovation programmes attached to UCC, which are seen as the way to a future that isn't overly reliant on FDI. Cork is at the dawn of a new era, which must be managed skilfully.
As Isobel O'Regan concluded: "Cork has much to offer, and is growing fast as a European scale city."
The twisting, glass tower with stunning views across Vancouver's harbour and the snow-capped peaks beyond is where the postcard-perfect image ends for the first new hotel to bear the name of US President Donald Trump since he took office.
Vancouver's mayor, during the contentious run-up to the Republican primaries to the south, said the tycoon's brand doesn't belong in a city that prides itself on openness. The tower's wealthy Malaysian developer faced demands to re-brand the project while protestors engaged in two separate demonstrations for the property's official debut last Tuesday.
Trump's sons Donald Jnr and Eric as well as Joo Kim Tiah - scion of one of Malaysia's richest tycoons and head of Vancouver-based developer Holborn Group - attended the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver, located on a downtown thoroughfare where a giant silver 'Trump' logo faces a modest brick church.
"We felt this was a market that held great potential for our brand," Donald Trump said in 2013, when the C$360m (256m) condominium-and-hotel project was announced.
Yet from the outset, locals questioned whether the Trump tower's over-the-top opulence are suited to a city known for an outdoorsy, laid-back lifestyle, where residents wear ski jackets to upmarket restaurants.
Of the property's 217 luxury residences, 214 units were sold by last May at an average price of C$1,615 (1,150) per sq ft. The price paid represented a Canadian record at the time for condos, according to the Holborn Group.
Controversy around the tower mounted after Trump declared his presidential candidacy in June 2015, vowing to ban Muslims from entering the US and to build a wall to keep out Mexicans.
"Trump's name and brand have no more place on Vancouver's skyline than his ignorant ideas have in the modern world," Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson wrote in December 2015 to Tiah, backing a petition signed by more than 50,000 people demanding that the Trump name be removed from the tower.
Robertson's letter called Trump's positions "hateful" and at odds with the tolerance that's helped Vancouver rank among the world's most liveable cities.
About 40pc of Vancouverites were born outside of Canada, with China being the biggest country of origin.
(Bloomberg)
The UK will remain an important market for Irish beef, regardless of Brexit, according to Padraig Brennan, Director of International Markets with Bord Bia.
He said that Bord Bia is looking at what it and Ireland needs to do in light of Brexit.
Some 37pc of Irish food and drink exports go to the UK. It is not a market that we are going to give up on.
Speaking in Dubai at Gulfoods, one of the worlds largest food fairs, where 21 Irish companies are showcasing their produce, he said that the shape of a new trading environment with the UK is not known and it will take considerable time for this to emerge.
But, he also said that the more markets and customers there are for Irish food and drink exports the better for producers.
Irish exports to the US in 2016 were worth 950m he said and that was a market that the sector needed.
We have to find premium product placements for Irish beef. The UK market is one of the highest paying markets in recent years.
He also said that the UK consumer wants minced beef. Irish beef is not in the wrong position. Some 60pc of beef consumed in the UK is mince, but we need more niche markets and products into those premium markets.
According to Brennan, one of the key routes into premium markets has been the Chefs Irish Beef Club, which has seen 89 chefs, mainly in Europe, join this exclusive club that uses and promotes Irish beef.
How do we get the best price back to farmers? The Chefs Irish Beef Club helps us do that. We are in a very competitive market when it comes to beef and our unique selling point is our grassfed beef, which comes from family farms with a high level of quality assurance.
To date almost 90 chefs, most of which have Michelin stars, are signed up members of the club.
To have top quality, world renowned chefs use Irish beef, he said, helps build the image of Irish beef, develop its reputation and increases positive publicity.
This then filters down into mainstream cooking.
The chefs, Brennan said, are not remunerated and most are already using Irish beef. Chefs are media magnets, so if we hold an event with a high profile chef who uses Irish beef, they naturally talk about Irish beef.
Coupled with this, Bord Bia exhibits at 24 trade events around the world, including Gulfood this week.
Last year Bord Bia facilitated 13 Irish companies exhibit at the fair and this year it has rented space in two of the halls where footfall is expected to be in the region of 100,000 people.
Irish exporters are vying to stand out from the crowd around 5,000 other exhibitors will be there to promote Irish food and drink in the World Food Hall and the Dairy Hall.
According to Brennan, the show is an opportunity to increase Irish exports from 250m.
Half of the growth experienced by Irish food and drink exports last year was in international markets such as the Middle East.
Currently it is illegal to cut, remove/destroy hedgerows and burn vegetation in our uplands between March 1 and August 31 in order to protect breeding birds. Stock Image
Hedgecutting and upland burning in Ireland is prohibited now until September as debate rages over proposals to shorten the closed seasons.
Currently it is illegal to cut, remove/destroy hedgerows and burn vegetation in our uplands between March 1 and August 31 in order to protect breeding birds.
The Department of Agriculture has this week published its new Clean Livestock Policy (CPL) document for sheep.
It follows a consultation period with relevant stakeholders and builds on the policy already in place for bovines since 1998.
The Department has said an effective Clean Livestock Policy (CLP) is very important not just in terms of basic food safety but also as a reputational issue for Irelands meat industry and to safeguard its ongoing major export trade in meat and hides.
The Department has said it identified a need to develop an equivalent policy for sheep going to slaughter, based on recent evaluation by Department staff of sheep carcase hygiene in slaughter plants.
"It is clear that there is a need to significantly improve performance in relation to the cleanliness of incoming sheep, to ensure the continuation and expansion of this trade.
"Sending dirty sheep to slaughter increases the contamination risk from harmful bacteria. Dirty sheep risk our valuable sheep and fleece markets," it said.
It is intended that the sheep CLP will be broadly similar to the bovine equivalent.
The Department has also said in the document that it will be considering the application of compliance actions, with a view to avoiding recurrence of ongoing significant CLP non-conformance.
Options available, it says range from warning letters to inspections and as a last resort sanctions allowed under national and EU legislation.
New Sheep Clean Livestock Policy
Sheep CLP categories
The Department will verify a 3 - category system, requiring food business operators at slaughtering establishments to categorise sheep as follows:
Category (A) Satisfactory
Sheep that can be slaughtered, without an unacceptable risk of contaminating the meat during the slaughter process, by using the standard hygienic dressing procedures routinely employed by the plant.
Category (B) Acceptable
Sheep that can only be slaughtered, without an unacceptable risk of contamination of the meat during the slaughter process, by putting in place additional interventions including extra defined dressing controls.
Category (C) Unacceptable
Sheep unfit for slaughter because of fleece condition.
These sheep must not be presented for ante-mortem in this condition and it is the responsibility of the Food Business Operator (FBO) to take the required remedial action.
Advice/Recommendations
The following are a number of steps/interventions which need to be taken by stakeholders along the supply chain to minimise the potential for carcass contamination during sheep slaughter.
Farmer/Keeper
1. Dock lamb tails before 7 days of age, if necessary, taking account of husbandry practices and market outlets.
2. Crutch/dag dirty sheep prior to transport to slaughter plant.
3. House on straw bedding or clean slats and withdraw feed from sheep for minimum 8 hours pre slaughter. Water should be available to animals at all times.
4. Whether using your own or contracted transportation you should only use clean, dry, well ventilated transport vehicles. The transport vehicle should have a waterproof roof, where possible, taking account of journey times and weather conditions.
You should also ensure you use absorbent materials on the floor of the transport vehicles.
5. Producers are food business operators and should only send clean sheep to the slaughter plant.
Haulier
1. Hauliers have a major role to play and must ensure the transport vehicle is clean and dry prior to loading.
2. Only use well ventilated transport vehicles. The transport vehicle should have a waterproof roof, where possible, taking account of journey times and weather conditions.
3. Where tiered transport vehicles are used the haulier should ensure that faeces/urine from sheep on higher tiers/levels do not soil sheep on lower tiers/levels.
4. Use absorbent materials on the floor of transport vehicles during transport.
5. Only load clean sheep.
6. Follow-up engagement and actions will be taken where it is clearly evident that soiling is attributable to repeated failure on the part of a haulier.
Processor
1. Provide standard photographic examples of all 3 categories (A,B & C) at the entrance to the lairage of the slaughter plant.
2. Categorise and record the number of sheep accepted into the slaughter plant into the A/B/C categories listed.
3. In the case of category A animals no intervention is required other than the application of standard hygienic dressing procedures.
4. In the case of Category B animals the FBO must ensure an intervention takes place e.g. removal of wool from either side of all cut lines in a well ventilated area immediately after bleeding and prior to entry into the dressing area.The width of the sheared surface must be greater than the wool length. Air movement in the clipping area must be in the opposite direction to that of the slaughter line. Additional/alternative interventions can also be considered providing they ensure an equivalent outcome.
5. In the case of Category C animals the FBO must take all required steps ranging from drying out the fleece to completely shearing some animals prior to presentation of the animals for ante mortem examination. The FBO must also have a Standard Operating Procedure in place and agreed with DAFM setting out the procedures to address these requirements.
For an interim period (until 1 June 2017) as a minimum intervention such animals must be kept to the end of the day for processing.
6. Modify dressing techniques and line speed, where necessary, to minimise carcass contamination.
7. Take all necessary steps to ensure only clean carcasses are presented for post mortem inspection.
8. To ensure a process of continuous improvement, over time, the processor should provide feedback to herdowners/keepers on the condition of their animals presented for slaughter e.g. - by giving the number of animals by CLP category ; by providing photo graphic evidence, where necessary, of the condition of the animals.
9. Provide adequate washing facilities for transport vehicles which must include a means of capturing/storing transport bedding.
Department role DAFMs role in this area includes coordination of the following:
The ongoing Clean Livestock Policy awareness campaign -including dissemination of information through stakeholders, updating advice leaflets,channelling information on CLP to farmers via Teagasc/discussion groups and ongoing issue of mailshots to repeat offenders;
Review ongoing measures by stakeholders designed to reduce production and intake of Category C animals at slaughter plants;
Review risk assessment for on - farm inspections, in particular for both the hygiene and recording provisions that relate to the production of clean livestock;
Encouraging processing industry to consider measures designed to reduce intake of Category Cs;
Consideration of application of compliance actions, with a view to avoiding recurrence of ongoing significant CLP non-conformance. Options available range from warning letters to inspections and as a last resort sanctions allowed under national and EU legislation.
The implementation of policy in this area will require the ongoing collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure sustained progress
Nar continues to support initiatives aimed at youth employment. Thus, the mobile operator took part in the 5th career fair on March 2, 2017, organized by ADA University at its campus. In the fair with the participation of the university's talented, committed and hard-working students, a meeting was held with the students with major in business organization and management, public policy and governance, international relations and diplomacy, information technology and computer engineering, computer science and systems engineering, economics.
Participating in the career fair aimed at support to integration of the students of ADA University into business environment, Nar made one more contribution to the partnership relations with ADA University, successfully cooperating for years.
Nar offered 5 job vacancies to fresh cadres. With vacancies for brands and advertising specialist, commercial analyst, digital marketing specialist, media procurement specialist and customer service representative, the mobile operator took another step towards youth employment.
The Nar stand at the event was of great interest of youths. They were given detailed information about job vacancies, as Nar's representative answered their questions, conducted educational conversation on the basis of relevant procedure. Candidates submitted their biographies to Nar official. The most successful candidates will be invited for an interview and get an opportunity to be employed at the mobile operator company for the mentioned vacancy.
For detailed information about vacancies at Nar visit nar.az.
Irish sheepmeat has been granted access to Saudi Arabia the Department of Agriculture confirmed, just 48 hours after meeting with Saudi officials.
The Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed made the announcement on the final day of the Bord Bia trade mission to the Middle East, just 48 hours after leaving meetings with Saudi officials.
AIB's planned stock market flotation would likely be put on hold if the Government falls.
CEO Bernard Byrne said the ultimate decision to push ahead with a sale of a 25pc stake in the bank this year is in political hands because the shares are State owned.
"At the end of the day this is fundamentally a political decision," Bernard Byrne said.
He said AIB is confident that conditions are positive for the planned share sale. The sale of 25pc of the bank is Government policy, but that could change if the Government falls.
Earlier today, AIB announced pre-tax profits of 1.7bn for the year end 2016 as it proposes a dividend of 250m to ordinary shareholders.
The bank said that the "milestone year" has been driven by strong sustainable business performance, net credit provision writebacks of 294m and one-off benefits including the Visa Europe transaction.
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AIB is the first of the Irish banks to pay dividends since 2008. Mr Byrne also said that the bank was ready for a stock flotation.
2016 has been another milestone year for AIB Group. Our strong financial performance and robust capital base support our proposed dividend of 250m to ordinary shareholders," Mr Byrne said.
"This reflects our sustainable profitability, strong capital generation and focus on delivering for shareholders and customers."
Mr Byrne said that AIB returned a further 1.8bn to the State during the year, which together with the proposed dividend, brings to 6.8bn the amount AIB will have paid in capital, dividends, fees, coupons and levies.
"The bank is now ready for an IPO, when market conditions permit and the Minister decides," he said.
"With a market leading franchise, strong customer focus and investment in digital, AIB Group is well placed to continue to support our customers and the growing Irish economy.
Additional financial highlights
*28bps increase in net interest margin* (NIM) to 2.25pc from 1.97pc; continued expansion with the spread widening between yields on assets and liabilities and redemption of legacy instruments
*Cost income ratio of 52pc with operating expenses** increased by 7pc in line with expectations to 1.4bn; and 870m strategic investment programme, commenced in 2015, continuing to deliver efficiencies, improved customer satisfaction and capacity for growth
*12.9bn in new lending approvals to customers; 8.7bn of drawdowns; 16pc increase in new lending in Ireland
* Impaired loans reduced to 9.1bn, down c. 4bn since December 2015 and c. 20bn since December 2013
*Robust capital base with transitional common equity tier 1 (CET 1) ratio of 19pc and fully loaded CET1 ratio of 15.3pc well in excess of the 2017 SREP transitional CET 1 requirement of 9pc
* 1.8bn Contingent Capital Notes (CoCo) repaid to the State in July 2016. Total payments of c. 6.8bn to the State including the 250m proposed dividend payment
Donald Trump made a border wall one of the key policies of his campaign
The boss of Ireland's biggest company, CRH, has insisted that its US businesses won't supply materials for the construction of Donald Trump's planned wall between America and Mexico, because a "situation doesn't arise where that could possibly occur".
CRH is the biggest building materials supplier in North America, where it generated sales of 14.2bn last year - most of it from the United States. Just over half of those sales - 55pc - are connected to infrastructure projects, such as highways.
Albert Manifold, the chief executive of the global building materials giant, said that CRH's geographic spread in the United States is primarily focused on the north-east and midwest.
"We've a broad-based business through the United States - in fact we're present in all 50," he said. "But one area where we do not have any significant presence is in the extreme south of the United States. The materials we supply are local by nature."
He said CRH has "no significant operations anywhere near" areas including southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California - states where the wall would be built.
Mr Manifold pointed out that while CRH has a presence in Texas for instance, it mainly does business in cities such as Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin.
Last year, CRH sold its 25pc stake in Israel's only cement firm, Mashav, ending a focus of significant controversy for the group. CRH's annual general meetings had been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists, who had urged it to sell the holding. Cement produced by Mashav had been used to build barriers for the security wall that separates Israel from the Palestinian West Bank.
Mr Manifold was speaking after CRH released strong results for 2016, with its revenue rising 15pc to 27.1bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 41pc to 3.1bn.
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The performance was skewed by the inclusion for the full-year of 6.5bn of assets that were acquired in 2015 from Lafarge Holcim. CRH also bought US firm CR Laurence in 2015 for $1.3bn. On a pro-forma basis, revenue was 4pc higher last year, and EBITDA was up 10pc.
CRH generated slightly more than 61pc of its EBITDA in the Americas, where it generated just over 52pc of its revenue.
The company said that so far this year it has made eight acquisitions worth a total of 500m, and agreed to sell six businesses for a total of 400m.
CRH also slashed its debt metrics, despite its huge 2015 spending spree. That gives it the capacity to make between 2bn and 3bn worth of acquisitions over the next 18 months.
But Mr Manifold said that despite having "a pile of acquisition proposals" on his desk, CRH would remain disciplined in pursuing and executing deals.
MEDICAL device development company Atlantic Therapeutics has secured 15m in funding from two venture capital firms and the Silicon Valley Bank.
The Galway-based company was founded in 2016 and focuses on the development of technology that addresses bladder weakness.
Seroba Life Sciences and Early Bird Venture Capital are the two firms backing the investment. Dr Daniel O'Mahony from Seroba Life Sciences and Thom Rasche from Earlybird will join the board as part of the deal.
"To have attracted such highly-respected companies as Seroba, Earlybird and Silicon Valley Bank is a strong endorsement," said Steve Atkinson, ceo of Atlantic Therapeutics.
Elsewhere, confectionery company Broderick's has received 3.2m in funding from BDO Capital and Enterprise lreland as it seeks to expand its international operations.
The investment brings the total amount received by Broderick's during the BDO led funding round to 6.3m.
The funding will support the expansion of Broderick's production facility in Walkinstown in Dublin. Up to 40 new jobs will be created by the development, which will bring Broderick's headcount to 140 people.
Broderick's was founded by Ina Broderick in 1984 and is currently led by sons Barry and Bernard.
The company is seeking to exploit a change in customer preferences for healthier snacking choices.
It has also developed a range of gluten-free snacks. The company intends to double its turnover between now and 2022.
"We have ambitious expansion plans and we are now positioned to implement them. We can also now tap into the expertise that comes with The BDO Development Capital Fund," said Barry Broderick.
A hard Brexit and reforms to US corporation tax policy are the main threats to the Irish economy, according to ratings agency Moodys.
The agency said that Brexit has the potential to inflict more disruption here then had been previously anticipated.
Moodys said that the attraction of foreign direct investment could serve to mitigate the adverse effects of Brexit, however the agency said that potential changes to US tax codes for multinationals could harm Irelands public finances.
Having revised their forecast for the Irish economy down to 3.1pc for this year in the wake of Brexit, Moodys said it expects the same rate of growth in 2018.
Moody's said that long-established supply chains between Ireland and the UK were under threat. The agency noted that such disruptions would likely have a greater impact on small indigenous companies that are predominantly based outside Dublin.
The report added that it was "less concerned" about the European Commission's plans for common tax base for multinationals known as CCCTB. It stated the need for unanimity under EU law meant that the proposals were unlikely to adapted.
The importance of the multinational companies to Ireland was stressed in the report, with concerns about US tax reforms cited as a possible hazard for the Irish economic model. Around 15pc of Ireland's annual tax take comes from the sector.
Moody's said that while most of the multinationals based here were likely to continue operations, Donald Trump's plans to change the tax code in the US may stymie future investment from companies.
This is a decline of 44,356 compared to the February 2016 figures
The numbers of people signing on has fallen 2,800 compared with the figures record for January.
According to the latest CSO figures, this is a decline of 44,356 compared to the February 2016 figures.
The number of persons on the live register in February 2017 is the lowest number recorded since November 2008.
At the end of February, there were 117,048 long term claimants, over 40pc fewer than the peak crisis number of 201,513 in August 2012.
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Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell OConnor TD said the figures "shows continued progress in transitioning people into employment".
"It is especially welcome when the figures are compared to February 2016 44,356 less people on the Register now. Im also pleased to see the regional breakdown for this latest Live Register shows a reduction of at least 10pc in all counties.
"Weve seen the largest declines to date this year in Border, Midlands and South East counties which is very good news."
PwC survey found that 71pc of Irish consumers shop at Amazon. Stock image
A QUARTER of Irish consumers now shop online at least every week and 23pc of shoppers here bought most or all of their clothing and footwear online last year, according to a new report from PwC.
It found that 30pc of Irish consumers believe their phone will become their main shopping tool in the future.
However, 44pc of Irish respondents to the PwC survey said they have never used their phone to buy products online.
The survey also underscored the untapped potential for online shopping in Ireland.
The PwC report showed that Ireland's level of weekly online shopping is well below the 43pc of UK shoppers who shop over the internet every week. In China, the figure is 73pc.
It also found that 27pc of Irish consumers have never visited a grocery retail website in the previous 12 months.
The report on the online buying habits of Irish consumers is part of a global survey of 24,000 people undertaken during the winter. The Irish element included a survey of 1,000 people.
PwC said that the relatively undeveloped Irish online grocery market is an underlying factor in why Ireland lags behind the UK for overall weekly online shopping usage.
The biggest grocery retailer in the country - Dunnes Stores - has no online grocery presence yet, despite having teed up such an operation over the past couple of years.
John Dillon, a partner at PwC Ireland's retail and consumer practice, warned that the "stakes have never been higher" for individual retailers.
"In a golden age of choice, powered by the mobile phone and global shopping just a click away, retailers often lack a global brand and face technological upheavals leaving them constantly having to reinvent themselves," he said.
But the report also found that in-store shopping remains a key activity for many Irish shoppers.
It reported that 40pc of Irish respondents shopped in-store at least once a week.
Some online giants are even opening traditional brick-and-mortar outlets.
This week, Amazon opened its fourth physical bookshop in the United States, in Massachusetts.
Amazon selects the books it sells in the stores based on its website reviews.
The PwC survey found that 71pc of Irish consumers shop at Amazon, compared to 90pc in the UK. A quarter of Amazon shoppers here said they shopped less often at other retail outlets.
Weak sterling since last June's Brexit vote caused a surge in the number of Irish shoppers buying online from UK websites.
Theresa May is a "damned bad" prime minister for business because she's taking her country out of the single market and turning talent away from the UK, Ibec director general Danny Mc Coy has said.
This, however, could provide a competitive advantage to Ireland, he added. Ms May, pictured, has also warned the European Union that no deal was better than a bad deal. Mr McCoy said that the UK's focus on controlling migration should be to our advantage.
"She's not a great prime minister for British business, or business more generally. In fact, she's a damned bad one in the sense of walking away from the single market without trying to strike a good deal. The nonsense of 'no deal is better than a bad deal' stuff is really heading them towards a cliff edge and then hoping to get a transitional agreement," Mr McCoy told the Irish Independent.
"She's turning away talent and she's making the talent that's already there feel like moving - and so that should give us a competitive advantage. Our problem is that we haven't built infrastructure quickly enough to be able to absorb people."
Mr McCoy will deliver an opening address at today's Trinity Global Business Forum, which will also include a panel discussion on SMEs and Brexit.
Meanwhile, financial services minister Eoghan Murphy has warned that Ireland faces "dangerous competition" for Brexit-related spoils and questioned whether regulators in some other EU capitals were being prudent. Mr Murphy said he believes there is "regulatory competition" going on to try and attract firms and sectors that could be looking for a "back door" into the single market.
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"Some of the feedback that I'm getting from companies interested in relocating out of London into Ireland is that some of the things that are being suggested to them by regulators in other jurisdictions make me worry about relaxed standards being applied by other regulators so they can be more competitive in attracting competition," Mr Murphy told the Irish Independent, ahead of a financial services conference last night in London hosted by law firm Matheson.
Mr Murphy cited sectors such as insurance and fund management and signalled suggestions were being made to companies by regulators that might not be doable within the European context. Dublin has been tipped as a possible contender, along with a number of other European capitals, for financial services jobs displaced as a result of the Brexit vote.
Mr Murphy's comments coincide with a Dail motion tabled by Fianna Fail yesterday in relation to this issue, as well as motor insurance and the collapse of Setanta and Enterprise Insurance.
The motion urges the Government to consider taking legal action against the Maltese and Gibraltar authorities for losses arising from "inadequate regulation" of the two companies.
It is understood the regulatory competition concerns in the context of Brexit do not relate to the larger EU capitals, but smaller jurisdictions. The minister has previously discussed the issue at an Oireachtas Committee, where he described it as "dangerous competition". "What we have heard from some companies makes me question whether they [certain regulators] are being prudent," he has said.
Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney speaking at the announcement of details of the housing assistant payment scheme at City Hall. Photo: Steve Humphreys
Housing Minister Simon Coveney has denied that a plan to give State funding for the renovation of vacant houses is effectively giving landlords free cash to do up their houses.
The 32m repair and leasing scheme is aimed at encouraging the owners of run-down, empty properties to fix them up so they can be used for social housing.
AAA-PBP TD Ruth Coppinger told the Oireachtas Housing Committee that she had a "major problem" with the scheme.
She said that, in her view, leasing for social housing probably meant that the properties would be let out on the Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) scheme.
"That is not investing in public housing," she said, adding that the State should be acquiring vacant properties, "not just doing them up for whoever owns them".
Mr Coveney said the State was buying vacant properties and also defended the repair and leasing scheme.
"We're not giving people grant aid here to do up their houses," he said.
Mr Coveney said the reason many properties were vacant - even in high rent areas - was because they needed 10,000 to 15,000 in renovations.
He said the offer to owners was that the State would fund the repairs and take the cost out of the rent over the next decade.
Mr Coveney said this would solve the cash flow problem a property owner may have in making their property available for a long-term tenancy for social housing.
"It can be a win-win for everybody," he said.
"This is not a grant. It's simply the State helping with a cash flow problem."
He insisted there was "urgency" in the Government's efforts to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis.
He told the committee that this year, local authorities and approved housing bodies would be in a position to deliver 4,450 units through a combination of construction, acquisitions and rapid builds, among other measures.
He admitted delivering rapid-build homes had been a "headache" for the department and local authorities.
Just 22 have been completed so far, with hundreds promised by the end of the year. Mr Coveney said: "Rapid build is only part of the solution, but it's something that can deliver projects on a timeline that probably wouldn't be possible with conventional projects."
He said his department had a 1.7bn budget this year, a 400m increase on 2016.
It took another seven years before the Central Bank acted (Stock picture)
Mortgage holders first raised issues about being denied trackers nine years ago with the State office that deals with consumer complaints.
Ombudsman for Financial Services Ger Deering told TDs and senators his office first got complaints about trackers in 2008.
But it took another seven years before the Central Bank acted on the wholescale taking of trackers off homeowners.
Mr Deering told the Oireachtas Finance Committee first complaints arrived in 2008.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011 the Financial Services Ombudsman upheld a number of complaints and directed financial institutions to put the complainants back on tracker mortgages.
Permanent TSB had appealed findings made by the Ombudsman in tracker cases to the courts.
But it withdrew the appeals when the Central Bank initiated an enforcement probe against Permanent TSB.
The Central Bank then ordered an industry-wide probe into the loss of trackers at the end of 2015.
Central Bank regulators have been heavily criticised for taking so long to address the taking of trackers from homeowners.
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So far some 8,200 mortgage holders who lost trackers through the actions of their lender have been identified by the banks, the Central Bank said recently.
But there are indications that this number is expected to rise well above 10,000 by the time the bank-wide probe ordered by regulators is complete in the summer.
At least 100 mortgage holders lost their homes because they were denied a cheap tracker rate.
Some 15 lenders have been ordered to review their mortgage books.
People having trackers restored are being put back on the lower rate, getting an interest refund and getting compensation.
Tracker rates are a fraction of what is charged on variable rates, with some people paying 500 less a month on a tracker than on a variable.
Ombudsman Mr Deering also told the politicians that one bank tried to exclude customers who lost a tracker from the Central Bank investigation because they had filed a complaint with his office.
On becoming aware of this I wrote to the CEOs of all the banks informing them that I was firmly of the view, a view which is shared by the Central Bank, that no mortgage holder who has made a complaint to the FSO [Financial Services Ombudsman] should be treated any differently, with regard to the examination, by virtue of the fact of having made such a complaint, irrespective of the outcome, he said.
He added that he secured confirmation from each bank that no mortgage account holder, coming within the scope of that Central Bank probe, would be treated any differently by that bank, because a complaint.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 2
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his working visit to Pakistan, the Turkmen government said in a message.
The two presidents took part in the Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Islamabad. During the meeting, the sides held an exchange of views on prospects of cooperation.
The Turkmen and Turkish presidents expressed their support for further utmost strengthening of effective cooperation. The trade and economic sphere, energy sector, transportation and communication, construction industry and several other areas are among priority directions of the two countries partnership. Turkish businessmens high interest in expanding mutually beneficial ties with Turkmenistan was also noted during the meeting, says the message.
Meanwhile, the two presidents exchanged views on several topical issues of regional and global agenda.
The similarity and coincidence of positions of Turkmenistan and Turkey on essential issues of our time, first of all, issues related to ensuring global peace, security and sustainable development, are a reliable basis for the further promotion of constructive partnership on world stage, says the message.
Turkish companies are implementing big projects in Turkmenistans such sectors as transportation, fuel and energy complex, communications, agriculture, construction, trade, management of water resources. Currently, about 600 enterprises with Turkish capital are registered in Turkmenistan.
Under European law, the telecoms regulator is responsible for enforcing compliance with the roaming regulation. Stock photo: PA
Irish mobile phone operators may be on a collision course with the European Union over roaming rates.
The European Commission has warned mobile operators here that they cannot "circumvent" an upcoming EU law to abolish roaming charges.
Yesterday, the Irish Independent revealed that Ireland's second biggest operator, Three, is planning to offer as little as 1GB of its 60GB data allowance when customers travel in the EU after the new law kicks in.
The operator believes it can legally do this by changing the terms and conditions in its mobile offerings. Three will now describe its current 'all you can eat' data allowance as a "service benefit" rather than being part of the "core plan". The operator, which has 1.6 million customers here, will then continue to offer its customers up to 60GB of data at home, but limit data to between 1GB and 7GB when roaming in the EU.
However, the move has alerted policy makers in Brussels, who have issued a stern warning about operator plans that contravene the spirit of the new EU roaming regulation.
"There is no loophole by which part of the domestic data allowance could be regarded as gift or side benefit and would therefore not count when travelling abroad," said the Commission statement. "Doing so would appear like a clear case of circumvention, for which there is no basis in the Roaming Regulation.
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"Thus, under the new rules, operators will not be allowed to offer only half a roaming experience to clients."
Meteor, which is Ireland's third largest operator with over a million customers, also says that it will give customers less data when travelling in the EU than they get in Ireland.
Read more: Adrian Weckler: The giant loophole that is making a joke of EU's roaming law
However, it has not yet said at what level this will be set.
The Irish Independent understands that other Irish mobile operators, including Tesco Mobile, Virgin Mobile and iD, will soon decide whether to follow suit with plans to prevent customers getting their full domestic data allowances when roaming in the EU.
Under the new EU law, operators may be allowed to offer less data to customers travelling in the EU if they can demonstrate to the telecoms regulator, Comreg, that only a certain amount of the value of the mobile plan is related to data.
Despite Three's plan to restrict its 30 monthly plan, which comes with 60GB of data at home, to 1GB when travelling in the EU, executives believe its formula is valid.
"Pre and post these changes... we are satisfied that our approach is compliant and allows us to continue to offer the best value to our customers," said a Three spokeswoman.
Under European law, the telecoms regulator is responsible for enforcing compliance with the roaming regulation.
However, a spokesman for Comreg told the Irish Independent that it would not comment on plans by operators concerning the data allowances before June 15. "When the new rules apply after June 15, Comreg will examine the offerings of the mobile network operators to ensure they comply with the new rules on data roaming and lower prices of voice calls," said the spokesman.
A spokesman for Communications Minister Denis Naughten said the issue is a matter for Comreg.
Barcelona hosted the biggest mobile tech show on the planet this week.
Tech editor Adrian Weckler has been immersed in the sectors latest phones, mobile gadgets and new technology.
Here he reveals why 5G really will be the next big thing (as Samsung and VR struggle); why, as phone cameras take giant leaps, Nokias classic 50 phone was a surprise hit; and while Irish delegates are up, the number of women most definitely isnt
1. A lot more is going to depend on 5G than we think.
One of the big themes at Mobile World Congress was 5G. But unlike 3G or 4G, 5G is about way more than mobile phone speeds or internet access from handsets.
Its starting to become clear that almost everything we do in a few years may depend on solid, unbroken access to a mobile network.
Self-driving cars, for instance, will probably only work if they have guaranteed, unfettered connections to a wider network and 4G doesnt cut it.
Right now, you can watch a video in your car or get sat nav access.
But for precision timing, the latency has to be down to a few milliseconds, something that isnt possible over current networks. At Mobile World Congress, several of the car companies were there, making this point, with the two biggest display areas in the whole event taken up by Ericsson and Huawei, which are vying to be the main 5G network providers around the world.
2. The hype around virtual reality has abated.
The last two years were dominated by the promise of a new era in virtual reality. But in 2017, there is a lot less being said about it at the main tech shows.
There just arent that many people buying them, one senior Google executive told me at Mobile World Conference.
As a result, generic mobile and tech companies arent showcasing virtual reality modules as future add-ons to whatever service they sell in the same way they might have last year.
There is still massive investment going into the genre, mainly because of bets placed by Facebook (which owns Oculus), Sony, HTC and to a lesser extent Google. But virtual reality is starting to be talked about more in niche terms than ubiquitous, mass-market parlance.
3. Phone cameras are taking the next step up.
Given the laws of physics, can cameras in phones get any better? Actually, yes. We saw some significant upgrades at Mobile World Congress to the lenses sitting in your pocket. Sony and Huawei, in particular, showcased beefed-up cameraphone tech that will result in significantly better photos and videos turning up on our Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat feeds.
Sonys new Xperia XZ Premium, for example, has an unprecedented ability to shoot very slow motion video in high definition.
Huawei, meanwhile, has upped its Leica lenses to give pretty jaw-dropping portrait photo ability.
They werent the only phone companies improving on their camera tech. Oppo may not be a widely known phone outfit in Ireland, but its now one of the biggest handset brands in China.
It also debuted a dual-lens cameraphone at Mobile World Congress.
Undoubtedly, Apple and Samsung will respond with the S8, due out shortly, and the iPhone 8, expected in September.
But the bottom line is that the gap between cameraphones and 1,000-plus standalone cameras will continue to narrow this year.
To be clear, the two will never be equal: camera sensors and standalone lenses will always have a significant edge over necessarily small phone sensors and flat micro-lenses. But the scale of the superiority that once existed continues to decline.
4. People are still looking for quirky things.
The hit of Mobile World Congress came from an unlikely source: Nokia. Its revived classic 3310 model caught the imagination of the public, taking experts and analysts by surprise.
For 50, the dinky little phone comes with a two-inch colour screen, basic camera and an even more basic web browser. Its battery will last a month on standby and it has a new version of Snake, said to be the most-played video game of all time.
But is it a gimmick or a product with real legs? Are people really about to give up their powerful smartphones for a gadget that would have been fairly basic even ten years ago?
Analysts say that it will appeal to a mixture of older people, festival-goers, travellers and those who want to reduce their addiction to social media all throughout the day.
There are even suggestions that people sensitive to their data privacy might use the pared-down phone when entering the US, to limit border guards exploration of their social information when asked for such data at customs.
5. Samsung continues to have a terrible time of it.
Can things get much worse for Samsung? In the middle of Mobile World Congress, news came through that its chief executive is to be investigated for corruption.
Not that things were going well for the company at the event before that bombshell dropped. Its keynote presentation, which is usually an anchor event at Mobile World Congress, was a decidedly awkward affair with more hand-wringing from the stage over its Note 7 overheating phone fiasco. It didnt even have any significant product to launch, with no Galaxy S8 model ready yet.
That left it with nothing more than an Android tablet and two touchscreen Windows laptops as its main pitch to the thousands gathered and watching. In previous years, Samsung has utterly dominated Mobile World Congress, just as it has dominated the mobile industry. So far, 2017 is proving to be as challenging as the end of 2016.
6. The Irish presence is getting bigger and bigger.
A couple of years ago, Irish influence at Mobile World Congress was largely restricted to a state-subsidised stand with 14 plucky little companies selected to present on the big stage. Now, some Irish companies are starting to come into their own as legitimate, large-scale competition to big international players. Dublin-based telecoms software firm Openet had arguably the biggest stand of any of the Irish firms on hand, a very large corner edifice with public and private spaces within. Asavie, a Dublin-based internet of things firm, also has a sizeable stand at the event and announced a pretty significant deal.
In all, there were well over 30 Irish companies officially on display, with dozens (perhaps hundreds) more on location for business meetings and pitches.
7. The telecoms industry is still run by middle-aged men in suits.
Think web-tech companies have a gender balance problem? A walk around Mobile World Congress shows you an industry that makes the digital tech business look like a model of progressive gender-balance.
Hardly any keynote speeches were by women and, from what I saw walking around the place for two days, very few of the senior executives on the floor were women.
In relative terms, Ireland actually does reasonably well on this score. Ericssons most senior Irish executive at the event was Zelia Madigan, country manager for the company which has over 1,000 people working between Athlone and Dublin. At home, Irish telcos have pretty visible female senior executives too, including Vodafones Irish boss Anne OLeary and Eirs head of networks, Carolann Lennon.
Some startups have experienced Irish female executives too, such as mAdme's Triona Mullane.
The owner of Snapchat priced its initial public offering above expectations on Wednesday, raising $3.4bn (2.8bn) on Wall Street thanks to strong demand from investors for one of the highest-profile stock market debuts in years.
The pricing level puts a price tag of $17 on each share and means that the whole company has a market value of around $24bn, or 19bn.
Thats well ahead of its social media rival Twitter and above the slated $19.5bn to $22.3bn range that the company had been targeting.
According to Reuters, investors had piled into the order book hoping to snap up stocks in the company.
The deal was reportedly 10 times subscribed, meaning that shares could have been priced at as much as $19.
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But, citing a source, Reuters reported that the company had wanted to attract longer-term investors, like mutual funds, rather than hedge funds who might sell the shares quickly for a fast profit.
Snap is the first US social-media company to go public since Twitter did so more than three years ago and the largest IPO since Alibaba in 2014 but while the company has enjoyed strong revenue growth in recent years revenue climbed sixfold last year to $404.5m it was forced to contend with some criticism in the lead up to the pricing over the pace of user growth.
The number of people using the app slowed in the second half of 2016, according to Bloomberg.
The company also upset some potential investors in the lead up to the IPO when it announced that not all shares would carry voting rights, ensuring that two of the company's founders Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy retain control.
Luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo has cheered record revenues and profits thanks to a leg-up from the Brexit-hit pound and strong sales across Asia.
The British designer firm saw annual revenues climb 15pc to 364m in the year to the end of December, while earnings lifted 16pc to 59m over the period.
Jimmy Choo, which has more than 150 stores worldwide, also cheered growing sales from its men's division, which accounts for 9% of revenue.
However, like-for-like sales fell by 0.8pc over the period, as it counted the cost of "difficult market conditions" during the first half of the year.
Chief executive Pierre Denis said 2016 was a "landmark year" for the brand as revenues and profits reached record heights.
He added: "Revenue was significantly affected by currency volatility during the year, particularly post the UK referendum vote in June 2016, with all currencies stronger in relation to sterling, causing both significant reported sales value gains in the second half of the year and some sizeable shifts in client shopping patterns, largely in favour of UK trading."
Retail revenues stepped up 17pc to 243.9m following the launch of 10 new stores and the closure of one.
The firm said Asia continued to lead the charge on growth, with sales excluding Japan jumping by a third thanks to a strong performance in China where it launched three new stores.
But revenues across the Atlantic dropped by 1.7pc over the period, with sales taking a hit from moves to "reposition" its US business and weaker demand for luxury goods.
Jimmy Choo counts Jennifer Lopez, the Duchess of Cambridge and Beyonce among its illustrious fans.
Liberum analyst Tom Gadsby said: "The company's outlook statement is strong.
"Retail trends are improving across all regions and Choo has very strong growth prospects across all its channels.
"We are encouraged to see the strength of the company's retail business following sensible investment and there remains plenty of scope for further store expansion."
Galway's Ash Wednesday drive-thru service was such a big hit that it made the headlines in the US.
Queues of drivers during the busy morning rush hour waited to receive ceremonial ashes on their foreheads in Glenamaddy, Co Galway on Wedesday.
Parish priest Father Paddy Mooney said the church opened the drive-through blessing to help families who were unable to attend Mass.
It targeted the sick, those with difficulty walking, people on their way to work or families enroute to school. A driveway led right past the front door of the church as hundreds of people queued up to receive their ashes.
The novel idea was the talking point on Twitter yesterday and was eventually picked up by major US news site CNN.
"Pressed for time on Ash Wednesday? There's a 'drive-thru' church for that?" the headline read.
Parish secretary Breda Keaveney said yesterday's drive-thru blessings was a huge success.
"It was just so reverent and so respectful. There was just a wonderful atmosphere."
Ms Keaveney said there were also two Masses for people to receive ashes.
She said: "We were trying to reach people on the go and for some reason not able to attend Mass.
"We are very, very pleased."
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Parishioners will review the event to consider whether to repeat it in future years.
Warren Beatty holds up an envelope revealing Moonlight as winner of best picture at the Oscars (AP)
The two accountants responsible for the best-picture error at Sunday's Academy Awards will never return to the Oscars, according to the president of the film academy.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs told The Associated Press that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' relationship with PwC, the accounting firm responsible for the integrity of the awards, remains under review.
Ms Boone Isaacs broke her silence on Wednesday following the biggest blunder in the 89-year history of the Academy Awards.
PwC accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were responsible for the winners' envelopes at Sunday's Oscars.
Mr Cullinan tweeted a photo of Emma Stone from backstage minutes before handing presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for best picture.
The pair announced best picture as La La Land rather than the actual winner Moonlight.
Ms Boone Isaacs said Mr Cullinan's distraction caused the error.
AP
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 2
By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:
Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Pakistans Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif during his visit to Pakistan, the Turkmen government said in a message March 2.
Berdimuhamedov visited the Pakistani capital to take part in the Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
During the meeting, the Turkmen president spoke about prospects of cooperation during the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, according to the message.
Berdimuhamedov noted the wide prospects of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Pakistan, in partnership with which big joint projects are being implemented, firstly, on construction of the continents biggest energy route TAPI pipeline that will serve for the regions social and economic development.
It was noted that Turkmenistan sees Pakistan as its major partner in expanding cooperation with countries of South Asia.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed the directions of mutually beneficial partnership in various spheres, including trade and economy, fuel and energy, construction, agriculture.
Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI was launched on Dec. 13, 2015.
The annual capacity of the gas pipeline will reach 33 billion cubic meters.
The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan.
Dunnes Stores has lost two High Court actions it was involved in and won one in relation to three of its anchor tenancies in major shopping centres in Dublin and Galway.
A company managing the Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght, Dublin, won its case over the supermarket chain's objections to a 200,000 square foot 30m extension on an existing 289-space surface northern car park.
A firm running the Edward Square Shopping Centre in Galway won orders restraining Dunnes from disabling automatic doors into the centre from William Street in what had been the culmination of a rent dispute.
Dunnes won their own case against Dublin City Council and the owners of Harry's Bar on South King Street, Dublin, over the erection of front awnings outside the bar. Dunnes claimed the awnings blocked the display window of their Stephen's Green store and the court found they were unauthorised.
Mr Justice Max Barrett heard all three separate actions and on Thursday he delivered judgment in all three.
In the Tallaght case, the Square Management Ltd, National Asset Property Management Ltd (which owns the car park area) and the extension developers Indego, sought declarations in relation to Dunne's claimed legal rights to the car park area.
Dunnes said that, apart from inconvenience to its shoppers, it had acquired certain rights to the car park by virtue of "easement by prescription" which allows the supermarket use it without having to own the property; That claim was denied.
Mr Justice Barrett found the lease for the centre entitled the landlord to carry out development on the northern car park and Dunnes did not enjoy an irrevocable right for its customers to park there.
Dunnes also did not have an easement of right of way over the car park area.
The judge declined to grant reliefs sought by Dunnes but granted a number sought by the plaintiff companies including that it (Dunnes) did not have a right to use the land, for car parking or otherwise, beyond what was stated in the lease.
In the Galway case, the Edward Square Shopping Centre owners, Camiveo Ltd, sought injunctions ordering Dunnes to reopen the William Street doors.
Mr Justice Barrett granted Camiveo its orders and also said he would be awarding damages, including aggravated and exemplary damages, against Dunnes for breach of contract and unlawful interference with Camiveo's economic interests, these will be decided later.
The judge said the entrance in question affords (to shoppers) an attractive means of accessing the Eyre Square Centre and vice versa.
After Camiveo bought the Edward Square centre in 2013, a dispute over Dunnes rent and service payments developed. It resulted in the Supreme Court ordering Dunnes to pay Camiveo 1.13m in rent and interest due.
With some 384,00 still to be paid after the Supreme Court decision, Camiveo sought to take further legal steps against Dunnes in June 2015. That same day, Dunnes ordered the front doors to its Edward Square unit to be closed.
Mr Justice Barrett said Dunnes gave no reason for this. But it could not but be seen as a tactical response by Dunnes to the new legal steps and a continuation of its "ongoing campaign to cause economic difficulties" for Camiveo, he said.
It was also an attempt to deter Camiveo from exercising its lawful rights, he said.
In finding Camiveo was entitled to damages, Mr Justice Barrett said Dunnes had acted in a manner that was "high-handed and cavalier" and to some extent "economically strange" in that it appeared to have adversely affected its own level of trading.
Its "retaliation and infliction of injury on Camiveo" was done to dissuade Camiveo from insisting on its proper legal entitlement. It was also involved "so many transgressions of the lease arrangements" that the court did not believe Dunnes did not know itself, from early on, it was acting entirely in breach of contract.
In relation to the Stephen's Green/Harry's Bar case, Mr Justice Barrett said Dunnes was entitled to an order quashing the city council's decision that overhead awnings could be used in connection with the bar's street furniture licence.
In light of that finding, the judge said a separate order that the council had erred in law in deciding the awnings did not contravene the licence conditions was not required.
A UK grandmother is facing jail for her role in a gang of fraudsters who travelled to Ireland on weekends to buy high value items using fake credit cards.
After her arrest Michelle Butterworth (56) readily admitted her part in the fraud and identified her accomplices after one of them nearly ran her over while trying to escape from gardai.
Butterworth has 31 previous convictions for similar types of fraud and theft offences in the UK. She also has a conviction for running a brothel. Her defence counsel Luigi Rea BL said she committed the latest offences to pay off a loan she took out to bury her husband who died in 2013.
Judge Karen O'Connor remanded Butterworth in continuing custody March 10th when she will impose sentence.
Butterworth of Stanley Street in Rochdale pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 13 credit fraud offences over the course of three weekends in September and October 2016. The offences were committed in Galway, Kildare and Dublin.
Garda James Codd told prosecuting counsel Seamus Clarke BL that Butterworth and her gang used fake cards to buy 8,875 worth of goods including Sony Playstations, Gucci watches worth over 600, Samsung and Apple smartphones and a Claddagh ring.
During one incident in Field's Jewellers on William Street in Galway city Butterworth signed up for the store's loyalty scheme in her own name and was given a 100 discount on a 765 watch.
The group also targeted Field's Jewellers in Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge, Argos in Dundrum Town Centre and Gamestop in Donaghmeade Shopping Centre.
Mr Clarke said Butterworth would buy items in the stores using a high quality fake credit card. The card didn't have a chip and pin mechanism which meant the cashier had to enter the card number manually, bypassing several security checks in the process.
The gang were caught after staff in the jewellers became suspicious of Butterworth and alerted gardai who set up a surveillance operation. Gardai followed their car to a petrol station where they saw Butterworth get out.
When officers went to arrest the driver of the car he reversed at gardai. He narrowly avoided hitting officers and Butterworth who was standing beside Gda Codd at the time.
The driver then crashed into a wall and was arrested along with three others. Over 4,000 worth of goods was found in the car.
Defence counsel Luigi Rea BL said Butterworth was very much dispensed with when gardai arrived and was very nearly run over herself. He submitted that she was very co-operative in interview and made full admissions.
Mr Rea said his client was trying to pay off a high interest payday loan she had taken out to bury her husband who died in 2013. He said she has two grandchildren who she helps care for as their mother is confined to a wheelchair.
Counsel added that as a foreign national, Butterworth would find any prison sentence particularly difficult.
On the day a mother of two told a consultant she could not move her right leg and ankle and had serious back pain, a private investigator videoed her jogging across a Dublin street, the Circuit Civil court has been told.
Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, said that Stephen Bothma, of Core Group Investigations, had also videod Esther Lamidi getting into her car without any bother or restriction of movement.
Barrister Lisa Kelly, counsel for Zurich Insurance and motorist John Lowry in a personal injuries claim against them for 60,000, said Lamidi had told defence medical consultant Aidan Gleeson, on the day of the video recording, that she was unable to function in any way.
You told him that you struggled to move about and that pain was restricting your movements, Ms Kelly told Lamidi, of North Strand Road, North Strand, Dublin 3.
Lamidi, (33) had claimed in evidence that Lowry, a bus driver travelling home after a night shift, had driven across a stop line at Mountjoy Square traffic junction and crashed into her car.
Ms Kelly, who appeared with Collins Crowley Solicitors, told Lamidi, an unaccompanied provisional licence holder, that she had ignored Mr Lowry twice beeping the horn at her and that she had failed to yield while his vehicle was in control of the junction.
With regard to your injuries you have at the very least exaggerated your evidence, Ms Kelly said. She told Lamidi, who said she could not remember if she had failed four, five or six driving tests, that her evidence had been totally inconsistent with what she had said to the insurers medical expert and the court.
Lamidi said she had been driving on a provisional licence for the past 17 years.
Judge Groarke, throwing out Limidis claim with costs against her, said impact damage was not consistent with her evidence that Mr Lowry had driven into the junction at speed. He said Ms Limidi, who wept almost continuously throughout her evidence, had not complained to her GP of back pain until almost 18 months after the accident.
When I read the account of her medical examination, which took place only a fortnight ago, and see the video by the private investigator, it is perfectly obvious that this lady has not just exaggerated her complaints but was telling blatant lies to Mr Gleeson, Judge Groarke said.
He said the video showed her jogging across the street and bending over and demonstrating entirely supple movements as she got into her car without any bother.
I am sure that whatever you told Mr Gleeson that day was an utter fabrication, Judge Groarke said. He said the evidence of an independent witness, Mr Hao She, had resolved any difficulty in the case. Ms Limidi had neither looked right nor left and had not seen Mr Lowrys car which had been in possession of the junction at all times.
A Porche-driving playboy caught up in a violent row over a high-class prostitute has been spared jail.
Darren Branter (41), of Cove Apartments, Mussenden, Co Derry, was facing the prospect of going to jail after he was found guilty of assaulting his former partner shortly before Christmas 2015.
But Branter was handed 18 months probation when he appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court this week.
Friends say the businessman, originally from Newbuildings outside Derry, sighed with relief when he heard his sentence as he was convinced he was going to jail.
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Last month at the same court, Branter who runs his own engineering company was found guilty of assaulting his former partner after she quizzed him about his affair with call girl Grazyna Makowska.
Branter and his lover now live together in a luxury penthouse apartment overlooking the beach at Mussenden, Dowanhill.
Known as Gina, Makowska set up shop in Derry two years ago, selling sex from a city centre apartment overlooking the River Foyle.
Branter soon became one of the sex worker's best customers and it wasnt long before they began a relationship.
But when Branters partner began asking awkward questions, he lashed out at her, grabbing her by the throat and threatening to kill her.
He also threatened to damage her property.
After listening to all the available evidence, a judge at Coleraine Court found him guilty.
On Monday, Branter who friends say was expecting a custodial sentence was told he would have to spend the next 18 months on probation.
One of Branters friends told the Sunday World: Darren is very happy with the sentence. It means hes now able to get on with his life.
When the Sunday World caught up with Branter at his Newbuildings workshop, he declined to discuss his love affair with Makowska.
A man charged with the murder of 90-year-old Paddy Lyons in Waterford has been remanded in custody.
Ross Outram (26) appeared before Dungarvan District Court charged with the murder of Mr Lyons at Loughreagh, Ballysaggart, Lismore, Co Waterford, at a time unknown between February 24 and 25 last.
A large crowd gathered outside Dungarvan Courthouse as Mr Outram was brought to the hearing from the local garda station where he had been questioned for two days.
Several jeered as the young man was brought away from court after the brief hearing.
Mr Outram, of Ferryland, Waterford Road, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, appeared in court wearing navy slacks, a blue jumper and navy runners. He only spoke to confirm his identity and date of birth.
During the brief hearing, he held his hands in his lap and occasionally spoke to the two detectives flanking him.
Expand Close Paddy Lyons who was discovered in his home at Ballysaggart near Lismore, Co Waterford. Photo: Provision / Facebook
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Whatsapp Paddy Lyons who was discovered in his home at Ballysaggart near Lismore, Co Waterford. Photo: Provision
Det Sgt Shay Keevans gave evidence of arrest, caution and charge.
He said that, after being cautioned, Mr Outram made no reply to gardai when charged with Mr Lyons's murder.
The court was told that Mr Outram was arrested by gardai at an address in Tipperary on Sunday evening and brought to Dungarvan garda station for questioning about the death of the retired farmer.
Judge Terence Finn confirmed free legal aid to Mr Outram who, the court was told, only had an income via his social welfare payments.
Because Mr Outram faces a murder charge, bail can only be dealt with by the High Court.
Injuries
Inspector Larry Sheahan said gardai were seeking a remand in custody to a suitable district court sitting.
Defence solicitor Eamon Hayes said he had no submissions to make to the court beyond the legal aid application.
Judge Finn remanded Mr Outram in custody to appear again before Dungarvan District Court on March 8.
Mr Lyons was pronounced dead at his isolated Ballysaggart farmhouse home on Saturday.
The elderly farmer had been found slumped in a chair at his home with blood on his face and obvious injuries to his face and head.
The alarm was raised when neighbours became concerned about Mr Lyons after he failed to attend the funeral of a local person with whom he was very friendly.
Vesel Jahiri (35) is accused of the murder of his girlfriend
Murder accused Vesel Jahiri threatened his ex-partner Anna Finnegan hours before she died saying I know where you f***ing are, Ill come and kill yous", the Central Criminal Court has been told.
A close friend of Ms Finnegan (25) said Mr Jahiri (35) made the threat over the phone, and the alleged victim was shaking, sobbing and terrified afterwards.
The friend, Janice ONeill was giving evidence in the trial of Mr Jahiri, who denies stabbing Ms Finnegan to death.
The jury was told today Ms Finnegan had made the call to Mr Jahiri to ask for money she was owed and put it on speaker so her friend could hear. The call was made on Ms Finnegans mobile phone while she was visiting her friends house with her and Mr Jahiris two children.
Expand Close Vesel Jahiri (35) is accused of fatally injuring his ex-partner Anna Finnegan (25) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Vesel Jahiri (35) is accused of fatally injuring his ex-partner Anna Finnegan (25)
The alleged victim later returned to her own home, where she was fatally injured.
Mr Jahiri, of Louth Village, Dundalk, denies murdering Ms Finnegan at her home at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla on September 21, 2012.
He also denies assault causing harm to her brother Karl Finnegan on the same date.
Led through her evidence by Patrick Marrinan, for the prosecution, Ms ONeill told the court she was a close friend of Anna Finnegan and her sister Lisa Finnegan.
Ms ONeill said she lived with her three children at The Way, Hunters Run in Clonee and would have met Anna Finnegan at least once per week.
Ms ONeill knew Mr Jahiri and had met him two or three times. She was aware he had gone out with Ms Finnegan and they had been together since she was 15 years old.
Ms Finnegan and her two children came to her house at around 12.30pm on September 21. The children were aged around seven months and three years at the time, she said.
She agreed with Mr Marrinan that she and Ms Finnegan had a normal day and a good laugh.
Ms ONeill said she was aware the accused and Ms Finnegan had separated and there was an arrangement in place whereby her brother Karl Finnegan was staying in her house.
She recalled Ms Finnegan calling Mr Jahiri on her phone and putting it on the loudspeaker. She could hear the conversation and the first thing she recalled Mr Jahiri saying was : This is dangerous, what are you doing, Anna? I want to see the kids.
Ms ONeill recalled that Ms Finnegan was explaining to Mr Jahiri that he could not see the children until they went back to court.
He was shouting at her, saying I dont care, I want to see my kids by 7 oclock, she said.
The tone was very angry, she said, It was a scary tone of voice, you know.. Being aggressive.
Ms ONeill said Ms Finnegan had asked the accused about the money he owed her and told him it was for Auntie Frances.
Then Vesel said I have the money, I have 5,000 in my pocket, Ill give you the f***ing money, Ms ONeill said.
She told the court Ms Finnegan had owed her landlord extra money so she said it was for her auntie so the accused would give her the money.
He was screaming I want to see the kids, I want to buy my f***ing children things, Ms ONeill said.
She gave evidence that when Ms Finnegan told Mr Jahiri he could not see the children, he said: I know where you f***ing are, Ill come and kill yous.
Ms ONeill said Ms Finnegan was shaken up and crying.
He kept shouting into the phone, Im going to kill you, this is very f***ing dangerous what you are doing. I know where you are. This is dangerous, Ill f***ing kill you, Anna. Ms ONeill said.
At one point, Ms Finnegan held her hand over the phone and was shaking and sobbing, and saying what am I going to do, Janice? How am I going to get away from this? Im terrified.
Ms ONeill said Ms Finnegan would not call her sister Lisa but did call Blanchardstown Garda Station.
Ms Finnegan left at around 8pm with her children. She hugged and kissed Ms ONeill and texted to thank her when she got home. That was the last she heard from Ms Finnegan, she said, and she was subsequently made aware that she was at Blanchardstown Hospital.
Cross-examined by Micheal P OHiggins SC, for the defence, Ms ONeill agreed she was aware that relations between Lisa Finnegan and the accused had turned sour over an issue relating to the log book for a car.
Mr OHiggins put it to her that there were raised voices and an argument between Ms Finnegan and Mr Jahiri and it was in this context the accused brought up Lisa Finnegan having gone with her sister to the HSE.
He had been using bad language about Lisa Finnegan, calling her a bitch, Mr OHiggins said. Ms ONeill said she did not hear him call Lisa Finnegan a bitch.
He even made reference to I am going to kill Lisa for this, Mr OHiggins said.
Ms ONeill said the accused did not say this.
She agreed that Anna Finnegan had signed off on passports for the children and became worried that Mr Jahiri would take their daughter to Kosovo.
She said Ms Finnegan had told Mr Jahiri to bring the money but to put it in her letter box or under a plant pot outside the door.
Ms ONeill told Mr OHiggins Anna Finnegan had whispered: hes threatening to kill us while she had her hand over the phone.
She denied she was over-egging it a little bit.
Mr OHiggins said the accused did use expletives, called Anna Finnegan a motherf***er but it was in the context of a serious row.
Ms ONeill said Ms Finnegan had been terrified and she herself was petrified of my life and was so scared she ran out and put the house alarm on.
Tara OConnor, a senior social worker at the HSEs Wellmount Health Centre in Finglas, said a meeting was held there on September 6.
She assigned Karen Byrne to act as social worker in the case. Anna Finnegan had been quite chatty but upset at the meeting, she said.
Ms OConnor took on the responsibility of telling Mr Jahiri that he had to move out of the house, as well as putting together a safety plan for the family.
Her advice had been if the accused did not leave or if Ms Finnegan did not leave with the children, then the HSE would consider taking the children into care. Ms OConnor put allegations to Mr Jahiri about a threat to Ms Finnegan and to the children. He denied this and was blaming Ms Finnegan's family, she said.
He made reference to Ms Finnegans friends calling to the house and that they werent good people and were on drugs.
She told him any allegations would be investigated. He agreed to move out of the house under the safety plan.
The arrangement was that Ms Finnegans aunt Frances would be in the house for the night and her brother Karl would move in after that.
Arrangements were made for the accused to have access to his children in the Wellmount office on the morning of September 21.
In cross-examination, Ms OConnor said she was aware Ms Finnegan was under pressure, including from her own family to leave the defendant.
She agreed with Mr OHiggins, for the defence, that Ms Finnegan had been insistent that she wanted Mr Jahiri to have access to the children.
Ms OConnor agreed that legal advice had been sought by the HSE about blocking the accuseds access to his children.
Lisa Finnegan attended the meeting as support for her sister but it was agreed she would not speak. That she was not in (Mr Jahiris) camp was an understatement, Mr OHiggins said.
Ms OConnor understood the meeting did not go very well and Mr Jahiri and Lisa Finnegan had argued. The meeting was effectively aborted and Mr Jahiri left.
She agreed with counsel that Mr Jahiris view was that the whole matter was a set up by the HSE.
Social worker Emma Crehan said she was at the meeting and Mr Jahiri had said Anna had not told him she did not want to be in a relationship with him. He said he felt Ms Finnegan had been influenced by her family that and Ms Crehan and Ms Byrne had our own agenda.
He said no-one could love the children as much as their real father, Ms Crehan said.
She told Mr OHiggins she recalled the accused had mentioned receiving threatening text messages and that he was advised to go to the gardai. She did not recall them saying they wanted him dead.
Ms Crehan agreed Ms Finnegan did not have a problem with Mr Jahiri having access to the children.
Acting Assistant Manager at the womens refuge in Bray, Anne McMorrow, said Ms Finnegan stayed there after a self-referral in August 2012. A garda called to say she had been reported missing and was told she was safe and well.
She was assessed and her risk was regarded as being serious. On September 4, she left with her young son to attend the community welfare officer and the refuge was later called to state she was in Connolly Hospital, the court heard. She was not informed at the time that Ms Finnegan had taken an overdose.
Ms Finnegan returned to collect her belongings and left the refuge on September 6, 2012.
Ms McMorrow said a man called saying he was Garda Brian Finnegan and then identified himself as Ms Finnegans cousin. He said he had been a garda but was no longer a garda and Ms McMorrow said she could not give out any information as the service was confidential.
The trial continues.
Ian Sheridan (32) of New Brighton Terrace, Parnell Road, Bray, pictured at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where he received a three year suspended sentence for assault causing harm in February, 2015. Pic Collins Courts.
A Wicklow man who beat his girlfriend for over an hour and bit her on the face after they had an argument in their home has been given a suspended sentence.
Judge Melanie Greally said Ian Sheridan (32) carried out a very serious assault involving considerable violence but that a custodial sentence is not necessitated. She said Sheridan had dealt with his demons including addressing his drink and drug problems.
The judge noted Sheridan raised 1,600 in compensation for his former partner Patricia Rodriguez, but that she did not want to accept it. The money would instead be donated to the women's refuge Ms Rodriguez attended after the assault.
Judge Greally imposed a three year sentence which she suspended for three years on condition Sheridan keeps the peace and engages with the restorative justice programme.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that after the assault Ms Rodriguez sneaked out of the house when Sheridan eventually fell asleep. She never returned to the home again and spent some time in a women's refuge. The couple had moved in together the previous month.
Sheridan of New Brighton Terrace, Parnell Road, Bray pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on February 21, 2015.
Garda Paul Newport told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that Ms Rodriguez and Sheridan had an argument at their home that evening. She left to get some fresh air and coffee before returning back home. Sheridan arrived back an hour and half later.
Ms Rodriguez later told gardai she could smell alcohol from Sheridan and assumed he had been drinking.
Sheridan then grabbed her hair, punched her around her eye and bit her face twice around her jaw. He also punched her all over her body.
The victim said the violence lasted an hour or two and he wouldn't stop when she asked him to. Sheridan dragged her from the bedroom to the living room during the attack.
It came to an end when she suggested they go to sleep. She lay in bed awake and when she felt he had fallen asleep, she left, leaving most of her belongings behind.
Sheridan was arrested but made no admissions during interview. He has previous convictions for theft, public order and road traffic offences.
A victim impact and medical reports were handed into court but not read out.
Gda Newport agreed with Kim Moloney BL, defending that Sheridan had offered Ms Rodriguez 1,600 as a token of his remorse and handed in a letter of apology.
Counsel told Judge Greally that her client suffered from psychosis brought on by drug and alcohol abuse but he was now no longer using drugs. A probation report concluded that he was at a low risk of re-offending.
Joseph Murphy Jnr, pictured leaving the Four Courts after an apology was read out to him in the High Court.Pic: Collins Courts
THE High Court has quashed, on consent, findings of the planning tribunal against the chairman of Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering (JMSE).
The case arose after Joseph Murphy junior took proceedings against the tribunal over adverse findings against him in the tribunal's second and third interim reports.
Today, the tribunal acknowledged some material had not been disclosed to Mr Murphy, his late father Joseph Murphy senior and others associated with Murphy interests.
This was unlawful and breached Mr Murphy's constitutional rights, it said.
The material in question would have enabled the Murphys to conduct an effective and comprehensive cross-examination of the tribunal's main witness, the late James Gogarty.
Following the court's order, Mr Murphy said he was delighted with the outcome. What the tribunal had found was "far removed" from the values he and his later father had in business.
That was the reason he took the case. The tribunal was set up 20 years ago and made findings in 2002 which had "huge consequences" for his business.
Asked if he is to receive any damages as part of the case, he said no but he was happy with the result and he wanted to "get on with my life".
In a statement read to the court on behalf of the tribunal by John Finlay SC, it said the first module of the tribunal concerned allegations the Murphy father and son, and companies associated with Murphy interests, were party to the making of a corrupt payment to former TD and Minister Ray Burke.
Subsequent modules concerned the making of a corrupt payment to former assistant Dublin city and county manager, the late George Redmond.
James Gogarty, a former senior executive with JMSE, a one time the market leader in steel structural erection in Ireland, was on many matters the only witness against the Murphy interests.
Any adverse findings against the Murphys therefore rested on the credibility between Mr Gogarty and the Murphy interests, the statement said.
To deal effectively with the question of credibility, it was essential as a matter of constitutional justice and fairness of procedure that the Murphy interests were in a position to conduct an effective and comprehensive cross-examination of Mr Gogarty.
A number of statements taken during the tribunal's private investigations were either not disclosed or only disclosed in redacted form and were subsequently the subject of findings in the tribunal's second and third interim reports.
The Supreme Court later described the relevance of the material as "obvious", the statement said.
In February last year, the tribunal furnished Mr Murphy with further material which had not been made available and which the tribunal said ought to have been disclosed.
The tribunal acknowledged the findings were made in circumstances which breached the Murphys' rights to fair procedures.
It also acknowledged the findings were unlawful and that they received "enormous publicity which has been extremely damaging to them".
It acknowledged the findings had a profound effect on Mr Murphy and severely damaged his reputation over a period of many years and caused him great personal distress.
As a result, following submissions from Mr Murphy, the tribunal removed the relevant passages and findings from the second and third reports, and its website, and the revised reports were furnished to the Clerk of Dail.
In consenting to the order quashing the findings, the tribunal agreed to pay Mr Murphy the costs of these proceedings and of costs incurred by him in examination of the new material provided to him.
A copy of the court order, and this statement, will be forward to the Clerk of the Dail with a request that all reasonable steps be taken to bring these documents to the attention of members of both houses of the Oireachtas. They will also be placed in the Dail Eireann library.
Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, who was also told Ireland and the Attorney General was consenting to a strike out of the case, granted the orders as sought.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Mar. 2
By Demir Azizov Trend:
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Vice-President of the General Electric (GE) Ronald James Pollett discussed prospects for expansion and diversification of long-term cooperation portfolio, the Uzbek National News Agency (UzA) reported.
On Mar. 1, Mirziyoyev received Ronald James Pollett, who is also chief executive officer and president of GE Russia/CIS.
During the meeting, the sides discussed new programs and projects in power, oil and gas, electrical industries, production and maintenance of modern medical equipment, and other areas.
The sides also discussed cooperation in training and development of specialists.
Today, cooperation of Uzbek enterprises with GE covers energy sector, civil aviation and healthcare.
Pollett expressed GEs willingness to develop full-scale cooperation with Uzbekistan.
A serial offender with 160 previous convictions claimed to be an undercover garda before taking part in handcuffing and robbing a man, a court has heard.
Gary Kearney (25) and an accomplice quoted sections of law before searching the man and removing his belongings on Millennium Bridge, Dublin in the early hours of the morning. The robbers were aggressive and the victim feared he would be pushed into the Liffey while handcuffed.
Kearney's previous convictions include assault, animal cruelty, robbery, theft, burglary, criminal damage and public order offences.
Defence counsel, Luigi Rea BL, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that drink and tablets had been a feature of Kearney's life and there was a place available for him in a 12 week residential treatment program.
Kearney of Poddle Close, Crumlin, Dublin pleaded guilty to robbery, false imprisonment and theft in Dublin city centre on September 11, 2016.
Judge Melanie Greally said Kearney had an appalling record of offending and that if the cycle was to be broken he would have to address his addiction issues. She adjourned sentencing until May to allow Kearney attend for residential treatment at Cuan Mhuire.
Garda Brian McLoughlin told Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, that at around 1.30am Kearney and his accomplice approached a man crossing the Millennium Bridge.
One of the men had a radio and the second had handcuffs. They told the victim he was under arrest.
This was witnessed by another man who the pair had just previously approached claiming to be undercover plain clothes gardai and quoting a section of law. This first man had become suspicious that they were not gardai and backed away from them.
Kearney and his accomplice quoted law again to the second man. They put handcuffs on him and told him he was being taken to Pearse Street Garda Station.
They held the man up against the bridge and the victim feared he would be pushed into the Liffey while wearing the handcuffs. They searched him and took his phone, travel and bank cards.
Gda McLoughlin said due to the aggression of the men the victim began to suspect they were not gardai and asked for his belongings back. They returned his travel and bank cards and removed his handcuffs.
They said he would get his phone back at the garda station but when he continued to ask for it the men began to handcuff him again. The man defended himself and was assisted by the witness. A woman filmed part of the incident on her mobile phone.
Gda McLoughlin said he and a colleague arrived at this point and arrested Kearney. His accomplice fled the scene and has not been charged.
Gda McLoughlin said the handcuffs were quite realistic and the victim believed they were real. He agreed with Mr Rea that they were not of the same standard as garda handcuffs.
Mr Rea said Kearney had written a letter of apology to the victim in which he said he was ashamed of his actions and realised it was entirely inappropriate.
The court will heard a full plea in mitigation on Kearney's behalf from Mr Rea on the next date.
This is serial rapist Paul Moore roaming the streets of the capital after being granted bail again as he awaits sentencing for sexually assaulting a woman.
Moores continuing presence in the Mountjoy Square area has caused such concern that local residents recently tried unsuccessfully to buy him out of the apartment he owns.
Despite the fact he was due to be sentenced last week for yet another sex assault, Moore (51) remains on bail and is spending his days walking around the north-inner city.
On Monday, Moore who has six convictions for separate sex attacks was granted bail again in Dublin Circuit Court because his case manager was out of the jurisdiction.
He had been originally bailed on February 21.
A source told the Herald that a group of residents in the area were so concerned by Moores presence that they approached a third party and offered to buy the apartment he owns in Mountjoy Square.
Expand Close Paul Moore pictured leaving his Mountjoy Square home / Facebook
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Whatsapp Paul Moore pictured leaving his Mountjoy Square home
Powerless
Moore is believed to have bought the property in the 1990s with compensation he was awarded following a traffic accident.
However, his presence in the city centre is causing fear among locals as a number of his attacks have occurred close to, or in, his apartment.
In 2001, he raped a woman after inviting her back to his flat following a night out.
He was sentenced to six years in 2003 for the rape but this was increased to 10 years by the Court of Criminal Appeal because of the terrifying amount of violence he inflicted.
Before he assaulted the woman, Moore forced her to sign a note saying: I have consented to everything that happened between me and Paul Moore tonight.
A source told the Herald that residents had repeatedly approached gardai about getting Moore banned from the apartment block but they had been told they were powerless to act.
In an effort to rid themselves of the dangerous offender, they clubbed together to buy him out, but their offer was not accepted after a third party was approached on the matter.
In his latest case, Moore assaulted an au pair in 2014 as she was travelling home from college on the Dart.
Gardai examined CCTV of the incident but Moore was not recognised until two years later.
In the meantime, he sexually assaulted two women in separate incidents in the city centre after stopping them in the street and asking them for a cigarette.
He stopped one woman in Gardiner Street close to his home on January 21, 2015, and the second at St Marys Place North, about 500 metres from his door, on May 8, 2015.
In 2015, he was jailed for 15 months for these attacks, with Judge Martin Nolan noting that he has a predisposition to violence towards women, which manifests as rape and sexual assault.
Moores first conviction for raping a woman was in 1995, for which he received seven years. Prior to 1995, he had been convicted twice for two separate incidents of indecent assault.
In the most recent case, Moore pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the woman on the southside Dart on August 28, 2014.
The court heard evidence that Moore sat near the au pair and started making small talk. He then moved to the seat beside her and began commenting on her clothes.
Moore had a toy turtle in his hand, which he said he found on the ground. He said he was looking for a child to give it to.
He told her: You probably think Im crazy and began to touch her breasts and then pulled at her trousers. He stopped when another passenger sat near them.
The gardai circulated CCTV of the incident but no one recognised Moore. However, when it did so again in 2016, Moore was recognised and arrested. He accepted it was him on the CCTV but said he could not remember the incident.
Moores defence counsel said he lived a very isolated life and had been disowned by his family and had spent a significant portion of his life in prison and there were conflicting opinions on what caused Moore to commit these crimes.
One psychiatric report blamed a head injury he received in 1982, while another blamed an organic personality disorder.
Judge Melanie Greally said Moores inability to desist from offending, no matter what punishment was imposed, was a matter of real concern to the court. She said any sentence would have to maximise the ability of the services to supervise Moore.
Moore is due to be sentenced next Monday.
There are few tasks in our education and skills system more important than sowing the seed, as early as possible, that higher education is the expectation, not the exception.
It is the role of Government to enable all the nation's children to achieve their potential, by providing a universal, standardised, professional and comprehensive guidance counselling service.
Inequality of guidance service provision hampers inclusion for all young people, impacts on their potential and ill-equips these students to face life's challenges. This is detrimental to our young people, to the economy and to society at large.
Many young people do not lack aspiration, but what they do lack is the means to achieve their goals. This is where guidance counsellors come into their own, where face-to-face guidance helps move students onto the right path.
Guidance is not merely about helping sixth years fill in their CAO forms. The work of the guidance counsellor must start earlier than that - helping students to explore their skills and goals, to determine areas of study (and the subjects and subject levels they will need) and to consider possible careers, while at the same time trying to appreciate what motivates or, more importantly, what demotivates each student. Guidance counselling fosters a healthy school climate and is a crucial element in improving student achievement.
The decimation of the guidance counselling service in the four years after 2012 saw 168 second-level schools with no time to support students in one-to-one counselling. Audits conducted by the Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC) and the two teacher unions at second-level, the ASTI and TUI, on the impact of these cuts all found that students in junior cycle suffered the most. There was little or no guidance counselling at junior cycle as schools used the limited resources they had available to them to work with Leaving Cert students in what became a fire-fighting service, even for those students.
After years of cutbacks and real fears that a ring-fenced (ex quota) guidance counselling service that Irish education had enjoyed for many years, would be lost for all time, September 2017 will represent a watershed moment.
Budget 2017 brought the restoration of 400 ex-quota guidance posts from September 2017.
It is gratifying that those in authority recognise the vital supports guidance counsellors provide for our young people. We also ,have assurances that the remaining 200 posts, of the 600 lost in 2012, will be returned over the next two budgets.
Furthermore, for the first time, in September, a new subject area called wellbeing will become a central part of the student experience for first, second and third years, as part of junior cycle reforms.
Wellbeing will incorporate the learning traditionally covered in physical education (PE), social personal and health education (SPHE) and civics and political education (CSPE) and will also include guidance counselling. It will offer a broad and holistic approach to enhancing the physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of students.
Draft guidelines on wellbeing, published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), acknowledge that learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked, and identify the central role of school in that.
The emphasis will switch to developing student strengths and capabilities, on building resilience and life-skills, rather than focusing on mental ill-health issues. It will prioritise the importance of wellbeing teams in all schools to support positive student experiences.
The guidance counsellor will be central to supporting students and colleagues in embedding wellbeing in all aspects of school life.
Guidance counsellors know only too well that all day-to-day interactions that take place in school can impact on students' wellbeing.
There is overwhelming evidence that students learn more effectively, including their academic subjects, if they are happy, believe in themselves, and feel that they are being supported in their school. Wellbeing will place the student voice centre stage in classrooms and in all aspects of school life.
Betty McLaughlin is president of the IGC, whose annual conference is taking place in UCC this weekend and is Wellbeing Team Leader, Junior Cycle for Teachers' (JCT) Support Service
A union for secondary teachers has warned the Government that a new pay deal must include full restoration of 1.4bn of pay cuts "if industrial unrest is to be avoided".
The submission by the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland to the Public Service Pay Commission, which is advising the Government on its pay policy, lists five things that the next agreement - to be negotiated around May - must include.
They are equal pay for new entrants, the full restoration of pay cuts suffered during the financial crisis, an end to working extra hours for free, and the abolition of a pension levy.
Finally, it calls for the restoration of pension parity, which would mean that retired teachers' pensions would rise when existing teachers' pay does.
It said their pay should not be discounted by 12pc to take account of the value of pensions at talks as a less favourable scheme for new entrants meant the value of their contributions would be higher than their benefits. The union is the only one that has not signed up to the Lansdowne Road deal and members are suffering sanctions including a pay freeze.
It described the deal as "seriously flawed" for failing to close the pay gap for new entrants to the public service and underestimating growth in the economy. For the next agreement to be acceptable, it said it must address major grievances, both general and sectoral.
"This is essential if industrial unrest is to be avoided," it said.
Meanwhile, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said it is extremely disappointed that legislation to give it access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court will not be in place until the end of the year.
It said it has also been excluded from a working group that will discuss its right to strike.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1
By Dalga Khatinoglu Trend:
Iranian parliament has passed a law demanding Oil Ministry to increase the oil and gas recovery rate, SHANA reported.
The enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is vital for Iran, because its in-situ oil reserves stand at 712 billion barrels with natural recovery rate below 15 percent. Even after gas and water re-injection, the recovery rate roughly reaches 25 percent.
The law demands Oil Ministry to use all tools and private companies capacities to invest in EOR projects, especially in joint fields.
One of the blocks with low recovery rate is West Karoon, containing 56 billion barrels of in-situ oil. West Karoon includes five major fields, all of which are jointly owned with Iraq and have a recovery rate below 10 percent in average.
Iran plans to ask foreign contractors to at least double this figure.
The law asks the government to refrain from assigning property rights on fields to companies.
Iran plans to issue tenders to develop 49 oil and gas projects, including West Karoon projects, based on newly designed contract model, called Iran Petroleum Contracts, or IPC.
IPC allows foreign companies to own a percentage of production volume, a term that encourages the contractors to enhance recovery rate to take more oil and gas.
An advisor in Irans Oil Ministry has told Trend that IPC doesnt allow foreign or local companies to own the content of a reservoir, but they take a percentage of production volume in certain places, such as oil terminals.
The official anonymously said the new law is not in contrast with IPC terms.
Coming to the legal aspects of tenders and projects, the source said each project has its own individuality and terms differ from one to another.
"In one project, the investment term may be restricted to a period, but in another one it can continue until the end of production period. The production phases, capital and operational expenditures, re-payments, profits, etc. depend on the terms of each tender," the advisor said, adding the generalities of the legal aspects of IPC are clear in total.
Iran is banned to use USD in bank transactions, according to US sanctions, but the official said the deals would be signed based on USD and all of financial calculations would be based on USD, but in bank transactions the sides can change the values to other foreign currencies.
Iran plans to invest $100 billion in upstream oil and gas projects by 2021, of which 80 percent is expected to be attracted from abroad.
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Dalga Khatinoglu is the head of Trend Agencys Iran news service, follow him on Twitter: @dalgakhatinoglu
Health Minister Simon Harris has defended asking cystic fibrosis sufferers campaigning for access to the powerful drug Orkambi to cancel a protest outside Leinster House.
The minister made the request to Cystic Fibrosis Association chief Philip Watt and Jillian McNulty, who suffers from the condition, at a hastily convened meeting on Monday evening.
He told the Irish Independent yesterday that he "asked for space for important commercial and contractual aspects of the current offer to be agreed on the basis that the process can be concluded in a period of weeks".
He had invited them to a private meeting to update them on progress in talks to agree a new price for the drug described as "life-changing" but was deemed too costly at 159,000 per patient annually.
Ms McNulty, who believed she was being summoned to the meeting to hear that a deal has been struck, described her shock when he asked not to go ahead with the protest which attracted a large turnout yesterday.
She said the minister was wrong to make the request.
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"It isn't up to a minister to ask for a protest to be cancelled," she insisted.
Mr Harris said yesterday he hoped to conclude a deal with Vertex, makers of the drug, "very shortly".
It is likely Cabinet approval may have to be sought to fund the drug as well as an extension for another new medicine Kalydeco to younger children.
The HSE executive is expected to say it cannot afford to make the drugs available out of its own funds.
Vertex is believed to have presented the HSE with a package which would include the two existing drugs as well as access to another medicine VX-661 which is at stage three trials. It also looks set to lead to major health benefits for cystic fibrosis sufferers with a specific gene mutation.
A spokeswoman for Vertex said yesterday it submitted a new proposal in January and all outstanding questions were answered by the end of the month. "Since then we have not heard back from the HSE," she said.
The minister said yesterday that "at every stage in the process so far, Vertex has taken every opportunity to gain advantage by exploiting the genuine suffering of cystic fibrosis patients."
He was "extremely conscious of politicians acting as spokespeople for Vertex when everyone's priority should be to secure the best deal for patients and the taxpayer".
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, who praised Ms McNulty's powerful article on the desperate need for the drug, which appeared in yesterday's Irish Independent, was among the TDs who attended the protest.
Others included Fianna Fail Dublin West TD Jack Chambers and Fianna Fail TD for Sligo-Leitrim Marc MacSharry.
The gathering outside Leinster House included several emotional testimonies by the relatives of cystic fibrosis suffers who died in their teens and early 20s.
Among them was Ashling Golden who lost her sister Grainne to the disease a year ago.
Cystic fibrosis sufferer Anthony McCormack (21) from Donaghmede attended in his wheelchair.
His health has deteriorated and he is hoping to get a double lung transplant.
Dublin Fire Brigade shared this photo on Twitter
A multi-vehicle collision has been reported on the M50 which is causing delays.
The three car crash happened in right lane, southbound at Junction 10 Ballymount.
Overnight, Swords & @ESBNetworks dealt with a tree down in Malahide. Tallaght & @M50Dublin attended a collision @ Red Cow. All clear now pic.twitter.com/VsnQa3JWT0 Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) March 2, 2017
There has also been a crash on the Summerhill/ North Circular Road DFB southbound.
Dublin Fire Brigade are on the scene and there are delays on approach
Elsewhere, the M7 Dublin/Limerick road has re-opened following a serious collision last night.
Meanwhile, a status yellow wind alert for several counties, due to gusts of up to 110kmph, has been lifted.
Overnight, Swords & @ESBNetworks dealt with a tree down in Malahide. Tallaght & @M50Dublin attended a collision @ Red Cow. All clear now pic.twitter.com/VsnQa3JWT0 Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) March 2, 2017
The warning was in place for Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wicklow, Offaly, Mayo and Roscommon.
Lights out at the junction of D'Olier St/Fleet St/College St. Please approach this extremely busy junction with caution! Live Drive (@LiveDrive) March 2, 2017
A garda forensic collision investigator was sent to the scene to conduct a detailed examination. Stock picture
A man has died following a horrific 12 car pile up in Limerick last night.
It is understood the incident occurred during a freak hail storm in the area.
The man, aged in his 50s, suffered catastrophic head injuries and died after his car left the road between Birdhill and Castletroy shortly before 8pm and struck a fence.
A number of people suffered injuries in the mid-evening pile-up but none are believed to be seriously hurt, said a source.
A multi-agency response was immediately launched by emergency services. At least six fire tenders were dispatched from Limerick city and Newport, Nenagh, in Co Tipperary.
Six ambulances from the region were also sent to the scene.
Firefighters attached to Limerick City and County Fire Service, who had been attending a minor collision in Newport, were swiftly on the scene of the "massive pile up", said sources.
Gardai closed the southbound traffic lane between Junction 27 Birdhill and Junction 28 Castletroy.
A garda forensic collision investigator was sent to the scene to conduct a detailed examination. His findings will be revealed in due course.
It is understood the cars skidded off the road as a heavy sleet shower struck the area.
"There was a massive snowball storm and a heavy shower of sleet around the time of the fatal crash," said a local man.
"There were at around 12 cars involved," a source said. "The dead man's car went off the road and crashed through a fence.
"His vehicle ended up on waste ground in a ravine just off the motorway."
Gardai at Henry Street Station, Limerick, are investigating.
Up to 30 members of Beekeepers Ireland wearing beekeeping suits and veils traveled from the four Provinces of Ireland this Thursday swarmed to protest outside Leinster House against the Heritage Bill PHOTO: Mark Stedman
Irelands endangered birds are being put in further danger by a proposed new law which promotes the destruction of their habitats, claimed angry protesters today.
The curlew and the yellow-hammer species, once plentiful and key members of Irelands wildlife, will suffer further serious decline under proposals to allow farmers to burn vegetation during the month of March and to cutback and destroy hedgerows and bushes during the month of August.
Hedgerows are full of berries and other food for wildlife during August.
Bumble bees and many types of wild honey bees will also suffer by extending the permitted times to slash and cut down vegetation and flowering wild plants in the months of August, claimed the protesters who gathered outside Leinster House in Dublin today.
Arts and Heritage Minister Heather Humphries introduced a Heritage Bill in the Seanad yesterday that would extend the hedgerow cutting times by allowing the cutting of wild vegetation to begin on August 1 instead of September 1. This would extend the six month cutting season to seven months.
Burning upland vegetation, which is currently permitted between September 1 and the last day of February, would also be allowed to happen during the month of March under the proposals.
Alex Copland of Birdwatch Ireland said Curlews begin seeking nests and breeding territories in March and they will not breed if the vegetation is burned. Curlews are facing global extinction. There are only 125 pairs of curlews left in Ireland.
This change in the rules would be the last straw for curlews. There would be too few left and they would die out, he said.
The evocative cry of the curlew was, in former years, the ultimate sound of wild Ireland. The rules change would signal a catastrophe for curlews.
Yellow hammers, known as Irelands wild canaries, or Buiog in Irish, have disappeared from many parts of Ireland. Many yellow hammer chicks are still in their nests during August yet this proposed law would allow their nests to be destroyed during this vital time, he said.
The British Government actually copied Irelands existing dates for burning and cutting with new laws to protect birds in Britain. Yet, in Ireland, they now want to withdraw a vital part of that protection during bird-breeding season, he said.
Beekeeper Gerry Ryan (63), president of the Irish Beekeepers Association, travelled from Dundrum, Co Tipperary, for the protest and wore his bee-keeping hat and mask.
Allowing the destruction of vegetation in August would be devastating for Irelands bees. Clover and blackberries are still in flower. The bumble bees and honey bees need these blossoms and flowering ivy to build themselves up to survive the winter, said Mr Ryan.
A whole range of different species need this vegetation in August, including butterflies, rabbits, field mice and other animals, he said.
Other groups to protest against the proposed new law yesterday were the Irish Wildlife Trust and An Taisce.
All the groups stated the Irish Government was attempting to weaken laws that protect biodiversity and breeding birds while at the same time trying to promote Irelands green image.
Their spokeswoman Oonagh Duggan said Over 26,000 people have signed a petition saying no to these changes. We ask senators to listen to these voices and to reject Section 8 of the Heritage Bill on the basis that it ignores the science which says that it could seriously impact on nesting birds and could be the death knell for some species already in trouble.
But it will also impact bees, which need all the help they can get, not Government-condoned habitat destruction.
If this bill is passed it will send a clear message that Ireland is not serious about protecting its natural heritage for generations to come.
Senator Alice-Mary Higgins said the Heritage Bill seems more like an anti-heritage bill.
We need to safeguard our shared heritage for generations to come instead of introducing flawed legislation that threatens its existence, she said.
It was misleading to claim the Bill promoted road safety as hedge-cutting is allowed at any time where road safety is a concern, she said.
An Irish mother has described how her 17-month-old daughter fell ill and died from meningitis in a matter of hours. Limerick woman Ruth Melling lost her daughter Lola Jane Nagle just over two years ago. Next month her family and friends will host the second annual Lola's Ball in Limerick. This is her story:
"Lola Jane was a very happy, healthy little girl. On the night of the 14th of April 2015, Lola woke with a temperature. I brought her into bed with me as she was incredibly restless. She wasn't crying just wide awake staring at me and breathing funny. I couldn't seem to get her temperature down. She was just lying there.
The next morning, after no sleep, I knew she needed to go to the doctor. It was a crazy time at work for me as my boss was away so I had to get in and open up for everyone. So I left Lola with my husband went out to work, opened up, rang the doctor and headed straight back home for Lola.
When I got home she was still lying there and I noticed her breathing had got worse and a few purple marks on her neck. I immediately thought chicken pox, how wrong I was.
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I put Lola into the car and headed for the doctors, it's a drive I will never forget. I still see the way she was looking at me in the mirror sometimes when I close my eyes, I will never be able to describe it but I knew there was something seriously wrong with my little girl.
As her breathing became worse, I began to panic. I rushed into the doctors with her and I was shaking. Once I sat in the waiting room, I watched these purple spots take over her body and then her lips went blue. I ran to reception screaming her lips are blue her lips are blue.
I was rushed into nurses room and two doctors appeared. They put an oxygen mask on Lola, I kept crying what's wrong with her? They mentioned meningitis and I told them no, it can't be sure she's had all her injections.
They made me go outside for air and told me they were ringing an ambulance and to phone somebody to meet me at the hospital. At this stage I was numb I had no idea what was happening I just kept saying it couldn't be meningitis.
The ambulance arrived at the surgery and I took my little girl into my arms while they tried to control her breathing. This was the last time I held my baby alive.
The sirens went on and they told me it was only because of traffic. How naive I was to think everything was okay.
We got to the hospital where a team of doctors were waiting, she was whipped out of my arms and I was asked to sit while I watched them all around my baby. A lot of what happen after this is a blur. I sat alone in the room watching and still not realising what was going on. A few doctors tried to speak to me to tell me how serious it was but I heard nothing I was just numb.
I remember my husband arriving and trying to talk to me to tell me to say goodbye to our little girl. I couldn't move I couldn't get off the chair, and then she was gone. From 10am in the doctors surgery to 12pm in the hospital my baby was gone. How? Why? I don't think I will ever understand it, she was perfect only the day before so happy and full of life, my angel Lola Jane.
It's so strange. Lola was born six weeks premature and fought hard to stay with us. She had no lashes when she was born but by the time she left hospital to come home she was called Lola Lashes by all the nurses, they were beyond long.
I'm not sure if it was a sixth sense or maybe somehow I knew to protect her but I was a crazy overprotective mom when it came to Lola. Everyone that knows me knows how laid back I am, but with Lola I was constantly watching her, following her, she was never out of my sight.
I was so paranoid about her choking, that I did two first aid courses and wouldn't dare even give her a sausage. You would think I would be like that now with my son Scott, but no it was only Lola. I adored her, she was with my every minute, my special girl.
We had a very special bond and I miss her terribly. I can still hear her breathing and see the way she was looking at me in the car on the way to the doctors. I don't think it will ever leave my mind how scared she must have been.
Act for Meningitis have been an amazing support to our whole family, I have built a strong friendship with them and will continue to help in any way, to prevent this happening to someone else."
Lola's Ball will take place on April 22 at the Greenhills Hotel in Limerick. 'A gift for Lola' was set up to prevent another family going through the nightmare of losing a child by raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of Meningitis. To date it has raised over 35,000
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WHAT IS MENINGITIS?
Meningitis is inflammation of the lining around the spinal cord and the brain, caused by a viral or bacterial infection.
It is easily misdiagnosed as the symptoms can be flu-like, appear in any order and some may not appear at all, therefore we urge people to trust your instincts. Meningitis does not always produce a rash, if it does appear it will not fade under pressure.
While children aged under five are most at-risk, with 16-24 year olds the second highest at risk age group.
Symptoms of Meningitis can include: Fever, vomiting, headache, limb pain, neck stiffness, sensitivity to bright lights, confusion and in some cases a rash may appear.
For more information on Meningitis, our support services or to download the signs and symptoms card please visit here
David Black was gunned down on a motorway on his way to work at Maghaberry high security prison in Co Antrim in November 2012.
A man wanted in connection with the murder of prison officer David Black has been arrested.
Damien Joseph McLaughlin (40) from Co Tyrone, was arrested alongside another man in Co Donegal following a joint operation between the PSNI and gardai.
Mr McLaughlin was due to stand trial last month on charges that include aiding and abetting David Black's murder but fled in November while on bail.
A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was issued for his arrest.
Mr Black (52) was shot dead by dissident republicans as he drove along the M1 on his way to work at Maghaberry Prison in November 2012.
In a statement gardai have confirmed that they have arrested both men in Donegal this afternoon. A 47-year-old woman was arrested in Belfast.
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Officers from the Special Detective Unit detained a man in his 40s, named by the PSNI as Mr McLaughlin, under a European Arrest Warrant. A second man, in his late 50s, was detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939.
One man is detained at Letterkenny Garda Station and the other at a Garda Station in Dublin.
Mr McLaughlin is due to appear before the High Court in Dublin on foot of a EAW tomorrow morning.
Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, from PSNIs Serious Crime Branch, said: Since his disappearance Police have carried out extensive enquiries regarding Mr McLaughlins whereabouts. Throughout this time the PSNI has been liaising closely with An Garda Siochana and todays arrests demonstrate the benefits of joint working between police forces and other national partner agencies.
As part of the operation a 59 year old man was also arrested in Donegal and a 47 year old woman was arrested in Belfast. Damien McLaughlin is scheduled to appear at Dublins Central Criminal Court tomorrow. The 59 year old man has been taken to Letterkenny police station for questioning and a 47 year old woman has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning.
Senior PSNI detectives contacted the Black family today to update them on developments.
Detectives involved in the case spoke with Mrs Black to inform her of Damien McLaughlins arrest, added Detective Chief Superintendent Murray.
The staff at SuperValu in Knocklyon Shopping Centre celebrate as they sold the winning lottery ticket on Wednesday night for 12,849,224. Photo Steve Humphreys
A syndicate has come forward to claim last night's massive lottery jackpot.
A National Lottery spokesman confirmed to Independent.ie that the group had been in touch with them this afternoon.
The spokesman added: "We can tell you that we have been in touch with the ticket holders and they are now making arrangements to collect their prize.
"I can confirm it is a syndicate but nothing further at this stage."
The winning ticket was sold in Supervalu, Knocklyon in Dublin and the shop was buzzing with activity and excitement today.
Ken O'Toole (50) from Lucan is the Store Manager in Supervalu in Knocklyon and said there is a good chance the winner is local.
"This morning the excitement in the shop was unbelievable, first of all the colleagues and then the customers - when they all heard there was a big rush checking the tickets," he said.
"We're a very local shop in the community, being in Knocklyon we're not in a major thoroughfare so I would be hoping it'd be someone local," he added.
Conor O'Hare (24) from Knocklyon could easily have been one of three people selling Lotto tickets in Supervalu yesterday.
"It's exciting, you sell them everyday and you don't really think much of it, it's kind of just another day another few Lotto tickets sold. And then out of no where this happens," Conor said.
He said he knew there was something different as he walked into work on Thursday morning and that "there was too much going on".
"With the Lotto going up and up, I think a lot of people were buying tickets. Last week the Lotto sales shot up. I think the area was due something," he added.
The ticket was bought on the day of the draw.
It wasn't the only lucky Supervalu in the country last night however,
There was also one lucky winner of the Match 5 + Bonus prize of 179,034. The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at the Supervalu store on Abbeyleix Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.
The winning numbers in Wednesday's draw were 2, 15, 19, 26, 37, 38 and the bonus number was 39.
The lottery jackpot was 12,849,224.
Read More
The largest ever Irish Lotto jackpot was won in June 2008 by a syndicate of 16 quarry workers in County Carlow who scooped 18.9 million between them.
The largest amount ever won by an individual was 16.7 million, which was claimed by a ticket holder in Waterford in 2010.
Ireland has also had a number of major Euromillions successes. In January a work syndicate claimed 88m in a draw after buying their ticket at a service station in Lusk, North Dublin.
Read More
The largest ever individual winner was Limerick woman Dolores McNamara who walked away with 115m in 2005.
The comments were made after a report from the Simon Community (stock image)
Despite a major housing and homelessness housing crisis, one in eight houses still remain vacant across the country, the Dail has been told.
Labour leader Brendan Howlin said that a Simon Community study has revealed 189,358 houses or 13pc of properties - are now vacant.
Mr Howlin said the issue was all the more urgent because of the delays in delivering newly-built social and affordable homes in line with Government promises to tackle the crisis.
Will you provide more money for this problem? Mr Howlin asked the Government.
Replying for the Government, Education Minister Richard Bruton said the issue of vacant homes was being addressed by a new register of such properties, and various schemes to refurbish and make such homes available.
Mr Bruton said that delivery of housing had been slow but was now speeding up. He added that Government will study the Simon report and consider the recommendations it has made.
The data base will ask why so many houses are vacant specifically so we can bring them back into use, Mr Bruton said.
The Minister said that a 5.5bn five-year housing plan, with targets including 47,000 social homes, was now being implemented.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Dalga Khatinoglu Trend:
Iran says the foreign companies that have studied the countrys oil and gas reserves have more chance to win development tenders.
Iran has 19 memorandums of understandings with foreign companies, signed last year to study 14 fields.
Now, Deputy Head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for Engineering and Development Affairs Gholam-Reza Manouchehri has told SHANA that some of the companies had submitted the results of their studies on the fields.
Below are the study results submitted by the foreign companies*:
Fields ICOs Oil in-situ (billion barrels) Current production (barrels per day) Band-e Karkheh OMV (Austria) 3.468 0 Cheshmeh Khosh OMV (Austria) 3.740 72,000 West Paydar OMV (Austria) 0.952 28,000 Dalpari fields OMV (Austria) 0.367 14,000 Phase 11 of South Pars gas field Total (France) 14 tcm in total of South Pars 0 Mansouri Lukoil (Russia) and Pertamina (Indonesia) 15.142 60,000 Ab Teymour Lukoil (Russia) and Pertamina (Indonesia) 15.258 60,000 Balal fields gas layer KOGAS (South Korea) 177 bcm 0 Arvand Wintershall (Germany) 1.114 0 Sohrab Wintershall (Germany) 0.736 0 Mehr Wintershall (Germany) NA NA
* Data was obtained by Trend from Irans Oil Ministry
Manouchehri said that Japans Inpex has also proposed to develop the South Azadegan oil field, while Danish Maersk has willingness to develop the oil layer of South Pars gas field and Ab Teymour oil field.
Russias Zarubezhneft proposed to develop Aban field and Indian ONGC wants to get involved in Farzad B gas field development project, he added.
Iran plans to issue tenders based on newly designed contract model, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), in 2017 to develop 49 oil and gas fields and blocks.
The country is eyeing to attract investments worth $100 billion to these projects by 2021, of which 80 percent would be foreign funds.
The biggest fields among the studied reserves are Mansouri and Ab Teymour.
Manouchehri said the recovery rate of Mansouri is only 2.35 percent, but it can increase to 14 percent.
Coming to Ab Teymour, he said the fields recovery rate stands at 2.27 percent, but it can increase to 12 percent.
The natural recovery rate of Iranian fields is very low and stands at 14 percent in average, but after gas and water re-injection, the rate can increase to about 25 percent.
Iran plans to use the foreign companies technologies to increase the recovery rate of its fields, because each percent increase means extraction of 7 billion barrels more oil.
Irans total oil in-situ reserves stand at 712 billion barrels, of which 158 billion barrels are currently recoverable.
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Dalga Khatinoglu is the head of Trend Agencys Iran news service, follow him on Twitter: @dalgakhatinoglu
Housing Minister Simon Coveney has told colleagues that he is prepared to turn the tables on Micheal Martins party if it refuses to back down in the latest water row. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins
Fianna Fail will be told to draft its own legislation to abolish water charges in an unprecedented shifting of power within the Dail.
Housing Minister Simon Coveney has told colleagues that he is prepared to turn the tables on Micheal Martin's party if it refuses to back down in the latest water row.
As both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail threatened each other with an election, Government sources told the Irish Independent they would latch on to the word "facilitate" in the confidence and supply arrangement between the two parties.
Fianna Fail's spokesman on water, Barry Cowen, has claimed if Mr Coveney does not legislate for the recommendations of the committee on the future funding of water, the minority Government will collapse.
Mr Coveney has insisted he will not abolish water charges in their entirety because this would result in massive fines imposed on Ireland by the EU.
He said it would be "very unreasonable" for Fianna Fail to demand he introduce legislation which the Attorney General has ruled to be illegal based on commitments made in a European Framework Directive.
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Sources say that "under no circumstances" will the minister do that, but he may try to avoid an election by putting the onus back on Fianna Fail to find a legal way of abolishing charges.
One source said the minister was prepared to tell Fianna Fail to bring its own legislation to the Dail floor where the Government would "facilitate" its passage by allowing the necessary debating time.
Read more: Snap election threat 'if Coveney does not accept water recommendations' - Fianna Fail warns
If the bill were to pass, it would then be up to President Michael D Higgins to decide whether to sign it into law.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny hinted at this strategy in the Dail yesterday, saying: "The agreement says what it says, which is the Government will facilitate the passage of legislation.
"We also have an agreement in respect of the support of the major Opposition party in passing the budget, which is facilitating the budget without writing it."
The dispute now centres on whether households that waste large amounts of water are hit with charges.
Fianna Fail insists the 2007 Water Services Act which allows fines of up to 5,000 if householders are abusing water is sufficient to meet EU rules, but Mr Coveney said there was "no real mechanism to deliver that" without water meters.
Trust between the two parties is at a low with Fine Gael ministers claiming Fianna Fail is simply trying to outflank Sinn Fein who received an opinion poll boost at the weekend.
Breakthrough
"If Sinn Fein had risen another few points, Fianna Fail would probably demand that we start paying people to drink water," said one Cabinet minister.
The committee tasked with reaching a compromise on charges met again yesterday but failed to make any significant breakthrough.
Sources said they had a consensus on 90pc of the issues at play but there were still major gaps in relation to charges, refunds and whether to continue water metering. All sides have been asked to submit written proposals for breaking the impasse to the committee chair Padraig O Ceidigh by tomorrow. The committee will not meet again until next Tuesday.
Sources described yesterday's meetings as "tense" with a 10-minute break required at one stage to allow TDs and senators to "cool off".
The committee does not have access to the advice of the Attorney General which Mr Coveney is relying on. However, the minister said there "may be room for setting up an opportunity for the Attorney General's office and the legal teams of any other political parties that want to engage to try and tease through some of these issues".
Meanwhile, Independent Alliance minister Shane Ross has said householders that paid their water charges should get refunds. "Those who paid them should get their money back because it's obvious that the pursuit of those that didn't pay them is not going to continue," he said.
On the issue of abolishing charges completely, the Transport Minister said he would "wait and see".
"I think what the Government is doing is sensible in the circumstances and I don't expect there to be a major crisis about it," he said.
Mr Coveney said he hoped the situation would not lead to a general election.
"I think most people are pretty sick talking about water and water charges," he said.
On this week's show, Kevin Doyle, Philip Ryan and Niall O'Connor look back on the week in Irish politics including round 52 in the water charges debacle, Shane Ross at the back of the bus, and the Enda farewell tour.
Click here subscribe to the Floating Voter on iTunes.
Around and around we go and were back to where we started. It's another version of the water charges saga between FG, FF, Simon Coveney and Barry Cowen.
"Its about over-usage and Fine Gael believe theyre being fair, equitable and most importantly, legal' in all of this," argued Niall O'Connor. "While Fine Gael believe that Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein's proposals will leave Ireland open to legal action, fines and embarassment."
"But, 'considerably more likely than not' is not exactly a definitive ruling from the Attorney General that Simon Coveney is claiming now is it?" countered Philip Ryan.
But maybe this spat is more historic, going back to when Coveney criticised Brian Cowens drunk/hungover appearance on Morning Ireland? in 2010? Or is it more about green tea Coveney irking the 'rough and rugged' Soldiers of Destiny as O'Connor claimed?
"It's the biggest sham fight weve had so far but the reality is no one has the bottle to pull the plug," said O'Connor.
Turning their attention to the bus strike, Philip Ryan questioned why more money should be thrown at a failing company and why should Shane Ross be brought in unless cost-savings are going to b implemented?
"Maybe taxis would be cheaper to take the people around the country?" he asked.
"And maybe you can join the Tea Party," replied O'Connor. "If you live in the rural community its not your fault if buses are half-empty - they deserve to have transport services."
Each week on the Floating Voter, INM's political team discuss the main issues affecting Irish politics, bursting the bubble around Leinster House. New episodes on Independent.ie every Thursday.
Voting in Northern Ireland's snap Assembly election has been described as steady, with some polling stations reporting higher early turnouts than last year's Stormont vote.
The electorate is returning to the polls to select a new devolved Assembly for the second time in less than a year.
The powersharing coalition executive led by the two largest parties at Stormont - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - collapsed in January.
Here are the key issues you need to know:
British troops in Northern Ireland
The Democratic Unionists are demanding measures to ensure British troops who served in Northern Ireland cannot face probes into their actions if they have already been investigated.
Some MPs have claimed the authorities are pursuing a "witch hunt" against elderly servicemen after recent decisions to prosecute over Troubles crimes.
Nationalists have said there should be no hiding place for any suspect, whether military, police or terrorist.
Prosecutors have pursued five times more cases surrounding individuals suspected of paramilitary crimes than those involving soldiers in the last five years.
Extra money for fresh inquests into controversial killings has been withheld amid discord over a new unit planned to investigate thousands of conflict deaths.
The Renewable Heat Incentive
The botched green energy scheme is predicted to cost taxpayers up to 490 million over the next 20 years.
It caused the collapse of power-sharing after former Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in protest and took DUP first minister Arlene Foster with him.
The scheme is paying out more than it cost to fuel biomass boilers, prompting allegations of empty sheds being heated.
A public inquiry is due to begin hearings after the election.
DUP leader Arlene Foster was the minister in charge when the RHI began. She denied any wrongdoing, refused to step aside as First Minister and branded claims she was arrogant as political "smears".
Sinn Fein has fought an electoral campaign focusing on promises to clean up "corruption".
Corruption claims surrounding the RHI have not been proven.
Cross-community voting
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has said that, after his own party, he would vote for the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ahead of other unionist candidates in the proportional representation election.
Mr Nesbitt did not advise other UUP supporters to adopt the same approach.
The comments prompted a backlash from some Ulster Unionists fighting for seats in the next Assembly who depend on transfers from other unionists and ridicule from Democratic Unionists.
The UUP and SDLP have positioned themselves as an alternative partnership government at Stormont to take the place of the long-standing DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has not explicitly said he would recommend a second preference for the UUP but urged supporters to back candidates who wanted change and praised Mr Nesbitt's stance.
An Irish language act.
The campaign for a law giving official protection is a touchstone equality issue for Sinn Fein.
Mrs Foster has said more people speak Polish and the DUP withheld support.
In 2014, former DUP culture minister Gregory Campbell was barred from addressing the Stormont Assembly for a day for phonetically parodying the language and failing to apologise, beginning a speech with: "Curry my yoghurt can coca coalyer". The Irish sentence "go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle" translates as "thank you, speaker".
Leo Varadkar has backed Simon Coveney on the issue and is keen to avoid the row sparking a general election. Photo: Collins
Leo Varadkar has backed Simon Coveney, his main rival in the upcoming Fine Gael leadership battle, in rejecting Fianna Fail's demand that water charges be scrapped outright.
The Social Protection Minister last night gave his unequivocal support for the principle of charging households for excessive use.
Mr Varadkar's backing will be seen as significant as Mr Coveney comes under fire from Opposition TDs for insisting he won't legislate for the total abolition of charges, arguing it would breach EU law.
Mr Coveney's remarks were branded "premature, unprecedented and nothing but political" by Fianna Fail's Barry Cowen, coming as it did before the Oireachtas water committee completed its work.
Mr Cowen warned the dispute could spark an election. He said Mr Coveney's stance would amount to him tearing up the confidence and supply agreement between the two parties.
Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald accused Mr Coveney of intervening "in a most inappropriate manner".
However, Mr Coveney stayed firm on his position and last night it was confirmed that the two main contenders to succeed Taoiseach Enda Kenny are united in their opposition to Fianna Fail's demand.
A spokesman for Mr Varadkar said he supported charging for excessive use of water.
"Average taxpayers should not be expected to pay for other people's misuse of this precious resource," a statement said.
Read more: Snap election threat 'if Coveney does not accept water recommendations' - Fianna Fail warns
The spokesman also made the point that charges for excess use incentivised the fixing of leaks and provided a revenue stream that could be reinvested in the water network.
But Mr Varadkar was also clear that an election should be avoided over the issue. "The people of Ireland don't want an election and nor does Fine Gael," the statement said, adding that Fine Gael wants to work with other parties to "find a solution".
Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe also weighed in behind Mr Coveney. Both cited EU law in their argument for why the polluter pays principle - and charges for wasteful use - must be put in place.
"The legal advice available outlines that this is not a position compliant with the Water Framework Directive, therefore we cannot support it," Ms Fitzgerald's spokesman said.
Mr Donohoe's spokeswoman said "Fine Gael is anxious to work with other parties to find a solution" and referred to the committee process as the means for reaching a compromise.
Voters go to the polls in Northern Ireland today for the second time in less than a year.
Power-sharing arrangements between the two largest parties at the Stormont Assembly - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - collapsed in January.
If post-election talks cannot mend tensions between the former coalition partners then direct rule from London is on the cards.
An alternative cross-community partnership of the Ulster Unionists and nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is bidding to wrest control away from the fractious former allies.
The DUP and Sinn Fein have fallen out over the unionist party's handling of a botched green energy scheme and a host of other issues.
Former first minister Peter Robinson has warned politicians to step back and avert a headlong rush towards the destruction of devolved government.
While the vote will not change how Theresa May's Government treats talks to leave the European Union, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could become an issue in how Brexit is introduced.
Five Assembly seats are up for grabs in 18 constituencies, with the overall number returned falling from 108 to 90.
A total of 228 candidates are running.
Former Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in January in protest over the DUP's handling of the massively overspent Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is paying grants to businesses worth more than the cost of running the wood biomass boilers.
That forced the dissolution of the institutions, which need nationalists and unionists in government to operate, and Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire called a snap election.
The next ballot had been due to take place in May 2021 after a poll last May.
Northern Ireland uses the single transferable vote (STV) proportional representation electoral system.
Counting will start during daytime on Friday with the last results not expected until later on Saturday.
All the main Stormont parties reduced the number of candidates fielded, in line with the downsized Assembly.
The largest party, the DUP, is running 38 - six fewer than last year.
Sinn Fein dropped five, from 39 to 34.
The UUP has 24 candidates - two fewer than in 2016 - while the SDLP is down three on 21.
The Alliance Party nominated 21 Assembly hopefuls, down two.
Transport Minister Shane Ross during a Press Briefing at Buswells Hotel, Dublin following a meeting between the Committee on Transport Tourism & Sport & Road Saftey bodies on Road Safety Strategy at Leinster House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins
Transport Minister Shane Ross wants someone with "personal experience" of the tragedies on Ireland's roads to serve on the board of the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
He was speaking as members of the Irish Road Victims Association backed his plan to crack down on drink-driving. Mr Ross didn't name any individuals but said: "It would be absolutely right to have someone on the board who is committed to road safety in a very personal way."
Some rural TDS are resisting his plan to bring in three-month disqualification from the roads for motorists caught with between 50mg and 80mg of alcohol in their system.
The current punishment is three penalty points and a fine.
Mr Ross said it would be "extraordinary" if there was opposition to a measure which was "obviously going to save lives".
Among those backing the proposal yesterday were Gillian and Ronan Treacy, whose four-year-old son Ciaran was killed by a drunk driver in 2014.
Clerical abuse survivor Marie Collins has resigned from the Catholic Church's Pontifical Commission due to frustration with Vatican officials' resistance.
Mrs Collins's shock announcement on Ash Wednesday was a serious blow to Pope Francis's efforts to tackle the abuse crisis within Catholicism and show that the Church was getting its house in order.
Mrs Collins was appointed to the commission in 2014 as one of two survivors of clergy sex abuse.
Outlining her reasons for resigning to the 'National Catholic Reporter', she said it was "devastating in 2017 to see that these men still can put other concerns before the safety of children and vulnerable adults".
Describing their attitude as "unacceptable", she hit out at the reluctance of some in the Curia to implement recommendations or cooperate with the work of a commission whose purpose is to improve the safety of children and vulnerable adults.
Last year, at the safeguarding commission's request, Pope Francis instructed all departments in the Vatican to ensure all correspondence from victims/survivors received a response.
"I learned in a letter from this particular dicastery last month that they are refusing to do so," Mrs Collins said.
She said she found it "impossible to listen to public statements about the deep concern in the Church for the care of those whose lives have been blighted by abuse" and "yet to watch privately as a congregation in the Vatican refuses to even acknowledge their letters".
The 70-year-old said it reflected how the whole abuse crisis in the Church has been handled: "With fine words in public and contrary actions behind closed doors."
Inset: Cllr Ruth Nolan and Mayor Guss O'Connell "demand answers" about why the council rejected the NAMA homes
Councillors are holding a "closed door" meeting to discuss why the council rejected 446 NAMA homes, three months after the figures were first revealed.
Independents 4 Change Cllr Ruth Nolan told Independent.ie that the South Dublin County Councillors (SDCC) are holding the private meeting on Friday to discuss the issue.
"We as councillors were told nothing about why the council rejected the homes. I first heard about it by reading the local press three months ago," she said.
In January, it was revealed that three local authorities where more than 4,500 families are waiting for a home accepted just a handful of social units on offer from Nama.
Nama said it had offered city and county councils a total of 6,941 homes for use as social housing, but just 2,378 had been delivered.
Read More
SDCC had the lowest take up of the four Dublin councils accepting just 21 per cent of the homes offered.
It rejected 446 homes in one development in the interests of managing a sustainable community.
Ms Nolan said that after reading about the council's decision she and Mayor Guss O'Connell put a motion forward at a council meeting to have a private "closed door" meeting to discuss the issue.
"Three months on we demand answers. We were never explained to fully why these homes were rejected. The council said that they rejected the homes because they didn't want concentrated social housing in the area but other options could have been explored.
"We're holding the meeting to see why we weren't informed, why there wasn't other options for the homes and to ask where these houses would have been located."
Ms Nolan said that the rejected homes could have been used under the affordable housing scheme and the rent-to-buy scheme as well as for social housing.
"There were other options. We are looking for an explanation from SDCC."
The "closed door" council meeting means that the press and public cannot attend the meeting.
Mayor Guss O'Connell said that the meeting is open to the full council to get a "perspective" on what is happening.
"We, as elective members, are sitting with the executive to show the urgency of the housing situation. It's open to all councillors to bring urgency to the housing matter and for the executive to tell us what's happening."
Mr O'Connell said it's not "unusual" to have a closed meeting and that is necessary to "get answers".
"We often have both closed door meetings and open meetings to ask the hard questions and get straight answers. Closed meetings are a fairly normal event."
It is the ultimate fear of parents of teenage girls under the age of 17. Will their daughter be lured into an abusive sexual relationship by an older man?
The issue of child grooming has come to the fore after it cropped up in a storyline in Coronation Street. The TV3 soap currently features a 16-year-old character, Bethany Platt, who is groomed by an older man, Nathan Curtis, and ends up in bed with him.
While the episodes have shocked and disturbed many viewers, child welfare agencies have praised the writers of the soap for raising the issue and presenting an accurate portrait of how abusers groom their victims.
Mary Flaherty, chief executive of CARI, which counsels Irish child abuse victims, says: "I think it is good that an issue like this is featured on Coronation Street, because it raises public awareness of an issue that is often hidden from view."
Ms Flaherty says the programme can help to dispel some of the myths around child grooming.
In the past, people tended to think of the perpetrator as a much older man, the uncle-type character in a shabby raincoat. In practice, many men who lure girls into exploitative relationships are in their twenties.
Before making these episodes, the writers of Coronation Street consulted with the National Society for the Prevention Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in the UK.
They spoke to a woman called Lucie, who shared her experiences of sexual exploitation. Lucie met a man through social media when he began chatting to her about school and her life. This took a terrifying turn when she was just 12 and he began sexually abusing her.
According to the NSPCC, grooming occurs when a predatory individual builds an emotional connection with a child, with a view to gaining their trust for sexual purposes. The perpetrator can be a stranger or someone they know, and the grooming can happen online or in person.
Teenagers often do not understand that they have been groomed, or that what has happened is abuse.
The perpetrators may spend a long time gaining a child's trust. They may even win the trust of an entire family in order to be allowed time alone with a child. In a lot of cases, they build a rapport with the child by offering them praise and giving them presents.
In Coronation Street, Nathan brings Bethany under his control by showering her with gifts. In other cases, the groomers may develop a relationship with a child by posing as someone of a similar age. In a recent case before the Irish courts, a 26-year-old man was convicted of grooming a teenager online by posing as a 13-year-old girl.
The man, from Ballycullen, Co Dublin, set up a profile as a girl called 'Julie' on a website. After he started chatting to his 15-year-old victim, he introduced himself as Julie's older brother 'Adam', and paid for the girl to get a taxi to his house where they had sex.
Ellen O'Malley Dunlop, former chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, says parents need to be up to speed on who their teenage children are contacting online.
She welcomed the fact that new legislation creates an offence targeting child sexual grooming on the internet.
Typically in cases that have come before the Irish courts, the defendants have been men in their twenties.
Once they have established trust, groomers will exploit the relationship by isolating the child from friends or family, and making the child feel dependent on them.Sometimes groomers blackmail the child, or make them feel ashamed or guilty, to stop them telling anyone about the abuse.
Ms Flaherty adds that the internet has bred a level of openness and risk that people would not dream of taking in the real world.
This was highlighted by a case outlined by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) to an Oireachtas committee last week.
It involved two 14-year-olds who sent pictures of themselves in underwear to a man they met online. The man threatened to make the photos public unless they sent more images. The pair did not want to tell anybody about it and were too terrified to go to gardai. They even contemplated suicide.
Ms Flaherty says parents can lessen the danger of grooming by keeping lines of communication open with their children.
"If they are watching Coronation Street and a topic like grooming comes up, that is an opportunity to have a conversation with your child about it," she says.
"You can warn them to be careful and treat what is happening online like the real world, but let them know that if they ever get into difficulty, they can talk about it."
8 Tips to help with raising teen girls
In her book Untangled, psychologist Lisa Damour offers advice to parents guiding their teenagers through the transition to adulthood.
1. Its not about you
So often, parents feel that adolescence is something their daughter is doing to them. Teenagers become more private, obsessed with their friends and fairly emotional. If parents dont take all these changes personally, things go much better.
2. Be present
Teenagers want their parents around physically but it doesnt necessarily mean that they want to interact with them. Dont underestimate the value of simply being present.
3. Pick up unhappy signals
Girls will not always say directly that they are being bullied. They might say there is a drama in the class, and may even reject help. Often just complaining to a parent gives teenagers the relief they need.
4. Help define popularity
Teenagers use the word popular to describe two different types of peers. They use it for people who are pleasant and kind but also to describe those who garner social power. Encourage friendship with the first type of girl.
5. Let them bounce back
Teenage girls can become overwhelmed and frustrated. The first thing is not to over-react. Help them to fall back on their coping mechanisms. It could just be taking a shower or watching their favourite movie.
6. Digital downtime
It is too easy to say that teenagers are obsessed with their phones. At the same time we have to help them to create some downtime. You could insist on no phones after 9pm.
7. Create social media literacy
As girls are looking at carefully-crafted selfies that their peers are putting up, it is helpful to ask questions. Encourage them to think about how much time someone they know took over a picture and ask what they were trying to accomplish.
8. Be a role model
What we do has so much more influence than what we say when it comes to drink and drugs. Conversations around drinking and drugs should centre around the idea of self care, rather than talking about rules and laws.
As Eating Disorder Awareness Week rolls around for another year, we are once again reminded of the statistics: an estimated 200,000 people in Ireland are currently suffering from an eating disorder.
Yet, the figures do not take into account the many parents and other carers who are fighting a daily battle to help their loved ones through recovery. These people do not seek or need awareness, rather they need knowledge, support and better services for their loved ones.
Dublin woman Paula Crotty is one such person. Her journey began three years ago when she first noticed signs that her 20-year-old daughter was developing an eating disorder.
"A few months before we realised she had a problem, she had said that her mood was low and she had gone to her GP. When we realised she was having trouble with an eating disorder, we talked to her but the decision to get help had to be hers as she was over 18," she explains.
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Paula's daughter (now 23) sought treatment and was later admitted as an inpatient in a public hospital in Dublin. After almost a year, she was discharged and the family were told by hospital staff that they had done all that they could to help her. However, concerned that her daughter was still critically unwell, Paula and her family fought to get the treatment that she required in the Vincent's Square Eating Disorder Centre in London where she remained for 10 months.
"We went to visit her at least every other week. We had family therapy and meetings with the medical team. It put a lot of extra strain on the family but we felt like something had been done. She didn't come back better but she certainly came back stronger," she says.
For Paula, getting this specialist help was the difference between life and death for her daughter, who is still taking each day as it comes but is now home and back in university.
"The services in Ireland are extremely limited," she says. "People are dying every year as a result of eating disorders. If I were relying on the healthcare system here, my daughter would have been one of them a year and a half ago."
Paula added that it is extremely important for parents in similar situations to look after themselves and communicate honestly with their other children.
Recent figures from the national eating disorder association Bodywhys show that 47pc of calls come from concerned parents and friends, while 16pc of emails come from the same group. However, carers come in many forms.
"Eating disorders don't discriminate. They affect everyone from every background, sex, race or age," says Trish Shiel, clinical manager of the Eating Disorder Centre Cork (EDCC). "We've had mothers with grown children; we have people coming with their partners." Trish recommends the same approach for all carers: have compassion and try to understand the illness.
"The most important thing is to get as much education as you can on it," she says. "You also need to separate your loved one from the illness so that you aren't seeing the behaviour as the person. This is a full-blown mental health condition. The person may be functioning but they are still going through an incredibly difficult time.
"Carers also really need to mind themselves... A carer can become obsessed with the illness and burn out."
When a carer becomes invested in a person's recovery, it can often cause conflict within a family. Debbie Howard (34) from Bangor, Co Down, has witnessed this, both on a personal level and in her role as a psychotherapist specialising in eating disorders.
"I had an eating disorder when I was younger and the services here were pretty awful at the time. I was treated in London as an outpatient. I would fly over every Wednesday for therapy," she explains.
"Throughout all of that time, my mum and dad had nowhere to go. They had no idea what to do with me... They would shout or beg or plead or try to do anything because they were so scared."
The feeling of fear among carers is understandable. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. However, despite reality, Debbie says it's important not to be forceful. "The more you force things, the more you are pushing them away," she says. "I would bring it up by saying 'you don't seem like yourself'. Then they might think, 'maybe I could talk to them about this as they are not shouting and judging and telling me what to do'."
In light of her own journey, Debbie also advises carers to help their loved one to find a therapist that they are comfortable with, saying that this is what saved her.
Years after her own recovery and after she became a psychotherapist, Debbie and her family discovered a programme in London for carers known as the New Maudsley Model. This skills-based programme is used worldwide to help carers understand eating disorders and support their loved ones. They received training from the facilitators and began to offer the course through their Caring About Recovery from Eating Disorders (CARED) organisation. Though based in Northern Ireland, CARED can facilitate courses throughout the country.
"The courses help carers to think about and treat the illness in a different way," says Debbie, who is chairperson of CARED. "If their loved one had cancer would you shout and scream if a tumour isn't shrinking quick enough?"
Just as cancer takes many forms, so too do eating disorders. Despite having suffered from an eating disorder herself and working with clients with eating disorders as a therapist, nothing could prepare Marie Campion (62) for her daughter Jacqueline's illness.
"It is very different to be a therapist and a parent," says Marie, founder of the Marino Therapy Centre. "As a parent, you go straight to denial first."
Marie also wondered if she had influenced Jacqueline's eating disorder. However, instead of blaming herself, she applied the techniques that helped her own recovery, encouraging her daughter to talk about her feelings and reassuring her that recovery is possible.
"This language of freedom is about teaching the person that they don't have to always live with the illness. It's about believing in recovery," she says. She adds that it is important to understand that disordered eating is a symptom of an internal distress, rather than the primary issue.
Now fully recovered and working as an eating disorder therapist alongside her mother, Jacqueline (27) credits this language of freedom as a huge influence in her recovery.
"The reassurance from my parents that this illness was temporary really helped me," she says. When Marie was unwell over two decades ago, she was told that she would have to cope with her illness for life.
"Nowadays people are still told that. We constantly talk about awareness. Everyone knows what eating disorders are. What we really need is awareness about recovery," she says. Through their work at the Marino Therapy Centre, Marie and Jacqueline aim to spread this message.
Meanwhile, others are also helping improve the situation. Bodywhys continues to offer support and group therapy, both to carers and those experiencing an eating disorder. In collaboration with University College Cork, EDCC recently completed a study on GPs' knowledge of eating disorders and the findings will be published later this year.
Inspired by her own family's experience, Paula has organised for eating disorder expert Gill Todd to come to Ireland in April to hold an updated version of the New Maudsley workshop.
Supported by Bodywhys, if successful, it is hoped that they will adopt and run the course regularly.
"I encourage anyone in the same situation to come along, meet other parents and carers and know that they're not alone," says Paula.
The Gill Todd New Maudsley Workshop will take place in the Clayton Hotel, Leopardstown, on April 1 and 2. For more details, email newmaudsleyworkshop@gmail.com
Bodywhys: 1890 200 444 (helpline); bodywhys.ie
CARED NI: 07999 901 936; email caringaboutrecovery@gmail.com; caredni.org
Eating Disorder Centre Cork: 021 453 9900; eatingdisordercentrecork.ie
Marino Therapy Centre, Drumcondra: 01 857 6901; marinotherapycentre.com
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Khalid Kazimov Trend:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he has held proper talks for strengthening ties with Pakistan and Turkey during his recent visit to Islamabad.
Saying that the member states of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) are determined to expand ties, President Rouhani added that he discussed broadening ties with Pakistan and Turkey leaders during his recent visit to Islamabad to attend the ECO summit, Mehr news agency reported.
Mentioning that wide opportunities exist for expansion of ties between
Iran and the members of the ECO, the Present further called for cooperation in fight against terrorism. He made the remarks at his arrival in Tehran following the visit last night.
According to media reports, Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed protecting the territorial integrity of Syria at a meeting on the sidelines of ECO summit.
The regional economic summit in Pakistan concluded on March 1 calling for cooperation in tackling terrorism and push for greater collaboration in areas of trade, energy and infrastructure development.
We're all trying to get more of it and now it turns out sex could be the answer. Yes, according to an expert in the field, getting busy between the sheets can help you get more and better sleep.
Dr Michele Lastella, a sleep researcher at Appleton Institute for Behavioural Science at Central Queensland University in Australia, spends his time looking into the way the body recovers. He told Australian news site SBS that his investigations into the link between sleep and sex show that the latter can help improve the former: From our preliminary data it appears that over 60 per cent of people indicate that their sleep improves after sex that is with a partner and involves an orgasm.
The only problem? As Dr Lastella delicately puts it, there can be an imbalance between the rate of orgasm among men and women in heterosexual relationships. "On average men take between seven 14 minutes to reach orgasm by all methods of stimulation, but average two three minutes after initiating intercourse. Women on the other hand take between 10 20 minutes to reach orgasm."
The research is the latest in a long line of academic studies which claim to have found a link between an active sex life and better general health. So, here are seven other reasons why you can go home this evening and tell your other half that you should both get frisky, for the good of your own bodies.
It could make you look younger
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In 2013, Dr David Weeks, former head of old age psychology at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, told a British Psychological Society conference that his research showed that men and women who have an active sex life look between five and seven years younger than their actual age.
"Sexual satisfaction is a major contributor to quality of life, ranking at least as high as spiritual or religious commitment," Dr Weeks said.
It could prevent you having a heart attack
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In 2010 scientists at the New England Research Institute in Massachusetts published the results of a 16-year study, the Massachusetts Male Ageing Study, which analysed over 1000 men. The study found that men who had sex at least twice a week were up to 45 per cent less likely to develop life-threatening heart conditions than men who have sex less than once a month. Researchers said the benefits of sex could be due to both the physical and emotional effects on the body.
It could boost your immune system
Researchers at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, found that people who have sex once or twice a week receive a boost to their immune system which could help ward off colds and flu. In the 1999 study, scientists measured levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA), an antigen found in saliva, and found a 30pc increase in IgA levels in those who had regular sex. However, Clifford Lowell, an immunologist at the University of California, warned that: "Sexually active people may be exposed to many more infectious agents than sexually non-active people."
It could improve your brain function
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In March 2013 scientists at the University of Pavia, Italy published the results of research which suggested that people who have regular sex, especially those in new relationships, displayed an increase in cranial nerve growth, crucial to mental alertness. The findings were supported by a separate study of male rats by scientists at Princeton University. Researchers divided the rats into two groups - one of which had its sexual activity severely limited - and found that the rats which mated more often displayed increased nerve growth.
It could reduce your risk of prostate cancer
In 2014, researchers at the University of Montreal published the results of a study which found that men who had slept with more than 20 women lowered their risk of developing prostate cancer by almost a third, and were 19 per cent less likely to develop the most aggressive form of the disease.
The study looked at more than 3,200 men over a four year period. Those who had more sexual intercourse were found to be less likely to develop prostate cancer.
It could make you less stressed at work
In 2006 researchers at the University of Paisley, Scotland, found that individuals who had more sex were better at dealing with stress. The study examined 22 men and 24 women over a two week period and found that those who had regular sex exhibited less of an increase in blood pressure when placed in stressful situations such as public speaking.
It could provide you with a full body workout
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According to recent research, sending a text uses 38 muscles, sprinting for a bus puts 99 into action, and having sex calls on 657 that's all the muscles in the human body.
Physiotherapist and muscle anatomy expert Mike Aunger said: "In the bedroom, every muscle matters. All your skeletal muscles are essential for movement, no matter how vigorous; all your autonomous (involuntary) smooth muscles play a ceaseless role in digestion, respiration, circulation and bodily function; and of course your cardiac muscles are integral for pumping blood into all the right places.
The only caveat? You have to do it right. "Ideally it should last more than 30 minutes," said Aunger. "45 minutes would probably be better."
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Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash
We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus.
March is likely to see at least four key Brexit battles, whose outcome will frame the next two years of negotiations as Britain and the remaining 27 EU members wrangle over their future relationship. Here's the rundown: The House of Lords
British Prime Minister Theresa May would undoubtedly prefer Brexit to be underway by March 25, when the remaining members of the bloc will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which started the process of European integration. Dissident lawmakers in the House of Lords, however, are working to attach amendments to the current withdrawal bill and that could drag on for long enough to threaten the timetable.
Michael Heseltine, a former deputy prime minister for the Conservative Party, wants an amendment that demands parliament gets a final vote on whatever deal is reached during the negotiations. Here's what Mr Heseltine had to say about the UK government's authority to quit the EU that derives from the June referendum:
"Should that authority have any time limit or be in any way influenced by the outcome of the unpredictable negotiations? Both questions demand an affirmative answer for me."
While the House of Commons has the ultimate authority, the House of Lords, where Mr Heseltine now sits, can certainly cause enough mischief to delay the process as it debates the bill this week.
Last night, for example, Mrs May's government was defeated after the House of Lords said ministers must guarantee the right of EU nationals to remain in Britain after Brexit.
However, MPs will be able to reverse the Lords' changes when the bill returns to the House of Commons.
But, who knows, members of parliament might decide they quite like the amendments proposed by their unelected peers, even though they passed the bill unadorned in its first passage through their chamber. With former prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair both making recent speeches calling for those opposed to Brexit to make their objections known, there's a slim chance that MPs could be emboldened.
Access For Financial Services
Earlier this year, the UK banking community gave up on the idea of retaining the so-called passporting regime that allows 5,500 financial firms based in the UK to sell services across the bloc. Instead, its hopes lie with an inferior arrangement called equivalence, designed to allow countries whose laws and regulatory authorities are deemed sufficiently robust to trade financial services with EU members.
But equivalence is a poor cousin of passporting; the rules were not designed to cope with a huge financial centre operating on the EU's doorstep, and would need to be revised to cope with the new reality.
And politics is likely to play a big role in limiting how much latitude the EU gives to the UK financial sector. The 'Financial Times' said it had obtained an EU document proposing to tighten up the equivalence rules, including "continuous follow-up monitoring" of the regime, "on-site" inspections of firms including "effective access" to their data and the right to withdraw the status in the event of "contrary developments".
Paris, Luxembourg, Germany and Dublin are actively bidding to take business away from London. Once Mrs May triggers Article 50, moves to circumscribe the boundaries of trading and settlement of euro-denominated securities so that they only happen inside the eurozone will rapidly accelerate. Those banks that have been debating leaving the UK are likely to start implementing their relocation plans. If that happens, the impact won't just be felt in the city itself; about two-thirds of the country's 2.2 million finance workers are located outside of the capital, and more than half of the 176bn (205.2bn) that the industry contributes to the economy comes from outside London.
Scottish Independence Bid
It's not just in the corridors of Brussels that Mrs May faces political fights.
At home, she's bracing for Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to call a second referendum on independence. That call would coincide with the formal notification of leaving the EU, according to reports. While most polls have shown Scots still opposed to leaving, by the same 45-to-55pc margin that prevailed in the 2014 plebiscite, a BMG survey for the Scottish 'Herald' newspaper published on February 8 showed that margin narrowing; with just 51pc in favour of staying within the UK and 49pc wanting to leave. The fact that 62pc of Scotland voted to remain in the EU gives Ms Sturgeon ammunition.
A referendum on Scottish independence, though, is in Mrs May's gift rather than being Mrs Sturgeon's right; the prime minister's reluctance to accede to a plebiscite risks sparking a domestic political fight.
The Cost Of Exiting
Last week, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern became the first EU leader to publicly identify how big the bill will be for leaving the bloc. "The cheque should be around 60bn, that's what the European Commission has calculated and this will be part of the negotiations," Mr Kern said in a TV interview. The cost includes past and existing pledges to the EU budget and projects, as well as pension obligations to civil servants.
UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox has dismissed the charge as "absurd".
Nevertheless, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, is likely to present Mrs May with that bill as the first order of business once she's formally notified the bloc. Mr Barnier can try to hold discussions over the rest of the Brexit agenda hostage to Britain agreeing to settle its exit bill.
So far, Brexit has been more a mantra, and a symbol of a movement, than a reality. That's about to change.
Channing Tatum is co-starring in a new version of Ron Howard's 1984 movie Splash
Actress Jillian Bell has admitted she is worried about the response from die-hard fans to her remake of classic 80s film Splash.
The US comedian will star opposite Channing Tatum in a new version of Ron Howard's 1984 movie, which featured Tom Hanks alongside Daryl Hannah as a woman who is secretly a mermaid.
In a twist on the original film, Bell will play Hanks's character in the remake and Tatum will take on the role of the mermaid.
It follows the decision to cast an all-female line-up in last year's Ghostbusters reboot, which starred Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, and was met by criticism from some fans of the original male quartet.
Asked if she was worried about a repeat of the criticism for swapping the roles, Bell told the Press Association: "I worry about it just because there are a lot of remakes. I think people fall in love with these movies when they're younger and they worry about people remaking it.
"We're sort of re-imagining it so I think it will be different."
Bell said the script was still being written for the remake, which has yet to be given a release date.
"I'm so psyched it's happening," she added.
"I thought Channing would be so funny. I think he's great at playing roles like that. He wanted to play a role where he's discovering the world for the first time.
"I thought that would be a fun role for him."
Bell's latest comedy film, Fist Fight, stars Ice Cube and Charlie Day as teachers planning an an after-school fight.
Fist Fight is released in UK cinemas on Friday.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MARCH 28: Actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes arrive at The ReelzChannel World premiere of 'The Kennedys' at AMPAS Samuel Goldwyn Theater on March 28, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California.
Katie has taken a very hands on role with her daughter since splitting with Tom Cruise earlier in the year.
Suri Cruise (L) and actress Katie Holmes speak on stage at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival to end extreme poverty by 2030 in Central Park on September 26, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen)
Suri Cruise and mother Katie Holmes pose backstage at the hit musical "Finding Neverland" on Broadway at The Lunt Fontanne Theatre on July 30, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
Suri Cruise (R) and Katie Holmes attend a basketball game between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on January 15, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
Actress Katie Holmes is keen to step away from acting to direct full time, because she's convinced the switch will help her daughter live a more stable childhood.
The Batman Begins star made her feature film directorial debut with 2016's All We Had and reveals she has big plans to take charge of more movies.
"For now I like acting and directing," Tom Cruise's ex tells Town and Country magazine. "Eventually I'll just direct."
"It's been something that has come to me over time," she adds. "I've been acting for about 20 years now, and in the last few years I've become more confident and gotten more interested in storytelling as a whole.
Expand Close Suri Cruise and mother Katie Holmes pose backstage at the hit musical "Finding Neverland" on Broadway at The Lunt Fontanne Theatre on July 30, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic) / Facebook
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Whatsapp Suri Cruise and mother Katie Holmes pose backstage at the hit musical "Finding Neverland" on Broadway at The Lunt Fontanne Theatre on July 30, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
"Also, I've been feeling inspired to put my point of view out there. It's scary, but the process of it is something I really love."
Katie also enjoys directing because it gives her more quality time with her daughter, Suri.
"This business is so unstable, and you never really know where you're going to be," she says. "The thing about directing is I can say I have this window and that's when we're getting it done.
"My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now. It's very important that I'm present and she has a stable, innocent childhood. I feel so blessed to do what I do, but there's nothing in the world better than watching your child succeed."
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And the 38-year-old is looking forward to the next phase in her life.
"This is a whole new chapter in my life," she continues. "I really have to give in to that and not rush it."
Video of the Day
Mokhtar Belmokhtar the one-eyed al-Qaeda leader thought to have been killed in 2016, was believed to be alive and leading the remnants of Isil forces who escaped a Libyan offensive to retake Sirte last year.
ISIL is regrouping in southern Libya with the support of al-Qa'ida and preparing for further attacks spearheaded by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the world's most wanted men, according to the country's defence minister.
The alliance in Libya of the two most dangerous terrorist groups is at odds with the public animosity between the leaderships of al-Qa'ida and Isil.
Ayman Al Zawahiri, the head of al-Qa'ida, recently made a blistering public attack on Isil's brutal methods and propaganda, branding them "liars".
But in Libya, fighters from the two groups are "actively cooperating", according to Mahdi Barghathi, the defence minister in the UN-backed government in Tripoli. "Isil and al-Qa'ida have never attacked each other here and now we have evidence that they are actively co-operating," Mr Barghathi said. "Al-Qa'ida is providing logistics and support to help Isil regroup and launch attacks."
Mr Barghathi said that Belmokhtar, the one-eyed al-Qa'ida leader thought to have been killed in 2016, was believed to be alive and leading the remnants of Isil forces who escaped a Libyan offensive to retake Sirte last year.
Belmokhtar became one of the world's most wanted men after he led an attack on an Algerian gas plant in 2013, in which six Britons were among 37 Western hostages killed.
He was rumoured to have been killed in a French air strike in eastern Libya but his body was never recovered. "Based on our intelligence, I believe he is alive and is the guiding force behind the reforming of Isil and al-Qa'ida terrorist operations," said Mr Barghathi.
A Libyan military intelligence report, seen by this reporter, said that up to 700 Isil terrorists had regrouped in the valleys and desert areas south of the city of Bani Walid. An estimated 3,000 terrorist fighters from different groups, including al-Qa'ida, are believed to be operating in Libya.
The report said terrorists were financing themselves from illegal immigration to Europe and gold smuggling.
Small 20-man terrorist units travel the country undetected along service roads that run alongside hundreds of miles of the Great Manmade River.
Sources in Bani Walid named five senior Isil fighters who had fled from Sirte and been seen in the city. One resident said: "The local security forces don't do anything about them because they are scared to cause trouble." ( Daily Telegraph London)
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
File photo dated 01/02/07 of San Carlos in the Falkland Islands, as Britain and Argentina have agreed to work together to remove restrictions on shipping, fishing and the oil and gas industry affecting the Falklands, the Foreign Office has said.
Argentina says Brazil has allowed several RAF flights to operate between Brazilian airports and the Falkland Islands in a breach of agreements between the South American countries.
Argentina lost a brief but bloody war with the UK after Argentine troops invaded the South Atlantic archipelago in 1982.
The Argentine foreign ministry said in a statement that it is "concerned" about six flights last year and 12 in 2015. The ministry said it has requested an explanation from the Brazilian government.
Brazil's foreign ministry said a statement on the matter was being prepared.
Argentina claims the islands it calls Las Malvinas, but the UK says the Falklands are a self-governing entity under its protection.
Argentina reminded Brazil of its commitment "to not allow British airplanes or warships based in the disputed archipelagos" in accordance with agreements among member nations of the regional blocs Mercosur and Unasur.
"The Brazilian foreign ministry reaffirmed its support to our country on this issue and said that it was unaware of these flights," the Argentine statement said.
The war over the islands killed 649 Argentines and 255 UK soldiers.
During her eight years in power, former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez tried to pressure the UK into sovereignty talks by turning away British ships, encouraging companies to divest from Britain and raising other trade barriers.
Tensions have eased since pro-business President Mauricio Macri took office last year promising a less-confrontational stance.
In the biggest breakthrough in decades, the UK and Argentina announced last year that they would work to remove restrictions in the oil, fishing and shipping industries affecting the Falklands.
They also agreed to increase the number of flights between the islands and Argentina.
The Falklands are internally self-governing, but the UK is responsible for defence and foreign affairs.
Argentina claims Britain has illegally occupied the islands since 1833. Britain disputes that and says Argentina is ignoring the wishes of its 3,000 residents who want to remain British.
AP
An Irish missionary nun has been injured in an assault at a convent in the Philippines, it has been reported.
According to the Sun Star the victim was serving at the San Jose Parish Church in Midsalip town in the Zamboanga region when the attack took place.
Zamboanga del Sur Police Director Sofronio Ecaldre told the newspaper that the victim was about to close the window of the convent shortly before 9.30pm last night when she was attacked by an unidentified person.
Mr Ecaldre said the nun told them that the man, who was wearing a mask, tried to cover her mouth and punched her in the face and chest.
She sustained multiple injuries and fell to the ground unconscious.
The police officer said the victim was hospitalised.
The investigation is ongoing to identify the person responsible for the attack.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said this morning: "We are aware of the case and are providing consular assistance through our Honorary Consulate in Manila and the Embassy in Singapore which is accredited to the Philippines."
Independent.ie has contacted the Filipino police.
New Zealand has created the dream job interview.
The tech industry in the city of Wellington is looking to recruit tech experts from around the world and they are offering a free holiday to the country for anyone who can prove their merit.
The programme called Looksee Wellington a partnership between the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) and Workhere New Zealand, a business specialising in global recruitment marketing will host 100 lucky candidates and pay for all theirs flights and accommodation.
In exchange, applicants will be required to appear for pre-arranged job interviews with leading tech companies in the city.
Candidates will also have to participate in meet-ups and explorations around the city.
Companies will make offers to the best candidates at the end of the week.
Applicants have until 20 March to submit their resumes and the trip and interviews will take place in New Zealand from 8 to11 May.
The organisation will also host informational events to help potential immigrants understand the process of moving to the country.
Other companies have gone to similarly great lengths to attract the talents they need.
Last year, Netflix was on the hunt for four new talents or Grammsters to take pictures on the sets of its most popular shows for two weeks. Grammsters were promised a salary of $2,000 a week, while the company handles all travel arrangements.
Facebook also reportedly reimburses interview travel expenses regardless of whether the candidate gets the job.
Jeff Sessions was an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate (AP)
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said he will step aside from a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Sessions faced mounting pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to withdraw after revelations that he had twice talked with Moscow's US envoy during the presidential campaign.
Mr Sessions's conversations with the ambassador seem to contradict his sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearings.
The Justice Department said there was nothing improper about the meetings and Mr Sessions insisted he never met Russian officials to discuss the campaign.
Mr Sessions said this week he would recuse himself - or step aside - when appropriate.
When attorneys general have recused themselves in the past, investigations were handled by lower-ranking but still senior political appointees within the Justice Department.
Mr Sessions rejected any suggestion that he tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, saying: "That is not my intent. That is not correct."
The attorney general said he made his decision after his staff recommended that he recuse himself from any investigation related to the Trump campaign, since he had been involved in that campaign.
Mr Sessions added that his announcement "should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation",
The White House has stood behind Mr Sessions, though officials said they first learned about his contacts with the ambassador from a reporter on Wednesday night.
President Donald Trump said he had "total" confidence in him and did not think he needed to step aside from the investigation.
The Justice Department has maintained there was nothing improper about Mr Sessions's contacts or his answers to Congress, while the continuing allegations of Russian interference in American politics spurred Democratic calls for Mr Sessions not only to recuse himself but to resign.
He has faced increasing demands that he resolve the seeming contradiction between his two conversations in the summer and autumn with Moscow's US envoy, Sergey Kislyak, and his sworn statements to Congress in January, when he said he had not had communications with Russians during the campaign.
Calling for him to resign, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused him of "lying under oath".
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a special prosecutor should be appointed to examine whether the federal investigation into the Kremlin's meddling in the US election - and into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russians - had been compromised by Mr Sessions. Democrats also sought a criminal perjury investigation.
"If there was nothing wrong, why don't you just tell the truth?" Mr Schumer said. Sessions's testimony "was definitely extremely misleading to say the least", he added.
More than a half dozen Republican lawmakers, including some who consider themselves personally close to Mr Sessions, urged him to recuse himself from the Justice Department probe.
They included Senator Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who said that though he found it impossible to believe that Mr Sessions could have colluded with Russia, "if there is an investigation, he probably shouldn't be the person leading it".
AP
Mr Sessions told a news conference he did not intend to mislead but he "should have slowed down and said 'but I did meet with one Russian official a couple of times'".
Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente will handle any matters related to the investigation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Fatih Karimov Trend:
Irans Foreign Ministry has summoned Danish Ambassador to Tehran Danny Annan to express the Islamic Republics strong protest over an assault on Iran's Embassy in Copenhagen, the ministrys spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
The Foreign Ministry's director for Northern and Eastern Europe affairs conveyed the Islamic Republics strong protest to Danish diplomat over the attack on Iran's Embassy in Copenhagen by six Iranian dissidents on March 1 evening, Qasemi said without providing further details about the incident, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported March 2.
The Foreign Ministrys senior official further criticized the Danish governments laxity in ensuring the security of the Iranian Embassy and its staff members, calling on Danish officials to seriously and responsibly deal with the perpetrators and report the results, Qasemi added.
Annan, for his part, voiced deep regret over the attack, describing the incident as unacceptable, according to Qasemi.
Annan pledged to relay Iran's protest to his government as soon as possible, and notify Iranian authorities of the outcome.
Qasemi said the attack on Irans Embassy in Copenhagen, the second in less than two months, puts the will and determination of the Danish government to prevent the attacks under question, adding that this can damage the growing relations between the two countries and certainly will be responded appropriately.
Former Countdown host Richard Whiteley with his co-presenter Carol Vorderman in 2005. Photo credit should rea: Yui Mok/PA
Ricky Tomlinson has claimed that Richard Whiteley, best known for presenting afternoon gameshow 'Countdown' for more than 20 years, was a member of the British intelligence services.
Tomlinson, who appeared alongside Caroline Aherne in sitcom 'The Royle Family', made the startling claim in an interview with the 'Chester Chronicle' as he opened a pub in the city.
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In 1972, Tomlinson, a former plasterer, helped to organise the first national building workers' strike in Britain.
He was jailed in 1973, along with his 'Shrewsbury Two' partner Des Warren, after being found guilty of conspiracy to intimidate, unlawful assembly and affray, following altercations at a construction site.
The actor believes that the jury's decision to convict him may have been swayed by an ITV documentary that was aired on the day they retired to deliver their verdict.
The documentary, 'Red Under the Bed', featured Warren and Tomlinson and was presented by the late Whiteley and former politician Woodrow Wyatt, who died in 1997.
Tomlinson said: "We found out this week that the film was designed, written, made and paid for by the security services. Woodrow Wyatt was a member of the security services and unbelievably so was Richard Whiteley who hosted the show. Richard Whiteley from 'Countdown' was a member of the intelligence services."
Whiteley died in 2005. ( Daily Telegraph London)
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The conservative candidate Francois Fillon faced further calls to quit yesterday after vowing to pursue his campaign for the French presidency, despite a deepening investigation into whether he paid his wife 900,000 for a fictitious job.
Both Mr Fillon and his British wife Penelope face a summons later this month that could lead to them being charged.
Mr Fillon labelled the case an attempted "political assassination" that had been "biased from the start".
But centrist Union des Democrates et Independants allies said they were "suspending" support pending a decision on whether to pull out next week.
Catherine Vautrin, vice-president of his Les Republicains party in parliament, urged Mr Fillon to stand down in favour or "another candidate".
Pierre Lellouche, right-wing MP in Paris, meanwhile, said Mr Fillon had "reached a point of no return", and called for the election to be put off until a replacement could be found.
Last Friday, three judges took over an investigation centred on whether Mrs Fillon was paid for an allegedly fictitious role as assistant to her husband and his successor in parliament. She had previously told a reporter: "I have never been his assistant."
Speaking from the Paris headquarters of his centre-right party yesterday, Mr Fillon confirmed he had been summoned on March 15 in view of being placed under formal investigation - one step short of being charged.
Judicial sources said that Welsh-born Mrs Fillon has also been summoned. 'Le Monde' said she would be questioned on March 18.
Despite previously pledging to stand down if charged, Mr Fillon said: "I won't surrender. I won't give in. I won't withdraw, I will go all the way. Yes I will be presidential candidate."
Denying he had misused and misappropriated public funds or peddled influence, Mr Fillon claimed that the investigation had been "biased against me from the start", and that it was unprecedented for judges to summon someone for charges so soon after receiving the dossier of the case.
Until last week, a financial prosecutor was handling the Fillon inquiry. The magistrates now handling the case have more powers to investigate, including tapping phones or placing suspects under house arrest.
Mr Fillon made it clear he would plough on with his campaign. "Only universal suffrage and not a biased probe against me can decide who will be the next French president," he said.
His attack on judicial impartiality prompted President Francois Hollande to respond: "Being a presidential candidate doesn't authorise you to cast suspicion on the work of police and judges... or to make extremely grave accusations against the justice system."
The affair has seen Mr Fillon lose ground in opinion polls, with the latest suggesting he stands to be eliminated by Front National candidate Marine Le Pen and independent rival Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the election on April 23.
Mr Macron is polling to win in the run-off on May 7. ( Daily Telegraph London)
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Li Yinglei (inset) disappeared during a Mediterranean cruise with her husband and two young children. Credit: Facebook
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 mother of a woman missing from a luxury cruise ship said she discovered the bad news from a friend who could read English.
Yinglei Li's mother said her friend read an article in English on the internet and informed her that her daughter was missing, her son-in-law had been arrested and her two grandchildren were in care in Italy.
Dublin-based IT consultant Daniel Belling (45) is now in prison on suspicion of murdering his wife during the Mediterranean cruise.
He said he believes she is still alive and is either in Dublin or her native China.
He 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.
Expand Close Li Yinglei (inset) disappeared during a Mediterranean cruise with her husband and two young children. Credit: Facebook / Facebook
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Efforts are now being made to repatriate the two children who are currently in the care of Italian social services.
"Neither her husband Daniel or the investigators told me that my daughter was missing from the ship... " she said.
"I was told by someone who speaks English and read an article on the internet."
She said she last spoke to her daughter on February 7, before they embarked on the cruise holiday.
"I don't know what to say. I hope we can shine a light on this," she added.
Disappearance
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.
"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.
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 young sons were born here.
Members of Congress wear white to honour the womens suffrage movement and support womens rights during President Trumps address. Photo: Getty Images
Donald Trump finally gave Republicans what they've spent months begging him to deliver: a pivot to presidential behaviour. The question now is how long it lasts. Days, weeks, months - or simply until the next tweet?
Just a little more than a month into his presidency, the new president clearly wanted to use his first speech to Congress to reset the chaotic start of his administration.
Gone was the dark tone that marked his inaugural address, replaced by optimism and pleas for bipartisan support. Standing before lawmakers, Supreme Court justices and military leaders, the famously unrestrained Mr Trump was softer, sober and practically subdued.
"I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart," he said, in the opening of his hour-long speech.
His administration revelled in the rave reviews yesterday morning.
"What the American people saw is the president I serve with every day - broad shoulders, a big heart," Vice President Mike Pence said, in an interview with NBC's 'Today Show'.
The White House delayed the signing of his revamped travel ban, saying it was still putting the final touches on the new executive order but also, presumably, to avoid competing with positive press from the speech.
Republican leaders were scheduled to join the president for lunch at the White House to discuss how they move forward with key agenda items.
But though the prime-time address to Congress and the nation wrapped Mr Trump's signature nationalistic politics in presidential prose, it is unlikely to overcome the deep divisions created by his first few weeks in office.
For a candidate who sold himself as a master dealmaker, Mr Trump has shown little inclination to get deeply involved with the kind of nitty gritty negotiating that defines the legislative process.
That's left the Capitol reeling.
Republicans have united control for the first time in decades but no agreement over the specifics of long-promised plans to repeal 'Obamacare' and revamp the tax code. The federal civil service is in not-so-subtle revolt. And weeks of protests and raucous town halls are putting fresh political pressure on lawmakers from both parties to resist his agenda.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, faces record low approval ratings - just 44pc of Americans approve of his job performance, according to a new NBC News/'Wall Street Journal' survey.
He needed to use his prime-time address to show he could steady his flailing White House and focus on the difficult work required to pass his legislative agenda. Mr Trump is nearing the end of big achievements he can enact by executive order, forcing him to rely on Congress to turn the bold promises of his campaign into actual achievements.
So, he embraced his inner statesman.
The candidate who won the White House by taking a hard-line stance on immigration seemed to express openness to a bipartisan immigration bill.
The president whose administration spent much of its first weeks in office battling with the media, intelligence community, federal judiciary and even Hollywood celebrities asked for an end to "trivial fights".
In his speech, he called on Washington to "work past the differences of party". Less than 24 hours earlier, he'd blamed former president Barack Obama for town hall protests and security leaks and called House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "incompetent" in a Fox News interview.
He said his generals, not the commander-in-chief, were responsible for a military raid in Yemen that killed a Navy Seal. Hours later, Mr Trump's tribute to the slain soldier, as his crying widow stood in the audience, became a signature moment of his address.
And after questioning the authenticity of a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centres in a private Tuesday meeting with attorney generals, he opened his remarks by condemning the flood of anti-Semitic attacks and other racially motivated crimes.
For House GOP leaders, Mr Trump came tantalisingly close to backing their plan to overhaul the tax code by imposing a new tax on imports while exempting exports. He appeared to lend support to the House Republican leaders' plan for Obamacare, embracing the "tax credits" and health savings accounts that are a centrepiece of the GOP policy.
But on other issues, Mr Trump offered barely a blueprint for his initiatives.
He repeated his campaign pledge to make a $1trn (940bn) investment in infrastructure, adding no new details to a proposal that's sure to face fierce resistance from budget hawks. Big promises to make childcare more affordable, ensure paid family leave, invest in women's health and a major education bill were mentioned merely in passing.
There was no discussion of how his administration would fund any of the new - and expensive -programmes, putting him in direct conflict with a Republican Party that's long focused on cutting the deficit.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.6 and said the quake was very shallow at around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 has hit a town in south-eastern Turkey, causing a number of injuries, officials and news reports said.
The earthquake was centred in the town of Samat in Adiyaman province, the government-run Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said.
It was followed by four more tremors, the strongest measuring 4.4.
At least five people were injured in the quake, which knocked down some buildings in the town, mayor Yusuf Firat told private NTV television.
There was no immediate report of any fatalities.
Mr Firat said the quake caused widespread panic in the town.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.6 and said the quake was very shallow at around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep.
The quake was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Gaziantep, Kilis, Batman and Sanliurfa.
Four teams of 35 rescuers were sent to the area, the private Dogan news agency reported.
A separate earthquake measuring 4.6 also struck the village of Kasimkuyu in Sanliurfa province, sending people out into the streets in panic.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which lies on active fault lines.
Two devastating earthquakes hit north-western Turkey in 1999, killing some 18,000 people.
AP
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Fatih Karimov Trend:
The EU and Iran held a high-level seminar on nuclear cooperation in Brussels on Feb. 28-March 1.
The seminar named International Nuclear Cooperation: Expectations and Responsibilities was the result of a joint initiative of the European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete and Iranian Vice-President Ali Akbar Salehi, the European Commission said on its official website.
The seminar was opened by Helga Schmid, secretary-general of the European External Action Service, and Dominique Ristori, director-general of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy.
On the Iranian side, a message was transmitted on behalf of Salehi, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), which was followed by Iran's opening remarks delivered by Behrouz Kamalvandi, the AEOI deputy head.
Salehi in his message thanked the EU for its effective and constructive role in the conclusion of the historic accord, adding that development of scientific and technical cooperation between Iran and members of the P5+1 has been one of the fruits of the agreement.
In his own address to the conference, Kamalvandi said Tehran's complete commitment to its contractual obligations has not been met with similar dedication on the part of other parties to the agreement, "especially some of them."
Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Commission and the European External Action Service, and representatives of the P5+1 countries (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US) as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency also took part in the event.
The seminar allowed for fruitful exchanges between a high level delegation from Iran, including prominent parliamentarians, as well as senior officials from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with participants from several European Commission services, the External Action Service, as well as representatives from third countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency, reads a statement released following the event.
An Irish naval officer who has helped more than a thousand migrants from the Mediterranean Sea held back tears as she described the rescue of a toddler after a dangerous journey which her mother didn't survive.
Jill Hamilton (37), a communications operator, served on the Irish Naval ship, LE Roisin, last May on a three-month humanitarian mission to aid migrants fleeing Syria and other Middle Eastern and African countries.
A month after the ships departure, it responded to a request for help from the Italian Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
The flimsy rubber dinghy was located 37 nautical miles off the coast of Tripoli with a total of 111 migrants on board.
Speaking from South Lebanon, the Co Cork native told Independent.ie that the operation was particularly traumatic for her.
What sticks out to me was that there was a child up on deck with her auntie looking for her mother," she said.
With the language barrier it was hard to know what she was saying, but there was one last person taken from the RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) being given CPR.
Unfortunately, that lady never made it.
The woman who died happened to be the mother of this young child. On the same perilous journey another woman also died.
When they told the child and her auntie that the mother didnt make it, it was just traumatic, she said.
"I have a son at home and maybe that's why seeing that happen affected me but yet we just had to carry on with our days work knowing that the child's mother was on deck in a body bag."
Ms Hamilton added that she feels the migration crisis deserves a hell of a lot more attention.
To see first-hand the amount of people coming off those boats is just ridiculous and its something that doesnt leave your mind.
Weve completed multiple operations down the MediterraneanSome [migrants] who weve brought on board had literally nothing on them, not even a t-shirt.
The little children were so happy [to see us], not realising what has happened or what they were heading into.
To think that people take the chance to get on a boat not knowing if theyre going to get out alive obviously goes to show exactly what theyre leaving.
During LE Roisins deployment the crew rescued 1, 263 people and recovered four deceased persons from the water.
Ms Hamilton, who has served 19 years in the Irish Naval Service, is now stationed in South Lebanon as part of the UN mandate force UNIFIL.
Her son Jamie (16) has the proud distinction of being the first child in the Republic to have both parents serving in the Naval Service.
Independent centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron addresses the media during a press conference held in Paris (Christophe Ena/AP)
Centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has said the remaining 27 European Union members must vigorously defend their single market in talks with Britain on its exit.
Mr Macron, presenting his policy platform for the election, also urged efforts to reinvigorate the eurozone and called for closer European co-operation.
He said the EU cannot survive "without a real European strategy" and called for a "new impulse for the single market".
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen wants to pull France out of the EU and eurozone, and there has been growing anti-EU sentiment in many countries since Britain's vote to leave.
Polls suggest Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen may face off in the May 7 presidential run-off.
Amid growing French political scandals, Mr Macron also wants to shrink the size of parliament, introduce term limits and ban officials from hiring their family members.
He said he wants to "eradicate conflicts of interest".
Two of Mr Macron's chief rivals for the April-May two-round vote - conservative Francois Fillon and Ms Le Pen - are facing corruption investigations.
Mr Macron, a 39-year-old who has never held elected office, is presenting himself as a fresh face without political baggage.
His platform calls for cutting the size of both houses of parliament by a third, banning politicians from consulting activity and banning all officials from employing family members.
Mr Macron also called for an international "roadmap" to better fight Islamic extremism from the Middle East to Africa.
He called for increased military spending to 2% of GDP - as US and other Nato allies have long demanded.
Mr Macron said he would hire 10,000 more police and create 15,000 more places in prison and boost efforts to improve relations between police and minority youths in poor suburbs.
His critics on the right have called him too soft on security.
Beau Biden was a lawyer, member of the Delaware National Guard and former Delaware attorney general (AP)
Beau and Hallie Biden during a victory party for Democrats on November 2, 2010 (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The widow of Joe Bidens late son Beau Biden has started a romantic relationship with Beaus brother Hunter Biden, according to reports.
Widow Hallie Biden was left devastated when her husband lost his battle to brain cancer in May 2015.
However, the New York Post has reported that she is now in a couple with her former brother-in-law, Hunter (47).
Their new relationship, which comes after Hunter separated from his wife Kathleen, has been welcomed by Joe Biden and his wife.
In a statement to the paper the former Vice President said the family are happy for them.
We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness. They have mine and Jills full and complete support and we are happy for them," he said.
Hunter has also spoken out about the relationship saying:
Hallie and I are incredibly lucky to have found the love and support we have for each other in such a difficult time, and thats been obvious to the people who love us most. Weve been so lucky to have family and friends who have supported us every step of the way.
President Donald Trump told Congress he was open to immigration reform, shifting from his harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration in a speech that offered a more restrained tone than his election campaign and first month in the White House.
Mr Trump, in a prime-time address on Tuesday night to a country that remains divided over his leadership, set aside disputes with Democrats and the news media to deliver his most presidential performance to date, seeking to regain the confidence of Americans rattled by his leadership thus far.
The president's speech was long on promises but short on specifics on how to achieve a challenging legislative agenda that could add dramatically to budget deficits. He wants a healthcare overhaul, broad tax cuts and a $1trn (940bn) public-private initiative to rebuild degraded roads and bridges.
He built a base of support behind his presidential campaign by vowing to fight illegal immigration. In his speech, he took a more moderate tone, appealing to Republicans and Democrats to work together on immigration reform.
Expand Close The widow of Navy Seal, Senior Chief William Owens, Carryn Owens and Ivanka Trump attend a joint session of the U.S. Congress with U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images / Facebook
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He said it was possible if both Republicans and Democrats in Congress were willing to compromise, although he also said US immigration should be based on a merit-based system, rather than relying on lower-skilled immigrants.
Comprehensive immigration reform eluded his two predecessors, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W Bush, because of deep divisions within Congress and among Americans over the issue. Mr Trump said reform would raise wages and help more struggling families enter the middle class.
"I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation's security, and to restore respect for our laws," he said.
Mr Trump's first month in office was dominated by a fight over his temporary travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority nations, repeated attacks on the news media and harsh personal criticism of judges who blocked his immigration order.
In his speech, he appeared to look for a reset, trying to move past a chaotic period that sowed doubts about his ability to govern effectively.
"The time for trivial fights is behind us," he said.
Muted
Financial markets showed a muted reaction as Mr Trump gave few specifics or new details.
Early signs showed his speech drew a positive response. A CNN/ORC poll found 57pc of viewers thought Mr Trump's speech was very positive and 69pc felt more optimistic about the future of the country.
Still, there was plenty of evidence of ongoing partisan divisions. In the chamber of the House of Representatives where Mr Trump spoke, Democrats sometimes sat in silence and turned their thumbs down at his remarks. Many women lawmakers wore white in a subtle show of protest.
Democratic Senator Christopher Coons of Delaware called Mr Trump's speech one of "the most coherent public addresses he's given in a month". But he viewed Mr Trump's forthcoming budget proposals as "gravely concerning", citing the president's plan for paying for a defence build-up by cutting foreign aid and other programmes.
Much of Mr Trump's speech focused on solving problems at home in line with his "America first" rhetoric. Apart from criticising Mr Obama for increasing the national debt, Mr Trump did not mention the federal budget deficit, which will severely limit any new spending programmes.
On immigration, he again pledged to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, but he made no mention this time of Mexico paying for it. He also said he would "shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe", referring to a new executive order he is to sign to replace one embroiled in the courts.
In the most emotional moment of the night, Mr Trump singled out Carryn Owens, widow of US Navy Seal William 'Ryan' Owens, who was killed in a raid on al-Qa'ida in Yemen. Ms Owens, tears streaming down her face, clasped her hands and looked upward from her spot in the balcony as lawmakers and the president applauded her in the longest ovation of Mr Trump's hour-long speech.
Mr Trump said the mission her husband participated in obtained vital intelligence that could be used against Islamist militants, taking issue with news reports quoting US officials who said little was gained from the raid.
Authorities in Poland and Switzerland have rejected efforts to return Roman Polanski to the US in recent years (AP)
Prosecutors have urged a judge to reject Roman Polanski's effort to unseal evidence in his long-running sex-with-a-minor case unless the fugitive director returns to a Los Angeles courtroom.
The filing argues that Polanski remains a fugitive and other judges have already ruled to keep the evidence sealed based on requests by former lawyers for the Oscar winner.
Polanski's lawyer filed the motion last month seeking to unseal the evidence of the first prosecutor who handled his 1977 sex case.
Polanski's lawyer Harland Braun has said the evidence could be crucial in resolving the case and getting Polanski to return for sentencing if he has assurances he will not have to do additional time in jail.
A hearing in the case is set for March 20.
The director fled to France in 1978 on the eve of sentencing when the now-deceased judge in the case suggested in private remarks that he would renege on a plea bargain and sentencing agreement.
Polanski's travel has since been restricted to France, Poland and Switzerland. Authorities in Poland and Switzerland have rejected efforts to return Polanski to the US in recent years.
Prosecutors say nothing has changed and that previous rulings by California judges that Polanski must return to LA for sentencing remain valid.
"The defendant has many options before him if he returns," deputy district attorney Michele Hanisee wrote. She said Polanski could argue for time served, appeal against previous rulings or withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial.
"What he cannot do is dictate outcomes from afar while insulating himself from any potential adverse consequence," she wrote.
Mr Braun has argued that the recent extradition efforts have led to Polanski serving more than 300 days in jail or home confinement, and that he has served his sentence.
Polanski wants to unseal evidence from retired deputy district attorney Roger Gunson, who originally handled Polanski's case.
Mr Gunson gave the evidence over three days in 2010 in case he was unable to testify at any future proceedings in the case.
Polanski won an Academy Award for best director for his 2002 film The Pianist, and was nominated for 1974's Chinatown and 1979's Tess.
AP
Police officers stand at a cordon during the investigation of a suspect car in the centre of Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)
Belgian authorities have detained a suspect who was driving a car with gas canisters in his boot, setting off a security alert in the centre of Brussels.
The prosecutor's office said a busy part of the capital and a subway station was closed off during the evening rush-hour.
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said authorities did not want to take any chances and acted quickly "since the driver was known by judicial authorities and it was unclear why the gas canisters were there".
"We are taking the case seriously," Ms Van Wymersch added. She said the suspect was being interrogated.
Saint Gilles Mayor Charles Picque described the driver as "a radicalised person, so it was normal to take precautionary measures".
Ms Van Wymersch cautioned, however, not to jump to conclusions about a possible extremist motive.
The gas canisters were discovered when police noticed a car speeding and running red lights and pursued it.
The local transport authority said the Porte de Hal metro station closed on police orders while a perimeter was established above ground. Media reported an anti-bomb squad was brought in.
Belgian security services have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway last March 22, killing 32 people.
AP
Ms Van Wymersch said a bomb squad carried out two controlled explosions involving items from the car while the suspect was being interrogated.
No detonator or explosives were found, and only one of the two gas canisters was full, she added.
AP
German authorities have arrested two Syrians suspected of being members of the extremist Nusra Front, with one of them alleged to have been involved in the murder of dozens of civilians.
Abdalfatah HA, 35, is suspected of war crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013, the federal prosecutor's office said.
The statement said he carried out "so-called Shariah death sentences".
A spokeswoman for the prosecutors' office, Frauke Koehler, declined to confirm German media reports that the man came to Germany as an asylum seeker.
The other suspect, 26-year-old Abdulrahman AA, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013, the statement added.
The men, whose surnames were not published due to German privacy rules, were arrested in the western cities of Dusseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided.
They were due to appear before a judge.
Prosecutors said the Nusra Front unit the men belonged to also included Abd Arahman AK, a Syrian in his early thirties who was arrested in Germany last June on suspicion of being part of a plot to carry out a bomb attack in Dusseldorf.
Human rights groups have pressed governments to bring people suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria to trial, as part of an effort to resolve the long-running conflict.
The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said it has helped submit the first criminal complaint in Germany against six high-level Syrian military intelligence officials, in the hope that federal prosecutors will take up the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
This allows German courts to try crimes committed outside the country, though legal experts say that they are unlikely to do so unless there is a reasonable chance of bringing the perpetrators to Germany.
The ECCHR complaint was filed together with seven Syrian torture survivors and two Syrian lawyers.
"In Syria there is total impunity, which produces further violence. Without justice there will be no political solution to the conflict," Mazen Darwish, one of the Syrian lawyers, was quoted as saying in a statement.
The men were arrested in the cities of Dusseldorf and Giessen
German authorities have arrested two Syrians suspected of being members of the extremist Nusra Front, with one of them alleged to have been involved in the murder of dozens of civilians.
Abdalfatah HA, 35, is suspected of war crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013, the federal prosecutor's office said.
The statement said he carried out "so-called Shariah death sentences".
A spokeswoman for the prosecutors' office, Frauke Koehler, declined to confirm German media reports that the man came to Germany as an asylum seeker.
The other suspect, 26-year-old Abdulrahman AA, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013, the statement added.
The men, whose surnames were not published due to German privacy rules, were arrested in the western cities of Dusseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided.
They were due to appear before a judge.
Prosecutors said the Nusra Front unit the men belonged to also included Abd Arahman AK, a Syrian in his early thirties who was arrested in Germany last June on suspicion of being part of a plot to carry out a bomb attack in Dusseldorf.
Human rights groups have pressed governments to bring people suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria to trial, as part of an effort to resolve the long-running conflict.
The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said it has helped submit the first criminal complaint in Germany against six high-level Syrian military intelligence officials, in the hope that federal prosecutors will take up the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
This allows German courts to try crimes committed outside the country, though legal experts say that they are unlikely to do so unless there is a reasonable chance of bringing the perpetrators to Germany.
The ECCHR complaint was filed together with seven Syrian torture survivors and two Syrian lawyers.
"In Syria there is total impunity, which produces further violence. Without justice there will be no political solution to the conflict," Mazen Darwish, one of the Syrian lawyers, was quoted as saying in a statement.
AP
Palmyra is at the centre of a battle between Syrian forces and IS (Hassan Ammar/AP)
Syria's military said it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from Islamic State for the second time in a year.
The army statement released on Thursday evening said that government forces are now in control of the town, following a series of military operations and with the help of Russian air cover and in co-operation with "allied and friendly troops" - shorthand for Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
IS defences of the town had begun to erode on Sunday, with the government troops reaching Palmyra's outskirts on Tuesday.
This is the government's second campaign to retake the desert town.
It seized Palmyra from IS militants last March, only to lose it again 10 months later.
Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Khalid Kazimov Trend:
The bodies of three fighters killed in armed clashes in Syria have been
buried in Iranian city of Qom, IRNA news agency reported.
The report did not provide further information on the killed individuals
and their nationalities.
It was earlier announced that over 1,000 servicemen deployed by Iran to Syria to back President Bashar al-Assads government have been killed in the Arab country since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.
Following the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, Iran has reportedly set up
Zeinabioun brigade of Pakistani Shia nationals and the Fatemioun brigade of Afghan Shia fighters to support President Bashar al-Assad's
government against armed opposition groups.
Traders angry at a US-based animal rights group have turned their ire on two iconic American brands, pulling Coke and Pepsi from shelves in the south India state of Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu Traders Association said the soft-drink makers were draining too much water in the state, but that it targeted the American brands because Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) had pushed the 2014 ban on the popular local tradition of bull-taming.
The trading association said its ban that went into effect late on Wednesday was supported by more than 1.5 million local shop owners and beverage sellers.
In a separate case, a court on Thursday lifted restrictions on water supplies to Coke and Pepsi factories in the drought-prone state.
In January, Tamil Nadu was rocked by protests by tens of thousands of people demanding that the ban on bull-taming, or jallikattu, be lifted.
The government rushed new legislation exempting the tradition from animal cruelty laws.
During the protests, thousands of young people turned their anger against Peta to other American multi-national companies and vowed to shun drinks made by them.
Traders pledged that they would not sell colas and would instead stock locally made soft drinks or coconut water.
"On March 1, following a campaign among traders and the public against foreign brands, we implemented the decision of our association members to sell only domestic brands of beverages," said AM Vikrama Raja, president of the trade group.
In the court case, the Madras High Court announced that it was removing restrictions on the supply of water to Coca Cola and PepsiCo's factories in Tamil Nadu.
In November, the court had barred the two companies from using local water supplies after farmers complained about water shortages in the state's Tirunelvelli district where the factories were located.
AP
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Elena Kosolapova Trend:
Diplomatic efforts alone are not enough to solve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Alexander Karavayev, leading expert of the North-South Political Science Center, told Trend.
The expert said that complex measures are needed in order to force Armenia to free the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
The carrot and stick approach is needed here, he said. What Azerbaijan demonstrated in April last year shows that the use of force regarding Armenia gives a certain effect.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry had said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
Karavayev noted that it is clear that the OSCE Minsk Group dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement has completely exhausted itself.
At the same time, Karavayev said that it is also impossible to rely on the use of force alone in this conflict, because it means a full-scale war.
A combination of the use of force and confidence-building measures might make the process of the conflicts settlement move, the expert said, adding that the confidence-building measures may be formed at the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace created in Azerbaijan in 2016.
The expert added that the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which took place in the days of the anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, had a smaller scale than that of April last year.
However, the clashes on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops may continue with some regularity, he said.
Azerbaijans Defense Ministry has earlier said the Armenian army attempted to infiltrate through the Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night from Feb. 24 to Feb. 25. The Armenian side attempted to seize favorable positions on the Khojavand-Fuzuli part of the frontline, said the ministry, adding that heavy battles took place between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
The world's most expensive telescope is parked for the moment in Greenbelt, Maryland, shrouded in a protective tent at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In just two years, this long-delayed, $8 billion, cosmos-penetrating instrument is supposed to be nearly a million miles from Earth.
If it works, the James Webb Space Telescope will collect the oldest light in the universe, emitted soon after the big bang, when the first stars lit up and the first galaxies began to form. It will study black holes lurking at the center of galaxies. It will scrutinize the light from planets around distant stars and look for atmospheres you'd expect to see on worlds rioting with life.
But that's only after an epic journey. It's not a straight shot from the Washington suburbs to space.
The telescope first must be sealed in a climate-controlled container. Then, sometime in late March or early April, a truck will haul it very slowly and gently in the dead of night along a partially closed Capital Beltway. A lead car will watch for road obstacles and potholes.
Arriving at Joint Base Andrews, the Webb should slide, barely, into the cargo hold of a C-5C military transport plane.
Then comes a flight to Houston, to the NASA Johnson Space Center, where it will be tested in a vacuum chamber that will simulate the environment of deep space. From Houston it will be flown to Los Angeles, to a facility run by the project's primary contractor, Northrop Grumman, where it will be mated with its sunshield and navigational hardware.
Then comes a boat ride, one that will carry the telescope down the southwestern coast of North America and through the Panama Canal to French Guiana. That's where, in October 2018, it will be blasted into space atop a European Ariane rocket - a quarter-century after the Webb was conceived.
What could go wrong?
"It's wonderful and terrifying," says astronomer Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, one of six scientists guaranteed observing time with the instrument. "The terrifying part comes because we know that this is rocket science for real, we are taking our fabulous telescope - it's a beautiful machine - and we're going to put it on a rocket ship and light the fuse."
Astronomers have a complicated and anguished relationship with the Webb. It's amazing. It's also wildly expensive. And it was supposed to be in space years ago.
John Mather, a Nobel laureate who is the senior project scientist, began working on it in 1995. He and his team had to achieve a long list of innovations to get the Webb built - things like the gold-covered mirrors, the sunshield and the means of keeping everything very cold.
"This job was just so hard, and when you're at the beginning you don't have the imagination to see how hard it is. No one had appreciated the difficulty of the test program," he said this week.
Cost overruns led to budget reviews, battles in Congress, near-death experiences, recrimination and, finally, to a reconfigured budget and timetable that lawmakers approved. The project devoured NASA money that might have gone to other science endeavors. It became known as the telescope that ate astronomy.
The Webb, which includes major contributions from the Canadian and European space agencies, has long been seen as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The latter is still working fabulously but getting long in the tooth.
There have been rumors that the Trump administration could somehow gin up a Hubble repair mission with astronauts on a new shuttle-like spacecraft, but officials at NASA Goddard say they haven't been asked to plan for anything like that.
The Webb is quite different from the Hubble, starting with the fact that it's much bigger. The Hubble has a 2.4-meter mirror, but the Webb has 18 hexagonal mirrors that collectively are 6.5 meters - more than 21 feet - in diameter. It can collect seven times as much starlight.
The new telescope can observe the universe in infrared wavelengths of light that are inaccessible to the Hubble. In deep space, shaded from the sun, the Webb is designed to operate under extremely cold conditions. That's necessary for infrared astronomy because otherwise the heat from its instruments would block out the faint light from distant objects.
As things turned out, the Webb's problems with schedule may have been fortuitous.
The original goal was to look at very faint objects in deepest space - the very first stars and galaxies, so far away that their light, emitted about 13.7 billion years ago, is only now reaching our solar system. But the Webb may play a key role in the search for habitable worlds that are relatively nearby, orbiting stars in our own galactic neighborhood.
The very first "exoplanet" - a planet orbiting another star - was discovered 22 years ago, right about the time Mather began working on the Webb. Thousands of exoplanets have been found since.
Earlier this week, astronomers announced the remarkable discovery of a system with seven planets around a star named Trappist 1, some 39 light-years from Earth. Six of those planets are Earth-size. Several have orbits that might allow water, if present, to be liquid at the surface.
There's no way for the Webb or any other current telescope to see these planets directly, because they're too close to the parent star. But as they transit the star - passing across the face of the star as seen from the telescope - the starlight will dim slightly. That's how they were discovered.
An atmosphere around a planet will skew the wavelengths of the starlight. Astronomers can then use spectroscopy to discern which kinds of molecules make up the exoplanet atmosphere.
The Hubble has looked at the Trappist system and already has determined that the planets are probably rocky rather than gaseous like Jupiter or Saturn. But the Webb has sophistication the Hubble lacks. The Webb can detect the clear signatures of atmospheres containing water, ozone, oxygen, methane and other molecules. That could provide compelling evidence of a habitable planet.
As astrophysicist Michelle Thaller of NASA points out, while it wouldn't be the same thing as direct detection of life, it would be a major achievement for the still-young scientific field known as astrobiology.
Closer to home, the Webb's prime viewing targets include the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, Saturn's intriguing moon Titan, the dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon, plus the gaggle of "trans-Neptunian objects" way out in the exurbs of the solar system - little-known worlds such as Sedna, Quaoar and Makemake.
But first the telescope, which is supposed to begin observing in April 2019, has to function as planned. It would be hard to repair something parked at L2, the Webb's destination point in space, which is 930,000 miles from Earth on the opposite side of our planet from the sun.
"I can tell you that we're doing what we need to do to make sure that it'll work," Mather said. "You test. And test and test."
And look for potholes along the way - literally.
MILLINGTON, TENN. Navy Midshipman Dexter Ledbetter from Concord, North Carolina, participated in the 2017 spring Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) ship selection draft as a future member of the U.S. Navys Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community.
More than 280 midshipmen at Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) units around the country have selected to serve in the Navy as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipman is ranked according to his or her grade point average, aptitude scores, and physical fitness.
Being that I have been active duty for 11 years, the NROTC unit has give me many opportunities to work on my mentoring and leadership skills, said Ledbetter. I feel working with the cadets has given me a great head start towards my next step as a SWO.
According to their rankings, each midshipman provided their preference of ship or homeport to the junior officer detailer at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee. If these preferences were available, they were assigned as requested.
The process is very important to me because the ship that I select will mean I have to move my entire family, said Ledbetter. It is important that I get the ship I select and I feel like that is a good possibility.
Ledbetter, a 2005 Northwest Cabarrus High School graduate, has selected to serve aboard USS Spruance. Ledbetter is majoring in Civil Engineering while attending The Citadel College. Upon graduation, Ledbetter will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Spruance as a surface warfare officer.
Spruance is an Arleigh Buker-class destroyer home-ported in San Diego. Destroyers are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. Destroyers can operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups and underway replenishment groups.
I am looking forward to qualifying SWO and going on deployment, said Ledbetter.
The midshipmens selection of their ship is not only a milestone for them but also an important day for the ships in the fleet. Not only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Naval career, but the ship they choose will also gain a motivated, eager, young officer to help lead and improve an already great team.
While NROTC units are spread out across the country and vary in size, they all teach midshipmen the values, standards, abilities and responsibility that it takes to become a Navy officers and lead this nations sons and daughters in protecting freedom on the seven seas.
I will bring my motivational and enthusiastic attitude and my years of enlisted service wil help me in leading the junior enlisted sailors, said Ledbetter.
After November 2016s surprise demonetization, businesses in India looked to the Union Budget 2017 to gauge the governments economic outlook.
While this years budget retained a development-oriented focus, key tax and regulatory provisions declare the governments intent to encourage business, create jobs, promote entrepreneurship in a digitally empowered economy, and spur GDP growth.
In this context, startups and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should pay attention to the following provisions and amendments stated in the latest budget.
Corporate Income Tax reduction
The budget reduced the corporate tax for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the current rate of 30 percent to 25 percent beginning in the financial year (FY) 2017-2018. This tax cut will be applicable for all domestic firms (private limited companies) with a turnover or gross receipts of up to US$7.48 million (Rs 50 crore) in the FY 2015-2016.
Presumptive taxation and maintaining accounts
Small traders and businesses will benefit from a reduced minimum presumptive tax profit margin at six percent of earnings rather than the existing rate of eight percent if they adopt digital transactions. This is an amendment to Section 44AD of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and will be applicable to those firms with a turnover under US$300,000 (Rs 2 crore).
The threshold limit for maintaining books of accounts for individuals and professionals is now US$3741.95 (Rs 2.5 lakh), having increased from US$1796.14 (Rs. 1.2 lakh).
The limit for tax audit under Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act is increased to US$300,000 (Rs 2 crore) from the current limit of US$150,000 (Rs 1 crore) for the individual/HUFs (Hindu Undivided Families) opting for presumptive taxation under Section 44AD.
Extension of tax benefits under Startup India initiative
Startups recognized under the governments Startup India policy will avail extended income tax benefits. Eligible startups can now claim profit linked deduction exemption for three out of the first seven years under Section 80-IAC of the Income-tax Act; previously, it was three out of the first five years.
Shareholder restrictions removed for startups carrying forward losses
In an amendment to Section 79 of the Income Tax Act, the government will now allow companies to carry forward losses for seven years and set-off against profit in future years, even if the majority shareholder changes hands. This relaxation of shareholder restrictions is available only to recognized startups under the Startup India policy who are eligible to claim Section 80-IAC benefits.
Tax treatment of convertible shares
Startups often buy shares that can be converted from preference shares to equity shares. In a huge boost, Budget 2017 removes the provision of capital gains tax on such conversions.
Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) credit extension
The government has extended the time limit for availing MAT credit to 15 years from the current limit of 10 years. This benefits startups claiming tax exemptions under Section 80-IAC and those companies with significant accumulated MAT credit.
Penalty for late income tax return filings
Budget 2017 introduces a penalty for late filing of tax returns US$74.84 (Rs 5,000) for delay up to December 31 and US$149.68 (Rs 10,000) upon further delay.
The penalty will be limited to US$14.97 (Rs 1,000) in cases where the taxable income is up to US$7483.91 (Rs 500,000).
Under Indias tax law, the due date for filing income tax returns is September 30 for companies and assessees covered under tax audit, for others the due date is July 31.
Changes to IDT provisions for FPIs
The budget contains several provisions encouraging funds from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), which include the exemption from indirect transfer tax provisions for category I and II FPIs. Category I FPIs include sovereign wealth funds and central banks and category II includes mutual funds and banks. In Indian tax law, Indirect Transfer Tax (IDT) provisions cover the taxation of profit arising from the transfer of share or interest in a foreign company or foreign entity whose value is substantially derived, directly or indirectly, from assets located in India.
Limits to cash transactions
The budget introduced provisions to limit the amount of cash payments used for business transactions. Through an amendment to Section 40A of the Income Tax Act, the daily cash payment limit for company expenses or company acquisition of assets is fixed at US$149.68 (Rs 10,000); earlier, the limit was US$299.36 (Rs 20,000). Further, a new Section 269ST has been proposed in the budget, which will attract a 100 percent penalty on cash receipts of US$4,490.35 (Rs 300,000) or more accrued on a single day.
In today's time, television has a reach more than films do; proof of that is the number of television shows that we see being dubbed and telecast overseas, especially in Indonesia. And if that is not a boost in itself, television actors are being roped in for these Indonesian shows as well.
Our television stars have a huge Indonesian fanbase and actors like Shaheer Sheikh, Ravi Bhatia, and Shakti Arora among others are loved there. Now, yet another handsome actor is all set to join the likes of these actors and he is none other than Kumkum Bhagya fame Arjit Taneja.
Arjit, who was last seen in Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya as Purab, quit the show sometime last year owing to creative dissatisfaction. The actor felt like there was nothing much to do with his character in the show.
Post his stint in Kumkum Bhagya, the actor co-hosted Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya with Abhishek Malik. But, the actor has finally got what he wanted as he has bagged an Indonesian show. In fact, the reason for Arjit not being able to take up the lead role in Colors' Devanshi opposite Helly Shah was this very international project.
Among the Indian shows that are hugely followed in Indonesia, Kumkum Bhagya is an audience favorite. And according to our sources, Arjit has been roped in for a mini-series where he will be seen in episodics. He will also be meeting up with a few fans.
Featured Video
Congratulations Arjit.
Toronto, Mar 2 (IBNS): Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynneas government believes the reduction of financing costs of electricity generation contracts over longer periods would show immediate impact on reducing the hydro rates by 25 percent, thereby regaining the popularity of the Liberals, media reports said.
The proposed 25 percent reduction includes 8 percent rebate of the provincial portion of the sales tax that took effect on Jan. 1.
Although the provincial Liberals could not convince Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to eliminate the 5 percent federal share of the HST on hydro bills, they said they found other savings.
Were taking it to the next level, Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault told the legislature during Tuesdays question period.
We do recognize the system that we built eliminating coal, rebuilding the grid that cost billions of dollars. We know that cost actually came at the expense of many families, the media quoted Thibeault as saying.
Thibeault said, Were looking right now at doing some very quick, tangible rebates that people will see in the very, very near future.
The refinancing of the global adjustment would enable ratepayers and consumers to immediately see a reduction in their bills.
The government also plans to stop the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which gives up to $65 a month to low-income earners as this cost will be covered by the broader tax base.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Image: KathleenWynne Twitter
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Orkhan Quluzade Trend:
Moscow and Ankara have great expectations from the meeting of presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, scheduled for March 9-10 in Moscow, Prof. Dr. Salih Yilmaz of the Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University told Trend March 2.
Yilmaz, an expert in international relations, said Turkey is still expecting Russia to restore pre-crisis economic relations, as Moscow has not yet taken significant actions for import of Turkish products and a complete abolition of visa regime for Turkish citizens.
"During the meeting, Ankara intends to voice its position on the Gulen movement, accused of involvement in the attempted military coup in Turkey, as well as discuss Moscow's support for the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, which is considered by Ankara as a terrorist organization, he said.
The expert added that in particular, Ankara expresses concern over the activity of PYD office in Moscow.
Yilmaz stressed that Turkey wants to purchase Russia's S-400 advanced surface-to-air missile systems to better protect its airspace, and it is expected to achieve progress in the matter in the meeting between the Russian and Turkish leaders.
He added that Russia also hopes for Turkeys reciprocal understanding on a number of issues related to the Syrian conflict and NATO.
"Moscow wants Turkey to continue its initiative regarding the Syrian opposition, he added. Russia is concerned over US President Donald Trumps policy on the safe zones, which can damage Ankara-Moscow cooperation.
Russia can also call on Turkey to control the presence of the NATO forces in the Black Sea region, which are creating tensions in the region," Yilmaz added.
The expert said Moscow and Ankara have learned from the Su-24 warplane incident, realize the mutual importance and try to avoid policies and actions that can jeopardize bilateral cooperation.
Yilmaz stressed that trust between Turkey and Russia will be discussed as part of Russian and Turkish leaders meetings.
Erdogan will visit Russia to take part in the meeting of the Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC).
Both leaders will chair the delegations during HLCC meetings.
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Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
Russian servicemen have delivered over four tonnes (metric tons) of humanitarian aid to Syrian residents in the course of seven humanitarian actions carried out in the past 24 hours, the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation informs in its daily bulletin, Sputnik reported.
Russian aircraft also helped deliver 20.4 tonnes of aid provided by the United Nations to the Deir ez-Zor area, using parachute platforms.
"Within the last 24 hours the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides has held 7 humanitarian events in the provinces of Aleppo (6) and Homs (1)," the statement says, adding that overall 4,700 Syrians received humanitarian aid the total weight of which amounted to 4.95 tonnes.
Syrian residents have been in dire need of assistance amid continuing fighting between the Syrian government forces and various opposition and terrorist groups, such as Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in Russia and numerous other countries. Russia has been carrying out regular humanitarian aid deliveries to Syrian civilians and has been facilitating the distribution of UN aid in the country.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
Trend:
Egypts Borg El Arab Airport authorities arrested a Russian passenger on March 2 who had an improvised explosive device (IED) and was intending to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, Egypt Independent reports citing a source in the airport in Alexandria.
Airport authorities were suspicious of a strange item in the passenger's luggage, seen via X-ray, the source said, adding that a bomb squad was summoned to inspect the item which was discovered to be an IED.
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Turkey's Foreign Ministry has summoned the German Ambassador, Martin Erdmann, over the cancellation of a Thursday meeting between Turkey's justice minister and Turkish citizens in Germany, according to a ministry source, Anadolu reported.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said that Erdmann was called to the ministry in relation with the developments which led the municipality of the southern German town of Gaggenau to revoke permission for a hall meeting between Bekir Bozdag and the members of the Turkish community scheduled for earlier Thursday.
Erdmann was called upon the order of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the source said, adding Deputy Undersecretary Mehmet Kemal Bozay expressed Turkey's discomfort over the incident.
The municipality of Gaggenau revoked its permission for the meeting earlier Thursday citing concerns of overcrowding, which prompted Bozdag to cancel his planned visit to Germany. The incident has drawn strong criticism from the Turkish government.
The event was organized by the Union of European Turkish Democrats, or UETD.
Adventurers planning the perfect spring break trip would do well to look into 2 Cousins Travel. Charlena Kendrick and her cousin, Paula Beatty, have a passion for travel that has made them the go-to people for travel advice among friends and family. They know where the best lodgings are, the cheapest times to book a flight and how to make the most of the destination. More than a decade ago, the cousins started their own agency, 2 Cousins Travel, to help aspiring nomads find their way.
Our friends and family would say, Where are you going next? We want to come! So we started planning trips every other year. Our agency is now internationally accredited, and we have grown to have a total of five agents, said Kendrick.
Kendrick lives in Indy but helps clients plan trips to destinations near and far. Some of the trips she is currently planning include treks to Dubai, Thailand, Paris, Costa Rica and South Africa, and a group trip to the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Kendrick said there is a relaxing spring break vacation for every budget.
Planning ahead is key. Obviously, I would suggest finding an accredited travel agent. The key thing is to first establish a budget so that a travel agent can work with you. They are good at knowing and preparing for all the little hidden costs that you may not be aware of or know of, said Kendrick.
For travelers who want to venture overseas, travel agents often offer low-cost monthly payment plans leading up to the date of departure. Kendrick points out that there are plenty of locations to visit close to home.
There are a lot of things to do locally or within a days drive. There are amusement parks or the Indiana Dunes. You can explore Louisville, Cincinnati and local campgrounds. Four hours away from us is an absolutely great zoo that is of no cost in St. Louis, said Kendrick.
In addition, she says a stay-cation can be just as rejuvenating as a weekend getaway.
Take a weekend and be a tourist in your own city. Most people born in Indianapolis may not have been to the (Indianapolis) Motor Speedway; they may not have been to the top of the monument. So find a hotel downtown that serves breakfast, and eat as much as you can! Get out there, catch the bus, see lots of things.
Kendrick says, regardless of the destination, all people should make exploring the world a priority.
Travel is one of the best ways to invest in ourselves. Its rejuvenating and educational. Theres so much of Gods creation out there, and when you see it for the first time, its awe inspiring and thought provoking. It allows us to reconnect and give something back to ourselves.
For more information on 2 Cousins Travel, call (855) 822-6874 or visit 2cousinstravel.com.
When Charlotte Uwimbabazi showed up at Indianapolis Public Schools program for new immigrants, she was ready to fight for her son. When she left that day, she had a job.
A native of the Congo, Uwimbabazi fled the war-torn country and spent nearly a decade in Cape Town, South Africa, waiting for a new home. Last spring, Uwimbabazi and her four children came to the U.S. as refugees.
When the family arrived in Indianapolis, Uwimbabazis youngest son Dave enrolled at Northwest High School. But he wasnt happy, and a volunteer helping to resettle the family suggested he transfer to Crispus Attucks High School. When the school year started, though, Crispus Attucks turned him away. Staff there said he had been assigned to the newcomer program, a school for students who are new to the country and still learning English.
There was just one problem: Dave was fluent in English after growing up in South Africa. Uwimbabazi said its the only language he knows. So Uwimbabazi and her son Dave headed to the newcomer school to convince them he should attend Crispus Attucks.
Thats when Jessica Feeser, who oversees the newcomer school and programing for IPS students learning English, stepped in and found a new resource for the districts growing population of newcomer students.
Feeser immediately realized that Dave was fluent in English and should enroll in Crispus Attucks. Then, Uwimbabazi started talking with Feeser about her own experience. With a gift for languages, Uwimbabazi speaks six fluently, including Swahili and Kinyarwanda, languages spoken by many African students at the school.
Where are you working right now? Feeser asked. Would you like a job here?
Uwimbabazi, who had been packing mail, took a job as a bilingual assistant at the school. Her interaction with the district went from negativity to positivity, she said.
The newcomer program has seen dramatic growth in enrollment since it opened last fall, and it serves about three dozen refugee students. Students at the school speak at least 14 different languages. As the only staff member at the school who speaks Swahili and Kinyarwanda, Uwimbabazi is a lifeline for many of the African refugees it serves, Feeser said.
She works alongside teachers, going over material in languages that students speak fluently and helping them grasp everything from simple instructions to complex concepts like graphing linear equations, Feeser said. She also helps bridge the divide between the district and the Congolese community on Indianapolis west side, going on home visits to meet parents and helping convince families to enroll their children in school.
When students in the newcomer program dont share a language with staff members, the school is still able to educate them, Feeser said. But it is hard to build community without that bridge. Uwimbabazi has played an essential role in helping the school build relationships with families.
She believes that all of our families are important, and shes working diligently to make sure that they feel that their voices are heard, Feeser said. It was a gift from God that she joined us.
Increased religious protection might be coming to Indiana public school students, although some say it is not needed.
Rep. John Bartlett (DIndianapolis) wants to ensure that students religious viewpoints are protected. Bartlett authored House Bill 1024, which states that students may pray, wear religious attire and jewelry, and engage in religious activities before, during and after the school day. During a House Education Committee hearing, Bartlett said school prayer would not be mandatory, but the law would protect students who want the opportunity to pray and ensure time is provided for students to express their beliefs.
House Bill 1024 only puts prayer back into schools. It does not mandate or force students to participate in it, said Bartlett in a press release. It is giving Hoosiers the ability to express their faith without fearing discrimination. It also brings clarification to the First Amendment, which allows people to practice their faith. However, it restricts you from forcing your faith on others.
Opponents of the bill say religion is already acknowledged in most schools with a moment of silence, that prayer should be taught in religious institutions and that many of the protections the bill is fighting for are already protected by the First Amendment.
House Bill 1024 passed the Indiana House with a vote of 8312. It will now move to the Senate for consideration.
For more information on House Bill 1024, visit iga.in.gov.
On Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m.3 p.m., the Circle City (IN) Chapter of The Links Inc. will host Real World, Real Girls, a day-long event focused on empowering young women.
The days offering will feature interactive and informative activities that will focus on incorporating healthy habits to create healthy lifestyles. The program is designed for young girls of color attending middle school (grades 7-9).
Links members will be on hand to mentor and provide attendees with the necessary tools to success relative to their academic and personal lives through a series of workshops and seminars with a sensitivity to the cultural, mind, body and spiritual needs of minority teenage girls.
Research shows that teens who engage in positive social and academic activities thrive more than their peers who lack such opportunities. When teens have mentors specifically people they can relate to their chances for success in life are even greater. Through its programming, Real World Real Girls helps enrich the lives of local girls immediately impacting them while also laying a foundation for future success well into adulthood.
The gathering will be held at the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, located at 201 Girl Scout Lane, Indianapolis, IN 46214 Suite J.
For additional information, visit circlecitylinks.org or call Deb Shoffner at (317) 376-9271.
Most people would describe poverty as being poor or not having much money.
However, for Rev. Gregory C. Ellison II, Ph.D., there are different types of poverty.
Theres also a poverty of worth in our country, said Ellison, who is associate professor of pastoral care and counseling at Emory University in Atlanta. That is why we see crime and young men who dont care about anybody else, because they feel like their own lives are not valued. So life becomes a survival mechanism where they get what they can as soon as they can. Thats poverty.
In other words, Ellison told the Recorder, the best way to reduce poverty is to not only address the economic and social causes of it, but also to look at its psychological impact.
Ellison will be among more than 350 leaders from nonprofit organizations, faith institutions and government who will gather at Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indianapolis on Tuesday, March 14, for the Faith & Action Projects spring conference.
National experts, local activists and community leaders will discuss poverty in America and solutions for alleviating it.
CTS says the event, which is open to the public and includes lunch at $20 per person, is designed to inspire, equip and provide a forum to come up with effective ways to actually reduce poverty.
Matt Boulton, Ph.D, president of CTS, said the seminary is honored to host the conference, because it is needed now more than ever.
Indianapolis general poverty rate is 22 percent, and its child poverty rate is 33 percent; both are above national averages. Thats unacceptable, Boulton said. Extraordinary work by many organizations is already underway. We are committed to helping highlight and accelerate that work and encouraging others to get involved.
The itinerary for the Faith & Action Projects conference includes what some may describe as an all-star list of leaders from academia, the faith community, the nonprofit sector and local government.
Among those scheduled to participate include veteran urban activist Robert Lupton, author of the bestselling book Toxic Charity; Rev. David Hampton, Ph.D., deputy mayor of Indianapolis and senior pastor of Light of the World Christian Church; and Jodi Pfarr, whom CTS describes as an entertaining diversity trainer whos lived and worked in rural and urban settings.
In addition to teaching at Emory, Ellison also works as founder of Fearless Dialogues, a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for people who would not typically interact with each other to have dialogue about important issues.
Ellisons appearance at the conference this month is highly anticipated in part because of his ties to the Indianapolis community. Not only does he have relatives who live here, but he also considers nationally renowned activist, poet and writer Mari Evans, an Indianapolis resident, to be one of his mentors. Ellison has also worked with community and faith organizations in the area on previous projects.
Indiana, in some regards, is a muse for me, Ellison said. Through the conversations Ive experienced there, it provides inspiration to do good work beyond your great state. Im looking forward to the opportunity to come and meet additional creative activists who are committed to the bettering life in their community.
Ellison is also the author of Cut Dead But Still Alive: Caring for African American Young Men. In the book and while speaking across the country, he frequently mentions the concept of being cut dead, which emerged from a phrase coined by philosopher and psychologist William James in 1899.
That literally means to be snubbed completely, or deliberately ignored, Ellison said.
He added that in his experience, he has met people of different races, backgrounds and economic classes who often feel like they are being unseen and unheard, or judged with stereotypes. These people, he said, have hopes and dreams for their lives, even though other people may perceive their lives as meaningless.
Thats the kind of tension I have found in working with young men who are African-American, some of whom have been incarcerated, and some of whom have been in some our nations most prestigious insinuations, Ellison said. However, Ive also seen it in the elderly, disabled people and white businessmen who are prominent in their industry.
Ellisons point is that some people feel cut dead because they are seen only in a stereotypical way, and not in the fullness of their humanity. He believes this social challenge must be addressed in order to fully deal with the negative affects of poverty.
What were seeking to do is to say you can change your society by the way that you treat the people that are in closest proximity to you, he stated.
Ellison added that through the work of his organization, he has also discovered that poverty can best be fought when diverse groups of people from all walks of life come together and solve problems with respect.
One way that I think the church can address poverty is to bring people together who dont ordinarily sit together, he said. Thats a Christian vision, and it is what people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were trying to do bring people together in meaningful ways. Not just to say, OK, were going to address the problem, but also see how we can be enriched by the presence of someone who is different from us.
The Faith & Action Project Spring Conference will take place March 14 from 8:30 a.m.3:30 p.m. at Christian Theological Seminary, 1000 W. 42nd St. The $20 admission price includes lunch, and scholarships are available. For more information, visit www.cts.edu.
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Cartier
A watch: Ronde Louis Cartier XL
A technique: Flamed gold
The Cartiers Maison des metiers dart in La Chaux-de-Fonds brings together all the traditional techniques (gem-setting, polishing, etc.) as well as some forgotten skills (granulation and filigree, for example) that the company is hoping to bring back into favour.
The Ronde Louis Cartier XL watch introduces a technique never before seen in watchmaking, and one that Cartier has recently added to its repertoire of artistic crafts: flamed gold, a technique inspired by the way steel watch hands are blued by exposure to heat. Flamed gold demands perfect mastery of heat, as the colours appear sequentially depending on very precise temperature calibrations. Blue is produced at the highest temperature, and beige at the coolest. The surface of the 18-karat gold watch dial is engraved or brushed with the pattern of the panthers coat. The gold plate is then heated over a flame, and the first colour change occurs. This operation is then repeated as many times as is necessary to achieve the complete colour palette. This painstaking and laborious work also requires a great deal of forethought, as each return to the flame affects all the colours, and each firing could potentially obliterate many hours work. The result is a spectrum of rich colours and a strikingly lifelike representation. This rare and precious timepiece is driven by the manually-wound 430 MC calibre. Just 30 are available.
Piaget
A watch: Altiplano Double Jeu Gold Lacework
A technique: Gold lacework
Piaget is well known for its dedication to exceptional craftsmanship and its constant pursuit of the best independent artisans to carry out all the techniques not already available within its manufacture. This year, the company has joined forces with Sara Bran, a self-taught artist who is the only practitioner of her craft: gold lacework. In order to recreate the lightness of lace on the slim rose gold sheet, Sara Bran uses pointed scribing tools and a pair of compasses to trace the designs, drills to pierce holes and saw blades to cut out the metal using a highly specific skill manual redrilling with a small hacksaw. She opens up empty spaces and gradually eliminates material to reveal a delicately sculpted lacework as fine as a super-thin thread.
The design of the Altiplano Double Jeu with its two superimposed cases (which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year) lends itself perfectly to the lacemakers art. The diamond-set upper module is adorned with delicate gold lacework, whose radiating motif is enhanced by marquise-cut diamonds. Beneath this decor, the hours tick by discreetly. A press on the pusher reveals the Altiplanos white dial, which conceals the hand-wound 430P movement.
Vacheron Constantin
A watch: Metiers dArt Copernicus Celestial Spheres
A technique: Grand feu enamel
This year, Vacheron Constantins master craftsmen have drawn inspiration from one theme the astronomical universe according to Nicolaus Copernicus for which they have devised three different dials. The first of the trio gives pride of place to various enamelling techniques. The enameller drew inspiration from the astronomical map of the Copernican system as drawn by Andreas Cellarius, a 17th-century Dutch-German cartographer. The earth in champleve grand feu enamel reveals the blue of the oceans and the geography of the continents. Against the gold background, a map of the heavens is enamelled in pastel shades, punctuated by fine lines to illustrate the orbits of the five planets. Each planet, represented by a star, is labelled with its Latin name, as are the two solstices. The outer part of the dial features the 12 zodiac signs in coloured enamel. The dial required more than a months work and numerous firings at temperatures as high as 850C before being smoothed, lapped and polished.
The timepiece is equipped with the manufacture calibre 2460 RT, an extremely precise mechanism developed by Vacheron Constantin to reproduce the heliocentric system. WorldTempus Editor -in-chief Paul ONeil explains this new movement with its original display in greater detail here.
The other two dials in the Metiers dArt Copernicus Celestial Spheres trilogy incorporate both engraving and the combined technique of laser engraving and hand engraving on sapphire crystal.
Van Cleef & Arpels
A watch: Charms Extraordinaire Fee Sakura
Techniques: miniature painting and cabochonne enamel
Through the Extraordinary Dials collection, Van Cleef & Arpels offers a poetic interpretation of the passing of time. On a single dial, the artistic crafts meet and combine, forming compositions where every detail bears witness to the creativity of the maisons artisans. The Charms Extraordinaire Fee Sakura watch brings together two of the Parisian brands major sources of inspiration: nature and fairies. On a deep pink background, the dial displays a scene of enchanted nature by means of several artistic crafts: delicate flowers are worked in hand-painted sculpted mother-of-pearl, while the petals in the foreground are adorned with cabochonne enamel. The fairy sculpted in white gold has diamond-set wings and a lively and gracious expression. Around the bezel, two sparkling lines frame a row of pink sapphires in graded hues of pink to emphasise the perfect roundness of the case. As a final touch, a good luck charm swings delicately with every movement of the wrist.
Everyone who thinks that climate change is a joke or a Chinese hoax, as suggested by the US President Donald Trump should straighten up.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Back in 2012, Donald Trump tweeted that it's a hoax and a plot designed to bring down the US and as far as we know, he's still abiding by that notion.
(Also read: Spring Is Coming Sooner To The Arctic And Climate Change Is Said To Be Responsible For It)
Reuters
But here's the thing about climate change- it doesn't wait for anyone's approbation, it only reflects the repercussions of what has been done to the earth and our ecosystem.
Antarctica, which is one of the coldest places on earth just recorded the hottest day since 1974 and this is extremely alarming.
One of the coldest places in the world is warming up fast.
(Also read: Climate Change Is Taking A Toll On Australia's Vast Kelp Forest As It's Dying Due To Heat Waves)
Scientists from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) just announced that the Argentine research base near the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula has set a heat record at a balmy 63.5 Fahrenheit (17.5 degrees Celsius), and everyone's a lot more concerned than they ever were.
Reuters
The last time we checked, it was 1974 when the temperature soared so much, reaching almost 59 degrees.
"Verification of maximum and minimum temperatures help us to build up a picture of the weather and climate in one of Earths final frontiers," said Michael Sparrow, a polar expert with the WMO co-sponsored World Climate Research Programme to Reuters.
Antarctica locks up 90 percent of the world's fresh water as ice and would raise sea levels by about 60 meters (200 ft) if it were all to melt, meaning scientists are concerned to know even about extremes around the fringes.
Reuters
The report instigated debates around the world and people took it to social media to share their concerns.
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It was 68 degrees in Antarctica today so fuck student loans cause we ain't gon be here to pay them off anyway MonsterKing (@CerromeRussell) March 1, 2017
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Nigga it was almost 70 degrees in Antarctica. If that doesn't terrify you then you're fucking retarded. sploosh (@TheDukeKnight) March 2, 2017
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So, Antarctica hit 63 degrees today. ANTARCTICA. pic.twitter.com/cAdZ45lsuG Doc McDabbins (@javeauriel) March 1, 2017
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Conan: "An amazing 24 hours: Antarctica recorded its highest temp, Hawaii had a blizzard warning & Trump delivered a reasonable speech." Roger Simon (@politicoroger) March 2, 2017
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It's 63F in Antarctica. That should scare the shit out of you. Rose Christo (@rosechristo1) March 2, 2017
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Highest recorded temperatures in Antarctica have been announced: https://t.co/l9ngYZsrCn pic.twitter.com/5zsB3XXl5R Forbes (@Forbes) March 2, 2017
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you could've hosted a cookout in Antarctica today but your President thinks global warming is a joke Jonathan (@jnthnwll) March 2, 2017
10.
Just to let everyone know, the average temperature Antarctica is supposed to be is -52.6F... https://t.co/N54J0ZoE5n croatian queen (@viczubovich) March 1, 2017
But the real question is, why climate change is still a joke to many? Why are we still not thinking about the amount of produce we are creating, the scrap we are dumping and the heat we're generating?
The coldest temperature recorded in the region was about -89.6C at Vostok station in the year 1983. However, it usually hovers around -49C and your home freezer is only about -15C.
Frozen wave in Antarctica: pic.twitter.com/SYmcttT2MG Earth Pics (@TagAlongWithUs) February 24, 2017
So now, can you think what we've just done?
(Also read: Climate Change Shows Its Effects, Snow Falls In The Sahara Desert For The First Time In 37 Years)
Schools in the Kashmir Valley reopened on Wednesday, months after they had to be shut due to curfew and protests last year followed by the winter vacation.
Rainfall greeted students on their first day at school this year, as they trickle back from, 74-day-long winter break during which the valley witnessed one of the heaviest snowfalls in recent years.
BCCL
The states education department informed that schools in some higher parts of northern Kashmir, including Gurez, Machhil, Tangdhar and Keran, will remain closed until March 12 due to the accumulation of snow and heavy rainfall. Some areas near Sonamarg received snowfall on Wednesday as well.
BCCL
Normal academic session in the Valley was disrupted last year when locals protested and clashed with government forces in the wake of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and two of his colleagues on July 8.
At least 95 civilians were killed, while around13000 received injuries including more than 1200 people, mostly youngsters, whose eyes were ruptured due to pellets, during five months of protests last year. Around 35 schools were damaged in fire during this period
BCCL
Many students who were injured last year could resume schooling on Wednesday, however, some others are still receiving treatment in hospitals.
I have pellets still lodged inside my body. And also underwent a surgery at the hospital last year. I am hopeful this year I can attend my classes without any problem, said a 9th class student from Pulwama district of south Kashmir.
BCCL
In November, the states education department had instructed schools to promote all students till class 9 and also class 11 to the next grade without an examination, while students of class 10 and 12 were given 50% relaxation in their board exams. Protests had subsided that month, allowing schools to function for a few weeks before the start of winter vacation. During this period only admission formalities were completed.
Kashmir Valley has around 13208 schools in which 1173218 students are enrolled.
BCCL
Inshallah, I hope and pray that these children should complete their studies and none of them would be killed or maimed anymore, said Muhammad Mudasir, a 35-year-old father who has admitted his second child in pre-nursery this year.
Meanwhile, a school bus met an accident on the Srinagar-Gulmarg road in Kunzar area of northern Kashmir, in which seven children were injured.
The iconic structures of new capital city Amaravati will be a compilation of best ones from Astana (Kazakhstan), Putrajaya (Malaysia), Brasilia (Brazil), Washington DC (US), London (UK) and New Delhi (India).
The Andhra Pradesh capital city structures will also reflect the original rural culture and flavour of the existing villages in the capital city area.
PTI
The executives of master architect firm, Foster and Partners (F&P) owned by world renowned architect Norman Foster handed over the conceptual designs of the capital city structures to the chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu here on Wednesday. It took nearly three hours for the architects to put all the details before the chief minister explaining various distinct features of the designs.
The firm readied four different models for consideration of the state government. Expressing happiness over the inclusion of rarest of the rare features in the designs, chief minister said that the designs would be submitted to the cabinet on Thursday.
TOI
After presenting the designs and taking feedback from the ministers, it would be thrown open to the public to send their feedback. "Amaravati is not going to be developed as a mere city. It should be distinct in all aspects and global class in many fields," said the chief minister. He said that Norman Foster had readied the designs in such a short period.
It is the State's obligation, and not charity, to compensate female victims, the Bombay High Court said on Wednesday, adding that the Maharashtra government's attitude was "ruthless".
Reuters/representational image
A division Bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a petition filed by a 14-year-old rape victim, seeking 3 lakh as compensation under the governments Manodhairya Yojana.
The girl, a resident of suburban Borivali in Mumbai, alleged that she was raped by a man who had promised to marry her.
The High Court Bench was told that the government compensated the girl with Rs 1 lakh after she filed the petition in October 2016.
However, at the last hearing, the government told the court it would only compensate the girl with Rs 2 Lakh, as the incident according to them was of "consensual nature".
Following this comment, the High Court said on Wednesday that a 14-year-old cannot be expected understand and take such mature decisions and realise the consequences.
We dont like how the government is approaching the issue. This is a very heartless and ruthless attitude. Unless the government starts thinking and taking decisions in such matters from its heart and soul, nothing will happen, Chief Justice Chellur said.
The High Court asked Mumbai Suburban Deputy Collector, who was present in the court, as to how he would feel if something of this nature would have happened to his kith and kin.
dnaindia
You (government) should think from your heart in such cases. There cannot be such an insensitive attitude. This is the governments obligation to help such victims. They (victims) are not beggars and this is not charity. It is their (victims) right, the judges noted.
Manodhairya [Manodhairya Yojana] means self-confidence... The government should be boosting the victims confidence, instead it is doing the opposite, they observed.
The court asked if the officers are giving compensation from their pockets. This is tax payers money. What is the governments problem then? Should we start collecting donations from the general public and give it to the victims?
The Bench noted that as per directions given by the Supreme Court, a sum of 1 lakh has to be given to a victim within 15 days of registration of FIR.
In this case, the government has failed to do so. This is contempt of court order. Only after the victim came to court the government paid her one lakh. We should hold one officer guilty for contempt and put him inside jail for one day, then the government will realise, the judges said.
We are surprised at the laxity on part of the officers and pained at their attitude. We direct Suburban District Collector to remain present on the next date of hearing, they further said.
The Bench also directed the government to file an affidavit giving details of how the Board constituted under the Manodhairya scheme functions and how it takes decisions on how much compensation should be given to a victim.
Reuters/representational image
The affidavit shall also give details of how many such cases have been filed in last one year and in how many cases compensation has been given to victims.
The Bench will hear the petition on March 8.
Under the Manodhairya Yojana launched in October 2013, the Maharashtra government gives compensation of 3 lakh to women who are victims of rape and other crimes.
Apart from the monetary compensation, the government, under the scheme, also provides counselling to the victim and vocational or educational training, if required.
"He would have turned 33 on March 9th, and we were planning to fly to NJ for his cousins engagement. Things turned out differently, I was on my way to India with him in a coffin," writes Sunayana Dumala, the wife of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, in a tear-jerking Facebook post.
She shared the post on Tuesday after her husband's cremation took place in Hyderabad. In her tribute, Dumala, wrote how they first started talking to each other on Orkut in August 2006, about how Srinivas Kuchibhotla was always there to guide and support her, be it her career or her passion for writing.
AP
She writes, "Srinu, my love, I dont know how Ill be able to fill the void I now have created in my life, but I promise you Ill never let you down. It is so funny that you were my editor for any important email I had written, but now, for the first time, I am having to do it myself."
An inebriated US national Adam Purinton gunned down Kuchibhotla at a bar in Kansas on Wednesday while shouting, "Leave my country", Dumala writes how one man's impulse turned her life around, overnight. She was in utter disbelief when the police informed her about the incident, and asked repeatedly, Are you sure?, Are you telling the truth?, Did you see the man you are talking about?.
Despite her grave loss, Dumala, mustered the strength to personally thank everyone from PM Modi to random people who came forward to hug and console her. She wrote how Kuchibhotla was a fan of Modi and lauded Sushma Swaraj's efficiency on Twitter.
"He was really happy to see Sushma Swaraj as the external affairs minister such a brave and courageous woman, and how quick she reacted for those in need. He must have never thought that he would be one among them one day."
AP
She also mentions that Kuchibhotla was a huge fan of Sharukh Khan and that her friends always compared them to Amitabh and Jaya.
At the end of her moving post, Dumala, closes up with a strong rhetoric, "On what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, it's not based on the colour of your skin. So what decides that? What is the government going to do to stop hate crime? and DO WE BELONG HERE?"
Read the full post below:
This is my first official blog post on Facebook, and it is with a heavy heart that I am writing these words. On the dreadful night of Wednesday February 22nd 2017, I lost my husband my soul mate my friend and my confidante. He was a source of inspiration, a support system not just to me but to any and all he got to know. He always had a smile for every one, respected all especially his elders. We met in August 2006 through common friends then connected on an online portal called Orkut not a usual face to face introduction- and started liking each other instantly. He was so charming that I could not resist.
I am the baby of my house, being the youngest with two elder sisters. I grew up to be a carefree child. It was Srinivas who gave me the courage to pursue my dream of coming to the USA and studying, which made me the person I am today an independent, self-sufficient and strong woman. I started working only recently, May 2016. Hed played a major role in me attaining a job, always encouraging and working with me though my disappointments, especially as I was starting back again after 4 years of a career break.
His passion was to constantly innovate in the the aviation industry. Here in America, he commenced is his career at Rockwell Collins, and he worked On Flight Control System especially on Primary Flight Control Computer that would change the way flights work with improved performances. He dedicated his life to this development. There were days he used to come home to have only dinner and leave for work again - only return around 2 or 3 in the morning. He was very happy at Rockwell and liked living in a small town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But we decided to move from there to a bigger city so that I could get a job and be able to pursue my dreams, as he was able to do for himself. Kansas was our instant choice, and we moved here with a lot of dreams. We built our dream home, which he painted, and installed the garage door.
Doing any kind of work on his home gave him immense joy. This was the home that he had built to for us and any kids we would have- was our first step to starting our family. Its so unfortunate that this dream of ours is now shattered. All of this, because of one person, who did not think of the impact his deed would have on the victims family. When police came to our house that night and gave me the news of my husbands life being taken away by a random shooter, I could not believe their words, it was so surreal. I asked them repeatedly, Are you sure?, Are you telling the truth?, Did you see the man you are talking about?, Can you show me a picture to identify?, Is the man that you are talking about 6 2? They were just nodding their heads saying yes. With no family here in Kansas and his brother in Dallas, my immediate reaction was to call his brother. When I called him to say what the police had just told me, he thought I was joking.
My friends were by my side and did not leave me for even a second. Friends drove from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Minnesota, and St. Louis. Many flew from Denver, California, and New Jersey to say a final goodbye to their beloved and dearest friend, who was always only kind to them. Both his aunts from NJ and NY came to take care of me and him.
He would have turned 33 on March 9th, and we were planning to fly to NJ for his cousins engagement. He was excited and eagerly waiting for the event, and we had plans to shop this past weekend for the trip. Things turned out differently, I was on my way to India with him in a coffin.
We got married after 6 years of close friendship, and it was not an easy process. He had to convince not only his parents but also mine. He met my family multiple times to convince them that he was capable and suitable for their beloved daughter. He answered all their questions with a smile on his face. His charm was such that he instantly became one of the members of my family and became their favorite son-in-law, brother-in-law, and uncle. It is still unbelievable that he is not here.
He found happiness in simple things. One of his most favorite pastimes was watching TV, which he watched with so much passion and intensity. His favorite shows lately were Person of Interest and Indian Idol. He was a family man and liked to eat home-cooked meals. Every night, I used to pack lunch for him and myself. He used to hate packing for himself and used to give me the funniest explanations for not doing so. He would say, If I pack my lunch, I would know what I would eat later on. But if you pack it, I will have that surprise element. If anyone gave him a heartful meal, he would bless that person by saying, Anna datha sukkhi bhava (a saying in Telugu that translates to, You made my heart happy with the food, so may God bless you). This was something many of his friends picked up from him.
He really enjoyed Arnab Goswami during his lunch at work and was eagerly waiting for him to come on.
He loved kids and was an instant favorite of any kid. We were planning to expand our own family and had had a doctors appointment just a few weeks ago. One of the last thoughts that he shared with me were Nani (his nickname for me), we need to save money if we have to end up going for in-vitro to conceive. I am writing this as it sinks in to me that this dream of ours is now shattered. I really wish we had a child of our own in whom I could at least see Srinivas and make him like Srinu.
He always cared about what was happening around him, and he was very proud of Mr. Narendra Modi ji and India. He was sure that India had finally found the leader that could make India shine. This might seem unreal, but I know because there wasnt a day that ended without him watching the news or reading multiple newspapers before going to bed.
Srinu was the epitome of optimism. That was his motto. I remember asking him why hed chosen to pursue digital signal processing and electrical engineering for his masters degree. He said, I scored less in that subject in Bachelors of Technology and wanted to explore why I received a lower score. That was his optimism.
He was really happy to see Sushma Swaraj as the external affairs minister such a brave and courageous woman, and how quick she reacted for those in need. He must have never thought that he would be one among them one day. But knowing my Srinu, he would have felt very proud of you for helping us and his family in crisis. Thanks again, Madam. I wish I could meet both you and Mr. Modi ji and share his joy posthumously.
He was always worried about immigration and its laws. He followed them very closely over the internet. There were days when he used to talk about how its been quite a few years since we applied for our permanent residency card, and he didnt know how much longer we have to wait for it. He used to say having one would give him the chance to explore even more his passion for the aviation industry. He very closely monitored the H4 EAD rule and did whatever he could do in his capacity for the rule to be passed - not just for me, but for every woman and for those who deserve a career and a chance to fulfill their dreams. He was filled with joy when the rule passed and was so happy that he said, Nani, now you can work. It is not that we need the money, but its so that you can follow your own dreams and make your parents proud.
His father had a very low-income job, and Srinivas was the middle son of three sons. There wasnt a day that went by without him mentioning how hard his father worked to make his sons the way they are today, and that he would have to do a lot for his parents. Im sure, Srinu, that you made them proud, and I wish you didnt have to leave us. He was a loving brother to both his siblings, especially the younger one, whom he treated like his own son more than a brother. He was elated when the youngest got married back in November 2015.
From what I know or heard from his parents, himself, and his brothers, all three brothers were very naughty. I remember him saying that when the three started to laugh, they would be panicked that in next 5 minutes there would be a fight and something would be broken in the house. As their father was very strict and always wanted them to focus on education, he would always be pushing them to study and many a time would have to run after them to make them sit for their studies. The youngest and eldest always managed to escape first, and Srinu, would always stay behind and get the scolding of all three brothers.
As I mentioned in the press meet, whenever there was an incident involving someone dying, both of us got worried, and I many times spoke my heart to him. We came here to achieve and fulfill our dreams. He always assured me that if we think good, be good, then good will happen to us and that we will be safe. He used to hug me tightly and sleep giving me this assurance. Srinu, now that I have gotten used to that warm hug, I might not be able to sleep. That was the only place in the world that I could sleep without any worries or tensions.
I was able to see random acts of kindness at the Kansas City airport when people recognized me and hugged me. I met a dermatologist who said I changed the purpose of her life. Maybe that was the first win during this fight to spread to love.
I think I can just keep writing and finish a book, but that still isnt enough to talk about you or the love that you spread around. Im still trying to digest the fact that in one evening I became a widow from a wife.
Srinu, my love, I dont know how Ill be able to fill the void I now have created in my life, but I promise you Ill never let you down. It is so funny that you were my editor for any important email I had written, but now, for the first time, I am having to do it myself.
I LOVE YOU, AND YOU ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE MINE.
I wish that you had come home when I asked you to have tea. I have many unanswered questions, and I wish you would answer them, but the only way I could get those answers now is by coming to you and your new home on the other side. I dont know when that day will come.
My sincere thanks to each one of those who are helping us cope with this loss. I thank, Garmin and its employees, for conducting the vigil and allowing me to speak and share my Srinivas with you all.
Thanks to Mr. Cliff Pemble, the CEO of Garmin, for speaking such kind words about my husband and his contribution to Garmin. I cant express my happiness that you came to my home to pay your last respects to him, held my hand, and went all around the house hearing his stories. This shows me how important he was to the company. Also, Didier, Dave, Phil, Patrick, Garmin Legal Team, HR Team, and to all those sitting in the auditorium during the vigil, thanks a lot for your support.
Thanks to Mr. Frank, CEO of Intouch Solutions, for assuring me that I can take however long and still come back and continue my job. Thanks for coming home and delivering the message personally. Thanks to Katema, David, and every employee of Intouch Solutions, who came to console me and gave me the same assurance.
Thanks to the Mayor for your kind words, giving us the assurance, and making a personal visit to the house. Also, thank you for making sure we received the privacy we asked for. I was told by Congressmen Yoder and Senator Moran that you were trying to reach out to me. Thanks a lot for your concern and for working on my immigration status. This is my Srinus dream, and it is the least I could do for my Srinivas - fulfill his dreams through my eyes - and it is for this I have to come back to the USA.
Thanks to the Detectives and District Attorney Steve for working hard on this case and finding the culprit. I know you will make sure justice is served.
Thanks to the medical team that worked on Srinu and tried hard to revive him back. I truly wish that your efforts had succeeded and he was with us today.
I do not have words to express my gratitude towards Mr. Ian Grillot for what you have done. Thanks for having the courage and trying in whatever way possible to save my husband. When I am back in Olathe, I would like to meet you personally. You and your act of kindness will help me survive and still have the faith in love and spreading love and not hate. I hope you get well soon.
Thanks to all those communities that have come forward and have been praying for Srinivass soul and his familys well being.
Thanks to the funeral home for being so considerate and obliging to our request of sending him to his house, the house that he had built with so many dreams. I have the good luck charm that you gave me. Thank you.
Thanks to the media and press for agreeing to not disturb us and for respecting our privacy. Thanks again, and keep up your good work. A special mention to Ms. Rajini Vaidyanathan
(BBC correspondent).
Thanks to people like Satya Nadella and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights. We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, its an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I dont want anyone to go through what my family and household went through.
Thanks to the Consular General Officers who expedited the process.
Thanks to the government of Telangana for giving us the assurance that his remains will be taken to his house without any problem, and we request the media in India to be considerate of our privacy.
Mr. Amitabh Bachchan sir, there wasnt a party that ended without us dancing to your songs. Our friends used to fondly call us Amitabh and Jaya because my husband is 62 and I am 5 feet. My husband used to say that our kids should be as tall as Abhishek and Shweta. Shah Rukh Khan sir, he was a huge fan of yours, and he made sure we watched your latest movie, Raees. I need all your support to pass this strong message of spreading love and giving confidence to every foreign national that their fight will be listened to.
I will now ask same question On what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, its not based on the color of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them afterward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrants mind, DO WE BELONG HERE?
Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?
-Sunayana Dumala
In a tragic accident, an Asian black bear dropped to her death while hanging from a helicopter. The animal was being airlifted to a national park in Thailand when the incident happened.
The officials in charge of the transport had tranquilised the bear who was hanging mid-air in a net that had been fastened to the chopper.
reuters
It is being reported that the bear may have woken up mid-way and sensing danger, may have panicked before falling to the ground. Officials, however, have denied these claims and said that the bear did not wake up mid-flight. According to them, it was turbulence that caused the unfortunate mishap.
Bangkok Post
The accident had occurred on February 11 but was only made public last Saturday. According to Bangkok Post, a 10-day investigation is underway to determine the cause of the bear's death. An activist also decried the incident by calling the officials-in-charge careless in calculating the bear's weight and administering the wrong dosage of the tranquiliser.
The female bear was being transported to be released back into Thailand's Khao Yai National Park after it had entered a village in November.
Since another bear has to be released into the habitat, it would do well on the officials to tie up all loose ends lest another accident occurs.
After taking a beating in West Asia, the Islamic State fighters are looking east. There have been reports about how they are planning to attack the Indian territory, now they are looking to set their foot on Chinese soil.
According to reports, Islamic State militants from China's Uighur ethnic minority have vowed to return home and "shed blood like rivers", according to a jihadist-tracking firm, in what experts said marked the first IS threat against Chinese targets.
Brasil 247/Representational Image
The threat came in a half-hour video released Monday by a division of the Islamic State in western Iraq and featuring militants from China's Uighur ethnic group, said the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which analysed the footage.
China has for years blamed exiled Uighur "separatists" for a series of violent attacks in its western Xinjiang region - the Uighur homeland - and warned of the potential for militants to link up with global jihadist groups.
In the video, a Uighur fighter issued the threat against China just before executing an alleged informant.
"Oh, you Chinese who do not understand what people say! We are the soldiers of the Caliphate, and we will come to you to clarify to you with the tongues of our weapons, to shed blood like rivers and avenging the oppressed," according to SITE's translation.
AFP/Representational Image
A traditionally Muslim group, many Uighurs complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination by China.
It appears to be the Islamic State's "first direct threat" against China, Dr. Michael Clarke, an expert on Xinjiang at the National Security College of Australian National University, told AFP.
"It is the first time that Uighur-speaking militants have claimed allegiance to IS," he added.
AFP/Representational Image
The video was released on the same day China staged the latest in a series of mass rallies by armed police in Xinjiang meant to indicate Chinese resolve in crushing security threats.
More than 10,000 officers gathered Monday in the regional capital Urumqi - the fourth such show of force this year in Xinjiang.
Reuters/Representational Image
A US think tank said in July that Chinese religious restrictions on Muslims may have driven more than 100 to join the Islamic State.
Authorities have banned or strictly controlled the observance of certain Muslim practices, such as growing beards, wearing headscarves, and fasting during Ramadan, calling them symbols of "Islamic extremism".
"When we see the government involved in a very heavy crackdown, it hasn't really ever solved the problem, it hasn't made it go away," said Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute.
"In some cases, it has made it worse."
China's first domestically made aircraft carrier under construction in Dalian. (Photo : Getty Images)
The work done on China's first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier is steadily progressing. When it is launched, this will be China's its operational carrier, and will reportedly be named as the "Shandong."
It is reported that the entire vessel has a tip curved upward so that aircraft can easily take off.
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The China-made aircraft carrier boasts a displacement of about 50,000 tons. It is being constructed in Dalian, and is likely to join the South Sea Fleet. This is the fleet that controls the controversial South China Sea, where territorial disputes over reefs and islands are raging between China and different nations.
According to the English version of the Global Times, an affiliate of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily, the aircraft carrier will be serviced by 2020.
A spokesman for the National Defense Ministry of China said: The aircraft is an improvement in many aspects (on the Liaoning).
Liaoning, China's current lone aircraft carrier, is a remodeled Soviet carrier that launched in 2012, but is used for training purposes only. Chinese experts sais that the new carrier's deck is larger than that of the Liaoning, which enables the carrier to accommodate more planes.
China needs two groups of aircraft carriers in sea areas ranging from the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean that are important for the safety and benefit of the country, said Yin Zhuo, a Chinese military expert.
Since planes can sometimes either require a lengthy period of repairs or be used in training, it is said that at least three to four aircraft carriers are necessary for the deployment of one to two planes.
To ensure that enough planes can be deployed at the same time, China is constructing another aircraft carrier in Shanghai to add to the one being built in Dalian.
Mr. Mitsotakis had accused the Greek-Russian businessman of being the "mechanical rabbit" of the TV station licensing procedure in October, during his speech at the Greek Parliament, something very insulting for Mr. Savvidis and his constant effort to
Chloe Goncalves poses in front of a building of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (Photo : LinkedIn)
French digital marketer Chloe Goncalves never expected that her post on her trip to China to work for Alibaba would make her an online celebrity. She is one of the 32 associates coming from 14 countries that are chosen by the Alibaba Global Leadership Academy to train for one year to become the company's global ambassadors.
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Chloe's post on LinkedIn half a year ago and has received over 31,000 likes and 2,900 comments. She also found herself 1,600 new followers worldwide, which inspired her to do a monthly blog on her adventures.
For the past four months, Chloe already experienced a lot of adventures in working in China. She has joined the Nov. 11 Global Shopping festival, attended Alibaba's annual cloud computing conference, visited Taobao villages, talked with Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, taken Tai-Chi classes, and has been busy learning the Chinese language.
A lot of Chinese firms are expanding its operations overseas Alibaba is hoping that half of its profits will come from international business soon.
A new round of recruitment for AGLA is underway. Alibaba is expecting to train about 100 ambassadors every year for the next ten years.
Brian Wong, the vice president of Alibaba Group Holding that is in charge of global initiatives, pointed out that foreign staff with expertise will not only help identify and navigate new markets but also help bridge China and international markets and enable local companies big and small to use internet technology to trade globally.
Wong said: "China is a significant opportunity for the rest of the world, not a threat, because it offers such a large market for their products and services."
"Global talent with wide connections and strong cross-cultural skills will translate into core competitiveness during globalization," said the vice president of LinkedIn China David Yu.
Wang Huiyao, the head of the Center for China and Globalization, said: "Talent and innovation are crucial for economic globalization and China should look for talented people not only among its own 1.3 billion people but in the global pool of 7 billion."
Alibaba is also planning to send local employees for over a year abroad.
Al Franken : Jeff Sessions Lied About Meeting With Russians Video
Sen. Al Franken said he is very troubled that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during his confirmation hearing last month.
Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi called Sessions unfit to serve after the revelations. Posted March 02, 2017
I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians. Sessions claimed Wednesday that he didnt consider the conversations with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak relevant Very troubled that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had contact with Russian official despite testifying otherwise. https://t.co/ak9sU6EOmk Sen. Al Franken (@SenFranken) March 2, 2017 Jeff Sessions, the US Attorney general, had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States while still a senator during the presidential campaign season last year, fuelling calls for him to recuse himself from a justice department investigation into Russian interference in the election. Justice department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said earlier on Wednesday that "there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer" in the hearing. AG Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. https://t.co/5r8KpGQSRT pic.twitter.com/vKSVuvTIf3 Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) March 2, 2017 Break Free From The Matrix Get Our Free Daily Newsletter The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
Trumps Moderate Defense Secretary Has Already Brought Us to the Brink of War
By Mehdi Hasan
March 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " The Intercept " - Did you know that the Trump administration almost went to war with Iran at the start of February?
Perhaps you were distracted by Gen. Michael Flynns resignation as national security adviser or by President Trumps online jihad against Nordstrom . Or maybe you missed the story because the New York Times bizarrely buried it in the midst of a long piece on the turmoil and chaos inside the National Security Council. Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to the paper, had wanted the U.S. Navy to intercept and board an Iranian ship to look for contraband weapons possibly headed to Houthi fighters in Yemen. But the ship was in international waters in the Arabian Sea, according to two officials. Mr. Mattis ultimately decided to set the operation aside, at least for now. White House officials said that was because news of the impending operation leaked.
Get that? It was only thanks to what Mattiss commander in chief has called illegal leaks that the operation was (at least temporarily) set aside and military action between the United States and Iran was averted.
Am I exaggerating? Ask the Iranians. Boarding an Iranian ship is a shortcut to confrontation, says Seyyed Hossein Mousavian , former member of Irans National Security Council and a close ally of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Even if a firefight in international waters were avoided, the Islamic Republic, Mousavian tells me, would retaliate and has many other options for retaliation.
Trita Parsi , head of the National Iranian American Council and author of the forthcoming book Losing an Enemy Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy, agrees. Such acts of escalation by the Trump administration, he tells me, significantly increases the risk of war.
In an administration overflowing with Iran hawks, from CIA Director Mike Pompeo ( I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism ) to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly ( Irans involvement in [Latin America] is a matter for concern ) to former National Security Adviser Flynn ( We are officially putting Iran on notice ), some may have naively expected Mattis to be the responsible adult in the room.
The defense secretary has been lauded by politicians and pundits alike: the scholar-warrior (New York Daily News) and most revered Marine in a generation (Marine Corps Times) with the potential to act as a restraint (New York Times) on an impulsive commander in chief as he is the anti-Trump (Politico) and therefore good news for global order (Wall Street Journal).
So why would a retired Marine Corps general such as Mattis be willing to provoke a conflict with Tehran over a single ship? The fact is that Mattis, too, is obsessed with Iran. He has hyperbolically called the Islamic Republic the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East and in a Trump-esque descent into the world of conspiracy theories suggested Tehran is working with ISIS. Iran is not an enemy of ISIS, Mattis declaimed in 2016, because the one country in the Middle East that has not been attacked by ISIS is Iran. That is more than happenstance, Im sure.
According to the Washington Post , in the run-up to the talks over Irans nuclear program, Israelis may have questioned Obamas willingness to use force against Iran. But they believed Mattis was serious. The general, in his capacity as head of U.S. Central Command, even proposed launching dead of night airstrikes on Iranian soil in 2011, in retaliation for Tehrans support for anti-American militias in Iraq a proposal rejected by White House officials who were worried that it risked starting yet another war in the Middle East.
Mousavian is puzzled by the defense secretarys hawkishness: He is one of the most experienced U.S. generals and he knows the consequences of confrontation with Iran would be tenfold what the U.S. experienced in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
Mattis has, in fact, been tied to some of the worst war crimes of the Iraq invasion. It was he who gave the order to attack the village of Mukaradeeb in April 2004 a decision he would later admit took him only 30 seconds to approve which killed 42 civilians, including 13 children, who were attending a wedding there. I dont have to apologize for the conduct of my men, he told reporters .
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Six months later, in November 2004, it was Mattis who planned the Marine assault on Fallujah that reduced that city to rubble, forced 200,000 residents from their homes , and resulted, according to the Red Cross , in at least 800 civilian deaths.
Theres a reason Mattis is nicknamed Mad Dog. Theres a reason his militant maxims or Mattisisms include telling Marines under his command in Iraq to be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet, and telling an audience in California: Its fun to shoot some people. I like brawling.
Is this the kind of restraint that we can expect from Mattis? Trump was rightly lambasted over his January raid in Yemen that led to the deaths of a U.S. Navy SEAL and at least 15 Yemeni women and children, but it was the defense secretary, joined by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who persuaded the neophyte president that the SEALs attack on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula would be a game changer. It was the gung-ho Mattis who, according to Reuters , told Trump that he doubted that the Obama administration would have been bold enough to try it. And this week, we learned , it is Mattis to whom Trump wants to give free rein to launch raids, drone strikes, and hostage rescues without prior presidential approval. What could possibly go wrong?
According to Parsi, Mattis believes the U.S. needs to have a strong hegemonic position in the Middle East, and if your aim is hegemony in the Middle East, Iran will be your No. 1 foe due to Tehrans rejection of Pax Americana even though the U.S. and Iran share a lot of common interests, such as opposition to ISIS.
Yet even normally skeptical voices have bought into the myth of Mattiss moderation. I actually do think he is the closest thing we have to a moderate in this administration, Andrew Bacevich , a conservative military historian at Boston University and long-standing critic of U.S. defense policy, tells me. This, to misapply a line from George W. Bush, is the soft bigotry of low expectations. The defense secretary may not be a bigot or a crank like so many other top Trump appointees, but he could prove to be far more lethal in the long run.
Remember: It was not Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld but moderate Secretary of State Colin Powell another retired general who was tasked with selling President Bushs Mesopotamian misadventure to the United Nations in February 2003. Who do you imagine would make a more convincing public case, on behalf of the Trump administration, for a future shooting war with Iran? The draft-dodging president or his decorated defense secretary? Ex-Breitbart boss Steve Bannon or Warrior Monk Mattis, who, lest we forget, 45 out of 46 Senate Democrats voted to confirm?
Trumps Use of Navy SEALs Wife Highlights All the Key Ingredients of U.S. War Propaganda
By Glenn Greenwald
March 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " The Intercept " - During his Tuesday night address to the U.S. Congress, President Trump paid tribute to Ryan Owens, the Navy SEAL killed in the January commando raid in Yemen that Trump ordered. As he did so, television cameras focused for almost four full minutes on Owenss grieving wife, Carryn, as she wept and applauded while sitting next to and periodically being touched by Trumps glamorous daughter Ivanka. The entire chamber stood together in sustained applause, with Trump interjecting scripted, lyrical expressions of support and gratitude for her husbands sacrifice.
It was, as intended, an obviously powerful TV moment. Independent of the political intent behind it, any well-functioning human being would feel great empathy watching a grieving spouse mourning and struggling to cope emotionally with the recent, sudden death of her partner. The majestic setting of the U.S. Congress, solemnly presided over by the U.S. president, vested the moment with political gravity.
Media commentators predictably gushed that this was the moment Trump became presidential. Meanwhile, the U.S. medias most reliable partisan warriors, horrified that the moment might benefit Trump, instantly accused him of exploiting these emotions , and exploiting Carryn Owens herself , for his own political benefit.
While there is certainly truth in the claim that Trumps use of the suffering of soldiers and their families is politically opportunistic, even exploitative, this tactic is hardly one Trump pioneered. In fact, it is completely standard for U.S. presidents. Though Trumps attackers did not mention it, Obama often included tales of the sacrifice, death, and suffering of soliders in his political speeches including when he devoted four highly emotional minutes in his 2014 State of the Union address to narrating the story of, and paying emotional tribute to, Sgt. Cory Remsburg, who was severely wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan:
George W. Bush also hauled soldiers wounded in his wars before cameras during his speeches, such as his 2007 State of the Union address, where he paid tribute to Sgt. Tommy Rieman, wounded in Iraq.
There are reasons presidents routinely use the suffering and deaths of U.S soldiers and their families as political props. The way in which these emotions are exploited powerfully highlights important aspects of war propaganda generally, and specifically how the endless, 15-year-old war on terror is sustained.
The raid in Yemen that cost Owens his life also killed 30 other people, including many civilians, at least nine of whom were children . None of them were mentioned by Trump in last nights speech, let alone honored with applause and the presence of grieving relatives. Thats because they were Yemenis, not Americans; therefore, their deaths, and lives, must be ignored (the only exception was some fleeting media mention of the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, but only because she was a U.S. citizen and because of the irony that Obama killed her 16-year-old American brother with a drone strike).
This is standard fare in U.S. war propaganda: We fixate on the Americans killed, learning their names and life stories and the plight of their spouses and parents, but steadfastly ignore the innocent people the U.S. government kills, whose numbers are always far greater. There is thus a sprawling, moving monument in the center of Washington, D.C., commemorating the 58,000 U.S. soldiers who died in Vietnam, but not the ( at least ) 2 million Vietnamese civilians killed by that war.
Politicians and commentators condemning the Iraq War always mention the 4,000 U.S. soldiers who died but rarely mention the hundreds of thousands (at least) innocent Iraqis killed: They dont exist, are unmentionable. After a terror attack aimed at Americans, we are deluged with media profiles and photographs of the victims , learning their life aspirations and wallowing in the grief of their families, but we almost never hear anything about any of the innocent victims killed by the United States.
Senior Chief Ryan Owens is a household name, and his wife, Carryn, is the subject of national admiration and sympathy. But the overwhelming majority of Americans do not know, and will never learn, the name of even a single foreign victim out of the many hundreds of thousands that their country has killed over the last 15 years. This imbalance plays a massive role in how Americans understand themselves, the countries their government invades and bombs, and the Endless War that is being waged.
None of this is to say that the tribute to Owens and the sympathy for his wife are undeserved. Quite the contrary: When a country, decade after decade, keeps sending a small, largely disadvantaged portion of its citizenry to bear all the costs and risks of the wars it starts while the nations elite and their families are largely immune the least the immunized elites can do is pay symbolic tribute when they are killed.
Nor is it to say that this obsessive, exclusive focus on our own sides victims while ignoring the victims we create is unique to the U.S. Again, the contrary is true. This dynamic is endemic to nationalism, which in turn is grounded in tribalistic human instincts: paying more attention to the deaths of those in our tribe than those we cause other tribes to suffer.
As Ive described before , I was in Canada the week that it was targeted with two attacks including one on the Parliament in Ottawa and the Canadian media was suffuse for the entire week with images and stories about the two dead Canadian soldiers and their families. Then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke at the funeral of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who became a household name for dying in the Parliament attack, even though most Canadians dont know the names of and cant tell a single story about even one of the numerous innocent victims killed by their own government over the last 15 years. This is by no means a uniquely American phenomenon.
But unique or not, this is an incredibly consequential tool of war propaganda. By dramatizing the deaths of Americans while disappearing the countrys victims, this technique ensures that Americans perpetually regard themselves as victims of horrific, savage, tragic violence but never the perpetrators of it. That, in turn, is what keeps Americans supporting endless war: These savages keep killing us, so we have no choice but to fight them.
More importantly, this process completely dehumanizes the people the U.S. government bombs, attacks, and kills. Because theyre never heard from, because we never learn their names, because we never experience their familys suffering, all of their human attributes are stripped from them and their deaths are thus meaningless because theyre barely human.
This dehumanization the suppression of any humanity on the part of the U.S. foreign war victims is the absolute key to sustaining popular support for war. Nobody knew that better than Gen. William Westmoreland, the U.S. Commander of the Vietnam War, which is why he insisted that Orientals do not experience death and suffering the way that Westerners do
A population will only tolerate the ongoing, continual killing of large numbers of civilians if they believe that the innocent victims do not experience human suffering or, more importantly, if that suffering is hidden from them.
Just imagine how different Americans views of the war on terror might be if they were subjected to heavy grieving rituals from the family members of innocent victims of U.S. bombing similar to the one they witnessed last night from Carryn Owens. Theres a reason the iconic photo of a South Vietnamese police official summarily executing a Vietcong suspect during the 1968 Tet Offensive resonated: Violence and suffering are much more easily tolerated when their visceral reality need not be confronted.
The ritualistic tribute to dead or wounded U.S. soldiers has other purposes as well: It attempts not using rational formulas but rather emotional impulses to transfer the nobility of the slain soldier onto the war itself; after all, how unjust could a war be when such brave and admirable American soldiers are fighting in it?
And it is also intended that the soldiers nobility will be transferred to his commander in chief who is so solemnly honoring him. As demonstrated by the skyrocketing post-9/11 approval ratings for George Bush and the endless political usage Obama obtained for killing Osama bin Laden, nothing makes us rally around a president like uplifting war sentiment.
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Jim Crow is Alive and Well in Israel Long before Israel erected separate communities, the United States perfected the art of the artificial divide. By Stanley L Cohen
March 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Al Jazeera " - For years, Israel has sold, and we in the United States have bought, the cheap peel-away sticker that it is the "lone democracy" in the Middle East.
It has a nice, assuring ring to it, sort of like "opportunity" or "peace", whatever these chants may, in practice, mean. But, like beauty, it remains very much in the eye of the beholder, and like reality, sooner or later the truth surfaces, no matter how well its fiction is packaged.
We in the US are damn good at packaging ourselves, and our charade of equality and justice is second to none. We sell stuff; lots of it. Much of it false. Very much like a willing stepchild, Israel has learned from us that if you say something long enough with vigour, power and money to back it, it begins to take on a surreal life of its own, no matter how much reality puts the lie to its embroidery. Indeed, we are quite accomplished at obfuscation. We know it all too well. We've hidden behind the fog of it for so long that, even today, those who remind us that the earth is, in fact, not flat, remain heretics to be scorned. Have we found the weapons of mass destruction yet?
Long before Israel erected separate communities divided by will of law to segregate its Jewish citizens from its almost two million Palestinian Arab ones, the US perfected the art of artificial divide.
With the accuracy of delusion, from coast to coast, could be heard the refrain that race-based segregation was lawful as long as the facilities provided to each race were equal.
For decades, the legal fiction of "separate but equal" was the mantra that state and local governments, throughout the US, held out to justify the artificial, indeed lawful, separation of tens of millions of Americans on the basis of race and nothing more.
Whether in services, facilities, public accommodations, transportation, medical care, employment, voting booths or in schools, black and white were segregated under the cheap shibboleth that artificial isolation of the races insured equality, as long as the conditions of their separation were legally equal.
These laws came to be known simply as Jim Crow .
Indeed, the idea that race or religious separation was not only preferable, but helpful to one another's ability to chart their own separate but equal course, became a perverse intellectual exercise which fundamentally did nothing more than exalt the supremacy of one race at the expense of another.
Putting aside, for the moment, the reality that facilities and services offered to African Americans were almost always of lower quality than those available to their counterpart white Americans, eventually the US Supreme Court had had enough. It held that separate could never be equal, even where there was a match in opportunity and facilities.
As noted in the seminal 1954 case of Brown v Board of Education , a school-based challenge to the notion of equal segregation, separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
In words that eventually took hold first in education, then elsewhere throughout the US, the unanimous court noted:
"Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society ... It is the very foundation of good citizenship ... Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms ...
"Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system."
These words were penned but six years after Israel was granted statehood by the United Nations . Nevertheless, some 62 years later, Brown's command remains a linchpin of any meaningful democratic ideal and, yet, evermore elusive in Israel, which takes pride in the falsehood of the same supremacist claptrap rejected long ago.
Separate schools
In Israel, Palestinian schoolchildren account for about 25 percent, or about 480,000 pupils, of the state's total student population. Palestinian and Jewish students , from elementary to high school, learn in separate institutions.
As noted in Brown v. Board of Education, institutionalised discrimination in the education system impedes the ability of students to develop the skills and awareness to participate on an equal footing, as individuals, in a free society.
In Israel, this is no accident. It is very much the result of a conscious effort to build a permanent educational, social and political advantage of Jews over their Palestinian counterparts.
READ MORE: Israel tells Palestinians - Our textbooks or no funding
In 1969, the state passed a law that gave statutory recognition to cultural and educational institutions and defined their aims as the development and fulfilment of Zionist goals in order to promote Jewish culture and education.
In that light, in Israel, Palestinian children receive an education that is inferior in nearly every respect when compared with that for Jewish children.
Palestinian schools receive far less state funding than Jewish ones - three times less , according to official state data from 2004. In Jerusalem , it is half the funding.
This underfunding is reflected in many areas ; including relatively large class sizes and poor infrastructure and facilities. Many communities have no kindergartens for three and four-year-olds. Some schools lack libraries, counsellors, and recreation facilities. Their students get fewer enrichment and remedial programmes and special education services than do Jewish children.
Palestinian students are also underrepresented in Israel's universities and higher education institutions.
Recent studies indicate that only 10 percent of Palestinian citizens were attending undergraduate programmes, and 7.3 percent and 4 percent were pursuing masters' and doctoral degrees respectively.
Palestinian academics account for just about 1.2 percent of all tenured and tenure track positions in Israel's universities.
Like a full range of public spending policies that privilege the Jewish majority, government support for student tuition fees, subsidised housing and employment opportunities is available only for those who serve in the Israeli army which, as a practical matter, excludes Palestinians.
No less pernicious, for Palestinian citizens of Israel, is their inability to live and work where they choose.
Community segregation
In 1952, the Israeli state authorised the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency to function as quasi-governmental entities in order to further advance the goals of the Zionist vision, to the detriment of minorities including those with Israeli citizenship.
Under the Land Acquisition Law of 1953, the land of 349 Palestinian towns and villages, approximately 1,212 square kilometres, was transferred to the state to be used preferentially for the Jewish majority.
In 1953, the Knesset bestowed governmental authorities on the Jewish National Fund to purchase land exclusively for Jewish use. The state granted financial advantages, including tax relief, to facilitate such purchases.
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Today, 12.5 percent of Israeli land is owned by the Fund, which bans the sale or lease of it to non-Jews under the admitted premise that it's a "danger" for non-Jews to own land in Israel.
In 1960, the state passed a law stipulating that ownership of "Israeli lands", namely the 93 percent of land under the control of the state and the Fund, cannot be transferred in any manner.
In practice, this means that in some 700 agricultural and community towns throughout Israel, housing applicants are screened by Jewish boards with the ultimate power to accept or reject applications to settle in these locales.
These boards, which include representatives from the World Zionist Organization and the Fund, consider a range of criteria such as "suitability to the community's social life" and the town's "social and cultural fabric".
The admission process all but guarantees that almost all Israeli towns and villages will remain Jewish enclaves, and are but a tease to those Palestinian citizens who desire to live in equality in fully integrated communities.
Is it any wonder then, that today, in Jim Crow Israel, few Palestinian citizens have been found to be suitable for these communities?
By virtue of state control over the racial makeup of municipalities throughout Israel, most Palestinian citizens are limited to residence and employment in the acutely overcrowded Palestinian towns and villages.
In fact, since 1948, the State of Israel has established hundreds of additional Jewish communities, without permitting the construction of any new Palestinian municipality whatsoever. Indeed, of Israel's total area, just 2.5 percent comes under Palestinian municipal jurisdiction.
Of Israel's 40 towns with the highest unemployment rates, 36 are Palestinian and the average employed Palestinian citizens of Israel makes just 58.6 percent of what a Jewish Israeli makes. About 53 percent of the impoverished families in Israel are Palestinian.
Inequality from the Israeli Parliament
Over the years, the Knesset has used the veneer of democracy while acting arbitrarily to ensure that demographic and political control remains exclusively in the hands of the state's Jewish citizenry and parliamentarians.
For example, in an effort to maintain a Jewish demographic majority, the Family Unification Law of 2003 prohibits Palestinian citizens of Israel from reuniting with their spouses who live in the West Bank or Gaza. As a result, more than 150,000 children born of these so-called mixed marriages are denied the most elementary rights and privileges attendant to Israeli citizenship.
In a series of other laws, the Knesset has not only imposed a broad range of limitations on freedom of movement, speech and access to the political system for Palestinian citizens, but imposed ideological boundaries on the platforms of political parties to which they may belong.
By design, such laws thwart the ability of Palestinians to impact upon a political process which, daily, dictates every phase of their lives, but yet leaves them essentially powerless to bring about any fundamental change in the system itself. These restrictions necessarily deny Palestinian citizens an equal opportunity to play a meaningful role in the political life of Israel, otherwise available to their Jewish counterparts.
Under its most recent attempt to stifle its Palestinian minority, the Knesset proposed legislation that would enable the suspension of elected representatives of the public not because of criminal wrongdoing on their part, or even because of a breach of settled legislative protocol, but simply because their political agenda is objectionable to the Jewish majority.
Under other legislation, Knesset members may strip Palestinian MKs from their elected seats if they voice opposition to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Indeed, recently a Palestinian MK, Haneen Zoabi , was suspended from parliamentary debates for six months when, on the floor of the Knesset, she called Israeli soldiers "murderers" for their role in the Mavi Marmara incident that took the lives of nine pro-Palestinian activists.
On other occasions, the Knesset has imposed severe restrictions on travel by Palestinian MKs, both domestically and abroad.
Currently, there is a law that bans any political party which challenges the existence of Israel as a "Jewish" state or which advocates equal rights for all of its citizens irrespective of ethnicity. Another law empowers the interior minister to revoke citizenship of people who violate "allegiance" to the state.
An elusive pursuit for justice
That Israel has become a land where laws are enacted to obstruct the free exercise of core political rights of its Palestinian citizens is beyond dispute.
Ultimately, in any truly "democratic" society, citizens are able to seek redress for institutional or private injuries through an independent judicial system wed to no result but equal protection and justice for all, no matter the race, creed or religion of those who seek its protection.
It's hard to imagine a more fundamental or essential arbiter of the rights of all than a judiciary that operates under no obligation but to see that justice be done without consideration of the ethnicity of those who come before it.
Yet, by design, in Israel, the pursuit of justice by Palestinian citizens is an elusive chase indeed; one calculated to perpetuate second-class citizenship very much the way African Americans were long held in the US under the arcane practice of separate but equal.
For example, more than 200 major rulings issued by the Supreme Court of Israel have been translated into English and published on the court's website along with the original Hebrew decisions. Although the majority of these pronouncements are relevant to Palestinian citizens of Israel, none has been translated into Arabic.
In the history of Israel's Supreme Court, there have been but two Palestinian male justices.
Currently, all but one of its 15 members is Jewish. No Palestinian woman has ever served on the Israeli Supreme Court. At the district and magistrates court level, Palestinian judges make up less than 5 percent of those who occupy a judicial position, and even fewer who preside over labour courts.
Historically, the Israeli Supreme Court has sided with majoritarian values in what can only be described as a wholesale abdication of its responsibility to see that justice be done for Palestinian and Jew alike.
Thus the Supreme Court has upheld the restrictions of the 1950 Law of Return which permits every Jewish person to immigrate to Israel and obtain citizenship, yet denies the same protection to Palestinians, even those who were born in the area that is now the State of Israel.
Likewise, the Court has upheld the legality of the January 2003 family unification ban that bars a Palestinian citizen from raising a family in Israel with a Palestinian spouse from the Occupied Territories. The controversial law was introduced as an amendment to the 1952 Citizenship Law, which determines citizenship for non-Jews.
In 2014, the Court dismissed a petition by Adalah : The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel challenging the continued Judaisation of Palestinian-owned land originally confiscated largely from Palestinian refugees inside Israel. According to Adalah, the court's decision " entrenches racial segregation" and, writes Mondoweiss Editor-at-Large Annie Robbins, "will result in the continued concentration and containment of the Palestinian population in Israel".
These are but a few of the many decisions of the Supreme Court that have adversely affected Palestinian citizens of Israel on the basis of their second-class status and little else.
The definition of the State of Israel as a Jewish one makes inequality and discrimination against its Palestinian citizens a political goal.
The marriage of "Jewish" and "democratic" ensures discrimination against non-Jewish citizens and necessarily impedes the realisation of full equality for all citizens of Israel.
Israel has become better at this "subtle" nuanced sale of an imaginary narrative than we in the US ever dared dream.
What, however, the "Jewish" state has not yet come to grips with, is that eventually myths about equal opportunity and justice for some 20 percent of its population prove specious and that, ultimately, time swallows all such fallacy, whether by operation of law or, tragically, all too often, through violence.
Syria - Erdogan's Lost Bet - Trump Likely To Follow A Cautious Strategy
By Moon Of Alabama
March 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - The last Syria thread noted :
South of Al-Bab the Syrian army is moving towards the Euphrates. It will cut off the Turkish forces path to Raqqa and Manbij.
That move concluded. The Turkish invasion forces are now blocked from moving further south. They would have to fight the Syrian army and their Russian allies to move directly onto Raqqa. They would have to fight the Syrian-Kurdish YPG and its U.S. allies to move further east.
For the first time since the start of the war the supply lines between Turkey and the Islamic State are cut off!
map by Peto Lucem bigger
map by South Front bigger
Erdogan is still hoping for U.S. support for his plans for Raqqa but I doubt that the U.S. military is willing to give up on their well regarded Kurdish proxies in exchange for an ill disciplined Turkish army in general disarray and with little fighting spirit. Erdogan removed any and all officers and NCOs that he perceived as not being 100% behind his power grab. That has now come back to haunt him. He is lacking the military means to pursue his belligerent policies.
Last year Erdogan had allied with Russia and Iran after a (U.S. supported?) coup attempt against him failed. He felt left alone by the U.S. and its reluctance to support his plans in Syria. After Trump was elected Erdogan perceived a coming change in U.S. policies. He exposed himself as the ultimate turncoat and switched back to a U.S. alliance. His believe in a change of U.S. policy drives his latest moves and announcements.
Elijah Magnier reports that his sources in Damascus have the same impression of Trump as Erdogan. They believe that Trump will strongly escalate in Syria and will support the Turkish moves against the Syrian state.
But it is the U.S. military that drives the strategy in the Trump cabinet. The Pentagon has no appetite for a big ground operation in Syria. The plan it offered Trump is still the same plan that it offered under Obama. It will work with Kurdish forces to defeat the Islamic State in Raqqa. Notable is also that a director of the Pentagon financed think tank RAND Corp publicly argues for better cooperation with Russia in Syria. The old RAND plan of a decentralized Syrian with zones under "international administration" (i.e. U.S. occupied) is probably no longer operative.
Recently Erdogan announced that his next move in Syria would be to towards Manbij, held by the YPK. Shortly thereafter pictures of U.S. troops in Manbij displaying U.S. flags were published on social networks. The message was clear: stay away from here or you will be in serious trouble.
On Monday planes from the Iraqi air force attacked Islamic State positions within eastern Syria. The attack followed from intelligence cooperation between Syria and Iraq. It is easier for Iraq to reach that area than for Syrian planes stationed near the Mediterranean. This cooperation will continue. In western Iraq militia integrated with the Iraqi military are ready to storm Tal Afar. This is besides the besieged Mosul the last big Islamic State position in the area. The U.S. had planned to let the Islamic State fighters flee from Mosul and Tal Afar towards Syrian and to let them take the Syrian government positions in Deir Ezzor. Syrian-Iraqi cooperation blocked that move. The U.S. attempt to separate the war on the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq failed. Any attempt to again use the Islamic State as a means to destroy Syria will meet resistance in Iraq where the U.S. is more and more engaged. U.S. commanders in Iraq will be well aware of that threat.
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In my opinion Trump's more belligerent remarks on Syria, on safe zones and military escalation, are rhetoric. They are his negotiation positions towards Russia and Iran. They are not his policies. Those are driven by more realistic positions. Obama balanced more hawkish views supported by the CIA, Hillary Clinton and the neoconservatives against reluctance in the military to engage in another big war. Trump will, even more than Obama, follow the Pentagon's view. That view seems to be unchanged. I therefore do not believe that aggressive escalation is the way Trump will go. Some additional U.S. troops may get added to the Kurdish forces attacking Raqqa. But any large move by Turkish or by Israeli forces will not be condoned. The big U.S. invasion of Syria in their support will not happen.
Meanwhile the Syrian army is moving on Palmyra and may soon retrieve it from the Islamic State. A new Russian trained unit, the 5th corps, is in the lead and so far makes a good impression. With Palmyra regained the Syrian army is free to move further east towards Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.
Erdogan may still get some kind of "safe zone" in the area in north Syrian his forces now occupy. But Damascus will support Kurdish and Arab guerilla forces against any Turkish occupation. The Turkish forces in Syria will continue to be in a lot of trouble. Erdogan will not get active U.S. support for further moves to capture Syrian land. His change of flags, twice, was useless and has severely diminished his standing.
There can be no resistance, no resurgent progressive movement if the Democrats and their wretched history arent cast away for good.
March 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " BAR " - George W. Bush vowed not to criticize Barack Obama. He deserves my silence. He added for good measure, I love my country more than I love politics. I think it is essential that he be helped in office. If anyone needed additional proof that Obama was a servant of the ruling classes Bush certainly provided it.
But Donald Trump is getting less love from his fellow Republican. Bush could have exercised the same self-imposed silence in regards to Trump but instead he made a thinly veiled critique of his remark that the press are enemies of the people. "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. That we need the media to hold people like me to account. I mean, power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere."
Fine words but they dont mean much to a man who used a compliant corporate media to wage war and attack our civil liberties. Media were certainly indispensable to Bush. They wouldnt even use the word torture when describing American brutality. Harsh interrogation techniques and other such weasel words appeared in order to keep the press in his good graces. Bush and Obama certainly knew the media were essential in helping to normalize their agenda of American aggression and the enactment of neo-liberal schemes at home.
Obama proved that if the presentation were slick enough anything would be acceptable to the media and to the masses they deliberately misinform.
Liberals immediately joined in praising Bushs simple statements even though they always said they hated him. Just a few sentences directed against Trump were enough for them to say they respected him, or that maybe he wasnt so bad, or that Trump made him look better than they recall.
In this country, presentation is everything. Of course the corporate media play their role in making sure that no one gets into office who isnt committed to the status quo. Trump upended that arrangement and has exposed the shallowness and perfidy of the liberal classes.
Donald Trumps policy on the deportation of undocumented people will surely result in great suffering. Ramping up the U.S. police state is always dangerous. But it should not be discussed without pointing out that more than 2.5 million people were deported during the Obama administration, more than under any other president. He may have talked a good game and said Si se puede, but it didnt keep anyone from being kicked out. Obama proved that if the presentation were slick enough anything would be acceptable to the media and to the masses they deliberately misinform.
Bush and Obama certainly knew the media were essential in helping to normalize their agenda of American aggression and the enactment of neo-liberal schemes at home.
The same can be said for other Trump pronouncements that have caused so much angst. He may post a tweet about increasing Americas nuclear arsenal, or calling the most recent agreement with Russia a bad deal. But Obama spent $1 trillion on a nuclear weapons upgrade , all with little protest from people who think themselves leftists. Trump says he will request a 10% increase in defense spending, a shocking figure given that the military budget is already insanely large. But he also said that he wont consider Social Security or Medicare for any budget reductions.
Obama declared more than once that entitlement programs would be on the table for budget cut consideration. He opened his first 2012 debate with Mitt Romney by declaring that they agreed on cutting these programs that Americans need to survive. Only Republican intransigence prevented him from making good on these plans. They were once called the third rail of politics, dooming anyone who suggested cutting back on the safety net to political defeat. But it is Trump the right winger who announces protection for programs that were once identified solely with the Democratic Party.
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Talk of resisting Trump is useless without exposure of past and present Democratic Party treachery against their voters. Smooth talking Democrats have given cover to one monstrous plot after another. Bill Clinton ended the right to public assistance. Barack Obama bailed out the financial sector with trillions of dollars.
Talk of resisting Trump is useless without exposure of past and present Democratic Party treachery against their voters.
Now liberals have nothing to say for themselves except attacking Trumps low hanging fruit and never asking themselves about what Democrats have done. They continue a ceaseless attack on Russia, a country which has done no harm to the United States, and act in concert with Democrats and Republicans in the war party. They go so far as to quote dubious sources in intelligence agencies and now vouch for the credibility of George W. Bush.
Opposition to Trump, the resistance as it is called, will be useless without a wholesale rejection of the Democratic Party. There can be no resistance, no resurgent progressive movement if the Democrats and their wretched history arent cast away for good.
Liberals have exposed themselves as being weak at the very least, and phony lovers of empire and the elites at worst. They were never really very different. Having a right winger in the White House has just exposed them all.
How the Press Serves the Deep State
Mainstream U.S. media is proud to be the Deep States tip of the spear pinning President Trump to the wall over unproven allegations about Russia and his calls for detente, a rare point where he makes sense.
By Daniel Lazare
March 02, 2017 "
Information Clearing House
" - "
Consortium New
" -The New York Times has made it official. In a Sunday front-page article entitled Trump Ruled the Tabloid Media. Washington Is a Different Story, the paper gloats that Donald Trump has proved powerless to stop a flood of leaks threatening to capsize his administration.
As reporters Glenn Thrush and Michael M. Grynbaum put it : This New York-iest of politicians, now an idiosyncratic, write-your-own-rules president, has stumbled into the most conventional of Washington traps: believing he can master an entrenched political press corps with far deeper connections to the permanent government of federal law enforcement and executive department officials than he has.
Thrush and Grynbaum add a few paragraphs later that Trump is being force-fed lessons all presidents eventually learn that the iron triangle of the Washington press corps, West Wing staff and federal bureaucracy is simply too powerful to bully.
Iron triangle? Permanent government? In its tale of how Trump went from being a favorite of the New York Post and Daily News to fodder for the big-time Washington news media, the Times seems to be going out of its way to confirm dark paranoid fears of a deep state lurking behind the scenes and dictating what political leaders can and cannot do. Too powerful to bully by a write-your-own-rules president is another way of saying that the permanent government wants to do things its way and will not put up with a president telling it to take a different approach.
Entrenched interests are nothing new, of course. But a major news outlet bragging about collaborating with such elements in order to cripple a legally established government is. The Times was beside itself with outrage when top White House adviser Steve Bannon described the media as the opposition party . But one cant help but wonder what all the fuss is about since an alliance aimed at hamstringing a presidency is nothing if not oppositional.
If so, a few things are worth keeping in mind. One is that Trump was elected, even if only by an Eighteenth-Century relic known as the Electoral College, whereas the deep state, permanent government, or whatever else you want to call it was not. Where Trump gave speeches, kissed babies, and otherwise sought out the vote, the deep state did nothing. To the degree this country is still a democracy, that must count for something. So if the conflict between president and the deep state ever comes down to a question of legitimacy, there is no doubt who will come out ahead: The Donald.
A second thing worth keeping in mind is that if ever there was a case of the unspeakable versus the inedible (to quote Oscar Wilde), the contest between a billionaire president and billionaire-owned press is it.
Both sides are more or less correct in what they say about the other. Trump really is a strongman at war with basic democratic norms just as innumerable Times op-ed articles say he is. And giant press organization like the Times and the Washington Post are every bit as biased and one-sided as Trump maintains and no less willfully gullible, one might add, than in 2002 or 2003 when they happily swallowed every lie put out by the George W. Bush administration regarding Iraqi WMDs or Saddam Husseins support for Al Qaeda.
Riveting TV
Trumps Feb. 16 press conference surely the most riveting TV since Jerry Springer was in his prime is a case in point. The President bobbed, weaved, and hurled abuse like a Catskills insult comic. He threw out pseudo-facts, describing his victory, for instance, as the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan when in fact George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all got more votes. But commentators who panned the display as a freak show or simply batshit crazy didnt get it. It wasnt Trump who bombed that afternoon, but the press.
Why? Because reporters behaved with all the intelligence of a pack of Jack Russell terriers barking at a cat up a tree. Basically, theyve been seized by the idee fixe that Russia is a predator state that hacks elections, threatens U.S. national security, and has now accomplished the neat trick of planting a Kremlin puppet in the Oval Office. It doesnt matter that evidence is lacking or that the thesis defies common sense. Its what they believe, what their editors believe, and what the deep state believes too (or at least pretends to). So the purpose of the Feb. 16 press conference was to pin Trump down as to whether he also believes the Russia-did-it thesis and pillory him for deviating from the party line.
More than half the questions that reporters threw out were thus about Russia, about Mike Flynn, the ex-national security adviser who got into trouble for talking to the Russian ambassador before the new administration formally took office, or about reputed contacts between the Trump campaign staff and Moscow. One reporter thus demanded to know if anyone from Trumps campaign staff had ever spoken with the Russian government or Russian intelligence. Another asked if Trump had requested FBI telephone intercepts before determining that Flynn had not broken the law.
I just want to get you to clarify this very important point, said a third. Can you say definitively that nobody on your campaign had any contacts with the Russians during the campaign? A fourth wanted to get the Presidents reaction to such provocations as a Russian communications vessel floating 30 miles off the coast of Connecticut (in international waters). Is Putin testing you, do you believe, sir? the reporter asked as if he had just uncovered a Russian agent in the Lincoln Bedroom. But do they damage the relationship? Do they undermine this countrys ability to work with Russia?
When yet another journalist asked yet again whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with Russia during the course of the election, Trump cried out in frustration: How many times do I have to answer this question? It was the most intelligent query of the day.
The press played straight into Trumps hands, all but providing him with his best lines. Well, I guess one of the reasons Im here today is to tell you the whole Russian thing, thats a ruse, he responded at one point. Thats a ruse. And by the way, it would be great if we could get along with Russia, just so you understand that. Now tomorrow, youll say, Donald Trump wants to get along with Russia, this is terrible. Its not terrible. Its good.
The prose may not be very polished, but the sentiments are unassailable. Ditto Trumps statement a few minutes later that false reporting by the media, by you people, the false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia. And thats a shame because if we could get along with Russia and by the way, China and Japan and everyone if we could get along, it would be a positive thing, not a negative thing.
If the Washington Post and the Times do not agree that bogus assertions about unauthorized contacts with Russia are not poisoning the atmosphere, they should explain very clearly why not. They should also explain what they hope to accomplish with a showdown with Russia and why it will not be a step toward World War III.
But they wont, of course. The media (with encouragement from parts of the U.S. government) are working themselves into a fit of outrage against Vladimir Putin just as, in past years, they did against Daniel Ortega, Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein (again), Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad, and Viktor Yanukovych. In each instance, the outcome has been war, and so far the present episode shows all signs of heading in the same direction as well.
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Reporters may be clueless, but working-class Americans arent. They dont want a war because theyre the ones who would have to fight it. So theyre not unsympathetic to Trump and all the more inclined to give the yapping media short shrift.
This is a classic pattern in which strongmen advance on the basis of a liberal opposition that proves to be weak and feckless. Todays liberal media are obliging Trump by behaving in a way that is even sillier than usual and well ahead of schedule to boot.
A Fragile Meme
The anti-Russia meme, meanwhile, rests on the thinnest of foundations. The argument that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and thereby tipped the election to Trump is based on a single report by CrowdStrike, the California-based cyber-security firm hired by the DNC to look into the mass email leak. The document is festooned with head-spinning techno-jargon.
It says of Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, the hackers who allegedly penetrated the DNC in behalf of Russian intelligence: Their tradecraft is superb, operational security second to none, and the extensive usage of living-off-the-land techniques enables them to easily bypass many security solutions they encounter. In particular, we identified advanced methods consistent with nation-state level capabilities including deliberate targeting and access management tradecraft both groups were constantly going back into the environment to change out their implants, modify persistent methods, move to new Command & Control channels, and perform other tasks to try to stay ahead of being detected. Both adversaries engage in extensive political and economic espionage for the benefit of the government of the Russian Federation and are believed to be closely linked to the Russian governments powerful and highly capable intelligence services.
Impressive? Not to independent tech experts who have already begun taking potshots. Sam Biddle, The Intercepts extremely smart tech writer, notes that CrowdStrike claims to have proved that Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear are Russian because they left behind Cyrillic comments in their metadata along with the name Felix Edmundovich, also in Cyrillic, an obvious reference to Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka, as the Soviet political police were originally known.
But, Biddle observes, theres an obvious contradiction : Would a group whose tradecraft is superb with operational security second to none really leave behind the name of a Soviet spy chief imprinted on a document it sent to American journalists? Would these groups really be dumb enough to leave Cyrillic comments on these documents? Its very hard to buy the argument that the Democrats were hacked by one of the most sophisticated, diabolical foreign intelligence services in history, and that we know this because they screwed up over and over again.
Indeed, John McAfee, founder of McAfee Associates and developer of the first commercial anti-virus software, casts doubt on the entire enterprise, wondering whether it is possible to identify a hacker at all. If I were the Chinese, he told TV interviewer Larry King in late December, and I wanted to make it look like the Russians did it, I would use Russian language within the code, I would use Russian techniques of breaking into organizations. If it looks like the Russians did it, then I can guarantee you: it was not the Russians. ( Quote starts at 4:30.)
This may be too sweeping. Nonetheless, if the press really wanted to get to the bottom of what the Russians are doing, they would not begin with the question of what Trump knew and when he knew it. They would begin, rather, with the question of what we know and how we can be sure. Its the question that the press should have asked during the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but failed to. But its the question that reporters should be asking now before the conflict with Russia spins out of control, with consequences that are potentially even more horrendous.
Its not easy making Donald Trump seem like a peacenik, but thats what the billionaires press has done.
Held annually since 2004, the JCBC has, over the years, continued to forge strategic partnerships and projects between China and Singapore. (Photo : Getty Images)
Bilateral ties between China and Singapore are long-standing and broad-based, Teo Chee Hean, Singapores Deputy Prime Minister, was quoted to have said after the 13th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) concluded on Monday, Feb. 27.
The highest bilateral forum between the two nations, the JCBC was co-chaired by DPM Teo and Zhang Gaoli, the Chinese Vice Premier.
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Held annually since 2004, the JCBC has, over the years, continued to forge strategic partnerships and projects between China and Singapore. In 2016, however, the JCBC didnt push through due to the heightened tensions regarding the South China Sea dispute.
DPM Teo reiterated after the 13th JCBC meeting that China-Singapore bilateral ties are strong and forward-looking, best characterized by the sizable delegation Singapore sent to the meeting. The group included 11 ministers and political office holders, as well as prominent and young ministers.
Its a delegation which is a large one but it means that it covers a wide range of areas that were engaged in, DPM Teo said, according to Channel News Asia.
It is also a delegation which has quite a number of younger ministers in it. But it shows that forward-looking nature of the relationship that were building with China, in that weve brought younger ministers along so that they can continue the relationship that was built up by our senior leaders, Mr. Deng Xiaoping and Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.
Post-meeting, the Singapore Prime Ministers Office issued an official media statement. It announced that DPM Teo and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang agreed that the Belt and Road project is the prime focus of bilateral cooperation between the two sides.
Partnerships have also been explored at the JCBC meeting, particularly between Chinese and Singaporean companies. The two parties also looked to enhance multilateral cooperation through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
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Theres a Deep State in America?! By Ramin Mazaheri Imagine my surprise when, on my flight back from San Francisco to New York, thats what my trusty New York Times revealed to me . My first thought was: I cant believe how this horrible Donald Trump has set up a Deep State in less than a month?! Surely Russia was involved in its formation. Then again, I strangely find myself thinking a lot about Russia these days. Ill admit it when my morning breakfast was late it fleetingly occurred to me that the Kremlin was behind this slowdown in my hotel room service. Putting that aside, I was immediately relieved when by the 3rd paragraph our nations paper of record had put to rest my fears of an unprecedented formation of a US Deep State with, Not quite, experts say. Whew. I just dont put anything past the evil capabilities of the Donald! Reading the article I was surprised to find that the Deep State isnt what I thought it was apparently its only when the government leaks information to the media? Thats funny, because one time on the SF-NYC Job Creator Red-eye I sat next to an Egyptian guy. Of course I was worried, at first, but I found out it he was a Coptic Christian, so that put me at ease. Who even knew they had those?! This Egyptian told me about his countrys Deep State, and it sounded really bad: He said that they colluded with some Western countries he didnt say which and looked kind of uncomfortable as he said it, for some reason to stop that great Tahrir Square Revolution which was to guarantee that Israel would be safe. Mr. Gypsy said that the Egyptian version of the Deep State was that their military controlled the economy, and that they bribed, imprisoned and killed people to keep their grip on the economy and control over foreign policy. It sounded pretty bad. I told him I was happy that Washington was supporting Al-Sisis military takeover with billions in aid, and that he didnt have to thank me personally for that. A military intertwined with the economyI must admit, it did make me think Of Russia! Im nearly certain that Putin created something similar over there, after he banned elections, so why even verify it with some research?! But this Egyptian must not have known what he was talking about, because the New York Times article didnt say anything about the economy?
What they said was: Mr. Trump, apparently seeking to cut the intelligence community, State Department, and other agencies out of the policy-making process almost entirely, may have triggered a conflict whose escalation we are seeing in the rising number of leaks. Officials, deprived of the usual levers for shaping policies that are supposed to be their purview, are left with little other than leaking. Trump was clearly trying to cut public officials out of the democratic process, and they had no choice but to resort to these illegal leaks! I mean, Im pretty sure you dont get elected to be a CIA spy or NSA agent, but somebody up top is andwell, I dont know if they did the leaksand I dont know if the leaks are really true or notbut Im telling you we have to get Donald out NOW! Anything thats bad for Trump must be good. Its really that simple, so case closed. Were in a world now where the president is playing to the edge of his powers, and I think there are real concerns about the constitutional implications of some of the actions hes taken, said somebody who must be totally objective and perfect because why else would the New York Times choose them? If theres one thing Obama never, ever, ever did it was to expand his executive authority in ways unbeseeming to the presidential authority. If Obama had done that, I would have been in the streets, you can bet! Trust me: I have my anti-Trump pussy hat in my closet and ready for the next protest! Dont bring up drones! Youll just remind me of this guy at work nobody understands Fazlollah Lefty Bittermani hes always doing that! Between you and me, his last name ends in a vowel, soyou know.he may have certain sympathies. That guy really cheeses me off! What Lefty doesnt realize is that we are at war not with Russia, yet but with not Muslims but withcertain people, lets just say. And the president has the right to fight war however he wants. But when it comes to waging diplomacy the president must be restricted as much as possible! We refuse to accept Hillarys defeat until the Russians give back the Donbass to the Crimeans! This is simply a question of our humanitarian rights! Trump is trying to make a liar out of not just Hillary, but of Sylvester Stallone and Rocky IV even when the Russians cheat they are still supposed to lose to the Americans! Was I back on Russia again? I dont knowIm like, obsessed with them, or something? Back to the New York Times, which always reassures me when contradictions confuse me. Just after that last quote they wrote this: That has forced officials in agencies to ask how far they will go themselves. As each side begins to perceive itself as under attack and the other as making dangerous power-grabs, it will justify more and more extreme behavior. So clearly, these officials are justified more and more in extreme behaviorbecause its Trump! I really wish we had some of these great, extreme officials during the Dubya era, but why bring up ancient history? One thing is certain: During just four weeks in office Trump has clearly destroyed the culture and future of the United States and must be impeached. These officials even if they are unelected should absolutely not be listening to their elected leader! Why? Well just read the next paragraph, another unassailable analyst of the Times: In President Trump, you have a president whose behavior shocks even more than the content of his policies. Yes! Behavior, not content! I was telling my son this recently: He came in 19th place in a recent science competition (but out of 24!), and he was upset that his blue ribbon wasnt an actual trophy. I told him, Son, Im going to buy you that trophy because your behavior was correct, even if you totally screwed up measuring the contents of your volcano experiment, and it exploded and burned the girl next to you. I think the girl was Russian, anyway. She was certainly shocked. Anyway, the Times goes on to say that now this dangerous Trump wants to appoint someone to review our intelligence agencies. Astounding, the gall of this man! I really think hes psychologically insane. It looks, sounds and feels like a political witch hunt, said Analyst #1 (the White one, not the Egyptian one). Its like pouring gasoline on the fire.
It certainly does! What else do you call our top elected official trying to find out what work is being illegally done in secret with taxpayer money? I am certain this is something Putin would do with his KGB. And thats why Russia is not free because the KGB cannot operate freely to undermine Putins attempts at diplomacy! Dont tell me Im wrong, comrade! Mr. Flynn, in his short tenure, exemplified the breakdown between the presidents inner circle and career civil servants. He kept the National Security Council largely shut out of policy-making and sought sweeping changes in foreign policy. This is the US, not the USSR! Our career bureaucrats need to be in charge, not our elected officials! Trump simply cannot make sweeping changes to foreign policy even if he was democratically elected on that mandate because career civil servants should run the show! Break Free From The Matrix Get Our Free Daily Newsletter The next paragraph: For concerned government officials, leaks may have become one of the few remaining means by which to influence not just Mr. Flynns policy initiatives but the threat he seemed to pose to their place in democracy. Democracy is bureaucracy! You vote for a person, they appoint an official, the person you voted for gets voted out of office, but the appointed official stays forever and amasses power democracy! I tried to explain this to that Egyptian guy, but he said, Then whats the point of demonstrating and facing down gun barrels if the people cant demand change? I kept telling him: But Israel is fine these days? Tahrir worked out great! He didnt get it. Anyway, Egypt is not the country who is threatening American democracy, and I dont have to tell you who is, because Ive just taken that pill that helps me with my compulsive psychological issues. The Times continued: Even if each individual leak is justifiable, as insubordination becomes more sustained and overt, it inches deeper into the gray zone of counter-democratic activities. I already had the feeling that every anti-Trump leaks was justifiable, and that we are still many, many inches away from counter-democracy, so thanks Gray Lady! I almost had to take that other pill for my anxiety! And insubordination is clearly justified because, as I said, in 4 weeks Trump has already proven himself to be a new Hitler! Dont get me started on Steve Bannon! I dont think you can say in advance what inappropriate deep-state activity would look like, because we havent seen this before, said Analyst #1. Exactly this is a totally new day, and this was all appropriate deep-state activity. Weve never seen anything like this in the history of the world, much less America. I told this to Lefty back at work and he started ranting about Kennedy. I totally did not see what Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy had to do with this, but who can fathom what goes on in the mind of a Fazlollah? The main thing is that we get Trump before he does damage to free trade, because my corporation and all businesses are totally helpless against the government. They have no influence at allunlike Egypt. There, the deep state is not official institutions rebelling, he said, but rather shadowy networks within those institutions, and within business, who are conspiring together and forming parallel state institutions. We all know that there is absolutely nothing like this which is happening in America. And thats why the idea of business being involved in Americas Deep State did not appear until the 7th-to-last paragraph. I almost didnt read that far! And thats why the New York Times finished on this heartening note: This war between the intelligence community and the White House is bad for the intelligence community, bad for the White House, and bad for the nations security. See? Our so-called Deep State has nothing to do with business. The New York Times is right next to Wall Street, so they would surely know, right? Now if youll excuse me I have to make a call to the Pentagon for my work. No, Im not in defense contracting or anything, but the Pentagon is the worlds largest employer hard to work around them in the United States! And the profit margins wow! Im so glad our owners had a personal contact in there. Frankly, I thought the New York Times headline was a bit too alarmist: As Leaks Multiply, Fears of a Deep State in America But Im glad they immediately put those fears to rest. With that content, I would have run a headline like: Internal leaks justified as Trump could affect share prices I think that would have been more accurate. Frankly Im a bit surprised such a non-story could bump Russia off the front page? Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section.
The former Governor of Kwara State, Dr Bukola Saraki is new Senate President Of Nigeria.
However, here are 10 things you probably didnt know about him:
1. Bukola Saraki was born on the 19th of December, 1962 (54 Years).
2. His father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, was also a Senator (1979 1983) in Nigeria.
3. He attended Kings college, Lagos, from 1973 to 1978, and Cheltenham college, London from 1979 to 1981 for his High School Certificate.He also studied at the London Hospital Medical College of the University of London from 1982 to 1987, when he obtained his M.B.B.S (London).
4.At 27, Saraki was already an executive director in a commercial bank.
5. He worked as a Medical Officer at Rush Green Hospital Essex from 1988 to 1989
6. His political career started when he was appointed by the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo as Special assistant on budget issues in 2000.
7. He was the one who initiated the Fiscal Responsibility Bill and served on the Economic Policy Coordination Committee where he was responsible for the formulation and implementation of several key economic policies for Nigeria.
8. He was Kwara State Governor for two terms, from 2003 till 2011.
9. He was the first Nigerian governor to be awarded the national honour, a Commander of the Order of the Niger
10. Before becoming a senator, he was the former chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum.
Here are some facts from our common heritage that should make you proud to be called a Nigerian:
1. Nigeria is home to seven percent (7%) of the total languages spoken on earth. Taraba state alone has more languages than 30 African countries. The importance of this fact is appreciated when one understands that language is the soul of culture (as Ngugi wa Thiongo famously said). It is language that births the proverbs, riddles, stories and other aspects of culture that give us identity. UNESCO puts forward that the worlds languages represents an extraordinary wealth of creativity. Linguistic diversity correlates with cultural diversity. This means Nigeria can look inwards and drive itself to become the greatest hub for cultural tourism on earth, and consequently empower its citizens tremendously in the process.
2. The Walls of Benin (800-1400AD), in present day Edo State, are the longest ancient earthworks in the world, and probably the largest man-made structure on earth. They enclose 6500 square kilometers of community lands that connected about 500 communities. At over 16000km long, it was thought to be twice the length of the Great Wall of China, until it was announced in 2012 (after five years of meticulous measurement by Chinese surveyors) that the Great Wall is about 21,000km long.
3. The Yoruba tribe has the highest rate of twin births in the world. Igbo-Ora, a little town in Oyo state, has been nicknamed Twin capital of the World because of its unusually high rate of twins that is put as high as 158 twins per 1000 births. In a video I watched last year on YouTube presented by Titi (a white lady who speaks Yoruba), and which was centred on twin births in Igbo-Ora, one of the locals boasted that every family in the town has at least one twin!
4. Sarki Muhammad Kanta The Great of Kebbi, was the only ruler who resisted control by Songhai, West Africas greatest empire at that time. He founded and ruled the Hausa city-state of Kebbi around 1600 A.D and built Surame its capital, a planned city which was almost impossible to penetrate during war. In fact UNESCO describes Surame as one of the wonders of human history, creativity and ingenuity, and probably the most massive stone-walled constructions in West Africa. He is listed in Robin Walkers 50 Greatest Africans.
5. Africas oldest known boat is The Dufuna canoe which was discovered in Dufuna village, Yobe state, by a Fulani Herdsman in May 1987, while he dug a well. Various radio-carbon tests conducted in laboratories of reputable universities in Europe and America indicate that the canoe is over 8,000 years old, thus making it the oldest in Africa and 3rd oldest in the world. The discovery of the canoe has completely changed accepted theories of the history and sophistication of marine technology in Africa.
6. Sungbos Eredo, a 160 km rampart equipped with guard houses and moats, is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument (or ancient fortification if you like) in Africa. It is located in present-day Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and when it was built a millennium ago, it required more earth to be moved during construction than that used for building the Great Pyramid of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of The Ancient World). The most astonishing thing is that Sungbos Eredo was the biggest city in the world (bigger than Rome and Cairo) during the Middle Ages when it was built!
7. Sarki Abdullah Burja of Kano (ruled 1438-1452 AD), the 18th ruler of Ancient Kano, created the first Golden Age in Northern Nigeria and ushered in a period of great prosperity. During his reign, Hausa became the biggest indigenous language spoken in Africa after Swahili. He is on the list of 50
Greatest Africans in Robin Walkers wonderful book, When We Ruled.
8. The Jos Plateau Indigobird, a small reddish-brown bird, is found nowhere else on the planet but Plateau state, Nigeria.
9. The Anambra waxbill, a small bird of many beautiful colours, is found only in Southern Nigeria and nowhere else on earth.
10. The Niger Delta (which is the second largest delta on the planet), has the highest concentration of monotypic fish families in the world, and is also home to sixty percent of Nigerias mangrove forests. You should know too that Nigerias mangrove forests are the largest in Africa and third largest on earth.
11. According to the World Resources Institute, Nigeria is home to 4,715 different types of plant species, and over 550 species of breeding birds and mammals, making it one of the most ecologically vibrant places of the planet.
12. Ile-Ife, in present day Osun State, was paved as early as 1000AD, with decorations that originated from Ancient America suggesting there might have been contact between the Yorubas and the Ancient Americans half a millenium before Columbus discovered America.
Nigeria attained her independence from Britain in 1960 but before the attainment of independence, there were heroes among her citizens that fought for self governance. Looking back in time and following the path of history, here is a list of five important Nigerians who helped fight for Nigerias independence.
Herbert Macaulay:
Born in 1864, Herbert Macaulay was the grandson of Bishop Ajayi Crowther and he was trained as an engineer. He is considered the founder of Nigerian nationalism as the movement was under his influence in the 1920s. He started the nationalist movement because of the belief that the people of different backgrounds living in the British colony of Nigeria needed to come together as one. He returned to Nigeria in 1893 after completing his studies in London as the first Nigerian to be sponsored by the colonial government for a professional course abroad. He joined the colonial civil service and this exposed him to the ills and irregularities of the colonial government which led him to get involved with politics to fight for the rights of Nigerians. He founded the Lagos Daily News to promote the nationalist movement. He was the first Nigerian to establish a political party in 1922, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). He became the first national president of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), party he co-founded with Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1944. Macaulays political activities were limited to Lagos affairs until the very end of his life and he was on a nationwide campaign in 1946 when he took ill and died on May 7, 1946 in Kano.
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe:
Born on the 16th of November, 1904 in Niger state, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe was at the fore-front in the fight for Nigerias Independence. He was fondly referred to as Zik and became the first president of Nigeria after Nigeria got her independence from the United Kingdom. While working as the editor for the African Morning Post, a daily newspaper in Ghana, Nnamdi Azikiwe promoted pro-African nationalist agenda. Upon his return to Nigeria in 1937, he founded the West African Pilot which was a tool used to promote the cause of Nigerian nationalism. Alongside Herbert Macaulay, he founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in 1944 and he was made the secretary-general of the National Council in 1946. He was later elected to Legislative Council of Nigeria the following year. He was the first Nigerian to be named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and he also became the Governor General on the same day. With Nigeria becoming a republic in 1962, he became her first president. He died on May 11, 1996 in Enugu following a protracted illness.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo:
Chief Obafemi Awolowo was born on March 6, 1909 in Ogun state. He was also one of the pioneer leaders that fought for Nigerias independence and he introduced free education in the western region in 1955. After completing his education abroad, he returned to Nigeria in 1947 and took up practice as a barrister. However while he had been in London, he wrote his first book Path to Nigerian Freedom in which he criticized the British administration and advocated for self governance. He also helped to found the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa, the mythical ancestor of the Yoruba-speaking peoples), an organization devoted to the study and preservation of Yoruba culture. He was also the founder of the political party Action Group in 1950, a party that called for the termination of British rule in Nigeria. In 1954, he became the first premier of the Western Region. During his lifetime he wrote several books such as Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution, The Peoples Republic, The Strategy and Tactics of the Peoples Republic of Nigeria. He resigned his position as commisioner of finance and vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council in 1971 to protest the governments continuation of military rule. He died on May 9, 1987 and was buried on June 6, 1987.
Sir Ahmadu Bello:
Born on June 12, 1910, Sir Ahmadu Bello was the 1st President of the Northern Peoples Party (NPP) in 1951 and he was also the former premier of Northern region. He alongside Abubakar Tafawa Balewa took active roles in the struggle for an independent Nigeria. Upon his return from England, he got a nomination to represent Sokoto in the regional House of Assembly. He used his position there to promote the development of the northern emirates such as Kano, Bornu and Sokoto. He became the first Premier of Northern Nigeria in 1954 and in 1959 independence elections, his party NPC won a plurality of the parliamentary seats. His party later formed an alliance with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwes NCNC to form Nigerias first indigenous federal government which led to independence from the British colonial masters. He was also responsible for the modernization and unification of the diverse people of the North. He was assassinated in a coup on January 15, 1966 while still serving as premier of Northern Nigeria.
Chief Anthony Enahoro:
Chief Anthony Enahoro was born on 22 July, 1923 and was one of Nigerias foremost anti-colonial and pro-democracy activists. He became Nigerias youngest editor ever at the age of 21 when he became the editor of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwes newspaper, the Southern Nigerian Defender, Ibadan, in 1944. Chief Enahoro joined the struggle for Nigerias independence in the early 1940s acting as a student leader and leading protests. He was on two occasions jailed by the colonial government for sedition and writing satiric articles. In 1953, he became the first to move the motion for Nigerias independence and is usually referred to as the father of Nigeria State. His motion was however rejected and a successful motion did not come till 1958, the motion was made by Chief Remi Fani-Kayode. He died on December 15, 2010.
(Koko feed)
One Mr. Lateef Raheem has been arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ebute Meta, Lagos for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl (name withheld).
Mr. Raheem who is 55 year old was said to have committed the crime on February 21, 2017, at Ekesra Street, Etegbin, Shibiri, Lagos.
The accused is facing one count charge of defilement punishable under Section 137 of the C riminal Law of Lagos Nigeria 2011.
The mother of the victim, whose name was not disclosed, said her daughter complained of pains in her private part while she was bathing her, adding that she told her the pains were caused by Baba, which led to the accused persons arrest by police officers.
According to the mother of the Victim, It was on Monday, as I was bathing my child and wanted to wash her private part, she started complaining of pains, and I asked her what happened, why her vagina was paining her.
She said it was one Baba. I asked her which Baba? She said Baba that use to drive Okada (a commercial motorcyclist). And this was happening around 10 p.m.
The woman said her daughter took her to Mr. Raheems house the next day.
When I saw the man, I said to him, Baba thank you very much, anytime you see my daughter around, please chase her away.
And the Baba started raising his voice at me, saying What is it? Did I touch your daughter?
So because of that I called my brother and reported the matter to him. My brother reported to the police and Baba was arrested
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Magistrate, T.A Elias, granted him bail of N25,000 with two sureties and adjourned the case till March 29 2017.
Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has expressed his satisfaction over the performance of the Nigerian military in the handling of security threats across the country in recent years.
Mr. Osinbajo stated this on Wednesday shortly after receiving briefings from the nations service chiefs and heads of other security agencies at the situation room of Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Defence Minister, Mansur Ali, had earlier said the security chiefs will brief the acting president about the various operations being carried out by the armed forces especially the fight against Boko Haram in the north east.
Mr. Osinbajo said though the fight against Boko Haram is not over yet, but it was clear that the Nigerian armed forces has greatly decimated the terror group.
Osinbajo said, As you know the Boko Haram as a military force has been degraded. They are not holding territory at the moment. Our armed forces have been able to dislodge them from practically all territories they were holding in the past.
What is happening now is just once-in-a-while-attacks by suicide bombers.
By the nature of asymmetric warfare we are not able to say it has ended now. But I think that militarily, they have been contained. There is no question at all that Boko Haram as a fighting force has been degraded, he said.
Mr. Osinbajo, however, said the terrorist group still has the capacity to do damage with suicide bombers. He said that was why the military was keeping vigilance.
I am very satisfied with what the military has done so far. And the briefing has shown graphically that they are really on top of their game and that they are doing excellently well in the north east, he said.
The acting president also said at the briefing that holding regular security briefings is President Muhammadu Buharis idea.
Mr. Buhari is currently in London on medical vacation. Mr. Osinbajo said he would speak with the president and update him on the outcome of the meeting.
Almost every month, these briefings are held. It is routine and it is the president who puts in place this whole idea of regular briefing.
It is even more important that we do so because of some of the issues arising; like the cases of kidnappings and I wanted the IG to inform us fully.
Besides, the President is a process person and certainly, I am going to speak with him on developments here. So it is not an indication of anything. It is only an indication that we are committed to the security of the nation, he said.
The acting president also stated that the primary duty of any government is to ensure the security of lives and property hence the need for leaders to be briefed regularly.
The good thing is that our men are doing extraordinarily well in the north east and that Southern Kaduna has also been contained.
The peace building process is also going on very well, he concluded.
Barely two weeks after the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took over the management of Arik Airlines, payment of staff salaries and other creditors have commenced as the airline gradually works regain public confidence.
Although the airline now managed by Captain Roy Ukpebo Ilegbodu, under the receivership of Mr. Oluseye Opasanya, was confronted with a barrage of challenges before the takeover, it has eventually surmounted the problems to stabilise operations with the few aircraft on the fleet.
Unlike what obtained before the takeover, average On-Time-Performance (OTP) of Arik Air to different destinations has improved, Nigerian banks that hitherto turned their backs to Arik now cooperate and support the new management, engagement with international and local creditors has also been successful, just as discussions with critical service providers and industry stakeholders have yielded the much desired positive results.
According to a statement from AMCON, the airline has also paid the insurance premium, which was on the verge of expiring had AMCON not taken over on February 9, 2017.
Arik has also commenced the payment of outstanding salaries, which has greatly boosted staff morale as well as performance. Arik is also in discussion with different creditors and stakeholders to recall a good number of aircraft into the fleet as soon as possible, which will increase the number of daily flights. Aside from that, a good number of affected passengers have been refunded while efforts are on to reach out to those yet to get their refund as a result of suspension of flights to some routes.
Diplomatic tensions between Iran and Turkey will not result in an actual confrontation due to the vast economic ties between the regional rivals, Turkish analysts say.
As both regional rivals compete for a greater share of influence in the region, the Syrian governments victory in Aleppo, coupled with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL , also known as ISIS) groups diminishing presence in Iraq , has brought tensions between them to the boil.
The tensions between Turkey and Iran did not appear out of the blue, said Atilla Yesilada, a political analyst with Istanbuls Global Source Partners.
This rivalry had been simmering beneath the surface for a very long time. Recent developments in Syria and Iraq simply forced the two countries to be more overtly aggressive against each other, Yesilada told Al Jazeera.
Over the past week, diplomatic tensions have escalated between regional rivals Turkey and Iran after Ankara blamed Tehran of pursuing a sectarian agenda and destabilising the Middle East.
Regional politics may cause tensions between the two countries, but in the light of their strong economic ties, I dont believe the recent escalation in diplomatic tensions is going to lead to a serious confrontation
Turkey s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Iran of trying to split Iraq and Syria by resorting to Persian nationalism, while Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkeys foreign minister, criticised what he called Irans
sectarian policy aimed at undermining Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Iran is trying to create two Shia states in Syria and Iraq . This is very dangerous. It must be stopped, Cavusoglu said at the Munich conference on 19 February.
In response, Iran summoned the Turkish ambassador over these remarks and warned Turkey that its patience had limits, and if Turkish officials continue making such statements it will not remain silent.
Turkey and Iran have been on opposite sides of the conflict in Syria, with Ankara seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and Tehran being, along with Russia , his key backer.
And in Iraq, Turkey claims that it has a historical responsibility to protect the countrys Sunni and Turkmen minorities from Iran-backed Shia militias who are in the region to fight ISIL. Iran, on the other hand, alongside with Iraqs government, views Turkeys involvement in the conflict and military presence in the country as an incursion .
STurkey acts as the protector of Sunnis in the region, while Iran wants to build a Shia circle of influence all the way from Tehran to
Lebanon , so it is inevitable for these two regional powers to clash, Yesilada added.
Yesilada explained that as ISIL is steadily losing large swaths of territory in both Iraq and Syria, a significant power vacuum is forming along Turkeys southeastern border, causing Iran and Turkey to clash over who is going to replace the dominant force in the area.
ISIL is about to leave the stage for good, and Turkey is extremely worried about its replacement, Yesilada said. If it doesnt act immediately and forcefully, Iran-backed militias, Bashar al-Assad or the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), a group Turkey considers to be a terrorist organisation, can take over territories previously controlled by ISIL.
Turkey does not want another enemy at the gates, so it is making its position known to Iran, clearly and loudly.
Iran, on the other hand, is actively working towards ending Turkeys ongoing military presence in Iraq and Syria, to make sure its allies keep controlling the area, analysts said.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior foreign affairs adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently said Turkish troops should immediately retreat from Iraq and Syria or the people would kick them out .
Iranian president Hassan Rowhani speaks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at the presidential palace in Tehran in 2014 [Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA]
Iran experts in Turkey say Tehran is alarmed by Turkeys presence in Syria and Iraq.
Iran is extremely disturbed by
Turkeys Euphrates Shield operation
in Syria and its military presence in Iraqs Bashiqa , Erdem Aydin, an expert on Iran at Istanbuls Bogazici University, told Al Jazeera.
Iran views Turkeys military presence in these countries as a significant obstacle in front of its desire to extend its influence in the region.
Iran also wants to cut Turkeys efforts to create a Sunni controlled safe-zone in northern Syria at its roots, Aydin explained.
The escalation of diplomatic tensions between Iran and Turkey came after President Erdogan completed a week-long tour of the Arabian peninsula, Aydin, who is also a foreign news analyst and editor for CNN Turk, said. We have reason to believe that Erdogan asked his Saudi and Gulf allies to finance the creation of a safe zone in northern Syria during these visits and Iran was of course disturbed by this development.
It is also possible that the Gulf states asked Erdogan to adopt a more contentious attitude towards Iran in exchange for providing financial assistance for the safe-zone, Yesilada added.
Analysts explained US president Donald Trumps aggressive attitude towards Iran and the perception that he may be willing to support the creation of a Turkish-controlled safe zone in northern Syria also played a significant role in the escalation of tensions between Tehran and Ankara.
It looks like Erdogan realised Trump is going to be a lot more aggressive towards Iran compared to his predecessor, so he decided to act up against Tehran to secure US support for the safe zone, Yesilada said.
Russia, of course, is also an important player in this game, Aydin added.
He explained that Russias recent rapprochement with Turkey, as well as disagreements it has with Iran over Syria may play a significant role in the future of Turkeys relations with Iran.
Russia and Iran are having differences of opinion regarding the future of Syria, he said. Russia is viewing Assad as an ally, but is not insistent about him staying in his role as Syrias president.
Iran does not want Assad to go anywhere, but Russia, on the contrary, may easily sacrifice him.
Russia is ready to get out of Syria, Yesilada said. It is content with its victory on the ground. So it may choose not to be on Irans side to support Assad against Turkey.
While their conflicting interests on the ground as well as actions of other actors like the United States and Russia may lead to further diplomatic tensions between Iran and Turkey, analysts said the vast economic ties between the regional rivals may prevent an actual confrontation.
90 percent of Irans natural gas exports go to Turkey and Turkey imports 20 percent of its natural gas from Iran, Aydin told Al Jazeera. Regional politics may cause tensions between the two countries, but in the light of their strong economic ties, I dont believe the recent escalation in diplomatic tensions is going to lead to a serious confrontation.
Yesilada also said that the economic ties between the two countries cannot be overlooked but he argued that Turkey may be ready to take the economic blow to protect its regional interests.
It is true that Turkey is buying a lot of natural gas from Iran, and given that the Islamic Republic does not care too much about the international law, it may decide to close down the valves to teach Ankara a lesson, he said. Also Turkish businesses had been investing heavily in Iran since the countrys relations with the rest of the world was normalised following its nuclear deal with the US .
Yet Turkey might still be willing to face any economic threat and do everything necessary to stop Iran from extending its influence further in the Middle East , because any other scenario will be politically too costly for the country.
Source: AlJazeera
Nigeria has had its fair share of leaders who toiled endless for the greatness of our good nation. Today, it is all about the celebration of Nigerian heroes and heroines whose contributions to Nigeria can never be forgotten. Below is 10 of Nigerias greatest patriots.
Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello:
Sir Ahmadu Bello was born on 12th June, 1910 in Rabbah Sokoto. Considered as one of the most prominent leaders in early Nigeria, he went into politics back in 1934 and in 1954 became the first premier of the Northern Nigeria region. He alongside Abubakar Tafawa Balewa took active roles in the struggle for an independent Nigeria. He is commended for his efforts to modernize and unify the different tribes of northern Nigeria. On 15th January 1966, he was assassinated in a coup that toppled Nigerias post-independence government.The Ahmadu Bello University is named after him and his photo adorns Nigerias 200 naira.
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti:
Born on 25 October 1900 in Abeokuta, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti stood out among women of her time as a prominent leader. She was a womens right activist who fought against the military government over unjust practices and abuse of human rights. She was also the mother Fela Anikulapo Kuti one of the greatest musicians to have come out of Nigeria. Her political activism led her to be regarded as The Mother of Africa. She was one of the women elected to the native House of Chiefs, serving as an Oloye of the Yoruba people. She was also a ranking member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon as well as the first Nigerian lady to drive in Nigeria. She died from injuries sustained when she was thrown from a third-floor window in her sons compound. The federal government sought to immortalize her on the then proposed N5,000 note.
Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe:
Born on the 16th of November, 1904 in Niger state, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism. He was fondly referred to as Zik and became the first president of Nigeria after Nigeria got her independence from the United Kingdom. While working as the editor for the African Morning Post, a daily newspaper in Ghana, Nnamdi Azikiwe promoted pro-African nationalist agenda. Upon his return to Nigeria in 1937, he founded the West African Pilot which was a tool used to promote the cause of Nigerian nationalism. The newspaper had as it motto To show the light and let the people find their way. He founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in 1944 alongside Herbert Macaulay and he was made the secretary-general of the National Council in 1946. He was later elected to Legislative Council of Nigeria the following year. He was the first Nigerian to be named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and he also became the Governor General on the same day. Zik became the second (but first indigenous) and last Governor General from 1960 to 1963 and the first president of Nigeria, following the declaration of Nigeria as a Republic in 1963. He fought tirelessly for an independent and united Nigeria.
Kudirat Abiola:
Kudirat Abiola was born in 1951 in the Northern city of Zaria, Nigeria. She took active part in pro-democracy movement in 1994. She was actively involved in moving and sustaining the oil workers twelve week strike against the military. The strike successfully weakened the government and was the longest in African history by oil workers. In December of 1995, when the pro-democracy groups decided to march for freedom in Lagos, she joined the likes of Chief Anthony Enahoro at the forefront. She deified military decree banning political associations and was an inspiration to many. She won Woman of the Year in both 1994 and 1995. Her life was cut short by assassins on June 4, 1996.
Chief Anthony Enahoro:
Chief Anthony Enahoro was born on 22 July, 1923 and was one of Nigerias foremost anti-colonial and pro-democracy activists. He became Nigerias youngest editor ever at the age of 21 when he became the editor of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwes newspaper, the Southern Nigerian Defender, Ibadan, in 1944. Chief Enahoro joined the struggle for Nigerias independence in the early 1940s acting as a student leader and leading protests. He was on two occasions jailed by the colonial government for sedition and writing satiric articles. In 1953, he became the first to move the motion for Nigerias independence and is usually referred to as the father of Nigeria State. His motion was however rejected and a successful motion did not come till 1958, the motion was made by Chief Remi Fani-Kayode. He died on December 15, 2010.
Margaret Ekpo:
Margaret Ekpo was born in Creek Town, Calabar and was a Nigerian womens rights activist who was a pioneering female politician in the countrys first republic. She played major roles as a grassroot and nationalist politician in the Eastern Nigerian city of Aba. She was a member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) and was nominated by the NCNc in 1954 to the regional House of Chiefs in 1953. In 1950, she alongside Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti protested killings agt an Enugu coal mine, the victims were leaders protesting colonial colonial practices at the mine. In 1954 she established the Aba Township Womens Association and by 1955, women in Aba had outnumbered men voters in a city wide election. In 2001, Calabar Airport was named after her and she later died in 2006.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo:
Chief Obafemi Awolowo was born on March 6, 1909 in Ogun state. He was one of the pioneer leaders that fought for Nigerias independence and he introduced free education in the western region in 1955. He also helped to found the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa, the mythical ancestor of the Yoruba-speaking peoples), an organization devoted to the study and preservation of Yoruba culture. He was also the founder of the political party Action Group in 1950, a party that called for the termination of British rule in Nigeria. In 1954, he became the first premier of the Western Region. He resigned his position as Commissioner of finance and vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council in 1971 to protest the governments continuation of military rule. He died on May 9, 1987 and was buried on June 6, 1987.
Herbert Macaulay:
Herbert Macaulay was the grandson of Bishop Ajayi Crowther and he was born in 1864, He is considered the founder of Nigerian nationalism as the movement was under his influence in the 1920s. He started the nationalist movement because of the belief that the people of different backgrounds living in the British colony of Nigeria needed to come together as one. He founded the Lagos Daily News to promote the nationalist movement. He was the first Nigerian to establish a political party in 1922, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). He became the first national president of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), party he co-founded with Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1944.
Hajiya Gambo Sawaba:
Hajiya Sawaba was born in 1933 and was a strong Nigerian politician and activist. Her being a supporter of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) means that she was part of the political struggle that eventually won independence for Nigeria. Despite being a woman with low education and forced into an early marriage, she managed to make an impact in the struggle for the emancipation of the African woman. She was part of the struggle to liberate women from African traditions that were not in favour of women.
Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed:
This list cannot be complete without making mention of General Murtala Mohammed. He was one of Nigerias military rulers and he was born on November 8, 1938 in the ancient city of Kano. He took his first political appointment as Commissioner for Communications in 1974 which he combined with his military duties. Although his stay in power was short lived, his administration gave the country a new sense of direction, duty and patriotism. Among his contributions to the development of Nigeria is also his creation of 19 states out of the 12 carved out in 1967. He also set up a Public Complaints Commission which gave probity to the public. He was assassinated at the age of 37 on February 13, 1976. His portrait adorns the 20 Naira note and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos is named in his honor.
( Koko Feed)
Chinese authorities have decided to tear down 3,225 homes at Larung Gar by April 30. (Photo : Getty Images)
Six human rights experts or special rapporteurs from the United Nations have spoken out to condemn China for expelling nuns and monks from major Tibetan religious enclaves, the New York Times reported.
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They issued a statement, in which they called the expulsion a severe restriction of religious freedom in the Tibetan region.
Most of the expulsions the experts particularly addressed took place at Larung Gar, the largest Buddhist institute in the world. Located in Sichuan Province, Larung Gars community of about 20,000 monks and nuns have been displaced due to their homes being demolished by officials. In addition, unregistered monks and nuns living in Garze Prefecture were also deported by local officials.
According to official reports, the demolition project around Larung Gar aims to improve area safety. Residents, however, say that the government plans to bring Larung Gars population from 20,000 to 5,000 by 2018.
The statement also made mention of the incidents at Yachen Gar, also located in Sichuan, and home to approximately 10,000 nuns.
While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these allegations, grave concern is expressed over the serious repression of the Buddhist Tibetans cultural and religious practices and learning in Larung Gar and Yachen Gar, the statement read.
Its not usual for UN human rights experts to come together to issue a joint statement. The six special rapporteurs come from different parts of the globe and specialize in different fields of human rights, such as peaceful assembly, cultural rights, and sustainable environment.
The group sent the statement to the Chinese government back in November, but it was only made public before the 2017 session of the United Nations Human Rights Council commenced last Monday.
Beijing has yet to issue a response to the statement. However, it brings additional pressure on China to explain the expulsions in the Geneva session.
Unknown gunmen, at the early hours of yesterday, stormed a Church at Mosafejo, Agbowa town, in Ikorodu area of Lagos, shooting a woman and her three children to death.
Identities of the victims were yet to be ascertained at press time. But Vanguard was informed that the children were aged four, five and nine, respectively.
The reason for the gruesome murder could not be ascertained either. But Vanguard learned that the gunmen invaded the uncompleted building used by C& S Church, Kokoro-Aye Parish, at about 3a.m.
A resident, who gave his name as Okuntobi, said: We were rattled from sleep by sounds of gunshots. But no one could go out because we were scared they could be robbers. It was after the noise died down that we heard a shout for help.
When we rushed to the uncompleted building used by the church, we saw bodies of a woman and her three children in a pool of their blood. We learned that she came for vigil since Friday.
The children died on the spot, but their mother was rushed to the hospital where she also gave up the ghost.
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who confirmed the incident, said investigation had commenced.
Owoseni said: My attention was drawn to the incident at about 4.30a.m. and police response team was deployed there.
He said the police was yet to identify the motive behind the murder, adding that the command had swung into action to bring the hoodlums to book.
He added: We want to seize this opportunity to assure the public that we will continue to increase our visibility.
Source: Vanguard
Ice Prince is a Nigerian hip hop recording artist who rose to fame after releasing Oleku, one of Nigerias most remixed songs of all time.
Ice Prince who has a son named Jamal with Bimbo Babatunde took to Instagram to celebrate him on his 5th birthday.
The DUSSE ambassador shared a photo of Jamal and wrote; Happy birthday my boy May God Keep you Daddy Loves you Jamal #5
Man awarded N530,000 against MTN by Federal High Court for unauthorized deduction for callertunez
TellforceblogThe Federal High Court in Ibadan on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 has awarded N530,000 to one Oluwole Aluko for unauthorised deduction from his lines by MTN Nigeria.
Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel who passed the judgement, held that MTN had found itself guilty by not challenging the suit.
In his Judgement, he stated: The plaintiff has the right to allow or reject the use of a caller tune. MTN cannot force the use of any caller tune on him or anybody because it is unlawful.
Though the plaintiff sought N10 million as damages, but I hold that any damage suffered must be commensurate with the claim.
I, hereby, award a cost of N500,000 for the damages suffered and another N30,000 as cost incurred during the court process.
The complainant, who is also stand in as counsel for himself in the case, had in 2016 filed a N10 million suit against the same telecom giant.
He claimed that MTN Nigeria had unlawfully made series of deductions from three of his MTN lines for caller tunes which he did not subscribe to.
However, in another twist, Mr Fatiullah Tiamiyu who the defence counsel has claimed that MTN is not aware of any court process.
He said: That is the reason the company has not been represented in any previous sitting.
Source: Tell Force Blog
It was a horrific scene in Lagos at Agbowa area near Ikorodu where a mother and her three children were foound dead in an uncompleted building , this was disclosed by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, on Wednesday when he confirmed the killing of three children and their mother in an uncompleted church building at Agbowa, near Ikorodu.
Mr. Owoseni said that the police was called to the murder scene at about 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The incident happened at about 3 a.m. this morning at Agbowa in Ikorodu.
The three murdered children were aged four, five and nine.
The mother of the children was also wounded and later died in the hospital, Mr. Owoseni said.
He said the police was yet to identify the motive behind the murder, adding that the command had swung into to bring the hoodlums to book.
We want to seize this opportunity to assure the public that we will continue to increase our visibility.
(NAN)
Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has given his stand on the current xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa,. He said the attacks is a result of the insincerity of the government of that country.
He made this known in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Jos.
His statement follows the recent attacks and looting of Nigerian-owned businesses in Pretoria West.
He has therefore called on African heads of governments to ensure good governance for overall development of the continent.
Also, the Senior Special Assistant to Nigerias President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement, described the attacks as an unnecessary setback.
Meanwhile, South Africas President, Jacob Zuma, some days ago said the narrative that his country is xenophobic is incorrect.
President Zuma said this is because South Africa is placed quite high among those that welcome and allow foreign nationals to thrive.
He made the remark after a walk in the township of Soshanguve, as part of efforts to tackle crime hot spots in the country.
The Nigeria Police have paraded a sergeant, Iseke Koradam, who was arrested at a hospital in Oke Uvuru in Aboh, Mbaise Local Government Area while attempting to steal a baby.
The Imo State Police Commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu, said Mr. Koradam and his gang had confessed and would be charged to court soon.
The Commissioner said , On February 22, Rev. Erancisco Emeh, Chinedu Ubah (30) and Ifeoma Joseph (27) were arrested at Orient Hospital in Oke-Uvuru Aboh Mbaise Local Government while trying to steal a baby from the hospital.
They have since confessed to the crime, alleging that they planned to steal the baby in connivance with a police sergeant, Iseke Koradam.
On February 18, Emeka Onyema (19), Nduka Chekwube (22) and Dera Ebuka (22) attacked a recharge card dealer, Ubahaeze Awo, in Idemili Orsu Local Government and stole recharge cards valued at N300, 000, his car key, one phone, one Qlink 150 motorcycle and N150, 000.
The suspects have made useful statements and are helping the police in its investigation.
The police chief also announced the arrest of four men suspected to have killed a man said to be an American veteran soldier, Oscar Okebata.
The victim was robbed and murdered in Atta, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State on January 12.
Parading the suspects in Owerri, Mr. Lakanu gave their names as Osondu Chukwu (29), Uchechukwu Stanley (30), Onyekachi Nwoke (28) and Uchendu Promise (40).
According to him, the suspects were apprehended with evidence showing they murdered the veteran, who was in the state for the Yuletide.
The police commissioner said the suspects allegedly sold the victims Samsung Note 5 phone at N125,000, which led to their arrest.
The suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of Oscar Okebata of Achi Mbieri in Mbaitoli Local Government Area, an American veteran solider who returned home for the Yuletide.
The victims Samsung Note 5 phone was sold at N125,000, leading to the arrest of the suspected masterminds.
According to the police chief, the command on February 8 also arrested members of a notorious robbery syndicate who trailed their victim after he had withdrawn some money from a bank at Amakohia in Owerri North Local Government Area.
They were apprehended as they used a master key to damage the drivers side door of the victims black Toyota Land Cruiser in an attempt to remove the money from the car.
The suspects are Chibuzo Amankwe, Prince Igbo Williams, Enwereazu Ibe and Uchenna Ononugbo all of Agwa in Oguta Local Government.
They are helping the police in their investigation.
Also on February 14, following a tip-off, operatives arrested Okwudiri Aluo (35) of Obiti in Ohaji Local Government while on a robbery operation with his gang members, added the police chief.
(Premium Times)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said it is prosecuting a former Governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, based on a petition it received against him sometime in July 2007 from the Office of the Secretary to the Oyo State Government.
A policeman attached to the EFCC, Abdullahi Lawal, stated this on Wednesday when he appeared as a prosecution witness before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos, where Ladoja is being tried for an alleged fraud of N4.7 billion.
But the Wednesdays proceedings soon ran into a logjam as the defence counsel resisted the move by the EFCC to tender the said petition as an exhibit in evidence against Ladoja and his co-defendant, Waheed Akanbi.
Justice Idris consequently adjourned till Thursday (today) to rule on the admissibility of the petition.
The EFCC had first arraigned Ladoja and Akanbi in 2008 before Justice A.R. Mohammed.
But the defendants had objected to the charges against them and challenged the case over the course of seven years to the Supreme Court.
The case was, however, reopened last year December before Justice Idris after the apex court dismissed the appeal by the defendants.
The trial which was scheduled to kick off properly before Justice Idris was, however, botched on account of argument and counter-arguments on the admissibility of the first document sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
Ladojas lawyer, Mr Bolaji Onilenla, contended that the petition was not part of the proof of evidence served on the defence by the prosecution and admitting it would amount to the prosecution ambushing the defence.
He said the failure to frontload the petition was a violation of his clients rights.
A teenager, Amina Yusuf, paraded by the military on Wednesday in Maiduguri said she failed to detonate her explosive because she did not subscribe to Boko Haram ideology.
The 17-year-old told newsmen in Maiduguri that she was abducted five years ago, alongside her parents, in Madagali in Adamawa, after a terror attack on the village.
I was abducted alongside my parents in Madagali in Adamawa after the terrorists attacked our village. We were taken to a camp in the bush where we were forcefully indoctrinated by the group, she said.
The suspected suicide bomber alleged that her parents were killed after they had refused to be indoctrinated.
My parents were executed because they did not join the group.
I was married off to a Boko Haram militant with whom I lived in the camp, she said.
One day I was asked to wear the bombs. I was brought to Maiduguri with an instruction that I detonate the bomb where there is a large crowd of people, the teenager added.
She said that she declined to detonate the explosive because she did not want to die.
They said I should press the button but I refused and allowed security men to capture me alive.
My four siblings are still with the terrorists in the camp, Yusuf said.
Maj.- Gen. Lucky Irabor the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole had presented her along with two unindentified girls to newsmen during a weekly briefing in Maiduguri.
Source: The Nation
A former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali, has forfeited 47 SUV cars to Federal government, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said.
The information is contained in a report by EFCC which the anti-graft agency submitted to Senate Committee on Financial Crimes and Anti-corruption.
The report said that the cars were seized in Utako, Abuja residence of the former Permanent Secretary.
Igali is currently undergoing investigation by EFCC over alleged corruption.
Meanwhile, Senate Wednesday kicked against donation of building and furniture to EFCC by unnamed state governor.
The upper chamber said that such donation has the capacity hamper the war against corruption in the country.
Senator Dino Melaye who spoke at a budget defence session with the EFCC expressed dissatisfaction with a situation where governors are donating money to the anti-graft agency.
Melaye, (Kogi West) insisted such development would tamper the independence of the EFCC.
The committee demanded for review of the contract details of EFCC building which is put at N26 billion against the initial N18.8 billion awarded to Julius Berger.
The committee wondered how a contract awarded at N18.8 billion will be increased to N24 billion and later a request of additional N2 billion for power plant and sewage.
It asked how a 10-storey building will be awarded without sewage and power plant from when the contract began.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Chukwuka Utazi said the signing of the contract was against the advice given by the Bureau of Public Procurement.
Utazi noted that considering what was going with the EFCC building, there was need for Julius Berger management to appear before the committee.
He also said that the consultant that advised the EFCC to go against the advice of BPP on the contract should appear before the committee.
Source: The Nation
THE Senate, yesterday (Wednesday), alerted the nation to the fact that corrupt politicians now hide stolen money in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages. The revelation came as the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly commenced probe of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, over allegation of fuel subsidy funds not remitted and this is set to the tune of N5.1 trillion collected between 2006 and 2015.
The decision of the Senate to probe the NNPC and the disclosure of where politicians keep their stolen money came yesterday during the consideration of a motion moved by Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West. Presenting the motion, Senator Melaye said: Monies are not accounted for and that might be the reason we now see petro-dollars buried in caskets and uncompleted buildings in remote villages in some parts of the country.
After a brief debate on the motion, the Senate mandated its Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to carry out a holistic investigation into the NNPC over its accounts relating to fuel subsidy and the abuse of product marketing and distribution between 2006 and 2016.
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who urged the Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to conduct a holistic investigation, said: A situation where individuals do what they like and are not accountable to anybody should be stopped. SENATE CHAMBER The committee should do a thorough job and ensure that they get to the root of this issue. The thing borders on the issue of corruption which has been affecting the country negatively.
Melaye had in a point of order on Tuesday, told the Senate that the Federal Government had refused to probe the NNPC, which he alleged, got 51 of 100 per cent share of companies approved to import petroleum products into the country. He noted that all the oil marketers currently facing trial over alleged subsidy fraud only constituted 49 per cent of imported refined products.
Presenting the motion yesterday, Senator Melaye said: The Senate is aware that majority of Nigerians overwhelmingly agreed to fight corruption and this informed the present administrations resolve to tackle widespread corruption in all its ramification, inclusive of the petroleum industry.
The Senate notes with dismay that despite the crackdown on corruption by the present government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, there has been continuous violation by the NNPC, as regards non-remittance of proceeds from the sale of refined products into the federation account.
This practice is similar to the problems that sparked the national outrage against the last administration; The Senate is aware that though independent marketers account for 49% of the imported petroleum product, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accounts for 51% of imported products but this does not justify the huge amount it has been paid as subsidy in the last 10years; ; It is concerned that from the records derived from the PPMC, 5 to10 cargoes of imported crude arrive the country monthly, while about five cargoes are refined locally and each cargo contains 5.8 million liters of the refined crude products.
It is worried that the excess products which cannot be dispensed that goes into different tank farms owned by private individuals are not properly accounted for as they are illegally sold off by the owners of these tank farms in a manner that is opaque and usually designed to rip off the public and enrich a few persons stupendously at the expense of the masses.
The Senate is disturbed that since this administration clamped down on subsidy payment, NNPC has solely been responsible for retail with companies such as BOVAS and RANO paying 20 to 25 naira per liter for the sales of this product which amounts to over N2billion monthly.
Known for his simple designs and innovations on textile and texture, Chen started out as a student at the esteemed Central Saint Martins in London. (Photo : HungerTV.com)
A well-dressed group of industry insiders, photographers, and personalities marched into the Teatro Armani to witness the inaugural show of an up-and-coming Chinese fashion designer in Milan, according to an article by ATimes.com.
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Xuzhi Chen is only 24 years old, but the designer has already made waves in China. His debut in Milan Spring Fashion Week, backed up by Giorgio Armani no less, is proof of Chinese fashions growing influence.
[The showing was] very stressful but really, really exciting, I couldnt ask for a better opportunity than this! Chen told Agence France-Press (AFP) on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Chen is just one of a small group of Chinese fashion designers to debut their work in Italy. Angel Chen showed off her label that bears her name, while Anna Yang showcased Annakiki.
All eyes are on Chen, however, as the young fashion designer managed to book the prestigious Teatro Armani for his show. The location is a highly coveted slot that has served as the launchpad of some of the most successful new designers today.
Known for his simple designs and innovations on textile and texture, Chen started out as a student at the esteemed Central Saint Martins in London, a breeding ground for innovative designers. Its famous alumni include enfant terrible Alexander McQueen.
Last year, Chen was nominated for the LVMH Prize, and in 2015 the H&M Design Awards. Hi label, Xu Zhi, is based in London. He has also been grouped with six other Chinese designers by Womens Wear Daily. Called the gang of six, the group also consists of Angel Chen, Liushu Lei and Yutong Jiang, Momo Wang, and Xiao Li.
Like Chen, the Gang of Six designers also studied in London before pursuing their own labels.
Despite working with a team of British designers and artists, Chen very much remains in touch with his Chinese roots, and is keen to uplift Chinese fashion into the global sphere.
Weve been economically booming for the past decades and now people are really hungry for creative stories and creations, Chen said.
The Minister of defence Mansur Dan-Ali yesterday alongside the service chiefs met with the acting president, Yemi Osinbajo where they pledged loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The defence minister made the remarks during his opening speech at the security briefing session to update Osinbajo on the security situation across the country.
He expressed appreciation to the current administration for their relentless support and continuous funding of the armed forces in the conduct of its operations.
He said this has no doubt impacted positively on the capacity of the armed forces and troops in fighting the Boko Haram terrorists in the North East and other security threats across the country.
On behalf of the armed forces and other security agencies, we pledge our total commitment and loyalty to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
The ongoing operation in the North East has recorded tremendous success and has led to restoration of normalcy in most parts of the affected areas. The current strategy being adopted involved the simultaneous conduct of consolidation and stabilisation cases so as to enable the civil authorities take lead role as quickly as possible.
Our troops in conjunction with the vigilante groups successfully conducted clearance operations in villages and Boko Haram camps which led to the recovery of weapons and communication equipment as well as apprehension of many suspects. This is being supported by continuous aerial surveillance by the Nigerian Air Force so as to ensure that terrorists do not regroup He said.
He added that several high profile Boko Haram commanders were arrested and over 20,000 persons mostly women and children held hostage by the terrorists were rescued.
He further explained that a number of the terrorists have surrendered to the Nigerian troops and currently, rehabilitation and deradicalisation process for this category of Boko Haram terrorists and other rescued persons is ongoing.
Also, the minister noted that the armed forces are currently providing medical support and basis amenities such as food, clothing, water supply to most IDP camps in the North East.
Furthermore, he observed that several inter and intra roads and bridges that were impassable due to the security risks have been reopened and damaged ones reconstructed to enhance movement of people and goods in the North East.
He added that ;The Nigerian Army Small Arms Competition will be conducted by 7 Division at Sambisa Forest to consolidate the gains achieved so far and further sharpen the skills of our troops.
In other to sustain the tempo of the counter insurgency operation in the North East, the present administration had recently procured modern equipment to enhance the combat effectiveness of our armed forces.
Mine-resistance ambush patrol vehicles, one 20mm Motors and ammunition were being procured by the Nigerian Army. Also, some patrol boats and other platforms have been ordered by the Nigerian Navy for outpost at Lake Chad Basin while contract for helicopters from Russia for the Nigerian Air Force has been awarded and approval for addition four of MI 35 are being awaited.
Additionally, 20 unmanned aerial vehicles from the United Arab Emirates have been procured by the Nigerian Air Force to support the operation in the North East.
The minister stated that the Buhari- led administration has also shown tremendous concern to the welfare of troops particularly in the North East through prompt payment of troops salaries and allowances as well as improvement in medical services.
He recalled that last week, they had a meeting with Ministers of Defence from the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin member countries, hosted by Nigeria. The countries include Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.
He continued Memorandum of Understanding for the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to fight Boko Haram terrorists was signed during the meeting. This was aimed at supporting the operations of the MJTF operation Gama Aiki II nicknamed Rawan kada in the North East.
With regards to the situation in Southern part of Kaduna State, peace talk is currently ongoing to address the current clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the communities.Recently, some religious leaders led by former Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, were in Southern Kaduna to mediate between the herdsmen and farmers.
As part of efforts to curtail this menace, he said the Nigerian Army is in the process of constructing a permanent barracks in Kafanchan. Also, the Nigerian Army is expected to conduct exercise Harbin kunama II in Southern Kaduna, Falgore Forest in Kano and the forest in Bauchi to flush out the criminal elements.
The activities of cattle rustlers and armed bandits generally in the entire North West have been significantly reduced. Efforts and peace talks to put an end to this cattle rustling and armed banditry in communities in Zamfara and Katsina State have successfully resulted in the handover of various weapons to troops in the states.
Bandits from an area in Zamfara State handed over 234 dane guns, 94 locally made pistols, 25 locally made revolvers, 17 locally made multi mural pistols, 10 locally made double barrel, 11 AK47 and five machine guns in addition to the ones collected in Katsina recently he stated.
On his part, Osinbajo allayed fears over the meeting with the service chiefs saying it was a normal routine.
Asked if the meeting with the service chiefs is a signal that the president might not come back soon, he said ;
No no no! Almost every month these briefings are held, it is routine and it is the president who puts in place this whole idea of regular briefing. It is even more important that we do so because of some of the issues arising like the cases of kidnappings and I wanted the IG to inform us fully. Besides, the President is a process person and certainly I am going to speak with him here on developments here.
So it is not an indication of anything. It is only an indication that we are committed to the security of the nation. The primary duty of government is to ensure lives and properties and that is why we have to be regularly briefed. The good thing is that our men are going extraordinarily well in the north east and that Southern Kaduna has also been contained. The peace building process is also going on very well.
Those present at the session held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja were the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd); the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Army Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Abubakar Sadiq, Chief of Air Naval, Admiral Ibas Ibok; the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura; and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
Source: Leadership
A newly married woman has been cremated while she was still alive after she was presumed dead by medical practitioners.
Rachna Sisodia, a Newly married woman has been burnt alive in a funeral pyre after doctors mistakenly thought she died from a lung infection, it has been claimed.
According to The Sun UK, the 24-year-old woman was pronounced dead at Sharda hospital in Greater Noida, in northern Indias Uttar Pradesh on February 25.
A day later, her husband Devesh Chaudhary, 23, and some friends took her body and arranged a funeral pyre in Aligargh where they began to cremate her.
But the woman was dragged off the funeral pyre midway through the funeral as someone present in the service claimed she was still alive.
A postmortem report suggested she may have been alive at the time the fire started.
It detailed that there were charred particles in her windpipe and lungs suggesting she may have been breathing when she was being cremated.
Police spokesman Rajesh Pandey, who explained the doctors verdict, said: This happens when someone is burnt alive. The particles go inside with the breath.
If a person is dead, such particles cannot reach the lungs and the windpipe. So, the doctors concluded that the woman was burnt alive on the pyre.
Rachna, who showed no signs of life, suffered 70 per cent burns by the time her body was pulled out.
Her family have accused her husband of organising the cremation while she was alive, Times of India reported.
Kailash Singh, Rachnas uncle, claimed her husband Chaudhary of sexually assaulting and killing her after she went missing from her house in Bulandshahr on December 13 last year.
Cops have filed multiple cases against her husband and 11 others.
But doctors at the hospital who were treating Rachna have supported the husband and have stood by their diagnosis.
According to the death summary given by the hospital, Rachna passed away on February 25 at 11.45pm following cardio-respiratory arrest and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Dr Pankaj Mishra, who conducted the postmortem, said that since the body was 70 per cent burnt he couldnt say for sure if it was indeed Rachnas.
Saharareporters has obtained further details about the monumental scandal around billions of naira in Paris Club loan refunds that were brazenly stolen by state governors, Senate President Bukola Saraki, and Nigerian businessman Hassan Dambaba, who also holds the traditional title of Magaji Ngari Sokoto. Mr. Dambaba apparently embezzled as much as N2.5 billion from the Paris/London Club refunds.
Yesterday, Mr. Dambaba surrendered himself for interrogation by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was accompanied by a director of the Department of State Services (DSS). A source said Mr. Dambaba was acting as a front for Governor Abdulraziz Yariof Zamfara State who is also the chairman of the Governors Forum.
Speaking anonymously with Saharareporters, an EFCC investigator disclosed that the slush fund, which was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari before he traveled to London on a prolonged medical vacation, came from a payment made by one of the state-owned oil companies at NNPC.
The funds were then used to repay states that claimed the Federal Government had over-deducted Paris Club repayments from their monthly allocations over the years.
However, instead of using the money for paying workers salaries, some top shots of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) decided to convert it into slush fund that would be used ostensibly to refund some of the partys original funders.
Apart from state governors who individually pocketed as much as N400m in some cases, Senate President Bukola Saraki grabbed for himself at least N3.5 billion. One investigator told our correspondent that the senator converted his haul into dollars and may have laundered the funds through Dubai and Germany.
A senior EFCC agent disclosed that anti-corruption officials were on the verge of arresting Mr. Saraki and his accomplice, a former MD of his late fathers bank, Robert Mbonu. The source said EFCC operatives paused when they were told to wait until President Buhari returns from his vacation on February 6. The President has yet to return.
SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Saraki also colluded with the Governors Forum to send N5 billion out of the funds to multi-billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote. Our source said where the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had assisted the Governors Forum to have access to the funds.
An EFCC agent said Mr. Dangote refunded the money as soon as he spotted the deposit, claiming that he never requested from anyone to deposit funds in his account.
However, a source who initially alerted us to the scandal said that Mr. Dangote only rejected the money because of the formal nature of the transaction. He said Mr. Dangote was alarmed when he was told that the deposit was supposed to be a refund for his funding of the election of President Buhari.
Mr. Dangote reportedly declared that, since he did not transfer funds to the APC via a bank transfer, it would be questionable if he got money through a bank transfer that was declared a refund.
When our reporter contacted Mr. Dangote, he denied that the transaction took place.
Source: SaharaReporters
The Tonto Dikeh Foundation in Warri, Delta state Nigeria in collaboration with Cheeno HR, on February 24, 2017, have assisted young students, through their nationwide project tagged: TTDF BACK TO SCHOOL PROJECT.
The National coordinator of the Tonto Dikeh foundation, Mr Bunmi Fagbuyiro unveiled the plans of the foundation, by pledging the renovation of some schools, free white board donation, School Uniforms for students and books.
According to him, the foundation will continue in other parts of the country in the coming months, and the next on their list is Port Harcourt, Rivers State.According to him, the foundation will continue in other parts of the country in the coming months, and the next on their list is Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The back to school project was conceived with the idea of assisting the less privileged kids and to help in the realisation of the United Nations sustainable development goals in the area of education and mass literacy in Nigeria.
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Two brothers, John Kuku (45) and Fabu Kuku (33), were yesterday sentenced to death by hanging for armed robbery by an Abeokuta High Court.
The accused persons who live at Opic Estate, Agbara Lagos, were found guilty of a two-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery.
In her judgment, Justice Olatokunbo Majekodumi said, Having found that the accused persons are guilty as charged on both counts, you shall be hung by the neck until you are dead. May the Lord have mercy on you?
The judge said that the offences committed contravened Section 6(b) and punishable under Section1 (2) ( a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap Rll Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
It was gathered that the convicts, who had been standing trial since June 2012, had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The duo were arrested and charged for robbing one Kojo Debue of N300,000.
Ms. Majekodunmi said the convicts and others at large committed the offence at about 12am at Asaidu village, Ajebo via Obafemi-Owode Area in Ogun.
Ms Majekodunmi said the two convicts who are from Cotonou, Republic of Benin, and others robbed the complainant and his family in their house.
She said the duo and one other came into the house of Debue at midnight and asked them to open the door, the complainants younger brother,Sunday, who was living with them opened the door.
Ms. Majekodunmi said one of them pointed a gun at the complainant while the others carried the box inside which the complainant kept his money.
One of the convicts had confessed that it was Sunday, the younger brother to the complainant aided them.
Source: BreakingTimes
Lean Hogs Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 2:01PM CST The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 84.675, which will be followed by reaching support level 80.675 and if it keeps on moving down below that level,...
Feeder Cattle Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 2:00PM CST The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 177.700, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 182.375 and 188.250
Live Cattle Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:59PM CST The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 152.375, which will be followed by reaching support level 148.325
Soybean Oil Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:59PM CST The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 72.70, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 79.29
Soybean Meal Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:58PM CST The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 419.1, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 431 and 439
Soybean Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:57PM CST The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 1423.2, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 1512.2
Corn Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:57PM CST The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 688, which will be followed by reaching support level 674 and if it keeps on moving down below that level, we may...
Wheat Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:56PM CST An uptrend will start as soon, as the market rises above resistance level 854.2, which will be followed by moving up to resistance level 904 and 947
Natural gas Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - Sun Nov 6, 1:55PM CST The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 6.626, which will be followed by reaching support level 5.345
Recently, China has shown signs of assertiveness, having stopped its purchase of coal imports from North Korea as well as going after Chinese nationals involved in unlawful North Korean transactions. (Photo : Getty Images)
China is currently in pole position to change the way North Korea is affecting the world, considering its economic ties with the Stalinist state. The rogue regime's determination to be recognized as a nuclear power provides a compelling impetus for the Chinese government to recalibrate their relationship.
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North Korea holds the notoriety of being a tough party to contend with in negotiations, considering its determination to insist on its impractical demands. Although China's current stand on North Korea relies mainly on regional stability, current developments have pushed for convincing changes.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the murder of Kim Jong-Un's half-brother Kim Jong-Nam is a shaky test for China-North Korea ties, considering that he is allegedly under Chinese protection. The fact that North Korea shows no sign of relenting from nuclear launches also serves as a matter of serious consideration.
Recently, China has shown signs of assertiveness, having stopped its purchase of coal imports from North Korea as well as going after Chinese nationals involved in unlawful North Korean transactions. But the depth of China-North Korea ties alone demands more than just those actions.
China's debacle with the U.S. over the "One China" policy, which peaked when President Donald Trump exchanged pleasantries with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen over the phone, has now mellowed down. That gives China a greater incentive to cooperate with the U.S. over neutralizing North Korea's threat.
Considering that Japan and South Korea, two of China's economically strong neighbors, are building up military capabilities in response to North Korea missile tests, the U.S. can compel China to view its continuing economic relationship with North Korea as a greater compromise to regional stability.
Overall, China currently has a greater incentive to use its economic leverage over North Korea to compel it to give up its nuclear weapons. The status quo is increasingly contributing to greater regional instability, and smoother China-U.S. relations as of late gives China greater pivot to contain North Korea.
Safeguard Self Storage, which operates facilities throughout the eastern states, has opened a new facility in the East Tremont neighborhood of Bronx, N.Y. The property at 1112 E. Tremont Ave. is six miles south of two other Safeguard sites. It comprises 50,750 rentable square feet of storage space in 905 climate-controlled units. Property amenities include a drive-in loading area, computer-controlled building access, individual door alarms and video cameras.
Safeguard Self Storage has been in the New York market since opening its first self-storage facility in New Hyde Park over 15 years ago in 2001 on New Hyde Park Road. These 25 facilitiesin the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and in Westchester and Nassau Counties just outside the cityprovide great name and brand recognition, and a critical mass for the company, said Ken Finlay, executive vice president of operations.
Safeguard opened a new facility in the Hermosa neighborhood of Chicago last month. The company has three more properties under development in New York and five in Florida, according to Jim Goonan, executive vice president of development.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Atlanta, Safeguard operates facilities in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The company is owned and operated by Morgan Stanleys Prime Property Fund.
A new Cerulli Associates study finds obstacles for pension schemes who want to go direct with their private equity investments.
European pension schemes are increasingly exploring direct investment in private equity to increase their returns, but the success of this strategy is heavily dependent on whether pensions can manage the investments in-house, according to new research.
A report released Wednesday by research firm Cerulli Associates notes that securing private equity deals requires the ability and willingness to work overnight and during holidays, since the timing of M&A deals can be unpredictable. Its precisely this situation that works against pension scheme structures, which militate against doing deals within a tight time frame, a statement accompanying the report says. In addition, public pension funds often need approval for investments from trustees, who may only meet once a month.
Another major roadblock is the difficulty of recruiting staff capable of managing private equity deals, which leads pension schemes to outsource the investments to consultants and external managers. But Cerulli cites research from CEM Benchmarking last year that found investment in private equity via funds of funds added 5.5 percentage points in costs over the past 20 years compared with schemes that managed private equity investments in-house.
Cerullis study of pension schemes across Europe bears out the difficulty of accomplishing this, however. Of the 10 largest pension schemes in the U.K. specifically, only two Universities Superannuation Scheme and West Midlands Pension Fund had private equity consultants in-house. In mainland Europe, pensions were better able to manage the investments themselves, with four of the largest 10 pension schemes managing private equity internally.
Another risk is that pensions will not have the chops to properly manage an in-house private equity portfolio, said Cerulli associate director Justina Deveikyte in a statement. There is a real danger that in-house teams that lack the rigth skills and experience will select poorly performing deals, she said. Post-investment monitoring also represents a considerable commitment.
To make the transition, it will be necessary for pension schemes to have a finance function that manages the portfolio companies, the report stated. The co-head of private equity investments at Capital Dynamics said in the Cerulli study that initially, it may easier for institutions to invest alongside primary managers in order to learn the ropes and move the function in-house down the line. Another strategy for pensions beginning to take private equity investments in-house would be to start with geographies it is familiar with, suggests the senior director of private markets at London-based investment consultant bFinance.
Exchange-traded funds, like their traditional mutual fund cousins, were originally targeted at mainstream investors as an easy way to get exposure to segments of the stock and bond markets. Now large investors, such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, are increasingly turning to ETFs to help manage their liquidity concerns.
Institutional investors made up 21.2 percent of assets in ETFs last year, up from 18.9 percent in 2015, according to a report today from Greenwich Associates, which interviewed 187 such investors for its 2016 U.S. Exchange Traded Funds Study.
Institutions are adding ETFs to their portfolios for traditional investment reasons, but theyre also adding the funds to help manage risks and liquidity, according to Andrew McCollum, a Greenwich consultant. For example, theyre adding indexed high-yield bond ETFs as an alternative to buying individual securities in the bond markets, which can become less liquid, or more difficult to trade. Half of institutions use ETFs for liquidity and risk reasons.
BlackRocks iShares ETF product line was the top choice for institutions based on such factors as liquidity, trading volume, expenses and performance. Ninety-nine percent of those surveyed by Greenwich use iShares; 68 percent use State Street Global Advisors SPDR lineup; two-thirds use ETFs from Vanguard Group and 48 percent use PowerShares.
The survey also found that institutional investors plan to increase their use of ETFs this year. Forty seven percent of investors in equity ETFs say they will increase their holdings, compared to 38 percent of bond ETFs users. Still, bond ETFs are gaining in popularity, with assets in bond ETFs rising 26 percent to $428 billion last year, outpacing an 18 percent increase for equity ETFs.
Smart beta ETFs are also on the rise. Greenwich found that smart beta made up 37 percent of institutions ETF use in 2016, up from 31 percent in 2015. These ETFs are alternatives to market-cap weighted index funds, such as those that track the Standard & Poors 500.
Another big source of demand for ETFs is coming from managers of multi-asset funds, which pull a broad array of investments into a diversified portfolio designed around a specific objective such as low volatility. Greenwich reports that 52 percent of asset managers used ETFs for this reason in 2016, up from 35 percent the year before. The proportion of multi-asset funds that are made up of ETFs is also growing. A U.S. manager of a multi-asset portfolio, who declined to be named, told Greenwich, ETFs have increased over the past 10 years from 50% to 90% of our strategy.
Does the amount investors pay asset managers reflect the value they deliver? More than a third (37 percent) of global investors would say no, based on data from the 2016 global survey by the Investor Intelligence Network (IIN), IIs allocator-only network. North Americans have a more negative view 40 percent think fees are too high.
Alternative asset classes are driving the discontent. More than two-thirds of global investors confessed in 2013 to paying at least some of their managers close to the standard 2-and-20 fee structure, in which investors pay a 2 percent management fee and 20 percent of performance gains, a trend confirmed in 2014. Almost 70 percent of North Americans, led by corporate pensions, participated in this trend, according to data from IINs 2014 Annual Global Survey. European investors did not lag far behind. Subsequent data show that the 2-and-20 structure has diminished in popularity, but hedge fund performance has dipped alongside it.
The views on fees hasnt changed overall from annual survey to survey, says analyst Kristina Zucchi, who has worked on several editions. Investors are always looking to cut fees. But if they see value, they are willing to pay. And I dont think thats changed.
The attitudes toward hedge funds have, Zucchi continues. Its gone hand in hand with performance. From a willingness to pay 2-and-20, to respondents becoming less enamored. But, she notes, theyre still willing to pay for private equity, and exposures they cant access any other way.
Much of the fee dissatisfaction stems from the belief by almost three-quarters of investors surveyed that performance fees are prone to gaming by managers. Moreover, North Americans, in particular, strongly feel that the characteristics that hedge funds offer can be accessed more cheaply elsewhere.
Smaller investors feel the sting more strongly. An investor with a sub-$2 billion North American public pension plan commented, Because of our limited assets we are generally forced to be fee-takers. But, the investor continued, we do negotiate where possible.
The CIO of a similarly sized foundation was more accepting of this position. We are mindful of fees but are willing to pay higher fees if we believe the managers returns will justify it. Agreeing, a mid-sized North American corporate pension staff member remarked that the team is willing to pay for superior performance.
Not all felt that they lack the ability to dictate fees. Twenty-one percent of global investors reporting being able to get a good deal on fees most of the time. And the dissatisfied allocators might consider the advice of one mid-sized Japanese government fund investor: Just fire those whose fee structure does not justify the performance.
Leanna Orr is Global Content Director of Investor Intelligence Network, Institutional Investors private community for asset owners.
Australian Infant Formula (Photo : Getty Images)
China's supply of baby formula from Bellamy's Australia may face delay as trouble in the company's board has stalled its registration with China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
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"Unless Bellamy's achieves China CFDA Registrations by mid-2017, its future in China is cactus," Jerome Nugent-Smith, chairman and CEO of Montreux Management, was quoted as saying.
Infant formula marketer Bellamy's Australia had earlier announced that it needs to be registered with the CFDA starting Jan. 1, 2018, to be able to sell infant formula to China.
Bellamy's also informed the market that it "may need to seek CFDA registration discussion with other manufacturers, as well as Bega," following Bega Cheese's announcement that it plans to sell its infant formula plant at Derrimut in Victoria.
"Bellamy's has multiple alternatives available, including accessing the CFDA registration of an alternative canning line that currently produces Bellamy's products," Bellamy's said in a statement.
"Bellamy's remains confident it can achieve registration of its infant formula product series with CFDA in a timely manner to preserve continuity of supply for [China] product beyond the implementation date of 1 January 2018," it added.
Bellamy's was favored by Chinese consumers who prefer organic products but following low sales during the Singles Day event, the company has been losing earnings. In late 2015, it traded as high as $16.50 until shares fell to $4.27 and it stopped trading.
Aside from this, Bellamy's is also having troubles with its board. Recently, Jan Cameron, co-founder of Kathmandu retail chain, failed to secure a seat on the board but managed to oust some existing directors and get two of her associates appointed.
The change came following a general meeting of shareholders to vote on the board's new directors. Although Cameron's bid to replace Patria Mann was rejected, shareholders voted for her two associates, Chan Wai-Chan and Rodd Peters, a lawyer from Sydney, as directors. Michael Wadley and Charles Sitch were both voted off the board.
Wadley acted as interim chairman of the meeting after chairman Rob Woolley resigned before the meeting started. Director Launa Inman also resigned.
Cameron said she was happy with the outcome of the vote, despite losing her bid.
"No, because I think the incoming directors will actually be better than me, and the appointments they will make in the future will be more suited to the company's requirements," Cameron said.
Peters, one of Cameron's associates, told shareholders that his legal experience could help Bellamy's, which is facing several class actions.
"We recognize it is a great Australian company but we do believe it has been failed by its board," Peters said.
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Inflation remains the primary concern for the worlds central banks, which have engaged in the broadest and fastest tightening regime in history, according to Alejandra Grindal, chief economist at Ned Davis Research.
"I was a bit surprised by that," says expert
A former head of a major insurers Australia and New Zealand operations is set to embark on a new challenge in his career, as he joins a public enterprise that delivers insurance and care services to people in NSW.According to Street Talk, Tim Plant, who stepped down from his role as QBE Insurances Australia and New Zealand chief mid-last year, will be joining icare (Insurance & Care NSW).Vivek Bhatia, icares chief executive, is set to announce Plants appointment as group executive for innovation, responsible for improving customer interaction and enforcing new technologies and models in healthcare and fintech.Plant has more than 25 years of insurance and reinsurance experience. He joined QBE in 2011 as EGM of corporate partners and direct insurance, and most recently held the chief of Australia and New Zealand role for a year. He also worked at Elders and Swiss Re , the report said.
Brandon Kopf, who is wanted on a warrant, gave the police the slip again after crashing the SUV he was driving into an insurance building in Beatrice, Nebraska.Crashing a black 2001 GMC Yukon into the brick Tom Cass insurance building on 8th and Court streets was his getaway recipe as he fled the scene on foot, undetected by the police.A News Channel Nebraska report said the driver was identified as 32, Caucasian, 190lbs, five-foot seven with brown hair and brown eyes. He was being pursued by the police prior to the crash.His SUV was found to be registered to a Prague, Nebraska resident although it was not reported stolen.Police have yet to determine whether Kopf was aided in his getaway.
Californias Oroville dam appeared as though it was on the verge of failing before its emergency spillway was used for the first time in the dams 50-year existence and the overflow was emptied.Phew!But the near-catastrophe is still a cause for cautious, not panicked, concern according to a Golden State provider.Golden Bear Insurances vice president, Michael Brown, said they sold a couple of flood policies in the Oroville area until their reinsurer put a moratorium on sales in the affected region, pending an understanding of the risk.Its a great conversation starter - if you dont have flood insurance yet lets look into it and see what kind of benefits you can gain, if you do have flood insurance lets pull out the policy and make sure the limits are adequate, Brown said.Make sure your deductibles are manageable. In a lot of cases when people think about catastrophe insurance they ask for the highest deductible thats available to lower the premium. In a scenario like this, where real people are having real losses right here in our neighbourhood, it makes sense to take another look at that.Though the area around Oroville, California was evacuated, no-ones home was destroyed, though Highway 50, near Lake Tahoe, and Highway 1, near Big Sur, were flooded and some bridges were weakened.Were getting a look at the soft, white underbelly of Californias infrastructure, Brown said.Commercial lines make up most of Golden Bears flood business, though it has only received one call concerning business interruption due to the evacuations, and it is still determining whether it exceeds the deductible. However, Brown said business interruption claims rarely come up after one or two days and usually only after a full week of road closures or evacuations.He remains wary of further risks, however, because close to Brown and Golden Bears Stockton, California, office is another area of flood risk.The Lake Don Pedro Dam is in a similar circumstance (as the Oroville one) - its the lowest elevation reservoir in California, its one of the last lines of defence for snow melt, Brown said.Its usually between 40 and 60% full this time of year, waiting for the spring snow melt to flow in. About 10 days ago it was well over 90% full and they had to release much more water than they normally would down the Tuolumne River which flows right through Modesto.Though there was concern the overflow would rise over the riverbanks and into Browns backyard, it passed without incident.Another close call and another cause for cautious concern.
The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) has named Zurich Insurance as one of its top 60 companies for female decision makers in 2017. This is the second year the company has been awarded the honor.
Through the award, NAFE recognizes American firms where women have significant clout in the decision making process, its strategy for the future, and the bottom line.
This recognition from NAFE is the result of Zurichs deliberate focus on creating a workplace environment that nurtures the development of our people, Mike Foley, Zurich North America chief executive, said in a company statement.
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Being more inclusive and leveraging the diversity of our workforce will help drive better outcomes, including better solutions for our customers and an enhancedreputation in our communities.
The NAFE survey evaluates firms on workplace dimensions for women, such as succession planning, pay parity, support programs, work-life balance initiatives, and others.
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The former controller for a Milford, Mass.-based developer has been sentenced to up to three years in prison for stealing nearly $1.5 million from the company.
Sixty-one-year-old Michael Lussier was sentenced Monday after previously pleading guilty to two counts of larceny of more than $250 by a common scheme.
Prosecutors say the Paxton man embezzled $1.48 million from F.R.E. Building Co. Inc. from October 2008 to January 2014.
Lussier had worked for the company since 1986.
Lussier pleaded guilty to diverting the stolen money to a personal bank account for use on travel, mortgage payments and casino gambling among other personal expenses.
The company was able to recover about $600,000 from its insurance company. Lussier has so far paid $50,000 in restitution.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Commercial Lines Fraud Business Insurance Massachusetts
Lilienfeld Corredores de Seguros has named Claudio Rossi as its next chief executive officer. He succeeds Renato Lilienfeld, who has been CEO since 1986.
Lilienfeld will continue as chairman, working closely with Rossi to continue positioning the company as a principal broker in the Chilean and regional insurance and risk management market.
Rossi is an executive with extensive experience in senior management of multinational insurance companies. He has led the development of markets in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. From 2000 to 2016 he was CEO of Chubb Insurance Co. in Chile. Previously, he worked for CIGNA from 1983 to 1999 and INA between 1981 and 1982.
Santiago-based Lilienfeld is one of the largest privately owned, independent insurance brokers in Chile.
Source: Lilienfeld Corredores de Seguros
Topics Agencies
XL Catlins insurance operation in Iberia announced that it is launching five new insurance solutions for financial institutions. The coverage is for directors & officers liability, civil liability, comprehensive crime, private equity / venture capital liability and investment management.
Spains financial sector is undergoing significant change and transformation in response to a challenging economic environment and increased regulatory pressure, commented Estefania Taboada, head of International Financial Lines for XL Catlins insurance operation in Iberia (the region covering Spain and Portugal).
Financial institutions continue to make significant strides toward increased profitability, greater capital efficiency and enhanced operational performance, he added.
Effectively managing and mitigating risk is an essential component of these efforts, and an informed, experienced and innovative insurance partner can play a key role in helping financial institutions unlock attractive opportunities and manage challenges, Taboada said.
XL Catlin has taken a fresh look at the coverages and risks financial institutions encounter today and have designed a suite of products to address their changing and ongoing needs. These solutions provide:
Directors & officers liability.The enhanced D&O cover for financial institutions includes several extensions to protect directors and senior executives against a wide range of exposures for which they can be held personally liable such as:
Costs associated with a regulatory crisis or emergency / insolvency hearing.
Personal liability for corporate taxes.
Fines and penalties with no sub-limit.
Civil liability.Key features include:
Broad cover for loss, defense costs and investigation costs.
Mitigation payments.
Regulatory crisis costs.
Crime.Key features include:
Broad cover for dishonest, fraudulent, malicious and criminal acts.
Relevant cyber fraud cover for the electronic dishonest, fraudulent, malicious and criminal acts of third parties against the company.
Offices and contents cover extended to personal property of employees and customers.
Private equity / venture capital liability. Key features include:
Combined solution for civil liability and directors and officers liability.
Cover for wrongful acts in the performance or failure to perform private equity venture investing.
Fund run-off management liability.
Investment management.Key features include:
Combined solution for civil liability, directors and officers liability and crime coverage for the investment manager and fund.
Crime specific extensions including legal liability for incomplete transactions.
Investment manager regulatory crisis cost.
XL Catlins solutions for financial institutions are fully adapted to local legislation, including the Ley de Sociedades de Capital and the Solvency II directive for the insurance industry among others, said Patrick-Lee Warner, senior underwriter International Financial Lines for the companys Iberian insurance operation.
These broad coverages coupled with numerous extensions have been designed to meet the specific needs of financial institutions operating locally and/or internationally, he continued.
Jose Ramon Morales, country manager Iberia for XL Catlins insurance operation, said: Financial institutions are changing and the headwinds they face can be daunting: tough market conditions, increasing regulation, new competitors the list goes on and on. In this dynamic and uncertain environment, having an appropriate and tailored insurance and risk management program in place is essential for all financial institutions.
Source: XL Catlin
Topics Legislation AXA XL
A spring-like storm system that killed at least three people as it spawned tornadoes and damaged dozens of homes in the central U.S. rumbled eastward on March 1, putting about 95 million people in its path, forecasters said.
The compact but strong storms, known as supercells, raked parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee on Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, wind-whipped wildfires destroyed homes in Texas.
The storm system killed at least two people in Illinois and one in Missouri. In Arkansas, emergency managers said 10 to 15 people were injured in White County, about 45 miles northeast of Little Rock, and minor injuries were reported at a prison in the northeastern part of the state.
In Illinois, state Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said a person was killed by a tree that was uprooted by a tornado in Ottawa, about 70 miles southwest of Chicago. Minor injuries were also reported at a nursing home there. Thompson said it wasnt known how many people were hurt by the storm, but that it was relatively few.
We had some damage reported in several counties, both in the north-central part of the state as well as the southern part of the state, Thompson said.
About 225 miles south of Ottawa, near Crossville, Illinois, an apparent tornado struck a building near a house, killing a 71-year-old man and injuring his wife, White County Coroner Chris Marsh said.
Another person was killed when a tornado ripped through Perry County, Missouri, about 80 miles south of St. Louis. Eight to 10 homes near the small town of Perryville were badly damaged and winds were so strong that several vehicles were blown off of Interstate 55.
Hundreds of people, including many schoolchildren, took shelter at Bald Knob High School in Arkansas after a tornado warning was posted for the area. Emergency managers said Wednesday that the storm damaged 40 homes in the county.
The Bald Knob storm was part of the same system that produced a wall cloud near Mayflower, Arkansas, which was hit in 2014 by a tornado with winds approaching 200 mph. The storm crossed Interstate 40 between Little Rock and Conway, but there were no reports that a funnel cloud touched down.
The Storm Prediction Center had warned that some of Tuesdays storms would track over long distances. The Arkansas storm held together for more than 100 miles, though it did not produce tornadoes.
Strong winds elsewhere in the Plains spread wildfires in Texas. Four homes were destroyed near Tulia, about 50 miles south of Amarillo, before firefighters beat back the flames. Texas A&M Forest Service spokesman Phillip Truitt said the fire prompted the evacuation of almost 1,200 homes.
Associated Press writers Herb McCann in Chicago, Tafi Mukunyadzi and Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Jim Salter in St. Louis and David Runk in Detroit contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Windstorm Illinois Arkansas
Written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, "Naruto" will have a spin-off titled "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations." The spin-off, which is serialized in a Japanese manga magazine, is written by Ukyo Kodachi and illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto.
As the title suggests, "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations" will introduce a new kind of Konoha ninja and a new generation of heroes. The story will revolve around Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga's son Boruto Uzumaki as the village of Konoha has managed to change and has been modernized into an era of peace.
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As translated by Naruto Forums users BUUU and shippuden, the "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations" synopsis reveals that the way to live in the ninja era has changed. Included in this change are high constructions, large computer monitors of transmission of images and streets connected to mobilize electric cars.
As the son of the seventh Hokage, Boruto suffers from prejudice while in the ninja academy. But he will meet new friends as he encounters new challenges.
In the beginning of "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations," Boruto will be younger. The story will follow him first as he enrolls in the ninja academy, where many of his classmates are children of Konoha's original heroes.
Aside from Boruto, the other characters expected to be in the "Naruto" spin-off are Sarada, Mitsuki and their teacher Konohamaru Sarutobi, who is also Naturo's friend. Sarada is Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno's friend while Mitsuki is Orochinaru's son.
An anime adaptation of "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations" will premiere on TV Tokyo on April 5. In the recent issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, as cited by Comic Book, director Hiroyuki Yamashita and chief director Noriyuki Abe talked about the adaptation.
Yamashita told the magazine that he would be happy if those who expect great things from Boruto and those who are new to the series feel like they want to watch over him. As for Abe, he promised that he will never betray his fellow Naruto fans.
Watch Sasuke, Sarada and Boruto in the following video:
The U.S. Labor Department has taken a first step toward possible derailment or dilution of its controversial rule on retirement advice as it begins to re-examine it at the directive of President Donald Trump, according to a notice made public on Wednesday.
The department proposed a 60-day delay of the fiduciary rule, which requires retirement advisers to put the interests of clients ahead of their own. It was slated to take effect on April 10, but Trump asked the department to review the rule one more time for its impact on investors.
Industry analysts and consumer groups agreed it could be the first of multiple delays as the department begins a comprehensive review of the Obama-era regulation, after Trump in February issued an executive order directing the department to review the rule.
A 60-day delay is relatively short to undertake the type of economic and legal analysis that theyre contemplating, which suggests to me that this isnt just going to be a 60-day delay, Its likely going to be a string of delays, said Micah Hauptman, with the Consumer Federation of America.
The proposed delay should have a calming effect on the marketplace, which had been hanging in limbo ahead of the April 10 effective date, said Denise Valentine, a senior analyst with Aite Group, which advises the financial services industry on regulatory issues.
All along weve kind of known that the rule is very likely to be amended. I dont think it will be killed, Valentine said.
The public will have 15 days from the publication of the proposed delay in the Federal Register on Thursday to comment on the delay itself before the Labor Department can formalize it. There will also be a 45-day window to submit comments or information related to other aspects of Trumps memorandum.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has sued to kill the rule, on Wednesday praised the proposed delay.
When former President Barack Obamas administration finalized the rule last year, it said it was a move to help Americans saving for their retirement.
But critics in the financial services industry say the rule would limit the ability of advisers to service clients who cannot afford to pay for financial advice and must use products that carry commissions or other indirect costs.
When Trump issued the executive order, White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the rule a solution in search of the problem at a briefing ahead of the signing.
The move drew fire from Democrats and other critics, who said it showed the Republican White House was aligned with Wall Street, not middle-income Americans.
Industry groups, however, praised the delay proposed on Wednesday. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said it would allow the new administration an opportunity to review the rules impact on investors and the market.
UBS Wealth Management Americas, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co. declined to comment. Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Dilts; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Dan Grebler)
Topics Agencies
A federal judge in Houston has thrown out a lawsuit accusing UBS Group AG of hiding fraud by its client Enron Corp. from retail customers, a decision that may end a 15-year legal battle stemming from the energy companys December 2001 bankruptcy.
In a 228-page decision on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon said UBS PaineWebber brokerage customers failed to show that the Swiss bank intended to defraud them into buying Enron securities.
The customers accused UBS of trying to generate more fees by taking part in five transactions with Enron, such as loans and note offerings, that had no legitimate business purpose and that were designed to create a facade that Enron was healthy.
But the judge said: It was Enron (and its accountants and lawyers) that was responsible for using these transactions to cook its books, creating its allegedly fraudulent financial statements, and ultimately defrauding the investing public.
The plaintiffs failed to specify exactly what nonpublic, material information the UBS entities knew about Enron, who discovered it, when, how, and under what circumstances and why it was fraudulent, Harmon wrote.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs chose to sue independently of other Enron investors who pursued similar claims in nationwide litigation.
A $7.2 billion securities class-action settlement in 2006 with several banks and other defendants over Enrons collapse remains the largest on record.
Harmon had dismissed claims against UBS by another group of Enron investors on Aug. 2. Tuesdays decision ends all Enron-related litigation for UBS, pending any appeals.
UBS is gratified by the courts dismissal of this case, spokeswoman Erica Chase said.
Once ranked seventh on the Fortune 500 list of large U.S. companies, Enron went bankrupt on Dec. 2, 2001.
Its demise led to reforms including the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and was the basis for the Oscar-nominated 2005 documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.
Several executives went to prison, including former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling for fraud and other offenses.
He is eligible for release in February 2019, federal prison records show, after having his sentence shortened to 14 years from 24 years in 2013.
Kenneth Lay, Skillings predecessor and successor as CEO, was also convicted of fraud but died in 2006 before he could be sentenced.
The case is Lampkin et al v. UBS PaineWebber Inc. et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, No. 02-00851.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Lisa Von Ahn)
Related:
Topics USA Legislation Fraud
The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of an insurer in a case that hinged on the applicability of an insured-v.-insured exclusion in the carriers directors and officers (D&O) liability policy.
The Courts action reversed the ruling in Great American Insurance Company v. Robert Primo by the Court of Appeals for the 14th District of Texas in Harris County (14-13-00492-CV, 455 SW3d 714, 12-18-14).
The case grew out of various actions and counter actions by Robert Primo and Briar Green, a non-profit condominium association.
Primo at one time served as a director and treasurer of Briar Green. Before he resigned from those positions in 2008, Primo wrote himself two checks totaling a little more than $100,000. He said the money was for services rendered to the association and that the Briar Green board had approved the payment. However, the association asserted that the funds were misappropriated and filed a claim with Travelers Casualty & Surety for the loss.
Travelers paid the claims in exchange for a written assignment of all of Briar Greens rights and claims against Primo for the loss. Travelers, standing in the shoes of Briar Green, then sued Primo to recover the funds, the Texas Supreme Courts written opinion states.
Primo countered with a third-party claim against Briar Green and because he was an insured former director under Briar Greens D&O liability policy, Primo then sought defense from Great American in his suit against Travelers.
Travelers non-suited its claims against Primo, making a defense by Great American unnecessary, the Courts opinion states. Primo also non-suited his third-party claim against Briar Green.
Seeking to recover attorneys fees and expenses incurred in the Travelers suit, Primo filed a contractual-indemnity action against Briar Green and demanded that Great American defend him as required by the D&O policy. Great American provided a defense and Primo ended up recovering around $100,000 in damages and fees.
Simultaneously, in a separate action Primo sued Great American, also seeking reimbursement for the defense costs and attorneys fees he incurred in the Travelers suit. He asserted causes of action for breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and violations of the Texas Insurance Code and the Prompt Payment of Claims Act, the Court wrote.
Great American moved for summary judgment, arguing not only had Primo already collected defense costs and attorneys fees in his contractual-indemnity action against Briar Green, the insurer owed no duty to defend Primo in the Travelers suit because that action fell within the D&O policys insured-v.-insured exclusion.
Great Americans Briar Green D&O policy excluded coverage for an insured in actions against another insured and those made by, or for the benefit of, or at the behest of [Briar Green] or any person or entity which succeeds to the interest of [Briar Green], according to the opinion of the Court.
Primo, as a director of Briar Green was an insured under the D&O policy. Because Briar Green had assigned its claims against Primo to Travelers, Great American took the position that Travelers became an insured due to its assignment as a successor to the interest of Briar Green.
The trial court agreed with Great American. However, a divided appeals court relied on its interpretation in an earlier case of the word successor, whereby it found that a successor assumes both rights and obligations of another. The court of appeals determined that in this case Travelers did not succeed to the interest of Briar Green, because Great American has not shown that Travelers assumed Briar Greens obligations as well as its claims and rights.'
The Texas Supreme Court looked at the issue differently and ultimately agreed with the dissenting Appeals Court Justice McCally, who wrote that the plain meaning of succeed to is to fall heir to, inherit, come into possession of. McCally found that the trial court was correct in granting summary judgment to Great American because Briar Green had assigned to Travelers the associations interest in the claim filed against Primo.
Reversing the decision of the appeals court and finding for Great American, the Texas Supreme Court found that the insurer had shown as a matter of law that the insured-v.-insured exclusion in the D&O policy applies in this instance, the policy provides no coverage for the claims Primo asserts. So the trial court correctly disposed of all of Primos claims on summary judgment.
Topics Lawsuits Carriers Texas Claims
Holmes Murphy & Associates has hired Jeff Marchino as a senior consultant for employee benefits in its Dallas office. Marchino joins the team with more than two decades of experience in the insurance industry.
Marchino will work closely in the business community to develop relationships and implement benefit strategies for new customers to the firm.
Prior to joining the more than 190-member team in the Holmes Murphy Dallas office, Marchino was employed by Aetna as a sales director in the Dallas area.
Source: Holmes Murphy & Associates
Authorities say the owner of a restaurant in Sumter County, S.C., burned down his business on purpose and collected nearly $700,000 in insurance money.
Sumter County deputies told media outlets that 57-year-old Ronald Cantey was arrested Monday about seven months after the fire at The Compass restaurant near Turbeville
Investigators say evidence shows Cantey was at the restaurant about five minutes before the fire was reported.
Cantey said after the restaurant burned in July that he put his heart and soul into the business for five years and was devastated.
Cantey was charged with second-degree arson, making a false insurance claim and burning personal property to defraud an insurer. He was in jail awaiting a bond hearing and it wasnt known if he had an attorney.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics South Carolina
A Florida courts review of workers compensation rating procedures by the National Council of Compensation Insurance (NCCI) could have a substantial impact on the State.
The case, Fee v. Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, NCCI, is currently being weighed by the Florida First District Court of Appeal. Their decision of whether to overturn an lower courts ruling that NCCI and OIR violated Floridas Sunshine Law in establishing a 14.5 percent rate increase will be substantial for Florida residents.
The reality is that workers compensation insurance rates affect all Florida residents, not just businesses. The cost of large rate increases is spread around internally by insurance carriers, which affects the cost of all lines of insurance that they offer. Further, companies looking to grow by hiring new employees will have to think twice because of their higher premiums, and unemployed Floridians, likewise, will find fewer job openings.
The outcome of the Fee case will most likely do little to change the aforementioned negative impact of the rate hike. If the court holds that NCCI should be forced to disclose how its single actuary, Jay Rosen, calculated the increase, there may be some objection to his methodology. However, the rate increase will remain in place until OIRs next review.
The only possible mechanism to immediately challenge the rate increase would, in fact, be another lawsuit, asserting some sort of violation of the Florida constitution. A constitutional challenge could gain some traction in the Florida courts, mainly because there is an argument that one, solitary actuary, should not have the unchecked power to set the workers compensation rates for the entire state.
Another potential outcome from the case could have much more drastic implications for Floridians. Fees allegation is that the NCCI and OIR colluded in secret to settle on the 14.5 percent increase. Should Fee, through Sunshine Law, gain access to information that actually proves his theory, a litany of serious consequences could follow. The first being any decisions made by NCCI and OIR regarding rates will be subject to much more public scrutiny, and probably even more government scrutiny.
The second, and very likely result, is that businesses that have purchases workers comp insurance or had their rates increased during this period could bring a class action against NCCI and the State of Florida to seek return of whatever the amount of overpayment it is determined was made as a result of the alleged collusion between NCCI and OIR.
As to the merits of Fees case, he makes a compelling argument that Sunshine Laws apply to NCCI. The Sunshine Laws require an open meeting when committee of a recognized rating organization with responsibility for workers compensation and employers liability insurance rates in this state meets to discuss the necessity for, or a request for, Florida rate increases or decreases.
NCCI has hinged almost its entire argument that the word committee means more than one person. Therefore, because Rosen is only one person, he cannot constitute a committee. This position by NCCI is awfully tenuous, and borders on intentionally flouting the intent of the Sunshine Law. Is it possible that NCCI specifically chose to have only one person calculate the rate increase, so as not to form a committee, and avoid the obligation of public disclosure mandated by Sunshine Laws? That question would most likely be answered in the resulting civil suits, should Fee prevail on appeal. It is almost a certainty that the appellate court, regardless of its rulings in past Sunshine Law cases, will take serious issue with the hairsplitting that NCCI is engaging by advancing this argument.
If the rate hike were found to be determined by improper analysis, its quite possible that a panel of three or four actuaries could agree that the hike is warranted. Therefore, no harm, no foul. But, nationwide the cost of workers comp claims has only increased slightly from 2016. So, either Florida is an anomaly, as many analysts would agree, or the 14.5 percent increase is way out of line with the national trend.
Based on a review of the Initial Brief, Answer Brief, and the Reply Brief, and observation of the oral arguments in the Fee appeal, it is difficult to predict whether he will prevail and Sunshine Laws will apply to NCCI.
In my view, NCCI is a private company, but it is doing business with a public agency, OIR, and that alone should subject their correspondence and anything else they relied on to determine the rates to Sunshine Laws. The public interest is too great here for a case to hinge on NCCIs definition of what a committee is. Finally, the general rule in all appeals is that the Appellant, in this case NCCI, has an uphill battle to convince the appellate court that the trial court was wrong. However, when the issue on appeal is an issue of interpretation of law, as we have here, the appellate court has much greater discretion to reverse the trial court.
Correction: NCCI stands for the National Council on Compensation Insurance and Jay Rosen is an actuary for NCCI, not OIR as an earlier version of this article indicated.
Topics Florida Workers' Compensation
The city of Las Cruces, N.M. has agreed to pay $400,000 to a man who claims police officers used excessive force on him when he was detained in a holding cell.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that the settlement figure between the city and Ross Flynn was confirmed Wednesday. Flynn filed the lawsuit in 2015, claiming his Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments were violated when he was arrested by Las Cruces police officers in December 2014.
Flynn was detained in a holding cell at police headquarters after he was accused of threatening a woman with a firearm over a parking dispute. The lawsuit alleges that two officers, Richard Garcia and Danny Salicido, beat Flynn, fracturing his skull.
The two officers were fired in May 2015. Criminal charges against them were dismissed.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Lawsuits Mexico New Mexico
Hawaii lawmakers may create a group to develop a way to collect data on how vacation rentals affect Hawaiis tax revenue, housing supply and brand as a visitor destination.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee passed a bill to set up the group made up of industry and government officials. The measure next goes to the full Senate for a vote.
The legislation says the state is losing tax revenue as some owners and operators of short-term rentals are not paying transient accommodations taxes and general excise taxes.
It says counties are losing revenue when vacation rental owners receive homeowner discounts on property taxes.
The legislation says some of the units rented to visitors could be rented to residents, helping alleviate Hawaiis affordable housing crisis.
The bill calls on the group to establish a way for state and county governments to monitor the number of units being offered to visitors on a part-time and full-time basis. It also asks the group to identify how vacation rentals are affecting real estate markets, the availability of long-term rentals, rent and property taxes.
The working group would include representatives from the state tax department, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, hotel industry, licensed short-term rental operators and short-term rental websites. They would submit their findings to lawmakers shortly before the next legislative session.
Vacation rental operator associations submitted testimony in support of the bill.
The ILWU Local 142, which represents many Hawaii hotel workers, submitted testimony saying adequate financial resources for the working group would help in the gathering of accurate data and assessing the industrys impact.
The bill doesnt indicate how much money would be allocated for the working group.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Legislation
Judyth Sassoon, a masters degree student in paleontology, examines a rock containing fossil remains of a Thecondontosaurus antiquus, the oldest known dinosaur in Britain and one of the oldest in the world, on November 3, 2009 in Bristol, England. (Photo : Getty Images/Matt Cardy)
Scientists reported on March 1, Wednesday, that tiny filaments, knobs and tubes that are around 4.28 billion years old found in Canadian rocks may be the oldest fossils ever discovered on Earth. However, many experts in the field were either skeptical or not convinced at all.
The researchers published their study on the fossils in the journal Nature. Based on their findings in some of the most ancient rocks known, life on Earth had a very early start.
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One of the researchers is Matthew Dodd. Despite the doubts of several critics, he claimed that the discovery would offer new pieces of evidence that prove the origins of life after analyzing the structures at University College London, United Kingdom.
Dodd told BBC News that the discovery answers the biggest questions mankind has asked itself which are the inquiries on where humans come from and why humans are on Earth. He said, "It is very humbling to have the oldest known lifeforms in your hands and being able to look at them and analyze them."
Dodd's fellow authors of the study are Dominic Papineau, Tor Grenne, John F. Slack, Martin Rittner, Franco Pirajno, Jonathan O'Neil and Crispin T.S. Little. They looked at sections of rock likely laid down in a system of hydrothermal vents.
It was in quartz layers in the so-called Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt (NSB) where the fossil structures were wrapped. A chunk of ancient ocean floor, the NSB contains some of the oldest volcanic and sedimentary rocks ever known.
Papineau strongly believes that they have found the oldest fossils on Earth. He was the one who discovered the fossils in Quebec, Canada.
For Papineau, the discovery relates to the origins of man. He pointed out that it is inspiration for intelligent life to "evolve to a level of consciousness, to a point where it traces back its history to understand its own origin."
Meanwhile, watch a video about the oldest dinosaur found in the U.K. here:
What Is Merrill Lynch & Co.?
Merrill Lynch & Co. is the former name of a prominent Wall Street investment firm. Since its acquisition by Bank of America (BAC) in 2009, it has become known simply as Merrill and operates as a wealth management division of Bank of America.
Founded by Charles E. Merrill in 1914, Merrill Lynch & Co. has long been one of the American financial sector's iconic institutions.
Key Takeaways: Merrill Lynch & Co. is a long-established American financial firm.
It was acquired by Bank of America in 2009 in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Prior to its acquisition by Bank of America, the company was a leading player in the subprime mortgage market, which collapsed in 2007.
Understanding Merrill Lynch & Co.
Today, Merrill Lynch & Co. is headquartered at 250 Vesey Street in Manhattan, New York. Part of Bank of America, the firm holds assets under management (AUM) of over $2.75 trillion and employs over 19,000 financial advisors.
While today it is focused on its wealth management business, Merrill Lynch & Co. is recognized for its investment banking activities. In June 1971, Merrill Lynch & Co. completed its initial public offering (IPO) and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
During the early 2000s, Merrill Lynch & Co. became a leader in the market for mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) following its acquisition of the subprime lending firm First Franklin Financial in 2006.
Merrill Lynch & Co. gradually expanded its service offerings by acquiring and merging with various other firms. The company has been engaged in retail brokerage services, prime brokering, broker-dealer activities, and commodities trading, among others.
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch & Co.
The company became the subject of widespread concern during the 2007 to 2008 financial crisis. In November 2007, Merrill Lynch & Co. announced billions in losses related to its portfolio of subprime mortgages and related derivative products. Following the termination of its chief executive officer (CEO), the company began selling company assets in a bid to maintain its solvency amidst speculation that it was on the verge of collapse.
In September 2008, Bank of America proposed a takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. with an offer value of over $40 billion. This takeover offer, which represented a premium of over 70% relative to the companys then-depressed market price, was accepted shortly thereafter, and Bank of America ultimately acquired Merrill Lynch for a $50 billion all stock transaction.
Merrill Lynch Changes Due to Digitalization
According to Financial Planning, the company plans to cut payouts to its advisors that manage small account holders in 2021 in an effort to maintain stability. Advisors will not receive a payout for production credits generated in households under $250,000.
This change echoes a trend among the biggest brokerage firms, which are encouraging advisors to cater to larger clients and move smaller accounts to robo-advisors or self-directed platforms.
This action is a reflection of the digital transformation that has occurred in the fintech sector. A senior Merrill executive stated: That [shift] really reflects where our business is today and where it is going.
Top News - Investor Idea
A Boat-full of Potential - Renewed Interest in the Cruise Industry Bolsters Luxury Markets (OTC: MASN) (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) (NYSE: RCL) (NYSE: NCLH)
Vancouver, Kelowna, Delta, BC - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering luxury goods and cruise ship stocks releases a special report featuring Maison Luxe, Inc. (OTC: MASN), a company that offers luxury retail consumer items.
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Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) AI Driven Financial Technology Patent Application Received a Notice of Publication
San Diego, CA - November 3, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) received a notice of publication for its financial software patent application.
Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea
Breaking AI Stock News: Intellagents, a FatBrain AI (OTCQB: LZGI) Company, Announces Hiring of Insurtech Industry Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer
NEW YORK, NY - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, announces the hiring of Euan King, an experienced and respected Insurtech industry leader as Chief Revenue Officer for insurance technology-focused subsidiary Intellagents.
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Health and Wellness Stock News - Endexx (OTCBB: EDXC) Secures $3.8M Order for Non-Nicotine Vape Product HYLA from Italy
CAVE CREEK, Az. - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Endexx Corporation (OTCBB:EDXC), a provider of innovative, plant-based, and sustainable health and skincare products, today announces it has secured a new $3.8 million USD order for its newly acquired, non-nicotine based vape product, HYLA from customers in Italy.
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According to a recent statement, GE has announced an order for a single shaft engineered equipment package (EEP), with a high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas turbine at its heart, to power the new Ares EIF Birdsboro Power combined-cycle power plant in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. With the help of GEs latest power generation technology and financing from GE Capital, Birdsboro Power is expected to produce 488 MW upon commercial operation in 2019.
We are pleased to bring this new plant online, which will help continue the shift to cleaner, more cost-effective power in the PJM region, said Mark Voccola, Partner, Ares EIF, within the Ares Private Equity Group. The abundance of low-cost natural gas in Pennsylvania means GEs large, high-efficiency 7HA.02 technology is a great fit, supporting the regions increased use of natural gas for power generation.
The Birdsboro Power project was developed by EmberClear Corporation, and the order includes one 7HA.02 gas turbine, one D650 steam turbine, one heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), plant controls and additional equipment. The gas turbine will be manufactured in Greenville, South Carolina, and the steam turbine in Schenectady, New York. The turbines will operate in single-shaft combined-cycle configurations, providing the flexibility required to add highly-efficient, reliable power to the grid as needed.
The Birdsboro power project underscores the strength of the GE Store, said Joe Mastrangelo, President & CEO, GE Gas Power Systems. Starting with our expanded portfolio of products and solutions, were proud to have every major component in this power island GE-made, bringing decades of experience and component know-how, to extract the maximum value out of every piece of equipment as they work in unison. Our ability to provide financing helps this plant move one step closer to fruition.
This project marks GEs 21st HA unit booked in the U.S. The HA is GEs largest and most efficient gas turbine, and in June 2016, GE set a world record for powering the worlds most efficient combined-cycle power plant with its HA technology. GEs Power Services has also signed a multi-year services agreement for continued maintenance of the facility's power generation equipment.
Edited by Alicia Young
Actor Song Joong-Ki arrives for the 47th PaekSang Art Awards at Kyunghee University Art Center on May 26, 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo : Getty Images/Chung Sung-Jun )
"Descendants of the Sun" is so popular that even Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha mentioned it during a recent interview. Starring Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, the South Korean drama series has been sold to more than 30 countries, including Thailand and the United States.
In an interview with Korea Times, Chan-o-cha explained that he particularly admires "Descendants of the Sun" it not only tells a love story but also instills senses of patriotism, self-sacrifice, and citizenship rights and responsibilities. At this point in time, these things are very relevant to our society, the Thai leader pointed out.
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Chan-o-cha praised South Korea with what the country has done with hallyu or the Korean wave. For him, hallyu has become a model for many countries in Asia and in Thailand in particular, Thai people's daily lives are affected extensively in culture, academia, politics and many other things.
Thai watch Korean dramas and eat Korean food almost as often as they do Thai, the prime minister said. He added that there have been many Thai students studying Korean and vice versa recently and there should be more students and academia exchange programs initiated from both sides.
In the Thai PM's view, Korean drama has done much research and the shared values and merits of all that it brings made it very popular. These values from these Korean drama series are also the core values of Thai society and define who the Thai people are.
"Descendants of the Sun" was written by Kim Eun-sook and Kim Won-seok and directed by Lee Eung-bok and Bark Sang-hoon. Joining Joong-ki and Hye-kyo in the cast are Jin Goo-seo, Kim Ji-won, Jin Ku, Ji Seung-Hyeon, Alex Kabel, Zyon Barreto, Jasper Cho and David Lee McInnis, among others.
In other news, Hye-Kyo was in Tokyo, Japan, on March 1, Tuesday, a Korean national holiday that commemorates the Korea's liberation from Japan. Along with Sung Shin Women's University professor Seo Kyung Duk, the "Descendants of the Sun" star distributed 10,000 pamphlets about the history between the two countries in the city, Soompi reported.
Watch a video about Hye-Kyo talk and Joong-ki here:
In early May 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the three founding member states of the recently-established Eurasian Economic Union (EEU): Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus (Chinese president, 2015). These three countries founded the EEU in May 2014, and the EEU came into effect at the start of 2015 (Zhong, 2015). During his visit, President Xi and his delegation signed almost 90 agreements with the EEU founding members on issues of economic cooperation, including trade and investment in key sectors like energy and infrastructure (Belt and Road Initiative, 2015). These agreements mark the acceleration of bilateral and regional cooperation between China and the EEU founding members, including cooperation within the frameworks of regional economic development initiatives like Chinas Silk Road Economic Belt (Xis next visits, 2015).
The EEU is significant for the Silk Road Economic Belt as it represents a common market of over 170 million people, and the economy of the EEU has been predicted to grow by 25% by 2030 (Iglauer, 2014). China sees the Silk Road Economic Belt as contributing to the economic growth of the EEU by bridging the regional economies of the EEU and the Asia-Pacific, thereby offering an economic stimulus to both regions (Xis next visits, 2015). Prior to the launch of the EEU in January 2015, the establishment of a customs union in 2010 between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus stimulated trade between these countries and China. In 2012, China accounted for 114.6 billion USD in trade with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and China became the largest trading partner with the customs union (Yang & Wang, 2014). To further this trading relationship, China and the EEU will work towards the establishment of a free trade zone. In the meantime, China and the EEU will facilitate economic integration through the establishment of transborder economic cooperation zones and industrial parks (Zhong, 2015; China, EAEU pledge, 2015).
China and its partners in economic cooperation in the EEU have to do a delicate balancing act to ensure that their economic cooperationespecially over the Silk Road Economic Beltis not perceived by Moscow as an attempt by Beijing to subvert Russias traditional sphere of influence (Duben, 2015). This is important as economic growth for all the countries concerned will be negatively impacted by a revival of the Cold War-era Sino-Soviet split. As such, it is important that Russia continue to be involved in the regional economic cooperation over the Silk Road Economic Belt, and that it achieve economic gains from this cooperation. As the Silk Road Economic Belt has been designed by China to be a non-hegemonic path towards win-win cooperation and economic growth for all the participating countries, Russia should have no reason to fear that its continued political preeminence in the EEU will be at risk (Kaczmarski, 2015).
Russia
During President Xis visit to Russia, he recognized the contributions of Russian advisors to Chinas development, both during the early days of the Peoples Republic of China, and later during Chinas period of economic reform after 1978 (Xi hails aid, 2015). This was significant as it highlighted China and Russias long history of friendship, and the hope that this friendship will continue to flourish in the future. In this historical context, the Sino-Soviet split may be seen as an unfortunate aberration in the broader trajectory of Chinese and Russian friendship. The current warmth between China and Russia dates from Mikhail Gorbachevs efforts at rapprochement. Since the establishment of the Russian Federation in 1992, the friendship between China and Russia has deepened (Lai & Lim, 2007, p. 2). Russia was the site of President Xi Jinpings first state visit after assuming office in March 2013, and in the two years since then both Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have held over ten meetings (Xis visit boosts, 2015).
This long-term friendship between China and Russia has been greatly facilitated by their shared outlook on international relations, in particular their suspicion of American assertions of unipolarity, and their common interest in creating a multipolar world order. While both nations have had their occasional disagreements, for example, when China chose to remain neutral with regard to Russias intervention in Georgia, their relationship has generally been characterized by cooperation (Bellacqua, 2010, pp. 4-5). One good example is their ongoing cooperation under the framework of the BRICS bloc of high-growth emerging economies. Apart from their efforts to establish the BRICS New Development Bank, which is currently scheduled to be launched in late 2015, China, Russia, and their counterparts in the BRICS bloc are also launching a common reserve fund to serve as an alternative to emergency loans from the American-dominated International Monetary Fund (Prange, 2014; Mathew, 2015; Karnik & Balachandran, 2015). Apart from their cooperation on the BRICS initiatives, China and Russia are also cooperating on Chinas Belt and Road development framework, including the AIIB financing initiative, of which both are serving as founding members (Lim, 2015c; Xis visit boosts, 2015). In the social field, both China and Russia have sought to encourage mutual understanding between their peoples through the establishment of Russian and Chinese cultural centers. China, for example, has opened over twenty Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Russia (Xis visit boosts, 2015). In terms of bilateral trade, China has become Russias largest trading partner. From 1994 to 2014 Sino-Russian bilateral trade dramatically increased from 7.7 billion to 95.3 billion USD (Lai & Lim, 2007, p. 3; Russia-China trade, 2015).
The economic linkages between China and Russia are set to deepen with the cooperative projects established by President Xis visit. Due to Western sanctions over Russian intervention in Ukraine, Russias cooperation with China has become critical for its economic growth (Xis visit to, 2015). On the eve of Russias massive 2015 Victory Day parade, Presidents Xi and Putin signed 32 bilateral agreements, including the construction of a high-speed rail line between Moscow and Kazan, and a road map for Sino-Russian cooperation in Central Asia that balances the Silk Road Economic Belt projects with those of the EEU (Roth, 2015). Under this road map, China will seek to connect its Silk Road Economic Belt with Russias initiative for a Trans-Eurasian Belt. In particular, President Putins plan for a trans-Eurasian railway will be connected with rail infrastructure development in the Silk Road Economic Belt. Cooperation makes sense as the improvements to infrastructure that will take place under the Silk Road Economic Belt will benefit Russian economic development in its Far East (Xis next visits, 2015; China, Russia face, 2015; Belt and Road initiative, 2015; Plans for new, 2015).
Putins plan for a trans-Eurasian railway will be connected with rail infrastructure development in the Silk Road Economic Belt.
China and Russia will also increase their economic cooperation in a range of sectors including energy, infrastructure, and finance, and both countries will also seek to increase their bilateral investment (Xis next visits, 2015). One of the new joint ventures in the energy sector is a project by China Three Gorges Corporation and RusHydro to build a 320-megawatt hydropower plant on Russias Bureya river (Koh, 2015). Also in the energy sector, China and Russia signed an agreement on the supply of Russian natural gas through the planned Western Route pipeline, which will provide China with 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year (Tiezzi, 2015a). In May 2014, China and Russia had signed an earlier deal on natural gas worth 400 billion USD. Under this deal, Russia will supply China, through its Eastern Route pipeline, 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from 2018 for 30 years (Keck, 2014; Putin ratifies, 2015). In November 2014, China and Russia deepened their energy cooperation with a further similarly-sized deal on natural gas (Paton & Guo, 2014). These mega-deals with China will help Russia diversify its energy exports from the politically difficult European market (Tiezzi, 2015a).
Outside of the energy sector, the new cooperative projects between China and Russia include gold exploration as well as the joint development of a new heavy-duty transport helicopter to rival Boeings CH-47 Chinook helicopter (Russia and China ink, 2015; Russia and China to, 2015). China will also increase its debt financing of Russian companies, allowing these companies access to financing they had previously lost because of Western sanctions against Russia (Cai, 2015). China Construction Bank (CCB) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will jointly extend up to 25 billion USD in loans to Russian companies, with CCB being responsible for 85% of the financing. In addition, CITIC Merchant and RDIF will jointly establish a Russia-China Investment Bank which will give Russian companies greater access to Chinese financing (Baraulina, 2015). Western sanctions hence have ironically allowed Chinese banks to take over the market share that was previously occupied by Western lenders (Hille, 2015).
Kazakhstan
President Xis visit to Kazakhstan was significant as this was where he first announced the Silk Road Economic Belt in 2013 (Xis next visits, 2015). While Kazakhstan has welcomed its participation in the Silk Road Economic Belt as a means of reducing Kazakh dependence on Russias troubled economy, the Kazakh government has in the meantime developed its own economic development strategy (Tiezzi, 2015c; Interview: Xis upcoming, 2015). Like his Russian counterpart, Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev seeks to connect his countrys Bright Road economic policy with the Silk Road Economic Belt. Both development strategies complement each other as they focus on infrastructural development of key areas including energy, industry, and transportation. Also, Kazakhstan, which is a founding member of the AIIB, will have financing options from the AIIB for its Bright Road infrastructure projects. For example, the road construction projects under the Bright Road development plan over the next 2 years are estimated to cost 9 billion USD (Wong, 2015; Belt and Road initiative, 2015).
Kazakhstan sees its geographical location as providing a strategic bridge between Europe and Asia (Iglauer, 2014). This strategic location offers significant opportunities for trade and investment, especially from regions of economic growth like China. Indeed, during President Xis 2013 state visit to Kazakhstan, President Nazarbayev expressed his hope that cooperation with China would accelerate his countrys economic growth (Kazakhstan hopes, 2013). China has since become the largest trading partner of Kazakhstan. Their bilateral trade increased from 20.4 billion USD in 2010 to over 28 billion USD in 2013, but fell to 22.4 billion USD in 2014. China and Kazakhstan aim to increase their bilateral trade to 40 billion USD in 2015 (Wu, 2012, p. 59; Duben, 2015; Tiezzi, 2015c). China has also become one of the top investors in Kazakhstan. In December 2014 China and Kazakhstan signed agreements worth 14 billion USD in energy, housing and infrastructure, and in March 2015, further agreements worth 23.6 billion USD were signed in the automobile, hydropower, steel, and oil refining sectors. Indeed, Kazakhstan has become an important source of primary resources for China, including oil (Tiezzi, 2015c; Kazakhstan, China, 2015; China taking in, 2014).
To further accelerate such investment, China has encouraged its entrepreneurs to invest in Kazakhstan, especially in industrial projects (Tiezzi, 2015b). China and Kazakhstan have also planned further joint projects at the Khorgos free trade zone, which already serves as a key source of economic growth for Kazakhstans Almaty region (Tiezzi, 2015b; Kazakhstan, China, 2015). Such economic development has implications for security, as economic development in Kazakhstan has the potential for spilling over into economic developmentwith possible dividends for peacein Chinas restive Xinjiang region (Tiezzi, 2015c). The parallel development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has similar security implications for Xinjiang (Lim, 2015b).
Belarus
Both China and Belarus have aggressively pursued economic cooperation since they upgraded their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013 (China, Belarus vow, 2015). During President Xis visit, China signed an estimated 15.7 billion USD worth of infrastructure investments and trade deals with Belarus. One such deal, for a shipment of 4 million tonnes of potash over 5 years, was worth 1.3 billion USD. China also extended 5.5 billion USD in loans to Belarus, with 1 billion USD to finance Belarusian banks. Not only do these economic linkages with China allow the Belarusian economy to reduce its dependence on the troubled Russian economy, the planned modernization of Belarusian infrastructure will help Belarus to accelerate its economic development. Also, as with Kazakhstan, the improvements in its infrastructure will allow Belarus to leverage its strategic geographical location to become a key hub for overland trade between China and Europe. Trade between Belarus and China expanded from just 34 million USD in 1992 to almost 4 billion USD in 2014 (Karmanau, 2015; Makhovsky & Prentice, 2015; Xing & Zhang, 2015; Nedzhvetskaya, 2011; Yang & Wang, 2014; Belarus willing, 2015). China is now Belarus largest Asian trading partner and fifth largest global trading partner. Chinese investment in Belarus has been growing since 1992, and currently stands at over 400 million USD. To facilitate trade and investment, Chinas and Belarus central banks have signed a 1.15 billion USD currency swap agreement (Hu, 2015; Sheppard, 2013; Xing & Zhang, 2015; Xi begins, 2015).
Like Kazakhstan, Belarus has been a key supporter of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has highlighted the primary importance to the success of the Silk Road Economic Belt of the construction in Belarus of land transportation infrastructure of highways and railways, as well as infrastructure for air transportation. For its part, to further enhance China-Belarus cooperation, China will align its Silk Road Economic Belt projects in Belarus with the Belarusian governments national development plans, including President Lukashenkos strategic vision of economic integration across Eurasia (Belarus willing, 2015; Belarus to, 2015; China, Belarus pledge, 2015). Such alignment can be seen in cooperation between China and Belarus in key social development projects like the construction of low-income housing. China and Belarus are also exploring cooperation in science and technology as well as tourism and other forms of cultural exchange (China, Belarus pledge, 2015; Hu, 2015). To deepen Sino-Belarusian economic cooperation, President Xi has called on local governments in China and Belarus to explore opportunities for investment and other modes of economic cooperation at the local government level (Xi calls for, 2015).
Trade between Belarus and China expanded from just 34 million USD in 1992 to almost 4 billion USD in 2014.
Like Russia, Belarus support of Chinese economic engagement has been intensified by Western sanctions. Belarus has suffered international isolation since 2010 when the US and the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on the Lukashenko regime following its crackdown on the opposition. While the Belarusian economy has been propped up by Russiawhose economy has itself been negatively impacted by Western sanctionsthe Belarusian government is seeking to diversify Belarus economic lifelines by encouraging investment from China. Chinese investment is particularly attractive given the Chinese governments stand against foreign interference in a countrys internal affairs, including interference over human rights (Cienski, 2013).
The major site of Sino-Belarusian economic cooperation is the Great Stone Industrial Park near Minsk, which is being positioned by China and Belarus as a flagship project of the Silk Road Economic Belt (Xis Next Visits, 2015; Belarus willing, 2015). Its importance is such that its success will showcase to the rest of the region the economic benefits of engagement with the Silk Road Economic Belt (Hu, 2015). Costing an estimated 5 billion USD, Great Stone Industrial Park will locate Chinese manufacturers within 170 miles of Poland and Lithuania, both gateways into the EU, as well as offer customs-free entry into the Russian and Kazakh markets of the EEU. It will also allow these manufacturers to enjoy the cost benefits of the educated Belarusian workforce, whose wages cost approximately half that of their Polish counterparts. Belarus, in turn, seeks Chinese investment to stimulate its economy. The first stage of Great Stone Industrial Park is anticipated to be ready by 2020 and the second stage by 2030 (Kudrytski, 2013). Even before the scheduled 2020 completion of the first stage of the industrial park, President Lukashenko has sought the expansion of the Great Stone project (Belarus to expand, 2015). The Belarusian president has been inspired by Chinas economic reforms for his governments restructuring of the Belarusian economy. In particular, Chinas successful implementation of industrial parks inspired the Great Stone project, which President Lukashenko expects will contribute 50 billion USD in exports to the Belarusian economy (Li, 2013; China-Belarus industrial, 2015).
Afterword
This paper was originally published in Eurasia Review (Lim, 2015a). Since that time of writing, cooperation has increased between China and the countries of the EEU. In the past year, Russia has increased its exports of oil to China, indeed topping Chinese imports of Saudi oil on four occasions. One of the key reasons is Sino-Russian financial cooperation which allows China to pay for Russian oil with the yuan (Russia steals Saudis, 2016). More broadly, Sino-Russian economic cooperation is growing at the enterprise level, with Russian firms and professionals increasingly being attracted to Chinas growing services sector (Hille, 2016). Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov visited Beijing in December 2015 during which 52 Sino-Kazakh economic projects worth 24 billion USD were signed. A key project is Shenyang Lianli Copper Corporations exploration of mining resources in Atyrau in Kazakhstan (Ting, 2016). Kazakhstan has also strengthened its position on the Silk Road Economic Belt with the launch of a new rail line connecting China through Kazakhstan with Iran (Turebekova, 2016). In view of Kazakhstans economic importance, China has invited Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to participate in the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou (Orazgaliyeva, 2016). Chinas practical cooperation with Belarus has similarly increased, with initiatives launched to increase cooperation in a range of sectors including education and the space industry. On January 16, 2016, for example, a Belarusian telecommunications satellite, which had been constructed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China (China to continue, 2016; China launches, 2016). The increase in 2015 in container rail traffic between China and the EU through Belarus confirms Belarus key geographic position as a transshipment hub on the Silk Road Economic Belt between China and Europe (China-EU container, 2016).
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Islam Karimov, Uzbekistans long-serving first President, died on September 2, 2016, triggering a leadership transition in the Central Asian country. Karimov had ascended to the top of the countrys leadership hierarchy during the Soviet era when Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the achievement of Uzbek independence in 1991, Karimov became the first Uzbek President, using Soviet methods to govern the country. As Steve Swerdlow, the director of Central Asia research at Human Rights Watch, notes of Karimovs leadership: He is the state and the state is him, and it has been that way for at least 25 years (MacFarquhar, 2016).
Interestingly, the leadership transition in Uzbekistan appears to have triggered or accelerated succession planning in the regions other autocracies: Kazakhstans leader reshuffled his cabinet, Turkmenistan lifted a presidential age limit and extended presidential terms, and Azerbaijan is preparing for a September 26 referendum that will also consolidate presidential power (Foley, 2016).
Following Karimovs death, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has been Uzbekistans prime minister since 2003, was elected by the Uzbek parliament to serve as acting President until presidential elections are held on December 4, 2016, of which he will be one of the candidates. Under the constitution, Nigmatilla Yuldashev, the Chairman of the Senate, should have become acting president; however, he supported Mirziyoyevs ascension. The orderly transition of leadership highlights the work of Uzbekistans National Security Committee in ensuring a peaceful succession following Karimovs long-anticipated death (Farchy, 2016; Putz, 2016; Shavkat Mirziyoyev becomes, 2016). As an analyst of Uzbek politics explains, the succession planning began in 2013 when the decline in Karimovs physical and mental faculties became obvious:
A wave of constitutional modifications took place in March 2014, when several articles were rewritten to give the Prime Minister powers and decision-making capabilities that used to be held by the President. At the same time, the Parliament received a new lever of power, as it now possesses the ability to cancel government decisions and potentially dissolve the government. This mechanism was thought out to isolate an increasingly diminished President from the decision-making process and to protect him from all outside pressure, while progressively distributing his power to other State institutions. Consequently, power players simply had to wait for the official death of Islam Karimov. (Boulegue, 2016)
During his tenure as governor of Jizzakh and Samarqand Regions and then as Prime Minister, acting President Mirziyoyev has proved himself to be as tough as the late President Karimov, and maybe even tougher. For example, under his leadership, Mirziyoyev held governors accountable for meeting cotton quotas during the annual cotton harvests that involve the forced labor of millions of citizens. Observers do not expect Mirziyoyev to relax the iron fist that characterized Karimovs leadership, and indeed Mirziyoyev himself has pledged continuity with Karimovs policies and ordered the Uzbek government to strengthen the security of the state.
Continued repression may be expected given that Russias economic recession has led to unemployment and other economic difficulties in Uzbekistan, and the IMF estimates that Uzbekistans growth will fall to 5 per cent this year its lowest in more than a decade. Among the key economic priorities of the Mirziyoyev regime are lifting employment by creating 1m new jobs this year; and investing in infrastructure (Farchy, 2016; Walker & Nardelli, 2015). These economic priorities indicate the continuity of the Mirziyoyev regime with the Karimov regimes economic cooperation with China, especially with regard to Chinese President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road infrastructure development initiative.
One threat to Sino-Uzbek economic cooperation is terrorism, especially from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement which has begun integrating into Middle Eastern terrorist networks.
In his message of congratulations to Mirziyoyev over his appointment as acting President of Uzbekistan, President Xi stated that China firmly supports the Uzbek side on its path of development, and noted that thanks to the joint efforts the bilateral cooperation is developing dynamically in all spheres over the recent years, and as a result, there are a number of important achievements (Azizov, 2016).
One such achievement is the 19.2 km Kamchik Tunnel through the Qurama Mountains that is a key section of the AngrenPap railway line that connects the Uzbek capital Tashkent with Namangan, Uzbekistans second-largest city. The Kamchik Tunnel, which is the longest of its kind in Central Asia, was a major project of the China Railway Tunnel Group, and its construction had been financed with a USD 350 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. During his state visit to Uzbekistan in June 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted the Kamchik Tunnel as a major outcome of the Belt and Road Initiative that China and Uzbekistan are jointly promoting, and also a new link in the friendship and cooperation of both peoples.
Presidents Xi and Karimov also upgraded Sino-Uzbek relations to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, and they expand their countries cooperation in key economic sectors including high-tech, trade, investment, energy, transportation, agriculture and finance. Other recent Sino-Uzbek economic cooperation projects include the China Industrial Park covering the energy, transport, chemical and high-tech sectors, as well as the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline. China has also recently launched a major railway connection between China and Afghanistan in its New Silk Road across Central Asia, which includes feeder lines to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, as well as the ancient Silk Road centers of Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan.
In addition, Uzbekistan has attracted Chinese investment in recent years, typified by a USD 15 billion bilateral energy deal concluded in 2013. At present there are over 600 Chinese enterprises operating in various fields in Uzbekistan, including energy, telecommunications, infrastructure construction and textiles (Hart, 2016; Kava, 2016; Shepard, 2016; Thriving economic relations, 2016; Xis State Visit, 2016). Chinas growing economic cooperation with Uzbekistan has become even more important for the Uzbeks given the reduction of Uzbekistans economic engagement with recession-hit Russia:
China last year became Uzbekistans largest trading partner with $3 billion worth of trade done, leapfrogging Russia in the process. That was actually lower than in 2014, when the figure was $4.7 billion, but with Russias economy enduring an extended slump, the trend is unmistakable. (Uzbekistan & China, 2016)
One threat to Sino-Uzbek economic cooperation is terrorism, especially from the Uighur militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement which has in recent years begun integrating into Middle Eastern terrorist networks, thereby expanding their operational reach into the countries of Central Asia. The August 30, 2016 suicide bomb attack on the Chinese embassy at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has been identified by Kyrgyz authorities as having been ordered by Uygur militants based in Syria and carried out by a member of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (Clarke, 2016; Zhou, 2016). China and Uzbekistan are well aware of the security threat. Indeed, during President Xi Jinpings state visit to Uzbekistan, both Presidents Xi and Karimov vowed to resolutely crack down on the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism (Xis State Visit, 2016).
The late President Karimov had a history of confrontation with Islamic militancy. He crushed an Islamic insurgency after surviving an assassination attempt by Islamic militants in 1999, and turned Uzbekistan into a bulwark against the spread of any jihadist threat in the region. Following the 1999 attack, Karimov vowed extreme measures to restore security to Uzbekistan: I am ready to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, for the sake of peace and tranquillity in the country. If a child of mine chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head. His resolve was demonstrated several years later in 2005 when Uzbek security forces massacred hundreds of civilians in the city of Andijan who had been protesting the governments crackdown on Islamic extremism (MacFarquhar, 2016; How the Andijan killings, 2005).
Karimov had accepted Russia and Chinas invitation for Uzbekistan to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2001. While Uzbekistan has benefitted economically from its SCO membership, including the receipt of funding from the SCO Inter-Bank Association for the construction of a Tajik-Uzbek highway, the main purpose of the SCO is security cooperation, including the fight against the three evil forces of extremism, separatism and terrorism (Hiro, 2016; Lim, 2015). The SCO will be one of the key instruments through which the Chinese and Uzbek governments may cooperate to establish an environment in the post-Karimov era in which Sino-Uzbek economic cooperation can securely take place.
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Zhou, L. (2016, September 23). As China takes greater stake in Central Asia, rewards bring their own risk. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2022129/china-takes-greater-stake-central-asia-rewards-bring
In October 2012, Wang Jisi, the influential dean of Peking Universitys School of International Studies, published an opinion piece in Chinas Global Times recommending that China rebalance its geopolitical strategy westwards towards Eurasia. Professor Wangs Western strategy would be made state policy the following year when Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, thereby expanding Professor Wangs initial vision beyond the Eurasian landmass to the nations of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road together constitute both arms of the One Belt One Road development framework. Their potential reach is enormous: Chinas partners presently number over 60 nations with a combined population of 4.4 billion.
The Belt and Road as a mode of practical cooperation offers developmental benefits to China and its partners. While Chinas partners will accelerate their economic development through the strategic construction of much-needed infrastructure, the Belt and Road offers China an engine for its new normal of single-digit growth. This new normal is the result of Chinas transition from a manufacturing- to a consumer-based economy, and new engines of growth will be needed to replace the ones that had powered its double-digit growth during the first decade of the 2000s. Chinas transition to its new normal has driven down global commodity prices, negatively impacting its commodity suppliers, and this global slowdown confirms that initiatives like the Belt and Road will be needed to stimulate future global growth.
The construction of infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road framework is hence expected to provide an economic boost for Chinas partners. The IMF has calculated that developing countries can expect to enjoy a multiplier effect from the construction of infrastructure, such that each dollar spent on infrastructure will stimulate 1.6 dollars in economic growth. In the case of trade, the Belt and Road is expected to increase trade for Chinas partner economies by USD 2.5 trillion over the next decade. With respect to investment, the overseas investment opportunities created by the Belt and Road projects will transform China into a net exporter of capital. The export of industrial plant in particular will facilitate the Chinese governments supply-side reform program by reducing Chinas industrial overcapacity, and in turn will benefit the recipient nations by supplying them with much-needed industrial plant at concessional rates.
To help its partners finance their Belt and Road projects, China has set up several international financial institutions. The most prominent of these is the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which launched its first slate of projects last year. The AIIB aims to close the global development gap by offering financing to low-income countries which normally would have difficulty securing such financing from traditional sources like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Apart from the AIIB, China has also set up the Silk Road Fund, and as a member of the BRICS, is one of the founders of the New Development Bank.
Southeast Asia straddles both the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road, and the Belt and Road projects promise to stimulate economic development and trade in the participating nations. Indeed, China and ASEAN seek to raise their trade to USD 1 trillion by 2020. Lets now have a closer look at mainland Southeast Asia.
Mainland Southeast Asia
Sino-Myanmar relations have become frosty in recent years, and Chinese investment has slowed, following the Thein Sein regimes freezing of the Myitsone Dam project in 2011, as well as the Myanmar militarys clashes with ethnic Chinese rebels on the troubled border region with Yunnan. Despite the recent difficulties, China remains Myanmars largest economic partner, both in terms of investment and trade. Some influential figures in Myanmar recognize the potential benefits of the Belt and Road for their countrys development. Likewise, the Chinese government cannot afford to lose Myanmar, given its geostrategic importance as a land corridor linking Yunnan with the Indian Ocean. In particular, the Shwe pipelines which connect Yunnan with Myanmars Kyaukphu port allow oil and gas to be delivered to China without having to pass through the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea. The election in 2016 of a government led by former opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi raised hopes in China of improved Sino-Myanmar relations. However, major outstanding issues including the requested resumption of the Myitsone Dam project, or the proposal for a high-speed rail line running from Yunnan through Myanmar into Thailand and Malaysia, have yet to be decided by the Myanmar government.
Thailands largest trading partner is China, and the increased connectivity through the Belt and Road is expected to increase their trading volume to USD 100 billion.
Laos and Cambodia arguably have the closest and most stable relations with China in mainland Southeast Asia. In Laos, the high-speed rail line between Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, and the Laotian capital of Vientiane is a massive undertaking that will involve the construction of 154 bridges, 76 tunnels, and 31 train stations. The Kunming-Vientiane line is estimated to cost USD 7 billion, which the Laotian government will finance with concessionary loans from China. While this will saddle the Laotian government with substantial debt, Laos believes the new infrastructure will generate significant long-term economic growth for the country. In the energy sector, Laos is working with Chinese hydropower firms to construct a series of dams across its stretch of the Mekong. When completed, these hydropower dams will earn revenue for Laos from the export of electricity to neighboring countries. Critics however warn that these dams could have a devastating impact on the Mekongs ecosystems, including damage to riverine fisheries in Laos and the other Mekong nations.
While the Silk Road Economic Belts vision for a high-speed rail network across mainland Southeast Asia includes a line running from Thailand through Cambodia and Vietnam into China, neither Cambodia nor Vietnam have yet committed to the construction of such a line. Vietnam is an unlikely partner for the Belt and Road given its fear of economic domination by China and its long-standing dispute with China over the South China Sea. However, the Trump administrations sudden withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership could force Vietnam to seek deeper economic engagement with China, especially since the Vietnamese government had been counting on the TPP to be a major source of future growth.
In the case of Cambodia, Sino-Cambodian economic engagement currently focuses on the construction of basic but urgently-needed infrastructure like roads, bridges, and hydropower dams. President Xi did announce during his state visit to Cambodia in 2016 that China plans to invest in a high-speed rail line in Cambodia, but the details have yet to be announced. Within ASEAN, Cambodias and to a lesser extent, Laos willingness to advocate for China, to the extent of blocking consensus in ASEAN on joint criticisms of Chinas activities in the South China Sea, has in recent years led to unhappiness from other ASEAN members towards the Cambodian government, to the extent that calls have been made for Cambodias expulsion from the group. However, as we shall see, in 2016 Malaysia and the Philippines suddenly pivoted towards China, increasing the number of nations within ASEAN that could side with China in highly contested disputes like the South China Sea.
Thailand is an interesting case as it stands at the intersection of both the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road. Thailands largest trading partner is China, and the increased connectivity through the Belt and Road is expected to increase their trading volume to USD 100 billion. While China had proposed a high-speed rail line connecting Kunming with the Thai cities of Nong Khai, Bangkok, and Rayong, concerns over the proposed terms of financing prompted the Thai government in 2016 to reject the Chinese financing offer and to shorten the line to a domestic line between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, and to postpone its decision on an extension of the line through Laos into Kunming. Separately, Malaysia and Thailand are exploring the possibility of a high-speed rail line connecting Bangkok with Kuala Lumpur. This line will connect with the KL-Singapore high speed rail line, and if both projects are awarded to China, they will materialize the Silk Road Economic Belts vision of a high-speed rail network across mainland Southeast Asia.
As noted, Thailand is also on the Maritime Silk Road, with its port of Laem Chabang being Thailands gateway to the maritime network. Already Thailands busiest port, the shipping volume at Laem Chabang is expected to increase with the establishment of new shipping routes on the Maritime Silk Road. One possible future Maritime Silk Road project in Thailand is the long-discussed canal across the Isthmus of Kra, which if constructed will create a shipping route between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea that will bypass the Malacca Straits. In some versions of the proposal, the canal is replaced with a land bridge. As we shall see, Malaysias East Coast Rail Link offers a land bridge similar to the one proposed for Kra, though further down the Malay Peninsula. As noted above, Malaysia and Thailand are discussing plans for a high-speed rail line between Bangkok and KL. Should this and the Kra project be built, the Chinese and Thai planners will need to find a way to integrate the KL-Bangkok high-speed rail line with the Kra canal or land bridge.
In Part 2 of this article we will turn to maritime Southeast Asia.
(Editors note: This article is an update of the authors 2015 essay Chinas Belt and Road and Southeast Asia: Challenges and Prospects. It will be presented on March 18, 2017 in Toronto at the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies.)
In February 2017, two events occurred in Southeast Asia which highlight the persistence in national life of collective memories of trauma. First, in Singapore, the name of an exhibition on the Second World War had to be changed following a public outcry over their perception of the historical insensitivity of the exhibitions name to the victims and survivors of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. Just a day after the change in the exhibitions name was announced, Netflix premiered in Cambodia its film adaptation of First They Killed My Father, the bestselling memoir of a child survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide. This movie premiere was well-received by the genocide survivors among its audience, who reportedly received a form of catharsis from the vivid cinematic depiction of their collective suffering during the Khmer Rouge period.
On February 9, 2017, the National Archives of Singapore gave a media preview of its new exhibition on the Second World War, Syonan Gallery: War and its Legacies. This replaced the earlier exhibition Memories at Old Ford Factory, which had also chronicled life under the Japanese Occupation. This previous exhibition was located at the Old Ford Motor Factory at Upper Bukit Timah Road in Singapore, which was the site of the colonial British governments surrender to the invading Japanese army (Wong, 2004a; The Syonan Gallery, 2017). The inclusion of the Syonan in the name of the new exhibition gave rise to complaints from the public, as Syonan-to (Light of the South) was the name assigned to Singapore by the Japanese military following Japans capture of the island from the British. Syonan hence became a synecdoche for the 44 months of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore during the Second World War a period which is remembered in Singapores national consciousness as one of mass killings and great suffering (Syonan years, 2017).
On February 15, speaking at the official launch of the Syonan Gallery, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapores Minister for Communications and Information, addressed the public outcry, explaining that the name does not express approval of the Japanese Occupation: The name Syonan Gallery has evoked some strong reactions in our community, and quite understandably. Some among older Singaporeans who lived through that dark period feel that the name legitimises the Occupation. Others among them say that Syonan was a painful fact of history, and we should call it what it was (Name of Syonan Gallery, 2017). Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a social media post, further explained that the Syonan Gallery documents the horror and viciousness of the Japanese Occupation, and the suffering and bravery of our pioneers. They know what it means for Singapore to lose its freedom and even its name (Lee, 2017).
On February 17, the decision was made to change the name of the exhibition. Dr. Yaacob noted that while Syonan had been used without incident in names of previous exhibitions, including When Singapore was Syonan-to, the 1992 exhibition at the National Museum marking the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, its appearance in the name Syonan Gallery had provoked a strong reaction from members of the public: While they agreed that we need to teach Singaporeans about the Japanese Occupation, they also shared that the words Syonan Gallery had evoked deep hurt in them, as well as their parents and grandparents. Expressing the need to honour and respect the feelings of those who suffered terribly and lost family members during the Japanese Occupation, Dr. Yaacob announced that the exhibition would be renamed Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and its Legacies (Syonan Gallery renamed, 2017).
Indeed, as the passage of time sees the gradual replacement of the generations of Singaporeans who had lived through the Japanese Occupation with those who were born in its aftermath, this traumatic event remains foundational in Singapores national consciousness. In Zizekian terms, the Japanese Occupation functioned as a point de capiton for Singapores self-understanding, restructuring its narration of itself from that of a complacent British crown colony to a nation yearning for independence (Lim, 2013, p. 56). As Prime Minister Lee explained of February 15, 1942, the date of the British surrender of Singapore to the Japanese, Every year, we observe Total Defence Day on this day, so that we will never forget that darkest time of our history Singapore will always be small and vulnerable. No one owes us our sovereignty or security. These are truths we must never forget (Lee, 2017).
To this end, lessons on the Japanese Occupation remain an essential part of the national curriculum for Singapores schoolchildren. I still remember class trips to visit national memorials like the Civilian War Memorial, which honors the civilians who died during the Japanese Occupation, as well as the Lim Bo Seng Memorial, which honors a resistance fighter who died after torture at the hands of the Kempeitai, the dreaded Japanese military police (Cornelius-Takahama, 2004; Wong, 2004b; Wong and Chew, 2004). Back in school, I recall my classmates and I learning about the wicked atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army in Singapore, including a massacre of over a hundred doctors, nurses, and patients at Alexandra Hospital; and Operation Sook Ching, a massacre of thousands of Chinese civilians who had fallen under suspicion of involvement in the anti-Japanese resistance movement (Ho, 2013; Alexandra Hospital massacre, 2014).
Following the Japanese defeat at the end of the Second World War, various Japanese war criminals including General Yamashita Tomoyuki, the Tiger of Malaya, were tried for war crimes and executed (Tanaka, 2005). Under postwar American tutelage, Japan transformed itself into a Western-style democracy and underwent an economic takeoff, and through foreign direct investment and technology transfers, helped lead other economies in East and Southeast Asia including Singapore to achieve economic takeoffs of their own (Lim, 2017). Over the years, Japans influence in Singapore has spread beyond its economic investments. Today, Singaporeans have embraced Japanese technology, cuisine, and popular culture, and Japan is a major destination for Singaporean tourists.
The Syonan Gallery incident, however, reminds us that deep collective memories of trauma can complicate otherwise smooth bilateral relations between nations. Elsewhere in East and Southeast Asia, memories of Japans wartime atrocities continue to haunt bilateral relations with Japan, including the anger of the affected nations at the Japanese political establishments continued patronage of the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors almost a thousand war criminals from the Second World War; as well as anger from countries like China, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines over Japans continued refusal to deliver justice to their comfort women women who had been forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during their occupation of these territories (Borowiec, 2017; McMullen, 2016; Tiezzi, 2016; Woolf, 2013).
In the case of Cambodia, the historical event of trauma that was remembered by Loung Ungs memoir First They Killed My Father and its subsequent film adaptation by Netflix was the genocide that occurred under the Khmer Rouges communist revolution of 1975-79. While the exact number of victims may never be known, demographic analyses of the Khmer Rouge period indicate that estimated values of excess mortality within the range 2.2 million to 2.8 million should probably be considered as equally plausible although values as low as 1.2 million or as high as 3.4 million cannot be excluded on the basis of demographic accounting alone (Heuveline, 1998, p. 56). A separate survey of Khmer Rouge-era mass graves suggests that the original Cambodian estimate of 3.3 million deaths during the Khmer Rouge regime might be very nearly correct (Etcheson, 1999).
While the survivors have since gone on to rebuild their devastated families, many have chosen not to speak with their loved ones of those terrible years, with the effect that many Cambodians of the post-genocide generations remain unaware of the extent of the trauma Cambodia had suffered under the Khmer Rouge (Lim, 2010). Such familial silences have resulted in sustained myths, unanswered questions and denial in Cambodian youth (Munyas, 2008, p. 428). As Phloeun Prim (2017) recounts: That past was too far from me to remember, and yet too close to my parents for me to ask. I have never been able to share that part of me to my children (because I didnt know it). The memoirs and testimonials of genocide survivors like Loung Ung hence serve a key function in transmitting the traumatic memories of the survivors to those who were absent from or who were born after the event.
The film adaptation of First They Killed My Father follows the book in fulfilling this function. Produced by Angelina Jolie and Cambodian genocide survivor and film-maker Rithy Panh, and with its screenplay written by Jolie and Loung Ung herself, the film had its premiere on February 18 in the ancient Cambodian city of Angkor Thom, with Cambodias King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath as the royal guests of honor. The genocide survivors who attended the film premiere relived the suffering of the period, but also experienced catharsis.
A psychiatric nurse in attendance reported: Looking at the back of the survivors, most of them were crying It makes them remember the past (Sek and Wright, 2017). Such purging of emotions encouraged some of the genocide survivors to share their traumatic memories with their loved ones. Phloeun Prim (2017), for example, describes how the film had prompted his mother to share with her family how she and Phloeuns father had spent three days and three nights fleeing through the jungle with gunshots and bombs exploding around them to escape the Khmer Rouge.
For the films cast and crew, the production of First They Killed My Father also functioned as a venue for group catharsis, as many of the actors had survived the horrors of the genocide or were children of survivors. Jolie herself had a familial connection to the genocide through her adopted Cambodian son Maddox; as she explained: I wanted to understand what my sons birth parents may have gone through (Rach, 2017; Regan, 2017).
With a textbook on the Khmer Rouge genocide only having been introduced into the Cambodian school curriculum in 2009, Cambodians from the post-genocide generations who wanted to learn about the period have long had to turn to other sources (Cheang and Wilkins, 2009). The burgeoning genre of genocide survivor memoirs and testimonials of which Loung Ungs book is a good example is one major source; another is the growing collection of films made about the period, including recent films like Rithy Panhs The Missing Picture and Thet Sambaths Enemies of the People. Cambodians also have access to numerous genocide memorials located around the country, including the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.
Choeung Ek is also the site of Cambodias annual Day of Remembrance (previously known as the Day of Hatred or the Day of Anger), held each May 20, when families remember their loved ones whose lives were lost during the genocide, and when public reenactments of the Khmer Rouges atrocities are performed (Cambodia marks, 2015; Cambodians gather, 2016). Mydans (1999) recalls a dirge performed at the 1999 Day of Hatred:
They were hit with spades, they were bound and thrown into wells, without pity.
Small babies were dragged from their mothers arms and stabbed, spitted together on sticks, smashed against trees, without pity.
Young women were raped as if in a game, without pity.
O Cambodia, do you remember? Do you remember your bitter history?
Some observers believe Cambodia may only have closure once the perpetrators of the genocide have been brought to justice. Loung Ungs narrative includes an incident following the fall of the Khmer Rouge when a crowd of angry peasants in grim silence execute a captured Khmer Rouge soldier with a hammer and rusty knives (Sillars, 2017). While the defendants at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal are not facing the death penalty, the Cambodian people are arguably not receiving much justice from the tribunal either.
As Wallace (2017) notes, despite having spent USD 300 million thus far, the tribunal has convicted only three people: two senior leaders and the regimes chief jailer. A fourth elderly suspect died during prosecution, while another was declared unfit for trial because of dementia. Three midranking suspects are also under investigation but have not been arrested. In late February 2017, the tribunal dropped charges of crimes against humanity, including mass murder, extermination and enslavement against one of these suspects a decision experts fear may have been due to pressure from the Cambodian government, which has fought efforts to prosecute anyone beyond the Khmer Rouges senior leaders and one notorious prison chief.
Figure 1. Genocide Memorial Stupa in Siem Reap. Photo taken by the author.
One event that is expected to occur once the Khmer Rouge Tribunal concludes its work is a national referendum on the long-proposed cremation of the remains of the Khmer Rouge victims, especially those that are on display in memorials and stupas around the country. As Chy (2016) notes, Cambodian Buddhists, who constitute the majority of the country, believe that such cremation will help transition the dead to rebirth. Hence the cremation of the remains of the Khmer Rouge victims will bring some sense of closure and healing to the living victims, knowing that the souls of their family members and relatives no longer wander around and can now transition to rebirth. Indeed, Guillou (2012) reports that in the decades following the Khmer Rouge genocide, Cambodias peasants have started to regard the restless spirits of the genocide victims as neak ta (guardian spirits of the land) (pp. 219-226).
While some Cambodians believe that preserving the remains is a critical reminder of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge and serves as an educational tool for future generations of Cambodians, it is debatable whether this pedagogic function necessitates the public display of the actual bones, or whether survivor literature, films, and museum exhibitions can fully take over this function (Chy, 2016). The reaction of Cambodian audiences to First They Killed My Father suggests that the memories of trauma of the survivors may certainly be captured and transmitted through the medium of cinema, thereby allowing the bones of the genocide victims to be cremated, and for this lingering tension in Cambodias national consciousness to finally be laid to rest.
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In 2016 alone, Chinese firms bought an array of US companies, technology, and property estimated to be worth around $45.6 billion. (Photo : Getty Images)
According to recent surveys, a huge number of American businesses have shown optimism over investing in South China, a report from China Daily stated.
Reports from the South China branch of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) noted that majority of the firms they surveyed describes that the current business environment in this part of the country, particularly Guangdong, as "good" or "very good."
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Of the 230 companies included in the surveys, the similar majority shared that they also feel "optimistic" or "slightly optimistic" towards China's economy.
AmCham South China members are eyeing to expand their operations in the country this year. Based on the 2017 Special Report on the State of Business in South China and on the 2017 White Paper on the Business Environment in China, the branch has allotted a budget worth $12.6 billion in profits to fund the expansion projects.
On April 19 to 22, AmCham South China announced that they are set to host this year's edition of the APCAC Asia-Pacific Business Summit in Guangzhou.
The event expects the attendance of over 600 industry and business leaders. It will also be participated in by top government officials, ambassadors, and media and academic figures from the United States and from across 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, the firms that confirmed their attendance to the summit are reported to have a cumulative annual sales volume of over $600 billion.
Currently, AmCham South China lists "more than 2,300 corporate and individual members," China Daily wrote.
Back in March last year, Premier Li Keqiang revealed that China is actually giving investors from the U.S. to have more access to the country's lucrative market. He made the announcement while the two giant economies were under negotiations for the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
Huang Wei, director of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics, noted back then that "China will further open its market to foreign companies in the future despite the many challenges it faces during the current economic structural transformation."
An Austrian court has found eight Iraqis guilty of gang-raping a German tourist and has given them jail sentences of between nine and 13 years.
The court dismissed charges against a ninth suspect.
The victim has been awarded 25,000 euro (21,000) in damages, a court statement said.
Both the prosecution and defence lawyers are appealing against the decision, the statement added.
The Iraqis came to Austria as migrants between May and December 2015.
Five of them were subsequently given refugee status.
The prosecution said that the eight, aged between 22 and 48, exploited the fact that the victim had been drinking heavily and was unable to defend herself on the night she was raped.
The court heard evidence that on New Year's Eve four of the men took her to a Vienna apartment, where they were joined by the others, and that all took turns raping her.
When she regained control, she found herself naked in a bed.
Prosecutor Karina Fehringer said the victim continues to suffer post-traumatic effects from the assault that required psychiatric treatment.
Investigators have searched the Paris home of French presidential candidate Francois Fillon in a probe into parliamentary jobs for his family members.
Two police officials said the search was carried out this morning.
Last year, Caffe Nero Ireland opened a further three stores in Dublin as well as its first outside the capital; bringing its total number to eight. This contributed to revenues increasing by 210% to 2.132m in the 12 months to the end of last May.
The company also saw a 69% reduction in pre-tax losses for the year, to 138,000. In newly-filed accounts for the company, its directors said the losses arose due to continued start-up costs in this new territory.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said the 17,128 new cars registered in February were lower than expected, even taking into account the impact of Brexit has had on the import of used vehicles from the UK.
February 2016 saw 21,573 new cars registered, and while it had an extra day trading due to the leap year, the drop in sales this year was more than SIMI had hoped.
We have been anticipating lower numbers in February compared to 2016, with Brexit continuing to impact on used vehicle imports, with fewer working days this year and with less hire-drive cars because of a later Easter but these numbers are somewhat poorer than we had hoped, said Alan Nolan, SIMI director general.
Even with the relatively poor market in February, the year-to-date figure remains just 8% below last year so attention will now turn to the final month of the first quarter.
As a result the market for March will be very closely watched by the Industry for a clearer indication of where the 171 registration period is likely to finish up.
Registrations of new light commercial vehicles in February were down 28% on the 3,457 sold in the same month last year, and while heavy goods vehicle registrations were up 5% for the month of February, they are down by 2% on that of the previous year.
Meanwhile, classified ads website DoneDeal said there were 5.4bn worth of goods advertised in its motor section last year, which it said highlights the massive growth of used car sales in Ireland.
A spokesperson for the site said that the Volkswagen Golf was the top selling car on DoneDeal in 2016, followed by Ford Focus, VW Passat, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4.
It added that a total of 663,336 cars were advertised on the site last year.
A significant feature of DoneDeals success in 2016 was the increase in the number of car dealerships now subscribing to DoneDeal, said Cathal Cremen, commercial manager of DoneDeals motor section.
DoneDeal said the number of ads placed on the site by car dealers increased by 21% in 2016, with the number of car dealers subscribing also up 17%.
Former Maryland governor and Irish-American Democrat Martin OMalley, who competed with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democrat nomination, made the demand as he said now is not the time to be giving bowls of shamrock to white supremacists with Irish surnames.
As part of the annual St Patricks Day trade mission to the US, Mr Kenny will meet US president Donald Trump at the White House on March 16.
While the event is a long-standing tradition to highlight the close ties between both countries, it has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks due to Trumps deeply controversial immigration and economic policies, including this weeks decision to set up a group specifically focused on the victims of crimes by illegal immigrants.
In response to an Irish petition calling for the event to be cancelled in protest, Mr Kenny reiterated the need to attend.
However, a petition set up by Mr OMalley in recent days already has the backing of tens of thousands of US and Irish citizens. Speaking on RTE Radios Morning Ireland programme, Mr OMalley, who has close family ties to counties Mayo and Galway, said the image of Mr Kenny meeting Trump would send out the wrong message about Ireland.
Saying the annual meeting should be cancelled, he said the Taoiseach must stand up for human decency and truth.
Now is not a time to be giving bowls of shamrock and tricolour lapel pins to white supremacists with Irish surnames, he said in a reference to Trumps controversial advisor and former Breitbart publisher, Steve Bannon.
This guy [Mr Trump] is the very embodiment of the very sort of know-nothing white supremacist our great-grandparents, who emigrated from Ireland, had to confront.
Its shameful that any Irish-American politician with any awareness of history would condone this guy by drinking green beers with him and toasting a bowl of shamrocks.
Not only the Irish Taoiseach, but also Irish-American members of Congress should not show up and not condone the anti-immigrant rhetoric Donald Trump has brought to the White House, he said.
Saying the enduring symbol of the US should be the Statue of Liberty and not barbed-wire fences, he said what is happening in his country is wrong, adding:
When this [ Trumps immigration policies] happens, the only thing thats needed for success is for good people not to stand up, he said.
Despite Mr O Malleys call, Mr Kenny is still set to attend the annual White House event with Trump later this month.
The warning comes as three of the six major energy companies in Britain announced price increases to their energy bills.
Last month, Scottish Power blamed increasing wholesale prices for a 7.8% rise in dual fuel prices which will hit a third of its 1m customers.
It came just a week after Npower announced price hikes of 9.8% and EDF confirmed a 1.2% price rise British Gas has said it will freeze prices until August, while the other major players in the market, SSE and E.ON, have yet to announce their plans.
According to the 2016 Vayu Energy annual report, the cost of buying natural gas on the wholesale market last year fell by an average of 19.2% compared to 2015, while the average price of electricity decreased by 17.9%.
Since the end of 2014, Bord Gais Energy, Electric Ireland and Flogas have all cut their gas and electricity prices three times, while SSE Airtricity also cut their electricity prices three times.
However, in the last few months of 2016, wholesale energy prices have started to rise again in particular, gas prices. For example, in October and November, gas prices rose by 39% and 15% respectively month-on-month.
Managing director of Switcher.ie, Eoin Clarke, said, due to the increase in wholesale prices, it wouldnt be a huge leap to think that the price hikes being seen in Britain could start happening here after a run of price cuts.
Mr Clarke said increased competition in the market had resulted in savings for customers.
Following years of price hikes, weve had a run of price cuts from energy suppliers since the end of 2014 which has been great for consumers.
In addition to these cuts, competition between energy suppliers to attract new customers has resulted in some of the biggest discounts ever seen in the Irish energy market, he said.
The EU had previously advised that its roam like at home policy whereby customers pay domestic prices for using their phones irrespective of where they are travelling in the EU would become a reality for all European travellers by June, 2017.
However, 3 yesterday announced that its unlimited data package would not come under the policy, as it is an additional service benefit and not part of their customers bundle.
The network said its new plans offered All You Can Eat data as a service benefit while in Ireland. The company said its core package offered between 1GB and 7GB of data, and charges of 61.50 per GB would apply for data used above these allowances while roaming.
However, the European Commission responded yesterday that its rules would not allow companies to offer selective roaming.
There is no loophole by which part of the domestic data allowance could be regarded as gift or side benefit, and would, therefore, not count when travelling abroad, the commission said.
Doing so would appear like a clear case of circumvention, for which there is no basis in the roaming regulation. Thus, under the new rules, operators will not be allowed to offer only half a roaming experience to clients.
It said the new EU rules clearly cover data services, along with voice and SMS.
From 15 June on, every existing or new contract that includes roaming services will become a roam like at home contract by default. There is no exemption for the data services, only exceptional limits in case of unlimited or very competitive offers, the statement read.
However, last night the network showed little sign of changing its plans.
Despite the commissions statement, 3 said it is satisfied that our approach is compliant and allows us to continue to offer the best value to our customers.
A spokesperson for Vodafone, meanwhile, said it welcomes the regulation and is fully embracing it and applying it wholly and completely across all mobile tariffs.
The spokesperson said Vodafone has a unique roaming proposition, because of the strength of its network internationally.
This means that, with the EU regulation, we are not increasing prices, our tariffs stay exactly the same, and customers will be able to use their tariffs with no additional cost in EU-regulated countries, the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Eir said it would be increasing the size of the EU data-roaming allowance for Eir and Meteor customers, from 1GB to up to 5GB, depending on the bill pay tariff that the customer is on.
The EU said member states national telecoms regulators must ensure that mobile phone operators comply with the new rules on data roaming.
ComReg told the Irish Examiner that it will examine the offerings of the mobile network operators to ensure they comply with the new rules on data-roaming and lower prices of voice calls, when the new rules come into effect in June.
The starting pistol for the sale of up to 25% of the bank, which may take place in May or June, could likely be sounded as early as today when AIB releases its earnings for 2016.
AIB is also tipped to announce plans to resume paying dividends to shareholders. Such news would likely encourage investors to buy shares in the bank.
Along with Bank of Ireland, AIB hasnt paid a dividend since the onset of the financial crisis, as lenders struggled with huge levels of non-performing mortgage and commercial loans.
The Government was last year forced to scrap early plans to launch an initial public offering in AIB shares after banking markets across Europe went into meltdown amid fears over German and Italian banks. Brexit also sowed deep confusion for investors.
The Governments confidence of a renewed appetite in Irish banking shares has been bolstered by the rebound in bank valuations. Pledges by Donald Trump to rebuild the US infrastructure continued to boost bank stocks and valuations for banks around the world.
In late January, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the first opportunity to sell shares in AIB could arise as early as May or June. The Government since indicated that other dates, including in the autumn, remained in contention.
It subsequently revealed it valued its 99.9% ownership of AIB on the States books at 11.3bn at the end of last year, down from 12.2bn a year earlier. Analysts said at the time that the valuation nonetheless marked another step that brought the sale of AIB shares closer.
AIB has long pledged that taxpayers would get back all of the 21bn injected to keep the lender from collapse.
The Government will likely argue that through a number of financial instruments, such as the redemption of preference shares, that taxpayers had already started to receive repayments from AIB. It will also argue that the sale of up to 25% will only be a start and, as the economy improves, future sales of shares could fetch higher prices.
Weighing on the valuation of AIB is that it continues to carry an elevated level of non-performing loans.
Analysts say it will take many more years for the Government to complete the full privatisation of AIB.
An analyst at S&P Global Ratings told the Irish Examiner last month that AIB was in sufficiently good financial health and there was no financial reason blocking the Government from selling shares in the bank.
Seungri, G-Dragon, TOP, Taeyang and Daesung of Big Bang perform on the stage during a concert at the K-Collection In Seoul on March 11, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo : Getty Images/Chung Sung-Jun)
Unfortunately for K-Pop male group Big Bang fans, T.O.P is currently in the military. But recently, his fans were delighted when photos of him while in the military were released online.
On Feb. 28, Tuesday, the official website of the army training camp, as cited by All Kpop, shared photos of T.O.P and his fellow soldiers in training. In one of the photos, the K-Pop star points at the camera while wearing his military uniform and name tag.
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T.O.P is scheduled to be discharged in November 2018. While he is in the military, it was revealed that he was one of the inspirations for the makeup and hairstyling of the Joker (Jared Leto) of "Suicide Squad."
Alessando Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson won Best Makeup and Hairstyling for "Suicide Squad" at the Academy Awards 2017. At the Oscars, some of the inspiration pieces for the Joker were displayed at the Hair and Makeup Symposium for "Suicide Squad." One of them is a picture of T.O.P with his mint hair.
Oscar nominated Hair and Makeup Symposium #suicidesquad #thejoker #jaredleto #TOP #T.O.P. #oscars2017
A post shared by Anne Hanson (@anne_hanson) on Feb 26, 2017 at 8:23am PST
Also nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the Academy Awards 2017 were Eva von Bahr and Love Larson for "A Man Called Ove" and Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo for "Star Trek Beyond." The award was the only Oscar nomination and award of "Suicide Squad."
Released on Aug. 5, 2016, "Suicide Squad" was written and directed by David Ayer. With Leto as the Joker, the film also starred Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Robin Atkin Downes as Angelo and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.
Davis won her first Oscar at the Academy Awards 2017. She won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Fences," which was directed by her co-star Denzel Washington.
Meanwhile, Leto recently talked about his relationship with Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele. The "Suicide Squad" star said nothing but good words about the Italian fashion designer.
"He puts so much love, care and joy into his work that when you wear Gucci, you're not just wearing something that's beautiful or pretty," The National quoted Leto as saying about Michele. For the actor, Gucci wearers feel the same thing the designer feels when he is making the clothes.
Leto has yet to comment on T.O.P being the inspiration of the "Suicide Squad" character he played. Watch a video of the K-Pop star being sent off to military here:
The survey, launched online yesterday, will reveal how living with HIV affects the day-to-day lives of sufferers.
It will be followed by another on the general publics views on people with HIV and their knowledge and awareness of the disease.
There were 485 new HIV diagnoses confirmed in Ireland in 2015. According to provisional figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the number increased to 513 last year.
HIV Ireland executive director Niall Mulligan said it was crucial the reasons behind the continued increase of new HIV diagnoses in Ireland were understood.
He pointed out that the number of new HIV diagnoses had increased by 35% since 2011.
Ireland now has an average of 10 people per week being diagnosed with HIV. Understanding more about peoples personal experiences of living with HIV will help in response to this very real public health challenge in Ireland today, he said.
The National HIV Stigma Survey will remain live for six weeks. Interim results are expected to be available for Irish AIDS Day on June 15, with the full report launched towards the end of the year.
We know that stigma can be one of the key barriers to people accessing treatment or even getting tested, said Mr Mulligan. We want to know how it is impacting on peoples lives and is it as bad as we think it is.
He said it was 10 years since people living with HIV had been surveyed.
What we want to do is have a wider trawl and get the views of people we dont have contact with and find out if stigma and discrimination are still an issue for them.
The general public also need to know that HIV is still a public health problem and learn more about what they can do to protect their personal health.
Joseph Lewis pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of engaging in violent disorder at Chestnut Drive, Youghal, on September 11, 2015. He had already served between eight and nine months in prison because of breaches of bail conditions.
Judge Sean O Donnabhain imposed an 18-month jail sentence yesterday with the remainder of that term suspended on condition he would stay away from Chestnut Drive and, in particular, from Tony Hogan and his family in that estate for two years.
Detective Garda Thomas Keane said the accused and others had engaged in the violent behaviour, leading to members of the Hogan family being assaulted and put in fear in the driveway of their own home.
Lewis was not arrested until the following October 1 at New Ross, Co Wexford, when he was stopped as a result of a road traffic incident. While he was given bail on the charge, he repeatedly breached the bail terms by returning to the Chestnut Drive area.
John Devlin, defending, said things were remaining quiet in the area in recent times and there had been no further incidents of such violence. The judge commented: Yes, things have remained quiet because Joseph is not there.
Mr Devlin said Lewis, who is aged around 30, was residing at an address at Blackwater Heights and also at an address on Mall Lane, both in Youghal.
Donal McCarthy, prosecuting, said Lewis had a suspended jail term of three years hanging over him from Clonmel Circuit Criminal Court when a sentence of six years, with the last three years suspended, was imposed in November 2012.
He said it would now be a matter for the courts in Clonmel to decide what action to take as a result of the Youghal incident.
THE posters featuring Logan/Wolverine dressed in a suit with his claws extended walking off into the sunset say it all. Logan is the final film where Hugh Jackman will play the character that made him a star and the 48-year-old admits he is ready to leave him behind.
I was very nervous knowing what was at stake for me and the film exceeded my expectations, Jackman says. I looked at the character and there were some moments where I cried, like when Logan was carrying Charles [Patrick Stewart] up the stairs. I felt like I loved that character, but I cant say Ill miss him as hes not going anywhere for me. The fans will remind me every single day or every second day of my life. Its part of who I am and Im so grateful for it.
Thankfully, at the Berlin International Film Festival recently, Jackman was his clean-shaven self, which came as something of a relief given his bearded craggy appearance as the 160-year-old mutant. Over the past 17 years Jackman has played nine incarnations of the superhero character three times in standalone Wolverine movies and six in the X-Men franchise and he has had to stay incredibly buff for the role. Even when we spoke recently for Les Miserables, the Jean Valjean role that would garner him a best actor Oscar nomination, he was eating.
I love to eat, but I have to eat because somewhere in my life not very far away I am putting on the claws, Jackman said. I am just too old to let it all go and then get back that level of fitness.
There were even times when in order to be credible in the part he had to wake up in the middle of the night and eat. Now he admits with a chuckle, I wont miss the chicken breasts, let me tell you that!
Jackman maintains there was one more film left for what he terms the archetypal reluctant hero and he was determined to go out with a powerful movie. Currently theres even speculation that Logan might be up for 2018 awards. The film has been incredibly well received (IMDB has it at a stunning 9.6) and Jackman explains its the best of all the films in which Wolverine appeared.
Sure there are action sequences, some of which come as a surprise, given the extent to which diabolical Zander Rice (Richard E Grant), the scientist in charge of the Transigen organisation, will go to create artificial intelligence and sheer brute force even in kids. Yet, theres also a tender story with 11-year-old Laura, played by scene-stealing Dafne Keen, at the films core.
BACK ON THE TEAM
Logan director James Mangold, with actors Hugh Jackman, Dafne Keen and Patrick Stewart at the films premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. Picture: Getty
Jackman gladly reteamed with James Mangold, the director of 2013s The Wolverine, the second standalone movie which came after X-Men 2009s Origins: Wolverine.
I reached out to Jim because hes a great storyteller, Jackman says of the director who came up with the story that was turned into a screenplay by The Wolverine screenwriter Scott Frank.
I will admit when Jim first told me the idea I was like, This sounds awesome, but how the hell are we going to pull it off? How can an 11-year-old handle that? And it was so clear with Dafne as shes an extraordinary young girl and Im really proud of her, says the devoted father of two who has been married for 20 years to Aussie actress Deborra-Lee Furness with whom he lives in New York. Of course Wolverine, er Logan, turns out to be a decent type, after all.
For me great stories illuminate who we are, our everyday existence and they also make us look at the world beyond ourselves. Jim immediately said to me, Lets tell a story about family from the point of view of someone who is terrified of intimacy Logan and lets set it in a world where things are shifting. I hope there are resonances and it makes people think about their day-to-day lives. More importantly, though, its about violence and the effect it has on people.
KILLER KIDS
Set in 2029, the story follows Logan helping a group of mutant killer kids newer models that are deemed to have defects escape across the border into the more libertarian Canada.
While the 45-year-old Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is sure to be a fan of the film and probably grew up watching the clawed and flawed character, Logans premise couldnt be more prescient.
We were talking about the border scenes a year before any of those debates about the wall happened, Jackman notes. I think its a sign that Jim and Scott were onto something.
Still its not as if the film is broaching any polemic. Most important for Mangold, a comic book fan since the age of 11, is that movies which reference pop culture and have very large natural audiences use that platform to do something other than sell happy meals or t-shirts or action figures. Like Jackman he wanted to examine action heroes who in the twilight of their lives are in a mood for self-reflection.
This character has been within me for 17 years, explains Jackman, but not until this film do I feel like Ive really got to the core of it. Im not blaming anyone; sometimes its my fault, sometimes its just the nature of storytelling where you have 20 characters. When Jim and I first got together I told him I want my grandkids to ask me when Im 80, Which one of those movies should I watch? I want to say that this is the movie that defines this character.
This movie is a love letter to the Wolverine fans but beyond that I wanted to make a movie that someone whos never watched a comic movie in their life would see and get something out of.
Jackman is also currently playing circus founder PT Barnum in The Greatest Showman. Its a family movie, there is no blood, it couldnt be more different, he says. Hes unsure what he will do after that. One things certain, given his recurring skin cancers, which he says are not life threatening, hes not spending much time in the sun, at least without sunscreen.
There are statistics that 50% of Australians who live beyond the age of 50 will get skin cancer, he notes. We grew up without knowing about global warming and the ozone layer, using no sunscreen. Everyone should get checked once a year. Wise words indeed from a departing superhero.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
These are the words of Martin Luther King, immortalised in the collective human consciousness. Today, I feel, they are more true and more pressing than ever before. While the western world enjoys greater prosperity than ever before, people in other parts of the world face a living hell on a daily basis due to war and civil strife.
These people have nowhere to turn to for help but us, yet we would turn them away simply because we perceive them as a threat to our peace. I am speaking, of course, of the millions of Syrian refugees who are finding it increasingly difficult to find safety and shelter because a rapidly increasing number of European countries want to close their borders. Does this action not spit in the face of the wise and humanitarian words quoted before? How can we aspire to create an atmosphere of peace and justice in our own nations if we are willing to ignore the horrors that happen elsewhere? Will we really protect our own safety and prosperity by keeping the rest of the world at bay?
It should be clear that we can do no such thing. The very fact that we live in the Age of Information makes it impossible to claim ignorance towards the suffering of the rest of the world. On September 2, 2015, the entire world was shocked by photographs of the three-year-old child, Aylan Kurdi, who drowned while his family tried to flee Syria and was found washed up and dead on a beach.
Thanks to photography and the internet, the entire world can now bear witness to human suffering as though it were happening right next door to us. It is indisputable that we are closer to each other today than at any other time in history. The modern world owes its prosperity to this interconnectivity we must, therefore, shoulder the burdens of it as well. The four founding principles of the European Union are the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital. These principles have helped many European countries thrive and raise themselves out of poverty Ireland amongst them. But the world is far wider than just the European Union. How is it that we are willing to share all these things amongst ourselves, but are unwilling to offer basic comfort and safety to a three-year-old child who has been forced to leave his country and has nowhere else to go?
Europe today relies on many other countries for vital resources. In particular, our society is fuelled primarily by oil 30% of which comes from Middle Eastern countries. In exchange for this, what have we given back? Russia has launched a bombing campaign against Syria since September 2015. As for the rest of the world, we cannot forget the coalition of the willing that George W Bush led into Iraq on false allegations of possession of weapons of mass destruction. Currently, rebel groups in Syria are funded by western nations and by Turkey. Our interference has done far more harm than good as is to be expected when we attempt to meddle in an already delicate situation with subtleties most of us have no idea about. For years, we have taken from the Middle East every resource they offered while pouring back in money, arms and soldiers. Now, when they need our aid, we speak of self-preservation and protecting our own interests. How is this fair? How is it just?
We have an undeniable responsibility towards the countries of the Middle East. The Iraq war we started was illegal by UN standards. Do we not owe them some recompense for all the bloodshed we have caused there? Is it not our duty now to do something to alleviate the suffering in nations we have had a hand in tearing apart?
What have we ever done to repay the damage we have caused? If Russia and the United States will not assume their responsibilities in this matter, then it falls to the European Union to set an example, and hope that other nations follow it. It is clear to me that we owe it to the nations of the Middle East to accept their refugees.
A Syrian girl in Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan. She is one of almost 5million refugees who have fled the war-torn country.
When America invaded Iraq with our help, they justified it as an act to spread and defend democracy. This strikes me as the height of hypocrisy. Contrast our self-righteous air of moral superiority then to our attitude now. We were willing to bomb other nations and send troops to occupy them in the name of democracy, but we are unwilling now to risk terrorist attacks in order to help those who have been devastated by war in Syria.
If we wish to defend and enforce something, perhaps we should turn to the Geneva Convention. The fourth convention, designed to protect civilians in time of war, states in Article 35 that all protected persons who may desire to leave the territory at the outset of, or during a conflict, shall be entitled to do so.
Somehow, we are far less determined to defend this right than we were to defend another nations right to democracy. It would seem to me that we are far more eager to take a stand when the cost in human lives is to be paid on foreign soil than when we may have to put ourselves at risk.
The Schengen Agreement, which guarantees the free movement of persons throughout the European Union, has a specific purpose; through unrestricted movement and the mixing of cultures, it hopes to avoid another catastrophic war such as the two that shattered Europe in the last century. By mixing cultures, it hopes to promote understanding between them and dissolve underlying tensions. It this way, we can come to see each other not as compatriots or enemies, but as fellow human beings whose lives hold equal value.
Unfortunately, the new wave of Islamophobia that has gripped us today is proof that this poisonous us against them mentality is far from being eradicated. When we see a Muslim, far too many of us instinctively view them as an enemy, a potential terrorist, even though statistically there is a far greater likelihood of them being a victim of circumstance. This mentality is so ingrained in us, I can only wonder how many more tragedies the world must see before we can finally overcome it.
There is no denying that what we are seeing today will one day be enumerated among the great tragedies of history. As of 2016, 400,000 people have been killed in the civil war in Syria. Human rights are being ignored and trampled on constantly. The war crimes that are proven to have occurred in Syria include murder, torture, rape and blocking access to food, water and health services. The chemical weapons used in Syria include the nerve agent Sarin and chlorine gas both of which cause excruciating death.
The Geneva Convention outlaws civilian targets in war, but in spite of this, schools, hospitals and towns such as Aleppo have been bombed. There can be no disputing the cruelty of this my only question is, where does the European Union want to be remembered as having stood in reference to this tragedy? Do we want to be remembered as having done all we could to help those affected by it or as having closed our borders and turned away?
In the West, we fear terrorism and for good reason. It is one of the greatest threats to our peace in the modern era. But compare our fear and suffering to that of a Syrian refugee, and it pales drastically.
In 2015, 175 people died in Western Europe because of terrorism. Every one of those deaths was a tragedy but in Syria, 79,585 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict.
All of Europe stood in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, but who stood in solidarity with the children who died on October 12, 2016 when a primary school was bombed in the Syrian town of Darra? You may be anxious every time you board a plane, but families have used their entire life savings for a dangerous and uncertain boat journey to Europe. In the end, the price they have paid is already so much greater than the price we would pay if we accepted them.
I hope that by this point you will agree that even if there are terrorists among the refugees requesting asylum, we should still accept them. However, one question still remains: how many of them are really terrorists? According to the UN refugee agency, the answer is only 1%. Most terrorist attacks are caused by radicalised EU citizens. The attacks on Charlie Hebdo are an example of this. It takes eighteen month on average for a refugee to be granted permission to enter America, even longer if they are from the Middle East. It would be far easier for a terrorist to enter on a tourist visa. So not only would closing our borders mean turning away millions of people who need our help it may not even have any significant impact on terrorism.
Perhaps if we close our borders, we would make ourselves marginally safer. But can we justify the human cost of this? Will we ignore tragedy and injustice elsewhere in the world in hope that it does not reach us?
The Geneva Convention demands that we do something, the Schengen Agreement that the European Union is founded upon demands that we do something, and our own conscience should demand that we do something.
How, then, can we simply do nothing?
The Irish language was one of the bloodiest battle-fields in the campaign for todays Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
The cancellation of bursaries for less advantaged people to go to the Donegal Gaeltacht by the DUPs minister for communities Paul Givan was nasty and it hardened Sinn Feins resolve to push for the election.
DUP leader Arlene Fosters comment on the passing an Irish Language Act was outrageous: If you feed a crocodile it will come back asking for more.
But theres an uncomfortable grain of truth in her comment that wed could be looking for a Polish Language Act next as more people in Northern Ireland speak Polish than speak Irish.
There are no native speakers of Irish in Northern Ireland and the nationalist demand for a language act to protect Irish speakers is crazy.
No one in Northern Ireland needs the right to speak his or her native language and no one is placed at a linguistic disadvantage by speaking English.
To pretend anyone is, as does the argument for an Irish Language Act made by Sinn Fein and the SDLP, is to play politics with the language. Playing politics with the language will destroy whats left of it. It could destroy the peace process too.
In their introduction to a proposed Irish Language Act the advocacy group, Pobal, complains that Irish remains the only primary indigenous language in these islands that is not subject to specific domestic legislative protection.
The last record of Irish spoken by a native in Northern Ireland was on Rathlin Island in 1985 but most of the Irish was gone from Northern Ireland by the early 20th century.
Irish is spoken by some 4,000 people in nationalist communities, particularly in west Belfast, where a thriving Irish-language cultural scene centres on the Culturlann McAdam-OFiach.
All of these people speak better English than Irish. To frame protection for the language in the context of language rights, as speakers of French are protected in Quebec, is ridiculous because Irish is no longer a language native to any part of Northern Ireland.
But Pobal is taking the Quebecois rights-based approach, consciously differentiating its act from those protecting Scots Gaelic or Welsh. Sinn Fein and the SDLP are willing accomplices.
Under the proposed Acht na Gaeilge Tuaisceart Eireann the North would have its own language commissioner to whom complaints could be made if a person felt his or her legal right to use Irish was impugned.
These rights would include doing business with all government and local government departments through Irish, having access to all government publications in Irish and most ridiculous still, simultaneous translation during public meetings.
Think for a moment of what is proposed here. A native English-speaker addresses in Irish a room-full of fluent-English speakers wearing headphones so they can hear the simultaneous translation into English provided by a third party. A third party paid by the State.
Of course the DUP is banging on about the money but I dont care about it as much as I care about the language. Using the Irish language in the way proposed in the act will make it an agent of division in an already divided society.
Several DUP candidates have made this point about the act and they are right. As Nelson McCausland wrote in the Ulster News Letter: It would simply put more firepower into the Sinn Fein cultural arsenal. And he quotes a Sinn Fein Culture Office from 1982: Every phrase you learn is a bullet in the freedom struggle.
A language act was promised in the St Andrews Agreement of 2006 and it would surely be possible to depart from the rights-based approach and genuinely encourage use of the language.
All signs bearing place names of Gaelic origin should carry their Irish names, both North and South. Im not so sure about the Parad Shidni approach to names like Sydney Parade, however.
Irish-medium education should be available to all who want it and Irish should be taught in all schools.
In addition, cultural activities in Irish and classes for adults should be funded which would stand a chance of making the language attractive both inside and outside the nationalist community.
But you cannot revive a language by legislation. Indeed, the number of native speakers of the language in the Republic has tanked since our own language act was brought in in 2003.
Pobals assertion that international experience suggests it may take a generation for people to make full use of government services through Irish but they will in the end is bonkers.
The idea of reviving the Irish language as the first language of the Irish nation was always delusional.
UCC academic Aidan Doyle asserts in his recent history of the language that Irish was at breaking point as early as 1750 and was too far gone to be revived by the time the Gaelic League was founded.
He also considers that the decline of Irish mirrored the spread of literacy, as native speakers including one Daniel OConnell tended to write only in English. The idiocy of todays translations of all official documents into leaden Irish which no-one reads is obvious.
The three dialects of the Gaeltachtai are the last remnants of a stunningly beautiful language. What passes for Irish either in those official documents or on the Falls Road Gaeltacht Quarter is like an English necklace threaded with beads of Irish. The structures and syntax of Gaelic are gone.
Before we get too maudlin lets remember that Irish has always been one of our languages, not our only one. We dont know what sounds were uttered by the worshippers at Newgrange.
In Dublin, Cork and Belfast Irish has not been the dominant language since at least the 12th century, if not before. Our linguistic history includes French, Norse, Ulster Scots and our linguistic present includes many languages, Polish among them.
To state that Irish is the historical national language of Ireland, as Pobal does, is to make a decision, not record a fact.
The many insults which will be hurled at me will include the fact that I dont recognise the importance of the use the language by northern nationalists as a response to the suppression of their identity. I do now and I applaud it. It is a creative response.
But the legal defence of the right to live a parallel existence through a learned language would turn Irish into a green sash to be worn marching to a tribal drum-beat.
And it would not delay the day when citizens in the North have sweeter music to listen to as they go to the polls.
Casey Affleck breaks silence on sexual harassment accusations; Ben Affleck's brother says theres nothing he can do about it
Ben Affleck kisses Casey Affleck during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Kevin Winter)
At least for Casey Affleck, 41, the bad side of winning Best Actor at the Academy Awards 2017 for his performance in "Manchester by the Sea" is the revival of a controversy he was involved in years ago. Some viewers noticed that presenter Brie Larson, 27,did not clap after giving the Oscar trophy to the younger brother of Ben Affleck, 44.
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In 2010, Casey was sued by Amanda White and Magdalena Gorka who worked with him as a producer and a cinematographer, respectively, for the film "I'm Still Here." The two women accused the actor of sexual harassment.
The lawsuits filed by White and Gorka were settled out of court. Details of any financial settlement were not released but they both received credit for their work on "I'm Still Here."
Casey was already subjected to protests when it was announced that he was among the Academy Award 2017 Best Actor nominees. The controversy was even more ignited when he won the award over "Hacksaw Ridge" actor Andrew Garfield, "La La Land" actor Ryan Gosling, "Captain Fantastic actor Viggo Mortensen and "Fences" actor Denzel Washington.
After winning the Oscar trophy for Best Actor, Casey addressed the issue in an interview with Boston Globe. The actor pointed out that he and the people involved in the sexual harassment lawsuits are not allowed to commenting on them.
"I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else," Casey told the publication. "There's really nothing I can do about it, other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time."
In another with Variety in 2016, Casey pointed out that it does not matter he person responds to the issue. It is wrong for people to think that it is perfectly fine to say anything they want those who are well-known because everyone has families and lives, he added.
Watch Larson give the Oscar trophy to Casey here:
Thursday, March 2nd, 2017 (12:03 pm) - Score 992
Some 53,313 worth of donations from 1,861 people have this week enabled Liberty, a prominent Human Rights group, has launched a legal challenge against the Governments controversial mass Internet surveillance powers in the new Investigatory Powers Act.
The law contains a variety of measures, such as one that forces broadband ISPs to store (for up to 12 months) comparatively detailed Internet Connection Records (e.g. the websites / servers youve visited) about all of their customers, which can then be supplied to a valid authority without a warrant (here). This occurs irrespective of whether or not youre even suspected of a crime.
However the above measures have already been cast into doubt after a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) warned that EU law does not allow general and indiscriminate retention of traffic data and location data, except for targeted use against serious crime (here). Since then the Government has been forced to delay a consultation on related measures (here).
This week Liberty stepped into the battlefield by launching a crowd-funded legal challenge against the IPActs unprecedented bulk surveillance powers, which will seek to argue that the following powers breach the rights of British people.
The Focus of Libertys Legal Challenge * Bulk and thematic hacking the Act lets police and agencies access, control and alter electronic devices like computers, phones and tablets on an industrial scale, regardless of whether their owners are suspected of involvement in crime leaving them vulnerable to further attack by hackers. * Bulk interception of communications content the Act lets the state read texts, online instant messages and emails, and listen in on calls en masse, without requiring suspicion of criminal activity. * Bulk acquisition of everybodys communications data and internet history the Act forces communications companies and service providers to retain and hand over records of everybodys emails, phone calls and texts and entire web browsing history to state agencies to store, data-mine and profile at its will. * Bulk personal datasets the Act lets agencies acquire and link vast databases held by the public or private sector. These contain details on religion, ethnic origin, sexuality, political leanings and health problems, potentially on the entire population and are ripe for abuse and discrimination.
The organisation has instructed Bhatt Murphy Solicitors to take on the case, which effectively sets in motion a Judicial Review of the new law.
Silkie Carlo, Policy Officer at Liberty, said: This is our first step towards getting rid of the most intrusive surveillance regime of any democracy in history. The powers were fighting undermine everything thats core to our freedom and democracy our right to protest, to express ourselves freely and to a fair trial, our free press, privacy and cybersecurity. But with so much public support behind us, were hopeful we will be able to persuade our courts to restrain the more authoritarian tendencies of this Government.
At this stage no date has been set for the first hearing and such challenges have a tendency to be quite slow. Similarly much may yet rest on the outcome of the Governments other challenge against the earlier CJEU conclusion, which could force the law to be softened by making it more targeted against serious criminals (i.e. the way it should have worked in the first place).
NASA's UFO mystery footage taken at the ISS continues to hound the space agency as more alien conspiracy theories come up online. NASA have been accused of covering up surveillance videos which allegedly capture fast-flying glowing orbs at a close distance with the space station. In the latest UFO video, an astronaut on a space walk have blocked out with his hand a flying object that came into camera, at which point, NASA cut the live stream, quickly replacing it with a view of the station's briefing room.
The footage was aired live on January 20 when the cut happened. NASA immediately broadcasted the message that the space stations High Definition Earth Viewing experiment was either switching cameras or experiencing a temporary loss of signal. Wild conspiracy ideas have come up as explanations for the suspicious blackout.
The most popular claim about NASA's UFO mystery is that the ISS is watched almost daily by UFOs, but the space agency wants to keep it from the public. Some online bloggers like to remind that the January 20 incident was not the first time NASA has cut footage during an alleged UFO sighting, the News.com reports. Some speculations include alien spacecrafts or even secret space age military technology being tested by the US Government.
Online blogger, Bright Insight, says that he has seen at least a dozen of times where a video feed with UFO of some sort coming close to the International Space Station just get cut all of a sudden. He then explains that these are common anomalies that appear on camera. These happen after light refracts inside the lens - meaning there is actually nothing there, the Daily Express reports.
NASA's UFO mystery can actually be explained by a well known common effect in many ISS live feeds. Experts say that these mysterious images are actually caused by lens flares. As it turns out, the truth is a lot less exciting, despite several people claiming that it was all part of an ongoing cover up.
What first began as underdog social media application has since grown into one of the most recognizable digital services. And with the growth, the Snap company has expanded its services to cover hardware, with Spectacles being its first venture. But new reports indicate that Snapchat is also developing its own drone.
According to The New York Times, the drone would be able to take photographs and record videos and then return the same data back to the company. However, the publication continued to say that the project will take a while to reach the market if it ever does. It is possible that the Snap drone is simply an experiment that the company will eventually decide to do without.
But as the publication argued, the Snap drone is an indication of what the company has planned for its future. Getting more visual data is an important aspect of Snapchat because it gets more users engaged with the service. Which is why a device like a drone, which will provide more photos and videos, is understandable.
"We're at the beginning of what cameras can do," Snap executive Evan Spiegel told his investors. He made it a point to get his message across that cameras are an important way to communicate with individuals and that Snap would be taking advantage of this. The drone, much like the Snap Spectacles, are likely to be picked up quickly, especially when marketed properly. It is unknown, however, whether or not the upcoming device will be easily available for consumers to purchase.
The interaction that Snapchat has with its users is vital, especially because the company behind it is going public in the next few days. But if the current numbers are any indication of its future, there is hardly anything to worry about. According to Tech Times, the application is opened at least 18 times a day by the average user and that over 2.5 billion images and messages are sent daily.
Josh Gad, Luke Evans, Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Bill Condon attend the UK Launch Event of 'Beauty And The Beast' at Odeon Leicester Square on February 23, 2017 in London, England. (Photo : Getty Images/Jeff Spicer)
Disney is finally having its first ever gay film character with the live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast." However, the character is not the one played by one of its lead actors, Luke Evans, who is openly gay.
Directed by Bill Condon, "Beauty and the Beast" stars Evans as Gaston. Playing Beast/Prince is "Downton Abey" star Dan Stevens with Emma Watson as Belle, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Kevin Kline as Maurice and Josh Gad as Le Fou.
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In the April issue of Attitude, Condon revealed that the upcoming "Beauty and the Beast" film has a small but significant subplot featuring Gaston's sidekick Le Fou.
"LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Condon told the publication. "He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realizing that he has these feelings and Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it.
This is what has its payoff at the end, Condon said but he said he did not want to give it away. The groundbreaking character "is a nice, exclusively gay moment" in a Disney film, the director pointed out.
As for those who are worried that the live-action remake may be too different from the original "Beauty and the Beast" film, Evans made a promise that they have nothing to worry about. The actor talked about the remake while on the set of "10x10," a thriller film being directed by Suzi Ewing.
According to Evans, the "Beauty and the Beast" is very loyal to the original. He told Digital Spy that people are going to love it just as how the film adaptation of "Girl on the Train" did well.
Have a glimpse of LeFou and Gaston played by Gad and Evans, respectively, here:
SAN FRANCISCO The ubiquitous cloud computing craze may not be long for this world if venture capitalist Peter Levine is right. The Andreessen Horowitz general partner said that as more computing capabilities move to so-called edge devices, including anything from driverless cars and drones to the boundless devices that make up the internet of things (IoT), the cloud will slowly evaporate.
A large portion of computation that gets done in the cloud today will return to the edge, said Levine at the Wall Street Journals CIO Network event here Tuesday.
Levine said the driverless car, whose 200-plus CPUs effectively make it a data center on wheels, is a prime example of an edge device whose computing capabilities must be self-contained. Levine said that an autonomous vehicle relying on the cloud for data would blow through stop signs and crash because of the latency associated with transmitting data from the car to the cloud. The cloud will also cripple many scenarios for machine learning, which relies on speedy computing to deliver faster decision-making.
Edge computing is less a novelty than perhaps the next computing cycle, Levine said. Decades ago most computing was centralized in mainframes, with banks and most other large enterprise relying on the refrigerator-sized cabinets to manage their business operations.
Many mainframes were decommissioned to make room for the decentralized client-server era. The cloud is essentially the new mainframe hosted in a vendors data center. If the natural ebb and flow of computing holds, the edge will accelerate the next leg of distributed computing. And that means the cloud goes away in the not-too-distant future, Levine said.
Disrupting the disrupters
Its a scary proposition for the thousands of vendors hawking cloud services. For the past decade, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce.com and others have stood up applications, infrastructure, storage and virtually every conceivable type of computing task imaginable as a service. But a venture capitalists job is to take a broader, longer view so that they can see what innovations are coming next. Levine is essentially saying the cloud disruptors will be disrupted in the next five to 10 years.
Diana McKenzie, CIO of cloud business application provider Workday, isnt buying the provocative point that the cloud will disappear. She said it will co-exist with the edge. For example, McKenzie said that companies will want to aggregate data collected from edge devices in a cloud for analysis and, ideally, business insights.
I cant imagine there will ever not be a place for cloud computing, McKenzie tells CIO.com. The challenge for us as CIOs is to make sure were thinking about it more on a continuum than on a black and white basis. Then the next challenge is how you architect for that.
Odds and ends
The cloud-to-edge debate was a hot topic, but it was hardly the only theme tackled by Levine and his panel peers Accel partners Rich Wong and General Catalyst Managing Director Steve Herrod offered some other thoughts about emerging trends.
From big data to machine learning: Big data 1.0 included collecting lots of information but the next wave involves predicting what is going to happen in the future, said Levine. Machine learning unlocking these vast stores of information that we have that can help us predict the future in better ways is absolutely happening right now, Levine said. For example, machine learning is used to predict cybersecurity attacks and IT system failures.
Wong said that enterprises can use machine learning to automate IT service functions, such as password resets for customers. Entrusting such corporate operations to machine algorithms can yield anywhere from 30 percent to 100 percent cost savings, the VCs said.
Bottoms up, the polite euphemism for shadow IT: Wong said that while VCs encourage portfolio companies to deploy a land and expand strategy and get into businesses through departments rather than going through the CIO,its a delicate balance. The CIO must grapple with the challenges and risks associated with adopting potentially unproven technology but benefits from the speed of on-boarding employees. Thanks to the cloud, many are onboarding themselves. Levine says that shadow IT has extended to developers. Ive seen situations where if the organization doesnt provide what the developer needs, they go to another company to get services and tools, Levine says.
Proof-of-concepts -as-a-service: Its become fashionable for CIOs to fancy themselves as IT-as-a-service providers, essentially brokers of digital capabilities, including cloud, mobile, analytics and IoT. In this model, it makes sense for CIO to recognize that proof of concepts are a valuable way to evaluate new technology, Herrod said. He suggested that startups offer proof-of-concepts as a service to help.
The winner for hardest position for CIOs to hire goes to Data analysts: Levine says that if data is the most important ingredient in unlocking business value, then data scientists and analysts who can derive insights from the data and turn it into actionable information will be the toughest positions to fill.
Herrod disagrees and says that hes found the hardest hires are DevOps leaders because there is little consensus on what defines DevOps, a model for rapid software development model popularized by consumer internet companies. Herrod says that hes heard descriptions of DevOps managers range from scrum masters who run agile computing systems for speed and innovation to specialists who optimize cloud infrastructure.
Any reform of a controversial U.S. law allowing the National Security Agency to spy on people overseas will likely focus on its impact on U.S. residents, without curbing its use elsewhere.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on Dec. 31, and some digital rights groups are calling on Congress to overhaul the law to protect the privacy of residents of both the U.S. and other countries. Congress will almost certainly extend the provision in some form.
But a congressional hearing on Wednesday focused largely on the NSA's "inadvertent" collection of U.S. residents' data, with little time given to the privacy concerns of people overseas.
Some lawmakers have pushed for changes in FISA that would restrict so-called backdoor searches of U.S. residents' communications collected during foreign surveillance. But on Wednesday, 17 digital rights groups urged the EU to step in and push for new privacy protections for people outside the U.S.
There are many ways to reform FISA "to better protect human rights without undermining the security of U.S. citizens or others around the world," the groups said in a letter to EU officials. "If no reforms -- or reforms that only provide greater protections for U.S. persons -- are passed this year, we believe the U.S. will have sent a clear message to the European Union that our rights are inconsequential."
The groups asked EU officials to consider suspending their Privacy Shield cross-border data transfer agreement with the U.S. unless Congress overhauls Section 702.
Section 702 allows the NSA to spy on the communications, including internet traffic, of people living outside the U.S. and, in many cases, their communications with U.S. residents. FISA served as the authority for the NSA's Prism internet surveillance and related programs revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden beginning in 2013.
Some lawmakers have suggested NSA surveillance of U.S. residents could violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches. But most U.S. legal experts say the Fourth Amendment protections do not apply to people from other countries.
Congress must have a robust debate about Section 702, Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said during Wednesday's hearing before the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee.
Congress will have a "detailed, thorough, and careful examination" of FISA, said Goodlatte, chairman of the committee. "We must ensure that our protection must not come at the expense of cherished liberty."
President Donald Trump's administration reportedly wants Section 702 extended with no changes. Administration officials testified before the Judiciary Committee during a closed session Wednesday morning.
Witnesses at Wednesday's hearing largely defended the foreign surveillance program, saying it helps keep the U.S. safe from terrorist attacks. Section 702 surveillance is an "effective program that is subject to rigorous oversight" by the government, said Jeff Kosseff, a professor of cyber science at the U.S. Naval Academy. While backdoor searches raise concerns, the law "on balance" complies with the Fourth Amendment, he said.
But Section 702 surveillance has seen "mission creep," said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center. The law allows the NSA to target any foreign person, not just foreign powers or their agents, she noted.
The surveillance targets "need not pose any threat to the United States, have any information about such threats, or be suspected of any wrongdoing," she said. Section 702 "not only renders innocent private citizens of other nations vulnerable to NSA surveillance; it also greatly increases the number of communications involving Americans that are subject to acquisition -- as well as the likelihood that those Americans are ordinary, law-abiding individuals."
Last month, six tech trade groups called on Congress to include new privacy protections for internet users in a renewed version of the law.
Today, thanks to a number of DIY tools and services, just about anyone can design a website. But that doesnt mean everybody should. However, whether you hire a professional web designer or plan to design your site yourself, if you want your online presence to look professional and keep potential customers from bouncing avoid these web design no-nos.
[ Related: 8 keys to ecommerce success ]
1. Using a splash page
Splash and [entrance] pages really have no value in todays online world, says Janyer Dominguez, vice president of web development, iPartnerMedia. They [just] run up your websites bounce rate because users cant [immediately] find what theyre looking for, so they [leave].
Instead of using a splash page, your website should have a standard home page, he says. If you want to communicate a message or trigger an interaction, then use a modal or popup window. Using a standard home page [also] helps with SEO.
2. Having an inconsistent style
If your site has a dissonant color palette, does not follow typographical best practices ([regarding] kerning, leading, tracking, etc.) or uses inconsistent typography [multiple fonts and font sizes], it will not project professionalism to your audience, and it will likely turn off prospective customers, says Pamela Webber, CMO, 99designs. To avoid style conflicts and create a consistent look for your web or ecommerce site, be sure to create a brand style guide first and follow it consistently throughout your website design.
3. Confusing navigation
Dont make it hard for visitors to navigate your site and find what they are looking for quickly (in just a click or two). Keep navigation simple by using a horizontal menu with short descriptive labels (typically no more than seven items) across the top of each page, with one level of dropdown menus. Also, be sure to include a search box at the top of each page, either in the upper-left or upper-right corner.
[ Related: 5 digital retail trends that will be big in 2017 ]
4. Not making your logo clickable/go to the home page
According to KoMarketing, 36 percent of visitors will click the company logo to reach the home page, says Laura Casanova, creative director, ONTRAPORT. But if the logo isnt clickable, they may think the site is broken and leave. To easily make your logo clickable, just put your tag between an opening tag and a closing tag, and it becomes active and clickable.
5. Using too many (big) images (or animations or videos)
Images [and animations and videos] are weighty, and too many on a web page can significantly slow down your site, says Webber.
And an Adobe study found that 39 percent of people will stop engaging with a website if the images take too long to load, says Casanova. At the risk of losing almost half your visitors, use a free online image optimizer, such as Optimizilla, to reduce your images pixel count without compromising quality, ensuring a shorter load time for visitors.
You should also consider offering optimized/lightweight versions of pages for those with slow connections, says Webber.
6. Using graphics for text
All text on a website should be crawlable by search engine bots, says Dominguez. However, having images as text prevents search engines from crawling your website, which in turn will reflect negatively on your SEO. Images as text will also make your website slower. [So] refrain from using images as text at all cost.
[ Related: 6 things retail CIOs need to keep in mind in 2017 ]
7. Using obviously fake or stock images
While the use of stock photography may enhance elements of your websites design, using these photos to represent your people [or products can come across as cheesy or inauthentic], says Russell Frazier, digital marketing specialist, Visigility. We all know the smiling lady with the headset does not work for you. Pull out your own camera or hire a local photographer to take real photos of your team [and products]. Your prospective customers will find this far more authentic and will be more likely to trust and buy from you.
8. Not embracing white space
By using white space, your content delivers a greater impact to the reader, says Sarah Matista, marketing manager, Vistaprint Digital. Weve all seen sites that are chock full of text and graphics. Theyre distracting, and you end up retaining very little, if any, information. Thats the opposite of your websites purpose. [Instead] use discretion and include more white space.
9. Having automated music or sound
Sites should not have automated music or sound, states Ed Brancheau,CEO, Goozleology. Yes, its sometimes okay to have a video be automated to catch the visitors attention, but automated audio is jarring and problematic. In split tests that we ran, automated audio so drastically reduced on-page time that we never even consider it anymore.
10. Overusing interstitials
Interstitials are web pages displayed before or after an expected content page, says Adam Gingery, SEO specialist and copywriter, DMi Partners. Not only are interstitials unbelievably annoying, but Google recently announced a penalty for overly intrusive interstitials. Legal disclaimers will still be allowed, of course, but [sites] trying to get your email address before allowing you to read a blog post [or whatever content you were searching for] may start to [see a] drop in [their] rankings, and an increase in their bounce rate.
Stuffing a page with too many interstitials [whether] full-screen, pop-ups [or] slide-in in a bid to raise ad revenue is a major design flaw, [which] hampers UX, says Ankitaa Gohain Dalmia, founder & digital marketing strategist, AnksImage. To fix this, interstitials should [only be used if required by your] content strategy, not [by] ad revenue strategy.
Better yet, says Gingery, just get rid of the interstitial and earn subscribers some other way.
[ Related: 12 easy ways to lose your ecommerce customers ]
11. Not checking for cross-browser compatibility
Some designers forget to check their designs across different browsers, and visitors end up looking at odd or simply broken websites on different browsers, says Gohain Dalmia. One way to fix this is by using [a cross-browser compatibility testing tool] before going live.
12. Not making your site mobile friendly
In 2015, mobile users surpassed desktop users and Google told us that they are giving higher priority to websites that have some type of mobile experience, says Mark Tuchscherer, president, Geeks Chicago. Yet we still have designers and developers allowing clients to only have a desktop version of their websites. Everyone must have a responsive website in 2017, and trying to pass off your desktop site to mobile users is the biggest no-no. Not only will this make you look bad to visitors but search engines will also not be your biggest fan.
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The U.N. has sanctioned North Korea for nuclear arms testing. (Photo : Getty Images)
An unpublished and confidential report leaked recently that North Korea is trying to evade sanctions on nuclear arms testing. The report indicated that China has been protecting Pyongyang.
The report is contrary to what China's seeming intention of following the request from the U.S. of getting North Korea to abide by U.N. policies.
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The U.N. report was completed by an eight-member team that is led by a British expert. The team is composed of other experts from China, Russia and the U.S.
"North Korea is flouting sanctions through trade in prohibited goods, with evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope, and sophistication," said the report.
The support given by China to North Korea is apparently beyond limiting the importation of products. The report indicated that China has imported coal, gold, and iron from North Korea.
The confidential report revealed that in the latter part of 2016, China has imported 2 million metric tons of coal from North Korea. The U.N.'s ceiling is 1 million tons.
China has been a hub for illicit trade and North Korea's front companies in China are still operating. When China was confronted by diplomats from America and Japan, the government refused to respond.
The front companies have been North Korea's access to international markets and get funds for nuclear weapons development. The firms have already established a wide network.
With the economic sanctions imposed by China, North Korea is still able to sustain its economic lifeline.
According to the report, "North Korea's business "networks are adapting by using greater ingenuity in accessing formal banking channels as well as bulk cash and gold transfers."
William Newcomb, a former member of the U.N. sanctions panel on North Korea, said, "You have designated entities that have continued to operate in China. It's not an accident. China's security services are good enough to know who is doing what inside their country."
China wants to maintain good relations with the U.N. Security Council but has shown little effort on implementing the U.N.'s interest to stop Pyongyang from trading nuclear weapons.
The U.S. is investigating a number of companies who are suspected to be fronts for North Korea. One of these companies is Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co.
The company was sanctioned by Washington and should serve as a warning, according to Daniel Fried, sanctions policy coordinator at the U.S. State Department.
ISIS released a video threatening violence and bloodshed in Xinjiang. (Photo : Getty Images)
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants have sent a video threatening China that they will come home and resort to extremist activities that will lead to the death of many.
The half-hour video was released by a division based in western Iraq. The material was assessed by the U.S. Site Intelligence Group (SITE).
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The extremists swore that they will "shed blood like rivers."
Muslim militants have been blamed for violent attacks in Xinjiang, the base of Uyghur separatists, who have been in an armed struggle for independence from China.
The SITE interpreted the video and the message conveyed: "Oh, you Chinese who do not understand what people say! We are the soldiers of the caliphate, and we will come to you to clarify to you with the tongues of our weapons, to shed blood like rivers and avenging the oppressed."
Geng Shuang, spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry said, "East Turkestan terrorist forces have been posing a severe threat to China's security."
The Muslims in the autonomous region of Uyghur have been fighting against discrimination from the Chinese.
They have been told by the government to practice "Islam with Muslim characteristics."
According to Dr. Michael Clarke from the Australian National University's National Security College, "The Chinese state hasn't helped itself," says Clarke. "There's a whole range of factors that can push elements of the Uighur population towards greater radicalization."
He commented on the video, adding, "It is the first time that Uyghur-speaking militants have claimed allegiance to IS."
The expert on Xinjiang affairs noted that China is now a "direct target of jihadist rhetoric". He suspects that there must be a rift between the Uyghur fighters.
A portion of the video was also threatening punishment to militants who supported the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.
GOVERNMENT Minister Sajid Javid will visit the Isle of Wight this month, to hear the Island's case for a fairer funding deal.
Mr Javid the Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will visit the Island on March 23, where he will speak to Conservative members and supporters.
Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner said he invited Mr Javid to the Island some time ago to try to secure extra funding, but those efforts had been hampered by 'mixed messages' from the Island Independents formerly leading the Isle of Wight Council.
Mr Turner said: "At the beginning of 2016, Cllr Jonathan Bacon, then Isle of Wight Council leader, told me it was impossible to set a lawful and balanced budget for 2017/18. Based on what he told me I organised a meeting with the responsible minister, raised it during Prime Ministers questions and arranged for the then Secretary of State to visit the Island.
"DCLG officials examined the councils finances; it was clear the situation was not as being portrayed. Nobody denies these are difficult times but, as shown by the various budget proposals debated by the council, there were a number of ways the books could be balanced.
"On January 13 Cllr Bacon wrote to accept the four-year financial settlement, claiming the council would not 'remain viable without more government funding. Just a few weeks later, on February 22, his Independent group put forward a budget saying they dont need to raise council tax as permitted by Government.
"The mixed messages and misrepresentation of the Islands position has frankly, not helped our cause.
"I have persuaded the government the Island does have unique challenges and I am working with ministers and the council to ensure the planned new funding formula meets the additional costs we face.
"I am always happy to try to persuade the government to give the Island more resources, but that dialogue must be based on transparency and honesty."
Hitting back, Independent leader Cllr Julia Baker-Smith said that when the council set its medium term financial strategy last year, it was correct to say there were no guarantees a lawful and balanced budget could be set.
"When you look at the Conservatives' budget, it's questionable they will be able to meet their statutory duties. And there's a big difference between what is legally and morally right," she said.
"The reality with the council tax increase is that the government has failed to fund social care and instead expects local authorities to doubly tax their residents to pay for it."
Cllr Dave Stewart, the current Tory leader of the Isle of Wight Council, said he looked forward to holding constructive discussions with Mr Javid and making the case for additional support.
"There will be no mixed messages from me," he said.
Feds laud $83M to better Pell Bridge The congressional delegation of Rhode Island was in Jamestown to celebrate an $82.5 million grant to upgrade the bridge that connects Conanicut Island to Newport. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a...
Local author, illustrator collaborate on book A local woman has turned her digital cross-country teatimes with her granddaughter into a childrens book. Tuesday Tea, written by Debby Furness Saletin and illustrated by Maryann England, both of...
Local group asks for rental rules changes A group of residents is expected to present its recommendations on how to improve the ordinance that governs short-term rentals. Member Ron Ratcliffe said the item is scheduled to be...
Descendants of the Suns David Lee McInnis stars with Hawaii Five-0 stars Will Yun Lee, Ian Anthony Dale in Ron Yuans Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin
David Lee McInnis and Anastasia Griffith arrive at the 9th Annual BritWeek launch party at the British Consul General's Residence on April 21, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Frazer Harrison)
Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo's "Descendants of the Sun" co-star David Lee McInnis is returning to the big screen with "Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin." The upcoming action film is written and being directed by Ron Yuan.
The last film McInnis starred in was the 2015 romantic comedy drama film "Seoul Searching." Among his co-stars were "Dr. Ken" star Justin Chon, "American Idol" alum Heejun Han, "The Messengers" alum Jessica Van, "Bitcoins" star Teo Yoo, "Sense8" alum In-Pyo Cha and "Stand Up Man" star Rosalina Lee, among others.
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On the small screen, McInnis played David Argus in "Descendants of the Sun" in 2016. The character was introduced in the third episode of the Korean drama series.
Among McInnis's co-stars in "Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin" are Will Yun Lee and Ian Anthony Dale. Both Will and Dale currently star in "Hawaii Five-0" Season 7 as Sang Min and Adam Noshimuri, respectively.
In 2011, McInnis appeared in "Hawaii Five-0." He played Ken Naoka in two episodes of the TV series.
McInnis was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but he grew up in Antigo, Wisconsin, and Honolulu, Hawaii. He is of German, Irish and Korean descent.
Also joining McInnis, Will and Dale in "Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin" are Brian Tee and stuntwoman Zoe Bell. The former, who plays Dr. Ethan Choi in "Chicago Med" Season 2, recently revealed that his dream role was Marvel's Namor.
Tee told Comic Book that the Marvel character is "kind of a bit of an anti-hero with a bit of an edge." He said he felt like he somewhat falls in that line, especially with other things that he has done, so that was the kind of aspect that he would love to bring into Namor.
Meanwhile, Bell signed on with Curious Films as an actor, producer and director in December 2016, New Zealand Herald reported. The production company is owned by "Thor: Ragrarok" director Taika Waititi.
Watch an interview with McInnis here:
ROC Navy Tuo Jiang corvette. (Photo : ROCN)
The Republic of China Navy (ROCN) will increase the number of its patrols of the disputed South China Sea and will conduct more joint drills with the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF).
"Looking ahead at the transformation of China's strategy and its investment in new weapons equipment, our military will practice new reforms in our training," said Taiwan's defense minister, Feng Shih-kuan, to the Legislative Yuan, the country's parliament, when he presented the ministry's report about the state of the nation's defense.
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"The navy, during its regular South China Sea patrols, will conduct joint training with the air force in protecting fishermen and supply transports, and in humanitarian rescue drills to expand the combat readiness of our sea and air patrols," according to Feng.
Feng's analysis comes ahead of China revealing its new defense budget for 2017 next week. Feng said Taiwan is increasingly concerned over the brazenness of the People's Liberation Army Navy in sending its naval squadrons to sail closer to Taiwan.
The People's Liberation Army Air Force has also increased the number of aerial patrols passing close to Taiwan's airspace.
Feng noted that these naval and air drills by the mainland, which have more and more participating ships and planes, represents "an increase in threat."
Feng also confirmed that a MIM-104 Patriot Advanced Capability surface-to-air missile battery will be deployed to Taiwan's eastern coast.
"The deployment of this force is done entirely for the security of our country," said Feng.
Taiwan regularly delivers supplies to its military garrison at Itu Aba, its sole possession in the South China Sea. Also called Taiping Island, Itu Aba is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. What makes the 1.4 kilometer-long island special is its freshwater supply, a rarity among islands in the Spratlys.
The Taiping Island Airport has an airstrip capable of handling ROCAF C-130 transport planes that normally make one supply run every two months.
Governor Bruce Rauner has rolled out a new job portal that would hire temporary workers in case the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) pushes through with a strike.
Rauner's administration is preparing for the looming strike among AFSCME, and its first response is to launch a website, called "Working for a Better Illinois." Through this, the government hopes to hire temporary workers in the event that AFSCME decided to go on a strike, Fox Illinois reported.
The new job portal, https://statejobs.illinois.gov/, is pretty basic. It asks for information such as the name, contact details and address, three counties they would prefer to work at, their availability for a permanent position and temporary position, and the job category they would like to be considered in.
The AFSCME has 38,000 state workers under its wings, 28,000 of which are eligible to join the strike. Last week, 81% of the members of the union authorized a strike against Rauner's government. They are advocating for the governor to negotiate with them a better employment contract, as reported by The State Journal-Register.
"We genuinely hope AFSCME leadership will choose not to strike against taxpayers," said Rauner's General Counsel Dennis Murashko in a statement. "However, we must be prepared to continue government operations and provide services that citizens deserve and expect."
AFSCME union officials likewise wanted to avoid a strike and hope to begin negotiating with Rauner again over employment contract terms. However, Rauner last week reiterated his unwillingness to do so. The AFSCME's bargaining committee is yet to make a final decision regarding a possible strike.
Meanwhile, KFVS 12 reported that the state has signed labor agreements with 20 unions. The terms include overtime pay for time worked beyond 40 hours of work, pay based on performance instead of seniority, and allowing volunteerism, among other things.
Losing a great employee is always a sad experience for managers and business owners. Somehow, theres always this expectation that if an employee seems to be happy at his job, is smart, engaged, and appears to truly love his work, hes destined to stay with the company forever. But in reality, its possible to lose good employees even if they like their job.
A bad work culture can be one of the reasons why great employees quit. Bosses can also make mistakes which results to good workers leaving the organization. The good thing is that these things can be fixed, so the next time you hire a great employee, he or she will definitely think of having a long and flourishing career with your company.
Here are the reasons why great employees quit.
Theyre overworked
Some bosses reward their best employees with more work without compensating them fairly. While you may think that its good for your organization or business to let your best-performing employees multitask, its not fair to them, especially if theyre not getting paid for doing extra work.
Theres no equality in the workplace
According to CNBC, no one wants to stay in a workplace that does not treat them fairly. If youre paying women less than men, or if youre overworking but underpaying minorities, people tend to notice these things.
The media outlet points out that younger workers, in particular, are not willing to stay at a company that is racist, sexist, ageist, or otherwise discriminatory in any way.
Their good works and achievements arent recognized
Employees who do well at work need to be rewarded for a job well done. When you dont show your appreciation of their hard work, the best employees can become demotivated and feel like theres no point in doing their best at work.
A reward doesnt always have to be monetarya written letter or a company memo to acknowledge the employee can do wonders to boost ones morale. If its a team that has done some truly great work, you can have a pizza party in the office to celebrate their success.
There is no opportunity for a career advancement
Just because a person is the best waiter in the restaurant doesnt mean that he wants to stay at that job forever. Talk to your employees about their goals and see how you can help them move up in their career.
For more, check out Jobs & Hires tips to make your presentation fun and interactive.
Talking about race and diversity at work has become a common practice among many organizations as they aim to foster an environment where their employees can be their true selves. But one company in Chicago is doing more than just talking as it has created an installation that lets employees experience the frustrations that black people face in the workplace.
According to CNBC, advertising agency Havas Chicago created a Black at Work obstacle course based on real life experiences that its employees have faced throughout their professional careers. The course was created to honor Black History Month.
Adweek reports that the obstacle course was designed to teach the rest of the agency about what a black man or woman might experience in the workplace while starting a conversation about the lack of diversity in advertising.
The first obstacle is the beam of perception, which is a balance beam that participants have to cross. The word lazy is painted on the floor on one side of the beam, while the other side bears the word angry. The sign on the first obstacle warns people not to trip, as one wrong step can change the way your co-workers see you.
Art director Jason LaFlore said that the beam is meant to showcase the fine line between falling into one or the other stereotype.
If youre too nonchalant about your job, youre automatically seen as lazy, LaFlore explained. If youre too passionate about your job, you might be seen as the angry black man or the angry black woman.
The second obstacle shows why certain questions or comments can be offensive. The phrases such as Thats so ghetto, Can you teach me how to Dougie? and You dont sound black are among those on display in the course.
LaFlore said that at company parties, people expect that the black guys are going to dance.
I dont always know all the dance moves and all the trends that are happening just because Im a minority in the office, he added.
Havas chief executive officer Jason Peterson said that while they are far from perfect, they want to acknowledge the issue of race in the workplace and that it is something that they take very seriously.
In my point of view, America is multicultural, said Peterson. So if youre an agency that doesnt have or isnt made up of a multicultural point of view, theres no way you can do your job properly.
For more, check out Jobs & Hires report on simple tips to boost your confidence at work.
Comcast Corp. has set its eye on fully controlling Universal Studios Japan. The plan to fully own Universal Studios Japan is expected to help Comcast build its theme parks business in Asia.
Gaining full control of a company could mean there would be less opposition when it comes business decisions. Comcast is acquiring the 49 percent of Universal Studios Japan from other investors, making it the sole owner of the company.
The U.S. cable operator plans to shell out as much as 254.8 billion yen, or $2.27 billion, just to acquire the remaining Universal Studios Japan shares that it does not currently own, according to a report by Reuters.
The Universal Studios Japan shareholders that are expected to sell their shares to Comcast include Goldman Sachs and private equity firm MBK. Other Universal Studios Japan Chief Executive Officer Glenn Gumpel and U.S. hedge fund Owl Creek Asset Management will also give up their shares of Universal Studios Japan to Comcast, Bloomberg News reported.
The announcement of the plan comes just two years after Comcast acquired a 51% stake in Universal Studios Japan. The U.S. cable operator's move could be interpreted as a confidence to the market environment concerning theme parks business in Asia.
Comcast is reportedly planning to further expand its theme parks business, with plans to build a theme park destination in China's Beijing. There are also plans to open a theme park in Singapore.
Universal Studios Japan has become a popular tourist destination in Asia, attracting millions of people each year. The theme park company plans to open a Minion-themed park in 2017, just three years after it opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Meanwhile, Comcast competitor Verizon secured a lower price for Yahoo! Internet assets, Jobs & Hire previously reported.
Sitting and working. (Photo : Getty Images)
A new study has again confirmed what's become a painful truth in today's computer-ridden workplace: desk jobs are bad for your heart and your waist
A new study shows further evidence for the view that spending too much time sitting down is bad for our health and our waistline, according to the Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
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Research led by Dr. William Tigbe found workers with desk-bound jobs have bigger waists and increased risk of heart disease. It supports advice to sit less and be more active. One should spend as much as seven hours a day on one's feet or walk seven miles to avoid heart disease.
Dr. Tigbe kitted out 111 healthy postal workers in Glasgow with activity monitors for seven days: 55 were office workers and 56 delivered letters for a living.
The study revealed differences between the two groups. Those with desk jobs had a bigger waist circumference -- 97 cm compared to 94 cm -- and a one BMI unit difference. They also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease -- 2.2% compared to 1.6% over 10 years.
The new study suggests that waist circumference increases by two centimeters, and risk of cardiovascular diseases by 0.2%, for every additional hour of sitting beyond five hours.
Furthermore, bad cholesterol (LDL) increases and good cholesterol (HDL) decreases with each additional hour of sitting from five hours a day.
"Longer time spent in sedentary posture is significantly associated with larger waist circumference, higher triglycerides (fat in the blood) and lower HDL cholesterol, all adding up to worse risk of heart disease. The levels associated with zero risk factors were walking more than 15,000 steps per day, which is equivalent to walking seven to eight miles, or spending seven hours per day upright," said Dr. Tigbe.
"Our findings could be used as the basis of new public health targets for sitting, lying, standing and stepping to avoid metabolic risks.
"However the levels suggested in our research would be very challenging to achieve unless incorporated into people's occupations."
Fellow researcher Professor Mike Lean of the University of Glasgow's School of Medicine said in this research "we have learned important information, relevant to health in modern working lives, by studying the activity patterns of postal workers, one of the last physically active occupations left in the UK."
"Our evolution, to become the human species, did not equip us well to spending all day sitting down. We probably adapted to be healthiest spending seven to eight hours every day on our feet, as hunters or gatherers. "
"Our new research supports that idea. The 'bottom' line is that if you want to be sure of having no risks of heart disease, you must keep off your bottom!"
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Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday.
Sameh Shoukry in talks with Kay Granger discussed Egypt's reform efforts and ways to bolster ties with the US
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Tuesday the continuation of US aid is crucial for Egypt in its fight against terrorism along with the country's efforts to maintain stability and peace in the region.
Shoukry made his remarks during a meeting with leading congresswoman and chair of the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Kay Granger, during his current visit to Washington in preparation for an anticipated trip in March by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
Shoukry and Granger discussed the US military and economic aid programme and Egyptian-US ties, a statement by the foreign ministry said. Talks also addressed Egypt's social and economic reform programme and the country's view of the challenges in the region.
The foreign minister affirmed "the importance of the continuation of the US aid to Egypt so the country can face mounting challenges of combating terrorism [and other challenges] associated with bolstering stability and peace in the Middle East," the statement said.
The ministry quoted the congresswoman as saying that Congress would work towards bolstering cooperation between the two allies, mainly in counter-terrorism efforts.
Egypt has been receiving $1.3 billion in US military aid yearly since signing the peace treaty with Israel in 1979, with the 2016 package including $150 million in economic assistance. The aid was suspended following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi for almost two years on US concerns over the country's progress towards democracy. The freeze was ended in mid-2015 with new conditions on the aid imposed.
Observers say President El-Sisi and the adminstration of new US President Donald Trump appear to be more aligned than to the administration of former President Barack Obama. Officials of both countries have said they expect greater cooperation in the near future.
Also on Tuesday, Shoukry held talks with Congressman David Trott in which the duo discussed Egypt's economic reform efforts and transition to democracy.
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A significant decline in losses related to the Affordable Care Act contributed to Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.C. posting $185 million in net income for fiscal 2016.
By comparison, the insurer had $500,000 in net income in fiscal 2015 and a $50.6 million loss in fiscal 2014 its first annual loss since 2000.
Blue Cross reported a $38 million loss on ACA-related patient care when including federal reimbursements, compared with a $283 million loss in 2015 and $123 million loss in 2014.
Most ACA-related losses are related to enrollees being older and sicker. They tend to require additional and higher-cost services, such as orthopedics, cardiology and cancer services, emergency room care and specialty drugs.
The insurer said it benefited from strong investment performance and gains in other lines of business that it did not disclose.
Most not-for-profit and nonprofit health-care systems depend on investment income to increase their bottom lines sometimes making the difference between a positive and negative quarterly and annual performance and to help pay for capital investments.
Blue Cross is the states largest health insurer, with more than 4,000 employees, including 600 in the Madison Park office complex in northwest Winston-Salem.
The insurer reported that Brad Wilson, 64, who is retiring as chief executive later this year, received a bonus of $1.93 million in 2016 that nearly doubled his salary of $1.06 million. His total compensation was $3.49 million, which included $495,909 in undisclosed all other compensation.
Revenue was down 4.9 percent to $7.8 billion. It had a 150,000 decline in membership to 3.74 million.
Rate increases, while necessary to cover the high cost and use of medical care for this population, may have deterred some customers from enrolling or keeping their plans, the insurer said.
Blue Cross said it ended 2016 with 250,982 customers linked to the ACA, about 6.7 percent of its overall membership. It expected to gain at least 200,000 more ACA enrollees after competitors exited the state marketplace.
While we saw fewer losses with ACA plans, these customers continued to need expensive medical services, said Mitch Perry, the insurers chief financial officer.
Its still uncertain how changes in Washington will affect our customers in 2018. Despite these challenges, the company remains well-capitalized and financially strong.
Each of Blue Cross 10 listed executives received a bonus of at least $311,750. Gerald Petkau, its chief operating officer, received a bonus of $1.03 million and salary of $563,897, up 6.7 percent.
The bonuses were provided even though the company paid in September a $3.6 million fine to settle an investigation by the N.C. Insurance Department into consumer complaints about double billing and dropped coverage.
As of July 31, the department had received 3,343 complaints about Blue Cross, including 290 from medical providers citing lack of payment.
Blue Cross said it agreed to pay the fine as part of acknowledging technical problems. The fine was paid from the insurers surplus fund. The agreement requires that the fine not affect any customer premiums.
The fine was not only the largest the department has ever levied against an insurer, but almost doubled the previous top amount, according to the department.
Perry said during a media conference call that executive bonuses are based on performance over multiple years and a number of different metrics.
I think its difficult to look at just one event or one issue or one time period and assess what the compensation should have been, Perry said.
I would note that, in general, except for the individuals who received promotions during the year, compensation (for top executives) was down about 10 percent on average.
Wilsons bonus was down 14.9 percent, while Petkaus bonus fell 12.2 percent.
The insurer said claims and medical expenses declined 10.7 percent to $5.8 billion, primarily caused by its lower membership.
Drugs now make up about 22 percent of all health care costs, Perry said. This has roughly doubled over the past 15 years.
Blue Cross said it incurred $478.1 million in local, state and federal taxes and fees in 2016.
Thats compared with $372 million in 2015, $266.7 million in 2014, $118.3 million in 2013, $92.1 million in 2012 and $160.2 million in 2011.
Legal Advice Reminder
SAM frequently gets questions from readers wanting to find out where they can get legal advice. And theres a good, free opportunity coming up. Friday is the North Carolina Bar Associations 10th annual 4ALL Statewide Service Day, when lawyers provide free legal advice from call centers around the state.
Often a lawyer is able to offer a common-sense solution that solves a problem without further legal action and legal expenses, said local attorney Mike Wells, former president of the North Carolina Bar Association, or at the very least direct the caller to the right community service provider that can solve the problem.
The call centers will operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Volunteer lawyers will talk with people about legal matters during those hours, including providing legal information and referral resources. Last year, more than 530 lawyers participated, helping more than 10,000 citizens.
Volunteers will provide legal information and, where necessary, refer callers to resources for more assistance.
In the Triad, the number to call will be (855) 899-9037. Do not call it before 7 a.m. Friday; the hotline will be closed until that day.
You can get more information about the event at www.4ALLnc.org, which will also provide additional phone numbers.
Tax Help
While were on the subject of free help, the Tax Aide Program of the AARP Foundation is once again providing free personal income tax return preparation. Trained and certified volunteers will be available to assist in preparing and e-filing 2016 federal and state personal income returns. Everyone is welcome, regardless of age or income. People will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis, with no appointments taken.
Filings that require complicated preparation may be beyond our scope of work, but seldom are people turned away, according to a statement from the program.
The programs are being held from Feb. 2 to April 18 at the following libraries:
Reynolda Branch Library, 2839 Fairlawn Drive, on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Southside Branch Library, 3185 Buchanan St., on Thursdays and Fridays, also from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
People wanting assistance should arrive by 12:15. The program asks that you not call the library with questions, since they are not part of this volunteer program.
Documents needed for preparation assistance include:
a picture ID for yourself and your spouse, if filing jointly.
Social Security ID for yourself, your spouse, and any dependents. Spouses must be present to sign the return.
2015 tax returns, if available.
Wage and income statements for 2016, including W-2s, 1099s, Social Security Statements and any other documents that reflect earnings.
1095A forms documenting health coverage if you purchased Marketplace (Affordable Care Act) insurance. They cannot prepare a return without it.
Evidence of deductible expenses.
A voided check, if a refund is to be a direct deposit.
If applicable, name, address and tax ID of childcare providers for the Child Care Tax Credit, and income and expense details for Schedule C business income.
You must always leave the wall
The Fantasticks
While the debate continues about when, how quickly and who will pay for a wall across Americas Southern border, at least one country known for its liberal politics is offering a lesson.
The City of Light, Paris, France, has decided to spend 20 million euros ($22 million USD) to build a wall around the Eiffel Tower. Why? To limit the risk of terrorism.
Bloomberg.com reports that a city official, Jean-Francois Martins, said the idea is to have a permanent and aesthetic barrier around the citys most famous landmark. Sadly, he said, the risk of terrorism hasnt gone away.
When President Trump offers a similar rationale for building a wall between the United States and Mexico, he is denounced by the left as a racist.
Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank, has made a useful contribution to the debate about walls. In an essay available on AEI.org, Rubin notes that unlike the Berlin Wall and other barriers to freedom that have been erected by totalitarian states, most walls and other deterrents, such as fences and mine fields, have been installed to keep enemies and other undesirables out and contribute to national security.
Israels wall, along the West Bank, which is more a security fence, was built in the aftermath of a terror campaign against the Jewish state. Since then the number of terrorist attacks have dropped by 90 percent.
About the barrier between Algeria and Morocco, Rubin writes: Morocco fought a bloody insurgency and terrorist campaign sponsored by Algerias and Cubas Cold War proxy, the Polisario Front. The Polisario became ineffective, however, after Morocco built its famous fences, mine fields and ditches.
The United Nations, of all entities, built a wall dividing Cyprus between its northern Turkish portion and the remaining Greek section after Turkey invaded and occupied parts of the island nation in 1974. Rubin adds that to cite international law as opposed to walls is, therefore, nonsense since the United Nations created the precedent.
India and Pakistan have been hostile neighbors for decades, fighting wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. About this, Rubin writes: Because Pakistani terror groups regularly try to infiltrate and wreak havoc in India, India constructed a border fence and wall system to keep Pakistanis out.
Following skirmishes throughout the 1990s between Turkey and Syria, the Turkish government reinforced the border with fences, mine fields, and no mans land, and it worked, writes Rubin. The next fifteen years was largely quiet. It was only when Turkeys leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan removed many of the defenses and turned a blind eye to border security that the terrorism problem in Syria and its subsequent blowback inside Turkey itself grew so great.
Rubin writes of other walls, including one between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and those built by Greece, Hungary and Spain. True, some walls throughout history have been less effective, but these latest ones are working. They are modern examples employing modern technology, and better models than ancient ones from which we can learn and emulate.
WASHINGTON The Trump administration so far has been smoke and mirrors, sound and fury, self-proclaimed victimhood and angry tweets. Where is the substance? Where is the competence? And where increasingly is the public support?
Donald Trumps approval rating of 41 percent is the lowest Gallup has ever measured for a president this early in his term. It should be no surprise that Trump isnt having a hearts-and-flowers honeymoon, given that his inauguration was followed a day later by the biggest mass protest in the nations history. But it usually takes more than a few weeks for the relationship between POTUS and populace to become so curdled.
It is true that most of those who voted for Trump are sticking with him. But they, you will recall, were in the minority try as he might, Trump will never erase the fact that he lost the popular vote. And Trump has done essentially nothing to bring skeptics over to his side.
Instead, he has worried his political allies and galvanized his opponents. To me, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sound a bit uncertain and defensive these days. By contrast, the House and Senate minority leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, seem full of energy and purpose. Its awfully hard to tell from body language who won the election.
Why wouldnt the Republican leadership be nervous, given the performance of the Trump White House so far?
The administrations boldest and most sweeping action the executive order barring U.S. entry to refugees worldwide and foreign-national travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries was so amateurishly written and implemented that it was promptly blocked in federal court. Trump, who claims the measure is needed to prevent terrorist attacks, rashly tweeted that judges will be to blame if something happens. It was a typical reaction: lashing out at others to cover for his own failings.
Trump said that another order, greatly expanding the number of undocumented immigrants prioritized for deportation, meant the start of a military operation to expel really bad dudes. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly quickly clarified that there would be no mass deportations and no use of military force. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later explained that Trump was using military as an adjective, apparently intending it to mean non-military.
The question is inevitable: How much does the president even know about his administrations policies?
Not much, it appears. Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters in Baghdad that the United States was not in Iraq to seize anybodys oil after Trump said in a speech at the CIA that U.S. troops should have done just that. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that we absolutely support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after Trump opined that either one state or two states would do. And Vice President Pence reassured European leaders that the United States remains fully devoted to the NATO alliance even as Trump continues to pine for warmer relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seeks to destabilize and ultimately destroy NATO.
Speaking of Russia, questions continue to mount about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians working for or connected to the Putin regime. The issue is potentially explosive because, according to U.S. intelligence officials, the Russian government actively meddled in the November election in an attempt to boost Trumps chances of winning.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a staunch conservative not known as a voice for bipartisan compromise, called Friday for a special prosecutor to investigate the Russia allegations; Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Issa said, should recuse himself because he was part of the inner circle of the Trump campaign. Republican leaders in Congress are resisting calls for full-blown public congressional probes, but the drip-drip-drip of revelations may wear them down.
Meanwhile, the fate of the Affordable Care Act is emerging as potentially a massive political crisis. At packed town halls across the country, Republicans have been hearing from constituents who will lose health insurance if the ACA is repealed but not immediately replaced, which had been the GOPs plan. The party has come to realize that when it comes to health care, no deed (good or bad) goes unpunished.
You might think the president would be fully engaged in some of these issues, but youd be wrong. Instead, he has been waging a ridiculous war against the media. His cries of fake news may play well with the base, but hes not running for president at the moment. Hes supposed to be doing the job.
Egypt condemned as "terrorist" simultaneous attacks Wednesday on two police, military and intelligence targets in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
At least 16 people were killed and dozens wounded in the attacks, which were claimed by Afghan Taliban militants.
The foreign ministry said in a statement late Wednesday that Egypt is "standing by the Afghani government and people in the fight against terrorism," urging intensified efforts by the international community to combat terrorism.
The Taliban in Afghanistan are working to force out foreign troops, defeat the US-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.
Government forces have struggled to control the insurgency since a NATO-led force ended its combat mission there in 2014.
According to US estimates, Afghan government forces now control less than 60 percent of the country although they hold all main provincial centres.
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Cairo said it abstained from voting on a United Nations Security Council draft resolution that would have imposed sanctions on the Syrian government over the alleged use of chemical weapons in attacks during the country's six-year conflict, to wait for the outcome of investigations.
The country's foreign ministry said late on Wednesday that the resolution "jumped to conclusions" and that certain mechanisms governing the council's work should be abided by, so as "not to politicise the issue or level accusations without hard evidence."
Russia and China vetoed the resolution Tuesday, which was drafted by Britain, France and the United States.
The measure won nine votes in favour, while three countries - China, Russia and Bolivia - opposed it. Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Egypt abstained.
The ministry said that Egypt abstained to "wait for the outcomes of the probe" by the Security Council's Joint Investigative Mechanism, whose inquiry was extended for one year in November.
"It was normal for Egypt to abstain from votinggiven its previous vote to extend the term of the international investigative mechanism for one year as the probe was not yet completed."
The ministry added that the draft resolution "jumped to conclusions that accuse Syrian regime figures and entities of involvement in using chemical weapons without providing evidence."
It underlined, however, that Egypt was among the first countries to call for de-arming the Middle East of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction, saying the country "maintains the same stance" on this issue.
The international inquiry has already determined that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants were behind at least one using mustard gas. Chlorine's use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013.
The six-year civil war has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than 11 million.
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By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer | Commondreams.org |
New government agency blasted as a blatant attempt to humiliate and scare immigrants
Groans and boos greeted President Donald Trumps announcement of an Orwellian new government agencyVOICE (Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement)during his address to Congress Tuesday night.
I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American Victims, Trump said, eliciting gasps. The office is called VOICEVictims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.
Watch below:
Trumps VOICE office announcement was met by audible groans The dismay wasnt limited to those in the chamber; outrageand fearrang out online, as well. Advancement Project (@adv_project) March 1, 2017
ThinkProgress reported last week that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly signed off on the creation of the new office in a memo entitled Enforcement of the Immigration Laws to Serve the National Interest.
I am establishing the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office within the Office of the Director of ICE, which will create a programmatic liaison between ICE and the known victims of crimes committed by removable aliens, Kelly wrote. To that end, I direct the Director of ICE to immediately reallocate any and all resources that are currently used to advocate on behalf of illegal aliens to the new VOICE Office, and to immediately terminate the provision of such outreach or advocacy services to illegal aliens.
An executive order from Trump, signed in late January, also instructed DHS to make public a comprehensive list of criminal actions committed by aliens.
Writing at The Atlantic on Wednesday, Peter Beinart noted that statistics on immigrant crime dont support Trumps actions. As far as researchers can tell, unauthorized immigrants commit crimes [pdf] at a lower rate than the American population at large, he reported.
As such, Beinart wrote, if Trumps goal is increasing public safety, publishing a list of crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants is irrational. Its like publishing a list of crimes committed by people with red-hair.
If, however, Trumps goal is stigmatizing a vulnerable class of people, he continued, then publicizing their crimesand their crimes alonemakes sense. Its been a tactic bigots have used more than a century.
Further underscoring the administrations xenophobic campaign (despite claims that he struck a softer tone during the Joint Address), Trump invited families of people killed by undocumented immigrants as his personal guests to Tuesday nights speech. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that by doing so, Trump was stirring up fear and hatred against immigrants and trying to divide our nation.
Trump, any murder is a tragedy, Sanders wrote in a Facebook post ahead of the speech. Dont use these tragedies to stir up divisions by race and nationality.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
Via Commondreams.org
Related video added by Juan Cole:
The Majority Report with Sam Seder: Trump Announces VOICE, a Nazi-Inspired Way to Persecute Immigrants
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TeleSur |
The so-called Islamic State group [ISIL] has razed ancient monuments during both of its spells in control of Palmyra, a destruction the United Nations has condemned as a war crime.
Syrian government forces and their allies fought their way into Palmyra Wednesday, driving back ISIL who have held the historic city since December, the Syrian Army said.
The armys entry to the city will begin very soon, A Syrian military source told Reuters earlier Wednesday. The army said it had captured an area known as the Palmyra triangle a few miles west of the city after rapid advances in recent days backed by Russian air strikes.
A media outlet affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group fighting alongside the Syrian government, reported that the Syrian army and its allies had recaptured the Palmyra citadel, on the citys western outskirts, and seized a modern palatial complex to the southwest.
ISIL has captured Palmyra, whose ancient ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, twice during Syrias six-year conflict. But the army recaptured the city from the ultra-hardline group in March 2016, while ISIL seized it again in December.
The group has razed ancient monuments during both of its spells in control of Palmyra, a destruction the United Nations has condemned as a war crime.
Photos published on an ISIL Telegram account Wednesday showed the groups fighters firing at the Syrian army with rockets and a tank, Reuters said.
ISIL first captured Palmyra from the government in 2015. During its first period in control of the site, the extremists destroyed monuments including a 1,800-year-old monumental arch.
Most recently, the group has razed the landmark Tetrapylon, a platform with four columns at each corner, and the facade of Palmyras Roman Theatre. Palmyra, known in Arabic as Tadmur, stood at the crossroads of the ancient world.
The government and its allies lost Palmyra as they focused on defeating Syrian anti-government groups in eastern Aleppo. The groups were driven from eastern Aleppo in December, the governments biggest victory.
Via TeleSur
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Related video added by Juan Cole:
RT: Syrian Army retakes Palmyra citadel, advances against ISIS
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |
Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka again declined to say on Wednesday in an NPR interview whether President Trump believes Islam is a religion. He also doubled down on calling Muslim radicalism radical Islamic extremism. In the end he clarified that the US is not at war with Islam, saying that Islam is itself divided into pro- and anti-American factions and that he wants the pro-American version to win.
I have explained many times that the word Islamic is like Judaic. It refers to the ideals and the beautiful things about the Muslim religion. You can have Islamic art and Islamic ethics. You cant have Islamic terrorism because Islam forbids terrorism. Likewise, university Centers for Judaic Studies focuses on Judaic religious thought and Judaic history, but wouldnt typically teach about Jewish gangsters like Bugsy Siegel.
For the United States government to call al-Qaeda and ISIL Islamic extremism is to aid and abet them in their quest to be accepted by other Muslims as legitimate. They are terrorists, not Islamic. And just has you can have Jewish gangsters but not Judaic ones, you can have terrorists who happen to be Muslim but you cant have Islamic ones.
Also of course, a phrase such as radical Islamic extremists is ludicrous and no right-thinking person should be guilty of its fallacies. It is redundant, since it implies that there are Islamic extremists who are not radical or that there are Islamic radicals who are not extremists. So it is just an asinine piece of propagandistic over-reach by the American (and apparently Hungarian) right wing, which undermines the fight against extremism and radicalism by raising the white flag of surrender on whether it is genuinely Islamic and whether Muslims should view it as legitimate.
Moreover, extremism is not always pejorative. An American conservative once said that extremism in the service of liberty is no vice. Some Muslims would agree. So you arent even succeeding, by using this phrase, in stigmatizing Muslims who commit terrorism, which was apparently the whole point.
The United States indirectly created al-Qaeda to fight the Soviet Union, so the idea that there is a civil war in Islam over anti-Americanism is ahistorical. The US rampaged around the Middle East undermining Arab secularism all through the Cold War. Political Islam was bolstered to some important extent by Washington, just as Hamas was initially supported by Israel to offset the secular PLO. Eisenhower and Dulles tried to build up the Saudi, Wahhabi king as leader of the Middle East. I was handed a biblical scorecard in the 1980s by which I was supposed to judge my congressman, put out by the American religious Right. It asked if he supported the jihadis in Afghanistan (among whom were al-Qaeda). That is, thirty years ago people like Gorka were insisting that we have to support the people he now sees as so threatening. Or else were were betraying Judeo-Christian values and surrendering to godless Communism.
While Muslim radicals are a problem, youre much more likely to be struck by lightning than to encounter one, and I wouldnt spend trillions of dollars on all this. White supremacists in the US are a much bigger issue.
So, on to the first point, or non-point, is Islam a religion? I would argue that not only is Islam a religion, but for all practical purposes it invented the idea of multiple co-existing religions.
St. Augustine complains in The City of God that there wasnt a really good word for religion in his day. Religio meant the ties that bind and could refer to family or state as well as a religious community. Threskaia, the Greek for worship, just addressed one aspect of religion. Eusebeia or awe and reverence for the divine was used in Greek, but again was limited to describing an attitude.
Most early Christians, and many thinkers into our own day, rejected the idea that Christianity is a religion among the religions. Many saw four categories the True Christian doctrine, paganism, heresy and the incomplete and stunted Judaism. They thought everyone but Christians were going straight to hell. Seeing Islam as a heresy and not a religion is an old theological move of Christian supremacists.
As Cantwell Smith argued, Islam in contrast took over the Persian idea of daena or den or din, which evolved to mean religion. Zoroastrianism was called in Sasanian times weh din, the good religion. The Quran thus calls late Greco-Roman-Arab paganism a religion (din). It calls Judaism a religion/din. Likewise Christianity and Zoroastrianism. And it calls the community of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632) a religion (din). Not until the eighteenth century Enlightenment did the West achieve a similar understanding of religion as a global category and of each religion as in the same category as all the others. The Quran says that members of all the monotheistic religions, who do good works and have faith, are saved, something almost no Christian would have said until the nineteenth century, and even then it has remained a minority view.
16th Cent. Mughal Emperor Akbar welcomes Jesuits to his court
In the US system, the Supreme Court decides what a religion is (though ironically the Internal Revenue Service can play an important role, since religions are tax-exempt and so the IRS has to decide if a group claiming that exemption really is a religion.)
But of course the Constitution is where we have to begin.
The First Amendment says
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The word establishment is a technical term in 18th century practice, meaning to make something official state policy. The amendment is saying that the US government cant have a favored, state religion. The Supreme Court later interpreted the 14th amendment to hold that individual states also cant have state religions, since that would be discriminatory. (Madison originally had tried to restrict the states from having official religions but the senate voted him down at that time).
The obvious other side of this coin is that the government cannot actively discriminate against a particular religion, either. The Founding generation set up the US government to be neutral with regard to the religions.
The idea of religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment was based on an act passed in 1786 by the Virginia state legislature that had been authored by Thomas Jefferson, and which said in part:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Gee, seems to me like Jefferson wouldnt have wanted a Muslim ban. In fact, one of the arguments raised against this act in the Virginia legislature was precisely that it would allow the free practice of Islam in the Commonwealth. Jeffersons opponents tried to limit religious freedom to Christianity. Jefferson battled back and won.
James E. Hutson explains:
Campaigning for religious freedom in Virginia, Jefferson followed Locke, his idol, in demanding recognition of the religious rights of the Mahamdan, the Jew and the pagan. Supporting Jefferson was his old ally, Richard Henry Lee, who had made a motion in Congress on June 7, 1776, that the American colonies declare independence. True freedom, Lee asserted, embraces the Mahomitan and the Gentoo (Hindu) as well as the Christian religion. In his autobiography, Jefferson recounted with satisfaction that in the struggle to pass his landmark Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786), the Virginia legislature rejected by a great majority an effort to limit the bills scope in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan.
Jefferson was ambassador in Paris in 1787 when the Constitution was being drafted, but he corresponded with Madison and strongly urged him to draft a bill of rights that would address religious liberty. Madison was influenced by the 1786 Virginia statute.
That is, the legislative history of the First Amendment demonstrates conclusively that it is rooted in Enlightenment conceptions of religion that saw Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism as all constituting religions, belief in which is a matter of conscience over which civil magistrates should have no control. So I would say that the Constitution implicitly recognizes Islam as a religion, even for an originalist who reads it through eighteenth-century eyes.
Of course, through the twentieth century the Supreme Court has further refined what it considers to be a religion.
The Newseum Institute explains:
In the 1960s, the Court expanded its view of religion. In its 1961 decision Torcaso v. Watkins, the Court stated that the establishment clause prevents government from aiding those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs. In a footnote, the Court clarified that this principle extended to religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others.
Most recently, the late Antonin Scalia authored an 8 to 1 decision that Abercrombie & Fitch could not discriminate against a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf even if she did not explicitly ask for a religious accommodation. Scalia and his colleagues had no doubt whatsoever that Islam is a religion.
That is, there simply isnt any question a) that the American legal tradition sees Islam as a religion and that b) its free practice on American soil, without fear of discrimination, is guaranteed by our most precious constitutional instruments, as demonstrated by their legislative history.
So the next reporter should please ask the recently naturalized Mr. Gorka to explain why he has not stood up to Mr. Trump on this issue, and why he characterizes the controversy as theological when in fact it is a matter of our civil constitutional law.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Uh-oh. Stuff you never thought about.
You think this murder stuff is easy? Huh.
As author Nupur Tustin says on Franz Joseph Haydn: You may know him as a composer. You may even know him as KapellmeisterDirector of Musicto the powerful Esterhazy Princes. Now, Id like to introduce you to Haydn, the Kapell-Detective.
But in writing about Haydn the detective, Nupur ran into a bit of a dilemma. The question: Can forensic science play a role in historical mysteries? And the answer? Well, its fascinating. And who better to interview her about itthan the author herself?
NUPUR TUSTIN: Why would a writer of historical mysteries bother researching forensic techniques?
A Minor Deception, when a dead body showed up, and I realized that I had absolutely no idea how to describe it. I was writing the first draft of, when a dead body showed up, and I realized that I had absolutely no idea how to describe it.
Obviously some sort of description was necessary. There was a corpse in the wine-tavern. Even if Haydn looked away, revolted, after his first glance, I'd have to provide some explanation as to the cause of his revulsion. Moreover, the barber-surgeon, also present at the scene, was unlikely to be quite so squeamish.
But things were so different back in the eighteenth century?
Then again, some things don't change. Whether your mystery is set in eighteenth-century Austria or twenty-first century Los Angeles, when a body appears on the scene, you need to give your reader some idea of what your sleuth sees. Manners and customs may have changed, but the changes that take place in the body after death have not.
Some changes like rigor mortisthe stiffening of the limbs after deathwould have been commonplace in a time when death itself was an everyday occurrence.
Other changessuch as the bloating that occurs as toxins are released in the process of decompositionmay have seemed more unnatural. Certainly in eighteenth-century Austria these changes led to a vampire scare so widespread, the Empress Maria Theresa had to command her personal physician to look into the matter.
Whether your victim is an eighteenth-century traveler or a twenty-first century lawye r, the appearance of a stabbing or bludgeoning or death by drowning remain the same.
Yes, but how much would an eighteenth-century individual know about the signs that point to violent death?
Your eighteenth-century sleuth may not necessarily realize the bloodshot appearance of a victim's eyes points to death by strangulation, but that's not to say he or she won't notice it.
An experienced executioner might even be able to tell your sleuth about this particular phenomenon. You can't hang criminals, lop off their heads, or carry out other similar executions without learning a thing or two about what happens during and after the event.
All right, forensic pathology may be useful, but what made you delve deeper?
Although forensic pathology gave me nightmares, my introduction to it brought me into contact with other fascinating technologies available to the modern investigator. When a fellow crime writer shared the news of a free online course taught by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, I was eager to take it, although I didn't think I'd learn much from it of value to the Haydn Mysteries.
I couldn't have been more wrong
Seriously?
Absolutely. As I worked with fellow students on solving a true crime, I realized there was more to investigating a crime than pulling out all the stops with the fancy techniques available to us. Based on what the investigator sees at the crime scene, the initial interviews, and oftentimes the subsequent behavior of the survivors, a hypothesis is formulated.
It is this hypothesis that directs further investigation.
In fact as I worked on the case, I realized my questions, and the ones the instructors were prompting me to ask, had nothing to do with the examination of trace evidence and everything to do with (a) the appearance of the crime scene, and the mismatch between it and the story the victim's husband gave the initial responders; (b) my knowledge of human behavior; and (c) my nascent knowledge of criminal behavior.
Can you illustrate those three types of questions?
Sure. Here's an example of the first type. The gunman had apparently opened the passenger-side door, and in a struggle with the victim, shot her in her right temple. The incident took place in the U.K., meaning that the entry wound would have to be in the left temple for that story to be accurate. Her right temple faced her husband.
The position of the body suggested she'd been looking straight ahead when she'd been shot.
As for the second and third, having shot one individual, how plausible is it that the killer would have left the other alive to potentially identify him? The woman had received a fatal wound to her temple; but her husband had sustained only a minor injury to his left arm.
Fascinating! But how did all this help with the Haydn Mysteries?
The questions I asked as I worked on this case are the same type of questions I have Haydn ask when he's presented with a crime. What's the most likely hypothesis based on the initial evidence? If new evidence challenges his initial assumptions, what explanation might take into account both the old and the new evidence?
Since I already know who the killer is, thinking in this way helps me to refine the plot as I write my novel. I'm not only considering how to present evidence based on what actually happened, I'm also thinking about plausible ways in which it might be misinterpreted.
You're forgetting they didn't have the technology to evaluate trace evidence back then.
I've come to realize that forensic evidence is more important in presenting a cast-iron case in court than in actually solving the crime. While in some cases, it does solve the crime, in others, it has to be taken in conjunction with other types of evidence gleaned from interviews with the victim's family, suspects, and anyone remotely involved. Frequently, two experts will disagree on whether fingerprints or tire marks or even handwriting match. And DNA evidence is only as good as the kit used to collect it.
Sounds like a lot of work. Don't you already have your hands full researching the time period?
Oddly enough, it makes writing a historical mystery much easier. The same type of investigative work needs to be done to narrow down the list of suspects and to follow leads. I still, of course, try to present the reader with as much cast-iron evidence as I can.
What about you, readers? Are you convinced that learning about contemporary investigative techniques can be helpful even to a writer of historical mysteries? Can you think of examples from mysteries you've written or read?
HANK: Oh, that is so fascinating! Huh. I keep thinking about The Alienist. Its such a complicated balancebecause we as readers are reading trough the prism of what we knowand compare it to how what it was like in the past. How do we change our perspective and expectations to feel comfortable in the past?
And tell us more about your book. Love this, Nupur!And tell us more about your book.
And Im delighted to give a copy of A MINOR DECPTION to one lucky commenter. Are you a fan of classical music?
Bio: A former journalist, Nupur Tustin relies upon a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to orchestrate fictional mayhem. Childhood piano lessons and a 1903 Weber Upright share equal blame for her musical works.
Haydn Series http:// ntustin.com
Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn would like nothing better than to show his principal violinist Barto Daboczi the door. But with the Empress Maria Theresas visit scheduled in three weeks, Haydn can ill-afford to lose his surly virtuoso.
But when Barto disappearsalong with all the music composed for the imperial visitthe Kapellmeister is forced to don the role of Kapell-detective, or risk losing his job.
[JURIST] The EU Parliament [official website] adopted a resolution [PDF] on Thursday directing the EU Commission [official website] to take measures to temporarily reintroduce visa requirements for US and other nationals whose countries still do not grant visa-free access to nationals of five EU countriesBulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania. The parliament wants [press release] the Commission to set a one-year suspension for the US within two months. The Parliament has particularly taken issue with the fact that there is no reciprocity from the US. The EU Commission contacted the US with a notice of non-reciprocity concerning the five countries in April 2014, and according to its rules, the Commission should have already taken action last April after the expiry of 24 months since notification. The four other countries the EU Commission notified in April 2014 are Australia, Brunei, Canada, and Japanthree of these four have already lifted visa requirements since then while Canada has announced [press release] its intention to do so by the end of the year.
US immigration law [JURIST backgrounder] continues to be a controversial and heavily politicized area of law at both the state and federal levels. President Trumps [JURIST op-ed] immigration policies have signaled a significant change from other Post-WWII Presidents. Experts have said [JURIST op-ed] that his Muslim ban violates the Constitution. In October the Supreme Court denied a petition to rehear [JURIST report] United States v. Texas [SCOTUSblog materials], a case challenging the Obama administrations policies supporting deferred action which would permit around 4 million immigrants to legally remain and continue working in the US. In September the Ninth Circuit ruled that children facing deportation proceedings may not file a class action suit [JURIST report] to determine whether they are entitled to an attorney as a due process right. In September 2015 the US Commission on Civil Rights issued a report criticizing [JURIST report] the Obama administrations immigration detention facilities, stating that some are not fully complying with detention standards regarding medical care, legal information and other basic standards of treatment. In August 2015 a California judge upheld her July decision [JURIST reports] and ordered the government to release immigrant children held in family detention centers, without necessary delay.
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Colorado [official website] ruled [order, PDF] Monday that there was a sufficient basis for a class action lawsuit, brought on behalf of former and current inmates against one of the nations largest private prison companies, thereby certifying class status. GEO Group [corporate website], the private prison management company that runs the federal immigration detainment center in Aurora, Colorado, is accused of forcing detainees to work for little to no wages, and allegedly threatening some with solitary confinement if they refused to work. Plaintiffs attorney Andrew Free [website] stated, [t]his is the first time that a private prison company has ever been accused of forced labor, and this is the first time that a judge has ever found that the claims can go forward under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the bans in federal law on forced labor. Speaking on behalf of GEO, Pablo Paez [Bloomberg profile] denied the allegations:
The volunteer work program at immigration facilities as well as the wage rates and standards associated with the program are set by the Federal government. Our facilities, including the Aurora, Colo. Facility, are highly rated and provide high-quality services in safe, secure, and humane residential environments pursuant to the Federal Governments national standards.
According to Free, the lawsuit is expected to encourage others of the same kind, which may have an impact on President Donald Trumps immigration plans. Such plans include increasing the number of immigrant arrests.
The rights of immigrants, and immigration more generally, has been a topic of much contention during the still-young Trump Administration. Earlier this week, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied [JURIST report] a request by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stay an appeal on Trumps controversial immigration executive order. The DOJ requested [JURIST reports] a hold on the court proceedings until Trump issues a new order on immigration. Last month the appeals court upheld [JURIST report] a lower court decision issuing a stay on the executive orders pending proceedings.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Wednesday accused [HRW report] police in the Philippines of falsifying evidence to justify killings in the countrys war on drugs. President Rodrigo Duterte [CNN profile] has conducted a large scale war on drugs in the Philippines, including sanctioned killings of anyone who sells or uses drugs in the nation, according to the rights group. The report highlights practices by the police of falsifying evidence including planting drugs, guns and spent ammunition at crime scenes. The government has reportedly not charged a single police officer over any of the killings.
The violent war on drugs in the Philippines has been an ongoing issue since Duterte was elected President in May 2016. In February HRW urged the Philippines to drop political charges [JURIST report] against someone who had spoken out against Dutertes war on drugs. Advocacy groups have repeatedly spoken out against the extrajudicial killings that have claimed over 7,000 lives in the country. In January Duterte announced the suspension [JURIST report] of the controversial anti-drug campaign. In November it was announced that Duterte considered leaving [JURIST report] the International Criminal Court to avoid any prosecution over the sanctioned killings in his country.
The House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines [official website] voted Wednesday to advance [press release] a proposal [committee report] to reinstate the death penalty for drug-related heinous crimes. The legislation would impose the death penalty for several enumerated offenses, among which are the importation, distribution and possession of narcotics. The law would also be relevant to those who commit specified crimes while under the influence of drugs, and to public officials who misappropriate confiscated drugs. Executions would be carried out by hanging, lethal injection or firing squad no later than 18 months after a sentence is final. The law defines heinous crimes as those grievous, odious and hateful offenses, which by reason of their inherent or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity are repugnant and outrageous to the common standards and norms of decency and morality in a just, civilized and orderly society. The proposal would provide for automatic review.
The human rights situation in the Philippines has come under international scrutiny in recent months with a focus on the rights implicated in the nations war on drugs. In February Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International [advocacy websites] criticized the extrajudicial killings [JURIST report] in the Philippines as part of the war on drugs in the country. In January President Rodrigo Duterte, who was elected last May after campaigning on a promise to be extremely harsh on drug users, announced the suspension [JURIST report] of the island nations war on drugs. Also in January the president said he planed to declare martial law [JURIST report] if the countrys drug problem becomes very virulent.
The two leaders will inaugurate the first phase of a Siemens project to build three new power plants in Egypt
Related Sisi, Merkel to discuss illegal migration, German NGO's work in Egypt: Germany ambassador Egypt's Sisi, Germany's Merkel to inaugurate first phase of Siemens power megaproject German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to arrive in Cairo Thursday on a two-day visit to meet with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, and to inaugurate with her counterpart the first phase of a Siemens megaproject.
The two leaders are scheduled to hold a press conference shortly after their meeting.
Sisi and Merkel will inaugurate via video conference the first phase of a project managed by the German company Siemens to build three new power plants in Bani Suef , Kafr Al-Sheikh and New Administrative Capital.
On her first visit to the country since 2007, Merkel is scheduled to meet Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb and Coptic patriarch Pope Tawadros II.
In a press conference two days ahead of the visit, Germany's Ambassador to Cairo Julius Georg Luy said illegal migration and combating terrorism would be among the key issues the leaders discuss, adding that Germany supports Egypt in fighting terrorism both domestically and abroad.
Egypt and Germany have strengthened economic, military and political ties over the past three years.
El-Sisi met with the German chancellor in Berlin in May, 2015 during his first official visit to Europe. The German company Siemens signed in 2015 an 8 billion euro ($9.05 billion) deal with Egypt to build gas and wind power plants to ease the country's electric power shortages. In 2014, Egypt signed a deal to buy three German submarines. A submarine built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems was delivered to Cairo in 2016. Two more German submarines destined for Egypt are currently under construction. In November, the German passenger flights resumed to Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, putting an end to a one-year ban on flights to the Red Sea resort city after a Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai in late 2015.
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The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled Wednesday in Bethune Hill et al v. Virginia State Board of Education at al [opinion, PDF] that Virginias redistricting scheme must be examined for racial bias. The case revolved around [SCOTUSblog materials] around the drawing of district lines in Virginia and whether race was a predominant consideration in the drawing of new districts after a 2010 census. The court held that the district court employed an incorrect legal standard when it determined that race did not predominate in 11 of 12 of the newly districts and that the district courts judgment regarding District 75that the legislature had good reason to believe that a 55 percent target for African American voting/age population was necessary to avoid diminishing the electoral power of votersis consistent with the basic narrow tailoring analysis explained in Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama [SCOTUSblog backgrounder]. The court sent the case back to the lower courts for further consideration.
Voting rights and gerrymandering have become increasingly important issues over the past year. In January a three-judge panel for the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ordered the state legislature [JURIST report] to redraw legislative district lines by November 1. Earlier in January the US Supreme Court blocked [JURIST report] a ruling ordering the redrawing of the congressional district map and special elections to be held in North Carolina. This came after the Supreme Court heard arguments [JURIST report] in racial gerrymandering cases from Virginia and North Carolina in December. In September several organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging Georgias voter registration system [JURIST report]. Last April the Supreme Court unanimously upheld [JURIST report] an Arizona commissions decisions regarding the redistricting of voting districts in the state.
The US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday heard arguments [transcript] in Coventry Health Care of Missouri, Inc. v. Nevils [SCOTUSblog backgrounder], a case that required the court to decide whether an insurer, guaranteed a right of subrogation through a Federal Employees Health Benefits Act (FEHBA) policy, actually has such a right when it is in contravention of the law of the state in which it seeks recovery. Jodie Nevils, a federal employee covered by an FEHBA policy that included a right of subrogation, or repayment, filed a lawsuit against Coventry, her insurer, after it enforced its subrogation lien against part of the settlement of a related personal injury claim. The law of Missouri, which governed the dispute, proscribes insurer subrogation rights as being against public policy. The FEHBA, however, expressly preempts state law with the following language:
The terms of any contract under this chapter which relate to the nature, provision, or extent of coverage or benefits (including with respect to benefits) shall supersede and preempt any State or local law, or any regulation issued thereunder, which relates to health insurance or plans.
The case came up for Supreme Court review in mid-2015, at which time it was remanded to the Missouri state court for re-argument due to a then-new Office of Personnel Management (OPM) statutory interpretation [text] stating that the subrogation provisions should apply notwithstanding contrary state law. The Missouri court ruled again [opinion, PDF] in Nevils favor, despite the OPM interpretation. The case now returns to the Supreme Court for full review.
US President Donald Trump signed a bill [press release] on Tuesday that revokes gun restrictions on those with mental illnesses. During the Obama administration, individuals who received social security checks for mental illnesses and were deemed unfit to manage their own finances were added to the national background check database. HJ Res 40 [text] was backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) [advocacy website]. According to the NRA-ILA executive director Chris Cox, this law shows the president respects the right to bear arms. Senator Chris Murphy [official website] stated [press release] that to undermine enforcement of this law, which provides complete information for the background check system, does not make the system better but only worsens it.
Gun control remains a divisive issue [JURIST op-ed], according to Allen Rostron [official profile] of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law [official website]. In February the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that Marylands assault weapons ban is constitutional. The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District earlier this month overturned Floridas 2011 Firearms Owners Privacy Act (FOPA), also referred to as the Docs vs. Glocks law. Also in February the US Senate voted [JURIST report] to reverse an Obama-era gun regulation that required mental health information to be shared with the national gun background check system. The New Hampshire House of Representatives approved [JURIST report] a bill [SB 12 text] that would repeal the law prohibiting state citizens from carrying concealed firearms without a permit.
Around 330 individuals were put on trial [Al Jazeera report] Tuesday for their alleged involvement in the attempted coup in Turkey last July [BBC profile]. The charges against the suspects range from murder to attempts to remove the government and prevent the parliament from conducting their work. If convicted, the individuals could face up to multiple life sentences. The trial is taking place at the Sincan Prison, located outside of Turkeys capitol of Ankara, in a special court under heavy security.
Since the failed coup in Turkey in July, where Turkish military forces tried to overthrow the government, the Turkish government has taken several controversial steps to strengthen its power. Turkish Labor Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said that authorities have dismissed more than 90,000 public servants for alleged connections to the coup [JURIST report]. In January a judge for the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals ordered the release [JURIST report] of Turkish judge Aydin Sefa Akay who was detained in July. Also in January the Turkish Parliament approved a plan [JURIST report], which, if approved by vote later this year, would increase presidential power within the country and would allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stay in office until 2029. In November Turkey significantly restricted the activities of NGOs like human rights organizations and childrens groups and arrested opposition party leaders [JURIST reports] alleging they were connected to terror organizations. In October Human Rights Watch warned [JURIST report] that the emergency decrees put in place after the failed coup, had resulted in serious human rights violations. In July Amnesty International condemned [JURIST report] Turkey for attacking the freedom of the press by issuing arrest warrants for 42 journalists.
The UK House of Lords voted on Wednesday to amend [amendment] HL 108 [procedural history], also known as the Brexit [Economist backgrounder] bill to protect residence rights for EU citizens. With a vote of 358 to 256, the Lords voted to allow EU citizens who are residents of the UK to remain as residents after Art. 50 is triggered and the UK leaves the EU. Despite this setback for the government, Prime Minister Theresa may still intends to initiate the process [Reuters report] before March ends. The conservatives plan to fight the measure.
A majority of UK voters expressed their desire to leave the EU [JURIST report] in June, leading to the resignation of prime minster David Cameron. The EU has set out a mechanism for leaving in Article 50 [materials] of the Lisbon Treaty, where a member state may decide to withdraw from the union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements, and must notify the European council of its intention. Under Article 50, a member country can only be removed from the EU two years after notification. While Britain might bypass this process through repeal of the European Communities Act of 1972, it is believed that this would make coming to a preferential trade agreement with the EU more difficult.
UN experts on Wednesday urged [press release] governments around the world to protect rare plants and animals. According to UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment John Knox,
The rapid loss of biological diversity around the world should be setting off alarm bells. We are on our way to the sixth global extinction of species in the history of the planet, and States are still failing to halt the main drivers of biodiversity loss, including habitat destruction, poaching, and climate change.
He also reported [materials] that loss of biodiversity impacts human rights such as the right to life, health, food and water. Knox will make a formal presentation of his report dictating the relationship between loss of biodiversity and human rights to the UN Human Rights Council on March 7.
Environmental issues continue to be an important topic globally. In February UN human rights experts called [JURIST report] on global leaders to take urgent action on air pollution to ensure world citizens enjoy the human rights to life and health in environments free from contamination. The same month he European Commission gave final warnings [JURIST report] to Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK for failing to address air pollution. In January UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes Baskut Tuncak said [JURIST report] that the UK must take steps to control exposure to pollution and toxic chemicals for all citizens but particularly children. In November a US judge ruled [JURIST report] that a lawsuit against the US government over failure to limit the emission of greenhouse gasses can proceed. That same month governments around the world agreed [JURIST report] to legally binding limits on global temperature rises as the Paris Agreement [text, PDF] on climate change became effective. One of the biggest hurdles to reaching an agreement was getting China and the US [JURIST report] to sign on, the two countries being the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, collectively responsible for about 40 percent of all gasses emitted. In September the International Criminal Court stated it will work to prosecute [JURIST report] environmental crimes.
Less than three days was all it took for Kraft Heinzs GBP112bn (US$139.1bn) takeover approach to Unilever to become public, be rejected and subsequently taken off the table. UK takeover rules mean a further offer from Kraft Heinz is not on the cards for at least six months. It is hard to see how future agreement between the two camps could be reached. Berkshire Hathaway, one of Kraft Heinzs two major investors, has insisted it will only pursue friendly acquisitions. Meanwhile, Unilevers management has argued the proposal not only undervalued the business but delivered little strategic benefit for the company or long-term opportunity for its shareholders. Nevertheless, Kraft Heinzs takeover attempt is likely to have some significant and far-reaching consequences for Unilever. Here, just-food takes a look at the impact the episode could have on the Dove-to-Knorr manufacturer.
Free Report Unilever- A Deep-dive into Product Launches and Advertising Strategy Track product launches by FMCG companies to get an understanding of the product-level strategies including geographic concentrations, innovation types, product claim, category focus and more
Monitoring the advertising strategies of various brands and gain insights into channel focus, regional focus, and more
Perform company-level analysis to understand business model, size, and geographic focus Dont miss out on key market insights that can help optimize your next investment read the report now. Unilever product advertising is mainly through mainstream TV channels. Out of the products advertised so far at least 50% (over 850) of ads have been run on TV, while print media comes second with 496 ads. Unilever also utilizes social media platforms for advertisement. Unilever products are categorized by innovation ratings and tags in our product launch database. The North American region consists of almost 74 products with innovations related to the formulation of the product. Europe and other regions also have more products categorized under formulation-related innovation, followed by the packaging and positioning of the products. Most Unilever products are tagged with High Vitamins, Recyclable, and Natural tags to understand what the product differentiator is from other products available in the market. The majority of products belong to the personal care industry with a total of 5,788 products to date. This report, through the Unilever Example, illustrates how GlobalData Explorer enables you to:Dont miss out on key market insights that can help optimize your next investment read the report now. by GlobalData Enter your details here to receive your free Report. Please enter a work/business email address Country United Kingdom United States Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of The Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D"ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People"s Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People"s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Download free Report By clicking the Download Free Report button, you accept the terms and conditions and acknowledge that your data will be used as described in the GlobalData privacy policy By downloading this Report, you acknowledge that we may share your information with our white paper partners/sponsors who may contact you directly with information on their products and services.
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Strategic review launched
Unilever brushed off the Kraft Heinz takeover approach for two reasons. The consumer goods groups management argued the offer substantially undervalued the Magnum ice cream and Knorr soups maker at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.1 times. Unilever also insisted Kraft Heinzs model is at odds with its own approach.
Kraft Heinz focuses on cost reduction to generate immediate earnings growth. But, without investment in organic growth, its model relies on M&A to fuel continued returns. According to Unilever, that contrasts with its own strategic objectives and longer-term approach to creating value for shareholders.
Speaking at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York investor conference last week, Unilever CEO Graeme Pitkethly explained: We see two very different approaches to shareholder value. One is a model of compounding returns on investment, attractive return on invested capital and a robust balance sheet that gives the flexibility for M&A. We like this model because it means we can go on generating high returns indefinitely and so it is inherently sustainable in the longer term. The other model relies more on leverage to generate stronger short-term growth in earnings but, without the foundation of strong organic growth, this model is more dependent on repeated portfolio change and portfolio expansion. It may well be that there was a strong strategic rationale for Kraft [Heinz] in combining with Unilever but there was no strategic rationale for Unilever.
Nevertheless, Pitkethly said, the proposed bid represented an inflection point for Unilever. The events of last week show us the challenge to unlock more value faster in the shorter term rather than focusing more heavily on steady value creation over the longer term, which is what we do. This has been a trigger moment for Unilever and we will not waste it.
To this end, Unilever promptly launched a review of its operations in order to improve the returns the company can give to its investors.
Unilever is conducting a comprehensive review of options available to accelerate delivery of value for the benefit of our shareholders, the company said in a statement last Wednesday. The company hopes to capture more quickly the value we see in Unilever.
While Pitkethly suggested it would be inappropriate to comment in detail on the review until its findings are made public in April, he did reveal it would be a far-reaching probe into Unilevers business. This will include options for our organisation, our portfolio, our cost structures and for our balance sheet and use of cash, he said.
Does that mean food disposals?
Unilever has been focusing its M&A strategy on expanding its higher-growth personal care business, through acquisitions including the recent purchase of Dollar Shave Club. As a result, an increasing proportion of Unilevers sales come from its personal care brands. In 2008, the group generated 28% of revenue from personal care. By 2016, this had grown to 38%.
At the same time, the company has sold off lower-growth food brands, such as Slim Fast, Ragu and Bertolli. As a result, the groups food business now accounts for 24% of sales, compared to 35% in 2008.
This evolution has prompted some to speculate Unilever could be prepared to sell or spin-off its entire stable of food brands or refreshment (a second unit that includes its ice cream and tea brands) assets. According to a report in The Sunday Telegraph, Unilever is understood to be giving what the newspaper called serious thought to a spin-off of its food business into a separate listing.
It is impossible to rule out this move. A leaner Unilever would be free to go after deals that could potentially create a personal care behemoth, such as a possible combination with the likes of Colgate. But, while all options are apparently open in the review process, this would represent a significant departure from the strategic direction Unilevers management is committed to.
To suggest Unilevers existing strategy has been to use its food and refreshment businesses as a cash generator to fund M&A in its home and personal care operations is something of an over-simplification. Unilever has also used M&A to expand its ice cream businesses, with recent deals including the purchase of Italian high-end gelato group Grom and US firm Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto. It would perhaps be more accurate to characterise Unilevers strategy as selling off low-growth businesses in order to focus on higher-growth, higher-margin, premium brands in non-food and food, although, in food, its M&A has focused on the refreshment side of the business than the foods division.
In this context, an obvious contender for disposal is Unilevers spreads business. The unit operates in a market shaped by structural decline and investor pressure for an exit has been mounting for some time.
Unilever may have taken tentative steps towards this eventuality two years ago, when it moved to separate its spreads brands like Flora and Becel from the rest of its food business into a stand-alone operating unit. However, with a poor top-line performance, it is unlikely strategic buyers are lining up to increase their exposure to a business in decline and, for that matter, a category in decline across the developed markets in which Unilevers spreads arm generates the majority of sales. Unilevers management has repeatedly stressed it does not intend to give the business away at a bargain basement price.
Nevertheless, MainFirst analyst Alain Oberhuber believes that some portfolio adjustments in food should be expected. We conclude that the Kraft Heinz bid will result in significant strategy adjustments within Unilever with possible divestments in its foods business and a stronger focus on HPC with potential acquisitions in HPC, he suggests.
Increased focus on margin
In the wake of the Kraft Heinz bid, Unilever raised its guidance for margin expansion and cash conversion over the coming year.
Speaking at CAGNY, Pitkethly claimed the implementation of Unilevers so-called Connected 4 Growth programme devised to make the business simpler and more agile and the companys use of zero-based budgeting meant the Magnum owner could up its forecast for 2017 margins.
In recent years we have increased core operating margin by 20-40 bps and by 50 bps in 2016. Looking ahead to the next few years, we said that we expect to accelerate this to between 40 and 80 bps for 2017 we now expect to be at the upper end of that range, he said.
In particular, the company has signalled a more aggressive approach to costs through the zero-based budgeting programme it launched last year. But Pitkethly was also quick to stress Unilever will be selective in where and how it slashes.
Everybody has ZBB models now and it is the generic word for we will try harder on costs. Ours wasnt like that. Ours was a full-on programme that has driven tremendous insight into our business, he claimed. Yes, it is about reducing costs but it is also about new thinking so we can invest smarter. ZBB is part of our growth mode. And this is fundamentally an investment model but it is clear we can go harder and faster in some of our business, like developed market foods for example How we make those more selective choices across different parts of our business whilst recognising that we operate as a 1 Unilever entity is really the challenge now and that will be a full part of the review coming up.
Connected 4 Growth as value driver
Unilever has also painted its Connected 4 Growth reorganisation plan as a lever to deliver increased organic growth.
The programme aims to bring Unilevers innovation closer to local consumers and support its ability to roll-out products at speed while its global teams remain focused on strategic launches. The new structure has facilitated recent product launches including Hellmanns BBQ sauces in the UK and Knorr meal makers for local dishes like Ginataang Gulay in the Philippines.
There really is no such thing as a global consumer; the ability to gather relevant insight closer to market and move it with greater speed into our business is a winning capabilityWe are already starting to see the benefits of the mindset change of Connected 4 Growth, even before it is fully implemented, with faster local innovation, Pitkethly said.
Innovation coupled with marketing is central to Unilevers aim of delivering continuous underlying sales growth ahead of its markets, as called for by Unilevers 2019 financial model. Pitkethly stressed: The most important feature of our growth model is sustained investment.
Between 2009 and 2016, Unilever has driven a cumulative additional investment in marketing of EUR12bn, the CFO noted.
The company said it is confident of delivering 3-5% organic growth in 2017. The most important driver of growth for the foreseeable future will be growing the core of the business, i.e. the high-value, most-frequently purchased SKUs that represent most of our sales, Pitkethly said as he showed a slide including both the Knorr and Walls brand logos.
Improved communication
When Pithethly took to the stage at CAGNY, he was at pains to highlight the merits of Unilevers existing strategy.
While the Kraft Heinz bid was presented as something of a wake-up call on the need to deliver immediate returns to shareholders, the executive was keen to stress the value of Unilevers longer-term approach to delivering sustained value for its shareholders.
He suggested, part of the companys problem and the reason why its shares have been trading at something of a discount to its peer group has been its failure to land the message effectively.
Unilever has a business model that generates high, unlevered returns on our capital through compelling organic growth, building brand strength through sustained investment, technical and benefit-led innovation through research and development and a continuous improvement approach to costs, Pitkethly said. We believe that we can do more to communicate the value creation from our existing plans.
Nevertheless, it is doubtful whether the same message delivered more effectively will be enough to satisfy the appetite of those investors who are hungry for change at Unilever.
As Sanford Bernstein analyst Andrew Wood notes: We have been most struck by investors wanting to see something much bigger, with calls for a complete split of food and HPC, or a major acquisition (like Colgate), or both We do worry that investors who are expecting a revolution in this regard might end up disappointed.
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Egypt's former strongman Hosni Mubarak is now able to walk free after the Court of Cassation acquitted him on Thursday in his retrial on charges of killing protesters during the 25 January Revolution, a case which has been dubbed "the trial of the century."
Today's verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
The 88-year-old ousted president has been confined to Maadi Military Hospital for treatment since 2012.
In June 2012, Mubarak was sentenced by a criminal court to life in prison - 20 years in jail per Egyptian law - for his complicity in the murder of protestors during the 18-day January 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year autocratic rule.
However, in January 2013, the Cassation Court overturned Mubarak's conviction and ordered a retrial. The Cassation Court also upheld the acquittal of other defendants in the same case, including Mubarak's last interior minister Habib El-Adly and four of his aides.
In November 2014, the criminal court retrying Mubarak acquitted the former president and all co-defendants of killing protesters, reasoning that the prosecution's initial decision on 23 March, 2011 to charge Mubarak lacked the legal basis to bring a criminal case against him.
On Thursday, Mubarak's defence lawyer Farid El-Deeb called on the court to acquit Mubarak, arguing that the criminal court acquitted El-Adly and his aides over the same charges leveled against Mubarak in 2014.
Since his downfall in 2011, the former President stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges, but received a final conviction only in one on corruption charges.
In January 2016, the Court of Cassation upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons for corruption in the case known as "the presidential palaces lawsuit," for using public funds -- appropriated for the maintenance of presidential palaces -- to upgrade his private property.
At the time of the verdict in the case, Mubarak's sons had already been behind bars for more than three years and, therefore, were eventually released.
The former autocrat ruled Egypt from 1981 until a popular uprising ousted him on 11 February, 2011.
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Irish produce giant Total Produce has increased its stake in Canadas Oppenheimer Group to 65% by buying a further 30% of Grandview Ventures Limited (GVL), which trades as Oppenheimer and Oppy, for a consideration of EUR28.4m (US$29.9m).
Total Produce first invested in GVL in 2013, buying a 35% stake. In total, Total Produce has invested EUR43.4m in the business.
Oppy, based in Vancouver and with sales of almost CAD$1bn (US$750m), provides fresh produce to what Total Produce said is a strong base of retail, wholesale and foodservice customers throughout the US and Canada.
Meanwhile, Total Produce said Oppy had entered strategically-important agreements with New Zealand-based produce group T&G Global, which will enable both to enhance their market positions as co-shareholders in two US produce businesses.
T&G Global is New Zealands largest grower, packer, distributor, trader, marketer and exporter of fresh produce by volume including apples and pears sold under its own brands such as Jazz. T&G Globals majority shareholder is Germany-based agri-food business BayWa AG.
Under the agreement, T&G Global will increase its shareholding in Oppys largest subsidiary, the US-focussed marketer David Oppenheimer & Company (DOC) to 39.4% from the 15% it has held since 1997. Thereafter its shareholding will match the effective share of DOC held by Total Produce.
Separately, Oppy will acquire from T&G Global a 50% share of the New Zealand groups California-headquartered US export business, T&G Global North America known in the market as Delica North America (Delica NAM). With 2016 sales of $66m, Delica NAM is focussed on exporting a wide range of fresh produce from the US predominantly to China and south-east Asia.
Total Produce said Oppy, under the continuing management of CEO, president and 35% shareholder John Anderson and his team, has grown significantly since its initial investment three years ago. Sales have almost doubled from the CAD525m (US$393m) recorded in 2011.
Germany's Chancellor commended Egypt on economic reform program and efforts to reach a political solution to Libyan crisis; Egypt's president stressed commitments to human rights and efforts against terrorism in the region
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed cooperation between both countries in combating terrorism and irregular migration at their meeting in Cairo on Thursday.
Merkel arrived in Cairo earlier in the day on a two-day visit to meet with President El-Sisi and other Egyptian top officials, her first visit to the country since 2007.
During the meeting, Sisi and Merkel inaugurated via video conference the first phase of a project managed by the German power giant Siemens to build three new power plants in Egypt.
Following their meeting at the presidential palace in Heliopolis, El-Sisi and Merkel held a press conference where both leaders addressed regional developments and a range of issues of mutual interest.
El-Sisi said that the current turbulent situation in the region is not only a threat to the Middle East but also to Europe and the whole world.
El-Sisi also addressed the country's ongoing efforts to curb illegal immigration, a key concern for European countries facing an increasing migrant crisis.
The president said that Egypt hosts five million immigrants from different nations who live their lives normally, receive the privileges enjoyed by Egyptian citizens and are not confined to refugee camps.
Egypt has recently opposed proposals to build refugee camps to house illegal migrants in the African continent.
Last year, Egypt passed legislation to combat irregular migration to Europe from its shores.
Merkel promised to provide Egypt with $250 million in support for its economic reform program.
The German Chancellor described the reform program as courageous and praised Cairo's commitment to honour the terms of the $12 billion loan extended by the International Monetary Fund to the country.
On regional matters, El-Sisi stressed that Cairo is dealing with the Syrian crisis in accordance with the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, though he stressed that Egypt would not allow terrorist groups to expand or make gains in the region.
"Egypt supports reaching a political solution, preserving the unity of Syrian lands, combating terrorist groups and the rebuilding of the country," El-Sisi said.
"We must take clear and decisive action against countries that encourage terrorism in the world," he added.
Merkel also criticised countries which she said are involved in supporting terrorism in the region, expressing hope that Egyptian efforts to solve disputes in the region, especially in Libya, would see success.
The German Chancellor also described the Egyptian-Tunisian-Algerian initiative -- which aims at finding a solution to the Libyan conflict -- as important and successful.
Merkel also called on the Egyptian government to allow for more participation of NGOs in political life in the country.
On the human rights situation in Egypt, President El-Sisi said Cairo balances its commitment to the protection of basic human freedoms with its security needs, stressing that any security measures implemented by the government are in accordance with the country's law and constitution.
"Of course we are keen on preserving human rights in our country, but we must take into consideration what the region is witnessing, and the fact that terrorists are targeting the main elements of the Egyptian state," he said.
"If any European nation had been targeted by terrorist attacks similar to those Egypt has witnessed in recent years, there would have been a much harsher reaction," El-Sisi said.
"What sort of opposition groups target churches or people based on their religious beliefs?" El-Sisi asked, referring to the recent spate of deadly Islamist militant attacks on the Christian community in North Sinai.
Egypt and Germany have strengthened economic, military and political ties over the past three years.
El-Sisi met with the German chancellor in Berlin in May, 2015 during his first official visit to Europe after assuming the Egyptian presidency in 2014.
The German company Siemens signed in 2015 an 8 billion euro ($9.05 billion) deal with Egypt to build gas and wind power plants to ease the country's electric power shortages.
In 2014, Egypt signed a deal to buy three German submarines.
A submarine built by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems was delivered to Cairo in 2016. Two more German submarines destined for Egypt are currently under construction.
In November, the German passenger flights resumed to Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, putting an end to a one-year ban on flights to the Red Sea resort city after a Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai in late 2015.
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A number of civilians and IS militants were killed in an attack that hit a mosque run by the militants and damaged neighbouring houses in the west of the Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday, three residents said on Thursday.
The Omar al-Aswad mosque, in the al-Faruq district of the old city centre, was hit by an airstrike, three residents in the same area told Reuters by phone.
Neighbouring houses were damaged or collapsed because of the blast, they said without giving a precise estimate of the casualties as their moves are restricted by the militants.
The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said he wasn't aware of a strike targeting the mosque. Iraqi military media officers said the battle was ongoing and troops were targeting Islamic State wherever they could, but did not say this specific mosque was targeted.
When Islamic State took over Mosul in 2014, it ordered Iraqi police and armed forces members who remained in the city to go to the same mosque. They had to surrender their weapons and register in the group's data base, in return for a mandatory pass to prevent their arrest and execution at the militants' check points.
Iraqi forces captured the eastern side of Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting and launched their attack on the districts that lie west of the Tigris river on Feb. 19.
If they defeat Islamic State in Mosul, that would crush the Iraq wing of the caliphate declared by the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in 2014 from the city's grand old Nuri mosque.
The Nuri mosque is located in the same area as the Omar al-Aswad mosque.
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A Tunisian businessman resigned from the government Thursday after his appointment as public services and governance minister last week prompted an outcry from the powerful UGTT trade union.
Khalil Ghariani was named on Saturday, replacing UGTT official Abid Briki, in what the union condemned as a "provocation".
Ghariani is on the board of the employers' federation UTICA, which shared a 2015 Nobel Prize with the UGTT for their work during Tunisia's transition towards democracy after its 2011 revolution.
Despite their shared award, the two groups have long been at odds over private sector salary increases and government policy.
Ghariani told private radio station Mosaique FM that he was stepping down because of "the political and social tensions we have experienced in the country over the past 48 hours".
"We must preserve the political and social balance in the country... and even the balance between UTICA and the UGTT," he added. "This is not the time for this kind of crisis."
His replacement has not yet been named.
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Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State (IS) militant group Thursday, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the Islamist militants.
Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra.
The oasis city has traded hands several times during Syria's six-year civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of priceless cultural heritage in areas under its control.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of Palmyra's recapture, a Kremlin spokesman told news agencies in Moscow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said that the Islamist militants had totally withdrawn from the desert city but not before mining several areas.
"The Syrian army is still clearing neighbourhoods of mines and has not spread out into the whole city yet," said its director, Rami Abdel Rahman.
An army statement carried on state news agency SANA said its forces had "regained control over Palmyra and surrounding territory after a series of successful military operations".
IS has suffered a string of setbacks since taking over swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its two main strongholds of Mosul and Raqa both face assaults by forces backed by a US-led coalition.
The Islamist militants first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples.
They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the city in December when the government was focused on seizing rebel-held east Aleppo.
Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But many of the structures have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.
Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's Palmyra push, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported.
A decades-old ally of Damascus, Moscow launched an air campaign in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces out of second city Aleppo last year -- thanks in large part to Russian support.
On another battle front against IS, fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they would cede several villages to the government as part of a deal brokered by Russia to avoid conflict with Turkey.
Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August that it said aimed to counter both IS and the SDF, which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists".
The surprise announcement by the SDF marks the first time that US-supported fighters offered to cede territory to Assad's forces.
It said the territory to be handed over lay between the towns of Manbij and Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed fighters captured last week from IS, to create a buffer zone between them.
Ankara meanwhile renewed its threat to bomb Kurdish fighters unless they withdrew from Manbij, a former bastion of IS that is now under SDF control.
The Turkey-backed rebels launched their advance on Manbij on Wednesday, initially seizing two villages but losing them to the SDF by Thursday.
Six rebels and one SDF fighter were killed, the Observatory said.
The profusion of forces operating in Syria has muddled the battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had bombed SDF fighters mistakenly believing they were IS.
The Russian defence ministry denied carrying out the air strikes.
Russia on Thursday accused Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), of "sabotaging" sputtering UN-led Syrian peace talks in Geneva and questioned their ability to reach a deal.
"The results of the first days of the intra-Syrian dialogues, as before, raise questions over the ability of the Syrian opposition representatives to reach a deal," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Moscow had earlier called for "terrorism" to be added to the agenda of the talks, which have so far focused on three topics: governance, the constitution, and elections.
But the HNC late Wednesday refused, having previously accused Assad's regime of wanting to turn the focus to terrorism as a distraction from political questions.
The Geneva talks, the fourth round of UN-sponsored negotiations in the war, are expected to end by the weekend, though no formal timeframe has been set.
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Russia's foreign minister on Thursday pushed an "inclusive national dialogue" in Libya at talks with its UN-backed premier that came after his key rival sought to boost ties with Moscow.
"We are convinced that only the Libyan people themselves can overcome the current crisis, all the parties in Libya through an inclusive national dialogue aimed at reconciliation," Russia's Sergei Lavrov told Fayez al-Sarraj at the start of the meeting.
Lavrov described Moscow as an "old friend" of Libya and insisted it would "strongly advocate the need to create conditions for the Libyans themselves to resolve their problems".
Sarraj's Moscow trip comes as Libya remains in chaos, six years after the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the midst of a NATO-backed armed uprising.
Sarraj's fragile Government of National Accord (GNA), formed under a United Nations-backed deal signed in late 2015, has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway.
Military strongman Khalifa Haftar is aligned with the rival administration and commands the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army which is battling Islamist militants and controls key oil export terminals.
Haftar has sought to bolster ties with the Kremlin to seek support for an end to a UN arms embargo, visiting Moscow in November and going onboard a Russian aircraft off the Libyan coast in January.
Last month dozens of Haftar's fighters were flown to Russia for medical treatment in a sign of warming ties.
Analysts believe Russia, emboldened by its military success in Syria, is seeking a foothold in oil-rich Libya with support for Haftar.
On February 14 Russia tried to mediate a meeting between Sarraj and Haftar in Cairo, but the talks fell through.
Sarraj's visit also comes after Russian oil giant Rosneft and Libya's National Oil Corporation last week signed a deal to explore possible cooperation in various fields, including exploration and production.
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Top Democrats pressed for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign on Thursday after a newspaper reported he had not disclosed two meetings with the Russian ambassador before President Donald Trump took office.
Sessions, a top adviser to Trump during the presidential campaign, received Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in his office in September, the Washington Post reported. That was at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian hacking campaign to influence the November election in the Republican candidate's favor.
The other encounter was in July at a Heritage Foundation event that was attended by about 50 ambassadors, during the Republican National Convention, the Post said. A Justice Department official confirmed Sessions' contacts in July and September.
Allegations over contacts between Trump aides and Russia before his inauguration, and the charge of Russian meddling, have swirled around the early days of Trump's presidency. Trump has accused former officials in the administration of former President Barack Obama of trying to discredit him.
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, called for Sessions to resign and for an independent, bipartisan investigation into Trump's possible ties to Russians.
"Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign," she said in a statement late on Wednesday.
U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings criticized Sessions for keeping his contact with the ambassador secret even after Trump fired his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Sessions "should resign immediately," he said.
Flynn was dismissed last month after it emerged that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with Kislyak before Trump's swearing-in on Jan. 20, and then misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
At his Jan. 10 confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate, Sessions said he had no contact with Russian officials about the 2016 election. In a statement late on Wednesday, Sessions said he had never discussed campaign details with any Russian officials.
"I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false," Sessions said
The White House dismissed the revelation as a partisan attack. "Attorney General Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony. "
The Russian Embassy to the United States, shrugging off the uproar, said on Thursday it was in regular contact with "U.S. partners."
The revelation of Sessions' contacts fueled new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election.
Before Trump took office, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had sought to influence the campaign, including by hacking into and leaking Democratic emails. The Kremlin has denied the allegations.
As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department, including the FBI, which has been leading investigations into the allegations of the Russian meddling and any links to Trump's associates.
Sessions, a former senator, has so far resisted calls to recuse himself from those investigations. On Thursday morning, he told NBC News, "Whenever it's appropriate I will recuse myself, there's no doubt about that."
REPUBLICAN CONCERN
Sessions' failure to disclose the contacts worried even some of his fellow Republicans.
Republican, Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Twitter "AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself."
During Sessions' confirmation hearing, Democratic Senator Al Franken asked him what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
Sessions said he was not aware of any such activities, adding, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians."
Asked by Democrat Patrick Leahy in a questionnaire whether he had been in contact with "anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day," Sessions responded, "No."
Republican Lindsey Graham, a leading foreign policy voice in the Senate, said on CNN on Wednesday night if the FBI finds anything criminal in nature in its Russia-related investigations, a special prosecutor would be required.
"If that day ever comes, Ill be the first one to say it needs to be somebody other than Jeff," Graham said.
Sessions' colleague on the Armed Services Committee, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, questioned why Sessions would meet with Kislyak.
"I've been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years. No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com," she said in a Twitter post on Thursday.
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BROKEN BOW Brittney Pryce was sentenced today (Thursday) to 30-40 years in prison in the death of 20-month-old Noah Pryce.
Noah, her nephew, died from injuries suffered while in Pryces foster care in November 2013. Pryce was found guilty in August of child abuse leading to death of a child, a Class 1B felony.
An autopsy performed on Noah the day after his death said there were multiple contusions to Noahs body, an injury to his lumbar area and a skull fracture.
The report listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma and ruled the death a homicide. The death was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol and the Broken Bow Police Department.
At the sentencing, Custer County District Court Judge Karin Noakes said she found it heartbreaking that Pryce would not be able to spend more time with her family. But because of the severity of Noahs injuries and because Pryce maintained her innocence, Noakes imposed a longer sentence than the minimum of 20 years. The maximum would have been life in prison.
Before sentencing, Assistant Attorney General Michael Guinan said, "She (Pryce) was placed in a situation that was very tough. However, in this particular case, Ms. Pryce refused to take responsibility for her actions."
Defense attorney P. Stephen Potter called the case "a tragedy all around."
At the trail in August Potter charged that the jury was biased. He told the court he will file an appeal.
When given the opportunity to address the court, Pryce stood and turned to face the gallery and spoke in a subdued voice.
"Im sorry that I didnt get him to the doctors sooner than I did," she said and sat down.
Pryce received credit for 155 days for time served.
LEXINGTON Macs Creek Winery has created a special souvenir label for sandhill crane season and plans to donate $5 for each bottle of its newest vintage, Spring Mist.
The 2017 Crane label is part of the Lexington winerys partnership with the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary south of Gibbon.
Tourism is a big part of our business at Macs Creek, and we thought it would be a natural fit to offer this special crane label to all of our visitors during the migration season, Macs Creek owner Barry McFarland said. Our business is centered around sustainability, and this partnership with Rowe parallels that practice.
Funds raised during the campaign will be given to Rowe to help preserve and enhance the experience they are able to provide visitors, McFarland said.
The money Macs Creek donates will help Rowe Sanctuary to continue its habitat and research work and share the story of the sandhill cranes that visit south-central Nebraska each spring.
When Macs Creek contacted us with this idea, we were excited about the opportunity to be part of this endeavor, Rowe Sanctuary Nature Store Manager Sharon Ingram said. Each year, we see anywhere from 15,000 to 25,000 visitors at our facility, and the funds raised through this special label will allow us to continue our valuable conservation work and enhance the experience those visitors have while at Rowe Sanctuary.
Spring Mist is a semi-sweet rose wine created using the Marechel Foch grape variety, owner and winemaker Seth McFarland said. I personally think this is one of the best vintages we have made, and the special crane label ties it all together and showcases central Nebraska beautifully.
KEARNEY Crane: On Earth, In Sky tells the story of a cranes life using puppetry, indoor kite flying, video projections, aerial arts and life-sized maps.
Presented by Heather Henson and Ibex Puppetry, the show details the potential dangers to a cranes life while celebrating the richness of indigenous cultures around the globe that invoke a spiritual essence in honor of these majestic birds.
Crane: On Earth, In Sky comes to central Nebraska with a performance at 7 p.m. March 13 at the Merryman Performing Arts Center at 225 W. 22nd St. Tickets for the show are $12 for adults or $10 for children 18 and younger.
The show reflects our connections with all of creation, exploring the flight of whooping cranes in North America with a wordless narrative.
Henson, daughter of puppeteer Jim Henson of the Muppets fame, founded Ibex Puppetry as a launching point for her environmental storytelling. She studied at Rhode Island School of Design and CalArts, finishing her schooling in 2000. She seeks to incorporate nontraditional storytelling in her productions, including the award-winning stage show, Panther and Crane.
For more information, visit www.merrymancenter.org or www.ibexpuppetry.com. For tickets call 698-8297 or visit www.pickmytickets.com.
Bob Michel, who died last week at 93, was elected to Congress from his hometown of Peoria, Ill., in 1956 and served for 38 years. As an infantryman he landed at Normandy shortly after D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
For 14 years, Michel served as the Republican leader of the House, and in awarding him the Medal of Freedom in 1994, President Bill Clinton said: He would never give my party any quarter in a partisan fight (but he) would never put his partys political interest ahead of the national interest.
Sen. John McCain, now 80, was shot down over Vietnam in 1967 and spent six years in a prison camp. Just elected to his sixth term in November, McCain is a leading critic of his fellow Republican, President Trump.
McCain is incensed at Trumps attacks on the media as the enemy of Americans. As he said on Meet the Press without a free press, Thats how dictators get started.
For Michel and McCain, their shaping years were spent as soldiers, not as politicians. They knew the real enemy was the guy shooting at you, not the one shouting at you.
Trump talks about America First, but he may not understand that patriotism is much more than just a slogan. Washington is poorer today because so few lawmakers have worn a uniform and seen combat. Its no accident that crippling partisanship has increased as the influence of veterans has declined.
We both covered Congress during Michels tenure as GOP leader, and few legislators could rival his reputation for honor, honesty and humility. A friend sent us a story from Roll Call, which imagined that if Michel had written his own epitaph, it might have read, That Bob sure was one doggone decent son of a gun.
Cynics might sneer at such unsophisticated language, but we agree with our friend, who noted, Spot on.
Under Michels leadership, the GOP never won the majority, and he acquired influence by working closely with Democratic powers like Speaker Tip ONeill and Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago of the Ways and Means Committee.
Republican insurgents led by Newt Gingrich declared Holy War on the Democrats, and forced Michel into retirement.
Gingrich did lead the GOP to its first House majority in 40 years in 1994, but something precious was lost in the process. Michel was right when he criticized Gingrich and company for trashing the institution and undermining the spirit of camaraderie that had once pervaded the House. McCain understands the same concept, working regularly with Democrats on issues like campaign finance reform. He has also emerged as the Conscience of the Senate, an unofficial title for lawmakers who defend first principles, regardless of the political consequences.
Another example: McCain keeps demanding that the Senate establish a bipartisan select committee to investigate Russian attempts to influence last Novembers election. Republican leader Mitch McConnell, backed by the Trump White House, keeps rejecting McCains proposal, but the old aviator remains undaunted.
The severity of this issue, the gravity of it, is so consequential because if you succeed in corrupting an election, then youve destroyed the foundation of democracy, he told Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine. So I view it with the utmost seriousness.
Bob Michel, we feel confident, would agree with him. If you almost die for your country, youre much less likely to put political interest ahead of the nations interest.
The head of the Syrian government delegation at the Geneva peace talks has criticized Turkey's "aggression" and says his nation has the right to defend itself from foreign forces on its soil.
Bashar Ja'afari, who is also his country's ambassador at the United Nations, says Damascus considers the presence of Turkish troops on Syrian soil "a military aggression."
He said on Thursday that the Syrian forces "reserve our right to use our all the means available ... to expel the Turkish forces from our territory."
Earlier, U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said they will withdraw from a front line with rival, Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces near the Euphrates River, to allow government forces to create a buffer between the mutually-hostile sides.
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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, right, speaks as Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault looks on during a press conference in Toronto on Thursday, March 2, 2017. The Liberal government unveiled its plan today to cut hydro bills, which are the biggest political issue it faces less than a year-and-a-half away from an election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The Trump administration has been looking north lately for some guidance on policy-making. The latest example appears to be Canada's reform a generation ago of its air-traffic control system, which is now catching attention in Washington. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump take part in a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., in a February 13, 2017, file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
FILE - In this July 29, 2015 file photo, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a hearing in Austin, Texas. A federal judge on Thursday, March 2, 2017, dismissed the U.S. government's securities fraud lawsuit against Paxton, though the Republican still faces criminal charges of duping wealthy investors. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
As the world commemorates as World Hearing Day, Egypt celebrates its achievements and highlights further challenges
Each year countries across the globe dedicate 3 March to World Hearing Day to shed light on a medical condition that devastate the lives of many, although through awareness and early intervention it can be largely minimised.
In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the immediate need for action that would save many countries the cost of dealing with this problem if tackled in its early stages.
The WHO estimates that 32 million children across the globe suffer from disabling hearing loss. Not addressing the problem early on has cost the world 750 billion dollars.
According to the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, it is estimated that around 4.5 million people in Egypt (around 5% of the population) are living with partial or complete hearing loss.
Children make-up around 130,000 of the total estimate.
Hearing impairment in a child affects their skills of speaking, engaging in society and academic achievement and the ripple effect resonates in the child's family and the society at large immensely. Most of hearing impairment cases are in poorer governorates
The cochlear implant procedure is considered most effective when performed between the ages of one and five.
Recent endeavors to save children
The last five years saw intensive efforts from civil societies NGOs like Misr El Kheir, and Egyptian Medical Universities who collaborated with private sector's MED-El to launch campaigns of awareness and convoys to inspect the hearing abilities of kids in various governorates all over the country, including in Asyut, Qena and Aswan.
The Egyptian Medical Universities also signed a protocol with The Health Insurance to build rehabilitation centres and audiology units in such hospitals, including five rehabilitation centres to be built in the next three years. The role of rehabilitation for children and parents was brought to the forefront as well, highlighting its importance after cochlear implant procedures.
Many celebrities have taken a stand to help shed light on the importance of the cause and raise awareness regarding early detection. Among them are prominent actor Mohamed Sobhi and star Yousra Ellozy, who bravely shared the story of her daughter suffering from the ailment.
On World Hearing Loss Day, Professor Mohamed El-Shazly, the renowned cochlear implant surgeon, commented on the statistics published by private sector's hearing implants provider MED-EL which includes specialised ENT doctors -- stating that 3000 children in Egypt require cochlear implants on yearly basis.
The numbers are still shockingly high but Egypt has come a long way, El Shazly explained.
"We went from zero knowledge about the hearing loss and rehabilitation process, to an active civil society, and engaged journalists working towards education and awareness. The study conveys that there is still more work for us to do together, to defeat the epidemic in the country," he concluded.
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It was my turn to be on call during Christmas. I held the long list of patients signed out to me, and began my rounds early that morning in the hopes that I could be home in time to open presents with my family that evening.
I went from room to room on the surgical floor, talking to patients. I knocked on one door and pushed it open. A white male in his sixties lay in bed, with a younger, twenty-something man at his side. The patient was grimacing and seemed to be in pain. I introduced myself to the two men. The younger gentleman proceeded to introduce himself as the mans son.
I had already read through the patients records. He had undergone surgery a few days earlier. I asked him how he was doing. Sounding slightly irritable, he responded, quite bluntly, Ive been miserable. I inched closer to his bed and leaned forward.
He seemed uncomfortable with my proximity. Can you tell me whats going on? I asked. I was not prepared for his next question.
Doctor, are you a Christian? he asked, looking into my eyes. I was taken aback. I could sense the son shifting in his chair, his body stiffening. I replied that no, I was not a Christian.
He continued to look at me with some uncertainty on his face, and I could tell he hadnt finished asking. Are you from India? he inquired.
Yes, I am originally from India.
So, you are a Hindu? He waited intently.
Yes, I am a Hindu, I said, unable to hide a smile, given the unusual interaction. He settled back in bed. Beside him, his son relaxed back into his chair with an almost-audible sigh of relief.
He loves India, the son said. He thinks its a very spiritual place. Relief flooded through me, and I was glad my answer seemed to have averted what could have been an awkward and uncomfortable encounter. I couldnt help but wonder what would have happened if I had responded differently. What would he have done if I had said I was a Muslim? Would he have refused treatment from me? In doctor-patient relationships, patients can terminate the relationship during treatment for any reason. It is much harder for physicians to end it though, as noted by Bruce Patsner (Refusing to treat: Are there limits to physician conscience claims?). Not only they feel the sense of duty as established in the ethical principal of beneficence but also there are limits placed by federal and state laws. Laws do allow termination by a physician under conscious circumstances, which many times includes religious beliefs although they have to execute it very carefully.
In this older patients room, I began to wonder: Immigrant physicians should be more prepared to face such interactions and discuss beforehand with the hospital administration and leadership on their rights to terminate a relationship if they feel that ongoing interaction could interfere in proper clinical care.
Satisfied with my answers to his questions, the patient continued to tell me his problems, including his poorly controlled pain and sleepless nights. I asked a series of questions, finished the exam, and discussed his treatment plan.
Later, I returned to visit the patient. He was sitting up in a chair watching TV. He gestured at the screen. Youll see how great Trump is going to make this nation. Hell get rid of all the illegal immigrants. They all need to go back to where they came from, he told me. I smiled uneasily and went on to describe his lab results and vital signs adding that I had discussed the treatment plan with the surgical team.
Can you tell the surgery resident to shave his beard? the patient asked suddenly. He looks like a terrorist. I knew who he was talking about. The surgical intern, a young Indian American man, tended not to shave, probably preferring to catch a few additional minutes of sleep rather than go through the tedious, daily ritual of shaving.
I moved on to other patients, but I couldnt shake his comments from my mind.
It was almost 6:00 in the evening before I finally finished all my work. As I was getting ready to leave, I was paged to come and evaluate a patient who was having difficulty breathing. I ran to her bedside, where the rest of the care team was mobilizing quickly around her. We treated her, and in about half hour she was feeling better. Happy with her stabilization, I finally left the hospital. As I was driving home, I suddenly smiled. The patient was a Hispanic female. Of course, no one had asked her immigration status or religion. The nurse was Asian American, while the respiratory therapist was African American. Her surgical resident was white, and I was her medicine physician. We all worked together to help save a human life, no questions asked. I liked it this way.
Sarita Khemani is a neurosurgery hospitalist.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
If compounding returns are the Eighth Wonder of the World, then the more time to compound the better! Why not set up and start funding 529 college savings accounts for your kids or grandkids right now, before they have kids or are even married?
When I went to University of Iowa 30 years ago, the annual out-of-state cost was about $5,000. Today, one year at U. of Iowa costs just over $40,000 (opens in new tab), or eight times what my parents paid! Many colleges charge a similar amount, and quite a few charge much more than that for the privilege of taking college courses at their school.
With this in mind, paying for college has never been more challenging. If you would like to help your future grandkids afford to go to college, you should consider funding 529 college savings plans sooner rather than later.
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My Plan for My Own Family
For my three teenagers, my strategy is to over-fund their 529 college savings plans. The money they do not use for college will continue to grow tax-deferred and can be used for their own children (my grandchildren) by simply changing the beneficiary. I retain ownership of the account. That means they (or their spouses) won't spend the money I'm giving them on something other than my grandkids college.
If, for any reason, I need to tap into those accounts, the earnings portion (but not the amount I contributed) is subject to federal and state income taxes and a 10% federal penalty. I do not expect to ever need the money in those accounts, but I could see that as a drawback for some retirees who are not quite sure they can afford to do this. Knowing you can withdraw money from the account should ease that concern.
Money invested in 529 college savings plans grows free of state and federal taxes, and if/when the money is ultimately withdrawn and used for qualified higher-education expenses, it comes out income tax-free. There are no maximum annual contribution limits, but keep in mind there can gift tax consequences if you give more than $14,000 per year ($28,000 for couples). There is a way to contribute up to $70,000 ($140,000 for couples) in a single year without gift taxes, provided you make no other gifts to the beneficiary that year or for the next four years. Money can be added to the account until the balance hits the limit, which varies by state (opens in new tab), from $235,000 for Georgia and Mississippi up to over $500,000 in Pennsylvania.
How the 529 Magic Works
Lets look at an example:
Your daughter or granddaughter is 22, done with college and single. Rather than wait until you die to give her money as an inheritance, you set up a 529 college savings program today (or keep hers if you still have it) with you as the owner and your daughter or granddaughter as beneficiary and successor owner. You can keep this plan a surprise if you choose.
Say you invest $10,000 into the plan, and since it would ultimately be used 18 years after your child or grandchild has a child of her own, the time horizon is long, therefore, you invest the money aggressively, all in stock funds.
Lets assume your 22-year-old-daughter or granddaughter gets married and has a child at age 32. With the 529 plan account you set up 10 years before, you would then name the baby (your grandchild or great-grandchild) as beneficiary. Assuming an 8% rate of return, the value of your investment from when she was 22 (10 years of growth) is now $21,589. If that account was left to grow another 18 years at only 7%, when your grandchild or great-grandchild is ready for college that initial $10,000 investment would have grown to $72,969! So, your $10,000 investment grew to $72,969 in 28 years tax-free.
Contingency Plans
If you happen to die before all this plays out, you have named your child or grandchild as the successor owner, so they take over the account with their child as the beneficiary. And if the person you set up the 529 plan for chooses not to attend college, you dont lose your money. You could change the beneficiary to a sibling or other family member or use the money to pay for your own continuing education. Or you could take a withdrawal and pay a 10% penalty and taxes on the earnings portion of your withdrawal.
There are many ways to save for college, but 529 plans come with some substantial benefits, including:
This strategy provides fantastic tax efficiency. Once your money is deposited in the 529 plan the growth should never be taxed again when used for qualified expenses.
It allows you to retain control over the money while you are alive.
There are many investment options to choose from.
The plan beneficiary can use the money for any college they choose, and the beneficiary can be easily changed among family members.
You may get a state income tax deduction for your contributions, depending on your state. Visit SavingforCollege.com (opens in new tab) to check your states rules.
College costs are out of control. If you can afford to do this for your child or grandchild, it is a great way to leave a financial legacy.
Brad Rosley, CFP , has been president of Fortune Financial Group (opens in new tab) (FFG) since 1996. FFG runs a virtual planning practice working with clients from all over the country. Rosley specializes in helping clients successfully navigate retirement related planning goals and construct investment portfolios to meet their personal life goals.
The US is back in the driver seat again as a sustained and growing economic powerhouse the Trump Economy. Since the November 2016 elections, the US economic data and outlook have been driving investment in US equities as well as select foreign investment opportunities. The reduction in regulations and business friendly Trump administration seems to have unleashed the hoard of cash and opportunity of the past 7+ years. US and foreign business are, again, wheeling and dealing with the intent of generating greater profits and more opportunities.
This is the reason I believe the US, as well as certain foreign partners, will see nearly immediate and direct advancement of economic objectives. The amount of capital that could be unleashed over the next 2 years could be well in excess of $2 Trillion as related to business investment, consumer driven sales and expanded manufacturing capacity will likely drive the US economy into a new leadership role focused on renewed opportunity and activity.
US Manufacturing has recently been in a state of decline since late 2011. I attribute this to uncertainty related to US policies and leadership. The graph, below, does not show the opportunity I see in the future expansion, but it does show that throughout historical periods of economic expansion, relative growth ratios tend to hover near +2.6% to +5.7%. This level of expansion, historically, would relate to the US economy feeling optimistic about future capabilities as well as increasing earning potential.
US Manufacturing Output Chart
Manufacturing will likely grow to near greater than +1% for Q1 2017
Keep the two functions in mind, as opportunities increase and the US economic activity increases, typically hiring and earnings increase as well. This is a sign of a healthy growth phase that may, as it seems it always does, spill over into other foreign markets. Much like the last 1990s and 2003~2006 US economic expansion phases, the historical rates of expansion averaged +4~5%. The contraction periods (recessions: 2001 & 2008) were deep and dangerous, yet the growth phases were lengthy and substantial. Household income growth was a key factor for extended periods of economic expansion.
FRED_MedHHIncome Chart
US Household Income Rising Sharply
As business activity increases, Inventory To Sales Ratios decrease. The rational behind this factor is that sales volumes increase and inventories decrease in relation to new sales activities. Thus, products start flying out of the warehouses and off the shelves. Every US economic expansion phase has been paired with decreasing Inventory To Sales Ratios historically.
TtlBusInventory2SalesRatio Chart
Sharp increase in sales (Decreasing Inventory) after November 2016 elections
In short, this looks like lift-off for the US economy at least for the immediate term perspective. The concerns for investors are still very evident in some of the following graphs. My opinion that the US is still, and has been for decades, the sole driving force behind much of the global economic expansion phases is based on the concept that the US, along with key partners, are the strongest and most mature economies on the planet. I consider most of the immediate partners to the US economy as Japan, Canada, Germany and Great Britain. I'm certain that many of you could add in 2 or 3 others, but I continue to focus on the core elements of the global economic process. Because none of the other global economies are, in my opinion, capable of functioning well without the economic impetus of the four mature growth economies, I continue to believe these four are, and have been, the drivers of global economic growth.
The following chart shows why I believe a dramatic change in US economic activity will drive some level of increased economic activity throughout the world. The combined European and Asian GDP Output graph shows severe contraction in 2013~2015. I can only assume the continued contraction of this measurement of economic activity continued in 2016. An increase of 10~20% of this value would result in a nominal overall increase compared to recent highs. It would take an increase of over 70% for this measurement of economic output to be restored to 2012~2013 levels yikes!
GDP_EuropAsia Chart
Europe & Asia show sharp declines in economic activities
I attribute much of the GDP decreases in Europe and Asia to two factors; lack of economic expansion in the US and difficult/uncertain global economic policies in Europe and Asia. As the earlier US Manufacturing Output chart shows, the US economic has only recently started to expand. This is related to fears and uncertainty as related to the US election cycle (at least in part). The recent BREXIT news as well as other issues that continue to plague Europe are also key driving factors.
Additionally, more and more frequent news is relating economic concerns and excessive debt levels in China. I can attest that China's economic reach is far and wide in most of Asia. Any crisis originating in China will result in mini-crisis events throughout most of Asia and parts of Europe. This is, again, why I believe continued strength in the US markets will drive US equities and economies to new highs while any spill-over may begin to improve foreign markets as well. But we'll have to wait for that spill-over event to actually start to happen before we see any increased valuations or activity.
European Economic Polity Uncertainty Index Chart
Europe in the midst of uncertainty and constricting economic leadership
How does this relate to me, an active trader? First off, it means I should be focusing on core US equity opportunities and focusing on uncertainty related commodity markets (Gold, Silver, Oil, Gas and others). The uncertainty throughout most of the developed world will drive certain commodities to increased valuations. What has recently happened in India with regards to currencies is already driving global events in precious metals and demand for alternate paper currencies. What happens in France, soon, may likely drive further impetus for increasing valuations in commodities, equities and other markets. The supply data in regards to OIL and GAS is pushing a message that oil may drop to near $30 again. Things are changing quickly and we need to be ready to act and profit from these moves.
US DOW Chart
Gold Chart
The opportunities in foreign markets and in foreign equities will arise again in the future. I can't predict when, but I can predict that any further increased US economic activity will have a spill-over effect on foreign markets and will drive increase valuations unless something acts to destroy that alignment going forward.
I keep my members alerted to these opportunities and provide more detailed analysis and trading triggers through ATP . If you would like to continue to receive my research and analysis, please take a moment to visit ActiveTradingPartners.com to see how I can help you to achieve greater success. Some of my most recent calls have been outstanding like:
UGAZ 10.7% Profit (Feb 21-23)
ERX 7.7% Profit (Feb 8-9th)
NUGT 112%Profit (Dec 16 Feb 8th)
All the trades are based on my Momentum Reversal Method (MRM) trading system.
In short, the US stock market is back in full blown bull market with truck reenergizing things. While I feel a short-term correction is due any day, it is just that, a short-term pullback followed by higher prices into June/July.
Follow my lead and start making money every month with www.ActiveTradingPartners.com
John Winston
Co-Author: Chris Vermeulen
By Daniel Stanton
SINGAPORE, March 2 (IFR) - The Government of Mongolia , rated Caa1/B-/B-, has capped the size of new US dollar seven-year bonds at $600 million and given guidance for a new money component alongside an exchange offer.
Holders of $476 million of Development Bank of Mongolia's state-guaranteed March 2017 bonds agreed to exchange them for new sovereign bonds. These will be exchanged at par for new bonds yielding 8.75 percent, the minimum yield that was indicated for the offer.
Since the old DBM bonds were issued under Regulation S and were not sold in the US, while the sovereign bonds are being sold under 144A/Reg S, it has been decided to allow new investors to buy into the offering. Guidance for the new money tranche has been indicated at 8.25 percent area, meaning that those investors will pay a premium to face value.
The combined size of both tranches is capped at $600 million, since $580 million is needed to redeem the DBM bonds on March 21.
Credit Suisse and JP Morgan are managing the transaction, which will price today.
Mongolia reached a funding agreement with the International Monetary Fund on February 19, without which it had been expected to struggle to repay the DBM bonds.
(Reporting by Daniel Stanton; editing by Vincent Baby)
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Belo Sun Mining CEO Peter Tagliamonte shares some of the challenges he faces as a miner in Brazil as he joins Kitco News' Daniela Cambone at Gold Stock Analyst's annual conference in Florida.
Catch all our Gold Stock Analyst Investor Day coverage here.
DUBAI, March 2 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf edged up early on Thursday because of a strong tone in global bourses, but Dubai's index was dragged down by two major stocks going ex-dividend.
Dubai sank 1.1 percent. Dubai Islamic Bank plunged 8.6 percent and GFH Financial slid 11.0 percent; both stocks went ex-dividend on Thursday. The scope of the falls was larger than normal for ex-dividend stocks and suggested a lack of institutional buying support.
However, falling stocks in Dubai only narrowly outnumbered gainers by 13 to 10.
Builder Arabtec , which in mid-February posted a net loss of about 2.95 billion dirhams ($803 million), fell 0.8 percent despite releasing a presentation outlining a three-phase recovery plan. It predicted stabilisation of its business in 2017, preparation for expansion in 2018, and growth in 2019.
Abu Dhabi's index climbed 0.8 percent on the back of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank , which added 2.1 percent.
The Saudi Arabian index edged up 0.1 percent as real estate investment trusts, the focus of massive activity by day traders in the past week, jumped again. Riyad REIT , the most heavily traded stock, gained 3.2 percent.
Najran Cement dropped 2.1 percent after saying it was temporarily halting one of its production lines with output capacity of 3,000 tonnes per day because of low demand and high inventory build-up.
Qatar's index added 0.2 percent. But Aamal fell 2.3 percent after index compiler FTSE Russell released details of the second half of Qatar's transition to Secondary Emerging Market status, which will occur on March 19.
The weights of most Qatari stocks in FTSE's index will double, which Arqaam Capital calculates will bring passive fund inflows of about $345 million. But Aamal's weight will only increase to 28 percent from 20 percent because of the company's shareholding limits, FTSE said.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
COLOMBO, March 2 (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee traded weaker on Thursday as importer dollar demand surpassed greenback sales by exporters, dealers said.
Rupee forwards were active with two-week forwards trading slightly weaker at 151.80/90 per dollar at 0749 GMT, compared with Wednesday's close of 151.70/80. They rose in the past four sessions.
"Today we can see some (importer) demand," said a currency dealer, on condition of anonymity.
Moody's in a report said lower agricultural exports and higher imports will make up for the loss in domestic production. The drought will weigh on Sri Lanka's current account deficit and foreign-exchange reserve buffers, while the government's handouts for farming families could make the fiscal deficit target a challenge.
Lower agricultural output due to severe drought will force the government to increase imports, dealers said. For further imports, the government needs more U.S. currency while there will be fewer dollars coming in from agriculture commodity exports. Both will increase the demand for the greenback and put pressure on the rupee.
The rupee is also under pressure due to dollar demand from importers ahead of the traditional Sinhala-Tamil New Year in mid-April, and as foreign investors continue to sell government securities, dealers stated.
Sri Lanka's fuel imports in January jumped to double typical monthly levels, with the country rushing to plug an energy shortfall as severe drought hits its hydropower output, industry sources said. Foreign investors sold a net 15.37 billion rupees ($101.62 million) in the week ended Feb. 22, extending the outflow from government securities to 64.5 billion rupees.
Sri Lanka could face balance-of-payments pressure due to foreign outflows from government securities, a government document showed last week, even as the island nation was in the process of raising up to $2.5 billion from foreign borrowing. The rupee has weakened around 1 percent so far this year. It fell 3.9 percent last year, following a 10 percent drop in 2015.
Sri Lankan shares were down 0.11 percent at 6,114.96, as of 0803 GMT. Turnover was 640.2 million rupees ($4.23 million).
($1 = 151.2000 Sri Lankan rupees)
(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
MUMBAI, March 2 (Reuters) - The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in China, the world's biggest consumer of the precious metal, and a coin-based fund in Europe in 2017, an executive of the council said on Wednesday.
"We are working on two deals in China for investment products. (An) ETF and retail platinum bars with a big state-run enterprise," said Marcus Grubb, director of market development at WPIC, which was formed by leading platinum producers to develop investor demand for the metal.
India is the world's second-biggest gold consumer, but platinum jewellery has become increasingly popular in the past few years with sales rising by 25-30 percent a year, Grubb said.
The council will also launch a $50 million coin-based platinum fund in Europe, he said.
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by David Goodman)
From Eventfinda:
In April 2017, womens rights activist, champion of free speech and best-selling author Ayaan Hirsi Ali will make her first appearance in New Zealand to discuss the current world political climate, Islam, and a plethora of other vital topics.
Infidel. Heretic. Apostate. Ayaan Hirsi Ali has courted controversy over her years in the public eye, earning widespread criticism amongst the liberal left and death threats from the religious right. April will see her come in Auckland to add her voice to the heated debate about Islams place in a modern liberal democracy.
Born in Somalia to a devout Muslim family, Hirsi Ali underwent female genital mutilation as a child and escaped an arranged marriage in 1992 by seeking political asylum in the Netherlands. Leaving her religion behind, she famously collaborated with director Theo van Gogh to produce Submission, a short film that ultimately led to van Goghs assassination and the subsequent call for her own.
Moving to the USA in 2006, Hirsi Ali is now an American citizen and has since founded the AHA Foundation in defence of womens rights, and served as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. Hirsi Ali has been previously named as one of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World and is a New York Times number one bestselling author.
Following on from the release of her 2015 book Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, April will see Ayaan Hirsi Ali in New Zealand for the first time and Think Inc., in association with Loop, invite you to step inside the controversy with Hero of Heresy.
The event will consist of a lecture from Ayaan Hirsi Ali, followed by a discussion with the event host, and conclude with an audience question and answer session.
Barry Soper writes:
Figures show how desperate it is with emergency housing with the Government budgeting two million bucks for 1400 people to live in motels for the last three months of last year. Yeah well, they ended up spending just on eight million for almost nine thousand needy people.
Many of them are hardly ideal tenants though having been blacklisted in the private sector, evicted from state houses, have criminal records and are violent to their families.
And thats the conundrum, when does the state stop taking responsibility for them?
Thats a question that no one seems to have, or is game enough to have, an answer to.
Steven Joyce and Amy Adams announced:
New Zealands first social bond will help around 1,700 people with mental illness into work, Finance Minister Steven Joyce and Social Investment Minister Amy Adams say.
The social bond approved by Cabinet in December 2016 has successfully raised the required finance so is now operational as New Zealands first social bond, Mr Joyce says.
Social Bonds are an innovative method of providing social services for people with complex needs where a financial incentive is offered to a consortium of providers and investors if they can achieve a result with a service which is demonstrably better than what has been previously achieved with the old way of doing things.
Social Investment Minister Amy Adams says this social bond is another example of the social investment approach designed to get more effective delivery of services to those who most need them.
One of the difficult challenges in getting people off benefits and back into work is how best to help people with mild to moderate mental health challenges and achieve sustainable long-term results. Government agencies have struggled with this issue for a long time, Ms Adams says.
Tyco Korea CEO Bradley Buckwalter, center in the back row, poses with children of firefighters who died or were injured while on duty, during a scholarship award ceremony at the Yeongdeungpo Fire Station in Seoul, Tuesday. The firefighting equipment maker offered 29 million won ($25,000) in scholarship funds to 16 students.
/ Courtesy of Tyco Korea
By Kim Jae-kyoung
The United States is expected to take issue with Korea's foreign exchange policy as a means to narrow their trade deficit, according to Jeffrey Jones, former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.
He said Seoul should not rule out the possibility of being listed as a currency manipulator under the Trump administration.
Jones said the U.S. Treasury Department is keeping a close watch on Korea's foreign exchange reserves and rates. It may find fault with the central bank's transparency in its foreign exchange policy, he said.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Trade Representative said the U.S. needs to review a free trade agreement with Korea as its trade deficit is widening.
Chances are growing that the Trump administration will take issue with the Korean financial authorities' foreign exchange policy, let alone the free trade deal.
"When I last met with the Treasury Department a year ago, they then believed that the Bank of Korea (BOK) was interfering with exchange rates," Jones said. "They base this on trade flows and the amount of foreign currency reserves held by the country."
Jones, a Korea expert, works at Kim & Chang as an international lawyer.
"Foreign currencies that don't appear on the foreign reserves that should have resulted from the trade surplus are presumed by the Treasury to be used by the BOK in the currency markets," he said. "They have asked the Korean government for greater transparency."
Since Donald Trump took office in January, the U.S. administration has been filled with more hardliners.
"If the Treasury has sufficient evidence to firmly believe that the BOK is engaging in foreign exchange trade to support the exchange rate, then it would appear that the Treasury is prepared to label Korea a currency manipulator," Jones said.
The Treasury is scheduled to release its next foreign exchange report which will determine the currency manipulation of major trading partners April 15.
Leadership crisis
On a broader economic issue, Jones said the biggest challenge now is not economic turmoil but a leadership vacuum triggered by the worst-ever political scandal that has engulfed President Park Geun-hye.
"I believe the biggest issue facing Korea is political uncertainty," Jones said in a recent interview. "Korea badly needs a leader to shore up public confidence in the country.
"It is true that there is a crisis of confidence due to unemployment issues, job uncertainty, high costs of real estate and the current political situation exacerbated by North Korean issues and the election of U.S. President Trump."
He stressed that strong leadership is needed more than ever, not only to put the country back on track but also to ensure stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
"Korea needs to build stronger relationships with the U.S., Japan and China and create confidence in the security issues faced from North Korea to prevent any missteps by either the U.S. or North Korea," he said.
On the job market, Jones said that youth unemployment has become one of the most serious problems in Korea.
Unemployment in his words is not a cyclical problem anymore but a structural and social issue.
He said technology is the major force behind the lack of jobs, while young people are reluctant to engage in certain types of work.
"This suggests that we need to be changing the way we think about education and the type of education that young people are being given," he said. "Previous generations of Koreans were willing to do any kind of work so long as it paid. Expectations of today's young are very different."
However, Jones dismissed concerns about the possibility of the country facing another economic crisis, citing the decent performance by Korean companies.
"I do not believe Korea is headed for a serious economic crisis," he said. "Corporate profitability is at a record high, which bodes well for the ability of companies to invest in the future and weather any temporary slowdowns."
By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Life will pay the full amount of unpaid benefits for suicide claims, the life insurer of Samsung Group said Thursday, surrendering to the financial watchdog's punishment against the firm and two peers which had resisted completing the payout.
According to Samsung Life, it held an emergency board meeting and decided to pay the full amount of unpaid benefits for 3,337 suicide claims. The amount, which includes principals and interests, stands at 174 billion won ($152.28 million).
"Samsung Life made the decision in order to protect clients and regain consumer trust of the company," it said in a statement. "The firm will provide the payout as soon as possible."
The decision came after the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) slapped heavy punishments on the so-called big three life insurers here Samsung, Hanwha and Kyobo that had resisted the FSS's order to pay off the suicide claims.
The FSS last week decided to issue reprimands on Samsung Life CEO Kim Chang-soo and Hanwha Life CEO Cha Nam-gyu. Relevant financial regulation bans reprimanded financial firm CEOs from serving additional terms after their current term ends. Also, they cannot be employed as a senior executive for financial firms for the next three years.
Kyobo Life Chairman Shin Chang-jae received a cautionary warning, which is a level softer than a reprimand, as his firm decided to provide payouts for all the controversial suicide claims hours before the FSS's decision on the punishments.
Samsung Life's movement is interpreted as a last-minute surrender before the finalization of the penalties.
If FSS Governor Zhin Woong-seob approves the penalties, the FSS will officially notify the firms and the disciplinary measures will take effect from then. Zhin told reporters he has yet to decide whether or not he will uphold the punishments.
Following Samsung's surrender, Hanwha Life will also hold a board meeting today and discuss whether to follow its peers.
However, criticism has arisen as they lost not only public trust but also profits.
The controversy over suicide insurance benefits goes back to 2001, when an insurer started to sell a policy that recognizes suicide as a disaster in a special clause and promised additional payments. Other insurers started releasing similar policies up to 2010 when they realized the clause was "problematic."
Insurers provided smaller payouts to policyholders without recognizing suicide as a natural disaster. Over the controversy, the country's top court determined the insurers should pay insurance claims as stated in the clause.
Of 14 companies that sold such policies, 11 smaller life insurers gave in after the FSS threatened them with heavy penalties, but the big three firms continued to resist, citing the statute of limitations.
By Nam Hyun-woo
Seoul Guarantee Insurance CEO Choi Jong-ku
Seoul Guarantee Insurance CEO Choi Jong-ku will lead the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), the government said Thursday.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said it has recommended Choi as chief of the bank. If acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn approves the recommendation, the 60-year-old will replace outgoing Eximbank President Lee Duk-hoon, whose term expires March 5.
Earlier speculations were that the nomination would take time because of the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil.
After graduating from Korea University in 1980, Choi earned his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992.
Choi served as senior deputy governor at the Financial Supervisory Service from April 2013, before being appointed as the guarantee service provider's head Jan. 11 last year.
Following Hwang's approval, Choi will begin his three-year term March 6.
An employee at the Amazing Brewing Company pours beer from one of the brewpub's 59 taps. The brewpub boasts the largest number of taps in the country. / Korea Times photos by Yun Suh-young
By Yun Suh-young
There had been a huge debate about the taste of Korean beers a couple of years back, sparked by a British journalist residing in Korea who wrote a column about how bad South Korean beer tasted and that he'd rather drink a North Korean one over it. Many agreed saying South Korean beers didn't really have any "taste" and some even denounced that they tasted like urine, while others were infuriated by the comment and offended by a foreigner taking a lash at local beers.
Interestingly, that journalist ended up opening his own craft beer pub (and is no longer a journalist) which has become quite popular. Whether inspired by the beer brouhaha or not, it was around this time in 2012, when the beer column was published, that the local craft beer scenery began to wriggle. Craft beer breweries began to multiply around 2010 but it wasn't until a few years later that craft beers truly caught on with consumers.
It's difficult to say which came first whether the craft beer movement was already in place and that journalist pinpointed it, or whether the column had actually stimulated beer experts to provide quality beers that were personally brewed. Whatever the answer is to this chicken-or-egg debate, the environment was ripe for craft beer to flourish here. Hence began the craft beer fever.
Craft beer 101
So what exactly is craft beer? We use the term so often but not many know how to distinguish craft beer from ordinary beer. Just because the beer comes out of the tap doesn't make it craft beer. That is "draft" beer, and a draft beer could be craft beer or mass-produced swill.
Craft beer is beer "crafted" or produced independently by small breweries. According to the definition by the Brewers Association of the United States, a craft brewery has to satisfy the following three conditions to be considered a craft brewer: small, traditional and independent. It produces less than 6 million barrels (1 billion liters) of beer per year, follows the traditional recipe for fermenting beer but also experiments and adds new flavors using innovative brewing ingredients, and has over 75 percent of its share owned by craft beer-related persons, meaning less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by a company in the alcoholic beverage industry that is not itself a craft brewer.
"Craft beers began to emerge in the 1980s in the United States. There were only 80 breweries in 1975 but now there are over 5,000 breweries and of them, around 4,800 are craft breweries. Yet ironically, the craft beer market share in the U.S. only consists of 18 percent while non-craft beer takes up 82 percent," said Kim Man-jeh, director at the recently established brewpub Amazing Brewing Company in eastern Seoul.
The brewpub is exceptional in that it offers its brewery and pub in the same location. Its CEO Kim Tae-kyung (TK Kim) who is one of Korea's seven certified cicerones, or beer sommeliers, decided to open his own brewery because of his passion for beer and from having tasted many "bad beers."
"People think I opened a beer pub, but what I actually opened was a brewery which has a pub connected to it. Most breweries are located outside of Seoul in remote areas, but I wanted to build the beer brewery in Seoul because that way I could reach out to more people," TK Kim said. The brewpub has 59 taps, the highest number in Korea, and two-thirds of the beers they serve are their own creations.
Common misperceptions
Beer taps are lined up at the brewpub Amazing Brewing Company in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul.
Since Koreans are used to the "lager" type of beers such as Hite, Cass and Kloud which are mass produced by large beer companies, they're not as familiar with other styles of beer such as ale and lambic which constitute the remainder of the three main styles of beer.
Within the lager category are subcategories of pilsner, pale lager and dunkel among the 40 or so, and within the ale category are subcategories of pale ale, stout, saison and weizen among some 70.
"The reason why some people say Korean beers taste similar is because the big beer companies only produce the same type of beer lager because it's the most popular. That's why people who've tasted many beer brands still say they all taste alike," Kim Man-jeh said. He runs a beer-tasting and lecture session every Tuesday night at the Amazing Brewing Company to educate the public on the different types of beer. He is also the author of the "Beer Style Dictionary."
"But just because they're drinking the kinds of beer that have the same color, doesn't mean they're drinking the same type of beer."
Inside view of the Amazing Brewing Company
Beer education
Kim's beer session begins with the history of craft beer, its ingredients and the basic production process.
"Traditional beer is made with four ingredients malt, hops, yeast and water. Depending on how much and what type of malt, hops, or yeast is used, the flavors are characterized as malty, hoppy or yeasty. You'll figure out what this means," Kim said, giving out seven different types of beer in each category.
He then went on to explain the different styles of beer in more detail.
Globally popular beers such as Carlsberg, Budweiser and Miller are all in the lager category, specifically pale lager. Lager refers to beer that is "bottom-fermented," meaning it is conditioned at low temperatures (between 8 to 13 degrees Celsius) and matured in cold storage. Pale lagers are the most commonly produced lagers worldwide, as they are light in flavor, mild and golden in color.
"It's easy to put it this way. The most popular beer brands that you've heard of are mostly pale lagers. But pale lagers are just one type of beer in the subcategory of lager which has dozens of other types," Kim said.
Ale refers to beer that is "top-fermented," meaning it is fermented at warm temperatures (between 15 and 24 degrees Celsius). Ales are usually more fruity, full-bodied and sweet.
Lambic, the third of the three main categories of beer, refers to beer that is also top-fermented but with bacteria instead of yeast in the fermentation process. This makes the beer dry, vinous, and cidery, with a sour aftertaste.
"I really want people to know there are so many different styles of beer and help them realize the joy of discovering the diverse flavors. That's why I'm holding these beer sessions every week," Kim said.
Rev. Cho Bong-hee / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Kim Tae-gyu
Throughout his life, Rev. Cho Bong-hee has shown great interest in helping marginalized people around the world. In particular, he has cared much about poor people in North Korea.
Rev. Cho, who has visited North Korea six times, has a strong belief that the two Koreas should unify as soon as possible so impoverished Northern neighbors can get help.
"Rather than economic considerations after unification, we are required to put the fact first that we are of the same descent and, accordingly, we have to come together once again," Rev. Cho, 60, said.
"Then, the unified Korea, with a population of some 80 million, would give economic benefits to us including huge opportunities for infrastructure investment in the less-developed North."
In achieving unification, Rev. Cho warned against the rising Cold War mentality of pitting the two Koreas against each other. He stressed that the South has to embrace the North.
"That is what true love means," he said.
Along the same lines, Rev. Cho supports the so-called "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea, not because of its political implication but because of humanitarian concerns.
"The government needs to encourage nongovernmental exchanges between the two Koreas, especially religious ones," he said. "Brisker civilian exchanges would greatly help speed up unification.
"Plus, cultural works are very efficient to bridge the gaps between the two nations. For example, experience tells us that movies involving North Korea affect people there so much."
Rev. Cho noted that the South must prepare for unification in meticulous ways to help children north of the 38th parallel.
"We should develop educational materials to assimilate Northern children," he said. "The tailor-made materials would be very different from those for Southern students.
"Hardware' would be unified relatively easily but that is not the case for software.'"
With third-generation dictator Kim Jong-un ruling Pyongyang with an iron hand, there is pessimism about any improvement soon in the South-North relationship.
But Rev. Cho's patience and determination for unification seem never to abate. He believes unification may be an imminent issue, not a faraway dream, with so many putting efforts into the goal.
"Many experts have predicted that it would take two or three decades for the two Koreas to become one again," he said. "But that might happen much earlier than most expect."
By Yi Whan-woo
China is apparently bolstering ties with Russia and North Korea after South Korea and the United States got a step closer this week to deploying a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, officials and analysts said Thursday.
Seoul and Washington are looking to promptly install the THAAD system as protection against the North's military threats, while ensuring a trilateral security alliance with Japan.
On Tuesday, China held vice ministerial talks with Russia in Beijing, while North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Kil-song was also visiting the Chinese capital.
This was the same day the Ministry of Defense signed a land-swap deal with Lotte Group and secured the land for the THAAD battery in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
During a press briefing, Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said both the vice ministerial talks and Ri's Beijing trip reflect "China's efforts as a member of East Asia."
Geng said China and Russia reaffirmed their opposition toward THAAD. The two Cold War allies also agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation concerning the U.S. defense missile shield, which they suspect is a means to expand U.S. influence in the region.
Ri received a warm welcome, meeting Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, respectively, from Tuesday to Wednesday.
"China will maintain communications and cooperation with East Asian countries and pursue common interests regardless of any meetings, whether it is between us and Ri or between us and Russia," Geng said. "We'll work with the related countries to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, keep the region peaceful and stable, and resolve any relevant issues through dialogue."
Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, assessed that China is trying to underscore their diplomatic and security ties against South Korea, the U.S. and Japan concerning THAAD.
"A new Cold War would be an exaggeration but it is apparent that China is trying to draw its two Cold War allies to its side at least over THAAD-related issues," he said, Thursday. "It will also highlight the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. as well as their ties with Japan as part of tactics against THAAD."
He cited that the Chinese government held both Seoul and Washington responsible for "all problems to be caused in the aftermath" of the land-swap deal and the deployment.
Beijing's state-run media outlets also have been calling for tougher measures against Seoul in addition to its ongoing economic retaliation.
On Wednesday, the Huanqiu Shibao, which is under the auspices of the Chinese communist party's official People's Daily newspaper, published a column that called for a "surgical strike" on the THAAD site.
Written by Luo Yuan, a former rear admiral in the People's Liberation Navy, the column listed 10 countermeasures against THAAD. They included being uncooperative with South Korea, the U.S. and Japan over international and regional issues; developing a relevant missile system against THAAD's long-range X band radar; destroying the X-band radar if necessary; strengthening strategic cooperation with Russia; making China's view official about THAAD at the United Nations; and boycotting Lotte products in China.
Meanwhile, the defense ministers and national security advisers of South Korea and the U.S. reaffirmed Wednesday that THAAD deployment would be completed within this year as scheduled.
During a telephone conversation with Defense Minister Han Min-koo, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said the two allies will pursue the "prompt operation" of THAAD, according to military officials here.
National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster talked over the phone separately and agreed to "push ahead with the THAAD plan without setbacks," according to Cheong Wa Dae.
By Kim Jae-kyoung
Fake news has become a buzzword everywhere.
With hoax stories from illegitimate websites or unreliable personal blogs going out of control, there is growing concern that fake news is likely to be a swaying factor in the upcoming presidential election.
From a presidential candidate to a popular TV news anchor, a number of high-profile figures have recently fallen prey to falsified stories.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's withdrawal from the presidential race was a case in point. He decided to give up his shot at the presidency after a couple of fabricated stories put him in hot water.
The real problem is that people, particularly young people more exposed to social media, the main medium of fake news dissemination, have little ability to tell fabricated news from real.
This has called for content creators and social media to come up with measures to cope with challenges caused by fake news.
"The side effects of fake news are great, as it has not only damaged the honor of the victims, but also undermined the credibility of social information and the formation of a sound, rational public opinion," acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said during a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday.
Then a question is cropping up. How persuasive or powerful is fake news? Will it be a dominant factor that can change voters' minds in an election?
It is hard to answer this question because it is simply impossible to track down every person to figure out how fake news affects his or her decision-making process.
Korea's presidential candidates and political parties may have to take a cue from the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
President Donald Trump has been at the center of the "fake news" debate before and after the 2016 election. He has waged a war against the media claiming that major news organizations, including CNN and New York Times, are "fake news."
The hottest issue was whether fake news had an impact on the outcome of the election. In other words, did Trump benefit from the surge of fake news during the election campaign?
A recent study released by economists Matthew Gentzkow of Stanford and Hunt Allcott of New York University shows that Trump, in fact, was the beneficiary of the surge of fabricated stories.
According to the study, in the three months before the election, 115 pro-Trump fake news articles were seen a total of 30.3 million times, nearly quadruple the number of 41 pro-Clinton fake news articles seen 7.6 million times.
"Non-traditional content providers are better at personalization than traditional news organizations," a U.S.-based source said on condition of anonymity. "News consumers spend less time to research news than other products they consume."
He added, "Prominent public figures use the term to refute facts they do not like, lending potential validity to the idea fake news is common."
A recent analysis by BuzzFeed, a New York-based media company, shows fake news may go viral faster than real news.
According to the analysis, in the final three months of the U.S. presidential campaign, the top 20 fake news stories from hoax sites generated 8.7 million shares, reactions and comments, while the top 20 genuine news stories generated 7.4 million shares, reactions and comments.
In particular, during the period, the top fake election news stories on Facebook were found to produce more engagement than the top stories from mainstream media, including the New York Times and Washington Post.
Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world, meaning it could be more vulnerable to a fake news crisis.
No matter who will become the next president, fake news will be one of the fiercest issues in the upcoming election and is likely to have a bigger impact on the outcome than it did in the U.S. presidential election.
By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea threatened to take its "toughest" military action, Thursday, as South Korea and the United States began a large-scale joint military drill the previous day.
In response, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North will only face firm retaliation if it pushes for any provocations.
Seoul and Washington began their annual two-month field training exercise, Foal Eagle, Wednesday, and plan to conduct Key Resolve, a largely computer-simulated exercise, for two weeks from March 13.
The North's General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) warned that Seoul and Washington will face a miserable end if they provoke the North as it is ready to "mercilessly" deter any nuclear aggression.
"Our army will counter them with the toughest counteractions as it already declared," said a statement by the military carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "This stand of ours we clarified before the world is by no means empty talk."
Col. Roh Jae-cheon, spokesman for Seoul's JCS, warned of resolute retaliation against any possible provocations from the reclusive state.
"The joint drills by South Korea and the United States are defensive in nature, designed only to bolster our readiness and defend the Republic of Korea in the event of a contingency," he said.
The repressive state has long been claiming that the exercises are "dress rehearsals" by "hostile" forces for a northward invasion with nuclear weapons.
Victor Cha, Korea chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, raised the possibility that the North is likely to undertake provocations in the coming weeks.
"A Beyond Parallel study predicts that military provocations by North Korea are likely during the period of the exercises," he said, referring to the U.S. think tank's website devoted to North Korea issues. "Beyond Parallel found that the four-to-eight week window prior to the exercise period is the best indicator of North Korean behavior during the exercises. When U.S.-DPRK relations during this window are coded as negative then the exercise period will see a high level of provocations."
By Chung Hyun-chae
Hwang Eun-mee
Hwang Eun-mee, 63, won the Yu Gwansun Award, in recognition of her hard work as president of the Career Consultant Forum (CCF), the South Chungcheong Provincial Government said Thursday. The CCF is a nonprofit organization providing career consulting services to jobseekers.
"I am so pleased that the importance of cultivating talented women was acknowledged," Hwang told The Korea Times.
The provincial government jointly launched the award with Ewha Girls' High School and Dong-A Ilbo in 2001 to award women or women's groups who contribute to social and national development. It commemorates the patriotism of Yoo Gwan-sun, an independence activist. Yoo was one of the organizers of the March 1 Independence Movement against the Japanese occupation and was tortured to death.
So far, two organizations and 13 individuals have received the award.
"This year, we have acknowledged Hwang's achievements including developing various career programs for jobseekers and cultivating talented people," said Kim Seog-pil, director of the Women & Family Policy Bureau at the provincial government.
Hwang graduated from Ewha Womans University in 1973 after studying international office management in 1977.
She then eanred an MBA in management from Yonsei University.
She entered the Bank of America's Seoul branch in 1977 and worked there as an executive secretary, a HR specialist and a global marketing officer until 1995.
During her years as the president of Business & Professional Women Korea from 2009 to 2011, Hwang conducted a campaign called Equal Pay Day calling for equal pay for equal work.
Hwang became the president of the CCF in 2009.
The award ceremony will take place March 30 at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
Hwang will receive a cash prize of 20 million ($17,507) won.
The provincial government granted other awards to 14 18-year-old girls for their model behavior as high school students. Each winner will receive 1.5 million won in prize money.
By Kim Rahn
Six armed North Korean soldiers on the border between China and North Korea have apparently deserted and entered China, according to a media report, Thursday. It added that the Chinese authorities are attempting to track down and apprehend them.
If the report is true, this is the second desertion of armed North Korean soldiers into China in seven months.
Free North Korea Radio reported that the six in the frontier district in Ryanggang Province crossed over the Tumen River into Jilin Province, Feb. 24.
"Chinese security officers and North Korean agents have checked and inspected people at major roads there, but the deserters have not been caught as of March 1," the media said, citing a North Korean defector to the South as a source.
The six soldiers were from one squad and it has not been confirmed whether they were carrying live ammunition. "Chinese security authorities have told residents in the borderland area to immediately report any armed North Korean soldiers," the report said.
Why they ran away is unknown. If the desertion was not prearranged, they may have crossed the border following a commander's beating or other punishments.
The South Korean government said it has not confirmed the desertion.
In July last year, five armed North Korean soldiers escaped to China and robbed houses there. After a gunfight with Chinese soldiers and policemen, two of them were caught while three escaped. Two Chinese police officers were injured in the incident.
In December 2014, a North Korean deserter went on a shooting spree at a residential area in Helong, Jilin Province, killing or injuring five Chinese residents.
A source told Yonhap News Agency that desertions by North Korean soldiers have continued due to a shortage of food since the 2000s, which has become more serious after flooding in the Tumen River area last August.
By Michael Bergmann
The American people have to defend their liberal constitutional order. The citizens of the world have to defend humanity.
After we heard the most unworthy inauguration speech, humiliating a proud nation and proclaiming the aggressive isolationism "Frustrated America First," it has become clear that we are facing more than unfunny jokes. Should this be, as some give Trump the honor, the real beginning of the twenty-first century, like 1914 / 1917 marked the opening of the twentieth? Or will it be remembered as a ridiculously backward episode, slowing human progress "just" a few years? This is still possible, though not guaranteed.
I have no idea where those millionaires' dissatisfaction, anger and hatred come from, but at the heart of the phenomenon lies sheer misanthropy. Before the election, we had to learn the word "misogyny," meaning "dislike of women" in Greek, specifically their exploitation as objects. But it does not hit "only" them. As philanthropy can be defined as "friendliness to humanity," a generosity which is not a privilege of the rich, misanthropy is the guiding principle of the America-first administration.
It is no wonder that Trump's first exchanges with international leaders escalated on the issue of how to deal with the world's most powerless, the refugees. No other representatives of civilized countries could so openly deny the obligation to rescue drowning human lives. Misanthropy is not satisfied with just not helping - it blames others for doing so! That non-American lives matter little appears as the only continuity in the ever-changing "strategic" announcements. American non-members of the tribe that chose him as their chieftain are, likewise, pushed out to freeze in the cold, as literally demonstrated by Trump's troops in the campaign.
How should the rest of the world react? Embrace nationalism as the new trend? Try to compensate the enormous costs of abandoned cooperation with selfish, defensive aggression? Us first? Korea first? Revival of Japan? Germany great again? Leave EU? Leave the world?
The answer must be: Humanity first. This means two things: One, philanthropy trumps misanthropy, as described above. Two, vote for "remain" in the world.
Forget those who want to "leave" the world. The world of those willing to cooperate on humanity's common challenges is big enough. Forget those who deny climate change, global inter-dependence and human dignity. The projects of political and scientific enlightenment are great enough to encourage new alliances of all who are willing.
Shinzo Abe and Angela Merkel have shown two contrary ways for democratic leaders to approach the America-first president: Politics without morality and submissive allegiance here versus value-based multilateral diplomacy there. I am sure Korea will not follow Abe. Korea will elect a humanity-first president, a philanthropist knowing how to independently balance national, regional and global responsibility.
Michael Bergmann is a teacher in Seoul. Write to bergmann2473@yahoo.de.
By Park Moo-jong
It has been a painful period for the Republic of Korea since the National Assembly voted to impeach the embattled President Park Geun-hye on Dec. 19 last year over the corruption and cronyism scandal dubbed "Choi Soon-sil gate."
We, Koreans, are experiencing commotions and troubles and we do not know where all of these will lead us.
I am afraid Korea may be drifting quickly toward the shameful times of 71 years ago in 1946 when an "all or nothing" confrontation between the left and the right forces split the people in a grave social chaos.
The rivals confronted each other through respective street protests over whether to accept or reject the trusteeship by the United States and the Soviet Union, thus eventually leading to national division in 1948.
A very similar phenomenon is sweeping the whole country over the Constitutional Court's ruling, slated for around March 13, over whether to accept or reject the parliamentary impeachment of the President.
On Wednesday, the 98th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement in 1919 against Japan, downtown Seoul and elsewhere across the country saw massive candlelit protests for the impeachment of Park and Taegeukgi (national flag) protests against it.
Deplorable in this grave situation is the ruthless and greedy behavior of politicians who, otherwise, should roll up their sleeves to persuade the angry public to wait calmly for the Constitutional Court's decision.
They are only interested in the presidential election, the date of which is to be fixed depending on the court's ruling, some of whom already appear to be acting as if they were president.
Even an opposition lawmaker supporting the candlelit protest "proposed" during a parliamentary session that the concerned law should be revised to ban the use of the national flag during street demonstrations.
What an egoistical idea. It is amazing how the police officer-turned-lawmaker came up with such a ridiculous proposal. Rather, she should have suggested first that candlelight should not be used during protests.
Adding fuel to the fire, the three left-wing opposition parties decided Tuesday to move to impeach acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn for rejecting the extension of the term of the independent counsel investigating Choi Soon-sil gate, which ended at the end of February.
The opposition movement is definitely revenge against Hwang. The President's office was suspended following the parliamentary impeachment and Prime Minister Hwang is doing the job.
If they succeed in impeaching Hwang, the deputy prime minister will become acting president and prime minister. What a funny situation!
Signs are that the opposition camp is likely to seize power after Park. How could such forces be so irresponsible, if they have any concerns about the nation now in security, political and economic debacles at the same time?
Nobody knows the results of the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial. Now is the very time for the people, on the left and right, to calm down and wait for the court's ruling.
Most of all, the presidential hopefuls should declare that they will accept "unconditionally" the court's ruling. It is a relief that Moon Jae-in, a strong presidential candidate, promised, though belatedly, he would accept the court's decision even if it "differs from the public sentiment." He earlier claimed if the court rejects the impeachment, a revolution would take place.
Of course, the two conflicting sides must stop their protests, causing severe inconveniences to citizens every weekend over the past three months, so police can return to their given job of securing the safety of the people.
The beleaguered President is also responsible for the current crisis the nation is now faced with. She has more than a week to consider how she should act for the nation and its people.
If the court accepts the parliamentary impeachment, she loses her presidency immediately and will enter Korean history as the first president to be fired. If the court rejects the parliamentary decision, she will retain, if she wants, the presidency for one more year until Feb. 24. But it is not expected that she will perform her duties as President well, as she already lost her presidential authority.
The time has come for Park to make up her mind to resign ahead of the court's ruling.
What's going on in this part of the world now reminds us of Saint Peter asking, "Quo vadis domine?" As well known, the Latin words mean "where are you going?"
According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, the saint is fleeing from likely crucifixion in Rome and meets on the way the risen Jesus. Peter asks Jesus "Quo Vadis?" to which He replies, "Romam eo iterum crucifigi" (I am going to Rome to be crucified again").
The disciple thereby gains the courage to continue his ministry and returns to the city to eventually be martyred by being crucified upside-down. (The Church of Domine Quo Vadis in Rome is built where, according to legend, Jesus met Peter).
Aren't there any leaders like Peter who have the courage to "sacrifice" themselves to save the Republic of Korea in crisis?
Park can become a Peter.
Park Moo-jong is the adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in 1950 after he worked as a reporter for the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com.
In the university entrance season, welcome parties and orientations for freshmen have led to a series of incidents.
On Feb. 26, two freshmen girls at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (PUST) in North Gyeongsang Province were sexually abused by older male students in their department during a freshmen welcoming party held at a holiday villa. More than 40 students participated in the event, but there were no professors or school staff there, who could have watched over the students and prevented such shocking behavior among participants.
On Feb. 22, a freshmen from a university in Incheon got drunk at an orientation at a condo in Goseong, South Gyeongsang Province, and accidentally entered an elevator control room and got three fingers cut off. On the same day, a bus crashed, resulting in the death of the driver who was driving freshmen from the Kumoh National Institute of Technology in North Gyeongsang Province on their way to Wonju, the site of their freshmen orientation. The school president had to issue an apology to the students and parents for the accident, which left more than 40 physically and emotionally injured.
Such accidents highlight the urgent need to change the culture of university events. In 2014, the Ministry of Education created a manual to promote safety at these, but it has not been properly observed. The ministry guidelines include holding large-scale events on campus, and the university rather than the student council, overseeing welcoming events for freshmen.
Holding big events at faraway cities and in places like condos raises the possibility of various incidents. Also, there should be a strict rule against alcohol.
The universities are primarily responsible for the repeated incidents involving freshmen. They should properly check that welcoming events are organized in accordance with the ministry's safety manual.
Time to heal the rift and boost integration
The nation celebrated the 98th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement Day, Wednesday. But the public witnessed the sad reality of our deep division once again, with hundreds of thousands of people staging rallies for and against the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
Ninety-eight years ago, the heart of Seoul was crowded with people crying out for independence from Japan's colonial rule. But on Wednesday, the streets of downtown Seoul were divided by pro-Park and anti-Park protesters who spewed curses and rough words toward each other.
There were concerns about violent clashes because their marching routes overlapped. Fortunately, there were no major accidents thanks to dozens of police buses that separated the protesters.
The March 1 Independence Movement Day is the day when our ancestors shouted for independence to take back their country forcibly seized by Japanese imperialists, transcending religion, ideology and region. It's a pity that on this meaningful day, the Seoul streets became the site of hatred and division. Given that security and economic conditions on the Korean Peninsula have grown intense, fear about a national crisis might be natural.
There can be pros and cons in a democracy. But what has been featured in our society since the National Assembly voted to impeach the first female head of state, Dec. 9, is far from normal. We are afraid that the position that those who have different opinions cannot be tolerated may have already become the norm.
Furthermore, the way opinions are expressed has become so tough and threatening that Lee Jung-mi, acting president of the Constitutional Court, has received death threats. Certainly, now is the time to refrain from overreaching actions and arguments and instead wait for the top court's decision calmly.
The biggest problem is that political leaders renege on their duties to ease conflicts but intentionally add to confusion and division. In fact, presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, another presidential hopeful, attended Wednesday's candlelit protests, while a handful of pro-Park lawmakers of the ruling Liberty Korea Party were present at the rally calling for Park's reinstatement. All this shows that our political leaders won't respect the rule of law and will revolt at any time if the ruling goes against what they want.
This pitiable situation must not be left unattended any longer. They should take the lead in healing the rift and boosting integration rather than jumping on the bandwagon, blindly obsessed with winning the presidential election. Specifically, all presidential candidates must clearly vow to comply with the Constitutional Court's ruling and make efforts to persuade their supporters to accept the decision.
President Park also needs to clarify in advance her intention to abide by whatever the court decides.
By Kyung Moon Hwang
Concern and fascination, mixed with some gallows humor, have characterized the popular reaction to the poisoning of Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of the current North Korean leader. To observers familiar with the bizarre North Korean transplantation of very traditional behavior into a modern authoritarian state, this made some sense. Still, the killing of an exiled potential claimant to the throne, which happened occasionally in Korea's dynastic past, seems to have come straight out of a movie or television drama.
The more fitting genre is probably the dystopian novel, especially George Orwell's "1984," originally published seventy years ago. Orwell's work has surged in popularity in the United States recently, so disturbing have become the authoritarian rantings and actions of Donald Trump and his underlings.
No place, however, has replicated the horrific world of totalitarianism, in which every corner of life lies vulnerable to surveillance and control by the mechanisms of dictatorship, more than North Korea. And it starts with the Orwellian Big Brother, whose absolute authority justifies and determines every form of cultural, political, social, even familial interaction.
North Korea is now under the reign of its third Big Brother, but he is also the grandson of the original and the son of the successor. This hereditary feature of the strong man system shows that the monarchy has been revived in North Korea, but we should not assume that this country was somehow destined to repeat age-old Korean historical patterns.
Indeed the basis of its founding was completely foreign, namely the Allied powers' defeat of Japan in World War II and the post-liberation occupation of Korea's northern half by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Soviets did not have to pick Kim Il-sung as their native leader, but Kim was a reliable communist and had become known to some as an anti-Japanese guerrilla leader from the late 1930s. So this necessary connection to the resistance against colonial rule somewhat limited the Soviets' choices.
Thereafter, Kim Il-sung chose to solidify his power through ruthless purges, military adventurism (the Korean War), and a hyper-nationalist legitimization narrative based on patently inflated claims about himself. This came straight out of the modern dictator's playbook circulating around the world, but he didn't necessarily have to turn out this way.
Over the course of North Korea's early history, from the mid-1940s to the 1960s, many idealistic Koreans who chose to live in the North sincerely believed that it could become the shining alternative to South Korea, which seemed dependent on American-led capitalist imperialism. North Korea would achieve the longed-for independence from external forces as well as liberation from backward Korean traditions, especially the terrible inequities that had long plagued the country. And in contrast to the South, North Korea would be truly democratic, giving voice to the downtrodden and spreading the virtues and fruits of an egalitarian society and economy.
The first signs that such ideals were being crushed by Kim Il-sung's quest for personal power appeared even before the Korean War, when his image already was paraded in mass gatherings and stamped onto the headings of newspapers. The Korean War could have led to Kim's downfall, given that North Korea came close to defeat after four months, but he was saved by China's entrance into the war on the North's behalf in late October of 1950.
In the mid-1950s, Kim ramped up the killing of his potential rivals, whether they were Korean-Soviet advisors, leftists with Chinese ties like Gim Won-bong, or native Korean communist leaders like Bak Heon-yeong. When such more ideologically sound, former independence activists grew alarmed at Kim Il-sung's monopolization of authority, they had appealed to the Soviet Union and China to intervene. They did, but just at this time a major rift between these communist powers also emerged, and Kim played the two off each other in order to save himself.
This moment, in 1956, was perhaps the last realistic chance to turn away from what North Korea eventually became. Thereafter, the rationale for North Korea's ruling system, indeed for the country itself, became firmly tied to maintaining the absolute supremacy of one man, which made the later hereditary succession almost inevitable.
It wasn't just political rivals who fell victim to this totalitarian descent beginning in the 1950s. Skilled and well-intentioned writers, artists, academics, professionals, and others found themselves trapped in a country regimented to service the Kim regime. Many of them simply "disappeared," not only by losing their lives or jobs but also by becoming erased from history. Like the purged political figures, these educated Koreans would have been the leaders of an alternative North Korea that never came to be.
Thankfully many of them, whose works and accomplishments were banned in South Korea during the South's own dictatorship era, eventually won recognition following democratization, but this also demonstrates that North Korea's reason for being was always fundamentally connected to that of the South.
North Korean history, including the two dynastic successions of 1994 and 2011, developed consistently in opposition to South Korea, whose own character and orientation underwent dramatic transformations. South Korea's historical transitions offered a steady reminder of North Korea's original historical possibilities, but they also had the effect of further closing alternative paths to North Korea's history until they precluded any valid reason for its existence at all.
Kyung Moon Hwang is a professor in the Departments of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, at the University of Southern California. He is the author of "A History of Korea An Episodic Narrative"(Palgrave Macmillan, 2010; second edition, 2016).
By Kang Seung-woo
Samsung SDS and KT gained global recognition at the world's largest mobile show, Tuesday (local time), winning the Global Mobile Awards, better known as Glomo Awards.
The awards, nicknamed the Oscars of the IT industry, are given by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) to firms at the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) in honor of their contributions to the mobile communication industry.
Barcelona, Spain, hosted the 2017 MWC, which comes to an end Friday (Korea Standard Time).
Samsung SDS' mobile security management suite claimed the award for the Best Mobile Security or Anti-fraud Solution, making the IT services unit of Samsung Group the first Korean IT systems provider to receive the prestigious prize.
"Samsung's mobile security management suite provides companies with a secure way to manage their devices and minimize security risks without sacrificing user convenience," the GSMA said in a statement.
According to Samsung, it is an integrated system connecting Nexsign, a biometric authentication system that authenticates identity with unique biometrics including fingerprints, face and voice, to enterprise mobile management systems to enhance user convenience and tighten security on mobile devices at the same time.
"Samsung SDS was honored with the world-renowned award for its competence in mobile security that global companies are focusing on," said Hong Won-pyo, chief of the firm's "solution" business division.
"We hope to be a good example for many domestic and international businesses that are keen to promote both security and user convenience."
For KT, the nation's No. 1 telecom firm by sales, its smart energy control platform KT-Micro Energy Grid (KT-MEG) received an award for the Best Use of Mobile for Smart Cities an honor given to a mobile service that contributes to changing and developing smart cities using technology.
"KT-MEG is the world's first integrated energy management platform, managing multi-regional energy facilities from an individual building to the extent of citywide coverage and providing integrated monitoring and control of energy generation, consumption and trading," the GSMS said.
According to the Seoul-based company, the KT-MEG Center is currently supervising approximately 16,000 websites, including energy efficiency, resource management, electric car charging services and new and renewable energy power plants.
"We are honored to win the prize and achieve global recognition for KT-MEG which is the essence of our ICT capabilities," said KT Future Convergence Business Vice President Yun Gyeong-rim.
"KT will lead and innovate new energy businesses through KT-MEG."
Seen above is a booth aimed at promoting PyeongChang Olympics set up by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning at Fira Gran Via convention hall in Barcelona, Spain. / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
BARCELONA The government came under criticism for wasting taxpayers' money by ineptly handling its promotional activities at the Mobile World Congress here.
During the four-day tradeshow, five government bodies including the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and the PyeongChang Organizing Committee (POCOG) operated a promotional booth for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
But the 105-square-meter booth failed to draw much interest from visitors, largely due to its lack of fancy new technology.
The MSIP took charge of running the exhibition hall for the four-day event, in a bid to raise awareness of the upcoming winter sporting event related to its state-of-the-art technologies.
The MSIP showcased the event preview with virtual reality and 3D holograms, but visitors pointed out that they could not understand the content properly.
Still, the MSIP and the four other state-run organizations sent a large delegation to the event, mostly on taxpayers' money.
"About 15 officials from the five organizations took a flight to Barcelona for the promotional activity," a booth official said, declining to specify further.
Critics say government officials sent a big delegation on a business trip for a small booth.
"I could not understand what they were trying to promote," one visitor to the booth said.
"All I remember after taking a look at the booth is some virtual reality devices and a bunch of officials standing there. One or two officials are enough to promote such a small-sized booth with weak content."
The MSIP is estimated to have spent at least 300 million won ($262,000) to cover expenses for the officials' business trip and four-day booth rental. The figure will rise further once taking into account additional expenses including R&D to create the content promoted at the booth.
The government organized the event, as the mobile show is regarded as one of the world's largest tech fairs, drawing 100,000 visitors from 24 countries this year.
Many industry-leading firms put forth great efforts here to attract more attention from visitors and media but Korean officials seem not to do so with the PyeongChang Olympics.
Visitors crowd the Oppo booth at this year's Mobile World Congress in Fira Gran Via convention hall in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday. The Chinese smartphone maker has drawn the spotlight for its latest camera technology. / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
BARCELONA China's emerging smartphone makers are filling the void left by Samsung Electronics, which scrapped its plan to launch its Galaxy S8 at the world's largest mobile fair.
It was not until recently that Chinese smartphone vendors started to make aggressive inroads into the Mobile World Congress (MWC), due to their technological flaws and weak brand image.
But Beijing-based handset giants Huawei and Oppo have taken the limelight away from the Seoul-based tech titan for this year's mobile tradeshow.
Huawei, in particular, has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the P10 and P10 Plus, equipped with enhanced camera and display features. The new model will be available for the European market within this month.
The Chinese handset maker took center stage at hall three of the MWC exhibition venue, Fira Gran Via, proving how influential it is in the global market.
Oppo, a rising smartphone star, has also gained attention from MWC visitors, by showcasing its cost-effective handset lineups despite the lack of its newly-launched devices. The company was the No. 1 smartphone vendor in the Chinese market as of the end of last year, taking the throne away from its 2015 leader, Huawei.
"We believe Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are now our rivals," an Oppo official said. "Oppo is one of the fastest-growing smartphone companies in the world, and we consider this year's MWC as a milestone to leap into the global market."
The company did not showcase any new smartphones for the event, but the audience packed its booth to check the firm's 5X dual camera zoom technology. The company said it plans to launch the smartphones later this year.
Other Chinese handset manufacturers also joined the MWC, including ZTE and Lenovo in their bid to fill the void left by the new Samsung handset.
An LG Electronics booth official said: "It is true that Chinese firms have narrowed the technological gap between Samsung and LG in recent years."
"But this is in terms of specifications for certain parts - such as the camera pixels or display resolution," he added. "But they still lag behind us, because they do not yet have the technological expertise to put the parts together skillfully into the end product."
LG Electronics also launched its latest flagship smartphone the G6 at the MWC, winning attention with its 18:9 aspect ratio display and its partnership with Dolby.
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Audi Volkswagen Korea has lodged an appeal against the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for its levying of a 37 million won fine on the German carmaker's sales unit here over the alleged false advertising of its models' emissions.
According to the Seoul High Court, Thursday, Audi Volkswagen Korea filed the lawsuit, demanding the withdrawal of the FTC's correction order along with the fine. Any firm that challenges the FTC decision is supposed to bring the case to an appellate court.
"I can't comment on the ongoing appeal at this point," a Volkswagen Korea official said.
Industry insiders say, however, that the carmaker's recent appointment of a new managing director may be related to the legal action.
"Based on his legal expertise, Audi Volkswagen Korea's new chief Marcus Hellmann is known to have played an important role in the company's recent emissions-cheating scandal," he said.
"The carmaker might bring him here to resume sales of its scandal-mired models after dealing with legal battles against the Korean authorities."
In December, the FTC fined Audi Volkswagen Korea 37.3 billion won ($32 million) for allegedly installing the so-called defeat device in the carmaker's vehicles to fabricate their emissions test results; while lying to Korean customers that its vehicles satisfied the government's environment standards.
Although the amount is not so big, it is the largest fine the FTC has ever imposed for false advertising. The corporate watchdog also asked prosecutors to investigate five officials of Audi Volkswagen Korea and its head office in Germany.
Volkswagen Group admitted it has sold 11 million cars worldwide equipped with a cheat device in diesel engines, exaggerating the performance in laboratory emissions tests.
The FTC also found Audi Volkswagen Korea had advertised that over 120,000 cars with EA189 turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines satisfied European emission standards, the Euro 5, between December 2007 and November 2015.
The government's Clean Air Conservation Act applies the same standards as the Euro 5, while the German carmaker claimed its vehicles automatically satisfied the standards of the Korean act accordingly.
When the so-called "diesel gate" scandal rose to the surface in November 2015, the Ministry of Environment found the carmaker rigged its vehicles' software to detect emissions testing and modify performance to meet the standards.
The software was designed to deactivate during regular driving, resulting in a drop in fuel efficiency, the ministry said.
By Park Jae-hyuk
Internet communities of Korea and China appear to be staging online wars as the latter boycotts Lotte products over the retail giant's recent decision to offer land for a U.S. anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.
On Thursday afternoon, Lotte Duty Free's official website in every language was attacked by unidentified Chinese hackers and was restored a few hours later. Lotte Group's official Chinese website (lotte.cn) has been inaccessible since Tuesday as well, due to an apparent cyberattack by unidentified Chinese hackers.
Koreans have begun to condemn their neighbor's retaliatory measures, demanding Korean consumers boycott products made in China as well.
"China has a large territory, but the people are narrow-minded," a Korean internet user said. "Lotte and other Korean companies should leave China, after dismissing thousands of Chinese employees."
Some people said China still seems to regard Korea as a "tributary state," pointing out Beijing did not take similar measures against the United States and Japan in past cases.
Koreans are becoming more and more angry as Chinese people began an online boycott of Lotte affiliates operating there, after Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate signed a land swap deal with the Ministry of National Defense, Tuesday.
Two Southeast Asian women were charged with first-degree murder in Malaysia on Wednesday in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah (25) and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong (29) appeared in court in bullet-proof vests accused of smearing Kim with VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13.
Security was tight around the court with commandos standing guard armed with submachine guns and assault rifles. The hearing lasted about an hour with Vietnamese and Indonesian interpreters on hand. At the request of Malaysian police the trial was held behind closed doors.
If convicted, the two women could face the death sentence, but a fierce court battle is expected since the women claim they were duped and four North Korean suspected of orchestrating the hit have fled back to the North.
Ju Yong-chol, a councilor at North Korea's UN mission to Geneva made the claim at the Conference on Disarmament. The North "has never produced or stockpiled or used chemical weapons, and our position is clear," Ju said.
The claim came in the face of mounting international criticism over the use of VX nerve agent.
North Korea on Tuesday claimed it has no chemical weapons after allegations that the regime used the world's deadliest nerve agent to assassinate Kim Jong-nam at a busy airport in Malaysia last month.
The UN classifies VX as a weapon of mass destruction. Ju also denied that the North was behind the hit but did not mention Kim Jong-nam's name.
He denounced as "contemptible and absurd" South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's request in an earlier keynote speech to consider stripping North Korea of its UN membership privileges.
North Korea is becoming increasingly frantic after the crude hit, dispatching Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Kil-song to China after Beijing decided last month to halt imports of North Korean coal and former Deputy Ambassador to the UN Ri Tong-il to Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur threatened to cut diplomatic ties with the rogue state.
International condemnation continues to mount. The U.S. is considering putting North Korea back on its list of terror-sponsoring states for the first time in nine years, while the EU announced its own set of sanctions against the North late last month.
It has halted North Korea's financial transactions with other countries except for humanitarian trade and services.
LG will build a home appliances plant in Tennessee in the U.S. by the first half of 2019.
LG said on Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tennessee state government for the plant. The building will cost US$250 million and will take three years to complete (US$1=W1,130).
The plant will have the capacity to produce one million washing machines a year, primarily for the North American market, where the company has so far exported washing machines made in Korea and other Asian nations.
Hyo-lyn of K-pop girl group Sistar has signed with Spinnin' Records, one of the world's leading record labels in electronic dance music, her agency announced on Monday.
"Hyo-lyn became the first Asian to sign with the label, and will release a collaboration single with Korean-Canadian DJ and producer Justin Oh in March," the agency said.
Tensions flared as the nation marked March 1 Independence Movement Day, with Park's mostly elderly fans calling for the arrest of independent counsel Park Young-soo, who was appointed to investigate the massive corruption scandal that has brought Park down. But they found themselves vastly outnumbered by protesters who want the president herself under lock and key.
Police set up a huge barricade with over 600 buses across downtown Seoul on Wednesday to separate crowds competing to denounce or support President Park Geun-hye.
Both sides waved the national flag and shouted slogans demanding protection of the republic, but ideologically they were a million miles apart. Park's supporters revere her as the daughter of strongman Park Chun-hee, whom they hold responsible for Korea's rapid economic development and see as a symbol of better times, while her enemies regard her as a corrupt fool.
Organizers of the pro-Park protests claimed an implausible 5 million people took part on their side, which would be half the population of Seoul, while opponents said 300,000 people attended Wednesday's candlelight protest in rain, which was held besides their regular weekend protests that have continued since late October.
Both sides marched on Cheong Wa Dae, but at different times and along separate routes without major clashes.
The protests ended between 7 and 8 p.m. The streets of downtown Seoul were closed off for more than six hours due to the rallies.
Its unlikely to get through life without experiencing bad times. The Blameless acknowledges such and takes a look at the happy, close-knit Garcia family striving to overcome a tragic act of violence. Written by Nick Gandiello and directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, the play has its world premiere at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park through March 26.
Nick is a really great writer with a fantastic ear for dialogue, Upchurch said. Hes able to make a very intimate, personal story about one family so universal. When youre watching the play, you see that his magic includes everyone in the room. Its fantastic.
Im very interested in how we get beyond tragedy and move through life when things dont go as we plan them. Nick was able to laser-in on this family and how they are coping ... He does an amazing job of injecting grace, humor and pathos ... people writing about tragedy can be sentimental or brutal. In my experience of grief, we as humans have to find joy somewhere and survive. This family that Nick put together is in the process of doing that.
Upchurch said Gandiello wrote The Blameless from his own experiences. His characters must find a way to hold everything together as they welcome to dinner the one man who might help them heal or reopen their wounds.
Im not sure how much really relates to his life, she said. But, he did experience loss and is able to tap into that as a writer who has a very broad and deep imagination. The family cast gets along very well on and off stage. They have a real respect and love for each other. This production makes me feel less alone in the world, and when were going through the process of grief, sadness, tragedy and feeling alone, it can be at the heart of that.
The cast includes Amara James Aja as Howard Harper, Liza Colon-Zayas as Amanda Garcia, Antoinette LaVecchia as Diana Garcia, Frank Pando as Alex Garcia, Stephen Barker Turner as Drew Davis, and Carmen Zilles as Theresa Garcia.
Upchurch said she hopes people leaving the theater will feel a sense of community; holding people you love tighter and being steeped in the love that creates fuller lives.
IF YOU GO: The Blameless, runs through March 26 at Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre at The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park, San Diego. Tickets from $29. (619) 234-5623. theoldglobe.org
A plaque recognizing the Surf Shack at WindanSea beach as a historical landmark has finally been installed 70 years after the iconic La Jolla shelter was first constructed. The Shack got its historical designation May 27, 1998, but due to the aloha spirit of the surfers behind the designation, the plaque was a little slow in coming.
Posted a few weeks ago, the plaque reads: Historical Landmark 358, The Surf Shack (at) WindanSea Beach built by returning World War II (soldiers who were also) surfers in 1947 for shade and aloha.
According to the Historical Landmarks Designated by the San Diego Historical Resources Board document that identifies such sites, the Surf Shack at WindanSea Beach (6800 Neptune Place) is the oldest continuously used shelter of its kind on the West Coast.
Melinda Merryweather, one of those responsible for the designation and later the plaque, said The Shack needed the protection that comes with designation, in case it were ever destroyed. It was built by surfers, not a formal construction company, and a while back we thought, we need some assurance in case it comes down. Lo and behold, it did come down during a storm and we were able to rebuild it as it was, she said.
We admit, it was a farfetched idea to designate a shack, because its not some important house or building, but we wanted to do it. For me, its a church in my neighborhood. I christened my son there. Its the heart of our surfing community.
Among other criteria, historic designation typically goes to properties identified with persons or events significant in local, state or national history (according to the Citys Historic Preservation website). For The Shack, its contribution to the period in which surfing became popular in the United States was cited as a reason for its significance.
Although there are a few different reasons, or perhaps a combination of reasons, for the Shacks construction, it all comes back to surfing in the late 1940s. The Shack was originally constructed by soldiers coming back from World War II, and one theory is that they wanted a place to surf, and needed it have a sun shelter for their children.
Merryweather said, When these guys would go surfing, their wives would say they needed to take the children with them. Then they would get here and realize there was no shady, protected place for their kids.
Tony Ciani, also part of the team that got the Shack designated, said he heard it was because their board wax would melt, and a shady place was needed to keep their equipment cool. Maybe its both the kids needed shade and their boards needed shade, he said.
Regardless of the impetus, The Shacks synonymy with surfing at WindanSea makes it arguably relevant to the history of La Jolla. Ciani added, Its just legendary, part of the legend of surfing. Its one of those landmarks you want to be able to touch over time. In 1966, Congress adopted the National Historic Preservation Act because they wanted to protect these buildings because of the feeling and connection to a historic time.
The Shack has been moved twice. Both times, its orientation was kept the same a crucial factor in maintaining its connection to surfing.
The story I was told is that the orientation of two of the poles allowed you to line up along a surf break along a certain swell, Ciani said. If you lined up on the northwest pole and southeast pole, you could paddle out and use those as landmarks. Then you are in the primo spot for a take-off.
The first time, at a date unknown, The Shack was moved directly inland because its sandstone base was deteriorating. In 2015, a storm destroyed The Shack and it was rebuilt by Friends of WindanSea.
Now that the Shack has been designated, and there is the plaque to prove it, the Friends group is trying to get the word out to not hang hammocks or other swings from The Shacks roof. You cant do that on historic buildings in Balboa Park, why would you be able to do that here? Merryweather posed.
Although it has historically been topped by palm fronds, recently the Friends group has removed the leafy roof when storms are projected to be large.
Landscape architect Jim Neri, a member of Friends of WindanSea, said the roof is not made to withstand the weight of water and pounding waves, and each year, the decision to remove the fronds is made.
Expecting the heavy rains that took place in late 2016 and early 2017, the fronds were removed. New fronds should be in place by mid-March.
In Lake Geneva there are only three certainties: Death, taxes and parking meters.
Residents will be reminded of that last certainty today, as on March 1 the citys modern-day parking kiosks are reactivated, changing dollars into hours of permitted parking.
What residents may not realize is that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the installation of parking meters in Lake Geneva.
The Lake Geneva City Council approved a parking meter ordinance on May 14, 1947.
According to Lake Geneva Regional News archives, the meters were introduced as part of a one-year trial. In the case of Lake Geneva, that meant 5 cents for every hour, with some zones limited to one-hour parking and others to five hours.
Parking meter hours in that inaugural year were from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. along the lake front, while meters in the business district were in operation from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. That first year, drivers got a break from the meters during the Memorial Day weekend. But after that, police said they meant business enforcing the meter ordinance.
The fine for over-parking was between $1 to $5 or, in case of forfeiture, five days in the Walworth County Jail.
Wonderful
Thats wonderful, said Sylvia Martinez-Mullally, the citys parking supervisor, when told of the anniversary. Its a Lake Geneva tradition.
Martinez-Mullally said Lake Geneva was probably a pioneer among small cities in turning to the parking meter for parking control.
The parking meter was first introduced in Oklahoma City in 1935. Big cities like Chicago adopted the meters that same year, Martinez-Mullally said.
Today, the parking meter had evolved into the computerized parking kiosk, but the purpose of meters, ensuring that a supply of parking spaces remain open and providing the city with extra revenue, remains unchanged.
Its evolved, but its same as it ever was, Martinez-Mullally said.
Mayor Al Kupsik said he was unaware of the parking meter anniversary. All he knew was that, looking at old photographs of Lake Genevas downtown, parking meters had been here for some time.
Its a very good revenue source for the city, Kupsik said of metered parking.
The factors that brought meters into Lake Geneva were that city fathers were looking for additional revenue and also trying to relieve the police from having to enforce the citys parking limits. Parking was limited to one hour and five hours in various sections of the city. People would park and brazenly ignore the parking limits.
Yet, the arrival of parking meters was not heralded with great joy.
Early in 1947, the Lake Geneva Regional News ran an editorial with the headline: Parking Meters, AGAIN.
The paper pointed out that a majority of downtown merchants sent a petition to the city council against installing the meters.
It also cited that Beloits share in its recent installation of parking meters netted that city of 25,000 an income of just $3,000.
Lake Genevas official population in 1947 (from the 1940 census) was 3,000.
Downtown ghost town
The paper also cited a letter to the editor to the Harvard (Illinois) Herald in which the unnamed author claimed that installing parking meters in an unnamed city of 18,000, turned that communitys downtown into a ghost town.
Resistance to the parking meters was so loud that then-Mayor Lyle Traver and the city council took out a half-page ad in the Regional News to explain their position in approving a one-year trial experiment of the parking meters.
The arguments made by the mayor and council members were simple.
The meters would be a source of revenue to help pay for the police and fire protection and other services used by both residents and visitors to the city.
Yes, Lake Geneva is a wonderful lake we are very fortunate to have, said the official ad, But remember this, 90 percent of the people who visit us in the summer come here in their cars and if and when they find our parking and traffic control inadequate they will not come on the train, no, they will drive their cars but they will drive to some other resort where their cars can be accommodated.
Acceptance of the meters was slow and sometimes resisted with force. In the June 5, 1947, Regional News, police reported that three of the meters along the lakefront in front of Flat Iron Park had been knocked down by a car.
And five metal slugs were recovered from the meter boxes, fed into the meter slots for a few ill-gotten hours.
But there was no question that the parking meters would stay beyond their one-year trial period.
When the 1948 budget was prepared, it showed that the meters reaped $15,000. This was when the entire city budget was about $146,000 and its tax levy for 1948 was calculated at $63,000.
Half of that was sent to the meter company to pay for the meters. But that meant the citys general fund reaped $7,500 from metered parking in its first summer.
The councils finance committee estimated that the parking take in 1949 would be $20,000.
The citys general fund budget for 2017 is about $8.7 million and its levy was $7 million.
In 2016, the citys parking kiosks brought in about $1 million.
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Security officials from South Korea and the U.S. on Wednesday reaffirmed their determination to punish North Korea for its provocations.
National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin talked over the phone with his U.S. counterpart H.R. McMaster for the first time.
McMaster was appointed on Feb. 20 after his predecessor Michael Flynn resigned in disgrace after lying about his talks with the Russian ambassador.
"The two sides shared the understanding that the bilateral alliance is facing an urgent security challenge, including the North's nuclear and missile development, and agreed to respond strongly to further provocations from the North," Cheong Wa Dae said.
McMaster said he is putting the top priority on strengthening the alliance between Seoul and Washington. His father was a Korean War veteran.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his U.S. counterpart James Mattis also talked over phone.
They reaffirmed that the U.S. will deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here to protect South Koreans and the military alliance from nuclear and missile threats from the North.
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PRESS RELEASE
Economic Blockade Raises Tensions in Ukraine
March 1, 2017 (EIRNS)In Ukraine, the economic blockade imposed on the Donbass by right-wing militia groups since Jan. 25, is about to explode into a full-scale crisis. Even former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, who represents the Kiev regime on the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, warned that the blockade is not doing Ukraine any good. "Such methods are not helping [Ukraine], their effect has been quite the opposite," Kuchma told reporters in Kiev, yesterday. Kuchma argued that problems of this kind need to be handled urgently.
Boris Gryzlov, the Russian envoy to the contact group, warned that the government in Kiev must take action to end the blockade of Donbass. Otherwise, Ukraine will receive a response. Such actions as expanding the blockade, "actually aimed at the economic and social exclusion, will inevitably lead to retaliation," he said.
"Donbass is neither an enclave nor an island... We cannot allow a humanitarian and socio-economic catastrophe on the territories, whose population exceeds the population of some European countries,"
he added.
The head of the Donetsk Peoples Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, confirmed yesterday that the self-declared republic will move to take control of all Ukrainian enterprises operating in the D.P.R. if they have not re-registered with the D.P.R. authorities by midnight, tonight. He noted that many enterprises have ceased operating because of the blockade, a situation which is simply not tolerable. He also noted that the decision was a long time in coming.
"We are at war. Its time to make strategic decisions," he said. "This decision has been taken at the time when it is necessary. We have repeatedly spoken about our independence."
As for which groups are specifically involved in blocking roads and railways, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission, in its daily report of Feb. 28, identified members of the Aidar battalion and Right Sector at blockade sites, though the particular groups of men the monitors encountered were not armed.
South Korea and the U.S. kicked off joint annual military drills on Wednesday that amount to an unusually heavy show of force against North Korea.
The drills, dubbed "Foal Eagle" for reasons lost in time, will carry on until late April and involve a fleet led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, as well as F-35B vertical takeoff and landing stealth aircraft.
Surveillance is at a maximum amid fears that North Korea will launch a fresh provocation to protest at the huge military presence on its doorstep. A military spokesman said the drills feature the biggest military arsenal in their history.
"Foal Eagle" is a field training exercise, including landing drills, while a simultaneous exercise called "Key Resolve" focuses on computer-based simulation.
"Key Resolve" will this time include practicing preemptive strikes, a decapitation exercise targeting the North Korean leadership, and intercepting North Korean missiles using a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery that will be deployed in North Gyeongsang Province.
About 3,600 U.S. troops and some 300,000 South Korean soldiers will be taking part, over 10,000 more troops than last year.
The USS Carl Vinson is expected in mid-March stacked with 80 aircraft including the FA-18E/F Super Hornet jet fighters and E-2 Hawkeye early warning and control aircraft. The U.S. Marines' F-35Bs from a military base in Japan will participate for the first time. The vertical takeoff and landing stealth aircraft can be carried on an amphibious assault ship and attack targets by avoiding radar detection.
Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently visited the command post of a military unit tasked with defending Pyongyang, where he ordered troops to step up preparations to fight, the official [North] Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
The regime has reportedly begun preparations for a vast military parade marking the 85th anniversary of the North Korean Army on April 25. "Kim Jong-un has instructed officials to make this year's parade the biggest ever in response to the joint South Korea-U.S. exercises," a military source here said.
A rehearsal for the parade is taking place at Mirim Airport in Pyongyang with about 6,000 troops. More than 20,000 troops are expected to be mobilized for the actual parade.
PRESS RELEASE
French Presidential System Imploding; Cheminade Offers the Alternative
PARIS, March 1, 2017 (Nouvelle Solidarite)This morning and until noon, a major drama was occupying the national media. Francois Fillon cancelled a much-publicized tour he was to make to the Agriculture Fair this morning, without any explanation. At a press conference at noon, he made a dramatic intervention, reporting that this morning the judges had informed him of their decision to put him under "examination" on March 15th, two days before the Constitutional Council announces the formal list of candidates for the election. In a short but straightforward statement, he accused the judges and the media of having led a campaign against him since the beginning, in violation of the rights of defense, equating this to a "political assassination." Concerning Marine Le Pen, the European Parliament authorities announced yesterday that they will proceed to a vote, as early perhaps as Thursday, for lifting her parliamentary immunity. Le Pen is a Member of the European Parliament. A positive vote would pave the way for her to be indicted for having used European Parliament funds for assistants to hire her friends from the Front National.
Two other main candidates, Emmanuel Macron, number two, and Benoit Hamon, the so-called very-left-wing Socialist Party candidate, are also under media accusations: Macron for having used money from his ministry to run the early part of his campaign; Hamon, because of his wife's job and connections to LVMH, the top French luxury goods company. While the corruption is a real and nasty reality, the judges are clearly being used by the rotten Atlanticist elites, to create Nacht und Nebel chaos in France and kill what's left of de Gaulle's Fifth Republic.
In the meantime, Jacques Cheminade's campaign is proceeding in an interesting way, with some media giving him the possibility to develop his ideas accurately. Following the very good article published by RTL, which we previously reported, he got a very good 20 minutes on the all-news private channel of TF1 (national channel one), LCI. Cheminade was able to develop his main ideas of leaving the EU and reforming a Europe of the Fatherlands with seven or eight states. Complaining that journalists are not bringing foreign policy issueswhich consume 50% of a President's timeto the fore in their coverage, Cheminade used the occasion to raise the alternative of China and its Silk Road policy. Jacques also explained what he meant by saying that France is occupied by financial powers, and even had the opportunity to read a quote from a book by a top former French law enforcement officer, which accuses our financial system of having become criminal.
Cheminade then had a very good visit to the Agriculture Fair, a yearly event where farmers from throughout France come to Paris to exhibit their best goods for the public. This is a highly publicized event, very much visited by the professional world, but also very popular among the population at large. As pre-arranged with the fair's organizers, Jacques was received and taken around "officially," to the main stands, to field questions, give interviews, or just speak with the farmers about their problems and our solutions. Jacques was accompanied in this tour, by some ten media, and two sociologists doing a study on all the candidates' campaigns.
BFM media, which was part of the press pool, conducted a very good interview with him. He also granted interviews to tvagri, the European School of Journalism, the RTL agriculture specialist, and Public Senat, the Senate TV/radio station.
Among the high points of the visit were his meetings with the main agriculture unions; an exhibit by shepherds from the Aveyron, one of whom expressed his liking for Cheminade, putting a couple sheep on his lap and saying he would be ready to vote for him. Even the sociologists had a good reaction, saying that, of all the candidates they had followed, only Cheminade was really engaging in dialogue with the producers, that the others come with a pre-set statements that they deliver at each stand. (See Cheminade's twitter account for great pictures!)
Jacques also gave a long interview to Tropique FM, which broadcasts to all the French territories abroad, and a five-minute interview to Eric Brunet from RMC, another national private radio with a large audience. Jacques responded to questions on what are the political currents he expects to draw to his campaignresistance Gaullists, social Christians in the tradition of the Democrat abbeys of Brittany, Jaures-inspired Socialists and the resistance communists, and on other essentials of his program, etc. At one point, he was asked who he thought was the best leader for the world today, a trap question. Jacques responded that for him there were none, Putin is good for Russia, he said, but in the rest of the world, I see none.
PRESS RELEASE
Russian Senator: Preparation for Putins Meeting with Trump Underway
March 1, 2017 (EIRNS)The chairperson of Russias Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, told reporters that preparations for a previously agreed meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump are underway. The Federation Council is the upper house of Russias Federal Assembly.
"It is no secret that the agreement on this was reached during their telephone conversation. The Foreign Ministry is now engaged in preparing this momentous event,"
Matvienko told reporters. She said that the two leaders could discuss a range of bilateral issues as well as areas where Moscow and Washington could find common ground.
"The need to unfreeze relations between the U.S. and Russia may become the subject of the conversation. I think there is a mindset toward a positive agenda,"
Matvienko affirmed.
How well do we really know Joan Didion? A Didion completist might think she has a whole universe of reference materials at her fingertips. There are those last, bestselling memoirs. There is the book about her familys roots in California. There are the personal tidbits laced through the varied body of work that stretches out before them: the trip to Hawaii in lieu of filing for divorce, the house in Los Angeles that was kept even more negligently than my hair, the medical record where a psychiatrist observes a personality in process of deterioration.
But not everything is in those books. Didion has always been a master of persona rather than confession, per se. The items displayed before us are carefully chosen and meticulously framed. There is almost nothing of haphazard daily life in Didions work, no sense of accident or chance. Everything in controlled, measured out and sharpened to a point. Even the meaningless is given meaning. That sort of paradox is central to Didions work: She takes a ruin and in prose makes it whole and beautiful.
It is mysterious, in that context, to be presented with South and West: From a Notebook. It is not actually new work but a collection of notes from two failed works in progress. We are given no indication of why Didion has chosen to publish this book now.
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What if Didion had finished these pieces? Does she wish that she had?
We get only a somewhat florid and unrevealing introduction, written by Nathaniel Rich. He does not explain why hes even attached to this book, instead falling into the trap of trying to ape Didions style. One does not have to stay long to learn how easily plans in New Orleans, like its houses, become waterlogged and subside into the mud, breaking to pieces, is the sort of thing he has to add. To be fair, it is easily skipped.
Didion herself seems to have added only two brief prefatory notes, which give the barest context and are inexplicably dated 10 years apart, in 2006 and 2016. We learn from them that the observations about New Orleans, and about the rest of the Deep South, come from a trip undertaken in the space of a month in 1970. At the time, I had thought it might be a piece, she adds, without further comment. The much briefer portion of the book that tackles California came from an effort to write about the kidnapping and subsequent trial of Patricia Hearst in 1976. I thought the trial had some meaning for me because I was from California, Didion writes. This didnt turn out to be true.
So this is a book of notes, and the notes are explicitly not meant to amount to anything in particular. That does not mean that the observations Didion presents here are without elegance and insight. Her South is a South populated by eccentrics she takes relatively seriously. She visits a Reptile House populated mostly by snakes. She swims in a hotel pool that smells of fish. Didion manages not to leave the subject of race untouched, either: She meets a white man who owns, in his own words, the ethnic radio station in Meridian, Miss., and who says things like, Of course neither you nor I can change the older black, the forty-year-old, his life patterns are settled. She buys a Confederate flag towel, then remarks with light irony that my child prefers it to the good ones. Her West, though much briefer, devolves into a self-examination that popped up in other Didion pieces: Looking through the evidence I find what seems to me now (or rather seemed to me then) an entirely spurious aura of social success and achievement.
There are also, perhaps inevitably, a few unforgettable shards of prose. Bananas would rot, and harbor tarantulas, Didion writes, by way of illustrating the fatalism I would come to recognize as endemic to the particular tone of New Orleans. So the Didion style is there, in the close attention paid to the sound of the words sound is always how Didions created an atmosphere. But her hypnotists tricks keep getting broken up by the necessarily partial, impressionistic progress of a book like this. No anecdote gets longer than a page or two, and none ties smoothly to the rest.
South and West is a book for the completists and hardcore fans, in other words. Though it feels somehow impolite to mention this, because Didion, 82, is still with us, it is the sort of book that isnt typically published before the writer is dead. It is most reminiscent of the editions of Susan Sontags journals that have appeared in recent years and that have became very popular among a certain kind of young, bookish person. Those journals exposed a side of Sontag that hadnt really been visible in her aggressively mandarin, intellectual work, a side that had doubts and setbacks and even a strong sense of humor.
Even the meaningless is given meaning. That sort of paradox is central to Didions work: She takes a ruin and in prose makes it whole and beautiful.
Here, if indeed these are just the rough notes, there is no new Didion to be discovered. In rough drafts of pieces she sounds just like herself, if a bit wordier than usual. We do get a little more about her life before John Gregory Dunne than we are used to seeing.
Intriguingly, we get a glimpse of a Bad Boyfriend. Called only N. in this book, he happened to be from Louisiana. He also happened to leave bizarre messages for Didion: I guess you think our mother used to be County Cookie Chairman, goes one of them. I guess you think I take up a lot of room in a small bed. There is something charming there, and one longs for Didion to get really chatty about it. So much of the mythos of The Year of Magical Thinking is predicated on the ideal Didion-Dunne marriage, and this sort of pretext to it illuminates something we didnt know about Didion before. Naturally, though, she doesnt linger on N. long enough to pursue it.
Of course, thats in keeping with the general teasing effect of the book. The enigmatic packaging here poses so many questions. What if Didion had finished these pieces? Does she wish that she had? Does that even fit with our vision of her as someone rather steely and indifferent to the affections of her readers? Is South and West a dispatch from some alternate-world Didion? Or is it here because our current political phantasmagoria calls for the kind of insights Didion produced in the past? Perhaps it fits that Didion remains as enigmatic here as she always has in her prose. Obviously, there are some things shell never tell us.
Dean is the 2017 recipient of the Nona Balakian citation for excellence in criticism awarded by the National Book Critics Circle. She is the author of the forthcoming book Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion.
South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Knopf: 160 pp., $24
Oprah Winfrey had the political chattering classes buzzing over Bloomberg Television interviewer David Rubensteins recent query on whether she would consider running for president.
I thought, I dont have the experience, I dont know enough, Winfrey said in the interview taped Dec. 12. Now Im thinking, Oh, oh.
Winfreys answer implied that if former reality TV star Donald Trump won the presidency without any government or political experience, why not the Queen of All Media?
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But Gayle King, co-anchor of CBS This Morning and Winfreys best friend, poured cold water on the chances of another super-celebrity presidential bid in 2020.
I was in the audience that day, and it was clearly a joke when she was playing with David because they have such a great rapport, King said on her program Thursday. But I also heard on the Oprah Winfrey show over the years you always have the right to change your mind, but I would bet my first, second born and any unborn children to come, that aint never happening. Never. Ill say never on this one. Nevah, n-e-v-a-h. Nevah.
Winfrey may be just the first of many famous names floated as a possible opponent to Trump in 2020. Trumps rise to the White House demonstrated that a celebrity mogul with high name recognition can become a serious political contender.
The Hollywood Reporter, citing unnamed sources, reported that Walt Disney Co. Chairman Robert Iger is being encouraged by friends to run for president as a Democrat in 2020. Iger has said publicly in the past that he has been urged to seek political office.
As the executive in charge of the company that includes Disneyland, Iger could accurately claim that hes already responsible for running The Happiest Place on Earth.
stephen.battaglio@latimes.com
Twitter: @SteveBattaglio
After complaints that the state is doing little to stop deadly hospital outbreaks, the California Department of Public Health said this week that it would prioritize inspections at those facilities with high rates of patient infections.
The state disclosed the changes in a Tuesday letter to Consumers Union. The national nonprofit group had filed a petition with the state early this year listing scores of hospitals with abnormally high infection rates that had not been inspected in five years.
On Wednesday, Consumers Union called the states response an important first step that still did not go far enough to protect the public.
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For too long, the state has relied on voluntary efforts by hospitals to lower infection rates, and that clearly hasnt been working, said Lisa McGiffert, who directs the groups Safe Patient Project. Now its time for the state to use its enforcement power to require poor performing hospitals to take action and keep patients safe.
State law requires hospitals to be inspected every three years.
Consumers Union used state records to find that 131 California hospitals had not been inspected within the last five years. Eighty of those hospitals have reported infection rates that are significantly higher than other facilities, the group found according to its petition.
In its letter to the group, the state public health department said it was already working on catching up on inspections at those hospitals. State officials were now prioritizing inspections based on the hospitals reported rate of infections and how much time had passed since the last review, the letter said.
This prioritization will occur until all hospitals are resurveyed every three years, wrote Scott Vivona, the departments acting deputy director.
Consumers Union looked at rates of a handful of dangerous types of hospital-acquired infections that facilities must report under a 2008 law, including the superbugs Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile.
Because of limited infection-reporting requirements, state officials dont know how many Californians are sickened by bacteria or other pathogens while in the hospital. They estimate that as many as 9,000 Californians die each year from hospital-acquired infections a number that experts say may be low.
In the petition, Consumers Union asked the state to fine hospitals that did not report infections and deaths caused by contaminated medical devices.
Last year, a U.S. Senate investigation found that not one of the 16 or more American hospitals experiencing outbreaks caused by medical devices known as duodenoscopes had properly reported those events as required by federal law.
In his letter, Vivona said that language in the current state law has hampered the health departments ability to penalize hospitals for not reporting problems that cause deaths or serious injuries.
State officials are developing rules that would guide hospitals on how they must report serious infections and other adverse events, he said.
We are constantly striving to find better ways to protect patients, said Karen Smith, the departments director, on Wednesday. Our ongoing work with healthcare facilities to reduce and eliminate preventable infections is a cornerstone of this commitment. Healthcare associated infections are a serious public issue and have long been a top priority for the department.
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UPDATES:
5:15 p.m.: This article was updated with an additional comment from state officials.
This article was originally published at 3:15 p.m.
To hear John Duarte tell it, farmers knew the cavalry was coming to their rescue on election night. Its one reason agricultural areas voted heavily for Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Trump ordered his new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, to scale back the agencys interpretation of the Clean Water Act.
The 1972 law is widely credited for reversing the decline in drinking water quality nationwide by controlling pollution to navigable waters.
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A set of regulations known as the Waters of the U.S. rules, which extended the authority of the Clean Water Act to many small upstream tributaries and isolated wetlands, led growers to worry that a law aimed at developers and heavy industry would be applied to their ditches, canals and wetlands.
Trump had been uncharacteristically specific during his campaign about reversing the rules, and calls to Repeal WOTUS were as common a rallying cry among growers as Build the Wall was to his followers in rural manufacturing areas.
Duartes nursery operation raises root stock for grapes and other crops in the San Joaquin Valley near Modesto. The Army Corps of Engineers, and later the EPA, accused Duarte in 2012 of damaging wetlands on low spots of the 450 acres of rolling grassland he was plowing up in Tehama County, in preparation to plant wheat.
A protracted legal battle ensued over whether 5-inch furrows amounted to enough of an alteration of the land to pollute the pools.
The wetlands in my case amount to very minor depressions theyre vernal pools far away and disconnected from any stream or navigable waters, Duarte said. Sometimes theyre just dark spots in the grass to the layperson.
Duarte said Trumps actions are absolutely timely and very important, and I hope theyre very broad because whats happening to my family and myself is just an example of the kind of escalation were seeing nationwide.
Conservation and recreation groups blasted the proposed rollback of the guidelines, which have been stalled in courts.
Jon Devine, senior water attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., lashed out at assertions by Trump that the rules would govern virtually every ditch and puddle.
President Trump may have set some kind of record on Tuesday, making eight false statements about a single rule in the span of just a few minutes, Devine wrote on a blog posted Wednesday.
Rescinding the rule, Devine said, would prove to be rough sledding for the new administration, because the rule relies on an extensive scientific record, and its protections are easily consistent with what Congress required in the Clean Water Act.
The Clean Water Acts provisions were narrowly upheld in 2006 by the Supreme Court in a case that produced multiple written opinions, including a dissent by the late Justice Antonin Scalia to which three other justices added their names.
The Trump executive order directs the agency to follow Scalias narrower interpretation of the Clean Water Act, which explicitly exempts most agricultural activities.
Pruitt, who had used similar arguments to sue the agency over the Clean Water Act while he was attorney general of Oklahoma, applauded Trumps executive order Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, the agency had re-jiggered its website, relegating the Waters of the U.S. rule to a lower rank and substituting a statement that the agency will withdraw and replace the rule.
The Presidents action preserves a federal role in protecting water, but it also restores the states important role in the regulation of water, the statement said.
The Environmental Protection Agency failed to listen to farmers and ranchers concerns when drafting the rule and instead created widespread confusion for agriculture, said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, an advocacy group for U.S. agriculture that had pushed hard against the rule.
Although Duartes case preceded the 2015 publication of the Waters of the U.S. rules, it soon become a poster child for opponents of federal regulation. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative land-rights group, championed the case, which was rebuffed twice in federal courts.
During the Senate hearing on Pruitts nomination, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst used a photograph of Duartes furrows as a backdrop, mocking a federal brief that said the furrow tops now serve as small mountain ranges. She asked Pruitt if he would make sure that federal agencies stop trying to regulate ordinary farming practices.
Pruitt had a two-word answer: Yes, senator.
Duarte and his Pacific Legal Foundation attorney, Anthony L. Francois, are optimistic that the Justice Department under Jeff Sessions will halt some of its prosecutions and find a quiet way out of the Duarte case, which is under appeal.
With the new executive order, Francois said, the Justice Departments prosecution theory is collapsing.
geoffrey.mohan@latimes.com
Follow me: @LATgeoffmohan
Mexico has said it wont pay for it. And polls show that the U.S. public doesnt have all that much appetite for it. Nonetheless, the administration of President Trump is moving along with its plans to build a wall along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border a project that could end up costing American taxpayers $15 billion to $40 billion (or 101 to 270 times the annual budget for the National Endowment for the Arts).
And even if the funds for the project have yet to be identified much less authorized it is a project that is nonetheless entering the design and prototype phase.
Last Friday, the Department of Homeland Security placed a presolicitation notice on the Federal Business Opportunities website for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United Sates border with Mexico. The notice says that the department expects to have a formal solicitation online by Monday and concept papers will be due four days later. The plan is to request formal proposals with cost estimates by the end of the month.
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Thats breakneck speed, especially by government standards four days to design a prototype that could serve as the model for one of the biggest government infrastructure projects ever.
Even so, in the days since the presolicitation was first posted, more than 300 potential vendors from around the country have signed on. Design writer Kriston Capps of Citylab has analyzed the list, which includes defense contractors, architectural firms and small construction companies of all stripes.
As of Thursday morning, the rundown included about 50 entities from California. Among them was Halbert Construction of El Cajon, near San Diego, which has experience working with the federal government, including projects at the U.S.-Mexico border. The company worked on the pedestrian bridge that connects San Ysidro with Tijuana and built a small stretch of fence around the border station.
Its too early to tell what form the wall might take because the government has yet to issue formal specifications for the prototype, says Jimmy Benavente, a project coordinator at Halbert. But, if its going to happen, we would like a piece of it, he says. We try not to bring our political beliefs into it.
The construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall is no ordinary infrastructure project. For one, there is its massive scale. Trump wants a contiguous, physical wall along all 2,000 miles of border with Mexico which means a whole lot of steel and concrete (not to mention construction jobs).
An aerial view of the U.S.-Mexico border in Southern California. San Ysidro is at bottom and Tijuana is at top. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Its a big project, lot of money. We want a piece of the pie. Kevin Rouhani, Meridian Precast Inc.
But it faces myriad, possibly insurmountable challenges. Theres a 47-year-old treaty with Mexico that dictates that no structure can interfere with the flow of cross-border waterways, such as the Rio Grande. There are also the environmental concerns. A contiguous structure could potentially impact more than 111 endangered species, as well as various wildlife refuges and protected wetlands.
And there are the many political factors.
The border wall remains controversial. At least six in 10 U.S. voters oppose building one, according to a poll released by Quinnipiac University late last month. Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), whose district includes 800 miles of U.S.-Mexico border, came out against it. Not to mention the fact that unauthorized immigration to the U.S. has actually declined in recent years.
Moreover, for some in the design community, the wall has raised all kinds of ethical issues. Last year, the architectural website ArchDaily generated an outcry when it announced a competition titled Building the Border Wall? One architect called for a boycott of the site in response. Others wondered whether the competition encouraged xenophobia. And a lengthy piece in the New Republic explored whether the competition completely missed the point on the borders more pressing needs, such as municipal infrastructure for the informal settlements known as colonias.
In his analysis, Capps writes that any company (or companies) picked for the job faces a sincere reputational risk.
No Ban, No Wall has emerged as a rallying cry for Muslim and Latino communities and their allies at protests held across the nation, he adds. The firm that wins the final [request for proposals] may also earn undesirable exposure from activists.
Given the fraught nature of the enterprise, I was curious why companies were interested in the contract and what a new wall might look like. (To be certain, the idea of building a wall isnt new. More than 650 miles of border barriers already exist, which have already cost taxpayers around $2.3 billion or about $3.5 million per mile.)
Some firms were reluctant to talk. One project manager at a small construction company based in Alta Loma told me, Im not sure its something we really want to engage in.
Others were intrigued by the question of economics.
Kevin Rouhani of Meridian Precast Inc., a Westwood-based company that produces prefabricated walls and concrete panels and has worked on government infrastructure such as BART stations in the Bay Area, also said it was too early to tell what a wall might look like.
There hasnt been anything like it, he says. But the scale grabbed his eye when the presolicitation went up. Its a big project, lot of money. We want a piece of the pie.
He says tries to look past the politics of the wall. If its going to be done, its going to be done, I cant change that.
Benavente, of Halbert Construction, says, Its been a topic since the political race started and, in our office, political beliefs aside, we like to keep our doors open.
And while its too early to talk aesthetics, he notes that nothing is going to be foolproof.
Unless youre putting a wall thats 200 feet tall and a 100 feet underground, he says, there are people who are going to tunnel under or create mobile structures to advance over the top.
One of the more unusual vendors to appear on the presolicitation list was a small, bicoastal design studio called JuneJuly, founded by architects Jake Matatyaou, who is based in Los Angeles, and Kyle Hovenkotter, in New York. Matatyaou is on the faculty at SCI-Arc, the Southern California Institute of Architecture in downtown Los Angeles; Hovenkotter teaches at Columbia University and the Pratt Institute, among others.
For both, the border is a long-running area of interest.
Were interested in conversations around the future of cities, especially with respect to borders, says Hovenkotter. We think we want to approach this project as honestly as we can.
In the past, the pair has worked on a conceptual project, titled Approaching Borders, that tries to subvert the infrastructure of the border so that it becomes a point of linkage, rather than separation. For example: placing two-way video feeds at points along the wall so that people at the border can connect visually with people in other cities such as Washington, New York and Mexico City a way of using the tools of surveillance to connect.
Can we come up with something more humane? More aesthetical? Jake Matatyaou, JuneJuly design studio
If we begin with the fact that were building a hard border, something physical and material and that it will be built, we start with the question, What is an aesthetically, humanitarianly minded thing? asks Matatyaou. Can it have a more human interface than something that is just technical and tactical and is about demarcation and territorialization?
Are they concerned about the ethics of working on such a controversial piece of infrastructure?
Honestly, I take a post-national position, says Hovenkotter. I think the nation-state is a kind of outdated construct. And I think they are creating more political problems than solutions. But I also understand that if there is a system in which to play, you might want to play in it and make the best of it.
Matatyaou concurs.
We want to look at a response to try to develop a response that is not a wall, he says. Can we come up with something more humane? More aesthetical?
Theyll have four days to figure it out.
To read the article in Spanish, click here
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carolina.miranda@latimes.com
@cmonstah
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As its name suggests, Keep Quiet is a somber, careful documentary, but despite its measured tone its subject matter is wall to wall disturbing.
Thats because the films subject, Csanad Szegedi, though only 34, has already had a life story as unlikely as it is unsettling.
After rising to public notice in his native Hungary as one of the founders of Jobbik, a far right political party whose stock in trade was virulent anti-Semitism, Szegedi was flabbergasted to learn that he himself was Jewish.
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Szegedis reaction, after months of personal confusion and upheaval (this Jewish bomb took everything in its path is how he pungently described what happened), was just as shocking to everyone else.
Working with Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, a leader of Budapests religious community, Szegedi went from far right extremist to observant Orthodox Jew, a transformative embrace of his religion that seemed to upset other Jews suspicious of his sincerity as much as his previous hostility.
Co-directors Joseph Martin and Sam Blair, working under the aegis of veteran documentary executive producer John Battsek, are fortunate to have had Szegedis on-camera cooperation, for actually seeing and hearing him at length is critical to the films impact.
Articulate, analytical and a persuasive speaker, Szegedi not only tells his story in a series of interviews, he allows the filmmakers to go with him on a series of troubling encounters, including a trip to Auschwitz with a Hungarian survivor named Eva Neumann.
As he himself tells it, Szegedi had been an anti-Semitic nationalist since high school and was one of the core of people who founded the Jobbik party in 2003. An organizer as well as an ideologue, he became national vice chairman at age 26 and still counts the election when the party got an unexpected 14% of the national vote one of the best days of my life.
Though Szegedi was seemingly going from strength to strength, founding the paramilitary Hungarian Guard and getting elected to the European Parliament, disaster was lurking. A disaffected party member named Zoltan Ambrus (also interviewed on camera) knew something even Szegedi didnt: His maternal grandmother was Jewish and, more than that, was an Auschwitz survivor.
Szegedi is completely candid about how devastating the 2012 public revelation of this information was. It was like a dagger through my heart, he says. There was no place for me to go from here, I had nowhere to turn.
Deciding that I must face up to being a Jew, what I never ever wanted to be, Szegedi makes contact with the rabbi, who says he felt he had no choice but to accept Szegedi at his word and guide him on his increasing commitment to traditional Judaism.
Others, however, have been less trusting and Keep Quiet includes the mixed response Szegedi got at a Jewish Youth Congress in Berlin as well as the hostility an abortive attempt to visit Montreals Jewish community caused.
Because the footage of Szegedi was filmed over a number of years, the documentary reveals different stages of its subjects thinking. Though the experience of actually being at Auschwitz seems to have affected him, on the train going to the camp he is shown asking Eva Neumann if Jews arent partially responsible for anti-Semitism for refusing to assimilate.
The most moving parts of Keep Quiet, both for Szegedi and the audience, are interviews he taped for his own use with his mother and his grandmother, who rigorously hid her Auschwitz tattoo for decades under long-sleeved clothing.
To witness how hopeless both women felt in the face of an endemically anti-Semitic culture is quite sad. Asked by her grandson what a Jew should do in todays Hungary, her reply (Keep quiet) not only gives this film its title, it gives us something to ponder as well.
Keep Quiet
Unrated.
Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.
Playing Laemmles Music Hall, Beverly Hills, Town Center, Encino, Playhouse, Pasadena.
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kenneth.turan@latimes.com
@KennethTuran
On March 13, 2017, I filed a suit against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the International Criminal Court for the brutal murder of his uncle Jang Song-taek and the ensuing purge of other high-ranking officials. This was a bloody massacre that transcends our wildest imagination.
I also became concerned about Jang's widow Kim Kyong-hui, former leader Kim Jong-il's sister. Senior North Korean defectors gave contradicting accounts of what happened to Kim Kyong-hui during the investigation into Jang, and my suspicions only became more severe after the public assassination of Kim Jong-un's estranged half-brother Kim Jong-nam.
How Kim Kyong-hui coped with her husband's brutal execution is unclear. One defector who used to be a high-ranking military officer in the North said the execution would not have been possible without her approval. Kim Kyong-hui, this version goes, is a member of North Korea's de facto owner family and ended up killing her husband to help her nephew consolidate his grip on power. There were also rumors that the marriage had long existed on paper only due to his constant infidelities while she drifted into depression and alcoholism.
But another defector said Kim Kyong-hui was fiercely against her husband's execution and protested to Kim Jong-un before he was murdered. When that failed she apparently made her point publicly to the Workers Party. Led by Jo Yon-jun, the first deputy of the party at the time, bigwigs sent a letter to Kim Jong-un supporting a stint in a re-education camp for Jang instead of execution. But the leader ignored the request.
Minister of State Security Kim Won-hong was ordered to blast Jang's key aides Jang Su-gil and Ri Yong-ha to smithereens with anti-aircraft guns, and Jang went before a firing squad.
Even Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il were not such monsters. It is well-known that Kim Kyong-hui dared to travel all the way to Gangwon Province to meet Jang when they were lovers, despite of the vehement opposition of her father and brother. After their marriage, Jang had numerous affairs, just like Kim Jong-il, and although Jang and Kim Kyong-hui lived apart, Kim Jong-il did not allow them to divorce.
When Kim Jong-il died in 2011, Jang and Kim Kyong-hui apparently walked around Pyongyang with their arms around each other. Senior officials were relieved to see the couple show their solid bond at the time when the North had lost its supreme leader.
Perhaps the couple had decided to set aside their differences and come together for the sake of their country. Jang, who was then thought to be a mentor to his nephew, had always wanted to open Kim Jong-il's secret coffers to the North Korean people, and there are indications that Kim Kyong-hui tried to transfer those funds to the party's light industry department to revive the Norths moribund economy.
Even if Kim Kyong-hui decided to side with her spoiled nephew, she would have done it to help save North Korea. But Jong-un was no longer the child she knew. She did not realize that he had become a psychopath.
If Kim Kyong-hui agreed to have her husband executed, she must have been given a very persuasive reason. Some senior defectors said the accusations against Jang were fabricated and he never tried to overthrow Kim Jong-un, and it would at any rate have sufficed to strip him of his title and send him to a labor camp if he had become too rich and influential.
But Kim Kyong-hui ended up the widow of a publicly denounced traitor and was stripped of all official titles. One high-ranking North Korean defector has claimed that she, too, was poisoned. I doubted that at first, but no longer.
New works from Michael Winterbottom, Zosia Mamet and freshly minted best-picture studio A24 will have their world premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival when the New York gathering kicks off next month.
They anchor a slate of scripted and documentary movies that will be showcased by the Robert De Niro co-founded festival, now in its 16th year.
Winterbottom takes the wraps off The Trip to Spain, the latest installment of his combo TV-film franchise that began in 2010 with The Trip, a series that was edited into a feature. In it, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon played meta versions of themselves on a culinary tour of northern England.
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In the third installment (Italy came a couple years back), the pair find themselves in the land of paella and late dinners. The series hits British television in April, while IFC will release the film stateside.
Meanwhile, Sophie Brooks directs Zosia Mamet in The Boy Downstairs, a story of romance and real estate set in New York, as the Girls star takes a thus-far rare lead role in a feature.
And in The Lovers, indie auteur Azazel Jacobs (Terri) takes a look at a stale marriage that unexpectedly reignites. The movie stars Tracy Letts and Debra Winger; A24, the studio behind Moonlight, is scheduled to release the picture in May.
Its hardly the only movie at Tribeca about a veteran coupling: French auteur Guillaume Canet directs and stars in Rockn Roll, a satire about an aging famous couple, playing opposite real-life partner Marion Cotillard.
Flames, from Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker, is a scripted movie that loosely follows the filmmakers real-life relationship through various paces over five yearsand, by influencing how that relationship unfolds, creating an art-imitating-life-imitating art vibe.
And Oren Moverman the writer of Love & Mercy and director of The Messenger will unveil The Dinner in the U.S. for the first time. Based on Herman Kochs bestseller, it centers on two brothers and their spouses (Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall) in a story about family and politics.
A total of 78 movies will make their world premiere at the New York confab, organizers said. Of the 98 movies showing overallabout a 20% reduction from last year--a third are directed by women, they noted.
Tribeca had the advantage of being one of the first festivals to do the bulk of its programming after the election. Though many of the movies, particularly narrative titles, exist apart from the political landscape, they could have a role to play in the current complicated era.
Were living in a moment when truth and objectivity seem unstable, said director of programming Cara Cusumano in an interview. Theres huge potential for art and storytelling to overcome that and helps things feel more true. While nearly all of the movies were completed before the election, many read differently after Nov. 8, she said.
Also on the world-premiere front, Ed Helms plays the title character in Dito Montiels The Clapper, in which Helms stars as Eddie Krumble, a professional audience member who gains unwanted notoriety when a late-night talk show turns his life into a national obsession, threatening his budding relationship with gas station attendant Judy (Amanda Seyfried).
In what is surely the most motley indie-film cast in some time, the movie features Tracy Morgan, Adam Levine, Rob Gronkowski, Mark Cuban and Alan Thicke in one of his last screen appearances.
And Dawsons Creek writing veteran Liz W. Garcia will debut One Percent More Humid, a collegiate coming-home story starring Julia Garner and Juno Temple.
Making its U.S. premiere is Chuck, in which Liev Schreiber stars as the real-life inspiration for Rocky Balboa in a film directed by foreign-language film Oscar nominee Philippe Falardeau. (The movie was called The Bleeder when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September).
While those films are largely apolitical, the festival will also world-premiere a number of documentaries, many of which touch on topical themes.
Sebastian Junger directs, with Nick Quested, the latest film about Islamic State and Syria, Hell on Earth. The film, which takes both a personal and macro look at the war-torn region, follows Sundance notables such as Cries From Syria and City of Ghosts. It reunites Junger and Quested, who worked together on the acclaimed 2010 verite hit Restrepo (co-directed by Junger and the late Tim Hetherington and produced by Quested).
In the same region is Till Schauders When God Sleeps, about the Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi, who provoked the anger of the countrys clerics with his subversive protest lyrics.
Among the other documentaries making their world premieres at Tribeca with modern echoes, are Pacho Velez and Sierra Pettengills The Reagan Show, a formally unconventional movie that argues for the 40th presidents TV savvy; The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, the latest work from How to Survive a Plague helmer and veteran journalist David France, here exploring the suspicious death of the titular transgender figure; and A Gray State, Erik Nelsons look at the 2014 death of alt-right figure David Crowley, with Werner Herzog as executive producer.
Also noteworthy is Greg Kohs AlphaGo, about the connection between an ancient Chinese board game and artificial intelligence, in a tournament setting.
Tribeca opens April 19 with Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of My Life. A screening of Chris Perkels documentary, based on the moguls memoir, will be accompanied by a concert featuring Davis associates Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson and Earth, Wind & Fire.
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steve.zeitchik@latimes.com
Twitter: @ZeitchikLAT
It sounds paradoxical, but its often true that the more culturally precise a foreign language film is, the more universal its appeal becomes. This is very much the case with the charming but pointed The Womens Balcony.
A major box-office success in Israel, The Womens Balcony is so seemingly site-specific that even its driving force, screenwriter Shlomit Nehama, was surprised when it began succeeding overseas.
But culture aside, this is an unapologetically warmhearted comedic drama, a fine example of commercial filmmaking grounded in a persuasive knowledge of human behavior.
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As the title indicates, The Womens Balcony is set in an Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. But though that world may seem monolithic to outsiders, as Nehama and director Emil Ben-Shimon well understand, there is a genuine rift there, a clash of cultures often unspoken and unacknowledged that the film has adroitly mined.
At first, however, everything is supremely festive, as the members of a small neighborhood Orthodox community, the kind of close-knit group in which everyone inevitably knows everyone elses business, gather to celebrate the bar mitzvah of the grandson of pillars of the congregation Etti (Evelin Hagoel) and Zion (Igal Naor).
Under the leadership of a venerable but still beloved rabbi, things are going splendidly when a mishap strikes: The buildings balcony, the place where women pray in sex-segregated Orthodox services, suddenly collapses, leaving the rabbis wife hospitalized and the rabbi himself in retreat from reality.
Very much in disarray, the congregation finds a new temporary space in a location that makes finding a minyan, the 10 men needed for daily prayers, difficult. Enter the young and charismatic Rabbi David (Aviv Alush), a can-do individual who teaches at a local seminary and takes on the congregations well-being as a personal project.
Rabbi David is so eager to help he even offers to cut through the annoying red tape and supervise the rebuilding of the collapsed synagogue.
Thank the Creator, he modestly tells the grateful congregants. I am only the messenger.
Discerning eyes will notice, however, that Rabbi Davids dress marks him as ultra-Orthodox, while the congregation, whose female members do not cover their hair, is what might be called modern Orthodox: definitely observant but without the accompanying zealotry. That may seem like a small difference, but it turns out it is not.
Things get complicated when Rabbi David gives the men in the congregation a stirring speech about purity that does not go down well with the wives. Then the new rebuilt synagogue is unveiled and all hell breaks loose.
For under Rabbi Davids supervision the airy balcony of old has been eliminated and the women are squeezed into a claustrophobic auxiliary space. And worse is yet to come.
But if the men think that the women will agree with Rabbi David that this is all an expression of Gods will, they very quickly realize their mistake.
Screenwriter Nehama, who grew up in an Orthodox Jerusalem community like the one in the film, has said her goal was to tell the story of the moderate people who are forced to deal with growing religious extremism, and The Womens Balcony definitely does that.
But Nehama has also said that she was inspired by British movies about the misadventures of small-town life, such as the charming Waking Ned Devine, and the way she has made her serious societal points in an audience-friendly format is the key to this films success.
Following the peregrinations of numerous characters, including the happily married Etti and Zion, Yaffa (Yafit Asulin), a young woman looking for a husband, and the tough-minded Tikva (top Israeli comedian Orna Banai), Balcony very much includes us in the communitys warmth and caring.
As smoothly directed by Ben-Shimon, a filmmaker best known for his television work, and enlivened by a fine Ahuva Ozeri score, the plot twists can mostly be seen coming. But as performed by a cast of practiced farceurs, that is part of its charm.
When one character says, Everyone should take care of his own account with God, that is a message that resonates as well.
---------------------
The Womens Balcony
MPAA rating: None
Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes.
Playing: Laemmles Royal, West Los Angeles; Town Center 5, Encino.
See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour
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kenneth.turan@latimes.com
@KennethTuran
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State medical board calls former County-USC doctor a sexual predator, suspends his license By Matt Hamilton A UCLA cardiologist has been temporarily stripped of his medical license after state regulators described him as a sexual predator who assaulted three female colleagues when he was working and training at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. Read More Facebook
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Global California 2030 aims to get more students learning more languages By Joy Resmovits Tom Torlakson (Andrew Seng / Associated Press) Outgoing state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday announced a new statewide effort to encourage students to learn more languages. Called Global California 2030, its goal is to help more students become fluent in multiple tongues. Torlakson said that by 2030, he wants half of the states 6.2 million K-12 students to participate in classes or programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, he wants three out of four students to be proficient enough to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy. Torlakson announced the initiative at Cahuenga Elementary School, which offers a dual-language immersion program in English and Korean. Californias public school students speak more than 60 languages at home, and 40% come to school with knowledge of a language other than English. Torlakson called his plan a call to action that invites parents, legislators, educators and community members to pool resources to expand language offerings in schools and get more bilingual teachers trained. He said the state already is working with Mexico and Spain to expand a teacher-exchange program. Fluency, the plan argues, can help students succeed economically and language acquisition can help their overall critical thinking. The initiative builds on Proposition 58, a ballot initiative passed in 2016 that undid an earlier requirement that English learners be taught in English-immersion classes unless their parents signed waivers. Torlakson recently visited Mexico and met with that countrys education secretary. They later signed a pact to increase collaboration, particularly in language education. This [Global California 2030] is great follow-through on Toms part and very important, Patricia Gandara, a UCLA education professor who hosted the Mexico meeting, said in an email. It hands over a plan to move forward in an area in which California has a unique advantage, but must seize the opportunity. Facebook
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Jury convicts man of murder in 2015 slaying of UCLA student found inside her burning apartment By Marisa Gerber A jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2015 slaying of a UCLA student found dead inside her burning apartment a gruesome stabbing case that led to a fierce rebuke of the police response amid concerns that the killing could have been prevented. The panel deliberated for about six hours before finding Alberto Medina, 24, guilty of murder, arson, burglary and animal cruelty. On Sept. 21, 2015, firefighters found the charred body of Andrea DelVesco inside her apartment after responding to the complex a block from campus. The 21-year-old student an Austin, Texas, native known to her sorority sisters as a fearless giver who befriended others with ease was stabbed at least 19 times, authorities said. Read More Facebook
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LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward By Adam Elmahrek The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USCs longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university. LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month. Tyndalls behavior and practices appear to go beyond the norms of the medical profession and gynecological examinations, said Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala. We sincerely realize that victims may have difficulty recounting such details to investigators. We are empathetic and ready to listen. Read More Facebook
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At L.A.'s only school for the deaf, parents want leaders who speak the same language By Anna M. Phillips Ever since her son was 6 months old, Juliet Hidalgo has been bringing him to the Marlton School, a low-slung building in Baldwin Hills that for generations has been a second home for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Los Angeles. Marlton staff taught Hidalgos brother and sister, both of whom are deaf. The school was where her deaf son learned to make the signs for milk and food. Hidalgo had planned to enroll her daughter, taking advantage of a popular program that allows hearing children to learn American Sign Language alongside their deaf siblings. But after more than a decade of involvement, she and other family members are considering withdrawing their children. They are not alone. Read More Facebook
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Fueled by unlimited donations, independent groups play their biggest role yet in a California primary for governor By Ryan Menezes An unprecedented amount of money from wealthy donors, unions and corporations is flowing into the California governors race, giving independent groups unrestricted by contribution limits a greater say in picking the states chief executive than ever before. The groups have already spent more than $26 million through Thursday, the most ever spent by noncandidate committees in a gubernatorial primary, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance reports. California elections have always been expensive, and the future is even more expensive, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former state Republican leader. The stakes are very real. Read More Facebook
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2 hurt in Indiana middle school shooting; suspect in custody, authorities say By Associated Press Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody. Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, said in a news release that the victims in Friday mornings attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims. Orem said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public. Read More Facebook
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For new L.A. schools chief Austin Beutner, some key unions are giving no honeymoon period By Howard Blume In the less than two weeks since Austin Beutner took charge of Los Angeles schools, unions representing teachers and administrators have staged a job action and a protest. Theyve made it clear that they will not give the new superintendent the traditional honeymoon period, and they are bashing him for his wealth and lack of experience running either a school or a school district. Beutner is a billionaire investment banker with zero qualifications, local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl told members in a phone alert urging them to participate in a Thursday afternoon rally in Grand Park. The board is saying that billionaires who made their money blowing institutions up and making money off it know best not the education professionals who have dedicated our careers to working with students. Read More Facebook
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Pressure grows on Board of Trustees amid USC gynecologist scandal By Paul Pringle USCs large and powerful Board of Trustees is coming under growing pressure to provide a stronger hand as the university faces a crisis over misconduct allegations against the campus longtime gynecologist that has prompted calls for President C.L. Max Nikias to step down. Allegations that Dr. George Tyndall mistreated students during his nearly 30 years at USC have roiled the campus, with about 300 people coming forward to make reports to the university and the Los Angeles Police Department launching a criminal investigation. USC is already beginning to face what is expected to be costly litigation by women who say they were victimized by the physician. So far, the trustees to whom Nikias reports have expressed sympathy for the women who have come forward and launched an independent investigation while also publicly backing the president. Read More Facebook
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UC regents approve leaner budget for Janet Napolitano By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved a leaner, more transparent budget for President Janet Napolitano, moving to address political criticism over the systems central office operations. The $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 reflects spending cuts of 2%, including reductions in staffing, travel and such systemwide programs as public service law fellowships, carbon neutrality and food security. Napolitano shifted $30 million to campuses for housing needs and $10 million to UC Riverside to support its five-year-old medical school. She also permanently redirected $8.5 million annually to help enroll more California students, as required by the state. Read More Facebook
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USCs Academic Senate calls on university president to resign after a series of scandals By Matt Hamilton The body that represents USCs faculty called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign Wednesday in the wake of relevations that the universitys longtime gynecologist faced years of accusations of misconduct by students and colleagues at the campus health clinic. The Academic Senate took the vote late Wednesday afternoon after a fiery town hall meeting attended by more than 100 faculty members, many of whom voiced outrage over Nikias and the Board of Trustees leadership. The vote came a day after the trustees executive committee stood firmly behind Nikias, saying it has full confidence in his leadership, ethics and values. At the town hall meeting, Senate President Paul Rosenbloom said he did not think Nikias or Provost Michael Quick committed wrongdoing but that the university president deserved criticism for a lack of transparency. Read More Facebook
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Californias public universities on the way to getting a big longed-for boost in funding By Teresa Watanabe The University of California and California State University systems are poised to get major funding boosts that will help them enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year. A key Assembly budget panel on Wednesday approved $117.5 million in new funds for the UC. A Senate panel approved a similar sum last week. The same committees recently approved even more funding for the Cal State system. Read More Facebook
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UC regents to scrutinize Janet Napolitanos office budget in a step toward stronger oversight By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents this week plan to scrutinize the budget of President Janet Napolitano, whose office came under political fire last year for questionable spending and murky accounting. Regents will vote on the proposed $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 during their two-day meeting, which starts Wednesday, at UC San Francisco. They also will discuss state funding, financial aid, online education and transfer student policies. Board Chairman George Kieffer said regents are stepping up to exert stronger oversight of the presidents office after a blistering state audit last year found financial problems including an unreported $175 million budget reserve. Read More Facebook
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State legislative panels approve major funding boost for Cal State By Teresa Watanabe After months of intensive lobbying, Cal State University has convinced two key legislative panels to approve funding to enroll nearly 11,000 more students, hire more faculty and expand housing aid to those without shelter this fall. An Assembly budget panel on Tuesday approved $215.7 million more for Cal State, adding to Gov. Jerry Browns proposed $92.1 million general fund increase. A Senate budget panel approved a similar increase last week. The extra funding which went beyond Cal States own request to the Legislature of $171 million is still subject to final budget negotiations with Brown. But the actions by the Senate and Assembly panels amount to a demand from Democrats that the governor hike higher education spending. Cal State University is the workhorse undergraduate university serving hundreds of thousands of Californians, said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who heads the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. We need more graduates for the California workforce and higher education is the ticket to the middle class. Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White hailed the actions, but said it was too soon to celebrate. The CSU has a singular focus on helping students earn high-quality degrees sooner, and the entire university community has rallied to reinforce that message to our states lawmakers, he said in a statement. The actions taken thus far by the Assembly and Senate are promising and show that our message is being received, but there is still work to be done. Funding for the University of California was not taken up Tuesday as originally scheduled. McCarty would not comment on sticking points but said he was confident that a resolution would be reached this week. Were looking to provide resources above whats in the governors budget, but negotiations are ongoing, he said in an interview. State per-student funding is not what it once was, leaving both Cal State and the UC in a tough financial squeeze. Both systems raised tuition last year after a six-year freeze on higher costs. For this year, Cal State had asked for funding to enroll an additional 3,621 students, but both the Senate and Assembly panels approved three times that amount. Cal State, the largest public university system in the nation, turned away 32,000 eligible students last year because its campuses werent able to accommodate them. The panels asked that at least $50 million of the extra funding be used to hire more tenure-track faculty to help boost graduation rates. The Assembly panel also approved one-time funding of $5 million to ease hunger on campuses and $14 million for rapid rehousing pilot projects at three campuses, offering needy students rental support and short-term case management. Other items approved include $5 million to support the CSU Long Beach Shark Labs research on sharks and beach safety and $2 million for equal employment opportunity practices. This post has been updated to include comments from Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White. Facebook
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Faculty members call for USC president to step down: He has lost the moral authority to lead By Matt Hamilton Two hundred USC professors on Tuesday demanded the resignation of university President C. L. Max Nikias, saying he had lost the moral authority to lead in the wake of revelations that a campus gynecologist was kept on staff for decades despite repeated complaints of misconduct. Read More Facebook
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Gun battle, negotiations lasted 15 minutes before Texas school shooter was apprehended, sheriff says By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Minutes after a school shooter opened fire in an art class last week, killing 10 people and wounding 13, including a local police officer, fellow officers returned fire in a protracted gun battle before isolating the suspect, the local sheriff said Monday. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset praised first responders as well as Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, who was working as a resource officer at the school the day of the shooting. Their actions, he said, prevented the attack from spreading to other classrooms and potentially claiming additional victims. As officials continue to probe last Fridays shooting at Santa Fe High School, students are worried about returning to the scene of the attack when classes resume next week. Read More Facebook
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6 women sue USC, alleging they were victimized by campus gynecologist By Richard Winton Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctors behavior. One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making vulgar remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she likely had AIDS. A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states. The wave of litigation comes as USC continues to grapple with the scandal, which legal experts said could prove costly to the university as scores of former patients come forward about their experiences with the gynecologist. Read More Facebook
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Fatalities reported in Texas high school shooting; suspect arrested, officials say By Associated Press Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a local high school Friday morning. Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it wouldnt immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect has been arrested and secured. Read More Facebook
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This student followed the new L.A. schools chief on his first-day tour Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job, as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Heres what she took from the experience. LAUSD students and staff alike are looking for a personal champion, someone who will address and improve the difficulties afflicting their education. What LAUSD students need is someone whos willing to listen and learn, someone who can understand the current issues affecting their schools and act to efficiently amend them, someone who can unlock the full potential of LAUSD students and enable them to reach their goals. During the entirety of his first day, superintendent Austin Beutner did indeed demonstrate a willingness to learn. Posing questions to teachers and students, Beutner engaged with the student communities he encountered to gain a better comprehension of the minutiae and nuances that distinguish each school inside an overwhelmingly large district. From inquiries about Grand View Boulevard Elementary Schools dual language program to questions regarding the services of LAUSDs after-school program, Beyond the Bell, Beutner revealed he has a lot to learn about the system. But, Beutner also showcased a willingness to tackle challenges head-on on his first day. Read More Facebook
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USC let a gynecologist continue treating students despite years of misconduct allegations By Matt Hamilton For nearly 30 years, the University of Southern Californias student health clinic had one full-time gynecologist: Dr. George Tyndall. Tall and garrulous with distinctive jet black hair, he treated tens of thousands of female students, many of them teenagers seeing a gynecologist for the first time. Few who lay down on Tyndalls exam table at the Engemann Student Health Center knew that he had been accused repeatedly of misconduct toward young patients. The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students genitals. In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of creepy behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies. Read More Facebook
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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook
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On his first day as L.A. schools chief, Beutner plans a day of visits across the district By Howard Blume L.A. Unifieds new superintendent, Austin Beutner, will kick off his first day of work on Tuesday with a choreographed tour of the nations second-largest school district, from the San Fernando Valley to Carson. His day is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m. at a school bus depot and end more than 12 hours later at a parent meeting at Garfield High School. Along the way, Beutner is expected to be joined by school district administrators, L.A. Unified board members and the vice president of the union that represents school bus drivers. Though he will be covering a lot of ground, Beutners tour has him skipping Tuesdays school board meeting, when board members are expected to discuss labor negotiations in closed session. Read More Facebook
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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook
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Why a handful of rich charter school supporters are spending millions to elect Antonio Villaraigosa as governor By Ryan Menezes California voters have seen a barrage of sunny television ads in recent weeks touting former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosas record on finances, crime and education, aired by Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018. But the group is, in fact, largely funded by a handful of wealthy charter-school supporters. Together they have spent more than $13 million in less than a month to boost Villaraigosas chances in the June 5 primary at a time when his fundraising and poll numbers are lagging. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, jump-started the group with a $7-million check, by far the largest donation to support any candidate in the election. Their efforts are part of a broader proxy war among Democrats between teachers unions longtime stalwarts of the party and those who argue that the groups have failed low-income and minority schoolchildren. Read More Facebook
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Talking schools with L.A. Unifieds new superintendent By Anna M. Phillips Austin Beutner, who officially starts Tuesday as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is taking on a famously difficult job at a particularly difficult time. The school board is divided and did not back him unanimously. The nations second-largest school district has deep-seated problems, including declining enrollment, lagging academic achievement and rising pension and healthcare costs that eat away at its budget. The 58-year-old former investment banker and former L.A. Times publisher has years of experience in the financial world but none as an educator. Earlier this week, he sat down with the Times education team to discuss the challenges facing the district, which has about 60,000 employees and 500,000 students in traditional public schools. He did not talk about his plans saying repeatedly, stay tuned but he spoke in broad terms about his mindset in approaching the tough decisions ahead. Read More Facebook
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Suspect detained, authorities search campus after reports of armed man at Palmdale high school By James Queally One person has been detained after a report of an armed man at a Palmdale high school sparked a massive law enforcement response Friday morning. The suspect was spotted at 7:05 a.m. on the campus of Highland High School in Palmdale, according to Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The person was detained in a nearby parking lot, according to Nishida, who did not know whether that person was an adult or juvenile. Deputies at the scene are clearing the school methodically, and students will be transported home via school buses once the campus is deemed safe, Nishida said. Read More Facebook
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The education of Bertha Perez: How a UC Merced custodians disenchantment led to a political awakening By Robin Abcarian Its the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the universitys unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights. Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table. But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. Its not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so its noisier than youd expect. Read More Facebook
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Ref Rodriguez resigns from teacher credentialing commission By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez appears during a court appearance. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from the states Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which oversees the integrity and quality of Californias teachers. Rodriguez faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. Separately, his former employer, a charter school organization, has accused him of improperly authorizing checks to a nonprofit under his control. Rodriguez has denied wrongdoing. Rodriguezs resignation from the state body was effective May 4, days after he cast a crucial vote as part of a narrow majority that voted to authorize contract negotiations with Austin Beutner to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. Beutners first official day on the job is Tuesday. Rodriguez remains in his $125,000-a-year position on the Los Angeles Board of Education. The mission of the state body is to ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline of Californias teachers. Critics had questioned Rodriguezs continued service on the commission, given that teachers can be suspended from work if they face criminal charges. They also can lose their jobs for lapses in personal behavior, such as excessive drinking, with the potential to affect their performance. Police in Pasadena arrested Rodriguez on a Friday afternoon in March for public drunkenness. He was not charged in the incident and has apologized. The state commission reviews teacher discipline cases and can take action to remove a teachers credential to work in a California classroom. The commission has 15 members. Rodriguezs departure was disclosed in a one-sentence announcement on the agencys website. Facebook
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School board members request for restraining order against blogger is rejected By Priscella Vega An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a school board members petition for a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger. Attorney Jeffrey W. Shields filed the petition on behalf of Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, who alleged in court documents that Charles Keeler Johnson, 56, has threatened her on social media and at school board meetings, causing her to fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members. Johnson, who goes by Chuck and publishes HBSledgehammer.com, said the trustee tried to stifle his freedom of speech. He also contended that Clayton-Tarvin took his blog posts and Facebook comments too seriously and out of context, saying anyone who is afraid of metaphors has serious issues. Read More Facebook
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Deal with workers averts one-day strike that could have shut down L.A. schools By Howard Blume Los Angeles school district and union officials announced a contract agreement Tuesday night that averted a one-day strike planned for next week. The pact, which runs through June 2020, removes one labor problem from the desk of incoming Supt. Austin Beutner whose first day on the job would have coincided with the strike. Plenty of other challenges remain. Read More Facebook
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UC labor strike expands with show of support from more unions By Teresa Watanabe Fong Chuu is a registered nurse who has assisted with countless liver transplants, kidney surgeries and gastric bypasses during 34 years at UCLA. Working with her are scrub technicians who sterilize equipment, hand medical instruments to the surgeon and dress patient wounds. They are a team, Chuu says, which is why she walked off her job Tuesday in support of those technicians and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The 25,000 member AFSCME local, the University of Californias largest employee union, launched a three-day strike Monday. Read More Facebook
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We are humans too: Voices of UCLAs striking custodians, hospital aides and imaging technicians By Joy Resmovits Demonstrators parade in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) This week, thousands of UC employees are staging a three-day strike for better pay and working conditions. On Monday, more than 20,000 custodians, cooks, lab technicians, nurse aides and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 walked off their jobs. By Tuesday, two more unions joined in sympathy strikes. The union and UC reached a bargaining impasse last year. The university has said it wont meet the workers demands. The strikers said they wanted better pay, more equity in the allocation of work, stable healthcare premiums and an end to the universitys use of contract workers. These are their stories. Read More Facebook
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Massive UC workers strike disrupts dining, classes and medical services By Joy Resmovits A massive labor strike across the University of California on Monday forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes and limit dining services. More than 20,000 members of UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, walked off their jobs on the first day of a three-day strike. They include custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Two altercations involving protesters and people driving near the rallies were reported at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. At UCLA, police took a man into custody Monday after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members. They were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, said Lt. Kevin Kilgore of the UCLA Police Department. Read More Facebook
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Sen. Kamala Harris to skip UC Berkeley commencement in support of striking workers By Teresa Watanabe California Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled plans to deliver UC Berkeleys commencement address this weekend in support of UC workers who are on strike over wages and health benefits. Due to the ongoing labor dispute, Sen. Harris regretfully cannot attend and speak at this years commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley, said a statement from Harris office issued Monday. She wishes the graduates and their families a joyous commencement weekend and success for the future. They are bright young leaders and our country is counting on them. UCs largest employee union, the 25,000-member American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees Local 3299, launched a three-day strike Monday and had earlier called for a speakers boycott. The union and university reached a bargaining impasse last year and subsequent mediation efforts have failed to produce an agreement. The union is asking for a multiyear contract with a 6% annual pay increase while the university is offering 3% annual increases over four years. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ will deliver the keynote address instead, the university announced. About 5,800 students are expected to participate in the ceremony Saturday. Facebook
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School mural depicting Trumps bloody, severed head sparks controversy By Gary Warth A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work. The statement also said the artist will alter the painting. We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our schools philosophy of non-violence, read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. We have been in communication with the artist who has agreed to modify the artwork to better align with the schools philosophy. Read More Facebook
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New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation By Kim Christensen Cal Poly San Luis Obispo officials have asked the state attorney generals office to investigate after a new photo of a white student in blackface surfaced on a fraternity groups private Snapchat. I am outraged, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a video address Friday to the campus. These vile and absolutely unacceptable acts cannot continue. We must not allow these acts to define us as an institution. Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface. Read More Facebook
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More than 50,000 UC workers set to strike this week but campuses will remain open By Teresa Watanabe More than 50,000 workers across the University of California are set to strike this week, causing potential disruptions to surgery schedules, food preparation and campus maintenance. The systems 10 campuses and five medical centers are to remain open, with classes scheduled as planned. UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, plans to begin a three-day strike Monday involving 25,000 workers, including custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Read More Facebook
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New L.A. schools chief Beutner pledges to listen, learn and take action By Howard Blume New Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner proved Wednesday that hes a quick learner even without an education background. Like countless public officials before him, he appeared at an important event his first speech and news conference with a photogenic background of students. His message that he would put those students first seemed heartfelt if hardly original. Nor was it a huge surprise that he pledged to push cooperatively but unflinchingly to improve the districts academic performance and stabilize its finances. As an introduction, Beutner, a former investment banker who made a fortune on Wall Street, offered little flash, but that was partly the point. Read More Facebook
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In a school lockdown, one student takes stock of the stressful scene At the beginning of lunch one day late last month, Duarte High School, Northview Middle School, and California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley were advised by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department to go into lockdown mode due to police activity in the immediate area. Phalaen Chang, a junior at the California School of the Arts, wrote a series of notes on her iPhone while she sat in a room with her classmates. By the time the lockdown ended an hour later, she wrote, she knew which of her friends would hold open the door for others, be the ones calming others down, be the ones barricading the doors. She knew that all of them have the potential to be such strong people. Read More Facebook
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Tale as old as time: L.A. Unified superintendent pick follows a historical pattern of outside-the-box choices By Joy Resmovits L.A. Unified has long gone back and forth between picking insiders and outsiders to run the nations second largest school district. The choice of Austin Beutner, announced Tuesday, places the district squarely back in the outsider camp months after a consummate insider, Supt. Michelle King, announced that she had cancer and would not return to the job. Check out this timeline of former L.A. superintendents to see how the school board members have changed their minds, sometimes favoring leaders who come from the world of education and sometimes executives from elsewhere, recruited to shock the system into change. At one point, the district hired someone from the military retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, who served as superintendent from 2006-2008. In hiring Brewer, board members had opted for a non-educator largely because they sought a fresh thinker, unwedded to the bureaucracy, unafraid to make bold, even unorthodox moves, reads a 2008 Times story. Facebook
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Austin Beutner named superintendent of Los Angeles schools By Howard Blume Austin Beutner, a philanthropist and former investment banker, on Tuesday was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest school system. His selection was the biggest move yet by a Los Angeles school board majority elected with major support from charter school advocates. The decision came after lengthy public testimony, most of it in support of the other remaining finalist, interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who is well known within the school system. Beutner, 58, has no background leading a school or school district. Less than 2 years ago, a school board with a very different balance of power named Michelle King, a former teacher who rose through the district throughout her career, to L.A. Unifieds top job. Read More Facebook
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Hearing delay gives both sides more time in Ref Rodriguezs potential trial By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez and his attorneys will have more time to prepare their defense against charges of political money laundering, a judge ruled Monday. The preliminary hearing in the case had been scheduled to begin May 9, but that date will now be pushed back to July 23 per the ruling from L.A. Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil. Rodriguez, 46, faces three felony charges of conspiracy, perjury and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. Read More Facebook
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L.A. school board poised to name Beutner as superintendent By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is poised to select philanthropist and former investment banker Austin Beutner to be the next superintendent of the nations second-largest school system. Barring a last-minute development, the only mystery is whether Beutner emerges with four or five votes from the boards seven members. Terms of his contract already have been under discussion, according to sources close to the process who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak. The selection of Beutner, 58, who has no experience managing a school or a school district, would be a signal that the board majority that took control nearly a year ago wants to rely on business management skills instead of insider educational expertise. Read More Facebook
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Teacher walkouts in Arizona and Colorado continue national debate on money for schools By Michael Livingston Following the lead of teachers who walked off the job in other states in recent weeks, thousands of teachers and their supporters took to the streets in Arizona and Colorado for the second day in a row to demand better pay and more funding for education. Read More Facebook
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Three decades before the #MeToo movement, UC San Diego led the way against sexual assault By Teresa Watanabe When Nancy Wahlig first started her fight against sexual assault, one company was marketing a capsule for women to stash in their bras and then smash to release a vile odor. Because of the very nature of society, the only person who can prevent rape is the woman herself, read a 1981 advertisement for the Repulse rape deterrent. Ideas about how to prevent sexual violence have come a long way since then, and Wahlig has helped lead that evolution on college campuses. In 1988, she started UC San Diegos Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), the first stand-alone program at the University of California. Today, she remains the systems most senior specialist. Read More Facebook
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Andres Alonso withdraws from consideration for L.A. schools job By Howard Blume Andres Alonso, believed to be one of three remaining finalists to lead the Los Angeles school system, has withdrawn from consideration. The remaining known candidates in the confidential search are former investment banker Austin Beutner and interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian. Alonso, 60, announced his decision on Twitter on Thursday night, saying he had notified the L.A. Unified School District on Monday. The exit of Alonso, the former Baltimore schools chief, seems to solidify the front-runner status of Beutner, who also was a former L.A. Times publisher and a Los Angeles deputy mayor. He held each of those positions for about a year. Read More Facebook
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Heres why the apparent increase in autism spectrum disorders may be good for U.S. children By Karen Kaplan The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among American children continues to rise, new government data suggest. And that may be a good thing. Among 11 sites across the U.S. where records of 8-year-olds are scrutinized in detail, 1 in 59 kids was deemed to have ASD in 2014. Thats up from 1 in 68 in 2012. Normally, health officials would prefer to see less of a disease, not more of it. But in this case, the higher number is probably a sign that more children of color who are on the autism spectrum are being recognized as such and getting services to help them, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More Facebook
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UC shelves tuition increase for now, in hopes of getting more state funding By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents will not vote on a tuition increase next month, shelving the plan for now in hopes that state lawmakers will come through with more funding. Raising tuition is always a last resort and one we take very seriously, UC President Janet Napolitano said Thursday in a statement. We will continue to advocate with our students who are doing a tremendous job of educating legislators about the necessity of adequately funding the university to ensure UC remains a world-class institution and engine of economic growth for our state. Last week, Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White said the 23-campus system no longer would consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year. But unlike Cal State, UC officials have not taken a tuition increase off the table entirely. Read More Facebook
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A chemical spill, unchecked eyewash stations, poor training: Audit details Cal States lax lab safety By Joy Resmovits In May 2016, two bottles tumbled off a poorly supported shelf and broke, leading to a chemical spill in a Sacramento State University lab. The liquid got onto one students legs and soaked anothers feet. Five employees cleaned up the mess, even though no one knew for sure what it was and whether it was dangerous. They called fellow employee Kim Harrington, their union representative, to let her know what happened. Read More Facebook
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After blackface incident, minority students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo say they dont feel welcome By Hailey Branson-Potts Aaliyah Ramos was walking through the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus last year when a prospective student approached her. Ramos was the only black person, the young woman said, that she and her mother had seen that day. They asked about the quality of education and the diversity of the student body. Ramos, a mechanical engineering student, didnt want to sugarcoat the truth: Cal Poly long has been predominantly white. But she told the young woman who also was black that she didnt want to discourage her from applying, because that wouldnt help with diversity at a school where only 0.7% of students are African American the lowest percentage of any university in the California State system. Read More Facebook
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El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills wins the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon By Carlos Lozano El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills has won the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon, officials said. The winner was announced early Saturday at a ceremony in Frisco, Texas. More than 600 students from the U.S., Canada, China and the United Kingdom gathered there over the last three days to compete in the 37th annual U.S. Academic Decathlon. Congratulations to El Camino Real Charter High School for another impressive victory, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Your academic stamina and competitive spirit to win is remarkable. The entire L.A. Unified family is so proud of you. Read More Facebook
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Anticipation mounts as L.A. school board meets over superintendent selection By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is reconvening in closed session Friday at noon as anticipation mounts about the choice of the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. The presumed front-runner is former investment banker and philanthropist Austin Beutner, but interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian and former Baltimore Supt. Andres Alonso also are in the running. Most district insiders appear to be rooting for Ekchian, who has spent her entire career in education within the school system. After her 10 years as a teacher, her roles have included head of human resources, chief labor negotiator and regional administrator for campuses in the west San Fernando Valley. Shes managed the district since September, when then-Supt. Michelle King went on medical leave and chose Ekchian to fill in for her. King, who is battling cancer, never returned and announced her retirement in January. Numerous influential civic leaders have urged and pressured the board to select Beutner. Also lending their weight have been advocates for charter schools, which are independently operated, growing in number and competing for students with district-operated campuses. Four of the seven board members enough to control the outcome were elected with major financial support from charter supporters. Beutner has two ongoing connections with the L.A. Unified School District. The first is his leadership of an outside task force that is making recommendations on how to improve the school system. The second is his charity, Vision to Learn, which supplies glasses to low-income students. The charity and the school system are in a dispute at the moment over who is responsible for delays in providing services to students as part of a $6 million contract, half of which is paid for by L.A. Unified. Unlike Ekchian and Buetner, Alonso, who currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has no deep-seated local constituency, but the prospect of his selection has generated some excitement. While in Baltimore, Alonso was recognized for pushing for progress at low-performing schools, and for being willing to take strong action. While in Baltimore, he also weathered a test-score cheating scandal and occasionally rocky relations with the teachers union. But by the time he resigned, after six years, he and union leaders seemed to be working together without rancor. Leaders of some community groups have split from the pro-Beutner camp. They worry that Beutners approach to confronting the districts financial problems could shut out their voices or involve severe economic cutbacks that would undermine programs that are helping students. Some prefer Ekchian; some Alonso. Theyve been reluctant to speak out publicly because theyll have to work with whoever is selected, but they have tried to get the ear of board members. On Friday morning, one leader of a community group decided to come out in favor of Alonso. L.A. Unified has the opportunity to bring in an instructional leader of color with a history of success, said Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, which works on behalf of low-income students and families in South Los Angeles. If we have a shot at that, we should go for it because its in the best interests of our kids and of our community. Retana said his statement was not meant to criticize Beutner or Ekchian but to alert board members that there also is community support for Alonso. Facebook
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Cal State leader shelves proposed tuition hike: Its the right thing to do, but its not without risk By Joy Resmovits Cal State, the nations largest public university system, will no longer consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year, Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Friday. The decision is a bet that Sacramento will come through in the end. If Cal State loses that bet, it could mean cuts to campus programs. White said in an interview that Californias economy is strong enough that families should not be shouldering the burden of higher college costs. Read More Facebook
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L.A. students to participate in national walkout activities on Friday By Joy Resmovits Students are taking to the streets again Friday to protest gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Starting at 10 a.m., students at many schools will spend 13 seconds honoring the 13 people 12 students and one teacher killed on that day in Littleton, Colo. After that, theyll participate in a host of different activities. Within L.A. Unified, one school is having an open-mic event for students to talk about school violence, and lawmakers are visiting campuses to hear students thoughts. According to a central hub for organizing the protests written by the students of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut the walkouts are intended to drive the political change necessary to curb school violence. The day is also a time for students to interact on an elevated platform they have never had before, the site states. It is a day of discourse and thoughtful sharing. Bringing together communities and students to get a national discussion rolling. Organizers have suggested using the event to convey the importance of curbing gun violence to legislators. They are encouraging students to push legislation that would ban assault weapons and tighten up rules around who can buy guns and how. Over 2,500 schools nationwide are expected to participate. In L.A., some students at campuses including Eagle Rock High School, the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Bravo Medical Magnet plan to walk out. Students from various schools expect to join area marches, including those in Santa Monica and Huntington Park. Other schools are hosting career days and voter registration drives. At 1 p.m., students plan to start a rally in front of L.A. Unified headquarters. For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that 12 teachers and one student were killed in the Columbine shooting. The opposite is true: twelve students and one teacher died. Facebook
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Stabbing of popular student devastates South El Monte High School; teen friend suspected in slaying By Sonali Kohli When administrators at South El Monte High School called Jeremy Sanchezs parents to say he never showed up for class Wednesday, his father began to worry. It was unusual for the 17-year-old junior to miss school, so his father filed a missing persons report and assembled two of Jeremys close friends to look for the popular student-athlete. Their search took them to a scenic stretch of the San Gabriel River Trail, where one of the friends a 16-year-old boy made a tragic discovery. Among the bushes in the riverbed near Thienes Avenue and Parkway Drive was Jeremys body, punctured with stab wounds, according to Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Read More Facebook
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Racist fliers spark outrage at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo By Alene Tchekmedyian Soon after Neal MacDougall arrived on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus Tuesday, the professor noticed university police standing outside a restroom near his office. A racial slur against African Americans had been scrawled in red marker on a stall wall. Later, he discovered a series of racist fliers pinned up next to his door. Someone had also slashed posters hed hung outside his office supporting students in the country illegally. The discovery was the latest controversy on the prestigious campus which the president said is less than 55% white that MacDougall said demonstrates a culture of racism at the university. Last week, photographs emerged of white fraternity members, including one in blackface, flashing gang signs. Read More Facebook
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The superintendent waiting game, paying for L.A.'s College Promise, Princetons slave history: Whats new in education By Joy Resmovits Acting LAUSD superintendent Vivian Ekchian is a finalist for the permanent job. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) In and around Los Angeles: The L.A. Unified school board spent 10 hours interviewing and discussing candidates for superintendent. When they adjourned after 10 p.m., they said they would reconvene on Friday. Who is paying for Mayor Eric Garcettis much-touted College Promise, a program that promises two years of community college for LAUSD grads? In California: The Legislature is considering a proposal that would boost K-12 education funding for black students. When the cost of living is taken into account, California has the highest rate of child poverty. Nationwide: The families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are suing Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never occurred. Princeton will name two spaces an arch and a garden after slaves who lived or worked on the campus. Facebook
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L.A. school board meets privately with finalists and debates choice for school district leader By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education adjourned late Tuesday after spending more than 10 hours interviewing candidates and trying to reach a decision on who would be the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. When the meeting finally recessed at 10:11 p.m., a spokesman announced only that the school board would reconvene Friday at noon. Going into the days meetings, there were apparently four finalists, according to sources who could not be named because they were unauthorized to speak. Read More Facebook
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Two Sandy Hook families sue Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never happened By David Altimari Families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School have filed lawsuits in Texas against controversial radio host Alex Jones for continually claiming the massacre never happened. Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in the massacre, filed separate lawsuits late Monday in Travis County, Texas. The lawsuits allege that Jones defamed the parents by constantly calling them crisis actors and insisting the shooting was a false flag operation; they also claim Jones accusations have led to death threats against the Sandy Hook families by Jones followers. Read More Facebook
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Beutner emerges as a top pick for L.A. schools superintendent amid last-minute jockeying By Howard Blume Austin Beutner has emerged as a leading contender to run the Los Angeles school district, with backers saying he is smart enough and tough enough to confront its financial and academic struggles. Though he does not have a background in education, the former investment banker has in the last year examined some of the districts intractable problems, serving as co-chair of an outside task force with the support of then-Supt. Michelle King. Sources inside and outside the school district said Beutner appears to have more support on the seven-member board than other finalists, and his name could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. Read More Facebook
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Challenge at Chicago school construction site: Watch for 38,000 unmarked graves By Nereida Moreno A 15-year effort to build a school in Chicagos Dunning neighborhood is underway with an unusual complication: Construction workers are taking careful steps to avoid disturbing human remains that may lie beneath the soil. The $70-million school is to be built on the grounds of a former Cook County Poor House, where an estimated 38,000 people were buried in unmarked graves. Among the dead are residents who were too poor to afford funeral costs, unclaimed bodies and patients from the countys insane asylum. There can be and there have been bodies found all over the place, said Barry Fleig, a genealogist and cemetery researcher who began investigating the site in 1989. Its a spooky, scary place. Read More Facebook
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Oklahoma teacher walkout winds down despite lawmakers failure to meet demands By Washington Post Oklahomas largest teachers union has announced an end to a walkout that has drawn thousands of educators out of classrooms and to the state Capitol demanding greater investment in the states schools, which have endured the nations steepest funding cuts. The announcement Thursday from the Oklahoma Education Assn. does not necessarily end the protests at the Capitol, as teachers not affiliated with the union vowed to stay longer. Instead of a walkout, the union and school districts across the state have said they plan to send delegations of teachers to Oklahoma City to keep the pressure on lawmakers. Teachers and their supporters have also promised to push education issues to the forefront of November elections, when the state chooses a new governor. As school districts begin to reopen, the protests may lose steam. The Legislature is not in session Friday, and observers are waiting to see what happens Monday, when lawmakers return. Read More Facebook
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Most Californians are worried about school shooting threats and oppose arming teachers, survey finds By Joy Resmovits Hamilton High School student Aiyana Dabriel holds a sign during a March 14 walkout in support of the Parkland shooting victims. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Most Californians are worried that a school shooting like the one that occurred in Parkland, Fla., in February could shed blood closer to home, a new survey found. Some 73% percent of adults and 82% of public school parents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about school shootings. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed 1,704 adults in the state by phone just after the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence. Latino and black respondents were significantly more likely to be concerned about school violence than white or Asian respondents, the institute found. Two-thirds of adults and public school parents said they opposed letting more educators carry weapons in school. The response differed across party lines, with 86% of Democrats and 69% of independents voicing their opposition, while 60% percent of Republicans said they would support a measure to arm educators. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.2% in either direction, also asked Californians about school funding, educational issues in the governors race and the impact of immigration enforcement on students. You can find the full results here. Facebook
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Californias largest virtual charter school network agrees to contract with its teachers By Anna M. Phillips Nearly four years after teachers at Californias largest online charter school voted to unionize, they have reached a deal to increase pay and create job protections, according to a spokesman for the California Teachers Assn. The contract, which is still tentative and subject to ratification, is a victory for the teachers union. Although charter schools are publicly funded, most are privately managed and their employees arent protected by labor contracts. Under the terms of the contract the result of years of negotiation and legal wrangling approximately 500 teachers working for California Virtual Academies will no longer be at-will employees who can be dismissed for almost any reason. Their average salary will rise to just over $45,000, according to union estimates, a figure that remains far below the norm for traditional public school teachers. Still, it is an improvement over the previous average of $38,000. The accord also places a limit on the number of students each teacher is responsible for monitoring in online homeroom classes. Were very satisfied with the gains we made, said teacher Brianna Carroll, president of California Virtual Educators United. I think were going to see some extraordinary changes in our schools. According to Carroll, teachers at California Virtual Academies better known as CAVA had grown frustrated with the organizations foot-dragging and were making preparations to go on strike when CAVAs leadership agreed to the deal. CAVA and K12, the Virginia-based for-profit company linked to its schools, did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking for comment. The network currently operates nine virtual charter schools across California. In 2016, the charter network agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims of false advertising, misleading parents and inadequate instruction. The state attorney generals office had also accused K12 of controlling the charters for its own financial benefit. Neither CAVA nor K12 admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement. A year later, the state imposed a $2-million fine on CAVA after an audit found that it had misspent public funds. The network disputed the findings. Facebook
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School board approves a new formula for funding high-need schools By Sonali Kohli L.A. schools will soon get more money if they are located in neighborhoods with such problems as high levels of gun violence and asthma. The Los Angeles Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new formula to determine how to dole out some funding to schools, based not only on the characteristics of the student populations but on the traumas that affect the communities around campuses. The new formula will be applied to $25 million in funding next fiscal year and about $263 million annually in future years a small part of the districts $7.5 billion annual budget. Read More Facebook
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Protesters demand Ref Rodriguez resignation outside school board meeting By Sonali Kohli Students, parents, teachers and UTLA marching outside the board meeting chanting "Ref resign" pic.twitter.com/W0LRWZSIXY Sonali Kohli (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 A few dozen parents, students and teachers marched outside the Los Angeles Unified School Board meeting Tuesday, some calling for board member Ref Rodriguez to resign the week after news broke that he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena bar and restaurant. Rodriguez was not cited or charged in that incident, but was held for more than five and a half hours before being released. The school board member faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. He is accused of getting more than two dozen people people to donate to his campaign for his school board seat with the understanding that he would reimburse them. He stepped down from his post as school board president after he was charged last fall, but he did not give up his seat on the board. He has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy, perjury, and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May. He cant give his full focus to our students, said Rebecca LaFond, a Highland Park parent whose three children marched with her as she chanted, Ref resign. One daughter marched in front of her, using a drum stick to hit the bottom of a gallon-size empty water jug. Our kids deserve someone who has the utmost ethical standards representing them, LaFond said. The protests continued into the board meeting, where some addressed Rodriguez directly, calling on him to step down during public comment portions of the meeting. Rodriguez, through his chief of staff, declined to comment. Some parents outside the board meeting did not know about the charges against Rodriguez but came out to protest the possibility of sharing their school campuses with charter schools. Protesters also oppose colocation not all of the parents are here to ask Ref Rodriguez to step down pic.twitter.com/1Co8zQ9zSi Sonali Kohli (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 Cynthia Martinez said her son, who goes to Christopher Dena Elementary School in Boyle Heights, has been bullied in the past by students from a charter school sharing the campus. She said she didnt know who Rodriguez was. Some parents and teachers are worried about losing computer labs, robotics rooms and fitness centers if they are required to share their campus with charter schools, said Ilse Escobar, a parent community organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles. The issues of Rodriguez and colocation are related, Escobar said. Rodriguez is part of a majority on the school board elected with financial backing from charter school supporters, and many parents, she said, feel that the school board is compromised if he is a part of it. Staff reporter Howard Blume contributed to this post. Facebook
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Delaine Eastin tries to gain momentum in the California governors race, one voter at a time By Seema Mehta Delaine Eastin was a sophomore in high school when a drama teacher urged her to try out for a part in The Man Who Came to Dinner. She hesitated until he told her: This is a metaphor for your whole life. If you never try out, you will never get the part. Eastin auditioned and won the role. Decades later, the advice sticks with the former state schools chief, this time in her unlikely run for governor. Despite calls for more women in leadership roles in state politics following sexual misconduct allegations in Sacramento, Eastin has been largely overlooked in the race, lagging far behind her Democratic rivals in fundraising and the polls. Read More Facebook
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Arizona high court rejects in-state tuition for DACA recipients By Associated Press Young immigrants granted deferred deportation status under a program started by President Obama are not eligible for lower in-state college tuition, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. The unanimous ruling will affect at least 2,000 students attending the states largest community college district and hundreds more at other colleges and the states three public universities. The Maricopa County Community Colleges District and state universities said they would begin raising tuition immediately for the coming school year. Read More Facebook
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New York high school students injured when bus strikes overpass By Associated Press A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus. The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police. One of the six injured passengers had very serious injuries, said State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries. Read More Facebook
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Some good news for California in national student test scores By Joy Resmovits Every two years, the nations fourth- and eighth-graders are tested in math and reading and newly released results from last years tests give California at least a little reason to be pleased. The 2017 results out Monday night were mostly flat nationwide compared with 2015, though the average score in eighth-grade reading went up. But while that improvement largely came from the increased scores of the highest-performing students, California eighth-graders showed some reading progress from the lowest levels to the highest. Read More Facebook
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Under state control, Inglewood school districts financial picture worsened By Anna M. Phillips When Eugenio Villa agreed to return to the Inglewood schools for a second tour last summer, he knew the district remained one of Californias most troubled. Inglewood Unified had been nearly insolvent when it was taken over by the state Department of Education in 2012. Six years later, its enrollment was still declining. Its school buildings were tired some edging into decrepitude. Its test scores and graduation rates were still below the state average. And the public was out of patience. Still, Villa, who had signed back on as the districts chief business official, was shocked at what he found when he arrived in June 2017. Two years earlier, he had left the school system on what he thought was firm ground. Read More Facebook
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Charter school group drops two lawsuits against L.A. Unified By Howard Blume A charter schools advocacy group last week announced that it would end two long-running lawsuits in which it was seeking more classroom space and construction money from the Los Angeles school district. The decision, the California Charter Schools Assn. said, reflects better relations between charter schools and the L.A. Unified School District. But the move also suggests that the litigation, which already contributed to significant gains for area charters, was unlikely to produce much more. It takes time, money and effort to litigate, said Ricardo Soto, general counsel for the charter group. Maybe its better to see if we can find the time and opportunity for collaboration. Read More Facebook
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L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication By Richard Winton Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez was arrested recently on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena restaurant, the latest trouble for an elected official who faces political money-laundering charges. Pasadena police took Rodriguez into custody on March 16, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. Officers arrested Rodriguez at about 4:30 p.m. at the Yard House restaurant and bar at the Paseo Mall and held him in jail for more than five-and-a-half hours. Rodriguez was ultimately released without being cited or charged, Derderian told The Times. Other details about the arrest were not available, she said. Read More Facebook
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Kentucky teachers rally at Capitol over state budget By Associated Press Thousands of Kentucky teachers filled the streets near the state Capitol in Frankfort on a cold, overcast Monday to rally for education funding. Teachers and other school employees gathered outside the Kentucky Education Assn. a couple of blocks from the Capitol chanting, Stop the war on public education and holding or posting signs that say, Weve Had Enough. Were madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today, said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal. Read More Facebook
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The Los Angeles City Council approved a package of new measures Wednesday to rein in mansionization, the long-debated phenomenon where large homes are built on older streets with comparatively small lots.
Council members unanimously rewrote two ordinances that regulate the size of new homes on hillsides and in single-family neighborhoods.
The changes were backed by Councilman Paul Koretz, who is running for a third term in Tuesdays election. Koretzs 5th District includes neighborhoods that have been incensed over the tearing down of historic homes and the construction of larger replacement houses.
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The giant, boxy homes weve seen throughout Council District 5 will not be permittable any longer, he said.
The mansionization measures will reduce the size of homes allowed in most single-family residential areas. For example, in some locations, the measure will scale back the square footage allowed for houses to 45% of the overall lot, down from 50%.
Lawmakers also stripped the existing law of key provisions that have allowed property owners to obtain additional square footage for their new home projects.
Activists from a handful of neighborhoods applauded the vote, complaining that owners of towering homes infringe on the privacy of people next door. The city has responded to a grass-roots movement, said Robert Eisele, vice president of the La Brea Hancock Homeowners Assn.
Still, some who attended the council meeting complained that many homeowners have been left in the dark on the new restrictions. And a trio of neighborhood groups contend the law also includes a new exemption for property owners who want to get around the size restrictions.
Under the ordinance approved Wednesday, property owners could seek to circumvent the new restrictions by applying for a conditional use permit, a document that takes extra time and money to obtain, said Doug Carstens, an attorney for the Sunset Coalition and two other organizations.
They went through all this time and effort to satisfy neighborhoods and protect people, but at the same theyve included a huge loophole that goes a long way toward undoing those protections, he said.
Carstens warned council members that the exemption had not been properly vetted as required under the California Environmental Quality Act. He said that his clients may sue if the council fails to make a technical correction to the law removing the exemption.
david.zahniser@latimes.com
Twitter: @DavidZahniser
More than two decades ago, students walked out of schools in the Montebello Unified School District, protesting millions of dollars in budget cuts.
On Thursday, history repeated itself, with hundreds rallying at the district office to protest hundreds of potential layoffs.
Students held signs reading, Wheres the money and chanted, Our district is corrupt. The gathered crowd, which police estimated at 500 or more, led officers to close the street in front of the district office.
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For months, the district has been accused of corruption and bad financial management, the Whittier Daily News reported. The districts current chief business officer, Ruben Rojas, provided false information on his job application, according to the newspaper.
The district also is facing millions in budget cuts for the next school year required by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, according to a district spokesman.
If the district does not make those cuts, the state will take over the district.
Providing a quality education and ensuring daily attendance by our students is a top priority of the District, the Montebello district said in a statement. Consequently, we are disappointed that some special interests have encouraged our students to participate in a walkout today in a deliberate attempt to influence the Board in its discussions over a challenging budget.
Students circulated a flier shared on social media saying the reason for the walkout was to confront the district over Rojas and the layoffs.
In its statement, the district said the flier was purposely filled with incorrect and inaccurate information.
The district has a history of financial issues dating to the early 1990s. In 1991, at least 100 employees, most of them contract teachers, were laid off as district officials grappled with budget cuts, according to a Times article. Hundreds participated in marches and rallies at the time.
In 1992, school walkouts and marches happened again to protest yet another round of layoffs because of ongoing budget troubles.
brittny.mejia@latimes.com
Twitter: @Brittny_Mejia
A Los Angeles gang member was charged Wednesday with capital murder in the deaths of his cousin and a Whittier police officer during a morning of deadly violence last week in which authorities allege he also wounded another police officer.
Michael C. Mejia, 26, a convicted felon with a history of drugs and violent criminal activity, is accused of killing his cousin, Roy Torres, in the early hours of Feb. 20 in East Los Angeles before fleeing with Torres car and crashing into two other vehicles at a Whittier intersection.
When Police Officers Keith Boyer, 53, and Patrick Hazell came to the scene of the accident, they ordered Mejia out of his car, and he opened fire as they approached him, prosecutors allege.
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Mejia killed Boyer and wounded Hazell, authorities said. Mejia was wounded during the gun battle.
He was charged with two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon. He also faces special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, the murder of a police officer and murder to escape arrest, making him subject to the death penalty.
Mejia is slated to be arraigned Thursday in a Bellflower courtroom.
After the shooting, Mejia was taken to a hospital and initially booked for violating probation.
If convicted of the charges, Mejia faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said a decision on whether to seek capital punishment would be made later.
At the time of the killings, Mejia was under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Mejia had been jailed and released for violating probation five times since the summer of 2016.
Mejia had previously served a prison sentence for grand theft auto and earlier had been sentenced to four years in prison for robbery and gang membership.
The Feb. 20 slayings came just over a week after he finished his latest jail stint. Sheriffs homicide investigators said that while on probation Mejia repeatedly served short jail sentences for violations including possessing narcotics and fleeing police officers.
Some critics blame criminal justice reform measures, particularly AB 109, for putting Mejia back on the street.
In response to prison overcrowding, Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011 spearheaded AB 109, which shifted many inmates from state prisons to county jails. The measure also allowed some inmates to serve a split sentence, with part of the time on probation instead of behind bars.
State corrections officials have said that AB 109 played no role in Mejias release and that he served his full prison terms.
Two Los Angeles County supervisors have launched an investigation into the probation departments handling of Mejia and why his probation had not been revoked.
richard.winton@latimes.com
Twitter: @LAcrimes
Daein Kang, a Koreatown oral surgeon whose activism in his homeland put him front and center in efforts to forge a relationship between South and North Korea, has died.
Kang was one of the first oral surgeons in Koreatown and went on to a life of activism in South Korea, where he founded medical centers, became a confidant of then-President Kim Dae-jung and pressed for improved human rights and normalized relations between the two Koreas.
Kang was born in Yeongam, South Korea, and his life was shaped early and sharply by the Korean War.
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His father died in a massacre in the early days of the war, leaving his mother to raise six children. When an older brother, Daeyong Kang, vanished while studying in Seoul, the family was enveloped by the gnawing mystery of his disappearance.
For years the family searched for him, but any trace seemed to have been swept away in the war.
Daein Kang immigrated to Los Angeles with his wife, Youngmi Kim, in 1976, cleaning offices in downtown L.A. while putting himself through dental school. He later opened a dental practice in Koreatown, specializing in implants and oral surgery. The couple raised three sons in the then-largely-immigrant community.
Kangs mother, though, never abandoned her search for her oldest child. She had immigrated to America in 1976 and leaned on government agencies, relief groups and war veterans for assistance. Often they urged her to move on her son was missing and presumed dead.
In a first-person account in the Los Angeles Times in 1991, Kangs nephew wrote about the numbing existence of growing up in a family with one member missing.
I grew up with no music in the house, because it reminds my grandmother of her son, wrote Hyungwon Kang, a Times photographer at the time. Even on his aunts wedding day, he wrote, there was no music.
But in the spring of 1991, a letter arrived from Pyongyang, North Korea. Her son was alive. He had been drafted to fight with the North Korean Peoples Liberation Army while studying in Seoul. He now worked for the government and was married with five children. He sent along a thumb-sized photograph.
The photo never left her side, Hyungwon Kang wrote. She walked around the house with it and placed it by her bed at night.
Kangs mother initially planned to go to North Korea to visit the son she hadnt seen in decades. She bought suits and sport coats for the grandsons she had yet to meet and several boxes of nail clippers she bought in Koreatown. She thought they might be useful for her son to give as gifts to his friends.
Before her flight, though, she suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma.
At the urging of Kang and other family members, the North Korean government agreed to let Daeyong Kang visit his ailing mother. But when she died before he could visit, they pulled his travel papers.
Finally, after more negotiation with the government, Kang stood at Los Angeles International Airport in the summer of 1991 waiting to greet a brother he had not seen in more than four decades.
It was a moment of triumph for a family that had suffered for so long. It was also a moment that raised international hope that relations between the U.S. and North Korea might be warming.
The reunion marked the first time since the Korean War that a civilian from North Korea was allowed to visit U.S. soil.
Devoutly interested in his homeland, Daein Kang supported the democratic movement in South Korea at a time of political turmoil and authoritarian rule. He became a friend and ally of Kim Dae-jung, then a dissident living as an exile in the U.S. after a military dictator had sentenced him to death. Kim later became president, after first surviving three assassination attempts and six years in prison.
Kang, who worked with Amnesty International and was a founding member of the Korean American Institute for Human Rights, worked with Kim to help implement the leaders Sunshine Policy, meant to open dialogue and relations between the two Koreas, which had been fractured since the war. Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, but the policy ultimately failed and North Korea distanced itself from the world stage.
Kang also threw himself into medicine in South Korea, opening a 350-bed general hospital in Bucheon and later spending his own money to help establish the Bucheon Geriatric Medical Center, employing Swedens expertise in the field. In 2012, he was awarded the Order of the Polar Star, a reward for civic merit bestowed by that countrys king and queen.
Kang died Jan 28 in San Mateo. His death was not immediately announced. Family members said they were told that the older brother, Daeyong Kang, died in 2013 in Pyongyang.
Kang is survived by his wife; sons, Robin, Thomas and Eugene; brother, Daeyang; three sisters, Sumi, Haengja and Sungja; and seven grandchildren.
steve.marble@latimes.com
twitter.com/stephenmarble
His diplomatic career has encompassed the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the inexorable-seeming rise of one Vladimir Putin. Now Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, finds himself in a harsh and unwanted spotlight over contacts with Donald Trumps campaign team.
After nearly a decade as Moscows man in Washington, the portly, bespectacled envoy is a well-known commodity in diplomatic circles. Though said to prefer behind-the-scenes parley, he plays an occasional role as Russias public face at events such as policy forums and academic symposia across the United States.
Kislyak, 66, is also the Russian presidents eyes and ears a role that likely took him last April to a front-row seat in a ballroom at Washingtons ornate Mayflower Hotel, where an upstart presidential aspirant named Donald Trump took to the lectern to deliver his first major foreign policy speech.
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Trumps speech gained him little traction with the invite-only crowd of foreign policy experts, some of whom made dismissive note of what they called a somewhat incoherent world view. In retrospect, the candidates address was perhaps most notable for what would become an increasingly prominent campaign theme in months to come: the need for better relations with Russia.
Kislyak, at least publicly, took a wait-and-see approach to Trump back then, telling Politico after the Mayflower speech that the candidate had made some intriguing points, but his positions needed to be more fully understood.
After decades of postings in diplomatic beehives such as the United Nations and Brussels, Kislyak has mastered the niceties of international relations as well as any envoy but is also capable of strong pushback if he believes Moscow is being dealt with unfairly, former associates say.
Youre never confused about what country hes representing, said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia who has known Kislyak for years. At a Stanford University conference last year, McFaul introduced his onetime counterpart by saying: We had our differences in policy, but never in our interpersonal relationship.
In Moscow, there was furious condemnation of the notion that Kislyak would have been doing anything untoward by meeting with U.S. officials such as then-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, who advised the Trump campaign on foreign affairs, or by talking with Michael Flynn, then Trumps incoming national security advisor.
Flynn was fired last month for misleading accounts of his conversations with Kislyak, and Sessions, now the attorney general, is under heavy fire for having told congressional colleagues under oath that he had not had contact with Russian officialdom during the Trump campaign, despite having reportedly held meetings with Kislyak.
Exasperated Russian officials and some U.S. backers said such contacts merely meant that the envoy was doing his job, meeting Americans across the political spectrum in order to gauge their views and offer up Moscows own.
A Russian lawmaker, Alexey Pushkov, said almost any senior politician in the United States would at some point be in touch with diplomatic representatives such as the Russian ambassador to Washington. Hysteria in the USA has driven politicians into a trap, he tweeted. Met with the Russians? End of career. Hid it? To prison. The spirit of J. McCarthy has been just waiting in the wings.
In Moscow, particular umbrage was taken at U.S. media accounts of Russia-Trump campaign connections, including a report on CNN that cited senior current and former intelligence officials asserting that Kislyak was not only a diplomat, but a spymaster and intelligence recruiter.
If things go on this way, U.S. officials and businessmen will have to forget the word Russia and hide Russian souvenirs deep in their attics, political analyst Ilya Kharlamov wrote in a sardonic commentary carried by the domestic Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Otherwise theyll be in trouble.
Kislyak, whose tenure as ambassador overlapped all eight years of the Obama administration, weathered the fallout over Russian hacking that U.S. intelligence officials said was meant to interfere in the U.S. electoral outcome. In his final weeks in office, President Obama expelled nearly three dozen Russian diplomats and took other punitive steps. Moscow, via Kislyak and other channels, protested its innocence.
As a veteran envoy, Kislyak served successive administrations in Moscow that had differing political aims, but his personal traits have remained consistent through four decades of diplomacy, according to several people who have worked with him.
Kislyak is described as an intellectual whose training as an engineer helped hone a technocrats grasp of complex policy matters. Known for possessing an extremely good memory, he speaks excellent though accented English, with the tic common to native Russian speakers of sometimes neglecting the articles a and the.
He is not, however, described as an intimate of Putin, whose steely demeanor stands in contrast to Kislyaks somewhat rumpled mien. Although he served as deputy Russian foreign minister, Kislyak has been away in Washington and elsewhere for a considerable chunk of Putins tenure.
Kislyak joined the Foreign Ministry in 1977, when Cold War-era relations between the United States and Russia were characterized by intense rivalry and labyrinthine intrigue. In the early 1980s, he served as a second secretary in what was then the Soviet mission to the United Nations.
But by the time he took up other diplomatic posts in the United States, in the late 1980s, it was the era of Mikhail Gorbachevs perestroika and glasnost reform and openness and diplomats were tasked with outreach to former foes.
Kislyak is well acquainted with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has been derided as obsolete by Trump, serving as Russias envoy to the alliance between 1998 and 2003. After a stint back in Moscow, Kislyak took up ambassadorial duties in Washington in 2008, making him an unusually long-serving diplomat in the prestigious posting of the U.S. capital.
In public, Kislyaks remarks generally conform to a traditionally Kremlin view that Russia seeks common ground with the West, but often faces provocation instead.
You tried to contain Russia through pressure, economic sanctions, propaganda, he said at last Novembers forum at Stanford. From the Russian point of view, its not something we initiated we had to respond.
Times staff writer King reported from Washington and special correspondent Mirovalev from Moscow. Staff writer Ann M. Simmons in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
laura.king@latimes.com
Twitter: @laurakingLAT
For 30 years as an Episcopal priest in Iowa, Peter Sickels smeared crosses of ash on the foreheads of his parishioners every Ash Wednesday.
Remember, oh man, he would say during the ceremony marking the start of Lent, you are dust and to dust you shall return.
But this year, his ash has an extra ingredient: purple glitter.
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Iowa Pride Network Coordinator, Sandra Zapata, is participating in #glitterashwednesday. How do you show #lgbtq solidarity? pic.twitter.com/baCBdqrk7B Iowa Pride Network (@IAPrideNetwork) March 1, 2017
Sickels, now retired and living in San Diego, is one of roughly 150 religious leaders across the country who left parishioners with some sparkle to show support for the LGBTQ community.
I love the concept of not just ashes but glitter for new hope and new life, and just standing up for minorities, for those who are incredibly in distress at these times, Sickels said.
Others were less enthused with modifying a 1,500-year-old tradition.
However well-intentioned, Glitter Ash Wednesday is a distraction at best and a sideshow at worst, wrote Jacob Lupfer, a columnist for Religion News Service. I find it hard to believe pastors and churches that have already evolved on sexual ethics will tamper with the tradition, solemnity and dignity of Ash Wednesday.
The idea stretches back to Ash Wednesday of last year, when Liz Edman, an Episcopal priest in New Jersey, wished for a way to come out as visibly queer and visibly Christian. She set her phone alarm to ring the following January to remind her of the thought.
When her girlfriend later mentioned glitter, Edman was initially guarded.
It matters very much to me that people understand were not doing this in order to be frivolous or disrespectful, she said. Glitter is serious business for queer people. Glitter is how we have long made ourselves visible, even though becoming visible puts us at risk.
But then, she said, she came across St. Augustines teachings warning of the dangers of despair, which could thwart repentance and change.
I just thought, Bingo, thats it, she said. The glitter can represent a refusal to bow down to the forces of despair, particularly in this political moment we find ourselves in.
The message spread through social media, and according to organizers, 150 religious figures representing Lutheran, Presbyterian and Old Catholic churches, among others expressed interest. Ash Wednesday, a Roman Catholic tradition, has been embraced in recent decades by other denominations.
Marian Edmonds-Allen, a Protestant minister and the executive director of the faith-based LGBTQ organization Parity, mixed and shipped enough glitter and ash for 15,000 people in 29 states and three countries.
Ash Wednesday is a time when people think about their mortality, she said. The addition of glitter to that solemn ritual represents the joy and the hope that we feel.
The Rev. Fred Kinsey of Unity Lutheran Church holds ashes mixed with glitter as he awaits commuters at a Red Line stop in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com
Follow me on Twitter @AleneTchek
Deloitte Greenhouse established to create an innovation ecosystem
By:Jiang Wenran | From:english.eastday.com | 2017-02-28 17:25
Shanghai, February 28- The city is quickening its pace to become one of the world's major science and technology innovation centers. Deloitte believes that innovation will be elevated to the next level.
The current focus on gradual optimization of existing business models will be moved towards a disruptive development which rides on innovation to re-define our business model. Instead of relying on and exploring internal resources and ideas, innovation will increasingly be driven by the integration of resources within and outside an organization to create a win-win ecosystem, said Patrick Tsang, CEO of Deloitte China.
Deloitte China announced yesterday the official opening of its first Greenhouse in Shanghai at a special salon event. Inside the Deloitte Greenhouse, the firm will seek to help companies build a win-win ecosystem by leveraging its Speed SET, a revolutionary model which facilitates the generation of innovation ideas and solutions.
Speed SET is a disruptive model which facilitates the building of a win-win innovation ecosystem, said Dora Liu, Eastern Region Managing Partner of Deloitte China, Speed to Sense means that the innovation ecosystem can help us obtain better insights into emerging technology in a more effective manner, which can be used for a more in-depth industry analysis.
Speed to Engage refers to facilitating connection and integration of resources within the ecosystem. For instance, large companies can get access to emerging technologies, which will enable them to upgrade their business models; start-ups would receive guidance on government policy and will be connected to various resources; prototype concepts from universities and scientific institutions can be tested in the market; the government can promote business and foreign investment.
Liu noted that all these benefits are shared within the ecosystem and can lead to further innovation and entrepreneurial transformation and thats what the innovation ecosystem is all about.
We have also designed a series of innovation labs such as Digital Lab, Leadership Lab and Alignment Lab, to provide customized incubation services. In the process, Liu believes that the most important step of all is to commercialize the innovative products, and the ecosystem can provide a lot of support in this respect. Thats also what we refer to as Speed to Transform.
The Greenhouse brings together team members from different service lines at Deloitte who specialize in the technology space, such as digital, blockchain and data analysis, providing oxygen to the generation of creative ideas and solutions.
A global network of Deloitte Greenhouses has been established in 39 cities and 21 countries currently, according to Steven Feng, Leader of Deloitte China Innovation Program and Greenhouse Project.
On a visit to Mexico City in August 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump said, No one wins in either country when human smugglers and drug traffickers prey on innocent people, when cartels commit acts of violence, when illegal weapons and cash flow from the United States into Mexico.
Since then, Trump has continued to complain that Mexicans bring crime northward, while studiously ignoring the very real threat that U.S. firepower flowing in the other direction poses to Mexicans.
Although Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Mexican criminal organizations have no trouble buying firearms, which they use to control territory, extort business owners, and threaten citizens as well as members of the security forces. The consequences are lethal. In 2002, there were more than 2,600 murder investigations involving firearms. By 2016, that number had increased to nearly 13,000.
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To stock their arsenals, Mexican criminal organizations exploit lax U.S. gun laws, relying in part on straw purchases.
Most of the weapons used by criminal groups in Mexico originate in the United States. Each year, an average of 253,000 firearms cross the border, the overwhelming majority of which come from the Southwest states of California, Texas and Arizona. From 2009 to 2014, more than 70% of firearms nearly 74,000 seized by Mexican authorities and then submitted for tracing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms came from the United States. Many of these guns were semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 and AK-47, cartel favorites that Mexican citizens cannot buy legally.
To stock their arsenals, Mexican criminal organizations exploit lax U.S. gun laws, relying in part on straw purchases.
A straw purchase is when a person who is prohibited by federal law from buying firearms contracts a third party to buy them on their behalf. Because there is no limit on firearm transactions in many states, anyone who can pass a background check may buy multiple military-grade firearms in a single visit which they can then pass along to criminals.
Sometimes firearms traffickers do not even have to lie to purchase a weapon. Although licensed U.S. firearms dealers must conduct background checks and maintain records, among other measures, unlicensed dealers at gun shows, flea markets and other private venues may sell guns without conducting a background check, inspecting a buyers identification or documenting the sale in any way.
The business of violence can be highly profitable, and the American gun industry is cashing in, with U.S. sellers and manufacturers arming both sides of Mexicos conflict. Research from the University of San Diego has shown that half of U.S. gun dealers benefit financially from the U.S.-Mexico illegal gun trade, to the tune of $127.2 million in 2012.
Meanwhile, manufacturers also sell weapons and ammunition to Mexican security forces as they fight well-armed criminal organizations. Between 2015 and 2016, U.S.-based gun manufacturers signed nearly $276 million in commercial firearms deals with Mexico. Other U.S. defense companies signed agreements worth more than $560 million during that period in planes, helicopters and other equipment to outfit Mexicos military and police.
The U.S. government knows theres a problem. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly and Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong reportedly discussed the flow of guns across the border on Feb. 7. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson highlighted the issue as an area of cooperation between the two countries during his visit to Mexico last week. And Trump even signed an executive order in February claiming he would strengthen enforcement of Federal law related to illegal gun trafficking.
But if the Trump administration actually wants to solve the problem, it needs to change laws, not just enforce them. The same mechanisms that allow for guns to be trafficked within the United States unregulated gun shows and online sales, bad actor gun dealers and laws that allow people to buy dozens of military-grade assault weapons and privately resell them without documentation are the same mechanisms that make it so easy for Mexican criminals to arm themselves.
In the United States, trafficking guns is a high-profit, low-risk activity. There is no federal law against gun trafficking within the country, and although some convicted straw purchasers could get prison time, more often than not they merely face community service or a year of probation.
Many factors have contributed to violence in Mexico. The river of iron from the United States, however, plays a key role in the countrys high death toll. Just as a multibillion dollar border wall will do little to stop the tide of drugs coming into the country, it will do nothing to prevent military-grade weapons from pouring out of it.
If Trump is concerned about organized crime and violence in Mexico, he might want to address the United States role in arming it.
Sarah Kinosian is a program officer covering arms trafficking, U.S. defense policy and citizen security at the Washington Office on Latin America. Eugenio Weigend is a senior policy analyst for the guns and crime policy team at the Center for American Progress.
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
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Im a Jewish American who worked with Steve Bannon. He is not a racist or an anti-Semite
Trumps proposed database of crimes by the undocumented is shameless propaganda
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) called White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon a stone cold racist and a white supremacist sympathizer in an interview on MSNBC. Steven Goldstein, executive director for the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect wants the president to fire Bannon because he is a notorious anti-Semite.
As a Jewish American who worked with Bannon at Breitbart News, I am certain these characterizations are false. They are the leading edge of a distortion campaign that mislabels Bannon as virulently prejudiced, anti-immigrant and a cultural fascist.
In the six years I have known Bannon, I have never heard him make a single racist or anti-Semitic comment.
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Since the election, the far left has engaged in a vicious crusade against Bannon in an effort to discredit President Trump. Banners adorn Manhattan buildings, demanding that Congress Impeach Bannon. The Chicago Tribune recently opined the president should banish his advisor.
The accusations of anti-Semitism and racism that ignited all this have questionable origins.
None of this is about hatred of foreigners. It is about taking care of your own. There is a difference.
First, in a decade-old divorce filing, Bannons former wife reportedly said he did not want his daughters attending a particular private school because too many Jewish children were students there. Bannon purportedly called them whiny brats. The emphasis here should be on reportedly this has not been proven.
Next, under Bannons leadership of Breitbart, white nationalists infiltrated the comments section on the website, promoting a separatist, racist agenda. Yet its common knowledge that virulent trolls are endemic in online comment sections, a problem most sites face without their leadership being accused of sharing those views.
Finally, in one 2016 interview, Bannon described Breitbart as the platform for the alt-right. Alt-right lacks a single, simple definition, but the media have increasingly associated the term with white nationalism. In November, Bannon specifically clarified his views in the Wall Street Journal: He has zero tolerance for racist or anti-Semitic views.
I do not share all of Bannons political views and while working with him, I openly expressed my differences with the aggressive editorializing at the website after its founder, Andrew Breitbart, died in 2012 and Bannon took over. As the company reorganized, some of the journalists who worked there left; I was the first to go.
But my departure had nothing to do with personal objections to Bannon or his values. Other Breitbart editors believed I was too centrist, and so I was. Still, after I left and applied to the Washington Times, where I worked as a legal analyst and investigative reporter, Bannon provided me a Jewish journalist with a positive recommendation.
I would say that Bannons vision is best characterized as an egalitarian America First policy, with the stress on the word egalitarian.
The phrase America First surfaced before the United States entered World War II, when Charles Lindbergh and others challenged President Franklin D. Roosevelts call to stop the Nazis. The America Firsters insisted that Jewish groups and the British were manipulating the U.S. to fight their war against Germany.
Lindbergh was undoubtedly anti-Semitic and isolationist, as his journal entries reveal. Bannon isnt. Unlike Lindbergh, he does not believe in ignoring human rights violations. On the contrary, he (and the president) have said defeating Islamic State is a priority precisely because of the terrible violations it commits. That is not isolationism.
Bannon and Trump, along with many others, want to reform the immigration system to protect all Americans regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation from crime, terrorism and unemployment.
The controversial White House travel ban, which is now being revised, temporarily barred entry of citizens from countries that present safety issues, specifically so the U.S. could develop a better background check system to prevent Islamic State from gaining entry to the country. It was never meant to be a blanket, permanent ban.
None of this is about hatred of foreigners. It is about taking care of your own. There is a difference.
The far lefts assertion that Bannon is responsible for empowering white nationalists is a correlation without causation. Issues covered on Breitbart under Bannon such as opposition to illegal immigration can be heralded by the worst of the alt-right for their own racist reasons. That doesnt mean conservatives supporting those issues are prejudiced. Such guilt by association is just as unfair now as it was in the 1960s, when the far right falsely accused President Kennedy of communist leanings because his anti-poverty and anti-segregation policies inspired socialists.
In my discussions with Bannon, he has made his values clear. It is an immature view of the world to just look out for yourself, he told me. You cant do that. You have to look out for others. You have to help people.
The accusations of racism and anti-Semitism leveled against my former editor are unjust, weapons in a battle against a legitimate point of view about the direction of the nation. They are meant to chill free speech, and as such their real target is the Constitution of the United States.
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro is an investigative journalist and former Washington, D.C., prosecutor.
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
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Proving Trump colluded in Russian hacking is the Democrats Holy Grail. Will the Sessions revelations help them?
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Did Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions commit perjury when he denied in his Senate confirmation hearing that he had been in touch with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election? Thats not a conclusion the public let alone a court or Senate committee can draw from recent reports that Sessions had two undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador. But there are certainly enough questions to warrant an investigation.
As with everything in Washington, the partisan overlay here is thick, and we need to cut through it. Sessions appointment faced stiff opposition, and some Democrats are now calling for him to resign, arguing perhaps opportunistically in what my colleague Michael McGough suggests could be an overplay that will haunt them that his failure to come clean about the contacts disqualifies him from the job. That demand is premature, though it might ripen if there are further revelations and conflicts between his statements and the verifiable record.
Others argue that Sessions must at a minimum recuse himself from Justice Department investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a call that even some Republicans have joined as has the Los Angeles Times editorial board. That is a prudent demand, and Sessions promise to recuse himself whenever its appropriate is insufficient. He should have taken that step before, and must take it now. [Minutes after this was posted, Sessions announced he had recused himself from matters involving the Trump campaign.]
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If our institutions of justice are to work, the nation has to have faith that its top law-enforcement official takes seriously an oath to be truthful.
If he doesnt, the nation would have reasonable cause to doubt the independence of an investigation, which would further damage the governments credibility in the eyes of people already suspicious of it. But Congress could also make the recusal moot by appointing an independent commission, or a special prosecutor, something I urged two weeks ago.
Why is it such a big deal that Sessions failed to disclose his conversations with the Russian ambassador? Sessions described his campaign role as an occasional surrogate for candidate Trump. In reality, he was more than that. He headed up candidate Trumps national security advisory team, and a shrewd diplomat wouldnt be out of line to think that currying contacts with Sessions in that role might be helpful if Sessions as was already being being talked about wound up with a top position in a Trump administration. Sessions argument that he spoke with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in his capacity as a U.S. senator deserves skepticism.
The first conversation between Sessions and Kislyak occurred at a Republican National Convention-related event, after which Sessions declined a subsequent lunch meeting meeting because of the optics. That the meeting took place in an environment framed by the election the nominating convention makes it hard to believe they didnt discuss the election, even if in innocuous terms. And Sessions clearly was aware of the possible problem of meeting with Kislyak, since he turned down the subsequent lunch invitation. Yet he failed to include in his testimony the meeting that he did have.
The second meeting came in Sessions office after reports had already surfaced about Russian ties to the hack of Democratic emails, and speculation swirled about possible Russian meddling in the election. Sessions is too smart and savvy a politician to forget about such a tete-a-tete, or not think such a meeting ought to be mentioned within the context of the question that Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken asked him about what will you do as attorney general if evidence surfaced that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign. Sessions response was unequivocal, even though not directly responsive to the question: I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
Further, Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy submitted written questions to Sessions, which included: Several of the president-elects nominees or senior advisors have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day? Leahy wrote. Sessions was succinct: No.
Yet Sessions was in contact. Sessions is no inexperienced rube he has been on the interrogators side of Senate committee hearings, and knows what to expect. A prudent nominee with such a background would scour appointment books and other records to be prepared for the kind of grilling Sessions himself has conducted. It stretches credulity to think that someone with his experience wouldnt realize that even an innocent meeting with the Russian ambassador merited disclosure.
Note that this controversy wouldnt even exist had Sessions told the committee: I met with the Russian ambassador twice, as I have with ambassadors of other nations, but we discussed nothing of significance regarding the presidential campaign. Instead, he forcefully said he had no such contacts.
Was this simply an error, an oversight by Sessions and his staff as he prepared for the hearings? Or did Sessions lie to avoid having to answer more probing questions about the meetings? Did he overstep, as did former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who before taking office counseled Russia to not overreact to Obamas ejection of Russian diplomats over the hacking scandal, then lied about the conversation to Vice President Mike Pence?
These are serious questions that need answers the public can trust. If our institutions of justice are to work, the nation has to have faith that its top law-enforcement official takes seriously an oath to be truthful. Trump won election by exploiting a broad distrust for the federal government. His move here should be to force openness and accountability, rather than countenance what would be rightly seen as just another politician obstructing the truth.
scott.martelle@LATimes.com
Twitter: @smartelle
UPDATES:
1:17 p.m.: This post was updated to include Sessions announcement that he would recuse himself from matters involving the Trump presidential campaign.
To the editor: Kudos to The Times Editorial Board for calling on the U.S. Senate to defend existing methane emission regulations. Protecting against methane releases is critical to ensure cleaner air and improved public health. (Senate should stand up for environment and not block Obama methane regulation, editorial, Feb. 27)
Methane is considered a super pollutant that is far more harmful than carbon pollution in its first 20 years in the atmosphere. These types of greenhouse gas emissions lead to more severe weather events like this winters floods, Californias prolonged drought, and raging wildfires in the summer.
Climate change can also cause more ground-level ozone pollution, leading to an increase in asthma attacks, hospitalizations and premature deaths.
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California state regulators are set to adopt the countrys strongest oil and gas regulations this month. As California moves forward, we urge the federal government not to take a step back. We must continue to fight for clean air protections because if we cant breathe, nothing else matters.
Olivia Diaz-Lapham, Los Angeles
The writer is president and chief executive of the American Lung Assn. of California.
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TV ads target lawmakers on the fence over Gov. Jerry Browns plan to raise gas taxes to repair roads By Patrick McGreevy Gov. Jerry Brown talks to Steve Glazer in 2011, when Glazer was still an advisor to the governor and before he was elected to the Senate. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) With supporters of a road repair bill still counting votes, a coalition of business and labor leaders on Friday began running television and radio ads that target eight legislators who have not yet committed to vote for the measure. The Fix Our Roads Coalition is spending $1 million on a statewide, week-long ad blitz that urges legislators to vote next week for Senate Bill 1. The bill would raise gas taxes and vehicle fees to generate $52 billion the first 10 years to repair crumbling roads, highways and bridges, and expand mass transit. We are closer than ever to finally passing a transportation funding package to fix our long-neglected and crumbling roads, said Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, which is co-funding the commercials. These new ads are part of an all-out grassroots, earned media, advertising and social media campaign to support passage of this bill by next week. In addition to ads that call on legislators to support the bill, eight advertisements call on legislators by name to support the plan. Those targeted include Sens. Steve Glazer (D-Concord) and Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres), and moderate Democratic Assembly members Adam Gray of Merced, Rudy Salas of Bakersfield, Sabrina Cervantes of Corona, Sharon Quirk-Silva of Buena Park and Al Muratsuchi of Torrance, as well as Republican Catharine Baker of San Ramon. The bill needs a two-thirds vote in both houses, which would require all of the Democrats to support the measure. Cannella and Baker are being wooed by Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders to step in if one of the Democrats gets cold feet. Representatives of Cannella and Glazer said earlier this week that they were still weighing the issue. Brown and legislative leaders have called for the Legislature to act by Thursday, after which time the lawmakers head out on spring break. Facebook
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Former Assembly Speaker John A. Perezs views on the L.A. congressional race he dropped out of By Christine Mai-Duc (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Before he suddenly dropped out of the running citing health reasons, former Assembly Speaker John A. Perez was widely considered the favorite to replace Xavier Becerra in the 34th Congressional District. With Perez out, the race is wide open and isnt likely to be decided Tuesday, when 24 candidates compete in the primary. Instead, the top two vote-getters regardless of party are expected to advance to a June 6 election. (If any one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote Tuesday, its all over). Perez offered his thoughts on the race in an interview published Friday by Politico. Some of his major points: Perez said he thinks state Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez is significantly ahead of the pack and will make the runoff.
A cluster of candidates, including Alejandra Campoverdi, Wendy Carrillo, Arturo Carmona, Maria Cabildo and Robert Lee Ahn, are in a close enough race that any one of them could advance.
If Carrillo were to move forward, Perez says, the narrative in the runoff would be about which candidate is more progressive and whos an insider versus an outsider.
Perez says if he were the front runner, Campoverdi is the one Id be most concerned about running against due to her connections in Washington and her national profile, which could create a new level of viability. Facebook
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To fight against human trafficking, this state senator wants to train motel employees to spot signs of abuse By Jazmine Ulloa Former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) wants to increase services for human trafficking survivors and make it easier in court to put away their abusers. Flanked by prosecutors and hotel industry officials at a news conference Friday in San Diego, the former Assembly speaker announced new housing and mental health assistance for victims and introduced legislation that would require hotels and motels to train their employees to spot signs of human trafficking. Another of her proposals would expand the character evidence that prosecutors can bring forth at trial against defendants charged with selling victims for sex or labor. The bills are meant to attack a multibillion-dollar trade that has a wide sweep in California, home to three cities on the FBIs list of 13 top human trafficking destinations: San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. National human trafficking hotline calls across California generated 1,323 cases in 2016 nearly twice as many as any other state. Atkins is among lawmakers pushing the issue at the Capitol, where legislation has focused on targeting traffickers, protecting victims and addressing what advocates say is a law enforcement culture in which child survivors sometimes are treated like criminals. But funding for victims services and programs has been an obstacle. A bill by Atkins to develop pilot projects in three counties to address the commercial sexual exploitation of youth sailed through the Legislature without opposition last year only to be vetoed by the governor. Her second bill for a statewide task force died in the Senate appropriations committee. Atkins latest proposal to provide training for motel employees follows a similar bill by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens). It failed in the last legislative session amid opposition over costs to businesses. That hasnt stopped Atkins from trying again. Hotels are ground zero for sex trafficking in this state, she said in a statement. Sex traffickers are exploiting some of the most vulnerable people in our society, including children. These victims are often hiding in plain sight, and traffickers take advantage of the fact that many hotel employees dont recognize the signs. Facebook
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State Controller Betty Yee says Californias tax collection agency has been mismanaged and needs a complete overhaul By Patrick McGreevy Citing a review that found widespread mismanagement at the state Board of Equalization, State Controller Betty T. Yee on Friday called for stripping the panel of responsibilities for tax administration and audit and compliance functions so it can focus on handling taxpayer appeals. Yees proposal came in response to an evaluation by the state Department of Finance that found board officials were improperly redirecting resources and employees to pet projects in their districts. In order to rebuild taxpayer trust, meaningful reform is essential, said Yee, who serves as an ex-officio member of the board. I urge the Legislature and the governor to strip the board members of all statutory functions and permanently move these duties and assigned staff to a separate new department under the governor. The Department of Finance review found the board had difficulty providing complete and accurate documentation in response to inquiries, and various levels of management were not aware of and could not speak to certain actions, including the informal establishment of a call center, creating an unofficial office location and inconsistent use of community liaisons. The evaluation said personnel records showed workers assigned to administrative jobs that they were not doing, having been transferred to help board members in their districts. Even though each elected board member has a $1.5-million budget to cover office costs, some members borrowed workers from the head office, taking them from jobs that involved bringing in tax money and having them instead reach out to board members constituents, the review found. The redirection of workers violated state budget rules. In addition, the reviewers said the board provided 11 different versions of its proposed sales and use tax allocation adjustment and the Department of Finance found errors and omissions throughout. Facebook
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Sen. Kamala Harris has opened a gubernatorial fundraising account but she has no plans to run for governor, aide says By Seema Mehta (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) Sen. Kamala Harris opened a campaign fundraising account to run for governor in 2026, but that does not mean Californias newest U.S. senator has any plans to seek the office. Harris plans to use the account to store the $1 million in leftover funds from her successful 2014 reelection campaign for attorney general, said Sean Clegg, Harris political spokesman. Harris left her post as state attorney general mid-term when she was elected in November to the Senate seat opening created by the retirement of Barbara Boxer. She faced a March 31 deadline to shutter the attorney general account, and under election law cannot mingle money raised for state campaigns with funds raised to run for federal office. Its purely political bookkeeping, Clegg said. The 2026 date could raise eyebrows because after the 2018 gubernatorial election, that will likely be the next time the governors office is open because its occupant is termed out. But Clegg said Harris did not open an account for a lower office like lieutenant governor as politicians in similar situations typically do because, he said, we werent interested in being cute about it. So we designated the only potential future office one could conceivably contemplate, although were not contemplating it, he said. Were focused on the job were doing. Facebook
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This California lawmaker wants to crack down on toys and electronics that pick up conversations and personal information By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), left (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press ) A California state senator wants to prevent companies from selling products that can listen in on conversations and collect personal information from unknowing consumers. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) has filed legislation that would require manufacturers to equip their Internet-connected devices, including toys, clocks, kitchenware and electronics, with certain security and privacy features. Dubbed the Teddy Bear and Toaster Act, Senate Bill 327 takes aim at the so-called Internet of Things, the inter-networking of everyday devices that some tech and privacy experts say amounts to a growing industry with little oversight. The more we know and the more we learn about the Internet connection of all sorts of devices, many are realizing that we dont know the extent to which these devices are invading our lives, Jackson said. Under her proposal, companies would have to design their products so that they alert consumers through visual, auditory or other cues when they are gathering data. They would have to obtain user consent when they intend to transfer the information. And they would have to disclose at point of sale whether the devices are capable of sweeping up sensitive data, so that customers can take that into account while shopping. Most states, including California, have privacy breach laws to protect personal information. The proposal, which would extend those provisions to consumer devices, could be the first of its kind nationwide. But it is expected to garner wide opposition from retailers and manufacturers. A My Friend Cayla doll (AFP/Getty Images) Still, supporters point to growing privacy concerns. Some toys, like the My Friend Cayla doll banned in Germany, prompt children to give personal information, such as their parents names and their addresses, and their manufacturers reserve the right to target young buyers in direct marketing campaigns. Other smart devices lack the most basic security features that make them vulnerable to a hack or coordinated cyberattack. In a statement, James P. Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Kids Action, which is sponsoring the bill, said such toys and electronics can put consumers at risk. These products get rushed out to the market without the privacy issues being addressed in advance, and then consumers end up paying the price, he said. Facebook
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President Jerry Brown? Dont rule it out, governor quips By Patrick McGreevy Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislative leaders appealed Thursday for support for a proposed gas tax and vehicle fee increase to fix the states roads and bridges. (Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times) In arguing for approval of a new transportation package on Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown appeared to enjoy himself in refusing to shoot down a supporters suggestion that he run for president even as he noted his 79th birthday is next week. Standing next to other elected officials and construction workers at the rally in in Concord, Brown argued that gas tax and vehicle fee increases are needed to address a backlog of much-needed repairs to Californias crumbling system of roads, highways and bridges. Im telling you the truth because why would I lie to you? Brown said. I dont think Im running for office. All Ive got left is lieutenant governor, treasurer and controller. Or president, someone in the crowd shouted. Brown responded that he would be 82 when the next presidential election comes around. But you know, dont rule it out, he quipped, drawing laughter and applause. Lest the comment turn into a national story, an aide later clarified the governors intentions: He was joking. Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown is making appeals to legislators for votes on his new transportation plan one district at a time By Patrick McGreevy Gov. Jerry Brown stumps for the new transportation funding plan on Thursday in the Bay Area city of Concord. (Patrick McGreevy / Los Angeles Times) Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Thursday took their campaign for higher transportation taxes and fees to the Bay Area district of state Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Concord), one of the holdouts in the state Senate who has not yet committed to vote for the package. Surrounded by dozens of construction workers, Brown warned that if the transportation bill unveiled on Wednesday isnt approved this year, it may not happen in the foreseeable future. There is nothing more fundamental in the business of government than making sure the roads and bridges dont fall apart, and they are falling apart, Brown said. Glazer recently withheld his vote from a bill proposing a similar plan for repairing state bridges, roads and highways, and on Wednesday, a spokesman said he had still not committed to any plan but wanted to review the detailed proposal before taking a position. Construction workers at the rally held signs that pictured crumbling roads and said, Senator Glazer Fix This Now. Vote for SB 1. Brown said Glazer, his former senior advisor, does not disagree with the intent of the bill. He loves this plan, but he has another idea on his mind and he wants to marry the two and see if he can get some outcomes that I dont want to get into at this particular place, Brown told reporters. Sen. Jim Beall, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said Glazer wants the transportation funding bill to include a clause barring employees of Bay Area Rapid Transit from going on strike. Beall said that is a labor-relations issue that cannot be included in the bill raising taxes. You cant do that, Beall said. A spokesman for Glazer said the senator is still undecided on the bill. The senator is continuing to have conversations with the principals, said Steve Harmon, a spokesman for Glazer. He declined to comment on Bealls statement. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said there may be similar rallies in Los Angeles and Riverside in the coming days. Two other Democrats who have not yet committed to the plan are Riverside Sen. Richard Roth and Woodland Hills Sen. Henry Stern. Brown acknowledged that there is work to do to secure the two-thirds vote needed in both houses of the Legislature to raise the base excise tax on gasoline by 12 cents per gallon, to a total of 30 cents per gallon, and to create a new annual vehicle fee that would average $51 based on the value of the car or truck. Rendon said approval of the transportation bill would cost the average California motorist an extra $10 per month, which he said is a deal compared to the current cost of $720 in annual vehicle repair costs required because of running over potholes and other rough road conditions. Hoping to force a Senate vote on the package early next week, Brown was accompanied to the Concord news conference by Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). They urged lawmakers to support the bill, which would generate $5.2 billion annually for the first 10 years for road and bridge repairs, mass transit improvements and other projects to reduce congestion. Glazer, known as a maverick in the Legislature, was Browns campaign manager during the 2010 gubernatorial election and remained a senior advisor to the governor before running for the state Senate in a special election in 2015. ---- 1:23 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from a representative for state Sen. Steve Glazer. This article was originally published at 12:42 p.m. Facebook
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Who will be Californias next governor? New poll shows Newsom leads with 1 in 3 voters undecided By Seema Mehta (Nick Ut / Associated Press) In the race to replace termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown, the largest number of voters in a new statewide poll does not favor a candidate in the race. About 1 in 3 voters said they were undecided, according to the survey by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. Among candidates who have entered the race, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a strong lead with 28% of the vote, followed by Republican businessman John Cox with 18%, according to the poll, which was released Wednesday. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa clocks in at 11%, state Treasurer John Chiang at 8% and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin at 3%. Because the race is far away and public campaigning has not yet started in earnest, the poll could primarily be an indicator of name recognition. The field of candidates is also likely to grow. Newsom has several natural advantages: He was the first person to enter the race in 2015 and has a large fundraising edge. He has perhaps been the candidate most in the spotlight among the Democrats running, notably for his support of the marijuana legalization measure on the November ballot. Cox may have benefited from being the lone Republican in that version of the poll. Pollsters conducted a second version of the poll with five additional potential candidates, none of whom have announced a run for governor in 2018 San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon and former state Controller Steve Westly. Newsom still led the pack to come in at 24%. The two Republicans, Faulconer and Cox, tied at 11% each. Faulconer has said he does not plan to run for governor. Garcetti, Villaraigosa, Chiang, Steyer, De Leon, Westly and Eastin all placed in the single digits. Steyer and Westly have the personal wealth to self-fund a campaign, giving them time to decide whether to enter the race. Westly unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006, losing in the Democratic primary to state Treasurer Phil Angelides. In the 2018 contest, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the June primary will move onto the November general election. The poll of 1,000 registered voters in California was conducted online in English and Spanish between March 13 and 20, and has a margin of error in either direction of 3.6%. Facebook
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California legislators team up to expand John Muir National Historic Site By Sarah D. Wire Californias senators and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) filed legislation Thursday to add 44 acres to the John Muir National Historic Site. The John Muir Heritage Land Trust has offered to donate the additional land to the National Park Service, which operates the site, and the bill would authorize the agency to accept the parcel. The time John Muir spent with his daughters at their scenic home and its neighboring property played a major role in launching the national parks movement. Expanding the existing park to preserve more of this history and beauty is a fitting tribute to Muirs legacy of protecting land for all to enjoy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. Located about 30 miles east of San Francisco, the John Muir National Historic Site consists of Muirs Alhambra Valley home and 325 acres outside of Martinez. DeSaulnier said in a statement that expanding the property is a fitting celebration of his legacy, and will offer nature-goers greater access to enjoy the beauty of the East Bay. DeSaulnier sponsored the same bill last year, which passed the House unanimously but was not considered by the Senate. Feinstein and former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) carried the Senate version, which died after a committee hearing. Such bills often take a few attempts to pass, even without major opposition. Muirs writings helped inspire the creation of the National Park Service, starting with his lobbying of Congress to protect the Yosemite Valley from dams. He also was a founding member of the Sierra Club. Californians owe him a debt of gratitude, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said in a statement. Facebook
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Californias attorney general could investigate local police shootings under new legislation By Liam Dillon Attorney John Burris, center, comforts Robert and Deborah Mann, family members of Joseph Mann, who was killed by Sacramento Police in July, after a news conference on Oct. 3, 2016. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP) Californias attorney general could investigate local police shootings under a new bill authored by a Sacramento lawmaker. Democratic Assemblyman Kevin McCartys Assembly Bill 284 would allow local police departments or district attorneys to ask Atty. Gen. Xavier Becceras office to independently investigate police shootings of civilians. The legislation was prompted by high-profile police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Eric Garner in New York City and last summers police shooting of Joseph Mann, a mentally ill homeless man, in Sacramento, according to McCartys office. In all three cases, local prosecutors declined to charge the officers. There is a growing skepticism and a perceived conflict of interest, of the current process of local district attorneys investigating local police, said a fact sheet on the bill provided by McCartys office. Given that they work so closely, it is a valid question of whether this is the most transparent process for the public. There is a growing appetite, both at the national and local level, to create a better and more transparent system for [police shootings] that is fair to police, families, and the community in order to restore public trust. McCartys bill would make state investigations voluntary in these cases and would be implemented only if lawmakers also give Becceras office money to pay for the effort. In 2015, McCarty tried to pass legislation that would have made state investigations of local police shootings mandatory, but that bill failed to make it out of legislative committees. This year, lawmakers have generally scaled back prior efforts to change the states rules governing police discipline and transparency. Facebook
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Former offenders will help award millions in Proposition 47 grants to rehabilitate inmates By Jazmine Ulloa We have listened to law enforcement talk about how horrible Prop. 47 is, said Vonya Quarles, an advocate for the formerly incarcerated. Now we have a chance to help the people who are hurting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)) California officials will begin the process this spring of awarding $103 million in grants to programs for inmates centered on rehabilitation, substance abuse and reentry into society. The efforts will be funded with dollars saved from prison spending under Proposition 47, the sweeping 2014 ballot measure that downgraded six drug and theft crimes to misdemeanors and allowed defendants to renegotiate their punishments. For the large coalition of criminal justice advocates that poured millions into getting the proposition passed and that has closely tracked its implementation, this is a long-awaited step. Other states have passed similar laws, but California is the only state to invest those savings into services meant to help people stay out of prison. On the executive committee helping award the grants are formerly incarcerated people who know the system from the inside. Read More Facebook
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What would single-payer healthcare look like in California? Lawmakers release new details By Melanie Mason Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A proposal in California for a single-payer healthcare system would dramatically expand the state governments presence in medical care and slash the role of insurance companies. New amendments released Thursday fill in some key details on the universal healthcare measure proposed by state Sens. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), although the biggest political question how it would be paid for remains unanswered. Under the proposal, which was announced in February, the state would cover all medical expenses for every resident regardless of their income or immigration status, including inpatient, outpatient, emergency services, dental, vision, mental health and nursing home care. Insurers would be prohibited from offering benefits that cover the same services as the state. The program would eliminate co-pays and deductibles, and patients would not need to get referrals to see eligible providers. The system would be administered by an unpaid nine-person board appointed by the governor and the Legislature. A universal healthcare system run by the government has long been a dream of liberals, with many rallying behind insurgent Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders proposal for Medicare for all in the 2016 race. After a GOP effort to replace Obamacare stalled last week, Sanders said he intends to introduce a nationwide single-payer bill in the U.S. Senate. Proponents in California, who are no longer playing defense to preserve the Affordable Care Act, also touted a broader healthcare plan. With Republicans failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Californians really get what is at stake with their healthcare, Lara said in a statement. We have the chance to make universal healthcare a reality now. Its time to talk about how we get to healthcare for all that covers more and costs less. The cost sure to be the biggest hurdle for the measure so far remains unknown. The authors say they intend to pay for the program through broad-based revenue, but details of a funding proposal have not been hashed out. Gov. Jerry Brown sounded wary of a sprawling single-payer plan while speaking to reporters last week on his trip to Washington D.C. Where do you get the extra money? This is the whole question, Brown said. The bill is sponsored by the California Nurses Assn., which already has been rallying its members in support of the bill, SB 562. There has been a seismic shift in our political system through grassroots activism; we have an inspired, motivated base that will make its voice heard, RoseAnn DeMoro, the labor groups president, said in a statement. Facebook
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California backs San Francisco court challenge of Trump administration threat to withhold funds from sanctuary cities By Patrick McGreevy Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Wednesday he has filed an amicus brief supporting San Franciscos court challenge to President Trumps order targeting so-called sanctuary cities and counties that refuse to enforce federal immigration laws. The move marks a half-dozen times the state has filed briefs supporting legal challenges to various Trump orders. Last week, Becerra filed papers supporting a lawsuit by Santa Clara County. That case and San Franciscos challenge the legality of the Trump administrations threats to withhold federal funds from states and local jurisdictions that the administration deems to be sanctuary jurisdictions. Becerras brief cites Californias interest in protecting state laws and policies that ensure public safety and protect the constitutional rights of its residents. Threatening to take away resources from sheriffs and police officers in order to promote misguided views on federal immigration policy is reckless and puts public safety at risk, Becerra said in a statement. It is the right and responsibility of California and each state under the Constitution to determine how it will provide for the safety and general welfare of its residents and to safeguard their constitutional rights. Facebook
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti asks the federal government to define a sanctuary city By Sarah D. Wire View Instagram post Amid a new call from the Trump administration to cut off federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck had a question for the head of Homeland Security on Wednesday: What exactly is a sanctuary city? Garcetti and Beck joined a bipartisan handful of mayors and law enforcement leaders from across the country in Washington to air their concerns about President Trumps recent executive orders on immigration to Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly. Los Angeles is among the jurisdictions often called sanctuary cities that dont assist with federal immigration enforcement. State and local leaders in California have said they will continue to protect people in the country illegally despite the Trump administrations threats. After the closed-door meeting, mayors and police chiefs said their main request for Kelly was for a firm definition of what the federal government considers a sanctuary city. We think that as long as were complying with federal law then we shouldnt be labeled with whatever label intimates that were not, Beck said. Were looking for clarification; we are looking to be involved in the conversation so that decisions arent made that affect us without our input. Homeland Security spokesman Dave Lapan said the department is working on a definition but does not have a timeline for when it would be finalized. Although there is no legal definition of the term, the administration has seemed to define sanctuary jurisdictions as ones that dont comply when Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks them to detain prisoners after they have served their sentences so they can be picked up for deportation. Multiple federal courts have said the detainer orders differ from an official warrant and are not legal justification for holding someone who has served his or her sentence or is no longer under arrest. Los Angeles is one of several cities in California that does not hold people for immigration officials without a warrant, and Garcetti said that is going to continue. We see it as abiding by the Constitution, because there is case law that says we cant hold people for longer than permitted, Garcetti said after the meeting. Lapan said the Department of Homeland Security is working on ways to address concerns about the legality of holding someone for immigration officials, as well as the concerns of mayors of cities that have laws instructing law enforcement officers not to comply with immigration officials. Part of having this discussion is to find out, How can we get around this? Lapan said. If we are dealing with a criminal alien, somebody who is both in the country unlawfully and has committed crimes, the best place for us to take them into custody is in a jail or prison. Thats the safest for everyone, both our officers and the communities. Garcetti also disputes the administrations assertion that it can withhold federal funds from cities that dont comply with ICE orders. Garcetti pointed to a 2012 Supreme Court decision that said the government couldnt withhold Medicaid funds if states chose not to expand access to the program under the Affordable Care Act. I think we all feel on very strong constitutional and legal footing that it was decided in the Obama administration you cant put a legal gun to the head, a financial gun to the head of jurisdictions, whether its states or localities, and take their money if you dont agree with what they are doing in a different area, he said. Garcetti invited Kelly to visit Los Angeles. We need to make sure that we also are showing the perspectives of everyday people in cities like Los Angeles, he said. Garcetti also attended California congressional Democrats weekly lunch and met privately with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) before appearing on an immigration panel hosted by House Democrats. Facebook
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Anti-discrimination measure or blow to religious freedom? California bill sparks debate on employer codes of conduct By Melanie Mason Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A measure that would bar employers from firing workers for having an abortion or giving birth to a child out of wedlock is getting pushback from religious groups who say such a bill would prevent them from requiring employees to act in accordance with their faith. Under the bill by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), employers would not be able to discipline or fire workers for any reproductive health decision, such as pregnancy, in-vitro fertilization or abortion. What this bill does is make sure that people can make the best healthcare decisions for themselves and for their families without the fear that theyll risk their livelihoods in doing so, Rebecca Griffin of NARAL Pro-Choice California, a sponsor of the measure, said at a Wednesday afternoon hearing at the Capitol. A teacher at a Christian college in San Diego was fired in 2012 for becoming pregnant while unmarried. The school said her pregnancy violated its employee code of conduct, which prohibited premarital sex. In 2015, San Francisco Archibishop Salvatore Cordileone sparked a backlash when he proposed a new morality clause in the faculty handbook and contract for local Catholic schools that opposed same-sex marriage and certain reproductive medical procedures. With employees being fired for code of conduct violations in other states, proponents said California should set an example for the country, Right now, while were facing a federal government that is attacking reproductive freedom at every turn and condoning the type of discrimination that this bill prohibits, we feel like this is the time for California to take a stand for our values and make sure that our workers have the best protections possible, Griffin said. But the proposal faces opposition from religious groups, who argue such codes of conduct are integral to the relationship with their workers. The bill would specifically deny religious employers our 1st Amendment protections to infuse our codes of conduct with the tenets of our faith, said Sandra Palacios of the California Catholic Conference. The reaction from religious groups was not uniformly negative. The Rev. Rick Schlosser, executive director of the California Council of Churches, which represents mainline Protestant and Orthodox denominations, pointed to the diverse positions on reproductive issues among his groups members to explain his support for the bill. Any legislation that limits peoples ability to make their own moral decisions is harmful to religious freedom, said Schlosser. But other religious groups said the measure threatened to undermine the very purpose of requiring their employees to abide by a code of conduct. An organization specifically chartered to support or oppose a specific set of beliefs or actions cannot fulfill its mission without requiring adherence to a code of conduct, wrote Jonathan Keller, president of the conservative California Family Council, in an opposition letter. Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) asked why such codes of conduct should govern a personal decision an employee makes out of the workplace. Our community covenant does say that our employees are required to uphold our biblical values, and that certainly is a round-the-clock priority for us, responded Phillip Escamilla, the public policy chair of William Jessup University, a Sacramento-area evangelical Christian college Gonzalez Fletcher, herself a practicing Catholic, said she was not trying to unfairly target religious institutions. But, she said, she was trying to combat an inherent sexism that comes with enforcing such codes of conduct. A female employees reproductive decisions such as entering an abortion clinic or being pregnant out of wedlock can be seen by her employer, Gonzalez Fletcher said. A males decisions to whether or not theyre going to abide by a conduct never rise to that level, she said. So that inherent difference in how women and men are treated with these types of decisions just show how little privacy women are able to maintain. The bill, AB 569, cleared the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, its first legislative threshold, on a 4-2 vote. Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown, legislative leaders propose raising $5.2 billion annually to repair Californias roads and bridges By Patrick McGreevy (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Acknowledging that the states transportation system has been neglected, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Wednesday announced a proposal to raise gas taxes and vehicle fees to generate more than $5 billion annually for repairing Californias crumbling system of streets, highways and bridges, as well as to increase mass transit. It remains uncertain whether Brown will be able to muster the two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature needed to approve the new revenue sources, which include a 12-cent-per-gallon increase in the existing 18-cent base excise tax on gasoline. The package also includes a new, annual vehicle fee that would average about $48 based on the value of the car. The package was announced at a news conference on the Capitol steps attended by Brown, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). California has not approved an increase in the base excise tax on gas for 23 years, according to Brian Kelly, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency. As a result, the state faces a $130-billion backlog of repairs to state highways and bridges and local streets. There is sizable money here to make things better, Kelly said. People are going to get improved neighborhood streets. They are going to get improved highways and bridges, more faith that they are traveling on safe structures. And we are going to invest to improve the congestion into our trade corridors and congestion on their commute. Assembly and Senate Republicans released a joint statement opposing the plan. Californians already pay some of the highest gas taxes in the nation, the statement said. The transportation proposal announced by the Capitol Democrats is a costly and burdensome plan that forces ordinary Californians to bail out Sacramento for years of neglecting our roads. Brown has set a deadline of April 6, the day before the Legislature leaves on its spring break, to have the new package voted on by lawmakers. Because Republicans have generally opposed the tax increases, the package may need the vote of every Democrat to get the two-thirds majority for passage. Three Democratic senators had been holding off their support before the new plan was released. Read More Facebook
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Election officials say mistake on Korean language ballots substantially smaller than previously thought By Christine Mai-Duc (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles County election officials say a mistake made on Korean-language sample ballots in the upcoming 34th Congressional District race likely affected fewer than 780 voters. The error, which listed the races 23 candidates in the wrong order on some Korean-language sample ballots, was discovered last week after Korean American voters pointed out their mail-in ballot materials looked different than English-language sample ballots sent to the same home or apartment building. Initially, election officials said they didnt know how widespread the problem was. As a precaution, they sent bilingual notices and corrected sample ballots to all 8,251 voters in the district who received Korean-language sample ballots. None of the sample ballots enclosed with actual mail-in ballots were affected, officials say. In a letter to election officials and L.A. County supervisors Tuesday, the Korean American Coalition called it a violation of federally protected voting rights. The letter asked officials to host a 24-hour hotline for Korean-speaking voters until election day, provide more information on the scope of the error and extend the mail-in voting deadline for those who had received the misprinted ballots. In a response sent Wednesday morning, County Registrar Dean Logan said the error was limited to a small number of sample ballots in a single print run of 777 sample ballots. Based on the agencys review, Logan wrote, it appears that substantially fewer than the 777 voters were affected. The registrars office says it is extending the hours of operation for its voter hotline and staffing it with Korean-speaking operators. Voters concerned that they may have been affected can call 1-800-815-2666 and select option 3 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend. Voters will also see additional signage at polls addressing the issue and Korean-speaking poll workers will be instructed to remind voters to check their ballots. Facebook
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Talks at Capitol focus on boosting California transportation funding by some $5.2 billion annually By Patrick McGreevy On Highway 1 in Big Sur, the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge has buckled, cutting off a community of hundreds from schools and isolating renowned businesses from customer traffic. (Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times) With a deadline looming, Gov. Jerry Brown is winding up negotiations with legislators in hopes of reaching an agreement on a plan that would provide at least $5.2 billion annually for a transportation backlog that includes repairing Californias aging and crumbling system of streets, highways and bridges, officials said Tuesday. Those close to the talks said an agreement on the package could be announced as early as Wednesday afternoon. The question remains whether Brown and leaders can muster the two-thirds vote needed to approve a phased-in gas tax increase of up to 12 cents by the April 6 deadline set by the governor. Key senators remained uncommitted to any plan as of Tuesday. And a new voter-approved rule requires a bill to be in print for 72 hours before it can be passed. The bill needs approval in both houses. Assembly Democrats were briefed on the evolving plan behind closed doors on Tuesday and some officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said talks are progressing on a plan that would provide the bulk of money to a fix-it first program of road repairs divided evenly between state projects and those of cities and counties. Money would also be dedicated to mass transit, bicycle, pedestrian and trucking routs for ports. The proposal also would include reforms proposed by lawmakers, including Republicans, that would hold officials accountable for proper use of the money, including a requirement for regular audits, creation of an inspector general position and a ballot measure requiring new money to be spent on transportation projects. Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) authored a bill that would put a measure on the ballot, saying Tuesday such guarantees are required given the urgency of the deferred maintenance backlog, and the additional burden we are asking Californias taxpayers to carry. John Myers contributed to this report. Facebook
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Watch: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director attends community meeting in Sacramento Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown calls for countermovement against Trumps colossal mistake on climate change By Evan Halper California Gov. Jerry Brown warned that President Trump has just made a colossal mistake in gutting the federal governments effort to combat climate change, which will ignite a response Trump is unprepared to handle. It defies science itself, Brown said in a call to The Times shortly after Trump signed an executive order that aims to bring an abrupt halt to the United States leadership on global warming. Erasing climate change may take place in Donald Trumps mind, but nowhere else. Yes, there is going to be a countermovement, Brown vowed, predicting Trumps actions will mobilize environmentalists in a way President Obama never could. I have met with many heads of state, ambassadors. This is a growing movement. President Trumps outrageous move will galvanize the contrary force. Things have been a bit tepid [in climate activism]. But this conflict, this sharpening of the contradiction, will energize those who believe climate change is an existential threat. Brown and other big-state governors and mayors are moving swiftly to fill the global leadership vacuum Trump created with Tuesdays directive, which stops short of officially pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord of 2015. I see Washington declining in influence, but the momentum being maintained by California and other states aligned with China and those who are willing to do something, said Brown, who will be traveling to China soon for meetings on climate. There is a growing activism on the part of millions of people who will not stand by and let Donald Trump effectively tear up the Paris agreement and destroy Americas climate leadership and jeopardize the health and well-being of so many people. In the face of Trumps retreat on climate change, Brown said California will step up its own efforts to push others toward clean energy. We are not fully meeting the challenge of climate change yet, he said. We are doubling down on our commitment. We are reaching out to other states in America and throughout the world and other countries. We have plenty of fuel to build this movement. This is real, Brown said of the threat created by climate change. The nations of the world have recognized it in Paris. I will continue doing my best to work with and rouse the world community, whatever the politicians in Washington do or dont do. Facebook
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California and its allies hint at new legal battles over Clean Power Plan By Chris Megerian California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) President Trumps effort to roll back the Clean Power Plan could quickly run into legal challenges from California and its allies across the country. State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and his counterparts from states including New York, Massachusetts and Oregon said they wont hesitate to protect those we serve including by aggressively opposing [Trumps actions] in court. The joint statement was also issued by Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and other cities. Californias stance isnt surprising because the state joined Obama administration efforts to defend the Clean Power Plan in 2015. Further legal action could underscore the determination of local and state governments to push forward with fighting climate change even as Trump withdraws federal regulations. Read More Facebook
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Meeting climate change goals will require billions for transportation and housing improvements, reports say By Liam Dillon A major push to get Californians out of their cars and onto their feet, bikes and public transit is essential if the state wants to meet its aggressive goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, according to new reports from the state and UC Berkeley researchers. Californians will have to drive an average of 1.6 miles less a day and regional government agencies believe it will cost billions of dollars to make the mass transit and housing improvements needed for that to happen. UC Berkeley researchers argue in a new study that a boom in dense housing across the state will bring major greenhouse gas reductions and economic growth. Read More Facebook
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California expects to be unscathed as Trump targets Clean Power Plan By Chris Megerian A solar farm in Kern County (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Although Californias leaders may protest President Trumps announcement Tuesday that hes scrapping the Clean Power Plan, his decision is expected to have little effect on a state already marching toward renewable energy. In fact, greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation in the Golden State are already below what the federal government would have required by 2030, and theyre expected to drop even further. Rollback of the Clean Power Plan is pretty much irrelevant to California, said Frank Wolak, a Stanford University economist who has advised state leaders on climate regulations. The federal rules, enacted by former President Obama as part of his campaign against climate change, were intended to push states away from coal and toward cleaner energy sources. But that was already underway in California. Los Angeles, one of the last places in the state to rely on coal, was already planning to stop importing electricity from out-of-state coal plants by 2025. In addition, state law requires California to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2030, and state Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) has suggested pushing even further. When it comes to fighting pollution and climate change, there are some areas where California relies on the federal government. For example, they share authority on regulating vehicle emissions, and Trumps preparation to roll back federal rules has caused alarm here. However, theres less of a concern when it comes to generating electricity. Trumps moves have caused some anxiety among California companies that are developing clean energy technologies and looking for new markets to sell them. Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, said the Clean Power Plan would have been a huge economic catalyst. President Trump is basically telling Californias more than 40,000 clean-energy businesses and the 500,000 workers they employ that they dont matter to him, he said. Rail cars filled with coal in Wyoming (Ryan Dorgan / Associated Press) Its an open question how Trump could affect various efforts for California to integrate its electricity grid with neighboring states, an idea that has failed to gain traction so far. Advocates of the concept say regional cooperation could expand the market for renewable energy, but the lack of federal pressure to cut emissions could dampen enthusiasm in places such as Utah and Wyoming, which rely on coal. They dont have the Clean Power Plan bearing down on them, said Don Furman, who directs the Fix the Grid campaign thats seeking closer relationships among West Coast states. Ralph Cavanagh, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he doesnt expect changes to the Clean Power Plan to harm efforts to create a regional electricity grid, because of the falling cost of renewable energy. The rationale is stronger today than it was yesterday, he said. Facebook
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California GOP lawmakers introduce bills to boost healthcare and jobs for veterans By Liam Dillon Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove) speaks at a press conference introducing a package of bills aimed at helping California veterans. (Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times) Republican state lawmakers unveiled a package of six bills Tuesday aimed at improving job training and healthcare services for California veterans. Our veterans have served this country bravely and it is only right for us to recognize their contribution and see that when they do come home they receive the care and assistance they deserve, said state Sen. Janet Nguyen of Garden Grove, who authored three of the measures. The six bills are: Senate Bill 410 from Nguyen and Assembly Bill 353 from Assemblyman Randy Voepel of Santee, which would expand hiring preferences. for veterans.
SB 409 from Nguyen and SB 485 from state Sen. Jim Nielsen of Gerber, which would increase mental health services and oversight at state veterans homes.
SB 411 from Nguyen, which would pay some military reservists $100 a month once they turn 50 if theyve served for 10 years or more.
SB 197 from Sen. Pat Bates of Laguna Niguel, which would waive state and local sales taxes for nonprofits that donate facilities to the U.S. Department of Defense a measure aimed at helping construction of a mental health care facility at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County. Facebook
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These Los Angeles girls went to Capitol Hill to ask the Senate to fight new immigration enforcement efforts By Sarah D. Wire Fatima, left, and Yuleni Avelica, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) during a news conference on Capitol Hill. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Fatima Avelica, 13, was training for the Los Angeles Marathon with her father before he was arrested by immigration agents last month after dropping Fatimas sister off at her Lincoln Heights school. Fatima had to pause repeatedly, pressing her fingers to her eyes, as she told the story to reporters at a news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) handed handkerchiefs to Fatima and her sister Yuleni Avelica, 12. The girls had medals from completing the marathon dangling around their necks. Democratic senators held the news conference to urge their Senate colleagues to reject President Trumps request for $3 billion to hire thousands of new immigration agents, expand detention facilities and build a wall among the southern border as part of his pledge to deport millions of people in the country illegally. The White House has characterized the moves as necessary for public safety. Californias Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris said Trumps immigration enforcement orders are too broad, sweeping up nonviolent offenders or people accused of the civil offense of being in the country illegally. She called the executive orders, which vastly broadened who can be targeted for deportation and leaves a lot of discretion to local immigration officials misguided and misinformed. Its irresponsible to paint a whole population of people as racists and murderers and bad hombres, she said, referencing one of Trumps own lines about immigrants. Its actually ignorant and we cant afford to run our country that way. The girls father, Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez, a Mexican citizen, has lived in the U.S. for 25 years. ICE officials cited two misdemeanor convictions as the reason for his arrest. His four daughters were all born in the U.S. Fatima said the family is waiting for word every day on whether he will be deported. Fatima said she now wants to become an immigration lawyer. Its like a new marathon for me, and I know I can finish it, Fatima said, tears welling up again. But, I need my coach there. I need my dad. Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blast President Trump on climate change By Chris Megerian California Gov. Jerry Brown (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gov. Jerry Brown joined with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to criticize President Trumps pending announcement to roll back climate regulations and insist that their states will push forward anyway. Dismantling the Clean Power Plan and other critical climate programs is profoundly misguided and shockingly ignores basic science, they said in a joint statement. With this move, the Administration will endanger public health, our environment and our economic prosperity. Brown and Cuomo represent the two largest states with the most ambitious goals for fighting global warming, and theyve already set equivalent targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Theyre also pushing to generate half of all their electricity from renewable sources by 2030. With or without Washington, we will work with our partners throughout the world to aggressively fight climate change and protect our future, Brown and Cuomo said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Facebook
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To stem rising prices, a California lawmaker is taking on how hospital chains craft their contracts By Melanie Mason Amid concern that sprawling hospital chains are leading to higher prices, a California state senator is trying to clamp down on how hospital networks craft their contracts to win market dominance. Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) is offering a measure that would prohibit hospitals from certain contracting practices he sees as anti-competitive, such as requiring health plans to contract with all affiliates of the hospital or mandating that health plans agree to binding arbitration for antitrust claims. Weve lost a level of transparency thats affected affordability and access and fairness, Monning said in an interview. Multi-hospital chains are becoming prominent throughout the country, with proponents saying such mergers make care more efficient and better coordinated. But a recent USC study found that while hospital prices in California have grown overall, the costs are higher in the states largest chains. Once you control a market, you can artificially increase costs, said Monning, adding those higher prices can spill over to neighboring hospitals, too. Competitors think if they can charge this much for a hip replacement, were going to as well, Monning said. Another study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute found premiums in Northern California were 30% higher than those in Southern California, in part because of the dominance of a few healthcare systems in the north. Micah Weinberg, the institutes president, said hospital consolidation was a logical issue to look at, particularly because healthcare coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act is now under less threat from Congress following the failure of the House Republicans replacement bill. We have to double down on the real work, which is getting people access to quality healthcare and affordable costs, said Weinberg. One of the biggest barriers to that is the lack of competition among healthcare providers. Weinberg said much of the question is a matter of federal antitrust enforcement. Its really difficult to do things at the state level that are effective here, he said. Still, consolidation has increasingly come under scrutiny in California. The state attorney generals office under Kamala Harris, now serving as U.S. senator, investigated consolidation of hospital and physician groups, and the effect on consumer prices. Last year, the healthcare trust for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, sued Sutter Health, alleging antitrust violations. The Pacific Business Group on Health, an organization that represents major companies such as Wells Fargo and Chevron, also raised alarms on Sutters requirement that firms use arbitration to resolve disputes--or face higher rates for Sutters healthcare services. The business group is a supporter of Monnings bill, as well as the California Labor Federation. The California Hospital Assn. has not taken a position on the bill. ------------ FOR THE RECORD March 29, 2017, 1:52 p.m.: A previous version of this article reported that the Pacific Group on Health sued Sutter Health. The United Food and Commercial Workers healthcare trust filed the suit. Facebook
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Los Angeles assemblyman returns to work in Sacramento after more than two-week absence By Melanie Mason Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) After more than two weeks away from the state Capitol, Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) was back at work Monday, with his staff blaming the absence on unspecified medical reasons. Im not going to comment on what the illness was, said his chief of staff, Darryl Lucien, who added that the legislator was feeling better Monday. Ridley-Thomas, 29, was not available for an interview to discuss his absence. He originally went on leave March 7. At the time, he did not specify an illness and so Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendons office considered him to be on personal leave. Under legislative rules, those absences did not allow him to receive per diem payments a subsidy intended to offset the costs of traveling and living in Sacramento. On March 21, he informed Rendons office that he was on medical leave, thus becoming eligible for the $183 per diem. Lucien said the original personal leave request was an error and that all of Ridley-Thomas time away from work was for health reasons. Its medical leave, Lucien said. He has a doctors note that was submitted, excusing him for the time he was out. Ridley-Thomas was not entirely absent from legislative work during that time. While on leave, he yanked one high-profile piece of legislation a measure that would exempt tampons and other feminine hygiene products from sales tax from a hearing in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation committee, which he chairs. The bills author, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), said she spoke directly to Ridley-Thomas about a request to amend her bill days before that committee hearing. Lucien said Ridley-Thomas was working on a very limited basis, fielding calls from members to the extent he was able to speak with them. A fellow Democrat, Assemblyman Bill Quirk of Hayward, stepped in to chair the Revenue and Taxation panel during a March 13 hearing. A subsequent hearing on March 20 was canceled. Facebook
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Adam Schiff calls on Devin Nunes to remove himself from Russia investigation By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) on Monday urged fellow Californian Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) to remove himself from their investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Before late last week, Schiff had gone out of his way not to be critical of Nunes throughout the fledgling investigation. They have held the top positions on the House Intelligence Committee for two years, and have served in Congress together for more than a decade. This is not a recommendation I make lightly, as the Chairman and I have worked together well for several years; and I take this step with the knowledge of the solemn responsibility we have on the Intelligence Committee to provide oversight on all intelligence matters, not just to conduct the investigation, Schiff said in a statement. After much consideration I believe Chairman should recuse himself from involvement in investigation/oversight of Trump campaign & transition pic.twitter.com/jpfA1x80Si Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 27, 2017 Nunes last week surprised many when he told reporters that conversations between Trump and his transition team may have been accidentally picked up during legal intelligence gathering. Nunes briefed the media and President Trump before informing his committee. A spokesman for Nunes, who was a member of Trumps transition team, said Monday he obtained the information from a source on White House grounds, which raised even more questions. Nearly a week after Nunes announcement, committee members still havent seen the evidence, Schiff said. There was no legitimate justification for bringing that information to the White House instead of the committee. That it was also obtained at the White House makes this departure all the more concerning, Schiff said. Nunes spokesman would not comment on calls for the chairman to recuse himself. House Democrats have called for an entirely independent investigation, but short of that were coalescing around the call for Nunes to step aside. Among others, Schiffs Intelligence Committee colleagues Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) have also called for Nunes to step aside from the investigation. The House and Senate intelligence committees are both investigating allegations that Russia tried to interfere with the presidential election and what, if anything, the Trump campaign knew about it. So far, too many people in the White House and administration, and now the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, have betrayed their duty to conduct an independent, bipartisan inquiry into the Trump teams ties with Russia, Swalwell said in a statement. Chairman Nunes should no longer be anywhere near this investigation, let alone leading it. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said in a statement that Nunes had tarnished the chairmanship. She also said it was long overdue for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to ask him to recuse himself from the investigation. Facebook
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Blasting federal action on immigration, Californias chief justice warns the rule of law is under threat By Patrick McGreevy California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye warned Monday that the rule of law in state is under threat. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye did not mention President Trump by name in her annual State of the Judiciary speech Monday, but she blasted federal actions on immigration and warned that the rule of law in the state is under threat. In addressing the Legislature, she also called on members to end years of underfunding of the state court system. The chief justice said the rule of law has failed repeatedly in the state, including when her husbands parents were among 120,000 Japanese Americans put in internment camps during World War II. Simply put, the rule of law means that we as a people are governed by laws and rules, not by a monarch, she said. People take the rule of law for granted until it is under threat, she added. I submit to you today that the rule of law is being challenged, she said. We are living in a time of civil rights unrest, eroding trust in our institutions, economic anxiety and unprecedented polarization. Cantil-Sakauye cited a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center that California was home to 79 ethnic hate groups more than any other state. Our values and our rules and laws are being called into question, and all three branches of government and the free press are in the crosshairs, she said. Without naming Trump, the chief justice criticized recent federal enforcement of immigration laws in which agents have gone into courthouses to take immigrants into custody. She said it was concern over the rule of law that caused her to write to the U.S. attorney general and the Homeland Security secretary recently, asking them to refrain from conducting immigration raids at or near courthouses. When we hear of immigration arrests and the fear of immigration arrests in our state courthouses, I am concerned that that kind of information trickles down into the community, the schools, the churches. The families and people will no longer come to court to protect themselves or cooperate or bear witness, she said. I am afraid that will be the end of justice and communities will be less safe and victimization will continue. The chief justice also repeated her concerns about the lack of sufficient funding for the judiciary even as legislators are adding laws by the thousands. Since 2011 when I became chief justice, 6,408 bills have become law in California, while the judicial branch budget has been shrinking, Cantil-Sakauye said. I have said before that we are on the wrong side of justice when it comes to funding our courts. Facebook
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Its not just Berniecrats: Korean voters could also swing L.A.'s congressional race in a big way By Christine Mai-Duc Robert Lee Ahn, center, is the only Korean American candidate running in a field dominated by Latinos in the 34th Congressional District race. (Christine Mai-Duc / Los Angeles Times) The crowded race to replace Xavier Becerra in the 34th Congressional District, which includes most of Los Angeles Koreatown, appears to be bringing Korean American voters out in large numbers. Thats in part because in a field dominated by Latinos, Robert Lee Ahn has a shot at becoming the only Korean American in Congress and the first Korean American Democrat to be elected to the body. Ahn, a businessman and former L.A. city planning commissioner, has raised a formidable amount of money in a short period of time, much of it from donors in the Korean American community. His campaign spent weeks helping register voters at Koreatown malls and restaurants, and says they registered more than 600 new voters so far. Part of our campaign is to build awareness and get the community more civically engaged, Ahn said on a recent Friday morning as his campaign embarked on a 34-hour voter registration drive outside the BCD Tofu House restaurant. As a Korean American, obviously thats a natural base of mine. Inside, Ahn shook hands with supporters and navigated the lunchtime rush to ask for voters support table side. Some of it may be paying off. More than a quarter of the 10,841 mail-in ballots turned in for the race so far were cast by Korean American voters, according to an analysis of surnames, birthplace and translated ballot materials by Political Data. Koreans make up just 6% of registered voters in the district. Nearly half of Korean American voters who have already cast a ballot in the race did not vote in the March 7 city elections. Ahn, who has said hell bring a business sensibility and common sense to the office, says he has been running a campaign that reaches out to all kinds of voters. But the fact that there hasnt been a Korean American in Congress for more than 20 years means his candidacy has gotten plenty of attention from the Korean American press. I think people recognize the importance and historic nature of this election, Ahn said. I think theres a hunger for a voice ... and theres a palpable frustration of not being heard, not being properly represented, and I think thats what were seeing in the early returns. But the result of those early votes so far is unclear, particularly after elections officials disclosed that a number of Korean-language sample ballots had been misprinted with the candidates listed in the wrong order. Those who used the faulty sample ballots to cast their vote could have inadvertently voted for a candidate they didnt intend to support, and officials still dont know how widespread the problem is. Ahn isnt the only Korean American candidate to energize the community in recent years. David Ryu, the first Korean American elected to the L.A. City Council, rode to victory in 2015 with the help of a wave of support from Koreatown leaders. I believe a political awakening is occurring in the Korean American community all over the nation, but especially here in L.A., said Joon Bang, executive director of the Korean American Coalition. Our community is evolving and its beginning with understanding the power of their vote. Facebook
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Nothing short of blackmail: California Senate leader denounces plan to cut funding from sanctuary cities By Jazmine Ulloa California Senate Leader Kevin de Leon. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Senate leader Kevin de Leon on Monday called U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions move to cut federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities nothing short of blackmail. In a statement, De Leon (D-Los Angeles) said Sessions and the Trump administration stuck to alternative facts when describing immigrants and sanctuary counties and cities, where local policies limit the cooperation of law enforcement agencies with federal authorities on immigration laws. Instead of making us safer, the Trump administration is spreading fear and promoting race-based scapegoating, he said. Their gun-to-the-head method to force resistant cities and counties to participate in Trumps inhumane and counterproductive mass-deportation is unconstitutional and will fail. De Leon was responding to an earlier announcement made by Sessions at a White House press briefing. Sessions urged all states and local jurisdictions to comply with federal immigration laws and said it would be a condition for receiving federal grants. Jeff Sessions: "countless Americans would be alive today. And countless loved ones would not be grieving" if sanctuary cities were ended. pic.twitter.com/sEgH3bvPwi BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 27, 2017 State leaders are still calculating the fiscal impact of the move in California, where the Senate leader has filed a bill that would prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to enforce federal immigration laws. Data shows sanctuary counties have lower crime rates than comparable nonsanctuary counties #SB54 https://t.co/rKZDsB8x8E Kevin de Len (@kdeleon) March 27, 2017 Facebook
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California National Guard official tells legislators forced bonus repayments will be resolved by mid-summer By Melanie Mason A top official for the California National Guard told state legislators Monday that he hopes lingering issues from the soldiers being forced to repay enlistment bonuses will be resolved by mid-summer. A Times investigation last year found that the Pentagon demanded thousands of soldiers repay enlistment bonuses up to a decade after going to war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The claw-back came after audits revealed vast overpayments of bonuses, due in part to mismanagement and pressure to hit enlistment targets. The Times story prompted outcry that soldiers, who were not at fault for accepting the bonuses, were now facing financial hardship. Matthew Beevers, the deputy adjutant for the California National Guard, told a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly Veterans Affairs committees that just over 1,000 soldiers currently hold debt due to the bonus recoupment. Soldiers who are affected by the repayment demand must go through a federal waiver adjudication process, which Beevers described as unnecessarily long, complex and resource-intensive. He said the state-run Soldier Incentives Assistance Center was working with those who need to navigate the complex process to get those debts waived. "[If] you got a bonus and you completed your obligation and for some reason, you werent entitled to it, weve done everything we can do ensure that those soldiers get to keep those bonuses and we continue to do that today, Beevers said. Beevers said the state is trying to locate all soldiers who may be carrying debts due to the enlistment bonus. For those who complete the federal adjudication process, around 50% get their debts waived, he said. At the end of the day, there might be 600 or so soldiers out of 16,000 who might have to pay money, which is a very very small number, he said. Facebook
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Former California legislator Henry Perea will lobby for the oil industry in Sacramento By Chris Megerian (Tomas Ovalle / For The Times) As lawmakers debate the future of Californias climate policies, the oil industry is boosting its lobbying firepower with a former Democratic assemblyman from Fresno who has bedeviled environmentalists in the past. Henry Perea resigned his Assembly seat to work for a pharmaceutical group. Now hes jumping to the Western States Petroleum Assn. as a senior vice president, a role hes scheduled to start on May 1. Henry brings us unique expertise, said a statement from Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the associations president. He understands our state, our industry and how smart public policy can ensure Californias continued leadership in environmental protections while maintaining a diverse, vibrant economy. While serving in the Assembly, Perea led the so-called moderate caucus of business-friendly Democrats. He played a key role in stalling 2015 legislation that would have created tough new targets for reducing oil consumption. Environmentalists have made progress since then, successfully pushing through legislation to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Now these issues are being debated again as lawmakers consider whether to extend the states cap-and-trade program, which is intended to provide a financial incentive to reduce emissions. The oil industry supports extending the program, but its working to ensure favorable terms and to loosen the states other regulatory plans. Facebook
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Democrats out with ads targeting Rep. Mimi Walters for supporting GOP healthcare bill By Sarah D. Wire Republicans didnt vote on their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act on Friday, but Democrats already have ads out criticizing vulnerable GOP House members like Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine for backing the bill. The Internet ads, paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will target 14 Republicans who voted for the bill in the House Budget, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce committees. The ads will run for at least a week on social media sites, including Facebook and Instagram. Walters knowingly voted for a bill to raise premiums and deductibles, slap an age tax on older folks, and rip insurance away from 24 million hardworking Americans. Its critical that voters in Californias 45th District know where Walters stood on this harmful legislation, DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Lujan said in a statement. Walters, who serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, was one of the earliest supporters of the bill among the California Republican delegation. Rep. Walters is committed to improving and expanding healthcare choices, lowering costs and protecting taxpayers. Her votes in the House reflect those principles and she will not be deterred by campaign ads created in Washington, D.C., by Nancy Pelosis political committees, said her campaign consultant, Dave Gilliard. The DCCC has already announced plans to target Republican representatives of the seven California congressional districts that backed Hillary Clinton for president. Clinton won Walters Orange County district by 5 percentage points. Walters was elected for a second term with 58.6% of the vote. Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown says California wont be running to the courthouse every day to fight President Trump By John Myers With many of his fellow Democrats demanding multiple challenges to President Trumps proposals, Gov. Jerry Brown said this week he will continue to support a more measured approach. Were going to fight very hard. But were not going to bring stupid lawsuits or be running to the courthouse every day, Brown said during an appearance Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press. Were going to be careful. Well be strategic. The governors interview, taped on Thursday in Washington, came at the end of a four-day visit where he sought common ground on issues ranging from transportation to disaster relief. Brown also took aim in a visit to Capitol Hill at the now-failed Republican healthcare proposal. In the interview, Brown acknowledged that he is seeking a different path forward than Californias legislative leaders and other Democrats who are aggressively pushing back on a variety of Trump proposals. Well, if everythings a lawsuit, yeah, were in trouble here. I do curb the exuberance on either side, he said. People like to escalate. Republicans do that, and Democrats also do that. So Im there somewhat as the senior statesman now, and Im going to keep everything on an even keel. The governor used the national television interview to repeat recent suggestions that California has a number of projects that are ready to go should Trump make good on his promises to fund a major infrastructure effort. But Brown staunchly defended Californias acceptance of immigrants, including those who are in the U.S. illegally. He argued that immigration has been a major boon to the states economy and invoked the teachings of Christianity to criticize Trump and his fellow Republicans. Trumps supposed to be Mr. Religious Fellow, and I thought weve got to treat the least of these as we would treat the Lord, said Brown, who trained to become a Jesuit priest in his youth. So I hope he would reconnect with some of these conservative evangelicals, and theyll tell him that these are human beings, theyre children of God. They should be treated that way. The programs host, Chuck Todd, asked Brown whether he could offer national leadership for Democrats in the Trump era. The governor, who ran unsuccessfully for president three times, said he was willing to speak out in any way he could be helpful. Following last weeks historic defeat of a bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, Brown also offered Trump advice on how to help the economically struggling states whose voters put him in the White House. Its going to take some income support from the federal government, the governor said. Its going to take healthcare. Its going to take the kind of programs that the Republican Party traditionally doesnt like. So heres the dilemma. Yes, Obama was not able to help those people in the way they felt they had a right to. But Mr. Trump, now the burden is on you. And you better figure it out, or youre not going to be there again. Facebook
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Small donations play big role in the 34th Congressional District By Christine Mai-Duc Congressional candidate Kenneth Mejia raised 90% of his money from small donors in the most recent campaign finance filing. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) More than 17% of individual contributions to all candidates in the 34th Congressional District came in small donations of less than $200, according to the latest campaign finance reports. The reports, which cover fundraising and spending between Jan. 1 and March 15, show that more than $250,000 of the $1.4 million raised by the candidates in the race came from un-itemized small donors, or those who gave less than $200 and are not named in campaign finance reports. Three candidates who raised a significant chunk of money from small donations were Arturo Carmona, Wendy Carrillo and Kenneth Mejia, all of whom are vying for votes from supporters of former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has preached the need to rid politics of special interest money. Many of the candidates have sent email pitches to supporters asking for donations of $10, $20 or $27, the amount made famous by Sanders, who often cited the number as the average donation given to his presidential campaign. Carmona, a former Sanders campaign advisor, raised the most in small donations, with $57,125, or 52% of his total. Small donors gave Carrillo $25,948, about 32% of her fundraising total and Mejia, an accountant and Green Party candidate, received nearly 90% of his total funds, or $31,957, in amounts of $200 or less. Federal law does not require candidates to itemize, or report the names of, donors who give below that amount. Alejandra Campoverdi raised $44,210 from small donors, who made up 28% of her haul, while Raymond Meza raised 48%, or $14,764 of his money from small-dollar contributions. UPDATE: 7:45 p.m. This post was updated to clarify that the numbers reported are based on un-itemized donations of $200 or less to candidates. Facebook
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Robert Lee Ahn raised the most money by far in latest campaign finance reports for L.A.'s congressional race By Christine Mai-Duc Robert Lee Ahn, left, and Vanessa Aramayo, second from left, join the other candidates for the 34th Congressional District. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles TImes) Congressional candidate Robert Lee Ahn far outstripped some of the top fundraisers in the 34th Congressional District, taking a surprise lead in campaign finance reports filed Thursday. The reports cover fundraising and spending between Jan. 1 and March 15 and will be the last numbers well have before the April 4 primary election, in which 24 candidates are running. Ahn, a former L.A. city planning commissioner, raised a whopping $338,702 in contributions and loaned himself an additional $295,000, bringing his total to more than $630,000 raised since January. Ahn, an attorney and the only Korean American candidate in the race for a district that includes Koreatown, got more than $100,000 in contributions from donors with Korean surnames. The closest behind Ahn was Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, who raised $244,766 over the same period, the majority of it from political action committees, including many donations from fellow legislators in Sacramento. Sara Hernandez, a former teacher and L.A. City Hall aide, was close behind Gomez with $224,783 raised. Alejandra Campoverdi, a former White House staffer and former Los Angeles Times employee, raised $156,432. Ahn has also spent the most money so far this year, at $352,538, and has $271,271 in the bank, more than any other candidate. Gomez ended the period with $274,830 cash on hand, while Hernandez and Campoverdi have $149,990 and $122,961 left to spend, respectively. Facebook
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Dispute in California Senate leads to ethics complaint against leader Kevin de Leon By Patrick McGreevy Then-state Sen. Isadore Hall III, left, talks with Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon in Sacramento last year. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Republican state Sen. Andy Vidak on Friday filed an ethics complaint asking for an investigation into whether Democratic Senate leader Kevin de Leon engaged in an improper cover-up of threats allegedly made by former state Sen. Isadore Hall III against a group of farmers. Anthony Reyes, a spokesman for De Leon, defended the decision not to investigate allegations against Hall. With due respect, the state Senate doesnt waste taxpayer resources investigating dubious hearsay accounts of private conversations held in hotel lobbies and thats what Senator De Leon clearly and politely communicated to Senator Vidak, Reyes said. Any suggestion otherwise is patently ridiculous. Hall, a Democrat from Compton, was appointed in January to the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board by Gov. Jerry Brown. The appointment was opposed by farm industry groups, including the Western Growers Assn., which complained he received contributions from the United Farm Workers for his unsuccessful campaign for Congress last year. Vidak said that he had heard from multiple people that on Feb. 28, the evening before Halls confirmation hearing in the Rules Committee, Hall allegedly made threats in an obscenity-laced tirade in the lobby of the Sacramento Hyatt Hotel that he would get the farmers opposing his appointment, the senator wrote in a letter to the Senate Legislative Ethics Committee. The board is a quasi-judicial agency that rules on disputes between farm worker organizations and growers. The alleged threats were made to four farmers who are members of the California Fresh Fruit Assn., Vidak said. Vidak said he had formally asked De Leon, as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, to have the panel investigate the allegations and report the findings to the Senate. On Thursday, Vidak said, De Leon allegedly informed him that there would be no investigation. Senator De Leon told me yesterday that he and the leadership of the CFFA have worked things out so Hall wont be investigated,'" Vidak said in a statement Friday. Is this really how the Senate handles reports of threats and intimidation by someone pending a Senate confirmation vote? The association called the allegation that it worked out an agreement with De Leon baseless and false. The group said in a statement that Vidak did not talk to its members before he filed the complaint. If he did, he wouldve learned there is no agreement and that CFFA remains opposed to the confirmation of Senator Hall, the group said. Hall declined to comment on Vidaks complaint, said J. Antonio Barbosa, the boards executive secretary, responding on his behalf. Further, his testimony at his Senate Rules Committee confirmation hearing makes clear that he will be fair and impartial, make sound decisions, and speak to growers and farmworkers, Barbosa said. Reyes disputed Vidaks allegations. Chasing goofy conspiracy theories might fly on President Trumps Twitter feed, but it has no place in the California Legislature, Reyes said. In his letter to the ethics panel, Vidak says his complaint is that the Senates confirmation process of gubernatorial appointees may have been compromised in this situation. He asked for an investigation into whether credible information about potential criminal activity by an unconfirmed gubernatorial appointee has been intentionally ignored/withheld, and whether a member of the Senate Rules Committee is making arrangements with representatives of private organizations to bury investigations of gubernatorial appointees. Updated at 4:40 p.m. to include a comment from the California Fresh Fruit Assn. Facebook
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L.A.'s GOP congressman: It is hard to find a consensus on something that impacts more than 1/6th of our economy By Sarah D. Wire A handful of California Republicans had declined to take a position on the House GOPs healthcare bill, and now they wont have to. Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), the only Republican who represents L.A. County, said he was conflicted up until the vote on the bill was canceled Friday afternoon. In the past two weeks my colleagues worked to build a consensus on how best to repair our flawed healthcare system and build a patient-centered system that works for the American people, Knight said in a statement after the vote. We learned that it is hard to find a consensus on something that impacts more than 1/6th of our economy and the lives of almost every American. Saying they didnt have enough votes to pass it, House Republican leaders canceled a vote on their healthcare bill minutes before vulnerable Republican members like Knight would have had to vote on the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Knights district is among seven Republican districts being targeted by Democrats in 2018, and several of the members who represent those districts never took a stance on the bill, saying they were worried about the effects on their districts and were still hearing from constituents. Experts estimated millions of Californians would have lost insurance under the bill. Just two of the targeted members, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) and Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine), said they would vote for the bill. Walters had no comment after the bill was pulled, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee came out swinging, with committee spokesperson Evan Lukaske saying, Walters now owns this until election day. Other targeted members seemed to brush off President Trumps plan to let Obamacare go its way for a little while. Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), who didnt take a stance on the bill, said afterward Congress needs to keep working on healthcare. Congress must come together to enact legislation to stabilize our healthcare market, reduce federal spending, and ensure we are able to maintain access to healthcare for Americas most vulnerable populations. Any potential solution must be thoughtfully considered, he said in a statement. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) flirted with voting against the bill, saying he was not yet prepared to support it, but never committed either way. The [GOP bill] was an imperfect approach and I believe that we can do better, he said in a statement. We will go back to the drawing board and get this right for each and every American concerned with high costs in their healthcare and ever-dwindling choices and access to care. Facebook
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Despite threat of legal battle with Trump, California stays the course on vehicle emission rules By Chris Megerian Electric cars charge at a San Diego utility. (Rob Nikolewski / San Diego Union-Tribune) California will keep pushing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, state regulators decided Friday, even though President Trump is preparing to roll back rules in Washington. The restrictions represent a key part of Californias battle against climate change, and theyre intended to force automakers to build cleaner cars and sell more electric vehicles. Environmentalists cheered Fridays decision from the Air Resources Board. Were very disappointed by what were seeing at the federal level, so today feels warm and welcoming, said the Sierra Clubs Kathryn Phillips. California has the unique ability to set tougher standards than the federal government, but Fridays decision could put the state on a collision course with Trump. Under the presidents direction, federal officials are examining whether to loosen vehicle rules that were finalized in the waning days of the Obama administration. The California Air Resources Board meeting in Riverside this week. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) At risk is the existence of a national standard on vehicle emissions, something the auto industry has prioritized to reduce the complexity of its manufacturing operations. We should all be getting back to work on this, said John Bozzella, who advocates for international car companies as head of the Assn. of Global Automakers. Mary Nichols, chair of the Air Resources Board, questioned the industrys commitment to higher standards given their request for Trump to review the rules. What were you thinking when you threw yourself upon the mercy of the Trump administration? she said. A dozen other states have adopted Californias standards as their own, and environmentalists hope Fridays decision will foster a broader market for electric cars. This agency has seen federal administrations come
By now, Republicans in Congress thought they would be working closely with the White House on signature items of the GOP agenda repealing and replacing Obamacare, overhauling the tax code.
Many hoped President Trump would play the classic executives role: Rolling up his sleeves to chart the direction, settle disputes and spend his political capital to bring wayward lawmakers in line.
But instead, Trump has been reluctant to take charge of Republicans policy priorities, and GOP lawmakers worry their early momentum is fading amid intraparty squabbles over legislation and Trumps tendency to flit from topic to topic when what they most need now is focus.
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The Republican majority has been left hungering for leadership and bickering among themselves over what to do next.
We could use a unifier, and he can be it, said Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), an early Trump ally who remains close to the White House. We need [him] to put some pressure on all of us to come together and to reassure us that he has all of our backs.
Usually, a new administration has the greatest political advantage early on, in the glow of an electoral honeymoon and before the calendar gets bogged down with unforeseen crises.
Trump has been busy issuing executive orders and signing smaller-scale bills into law, but he only began to provide details of his biggest proposals this week during his joint address to Congress, 40 days into his presidency.
He leaned in to House Republicans plan for repealing and replacing Obamacare by signaling a preference for providing tax credits for Americans to buy health insurance.
The real goal of Trumps executive orders: reduce the number of immigrants in the U.S.
Trump also spoke of taxing imports as a way of leveling the playing field for domestic manufacturers, giving a nod to the House GOPs blueprint for tax reform, even though his comments were less full-throated than some would have liked and did not resolve his past flip-flops on the so-called border adjustment tax.
Both of those issues have deeply divided Republicans in Congress as they hammer out details of their two biggest campaign promises ending Obamacare and reforming the tax code.
Many lawmakers were heartened that Trumps speech signaled his willingness to join the debate.
We absolutely need it, said one Republican member of the House, granted anonymity to speak frankly. Theres going to be an opportunity for him to take the banner and run with it and we will follow.
Whether Trump will fight for the ideas he floated Tuesday or leave the details to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remains to be seen. The legislative process is expected to take months.
President Trump will need to do more than merely wait upon a Republican Congress to produce the legislation he has championed, wrote Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) in a New York Times op-ed. He must become an active participant in the legislative process.
The longer Trump waits to chart the way, the easier for others to fill the void.
Nature abhors a vacuum, said Republican Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, the states former governor. As a consequence, youre seeing an attempt to fill in the blanks.
Already, Trumps onetime campaign rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, have spoken against the tax credits in the House GOP healthcare plan.
Conservative critics, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and the Houses Freedom Caucus, view refundable credits as another federal government entitlement program like the Obamacare subsidies that help some Americans buy insurance.
How the Senates once-revered traditions are falling victim to partisan divide
The three senators derisively opposed the House GOP plan as Obamacare-lite.
Were not just going along with whatever they try to shove down our throats, Paul, the Kentucky Republican, said on CNN. Conservatives will be listened to or there wont be a repeal.
Their pushback was significant because Congress would not likely have enough votes to pass the Obamacare replacement without them, despite partys majority hold on both chambers.
The alliance between Republicans in Congress and Trump in the White House was always expected to be tenuous. Most Republican lawmakers did not initially back Trump for president.
They did, however, support the prospects of one-party control of the House, the Senate and the White House. Republicans long complained that as the majority in Congress, they could not institute their agenda with a Democratic president.
Now, the problem is not that there are too few Republicans in power, but that no single Republican is leading them.
Lawmakers who want him to jump into legislative process are also mindful of ceding too much influence to a president who could swoop in at any moment and upend their painstaking policy work with his own ideas.
Its really not an area that I would say of getting the White House to come tell us what to do, said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who blamed Democratic delay tactics for the painfully slow start of the legislative session.
The White House has to step out and say, Here are the key things Ill sign and I wont sign, he said. Were all setting up parameters of the debate.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah H. Sanders acknowledged Wednesday a delay in churning out the nitty-gritty policies, but blamed the Senate for taking so long to confirm Trumps Cabinet.
As they build out and they get confirmed, you are going to see a lot more interaction down in the weeds, she said during an interview in the West Wing, noting that Republican leaders from the House and the Senate were eating lunch with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence nearby in the Roosevelt Room.
I dont know how you can be more direct than sitting down with the president himself, Sanders said.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) noted that by this time in his first year, President Obama had signed several bills into law, including the economic recovery act in the midst of the Great Recession.
Obama aides set up shop early on Capitol Hill to begin the painstaking work of creating the Affordable Care Act with Congress that was passed into law the following year.
Trump talks about the mess hes inherited, Pelosi said, but hes talking about his own first 40 days in office which he utterly squandered.
Trump is indeed vigorously acting the part of president, inviting GOP lawmakers to the White House and sending his legislative team to Capitol Hill. Pence is a regular at the Senate GOPs weekly policy lunch and an entourage of White House staffers many former aides in Congress joined the House GOPs regular Tuesday morning meeting in the Capitol basement.
Wednesdays White House lunch was about charting out the agenda and the timeline, said Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
But Trump does not always share policy prescriptions with his Republican allies in Congress and is, at times, still forming his own.
In fact, during his speech, Trump inserted a new topic for debate immigration reform that was not on the to-do list for Congress this year.
Republican leaders are working to keep distractions at bay as they press forward with their agenda.
What we all recognize, is that this is a once-in-a-generation moment, Ryan said. We have the opportunity to finally tackle big problems that have held us back for so long.
Times staff writer Brian Bennett contributed to this report.
lisa.mascaro@latimes.com
@LisaMascaro
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U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions had two separate meetings with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential campaign, interactions the adviser to President Trump did not disclose to Congress during his confirmation hearing last month.
Sessions didnt reveal the contacts when asked what he would do if anyone affiliated with the campaign had been in touch with the Russian government. At the hearing, Sessions told members of Congress that he hadnt talked with the Russians.
A Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed the conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak took place but said, There was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer to the question.
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The revelation comes amid increased calls by Democrats for Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into tampering by Russians in last years presidential election. Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) went further, calling for Sessions resignation and accusing him of lying under oath.
Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign, Pelosi said in a statement. There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted Wednesday night, If its true that Sessions failed to disclose his meeting with Kislyak, he must recuse himself [from the Russia investigation]. This is not even a close call; it is a must.
In a statement Wednesday night, Sessions said, I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
According to the Associated Press, Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year in his role as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, the department said.
One was a visit in September in his capacity as a senator, similar to meetings with envoys from Britain, China, Germany and other nations, the department said.
The other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Sessions gave during the summer, when several ambassadors including the Russian ambassador approached Sessions after the talk as he was leaving the stage.
Revelations of the contact, first reported by The Washington Post, triggered calls from members of Congress for Sessions to back out of any involvement in the FBIs probe.
Asked by reporters Monday about the prospect of a recusal, Sessions said, I would recuse myself from anything that I should recuse myself on.
At the confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota asked Sessions about allegations of contact between Russia and Trump aides during the 2016 election.
He asked Sessions what he would do if there was evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was unaware of those activities.
Then he added: I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didnt have, did not have communications with the Russians, and Im unable to comment on it.
Flores, the Justice Department spokeswoman, said that response was not misleading.
He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee, she said in a statement.
Franken, in a statement Wednesday night, said he was troubled that the new attorney generals response to his question was at best, misleading. He said he planned to press Sessions on his contact with Russia.
Its clearer than ever now that the attorney general cannot, in good faith, oversee an investigation at the Department of Justice and the FBI of the Trump-Russia connection, and he must recuse himself immediately, Franken said.
Separately in January, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Judiciary Committee Democrat, asked Sessions in a written questionnaire whether he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day.
Sessions replied simply, No.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
dakota.smith@latimes.com
Twitter: @dakotacdsmith
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UPDATES:
10:55 p.m.: Updated with Times reporting.
9:30 p.m.: Updated with Sessions response.
This story was first published at 8:25 p.m.
Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions will step aside from overseeing the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the presidential election amid signs of growing unease among fellow Republicans over where the inquiry may lead.
Sessions announced his action, which he said he had been considering for weeks, during a hastily arranged news conference at the Justice Department on Thursday afternoon.
The move came just hours after top Democrats called for his resignation because he had failed to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador, and a growing number of Republicans had urged him to recuse himself from the inquiry.
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Sessions action marks the second time in less than a month that a top Trump administration official has been tripped up by failure to disclose a meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Last month, President Trump ousted Michael Flynn, his national security advisor, after news reports revealed that Flynn had spoken with the ambassador and then had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about the talks.
Meetings between Trump associates and Russian officials are a sensitive subject because the FBI and other U.S. agencies have been investigating Russias efforts to meddle in last years presidential election. An intelligence report issued in January, shortly before Trump took office, assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the meddling, which included cyberattacks against the Democratic National Committee, to hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and help Trump.
The FBI is also investigating whether people associated with the Trump campaign may have had contacts with Russian officials during the election year.
FBI officials have refused to discuss their investigation, and there has been no proof that they have discovered wrongdoing by any Trump associate, but even so, the inquiry has disrupted the early weeks of Trumps administration. Earlier this week, officials ordered White House aides to preserve records that might be relevant to the investigation.
Sessions, as attorney general, oversees the FBI, but with his recusal, responsibility for overseeing the investigation will now pass to Dana Boente, a career prosecutor and the departments acting deputy attorney general. Boente briefly served as acting attorney general after Trump fired his predecessor, Sally Yates, for refusing to defend the presidents ban on travel from seven mostly Muslim countries.
The attorney general began his news conference with a blunt statement saying he had no ties to the Russian government.
Let me be clear. I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign, he said.
Nevertheless, he said, he had studied the departments ethics rules and weighed the advice of career Justice Department staffers. They had urged Sessions, who had been a vocal Trump supporter, to withdraw because he had involvement with the campaign and should not oversee any investigation involving it, he said.
I believe those recommendations are right and just, he said. A proper decision, I believe, has been reached.
Earlier in the afternoon, Trump said that he had total confidence in Sessions and that he did not think the attorney general needed to step away from the investigation, but Sessions said that the ethics rules left him little choice.
I should not be involved investigating a campaign I had a role in, he said.
Just three weeks into his tenure, Sessions had found himself under fire largely because of the way he answered a single question during his Senate confirmation hearing in January.
In response to the query by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sessions testified that I didnt have did not have communications with the Russians. In fact, he had at least two conversations with the ambassador last year. When the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday about those conversations, the news set off a furor.
Sessions told reporters that he had tried to honestly answer Frankens question, which he said he believed was focused on whether there was a continuing exchange of information between the Trump campaign and intermediaries for the Russian government.
My reply to the question of Sen. Franken was honest and correct as I understood at the time, Sessions told reporters. But, he said, he would send a letter to the Judiciary Committee to explain the testimony for the record.
Sessions described two meetings with Kislyak while he was still a U.S. senator. One was a brief encounter after a speech Sessions made in July. The second occurred in September at Kislyaks request and took place in his Senate office, Sessions said.
Sessions described the get-together as routine and attended by at least three members of his staff. He added that he did not recall any specific political discussion coming up.
White House officials spent much of the day trying to defend Sessions, who won support from some Republicans.
Weve got to be very careful here, said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Its a slippery slope. All the countries in the world basically have embassies here. A lot of those countries are adversaries. But we all meet with those many senators and congressmen meet with those ambassadors on a regular basis, he said.
Top Democrats, however, were scathing in their assessments, saying Sessions should recuse himself or step down from the Justice Department entirely.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said that Sessions had lied under oath and must resign.
Republicans did not go that far, but as the day went on, Sessions lost support among influential party leaders who called for him to step away from any role in the investigation.
I think [for] the trust of the American people, you recuse yourself in these situations, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) said early Thursday on MSNBCs Morning Joe.
Once the decision was made, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised Sessions for stepping aside, but said that his failure to mention the meetings with Kislyak was hard to understand.
The Russian is not easily forgettable, the California Democrat told CNN. One would remember meeting with him.
Kislyak, 66, has been Russias ambassador in Washington for nearly a decade. A veteran diplomat, he has also long been reputed to be a Russian intelligence agent.
In addition to the FBIs inquiry of Russias efforts to manipulate the U.S. election, the House and Senate intelligence committees are also attempting to investigate.
Those efforts have been endangered by the FBIs failure to share enough information about its findings, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said.
We cannot represent to the American people that were doing a thorough job if the Department of Justice or the FBI is unwilling to tell us what indeed theyve looked at, what leads they have followed, where they have found substance and where they have not, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) told reporters shortly after his committee was briefed by FBI Director James B. Comey.
In a separate interview, Schiff said that Comey had declined to answer many of the lawmakers questions and that such reticence cant persist.
If were going to do our job, the FBI is going to have to fully cooperate with us, and that means they cant say, Well tell you about this but we wont tell you about that, Schiff said.
Democrats and some Republicans have called for an independent panel to investigate Russias actions. The Republican leadership has resisted that idea, preferring to keep the inquiry in the hands of the intelligence committees.
Times staff writers David Lauter and Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
del.wilber@latimes.com
Twitter: @delwilber
lisa.mascaro@latimes.com
Twitter: @lisamascaro
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UPDATES:
4:50 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional comments and details.
1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with Sessions saying hell recuse himself.
12:20 p.m.: This article was updated with Sessions plans to hold a news conference.
12:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from President Trump.
8:50 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Republican senators.
This article was originally published at 7:05 a.m.
New revelations about Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions meeting with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak twice last year caused a firestorm in Washington on Thursday, prompting Democratic demands for his resignation. Sessions, under pressure from fellow Republicans, announced Thursday that he would recuse himself from an FBI investigation examining Russian meddling in the election.
Lets unpack why the issue could have a big impact on Trump and his closest associates.
Who is Jeff Sessions?
Before he was confirmed by the Senate as Trumps attorney general last month, the 70-year-old spent two decades in the Senate representing Alabama, which he previously served as state attorney general. He was also one of Trumps closest advisors during the campaign, counseling the Republican candidate on immigration and foreign policy and speaking frequently on his behalf in public.
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How close is he to Trump?
Sessions endorsed Trump more than a year ago, becoming the first senator to do so. He was a constant presence on the campaign trail and has been particularly influential on immigration policy. The two men share strong views that were once considered far outside the GOP mainstream, including the belief that even legal immigration should be limited further.
Sessions former Senate aide, 31-year-old Stephen Miller, serves as Trumps senior policy advisor. He helped craft some of Trumps most fiery campaign rhetoric as well as early executive orders cracking down on immigration and one that was blocked in the courts that halted travel to the U.S. for people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
So whats wrong with him talking to Russians?
Nothing, by itself. But there are several issues in this case. Lets start with the most basic one: Sessions testified under oath during his Senate hearing that he never spoke with the Russian government.
I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, Sessions testified, while replying to a question from Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat.
When did he meet with the Russians?
He held at least two meetings with Kislyak, in July and September. The Washington Post first reported the contacts Wednesday night. A September meeting took place in Sessions office. A brief July meeting took place after an event with the Heritage Foundation.
What does Sessions say about this?
After the meetings were reported, Sessions modified his stance, saying he never met with the Russian government specifically to discuss campaign issues.
I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign, Sessions said Thursday.
Sessions said he believed that Frankens question related to that topic, which was in the news at the time, and was not meant to encompass any and all contacts with the Russians.
My reply to the question of Sen. Franken was honest and correct as I understood at the time, he said.
Sessions said the September meeting covered a range of topics and that he did not remember all of them. But he recalled that the meeting grew testy over the subject of Russian aggression in Ukraine and that he declined an invitation for a follow-up lunch.
Is that really such a big deal? Dont politicians fudge the truth all the time?
Doing so under oath is a big problem. Sessions raised the issue as a fundamental concern during President Clintons impeachment, ultimately voting to remove him from office.
From January 13, 1999 @cspanWJ appearance, Sen. Jeff Sessions on perjury: "No one is above the law." pic.twitter.com/0ZasX3VeJ7 CSPAN (@cspan) March 2, 2017
I am concerned about a president under oath, being alleged to have committed perjury. I hope that he can rebut that and prove that did not happen, Sessions said at the time. In America, the Supreme Court and the American people believe no one is above the law.
Now Sessions is the countrys chief law enforcement officer, overseeing agents and prosecutors around the country who gather and depend on the veracity of sworn testimony every day.
Session must have had an easy confirmation since he served in the Senate
Far from it. Sessions had one of the toughest, drawing intense opposition from Democrats and progressive interest groups, who said his views on immigration, gay rights, abortion and other issues were extreme. The Senate rejected Sessions for a federal judgeship in 1986 after testimony that he had made racist comments, including a crack about the Ku Klux Klan being OK with him, until I found out they smoked pot.
After debates that included the forced removal of liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sessions was confirmed as attorney general by a 52-47 vote, with support from just one Democrat, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
You said there were several issues. What are the other ones?
The other big one involves Russia. The intelligence community has concluded that the Russian government deliberately meddled in the November election, with the intent of helping Trump and hurting his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
The FBI and other federal agencies are investigating whether Trumps associates and campaign aides had contact with Russian officials in the months leading up to the election.
Sessions oversees the FBI.
This sounds familiar.
Well, yes. There have been lots of stories about Trump allies getting bad publicity for meeting with Russians.
Did anything come of reports of contacts between the Russians and Trump allies?
Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor, resigned just a few weeks into the job. He had spoken with Kislyak about U.S. sanctions over Russias election meddling, contacts that were criticized as improper because Trump was not yet sworn into office and the Obama administration was still setting U.S. foreign policy. Flynn resigned after it became public that he misled several White House officials about the contacts, including Vice President Mike Pence.
So will anything happen to Sessions?
Thats far from clear. Top Democrats have called on him to resign. Even Manchin, a sometime Trump ally and Sessions sole Democratic supporter in the Senate, said he should resign if he lied under oath. But Trump said Thursday that he has total confidence in Sessions.
Manchin, who supported Sessions for AG:
"If he lied under oath he should resign. Simple as that." Niels Lesniewski (@nielslesniewski) March 2, 2017
Of course, Democrats are out to get Sessions. What about Republicans?
So far, none in Congress has called for his resignation. But several party leaders had called on him to recuse himself from the investigation, before his Thursday afternoon announcement. None has called for a special prosecutor, though Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) came close, requesting an independent review by a credible third party.
Sessions said the decision to recuse himself had already been under consideration with senior staff, who recommended that he recuse himself since I had involvement with the campaign.
What can Sessions do to keep this from getting worse?
He needs to keep support from Trump and hope that GOP members of Congress dont defect. But even those in his own party may have a hard time on this one. Senators tend to give the presidents Cabinet a long leash, but they are pretty sensitive about telling the truth during Senate hearings. After all, theyre the ones asking the questions.
How does this affect Trump?
He cant be happy. He was hoping to spend Thursday basking in the reception of his speech to Congress two nights earlier and begin his efforts to sell a legislative agenda that includes a substantial increase in military spending, tax cuts and money for a border wall. Now, the only topics in Washington are Sessions and Russia. The Russia stories have been particularly galling to Trump, prompting many of his most angry tweets about fake news.
Will this cause any long-term damage for Trump?
It could. Much depends on what happens to Sessions. If the episode prompts the appointment of a special prosecutor, it could keep the issue alive much longer and open new areas of inquiry.
It could die down as well. If Sessions can get past the apparently false statements to Congress, he could minimize the damage. Theres nothing illegal about a senator meeting with a foreign diplomat.
How long has Trump been president?
It seems like a lifetimes worth of news. But were only on Week 6.
noah.bierman@latimes.com
Twitter: @noahbierman
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UPDATES:
1:35 p.m.: This article was updated with Sessions announcement that he is recusing himself from the investigation.
This article was originally published at 12:05 p.m.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield on Thursday morning showed just how sticky the investigation into Russias alleged involvement in the 2016 election has become for some Republicans.
I think the trust of the American people, you recuse yourself in these situations, yes, McCarthy said on left-leaning MSNBCs Morning Joe when asked if Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from investigations into the election allegations. The evening before, a Washington Post story showed he did not disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador when asked about them during his Senate confirmation hearing.
In the next hour, the Republican McCarthy was on right-leaning Fox & Friends, saying he never called on Sessions to relinquish control. McCarthy said the attorney general should just clarify what happened.
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Im not calling on him to recuse himself . Its amazing how people spin things so quickly, McCarthy said. Its amazing how this story comes out right after a great speech by this president, the timing. In his role as senator, hes going to meet with a lot of ambassadors. Thats his job.
By days end, Sessions had indeed recused himself from investigations into the presidential election won by his boss, Republican President Trump. But Californias 14 Congressional Republicans, half of whom are facing potentially tight battles to keep their seats in 2018, remained split or noticeably silent on what to do about Sessions.
Californias two Democratic senators and dozens of the states 38 Democratic House members quickly called on Sessions to recuse himself from Justice Department investigations into Russias election meddling, with many going further and saying he needs to resign. Even centrist Democrats like San Diegos Rep. Scott Peters said Sessions should resign.
Just four of Californias Republican House members called for Sessions to recuse himself on Thursday.
A week ago, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista suggested Sessions should recuse himself, and added a special prosecutor could be necessary, during an appearance on HBOs Real Time With Bill Maher. On Thursday, he made sure everyone knew he was ahead of the pack at least within the GOP.
The news breaking overnight reaffirms what I called for in an interview last Friday, that we need an independent review by a credible third party and that Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation into Russia, Issa said in a statement. We need a clear-eyed view of what the Russians actually did so that all Americans can have faith in our institutions.
Later Thursday, Republican Reps. Ed Royce of Fullerton, Mimi Walters of Irvine and Steve Knight of Santa Clarita joined Issa, but only in his call for Sessions to recuse himself.
The four are among the seven Republican-held California districts national Democrats plan to target in 2018. Voters in each of the districts picked Hillary Clinton for president, and Issa won his ninth term with just 1,600 more votes than his challenger. Others, like McCarthy, are in districts that solidly voted for Trump, but have been encountering big protests at their town halls and offices, many focused on Trump and the GOPs plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Some of them are facing the most heated confrontations in their districts in years, and urging Sessions to recuse himself may be the first steps theyre taking to distance themselves from a president who is very unpopular in California.
Reps. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove, David Valadao of Hanford, Jeff Denham of Turlock and Paul Cook of Yucca Valley, did not respond to requests for their thoughts on Sessions.
Valadao and Denham are on Democrats target list in 2018. Though Clinton won their districts, theyve consistently won reelection and may not be too concerned. McClintock and Cook represent solidly red seats, although Cook faced a challenge from tea party favorite Tim Donnelly, a former state assemblyman, in the primary.
Another target for Democrats is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who represents a coastal Orange County district that went for Clinton. But hes also well established in his district, a well-known Russia dove and is unimpressed by the Sessions kerfuffle.
Big deal! Sessions is one of the most honorable figures on the Washington political scene. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him, as a senator or a campaign adviser, to have met briefly with the Russian ambassador to understand issues that might confront the next administration, he said in a statement, explaining that Sessions might not have understood the questions asked about his Russia contacts during the confirmation hearing.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), who chairs the House intelligence committee, would not say during a news conference Thursday morning if he thought Sessions should relinquish control over an investigation. Nunes was a member of Trumps transition team and, with a solidly Republican district, has for months been tempering expectations about the investigation into Russias role in the election.
I have no idea, because we have no idea what what he did or didnt do. So I think its up to the attorney general to talk to the senators if theres some disagreement there, Nunes told reporters.
Republican Duncan Hunter of Alpine, who was rumored as a potential cabinet candidate and is also from a safe Republican district, took the strongest stance in defense of Sessions: He accused the Democrats of being on a political witch hunt against Trump and his administration, saying that Sessions, who was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee before he became attorney general, had every right to meet with the Russian ambassador.
Hunter suspects Sessions failure to disclose the meeting during his confirmation hearing was either an unconscious mistake or a misunderstanding. The attorney general likely interpreted the question to be about whether he met with the Russian ambassador on behalf of the Trump campaign, Hunter said.
I dont think he needs to recuse himself, but if he decides to just to calm everyone fears, thats fine too, Hunter said in a telephone interview.
Even with Sessions recusal, Californias vulnerable Republicans are likely to continue to feel pressure on the Russia investigation.
Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, appeared at the news conference midday Thursday with Nunes and had a decidedly different take than his fellow committee leader, saying for the first time that a special prosecutor should be appointed. Thats a step beyond simple recusal, which still allows Sessions deputy to be involved in the case. Later in the day, Schiff called on Sessions to resign.
After reviewing Attorney General Sessions testimony during his confirmation hearing and his statements this afternoon, I have come to the reluctant conclusion that the Attorney General should step down, Schiff said in a statement. As a Senator, Mr. Sessions demanded complete and truthful testimony by those appearing before him for confirmation, and I do not believe he met his own rigorous standard.
With that, Schiff joined a chorus of other Democratic voices including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Sen. Kamala Harris who are still calling for the attorney general to step down.
phil.willon@latimes.com
Twitter: @philwillon
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UPDATES:
5:41 p.m.: This article was updated with additional response and other details.
This article was originally published at 2:45 p.m.
Flustered and out of money, Maria paced through the empty aisles of a Marshalls department store in Orange County three days before her sons eighth-grade graduation. She picked out a pair of black dress shoes for him and a crisp, gray long-sleeved shirt.
Then, she clumsily stuffed them in her large purse and attempted to walk out.
That is how Maria, a petite, 38-year-old waitress who asked that her full name be withheld for fear of reprisal from authorities, says she almost became a felon and faced deportation, consequences that could have proved much more severe had she not found lawyers to represent her in court.
Amid a tense political battle over the nations borders and who should be expelled from the country, California lawmakers this legislative session are on an emergency track to develop what is likely to be the largest legal defense program in the U.S. for immigrants swept into the federal removal process.
Under the proposed law, the state-funded legal program would fall under the purview of the California Department of Social Services. The agency would vet funding applications and award contracts to nonprofits that provide attorneys for immigrants either directly or through subcontractors and meet certain qualifications.
But the legislation, accelerated by Democratic leaders to counter the Trump administrations expanded immigration enforcement orders, primarily provides a broad outline of the mechanics of the program, raising questions about its costs, its administrative procedures and whom it should serve.
Cases like Marias underscore the challenges lawmakers could face in developing such a program. U.S. immigration law comprises an unwieldy and confusing network of state and federal rules that lawyers often find hard to navigate. People in the U.S. illegally often enter the system through the criminal pipeline, but immigration lawyers say not all are criminals who should be cast out of the country.
In my case, people probably think that I deserved to be deported, Maria said on a recent morning in February. I dont blame people for thinking that way, but I also think that if we are able to learn from our mistakes and be better, we deserve a chance to stay.
Maria meets with legal assistant Albanydia Amezquita, right, at the Central American Resource Center, which helped her obtain immigration relief through the U-visa program. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Born in Queretaro, Mexico, Maria lived in Orange County for more than a decade before her arrest on June 14, 2011. Though she had no previous run-ins with police, she had stolen clothes and food on four other occasions, the first after she watched her sons devour their dinner in hunger at her sisters apartment.
Maria said she had been struggling to keep her own kitchen shelves stocked but had not wanted to turn to her sister for help and reveal the darker aspects of her life.
Over five years of marriage, she said, her ex-husband had become jealous and violent. He stopped letting her work, Maria said, keeping her on a meager budget that wasnt enough to provide for her two sons, now 18 and 13.
I am responsible for all of my actions, she said, holding back tears. But I was in this relationship that I thought I was a worthless person, and it was very difficult for me to get out of that place.
She would not make it to her older sons eighth-grade graduation. After the Marshalls incident, Maria, who had a fake drivers license and social security number as forms of identification, was charged with burglary in the second degree a felony and five misdemeanors, including petty theft, possession of burglary tools her purse and the use of false documents.
She was still luckier than most, she said. Other inmates advised her not to accept a plea deal until prosecutors dropped the felony. Two months later, after she was convicted on three of the lesser offenses, she was transferred to a detention center.
There, Maria spent another month and met immigration lawyers with the Central American Resource Center, a Los Angeles nonprofit that took up her case, charging her $1,500 she could afford in small installments.
I didnt know anything, she said of navigating the process. A lot of women were telling me, You shouldnt be here for this type of situation. But I wasnt paying attention to that. I was thinking about how I had left my children.
Vences Olivia, 52, reads a local newspaper while waiting for legal counsel at the Central American Resource Center. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Unlike in the criminal justice system, where the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution grants all defendants the right to counsel regardless of their income, people facing deportation are not entitled to an attorney if they cannot afford one.
But over more than six years, as the Obama administration prioritized immigrants with criminal charges for removal from the country, immigration and civil rights lawyers in California and nationwide have worked to expand legal representation and ensure fair treatment of the most vulnerable immigrants under the law.
The movement to increase government-funded access to counsel has centered on showing that many immigrants would be granted relief if they had the resources to prove their cases and that for some, the repercussions of deportation could be as dire as a death sentence.
Momentum behind the effort started building long before Donald Trump announced his run for president, lawyers said, but has gained steam as his enforcement priorities stripped away restrictions on who can be deported, allowing immigration agents to detain nearly anyone they come in contact with who has crossed the border illegally.
This issue had been out there for awhile, said Daniel Sharp, legal director of the Central American Resource Center. The Trump election fast-forwarded it.
Groundwork for the first legal defense program for immigrants came out of the Vera Institute of Justice in New York. Other cities have since sought to replicate the model, including Washington, Chicago and Boston. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, city funds have been approved or promised for such efforts.
This years legislation in Sacramento, introduced by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), follows Californias first attempt at a similar statewide program in 2014, when it allocated $3 million to provide legal aid to an unprecedented large number of children arriving alone at the U.S.-Mexico border from Central America.
A year later, the state authorized $15 million for the development of a federal assistance program to help thousands of immigrants apply for naturalization and Obamas deferred action programs, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.
As of fiscal year 2015, the Department of Social Services, which administered both legal defense initiatives, had contracted with nonprofits to serve more than 1,300 children, with an average cost per case totaling $5,000. Its second program has awarded a little over $14 million to 61 organizations and is in the midst of finalizing contracts for the 2016 fiscal year, for over $29 million to about 80 immigration and legal aid groups.
Immigrants, some in the country illegaly, fill out intake forms before receiving legal help and direction with their immigration cases on consultation day at the Central American Resource Center. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
But in California, where more than 2 million people who are in the U.S. illegally live and could potentially seek services, debate has simmered over who should benefit from the broader state-funded initiative. That question has become more pressing amid a looming deficit and potential funding cuts from the federal government.
In the latest iteration of the bill, the legal defense program would cost $12 million from the general fund, and the legislation would create the California Universal Representation Trust Fund to accept donations from private foundations and philanthropic entities.
Legal services would be available for any person arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, anyone released on parole for the purposes of deportation and anyone detained at a state airport or port of entry.
Hueso initially amended the bill to exclude all those convicted of a violent felony outlined in the penal code, a list that some lawmakers this year are trying to expand. But new changes to the language of the proposal, released Thursday, would loosen the restriction, making all immigrants eligible to apply and be screened for services.
The amendment would prohibit the representation of clients convicted of a violent crime unless they have a meritorious claim for relief from deportation, meaning the person has a high likelihood of not being removed from the U.S. based on the facts of the case.
Immigrant advocates and legal aid agencies have lauded the compromise, which they said would counter anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Trump administration associating illegal immigration with violent crime.
San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who has helped shape many city-funded legal defense programs, was among those who had vigorously opposed any limit to legal aid for immigrants on the basis of a prior conviction.
Speaking on his behalf at the bills first hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, immigration attorney Francisco Ugarte said it would set a dangerous precedent throughout the country for other initiatives where we are fighting for access to counsel.
But it remains to be seen how moderate Democrats and Republicans, who have argued against using taxpayer funds to defend dangerous offenders, will react to the move.
Joe Guzzardi, national media director for Californians for Population Stabilization, said state funds should not be used to defend immigrants in the country illegally when the state has so many other needs.
But if the fund is predestined [to succeed], it would probably be better spent on immigrants that dont have criminal records, he said.
Essential Politics: Trumps immigration plans get serious
Under the proposed state legal program, Maria, who eventually gained legal permanent residency through a visa for domestic violence victims, would have been covered despite her criminal charges.
Phal Sok might not.
Now 35, Sok, who is Cambodian, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and brought to the U.S. when he was less than a year old. At 16, he lost his father, his sole guardian, to cancer.
He struggled with depression and fell behind in school. A year later, he was convicted of three felony counts of armed robbery after he and his friends held up a mom-and-pop sewing shop. He served 15 years in prison on a 23-year sentence before he was released under an initiative meant to aid juvenile offenders.
But because of an immigration hold, federal agents waited for him outside the prison and took him into detention, where he has since been temporarily held twice as a judge weighs his case.
Not able to afford a lawyer, Sok spends his days reading old cases and researching immigration law, battling a deportation order to return him to a country he has never known as an adult.
They got offices full of attorneys, and I am just here by myself, searching the Internet, trying to figure it out, he said.
Freedom has been bittersweet, he said. Some days are filled with dread.
In a sense, I feel like I am being double punished, he said.
Phal Sok, 35, left, rides the Metro Blue Line train in Los Angeles to visit with his brother in Long Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
jazmine.ulloa@latimes.com
Twitter: @jazmineulloa
ALSO
State Senate committee votes in favor of funding legal aid for immigrants in California facing deportation
Trump administration clears the way for far more deportations
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Updates on California politics
UPDATES:
11:06 a.m.: This article was updated to include a new cost estimate for the legal immigrant defense program.
This article was originally published at 12:00 a.m.
Adam Schiff views documents White House says back Trump surveillance claim By Michael A. Memoli (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) traveled to the White House Friday to view documents President Trump has said partially vindicate his claim that his predecessor ordered surveillance of him during the campaign. In a statement, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said he was told they were precisely the same materials viewed previously by the committees chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), which Schiff said should now be shared with the full panel membership. Nothing I could see today warranted a departure from the normal review procedures, Schiff said, adding that he could not discuss the contents of the documents, which remain classified. Nunes was shown the documents last week by White House officials surreptitiously, then announced to reporters the next day that he needed urgently to go to the White House to brief Trump about them. Schiff, in his statement, said that the White House has yet to explain why senior White House staff apparently shared these materials with but one member of either [Intelligence] committee, only for their contents to be briefed back to the White House. Schiff also had a brief but cordial meeting with Trump during his time at the White House, a spokesman said. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters earlier Friday that other Democrats have been invited to the White House to view the materials, which he said would shed light on their investigation. Both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are conducting separate reviews of Russian interference into the 2016 election; Trump has asked each panel to also probe his own claim that his predecessor engaged in wire tapping of his phones at Trump Tower during the campaign, an assertion that has been denied by Nunes as well as the heads of the FBI and intelligence agencies. Facebook
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Mnuchin regrets plugging The Lego Batman Movie, pledges to exercise greater caution in the future By Jim Puzzanghera Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday told a top government ethics official he should not have publicly plugged The Lego Batman Movie a film in which he has a financial stake and promised to exercise greater caution in the future. I take very seriously my ethical responsibilities as a presidential appointee and the head of the Department of the Treasury, Mnuchin wrote to Walter Shaub, director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. On Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Shaub to determine whether Mnuchin had committed an ethics violation last week when he discussed the movie during an event hosted by the Axios news website that aired on C-SPAN2. Read More Facebook
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Rep. Adam Schiff says its too early to consider an immunity deal for Michael Flynn By Associated Press The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says its too early to consider an immunity deal for President Trumps former national security advisor. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) says that Michael Flynn even discussing possible immunity in exchange for protection from prosecution is a grave and momentous step because of the seniority of his former position. Schiff says the House Intelligence Committee is interested in hearing Flynns story, but there would have to be coordination with the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Justice Department on the terms. The House and Senate intelligence committees and the FBI are investigating Russias meddling in the 2016 election. The investigation includes scrutiny of Flynns ties with Russia. Read More Facebook
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Trump administration admonishes California chief justice over claim that agents are stalking immigrants By Del Quentin Wilber U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) The Trump administration on Friday fired back at Californias top judge, disputing her characterization this month that federal immigration agents were stalking courthouses to make arrests. In a letter to Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, leaders of Trumps Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security objected to her description of federal agents conduct. As the chief judicial officer of the state of California, your characterization of federal law enforcement is particularly troubling, wrote Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, objecting to Cantil-Sakauyes use of the word stalking. They said agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were using courthouses to arrest immigrants in the U.S. illegally, in part, because California and some of its local jurisdictions prohibit their officials from cooperating with federal agencies in detaining such immigrants under most conditions. Sessions and Kelly told Californias top judge that she should consider taking her concerns to Gov. Jerry Brown and the cities and counties that limit local law enforcements involvement with immigration agents. Cantil-Sakauye, a former prosecutor who rose through the judicial ranks as an appointee of Republican governors, said through a spokesman that she appreciated the Trump administrations admission that they are in state courthouses making federal arrests. Making arrests at courthouses, in my view, undermines public safety because victims and witnesses will fear coming to courthouses to help enforce the law, she said Friday. She expressed disappointment that courthouses, given local and state public safety concerns, were not listed as sensitive areas offlimits to agents. Federal policy lists schools, churches and hospitals as sensitive areas. The letter from the Justice Department officials defended the arrests of immigrants at courthouses. By apprehending suspects after they have passed through security screening at courthouses, federal agents are less likely to encounter anyone who is armed, the letter said. The arrest of individuals by ICE officers and agents is predicated on investigation and targeting of specific persons who have been identified by ICE and other law enforcement agencies as subject to arrest, they wrote. Cantil-Sakauye had asked the Trump administration on March 16 to stop immigration agents from seeking immigrants at the states courthouses. Courthouses should not be used as bait in the necessary enforcement of our countrys immigration laws, she wrote in a letter to Sessions and Kelly. Her letter did not say which courthouses had been the location of such stalking, but judges and lawyers in Southern California have complained of seeing immigration agents posted near courts. She said she feared the practice would erode public trust in the state courts. Sessions and Kelly urged Cantil-Sakauye to speak to Brown and other officials who have enacted policies that occasionally necessitate ICE officers and agents to make arrests at courthouses and other public places. Facebook
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Back in the spotlight, Hillary Clinton takes aim at Trumps budget By Evan Halper Hillary Clinton stepped back into the spotlight this week after laying relatively low since the election, and she had some advice for President Trump: Tear up the White House budget plan. Clinton was at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security to bestow an award named in her honor to Colombian leaders who helped bring an end to war in that country and elevate the role of women in the peace process. She spoke of the progress the world has made in advancing womens rights since she spoke forcefully on the issue two decades ago when the U.N. gathered world leaders to address it in Beijing. But she warned that progress is threatened by Trump. We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all, Clinton said. This administrations proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country. Clinton then raised the letter signed by 120 former generals and admirals beseeching the Trump administration not to make the cuts. These distinguished men and women who have served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy wont make our country safer. It will undermine our security and our standing in the world. A lot has changed since Clinton was on the campaign trail, but some things about her style on the stump havent. She pulled out a favorite line from last year as she began to talk about a study that backed up her point about the damage Trumps budget plan could do. Here I go again, Clinton said to whooping and cheering from an audience of mostly female students, talking about research evidence and facts. Facebook
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Seeking a way forward, Trump increasingly finds himself at odds with his own party By Michael A. Memoli (Evan Vucci / Associated Press ) President Trump won his office in spite of the best efforts of some in his party. Now, the tenuous nature of the bonds between Trump and the GOP are increasingly on public display as the president openly feuds with conservatives and White House officials debate whether to reach out to Democrats in order to restart his domestic agenda. The latest and strongest evidence came Thursday as Trump escalated his political battle against the members of the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative lawmakers who helped block the healthcare bill he backed. Early in the morning, he said on Twitter that the caucus would hurt the entire Republican agenda if they dont get on the team. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018! he added. It was an extraordinary message, suggesting that Trump might try to back challengers in primaries against lawmakers of his own party something few presidents have tried, none with much success. Read More Facebook
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Tillerson tells NATO allies to pay more, do more to fight terrorism By Catherine Stupp Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday promised NATO allies that the United States will stand by their side but also expected them to spend more on defense and do more to fight terrorism. Tillerson participated in a day of discussions with foreign ministers from the 27 other NATO member nations, his first with the full roster of allies, who were sent scrambling last week to accommodate the top U.S. diplomat after he said he could not attend the meeting originally planned for early April. The United States is committed to ensuring NATO has the capabilities to support our collective defense. We understand that a threat against one of us is a threat against all of us, Tillerson said. But, he added, as President Trump has made clear, it is no longer sustainable for the U.S. to maintain a disproportionate share of NATOs defense expenditures. The United States is amping up pressure on NATO members to increase their defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product, in line with a 2014 agreement among the alliances 28 member countries to meet the target by 2024. Only five NATO countries meet the 2% threshold. The U.S. spends 3.61% of its GDP on defense, more than any other member of the alliance. Tillerson said that if countries have not met the 2% spending goal by the end of the year, they should at least have a concrete plan that clearly articulates how, with annual milestone progress commitments, the pledge will be fulfilled. Pressure to meet that strict deadline is likely to upset some allies. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told reporters before Fridays meeting that he thinks it would be completely unrealistic for Germany to bring its military defense spending up to 2% of GDP. I dont know any politician in Germany who thinks that this would be reachable or desirable, Gabriel said. Germany is increasing its military spending this year to $39 billion, or 1.2% of its GDP. Gabriel rejected the Trump administrations focus on military expenditures, arguing that humanitarian aid and Germanys spending to take in refugees should be considered part of the defense budget. Tillerson also called on allies to take a greater role in the fight against terrorism. NATO can and should do more, he said. Fighting terrorism is the top national security priority for the United States, as it should be for all of us. Tillersons earlier announcement that he would skip the meeting struck a nerve among the alliance members, coming at a sensitive time when tensions between the Trump administration and NATO allies have soared. The schedule change caused an awkward protocol shuffle, with a handful of foreign ministers unable to make it to Brussels. What was supposed to be a two-day meeting was compressed into half of a day. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tried to cast optimism on the last-minute schedule change, calling it a sign of the strong transatlantic unity and flexibility of our alliance that we were able to find a date. The foreign ministers meeting is crucial because it lays the groundwork for a NATO summit with heads of state in May, which will be President Trumps first overseas trip since taking office. Tillersons day of talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels follows visits from Defense Secretary James Mattis and Vice President Mike Pence, who attempted to dispel fears that the Trump administration will seek to loosen ties with the alliance. Trump called NATO obsolete in an interview published days before his inauguration. He later insisted, during German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to the White House earlier this month, that the U.S. will maintain its strong commitment to the alliance. Tillerson arrived in Brussels on Friday morning after meeting Thursday in Ankara, Turkey, with that countrys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss terrorism and Syria, though the leaders failed to reach an agreement on how to combat Islamic State. Facebook
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Trump weighs in on Michael Flynns request for immunity President Trumps former national security advisor, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, is seeking immunity from prosecution in return for testifying to the House and Senate intelligence committees, a congressional aide said. The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Gen. Flynn certainly had a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit, his lawyer, Robert Kelner, said in a statement. No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances from unfair prosecution. On Friday morning, Trump tweeted his support for Flynns request. Flynn was ousted as Trumps national security advisor last month after news reports disclosed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about phone conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russias ambassador to the U.S. The calls were picked up by U.S. surveillance targeting the Russian envoy, and a description of the contents was leaked to the Washington Post after the Justice Department warned the White House that Flynn could be subject to blackmail. Read More Facebook
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Former national security advisor Michael Flynn seeks immunity By David S. Cloud President Trumps former national security advisor, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has been seeking immunity from prosecution in return for testifying to the House and Senate intelligence committees, a congressional official confirmed Thursday. The negotiations were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. In a statement, Flynns lawyer, Robert Kelner, said Gen. Flynn certainly had a story to tell and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit. No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances from unfair prosecution. Trump fired Flynn three weeks into the new administration after news reports disclosed that he had lied to White House colleagues, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, Russias ambassador to the U.S. In December, Flynn had telephone conversations with Kislyak in which he discussed sanctions that the Obama administration had recently imposed on Russia to punish Moscow for its interference in the 2016 presidential election. Flynn denied to Pence and other officials that he had discussed the sanctions with Kislyak. So far, the committees, which are investigating Russian interference and whether anyone close to Trump colluded with Moscow, have not taken Flynn up on his offer, the Journal reported. Facebook
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Trump administration appeals Hawaii judges order against travel ban By Jaweed Kaleem The Department of Justice has appealed a Hawaii court order that brought President Trumps travel ban to a national halt. The government has argued that the president was well within his authority to restrict travel from six Muslim-majority countries and put a pause on refugee resettlement. The appeal Thursday to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came a day after U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu refused to dismiss his temporary block of the travel ban that he issued on March 15. With the appeal, the government is now fighting to reinstate the travel ban in two appeals courts on opposite ends of the country. That increases the likelihood that one of the cases will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice appealed a Maryland district judges order against the travel ban to the U.S. 4th District Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Both rulings in Hawaii and Maryland said Trumps executive order discriminated against Muslims. Watson and U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland cited Trumps campaign promises to suspend Muslim travel to the U.S. as proof of his orders anti-Muslim bias. The Hawaii ruling is broader than the Maryland one. It blocks a 90-day pause on travel to the U.S. from nationals of six majority-Muslim countries and a 120-day moratorium on new refugee resettlement. The Maryland ruling only halted the ban on travel into the U.S. by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over nine Western states, is the same court where a panel of three judges denied a government request last month to reverse ruling against the first travel ban by a federal judge in Washington state. Trump, in turn, lambasted the bad court and signed a new executive order on travel on March 6 that was modified in an attempt to survive court challenges. Facebook
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Senate heads for nuclear option if Democrats filibuster Gorsuch nomination By Lisa Mascaro One of the Senates most serious jobs confirming the presidents choice for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court has devolved into a game of political chicken. Senators are heading toward an institution-defining showdown next week as Democrats promise to try to block President Trumps nominee, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, with a filibuster, a rarely seen maneuver for high court appointments. Republicans are threatening to respond by changing long-standing Senate rules to circumvent the 60 votes that would be needed to overcome a filibuster. Instead they would allow confirmation with a simple majority. The outcome has the potential to not only shape the future of the Supreme Court which has been without a full bench since the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia last year it also could crush one final vestige of bipartisanship in the Senate, altering the upper chamber for years to come. The battle over the Supreme Court seat was always expected to be a partisan affair in todays heated political climate. But the polemics intensified after the Republican majority denied President Obamas nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a confirmation hearing ahead of last years presidential election. Read More Facebook
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Scalias seat has been vacant longer than any Supreme Court justices in nearly 50 years By Colleen Shalby (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Its been more than 400 days since Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalias death left his seat vacant. With Republicans having blocked a vote on then-President Obamas nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, and with Senate Democrats now making plans to filibuster President Trumps nominee, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, it could take even longer to replace Scalia. Its not unheard of for a justices seat to remain empty for a considerable amount of time. Pew Research Center did the math and found that the longest gap was 841 days, in the mid-1840s, from the time of Henry Baldwins death to his replacement Robert Griers confirmation. But the last time in recent history that a vacancys duration in this range occurred was after Abe Fortas resigned in 1969. It took 391 days to fill that seat, an interval that ended in 1970 when Harry Blackmun the justice who authored the courts landmark opinion in Roe vs. Wade was confirmed. Blackmun was President Nixons third pick to fill that seat. The second-longest vacancy in recent years occurred in 1988. It took 237 days to fill Lewis Powells seat after he retired, with Anthony Kennedy succeeding him. Its been 58 days and counting since Trump nominated Gorsuch. Heres how his waiting time from nomination to confirmation stacks up against the current justices: Elena Kagan: 87 days
Sonia Sotomayor: 66 days
Samuel A. Alito Jr.: 82 days
John G. Roberts Jr.: 23 days
Stephen G. Breyer: 73 days
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: 50 days
Clarence Thomas: 99 days
Anthony M. Kennedy: 65 days If Gorsuch is confirmed soon, he wont start considering cases until the courts new term in October.
And if hes not confirmed? Trump would nominate another successor to Scalia theres no limit on how many times he can do that. Until Scalias seat is filled, lower courts decisions serve as tie-breakers. Facebook
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Sens. Manchin and Heitkamp become first Democrats to announce support for Gorsuch By David Savage Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota became the first Democrats to say they will vote for Judge Neil Gorsuch and not support the effort to filibuster his confirmation to the Supreme Court. Their announcements came as no surprise. Both are centrists who have to run for reelection next year in states that voted overwhelmingly for Trump. After considering his record, watching his testimony in front of the Judiciary Committee and meeting with him twice, I will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the Supreme Court, Manchin said. I have found him to be an honest and thoughtful man.... I have not found any reasons why this jurist should not be a Supreme Court justice. Heitkamp said she was impressed with Gorsuchs record as a judge. This vote does not diminish how disturbed I am by what the Republicans did to Judge [Merrick] Garland, referring to the GOP-led Senates refusal last year to consider President Obamas choice to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But I was taught that two wrongs dont make a right, she said. The Republican majority in the Senate needs six more Democrats to join with them if they hope to stop the expected filibuster of President Trumps Supreme Court nominee. It takes 60 votes to end the debate under the Senates current rules. But the 52 Republicans may vote to simply eliminate this requirement if the Democrats stand firm against Gorsuch. On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to approve Gorsuch on a party line vote and send the nomination to the Senate floor. A final vote is expected April 7. Facebook
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White House invites lawmakers to see intelligence material after New York Times report By Noah Bierman The White House has invited House and Senate intelligence committee chairs to review documents that it says were recently discovered by national security staff that could help determine whether information gathered about American citizens was mishandled. White House spokesman Sean Spicer would not say whether these are the same documents that Rep. Devin Nunes, the Tulare Republican who chairs the House intelligence committee, said he reviewed last week. Nunes has refused to identify his sources. Some saw his disclosure as an attempt to give credence to President Trumps widely refuted claim that President Obama had ordered wiretaps on his phone during the campaign. Nunes said the material he reviewed suggested that intelligence agencies had incidentally collected information about Trump or his associates. He has declined to be more specific or share the information with the committee. But the New York Times reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources, that two White House officials helped Nunes get access to the documents. And now the same information may be provided to other members of the Intelligence committee. In a letter to the bipartisan group of intelligence leaders sent Thursday, White House Counsel Donald McGhan said administration lawyers would supervise the review given the sensitivity of the documents to protect the extremely sensitive intelligence sources and methods. The letter calls on the committee to investigate the possibility that classified information was inappropriately gathered and handled and whether civil liberties of American citizens were violated. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters that he welcomed the chance to review the materials, though he said he would be obligated to share them with the rest of his committee. More troubling to Schiff, he said, was the cloak and dagger stuff and circuitous route that the White House national security staff appears to have used to disseminate the materials in that secret meeting with Nunes. Schiff said White House staff may have been trying to launder information through the committee, rather than simply providing it directly to the president. If that was designed to hide the origin of the materials, that raises profound questions about just what the White House is doing, Schiff said. We need to get to the bottom of whether this was some sort of stratagem by the White House. In a letter to McGhan, Schiff said answering the White Houses questions would require asking intelligence agencies how the information in the documents was gathered. I hope you will confirm to the committee whether these materials are the same as those first shared with Nunes, Schiff wrote. 2:11: This story was updated with staff reporting Facebook
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Trumps team: A network of ties to Russia By Angelica Quintero The FBI is investigating possible coordination between people associated with the Trump campaign and Russian authorities during the 2016 election. The U.S. intelligence community has said it is confident that the Russian government directed hacking operations and intended to interfere with the U.S. election process. Take a look at how some high-profile people have been drawn into the investigation. See the graphic Facebook
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Former RNC official is first to depart senior West Wing staff By Michael A. Memoli A former top Republican National Committee official and ally of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus will depart her West Wing post in the first significant shake-up of President Trumps senior staff. Politico first reported that Katie Walsh, the deputy White House chief of staff, will leave to take on an advisory position with political groups that were formed to support the presidents agenda from the outside. Walsh had served as chief of staff at the RNC when Priebus was party chair. At the White House, she served in a similar capacity under Priebus, tasked with overseeing the senior staff and the scheduling operation. Though White House officials denied the move was a signal of disharmony within the senior ranks, her departure spoke to issues dogging the new administration a top-heavy operation in the West Wing and also the inability of the president to sustain the kind of grassroots support for his agenda that proved key to his electoral win. It was abundantly clear we didnt have air cover when it came to the calls coming into lawmakers, and nobody can fix this problem like Katie Walsh, Priebus told reporters later, according to Time. Facebook
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Putin: Read my lips, there was no Russian meddling in U.S. vote By Ann M. Simmons Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto during the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia, on Thursday. (Sergei Karpukhim / AFP/Getty Images) Calling the accusations lies, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denied that Moscow meddled in last years U.S. elections. Read my lips, no, Putin said during a panel moderated by CNBC, according to a report on the news agencys website. All those things are fictional, illusory and provocations, lies, the Russian president said. All these are used for domestic American political agendas. The anti-Russian card is played by different political forces inside the United States to trade on that and consolidate their positions inside. Putins comments came as the Senate Intelligence Committee was set to begin a hearing entitled Disinformation: A Primer in Russian Active Measures and Influence Campaigns, which will focus on understanding the method of Russias active disinformation campaign and assess the extent of Moscows interference. FBI Director James Comey confirmed earlier this month that his agency was investigating Russias intrusion into the 2016 poll and whether there was any collusion between Moscow and President Trumps campaign. Read More Facebook
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Trump levels extraordinary threat against GOP conservatives; Ryan says he understands presidents frustration By Noah Bierman House Speaker Paul D. Ryan commiserated with President Trump Thursday after the president launched a Twitter assault on the group of rebellious Republicans known as the Freedom Caucus. I understand the frustration, I share the frustration, Ryan told reporters Thursday, when asked to respond to Trumps threat to campaign against fellow Republicans. Freedom Caucus members, who back limited government and have defined themselves in opposition to the Washington establishment, have been a major headache for GOP leaders. Ever since the Republicans took control of the House in 2010, conservative refusal to back key bills to fund government agencies has forced GOP leaders to negotiate with Democrats for the votes they need. Freedom Caucus members helped lead the charge against former Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). The caucus was blamed by many Republicans last week for torpedoing the leaderships plan, backed by Trump, to make significant changes to Obamacare. Still, Trumps threat to fight them in the 2018 elections was an extraordinary step. Trump had previously made electoral threats against wayward members of his party, but Thursdays tweet was especially direct, threatening to treat them the same way as Democrats. The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017 Freedom Caucus members have begun pushing back aggressively. A spokeswoman for the group argued on Twitter that Trump did not have his facts right and that Republican moderates were equally responsible for sinking the healthcare bill. View Twitter post Finding Trump supporters to challenge Republicans in a primary would be hard and could further thrust the GOP into civil war. Trump, despite low poll numbers nationally, remains popular in core Republican districts. Many members of Congress, however, ran ahead of him in their districts in the last election. The president has also suggested he might be open to cutting deals with Democrats, something the White House has discussed but not followed through on. That would also be difficult, given the rancor on the left. Ryan said Thursday that the best path is for Republicans to come together on healthcare and other issues About 90% of our conference is for this bill to repeal and replace Obamcare, and about 10% are not. And thats not enough to pass a bill, he said. What I am encouraging our members to do is to keep talking with each other until we can get the consensus to pass this bill. But its very understandable that the president is frustrated that we havent gotten to where we need to go, because this is something that we all said we would do. Facebook
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Pence casts tie-breaking vote to advance bill that would let states withhold federal funds from Planned Parenthood By Lisa Mascaro Republicans needed Vice President Mike Pence to cast a tie-breaking vote Thursday in the Senate to advance legislation that rolls back rules preventing states from withholding certain federal funds to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. With opposition from two Republican women, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Republicans did not have enough votes with their slim 52-seat majority to advance the bill. Pence, a longtime opponent of abortion, arrived to cast the vote breaking the 50-50 tie and will be expected to do so later Thursday on final passage. We just saw a historic moment, said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) It is a sad day for the United States Senate. The measure rolls back a regulation finalized at the end of President Obamas administration that explicitly prevented states from denying federal Title X family planning funds to clinics, like Planned Parenthood, that also provide abortion services. Under longstanding practice, no federal funds can be used for abortions, but federal family planning money can flow to the clinics to provide other healthcare services. Some Republican-led state governments had been moving in recent years to choke off Title X funds from any clinics that offered abortion service. The Obama rule sought to prohibit such practices. The bill Thursday, sponsored by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), has already cleared the House. It is part of a series of bills being passed by Congress under the so-called Congressional Review Act, which allows federal regulations put in place during the final days of the previous administration to be undone by simple majority passage. Passage by the Senate later Thursday would send it to the White House for President Trumps signature. Busy day in D.C., but always happy to make time to meet visitors touring the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/4q6JG8wP0E Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) March 30, 2017 Facebook
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Senate committee narrowly approves Acostas nomination to be Labor secretary By Jim Puzzanghera (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP) A Senate committee on Thursday narrowly approved R. Alexander Acosta to be Labor secretary, moving to fill one of President Trumps few remaining vacant Cabinet posts. The nomination of Acosta, a law school dean and former Justice Department official, was approved by a 12-11 vote by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. All of the panels Republicans supported the nomination; all of the Democrats were opposed. If confirmed in a full Senate vote, which is expected soon, Acosta will be the only Latino in Trumps Cabinet. A date for the final vote hasnt been set. Read More Facebook
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Follow the money and the trail of dead Russians, expert urges senators By Del Quentin Wilber (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday into Russian efforts to influence the November elections has been a long history lesson, tracing Moscows decades-long efforts to use misinformation to undermine democracies. But Clinton Watts, of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University, provided a roadmap to better understanding the Kremlins efforts. He urged senators and the U.S. government to follow the money to figure out how misinformation websites and social media outlets are being funded. While the Russians conducted their hacking in the Internets shadows, their efforts to influence the election was hardly a secret, he said. You can hack stuff and be covert, but you cant influence and be covert, he said. You have to ultimately show your hand. And thats why we have been able to discover it online. The second way to trace Russian influence was more ominous: Follow the trail of dead Russians, he said. There have been more dead Russians in the past three months that are tied to this investigation, he added. They are dropping dead, even in Western countries. Watts didnt finish the thought but was likely referring to a spate of deaths of high-profile Russians, some of which appeared to be assassinations although others appear to have been from natural causes. With the daytime execution of a Russian politician in Ukraine last week, at least eight Russian politicians, activists, ambassadors and a former intelligence official have died since the U.S. election. Facebook
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Russia has stepped up efforts to influence elections, experts tell Senate panel By David S. Cloud (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) Moscow has stepped up its interference in U.S. and European elections, using social media, hacking and other tools to undermine public confidence and to raise doubts about the U.S as an ally, Russia experts told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. The committee was taking testimony from experts in Russian propaganda and intelligence operations as part of its investigation into Moscows meddling in the 2016 election. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the panel, emphasized that in addition to examining the broad topic of Russian efforts to influence the election, the panel also must seek to answer whether President Trumps campaign had contact with Russian officials last year, noting the the FBI has opened its own probe. I will not prejudge the outcome of our investigation. We are seeking to determine if there is an actual fire, but there is clearly a lot of smoke, Warner said. Dr. Eugene Rumer, Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the panel that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably viewed Moscows meddling in the U.S. election as an unqualified success. Facebook
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Tillerson meets Turkish officials to seek support for battle against Islamic State in Syria By Umar Farooq Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday met for more than two hours with Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they hoped to shore up troubled relations between their nations. Making his first trip to Turkey, Tillerson became the highest-ranking Trump administration official to hold a face-to-face session with Erdogan, an increasingly authoritarian leader who is also a NATO member and key ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. The meeting went longer than planned. Turkey and the United States disagree sharply on how to combat Islamic State: Washington supports Kurdish militias that Erdogan regards as an arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization. Trying to fight against Daesh through terrorist organizations such as ... extensions of the PKK, would be like shooting yourself in the foot, Erdogans senior advisor, Ibrahim Kalin, said ahead of Thursdays meeting. Daesh is a pejorative Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Read More Facebook
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Hawaii judge extends national halt on Trumps travel ban By Jaweed Kaleem Donald Trump in San Diego in May. (John Gastaldo / San Diego Union-Tribune)) The Hawaii federal judge who brought President Trumps revised travel ban to a national halt this month extended his order blocking the bans enforcement. The move Wednesday sets the stage for the Justice Department to appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watsons original order halting the travel ban was issued March 15, a day before the ban was to go into effect, in the form of a temporary restraining order. At a hearing in Honolulu on Wednesday, federal lawyers asked Watson to either dismiss that order or narrow the restrictions to apply to fewer parts of the travel ban. Instead, Watson said he would turn the order into a preliminary injunction, which has the effect of extending his order blocking the travel ban for a longer period. Watson said he would keep intact the restrictions on the travel ban -- a block of its 90-day moratorium on travel to the U.S. from nationals of six majority-Muslim countries and its 120-day pause on new refugee resettlement. If the Justice Department appeals the case, it will be heard in the same court that upheld a national halt to Trumps first travel ban last month after a Seattle federal judge ruled against it. The administration has already appealed to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals a Maryland judges more limited March 16 ruling that stopped enforcement of the travel orders country-specific ban. Both the Hawaii and Maryland judges found Trumps executive order to discriminate against Muslims. They used the presidents campaign statements promising to suspend Muslim travel to the U.S. as evidence of the orders anti-Muslim bias. Government lawyers have argued that the president is not singling out Muslims but instead acting within his power to restrict immigration and safeguard national security while better vetting procedures are developed to prevent potential terrorists from entering the U.S. Trump has said hell take the case over the travel ban to the U.S. Supreme Court. Facebook
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Ivanka Trump gets formal White House role, with ethics obligations but no pay By Michael A. Memoli (Brendan Smialowski / AFP-Getty Images) Ivanka Trump is taking on a more formal White House role with a title but not a paycheck a move intended to quell ethics concerns raised about her status in her fathers administration. In a statement, the White House noted that the presidents elder daughter already had an unprecedented role in the administration different from that of previous presidential children. She now will take the title of special advisor to the president, and therefore assume the same responsibility to abide by ethics standards that other federal employees have, the statement said. The decision demonstrates the administrations commitment to ethics, transparency and compliance, the administration said. Although Ivanka Trump already had a West Wing office as does her husband, senior advisor Jared Kushner she now will have increased opportunities to lead initiatives driving real policy benefits for the American public that would not have been available to her previously, a White House spokesman said. The announcement came on a day when President Trump sought to promote his administrations commitment to empowering women. He delivered remarks at an East Room event that included other top women in his Cabinet, including U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon. Ivanka Trump held a roundtable with female business owners earlier, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. Earlier Wednesday, leading Senate Democrats sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics raising concerns about the increasing, albeit unspecified position Ivanka Trump had held and the potential conflicts of interest that her government position might trigger with her personal businesses, including a retail clothing brand. The letter from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) asked the agency whether Trump would be required to divest herself of personal assets or if she could be required to recuse herself from certain functions. Trumps new position was first reported by the New York Times. In a statement to the paper, Trump said she was acting in response to ethics concerns, but noted she already had been voluntarily complying with all ethics rules. Facebook
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Russia inquiry one of the biggest congressional probes in decade, senators say By David Lauter Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, and Mark Warner (D-Va.). (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) The Senate Intelligence Committees probe into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election will be one of the biggest investigations in years and has already involved an unprecedented level of cooperation between Congress and U.S. spy agencies, the panels chairman said Wednesday. At a Capitol Hill news conference, the committee chairman, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, and its ranking Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, emphasized the bipartisan nature of the panels efforts, drawing a determined, though unstated, contrast with the partisan dysfunction of a parallel investigation in the House. The committee will go wherever the intelligence leads us, Burr said. And he pointedly refused to endorse White House statements that investigators inevitably will find that there was no collusion between President Trumps campaign and the Russians. It would be crazy to try to draw any conclusions at this point, Burr said. We know that our challenge is to answer that question to the American people, Burr said, referring to the issue of Trumps involvement. Warner said he had confidence in Richard Burr to run a fair investigation and produce a bipartisan conclusion. Warner said Americans should not lose sight of what the investigation is about: An outside foreign adversary effectively tried to hijack the election and favor one candidate over the other. They didnt do it because it was in the best interest of the American people, he said. "[Russian President] Vladimir Putins goal is a weaker United States. The Russian action should be a concern of all Americans regardless of party affiliation, he added. The committee staff already has reviewed thousands of pages of intelligence documents and has begun scheduling interviews with a list of 20 preliminary witnesses, who will be questioned in private before the panel holds public hearings, Burr said. He strongly implied that one of the potential witnesses is retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who was fired from his post as national security advisor to Trump after the disclosure that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S. You would think less of us if the committee had not talked with Flynn, Burr told reporters. The witnesses, including Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and advisor, will be questioned when the committee is ready, he said. Facebook
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Justice Department watchdog finds DEA cash seizure program may pose risk to civil liberties By Del Quentin Wilber A Ukiah, Calif., police officer works with a dog to search for drugs or cash in a motorists car on May 14, 2014. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times) The way the Drug Enforcement Administration seizes cash and other assets may pose a risk to civil liberties, the Justice Departments internal watchdog reported Wednesday. The Justice Departments inspector general also determined that the agency does not measure or track how its asset seizure activities advance criminal investigations. Over the last decade, more than $28 billion has been seized through the departments asset forfeiture program. The effort and others in states have generated intense controversy in recent years, with critics contending that many seizures are unfair because some who lose their assets are never charged with crimes. Law enforcement officials, however, say that seizing property and cash is a key tool in disrupting criminal organizations and compensating the victims of crimes. Former Atty. Gen. Eric Holder in 2015 limited how state and local authorities can obtain seized funds by working with federal agents. In its report released Wednesday, the inspector general examined 100 cases in which the DEA seized cash. Eighty-five of the cases involved interdiction at transportation hubs, such as airports or parcel centers. Nearly 80 of those seizures resulted from the direct observation of agents or local police. The inspector general and the Justice Department have raised concerns in the past about such stops and searches, in part, due to the potential for racial profiling. Of the 100 cases, the DEA could verify that only 44 advanced ongoing investigations, led to a new investigation, or resulted in an arrest or prosecution, the inspector general found. When seizure and administrative forfeitures do not ultimately advance an investigation or prosecution, law enforcement creates the appearance, and risks the reality, that it is more interested in seizing and forfeiting cash than advancing an investigation or prosecution, the report said. The inspector general also found that the Justice Department does not provide enough training or require state and local officers working on federal task forces to be trained on asset forfeiture policies. The Justice Department responded in a letter to the inspector general that its analysis was flawed and its sample significantly underreported the amount of seized funds that are ultimately returned. In a statement, Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said, Asset forfeiture is a powerful and effective law enforcement tool, allowing the department to compensate victims, deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes, remove the tools of crime from criminal organizations, and deter crime. The department believes that the ongoing public debate about asset forfeiture is healthy, she added, but as outlined in our formal response, we strongly disagree with large swaths of this report and its flawed methodology that failed to address the essential role asset forfeiture plays combating some of the most sophisticated criminal actors and organizations, including terrorist financiers, cyber criminals, fraudsters, human traffickers, and drug cartels. 9:23 a.m.: This story was updated with Justice Department comment. Facebook
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Hoax. Con job. Chinese plot. Trump tweets have bashed climate science for years By Michael Finnegan President Trump signs an executive order Tuesday to rescind Obama administration policies on climate change. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) As President Trump moved to halt federal efforts against global warming on Tuesday, he avoided an important phrase: climate change. It was the same story during his campaign for president; Trump rarely mentioned it. When he pledged in May to withdraw the United States from the Paris treaty, a pact among nearly every nation on Earth to reduce the carbon emissions that cause global warming, it was one of the few occasions when Trump broached the topic. Trumps muted approach made political sense. To reject science is to risk alienating millions of moderate voters who support action to stop global warming. But before Trump started running for president, he often bluntly attacked climate science. Some highlights from his Twitter feed: Read More Facebook
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Supreme Court rules in favor of merchants who want to advertise credit card fees By David Savage Supreme Court rules on swipe fees (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)) Merchants may soon have the right to tell customers that they will pay a surcharge if they use a credit card rather than pay with cash. The Supreme Court cast doubt Wednesday on laws in California, New York, Florida and seven other states that make it illegal for sellers to impose a surcharge on credit card sales. In a 8-0 decision, the justices said these laws regulate speech and may be challenged as violations of the 1st Amendment. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said these laws do not prevent merchants from offering a discount for those who pay cash. Rather, they simply forbid disclosing that a posted price includes a surcharge of 2% to 3% for using a credit or debit card. Merchants want to pass the fees along only to their customers who choose to use credit cards, he said. They also want to make clear that they are not the bad guys -- that the credit card companies, not the merchants, are responsible for the higher prices. But the ruling Wednesday was only a partial victory for the five New York businesses, including a hair salon and an ice cream parlor in Brooklyn, that sued to challenge the ban on advertising or disclosing surcharges for using credit cards. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York had upheld the law on the grounds it was a price regulation, not a speech restriction. Roberts and the high court disagreed. What the law does is regulate how sellers may communicate their prices, he said. A merchant who wants to charge $10 for cash and $10.30 for credit may not convey that price any way he pleases. He is not free to say '$10, with a 3% credit card surcharge. But the justices did not strike down the state laws, instead sending the case back to the New York court to decide whether this speech regulation could be justified. Sometimes, laws are used to regulate the words of commercial transactions to prevent buyers from being fooled or confused. Until recently, the major credit card companies had imposed contract restrictions that prevented merchants from disclosing surcharges. But those provisions have challenged and knocked down. That in turn led to new legal challenges against the state laws which forbid sellers from disclosing these surcharges. The case decided Wednesday was Expressions Hair Design vs. Schneiderman. Facebook
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Trumps poll numbers are low. But the people who put him in office say its not time to judge him yet By Noah Bierman Its been five months since the euphoria of a Donald Trump rally at the local arena brought optimism to this former Democratic stronghold. The snow from a long winter has begun melting into the rocky soil, and the digital sign in a torn-up parking lot blinks hopefully: Warm days are coming. President Trump has yet to deliver jobs or the repeal of Obamacare. But here, in an area crucial to his unexpected election victory, many residents are more frustrated with what they see as obstruction and a rush to judgment than they are with Trump. Give him six months to prove himself, said an information technology supervisor. Give him a year, said a service manager. Give him four years, said a retired print shop owner. Give the man a chance, said Crystal Matthews, a 59-year-old hospital employee. Theyre just going to fight him tooth and nail, the whole way. Read More Facebook
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To fight womans defamation claim, Trump cites the Bill Clinton-Paula Jones case which the president lost By David Savage President Trump is citing Bill Clintons famous sexual harassment battle in his effort to block a California womans lawsuit claiming Trump lied about groping her in the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007. Problem is, Clinton lost that bid for legal immunity when the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1997 that the chief executive is not shielded from responding to a civil suit regarding his private behavior. Read More Facebook
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House sends Trump bill to kill landmark broadband privacy regulations By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sponsored the repeal bill. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) The House voted Tuesday to kill landmark privacy restrictions for Internet service providers and sent the bill to the White House, which indicated President Trump would sign it and invalidate the rules before they go into effect. The measure, approved largely along party lines, repeals tough new Federal Communications Commission regulations that would require broadband companies to get explicit customer permission before using or sharing most of their personal information. The data include health information, website browsing history, app usage and the geographic information from mobile devices. The rules also tighten data security requirements. Republicans, along with AT&T Inc., Charter Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and other providers of high-speed Internet service, strongly opposed the rules. They argued that the restrictions are tougher than those for websites and social networks that also collect and use the highly valuable consumer data, which companies use to target advertising. Read More Facebook
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U.S. commander says theres a fair chance that coalition airstrike is responsible for civilian casualties in Mosul By W.J. Hennigan Rescuers are still recovering bodies from a suspected U.S. airstrike in the Iraqi city of Mosul. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) The top U.S. general commanding the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria said that the U.S.-led coalition was probably responsible for a blast that killed more than 200 people. If we did it, and I would say theres at least a fair chance that we did, it was an unintentional accident of war and we will transparently report it to you, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters Tuesday via teleconference from Baghdad. He made the comments in response to witness reports that an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition leveled a large apartment block and killed scores of civilians, including women and children, in west Mosuls Jadidah neighborhood on March 17. My initial assessment is that we probably had a role in these casualties, Townsend said. But investigators are still trying to determine whether other factors -- possibly including repeated airstrikes in the neighborhood or an explosive device accidentally or deliberately planted near the building -- could have led to its collapse. The fact that the whole building collapsed contradicts our involvement, Townsend said. The munition that we used should not have collapsed an entire building. So thats one of those things were trying to figure out in the investigative process. Read More Facebook
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Gov. Jerry Brown calls Trump energy plan a colossal mistake that will galvanize climate change activists By Evan Halper Gov. Jerry Brown. (Gregory Bull / Associated Press) California Gov. Jerry Brown warned that President Trump has just made a colossal mistake in gutting the federal governments effort to combat climate change, which will ignite a response Trump is unprepared to handle. It defies science itself, Brown said in a call to The Times shortly after Trump signed an executive order that aims to bring an abrupt halt to the United States leadership on global warming. Erasing climate change may take place in Donald Trumps mind, but nowhere else. Yes, there is going to be a counter-movement, Brown vowed, predicting Trumps actions will mobilize environmentalists in a way President Obama never could. I have met with many heads of state, ambassadors. This is a growing movement. President Trumps outrageous move will galvanize the contrary force. Things have been a bit tepid [in climate activism]. But this conflict, this sharpening of the contradiction, will energize those who believe climate change is an existential threat. Brown and other big-state governors and mayors are moving swiftly to fill the global leadership vacuum Trump created with Tuesdays directive, which stops short of officially pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord of 2015. I see Washington declining in influence, but the momentum being maintained by California and other states aligned with China and those who are willing to do something, said Brown, who will be traveling to China soon for meetings on climate. There is a growing activism on the part of millions of people who will not stand by and let Donald Trump effectively tear up the Paris agreement and destroy Americas climate leadership and jeopardize the health and well being of so many people. In the face of Trumps retreat on climate, Brown said California will step up its own efforts to push others toward clean energy. We are not fully meeting the challenge of climate change yet, he said. We are doubling down on our commitment. We are reaching out to other states in America and throughout the world and other countries . We have plenty of fuel to build this movement. This is real, Brown said of the threat created by climate change. The nations of the world have recognized it in Paris I will continue doing my best to work with and rouse the world community, whatever the politicians in Washington do or dont do. Facebook
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Trump orders government to dismantle Obamas climate change policies By Evan Halper President Trump ordered an abrupt halt to Americas crusade against climate change. (March 29, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR) President Trump on Tuesday ordered the federal government to retreat from the battle against climate change launched by President Obama, issuing a directive aimed at dismantling the core policies that have made the U.S. a global leader in curbing emissions. The plan unveiled by Trump reflects an about-face for the U.S. on energy, and it puts into jeopardy the nations ability to meet the obligations it agreed to under the global warming pact signed in Paris with 194 other nations. It would shelve the landmark Clean Power Plan that mandates electricity companies reduce their emissions. It seeks to dislodge consideration of climate throughout the federal government, where it has been a factor in every relevant decision in recent years. My administration is putting an end to the war on coal, Trump said. I am taking historic steps to lift the restrictions on American energy to reverse government intrusions and to cancel job killing regulations. Under the order, the government will abandon the social cost of carbon that regulators had painstakingly calculated and begun factoring into their decision on permit applications and rulemaking. Restrictions on methane releases at oil and gas drilling facilities would be eased. Agencies will also stop contemplating climate impacts as they launch into new projects, and restrictions on coal leasing and fracking on federal lands will be lifted. The directive, for which progressive states and environmentalists have been preparing for months, is certain to set off years of litigation and conflicts between Washington and state capitols. Some of the most far-reaching policies Trump is seeking to bring to a halt cannot be canceled unilaterally and require lengthy administrative proceedings. But others he can end with the stroke of his pen. Smoke rises from the Colstrip Steam Electric Station, a coal-burning power plant in Colstrip, Mont., on July 1, 2103. (Matt Brown / Associated Press) Facebook
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A trade war is brewing inside the White House between rival camps By Don Lee Soon after President Trump took office, an executive order was quietly drafted to suspend talks with China on an obscure but potentially far-reaching treaty about bilateral investment. After eight years and two dozen rounds of negotiations, the treaty terms were almost in final form. Pulling out after so much time and effort would send a clear message that the Trump administration meant to take a new and tougher approach to China. But the executive order never even got to the presidents desk. It was quietly shelved, according to sources inside and outside the White House, at the behest of former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn, now Trumps top economic advisor. Killing the order was a small victory for a White House faction that supports free trade and the global economy. But it was only an opening skirmish in what promises to be a long and bitter struggle over trade policy that so far is being waged behind the scenes in the Trump administration. Read More Facebook
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Supreme Court reverses death sentence for Texas inmate who could not tell time or name the days of the week By David Savage The Supreme Court set aside a death sentence on Tuesday for a Texas inmate who as a 13-year-old could not tell time or name the days of the week, concluding he should not be executed in light of his mental disability. In a 5-3 decision, the justices reversed the Texas state appeals court that had restored a death sentence given to Bobby James Moore, a 57-year old prisoner who shot and killed a store clerk in a botched robbery in 1980. At issue was whether Moore had a mental disability that would make his execution cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment. The justices banned states from executing prisoners with a mental disability, but they left states some flexibility to set the standards. But three years ago, the justices faulted Florida authorities for relying almost entirely on I.Q. scores. In the Texas case decided Tuesday, the justices said state judges had ignored ample evidence that Moore had severe mental disability as a child. That evidence was not overcome by the fact that he had adapted well in prison, they said. At 13, Moore lacked the basic understanding of the days of the week, the months of the year and the seasons; he could scarcely tell time or comprehend the standards of measure, said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After failing every subject in the ninth grade, Moore dropped out of high school. Cast out of his home, he survived on the streets, eating from trash cans, even after two bouts of food poisoning. After fatally shooting the clerk in the 1980 robbery, he was sentenced to death. The Texas courts reexamined his sentence after the high court abolished capital punishment in 2002 for defendants with a mental disability. A state judge listened to experts and set aside Moores death sentence, But the states criminal appeals court disagreed. Its judges said Moore had demonstrated adaptive strength by living on the streets and carrying out a robbery, and therefore did not qualify as having a severe mental impairment. Ginsburg said the state judges had relied on an outdated understanding of mental disability, and her opinion in Moore vs. Texas said the state court must reconsidere its decision. Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan agreed. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dissented. While he agreed the states authorities may have used outdated standards, Moore had I.Q. scores ranging from 69 to 79 that show he did not have the significantly sub-average intellectual functioning that would exempt him from the death penalty. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito agreed. Facebook
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The Freedom Caucus roars back to relevance to challenge Trumps agenda and strategy By Lisa Mascaro When House Speaker Paul D. Ryan pulled the plug on the GOPs Obamacare overhaul, lawmakers spilled out of the Capitol basement, angry, frustrated and stunned. But Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), leader of the conservative and rebellious House Freedom Caucus that led the fight against the bill, was uncharacteristically quiet, downplaying his political victory and mulling over the next move. After coming together to battle President Obama and becoming a driving force in the Republican Party, this 30-member-plus bloc of deficit hawks and right-flank conservatives had appeared for a while to be pushed aside by the movement that swept President Trump into office. But after helping defeat the GOP healthcare overhaul, the Freedom Caucus has roared back to relevance as a political power in the Trump era. It has reasserted itself as not just a renegade assemblage of mostly back-bench lawmakers, but as a core block of votes that Trump will need to push past the healthcare debacle to tax reform, budget battles and other issues. These guys saved the Republicans, said Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks, a group that organized a North Carolina rally on Monday in honor of Meadows. As beaten and battered as they are, weve got a group thats willing to take the hard decisions. If youre going to drain the swamp, these are the guys who are going to do it. Read More Facebook
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White House stopped Yates testimony about Russian meddling in presidential election, lawyer says By Associated Press A lawyer for former Deputy Atty. Gen. Sally Yates said in letters last week that the Trump administration had moved to squelch her testimony in a hearing about Russian meddling in the presidential election. In the letters, attorney David ONeil said he understood the Justice Department was invoking further constraints on testimony she could provide at a House Intelligence Committee hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday. He said the departments position was that all actions she took as deputy attorney general were client confidences that could not be disclosed without written approval. The Washington Post first reported the letters. A person familiar with the situation confirmed them as authentic to the Associated Press. The White House called the Post story entirely false. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and part of Trumps transition team, last week announced that the committee was canceling the planned public hearing with Yates and two former Obama administration intelligence officials the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan. Read More Facebook
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Did Mnuchin cross an ethical line in plugging The Lego Batman Movie? A senator wants to know By Jim Puzzanghera (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) A Democratic senator wants to know if Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin committed an ethics violation when he publicly plugged The Lego Batman Movie, a film in which he has a financial stake. A former Hollywood financier, Mnuchin was asked at the end of a question-and-answer session on Friday hosted by the Axios news website to name a movie people should see. Well, Im not allowed to promote anything that Im involved in. So I just want to have the legal disclosure, youve asked me the question and I am not promoting any product, Mnuchin said at the event, which aired on C-SPAN2. But you should send all your kids to Lego Batman, he said. The crowd laughed. But Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wasnt amused. Hes asking the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to look into the comments. Read More Facebook
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Venezuela hits back in showdown with OAS, U.S. over democracy By Tracy Wilkinson The Venezuelan foreign minister had harsh words Monday for the regional organization that is considering sanctioning her country for its failure to hold democratic elections. Delcy Rodriguez, the foreign minister, accused the Organization of American States of wanting not to punish Venezuela but to destroy it. Rodriguez appeared at an OAS panel convened in Washington. D.C., after the United States and 13 other of the hemispheres nations united to demand the leftist Venezuelan government free political prisoners and set a date for long-overdue elections. Failure to do so, the 14 countries warned, could trigger a decision to suspend Venezuela from the 69-year-old regional body. OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, a former Uruguayan foreign minister, has been especially critical of Venezuelas embattled government. He noted that President Nicolas Maduro canceled both a referendum that could have recalled his government and later regional elections, after the opposition made huge gains in parliamentary voting in 2015. In addition, thousands of people have been arrested for their political beliefs, Almagro said, including opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has been in jail for three years. But Rodriguez, in a speech to the OAS panel, said Venezuelas revolution continues strong. She accused Almagro of being a stooge of the U.S. government, a lying mercenary who is a traitor to everything a Latin American diplomat should represent. He lacks independence when he voluntarily bows to the wishes of the most powerful nation of this organization -- and becomes its spokesman, Rodriguez said. Although the OAS has often been accused of pro-Washington tendencies, 13 nations in addition to the United States have joined to condemn Venezuela, a significant shift in Latin America away from populist regimes. Other leftist-ruled countries, like Bolivia, have said they will support Venezuela. Rodriguez said the accusations against her government were unilateral, unjustified and biased. She called on the OAS to suspend discussion of Venezuela, but another session was scheduled to proceed on Tuesday -- the same day Maduros Socialist Party is planning big anti-imperialism marches at home. All of the countries most critical of Venezuela, including the United States, say suspension of the oil-rich, Caribbean country from the OAS should be a measure of last resort. Despite its oil wealth, Venezuela is in the throes of an economic and humanitarian disaster, with severe shortages of food and medicine and skyrocketing inflation and homicide rates. Facebook
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Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions criticizes sanctuary cities but offers no new policies By Michael A. Memoli Decrying the safety risk posed when cities dont cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions repeated previous statements that the Trump administration would seek to deny so-called sanctuary cities some federal grant fun Decrying the safety risk posed when cities dont cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions repeated previous statements that the Trump administration would seek to deny so-called sanctuary cities some federal grant funds, but offered no new policies. Despite his high-profile appearance at the White House briefing room, Sessions merely reiterated Obama administration policy related to immigration. Justice Department officials said any new measures would be weeks or months in the future. The Obama administration issued instructions last July that required any cities applying for Justice Department grant programs be in compliance with federal law requiring cooperation between local, state and federal agencies with requests from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Sessions noted that any jurisdiction applying for grants from his department would have to certify that compliance. The Justice Department already has been requiring that, which indicates that police and sheriff departments which currently have Justice Department grants already have been asserting that they are meeting the requirements of federal law. Although many cities have policies that they, or critics, characterize using the label sanctuary, those policies do not necessarily mean they are violating the law. Sessions did say that the Justice Department could in the future institute additional requirements, but announced none. Fundamentally, we intend to use all the lawful authority we have to make sure that our state and local officials, who are so important to law enforcement, are in sync with the federal government, he said. He did offer a warning to jurisdictions considering adopting sanctuary status. The California legislature is considering a proposal to institute the designation statewide; Sessions, though, singled out Maryland for a similar proposal. That would be such a mistake, Sessions said, while noting Marylands Republican governor opposes the change proposed by the heavily-Democratic legislature. Sessions cited a high-profile case in San Francisco where a 32-year-old woman was killed by man who had been previously deported multiple times despite a request by immigration authorities to continue his detention to illustrate the administrations case against such policies. Countless Americans would be alive today and countless loved ones would not be grieving today if these policies of sanctuary cities were ended, Sessions claimed. Facebook
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Devin Nunes plot thickens, as his spokesman concedes he met source for surveillance claim at White House By David S. Cloud The day before the House Intelligence Committee chairman revealed that conversations by Trump transition officials may have been inadvertently picked up by U.S. surveillance, he met with the source of the information at the White House, his spokesman said Monday Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), went to the White House because there was a facility there for reviewing classified information, said Jack Langer, a spokesman for Nunes, who has refused to divulge the identity of his source. Chairman Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds in order to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source, Langer said. The latest news added another twist to a bizarre series of events last week: On Monday, FBI Director James Comey testified before Nunes committee that his investigators were looking at possible coordination during the presidential campaign between Russian officials and people close to Preisdent Trump. Tuesday night, Nunes went to the White House where someone showed him documents related to U.S. intelligence surveillance, according to his statement. On Wednesday, Nunes announced to reporters that he had seen evidence indicating that people close to Trump had been subjects of surveillance during the transition. He then went to the White House, saying that he needed to brief Trump about the revelations. On Thursday, Nunes apologized to committee members for not having shown the evidence to them before briefing the president. Later that day, his spokesman conceded that Nunes did not know for sure that any Trump aides had actually been subject to surveillance, just that their names had appeared in intelligence reports, which could have resulted from other people talking about them. That sequence of events could buttress Democrats claims that the episode last week was a White House ploy to shift attention away from the FBI investigation. Democrats already have been saying Nunes should be disqualified from heading an inquiry into whether Trumps aides had improper contacts with Russia. Nunes statement left several questions unanswered. One is why he would have had to go to the White House unless his source worked there, because members of Congress have access to a secure facility at the U.S. Capitol. Asked to explain Nunes actions, Langer said in an email, The information comprised executive branch documents that have not been provided to Congress. Because of classification rules, the source could not simply put the documents in a backpack and walk them over to the House Intelligence Committee space. He added: The White House grounds was the best location to safeguard the proper chain of custody and classification of these documents, so the Chairman could view them in a legal way. Last week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had dismissed speculation that the White House had supplied Nunes with the information, saying that the suggestion did not pass the smell test. He added, however, that he did not for sure what Nunes had told Trump or where his information came from. After Nunes apologized to members of his committee Thursday and promised to thoroughly investigate the surveillance, several lawmakers said Nunes had promised to provide them the surveillance information he had received. That has not occurred yet. In his first statement last week, Nunes said he was concerned that some Trump transition officials identities might have been improperly revealed in intelligence reports, despite rules requiring them to be kept confidential in most cases. The Chairman is extremely concerned by the possible improper unmasking of names of U.S. citizens, and he began looking into this issue even before President Trump tweeted his assertion that Trump Tower had been wiretapped, Langer said. Whether any officials names actually were unmasked is unclear. The ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) has questioned Nunes assertions about improper unmasking. But Schiff noted that he has not seen the documents Nunes claims to have seen. Schiff had no comment on the news that Nunes had seen the documents at the White House. UPDATES 10:20 a.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting. This article was originally published as an Associated Press report at 9:06 a.m. Facebook
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Venezuela in showdown with OAS, U.S. over political prisoners By Tracy Wilkinson The besieged leftist government of Venezuela is under mounting pressure after the United States and 13 of the hemispheres other leading nations demanded the release of political prisoners and other pro-democracy concessions. The Organization of American States, the regions main collective body, has threatened to suspend Venezuela because of what it called the autocratic repression imposed by President Nicolas Maduro. Maduros foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez, will appear Monday before an OAS panel in Washington to plead her governments case. This comes after members of the Venezuelan delegation stormed out of OAS meetings last week, according to diplomats. OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, in a report on Venezuela, noted that Maduro canceled both a referendum that could have recalled his government and later regional elections, after the opposition made huge gains in parliamentary voting in 2015. A Maduro-controlled Supreme Court then stripped the parliament of much of its power. In addition, thousands of people have been arrested for their political beliefs, Almagro said, including opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has been in jail for three years. The OAS is demanding Venezuela hold elections or risk suspension from the group, a drastic measure. The last time a country was suspended was when the military and right-wing politicians staged a coup against the elected president in Honduras in 2009. Under OAS regulations, a country can be suspended when the democratic order is altered. Venezuela is in the throes of a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis. The oil-rich country has among the highest homicide and inflation rates in the world and suffers from severe shortages of food and medicine. The Maduro government angrily condemned the OAS actions as imperialist interference and vowed to resist. Adan Chavez, brother of the late Hugo Chavez, the socialist strongman who set Venezuela on its revolutionary path, claimed the OAS was plotting a coup against Maduro. Maduro views much of his opposition as right-wing oligarchs who have long repressed the poor. Although the OAS has often been accused of pro-Washington tendencies, it is significant that 13 nations in addition to the United States are united in condemning Venezuela. This marks a shift away from populist regimes in much of Latin America. The Trump administration, which has shown little interest in Latin America beyond Mexico, did issue instructions to diplomats to find ways through the OAS to put pressure on Venezuela, according to people familiar with the matter. Those instructions came despite parallel administration plans to slash funds to the OAS and other multilateral institutions like the United Nations. Trump recently spoke by telephone to the presidents of Chile and Brazil and in both cases discussed Venezuela, the White House said. And he met at the White House with Lilian Tintori, the wife of Lopez, the jailed opposition leader, as she lobbied for her husbands freedom. The Treasury Department earlier this year slapped sanctions on Venezuelas vice president, Tareck El Aissami, alleging he was a major drug trafficker, charges he denied. Were not pushing for Venezuelas expulsion from the OAS at this time, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said late last week. However, we do think the OAS is the appropriate venue to deal with the ongoing situation in Venezuela, he said. Elections are essential to securing accountability, and the Venezuelan people deserve a voice in creating solutions to the myriad economic, political, and social and humanitarian challenges that they face. Facebook
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Trump takes to Twitter to blame GOP hard-liners over healthcare failure By Laura King (Mandel Ngan / AFP-Getty Images) President Trump on Sunday blamed fellow Republicans and two influential conservative advocacy groups for last weeks failure of the GOP healthcare plan. The president had said on Friday that it was the fault of Democrats that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan pulled the measure from consideration rather than putting it forth for a floor showdown that the GOP leadership would have lost. In a Sunday morning tweet, the president appeared to shift culpability to the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative group of GOP lawmakers who were key to depriving Trump and his camp of the votes needed for passage. Democrats are smiling over the bills failure, Trump declared on Twitter. The Freedom Caucus, he said, had saved President Obamas Affordable Care Act with the help of Heritage Action and the Club for Growth, two organizations that had opposed the GOP measure. The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), declined to engage in any sparring with the White House, instead predicting that a Trump-led Republican effort to overhaul Obamas signature healthcare legislation eventually would move ahead. At the end of the day, the most valuable player will be President Trump, he said on ABCs This Week. Meadows also insisted there had been no conversation about any attempt to force out Ryan, who is being blamed for failing to marshal sufficient support for the measure he had spearheaded. Trump so far has refrained from public criticism of the speaker, but again on Twitter he specifically urged followers to watch a Fox News segment on Saturday night, featuring commentator Jeanine Pirro excoriating Ryan and calling for him to be ousted. That gave rise to speculation that Trump would seek to force the speaker to take the fall for the debacle. Read More Facebook
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After the GOP healthcare bill fizzles, Trump blames the Democrats and says he learned a lot about loyalty By Brian Bennett President Trump addresses the cancellation of a vote Friday on the GOPs plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. After failing to land a deal on the healthcare bill, President Trump on Friday blamed Democrats, even though the GOP controls Congress and the White House, and made few overtures across the aisle when pushing the bill. When you get no votes from the other side -- meaning Democrats -- it is really a difficult situation, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after a revolt by Republican lawmakers forced House leaders to stop a vote in their bid to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. Trump insisted that the current healthcare law, commonly known as Obamacare, will collapse under its own weight, and then Democrats will want to make a deal with the White House. I truly believe the Democrats will come to us, Trump said. In the meantime, Trump is moving his attention to pushing through a tax reform bill, he said. We will probably be going really hard for the big tax cuts and tax reform -- thats next, he said. Trump, who has spent decades negotiating real estate deals and seeing many of them fall through, seemed sanguine discussing the effort he put into getting a healthcare reform bill passed. This was an interesting period of time, Trump said. We learned a lot about loyalty and we learned a lot about the vote-getting process. Trump stopped short of blaming House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and avoided singling out the group of conservative Republican lawmakers, who dug in their heels in opposition. Lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus that largely stood against the bill are very good people and friends of mind, he said. I was disappointed because we could have had it, he said. Im a little surprised, he said. When asked by a reporter if he would reach out now to Democrats for ideas on how to get a deal, Trump said, No, I think we need to let Obamacare go its way for a little while. Then well see how things go. Facebook
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Tillerson will meet with NATO counterparts, after all By Tracy Wilkinson Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with NATO allies next week in Brussels, a move that could quell controversy over his earlier decision to skip a long-planned summit of the transatlantic alliance. The State Department said Friday that Tillerson added a stop at NATO headquarters in Brussels to a previously scheduled trip to the Turkish capital of Ankara. Tillerson will be in Ankara on Thursday to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials to discuss the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and to reaffirm Turkeys important role in ensuring regional stability, the State Department said. The next day, he will go to NATO, the State Department said. NATO officials were attempting to put together a session with the other 27 allied nations. Earlier this week, news that Tillerson would miss the NATO ministerial meeting set for April 5-6, roiled the alliance. Administration officials said Tillerson would have to be in Washington to attend President Trumps first face-to-face meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 6-7. At the same time, Tillersons aides announced he would be traveling to Moscow the following week. Criticism was swift from European allies but also from several former American diplomats and key U.S. lawmakers, who said the decision raised questions about the Trump administrations commitment to NATO. During his campaign, Trump called the alliance obsolete, although more recently he has voiced support for it while also demanding members spend more money on defense. In response, Tillersons aides said they were exchanging possible alternative dates with NATO to attempt to arrange a meeting in which all parties could participate. It was not yet clear if next Fridays meeting will take the place of the April 5-6 session, which as of late Friday remained on NATOs formal calendar. Diplomats considered the ministerial meeting as especially important because it will lay the groundwork for a May 25 NATO summit of heads of state and government, which Trump has said he will attend. Facebook
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Charter promises Trump something new ($25-billion investment) and something old (20,000 jobs) By Jim Puzzanghera Charter Communications Chief Executive Thomas Rutledge. (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images) The chief executive of Charter Communications committed in a meeting with President Trump on Friday to invest $25 billion on broadband infrastructure while joining a trend of business leaders touting previously announced job creation at the White House. In the case of Charter Southern Californias dominant cable-TV and Internet service provider Chief Executive Thomas Rutledge said he expected to hire 20,000 new U.S. employees over the next four years. Charter had made the hiring promise in 2015 when it was purchasing Time Warner Cable. The new development was the time period in which it will occur. Nevertheless, Trump indicated the job creation was triggered by his election. Read More Facebook
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Threats made against Hawaii judge who ruled against travel ban By Jaweed Kaleem (George Lee / The Star-Advertiser via AP) The Hawaii federal judge who brought President Trumps revised travel ban to a national halt last week has become the target of threats. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson has received the threats since his March 15 ruling, according to FBI spokeswoman Michele Ernst. Ernst said the FBI is ready to assist but declined to provide more information. The U.S. Marshals Service also said it would not give details. The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for the protection of federal judicial officials, including judges and prosecutors, and we take that responsibility very seriously, the agency said in a statement. While we do not discuss our specific security measures, we continuously review the security measures in place for all federal judges and take appropriate steps to provide additional protection when it is warranted. Watson, a judge in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii in Honolulu, issued a scathing 43-page opinion against the travel ban the day before it was to go into effect. He wrote that, despite the bans stated secular purpose, Trumps own words marked the executive order as a fulfillment of the presidents campaign promise to temporarily bar Muslims from coming to the U.S. The illogic of the governments contention is palpable, Watson said. In response, Trump said Watsons ruling was terrible and makes us look weak. Trump has vowed to take the travel ban case to the U.S. Supreme Court. An appeal of a separate Maryland federal judges ruling against the travel ban is currently pending in the U.S. 4th District Court of Appeals. Facebook
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House GOP gives up on healthcare bill as Trump suffers first legislative defeat By Lisa Mascaro Unable to muster enough support from his own party, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan again postponed a vote Friday on the GOPs plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. The move came at the request of President Trump, who just Thursday night issued an ultimatum that lawmakers should hold the vote regardless of the outcome. It was the second time House GOP leaders had to delay a final reckon
Indiana Jones may have found a few more lost temples if hed known a thing or two about plants. By mapping the distribution of tree species with known archaeological sites in the Amazon basin, scientists have discovered that humans shaped the makeup of the Amazon forests over thousands of years.
The findings, described in the journal Science, highlight the complex relationship between pre-industrial humans and the ecology of the environments they lived in and may offer archaeologists a new tool with which to look for undiscovered human settlements.
The rainforests of the Amazon those that have not been chopped or burned down to make use of lumber or clear land for crops are largely seen as pristine terrain, largely untouched by humans. But before Europeans arrived in the Americas, indigenous peoples had been domesticating (or partly domesticating) species that were useful for food or other resources for thousands of years. Surely they had left some mark on the makeup of their environments, even if their settlements were hidden from sight.
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I was wondering if we can detect in the forest effects of past societies and how we can use the species in the forest to really see these effects, said lead author Carolina Levis, a PhD student in ecology at Brazils National Institute for Amazonian Research and Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands.
Using 1,170 forest plots in the Amazon Tree Diversity Network, a data-sharing collaboration between more than 180 researchers to track tree diversity in the Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield, the scientists identified 4,962 species, of which 227 were hyperdominant, or extremely abundant.
They then took 1,091 of those forest plots in nonflooded lowland Amazonian forests and layered them on top of a map of more than 3,000 archaeological sites in the region. These sites include pre-Colombian settlements; earthworks such as mounds, causeways, raised fields and terraces; and rock art, including paintings and petroglyphs.
The researchers focused on 85 tree species that Amazonian people are known to have cultivated over several thousand years, including Brazil nut, cacao and acai. Twenty of those species were hyperdominants which was about five times higher than would be expected by chance. And the closer these cultivated plants were to an archaeological site, the more abundant and more diverse they were.
These forests, then, are not just an ecological resource to be treasured and preserved theyre also a part of cultural heritage, Levis said. In fact, following the domesticated plants might allow scientists to find undiscovered archaeological sites.
It would be very cool to use the plants to detect new sites because archaeological sites are sometimes difficult to find in the forest, she said. After all, she added, many of these groups are not there anymore to tell their story.
Thats all the more reason to preserve these ecosystems, many of which are under threat from deforestation for lumber or to make way for plantations of exotic crops such as soybeans, she added.
Many of the trees being chopped or burned down have been useful to humans for thousands of years, and are still in use by local populations. And those pre-Columbian peoples managed to cultivate these plants within the forest ecosystems, rather than completely destroying them.
We should learn more from this type of food production that people used in the past that didnt lead to widespread deforestation, she said.
amina.khan@latimes.com
Follow @aminawrite on Twitter for more science news and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.
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Bob Sternfels flew 50 missions as a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, but one particular mission stands out an air raid on refineries that supplied the German military near Ploesti, Romania, on Aug. 1, 1943.
What happened Ill never forget, Sternfels said in an interview. That is the only time in my life when I wondered whether I was going to get through the situation.
The 96-year-old Laguna Woods resident, who received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service during the mission, which temporarily halted more than 40% of Ploestis refining capacity, will be celebrated as the Honored Patriot at Saturdays 51st Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade.
The parade, which honors citizens who have served the community or the nation in time of war or national emergency, will begin at 11 a.m. on Park Avenue near Laguna Beach High School. It will proceed along portions of Glenneyre Street and Forest Avenue before concluding in front of City Hall.
In addition to Sternfels, this years honorees include grand marshals Aria and Makenzie Fischer, sisters who were on the U.S. womens water polo team that won gold during last summers Rio Olympics; Citizen of the Year Douglas Miller, a painter, photographer and musician; Artist of the Year John Barber, who specializes in glass blowing; junior citizens of the year Wyatt Shipp and Madison Sinclair, both seniors at Laguna Beach High; program cover artist Jared Ghetian, a Laguna Beach High senior; and essay contest winner Claire Tigner, an eighth-grade student at Thurston Middle School.
For Sternfels, the parade offers a chance to return to Laguna Beach, where he and his wife, Nancy who raised two sons together spent a portion of their 67 years of marriage.
She died in 2010, and Sternfels moved to Laguna Woods four years ago.
Photos of Sternfels grandchildren and great-grandchildren adorn his apartment, along with paintings of The Sandman, the B-24 bomber that Sternfels flew during the raid. A replica of the bomber, which Sternfels son Robert built for a Christmas present, sits in a glass case.
Sternfels, who was born in Detroit in 1920, enlisted in the Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor and proved a quick study, rising through the ranks of lieutenant and captain to, at age 23, a major who commanded a squadron, according to the Patriots Day website.
He had flown 15 missions before Ploesti, which deviated from typical formations because aircraft flew at an altitude of 250 feet instead of 20,000 or 25,000 feet, Sternfels said.
The attack, which employed 177 B-24 bombers, had to be carried out at very low altitudes to increase bombing accuracy, making crews extremely vulnerable to enemy anti-aircraft fire, the Patriots Day website said.
The Germans learned what we were going to do and set up machine guns, Sternfels said.
Allied forces had estimated that the refineries at the heart of the bombing mission produced a significant portion of Germanys petroleum needs.
Aircraft traveled more than 1,000 miles from their station in Benghazi, Libya, to Romania, said Sternfels, adding that he was in the air a total of 14 hours and 20 minutes.
Smoke from burning refineries filled the sky. In one of the most recognizable photos from the mission, The Sandman is seen emerging from a plume of smoke.
The mission is generally considered one of the costliest in the European Theater for the U.S. Army Air Forces the military aviation service of the U.S. during and immediately after World War II and predecessor of the Air Force. Dozens of aircraft and hundreds of crewman were lost.
Parade President Charles Quilter, who flew attack missions during the Vietnam War and studies military history, considers Ploesti one of the fiercest aerial battles of World War II.
Quilter lauded Sternfels perseverance through 50 missions.
In my opinion, he is extremely fortunate to survive that number of missions, Quilter said. Its a tribute to his skills as a pilot and a large amount of luck.
Speaking as a combat pilot, you make your own luck by being good at what you do. You stand in awe for the courage to get in an airplane, fly over enemy territory and attack strategic targets.
*
IF YOU GO
What: 51st annual Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Parade will begin at 11 a.m. at 625 Park Ave., in front of Laguna Beach High School, then progress along Glenneyre Street and Forest Avenue to City Hall, at 505 Forest Ave.
Information: lagunabeachparade.org/
bryce.alderton@latimes.com
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board decided to hold public hearings on three adjusted boundary maps for trustee areas Tuesday that are designed to make the areas populations more uniform.
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FOR THE RECORD
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the school board had approved one of the proposed adjusted boundaries for trustee districts. In fact, the board unanimously approved holding public hearings on all three proposed maps.
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The board, on a 7-0 vote, chose to hold public hearings on the boundary adjustments, created by DecisionInsite, an Irvine-based demographic consultant.
During the meeting, board member Martha Flour questioned whether the U.S. Census, slated for 2020, would require the district to adjust trustee boundaries again.
"[The board] is late to the dance at this time. This is the moment where you play catch-up, said Bruce Terry, director of client support for DecisionInsite.
Terry said another review would be done after the census report.
Map B, which a district committee prefers, aligns with city boundaries where possible and provides a clean look overall, officials said.
The district plans to schedule two hearings in coming months in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach where the public can provide input about all three maps.
The population goal for each zone is about 27,000, said Annette Franco, spokeswoman for the district.
In Map B, trustee areas 1, 2 and 7 are within Costa Mesa, and areas 3, 4 and 5 are within Newport Beach.
Area 6 is split between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.
Area 7 would continue to have a Latino majority, but the population would increase or decrease to provide more balance with other zones, Annette Franco said. How much it would increase or decrease isnt known, she added.
Data presented in June indicated that the existing Area 2, which includes six Costa Mesa schools, and Area 7, which contains five Westside Costa Mesa elementary schools, have populations of about 40,000.
Area 4, which has the largest population at 46,171, includes Corona del Mar middle and high schools and five Newport Beach elementary schools.
Area 6, containing Woodland Elementary School in Costa Mesa and three Newport Beach schools, and Area 3, containing Back Bay High School and Kaiser and Mariners elementary schools, have populations just over 19,000.
Area 1, where the population is 17,464, includes Estancia and Early College high schools, TeWinkle Intermediate School and three Costa Mesa elementary schools.
Board members are required to live in one of the seven trustee areas and are elected through an at-large system, meaning by voters throughout the school district.
Last year, Newport-Mesa hired DecisionInsite to study each trustee area. The study concluded that zones should be adjusted to help even out the areas populations, especially on the east side of the district, where population growth surged.
The areas have not been altered since the school district formed 50 years ago.
In February, DecisionInsite demonstrated three maps that could be used for the boundary adjustments.
Meanwhile, litigation is pending over a complaint filed in Orange County Superior Court in August alleging that the districts at-large system for electing board members violates the California Voting Rights Act by preventing Latinos from electing candidates of their choice.
The complaint by Costa Mesa resident Eloisa Rangel alleges that the trustee areas, as apportioned, exacerbate the vote dilution of NMUSDs at-large election system.
It reads that Rangel tried to resolve the matter without judicial intervention but was met with foot-dragging and bald, unilateral determinations by [Newport-Mesa].
The district responded in October that it denies all material allegations of the complaint.
Seeking to avoid litigation costs, Supt. Fred Navarro advised the board to change the election system by November 2018 so trustees would be elected by area instead of at large.
That possibility will be part of the public discussions, board President Karen Yelsey said last month.
Newport-Mesa is on a growing list of school districts and cities being sued over their voting systems.
Kevin Shenkman, a Malibu-based attorney representing Rangel, said last month that we want to ensure that minority community votes are no longer diluted.
Shenkman filed lawsuits last year against the city of Palmdale and the San Marcos Unified School District, arguing that their voting systems deprived Latinos of electing representatives of their choice.
He also threatened to sue the city of Costa Mesa. But in November, a majority of Costa Mesa voters approved a change to district-based, rather than at-large, elections. The new system is expected to be in place by the City Council election in November 2018.
priscella.vega@latimes.com
Twitter: @VegaPriscella
Students and staff members at Mariners Christian School in Costa Mesa partied it up for Dr. Seuss birthday Wednesday by dressing up as their favorite book characters and spending the day reading.
The novel activities were part of the National Education Associations Read Across America Day, which celebrates the late authors birthday and encourages students across the country to pick up a book and read.
Theres nothing better than being able to participate in a program that calls for all kids in every community across the nation to celebrate reading, said Reggie Biancalani, Mariners Christians elementary school principal. Its something that unites all kids, regardless of where they attend school.
Mariners invited its teachers, administrators, office workers, specialists and school nurse to read their favorite books to students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade.
Some classes joined a livestream reading of the book Going Places by its authors, Peter and Paul Reynolds, from FableVision Studios in Boston.
The 3-million member National Education Association is a union representing public school teachers and support personnel, faculty and staff members at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers.
Gil Coerper, former mayor of Huntington Beach and longtime police officer, died over the weekend at the age of 82.
The cause of death wasnt immediately clear.
Coerper served as a Huntington Beach police officer for 39 years, according to a department news release. After he retired from the force, he served on the City Council from 2002 to 2010, including a stint as mayor in 2006.
Family members could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but several people responded to Coerpers death online.
Thank you for you service to the citizens of HB, a Facebook post said.
Gil, you have been an inspiration to me and a great friend, another post said. Thank you for the gift of friendship and being a mentor.
As a member of the council, Coerper led the city to adopt the Third Battalion, First Marine regiment. Coerper has deep ties to the military, having served in the Navy during the Korean War and as a lieutenant colonel in the California State Military Reserve, the state defense force of California, the news release said.
Because of this adoption, Huntington Beach now supports and assists the families of hundreds of Marines during their stateside deployments and to Iraq, the release said.
Coerper partnered with the Boy Scouts of America to organize Orange Countys first Military Explorer Post No. 558 an organization that introduces young people to possible military professions. Coerper was given the Exploring Divisions Award of Merit and the Silver Beaver award, distinguished Boy Scouts awards, the news release said.
Coerper also helped construct the California Police Officers Memorial Monument at the state Capitol in Sacramento as a member of the California Peace Officers Memorial Foundation and the California Peace Officers Research Assn., the news release said.
The Huntington Beach Police and Community Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for the departments community programs, in 2016 established the Gil Coerper Educational Scholarship Award, a $1,000 academic award given to a child of a Huntington Beach police employee.
Information regarding Coerpers surviving family was not immediately available Wednesday afternoon.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt said a public gathering in Coerpers honor might be held in April, though details have yet to be determined.
benjamin.brazil@latimes.com
Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
A rally and march to support President Trump that organizers decided to move from Costa Mesa will now be held in Huntington Beach.
The Southern California Make America Great Again March one of about 40 affiliated events scheduled nationwide for March 25 will run from noon to 3 p.m. at Bolsa Chica State Beach.
Our goal is to bring together and unite all of the folks that were the silent majority, said Laguna Beach resident Jennifer Sterling, one of the local events organizers. I dont think the majority of us know who each other are, so the focus is to bring like-minded folks together that want to support our president, vice president, our military, our veterans, our law enforcement and first responders. Thats the No. 1 goal.
An official at Bolsa Chica State Beach confirmed that the march has necessary permits and will take place on the beachs multiuse trail.
Originally, the march was expected to be near the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. Fairgrounds officials announced last week that they would close the property on March 25 and 26 in anticipation of the event.
This week, a post on the marchs Facebook page said organizers were uninvited to march near the fairgrounds by an organization that had previously agreed to partner with us.
A representative of the event declined to elaborate.
Sterling said Thursday that several other locations were considered but organizers decided Bolsa Chicas sandy shores and scenic vistas provide the perfect backdrop.
We just decided that Huntington was going to be the best for us, she said. I also have to give a lot of props to Bolsa Chica State Beach, because they were very inviting and very collaborative with us. They were willing to do everything they could to accommodate us.
The march is going to be a peaceful, family-friendly event, Sterling added. Donations will be collected to benefit veterans and the homeless, she said.
Though the march will now be held miles from the Fair & Event Center, it will remain closed that weekend, fairgrounds spokeswoman Terry Moore said Thursday.
It had been publicized as being located here, and there were still a lot of comments on Facebook and on the web about a Costa Mesa rally, so there was concern that everybody would not get the word and people would still show up here, Moore said. We just want to make sure the public is safe.
On April 28, the fairgrounds played host to a Trump campaign rally that drew thousands of his supporters to the Pacific Amphitheatre.
Hundreds also showed up to protest Trump and later blocked traffic and damaged several police vehicles during a demonstration that lasted hours beyond his speech. Seventeen people were arrested.
Following the fracas, the Orange County Fair Board adopted new policies outlining how to better manage high-profile events in the future.
Along with closing regular attractions such as Centennial Farm and the Heroes Hall veterans museum on March 25 and 26, the Fair & Event Center canceled events scheduled for that weekend, including the Orange County Wine Societys Wine Extraordinaire, the Crossroads of the West Gun Show and the weekly Orange County Market Place swap meet.
Its unclear whether the wine event will be rescheduled. Crossroads of the West, which has shows throughout the Southwest, still plans to stop at the fairgrounds in June, August and October, according to its website.
The planned fairgrounds closure first came to light during a Fair Board meeting Feb. 23. At that time, Fair & Event Center Chief Executive Kathy Kramer said the decision was made after consulting with the Costa Mesa Police Department, the Orange County Sheriffs Department and other agencies.
Moore said Thursday that its within our contractual rights to cancel the events and that the Fair & Event Center is working with those organizers to find different dates, if possible.
If its going to be a matter of public safety, I think our vendors will understand, she said.
luke.money@latimes.com
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
The chief executive of the Orange County Museum of Art said Wednesday that his organization will continue its effort to move to Costa Mesa despite the Newport Beach City Councils decision Tuesday night to halt a development plan the museum had hoped would provide funding for the move.
Todd Smith said OCMA is disappointed by the councils vote to rescind its earlier approval of Museum House, a 25-story, 100-unit condominium tower proposed by developer Related California.
A Newport Beach activist group seeking a referendum on the project had collected enough signatures to get its petition certified. But rather than call an election for this year or 2018, the City Council opted to revoke the developments approval, which the council granted last year.
The exception was Museum Houses environmental impact report, a decision that activists fear may open the door for the project to return.
OCMA had planned to sell its Newport Center property at 850 San Clemente Drive to Related and apply the proceeds toward building a new museum at Costa Mesas Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
A Related California representative declined to say Wednesday whether the company will abandon Museum House or submit another proposal to City Hall.
Smith declined to comment about OCMAs ongoing lawsuit that alleges the referendum petition violated state elections code. Its unclear how OCMAs complaint, filed Jan. 6 in Orange County Superior Court, may affect the future of Museum House.
The petition, sponsored by the group Line in the Sand, was certified by the Orange County registrar of voters office in January, causing Museum House to circle back to the council for consideration of scheduling an election or rescinding the approval.
Line in the Sand has argued that Museum House would set a bad precedent for more high-rises in Newport Center and contribute to increased traffic.
The councils vote Tuesday was 5-2, with members Scott Peotter and Will ONeill dissenting.
The two said they wanted Museum House to go to a public vote, as Line in the Sands effort intended.
Councilman Jeff Herdman introduced the motion to rescind Museum Houses approval. The motion originally had no backers, but it gained support among Herdmans colleagues following a public comment period in which several residents accused the council of not listening to the people.
Among them was Dene Stratton, who said the council needed to crawl out of the sewer.
We delivered lots of signatures, he said. Youre still fighting this? Are you ethical? Were wondering if youre crooked. Honest to God, we are.
After calling Line in the Sands signature campaign full of fake facts, Councilman Marshall Duffy Duffield scoffed at some speakers notion that showing support for the project would hurt council members chances of staying on the panel. Duffield, who voted for Museum House last year, is up for reelection in 2018.
You dont want me here? Im gone. So dont be threatening me, he said.
Duffield added that the Museum House debate has been a nightmare.
I wish I could close my eyes, open them and it would all go away, he said. But thats not gonna happen.
Councilman Brad Avery, who, along with Herdman and ONeill were not on the council when the project was approved in November and December, said he liked the Museum House proposal and felt it would be a good fit for Newport Center.
But basically, everything else that followed it I didnt like, he said, calling the contested signature effort a bit of a horror show.
Councilwoman Diane Dixon thanked all sides for their efforts and said she hopes we will have all learned from the process how to handle disagreement.
The Related California representative said Wednesday that the company is disappointed by the councils decision and will be watching OCMAs lawsuit to see if it affects the validity of Line in the Sands referendum effort.
During the referendum process, the company spent more than $435,000 fighting Line in the Sand, much more than the $91,645 the activist group allocated for its campaign.
Museum Houses 100 units were to be priced between $2 million and $4 million each.
Line in the Sand called the councils vote a direct result of the strength of voter feedback indicating disapproval of Museum House.
In a statement Wednesday, the group said nearly a quarter of all Newport Beach registered voters expressed concern with the councils prior approvals by signing the petition in less than two weeks.
It also said it wants to thank the thousands of Newport Beach voters who took the time to engage in the conversation about this project with the developer, city staff, the Planning Commission and City Council through letters, phone calls and meetings, and ultimately exercised their right to call for a public vote to decide this single political question through the referendum process.
An election, which Line in the Sand said would yield only a foregone, and wastefully costly, conclusion, was anticipated to cost between $95,000 and $4.3 million, depending on the amount of paperwork that needed to be printed on the sample ballots.
Susan Skinner, an activist with Line in the Sand, said Wednesday that she is not dropping a lawsuit she filed Feb. 21 in Orange County Superior Court alleging the city did not properly implement its Greenlight Initiative, a growth-control measure passed by local voters in 2000, when it approved Museum House.
If, as expected, the court upholds the validity of [Line in the Sands] referendum petition against the Museum House, there will be no need for this lawsuit to go forward, Skinner said. It is merely an insurance policy against the unexpected event of a successful challenge of the referendum petition.
bradley.zint@latimes.com
Twitter: @BradleyZint
Fountain Valley police are seeking the publics help in identifying a man suspected of stealing home theater equipment from the local Sams Club.
Police said the man made off with a sound bar, valued at nearly $1,000, from the store at 17099 Brookhurst St. at 4:16 p.m. Feb. 20.
The man ran out an emergency exit and fled in a 2005 gray Chrysler Town & Country minivan, according to police.
A store security camera captured photos of the suspect, who was described as white, in his 30s, 6-foot-6, 210 pounds with brown hair and a short brown beard. He was wearing a green flannel shirt, jeans and white Nike shoes.
It was the second recent theft of electronics reported at that store.
Police said another man stole $399 worth of goods at around 7 p.m. Feb. 7. The man ran out the emergency exit and fled in a red Toyota 4Runner.
Police asked that anyone with information about the cases contact Det. Dave Cabrera at (714) 593-4495 or dave.cabrera@fountainvalley.org.
hannah.fry@latimes.com
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
The recently formed La Canada Flintridge Sister Cities Assn. is seeking local high school students interested in applying to attend a Youth Leadership Summit in Virginia Beach, Va., on July 12 through 16 and/or take part in an international exchange program to Spain this summer.
Four students in grades 9 through 11 will be selected to represent La Canada at the summit, where they will interact with other student leaders from around the world. Participants will also represent the city at various events and activities throughout the following year.
Eight students, grades 9 through 11, will be chosen to host eight visiting Spanish students, hailing from Donostia-San Sebastian or Villanueva de La Canada, in their homes for a two-week stay starting on July 2 or 3. Then, the local students will return to Spain with the students they hosted for a two-week stay at their homes, departing July 19 or 20.
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Exchange students must be U.S. citizens with a current passport and obtain a doctors letter of physical health. Students may apply to both programs.
Applicants for both programs must join the association as a student member ($25 fee), commit to a minimum one-year period, attend an informational meeting and cover the cost of airfare to and from the event.
Applications can be found in the offices of La Canada High School, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, St. Francis High School and Flintridge Preparatory School, the La Canada city clerks office at 1327 Foothill Blvd., and online at lcfsistercities.org.
All applications must be returned to the city clerks office or received by mail at: LCF Sister Cities Assn., 466 Foothill Blvd., #378, La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011 by 5 p.m. Thursday, March 9.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
With days before voters decide who among three candidates will be elected to fill two open La Canada Flintridge City Council seats, information made available this week revealed the fundraising efforts and spending activities of incumbents Jon Curtis and Dave Spence, along with challenger Keith Eich.
The documents filed with City Clerk Tania Moreno show that, between Jan. 1 and Feb. 18, Eich raised $700 in donations and donated $100 to his campaign, for an ending cash balance of $800. His expenses, however, including $3,830.39 covered by wife Lisa, left him with an outstanding debt of nearly $4,000 as of the mid-February report.
During the same time period, Curtis raised a combined $11,832 in donations and loaned his campaign $2,000. Spence raised $4,965, which was added to a beginning cash balance of $4,026. Before expenditures are factored in, those figures roughly echo what the two incumbents raised during their campaigns in the 2013 council race.
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At the end of the latest filing period, Spences campaign had an ending cash balance of $5,070, while Curtis campaign maintained a $6,195 balance.
In the documents for the two incumbents, some notable contributors stand out.
Among those who supported the Curtis for City Council 2017 campaign are Councilwoman Terry Walker and her husband, Woody, who gave a total of $500, and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Davitt, who contributed $100.
La Canada Unified School District Board Members David Sagal and Brent Kuszyk donated $200 and $100 to Curtis, respectively. Former La Canada City Council members who also donated to Curtis campaign include Laura Olhasso and Steve Del Guercio, who gave $200 each, and Don Voss, who contributed $100.
Tom Smith, chair of the UniteLCF citizens group petitioning the county to call for a transfer of homes in the Sagebrush territory into LCUSD boundaries, donated $75 to Curtis, as did wife Tammy.
Supporters of the Committee to Reelect Dave Spence to City Council 2017 campaign include Terry Walker, who individually gave $500, and Olhasso and Voss, who each donated $100.
Both Curtis and Spence received $500 donations from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee, which also contributed $1,000 to their 2013 council campaigns, according to the California Secretary of States website.
Majority of LCF residents vote by mail
La Canada is home to nearly 20,600 residents according to a 2015 U.S. Census estimate 15,017 of whom are registered voters. More than half of that amount, 7,295 residents, have opted to vote by mail, according to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/Clerks Office.
The results of Tuesdays election will not be made official that night, owing to the fact that the La Canada Flintridge City Council decided in December to consolidate the citys general municipal election with a countywide special election in order to realize a potential cost savings of $45,000 or more.
Now, La Canada voters will also decide whether to help pass a 10-year, quarter-cent countywide sales tax that would help generate $335 million annually to fund programs and strategies for the nearly 47,000 homeless citizens residing in L.A. County.
City Clerk Moreno said while the official election results may take time, the county should have unofficial reports sometime Tuesday night.
They will start counting the night of the election. (So) well probably know within a day or two, based on the unofficial results, Moreno said, adding that La Canadas newly elected council members are expected to be sworn in at the April 4 City Council meeting.
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The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Local polling sites include the Crescenta-Canada YMCA, Los Angeles County Fire Station No. 19, La Canada Presbyterian Church, the La Canada Flintridge Library and Foothill Municipal Water District. To find your specific polling place, visit lavote.net/locator or call (800) 815-2666.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
A decision from the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization on a petition calling for a transfer of homes in La Canadas Sagebrush territory away from Glendale Unified School District boundaries and into La Canada Unified has been postponed at the petitioners request.
Anticipated for possible discussion at the committees next regular meeting on Wednesday, the item has been moved to allow for further consideration, according to Tom Smith, chair of petitioning group UniteLCF.
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We have taken this step to facilitate the ongoing analysis of our transfer petition by the County Committee and the two school districts, Smith, chair of UniteLCF, said in a statement issued Wednesday. Smith said group members expect to appear before the county committee sometime during its next scheduled meeting, set to take place April 5 at 9:30 a.m. in the Los Angeles County Office of Educations Education Center Board Room, 9300 Imperial Highway, Downey.
For more about the efforts of UniteLCF, and for further updates, visit www.unitelcf.wordpress.com.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
Oahus once-sleepy town of Kapolei, about 20 miles west of Honolulu, is enjoying a growth spurt in resorts that could turn it into a rival of the popular Waikiki Beach.
The Ko Olina coastline, home of Kapolei, already has a Four Seasons resort and Disneys Aulani.
Now Atlantis, a name associated with water-themed resorts in the Bahamas and in Dubai, is in the early planning stages east of the Aulani, a news release says.
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Plans call for 800 guest rooms and suites as well as 524 residences on the 26-acre resort . The Oahu property will feature an Aquaventure water park and an aquarium.
The resort site isnt new. The Ihilani Resort and Spa opened in 1993 near the western end of Interstate H-1. The hotel became a JW Marriott in 1999 and a Four Seasons in 2016.
Disneys Aulani opened in 2011.
Aside from the luxury resorts, youll find budget-minded options in West Oahu.
In the fall, the Hampton Inn & Suites Kapolei became the brands first location in Hawaii.
Rooms starting at around $200 a night may seem high for this chain hotel, but that price is hundreds of dollars less than many of Waikiki lodgings.
Other pluses: Rooms are brand-new, and breakfast is included in the price.
Aside from places to stay, West Oahu also offers attractions that visitors wont find in Waikiki.
Naked Cow Dairy Farm and Creamery, opened in 2007, welcomes guests to its location in Waianae, about 13 miles up the coast from Kapolei.
The dairy farm offers tours starting at $7 for kids and $10 for adults. To make a day of it, consider taking a cheese-making class.
During the 90-minute sessions, participants have a hands-on experience learning how to make mozzarella from start to finish.
Classes begin 11 a.m. Saturdays and cost $85 per person.
For an adrenaline rush, visitors can spend a few hours at Coral Crater Adventure Park in Kapolei. Instead of merry-go-rounds and roller coasters, the theme here is challenging, hands-on experiences.
You can go off-roading on an electric mountain bike or ATV, or soar above the island on the parks Adventure Tower. The climbing, jumping and swinging experiences start at $50.
Luaus are a staple in the islands. Disney is the latest entrant in this evening dinner-and-a-show category.
When the dinner show started in November, the Ka Waa was restricted to guests. Now its open to all.
It costs $119 for adults and $79 for kids ages 3 to 9 years old. VIP seating is also offered.
Guests staying at the Four Seasons can take a five-mile trek on private land to sacred and historic sites in the mountains of West Oahu.
From a scenic perch overlooking the Waianae coastline, hikers can see the neighboring islands of Lanai, Maui and Molokai.
Those who love to shop have a place to go too. The 100-store Ka Makana Alii mall opened in October. For those occasional rainy days, its also home to an eight-screen movie theater.
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travel@latimes.com
@latimestravel
A North Korean diplomat said Thursday that Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of ruler Kim Jong Un, probably died of a heart attack, despite Malaysias finding last week that he was killed by VX nerve agent, one of the worlds most toxic substances.
Ri Tong Il, a senior North Korean diplomat, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysias capital where hes leading a high-level delegation to recover Kim Jong Nams body that Kim had a history of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. He provided no evidence, and Malaysia dismissed the claim.
Kim, 46, was once considered a potential successor to his father, Kim Jong Il, and South Korean officials have accused Pyongyang of ordering his assassination.
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Malaysian police say two women approached Kim at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13 and rubbed VX nerve agent, which is banned by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction, on his face. He died within 20 minutes. The two women one from Indonesia and one from Vietnam were charged with murder Wednesday. They have told investigators they thought they were participating in a prank.
Kims death has caused concern around the region, exacerbating diplomatic tension between North Korea and Malaysia, as well as China, where Kim lived in exile.
Ri on Thursday refused to acknowledge that the dead man was Kim, instead calling him Kim Chol, a name found on his passport (South Korean officials have called the name an alias). He questioned why the two women did not get ill.
They are the ones who directly contained the liquid on the palms of the hands to apply to the face, Ri said, adding that if VX was used, Malaysian authorities should send samples to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Malaysia has said that both women immediately washed their hands after the incident and that one vomited.
Malaysian police have implicated seven North Koreans in the case, including four who left the country on the day of Kims death. Two of the suspects have reportedly taken refuge at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The location of one is unknown.
Malaysian authorities are holding one North Korean man in connection with the case but announced Thursday that he would be released and deported, as there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Malaysia has recalled its ambassador from Pyongyang, and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has announced new visa restrictions on North Korea starting Monday. Since 2009, Malaysia has been one of the only countries that allow entry to North Koreans visa-free. About 1,000 North Koreans live and work in the country.
Malaysia has refused to give up Kims body before attaining DNA samples from his immediate family.
We have our experts who are qualified to determine the cause of death of Kim Chol, Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysias national police chief, told the Associated Press. Our investigations, supported by expert reports, confirmed that Kim Chol was murdered. North Korea can say what they like, but the facts remain.
UPDATES:
10:30a.m.: This article has been updated with Times reporting.
This article was originally published at 6 a.m.
Syrian government forces backed by Russian air power wrested control of the historic Syrian city of Palmyra on Thursday, army officials said, driving back Islamic State extremists who had seized the city in December.
The victory comes as the culmination of a weeks-long campaign to take the oasis city, which is home to a majestic set of ruins and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that lies astride the residential part of the city.
A Syrian military spokesman said in a televised address Thursday that after a series of successful military operations units from our armed forces in cooperation with friendly and allied forces took back the city of Palmyra and the areas around it.
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Syrian troops have been bolstered by a number of paramilitary groups, including fighters from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.
Earlier Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that the Syrian government troops had completed their operation to seize Palmyra with support from Russias air force.
The Syrian army spokesman said that operations had inflicted huge losses in men and materiel on the terrorist Daesh organization, employing Islamic States Arabic acronym. He added that engineering crews were dismantling bombs and improvised explosive devices left by the group in the city.
Activist-run pages on Facebook showed images depicting the damage done to some of the citys most iconic monuments, including the Victory Arch as well as Palmyras ancient theater, which had already been previously damaged by the jihadists.
Islamic State had first overrun Palmyra in 2015, marking its takeover with a massacre of Syrian soldiers perpetrated on the stage of the Old Citys theater. It also destroyed ancient graves and busts, and began a lucrative side business looting artifacts and archaeological digs.
Less than a year later, a wide-scale Russian-backed government offensive successfully routed the jihadists from the city. (Russias Mariinsky Orchestra performed a victory concert in the theater soon after.)
But by December, the militants had regrouped for another attack, easily defeating the skeleton force the government had left behind.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group with a network of activists in Syria, said Thursday that Islamic State had withdrawn completely from Palmyra and that government troops had encountered a large number of mines and explosives, a signature tactic of the militant group.
The Syrian army spokesman said that the taking of the city, which coincides with government advances in the eastern countryside areas of Aleppo, represent a mortal blow to Islamic State.
He also insisted that the governments victory confirmed that the Syrian army is the only effective force capable of combating terror and excising it in what was a veiled barb against Syrian rebel factions as well as the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which are supported by Turkey and the U.S., respectively.
Damascus has repeatedly called on governments to support its efforts against what it calls terrorists, its blanket term for groups fighting against the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The army and armed forces, concluded the spokesman, is more determined than ever to continue its operations against Daesh, the Nusra Front [Al Qaedas Syrian affiliate] and other terrorist groups so as to restore peace and stability to every inch of the lands of the nation.
Bulos is a special correspondent.
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UPDATES:
1:40 p.m.: This article has been updated with Times reporting.
9:10 a.m.: This article was updated with reports from Russian and Syrian activist groups.
8:15 a.m.: This article was updated with news of Syrian forces regaining Palmyra.
This article was originally published at 4:45 a.m.
The soldiers milled around the hilltop, taking turns to look through binoculars at the village burning in the valley below. Beside them lay the tanks of the 36th Armored Brigade, their fronts buried in the desert sand. They trained their turrets toward the buildings of Mosul that stretched along the horizon.
At first glance, there was little to explain why the tanks and armor, part of the Iraqi armys 9th Division, had wandered to this desolate corner of the desert. But it is here, commanders say, far from the punishing street-to-street fighting in the city, that the battle for Mosul will be won.
The divisions orders are to push north from Mt. Atshan and seize the village of Badush, 10 miles west of Mosul.
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(Badush is home to the eponymous prison where Islamic State massacred about 670 Shiite Muslim inmates in mid-2014. The militant group espouses a hard-line Sunni interpretation of Islam that counts Shiites as infidels who should be killed.)
A takeover of Badush would sever Highway 47, a vital road linking Mosul to the Islamic State-held city of Tall Afar, about 40 miles west of Mosul and now cut off from the Syrian border by Shiite-dominated militias known as the Popular Mobilization Units.
Taking the road would further restrict the militants movements, denying them the use of a vital supply route as well as a pathway to make their escape.
Once we get Badush, well finish the noose around them in Mosul, saidBrig. Gen. Mustafa Sabah, a sardonic 51-year-old officer who cracked jokes with his subordinates as he ate a lunch of chicken and rice.
Where will they go after that? Sabah asked. They cant leave the city, and if they do, we have them.
Iraq and coalition forces had captured east Mosul, Islamic States de facto capital, and in February launched the offensive to retake the western part of the city.
Preliminary plans for the Mosul offensive would have left the citys western flank relatively unguarded in a bid to reduce casualties and draw the jihadis into what Iraqi military planners had called a kill box between Mosul and Tall Afar.
Instead, plans now call for the army to advance from the west even as special forces units clear the city from the south.
The open terrain doesnt present the same challenges of street fighting, but Islamic State still poses a threat.
Soldiers from the Iraqi armys 9th Division ferry supplies near west Mosul. (Nabih Bulos / Los Angeles Times)
Islamic State has dug tunnels in the mountain range here, said Col. Nassim Kathem of the 36th Armored Brigade. The jihadis used the tunnels to hide from Iraqi and coalition warplanes, he said, and then emerged to attack when troops drew near.
He pointed to a trench slicing through a nearby hilltop.
Its a vicious fight when they see us.
Referring to the group by its Arabic acronym, he said, We killed eight Daesh guys there the other day.
The nearby presence of residents from Mosul and the surrounding villages fleeing the violence means commanders are often unable to bring the full military might of the 36th Brigade to bear on Islamic State targets.
If it werent for the proximity between the jihadis and civilians, this would be an easy battle, said Lt. Col. Muhannad Taai, a commander with the Abbas Fighting Division, a paramilitary group that fights alongside the 36th Brigade.
Were being very careful, because we have to protect [civilians] and make sure Daesh doesnt attack them as they escape, Taai said.
As he spoke one day this week, his walkie-talkie crackled with the voice of a soldier reciting the coordinates of a convoy of civilian vehicles.
If any Daesh vehicle tries to attack them, destroy it, came a voice in reply.
Scores of crude explosive devices buried near roads or in the desert fields by Islamic State had already killed a number of civilians, Taai said.
Yesterday a family got hit by an [improvised explosive device] as they were escaping, he said. One of their daughters died, and the other will probably have to have a hand amputated.
Moments later, troops halted a ragtag group of residents piled in civilian vehicles from passing through an intersection on their way to a refugee aid point.
There are three IEDs. Our engineering crews caught them when those cars showed up. Well do a controlled explosion and then let the civilians pass, said Col. Ali Duwari, another commander, squinting at the line of vehicles with a walkie-talkie in hand.
In the distance, a bomb squad member approached one of the explosive canisters and connected a detonator and fuse before running away. A tense 30 seconds later, the first bomb exploded with a shock wave that kicked up an incongruously graceful bloom of sand.
Once all three bombs were destroyed, the vehicles were directed to a gathering point for the displaced, where a gaggle of tractors, pickup trucks and farm equipment was parked near flocks of sheep munching on the last vestiges of weeds.
To one side of the dirt path, women in brightly colored scarves squatted with their children, a trio of black and white cows lazily waving their tail in their midst.
Opposite sat the men, arrayed in a shambolic triangle around a soldier. They waited for their names to be punched into a database so they could be checked for connections to Islamic State.
Two days later, Sabah said that the brigade had advanced from its hilltop to within two miles of Badush and that his units had fire control over the road.
He stopped for a moment to inform an officer on the phone that another village had been secured and was now sadeeqah (friendly).
Were almost there, he said.
Bulos is a special correspondent.
ALSO
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People around the world have shared stories and experiences about paranormal activities which they have encountered. But it rarely happens for people to hear police officers confirming such occurrences just like what occurred in Southern Chile House.
The incident happened two days ago in Chilean city while police are in the process of investigating a domestic disturbance which allegedly caused by mysterious and unseen forces. According to Oddity Central, Chilean police force was called to look into a Southern Chile House in Puerto Montt on February 26, 2017, after the owners desperately called for help.
The owners of the Southern Chile House according to the reports were complaining that unnatural forces were terrorizing them. When the Chilean police force arrived at the Southern Chile House which is located in the municipality of Fe y Esperanza, they have noticed broken windows and partially burned mattress in the yard.
Southern Chile House's owners were outside the house when the police arrived to do the investigation. The family started telling them about the strange paranormal activity that is happening inside the house.
At first, the police did not believe the owners' statement and immediately went inside the Southern Chile House to investigate. When they start questioning the owners of the house, a trowel suddenly fell from the attic. One officer claimed that he was also attacked when he was inside the house.
According to the Daily Star, the owners argued that several objects in the Southern Chile House begun to float and move. The objects in the kitchen counters like frying pan started to move just before the cupboard door flies open.
The authenticity of the video is still verified. But the officers who investigated the Southern Chile House claims that they were attacked by a knife that comes out of nowhere. A reporter also claimed that she suffered paranormal attacks while interviewing the family inside the house.
Oprah Winfrey may be our next president after President Donald Trump in 2020. The talk show host revealed in an interview that she realized she doesn't need experience to run for office.
In an interview on "The David Rubenstein Show," Oprah Winfrey was asked about her thoughts of running as the President of the United States. The media mogul revealed that she first thought she had no chance because prior government experience is needed.
When she realized that it is not a requirement, Oprah Winfrey only said "Oh, Oh." According to CNN, David Rubenstein reiterated his question that government experience isn't required to run. The influential actress answered that she used to not know those things and that realization got her thinking.
Prior to the David Rubenstein show which was taped last December but only released this week, Oprah Winfrey was adamant about staying out of politics. The outlet adds that Winfrey bluntly said no when asked a similar question during her appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
During the last election, Oprah Winfrey was a staunch supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who lost against now President Donald Trump. This isn't the first time that Oprah Winfrey is linked to politics but many people have been thinking she should get into politics.
In fact, Donald Trump once revealed in a statement that he favored Oprah Winfrey as a running mate. Washington Post reports that he first came up with the idea in 1999 and then most recently in 2015. The self-made producer allegedly turned down Trump to be his Vice President and endorsed Clinton.
Do you think Oprah Winfrey would be running as the US President in 2020? If so, how do you think the talk show host will fare? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow will once again grace the screens for "Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." The fifth installment of Disney's pirate franchise is set to be released on May 2017.
Fans of the franchise will reportedly see ghost sharks in "Pirates of The Caribbean 5." Apart from that, Mirror reports that the upcoming movie will see the return of Jack Sparrow's old castmates, enemies and even Orlando Bloom's Will Turner.
The last teaser trailer for "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" was released during Superbowl this year but it gave a few hints about the upcoming movie. The most notable part of that TV spot was Johnny Cash's rendition of "Ain't No Grave."
Furthermore, the synopsis for "Pirates of the Caribbean" provides a few more insight of what the film will be about. The movie will have Jack Sparrow running away from Captain Salazar (played by Javier Bardem) who is bent on his revenge to kill every pirate after coming out of the Devil's Triangle.
Jack Sparrow's key for survival is the famed Trident of Poseidon which is the stuff of legends. He will join forces with astronomer Carina Smyth (played by Kaya Scodelario) and the sailor Henry (played by Brenton Thwaites) to find it. There is no doubt that moviegoers will find a lot to look forward to in "Pirates of Caribbean 5."
A brand new trailer for "Pirates of The Caribbean 5" will allegedly come out this week, according to Disney in a tweet. Cinema Blend reports that the new trailer slated for March 3 is the third one for the movie. The first trailer was released October 2016 and the Superbowl TV Spot was the second one.
Are you excited to see Jack Sparrow and his shenanigans in "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" on May 2017? Tell us what your thoughts in the comments below.
The New York State Bar Association, the largest voluntary state bar in the country with 72,000 members, and Legal.io, a developer of referral-network and marketplace platforms for the legal industry, have teamed up to launch a state-of-the-art lawyer referral platform that they say will significantly expand access to legal services in that state.
The new platform is being described by its developers as a more ethical alternative to privately run referral sites such as Avvo and LegalZoom. It will serve New York residents seeking legal help as well as businesses anywhere seeking advice on New York law.
The New Year State Bar Association has been trusted by lawyers and the public for 120 years to maintain and elevate standards in the profession, said Tony Lai, CEO of Legal.io. With this partnership, for the first time, this level of trust and standard setting is being combined with the online efficiencies and seamless user experiences the public has come to expect.
Until now, the public could access the NYSBAs lawyer referral service only by phone during business hours. The new platform moves the service to the cloud and makes it possible for someone to get a referral 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (The bar will continue to operate the telephone service.)
The platform uses machine-learning algorithms to help parse and categorize consumers requests for legal help and then help match them to a local lawyer with the appropriate expertise. Bar staff remain involved in reviewing intakes and making referrals, but the platform helps expedite the intake process and categorize the request.
Consumers pay nothing for the referral, but if they meet with the attorney, they are charged $35 for a 30-minute consultation.
They system will also track outcomes on each help request and referral in order to both improve the system and to improve standards of service for the public.
In a second phase of the new platforms roll-out later this year, the referral service will be expanded to include local, county and specialty bar associations in New York, including the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York, which already runs its referral service on the Legal.io platform.
What makes the NYSBA interesting as a partner is that they play a statewide coordination role, not just within their bar, but also for other county and legal services organizations, Lai told me in a recent conversation. Thats a key piece that were excited about not just a roll-out with them and their lawyer referral service, but also finding additional ways to roll-out with local bars and legal services agencies and potentially also the courts.
A third phase will expand the platform further to support lawyer-to-lawyer referrals across the NYSBAs entire membership base, whether they are located in New York or elsewhere.
The ultimate goal for the platform, Lai said, is to create a portal that connects the broad ecosystem of legal support organizations across the state, in order to expand and enhance access to justice.
Several studies on using technology to enhance access to justice have called for the creation of statewide legal portals, most notably the LSCs December 2013 Report of The Summit on the Use of Technology to Expand Access to Justice.
The partnership between the NYSBA and Legal.io was inspired by these recommendations, Lai said, and he hopes the platform will serve as a blueprint for other states.
We have in the NYSBA a partner who shares the vision of this as a portal, he said. They are not in competition with other organizations in the state. They see themselves as a foundational or umbrella support organization.
Geneva LIVE: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet
Mar 6, 2017, 9:01am ET
Mercedes is going topless with its latest E-Class Cabriolet.
Mercedes-Benz has officially lifted the veil on its all-new 2018 E-Class Cabriolet. The new E-Class convertible has made its first public appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in E400 form.
The Cabriolet marks the fourth body style of the new E-Class, following the sedan, coupe and wagon. The E-Class Cabriolet will compete directly against the BMW 6 Series Convertible.
The E-Class Cabriolet closely follows the styling laid out by the E-Class Coupe. That means Mercedes' signature radiator grille up front, flanked by sweptback headlights featuring LED accents. The E-Class Cabriolet's hood adds a bit muscle, thanks to two pronounced power domes and creased edges.
The E-Class Cabriolet is somewhat conservative in profile, but the car's attitude can be cranked up courtesy of Mercedes' AMG division. The E-Class convertible's optional AMG sport package includes more aggressive bumpers, more pronounced side sill and larger wheels (18-inchers are standard).
Around back the E-Class Cabriolet features the same style of wide taillights that debuted on the S-Class Cabriolet. The lower bumper features a sculpted license plate surround and integrated dual exhaust outlets.
The E-Class Convertible sits 0.6-inches lower than its sedan counterpart, giving it a sportier stance. Compared to the outgoing E-Class Cabriolet, the 2018 version of the drop top is longer, wider and slightly taller. That wider stance not only helps with handling, but also provides more interior room for passengers.
Speaking on interiors, the 2018 E-Class Cabriolet boasts a cabin that is noticeable more luxurious than the model it replaces. Leather and wood are everywhere, and tech junkies will be pleased to find dual 12.3-inch screens on the E-Class convertible's dashboard. In addition to running Mercedes' own mbrace system, the E-Class Cabriolet's infotainment system is compatible with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Power for the 2018 E400 Cabriolet is provided by a 3.0L biturbo V6 delivering 329 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque. Rear-wheel drive is standard but, for the first time in E-Class Cabriolet history, all-wheel drive can be fitted as an optional extra. A nine-speed automatic is the E-Class Cabriolet's lobe transmission choice.
Although tuned for comfort, the E-Class Cabriolet's AIR BODY CONTROL multi-chamber air suspension allows the driver to dial in some sport if they so choose. The system includes five settings in all Comfort, Eco, Sport, Sport+ and Individual. Those same settings are available for the transmission via the the E-Class Cabriolet's DYNAMIC SELECT feature.
On the comfort front, the E-Class Cabriolet can be had with Mercedes' AIRCAP, which deploys a flap from the top of the windscreen to deflect turbulent air, and the AIRSCARF neck-level heating system. If the air outside gets too cold, the car's fully-insulated cloth top can be raised in just 20 seconds at speeds up to 30mph.
Safety features include a full suite of airbags, along with emergency braking and a pyrotechnically fired rollover protection system. The E-Class Cabriolet even features a vehicle to vehicle communication system that can be used to warn drivers of dangers ahead.
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 Cabriolet and E400 4MATIC Cabriolet will land in dealer showrooms by the end of 2017. Mercedes-Benz will announce pricing closer to the car's market introduction.
Live photos by Ronan Glon.
Mar 2, 2017, 3:27pm ET
GM could sell Opel to PSA by next week
Opel might have a new owner by next week.
PSA Group could wrap-up a deal for General Motors' Opel division as early as next week, a new report finds.
Discussions between France's PSA and GM have been ongoing for the last few weeks. At last report the two sides were hammering out details about how to handle Opel's retirement fund, which is believed to be underfunded by about $9 billion. That issue still looms large, but both PSA and GM appear eager to finalize a deal.
According to Bloomberg, officials from PSA and GM are planning to carry on negotiations through the weekend. Insiders have reported that an announcement on the deal for PSA to acquire Opel could come as soon as Monday. However, sources have also cautions that the complexities of the deal could force unforeseen delays.
PSA has already scheduled a meeting with European labor officials for next week. Those in-the-know suggest that means PSA is optimistic about finalizing a deal for Opel but, again, PSA could cancel that meeting without much notice should things go south.
Opel has been a money loser for GM over the last few years, but PSA is convinced the brand could save it billion of dollars per year through joint development.
Spied: 2018 Honda Civic Si
Mar 2, 2017, 10:36am ET
Honda\'s next-generation Civic Si in nearing production-ready.
Honda's upcoming Civic Si model has been spotted undergoing final testing near the automaker's hub in central Ohio. Honda showed the Civic Si in prototype form at the 2016 Los Angeles auto show.
Although still covered in light camouflage, it's clear that the production Civic Si will closely follow the design language laid out by the show car. That will mean an aggressive bumper up front with large air inlets on the outside corners. Wheels and tires will grow in size compared to the standard Civic to give the Si a larger contact patch. Out back the Si concept's spoiler has been toned down a bit, but it's still fairly aggressive. A center exhaust outlet is clearly visible on this prototype.
The Civic Si will use Honda's latest 1.5L turbocharged four-cylinder engine, with rumors suggesting up to 220 horsepower. A limited slip differential will help get that power to the car's front wheels. A six-speed manual is expected to be the Civic Si's lone transmission choice.
In addition to the sedan seen here, Honda will also offer the Si package on its Civic Coupe.
Look for the 2018 Honda Civic Si to debut at the New York auto show in April before going on sale later this year.
Landings incident March 2, 2017
Bethlehem police continue to investigate the morning of March 2, 2017, after an incident hours earlier at the Landings apartment complex at 122 Valley Park South in the city led to three people being injured. (Sarah Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com)
One thing is clear from a news release about three people being injured early Thursday in a West Bethlehem apartment complex.
It wasn't an armed home invasion at the Landings at 122 Valley Park South, city police report.
What it was police either don't know or aren't saying.
"It was erroneously released that the incident was an armed home invasion," police said in a news release. "This was not the case and the event was an isolated incident and the individuals involved were familiar with each other."
No suspects are being sought, police said.
"There is no perceived danger to the community," police said.
The news release referenced the incident as "police activity."
The investigation remains active and more information will be released in the future, police said.
When asked if the three injured people were treated, how they were hurt and if there was a crime, police said, "That's all we have for now."
A police forensics unit later Thursday morning was at the apartment complex not far from Route 22 in the Lehigh County section of the city. Neighbors reported they didn't hear anything.
The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office deferred to police to release information on the incident. Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said no one died in the incident.
Reporter Sarah Cassi contributed to this story.
Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Sara K. Satullo | For lehighvalleylive.com
Students attending America's most elite colleges are wealthier than experts realized, a study last year that looked at millions of anonymous tax filings, tuition records and earnings found.
Some schools are much more economically segregated than previously thought, while other colleges offer students income mobility.
The New York Times' Upshot created a really cool data tool to sift through all of the numbers.
At 38 U.S. colleges more students come from families at the top 1 percent of the income scale than from the entire bottom 60 percent of that scale. And two Lehigh Valley colleges landed in that list.
Find out how our local colleges stacked up in the report and how frequently they're graduating students who see more financial success than their parents.
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The dying American dream
The research all comes from work by the Equality of Opportunity project, which is digging deep into data to find out why the American Dream -- the idea your child will have a better life than your own -- is increasingly unachievable for children today.
The team has found that in the last 50 years a child's prospect of earning more than their parents has fallen from 90 percent to 50 percent. And that while higher education does offer economic mobility, it is not a societal panacea to solving income inequality.
The team has created mobility report cards for every college, which show students' earnings in their early 30s and also looks at their parents' incomes. The cards evaluates colleges on how accessible they are to the poorest students and how many students they propel into the top income bracket.
Their research has shown that students who attend certain elite colleges, regardless of the wealth of their parents, experience similar outcomes. But few poor students attend those schools.
America still has an opportunity gap because of the income segregation that persists on college campuses, the project has found.
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What is the top 1 percent?
The top 1 percent is defined as a family making $650,000 or more a year while the bottom 60 percent covers families making $65,000 or less annually.
Researchers in the study tracked roughly 30 million students born from 1980 to 1991, using anonymous tax returns and attendance records from almost every college in the nation.
They found that at elite colleges -- defined as about 80 of the nation's most selective according to a 2009 index created by Barron's -- the share of students from the bottom 40 percent has stayed basically flat over the last 10 years. That is despite increasingly generous financial aid.
Measures of access look at students born in 1991, who largely graduated in 2013, while the measures of outcomes and mobility are for students born between 1980 and 1982, who are about 35, when income stabilizes.
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Education: The great equalizer?
American colleges are thought to be places that bring together students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
But the study shows that's not necessarily true. It depends on what campus you're on. The fraction of low-income students varies greatly from college to college, mirroring the income segregation seen in the average American city, the study found.
Children with parents in the top 1 percent are 77 times more likely to attend an Ivy-plus school, than kids with parents in the bottom 20 percent. (Ivy-Plus is defined as your traditional Ivy league schools and the University of Chicago, Stanford, MIT and Duke.)
Interestingly, once students get to college, students from low and high-income families have similar earnings outcomes.
Many of these top-tier schools offer generous financial aid, yet the lowest income students are underrepresented on their campuses, even compared to middle-class students, the study found.
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Warren County Community College
With less than 1 percent of its students coming from the 1 percent, Warren County Community College reports 41.5 percent of kids coming from families making $65,000 or less.
The median family income of a WCCC student is $79,600, and 31 percent come from the top 20 percent. About 2.3 percent of students who came from a poor family became rich as adults.
The median individual income at age 34 for a grad is $33,400, but there is a huge gap between men and women at $44,000 and $25,700. There is hardly a difference in the average income percentiles for poor and rich students.
About 15 percent of WCCC students moved up two or more income quintiles, which is typical for New Jersey but low among two-year schools.
The rest of the data is here.
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Northampton Community College
The median family income for an NCC student is $62,300 and 18 percent of students come from the top 20 percent.
About 1.1 percent of poor Northampton students go on to become rich adults.
The median individual income for NCC grads at age 34 was $30,200. The average income percentile for a poor student was the 48th compared to 54th for a rich student.
Fifteen percent of NCC students managed to move up two or more income quintiles, which was among the highest rates for Pennsylvania colleges, but among the lowest for two-year colleges.
Laredo Community College had the highest rate at 41 percent.
Check out all the NCC stats here.
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Cedar Crest College
Cedar Crest College ranks 618th with 1.5 percent of its students coming from the top 1 percent and 48.9 percent coming from families making $65,000 or less.
The median family income of a Cedar Crest College student is $68,600 and 22 percent come from the top 20 percent.
No income or mobility data was available for Cedar Crest. All of the data is here.
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Moravian College
Moravian College ranks 442nd with only 1.7 percent of students coming from families in the top 1 percent and 30.4 percent coming from families in the bottom 60 percent.
Moravian students' median family income is $94,500 and 38 percent come from families in the top 20 percent. About 1.4 percent of students who came from a poor family became rich as adults.
The median individual income at age 34 is $56,200, although there's a big gap between men and women: $62,800 compared to $48,600.
There is also a gap between the earnings of rich and poor students, who report average income percentiles of 71 and 64, respectively. About 16 percent of students moved up two or more income quintiles.
Check out all of Moravian's stats here.
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Pennsylvania State University
Penn State ranks 368th overall with 2.3 percent of students coming from families in the top 1 percent and 29.5 percent of students coming from families earning $65,000 or less.
The median family income of a Nittany Lion student is $101,800 and 46 percent come from the top 20 percent. About 1.8 percent of Penn State students who came from a poor family became rich adults.
The median individual income at age 34 is $50,900, but it is much higher for men at $59,700. Rich students also tend to fare better income-wise, reporting an average income percentile of 73 versus the 60th for a poor student.
About 17 percent of students managed to move up to or more income quintiles.
Check out all of Penn State's data here.
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Centenary University
Centenary University ranks 330th with 2.9 percent of its students coming from the top 1 percent while 32.3 percent of its students come from the bottom 60 percent.
The median family income of a Centenary student is $101,300, and 45 percent come from families in the top 20 percent. About 1 percent of students who come from a poor family became rich adults.
The median individual income at age 34 was $35,200 and there was little gap in the average income percentile of a poor and rich student at 54th and 56th, respectively. Eighteen percent of Centenary students moved up two or more income quintiles.
Check out all the stats here.
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DeSales University
Only 2.5 percent of DeSales University's students come from families in the top 1 percent while 20 percent come from families making $65,000 or less.
The median family income of a student from DeSales is $105,900 and 49 percent come from families in the top 20 percent. Less than 1 percent of students who came from a poor family became a rich adult.
The median individual income of a DeSales grad at age 34 is $51,100.
There is a disparity in income depending on a student's background. Poor students reported an average income percentile in the 55th, versus 68th for a rich student. Fourteen percent of students managed to move up two or more income percentiles.
Check out DeSales' data here.
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Lehigh University
Lehigh University ranks 46th with more students from the bottom 60 percent than the top: 15.1 percent to 13.6 percent in the 1 percent.
The median family income of a Lehigh student is $167,000 and 67 percent come from the top 20 percent. Roughly 1.9 percent of students who came from a poor family became a rich adult.
The median individual income at age 34 for a Lehigh grad is $81,200, but it is substantially higher for men at $90,900.
Rich students fare better economically than poor students, ending up in the 79th income percentile versus the 71st. But about 15 percent of Lehigh students do manage to move up two or more income quintiles.
Delve into Lehigh's data here.
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Muhlenberg College
Muhlenberg College ranks 37th with 10.9 percent of its students coming from families in the top 1 percent while 10.8 percent of students come from lower income families.
The median family income of a Muhlenberg student is $188,300 and 77 percent come from the top 20 percent. About 1 percent of Muhlenberg students who come from a poor family became a rich adult.
The median income for graduates at age 34 is $60,100, although it is much higher for men at $72,600. Poor students report an average income in the 75th percentile compared to the 74th for a rich student.
Only 7.3 percent of Muhlenberg students moved up two or more income quintiles, which is among the lowest mobility rates reported among Pennsylvania schools and highly-selective private colleges.
Dig deep into Muhlenberg's data here.
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Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com
Lafayette College
Lafayette College ranks 11th in the nation with 17 percent of its students coming from families in the top 1 percent while 10.9 percent of students come from lower income families.
The median family income of a student is $205,600, and 74 percent come from families in the top 20 percent. About 1.6 percent of students who came from a poor family became rich adults.
At the age of 34, Lafayette students report a median income of $75,300 and rich and poor students on average end up in the same income percentile.
See a full data analysis by the New York Times here.
Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Dolce Mamma
The former Anna Bella's Ristorante in Hanover Township, Northampton County, is reopening with a more relaxed vibe as Dolce Mamma Bar & Grille.
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The family behind the former Anna Bella's Ristorante on Route 512 is eager to move past the fire that closed their Italian eatery in October.
They're hoping to reopen the restaurant in Hanover Township, Northampton County, this month with a new name, menu and look. Anna Bella's will become Dolce Mamma Italian Bar & Grille.
Compared to Anna Bella's more refined feel, Dolce Mamma will have a casual, relaxed vibe, with a brand new full bar and a bunch of new dishes.
"We're desperate to be open," co-owner Joe Caiazzo said. "We're done with this."
Caiazzo said the family decided to go with a new name and concept because they wanted a fresh start after the closure. The owners initially looked to reopen Anna Bella's by the holiday season, but Caiazzo said troubles with a contractor and delays on materials used in the renovation held them up far past that deadline.
At Dolce Mamma, dishes will range from about $8 to $26, including Italian favorites and bar grub. They'll have twists on classic dishes, like a "drunken chicken parm" with vodka sauce.
"You'll still be able to go in and get a nice, fancy dinner plate, but you can also get an order of wings," Caiazzo said.
Dolce Mamma will have about 100 seats total, including about 35 in a private dining room. It lost some seating with the addition of the new bar, which will have craft beers and two local wines on tap. But they hope to more than make up for the smaller dining space by introducing outdoor seating on the restaurant's patio for the first time. They're shooting to have that ready by mid-summer.
Ralph Caiaizzo, also a co-owner and Joe's brother, will manage the restaurant. Members of the Caiazzo family also own Red Wolf Bar and Grille in Bath, Campus Pizza in South Bethlehem and, until its recent closing, Molto Pazzo on Main Street in Bethlehem.
Joe Caiazzo said the fire at Anna Bella's started after the staff turned on the heat during a cold day in October. Soon, the smell of burning logs filled the restaurant, and a chef put his hand to the ceiling and noticed the heat. The owners later learned that a squirrel or another animal, he said, had chewed through the protective covering on a wire.
"If it would have happened at night, the place probably would have burned to the ground," he said.
For now, the family is anxious for everything to be ready at Dolce Mamma as soon as possible.
"We're workers," he said. "We'd rather be cooking than watching the place sit there."
Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook.
Electronic and appliance chain HHGregg on Thursday announced it is closing 88 stores nationwide that have been deemed underperforming.
Among the stores targeted in the plan is the Whitehall Township location, the Lehigh Valley's only HHGregg.
That store is in the Lehigh Valley Mall complex at the site of the former Lehigh Valley Cinemas. It's been open since 2010.
The company says in a news release that current inventory in the affected stores will be sold over the coming weeks. The final closing dates are expected to happen in mid-April.
About 1,500 jobs at the 88 stores will be eliminated.
Robert J. Riesbeck, the company's president and CEO, said in the news release that the company "worked tirelessly over the past year" to return the affected stores to profitability. He cited "changes in the local retail shopping landscape" as one of the reasons why the stores couldn't be turned around.
The chain will still operate 132 stores nationwide.
"Our team is dedicated to moving forward and being a profitable 132-store, multi-regional chain where we will continue to be a dominant force in appliances, electronics and home furnishings," Riesbeck said.
The Whitehall Township store is among 15 in Pennsylvania slated to close, according to Thursday's announcement.
See a complete list of store closings here.
Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Investigation of the shooting at Pennsylvania State Police barracks at Blooming Grove
The Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Blooming Grove Township, Pike County, are seen Sept. 14, 2014, days after Eric Frein allegedly opened fire there, killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and injuring Trooper Alex Douglass. (Pennlive.com file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker | The Times-Tribune
Fearful it would make the department look bad, Pennsylvania State Police attempted to silence a dispatcher present during Eric Frein's fatal ambush at the Blooming Grove barracks from disclosing a trooper there raped her about a year before the attack, she claims in a lawsuit.
Nicole Palmer, of Dunmore, Pa., alleges various officials with the department went to extraordinary lengths to keep her quiet, including having her involuntarily committed to a mental institution based on false allegations she threatened suicide.
Because she filed a lawsuit and has been identified by name in previous stories, The Times-Tribune is naming Palmer.
When she persisted in demanding the trooper who assaulted her be charged, officials launched an investigation -- not of her attacker, but of her -- based on claims that she told two troopers she was offered $1 million to keep quiet.
The explosive allegations are contained in a 36-page lawsuit recently filed in Lackawanna County Court.
State police on Tuesday filed paperwork seeking to transfer the case to federal court.
Contacted Tuesday evening, Major James Degnan, area commander for the state police for Northeast Pennsylvania, said he could not comment on the suit, citing the department's policy not to comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys Kevin Dempsey and Michael Gallacher of Clarks Green, is among two Palmer filed related to the ambush. She also has a lawsuit pending in Pike County Court against Frein for emotional injuries she suffered as a result of the Sept. 12, 2014, sniper attack at the Blooming Grove barracks that killed Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and wounded Trooper Alex T. Douglass.
Palmer was the civilian dispatcher on duty the night of the ambush and attempted to drag Dickson into the barracks in the moments after he was shot. Frein was captured 48 days later and charged with homicide and multiple other offenses. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin on next month in Pike County.
The latest lawsuit says authorities investigating the motive for the ambush asked Palmer if she ever had a sexual relationship with a senior trooper at the barracks, who is not identified in the suit.
According to the suit, Palmer revealed the trooper in question, who was her superior, raped her in the summer of 2013 and thereafter continued to sexually harass her at work. Among her claims were that the trooper exposed his genitals to her, repeatedly showed her sexually suggestive photos, sent her degrading text messages and told her of his sexual escapades with other women. He also repeatedly placed his hands on her shoulders and neck and made sexually suggestive comments to her.
One month after she disclosed the information, she was summoned to a meeting in Harrisburg with Lt. William M. Bowen and Sgt. Michael R. Brownmiller, who told her not to tell anyone about the rape orsexual harassment. Brownmiller then called her several times afterward and again directed her to remain silent. When Palmer told him she wanted to press charges, he repeatedly questioned her decision. The trooper in question was never charged.
In January 2015, Palmer was summoned to a meeting in Bethlehem, purportedly to answer whether she had been offered $1 million to stay quiet. Six days before the meeting, Trooper Mark Pajalich and Trooper Brian Slovinski appeared at her home and advised her she would be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility because someone, whom they refused to name, claimed she was going to commit suicide.
Palmer and her boyfriend, who is a member of the state police, assured them she was not suicidal. Pajalich told her she would be forcefully committed and fired from the state police if she did not comply.
Pajalich and Slovinski then transported her to a facility, where Pajalich completed paperwork to have her involuntarily committed. She was released several hours later after a psychiatrist determined there was no basis for the commitment.
The suit says an attorney representing Palmer in a workers' compensation claim related to the ambush asked a state police official how such an improper psychiatric commitment could take place and he replied, "We take care of our own.'"
About a month later, state police mailed Palmer notice she had to undergo a psychiatric examination related to her workers' compensation claim on March 5. Officials knew she had received notice. Despite that, Lt. Craig Carey appeared at her home and "ordered" her to attend the evaluation, the suit says.
The lawsuit seeks damages on 10 counts for violations of her constitutional rights, false imprisonment, gender discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages.
Brownmiller, Bowen, Pajalich, Slovinski and Carey are named as defendants. Also named are state police commissioner Tyree Blocker, former commissioner Frank Noonan and Lt. Christopher Paris.
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Pennsylvania officials issued warnings this week on two scams that are circulating.
One is an email phishing scam involving W-2 tax forms, and it has expanded from the corporate world to public schools and nonprofits, state Revenue Secretary Eileen McNulty said Wednesday.
"This large-scale theft can give criminals sensitive financial information about employees that can be used to commit various crimes, including tax identity theft by filing a fraudulent tax return in the name of a victim," McNulty said in a statement.
How it works is cybercriminals disguise an email to appear as if the message is from an organization executive. The email is sent to payroll or human resources employees, requesting a W-2 form for each employee in the organization.
"We encourage all employers to be on guard and to warn payroll and human resources employees about the scam," McNulty added.
The scammers sometimes follow up with a fake "executive" email to the organization's payroll or comptroller staff, asking them to wire transfer to a certain account. The IRS reports that some companies have given the cybercriminals both their employees' confidential tax information from the W-2s and thousands of dollars due to wire transfers.
Officials advise employers victimized by this scam to immediately report the W-2 thefts to both the Department of Revenue and U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The agencies will immediately take steps to try to help protect employees against tax-related identity theft.
Additionally, organizations receiving a W-2 scam email should forward it to both the state Department of Revenue at RA-RVPITFRAUD@pa.gov and the IRS at phishing@irs.gov and place "W2 Scam" in the subject line.
Employees whose Forms W-2 are stolen should review the recommended actions by the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or the IRS at www.irs.gov/identitytheft.
Gov. Tom Wolf's administration also warned this week of a phone scam in which residents are being asked to switch their health insurance carrier to the "Pennsylvania Department of Health's plan."
Caller identification for these calls falsely appears to be originating from state health centers.
"Our state health centers provide services to uninsured or underinsured Pennsylvanians," Secretary of Health Karen Murphy said in a statement Tuesday. "The Department of Health does not offer an insurance program, nor does it collect insurance information from residents receiving services. If you are receiving a call from the Department of Health about health insurance, please know that this is a scam and hang up."
State health centers are receiving calls from individuals nationwide who have been contacted to switch their health insurance plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Health plan.
For tips on protecting yourself from medical identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov. Information about state health centers is available at www.health.pa.gov. For information about getting health insurance in Pennsylvania, visit www.insurance.pa.gov.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
US-POLITICS-TRUMP-SESSIONS
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office after Jeff Sessions was sworn in as attorney general.
(SAUL LOEB)
The last 24-hour news cycle has produced a flurry of new allegations about possible Russian influence on the U.S. presidential election, resulting in some Democrats calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. Some Republicans are calling for Sessions to not only recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation into the matter, but to allow a special prosecutor to be appointed.
This morning Sessions denied any improper contacts, telling NBC News, "I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign. And those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false." Sessions said he would recuse himself from any investigation if he considered it appropriate. The White House called the new reports another attempt by Democrats to discredit the administration.
Here's what sparked the latest calls for action:
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A Portlaoise man convicted of stealing a childs bicycle has been given the probation act, after he was deemed unsuitable for community service due to the level of methadone he is currently on.
Ryan Lewis (22), 98 St Brigids Place, Portlaoise, was convicted of theft back in December.
States evidence outlined that at 10pm on November 14 last year, the accused was observed on the Mountmellick Road in Portlaoise as a passenger on a girls bicycle, which was being cycled by another male.
The bike, valued at 150, had been stolen from Laurel Drive in Esker Hills between November 13/14.
The accused had 24 previous convictions, including seven for theft.
At the December court, the accused paid 45 compensation.
Judge Catherine Staines put the matter back for a probation report, and imposed 100 hours community service in lieu of six months in prison.
When the case returned to the district court last week, probation officer, Ms Ann Walsh told the court that the accused is on 10ml of methadone a day, which is too high for him to be suitable for community service.
She said he is currently attending Coote Street, where hes doing fine.
As the bicycle had been recovered and the accused had paid compensation, Judge Staines applied the probation act.
The top restaurants in Laois have been announced at the first of four regional finals in this years Irish Restaurant Awards.
The Leinster Regional Final took place in Lyrath Estate, Kilkenny, last night where 105 awards were presented to the countrys leading chefs, restaurants and pubs.
The Laois winners are as follows:
Best Restaurant Batoni's
Best Chef Sam Moody of Ballyfin Demesne
Best Gastro Pub Treacy's Bar & Restaurant
Best Casual Dining McEvoy's Steak & Wine Bar Abbeyleix
Best Hotel Restaurant Ballyfin Demense
Best Customer Service Judge Roy Beans at The Heritage Killenard
Best Wine Experience Castle Durrow
Best Newcomer Kellys Steakhouse, Portlaoise
Pub of the Year - Morrisseys Abbeyleix
Over 600 people attended the event on Wednesday evening where the top establishments in each county were named.
Speaking at the awards, Adrian Cummins, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) said: "Now in their ninth year, the Irish Restaurant Awards continue to showcase the exquisite and admirable calibre of food available in our restaurants and pubs nationwide. Online nominations have increased from 9,000 in 2013 to over 80,000 this year and with the increase in interest comes an increase in standards, making the judging process more difficult than ever. 6
Those who have been shortlisted will also be notified by letter by Monday, March 6 regarding the next step in the judging process for the Irish Restaurant Awards 2017.
All County winners now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Title which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin 2 on Monday, May 8.
A third of births registered births in Laois are to first time mums according to the latest annual figures.
Ireland recorded the EUs top birth rate in 2015, with 14.2 babies born per 1,000 residents in the State according to EU Eurostat figures. Of the 1,182 Laois registered births in 2015, 404 or 34% were to first time mothers.
Figures publish by the Health Information and Quality Authority show that there were 1,606 births at the Maternity Unit in the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise in 2015. The differance between the Laois number and hospital's number is explained by the fact babies from outside Laois are born in the hospital and registered in their county of residence.
Births at the Portlaoise hospital have a declined by 31% from its peak in 2010 when there were more than 2,300 births at the hospital. Hiqa reported last year that 31% of babies born at the hospital in 2015 were to first time mothers.
The Laois birth rate for first time mums is slightly below the national average. Ireland's Central Statistics Office recorded that of the 65,909 births in the State during 2015, 24,867 or 38% were to first time mothers.
The figures for first time mums were published as part of a survey of Financial Brokers throughout the country, commissioned by protection specialist Royal London.
Royal London used the figures to encourage parents to take up life assurance describing it as the forgotten financial protection
Celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean is confident that Laois will get its Down Syndrome Centre of Excellence, with his continued support.
"I'm very keen on seeing it take off, it's going to take off. Anywhere I can help I will," he said.
He has revealed to the Leinster Express that an offer of a site in Laois was made within minutes of him pledging 10,000 to kickstart the project.
The offer was made last week, after his MC speech at the annual Charity Gala Ball in Killenard, where he is special guest for the past 11 years.
"It happened on the night, we did it on the night," said Mr Kean, who has supported a similar 'Field of Dreams' Centre to get up and running in his native Cork.
However the Down Syndrome Ireland Laois Branch now says it had to regretfully turn down that site.
"We had a very kind offer, but unfortunately it was in an unsuitable location, close to the Kyletalesha landfill, so we had to turn it down. We are still looking for a donation of a site," said PRO Mick Gorman.
The site needs to be at least 2 acres, on green land that can be developed.
The vision is of a centre offering employment training to adults with Down Syndrome in Laois, including organic horticulture and a pottery, with on-site shops sell their produce, all operated by them. Members could upskill in areas of their choosing, and then work at the centre or out in the community, for a genuine wage.
Mick Gorman explains why the centre of excellence is so vital.
"Our branch has hugely invested in early intervention for children with Down Syndrome, but we have found that older people actually need that support throughout their lives. Over time emotional issues can manifest themselves, and a lot of that is because they have no meaningful employment for a decent wage, no reason to get out of bed," he said.
"Gerald Kean's offer has really added impetus," he added.
To find out more, contact chairperson Margaret Miron at 086 8064135, or Mick at 086 0491633.
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An AI technician in the agricultural industry from Mountrath has pleaded guilty to having in his possession nine silage wraps which were stolen in a burglary.
Today's Portlaoise District Court (Thursday, March 2) heard that Garret Kirwan (37), Ringstown, Mountrath, received the wraps from three men in a van in July, 2016.
Inspector Jer Glavin said that the wraps were part of property stolen in a burglary in June. Insp Glavin said that the accused had no connection to this offence. Insp Glavin told the court that the accused is not being investigated in relation to any other matters and no other charges are pending.
Barrister, Mr Colm Hennessy said that although no money changed hands, his client, a farmer, had agreed to pay 360 for the items, which was half the normal price.
Phone numbers were exchanged between the parties and the accused tried to contact the men twice after taking the wraps, said Mr Hennessy, but any time he rang a lady answered the phone and the three men never returned for payment.
Mr Hennessy said that the man his client took the wraps from had claimed to have sold 200 wraps elsewhere.
Mr Hennessy said that the accused was one of only five AI technicians in Laois, and at the moment his reputation is in tatters. He said that the accuseds bank had suspended his credit line pending the outcome of the gardais investigation.
Mr Hennessy said it was widely known in the locality about the investigation and the matter had received a lot of attention, given the accuseds occupation.
Mr Hennessy asked the court to impose the probation act instead of a criminal conviction.
Defence said that the accused had 1,000 to offer the court, but Judge Mitchell rejected this.
Theres a level of trust in the farming community and its considered a serious breach for items to be stolen, and then for other farmers to buy them, said Judge Mitchell.
The judge said that a message had to go out, and ruled that he would deal with the matter by way of a fine.
However, Mr Hennessy asked the judge not to use this case to signal a public deterrence. He said that the accuseds reputation is on the floor.
I dont want Mr Kirwan to become the poster child for rural crime, said Mr Hennessy.
This offence is an attack on the agricultural industry and agricultural communities, said Judge Mitchell.
He said that if there was no market for stolen goods there would be no stealing. Judge Mitchell convicted and fined the accused 720, the amount the bales were worth. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.
The judge said he very much regretted if this incident had affected the accuseds wife and children, and said he hoped the members of the farming community could remember the quote from the bible which said let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Scoil Chriost Ri girls secondary school in Portlaoise were runaway winners yet again this year in the 2016 Irish Life Health, Schools Fitness Challenge.
The school has been awarded Irelands Most Improved Girls School, after winning the overall Fittest Girls school in Ireland in 2015.
First and second year students took part in the fitness challenge, with 1D winning the award for the school.
PE teacher Maria Walsh said it was an even better award to win than the overall prize.
I was absolutely delighted for them, it was even better to win this, because the girls who won it for the school worked really hard, and dramatically changed from being unfit to now enjoying PE. It hasnt waned, they are still very enthusiastic, she said.
The challenge involved beep tests at the start of each class, where the students ran together as fast as they could.
I would time them and at the end read out the times, that motivated them, they were only beating their own time, so it became a personal challenge, she said.
The girls also worked on circuit training in the schools gym.
Its about creating a positive atmosphere around fitness. While boys are more likely to play sports, our school is very much a sporting school. But it is nice to do something that is not team sport orientated, so if you dont find a sport that suits you, you can do something else like gym or dancing, Ms Walsh said.
Myself and the whole school are so proud of them. It was great to see their reaction when they heard, they were so proud of themselves and what they had achieved, she said.
Over 800 Laois students participated in the 2016 Irish Life Health Schools Fitness Challenge
Nationwide results revealed that Irish girls are less likely than boys to meet the minimum current physical activity recommendations for optimal health. Worryingly, the gender gap widens as boys and girls progress through school; in 4th year, boys are 42% fitter than girls, as opposed to 1st year boys being 32% fitter than girls.
A survey by Irish Life Health of PE teachers views, found that a whopping 96% believe that their students fake excuses to get out of PE class.
Over a quarter of all Irish secondary schools signed up for the 2016 Irish Life Health Schools Fitness Challenge. 22,764 students took part (10,935 girls and 11,828 boys), more than in any previous year. Students also experienced a significant improvement in their fitness levels after just six weeks of exercise training.
Jim Dowdall, Managing Director at Irish Life Health congratulated Scoil Chriost Ri.
Congratulations Scoil Chriost Ri, Portlaoise, on your win. The Irish Life Health Schools Fitness Challenge is a national health initiative designed to assess and improve fitness levels among Irish secondary students with the aim of improving overall health. We are all aware of the impact of sport on a childs current and future health. We congratulate all the schools that participated in the challenge, he said.
The data from the challenge has enabled the creation of the first ever standardised fitness norms for Irish secondary school children. This will allow Irish school children to evaluate and rank their own fitness levels in relation to age and gender specific normative data.
The programme was overseen by Prof. Niall Moyna in the Centre for Preventive Medicine, Dublin City University.
Any form of physical activity is better than none. We should move away from the rigidity of the current PE curriculum to short periods of physical activity that encourage senior cycle students, particularly girls to stay active. The new Junior Certificate PE curriculum is a paradigm shift that is long overdue and, if properly resourced, has the potential to have a profoundly positive impact on the current and future health of Irish teenagers. he said.
Eason is delighted to announce Eileen Maguire as the winner of the Leitrim County Spelling Bee, which took place on March 1 in The Landmark Hotel, Carrick-On-Shannon.
11-year-old Eileen Maguire from St. Brigids National School, Drumcong, fought off stiff competition from seven spelling enthusiasts and will now be entered into the Connacht Provincial Spelling Bee final in June. The 5th class student loves to read but finds it hard to pick her favourite book as she has so many!
The nationwide competition is part of an overall Eason literacy and reading initiative to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills. Over the years the competition has helped school children gain a greater appreciation of words in a fun and educational way.
The All-Ireland winning school will receive a collection of books for their library to the value of 7,500 and the winner themselves will be awarded a goodie package full of books worth 500 and the prestigious title of the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee champion.
Keep abuzz with all the 2017 Spelling Bee news on www.easons.com/spellingbee and @easons #EasonSpellingBee
It should have been one of the governments more difficult weeks.
News emerged that police forces in England are rationing how they respond to calls for help. Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary says too many crimes are not being properly investigated and fewer prosecutions reaching the courts. Thats the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
In the House of Lords decency prevailed and the Noble members of that house voted to guarantee the UK residency and other rights of EU nationals. The governments immediate response was to say it will try and overturn the vote when the Bill comes back to the Commons. Thats the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
By refusing to give clarity over what returning EU fishing and farming powers will go to Edinburgh, Mrs May looks prepared to upset the Scots and fuel the SNPs campaign for Indy 2. Thats the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
The Guardian recently reported a study by the giant insurance company Aviva saying that one in four families in the UK have less than 95 in savings. Thats the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
Yesterday, on The Today programme, Karen Brady, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport waffled on in the vaguest of terms about her new digital strategy. Its a vacuous document of lofty language and little substance. But Ms Brady made sure to say that her strategy would work for everyone.
A Britain that works for everyone has become the governments mantra of choice. It replaces long term economic plan, which the Tories felt was very successful, until of course they led the disruption of economic stability with Brexit. What that produced is the sort of Britain that works for everyone.
Consumed by its internal leadership and ideological battles, Labour couldnt put the ball in the net if all the Government players went to Antarctica for a months holiday and the referee painted a big white arrow pointing the way to an empty goal.
So, it looks like its down to the Liberal Democrats. Im certainly going to turn the Tories new favourite phrase on them whenever I write to the local paper or when out canvassing or even just talking in the pub.
Theresa May thinks A Britain that works for everyone and its oft employed variant, A Britain that works for the many not just the privileged few, is a winner. It would be helpful to our cause to consistently point out in parliament, in the council chamber, in the press and on the doorsteps that there are very few signs that life for ordinary people is better under Theresa May, or showing any real prospect of getting better.
Mrs May, with Brexit and her central messages, is over-promising and will almost certainly fail to deliver the type of country she says she wants. We Liberal Democrats need to undermine her careless rhetoric and show all our main policies to be better.
* Martin Roche is a member of Canterbury Liberal Democrats
ON a walk in Limerick city with my pooch last Sunday I conducted a little survey. The survey was simple count the number of dog poos left on the streets of Limerick city centre.
The route? From Pennywell up to the station, through the Peoples Park, down Mallow St and then down OConnell St and then finishing for coffee on Thomas St.
The result? Eighty-nine dog poos left festering on a small section of our city streets. Note that this route did not take in our new boardwalk and the OCallaghan/Clancy Strand areas, both of which have recognised dog poo problems.
What irks me is that, after posting on social media, most of the comments I received were in some way blaming Limerick Council for the citys dog poo epidemic.
The fact is this if you own a dog and your dog does his business on our streets then it is your responsibility to pick it up and bin it.
Aside from being ignorant, irresponsible and selfish behaviour, the leaving of dog dirt on our streets is a danger in terms of public health.
Research shows that a single gram of dog poo can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans.
Dog poo can contain diseases such as Whipworms, Hookworm, Roundworms, Tapeworms, Parvo, Corona, Giardiasis, Salmonellosis, Cryptosporidiosis and Campylobacteriosis.
Not the sort of stuff we need sitting outside our front door.
When it comes to the role the local authority plays it is true that they should be the enforcers of the law when it comes to dog poo.
The rules under Section 22 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 state that it is an offence to allow a dog under your control to foul a public place. This means the owner or person in charge of the dog is required to remove dog faeces and dispose of them in a suitable, sanitary manner.
You can complain to the District Court under the litter laws against an owner or someone in charge of a dog who allows that dog to foul public places and who fails to act responsibly.
Under the Act, a dog owner who fails to clean up after their animal faces an on-the-spot fine of 150, with a maximum fine of 3,000 for those convicted.
However, enforcing this law can be virtually impossible.
Across Ireland and further afield we have repeatedly seen initiatives that have attempted to deal with the scourge of dog fouling in cities.
In 2015 Cork City Council announced the introduction of audible dog poo alarms in certain parts of the city. These audio messaging devices would send out subtle reminders at regular intervals in an attempt to curb the scourge of dog poo.
In 2016 Madrid announced a plan to force dog owners in two districts to clean up after their pets. Those caught not doing so must either spend a few days as substitute street cleaners or face a 1,700 fine.
In both France and in Malaga a plan was devised to simply collect all the pet dogs' DNA in a database. Once that is set up then officials can take samples of any excrement left lying around the area and quickly trace it back to the offending mutts and their owners.
And most interestingly, Brunete, a suburb of Madrid, boxed up dog faeces and mailed it to owners.
For two weeks, volunteers spied on dog walkers, approached those who didnt scoop and asked the name of the pooch which, because most were registered with the city, was usually enough information to determine the owners address.
Some of these solutions might be considered Draconian by some. However, for whatever reason, there is clearly an ignorance, an apathy and a carelessness in certain dog owners in Limerick. I, for one, would happily stand by the introduction of a name-and-shame approach.
It is not just the people of Limerick who notice the problem. I have met many visitors to Limerick from the United States, all of whom have remarked on how much of an issue dog poo is on our public walkways.
Limerick people by their nature are extremely passionate people when it comes to their city. We will fight tooth and nail to protect our reputation. This passion does seem to be at odds with how good we are at presenting our urban space.
It wont be long until Limerick once again makes headlines across the country when we embark on the third Team Limerick Clean-up, that fantastic initiative led by Paul OConnell and JP McManus.
Lets try and make 2017 the year where tackling the scourge of dog poo finally makes it to the top of the agenda.
A fresh initiative has been launched in an effort to reduce incidents of crime at Limericks biggest shopping centre.
The Business Watch initiative, which was launched this Wednesday, is a crime-prevention programme which will see gardai and traders from the Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle working more closely together.
According to gardai, the initiative will operate in a similar way to Neighbourhood Watch schemes with people who work at Crescent Shopping Centre providing extra eyes and ears for gardai.
The need for such an initiative was identified by traders late last year and the launch follows several months of discussions with garda and management at the shopping centre.
Its based on the premise of collaboration with all the business here getting together and the gardai then coordinating it, explained Inspector Ollie Kennedy of Roxboro Road garda station.
It will build a tighter partnership from a communication and security point of view between all the businesses here at the Crescent and that is further boosted by our links with them, he added.
John Davitt, manager of the Crescent Shopping Centre, has welcomed the launch of the new initiative which, he says, will benefit both traders and customers.
The Crescent traders will meet on a weekly basis with the security manager for the Crescent who will then liase directly with the local community garda from Roxboro Road garda station, he said.
It is hoped the Business Watch initiative will reduce overall levels of crime at the Crescent and allow gardai to identify patterns of offending and trends at an early stage.
LIMERICK is set to become the first city in Ireland to tackle litter with a revolutionary new machine, The Glutton.
This Wednesday, Limerick City Council today took ownership of The Glutton, a new outdoor cleaning solution. The high tech litter machine is a dust, noise and exhaust-free litter vacuum that has revolutionised the work of road maintenance staff around the world.
Mayor Kieran O Hanlon accepted the machine on behalf of the local authority from Sue Ann Foley, chairperson of the JP McManus Benevolent Fund.
The Team Limerick Cleanup (TLC) branded Glutton will be managed by a council operative, who has traded in his broom and his litter picker for the modern machine.
Easy to use, The Glutton industrial vacuum cleaner saves time and makes work more comfortable for the user, reduces effort, and improves health and safety. In addition to all that, its electric version is perfectly silent and environmentally friendly. It vacuums up all kinds of waste for up to 12 hours.
Speaking of her delight on handing over The Glutton to the council, Sue Ann Foley, chairperson of the JP McManus Benevolent Fund said: We are delighted to hand this machine over to Limerick City and County Council today. The council has been instrumental in Team Limerick Clean-up and the Benevolent Fund are hugely grateful for their contribution to the initiative.
"The Glutton is set to complement our Good Friday clean-up and we look forward to seeing it in operation around the streets of Limerick," she added.
Mayor O'Hanlon said: "We are thrilled that Limerick is the first and only city in the country to use The Glutton. The machine is a huge asset to the on-going cleaning measures the Council has in place.
"Not only is it environmentally friendly, but it can be used in a number of locations from pavements, public roads and carparks. On behalf of Limerick City and County Council, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the JP McManus Benevolent Fund for this kind donation," he added.
Limericks huge clean-up TLC3 takes place on Good Friday - April 14 - and thousands have already signed up to take part.
Team Limerick Clean-Up3 (TLC3), is an initiative sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund, and supported by Limerick City and County Council. Endorsed by Paul OConnell, the official partners include The Limerick Leader, Mr Binman, and Limerick's Live 95FM.
GARDAI have renewed their appeal for information following a fatal road accident on the M7 motorway.
The victim a man in his 50s who was living in Limerick sustained serious head injuries when the car he was driving left the road and crashed down an embankment off the southbound carriageway between Junction 27 (Birdhill) and Junction 28 (Castletroy).
It is understood the businessman was returning to Limerick from Dublin when the accident happened at around 7.40pm on Wednesday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and a post mortem examination will be carried out later today at University Hospital Limerick.
It is understood the man, who has not been named by gardai, also has connections and family in Thurles and in North Kerry.
Several other accidents involving up to a dozen vehicles happened in the same area around the same time as weather conditions were particularly bad.
There are no reports of any other serious injuries although a number of people did require medical attention.
A stretch of the motorway which was closed overnight to facilitate a Forensic Collision Examination has since reopened.
Gardai in Nenagh are investigating the fatal collision and are appealing for any witnesses to contact them on (067) 50450.
THE insurance industry in Limerick has been left reeling following the death of popular broker Padhraic Moran in a road crash.
Mr Moran, who lived at Mill Road in Corbally, sustained serious head injuries when the car he was driving left the road and crashed down an embankment off the southbound carriageway between Junction 27 (Birdhill) and Junction 28 (Castletroy).
He pronounced dead at the scene of the accident which happened at around 7.40pm on Wednesday.
It is understood Mr Moran, who was a broker and consultant with Zurich, was returning to Limerick having attended a meeting in Dublin earlier in the day.
The Kerry native was also a former chairman of the Life Insurance Association (LIA) for the Limerick region.
Padhraic would have been one of our most loyal members and he gave of his time in a very generous way and he would have been a volunteer on our committee and all I can say about Padhraic is that he was a lovely guy.
"Hes going to be really missed by everybody; anybody who worked with him and anybody who know him as a friend, Pat O'Sullivan, chief executive of the LIA told Live 95FM.
A post mortem is to be conducted on the body of Mr Moran who is survived by his wife Anne and extended family.
Gardai in Nenagh are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash and are asking any witnesses to contact them on (067) 50450.
REVELLERS at a 21st birthday party in county Limerick ran for their lives after a gun was produced, the Limerick Leader has learned.
The incident occurred at a house in Doon in the early hours of Sunday. The celebrations started in a pub in the village and after closing time continued in a private home. Around 40 people were in attendance when the firearm was pulled out.
It is understood that the perpetrator was one of three men who gatecrashed the festivities.
According to a local, the uninvited guests, who are not from Doon, started causing trouble.
They were asked to leave and they wouldnt. Then there was a bit of a scuffle. One of the three pulled out a handgun, pointed it at one individual at the party and he said, Ill blow your f***ing head off. This caused consternation and everybody ran for their lives. There was huge panic, said the local.
No shots were discharged and the three men then left.
The person who spoke to the Limerick Leader stressed that the family and the young man, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, are hard-working and highly respected in the community.
They have no links with crime or anything like that. The lads who caused the trouble werent invited and then wouldnt leave. There are about 40 witnesses. It is the talk of Doon, they said.
Gardai were alerted and arrived promptly at the scene at approximately 4.30am on Sunday morning, February 26. However, the three had a head-start and had made good their escape.
A garda spokesperson said: All of the circumstances of the incident are being investigated. No arrests have been made and no serious injuries were reported to gardai.
Anybody with any information, that can help investigating officers in their enquiries, is asked to contact Bruff Garda Station on 061 382940.
USPS inspector general report details possible giveaways, selling of discontinued stamp products by former Stamp Fulfillment manager
Mar 2, 2017, 7 AM
The United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, in a June 15, 2016, report obtained by Linn's Stamp News, details the possible giveaway and selling of discontinued USPS philatelic products by former Stamp Fulfillment Services manager Khalid
By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent
The way United States special agents are telling it, Khalid M. Hussain, the longtime manager of the Stamp Fulfillment Services center in Kansas City, Mo., ran a rogue operation for years that sold U.S. mint stamps overseas at deep discounts.
At the same time at his offices in the underground stamp center known as the caves, Hussain was giving away, or selling at discounted prices, philatelic products sent to his facility for disposal or destruction.
The problem, the agents say, is that neither operation had approval from U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Thats the ugly picture that emerges from a newly released investigative report.
Although heavily redacted, the report points to serious management issues the inspectors say they uncovered during a nearly six-month investigation that ended in April 2016.
The 42-page document was released to Linns under a Freedom of Information Act request.
It listed five violations of postal codes and federal regulations by the facilitys former manager, problems that go beyond the previously reported sale of Harry Potter stamps to Royal Mail at 35 percent below face prices.
The report also hints that Hussain, head of the center from 2005 to 2016, could face legal action.
The USPS Office of Inspector General said it was withholding some of the investigation's details because they may have been compiled for law enforcement purposes.
The report says stocks of Simpson stamps and Lunar New Year stamps, as well as the Harry Potter commemoratives, could be involved.
Although many details have been removed from the report, whats exposed among the often blank pages is a portrait of a postal executive operating outside of the strict stamp rules that postal workers must obey.
Not only may have Hussain sent stamps to the British postal service without any written contract between 2009 and 2015, he also is alleged to have stocked a showroom at the caves with unsold philatelic goods that post offices across the country failed to sell, the newly disclosed report says.
Those items were then sold, agents say, often at 80 percent of listed prices. These sales, however, were not recorded.
Revenue that should have gone to the Postal Service therefore is impossible to track, the report says.
The value of the United States stamps delivered to Royal Mail apparently is known, but that figure was deleted from the report.
The USPS likes to sell its stamps to foreign postal administrations, but the inspectors said they could not find signed sales agreements between the USPS and Royal Mail. Nor could they find any record of Royal Mail payments to the Postal Service.
The unauthorized shipments of U.S. stamps to England came after Hussain exchanged e-mails and held in person meetings with Royal Mail representatives, the report says.
Hussain filled a storage room wall-to-wall with the unsold philatelic products.
Instead of destroying the items, the report says the items were sold to employees at a discount or, in some cases, given away to visitors and used as holiday gifts, the report says.
Even the agents were given some of the items when they appeared at the center in October 2015 to investigate a complaint filed with the USPS ethics office.
The agents were given a packet that contained a Yes I Do digital color postmark, a West Virginia commemorative forever stamp first-day cover, a Harry Potter stamp ceremony program, a Christmas Virgin and Child commemorative cancellation, an Olympic Games commemorative collection page, and a 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington commemorative panel. Mint stamps were on the commemorative collection page and the commemorative panel, the report said.
Agents had been tipped off about the unauthorized sales to Royal Mail and the sales of excess philatelic products in the showroom.
The investigation is not the first time that OIG special agents have questioned operations at the Kansas City center.
In mid-2015, the Postal Services inspector general sharply criticized the way the center handled distribution of the 100 intentionally produced upright $2 Jenny Invert stamp panes, noting that three of the valuable panes were given at no cost to three customers who had placed previous orders with SFS.
Hussains name was deleted from the released report, although the report and previously released material make clear that he was the focus of the investigation.
In a June 8 response to a previously released Management Alert, James P. Cochrane, the Postal Services chief marketing officer, said headquarters holds the manager, Stamp Fulfillment Services responsible and accountable for all his/her actions, the same as all other USPS managers and executives.
Hussain has not responded to an e-mail request from Linns for comment on the latest report.
His Linkedin webpage states his tenure at the Postal Service ended in 2016.
Nor did Royal Mail respond to Linns request for information about whether it had resolved the issue of payments to USPS for the stamps Hussain apparently shipped to them.
A June 15, 2016, report from the USPS inspector general said management of the Kansas City center provided 2,649 books of Harry Potter stamps with a face value of $24,371 to Royal Mail.
Mary-Anne Penner, director of Stamp Services for the Postal Service, who was Hussains immediate supervisor, did not respond to Linns request to be interviewed.
The Postal Service does not comment on personnel matters, said USPS spokesman David Partenheimer in a statement to Linn's.
That being said, the Postal Service does follow established Postal Service policies to ensure accounting for and disposal of off-sale retail merchandise and accountable paper, he said.
Furthermore, the Postal Service holds all managers responsible and accountable for their actions to properly ensure oversight, management, and protection of postal assets and compliance with Postal policies.
The USPS has released reports in the past naming senior officials accused of wrongdoing.
According to Hussains Linkedin page, he had been with Stamp Fulfillment Services since 1997.
He first served as its information technology manager, then operations manager, and since June 2005 as executive manager.
I am an executive who is successful at leading high-volume complex and diverse operations, he said on his Linkedin page.
Hussain takes credit for consolidating Stamp Fulfillment Services, which supplies stamps to collectors and high-volume stamp users, and stamp distribution centers, which supply stamps to postal facilities.
Under my leadership, savings were achieved and the merger was completed on schedule, he says.
Hussain says revenues at the center have grown to more than $500 million from $120 million in the past 10 years.
He also says he holds four patents, including one for the USPS exclusive Digital Color Postmark used on first-day covers.
I was also awarded a patent for a unique stamp affixing machine in 2013, he says. It is the only one in the world.
Details of USPS OIG report about SFS mismangement
The new report covers an investigation that ran between Oct. 15, 2015, and April 4, 2016.
The cover sheet says the Office of Inspector General sent the case to USPS for administrative action.
Here are five issues it raised about Hussains role at the center were:
1. Violation of USPS policy concerning destruction or disposal of unsold inventories of stamps and philatelic products, putting such items in a storage room known as "the showroom.
2. He failed to properly oversee the showroom, which placed the Postal Service inventory at risk for unauthorized use. This enabled use of improper accounting procedures for generated revenue, increasing the risk of errors, losses and embezzlements and frustrating their timely detection.
3. He misused his position by removing Postal Service property from the showroom for purposes other than official Postal Service business and for purposes which unfairly advantaged Postal Service employees.
4. He misused his position and put the Postal Service at risk when he engaged in an unauthorized commitment with Royal Mail to sell approximately 2,649 U.S. stamp books featuring Harry Potter and to remit a 35% commission to the Postal Service. He failed to collect the revenue to which the Postal Service was entitled.
5. He violated the standard of ethical conduct when he solicited employment assistance from a Postal Service contractor employee with Northrup Grumman who was the point of contact for hiring employees to work at the SFS Center.
__________________________________________________
This story was updated March 9, 2017, at 11:15 a.m.
Apr 30, 2021, 12 AM
A stamp issued in June 1921 marked a century of coffee production in Costa Rica, and might also have provided funding for a celebratory festival for the milestone.
To promote the countrys coffee, an overprint of a coffee bag was added, in various ink colors, to five denominations of existing Costa Rica issues in 1922.
Classic Stamps of the World By Kathleen Wunderly
Costa Rica, in Central America next to Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, and the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, was visited by Christopher Columbus in 1502. The explorer supposedly gave the country its name Rich Coast in Spanish because he believed, or wishfully thought, that it was full of precious metals.
Centuries later, in 1796, a true treasure arrived in Costa Rica: neither gold nor silver, but the coffee plant, imported from its discovery spot in the mountainous rainforests of Ethiopia by way of a Spaniard living in Havana, Cuba. The transplant began to thrive in the soil and climate of its new home.
By the 19th century, the government was fully encouraging coffee production, and exported coffee became a major source of revenue for the nations economy, exceeding cacao, sugar, and tobacco by 1829. England became an excellent market for Costa Rican coffee beginning in 1843, despite its national affection for tea.
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Bananas, cotton, and some other crops for export eventually became important in Costa Rica, but coffee the countrys first export and its only one until 1890 continued to fuel the countrys economy, as it still does today.
Almost 52 percent of the countrys coffee is exported to the United States, where the National Coffee Association estimates that 54 percent of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee every day, for a daily average of 3.1 nine-ounce cups, and a nationwide coffee expenditure of $40 billion a year.
On June 15, 1921, a decree from President Julio Acosta Garcia announced a fete organized by the faculty of the Escuela Normal (the Normal School, a teacher-training institution) of Costa Rica, with the object of commemorating the Centenary of the Introduction of Coffee into the country.
To fund the celebration, the decree explained, an issue of twenty-five thousand postage stamps of the value of five centimos each would be available during the eight days before and the eight days after the twenty-ninth of the present month in which the festivities are to be inaugurated. The issuing and circulation of the stamps shall extend only to the period aforesaid.
Writing in the Congress Book of 1953, H.D. Mitchell questioned the legitimacy of this stamp (Scott 103, issued June 17, 1921), as it was supposedly valid for only 17 days and the profits went not to the government but to the Escuela Normal, making it more of a semipostal stamp than a regular issue.
Another question regarding the stamp is nonphilatelic: Namely, why was 1921 considered the centenary of coffee production in Costa Rica? As mentioned earlier, records indicate that the plant arrived in 1796 and was cultivated immediately, albeit not on a commercial level.
The significance of 1821 in Costa Rican history is related to its coffee crops, but as the year of its declaration of independence from Spain.
It is true that in 1821, coffee plants and land to grow them were made available to the people, greatly expanding the potential for economic growth and prosperity in the country. Perhaps that milestone, when coffee growing was officially encouraged on a wide scale, was considered the true beginning of Costa Rican coffee.
Because the June 1921 stamp had bypassed the usual procedures for producing a new issue, the Post Office Department might have felt deprived of its chance to mark the centennial, or perhaps the higher officials felt that other opportunities remained for coffee postal propaganda.
A presidential decree of Jan. 4, 1922, beginning with the line, At the request of the Postmaster General, stated that a Surcharge with a design which represents a sack with the legend Cafe de Costa Rica would be added to six existing regular postage stamps, in specified quantities of each denomination.
The sack on the overprint resembles a pillow, but so does an actual coffee bag. The overprint design does include some shading to indicate the rough surface of a burlap bag.
The stamps to be overprinted were from the five lowest denominations of the eight-stamp set of 1910 honoring national public figures, plus the 1921 stamp (Scott 110) depicting Simon Bolivar. The overprints were typographically added by the Imprenta Nacional (national printing works).
The details of the stamps are as follows, including the Scott number of the original issue and that of the overprinted stamp, the denomination, the quantity surcharged, and the ink color of the overprint.
In an article titled Recognizing the Counterfeits of the Coffee-bag Overprints in the June 1955 American Philatelist, H.D. Mitchell states that full 100-subject plates were prepared for each denomination of the overprinted stamps with 1921 as the first line of the surcharge.
The samples were presented to the secretary for government, Aquiles Acosta, whose department included postal affairs, and Acosta rejected the idea of a dated overprint for the logical reason that Costa Rican coffee was excellent in any year, wrote Mitchell. Plus, the coffee promotion program was intended to be indefinite, not just a 1921 commemoration.
Essays exist for all denominations with the 1921 first line, which was erased from the plate before the overprinting was done. The overprinted stamps were released in spring 1922 (the Costa Rica Postal Catalogue by Hector R. Mena lists the release date as Jan. 11, 1922), so the 1921 reference would have made even less sense.
In his 1953 Congress Book article, H.D. Mitchell mentions an anecdotal tale (he heard it third-hand) of a single coffee-bag overprinted stamp, denomination unstated, displaying traces of the erased 1921.
The alleged traces could have been merely part of a clumsily forged stamp, of which there are many. The Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940 adds a footnote to the Scott 111C-111H listings: Inverted overprints exist on all values. Value, set $20. Counterfeits predominate.
Mitchell points out that large quantities of demonetized stamps of the 1910 regular series were disposed of by the Costa Rican government in 1924, providing ample supplies for counterfeiters to augment with coffee-bag overprints.
Ironically, 1922 was not a very good year for Costa Ricas coffee production. A U.S. consular report from San Jose in October 1922 to the Foreign and Agricultural Service of the U.S. Dairy Association stated that the crop was expected to be between 46,300,000 pounds and 50,700,000 pounds, which is considerably below the production of last year. The report added, The quality, however, is unusually good.
The crop has been declining again in recent years, not because of lessening demand worldwide, but due to coffee leaf disease caused by a rust fungus, Hemileia vastatrix. The disease has been around since the 19th century but is wreaking modern havoc in susceptible coffee plantations in Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico, as well as Costa Rica, where the majority of the crop has been affected.
This gloomy situation might preclude a stamp in 2021 for the bicentennial of Costa Rican coffee raising. In the meantime, a set of the 1922 coffee-bag overprinted stamps is valued at $7.75 unused and $3.55 used in the 2017 Scott Classic Specialized catalog.
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People who have migraines may one day get help from an experimental new device that is worn like a patch around the upper arm and stimulates the nerves, a new preliminary study suggests.
Researchers in Israel found that 64 percent of participants who used the device reported that it reduced their migraine pain by at least half. For comparison, 26 percent of people who used the placebo treatment said the same, according to the findings released today (March 1) in the journal Neurology.
The device, known as the Nerivio Migra, does not yet have FDA approval in the United States. [Ouch: 10 Odd Causes of Headaches]
The study was funded by the Israeli company Theranica Ltd., which developed the new device.
Using electrical stimulation to relieve pain or treat headaches is not a new idea, said Dr. Paul Rizzoli, clinical director of the John R. Graham Headache Centerat Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who was not involved in the study.
Currently, there are two FDA-approved devices on the market that use nerve stimulation to treat migraines. One of them is called Cefaly and applies stimulation to the forehead of the migraine sufferer, and a second device is placed on a person's neck.
The Nerivio device is essentially a variation on a similar theme, but it uses a different location on the body to deliver the stimulation, Rizzoli said. Both of the currently approved products are worn in more visible locations than the device used in this study, which could be hidden beneath a shirtsleeve.
The company website said users can place the Nerivio wearable patch on either arm. The patch contains electrodes, a battery and a computer chip that triggers electrical pulses to the skin to stimulate sensory nerves. When a migraine attack occurs, a user can launch an app on his or her smartphone to activate the electrical stimulation and adjust the strength of the stimulation as needed.
It's unclear why electrical stimulation of the arm would help reduce migraine pain, but it may help block the pain signals from reaching the brain, the researchers suggested in their study.
"Meager results"
In the study, the researchers recruited 71 people who suffered two to eight migraine attacks per month, but who had not used preventive medications to treat the attacks for at least two months. The participants were taught how to use the new device and instructed to use it for 20 minutes as soon as possible after the start of a migraine during the 10-month study. The users were also told to avoid any medications for 2 hours after the onset of a headache. But 27 of the participants received a placebo, or sham treatment, meaning the device delivered electrical stimulation at a frequency level too low to ease pain.
Aside from the higher percentage of participants reporting their pain was reduced by at least half with the device, the researchers found additional results: The study showed that people who wore the electrical-stimulation device and activated it within 20 minutes of the start of a migraine had a 47 percent reduction in their migraine pain on average. Those who activated the device between 21 and 60 minutes of the attack had a 25 percent average reduction.
About 40 percent of people who received the actual treatment described the stimulation as painful or unpleasant, while the rest said it was pleasant, the study said.
But Rizzoli said he did not think these findings provided strong evidence that the device is effective.
One problem, he said, was that the statistical comparison between the experimental group and the placebo group was hampered by the fact that many of the participants who got the sham treatment might have realized they were getting it. And because these participants had no pain relief, they may have stopped using the treatment before 20 minutes had elapsed. So their results were not included in the final analysis. [11 Surprising Facts About Placebos]
As a result, there was only a 28 percent completion rate among placebo users, compared with a 70 percent completion rate for those receiving the active treatment. With such a limited response among placebo users, it's hard to judge the effectiveness of the device itself, Rizzoli said.
In addition, the study was unusual in that the researchers reported no negative side effects from the use of the device, Rizzoli said. People who have used other devices that employ similar electrical stimulation to reduce migraine pain have reported side effects from these devices, such as burns or sleepiness, he said. These negative effects may also tend to turn up with more widespread use over time, he added.
"The study showed meager results, and there is no reason to think that this device is head and shoulders above similar stimulatory devices for migraines," Rizzoli told Live Science.
He added that some of his patients have tried the Cefaly device, which costs more than $300 and is typically not covered by health insurance, and have found that the product is reliable. He said that he might suggest the Cefaly device to someone who does not want to take a drug for migraine relief. But he said he informs these patients that the device may have minimal benefits and that medications remain the standard therapy for migraines.
Originally published on Live Science.
Temperatures on the Antarctic continent reached a record-breaking high of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 degrees Celsius) in 2015, according to a new report of balmy records for the bottom of the world.
And things got even toastier back on Jan. 30, 1982, when the thermometer peaked at 67.6 degrees F (19.8 degrees C) at Signy Research Station on Antarctica's Signy Island, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a division of the United Nations. This temperature was the highest on record for the Antarctic region, an area including all land and ice south of 60 degrees south latitude, the WMO said.
When WMO experts looked at just the continent itself (the area including the continent and its nearby islands), they found that the warmest temperature a positively balmy 63.5 degrees F happened on March 24, 2015, at the Argentine Esperanza Base research station, located by the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. [Images of Melt: Earth's Vanishing Ice]
The highest temperature for the Antarctic Plateau (an area with an elevation of 8,200 feet, or 2,500 meters) reached 19.4 degrees F (minus 7 degrees C) at the Automatic Weather Station on the Adelie Coast on Dec. 28, 1980, the report found.
These high temperatures are a large departure from the continent's lowest recorded temperature of minus 128.6 degrees F (minus 89.2 degrees C) at Vostok Station on July 21, 1983, the WMO said.
The WMO published the report online today (March 1) in a continuing effort to expand its worldwide database on extreme weather and climate conditions, the organization said. The database will help the WMO learn about naturally occurring climate change, as well as human-induced climate change along global and regional levels, WMO officials said.
Usually, Antarctica is cold, windy and dry, the WMO said. The average annual temperature ranges from about 14 degrees F (minus 10 degrees C) on the Antarctic coast to about minus 76 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C) in Antarctica's higher-elevation interior, the WMO said.
Moreover, Antarctica's ice sheet contains 90 percent of the world's freshwater, and if the ice sheet were to melt, it would raise sea level by about 200 feet (60 m). That's disconcerting, given that the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest-warming regions of the planet, having warmed by almost 5.4 degrees F (3 degrees C) over the past 50 years, the WMO said.
In addition, about 87 percent of glaciers along the Antarctic Peninsula's west coast have retreated over the past 50 years, especially in the past 12 years, the WMO added.
(Image credit: Nevena Barberic/Shutterstock)
Alarming temperatures
The warming can be felt even during short visits down south, said Jamin Greenbaum, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, who was not involved in the new report.
"I just returned from Antarctica a few weeks ago, where I saw, firsthand, how warm it was there," Greenbaum told Live Science. "It was my 10th consecutive fieldwork experience down there, and I've never seen so much surface meltwater it was remarkable."
Meltwater is the result of high temperatures that can melt the surface of the ice and snow, Greenbaum said. Meltwater is fairly alarming, he said, because it can lead to the rapid retreat of coastal ice, as well as sea-level rise.
"There was so much [meltwater] that even a large section of the snow road we take every day collapsed, forcing us to use helicopters to commute between the research station and the airfield," Greenbaum said. [In Photos: Huge Icebergs Break Off Antarctica]
Another Antarctic expert, Eric Steig, said that "these temperatures are very likely associated with the extremely strong sea ice loss." But the origin of that loss "is actually unclear at the moment," said Steig, an adjunct professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, who was not involved in the report.
The new report may help scientists figure out what's behind these high temperatures. For instance, the WMO's Commission for Climatology international evaluation committee found that the records at all three stations took place during an influx of warm air.
The WMO scientists and their colleagues hope to learn more, and they aim to increase weather forecasting capability during the Year of Polar Prediction project, which will last from mid-2017 to mid-2019, the WMO said.
Original article on Live Science.
Two partial skulls (shown here in a digital reconstruction) of an early human were discovered at an archaeological site (shown here) in Xuchang in central China.
Fossils unearthed in China appeared to be strange patchworks of extinct and modern human lineages, with the large brains of modern humans; the low, broad skulls of earlier humans; and the inner ears of Neanderthals, a new study reported.
These new fossils suggest that far-flung groups of ancient humans were more genetically linked across Eurasia than often previously thought, researchers in the new study said.
"I don't like to think of these fossils as those of hybrids," said study co-author Erik Trinkaus, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis. "Hybridization implies that all of these groups were separate and discrete, only occasionally interacting. What these fossils show is that these groups were basically not separate. The idea that there were separate lineages in different parts of the world is increasingly contradicted by the evidence we are unearthing." [In Photos: New Human Relative Shakes Up Our Family Tree]
Modern humans first appeared in Africa about 150,000 to 200,000 years ago, and recent archaeological and genetic findings suggest that modern humans first migrated out of Africa starting at least 100,000 years ago. However, a number of earlier groups of so-called archaic humans left Africa beforehand; for instance, Neanderthals lived in Europe and Asia between about 200,000 and 40,000 years ago.
The fragmentary nature of the human fossil record has made it tricky to determine the biology of the immediate predecessors of modern humans in eastern Eurasia, Trinkaus said. Unearthing details from this region could shed light on an otherwise poorly understood aspect of human evolution, yielding insights into how modern and archaic humans interacted, he added.
In the new study, scientists analyzed fragments of two human skulls that lead study author Zhan-Yang Li, an archaeologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, unearthed during fieldwork in the city of Xuchang in central China between 2007 and 2014. The fossils are about 105,000 to 125,000 years old, the researchers said.
Back when these ancient humans lived, the site where they were found was a spring-fed lake amid a mosaic of open grasslands and some forests, said study co-author Xiu-Jie Wu, a paleoanthropologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Researchers found fossils of more than 20 other mammal species there, including those of rhinos, deer, horses, gazelles and rodents, and about one-sixth of these bones had cut marks, suggesting that humans preyed on them, Wu told Live Science.
The partial human skulls combined the features seen in different groups of humans across Eurasia. Like early modern humans, these skulls had large brains and modest brow ridges, the researchers said. However, like earlier humans from eastern Eurasia, the skulls had low, broad braincases. In addition, the semicircular canals in the skulls' inner ears and the arrangement of the rear portion of the skulls more closely resembled the features of Neanderthals from western Eurasia, the scientists said.
This collection of features in central China suggests that populations of humans across Eurasia were more connected with each other more than previously thought, Trinkaus said.
"We're seeing a general interconnectedness of all these populations across the Old World," Trinkaus told Live Science. "Features that we might normally think of [as] belonging to one region or another do appear across the whole range of populations, although the frequency at which those features appear may differ across regions."
Fieldwork in this region will hopefully unearth the complete skull (showing the face) and teeth of these ancient humans, "so we can tell what they looked like," Wu told Live Science.
The scientists detailed their findings in the March 3 issue of the journal Science.
Original article on Live Science.
The Prisoner of War Medal was posthumously awarded Wednesday to a Laredo soldier, Private First Class Alvaro F. Tijerina, who survived World War II and a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp.
He is survived by Virginia Tijerina Coe, Cindy Tijerina Aguilar and Dennis Luis Tijerina, who accepted the medal on behalf of their father at a special ceremony held at the American Legion Post 59.
It was something that we never thought was going to happen, Dennis Tijerina said. I wasnt aware of a POW Medal to begin with and then they told me that President Reagan was the one who started the POW Medal Award. But this is fantastic that hes getting it, posthumously of course, but we feel very proud.
The POW Medal is awarded to U.S. Military personnel who were taken prisoner and held captive while engaged in any armed conflict dating from World War I.
RELATED: Laredo WWII veteran to receive overdue Prisoner of War Medal
A rifleman in the fourth Infantry Division, Tijerina was wounded and captured on Nov. 16, 1944 in the Hurtgen Forest. He was then taken to Stalag 4B Muhlberg Sachsen 51-13, one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during WW II.
Tijerina was freed May 8, 1945, after seven months of captivity, and made his way to U.S. lines amid the chaotic newly-liberated countryside on May 12.
Among his decorations are the Combat Infantrymans Badge, the Purple Heart, the Overseas Service Bar and the European-African-Middle East Service Medal with a Bronze Star.
Tijerina died at the age of 56 in Laredo on Feb. 6, 1972.
Its something that is very long overdue, American Legion Post 59 Commander Cesar Montemayor said. This is actually the first medal that we present to a prisoner of war.
We are very proud that the family gave us this opportunity to present this medal to them. Were very proud of our post.
Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more
With less than two weeks from the start of Spring Break season in Texas, having sunny skies and warm weather may be weighing heavier on the minds of students than studying.
With getaway plans ramping up, we looked at weather forecasts for hit destinations like South Padre Island, Port Aransas and Corpus Christi between March 13 and March 18.
Family & Parenting, Music, Movies & Entertainment, Community, Charity & Cause, Arts & Culture, Travel & Local Attractions, Hot Spots & Night Life, Seasonal & Current Events
By Brian Re Published: March 02 2017
You don't need the luck of the Irish to have a fantastic time at the 256th Annual NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade!
Celebrating over two and a half centuries of celebrations, the 256th Annual NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held on Friday, March 17th in New York City. Attended by millions of New Yorkers each year, the iconic parade is a beloved tribute to the Irish holiday that is perfect for all ages. The parade begins at 11 AM on 5th Avenue at 44th Street and heads down to 79th Street over the course of the morning and afternoon.
For those that may be held back by the size of the crowds, the parade can also be viewed from the comfort of your own home! Beginning at 11 AM, NBC 4 New York will be exclusively covering the parade from the streets of Manhattan. The event will be co-anchored by Today in New York's Lauren Scala as well as Tommy Smyth and Treasa Goodwin-Smyth from Ireland Calls Radio Show. Additionally, the event will be streamed live online at NBCNewYork.com.
The Naval Reserve Center Bronx's color guard marches in NYC's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Photo Credit: John Harrington, via WikiCommons.
The parade is consistently one of New York's largest cultural celebrations thanks to between 150,000 and 200,000 annual marchers covering everything from bagpipers to high school bands. This year's Grand Marshal honor has been bestowed upon Michael J. Dowling, who is the president and chief executive officer of Northwell Health and grew up in Limerick, Ireland. Since the first New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade in 1762, Dowling is believed to be the first head of a hospital to lead the parade.
A massive number of spectators ensures that public transportation is the most advisable option for traveling to and from the event. Be sure to check LIRR schedules before embarking on your trip to keep your holiday running smoothly.
A bagpiper playing during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in NYC. Photo Credit: Myles Cullen, via WikiCommons.
Long Islanders have plenty of options for enjoying St. Patrick's Day thanks to a number of local parades scheduled throughout the month of March. If the allure of New York City is too much to resist, however, be sure to follow these tips for a safe and enjoyable holiday in The Big Apple!
Green Attire
Not only is wearing green on St. Patrick's Day a fantastic way to celebrate the spirit of the holiday, but it can also be a useful tool for traveling with friends and family. Matching shirts, hats, and accessories can ensure that you each stand out in the crowd and are easy to locate.
Travel In Groups. Stay In Groups.
New York City may seem like an enormous place, but if you become lost or disoriented, the size only magnifies. Traveling in groups allows you to enjoy the holiday with the ones you love while staying safe at the same time!
Bring Only The Essentials
Due to the density of the crowd, bringing more items than you need can make navigating the city streets more of a hassle than it needs to be. Keep the amount of carried items to a minimum to prevent yourself from becoming fatigued.
Prepare For The Unexpected
Small things that you may not ordinarily carry on you may help you out in a pinch. Since your day in the city may be long, be sure to bring your phone charger or a charged second battery just in case. Also, since many people tend to carry minimal paper money now thanks to credit cards, make sure you have some cash in case of an emergency.
Dress Accordingly
New York may be experiencing an unusually warm winter, but city streets are susceptible to strong winds and can be quite chilly. Check the weather forecast before leaving to make sure you are dressed for the temperature and carry a spare pair of gloves and a hat just in case!
From all of us here at LongIsland.com - Happy Saint Patricks Day!
Have any exciting plans for this years St. Patricks Day?
Share your plans in the comments below!
[Source: NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade]
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today celebrated the beginning of Womens History Month and marked this years celebration of the 100th anniversary of womens suffrage in New York.
Albany, NY - March 1, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today celebrated the beginning of Womens History Month and marked this years celebration of the 100th anniversary of womens suffrage in New York. To commemorate the centennial, the state today launched the Womens Suffrage Commissions website: www.ny.gov/suffrage . The website launched today provides information about upcoming events across the state, profiles New York suffragists and takes visitors on a tour of New Yorks historic destinations relevant to the suffrage movement and womens rights.
Photo: Governor's Press Office, via Flickr.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
On Feb. 13, three teams of ECOs visited health care facilities throughout Long Island where they collected 660 pounds of expired medications during the third DEC Long Island Pharmaceutical Take-Back Day.
Long Island, NY - March 1, 2017 - On Feb. 13, three teams of ECOs visited health care facilities throughout Long Island where they collected 660 pounds of expired medications during the third DEC Long Island Pharmaceutical Take-Back Day. At least 24 Nassau and Suffolk county health care facilities participated in the program.
ECOs collect and responsibly destroy unused or expired prescription drugs. In the past, many of these facilities flushed the medications down the drain to dispose of them. Flushing pills can contaminate drinking water sources, and pharmaceuticals have been detected in New York State waterways.
ECOs Alena Lawston and Jordan Doroski collected from eastern Suffolk facilities. Lt. Tom Gadomski and ECO Kaitlin Grady collected from western Suffolk facilities. ECOs Tim Fay and Chris DeRose collected from the Nassau facilities. After completing their stops, the three teams met at Covanta, a waste disposal facility in Westbury, where the pharmaceuticals were destroyed by incineration.
Local News, Business & Finance, Home & Garden, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
Assemblywoman Jean-Pierre announced the Assembly passed legislation she sponsored to reform the states STAR program and streamline the process for homeowners.
The legislation passed by the Assembly reverses changes and transitions the program back to the way it was, providing all homeowners with tax relief upfront as a reduction in their school tax bill.
Lindenhurst, NY - March 1, 2017 - Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D-Babylon) announced the Assembly passed legislation she sponsored to reform the states School Tax Relief (STAR) program and streamline the process for homeowners (A.5969).
Long Island families pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, while many of my constituents are struggling to make ends meet, said Jean-Pierre. The changes made to the STAR program last year overcomplicated the system and added to that expense. By reversing these changes and transitioning back to the upfront exemption, we can ensure homeowners get the tax relief they were promised in a timely manner.
Changes to the STAR program made last year meant that rather than receiving a yearly reduction in their school tax bill like before, new homeowners and those who moved to a different home had to pay a higher bill and then register for a rebate check from the state.
The legislation passed by the Assembly reverses these changes and transitions the program back to the way it was, providing all homeowners with tax relief upfront as a reduction in their school tax bill. Administration of the program would also be returned to the hands of local assessors instead of the state Department of Taxation and Finance. Furthermore, the bill requires the state to help localities notify residents of these new changes so that all qualified homeowners receive the exemption.
In order for our community to thrive, we must encourage homeownership so residents can invest in our neighborhoods, said Jean-Pierre. This measure will eliminate unnecessary obstacles and make it easier for people to get the property tax relief they deserve.
Local News, Health & Wellness, Home & Garden, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
NYSDOH announced that it is launching a pilot program that will allow residents that are served by either a private well or public water system an opportunity to have their drinking water tested for lead ...
Albany, NY - March 1, 2017 - The New York State Department of Health announced today that it is launching a pilot program that will allow residents that are served by either a private well or public water system an opportunity to have their drinking water tested for lead free of charge.
This program will increase access to lead testing across the state, said Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker. Residents can take the opportunity, free of charge, to test their tap water for lead and based on the results, make informed decisions about their drinking water to best protect their health and that of their loved ones.
Residents interested in participating are encouraged to sign up on the Departments website.
Testing under this pilot program will continue as long as funds are available. Residential tap water testing will consist of two samples per dwelling-a first-draw and a flush sample. Residents will collect and send the samples to one of the participating laboratories within 30 days of receiving the sample kit. The laboratory will analyze the samples and are expected to mail the results back to the resident within 30 days from the date the samples were received.
Lead is a toxic metal that is particularly harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of children under six. Lead can affect a young child's growth, behavior, and ability to learn. During pregnancy, exposure to lead may contribute to low birth weight, preterm delivery, miscarriage, and developmental delays in infants.
It can be found in soil, air and water, but the main source of lead in homes continues to be older paint, the dust it generates, and various consumer products. Water testing helps identify lead contamination that may come from and enables homeowners to eliminate one possible source of lead exposure for children.
For more information on lead, please visit the departments website or contact your local health department using this interactive map.
Nature & Weather, Local News, National & World News, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
NY AG Schneiderman led a coalition of attorneys general in opposing President Trumps executive order that would eliminate the Clean Water Rule (also known as the Waters of the United States Rule).
New York, NY - February 28, 2017 - New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman led a coalition of attorneys general in opposing President Trumps executive order today, which the President described as paving the way to the elimination of the Clean Water Rule (also known as the Waters of the United States Rule).
The coalition, which includes the attorneys general of New York, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Vermont, issued the following statement:
We strongly oppose President Trumps action today that undermines Clean Water Act protections and the public health and environment of our states.
The Presidents order runs counter to the Clean Water Acts, and the EPAs, very purpose: achieving clean water. The Clean Water Rule is a measured, reasonable, and lawful application of sound and uncontroverted science to protect our nations upstream source waters. We rely on these waters to ensure clean drinking water, recreation, and viable commercial fishing and navigation. Abandoning the Clean Water Rule will allow uncontrolled pollution of these critical water resources. It could also harm the competitiveness of our state economies by forcing us to spend more to clean up the pollution of deregulated waters coming from upstream states that refuse to control such pollution.
Clean water is essential to life -- and the people of our states and the nation deserve the basic protections established by the Clean Water Rule, to ensure that the benefits of clean water are shared equally, regardless of state lines.
We wont hesitate to protect our people and our environmentincluding by aggressively opposing in court President Trumps actions that ignore both the law and the publics paramount need for clean water.
In April 2014, EPA and the Army Corps proposed the Clean Water Rule to define the waters of the United States, and made the rule available for an extended public comment period. After receiving over one million comments, most of which supported the rule, the Agencies published the final rule (Rule) on June 29, 2015. A coalition of states successfully intervened to defend the Rule in litigation challenging it in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The Rule clarifies the scope of waters that are protected under the Clean Water Act (Act). It protects waters with a significant nexus to downstream waters, such as tributary streams, wetlands, and open waters in floodplains and riparian areas, consistent with Supreme Court precedent. In drawing those lines, EPA and the Corps relied on a robust EPA science report that considered more than 1,200 peer-reviewed publications. The agencies also relied on an independent review of the science report by EPAs Science Advisory Board.
The Rule enhances environmental protection benefits enjoyed by states and the public by clearly defining the Acts reach to include waters that significantly contribute to the quality of the nations waters. By clarifying the scope of the Clean Water Act, the Rule also benefits both regulators and the regulated community by reducing time-consuming, inefficient, and potentially inconsistent case-by-case jurisdictional determinations that have hampered effective implementation of the Act for years and led to significant, time-consuming litigation across the country.
CANCELLED - Missing Juvenile Alert: 14-Year-Old Uniondale Girl Did Not Return Home from School
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
The Missing Persons Squad is investigating a missing juvenile that occurred in Uniondale on Wednesday, 03/01/17 at 7:30 P.M.
Joceline Blanco, 14, of Uniondale did not return home after school on March 1, 2017. Detectives request anyone with information regarding this missing juvenile to contact the Missing Persons Squad at 516-573-7347 or call 911. All callers will remain anonymous.
Update - March 2, 2017 - The juvenile was located at 9:23 am on Thursday, March 2, 2017.
The original alert is below.
Uniondale, NY - March 2, 2017 - The Missing Persons Squad is investigating a missing juvenile that occurred in Uniondale on Wednesday, 03/01/17 at 7:30 P.M.
According to detectives, Joceline Blanco, 14, female Hispanic, did not return home after school and was last seen in Uniondale. No clothing description is available.
Detectives request anyone with information regarding this missing juvenile to contact the Missing Persons Squad at 516-573-7347 or call 911. All callers will remain anonymous.
Crime, Press Releases
By Long Island News & PR Published: March 02 2017
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini issued a statement follow the arrest of MS13 gang members.
Suffolk County, NY - March 2, 2017 - "The day Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas were heinously murdered, the Suffolk County Police Department made a commitment to their families and to the residents of Brentwood that justice would be served. Today, in collaboration with the FBI and the United States Attorneys Office, we have delivered on that promise.
September 13, 2016 was a dark day for all of us, but for Nisa's and Kaylas loved ones it was an unspeakable nightmare. I have personally witnessed their shared trauma and grief as it reverberated through the Brentwood community. Although we are keenly aware that nothing will ever undo the heartbreaking loss of Nisa and Kayla, we can take solace in the fact that their savage murderers will be held accountable.
The Brentwood family has spent the last six months in mourning, but today marks the beginning of the healing process for this beautiful and resilient community.
The Suffolk County Police Department has fulfilled one commitment today, but another still remains. We have promised to eradicate MS13 from our streets and we remain fully committed to finishing the job. We will continue to keep the pressure on this ruthless gang and anyone who associates with them, and we will spare no resource to accomplish our objective. I want to thank every member of the Suffolk County Police Department for their steadfast determination, commitment and professionalism on this investigation and a special thank you to our partners in the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office for their outstanding work on this case."
A casket carrying the body of an Iranian sniper killed in combat in Iraq on February 25 was received in Tehran three days ago. An Islamic State mortar killed Ali-Asqar Karimi near Mosul, according to a colleague. A military campaign by Iraqi forces to dislodge Islamic State is underway in Ninewah province, backed by Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite militias as well as US airpower.
Iranian media and officials have released few details about the 35-year-olds military record, but Karimi was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Basij paramilitary. A Basij unit stationed in Tehran released a statement expressing condolences for our Basiji brother.
The Basij, also known as the Organization for the Mobilization of the Oppressed, is an all-volunteer force that acts as auxiliary to the IRGC Ground Forces branch and also as a vigilante group enforcing public morality laws. Over the past five years, Basij members have deployed to Iraq and Syria as part of IRGC expeditionary forces.
The photograph on Karimis casket shows him wearing the armband of the Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite militia close to the Guard that has been designated by the US Treasury as a terrorist group. IRGC elements are known to operate out of such militias, and his armband indicates that he was as well.
Karimi had several previous voluntary deployments to defend the shrine of the House of God, according to Iranian media. That also could denote deployments to Syria, where Iran claims to defend Shiite shrines against extremist Sunni militants. Karimi was injured in his last tour, and returned to the battlefield after a two-month stay in Iran, according to his colleague. It is currently unclear whether Karimi was embedded only in the Hezbollah Brigades throughout his tours.
Karimi is the second confirmed Iranian combat fatality in Iraq since the Mosul campaign commenced in October 2016. An IRGC Ground Forces commander was killed last month near Tal Afar, an Islamic-State-held town west of Mosul.
Since November, IRGC-backed Shiite militias have held positions in that western Mosul axis. Those forces are operating within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization of diverse militias constituted by many IRGC-backed elements. In the past week, the PMF and Iraqi army forces have made gains to the west of Mosul, and near Tal Afar in preparation of an assault on the town, according to a PMF spokesman who spoke with Fars News.
Iranian military officials may be obfuscating Karimis record because IRGC chief Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari proclaimed in November 2016 that no Iranian forces were present in the battle for Mosul. While Jafari acknowledged an advisory footprint in Iraq, the deaths of a senior commander and a young sniper near the battlefield suggest that Iranians are engaged in combat as well.
Regular Iranian military personnel have been operating in Iraq since the 2014 Islamic State incursion. Last summer, for instance, at least two Basij members were killed leading up to the Fallujah operation. These fatalities, however, do not reflect the full Iranian losses: the Qods Force, the IRGCs extraterritorial branch, is not known to acknowledge deaths, lest a senior commander be killed.
The fatalities of regular Iranian military personnel in Iraq indicate that elements from the Ground Forces continue to augment the Qods Force, which has been strained by deep involvement in Iraq and Syria, and further afield as in Yemen.
Tehrans military involvement in Iraq covers training, advising, assisting and equipping Iraqi militias as well as limited combat roles. That engagement is expected to continue after the Mosul campaign as IRGC-backed elements vie for political, military and social influence in Iraq.
Amir Toumaj is a independent analyst and contributor to FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Hours after The FDDs Long War Journal noted the Taliban would likely reject US General John Nicholsons call for reconciliation, the Taliban did just that yesterday.
Nicholson, the commander of US Forces Afghanistan and Resolute Support, was quoted in a press release announcing the death of Mullah Abdul Salam, the Talibans shadow emir for Kunduz province:
Salams death is an opportunity for change. The people of Afghanistan want peace and the Government of Afghanistan is committed to achieving peace through reconciliation. The Taliban know the only path forward is reconciliation.
US, European, and Afghan officials had been urging the Taliban to reconcile for well over a decade. But the Taliban had proven unwilling to negotiate a peace deal and join the government, even after suffering setbacks.
Taliban spokesman Zabihulllah Mujahid rejected the call for reconciliation in a statement entitled Response by spokesman of Islamic Emirate to comments by General Nicholson. Predictably, Mujahid said that the Taliban would fight until NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan and accept the lawful demands of the valiant Afghan, which means the return of a Taliban government. The crux of Mujahids argument is quoted at length below:
The Muslim Afghan nation views you Americans with the same eye as the invading English and Soviets and with the blessing of Jihad and help of Allah, will throw you out of their motherland in a similar fashion. We do not view the martyrdom of Mullah Abdul Salam as failure or regret but as honor and victory which has intensified the thirst for revenge of the people of Kunduz and Afghanistan. It has revealed the truthfulness of the Mujahideen and has further increased the love for Mullah Abdul Salam and his companions in the community. Understand that we are a nation that loves martyrdom in the path of Allah as you love the short life of this fleeting world. These are not our emotions or assumptions talking but are the realities which forced over one hundred and fifty thousand fully equipped troops to kneel. If you do not end this occupation and accept the lawful demands of the valiant Afghan nation then this nation (Allah willing) will force you out of Afghanistan as the commander of US and NATO forces with all your might and technology just as this resistance broke, deranged and forced out your most celebrated commanders and experienced generals.
It is high time that US officials and military commanders put an end to calls for the Taliban to reconcile. After 15 plus years of war, the Taliban has proven to be a committed enemy unwilling to compromise to achieve its objective of ruling Afghanistan again. The Taliban an al Qaeda remain close allies to this day. When US leaders plead with the Taliban to make peace, they deliver the Taliban all of the fodder it needs to score a propaganda victory and show how disillusioned the US remains about their enemy.
Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Trump Before Congress
His Tuesday address was long on making America safe for Wall Street, war profiteers and other corporate predators, short on whats most needed to serve all Americans equitably and promote world peace.
He focused on increased military spending at a time major cuts are needed, combating terrorism without explaining ISIS and likeminded groups are US creations, used as imperial foot soldiers.
He called for repealing and replacing Obamacare, omitting what he and GOP lawmakers want is something worse, maybe devastating for the nations most vulnerable.
We will soon begin the construction of a great wall along our southern border, he said. He lied claiming itll deter illicit drugs and crime.
He covered his notion of immigration reform, falsely claiming it will save countless dollars, raise workers wages, and help struggling families, including immigrant families, enter the middle class.
Middle America has been disappearing for years. Neoliberal harshness since the 1990s wrecked it. Nothing in prospect suggests resurrection.
He wants America more militarized than ever, intending greater funding for police - to protect the nations privileged class from beneficial social change.
Changes hell propose in Americas tax code are unrelated to letting our companiescompete and thrive anywhere and with anyone. He lied claiming otherwise.
Corporate tax cuts dont create jobs. Economic growth does. GW Bush and Obama gave business trillions of dollars in tax breaks. Their balance sheets and bottom line performance benefitted.
Enormous amounts of corporate wealth went to tax havens, were used for stock buybacks, along with higher executive pay and bonuses, nothing helping workers, nothing creating jobs.
Job reductions accompanied foreign investments. Offshoring was rewarded. Rotten part-time jobs replaced good full-time ones.
Corporate America and high-net worth households never had things better. Unprecedented wealth amounts shifted from ordinary people to them.
The great wealth transfer heist continues, America thirdworldized in the process, nothing being done to change things. Trumps economic plan may make conditions worse with Goldman Sachs in charge of administration policy.
His address said nothing about Russia, little about foreign policy. America remains the worlds leading pariah state on his watch, its leading bully, waging endless wars of aggression.
He lied claiming the United States respects the right of all nations to chart their own path. Humanity profoundly disagrees.
Candidate Trump called NATO obsolete. Before Congress he expressed strong support for an alliance forged through the bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War that defeated communism.
NATO is a killing machine, used for offense, not defense. World peace, stability and security are impossible as long as the alliance exists.
Saying he want(s) harmony and stability, not war and conflict, imperial wars rage on his watch in multiple theaters - nothing said about ending US aggression against nations threatening no one, nothing about the grand deception of Americas war on terrorism.
His address was long on hyperbole and bluster, short on a compelling need for a new direction.
By Stephen Lendman
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
His new book as editor and contributor is titled Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.
2017 Copyright Stephen Lendman - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.
2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
MARTINSVILLE The city schools revised policy on how information and materials from outside sources are distributed was adopted despite a lawyers concerns.
Lindsay Brubaker of the Harrisonburg law firm BotkinRose LLC, who specializes in education matters, voiced her concerns in a Feb. 27 letter to Martinsville City Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Zeb Talley. The Martinsville Bulletin filed a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request to receive a copy of the letter, which was read aloud by Chairwoman Joan Montgomery during a special Martinsville School Board meeting Monday night.
In her letter, Brubaker stated that her firm cannot assure MCPS or the (school) board that the draft revisions would be immune from a constitutional challenge under the First Amendments Free Speech Clause.
Proposed policy revisions first were discussed during the boards regular monthly meeting on Feb. 13 but tabled for further discussion and consideration pending an attorneys review.
Monday nights special meeting was called specifically to discuss budgeting matters. Policy revisions were not on the agenda to be discussed. Still, the board discussed them and adopted the revised policy.
Under the revised policy, parent-teacher organizations (PTOs), booster clubs supporting school-sponsored student activities and non-school governmental organizations can apply for permission to have schools employees distribute their materials. Also, for-profit organizations that have a clearly established partnership with the (school) division may be considered.
PTOs and booster clubs must apply to the schools principal. Government and for-profit organizations must apply to the superintendent or his or her designee. The superintendent will establish the time, place and matter of distribution of approved materials, according to the policy revision.
Brubaker indicated in her letter that she was especially concerned about the reference to for-profit entities that have a clearly established partnership with MCPS.
She urged school officials to think about who may knock at the door and want to come through the door if such a (revised) policy were adopted.
In addition to the school divisions partner businesses and organizations, Brubaker wrote, there may also be groups who are related to, or adverse to, other entities that a divisions sponsor also supports, who then request to distribute information and materials.
The task to open the door, in effect, just to for-profit entities is a challenging one without the risk that someone from the non-profit world will claim content discrimination, she wrote.
With the board already having endured controversy over matters involving distribution of religious materials, it may be worthwhile to think of alternative approaches to distributing information from outside sources, Brubaker continued.
An idea that she mentioned is having a First Amendment table at each school. Outside entities could display materials on the table and students could pick up whatever materials they choose.
Businesses also could request student directory information. Schools could then release such info, in accordance with policies, and then the businesses could mail promotional materials to students homes, according to Brubaker.
She concluded her letter by telling Talley that she would be glad to explore more options and policy revisions with you and the board.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Brubaker declined to comment before talking to Talley because she was not at the school board meeting. She did not call back later in the day.
Martinsville City Attorney Eric Monday also declined to comment, saying he did not want to second guess another lawyers advice.
Monday provides legal advice to Martinsville City Council and other entities within city government. He said he had no contact with schools officials concerning the policy.
The vote to approve the revised policy was 3-2 following a motion made by Victor Correa which was seconded by Eric Hruza. Montgomery also voted in favor, and the trio of board members constituted the quorum needed for the revision to be approved.
Voting no were Vice Chairman Lawrence Mitchell and board member Donna Dillard. Mitchell has said he dissented because he thinks consideration of revising the policy was expedited due to a request by one individual and there should have been more discussion of Brubakers letter at the meeting. Dillard has indicated that she had similar concerns.
Correa and Hruza said Wednesday they did not construe anything in the letter as a recommendation not to revise the policy.
I viewed it (the letter) as being a little bit cautious, Hruza said. But lawyers tend to be cautious, he said.
Hruza said he supported revising the policy because he perceived that the previous version would not have let respected organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and United Way distribute information to students and their families. He said other board members had the same perception.
I thought it was the best move for the (school) division at the time of the meeting, Correa said. He referred further comment to Montgomery, saying she brought up the policy during the meeting.
Im not going to step on anybodys toes, he said, adding that he would not have wanted anyone to do that when he served as the boards chairman.
Neither Montgomery nor Talley returned calls for comment on Wednesday.
COLLINSVILLE-One local driver could face charges after an incident Wednesday afternoon that delayed the trip home for some Henry County students.
A car rear-ended a school bus on John Redd Boulevard in Collinsville, a bus carrying students from Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School and Bassett High.
No injuries were reported in the accident, to which the Bassett Rescue Squad and Fieldale-Collinsville Fire Department responded within minutes. The cars driver, the bus driver and all the students were checked out by Rescue Squad members. One student mentioned a minor injury, but it was treated on site.
Its still unclear what caused the incident, as officials at the scene were still collecting evidence. After receiving word of the incident, Henry County school officials went to the scene.
[Henry County] staff went to the scene to verify the safety of all students onboard, said Monica Hatchett, communications director for Henry County Public Schools.
While damage to the bus was minimal, the cars front bumper was torn off and the vehicle had a shattered headlight on the drivers side, along with other damage. All students were transferred to another bus to continue their ride home.
The drivers name has not been released yet by the Virginia State Police and they have not confirmed yet if charges will be filed.
LUDLOW -- Duro-Last Roofing Inc. recently signed a lease to operate a light manufacturing facility at 84 Westover Road, making Ludlow the company's sixth location in the U.S.
"This plant here in Ludlow will service pretty much everything from Maine to Virginia. It's going to be a central hub," said Brian Regnier, Northeast sales director for the Saginaw, Michigan-based company, which makes commercial-grade roofing and related products.
Duro-Last received its certificate of occupancy last month and will hold a "soft opening" April 3, according to Regnier, a Ludlow native who now lives in Agawam.
"We expect to be in full operation mode by mid-June," he said.
Even though Duro-Last is a Michigan company, all of the players involved in the Ludlow branch are from Western Massachusetts, according to Regnier, who publicly introduced the company at a recent meeting of the Ludlow Board of Selectmen.
"We really want to try to hire as many Ludlow people as we can," Reginer said, adding that the entry-level positions come with "a very strong benefits package."
Duro-Last held a job fair last month and will likely hold another one this month in Ludlow, depending on the outcome of February's hiring fair.
"I think we're earmarking about 20 jobs right now," Regnier said, "and that will grow."
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a minimum of a high school diploma or GED, and submit to a drug screen and pre-employment physical.
Duro-Last Roofing is the world's largest manufacturer of prefabricated roofing systems. All new hires will work with a qualified trainer to learn Duro-Last's policies and procedures for safety and production operations.
In addition to Ludlow and Michigan, the company's other plants are in Iowa, Oregon, Mississippi, and Texas.
"We're a major manufacturer of commercial roofing, and Ludlow is our sixth manufacturing facility," Regnier said.
"We're glad you're taking a vacant building and making it flourish again, and that you guys love Ludlow as much as we do and you're offering jobs," Selectwoman Carmina D. Fernandes said.
MAP showing approximate location of Duro-Last facility:
SPRINGFIELD -- The town of Longmeadow plans to use $7,200 of its of its $100,000 Community Mitigation Fund Reserve to collect traffic data and create a baseline picture of traffic conditions in town now -- before the MGM Springfield project opens.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, meeting in Springfield at the MassMutual Center, approved the plan Thursday by a vote of 5 to 0.
The $950 million MGM Springfield project is now under construction and will likely be done in September 2018.
The study will also compare traffic impacts from non-casino projects.
The money comes out of funds MGM has to pay as part of its host community and surrounding community agreements.
The Surrounding Community Agreement awarded an $850,000 one-time upfront payment to address traffic and roadway infrastructure impacts studied by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and its consultants.
Longmeadow will also receive $275,000 a year once the the casino opens. That sum will see an automatic increase of 2.5 percent per year.
Longmeadow fought hard for the mitigation funds and was especially concerned about the traffic impact on its roads.
David-Ross.jpg
Former Red Sox catcher David Ross, right, with "Dancing With the Stars" pro Lindsay Arnold.
(ABC photo)
Pity former Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross.
The two-time World Series champ hasn't danced his first foxtrot on "Dancing With the Stars" and he is already being dissed.
European oddsmakers have pegged Ross as a long shot to win Season 24 of "DWTS," which kicks off on March 20.
Only 65-year-old entertainer Charo and former "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Chris Kattan ranked lower.
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is the favorite to take home the "DWTS" Mirror Ball Trophy with +200 odds (wager $100 to win $200), according to BookMaker.eu
Former "Glee" actress is a distant second to win with +500 odds.
Here is how oddsmakers ranked the celebrity contestants chances of winning.
The Connecticut tribal gaming company MMCT and the town of East Windsor, Conn. formally signed a development deal Thursday afternoon, as the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes prepare to build a casino just 13 miles south of the in-progress MGM Springfield casino.
"MGM will do whatever they can to generate whatever shareholder revenue they can, even if it means crippling a celebrated Connecticut industry," Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler said. "They would love to see us give up instead of fighting back. But we're not going to do that."
MMCT, which is jointly run by the tribal operators of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, announced that it had chosen East Windsor to host the state's third casino on Monday, 17 months after it first solicited development proposals.
The deal guarantees a $3 million initial payment from MMCT and at least $3 million per year in additional revenue. MMCT estimates the project would generate about $5.5 million per year in addition to the $3 million set payment.
The agreement also includes a commitment to use union labor for construction, and guarantees that at least 4 percent of the casino's workers will be East Windsor residents and 15 percent from within 25 miles of the facility, MMCT said in a press release.
The ceremony featured supportive statements from officials with the local police department, labor unions, chamber of commerce and school district.
"We care about our land, we care about our home," East Windsor First Selectman Bob Maynard said. "The tribal nations, they've been here longer than we have. They care about our state and they're not leaving."
Mohegan Chairman Kevin Brown pledged the tribes' support for the town, saying the company was dedicated to promoting public safety and the local economy. The town's police chief said the increased funding would allow enhanced programs like the return of a K9 unit and anti-opioid abuse initiatives.
"We're going to work as hard as we can to make sure that the only impact our facility has on your town is a positive impact," Brown said. Crime will not increase when we open our doors. Traffic will not become a logjam when we open our doors."
MGM has launched an aggressive public relations campaign against the state's casino process, and filed a lawsuit to block the 2015 gaming act that is currently before a federal appeals court. One of the company's criticisms of the East Windsor site is the lack of a local referendum, which competing sites had required should they be chosen for the casino.
Asked about the decision not to hold a referendum, Maynard described the issue as a distraction from the benefits to the town and the stakeholders who support the project.
"That's an interesting question, but it's a red herring," Maynard said. "The development agreement we made was unanimously passed by the board of selectmen, and the board of selectmen are elected officials who represent the town."
"That's our job," he continued. "We're elected to do that."
Brown, the Mohegan Chairman, also anticipated criticism from MGM in his remarks.
"I'm here to tell you the sky is blue," Brown said. "Tomorrow, MGM will tell you all the things we told you today are not true and the sky is purple."
An original Dec. 15, 2015 target date for site selection was pushed back, and in September of last year, the tribes reopened its application process, citing amended site proposals and potential interest from towns that missed the first application period.
In October, East Windsor and South Windsor submitted new proposals, joining East Hartford, Hartford and Windsor Locks in the competition to host Connecticut's third casino.
In January, MMCT ruled out East Hartford and South Windsor, leaving East Windsor and Windsor Locks as finalists.
The East Hartford proposal's chief architect, former Springfield City Councilor Anthony Ravosa Jr., has harshly criticized the selection process since his site was eliminated, holding a press conference after the finalists were announced and testifying to the Connecticut legislature last week.
The construction of a new Connecticut casino has drawn interest both in Connecticut and across the Massachusetts border, with supporters of the Connecticut casino measure framing the new casino as a way to protect state gaming revenues and jobs from Massachusetts competition.
A study funded by both tribes suggested out-of-state casino competition could cost Connecticut 9,300 jobs. An analysis by the Connecticut's Office of Fiscal Analysis suggested the competition could cost the state $68 million in annual gaming revenues. And Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown has described the project as in direct competition with MGM Springfield, which is scheduled to open in late 2018.
The new casino must also receive authorization from the state legislature.
Fake vs real
A real iPhone (left) alongside a fake (right).
(John Karakatsanis/Flickr)
A man living in Massachusetts faces up to 10 years in prison after years of allegedly selling counterfeit Apple products.
Arif Ali Shah, 66, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston with trafficking in counterfeit iPhone components that bore Apple trademarks - the Apple icon and the iPhone word mark.
The first generation of iPhone was released in 2007.
Shah did repair work on genuine iPhones but also sold thousands of pieces of counterfeit merchandise in the stores his stores -Nadia's in Dorchester, East Boston Wireless in East Boston and Todo Wireless in Chelsea - the Justice Department claims.
The counterfeit products came both from within the U.S. and abroad, according to the department.
He faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $2 million.
ragon1-1.jpg
File photo from 2009, courtesy Massachusetts General Hospital: Front row, from left, Susan M. and Phillip T. Ragon. Back row, from left, Richard Bringhurst, MD, senior vice president for MGH Research; Slavin; Faust; Hockfield; Walker; Marc Kastner, dean of Science and Donner Professor of Science at MIT; W. Gerald Austen, MD, chair of the MGH Chiefs Council
Phillip "Terry" Ragon and his wife, Susan, have pledged to commit at least half their fortune to philanthropy.
The couple announced this year that they've joined The Giving Pledge, a group of more than 150 individuals who have pledged to donate the majority of their wealth during their lifetimes or in their will.
Ragon, 67, is the founder, CEO and owner of software company InterSystems. The couple co-founded The Phillip and Susan Ragon Foundation, following a trip to South Africa in 2009 when they saw extreme poverty and the large-scale effect of AIDS on the region.
"It was obvious that HIV had so totally overwhelmed the lives of these people that it was difficult to accomplish anything there without first eliminating this disease and its close cousin - tuberculosis," Ragon wrote.
"Susan and I often find ourselves wondering, 'Why were we born with so many advantages in life when others are born with none?' It is, of course, an accident of birth," He wrote. "As those advantages have turned into financial success, we've increasingly felt a responsibility to help those less fortunate."
The Ragons are among the richest residents of Massachusetts, with a net worth estimated at $1.8 billion by Forbes. He made last year's list of the 400 richest people in America.
The couple have built schools internationally and funded research at Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard to search for a vaccine to HIV.
MBTA South Station.jpg
Train passengers leave Boston's South Station on a recent snowy morning. (Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive.com)
(Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive.com)
Massachusetts officials are taking another step in looking at linking North Station and South Station, two major transportation hubs in Boston.
Proponents say the connection could be an economic boon to the Greater Boston area, though the price tag could be the range of billions of dollars. Backers include former Governors William Weld and Michael Dukakis, as well as Congressman Seth Moulton, D-Mass.
Gov. Charlie Baker's transportation chief, Stephanie Pollack, announced Wednesday the opening of a request for proposals for a reassessment of the feasibility of a North South Rail Link, closing a one-mile "gap" in downtown Boston. The state plans to select a technical consultant and the feasibility assessment is expected to last eight months and cost roughly $1.5 million.
The assessment is expected to provide guidance on whether further technical and financial analysis of the project is needed. The state last eyed the rail link almost 15 years ago.
Baker remains somewhat skeptical about the project.
"We'll see what it says," he said of the feasibility study during a sit-down with the editorial board of MassLive/Springfield Republican.
Baker said he has made it clear he has his doubts but he's trying to keep an "open mind" about the project.
MassLive/Springfield Republican also asked Baker about an east-west connection: A high-speed rail proposal, pushed by state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, linking Boston and Springfield.
State Sen. Eric Lesser petitions President Donald Trump for Boston-Springfield rail line funding
Lesser has argued that the link could be an economic boon to Western Massachusetts, and he is re-launching an effort to get a feasibility study. Like the North South Rail Link, the proposal has bipartisan support.
The proposal made it through the Legislature last year, but Baker used his veto powers to seek an amendment to the proposal and expand it to include other transportation modes.
The Legislature didn't take up the change, so the proposal died, and Lesser is giving it another go this year.
"This is a transportation question," Baker said Wednesday when asked about the proposal and whether his stance remains the same. "It's not a rail question."
Picknelly lobbied against rail study, sending email two days before Gov. Baker's veto
Lesser called the North South Rail link a "worthy project."
"But the idea that in one breath that can be embraced and east-west rail can be dismissed is something that all of us in Western Mass. see and feel time and time again and should be very outraged over," Lesser said.
"I absolutely support looking at ride-sharing, looking at autonomous vehicles, looking at rail, looking at electric vehicles, you name it," he added "I agree with that but it doesn't seem to me it should come at the expense of moving to the next phase of determining what next to do on a project that would really transform our region."
A feasibility study of the east-west rail proposal is necessary because those types of studies are conducted by engineers, laying out costs, scope and potential benefits, if there are any, the senator argued.
"It can't just be part of a broad look that's so broad that we don't learn anything substantive," Lesser said.
Actor Jeff Bridges says he was "head over heels" the first time he saw his wife, Susan. He was in Montana in the 1970s shooting the movie Rancho Deluxe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LKoOzAb4Bs when he first spotted the beauty. After finally getting the guts to ask her out, her response was, "Noits a small town, maybe Ill see you around."
A few nights later, they ran into each other at a bar, danced and fell in lovebut thats not where the story ends.
Read more: http://www.oprah.com/own-master-class/jeff-bridges-unbelievable-love-story-video_1#ixzz4a7fBIAFu
The term "artificial intelligence" is widely used, but less understood. As we see it permeate our everyday lives, we should deal with its inevitable exponential growth and learn to embrace it before tremendous economic and social changes overwhelm us.
By Jonathan Aberman
Full Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2017/02/27/artificial-intelligence-will-change-america-heres-how/?utm_term=.53ed677f5ed5
Canon, a pioneer of innovative imaging products, announces its latest photography competition Capture the Action for upcoming photographers in Africa in collaboration with Pan African Visions one of the leading media outlets in African continent.
Through this contest Canon is providing a platform for people to showcase their talent and harness the power of visual storytelling. The competition is seeking entries of photographers that highlight the high and lows and big and small wins of athletes and performers across Africa. The contest is open for African photographers aged 18 and over.
Capture The Action contest is a chance to illustrate the spectacular moments of athletes in action and follow their journeys. It is also a celebration of Africas sports stars as well as the photographers covering them. In pursuit of encouraging the community of story tellers were providing a platform across social channels to showcase the user generated content through #CelebrateAfrica. Focusing on this months genre of Sports photography, Canon wants to showcase moments of athletic brilliance, triumph, and glory through this competition which is to run until the 31st of July.
Capture the action is aimed to showcase the stars, their performance, and the intrepid stories behind their rise to the top. The competition celebrates Africas contribution to sports and brings forth the stories of athletic achievement, says Amine Djouahra, Director of Sales and Marketing, Canon Central and North Africa. Canon as a brand has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology. This contest embodies of technological brilliance and superhuman performance, going beyond the realm of possibility. We are looking forward to see some amazing actions captured from the continent as its hosting various international sports events in different African countries.
The best sports photography shots submitted for this contest in July stand to win some amazing prizes and they will be chosen through public voting and an exclusive jury panel cherry picked for this competition.
Canon will provide the following three prizes:
1st Prize- Canon EOS R5
2nd Prize- Canon EOS R7
3rd Prize- Canon PRO 200 Printer
Canon encourages African residents to share their best images of sports photography. Those wishing to participate can do so by uploading an original picture(s) meeting the criteria to enter the competition.
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by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, March 1, 2017
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai may be spreading fake news about broadband in an attempt to build a record against the net neutrality rules. At least that's how some consumer advocates view the FCC chief's most recent attempts to justify a repeal of the open Internet order.
Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, Pai called the net neutrality rules "a mistake." The rules, passed two years ago by a 3-2 vote, reclassified broadband as a utility and imposed some common carrier rules on providers. Among other new rules, carriers are prohibited from throttling or blocking content, and from charging higher fees for prioritized delivery.
"Our new approach injected tremendous uncertainty into the broadband market," Pai said. "After the FCC embraced utility-style regulation, the United States experienced the first-ever decline in broadband investment outside of a recession. In fact, broadband investment remains lower today than it was when the FCC changed course in 2015."
Those facts apparently come from the broadband industry trade group US Telecom, which recently said that providers' capital expenditures dropped to $76 billion in 2015, from $77 billion the year before.
But others are questioning the numbers. The advocacy group Free Press, which compiled statistics from stock reports, says total capital expenditure spending by 13 carriers (including Comcast, Charter, AT&T and Verizon) increased in the two years following passage of the net neutrality rules.
Pai keeps repeating the utterly debunked claim that the FCCs Net Neutrality rules are utility-style regulations that are hurting broadband deployment," Free Press policy director Matt Wood stated this week. "This is false on the law and false on the facts."
Consumerist, which also crunched the numbers, adds that Comcast's stock price is now 26% higher than before the net neutrality rules were passed, while AT&T's stock is up more than 20%.
Pai also argued that deregulation will lead to benefits for consumers, and held up recent moves by wireless carriers as an example.
Specifically, Pai linked carriers' new unlimited data offerings with the agency's recent decision to end an inquiry into whether AT&T and Verizon violated net neutrality rules by exempting their own videos from consumers' data caps.
"In the days following our decision, all four national wireless providers in the United States announced new unlimited data plans or expanded their existing ones," Pai stated. "Preemptive government regulation did not produce that result. The free market did."
But others rightly point out that it's difficult to see why the FCC's decision to endorse data-cap exemptions would be connected to carriers' decisions to offer unlimited data. On the contrary, customers with unlimited data don't need to worry about data caps at all, let alone whether particular material is exempt from their caps.
Net neutrality advocates like Free Press argue Pai's questionable leaps of logic should raise red flags. "Pais relentless spin and his inaccurate numbers beg the question: What else is Pai misleading us about?" Wood stated this week. "People need to take a moment to double check the alternative facts coming from this FCC chairman.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, March 1, 2017
Kansas City, Missouri-based agency Barkley has elevated Katy Hornaday to the post of Executive Creative Director. Shes been with the agency for five years leading creative work for brands such as Hershey, Anheuser-Busch and Vanity Fair.
Hornaday replaces Jason Elm, who is departing Barkley.
Before joining Barkley, Hornaday was a senior copywriter at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, working on brands such as Old Navy and Baby Carrots, before moving to Mullen in Boston, where she was Associate Creative Director for Zappos and JetBlue.
Jeff King, Barkley CEO said Hornaday is a great listener, a skilled collaborator and she is one of the most natural and gifted leaders I've met in the business.
Separately, the agency has tapped Paul Corrigan to run its Blacktop design unit as Executive Design Director, overseeing the agencys brand and experience design efforts. Corrigan has been with Barkley since 2004 and earlier held titles including VP/Interactive Creative Director and Design Director.
He replaces Shawn Polowniak, who is departing Barkley.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 1, 2017
Yahoo acknowledged Wednesday that it failed to adequately investigate a 2014 data breach that affected up to 500,000 users.
The company added in a stock filing that CEO Marissa Mayer won't receive an expected cash bonus for 2016 or her 2017 annual equity grant. General counsel and secretary Ron Bell also resigned from the company on Wednesday.
The news comes six months after Yahoo disclosed that it suffered a massive data breach in late 2014, when hackers may have obtained names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, security questions and encrypted passwords associated with 500,000 accounts. Most of the passwords were encrypted, according to Yahoo. The company says it believes a "state-sponsored actor" is responsible for the attack.
Yahoo said in its 10-K that some executives were aware of the data breach when it occurred, and that the company 26 "specifically targeted users" and consulted with law enforcement. But Yahoo added that senior executives "did not properly comprehend or investigate" the incident.
"As of December 2014, the information security team understood that the attacker had exfiltrated copies of user database backup files containing the personal data of Yahoo users but it is unclear whether and to what extent such evidence of exfiltration was effectively communicated and understood outside the information security team," the company said.
Yahoo added that an investigation by a committee of the company's board -- assisted by the law firm Sidley Austin and a forensic expert -- didn't find that anyone intentionally suppressed information. Instead, the committee attributed the delay in investigating to "failures in communication, management, inquiry and internal reporting."'
Yahoo also revealed last year that hackers may have stolen information associated with 1 billion accounts in 2013.
News of both the 2013 and 2014 data breaches resulted in Verizon revising its purchase price for Yahoo to $4.48 billion, marking a decrease of $350 million from the original agreement.
by Tanya Gazdik , March 2, 2017
Ford, Mercedes, and Toyota, which rank high in customer loyalty, are the some of the least cross-shopped brands by proportion of those shoppers seen in other dealer showrooms, according to a study.
Dodge and Jeep are the most cross-shopped auto brands by sheer volume across the U.S, and Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet shoppers are the least likely to visit other auto dealerships when shopping for a car.
Pasadena, California-based UberMedia analyzed two years of mobile location visitation data from more than 18,000 auto dealerships to reveal the most frequently cross-shopped car brands, the most common cross-shopped brand combinations and the cities with the most cross-shopping. The study, UberMedia Data Insights on the Auto Purchasing Journey, reveals the impact of real-world cross-shopping behavior and the value that multiple dealership visits still have on the auto purchasing journey.
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The study, UberMedia Data Insights on the Auto Purchasing Journey, reveals the impact of real-world cross-shopping behavior and the value that multiple dealership visits still have on the auto purchasing journey.
Auto marketers need fresh insights into consumer cross-shopping behavior, says Gladys Kong, UberMedia CEO.
The assertion that the average buyer only visits 1.6 dealerships during the car-buying process is narrow and too easily misinterpreted, Kong tells Marketing Daily. This data point has created limited thinking around how consumers actually use mobile in their path to purchase. Our data insights have attempted to surface new strategic thinking for auto brands and manufacturers in terms of understanding true consumer foot-traffic patterns.
More than half of auto shoppers visit multiple dealerships before making a purchase. Some research sources claim that 41% of new car buyers visit one dealership, but 59% visit an average of up to five. The typical person considers 2.4 vehicles on average.
Manufacturers that are visited by the most shoppers (who were also seen at other brand dealerships) tend to be mass-market brands that in many cases ladder up to the top-ranked manufacturers.
Luxury brands experience less cross-shopping than mass-market brands, indicating that the super-affluent tend to go to only one dealership before making a purchase. Cross-shopping is more common in urban areas where there are more brands and dealerships to choose from.
Millennials see the value in dealership visits, with a significant percentage believing that showroom access and their relationship with dealers strongly influence their purchasing decisions.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, March 2, 2017
McDonalds came to the ball with fast food and after a few spins on the floor with salads, oatmeal and other enticing suitors gussied up in healthy raiments it is sticking with it. Its also revamping delivery worldwide with the launch of a mobile order and pay app this year that will accommodate curbside pickup and it told those assembled at its investors conference in Chicago yesterday that it is experimenting with other ways of getting Big Macs and new menu items to the masses.
To grow, we must grow guest counts, CEO Steve Easterbrook told the crowd as trading in its stock was temporarily halted as executives laid out their plans to investors, Charisse Jones reports for USA Today. Its as plain and simple as that.
Amplifying the message, Lucy Brady, the companys SVP for corporate strategy and business development, said: Weve lost hundreds of millions of visits from our core customers students, teachers, construction workers and others.
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Those others add up to a whopping departure of those lovin it.
After losing about 500 million U.S. orders over the past five years over failed attempts to widen its customer base, the fast-food chain said it is going to embrace its identity as an affordable fast-food chain and stop chasing after people who will rarely eat there, Julie Jargon reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The decision comes after the company conducted its largest-ever customer survey last year to understand why it was losing customers. The study showed that it was losing customers to other fast-food chains, not to fast-casual restaurants serving healthier fare, Jargon continues.
Digital tech will play a big role in luring them back.
Technology is disrupting everything around us, Easterbrook said. The question for McDonalds: Do we want to be disrupted, or do we want to be the disruptor? reports Jonathan Maze for Nations Restaurant News.
McDonalds says the kiosks it's already bringing to U.S. stores will be able to access customers' app profiles, which can store customized favorites and preferred payment methods, Jackie Wattles writes for CNN Money.
The new app will also allow people to place orders for curbside pickup. And for diehard fans of the drive-thru windows that have been a hallmark of the restaurant's business no more yelling your order through a car window. Customers can place an order via the app and then read a code to the drive-thru cashier.
The new app should reduce errors and significantly cut the time it takes to handle large, complex orders, Reuters Lisa Baertlein writes. The new initiatives could shift some 20% of drive-thru orders to curbside delivery and another 20% to drive-thru pickup only, executives said about initiatives, which were first disclosed in November.
Baertlein also points out that McDonalds is behind competitors such as Domino's Pizza, Panera Bread and Starbucks in its use of digital technology. Notably, though, the rollout will be happening on les boulevards and straes worldwide, as well as Main St.
In a bullish presentation, the company said it saw significant untapped opportunity for delivery in its top five markets the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Canada. In each, there is a McDonalds restaurant within three to five miles of 75% of the population, a key component to getting food delivered while it is still hot, Lindsay Whipp reports for Financial Times. Easterbrook said most delivery orders come in at the end of the day when its restaurants are less busy, giving the company a big market to exploit.
Among other upgrades, interiors are getting a makeover.
The world's largest burger chain is remodeling its restaurants to feature the experience of the future, a digitally forward dining model that includes kiosk ordering and Bluetooth-enabled table service. The remodels cost about $700,000 from the ground up, or as little as $150,000 for locations that require only modest updates, Samantha Bomkamp reports for the Chicago Tribune.
The company said that restaurants that have already been refurbished are producing sales gains of between 4 and 8%, and they also tend to lead to higher customer satisfaction scores.
Although some of the healthier fare has been put out to pasture, McDonalds also promised improved food quality yesterday.
Expect to see McDonald's step up its menu innovation in the U.S., said Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's USA president, reports Sarah Whitten for CNBC. The company recently launched three different sizes of its classic Big Mac and will continue to add new items to its domestic stores including a nationwide roll out of its Signature Sandwiches customizable and more upscale burgers and chicken sandwiches later this year.
Investors evidently liked what they were served yesterday: McDonalds stock finished up 1.1% on the day after trading resumed.
by Mike Azzara , Op-Ed Contributor, March 2, 2017
Companies of the sharing economy like Uber and Airbnb have disrupted massive industries by changing the math on what the theorists call asset utilization.
In fact, they changed the math so much that assets not previously considered a viable part of their respective markets -- my fancy fast car while Im in my office, or your Manhattan apartment while youre off visiting Mom for a weekend -- suddenly became very viable, indeed. They did this by exposing information about those assets in easily accessed online marketplaces, so that anyone could find out about the assets characteristics, its availability, its pricing but you already know that story.
Im reminding you of it now, though, because its a potent way to think about the potential of Narrative.io, a tiny, not-exactly-stealth start-up whose founder and CEO I spoke with recently. This small company could play a possibly large role in the future of AI by arranging access to the data that is all-important to making AI effective.
Nick Jordan says he witnessed a thirst for data in his prior jobs, which included SVP of cross-device marketing firm Tapad (acquired a year ago by Norways Telenor Group), and a stint at Adobe before that, when it acquired Demdex, the DMP start-up where he was VP, partner solutions.
There are a lot of data scientists out there hypothesizing about what they could do with data sets they dont have, but know exist, says Jordan. The problem is, when they try to go and get access to datasets -- to acquire datasets outside their own walls -- that process is hopelessly broken.
Figuring out what organizations might have the data youre looking for is hard enough, but it turns out to be the easiest part of that hopelessly broken process. Jordan explains that its harder still to find the right person in an organization with knowledge of and authority over the data you want, and then to convince her to sell the data which only leads to myriad challenges over negotiating the price. And if you achieve all that, theres the painful data integration problem: moving the data from point A to point B and translating it into a format you can use.
But even thats not all. Most times, a single source of data is not enough. You have to repeat the whole painful process for many different data sources, notes Jordan.
Enter Narrative.io. Jordans company is in the process of closing a second round of investment that will bring the invested total thus far to $2 million. The platform is up and running with a handful of early customers.
To dramatically oversimplify, the mechanics of Narrative.ios platform are actually very similar to Uber's or Airbnbs: organizations that have data assets theyre willing to share post them to the platform, and establish standard pricing. Potential data buyers search the platform to find the data assets they need to make their models hum. We offer a couple of different approaches to try before you buy, Jordan says.
Each dataset, alone, isnt necessarily the answer to anyones prayers; but Narrative.io aims to make it dead simple to assemble multiple disparate datasets that together can empower AI-based models. When you combine these little signals across billions and billions of data points, it can become very valuable to customers building predictive models, Jordan notes.
Naturally, since Jordan comes out of digital advertising and marketing, those are the first kinds of organizations he has recruited to populate data into Narrative.io, and to make use of it as customers. Right now, everyone from brands to marketing technology platforms to publishers are very data-focused, Jordan points out. Data, after all, is the oxygen of modern marketing.
For publishers, Jordans plan could add data monetization as a potentially sizable third revenue model to their existing subscription and advertising models. For marketing technology platforms, Narrative.io could simplify access to many datasets. Data acquisition can be so painful for them, says Jordan. They generally stop after one or two deals, but that may not be enough to drive the best outcomes,
As for the not exactly stealth aspect of the start-up, I learned about Narrative.io because I know someone who knows someone, if you know what I mean. But Jordan says stealth isnt a strategy, just a matter of prioritization. The company is still building its data pool and getting early customer experiences, so its not yet up to PR and marketing.
Data, as I said, is the oxygen of modern marketing. But Jordan is right about how challenging it can be to get efficient access to just the data you need, at a fair price. Itll be interesting to watch as this still-small start-up attempts to gain first-mover advantage over the oxygen of the coming data society.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, March 2, 2017
Add Abercrombie & Fitch to the latest retailer struggling to sell clothes to ecommerce-loving Americans.
The company, in the midst of a massive repositioning and marketing effort, says its fourth-quarter sales fell 7% to $1.04 billion, with comparable-store results slipping 5%, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of declines. Same-store sales at its Abercrombie & Fitch stores plunged 13% in the quarter, and 11% for the year.
Like many of its competitors, the New Albany, Ohio-based retailer chalks up the disappointment partly to a fiercely promotional environment as mall-based stores fight for their lives. Describing the A&F brand renewal as a work in progress, CEO Fran Horowitz says bright spots include positive results at its Hollister brand, and strength in its direct-to-consumer business.
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While overall results did not meet expectations, 2016 was a year of significant progress on each of our strategic priorities, she says. We stayed close to our customers to understand what inspires them, which helped inform our planning and execution. We began to communicate evolved identities for each of our brands, and made improvements to the customer experience through the rollout of store remodels, and ongoing investments in direct-to-consumer and omnichannel capabilities across both brands.
She says she expects sales to remain challenging for the first half of this year. Others say the brand still has a long way to go. Abercrombies latest marketing campaign, themed People have a lot to say about us, they think theyve got us figured out, exemplifies its problems, writes Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, in his reaction to the latest numbers. Not only is the message confusing and opaque, but the promise of change that it suggests is not entirely delivered on by stores, which look and feel the same as they have always done.
In January, the company announced that it had hired Will A. Smith as its new CMO, overseeing brand, creative and digital marketing. (Previously, Smith had worked in various marketing roles at Caleres, formerly known as Brown Shoe Co.)
Abercrombie is hardly alone in reporting downbeat news. L Brands just announced that February sales for its Victoria Secret fell 13%, partially due to its decision to leave swimsuits and apparel and focus on lingerie. Earlier this week, both Target and Best Buy reported lackluster numbers, along with plans to address what they see as ongoing problems by shifting to smaller, more urban formats.
S&P says the entire retailing category is in trouble, with trends likely moving from bad to worse in the year ahead. The peril of online competition and secular shifts in consumer tastes have accelerated the pressures facing U.S. retailers this year, it says in its new report. It says so far this year, its analysts have made 20 negative ratings, including downgrades of such brands as Macy's and Neiman Marcus.
"We expect pressure on many U.S. retail companies to increase this year, leading to at least as many defaults as in 2016," writes credit analyst Robert Schulz. "The same pressures we noted in 2016 and earlier are now accelerating at a quicker pace, and a good swath but not all of the rated U.S. retail sector is running out of room to maneuver."
A wireless patch that uses electrical stimulation to block pain signals to the brain may one day replace drugs for the treatment of migraine, a new study suggests.
Share on Pinterest Researchers suggest that migraine could be treated with a wireless, electrical stimulation device.
Researchers reveal how the new device created by therapeutic electronic company Theranica significantly reduced migraine pain for more than 60 percent of study participants, compared with a sham treatment.
Dr. David Yarnitsky, of Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the journal Neurology.
Migraines are recurring headaches characterized by a moderate or severe throbbing or pulsing pain, which often occurs on one side of the head. Sensitivity to light and sound may also arise with a migraine, as well as nausea and vomiting.
Migraines are estimated to affect around 12 percent of the United States population, and they are around three times more common among women than men.
When it comes to preventing or treating migraine, pain medications are often the first port of call. These include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (such as aspirin and ibuprofen), triptans (including sumatriptan and rizatriptan), and beta-blockers. However, as with all medications, there is a risk of side effects.
Dr. Yarnitsky and colleagues believe that their new electrical stimulation patch could offer a non-drug alternative for people with migraine, after finding that it is just as effective as pain medication.
For their study, the researchers enrolled 71 adults with episodic migraine, all of whom were experiencing an average of two to eight migraine attacks every month.
Participants had not taken any medication to prevent migraine attacks for at least 2 months prior to the study, the team notes.
Subjects were allocated to one of two treatment groups. One group received treatment with the electrical stimulation patch, known as Nerivio, while the other group received a sham stimulation treatment.
A recent large-scale study concludes that individuals with autoimmune conditions may have an increased risk of developing dementia later in life. Although the effect size is relatively small, if the findings are replicated, they will have important clinical implications. Share on Pinterest Conditions where the immune system attacks healthy cells might increase dementia risk. Dementias are a range of conditions, the most prevalent of which is Alzheimers. They are characterized by a progressive loss of memory function and other cognitive skills, eventually leading to an inability to perform everyday activities. Currently, an estimated 47.5 million people are living with dementia, worldwide. Due to increasing lifespans, this figure is predicted to triple by the year 2050. This steep rise in the number of cases is being referred to by some as a dementia epidemic, and for this reason, there is a great deal of focus on identifying the precise causes. Certain factors are known to increase the risk of dementia. Advanced age, alcohol use, diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure) have all been said to contribute to this risk. However, there is still much to learn about how and why dementia arises.
Autoimmune disease and dementia Over recent years, another potential risk factor has received some attention: autoimmune diseases . Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which the bodys own immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues. Some evidence has shown that individuals with these types of diseases have an increased risk of developing dementia. A research team from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom set out to examine this question in more detail. Utilizing hospital admissions data taken from U.K. hospitals between 1998 and 2012, they investigated whether being admitted to a hospital with one of 25 autoimmune diseases was associated with an increased risk of a dementia admission later in time. Across the 14-year time sample, there were more than 1.8 million admissions to hospitals because of an autoimmune disorder. This included more than 300,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and around 1,000 with Goodpastures syndrome, a rare condition that attacks the lungs and kidneys.
Researchers have discovered a compound found in soil bacteria that could lead to new drugs to combat tuberculosis, a global disease that is becoming increasingly resistant to current treatments. They have produced synthetic versions of the natural compound and showed that they can kill the tuberculosis bacterium in the laboratory. Share on Pinterest The researchers developed potent analogs of a compound found in soil bacteria and showed that they could kill tuberculosis in the laboratory. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, are the work of an international consortium led by the University of Sydney in Australia and includes researchers from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. While it can affect any organ of the body, it is most commonly found in the lungs. Most cases are treatable and curable, but people can die if they do not receive proper treatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), TB is globally one of the top 10 causes of death: 10.4 million people became ill with it and 1.8 million people died from it in 2015. Over 95 percent of TB-related deaths affect low- and middle-income countries. Huge progress has been made in the global fight against TB. The WHO report that 49 million lives were saved through effective diagnosis and treatment between 2000 and 2015.
Growing threat of resistant TB However, there is a growing threat to continuing this progress, in that the TB bacterium is becoming increasingly resistant to the current drugs available to treat it many of which have been in use for more than 40 years. Fast facts about TB In 2015, around 480,000 cases of TB were MDR-TB
Estimates suggest that more than 250,000 deaths were due to drug-resistant TB
China, India, and the Russian Federation account for nearly half of global MDR-TB cases. Learn more about TB There are two forms of drug-resistant TB: multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB), and the much rarer form, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). MDR-TB is resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampin, two potent first-line drugs used to treat everyone who falls ill with TB. XDR-TB is resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, any fluoroquinolone, and at least one second-line drug, leaving patients with few effective treatment options. In the U.S., the average direct cost of treating TB ranges from $18,000 to treat drug-susceptible forms, to $494,000 to treat XDR-TB. These costs are even higher when they take into account income losses experienced by patients while undergoing treatment. The new study concerns a compound called sansanmycin uridylpeptide, which is produced by soil bacteria and stops other bacteria growing around them.
Zika virus could be transmitted by more mosquito species than those currently known, according to a new predictive model created by ecologists at the University of Georgia and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Their findings, published in the journal eLife, offer a list of 26 additional potential candidate species - including seven that occur in the continental United States - that the authors suggest should be the first priority for further research.
"The biggest take home message is that these are the species that we need to prioritize," said lead author Michelle V. Evans, a UGA doctoral student in ecology and conservation. "Especially as we're in the slower part of the mosquito season, now is the time to catch up so we're prepared for the summer."
Targeting Zika's potential vectors - species that can transmit the virus from one host to another - is an urgent need, given its explosive spread and the devastating health effects associated with it. It's also time-consuming and expensive, requiring the collection of mosquitoes in affected areas, testing them to see which ones are carrying the virus, and conducting laboratory studies.
The new model could streamline the initial step of pinpointing Zika vectors.
"What we've done is to draw up a list of potential vector candidates based on the associations with viruses that they've had in the past as well as other traits that are specific to that species," said paper co-author Courtney C. Murdock, an assistant professor in the UGA School of Veterinary Medicine and Odum School of Ecology. "That allows us to have a predictive framework to effectively get a list of candidate species without having to search blindly."
The researchers developed their model using machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence that is particularly useful for finding patterns in large, complicated data sets. It builds on work done by co-author Barbara A. Han of the Cary Institute, who has used similar methods to predict bat and rodent reservoirs of disease based on life history traits.
Data used in the model consisted of information about the traits of flaviviruses - the family that includes Zika, yellow fever and dengue - and all the mosquito species that have ever been associated with them. For mosquito species, these included general traits like subgenus and geographic distribution as well as traits relevant to the ability of each species to transmit disease, such as proximity to human populations, whether they typically bite humans and how many different viruses they are known to transmit.
For viruses, traits included how many different mosquito species they infect, whether they have ever infected humans and the severity of the diseases they cause.
Analyzing known mosquito-virus pairs, the researchers found that certain traits were strong predictors of whether a linkage would form. The most important of these for mosquitoes were the subgenus, the continents it occurred on and the number of viruses it was able to transmit. For viruses, the most important trait was the number of mosquito species able to act as a vector.
Based on what they learned, they used the model to test the combination of Zika virus with all the mosquito species known to transmit at least one flavivirus. The model found 35 predicted Zika vectors, including 26 previously unsuspected possibilities.
Seven of those species occur in the continental U.S., with ranges that in some cases differ from those of the known vectors. Evans and Murdock cautioned strongly against assuming that this means that Zika will spread to all those areas.
"We're really solely looking at vector competence, which is only one small part of disease risk," Evans said. "It's one factor out of many, and not even the most important one. I want to stress that all of these are just predictions that need to be validated by empirical work. We are suggesting that people who are doing that work should focus on these species first," she said.
"Ecologists have long known that everything is connected to everything else, and are pretty good, I think, at sifting out where that matters from where it doesn't," said senior author John M. Drake, a professor in the Odum School and director of the UGA Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases. "This work highlights that ecological way of thinking and why it's important in understanding infectious diseases."
Article: Data-driven identification of potential Zika virus vectors, Michelle V Evans, Tad A Dallas, Barbara A Han, Courtney C Murdock, John M Drake, eLife, doi: 10.7554/eLife.22053, published 28 February 2017.
PHILADELPHIA
March 1, 2017
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$199
Aaron Domenico
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Philadelphia
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New York
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About Atlantic Diagnostic Laboratories, LLC (ADL):
/PRNewswire/ -- March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, to make everyone aware of the deadly disease and to remind us that regular screening saves lives. Last year colorectal cancer claimed more than 50,000 lives in. According to the American Cancer Society, the colon cancer death rate in this country could be cut in half if Americans followed recommended screening guidelines. But currently 1 in 3 adults, over age 50, are not getting tested as recommended.Now Atlantic Diagnostic Laboratories (ADL) is making testing easier. They've launched PolypDx, a non-invasive urine-based diagnostic test for detection of adenomatous polyps, the precursor to colorectal cancer. It is estimated that there will be more than 135,000 new cases reported this year. With early detection in the adenomatous polyp stage, this form of cancer is preventable. Early detection will save lives and reduce treatment costs."ADL is thrilled to offer this easy to use early detection test at the significantly reduced price of, during the month of March," said, Chief Operating Officer of ADL. "PolypDxdoes not require any unpleasant bowel cleansing prep, nor any handling of stool required for fecal tests. Just a small urine sample is all that's needed."Interested patients can contact ADL directly to learn how to get the life saving kit. Call toll free at 1-866-465-6763 ext. 228 or email info@adllab.net.PolypDxgives doctors a new tool in the prevention of colorectal cancer. In a Canadian-based clinical trial of nearly 1,000 patients, PolypDxdemonstrated significantly higher sensitivity than current fecal-based screening tests to detect adenomatous polyps. Doctors will refer patients with a positive test to then have a colonoscopy, to remove the adenomatous polyps, preventing the progression into colorectal cancer. PolypDxis a simple and effective test requiring only a small urine sample.PolypDxis the flagship product of Metabolomic Technologies Inc. (MTI), a privately held Canadian company based in. MTI has signed a multi-million dollar agreement with ADL giving them the exclusive licensing and distribution rights to bring PolypDxinto the US market.ADL is a full service clinical laboratory with headquarters in the suburbs ofproviding microbiology, chemistry, toxicology, immunology, virology and molecular testing in 12 states:, Delaware,andAtlantic Diagnostic Laboratories, LLC (ADL) is a U.S.-based independent full service clinical laboratory providing microbiology, chemistry, toxicology, immunology, and virology testing used by the medical profession in routine testing, patient diagnosis, and in the monitoring and treatment of diseases. It has also developed niche operations based on certain types of specialized testing capabilities providing insights that empower and enable medical professionals to make better healthcare decisions. ADL is fully accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for clinical and forensic studies.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/march-is-colorectal-cancer-awareness-month-and-now-there-is-a-new-tool-to-battle-the-deadly-disease-300416259.html
SOURCE Atlantic Diagnostic Laboratories, LLC (ADL)
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Bowel scope uses a tiny camera attached to a thin flexible tube to examine a specific part of the bowel but was still found to prevent 35% of bowel cancers overall and to prevent 40% of deaths.The team followed more than 170,000 people for 17 years on average and more than 40,000 had the bowel scope test. It is the longest study ever done on the effectiveness of the test.Bowel scope can stop cancer before it starts, by finding and removing polyps on the bowel wall.Professor Wendy Atkin, Cancer Research UK's bowel screening expert and lead author based at Imperial College London, said: "We know the bowel scope test has huge benefits for older people. Although no screening test is perfect, this study shows that bowel scope is effective in reducing cancer deaths for at least 17 years."Bowel cancer can be prevented. And the bowel scope screening test is a great way to reduce the number of people diagnosed with the disease so it's vital that no one misses out on the opportunity to get the test."Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK's head of health information said: "Like other types of screening, bowel scope is meant for people without symptoms. It's a great way to help reduce the number of people developing or dying from bowel cancer, but it can't pick up everything."So it's still important to take part in the rest of the bowel screening program and not ignore the home testing kits when they arrive. And whatever your screening history tell your doctor if you notice any unusual or lasting changes such as blood in your poo or a change in bowel habit."The government estimates that the bowel scope test will take at least another three years before it will be offered to everyone eligible across England. The test is offered to people at age 55.Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet committed to introducing this test as part of their own bowel screening programs.Emma Greenwood, Cancer Research UK's director of policy, said: "In England the government has committed to rolling out this test but there is a shortage of trained staff to carry it out. A training scheme is underway but it's important that there are enough newly trained specialists to meet the growing demand for these life-saving tests."Source: Eurekalert
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Caroline Clarke et al., Shorter herceptin breast cancer treatment may produce better results, PLOS ONE (2017).
The drug's manufacturer Roche recommends that women take the drug for a year after surgery, based on their trial information, and this is the current recommendation in the UK.When the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved the drug in 2006, the Evidence Review Group's report stated that it wished to see further evidence included on the effect of using the drug for shorter lengths of time.In 2014, there were 46,085 new breast cancer cases in women and the researchers estimated that 5,678 of these patients were eligible for Herceptin. Switching these patients to the nine-week treatment would have saved the NHS 132 million at 2014 prices.In addition, there was a gain of 4,773 quality-adjusted life-years, which are often measured in terms of the person's ability to carry out the activities of daily life, and freedom from pain and mental disturbance.This study, which was carried out with City, University of London, analysed three options -- giving Herceptin after surgery for 12 months, 9 weeks, or not at all.The researchers considered eight studies carried out mainly in Europe and the US, and were able to perform an analysis that combined the results from two of these studies, which each followed patients for five years after they received Herceptin. These two studies covered 2,149 patients who received the drug for a year, 54 who received it for nine weeks and 1,131 who weren't given Herceptin.The scientists looked at three outcomes in the five-year period - overall survival rates, the rates of secondary cancer and whether any patients died of a heart attack. The analysis involved extrapolating patients' disease status and quality of life for 50 years into the future, to see what the long-term effects were."This work provides additional evidence for Herceptin as a drug for breast cancer treatment. Where it differs from other work is that it shows the potential benefits of nine weeks of treatment instead of 12 months, in terms of both reduced costs and improved patient outcomes," said Dr Caroline Clarke (UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care), who led the research."Overall, our results suggest that the 9-week option could be the best option for both patients and the NHS, as it is apparently just as effective as the 12-month duration, safer in terms of leading to fewer cardiac side effects, and cheaper."The analysis had limitations including the fact that it was based on a model that incorporated two similar trials, rather than on a single trial directly comparing the three different options, so the results should be viewed with caution. Also, the trial used for the 9-week data had a relatively small number of patients in it and hence there is some uncertainty in the results.Source: Medindia
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The findings were published last week in the online edition of the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, coinciding with the Trump administration's repeal of federal protections of restroom preferences for transgender students.The Obama administration last year issued restroom guidelines to safeguard transgender students under Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in schools. The U.S. Supreme Court in March will hear arguments on transgender teen Gavin Grimm's request to use the boys' restroom at his Virginia school under Title IX.For their study, launched in 2015, Sterzing and fellow UC Berkeley researchers collected data from nearly 1,200 sexual and gender minority teens aged 14 to 19 who identify as transgender (male to female, and female to male), gender-fluid (no fixed gender) and cisgender (gays, lesbians, bisexuals and pansexuals whose gender identity matches their assigned birth sex).Participants, who were guaranteed anonymity, were recruited through Facebook advertisements, an online recruitment video and community organizations that serve sexual minorities from across the country.Among other things, they reported their experiences with more than 40 different forms of violence commonly suffered by adolescents. They also reported their socioeconomic status, mental health issues and family participation in religious activities.School-based bullying was the most common form of victimization, reported by 69.2 percent of respondents. Transgender girls (male to female) reported the highest rates of cyberbullying while gender-fluid teens who were born male were more prone to be victims of sexual violence.Overall, transgender and gender-fluid youths are at greater risk of experiencing multiple, overlapping forms of violence that occur in the home, school, neighborhood, and online, Sterzing noted."Boys who don't conform to their assigned gender role were the most vulnerable subgroup of kids in our study," he said.Sterzing is also the author of a forthcoming study that digs even deeper into dozens of environmental factors that make sexual and gender minority youths vulnerable to polyvictimization.The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that 41 percent of transgender people will attempt suicide in their lifetimes, often attributed to their high rates of bullying."The health outlook for young people who don't conform to socially prescribed gender roles will remain bleak if we look the other way," he said. "We as a society have to propose inclusive solutions to protect these vulnerable adolescents."That said, Sterzing sees glimmers of hope in the millennial and post-millennial generations whose members are more accepting of gender fluidity."Although we have a long way to go, we're seeing important changes in young people's attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities that gives me hope we can reduce rates of violence and create more inclusive and affirming spaces for transgender and gender-fluid teens," Sterzing said.The findings will hopefully motivate politicians, educators and families to show more compassion toward young people who don't conform to gender expectations are experiencing.Source: Eurekalert
Turkey ready to offer customs privileges to Azerbaijan
Turkey is ready to exempt importers of products manufactured in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan from paying customs duties, Turkeys Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Faruk Celik said in an exclusive interview with Trend.He said that in order to meet the needs of Turkeys eastern provinces in food products, certain goods can be imported from neighboring countries as part of border trade."At the same time, Turkey must act in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization," the minister noted.In 2016, the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkey adopted a resolution on regulation of border trade, according to which goods will be imported within the set limit from Nakhchivan to Turkeys border provinces, Celik said."In connection with this resolution, zero rate of customs duty will be introduced for goods imported from Nakhchivan. Nakhchivan is a nexus between Turkey and Azerbaijan. It has strategic importance because of its location," the Turkish minister said.Azerbaijani Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev has earlier told Trend that Azerbaijan is negotiating with Turkey for granting customs privileges to exporters of products manufactured in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic."As you know, the customs duties for imported products are very high in Turkey, in particular, for the import of agriculture products, which is aimed at protecting the domestic market," said Babayev. "We are holding negotiations to expand the export of Azerbaijani products to Turkey, and in this context, we want to obtain customs privileges for the supply of goods, produced in Nakhchivan, to Turkey."Turkey was Azerbaijans main trade partner in 2016. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $2.3 billion in 2016, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.About $1.13 billion of this accounted for exports and $1.18 billion for imports.
SIGEL TOWNSHIP In a couple of days, all of the spoiled beets at the Verona Sugar Beet Piling Grounds should be shipped out, according to a local official.
Richard Maurer, Sigel Township supervisor and retired beet farmer told the Tribune on Wednesday that rotten beets should not pose an environmental threat.
If theyre spread out in the farm fields, theres no problem, he said. In a couple days, they should be all gone. Over half of them have been hauled out already.
Its going good, Maurer added, saying it will be a smaller beet crop this year as a result of the warm winter weather that is rotting beets.
He said the amount of the loss wouldnt be known until everything has been hauled out.
Its going to be substantial, he said.
All of the good, vented beets have been hauled out of the Verona grounds, which are owned by Michigan Sugar Co.
Even a small portion of the vented piles is rotting due to the weather, Maurer said.
Michigan Sugar released the following statement Wednesday regarding the weathers affect on the beet crop:
As of this afternoon, most sugar beets impacted by warm weather are being processed and a very small percentage of the impacted beets are being distributed back to farmers for use as a source of nutrients on their fields, said Ray VanDriessche, spokesman for Michigan Sugar.
Beets remaining to be processed are protected with modern, state-of-the-art ventilation technology from the moment they are delivered, which significantly increases long-term beet storage quality. Michigan Sugars slice campaign is slated to be completed in early April, and while warm weather has posed some challenges in the past few days, our investments in modern technology have enabled us to manage our beet piles throughout the growing region and maintain the best quality possible.
Maurer attended a meeting Monday with officials from the Huron County Sheriffs Office, the Huron County Road Commission, the Huron County Board of Commissioners and Michigan Sugar.
There it was determined that Michigan Sugar would pay for a $50,000 road bond, and that loads hauled on unbonded roads would be reduced to 65 percent.
Maurer said that for the most part, farmers were hauling the beets back to their farms.
This was a point of contention earlier in the week.
Farmers are allowed to haul the beets to the piling grounds with a farming license plate, but a commercial plate is typically required to haul the beets from the grounds to the plant.
Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson said that his department would not look the other way and allow those with farm license plates to haul the beats back to farms.
But the Michigan State Police is allowing it.
Lt. Charles Black, commanding officer of the Michigan State Police Third District of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, said he sees no issue with farmers hauling the beets back with farm-plated license plates, rather than commercial ones.
They have paid proper registrations. (The beets are) going back for furtherance of the farm, he added, calling the spoilage from warm weather a rare occurrence.
Beet trucks must adhere to weight restrictions, Black said.
To the editor:
Well, here we go again after all this time, Robert Peruski your letter to the paper struck a nerve in me that Im sure you intended to do.
Your letter about Mr. Trump (now President Trumps) executive orders, was way off base as he signs these orders without usually reading them first. He is running the country like he runs his corporation. This is the way I want it done and dont ask why.
We need judges in our system to keep as you have said in the past these idiot politicians in check and now with this man in control to do things the right way, not the way he wants.
Most of our great or our great-great grandparents were immigrants coming to this great country, not to do harm or kill people but to have a better life for their families and themselves. I personally believe in background checks, or now called venting, should be done on immigrants now but I dont think they would have stopped Timothy McVey or Terry Nichols the Oklahoma City bombers.
We have to keep watch and be very careful with this president because his next executive order may be no freedom of the press, which you know is the First Amendment. Our president makes it very clear how he feels about the media then where would you and I be.
Truthfully speaking, someone on the Mr. Trump (now President Trumps) staff should have explained to him the hours and days required to do this very important job instead of going to his compound in Florida on Thursdays for the weekend and worrying about it when he gets back on Monday. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. Making America great again, as he said.
I could go on and on, but I wont. I am saving that for my own campaign. I am surprised that Trump didnt ask you to be his vice president, and maybe he did. But between the two of you, you couldnt decide who would be the boss and who would be the apprentice.
I did hear now that he is president he asked Mike Pence where is that swamp he promised to drain. Is it the Minden City Bog or Lake Okeechobee in Florida?
God bless America.
Jerome D. (Whitey) Pawlosky
Minden City
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Two former field-grade officers in the Marine Corps Reserve were sentenced to custody followed by time in a halfway house after being convicted of participating in a scheme to bilk the Marine Corps out of more than $205,000 over the course of four years.
Lt. Col. Michael Strom and Maj. Jason Wild were convicted last fall on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and false claims. The two officers pretended to rent each other's homes so they could claim reimbursement from the Corps when called to active duty at Camp Pendleton, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.
"Both men submitted phony lease agreements and rental receipts to support their false claims," according to the release. "In truth, each man owned his own home next to Camp Pendleton and never paid any of the claimed rent."
Strom, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Battaglia to three months in custody followed by six months' community confinement in a halfway house, and ordered to pay restitution. Wild, 45, was sentenced Feb. 21 to nine months in custody followed by six months in a halfway house and the same $205,628 restitution order as Strom.
The restitution is joint and several, assistant U.S. Attorney C. Seth Askins told Military.com, meaning Strom and Wild will share the responsibility of returning more than $205,000 to the government, though the debt may not be equally divided if one is determined more able to pay.
Askins said the officers had a board of inquiry hearing in January 2016 but did not know their discharge date.
According to the release, Wild's guilt was established using witness testimony, credit card statements, tax returns and bank records to show both men had lived in their own homes when they were claiming to rent from each other. He was convicted in November.
"Financial records, including a bank analysis performed by the Naval Audit Service, established that neither defendant had paid a dollar of the claimed rent," the release states.
Strom pleaded guilty to the charges in October.
During Strom's sentencing hearing, Battaglia told him, "Those that are so key to our country's safety, our way of life -- when they cross the line, it's serious."
In a statement, acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson said the two officers had stolen from their fellow Marines, not just the government.
"Members of the armed forces who defraud the military out of its funds don't just steal from taxpayers; they rob their comrades in arms of the resources they need to defend each other and our country," she said. "This office will continue to investigate and prosecute those who put their own financial gain before the public trust they are sworn to uphold."
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General all collaborated to convict Wild and Strom, according to the release.
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia -- President Donald Trump swapped his signature red "Make America Great Again" ballcap for one bearing the seal of the soon-to-be commissioned carrier Gerald R. Ford as he promised to build the biggest Navy in American history in an address aboard the warship.
Hundreds of sailors, sporting ship's ballcaps and blue camouflage utilities, and shipbuilders in hard hats flooded the hangar deck of the soon-to-be-delivered ship hours ahead of Trump's address.
Marine One landed on the carrier just before 1 p.m., preceded by an entourage of three MV-22 Ospreys from HMX-1, the presidential helicopter squadron. Trump, who arrived alongside Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, sported an olive-green flight jacket and lavished praise on the carrier, calling it "a ship like no other."
"There is no competition for this ship," he said. "It is a monument of American might that will provide the strength necessary to ensure peace."
While Trump has taken pointed aim at the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program for its cost overruns, he had nothing but praise for the Ford and its class, despite its own billions in additional costs and more than a year of delay in delivery, due in large part to new technologies the ship incorporates.
"This ship, the Ford class, will expand the ability of our nation to carry out vital missions on the oceans, to project American power in distant lands," he said.
He reiterated his desire to return to a Navy of 12 aircraft carriers, up from the 10 currently in the fleet. And beyond that, Trump said he wants to build the service to its largest fleet size in history.
"Our Navy is now the smallest it's been since -- believe it or not -- World War I," he said. "Don't worry. It'll soon be the largest it's been."
Trump has publicly advocated for a fleet of 350 ships, roughly in keeping with the Navy's current force structure assessment for how it needs to grow over the next 30 years. At its peak in World War II, however, the service had an astounding 6,768 active ships, far more than even ambitious projected fleet growth.
The president also said he'd work to cut acquisition costs, in part by removing budget caps that minimize the Navy's certainty and ability to plan.
"The same boat for less money, the same ship for less money, the same aircraft for less money," he said. "That's what we do."
Like many of Trump's campaign speeches, this address was short on specifics to explain how he plans to execute the promised buildup. He received sustained applause when he reiterated his desire to repeal sequestration budget cuts implemented by Congress.
But his plan to increase defense spending by $54 billion over the next year, revealed by White House officials this week, falls short of the buildup many were hoping for. Senate and House Armed Services Committee Chairmen John McCain and Mac Thornberry have both called the figure too low, while former Navy Under Secretary Janine Davidson said at a Washington, D.C., event that the number would not even fund a Navy buildup to 350 ships.
It's likely that the most significant work of Trump's visit to the Ford happened behind closed doors. In addition to Mattis, a number of key Navy and industry leaders featured prominently in the day's events.
According to shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries spokeswoman Beci Brenton, Trump was greeted on arrival by the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson; retired Adm. Gary Roughead, a former CNO; the commanding officer of the ship, Capt. Richard McCormack; and the ship's sponsor, Susan Ford Bales, daughter of the Ford's namesake.
Accompanied by Mattis, Trump was escorted into the commanding officer's import cabin, where he met briefly with a group of eight sailors and eight shipbuilders. Following that meeting, he had an exclusive sit-down with the CEOs of HII and Newport News Shipbuilding, C. Michael Petters and Matt Mulherin; then took a brief tour of the carrier, Brenton said.
If any key deals were struck Thursday, Trump did not speak of them. He focused instead on a message of patriotism and investment in the future, garnering several hearty rounds of applause.
"I salute you and our sailors," he told the assembled members of the Ford's Navy personnel and shipbuilding team. "I will only support you and your mission. I will never ever let you down."
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
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Editor's Note: The DoD has released new information related to these incidents. Read about it here. Some information in this story has been updated to reflect these developments.
ORLANDO, Florida -- Russian pilots intercepted NATO aircraft multiple times last month even as officials say aerial provocations from Moscow seem to be winding down, the head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa said Thursday.
There were three incidents with Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft and another involving an Ilyushin Il-38, an anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol aircraft, on Feb. 10, Gen. Tod Wolters told reporters at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium here.
The fly-bys were "not similar, and the concern on all four of them was the degree of closure and the final range to which the final aircraft approached the NATO entity," he said.
Wolters couldn't recall the particular aircraft affected, but said he was "pretty sure it was U.S."
"We provide information back to Russia when they do occur to make sure we can get an answer," he said. But from a "training perspective" the amount of interceptions "have plateaued."
Wolters added that USAFE officials have seen no additional interceptions since the Feb. 10 incidents.
"We continue to keep close watch. Each and every one of those engagements is different than the other," he said.
In December, then-Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said the Russian air force hadn't shown good faith toward NATO aircraft policing Baltic airspace, as it conducted a flurry of unsafe maneuvers and flybys last fall.
For example, the German air force, overseeing the Baltic Air Policing mission at the time, reported "more than 30 scrambles between the end of August and the start of November this year, intercepting Russian aircraft flying near civilian air routes with their transponders turned off," James said.
When asked if he believes incidents occur because of pilots' poor judgment or because Moscow is reacting to policies imposed by the West, Wolters said the issue stems largely from errors in judgment. But "I believe there's a little bit of both."
The Air Force is preparing for a busy few months as the theater ramps up training with NATO and partner allied countries.
"We anticipate in the areas of strike superiority, surveillance, rapid global mobility and command and control that we'll have a wide array of exercises here in the European region," Wolters previously told Military.com in November.
That means the service -- with help from National Guard and Reserve units -- will bring a number of different aircraft to the region, from intelligence and surveillance planes to fighters, bombers and airlifters.
RELATED: Air Crews Can Expect Busy Training Year in Europe: General
In addition, there may be more personnel rotations into the region as part of a theater security package, or TSP, of forward-deployed aircraft and units that conduct missions across the continent over six months to reassure Western allies.
Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Air Force has deployed aircraft, from F-15 Eagles to A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack aircraft, as part of a regular rotation of assets.
Like Pacific Command, USAFE is expected to see an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter deployment this summer. "The F-35 itself is a game-changing resource," Wolters said.
USAFE has been using intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to keep an eye on movements between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, the general said Thursday.
"All of our issued, conventional ISR assets from MQ-1s to MQ-9s to RQ-4s are getting utilization from that vicinity from Ukraine to the north" in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, Wolters said.
He would not specify how often the ISR platforms are being used.
Wolters said the Air Force's "biggest ace in the hole" on any front in the theater is the ability "to train and exercise at a very, very high and frequent level."
"That serves as a great deterrent," he said.
-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
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The U.S. hit the Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terror group in Yemen on Thursday with wide-ranging airstrikes that targeted the same general area where Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens was killed.
The Pentagon said in a statement that more than 20 early morning airstrikes, using a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft, were aimed at AQAP fighters, equipment, infrastructure, heavy weapons systems and fighting positions in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan, Al Bayda and Shabwah. The Associated Press, citing Yemeni officials, said the strikes concentrated on an area where the three governorates converge.
It was in central and mountainous Al Bayda province on Jan. 29 that Owens, 36, of Peoria, Illinois, a member of Navy SEAL Team 6, was killed in what U.S. Central Command described as a "ferocious firefight" during a raid on an AQAP compound. The raid was personally authorized by President Donald Trump and resulted in the first combat casualty of his tenure.
The airstrikes Thursday in areas under AQAP's control marked the first U.S. combat action in Yemen's civil war since the Jan. 29 raid and were coordinated with Yemen's nominal president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, according to the Pentagon statement by Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a spokesman.
Hadi assumed the presidency after Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted from office in 2012 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings. Saleh has since aligned himself with Shia Houthi rebels who drove Hadi's forces from the capital, Sanaa, in 2015. Hadi, backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with support from the U.S., has been attempting to regain power ever since.
Amid the turmoil in Yemen, AQAP has evolved from being an isolated band of terrorists bent on spectacular overseas plots into a virtual mini-state in areas it controls, according to the International Crisis Group. The growing strength of AQAP has come about despite years of U.S. drone strikes and occasional raids by special operations commandos.
In 2011, a U.S. drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen and AQAP's chief
propagandist. The Jan. 29 raid on the Yakla district of Al Bayda governorate reportedly killed his eight-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki.
In addition to Owens' death, three U.S. troops were wounded in the attack on the AQAP compound and at least two others were injured in the hard landing of a Marine MV-22 Osprey supporting the mission. The $70 million Osprey could not be flown out and was later destroyed by a Marine AV-8B Harrier jet.
The White House and Pentagon have repeatedly described the raid as a success despite Owens' death, in that the mission gathered valuable intelligence on AQAP's activities and planned operations.
On Thursday, CNN, citing U.S. officials, said the U.S. is seeking to find and monitor various individuals based on intelligence from computer discs and other material brought back from the raid, which critics have charged was planned in haste and poorly coordinated.
There are three separate investigations of the raid underway, according to the Pentagon.
One is an Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation by a senior officer of how the Jan. 29 mission was carried out. A separate aircraft mishap investigation is underway on the loss of the Osprey. A third investigation on civilian casualties from the raid is also ongoing. According to the Pentagon, at least 14 civilians were killed in the mission along with at least 16 militants.
However, the SEAL's father, William Owens, has demanded a broader investigation into what he told the Miami Herald was a "stupid" mission. Owens told the newspaper that he refused to meet with Trump at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware during the "dignified transfer" of his son's remains.
In the emotional highlight of his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump honored Owens' widow, Carryn, and defended the worth of the mission in which he gave his life.
To prolonged applause, Trump diverted the attention of the audience to the House gallery, where Carryn Owens was seated in the section reserved for First Lady Melania Trump.
"We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens, the widow of a U.S. Navy special operator, Senior Chief William "Ryan" Owens. Ryan died as he lived -- a warrior and a hero -- battling against terrorism and securing our nation," he said.
Trump quoted from what he said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had just told him. "Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies."
The president said, "Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom. We will never forget him."
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Early 20th-century advances in military communications-electronics technology provided the Army with additional opportunities to employ women.
The Signal Corps, for example, used civilian women as telephone operators during World War I. These women, however, did not receive even the unequal military status afforded to Army Nurses. The Signal Corps initially recruited bilingual women from commercial telephone companies but later accepted less experienced applicants to fill the growing demand.
The first group of civilian female telephone operators to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) arrived in Paris in early 1918. Just more than 200 female telephone operators ultimately served in France with the First, Second, and Third Army Headquarters. The women worked in Paris and dozens of other locations throughout France and England.
Nicknamed the Hello Girls, these women worked long hours, often at stressful locales such as First Army Headquarters during active operations. Despite the pressure, the women successfully performed their duties. In one instance, the women of the Female Telephone Operators Unit, First Army Headquarters, had to be forcibly evacuated from their stations during the Meuse-Argonne campaign even after their building caught fire. Once back at their posts, the women restored operations within an hour. They subsequently earned a commendation from the chief signal officer of First Army, Maj. Gen. George Owen Squier, who cited the womens unquestioned superiority as switchboard operators and their value in freeing men for the fighting front.
Army Historical Foundation image
Despite the successful use of women in time of need, the Army remained gender restricted throughout the early 20th century. This was in keeping with the mores of American society at the time, when many men and women alike conformed to the idealized notion of a womans place: the home. Competition for jobs during the Great Depression heightened adherence to this ideal, ending societys relative tolerance of feminist activities in the 1920s. The idea of a woman in an Army uniform was unfathomable to many Americans.
What, then, led to the Armys decision to enlist women during World War II? The unfathomable became reality as the Army struggled to fulfill wartime quotas from an ever-shrinking pool of candidates. By mid-1943, the Army was simply running out of eligible white men to enlist. The Army could scarcely spare those men already in the service for non-combatant duties. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower remarked:
The simple headquarters of a Grant or Lee were gone forever. An Army of filing clerks, stenographers, office managers, telephone operators and chauffeurs had become essential, and it was scarcely less than criminal to recruit these from needed manpower when great numbers of highly qualified women were available.
The utilization of women in an organization such as the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) offered a golden opportunity to solve manpower shortages. So recognizable was the opportunity that Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall told the War Department in November 1941, I want a womens corps right away, and I dont want any excuses!
Urgent wartime demands necessitated the use of all able, willing citizens, regardless of gender. In recruiting women, the Army assured them that they would be doing unusual and exciting work and that their service in making available technically trained men for combat service will be of great value in winning the war.
Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers (R-Mass.) introduced a bill to establish the WAAC on May 28, 1941. She cited two rationales for such an organization: to ease the shortage of able-bodied men and to answer an undeniable demand from American women that they be permitted to serve their country, together with the men of America, to protect and defend their cherished freedoms and democratic principles and ideals. WAAC/WAC veterans later recalled this strong desire to be of service. Mary Robinson, for example, said, I just thought it was the sensible thing to do. The British had done it in two wars.
The 77th Congress eventually established the WAAC with Public Law (PL) 77-554 on May 14, 1942, after much heated debate over whether women generals would rush about the country dictating orders to male personnel and telling the commanding officers of posts how to run their business. One outraged commentator demanded to know, Who then will do the cooking, the washing, the mending -- the humble home tasks to which every woman has devoted herself?
Bipartisan objections abounded, with Republicans and Democrats alike denigrating the idea of women in the military. One opposing senator went so far as to claim that the bill cast a shadow on the sanctity of the home.
Army Historical Foundation image
After 98 columns of debate in the Congressional Record, the Rogers bill finally passed the House 249-86. The Senate approved the bill 38-27. Amid this turmoil, the Army became the first of the services to enlist women during World War II. The Navy (which had mustered out its Yeomannettes after World War I), Coast Guard and Marine Corps followed the Armys lead, admitting women in July 1942, November 1942 and February 1943, respectively.
The Army required that WAACs be high school graduates between 21 and 45 years of age, between five and six feet tall, between 105 and 200 pounds, and of good health and character. The women had to pass a physical examination and an intelligence test similar to the one administered to prospective male officers, yet the rigorous requirements hardly guaranteed pay parity. Though often better educated, the average WAAC received less pay than her male counterpart. PL 77-554 codified inequalities between male soldiers and female auxiliaries from the very beginning, particularly with disparities in pay.
A last-minute attempt by the Army to substitute a bill authored by Sen. Elbert D. Thomas (D-Utah) that would have allowed women to serve in rather that with the Army had proved disastrous in Congress, though Thomas swore it expressed the wishes of Gen. Marshall himself.
The substitute bill would have granted women the same rank and held them accountable to the same discipline and regulations as male soldiers, barring the women only from combat. Thomas argued that women deserved the same recognition for equal work. Removing women from the home to serve with the Army was divisive enough; letting women in the Army and giving them equal status to men was just too radical for many at this point.
The Armys demand for WAACs steadily increased in the six months after Congress established the Auxiliary Corps. Sgt. John T. Lowery, an Army recruiter, informed the Lewiston Tribune in November 1942 that this district has been called upon to enlist as many women as possible
By December, WAAC Lt. Mary E. McGlinn admonished college women that "the manpower of America is needed in the field, and women must step into the non-combatant jobs now being filled by soldiers. American women have accepted all the privileges enjoyed by men in this Democracy; now they are being called on to share some of the responsibilities. I cant conceive of the girls in our colleges refusing to follow their brothers into the service at a time like this."
WACs are shown wearing gas masks. (Army Historical Foundation image)
In January 1943, Congresswoman Rogers and WAAC Director Col. Oveta Culp Hobby drafted a bill to make the WAAC a part of the Army, as opposed to an auxiliary element. Gen. Marshall approved the bill, which was introduced into the 78th Congress. He even urged passage of the bill in a letter to Sen. Andrew J. May (D-Ky.) of the Senate Military Affairs Committee.
The Senate approved the bill on Feb. 15, but the House, evidently not convinced of the inaccuracy of an ongoing slander campaign against the WAACs, demanded statistics and briefings on WAAC pregnancy and venereal disease rates and questioned the effects of the change in status.
Questions included:
What would be the top rank for women?
How large would the new Corps be?
What types of duty would Corps members perform?
What benefits would be granted?
Several months passed before both houses approved the bill. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the legislation into law on July 1, 1943.
The law creating the WAAC expired in September 1943, and WAACs could choose to transition to the Womens Army Corps (WAC) if they so desired and met all the requirements, including standing at least 58 inches tall, weighing at least 100 pounds and possessing good vision. More than 75% of the WAAC chose to enlist, some no doubt echoing radio operator Dorothy Gills feelings about how much she loved the Army and what it meant to me.
With the termination of auxiliary status, WACs received the same pay, rank and benefits as male soldiers. This was a remarkable advancement, especially considering that women in private industry on average earned only 80% of the salary of their male counterparts, even in the year 2000.
It is worth noting that the Army continued to deny nurses many of the advancements bestowed upon WACs during World War II. Although women with the Army Nurse Corps became eligible for officer rank and some retirement benefits after World War I, pay and allowances still differed from other officers.
The Regular Army did not offer Nurse Corps members full military rank until 1944, after the much junior Womens Army Corps made these gains in equality. This may be because caring for the sick was often considered a universally female role, and to recognize nurses as equal to male soldiers would have threatened established gender roles. Reinforcing gender norms was indeed a priority during this period of gender integration.
WAAC Elizabeth Pollock, in one example, recalled the women in her outfit singing the praises of their male colonel, saying how nice and kind he was, how much they liked him and how they couldnt have picked a more wonderful man for the job. An exasperated male soldier came immediately to the colonels defense and assured the women, He can get mad, too!
While male soldiers might have been preoccupied with asserting their masculinity, many women yearned to retain their femininity and struggled to reconcile their new, meaningful roles as soldiers with the traditional feminine gender roles to which many of them still adhered. WAC Betty Billie Oliver, for example, wrote home to ask for a negligee to wear on her wedding night because she wanted to let my boy know hes got a woman, not a soldier.
In fact, Pollock observed, Everyone around here is terrified for fear shell lose her femininity. I havent heard so much talk about ladies in all my life as I have since I got into the WAAC. A preoccupation with or need to assert their femininity shows that WAACs/WACs recognized what their opponents did -- that their military service might upset traditional gender roles. Despite desiring and striving to retain their femininity, they placed a high value on service to their country. WAACs/WACs thus set out on the unenviable task of reconciling the two.
The painting of a Women's Army Corps member. (Army Historical Foundation image)
The consternation caused by the gender integration of the Army must not be understated. Many people, both in and out of the Army, perceived the WAC, in the words of one historian, as a radical inversion of the traditional roles of women as the passive sweetheart/wife/sex object whose ultimate mission was to wait for their virile menfolk to return from their masculine mission of fighting and dying.
Women in the Army thus often faced public disdain at home and in society. For example, Emma Love stated, I just about killed my mother because I said I was going to join the WAC. They tell me after I got over there that she cried for six months. Violet Caudle shared, It was a disgrace to join the military. If you were a woman, it wasnt the thing that was done. He [her father] was afraid of what the neighbors would say.
In "The Good Soldier: The Story of a Southwest Pacific Signal Corps WAC," Selene H.C. Weise recalled the ugly rumors about WACs morality, revealing that even her family loathed discussing her service.
The slander campaign casting a shadow over WACs morality and motives gained such notoriety during the war that first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Congresswoman Rogers publicly denounced the rumors as a Nazi-inspired attempt to undermine the American war effort. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson addressed the issue, too, saying, My attention has been attracted to sinister rumors aimed at destroying the reputation of the WAACs. I refer to charges of immorality. I wish to state that these rumors are absolutely and completely false. I emphasize that I have made a thorough investigation of these rumors. They are completely false.
Even Marshall entered the fray, declaring: "I returned from Africa two weeks ago to find the most atrocious, if not subversive, attack being directed against an organization of the Army, one of the finest we have ever created. I refer to the WAAC. There was no foundation for the vicious slander, though some of it was given wide publicity. Some seem to be intent on the suicide of our own war effort, not to mention the defamation of as fine a group of women as I have ever seen assembled. Such a procedure to me appears inexcusable. If we cant be decent in such matters, we at least should not be naive enough to destroy ourselves."
Nazi-inspired or domestic in origin, the stigma lingered, even as former WACs reentered civilian life in the postwar era. Weise, for example, ultimately changed her resume to state merely Clerk-Typist, 1941-1945, U.S. Army, because many employers refused to hire supposedly lascivious ex-WACs. Veteran status, which often secured employment for men, handicapped many women. Public disdain for women in the military reinforced the perceived inappropriateness of womens involvement. The cruel innuendos devalued womens military advancements by suggesting that women gained them in exchange for sexual favors.
Determined female veterans developed coping mechanisms to deal with the complications of workplace integration, rather than desert under the fire of the slanderers, discriminators or harassers. This often included rationalizing or ignoring their problems, especially those of discrimination or harassment. While fully acknowledging the discrimination faced by WACs in the Signal Corps, Weise claims that the Army was a liberating place, as compared to her prior civilian life, saying, Women had always been treated differently. My treatment in the Army was so much more liberating than anything I had previously experienced that, comparatively speaking; I thought the Army was pretty great. Given the context of the time, I still do.
Weise, writing in the 1990s, recognized the limitations placed on her by a paternalistic society and appreciated the Armys relative progressiveness. Many others felt the same way.
Weise, in addition to explaining the discrimination that tainted her experience, also shrugged off the sexual harassment meted out by some male soldiers, stating I wrote about the men causing us problems, explaining that they whistled and made catcalls. Yes, they whistled or yelled, but we were used to it; we laughed it off, and went on our way.
Cpl. Betty Bartlett revealed, Yes the soldiers whistle at me, and I, too, have even whistled at them. Another corporal with the Signal Corps, Julie Orosz, confessed, Id feel that I were slipping if I didnt collect a few whistles every day. However, the bark of the wolf in sheeps clothing is worse than his bite. Really, they are awful sweet. It seems many WAACs/WACs deemed the opportunities afforded by their service to be worth episodic harassment, or as WAAC/WAC Billy Mattice Steenslid put it, well worth the price of admission.
Similarly, Emma Love distinguished between those few who objected to her service and those who respected her, stating, Oh, I had one fellow that tried to get smart, and, They were all nice, except one or two. Elizabeth Pollock concurred, Most of the soldiers seem delighted to have women around. Like those women who looked beyond discrimination to see the opportunity their service afforded, many refused to be discouraged and held individuals, rather than the Army, accountable for isolated instances of harassment.
Army Historical Foundation photo
Some women actually applauded gender relations, such as Pollock, who stated, I was delighted to see that the men dont resent WAACs, but really like and admire us, and, I expected the army men might have a guard up, and they dont. And I am glad. Frances Harden, a WAC supply sergeant in New Guinea, wrote to a friend, The fellow whose job Im taking is a peach of a guy. Hes so patient and nice to me. Just a heck of a good fellow.
Whether they went so far as to applaud gender relations or not, many women summarized their service with quotations like, I am proud to wear the WAC uniform, and I guess I love just about everything that goes with it; Now I know where I belong; No matter how complicated the process may be, the Army always comes through in the end; Maybe I sound like Pollyanna. But I really felt that it was a very fair Army; and Settling down to Army life wasnt hard for most girls. Whether or not we today think the Army of World War II was fair, many women at the time felt it so and emerged from their service without resentment.
Those women who worked past objections to their presence instead of quitting often persevered in changing attitudes, as many of those male soldiers who initially objected to gender integration succumbed to the obvious realities of WAAC/WAC capability. Dottie Gill revealed, Each week, a couple of girls were placed in the station, and even though the boys hated to admit it, the work was handled better than ever. Headquarters was speechless and then happy, for the station was running smoother than ever.
Male soldiers often admiringly acknowledged this stoic perseverance, with one soldier stating, In all the years Ive been in, I never saw a bunch of men rookies that caught on so quick. you cant make them complain and another confessing ...
Like most of my contemporaries, I wasnt much impressed by the thought of women in uniform. Today, after watching some 40,000 or more Ive been completely converted. I will say that the WAC is a good deal more efficient that many all-male outfits that I could name. There are no better soldiers on Earth.
Ignoring or rationalizing harassment or discrimination might seem to be passive forms of coping today, but the evidence shows these methods proved effective to many WAACs/WACs during World War II. Women stubbornly persisted in their new military roles instead of quitting and often impressed those around them. That persistence forced many dubious career soldiers incredulously to quote that old Army saying: You cant kill a WAC. A unified, radical protest or the initiation of legal proceedings against sexual harassment or discrimination by these patriotic women was unlikely in time of war. It was, in fact, unlikely any time in the 1940s.
Army Historical Foundation photo
The WAACs/WACs of World War II fought stereotypes, sexual harassment and gender discrimination in a time when no laws aided them in doing so, a time when, according to WAC officer Mildred Bailey, We couldnt afford to go contrary to public attitude. Hardly meek, these women successfully and calculatedly exploited their skills, tenacity, and faith in themselves, believing that their duty to their country and the opportunities afforded by military service were worth any discrimination or harassment they might encounter.
An overwhelming number of WAACs/WACs, regardless of how they coped with gender integration, expressed no regrets over their service. According to Annie McCarthy, There was no time that I regret. Nancy Hinchliffe stated of her experiences, Mine were all good and vowed, If somebody came to me and said theyre taking old women, Id go with them today. Such testimony provides further evidence of womens tenacity and relative satisfaction.
More than 150,000 of these courageous, pioneering women served with the Womens Army Corps during World War II, most gladly and without regret. Their effectiveness led to the Womens Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which guaranteed women a permanent place in the military services.
Then, in 1978, the Army abolished the WAC and fully subsumed women into the regular Army. Women in the Army continue to break down barriers today. The trailblazing WAACs and WACs of World War II set this course when they answered the call that would integrate by gender what historians have called the most prototypically masculine of all social institutions, the United States Army.
About the Army Historical Foundation
The Army Historical Foundation establishes, assists and promotes programs and projects that preserve the history of the American soldier and promote public understanding of and appreciation for the contributions by all components of the U.S. Army and its members. The foundation serves as the Army's official fundraising entity for the Capital Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army. The museum will be constructed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to honor the service and sacrifice of all American soldiers who have served since the Army's inception in 1775. For more information about the foundation, the National Museum of the United States Army and the Registry of the American Soldier, visit www.armyhistory.org.
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Submitting a lowball offer just might work when the seller once was known for its "Always Low Prices" slogan.
At least that was the case for the sale of the closed Walmart in Hartland, one of two stores in Michigan that the massive retailer closed in early 2016.
The store, located at US-23 and M-59 in Livingston County, was listed for $5.5 million.
But an Illinois retailer ended up paying $4.175 million for the 176,000-square-foot building that was built on nearly 23 acres in 2009 - about 25 percent off of the listed price.
Now that company is planning to open its second Rural King store in this state by mid-March. The store bills itself as "America's farm and home store."
"We're excited to have something unique," said Hartland Township supervisor James Wickman. "... We think it will be quite a draw from a wider region."
Rural King will occupy just over 100,000 square feet of the building, leaving 70,000 square feet for another tenant.
Rural King's only other Michigan store is in Niles, near the southwest border.
The chain was founded in Mattoon, Illinois, in 1960. Still family owned, it now operates 93 stores in 11 states.
"Our 93+ locations have an outstanding product mix with items such as livestock feed, farm equipment, agricultural parts, lawn mowers, workwear, fashion clothing, housewares and toys," according to its website. "You never know what you will find at your local Rural King and that's why every trip is an adventure."
The store is known for providing free coffee and popcorn for customers.
While store representatives were not available for comment, Wickman said Rural King was hiring about 70 people for the Hartland store.
The chain has bought several other closed Walmart stores for its expansion. They include: Morganton, North Carolina; Kimball, West Virginia; Circleville, Ohio; Halls, Tennessee; and Logansport, Indiana.
While store closings typically leave many questions for property owners and communities about how long they may be vacant, the situation in Hartland moved quickly once Walmart closed.
"The commercial real estate market here has done fairly well, even through the recession," Wickman said. "We figured it was only a matter of time before a viable use was found. This is a beautiful building and a great location."
The area includes a number of other big-box retailers, including Target and Meijer.
It's also attracting other new development, including a new Emagine Theater north of the new Rural King and across M-59.
Information on the Rural King store opening was not available. A ribbon cutting is scheduled with the Hartland Area Chamber of Commerce on March 23.
Visitors cautiously walk across the packed ice and snow at the ice caves in Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)
By Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
The Rock River Canyon Ice Caves, commonly known as the Eben Ice Caves, are a popular place to visit in Michigans Upper Peninsula. Located in Eben Junction ( map ) in the center of the U.P., the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes.
The many visitors who travel to the caves each winter begin their journey by crossing through an open field toward a wooded path. The trail, less than a mile, winds through tall trees and over bubbling creeks.
Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous, with steep ups and downs. The ice around the caves is smooth and cleats, like YakTrax, make it easier to navigate.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Roger Steele, of Marquette, inspects the inside of an Eben Junction ice cave on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats in and around the caves to navigate the smooth icy ground.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Visitors cross the field back to their cars after visiting the Eben Ice Caves in Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
The wood trail that leads to the ice caves in Eben Junction.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Shadows of trees cast shadows across the hills of snow along the trail leading to the ice caves in Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
The Rock River Canyon Ice Caves, commonly known as the Eben Ice Caves, are seen on a chilly Monday afternoon, Feb. 15, 2016. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous. The initial trail begins through an open field which leads into a wooded path. Concessions are available for weekend visitors.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Barb Isom of Munising arrives to the Eben Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous. The initial trail begins through an open field which leads into a wooded path. Concessions are available for weekend visitors.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
An inside view of the Eben Junction Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats in and around the caves to navigate the smooth icy ground.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A wide angle shot shows visitors exploring the ice caves at Eben Junction on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A hiker is seen in front of the ice caves located in Eben Junction in the Upper Peninsula on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. The caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
An ice formation within another ice formation at the Eben ice caves, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A close-up view of the ice caves located in Eben Junction in the Upper Peninsula on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. The caves are formed when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A girl looks back at her friends as she cautiously enters the slippery ice caves at Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Tannins in the water often give the frozen water yellow and green tints.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Roger and Patsy Steele of Marquette take a selfie in front of the Eben Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A hiker is seen exploring the Eben Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Tannins in the water make certain areas of the frozen formations yellow in color.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Visitors laugh as the slip and slide up the hill to the ice caves at Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
The ice caves at Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, seen on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Roger and Patsy Steele climb the slippery trail up to the Eben Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
The beautiful spread of frozen water that create the ice caves.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A wide angle shot shows visitors exploring the ice caves at Eben Junction on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
An up close view of the ice from inside the cave, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Kailey Cox of Grand Rapids explores the inside of the Eben Junction Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats in and around the caves to navigate the smooth icy ground.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
An inside view of the ice caves, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Hikers make their way up the slipper and steep path leading up to the ice caves at Eben Junction in the Upper Peninsula on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. The caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Eben ice caves, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
An inside view of the Eben Junction Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats in and around the caves to navigate the smooth icy ground.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Eben ice caves, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
A close-up view of the ice caves located in Eben Junction in the Upper Peninsula on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. The caves are formed when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
An evening view of the ice caves located in Eben Junction in the Upper Peninsula on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. The caves are formed when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Greg Hoffmann of Baltimore, Md., explores the Eben Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Two hikers make their way across the field after visiting the Eben Ice Caves on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Hikers must cross an open field before reaching the wooded trail leading to the caves. Located in Eben Junction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the caves form when melting snow runs over the edge of the small cliff and freezes. Hikers are encouraged to wear ice cleats as the trail can be treacherous.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
Wavy snow mounds and tree shadows are seen along the trail to the ice caves in Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com
The trail to the ice caves in Eben Junction, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.
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Photo by Fritz Klug | MLive.com
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Unique ice formations of the Great Lakes
The Michigan Weather series explores some unique ice formations found across the state.
Hahn Main.png
(Courtesy of "I'm Concerned About the Blueberries")
BLUEBERRY AMBASSADOR MOMENTS
Davison Hahn Intermediate School, coordinator Keri Collins
Isabelle Mckimmy
I was coming inside to lay down and do nothing at all until I paused and saw the sidewalk and yard at my neighbor's house covered with at least a foot of leaves. So, I said "mom I am going to stay outside for an extra 30 minutes today after school." She said ok with a questioning look on her face because I was just whining about how frigid it was. So, I explained to my mom that I was going to do one of my Blueberry Moments. It was even better because at the time my neighbor was not there. I was 10 minutes into the project when they pulled around the corner! I was a little upset because I wanted to be able to get it all done before she got home and then it could surprise her, but it still turned out fine even with her getting home while I was doing it. It made me feel so happy to see the look on her face. Once she pulled her car into her garage, she came and told me I didn't have to rake her yard. I gave her a big hug and got back to work. She was even nice enough to stay outside to keep me company. At the end of raking I gave her a big chocolate chip cookie and of course the Blueberry Card. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside when she told me that this was big help.
I helped one of my dad's students. My dad is a teacher in Flushing and a little girl in
his first grade class had just lost her mother. After her mother passed away, she had to move back to Texas to live with her dad. I thought about how she would feel having to move back with her father and it made me feel worried and nervous for her. Mainly because he was not planning on this happening and it was almost Christmas. I thought how it would be very easy for us to help. So, my dad and I sat down and he told me some of the stuff he thought she would like. We then narrowed it down to the top things she would like. After that we sent them to her. We were unable to get her reaction but I am sure she loved it. This made me feel happy although it made me sad that she had just lost her mom.
My last Blueberry Moment was when the other night when it was below zero outside. So, I brought hot chocolate, doughnuts and a Christmas card to a Salvation Army bell ringer at Walgreens. When I gave the man the treats, a lady walked by and said that I was so sweet. Then, the man started laughing and said "thanks." Then we told him how I was a Blueberry Ambassador from Hahn School and he thought that was really cool. Then we said bye and we walked off. As we walked away, I realized that what I just did probably just turned that man's whole day around and I felt great about it.
Dustin White
Blueberry Moment 10799
I was packing up in Mrs. Morgan's class and I noticed that the student who sits in front of me had stuff all over the floor. As a Blueberry Ambassador, I thought that I could help her. So, I got on my knees and helped her grab all her stuff and go to our lockers. After that I felt very good about myself.
Blueberry Moment 10800
I jumped in the pool with a splash as a woman and her son came into the pool area. "Where did my hair tie go?'' the woman asked. I looked around for the hair tie. I dove down, found it, and gave it to the lady. I felt as if I found something that someone needed.
Blueberry Moment 10801
''You are released.'' Dave, our youth pastor said. Everyone left, but my friend and I stayed behind to help with chairs. Dave said take a candy, but I declined. I helped because it needed to be done, not because I needed a reward. I was later than normal, but I still felt good about myself.
Charlie Armstead
Blueberry Moment 10814
My first Blueberry Moment I helped two older friends of ours that have trouble putting up their Christmas lights. We decided to go over to their home and put up their lights for them because they cannot do it themselves. They are getting older and do not want to get up on the ladder so we helped them with it. My dad and I helped them because we didn't want them to get hurt. They were very happy and it made me happy they didn't get hurt.
My second Blueberry Moment was when I went to Doogie's and set up a donation table with boxes. I handed out cards that asked for personal care items as people walked in. I said "Hi can you purchase a personal care item? If you can, you can put it in our donation box and we will deliver to Outreach East." This made me feel good because I was able to collect items for people that need help.
My third Blueberry Moment is when I went to Outreach East and helped the volunteers separate items like dog food, cat food and toiletries. I did it so I could volunteer so they could get items to the people. It made me feel good to help the volunteers and I know I am working for a good cause. They received a lot of items from Cool to Care and they need help getting it all sorted.
Preston Mata
Blueberry Moment 10833
My first Blueberry Moment was helping make my friend and neighbor feel happy. She
had a major surgery in New York and had been out of school healing for quite a while. I knew she missed her friends and needed something to cheer her up. I made a huge card for all of her friends at school to sign. I met up with a couple of her friends so this could happen. They passed it around school to get a lot of nice messages. I made up a get-well package of goodies along with the card, and delivered it to her that night. Her smile was priceless and I think this helped her a lot! If I were in her shoes I would want the same nice gesture to happen to me.
Blueberry Moment 10832
My second random act of kindness was "Koins for Kids". This is my second time doing this fundraiser. I knew right away I wanted to do this again to help children at a local hospital. I organized "Koins for Kids" to raise money/coins to help fund my toy and book drive for Hurley Hospital children. I went to all my friends and family for support. I was able to raise over $150.00 for these wonderful kids. I purchased new books, toys, and stuffed animals and delivered them on Friday December 16th to Hurley Hospital. I could pick where I would like these items to go. I chose all pediatric departments. I didn't want any child to be left out. My favorite item I took was a Michigan Pillow Pet. The director said she would make sure this item was given on Christmas day! Knowing that made me feel happy and proud. There were plenty of other books and toys to be given out on birthdays or simply because they were having a rough day. It did make me feel a little bit sad knowing some kids may be in the hospital for a long time. But I felt extremely happy knowing I could help make those hard days a little bit better. I am grateful for this opportunity and am looking forward to doing something like this again so every child will take away something special.
Blueberry Moment 10834
My third random act of kindness involved my local garbage men. I decided to make their job at our house a little easier. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I got up at 6:00 a.m. and went to purchase doughnuts. I also made coffee and hot chocolate. We only waited 5 minutes in our car for the men. They were right on time as usual. They work so hard that I wanted them to know I appreciate them. They couldn't believe that I did this for them. They kindly took all of the goodies and put them in the truck. I wanted to help load the truck for them but they had to do it. They were so kind and I'm glad I was able to do this for them. I felt proud and hope this made their day better.
Emelia Murphy
Blueberry Moment 10823
For my first random act of kindness, I decided to make a Smile Jar for the police. A Smile Jar is a big, glass jar with (in my case, 60) handwritten compliments/jokes on small pieces of paper, Hershey Hugs, and a sign that says 'Take One!' So, when a policeman needs a smile, or something to make them feel better on a rough day, they can go to my jar. I took my jar to the Davison Township Police Department, and Chief Freeman happened to walk by and I told him about the Blueberry Ambassadors, the jar, and the card. He said he was touched and that he loved our program. I made the jar because I wanted to affect more than one person at a time, I wanted to spread happiness and kindness. I wanted to affect them long after I gave it to them, and I wanted to thank them for all they do in a special way. The experience impacted me because what I did for the police really made Chief Freeman feel good. My afterthoughts were things like 'Oh my gosh! I just made several of our heroes feel good! What if I could make the world a better place? What if I could do this for more people?' Later on, I got a card from Chief Freeman on behalf of all the staff, saying that it honestly lifted their spirits. In the card, it also said "In fact, I just learned that one of our officers goes to the jar each day before his shift, draws out one of the slips of paper, and keeps it with him throughout the rest of his shift that day. Thanks for brightening our days!" After I read this, I felt so--inspired! I wanted to do more!
Blueberry Moment 10824
For my second random act of kindness, I decided to give baskets full of toys to Hurley Medical Center for the sick kids. In the baskets, there were bendy flowers, reptile figurines, and caterpillar stuffed animals. On each toy, I wrote a note that said 'Sending you a smile!' and signed my name. It took a couple days, and I wrote 30 notes for 30 sick or hurt kids. So, when a kid is down or hurting, a hospital worker can give them one to help them to feel better. I took them to Hurley, and I told a woman named Kathleen about the Blueberry Ambassadors, the baskets, and the card. I made the baskets because I wanted to help those in need and to help more than 1 person at a time. I know many kids really, truly, need these things. The experience impacted me because I just helped 30 children. I could just imagine their faces when they get one! It feels good to know that I made a bad experience a little better.
Blueberry Moment 10825
My third random act of kindness, I decided to make a Smile Jar for the Davison Township Fire Department. A Smile Jar is a big, glass jar, which has about 60 handwritten compliments in it, with Hershey hugs at the bottom, and a sign that says "Take One!" so when a firefighter wants a smile or needs something to make them feel better, they can just take a compliment or piece of candy from the jar. I took the Smile Jar to the Davison Township Fire Department, and I told them about the Blueberry Ambassadors, the card, and the jar. The people there were so happy to see what I gave them. I made the jar because I wanted to affect more than one person at a time. I wanted to spread kindness. I wanted my gift to affect them long after I gave it to them and I wanted to thank them for all they do in a special way. The experience impacted me because what I did for the firefighters would probably affect their spirits. My afterthoughts were things like "I wonder how they're going to react when they pull one out! Will one of the firefighters tell someone else one of my compliments? Could I do this for more people? Could I make the world a better place?
Alex Martinex
Blueberry Moment 10813
For my first Blueberry Moment, I shoveled out the snow of my driveway without being asked. I did this just because I wanted to, I also did it because my mom's car can't get out of the driveway well with high snow in the way.
Blueberry Moment 10812
For my second Blueberry Moment, I gave my church teacher a present. She really liked it and she thought the Blueberry Card was really nice too. I really enjoyed doing this moment and it made me feel really good.
Blueberry Moment 10811
As my third Blueberry Moment, I gave a bag of candy to my neighbor. She was not home but I left it on her door step and I made sure she got it. Doing these Blueberry Moments are a really great thing and I like doing them. Even though I don't have any more cards, I will definitely keep doing them.
Abby Latchana
For my first Blueberry Moment, I decided to bake cookies for my neighbor because they take care of my dog when we are on trips. When I handed her the Blueberry Card and cookies I saw her face light up with a smile. She said '' thank you''. Then I explained the Blueberry program so she can do something nice to another person. My heart was filled with joy when I handed her the cookies.
Blueberry Moment 10819
For my second Blueberry Moment, I wanted to make sure that children would have warm clothes and coats since it will be cold soon. I know other kids do not have coats and boots like I do. My 10th birthday party was coming up and I thought that asking for hats, boots, coats, and gloves instead of birthday presents would be a good idea. My mom planned my party and 22 girls came! They brought 238 items including 19 winter coats, 40 pairs of gloves, 46 hats, and $95! I took the money and bought Meijer Simply Giving cards so it doubled to $180 for Outreach East. Then we packaged all the donations up and my dad and I took them to Outreach East. I also made dessert and gave it to Ms. Jan as she does so much for other people who need it. The people at Outreach East were so happy and Ms. Jan loved her cookies. I told her what I did for my birthday, gave her my Blueberry Card, and asked that she help someone and pass on the card so we can keep random acts of kindness going. I really loved doing that, and I am sure that the kids will be really happy with what we were able to give.
Blueberry Moment 10810
For my third Blueberry Moment, I made an ornament for my Sunday school teacher at church. She always does such great things for us and I wanted to do something nice for her too. I put green and red glitter in the clear ball ornament and then put fake snow in a bag to cover it all up. I also put a nice cookie in there. When I gave it to her after Sunday school I could see a big smile on her face. She thanked me. I gave her the Blueberry Card and she said she knew all about the Blueberries and would give the card to someone else. It made me feel very good to make her happy.
Breeanna Bell
Blueberry Moment 10820
Breeanna and her mom did a Mom to Mom sale to sell Breeanna's clothes and toys that she had outgrown in fall of 2016. They then took that money and went shopping for toys so Breeanna could donate them to Toys for Tots. Breeanna wanted to give to other kids as she could not imagine what it would be like to not get a new toy for Christmas, so she wanted to make sure she did her part to make sure as many kids as possible would have a Merry Christmas.
Blueberry Moment 10821
Breeanna has two Grandpas that served in two different wars, WWII and Vietnam. She made sure to send out Veterans day cards to both of her grandpas and included a special handwritten note where she thanked them both for their service to our country. She has done this for a number of years and they both tell her every year how much it means to them to get her letter. They both feel very special that their service is recognized by their granddaughter.
Blueberry Card 10822
Breeanna and her father took Christmas goodies over to a neighbor who had lost her husband earlier in the year. Breeanna and her grandmother made the goodies and wanted to share some Christmas fellowship and goodies and let her know that we were thinking about her.
Cole Lindsay
After Wednesday night church, I ran to youth group finally and I finally had the chocolate bar. All I needed to do now was give it to him. I walked up to him, gave him the candy bar and said, "Mr. Shane I am part of Blueberry Ambassadors and we do random acts of kindness..." after that I felt good that I did a random act of kindness.
For my second moment, I put a card in my pocket and when we were at the checkout line I grabbed some candy and bought it for the people behind me. My heart was pumping she was looking at me smiling I spilled the words out of my mouth. "I'm part of the Blueberry Ambassadors and we do random acts of kindness for people." She thanked me.
For my last moment, I decided to write a nice note to the bus driver. I wrote it as fast as I could on the push. I pulled my folder out, grabbed the note, and gave it to him as I was getting off. I saw him through the window smile.
Sarah Murawski
I was walking in Tim Hortons with my mom, brothers, and my friend. I saw an older couple let us through to get inside and no one else let us go. Only they did so, I thought it would be kind to buy them breakfast. So, when they were going through the drive through I told one of the waitresses to give the Blueberry Card to them. So, when they drive past the window they were smiling and surprised and it made me feel awesome.
When I was outside and I saw someone struggling with shoveling her driveway. So, I went up to them and gave her my card and told her about who I am and asked if it was okay if I could do her driveway and sidewalk. She said yes, so I did it and she thanked me and tried to give me money but I said no I didn't need anything I just wanted to be a Blueberry Ambassador and when I was walking away I saw the smile on her face and that was fun.
My bus driver doesn't have much money, so I gave him a dozen cookies that I made and also a Blueberry Card. He thanked me that whole bus ride back home. He works as a construction guy he says he like that job a lot. But when I gave him the cookies his face lit up and I told him I was a Blueberry and he congratulated me and it was fun to see him enjoy the cookies I made and I felt good.
Abby Siekierski
My first moment was raking my neighbor's yard and giving my neighbor a note. In the note, I said I am a Blueberry Ambassador and as one of my random acts of kindness I raked your yard. Thanks for being a good neighbor.
My second one was I went to a church and fed the elderly people food for Thanksgiving dinner. It made me happy seeing them smile and saying thank you.
My third on was using my gift card from Tropical Smoothie to buy my friends smoothies. They said thank you and I said thanks for being my friend. I learned that doing random acts of kindness is fun and enjoyable. It is a good way to make people smile. I had fun and I will definitely do more random acts of kindness. I will not stop at just there.
Jaxon Clark
Blueberry Moment 10836
Today, Charlie and I went up to Doogie's in Davison and collected personal care items for Outreach East. We collected items from 12:00 to 3:00. When I did this, it made me feel really special and good inside knowing that I helped someone in need of help.
Today, me and another Blueberry Ambassador, Charlie went up to Outreach East to pack items to be sold for people in need. We packed dog food and cat food also toilet paper and bar soap to be sold for low prices. When doing this act I felt really good and felt that it was kind of me to do this for people in need.
Brooklyn Woughter
I gave a nice letter and a chocolate bar to my neighbor. She was so happy. She was crying because she was glad that there are people like me.
I raked my grandma's leaves with her. I also gave her skates for her grandkids. She was so pleased for the help.
I sent a Christmas gift to a girl overseas. I couldn't see her reaction, but I be it was good. Her family couldn't afford a present, but I could and I bet I put the biggest smile on her face.
ANN ARBOR, MI - After a month in detainment facing the threat of deportation, Yousef Ajin is a free man again.
Ajin, 48, was released from jail and reunited with his wife and four children in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, March 1, a day after a federal immigration judge granted a rare deportation waiver following a two-hour court hearing in Detroit.
On Thursday, still shaken by the ordeal, Ajin declined to answer questions, but he says he's happy to be home and thankful for everyone who supported him. That includes everyone from Mayor Christopher Taylor to Ann Arbor's state reps, school officials, teachers and many other community members.
"We are overwhelmed by the kindness and love we are receiving from so many friends and strangers," Siham Omar, Ajin's wife, said in a statement provided to The Ann Arbor News/MLive, saying the family asks for privacy at this time.
Ajin, who is a citizen of Jordan, came to the United States legally and has been a legal permanent resident for the past 18 years, living in Ann Arbor's Bryant neighborhood with his wife, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
They have three daughters who were born here and attend Ann Arbor public schools, including Betoul at Community High, Yara at Pioneer High and Mariam at Tappan Middle School. They also have a 15-year-old son, Badar, who is developmentally disabled and is in a special education program.
Omar said having to work while her husband was detained took crucial time and attention away from her son, who cannot read, write or talk and requires constant supervision and care. She said her daughters missed their father, who is a caring, loving, reliable and essential part of the family.
Hundreds of people, including many Ann Arbor community members, rallied outside the federal building in Detroit on Tuesday during Ajin's deportation hearing, making it clear they didn't want to see the family torn apart.
Community High theater teacher Quinn Strassel helped raise money to cover Ajin's legal expenses and helped raise awareness about the family's situation, which eventually led to a large community response.
"They've got a community that supports them and I hope that they can walk through that community with their heads held high from now on, and know that the community has their back," Strassel said on Thursday.
"I also think the one positive that came out of this was seeing the girls become stronger," Strassel added, recalling a moment in the waiting room outside the courtroom on Tuesday. "It was really tense because we didn't know what was happening, but one of the girls' aunts said the lesson we're going to take from this is that we don't need to hide and that we have a right to be heard.
"It was inspiring and moving to see the community come together, and it was heartening to see the girls recognize the power they have in their voices."
It's unclear why Ajin was suddenly facing deportation after regularly checking in with immigration offices in Detroit every two weeks.
Ajin's supporters believe it might have something to do with a phone call he received before his last check-in when he refused to give personal information over the phone and yelled at the person on the other end of the line, apparently thinking it was a phishing scam when it was an immigration officer. His supporters say the call came from a blocked number and Ajin didn't trust it.
When he went in for his regular check-in on Jan. 30, Ajin was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and taken into custody. ICE placed Ajin in detainment at the Calhoun County Jail in Battle Creek.
It was noted during Tuesday's hearing that Ajin traveled out of the country and returned in 2011. For reasons that remain unclear, Ajin appears to have faced scrutiny after that trip and an immigration judge in 2012 ordered his deportation after Ajin missed a court hearing in Detroit.
The circumstances under which Ajin was allowed to remain in the country after that also remain unclear and ICE has not answered questions about it.
ICE stated earlier this week that Ajin was arrested on Jan. 30 for alleged non-compliance with the requirements of his previous release. No further information was provided and ICE has not responded to followup questions.
Much of Tuesday's hearing focused on Ajin's past criminal record, which includes a felony conviction stemming from when he found a wallet in 2000 and used a credit card inside it to purchase items at a store. Ajin testified that he was a housekeeper at the University of Michigan's Mott Children's Hospital and found an unattended wallet on a couch in an empty room when he went in to clean.
He said he used the credit card to buy cigarettes, beer and cologne at a store and was caught on camera and arrested several days later.
He also has a misdemeanor shoplifting conviction from 2003 when, as he testified in court, he found some loose items outside the box at a store, including a phone and remote control, and tried walking out the door without paying for them while he paid for other items in his cart. He was stopped at the door and arrested.
Ajin served probation for those offenses and paid fines. During Tuesday's hearing, when he was asked to answer for those past crimes, Ajin told Judge David Paruch they were stupid mistakes, he hasn't repeated them since then, and he doesn't plan to steal ever again.
Given that the crimes occurred so long ago, and because it seemed evident Ajin's family would face extreme hardship if he was deported, Paruch said he was granting a deportation waiver the court doesn't give out regularly. He told Ajin not to do anything to land in court again or things could go differently next time.
Strassel said he first learned about Ajin's situation when one of Ajin's daughters, Betoul, who is a student at Community High, came to him on Feb. 1 and said she didn't think she could continue her work in the Community Ensemble Theatre's upcoming production of "Fiddler On The Roof."
Strassel said when Betoul began to cry, it was clear something was wrong, and that's when he learned about Ajin's detainment and decided to help.
"They're just really good people," Strassel said of the family, describing Ajin as funny, personable and caring.
Omar, who for many years has been a stay-at-home mom caring for her developmentally disabled son, said she had to go back to work after her husband was detained, and her daughters had to step up more to help take care of their brother while the family struggled to make ends meet.
Omar said her son was diagnosed with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome at birth and her husband is very good with him.
Given all of that, Omar said her husband's arrest on Jan. 30 and subsequent detainment did not come lightly.
"He is the sole breadwinner for our family of six," she said in a statement. "He works endless hours, day in and day out, in order to provide for our family. Our son has severe special needs and requires diligent care and attention. I have not been able to work for the duration of our marriage in order to care for our son. His condition requires a great deal of time and energy."
Now that Ajin is no longer facing deportation, Strassel said he thinks Betoul will be working backstage on "Fiddler On The Roof" again.
Opening night is March 16.
"She told me last night, 'I think I can do the show now again,'" Strassel said. "It will be great to have her back."
YPSILANTI, MI - Ypsilanti has announced the arrival of its new city manager, Darwin D.P. McClary, who officially began his duties on Feb. 27.
McClary previously worked as manager of the village of Lake Orion. He has 27 years of combined experience in Michigan municipal management, according to a release from the city.
"We, as a community, are so excited to welcome Darwin McClary," said Mayor Amanda Edmonds. "We feel he is the right fit for the community with his passion for social, environmental and economic justice and his strong background in municipal finance and working in communities with similar challenges and opportunities."
McClary, who was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and grew up in the Rochester and Oxford area, received his bachelor's degree in human services with a concentration in public administration from Siena Heights College and a Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University, according to the release.
McClary and his husband, Steven, who has worked as an educator and is a published novelist, have four sons.
"I am excited to work in a progressive city in which my family has roots, and I look forward to working with the community, community leaders and local business leaders to keep Ypsilanti moving forward in a positive direction," McClary said.
The city will host a meet and greet event with the new city manager from 3-5 p.m. on Friday, March 10, in the City Council Chamber of City Hall, One South Huron St.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor just saw its warmest February on record, according to University of Michigan records dating to 1880.
Ann Arbor had an average temperature of 37.5 degrees Fahrenheit in February 2017, University of Michigan staff meteorologist Dennis Kahlbaum said.
It's the warmest average temperature recorded for the month since UM began keeping records in 1880, he said. The prior record was set in 1998, with a temperature of 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
For reference, Kahlbaum said the 30-year normal average for February in Ann Arbor, from 1981 to 2010, was 27.6 degrees.
Ann Arbor wasn't alone with its warm February temperatures, or the warm winter overall, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joseph Clark.
"It was especially warm across the whole country," Clark said.
Clark said this was the sixth-warmest winter recorded for Ann Arbor, with an average of 31.9 degrees Fahrenheit overall.
The warmest winter occurred in 1890, with an average temperature of 33.9 degrees Fahrenheit, Clark said. The rest of the top six warmest winters took place after 1998.
Clark said there may be lingering effects from last year's El Nino and effects from the recent La Nina, that played into the warm temperatures this winter.
"It changes the pattern of thunderstorms in the tropics ... and that has a downstream effect," Clark said. "It caused some troughing over the northwestern U.S."
In short, it brought cooler air over the northwestern U.S. and pushed warmer air toward Michigan, Clark said.
Though it's a bit far out to say for sure, Clark said information from Climate Prediction Center shows there are better than normal odds for a warmer summer as well.
Danta Wright
ANN ARBOR, MI - Washtenaw County District Judge J. Cedric Simpson rejected a defendant's claim that his court-appointed attorney used racially-biased language in preparing for his upcoming trial on a murder charge.
Danta Wright, a black teen charged with murder in the shooting death of an Ann Arbor Pioneer senior, brought a handwritten motion to his competency hearing Thursday, March 2, requesting a new attorney.
One of the claims in the motion was that Wright's Ann Arbor-based attorney, Lynn D'Orio - who is white - had used a racial slur while talking to him. Wright has also filed a grievance against D'Orio, Simpson said.
The judge became irate at the suggestion.
"That's outrageous," Simpson said.
"I've known Ms. D'Orio for an extended period of time," Simpson said. "She's one of the top-tier attorneys (in the area). I have never, ever heard her use a racial slur towards anyone."
Simpson, who is Washtenaw County's only black judge, lectured Wright about the motion for the bulk of the hearing.
"How dare you come before this court, this judge, and accuse that attorney of a racial bias," he said. "I know it's not true. You owe her an apology."
At one point, Simpson asked Wright what the basis was for the allegation.
Wright told the judge that D'Orio said he "was black and it was going to be tough," and that he considered that a slur.
"Young man, welcome to America," Simpson said, adding that what D'Orio allegedly told him wasn't a slur and was accurate advice, that it is an uphill battle being a young, black man charged with murder.
"You tried to use your race as a sword to cut down the person trying to help you," he said.
Wright originally was scheduled to appeared before Judge Elizabeth Pollard Hines, who had to recuse herself because she said her husband had ties to the homicide victim, 18-year-old Jordan Klee.
The case was brought to Simpson's courtroom next door to Hines' at Pittsfield Township's 14A-1 District Court at the last minute Thursday.
The exchanges about Wright's racial bias claim came after a report was presented to the court saying Wright was competent to stand trial. That portion of the hearing went briskly, with both the prosecution and defense stipulating to the report from the Center for Forensic Psychiatry.
Then D'Orio informed Simpson that Wright brought a motion to sever ties with her.
In addition to racial bias, Wright claimed that D'Orio rarely came to see him and rarely gave him updates in the case. He also said she was verbally abusive to him, specifically that her "attitude and conduct has been verbally abusive and unprofessional."
This also did not sit well with Simpson, who repeatedly told Wright the court-appointed defense attorney was acting in his best interest.
Many of the judge's comments and questions were met with long silences from Wright. Simpson said he believes Wright was influenced by someone to write such a motion - probably by another jail inmate -- because the 17-year-old was having trouble articulating the ideas in it.
The judge's demeanor upset Wright's mother, whose facial expressions angered Simpson.
"It's very distressing," Wright's mother, Antronette Carter, told Simpson. "They have found him competent to stand trial, but he can't even answer the questions you're asking him now."
Simpson had Carter removed from the courtroom for a short time.
In the end, Simpson granted Wright's wish for a new attorney - not for any of the reasons in the motion but to spare D'Orio from having to represent Wright in light of the grievance he filed, the judge said.
David I. Goldstein was appointed to represent Wright.
Wright, Delreno Gracey, 17, of Ypsilanti, and Jermarius Ellison, 17, of Redford, are accused of killing Klee on Oct. 4 in Ann Arbor.
Wright is charged with open murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, conspiracy to commit unarmed robbery, conspiracy to commit larceny from person and felony firearm.
Gracey and Ellison are charged with felony murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, conspiracy to commit unarmed robbery, conspiracy to commit larceny from person and felony firearm.
Klee was found dead around 3 p.m. Oct. 4 on a pathway near the Pinelake Village Cooperative in the 2600 block of Adrienne Drive on Ann Arbor's west side. Police have not released many details about the homicide.
The felony information complaint says the three teens were attempting to steal controlled substances and/or clothes and/or shoes, according to court records.
Klee was an Ann Arbor Public Schools student with a 3.7 GPA and aspirations of attending the University of Michigan and becoming an engineer.
Wright's probable cause was set for March 9 and his preliminary examination for March 16.
He remains in the Washtenaw County Jail with no bond.
BAY CITY, MI -- Trial dates have been set for a Bay County Sheriff's deputy alleged to have negligently fired his personal pistol in a high school classroom.
Jury selection in the trial of Adam J. Brown, 51, is to begin the morning of Tuesday, April 18. Should that date not work out, proceedings would commence Tuesday, May 2.
Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill is slated to preside.
Brown is charged with single counts of tampering with evidence, a four-year felony; careless discharge of a firearm causing injury, a two-year high court misdemeanor; and careless discharge of a firearm causing less than $50 in damage, a 90-day misdemeanor.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred in November inside the Bay City Western High School and Middle School building at 500 W. Midland Road in Auburn.
Police reports obtained by MLive/The Bay City Times through a Freedom of Information Act request indicate Brown, the school's resource officer, at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, was in the school's robotics classroom with another teacher. They used a force machine to test the trigger pull on Brown's personal Springfield EMP 9mm handgun.
After the pair left the room, Brown returned alone and used the machine to test the trigger pull on his .380-caliber Sig Sauer, another personal handgun that he brought into the school that day. The gun was not empty of bullets, however, and the experiment caused the gun to fire a round through two pieces of drywall. The projectile entered a classroom containing about 30 students, traveled toward the ceiling, scraped a tile, proceeded to hit a cement wall, ricocheted off it, careened across the room, and struck teacher Brenda Amthor in the neck.
Amthor was sitting at her desk when she was struck by the bullet. She was uninjured apart from a small scratch, police said.
Though Brown was engaged in conversations with school staff on the projectile's origin, he did not admit to having fired a gun, reports indicate. As a result, the school was placed in secure mode while administrators attempted to discern what had happened.
School staff gave Brown the bullet to hold, but he then tossed it in a grassy area covered by leaves, according to police reports. A K-9 Unit recovered the bullet and Brown confessed that he attempted to destroy the evidence, according to police reports.
Arndt spoke with Brown, who was "extremely emotional and explained that he had been in contact with his union representative who had advised him not to provide a statement. He did say, 'It was a total accident.'"
Following a Michigan State Police investigation, the report was filed with the Bay County Prosecutor's Office. To avoid any conflict or appearance of impropriety, staff in Bay County requested a special prosecutor. State Attorney General Bill Schuette on Nov. 29 signed an order granting the request, appointing the Tuscola County Prosecutor's Office to the task of determining whether charges are warranted.
Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene announced the charges against Brown on Dec. 29, the same day Brown was arraigned. Tuscola County Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Miller was present when Brown waived his hearing on Thursday.
Brown is represented by attorney Christopher Tomasi, with the Police Officers Association of Michigan.
Brown, who has been on the force since 1996, is free on bond and is suspended without pay from the Bay County Sheriff's Office.
DETROIT -- Police Chief James Craig didn't hide his frustration Thursday after a 21-year-old habitual felony offender was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to multiple crimes stemming from the unarmed carjacking of an elderly woman in September.
The chief laid blame on Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office and Wayne Circuit Judge Shannon N. Walker for the lenient sentence doled out after a plea deal in January.
Wayne County Judge Shannon N. Walker had already dismissed the carjacking charge against the suspect, Dontonio Jones, and allowed his accomplice, Deonte Russell, to be sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Training Act.
The Holmes Youthful Training Act allows first-time criminals under the age of 23 to keep a conviction off their record if they complete their sentence.
Jones had prior convictions for receiving a stolen vehicle in 2014, illegally carrying a concealed firearm in 2013 and second-degree home invasion in 2012, according to online Wayne County court records.
Jones and Russell were accused of forcing 85-year-old Mable Coats from the SUV she was sitting in at a Detroit gas station while she waited for the driver to return from inside the store. While they used force to steal the SUV, they did not brandish firearms.
The topic of lenient sentences and bonds was again raised by Craig when he took the Sound Board Theater stage in the Motor City Casino Thursday, March 2, for a discussion with Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley about public safety in Detroit during the annual Detroit Policy Conference.
Craig said it's "not just the police" who are responsible for safety.
"Guess who else plays role? Our prosecutors and our judges," Craig said before referencing the Coats incident. She "was carjacked by a career criminal ... What message are we sending to those who want to engage in violence in the city of Detroit.
"We will make the arrest -- I assure you of that -- but if the prosecution is not there, and the courts are not doing right, candidly, what do we do?"
The police chief said the same does not happen in the neighboring counties of Macomb and Oakland.
"We can't have a city where we're incentivizing those who commit violent acts to continue," Craig said. "Do you think these criminals make business decisions not to go to Macomb and Oakland counties when they know they're a felon with a gun. Of course they do. That has to change, and needs to change quickly."
Craig acknowledged the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is understaffed.
"But I'm understaffed as well," he said. "What we do is find ways to be more efficient, because we're all public servants and we need to together, in unison, get this job done."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy addresses the 2017 Detroit Policy Conference on the Soundboard stage Thursday at Motor City Casino, March 2, 2017. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit)
Prosecutor's response
Worthy also spoke at the Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Conference on Thursday, but refused to respond directly to the chief's criticism of her office.
"You know, I think I'm not going to talk about that," she said backstage.
Worthy says it's important for assistant prosecutors and police to appear at arraignments if they want to ensure judges have information to issue appropriate bond amounts.
Because of the size of Wayne County and the number of crimes, it's not always feasible for police and assistant prosecutors familiar with the cases to be present.
"We don't have the resources to send prosecutors to every district court when you have arraignments on warrants," Worthy said.
She said the decisions are usually made based on paperwork and input from police at the hearing, if one is present.
"I get along with the chief well, but what I don't appreciate that's being said often is, we don't charge this, we don't charge that," the prosecutor said. " ... We're not going to just take the word of the police investigation. Nothing against the police, we're the ones who have to stand up in court and defend that; we're the ones that could lose our license if all the evidence are not turned over.
"The basic schism between police and prosecutors through time immemorial has always been, the police think a case is closed when they bring it to the prosecutor's office .., It's not closed until there's a verdict one way or the other."
The chief also spoke publicly last year about his frustration with Worthy's office when it declined to file charges in three cases where threats were made against police through online media.
There is a "legal standard we must follow," Worthy said. "You can't be popular in this job every day -- I'm not trying to be; I'm trying to follow the law."
Regarding the lenient bond and sentencing issue, Worthy said some of that falls on the judges.
"We have a lot of newer judges now," Worthy said . " ... I was on the bench for nine years and most of our judges had been trial lawyers for defense or prosecutors, and that's not the norm now.
"So, a lot of education of judges has to take place. I have no doubt that they all want to do good jobs, but a lot of them are just not familiar with the criminal justice system and some -- very few -- don't want to be familiar."
[March 02, 2017] LG G6 Wins Multiple Best Smartphone Awards At Mobile World Congress 2017
BARCELONA, Spain, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics' G6 smartphone won an unprecedented 31 booth awards at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 including multiple honors from various international titles and publications attending the show. The LG G6 demonstrates that the company is at the forefront of mobile communications and consumer demand. Amongst top honors received, Wired, Android Authority, Digital Trends, PCMag and TechRadar designated the G6 as the best smartphone of MWC 2017. "Consumers love big screens, but they also love using their phones comfortably with one hand. The LG G6 was created with this consumer need in mind, ushering in the next generation of smartphone design and user experience," said Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "The response to the LG G6's narrow bezels and harmonious design from aluminum and glass has been sensational." The G6 was unveiled to more than 1,400 tech professionals prior to the main MWC event to high acclaim. The LG G6 delivers ergonomic excellence, a minimalist design and superb reliability. The G6 offers an expansive screen and immersive viewing experience with its 18:9 screen aspect ratio and 5.7-inch FullVision display. Thanks to the unique ratio of the screen and its smaller body, customers can easily and comfortably use the G6 with one hand. Dual 13MP rear cameras let users capture the shots they want with standard and wide angle lenses. What's more, the sartphone has been tested to the highest standards with reliability and durability in mind.
MWC 2017 is the world's largest mobile industry event with an estimated 100,000 attendees. Top awards won by the LG G6 at MWC 2017 include: Wired
Coolest of MWC - LG G6
Digital Trends
Top Tech of MWC 2017 - LG G6 Slashgear
Editors' Choice LG G6 PCMag
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 TechRadar
Best in Show LG G6
Best Smartphone LG G6
Readers' Choice LG G6 Android Central
Best Design LG G6
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 Android Authority
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 Ubergizmo
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 Tom's Guide
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 Mobile Geeks
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 T3
Best Phone LG G6 ComputerBild
Best Product: Smartphone LG G6 AndroidPIT
Best Android Phone LG G6 Chip Chick
Top Pick of MWC 2017 LG G6 Expert Reviews
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 Android Headlines
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 Tech Advisor
Top Picks LG G6 Pisapapeles
Best in Show LG G6
Readers' Choice LG G6 Fone Arena
Best Smartphone of MWC 2017 LG G6 PhoneScoop
Best of MWC 2017 LG G6 For more information about LG's products at MWC 2017, please visit www.LGnewsroom.com/MWC2017. About LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the U.S. sales subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc. a global innovator and trend leader in the global mobile communications industry. LG is driving the evolution of mobile forward with its highly competitive core technologies in the areas of display, battery and camera optics and strategic partnerships with noted industry leaders. LG's consumer-centric products -- including the flagship premium V Series models -- incorporate unique, ergonomic designs and intuitive UX features that enhance the user experience. The company remains committed to leading consumers into the era of convergence, maximizing inter-device connectivity between smartphones, tablets and a wide range of home and portable electronics products. For more information, please visit www.LG.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lg-g6-wins-multiple-best-smartphone-awards-at-mobile-world-congress-2017-300416814.html SOURCE LG Electronics USA
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[March 02, 2017] RingCentral Awarded the 2017 Silver Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year
RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE:RNG), a leading provider of enterprise cloud communications and collaboration solutions, today announced it was awarded the Silver Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year. RingCentral (News - Alert) was selected from among more than 2,300 nominations that spanned across virtually every industry, company size, and geographic location. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top honors for customer service, contact center, business development, and sales professionals. The Stevie Awards organizes several of the world's leading business awards programs, including the prestigious American Business AwardsSM and International Business AwardsSM. The awards were presented during a gala banquet at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, with more than 650 executives from around the world in attendance. "We are honored to once again be recognized by the Stevie Awards for our commitment to delivering an end-to-end superior customer experience," said Walt Weisner, senior vice president of Global Customer Care at RingCentral. "Our approach puts customers at the center of everything we do, and we're always raising the bar on the customer experience and professional services we provide. I'm extremely proud of our Global CustomerCare team, as they consistently strive to go above and beyond to ensure our customers get what they need to be successful, and this recognition validates all of their hard work."
"The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service continues to be among the most competitive and fastest-growing of our awards programs," said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of the Stevie Awards. "The growth of the program illustrates the importance of the functions highlighted-sales, business development, and customer service-to successful enterprises of all types, and how integral recognition in these domains are to building and maintaining corporate reputations." As a nominee, RingCentral was reviewed and judged by a specialized committee of judges selected by the Stevie Awards, which included past award winners and leading professionals in the customer service industry from across the world.
You can find additional information about the Stevie Awards here. About RingCentral RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is a global provider of cloud unified communications and collaboration solutions. More flexible and cost-effective than legacy on-premise systems, RingCentral empowers today's mobile and distributed workforce to be connected anywhere and on any device through voice, video, team messaging, collaboration, SMS, conferencing, online meetings, contact center, and fax. RingCentral provides an open platform that integrates with today's leading business apps while giving customers the flexibility to customize their own workflows. RingCentral is a leader in the 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications (News - Alert) as a Service Worldwide for the second consecutive year. RingCentral is headquartered in Belmont, Calif. RingCentral and the RingCentral logo are trademarks of RingCentral, Inc. About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the American Business Awards, the International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at stevieawards.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005302/en/
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business Cipla to remain unfazed by Trump's protectionist policy Umang Vohra of Cipla reasoned that almost 80 percent of the drugs sold by Cipla in the US market are manufactured in the US itself. He said it will not be a challenge to manufacture all its supplies in the US itself if asked to do so by authorities.
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business Essar Steel forays into defence manufacturing sector The company has developed several products which are import substitutes as well as innovated to develop indigenous armour plate for ballistic protection, Essar Steel said in a statement today.
business Note ban pain not over; base effect lifted exports: Bajaj Auto The demonetisation impact has not fully subsided and two-wheeler companies might continue to feel the pain for few more months, according to S Ravikumar, President - Business Development at Bajaj Auto.
business Trump's policies positive for company, says Trigyn Tech Trigyn Technologies is gaining in trade on the back of winning a 12-year contract from IT dept of Maryland, US.
After being the top performing 'currency' in 2016, Bitcoin has rallied to all-time highs and is trading at around levels of USD 1220 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.
The volatile currency, which fell from a high of over USD 1,100 to below USD 800 in January, has been enjoying its longest stretch above USD 1,000 since its inception back in 2008.
The currency has gained steam on the hopes that American entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will receive a green signal from the US government to create the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
If they succeed, this could pave the way for similar launches and will also strengthen the acceptability of the digital currency, which could push prices further. It could also become the template for market regulators in other countries to similarly allow ETF listings.
Right now the market seems to not factor in chances of a possible failure to the twins application for an ETF.
As per a report by CoinDesk investor and serial entrepreneur Vinny Lingham and Spencer Bogart, former analyst with investment bank Needham & Co LLC, both are not much optimistic on the ETF approval.
Lingham sees a 10-15 percent approval chance and Bogart sees less than 25 percent of odds in favour of the ETF.
A contract created by Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform, to bet on the possibility of approval of the Winklevoss ETF, showed favorable odds of only 34 percent on Monday, a Bloomberg report said.
Saurabh Agrawal, CEO and Co-founder, Zebpay, told Moneycontrol News conceded that while chances of the approval were low, a favourable decision would be a milestone for the entire Bitcoin ecosystem. "We may see Bitcoin prices touching USD 1500 very soon.
He said that if the ETF is not approved/postponed, there will be a minor correction in prices -- consolidation towards the USD 1000-1100 level -- but added that it would remain largely rangebound for a couple of weeks.
Volatility
Volatility remains a major concern for serious long-term investors even as price fluctuations also allow speculators to try and make money off it.
As per the Bitcoin volatility index, its 30-day volatility against the US dollar (measured by standard deviation) has come down to 2.25 percent from levels of 16.11 percent back in 2011. But the currency has not able to sustain low volatility levels over a long period of time.
For comparison, the volatility of gold averages around 1.2 percent, while other major currencies average between 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent.
At the moment Bitcoin is used more as a speculative asset and not as a medium of exchange like fiat currencies.
A very volatile price of the currency (exchange rate) does not enhance confidence and acceptability but will rather attract speculators and further increase price volatility, a report by SWIFT Institute said.
Unless it is used as a currency to pay for goods and services, it wont be able to compete with the US dollar or any other stable currency for that matter.
The investment risk of bitcons against other asset classes remains quite significantly high. Crude oil and bonds are the only other instruments that have come near to the investment risk of Bitcoin.
Scenario in India
While the Reserve Bank of India is upbeat on reaping benefits from blockchain, the underlying software that empowers digital currency, it remains highly pessimistic on Bitcoin.
Yesterday at an event RBI deputy governor Rama Subramaniam Gandhi said, "Blockchain, the foundation for bitcoins-like innovations, is touted to be the death knell of currency. I believe its potential is being overstated. We can see that in these types of solutions for virtual currency, there is no central bank or monetary authority. They pose potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks."
The central bank has warned consumers about the risk investing in Bitcoin pose and had said that those putting money in virtual currencies are exposing themselves to potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks.
In order to help people understand about virtual currencies and self-regulate the industry, Bitcoin startups Zebpay, Unocoin, Coinsecure and Searchtrade have launched Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of India (DABFI) and aim seeks to work alongside regulators to bring more clarity and credibility to cryptocurrencies.
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
VALDESE The stage at the Old Rock School in Valdese is ready for royalty this weekend. Bluegrass royalty, that is.
Rhonda Vincent, often dubbed the Queen of Bluegrass, and her band, The Rage, comprised of Hunter Berry, Brent Burke, Mickey Harris, Aaron McDaris and Josh Williams, will perform a show with Nu-Blu at this weekends installment of the Bluegrass at the Rock concert series. The concert is Friday night and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. ahead of the 7:30 p.m. concert.
It will be Vincents second time on the Old Rock stage. She teamed up with Nu-Blu a year ago and is excited to make her return to the area.
Were always excited to get to North Carolina, Vincent said. Thats one of our most-traveled states. The Old Rock School is so historic. Ive heard of people playing this for many, many years. Last year was the very first year that we had managed, for whatever reason.
So, this is our second year. Were there with our friend Nu-Blu. So, its always great to get to interact with them. Were just looking forward to it, seeing old friends and making new ones.
Nu-Blu, formed by husband and wife duo Daniel and Carolyn Routh, along with Levi Austin and Milom Williams II, is based in Siler City. Vincent has worked with the band on a number of occasions, in addition to last years show in Valdese.
Theyve just become dear friends and theyre so fun, Vincent said. Its just like anyone, theres that familiarity of people you love and you love to work with and enjoy, so itll be great to see them. I havent seen them for quite some time, so itll be a great reunion.
Burke County has become a hot area for bluegrass in recent years between Bluegrass at The Rock and Morgantons Red, White and Bluegrass Festival. Vincent already knows some of the fans in the area, including some dedicated friends who follow her touring closely.
I found out a long time ago that its the people who make the places special, Vincent said. We have special friends there, too Gloria Boyd and her family. (Boyds grandson) Trent (Price) actually came to our show last week. He got his friends and drove over. Ill get to see him, I think, three weeks in a row. I dont think thats ever happened before.
For those who arent as familiar with Vincent and her music, Vincent said she and her group pride themselves on their musicianship. They also strive to make every performance a unique event for those who attend frequently.
I travel with world-class musicians, Vincent said. These guys are so amazing. We have a brand-new live DVD called All The Rage Volume I. It is a showcase of their talents. Ive worked for years to put together the ultimate group. I think in bluegrass, specifically for what I do, its a team effort. Its not just me on stage with a backing band. Everyone is featured and everyone brings a very special skill way beyond a normal skill set.
(The members of The Rage) excel and exceed the expectations. When they take a solo, there are several songs that are more of an improv. They improv and every solo is not the same. You can come to our show, like Trent Price, who will be there three weeks in a row, and I guarantee if you talk to him, no show is the same. We dont use a set list. We change it up. We know instead of frequent fliers, we have frequent bluegrass visitors and frequent show-goers. So, we always try to make it something different so they can never come to a show and say it was the same show last week and the week before because its always different. Its something we pride ourselves on in making it something unique.
Tickets for Friday nights concert are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased by calling 828-879-2129 or online at townofvaldese.com. Tickets also are available at The Goldmine in Hudson, The Music Center in Lenoir and Larrys Musical Madness in Hickory.
The Old Rock School is located at 400 Main St. W. in Valdese.
Justin Epley can be reached at jepley@morganton.com or 828-432-8943.
On the News Herald Opinion page of 2/27/17 there was an article by a political cartoonist from California bemoaning the shrinking use of his material by many newspapers, particularly the smaller ones. He said that one of the reasons that he has been given is that editors say that their editorial pages "only make readers angry."
As constructive criticism, I totally concur with that in relation to the News Herald. Professor Walden is great, Ms. Harrop and Ms. Chavez are good but when was the last time that the Greensboro paper ever said anything positive about anything in any of their rants, when did the Miami racist columnist ever say anything except how his group was unfairly treated and when did Connie Schultz ever do anything except babble about some Utopian society in her own little dream world?
How about giving your readers something about local politics and/or events or even about state "goings-on" that are relatively factual and objective. Let's quit seeing only the gloom and doom stuff and think at least a little positive. Thanks.
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.
To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.
Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
Canadas leading banks are petitioning the federal government to reconsider its implementation of a scheme that would make these institutions take on greater mortgage risk.In a February 28 statement, the Canadian Bankers Association stated that proposed regulatory changes which would compel banks to shoulder a greater share of mortgage defaults via deductibles will be among the most dramatic disturbances to the housing finance sector in half a century.This submission has questioned whether a deductible is the most effective way to rebalance risks within the housing finance system, the CBA said, as quoted by Bloomberg.The industry believes that policy alternatives should be considered to achieve the same ends, but are simpler and less disruptive to the existing lending structure.Among the CBAs suggested alternatives would be to permit mortgage insurers to purchase reinsurance, along with increasing Canadas covered bond limit that would improve private funding of uninsured mortgagesand thus reduce taxpayers share of mortgage financing.Currently, the federal government in conducting public consultations on two strategiesnamely, the first loss approach (which would hold lenders responsible for a fixed portion of an outstanding loan at the time of default) and the proportionate-loss approach (which would mandate banks to pay a percentage of the total loan loss).If the federal government decides to proceed with the deductible policy, the banking industry would be interested in providing feedback on these two approaches, the CBA stated.
Barely a year after the 40-year-old ban on exporting U.S. crude was lifted, exports surged to more than 1 million barrels a day in the first two weeks of February.
The surge came after exports had averaged a little over half a million barrels a day through November, according to the Energy Information Administration. The weekly EIA report showed increases in December and January and then a jump to 1.2 million barrels a day for the week ending Feb. 17.
Sandy Fielden, director, oil and products research for Morningstar, said in a research note provided to the Reporter-Telegram, that the surge was in response to the production cuts implemented by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Fielden said indicators are that most of the crude is being shipped to Asia.
Ultimately, it goes back to a part of the industry Im not an expert in, and thats refining, said Jared Blong, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Midland-based Octane Energy.
Blong said in a telephone interview that the blends of crudes used by refiners to make refined products is not unique to the United States. The unexpected rise in exports of U.S. crudes is more a function of demand not how much oil but what kind and where its needed, he said.
In his research note, Fielden called the export surge opportunistic rather than systemic, noting that the United States continues to import about 8 million barrels a day. The country may not become a regular exporter until domestic production has risen to the point there are excess barrels that need to be exported.
Blong said exports shifted the benchmark, which was our hope. Brent (grade) had been the leader for a long time, but our goal was to shift the benchmark to where West Texas Intermediate was not traded at such a price discount.
The crude were exporting is a premium product and offers more upside to refiners if theyre geared right to take it in, he said.
The fact that the amount of exports is larger than anticipated tells me theres a market for it, he said.
With all the uncertainty surrounding OPEC, the U.S. oil machine is highly efficient and producing a premier product that, of course the globe wants, Blong said. Its reliable and affordable.
But Blong cautioned that OPEC nations should not be dismissed.
For us to haphazardly and egotistically disregard the cartel, thats reckless, he said. Saudi Arabia has exerted supply control and influence on oil markets, and for us to disregard them as a trading partner and a rival is foolish.
Technology and efficiency may give the U.S. a competitive edge, but (the Saudis) have the best geology, he said.
Blong said the U.S. needs to follow OPECs example in understanding market share and build on the relationships it is starting with these early exports.
We now have to enter and develop collaborative relationships elsewhere so that overseas customers build refineries or renovate refineries to take our crude, he said.
There will never be a time when the U.S. is not importing oil, he said, but the function has changed to one of trade instead of necessity. The benefit of lifting the oil ban is we have options now. The world has options now.
Michigan Technological University will host 25 teams for the 18th annual SAE International Clean Snowmobile Challenge March 6-12, 2017.
For the 14th year running, the Keweenaw Research Center at Michigan Tech is bringing talented student engineers to compete over spring break for the quietest, cleanest snowmobile. The events, part of a sanctioned SAE International competition, range from an endurance run to emissions and noise tests to acceleration and handling courses. Check out the schedule of events.
Cleaner and Quieter
The student teams come from all over the northern US and Canada to engineer, test and showcase quieter and cleaner snowmobiles of their own design. They start off with standard modern sleds and then take apart, modify and build a sled with reduced emissions and noise. The teams compete in three categories: internal combustiongasoline; electric, also called zero emissions; and diesel utility.
Each category has a unique purpose. Internal combustion sleds are the most common, of course, making their designs important for recreation and other uses. Held to the same noise and emissions levels, diesel utility sleds could never win a race, but are tested for pulling heavy loads. The electric sled is designed for polar scientific missions where hydrocarbon emissions would skew data collection; they could also have use in remote locations where fuel is difficult to come by.
Laws passed in 2006 define emissions and noise standards for snowmobiles, which the students are challenged to surpass. With the chance to collaborate with industry experts, the educational opportunity has a real-world connection.
Education
Jay Meldrum is both the director of the Keweenaw Research Center and the director of sustainability at Michigan Tech; he has helped organize the Clean Snowmobile Challenge since its early days in Yellow National Park.
"First, this is an educational program," Meldrum says. "I call it competition-based engineering education."
The week-long competition starts on Monday, March 6 and ends on Saturday, March 11 with an awards ceremony honoring the winners of many categories. Day one is devoted to technical inspections, making sure all teams meet the rules. Day two features a 100-mile endurance run from the Keweenaw Research Center to Copper Harbor. Day three includes technical presentations and a public display of the sleds at the Copper Country Mall. Day four includes emissions tests, noise tests and subjective ride evaluations. The final days continue the tests; the Saturday morning acceleration and handling competitions are open to the public.
Industry Partners
The tests are rigorous and challenging for students. But the challenge means it's a chance to show off, Meldrum says, pointing out that sponsors and industry reps have worked with students to improve their company products and services.
"Although this is not necessarily a technology development program, new technology 'leaks out' of this event," he explains. "Early on, we learned that some noise comes from the engine but about 50 percent comes from the track and track components; this led to new design for the track and the components that support it to significantly reduce emitted noise."
As another example, the University of Idaho in 2007 first demonstrated the use of direct injection of fuel and oil mixture on a two-stroke snowmobile. Bombardier Recreational Products, a company that assisted the team and markets under the Ski-Doo name, later incorporated this technology into their product line. Now Ski-Doo is considered the quietest and most fuel-efficient sled in the industry. Other innovations, such as the use of catalytic converters, have shown that snowmobile gas emissions can be reduced significantly, nearly reaching the theoretical limit of the current standard.
For Meldrum, the volunteers, industry partners and students, the hard work is year-round. In a single week, it all pays off in a cleaner puff of smoke.
Thanks to Sponsors The cost to put on the week-long challenge is approximately $200,000. Of that approximately 80 percent comes from industry partners, 10 percent comes from local partners, and 10 percent comes from the snowmobile manufacturers, clubs and associations. A special thank you to our sponsors AVL, Faurecia, MacLean-Fogg, Denso, John Deere Power Systems, CAMSO, Horiba, PCB, Fiat Chrysler Automotive, Boss Snow Plow, Gage Products, Sensors, Dassault Systems Schedule Highlights Tuesday, March 7: Endurance run to Copper Harbor (tune in to @mturesearch on Twitter and Michigan Technological University on Facebook for live coverage) Thursday, March 9: Noise and Emissions Tests (closed to the public, but we'll be live tweeting on @mturesearch Saturday, March 11: Acceleration and handling events (open to the public, also tweeted from @mturesearch) Winning teams will be announced the following week.
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigans flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
With technology becoming more and more a part of our lives, it was only a matter of time before it started to impact the way
THE 295 lb WIP | Can Dallas Win The Arnold? You Tell Us!
Written by Peter McGough
02 March 2017
The 295lb WIP - Can Dallas Win the Arnold? You Tell Us!
Take our poll to pick where Dallas McCarver will finish at the 2017 Arnold Classic on March 4, and tell us why.
1) Dallas will win the contest
2) Dallas will be second
3) Dallas will be third
4) Dallas will be fourth
5) Dallas will be fifth
6) Dallas will be sixth
7) Dallas will be out of top six
VOTE HERE
The 2017 Arnold Classic, which will play out in Columbus, Ohio, this coming Saturday, March 4, is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing in the contests 28 year history. Although the ten-man field is the smallest ever another anomaly is that for only the second time no one from the top six of the previous Olympia is entering. (The other occasion was in 1995 when Mike Francois won. Plus, as none of the entrants have won this competition before we will see a new champion.
A lot of the pre-contest scuttlebutt has focused on the two giants in the contest, Cedric McMillan and Dallas McCarver. The latter continues to sustain and embellish his phenom credentials. His progress is relentless. He won his pro card at age 21 by taking the superheavyweight and overall titles at the 2012 North Americans. This by virtue of 241 crisp pounds stacked on his 6-foot frame.
He waited three years to make his pro debut and made it a winning one when claiming victory at the 2015 California Pro, and a few months later was 13th in his first Olympia. In 2016 he won the Chicago Pro and moved up to 8th at the Olympia, weighing around 270 pounds.
THE CHAD EFFECT
Over these past few months we have watched his progress pics and now under the tutelage of celebrated contest prep advisor Chad Nicholls he has maintained that onward and upward curve.
There seemed a slight bump in road when, two weeks ago, he visited NPC HQ in Pittsburgh to shoot a posing video which clearly showed stomach distension. The outcry was, here we go again another guy falling by the wayside due to a swollen gut. That being said, I for one can almost guarantee that midsection anomaly will not be visible when Dallas, still only 25, steps onto the Columbus stage. In fact the Pittsburgh something I ate episode may in fact help him, as it was better to happen there instead of in competition mode.
As an aside theres a lot of hokum surrounding swollen midsections, as in too many drugs have made internal organs swell. That view is dismissed by the amount of times a competitor sporting a big gut can appear a few hours later with the deficit cured. That now you see it, now you dont trick occurred at last years Arnold Classic when Kai Greene displayed a swollen stomach during the prejudging and then a few hours later at the finals it had gone, leaving only the question, What did the parents decide to call it?
THE DALLAS WOWBOY
Any road up, Dallas expects to hit the Columbus stage weighing somewhere in the mid 290s. His progress is relentless and unbelievably he is still a Work In Progress. Will his current progress see him taking the 2017 Arnold Classic title? Le us know your predictions and thoughts.
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PAWS Co-founder Ed Stewart and Veterinary Director Dr. Jackie Gai outside the center, overlooking the elephant barns. View Photos
San Andreas, CA The recent passing of two tigers and a lynx hardly dwindled the wildlife population at the Mother Lodes exotic sanctuary, which has completed a rescue of eight tigers from Colorado.
As reported here, a few weeks ago during Clarke Broadcastings visit to the new Pat Derby Animal Wellness Center named for PAWS late co-founder Derbys partner and co-founder Ed Stewart, along with veterinarian Dr. Jackie Gai were still in the process of bringing in the Colorado Eight, as they are dubbed, from a closing breeding facility in that state.
Stewart says all eight are now safely in-house and settled in at the 2,300-acre Ark 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas. They are: Marin, an 18-year-old female; Pharaoh, a 14-year-old male; Sawyer, a nine-year-old female; Bigelow, Nimmo and Wilhelm, all six-year-old brothers; also Morris, a male, and Rosemary Arnot, a female, both five years old.
Due to their failing health issues, PAWS made the decision to humanely euthanize three of their charges in recent weeks. These included two more of the dwindling Colton 39 tigers rescued by PAWS back in 2004; Majesty and Jay Logan, both estimated to be around 20 years old at the time of their passing in San Andreas, were suffering from renal failure, which is common in wild and domestic cats.
The third, Rufus, nearly 17 years old, was a Canada lynx who, along with his companion Misha, escaped a fur farm death to wind up at an Ontario zoo. Rescued by PAWS in 2012 and housed at its Galt facility, he was suffering from congenital inoperable spine problems that recently worsened.
In other recent adoptions, PAWS shares that, after no one came forward to claim an emu found running loose last December in Valley Springs, it agreed to provide a home for the bird away from the large exotic wildlife at Ark 2000. Georgette, as she is now called, is now living with a flock of ten emus and four Simitar Oryx at PAWS Amanda Blake Memorial Wildlife Refuge in Herald.
Suzanne Cruz spent three months of election year 2016 with college students in Pennsylvania, promoting the ideas of our nations founding fathers.
Cruz was Thursdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day.
Three Months in Pennsylvania: Diary of a Freedom Fighter is the title of the new book authored by Cruz.
Cruz has lived in Tuolumne County for over thirty years. She is an award-winning speaker, and also writes and podcasts promoting the idea that life can be both fun and less stressful. She is a top speaker in colleges on the topic of student safety and success and in the business world, leading the way in awareness and mindfulness skills that increase efficiency.
Recognized by the District Attorneys office as a model for awareness and compassion, Cruz has over a decade in the law enforcement and professional safety field.
So why the three month trip to Pennsylvania in 2016? According to Cruz, Both last year and today is a desperate time for America. The fighting and division have not been this great since the Civil War. At a time when many pulled their curtains closed, this book helps explain why I wanted to throw them open.
Cruz continued, This is not only my journey, but every Americans forgotten journey toward American Greatness. Through my book or diary, I want readers to rediscover the heroes and role models that made America. Its the message that I took to college students in PA and worked for a non-profit whose mission was to identify, educate, train and organize those students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government.
This book is a look into a grassroots movement, a world that many dont even know exists on college campuses or elsewhere.
According to Cruz, It is the story of the fight to save our children from indoctrination. I wanted to allow the students to know what is slowly becoming a secret, that America is a place worth falling in love with again and most importantly, worth fighting for.
Currently Cruz travels the U.S promoting the idea that, with greater listening and life preparedness skills, the wise will win the fight.
Cruz is also promoting these ideas locally.
For those interested in starting or joining clubs on their regional campuses, Cruz will have a meeting on Wednesday March 8th at 6 PM in the Starbucks meeting room at the Junction Shopping Center in east Sonora.
If you would like to order the book, you can go to Amazon.com or www.SuzanneCruz.com. Call 209-770-5025 for more information.
The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Washington, DC Californias recently elected U.S. Senator, Kamala Harris, is calling for the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions after he failed to disclose that he had two conversations with a Russian Ambassador last year.
Harris argues that Sessions misled the US Senate during his confirmation hearing when he was questioned about the issue of communications with Russian officials.
Harris says, Attorney General Sessions deceived Congress and the American people, irreparably damaging his integrity, and is therefore ineligible to serve as the top law enforcement official of our country. He must resign immediately. In sworn testimony, Sessions said he had not communicated with Russian officials at a time when Russia was actively interfering with our election and he was serving as an official advisor to the Trump campaign. It is now clear that was a lie.
The conversations are under increased scrutiny as Sessions could lead the investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Sessions has countered that the meetings were done in his capacity as a member of the Armed Services Committee, and not as a member of the Trump campaign.
One of two brush fires on both sides of Adamson Road in West Cocoa is growing, officials say.
Brush fires blazing on either side of Adamson Road in Brevard
Sheriff's Office helicopters dropping water on area
RELATED: Pictures: Smelling smoke? Controlled fires burn across Central Florida
The blazes are north of State Road 524 in Brevard County. Adamson Road was closed Thursday from S.R. 524 to the Brevard County landfill area.
There are dozens of homes in the area, but firefighters have managed to keep them out of danger.
Brevard County Fire Rescue crews were at the scene, and Florida Forest Service crews from Orlando were heading to the area to assist.
As of just before 6 p.m. Thursday, the 50-acre Adamson fire was 80 percent contained, according to state forestry officials.
One fire is a flareup from this past weekend, the other is new, fire officials said. A Brevard Sheriff's Office helicopter is doing water drops from 800-gallon buckets.
Keep Brevard Beautiful's office is on Adamson, just yards from the fire. Workers spent Thursday afternoon hauling away important equipment and files in case the fire hits its building.
"Our staff has gone through this before with hurricanes, but we want to be on the safe side," said Bryan Bobbitt with Keep Brevard Beautiful. "We are backing up all our files, packing up all of our computers, if God forbid we lose our office today."
Earlier Thursday, another fire broke out in the Fay Lake Wilderness Park in Port St John. It peaked at seven acres, temporarily shutting down some area roadways. Many fire crews working in Port St. John rushed over to the Adamson fire.
Elsewhere, in Seminole County, the St. Johns Water Management District and the Florida forestry crews were conducting a prescribed burn in the Little Big Econ State Forest. That burn is 227 acres.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions talked twice with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season, communications that spurred calls in Congress for him to recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, did not disclose those discussions at his confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with officials of the Russian government.
Sessions replied that he had not had communication with the Russians.
Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said this on Wednesday on Twitter:
Statement from Attorney General Sessions: pic.twitter.com/kZic12DW0R Sarah Isgur Flores (@whignewtons) March 2, 2017
But others are not so sure.
Lawmakers are calling for the resignation of Sessions after reports that he said under oath that he did not have contact with Russia.
It is been topping the trending sections on social media.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused Sessions of "lying under oath" and demanded that he resign, saying he is "not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country."
Democratic Congressman Elijah Cumming also posted a statement calling for Sessions to resign.
Vice Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus and Congresswoman Elizabeth Warren also voiced her thoughts about the matter.
And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place to resign. We need it now. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
At the confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota asked Sessions about allegations of contact between Russia and Trump aides during the 2016 election. He asked Sessions what he would do if there were evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was "unaware of those activities."
Then he added: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy also voiced similar opinions as his fellow Democrats.
It's not illegal for a Senator to speak w the Russian Ambassador. So why lie about it under oath? Makes no sense, unless... Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 2, 2017
It is gaining traction with some local representatives as well. Orlando's Democratic Representative Val Demings posted this:
Further evidence for the need of a bi-partisan, independent investigation of President Trumps's ties to Russia. https://t.co/S6Gu0IVNke Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) March 2, 2017
Some Republican lawmakers are commenting as well. Senator Lindsey Grahm and Senator John McCain both went on a CNN Town Hall Wednesday night, with Grahm saying some strong words about the matter:.
"Don't worry about John and Lindsey Graham looking into Russia, because Russia is not our friend," he said.
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The Associated Press contributed to this story.
The Hale County grand jury on Feb. 23, at the conclusion of its February session, indicted 24 individuals on 25 felony charges. The report was released by District Attorney Wally Hatchs office.
Following are the individuals indicted, charges, level of offense and bond as set by the presiding district judge:
--Persian Mitchell, 24, address unknown, burglary of a building, state jail felony, $5,000
--Adrian Rivera, 22, 111 Moore St., Kress, possession of a controlled substance Penalty Group 1 under 1 gram, state jail felony, $5,000
--David Sanchez, 39, 212 SE Eighth, Plainview, possession of a controlled substance Penalty Group 1 between 1 gram to 4 grams, third degree felony, $10,000
--Mark Branscum, 55, 1619 Dallas, Plainview, driving while intoxicated third or more, third degree felony, $20,000
--Joe Stanford III, 57, 250 CR T, Plainview, driving while intoxicated third or more, third degree felony, $20,000
--Marcus Montez, 28, 1604 Quincy, Plainview, possession of a controlled substance Penalty Group 1 between 1 gram and 4 grams, third degree felony, $10,000
--Kevin Douglas, 28, 203 Kirchwood St., Plainview, evading arrest detention with vehicle, third degree felony, $10,000
--Estrella Cedillo, 18, 3217 Lancaster, Plainview, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 1 under 1 gram in a drug free zone, third degree felony, $10,000
--Christopher Flores, 25, 2001 W. 18th, Plainview, possession of a controlled substance Penalty Group 1 between 1 gram and 4 grams, third degree felony, $10,000
--Richard Burdge, 39, 2702 Kermit, Plainview, indecency with child sexual contact, second degree felony, $20,000
--Jonathan Saiz, 23, 2003 Joliet, Plainview, burglary of a building, state jail felony, $5,000
--Aron Hernandez, 32, 1949 CR 105, Plainview, burglary of a building, state jail felony, $5,000
--Brent Mendoza, 23, 1403 Lexington, Plainview, sexual assault child, second degree felony, $25,000
--Alphonse Gomez, 34, 2200 Joliet, Plainview, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 1 under 1 gram, state jail felony, $5,000
--Jesus Cervantez, 32, 1105 El Camino, Plainview, unauthorized use of vehicle, state jail felony, $5,000
--Richard Taylor, 50, 1201 Oakland, Plainview, harassment by person in correctional detention, third degree felony, $10,000
--Augustin Chumacero, 25, 605 N. Columbia Apt. 6, Plainview, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 1 under 1 gram, state jail felony, $5,000
--Matthew Montez, 31, 1604 Quincy, Plainview, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 1 between 1 gram and 4 grams, third degree felony, $10,000
--Ramon Burrola, 44, 3100 Faulkner, Plainview, fraud use/possess identifying information number of items less than five, state jail felony, $5,000
--David Rogers, 21, 1011 FM 651, Crosbyton, assault family/house member impede breath/circulation, third degree felony, $10,000
--Mark Flores, 28, 805 W. 27th, Plainview, unauthorized use of vehicle, state jail felony, $5,000
--Byron Perry, 21, 23821 Finley Rd., Millersview, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 2 under 1 gram, state jail felony, $5,000
--Shawna Keys, 40, 3110 Southwest, Amarillo, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 1 between 1 gram and 4 grams, third degree felony, $10,000
--Shawna Keys, 40, 3110 Southwest, Amarillo, fraud use/possess identifying information number of items less than 5, state jail felony, $5,000
--Jessie Jimenez, 47, P.O. Box 201, Hale Center, possession of controlled substance Penalty Group 1 under 1 gram, state jail felony, $5,000
AUSTIN -- The Senate on Wednesday gave unanimous approval to a bill designed to fix the agency that looks after child welfare and foster kids in Texas.
Author Sen. Charles Schwertner laid out some of the problems that have arisen within the Department of Family and Protective Services over the last few years. "[DFPS] has been under intense scrutiny due to the unfortunate reality that vulnerable children in Texas are going days or even months at a time without seeing a case worker," he said. "They're sleeping in CPS offices, and worst of all, too many are experiencing wholly unacceptable abuse and neglect while entrusted to the care of the state."
His plan, SB 11, seeks to address the lack of capacity in the system and overall quality by moving to a community based, non-profit-run model based on a pilot program in North Texas.
Schwertner said the initial foray into using child-welfare focused non-profits as case managers for foster kids has already showed benefits. "The single source continuum contractor in that region is keeping children and youth closer to home, moving children out of residential treatment centers and into therapeutic foster homes, keeping sibling groups together as well as not allowing children to sleep in office buildings and hotel rooms," he said.
Use of these contractors is intended to streamline and improve services by having a single entity handle the many facets of foster care. It also seeks to keep kids close to home and family. Under the bill, DFPS would develop a system by which providers are selected, monitored and assessed. They'd also set the timeline for implementation.
Schwertner stressed multiple times that the state would still remain the ultimate guardian for kids in the system.
The bill also includes new standards for medical care for foster kids, requiring they receive timely evaluations and examinations. It aims to strengthen investigations into allegations of abuse or neglect at residential centers and foster homes by moving them to the investigations division at Child Protective Services.
Also Wednesday, Houston Sen. Sylvia Garcia announced legislation aimed at combating what she calls an epidemic of sexual violence on Texas college campuses. She cited national statistics that one in five women and nearly one in 10 men will be a victim of sexual assault during their college careers. Garcia said that one of the difficulties facing investigations into sexual assault is that the victims are often reluctant to report the crimes.
"I firmly believe that the reasons sexual assault is so prevalent is because the culture on many college campuses that leaves victims feeling helpless, alone and often times feeling guilty themselves for allowing the crimes to even happen," said Garcia. "This is a travesty and we must start treating these crimes for what they are."
In order to encourage victims to step forward, Garcia has filed SB 962, creating an online reporting system at state universities, which lets victims avoid the uncomfortable and often re-traumatizing process of reporting face-to-face with an official. It also ensures that reporting documents remain the property of the victim, to avoid getting lost in university bureaucracies as well as making it easier to submit those documents to local law enforcement, should the victim choose to do so.
"It is my hope that this legislation will empower young women and men to stand up to campus sexual assault, treat it like the crime that it is and send a strong message to potential assailants that sexual assault will no longer be tolerated at Texas universities."
The Senate will reconvene Monday, March 6 at 2 p.m.
The Texas A&M Forest Service early Wednesday afternoon reported that both the 303-Fire in Hockley County and Swisher County Prison Fire are 100 percent contained after charging across almost 12,000 acres Tuesday, destroying at least four houses and eight outbuildings.
According to TFS, the Hockley County fire roared across 9,299 acres while the Swisher County fire was contained at 2,444 acres.
The two fires were whipped on Tuesday by high gusty winds and extremely low humidity.
Texas A&M Forest Service spokesman Phillip Truitt said Wednesday that two of the four homes destroyed in Tulia weren't occupied and bulldozers saved 20 other residences. Water drops from Texas Forest Service single-engine air tankers flying out of Amarillo have been credited with helping to save an entire housing subdivision from the flames.
He says a fire in Hockley County, west of Lubbock, threatened the town of Sundown.
Kress Fire/Rescue on Facebook reported being dispatched to Tulia for mutual aid assistance at 3:41 p.m. Tuesday. In addition to the structures destroyed in the fire, one Kress firefighter lost his unattended pickup in the blaze. He parked his pickup and jumped on a fire apparatus, with his vehicle later being engulfed in the fast-moving flames.
In addition to Tulia and Kress, other departments sending fire units and personnel to battle the Tulia fire were Happy, Nazareth, Hart, Canyon, Amarillo, Randall County, Armstrong County and the Texas A&M Forest Service.
The Swisher County Sheriffs Department, in a separate Facebook post, joined the Tulia Fire Department in asking Swisher County residents to be particularly vigilant. The Sundown fire reportedly began from a spark after a tire blew out. There was no indication how the Tulia fire began.
The Swisher Sheriffs Office, in an earlier post, wrote, There have been numerous suspicious fires taking place around the county. Please keep an eye out for any suspicious vehicles in the county and try to obtain a good vehicle description if possible. Please contact the sheriffs or fire department with any information concerning the fires.
As of Wednesday, 57 Texas counties have outdoor burn bans in place, including 22 in the Texas Panhandle-South Plains. Three counties in the Herald circulation area Castro, Swisher and Lamb have burn bans. Hale, Floyd and Briscoe do not.
Other Panhandle-South Plains counties with burn bans are Dallam, Sherman, Hartley, Moore, Hutchison, Oldham, Potter, Gray, Wheeler, Deaf Smith, Randall, Armstrong, Donley, Parmer, Bailey, Cochran, Crosby, Yoakum and Garza counties.
While no active wildfires were reported Wednesday across in the region by the TFS, the vast majority of the state is listed as having moderate to high fire danger with pockets of very high fire danger in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and portions of Dimmit and La Salle counties, north of Laredo.
The announcement of the discovery of the seven Trappist-1 planets comes 55 years after astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit earth. Meriden native and Voyager scientist Norman Ness remembers Glenns iconic flight and said, despite the great strides made in our understanding of space and celestial bodies, more challenges await as astronomers turn their gaze toward the Trappist-1 system.
I was very happy that Glenns mission was successful ... we were somewhat embarrassed that the Russians beat us into space, Ness said. The Trappist-1 discovery is another step to encourage us to continue our research into what the universe is built with and how its made up and how it might be, in a sense, able to possibly support life or something like life, but were not there yet.
While the Trappist-1 planets are being researched by Meriden native Sean Carey, who manages NASAs Spitzer Space Center in California, Nesss research helped create the technology involved in the Voyager probes, which have since left the solar system and are sending information from about 13 billion miles from earth.
Glenn launched into orbit on February 20, 1962 from Cape Canaveral Florida just before 10 a.m. The mission provided Glenn a spectacular view from the small space capsule, according to reports from a Feb. 20, 1962 article published in the Record-Journal.
Glancing down at earth at altitudes ranging from 100 to 160 miles, Glenn had a breath-taking, panoramic view stretching 1,800 miles from horizon to horizon, the article states. He described the view as tremendous, and a beautiful sight.
As he circled the globe, Glenn made contact with tracking outposts in Africa, confirming his flight. The mission began smoothly, according to reports, and Glenn had no difficulty performing tasks and making observations during the trip.
The gravity forces which gripped Glenn on liftoff, making his trim, lean body feel eight times heavier than its normal 165 pounds, vanished suddenly when the capsule entered orbit. Glenn became weightless the buoyancy that results when a delicate balance is achieved between the outward pull of centrifugal force and the downward pull of the earths gravity, the report states.
After making three complete orbits around the planet, Glenn landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean about five hours after launch.
Ness, 83, graduated from Meriden High School in 1950 and began working at NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center after graduating MIT in 1961, just one year before Glenns orbit.
He recalled the excitement buzzing throughout the scientific community at that time.
Back in the early days, the parking lots were filled with people working seven days a week, 12 hours a day, every day all year, Ness said. Nowadays the parking lots are seldom filled. The excitement and the pressure to compete was very great back in the early days.
While space exploration is no longer viewed with the same competitive edge, the scientific community continues to expand our knowledge of the universe thanks to staggering advancements in technology, Carey said.
NASA continues to advance discovery and our understanding of the universe in the same spirit as Senator Glenns historic mission, Carey said. Rovers exploring and sampling the geology of Mars, the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the amazingly detailed images of Jupiter from the Juno mission are just some recent highlights of our exploration of our Solar System. Our knowledge of astronomy continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
Looking to the future, Carey anticipates continued manned missions into space as mankind continues to expand its knowledge of the universe.
In the next decade, we may understand some planets around other stars better than we understood most planets in our own Solar System at the time of the flight of Friendship 7, Carey said. In terms of manned space exploration, we now have a constant presence in orbit with the International Space Station. I am looking forward to our continued manned exploration and think we will see a return to the Moon and then onward to Mars in the not-to-far future.
Ness said NASAs next great challenge will be proving if the Trappist-1 planets could possibly support life.
That would be something to prove and it would be very challenging and of course many other scientists would be questioning the conclusion and what is the evidence that is being put forward. Thats how the scientific community generally operates, if they can reproduce results that have been attained, but surprisingly no one else had discovered it, that reproduction of the experimental results is a kind of test of Mother Nature, Ness said. Mother Nature doesnt fool us, we just arent smart enough to unwrap and unravel what is going on.
Ness now lives in Venice, Florida and said he continues to publish in the scientific community.
ltauss@record-journal.com 203-317-2231 Twitter: @LeighTaussRJ
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(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he has total confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions and sees no need for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation of Russian meddling in U.S. politics.
Trump voiced his support for Sessions in response to a shouted question before speaking at an event aboard a Navy aircraft carrier in Virginia. The attorney general has come under fire from Democrats and some Republicans after the Justice Department acknowledged that last year, at a time he was acting as a prominent surrogate for Trumps campaign, Sessions had contacts with the Russian ambassador.
Trump said he wasnt aware at all about the contacts. Asked whether Sessions should remove himself from inquiries into Russias attempts to influence the election, Trump said, I dont think he should do that at all.
The furor over Sessions is forcing the Trump administration to defend a new front in its battle to deflect or refute allegations that his close associates had unexplained contacts with Putins government at the same time Russia was trying to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Sessions scheduled a news conference in Washington at 4 p.m. Washington time.
"He didnt do anything that wasnt part of his job," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump isnt concerned that Sessions didnt alert the White House to the contacts with the ambassador during his confirmation as attorney general, Spicer said.
Why would we want to know everything he did conducting himself on behalf of the people of Alabama?
Republican Voices
Along with renewed pressure from members of both parties for a full investigation of Russias role in the election, some Republicans broke ranks with the president.
Jeff Sessions is a former colleague and a friend, but I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself from the DOJ Russia probe, Senator Rob Portman, of Ohio, said Thursday in a statement. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, of Utah, made similar calls.
Representative Brian Mast, a Florida Republican in his first term, went even further.
"If he cannot commit to ensuring this process is completed with full transparency and integrity, he should resign," Mast said in a statement.
The chorus punctured the afterglow from Trumps address to Congress earlier this week and puts added pressure on a White House still reeling from the ouster of Trumps national security adviser last month over his contacts with Russias ambassador. Multiple investigations are underway by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, other agencies and congressional committees into a variety of allegations related to Russias interference with the election and possible contacts between Trump associates and Russian officials.
Two Conversations
The Justice Department confirmed Wednesday that Sessions twice had conversations last year with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak but said they were related to his role as a senator and member of the Armed Services Committee. Sessions testified during his Senate confirmation hearing Jan. 10 that he had no contacts with Russian officials.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York joined House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez in calling Thursday for Sessions to resign.
"Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign," Schumer said at a news conference in Washington. He also said Sessions may well become a subject of an investigation. The information reported last night shows beyond a shadow of a doubt he cannot possibly lead an investigation into Russian interference in our elections let alone come close to it.
Democratic Voices
All the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey asking for a criminal investigation into whether Sessions committed perjury. Comey also was coming under fire over whether hes providing Congress with enough information.
After Comey met in private with the House Intelligence Committee for three hours Thursday, the panels ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff, told reporters that the FBI director still was refusing to answer all of their questions, hampering the committees nascent investigation into Russian election interference. Schiff also said Comey had withheld information from the eight lawmakers who get briefed on the most sensitive issues facing the nation.
If were to get quarterly counterintelligence briefings, then we need the confidence of knowing that they are briefing us on the most significant issues, Schiff said. I think at this point we know less than a fraction of what the FBI knows.
Sessions continued to have support from many top Republicans. House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he saw no reason for Sessions to recuse himself at this point.
Ryans Doubt
If he himself is the subject of an investigation, of course he would recuse himself, Ryan told reporters Thursday. If not, I dont see any purpose or reason for doing that.
Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, of North Carolina, was among several Senate Republicans who also brushed aside calls for Sessions to step down or for Trump to appoint a special prosecutor.
"Were not in the business of investigating individuals, senators, that say they were doing Senate business, Burr told reporters Thursday. Jeff Sessions has to decide whether his role as attorney general, whether he can participate in anything to deal with Russian involvement, potential involvement in our elections, and I trust Jeff Sessions to make that decision.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz labeled the controversy political theater on MSNBC.
Democrats say Sessions wasnt truthful when he was asked by Minnesota Senator Al Franken, during a Jan. 10 confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, what he would do if he learned that anyone tied to the Trump campaign had communicated with the Russian government during the course of the campaign.
Im not aware of any of those activities, Sessions said at the hearing, adding that he had been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.
Read more: A Q&A on the saga of Trump and Russia.
Sessions was visited by Kislyak in his Capitol Hill office on Sept. 8, the Justice Department said in its statement, but received him in his role as a senator. He also met with the envoy among a small group of ambassadors after an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation in July at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
His responses to me werent accurate, Franken said Thursday on MSNBC.
Official Capacity
A Sessions spokeswoman, Sarah Isgur Flores, rejected accusations that he had misled lawmakers. Last year, the senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors, she said. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign -- not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee.
On Thursday, Sessions was asked about the allegations by an NBC News crew. I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, Sessions said.
Trump said Sessions probably did testify truthfully at his nomination hearing.
The conversations with Kislyak, first reported Wednesday by the Washington Post, have raised fresh questions about which Trump associates had contacts with Russian government officials during the presidential campaign and what was discussed.
Graham Weighs In
Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, weighed in with a call for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigation of Trump campaign ties to Russia during a CNN town hall Wednesday night.
If there is something there, and it goes up the chain of investigation, it is clear to me that Jeff Sessions, who is my dear friend, cannot make this decision about Trump, he said.
Graham also said that if the FBI discovered any sign of potential criminal activities, a special prosecutor should be appointed to handle the matter.
Sessions is the second Trump administration official to face tough questions about his contact with Kislyak. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was fired by Trump after it was revealed he had not accurately portrayed the content of his conversations with the Russian envoy to other administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.
The revelation that Sessions and Kislyak met came shortly after a report in the New York Times that the British and Dutch governments provided information to the U.S. government describing meetings between associates of Trump and Russian officials in European cities.
Communications Intercepted
The story also described a deliberate campaign by Obama administration political appointees to spread information about Russias alleged attempts to interfere in the election, as well as revelations that American intelligence agencies intercepted communications discussing contacts with Trump associates.
Eric Schultz, a spokesman for former President Barack Obama, confirmed that Obama administration officials had sought to document intelligence related to possible Russian interference in the campaign.
This situation was serious, as is evident by President Obamas call for a review -- and as is evident by the United States response, Schultz said in an email. When the intelligence community does that type of comprehensive review, it is standard practice that a significant amount of information would be compiled and documented.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly insisted that there was no collusion between the presidents team and the Russian government. Theyve dismissed questions about the matter as payback by Democrats upset over the election results, and have said that intelligence officials -- including at the FBI -- have concluded there was no consistent contact during the campaign between Trump allies and the Kremlin.
I think that Russias involvement and activity has been investigated up and down, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday. So the question becomes at some point, if theres nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate?
(Updates with remarks by White House press secretary in sixth paragraph.)
--With assistance from Margaret Talev Kim Chipman Laura Litvan Arit John Steven T. Dennis and Chris Strohm
To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net, Shannon Pettypiece in Norfolk, Virginia at spettypiece@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Alex Wayne, Justin Blum
2017 Bloomberg L.P.
USAA CEO and President Stuart Parkers compensation from the San Antonio companys insurance businesses jumped nearly 19 percent in 2016, a year that it described as historic for catastrophe-related claims.
Parkers pay from four of USAAs insurance businesses totaled more than $2.7 million last year, up from about $2.3 million in 2015, according to figures reported to the Nebraska Department of Insurance.
He receives additional money from the companys investment services and banking operations that isnt publicly disclosed.
Parker received a salary, bonus and other compensation from four of USAAs insurance companies: USAA, USAA Casualty Insurance Co., USAA General Indemnity Co. and Garrison Property and Casualty Insurance Co. Records show Parker did not receive any compensation from USAA Life Insurance Co.
As stewards of a member-focused organization, USAA maintains strong governance and controls of its executive compensation program, USAA spokesman Roger Wildermuth said in a statement.
In Nebraska, where USAA conducts insurance business, the law requires public disclosure of executive pay at insurance companies that do business in the state.
USAA recently reported that its employees received a 16.8 percent annual performance bonus for 2016, a slight decline from the 17 percent award in 2015. It was the lowest payout since 2008. Eligible workers receive the extra pay as a percentage of their base salary.
The company said that its 2016 financial performance one of the components used in calculating the bonus was impacted by several factors, including what it described as a historic year for catastrophe-related claims.
Insurance claims climbed 2 times last year over 2015, due in part to hailstorms in San Antonio and Colorado and Hurricane Matthew, which battered parts of the southeastern U.S.
The company has yet to report its 2016 financial results.
About 18,000 of USAAs total workforce of 30,000 is based in San Antonio.
The company provides financial services to 11.8 million members, comprised of military personnel, veterans and their families.
pdanner@express-news.net
Twitter: @AlamoPD
After working to acquire leasehold and minerals, the founders of EnCore Permian will try their hands at exploring on their own leases and producing their own minerals.
J.D. Smith and Josh Lorenz, who previously formed and operated PetroLima LLC, have formed EnCore backed by $200 million in equity agreements and a private capital partner that manages $8 billion.
It was a natural progression, to grow and have success in one area to try another area, Smith said in a phone interview. Its a career move.
The company already owns operated assets in Martin and Howard counties in the Midland subbasin and Pecos County in the Delaware subbasin. Smith said the company is seeking land to create a blocked-up position to allow for long laterals. Funds have been allocated for those acquisitions and for drilling activity.
The challenge has always been to find the deal finding the opportunity, first, and second, making the trade, said Smith, who serves as EnCores chief executive officer.
Despite the strong demand for Permian Basin acreage and the resulting high prices, Smith said he still sees opportunities, and the company is looking forward to working with operators on acquisitions, swaps and trades.
Wed trade acre for acre they need this acreage, we need that acreage.
He said it may help that he and Lorenz are Midlanders with established connections through PetroLima.
In their search for acreage, EnCore will be aided by its proprietary asset identification software, Mineral Scout, which was designed by the companys Nicholas Tallant.
Mineral Scout takes all the myriad factors in looking for oil and gas acreage and it basically tells us where not to look, Smith said. The Permian is a really big basin and its real important to whittle that down.
Smith stressed that, despite the use of Mineral Scout, we definitely have the human factor at work.
. Patrick Cohn serves as EnCores Houston-based chief financial officer. The companys roster includes land, legal and technical professionals who come from companies ranging from Legacy Reserves Operating L.P. to ConocoPhillips, Plains Exploration & Production, Lone Star Oil & Gas, to Jefferies & Co. investment banking. The initial round of equity will be used to support adding additional staff, he said.
The softwares use of big data and sophisticated data means our group is getting the most efficient landman time out there, Smith said.
He said he and Lorenz had just concluded a meeting that means we might be drilling real quick, perhaps in the second quarter of the year, while a longer-term drilling plan will come later in the year.
/ STOCK XCHANGE
Potentially career-ending charges of insurance fraud against a San Francisco man, who allegedly tried to cheat an auto insurance company out of $360 in a case that lasted more than four years, were properly dismissed by a judge in the furtherance of justice, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Prosecutors said the defendant, identified as S.M., filed an insurance claim in March 2011 after someone broke into his parked car and stole his laptop computer. He then discovered that his policy did not cover the loss, prosecutors said, and bought a policy from another company the same day, falsely declaring he had not suffered any thefts or vandalism in the previous five years. The next day he filed a claim with the new company for the break-in.
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ALBANY A 43-year-old Rensselaer man who filed phony property deeds with the Albany County clerk's office and then rented out and sold the properties without permission pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony scam-related charges.
Zarak Ali cut a plea deal with Albany County prosecutors that exposes him to 4 to 12 years in prison at his sentencing on May 3 by state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Breslin.
STAMFORD The Board of Education will discuss a resolution Thursday on a long-awaited facilities management plan.
For the past several weeks, the panel has been reviewing proposals from contractors interested in running the citys school facilities.
The job has been held by AFB Construction Management, a Trumbull-based firm run by CEO Al Barbarotta, since 1999. But the company has been under local and FBI investigation since last spring, when authorities began investigating whether Barbarotta used his position as facilities director to extort money from another city contractor.
The possible vote comes about four months after the district launched the bidding process, which initially attracted 11 firms.
Thursdays meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the government centers fifth-floor board room. The facilities resolution will be followed by a training session from the Connecticut Association of Board of Education and a discussion about the states education funding.
noliveira@stamfordadvocate.com
STAMFORD Police say the 19-year-old Cove man charged with sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl was supposed to attend an immigration hearing only hours before he was arrested Thursday morning.
Douglas Hus-Flores, a Guatemalan native, appears to have been living in Stamford illegally, police said. An immigration detainer has been placed on him as well as a $250,000 court appearance bond, following his arraignment at the Stamford courthouse Thursday afternoon.
Hus-Flores was charged with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor after the toddler was transported to Stamford Hospital for injuries and bleeding police say she sustained in the assault.
Lt. Tom Barcello said the girls mother called for an ambulance late Wednesday night after the child complained of pain.
Stamford Hospital doctors determined the childs injuries were likely caused by a sexual assault, Barcello said.
We got involved because it looked like something more than a medical call, Barcello said.
The child was transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital, because Barcello said doctors there have more expertise to investigate a sexual assault of a young child.
Barcello said he believes the child has been released from the hospital into her familys care.
Barcello said the family and Hus-Flores live in the same residence.
According to a police report, Hus-Flores told police he heard the girl crying for her mother Wednesday night. He said he did not realize the girls mother was not in the house, so he gave her some yogurt to calm her down, the report said.
Hus-Flores said he and the girl went downstairs where they sat on a couch and he put the girl on his lap to watch cartoons on his phone, the report said.
Hus-Flores told investigators he felt lonely and wanted to be with a woman and admitted sexually assaulting the girl, the police report said.
Hus-Flores said he stopped when he realized what was happening, the report said.
According to the report, the girls mother returned home from soccer practice at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. The girl was crying and told her mother Hus-Flores touched her, according to the report.
Barcello confirmed Hus-Flores had an immigration hearing scheduled in Hartford on Thursday.
jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired back Thursday morning calling reports that he spoke with Russias ambassador to the United States twice during the presidential elections about campaign issues unbelievable and false.
Officials from the Justice Department told The Washington Post that Sessions did not disclose his encounters with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak from September in the then-senators office.
On CNN, Sessions said that, Those remarks are unbelievable to me and false.
When asked whether he would recuse himself from investigating Russian interference in the presidential elections, Sessions said, I have said that whenever its appropriate, I will recuse myself.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, accused Sessions of lying under oath and demanded his resignation.
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The fact that the attorney general, the top cop in our country, lied under oath to the American people is grounds for him to resign, Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said at a news conference in Washington on Thursday. He has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust.
Representatives from both parties are calling on Sessions to recuse himself from investigating Russian interference in the elections.
The Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, not only demanded for Sessions to resign, but also said deputy Attorney General Dana Boente should appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Russias influence in the elections and any connections to the Trump campaign.
More for you Trump Says He Has Confidence in Sessions as Questions Mount (2)
The information reported last night, makes it clear beyond a shadow of doubt, that Attorney General Sessions cannot possibly lead an investigation into Russian interference in our elections or come anywhere near it, Schumer said. With these revelations, he may very well become the subject of it.
At least five Republicans, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, said that Sessions should recuse himself from investigating whether the Trump campaign were involved with Russian officials.
During an appearance with MSNBCs Morning Joe, McCarthy said, I think the trust of the American people you recuse yourself in these situations, yes.
Sessions, who was a surrogate for President Trump during the election, denied under oath any encounters with Russian ambassadors during his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. The American Civil Liberties Union called for an investigation into potential perjury by Sessions.
Here is some of The Chronicles past coverage on Sessions and Russia:
Calls grow for Sessions to withdraw from Russia
Nunes rejects GOP calls for special prosecutor into Russian ties
Pelosi, other Dems urge Sessions to resign over his contact with Russians
The Latest: Ryan says AG should recuse himself if targeted
Senate confirms Jeff Sessions for attorney general
House probe into Russia ties to Trump off to a rocky start
Partisan discord tainting probes of Russia, Trump, election
Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
The San Jacinto County Republican Party is ready to host its annual Reagan Dinner on April 8 with two special guest speakers -- Senator Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The Reagan Dinner is a yearly fundraiser for the county's Republican Party that draws in large crowds and special guest speakers. Last year the guest speaker was Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
San Jacinto County Republican Party Chairman Dwayne Wright says this year's dinner also will showcase Texas State Senator Robert Nichols and U. S. Representative Kevin Brady, along with Texas House District 18 Representative Ernest Bailes. Wright also says while this is unconfirmed, it is possible that U. S. Representative Dr. Brian Babin may appear.
With the set of guest speakers and other elected officials coming in, Wright says the event is expected to have a large crowd.
"It's like a magnet," he said. "Everyone flows in."
While the Reagan Dinner is not going to be held at the Cleveland Civic Center as it was last year due to it already being booked for that day, the Cleveland Senior Center is large enough to hold a crowd of 450, which is 50 less than the capacity of the Cleveland Civic Center.
The topics that Cruz and Patrick are going to speak on are currently undecided.
"We reach out to them and try to give them some topics," said Wright.
Extra Mile Catering will provide a meal centered around stuffed pork loin wrapped in bacon.
Anderson Ford is also the main event sponsor for the Reagan Dinner this year.
The Reagan Dinner is scheduled for April 8 from 7-10 p.m. at the Cleveland Senior Center. Anyone who has purchase VIP tickets can enter a special reception at 6:30 p.m.
To purchase tickets, call Sheena Bass at 281-389-1618. Tickets are $100 each.
Wright says he plans to up the ante in next year's Reagan Dinner.
"I'm working on trying to get [President Donald] Trump here," he said. "We're constantly trying to push the envelope and break the glass ceiling."
The audience rose in a standing ovation as Donna Baumgartner, accompanied by her daughter Chloe, accepted the final Officer of the Year Award on behalf of her late husband, Sgt. Stacey Baumgartner, during the annual East Montgomery County Improvement District Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner in New Caney on Monday, Feb. 27.
Baumgartner, of the Patton Village Police Department, was killed in the line of duty during a police chase in June 2016. He was one of 12 law enforcement officers to be honored as Officer of the Year recipients for their service and dedication to law enforcement in East Montgomery County.
MCSO Submitted Photo
A 33-year-old Spring man has been arrested for two counts of felony injury to a child, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit were dispatched to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston in reference to an injury to two children. MCSO Detectives, with the assistance of Texas Children's Hospital and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, applied for and received two arrest warrants for Jackie Brent Nance who was arrested yesterday by deputies with MCSO SWAT on Wednesday.
The three people who died when a small plane bound for San Jose crashed into homes in Southern California this week were a South Bay pilot, his wife and a 22-year-old woman, according to a relative and media reports.
Nouri Hijazi, 83, of San Jose, who was flying the plane, died along with his wife, 67-year-old Dana Hijazi, said Richard Pierce, son-in-law of the couple.
Pierces wife, Joanne Stacey Pierce, was one of two passengers who survived after the aircraft crashed into two homes on Monday shortly after taking off from Riverside Municipal Airport.
Shes alive, Pierce said of his wife by phone Wednesday. I was just with her.
The third person killed in the crash was identified at Adine Farelas by her brother, Brandon Farelas.
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She would always be there for me, Brandon Farelas told KGO-TV. I appreciate her so much. Now I realize exactly what Im losing.
Farelas said his mother, Silvia Farelas, survived the crash and was in the burn unit awaiting a second surgery.
Joanne Pierce was in stable condition and underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon, her husband said. Joanne Pierces mother, Dana Hijazi, is originally from Poland and her family is making arrangements to bring relatives to the United States to be at her side, Richard Pierce said.
All five passengers aboard the plane had been in Riverside for a weekend cheerleading competition at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, officials said.
Pierce said his daughter, who is in middle school, competed in the competition but took the bus back to San Jose with her cheerleading squad. She went back to school Wednesday, he said.
The aircraft a T310Q Cessna manufactured in 1974 was registered to Nouri Hijazi. A team with the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
The plane left Riverside Municipal Airport at 4:40 p.m. for Mineta San Jose International Airport but within minutes crashed into two homes on Rhonda Road less than 2 miles northeast of the runway.
About 60 firefighters responded and managed to pull two women from the flames and debris. One of the surviving woman had been thrown into one of the homes and had third-degree burns over 90 percent of her body, fire officials said.
The two homes were damaged, but it did not appear any residents were inside at the time.
Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
AMARILLO Pat Jarrett Helton, 43, of Amarillo, appeared in federal court Wednesday and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to one count of convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Helton faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison, and a $250,000 fine. Helton will remain on bond pending sentencing set for June 6, 2017.
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NORWALK Tiffany Pettway stood before a swirling group of lemon and tiger sharks Wednesday evening at the Maritime Aquarium.
She was among a group of roughly a handful of people who looked on at the creatures in awe through a thick slab of glass.
Though a resident of nearby Bridgeport who has been to the aquarium before, Wednesday marked Pettways first time going as an educator, which admittedly changed the lens through which she viewed the exhibits.
Pettway was one of 160 teachers from across the Connecticut and nearby states who went to the aquarium Wednesday as a part of its Fish School event, where educators were invited to explore the aquariums exhibits and programs and learn how they could be used to help fulfill their mandated science standards.
I really liked the big shark tank and how they showed how you can match what youre learning about to standards and lesson plans, said Pettway, who started just last week as a headteacher of a toddler room at Norwalks Maritime Odyssey Preschool.
To Tom Naiman, the director of education at the aquarium, that was precisely the point.
The aquariums programming went through a redevelopment the past two years to meet the states Common Core and Next Generation Science standards to allow educators to more effectively use the programming in their teaching, Naiman said.
We often say we really want every teacher and student in this area to consider the aquarium as an extension of the classroom, Naiman said.
During the event, which ran from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., educators were invited to take tours of the aquarium, get an inside glimpse behind at least one of the tanks, make the trek outside to the aquariums docked research vessel and preview Imax movies.
In one of the aquariums five classrooms, Pettway peaked into a microscope to view a collection of tiny Brine Shrimp, more popularly known as sea monkeys.
It was a part of a tour where aquarium educators explained different programs ranging from Perch fish dissection to interacting with a live horseshoe crab including what grade level they are appropriate for
and how they fit into
the curriculum.
While Pettway said she would be interested in using some of the programming in her classroom, she admitted she may have to simplify them to meet the needs of her students, who range in age from around just one-year-old to three-years-old.
But they would enjoy the Meet the Animals program, Pettway said. Its really interactive where they can get up and move we cant sit down for too long.
She also liked the ideas of incorporating science themes and animals into stories for the kids.
Alina Britchi traveled to the event all the way from Westbrook, Connecticut where she teaches high school science.
Britchi said a STEM program had just started at her school and she was interested in finding programming she could
use for it.
One thing she liked about the aquarium was the concept that you can bring the kids here or adopt things on your own inside the classroom. she said.
Britchi was excited to check out the research vessel, which takes students out onto Long Island Sound and allows them to explore organisms caught from techniques such as plankton tows to bio-dredges.
Overall, Naiman said the event was really their opportunity to have the aquarium open just for educators and to talk to them about what we do, how we can support what they are doing in the classroom and to hear from them what are some of the things that they value that we are already doing ...
Teachers are really our priority, because our mission is to support science education, to teach people about the worlds oceans and the issues that they face and to develop stewardship for Long Island Sound, Naiman said. We cant do that alone and teachers are the
multipliers we need as
our allies to accomplish
those missions.
KSchultz@thehour.com; 203-354-1049; @kevinedschultz
Editor's Note: In the wave of globalization and economic growth, a growing number of foreigners are coming to China in search of opportunities. With diverse purposes, some of them choose to work in the world's fastest growing economy, or some want to experience a cross-cultural environment and successfully integrate into it, while others go on to achieve their aspirations in China. Regardless, working or living in a cross-cultural environment isn't a walk in the park. At the end of the year, a time to reflect and start fresh, we rounded up some inspirational stories of six foreigners living in China. We hope these stories can inspire you in the start of the new year. Here is Ingrid Chen's story.
Ingrid Chen of Northern Ireland was 28 when she landed in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, for a five-week course in Chinese. Now 52, she found a family, a career and a purpose during her years in China.
A teacher of the deaf in Northern Ireland, Chen learned Chinese sign language in Kunming and then worked in a program that teaches sign language, crafts and sewing skills to people over 16 from the rural areas around Kunming with no educational opportunities..
To help local disabled people who struggle to find an education and a job, Chen and some partners from the NGO established their own company in 2002, Hearts & Hands, to sell products made in the traditional style of Yunnan ethnic cultures that are created by the deaf and sold overseas.
She's never taken a salary for her work, so her family's daily expenses are covered by her husband, who is a woodworker. But Chen has never regretted starting her company.
Ingrid Chen talks with a deaf worker to discuss sewing skills. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
I love the challenge of working in China. Having a background in teaching but finding myself running a small social enterprise makes life even more of a challenge. It seems each year comes with new developments and new problems, but all are learning opportunities.
In 2016, our small sewing business reached further afield, selling products to people in different European countries and to the Middle East. We joined a large online craft market that gave individuals all over the world access to our products. One major hurdle has been with logistics, shipping products quickly and making sure they arrive safely. They haven't always reached their destination, which is frustrating for customers and us alike.
One discovery we made was the WeChat store. WeChat has done a fantastic job making it easy to set up and run a store. With little idea as to how it would work we put some of our products in the store and with one click, I sent our store details to all in my contacts list. Supportive friends then passed that on and in the first day or so we had over 7,000 views of our products. We continue to have thousands of daily views of our products and many sales of our beautiful products have ensued. Our products are now going out to all parts of China. Through online shopping the world for us has definitely become smaller and more accessible.
The Executive Committee of the Montgomery County Republican Party approved a controversial resolution late Tuesday night, after several voting members had left the meeting, that supports pending tax reform legislation in Texas as well as a 20 percent homestead exemption on local appraisals through county government.
The committee, which is made up of the 90 GOP precinct chairs in the county, approved the resolution in a 21-10 vote.
The resolution, crafted by Precinct 50 Chairman Reagan Reed, supports Senate Bill 2, co-authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, that would reduce rollback tax rate from 8 percent to 4 percent; mandate all members of appraisal district boards to be elected officials, set deadlines for all property tax protests, and establish review panels in counties with populations of 120,000 or more to hear more complex taxpayer protests. The resolution also supports House Bill 44, authored by Rep. Mark Keough, R-The Woodlands which aims to reduce taxes by placing a maximum increase of 5 percent on the appraised value, reduced from the current 10 percent annual increase allowed on home appraisals.
The resolution also calls on Montgomery County Commissioners Court to implement a 20 percent homestead exemption, cut spending and increase funding for law enforcement.
"The reason I proposed this is because it is an issue really important to me," Reed said. "I thought it was really important for the Republican Party to speak out on this and let the residents know the Republican Party supports lowering taxes."
Reed said he was surprised the vote was not unanimous.
"You wouldn't think that property tax reform would be something that is controversial," he said.
However, Dr. Walter Wilkerson, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, said the outcome of the vote hardly represents the county's GOP. Wilkerson added that the resolution was brought up toward the end of the lengthy meeting -- after more than a dozen precinct chairs already had left.
"That didn't sit to well with me," said Wilkerson, noting there were a large number of new people at the meeting. "I regret that because that put us in a position where we had a lot of explaining to the new people that were there.
"My job is to lead the Republican Party, and some of them I would question whether they are Republicans or they use their position as a means to an end. I just don't appreciate that."
The action comes on the heels of Montgomery County Commissioner Court approving a resolution supporting meaningful tax reform, but no specific legislation, and a 10 percent homestead exemption.
While the court unanimously approved a 10 percent exemption, commissioners agree they will work toward amending that action later this year to get to the maximum 20 percent exemption.
An original motion by Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack to implement a 20 percent residential exemption failed 3-2. Noack and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark voted for it.
Two known MS-13 gang members from Houston were charged this week with murdering a woman and kidnapping with the intent to sexually abuse another victim.
Diego Hernandez-Rivera, 18, and Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, were arrested Monday and charged the next day for aggravated kidnapping. On Wednesday, they were charged with murder in a separate case where an unidentified woman's body was found in west Houston.
WOUNDED OFFICERS: Police shooter linked to criminal Houston gang called 52 Hoovers
In the other case the pair allegedly kidnapped the male victim around Feb. 2 with the intent to inflict bodily injury, sexually abuse and terrorize him, according to court documents.
About two weeks later, the body of a woman identified in court records only as "Genesis" was found in west Houston, lying along the curb at the 9900 block of Sharpcrest Street.
She died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, neck and torso, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. Investigators believe she was shot by Hernandez-Rivera and Alvarez-Flores at another location and dumped on Sharpcrest.
TRAGIC: Teen arrested in killing of 8-year-old girl
Both suspects, identified in court records as MS-13 gang members, are at the Harris County jail and each faces a $150,000 bail for murder and a $100,000 bail for aggravated kidnapping.
The MS-13 gang, also known as the Mara Salvatrucha, has roots in El Salvador and a violent record in numerous countries.
The MS-13 first reached into the United States in the 1980s and has become one of the best known international street gangs in the world.
The burglary suspect who shot and wounded two police officers Tuesday has been linked to a criminal gang called the 52 Hoovers, a subset of the Crips with members in northeast, south and east Houston, a police union official said Wednesday.
The man - who has not been publicly identified - died at the scene after opening fire on Officers Ronny Cortez and Jose Munoz.
Cortez remains hospitalized with a bullet lodged near his spine, and is expected to have surgery Wednesday. Munoz, 34, a 10-year HPD veteran, was shot in the foot said Joe Gamaldi, second vice president for the Houston Police Officers Union. Munoz was released Wednesday night.
Cortez remains at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.
The shooter used a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, Houston Police Department Chief Art Acevedo said at an afternoon press conference Wednesday.
Police expect to release the dead suspect's name this afternoon. The medical examiner's office said it was working to notify his relatives.
Police don't think the second burglary suspect fired on officers, Acevedo said, declining to comment on what charges that suspect might face.
"We're not going to give up," the chief said of the suspect still at large. "You can wait for us to come and get you, or you can come turn yourself in."
Acevedo said the wounded officers were not wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting.
Cortez, 49, a 24-year veteran with the Houston Police Department, has been stabilized but a bullet that lodged near his spinal cord may threaten his ability to walk, Acevedo said. Despite that he has been in good spirits and is making jokes with his family.
Danny Cortez, the wounded officer's brother, said his brother was so upbeat it was unnerving.
"At least I get to build up my upper body now," the wounded man told his brother in the face of possibly losing the ability to walk.
"He's got a long road to recovery," Danny Cortez said of his brother, but they are still grateful. "It could have gone a lot worse yesterday."
Danny Cortez joined the wife of Officer Jose Munoz to thank Houston for its support, prayers and gifts as well ask for privacy for their families.
Munoz' wife, Jazmin Munoz, said he plans to leave the hospital today. She recalled getting the call about her husband's shooting.
Though the officer and his family knew the risk that comes with being a police officer, Jazmin Munoz said, "It's a call that nobody's ready for."
She recalled that after she arrived to the hospital Tuesday, her husband's first words to her were: "We're OK."
Danny Cortez said his brother always has been a protector of his neighbors. He was shot not far from his own home.
"As long as I've known my brother ... he would always be out patrolling the (area) he lived in."
Before Danny Cortez and Jazmin Munoz spoke, Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner addressed the department's unity.
"We stand as a family," Finner said, as Jazmin Munoz reached out to hold the hand of Danny Cortez, whom she had not met before the incident. "When you join the Houston Police Department, you're part of the family."
SUSPECT SOUGHT: Reward offered for person who shot two officers
The two officers were shot around noon Tuesday by a burglary suspect, HPD Chief Art Acevedo has said. The officers returned fire and killed that suspect. A suspected accomplice is still at large.
"We are sparing nothing to find the other person," Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday. "Let's continue to pray for these two police officers."
Police, meanwhile, have released few details about the suspects involved in shooting. After the shooting, police said they were searching for a second suspect; he remains at large.
The incident comes as police say anecdotally, they've seen a spike in burglaries in recent months and as both Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg have vowed to take steps to address the problem.
After Tuesday's shooting, Ogg said the incident showed burglaries could be violent crimes.
"Burglars pose a significant threat to property owners and first responders," she said, Tuesday afternoon.
Overall, burglaries within the city of Houston have dropped significantly over the last five years, from more than 26,500 in 2012 to about 18,300 last year.
Acevedo said earlier this week he has asked the city's crime lab to prioritize forensic evidence from nighttime burglaries, in an effort to help clear more cases.
Click through the above gallery to see scenes from Tuesday's manhunt after two police officers were shot and wounded in southwest Houston.
Doctors perform an operation on a cervical cancer patient in this file photo. [Photo/CFP]
China was one of the countries with the highest level of accuracy in detecting cervical cancer, according to recent joint research carried out by the UK and China.
The study, which was led by Queen Mary University of London with co-authors from the Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, revealed that, with the use of liquid-based cytology, hospitals in China were able to detect cervical cancers at an accuracy of 96 percent, even among women showing no symptoms.
The results were obtained by looking at cytology tests for 717 cervical cancers from 23 studies in 14 low- and middle-income countries, including China.
Corresponding author Alejandra Castanon, from QMUL, said: "Cytology has long been established as an excellent screening tool to prevent cervical cancer by detecting precancerous lesions. However, little research has been carried out regarding its sensitivity to cancer."
Jasmine Just, Cancer Research UK's health information officer, said: "This study shows that the cervical screening test can perform effectively in low- and middle-income countries, and in women who are at higher risk. But we need more information about whether these cancers are being picked up at an early stage or whether women are more likely to survive."
In China, cervical cancer is the second most-common cancer among women aged between 15 and 44 and the seventh most-common cause of cancer death in women, with nearly 30,000 fatalities per year. Zhao Fanghui, deputy director of the Department of Cancer Epidemiology at the Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said the studies have shown that technology updates and strict quality control enable cytology to play an important role in cervical cancer screening.
But Zhao said: "Cytology requires the establishment of a high-quality screening system and well-trained technicians, the shortage of which usually limits the implementation of cytology in most developing countries."
The researchers confirmed restricting cytology to symptomatic women and referring only those with severe lesions would lead to fewer women requiring further investigation, which would reduce the burden on resources and cost, resulting in the diagnosis of more cancers at an earlier stage and improved survival rates. Taking a small cluster of cells to diagnose disease before it progresses to cancer is extremely effective. But in poorer countries, a lack of infrastructure and quality management has hampered its widespread implementation.
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Go Texan Day is as good a day as any to celebrate the state that has given the world Willie Nelson, silicone breast implants, Dr Pepper, and Whataburger.
Youre welcome, world.
THE STARS AT NIGHT...: 21 things Texans do that might be weird anywhere else
A Houston tradition since the 1950s meant to herald the beginning of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Go Texan Day is a day where Texans can dress like the rest of the world thinks we dress every day of the year.
It's always the Friday just before the rodeo's official downtown kickoff parade.
Now Playing: From his days as a Bible salesman to his favorite Southern food to the story behind his iconic braids, Willie Nelson gave us little peeks inside his lifetime of experience (thats chock-full of some crazy stuff, were sure!). Video: Southern Living
Archer Romero, the president of the show who chaired the first Go Texan Committee in 1954, probably didn't know back then that over 60 years later everyone would still be making last-minute trips to western wear store Cavender's for a new belt buckle and boots just for the occasion.
Don't worry, those new boots will eventually fit after wearing them about a year or so.
ARE BIG AND BRIGHT...: If it wasn't for Texas the world would be without these amazing things
Go Texan newbies who aren't sure if you are doing it right, use this test. Look at your outfit and ask yourself "Would George Strait or Willie Nelson be caught wearing this?"
If the answer is yes, then game on. If no, you are probably really excited to see Rascal Flatts on March 5 and you are beyond help.
Go Texan Day is not as important a day as Texas Independence Day (March 2) or the premiere of "Walker, Texas Ranger" on CBS (April 21) but its up there.
Of course for some of us, every day of the year is Go Texan Day, no matter what we are wearing.
Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com.
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Three people were arrested, two on warrants, after one man allegedly kidnapped his former spouse and their child during a hand off Wednesday evening in a South Side parking lot.
Jesus Longoria, 26, was charged with aggravated kidnapping, theft of a vehicle, and possession of a controlled substance, according to Bexar County records. His bail totaled $95,000.
San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Tom Alonzo said police were called after the 23-year-old woman and her child, under 3 years old, were kidnapped at about 7:45 p.m. from a parking lot at 3150 Southwest Military Drive.
Witnesses told police that Longoria had refused return one of their children to the woman during the exchange. He was then seen grabbing the woman and dragging her to into a 2004 Silver Jeep, according to Longorias arrest warrant affidavit.
While the woman was in the car, she was able to text her friend for help, police said. Her friend told police that they were near Omaha Street on the East Side.
Two hours later, a disturbance was reported in the 100 block of Omaha involving a Jeep that resembled the one Longoria had been using, police said.
A witness told officers they saw Longoria entering a home on the block, adding that he sometimes stays at the home.
Officers from the East Patrol found the (Jeep), which was in fact stolen and had a weapon inside of it, Alonzo said.
At first, three people were taken into custody as police surrounded the home, he said.
Afterward, three more were placed in police vehicles as officers continued talking to the people inside.
Longoria, the kidnapped mother and two children, both under three years old, were the last ones out of the house at about 11:45 p.m., Alonzo said.
jbeltran@express-news.net
Twitter: @JBfromSA
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A San Antonio man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly providing drugs to a minor, pimping her out to johns and sexually assaulting her, according to court documents.
Carlos Richard Villarreal, 39, faces a first-degree felony charge of trafficking of a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, and a third-degree felony charge of possession of a controlled substance between 1 and 4 grams, according to online jail records.
RELATED: 30-year-old charged with trafficking teen runaway in Central Texas
On Feb. 14, police interviewed the victim, now 17, who said she had been drugged, sexually assaulted and prostituted by the suspect and his friends starting in 2015, an arrest affidavit said.
She said she met Villarreal through a friend in 2015, and he started selling her methamphetamine and heroin, which she became addicted to after using. Villarreal allegedly proposed the idea of prostituting the girl out and started taking her to several motels on the South and Northwest sides. At those locations, the girl was given drugs and prostituted, according to the affidavit.
RELATED: Waco man accused of trafficking minors, sexually assaulting them at his home
Investigators also found Facebook messages where the two discussed the prostitution business.
On Feb. 21, the girls mother approached investigators and said she tracked down her daughter at a motel and brought her home in 2015.
The affidavit said the prostitution occurred from 2015 to early this year.
RELATED: Police: 'Worst-case scenario' sex trafficking of 16-year-old girl leads to 6 arrests in Waco
If convicted, Villarreal faces five to 99 years in prison for the first-degree felony and up to 10 years for the third-degree felony.
Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com
twhite@mysa.com
Twitter: @tylerlwhite
A 33-year-old man accused of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in the summer of 2014 in San Antonio has been jailed, authorities said Thursday.
Jason Andrew Hall faces one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Rosanne Hughes.
Two known MS-13 gang members from Texas were charged this week with murdering a woman and kidnapping with the intent to sexually abuse another victim.
Diego Hernandez-Rivera, 18, and Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, were arrested Monday and charged the next day for aggravated kidnapping. On Wednesday, they were charged with murder in a separated case where an unidentified woman's body was found in west Houston.
WOUNDED OFFICERS: Police shooter linked to criminal Houston gang called 52 Hoovers
In the other case the pair allegedly kidnapped the male victim around Feb. 2 with the intent to inflict bodily injury, sexually abuse and terrorize him, according to court documents.
About two weeks later, the body of a woman identified in court records only as "Genesis" was found in west Houston, lying along the curb at the 9900 block of Sharpcrest Street.
She died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head, neck and torso, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. Investigators believe she was shot by Hernandez-Rivera and Alvarez-Flores at another location and dumped on Sharpcrest.
TRAGIC: Teen arrested in killing of 8-year-old girl
Both suspects, identified in court records as MS-13 gang members, are at the Harris County jail and each faces a $150,000 bail for murder and a $100,000 bail for aggravated kidnapping.
The MS-13 gang, also known as the Mara Salvatrucha, has roots in El Salvador and a violent record in numerous countries.
The MS-13 first reached into the United States in the 1980s and has become one of the best known international street gangs in the world.
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Beachgoers southeast of Houston had to call police after discovering treasure on the sea shore.
No, this wasn't a seashell, or jewelry.
They found part of a rocket ship.
Freeport police responded earlier this week after a caller said it looked like part of a boat or aircraft had washed up onshore. Upon inspection, and after calling multiple agencies including NASA and the FBI, it was determined the item was a chunk of a rocket that was launched into space from South America earlier this year.
"It clearly did not burn up on re-entry, landed in the ocean and floated all the way here to Freeport," police said on their Facebook page.
RELATED: K9 unit finds meth, cocaine, weed, guns in 'anglers' vehicle at Padre Island National Park
The police department cannot keep their cool find, and instead have to give the rocket piece back to its rightful owner.
"No, it is not dangerous, except for the smell of dying barnacles that called it home for the past two weeks," police said.
One commenter on Facebook joked: "Better write them a ticket for littering. You don't mess with Texas!"
Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com
kbradshaw@express-news.net
Twitter: @kbrad5
Moteiff Jerome Collins, 33, was held in Hale County jail Thursday on $25,000 bond for the second degree felony charge of burglary of a habitation and commits an assault. He was arrested about 10 a.m. Wednesday in the 1100 block of Thunderbird. He also is being held on two $5,000 bonds on warrants for motion to revoke probation or parole for criminal trespass and MTR-assault causes bodily injury.
--A 47-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Thursday on $1,500 bond for driving while license invalid with previous conviction and without financial responsibility. He was arrested about 2 a.m. Wednesday following a traffic stop at mile marker 51 on I-27.
Its probably too late for taxpayers to get a refund from Franklin Covey.
Since 2011, Alamo Colleges has spent roughly $3 million with the leadership training company probably best known for The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. That figure comes from purchasing records, and mostly reflects consultants, books, DVDs and other training materials for faculty, staff and students.
And what did we get for our $3 million? From the outside looking in, an especially high level of discord between faculty and administration, and as a bonus, risked accreditation at San Antonio, Northwest Vista and St. Philips colleges.
All three schools are facing accreditation warnings for a variety of issues, including the Alamo Colleges boards decision to place The 7 Habits into a leadership course.
Or as one warning put it: The institution failed to provide sufficient evidence that the faculty has primary responsibility for curriculum.
Once the accreditation warnings hit late last year, the board dumped The 7 Habits from the curriculum, but that comes with some caveats.
First, its not like the accreditation warnings came out of nowhere. For months and months, faculty and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges warned Alamo Colleges about including The 7 Habits in the course.
Second, Alamo Colleges inexplicably continues to stick with The 7 Habits and other Covey materials, with board members saying the trainings are indispensable for faculty and staff development.
During a recent Express-News Editorial Board meeting, Chancellor Bruce Leslie said the plan is to bring Covey back into the classroom.
We have already started meeting with the faculty, where do we go, what do we do, how do we develop this thing? he said. Now we can make it a holistic course and program.
Leslie said he thinks a small number of faculty have made this an issue by running and complaining to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Yes, we have had some faculty who have put their flag in the sand, and say, Not over my dead body, he said. But the students love it.
To hear board members talk, Covey has been worth every penny.
I cant say negative things about this program, Yvonne Katz, chairwoman of the Alamo Colleges board, said during an interview. I have seen too many positive things.
Katz didnt know how much the district had spent on Covey materials, but when I told her it had been about $3 million since 2011, she said thats not a lot of money given the size of the district and a five-year window of time.
Likewise, trustee Joe Alderete Jr. has said faculty were already using Covey materials in the classroom at Northwest Vista College and the board simply followed suit.
Faculty were promoting it, he said during an editorial board meeting.
But Craig Coroneos, spokesman for Northwest Vista Colleges American Association of University Professors, said there was never a collegewide policy to include Covey in course materials.
I know that a large number of faculty at NVC here have refused to go to the 2-day training, he said. And many faculty view The 7 Habits as pop psychology and not as serious academic work.
Tony Villanueva, president of Palo Alto's American Association of University Professors chapter, echoed these concerns. It doesnt belong here, he said. It doesnt belong in higher ed.
As for the running and complaining comment, Coroneos said, the vast majority of things that the accrediting agency warned us about have absolutely nothing to do with faculty.
But even if faculty were running and complaining, their concerns obviously had merit, especially when it comes to hiring and curriculum.
Leslie and Alamo Colleges have downplayed these accreditation warnings as nothing more than technical issues.
But it is more than that, right? The underlying issue is whether the administration is undermining the academic independence of these colleges, jeopardizing their standing as individual institutions.
Thats creating extraordinary levels of friction with faculty and is distracting from the ultimate mission of teaching students. Thats not going away even if the technical issues are addressed.
Do The 7 Habits work? Probably for some, and not for others. Do they belong in curricula or faculty trainings?
Lets just call that the $3 million question.
jbrodesky@express-news.net
Who knew that so many people cared so much about what happens to illegal immigrants?
For eight years, I tried to get readers and colleagues to see what activists and immigration attorneys quickly figured out: Barack Obama was the most anti-immigrant president since Dwight Eisenhower, who loaded more than 1 million Mexicans onto railroad cars in 1954s Operation Wetback. Obama established quotas, eliminated law enforcement discretion and pressured local cops to enforce federal immigration law. All that helped him deport roughly 3 million people, divide hundreds of thousands of families and dump thousands of abandoned U.S.-born kids into foster care.
No one listened. Liberals were protective of Obama, but conservatives were just as protective of their false narrative that a Democratic president wanted an open border.
Now, the world of immigration enforcement is upside down.
Liberals have rediscovered their outrage at the mistreatment of the undocumented even though Trump is, for the most part, simply following Obamas deportation blueprint.
The New York Times recently implied otherwise by reporting that Trump would enforce immigration law more aggressively and find, arrest and deport those in the country illegally, regardless of whether they have committed serious crimes.
In other words, Trump is likely to do pretty much what Obama did in swiftly removing juveniles, battered wives, ice cream vendors and traffic code violators.
Meanwhile, the same conservatives who charged that Obama wasnt doing enough are now applauding Trump for going above and beyond when, in reality, the new president is mimicking the old one.
Apparently, this includes repeating the same mistakes. Obama tried to be both tough and compassionate by pushing the narrative that he was removing the bad illegal immigrants and keeping the good ones. This approach only creates more confusion, and it never works.
Heres why. The immigration debate is about human beings. And human beings are a complicated bunch.
You cant just wade into that river of complexity and neatly separate undocumented immigrants into good and bad.
On the one hand, Obama created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to protect so-called Dreamers who were brought here as children. Obama described them as Americans in their hearts, their minds, in every single way except one on paper. But he also said that his administration was removing people who are dangerous, people who are gang-bangers or criminals.
Now Trump is playing the same game. Even though he is rankling supporters by breaking his campaign promise to immediately terminate the executive action allowing Dreamers to remain in the United States under certain conditions, the president now calls these young people incredible kids and pledges to deal with their fate with great heart. At the same time, Trump who also campaigned on the promise of removing the bad hombres has maintained his hard line against what he considers the undesirables in the illegal immigrant population.
Further muddying the waters, Trump reportedly said once again he was open to the idea of legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants. So, pray tell, how do you tell a good illegal immigrant from a bad one?
This is how cynical politicians do it: When they need to appear tough, theyll say that criminals include people who merely re-entered the United States after being deported because their kids were on this side of the border. Or those who used fake Social Security numbers to clean toilets even though they would never receive benefits. When elected officials want to be seen as compassionate, theyll change their tune and shrink the ranks of criminals to include only dangerous felons guilty of murder, assault, rape, armed robbery and other serious offenses.
People say our immigration system is broken. True enough. But the really bad news is that something that many folks see as a remedy our deportation policy is just as broken.
ruben@rubennavarrette.com
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazars decision to not have deputies act as de facto immigration agents was the right call.
Its wisdom lies in pure pragmatism. Immigrants who trust deputies are more likely to help those deputies do their jobs, keeping all of us safe.
But we cannot label as either wise or pragmatic the policies that have spawned the fears that prompted the sheriff to make that decision. President Donald Trumps new policies announced last week are causing what amounts to panic in immigrant communities here and throughout the nation. And this is not likely to be assuaged by more hopeful words the president spoke at the White House before his joint session of Congress about backing broad immigration reform.
Actions speak louder than words.
A petition, according to a report in the Express-News by Jason Buch, was being circulated so that the sheriff would not participate in the federal 287(g) program in which local law enforcement officers train to enforce immigration laws. The San Antonio Police Department has already said it opposes letting its officers act as immigration agents.
A Sunday report in the New York Times makes clear that these policies have taken the brakes off more zealous immigration agents. Whereas under the Obama administration they were instructed to target serious criminals and gang members, under Trump they are feeling empowered to detain even those not falling into those categories.
So, reports are filtering in that agents are stalking even those places where noncriminal immigrants are likely to be at courthouses in Texas and Colorado, and outside a church shelter in Virginia.
The Department of Homeland Security released guidelines last week that vastly broaden the people subject to removal. Obama targeted serious criminals; Trump is widening that net to include all criminals, including those who committed minor crimes and those simply charged. And the policies no longer discourage detaining those who have committed no crimes at all. The department will expedite removals for those who have been here for less than two years.
And though President Trump has said he will allow so-called Dreamers immigrants brought here as youngsters to stay, reports are coming in also of these young people being detained.
Sheriff Salazar said his department will continue to honor holds placed on those in the jail who immigration authorities believe are subject to immigration detention and removal. He said he would continue with his predecessors policies in that regard.
Not ideal, but OK as long as that includes not continuing to hold those whose sentences are up or whose criminal cases have otherwise been concluded. At that point, the jails ability to hold them is at an end and a host of constitutional questions arise if detention continues.
We know: What part of illegal dont we understand?
Heres what we understand: Immigration violations are mostly a matter of civil law, not criminal. Also, the equation of criminality with immigrants has virtually no basis in fact they are less prone than the native born to commit crimes or to be jailed. And they are a net boon to the economy. Though some initial displacement may occur, they are not generally taking jobs away from the native born.
And if they were all of a sudden to vanish, the economies of San Antonio, Texas and the nation would suffer. Not to mention the federal budget if the presidents policies are pursued. Where will all these new detainees be housed? Clearly, the immigration system is now at the breaking point, with backlogs and not enough detention beds. From where does the money to pay for these come, not to mention paying for the 10,000 new immigration and customs agents, and 5,000 more border patrolmen, in an arm of federal law enforcement that already outspends all other federal law enforcement agencies combined?
Comprehensive immigration reform can solve this. Sowing fear will not. It will, in fact, drive immigrants further underground, where they will be further exploited.
Undocumented immigrants understand the rules. They know they are subject to deportation. But they and a whole lot of others recognize they pose no threat and that they help the economy. And, in many cases, they have U.S. citizen children.
So, yes, the law says they are deportable. Pragmatism and humanity should point us in a more productive direction. We applaud Salazar for recognizing that.
A New Jersey woman received a $4 million settlement after being permanently disabled when a school bus was struck by a commuter bus in 2013.
Details on the Bus Crash
According to reports, 36-year-old Christine Carhuff was a passenger on a commuter bus on the morning of January 10, 2013.
The commuter bus had about 30 passengers on board when it rear ended a 24-seat school bus. The commuter bus then crashed into a tree, and three passengers were thrown from their seats. The school bus, driven by Tracy Dehart, flipped over and hit a generator and pumping station. Fortunately, no children were aboard the school bus.
The crash was recorded by a camera on the commuter bus.
Injuries Reported
According to officials, Jean-Pierre, the driver of the commuter bus, suffered from major injuries.
Dehart and her school aid suffered from minor injuries.
Carhuff was permanently disabled suffering from fractures and injuries to the neck, shoulder, lower back, leg, and ankle. She required multiple surgeries following the incident. About the Bus Crash Lawsuit
Carhuff filed a lawsuit in summer 2013 against the school bus owner, the Old Bridge Board of Education. The drivers of the commuter bus and school bus were also named in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Daniel Jean-Pierre, the driver of the commuter bus, was negligent by failing to maintain control of the vehicle.
According to Carhuffs attorney, Old Bridge Township and the school bus company had to pay $2 million apiece.
There was no admission of wrongdoing or liability in the settlement.
Contact an Experienced Bus Accident Attorney
Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys have handled a multitude of commercial vehicle accidents over the past two decades and continue to handle many of the largest 18-wheeler accident cases throughout the United States. Whether the company is small or large, our success is not an accident; it is because we understand how trucking companies operate. We represent clients/victims all over the country.
Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys are available to respond to truck and bus accidents at any hour, day or night. Our lawyers understand that the immediate acquisition, or acquiring, of evidence is paramount to understanding how the accident occurred.
Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
A Bulawayo man killed his wife after she had refused to go home and wanted to continue drinking beer at a local bar while another man fatally stabbed his ex-wife following an undisclosed matter in Fort Rixon, as murder cases increase countrywide.
The incidents occurred on Saturday and the suspects have since been arrested.
In Bulawayo, police said Stewart Munyapwa (32) fatally assaulted his wife Khethiwe Moyo (61) with a sjambok while on their way home in a bushy area.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed.
Police in Bulawayo arrested Stewart Munyapwa aged 32 in connection with a case of murder which occurred at a bushy area at Trenance Suburb on January 15, 2022. The suspect fatally assaulted the victim, Khethiwe Moyo aged 61 with open hands and a sjambok while on their way home from a local bar after a drinking binge.
An argument arose between the couple after the victim refused to go home as she wanted to go back to the bar to continue drinking, he said.
In another case, police in Fort Rixon, Matabeleland South, arrested Patrick Ngulube (52) in connection with a murder that occurred on Saturday night at Zimbili B, Gadade Village.
The suspect pounced at his ex-wife, Khauhelo Sibandas house and fatally struck her with an unknown sharp object on the head after an argument over an undisclosed issue, Asst Comm Nyathi said.
Meanwhile, police in Matabeleland South have also arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with a case of murder that occurred at Majoda Farm, West Nicholson.
The suspect, who was allegedly drunk and misbehaving, struck a 45-year-old man several times on the head and stomach with two burning logs over an unknown issue resulting in the instant death of the victim.
Herald
Breaking News via Email
Maud Hunidzarira and Thanks Makore have been found not guilty and acquitted of Tapiwa Makores murder after the prosecution withdrew charges against them at the close of the States case.
The State failed to provide evidence against the two.
More to follow
BREAKING!!!
Maud Hunidzarira and Thanks Makore have been found not guilty and acquitted of Tapiwa Makore's murder after the prosecution withdrew charges against them at the close of the State's case. The State failed to provide evidence against the two. pic.twitter.com/ZfPViVUkTp ZBC News Online (@ZBCNewsonline) October 13, 2022
Breaking News via Email
Mysteries of elephant sleep revealed BBC
Earth Probably Began With A Solid Shell Archaeology News Network
Oldest record of life on Earth found in Quebec CTV. In the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt
Physicists Catch Antimatter and Matter Misbehaving Scientific American
The private equity party is overcrowded FT
The Ignored Lessons of the Financial Crisis Verso
Wells Fargo Warns a Deeper Review May Uncover More Bogus Accounts Bloomberg. Amazingly, Clinton didnt win despite Obama prosecuting all those Wells-Fargo executives. Oh, wait.
When Debts Compete, Which Wins? Liberty Street
Guest Contribution: Identifying State-Level Recessions Econbrowser
China?
Scotland is tightly gripping its last card to play against Brexit Quartz
Macedonias president blocks Social Democrat government in Albanian language row Reuters
Syraqistan
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
A software engineer is detained for several hours by U.S. Customs and given a test to prove hes an engineer CNBC (CL).
Engineered to fail: Are IT recruits untrainable because they cheat in college? The Scroll (J-LS).
WikiLeaks spokesman quietly steps out of the spotlight AP (Furzy Mouse).
Health Care
The Only Concrete Takeaway From Trumps Speech: Medicaid Is Doomed The Intercept. Not clear how theyll sell that to a desperate flyover base, though.
Trump Transition
Democrats Need to Respond to Trumps Narrative about Solving American Disinvestment emptywheel. But Russia though.
Trump Promised to be The Infrastructure President. Just Not For One of Americas Strongest Economic Regions. Medium
Fast learner: Trump gains skill in using trappings of office AP
* * *
Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose WaPo. Parsing the story carefully for what was and was not disclosed, two questions were posed to Sessions regarding his encounters with the Russkis Ambassador (!). The second question (paragraph nine) is from Patrick Leahy in Sessions confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10, and it looks to me like Sessions qualified answer creates at best a he said/she said situation. The first question, from Al Franken at the same hearing (paragraph two), is not quoted, so its not possible, from the story alone, to know whether Sessions answered accurately or not. As usual, on charges of wrong-doing, wake me when there are named sources with evidence. (The Democrat agenda, of course, is to get Sessions to meet President Clinton on the tarmac recuse himself from whatever investigative proceedings take place.)
Jeff Sessions failed to disclose Russian ambassador meetings FT. The FT doesnt quote either question that Sessions is supposed to have answered falsely, but includes this material on the nature of the encounters:
Mr Sessions meetings with each of the foreign diplomats focused on bilateral relations, including any outstanding issues between the two countries. Ambassadors would often make superficial comments about election-related news, but it was not the substance of their discussion, said a DoJ official. In July Mr Sessions spoke at the Heritage Foundation event to a group of more than 50 ambassadors. Following his speech, a small group of ambassadors approached the senator as he was leaving the stage, the DoJ official said. He spoke to them while they stood together as a group. Some of the diplomats thanked Mr Sessions for his comments and invited him to various events. He made no commitments, the official said.
Where theres a damp squib, theres no fire? I guess well find out. Personally, I find it suspicious that Sessions didnt punch the Russian Ambassador in the face. Thats what a red-blooded Democrat would have done. (Theres a WSJ story on this, but its a rehash.)
Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking NYT. Easter eggs.
White House lawyers order Trump aides to preserve Russia-related materials AP
Former MI6 agent Christopher Steeles frustration as FBI sat on Donald Trump Russia file for months Independent. Exclusive: Steele was so concerned by revelations he worked without payment after Trumps election victory in November. Some exclusive. Steele couldnt even sell his product to a rube like Jebbie, the $250 million man, before the election. So now a business failure in oppo (!!) becomes a proof of integrity? Coffees for closers only.
* * *
Russians Hit U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebels, As Hostile Groups Converge Within Grenade Range Foreign Policy. The Blob extends a pseudopodium
In Confirmation Lovefest, Senators Tell Future Spy Chief He May Be Too Nice for the Trump Administration The Intercept
Trumps trade shake-up: why the US is taking aim at the WTO FT
Senate Democrats Worry That Trump May Eliminate One of Their Few Remaining Sources of Power New York Magazine
Democratic Last Resorts: The Recall Option The New Yorker. Yet another scheme to change the rules that assumes the can-opener of institutional power that Democrats have squandered under Obama. And last resort is quite telling, isnt it? Idea: Appealing candidates with a platform that provisions universal benefits for all, especially the working class. Worked for two generations after FDR!
Presidents Speech Leaves Executives Optimistic, Wanting More Details WSJ. Details
Donald Trump and the mansion that no one wanted. Then came a Russian fertilizer king McClatchy. This is a day or two old, but Im including this as an example of reporting as opposed to access journalism (see above).
Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
(Natural News) Fast food has an undeniable appeal, despite its unhealthy reputation its convenient, cheap and satisfying, making it attractive on several levels. On the other hand, fast food products are notoriously packed with unhealthy ingredients: highly-processed mystery meats, GMO products, pesticide-laden produce and more.
But is it possible to offer a classic fast food menu consisting of burgers, fries and shakes, etc. using all-natural, organic ingredients and without having to charge exorbitant prices?
Benjamin Brittsan and his wife Nicolette are betting on the concept by opening the nations first certified-organic drive-thru burger chain, called Nics Organic Fast Food.
The first restaurant will open in the Rolling Meadows suburb of Chicago this February, with plans to open 50 more Chicago-area locations before launching the chain nationwide if all goes according to plan.
Nics first location is a refurbished Pizza Hut that will seat 60 people indoors in addition to its drive-thru. The restaurant features a mascot named Nic the Organic Farmer a muscular, life-sized super-hero figure in overalls who is ready to take back fast food from the clutches of pesticides.
Brittsan stresses that his products are truly certified organic and not merely labeled as such.
From the Chicago Eater:
The restaurants products have been certified organic by Quality Assurance International Certification means the foods are free of pesticides and other chemicals. The certification is something that comes with standards and isnt an empty buzz phrase like all natural, said Benjamin Brittsan.
For example, the beef used in Nics hamburgers is USDA-certified organic and free of chemicals, antibiotics or hormones. But the all-organic standard extends to everything on the menu at Nics, including the chicken nuggets (made from organic white meat), french fries and even the drinks, which include organic juices, sodas and coffees.
But dont expect a lot of low-fat, vegan-leaning menu items at Nics. Sure, you can order a fresh green salad or a veggie burger, but the emphasis as with any fast food restaurant worthy of the name is on big, greasy beef hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries and sodas.
Theres nothing particularly healthy about the BigNic Bacon Burger two beef patties, two slices of cheese, smoked bacon and all the trimmings but the important thing, according to Brittsan, is what it doesnt contain.
The organic lifestyle doesnt mean youre eating any healthier in terms of the food, he said. What youre benefiting from is from whats not in the food.
The prices at Nics are around the same as popular burger chains such as In-N-Out Burger or Steak n Shake, with burgers at around $5 and combos for under $8.
Whether or not Nics can compete with the big fast food chains remains to be seen, but there does seem to be a trend towards fast food that uses fresh, natural ingredients.
Meanwhile, sales at McDonalds and some of the other mega chains are slowing down significantly and part of the reason is that Mickey Ds and others have been so slow in cleaning up their act, in terms of using quality ingredients.
In fact, one of the headlines in todays news concerned recent testing of chicken used in Subway products revealing that it contained less than 50 percent chicken DNA. One can only imagine what the rest of the product consisted of
There will probably always be a market for greasy cheeseburgers, french fries and milkshakes, but it may no longer be possible to use the most questionable ingredients imaginable and expect the public to buy it especially when restaurants like Nics can offer products that satisfy those fast food cravings without having to poison your body with GMOs, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics.
Sources:
Chicago.Eater.com
Chicago.Eater.com
NicsOrganicFastFood.com
WCPO.com
(Natural News) The Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, is a sexually transmitted infection, so pervasive that the CDCs website refers to it as the most common STD in the U.S. Interestingly the website goes on to say, HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives. [Emphasis added]
So, really not such a big deal then. The CDC goes on to explain that in most cases, the virus disappears on its own without causing any health issues. The problem, from the medical communitys point of view, is that HPV can on rare occasions cause cervical and other cancers.
Their solution to the problem? A vaccine of course! Enter the HPV vaccine, or vaccines, since there are two: Gardasil and Cervarix.
The CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have just released the latest amended immunization schedules for both children and adults.
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is reporting that changes include the addition of two doses of the HPV vaccine (HPV9 or Gardasil 9). The recommendation is that these vaccines be administered between the ages of 11 and 12, although they can be given to children as young as 9 or as late as at 14. The reason for this inclusion, they say, is that mortality rates for cervical cancer are higher than previously estimated.
In making the announcement, AAFP President John Meigs also snuck in some comments on President Trumps proposed advisory committee to investigate vaccines. A new federal commission on immunizations is not necessary and would divert much-needed dollars from other, more pressing health care issues. The science is clear, and family physicians stand ready to help everyone from the incoming administration to the general public understand how safe and important vaccines are. [Emphasis added]
This is the message that the mainstream medical community always tries to convey: that the science is settled, and that it has been proven time and again that vaccines, including the HPV vaccine, do no harm.
Well, that just isnt true. And contrary to popular belief, its not far-out, braid-wearing hippies that are saying so.
In January 2016, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued a press release in which they expressed serious concerns about the HPV vaccine, especially Gardasil.
It had come to their attention that the HPV vaccine is increasingly being linked to the rare, but very serious condition of premature ovarian failure (POF), which is also known as premature menopause.
The ACP had several concerns, including:
Though Gardasil safety trials were conducted on 11,778 patients, long-term ovarian function after vaccination was never studied in either rat or human trials;
Since most physicians are unaware of the possible link, they are likely not connecting the two and reporting POF after vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), meaning incidences could be even higher than reported;
Since Gardasil was licensed in 2006, 213 separate incidents involving amenorrhea, POF or premature menopause have been reported to VAERS. An alarming 88 percent of these were associated with Gardasil (and as per point 2, numbers are likely far higher than reported);
More than two-thirds (76 percent) of all VAERS reports of ovarian failure, POF or an abnormal absence of menstruation (amenorrhea) were directly linked to Gardasil; and
The Gardasil vaccine contains polysorbate 80, which has been linked to ovarian toxicity in rats.
And thats not the only problem with polysorbate 80. In 2005, scientists from the Department of Dermatology at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany, published a study entitled Polysorbate 80 in medical products and nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
Their conclusion? Polysorbate 80 is a ubiquitously used solubilizing agent that can cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid [anaphylactic] reactions.
There have also been several documented cases of multiple sclerosis and encephalitis, according to Dr. Lucija Tomljenovic of the University of British Columbias Department of Medicine.
And then theres the fact that with over 1,000 girls currently suffering with Gardasil side effects, the vaccine has been completely banned in Denmark!
The science is clear? Vaccines are proven safe and important? I think not.
Physicians are sworn to first do no harm, not first make sure you cover up the harm so you can all keep making as much money as possible.
With their own peers in the scientific and medical communities issuing such direct warnings about the HPV vaccine, one wonders how these people sleep at night, knowing the harm they are causing to our children.
Sources:
CDC.gov
AAFP.org
ACPeds.org[PDF]
Collective-Evolution.com
NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov
(Natural News) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is currently investigating what happened at 3222 Vance Street in Lakewood, Colorado. Dozens of geese and ducks have been killed or harmed by the illegal dumping of cooking oil into a local retention pond. Federal and local authorities are seeking out information on who committed this grievous act.
Officials were first notified of a suspicious-looking white sheen coating the surface of the pond in late January. It was soon realized that whatever this sheen was, it was contaminating the water and harming the wildlife. Thirty-three waterfowl unfortunately lost their lives to the water pollution and another eight were injured by it before the ponds cleanup could be completed.
Now, lab results have indicated that this mysterious substance polluting the water is actually commercial cooking oil waste that is believed to have been introduced to the pond somewhere upstream between January 18, 2017 and February 2, 2017.
KDVR reports that Ryan Moehring of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service commented, Its unclear why anyone would introduce a substance in a waterway like this. Its illegal to do so and obviously harmful to wildlife. The contamination comes with a maximum fine of $15,000 for each occasion, and authorities believe there were several occurrences.
Federal authorities are urging anyone with knowledge about this event to contact U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent-in-Charge Tom Tidwell at (720) 981-2777, ext. 226.
Authorities believe that the contamination may have come from a nearby mall, upstream.
Oil pollution: a common danger
This is not the first time cooking oil has contaminated an ecosystem. In 2015, a retention pond in White Center, Washington was polluted with upwards of 50 gallons of cooking oil. The spill reportedly damaged the environment, with over 20 geese, ducks, and heron injured by the oil.
Oil spills and oil dumping can be fatally harmful to waterfowl in multiple ways. In addition to contaminating their food supply, when a birds feathers get covered in oil, they lose the ability to repel water and insulate themselves effectively. This in turn puts them at risk of freezing to death. Birds will also instinctively try to get the oil off of their feathers by preening which results in them unintentionally ingesting the oil. From there, the oil also begins to damage their internal organs. Many types of marine creatures are harmed by the introduction of oil into their environment as well, such as fish, frogs, and sea otters.
More than just oil contaminates water supplies
Sadly, oil isnt the only thing polluting waterways in the United States. Many kinds of waste is routinely dumped into waterways all around the country. In 2014, Duke Energy was caught intentionally dumping over 60 million tons of toxic coal ash waste into the water in North Carolina. It was the eighth time in a single month that the corporation had been accused of violating environmental regulations. Duke Energy was found to be illegally and purposefully dumping coal ash into a tributary of Cape Fear River which provides drinking water to a number of the states cities and towns.
Our freshwater supply is being contaminated with a host of different pollutants including sunscreens, pesticides, and petroleum. Estimates suggest that in developed countries, some 70 percent of industrial waste goes untreated before being dumped into the water. The EPA has been heavily criticized for its failure to punish those who violate environmental regulations accordingly. One report from AllGov found that though there were some 64,000 facilities run by companies with a history of environmental regulation violations, fewer than 0.5 percent ever faced prosecution or criminal charges for their illegal actions.
Water pollution is a serious issue in the United States that all too often gets swept under the rug. Not only does pollution contaminate our drinking water, it also harms innocent wildlife and destroys entire ecosystems.
Sources:
EPTrail.com
KDVR.com
KATU.com
Bird-Rescue.org
NationalGeographic.com
MintPressNews.com
SpaceX may be the first to offer moon tourism as Elon Musk revealed that the company will send two people to the moon in 2018.
Interestingly, SpaceX plans to send two common touristy individuals and not scientists or astronauts to the moon. Both will travel to the moon using a SpaceX Dragon capsule shuttled by a Falcon Heavy rocket. The mission will last for a week and will loop around the Earth's satellite at 400,000 miles.
The tourists allegedly paid SpaceX a lot of money in order to land the seat aboard the Dragon capsule, according to a report. The individuals were already chosen and are set to start training for the lunar travel soon.
Musk, however, did not divulge the name of the fortunate moon travelers as well as the price tag of the trip. If this pushes through, SpaceX may become the new standard of human spaceflight in terms of space tourism. And if the 2018 launch will be met, SpaceX will beat NASA to a modern manned flight to the moon.
"NASA commends its industry partners for reaching higher," a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. "We will work closely with SpaceX to ensure it safely meets the contractual obligations to return the launch of astronauts to U.S. soil and continue to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station."
According to NASA, the agency had invested in private industries to further develop technologies that will enable deep space explorations. This explains why the agency fully supports SpaceX on its lunar tour.
This also strengthens NASA's "commercial partnerships" that aims to create a strong American space economy. Musk plans to launch the mission to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first-ever orbit around the moon.
"Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration," SpaceX said in a statement.
However, SpaceX will have to perform a ton of tests in order for the mission to push through. Surprisingly, U.S. President Donald Trump is an advocate of the manned mission to the moon and this SpaceX move may indeed receive a nod from the new administration.
Researchers claim that they may have uncovered what seems to be the oldest life on Earth embedded in rocks that survived for at least 3.7 billion years.
Their discovery, described in a paper published in the journal Nature, was based on very small and unusual shapes and patterns in the rock. The researchers argue that the shapes they found in the rock, such as tubes and spirals, resemble the pattern found around volcanic vents in the ocean, where bacteria strive.
"It provides us with this high degree of certainty that these structures are indeed, biological microorganisms that were living and thriving around hydrothermal vents billions of years ago," said Matthew Dodd, a biogeochemist at University College London and co-author of the paper, in a report from National Public Radio.
Read Also: 400 Million-Year-Old Marine Worm with Terrifying Snapping Jaws Found in Canadian Museum
Aside from the shapes and patterns, the researchers also found traces of carbon and phosphorus in the rock. Carbon and phosphorus are considered to be key ingredients for biological life.
Furthermore, the thread-like filament and cylinder-shaped tubes in the rocks were similar to the ones excreted by modern iron-consuming bacteria. Such filaments and tubes were also observed in much younger microfossils found in Norwegian rocks.
The rocks holding the fossils were collected from northeastern Quebec. Two separate teams tried to identify the age of the rocks using separate techniques. One of the groups put the rock to around 3.7 billion years, while the other one got 4.3 billion years.
Other scientists welcomed the new study with skepticism. They pointed out that it is possible that the shapes and patterns the researchers found in the rock were formed solely from geological process without any help from biological activities.
Once confirmed, the rocks will be considered as the oldest known fossils, beating the previous contender that have the confirmed age of 3.5 billion years.
Read Also: Here's Why Humans Cannot Resurrect Dinosaurs From Fossils Yet
The fictional island of Atlantis continues to mesmerize archaeologists and historians as 47 orichalcum ingots were found in a shipwreck that dates back to 2,600 years ago.
According to a report from Seeker, it was famous Greek philosopher Plato who made orichalcum the stuff of legends. The fourth-century B.C. scholar wrote the Critias dialogue, where Athenian figure Critias described orichalcum as a shiny metal surpassed only by gold in value.
It supposedly was mined in the lost city of Atlantis and covered the interior of Poseidon's temple from the walls to the columns to the floors. The temple was even said to sit on an orichalcum pillar where Poseidon's laws were inscribed on.
Read Also: Zealandia or Atlantis: Earth's Lost Continent Has Been Found!
Modern scholars say that the brass-like alloy was not as precious as Plato believed, but it is still extremely rare. Because not many of it has ever been found, little is known about its properties and composition. Now, the opportunity to learn more arises.
While investigating a ship that sunk 2,600 years ago, underwater archaeologists uncovered 47 blocks of orichalcum. The ancient shipwreck, located 1,000 feet off the coast of Gela in southern Sicily, also yielded a jar and two bronze Corinthian helmets.
It's not the first time orichalcum was discovered in this wreck. The first haul in 2015 had researchers recover 39 ingots out of the water.
"The ship dates to the end the sixth century B.C.," Sebastiano Tusa, archaeologist and Sicily's superintendent of the sea, said. "It was likely caught in a sudden storm and sunk just when it was about to enter the port."
Although the orichalcum is a mystery that may soon be solved, the myth of Atlantis might never find light. Plato's infamous myth, in which gods sent the Utopian city of Atlantis into the bottom of the ocean, have been attributed to countless cities around the world, according to a report from BBC. However, scientists believe that there will never be a consensus on Atlantis' real location.
Read Also: Villa Epecuen: Visit The Lost Town That Spent 25 Years Underwater
The European Space Agency (ESA) spotted the brightest and farthest remains of a star, called a pulsar, in the universe. The pulsar is what's left of a formerly massive star. It was proven to be a thousand times brighter than previously thought.
Due to its distance, the pulsar is considered one of a kind. The ESA XMM-Newton detected the pulsar with its light traveling for 50 million light years before being spotted by any equipment.
Pulsars are also magnetized neuron stars that sweep regular radiation in two beams in space. This is what made it possible for ESA to detect the pulsar. When properly aligned, the beam becomes a flash that turns on and off as it turns. Once-massive stars explode at the end of their natural lifecycle resulting in the birth of pulsars.
Read Also: NASA, ESA to Collaborate for a Historic Moon Mission
The latest discovery is considered to be the brightest ever detected officially called NGC 5907 ULX-1, according to a report. Its luminance is 10 times brighter than the previous record holder. It is also capable of releasing the Sun's 3.5 years worth of energy in a span of one second.
ESA's XMM-Newton had been studying the object for 13 years. NASA also contributed by providing additional research materials gathered by NASA's NuSTAR.
A record breaking pulsar found by @ESA_XMM is brightest, most distant of its kind https://t.co/KYgmXJLs2h pic.twitter.com/GbQ7K7IW8b ESA (@esa) February 21, 2017
"Before, it was believed that only black holes at least 10 times more massive than our Sun feeding off their stellar companions could achieve such extraordinary luminosities, but the rapid and regular pulsations of this source are the fingerprints of neutron stars and clearly distinguish them from black holes," Gian Luca Israel, from INAF-Osservatorio Astronomica di Roma, Italy, lead author of the paper said in a press release.
Based on the study, the pulsar spinning pattern also changes over time. It used to take 1.43 second per rotation in 2003 and 1.13 second per rotation in 2014.
Read Also: ESA Releases Images of Stunning Mosaic of Mars' North Pole
A shocking hostage and killing incident at the Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage in South Africa has prompted worldwide outrage.
Several nights ago, two armed men broke into the facilities of the rehabilitation center, which is home to rhinos and other animals who had lost their parents to poachers. According to reports, the men held the staff hostage and shot two 18-month-old white rhinos, Impy and Gugu, before viciously removing their horns.
In an interview with The Dodo, Yvette Taylor, a manager at Thula Thula and executive director of Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization, said the horns of the two rhinos are quite larger when compared to the others in the sanctuary.
Both of the baby rhinos died. Gugu was killed straight away with a bullet while Impi had to be laid to rest the next morning because of the severe injuries inflicted on him.
Read Also: Huge Chunk of Forest Elephants Die From Poaching in Their Supposed Haven
The Huffington Post reported that both rhinos were a week away from getting their horns removed. Conservationist notes that dehorning rhinos is one way of keeping them safe from poachers. A few weeks more and they would have been sent back to the wild.
In a Facebook broadcast, Karen Trendler, the director of Thula Thula, recalled how Impi had already suffered enough before going to the sanctuary. Unfortunately, the poachers had found him for the second time.
"Impi survived a particularly brutal poaching," Trendler said. "He stayed at his mother's carcass for six days, moving away just a short distance to eat ... because he was obviously very hungry and very thirsty. And when he came in, I still remember so clearly, sitting with this tiny little rhino who was covered in blood splatter from where they shot the mom."
Recently released government data said the rhino poaching toll in South Africa fell by 10 percent in 2016. However, conservationists are asserting that this does not mean rhinos are finally safe. Ecowatch notes that the battle against poachers is not over yet as three rhinos a day are still killed because of the on-going poaching crisis.
Read Also: Researchers Build Robo-Rhinos to Monitor, Guard Packs, Stop Poaching
The latest data from Californias Water Resources Control Board show 700,000 Californians are currently being exposed to contaminated water at home or at school.
Because the state data doesnt account for the nearly 2 million Californians still relying on private wells or factor in contamination from Chromium-6, experts say the number of people with toxic water is likely even higher.
In addition to those with contaminated water, another 3,511 California households reported having wells that are still dry according to state data released in January, 2017.
The vast majority of those wells are located in Californias Central Valley, in places like Tulare County, Madera County, and Stanislaus County.
NBC Bay Area
The impacts of the drought were more widespread than people realize, said Laura Feinstein of the Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based think tank focused on advancing solutions to water challenges. We found that the majority of those drought impacted public water systems were serving disadvantaged communities.
Five years ago Jerry Brown signed legislation making California the first state in the nation to declare that access to clean, safe drinking water is a fundamental human right. But NBC Bay Area's investigation found that promise has yet to reach more than a million California residents living in mostly rural, poor communities in the Central Valley and Central Coast.
Serious Health Effects
Theres really serious health impacts from some of these contaminants, said Laurel Firestone, Executive Director of the Community Water Center, a non-profit working to ensure communities have access to safe and affordable water. It can cause cancer [and] in the case of nitrate in very high levels, it can even cause death after a few days of high exposure.
The Community Water Center actually estimates the true number of residents currently living without safe, clean drinking water exceeds one million people.
Firestone said the tainted water found in wells and public water systems contains everything from naturally occurring arsenic and uranium, to nitrate from fertilizer and dairy farm waste runoff.
As the groundwater has become more contaminated, as weve started over-pumping our groundwater sources, its harder and harder to make sure that the water that people get in their tap is safe, Firestone said.
Other health effects include everything from rashes to stillborn babies, Firestone said. When asked if these communities were in crisis, Firestone was unequivocal.
Theyre all in crisis, Firestone said. I think one of the most frustrating things is if this isnt an emergency, then I dont know what is. Having toxic water coming out of your tap, not being able to access water in schools, this is really basic.
State data shows 292 different California water systems currently contain levels of contaminants so high they violate safe drinking water standards. The true number is likely higher considering the state data doesnt factor in communities with Chromium-6 in their drinking water, or other contaminants such as 1,2,3-TCP, a chemical that will soon be given a maximum contaminant level under Californias drinking water standards.
Click here for a description of each contaminant and the possible health effects associated with long-term exposure. For more details, visit the state's Human Right to Water Portal.
Out of Water
We talk a good game about taking care of these people and everybodys great about talking about it, but when it comes down to it, when it comes down to the brass tacks, they dont put their money where their mouth is, said California Assemblyman Devon Mathis.
The two-term Republican, who served 10 years in the Army National Guard, including two tours in Iraq, grew up in the Porterville area.
Were in California, the sixth largest economy in the world, but we still have third world conditions right here at home, Mathis said. I think a lot of people forget that.
Tulare County resident Esperanza Venegas remembers when the well providing water for her family dried up last year.
When we were washing dishes, showering or doing laundry, air would come out and no water at all, Venegas said. Its hard because you cant shower when you want. You cook and the dishes pile up because you cant wash them because theres no water.
Like thousands of others in the community, the mother of four isnt hooked up to a public water system. Instead, she gets her water from a private well.
And just like thousands of others like her, Venegas drinking water stopped flowing when groundwater levels drastically fell during years of record drought.
I cry sometimes because theres no water, Venegas said.
Down the road from Venegass house, the impact of California's drought is more apparent than just about anywhere else state. In unincorporated East Porterville, thousands of residents have had no running water for nearly three years.
That crisis has forced residents to rely on hand-delivered bottled water to drink and water delivered by ltrucks to large, green tanks looming in front yards all over town for washing and cleaning. The dry wells also force many residents to to bathe in portable, public showers set up in a church parking lot.
NBC Bay Area
I used to go out and the flowers that my dad had brought me, my sister, my mom -- theyre all gone, said 96 year-old Vicky Yorba as she looks out over her yard, which is nothing but dirt and mud now.
I used to cry a lot for that, Yorba said. I used to go out and see what used to be.
But Yorba says the crisis has gone on so long that shes all cried out.
Though local and state officials recently began connecting some East Porterville residents to a nearby public water system, there are about 800 eligible homes still waiting to be hooked up.
Experts say even more residents living in the most rural parts of the county are too isolated for officials to help. Their wells have run dry and their only option is to drill deeper. In many cases those wells are also contaminated, leaving residents with tough choices.
Water Equity
Feinstein teamed with four other experts to author a report issued in January 2017 that focused on the human toll of Californias five-year historic drought. The team documented shortages and price hikes that affected thousands of residents access to safe and affordable water in communities like East Porterville.
Water is managed very locally in California," Feinstein said. "The public water systems have a lot of local control over the sources of water and how they manage it. And that means there is a lot of disparity in how different communities have their water managed and delivered to them.
The Pacific Institutes Laura Feinstein explains how Californias historic drought has impacted mostly rural, economically disadvantaged communities the most.
While the state has made progress in getting clean drinking water to rural residents, Felicia Marcus, chair of Californias Water Resources Control Board, said theres more to do. But water has historically been managed locally in California, so state agenices are limited in what they can accomplish alone.
Although more than a million residents are estimated to be impacted by contaminated water, Marcus said many of California's urban dwellers don't always comprehend the scope of the problem.
Theres a bit of out of sight out of mind when the vast majority of people live along the coast in large urban centers, Marcus said.
Recently, Californias legislature gave the State Water Board authority to force the consolidation of small water districts that cant guarantee safe water on their own.
So far, only one forced consolidation has taken place, although the Board is currently considering 70 small water agencies as possible candidates for consolidation. Officials say there could be even more after that, but it only works in areas where theres close proximity between struggling water agencies and water agencies with more resources and capabiliites.
The other problem is funding.
The Water Board has been disbursing millions of dollars in grant money to build treatment centers and other infrastructure across the state. But the trouble is, after treatment centers and infrastructure projects are built, many small communities dont have the resources to operate or maintain them. To clear that hurdle, Marcus said state lawmakers will have to decide if they want to fund the annual operation and maintenance costs of those facilities, something that will require a two-thirds vote to pass.
The states going to have to make a decision about subsidizing operation and maintenance for some of these small communities because the math just doesnt add up, Marcus said. Weve got to be thinking about it if our goal is to get clean, safe and affordable drinking water to all Californians.
None of these efforts can come fast enough for residents struggling to get by with dry taps or contaminated water.
Residents such as Esperanza Venegas, who worry that her community has been forgotten by the rest of California.
They should come and live a day and see what were going through, you know," Venegas said. "I would invite them to my house to see what me and my kids go through.
The flood relief efforts in San Jose got a massive boost on Wednesday when a billionaire swept into town and made a multimillion-dollar donation.
Kieu Hoang, the owner of the eponymous Napa winery, has made it his lifes mission to help people. To that end, he presented on Wednesday a $5 million check to city officials.
Born in Vietnam, Hoang has made his wealth selling medical products and is a stakeholder in big pharmaceutical companies such as Shanghai RAAS Blood Products. Hoang moved to California at the end of the Vietnam War, and his net worth is estimated to be $2.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Hoang first gave city officials a symbolic oversized check. Then he signed an authentic check and gave it to Mayor Sam Liccardo.
Mr. Hoangs extraordinarily generous gift will make an enormous and immediate difference for the hundreds of flood victims whove been forced from their homes as a result of this disaster, Liccardo said in a statement.
He continued: "I will always remember how thousands of donors and volunteers came together in a time of crisis to contribute their time, energy and money to help our neighbors get back on their feet.
Wednesday's contribution was made possible after Chieu Van Le, co-founder of Lees Sandwiches and a longtime friend of Hoang, connected the businessman with city leaders.
Council member Tam Nguyen on Wednesday took it upon himself to follow through with Hoang's wish that all the flood "victims will be helped in a timely manner."
The contribution will be added to nearly $1 million in donations victims have received due to last week's historic flooding. Through nonprofits such as Catholic Charities and Sacred Heart, the funds are going to start being distributed as early as next week.
"We'll help people navigate the insurance companies, navigate the benefits, make sure people if they need another apartment can get what they need," said Greg Kepfurle, CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.
More information about flood relief efforts can be found online.
Officials are advising victims to contact their insurance companies and register at the assistance center located at 2072 Lucretia Ave. Those affected by the flood, can find information on how to receive assistance from the city.
The city and flood victims are looking for volunteers to help clean up and repair homes. Those interested can sign up on the city's website.
NBC Bay Area's Ian Cull contributed to this report.
Editor's note: This article incorrectly referred to Kieu Hoang as a Bay Area billionaire. While Hoang has a business in the Bay Area, he does not live here.
Riverside firefighters provided new details Wednesday on their rescue of a San Jose woman who survived a plane crash Monday that killed her parents and family friend.
Fire crews faced a wall of flames as they entered a burning home to rescue Stacey Pierce, who had been ejected from the twin-engine Cessna 310.
"We took a measured and calculated risk entering the room with live fire and a lot of debris surrounding us," fire engineer Paul Seawright said.
With debris from the plane and flames all around, firefighters heard the mother of four groaning.
"We finally found where she was at, with Paul, and at that point, they were outside pulling her out of our hands," firefighter Dave Nelson said.
Once Pierce was in safe hands, Capt. Chuck Tasker fell to his knees.
"It was difficult," Tasker said. "I was just emotionally and physically exhausted. I dropped to my knees for a moment to catch my breath and kind of regained my composure, and immediately my next thought was is anyone else in the house."
There was no one else to rescue. The only other crash survivor, Silvia Farelas, already was getting emergency care. Farelas' daughter, 22-year-old Adine Farelas, died, as did Pierce's parents, Nouri and Dana Hijazi.
Loved ones have started GoFundMe pages for both families, who had been united by children and grandchildren on a middle school cheer team.
A San Jose community is now rallying around the two mothers recovering in Southern California hospitals with critical injuries.
While still learning the ropes of the department and catching up on city policy, new Oakland police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick says she wants to change the hearts and minds of police officers and help care for the city's most vulnerable residents.
How she plans to accomplish that is still an open question. In a roundtable with reporters Wednesday morning, Kirkpatrick declined to talk specifics of any city or department policies, pointing out that it was only her third day on the job after being sworn in at City Hall on Monday.
Kirkpatrick said she is living in downtown Oakland, setting her apart from 90 percent of the department's officers who don't live in the city. She said she gets up early, spends her mornings reading and then runs on a treadmill before heading to work.
But when she has been out in the city, she says she's been struck by how many homeless people she's seen, and said she's concerned for them.
"I want to know what are the initiatives, what are we doing to help the vulnerable?" Kirkpatrick said. As first responders, she said the police role is to care for them.
But police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson was also quick to point out that the Police Department does not set policy in dealing with homelessness but rather assists in city efforts when needed.
Kirkpatrick was clear that she sees the city government as her true boss, pledging that she would not be taking directives from the federal government.
"I work for the city of Oakland," she said. "I am not a federal agent, I do not work for the federal government."
While she said she was still too new on the job to discuss the specifics of what she might change in the Oakland Police Department, she spoke broadly about her policing philosophies, including the difference between "reform" and "transformation," saying she wants to change thinking in the department.
To reform is to change policies, laws and rules to force a behavior change, but a transformation is much deeper.
"When you want to change a culture, you have to change thinking," she said. "We're in the 21st century. We police differently than we did 35 years ago. I think differently than I did 35 years ago."
Changing the thinking of the department could prove a tall order, as even reforms have moved glacially there.
The department has been under the oversight of a federal judge since 2003, making reforms that were only intended to last a few years. The reforms were nearly complete at the beginning of 2016, but a massive scandal involving the sexual exploitation of a teen girl by police officers led to the resignation of then-police Chief Sean Whent, setting the stage for Kirkpatrick's arrival.
Kirkpatrick has been in law enforcement for 35 years, originally working in her native Memphis, Tennessee, and later moving to Washington state, where she attended law school and was a police chief at three different departments.
She was police chief in Spokane, Washington, for six years, also coming into that department at a time of turmoil after Otto Zehm was killed in a confrontation with a police officer in 2006.
When her successor was hired in 2012, he requested a U.S. Department of Justice review of the department and the report found that it lacked leadership and transparency under Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick was then a finalist for the police chief position in Chicago and stayed on there to assist the department with its own reforms. She left that position after only six months to take the chief's job in Oakland.
Kirkpatrick said her one goal is to make Oakland a safe city but stressed that she takes a holistic approach to safety, saying that jailing is often not the answer to reduce crime.
She says that she thinks Oakland could be the best police department in the country.
Kirkpatrick was drawn to Oakland because it "is a city on the move," she said, and to the department because, "I want to be a part of a team that wants to be the best."
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with shooting at an off-duty Oakland police officer as he drove on Interstate 880 on Wednesday night, police said.
A third person has been arrested for unrelated offenses and is considered a person of interest in the case, according to police. The suspects' names have not yet been released.
The officer, who wasn't injured, was driving south on I-880 near the 16th Avenue exit at about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday when someone started shooting at his vehicle, police said.
The officer's vehicle was struck by gunfire but the officer himself wasn't hit, according to police.
Patrol officers located the suspects' vehicle and tried to pull it over, but the vehicle's driver refused to stop and a pursuit ensued that went into East Oakland, police said.
The suspects' vehicle was later found abandoned in the 5700 block of Brookdale Avenue, but the suspects weren't found at that time, according to police.
The investigation into the shooting remains under investigation and the case later will be forwarded to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for review and possible charges, police said.
San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia met with federal immigration agents Wednesday to gain a clearer understanding of the their mission and strategy in the South Bay and to keep his department in the loop on their activity.
Its been two weeks since rumors of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in San Jose triggered a community panic and sent people into hiding.
Garcia said the main takeaway from Wednesday's meeting was that an open line of communication between his department and the local ICE office has been established. But the chief also warned that ICE has full discretion on what it does on city streets.
On Wednesday, things seemed finally to be getting back to normal on Story and King roads in San Jose. But two weeks ago, people were scrambling and went into hiding after rumors of ICE raids.
"The businesses were dead; no one wanted to come shop," merchant Michelle Calderon said. "They were very scared."
The police department also scrambled to get answers that day.
"We cannot be operating in the dark," Garcia said.
And even though the rumors were just that, rumors, the confusion and disarray that resulted prompted Wednesday's crucial meeting.
"I met with them to be an advocate for our community, to explain to them the fears that are occurring in our community," Garcia said.
Here's what ICE told the chief:
ICE will call whenever it is about to conduct enforcement action in San Jose.
When looking for a convicted criminal in a home, ICE agents reserve the right to detain other people inside that home, as they did in Santa Cruz on Feb. 13.
ICE cannot establish checkpoints.
ICE will not detain a victim or witness of a crime.
The chief added that the agency warned the rules could change at any time.
"There are no promises," he said. "I dont want to give false hope that we were able to tell a federal agency what they can and can't do because thats not reality."
But the chief also told ICE it cannot count on his officers during sweeps.
"Were not taking part in immigration enforcement as a police department," Garcia said.
Garcia said ICE is receptive to the idea of holding a community forum, where they can publicly explain their role and mission directly to the residents.
Heading into a job interview Tuesday morning, former University of California IT worker Robert Harrison is hoping the prospective employer will hire locally.
He is one of 49 workers recently displaced from the university's health records department in a search for cheaper labor that recently took a trip East.
Based out of Noida, India, HCL Technologies does the same services for less - a move to cut back on costs.
However, the move was challenged outside the UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Tuesday with legal representatives referring to the move as "deplorable" and questioning its legality.
Citing possible misuse of foreign visa programs and possible age, nationality and national origin discriminations, legal representation from Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer is assisting some of the affected workers.
"UCSF is abusing [the H-1B visa program] by bringing in foreign workers when there are qualified American workers already performing this sensitive work which includes handling patient medical records," Gary Gwilliam, a lawyer assisting some of the former employees said in a statement. "This layoff is of major significance and has already received attention from Congress."
While university officials were not available for comment following the protest, it has stated that they are following all laws regarding their hiring process and are searching for job alternatives within the UC system for those laid off.
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who challenged Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, has been sworn in as the next secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate was confirmed by the Senate earlier Thursday.
Vice President Mike Pence says he is confident that Carson will "open doors of opportunity" to some of the most vulnerable in the country.
Carson's selection for the position raised eyebrows because he never held public office and has no experience in housing or development issues. But he earned President Donald Trump's respect and confidence during the campaign.
Republicans have also praised his life story. Carson grew up in inner-city Detroit and rose to the highest ranks of the medical profession.
Six Democrats and one independent joined 51 Republicans in voting for Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Carson is the 17th of 22 of Trump's Cabinet and Cabinet-level nominations to win Senate approval. The Senate also voted 62-37 to move ahead on the nomination of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be energy secretary.
When his nomination cleared the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in January, Democrats said Carson would not have been their choice, but they welcomed his promises to enforce fair housing and to address lead hazards in housing and other issues. He was approved unanimously in the committee.
Sarah Edelman, director of housing policy at the Center for American Progress, said her group would work to hold Carson accountable for the promises he made. Carson, she said, has "made disparaging statements about families experiencing poverty, LGBT people, and fair housing that raise questions about his ability to be a fair and effective leader."
Carson, 65, will lead an agency with some 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion. The department provides billions of dollars in housing assistance to low-income people through vouchers and public housing. It also enforces fair housing laws and offers mortgage insurance to poorer Americans through the Federal Housing Administration, part of HUD.
Trump lauded his nominee last week, calling him a "totally brilliant neurosurgeon" who has saved many lives.
"We're going to do great things in our African-American communities," Trump said, appearing with Carson on a tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.
"Ben is going to work with me very, very closely. And HUD has a meaning far beyond housing. If properly done, it's a meaning that's as big as anything there is, and Ben will be able to find that true meaning and the true meaning of HUD as its Secretary," Trump said.
Carson has not shared specific plans publicly for the department under his leadership.
At his confirmation hearing, he told lawmakers that he envisioned forging a more "holistic approach" to helping people and developing "the whole person." He didn't offer many details.
Under questioning from Democrats, Carson said HUD's rental assistance is "essential" to millions of Americans and that the department has a lot of good programs. But he added, "We don't want it to be way of life. ... We want it to be a Band-Aid and a springboard to move forward."
He also said he'd like to see more partnerships with the private sector and religious groups.
The soft-spoken Carson, the only black major-party candidate in the White House race, grew up poor. He went on to attend Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School before becoming the first African-American named as the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.
In 1987, Carson became famous for pioneering surgery to separate twins joined at the back of the head. In 2013, he entered the national political spotlight during the National Prayer Breakfast when he railed against the modern welfare state, with President Barack Obama sitting just feet away.
Heavy winds caused a fatality and knocked down utility poles and trees across Massachusetts Thursday morning.
Police in Oxford, Massachusetts say a man is dead after heavy winds knocked a tree onto a car Thursday.
The incident happened on Sutton Avenue, which was closed at Douglas Road near the Rod and Gun Club.
According to Methuen police, there are four reports of utility poles down. Residents are cautioned not to touch downed wires.
Downed trees are impacting traffic in towns and cities like Woburn, Holliston, Leicester, Tyngsboro, Lunenburg and Haverhill.
More than 31,000 customers lost power in Massachusetts.
Of those who have lost electricity, 23,000 were in central Massachusetts alone. Fourteen thousand customers lost power in Fitchburg, while 3,500 lost power in Lunenburg and 3,400 lost power in Townsend.
In Brockton, a house on Belmont Place was crushed by a fallen tree.
The National Weather Service says the wind gusted to 53 mph in Guilford, Maine and 52 mph in Meredith, New Hampshire, and 50 mph in Portland, Maine.
Central Maine Power reported more than 8,000 power outages Thursday afternoon. Eversource in New Hampshire reported that 19,721 had lost power, most of those in the southwest part of the state.
Meanwhile, trees fell on multiple vehicles in Connecticut.
Soon after Chance the Rapper tweeted Thursday that Gov. Bruce Rauner hadnt rescheduled a meeting to discuss education funding in Chicago, the rapper updated that the meeting would now take place Friday morning.
"The Governor and I are now scheduled to meet Friday morning, I'm more than appreciative of him taking the time to discuss funding CPS," the rapper wrote Thursday afternoon.
The tweet followed an earlier message that read, As of right now, my meeting with @GovRauner is still cancelled [sic] with no new info on a reschedule."
The meeting was initially scheduled to take place Wednesday.
As of right now, my meeting with @GovRauner is still "cancelled" with no new info on a reschedule. https://t.co/nSCmJVeOBW The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) March 2, 2017
The governors office said Rauner has been preoccupied this week responding to deadly tornadoes that tore through parts of Illinois Tuesday night, but still plans to meet with Chance, real name Chancellor Bennett.
[Rauner] is meeting with families who lost their homes and thanking first responders for their service, Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said in a statement. He looks forward to hearing from Chance and we have reached out to his team to reschedule our meeting, Demertzis added.
The governor canceled Wednesdays meeting with Bennett to survey storm damage in LaSalle County. Hes scheduled to travel to White and Jackson Counties Thursday to further assess the fallout.
After winning three Grammy awards last month, Rauner took to Twitter to congratulate the rapper on his historic haul.
Congrats to @Chancetherapper for making history as an independent artist and taking home 3 Grammys. IL is proud that you're one of our own. Governor Rauner (@GovRauner) February 13, 2017
Congrats to @Chancetherapper for making history as an independent artist and taking home 3 grammys, Rauner tweeted at the time. IL is proud that youre one of our own.
Bennett responded, requesting a sit-down with the governor.
Thank you Governor, he tweeted. I would love to have meeting with you this week if possible.
Rauner quickly accepted Bennetts invitation, noting that he was looking forward to the conversation.
However, several GOP lawmakers reached out to NBC 5 questioning whether Rauner has listened to lyrics from some of Bennetts songs and wonder if hes an appropriate adviser on education matters.
Changes are underway at the Comptrollers Office as Susana Mendoza begins her fourth month in office.
On Wednesday five employeesheld over from Leslie Mungers administrationwere fired and escorted out by police. A source with knowledge of the incident says one of the employees made a scene. A spokesman for the comptroller denies that happened. A police escort is not unusual when someone is fired, according to the comptrollers spokesman.
In all, 13 former Munger employees have been fired by Mendoza in recent weeks. Their positions are described as jobs that are policy level, exempt ranks that are often at risk when theres a change of administration. They are not union employees. Mendoza was sworn in Dec. 5.
At the same time, the Rauner administration has hired 23 staffers who once worked for Mungers office. The governors office says no new positions were created but were able to be rehired because of high turnover in state government.
A few dozen inmates who remain locked up in Cook County Jail because theyre too poor to post their relatively low bonds may be out soon under a new program States Attorney Kim Foxx announced for indigent, nonviolent offenders Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
After the Cook County Sheriffs Office singled out 50 cases of those who were languishing in jail for several months because of their inability to post $1,000 or less, the States Attorney and Public Defenders offices came together to identify those inmates who would be better served outside jail, Foxx said.
Through agreed motions requesting I-bonds, the inmates who qualify would be released on their own recognizance.
Foxx said most of those who qualify for the bond reform initiative are in for drug offenses, property crimes or retail theft.
One person was in for retail theft and couldnt pay the $300 they needed to walk. . . . Another person broke into their friends house and stole some shoes, Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times. An alternative to jail makes sense.
While awaiting trial outside jail, those needing treatment for drugs or mental health would be required to get help as part of conditions of their release, the top prosecutor said.
It costs $163 a day to house an inmate, so taxpayers will be saving money through the initiative, Foxx said.
She said inmates who showed a propensity for a possible return to jail, such as those agitating victims, would not be considered for the program.
Foxxs announcement comes in the wake of a state representative proposing that the state do away with cash bail for all people accused of nonviolent crimes something that already has happened in Washington, D.C.
Working in concert with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, state Rep. Christian Mitchell filed a bill that would allow people charged with nonviolent offenses to be released on their own recognizance until their court hearings.
Judges would continue to have the discretion to order detention or electronic monitoring for people accused of harming others, Mitchell said.
Mitchells bill was assigned last month to the House Judiciary Committee, of which hes a member.
Bail reform is a national issue. Other states also are considering doing away with cash bonds. In November, Dart called for abolishing the system in Illinois. More than 60 percent of people in Cook County Jail cant afford to pay their bond, according to Mitchell.
Foxx said on Wednesday that she is constantly speaking with public safety stakeholders about bond reform, but she said if she can implement immediate solutions she will continue to do so.
Prosecutors are expected to recommend former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett serve more than seven years in jail for wire fraud.
Byrd-Bennett is accused of steering multimillion dollar no-bid contracts to two education consulting companies run by Gary Solomon in exchange for a promise of $2.3 million in kickbacks.
In new documents filed this week, Solomons attorneys claim Byrd-Bennett lied 29 times when first interviewed by federal investigators. Her sentencing hearing is set for April 13. She had earlier pleaded guilty.
Solomon, who has also pleaded guilty has been labeled the mastermind of the scheme.
His attorneys are asking for 18 months in prison in new pre-sentencing documents filed, however federal prosecutors revealed they will ask for a nine-year sentence. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 24.
Theres a frightening new menace turning up in drug markets across Chicagoland. And in the county morgues. Its even in the U.S. Mail.
That menace is the drug fentanyl, more powerful than heroin, cheaper to make, and much more deadly.
We had a 370% increase in fentanyl mixture deaths, at 24, says Dr. Richard Jorgensen, the Dupage County Coroner. And we had 16 pure fentanyl deaths---that is a complete change from the year before.
Complete, as in a 100% increase.
Almost every case coming through our office has some fentanyl in the system, Jorgensen says. A year ago, all the cases would be heroin cases.
Dupage is not alone. Will County saw a 42% increase in Fentanyl-related deaths last year. McHenry was up 58%.
And Cook County saw a shocking 400% increase.
Its more powerful and stronger than heroin, but it has the same effect, says Dennis Wichern, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA here in Chicago. So many of the users try to gravitate to fentanyl to get the super high, as near death as they can get, without overdosing or dying.
Problem is, that narrow line is drawn even smaller because the drug is so powerful.
Fentanyl is five to a hundred times more powerful than morphine, Wichern notes. If people use fentanyl in its pure form, they are going to overdose and die! [[415242263, C]]
At the U.S. Mail facility at OHare, NBC5 Investigates watched as thousands of parcels of mail from international flights were unloaded onto conveyor belts to be x-rayed. Some otherwise nondescript parcels stood out immediately to U.S. Customs agents watching the screens.
So this is fentanyl, said Customs and Border Protection port director Matthew Davies, pointing at one image. Its a powdery substance which comes up orange on our screen because of the density.
Davies said parcels like that are opened in the facility and field-tested immediately. But because fentanyl is so toxic, agents don bio-hazard gear to perform the tests.
This is much more deadly than heroin, he said. [[415139603, C]]
Nobody knows that more than Susan Moore. Last year, her 22 year old daughter, who grew up in the suburbs attending Girl Scouts and dance class, died of a fentanyl overdose.
I had no idea what fentanyl was, Moore told NBC5. After the toxicology report came back, I mean it was at least two or three times the amount that can kill someone!
Moore says she attends a support group of parents affected by heroin and other opioids. And more and more, its fentanyl which is bringing parents to their door.
Yes, we have every week, unfortunately, she says. I think I was the first person in the group that had a fentanyl overdose when I came, and that was a year ago. And now there are at least three or four more than have come in where their child has died of a fentanyl overdose.
The Centers for Disease Control says Illinois is one of nine states where deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl were up more than 70% in 2015.
Fentanyl is so much more powerful and so much more addicting than heroin, says Michael Young, a former 20 year heroin user whose brother was the first registered fentanyl death in McHenry County. You see people struggling with addiction that this drug is out there and youll die from it---it goes right past them. It doesnt faze them!
Through his organization Not One More, Young offers rescue and treatment for opioid users. He gets the calls day and night.
You see five in a week---how did we get to five in a week when we were at two a month? he asks. I just went through a week where two people I know died.
Susan Moore agrees. Shes active in the support group Live4Lali. And she hopes by telling her story, more parents are made aware.
I want them to know that there is a problem, there is a problem, she says. I dont want to scare anybody, but it could happen to your kid. It could!
Back at OHare, the Customs agents say that while the majority of fentanyl comes into Chicago thru conventional channels, dealers seem to be trying to see how much they can get shipped directly from the labs in China.
There was an increase of some fentanyl that we saw in 2006, says Davies. But not as much as weve seen in the last year or two. We see it a lot!
Feb. 28, 2015 marked the last day no one was reported shot in the city, according to the Chicago Police Department.
That is 732 days since a day and night passed when no one was shot.
It makes me really sad, said Dr. Michelle Gittler.
As head of the Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, Gittler knows more than most about what a single gunshot can do to a human body.
When told of the inauspicious anniversary, she simply said, "It's not right."
This is an issue of hopelessness, no consequences, she said of the daily occurrence of shootings. I dont care about my life so I certainly dont care about your life.
It was uncommonly cold on Feb. 28, 2015, with a low of minus 10 recorded. This Feb. 28 brought storms to the Chicago area, along with another day and night of violence in which at least six people were shot.
People dont care anymore, said Dr. Gittler. I think people are exhausted. The people that it affects are exhausted. The people it doesn't affect are exhausted by everything else and this doesnt bother them, because it isnt part of their life.
Chicago Police said the city saw 44 murders this February, according to crime data released early Wednesday by the Chicago Police Department. Police also counted 167 shooting incidents for the month.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson sat down with NBC 5s Alex Maragos to discuss February crime statistics released early Wednesday morning, as well as his personal health battle.
I don't think there is a safe place for no one outside, said a 27-year old man sitting in a wheelchair in his hospital room, one of more than 420 shot in Chicago in the first two months of the year.
He asked that his name not be used. He was shot in the stomach in January, his first such injury, he said.
When you grow up around violence you get accustomed to it, he lamented.
If that doesnt make people believe this is a public health issue, I dont know what does, said Gittler.
As the shootings multiply, the Chicago Police Department has begun using high-tech solutions to try to minimize and isolate the violence.
In a small room in the 7th Police District in Englewood, officers sit at desks monitoring maps and data as it comes to them in real time.
A map marks hot spots where a crime is likely to occur. Photographs and names of people in the area with past criminal histories alert officers. An audio detection system can pinpoint to within 25 yards where a shot is fired. A recent incident in which six shots were fired in rapid succession, says Chief Jonathan Lewin, led to an arrest.
It directed responding units to a specific yard, he said, which led to the identification of a suspect.
But the police, he said, cant alone stop the shooting without help from many others.
The stakeholders are the community, the businesses, the churches, the schools, our prosecution, our judges, judges giving appropriate sentences for gun offenders, he said.
Caterpillar says it believes that a search warrant executed by federal authorities on Thursday at its facilities concerns "export filings" related to its Switzerland subsidiary CSARL.
Federal agents appeared Thursday at three Caterpillar facilities near Peoria, Illinois, where the company is headquartered.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott confirmed to NBC Chicago that "Caterpillar is cooperating" with law enforcement but did not provide further details.
In a statement Thursday, Caterpillar, one of the largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world, says the issue it concerns was first disclosed in a 2015 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
At that time, Caterpillar said the SEC had notified the manufacturer that it was conducting an informal investigation relating to CSARL, and asked the company to preserve relevant documents.
Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of Illinois also confirmed its presence at the facilities, but declined to comment on what the search was being conducted for.
Paul said the agencies involved included the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit, the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s office of inspector general. She declined to comment further.
Video obtained by NBC affiliate WEEK, showed agents wearing IRS jackets at the company's main headquarters.
In January, Caterpillar Inc. announced it was moving its global headquarters to the Chicago area. The company previously planned to build a new headquarters complex in downtown Peoria, but those plans have since been canceled.
Caterpillar has faced a number of investigations in recent years focusing on its business practices, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Most recently, in early 2015, a federal court in Illinois subpoenaed the company for documents and information relating to the distribution of profits and movement of cash among its subsidiaries. It's not clear if that matter has been settled or if it is related to Thursday's search.
In 2014, the SEC subpoenaed Caterpillar seeking information about the company's accounting related to its acquisition of Bucyrus International in 2011. It's not clear if that investigation is ongoing or completed.
In 2013 and 2014, Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail was the target of two investigations into environmental and other violations, at least one of which was settled with a California agency. Also in 2014, two other subsidiaries were under investigation for anticompetitive bid practices in Brazil and criminal charges were brought against three employees of those subsidiaries.
Check back for details on this developing story.
Gizzell Ford, a straight-A student, was by seen almost everyone who crossed her path as a blessinga lovely, bright smart girl.
The 8-year-old, in her diary, expressed a desire to have a fulfilling relationship with her paternal grandmother nourished with deep conversation and love.
But all Helen Ford gave Gizzell was hell, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Tying her to a pole attached to her fathers bed, Gizzell was used as punching bag, whipped with a belt and deprived of food, water and sleep for days, Cook County prosecutors said.
That child suffered a slow painful agonizing death, an incensed Judge Evelyn Clay said Thursday before finding 55-year-old Ford guilty of murder in a case that raised drew criticism of how the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services handles matters.
Gizzell died of strangulation in the summer of 2013, but contributing to her death were blunt force trauma, child neglect and the evil child abuse inflicted on her, Clay said as court spectators wiped away tears.
Ford, who prosecutors said never showed remorse nor shed a tear over her granddaughters brutal death, remained stoic when Clay delivered her emotional ruling.
Ford may have squeezed the life out of Gizzells broken body, but she had been slowly killing her for days in the filthy, disgusting West Side apartment where maggots latched on to the girls skull, Assistant States Attorney Jennifer Coleman said.
Even if she didnt strangle her, she wasnt going to let her walk out of that apartment alive, the prosecutor said.
Gizzells father, Andre Ford, was a willing participant, cheerleading the abuse as he withered away from a chronic degenerative disease.
But the manwho died in 2014 while in custody in Cook County Jail for his daughters murderwasnt physically capable of the abuse, Coleman said.
Coleman and her partner Ashley Romito, in their closing arguments, went over the girls journal before and after she started living with the Fords to illustrate how the abuse affected her.
People say Im smart, courageous and beautiful, the honor roll student wrote at the time she was healthy, strong and vital, prosecutors said.
After the child was taken to live in the 5200 block of West Adams, her tone became more somber. I hate this life. I really think that Im a jerk, she wrote.
She [Helen Ford] first broke her body, then she broke her spirit, Coleman said.
Fellow prosecutors sitting in court quietly sighed when Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Hodel said Helen Ford had too much on her plate and only tied Gizzell up because she tried to stab her father, her little cousin and tried to kill herself by jumping out of a window.
When mentioning the underwear the emaciated girl was seen wearing in a harrowing video and photos shown in court, Hodel said it was normal for some to wear so little on a hot summer day.
Helen Ford might have used questionable disciplinary methods, but she was in over her head caring for an adult bed-ridden son and other children, Hodel argued.
That was the way Helen was trying to keep order, if you will, in that home, Hodel said. Having too much on ones plate. Thats what this case is about. Helen was overwhelmed. She was overworked. She was unable to overcome what was on her plate.
If anything, Helen Ford should be convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Hodel said.
The defense attorney touched upon the DCFS case, mentioning how a judge took Gizzell away from her mother, Sandra Mercado, because they were kicked from home to home, and found wandering the streets at 2 a.m.
Romito said stories of Gizzell trying to attack family members were unmitigated lies by relatives who want to protect Helen Ford.
What happened to Gizzell was an abomination It makes you lose faith in the human race, Romito said, seethingly adding that the frail Gizzell had no chance against the black, depraved heart of the obese Helen Ford.
Then pointing to another one of Gizzells diary entries, in which the girl had wrote that she had failed, Romito said, She didnt fail. The system that gave her to those people failed.
Members of the Mercado family in court Thursday declined comment.
Sandra Mercado, and Gizzells grandfather, Juan Mercado, have sued the DCFS, but the case has been on hold as attorneys wait for evidence that had been in possession of prosecutors handling the criminal case, attorney Martin Dolan said Thursday.
Dolan said testimony in the criminal case against Helen Ford was chilling, and the timeline of the abuse showed numerous instances where child welfare investigators should have taken action, and stopped the abuse well before Gizzelles death.
There was corroborating evidence that should have thrown up major red flags, Dolan said. We havent had time to examine all of it yet.
When a few of Helen Fords relatives were asked if they wanted to comment after court Thursday, one woman raised her middle finger at reporters.
Rep. Bobby Rush said President Donald Trump agreed to visit Chicago before delivering his first speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The legislator said the nations chief executive agreed to visit the city, which has been under a national spotlight after Trump threatened to send in the feds to curb violence, Rushs office told the Sun-Times.
Trump reportedly agreed to visit the city after Rush caught the president moments before his address to Congress. A White House spokesperson could not confirm the trip.
During Tuesday's speech, Trump once again pointed to Chicagos surging violence.
In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher, Trump said.
Chicago saw 103 homicides in the first two months of 2017. Last year, there were 102 killings in the same time period, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Rushs office reportedly disputed Trumps claim, saying the president "assailed Chicagos shooting rate by erroneously stating the current [year] had already surpassed last years numbers."
Since being sworn into office in January, Trump has repeatedly bemoaned violence in Chicago, comparing the citys violence to that of the Middle East and threatening to send in the Feds if local officials cant get a handle on the carnage.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged the president last month to supply the city with additional federal resources to quell the ongoing violence.
Just send them, Emanuel told reporters. Send more FBI, DEA, ATF agents. We dont have to talk about it anymore."
Weeks later, Emanuel met in Washington with members of Trumps senior staff to discuss how the federal government can help address the citys violence. During the trip, Emanuel also discussed Chicagos violent crime with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Gov. Bruce Rauner was noticeably absent Monday as Trump highlighted the situation in Chicago during a White House speech to the nations other 49 governors.
You look whats happening in Chicago, Trump told members of the National Governors Association. " Whats going on in Chicago? We will fight violent crime and we will win. And we will win that one fairly quickly. Once we give the police, local law enforcement the right to go in and fight it and we back them monetarily and also otherwise.
Ahead of his first speech to Congress Tuesday, Trump vowed to increase federal spending to fight violent crime in the country.
Despite meeting in Washington this weekend with members of the Republican Governors Association, Rauner chose to skip the NGA meetings for the second straight year. Rauner opted out of Mondays activities, which included meetings about the nations health care system, as well as Sunday's annual Govenors Ball, where Trump hosted 46 governors at the White House.
Nevertheless, the governor, who was at Chicagos Mount Sinai Hospital Monday announcing plans to improve the states Medicaid services, said he has been in contact with the Trump administration.
I have personally been in communications with members of the Trump administration On violence issues, the folks who are developing the policy, Rauner said without offering details on the policy or the people hes been in touch with.
Ill meet with the president any time, Rauner said. As Ive mentioned, Ive talked with him on the phone. I have a very close working relationship vice president Pence, many leaders in the transition team."
A second man has died in Ottawa as a result of a tornado that devastated the north-central Illinois town Tuesday night, officials said.
David Johnson, 31, and his family members were in the backyard of a home on State Street when an uprooted tree came crashing down on them during the severe storms, officials said.
Johnson was with his father-in-law Wayne Tuntland and his spouse, Tuntlands son, Toby, at the time, officials said.
Tuntland, 76, was killed instantly, police said. Johnson was transported to OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa before being transferred by helicopter to OSF Saint Frances in Peoria, where he was pronounced dead at 4:54 p.m. Wednesday.
According to the Peoria County Coroner, Johnson suffered severe head trauma, resulting in his death.
For residents in the small tight-knit community, the pain is two-fold as they clean up the destruction left behind and mourn the sudden loss of their neighbors.
He was a good guy, Ottawa resident Cindy Ubanek said of 76-year-old Wayne Tuntland.
Another neighbor recalled seeing Tuntland walk his dog through the town every day.
People say, Why was he out here? neighbor Lisa Meyers said. But I say, 'Well, it came on quickly.' We went into the basement when it hit.
Johnson's spouse and Tuntland's son, Toby, were both hospitalized and released. About a dozen other residents also suffered minor injuries.
Crews worked tirelessly overnight to fix and replace downed power lines and straighten snapped light poles. As of Thursday morning about 1,500 people in Ottawa were still without power.
Salvation Army volunteers spent the night walking the dark streets, handing out food and water.
See these people that lost everything, theres no reason to smile, David Ghantous of the Salvation Army said. [But] to see [others] helping out, handing them a sandwich or a bottle of water, really touches my heart.
Avon, the affluent Hartford suburb, took a $2.9 million cut to municipal aid that mainly hits the towns education budget.
Such a cut strikes directly at the heart of why people move to town off Route 44.
They have a great reputation, said Aja Shabada, who recently moved to Avon because of the school system. The schools in Connecticut in general do, but the Avon area really has a great reputation for their schools.
Rep. Derek Slap, a Democrat who represents parts of West Hartford, Farmington, and Avon, said taxpayers have every right to be concerned with the governors start to the budget conversation.
Slap said, People are concerned about their property taxes. People are concerned about their public schools. I dont blame them.
The budget process is still in its infancy, though budget writers in the Connecticut House and Senate are working on spending plans behind closed doors. The General Assembly adjourns June 6.
Multiple sources in the Connecticut General Assembly described the governors budget as dead on arrival, moments after it was presented to them last month. They said the steep cuts to dozens of cities and towns were unacceptable.
Slap agreed by saying, The proposed cuts are troubling and they kind of pit one town against another town or cities against a town and I think that all children in their public schools need to have adequate funding for education so when you look at the cuts, theyre a non-starter.
Following our series of reports, a reminder about a law concerning school bus drivers was read to officers at roll call in Hartford. This has been done in several other towns as well.
The law were talking about was highlighted in our first story. It uncovered how some police were not familiar with the law requiring them to report the arrest of a school bus driver within 48 hours to the DMV.
Then in our second story, NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters revealed something else, the Department of Motor Vehicles keeps a list of school bus drivers who have had their license endorsements suspended or revoked. School districts and school bus companies are required by law to check it twice a month, but no one is making sure they check it, and NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters learned, some do not.
NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters spoke with state representative Andy Fleischmann, one of the authors of the law. He believes its the DMVs responsibility to make sure operators check up on their drivers, When I looked at it it's appeared to me that they were supposed to create the registry, and then make it available to all the school bus operators and then and then on a random audit basis make sure the school bus operators were using the information properly.
In response, DMV spokesman Bill Seymour says, State law does not mandate DMV to regularly examine whether school bus companies have reviewed the driver suspension list. Those overseeing bus operations must ensure the safety of their passengers by checking the list twice a month as state law requires. It is the same obligation as with other necessary safety measures. However, we will make any changes the legislature requires.
The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters will circle back with Representative Fleischmann to see what changes in the law he may pursue this legislative session.
There is more opposition to plans to bring nearly three hundred new apartments to the town of Hamden.
As developers continue to push the project forward, those people who live near the proposed site on Rocky Top Road said they believe they are fighting to save their neighborhood.
As Tim Mack took a walk through his lush and wooded backyard on Rainbow Court, next to Rocky Top Road, he wonders if the tranquility he has enjoyed for twenty three years is suddenly at stake.
Were going from this rich, natural habitat to just another apartment complex," said Mack.
Mack and dozens of his neighbors have major concerns with plans to construct a 288 unit luxury housing complex off of Rocky Top Road. The street is winding and narrow; just fourteen feet wide in some spots. Neighbors are concerned if this street will be able to handle future traffic the development will bring.
Im saddened; deeply saddened," Mack said about the plan.
Over the last few weeks, Mack and his neighbors have attempted to slow - if not stop - the plans from progressing. They started a Facebook group that has hundreds of members and have launched a website.
On Wednesday evening, a large group of people opposed to the project packed the town hall auditorium as representatives for the developer, Mountain View Estates LLC, presented plans to build on eighteen acres between Sherman Avenue and Shepard Avenue.
This proposal does not reasonably pollute, impair or destroy any inland wetlands or water courses on or near the property in question," Stephen Studer, attorney for the developer, told the Inland Wetlands Commission.
The commission must approve the developer's plan before it can move to Planning and Zoning officials. On Wednesday, the commission voted to bring in the services of a Professional Environmental Reviewer because of the complexity of the project in relation to environmental impact. Commissioners will select and hire the Reviewer, who would be compensated by the developer.
Everybody should care about this because its an environmental issue," said Ronald Colaresi, another neighbor who lives near to the proposed project site.
An Oregon man was rescued after he attempted to take photos on Charles Island in Milford.
The man ventured on the visible sand bar to take pictures when he said he misjudged the tide and quickly became stranded, Milford Fire Rescue said.
After calling 911 with his cell phone, Milford firefighters responded with their Marine unit to retrieve the man from the island, officials said.
Rescuing firefighters were able to get the man in a specialized cold water exposure suit and assist him through waist-high waters.
Conditions were poor due to strong wind gusts and choppy seas, fire officials said.
Fire paramedics determined that no medical attention was needed.
"All residents and visitors of the City of Milford are reminded to avoid walking out to Charles Island when the sand bar is visible. The rising tide brings a very strong current that often pulls recreational walkers out into deeper waters," Battalion Chief Anthony Fabrizi said in a release.
A glimpse into what may have caused a freight train to derail last December in downtown New Britain as been released.
A report Pan Am Railways was required to submit to the Federal Railroad Administration as been obtained by the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters.
The report say over-packed railcars was the reason for the train derailment last December.
Nine cars filled with construction and demolition debris tumbled over, causing quite a mess and traffic tie ups.
According to Pan Am Railways, the cause was "overloaded cars. The remaining of the cars were weighed and found to be overloaded."
The report notes eight other cars were carrying hazardous materials but weren't damaged.
Massachusetts-based Pan Am owns the 24-mile stretch of track from Berlin to Waterbury in Connecticut.
Speed according to the report appears to be 10 miles an hour.
Track damage pan am estimates to be over $104,000, while equipment damage capped off at $79,500.
Frost Bridge Associates in Watertown, leases and loaded the rail cars involved.
A spokesman for Frost Bridge Associates disputes the report and tells the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters they were not over weight, adding, All cars were loaded correctly and weighed at frost bridge before leaving their yard. They have never been weighed by the pan am so the cause of overload is not correct, frost bridge is waiting for the FRA report from their investigation.
New Britain has been in contact with Pan Am Railways since December to get reimbursed more than $78,000 dollars in city overtime, clean up and repairs.
New Britain attorney Joseph Skelly said the they, "advised Pan Am that we needed a response by yesterday, Feb. 28. Since we have not received a response, we are considering a number of options including litigation if necessary."
Pan Am's report submitted to the FRA does not represent the federal agencys official findings. The investigation is ongoing.
NBC Connecticut is still waiting for comment from Pan Am.
Waterbury residents are expressing concerns about safety after a partial roof collapse of the old Bristol Babcock factory.
Richard Dowling, of Naugatuck, drives by the factory often and worries about the dangers of the building.
"If they're walking by the building, it's going to fall on them," Dowling said.
Dowling said that it is not uncommon for bricks to fall from the building.
The factory was gutted by a fire in 2015 and the recent loosening of bricks may have been caused by increased pressure from collapsed roofs and floors inside of the building, according to the Connecticut Department of Inspections.
"We have several buildings, several of these old factories, that haven't been occupied in 20 to 30 years," said Gil Graveline, the city's building official. "Once the roof goes, the whole structure gets rotted and it starts caving in on itself."
These abandoned factories have wood and timber floors that are susceptible to water, which causes them to rot over time, according to city officials.
Mayor Neil O'Leary tells NBC Connecticut that he spoke with the owner on Wednesday. O'Leary says that the environmental assessment is done, the owner has reached out to a demolition company, and that all parties expect demolition during the spring, once the Department of Public Health signs off.
Many love spending summertime on the shoreline, which is why Stonington homeowners cashed in by renting out their houses on sites like Airbnb and VRBO.
Its been a highly debated issue. Last month Stoningtons Planning and Zoning Commission decided not to regulate short-term rentals, adding more competition to the rental market.
Airbnb ranked Stonington amongst the largest markets in Connecticut according to guest arrivals. In 2016, Stonington saw 2,818 Airbnb guests and raked in $415,219. The town was only behind New Haven with 11,510 guests and $1,896,914 in host revenue; Hartford with 3,708 guests and $459,742 in host revenue; and New London with 2,952 guests and $372,903 in host revenue.
The hospitality industry is most directly impacted by the short-term rental competition.
Im pretty shocked by that number, said Bill Griffin, owner of The Inn at Stonington. He said people are price driven.
Griffin said his business has grown almost every year, including a record year in 2016, adding house rentals arent the same as a full service experience.
Obviously it is having impact, Griffin said. Maybe not on us, but clearly on other properties in Stonington.
I would say it helps me, said Judi Caracausa, broker and owner of Market Realty.
Short-term rentals are also impacting Stoningtons real estate business.
Caracausa said it helps buffer the tax base, makes people keep up their properties and buy more houses, too.
People who come for the summer or come for a few weeks at a time, those are the people who actually end up buying here, she said.
While people who put their homes on the short-term rental market do not need zoning approval, Stoningtons director of planning said be aware of rules and regulations within certain neighborhoods, condo associations, bylaws, etc.
Connecticut has 2,400 active hosts who earned more than $11 million in supplemental income last year, according to Airbnb. About 64,000 people come to the state, and averaged a stay of 3.4 nights.
Connecticut State police have arrested a man accused of trying to escape troopers on a stolen canoe.
According to police, Shameek Obajakuta Afrika, 45, was one of two suspects who fled state troopers while traveling in a stolen vehicle in Marlborough. When police located the car, both suspects had fled.
Police spotted the suspects in a boat on Lake Terramuggus. When the suspects returned to shore police took Afrika into custody but the second suspect, who has not been identified, escaped.
Afrika is charged with interfering with police, criminal trespass, conspiracy to commit larceny, fourth-degree larceny, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violation of safe boating regulations. He was held on a $15,000 bond.
Voters in the 32nd District- which includes Watertown, Southbury, Oxford, and other sections west of Waterbury- found themselves not voting for a pair of candidates, but rather against major politicians that they flat out disagreed with.
Democratic groups around the country watched the race between Democrat Greg Cava and Republican Rep. Eric Berthel, for the right to replace Republican Sen. Rob Kane in the Connecticut State Senate.
Since the district was so reliably Republican, it could be viewed as a belweather for support of the new president.
He did better than we hoped but not good enough to get it," said Joan Oshins, who supported Cava.
Cava lost by about 2,000 votes but the vote totals weren't what made the final results interesting; it was the margin of victory.
Cava lost to Rep. Berthel by ten percentage points. When you consider that Kane won reelection with a margin of 35 points, Democrats felt like they earned a moral victory at the very least, and that the president can be used in even the smallest of political races.
Oshins added, "And I think the vote shows the same thing that the marches have been showing, that people are not happy. People who may have even voted for the president that hes not coming through with the bravado that he said he was going to.
However, the turnout was high, 28 percent according to the Secretary of the State. The disdain for Trump may be matched by that for Gov. Dannel Malloy, who has seen very low approval numbers in his second term in office.
Harry Cairns said he voted for Berthel, as a way to vote against Malloy and his recent proposed budget that saddled towns with more expenses for education and pensions.
Now the plan is to pass it down to the towns and have the taxpayer, the local taxpayer pay for the pensions," Cairns said. "Thats totally wrong. It puts us in a bad light.
Democrats can take solace however, because they won the other Senate race in Hartford, and a special House election in West Haven.
Connecticut State police have arrested a man accused of trying to flee police at speeds over 100 miles per hour while driving a stolen vehicle.
Adrian Figueroa, 36, of Waterbury, faces charges of reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, operating a motor vehicle without a license, second-degree larceny and reckless endangerment.
According to state police, a trooper parked on Route 8 south near exit 36 Wednesday afternoon saw a red Jaguar speeding down the highway. When the trooper tried to stop the vehicle it took off and reached a speed of about 115 miles per hour.
The suspect vehicle exited onto Charles Street in Waterbury where it crashed into an SUV and another parked vehicle before coming to a stop.
Police said the Jaguar had been stolen out of Waterbury. The driver, identified as Figueroa, was arrested.
The driver of the SUV was taken to Waterbury Hospital with minor injuries.
Figueroa was held on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Andrew Cashner is dealing with biceps soreness, according to reports.
Several sources reported that the 30-year-old Cashner will be examined by doctors Friday.
Andrew Cashner dealing with some biceps soreness and will be "backed off" for a couple of days. Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) March 2, 2017
Cashner signed a one-year $10 million deal with the Rangers in the off-season and is slated to join the rotation.
The former TCU closer was selected 19th overall in the 2008 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, who converted him to a starter. The Cubs then traded him to San Diego for first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
In his seven-year career, Cashner has a 3.89 ERA and struck out 7.5 batters per nine innings against a 1.32 WHIP walks plus hits per inning pitched.
Former first daughter and Global Health Corps Founder Barbara Bush turned some heads Wednesday when she delivered the keynote address at a Fort Worth fundraiser for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.
The annual luncheon is one of Planned Parenthood's largest fundraisers in the state, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the organization.
More than 1,000 people were expected to attend; media were not allowed into the private event.
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas said they were "lucky to have incredible community support" at the luncheon and to have Bush as their keynote speaker.
"Every year we try to get a keynote speaker to join us who can speak to the issues that are important to Planned Parenthood supporters," said Sarah Wheat, Chief External Affairs Officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.
Wheat said they invited Bush because they were impressed by her work with the Global Health Corps, which helps to promote health equity across the world.
"In the room today, we had Democrats, Republicans, and Independents," said Wheat. "We're a non-partisan organization. And that's why we've been in Fort Worth for generations -- because we have such broad and deep community support."
Not all were thrilled with Bush's appearance at the event. A group of about 12-15 anti-abortion activists gathered outside the hotel where the luncheon took place and held signs in protest.
"We don't understand why Barbara Bush, someone with her talents and abilities, would be lending her time to an organization like Planned Parenthood," said Jillian Ferguson, a regional coordinator for the group Students for Life of America. "She cares deeply for people. And so it doesn't really make sense to us that she would be helping to support an organization that clearly does not."
Ferguson repeatedly pointed out that Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the U.S. -- and said Bush speaking at the event "implies that she supports everything Planned Parenthood does."
In a 2016 interview with New York Times, which she gave alongside Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards, Bush called Planned Parenthood an exceptional organization.
During that same interview, she addressed the issue of breaking with some her father's well-established views.
"My parents raised us to use our voices for issues we care about," Bush told the paper.
Wheat said it's important to note that Planned Parenthood provides many other services in addition to "safe, legal abortions," including birth control, HIV testing, screening and treatment for STD's, cervical cancer screening, and clinical breast exams.
Well, CNN and other liberal media outlets reporting that theres no crisis in Sweden after President Trump mentioned crime in the country at Saturday nights rally. But take a look at these images, the Fox Business anchor says in the introduction to the segment, which aired on February 21.
In swedish Kand svensk hogerextremist blev expert i Fox-nyhetssandning
In the segment, images show torched cars in the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, and next the anchor introduces Ingrid Carlqvist:
So whats the reality? Well, lets ask somebody whos on the ground there. Swedish columnist Ingrid Carlqvist joins us now from her home country.
Ingrid Carlqvist says in the segment that Sweden has reached a critical mass of immigrants that dont love Sweden and dont love Swedish people.
The Fox Business anchor ends the interview by exclaiming: Sweden is not Swedish anymore, oh my gosh.
What the viewers are never told is that Ingrid Carlqvist has been a central player in the anti-Muslim counter-jihad movement. Nor are the viewers made aware that she recently accused representatives of the ethnic group of Jews in Sweden of being behind Swedens cultural diversity, a conspiracy theory that Swedish nazis have long promoted.
Carlqvist is known for her hard-line anti-Muslim views. In December 2016, on a podcast run by members of the violent nazi organization Nordic Resistance Movement, she declared that she wants to drive out all Swedish Muslims from the country. (Radio Regeringen #28, 21 December 2016.)
She has previously written for the Gatestone Institute, an American think tank. Carlqvist parted ways with Gatestone last year.
In recent years, Ingrid Carlqvist has moved closer to the openly racist, white supremacist milieu in Sweden. She recently declared her willingness to collaborate with the Nordic Resistance Movement, a militant nazi group.
Last year she was one of the speakers at Stockholms annual fascist conference Identitarian Ideas. She also attended this years conference, where a new alliance between the organizers and the American Alt-Right movement and Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute was announced. Spencer gained international notoriety after giving a speech in praise of Donald Trump in which he yelled Hail Trump!, while large sections of the audience stretched out their right arms in a Hitler salute.
Jews in the vanguard of Swedens cruel transformation
In February, during a presentation of her new book at a seminar in Gothenburg, she stated that the big problem wasnt just Muslims. It was also Jews.
It pains me, believe me, to have to state this. But those who have been the vanguard of Swedens cruel transformation into Absurdistan are Jews. In my naivity, I have viewed Swedish Jews as entirely sympathetic to the fatherland. Presumably the majority is, but those who stubbornly and purposefully, in the 60s, claimed that Sweden was awful and had to change, were above all Jews.
Ingrid Carlqvist also declared that she considers those who advocate cultural diversity to be traitors to the people (folkforradare) and that she looks forward to their being punished by a tribunal.
They are traitors to the country (landsforradare), they are traitors to the people (folkforradare) and the eternal question is: Have they done this because they are really stupid or is it part of a diabolical plan to eradicate Europe?
Carlqvist also discussed her theory of an underlying agenda behind cultural diversity.
If a people is splintered and warring against each other [] it is easier to take control over a country, she said.
Defining Swedes as white and blue-eyed
Carlqvist does not just move in the same circles as white supremacists, but also expresses the same ideological convictions.
Our countrys population is homogeneous not just in terms of the race but also in many other respects, she asserted during her presentation in February.
To Carlqvist, Swedes are white and blue-eyed and, she claims, are a people under threat.
About 17 percent of the worlds population consists of white people. However, our polticians dont seem to care that we are getting fewer and fewer on the contrary. The same politicians who speak of the importance of diversity are not the least interested in Swedes surviving as a people.
No-one cares whether the children who are born here are Swedes or not. Being blue-eyed is not just an eye color, it is also a figure of speech meaning being naive, and one cant help but wonder if it is related. Are we so blue-eyed that we cannot see we are getting exterminated?
Ingrid Carlqvist is not the first Swede to be picked up by American media to confirm Donald Trumps view of Sweden as a country in crisis due to immigration. A Fox News interview with pundit Nils Bildt was recently the subject of controversy, as it was revealed the channel incorrectly presented Bildt as being a national security adviser in Sweden; in fact he was not.
Translation: Morgan Finnsio
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says one of two police officers shot while investigating a home burglary in the city likely will be released from a hospital Wednesday.
He says the second officer remains in a hospital where he's being treated for multiple wounds, including a bullet lodged near his spine.
The two Houston officers were injured Tuesday in a gun battle with two burglary suspects. One of the suspected burglars was killed while the other remains at large. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture.
Turner says 34-year-old officer Jose Munoz is expected to go home after an overnight hospital stay in which he was treated for a wounded foot. The mayor says the more seriously injured officer, 49-year-old Ronny Cortez, remains in stable condition.
An immigration judge granted bond Thursday to a 26-year-old woman who fled violence in El Salvador, so she can leave a detention facility in North Texas to seek treatment for a brain tumor, according to Amnesty International.
Sara Beltran Hernandez is pursuing medical care as she seeks asylum in the United States. She says she will be subjected to domestic abuse and gang violence if she returns to her home country.
Beltran Hernandez was hospitalized for nearly two weeks after collapsing last month at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, south of Fort Worth, where she has been held since November 2015.
Her attorney, Chris Hamilton, said Beltran Hernandez complained about headaches, nosebleeds and memory loss before she collapsed. She was transported to Texas Huguley Hospital where she was diagnosed with a brain tumor that requires surgery.
Hamilton claims Beltran Hernandez was forcibly removed from the hospital. A spokesperson for ICE said Beltran Hernandez was discharged from the hospital and was returned to the detention center.
Beltran Hernandez had sought a conditional release to have more control over her medical care. She has already been denied bond twice.
The release comes after a campaign by Amnesty International, which mobilized members across the country to call ICE and ask for her to be set free.
"Sara and her family are overjoyed that she will finally be able to be with her loved ones and receive medical care after being unjustly detained for over 400 days," said Eric Ferrero, of Amnesty International USA. "Sara never should have been held for so long in the first place, let alone with a medical issue. It is unconscionable to treat people fleeing violence and danger as if they are criminals. Applying for asylum should not mean giving up ones human rights in the process."
Beltran Hernandez's release will allow her to reside with her family in New York City while her asylum claim is processed.
A Fort Bend ISD superintendent apologized and cleared the air on misinformation spread at a Houston-area high school about requiring permission slips from imams to allow Muslim girls to wear hijabs.
A student at George Bush High School in Richmond tweeted over the weekend that an assistant principal told students they needed letters/emails from an imam to wear hijabs. School officials "don't want girls who aren't Muslim to cover their heads so they are trying to make hijabis carry notes," the student said in the tweets.
Read more on this story from our partners at The Dallas Morning News.
Another ill juror was released Wednesday from the corruption trial of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.[[414360543,R]]
On the fifth day in court, the release left just two of the original four stand-by alternate jurors who were selected for what is expected to be a four-month trial.
The remaining panel of 12 jurors and two alternates are hearing evidence that has never been made public before against Price and other defendants.
Price had $2,250 cash and other people's credit cards in his pocket in June 2011 when he was served with a search warrant, according to FBI Agent Aaron Covey.
Warrants to search the homes and offices of Price and his county aide, Daphne Fain, were among around 20 that were served in the Price investigation that day.
The agent said Price was cooperative but upset about the search.
"He was polite. He was upset that we were there," Covey said.
The agent said Price carried credit cards in the name of businesses run by Fain and political consultant Kathy Nealy.
Earlier evidence indicated a Chevy Avalanche parked outside Price's office that day was provided to Price by Nealy.
With keys surrendered by Price, the agent said he found promotional material inside the vehicle for an art gallery called Millennium 2000 run by Karen Manning.
Another agent who searched Fain's home that day said a Bentley Continental automobile was found in Fain's garage. There were also items from the art gallery at Fain's home labeled "John Wiley Priceless Collections."
Yet another FBI agent said price tags found on items in Price's home and in a search of the gallery in the South Side at Lamar building mentioned that same name "John Wiley Priceless Collections."
FBI forensic accountant David Garcia testified about his extensive review of how money moved between accounts controlled by Fain, Nealy and Price. Garcia said Price used accounts in the name of his mother, Willie Mae Price.
"There were a variety of different methods used to transfer money, if you will, to Commissioner Price," Garcia said.
In opening statements, a prosecutor said Price netted $127,000 from Fain, $83,000 from Manning and $950,000 in cars, land and money from Nealy. The government accuses Price of failing to disclose all of that as income for taxes.
The money from Nealy was allegedly bribes for Price's support of her clients in county business, but the government does not accuse the clients of being aware Nealy was directly paying Price.
In cross examination of the government witnesses Wednesday, defense lawyers Tom Mills and Chris Knox attacked FBI evidence gathering and record keeping.
The defense insists FBI errors produced false accusations and all of the transactions are either repayment of loans by Price to the women or legitimate in other ways.
Daphne Fain is on trial with Price now. Karen Manning pleaded guilty and may testify against the others. Kathy Nealy has been granted a separate trial to be scheduled later.
A handwritten document proclaiming Texas was freeing itself from rule by Mexico is 181 years old Thursday.
It was March 2, 1836, Texas Independence Day, when historians believe the original and five copies of the declaration were made and signed by 59 men at Washington-on-the-Brazos.
With the creation of the revolutionary document, settlers broke away from Mexico to create the Republic of Texas.
The new republic was led by interim-President David G. Burnet until the election of President Sam Houston later that year.
Only the original document remains.
Texas remained a republic for nine years until being annexed by the United States 1845, making the Lone Star State the 28th state admitted to the Union.
[[287968361,C]]
This year, the Texas General Land Office is holding its second annual Top Texan tournament. Starting at 10 a.m., anyone can vote on who they think is the "top Texan" in history from a field of 64 famous names from the Lone Star State.
Grand prizes include:
A Texas flag flown over the Alamo on March 6, 2017
A 1-Year Homestead Membership to the Bullock Texas State History Museum
A 1-Year Membership to the Texas State Historical Association
A hardcover 2016-2017 Texas Almanac
TSHA Book Bundle
$500 gift card to TXHumor.com
A map reproduction of your choice from the Texas General Land Office and assorted Save Texas History swag.
More: Top Texan Tournament ONLINE
Texas Independence Day Quiz
A man is dead after a fight with a fellow temporary worker escalated into a stabbing.
Grapevine Police and Fire Departments arrived at Butterfly Valves & Controls, Inc. Wednesday morning to find the victim had been stabbed with a knife and the suspect had fled the scene.
Grapevine Fire EMS transported the 42-year-old victim to Baylor hospital for treatment. He was later pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m.
Detectives and officers investigating the scene identified the suspect as Jose Valentine Barron of Grand Prairie. Barron was taken into custody at a nearby business without incident and faces a murder charge.
Dallas police want help finding the driver they say fled the scene of a crash where two people were injured Thursday morning.
According to police, a driver, who was not identified, was speeding in a Lexus on southbound U.S. 75 at about 2:15 a.m. The car struck the rear left of another vehicle being driven in the left lane, sending it crashing into the outside median, police said.
The driver of the Lexus ran away and got into a nearby pickup truck, fleeing the scene, police said.
A 22-year-old woman riding in the Lexus was sent to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas with serious injuries, police said. The driver of the second vehicle had minor injuries and was released at the scene.
No further information was released.
A couple of bald eagles that have a nest in Seagoville are expecting.
The John Bunker Sands Wetland Center says the first egg was laid on January 25, the second on January 28.
You can watch the live stream of the eagles, CLICK HERE to visit the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center website.
John DeFillipo says the eagles are quite draw for visitors to the 2,000 acre Kaufman County conservation center.
"People don't walk in that front door and say 'John tell me everything you know about water conservation,' which my board would like to hear, but they want to see the eagles, where are the American bald eagles?"
You may remember when the eagles built their nest on a transmission tower that was dangerously close to high-voltage electricity. So crews built a replica tower and moved the nest 1,200 feet from the power lines.
Now people around the world can watch the eagles movements on a 24-hour webcam.
You can watch the live stream of the eagles, CLICK HERE to visit the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center website.
"I think it's a wonderful window into wildlife observation," DeFillipo said. "I call them arm chair conservationists."
The cameras caught their return to North Texas in the fall.
"They arrive in September and go through a mating ritual of bringing sticks to the nest to the female and if she likes the sticks, she puts it in the nest," DeFillipo said.
In January, two eggs were spotted in the nest.
The Wetland Eagles website says it takes about 35 days for the egg to hatch, so anticipation is mounting for their pending arrival.
"Right now they're eggs. Once they hatch, and they are nest-bound, we call them eaglets and once they fledge, once they take that first flight then they're juveniles," DeFillipo said. "I call them juvys for short, because it looks like they're in jail sometimes."
This is not their first egg since moving, NBC 5 reported when an eaglet was seen five months after the move.
The center believes their offspring may very well be the eagles often spotted in the area along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Irving, or near the Lake Lewisville Dam or the pair who've made their home north of Lake Ray Roberts.
"We believe that pair that's breeding is causing that population to increase more in Texas," DeFillipo said.
The hope of many watching is that the latest offspring also return to call North Texas home.
President George W. Bush made his first appearance on The Ellen show on Thursday.
Ellen and Bush talked about the current political climate of the country, the importance of free press and his contentious relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former president also opens up about the trouble he had while putting on a rain poncho at President Trumps inauguration.
Bush also talked about his new book Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chiefs Tribute to Americas Warriors.
You can watch "The Ellen Degeneres Show" weekdays at 3 p.m. on NBC 5.
Brenda Robinson made aviation history twice.
"I've been flying airplanes for 41 years. I've flown 12 different airplanes," said Robinson during a recent trip to Fort Worth.
In 1980, she became the first African-American woman Naval Aviator in U.S. history. Her missions included landing on aircraft carriers.
Next, she moved on to commercial aviation.
"I was hired by American Airlines in early 1990's and I flew another three airplanes including wide-bodies," said Robinson.
She was one of the first black female pilots at the Fort Worth based carrier. But her presence was not always welcomed.
"The only struggles that I would have are the attitudes of newly having women in the aviation community and newly having minorities in the aviation community because it was considered 'you don't understand this well enough'," said Robinson. "So they could probably try to make me believe that they were better than me and I had no place there. But that didn't work because I love aviation."
Robinson now speaks to young people to encourage them to pursue an aviation career.
The only struggles that I would have are the attitudes of newly having women in the aviation community and newly having minorities in the aviation community because it was considered 'you don't understand this well enough'. 45:02))
((DB_AA HIDDEN FIGURES_RAW Brenda Robinson 1:45:54 So they could probably try to make me believe that they were better than me and I had no place there. But that didn't work because I love aviation. 4"The only struggles that I would have are the attitudes of newly having women in the aviation community and newly having minorities in the aviation community because it was considered 'you don't understand this well enough'," said Robinson. "They could probably try to make me believe that they were better than me and I had no place there. But that didn't work because I love aviation." Robinson now speaks to school groups to interest children in general and young girls in particular, in a career in aviation.
"I want something to strike them like lightning," said Robinson. "And all of the sudden their eyes just open up and you cannot un-ring that bell once that happens. I love letting them see - If I can do it, you can do it."
Robinson is now retired but a handful of women are following in her footsteps. Beth Powell flew for American Eagle before becoming a Miami based pilot for American Airlines. She saw Robinson's face in a hallway of pilot's pictures.
"Walking the halls and I saw her beautiful picture," said Powell. "I looked up and it inspired me that one day I'll be with American Airlines. I said to myself I have to meet this lady!
Powell said the aviation industry still lacks diversity.
"There's about 16,000 pilots approximately with American and US Air and we have five African-American female pilots for American," said Powell.
The group Women of Aviation Worldwide reported that there were 8,175 women pilots flying for commercial airlines as recently as 2010. But they are far outnumbered by 155,530 male pilots.
In February, the pilots spoke to students at American Airlines' CR Smith Museum. Powell wants girls like her daughter to identify with women who are in careers like aviation.
"I want her to see other examples like me to know it is possible to be an American Airlines female pilot," said Powell.
Woman, renamed Julie for anonymity reasons, took in a refugee posing as a child
Afghan man, called Abdul, said he was 12 but dentist assessed his age as 19-21
Abdul was polite and shy but soon turned aggressive and attacked Julie's family
Police arrested Abdul but he threatened to kill Julie's family and she lives in fear
The woman said she lives in fear after the man, who said his name was Abdul, threatened to kill her family after he was arrested for assaulting her relatives. During an emotional interview on ITV's Loose Women, the mother, who was renamed Julie for anonymity reasons, has now called on the Government to carry out proper age checks on refugees coming to the UK.
Pictured: Julie being interviewed by Ruth Langsford and Saira Khan on ITV's Loose Women She told presenters Ruth Langsford and Saira Khan that she had taken in the asylum seeker after being asked to look after him for a 'few nights' by social services. Julie recalled: 'When I walked into the room, I didnt think he was the person they were referring to. He looked about 19. He was very quiet and very timid. I didnt want to hurt his feelings, but I dont usually take teenagers. I take younger children. But I just thought he needed a home and didnt think anymore of it.'
Despite her initial misgivings regarding the boy's age, Julie generously opened up her home up to the youngster.
However, she became suspicious of his true identity after a dental examination.
She said: We went to a dental appointment and the dentist age-assessed him between 18 and 21.
'They had to give him the benefit of the doubt and because he claimed he was 12 and the dentist aged him as 21, they placed him at 16. They averaged him.'
Julie said that at first her new arrival was pleasant and well behaved, but soon he turned nasty.
She later found out he was not the person he said he was and had been arrested while posing as a child refugee in Belgium.
She said: He was lovely in the beginning. Very humble, very polite, very thoughtful. But as the weeks went by I started to notice a change in him.
I was comparing him to my boy and he was more mature than my boy was.
'He had been arrested in Belgium. He had a bone density x-ray there and they said 'you arent 12' and sent him on his way.
I found out that he claimed asylum there as 17-year-old. I couldnt understand why that information wasnt passed on to me.
I became very frightened, he became quite menacing after I set up a Facebook account for him.
'I was hoping to help him find his family and then shortly after he was receiving these phone calls where his manner would change dramatically and he became intimidating and quite threatening.
Julie said she felt scared to be alone with Abdul in her own home but didn't want another family placed with such a temperamental and possibly dangerous man.
She said: I was concerned because if they asked to re-home him, I didnt want him to go to another family because he wasnt who he claimed to be.
I can remember one day he went up to the fridge and he was looking at a photo of me and my daughter, as if he was trying to intimidate me through my daughter.
'My daughter was stood there and I can remember thinking, 'dont turn around'. I knew and I could see what he was doing in the corner of my eye, but I kept on wiping up.
He walked right up behind me and I can still feel his breath on the back of my neck and I can remember feeling petrified.
Julie said she later found that Abdul had been visiting extremist websites on his mobile phone and an interpreter relayed messages, sent to family and friends, where he had been joking about tricking the British government into thinking he was a child.
She said: 'I was so shocked. I can remember thinking, ''Oh my god! Who is this person?'
A permanent home was found for Abdul and it was then that he started to lash out at Julie and her family.
She said: 'There were other homes that had been offered to him and it wasnt where he wanted to go.
'When another home came up he became very aggressive about it.
He started [attacking] verbally and then a member of my family got in between us, in fear of me getting hurt, and then he pushed them back and started punching.
'I ran to get the police and I was just pleading with him to calm down and just said ''why are you doing this?''.
Abdul was arrested for the assault but now Julie lives in fear of him coming back and attacking her family
She said: He did make threats to us before the police took him, to me and the children. He did say when he was removed: Ill kill you all. I know where you live
Im very frightened since he was removed. I know that hes not being properly watched and he could at any time turn up at my house. Julie
Im very frightened since he was removed. I know that hes not being properly watched and he could at any time, turn up at my house. I panic if Im not at school on time.
'He knows the school runs, hes knows everything. We changed the locks at the house and Im constantly vigilant of everything.'
Julie has called for Theresa May to enforce greater scrutiny on the refugees who are being taken in by British families.
She said: 'Its not that I want to put people off looking after any refugee or asylum seeker, its just that proper checks need to be done.
They are guessing these mens ages and placing them in the homes of other vulnerable children.
'To Theresa May and the Government I would like to say, if you are insisting on allowing these men to come here then make sure you give proper age assessment checks, like in Belgium.
'Stop putting the burden on carers to deal with it, carers like myself whose families are being put at great risk.'
University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven is scrapping a controversial plan to develop a Houston campus, a project that had been sharply criticized by state lawmakers and other officials.
The system doesn't have an academic footprint in Houston, and McRaven surprised many with a move to buy 300 acres to develop a data center.
State lawmakers scolded McRaven for keeping them in the dark about the project.
The retired admiral and former leader of U.S. military special operations said he couldn't rally support for the Houston project.
On Wednesday, McRaven said the decision to abort was his and that land already bought will be sold.
McRaven said he believes he still has the backing of the Board of Regents to lead of the UT System.
Syrian government forces battling the Islamic State group re-entered Palmyra on Thursday in their quest to again take the historic town they had lost to the militants in December, state media reported.
The Kremlin's spokesman said President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister that Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes. However, there was no immediate confirmation of Palmyra's seizure from the Syrian military and the Russian reports did not provide more details.
The SANA news agency reported earlier that government troops had entered the town's archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, around mid-day, then the town itself, as IS defenses crumbled and militants fled the area.
It said army units were engaged in "precise tactical operations" and chasing remnants of IS fighters holed up inside the ancient town.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition monitoring group, said IS militants pulled out completely from Palmyra, adding that troops were conducting mopping-up operations.
The Syrian government's push has relied on ground support from Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Russian air cover, according to Hezbollah's media outlets.
IS defenses of the town had begun to erode on Sunday, with the government troops reaching Palmyra's outskirts on Tuesday.
Activist-run Palmyra News Network said the advancing forces pounded the desert town famed for its ancient Roman monuments and grand stone theater with artillery and airstrikes during the day.
This is the government's second campaign to retake the desert town. It seized Palmyra from Islamic State militants last March only to lose it again 10 months later. Before the civil war gripped Syria in 2011, Palmyra was a top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.
The town, according to Mohammed Homsi, the director of the activist-run Palmyra News Network, is almost entirely deserted. Islamic State fighters reportedly evacuated the last of their relatives on Sunday, he said.
Archeologists have decried what they say is extensive damage to its ruins.
Drone footage released by Russia's Defense Ministry earlier this month showed new damage to the facade of Palmyra's Roman-era theater and the adjoining Tetrapylon a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the colonnaded road leading to the theater.
A 2014 report by a U.N. research agency disclosed satellite evidence of looting while the ruins were under Syrian military control. Opposition factions have also admitted to looting the antiquities for funds.
The IS group has twice used the town's Roman theater as a stage for mass killings, most recently in January, when they shot and beheaded a number of captives they said had tried to escape their December advance. Other IS killings were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum and in a former Russian base in the town.
The developments in Palmyra came against the backdrop of Syrian peace talks underway in Geneva, which have been without any tangible breakthroughs so far. Diplomats and negotiators have set their sights on modest achievements in the latest round of talks, after a week of discussions centering on setting an agenda for future talks.
On Thursday, U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura was due for another round of meetings with both the government delegation and opposition groups.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters Wednesday that "the parties have agreed to ... discuss all issues in a parallel way, on several tracks."
After a Damascus request, the issue of terrorism is also on the table, he had said. Russia is a key sponsor of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government in Damascus.
A top Syrian opposition negotiator, Nasr al-Hariri, said the talks would likely culminate in a closing ceremony on Friday and the parties may be back in Geneva for further discussions in a few weeks.
Setting the agenda and strategy to guide discussions has proven difficult as the main conflicting parties dig in their heels over form and semantics.
In Turkey, the country's foreign minister said that with the completion of an operation to retake the IS-held town of al-Bab in northern Syria, Turkish troops will head to the Syrian town of Manbij next, to oust U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara views as terrorists and a threat to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that Turkey would not shy away from attacking the Kurdish group that dominates the Syria Democratic Forces, which captured Manbij last year after weeks of deadly fighting with IS.
He renewed calls for the new U.S. administration not to support the Kurdish forces. Cavusoglu stressed that an operation to take Manbij had not started yet, but acknowledged that skirmishes between Turkish-backed forces and the Kurdish fighters may have occurred.
That front line in northern Syria was further complicated by a concurrent announcement by the Syrian Kurdish side on Thursday that they had agreed with Russia to withdraw from some of the territory between al-Bab and Manbij, to make room for a buffer.
The Manbij Military Council, part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said that under the deal, they will withdraw from a front line as the rival Turkish-backed forces near the Euphrates River. This will allow Syrian government forces to create a buffer between them.
However, Cavusoglu denied any such agreement was reached.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government. The Turkish and Syrian authorities have long regarded each other with thinly-veiled hostility.
In other developments, German authorities arrested a Syrian national on suspicion of murdering dozens of civil servants in Syria in 2013. They said the suspect could stand trial for war crimes. An associate of the man was also arrested. The two men reportedly belonged to an al-Qaida-linked faction fighting the Syrian government.
The top White House ethics attorney says counselor Kellyanne Conway "acted inadvertently" and "without nefarious motive" when she promoted Ivanka Trump's fashion line during a television interview at the White House.
Stefan Passantino, deputy counsel to the president on compliance and ethics, wrote in a letter to the Office of Government Ethics that he met with Conway and resolved the matter.
Administration employees are subject to rules that prohibit them from using their official position to endorse products or services. In the Feb. 9 interview, Conway said to "go buy Ivanka's stuff."
Conway was reacting to reports that Nordstrom had dropped the line, which the president believes was a political move. The store says it was a business decision. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have condemned Conway's behavior.
Mitchell Gould and Daisy Marco thought they had bought their dream house.
Tucked in a quiet neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills, the house has beautiful views, friendly neighbors and plenty of room for their cats.
"It's a really quiet neighborhood. There are families and a lot of older couples," said Marco.
So when moving trucks pulled up and a new car was parked in the driveway of their next door neighbor, Marco went over to introduce herself.
That's when, she said, the nightmare next door began.
Instead of a new family moving in next door, the house was listed on Airbnb --a website for short-term housing rentals.
"It's a vacation house. It's a party house," said Gould.
Gould and Marco say the host moved in a pool table and added a hot tub to the back patio, just yards away from Gould and Marco's bedroom window.
"They set up the place to have 12 beds and it's not a 12-bedroom house," said Gould.
Almost immediately, the guests began coming and going at all hours, according to the couple. They said the guests would stay up late partying, leave trash strewn up and down the street and park in front of their driveway blocking their cars in.
"Most disturbingly, they were smoking and throwing their butts just off the balcony into the foliage," Gould said. "If, God forbid, a fire starts back there, we're going to lose our house first.
"We've lived here for several years now and the last three weeks, we're suddenly living next to a hotel."
And, Gould and Marco are not alone.
An NBC4 I-Team investigation found examples across Los Angeles of what appears to be Airbnb hosts turning apartments and homes into neighborhood hotels. Some of the listings were available every day of the month.
"Per the zoning code, it's not legal to rent a home or an apartment in a residential area for less than 30 days," explained Roy Samaan, a policy analyst for LAANE -- a nonprofit advocacy group pushing for regulations on short term rentals like Airbnb.
The Los Angeles City Attorney's office also told NBC4 these short-term rentals are against the law -- violations of both zoning code and occupancy rules.
The NBC4 I-Team reached out to the host, who calls himself Alex, about staying in the house next to Gould and Marco for a week. He offered to rent NBC4 the property for $3,181 for five days.
But it turns out Alex doesn't actually own the home. When the I-Team contacted the actual owner, she said she believed she was renting the home to a young couple with a baby. And she said that she doesn't know anyone named Alex, nor did she give permission to advertise the house on Airbnb.
When the NBC4 I-Team asked Alex about it, he wrote back that this is "a false story as the property isn't for rent for short term use and it's only available for stays longer than 30 days when I'm out of town working."
But two of three reviews for the property say those guests only spent a single night at that location and Alex offered the house to the NBC4 I-Team for only five days.
Shortly after the I-Team contacted Alex, the listing was taken down.
An Airbnb spokesperson told the I-Team that they don't get involved in issues between renters and landlords. He said the majority of Airbnb stays are safe and enjoyable experiences.
Not all of the neighbors near Airbnb properties agree. The I-Team found what could be full-time Airbnb hotels all over town, including one in the Fairfax area.
"You have people who come to town to party, to have a good time. So they're drinking and they're smoking. I have a young family here," said Matthew Berger who lives next door to what he said is a full-time Airbnb hotel.
He said he is worried about strangers partying just a stone's throw from his daughter's bedroom.
"I don't want to be constantly concerned about who's next door," Berger said.
When the I-Team reached out to an owner of that property, he said he was not aware of any laws against renting the home on Airbnb. He said he takes the responsibilities of a property owner seriously and has "discussed the matter at length with our immediate neighbor to try to resolve his issues."
In the heart of Hollywood, the I-Team found a hostel-style hotel -- a three bedroom apartment complete with bunk beds and shared bathrooms -- all available for rent on Airbnb.
Airbnb said they're cracking down on these hostel-style rentals and they've removed hundreds of listings already. They encourage homeowners with concerns about an Airbnb property to use their online "Good Neighbor Tool" for sharing complaints. They also said they're working with city officials to develop regulations on short-term rentals that include quality of life protections.
The Los Angeles City Council is currently considering an ordinance that would legalize short term rentals with certain conditions. People who want to rent their properties using sites like Airbnb would have to register with the city and the number of rental nights would be limited. The proposed ordinance would also only allow hosts to rent out their primary residence, the city attorney said.
But Samaan said regulation without enforcement is fruitless.
"The enforcement is essential. We can pass ordinances all year and if there's no enforcement it won't make a difference," he said. "I think the key is making sure that companies like Airbnb are liable to really make sure what's happening on their site is above board."
Marco and Gould said they've tried everything they can think of to address the Airbnb next door to their house. They've talked to neighbors, called their city councilman, contacted the host and even reported incidents to the LAPD.
"It's really frustrating," Marco said. "No matter where we live in the city, this could happen. I don't want to move. We love our house. We love our neighborhood. But even if we move, somebody could do the same thing in the house next to us."
A plane that crashed into a California neighborhood and destroyed two homes was carrying husband-and-wife pilots and their grown daughter, and a mother and daughter who were friends of the family, relatives said Wednesday.
Stacey Pierce was one of two survivors of the crash, but is still in critical condition, her family told NBC Bay Area Tuesday night. Her parents, Nouri believed to be the pilot of the twin-engine Cessna and Dana Hijazi, were two of the three people killed in the crash, the family statement indicated. All three are San Jose residents.
"You see these things on TV and you don't think that this'll happen to your family," said Christy Crown, Pierce's sister-in-law. "It's surreal watching it, knowing these were members of our family."
Meanwhile, Brandon Fareles of San Jose said his 22-year-old sister Adine was among the dead. Their mother Sylvia survived the crash, but suffered severe burns that required surgery.
The two women who survived were ejected from the plane before being rescued and rushed to the hospital, Riverside Fire Department Chief Michael Moore said. Authorities have not yet confirmed the victims' identities.
"He was an extremely experienced pilot, which was his hobby, his passion," Crown said in a statement on behalf of the family. "We want to say how incredibly devastated and heartbroken we are and still trying to process everything."
The group was returning from a weekend cheerleading competition at Disney California Adventure Park where Adine's younger sister competed. The Union Middle School student arrived safely back in San Jose by bus with the rest of her team. Pierce is the mother of children who also study at the same school, district Superintendent Denise Clay said in a statement Wednesday.
Before the crash, the smiling members of the team celebrated their first place trophy win at the weekend's national cheer competition, according to the group's Facebook page. Adine Farelas posted that she was "having a blast' with her mother and Pierce and looking forward to heading to the Disneyland park where the event was to be held.
The Union school district is in mourning and has grief counselors on hand to help the students cope.
"Our hearts go out to the families and the friends of the victims," Clay said in the statement. "It is times like these that, as a community, we must rely upon one another for strength."
Moore said the Cessna 310 had just taken off from Riverside Municipal Airport, less than a mile away, and was bound for San Jose. The plane crashed under "unknown circumstances" shortly after 4:40 p.m. Monday, igniting an inferno that destroyed two homes and slightly damaged two others.
"Upon impact, the plane pretty much split apart," Moore said.
Juan Cortes and his son, Jonathan, were installing fencing when they saw a low-flying plane make an awkward tilt and go straight down into a neighborhood.
"I saw the smoke, the black smoke," said Cortes, 42, who raced to the scene in a truck with his son and tried to help.
People were screaming in the street, and he saw a woman pulled away from the flames. "She was alive because she was screaming, 'My daughter! My daughter!'" he recalled Tuesday.
Traci Zamora, 38, rushed out of her home and around a corner to find a house engulfed in flames. Then saw a victim emerge, part of her body ablaze.
"She just came crawling right out of it onto the front lawn," she said. "Her lower body was on fire."
Despite the inferno, no one on the ground was hurt.
"The airplane itself is in quite a few pieces, spread over a debris field" of about 100 to 150 feet, said Stephen Stein, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators have received conflicting accounts of what may have led up to the crash and were continuing to interview additional witnesses, Stein said.
Weather in the area 60 miles east of Los Angeles had included rain, but there were no immediate indications of what caused the crash. NTSB investigators will examine environmental conditions, including the weather, along with the pilot's history, flight records and the physical components of the aircraft, Stein said.
A Palo Alto flight instructor who watched a video of the Cessna crashing into the homes told NBC Bay Area that he suspects that one of the two engines failed, forcing the pilot to react quickly.
The tail number of the aircraft was N1246G, according to a government official with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information until next-of-kin have been notified.
Federal records show that number is assigned to a twin-engine Cessna 310 registered to Nouri Hijazi. Telephone listings for him were either disconnected or went to voicemail.
Moore did not provide the name of the cheerleading competition, but the Jr. USA Nationals for girls 15 and under was held at Disney California Adventure Park over the weekend. Officials with the competition did not immediately return calls Tuesday.
For many in the neighborhood the crash announced itself with a tremendous boom that rattled their houses like an earthquake.
H.L. Reyes, who lives about a quarter-mile from the crash site, said she felt the ground shake and saw plumes of black smoke.
"I thought it was a possible earthquake, and we heard all the birds just suddenly react outside, too," Reyes said. "This was just like a nightmare coming true."
Hector Jimenez, 19, was playing video games at home when he heard a loud boom and saw black smoke.
"It's just sad that it happened here," he said. "It makes me nervous living around an airport. That's one of my worst fears, having this happen."
Flyers about Muslim internment camps were found posted on the UC San Diego campus Wednesday, NBC 7 confirmed.
The posting on a billboard took the form of Internment Notices, which signaled the roundup of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II.
But these notices targeted Muslims.
NBC 7 discovered a flyer hanging on the bulletin board inside Argo Hall, a residential hall in Revelle College.
It called for the evacuation of members of the Islamic faith living in San Diego County.
In part, the poster read:
"All Muslim persons, both alien and non-alien, will be evacuated from the above designated area by 12:00 o'clock noon Wednesday, April 8, 2017. No Muslim person will be permitted to enter or leave the above described area after 8:00 a.m., Thursday, April 2, 2017, without obtaining special permission from the Provost Marshal at the Civil Control Station..."
NBC 7 received an email from a person who claimed responsibility for the flyers. The alleged creator of the flyers said they weren't meant to be "anti-Muslim," but designed to "shock and anger people" by using the Japanese internment as a cautionary tale.
"The posters were meant to mimic the internment posters because I wanted to shock/anger people and to show them what could happen if they didn't do anything to stop it. It was a warning presented as a possible future," the email read.
UC San Diego has not responded to NBC 7's request for comment.
Students who spoke to NBC 7 Wednesday evening said they were outraged at the flyers and the tone it took about the Japanese internment.
To mock it and to make fun of it or to even take it seriously is messed up. It's just wrong, student Kra Bars said.
"It should be taken seriously because this is not a joke, freshman Silvina Rodriguez said.
"Its not right. They shouldn't be allowed to do any of this, Argo Hall resident Rosa Moreno said.
UCSD newspaper The Triton said flyers were also found hanging at Thurgood Marshall College, another one of the university's six colleges.
Marshall College, the third college founded on campus in 1970, was named after Thurgood Marshall, the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
UC San Diego has a history of racial unrest--in 2010, the Compton Cookout party that mocked Black History month drew backlash and sparked protests on campus.
In two other incidents in the following weeks, a noose was found hanging in a campus library and a KKK-style hood was placed on a statue outside the main campus library.
Campus is one of the most accepting places in the country, student Kra Bars said.
It's not known how long the flyers have been hanging on campus.
"You find it offensive, yes, and I am pretty sure that's not the only one posted, freshman Lizbeth Ibarra said, tearing down one of the posters.
Students said Argo Hall is co-ed and has about 700 students of diverse backgrounds living there.
The incident comes amid a spike of hate crimes and other hate-related cases in the U.S. in recent months.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups rose from 892 in 2015 to 917 in 2016. The number of anti-Muslim hate groups saw the greatest rise, increasing to 101 from 34 in 2015, according to the annual census of hate groups by the SPLC. The increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes coincided with the increase of these hate groups, the report said.
Donald Trump's election and rhetoric during the campaign is, in part, responsible for this rise of anti-Muslim hate groups, the SPLC wrote in the report. Trumps immigration order severely restricting travel from seven mostly Muslim countries was also seen by his critics as anti-Muslim.
In his speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump referenced threats against Jewish community centers and last week's violence targeting two Indian-American engineers in Olathe, Kansas, but did not specifically use the word "Muslim" in condemning hate crimes.
Trump was expected to sign a new executive order on immigration in the coming days. The new order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Fifty-five people have been indicted in connection with a massive North County heroin, meth and firearms trafficking ring, according to ten federal indictments unsealed Wednesday.
According to the U.S. Attorney's office, those indicted were responsible for supplying at least 25 percent of North County's heroin and methamphetamine. The ring also supplied significant quantities of heroin to a distribution ring in Kingman, Arizona.
The defendants - 46 of which are in custody right now - include prominent drug dealers and documented gang members, and were involved in a variety of crimes, including drug distribution, firearms trafficking, robberies, vehicle thefts, burglaries and assaults.
One house that was the center for much of the distribution of drugs is just steps away from Vista High School.
Patty Jennings has a son who is a senior at Vista High and told NBC 7, drug activity has plagued the neighborhood surrounding the school for years.
"It's not safe. It's not safe at all. I don't even let my kids leave their cars here if they're going to be gone even on a school function very long because as hard as they try with security, it's not safe," Jennings said
According to charging documents, defendant Yadira "Pini" Villalvazo, a Mexican national and Vista High School graduate, allegedly led a trafficking organization where she used dozens of street gang members to distribute heroin.
Villalvazo, an associate of the Vista Home Boys street gang for a period of time, was later deported for a federal drug trafficking conviction in 2002.
In Mexico, Villalvazo allegedly runs her own Sinaloa Cartel-linked organization, according to charging documents.
The tens of thousands of dollars the ring grossed in the San Diego region were sent back to Mexico, according to court documents.
After a yearlong investigation lead by the North County Regional Gang Task Force, more than 150 members of the task force, in addition to other law enforcement agencies, arrested numerous suspects in more than 20 locations in Oceanside, Vista, Kingman, Arizona, and other North County locations.
Fourteen suspects were arrested Wednesday morning, and several others were arrested earlier in the week, or were already in custody. Seven defendants, two of which are in Mexico, are still on the loose.
According to authorities, Andrea Ball and her boyfriend, David Siladji, two of the suspects charged, would use the house to distribute drugs.
U.S. Attorney's Office
The investigation involved months of federal wiretaps, dozens of undercover drug and gun buys and extensive surveillance.
Today weve taken out one of North Countys largest heroin suppliers, said Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson in a statement. This crackdown is our most significant response to date to the heroin epidemic ravaging our communities. We anticipate seeing a huge impact now that these defendants are removed from our community, particularly in the North County cities of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and other areas plagued by gangs.
Authorities seized heroin, methamphetamine and 25 firearms, including handguns, revolvers and assault rifles.
The drugs and guns were being sold in North County neighborhoods, including across the street from Vista High School, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
The gang task force also targeted major methamphetamine distribution cells connected to North County street gangs during the investigation, including rings allegedly led by Sabrina Yzaguirre, Ivan Bazan - also known as Dreamer - and Jorge Enrique Jara Cervantes, also known as Scorpion.
Pound quantities of methamphetamine were distributed to Alabama and Tennessee in a ring allegedly led by Cervantes.
Between 2011 and 2015, meth-related deaths in San Diego County have increased more than 80 percent. Heroin deaths in the County have doubled in the last decade, even with the use of naloxone. Heroin treatment admissions have risen in the County ever year since 2011.
A public memorial viewing will be held Thursday night for Whittier police Officer Keith Wayne Boyer, who was killed in a gun battle that left a second officer and the suspect wounded.
Boyer, 53, was killed shortly after 8 a.m. Feb. 20. He had responded to a report of a traffic collision near Colima Road and Mar Vista Street, where one of the people involved in the crash pulled out a gun and opened fire.
Officer Patrick Hazell, a three-year veteran of the Whittier Police Department, was shot in the abdomen but survived. Boyer, a grandfather, musician and school resource officer, had been with the department for 27 years.
The viewing for Boyer will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Whittier Area Community Church, 8100 Colima Road.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Calvary Chapel Downey, 12808 Woodruff Ave., according to Whittier police. Following the service, a procession will carry Boyer's body to Rose Hills Memorial Park, 3888 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, for a graveside service.
The shooting suspect, Michael Christopher Mejia, 26, was shot in the back and hospitalized. He was charged Wednesday with capital murder.
The Whittier Police Officers Association has created a fund for people to make donations on behalf of Boyer and his family.
Donations to the WPOA Benevolent Fund can be made in person at the Whittier branch of the Credit Union of Southern California, 8028 Greenleaf Ave.
Checks should be made out to WPOA Benevolent Fund and reference account number 488879.
Checks can also be mailed to Credit Union of Southern California, WPOA Benevolent Fund, P.O. Box 200, Whittier, CA, 90608, Attn: David Valencia.
California Pizza Kitchen was also set to do a three-day fundraiser for Boyer March 6, 7, and 8. Supporters can bring the flyer to one of 53 participating locations and 20 percent of the bill will go to Boyer's fund. Purchases can be dine in, take out or catered.
We're now just over a month into the Year of the Rooster, it's true. But the Lunar New Year celebrations continue, meaning anyone who has not yet raised a lantern, or joined a festive activity, still has time to do so, before the annual community celebrations wrap up.
And that perfect place in Southern California to bid farewell to the multi-week Lunar New Year observations? It's the Chinese American Museum, which traditionally plays host to the final major new year's party on the local calendar, the Los Angeles Lantern Festival.
As the name suggests, things get glowing around sundown at the afternoon-into-evening March 4 event, but things get going much earlier in the day. So arriving well ahead of sunset, the better to fully jump into the assortment of activities, is a really solid idea.
The Immortal Lions Dance Troupe opens the occasion with a vibrant dance presentation during the noontime kick-off ceremony, and several hours of performances shall follow, with Ballet Folklorico, magic from David Chen, and K-Pop Dance troupe Koreos all on the slate.
There shall be noshables at the Saturday-cool gathering look for the food trucks, or head to nearby Olvera Street and there will be museum tours, too.
The beautiful, rippling Silver Dragon closes out the auspicious, look-ahead happening with shimmery majesty, not long after nightfall.
The seven-hour, joy-brimful, lantern-lovely celebration is free.
Happy Year of the Rooster, everyone. May it be the best one yet.
A suspected drunk driver crashed his car into a building in downtown Los Angeles early Thursday morning during an attempt to flee from police, police said.
The Los Angeles Police Department's Central division attempted to pull the driver over around 4:30 a.m. when he fled and crashed his car into a building in the 900 block of South San Pedro Street.
After the crash, police found the man in the car.
He was treated at the scene for injuries and was taken into custody for on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to the Los Angeles Police Department's Central division.
An 11-year-old boy died Wednesday after he collapsed on the track field at Miami Northwestern High School.
Miami Fire Rescue said the boy was warming up for his after-school track club meeting when he suddenly collapsed.
When first responders arrived at the scene, the boy had no pulse and was not breathing.
The 11-year-old was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died. He was identified by family members as Kaleb Harris.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted on the passing of the young boy.
No deeper pain than suffering loss of one's child. Tonight, we mourn alongside the family of a boy who passed away following track practice. Alberto M. Carvalho (@MiamiSup) March 2, 2017
NBC 6 has confirmed the child was a student at Florida International Academy Charter School. He was participating in after-school activities at Northwestern High School when he collapsed.
A Broward County School is investigating a shocking case of cyberbullying after a young girl was filmed in the bathroom.
The experience was so upsetting for the Hollywood Academy Of Arts & Science middle schooler that she says she won't even use the bathroom at school anymore.
The 12-year-old says she was in class when some other students told her there's a video of her in the bathroom. One student encouraged her to come forward and tell the principal, who told her the offenders could go to juvenile detention for making and sending the video.
The girl says she was angry to hear about the video, and feels like she doesn't have her friends to turn to anymore.
"Why me? I was like, kind of nervous, cause I was just like this is gone for like how many days now? And like how many people have seen it?" the girl told NBC 6 "And so it was just like oh my God, and I've been walking around like all happy and whatnot and this has been going around and no one said until now."
Hollywood Academy of Arts & Science says it's investigating, but because the video disappeared there is no evidence.
"Our very highest priority is the safety and security of our students. It is heartbreaking to us as adults when we hear of an allegation of inappropriate photos or cyber bullying taking place and we cannot do anything to locate the perpetrator," the school said in a statement.
The school also says it's planning to talk to students this week about cyber safety.
Family members are mourning the death of an 11-year-old boy who died after collapsing on the track field at Miami Northwestern High School.
"He's truly gonna be missed, missed already," said Susie Pounds, grandmother of Kaleb Harris. "Kaleb was a loving, kind, caring, considerate, very warm-loving spirit."
His family says Kaleb was out doing what he loved, warming up with the Metro Dade Track Club Wednesday afternoon at Miami Northwestern when he suddenly collapsed.
"Several people witnessed him collapse. Initially some people probably thought that he was playing or may have been dehydrated, but when they realized he wasn't getting up they knew something was wrong," said Capt. Ignatius Carroll, with Miami Fire Rescue.
Kaleb was unconscious and not breathing when he was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
The sixth grader leaves behind his mother, grandmother, four sisters and a new-born nephew. His family said he loved his siblings and doing whatever it took to make people around him happy.
"Kaleb loved making people smile, he loved doing things for people, he loved being there for you in anyway he could possibly help," Pounds said.
At Kaleb's school, Florida International Academy, grief counselors met with students Thursday to help them cope with the tragedy. Many of the staff recalled conversations they had with him Wednesday.
"Couple hours before he was just in my presence. So to believe this young energetic child that was under my leadership had expired was just unbelievable. Even now in this moment it is still unreal," said Dr. Leroy Wright, dean of the school.
Family members said Kaleb had no pre-existing medical conditions that they're aware of. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Former Miami Dolphins cornerback Will Allen and his business partner have been sentenced to prison for running a Ponzi scheme that took in more than $35 million.
A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday sentenced Allen, who lives in Davie, and Susan Daub of Coral Springs each to six years in prison and three years of supervised release. They were also ordered to pay restitution totaling $17 million.
Allen and Daub collected millions from investors between 2012 and 2015, saying it would be used for high-interest loans to professional athletes. Their Massachusetts business made some loans but also diverted money to themselves and other ventures.
Both pleaded guilty in November to charges including wire fraud and money laundering.
Allen spent six seasons with the Dolphins from 2006 until 2011 after starting his career with the New York Giants. He most recently played for the New England Patriots before retiring in 2013.
What do you do for an encore when the first movie youre in wins the Oscar for Best Picture? For Alex Hibbert and Jaden Piner, the answer to that question is simple. You go back to the 7th grade.
Alex and Jaden are trying to be like everyone else at Norland Middle School, but after their excellent Hollywood adventure, life isnt the same.
It was a different feel, everybody was saying congratulations and everything and it felt wonderful, Jaden said.
The school literally rolled out a red carpet for the boys to hold a news conference along with their drama teacher, Tanisha Cidel, who also had a part in Moonlight. She played the school principal. Alex and Jaden played best friends in the film, which wasnt a stretch since theyre inseparable in real life. Neither one had any idea what they were getting into.
No, because we got the audition from school so we thought it was gonna be like a short film or something and just to see it go and be something as big as this is just amazing, Alex said.
Cidel says the boys success sends a message.
I want the parents to understand that if your child has talent or shows an interest in the arts, take it seriously, cultivate the talent, put them in a program, Cidel said.
As the boys try to resume their lives after a whirlwind of awards shows and hobnobbing with the stars, theres no denying their status has changed. One way to measure that is by looking at their social media accounts.
I am getting so much followers, my phone is blowing up, and theres a lot of people congratulating me, Alex said.
So what about that crazy moment at the Oscars when they first announced La La Land had won Best Picture, but then changed it to Moonlight?
When they first was like, Moonlight got it, we were like, yeah, nice joke, but they were like serious, you guys got it, and all I remember, I jumped over this guy and he was screaming, and I was like sorry, I just won an award! Alex said.
Without a doubt, the two 7th graders are big-time now, but Jadens dad says his son hasnt gone fame-crazy.
He still wanna be a normal kid, wanna jump on his bike and stuff like that, play with the kids in the community, he really hasnt changed much, at all, actually, said Eric Piner.
Acting is in their blood now. Alex is going to be in a new show on the Showtime network, a drama set in Chicago which begins production this summer. Jaden is considering his next step. They each have a lot to learn, and ample time in which to learn it.
An 18-year-old man was arrested for allegedly going on bizarre attack while wearing no clothes. Michael Ramsay was naked when Boca Raton police said he broke down an apartment door and attacked a man.
The incident happened Sunday at an apartment building on South Ocean Drive in Bocan Raton. He was seen running around the property naked before the attack.
According to a police report, Ramsey was banging on the door until he allegedly broke it open. Once inside the home, officers said the 18-year-old attacked the homeowner, Dennis Duddy, with a vase and vase stand. Detectives said Ramsey got the vase and vase stand from the lobby of the apartment building. The police report said Ramsey hit Duddy in the head with the vase and pulled a large portion of his hair out.
Officers said the 18-year-old and the victim don't know each other.
When officers arrived to the scene, they said Ramsey was sitting in a chair inside the apartment completely naked. Ramsey was sweating profusely and allegedly told police he was under the influence of acid.
According to the arrest report, Ramsey apparently blacked out and didn't know what happened at the time of his arrest. He was hospitalized before being transferred to the Palm Beach County jail and charged with several counts of burglary and aggravated battery.
The victim was taken to the hospital to be treated for head pain.
A judge has granted prosecutors' request to keep the wife of the Orlando, Florida, nightclub shooter in jail, at least for now.
U.S. District Judge Paul Byron in Orlando issued the order late Thursday.
The order states Noor Salman should stay in jail while the judge decides if she should remain in custody until her trial. She is charged with helping her husband scout out potential targets.
A day earlier, a federal magistrate judge in Oakland, California, ordered Salman's release, saying it's "debatable'' whether the government has enough evidence to convict her. That judge ordered the release for as early as Friday.
Salman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The criminal charges were filed in Orlando but the detention hearing was held in Oakland, California, because Salman was living in the Bay Area at the time she was taken into custody.
"In terms of Noor being released ... we don't know," said Linda Moreno, one of her attorneys, prior to the judge's decision.
Salman has pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding and abetting, and obstruction of justice. She faces life in prison if she is convicted.
Salman's husband, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack at the Pulse gay nightclub on June 12. The deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history left 49 people dead and dozens more injured. Mateen was eventually killed by police.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to keep Salman in jail.
In their motion, prosecutors said there is a presumption in the law for Salman to be held in jail since the crime involves terrorism, and that prosecutors need not show anything more than an indictment to back up their request.
"Here, the defendant proffered evidence of her husband's alleged abuse, the affidavits of friends and family, and her lack of overall danger in support of an argument that she does not constitute a flight risk or danger to the community," the prosecutors said. "Such proffered evidence falls far short of justifying a finding in favor of release, particularly in light of the nature of the charged offense."
Moreno said the motion seemed a rehash of what was argued in the California courtroom.
"The court found that the evidence they claim supports these allegations was debatable," Moreno said. "It's far more than debatable. It's groundless."
The Department of Health in Miami-Dade County had issued a rabies alert in the Kendall area after a raccoon tested positive for the disease, officials said Wednesday.
Officials say it's the first rabid raccoon in the county since 2001 and the first confirmed rabid animal this year.
"The concern is that there may be other raccoons infected, that people have to take appropriate precautions to not enter in contact with raccoons," said Dr. Alvaro Mejia-Echeverry from the Miami-Dade Health Department.
The rabies alert lasts 60 days and includes these boundaries:
Southwest 88th Street to the North;
Southwest 95th Street to the South;
Southwest 107th Avenue to the East; and
Southwest 117th Avenue to the West.
Officials say an animal with rabies could infect other wild or domestic animals that have not been vaccinated against rabies.
Residents and visitors are advised to take the following precautions:
Keep rabies vaccinations up to date for all pets.
Keep your pets under direct supervision so they do not come in contact with wild animals. If your pet is bitten by a wild animal, seek veterinary assistance for the animal immediately and contact Miami-Dade County Animal Services at 3-1-1.
Call your local animal control agency to remove any stray animals from your neighborhood.
Do not handle, feed, or unintentionally attract wild animals with open garbage cans or litter.
Avoid contact with stray and feral animals.
Never adopt wild animals or bring them into your home.
Teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly.
Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools, and other similar areas, where they might come in contact with people and pets.
Persons who have been bitten or scratched by wild or domestic animals should seek medical attention and report the injury to the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County at 305-324-2400.
For more information from the Department of Health, click here.
A U.S. Postal worker was shot at after encountering burglary suspects in a southwest Miami-Dade neighborhood Thursday, officials said.
The shooting happened around 11 a.m. in the 9300 block of Southwest 93rd Avenue as the postal worker was on his usual route.
Officials said the postal worker saw a burglary in progress and encountered the suspects. The suspects opened fire on the worker and fled the scene.
"In no way, shape or form will our letter carriers or any employee for that matter get involved in any trying to solve or play hero or superhero and try to solve any kind of crime, any way, shape or form," postal service spokesman Ivan Rodriguez said. "It was coincidentally the fact that he happened to be right behind them so they're thinking he got spooked, we're being followed."
No injuries were reported. The suspects remain at-large.
No other information was immediately known.
Check back with NBC 6 for updates.
A South Florida woman has been arrested on child neglect charges after her young son was found with multiple injuries including a fractured arm and leg.
Tache Roshandra Worthy, 29, was arrested Tuesday on two counts of child neglect causing great bodily harm following an investigation by Homestead Police.
Worthy appeared in court Wednesday where she was ordered held on $10,000 bond. She was appointed a public defender.
According to an arrest report, in October 2015 Worthy's 10-month-old son was brought to the hospital for a burn on his buttocks. She told doctors he had a pimple and that she had tried to pop it with a warm rag.
The wound was discovered to be an abscess, consistent with MRSA, and it required antibiotics and a surgical procedure to drain the wound, the report said.
When doctors examined the boy they found he had fractures to his right thigh and left upper arm, the report said.
"The fractures were highly suspicious for non-accidental trauma," the report noted.
Worthy told officers that her former boyfriend had inflicted the injuries, but police said the ex-boyfriend hasn't been arrested and is not being investigated.
The report noted that Worthy had failed to protect the boy and "failed to obtain prompt medical attention for his injuries."
It was a warm homecoming Wednesday for members of the Florida State National Guard, First Battalion 124th Infantry.
As many as 130 soldiers landed at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airpot as their loved ones anxiously waited for their arrival.
Most of them are from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
They returned home after a year deployed as security forces at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.
Carla Haar brought her 2-year-old son to surprise her husband as he got off the plane.
"I think he's going to be super excited. He recognizes him from Facetime and stuff like that, so on the way here he kept saying 'oh, daddy is home!' So, I'm sure he'll recognize him and be excited," said Haar.
The Broward Sheriff's Fire department also gave the soldiers a warm welcome with a water cannon salute.
What to Know The I-Team and Telemundo 47 Investiga sent surveys to hundreds of people serving time for robbery in New York and New Jersey prisons
A whopping 70 percent of muggers were always or sometimes under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they committed robberies
Surprisingly, a majority of muggers didn't have a preference as to the sex of their targets, though 43 percent said they targeted men
When it comes to career thieves, there's nothing like robbing a cop. Or so says convicted mugger Christopher Ellington.
The 32-year-old Harlem native is serving a 10-year sentence at Coxsackie Correctional Facility in upstate New York for mugging three people in midtown Manhattan over three nights in 2012. He says he has only been convicted of that spree, but has committed dozens of robberies.
One, in particular, stands out.
Years ago, Ellington said he targeted a police officer in Harlem because it was a badge of honor for young teens to go after a cop.
"If you got a cop, you were the man on the block. I crept up behind him and put him in a chokehold," he said. "I took everything. I left the gun."
Ellington was one of many convicted robbers to respond to a questionnaire the I-Team sent to hundreds of inmates in December as part of a joint project with Telemundo to help you avoid becoming a mugging target -- or victim.
See full coverage of the series, including survey results and other interviews, here.
He and another inmate that the I-Team previously spoke with at Greenhaven Correctional Facility, David Solano, said that plainclothes NYPD officers were included on their long lists of victims. Solano says he ambushed and robbed an officer without knowing that he was in law enforcement.
"I grabbed him from behind. I went in and thought it was his wallet but it was his badge, so I took his badge and gun," he said. "About two or three months later, he saw me at the precinct and said, 'yo, I remember you'."
The 49-year-old convict said he was sure the officer never reported the theft. If he were the cop, Solano said, he wouldn't tell his colleagues if a robber stripped him of his badge and gun.
Solano previously told the I-Team though that it didn't matter who he mugged -- just what he could get out of it.
For Ellington, the adrenaline rush was paramount. He said there was a certain thrill in knowing he could be caught at any moment.
"You're robbing the people, and the adrenaline is, 'Oh my God, I know I can get caught'," he said. "When you don't get caught for a while, you tend to get bold."
The career criminal said he always carried a weapon, including guns, knives, brass knuckles and crow bars.
"It was like a job to me, it was seven days a week," Ellington said. "I was my own boss, I made my own schedule."
"You get hungry for keeping up a lifestyle with your friends," he added. "I didn't just want a penny in my pocket, I wanted to have a couple of hundred [dollars]."
What to Know Tens of millions of people worldwide have been watching the stream in anticipation of the birth of "April" the giraffe's fourth calf
Her story was vaulted into global headlines after activists complaining of "nudity" got the live stream yanked from YouTube last week
The live stream was back online about an hour and a half after the brouhaha started
There's been a lot of kicking in the belly of everyone's favorite pregnant giraffe April, the upstate New York zoo that's been monitoring her health and updating her millions of fans said in a daily update.
"Watch closely for strong kicks from within!" the Animal Adventure Park posted Wednesday night. The Harpursville zoo said that April hasn't changed much physically but that there has been "significant movement once again in the belly."
A cold front moving into the northeast on Thursday and the zoo suggested this might "shake things up." Other than the belly movement, April's keeper and vet also documented "increased tail raising and holding," as well as "periods of increased movement/pace" Wednesday night.
Her condition was pretty much unchanged Thursday morning, the zoo said, adding that there was "a lot of behavior that had us on our toes but no acknowledgeable active labor at this time."
Over the last week, April has captivated tens of millions of people across the world who have been checking in on her via the live stream in anticipation of the birth of her fourth calf.
Some 60,000 people were tuned in to the stream at the crack of dawn Thursday. The graceful giraffe appeared calm and collected as she picked at stray pieces of hay and stretched around to scratch a back itch. Watch it above.
The zoo, which unveiled April-inspired emojis and t-shirts as the fan base for the 15-year-old long-necked beauty continues to swell, said twin Barbados lambs and a Patagonian Cavy were born early Wednesday.
"Babies babies everywhere!" the Animal Adventure Park posted Wednesday morning. "Just not yet in the giraffe barn."
April's pregnancy was catapulted into global headlines last week after YouTube briefly yanked the zoo's live stream following complaints by animal activists that it violated the site's policies concerning "nudity and sexual content." Thousands upon thousands of commenters voiced their frustration on Facebook and YouTube, and the stream was restored within an hour or so.
Giraffe pregnancies last for 15 months. Labor lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Once April goes into active labor, zookeepers will go in to help her the rest of the way. The calf will be about 150 pounds and 6 feet tall at birth and up and walking in about an hour.
The zoo said it will hold an online competition to name the baby giraffe once it's born.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is traveling to Israel in a gesture of solidarity spurred by acts of anti-Semitism at Jewish cemeteries, college campuses and community centers across the nation.
Cuomo announced the trip Wednesday during a speech to Orthodox Jewish students, parents and teachers advocating at the Capitol for increased funding for religious schools.
The event was organized by the Orthodox Union, a nonprofit Jewish group with a key focus on nonpublic school education.
"I want to say to the people of Israel and I want to say to the Jewish community, 'In New York, you are not alone, and every person in the state of New York with any decency and understanding of what it means to be a New Yorker stands with you at this moment,'" Cuomo said.
Cuomo denounced local and national incidents of vandalism and threats as "repugnant," echoing a speech he gave earlier Wednesday at the Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center.
New York has the largest Jewish population of any city outside of Israel. Cuomo, who last visited Israel in 2014, said the visit this weekend will focus on economic development, technology and security collaboration with Israeli leaders. The expedition is paid for with state funds through a 2015 initiative for trade missions to Mexico, Canada, Italy, China, and Cuba.
Cuomo, who attended a Catholic high school, told the crowd of nonpublic school advocates that religious schools are necessary for a thriving education system. Cuomo last week proposed an additional $25 million for security at religious schools to combat hate crimes, in addition to the $181 million his budget for nonpublic schools.
The grandson of mob boss John Gotti was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to selling drugs in his Queens neighborhood.
John J. Gotti, 23, will also forfeit about $260,000 in drug proceeds.
The younger Gotti was arrested in early August 2016 and pleaded guilty last month. Had he gone to trial, he was facing the possibilty of 25-years-to-life in prison.
Like his grandfather, Gotti was brought down by covert listening devices.
Investigators intercepted telephone conversations and installed a bug in an Infiniti G35 sedan he used, capturing detailed conversations regarding his Oxycodone trafficking business, authorities said.
In recorded conversations, Gotti said he sold more than 4,200 pills every month, netting about $100,000 a month in drug sales, and once calculated that his trafficking business generated roughly $1.6 million annually.
What to Know Democrats are putting pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions after it was revealed he met with the Russian ambassador last year
Scientists believe they've found the oldest known fossils in Canada
Two accountants responsible for the Academy Awards gaffe will never return to the Oscars again
Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here.
Calls for Trump AG to Resign Amid Russia Revelations
Attorney General Jeff Sessions had conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season last year, contact that Sessions' spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday, a revelation that fueled calls for the attorney general to resign or recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the election and even resign from his job. Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump and a policy adviser to the Republican candidate, did not disclose those communications at his confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government. In a statement Wednesday night, Sessions said, "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
Lawyers to Aides: Keep Russia Materials
White House lawyers have instructed the president's aides to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related investigations, three administration officials said Wednesday. The instructions, which were sent to White House staff on Tuesday, come after Senate Democrats last week asked the White House and law enforcement agencies to keep all materials involving contacts that Trump's administration, campaign and transition team or anyone acting on their behalf have had with Russian government officials or their associates.
Senate Set to Confirm Ben Carson
The next Trump administration Cabinet nominee up for a vote in the Senate is celebrated neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Approval is expected when senators vote Thursday on President Trump's choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Carson has no government or housing policy experience, and Democrats were critical early on about his credentials. Despite that, he won unanimous support in a Senate committee vote in January. On Wednesday, Carson cleared a Senate hurdle when lawmakers voted, 62-37, to move his nomination to a final vote.
Oprah Winfrey 2020?
Oprah Winfrey seemed to suggest that she's shifted her thoughts on a presidential run of her own, with a thinly veiled reference to President Trump, in a video clip published Wednesday of Bloomberg's "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations." "I never considered the question even a possibility," she said, when asked if she ever considered a run. Rubenstein said it's clear that experience running the government isn't a prerequisite, since Trump was elected without ever serving in office. "I thought 'Oh, gee, I don't have the experience, I don't know enough.' And now I'm thinking, '...Oh...Oh!'" Winfrey replied, with an intrigued look on her face as the audience applauded.
Earths Earliest Known Fossils Discovered
Tiny tubes and filaments in some Canadian rock appear to be the oldest known fossils, giving new support to some ideas about how life began, a new study says. The features are mineralized remains of what appear to be bacteria that lived some 3.77 billion to 4.28 billion years ago, the scientists said. That would surpass the 3.7 billion years assigned to some other rock features found in Greenland, which were proposed to be fossils last August. The new results come from examining rock found along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec.
Accountants Banned From Oscars
The president of the film academy says the two accountants responsible for the best picture flub at Sunday's Academy Awards will never return to the Oscar show. PwC accountants Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were responsible for the winners' envelopes at Sunday's Oscar show. Cullinan tweeted a photo of Emma Stone from backstage minutes before handing presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for best picture.
Lopez and "Trump" on Fallon
Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Fallon had a dance battle and Fallon brought his Donald Trump character back to report on his speech to Congress on "Tonight."
Five people have been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to steal mail, checks and personal information from USPS street posts throughout the Bronx, NBC 4 New York has learned.
Two more suspects are at large, and another is expected to voluntarily appear for arraignment later in the week.
Since late 2015 through January 2017, Brian Marte, 20, Erickson Batista, 24, Junior Taveras, 19, Angel Aristy, 18, Luis Rosado, 19, Eoscaterys Polanco, 23, Brayan Rodriguez, 23, and Ronardo Baez, 20, allegedly participated in the mail-stealing scheme using other people's debit cards.
Officials with the United States Postal Inspection Service say the defendants were brought to the 50th Precinct Wednesday. The eight defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail theft and aggravated identity theft.
Prosecutors say they found the suspects with more than $100,000 in stolen checks and money orders.
The round of arrests stems from crimes committed all over the west Bronx, officials said, including in Kingsbridge and Riverdale. Prosecutors say that since 2015 there have been over 50 arrests for mail theft in the Claremont Park area involving over $750,000 in stolen checks and money orders.
Officials say they responded to similar complaints on the Upper West Side some time ago and outfitted the neighborhoods with new mailboxes intended to prevent such scams. It has also been working to swap out boxes in the Bronx.
A New Jersey doctor was indicted Thursday on charges that he sold prescriptions for addictive opioid painkillers to people who had no medical need for them, including one man who died from an overdose.
Dr. Byung Kang, of Little Falls, was charged with one count of "strict liability" for the drug-induced death of 26-year-old Michael Justice, of Clifton. Justice's mother had called Kang 18 months earlier threatening to call police if he didn't stop prescribing her son oxycodone, according to a statement from Attorney General Christopher Porrino.
Kang's attorney said he hadn't yet reviewed the indictment that also charges Kang with money laundering, tax fraud and drug distribution. Kang's wife and receptionist, Soo, also was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and tax-related counts.
"Doctors are supposed to preserve health and life, but Dr. Kang allegedly turned his back on all medical and ethical standards, not to mention all standards of human decency," Porrino said. "By indiscriminately peddling this dangerous painkiller which has been the gateway to so much opiate addiction, misery and death Dr. Kang allegedly caused the death of a vulnerable young man and put himself on a par with every street-corner drug dealer."
Kang sold 90-count prescriptions for 30 milligram oxycodone pills for $150 to $200 to numerous patients who didn't have a medical need, Porrino said.
He was first arrested last May and charged with illegally distributing oxycodone after an investigation by the state and Drug Enforcement Administration. He entered a consent order with the state Board of Medical Examiners in July prohibiting him from practicing until further action.
"Unfortunately, this is another example of a doctor who was allegedly more concerned with his financial health than the health of his patients," said Carl Kotowski, special agent in charge of the DEA's New Jersey division.
A New Jersey woman was pummeled in her home when she came face to face with a would-be burglar who had broken in, police say.
The South Orange woman told police she was on the third floor of her Ward Place home at about 10:15 a.m. on Feb. 22 when she heard noises coming from the second floor.
When she went to check it out, she discovered a stranger, apparently about to steal property from inside. The intruder punched the woman repeatedly, then ran away, police said.
The suspect is described as being in his 30s, about 5 feet 10 inches, last seen wearing a black hooded sweater and blue jeans. It appears he'd gotten into the house through a sliding door in the back, police said.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call police at 973-763-7788.
What to Know The violent thief robbed three women this week and another women last week in Lower Manhattan
Police say he's gotten away with thousands of dollars and left at least one of the women in the hospital
The women were arriving home at night when they were targeted
A brazen and violent thief has made off with thousands of dollars by beating and robbing women in Lower Manhattan over the past two weeks, police said.
The robber has targeted women in Chinatown and the Lower East Side; he robbed three women this week and a fourth last week, according to police.
Detectives were canvassing the area around Broome and Allen streets Wednesday night as they investigated the attacks. A 45-year-old woman was followed into her building nearby on Tuesday night. The robber punched her several times in the face before taking her wallet, police said.
The attack hit home for Annette Frey, who lives next door. She said someone tried to get in behind her as she was arriving home one night last year.
I called the police, and they were still trying to push the door in, Frey said.
On Monday, there was a similar robbery near Ludlow and Hester streets. Police said the man covered a 28-year-old womans mouth and threw her to the ground in the vestibule of her building before punching her repeatedly. The victim was treated at a hospital for injuries to the back of her head and face.
Police said the robber beat and robbed yet another woman on Sunday night near the intersection of Eldridge and Delancey streets. A fourth woman was attacked at Catherine and Henry streets in Chinatown last week.
Police said they have no good description of the suspect but hope to release surveillance video in the coming days.
A remark made by a Queens community board member at a recent meeting about bicycle lanes has sparked a firestorm of criticism, with many calling for her to step down.
Ann Pfoser Darby, a member of Community Board 4 in Corona for decades, was at a transportation meeting Tuesday night to discuss bike lanes on 111th Street. She allegedly made a comment about illegal immigrants being the main group using bike lanes.
Juan Restrepo, a member of advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, was at the meeting and says he heard her make the disparaging remark.
"She essentially said that once Trump was in office, these bike lanes won't serve a purpose anymore, because the people who use them are immigrants, are all going to be deported because there won't be anyone to ride them anymore," he said.
Restrepo was stunned.
"How do you react to something like that? This is someone who is on a community board, meant to represent the community," he said.
Darby doubled down on her comments to News 4 over the phone Wednesday.
"They were telling me, ICE is going through Corona, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, so when ICE goes through, logistically speaking, they're not going to have people using bike lanes," she said.
As for how she can tell who's here legally: "Well, I use certain kinds of dress, the people I know use certain kind of dress. If different people wear different kids of dress, you know they're different kinds of people."
"I'm a realist, not a racist," she said. "I speak the truth."
In a statement to News 4, Board Chair Damian Vargas said, "This board member's comment is solely her opinion and does not reflect the opinion or values of Community Board 4. Apologies were given to those members of the public who were present.
"Community Board 4 welcomes the free expression of diverse viewpoints as it is essential to effectively represent communities as diverse as Corona and Elmhurst. However, we will not tolerate disrespectful or disparaging comments about any member of any community," Vargas said.
Vargas says the community board leaders will investigate and work with elected officials to determine a proper course of action.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz told News 4, "These types of comments from public servants are never acceptable."
Community board members are reappointed every two years by the borough president. Darby is up for reappointment this month. Katz will announce her decisions on all Queens Community Board appointments and reappointments by the end of the month.
Darby's neighbor, who calls New York home after moving here from China, says she's a good neighbor.
"I know she has opinions but I don't comment on her opinions," she said.
An immigration judge granted bond Thursday to a 26-year-old Salvadoran woman seeking asylum in the United States, allowing her to leave an immigration detention facility to seek treatment for a brain tumor.
Sara Beltran Hernandez's family in New York posted her $15,000 bond after the hearing and she will be released by the end of the day from the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, south of Fort Worth, an Amnesty International official said. She has been held in the detention center since November 2015.
"She's going to get medical treatment hopefully in New York. She might get checked out here first to make sure she's OK to travel. Then she'll be treated there," Beltran Hernandez's lawyer, Fatma Marouf, said after the hearing in Dallas.
Beltran Hernandez has been seeking asylum in the U.S. for almost a year and a half, saying she can't return to El Salvador because of the risk of domestic violence and threats of gang violence specific to her family. Beltran Hernandez has two small children in El Salvador who would be allowed to join her if she is granted asylum.
Chris Hamilton, a Dallas-area attorney initially involved in the effort to free Beltran Hernandez, said last month she complaind about headaches, nosebleeds and memory loss before she collapsed on Feb. 10. She was transported to Texas Huguley Hospital where she was diagnosed with a brain tumor that requires surgery.
Her attorneys have said they had trouble visiting her and had difficulty reaching her by phone. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials have said she was able to speak by phone with her family and her attorney of record while at the hospital.
Hamilton claims Beltran Hernandez was forceibly removed from the hospital after two weeks. A spokesperson for ICE said Beltran Hernandez was discharged from the hospital and was returned to the detention center.
Beltran Hernandez had sought a conditional release to have more control over her medical care. She has already been denied bond twice.
Marouf said a specialist Monday confirmed that Beltran Hernandez has a large tumor on her pituitary gland. She said it was determined to not be cancerous and did not need to be immediately removed.
Marouf said the doctor recommended that the woman be monitored because the tumor had hemorrhaged and that she return for scans every six weeks. She and the other attorneys said they were concerned that the necessary level of monitoring was not being done at the detention center's medical facility.
"I think she is just trying to absorb it all. I think she's going to be overwhelmingly happy to be with her family again. She really cries because she misses her family a lot," Marouf said.
The release comes after a campaign by Amnesty International, which mobilized members across the country to call ICE and ask for her to be set free.
Sara and her family are overjoyed that she will finally be able to be with her loved ones and receive medical care after being unjustly detained for over 400 days, said Eric Ferrero of Amnesty International USA. Sara never should have been held for so long in the first place, let alone with a medical issue. It is unconscionable to treat people fleeing violence and danger as if they are criminals. Applying for asylum should not mean giving up ones human rights in the process.
Beltran-Hernandezs release will allow her to reside with her family in New York City while her asylum claim is processed.
Top Democrats are demanding that Attorney General Jeff Sessions resign after it was revealed he talked with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. twice during the presidential campaign last year, in what appears to contradict Sessions' sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearing.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that "Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign." She added: "There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians."
She later issued a statement trumpeting that 100 Democrats in the House have joined the call for Sessions' resignation.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. before the presidential election last year. The new revelation Wednesday raised questions about whether he misled senators who inquired about the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. Back in January, in response to a question from Sen. Al Franken during his confirmation hearing, Sessions said he did not have communications with the Russians during the campaign. As attorney general, Sessions overseas the FBI, which is investigating alleged connections between Russia and President Trumps campaign.
Sessions did recuse himself from any Trump campaign probes later Thursday.
In back-to-back press conferences Thursday, Pelosi and Democratic Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer ramped up their criticism.
"Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country Attorney General Sessions should resign," Schumer said.
We see that he himself needs an investigation for lying," Pelosi said. "Its against the law and the top law enforcement officer should know that.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings were also among the prominent Democrats called for Sessions to resign, NBC News reported.
And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place to resign. We need it now. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
Still, not all Democrats went so far as to call for the nation's top law enforcement official to resign.
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a member of the Armed Services Committee, told CNN that he also met with Russia's ambassador in a group setting with colleagues and that is part of the job.
He said he would have disclosed that if he were questioned by congressional committee and Sessions is "going to have to talk about this."
Minnesota Sen. Al Franken also said Sessions must "come forward with the truth." Franken stopped short of demanding Sessions' resignation but called for an "independent prosecutor" to investigate any links the Trump campaign may have had with the Russian government.
At Sessions' confirmation hearing in January, Franken asked the then-Alabama senator what he would do if there was evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the 2016 White House race.
Sessions replied he was "unaware of those activities."
Franken told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday that Sessions' statements about his contacts with Moscow have been "contradictory."
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, who joined her Democratic colleagues in calling for Sessions' resignation, wrote on Twitter that as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee she never received a call or request from the Russian ambassador for a meeting.
An editor with the conservative National Review Online then resurfaced two past tweets where McCaskill mentioned a meeting and call with Russia's ambassador.
McCaskill tweeted in a follow-up that four years ago the Russian ambassador attended a meeting with "many senators about international adoptions."
"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Lisa Vanderpump and her husband Ken Todd are opening what she calls a first of its kind dog rescue center in Los Angeles, California.
The Vanderpump Dog Rescue Center, which will serve as a rescue and adoption facility for homeless dogs and puppies, opens in Beverly Grove on Thursday.
But, the facility isn't your conventional dog shelter. It's more like a "puppy palace" complete with pink chandeliers, Vanderpump said. And its mission is more than pampering pups. The center hopes to provide a more humane world for dogs everywhere.
In addition to rescue services, the center also offers overnight boarding, grooming, veterinary work, a pet shop and a dog cafe.
[NATL-LA]Inside Lisa Vanderpump's New Dog Rescue Center in Los Angeles
From the Vanderpump family pillows to the Vanderpump dog clothing line, all proceeds benefit the Vanderpump Dog Foundation.
"I'm not making any profit. It's all going to the dogs. My life has actually gone to the dogs," Todd jokingly said.
The foundation's goal is to save four-legged lives and make a positive impact on global legislation, education and treatment of animals for dogs worldwide.
The foundation has garnered international awareness as it fights to put an end dog abuse and slaughter in China.
People begged Vanderpump and her husband Ken Todd to get involved and she says the pair couldn't sleep until they did.
"We saw these horrific pictures of this festival called the Yulin Dog Meat Festival," she said. "Absolutely barbaric."
The Vanderpump Dog Foundation is working to save dogs in China and in Southern California.
"So what we're going to do is take dogs from the kill shelter, really high-risk dogs and we give them grooming and we have them Vanderpuffed kind of glam them up," Vanderpump said.
The restaurateur and reality star tweeted a photo of one of the rescues a dog that was "matted beyond belief" and covered in fleas.
This lovely little man,matted beyond belief is just rescued from kill shelter.Soooo sweet.
Vanderpump Rescue center. pic.twitter.com/NsYhLjQJcY Lisa Vanderpump (@LisaVanderpump) February 28, 2017
The pup was rescued from a kill shelter and is now up for adoption.
"What is celebrity if you can't put it to good use? What is the point of being a celebrity? Todd said.
The Vanderpump Dog Center opens to the public Thursday and is located at 8134 West Third St. in Los Angeles.
Editor's note: This story contains graphic details.
Two women who investigators say were among the many victims abused by an alleged child rapist in Bucks County spoke out on Tuesday.
"I am a victim of William Thomas," one of the women said during a noon press conference at the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA) in Jamison, Pennsylvania.
The two sisters, who are now in their 20s, said they were sexually abused by William Thomas, 58, of Morrisville, when they were children growing up in the Levittown area of Bucks County. They said Thomas was their babysitter at the time of the abuse.
"Children are so young and innocent and nobody deserves something like this," one of the victims said.
The women were two of six alleged victims who have come forward. They said they want other victims to get help.
"I was being taken advantage of by a grown, adult child molester," one of the sisters said. "I hope that anyone else that was affected by this man, please step up. You will be heard."
Thomas was charged on February 5 with child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault on a child, possession and dissemination of child pornography and other related offenses.
Investigators say the child rape allegations date as far back as 40 years.
Falls Township Police first zeroed in on Thomas in November after receiving a call about sexually explicit writings found on a piece of plywood at the Midway Village mobile home park, said a criminal complaint obtained by NBC10 that contains graphic details of alleged assaults. Thomas had worked as a handyman on a vacant trailer and a new owner found the words describing the sexual assault of two young girls, including names, physical descriptions, parents' names and a date of an alleged assault Christmas 2014 police said.
The writer referred to his penis as "one-eyed Willie," police said.
Police compared the writing on the wood to numerous work orders written by Thomas to find that the writing matched, according to police.
Police interviewed the alleged victims but due to the trauma of their assaults, they didn't name Thomas directly by name, officials said. Investigators described many of the victims as "broken people."
Investigators searched Thomas' home at Midway Village and found more than 1,000 prominently displayed photographs and pictures that "depicted naked children, the majority of which were prepubescent" and some that chronicled "molesting," according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators also found writings dating back to the 1970s that documented molestation of children as young as 3 years old, police said.
They also found 500 to 1,000 pairs of prepubescent girls' underwear, some hanging above Thomas' bed, as well as toys and dolls, some with "aftermarket genitals which Thomas created," according to investigators.
"We don't know whether or not he was distributing it," said Weintraub.
The search also uncovered drug paraphernalia and baggies that tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine.
Police interviewed Thomas and he allegedly admitted to having sexual attraction to children dating back to his adolescence. He admitted to pleasuring himself to the child pornography that he has gathered over the decades, police said.
He also admitted to sexually assaulting a family member and a couple children he babysat and also exposing himself to another child, according to police.
Police looked into Thomas' past and discovered other allegations of sexual assault dating back to the 1970s, when a man said Thomas sexually assaulted him when he was just 8 to 11 years old, police said. Thomas would have been 5 1/2 to 6 years older.
In 2010, police investigated Thomas' former Levittown home after a homeowner looking to flip it found "some disturbing items" including a handmade "child-size sex doll," Polaroids of naked children and graphic handwritten notes about performing sexual acts on young girls, according to the criminal complaint. No charges came from that early police report and some of the discoveries were made after police were alerted.
Back in 2000, Thomas was indicted for child abuse after he admitted to writing a graphic note and giving it to a child in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, police said. He told investigators he was taking drugs and on pills at the time and didn't mean to write the note. No word yet of what came of that allegation.
Authorities said some of Thomas' past residences in Bucks County include a home on Pleasant Line in the Pinewood section of Levittown; Pennsbury Woods apartments on New Falls Road in Levittown; Midway Village mobile home park on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. He also worked as a handyman and subcontractor while owing his own home improvement business called Thomas Construction.
Thomas is currently being held in Bucks County prison on $750,000 bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 28.
Authorities urged anyone with information about other possible victims to contact Falls Township Sgt. Christopher Clark at 215-302-3315 and/or Bucks County Detective Lt. Robert Gorman at 215-340-8141. [[412906593, C]]
President Donald Trump has drawn criticism for saying he doesn't have time for books, even prompting a movement called "Bury the White House in Books on Valentine's Day."
So with Read Across America Day being celebrated on Thursday, do Trump's comments matter as adults use the day's many events to encourage children to read? Not that much, according to literacy experts.
"I dont think it has much influence," said Dr. Timothy Shanahan, a renowned literacy expert and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
He said children are more likely to be influenced by their parents or teacherspeople in the immediate vicinitywhen it comes to reading.
Dr. Doug Hesse, executive director of writing and professor of English at the University of Denver said parents and teachers are vital, but that it doesnt help when somebody who has achieved great success is diminishing the importance of reading.
When Trump discusses his reading habits, Hesse said "it probably doesnt [diminish the importance of reading] in the sense that people who are strong readers, who understand the importance of it, will continue to be. I think what it does potentially diminish is that in terms of making decisions, that theres some license to make decisions without a kind of depth of knowledge and understanding that I think comes from reading."
Shanahan added that the president's remarks don't sit well with people who have devoted themselves to literacy.
"Obviously anyone whos dedicated to literature believes literature has a positive impact on individuals in societies," Shanahan said.
Trump has written several books, most notably, "The Art of the Deal," which was a bestseller.
But in an interview last May with Megyn Kelly, who asked about the last book he read, he responded, "I read passages, I read 'areas,' I'll read chapters. I just, I don't have the time."
And in a January interview with Axios, he said, "I like a lot of books. I like reading books. I dont have time to read very much now in terms of the books, but I like reading them.
He also said he isnt a huge fan of reading long memos.
"I like bullets or I like as little as possible. I don't need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page. That I can tell you," he told Axios.
Hesse said, "Its certainly disheartening that reading isnt as highly valued."
He added that the past two administrations have been strongly supportive of reading, and demonstrated it often.
But Shanahan pointed out that the reading habits of past presidents have varied widely. Lyndon B. Johnson, for example, wasnt keen on reading, he said, while Barack Obama said reading books was his secret to surviving the White House.
"Weve had a lot of presidents, and some have been big readers and some havent been," Shanahan said.
He added that he doesnt think it matters much in terms of education specifically, but he said there is information that people cut themselves off from by not reading more, and that when people cut themselves off from certain information, there is a potential to put people at risk, especially when the person in question is in a position of great power, like Trump.
Past presidents, Shanahan said, have had varying tastes in literature. Dwight D. Eisenhower, he said, had a penchant for Western novels, while Harry Truman emphasized the importance of reading history as president.
He added that many times, the American public doesnt learn much about the president's reading habits until the end of their term.
"Its usually the historian who uncovers it later on," he said.
Hesse said a lack of reading can be a negative.
"We lose important perspectives and important kinds of knowledge that really are best handled through complex reading," he said. "And I think that the range is that we lose nuance and we lose an array of alternatives."
Shanahan echoed the sentiment, saying, "I think the president loses out on that, there are dangers to the country if the president cuts themselves off from certain sources of information."
Both Hesse and Shanahan said they dont think that what the president says about reading will have a direct impact on children, but it does send a message.
Touted as the "largest celebration of reading this country has ever seen," "Read Across America Day" is sponsored by the National Education Association. March 2 was chosen to commemorate the birthday of childrens book author Theodor Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss.
Read Across America Day will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, and in the past the George W. Bush and Obamas administrations have celebrated it. Michelle Obama and former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan once did a guest reading for the NEA, and Laura Bush was also active in promoting it, a spokeswoman for the NEA said.
But even with involvement from both White Houses, the president has never actually been directly involved in "Read Across America Day," as it was created by the NEA, the organizations spokeswoman said.
In the past, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI) have together sponsored resolutions to designate March 2 as Read Across America Day.
A spokesman for Reed confirmed that both Reed and Collins again plan to spearhead the effort in the Senate this year.
Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and Susan Davis (D-Calif.) have also sponsored legislation to designate March 2 as Read Across America Day.
First Lady Melania Trump took part in the day's celebrations by reading to children at the Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Childrens Health at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
The first lady read Dr. Seuss' book, "Oh! The Places You'll Go!" and told children, "Loving to read early in life has the power to make each one of you a lifelong learner."
She also emphasized that the United States must instill a love for reading in young readers.
"Education is a great equalizer and nothing can be more critical to achieving empowerment than reading and literacy," she said.
In a letter about Read Across America Day 2017, NEA President President Lily Eskelsen Garcia wrote, "NEAs Read Across America is an incredible vehicle for focusing attention on the literacy needs and successes of our children, but we know it takes much more than a one-day celebration."
"Its the relationships with books, kids, teachers, librarians, parents, volunteers, and other caring community members form on that day that can have a long-term impact on our nation of diverse readers," she wrote.
Hesse said statements by readers are important.
"The statements that came out of the Bush and Obama White Houses, talking about the importance of reading, celebrating reading, sharing books theyve been reading, going to schools, reading with kidsthese are all really symbolic," he said.
Police are searching for a man accused of exposing himself to three University of Delaware students overnight.
On Wednesday shortly after midnight, a 20-year-old University of Delaware student was walking on Haines Street, north of Continental Avenue in Newark, Delaware when she spotted a naked man standing near the sidewalk committing a lewd act. The woman ran from the area and called Newark Police.
Two 21-year-old University of Delaware students also told police they were on the 100 block of Haines Street shortly before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when they spotted the same suspect wearing a sweatshirt over his face, exposing his genitals and committing a lewd act.
The two women walked away from the area and contacted police. Officers also spoke with another 21-year-old student who lives in the house the suspect was standing outside of. The woman told police she wasnt aware the suspect had been on her property.
Police reviewed surveillance cameras in the area and spotted the suspect and his vehicle, a 2011 silver Dodge Charger with markings on the side, according to investigators. Police obtained the vehicles registration plate and determined it belonged to Donald W. Maxwell, Jr., 62, of Millsboro, Delaware. Police obtained an arrest warrant for Maxwell and charged him with lewdness, indecent exposure and criminal trespass. They continue to search for him.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call the Newark Police Department at 302-366-7111.
Newark Police Department
[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney discussed the citys pension program, housing concerns, school system plans and efforts being made to battle drug abuse during his annual budget address in front of City Council Thursday morning.
In Kenneys $4.4 billion budget and five-year plan for Philadelphia released overnight he sets aside new funding for certain programs. [[415232033, C]]
The budget -- which calls for a three percent increase in spending year over year -- puts a focus on job creation and taxes. Kenney hopes to lower Philadelphia's hefty wage tax to under 3.7 percent by 2022 -- the lowest level since the 1970s. He will also ask council to commit to funding the Pension Fund by 80 percent in the next 13 years.
Kenney wants to put $1.9 million toward the opioid problem after thousands of hospital visits and 900 deaths reported in the city alone last year. The money would help improve the distribution of Narcan, an overdose reversal drug, it would also fund a campaign aimed at the highest prescribing health care providers. And, it would also develop a real time data base to track openings at treatment facilities.
A little more than a million dollars would go toward housing. It would support families exiting shelters as well as serve as an intervention to help families and people who are chronically homeless.
The budget proposes more than a $900,000 increase in lead poisoning prevention. That money would allow the city to tackle lead paint in nearly double the amount of homes it can address now.
Some of the ways to fund the new program include the controversial sugary beverage tax, a.k.a. "soda tax," which is expected to bring in $92.4 million dollars in 12 months. Soda tax opponents plan to protest Kenneys speech Thursday.
The biggest cut in Kenney's budget plan is slashing the Community Development Fund by 11.45 percent. [[238427591, C]]
A 17-year-old boy who authorities say escaped from a behavioral health center was charged with a "brutal" home invasion and theft where a grandmother was left tied up for four days in a dark closet, Chester County prosecutors said.
"This juvenile engaged in a brutal attack on the victim, then showed callous disregard for her life," Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said. "The charged juvenile is lucky that the victim did not die. If the victim had not been found by her family, the defendant would be facing murder charges."
A 72-year-old woman is recovering after the Feb. 22 choking and beating inside her home on the 1000 block of Creek Road (Rt. 282) in East Brandywine Township.
The woman returned home that day to find that someone burglarized her house, having stolen credit cards. She then went to her regularly scheduled work day, the DA's office said.
As the woman -- who lives alone -- returned from work and got out of her vehicle later that night a male dressed in all black grabbed her from behind and hit her in the head, investigators said.
He choked the woman unconscious then covered her head with a shopping bag, prosecutors said. Duct tape was wrapped around her neck and the tape and zip-ties were used to bound her arms and legs.
During the attack he allegedly told the woman, "You'll be with Jesus soon," prosecutors said.
Before leaving, prosecutors said he put the woman in the unlit cramped space under the stairs and left her tied up without food or water. Four days passed before a family member found her. The relative stopped by the victim's home after several phone calls went unanswered.
The woman was then taken to Paoli Hospital where emergency doctors treated her for injuries.
Police said the teen left the home with a laptop as well as the woman's car, a 2013 silver Fiat 500.
It was that vehicle, along with use of the woman's credit cards, that helped lead investigators to the teen, prosecutors said.
Police used surveillance video from Maryland to zero in on the teen since the victim's credit cards were used on the same day of the attack, prosecutors said. The video showed the teen using the cards and getting into and out of the victim's car, according to prosecutors.
Investigators later learned the teen was being housed at behavioral health facility Devereux Brandywine, about three miles from the victim's home.
Devereux staff reported the teen missing the day of the attack. He returned two days later and was transferred to another facility, the DA said.
Detectives searched the teen's room where they found the clothes the boy wore during the attack, prosecutors said. Police said Devereux staff told them the teen bleached his shoes after he returned to the facility, but investigators said a diamond pattern on the soles matched footprints left at the crime scene.
Investigators didn't identify the boy since he is a minor but said he was originally from Thailand and most recently lived in Media, Pennsylvania. He was charged in juvenile court Wednesday with attempted homicide, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, strangulation and related offenses.
"Thank you to the district attorney's office and their detectives, the Baltimore city Police Department, and to the many police agencies and medical and other support teams that assisted us at the scene and with the investigation, "East Brandywine Police Chief Mark Kosci said.
"A special thank you to the victim and her family for their strength and perseverance. Our praters are with them for a full recovery."[[238427591, C]]
U.S. Coast Guard crews and San Diego Lifeguards helped the crew of a lobster boat trapped on the rocks in Shelter Island Wednesday.
The boat was reported to be trapped just after 10 p.m. between the Point Loma Lighthouse and Ballast Point.
According to the Coast Guard, San Diego Lifeguards helped them rescue the crew from the boat.
They were taken to the 1400 block of Shelter Island Drive to be assessed by medics.
At this point, it is unknown how many people were on the boat.
Coast Guard told NBC 7, the boat was still trapped on the rocks and will likely be removed Thursday.
No other information was available.
Comments made on social media by an Otay Water District board member sparked outrage from many community members--some even calling for his resignation.
Hector Gastelum's post on Twitter on Feb. 19 received heavy backlash.
In the tweet, Gastelum called for more countries to be included in the controversial Muslim ban, even using phrases like "subhuman" and "scum" to refer to individuals from those countries.
The tweet was also linked to an article that connected violence in Sweden to Muslim refugees. But credibility of that article has been questioned since it was published last month.
Now, the San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on the community to hold Gastelum accountable for his actions.
Hanif Mohebi, Executive Director of CAIR told NBC 7, this is not the first time Gastelum has made such statements.
"There seems to be a pattern. There's a pattern of him projecting Islamophobic, anti-Muslim rethoric," Mohebi said.
Mohebi added that they support Gastelum's freedom of speech but as a public official, he should not "generalize and use words that he used to describe a community."
This is Gastelum's first term in office--he represents Division 4 in the water district.
"If he is going to apologize, he has to sincerely apologize, accept his mistakes, admit it and promise never to repeat it for any community," Mohebi said.
He added that the community needs to come together because it's a much bigger issue.
"It's beyond just this case. What do we do as a community, as a city, as a county when our public officials, the very people that represent a community come up with these bigoted views," Mohebi said. "How do we deal with that?"
Gastelum attended Wednesday's board meeting but did not comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the water board voted on a resolution, mostly symbolic, that condemns discrimination.
U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-52nd District) and U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D - 53rd District) joined Democratic congressional leaders in calling for the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Top Democrats are demanding that Attorney General Jeff Sessions resign after it was revealed he talked with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. twice during the presidential campaign last year, in what appears to contradict Sessions' sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearing.
Sessions agreed Thursday to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
President Donald Trump said there was no need and he retains "total" confidence in Sessions.
The Attorney General is our nations top law enforcement officer. His integrity must be beyond reproach," Peters said in a written statement.
"Without the full faith of the American public, I believe Mr. Sessions should resign," he said.
Davis issued a separate statement following Sessions' appearance and said, An Attorney General who needs to recuse himself on an investigation this important should not lead the Department of Justice.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sessions was not fit to serve.
A person of interest in the wounding of a Texas judge shot last week was charged Tuesday with murder in an unrelated Houston slaying, police said.
In back-to-back press conferences Thursday, Pelosi and Democratic Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer ramped up the criticism.
When a Ramona family got up for work Tuesday they quickly realized they were in a rocky situation. A huge boulder, loosened by a powerful storm, had slid and fallen onto their driveway, blocking access to the road.
Soon, homeowner Adriana Soltero and her cousin, Gaby Nace, knew they werent going to make it into the office. The family lives on Cloudy Moon Drive, on a mountain known as Rock Haven, which is covered in boulders.
The name says it all, Soltero said, adding that shes always been concerned about the possibility of a boulder tumbling during a downpour in her neighborhood.
She and her family have lived there for 15 years but up until Tuesday, they had never experienced anything like the sight of a giant boulder blocking their driveway.
Its enormous, Soltero told NBC 7.
NBC10 Boston
Soltero said the storm caused a mudslide, which then knocked the boulder loose, sending it tumbling onto their driveway. With it came a large amount of mud and trees that were also pulled out of the ground by the mudslide.
Everything gave way, Soltero said, describing the mess created on their property by the storm.
Nace was the one who came across the boulder first, as she prepared to leave the house for her morning commute to work in Torrey Pines.
Nace said she was shocked to see the boulder covering the driveway.
I thought, I guess todays not going to be a work day, she said. We were stuck here.
Each family member had to call out of work for the day. The family called Caltrans to ask for help removing the boulder.
When they realized help wasnt coming fast enough, Soltero said her husband and their neighbors rolled up their sleeves and got to work at home. They shoveled mud and tied ropes around fallen trees, moving them just enough to allow their cars to come in and out of the driveway.
As of Wednesday night, the boulder had not yet been removed.
Nace said her main concern is that it will rain again before the boulder is removed, causing even more damage.
If theres another storm what else is going to happen? she wondered.
Crews drilled holes inside huge boulders and detonated explosives inside in an effort to clean up the traffic lanes on State Route 78. This was after a winter storm caused a rock slide in Ramona.
Caltrans San Diego crews have been very busy this week cleaning up the aftermath of Mondays storm including flooded areas, fallen trees and other loose boulders blocking roadways.
On Wednesday, Caltrans worked to clear boulders blocking State Route 78 at Bandy Canyon Road in Ramona. They drilled holes inside the huge boulders and detonated explosives inside in an effort to break up the boulders into smaller pieces so they could be moved out of the way. The highway was closed all day Wednesday but had reopened by Thursday morning.
SR-78 at Bandy Canyon is still closed. Crews just need to move the now smaller pieces out of the way to get the highway open later tonight. pic.twitter.com/QmmtdUngcX Caltrans San Diego (@SDCaltrans) March 1, 2017
NBC 7 spoke with Caltrans on Thursday and the agency said the boulder on Cloudy Moon Drive will be dealt with by the County of San Diego.
County officials told NBC 7 they will be sending a crew to the property to assess the boulder and figure out what the next steps will be.
The San Diego VA Healthcare Centers Emergency Department has some of the longest emergency room wait times in the nation, according to data uncovered by NBC 7 San Diego.
Veteran U.S. Marine Josh Goldman, who served in Iraq in Logistics and Transport, said he waited 15 hours in the emergency department in February.
An avid cyclist, Goldman first came to the VA after he shattered his wrist and broke his elbow on a ride.
It was pretty excruciating, he told NBC 7. It was tough to even concentrate and I started to go into shock on the side of a road.
The veteran said he never expected such a long wait.
I was rolled back once to X-ray, I ended up sitting in kind of a hallway, just kind a looking at the ceiling for a couple hours again with my wrist sticking out of the side, he said.
Goldman said he was in severe pain and waited in the emergency from a Saturday around 10 a.m. into Sunday morning, and they didn't actually physically move me to a room where I was admitted until 1:30 or 2:00 Sunday morning.
The VA measures emergency room wait times in multiple ways: From entry to triage, from entry to doctor, from entry to discharge and from entry to admittance.
NBC 7 found in two of the four ways the VA measures wait times the SD VA Healthcare Emergency Room has some of longest wait times. Those included: From entry to doctor and from entry to admittance.
According to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, The San Diego VA Emergency Room ranked among the longest time for a patient to see a doctor in the ER.
Data showed, from October 2015 to August 2016, the San Diego had the fourth in the longest wait times in the country, with a median wait time of 89 minutes.
Dr. Patricia Hlavin , the Emergency Department Director, told NBC 7 the methods the VA in San Diego was using to calculate the numbers were different than other facilities, and the numbers have improved to a little more than an hour. Triage doctors are now expediting the process in the ER, Hlavin said.
The San Diego VA Healthcare Center Emergency Department is also ranked as the facility with the eighth longest wait times in the county for a patient to be admitted to the hospital after entering the E.R. an improvement over six months ago, when the facility was ranked second longest.
Hlavin said she feels for veterans who have to wait, and says the problem is that there simply is not enough room at the VA Hospital.
Every bed in the hospital is full, or we don't have nurses to staff the beds that we have available, Hlavin said.
Hlavin said she has the budget to hire more nurses, but there is too much competition for good paying nursing jobs in San Diego.
Hlavin said she even serves as a triage nurse in the ER to help alleviate the wait.
There are no urgent care centers at VA Medical Facilities in San Diego. Many veterans, she said, come to the emergency room when they have a health issue that is not an emergency and that puts a strain on the system.
She said the most critical patients are moved quickly to get the medical help they need, and the VA does work with other hospitals when it's necessary.
I feel like we do really great care for the very sick patients, the folks that need to be here, Hlavin said.
Goldman told NBC 7 he was scheduled for surgery on his arm at the VA, only to have it canceled. He said he was told there were issues with equipment sterilization.
Goldman said he was unable schedule another at the VA for a few weeks.
Given all he had experienced and the extent of his injury, he chose to go outside the VA and pay for the surgery himself.
The San Diego VA Healthcare System serves more than 230,000 veterans in a region with one of the largest populations of veterans.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has released a sketch of the man they say robbed a woman in the parking lot of a popular North County winery.
Deputies said the man confronted a woman in a parking lot on Old Winery Road, pointed a semi-automatic gun at her and told her to "hurry up and give me everything."
The victim, a female salon worker at the winery, was arriving for work when the robbery occurred. Deputies said the woman went into her trunk, when the suspect appeared behind her. He then robbed the woman at gunpoint.
Deputies said the suspect took some cash.
The suspect was described as 5-feet, 10-inches tall, 25 30 years old, and between 250 300 pounds. Deputies told NBC 7 they have no leads at this time.
A search of nearby surveillance cameras turned up nothing. Deputies also used the department's helicopter to search for the suspect.
San Diego Police initially responded to the incident, which occurred just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. The investigation was later turned over to the San Diego County Sheriffs Department.
What to Know Dr. Barron Hall belongs to Veterinarians Without Borders, which provides free healthcare for animals in sanctuaries throughout the world.
Alpha males need dental work because they'll hide pain caused by a bad tooth - a sign of weakness that could get them killed in the wild.
A team of medical technicians monitored Lukes vital signs and kept the 400-pound carnivore peacefully asleep during his exam.
A dentist from Virginia is sought around the world for his rare specialty: Exotic animals. Recently, News4 got up close to Luke the Lion at the National Zoo in D.C. as veterinary dentist Dr. Barron Hall performed his regular checkup.
Yes, even lions need to go to the dentist.
Wild animals need dental work because an unhealthy mouth can make an animal sick. Also, alpha males like Luke can instinctively hide a bad tooth causing them pain because it is a sign of weakness, which can get them killed in the wild.
Hall, of Vienna, is in demand at zoos across the country and sanctuaries around the world. He's been in the mouth of some fierce beasts.
Ive worked on black bears, grizzly bears, brown bears, pretty much every cat, Hall said. A hippo I havent done. Polar bears on my bucket list.
Hall belongs to Veterinarians Without Borders, which provides free healthcare for animals in sanctuaries throughout the world and train locals to care for the animals around them.
For his cleaning, Luke was put under.
Since theyre wild animals, you cant just go and lift their lips, Hall said.
A team of medical technicians monitored Lukes vital signs and kept the 400-pound carnivore peacefully asleep. Colorful mittens kept his massive paws warm.
Luke came to the National Zoo when he was a 1-year-old.
Luke was brought in to our facility from a facility in South Africa, which means his specific genetic line was not represented in North America at all, National Zoo big cats curator Craig Saffoe said.
That gave breeders a fresh gene pool to grow the lion population in the United States, and Luke proved to be a star.
He's been an outstanding breeding animal, Saffoe said. Hes produced five litters, four of which have all survived. Hes had a great run for us.
At 11 years old, Luke is slowing down a bit, though he could live into his 20s.
Staring into the mouth of a lion, one gains renewed respect for the king of the jungle.
You could extract every tooth in their mouth, the power of their muscle, theyll still pop your head like a grape if they wanted to, Hall said.
Luke left the exam with teeth intact and a mouth cleaned and ready to roar.
The Kennedy Center announced their first director of hip-hop culture and contemporary music Wednesday.
Simone Eccleston, currently the director of programming at Harlem Stage in New York, will assume the role March 13.
Eccleston's new role will include leading a center-wide commitment to hip-hop culture and contemporary music, which includes R&B, soul, folk and roots, indie, world music and Latin music, according to a release.
She will also work as a partner with other areas of the Kennedy Center to highlight the collaborative nature of hip-hop music.
The program will also aim to increase opportunities for community involvement and participation. Hip-hop is based on five core elements -- deejaying, emceeing, break-dancing, graffiti writing and knowledge of self -- the Kennedy Center said, all of which build and transform communities through art and action.
"With the Kennedy Center serving as the preeminent home for our nation's arts and culture, the creation of a programmatic platform for hip-hop culture is deeply significant," Eccleston said in a statement.
She also said hip-hop culture has influenced and contributed to every aspect of American society and helps drive innovation and creative expressions across many different disciplines.
"It is also an important catalyst for community building, activism and empowerment," Eccleston said.
She said this new presence at the Kennedy Center will both celebrate and highlight the work that artists, curators and organizations across the country have created, both honoring and advancing the legacy of the hip-hop culture.
Kennedy Center Senior Vice President Robert van Leer said the nature of hip-hop culture can create collaborations with the dance, theater, music and education programs.
"We are thrilled to have an arts administrator of Simone's caliber join us -- someone who can lead that exploration of what hip-hop at the Kennedy Center can become in the coming years," van Leer said in a statement. "And we believe it is the Center's responsibility to develop and elevate thought-leaders like Simone to champion the bright future of our nations cultural institutions."
Last March, the center appointed MC, rapper and record producer Q-Tip as its first artistic director for hip-hop culture.
The Kennedy Center will also continue their collaboration with American University by providing a fellowship for a graduate student designed to focus exclusively on hip-hop culture and contemporary music.
A man is in critical condition after he was shot Wednesday morning near an elementary school in the Capitol Heights neighborhood of Southeast D.C., officials say.
He is the fifth man injured in four separate shootings within the same half-mile stretch of Wheeler Road SE in less than a week.
The man, who police did not identify, was shot before 11 a.m. while he was in a car on the 3500 block of Wheeler Road SE.
The victim was inside a Buick that was hit at least eight times. He was rushed to a hospital.
Police recovered a weapon from the scene and set up a portable camera on the 3500 block of Wheeler Road.
The nearby elementary school, the Congress Heights campus of Eagle Academy Public Charter School, was placed on lockdown while police investigated. No students or staff were hurt.
Some parents went to the school early to pick up their children.
"It's really sickening because every day it's a shooting in his area -- Wheeler Road, all the way down," one mother said.
"We're very concerned about it, as is the Metropolitan Police Department," the school's chief operating officer, Joe Smith, said.
People who live nearby are terrified, a resident who said she heard a hail of gunfire said.
"The older people over here in Ward 8, who actually own their homes, are scared to come outside," the woman said, asking that News4 withhold her name and not show her face, for her safety.
Four people were shot in three separate shootings on Wheeler Road Thursday night, the same night two police officers were shot and wounded and a suspect was shot and killed in Northeast D.C.
In the first shooting on Wheeler Road, one person was shot on the 3300 block about 6:05 p.m. The second person was shot on the 3500 block. Then, two people were shot on the 4000 block about 7:55 p.m. All of the victims were men who received non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Two men, 22-year-old Jesus Mumbles Burley and 19-year-old Jesus Marcie Burley, were arrested Sunday and charged with assault with intent to kill in the first shooting Thursday.
The previous day, just a few blocks to the northeast, two construction workers were shot at Alabama Avenue and 9th Place SE, near a church. A teenage girl was stabbed nearby.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said the crimes will be solved, though he said recent shooting victims were not working with investigators.
"Many of the victims in our recent shootings have not cooperated," he said. "It makes it a little more difficult for us to get to the bottom of it, but we will get to the bottom of this."
Hhgregg will close 88 stores, including all its locations in the D.C. area, the appliance, electronics and furniture seller announced Thursday.
We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us, company CEO Robert J. Riesbeck said in a statement.
The hhgregg delivery and distribution center in Brandywine, Maryland, also will close.
This move will leave the Indianapolis company with 132 stores nationwide.
The 61-year-old company is preparing to file for bankruptcy amid low sales, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
After the last hhgregg in the D.C. region closes its doors for good, the closest location will be in Winchester, Virginia, about 80 miles from D.C.
Go here to see the full list of locations closing nationwide.
A woman has been arrested after police say she left her 18-month-old child and a puppy inside a running car while she allegedly earned money as a prostitute in Takoma Park, Maryland.
On Tuesday, Takoma Park police went to the 1200 block of Myrtle Avenue after receiving a report that a baby was alone in a vehicle. Officers saw the vehicle parked with the toddler inside, along with an 8-week-old puppy. The child and dog were left inside the vehicle for about an hour, police said.
Danielle Parnell, 24, came outside and met with officers and "indicated she had been inside an apartment earning money as a prostitute," police said.
Parnell has been charged with child neglect, child abuse and prostitution. She also had an outstanding warrant in Ohio for violating probation, police said.
The child is in the custody of Child Protective Services, police said. The puppy was turned over to Animal Control and has already been adopted.
A mosque in Northern Virginia received a threatening message on Tuesday, as two Islamic sites in Maryland and three Jewish schools in the region received similar threats.
Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia received an envelope about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday with bias language on it, Fairfax County police said.
"Kill all Muslims," a photo published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows on the envelope. Above the words is a drawing of a pig defecating on a mosque.
Anti-Muslim bigots often use pigs or pork products to offend Muslims, many of who do not eat pork for religious reasons.
The postmark on the envelope appeared to be from another country, police said. Detectives are investigating.
CAIR called on law enforcement officials to figure out who sent the note.
We urge local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to treat this and other cases of threats and violence targeting American mosque seriously and to bring the perpetrators to justice, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement.
On Monday, two Jewish schools in Maryland and a third Jewish school in Virginia received bomb threats by phone, and a mosque in Maryland received a threatening letter. An Islamic center in Maryland received a similar letter on Tuesday.
The Nintendo Switch hits stores Friday, and for those who didnt manage to secure a pre-order in the brief moment they were available, getting the console March 3 may require braving a long wait in the cold.
Considering how quickly pre-orders for the system sold out, it seems unlikely the Switch, priced at $299, will be immediately available past Friday morning.
Shoppers determined to get the system on its launch date will have two options: wait in line for a midnight release Thursday or wait in line for a morning release Friday.
MIDNIGHT RELEASES
There are no midnight releases inside the District and few options in Maryland or Virginia. GameStop, Walmart and Best Buy are the only stores with midnight releases in the region, with GameStop offering the most options.
GameStop has numerous locations opening at midnight in both Maryland and Virginia. These stores will have a limited supply of the system, according to a statement from the company. Click here to see your closest options.
Walmart will also have a limited supply of the console. Ordinary Walmart stores wont be opening at midnight, but 24-hour Walmart Supercenters will start selling the Switch at midnight. The Walmart Supercenters in Alexandria and Vienna in Virginia are the closest to D.C. Click here to see if the Walmart closest to you is open 24-hours.
Best Buy will only have one location opening at midnight in the Washington region. The Best Buy near Virginias Springfield Town Center will open at midnight.
FRIDAY MORNING
For those who dont want to sit outside at midnight, a Friday morning release may be a better option. GameStop, Walmart and Best Buy locations that didnt open at midnight will have the system available Friday morning, as well as all Target and Toys R Us locations.
Keep in mind that all inventory is first-come-first-serve and likely to sell out quickly. Whichever store you go to, make sure to check what time they open and get there as early as possible.
The latest SafeTrack work on Metrorail is bringing some major adjustments for Virginia commuters -- Blue Line trains are running 24 minutes apart, even during rush hour, and there is no Yellow Rush+ service.
The latest phase of Metro's aggressive repair plan will last more than a month, beginning Saturday and lasting until April 9.
Crews are working in two phases for the latest surge, number 13. Blue and Yellow trains are sharing the single track through the work zones.
Phase 1 (Saturday through April 1) affects Blue and Yellow trains between Braddock Road and Huntington/Van Dorn Street. No Yellow Rush+ trains are operating, but extra Yellow Line trains are running between Reagan National Airport and Mount Vernon Square.
On weekdays:
Trains will continuously single-track between Braddock Road and Huntington-Van Dorn Street.
Blue Line trains will run every 24 minutes, even during rush hour. Would-be Blue Line riders should consider alternate travel options.
There will be no Yellow Rush+ service.
Yellow Line trains will run every 24 minutes between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square, even during rush hour. Would-be Yellow Line riders south of Reagan National Airport should consider making other travel plans.
Extra Yellow Line trains will run between Reagan National Airport and Mount Vernon Square. Riders traveling south of the airport should consider transferring at Pentagon, Pentagon City or Crystal City to continue their trips and avoid crowding.
After 10 p.m., all Yellow Line trains will run between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square every 24 minutes.
Phase 2 (April 2-9) will affect Yellow Line trains only between King Street-Old Town and Huntington.
Yellow Line trains will continuously single-track between King Street-Old Town and Huntington-Van Dorn.
Yellow Line trains between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square will run every 24 minutes at all times. Would-be Yellow Line riders should consider making other travel plans.
Extra Yellow Line trains will run between Reagan National Airport and Mount Vernon Square. Riders headed south of the airport should consider transferring prior at Pentagon, Pentagon City or Crystal City to continue their trips and avoid crowding.
There will be no Yellow Rush+ service.
Blue Line trains will run normally (every 12 minutes during rush hour).
After 10 p.m., all Yellow Line trains will run between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square every 24 minutes.
Passengers using Blue or Yellow trains during Surge 13 should expect delays.
Weekend train frequencies could change due to other planned track work on the system, Metro said.
Alternatives to Metrorail:
BUS:
WMATA Pentagon Shuttle: Free express shuttle buses will run between the Franconia-Springfield and Pentagon stations during weekday rush hours.
DASH Pentagon Shuttle: Free express shuttle buses will run between King Street-Old Town and the Pentagon during weekday rush hours. Shuttles will depart roughly every 12-15 minutes and will operate in both directions.
DASH bus: DASH will add extra AT3 and AT4 trips in the early morning from Old Town Alexandria to the Pentagon Metro station.
Metroway: The Metroway bus system will run more frequently between Braddock Road and Pentagon City during weekday rush hours.
Metrobus: Metrobuses will run more often on the 11Y (Mount Vernon to Potomac Park) and 10A (Huntington to Pentagon Metro stations) bus routes, with normal fares.
RAIL
Riders from Alexandria and southern Fairfax County should consider riding the VRE from Franconia-Springfield or King Street-Old Town to get to Crystal City, L'Enfant Plaza or Union Station.
BIKE
Alexandria has 31 Capital Bikeshare stations citywide. Consider biking as a travel alternative.
Capital Bikeshare has added an option for users to buy a single trip for $2.
ROADS
Alexandria's Traffic Management Center says it will be ready to assist and adjust traffic signal timing as needed.
TELEWORK
White House lawyers have instructed the president's aides to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related investigations, three administration officials said Wednesday.
The instructions, which were sent to White House staff on Tuesday, come after Senate Democrats last week asked the White House and law enforcement agencies to keep all materials involving contacts that Trump's administration, campaign and transition team or anyone acting on their behalf have had with Russian government officials or their associates.
The Senate intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has also asked more than a dozen organizations, agencies and individuals to preserve relevant records.
The three administration officials who confirmed that White House staffers were instructed to comply did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn.
President Donald Trump has been dogged by questions about his advisers' ties to Russia since the campaign. Federal investigators have been looking into possible contacts between Trump advisers and Russia, while congressional committees are investigating Russia's role in political hacking during the campaign.
The intelligence community has assessed that Russia's hacking of Democratic groups and operatives was carried out to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
One official said McGahn's memo instructs White House staff to preserve material from Trump's time in office, and for those who worked on the campaign, relevant material from the election.
A Trump spokesman said the White House was "simply taking proactive steps" and called the accusations of nefarious ties between the president and Russia "false and politically motivated attacks."
Congressional staffers have said they are not aware of any evidence that materials related to Russia are not being preserved. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said last week: "There is real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts and other records that could shine a light on those connections. These records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations and must be preserved."
Trump has denied having any knowledge that aides were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, as reported by The New York Times. The White House has launched an aggressive effort to discredit the report, including enlisting GOP chairmen of the congressional intelligence committees to push back against it.
The involvement of North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and California Rep. Devin Nunes has sparked calls mostly from Democrats for a special prosecutor to investigate Russia's role in the election and possible ties to Trump.
The White House has acknowledged that Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, misled top officials about the nature of his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Flynn initially told Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump advisers that he did not discuss sanctions with the envoy during the transition, though it was later revealed that he did.
The FBI interviewed Flynn about the contacts days after the inauguration. Trump fired Flynn after the discrepancies in his account were publicly revealed.
AP writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.
Police are investigating after four men were found with stab wounds in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Police responded to 221 Wilson Street around 12:04 a.m. on Thursday morning for a reported stabbing and found four men outside suffering from stab wounds.
The men were transported to local hospitals. Two of the victims were released later in the morning, but two require further treatment due to more serious injuries.
The incident remains under investigation. If anyone has any information, please contact the Manchester Police Department 603-668-8711. You can also contact the Manchester Police Crime Line at 603-624-4040 and provide an anonymous tip.
A Connecticut couple accused in a million dollar Ponzi scheme involving gold and diamonds will stay behind bars after a judge in Georgia denied their bail.
The couple had to turn themselves in to police in Fulton County, Georgia where the charges originally came from.
Tears and hugs among the families who say they were taken by Eli Shetrit and his wife Ayelet Ellituv when the judge made the final decision.
Judge John J. Goger addressed the couple, "Theres something about this, I just, based upon the representation made by the state, I just have a visceral distrust."
He denies? the defendant Shetrit asked.
Shetrit and Ellituv are accused of stealing more than $1 million in money, diamonds and identities in the metro area of Atlanta.
In early February, a grand jury handed down the indictment after their initial arrest two years ago, before they were released on bond.
The pair was living in a mansion with their three children in Woodbridge, Connecticut were picked up by local police on Valentines Day for Georgia authorities.
Goger said, Im a big believer people who are accused of crime, miss having the opportunity to make bond, you know, and thats the law. Second point, I cant trust them."
Georgia police add the couple violated conditions of their release, failing to update authorities when they moved.
Last year, a reporter in Atlanta found them living in New York City in a $1.5 million apartment.
In New York, theres also a civil judgment against Shetrit for $8 million owed to diamond dealers there.
A new bill on the table at the Massachusetts State House would clear the names of sex trafficking victims, many of whom often face prostitution charges that follow them for the rest of their lives.
Jasmine Marino is an author, motivational speaker, and a survivor of sex trafficking.
"I was involved with prostitution, commercial sex trade, more trauma, more abuse," said Marino, who was forced into this world by a former boyfriend.
Its her vulnerability, and willingness to share her story thats helping other survivors reclaim their lives. But Marino says the women with prior convictions for prostitution, are having difficulty moving on.
"A lot of companies wont hire them because of these charges," said Marino.
And to get rid of this on their records in Massachusetts, Alec Zadek said its complicated.
"It requires hundreds of hours and sophisticated lawyers going into court and arguing something that is uncertain," said Zadek, an attorney with Mintz Levin.
Levin helped write House Bill 766, an act to reduce sexual exploitation of victims of human trafficking, hoping it gives these survivors a clean slate. Hes working pro bono on this.
"And the goal for this law, is to help them remove this label because they are really a survivor of trafficking," said Levin.
Boston University Law Professor Julie Dahlstrom and some of her students are also trying to help.
"It may involve minors, it may involve people who are forced into it,' says Dahlstrom.
Shes partnering with Zadeks law firm to get this bill passed.
"One of the things fueling this is the demand for commercial sex," said Dahlstrom.
The recent statistics from advocacy group demand abolition are sobering. There are more than 20,000 ads for paid sex posted on line every month. More than 9,000 searches for buying sex in Boston each day. And the average age of someone being trafficked is 14.
Marino is now married and expecting a fifth child. Shes also running a halfway house for sex trafficking survivors in Lynn.
"So this is just one little step in doing that," said Marino.
This bill was introduced in the house last year, but did not make it through. Advocates hope that changes this time around. There is a similar bill right now in the senate.
A car has crashed into a Chipotle restaurant on Route 44 in Raynham, Massachusetts on Thursday morning.
Police say Matthew Moniz, 33, of East Taunton, Massachusetts, drove his 2016 Nissan Sentra into the building around 1:40 a.m.
Muniz was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was the only person in the vehicle at the time.
The building was unoccupied at the time of the crash.
The incident remains under investigation.
WJAR
A man who may have access to weapons has been added to Massachusetts state police's Most Wanted list after being named as a murder suspect.
State police say David M. Grossack, 47, is wanted in connection to the homicide of 65-year-old Francis Brescia.
Brescia's decomposing body was found in his Everett apartment last Saturday.
Grossack is described as 6'2" tall, weighs about 175 pounds with a thin build and has brown hair and hazel eyes. He also has a tattoo on the back of his left hand, near his index finger's knuckle.
Authorities say Grossack, who is believed to be homeless, may be in shelters in Boston, Lynn or Salem. He also has ties to Saugus, Beverly and Norton.
State police ask anyone who has seen him or has information on his whereabouts is asked to call 1-800-KAPTURE (1-800-527-8873).
A father has died from his injuries after he and his son were both struck by an SUV Sunday night in Brockton, Massachusetts.
The incident occurred at 680 Centre St., near the Signature Healthcare facility. According to the Brockton police, the young child and his father were leaving the Wizards Duel game store when they were hit by an orange Hyundai Tucson SUV.
Both were transported to a local hospital in Boston. The child suffered lesser injuries and is expected to recover.
The father, identified as 48-year-old Hiep Huynh, passed away Wednesday.
The driver of the SUV stopped and waited for help to arrive.
The incident is under investigation, but police will not say if the driver will be charged.
Many law enforcement members around the country have sent a letter to Congress over the battle of immigration reform and border policies.
Among the 63 police chiefs and sheriffs who signed the letter addressed to the U.S. Senate, are Boston Police Chief William Evans, Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian. The letter was sent just in time for a hearing on border security.
Law enforcement members are pleading with the federal government to avoid taking action that could harm community trust when it comes to immigration enforcement. Authorities said they don't want local police officers being used as immigration officers.
"Our primary concern and mission is public safety and we are dedicated to that," said Koutoujian. "But we're not sure that the message coming from the administration is clear, quite concise."
The letter states, "local control has been a beneficial approach for law enforcement for decades, having the federal government compel state and local law enforcement to carry out new and sometimes problematic tasks will harm locally-based, community-oriented policing."
Immigration enforcement, law enforcement officials say, should prioritize criminals and not peaceful residents. But not all law enforcement agrees.
"It makes me scratch my head, this is something that completely defies the oath we all took in law enforcement," said Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson.
A supporter of President Donald Trump and right-wing on the immigration issue, Hodgson says he doesn't support the letter sent to Congress.
"We're a country of laws, we can't create a special class of people who violate our laws, disrespect the laws of our country and say it doesn't matter," Hodgson said.
In the meantime, a new executive order on immigration from the Trump administration is expected as early as Thursday or Friday.
On Wednesday, Massachusetts celebrated the White Ribbon Campaign's 10th year in the state.
"It's for all men to have a conversation about their relationships and their role about preventing sexual assault and domestic violence," said Craig Norberg-Bohm from Jane Doe Inc.
White Ribbon Day is part of the international White Ribbon Campaign, started by a group of Canadian men in 1991.
Nearly 100 cities, towns, schools, businesses and faith groups have joined the campaign to end gender-based violence, especially against women.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and other politicians attended Wednesday's ceremony.
Baker told a story about his first time meeting a woman who was a victim of domestic violence.
"She had the remains of what was an obvious contusion on the side of her face," said Baker.
When asked why she didn't get help sooner, Baker said, "She said, 'I didn't think anybody would care.'"
The men who are ambassadors and affiliates for the White Ribbon Campaign do care.
"Men take a pledge to say, 'I promise never to commit, condone or remain silent about men's violence against women,'" said Norberg-Bohm.
The men marched from Faneuil Hall to Boston City Hall wearing white ribbon pins to show their support.
"We have to protect our women," said Taquari Milton, a White Ribbon ambassador.
He said he's witnessed domestic violence and feels he can't remain silent.
"I have sisters and my mother and little cousins who I care deeply about," said Milton. "I would want somebody to treat them with the same respect as I treat them. Not a lot of people see that and it's statistically proven."
On Wednesday, partners of the campaign will raise white ribbon flags to put their support on display.
The event was sponsored by Jane Doe Inc., which started White Ribbon Day in 2007.
For more on Jane Doe Inc., click here.
After allegations of large-scale investment fraud left Vermonts Northeast Kingdom reeling, there are new hopes for an injection of fresh energy into downtown Newport.
I call it our economic disaster, Newport Mayor Paul Monette said of the scandal involving allegations of fraud at Jay Peak, Burke Mountain Resort, and in Newport. You hear of natural disasters, I call it an economic disaster.
A prominent city block in Newport had been set for a major upgrade as part of a sweeping set of real estate investments and expansions that were said to transform the Kingdom.
However, all progress stopped last year when federal investigators uncovered what they called a complex scheme by developers to misuse $200-million in foreign investors' money in the Newport project and at nearby Jay Peak and Burke Mountain resorts.
Businessman Ari Quiros allegedly used some of the investment money to pay his personal bills, to make personal investments, and to purchase a luxury condo in New York City.
Quiros, who was described in federal court paperwork as the mastermind of the scheme, has denied any wrongdoing.
Things are down, but they're going to turn around, predicted Tony Pomerleau, a nearly 100-year-old Vermont real estate legend who has regularly expressed his admiration for Newport, where he used to live.
Pomerleau is part of a new private, public, and non-profit partnership focusing on Newport's revitalization. The team announced Thursday a series of projects aimed at helping add new energy into the citys downtown.
The projects include a renovation of the local supermarket, the creation of a recreation path around Lake Memphremagog, and projects to encourage lake visitors to also head to Main Street.
It's certainly tremendously unfortunate things have played out this way, Mike Schirling, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said about the investment fraud investigation. But there is an opportunity. While there is a piece of Main Street that currently doesnt have anything on it, you could think, How many downtowns have the opportunity to completely reimagine a core component of what they do?
Schirling predicted that the partnerships formed in discussing the grocery store renovations and recreation path will strengthen over time and will help the community shape the eventual look and uses of downtown Newport.
This is a community thats vibrant and we dont let certain negative things get us down, Mayor Monette said. We always look to the future. And this is one positive project of many that are going to come down the pipeline.
Jo-Ann Brooks, who owns and operates Newport Jewelers on Main Street with her husband, said she welcomes the groups efforts.
We need something and we need it soon, Brooks told necn. There is potential here. The lake is beautiful! We just need more people to come and see it for themselves.
Developers said construction on the new rec path is set to start this spring, and expect it should be in use by this summer.
A suspect in a grisly double murder in Peabody, Massachusetts is being held on $250,000 bail for the carjacking he allegedly committed while on the run.
Police say Wes Doughty was likely responsible for a carjacking in Middleton.
Doughty was arraigned in Salem District Court for assault & battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, kidnapping and carjacking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The victim, Ken Metz, claimed Doughty approached his car while he was in a restaurant parking lot and pulled open the driver's side door. When Metz attempted to exit the car, Doughty pulled him back in the car and brandished small knife.
The victim said Doughty drove him three hours to Boston while he was in the passenger seat.
Court paperwork shows that Doughty took an ATM card from Metz and withdrew $140. He then allegedly tied up the victim and left him locked in the car.
Metz was able to escape on one stop and seek help from a nearby restaurant.
Doughty was taken into custody Friday in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
He pleaded not guilty on murder charges on Tuesday for the shooting of Mark Greenlaw and stabbing of Jennifer O'Connor. Michael Hebb, 45, of Peabody, was also arraigned on murder charges on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.
Doughty is already being held without bail on the murder charges.
Mother Nature brought the outside in for a New Hampshire family Thursday morning. Winds toppled a massive tree on top of a home on High Street in Peterborough.
"Am I surprised a tree could do this to the house? Absolutely not," said the homeowner, Kevin Carne. "Do I wish it was someone elses house? Well, kinda."
It's the last thing he expected even as he watched the wild weather from his backyard.
"It sounded like a sonic boom, it was impressive," Carne said.
A tree in his front yard snapped in half and sliced through his home's new addition.
"It's a terrifying noise, a tree this size coming down on your house," Carne said. "You kind of dive and get out of the way as it comes through the roof."
And the path of destruction didn't stop there. Officials in Peterborough got at least 10 calls for down trees between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"It was like a big rumble, a big crack, and a big smash," said one Peterborough resident, who didn't want to be identified.
We met her as she waited for a rental car company in the parking lot of her job. Her car was crushed by a falling tree.
"This morning it was sunny, then it snowed, then it was like we were having a sandstorm, and the next thing you know, trees were coming down," the woman said. "Good thing no one was in it, that's all I say."
Carne feels the same way.
"It's scary, it really is," he said. "It's a great relief, it's just what do I do now and how do I straighten it out?"
Carne is fully insured and he plans to rebuild as soon as possible.
The deputy fire in chief in town says through all of Thursday wild weather, nobody was hurt.
A Leominster, Massachusetts, woman battling stage 4 cancer is trying to find the good Samaritan she credits with saving her life not in a hospital, but on the side of the highway last year.
Kate LaBelle was driving on Route 2 westbound on May 27, 2016, when she started losing consciousness. She was on her way to a doctors appointment to get a CT scan when she realized she needed to pull over.
The last thing I remember is my chest hurting really badly, like an elephant was standing on my chest, LaBelle said.
She was taking the Devens exit when her head went down and her car hit the guard rail. The next thing she remembers is waking up to the good Samaritan, a nurse who comforted her until an ambulance arrived.
It was terrifying just not knowing what was happening because I had no idea how sick I was, LaBelle said.
At the hospital, LaBelle was diagnosed with stage 4 angiosarcoma, a rare cancer of the blood vessels. It was causing her heart to fill up with fluid, putting so much pressure on it, doctors only had minutes to perform the emergency procedure that saved her.
If it wasnt for that woman stopping, I probably wouldnt be here talking to you right now, LaBelle said.
There was no police report or witness statement taken at the scene. With no clues, LaBelle decided to post on Facebook to try and find her Route 2 angel.
She saved my life and Im incredibly thankful, LaBelle wrote in her post that has been shared over 2,000 times.
Between the chemo treatments, LaBelle and her family are hoping somewhere in the comments someone can point her in the right direction to thank the woman who saved her.
Because she could have kept driving. I dont know, Id like to think anyone would stop, but I know thats not always the case, said her father, David LaBelle. She went above and beyond.
A GoFundMe page to help pay for LaBelle's treatment has raised more than $26,000 of its $100,000 goal as of Wednesday evening.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign and she is calling for an independent special prosecutor to oversee the Justice Department's investigation of Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Warren was joined Thursday by fellow Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey and the state's entire all-Democrat House delegation in calling for Sessions to resign.
Warren, who has clashed repeatedly with President Donald Trump, reacted in a series of tweets to reports that Sessions talked twice with Russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign.
The White House says Sessions met with the diplomat in his capacity as a then-U.S. senator, not a Trump campaign adviser.
Warren tweeted that Sessions should never have been confirmed by the Senate and the controversy surrounding Sessions was a threat to national security.
Senators from eight states that have legalized the recreational or medicinal use of marijuana are asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to uphold the Department of Justice's existing enforcement policy toward states with voter-approved marijuana laws.
Massachusetts Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey were among those who signed the Thursday letter. Massachusetts voters backed the recreational use of pot last year.
The senators point to comments by White House spokesman Sean Spicer suggesting stepped-up enforcement of federal laws against recreational marijuana.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana.
The Obama administration opted not intervene in state marijuana laws as long as states had systems to control the drug's cultivation and sale.
Senators from Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, Washington, Colorado, New Jersey and Alaska also signed the letter.
Some weeks ago I wrote that CRM and contact center are on a collision course. I argued that as the technologies used in CRM and the contact center will naturally mash up, the vendors of these traditionally distinct technologies will collide.
In this post, I will expand upon that idea and talk about the future and a key aspect that will be important to successful synergies: how each domain leverages behaviors.
CRM/contact center collision
The first post argued that a co-mingling of the technologies used in CRM and the contact center worlds have occurred. This has been more of a lending of functionality. Seldom has true synergy emerged.
The example I used is when a CRM desktop may be used by call takers (or in industry lingo, agents) as part of the processes of answering incoming telephone calls. In a customer service center, for instance, call control features may be made available to the agent through computer telephony integration (CTI) techniques. In some deployments, automatic retrieval of information about the calling party, using the incoming telephone number (calling party ID, in industry terminology) as a search key, is also be made available.
The evolutionary journey of contact center
This idea emerged as call center technologies were maturing. In the same era, the industry of Contact Management (CM) software came into being. Dominant players in this market came to be companies such as ACT, Sage, Goldmine (for the accounting professions) and Borland Sidekick. It wasnt long before the two worlds of CM software and telephony collided.
Here CTI allowed for the trigger of an automatic retrieval of information in the CM software based upon the calling party ID. In these days before client/server and later web technologies when applications could be shared, typically CM software was installed in a single instance on a personal computer. After a rudimentary integration with a telephone, the software could be configured to retrieve information from personal contacts accumulated in the CM software and displayed as a phone call arrived to a knowledge workers desktop. An automated screen-pop could be configured by the user to display information as the call was answered.
This concept spread to the call center, as well. This is when the idea/terminology began to change and the call center became the idea of a contact center. The distinction was that actionable intelligence begins to accompany the ringing of the call takers' telephones.
An industry of innovators sprang up in the call center space that developed specialized desktop applications to display information about calling parties. An example was Quintus Corp. of Freemont, California. Although not what we define as CRM today, Quintus' offering was described as customer relationship management technologies and services to call center operators.
Agile Software was another innovator. Part of that companys technologies would later be acquired by Avaya. Avaya also benefited having been bequeathed in a spin-off, assets developed by Lucent Technologies. Much of those technologies became the basis for what is today the companys Interaction Center product. Avaya later acquired Quintus and melded its offering into the companys portfolio of contact center applications.
Another big player in CTI was Nortel. Those assets also flowed to Avaya in the Nortel Enterprise Solutions acquisition. IBM, during that companys dalliance with telecom, also offered the companys CallPath solutions. Call center application provider Genesys would later acquire IBM's CallPath assets, forming an alliance to co-develop business intelligence solutions for customer contact centres and the enterprise, wrote Helen Han. With its acquisition of Selsius Systems, Cisco gained an award-winning CTI Solution. Numerous other smaller players also exist today.
Meanwhile in CRM
As all that was happening, CRM in the modern sense of the term was evolving. First successes were in the disciplines of sales force automation and customer service and support. Soon marketing departments discovered the insights that could be available by examining the accumulated data for information into customer preferences and buying behaviors. Here is where the concept of behaviors enters our discussion.
The contact center players were also discovering how to leverage behaviors but in a different part of the customer journey. Behaviors became part of the secret sauce as these two industries evolved. For CRM, the primary behavioral focus is about customer motivations. In the contact center industries, the science involved mainly behaviors of the contact center agent. In the future, these unique applications of behavioral sciences will form a figurative yin and yang of a real-time customer interaction.
The CRM concept of behavioral insights to identify and leverage information about what motivates a customer to buy or to understand what attracts a customer to a brand will combine with "skills-based" insights. Ann Bednarz described in this publication back in 2002 how economies are gained by matching an incoming real-time inter-actor (today being a caller/texter/website chat participant, etc.) with the agent who has the right behaviors (aka skills) to deal with the customer as efficiently as is possible. A true synergy will exist if an understanding of the importance of each perspective on behavioral insights is not lost in the vendor collision.
The future mashup
For an optimal future mashup, each domain of expertise must learn lessons from the other. Contact center practitioners and CRM practitioners complement each other in their unique understandings of behaviors and other important intricacies from different parts of the customer journey. The applications of behavioral sciences are but one example.
As the technologies mash up and the vendors collide, it will be those who understand these important opportunities who will prevail. In the planetary analogy overhanging this discussion, it is they who will arise out of the primordial mix to evolve to be the dominant new species the future of customer interaction management.
Last week, Cisco held the European version of its Cisco Live event in Berlin. At these events, Cisco typically makes several product announcements and demonstrates many of its new products. Cisco Live is also a time for the companys alliance and technology partners to showcase their own wares as they look to add value to the Cisco ecosystem.
One of the more interesting announcements by an technology partner at the 2017 show was from VOSS Solutions, which extended its platform to support Cisco Spark Hybrid Services. The Spark platform has been red hot of late, as Cisco has made it the companys main UC platform. During the show, the Spark Board garnered a lot of attention, including being part of Ruba Bornos day 1 keynote.
+ Also on Network World: Unified communications for reals +
While there are many team collaboration tools on the market today, Ciscos is the only one that can run in hybrid mode. Spark Hybrid Services let businesses enjoy the benefits of Spark but keep some of the tools on premises with a single, integrated experience. The Spark Hybrid Services including calling, calendar, directory service and media service.
Spark is growing in popularity, but for large enterprises, provisioning the service for tens of thousands of users can be a significant time suck filled with manual processes. VOSS, a leading unified communications (UC) management vendor, now has a solution to make this process easier, as its VOSS-4-UC product automates the deployment and management of Spark Hybrid Services.
Eliminates the time suck of deploying Spark Hybrid Services
Without an automation platform like VOSS, businesses would typically use a mix of disjointed tools to administer Spark. For example, a business could use a homegrown tool to pull user information from Active Directory, a multi-step UC management tool to provision the individual users and applications, and a service management platform to measure the impact to the network and other infrastructure.
The problem with that model is it can literally take months for large organizations to deliver Spark to all of its users. In this highly competitive digital era, that kind of lag in giving workers advanced tools could be the difference between capturing a market opportunity and being a leader or missing it and being a lagger.
VOSS-4-UC automates the entire, end-to-end process. The product has had Active Directory integration for years, so customers do not need to build their own or purchase a separate connector. For the rest of the process, VOSS leverages the Spark API to automate the creation of a driver that incorporates the elements required to manage the cloud service in conjunction with the on-premises tools.
The following are some of the Spark Hybrid Services tasks that can be automated with VOSS-4-UC:
Provision, move, change or delete hybrid Spark users
Make individual changes via a quick add feature
Run operations in bulk via directory integration so changes in Active Directory automatically flow through provisioning
Manage Spark licenses so customers are assured of being in software compliance
Automate the hybrid call control set up within Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Enable multi-device configuration so new Spark devices can be brought online and provisioned quickly
Quickly create Spark rooms with automated population
Spark Hybrid Services are a great way for existing Cisco customers to jump into Spark without having to disrupt the status quo. However, the complexity of provisioning users and services in large environments can reduce much of the ROI the company hopes to gain by shifting to Spark. The automation capabilities of VOSS-4-UC enable businesses to start using Spark quickly without having to worry about the behind-the-scenes complexity.
Will you be taking part in the literary celebrations?
YOUNGSTERS across West Berkshire will be dressing as their favourite characters from literature today as the nation celebrates World Book Day (Thursday, March 2).
The annual event sees children (as well as teachers) all over the UK dressing up and taking part in events that schools and community groups run to celebrate authors, illustrators, books and reading.
Last year saw the district's schools filled with costumes from Harry Potter to Spider-Man as pupils of all ages marked the wonder of reading.
The picture shows youngsters at Little Sunflowers Nursery on World Book Day 2016.
Is your school or nursery taking part in the celebrations?
Tell us what you'll be getting up to this World Book Day and send your pictures (make sure to include the names of the literary characters) to chris.ord@newburynews.co.uk to be included in a full round up in next week's Newbury Weekly News.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: Auto firms shrugged off the demand crunch following demonetisation by posting robust sales figures for February, with most four-wheeler makers posting double-digit growth compared to the same month last year.
Maruti Suzuki, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Toyota Kirloskar all posted double-digit growth, while Honda Cars, Hyundai and Ashok Leyland saw demand increase, too. Analysts and industry players pegged the strong performance on improving liquidity boosting demand and new launches.
Maruti saw domestic sales rise 11.7 percent to 1,20,735 units, driven primarily by the compact car segment which saw 9.4 percent growth to 47,002 units.
Rival Hyundai Motors saw muted growth in domestic sales, recording 42,327 units in sales, up 4 percent compared to last year. Rakesh Srivastava, HMIL senior vice-president for sales and marketing, pegged the improvement despite demonetisation on increased customer visits and the Union Budget.
Other good performers such as Ford said the numbers were a good sign. The industry is seeing some green shoots, recovering from the impact of demonetisation, said Anurag Mehrotra, executive director for marketing, sales and service at Ford India. Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Commercial and passenger vehicle maker Tata Motors saw passenger sales rise in the domestic market by 12 per cent. According to Tata Motors president (passenger vehicle business unit) Mayank Pareek, the sales were driven primarily by the newly launched Tiago, which has been seeing sustained demand. Other automakers with growing sales include Renault (26.8 per cent), Honda Cars (9.44 per cent), Nissan (24.86 per cent) and two-wheeler maker Royal Enfield (19 per cent).
Mahindra & Mahindra, however, saw a decline of 2.26 per cent in domestic sales. But, Pravin Shah, M&Ms chief executive (auto division), said that with rural sentiment improving,there will be a turnaround in demand. Competitor Ashok Leyland also recorded a sales growth of 5 per cent.
Meanwhile, TVS Motor Company saw a 3.64 per cent decline in total sales for the month, primarily driven by a 2.32 per cent decline in two-wheeler sales which fell to 2,06,247 units against 2,11,148 units last year. However, rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India recorded a 5 per cent increase, while Hero Motocorp, which has higher rural exposure saw a decrease of 4.7 5 per cent in total sales.
CHENNAI: Auto firms shrugged off the demand crunch following demonetisation by posting robust sales figures for February, with most four-wheeler makers posting double-digit growth compared to the same month last year. Maruti Suzuki, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Toyota Kirloskar all posted double-digit growth, while Honda Cars, Hyundai and Ashok Leyland saw demand increase, too. Analysts and industry players pegged the strong performance on improving liquidity boosting demand and new launches. Maruti saw domestic sales rise 11.7 percent to 1,20,735 units, driven primarily by the compact car segment which saw 9.4 percent growth to 47,002 units. Rival Hyundai Motors saw muted growth in domestic sales, recording 42,327 units in sales, up 4 percent compared to last year. Rakesh Srivastava, HMIL senior vice-president for sales and marketing, pegged the improvement despite demonetisation on increased customer visits and the Union Budget. Other good performers such as Ford said the numbers were a good sign. The industry is seeing some green shoots, recovering from the impact of demonetisation, said Anurag Mehrotra, executive director for marketing, sales and service at Ford India. Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Commercial and passenger vehicle maker Tata Motors saw passenger sales rise in the domestic market by 12 per cent. According to Tata Motors president (passenger vehicle business unit) Mayank Pareek, the sales were driven primarily by the newly launched Tiago, which has been seeing sustained demand. Other automakers with growing sales include Renault (26.8 per cent), Honda Cars (9.44 per cent), Nissan (24.86 per cent) and two-wheeler maker Royal Enfield (19 per cent). Mahindra & Mahindra, however, saw a decline of 2.26 per cent in domestic sales. But, Pravin Shah, M&Ms chief executive (auto division), said that with rural sentiment improving,there will be a turnaround in demand. Competitor Ashok Leyland also recorded a sales growth of 5 per cent. Meanwhile, TVS Motor Company saw a 3.64 per cent decline in total sales for the month, primarily driven by a 2.32 per cent decline in two-wheeler sales which fell to 2,06,247 units against 2,11,148 units last year. However, rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India recorded a 5 per cent increase, while Hero Motocorp, which has higher rural exposure saw a decrease of 4.7 5 per cent in total sales.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: Strongly condemning the allegations levelled by a former Assembly Speaker P H Pandian and his son Manoj Pandian regarding the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Minister for Forests and AIADMK treasurer Dindigul C Srinivasan on Thursday said those who raise all these baseless suspicions about the death of the late leader should not forget that such allegations would only malign her image.
On the remark of PH Pandian they were close to nabbing the culprit involved in the death of Jayalalithaa, Srinivasan said: I think he is engaged in an investigation and let him convey the results of his investigation before the court. He also pointed out that the personal security officer of Jayalalithaa alone took her to the hospital in the ambulance on September 22 last.
Stating that PH Pandian was responsible for most of the sufferings of Jayalalithaa in her public life, Srinivasan said that in 1996, persons like Pandian and C Ponnaiyan lodged false petitions with the then Governor and only because of these petitions, she was imprisoned.
The mental agony underwent by Jayalalithaa in prison, unhygienic situation and lack of basic amenities in jail and medical supervision had a severe impact on her health. Ever since her return from prison in 2014, she was not keeping good health. All AIADMK cadre knew this fact. Now, covering up all these facts, only for political mileage, charges are being levelled, Srinivasan said and asked PH Pandian and his son not to hurl empty allegations as the AIADMK had the courage to face anything.
Apollo Hospitals doctors and Richard Beale from London had clarified every doubt on the treatment given to Jayalalithaa and the hospital had submitted a report to the Madras High Court in a case pending before it.
On the charge that Jayalalithaa was there in hospital without NSG security, Srinivasan clarified that NSG personnel used to return to their camp at Chintadripet after their daily work routine. The NSG personnel will be there with the VIPs during their journey and they are not allowed into the residences of these leaders.
CHENNAI: Strongly condemning the allegations levelled by a former Assembly Speaker P H Pandian and his son Manoj Pandian regarding the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Minister for Forests and AIADMK treasurer Dindigul C Srinivasan on Thursday said those who raise all these baseless suspicions about the death of the late leader should not forget that such allegations would only malign her image. On the remark of PH Pandian they were close to nabbing the culprit involved in the death of Jayalalithaa, Srinivasan said: I think he is engaged in an investigation and let him convey the results of his investigation before the court. He also pointed out that the personal security officer of Jayalalithaa alone took her to the hospital in the ambulance on September 22 last. Stating that PH Pandian was responsible for most of the sufferings of Jayalalithaa in her public life, Srinivasan said that in 1996, persons like Pandian and C Ponnaiyan lodged false petitions with the then Governor and only because of these petitions, she was imprisoned. The mental agony underwent by Jayalalithaa in prison, unhygienic situation and lack of basic amenities in jail and medical supervision had a severe impact on her health. Ever since her return from prison in 2014, she was not keeping good health. All AIADMK cadre knew this fact. Now, covering up all these facts, only for political mileage, charges are being levelled, Srinivasan said and asked PH Pandian and his son not to hurl empty allegations as the AIADMK had the courage to face anything. Apollo Hospitals doctors and Richard Beale from London had clarified every doubt on the treatment given to Jayalalithaa and the hospital had submitted a report to the Madras High Court in a case pending before it. On the charge that Jayalalithaa was there in hospital without NSG security, Srinivasan clarified that NSG personnel used to return to their camp at Chintadripet after their daily work routine. The NSG personnel will be there with the VIPs during their journey and they are not allowed into the residences of these leaders.
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: Firing fresh salvos at V K Sasikala-led faction of the AIADMK, one of the key figures in the rebel side who is also the former Tamil Nadu Speaker, P H Pandian and his son and former MP Manoj Pandian on Thursday raised several queries on the circumstances surrounding the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Talking to reporters at the residence of rebel factions head and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam here on Thursday, he said, Our late leader Jayalalithaa was under the security cover of NSG but when she was in hospital the NSG cover was removed. Who issued the orders to remove high security cover? He said that according to the Act governing NSG, dereliction of duty would warrant capital punishment.
Pandian, who is a criminal lawyer, claimed that Jayalaithaa was pushed down by somebody before she was ferried to Apollo Hospital on the night of September 22 last year.
Demanding answers to questions and suspicions about Jayalalithaas death, he asked who stopped the late leader from flying to a Singapore hospital even after the Centre dispatched a para-ambulance? He also questioned the absence of Dr Shantharam after he warned in May 2016 of the risk of suffering stroke if the course of treatment to Jayalalithaa continued.
Informing that he had been probing the circumstances of Jayalalithaas death, Pandian claimed, I have zeroed in on the culprits. Soon I will expose their identity.
His son and former MP Manoj Pandian asked the hospital authorities to explain who authorised the medical cessation of Jaya. Manoj Pandian claimed that Jayalalithaa actually died on December 4 but the hospital announced her end came on December 5.
CHENNAI: Firing fresh salvos at V K Sasikala-led faction of the AIADMK, one of the key figures in the rebel side who is also the former Tamil Nadu Speaker, P H Pandian and his son and former MP Manoj Pandian on Thursday raised several queries on the circumstances surrounding the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Talking to reporters at the residence of rebel factions head and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam here on Thursday, he said, Our late leader Jayalalithaa was under the security cover of NSG but when she was in hospital the NSG cover was removed. Who issued the orders to remove high security cover? He said that according to the Act governing NSG, dereliction of duty would warrant capital punishment. Pandian, who is a criminal lawyer, claimed that Jayalaithaa was pushed down by somebody before she was ferried to Apollo Hospital on the night of September 22 last year. Demanding answers to questions and suspicions about Jayalalithaas death, he asked who stopped the late leader from flying to a Singapore hospital even after the Centre dispatched a para-ambulance? He also questioned the absence of Dr Shantharam after he warned in May 2016 of the risk of suffering stroke if the course of treatment to Jayalalithaa continued. Informing that he had been probing the circumstances of Jayalalithaas death, Pandian claimed, I have zeroed in on the culprits. Soon I will expose their identity. His son and former MP Manoj Pandian asked the hospital authorities to explain who authorised the medical cessation of Jaya. Manoj Pandian claimed that Jayalalithaa actually died on December 4 but the hospital announced her end came on December 5.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Commuters in the national capital were in for a rude shock with heavy traffic jams due to the protests organised by the Jat community who assembled at Jantar Mantar on Thursday. The heavy vehicular movement was primarily experienced by those travelling in central and South Delhi. Roads connecting Delhi to NCR were a total choc-a-bloc.
The National Highway 24, Delhi-Agra highway, National Highway 1, Connaught Place, ITO are currently having slow moving traffic. According to the Delhi traffic police, almost 4,000 traffic cops have been deployed to manage traffic in the national capital.
"We are witnessing jams in some locations due to heavy vehicle moments due to a protest by Jat community at Jantar Mantar. It is expected that Delhi roads will have traffic whole day due the protest, especially during peak hour," a senior traffic police official said.
Almost 10,000 people from UP and Haryana have reached Delhi to demand quota in education, and government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. They are also seeking the 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 in the stir.
Violence during the February 2016 agitation by Jats across several districts in Haryana left 30 people dead and over 200 injured. Government and private properties worth hundreds of crore were also damaged.
"We have come here to protest against the insensitivity which the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana has shown to our demands. We will march to Parliament with our demands," said Yashpal Malik, president of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS).
He said the community was prepared for a long drawn battle and that essential supplies are likely to be affected.
As many as 30 people were killed and properties worth crores were damaged at many places in Haryana during last year's Jat stir which had turned violent.
(With inputs from IANS)
NEW DELHI: Commuters in the national capital were in for a rude shock with heavy traffic jams due to the protests organised by the Jat community who assembled at Jantar Mantar on Thursday. The heavy vehicular movement was primarily experienced by those travelling in central and South Delhi. Roads connecting Delhi to NCR were a total choc-a-bloc. The National Highway 24, Delhi-Agra highway, National Highway 1, Connaught Place, ITO are currently having slow moving traffic. According to the Delhi traffic police, almost 4,000 traffic cops have been deployed to manage traffic in the national capital. "We are witnessing jams in some locations due to heavy vehicle moments due to a protest by Jat community at Jantar Mantar. It is expected that Delhi roads will have traffic whole day due the protest, especially during peak hour," a senior traffic police official said. Almost 10,000 people from UP and Haryana have reached Delhi to demand quota in education, and government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. They are also seeking the 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 in the stir. Violence during the February 2016 agitation by Jats across several districts in Haryana left 30 people dead and over 200 injured. Government and private properties worth hundreds of crore were also damaged. "We have come here to protest against the insensitivity which the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana has shown to our demands. We will march to Parliament with our demands," said Yashpal Malik, president of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS). He said the community was prepared for a long drawn battle and that essential supplies are likely to be affected. As many as 30 people were killed and properties worth crores were damaged at many places in Haryana during last year's Jat stir which had turned violent. (With inputs from IANS)
By Express News Service
New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Thursday decided to auction two five-star hotels, Taj Mansingh and the Le-Meridian. The council meeting which was headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal passed the resolution to go ahead.
The NDMC has decided to e-auction all the properties that they are planning to auction, which gives a chance to the existing leaseholders of the properties to apply for the properties again. Supreme Court in January this year asked NDMC to reconsider the decision to auction the property.
The two decisions were pending, as the NDMC was entangled in legal battles with the two hotel owners, with matter going up to the Supreme Court which asked the civic body to take a relook at the matter.
The right of first refusal to the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)- Tata's has been denied as it would not be in public interest. The Supreme Court will be apprised of the decision accordingly said the minutes of the meeting further.
Mansingh, owned by NDMC, was given to Tata's IHCL on lease for 33 years. The lease expired in 2011 and the company was given nine temporary extensions since then on various grounds. Similarly the Le-Meridian which is spread over 4.5 acres of land will also be put for auctioning as it did not clear arrears amounting to Rs 518 crore at the time the show cause notice was issued in November 2016, informed an NDMC official.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a member of NDMC Council, made the announcement following a special meeting of its top decision-making body.
"Important decisions today's NDMC meeting- open auction of Taj Mansingh, cancel Le Meridian Hotel license" Kejriwal tweeted.
The civic body had also selected SBI Cap, which was the Centre's advisor for coal blocks auctions, to be its transaction advisor for the auction. However, the process got delayed with the Tata's moving court.
The civic body also decided to cancel the license of Le Meridien, another posh hotel in the Lutyens' Delhi.
"The council decided that the license of the hotel be terminated due to non-payment of license fee worth Rs 523 crore and the Delhi High Court will be apprised accordingly, keeping in view the gross abuse of the process of law by the hotel," the NDMC official said.
New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Thursday decided to auction two five-star hotels, Taj Mansingh and the Le-Meridian. The council meeting which was headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal passed the resolution to go ahead. The NDMC has decided to e-auction all the properties that they are planning to auction, which gives a chance to the existing leaseholders of the properties to apply for the properties again. Supreme Court in January this year asked NDMC to reconsider the decision to auction the property. The two decisions were pending, as the NDMC was entangled in legal battles with the two hotel owners, with matter going up to the Supreme Court which asked the civic body to take a relook at the matter. The right of first refusal to the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)- Tata's has been denied as it would not be in public interest. The Supreme Court will be apprised of the decision accordingly said the minutes of the meeting further. Mansingh, owned by NDMC, was given to Tata's IHCL on lease for 33 years. The lease expired in 2011 and the company was given nine temporary extensions since then on various grounds. Similarly the Le-Meridian which is spread over 4.5 acres of land will also be put for auctioning as it did not clear arrears amounting to Rs 518 crore at the time the show cause notice was issued in November 2016, informed an NDMC official. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a member of NDMC Council, made the announcement following a special meeting of its top decision-making body. "Important decisions today's NDMC meeting- open auction of Taj Mansingh, cancel Le Meridian Hotel license" Kejriwal tweeted. The civic body had also selected SBI Cap, which was the Centre's advisor for coal blocks auctions, to be its transaction advisor for the auction. However, the process got delayed with the Tata's moving court. The civic body also decided to cancel the license of Le Meridien, another posh hotel in the Lutyens' Delhi. "The council decided that the license of the hotel be terminated due to non-payment of license fee worth Rs 523 crore and the Delhi High Court will be apprised accordingly, keeping in view the gross abuse of the process of law by the hotel," the NDMC official said.
By Express News Service
HYDERABAD: Slain Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotlas widow Sunayana Dumala has sought the support of Bollywood stars- Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, in her fight against hate crime in the United States.
Amitabh sir, there was not a party that ended without us dancing to your songs. Our friends used to fondly call us Amitabh and Jaya because my husband is 6 2 and I am 5 feet. Shah Rukh sir, he was a huge fan of yours, and he made sure we watched your latest movie, Raees. I need all your support to pass this strong message of spreading love and giving confidence to every foreign national (in the US) that their fight will be listened to, Sunayana said.
Distraught after the death of her husband Srinivas Kuchibhotla, Sunayana Dumala, wrote a blog on Tuesday when the slain Indian engineers funeral was held.
In her blog, the young widow shared how they started to like each other after meeting on Orkut, her dream of going to USA, their aspirations of pursuing their passion in the country.
At the end of the blog, she posed a question to the US government, saying, Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrants mind, DO WE BELONG HERE? Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?
In her letter, Sunayana narrated Srinivas admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and wished to meet both of them to share his joy, posthumously.
Requesting Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to continue advocating support for human rights, she said there is a need to spread love and stop hatred.
This is my first official blog post on Facebook, and it is with a heavy heart that I am writing these words. On the dreadful night of Wednesday, 22 Feb 2017, I lost my husband and my soulmate, she said. According to Sunayana, the two met way back in August, 2006 through common friends then connected on an online portal called Orkut and started liking each other instantly.
I am the baby of my house, being the youngest with two elder sisters. I grew up to be a carefree child. It was Srinivas who gave me the courage to pursue my dream of coming to the USA and studying, which made me the person I am today - an independent, self-sufficient and strong woman. I started working only recently, May 2016, she disclosed.
Srinivas passion was to constantly innovate in the the aviation industry. In America, he commenced his career at Rockwell Collins, and he worked On Primary Flight Control Computer that would change the way flights work with improved performances.
There were days he used to come home to have only dinner and leave for work again- only return around 2 or 3 in the morning. He was very happy at Rockwell and liked living in a small town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
But we decided to move from there to a bigger city so that I could get a job and be able to pursue my dreams, as he was able to do for himself. Kansas was our instant choice, and we moved here with a lot of dreams. We built our dream home, which he painted. This was the home that he had built to - for us and any kids we would have- was our first step to starting our family. Its so unfortunate that this dream of ours is now shattered. All of this, because of one person, who did not think of the impact his deed would have on the victims family, she lamented.
When police came to her house that on that ill-fated night and gave her the news of Srinivas life being taken away by a random shooter, she could not believe their words. She asked them repeatedly, Are you sure?, Can you show me a picture to identify?, Is the man that you are talking about 6 2 ?. Then, they were just nodding their heads saying yes.
She expressed thanks to each one of those who helped her during the hours of crisis, saying, I thank Garmin and its employees for conducting the vigil. Thanks to Mr Cliff Pemble, the CEO of Garmin. Thanks to Mr Frank, CEO of Intouch Solutions, for assuring me that I can take however long and still come back and continue my job. Thanks to the Detectives and District Attorney Steve for working hard on this case and finding the culprit.
HYDERABAD: Slain Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotlas widow Sunayana Dumala has sought the support of Bollywood stars- Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, in her fight against hate crime in the United States. Amitabh sir, there was not a party that ended without us dancing to your songs. Our friends used to fondly call us Amitabh and Jaya because my husband is 6 2 and I am 5 feet. Shah Rukh sir, he was a huge fan of yours, and he made sure we watched your latest movie, Raees. I need all your support to pass this strong message of spreading love and giving confidence to every foreign national (in the US) that their fight will be listened to, Sunayana said. Distraught after the death of her husband Srinivas Kuchibhotla, Sunayana Dumala, wrote a blog on Tuesday when the slain Indian engineers funeral was held. In her blog, the young widow shared how they started to like each other after meeting on Orkut, her dream of going to USA, their aspirations of pursuing their passion in the country. At the end of the blog, she posed a question to the US government, saying, Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrants mind, DO WE BELONG HERE? Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here? In her letter, Sunayana narrated Srinivas admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and wished to meet both of them to share his joy, posthumously. Requesting Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to continue advocating support for human rights, she said there is a need to spread love and stop hatred. This is my first official blog post on Facebook, and it is with a heavy heart that I am writing these words. On the dreadful night of Wednesday, 22 Feb 2017, I lost my husband and my soulmate, she said. According to Sunayana, the two met way back in August, 2006 through common friends then connected on an online portal called Orkut and started liking each other instantly. I am the baby of my house, being the youngest with two elder sisters. I grew up to be a carefree child. It was Srinivas who gave me the courage to pursue my dream of coming to the USA and studying, which made me the person I am today - an independent, self-sufficient and strong woman. I started working only recently, May 2016, she disclosed. Srinivas passion was to constantly innovate in the the aviation industry. In America, he commenced his career at Rockwell Collins, and he worked On Primary Flight Control Computer that would change the way flights work with improved performances. There were days he used to come home to have only dinner and leave for work again- only return around 2 or 3 in the morning. He was very happy at Rockwell and liked living in a small town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But we decided to move from there to a bigger city so that I could get a job and be able to pursue my dreams, as he was able to do for himself. Kansas was our instant choice, and we moved here with a lot of dreams. We built our dream home, which he painted. This was the home that he had built to - for us and any kids we would have- was our first step to starting our family. Its so unfortunate that this dream of ours is now shattered. All of this, because of one person, who did not think of the impact his deed would have on the victims family, she lamented. When police came to her house that on that ill-fated night and gave her the news of Srinivas life being taken away by a random shooter, she could not believe their words. She asked them repeatedly, Are you sure?, Can you show me a picture to identify?, Is the man that you are talking about 6 2 ?. Then, they were just nodding their heads saying yes. She expressed thanks to each one of those who helped her during the hours of crisis, saying, I thank Garmin and its employees for conducting the vigil. Thanks to Mr Cliff Pemble, the CEO of Garmin. Thanks to Mr Frank, CEO of Intouch Solutions, for assuring me that I can take however long and still come back and continue my job. Thanks to the Detectives and District Attorney Steve for working hard on this case and finding the culprit.
Jose Joy By
Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Modern life has pushed everyone into a rat race. Theres hardly any time to pause and feel the world around us.Thats exactly what The Goodwill Tribe hopes to change. Set up by two youngstersSonia Parekh and Chandni Sawlaniwith the belief that there should be a platform to tap into the inherent goodness of the human mind, especially within fast-paced cities.
After having worked in many NGOs across India, I wanted to make space for the city-dwellers in Dubai to have slow and meaningful interactions over shared values, says Sonia.
As an experiment, we handed gifts to random passers-by, with a positive message attached to it. The initial surprise and eventual happiness emanating from them convinced us that there should be someone to keep reminding people to look up and smile, Sonia elaborates.
Having branched out into countries including Kuwait,UK and Australia, the three-year-old Dubai-based organisation expands to Kochi with their debut event Letter Earthlings.
Pay in kind
The groups Facebook page asks the questionWhat is kindness? Over time weve realised that kindness is not bound by definition. For some its giving without expectation, for others its helping someone facing tough times, says the co-founder. The community embraces this idea while designing their activities like Letter Earthlingsin which the volunteers address kind words to people suffering from health problems, have lost their loved ones or simply need motivation in their lives.
Their initial gathering in Kochi intends to create responses to letter requests received by the community through a Google Form. We want ailing people to know that theres an army of folks reaching out to them with positivity and love, says the 24-year-old, adding, Volunteers are sure to experience how empathising with a strangers situation is therapeutic for their own minds.
On March 4 at 4 pm. At Ente Bhoomi in Pallimukku. Details: thegoodwilltribe.org
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Modern life has pushed everyone into a rat race. Theres hardly any time to pause and feel the world around us.Thats exactly what The Goodwill Tribe hopes to change. Set up by two youngstersSonia Parekh and Chandni Sawlaniwith the belief that there should be a platform to tap into the inherent goodness of the human mind, especially within fast-paced cities. After having worked in many NGOs across India, I wanted to make space for the city-dwellers in Dubai to have slow and meaningful interactions over shared values, says Sonia. As an experiment, we handed gifts to random passers-by, with a positive message attached to it. The initial surprise and eventual happiness emanating from them convinced us that there should be someone to keep reminding people to look up and smile, Sonia elaborates. Having branched out into countries including Kuwait,UK and Australia, the three-year-old Dubai-based organisation expands to Kochi with their debut event Letter Earthlings. Pay in kind The groups Facebook page asks the questionWhat is kindness? Over time weve realised that kindness is not bound by definition. For some its giving without expectation, for others its helping someone facing tough times, says the co-founder. The community embraces this idea while designing their activities like Letter Earthlingsin which the volunteers address kind words to people suffering from health problems, have lost their loved ones or simply need motivation in their lives. Their initial gathering in Kochi intends to create responses to letter requests received by the community through a Google Form. We want ailing people to know that theres an army of folks reaching out to them with positivity and love, says the 24-year-old, adding, Volunteers are sure to experience how empathising with a strangers situation is therapeutic for their own minds. On March 4 at 4 pm. At Ente Bhoomi in Pallimukku. Details: thegoodwilltribe.org
By Associated Press
LOS ANGELES: The president of the film academy says the two accountants responsible for the best-picture flub at Sunday's Academy Awards will never work the Oscars again. She also laments that the error overshadowed a show that celebrated a rich diversity of talent and storytelling.
Breaking her silence four days after the biggest blunder in the 89-year history of the Academy Awards, Cheryl Boone Isaacs praised the show's producers and host Wednesday for "a most beautiful, beautiful, wonderful evening."
"Then, of course, there was the last 90 seconds," Boone Isaacs said. "And what angered me, I would say, in these last couple days is (the focus on) this 90 seconds and moving to the side the brilliance of the day."
The academy president told The Associated Press that Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, the PwC accountants who handled the winners' envelopes at Sunday's show, have been permanently removed from all film academy dealings.
While Cullinan was responsible for handing over the errant envelope that led to "La La Land" mistakenly being announced as best picture rather than "Moonlight," PwC said both partners failed to follow protocols and did not act quickly enough to catch the error.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' relationship with PwC, which has been responsible for tallying and revealing Oscar winners for 83 years, remains under review, Boone Isaacs said.
Cullinan was distracted backstage, she said. He tweeted (and later deleted) a photo of Emma Stone in the wings with her new Oscar minutes before giving presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for best picture.
"They have one job to do. One job to do!" Boone Isaacs said. "Obviously there was a distraction."
PwC released a statement late Sunday and another Monday taking "full responsibility for the series of mistakes and breaches of established protocols" during the Oscar show.
"Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner," the statement said. Both partners remain with the company, a PwC spokesman said Wednesday.
Protocols for handling the winners' envelopes had been established by the accounting firm, Boone Isaacs said, "and they have worked for 83 years."
"We are reviewing those protocols, of course," she said. "Because it never happened before and we never are going to have it happen again. And we are setting new guidelines, new protocols and really re-examining every step to make sure this never ever, ever happens."
Though the academy released a statement late Monday apologizing to the artists of "Moonlight" and "La La Land," Boone Isaacs said she waited to say more until her team had a better understanding of what led to the error.
"You need to get some facts under your belt," she said. "It needs to be not just an emotional response. It needs to have some sort of clarity. ... We wanted to say something right away, but we also didn't want to misspeak."
She commended show producers Jennifer Todd and Michael De Luca, presenters Beatty and Dunaway and host Jimmy Kimmel for handling the unprecedented situation so gracefully.
"Warren, he took charge there," Boone Isaacs said. "He took charge of a situation that he did not create."
She also lauded "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz, who she said "went from a nominee to a winner to a presenter" in a matter of minutes.
Still holding the Oscar, he thought he'd won, Horowitz was the first to announce that "Moonlight" was the actual best picture recipient.
Though unexpected, having the casts of two films onstage at the end of the Oscar show revealed "the very best" of Hollywood, Boone Isaacs said: "And that is a camaraderie and respect for each other."
"It's important to remember that that is what this is all about," she said.
Also on Wednesday, the academy addressed another embarrassment on Sunday's show, apologizing to the Australian movie producer incorrectly shown during the in memoriam segment.
In a statement, the academy extended "our deepest apologies" to producer Jan Chapman, whose photo was mistakenly used in the tribute instead of Chapman's colleague and friend, the late Janet Patterson. Chapman had said she was "devastated" by the error.
Boone Isaacs said she regrets that the best-picture flub has overshadowed the show and its diverse array of winners. After two years of "OscarsSoWhite," with all white acting nominees, Sunday's ceremony recognized several actors and writers of color, and named a tender film about a gay black boy best picture. It followed two years of extensive reform to improve inclusion within the academy.
"Going back to the brilliance of the show, as well as a year of conversation about Hollywood today and the evolution of Hollywood in so many different ways, and to culminate in such a beautiful evening," she said. "It (attention on the flub) was beyond disappointing."
And though she's ready for public attention to shift back to the winning films rather than the errant envelope, Boone Isaacs appreciates that so many people care about the Academy Awards.
"The Oscars are truly special, to such a degree that everyone has an opinion about it, but I'm fine with that," she said. "They have an opinion about how it should be, how it shouldn't be, what we should do, who should win. ... I love that we're in the conversation. Let's just make sure that, certainly this year, the conversation is about celebrating a fantastic year in the film business and a fantastic show."
___
LOS ANGELES: The president of the film academy says the two accountants responsible for the best-picture flub at Sunday's Academy Awards will never work the Oscars again. She also laments that the error overshadowed a show that celebrated a rich diversity of talent and storytelling. Breaking her silence four days after the biggest blunder in the 89-year history of the Academy Awards, Cheryl Boone Isaacs praised the show's producers and host Wednesday for "a most beautiful, beautiful, wonderful evening." "Then, of course, there was the last 90 seconds," Boone Isaacs said. "And what angered me, I would say, in these last couple days is (the focus on) this 90 seconds and moving to the side the brilliance of the day." The academy president told The Associated Press that Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, the PwC accountants who handled the winners' envelopes at Sunday's show, have been permanently removed from all film academy dealings. While Cullinan was responsible for handing over the errant envelope that led to "La La Land" mistakenly being announced as best picture rather than "Moonlight," PwC said both partners failed to follow protocols and did not act quickly enough to catch the error. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' relationship with PwC, which has been responsible for tallying and revealing Oscar winners for 83 years, remains under review, Boone Isaacs said. Cullinan was distracted backstage, she said. He tweeted (and later deleted) a photo of Emma Stone in the wings with her new Oscar minutes before giving presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for best picture. "They have one job to do. One job to do!" Boone Isaacs said. "Obviously there was a distraction." PwC released a statement late Sunday and another Monday taking "full responsibility for the series of mistakes and breaches of established protocols" during the Oscar show. "Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner," the statement said. Both partners remain with the company, a PwC spokesman said Wednesday. Protocols for handling the winners' envelopes had been established by the accounting firm, Boone Isaacs said, "and they have worked for 83 years." "We are reviewing those protocols, of course," she said. "Because it never happened before and we never are going to have it happen again. And we are setting new guidelines, new protocols and really re-examining every step to make sure this never ever, ever happens." Though the academy released a statement late Monday apologizing to the artists of "Moonlight" and "La La Land," Boone Isaacs said she waited to say more until her team had a better understanding of what led to the error. "You need to get some facts under your belt," she said. "It needs to be not just an emotional response. It needs to have some sort of clarity. ... We wanted to say something right away, but we also didn't want to misspeak." She commended show producers Jennifer Todd and Michael De Luca, presenters Beatty and Dunaway and host Jimmy Kimmel for handling the unprecedented situation so gracefully. "Warren, he took charge there," Boone Isaacs said. "He took charge of a situation that he did not create." She also lauded "La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz, who she said "went from a nominee to a winner to a presenter" in a matter of minutes. Still holding the Oscar, he thought he'd won, Horowitz was the first to announce that "Moonlight" was the actual best picture recipient. Though unexpected, having the casts of two films onstage at the end of the Oscar show revealed "the very best" of Hollywood, Boone Isaacs said: "And that is a camaraderie and respect for each other." "It's important to remember that that is what this is all about," she said. Also on Wednesday, the academy addressed another embarrassment on Sunday's show, apologizing to the Australian movie producer incorrectly shown during the in memoriam segment. In a statement, the academy extended "our deepest apologies" to producer Jan Chapman, whose photo was mistakenly used in the tribute instead of Chapman's colleague and friend, the late Janet Patterson. Chapman had said she was "devastated" by the error. Boone Isaacs said she regrets that the best-picture flub has overshadowed the show and its diverse array of winners. After two years of "OscarsSoWhite," with all white acting nominees, Sunday's ceremony recognized several actors and writers of color, and named a tender film about a gay black boy best picture. It followed two years of extensive reform to improve inclusion within the academy. "Going back to the brilliance of the show, as well as a year of conversation about Hollywood today and the evolution of Hollywood in so many different ways, and to culminate in such a beautiful evening," she said. "It (attention on the flub) was beyond disappointing." And though she's ready for public attention to shift back to the winning films rather than the errant envelope, Boone Isaacs appreciates that so many people care about the Academy Awards. "The Oscars are truly special, to such a degree that everyone has an opinion about it, but I'm fine with that," she said. "They have an opinion about how it should be, how it shouldn't be, what we should do, who should win. ... I love that we're in the conversation. Let's just make sure that, certainly this year, the conversation is about celebrating a fantastic year in the film business and a fantastic show." ___
By Online Desk
Mohanlal and director Major Ravi are bringing out the fourth part of the Major Mahadevan films which started with 'Keerthi Chakra' (2006).
The actor shared the teaser through his official Facebook page.
The 36-second video shows glimpses of Mohanlal partaking in village festivals as well as his avatar as Major Mahadevan in a gory war. In 1971 Beyond Border, Mohanlal plays the titular character, Major Mahadevan as well as the role of his 85-year-old father, Colonel Sahadevan.
The movie is wrtitten, directed by Major Ravi and produced by Haneef Mohammed. 1971 Beyond Borders was shot in locations including Ottapaalam, Pattambi and Georgia.
Poster of the film "1971 Beyond Borders"
Asha Sarath plays the female lead in the movie while Allu Sirish, Ranji Panikker, Saiju Kurup, Sudheer Karamana and Arunoday Singh co-star. The makers had hinted that the movie is a prequel to 'Kurukshetra', the second installment of the series.
The third installment of the series, 'Kandahar' (2010) had the backdrop of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999.
The film even had a cameo by Bollywood Superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
1971 Beyond Borders is set to release on April 7th in Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu versions.
Mohanlal and director Major Ravi are bringing out the fourth part of the Major Mahadevan films which started with 'Keerthi Chakra' (2006). The actor shared the teaser through his official Facebook page. The 36-second video shows glimpses of Mohanlal partaking in village festivals as well as his avatar as Major Mahadevan in a gory war. In 1971 Beyond Border, Mohanlal plays the titular character, Major Mahadevan as well as the role of his 85-year-old father, Colonel Sahadevan. The movie is wrtitten, directed by Major Ravi and produced by Haneef Mohammed. 1971 Beyond Borders was shot in locations including Ottapaalam, Pattambi and Georgia. Poster of the film "1971 Beyond Borders"Asha Sarath plays the female lead in the movie while Allu Sirish, Ranji Panikker, Saiju Kurup, Sudheer Karamana and Arunoday Singh co-star. The makers had hinted that the movie is a prequel to 'Kurukshetra', the second installment of the series. The third installment of the series, 'Kandahar' (2010) had the backdrop of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999. The film even had a cameo by Bollywood Superstar Amitabh Bachchan. 1971 Beyond Borders is set to release on April 7th in Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu versions.
Harpreet Bajwa By
Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: The Jat community has given the Haryana government a five-day ultimatum to resolve their demands, as the second round of talks between Jat leaders and the committee formed by the State government on Monday, remained inconclusive. The Jat agitation seeking reservation in education and government jobs will continue across the State.
All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti president Yashpal Malik said, We had a second round of talks with the government officials on Monday in Panipat but they remained inconclusive. The government has formed a four member committee to look into the cases filed against the youth in last years agitation and whether they can be withdrawn as per law or not. The committee will have two government officials and two of our representatives. But we are stuck to our demand that these cases should be withdrawn.
In the first round of talks held on February 12 between Jat leaders and the committee, the leaders had given a charter of seven demands and the committee had reportedly promised to look into them. We have given the government five days time to resolve all our demands and get back to us. If they (government) are unable to arrive at a solution, we will hold executive meeting on February 24 in which further course of action will be decided, he said, adding that dharnas will continue across the state.
He claimed that the government has agreed to enhance the compensation of those injured with bullet injuries from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
Praising Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Yashpal Malik said that Khattar is a good person but some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are eyeing his post and thus misleading the government.
They have already decided to hold a protest on March 2 in Delhi after which they will submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking reservation in education and government jobs, and will on a later date gherao Parliament.
The charter of demands to the State government include a demand that the cases registered against the protesting youth be immediately withdrawn, reservation be given to the Jat community both in educational institutions and jobs or that the Union government reservation be extended. They also demanded compensation and jobs to those injured in last year's protests, permanent jobs to the kin of the deceased protest victims and that action should be taken against officials who instigated violence in the protests. They also demanded an inquiry to be conducted by Parliament Ethics Committee against Member of Parliament Raj Kumar Saini for his provocative speeches against the Jat community in the last two years, and action be taken against him accordingly.
CHANDIGARH: The Jat community has given the Haryana government a five-day ultimatum to resolve their demands, as the second round of talks between Jat leaders and the committee formed by the State government on Monday, remained inconclusive. The Jat agitation seeking reservation in education and government jobs will continue across the State. All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti president Yashpal Malik said, We had a second round of talks with the government officials on Monday in Panipat but they remained inconclusive. The government has formed a four member committee to look into the cases filed against the youth in last years agitation and whether they can be withdrawn as per law or not. The committee will have two government officials and two of our representatives. But we are stuck to our demand that these cases should be withdrawn. In the first round of talks held on February 12 between Jat leaders and the committee, the leaders had given a charter of seven demands and the committee had reportedly promised to look into them. We have given the government five days time to resolve all our demands and get back to us. If they (government) are unable to arrive at a solution, we will hold executive meeting on February 24 in which further course of action will be decided, he said, adding that dharnas will continue across the state. He claimed that the government has agreed to enhance the compensation of those injured with bullet injuries from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Praising Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Yashpal Malik said that Khattar is a good person but some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are eyeing his post and thus misleading the government. They have already decided to hold a protest on March 2 in Delhi after which they will submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking reservation in education and government jobs, and will on a later date gherao Parliament. The charter of demands to the State government include a demand that the cases registered against the protesting youth be immediately withdrawn, reservation be given to the Jat community both in educational institutions and jobs or that the Union government reservation be extended. They also demanded compensation and jobs to those injured in last year's protests, permanent jobs to the kin of the deceased protest victims and that action should be taken against officials who instigated violence in the protests. They also demanded an inquiry to be conducted by Parliament Ethics Committee against Member of Parliament Raj Kumar Saini for his provocative speeches against the Jat community in the last two years, and action be taken against him accordingly.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Minority Affairs move to commercially develop the land owned by Waqf Board has hit a wall, with only Bengaluru providing three properties for development.
The government has been planning to utilise the 4.9 lakh registered Waqf properties across the country to generate whopping revenue of Rs. 12,000 crore. The amount in turn, it claimed could have been used for community welfare.
No Waqf property has been developed by National Waqf Development Corporation Ltd. (NAWADCO). However, initial work i.e. feasibility, building plans and cost estimation on three Waqf properties in Bengaluru has been started, Ministry of Minority Affairs official told the Express.
The Government of India established National Waqf Development Corporation with a budget Rs. 500 crores with initial paid-up capital of Rs.100 crores to develop the invaluable Waqf properties in the country.
Karnataka State Board of Auqaf has offered three Waqf properties in Bengaluru for development and the same has been placed before the Board of Directors of NAWADCO, the official added.
The Indian Governments Navratna organisation NBCC limited has also acquiesced to develop these properties and is incurring the initial expenditure. NAWADCO so far has not incurred by NAWADCO on these properties so far.
In the 75th meeting of the Central Waqf Council, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had flagged the issue of land mafia illegally occupying the Waqf land in collusion with waqf officials. Naqvi contended that the mafias were scuttling the development and utilisation of the Waqf properties.
The Minority Affairs Ministry has been planning to develop these properties commercially and institutionally and by building malls, schools, hostels and offices. The Waqf Board has 6 lakh acres of land, with five lakh registered properties under it.
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Minority Affairs move to commercially develop the land owned by Waqf Board has hit a wall, with only Bengaluru providing three properties for development. The government has been planning to utilise the 4.9 lakh registered Waqf properties across the country to generate whopping revenue of Rs. 12,000 crore. The amount in turn, it claimed could have been used for community welfare. No Waqf property has been developed by National Waqf Development Corporation Ltd. (NAWADCO). However, initial work i.e. feasibility, building plans and cost estimation on three Waqf properties in Bengaluru has been started, Ministry of Minority Affairs official told the Express. The Government of India established National Waqf Development Corporation with a budget Rs. 500 crores with initial paid-up capital of Rs.100 crores to develop the invaluable Waqf properties in the country. Karnataka State Board of Auqaf has offered three Waqf properties in Bengaluru for development and the same has been placed before the Board of Directors of NAWADCO, the official added. The Indian Governments Navratna organisation NBCC limited has also acquiesced to develop these properties and is incurring the initial expenditure. NAWADCO so far has not incurred by NAWADCO on these properties so far. In the 75th meeting of the Central Waqf Council, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had flagged the issue of land mafia illegally occupying the Waqf land in collusion with waqf officials. Naqvi contended that the mafias were scuttling the development and utilisation of the Waqf properties. The Minority Affairs Ministry has been planning to develop these properties commercially and institutionally and by building malls, schools, hostels and offices. The Waqf Board has 6 lakh acres of land, with five lakh registered properties under it.
Prasanta Mazumdar By
Express News Service
GUWAHATI: Two days ahead of the first of the two-phase Manipur elections, eight people were injured in a bomb blast at the residence of a Naga Peoples Front (NPF) candidate at Langol in the Imphal West district on Thursday.
The explosion occurred at around 5 pm at the residence of K Leishiyo, who is contesting from scheduled tribe-reserved Phungyar constituency in Kamjong district.
Leishiyo said he was not at home when the incident occurred. All the injured persons are his party workers of which some have been grievously injured.
I was told somebody came and lobbed the bomb targeting my house before escaping. Eight people were injured and all of them had been hospitalised. Some of them sustained head injuries, he told Express.
The injured were rushed to Shija Hospital at Langol. Langol, a redominantly tribal colony, is located on the outskirts of Imphal city.So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Leishiyo said he had not received any threat from anyone but alleged that he was being targeted by other parties as his victory was inevitable.
I am sure to win the election because I enjoy mass support. So, the other parties are worried about my prospects and doing these things to create panic in the minds of my supporters and voters, he alleged.
The police visited the site immediately after the incident. There are five candidates in the fray in Phungyar, which is Manipurs biggest constituency in terms of size. It is as big as Imphal valley which accounts for 40 of the 60 seats. The NPF, Congress, BJP, Trinamool Congress and an Independent are contesting here.
The NPF, which is a major constituent of Nagalands ruling alliance, has fielded candidates in 15 seats, all in tribal-majority hills. In the 2012 polls, the party had grabbed four seats.
Meanwhile, campaigning for Saturdays first phase polls ended on Thursday. The second and the final phase polls will be held on March 8.
GUWAHATI: Two days ahead of the first of the two-phase Manipur elections, eight people were injured in a bomb blast at the residence of a Naga Peoples Front (NPF) candidate at Langol in the Imphal West district on Thursday. The explosion occurred at around 5 pm at the residence of K Leishiyo, who is contesting from scheduled tribe-reserved Phungyar constituency in Kamjong district. Leishiyo said he was not at home when the incident occurred. All the injured persons are his party workers of which some have been grievously injured. I was told somebody came and lobbed the bomb targeting my house before escaping. Eight people were injured and all of them had been hospitalised. Some of them sustained head injuries, he told Express. The injured were rushed to Shija Hospital at Langol. Langol, a redominantly tribal colony, is located on the outskirts of Imphal city.So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast. Leishiyo said he had not received any threat from anyone but alleged that he was being targeted by other parties as his victory was inevitable. I am sure to win the election because I enjoy mass support. So, the other parties are worried about my prospects and doing these things to create panic in the minds of my supporters and voters, he alleged. The police visited the site immediately after the incident. There are five candidates in the fray in Phungyar, which is Manipurs biggest constituency in terms of size. It is as big as Imphal valley which accounts for 40 of the 60 seats. The NPF, Congress, BJP, Trinamool Congress and an Independent are contesting here. The NPF, which is a major constituent of Nagalands ruling alliance, has fielded candidates in 15 seats, all in tribal-majority hills. In the 2012 polls, the party had grabbed four seats. Meanwhile, campaigning for Saturdays first phase polls ended on Thursday. The second and the final phase polls will be held on March 8.
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: As the Indian navys submarines are operating without heavyweight torpedo, their primary offensive weapon, Navy on Thursday successfully conducted maiden firing of an Anti-Ship missile from first of the indigenously built Kalvari class submarines, during a test firing in the Arabian Sea.
According to naval official the missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing.
This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navys sub-surface warfare capability, said a naval official.
All six Kalvari class submarines being built in India will be equipped with this anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat. These missiles will provide the submarines the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges. The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
NEW DELHI: As the Indian navys submarines are operating without heavyweight torpedo, their primary offensive weapon, Navy on Thursday successfully conducted maiden firing of an Anti-Ship missile from first of the indigenously built Kalvari class submarines, during a test firing in the Arabian Sea. According to naval official the missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing. This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navys sub-surface warfare capability, said a naval official. All six Kalvari class submarines being built in India will be equipped with this anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat. These missiles will provide the submarines the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges. The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Demanding quota in education and jobs, thousands of Jats from northern states including Haryana today gathered at the Jantar Mantar here and threatened to block major highways leading to the national capital.
They said they would also stage a gherao of the Parliament building during their 'Delhi Kooch' (march to Delhi).
Accusing the BJP-led governments at the Centre and Haryana of being "insensitive" to their demand of reservation under OBC category, president of Akhli Bhartiya Jat Arakashan Sangharsh Samiti Yashpal Malik said that it was necessary to take a "big decision to wake the government up from its slumber".
"On March 20, all the Jats riding their tractors and small vehicles and carrying at least 10-day ration will march towards Delhi on the highways from the neighbouring states," he said. If stopped by the police during their 'Delhi Kooch', the Jats would lay siege and block all the major highways leading to the national capital.
Watch video of the protest below:
The Jats will camp at the borders of Delhi, and later hold a gherao of the Parliament, Malik said. Thousands of Jats from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand and also from the city, in their vehicles, trouped towards the Jantar Mantar for 'Jat Nyay Dharna', disrupting traffic in New Delhi area and border points.
The dharna, led by Malik and other Sangharsh Samiti leaders, culminated in a march towards Parliament which forced the Delhi Traffic Police to close the Parliament Street.
Heavy traffic was witnessed on several roads including Ashoka Road.
The Sangharsh Samiti leaders also submitted their seven-point charter of demands at the offices of the President and the Prime Minister.
Later, the protesters courted arrested at the Parliament Street police station and insisted that the numbers of those arrest be given in writing.
They dispersed after a police officer announced that a total of 50,000 Jat protestors have courted arrest.
Malik said that Jats were prepared to continue with their struggle for an indefinite period.
"We are prepared for an indefinite struggle no matter it takes 10 days or ten years," he said.
Asserting that "Delhi Kooch" will be peaceful, he said if they would be stopped from entering Delhi, then around "20 lakh" local Jats will join them in their proposed protest and gherao.
Speaking on the occasion, Jat leaders and office bearers from UP, Punjab, Rajasthan gave a call of unity and pledged their support to Sangarsh Samiti and Malik.
Besides seeking quota in education and government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, Jats are demanding the release of those jailed during last year's stir, withdrawal of cases slapped during the protest and government jobs for the kin of those killed and injured while taking part in the agitation.
As many as 30 people were killed and property worth crores was damaged at many places in Haryana during last year's violent Jat stir.
NEW DELHI: Demanding quota in education and jobs, thousands of Jats from northern states including Haryana today gathered at the Jantar Mantar here and threatened to block major highways leading to the national capital. They said they would also stage a gherao of the Parliament building during their 'Delhi Kooch' (march to Delhi). Accusing the BJP-led governments at the Centre and Haryana of being "insensitive" to their demand of reservation under OBC category, president of Akhli Bhartiya Jat Arakashan Sangharsh Samiti Yashpal Malik said that it was necessary to take a "big decision to wake the government up from its slumber". "On March 20, all the Jats riding their tractors and small vehicles and carrying at least 10-day ration will march towards Delhi on the highways from the neighbouring states," he said. If stopped by the police during their 'Delhi Kooch', the Jats would lay siege and block all the major highways leading to the national capital. Watch video of the protest below: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTAwNTQwfHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); The Jats will camp at the borders of Delhi, and later hold a gherao of the Parliament, Malik said. Thousands of Jats from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand and also from the city, in their vehicles, trouped towards the Jantar Mantar for 'Jat Nyay Dharna', disrupting traffic in New Delhi area and border points. The dharna, led by Malik and other Sangharsh Samiti leaders, culminated in a march towards Parliament which forced the Delhi Traffic Police to close the Parliament Street. Heavy traffic was witnessed on several roads including Ashoka Road. The Sangharsh Samiti leaders also submitted their seven-point charter of demands at the offices of the President and the Prime Minister. Later, the protesters courted arrested at the Parliament Street police station and insisted that the numbers of those arrest be given in writing. They dispersed after a police officer announced that a total of 50,000 Jat protestors have courted arrest. Malik said that Jats were prepared to continue with their struggle for an indefinite period. "We are prepared for an indefinite struggle no matter it takes 10 days or ten years," he said. Asserting that "Delhi Kooch" will be peaceful, he said if they would be stopped from entering Delhi, then around "20 lakh" local Jats will join them in their proposed protest and gherao. Speaking on the occasion, Jat leaders and office bearers from UP, Punjab, Rajasthan gave a call of unity and pledged their support to Sangarsh Samiti and Malik. Besides seeking quota in education and government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, Jats are demanding the release of those jailed during last year's stir, withdrawal of cases slapped during the protest and government jobs for the kin of those killed and injured while taking part in the agitation. As many as 30 people were killed and property worth crores was damaged at many places in Haryana during last year's violent Jat stir.
By ANI
ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation in Jawahar Bagh violence case.
At least 24 people, including two police personnel, died following the violence in Mathura during an encroachment drive at Jawahar Bagh in June last year.
The police had arrested 124 persons on charges of murder and rioting.
The cult-like group of nearly 2,000 protesters, who claim to be the "true followers of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose", got violent after they were asked to evict the land they were encroaching upon following the directions of the Allahabad High Court.
Following which the protesters opened fire on the police and also lobbed grenades on the cops.
According to reports, there had been tension in the area ever since the Mathura administration gave the protesters a 48-hour ultimatum on April 15, 2016 that lapsed without any action being initiated.
ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation in Jawahar Bagh violence case. At least 24 people, including two police personnel, died following the violence in Mathura during an encroachment drive at Jawahar Bagh in June last year. The police had arrested 124 persons on charges of murder and rioting. The cult-like group of nearly 2,000 protesters, who claim to be the "true followers of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose", got violent after they were asked to evict the land they were encroaching upon following the directions of the Allahabad High Court. Following which the protesters opened fire on the police and also lobbed grenades on the cops. According to reports, there had been tension in the area ever since the Mathura administration gave the protesters a 48-hour ultimatum on April 15, 2016 that lapsed without any action being initiated.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Controversial businessman Moin Akhtar Qureshi, an accused in a black money case, had made a false claim to go abroad, Income Tax Department told a city court on Thursday.
The Department sought modification of the bail condition of the meat exporter and said he should be directed to seek the court's prior permission before leaving India in future.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Garg asked the counsel of Income Tax (IT) Department to file a proper application in this regard and listed the matter for April 7.
IT Department's standing counsel Brijesh Garg said that Qureshi's bail condition should be modified and, instead of just intimating the court about his foreign trip, he should be directed to seek the court's prior permission before leaving the country.
In October last year, Qureshi was stopped at the IGI Airport here following a look-out notice against him by the Enforcement Directorate which is probing a case of money laundering and violation of foreign exchange norms.
Qureshi was then allowed to go after he showed a court order saying he had to only inform the court for his foreign travel which he had done.
IT Department's prayer came in the backdrop of a plea filed by Qureshi last year intimating the court that he wanted to visit the United Kingdom in October where his wife was undergoing treatment.
While verifying facts, the IT Department had received a communication from the passport office that Qureshi's wife, Nasreen Qureshi, was in India during that period.
The department said Qureshi had made a false ground before the court to go abroad and for future purposes, he should be directed to seek permission before leaving the country. Qureshi had claimed that his wife was in London in October 2016.
While granting bail, the court had in March 2015 imposed condition on the accused that he should not leave the country without its prior permission. Later, it was modified to only an intimation.
He was summoned by the court in 2015 as an accused in a black money case filed by IT Department for allegedly not disclosing an income of nearly Rs 20 crore.
NEW DELHI: Controversial businessman Moin Akhtar Qureshi, an accused in a black money case, had made a false claim to go abroad, Income Tax Department told a city court on Thursday. The Department sought modification of the bail condition of the meat exporter and said he should be directed to seek the court's prior permission before leaving India in future. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Garg asked the counsel of Income Tax (IT) Department to file a proper application in this regard and listed the matter for April 7. IT Department's standing counsel Brijesh Garg said that Qureshi's bail condition should be modified and, instead of just intimating the court about his foreign trip, he should be directed to seek the court's prior permission before leaving the country. In October last year, Qureshi was stopped at the IGI Airport here following a look-out notice against him by the Enforcement Directorate which is probing a case of money laundering and violation of foreign exchange norms. Qureshi was then allowed to go after he showed a court order saying he had to only inform the court for his foreign travel which he had done. IT Department's prayer came in the backdrop of a plea filed by Qureshi last year intimating the court that he wanted to visit the United Kingdom in October where his wife was undergoing treatment. While verifying facts, the IT Department had received a communication from the passport office that Qureshi's wife, Nasreen Qureshi, was in India during that period. The department said Qureshi had made a false ground before the court to go abroad and for future purposes, he should be directed to seek permission before leaving the country. Qureshi had claimed that his wife was in London in October 2016. While granting bail, the court had in March 2015 imposed condition on the accused that he should not leave the country without its prior permission. Later, it was modified to only an intimation. He was summoned by the court in 2015 as an accused in a black money case filed by IT Department for allegedly not disclosing an income of nearly Rs 20 crore.
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a plea of a bar dancers' body challenging the constitutional validity of a 2016 state law putting conditions on dance performances by women in bars and hotels there. "Issue notice.
Returnable within four weeks," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said. The court then tagged the fresh plea of 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union' with a pending petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) on the issue. It fixed the petitions for hearing on April 20.
The apex court is already hearing petitions, including the one filed by the IHRA, challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016.
The fresh plea, filed by 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union', has termed the new Act as arbitrary and violative of their right to earn a livelihood through legitimate means.
It alleged that the new law stigmatised their profession and unreasonably interfered with free choice of expression through dramatic performances and the right of women to practice the occupation of self-expression through such dramatic performances.
The union alleged that the term 'obscene dance' in the Act has been deliberately kept vague to allow the police to harass the women performers.
"The act of tipping or giving gifts as a token of appreciation has been customary and an integral part of traditional dance culture. This decades-old practice is akin to those performing Mujra, Lavani (traditional Marathi song and dance) or Tamasha (traditional Marathi theatre) where performers earn their living through 'bakshisi' offered by the audience as a token of appreciation of the performances.
"The said practice is widely prevalent in Maharashtra and across the country. But the Act prohibits such practice contrary to traditionally accepted form of custom, thus failing to recognise that every performance deserves a prize," the plea said.
On September 21 last year, the apex court had given interim relief to the state government by refusing to stay the operation of the new law, though it had flagged some of its provisions.
It had also allowed some dance bars which were granted licences by the state administration to continue to function under old rules and the directions issued by it.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a plea of a bar dancers' body challenging the constitutional validity of a 2016 state law putting conditions on dance performances by women in bars and hotels there. "Issue notice. Returnable within four weeks," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said. The court then tagged the fresh plea of 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union' with a pending petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) on the issue. It fixed the petitions for hearing on April 20. The apex court is already hearing petitions, including the one filed by the IHRA, challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016. The fresh plea, filed by 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union', has termed the new Act as arbitrary and violative of their right to earn a livelihood through legitimate means. It alleged that the new law stigmatised their profession and unreasonably interfered with free choice of expression through dramatic performances and the right of women to practice the occupation of self-expression through such dramatic performances. The union alleged that the term 'obscene dance' in the Act has been deliberately kept vague to allow the police to harass the women performers. "The act of tipping or giving gifts as a token of appreciation has been customary and an integral part of traditional dance culture. This decades-old practice is akin to those performing Mujra, Lavani (traditional Marathi song and dance) or Tamasha (traditional Marathi theatre) where performers earn their living through 'bakshisi' offered by the audience as a token of appreciation of the performances. "The said practice is widely prevalent in Maharashtra and across the country. But the Act prohibits such practice contrary to traditionally accepted form of custom, thus failing to recognise that every performance deserves a prize," the plea said. On September 21 last year, the apex court had given interim relief to the state government by refusing to stay the operation of the new law, though it had flagged some of its provisions. It had also allowed some dance bars which were granted licences by the state administration to continue to function under old rules and the directions issued by it.
By Express News Service
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray skipped the wedding ceremony of state BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil's son Santosh, which is being interpreted as his attempt to maintain distance from the BJP, even as Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari indicated that his party would execute every possible option if Shiv Sena does not come along.
Thackeray chose to attend Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar's son's wedding at Kolhapur on Thursday instead of BJP MLA Santosh Danve's wedding at Aurangabad. Though official stand from the Sena's camp remained that the party chief chose to attend marriage in the family of his own party MLA, it is being interpreted that Thackeray avoided attending BJP MLA's marriage to reiterate his message that he wants to maintain distance from the BJP.
Meanwhile, in a first indication of the BJP hardening its stand towards the Sena and going solo in the BMC mayor election, Union minister for surface transport Nitin Gadkari remarked, BJP has all options open, if Sena does not join us.
Sources indicated that the BJP has now begun making moves ahead of the March 8 mayor elections and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been given the complete charge executing the decisions.
Later in the evening, Independent corporator Geeta Gawli was scheduled to call on Fadnavis at his official residence at Varsha. She had met Shiv Sena leaders at Matoshree earlier in the day in a bid to lend support to Shiv Sena. However, the terms did not work out, party sources said. The BJP is making efforts at mediation through Geeta's father Arun Gawli, sources said.
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray skipped the wedding ceremony of state BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil's son Santosh, which is being interpreted as his attempt to maintain distance from the BJP, even as Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari indicated that his party would execute every possible option if Shiv Sena does not come along. Thackeray chose to attend Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar's son's wedding at Kolhapur on Thursday instead of BJP MLA Santosh Danve's wedding at Aurangabad. Though official stand from the Sena's camp remained that the party chief chose to attend marriage in the family of his own party MLA, it is being interpreted that Thackeray avoided attending BJP MLA's marriage to reiterate his message that he wants to maintain distance from the BJP. Meanwhile, in a first indication of the BJP hardening its stand towards the Sena and going solo in the BMC mayor election, Union minister for surface transport Nitin Gadkari remarked, BJP has all options open, if Sena does not join us. Sources indicated that the BJP has now begun making moves ahead of the March 8 mayor elections and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been given the complete charge executing the decisions. Later in the evening, Independent corporator Geeta Gawli was scheduled to call on Fadnavis at his official residence at Varsha. She had met Shiv Sena leaders at Matoshree earlier in the day in a bid to lend support to Shiv Sena. However, the terms did not work out, party sources said. The BJP is making efforts at mediation through Geeta's father Arun Gawli, sources said.
By PTI
MUMBAI: Taloja jail authorities today sought the special NIA court's nod to shift Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, from the prison's hospital, where he has been staying for seven years, to a high-security 'anda cell'.
"The authorities told the court that Purohit has been staying at the jail hospital for seven years and they want to shift him back to the high-security anda cell," special prosecutor Avinash Rasal told PTI.
The court, in an order in the past, had said Purohit should be kept in the jail hospital only for a certain period.
However, the order that the jail authorities received did not specify this.
Major (retd) Ramesh Upadyay, another accused in the case, had filed an application in the court alleging that Purohit had overstayed in the hospital.
Twelve persons, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Purohit, were arrested for carrying out a blast at Malegaon in north Maharashtra on September 29, 2008, killing six persons and injuring 100 others.
MUMBAI: Taloja jail authorities today sought the special NIA court's nod to shift Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, from the prison's hospital, where he has been staying for seven years, to a high-security 'anda cell'. "The authorities told the court that Purohit has been staying at the jail hospital for seven years and they want to shift him back to the high-security anda cell," special prosecutor Avinash Rasal told PTI. The court, in an order in the past, had said Purohit should be kept in the jail hospital only for a certain period. However, the order that the jail authorities received did not specify this. Major (retd) Ramesh Upadyay, another accused in the case, had filed an application in the court alleging that Purohit had overstayed in the hospital. Twelve persons, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Purohit, were arrested for carrying out a blast at Malegaon in north Maharashtra on September 29, 2008, killing six persons and injuring 100 others.
M Venkaiah Naidu By
Nationalism seems to have become a pejorative these days for the Congress leaders and not unsurprisingly, the Communists, who are trying to poison the minds of youngsters through distortion of
truth, are also saying that anybody critical of the BJP and NDA is being branded as anti-national.
For company, these Communists and Congressmen are joined by pseudo-secularists, the so-called intellectuals and left-wing propagandists, who ironically are calling BJP supporters and its allies
intolerant, while they seek to impose their blinkered view. Nobody is against civilised debate or dissent, but designs of disintegration should be defeated uncompromisingly as the integrity and sovereignty of India are non-negotiable. There cannot be any mincing of words on that count.
Having lost battle after battle against the BJP with the latest instance being the municipal and panchayat polls in Maharashtra and Odisha, the Congress and its allies are desperately trying to vitiate the atmosphere on university campuses and create social tensions. All in the name of freedom of expression, which was never curbed or circumscribed by the NDA government, unlike the Congress, which earned worldwide notoriety for imposing the Emergency in 1975.
The latest false narrative relates to freedom of expression. To put it in perspective, the claims on a Goebbelsian scale are coming at a time when BJPs political opponents are stooping so low as to
compare the prime minister with a donkey. Of course, this is not the first time that they had indulged in loose, contemptible talk, which is in character with their crass political background. They had called Modi maut ka saudagar, khoon ka dalal and psychopath.
It is apparent that the Congress, Communists and their allies are rattled at the existential threat they face after losing the recent elections. Unable to counter the growing popularity of Modi and the BJP, they are targeting the youth as they support Modi.
In the latest incident involving Ramjas College, the ABVP protested against an invite to Umar Khalid, who organised an event in JNU last year to observe the martyrdom of Afzal Guru, the terrorist
who plotted the attack on the Parliament. Incidentally, it is in the same JNU that slogans like Bharat ke Tukde, Tukde kar Denge and slogans seeking Azaadi for Kashmir were raised by a handful of anti-national elements.
Just as they had done in the JNU and Jadavpur University incidents, the Congress, Communists and communalists have once again joined hands to defame the NDA government with the ridiculous argument that the BJP was promoting intolerance and curbing freedom of expression. Will any sensible Indian ever buy this idea?
Some of our political opponents went to the farcical extent of comparing the present atmosphere with the Emergency. During that period, the Opposition was put behind bars, fundamental rights were
trampled, media was gagged, censorship was imposed, judges were superseded and the need for a committed judiciary was propagated. Even the Constitution was amended. All that was done to save one person. Could any right-thinking person make such an odious comparison and equate this incident to the Emergency? Some anti-national elements are advocating Azaadi for Kashmir, which is an
integral part of India. No citizen would accept such fissiparous activities.
However, Congress leaders like P Chidambaram seem to be supporting separatists. Chidambaram claimed Kashmir was nearly lost and blamed the Centre for using brute force. He probably wants terrorists and stone-pelters to be handed candies and treated with kid gloves when hundreds of brave jawans are sacrificing their lives to protect the country.
How can an ex-home minister put forth such a ridiculous argument unless one has a sinister, divisive agenda? His statement will be music to the ears of terrorists and Pakistan, which is aiding and
abetting cross-border terrorism.
Coming to the Ramjas incident, it should be noted that some outsiders tried to take advantage of the situation and created trouble on the campuses. I condemn in no uncertain terms the reported threats issued to the student Gurmehar Kaur and the alleged molestation of an ABVP girl. These incidents should be probed and stringent punishment be meted out to the culprits.
At the same time, nobody should be allowed to justify or promote a divisive agenda. With regard to the image posted by Gurmehar with a placard stating Pakistan did not kill my dad, war did, the dig
taken by Virender Sehwag should be understood in the right perspective. Does it mean that our soldiers should keep quiet when Pakistanis attack them? It was not war, but Pakistanis who killed Gurmehars father, who bravely gave his life for India.
The truth is anybody who acts against the countrys interest is anti-national. Let there be no pussyfooting on this score. The unity and integrity of the nation remain supreme and its not acceptable
if some elements support the disintegration of the country in the garb of freedom of expression. It should be remembered that freedom of speech/expression is not absolute and circumscribed by reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution, which include sovereignty and integrity of India.
By ridiculing nationalists, the Congress and Communists have once again proved they are hard on nationalists and soft on terrorists. No patriotic Indian can accept the glorification of separatists like
Maqbool Bhatt, Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani.
We are not ready to accept dismemberment of the motherland in the garb of freedom of expression. Let there be no ambiguity about this.
The author is Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting
Follow him on Twitter: @MVenkaiahNaidu
Nationalism seems to have become a pejorative these days for the Congress leaders and not unsurprisingly, the Communists, who are trying to poison the minds of youngsters through distortion of truth, are also saying that anybody critical of the BJP and NDA is being branded as anti-national. For company, these Communists and Congressmen are joined by pseudo-secularists, the so-called intellectuals and left-wing propagandists, who ironically are calling BJP supporters and its allies intolerant, while they seek to impose their blinkered view. Nobody is against civilised debate or dissent, but designs of disintegration should be defeated uncompromisingly as the integrity and sovereignty of India are non-negotiable. There cannot be any mincing of words on that count. Having lost battle after battle against the BJP with the latest instance being the municipal and panchayat polls in Maharashtra and Odisha, the Congress and its allies are desperately trying to vitiate the atmosphere on university campuses and create social tensions. All in the name of freedom of expression, which was never curbed or circumscribed by the NDA government, unlike the Congress, which earned worldwide notoriety for imposing the Emergency in 1975. The latest false narrative relates to freedom of expression. To put it in perspective, the claims on a Goebbelsian scale are coming at a time when BJPs political opponents are stooping so low as to compare the prime minister with a donkey. Of course, this is not the first time that they had indulged in loose, contemptible talk, which is in character with their crass political background. They had called Modi maut ka saudagar, khoon ka dalal and psychopath. It is apparent that the Congress, Communists and their allies are rattled at the existential threat they face after losing the recent elections. Unable to counter the growing popularity of Modi and the BJP, they are targeting the youth as they support Modi. In the latest incident involving Ramjas College, the ABVP protested against an invite to Umar Khalid, who organised an event in JNU last year to observe the martyrdom of Afzal Guru, the terrorist who plotted the attack on the Parliament. Incidentally, it is in the same JNU that slogans like Bharat ke Tukde, Tukde kar Denge and slogans seeking Azaadi for Kashmir were raised by a handful of anti-national elements. Just as they had done in the JNU and Jadavpur University incidents, the Congress, Communists and communalists have once again joined hands to defame the NDA government with the ridiculous argument that the BJP was promoting intolerance and curbing freedom of expression. Will any sensible Indian ever buy this idea? Some of our political opponents went to the farcical extent of comparing the present atmosphere with the Emergency. During that period, the Opposition was put behind bars, fundamental rights were trampled, media was gagged, censorship was imposed, judges were superseded and the need for a committed judiciary was propagated. Even the Constitution was amended. All that was done to save one person. Could any right-thinking person make such an odious comparison and equate this incident to the Emergency? Some anti-national elements are advocating Azaadi for Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. No citizen would accept such fissiparous activities. However, Congress leaders like P Chidambaram seem to be supporting separatists. Chidambaram claimed Kashmir was nearly lost and blamed the Centre for using brute force. He probably wants terrorists and stone-pelters to be handed candies and treated with kid gloves when hundreds of brave jawans are sacrificing their lives to protect the country. How can an ex-home minister put forth such a ridiculous argument unless one has a sinister, divisive agenda? His statement will be music to the ears of terrorists and Pakistan, which is aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism. Coming to the Ramjas incident, it should be noted that some outsiders tried to take advantage of the situation and created trouble on the campuses. I condemn in no uncertain terms the reported threats issued to the student Gurmehar Kaur and the alleged molestation of an ABVP girl. These incidents should be probed and stringent punishment be meted out to the culprits. At the same time, nobody should be allowed to justify or promote a divisive agenda. With regard to the image posted by Gurmehar with a placard stating Pakistan did not kill my dad, war did, the dig taken by Virender Sehwag should be understood in the right perspective. Does it mean that our soldiers should keep quiet when Pakistanis attack them? It was not war, but Pakistanis who killed Gurmehars father, who bravely gave his life for India. The truth is anybody who acts against the countrys interest is anti-national. Let there be no pussyfooting on this score. The unity and integrity of the nation remain supreme and its not acceptable if some elements support the disintegration of the country in the garb of freedom of expression. It should be remembered that freedom of speech/expression is not absolute and circumscribed by reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution, which include sovereignty and integrity of India. By ridiculing nationalists, the Congress and Communists have once again proved they are hard on nationalists and soft on terrorists. No patriotic Indian can accept the glorification of separatists like Maqbool Bhatt, Afzal Guru and Burhan Wani. We are not ready to accept dismemberment of the motherland in the garb of freedom of expression. Let there be no ambiguity about this. The author is Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting Follow him on Twitter: @MVenkaiahNaidu
As India and Nepal prepare for Surya Kiran XI, the 11th joint military exercise between the two nations from March 7-20, there is unease in New Delhi over another drill scheduled for later this month, between China and the Himalayan nation. In December, Chinas Peoples Liberation Army announced it would hold its first-ever joint military exercise with Nepal. The statement came soon after Nepals proposal to change some provisions of the Peace and Friendship Treaty with India, particularly sections which stipulate that Nepal must inform India about military purchases from other nations.
While there has no official statement from India, defence ministry officials have privately expressed their concern, while conceding that India did not really have the right to dictate which nation Nepal could plan military exercises with. As one official put it, India too conducts joint exercises with China. So on what grounds can it object if Nepal, which shares its northern border with China, plans similar exercises? However, India, which shares a long-standing relationship with the Nepalese Army, has traditionally seen Nepal as part of its strategic space, and is reluctant to concede it to China.
However, after the fall of the monarchy in 2008, subsequent civilian governments in Kathmandu have bristled at what they perceived as Indian interference in Nepals internal affairs, particularly following the row over the new constitution last year, which India felt did not give due weight to the people living in the plains of Nepal. This led to an unofficial blockade of the India-Nepal border, forcing Nepal to seek help from China, which over the years had built roads and railway lines which connect the Chinese mainland through Tibet to Kathmandu. Some Indian analysts also see this as part of Chinas pernicious bid to encircle India. But for now, India cant do much beyond waiting and watching to see how the NepalChina defence relationship unfolds.
As India and Nepal prepare for Surya Kiran XI, the 11th joint military exercise between the two nations from March 7-20, there is unease in New Delhi over another drill scheduled for later this month, between China and the Himalayan nation. In December, Chinas Peoples Liberation Army announced it would hold its first-ever joint military exercise with Nepal. The statement came soon after Nepals proposal to change some provisions of the Peace and Friendship Treaty with India, particularly sections which stipulate that Nepal must inform India about military purchases from other nations. While there has no official statement from India, defence ministry officials have privately expressed their concern, while conceding that India did not really have the right to dictate which nation Nepal could plan military exercises with. As one official put it, India too conducts joint exercises with China. So on what grounds can it object if Nepal, which shares its northern border with China, plans similar exercises? However, India, which shares a long-standing relationship with the Nepalese Army, has traditionally seen Nepal as part of its strategic space, and is reluctant to concede it to China. However, after the fall of the monarchy in 2008, subsequent civilian governments in Kathmandu have bristled at what they perceived as Indian interference in Nepals internal affairs, particularly following the row over the new constitution last year, which India felt did not give due weight to the people living in the plains of Nepal. This led to an unofficial blockade of the India-Nepal border, forcing Nepal to seek help from China, which over the years had built roads and railway lines which connect the Chinese mainland through Tibet to Kathmandu. Some Indian analysts also see this as part of Chinas pernicious bid to encircle India. But for now, India cant do much beyond waiting and watching to see how the NepalChina defence relationship unfolds.
By Express News Service
ONGOLE: Just two days after the Diwakar Travels bus tragedy that claimed 10 lives near Vijayawada, two bus accidents took place in the state on Thursday in which 49 people, including 23 school children, were injured in Prakasam and Nellore districts. The condition of one of the students was reported to be critical.
In Prakasam district, a Kurnool-bound bus belonging to a private travels was returning from a school excursion with 85 passengers, including 78 students from Karedu Zilla Parishad High School in Ulavapadu mandal, when it fell off a bridge at Paleru Vagu on the outskirts of Peda Alavalapalle village of PC Palle mandal around 3 am on Thursday, injuring 29. Of them, the condition of one student who suffered skull fracture is critical.
The speeding bus (AP27PY2317) belonging to Ongole-based SVL Travels, was reportedly speeding when it fell off the 20-feet-high bridge while negotiating a sharp curve.
Class IX student Velupula Srikanth who suffered a skull fracture was rushed to a private hospital in Ongole, where he underwent surgery. Srikanth is s native of Cherukur village in Ponnaluru mandal and is an inmate of the SC Hostel in Karedu of Ulavapadu mandal. All other students are being treated RIMS Ongole along with the driver and few others who suffered injuries.
How the accident took place
According to police, bus driver Sk Kalesha Vali was in an inebriated condition.
The 40-year old driver had stopped at Kanigiri to leave his daughter at a relatives house. He had taken her along with him while going to Kurnool.
He had allegedly consumed liquor in Kanigiri and also picked up a woman.
He is suspected to have been in conversation with her while speeding and failed to notice a speed breaker before the bridge
The bus jumped the railing and fell 20 feet down into the stream at the entrance of the bridge. Had it been any further, it would have fallen 40 feet deep, rusulting in loss of life
PC Palle police registered cases against the bus driver Kalesha Vali, bus owner M Brahmam, school headmaster M Basavaiah and two others.
Nellore accident
In the second incident, twenty workers belonging to a mobile phones spare parts manufacturing company in Sri City were injured, when the bus they were travelling toppled over, when another bus belonging to a private travels rammed into it. The accident happened on NH 16 at Doravarisatram.
The workers were travelling to their company from Chittamuru, when the bus they were travelling was forced to stop, as a buffalo came onto the road suddenly. At the same time, a bus belonging to a private travels which was going towards Chennai from Nellore, rammed into the stationary bus and it fell on its side. Twenty employees were injured and they were rushed to different hospitals by the locals. Police registered a case and are investigating.
On learning about the accidents, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to ensure proper treatment to the victims and sought a detailed report from Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao and Home Minister N Chinna Rajappa about the measures being taken to address the increasing road mishaps on highways in the state.
ONGOLE: Just two days after the Diwakar Travels bus tragedy that claimed 10 lives near Vijayawada, two bus accidents took place in the state on Thursday in which 49 people, including 23 school children, were injured in Prakasam and Nellore districts. The condition of one of the students was reported to be critical. In Prakasam district, a Kurnool-bound bus belonging to a private travels was returning from a school excursion with 85 passengers, including 78 students from Karedu Zilla Parishad High School in Ulavapadu mandal, when it fell off a bridge at Paleru Vagu on the outskirts of Peda Alavalapalle village of PC Palle mandal around 3 am on Thursday, injuring 29. Of them, the condition of one student who suffered skull fracture is critical. The speeding bus (AP27PY2317) belonging to Ongole-based SVL Travels, was reportedly speeding when it fell off the 20-feet-high bridge while negotiating a sharp curve. Class IX student Velupula Srikanth who suffered a skull fracture was rushed to a private hospital in Ongole, where he underwent surgery. Srikanth is s native of Cherukur village in Ponnaluru mandal and is an inmate of the SC Hostel in Karedu of Ulavapadu mandal. All other students are being treated RIMS Ongole along with the driver and few others who suffered injuries. How the accident took place According to police, bus driver Sk Kalesha Vali was in an inebriated condition. The 40-year old driver had stopped at Kanigiri to leave his daughter at a relatives house. He had taken her along with him while going to Kurnool. He had allegedly consumed liquor in Kanigiri and also picked up a woman. He is suspected to have been in conversation with her while speeding and failed to notice a speed breaker before the bridge The bus jumped the railing and fell 20 feet down into the stream at the entrance of the bridge. Had it been any further, it would have fallen 40 feet deep, rusulting in loss of life PC Palle police registered cases against the bus driver Kalesha Vali, bus owner M Brahmam, school headmaster M Basavaiah and two others. Nellore accident In the second incident, twenty workers belonging to a mobile phones spare parts manufacturing company in Sri City were injured, when the bus they were travelling toppled over, when another bus belonging to a private travels rammed into it. The accident happened on NH 16 at Doravarisatram. The workers were travelling to their company from Chittamuru, when the bus they were travelling was forced to stop, as a buffalo came onto the road suddenly. At the same time, a bus belonging to a private travels which was going towards Chennai from Nellore, rammed into the stationary bus and it fell on its side. Twenty employees were injured and they were rushed to different hospitals by the locals. Police registered a case and are investigating. On learning about the accidents, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to ensure proper treatment to the victims and sought a detailed report from Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao and Home Minister N Chinna Rajappa about the measures being taken to address the increasing road mishaps on highways in the state.
By Express News Service
KASARGOD/KOZHIKODE: Asfaq Majeed, one among the 21-member group from Kerala that joined the Islamic State (IS) in recent months, reportedly sent a message to one of his family members on Thursday stating that all the members in the group were happy in taking up the mission to fight and were sad for missing the opportunity to become first martyr like Hafeesudeen T K.
The new message is believed to have been sent to assure the family members back home that only 24-year-old Hafeesudeen had died in the intense combat operation launched by Afghan and US forces in various parts of Afghanistan against IS militants.
In a message sent on Telegram, Asfaq said, "We came to fight for the sake of Allah. We are sad because we could become a martyr (shaheed)." He added that Sajid, another member in the group who was reported dead by a few local media in Kasargod, was still alive. Asfaq had also sent a photo of Rasheed, who was among the group that left for Syria.
Hafeesudeen, a native of Padna in Kasargod, had left his new bride behind to join IS as part of a mission to serve the Caliphate.
It was Asfaq who informed Hafeesudeen's mother about her son's death on Sunday. The message also said Hafeesudeen's body was buried in Afghanistan. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was trying to track the details of the group after intelligence agencies confirmed that the group which left from Kerala to Syria was camping somewhere in Afghanistan. Already efforts are on through Interpol and the Afghan government to trace the group, which according to reports had settled in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar.
KASARGOD/KOZHIKODE: Asfaq Majeed, one among the 21-member group from Kerala that joined the Islamic State (IS) in recent months, reportedly sent a message to one of his family members on Thursday stating that all the members in the group were happy in taking up the mission to fight and were sad for missing the opportunity to become first martyr like Hafeesudeen T K. The new message is believed to have been sent to assure the family members back home that only 24-year-old Hafeesudeen had died in the intense combat operation launched by Afghan and US forces in various parts of Afghanistan against IS militants. In a message sent on Telegram, Asfaq said, "We came to fight for the sake of Allah. We are sad because we could become a martyr (shaheed)." He added that Sajid, another member in the group who was reported dead by a few local media in Kasargod, was still alive. Asfaq had also sent a photo of Rasheed, who was among the group that left for Syria. Hafeesudeen, a native of Padna in Kasargod, had left his new bride behind to join IS as part of a mission to serve the Caliphate. It was Asfaq who informed Hafeesudeen's mother about her son's death on Sunday. The message also said Hafeesudeen's body was buried in Afghanistan. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was trying to track the details of the group after intelligence agencies confirmed that the group which left from Kerala to Syria was camping somewhere in Afghanistan. Already efforts are on through Interpol and the Afghan government to trace the group, which according to reports had settled in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar.
By Express News Service
KOCHI: In a major setback for the state police, the Kerala High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to P Krishnadas, chairman of the Nehru College of Educational and Charitable Trust, the first accused in the case related to the suicide of Jishnu Pranoy.
Jishnu was a student of Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, Pampady, an institution under the Trust. The court held there was no sufficient evidence to invoke Section-107 and 306(abetment of suicide) of the IPC against Krishnadas.
The case diary and witnesses statements clearly show the prosecution did not gather any evidence to support the abetment charge. Concrete evidence, not vague allegations, are needed to invoke such charges against the accused. There is no evidence to confirm the petitioner was directly or indirectly involved in the alleged torture of Jishnu in the principals room, held the court.
The prosecution stated Krishnadas, the first accused and principal conspirator in the case, wanted to enforce harsh discipline in the college by mentally and physically harassing students.
The prosecution relies only on the statements of the principal, Jishnus uncle Mahesh and two students. While the principals statement confirms that Jishnu was mentally harassed by the vice-principal, the statement of Mahesh is solely based on hearsay. The allegation by Shaukathali, a student of another college under the Nehru Group, that he was assaulted by Krishnada cannot be taken into account in this case, held the court.
Though the police claimed there were injury marks on Jishnus body, no external injury was found in the postmortem. Also, there is nothing to show the petitioner was involved in deleting CCTV footage, said the court, and asked Krishnadas to surrender his passport and not leave the state without permission. He shall not interfere in the day-to-day activities of the college, and refrain from removing electronic devices from the college that could act as evidence.
The court also cited a Supreme Court order stating mere harassment would not attract Section-306. Citing the Ramesh Kumar vs State of Chhattisgarh case, the court said instigation must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequences.
KOCHI: In a major setback for the state police, the Kerala High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to P Krishnadas, chairman of the Nehru College of Educational and Charitable Trust, the first accused in the case related to the suicide of Jishnu Pranoy. Jishnu was a student of Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, Pampady, an institution under the Trust. The court held there was no sufficient evidence to invoke Section-107 and 306(abetment of suicide) of the IPC against Krishnadas. The case diary and witnesses statements clearly show the prosecution did not gather any evidence to support the abetment charge. Concrete evidence, not vague allegations, are needed to invoke such charges against the accused. There is no evidence to confirm the petitioner was directly or indirectly involved in the alleged torture of Jishnu in the principals room, held the court. The prosecution stated Krishnadas, the first accused and principal conspirator in the case, wanted to enforce harsh discipline in the college by mentally and physically harassing students. The prosecution relies only on the statements of the principal, Jishnus uncle Mahesh and two students. While the principals statement confirms that Jishnu was mentally harassed by the vice-principal, the statement of Mahesh is solely based on hearsay. The allegation by Shaukathali, a student of another college under the Nehru Group, that he was assaulted by Krishnada cannot be taken into account in this case, held the court. Though the police claimed there were injury marks on Jishnus body, no external injury was found in the postmortem. Also, there is nothing to show the petitioner was involved in deleting CCTV footage, said the court, and asked Krishnadas to surrender his passport and not leave the state without permission. He shall not interfere in the day-to-day activities of the college, and refrain from removing electronic devices from the college that could act as evidence. The court also cited a Supreme Court order stating mere harassment would not attract Section-306. Citing the Ramesh Kumar vs State of Chhattisgarh case, the court said instigation must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequences.
By Express News Service
KOCHI: With crimes against women rising across the country in recent times, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday asserted the protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority.
I do not consider a society or state to be civilised if its citizens behaviour towards women is uncivilised. When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine. Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test, Mukherjee said while delivering the sixth K S Rajamony memorial lecture on India @70 here.
He underlined this point saying there should be no room for the intolerant Indian in the country. He reminded Indians were naturally argumentative but not intolerant. Mukherjee touched upon the unrest among student community and urged it to engage in discussion and debate.
India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. We celebrate democracy which has been the core of our existence. Those in universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet, the President said. He said the Indian society has always been characterised by open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate.
While saying that there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent, he said freedom of speech and expression were guaranteed to every Indian by the Constitution. The time has come for collective efforts to rediscover the sense of national purpose and patriotism that alone can lift our nation on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity. Let us exert ourselves to strengthen Indias pluralism and diversity. Let us be uncompromising in rooting out violence, prejudice and hatred, he said.
Sending a strong message to Indias politicians, Mukherjee said they should not take people for granted. The leaders or political activists must listen to people, engage with them, learn from them and respond to their needs and concerns. Our lawmakers must never take people for granted. They must focus on the fundamental task of lawmaking and raising of issues of concern to the people, he said.
While mentioning about continuous disruptions in parliament, the President said the trust placed by the people in the political system and those elected should not be betrayed. No one who holds any elected office has been invited by the voters to occupy that office. "Each one has gone to the voters and pleaded for their votes and support, he said.
Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala High Court Acting Chief Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, K V Thomas MP, Venu Rajamony and R Balachandran were present.
KOCHI: With crimes against women rising across the country in recent times, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday asserted the protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. I do not consider a society or state to be civilised if its citizens behaviour towards women is uncivilised. When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine. Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test, Mukherjee said while delivering the sixth K S Rajamony memorial lecture on India @70 here. He underlined this point saying there should be no room for the intolerant Indian in the country. He reminded Indians were naturally argumentative but not intolerant. Mukherjee touched upon the unrest among student community and urged it to engage in discussion and debate. India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. We celebrate democracy which has been the core of our existence. Those in universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet, the President said. He said the Indian society has always been characterised by open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate. While saying that there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent, he said freedom of speech and expression were guaranteed to every Indian by the Constitution. The time has come for collective efforts to rediscover the sense of national purpose and patriotism that alone can lift our nation on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity. Let us exert ourselves to strengthen Indias pluralism and diversity. Let us be uncompromising in rooting out violence, prejudice and hatred, he said. Sending a strong message to Indias politicians, Mukherjee said they should not take people for granted. The leaders or political activists must listen to people, engage with them, learn from them and respond to their needs and concerns. Our lawmakers must never take people for granted. They must focus on the fundamental task of lawmaking and raising of issues of concern to the people, he said. While mentioning about continuous disruptions in parliament, the President said the trust placed by the people in the political system and those elected should not be betrayed. No one who holds any elected office has been invited by the voters to occupy that office. "Each one has gone to the voters and pleaded for their votes and support, he said. Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala High Court Acting Chief Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, K V Thomas MP, Venu Rajamony and R Balachandran were present.
By Express News Service
PUDUKKOTTAI: The thirteenth day of protests against the hydrocarbon protest at Neduvasal in Pudukkottai on Wednesday saw protesters receiving words of advice from those who have took the path of mass protests in the past.
Prominent among them were S P Udayakumar, a member of the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which has raised a banner of revolt at Idinthakarai against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project. Addressing the protesters who stayed put at Sri Nadiyamman Thidal, Udayakumar, who now heads a political outfit called Pachai Tamilagam, urged the villagers to form a core committee to co-ordinate the stir.
Drawing from his experience, Udayakumar said, The protest must continue till the goal is achieved. The State government and police may try to scuttle your agitation by spreading rumours about frontline leaders of the protest. To prevent such rumours and indirect attacks, you must form a core committee. It must be devoid of political leanings and not have any politician or caste or religious leader on board, he said.
In a word of encouragement, Pudukkottai Bar Association secretary Ramesh said the association would file a PIL in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court if the State government failed to scrap the project.
All democratic forces in the State are supporting the Neduvasal protest. Your victory on this issue is sure, said Arputhammal, the mother of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict Perarivalan.
Actor Mansoor Ali Khan, former Tiruchy Mayor Charubala Thondaiman also addressed the gathering.
Earlier in the day, president of Muvendhar Munnetra Kazhagam Sridhar Vandaiyar set a two-day ultimatum to the State government to scrap the proposed project, and warned that he would organise a padayatra from Neduvasal to Pudukkottai. He said his outfit would assemble one lakh people.
Around 20,000 shops and commercial establishments remained closed from dawn to dusk in the day in a show of solidarity with the protesters. The bandh call by the District Chamber of Commerce evoked a positive response and the thoroughfares in Pudukkottai town and bazaars wore a deserted look. Buses plied with a minimum number of passengers.
The precautionary measures put in place by police to prevent a build-up of supporters at Neduvasal seemed to have had no effect. On Tuesday, police had erected seven check posts on all roads leading to Neduvasal and Nallankollai and the identities of those proceeding to the villages were recorded.
Students arriving in small batches were turned away and asked to get their parents consent.
However, on Wednesday, the cops watched helplessly as large convoy of cars and two-wheelers moved in.
Meanwhile, residents of Neduvasal said they would announce their decision on continuing their protest on Thursday, after holding discussions with the team that met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday.
PUDUKKOTTAI: The thirteenth day of protests against the hydrocarbon protest at Neduvasal in Pudukkottai on Wednesday saw protesters receiving words of advice from those who have took the path of mass protests in the past. Prominent among them were S P Udayakumar, a member of the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which has raised a banner of revolt at Idinthakarai against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project. Addressing the protesters who stayed put at Sri Nadiyamman Thidal, Udayakumar, who now heads a political outfit called Pachai Tamilagam, urged the villagers to form a core committee to co-ordinate the stir. Drawing from his experience, Udayakumar said, The protest must continue till the goal is achieved. The State government and police may try to scuttle your agitation by spreading rumours about frontline leaders of the protest. To prevent such rumours and indirect attacks, you must form a core committee. It must be devoid of political leanings and not have any politician or caste or religious leader on board, he said. In a word of encouragement, Pudukkottai Bar Association secretary Ramesh said the association would file a PIL in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court if the State government failed to scrap the project. All democratic forces in the State are supporting the Neduvasal protest. Your victory on this issue is sure, said Arputhammal, the mother of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict Perarivalan. Actor Mansoor Ali Khan, former Tiruchy Mayor Charubala Thondaiman also addressed the gathering. Earlier in the day, president of Muvendhar Munnetra Kazhagam Sridhar Vandaiyar set a two-day ultimatum to the State government to scrap the proposed project, and warned that he would organise a padayatra from Neduvasal to Pudukkottai. He said his outfit would assemble one lakh people. Around 20,000 shops and commercial establishments remained closed from dawn to dusk in the day in a show of solidarity with the protesters. The bandh call by the District Chamber of Commerce evoked a positive response and the thoroughfares in Pudukkottai town and bazaars wore a deserted look. Buses plied with a minimum number of passengers. The precautionary measures put in place by police to prevent a build-up of supporters at Neduvasal seemed to have had no effect. On Tuesday, police had erected seven check posts on all roads leading to Neduvasal and Nallankollai and the identities of those proceeding to the villages were recorded. Students arriving in small batches were turned away and asked to get their parents consent. However, on Wednesday, the cops watched helplessly as large convoy of cars and two-wheelers moved in. Meanwhile, residents of Neduvasal said they would announce their decision on continuing their protest on Thursday, after holding discussions with the team that met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday.
By AFP
PARIS: French conservative Francois Fillon on Wednesday refused to abandon his presidential bid despite announcing that he faces criminal charges of fraudulently placing his wife on the public payroll.
The 62-year-old former premier was favourite at the start of the year to win the presidency after clinching the nomination for the Republicans party in November.
But he has since been hit by a series of allegations that he paid his British-born wife Penelope and two of their children hundreds of thousands of euros since 1988 for allegedly fake parliamentary jobs.
Following are key quotes from his announcement.
Vows to stay in race
"I won't give in, I won't surrender and I won't withdraw."
"I will go all the way because, in addition to myself, it is democracy that is being challenged."
Denies accusations
"I do not acknowledge the accusations. I have not embezzled public funds."
"Like nearly one third of lawmakers, I entrusted work to my family because I knew I could count on their trust and their abilities."
"They indeed assisted me and I will demonstrate that."
Questions probe's haste
"The preliminary investigation was opened in a few hours (after allegations by satirical and investigative weekly Canard Enchaine in January)."
"It is unheard of... for a summons... to be issued only a few days after judges are designated, before they have studied the dossier or carried out further investigations."
"That I am not being treated like other defendants can be seen simply in the choice of the date March 15, two days before the close of sponsorships, entirely calculated to stop me being a candidate for the presidential election."
"Many of my political friends... speak of a political assassination."
"The presumption of innocence has entirely and completely disappeared."
Appeals to voters
"I submit myself before the French people, because only the ballot box, and not an investigation directed against me, can decide who will be the next president."
"From now on I appeal to the French people and them alone, to those who support me as well as those who fight me."
"It's not about me... it's about you, whose sovereign will cannot be cancelled, annihilated, destroyed."
"France is greater than my mistakes... greater than the bias of much of the media."
PARIS: French conservative Francois Fillon on Wednesday refused to abandon his presidential bid despite announcing that he faces criminal charges of fraudulently placing his wife on the public payroll. The 62-year-old former premier was favourite at the start of the year to win the presidency after clinching the nomination for the Republicans party in November. But he has since been hit by a series of allegations that he paid his British-born wife Penelope and two of their children hundreds of thousands of euros since 1988 for allegedly fake parliamentary jobs. Following are key quotes from his announcement. Vows to stay in race "I won't give in, I won't surrender and I won't withdraw." "I will go all the way because, in addition to myself, it is democracy that is being challenged." Denies accusations "I do not acknowledge the accusations. I have not embezzled public funds." "Like nearly one third of lawmakers, I entrusted work to my family because I knew I could count on their trust and their abilities." "They indeed assisted me and I will demonstrate that." Questions probe's haste "The preliminary investigation was opened in a few hours (after allegations by satirical and investigative weekly Canard Enchaine in January)." "It is unheard of... for a summons... to be issued only a few days after judges are designated, before they have studied the dossier or carried out further investigations." "That I am not being treated like other defendants can be seen simply in the choice of the date March 15, two days before the close of sponsorships, entirely calculated to stop me being a candidate for the presidential election." "Many of my political friends... speak of a political assassination." "The presumption of innocence has entirely and completely disappeared." Appeals to voters "I submit myself before the French people, because only the ballot box, and not an investigation directed against me, can decide who will be the next president." "From now on I appeal to the French people and them alone, to those who support me as well as those who fight me." "It's not about me... it's about you, whose sovereign will cannot be cancelled, annihilated, destroyed." "France is greater than my mistakes... greater than the bias of much of the media."
By Associated Press
ABU DHABI: The capital of the United Arab Emirates has hosted a major military exercise before a public audience as the nation fights alongside Saudi troops in Yemen and tensions with Iran remain high.
The maneuver, called Union Fortress, took place on Thursday afternoon along Abu Dhabi's seaside corniche.
It featured fighter jets, helicopters and a mock seaborne hostage rescue performed by Emirati troops.
Such maneuvers before the public are rare in the United Arab Emirates, a major Western ally that hosts U.S. troops involved in the fight against the Islamic State group.
The exercise came as UAE and Saudi troops are locked in a largely stalemate war with Shiite rebels and their allies in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the UAE and other Gulf Arab nations remain suspicious of Iran after the nuclear deal.
ABU DHABI: The capital of the United Arab Emirates has hosted a major military exercise before a public audience as the nation fights alongside Saudi troops in Yemen and tensions with Iran remain high. The maneuver, called Union Fortress, took place on Thursday afternoon along Abu Dhabi's seaside corniche. It featured fighter jets, helicopters and a mock seaborne hostage rescue performed by Emirati troops. Such maneuvers before the public are rare in the United Arab Emirates, a major Western ally that hosts U.S. troops involved in the fight against the Islamic State group. The exercise came as UAE and Saudi troops are locked in a largely stalemate war with Shiite rebels and their allies in Yemen. Meanwhile, the UAE and other Gulf Arab nations remain suspicious of Iran after the nuclear deal.
By Associated Press
NAIROBI: At least 57 members of the al-Shabab extremist group were killed Thursday as African Union and Somali forces attacked one of its camps, the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia announced. It was one of the deadliest assaults on the al-Qaida-linked group by the joint forces.
The multinational force said on Twitter that vehicles and equipment were destroyed in the morning assault on the al-Shabab camp outside Afmadhow and "a large cache of weapons" was captured. The statement said helicopter gunships supported the attack.
A separate statement by Kenya's defense ministry said an unknown number of extremists were injured. There was no immediate word of casualties among the AU or Somali forces.
Al-Shabab has lost ground in Somalia in recent years under pressure from such assaults but continues to carry out deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu.
The group has responded angrily to the election last month of new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, during whose brief term as prime minister the group was expelled from Mogadishu.
Mohamed has vowed to make security a priority in the fragile Horn of Africa nation, which is trying to set up its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century.
But the expected withdrawal of the AU force, which numbers more than 20,000, by the end of 2020 has caused concern, as the burden of fighting al-Shabab would fall on national forces that observers say are not yet ready.
The United States military is pursuing a larger role in Somalia, where it already carries out drone strikes and has special forces advising local troops. The deadliest assault on al-Shabab so far was in March 2016, when a U.S. airstrike struck a training camp, killing more than 150 fighters.
NAIROBI: At least 57 members of the al-Shabab extremist group were killed Thursday as African Union and Somali forces attacked one of its camps, the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia announced. It was one of the deadliest assaults on the al-Qaida-linked group by the joint forces. The multinational force said on Twitter that vehicles and equipment were destroyed in the morning assault on the al-Shabab camp outside Afmadhow and "a large cache of weapons" was captured. The statement said helicopter gunships supported the attack. A separate statement by Kenya's defense ministry said an unknown number of extremists were injured. There was no immediate word of casualties among the AU or Somali forces. Al-Shabab has lost ground in Somalia in recent years under pressure from such assaults but continues to carry out deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu. The group has responded angrily to the election last month of new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, during whose brief term as prime minister the group was expelled from Mogadishu. Mohamed has vowed to make security a priority in the fragile Horn of Africa nation, which is trying to set up its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century. But the expected withdrawal of the AU force, which numbers more than 20,000, by the end of 2020 has caused concern, as the burden of fighting al-Shabab would fall on national forces that observers say are not yet ready. The United States military is pursuing a larger role in Somalia, where it already carries out drone strikes and has special forces advising local troops. The deadliest assault on al-Shabab so far was in March 2016, when a U.S. airstrike struck a training camp, killing more than 150 fighters.
By AFP
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel starts a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia on Thursday, part of her push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya.
Since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has lacked a national government, which has made it the main gateway for African migrants heading for the 28-member EU on dangerous Mediterranean crossings.
Merkel, who faces elections in September, has been under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in over one million migrants since 2015.
Her government has urged the Maghreb states and Egypt to step up border controls and speed up repatriations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.
Merkel first heads to Egypt, where she will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, before holding talks on Friday with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.
She is joined by a business delegation that could sweeten the diplomacy with investments badly needed by both countries, which are grappling with sluggish economies, tourism slumps after internal turmoil and jihadist attacks, and high unemployment, especially among youths.
A major focus in Egypt and Tunisia will be on their troubled neighbour Libya, a largely lawless country that has porous desert borders with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan.
"Without a political stabilisation of Libya, we won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya who are responsible for by far the most arrivals in Italy," Merkel said in her latest weekly podcast.
"Egypt, as a regional institution, as a regional power, plays a major role here, as do Algeria and Tunisia."
Holding centres
The trip is part of a larger diplomatic push by Merkel, who last year visited Mali, Niger and Ethiopia. She had also planned a trip to Algeria last week, but it was called off after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika fell ill.
Germany, which this year holds the G20 presidency, has also announced investment partnerships in Africa with the long-term goals of reducing poverty and deterring people from leaving in the first place.
Last year, Berlin spearheaded an EU agreement with Ankara that helped sharply reduce the influx of migrants through Turkey and western Balkan countries.
But as with the Turkey deal, the negotiations with the North African countries have been clouded by human rights concerns.
In particular, an idea floated by Merkel's interior minister -- for North African countries to build holding centres for returned migrants -- has been rejected by Merkel's centre-left coalition partners and by rights groups.
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel -- whose Social Democrats hope to topple Merkel this year -- dismissed the idea, saying "I doubt that all this has been really thought through".
'Dodgy deals'
Human Rights Watch noted that Egypt had largely "banned protests, imprisoned tens of thousands of people, often after unfair trials, and outlawed the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood."
"Ensuring safe and swift returns of Tunisians and Egyptians who are not in need of protection is legitimate, as long as the procedures are fair," said Judith Sunderland, a Europe and Central Asia director for the group.
"It's another thing entirely to pursue dodgy deals that could trap asylum seekers and migrants from elsewhere in countries like Tunisia and Egypt that cannot guarantee decent treatment or meaningful access to asylum."
But Merkel is under huge pressure at home to achieve results in an election year, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the national parliament for the first time.
Public fears in Germany have been heightened by several jihadist attacks last year -- especially the truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market on December 19 that killed 12, an attack attributed to a Tunisian immigrant, Anis Amri.
Anger had previously been fanned on New Year's Eve of 2015-16, when large groups of mostly North African men sexually assaulted and robbed hundreds of women in the western city of Cologne.
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel starts a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia on Thursday, part of her push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya. Since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has lacked a national government, which has made it the main gateway for African migrants heading for the 28-member EU on dangerous Mediterranean crossings. Merkel, who faces elections in September, has been under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in over one million migrants since 2015. Her government has urged the Maghreb states and Egypt to step up border controls and speed up repatriations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected. Merkel first heads to Egypt, where she will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, before holding talks on Friday with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. She is joined by a business delegation that could sweeten the diplomacy with investments badly needed by both countries, which are grappling with sluggish economies, tourism slumps after internal turmoil and jihadist attacks, and high unemployment, especially among youths. A major focus in Egypt and Tunisia will be on their troubled neighbour Libya, a largely lawless country that has porous desert borders with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan. "Without a political stabilisation of Libya, we won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya who are responsible for by far the most arrivals in Italy," Merkel said in her latest weekly podcast. "Egypt, as a regional institution, as a regional power, plays a major role here, as do Algeria and Tunisia." Holding centres The trip is part of a larger diplomatic push by Merkel, who last year visited Mali, Niger and Ethiopia. She had also planned a trip to Algeria last week, but it was called off after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika fell ill. Germany, which this year holds the G20 presidency, has also announced investment partnerships in Africa with the long-term goals of reducing poverty and deterring people from leaving in the first place. Last year, Berlin spearheaded an EU agreement with Ankara that helped sharply reduce the influx of migrants through Turkey and western Balkan countries. But as with the Turkey deal, the negotiations with the North African countries have been clouded by human rights concerns. In particular, an idea floated by Merkel's interior minister -- for North African countries to build holding centres for returned migrants -- has been rejected by Merkel's centre-left coalition partners and by rights groups. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel -- whose Social Democrats hope to topple Merkel this year -- dismissed the idea, saying "I doubt that all this has been really thought through". 'Dodgy deals' Human Rights Watch noted that Egypt had largely "banned protests, imprisoned tens of thousands of people, often after unfair trials, and outlawed the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood." "Ensuring safe and swift returns of Tunisians and Egyptians who are not in need of protection is legitimate, as long as the procedures are fair," said Judith Sunderland, a Europe and Central Asia director for the group. "It's another thing entirely to pursue dodgy deals that could trap asylum seekers and migrants from elsewhere in countries like Tunisia and Egypt that cannot guarantee decent treatment or meaningful access to asylum." But Merkel is under huge pressure at home to achieve results in an election year, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the national parliament for the first time. Public fears in Germany have been heightened by several jihadist attacks last year -- especially the truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market on December 19 that killed 12, an attack attributed to a Tunisian immigrant, Anis Amri. Anger had previously been fanned on New Year's Eve of 2015-16, when large groups of mostly North African men sexually assaulted and robbed hundreds of women in the western city of Cologne.
By ANI
KANSAS: Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian IT engineer shot dead in an apparent hate crime in the U.S., was the kind of job candidate that every hiring manager wanted on his team, as described by his former boss Rod Larson.
He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy, Larson told Kansas City Star.
His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want.
Kuchibhotla was the top pick in 2007 for a software engineer position at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
"Kuchibhotla was so exceptional that Larson ultimately couldnt keep him, because Kuchibhotla was moved from his auto-flight department and became instrumental in helping his company develop its first fly-by-wire planes, in which manual controls are entirely replaced by computers," Larson said.
"He was well-liked by anybody and he was excellent in all categories. He was a low-maintenance employee and did whatever was asked of him, he added.
Kuchibhotla was killed when 52-year-old Adam Purinton, walked into Austins Bar and Grill in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe and opened fire. His friend, Alok Madasani, and Ian Grillot, a bar-goer who tried to intervene in the attack, were also shot, but survived.
KANSAS: Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian IT engineer shot dead in an apparent hate crime in the U.S., was the kind of job candidate that every hiring manager wanted on his team, as described by his former boss Rod Larson. He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy, Larson told Kansas City Star. His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want. Kuchibhotla was the top pick in 2007 for a software engineer position at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Kuchibhotla was so exceptional that Larson ultimately couldnt keep him, because Kuchibhotla was moved from his auto-flight department and became instrumental in helping his company develop its first fly-by-wire planes, in which manual controls are entirely replaced by computers," Larson said. "He was well-liked by anybody and he was excellent in all categories. He was a low-maintenance employee and did whatever was asked of him, he added. Kuchibhotla was killed when 52-year-old Adam Purinton, walked into Austins Bar and Grill in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe and opened fire. His friend, Alok Madasani, and Ian Grillot, a bar-goer who tried to intervene in the attack, were also shot, but survived.
By AFP
MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur has cancelled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang as a diplomatic spat deepens over the assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader, national news agency Bernama reported Thursday.
The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, Malaysian news agency quoted the country's deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.
Before the murder of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, the two countries enjoyed relatively warm ties, with some bilateral trade and citizens from both countries entitled to travel to the other under a unique reciprocal visa-free deal.
MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur has cancelled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang as a diplomatic spat deepens over the assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader, national news agency Bernama reported Thursday. The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, Malaysian news agency quoted the country's deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying. Before the murder of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, the two countries enjoyed relatively warm ties, with some bilateral trade and citizens from both countries entitled to travel to the other under a unique reciprocal visa-free deal.
By Associated Press
MEXICO CITY: A lawyer who has worked on behalf of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is trying a novel legal tactic: He is calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to deport the Mexican drug lord back home from his jail cell in the United States.
Lawyer Jose Luis Gonzalez Meza held up a banner outside the Mexican Attorney General's Office in the capital Wednesday that read: "Mr. Trump, Deport the illegal and criminal Chapo Guzman."
Trump has pledged to deport migrants who have committed illegal acts.
Gonzalez Meza said Mexican prosecutors violated due process when they extradited Guzman in January.
"That means he is in the United States illegally," the lawyer said. "We are going to ask he be returned, because he is illegal and criminal!"
Guzman faces U.S. drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
MEXICO CITY: A lawyer who has worked on behalf of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is trying a novel legal tactic: He is calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to deport the Mexican drug lord back home from his jail cell in the United States. Lawyer Jose Luis Gonzalez Meza held up a banner outside the Mexican Attorney General's Office in the capital Wednesday that read: "Mr. Trump, Deport the illegal and criminal Chapo Guzman." Trump has pledged to deport migrants who have committed illegal acts. Gonzalez Meza said Mexican prosecutors violated due process when they extradited Guzman in January. "That means he is in the United States illegally," the lawyer said. "We are going to ask he be returned, because he is illegal and criminal!" Guzman faces U.S. drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
By AFP
JAKARTA: Saudi Arabia's King Salman called Thursday for a united fight against terrorism in a speech to Indonesia's parliament during a landmark state visit to the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
The king is making the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia in almost 50 years as part of a tour of Asia, accompanied by a 1,000-strong delegation and hundreds of tons of luggage.
In a speech to hundreds of people at the legislature in the capital Jakarta, he called for an intensified fight against terrorism.
"The challenge we, especially Muslims, face now is terrorism," he said. "We should close ranks in combating terrorism, radicalism and strive to bring world peace for the benefit of all of us."
ALSO READ: Crowds greet Saudi King Salman on rare visit to Indonesia
Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition that has carried out air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group and other jihadists in Syria.
IS is under pressure in Iraq and Syria, as government forces make a drive to retake areas held by the jihadists.
Saudi Arabia has witnessed a series of deadly attacks claimed by IS since late 2014, mostly targeting the Shiite minority and security forces, killing dozens of people.
However, some of the kingdom's partners in the Middle East have urged the Sunni-majority country to do more to defeat IS, and even accused the kingdom of supporting the jihadists.
Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamic militancy, is also facing a renewed threat due to the appeal of IS, with hundreds of its citizens heading to the Middle East to fight with the jihadists.
A gun and suicide attack in Jakarta in January last year that killed four civilians and four attackers was the first assault claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.
On Thursday Salman also visited Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, accompanied by President Joko Widodo, and the leaders prayed together.
The king and his entourage will be in Jakarta until Friday, after which they will head to the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali for a holiday.
Salman's three-week Asian tour is seeking investment opportunities as the world's top oil exporter looks to diversify its economy. He began the trip in Malaysia earlier this week and is also set to visit Japan, China and the Maldives.
JAKARTA: Saudi Arabia's King Salman called Thursday for a united fight against terrorism in a speech to Indonesia's parliament during a landmark state visit to the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. The king is making the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia in almost 50 years as part of a tour of Asia, accompanied by a 1,000-strong delegation and hundreds of tons of luggage. In a speech to hundreds of people at the legislature in the capital Jakarta, he called for an intensified fight against terrorism. "The challenge we, especially Muslims, face now is terrorism," he said. "We should close ranks in combating terrorism, radicalism and strive to bring world peace for the benefit of all of us." ALSO READ: Crowds greet Saudi King Salman on rare visit to Indonesia Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition that has carried out air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group and other jihadists in Syria. IS is under pressure in Iraq and Syria, as government forces make a drive to retake areas held by the jihadists. Saudi Arabia has witnessed a series of deadly attacks claimed by IS since late 2014, mostly targeting the Shiite minority and security forces, killing dozens of people. However, some of the kingdom's partners in the Middle East have urged the Sunni-majority country to do more to defeat IS, and even accused the kingdom of supporting the jihadists. Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamic militancy, is also facing a renewed threat due to the appeal of IS, with hundreds of its citizens heading to the Middle East to fight with the jihadists. A gun and suicide attack in Jakarta in January last year that killed four civilians and four attackers was the first assault claimed by IS in Southeast Asia. On Thursday Salman also visited Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, accompanied by President Joko Widodo, and the leaders prayed together. The king and his entourage will be in Jakarta until Friday, after which they will head to the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali for a holiday. Salman's three-week Asian tour is seeking investment opportunities as the world's top oil exporter looks to diversify its economy. He began the trip in Malaysia earlier this week and is also set to visit Japan, China and the Maldives.
By ANI
BEIRUT: Syrian troops have pushed into Palmyra as they battle to retake the iconic city from the Islamic State group, but their advance was slowed Thursday by landmines laid by retreating jihadists.
Bolstered by Russian air strikes and ground troops, Syrian government forces have been battling through the desert of central Syria for weeks to reach Palmyra.
The city has traded hands several times during Syria's civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of cultural heritage in areas under its control.
The jihadist group first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples. IS fighters were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the town last December.
The latest offensive to retake the city saw government forces break through its western limits late Wednesday, forcing IS fighters to retreat into eastern districts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"IS withdrew from most of Palmyra after laying mines across the city. There are still suicide bombers left in the eastern neighbourhoods," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP on Thursday.
"Government forces have not yet been able to enter the heart of the city or the eastern parts," he added.
They have also not yet entered the celebrated ruins that make up the southwestern part of the city.
"There are no IS fighters left in most of the Old City, but it is heavily mined," Abdel Rahman said.
Syria's Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, reported Thursday that the army had "penetrated Palmyra from the south and southwest, after seizing all fields and hilltops around the city."
- Sputtering peace talks -
Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East.
But many of the monuments have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market.
Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's push towards Palmyra, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported.
A decades-old ally of Damascus, Russia began an aerial campaign in September 2015 to help President Bashar al-Assad's forces in their fight against what the regime and its allies say are "terrorists."
This week, Moscow called for "terrorism" to be added to the agenda of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva between Syria's opposition and government figures.
The sputtering negotiations so far have focused on three so-called "baskets": governance, the constitution, and elections.
But the main opposition group -- after an unprecedented meeting with a Russian minister -- said late Wednesday that it would refuse to add terrorism to the areas of discussion.
"We will not deal with it, and if (UN mediator Staffan de Mistura) adds it in anytime we will not deal with it or discuss it," said Yehya Kodmani of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC).
The opposition has accused Assad's regime of wanting to turn the focus to terrorism as a distraction from political questions.
The Geneva talks, the fourth round of UN-sponsored negotiations in the six-year war, are expected to end before or during the coming weekend, though no formal time frame has been set.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with protests against Assad's rule, but has since evolved into a complex war that has drawn in world powers on all sides of the conflict.
- Clashes in north -
After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces last year from second city Aleppo -- thanks in large part to Russian support.
In northern Syria, where Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had managed to regain control of two villages seized on Wednesday by Turkish-backed rebels, the Observatory reported.
One SDF fighter and two members of Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces were killed in the latest clashes for control of the villages of Tal Turin and Qara, Abdel Rahman said.
The Turkish operation aims to counter both IS fighters and the SDF, a partner of the US-led anti-IS coalition but which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists".
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that the next target after Al-Bab would be Manbij -- a former bastion of IS that is now under the control of the SDF.
"Our military aim... is to capture Manbij and expel the SDF militia from it to prepare to take IS's main bastion Raqa," Ahmad al-Hassan, a field commander with the Ankara-backed rebels, told AFP.
The profusion of forces operating in Syria has led to a very complicated battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had mistakenly bombed SDF fighters in several small villages in northern Syria.
Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages in Aleppo province on Tuesday, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties.
The Russians apparently had observed IS fighters moving from the area and wrongly assumed that other forces remaining were jihadists, he said.
BEIRUT: Syrian troops have pushed into Palmyra as they battle to retake the iconic city from the Islamic State group, but their advance was slowed Thursday by landmines laid by retreating jihadists. Bolstered by Russian air strikes and ground troops, Syrian government forces have been battling through the desert of central Syria for weeks to reach Palmyra. The city has traded hands several times during Syria's civil war and become a symbol of IS's wanton destruction of cultural heritage in areas under its control. The jihadist group first seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy and loot the UNESCO world heritage site's monuments and temples. IS fighters were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the town last December. The latest offensive to retake the city saw government forces break through its western limits late Wednesday, forcing IS fighters to retreat into eastern districts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "IS withdrew from most of Palmyra after laying mines across the city. There are still suicide bombers left in the eastern neighbourhoods," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP on Thursday. "Government forces have not yet been able to enter the heart of the city or the eastern parts," he added. They have also not yet entered the celebrated ruins that make up the southwestern part of the city. "There are no IS fighters left in most of the Old City, but it is heavily mined," Abdel Rahman said. Syria's Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, reported Thursday that the army had "penetrated Palmyra from the south and southwest, after seizing all fields and hilltops around the city." - Sputtering peace talks - Before IS first entered the city, Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East. But many of the monuments have been destroyed and much of the heritage looted for sale on the black market. Moscow's support has been key in the Syrian army's push towards Palmyra, and its warplanes continued to bombard IS positions inside and near the city on Thursday, the Observatory reported. A decades-old ally of Damascus, Russia began an aerial campaign in September 2015 to help President Bashar al-Assad's forces in their fight against what the regime and its allies say are "terrorists." This week, Moscow called for "terrorism" to be added to the agenda of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva between Syria's opposition and government figures. The sputtering negotiations so far have focused on three so-called "baskets": governance, the constitution, and elections. But the main opposition group -- after an unprecedented meeting with a Russian minister -- said late Wednesday that it would refuse to add terrorism to the areas of discussion. "We will not deal with it, and if (UN mediator Staffan de Mistura) adds it in anytime we will not deal with it or discuss it," said Yehya Kodmani of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC). The opposition has accused Assad's regime of wanting to turn the focus to terrorism as a distraction from political questions. The Geneva talks, the fourth round of UN-sponsored negotiations in the six-year war, are expected to end before or during the coming weekend, though no formal time frame has been set. Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with protests against Assad's rule, but has since evolved into a complex war that has drawn in world powers on all sides of the conflict. - Clashes in north - After losing ground in the early years of the war, Assad's regime has regained significant territory -- including by pushing rebel forces last year from second city Aleppo -- thanks in large part to Russian support. In northern Syria, where Turkey launched a cross-border operation in late August, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had managed to regain control of two villages seized on Wednesday by Turkish-backed rebels, the Observatory reported. One SDF fighter and two members of Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces were killed in the latest clashes for control of the villages of Tal Turin and Qara, Abdel Rahman said. The Turkish operation aims to counter both IS fighters and the SDF, a partner of the US-led anti-IS coalition but which is dominated by Kurdish fighters that Ankara sees as "terrorists". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that the next target after Al-Bab would be Manbij -- a former bastion of IS that is now under the control of the SDF. "Our military aim... is to capture Manbij and expel the SDF militia from it to prepare to take IS's main bastion Raqa," Ahmad al-Hassan, a field commander with the Ankara-backed rebels, told AFP. The profusion of forces operating in Syria has led to a very complicated battlefield and on Wednesday a US general said Russian warplanes had mistakenly bombed SDF fighters in several small villages in northern Syria. Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Russian and Syrian regime aircraft attacked the villages in Aleppo province on Tuesday, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties. The Russians apparently had observed IS fighters moving from the area and wrongly assumed that other forces remaining were jihadists, he said.
By AFP
WASHINGTON: Top US Democrats demanded the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday over his failure to disclose that he met twice with Russia's ambassador to Washington during last year's election campaign.
The revelation of Sessions' Russian contacts -- which directly contradicted his testimony in Senate confirmation hearings -- plunged President Donald Trump's administration into fresh turmoil, dashing its hopes for a feel-good reboot after a chaotic start.
The previously undisclosed meetings once again raised the question of whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Russian attempts to influence the outcome of the US elections.
And they fed mounting calls for Sessions to recuse himself from oversight of Justice Department and FBI probes into the alleged Russian meddling and contacts with Trump campaign advisers.
"I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself. There's no doubt about that," Sessions told NBC News, while denying any wrongdoing.
"I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I don't have anything else to say about that."
The White House confirmed the meetings took place but insisted Sessions had done nothing inappropriate and dismissed the revelations, which first appeared in the Washington Post, as a partisan attack.
Several leading Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in calling on Sessions to stand back.
"AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself," Jason Chaffetz, a member of the House Government Oversight Committee, tweeted.
Democrats went further, demanding that the attorney general resign and that a special prosecutor be appointed to probe the administration's Russia links.
"The Department of Justice should be above reproach," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "For the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign."
If the Justice Department failed to act on naming a special prosecutor, Congress should act to put the matter in the hands of a panel of judges, he said.
Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, also called for Sessions to step down.
Dashed after-glow
The latest revelation came as the White House was basking in the after-glow of Trump's well-received speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
Trump's softer tone in the address was seen as a tactical retreat from the whirlwind of conflicts and controversies that unsettled his first 40 days in office.
The calm was shattered late Wednesday.
The Washington Post revealed for the first time that Sessions met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting.
That directly contradicted Sessions' statement during his Senate confirmation hearing January 10.
When asked about the Trump campaign's alleged contacts with the Russians, Sessions said, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have -- did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
A White House official rejected the Post report as "the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats."
"Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."
In Moscow, the Kremlin said it was unaware of any specific meetings between Sessions and the Russian ambassador ahead of the US election, but that any such encounters would have been routine.
Repeated contacts?
It was the second time Kislyak has emerged at the center of the Russia controversies.
Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign February 13 after it was reported that he had talked to the Russian ambassador the same day that outgoing president Barack Obama was expelling 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the election meddling.
Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of the talks, which eventually led Trump to sack the retired general.
The New York Times reported two weeks ago, citing US intelligence sources, that three Trump campaign staff -- including campaign chief Paul Manafort -- had communicated with Russian intelligence officers over the past year.
The White House also labeled that report "false" and has accused Democrats, the media and the intelligence community of a political effort to undermine the Trump administration.
US intelligence chiefs announced in December that they had concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind a hacking and misinformation campaign to hurt Hillary Clinton and boost Trump's chances to win the November 8 presidential election.
But they have not made their evidence public, and the Kremlin denies it.
WASHINGTON: Top US Democrats demanded the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday over his failure to disclose that he met twice with Russia's ambassador to Washington during last year's election campaign. The revelation of Sessions' Russian contacts -- which directly contradicted his testimony in Senate confirmation hearings -- plunged President Donald Trump's administration into fresh turmoil, dashing its hopes for a feel-good reboot after a chaotic start. The previously undisclosed meetings once again raised the question of whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Russian attempts to influence the outcome of the US elections. And they fed mounting calls for Sessions to recuse himself from oversight of Justice Department and FBI probes into the alleged Russian meddling and contacts with Trump campaign advisers. "I have said whenever it's appropriate, I will recuse myself. There's no doubt about that," Sessions told NBC News, while denying any wrongdoing. "I have not met with any Russians at any time to discuss any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false. And I don't have anything else to say about that." The White House confirmed the meetings took place but insisted Sessions had done nothing inappropriate and dismissed the revelations, which first appeared in the Washington Post, as a partisan attack. Several leading Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in calling on Sessions to stand back. "AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself," Jason Chaffetz, a member of the House Government Oversight Committee, tweeted. Democrats went further, demanding that the attorney general resign and that a special prosecutor be appointed to probe the administration's Russia links. "The Department of Justice should be above reproach," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "For the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign." If the Justice Department failed to act on naming a special prosecutor, Congress should act to put the matter in the hands of a panel of judges, he said. Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, also called for Sessions to step down. Dashed after-glow The latest revelation came as the White House was basking in the after-glow of Trump's well-received speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Trump's softer tone in the address was seen as a tactical retreat from the whirlwind of conflicts and controversies that unsettled his first 40 days in office. The calm was shattered late Wednesday. The Washington Post revealed for the first time that Sessions met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September, just as accusations of Russian interference in the election were mounting. That directly contradicted Sessions' statement during his Senate confirmation hearing January 10. When asked about the Trump campaign's alleged contacts with the Russians, Sessions said, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have -- did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it." A White House official rejected the Post report as "the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats." "Sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony." In Moscow, the Kremlin said it was unaware of any specific meetings between Sessions and the Russian ambassador ahead of the US election, but that any such encounters would have been routine. Repeated contacts? It was the second time Kislyak has emerged at the center of the Russia controversies. Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign February 13 after it was reported that he had talked to the Russian ambassador the same day that outgoing president Barack Obama was expelling 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the election meddling. Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of the talks, which eventually led Trump to sack the retired general. The New York Times reported two weeks ago, citing US intelligence sources, that three Trump campaign staff -- including campaign chief Paul Manafort -- had communicated with Russian intelligence officers over the past year. The White House also labeled that report "false" and has accused Democrats, the media and the intelligence community of a political effort to undermine the Trump administration. US intelligence chiefs announced in December that they had concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind a hacking and misinformation campaign to hurt Hillary Clinton and boost Trump's chances to win the November 8 presidential election. But they have not made their evidence public, and the Kremlin denies it.
By AFP
ISTANBUL: Turkey's justice minister said Thursday he scrapped a visit to Germany after authorities there blocked a rally promoting a referendum that could expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.
The latest spat adds to tensions between Turkey and Germany over a number of disputes including Ankara's provisional detention of a German journalist on terrorism-related charges.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was scheduled late Thursday to address the Turkish community in the western German town of Gaggenau and meet his German counterpart.
"That meeting with (the German justice minister) will not take place. I will return to Turkey," Bozdag said while on an official visit to Strasbourg, in remarks carried by private television station NTV.
The move comes after Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement with the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) to hold a rally, with Bozdag as the guest speaker, saying that the hall did not have the capacity to host so many people.
"Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall (in Gaggenau), parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand," the town's authorities said in a statement.
"Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked," it added.
'Building Berlin walls'
Bozdag condemned the move, claiming it smacked of hypocrisy.
"It is unacceptable that German authorities, who constantly lecture us about human rights, democracy, rule of law, free speech... do not tolerate a meeting organised by the Turkish community," he said.
Turkish politicians including Prime Minister Binali Yildirim have sparked controversy over their visits to Germany to hold political rallies.
Germany is home to about three million people of Turkish origin, the legacy of a massive "guest worker" programme in the 1960s-70s, the biggest population of Turks outside of Turkey.
Erdogan's government is keen to harness their votes for the April 16 referendum, which would discard the post of prime minister for the first time in Turkey's history.
The Turkish government says the changes would bring stability while critics say the new presidential system would cement one-man rule in the country.
Separately, Cologne city authorities said they would no longer allow the UETD to use a hall on Sunday, when Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci was expected to make a rally speech.
"The event can and will not happen there," a spokeswoman for Cologne city authorities told AFP, citing difficulties in guaranteeing security at such short notice.
It was unclear if Zeybekci would be able to find an alternative site.
In a series of tweets, Turkey's EU affairs minister Omer Celik slammed the German authorities' move, saying it would be a "success for racists."
"By behaving so, they (German authorities) are harming the bridges between the democracies and building ideological Berlin walls that cut off people from each other," Celik wrote.
Relations between the two NATO allies Turkey and Germany have soured following a series of disputes since the failed coup bid to oust Erdogan last July.
An Istanbul court ordered Monday provisional detention for Deniz Yucel, 43, a correspondent of the German newspaper Die Welt, criticised by Chancellor Angela Merkel as "bitter and disappointing".
Berlin's sharp criticism of Ankara's massive crackdown after the failed putsch has also irked Turkey.
ISTANBUL: Turkey's justice minister said Thursday he scrapped a visit to Germany after authorities there blocked a rally promoting a referendum that could expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers. The latest spat adds to tensions between Turkey and Germany over a number of disputes including Ankara's provisional detention of a German journalist on terrorism-related charges. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was scheduled late Thursday to address the Turkish community in the western German town of Gaggenau and meet his German counterpart. "That meeting with (the German justice minister) will not take place. I will return to Turkey," Bozdag said while on an official visit to Strasbourg, in remarks carried by private television station NTV. The move comes after Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement with the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) to hold a rally, with Bozdag as the guest speaker, saying that the hall did not have the capacity to host so many people. "Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall (in Gaggenau), parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand," the town's authorities said in a statement. "Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked," it added. 'Building Berlin walls' Bozdag condemned the move, claiming it smacked of hypocrisy. "It is unacceptable that German authorities, who constantly lecture us about human rights, democracy, rule of law, free speech... do not tolerate a meeting organised by the Turkish community," he said. Turkish politicians including Prime Minister Binali Yildirim have sparked controversy over their visits to Germany to hold political rallies. Germany is home to about three million people of Turkish origin, the legacy of a massive "guest worker" programme in the 1960s-70s, the biggest population of Turks outside of Turkey. Erdogan's government is keen to harness their votes for the April 16 referendum, which would discard the post of prime minister for the first time in Turkey's history. The Turkish government says the changes would bring stability while critics say the new presidential system would cement one-man rule in the country. Separately, Cologne city authorities said they would no longer allow the UETD to use a hall on Sunday, when Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci was expected to make a rally speech. "The event can and will not happen there," a spokeswoman for Cologne city authorities told AFP, citing difficulties in guaranteeing security at such short notice. It was unclear if Zeybekci would be able to find an alternative site. In a series of tweets, Turkey's EU affairs minister Omer Celik slammed the German authorities' move, saying it would be a "success for racists." "By behaving so, they (German authorities) are harming the bridges between the democracies and building ideological Berlin walls that cut off people from each other," Celik wrote. Relations between the two NATO allies Turkey and Germany have soured following a series of disputes since the failed coup bid to oust Erdogan last July. An Istanbul court ordered Monday provisional detention for Deniz Yucel, 43, a correspondent of the German newspaper Die Welt, criticised by Chancellor Angela Merkel as "bitter and disappointing". Berlin's sharp criticism of Ankara's massive crackdown after the failed putsch has also irked Turkey.
By AFP
WASHINGTON: Speaker Paul Ryan on behalf of the US House of Representatives has condoled the death of an Indian techie in a racially-motivated shooting by an American.
Ryan met visiting Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar yesterday and expressed the House's condolences on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was senselessly murdered last week in Kansas.
"Our peoples must continue to stand together," he said. Ryan's comments over the incident came hours after US President Donald Trump condemned as "evil" and "hate" the fatal Kansas shooting in which Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian Alok Madasani was injured by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before opening fire on them.
ALSO READ: What's government doing to stop hate crime: US shooting victim's wife Sunayana asks on Facebook
The two work for technology firm Garmin. Jaishankar is currently visiting the US to hold consultations and talks with Trump administration officials to develop a roadmap of the Indo-US ties for next four years.
WASHINGTON: Speaker Paul Ryan on behalf of the US House of Representatives has condoled the death of an Indian techie in a racially-motivated shooting by an American. Ryan met visiting Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar yesterday and expressed the House's condolences on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was senselessly murdered last week in Kansas. "Our peoples must continue to stand together," he said. Ryan's comments over the incident came hours after US President Donald Trump condemned as "evil" and "hate" the fatal Kansas shooting in which Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian Alok Madasani was injured by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before opening fire on them. ALSO READ: What's government doing to stop hate crime: US shooting victim's wife Sunayana asks on Facebook The two work for technology firm Garmin. Jaishankar is currently visiting the US to hold consultations and talks with Trump administration officials to develop a roadmap of the Indo-US ties for next four years.
By PTI
UNITED NATIONS: Syrian civilians fell victim to war crimes committed by all parties during the battle for Aleppo last year, a report issued by a UN-mandated inquiry commission has said.
The report released yesterday documents brutal tactics employed by the parties to the conflict in the country as they engaged in the decisive battle for the city between July and December 2016, resulting in unparalleled suffering for Syrian men, women and children.
"The violence in Aleppo documented in our report should focus the international community on the continued, cynical disregard for the laws of war by the warring parties in Syria," said Paulo Pinheiro, the Chair of the three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.
"The deliberate targeting of civilians has resulted in the immense loss of human life, including hundreds of children," he added.
The report notes that the siege-like tactics employed by pro-Government forces in eastern Aleppo last year trapped civilians without adequate food or medical supplies, and that between July and December, Syrian and Russian forces carried out daily air strikes, claiming hundreds of lives and reducing hospitals, schools and markets to rubble.
It adds that Syrian forces also used chlorine bombs a chemical agent prohibited under international law in residential areas, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. The Commission also notes that it received reports of use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas.
By late December, when pro-Government forces on the ground took control over eastern Aleppo, no functioning hospitals remained. The intentional targeting of these medical facilities amounted to war crimes, the Commission said.
In the course of its investigations, the Commission also examined an attack on a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian convoy in Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo's countryside by the Syrian Air Force. "Under no circumstances can humanitarian aid workers be targeted," Commissioner Carla del Ponte said.
The 37-page document reveals that the eastern Aleppo evacuation agreement forced thousands of civilians despite a lack of military necessity or deference to the choice of affected individuals to move to Government-controlled western Aleppo whilst others were taken to Idlib where they are once more living under bombardments.
"Some of these agreements amount to forced displacement. It is imperative that the parties refrain from similar future agreements and provide the conditions for the safe return of those who wish to go back to their homes in eastern Aleppo," Commissioner Karen AbuZayd said.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011.
The report is based on 291 interviews, including with residents of Aleppo, and the review of satellite imagery, photographs, videos and medical records. It is scheduled to be presented to current session of the Council on March 14 during an interactive dialogue.
UNITED NATIONS: Syrian civilians fell victim to war crimes committed by all parties during the battle for Aleppo last year, a report issued by a UN-mandated inquiry commission has said. The report released yesterday documents brutal tactics employed by the parties to the conflict in the country as they engaged in the decisive battle for the city between July and December 2016, resulting in unparalleled suffering for Syrian men, women and children. "The violence in Aleppo documented in our report should focus the international community on the continued, cynical disregard for the laws of war by the warring parties in Syria," said Paulo Pinheiro, the Chair of the three-member Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. "The deliberate targeting of civilians has resulted in the immense loss of human life, including hundreds of children," he added. The report notes that the siege-like tactics employed by pro-Government forces in eastern Aleppo last year trapped civilians without adequate food or medical supplies, and that between July and December, Syrian and Russian forces carried out daily air strikes, claiming hundreds of lives and reducing hospitals, schools and markets to rubble. It adds that Syrian forces also used chlorine bombs a chemical agent prohibited under international law in residential areas, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. The Commission also notes that it received reports of use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas. By late December, when pro-Government forces on the ground took control over eastern Aleppo, no functioning hospitals remained. The intentional targeting of these medical facilities amounted to war crimes, the Commission said. In the course of its investigations, the Commission also examined an attack on a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian convoy in Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo's countryside by the Syrian Air Force. "Under no circumstances can humanitarian aid workers be targeted," Commissioner Carla del Ponte said. The 37-page document reveals that the eastern Aleppo evacuation agreement forced thousands of civilians despite a lack of military necessity or deference to the choice of affected individuals to move to Government-controlled western Aleppo whilst others were taken to Idlib where they are once more living under bombardments. "Some of these agreements amount to forced displacement. It is imperative that the parties refrain from similar future agreements and provide the conditions for the safe return of those who wish to go back to their homes in eastern Aleppo," Commissioner Karen AbuZayd said. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria was established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011. The report is based on 291 interviews, including with residents of Aleppo, and the review of satellite imagery, photographs, videos and medical records. It is scheduled to be presented to current session of the Council on March 14 during an interactive dialogue.
By AFP
GENEVA: World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo extended an olive branch to Washington on Thursday after President Donald Trump's adminstration announced the US was not bound by WTO rulings.
The US decision marks a clear break from past and could threaten the viability of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), where major trade conflicts are often adjudicated.
A letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to Congress on Wednesday outlining Trump policy reviewed the terms under which the US joined the WTO when the Geneva-based body was founded in 1995.
According to the Trump government's interpretation, "Congress had made clear that Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings", said the document.
The text -- entitled "The President's 2017 Trade Policy Agenda" -- also says Trump's government "will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy".
In a statement, Azevedo said it was clear that the United States "has a variety of trade concerns, including about the WTO dispute settlement system.
"I am ready to sit down and discuss these concerns and any others with the trade team in the US whenever they are ready to do so," he added.
Azevedo has in multiple public appearances sought to downplay the threat posed by Trump, who during his campaign called the WTO "a disaster" and claimed that multilateral trade deals had been devastating to the US economy.
Since 1995, the WTO's dispute settlement system has heard more than 500 cases centred on whether countries have broken agreed trading rules in areas including subsidies, customs and tariffs.
The process can be long and subject to multiple appeals, but on Monday Azevedo defended the DSB as "the fastest dispute settlement system out there."
The WTO cannot punish countries that do not abide by rulings, but can authorise retaliatory measures.
GENEVA: World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo extended an olive branch to Washington on Thursday after President Donald Trump's adminstration announced the US was not bound by WTO rulings. The US decision marks a clear break from past and could threaten the viability of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), where major trade conflicts are often adjudicated. A letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to Congress on Wednesday outlining Trump policy reviewed the terms under which the US joined the WTO when the Geneva-based body was founded in 1995. According to the Trump government's interpretation, "Congress had made clear that Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings", said the document. The text -- entitled "The President's 2017 Trade Policy Agenda" -- also says Trump's government "will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy". In a statement, Azevedo said it was clear that the United States "has a variety of trade concerns, including about the WTO dispute settlement system. "I am ready to sit down and discuss these concerns and any others with the trade team in the US whenever they are ready to do so," he added. Azevedo has in multiple public appearances sought to downplay the threat posed by Trump, who during his campaign called the WTO "a disaster" and claimed that multilateral trade deals had been devastating to the US economy. Since 1995, the WTO's dispute settlement system has heard more than 500 cases centred on whether countries have broken agreed trading rules in areas including subsidies, customs and tariffs. The process can be long and subject to multiple appeals, but on Monday Azevedo defended the DSB as "the fastest dispute settlement system out there." The WTO cannot punish countries that do not abide by rulings, but can authorise retaliatory measures.
By AFP
ISTANBUL: The Turkish government today summoned Germany's ambassador to protest the cancellation of rallies in the country in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest spat between the two countries.
Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag earlier scrapped a visit to Germany after the authorities blocked a rally promoting a referendum that could expand Erdogan's powers.
"Our discomfort and our reaction to these developments have been communicated in person to the German ambassador who was summoned this evening to the (foreign) ministry," a senior Turkish official said on condition of anonymity.
The new row adds to tensions between Turkey and Germany over a number of disputes including Ankara's provisional detention of a German journalist on terrorism-related charges.
Bozdag was scheduled late yesterday to address the Turkish community in the western German town of Gaggenau and meet his German counterpart.
"That meeting with (the German justice minister) will not take place. I will return to Turkey," Bozdag said while on an official visit to Strasbourg, in remarks carried by private television station NTV.
Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement with the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) to hold a rally, with Bozdag as the guest speaker, saying that the hall did not have the capacity to host so many people.
"Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall (in Gaggenau), parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand," the town's authorities said in a statement.
"Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked," it added.
Bozdag condemned the move, claiming it smacked of hypocrisy.
"It is unacceptable that German authorities, who constantly lecture us about human rights, democracy, rule of law, free speech... do not tolerate a meeting organised by the Turkish community," he said.
ISTANBUL: The Turkish government today summoned Germany's ambassador to protest the cancellation of rallies in the country in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest spat between the two countries. Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag earlier scrapped a visit to Germany after the authorities blocked a rally promoting a referendum that could expand Erdogan's powers. "Our discomfort and our reaction to these developments have been communicated in person to the German ambassador who was summoned this evening to the (foreign) ministry," a senior Turkish official said on condition of anonymity. The new row adds to tensions between Turkey and Germany over a number of disputes including Ankara's provisional detention of a German journalist on terrorism-related charges. Bozdag was scheduled late yesterday to address the Turkish community in the western German town of Gaggenau and meet his German counterpart. "That meeting with (the German justice minister) will not take place. I will return to Turkey," Bozdag said while on an official visit to Strasbourg, in remarks carried by private television station NTV. Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement with the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) to hold a rally, with Bozdag as the guest speaker, saying that the hall did not have the capacity to host so many people. "Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall (in Gaggenau), parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand," the town's authorities said in a statement. "Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked," it added. Bozdag condemned the move, claiming it smacked of hypocrisy. "It is unacceptable that German authorities, who constantly lecture us about human rights, democracy, rule of law, free speech... do not tolerate a meeting organised by the Turkish community," he said.
By Associated Press
NEWPORT NEWS: President Donald Trump pledged to boost defense spending as he basked in the nation's military might aboard a next-generation Naval aircraft carrier on Thursday.
Wearing an olive green military jacket and blue ball cap, Trump vowed to mount "one of the largest" defense spending increases in history.
"Hopefully it's power we don't have to use, but if we do, they're in big, big trouble," Trump said.
Trump spoke from the Gerald R. Ford, a $12.9 billion warship that is expected to be commissioned this year after cost overruns and delays. He touted his spending plans, saying he would provide "the finest equipment in the world" and give the military the "tools you need to prevent war."
The president also toured the carrier and met with sailors and military leaders. He saluted the sailors as he arrived on the carrier.
Before his remarks, Trump was asked about the revelation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice talked with Moscow's U.S. envoy during the campaign, contact that seems to contradict Sessions' sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearings.
While there were mounting calls for Sessions to resign or recuse himself, Trump stood by Sessions on Thursday, saying he had "total" confidence in his attorney general. Asked if Sessions should recuse himself, Trump said: "I don't think so."
Trump also said he "wasn't aware" that Sessions had spoken to Russia and said that he "probably did" speak truthfully to the Senate.
During his trip to Newport News, Trump was joined aboard Air Force One by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
A draft budget plan released earlier this week by the White House would add $54 billion to the Pentagon's projected budget, a 10 percent increase. The U.S. currently spends more than half trillion dollars on defense, more than the next seven countries combined.
"To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war," Trump said in his address to Congress on Tuesday night.
Trump, in his 2016 campaign, repeatedly pledged to rebuild what he called the nation's "depleted" military and told supporters at Regent University in Virginia Beach in October that the region's naval installations would be "right at the center of the action with the building of new ships."
He often argued that the U.S. military is too small to accomplish its missions and pledged to put the Navy on track to increase its active-duty fleet to 350 ships, compared to the current Navy plan of growing from 272 ships to 308 sometime after 2020.
The PCU Gerald R. Ford CVN 78, located at Newport News Shipbuilding, will be the first of the Navy's next generation of aircraft carriers and is expected to accommodate some 2,600 sailors.
Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, his first as president, included his past calls for repealing the "defense sequester," or across-the-board budget cuts instituted by Congress. He will need the repeal to achieve the kinds of increased defense spending that he is seeking.
NEWPORT NEWS: President Donald Trump pledged to boost defense spending as he basked in the nation's military might aboard a next-generation Naval aircraft carrier on Thursday. Wearing an olive green military jacket and blue ball cap, Trump vowed to mount "one of the largest" defense spending increases in history. "Hopefully it's power we don't have to use, but if we do, they're in big, big trouble," Trump said. Trump spoke from the Gerald R. Ford, a $12.9 billion warship that is expected to be commissioned this year after cost overruns and delays. He touted his spending plans, saying he would provide "the finest equipment in the world" and give the military the "tools you need to prevent war." The president also toured the carrier and met with sailors and military leaders. He saluted the sailors as he arrived on the carrier. Before his remarks, Trump was asked about the revelation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice talked with Moscow's U.S. envoy during the campaign, contact that seems to contradict Sessions' sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearings. While there were mounting calls for Sessions to resign or recuse himself, Trump stood by Sessions on Thursday, saying he had "total" confidence in his attorney general. Asked if Sessions should recuse himself, Trump said: "I don't think so." Trump also said he "wasn't aware" that Sessions had spoken to Russia and said that he "probably did" speak truthfully to the Senate. During his trip to Newport News, Trump was joined aboard Air Force One by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. A draft budget plan released earlier this week by the White House would add $54 billion to the Pentagon's projected budget, a 10 percent increase. The U.S. currently spends more than half trillion dollars on defense, more than the next seven countries combined. "To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war," Trump said in his address to Congress on Tuesday night. Trump, in his 2016 campaign, repeatedly pledged to rebuild what he called the nation's "depleted" military and told supporters at Regent University in Virginia Beach in October that the region's naval installations would be "right at the center of the action with the building of new ships." He often argued that the U.S. military is too small to accomplish its missions and pledged to put the Navy on track to increase its active-duty fleet to 350 ships, compared to the current Navy plan of growing from 272 ships to 308 sometime after 2020. The PCU Gerald R. Ford CVN 78, located at Newport News Shipbuilding, will be the first of the Navy's next generation of aircraft carriers and is expected to accommodate some 2,600 sailors. Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, his first as president, included his past calls for repealing the "defense sequester," or across-the-board budget cuts instituted by Congress. He will need the repeal to achieve the kinds of increased defense spending that he is seeking.
By AFP
WASHINGTON: The outgoing top U.S. diplomat for East Asia said Thursday that China should take more actions to send an unambiguous signal to North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile programs.
China recently said it is suspending coal imports from North Korea, an important source of its foreign revenue.
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said that was in line with U.N. sanctions, but he hoped Beijing was also swayed by a recent North Korean missile test and the assassination of the North Korean leader's exiled half-brother, who was under Chinese protection during the years he lived in Macau.
"The world should expect a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to adhere to the letter and the spirit of a resolution as important as this," Russel told The Associated Press.
"I hope we see a lot more Chinese actions, whether they are tied to the Security Council resolution or whether they are unilateral that send an unambiguous stop sign to the North Korean leaders," he said, noting that China accounts for up to 90 percent of North Korea's external economic activity.
Russel said that he was stepping down as assistant secretary March 8 to spend one year as diplomat-in-residence at the Asia Society Policy Institute, a think tank led by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
He said he wasn't pushed out by the Trump administration and will remain a State Department employee. Russel has held the position for 3 years. Prior to that he was President Barack Obama's top Asia adviser at the White House. His successor has not been named.
Also Thursday, the State Department said that Assistant Secretary Linda Thomas-Greenfield will leave her position as top diplomat for Africa on March 10. She has accepted a State Department detail as a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
She and Russel are final holdovers as assistant secretaries running the department's regional bureaus after President Donald Trump took office nearly six weeks ago. All those positions will be run by acting assistant secretaries until their replacements are nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
No nominations have been made yet.
WASHINGTON: The outgoing top U.S. diplomat for East Asia said Thursday that China should take more actions to send an unambiguous signal to North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile programs. China recently said it is suspending coal imports from North Korea, an important source of its foreign revenue. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said that was in line with U.N. sanctions, but he hoped Beijing was also swayed by a recent North Korean missile test and the assassination of the North Korean leader's exiled half-brother, who was under Chinese protection during the years he lived in Macau. "The world should expect a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to adhere to the letter and the spirit of a resolution as important as this," Russel told The Associated Press. "I hope we see a lot more Chinese actions, whether they are tied to the Security Council resolution or whether they are unilateral that send an unambiguous stop sign to the North Korean leaders," he said, noting that China accounts for up to 90 percent of North Korea's external economic activity. Russel said that he was stepping down as assistant secretary March 8 to spend one year as diplomat-in-residence at the Asia Society Policy Institute, a think tank led by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He said he wasn't pushed out by the Trump administration and will remain a State Department employee. Russel has held the position for 3 years. Prior to that he was President Barack Obama's top Asia adviser at the White House. His successor has not been named. Also Thursday, the State Department said that Assistant Secretary Linda Thomas-Greenfield will leave her position as top diplomat for Africa on March 10. She has accepted a State Department detail as a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. She and Russel are final holdovers as assistant secretaries running the department's regional bureaus after President Donald Trump took office nearly six weeks ago. All those positions will be run by acting assistant secretaries until their replacements are nominated and confirmed by the Senate. No nominations have been made yet.
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Mumbai: World Bank CEO visits Asia's largest slum Dharavi
Mumbai (Maharashtra) , March. 1 : World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva paid a visit to Asia's largest slum Dharavi in Mumbai.
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She also travelled in a local train from Churchgate to Dadar.During her first official visit to India, Georgevia will see the operations of bank-supported suburban rail system in Mumbai starting today.She will hold discussions with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, RBI Governor Urjit Patel besides other key policy-makers."India is our biggest middle income client. Its economic growth influences global growth. Its achievements in health and education contribute to the world achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. I am keen to learn more as India is a laboratory for the world to learn about what works in development and to find new ways to collaborate." Georgieva said.While in Mumbai, she will have the opportunity to see how the operations of the World Bank-supported suburban rail system - which carries about eight million commuters each day - is serving a fast growing and urbanizing India.Georgevia will also visit a school serving low-income households and children with special needs, which is a part of Centre's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme supported by the bank to see how the Mumbai administrators are striving to ensure that basic services are delivered to all residents of the city.
RBI releases 'Quarterly Statistics on Deposits, Credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks for December 2016'
New Delhi , Mar 1 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday released its quarterly statistics on Deposits and Credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) as on December 31, 2016.
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On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, aggregate deposits grew at an acceleratedpace in all population groups (except in metropolitan areas) and for all bank groups; on the other hand, however, bank credit decelerated across all population groups and bank groups.Term deposits constituted the highest share in aggregate deposits in all population groups, except in rural areas where savings deposits (53.4 percent) recorded the major share.Metropolitan bank branches continued to contribute the largest share of aggregate deposits (51.6 percent) and total bank credit (65.6 percent).Public sector banks continued to lead, accounting for 70.6 per cent of aggregate deposits and 66.2 per cent of total bank credit.The survey revealed a concentration of deposits and credit in seven states, namely, Maharashtra, National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.The credit-deposit (C-D) ratio of all SCBs at all-India level came down to 70.6 percent by end-December 2016 from 74.5 percent a quarter ago, with Maharashtra (106.5 percent), Tamil Nadu (100.8 percent), Chandigarh (100.0 percent), Telangana (96.7 percent), Andhra Pradesh (91.4 percent) and NCT of Delhi (84.5 percent) recording C-D ratios above the all-India average.
Melania Trump turns heads in her USD 9,600 Michael Kors outfit at Trump's joint session speech
Washington D.C. [USA], Mar. 1 : U.S First Lady Melania Trump knows how to make a grand entry!
(Posted on 01 March 2017, 1667774861 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php (Posted on 01 March 2017, 1667774861 173O212O198O32)
Dazzling in a black overcoat, Melania turned heads, as she made her way into the House Chamber to support her hubby U.S. President Donald Trump's speech at a joint session of Congress.According to CNN, the 46-year-old First Lady donned 9,600-dollar sparkly black Michael Kors outfit, with a deep V-neck line and thick buckle, showcasing her petite frame.Apart from this, what grabbed our eyeballs is the loving gaze she had, as Trump began his joint session speech in Washington D.C.CNN further reports that Melania is not the only First Lady to don Michael Kors on a night like this. Michelle Obama too wore a 2,500-dollar Kors suit to Barack Obama's State of the Union in 2015.President's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump was seen wearing a magenta asymmetrical dress, which was branded "inappropriate" and "awkward" by social media, as according to them, it was more fitting for cocktails, than Congress.According to News.com.au, Ivanka's dress, instead of her much-criticised self-titled clothing line, was by French designer Roland Mouret that cost nearly 4000 dollars.Another thing that could not go unnoticed was the blue tie, instead of the red that is traditionally associated with the Republican Party, donned by the U.S. President, Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Kolkata: RBI Regional Director inaugurates Bandhan Nextgen Bankers' Programme
Kolkata, Mar 1 : Bandhan-Konnagar (CSR arm of Bandhan) in association with Bandhan Bank has started a one year residential programme titled Bandhan Nextgen Bankers'
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Programme. This programme will train young and bright minds to become successful bankers and take Bandhans journey forward.Rekha Warriar, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Kolkata inaugurated Bandhan Nextgen Bankers Programme on Wednesday at Bandhan School of Development Management (training institute of Bandhan) situated in Rajpur, Kolkata.The course will be a mix of intensive classroom and field sessions through simulation, gaming, activities, collaborative projects and branch internships. We have brought together expert faculty for the same. The candidates will be given enough training and hands-on exposure to develop their skill which is deemed necessary to make them prudent bankers, said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Founder, Bandhan.This programme is a maiden initiative of its kind in Eastern part of the country. This 1 - year full-time residential course will comprise nine months of classroom sessions and three months of internship at Bandhan Bank. Upon successful completion of the course, the candidates will be absorbed at the Assistant Manager Grade in Bandhan Bank. The first batch of 59 students hailing from 6 different states has commenced today. Other batches will roll out shortly in the coming months. The plan is to have a total of 240 students this financial year.Bandhan Bank seeks to offer world-class banking products and services to urban, semi-urban and rural customers alike. Therefore, the bank follows a unique model comprising two divisions General Banking and Micro Banking aimed at catering to both the segments of the society. It is a bank for all. In sync with the philosophy of Aapka Bhala, Sabki Bhalai and keeping financial inclusion at the heart of it, Bandhan is committed to provide a host of products and services, competitively on a par with Indias top private and state-owned banks. A Bank like Bandhan needs value - driven and skilled manpower to take its journey forward.Bandhan Nextgen Bankers Programme aims at imparting knowledge in various financial disciplines to young aspirants and make them proficient. The initiative aims to nurture young talent to understand banking from basic to modern age requirements from expert faculty.
Information and Broadcasting Minister visits Media Units of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at Soochna Bhawan
New Delhi, Mar 1 : Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday visited the Media Units and their facilities at Soochna Bhawan to get a first-hand experience of their functioning.
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Commenting on the recently opened New Book Gallery by Publications Division, Naidu urged the people to visit the gallery and make use of the rich collection of books brought out by Publications Division.He added that youngsters should make use of the Digital Online Library which contains selected archival books that can be accessed in the Book Gallery free of cost. In the age of instant communication, it was important to nurture the habit of reading amongst all age groups.This initiative by the Publications Division was an important step in this direction.The Minister was accompanied by Minister of State for IB, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Secretary IB, Ajay Mittal and senior officers of Ministry of IB.
'MSN' trio power Barca to emphatic 6-1 win over Sporting in La Liga
Barcelona [Spain], Mar.2 : Barcelona produced a dominant performance on Thursday as forwards Lionel Messi, Luiz Suarez and Neymar all scored goals during their side's crushing 6-1 win over Sporting Gijon in the La Liga clash at the Camp Nou.
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Taking the field just a couple of hours before Real Madrid took on Las Palmas, Luis Enrique's side proved far too strong against Sporting Gijon to surge into the top of the La Liga table.Star striker Messi put his side ahead as early as in the night minute of the match before Sporting Gijon's Juan Rodriguez netted a goal in his own net to double Barcelona's lead in the 11th minute.In the 21st minute of the match, Garcia Carlos Castro struck a consolation goal for the visiting side followed by Luis Suarez's strike just seven minutes later,goal.com reported.Barcelona remained in possession in the second-half as well, with Paco Alcacer and Neymar both pulling back a goal for their side in the 49th and 65th minute, respectively.Ivan Rakitic then provided the Spanish club with a perfect finish by scoring a goal just three minutes prior to the full time.Barcelona, who have now won five home games on the spin in La Liga, will next lock horns with Celta Vigo on March 5.
Rahul Gandhi 'Coconut' row: Congress asks PM Modi to get facts straight
New Delhi , Mar 2 : Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking party vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his Imphal address, the Congress has called on the former to get his facts straight before taking jibes.
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"Modi ji has become an expert in comments and jokes; only if he clearly watches Rahul Gandhi's speech he will know the truth and not make funny comments again. If Modi is really interested in cracking jokes then I will tell Navjot Singh Sidhu to give him a side role in Kapil Sharma's show," Surjewala told ANI here in a clear reference to the 'coconut' gaffe that ensued post Gandhi's address.Earlier today, the Prime Minister got a quote wrong while speaking at a rally in Maharajganj, where Modi mocked a certain Rahul Gandhi asking his supporters if they have ever heard of anything called coconut juice."Yesterday he (a Congress politician) made a very big declaration. he said now he will extract juice from coconuts.. and after extracting the juice, he will sell it in England. The poorest of poor children know that you get water from coconuts. You get juice from lime, santre, mosambi. have you ever seen or heard of coconut juice? Maybe I am unaware but tell me. Coconuts are found in Kerala but he's saying he'll extract coconut juice," PM Modi said.The Prime Minister Modi was referring to an election rally speech of Rahul Gandhi in Manipur's Imphal East. But what Rahul actually said in his February 28 rally,"Here (in Manipur) you grow nimbu, narangi (oranges), pineapple. I hope that such a day comes that when someone in London drinks pineapple juice, they look at the box and see 'Made in Manipur'."The confusion broke out over Rahul Gandhi's usage of the word 'narangi'which was mistaken for 'nariyal' (Coconut), following which the BJP spread no time in taking pot shot at the Congress vice-president.
President Pranab Mukherjee condoles Haji Abdul Salam's death
New Delhi , Mar. 2 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday condoled the death of the veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Haji Abdul Salam.
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In a message to Abdul Salam's wife Najida Begum, President Mukherjee said he was distressed to learn about the demise of Haji Salam."Veteran Congress leader Haji Salam served the nation and the people of Manipur with utmost dedication. He shall long be remembered for his commitment to the cause of communal harmony and upliftment of marginalised sections of our society. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. I pray to the Almighty to give you and the members of your family the strength to bear this irreparable loss," President Mukherjee said in the message.
Dharmendra Pradhan to participate in annual CERA Week
New Delhi (India), Mar. 2 : Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will be visiting Boston and Houston, USA, from March 3-7 along with a delegation comprising the CEOs of Public Sector Oil and Gas companies.
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During his visit to Boston from March 3 to 4, Pradhan will deliver a keynote speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Conference on the theme Balance of Power-the Changing Energy Paradigm.He will address the students at Harvard Kennedy School on the subject India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Policy. At Fletcher Energy and Environment Club of Tufts University, Pradhan will interact with the students on Challenges in Petroleum and Natural Gas sector in the context of Paris Agreement and India's commitment on climate change.He will also be meeting the Mayor of City of Boston and interact with Indian community.Pradhan will also participate in the annual CERA Week - International Conference on Oil and Gas from March 5-7 during which he will be speaking at the Ministerial Plenary and in several other platforms.Pradhan is scheduled to have several bilateral meeting with visiting Petroleum Ministers, including from Canada, UAE, Israel, USA, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Russia and also Secretary General of International Energy Agency (IEA).He will also be meeting and exchanging views with renowned experts from hydrocarbon sector, including Dr Daniel Yergin and Bob Dudley, Group Chief Executive of BP.During his stay in Houston, he will interact with Indian origin scientists and CEOs working in the oil and gas sector and Indian community members.The Petroleum Minister will showcase India's hydrocarbon sector and the recent policy reforms under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at CERA Week, which is world's largest hydrocarbon conference.He will interact with Ministers, policy makers, technologists, scientists, planners and management experts, entrepreneurs, service providers and vendors in order to attract investment into India's growing oil and gas sector.
PM Modi to address International Yoga Festival via video conference today
New Delhi, Mar 2 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the International Yoga Festival, taking place in Rishikesh, via video conference on Thursday.
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At 12:30 pm I will address @IntlYogaFest at @ParmarthNiketan, Rishikesh via video conferencing. Watch on mobile http://nm4.in/dnldapp , his tweet read.The Prime Minister also lauded Swami Chidanand Saraswati for organising the meet.Great effort by @PujyaSwamiji to bring together Yogis from many nations for @IntlYogaFest. Global enthusiasm towards Yoga is gladdening, PM Modi tweeted.
TransCanada suspends USD 15-bn lawsuit against US after Trump approves Keystone pipeline project
Calgary, Mar 2 : With the approval of Keystone pipeline project by US President Donald Trump, TransCanada Corp has suspended their lawsuit against the US government, which they had claimed towards damages and costs amounting to 15 billion dollars, said media reports.
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The Obama administration had earlier rejected the project mainly due to the pressure of environmental lobby which had been campaigning for last seven years.The lawsuit was initiated under North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).In the website of International Center for the Settlement of Investments Disputes, it was announced that Trans Canadas centering pipeline had been suspended until 27th March,2017 pursuant to mutual agreement.The Keystone XL pipeline was intended to link existing pipeline networks in Canada and USA to transport crude oil from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois and eventually to Gulf of Mexico.(Reporting by Chandan Som)
PM congratulates defence scientists on the successful demonstration of ballistic missile defence capability
New Delhi, Mar 2 : : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the defence scientists on the successful demonstration of India's ballistic missile defence capability.
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Hearty congratulations to our defence scientists for the successful demonstration of ballistic missile defence capability, he said in a message.With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability- a proud moment for the entire country., the Prime Minister said.India on Wednesday successfully test-fired the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile, the second level of two-tier interceptor missile system that can destroy hostile ballistic missiles.
Canada: Ontario hydro rates to be reduced by 25 percent, says Premier Kathleen Wynne
Toronto, Mar 2 : Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's government believes the reduction of financing costs of electricity generation contracts over longer periods would show immediate impact on reducing the hydro rates by 25 percent, thereby regaining the popularity of the Liberals, media reports said.
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The proposed 25 percent reduction includes 8 percent rebate of the provincial portion of the sales tax that took effect on Jan. 1.Although the provincial Liberals could not convince Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to eliminate the 5 percent federal share of the HST on hydro bills, they said they found other savings.Were taking it to the next level, Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault told the legislature during Tuesdays question period.We do recognize the system that we built eliminating coal, rebuilding the grid that cost billions of dollars. We know that cost actually came at the expense of many families, the media quoted Thibeault as saying.Thibeault said, Were looking right now at doing some very quick, tangible rebates that people will see in the very, very near future.The refinancing of the global adjustment would enable ratepayers and consumers to immediately see a reduction in their bills.The government also plans to stop the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which gives up to $65 a month to low-income earners as this cost will be covered by the broader tax base.(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)Image: KathleenWynne Twitter
Ranveer Singh tries his hand at Olymbia Bobrun
Mumbai, Mar 2 (NotinTown): Actor Ranveer Singh, who was named the Indian brand ambassador for Switzerland Tourism last year, is currently holidaying in the beautiful country.
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His love for adventure can be seen as he tried out the Olymbia Bobrun, a crazy adrenaline filled sport at St.Moritz.Sharing his experience, Ranveer said, This is just spectacular, 75 seconds of pure adrenalin. As you ride on the straights, into the curves and around the high walls your nerves are tested to the limit. Thundering down the ice track at the thrilling speed of upto 150km/hr gets your heart pumping. This action-packed adventure is something one must experience in this lifetime.Ranveer is also a proud certified speedster of the sport now. #OlympiaBobrunClick on the link below to watch Ranveer be a complete daredevil:https://twitter.com/ranveerofficial/status/836937769540808705
Four Indian photographers in 2017 Sony World Photography Awards shortlist
New Delhi, Mar 2 : Works of four Indian photographers have made it to the top 10 shortlist of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards in the Professional, Open and Student Focus competitions.
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Jayanta Roy from Kolkata was shortlisted in the Landscape category of the Professional competition. His shortlisted series, Himalayan Odyssey is a black-and-white series, revealing the beauty and magnificence of Himalayas.Its really a great moment of my life, said Roy, I feel extremely honored. Thanks a lot to the respected members of the jury and the Sony World Photography Awards for the selection.Mahesh Shantaram from Bangalore was shortlisted in the Portraiture category of the Professional competition, both judged upon strong bodies of work in 5-10 images. His shortlisted series Racism in India: The African Portraits is an intriguing series of portraits investigating the theme of racism.Swapnil Deshpande from Alibag, Maharashtra, was shortlisted for a single image in the Open competitions Travel category. His shortlisted image, Autumnal impressions catches the beautiful cascades in the Kaldalon Glacier valley in the west fjords of Iceland.It is the first time that my work has been recognized at an international level. I have always been impressed by the excellent art and the level of the photographers at the Sony World Photography Awards and I feel very happy about this, said Deshpande.Shravya Kag from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, was shortlisted for a single image answering the brief Memories in the Student Focus competition.Kags shortlisted image Pages of Memories is a self-portrait revealing the photographers love for reading and exploration. While the background is a small alcove in the Strand bookstore in New York City, the remaining elements were shot separately and composited over the background to create this surreal image.I am equally elated, nervous and honored to represent School of Visual Arts at the Sony Student Focus Awards. This recognition is deeply encouraging, as the awarded image is of great personal value and I am thrilled to share it with the international photographic community, said Kag who is currently studying at the School of Visual Arts of New York.Over 227,000 images from 183 countries were submitted to the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards.{image_1}The shrotlisted photographers will now compete to win their categories and the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year title.The Open category winners will be announced March 28, and the Professional category winners and the Student Focus winner revealed at an awards ceremony in London on April 20.Prizes include the latest Sony digital imagery equipment, a trip to the awards ceremony in London and $30,000 US dollars in cash prizes. The Student Focus winner will receive 30,000 (Euros) of Sony equipment for their university.The work of all the shortlisted photographers will also be shown alongside the awards other shortlisted and winning images at the Sony World Photography Awards Martin Parr 2017 Exhibition in London from April 21-May 7.The judges of the Sony World Photography Awards also commended 11 Indian photographers in the awards Open competition. The photographers placed among the top 50 in the world are: Avishek Das, commended twice in Culture category; Navin Kumar, Travel category; Nikunj Rathod, Motion category; Prabha Jayesh, Motion category; Raju Ghosh, commended twice in Culture category; Riya Sharma, Wildlife category; Rohit Gandhi, Enhanced category; Sonalini Khetrapal, Wildlife category; Sujit Saha, Culture category; Taniya Sarkar, Travel category; and Vijayasri Chari Srinivasaraghavan, Still Life category.Produced by the World Photography Organisation, 2017 sees the 10th anniversary of the Sony World Photography Awards and a decade-long partnership with its headline sponsor, Sony.
Anil Kapoor shares insights on films at the British Film Institute
New Delhi , Mar. 2 : Mr. India of Bollywood Anil Kapoor, recently made an appearance at the British Film Institute as a special guest where he discussed about his upcoming film 'Mubarakan'.
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The British Council officially launched the U.K. India Year of Culture, a celebration of the longstanding relationship between India and the U.K.Robin Baker, Head Curator of the British Film Institute had an interesting conversation with Anil.When asked about his upcoming flick, Anil said he's overwhelmed with whatever he's seen of the film yet and it is the first time he is playing the role of a British Asian from the Sikh community.He further adds that 90% of the movie has been shot in the U.K. and that it is a typical happy Bollywood film about an Indian family staying in England, rooted in their culture.Robin further asked the 60-year-old about his experience with filmmaker Danny Boyle in 'Slumdog Millionaire' and Anil was all praises for the director.He says how he isn't just a good filmmaker, but also a phenomenal human being and an absolute genius. He spoke about how he went with his instinct and chose to do the film and had a great working experience with him in 'Slumdog Millionaire.'When asked about the cinematic relationship between India and the U.K., the actor talks about how the advent of the digital format has made the younger generation think more globally, bringing about change in cinema which brings the world closer together.He feels young filmmakers in India as well as the U.K. will bring about terrific work and successful collaborations. He also says he admires the incredible level of commitment put into planning and preparations by the British team.The actor also took to social media and shared pictures of the event, which also had the talented Anoushka Shankar. He tweeted saying, "Honoured to open the @BFI "India on Film" event in London! Such a great initiative to foster collaboration between two great nations!"On a related note, 'Mubarakan' is an upcoming Indian romantic comedy film, written and directed by Anees Bazmee where Anil, Arjun Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz and Athiya Shetty will be playing the lead roles.
DRDO hands over weapon locating radar to Army
New Delhi , Mar.2 : The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) weapon locating radar 'Swati' was formally handed over to the Indian Army on Thursday, with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar saying its deployment will reduce artillery fire from across the border.
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Officials say that four radars deployed along the Line of Control for trial have already proved their efficacy since artillery fire from Pakistan's side had reduced after their deployment.The Indian Army has at present ordered 30 such radars.The weapon-locating radar developed by the DRDO's Electronic and Radar Development Establishment provides fast and accurate location of enemy artillery including shells, mortars and rockets.The radar is also capable of guiding fire from an artillery gun attached to it, meaning thereby that the radar can not only locate artillery guns on the enemy side but also ensure their destruction.Parrikar also congratulated the DRDO for successful trial of exo-atmospheric Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) interceptor missile and endo-atmospheric Advanced Air Defence missile, both part of a two-tier anti-ballistic missile system.
South Asia lawmakers meet in Kathmandu to discuss status of child welfare
By Dipendra Raj Poudel and Shukdev Chapagain, Kathmandu [Nepal], Mar.2 : A meeting of lawmakers of the South Asian countries began in Kathmandu on Thursday to discuss the overall status of children of the region and share initiatives taken for the welfare of children in their home countries.
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Lawmakers from Nepal, India and Bangladesh looking after the issues of children were present in the meeting, according to Ranju Kumari Jha, the President of Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare Committee under the Legislature-Parliament.Addressing the programme, UNICEF South Asia Regional Director Jean Gough said South Asian countries could not invest sufficiently in health, education and social security sectors as most the countries collected minimum tax compared to the gross domestic product.Gough also suggested that the lawmakers should make positive influence on programmes, policies and budget meant for children for better results.The meeting organised by the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia and the UNICEF Nepal Office is supported by the Parliamentary Committee.Child mortality remains as a common and one of the major problems of the South Asian countries.Nepal is on the 63rd position of the world report on the child mortality rate. Still around 30 million South Asian school-age children are out of school, according to President Jha.
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When Stockholm, Sweden, introduced a "congestion tax" to discourage driving in the center of town, traffic eased and the pollution level dropped by between 5 and 10 percent.
One other result was less expected but no less welcome: The rate of asthma attacks among local children decreased by nearly 50 percent, according to a Johns Hopkins Business School economist's study of the tax and its impact.
The health improvement in the children appeared more gradually than the observed decline in the pollution level. This suggests that the full health benefits from reduced pollution might not occur immediately, says Emilia Simeonova, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.
Indeed, the drop in the rate of asthma attacks was more than 12 percent during the first seven months of the tax but soared to 47 percent after a few years of implementation.
Simeonova says, "The key takeaways of this paper are that health gains can be realized through efforts to lower air pollution, and that we need to be patient in waiting for the complete picture to emerge."
Asthma, chronic inflammation of the breathing passages, afflicts people of all ages. Its onset in childhood can lead to poor lung development, causing ill effects - wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing - that can recur over a lifetime.
It is the leading cause of hospitalization among children in the United States, especially those living in densely populated areas with frequent traffic congestion, the paper states.
The study by lead author Simeonova and three colleagues examined official health and environmental data compiled in Sweden from 2004 through 2010. The research team focused on health statistics for children up to six years old, who tend to experience the most acute asthma episodes because their families haven't yet learned how to tame the flare-ups.
Stockholm's congestion tax began as an experiment from January through July 2006. Traffic was reduced by 20 to 25 percent. Deeming the trial a success, the city government reinstituted the congestion tax in August 2007, and it has been in place ever since.
The tax costs up to $2.60 (U.S.) per vehicle, depending on the time of day. No charges are made at night, on weekends and public holidays, or during July. Tolls are automatically assessed via scanners that collect the license plate information of cars crossing the "congestion pricing zone."
A positive impact on health was evident from the start.
During the seven-month trial period, visits to doctors for asthma symptoms fell from a baseline of 18.7 per 10,000 children to 16.4, a drop of 12 percent. For about a year after the trial period, the congestion tax wasn't in effect. Pollution levels rose again slightly, though not up to pre-trial levels - and the number of asthma visits among children continued to fall, to 13.9 per 10,000, or 26 percent below the baseline.
A few years after the tax was made permanent, visits had dropped even further, to 10 per 10,000 children, a reduction of 47 percent from the baseline. (The baseline figure of 18.7 asthma visits was an average of statistics from a two-year period before the trial.)
Simeonova explains that during the "in between" period when the tax wasn't being assessed, the level of pollution still wasn't high enough to reverse the health benefits that Stockholm's children had begun to realize. But, she adds, the rate of asthma visits probably would have started climbing if the tax had not been made permanent.
"These findings show that traffic congestion fees in large cities can have significantly positive effects on health in the short term but even larger effects in the longer term," says Simeonova.
In addition, she points out that Stockholm's average pollution levels are not nearly as bad as the levels judged acceptable by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Pollution reductions, then, even in a city of relatively mild smog such as Stockholm, can produce benefits for respiratory health, especially among young children.
A new study shows further evidence for the view that spending too much time sitting down is bad for our health and our waistline.
Research led by Dr William Tigbe, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick found workers who have a desk-bound job have bigger waists and increased risk of heart disease. It supports advice to sit less and be more active; as much as seven hours a day on your feet, and walking seven miles, may be needed to avoid heart disease.
Dr Tigbe kitted out 111 healthy Glaswegian postal workers with activity monitors for seven days; 55 were office workers and 56 delivered post for a living. The study revealed differences between the two groups. Those who had desk jobs had a bigger waist circumference - 97 cm compared to 94 cm - and approximately one BMI unit difference. They also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease - 2.2% compared to 1.6% over ten years.
The new study suggests that waist circumference increases by two centimetres, and risk of cardiovascular diseases by 0.2%, for every additional hour of sitting on top of five hours.
Furthermore, bad cholesterol (LDL) increases and good cholesterol (HDL) decreases with each additional hour of sitting from five hours a day.
Dr Tigbe said: "Longer time spent in sedentary posture is significantly associated with larger waist circumference, higher triglycerides (fat in the blood) and lower HDL cholesterol, all adding up to worse risk of heart disease. The levels associated with zero risk factors were walking more than 15,000 steps per day, which is equivalent to walking seven to eight miles, or spending seven hours per day upright.
"Our findings could be used as the basis of new public health targets for sitting, lying, standing and stepping to avoid metabolic risks.
"However the levels suggested in our research would be very challenging to achieve unless incorporated into people's occupations."
The study participants wore a tiny physical activity and position monitor called activPAL, invented by co-authors from Glasgow Caledonian University, strapped to their thigh for seven days, except during activities that risk it being in contact with water, e.g. bathing or swimming. They also had their weight, height and blood pressure measured, and provided blood samples. Cardiovascular risks were assessed using the PROCAM risk calculator which takes into account age, sex, family history, blood pressure and metabolic measures.
The study took place between September 2006 and September 2007 and volunteers were recruited from the Royal Mail in Glasgow. Only apparently healthy, non-smokers, with no personal history of myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertension or diabetes were included. None of the participants was on any lipid, blood pressure or glucose lowering medication.
Fellow researcher Professor Mike Lean of the University of Glasgow's School of Medicine said: "In this research we have learned important information, relevant to health in modern working lives, by studying the activity patterns of postal workers, one of the last physically active occupations left in UK."
"Our evolution, to become the human species, did not equip us well to spending all day sitting down. We probably adapted to be healthiest spending seven to eight hours every day on our feet, as hunters or gatherers. "
"Our new research supports that idea. The 'bottom' line is that if you want to be sure of having no risks of heart disease, you must keep off your bottom!"
The researchers urge further study of this topic is conducted in order to inform health policy makers.
Time spent in sedentary posture is associated with waist circumference and cardiovascular risk is recently been published in the International Journal of Obesity. The research was part of Dr Tigbe's PhD project.
Source: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/desk_jobs_are/
African-American and poor children in the United States suffer disproportionately from asthma. But according to a new study from sociologists at Rice University, racial and socio-economic gaps in the proportion of children in Houston who have asthma may be a result of social inequalities in the neighborhoods where children live.
"Comprehensive Neighborhood Portraits and Child Asthma Disparities" will appear in an upcoming edition of the Maternal and Child Health Journal. In the study, the researchers found that of the 12,000+ children in Houston who have asthma, the chronic disease of airways in the lungs is more prevalent among African-American children than white children and occurs most often among African-American children living in poor neighborhoods. The researchers also found that children of all races and ethnicities, including white children, have a greater risk of developing asthma when they live in poor neighborhoods, compared with children living in middle-class or affluent neighborhoods.
"We set out to find out if there is a concentration of children in different neighborhoods that was more likely to have asthma," said lead author Ashley Kranjac, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Sociology and the Kinder Institute Urban Health Program at Rice. "We found, as others have, that asthma is more widespread among African-American children and children in poor neighborhoods. But in addition, we found that African-American children suffer disproportionately in every kind of neighborhood, from the poorest to the wealthiest."
All Houston neighborhoods were classified using several social and economic characteristics. One such characteristic was median household income; the researchers reported that the most affluent neighborhoods in Houston had median household incomes of over $100,000. Middle-class neighborhoods were at $58,100 and poor neighborhoods had median household incomes of just $33,900.
Using these classifications, the researchers found that African-American children, when compared with white children living in the same type of neighborhood, were 8.8 percent more likely to have asthma in poor neighborhoods, 6.7 percent more likely in middle-class neighborhoods and 5.8 percent more likely in affluent communities. In addition, the likelihood of being diagnosed with asthma increased for all children in Houston as they got older. For example, 6 percent of children in Houston between the ages of 2 and 6 have asthma, but 8 percent of children between the ages of 7 and 12 have asthma. And children growing up in the poorest neighborhoods are twice as likely to have an asthma diagnosis compared with children growing up in the most affluent neighborhoods.
Kranjac said that although the research did not provide a reason why African-American children growing up in poor neighborhoods were more likely to suffer from asthma, she theorized that it could partly have to do with socio-economic differences.
"Higher levels of income and higher levels of education go hand in hand," Kranjac said. "It may be that parents with more education have greater access to information on poor air quality and its effects on asthma. These individuals may not only be more likely to know how to access information on air quality but also decide to have their children play inside or be able to travel outside of their community on poor air quality days. Individuals with less education and/or income may not have access to that kind of information and/or may not have the resources to pursue alternative activities on poor air quality days. They likely also have fewer housing choices and have to settle for housing in the poorest air quality areas of the city."
Kranjac said that it is equally concerning that African-American children, even in the wealthiest neighborhoods, are disproportionately suffering from asthma.
"The drivers of those differences are not likely physiological but rooted in social and racial inequalities," she said.
The researchers used the medical records of 206,974 children aged 2-12 in 1,076 Houston metropolitan neighborhoods (Census tracts). Social and economic information was generated using the 2010 Census and the 2009-2013 American Community Survey data. Air quality data was provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Air Monitoring Information System from 2010 to 2012.
Kranjac and her coauthors hope the research will lead others to treat social and racial inequalities as central drivers of the asthma gap in children.
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, with over 232,000 new cases and 55,000 deaths per year worldwide. Those with light-skin or red hair are often prone to hard-to-detect melanomas, often caused by properties of pigments within skin called melanins. People with fair skin have a higher concentration of the melanin known as pheomelanin in their skin, and a corresponding higher probability of developing melanoma -- in particular, a difficult-to-detect subtype known as amelanotic melanoma. In high concentrations, pheomelanin is responsible for the orange-reddishness in hair, but is essentially invisible in skin.
While eumelanin, the brown-black pigment found in most melanomas, can be easily seen, the light colored pheomelanin is difficult to detect; even with advances in modern microscopy, understanding the pheomelanin molecule and its role in melanoma has eluded scientists.
Recently, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital's Wellman Center for Photomedicine have made a breakthrough for spotting and studying this elusive molecule in skin. Sam Osseiran, a scientist on the team lead by Harvard University professor Conor Evans, will present their findings at the OSA Biophotonics Congress:
The Evans group's research centers around the use of a high-resolution imaging technique called coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scatterings (CARS) microscopy, a variant of the more widely used Raman spectroscopy that enables chemically-specific imaging by means of detecting molecular vibrations.
Evans, whose translational research group specializes in microscopy and spectroscopy for understanding cancer and dermatology afflictions, says the common assumption about locating and imaging pheomelanin is that "there's really no good way to see this mostly invisible pigment when it occurs in skin."
But Massachusetts General's chief of dermatology, David Fischer, approached Evans and they decided to collaborate. Evans' research team took on the pheomelanin imaging challenge. "So my team put our heads together, scouring for ways to see it," Evans said.
While another optical technology, called transient absorption microscopy, does offer possibilities for studying pheomelanin, this method is complex and does not easily lend itself to clinical practice.
"We started to look through the Raman literature," Evans said. "Raman spectroscopy is a very mature technique that allows you to detect molecules by their unique chemical vibrations, which are themselves derived from the structure of the molecules. CARS microscopy is a coherent Raman tool that is akin to using a tuning fork to specifically detect molecular structures."
Fortunately, CARS microscopy proved successful for imaging pheomelanin. "Pheomelanin has a unique chemical structure, there is nothing else like it in the body," Evans said. "So, we started to look at the molecular structure and noticed there was a corresponding unique molecular vibration that might be useful for imaging the pigment with CARS microscopy."
Evans gives much of the credit to his research team, Sam Osseiran and post-doctoral researcher Tracy Wang, for leading the way in developing and refining the CARS microscopy method for imaging pheomelanin. In general, CARS microscopy utilizes two lasers focused on a sample whose energy difference is "tuned" to specific molecular vibrations to generate high resolution imaging information.
"The work led by Tracy was really rather novel application of CARS microscopy to target this biomolecule which no one else has tried to do before," Osseiran said. "We adjusted our system and aligned and tuned everything so that we could specifically target this one melanin pigment, pheomelanin."
Serendipitously, while developing their CARS imaging method, the group found a complementary method that could be used for the simultaneous detection of eumelanin called sum-frequency absorption (SFA) microscopy. SFA makes use of a signal modulation scheme that can detect both species of melanin. This additional imaging tool is important, as most humans produce both species within skin, making mapping the distribution and quantity of both pigments important.
"Sum-frequency absorption imaging allows you to visualize where all the melanin absorbers are within tissue," said Evans. "As both CARS and SFA can be carried out at the same time, these two techniques can be used together to simultaneously image both melanin pigments."
Wang and Osseiran believe their CARS and SFA method could be very helpful for future research on melanoma and its treatment, as well as observing the changes that occur with melanin species in different states. "We are adding another tool to our utility belt here in our investigations of melanoma," Osseiran said.
The study's original motivator, David Fischer, believes that a very important benefit of the work might be its potential role in diagnosing cancer.
"This may offer a brand-new tool for early diagnosis for some of the most lethal melanomas, possibly at a stage when they might still be curable," said Fisher. "Time and time again, it is proven that early diagnosis saves lives."
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool, The Reader and the Royal Liverpool University Hospitals Trust, and funded by the British Academy, has found that shared reading (SR) can be a useful therapy for chronic pain sufferers.
The study, led by Dr Josie Billington from the University's Centre for Research into Reading into Reading, Literature and Society (CRILS) and recently published in the BMJ Journal for Medical Humanities, compared Shared Reading (SR) -- a literature-based intervention developed by national charity The Reader -- to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as an intervention for chronic pain sufferers.
Chronic pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. It is pain which persists for more than six months.
Usually pain is picked up by specialised cells in your body, and impulses are sent through the nervous system to the brain. What happens in people with chronic pain, however, is that other nerves are recruited into this 'pain' pathway which start to fire off messages to the brain when there is no physical stimulus or damage. But the body can 'unjoin' again. Nerve blockers (drugs) are one way; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is another - by getting the brain to send new messages back to the body
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
CBT is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It's most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems.
The current evidence base in respect of chronic pain supports the use of standard psychological interventions, CBT in particular. CBT's benefits, while useful are shown by recent research to be both limited and short-term.
Shared Reading is used in a range of environments that have similarities with chronic pain, in that the conditions involved can often be chronic and unsolvable, as in the case of dementia, prisons (people locked in, life halted and future inevitably affected by baggage of past), and severe mental illness (with recurring episodes).
The model is based on small groups (2-12 people) coming together weekly to read literature - short stories, novels and poetry - together aloud. The reading material ranges across genres and period, and is chosen for its intrinsic interest, not pre-selected with a particular 'condition' in mind.
Validating experiences
Regular pauses are taken to encourage participants to reflect on what is being read, on the thoughts or memories the book or poem has stirred, or on how the reading matter relates to their own lives.
Group members participate voluntarily, usually in relation to what is happening in the text itself, and what may be happening within themselves as individuals (personal feelings and thoughts, memories and experiences), responding to the shared presence of the text within social group discussion.
CBT allowed participants to exchange personal histories of living with chronic pain in ways which validated their experience. However, in CBT, participants focused exclusively on their pain with 'no thematic deviation'.
In SR, by contrast, the literature was a trigger to recall and expression of diverse life experiences - of work, childhood, family members, relationships -- related to the entire life-span, not merely the time-period affected by pain, or the time-period pre-pain as contrasted with life in the present. This in itself has a potentially therapeutic effect in helping to recover a whole person, not just an ill one.
Valuable
As part of the study participants with severe chronic pain symptoms were recruited by the pain clinic at Broadgreen NHS Hospital Trust having given informed consent. A 5-week CBT group and a 22-week SR group for chronic pain patients ran in parallel, with CBT group-members joining the SR group after the completion of CBT.
The study found that CBT showed evidence of participants 'managing' emotions by means of systematic techniques, where Shared Reading (SR) turned passive experience of suffering emotion into articulate contemplation of painful concerns.
Dr Josie Billington, Deputy Researcher, Centre for Research into Reading, said: "Our study indicated that shared reading could potentially be an alternative to CBT in bringing into conscious awareness areas of emotional pain otherwise passively suffered by chronic pain patients.
"The encouragement of greater confrontation and tolerance of emotional difficulty that Sharing Reading provides makes it valuable as a longer-term follow-up or adjunct to CBT's concentration on short-term management of emotion."
A new report has highlighted a gender divide in the screening of patients for cardiovascular disease - Australia's number one killer.
Research from The George Institute for Global Health and The University of Sydney found men were significantly more likely to have their heart disease risk factors measured by their GP.
The study published in the journal Heart also found the odds of being treated with the appropriate preventative medicines were 37 per cent lower for younger women at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than their male counterparts.
Associate Professor Julie Redfern, from The George Institute for Global Health, said the results were especially concerning because more women than men die each year from cardiovascular disease.
Associate Professor Redfern said: "Unfortunately there is still the perception that heart disease is a man's disease. This is not the case here in Australia, the UK or the US and we fear that one of the reasons more women are dying from heart disease is because they are not being treated correctly, including not even being asked basic questions about their health. "
Risk factors for CVD include raised cholesterol and blood pressure levels and smoking. Female smokers have a 25 per cent greater risk of CVD than male smokers.
The study of more than 53,000 patients across 60 sites in Australia found the odds of women being appropriately screened was 12% lower than men.
It also found major discrepancies in the treatment of women at high risk of CVD. Younger women (aged 35-54) were 37% less likely than younger men to have appropriate medications, such as blood pressure drugs, statins and antiplatelets prescribed. By contrast, older women (aged 65 plus years) were 34% more likely than older men to have appropriate medications prescribed.
Karice Hyun, who undertook the research for her PhD at the University of Sydney, said: "It is simply unacceptable that more than half of young women in this study did not receive appropriate heart health medications.
"These medications can greatly reduce the likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke. If these findings are representative, many women could be missing out on life saving treatment right now - just because of their age and gender.
"This fundamentally needs to change. We need a system wide solution to addressing these very worrying gaps in heart disease-related healthcare to ensure women are treated equally across the health system."
Whilst the report highlighted gender disparity, it also revealed that just 43.3 per cent of all patients had all their necessary risk factors recorded, whilst only 47.5 per cent of patients at high risk of CVD were prescribed preventative medicines.
Associate Professor Redfern added: "These findings really show that we need to do a better job of preventing and tackling CVD for all Australians if we have any hope to reducing the death toll."
Every year more than 45,000 people die from CVD in Australia.
More than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and do not have to pay for 15 preventive screenings recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Yet, despite this advantage, many are not utilizing these lifesaving screenings and are contributing to this nation's soaring health care costs, which reached a whopping $3 trillion in 2014.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and Cleveland State University are the first to use data after the implementation of the ACA to get to the root of what factors are contributing to the low rates of preventive care use in this country. Results of their study, published in the current issue of the journal Preventive Medicine, illuminate the importance of the role paid sick leave benefits plays in the lives of employees and ultimately in public health.
"Compared to 22 similarly developed countries, the United States is the only one that does not mandate employers to provide paid sick leave benefits or include paid sick leave in a universal social insurance plan," said LeaAnne DeRigne, Ph.D., lead author and an associate professor in the School of Social Work within FAU's College for Design and Social Inquiry.
For the study, DeRigne and collaborators used cross-sectional data from a sample of 13,545 adults aged 18-64 with current paid employment from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). They examined the relationship between having paid sick leave and obtaining eight preventive care services: blood pressure check; cholesterol check; fasting blood sugar check; getting a flu shot; being seen by a medical doctor or health care provider; getting a Pap test (females only); getting a mammogram (females only); and getting tested for colon cancer. The analysis controlled for demographic and other important predictor variables including gender, marital status, education, race/ethnicity, full time work, insurance coverage, health status, limiting health conditions, family income, age, and family size.
Regardless of sociodemographic factors, the researchers found that workers who lack paid sick leave were significantly less likely to have received preventive health care screenings in the last 12 months, even among those previously told that they have a condition such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease that places them at higher medical risk. They also found that workers without paid sick leave are 1.6 times less likely to have received a flu shot in the past 12 months.
Key findings from the study reveal that American workers without paid sick leave had odds that were:
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30 percent less likely to have had a blood pressure check in the last 12 months
40 percent less likely to have had a cholesterol check in the last 12 months
24 percent less likely to have had a fasting blood sugar check in the last 12 months
61 percent less likely to have had a flu shot in the last 12 months
19 percent less likely to have seen or talked to a physician or health care provider in the last 12 months
23 percent less likely to have had a Pap test in the last 12 months
Paid sick leave was not, however, a significant factor in having undergone two cancer-related screenings in the last 12 months: testing for colon cancer or a mammogram. The researchers speculate that because mammography services are more widely available to workers because of mobile screening units and other innovative services, getting a mammogram might not require paid sick leave. They note that because colon cancer screenings are recommended every 10 years, respondents may not have had the test within the past 12 months when they answered that question.
"Our findings demonstrate that even when insured adults are provided with free preventive screenings, paid sick leave is a significant factor associated with actually using the screenings," said DeRigne. "American workers risk foregoing preventive health care, which could lead to the need for medical care at later stages of disease progression and at a higher cost for workers and the American health care system as a whole."
The two most common ways to offer paid sick leave is by mandating employer-funded benefits or through a universal social insurance program funded through taxes. The Healthy Families Act, introduced in Congress in 2015, uses the employer-funded model and would allow workers to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave if their employer has more than 15 employees and seven unpaid days for employers who have less than 15 employees. The bill has not yet been introduced in the current Congressional session.
"Our data can be used by health care professionals, policy makers and others to consider the expansion of access to evening and weekend hours as well as mobile, community-based, and workplace health and wellness services," said Patricia Stoddard-Dare, Ph.D., co-author and an associate professor of social work at Cleveland State. "When workers forgo essential preventive health care such as flu shots, the public health implications are immense. This is particularly relevant for service related employees, food preparation workers and others who have low access to paid sick leave coverage."
Source: http://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/sick-leave-preventive-care.php
A Loughborough academic has warned the UK is facing a public health disaster if the issue of overheating in homes is not tackled.
Professor Kevin Lomas, an internationally acclaimed expert in building simulation, says the next heat wave to hit the country could have grave consequences for the most vulnerable in our society, as the country now has a housing stock unable to keep cool in the warmer months.
New research provides clear measured evidence of overheating across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and outlines the health risks that inhabitants face due to heat stress experienced in their homes.
The issue is the result of new housing being heavily insulated to meet environmental targets, Government schemes which encourage owners of older properties to retrofit insulation, the creation of more high-rise properties and poor building design.
Researchers from the University's School of Civil and Building Engineering, led by Professor Lomas, collected indoor temperature data from close to 800 homes across England.
They found that many homes experience summertime temperatures that are uncomfortably warm, even in mild summers, and that temperatures are higher in tower blocks and homes occupied by the elderly.
The team has also measured temperatures on wards in four English hospitals, the results of which show that the very places that should provide a safe haven from summer heat are also prone to overheating.
The European heatwave of 2003 led to the premature deaths of around 15,000 people, and with climate change causing warmer summers and more frequent and intense heatwaves, deaths related to overheating could triple by 2040.
"Despite the major health risks associated with overheating, particularly for the old and the very young, the focus of the UK building regulations remains on keeping people warm in the winter and not cool in the summer," explains Professor Lomas. "But there needs to be a philosophical shift in the regulations to also include building adaptation measures.
"We need the Government to listen to what the experts in academia and industry are saying - that urgent action needs to be taken to ensure the people of the UK, and in particular the most vulnerable in our society, are not left at risk from overheating."
Professor Lomas has proposed the following measures to try and combat the problem:
Develop regulations to stop the building of homes that are highly likely to overheat in the summer
Provide people with simple ways to regulate the temperatures in their home, such as easy-to-open windows and shading
Provide advice and guidance so people use the cooling opportunities they have at the right time in the right way. For example opening windows at night to let in cool air but closing windows to the daytime heat.
A recent special issue of the journal Building Research and Information 'Overheating in buildings: adaptation responses' was edited by Professor Lomas and Dr Stephen Porritt, also of Loughborough University. It pulls together research from several UK universities, and the work can be downloaded here.
Between 3 and 5% of the population suffer from a form of inflammatory rheumatism. It affects approximately 250,000 - 400,000 people in Austria. Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the commonest and also the most dangerous forms of this inflammatory rheumatic disease. Around 30% of patients achieve remission, that is to say successful control of symptoms, after just one or two years. However, despite frequent changes in treatment, many other patients have to endure the active form of the disease on an ongoing basis. A multicentre, multinational study headed up by rheumatologist Daniel Aletaha of MedUni Vienna as principal investigator has now shown that a new drug (sirukumab) is a very promising treatment option for these "refractory" patients. The study has now been published in the world-leading journal "The Lancet".
Nowadays, treatments for rheumatoid arthritis are changed very quickly, once it is established that one is failing to effect any significant improvement. This means that many patients can be helped very quickly. On the other hand, there are patients who do not show any significant improvement even after the second or third biologic drug treatment - typically with TNF inhibitors (which blockade the Tumour Necrosis Factor TNF, which is involved in systemic inflammation). The new drug now offers a new option for such patients.
This is the result of one of the largest multicentre, international studies so far into difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis, focussing on this new mechanism of action, an interleukin-6 cytokine blockade. In this treatment, the monoclonal antibody sirukumab directly inhibits the messenger substance IL-6, which, like TNF, is responsible for inflammatory processes in the joints.
"We were able to demonstrate this in one of the largest study populations to date, with around 900 patients in 35 countries. Despite having previously received treatments with biologic drugs, these patients still had a persistently active disease. Treatment options had been practically exhausted for many of these patients. However, even in this group of patients, treatment with sirukumab brought about a significant reduction in the inflammatory action of the disease," explains Daniel Aletaha of MedUni Vienna's Department of Medicine III (Division of Rheumatology, Head: Josef Smolen).
The efficacy and safety of sirukumab were tested in two different dosages (injections of 50 mg every 4 weeks or 100 mg every 2 weeks). The 100 mg dosage proved to be slightly more effective. "These results are very significant in the case of a progressive, inflammatory, musculoskeletal disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, especially for those patients who are resistant to treatment," says the MedUni Vienna expert. The drug could be approved very soon.
At the same time, the new findings with sirukumab could lead to new efficacy studies being instigated for other inflammatory diseases, such as other forms of arthritis or other inflammatory diseases, e.g. vasculitis. There may also be other indications in areas other than rheumatology.
Mumbai: Market remained on the backfoot for the second straight session on Tuesday ahead of release of GDP data as the Sensex slipped another 70 points to 28,743.
Investors waited for the December quarter GDP data to find out if demand took a knock following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise decision to recall high-value currency notes in November last year.
The growth numbers are scheduled to be released after market hours.
The 30-share index, which had lost 80.09 points in the previous session, fell further by 69.56 points or 0.24 per cent to 28,743.32 after shuttling between 28,876.54 and 28,721.12.
The broader NSE Nifty eased by 17.10 points, or 0.19 per cent to close at 8,879.60. It moved between 8,914.75 and 8,867.60 intra-day.
Caution is in the air as market players tracked the much-awaited US President Donald Trump's address to the Congress later in the day, which can throw light on tax reforms and infrastructure spending.
Another record closing on the Wall Street on Friday and a firm trend in Asia kept mood positive.
Idea Cellular managed to close higher after falling nearly 6.5 per cent in early trade following reports that Providence Equity Partners is likely to exit the telecom firm by selling its 3.33 per cent stake.
However, some action was witnessed in broader markets, with the smallcap index rising by 0.59 per cent and mid-cap 0.14 per cent.
Stocks of automobile companies such as Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors saw selling activity and lost up to 1.56 per cent ahead of monthly sales figures for February to be released on Wednesday.
Coal India, NTPC, TCS, ICICI Bank, ITC Ltd, ONGC, Axis Bank, PowerGrid and HDFC were other laggards.
However, buying in select stocks such as Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, M&M, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, SBI and Infosys capped the downside.
Foreign capital outflows also affected market sentiment.
Foreign funds net sold shares worth of Rs 145.55 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Other Asian markets ended mixed as key indices like Hong Kong and Singapore fell while Japan's Nikkei and the Shanghai index moved up.
In Europe, London' FTSE, Paris CAC 40 and Frankfurt lost in their early session.
In the domestic market, 20 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex ended lower.
Oil and gas fell 1.34 per cent, followed by PSU, FMCG, IT and auto. Realty, capital goods, metal and power went up by up to 1.44 per cent.
From the USA to Bangkok, the international media is buzzing with the idea that of an upcoming Michelin Red Guide to the cuisine of the Land of Smiles. The rumor appears to be based on credible information, but Michelin declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Relaxnews.
Asian media is reporting that Michelin could release its first ever guide to the cuisine of Thailand at the end of the year. The Thai government has reportedly approved a budget of 143.5 million Baht to support Michelin's arrival with a Red Guide that will, in the long term, cover all of the country, from Chiang Mai to the islands.
However, Asian news outlets suggest that Michelin's Thai adventure could come in several stages, starting with a guide dedicated to the capital, Bangkok. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is reportedly tasked with helping to organize the project, which could give rise to a guide by the end of the year.
The rumor has naturally raised a great deal of interest. The Michelin Guide has been present in Hong Kong/Macao for nine years. However, Michelin has been boosting its presence in Asia in recent years, with first edition guides to Singapore launched in July and Seoul, South Korea, in November 2016.
Food for thought
Thailand is currently absent from the Red Guide line-up although the country's cuisine is internationally recognized. Plus, the Red Guide proved particularly enthusiastic about street food in its recent Singapore edition. That could bode well for Thailand, where food is also enjoyed on the spur of the moment, on street corners, seasoned with an array ingredients and a selection of sauces all tossed up in battered woks.
Australian chef David Thompson hasn't needed any Thai Michelin stars to make the Nahm restaurant, at the Como Metropolitan Bangkok, an internationally renowned reference. Plus, French chef Arnaud Dunand Sauthier, who heads the gastronomic offering at the luxurious Normandie restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, brings French haute cuisine in the Thai city.
The list wouldn't be complete without Gaggan Anand, who has topped the "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" list for three years. In fact, the organizers announce each new Asian edition in the city of Bangkok.
Michelin refused to comment on the rumored Thai guide but, as in the kitchen, all good things come to those who wait ....
Heavy police bandobast in Mumbai today! pic.twitter.com/sY0H3xzXl3 Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) February 21, 2017
Mumbai/Maharashtra Police, pranaam. No offence intended. M.P. police, consult a dietician,if it's an asli ,undoctored image doing the rounds Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) February 22, 2017
When I got interviewed by scroll.in for #kareenakapoorkhan "rapid" weight loss post pregnancy. Celebrity or no celebrity there is no cheating/ fooling the body. Full interview link in Bio. A post shared by Rujuta Diwekar (@rujuta.diwekar) on Feb 22, 2017 at 2:02am PST
In a bid to whip Mumbai Police into shape, Celebrity Rujuta Diwekar is all geared to help the force commence a one-year experiment this March.The plan started in the western suburbs last October and focuses on helping the police cut down on obesity, acidity and insomnia.The state of Mumbai Polices health came into the spotlight after writer Shobhaa De tweeted a picture of Daulatram Jogawat, a police inspector from Madhya Pradesh, and captioned it heavy bandobast, in an attempted barb at Mumbai Police. Jogawat, who suffers an insulin imbalance, has been offered medical help by doctors in Mumbai.According to reports, October 2016 onwards, Diwekar made personnel at eight police station, located between Bandra and Andheri West in Mumbai Polices Zone 9, fill out forms detailing their daily lives the hours they spend commuting to and from work, the number of hours they work and sleep, and the number of cups of tea they consume and the answers underscored the stressful conditions that the police functions in.Diwekars team then attended morning parades at police stations to dispense one simple tip every day. The first month, we gave four tips on food, the month after four tips on exercise, and last month (we gave) four tips on sleeping, Diwekar told The Indian Express, adding that she had to ensure that the tips were doable and impactful. The first month, Diwekar said, was spent dispelling myths and misinformation among the police about food. Bananas make for a great breakfast, but a lot of them believed that they are fattening, she said. Diwekars tips on food, exercise and sleep have been collected into a Marathi booklet which will be launched by Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar on March 8.It is not that they dont want to bring changes in fitness and health. They just dont have the right information, the nutritionist said. At the end of January, Diwekar had the police in zone 9 fill out exit surveys to gauge the impact of the short programme.Every police official in zone 9 has started implementing at least one of the 12 tips. They look leaner, acidity levels are low, they sleep better, and their energy levels are up, she said.However, a police constable posted in Andheri said that it wasn't always possible to implement Diwekars tips. The current food plan is well intentioned but cannot be successful unless the strength of the police force is increased and an eight-hour work day is introduced, he said.
New Delhi: In a road rage incident, a brand new Toyota Fortuner was set on fire by two men after they found that the owner was driving the SUV slowly allegedly obstructing their (accused) way.
The incident took place in West Delhi's Subhash Nagar when the accused travelling in a Chevrolet Cruze had an altercation with the owner of Toyota Fortuner reportedly for driving slowly.
The entire incident was captured in CCTV camera, which shows two men stopping their Cruze near a Fortuner car. The duo rushed to it with their faces covered, poured oil, set it on fire and fled from the area. The whole incident took place in half-a-minute.
One of the accused persons have been arrested, police said.
Police said that the accused had an argument with Vineet Makol while they were driving after which the accused followed Makol to his house to see where he parks his vehicle, after which they left from there.
Two hours later around 1.40 AM, the duo reached Makol's house and set the vehicle on fire.
Makol immediately made a PCR call and informed the fire services department. The fire was doused within 20 minutes.
"We got clues from the CCTV footage that was installed in the victim's house and a case was registered after which both the accused, Saurabh Makhija and his friend Manmeet Singh, were arrested. The duo are engaged in the business of spare parts," said a senior police officer.
(PTI Inputs)
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists on Thursday held a protest march in Delhi University (DU) campus, demanding action against the anti-national activities. The students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that the protest march near the universitys North Campus Art Faculty was organised to save the DU from anti-national activities.
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"I want to see Prajapati and his men who attempted to rape me behind the bars. He has ruined our lives permanently. We had to leave our hearth and home to save our lives," the victim said.
"They tried to rape me and held my mother tight as she kept crying and pleaded with them to stop. They threatened her with dire consequences before setting me free," minor victim said.
The alleged gangrape of the girl's mother was first committed in October 2014 and was repeated till July 2016. The woman wrote to the state's police chief in October 2016, after the perpetrators allegedly tried to rape her daughter, seeking action against them.
The 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted and her mother repeatedly gang-raped by UP minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati and his aides, has demanded stern action against the accused persons.Meanwhile, a team of UP policemen reached AIIMS to record the statement of the minor. "We have taken statement of almost all people related to this case except of the minor victim. The doctors at AIIMS have given us permission to record her statement," ADGP, Daljeet Chaudhary said.She fears that Prajapati's men would come looking for her.Her mother, who claimed to have been repeatedly gang-raped over two years on the promise of a position in the state's ruling Samajwadi Party and sand mining contracts, moved the Supreme Court, which ordered registration of an FIR against the minister and his accomplices in the crime on February 18.As the UP police hunts for all the accused persons, the girl is struggling to come to terms with what happened to her and her mother.She has, however, not given up hope and wants to appear for her class X examination next year. "I couldn't take the exams this year....our lives were in a mess."Housed in a ward at the AIIMS to which entry is restricted, the girl shudders and slips into frequent pauses while recounting the horror."After that we sought help from various quarters and even approached the state's DGP, but nothing happened even after that. Meanwhile, constant threat calls from Prajapati's men not to pursue the matter further became unbearable for us and we decided to leave UP to save our lives. My mother then approached court," she added.According to the doctors at the AIIMS who are treating her, the girl is in a state of "severe trauma"."She is living in constant fear. She is unable to sleep at night. Whatever has happened with her and her mother keeps coming back to her. We have put her on medication and she is undergoing behavioural therapy," they said.They said teams of the UP police had visited the hospital a couple of times to speak to the girl but were denied permission.49-year-old Prajapati, who was sacked by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for alleged corruption before being reinstated at the behest of the then Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, is said to be on the run.Prajapati has been missing since February 27 and continues to evade authorities. The UP police remain clueless about his whereabouts and a massive hunt has been launched to arrest him.The FIR was lodged against him and six accomplices under various sections of the IPC and The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act at Gautampalli police station by the order of the Supreme Court on February 18.Fearing security concern, her family members has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in to the matter to ensure strict action against Prajapati and other accused in the case.When her complaint went unheeded, she moved the Supreme Court.With the police hot on his heels now, Prajapati has moved the apex court seeking protection from arrest and recall of its earlier order.Prajapati, who is contesting the state assembly election as an SP candidate from Amethi, where polls are over, has denied the allegation, terming it a "political conspiracy by the BJP". He has claimed he does not even know the victim.(PTI Inputs)
A bolt from the blue in the form of an extortion call & threat to my family was nipped in the bud by the MH & UP police in tandem.Gratitude! Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) March 2, 2017
Bollywood Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has received extortion calls of Rs 50 Lakhs from an unidentified person if he wants to save actress Alia Bhatt's life.Bhatt immediately approached a senior crime branch officer in Mumbai and lodged a complaint on Wednesday."A bolt from the blue in the form of an extortion call & threat to my family was nipped in the bud by the MH & UP police in tandem. Gratitude! All of us is better than one of us!!," Bhatt tweeted.The caller reportedly tracked in Uttar Pradesh threatened Bhatt with dire consequences and said, "If he fails to pay the amount he will kill his daughter Alia."The call was made on February 26 and the caller shared his bank (in Lucknow) details to Bhatt and asked him to transfer the amount. The caller also sent threatening messages to Bhatt through WhatsApp.It was learnt that the caller has been detained in Uttar Pradesh in a joint operation launched by the Mumbai and UP police. "We are trying to find out how he managed to get Bhatt's cell phone number," a police officer said.Alia's - Badrinath Ki Dulhania - is set to release in theatres on March 10. The film has been directed by Shashank Khaitan and is produced by Karan Karan Johar's Dharma Productions.This is not for the first time when Bhatt faced similar threat calls in past. In September 7, 2007, his daughter Pooja Bhatt and brother Mukesh received threat calls from a person identifying himself as fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari for having made the film Dhoka which tells the story of a police officer and his terrorist wife.In January, 2013, actress-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt received obscene and threatening calls from an unidentified guy.In June 2006, underworld don Ravi Pujari's henchman opened fire at the Bhatt's office after failing to meet him.
Lucknow: A bench headed by Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court on Thursday has dismissed the theory that proper investigations were carried on in the Jawahar Bagh Massacre case and has ordered a CBI investigation into the matter.
The court was hearing a PIL by the wife of slain Additional Superintendent of Police, Mukul Dwivedi, who lost his life in June 2016 when members of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah led by its leader Ram Vriksh Yadav clashed with the local police.
Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Verma today ordered that a CBI investigation needs to be conducted in this case.
Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who was appearing on behalf of the petitioner said that the court had granted the prayer to conduct a CBI probe and this would eventually reveal the truth behind the massacre.
Archana Dwivedi had prayed the court t order a CBI investigation into the event which led to the death of her husband. Speaking to News18, Dwivedi claimed that justice will soon be done.
"My husband was a victim of the political-cult nexus in the state. He was under tremendous pressure was made to carry on the operation that day without the help of any kind of experienced police professionals. All this happened in an area which is in close proximity to the offices of the ruling political groups, said Dwivedi.
The violence took place on June 2, 2016, when a UP Police party came under attack from members of the Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah led by its leader Ram Vriksh Yadav.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led government initially ordered an enquiry by the Divisional Commissioner and later announced a judicial enquiry by a retired judge when the petitioner had demanded a CBI investigation. It was said that the judicial enquiry would be completed within two months.
Upadhyay even claimed that this ruling will have major political repercussions as the state has gone to polls with the ruling political party promising an era of no corruption and transparency in the government.
"This case is not an issue of law and order problem. This is a larger matter of a political conspiracy to forcefully acquire a 500 acre land which is worth 5000 crores. More than 300 people have been killed in this violence. The CBI investigation will actually prove now that Ram Vriksh Yadav was nothing but a pawn in this game played by the larger political figures of the state. This CBI probe will eventually reveal a larger political scam, said Upadhyay.
: Sunayna Dumala, the wife of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was shot dead in Kansas in a hate crime last week, has said that she will return to the US to fulfill his dream.Sunayna, who came here with the body of Srinivas, revealed this in a heart-wrenching Facebook post, which went viral on Wednesday.While Srinivas's mother said she will not allow her younger son Sai Kishore to return to the US, Sunayna is determined to resume life in Kansas where the couple had moved few years ago with dreams and built their house."This is my Srinu's dream, and it is the least I could do for my Srinivas - fulfill his dreams through my eyes - and it is for this I have to come back to the USA," she wrote while thanking Congressman Kevin Yoder and Senator Jerry Moran for working on her migration status.Srinivas was on H1B visa while Sunayna was on H4 dependent visa.Her Facebook post assumes significance in the wake of reports that US authorities may not allow her to enter the country.Srinivas, 32, was killed and his friend Alok Madasani was injured when Adam Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on February 22.Srinivas and Alok were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.Recalling their meeting in 2006, long friendship and marriage in 2012, she wrote that Srinivas gave her the courage to pursue her dream of coming to the US and studying and this made her an independent, self-sufficient and strong woman."I started working only recently, May 2016. He'd played a major role in me attaining a job," said Sunayna, who works at Intouch Solutions in Kansas.She recalled that they moved from small town like Cedar Rapids, Iowa to a big city so that she could get a job and be able to pursue her dreams."Kansas was our instant choice, and we moved here with a lot of dreams. We built our dream home, which he painted, and installed the garage door," she wrote.The couple were also planning to expand their family. "We had a doctor's appointment just a few weeks ago. One of the last thoughts that he shared with me were Nani (his nickname for me), we need to save money if we have to end up going for in-vitro to conceive."Srinivas would have turned 33 on March 9 and the couple were planning to fly to New Jersey for his cousin's engagement. "He was excited and eagerly waiting for the event, and we had plans to shop this past weekend for the trip. Things turned out differently, I was on my way to India with him in a coffin."She wanted to know what the US government will do answer the questions that are in every immigrant's mind: "Do we belong here? Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?"
Nine of the 12 dams have water storage at just less than 20 percent of their capacity, while three others -- all of them in the high-rainfall Malnad/ Western Ghats region -- are less than half-full.
A meeting of city MLAs and MPs will review the measures on Thursday.
Temperatures in most places are above normal for this time of the year and heat wave conditions are forecast for the next two months, raising concerns that things could worsen.
Staring at a severe drought second year running, Karnataka is looking to the Central Government to bail it out with disaster relief funds of Rs 3,300 crores. This is for the rabi crop, and is besides the ask of Rs 4,700 crores for the kharif crop that failed.The southern State is parched unlike ever before in the last four decades, with a rainfall deficit of 40 to 70 percent in the last six months.Of the 176 talukas in the State, 160 have been declared drought-hit. There is not a single district that has at least one or two talukas that are affected. Capital Bengaluru too is looking at a drinking water crisis over the next two months, with authorities planning curbs on water supply if the situation doesn't improve."We have enough water till May, but we want to tell people to not waste, to save water. If required, we will restrict supply to industries first, as drinking water will be a priority," said Bangalore Development Minister K J George.Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials said they could look at rationing of water supply to different areas in May, but for the next two months, they are looking at reviving old borewells and ensuring regular supply to all areas of the booming city.Efforts are on to restrict release of the mandatory 2,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery river to neighbouring Tamil Nadu -- the State government has already told the Cauvery Water-sharing Supervisory Committee that it will no longer be able to comply with this release of water as mandated by the Supreme Court. Throwing up its hands, Karnataka has told the Central committee that releasing any more water will mean dipping into dead storage levels of the dams fed by this river -- and that cannot be allowed.While four cropping seasons have seen successive droughts across the State, there are about 30 talukas which have seen a drought fifth year running, says Agriculture Minister Krishna ByreGowda."The impact of consecutive droughts tends to be more than a stand-alone drought. Crops are affected, livelihoods are affected and droughts also have an impact on the minds of the farmers," ByreGowda told News18.While the rabi crop usually sees about 35 lakh hectares under cultivation, sowing took place in only about 25 lakh hectares this season. In this, production has come down by over 50 percent, and farmers in distress are even sending their cattle to temporary go-shalas set up by the government as they are unable to care for the animals. Fodder banks too have been set up to give subsidised fodder to farmers in about 90 places. In over 500 villages where there is no drinking water, tankers are supplying water on a weekly basis."The Centre has sanctioned only 1,700 crores against our demand of 4,700 crores. Of this, only Rs 450 crores have been released. This was in October, we are now in March. If amounts are transferred to farmers in time, during a crisis, it will be of some use to them. Once crisis is passed, it won't be of much use to them. Karnataka is one of the few States facing a drought this season -- and it is acute. We expect more agility from the Centre in its response," ByreGowda said.Farmers' groups like the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) also feel the drought is man-made -- that the deficit in rainfall is caused by environmental damage caused by big projects."People tend to think that a drought affects the farmers. That's wrong. A drought affects all those who eat -- so, all of us. We are all stake-holders in this, don't just think of it as a farmers' problem, it's all our problem," said KRRS leader K S Puttannaiah, who is also an MLA from the Cauvery-belt.
The often violent political battle between ruling CPM and RSS in Kerala took an ugly turn on Thursday when in faraway Ujjain a Sangh leader offered Rs 1 crore to anyone who beheads Marxist leader and state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.RSS Ujjain office bearer Kundan Chandravat had offered the bounty for Kerala chief ministers head accusing Marxists of killing RSS activists in Kerala, particularly in Vijayans home district of Kannur. Chandravat also said he will sell off his entire property to collect the reward money.Vijayan, however, laughed off the challenge. "RSS has taken heads of many people, just because of that I cant stop travelling, and cant stop doing my work, he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.The RSS and CPM are locked in a violent fight for control over the red bastion in Kannur ever since 1969 when the first political murder happened in the district. Ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power, RSS has been campaigning nationwide highlighting what they call "Redrocities".Incidentally, CM Vijayan had to abandon midway a recent trip to Madhya Pradesh where he was to inaugurate a Kerala association function after RSS cadres threatened to physically stop him. He returned back to Kerala after the Madhya Pradesh government advised him not to attend the function fearing law and order problem.Earlier, Kerala BJP leader K Surendran had warned that Vijayan would be met with RSS protests in other parts of the country for what his party is doing in Kerala.Last week, RSS had mounted a heavy protest against Vijayans visit to Mangalore in South Karntaka, not far from Kannur.Amid tension, Vijayan attended the function and gave back in kind saying he had been walking with his head high in front of drawn daggers of RSS ever since he was a student leader.Political observers feel the latest threat to Vijayans life has now taken a local political tussle to an altogether different dimension.Meanwhile, Bhupendra Singh, home minister of Madhya Pradesh, defended Chandravat and said that the killing of activists is an emotional issue and needs attention since most of it is being done with the protection of the state government.I am sure that Chandravat didn't literally mean to do whatever he said. He must have been overcome by emotions due the increasing deaths of Hindus in the region. The entire country is angry due to the killings that happen in Northern Kerala, Singh said.Kerala CPM chief Kodiyeri Balakrishnan demanded the MP government should arrest Chandravat."The Centre should see this matter very seriously. The statement came from a member of a ruling party. BJP has so far not condemned this RSS statement. Has the RSS thrown out this person for making such statement?, he said.Balakrishnan said that RSS has been repeatedly making such threats."No one will be able to touch Pinarayi Vijayan. If RSS is trying to play games, we will teach them a lesson. We will take out protest across the state," he said.CPM leader and Lok Sabha MP MB Rajesh denied that there was a law and order issue in the state and termed the killings as mere political violence between the two opposing camps."This is utter nonsense. Law and order is much better in Kerala than in Madhya Pradesh. There are only a few political killings", Rajesh told CNN-News18 over the phone.Kannur district in Kerala's north is considered the cradle of the Communist movement in the state which also leads in tit-for-tat killings between the ruling CPM and RSS workers.The rivalry between the CPM and the RSS in Kerala has always been a murderous one. In October 2016, there were six murders three of RSS-BJP workers and three of CPM workers in Kannur after the assembly elections in May in the home district of the Kerala CM.Later in a statement RSS has clarified that the views expressed by Dr Kundan Chandravat at RSS protest on Kerala CM are not official statement of the Sangh..Its his personal views.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said he believed in the freedom of expression within the legal ambit.
"I believe in the freedom of expression with whatever legal restrictions are there. All freedom of expression have legal limit," he said when asked about his opinion on Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur.
"You cannot barge on another person's right," Parrikar said on the sidelines of a programme here.
Defence Ministry officials later said the minister's comments "were not in context of any particular issue."
A Lady Shri Ram College student, Kaur left Delhi after being threatened with rape and death after launching a social media campaign against the RSS-affiliated ABVP.
The opposition parties had also lashed out the at the government's decision. Congress spokesperson Krishank said, "It's an atrocious policy for women by the TRS government. Instead of providing opportunity, they are restricting it. The Congress party will fight it out and not allow the government to take decisions that is against backward classes."
: The Telangana government has rolled back a controversial order which barred married women from applying for admissions to the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Degree Colleges for Women.The rollback comes after CNN-News18 highlighted the notification which said applications were invited only from "unmarried" women. The government had issued the order citing that married women will be distraction for the other girls when their husbands or in-laws will visit them in college.Speaking to CNN-News18, Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) Secretary Dr Praveen Kumar clarified, "The notification is erroneously understood. The purpose of setting up such colleges for girls is to encourage higher education so that they become independent, and also to save lakhs of girls from child marriages. We believe all girls have all rights to complete education. We clarify that we do not deny anyone admission on her marital status."The decision had come under fire from women's organisations, activists and opposition parties.V Sandhya, president of the People's Organisation for Women told CNN-News18, "We strongly condemn such notification. It's a patriarchal and discriminatory decision. The government admits to child marriages but have failed to eradicate it and taking imposing such restrictions.Child rights activist Achyut Rao, who has been campaigning against under-age marriages in the state, said, "It is discouraging for women to keep away from the education if they are married. When child marriage rate is very high in the state and the state could not stop this, how can they disqualify married women from pursuing higher education? I congratulate CNN-News18 for highlighting the issue. Now, every girl will be able to apply to residential degree college."The Telangana government had started 30 residential degree colleges. These colleges provide free education, food and bear the living expenses of the students. Notification has been issued for 8,400 seats this year. Most seats are reserved for SC/ST and backward classes.
Guna: Two school teachers were among five arrested by police in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly abducting and raping a woman for 20 days.
Earlier, the Womans family had lodged a complaint regarding her disappearance with Bamori police station.
The victim's in-laws live in village Amrod in Bamori.
An officer engaged in the probe said that they have arrested main accused Kamal Ptelia and two teachers Pradip Talwar and Shiromani Malhotra.
After confining the woman into a house, the accused took turns to outrage the modesty of the woman for 20 days.
She told the police that accused raped her and abandoned her after after tying her hands and feet in a room.
Four accused are in the police net while the hunt for the fifth one is still on.
The Colombo Fashion Week (CFW), one of Sri Lanka's most extravagant fashion events, will take place in middle of March with an aim to expand the island nation's fashion industry, the organisers announced on Wednesday.
In line with its vision, the CFW will expand the scope of the fashion industry with multiple initiatives that aim at developing and showcasing Sri Lanka's fashion design industry to the world and to the fashion consumers of Sri Lanka, the organisers said in a statement.
"Since its inception, this platform has aided the local fashion industry in gaining much needed momentum in aspects of fashion education, fashion retail, designer development, and in creating opportunities for designers to showcase their work internationally," the CFW said.
This year's CFW, to be held from on March 13-18 under the theme "Celebrate Colombo", will also aim to showcase Colombo from the tourism perspective as a vibrant and creative city.
It will also include art, film, food, knowledge workshops, designer pop-ups, ethical fashion, and the emerging designers showcase.
Trust Dwayne Johnson to express is bafflement in the most interesting way possible. The former WWE star, popularly known as The Rock was in the crowd of celebrities clicked during the Best Picture goof up at The Academy Awards recently.While the entire world gasped at the awkwardness that happened on stage when La La Land was mistakenly announced Best Picture Winner, Johnson was thinking of something else altogether. The actor later clarified his thoughts on Instagram.He wrote, " You can literally see my wheels spinnin' on whether or not I should hit the stage and take down an Oscars producer who I thought went rogue and was trying to sabotage our final moment of the night as La La Land was accepting for Best Picture. Seconds before this I saw out of the corner of my eye, the producer saying loudly, "NO IT'S MOONLIGHT, the winner is MOONLIGHT!" as he walked up onto the stage. When he walked on stage, I remember sitting up and saying to @laurenhashianofficial, "What the f*cks he doing?". She grabbed my arm and said, "Oh my God, they made a mistake". The rest was history. In crazy moments like that, we need leaders to step up and take charge... I give La La Land producer, Jordan Horowitz much respect for stepping up to the mic and calling the Moonlight filmmakers and actors to the stage to accept their award. Thankfully, Jordan gave us the clarity we needed, because as much as I love and adore Meryl, I was willing to rumble over her to take down the producer going rogue. "Among the hilarious shots of the Oscar audience during the awkward moment at Sunday's ceremony is one which shows Meryl Streep to Matt Damon in various states of disbelief. One of the most amusing faces belongs to Dwayne Johnson, who looked baffled, like the rest of us.Dwayne Johnson will next be seen in Fast 8 and alongside Zac Efron in Baywatch. The film also marks the Hollywood debut of Priyanka Chopra.
The first look of Netflix's film War Machine, starring Brad Pitt is out. This pitch-black war story takes on hot-shot General Glenn McMahon, a man caught up in a modern war machine that keeps on churning, seemingly to no end.An absurdist war story for our times, writer-director David Michod (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. Generals roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody raising the spectre of just where the line between them lies today. An exploration of a born leaders ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly, the storys core is Brad Pitts sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalists no-holds-barred expose.The Netflix original film is inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of Americas War in Afghanistan by the late journalist Michael Hastings.Joining Pitt in War Machine is a highly decorated cast including Tilda Swinton, Sir Ben Kingsley, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Lakeith Stanfield, Emory Cohen, John Magaro, RJ Cyler, Alan Ruck, Scoot McNairy and Meg Tilly. The film will be released on Netflix on May 26, 2017.
Ujjain: Local RSS leader Kundan Chandrawat on Thursday said he was not apologetic about his announcement on rewarding anyone with Rs 1 crore for bringing the severed head of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
"The Leftist government of Kerala is murdering democracy. Those participating in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh camps are being murdered," the RSS leader told media persons in the Madhya Pradesh city.
During a protest event held in Ujjain on Wednesday, Chandrawat said: "The Hindus no more have the zeal of Shivaji Maharaj. I announce Rs 1 crore from my pocket to anyone who brings me the severed head of the Kerala Chief Minister."
"... such traitors don't have the right to live in this country," he added.
Gorakhpur: Amidst high decibel campaign by major political parties like the BJP, BSP and the Samajwadi Party, there is a strong political undercurrent in Eastern Uttar Pradesh which has by and large gone unnoticed so far.
In the electoral battle of East UP especially in Phase 6 and also to an extent in Phase 7 of UP polls, it is the newly formed political outfit called Nirbal Indian Shoshit Humara Dal (NISHAD) and its alliance with the Peace Party, Apna Dal (Krishna Patel) and Jan Adhikar Manch of Babu Singh Kushwaha, which has now emerged as a major political force.
The formation of alliance of between these small parties has emerged as a strong force on a few seats and has the potential to disturb calculations of the three major stake holders-BSP, BJP and SP- on several other seats.
The Peace Party had been a successful political phenomenon in 2012 UP assembly polls with the party wining 4 seats, out of which Khalilabad and Dumariyaganj were from East UP. Both these 2 seats have already gone for voting in phase 5 polling. While Peace Party floted by Dr Ayuub had been predominantly an outfit of Backward Muslims.known as 'Pasmanda Muslims', the NISHAD party formed by Dr Sanjay Nishad is a new phenomenon.
NISHAD was formed only in April 2015. Before that Dr Sanjay was already busy organising this dominant most backward caste on lines of a social movement for quiet some time. The Nishad represents those sub castes of the backward community who had been in the profession of rowing boats, catching fishes or on small trades dependent on rivers and ponds. The prominent backward castes which come under the umberlla of larger Nishad identity are Kewat, Mallah, Majhi, Rajbhar, Gond, Kashyap and Kahar.
Together this community constitutes around 17 Percent of population in east UP. This along with nearly 14 percent of minority population gives the 'Nishad-Peace' party combination a large section of voters to work upon.
Dr Sanjay Nishad says " Nishads have for long supported BSP under late MLA and Minister Jamuna Nishad. After Jamuna Ji's death in 2013 the community was left with no towering leader. BJP, BSP and SP have only used us as their vote bank. Therefore we decided to have our own political party."
In Phase 6 of polling this alliance, basically reflecting aspirations of marginalised poor Muslims and Backward castes, is contesting on 26 seats including all 9 in Gorakhpur. While NISHAD party is contesting Goraphur rural, Chauri Chaura, Bansgaon, Chilupar, Khajni, Shahjanwa and Campiyarganj, Peace party is contesting on Gorakhpur city and Pipraiych assembly constitutency.
As per the demographic statistics on most of these seats, Nishad constitute between 30 to 50 thousand voters.
Dr Sanjay who is also the candidate from Gorakhpur rural seat says "The community had pledged to support the Nishad party because it is committed to their cause. Last time in 2012 Peace Party had lost around a dozen seats by margin of 5 to 10 thousand votes. The alliance therefore makes our electoral prospects much better."
Dr Harsh Kumar of the Gorakhpur University agree to this Nishad Phenomenon.
He says "Politics of East UP had been fertile for Nishad dominated backward caste politics.The community has a strong presence on all 28 Assembly constituencies of Gorakhpur division."
Harsh Kumar further adds "While Other Backward Castes (OBC) like Yadavs in central UP have moved ahead after taking the reins of political power under the Samajwadi party, OBCs epecially Nishads felt deprived of gains in absence of political power. Hence, there is an increasing consciousness about greater political clout in the community."
It is this phenomenon which makes battle in East UP interesting. SP is banking on the likes of Amrendra Nishad,son of late Jamuna Nishad. Amrendra is also SP candidate from Pipraich. BJP has been working day and night to keep the community in good faith. It realises the fact that Yogi Adityanath factor puts Nishads at unease. Jamuna Nishad in his life time had been a symbol of resistance to Yogi's politics.
The high stakes in the region is evident by fact that Akhilesh has held atleast 5 rallies in different constituencies of Gorakhpur. Amit Shah had been constantly visiting Gorakhpur and is concluding the campaign in the city with a grand road show on Feburary 2, the last day of Phase 6 campaign.
BJP's state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak, however, denies any threat to BJP's poll prospects.
Pathak says "We are a political party and all leaders from top to bottom play a role in the election exercise. Varanasi and Gorakhpur are no doubt the areas of key focus. People of UP are with BJP and the party will form a Majority government."
Varanasi: The last phase of polling in UP will see a direct face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul-Akhilesh combine in the battle ground Varanasi.
On Saturday, while Prime Minister will be in his home constituency for a good nine hours, SP-Congress will hold a road show in the heart of the city.
Forty seats including eight in Varanasi will be polling next Wednesday. It is expected Prime Minister will be holding three election meetings in the run up to the voting here. A rally each is being planned by the BJP in Varanasi, Mirzapur and Jaunpur.
But the real fight will be in high profile Varanasi which elected Modi to Lok Sabha by a margin of over three lakh votes in 2014.
Prime Minister in the last phase of campaign is also expected to visit Kashi Vishwanath and Temples in the city on 4th February after addressing a rally in Jaunpur.
The same day Rahul-Akhilesh will be holding a roadshow in the heart of the city through the same route PM is expected to take to Kal Bhairav Mandir.
"We want to engage the PM in his home constituency as much as possible as BJP did to Rahul in Amethi during Lok Sabha polls" ; says a Congres leader.
UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had in a conversation with CNN News18 week earlier this week challenged the PM to hold a rally each in all assembly segments of Varanasi. "We will still manage to win a majority seats in Varanasi" ; said Akhilesh.
Prime Minister according a tentative campaign schedule is likely to return to Varanasi on the 5th and will spend a night in his constituency.
Top ministers and poll managers of the BJP have been camping in Kashi in the run up to the last lap of the seven phased UP polls. " We are comfortably placed here. The upper caste and non-Yadav OBC mobilisation is complete in thr last two phases. We have struck alliances with smaller parties like Apna Dal and it is working well on the ground" ; says a BJP leader in Varanasi.
Ujjain: In a bizarre statement, RSS activist and Ujjain office bearer Kundan Chandravat on Thursday said that whoever beheads Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will receive a massive reward of one crore rupees.
Blaming the Kerala Government and CM Pinarayi Vijayan for the killings of RSS workers in the state, Chandravat also said he will sell off his entire property to collect the reward money.
Bhupendra Singh, home minister of Madhya Pradesh, however, defended Chandravat and said that the killing of activists is an emotional issue and needs attention since most of it is being done with the protection of the state government.
"I am sure that Chandravat didn't literally mean to do whatever he said. He must have been overcome by emotions due the increasing deaths of Hindus in the region. The entire country is angry due to the killings that happen in Northern Kerala," Singh added.
Kerala MP MB Rajesh has denied that there was a law and order issue in the state and termed the killings as mere political violence between two opposing camps.
"This is utter nonsense. Law and order is much better in Kerala than in Madhya Pradesh. There are only a few political killings", Rajesh told CNN-News18 over the phone.
Kannur district in Kerala's north is considered the cradle of the Communist movement in the state which also leads in tit-for-tat killings between the ruling CPM and RSS workers.
The rivalry between the CPM and the RSS in Kerala has always been a murderous one. In October 2016, there were six murders three of RSS-BJP workers and three of CPM workers in Kannur after the assembly elections in May in the home district of the Kerala CM.
In February 2016, a 22-year-old member of the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Abdul Shukoor, was killed allegedly by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists publicly.
As if that was not enough, the killers sent gory pictures of the victim on MMS to IUML leaders. Shukoor was targeted for ambushing a local CPI-M leader, P Jayarajan, and party legislator TV Rajesh.
: A wary China on Thursday said it will work with the international community to fight terrorism after Islamic State fighters from Uighur ethnic minority in troubled Xinjiang vowed to return home and "shed blood like rivers"."I want to emphasise that in recent years the East Turkestan terrorist forces represented by the ETIM (East Turkistan Islamic Movement) are sending fighters to conflict zones and strengthening their collusion with international terrorist forces, posing severe danger to security and stability of relevant countries and the region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media."We are ready to work with the international community to continue fighting the East Turkestan terrorist forces," he said without elaborating.He said ETIM, which China blames for spate of violent attacks in Xinjiang and other provinces, pose a grave threat on security and stability of China and the region. "We will work with the international community in jointly fighting East Turkestan terrorist forces," he said.Islamic State militants from Uighur ethnic minority in a half-hour video released on Monday vowed to return home and "shed blood like rivers", said the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, in what experts said marked the first IS threat against Chinese targets.In the video a Uighur fighter issued the threat against China just before executing an alleged informant. "In retaliation for the tears that flow from the eyes of the oppressed we will make your blood flow in rivers, by the will of God," one fighter featured in the video said, speaking in native Uighur language.The video release was timed with the massive counter terrorism drills by Chinese security forces in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, where Beijing also reported to have deployed aircraft and helicopters.Uighurs are Turkik speaking Muslims who constitute a majority in the sprawling resource-rich Xinjiang bordering Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan. Many Uighurs complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination by China.China blames ETIM, an Al Qaeda affiliated outfit, for violent attacks in the restive region.Pakistan in the past launched counter-terrorism operations in its remote tribal areas to destroy Uighur militants bases following pressure from China.In the recent past, several Uighur youths, who have ethnic affiliation in Turkey, have reportedly crossed over to Syria in big numbers and joined the Islamic State. China has been saying that it is bracing for their return to cause more violence in Xinjiang and rest of the country.
Jerusalem: In its efforts to attract Indian tourists, Israel has increased its promotional budgetary allocation to USD 2.5 million in the last two years and plans to ease visa norms, senior officials have said.
"We realise that India is going to be one of the top three countries sending tourists to Israel and so we have started to invest a lot in marketing our tourism potential there," Director General of Israel's Ministry of Tourism, Amir Halevi said.
"We have already opened a tourist office in India. We also launched our first campaign last year which was a big success. We also got an award for it saying it had the same level of impact as Pepsi in India," he told PTI.
"Right now about 50,000 Indians are coming to Israel every year. There is a huge potential given India's size and this number can be easily doubled in a very short time. Indian tourists generally spend more than the average tourist which also makes them an attractive target. The marketing budget has been increased by ten times to USD 2.5 million compared to what it was two years ago", Halevi said.
When asked about concerns related to visa issuance to Indians and also subsequent problems to such visitors in travelling to the Arab world, he said the process has been made "better and would be even easier".
"The visa process is now better and hopefully would be even easier. A tourist from India looking to get visa stamped on paper can get it that way and there will really be no problem with that," he said.
A spokesperson to the ministry said that, "given the importance of India as an emerging market for incoming tourism to Israel, the Tourism Ministry has submitted a request to ease the visa restrictions on Indian tour groups wishing to visit the country."
"It is hoped that this request will be granted in the near future, reducing the wait time for a group visa to five working days," she said.
However, the "game changer" in these efforts is going to be the expected introduction of direct Air India (AI) flights between India and Israel later this year, Halevi said.
Discussions regarding the launch of Air India direct flights is said to have started last year and as per sources at the Israeli tourism ministry, the Chairman and Managing Director of AI, Ashwani Lohani, and its Commerce Director Pankaj Srivastava are likely to visit Israel in the next few days.
"Hopefully Air India would soon start direct flights between India and Tel Aviv which is going to be a game changer increasing manifold the number of tourists coming from India to Israel. The number of tourists from China to Israel doubled in one year after the start of direct flight by Hainan Airlines. We expect something similar with India", Halevi said.
Israeli government has also been striving hard, though
unsuccessfully, for a while to attract Bollywood filmmakers to shoot their films here.
"We have already met several agents and people from the industry. We are looking for opportunities and the moment we see something like that we will collaborate with them. We are prepared to create the right setting to bring Bollywood filmmakers to Israel," Halevi said.
Dealing with other concerns related to the ongoing conflict in the region, the Israeli official said that tourists "rather feel safe here."
"Regarding the conflict, several countries across the world have become victims of terror and nobody can predict where it is going to strike next. In Israel, we have a lot of experience in dealing with it which makes tourists feel safe here."
"That is why there was an increase in number of tourists coming here last year while there was a decrease in Europe at the same time. We hope to keep up the momentum," Halevi said.
Kuala Lumpur: A North Korean man will be released from custody because of lack of evidence connecting him to the fatal nerve agent attack on Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler, Malaysian officials said on Thursday. In a major fallout from the assassination, Malaysia also announced it was scrapping visa-free travel for North Koreans.
Officials never said why they arrested Ri Jong Chol four days after Kim was attacked at Kuala Lumpur's bustling airport. On Thursday, Malaysian Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali said Ri will be released and deported because he does not have valid travel documents.
The attack was caught on grainy security camera footage that showed two women smearing something on Kim's face as he waited for a flight in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13. Malaysian officials say the substance was VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon.
Kim was dead within an hour as the fast-acting poison coursed through his body, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
The poisoning has unleashed a serious diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. While it isn't one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, Malaysia has been one of the few places in the world where North Koreans could travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it's been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.
That could all begin to change in the wake of Kim's death.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the visa-free arrangement with North Korea will be scrapped from Monday due to national security. He also slammed the North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur who accused Malaysia of "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces."
"We don't want to make enemies, but if they had used Malaysia for their own agenda, they should not accuse Malaysia and tarnish our image on the international stage," Zahid said. "We will act firmly to guarantee the safety of our people. Don't ever use Malaysia as a base to do anything you like."
The two female suspects caught in the security footage were charged with murder in a Malaysian court Wednesday. They face the mandatory death sentence if convicted. Both say they were duped into thinking they were taking part in a harmless prank.
"I understand but I am not guilty," Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong told the court in English after the murder charge was read.
The other suspect, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, nodded as her translator told her, "You are accused of murdering a North Korean man at the departure hall" of Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The women did not enter pleas because the magistrate court where they appeared has no jurisdiction over a murder case. Lead prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told the court he will ask for the case to be transferred to a higher court and for the women to be tried together.
In the surveillance video, Huong was seen clearly in a T-shirt with "LOL" emblazoned across the front. Both women were originally from modest farming villages and had moved to their countries' capitals seeking a better life.
Also Wednesday, the court approved a gag order to prevent police and potential witnesses from making public statements about the case.
North Korea is widely speculated to be behind the killing, particularly after Malaysia said that VX had killed Kim. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.
North Korea's official news agency called that finding the "height of absurdity" on Wednesday, saying the two women could not have used such a deadly toxin without killing or sickening themselves and anyone around them.
North Korea opposed Malaysian officials even conducting an autopsy on Kim, while Malaysia has resisted giving up the body without getting DNA samples and confirmation from next of kin.
Kim is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau.
Authorities are seeking seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom fled the country the day of Kim's death and are believed to be back in North Korea. Others sought include the second secretary of North Korea's Embassy and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his half brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Isolated North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.
A Hellfire missile fired by a CIA drone killed al-Qaeda leader Abu al-Khayr al-Masri late on Sunday while he was riding in a car near the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, a US intelligence official said on Wednesday.
The 59-year-old al-Masri, whose real name was Abdullah Muhammed Rajab Abdul Rahman, was second-in-command to the group's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a member of its shura council, said the official, who was briefed on the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity.
He also was married to one of Osama bin Laden's daughters, the official added. CNN first reported the strike.
The official said Masri, as he was widely known, had sought refuge in Iran after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and was believed to have been in Syria helping to direct Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, an al-Qaeda branch previously called the Nusra Front, the official said.
The Iranians released him from house arrest almost two years ago, in exchange for a diplomat being held hostage in Yemen by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the official said.
An Iranian diplomat held hostage in Yemen since 2013 returned home to Tehran in 2015 amid conflicting accounts of how he was freed from his unidentified abductors. At the time Iran said the diplomat had been rescued by an Iranian intelligence operation in Yemen.
But Yemeni media run by the Iran-allied Houthi group said the diplomat was freed in a prisoner exchange that took place in another country.
Masri's death was the end of an almost 19-year US hunt for him. A second US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Masri was thought to be one of the planners of the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Geneva: Syria's opposition is counting on the new US Trump administration to play a "positive" role to end the country's six-year war, after "catastrophic" policy mistakes under President Barack Obama, an official said.
The High Negotiating Committee (HNC), the main opposition group at UN-sponsored talks in Geneva, said it can help rein in Iran's influence in the conflict, which has killed over 310,000 people.
But speaking as the week-old Geneva talks draw towards a close with little sign of progress, HNC delegation chief Nasr al-Hariri said everyone is waiting for the new US administration of President Donald Trump to engage.
"We are here to... send a message to the new American administration which is trying... to fight terrorism, that we are the side working for peace and security in Syria.
"We are the side which is ready to be a real partner in fighting terrorism on the ground," he told a small group of journalists late Wednesday.
Syrian regime and opposition negotiators have been in Geneva since last Thursday, but there have been no
face-to-face talks, as UN mediator Staffan de Mistura shuttles between the delegations.
The talks are expected to wrap up either on Wednesday or this weekend, with little concrete progress to announce.
Obama stressed the need for President Bashar al-Assad's departure as part of any solution, but that goal wasn't achieved.
The new US administration has made it clear that its key priority in Syria is fighting Islamic State group jihadists. Al-Hariri added: "The Syrian people are paying the price because of the Obama administration's catastrophic mistakes.
"Obama who lied to the Syrian people, who promised and didn't deliver, he drew red lines and erased it by himself, who said nothing about Assad's crimes."
He said that on "confinement of the Iranian influence... I think we can be an effective partner regarding this issue".
"Lots of countries are willing to support us... these countries are waiting for an American role because no one can work effectively but with an American role that gives legitimacy to all these measures.
"We hope that the new American administration would build its positions based on serious facts and to... bring back an effective American role in the region after the degrading role by Obama."
Virginias more than 40 distilleries soon will be able to sell bottles of their products at in-state festivals and events focused on spirits starting early this summer.
Prior to passage of the identical bills SB 1448 and HB 2029 in the General Assemblys 2017 session distillers only were permitted to sell their products through Virginia ABC stores and in highly regulated amounts in on-site tasting rooms. Customers also could purchase bottles of distilled spirits at ABC-approved, on-site distillery stores. Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, and Del. Nicholas Freitas, R-Culpeper, sponsored the respective bills.
The legislation, set to take effect June 1, was presented by the Virginia Distillers Association, a newly formed lobby organization formed by the states distillers to fight for loosening regulations on the tightly controlled industry. According to VDA lobbyist Curtis Coleburn, the legislation helps distillers reach more customers and increase their sales.
Theyve been able to go to these events and do tastings, but then if someone found something that they like, they would have to tell them to go to the local ABC store to buy it, Coleburn said. This will allow them to satisfy some of that instant gratification.
Currently VDA has two spirit festivals in the works for distillers to sell their products. The Virginia Craft Spirits Showcase is planned for Sept. 16 at Roanokes City Market Building. The Coastal Virginia Spirits Classic will take place in Hampton Roads this fall.
For small distillers like Dome & Spear in Evington that do not have tasting rooms, being able to bring products to festivals to sell to a wide range of customers is a huge benefit.
If youve got a festival, you can hit thousands of people at once, said Charles McCauley, owner of Dome & Spear. It would definitely help because right now Im confined to selling in ABC stores.
The legislation also is popular with organizations that host these events. Thomas Jeffersons Poplar Forest partners with Virginia Distillery Company to hold tasting events like Barrels, Bottles and Casks, where visitors take a tour through the house and sample different beverages. The new legislation allows visitors to then purchase full bottles of the products they tasted on the tour.
This will be a great opportunity for [Virginia Distillery] to sell their product, said Jeff Nichols, director of Poplar Forest. Its a new opportunity to get a different audience to come see Poplar Forest.
On the other hand, Denver Riggleman, Republican gubernatorial candidate and owner of Silverback Distillery in Afton, thinks the legislation is not enough to create parity between Virginia distilleries and its wineries and breweries.
Its a good start, but the bill is really symbolic, Riggleman said. Yeah we can sell bottles at festivals now, but it doesnt relieve the heavy tax burden we are under as distilleries.
Currently Virginia distilleries are required to send all of their profits directly to the Virginia ABC, and a portion of those profits are sent back after taxes are deducted for all three levels of government. The state levies a 20 percent excise tax on sales of distilled alcohol, localities get sales tax and the federal government collects $13.50 per proof gallon. A proof gallon is one liquid gallon of spirits that is 50 percent alcohol at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
In addition to extra taxes on liquor not added to beer or wine, distilleries have to submit quarterly reports of progress and the purchase of all materials.
If you have a brewery, youve got to have a license, but you dont have to have the ridiculous report filing you have to have for a distillery, McCauley said. You really have to account for every drop you make. If [the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau] comes to audit you, then you have to come up with all of those records. Even the raw materials, you have to report how much you bought each month.
Last year, the General Assembly increased the limit on how much distillers could sell in their tasting rooms from two ounces to three.
The growing market for craft distilled spirits in the state is no cause for concern, according to the Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association. Phil Boykin, the organizations president and CEO, said they are not worried about more competition.
Let the marketplace work, he said. Beer, wine and liquor compete every day, so lets let the consumers choose.
Despite gains for the industry, VDA Executive Director Amy Ciarametaro said the recent bills are only the beginning for laws meant to ease regulations and open up more economic development opportunities for the states distilled spirits industry.
We believe this is a logical and sensible next step as far as being able to get more product in front of consumers, she said.
Virginia ABC spokesman Kathleen Shaw said the agency is not aware of any enforcement concerns relating to the legislation.
A judge granted secured bond this week to a man accused of threatening on Facebook Live to shoot up a Bank of America branch on Langhorne Road.
David Eugene Bennett, 37, of Christiansburg, faces a felony charge of threat to bomb, burn or damage a building.
Lynchburg police said they arrested Bennett at the bank branch Feb. 21 without incident after he made the threat on social media. No employees or customers were injured in the incident, police said. Bennett was taken to Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
The Bedford County Sheriffs Office and Campbell County Sheriffs Office assisted Lynchburg police with the case.
Bennett appeared Monday before Lynchburg General District Judge Sam Eggleston III, who gave him a $10,000 secured bond and ordered pretrial services, no firearm possession, no illegal drugs and drug testing. Bennett also was barred from the Bank of America at 2200 Langhorne Road.
Prosecutors opposed bond based on Bennetts arrest history and nature of the current alleged offense.
According to Bethany Harrison, deputy commonwealths attorney, Bennett has pending charges of disorderly conduct and violation of a protective order in Roanoke and trespass and obstruction of justice in Campbell County.
Bennetts next Lynchburg court date is a preliminary hearing set for April 7.
Update: Power has been restored to hundreds of customers after todays weather caused power outages, according to Appalachian Power.
The largest outage in Lynchburg, which spanned from the intersection of McConville Road and Woodway Drive to 3 Creeks Court and started at about 12:53 p.m., affected more than 350 people, according to the Appalachian Power website.
The company will provide an update on any remaining power outages tomorrow at 10 a.m., according to its website. Appalachian Power requested an additional 400 workers from outside the service area to assist with restoration efforts. However, those workers were unable to help until the storm passed completely, according to the website.
Appalachian Power issued a safety message early Wednesday afternoon asking citizens to avoid touching downed utility wires and anything that in contact with downed utility wires such as trees or fences.
Earlier: Todays weather caused more than 350 power outages in the Lynchburg area as of 6:30 p.m., according to Appalachian Power.
The outage spans from the intersection of McConville Road and Woodway Drive to 3 Creeks Court and started at about 12:53 p.m. It is expected to be resolved at about 11 p.m. tonight.
In Bedford, there is an outage on Kincannon Road that has left 52 customers without power since about 12:46 p.m., according to the Appalachian Power website, but is expected to be restored by 8 p.m.
In Virginia, about 9,200 customers were without electric service, as of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, but the storm was still moving through the area, Appalachian Powers website stated.
Update: According to Appalachian Powers website, the company still is assessing damages and may provide new estimated restoration times Thursday morning. Appalachian Power has requested an additional 400 workers from outside the service area to assist with restoration efforts, but those workers wont be able to help until the storm has passed completely, according to the website.
Appalachian Power issued a safety message asking citizens to avoid touching downed utility wires and anything that is in contact with a downed utility wire such as trees and fences.
Though Appalachian Power stated a majority of damage has occurred in West Virginia, the National Weather Service warned that the re-intensification of storms still is possible later today, especially south of Highway 460.
Citing a climate of fear and uncertainty, the administration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe has issued guidance to Virginias public schools on how to respond if federal immigration officials seek information about students and their parents.
The nearly 1,200-word memo from state Superintendent of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples shared with schools Tuesday and publicized by the administration Wednesday reminded school workers not to disclose a students immigration status and encouraged officials to develop a plan for what to do if a childs caretaker is detained or deported.
President (Donald) Trumps unprecedented modifications to long-standing immigration policies have led to fear and uncertainty in many of our communities, McAuliffe said through a spokesman.
So let me be clear: the commonwealth will continue to be a welcoming place for all students and families, and my administration remains committed to honoring our constitutional obligation to provide each and every pupil with a free and high-quality public education, regardless of immigration status.
The state Department of Education is not aware of a recent instance in which a students caretaker had been deported but has fielded concerns from public school officials across the state unsure of how to quell students anxieties, Staples said.
In turn, administrators have asked for help in interpreting what they should and should not do if federal officials ask for information.
Guidance is more helpful before anything happens than after, Staples said in an interview. We really sat down and tried to give both legal and practical advice.
Last week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, and Chicago Public Schools chief education officer issued similar guidance to public school workers faced with a growing uncertainty over how far Trumps pledge to bolster immigration enforcement may extend.
Staples issued the advice to local superintendents on Tuesday as reports trickled out that Trump might be open to a compromise on immigration reform that could include a path to citizenship for some undocumented residents.
That opening which came in remarks to select media outlets was not included Tuesday night in Trumps address to Congress in which he reiterated his commitment to aggressive immigration enforcement and touted the establishment of an office dedicated to assisting victims of crimes perpetrated by undocumented immigrants.
The office was included among executive orders Trump signed in January that target so-called sanctuary cities, seek to speed the pace of deportations, expand the circumstances under which someone would be prioritized for removal from the U.S., and ramp up hiring of immigration officers.
These more robust efforts will not reverse a standing policy against conducting enforcement activities on school grounds, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
The agency issued a statement about the policy in response to specific questions about information gathering in public schools:
The ICE sensitive locations policy, which remains in effect, provides that enforcement actions at sensitive locations should generally be avoided, and require either prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action.
But school officials remain wary.
Its a wrenching feeling in our guts that children cannot only physically be afraid but emotionally be afraid that their parents may not be there when they go home, Virginia Board of Education President Billy K. Cannaday Jr. said in a meeting last week.
Staples focused the memo on four questions that were composites of queries his office received from superintendents.
The first few hinged on ascertaining school officials role in the balance between students rights and immigration officials authority; the last asked what schools should do to prepare students for a situation in which their caretaker were deported, and what actions schools can take to be supportive of students and families who fear deportation.
All boil down to this, Staples said: How do you protect kids while living up to your expectations as a public official?
The state does not gather nor are school districts allowed to provide information about students immigration status. That data is not tracked, nor is it needed, said Staples.
I dont think schools see the need to classify students around (status), Staples said. Its really about the child in front of me how do I meet their needs?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled decades ago that public schooling should be provided to all children regardless of immigration status, a decision cited by Richmond Public Schools officials in response to specific questions about what the school system is doing to prepare students.
As an inclusive school district, we embrace our diverse population and recognize the importance of creating a safe, comfortable teaching and learning environment for everyone, Richmond schools spokeswoman Kenita Bowers said in an email.
School officials in Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover either did not or were not able to provide specific answers to what actions those districts were taking to prepare students for the possibility a caretaker could be deported.
For many school workers, where a student was born and how they got here has not been critical, but all that has changed as rhetoric around immigration enforcement ramped up with the election of Trump.
It didnt matter, Staples said. (Then) all of a sudden, it did matter.
State Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, said state education officials should provide guidance to local districts but questioned whether the advice would clarify a complicated situation or further confuse people living these issues on a daily basis.
He said officials on the state and local levels have been quick to grandstand over immigration issues but noted that enforcement is a federal responsibility.
My hope is that this wont cause any more confusion about whose responsibility is whose, Landes said. I think that ultimately the federal government trumps whatever the state government has to say about all this.
Left to discern for themselves what the coming months will bring, undocumented immigrants are availing themselves of legal workshops designed to inform them of what rights they have if they come in contact with enforcement agents, said Tanishka Cruz with the Legal Aid Justice Centers immigrant advocacy program.
Cruz said two meetings last month drew crowds of 150 to 200 people in central Virginia, where advocates helped immigrant parents lay out their wishes for what should happen to their children if they were deported.
You dont want to try to figure all of this out when youre in the middle of all that chaos, Cruz said. Right now, it feels for a lot of people like everything is out of control, but you cant stop going to work, you cant stop sending your kids to school, and you cant be paralyzed by fear.
CHRISTIANSBURG The man accused of murdering Blacksburg teen Nicole Lovell is scheduled for a 10-day jury trial beginning Nov. 6.
The new court date for David Edmond Eisenhauer, 20, of Columbia, Maryland, restores a timeline that was removed from the case last month. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk agreed in February to Eisenhauer's attorneys' request to delay a trial that was slated to begin next week. But the judge held off choosing a new date until attorneys and court officials had time to align their schedules.
Attorneys still are scheduled to be in court Monday to make arguments about allowing media cameras into the courtroom for future coverage of the case.
Also Monday, Turk is scheduled to hear arguments from attorneys for Eisenhauer's co-defendant, Natalie Marie Keepers, 20, of Laurel, Maryland, about moving her trial from its scheduled March 27 start. Keepers' trial, also scheduled to be in front of a jury, has been set to run five days. In a court filing last week, Keepers' attorneys said that they needed more time to review evidence, including a recently submitted psychological evaluation of their client.
Eisenhauer is charged with first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a body. Keepers is charged with being an accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and with concealing a body.
Both were Virginia Tech engineering freshmen when they were arrested last year, Eisenhauer and Keepers are accused of plotting to lure Lovell, 13, from her family's home in Blacksburg and kill her in the national forest near Craigs Creek Road.
According to court documents and testimony, Eisenhauer had met Lovell at a party in December 2015, a month or slightly more before she was killed. Keepers later told investigators that Eisenhauer said that he may have had sex with the 13-year-old and that she might have been pregnant but he was not sure because he had blacked out after the party. Keepers said that Eisenhauer said he had not realized how young Lovell was until later.
Eisenhauer told another friend that he was worried that a young girl with whom he had a relationship would expose him, and that he needed a place to hide a body.
CHRISTIANSBURG The man accused of murdering Blacksburg teenager Nicole Lovell is scheduled for a 10-day jury trial beginning Nov. 6.
The new court date for David Edmond Eisenhauer, 20, of Columbia, Md., restores a timeline that was removed from the case last month. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert Turk agreed in February to Eisenhauers attorneys request to delay a trial that was slated to begin next week.
Attorneys still are scheduled to be in court on Monday to make arguments about allowing media cameras into the courtroom for future coverage of the case.
Also Monday, Turk is scheduled to hear arguments from attorneys for Eisenhauers co-defendant, Natalie Marie Keepers, 20, of Laurel, Md., about moving her trial from its scheduled March 27 start. Keepers trial, also scheduled to be in front of a jury, has been set to run five days. In a court filing last week, Keepers attorneys said that they needed more time to review evidence, including a recently submitted psychological evaluation of their client.
Eisenhauer is charged with first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a body. Keepers is charged with being an accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and with concealing a body.
Eisenhauer and Keepers both of whom were Virginia Tech engineering freshmen when they were arrested are accused of plotting to lure Lovell, 13, from her familys home in Blacksburg and kill her.
According to court documents and testimony, Eisenhauer had met Lovell at a party in December 2015, a month or slightly more before she was killed. Keepers later told investigators that Eisenhauer said that he may have had sex with the 13-year-old and that she might have been pregnant but he was not sure because he had blacked out after the party. Keepers said that Eisenhauer said he had not realized how young Lovell was until later.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday instructed a lower court to re-examine whether the Virginia General Assembly unconstitutionally stuffed African-American voters into certain districts, opening the door to a new political map that could reshape the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Anti-gerrymandering advocates hailed the courts opinion as a victory in the pursuit of more competitive elections, though the final outcome of the case remains unclear.
With two justices partially dissenting, the Supreme Court told the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to reconsider the matter using a different legal standard that could make it easier to prove lawmakers improperly prioritized race above other redistricting criteria when redrawing House of Delegates districts in 2011.
The case centers on whether the use of a 55 percent African-American voting threshold, which lawmakers defended as a way to preserve majority-black districts, amounted to impermissible, race-based gerrymandering.
I am extremely confident that when this is examined again by the trial court using the appropriate standard, the challenged districts will be struck down as unconstitutional, Marc E. Elias, a Democratic lawyer who brought the redistricting challenge on behalf of a group of African-American voters, said in an interview.
With all 100 seats in the House up for election this year, Elias said he expects the lower court to move quickly so that the people of Virginia can get relief.
Republicans hold 66 of the 100 seats, despite Virginia tilting Democratic in recent elections in statewide races. A redrawing of the House lines likely would benefit Democrats by making Republican-held districts more competitive.
House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, expressed disappointment with the court ruling but said, The plaintiffs in this case did not prevail.
The Supreme Court declined the plaintiffs request to find that the districts are unconstitutional, Howell said. The Supreme Court overruled the way in which the district court analyzed the case. We have read the courts opinion and are quite confident that we will win when we go back to the district court.
The plaintiffs claim the process unconstitutionally packed black voters into certain districts and diluted their voting power elsewhere. The GOP-controlled House has argued that the racial floor was necessary to comply with a section of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states to clear all electoral changes with the Department of Justice to preserve the civil rights of black voters.
The Virginia State Conference of the NAACP applauded the courts decision.
This type of racial gerrymandering is dangerous to our democracy and causes tremendous harm to communities of color, the groups president, Linda Thomas, said in a statement.
House Minority Leader David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said the decision could force the General Assembly to reconvene to draw new boundaries for the 11 districts in question, located mainly in the Richmond, Petersburg and Hampton Roads regions.
Were looking forward to having new lines drawn that are constitutionally defensible and give voters a chance to elect the people of their choice in their districts, Toscano said.
Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffes office said it was reviewing the opinion but said it appears to be a victory for democracy in Virginia.
The governor has long believed that Virginias Republican-drawn legislative maps are an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said. This is the second consecutive Supreme Court decision in support of that position.
Last May, the high court upheld a new, court-imposed congressional map in Virginia after a similar racial gerrymandering challenge led by Elias, who served as general counsel for Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign.
That case allowed Democrats to pick up the redrawn, Richmond-centered 4th District, now represented by Rep. A. Donald McEachin, a former state senator. The redistricting reform group OneVirginia2021 is pursuing a state-level challenge to the General Assembly map.
In Wednesdays opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower federal court erred by finding the challengers had to prove that racial criteria conflicted with other redistricting considerations, such as protecting incumbent lawmakers.
In the majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the high court ruled that racial motives are the paramount issue, not post hoc justifications the legislature in theory could have used but in reality did not.
The Equal Protection Clause does not prohibit misshapen districts, Kennedy wrote. It prohibits unjustified racial classifications.
The lower court found that race did not predominate because lawmakers considered other race-neutral criteria to varying degrees.
By deploying those factors in various combinations and permutations, a state could construct a plethora of potential maps that look consistent with traditional, race-neutral principles, Kennedy wrote.
But if race for its own sake is the overriding reason for choosing one map over others, race still may predominate.
The lower court found that race was the overriding factor in House District 75, represented by Del. Roslyn C. Tyler, D-Sussex, but the racial floor was appropriate in that district because it was tailored specifically to comply with the Voting Rights Acts protections against retrogression in majority-black districts. The Supreme Court upheld that portion of the earlier ruling, while questioning the legislatures decision to apply the 55 percent floor to all the districts in question.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, two of the courts most conservative members, dissented in part from the opinion. Both suggested the court could have decided itself whether race was a dominant factor rather than leaving the question to the lower court.
Alito wrote that the legislatures admission that it intentionally drew all 12 districts as majority-black districts shows that race was a major factor and could have led the court to consider whether race had been considered constitutionally.
Thomas objected to the use of race in redistricting altogether, saying he believes portions of the Voting Rights Act are unconstitutional. To comply with the acts Section 5, a provision adopted in 1965 to prevent black voter suppression, a state necessarily must make a deliberate and precise effort to sort its citizens on the basis of their race.
But that result is fundamentally at odds with our color-blind Constitution, which neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens, Thomas wrote, citing Justice John Marshall Harlans dissent in the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson case that upheld racial segregation of public facilities under the separate but equal doctrine.
Despite my sympathy for the state, I cannot ignore the Constitutions clear prohibition on state-sponsored race discrimination.
Elias said he didnt buy Thomas argument that lawmakers were in a lose-lose situation when considering race in redistricting.
The fact is that all the state of Virginia had to do was follow the law and follow the Constitution, Elias said. Instead, it took a cynical shortcut.
The case is Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections.
Suzanne Munninger Seidel (Suzy to her multitude of friends) age 65, of Lynchburg, Virginia, peacefully entered eternal life, after a courageous battle with cancer, on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. Suzy, the daughter of Karl and Margaret Munninger, was born in Bremerhaven, Germany, where her father, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was stationed. Suzy grew up in Albany, New York, she attended GuilderlandHigh School. While at Radford College, she met her future husband and love of her life, Rob (a student at Virginia Tech). Suzy and Rob married in Albany, New York, in 1973. After her husband finished law school, Suzy and Rob moved to Virginia Beach where they lived in the Kempsville areafor 39 years before retiring to Lynchburg in 2014. Suzy dedicated her life to providing a loving and happy home for her husband, four children and nine grandchildren, involving herself in their activities and education. Her joy in life was to volunteer her time and talentshelping others, teaching religious education and serving as a Minister to the Sick. In Virginia Beach, Suzy was active in the Providence Elementary School PTA where she served as President and received the Lifetime Achievement Award. She was an activemember of St. Gregory the GreatCatholic Church serving on parish council and as a Eucharistic Minister. Suzy worked for many years as a Victim-Witness Advocate with the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney's Office retiring in 2013. Her nurturing skills and sympathy for victims earned her wide acclaim throughout the criminal justice system in Virginia Beach. Suzy was a stranger to no one and a friend for life to those she met. She loved spending time with friends, over a glass of wine, and with her family. She inherited a flair for entertaining from her mother,hosting dinner parties for family, friends and neighbors which were filled with laughter, lively conversation and often lasting well into the night. In her spare time Suzy loved to sew and smock spending hours in her sewing room making clothing for her nine grandchildren. Shewas an ambassador of goodwill, enjoyingher travels to Europe, especially the Tuscan countryside. In Lynchburg, Suzy became a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church, the Lynchburg Newcomers Club and enjoyed making new friends while sewing, quilting and playing bridge. Suzy was preceded in death by her parents; and beloved stepfather, Dr. Paul F. Formel. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Robert Joseph Seidel Jr.; and their children, Virginia Weinstein ofCharleston, S.C., Suzanne Richmond(Andrew) of Virginia Beach, Va., Robert Joseph Seidel III (Kathleen) of Charleston, S.C., and Elizabeth Seidel Sloan (Will) of Lynchburg, Va.; and nine beautiful grandchildren, which she adored. Suzy is survived by hersister, Patricia M. Coover ofArizona; brothers, Karl Munninger Jr. ofNevada and Michael Munninger ofArizona; and many loving nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews. The family will receive friends at Diuguid Funeral Service, Wigginton Road, Lynchburg,on Friday, March 3, 2017, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. with aVigil Prayer Service. A Funeral Liturgy Mass, celebrating her life, will be held Saturday, March 4, 2017, at 12 noon at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 710 Clay Street, Lynchburg, Virginia. Internment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Centra Hospice, Lynchburg, Virginia. Having spent her life serving others, the family and Suzy are most appreciative and indebted for their exceptional care, comfort and compassion.
Federal research grant funding at the University of Virginias School of Medicine rose $25 mil-lion, or almost 25 percent, last year, bringing UVa into 35th place nationwide.
UVa won a total of $126 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health in 2016, which doles out research funding to selected projects around the country. The university won $101 million in grant funding in 2015.
Dr. David Wilkes, dean of the School of Medicine, reported the findings to the Board of Visitors on Thursday morning.
Wilkes said UVas efforts to invest in new technology and an aggressive faculty hiring push, pillars of a long-term plan passed in 2013, are beginning to pay off. UVa is attracting many ap-plicants who want to bring their research to Charlottesville, Wilkes said.
The word is out that something is happening at UVa, Wilkes said. Its not just different but something really extraordinary.
About 60 percent of the new funding was generated by existing faculty and staff, Wilkes said, while new recruits who brought their grant-funded projects with them accounted for about 40 percent.
Rector William H. Goodwin said he wants UVa to push harder and break into the top 20.
The first step, he said, is to gain the status of comprehensive cancer center from the National Cancer Institute. The institutions in this category must meet strict standards, but investigators from these comprehensive cancer centers win roughly three-quarters of the investigator-initiated grants from NCI.
I think youve done a great job but I think we ought to have some goals, Goodwin said. To get into the medical rankings, we have to face the fact that we need to be a comprehensive cancer center.
The UVa Cancer Center is trying to meet the goal of gaining NCIs top tier designation by 2020.
The new partnership with Inova finalized in November will give UVa access to a wider pool of patients in Northern Virginia, which will improve UVas ability to run medical trials, Wilkes said.
But in the next few years, UVa could face a crunch in research space. That could be a pressing issue, Wilkes said, and the board will need to act soon.
Within the next 10 months, if we secure the next round of hires, space will become limited very quickly, he said.
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Poor Ash Wednesday attendance at schools once again
Students average attendance at the secondary level was 18.28 percent this year compared with 22.8 percent last year.
At the primary level it was 26.3 percent this year as against 31 percent last year. Poor attendance after Carnival, Seecharan said, is a perennial problem.
This year the average attendance of secondary school teachers was 77.6 percent and 81.2 percent for primary school teachers.
Education Minister Anthony Garcia, who disclosed the statistics said, We must be concerned and we have to arrest the situation one way or the other. Garcia, Seecharan and Minister in the Ministry of Education Lovell Francis, who addressed the media yesterday on the issue of school attendance on Ash Wednesday at the Education Towers, Port of Spain, commended the teachers for their attendance, but expressed concern at the poor attendance of students.
They appealed to parents to send their children out to school today and tomorrow.
Francis expressed concern that students not attending schools when they should, was engaging in low productivity which is a cultural phenomenon that could be taught indirectly to children.
This situation is not acceptable, he said, and it is not something that we want to translate to our children. Noting that the issue of absenteeism after Carnival was longstanding, Seecharan said the Ministry in the past engaged stakeholders, teachers, principals and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) to look at the issue.
We need to bring back on the table, the issue of the week of Carnival, and whether in fact it may be more feasible for us to not have school during the Carnival week, Seecharan said. The recommendation is that the school year will be extended by an additional week to maintain the 39 weeks required for the school year. It is one of the suggestions the Ministry will pursue and hold further discussions with the other stakeholders including the National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) and TTUTA, he said.
At the end of the day, notwithstanding what we do at the school, it is up to the parents to send their children to school. In the past, he noted that schools modified their programmes to encourage students to attend classes after the long Carnival weekend but without much success. Somewhere at the back of the minds of parents and students, he said, is the feeling that if children do not go to school they would not miss anything.
The Ministrys instructions to schools, he said, is that they proceed with teaching as a normal school day.
Former education minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said that the recommendation of giving students the one week off during Carnival and taking the week back later in the year had been raised again during his tenure.
However, in discussions with stakeholders, he said, it had been shut down.
It is an idea that he will support, he said, because students should have 195 teaching days.
Due to national holidays, ten bank holidays given to teachers, principals holidays, denominational and other incidental holidays, he said students end up with less than 150 teaching days.
Students not turning up for classes after Carnival, he said, added to the problem.
Concerned over the fact that so many of our students chose to remain at home, Garcia said, Of course all our students are under the jurisdiction of their parents and the question must be asked, Why do the parents find it necessary to allow so many of their children to remain at home today? Is it because they fear that the teachers would not be in attendance? That fear is unfounded.
Students reminded of mandatory fasting for Lent
Fr Rodney Eugena told the children that those two days are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and that on those days they should not eat any meat.
Prompted by the priest, many of the boys said they were also giving up video games for Lent.
Eugena was delivering the homily at the schools Ash Wednesday mass held at the Sacred Heart Church, next to the school.
He told the students that during the Lenten period they have to fast and pray, share and give alms. He said the Lenten season is an invitation to stop what they liked to do and buy fewer of the things they liked so they would have money to give alms. For instance if we love ice cream, for the Lenten season we have to eat it less. If we love KFC, for the Lenten season we have to eat it less and buy it less also so that we will have money for alms giving. He reminded the students that Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and is a preparation for Easter, adding that this period takes the penitent through the passion, suffering and resurrection of Christ.
Eugena said that the ashes reminds the faithful that they are dust and to dust they shall return and is a reminder that they should live a good Christian life and everything that they do should be Christ-like.
The first reading of the mass, which was taken from the Biblical book of Joel, called on the people to repent and return to God.
There was also a reading from Matthew, done by a student, in which Jesus warned his disciples and followers not to parade their good deeds in public as the hypocrites did and that when they prayed, they should do so in private, not making a public spectacle of themselves.
The reading also included a passage about fasting, reminding the congregation that when they fast they should not put on a gloomy look to announce their fast to the world but that they should put oil on their heads and conduct themselves in a way that only God would know that they are fasting.
ECA does not agree with week off for Carnival
Seecharan made the proposal yesterday at a news conference, at the Ministry of Education, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, where Education Minister Anthony Garcia gave a report of Ash Wednesday attendance for both primary and secondary schools.
I am not in agreement with that, Francois said. I think that we have to be responsible. We have been asking why Carnival Monday and Tuesday are not declared as public holidays. Francois admitted that some parents do not send their children to school because they themselves did not go to work.
We have no hard evidence, but in most of the instances I think its not just the Carnival season, a lot of them go to Carnival camps so I guess that would account for some of them when they come back, they are tired.
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Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.
1. Snap is going public at a $24 billion valuation. The company raised $3.4 billion after selling 200 million shares.
2. Facebook's video app launched on Apple TV. The app launched on Samsung Smart TVs earlier this week.
3. These are the 10 most-liked advertising CEOs. Glassdoor data from the past two years classes the best bosses across the industry, from traditional agencies to ad tech companies.
3. Casey Neistat is getting a daily live show on CNN. The broadcaster acqui-hired the YouTube star and his team after buying his app Beme in November.
4. YouTube thinks its popularity with young people gives its TV service an edge. The video streaming platform wants to get its younger audience to pay for their first TV package.
5. Investors are keeping a close eye on Snap's stock price. Many see Facebook, which lost 30% of its value in the first weeks of its IPO, as a cautionary tale.
6. Foursquare is licensing its location data to other companies. The company is making its Pilgrim toolkit, which gives "specific awareness of context in space," available to brands and marketers.
7. Marissa Mayer will not be paid her 2016 bonus. Worth as much as $2 million, the Yahoo CEO is giving it up because of the hacking incidents the company suffered in 2014 and revealed last year.
8. Tesla is holding a contest for its next advertisement. CEO Elon Musk put the plan in motion after he received a letter from a fifth grade student with the idea for the car brand.
9. Snap's Evan Spiegel will make $4.5 billion from the IPO. The CEO and his CTO, Bobby Murphy own the most shares in the company.
10. An American took out an ad in the London Times to say he is the rightful King of England. The man claims he is a descendant of a royal Welsh line from the third century.
NOW WATCH: Watch Budweisers Super Bowl ad it makes a strong statement on immigration
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Officials are investigating after a bear fell to its death from a helicopter high over the jungles of Thailand last month, the Independent reports. While there's some agreement on the circumstances of the Asian black bear's untimely death, it's unclear exactly how the bear came to find itself on the helicopter in the first place. According to the Bangkok Post, the bear was found hanging around a village near Khao Yai National Park last month. But the Phuket Gazette reports the bear was injured when officials found it last November. And Khaosod reports the bear had spent the last decade being rehabilitated after it was found being kept as an illegal pet. Regardless, the bear found itself being transported by wildlife officials deep into Khao Yai.
There are reports of the bear, which had been sedated, waking up in the middle of the trip andfinding itself dangling in a net attached to the helicopterstarting to panic. But an official denies the bear ever woke up. The helicopter encountered bad weather and quickly lost altitude; that's when the bear fell from the net. It appears there may have been a problem with the net itself. The secretary of the Khao Yai Foundation wants officials to face legal action, arguing the bear should have been driven closer to where it was found and not flown deep into the jungle away from its pack. Officials say they wanted to get the bear farther away from nearby villagers and haven't had a problem with helicopters in the past. (This country is horrified by the beating death of a beloved hippo.)
The Archdiocese of New York plans to get a $100 million loan to pay victims of sexual abuse within the churchthough it may not be enough. The archdiocese is seeking a one-year mortgage from JPMorgan Chase on land across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral, where the Lotte New York Palace Hotel now sits, according to documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, per Reuters. State law requires court approval before a church can mortgage its property. Archdiocese rep Joe Zwilling says "the loan would be used to cover the settlement costs" that have sprung out of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which was set up last October, reports the New York Daily News.
The program seeks to compensate victims of clergy sex abuse who vow not to take their cases to court. In many cases, the statute of limitations has already expired; victims must identify themselves by age 23. A mediator says 144 people have filed claims so farmore claims are expectedand 64 settlement offers have been made, though she refused to say how much money victims were being awarded. Even so, an attorney representing one alleged victim doubts $100 million will be enough to settle all the claims. Zwilling appears to agree. He tells CBS New York that "once we know later this year what the final number will be, we will be negotiating a longer-term loan to pay out the costs of the program." (Read more Archdiocese of New York stories.)
Tunisian officials are decrying "savage behavior" after visitors to a zoo in Tunis stoned a crocodile to death Tuesday, AFP reports. Officials posted photos of the dead crocodilewith two large, bloody stones next to iton Facebook (Warning: graphic). The crocodile died from internal hemorrhaging after being hit by the two rocks. You cannot imagine what animals endure from some visitors, says a veterinarian at Belvedere Zoo. He says guests have also thrown rocks at hippos and lions. The problem gets worse during school holidays, and the zoo can't station guards outside every enclosure, according to the vet.
The International Business Times reports the crocodile isn't the only zoo resident to have been victimized by visitors in recent days. A hippo at a zoo in El Salvador succumbed to its injuries Sunday after being attacked by zoo guests who entered its cage. The hippo, named Gustavito, had been at the San Salvador Zoo for 12 years. It refused to eat following the attack and eventually died from its injuries. (Read more animal cruelty stories.)
Todd Kohlhepp is accused of murdering Kala Brown's boyfriend and then keeping Brown chained up on his South Carolina property for two monthsand a newly released indictment against Kohlhepp, who's charged with seven murders, reveals that he may have carried out the same type of crime in the past. In the court documents, authorities say the same crate used for Brown, who was found alive on Nov. 3, 2016, was also used for another woman. Kohlhepp is charged with murdering Johnny Coxie, 29, in Dec. 2015, and keeping his wife, 25-year-old Meagan, in the crate for about six days before shooting her to death and burying her.
Authorities say Kohlhepp, 45, told the couple he would pay them to clean properties he was attempting to sell, which is similar to the story he told Brown and her boyfriend, Charlie Carver, before allegedly abducting them. Kohlhepp reportedly told authorities that upon arriving at his property, Johnny Coxie tried to rob him, so Kohlhepp shot him, the Independent Mail reports. He allegedly said he later killed Meagan Coxie "because she upset him," per an investigator's statement. Kohlhepp is charged with the Coxies' murders, the murder of Brown's boyfriend, and four murders inside a motor sports store in 2003, People reports. (Read more Todd Kohlhepp stories.)
Senate Democrats seeking President Trump's tax returns hoped a strongly worded letter might finally do the trick. Didn't work. Seven Democrats on the Finance Committee wrote to GOP Chairman Orrin Hatch on Wednesday, asking that he use his authority to make the returns available to the committee for review, reports Reuters. Hatch responded with a letter of his own, rejecting the idea because it would be "an abuse of the tax-writing committees' statutory authority." Still, the letter is seen as a sign that Democrats will continue to push the matter. House Democrats were to deliver a similar one to Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady on Thursday, this one signed by 140 lawmakerswith the notable inclusion of Republicans Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Walter Jones of North Carolina.
The chairmen of the tax-writing committees can review and even make public anyone's return if there's reason for concern, reports CNNMoney. Hatch maintains such action should be taken only after specific allegations of misconduct. In the Senate letter, Democrats cited allegations of Trump's ties to the Russian government and asserted that "unprecedented conflicts of interest pose a threat to American national security and the integrity of the government of the United States." During the presidential campaign, Trump bucked tradition and did not release his returns, saying they were under audit. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he wants all presidential candidates to be required by law to release their returns in 2020including Trump if he runs for re-election, per Politico. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Mar 1, 2017) -
Editors Note: There are three photos associated with this press release.
Alabama Graphite Corp. ("AGC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CSPG)(CSPGF)(1AG.F) is pleased to announce that senior officials of the Company were asked to meet with the Honorable Richard C. Shelby, senior United States Senator for Alabama. Representatives of the Company, including President and Chief Executive Officer Donald Baxter, P.Eng. and Executive Vice President Tyler Dinwoodie, recently met with Senator Shelby in Coosa County, Alabama. Mr. Baxter and Senator Shelby spoke at length.
Topics discussed included AGC's sourced-and-made-in-USA battery-ready Coated Spherical Purified Graphite ("CSPG") business model, the Company's U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD") focused business strategy, the recently released ultra-high-purity 99.99997% graphite purity results via the Company's proprietary, environmentally sustainable process, and the upcoming milestones necessary to advance AGC to production, including the Feasibility Study for the flagship Coosa Graphite Project.
Additionally, Mr. Baxter discussed the criticality of a secure, accessible domestic supply of battery-ready graphite from within the contiguous United States, in addition to the geopolitical and environmental issues with Chinese-produced graphite and, further, the fact that some Chinese graphite is being sourced from North Korea.
Senator Shelby was very well versed on the challenges that the United States faces regarding battery-ready graphite as a strategic, critical material. The Senator expressed a deep appreciation for the importance of maintaining a domestic supply of battery-ready graphite for the DoD's vast battery requirements.
Following the meeting, Senator Shelby stated: "I am very interested in domestically sourced-and-manufactured graphite, especially from the great state of Alabama. The DoD has expressed concerns regarding potential export controls from China and the impact to military applications. Alabama Graphite's work is positive for our state's economic growth potential, and is also important to our national security. As a member of the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, I intend to address the United States' supply of battery graphite with the Administration and the DoD."
Story continues
Mr. Baxter and Mr. Dinwoodie met with senior representatives of Senator Shelby, former United States Senator for Alabama and current United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and U.S. Representative Gary Palmer, representing the Alabama's Sixth Congressional District, in Washington, D.C. in late 2016.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of ALABAMA GRAPHITE CORP.
Donald K. D. Baxter, P.Eng., President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director
ABOUT ALABAMA GRAPHITE CORP.
Alabama Graphite Corp. is a Canadian-based flake graphite exploration and development company as well as an aspiring battery materials production and technology company. The Company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Alabama Graphite Company Inc. (a company registered in the state of Alabama). With an advancing flake graphite project in the United States of America, Alabama Graphite Corp. intends to become a reliable, long-term US supplier of specialty high-purity graphite products, namely Coated Spherical Purified Graphite (CSPG) engineered for use in lithium-ion batteries. A highly experienced team leads the Company with more than 100 years of combined graphite mining, graphite processing, specialty graphite products and applications, advanced battery development and graphite sales experience. Alabama Graphite Corp. is focused on the exploration and development of its flagship Coosa Graphite Project in Coosa County, Alabama, and its Bama Mine Project in Chilton County, Alabama as well the research and development of its proprietary manufacturing and technological processing process of battery materials.
Alabama Graphite Corp. holds a 100% interest in the mineral rights for these two US-based graphite projects, which are both located on private land. The two projects encompass more than 43,000 acres and are located in a geopolitically stable, mining-friendly jurisdiction with significant historical production of crystalline flake graphite in the flake graphite belt of central Alabama, also known as the Alabama Graphite Belt (source:US Bureau of Mines). A significant portion of the Alabama deposits are characterized by graphite-bearing material that is oxidized and has been weathered into extremely soft rock. Both projects have infrastructure in place, are within close proximity to major highways, rail, power and water, and are approximately three hours (by truck or train) to the Port of Mobile, the Alabama Port Authority's deep-seawater port and the ninth largest port by tonnage in the United States (source: US Army Corps of Engineers/USACE). The state of Alabama's hospitable climate allows for year-round mining operations and the world's largest marble quarry (which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in Sylacauga, Alabama), is located within a 30-minute drive of the Coosa Graphite Project.
On November 30, 2015, Alabama Graphite Corp. announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") for the Coosa Graphite Project, indicating a potentially low-cost project with potential positive economics. Please refer to the Company's technical report titled "Alabama Graphite Corp. Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the Coosa graphite Project, Alabama, USA" dated November 27, 2015, prepared by independent engineering firms AGP Mining Consultants Inc. and Metal Mining Consultants Inc., and filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Note: a preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
* Inferred Mineral Resources represent material that is considered too speculative to be included in economic evaluations. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no guarantee that all or any part of the Mineral Resource will be converted into a Mineral Reserve.
Alabama Graphite Corp. is a proud member of the National Association of Advanced Technology Batteries International ("NAATBatt International"), a US-based, not-for-profit trade association commercializing advanced electrochemical energy-storage technologies for emerging, high-tech applications.
For further information and updates on the Company or to sign up for Alabama Graphite Corp. News, please visit www.alabamagraphite.com or follow, like and subscribe to us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"), which may include, without limitation, statements with respect to any potential expansion in the Company's planned product line, any potential ability to effectively utilize the Company's possible secondary processed production, the undertaking, completion and results of any possible tests and studies of the Company, any potential additional benefits to using ultra-high purity graphite in Li-ion batteries, the Company's potential to become a bottom-quartile cost producer of CSPG with the lowest initial CAPEX costs in the space, and any potential relationships between the Company and battery manufacturers, the DoD and any other related entities. The forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management and reflect Alabama Graphite Corp.'s current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current view of Alabama Graphite Corp. with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of graphite; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. Forward-looking statements are also based on a number of assumptions, including that contracted parties provide goods and/or services on the agreed timeframes, that equipment necessary for exploration is available as scheduled and does not incur unforeseen breakdowns, that no labor shortages or delays are incurred, that plant and equipment function as specified, that no unusual geological or technical problems occur, and that laboratory and other related services are available and perform as contracted. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and Alabama Graphite Corp. undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements (unless required by law) if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. Alabama Graphite Corp. cautions that the foregoing list of material factors and assumptions are not exhaustive. When relying on Alabama Graphite Corp. forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and assumptions and other uncertainties and potential events.
Alabama Graphite Corp. has also assumed that the material factors and assumptions will not cause any forward-looking statements to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors and assumptions is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICE PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
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A teen in Singapore fell to his death while reportedly attempting a Snapchat stunt, the New York Post reports. Jonathan Chow, 17, leaped over a railing at a shopping mall expecting to land on a ledge. But the surface collapsed under him, and the teen plunged four stories as a horrified friend looks on. Identified only as Ruth, the friend tells the local site Today that Chow proposed staging the stunt as they shopped for clothes at the Orchard Central Mall last Friday. "Help me take a Snapchat video and Ill jump, she says Chow told her. "I knew it was dangerous, but before I could stop him, he already jumped over." Leaked surveillance video shows Chow and the girl standing next to a four-foot glass railing before Chow jumps over.
The girl, with her arm raised as if she were recording, rushes to the edge, per the Huffington Post. The teens thought the ledge was made of concrete "but when he jumped, he fell straight through." A photo in the Straits Times shows a hole punched into the ledge, which was actually flimsy plasterboard not intended to bear weight. The incident happened on a ledge linking two malls, and police said Chow died later at a local hospital. Chow, who attended high school in Australia, was an avid skateboarder, according to his Facebook page, which was turned into a memorial. Last month, a model in Dubai survived after dangling precariously from a skyscraper to snap an Instagram shot, notes the Sun. (Deadly selfies aren't exactly uncommon anymore.)
Jeff Sessions spoke with Russia's ambassador to the US twice in 2016, but he didn't disclose those communications during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general. When asked about possible contact between Moscow representatives and Trump campaign members, Sessions specifically said he "did not have communications with the Russians" during the campaign and that he was "not aware of" any other campaign members doing so. Per the Washington Post, the revelation from Justice Department officials could spark more calls from Congress to appoint a special prosecutor to look into Russia's alleged attempts to interfere with the 2016 election. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal US investigators have looked into the newly released contacts between Sessions and Russia, though it's not clear whether the investigation has concluded. Following the disclosure of the conversations, Sessions said he "never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign," per the AP.
One of the conversations between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak happened in September, when Sessions, then a senator, was a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and one of Trump's top advisers; officials say Sessions didn't remember the details of his conversations with Kislyak by the time his confirmation hearing came around, and that the meeting was related to Sessions' work on the armed services panel, not the Trump campaign. Sessions' spokesperson says there was nothing "misleading" about his answers at the confirmation hearing because he was only asked about communications related to the campaign, not to his work as a senator. Following the latest revelations, top Democrats have called for Sessions to step down as AG, Mediaite reports. Republicans are split on whether Sessions should lead any potential probe into Russia's alleged election tampering. A conversation with Kislyak is also what forced Michael Flynn to step down as Trump's national security adviser. (Read more Jeff Sessions stories.)
Former President George W. Bush on Wednesday warned against an "isolationist tendency" in the US that he called dangerous to national security, at a time when President Trump has faced questions about his administration's commitment to the country's international partnerships, reports the AP. The 43rd president was speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., to promote his volume of paintings of military veterans titled, "Portraits of Courage." Bush's remarks come at a time when Europeans have been skittish that Trump may promote isolationist policies, though Vice President Mike Pence has reassured allies in Europe about the US' commitment to NATO and its willingness to maintain its ties around the globe.
Bush, 70, said it was not his intent to criticize his successors and he is optimistic about the future. "I don't want to make the president's job worse," he said. But he also alluded to the Iraq War, and warned there is a lesson "when the United States decides not to take the lead and withdraw," an apparent critique of former President Obama. "Vacuums can be created when US presence recedes and that vacuum is generally filled with people who don't share the ideology, the same sense of human rights and human dignity and freedom that we do," he added. Bush also echoed remarks he made earlier this week stressing the importance of an accurate, independent press but said they werent meant to criticize Trump. (Read more George W. Bush stories.)
A North Korean envoy says Kim Jong Nam likely died of a heart attack, not in an assassination that used the nerve agent VX. Ri Tong Il, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the UN, says Kim was taking medication for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, reports the AP. Malaysia, however, says an autopsy clearly shows VX was used to kill Kim, and the former deputy head of the North Korean Embassy in London, who defected last year, says only Kim Jong Un could have approved such a move. "North Korea is a society ruled in terror. For a big decision like killing Kim Jong Nam, no one could make a decision like that except Kim Jong Un," Thae Yong Ho tells Hong Kong's Phoenix TV.
Two women have now been charged in the assassination, but a North Korean man detained four days after Kim's death will be released Friday due to "insufficient evidence to charge him," Malaysia's attorney general said Thursday, per the BBC. Ri Jong Choldescribed as a "chemistry expert" who allegedly drove another suspect, per USA Todayis to be deported to North Korea, where officials believe four others involved in the killing are hiding, reports CNN. Police want to speak to three other North Koreans believed to be in Malaysia. Also Thursday, Malaysia announced North Koreans will need a visa to travel there beginning Monday, citing national security reasons. Previously, North Koreans could visit Malaysia for 30 days without a visa. (Read more Kim Jong Nam stories.)
A federal judge in California said Wednesday that it is "debatable" whether the government has enough evidence to convict a woman of helping her husband plan the Orlando nightclub rampage, ordering her released from jail until trial. US Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu also said Noor Salman, 31, is not dangerous and there is no proof she has ties to the Islamic State group or holds extremist views. Salman has been charged with helping husband Omar Mateen plan the worst mass shooting in modern US history and lying to investigators. She has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison if convicted, reports the AP. Prosecutors have said Salman accompanied Mateen on scouting trips to the nightclub and other possible targetsincluding a Disney attractionand told FBI agents she was aware of Mateen's plans.
But the judge said Wednesday that prosecutors have provided no evidence: no transcripts, recording, or video of Salman's 16-hour interrogation after the June 12 attack. Salman's attorney says it is unusual for bail to be granted in terror-related cases: "It's extraordinarily rare and a statement of the government's case." Prosecutors say Salman initially said she didn't know anything about the attack but later told investigators that Mateen abused steroids, was "pumped up" on that night, and said "this is the one day" as he walked out the door. They're also said the couple ran up $25,000 in credit card debt and spent $5,000 in cash in the days before the shooting. Among the purchases: an $8,000 diamond ring for Salman. Salman's release is on hold for at least two days to give prosecutors time to appeal. (Read more Pulse Orlando shooting stories.)
The latest cream flavor to come out of something called "the Oreo Wonder Vault" has consumers wondering why their poop suddenly looks like it could've come from a unicorn. Two weeks ago, Oreo released a limited edition of its cookie with a vanilla shell and a filling flavored like the love-it-or-hate-it marshmallow candy Peeps. One reviewer claims the filling is the same one used in the Marshmallow Crispy Oreos, but with one major difference: It's bright pink and appears to turn your mouthand even your dungbright pink, too. "My spit looks like Pepto-Bismol" hours after eating the cookies, one Twitter user complains, per Delish. Adds another, "My roommate ate a whole pack of Oreo Peeps and left a pink stain in the toilet."
Indeed, some who ate a lot of cookies say the dye turned their feces various shades of pink, from "bright pink" to "reddish-pink," reports BuzzFeed; BuzzFeed employees who ate only one cookie say their bowel movements were no more colorful than usual. While Oreo has yet to comment, USA Today previously reported that stuffing your face with foods heavy in dyes can produce "a greater spectrum in your rectal rainbow." In 2015, for example, people who ate a Halloween-themed Burger King Whopper with a black bun complained its concentrated dye made their excrement "as green as the Irish countryside." A doctor at the time suggested it was nothing to worry about. Reddish stool should be checked by a doctor, though, as it could be a sign of internal bleeding. (Here are 5 ways to poop better.)
Sweden's left-leaning government introduced a military draft for both men and women Thursday because of what its defense minister called a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden, the AP reports. Sweden abolished compulsory military service for men in 2010 because there were enough volunteers to meet its military needs. It has never had a military draft for women. The government said "the all-volunteer recruitment hasn't provided the Armed Forces with enough trained personnel. The re-activating of conscription is needed for military readiness." About 20,000 people now work for the Swedish armed forces, 84% of them men and 16% women, according to the forces' website. But the armed forces lack 1,000 active troops as well as 7,000 reservists, according to Sweden's coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens.
Under the plan approved Thursday, at least 4,000 18-year-olds could be called up each year. Enrollment should be made possible from July 1, and basic military training with compulsory service from Jan. 1. Swedes will still be able to volunteer for military service. Sweden expects eventually that 13,000 young people will be called upon and 4,000 will be enrolled. The Swedish government, which often has described itself as "feminist," said "modern conscription is gender neutral and will include both women and men. " Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said he had been inspired by neighboring Norway, which in 2013 introduced a law applying military conscription to both sexes. That made Norway the first NATO member to draft both men and women, joining a tiny group of countries around the world, including Israel. (Read more Sweden stories.)
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who challenged Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, won Senate confirmation Thursday to join Trump's Cabinet as housing secretary. Six Democrats and one independent joined 51 Republicans in voting for Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the AP reports. Carson has never held public office and has no housing policy experience, but GOPers have praised the life story of a man who grew up in inner-city Detroit with a single mom who had a third-grade education. Carson, 65, will lead an agency with some 8,300 employees and a budget of about $47 billion. The department provides billions of dollars in housing assistance to low-income people through vouchers and public housing, enforces fair housing laws, and offers mortgage insurance to poorer Americans through the FHA, part of HUD.
At his confirmation hearing, he told lawmakers he envisioned forging a more "holistic approach" to helping people and developing "the whole person." Under questioning from Dems, Carson said HUD's rental assistance is "essential" to millions of Americans and that the department has many good programs, though he added, "We don't want it to be [a] way of life." He also said he'd like more partnerships with the private sector and religious groups. When his nomination cleared the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee in January, Democrats said Carson wouldn't have been their choice, but they welcomed his promises to address homelessness and other issues. He was approved unanimously in the committee. Trump lauded Carson last week, calling him a "totally brilliant neurosurgeon." Carson hasn't shared specific plans publicly for the department under his leadership. (Read more Ben Carson stories.)
Mathematician Katherine Johnson was one of the women of NASA depicted in the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures, and now she's about to get her own Lego figure. Per MIT News, Johnson and four other women involved with the space agency over the yearsMargaret Hamilton (computer scientist), Mae Jemison (first African-American woman in space in 1992), Nancy Grace Roman (pioneering NASA female exec and astronomer), and Sally Ride (the first US woman in space in 1983)are set to be part of Maia Weinstock's "Women of NASA" Lego prototype, which was chosen from the Lego ideas submission website to be made into an actual set.
Concepts for potential sets can be posted on the site, and after the public votes (Weinstock, the deputy editor of MIT News, got 10,000 votes for her idea), Lego then reviews eligible projects. Weinstock says she not only wanted to give a nod to the history of women in STEM, but also to "set an example" for both girls and boys that it isn't "strange or unusual" for there to be females working as astronauts, computer programmers, or any other science or technology expert. Lego says more details on Weinstock's set, including how much it will cost and its release date, should be out later this year or in early 2018. (Cambridge is offering a Lego professorship.)
Last week, the internet nearly tore itself asunder arguing about Garfield's gender identity. Yes, that lasagna-loving, Monday-hating Garfield. The literal cat fight started when writer Virgil Texas pointed to a 2014 interview in which creator Jim Davis said Garfield is "not really male or female" because he's a cat. "This. Is. Cannon," Texas tweeted, changing Garfield's gender from "male" to "none" on the character's Wikipedia page. Then things got out of hand. Wikipedia editors changed Garfield's gender 20 times in less than three days, the Washington Post reports. (His religion was also briefly listed as "Shiite Muslim," though that debate didn't pick up steam.) According to the New York Daily News, Wikipedia eventually had to lock the Garfield page.
Behind-the-scenes debate, which can be viewed here, was furious. One editor found tons of comic strips in which Garfield is referred to as male. But another editor pointed out that Garfield only identifies himself as male in one of those examples, a strip from 1981, arguing the cat "may have been a boy" back then but is no longer. Someone editing Wikipedia from the US House of Representatives even removed Garfield from the "male characters in comics" category. Davis himself finally settled things, telling WaPo that "Garfield is male." He says his 2014 comment about Garfield's universality was being misconstrued. "Ive always said that I wanted to work with animals because they're not perceived as being any particular gender, race, age or ethnicity," he explained to the Daily News. "In that sense, the humor could be enjoyed by a broader demographic." (Read more Garfield stories.)
Following the revelation that Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador twice last year and failed to disclose it during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general, Sessions has said he will recuse himself from any investigation having to do with alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Politico reports. According to the New York Times, Sessions says he met with Sergey Kislyak around the same time Russia is suspected of hacking the Clinton campaign. He says he doesn't recall if they spoke about Trump or the election. Sessions denies any wrongdoing, saying he met with Kislyak in his role as a senator, not as an aide to the Trump campaign, Reuters reports.
Sessions' recusal means he won't be able to play a part in the Justice Department's decision to take the case if the FBI brings Russia-related charges against the Trump administration. His announcement came shortly after President Trump made his first public comments on the situation; per the Los Angeles TImes, Trump said he has "total confidence" in Sessions, who "probably did" answer honestly during his confirmation hearing. But Trump says he "wasn't aware" of the meetings between Sessions and Kislyak. Trump also said he did not believe Sessions should recuse himself. Kislyak is the same person former national security adviser Michael Flynn met with, eventually leading to his resignation after lying to Vice President Pence about it. (Read more Jeff Sessions stories.)
The recent study by American Cancer Society is a real concern as the colon and rectal cancers in youngsters are going up every year. Though it is rare in the young generation, the numbers are getting a sharp increase in the 20s and 30s. The rate of colorectal cancers is reducing steadily for the people born after 1890 and before 1950. But, the trend has reversed for youngsters and now people born after 1950 has increased risks for every new generation.
The American Cancer Society confirmed that rectal cancers are rising sharply than other large intestine cancers and there would have 13,500 new cases of rectal and colon cancers this year under 50. For example, people born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and four-times the risk of rectal cancer than people born in 1950 with their corresponding ages. However, the researchers confirmed that they couldn't find the reason for the change in trend.
Dr. Thomas Weber of SUNY Downstate Medical Center confirmed that each year the new colorectal cancers exceeds the previous year count in case of people under 50. It is found that people who are potential victims of the colorectal cancers are not getting the diagnosis on time. The physicians are yet to change the mindset that young people can't be prone to colorectal cancers. Previously the colorectal cancers were found to be part of aging, and when older people are showing an improvement in reducing the numbers, the youngsters are looking more prone to it, and it is worrisome, researchers say.
The colorectal cancers for elders are effectively treated by diagnosing it at the early stages using tests like colonoscopies. But, these screening tests are not effective to youngsters and doctors are looking for alternative methods to make the diagnosis. There are also opinions that the lifestyle changes are increasing the risks of cancer. Experts say that fruits and vegetables with rich fiber content, cessation of alcohol and smoking, and a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risks of colorectal cancers.
Netflix has just released a trailer for its new film "War Machine." The film is starred by Brad Pitt who portrays the role of Glenn McMahon.
According to a report, "War Machine" is based on a best-selling book by Michael Hastings titled "The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan." McMahon's character is based on General Stanley McChrystal. He is a four-star general who became a target of a journalist's expose. Before he was exposed he led the NATO forces in Afghanistan.
In the meantime, Netflix has reportedly shot War Machine all around the world that costs the streaming service $60 million. The film stars Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley, Topher Grace and Keith Stanfield. The story from the book is a non-fiction account of a war in Afghanistan that lasted for 13 years.
A report indicated that Pitt was supposed to portray Gen. McChrystal's character in War Machine. The character instead had been reconfigured into Gen. McMahon that is still played by Pitt in the film. It seems that the production tried to keep away from the original characters from the book.
"War Machine" is still a story of McChrystal who stated remarks towards Vice-president Joe Biden. The article has been by Hastings in Rolling Stone. The magazine published the article in 2010 and then Pres. Barack Obama contacted McChrystal to the White House and accepted his resignation.
Meanwhile, the first trailer of War Machine gives fans a glimpse on how the story will unfold in the film. David Michod is the one who has written the story for the film and it is produced by Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner.
Pitt's Plan B label is also a part of the production for "War Machine." Gardner and Kleiner have worked with films like Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave. They already got two Oscar awards. The film is set to stream on Netflix in May 26.
AngloGold Ashanti Tumbles After Dividend Reinstatement Announcement, Insider Trade
- By Alberto Abaterusso
Despite announcing it was reinstating its dividend after a little over three-year suspension, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.'s (AU) stock tumbled over the past week.
After the dividend reinstatement announcement, which was supported by strong growth in 2016 earnings and free cash flow, AngloGold Ashanti fell 12.56% on the New York Stock Exchange. In contrast, gold is up $18.175 per troy ounce or 1.47% on the London Bullion Market, from an average price of $1,236.325 per troy ounce on Feb. 20 to an average of $1,254.50 on Feb. 24.
Pakistan International Airlines questioned for selling aircraft to German museum
Islamabad : A parliamentary committee in Pakistan has expressed apprehensions about selling a flight-worthy Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft to a German museum, and asked the airline to submit a report on the matter.
Senators who met to discuss the performance of the national flag carrier described the deal to sell an Airbus A-310 to the museum as suspect, Dawn reported on Thursday.
The meeting began on a sour note, when the Senate committee noted the absence of senior PIA officials at the meeting. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Performance of PIA, PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan, said: "We need answers on this irregular deal. We will move a privilege motion if the top PIA officials are absent at the next meeting."
The committee members observed that the aircraft has already landed with a museum in Leipzig, Germany, and senators said permission was not sought to sell the flight-worthy airplane, no agreements were signed and the PIA did not receive any advance payment for the sale of the A-310.
"Everything is wrong with this arrangement, especially when such a deal has not been sanctioned," Khan added. He said the PIA officials present at the meeting had failed to give satisfactory answers on the deal.
The museum in question expressed interest in acquiring the A-310 last year, to induct it among its collection of international airlines' aircraft. The same airplane was also flown to Malta, where it was hired for a scene in a movie.
Officials from the PIA responded that the aircraft was sold to the museum on the directions of the senior management for a little over $5 million.
Describing such deals as "unheard of", Khan directed the PIA officials present for a report on the details of the arrangements.
Thalassery (Ker):
A 30-year-old BJP worker was stabbed to death allegedly by CPI(M) cadres in the politically sensitive Kannur district.
In another incident in the district, a country-made bomb was hurled at the RSS Karyalaya at Thaliparamba this morning, police said, adding no one was injured in the incident.
The attack against the BJP worker, Santosh, took place when he was alone in his house at Andaloor in Dharmadam here late on Wednesday night.
Santosh was rushed to a hospital but he died on the way, Kannur Superintendent of Police KP Philip told PTI.
The situation in the area is tense, he said.
Santosh, the BJP booth president of Andaloor, had contested in the last local body elections.
Shops have downed shutters and vehicles are off the roads in Kannur, where the 57th state School Arts festival is presently on. Protesting the attack, BJP has called for a hartal in Kannur.
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New Delhi:
In another incident of political violence in Kerala, a 20-year-old BJP worker Niramal was hacked to death late on Sunday night in Thirssur district.
BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) is blaming CPI (M) Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the death of Nirmal and have called for a strike in Thirssur district on Monday.
Earlier in January, a BJP worker was stabbed to death allegedly by CPI(M) activists at Andaloor in Dharmadam, the constituency of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
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Kochi:
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala on Sunday slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his reported statement that there was no conspiracy behind the recent abduction and assault of a noted actress.
When the Chief Minister, who is also holding the Home portfolio, is saying that there was no conspiracy behind the incident.... is there any need for further evidence to prove that he was trying to subotage the investigation into the case, Chennithala said.
He was speaking at a function organised here to conclude a 24-hour-fast by P T Thomas, Congress MLA from Thrikkakara, to protest the rise in crimes against women in Kerala.
Alleging conspiracy behind the incident, the Congress leader said some people were scared as they think that more facts would come out from a fair probe.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team probing the case on Sunday took the key accused Pulsar Suni and his accomplice V P Vigeesh to Coimbatore where they had allegedly fled after committing the crime.
Police is 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 in the incident, Manikandan, Martin, Salim and Pradeep, was held at the Aluva sub-jail yesterday.
The actress, who has starred in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 and later escaped in a busy area in Kochi.
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Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi:
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected Opposition's accusations on Sunday 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 theincident," 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.
"I only mentioned about a media report on the matter. Letthe 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 CM's 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 mobilephone used for allegedly clicking the pictures of the actressand 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 Aluvasub-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.
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Hyderabad:
The Telangana American Telugu Association (TATA) has suggested the community to avoid communicating in Telugu in public places in the US.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting at a restaurant in Kansas on Wednesday night. Another Indian andhis colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the incident.
"Much as we love talking in our mother tongue, it can often be misconstrued. Please see if you can communicate in English in public places," the association said in a statement put out in its Facebook page.
The organisation further advised people not to get into argument with others in public places and leave the place immediately without confrontation.
"Isolated places can often be targets. Please avoid going or going single," it said. Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Srinivas were broughthere last night and his last rites will be performed on Tuesday.
The shooting took place at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe in Kansas City in the US state of Missouri. Ian Grillot, an American, was injured when he tried totackle the accused, Adam Purinton (51), who was arrested on Thursday morning, five hours after the incident.
Purinton had reportedly yelled "get out of my country" before opening fire on Kuchibhotla and Madasani.
Also Read: Indian techie's body brought to Hyderabad from Kansas
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New Delhi:
Controversial BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj kicked up yet another controversy on Tuesday when he advocated that Muslims should also be cremated, saying the land for qabristan (graveyard) will lead to no place to live and no place for agriculture in future.
Claiming that the practice was prevalent in Muslim countries, he said that the last rites of all should be carried out at the same place irrespective of religion.
"Whether it is named Kabristaan (graveyard) or Shamshaan (crematoriums), nobody needs to be buried. There are 2-2.5 crore Hindu saints in this country who should have a memorial after their death. That will require land. There are 20 crore Muslims, all of them need a grave.
Where is the land in Hindustan?" he said while addressing a public rally in Unnao.
He said that "this will check terrorism as terrorist indulge in terror acts as they are promised paradise after death" where they will be in the company of 'hurs' (female angels).
ALSO READ | Exclusive: Population control remark: BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj says he did not name any religion
Meanwhile, Sakshi Maharaj has drawn flak for his controversial remarks.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav questioned his character and demanded a thorough probe against the BJP MP.
"Sakshi Maharaj is a very controversial man. His character is not good, he should be investigated," Lalu said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja termed Sakshi Maharaj's statement as "communal and provocative" against the Muslims. He also said that the Election Commission should initiate an action against him.
"Sakshi Maharaj is known for making such absurd statements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is totally failing to uphold the Constitution of the country and all BJP leaders including Sakshi Maharaj," Raja said.
ALSO READ | FIR filed against Sakshi Maharaj for population control comment on Muslims
"I would like to ask the Prime Minister that is he endorsing the statement made by his leaders because he is not uttering a single word and keeping quiet," he added.
Prime Minister Modi recently raised the issue of Kabristaan and Shamshaan during his election rally in Fatehpur. He had said that there should not be any discrimination in the allotment of land for both.
"If you create Kabristaan in a village, then a Shamshaan should also be created. If there is uninterrupted electricity in Ramzan, it should also be given during Diwali. There should be no discrimination," he had said.
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Olathe:
A bartender at the restaurant where a man was arrested last week for an apparently racially motivated bar shooting of two Indian men told a 911 dispatcher that the suspect admitted shooting two people, but described them as Iranian.
A recording from Henry County, Missouri, 911 reveals that the bartender warned police not to approach the building with sirens blaring or the man would freak out and something bads going to happen.
The man, Adam Purinton, 51, of Olathe, made his first appearance in court Monday via video link. He has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.
According to witnesses, Purinton yelled get out of my country at two 32-year-old Indian men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, before he opened fire at Austins Bar and Grill in the Kansas City suburb on Wednesday evening.
Kuchibhotla was killed and Madasani injured. The two had come to the US from India to study, and they worked as engineers at GPS-maker Garmin. A third patron, Ian Grillot, 24, was wounded when he tried to intervene.
After the shooting, Purinton, who is white, drove 70 miles east to an Applebees restaurant in Clinton, Missouri, where he made the shocking admission to the bartender.
In the 911 call, the bartender, Sam Suida, told the dispatcher a man had come into the bar and said hed Done something really bad and was on the run from the police.
He asked if he could stay with me and my husband, and he wouldnt tell me what he did. I kept asking him, and he said that he would tell me if I agreed to let him stay with me, the bartender said. Well, I finally got him to tell me and he said, like, that he shot and killed two Iranian people in Olathe....
Authorities have declined to discuss a possible motive for the attack or to say if they are investigating it as a hate crime. But the incident has raised concern about the treatment of immigrants, who feel targeted by President Donald Trumps promises to ban certain travelers, build a wall along the Mexico border and put America first.
During Mondays court appearance lasting less than two minutes, Purinton was seen wearing what was described by a sheriffs department spokesman as a safety smock, assigned to suspects who said something during jail processing that suggested they might do harm to themselves.
Johnson County sheriffs Master Deputy Rick Howell would not disclose the comment by Purinton that raised concern, but said the suspect would wear the smock until mental health professionals say otherwise.
Andy Berthelsen, a neighbor of Purintons for the past 15 years, told the AP that Purinton had become a drunken mess after his fathers death about 18 months ago. He said he doesnt believe the shooting stemmed from hatred, and that it likely resulted from Purintons physical and mental deterioration.
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Lucknow:
For the past five years, the minority cell of the BJP worked overtime to establish close contact with Muslim voters, but when it came to giving tickets to them in the UP Assembly polls, it was a different story.
The minority cell of the UP BJP had undertaken membership drives and also made efforts to reach out to a large section of the Muslim voters with an eye on the elections.
Though firebrand BJP MP Vinay Katiyar believes there is no point in giving tickets to Muslims, other like Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Uma Bharti and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, feel that the party could have given tickets to the community.
Union Minister Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti had on Monday echoed Home Minister Rajnath Singhs stand on BJP fielding Muslim candidates in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
ALSO READ | Sakshi Maharaj says 'Muslims should be cremated' as graveyard for 20 crore people will lead to no place to live
Bharti feels that the BJP committed a mistake by not fielding any Muslim candidate.
I am really feeling sorry that we could not field a Muslim. I spoke with (BJP President) Amit Shah and (state party President) Keshav Prasad Maurya about how we could have brought a Muslim to the assembly, she has said.
Rajnath had earlier said that Muslims should have been given tickets by the BJP in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Naqvi, while reacting to the issue, had said, As far as tickets are concerned, it would have been better if the tickets were given to Muslims. We will address their (Muslim party workers) concerns by compensating them when we form the government in the state.
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New Delhi:
A 35-year-old woman has alleged that she was raped by several men over the past four years in east Delhis New Ashok Nagar area, police said on Thursday.
A case under sections of rape and human trafficking has been registered. According to police, the woman has been married for the last 20 years.
Over the last four years, she was raped repeatedly by men, most of whom she knew. She told the police that her husband allegedly charged money from the men, police said.
She said that she has a four-year-old son and her husband used to threaten her that he would kill him if she tells anyone about the incident.
Policemen said that the womans husband has been arrested and is being questioned.
New Delhi:
Alia Bhatt recently received a death threat by an unidentified caller, who has now been detained by Anti-extortion cell in Juhu.
Reportedly, the extortion call was made to Alia's father Mahesh Bhatt on February 26 demanding a sum of Rs 50 lakh failing which the called threatened to kill his daughter Alia and wife Soni Razdan.
While Bhatt had initially thought of it as a prank, he even received threat messages, saying not to take the warning lightly.
The media reports suggest that the extortionist had threatened Mahesh Bhatt saying, "If you fail to do so, I will fire several rounds of bullets in your daughter Alia and wife Soni."
Also Read | Watch: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt learn 'Tamma Tamma' moves from Madhuri Dixit
Based on the complaint registered in Juhu police station CR no 112/17, Mumbai Police's Anti Extortion Cell (ANC) took over the investigation and has identified the culprit.
"With the help of STF UP Police, the culprit has been detained. Our party on its way to take custody," an official statement stated.
Mahesh Bhatt even took it to micro-blogging site Twitter to share the news with his fans.
He wrote, "A bolt from the blue in the form of an extortion call & threat to my family was nipped in the bud by the MH & UP police in tandem.Gratitude!"
A bolt from the blue in the form of an extortion call & threat to my family was nipped in the bud by the MH & UP police in tandem.Gratitude! Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) March 2, 2017
Considering the extortion and death threats, the police has tightened the security outside Bhatt's residence.
Interestingly, this is not the first time B-town celebs have been targeted for extortion and death threats.
Earlier, Shruti Hassan, Sonu Nigam, Karan Johar etc too had been a victim of such threats.
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New Delhi:
2,580 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have been injured in Jammu and Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani last July. These injuries have been reported in over 200 violent incidents in the valley.
Data from the CRPF said that its troopers were injured in 142 stone pelting incidents, 47 grenade blasts, three firing incidents and 43 instances of acid attacks or petrol or kerosene bomb attacks in the state.
Of the injured troopers, 122 inflicted grievous injuries, the data said.
The unrest in Jammu and Kashmir began July 9, a day after the death of Wani in a gunfight with security forces. Over 90 civilians were killed and around 12,000 injured in the violence.
Prasad, who will retire from the service on February 28, also said that the Home Ministry as well as the Central Welfare Fund of CRPF will provide financial assistance to the troopers injured in the stone pelting attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
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New Delhi:
Three RSS activists were injured in a blast near RSS office in Kallachy near Nadapuram, Kerala on Thursday. The injured were shifted to Kozhikode medical college.
Around 9 pm, a bomb was hurled by some unknown miscreants at the RSS office in Kallachy.
The police teams have rushed to the spot and security have been beefed up in the area. Earlier, the injured were admitted to a hospital in Kallachy, but later shifted to Kozhikode medical college.
Last month , a 20-year-old BJP worker Niramal was hacked to death in Thirssur district.
After the incident, BJP had blamed CPI (M) Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the death of Nirmal and had called for a strike in Thirssur.
A similar incident had also taken place in the month of January when a BJP worker was stabbed to death allegedly by CPI(M) activists at Andaloor in Dharmadam, the constituency of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
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Dhubri:
In a rare incident, a baby girl was born with her heart beating outside her body in Assams Dhubri district, reports said on Thursday. The infant has been kept at the intensive care unit in Gauhati Medical College.
The family of the infant and health officials said on Thursday that the baby, who was born at Phutkibari village on Wednesday night, has her heart on her chest.
Doctors attending on her say it an extremely rare congenital malformation and is called Ectopia Cordis. The heart is abnormally located either partially or totally outside the throax in this condition, they said.
The infant was referred to the government-run Dhubri civil hospital and then was sent to Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), where she is kept in the ICU, health officials said.
As GMCH has a tie up with Narayana Hrudalaya in Bangalore, the state health department is planning to shift the infant to that hospital for surgery on government expense on Friday, they added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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New Delhi:
The Centre has given its approval over 4,000 Post Graduate seats in medical colleges and hospitals across the country for the academic session 2017-18, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said on Thursday. The health minister dubbed it an "all-time record number" which would take the total number of Post Graduate (PG) seats in the country up to 35,117.
"This will further boost our resolve to strengthen tertiary care and improve the medical education in the country," he said while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Health Minister's remarks came after the Centre had announced the creation of additional 5,000 PG medical seats every year during this year's budget with an aim to bolster availability of specialist doctors at secondary and tertiary levels.
Noting that out of the total increase, 2,046 seats are in medical colleges, Nadda said the government had also decided to amend the teacher-student ratio in clinical subjects in government medical colleges with an aim to increase PG seats.
"This change alone has resulted in the creation of 1,137extra seats in 71 colleges. Many others out of the total of212 government colleges are sending their proposals and it is expected that at least 1,000 more seats can be added during the month of March 2017," Nadda said.
This includes Diplomate of National Board (DNB) seats, equivalent to MD/MS, which have increased by 2,147 in the last one year, he said. Nadda said there had been a total addition of 4,193 PGseats in the country so far, and a further addition of more than 1000 seats is likely during March 2017.
"The budget announcement of adding 5,000 PG medical seats in the country is thus likely to be achieved soon," he said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the UnionBudget this year had said that to strengthen secondary and tertiary levels of health care, adequate availability of specialist doctors was needed.
"We have decided to take steps to create additional 5,000Post Graduate seats per annum. In addition, steps will be taken to roll out DNB courses in big district hospitals, strengthen PG teaching in select ESI and municipal corporation hospitals and encourage reputed private hospitals to start DNBcourses," he had said.
Also Read: After cardiac stent, govt plans to bring other medical devices under scanner
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New Delhi:
Indian Navy successfully conducts maiden firing of an AntiShip missile from 1st of Kalvari class submarines, during test firing in the Arabian Sea on Thursday.
The missile has successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing which was held on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully test-fires indigenously developed supersonic Interceptor Missile from Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
Also Read: DRDO's 7.5-meter long single stage solid rocket successfully test fired
This the second time that the missile has been test-fired in less than a month and is part of an effort to put in place a multi-layer missile defence system.
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Hyderabad:
Sunayana, the widow of Srinivas Kuchibhotla killed in the US in an apparent hate crime, on Thursday urged the leaders of global tech industry to keep defending human rights as they too employ a large number of immigrants.
Thanks to people like Satya Nadella (CEO-Microsoft) and Kamala Harris for supporting through your tweets. It means a lot to us. My sincere request to Mark Zuckerberg (Founder-Facebook), Sundar Pichai (CEO-Google), Satya Nadella, and many others to keep advocating your support for human rights, she said in a Facebook post.
We need to spread love and stop this hatred. Today, its an employee of Garmin, tomorrow, it could be one of your employees, and I dont want anyone to go through what my family and household went through, she added.
Read | Hate crime in US: Democrat urges Attorney General to combat rising incidents
She also thanked the Telangana government for extending support to bring the body of Srinivas back home from the USA.
I will now ask same question on what basis we decide a person is good or bad, and of course, its not based on the colour of your skin. So what decides that? Many times, these issues are talked about for a few weeks and people tend to forget about them after-ward, but the fight must go on towards eradicating hatred from the minds of people. So what is the government going to do to stop hate crime?
Lastly, to answer the question that is in every immigrants mind, Do we belong here. Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here? she wondered.
She also expressed her desire to go back to the USA and continue to work for Intouch Solutions where she is currently employed.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), working at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, was killed in the shooting at a restaurant in Kansas on Wednesday night. Another Indian and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the incident.
Read | Telugu community in US advised to speak in English in public domain
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Gandhinagar:
A man hurled his shoes at Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Gujarat minister of state for home, in Gandhinagar on Thursday, following which he was detained by the police.
The man, who claimed to be a state government employee, threw the show at Jadeja when he was addressing the media outside the main door of the Gujarat legislative assembly complex in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
He was identified as Gopalbhai Italia. The incident took place when Jadeja came out of the assembly and began addressing media persons. The man, in his 30s, was dressed in red checked shirt and jeans hurled his shoe at the minister.
When Italia hurled his second show at Jadega, he managed to duck.
ALSO READ | Bihar min provokes crowd to hit PM photo with shoes, uproar in Legislature
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Hyderabad/Panaji:
Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao has said Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur is a representative sample on many campuses in the country, who are products of a failed education, parenting and social support system in India.
"There are many Gurmehar Kaurs in university campuses across India. This young woman is only a representative sample of a select section of young people, who are products of a failed education, parenting & social support system of a 70-year independent India", the state BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao said in a blogpost.
In another development, BJP MLA from Panaji MLA, Siddharth Kuncolienkar has alleged the "Left wing leaders" are trying to "demoralise" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar by "using" youths like Gurmehar Kaur.
ALSO READ | Gurmehar Kaur Row: Indo-Pak forum, Akal Takht, SGPC extend support to DU student; say BJP-RSS 'hounding' her
20-year-old Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on social media over her stance against RSS-backed student body ABVP and for a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.
"One cannot expect not to face consequences for one's massive and controversial expression, in fact there will be equal and even larger reaction as a consequence...the abuse is certainly wrong, violent threats are certainly wrong, however,any other form of expression is clearly a natural recourse," Rao said.
ALSO READ | Ramjas college row: ABVP members protests outside Delhi Police headquarters
"Terming that (intense trolling) as an attack on one's freedom of expression is juvenility, self pity, escapism and lack of ownership. If one is courageous, one must stand up and face the consequences of their expression".
Saying that attacking Kaur would not solve anything, he said "young people like her clearly reflect the collective social outcomes of a nation, which has never pro-actively designed its national identity and national values. The issue is much larger, it's national. It's a legacy issue of this country".
ALSO READ | Ramjas row: Punjab Police provides security to DU student Gurmehar Kaur in Jalandhar
Attacking Congress, Rao said only a "vertically and horizontally divided India" suits the type of politics practiced by Congress party."
Rao said it is time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to constitute a cohesive group of great individuals to initiate a proactive nation building exercise with well defined and empowering national values for unique national identity and pride of being an India, he said.
'Left using Gurmehar to demoralise PM'
"Some Leftist leaders are trying to demoralise the PM and Parrikar by using youths like Gurmehar Kaur," Panaji MLA Siddharth Kuncolienkar said while addressing a 'Tiranga Yatra' organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad which controls the Goa University's students wing in the state capital.
The BJP leader, who had served as the PA to Parrikar, said the youth of Goa will not allow such "divisive forces which speak of dividing the country which is our motherland, to rise in the state."
ALSO READ | Gurmehar Kaur row: Virender Sehwag claims his post was plain fun
"We refer to India as our mother. How can we keep quiet when someone is trying to cut our mother into pieces?" the MLA questioned.
Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on social media over her stance against ABVP and a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.
The 20-year-old daughter of a martyr had also complained of receiving "rape threats", following which a FIR was registered against unknown persons.
ALSO READ | Gurmehar Kaur row: My tweet wasnt intended to bully anyone, clarifies Virender Sehwag
Kuncolienkar said Gurmehar was being "misguided by the Left organisations."
"She was misguided to such an extent that she started saying her father was not killed by Pakistan but was killed by war...Who forced war on us? Look at the history of India, we never invaded any country. We are a peace loving nation," he said.
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New Delhi:
India on Thursday strongly condemned the twin terror attack in Kabul killing more than a dozen people and voiced its resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to justice.
India has been a victim of terrorist violence and understands the pain and suffering of the people of Afghanistan.
We reiterate our resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to the justice they deserve wherever they may be, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.
It also conveyed condolences to the people and the Government of Afghanistan for the loss of lives and property in yesterdays blast. It is our sincere hope that the injured will make early recovery, it added.
Read | Afghanistan: Casualties feared as blasts, gunfire rock Afghan capital ahead of Taliban's annual spring offensive
The near-simultaneous attacks struck the Afghan capital around noon on Wednesday. First, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun battle between the police and several attackers.
In the second attack, a bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul.
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Lucknow:
Police on Thursday initiated steps to withdraw Y category security to Gayatri Prasad Prajpati as the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister remains elusive.
We have initiated the process to withdraw his Y category security, a senior Lucknow Police official said.
A person enjoying Y category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos.
Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon, he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the ministers assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.
A UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of severe trauma and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS.
ALSO READ | I want to see Gayatri Prajapati behind bars, says minor victim
A DSP-rank officer, investigating the matter, recorded the victims statement after seeking permission from AIIMS Medical Superintendent.
The statement was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Police teams were dispatched out of the state capital when Prajpati could not be located in his official residence in posh Gautampalli area here.
ALSO READ | Video: Police raid UP minister Gayatri Prajapatis official residence
Acting on Supreme Court orders, police made frantic efforts to nab him and after having failed to do so they might even apply for cancellation of his passport so that the minister cannot escape from the country.
Interestingly, the minister was earlier seen moving freely from one place to other in his constituency seeking votes.
The last time Prajapati was seen in public was on February 27 when he spoke to the media saying he will win with a huge margin and will work under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav once again.
ALSO READ | Rape case: FIR filed against UP minister Gayatri Prajapati after SC order
49-year-old Prajpati is facing imminent arrest following an FIR lodged against him and six of his accomplices on the apex court order at Gautampalli police station here on February 18 under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act.
The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged an FIR against Prajapati on the apex courts order for his alleged roles in separate cases of gangrape and an attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter.
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Lucknow:
The BSP said on Wednesday that the Election Commission should not "single out" it while seeking details of money deposited in its account post demonetisation and parties like the SP, the BJP and the Congress should be asked to furnish similar data.
"We will request the EC to seek similar details from all other parties, including the SP, the BJP and the Congress, and look into all matters together and not to single out the BSP alone," BSP MP SC Misra told PTI.
He was reacting to the Election Commission seeking a response from the Bahujan Samaj Party earlier in the day on a petition alleging that a large sum of money was deposited in the party account post-demonetisation.
In a notice issued to BSP chief Mayawati, the commission asked the BSP to respond by March 15.
"We will give our reply within time... Everything is in order and fully as per law," Misra, also a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said.
The poll panel referred to a petition filed in the Allahabad high court which had alleged the party had deposited large sums of money in its bank account within a short period of time on different occasions after demonetisation on November 8 last.
"You are requested to send your comments on the issue raised in the petition along with your version regarding the contributions received in cash by your party and the deposits made in the partys accounts," the notice issued by Election Expenditure unit of the commission.
The EC notice came after the Allahabad high court also reportedly issued a notice to the party in this regard.
The Enforcement Directorate had on December 26 detected cash deposits totalling over Rs 104 crore in an account belonging to the BSP in a branch of United Bank of India.
Officials said the Enforcement Directorate, as part of its routine survey and enquiry operations to check suspicious and huge cash deposits in banks, had visited the Karol Bagh branch of the UBI and found huge deposits made in these two accounts post-demonetisation.
The sleuths found that while Rs 102 crore was deposited in Rs 1,000 notes, the rest Rs 3 crore was deposited in the old Rs 500 notes.
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Mexico:
Police have found the tortured bodies of nine men and two women on the outskirts of Mexicos Gulf coast city of Veracruz, authorities said on Thursday, a day after increased state and federal security forces were deployed to parts of the state.
Veracruz Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes called the killings an act of barbarity and said theyre part of a battle between drug gangs.
Yunes said the 11 bodies were found near a stolen vehicle. The governor did not reveal the message written on a sign left near the corpses, but local media reported that it said: You want a war, youll get a war.
Yunes declined to identify the cartels involved in the dispute, but in the past the Zetas and the Jalisco New Generation cartel have fought bloody turf battles in the state.
The New Generation cartel was blamed for dumping 35 bound, tortured bodies on a busy boulevard in a suburb of Veracruz in 2011.
Since mid-2016, Veracruz has seen an increase in killings. Yunes said more than 70 percent of recent homicides involved this fight, this battle between organized crime gangs.
Yunes also said two people were killed in a confrontation with marines in the city of Veracruz yesterday.
Mexicos federal government and Veracruz state authorities yesterday announced a joint operation to fight rising violence and crime in parts of the state.
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Kigali:
Rwanda's own 'Swachh' model has found an admirer in India, which is now exploring ways to asses if it can be "replicated" back home to take the country's sanitation mission forward.
Kigali, where use of plastic bags has been banned, is billed as the cleanest and the safest city in Africa.Verdant hills and rolling green landscape add to the allure of the capital Kigali, which epitomises Rwanda's rise from a violence-torn country to the "shining star of Africa".
"India has a lot to learn from Rwanda and one of course is on the front of cleanliness. And, with 'Swachch Bharat' being one of our flagship campaigns, we would like to engage with that country more in that area," Amar Sinha, Secretary, Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs, said.
Vice President Hamid Ansari recently visited Rwanda, during which he hailed the country's rise after reconciling with its turbulent past."The efficient and clean city of Kigali, captures the great strides that this country is taking on its path of growth and prosperity," Ansari had said.
Sinha, who accompanied Ansari during the visit, said the ethos of cleanliness in the streets and the zero-tolerance for corruption in governance offers valuable lessons for India.
"We would certainly like to see if their successful governance models can be replicated," he said. "But, Rwanda's greatest achievement is its reconciliation with its turbulent past. From signs of great conflict, it has become a shining star of Africa. This is truly remarkable and worthy of emulation," he added.
And, indeed this African country has overcome memories of its unpleasant past with community activities and adherence to sanitation has played a pivotal role in that endeavour.
"On last Saturday of every month, all citizens, including President Paul Kagame, come out of their homes, as part of a community cleanliness drive 'Umuganda'." This practice has not only made the city clean, it has brought people together of different ethnicities, fostered a sense of ownership for the country and helped put behind the horrific memories of the genocide," says Aniket Ukey, a Delhi-born youth, who is now settled in Kigali.
"Not just clean, the city is so safe, no one will touch a woman even if she goes out alone after midnight. These are the qualities any country would feel envy of," he added further.
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Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. BECN, the distributor of residential and non-residential roofing materials has acquired Acme Building Materials, Inc. in a bid to reinforce presence in Michigan. With the addition of Acme, a distributor of residential roofing and related building products, the number of Beacon locations in Michigan has gone up to 10.
Acme is a third generation, family owned business with branches in Flint, Rochester Hills and Brighton. Acme will strengthen Beacons residential and complementary business in Michigan, which is an important market for the latter.
Beacon Roofing continues to balance year-to-year branch opening strategy with potential acquisitions. In fiscal 2016, the company completed eight acquisitions. In fiscal 2017, Beacon Roofing completed the buyout of BJ Supply in Dec 2016 and it acquired American Building and Roofing and Eco Insulation Supply in Jan 2017. The combined sales from these acquisitions are approximately $40$50 million annually. Both BJ Supply and Eco Insulation Supply are complementary product focused businesses.
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. Price
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. Price | Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. Quote
The company is on the lookout for strong complementary product businesses to expand product line and geographic reach in this important category. American Building and Roofing has seven branches located throughout Washington state with a heavy weightage on residential roofing. The acquisition provides Beacon Roofing an important presence in the Pacific Northwest, which adds to its 2016 purchase of Woodfeathers out of Portland, OR and the three locations acquired with RSG in Washington state. Prior to fiscal 2016, Beacon Roofing had no presence in either Oregon or Washington but now boasts of 14 branches in the two states. The company intends to expand presence in the region. Further, it stated that it has a solid pipeline of acquisitions and will continue to pursue selective takeovers.
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Beacon Roofings share price performance has outperformed the Zacks categorized Building Products-Retail/Wholesale industry in the past one year. The stock has grown 20.5%, ahead of the industrys increase of 12.4% in the same time frame.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Beacon Roofing currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the sector include Rush Enterprises, Inc. RUSHA, Insight Enterprises, Inc. NSIT and Wingstop Inc. WING. All of these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Rush Enterprises has delivered an average earnings surprise of 12.78% in the trailing four quarters. Insight Enterprises and Wingstop also delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 6.8% and 11.98%, respectively in the past four quarters.
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Jakarta:
Saudi Arabias King Salman on Thursday called for a united fight against terrorism in a speech to Indonesias parliament during a landmark state visit to the worlds most populous Muslim-majority country.
The king is making the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia in almost 50 years as part of a tour of Asia, accompanied by a 1,000-strong delegation and hundreds of tons of luggage.
In a speech to hundreds of people at the legislature in the capital Jakarta, he called for an intensified fight against terrorism.
The challenge we, especially Muslims, face now is terrorism, he said. We should close ranks in combating terrorism, radicalism and strive to bring world peace for the benefit of all of us.
Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition that has carried out air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group and other jihadists in Syria.
IS is under pressure in Iraq and Syria, as government forces make a drive to retake areas held by the jihadists.
Saudi Arabia has witnessed a series of deadly attacks claimed by IS since late 2014, mostly targeting the Shiite minority and security forces, killing dozens of people.
However, some of the kingdoms partners in the Middle East have urged the Sunni-majority country to do more to defeat IS, and even accused the kingdom of supporting the jihadists.
Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamic militancy, is also facing a renewed threat due to the appeal of IS, with hundreds of its citizens heading to the Middle East to fight with the jihadists.
A gun and suicide attack in Jakarta in January last year that killed four civilians and four attackers was the first assault claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.
On Thursday Salman also visited Jakartas Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, accompanied by President Joko Widodo, and the leaders prayed together.
The king and his entourage will be in Jakarta until Friday, after which they will head to the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali for a holiday.
Salmans three-week Asian tour is seeking investment opportunities as the worlds top oil exporter looks to diversify its economy. He began the trip in Malaysia earlier this week and is also set to visit Japan, China and the Maldives.
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New Delhi:
United States may be considering the use of direct force to counter rising nuclear threat from North Korea, a report has said.
An internal White House review of strategy on North Korea includes the possibility of military force or regime change to blunt the countrys nuclear-weapons threat, Wall Street Journal reported.
This review comes at the heels of a report claiming President Donald Trump believes the "greatest immediate threat" to the US was North Korea's nuclear program.
Recent provocations from DPRK, including the ballistic missile launch in the Sea of Japan and the assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in Malaysia, may have provoked this shift in the policy that have many officials and US allies worried.
"North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US It won't happen!" Trump tweeted in January. Several weeks later, North Korea conducted its missile test.
While President Donald Trump has taken steps to reassure allies that he wont abandon agreements that have underpinned decades of US policy on Asia, his pledge that Pyongyang would be stopped from ever testing an intercontinental ballistic missilecoupled with the two-week-old strategy reviewhas some leaders bracing for a shift in American policy.
Chinese and North Korean officials are holding talks in Beijing, the first known high-level meeting in nearly a year, and Beijing recently curtailed coal imports from North Korea.
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MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2017 / Biotech Products Services and Research Inc. (OTC PINK: BPSR) ("BPSR" or the "Company") recently announced in a Form 8-K that it has entered into an agreement pursuant to which the Company intends to aggressively pursue obtaining the required license to operate within the medical cannabis industry in the state of Florida upon the Florida legislature's finalization of the plans for implementing the recently passed Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative ("Amendment 2"). The Company intends to operate this business segment through a newly formed Florida subsidiary, Mint Organics Florida, Inc. ("Mint Organics"). As mandated by the voters of Florida, BPSR, through Mint Organics, intends to distribute and administer consistent, therapeutic, high quality medical cannabis treatments and products to patients.
Management intends to operate the business with the goal of exceeding the governmental mandates and industry standards, including transparency and controls to assure quality and legitimacy and professionalism of its operations. Mint Organics will be controlled by BPSR, which already has a history of operating within highly regulated and transparent environments as an SEC reporting publicly traded company and operating an existing business involved with research, development, and production of amniotic-based biologics products for the health care industry. Mint Organics also intends to:
Provide the best education and training of associates and the most superior quality products and services to its patients;
Only partner with the most reputable and consistent producers that can deliver certified products that are pesticide and additive free; and
Work closely with health care specialists to ensure that its products meet their specific needs and, more importantly, the needs of their patients.
Peter Taddeo, CEO and co-founder of Mint Organics, is a former senior executive in a number of high technology companies with experience developing and successfully bringing new technologies to market. Taddeo commented, "The field of medical cannabis treatments for painful and debilitating conditions is in its infancy. Our experience in emerging high technology and bio technology makes us uniquely situated to set new standards of access, service, and patient education as this new industry is defined. We plan on working with experienced partners to both develop and bring to market only the highest quality products in a professional environment."
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After retiring in late 2012, Taddeo became interested in cutting edge biotechnology, particularly stem cell research in both therapeutic and degenerative/quality of life protocols. That interest led him to research the benefits of medical cannabis and, after viewing a number of medical documentaries about the seemingly miraculous benefits of the product and learning more of the Company's many synergistic objectives, he co-founded Mint Organics with the Company. Taddeo commented, "Mint Organics' name borrows from three critical aspects of what we want to do. Mint is used to describe something as pristine, perfect, and good. Mint is also a shade of green, like cannabis, and finally, Mint is an aromatic herb."
Taddeo sees a bright future for the medical cannabis business and plans to work closely with the state of Florida to realize that future. He believes that the entire state will benefit.
Colorado has reported one billion dollars in total cannabis sales in 2016, generating needed tax revenues to the state to fund important social programs, such as school construction and substance abuse programs. Over 37% of that revenue came from medical cannabis sales. The Company believes that the opportunity for Florida is significantly greater. With nearly four times the population than Colorado, Florida could expect to exceed Colorado's overall sales just in medical cannabis alone. That's several hundred million in new tax revenues for the state.
In addition, Mint Organics plans to create a number of new higher paying specialized jobs, subject to state approval of the dispensary license. Given the Company's aspirations, management believes that there could be up to 100 new jobs created once the Company builds out its dispensary and caregiver network.
For patients suffering from long term chronic afflictions, including chronic pain, cancer treatments, mood disorders, PTSD, seizures and spasticity associated with Multiple Sclerosis ("MS"), the benefits versus current treatment protocols are overwhelmingly positive. As the public becomes educated to these benefits, the Company expects that acceptance of cannabis use by patients under physician advice will grow, as well.
Taddeo commented, "We believe medical cannabis provides physicians a new tool to treat these chronic conditions in a way not previously possible and with protocols that do not have the negative side effects of current traditional treatments." Taddeo continued, "In addition, JAMA has reported that in the 23 states that passed medical marijuana laws, death rates from accidental overdoses have declined between 25-30%, and that prescription rates for pain pills were also significantly reduced."
About Biotech Products Services and Research, Inc.
Biotech Products Services and Research, Inc. ("Company"), and its subsidiaries, are suppliers of products and services used in the growing health care field of regenerative medicine.
The Company's strategy is to be a leading supplier of newly designed advanced biologically processed cellular and tissue based products and services used in the growing health care field of regenerative medicine.
CAUTIONARY COMMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The foregoing contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend for these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws relating to forward-looking statements. This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Biotech Products Services & Research, Inc., and its subsidiaries, including but not limited to, Mint Organics, Inc.'s plans and expectations. In this press release and related comments by Company management, words like "intends," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "goal," and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements, representing management's current judgment and expectations about possible future events.
Although the forward-looking statements in this release reflect the good faith judgment of management, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operation, and cash flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected. Underlying assumptions include without limitation, the ongoing enactment of legislation favorable to the production of and the commercialization of cannabis products and the Company's success in capitalizing on that legislation. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release.
Other information can be obtained at www.bpsrhealth.com. The contents of the Company's website are not incorporated by reference in this Press Release.
CONTACT:
Biotech Products Services and Research, Inc.
4045 Sheridan Ave., Suite 239
Miami Beach, FL 33140
Website: http://www.bpsrhealth.com
Phone: (888) 963-7881
Email: info@bpsrhealth.com
SOURCE: Biotech Products Services and Research Inc.
The Boeing Company logo is projected on a wall at the "What's Next?" conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Boeing is taking Denmark to court over a lack of access to documents used in the government's decision last year to buy Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) new F-35 Lightning II combat jets in preference to Boeing's F/A 18 Super Hornets.
"Boeing has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Defence because the ministry has not responded to the request for access to the documents which are the foundation for the evaluation in the competition for the fighter jets," Boeing said in statement.
Last year Boeing complained about the government's decision to buy 27 F-35s, saying it questioned the accuracy of data used in the decision making process which suggested its Super Hornets would be a more expensive option.
Boeing subsequently said in September that it had submitted a request to the defense ministry that would require it to provide all materials related to the procurement evaluation and decision.
The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it had not given Boeing access to the documents because the U.S. firm had not told the government exactly what documents it wanted to see.
The ministry said it could not comment further now that the legal action was underway.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Teis Jensen; editing by Jason Neely, Greg Mahlich)
(0:30) - How Storytelling helps us make decisions: Peter Guber Article
(4:15) - How do our perceptions effect our decision making
(7:15) - Insights from neuroscientist, Michael Gazzaniga
(15:00) - Experiments done by neuroeconomist, Paul Zak
(21:50) - Molly Crockett: "Beware neruo-bunk"
Welcome back to the Mind Over Money podcast. Im Kevin Cook, your field guide and storyteller for the fascinating arena of behavioral economics.
Im excited about todays topics because we are going to talk about how our brains use stories to make decisions. In fact, after I tell you a few stories about brains and stories, youll start to wonder which came first brains or stories!
Obviously a brain has to exist first for there to be a story to experience, remember, and retell. But you should begin to see how stories help form neural pathways, perception, and other cognitive function and thus our decision-making.
I begin with the current world capital of storytelling, Hollywood. Film producer and founder of PolyGram, Peter Guber, known for blockbusters from Batman to Rain Man, wrote an article in the March 2011 edition of Psychology Today titled "The Inside Story."
His goal was to explain the deep human need for stories from two vantage points: first, from his deep experience helping people craft and tell theirs and second, from the brain scientists who have discovered their importance in our daily lives.
Guber achieves his goal masterfully. After relating how the Oscar winning film starring Jack Lemmon, Missing, almost didnt get made, he introduces the work of some giants of neuroscience that you should know about...
Stories, it turns out, are not optional. They are essential. Our need for them reflects the very nature of perceptual experience, and storytelling is embedded in the brain itself.
While we all feel ourselves to be unified creatures, that is not the reality of our experience or our brains. There is no central command post in the brain, says neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga, professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Rather, there are millions of highly specialized local processorscircuits for vision, for other sensory data, for motor control, for specific emotions, for cognitive representations, just to name a few modulesdistributed throughout the brain carrying out the neural processes of experience.
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What's more, Washington University neuroscientist Jeffrey Zacks told me, such modules monitor external experience not continuously but in a kind of punctuated way, a process he calls event sampling. "The mind/brain segments ongoing activity into meaningful events," he says. How is it, then, that they function as an integrated whole and we experience ourselves that way?
Because we tell ourselves stories, Gazzaniga says. There is in fact a processor in our left hemisphere that is driven to explain events to make sense out of the scattered facts. The explanations are all rationalizations based on the minuscule portion of mental actions that make it into our consciousness.
There is much more in his lengthy piece from both Gazzaniga and Zacks. But in three short sentences, he sums it all up...
We literally create ourselves through narrative. Narrative is more than a literary deviceit's a brain device. Small wonder that stories can be so powerful.
Sniffing Hormones
In todays edition of the Mind Over Money podcast, I also share the research and insights of neuroeconomist Paul Zak who runs the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University. There, he and his team investigate the neurophysiology of economic decisions drawing on research from economic theory, experimental economics, neuroscience, endocrinology, and psychology to develop a comprehensive understanding of human decisions. Zak is also the author of The Moral Molecule and Trust Factor.
Whats interesting about Zak is that he is not a doctor of the life sciences, but he has become a trail-blazing researcher of brain biology because of his intense interests in the economics and the morality of human decision making.
Early in his career, Zak wanted to know what made us moral, or not. He learned about the biological effects of the hormone oxytocin, produced in both women and men, and he decided to focus on the aspect of human relationships centered around trust.
If you watch his 2011 TED Talk, you can get the full story, but in my podcast I actually read a few paragraphs of the transcript to give you his first-hand account (or would that be a second-hand story?).
As excited as I was by his story, I was nearly equally demoralized to hear part of it debunked by other experts in neuroscience. But the bottom line remains, our brains are a bag of hormones that compel our behavior as much as we think our mind is driving the bus.
Get the whole story in this weeks podcast!
Kevin Cook is a Senior Stock Strategist (and amateur brain explorer) for Zacks Investment Research where he runs the TAZR Trader stock-picking service (and dissects investor decision-making).
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Yale study warns of vaccine dangers, links immunizations to brain disorders
Weve all heard about vaccines causing a number of ill effects on the neurological system: Guillain-Barre syndrome, autism, ADHD and other issues. But, could vaccines be having other adverse effects on the brain that arent so easily traced? It certainly seems that may be the case. A recent pilot study from Pennsylvania State and Yale University has revealed that there may be an association between inoculation and the onset of disorders such as anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders.
The research, which was conducted using a database of private insurance medical claims, found that children who had recently been given the flu vaccine were significantly more likely to develop some type of mental disorder. The researchers stated that getting the vaccine within the last year was associated with incident diagnoses of AN, OCD, and an anxiety disorder.
The risk association appeared to be highest in relation to anorexia nervosa. There was an 80 percent increase in the risk of being diagnosed with an eating disorder in children who had been vaccinated within the three months prior to diagnosis. For OCD, the associated risk between vaccination within 3 to 12 months was substantially lower, hovering between a 23 and 27 percent increase.
To conduct their research using the database, the researchers compared the vaccination records of children between the ages of 6 and 15 with the diagnoses of new neuropsychiatric disorders over a five year period. They compared those diagnoses to two control conditions broken bones and open wounds and matched subjects based on their gender, age and general location of residence.
Several other associations with a significant hazard ratio were observed. For instance, children who were given the hepatitis A vaccination were more likely to develop anorexia or OCD. Those vaccinated for hepatitis B also appeared to be more likely to develop anorexia. And in the case of the meningococcal vaccine, children became more likely to develop a chronic tic disorder or anorexia.
Interestingly enough, children who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or major depression appeared to be less likely to have been given the flu shot.
This pilot epidemiologic analysis implies that the onset of some neuropsychiatric disorders may be temporally related to prior vaccinations in a subset of individuals, the study authors write. However, because of the nature of this study, it would be impossible to prove any sort of causation or correlation based on their data. Their research does, however, clearly raise substantial concerns that necessitate further investigation. The authors state that the associations noted in their research are not strong enough to warrant deviation from the current recommended vaccination guidelines albeit, this kind of notation is practically a standard in vaccine research, particularly when the findings showcase a darker side to vaccines.
While we can only hope for more research on this topic, it is likely that the vaccine-neuropsychiatric disorder connection will also go the way of vaccine-autism research. Anyone who speaks out against the current all vaccines are safe narrative will be maligned and discredited by the mainstream media and condemned by the rest of the scientific community. Look at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: hes been picked apart by the mainstream media for daring to even question vaccine safety. The New York Post just ran an article titled, Everyone needs to ignore RFK Jr.s misinformed anti-vax claims.
Earlier this year, Dr. Daniel Neides from the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute also made waves when he published a blog post that suggested the toxic compounds in vaccines may be contributing to the epidemic of chronic diseases and neurological conditions like autism. Naturally, he was crucified by the media and shunned by other doctors. Neides doesnt even take an anti-vax stance; he has simply questioned the necessity and validity of current vaccine scheduling and has suggested that some vaccines are not needed, and others should be spaced further apart.
Will these new findings from Yale get buried along with all the opposing views and data that came before?
Sources:
TheFreeThoughtProject.com
Info.CMSRI.org
NaturalNews.com
WorldMercuryProject.org
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DANBURY - A state-run office that helps 300 people from greater Danbury manage mental health and addiction afflictions would be closed as a cost-saving measure under the governors proposed budget for 2017-2018.
The Danbury branch of the Western Connecticut Mental Health Network would be privatized under Gov. Dannel P. Malloys budget plan, saving a projected $1 million. The 39 workers at its Triangle Street location would be transferred to other offices.
The proposal means that the regions most vulnerable population would instead get needed services from charities and private-sector providers.
These are typically adults who have serious mental illness or substance-abuse disorders, said Mary Kate Moran, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. They usually dont have the means to provide for their care.
Veteran state lawmaker Bob Godfrey likened the proposal to trading short-term savings for long-term accountability.
The plan is to hand off a bunch of stuff to the private sector, which will cost us less, and of course we wind up having no control over the population being served, said Godfrey, who represents Danbury. Meanwhile I hear from people when they are harmed asking us to do something, and I say, I cant do anything anymore, because these are not state agencies.
Malloys office responded that the state plans to invest $3.2 million of the Danbury networks $4.2 million budget in private-sector services to ensure a successful transition.
We agree this is an extraordinarily vulnerable population, said Malloy spokesman Chris McClure on Wednesday. The proposed reduction is to the states expenditure, but not to services rendered. The population served by the Danbury facility will still be able to receive treatment that we are continuing to fund, but through a private provider.
The states top mental health official visited the Danbury branch last week to inform the staff about the proposed budget cut.
Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, the commissioner of the states Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, heard concerns from case managers that people served by the office would lose important state resources if the proposal is adopted by the state legislature.
The commissioner offered no timetable, Moran said.
It would take time to carry this out, but we would anticipate it would happen in this calendar year, Moran said.
The governor has also proposed privatizing a state mental health network in Torrington.
Danbury has been targeted before for privatizing social services. In September, the Department of Developmental Services announced that three dozen Danbury-area people would receive services from private providers instead of state employees.
Godfrey said it is too soon in the budget season to say which budget cuts he would fight the hardest to restore. But he said privatization is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
I am expecting to hear a lot more about this from my constituents, Godfrey said.
rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
Three bills introduced by State Rep. John Frey last month would give towns more control over how affordable housing is created in their communities.
All three bills, two of which faced a public hearing two weeks ago, would revise state statute 8-30g, which prevents municipalities from denying affordable housing applications for reasons other than health or safety. One bill that faced public hearing would extend the moratorium period on enforcement of the statute, which towns can apply for if they meet certain criteria, from four years to five.
The other two bills would place limits on 8-30g applications by making historic districts exempt from the law and limiting the types of projects that can be built on watershed land.
The 8-30g statute is meant to help towns meet the state goal of having 10 percent of housing qualify as affordable. Only 31 towns in Connecticut currently meet this target, Danbury being the only one in the area.
Redding First Selectman Julia Pemberton, who said she supports Freys bills, argued that it is difficult for rural areas to meet this goal under the 8-30g statute. Less than one percent of Reddings housing currently qualifies as affordable.
8-30g was a one size fits all regulation, she said. One size does not fit all. In a town like Redding and our other neighboring rural communities the current approach does not work. Yes, we need affordable housing, but we need to be able to give communities more control in the ability to decide where these developments belong.
With about 90 percent of Redding being on watershed land, she said, the town ends up spending a lot on litigation when they deny affordable housing applications that would infringe on the water supplies. Toby Wells, chairman of the towns Planning and Zoning commission, said the town is currently working on two development plans for affordable housing that would be more suited to the towns watershed limitations.
Ridgefield, which has 2.86 percent affordable housing, has also struggled with the state statute. The town is halfway through a four-year moratorium approved in 2014, and has been using the time to draft zoning language that would allow affordable housing developers more leeway than the 8-30g statute, Assistant Planner Adam Schnell said.
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said he supports Freys efforts, but thinks the proposed bills dont go far enough.
I would rather have a moratorium for a longer period of time, he said. Well never see 10 percent affordable housing. Over 900 units would have to be affordable housing to reach 10 percent and weve gotten to just over 200 in the past 20 years.
Marconi said he supports the watershed bill, which limits one unit for every two acres on watershed land, but would prefer it forbid all developments on watershed areas. The historic district exemption, he added, should apply to all historic homes rather than just the historic district of the town.
Evonne Klein, commissioner for the state Department of Housing, said towns should work with developers to prevent infringement on watershed or historical land, instead of creating what she calls exclusionary zoning.
In the 21st century, its shocking to read something like this, she said. They exempt only affordable housing. This is exactly why 8-30g exists, to get away from this kind of red lining that specifically identifies affordable housing and not any other kind of development.
She said new data shows many towns are working with developers rather than denying their applications and that the number of approved 8-30g applications has been on the rise. Towns that use their time wisely, she added, should be able to get enough done during a four-year moratorium to apply for a second term.
Moratoriums are granted to towns with a minimum of 2 percent affordable housing that the state decides are actively working towards more developments.
Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn, who plans to apply for a moratorium, said the most recent 8-30g development doesnt allow for a proper mix of housing.
The Laurel Hill project is 100 percent affordable housing, he said. You want a mix of low, middle, moderate and high income to make a vibrant community. [Laurel Hill] is not in the best interest of the town, state or the community.
The bill on extending moratoriums and limiting watershed developments faced Feb. 16 public hearings. The hisoric district exemption was referred to the legislature's Planning and Development for further action.
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SOUTHBURY President Donald Trump supporters from across Connecticut are being invited to march in Southbury this Saturday as part of nationwide March4Trump rallies.
Beginning at Southford Falls State Park at 1 p.m., the marchers will complete a 2-mile circle on routes 188 and 67 before returning to the park. Sisters Kathryn Dennen and Dorothy Aiksnoras-Vallee, who also hosted a DeploraBall the night before the inauguration, said they set up the Connecticut rally after seeing plans for March4Trump in Washington, D.C., on Twitter.
It was time to show some patriotism and solidarity, Dennen said. Its important to revisit American patriotism that weve kind of lost and show respect for the office of the president.
So far, 143 marchers have said on Facebook that they will go to the rally. More than 10,000 people turned out for a Womens March in Hartford the day after Trumps inauguration to protest his policies, while other rallies were held throughout the state, and thousands of Connecticut people traveled to a similar rally in New York City and the main Washington march that drew a crowd estimated at more than 500,000 people.
Some of the March4Trump participants, Dennen said, are traveling several hours to join. The event will feature a horse-drawn carriage and special guests, including Republican Oxford selectmen, Republican state Rep. David Labriola and the newly elected District 32 state Sen. Eric Berthel.
The Connecticut rally is one of 49 March4Trump events that are being planned across 33 states this weekend.
President Trump has thankfully set a new course, and no matter your race, creed, color, gender, orientation, age, or anything else traitors exploit to divide, We The People are one, the organizers said on their website. Come show your support for him, each other, and our country.
Dennen, who works as an independent financial advisor, said she was never very politically active until this past election season. Her and her sisters Oxford Jan. 19 DeploraBall, which was part of a nationwide inaugural celebration, sold out with about 165 people in attendence. Dennen also went to a rally in New Hampshire the night before the election.
DeploraBall is a play on a statement Hillary Clinton made during her unsuccessful campaign against Trump that a portion of his supporters were a basketful of deplorables who embraced racism and xenophobia.
Dennen said she has been impressed with Trumps ability to keep his campaign promises since taking office. Dennen hopes the March4Trump event will bring unity.
We want to spread positivity and happiness and celebrate our country, she said. Its not negative, its positive. Were moving forward.
Staff writer Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report. aquinn@newstimes.com
OTTAWA, March 1, 2017 /CNW/ - In response to the ongoing national suicide crisis facing First Nations people, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde and the AFN National Executive, including the AFN Elders, Women's and Youth Councils, are calling for a National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits to be held on Friday, March 17th.
"On this day, we are asking First Nations men and women to come together in prayer and ceremony to bring peace and healing for our people," said National Chief Perry Bellegarde, who will mark the occasion at a pipe ceremony and traditional feast at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. "Our message to our young ones is, you are important. You are special. You matter. And we are working hard every day to make things better for you. So don't despair because there is always a way forward. And prayer and ceremony is an important part of that path."
AFN Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day, chair of the national Chiefs Committee on Health, stated: "Canada is celebrating the 150th year of Confederation but far too many of our children and youth cannot even celebrate their own lives. This National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits is a reminder that much work needs to be done to end poverty and despair. When our youth are able to see hope for the future then all Canadians will be able to celebrate. This will be true reconciliation."
The AFN Elders Council issued a statement: "The AFN Elders Council supports the National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits and will participate in their regions and communities to provide the spiritual assistance that is needed in our communities. Our prayers go to all the Peoples across our ancestral lands, we pray for you on this day. Please accept our prayers being sent to you."
The AFN Women's Council issued a supportive statement to all First Nations youth: "On behalf of the AFN Women's Council, we also support this National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits and will participate wherever we may be across Turtle Island. In our sacred role as life givers and caretakers of life, we want to assure our children, our youth, our families that we will rise above the colonization trauma. As women and with our unconditional love, we will send our prayers and/or perform ceremonies towards life promotion and the well-being of our people on this day."
The AFN Youth Council is supporting and participating, saying in a collective statement: "The AFN Youth Council supports the National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits and will participate in our regions. We will support any spiritual initiatives or help create spiritual connections in our regions. Our prayers go to all the youth across our ancestral lands. We pray for you on this day. Remember that you matter to us."
The AFN is asking Indigenous peoples and all Canadians to pray or perform ceremonies according to their own beliefs, faiths and customs. The intention is to inspire youth to embrace life.
The AFN will be providing more information about the National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits on the AFN website at www.afn.ca and watch for the National Circle of Ceremony and Healing for Our Spirits Event page on the AFN Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AssemblyofFirstNations/
The AFN is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada. Follow AFN on Twitter @AFN_Updates.
SOURCE Assembly of First Nations
For further information: Alain Garon, Bilingual Communications Officer, 613-292-0857, [email protected]
HALIFAX, March 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) congratulates the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for announcing legislation to make changes to the Highway Traffic Act. The proposed changes would crack down on impaired driving and introduce stiffer penalties for this serious crime.
"IBC fully supports the government's proposed changes and we welcome this fantastic announcement," said Amanda Dean, Vice President, Atlantic, IBC. "Impaired driving takes far too many lives and it's something that can be easily avoided. Property and casualty insurers are committed to working with governments across Canada to reduce impaired driving and to keep our roads safe for everyone. This is an important step and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is to be commended for this legislation."
According to the government, the proposed amendments would expand the province's vehicle impoundment program. Specifically, it would make it mandatory for a police officer to order the vehicle of an impaired driver to be impounded immediately. The proposed changes would also include the introduction of a mandatory ignition interlock program as a condition for a convicted driver's licence reinstatement. Further, drivers who are younger than 22 years of age will be required to maintain a blood alcohol content of zero per cent. This would give young drivers the opportunity to form good driving habits that separate alcohol consumption from driving.
"IBC is encouraging all MHAs to support these important changes," added Dean. "Our industry will keep working with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to help reduce this senseless, dangerous, and completely avoidable crime."
About Insurance Bureau of Canada
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, auto and business insurers. Its member companies make up 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada. For more than 50 years, IBC has worked with governments across the country to help make affordable home, auto and business insurance available for all Canadians. IBC supports the vision of consumers and governments trusting, valuing and supporting the private P&C insurance industry. It champions key issues and helps educate consumers on how best to protect their homes, cars, businesses and properties.
P&C insurance touches the lives of nearly every Canadian and plays a critical role in keeping businesses safe and the Canadian economy strong. It employs more than 120,000 Canadians, pays $9 billion in taxes and has a total premium base of $49 billion.
For media releases and more information, visit IBC's Media Centre at www.ibc.ca. Follow IBC on Twitter @InsuranceBureau and @IBC_Atlantic or like us on Facebook. If you have a question about home, auto or business insurance, contact IBC's Consumer Information Centre at 18442ask-IBC.
If you require more information, IBC spokespeople are available to discuss the details in this media release.
SOURCE Insurance Bureau of Canada
For further information: To schedule an interview, please contact: Andrew McGrath, Manager, Media Relations, 416-362-2031 ext. 4312, [email protected]
Related Links
http://www.ibc.ca
MONTREAL, March 1, 2017 /CNW/ - Discovery Air Defence Services Inc. ("DA Defence"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Air Inc., and Air Affairs Australia Pty Ltd. ("Air Affairs Australia") have been awarded a two-year trial contract by the Commonwealth of Australia to provide Red Air and fighter support to the Australian Defence Force.
The "Jet Air Support Fast Jet Trial" consists of three highly-advanced Alpha Jets based at RAAF Base Williamtown. These upgraded jets feature dual touch screens, new radios and GPS receivers for enhanced precision and safety.
DA Defence will provide Red Air and fighter support to the Royal Australian Air Force, Joint Terminal Attack Controller ("JTAC") training to the Australian Army, and anti-surface training for the Royal Australian Navy. The trial will begin in Q3 of this year.
"We are very proud to be selected by the Australian government and Air Affairs Australia to bring our capabilities and experience to the Australian Defence Force. We are exporting Canadian excellence and expertise to a key ally. We are trusted by the world's leading air forces to deliver highly-representative threats and training to produce the world's best fighter pilots," said Paul Bouchard, President of Discovery Air Defence.
"Air Affairs Australia is pleased to be working closely with Discovery Air Defence for the Fast Jet Trial. Discovery Air Defence's proven track record in contracted air services brings a complimentary solution to our current Jet Air Services contract. Our common commitment to the highest levels of safety and airworthiness will ensure the best training for the Australian Defence Force," said Chris Sievers, Managing Director of Air Affairs Australia.
DA Defence and its U.S. subsidiary, Top Aces, have the world's largest privately-held operating fleet of fighter aircraft. The training provided supports the operational readiness of both current and future generation fighter aircraft. To discover more on how DA Defence is changing the face of air combat training, visit experiencematters.ca.
About Discovery Air and Its Subsidiaries
Discovery Air is a global leader in specialty aviation services. We deliver exceptional air combat training, medevac equipped aircraft services, airborne fire services, air charter services, helicopter operations, and transport and logistics support to ensure operational readiness, health, safety, and vital lifelines for our clients and the communities we serve.
Discovery Air's Class A common voting shares and unsecured convertible debentures trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbols DA.A and DA.DB.A, respectively).
About Air Affairs Australia
Air Affairs Australia is a highly capable and innovative Aviation Operations and Engineering based company. Established in 1995 and 100% Australian-owned, Air Affairs Australia is a leader in the provision of specialised airborne and engineering services. The company is ISO 9001 Quality Certified, Australian Defence Security cleared and provides aircraft operations and maintenance under full CASA certification. Air Affairs Australia operates from purpose built facilities at the Albatross Aviation Technology Park, in Nowra, NSW.
Air Affairs Australia owns and operates a fleet of special mission Learjet and Kingair aircraft, providing specialised air training support services to the Australian Defence Force. The aircraft also fulfil other special mission roles, including turn-key high altitude bushfire reconnaissance services. All aircraft are maintained and operated by the company under full CASA certification, including certified facilities and processes.
SOURCE Discovery Air Inc.
For further information: Sheila Venman, VP, HR & Communications, Discovery Air Inc., [email protected], 866-903-3247; Chris Sievers, Managing Director, Air Affairs Australia Pty Ltd, Ph: +61 2 44236755, Mob: +61 412428576, Email: [email protected]
Related Links
www.discoveryair.com
VANCOUVER, March 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ, "Mirasol") is pleased to announce initial exploration results from a new porphyry copper target at its 100% owned Odin project, located 20 km north of BHP's La Escondida Copper Mine in Northern Chile.
The Odin Project was staked by Mirasol as part of its ongoing Atacama-Puna generative program which is focused on prolific mineral belts in northern Chile and Argentina. Mirasol holds 100 percent of four copper projects in this region. These total 26,700 hectares and are located along the world class late Eocene to Oligocene age porphyry-copper belt that hosts many large-scale copper mines in Northern Chile (Figure 1). The Odin claims cover a 2 sq. km alteration anomaly detected from Landsat satellite imagery, and are located on the north-south oriented Domeyko fault system, a +700 km long continent-scale feature that controlled the emplacement of giant porphyry-copper deposit clusters of this age, including the La Escondida and Chuquicamata mining districts.
Stephen Nano, Mirasol's CEO commented: "Odin is one of a number of projects Mirasol has staked as part of the company's Chilean copper exploration program. The Odin lithocap target represents an intriguing conceptual exploration target for large-scale porphyry copper mineralization located on one of the world's premier copper belts, and warrants testing with systematic electrical geophysical surveys followed by drilling. Mirasol is actively a seeking strategic joint venture partner to further explore and developed Odin and Mirasol's other copper projects in its Chilean portfolio".
Previous exploration at Odin by a large copper producer focussed on an area of structurally hosted copper-oxide mineralization exposed in trenches and outcrops over 0.5 sq. km. Mirasol does not have access to this previous exploration data; however, field observations by our geologists have identified the collars from a number of shallow (estimated ~150 m deep) drill holes, some trenches and evidence of ground geophysical surveys.
Mirasol's exploration work at Odin includes geological mapping and rock-chip sampling of the historic trenches and outcrops, and multi-element geochemistry and alteration mineralogy acquired with portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) and portable Near Infrared Spectrometers (pIR-Spec) field analytical equipment: (learn more about these exploration technologies)
Outcropping alteration and mineralization at Odin is developed within a Carboniferous age east-dipping rhyoltic pyroclastic volcanic unit which overlies a Carboniferous age intrusive body. Both these rocks are interpreted to be older basement that are host to the later porphyry copper mineralization, the age of which needs to be confirmed by radiometric dating, but is expected to be similar to the late Eocene to Oligocene porphyry mineralization in the belt.
Mapping of alteration minerals identified in pIR-Spec provide exploration vectors to distinguish between relatively lower-temperature, intermediate argillic alteration mineral assemblages associated with oxide copper found in the trenches, from higher-temperature, advanced argillic and phyllic alteration assemblages found in the alteration cap, situated in the eastern portion of the alteration anomaly.
Interpretation of results from Mirasol's trench mapping and chip channel sampling shows copper oxide mineralization is associated with argillic altered structures and breccia zones (< 10 m wide) that have assayed up to 0.58% Cu over 3.3 m (0.1% Cu cut-off) with anomalous Mo up to 185 ppm. Assay results from the trenches show a general increase in copper grade toward the alteration cap to the east.
Mirasol has integrated findings from recently published generalized porphyry models (General Porphyry Model) with its project-specific field information and has developed a new exploration model for Odin (Figure 2 and Figure 3). Mirasol's model suggests that the oxide copper mineralization may be peripheral geochemical leakage from a possibly large, untested porphyry target centred beneath an unmineralized alteration cap rock in the eastern portion of the Odin claims. Alteration caps of this type, termed "lithocaps", are typically devoid of significant mineralization, but can conceal large mineralized porphyry systems at depth.
Stephen Nano, Vice President of Exploration for the Company, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, is responsible for the technical content of this release.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control of the Odin exploration program:
All previous exploration on the projects was supervised by Mirasol CEO Stephen C. Nano, who is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101. The technical interpretations presented here are those of Mirasol Resources Ltd.
Mirasol applies industry standard exploration methodologies and techniques. All geochemical rock and drill samples are collected under the supervision of the Company's geologists in accordance with industry practice. Geochemical assays are obtained and reported under a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program. Samples are dispatched to an ISO 9001:2008 accredited laboratory in Chile for analysis. Assay results from drill core samples may be higher, lower or similar to results obtained from surface samples due to surficial oxidation and enrichment processes or due to natural geological grade variations in the primary mineralization.
Forward Looking Statements: The information in this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future exploration programs, operation plans, geological interpretations, mineral tenure issues and mineral recovery processes. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Mirasol disclaims any obligations to update or revise any forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Mirasol Resources Ltd.
For further information: Stephen Nano, President and CEO; or John Toporowski, Manager of Investor Relations, Tel: +1 (604) 602-9989: Email: [email protected], Website: www.mirasolresources.com
Related Links
http://www.mirasolresources.com
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) airlifted some stranded Nigerians, who are victims of human trafficking in Mali back home on February 27th.
The Nigerian Embassy in Bamako leveraged on the NAF Charlie-130 Hercules aircraft to airlift these Nigerians that were victims of human trafficking.
The deportees range between 16 - 28 years of age were received on arrival in Nigeria by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, Mrs Abike Dabiri Erewa and officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The successful repatriation of these Nigerians was as a result of collaboration between the Nigerian Embassy and the Malian authorities anchored on mutual agreement. The Nigeria Consular Officer in Mali, Mr Abubakar Audu accompanied the deportees to Nigeria.
The Women from Assin Fosu in the Central region of Ghana are pleading for leniency for male prison inmates in the region. Some of the women in an interview with Adom News revealed that majority of them are seriously single and are being pressured by their families to marry before the end of 2017, a situation which is now causing them to sleep with married men.
'The men in the prison are more than the men in our town so please release them for us. we will enjoy with them and have a nice family together and so we beg Nana Addo to pardon the prisoners in our region because our town is dying' they bemoaned.
While those who are single mothers also disclosed that the few men in the area have failed to meet up with their responsibilities due to the keen competition among the women in the area. The women are relying on President Akufo-Addo to release the male prisoners for them to marry.
At least 45 serving and past presidents across the globe are expected to grace the 80th birthday ceremony of former President of Nigeria, ...
At least 45 serving and past presidents across the globe are expected to grace the 80th birthday ceremony of former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, an official has said.The Chairman, Publicity and Media Sub-committee of Obasanjo at 80, Dayo Adeneye, stated this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists.Mr. Adeneye, who is the Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, said the high point of the ceremony will include the commissioning of the multi-billion naira Presidential Library and Mosque.He said the world leaders would witness the opening of the two major projects in Abeokuta.He said the grand opening of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) attested to the popularity and honour bestowed on him as one who has continue to contribute to the development of the nation and humanity.He said despite the fact that the former president was no more in government, he still relates with present and past leaders in Nigeria and other countries, due to his vast experience in government.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said he would speak to President Muhammadu Buhari on the outcome of the National Security Council meeting.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said he would speak to President Muhammadu Buhari on the outcome of the National Security Council meeting.Osinbajo said the fact that he received briefings from the security chiefs did not indicate that Buhari would not return soon from his medical vacation in London.He addressed State House reporters after the meeting on Wednesday.No no no! Almost every month, these briefings are held, it is routine and it is the president who put in place this whole idea of regular briefings. It is even more important that we do so because of some of the issues arising like the cases of kidnappings, and I wanted the IG to inform us fully. Besides, the president is a process person and certainly, I am going to speak with him on developments here.So, its not an indication of anything. Its only an indication that were committed to the security of the nation. The primary duty of government is to protect lives and properties, and thats why we have to be regularly briefed. The good thing is that our men are doing extraordinarily well in the Northeast and that Southern Kaduna has also been contained. The peace building process is also going on very well, he said.Osinbajo, who affirmed that Boko Haram terrorists had been degraded, however stressed that the war had not ended yet.The acting president said the Federal Government was still vigilant because of the terrorists capacity to do damage with suicide bombers.
There is palpable tension in the Big Brother Naija house after controversial housemate, ThinTallTony, secured immunity from this weeks eviction after beating other contenders in all the keenly contested Head of House tasks on Monday.Following last Sundays all-inclusive nomination, eight housemates were subjected to a series of contests as parts of the routine to select a new Head of HAouse. Marvis, TBoss and ThinTallTony were the three housemates who made it to the final in the HoH contest, after scaling through a series of contests.In the final contest, the trio was required to deflate several balloons with their bums in order to find a mystery paper that will give the mandate to the would-be HoH housemate. The only male housemate in the final contest, ThinTallTony ultimately emerged winner; thereby joining Bisola and Bally who are immune from nomination come Sundays eviction show. The seven housemates that will slug it out in Sundays eviction show are Uriel, TBoss, Marvis, Kemen, Efe, Bassey and Debbie-Rise.Meanwhile, the eight housemates including ThinTallTony still believe that the road to winning the coveted 25 million naira and SUV has become narrower as two of the most popular housemates are supposedly out of the race.As the new HoH assumes his throne in a triumphant manner, he is immune from eviction, but does not wield the power to save or nominate any housemate from eviction. As the BBNaija draws inexorably towards the end, more mysteries have continued to unfold and no one knows what Biggie has up his sleeve.
The Borno Government on Wednesday said it had recorded a new case of Lassa fever after a 32-year-old woman tested positive to the disease...
The Borno Government on Wednesday said it had recorded a new case of Lassa fever after a 32-year-old woman tested positive to the disease. The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Haruna Mishelia, made the disclosure at a news conference in Maiduguri.Mishelia explained that the woman, from Zabarmari in Jere Local Government Area of the state, developed some symptoms of the disease after taking ill.He said the states Ministry of Health had taken precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.He explained that Lassa fever was first discovered in Borno in 1969 in Lassa village in Askira Uba Local Government Area.But since then, no single case was reported until now.Mishelia said the ministry had quarantined all the people who had contact with the woman.We are embarking on mass fumigation in the entire area to kill rats that might carry the disease.We are also placing all those who came into contact with the woman lately on surveillance.NAN
Sade Gbadamosi, the wife of Babatunde Gbadamosi, an opposition party chieftain who was arrested nearly a week ago, says she has been all...
Sade Gbadamosi, the wife of Babatunde Gbadamosi, an opposition party chieftain who was arrested nearly a week ago, says she has been allowed to see her husband in custody.The meeting, which happened around 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, was the first between the couple since Mr. Gbadamosi was arrested exactly week ago.I just saw my husband, he is well. Alleluyah!! God is good! Thanks for your love and prayers!! She said in a message to journalists on Wednesday evening.Mrs. Gbadamosi said she saw her husband at the SSS headquarters. She did not give further details.The meeting followed intensified calls for Mr. Gbadamosis release, with many Nigerians and civic groups slamming the SSS for holding him incommunicado and without charge.By holding him incommunicado, the SSS has violated the fundamental rights of the detainee to personal liberty and fair hearing, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, said Wednesday.Mr. Falana said he was compelled to demand Mr. Gbadamosis immediate and unconditional release after being duly briefed about his ordeal.In the alternative, the SSS should charge him to court forthwith if there is evidence that he has committed any criminal offence known to law.Mr. Falana said the SSS actions of illegal detention was a throwback to the military era.Even under the defunct military junta, the arrest and detention of political detainees and economic saboteurs were justified by the military dictators under preventive detention decrees.Notwithstanding that the obnoxious decrees have been repealed, the SSS has continued to breach the fundamental rights of the Nigerian people in utter breach of the relevant provisions of the Constitution which have guaranteed them, he stated.Over the weekend, Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, lampooned the SSS for the poor treatment meted out to Mr. Gbadamosi who acted as a responsible citizen and honoured the invitation from the secret police.It is only in a banana republic that someone will honour invitation of security agency, only for him to be bundled into any available plane and moved from Lagos to Abuja without telling anyone what his offences were, the governor said.On Tuesday, Mr. Gbadamosis lawyers filed a motion at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights to freedom, liberty and life.Despiting being allowed to meet him today, Mrs. Gbadamosi said she still didnt have an idea when her husband will be released.Calls for Mr. Gbadamosis freedom had been trending under the hashtag #FreeBOG for several days, and an online petition that was created to press for his release had garnered 460 supporters as at 7:46 p.m. Wednesday.
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-kayode has reacted to the release of Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi, a PDP chieftian.
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-kayode has reacted to the release of Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi, a PDP chieftian.Gbadamosi was arrested last Week after honoring the invitation of the Nigeria security service.On his Twitter timeline, Fani-Kayode said: My aburo @BOGbadamosi has finally been released by the DSS.This is a victory for democracy and the rule of law. Praise the Lord!Mr. Fani-Kayode has initially condemned the arrest and detention of Babatunde Gbadamosi by DSS urging them to respect his rights and either release him or charge him to court.No words yet from the the PDP Lagos Chieftain, Gbadamosi.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that loss of values in the society and high rate of criminality and delinquencie...
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that loss of values in the society and high rate of criminality and delinquencies amongst the youth forced him to write Tortoise stories books .Obasanjo who spoke in Abeokuta at 2017 International Youth Variety Day and Public Presentation of volume one of Olusegun Obasanjos Books for Children said it was sad that the youths of nowadays lack morals and values.The former President who went down memory lane to recall his Yola prison experience during the period of his incarceration during the late Gen. Sanni Abacha-led military regime, said his interaction with the young inmates revealed that some of them were suffering from high level of loss of values which he said was responsible high rate of criminality and delinquencies. The event was part of activities of the Grand Opening of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) and 80th birthday of Obasanjo.The former President accused the religious institutions, parents, teachers and community leaders of not living up to the expectations which he said has put the country in its present situation.He said, One area of our lives where we have to do a lot of work is in the area of values. When I was growing up, if people dont know your source of sudden wealth, such a person was isolated and ostracised.If your father went out at nights, it was likely that your father was a thief. And we other children were asked to keep away from children of such character. How do we bring back these values? When I was in prison in Yola, I interviewed some young men in that prison,i was shocked with what i found out . Given the level of criminality and deliquencies in the society, you have to blame the teachers, schools, churches, mosques, community leaders among others.But where do we begin to make correction? One of the ways are the story books I have written. I started writing the Tortoise stories while I was in Yola Prison. Now the Volume 1 is being presented today.Meanwhile, former President Obasanjo has disclosed that his desire to know the exact day he was born made him to travel to India where he met with astronomer , but, could not achieve is aim.Obasanjo who acknowledged that 1937 might not be the exact date of his birth, said, he was convinced that he was born around the year considering the age of some of his childhood friends.Obasanjo had insisted that, he was born in 1937 on market day in Ifo in Ogun State. He said I do not know the date of my birth, then, I used to ask my mum that mama they said we should come to school with our date of birth and my mum will say you are very stupid, you are born on Ifo market day. And whoever wants to know the date of your birth, tell them you are born on Ifo market day.She explained that all she could remember was Ifo market day. she was ready to go to Ifo market that day before she went into labour , before those that went to market comes back I have already been bone. That then led me into the trouble of trying to find out when I was born, I was not as lucky as some of my colleagues that have their date of birth .In fact, I went to an astronomer in India, I told him to look at my palm and tell me my real age, but ,all he told me was that I will have longevity of life, but, that was not what I went to do. So, I concluded on the date that I have chosen.While speaking on the Presidential Library, Obasanjo said there was institutional memory in the country, adding that the nation was careless with what it ought to preserve as a national treasures. He argued some of the national museums which he had visited are nothing to write home about.He however , said that his Presidential Library which was modeled after the US Presidential library, saying, when opened would bridge the gap between the attitude and behavior of not preserving the national treasures. One of the confusion in peoples mind is that Presidential library is the same as normal library. And I see many people sending books to me.The Library is for the both young and old. I also believe that it might start bridging the gap in our behaviour and attitude about our carelessness in preserving our national treasures . One of our behavioral pattern and attitude is that we have no institutional memory; that is what brings about the idea of Presidential library. If you go into our national Museums it is pathetic, he said.
The Nigerian military has pledged its continuous support to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Nigerian military has pledged its continuous support to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari.The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, made this pledge on Wednesday during a meeting of the Security Chiefs with the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in the Presidential Villa.The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, made this pledge on Wednesday during a meeting of the Security Chiefs with the Acting President in the Presidential Villa.He applauded the administrations support in the fight against Boko Haram, and the welfare of troops in crisis-ridden areas in the northeast.Mr Dan Ali disclosed that more equipment have been procured to strengthen the troop in the fight against the terrorists.He stated further that over 2,000 people held captive by the terrorists have been released, with several high profile Boko Haram Commanders arrested.The Minister said normalcy has also returned to Southern Kaduna, following the recent killings in Kafanchan.He added that efforts are ongoing to construct a military barrack in Southern Kaduna area.Present at the Security Council briefing are the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, and the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed.Also in attendance are other Service Chiefs as well as Directors and Heads of Security Agencies.
The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that an estimated three million Nigerians have lost N18 billion in the Ponzi sc...
The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that an estimated three million Nigerians have lost N18 billion in the Ponzi scheme, popularly called Mavrodi Mundial Movement (MMM).Speaking at NDIC day at the ongoing 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair on Thursday, the Managing Director of the Corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim decried that despite repeated warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the corporation, Nigerian's still patronise MMM.He noted that the creation, usage or trading in the Ponzi scheme in forms of virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Onecoin as currencies for medium of exchange are Internet-based transactions and are not authorised by the CBN due to the risks involved in their operations.He cautioned that any person or groups of persons who invest their money in the Phonzi scheme does so at their own risk.He added,"The Phonzi scheme is the phenomenon of illegal fund managers, popularly called "Wonder Banks" which have continued to defraud unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned money. This phenomenon has been a source for concern because despite our repeated warnings over the years, some members of the public have continued to fall victims of their fraudulent practices."We would like to reiterate the fact that these fund managers are illegal as they are neither licences by the CBN to take deposits from members of the public not are those who patronise them covered by the NDIC deposit insurance scheme. I want to also draw the attention of some cooperative society which often go beyond their primary mandate by accepting contributions from members as cooperative societies are only recognised to mobilise savings from their members. "
Members of the American War College and officers of the United States Air Force, on Monday, 27 January, visited the office of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lekki, Lagos, for a historical tete-a-tete with some of Nollywood practitioners and stakeholders.The AWC said they were in Nigeria for fact-finding and that Nollywood, the second largest producers of video films in the world, was one of the sectors they wanted to understand.The meeting which was midwifed by the Founder/CEO of Africa International Film Festival, Ms Chioma Ude, was attended by top U.S. Embassy staff and Nollywood stakeholders like Igwe Gabosky, Prince Jide Kosoko, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Alex Eyengho, Kate Henshaw, Hilda Dokuboh, Norbert Ajaegbu, and Paul Obazele among others.Lt. Colonel Bill Curlin of the United States Air Force who led the delegation noted that it is important to America that it understands Nigeria beyond its political state, and to find other areas of interests, including security, that could be of benefits to both countries.It is not enough to understand Nigeria from the angle of the politicians or political decisions being made, but to fully grasp the understanding of various sectors which when put together, form a unified and formidable front, he stated.Sharing his thoughts on the visit of the American delegation, Eyengho who noted that the meeting was very engaging from both sides said, We told them what they ought to know and do so as to deepen the Nollywood brand they care so much about.According to filmmaker who hinted on the menace of piracy in the sector, There is basically no way to put up a fight against the pirates because they are more organised with a definite plan as to mode and means of distribution, aided by the right finances and channels. He added that Nigerian content is not protected on the internet and advised that co-production treaties should be encouraged so as to foster better and more global productions that cut across borders and are better structured.Also speaking, Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw noted that the issue of social satires are not commercially viable in Nigeria. Nigerians do not take culture or heritage seriously, and we are gradually drifting away from what we have always known to a new world order. People are not really seeking relevant themes but are more interested in comic and feel-good themes that shy away from the truth and nothing more, she said.Speaking with The Nation, Colonel Paul H. Nelson, a surgeon in the United States Air Force buttressed on the relevance of the visit, saying: Being a facilitator in the Department of International Security Studies, I tend to want my students to understand the world they will be operating in because that would prevent any form of altercation. Personally I have realised that we all are one; irrespective of race, we tend to care about the same things; family, survival, a better source of livelihood and the lot.The meeting drew to a close with the presentation of a token the shudder of an airplane to the Nollywood practitioners by Curlin.
Ogoni women have expressed their disapproval of planned military occupation of Ogoniland under the guise of security challenges.
Ogoni women have expressed their disapproval of planned military occupation of Ogoniland under the guise of security challenges.Speaking to newsmen in Ogoni today, leader of the agitating women, Mrs Leedensin Daadan said it was shameful that the some Ogonis could think of no their alternatives to address a very simple security challenge and thought of using the military whose only pedigree in Ogoni is raping of women and gross human rights abuse.Mrs Daadan said, "The army only rape women and abuse children each time they enter Ogoni. We and the children are the most vulnerable and will not accept any military occupation. We ill be willing to match against the military should any move to occupy Ogoni be contemplated"Mrs Daadan said, the security situation was directly a fallout of the last election and suggest a political solution to the problem. The Ogoni woman leader said the situation in Ogoni had only been over-blown out of proportion maintaining that it is still possible for Ogoni leaders to explore a political solution.
Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were the two members of the firm tasked with safeguarding the envelopes with the winners names on them.
However, a mix-up by Brian resulted in presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway being given the Best Actress envelope instead of the one announcing that Moonlight had won Best Picture.
Dunaway eventually announced that La La Land had won the Best Picture top prize, which was wrong.
Cullinan has drawn media attention and scrutiny because he was tweeting from backstage minutes before handing Beatty the wrong envelope.
The police in Imo State have arrested suspected killers of Oscar Okebata, a retired soldier in the American Army who was robbed and murder...
The police in Imo State have arrested suspected killers of Oscar Okebata, a retired soldier in the American Army who was robbed and murdered in Atta, in the Ikeduru LGA, on January 12, 2017, were also arrested.At a press briefing in Owerri, the state capital on Wednesday, the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, said Chukwu Osondu, Stanley Uchechukwu, Kelvin Onyekachi and Promise Uchendu were apprehended with concrete evidence that showed that they murdered the ex-solider who was in the state for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.Lakanu said, The suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of one Oscar Okebata of Achi Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, an American veteran solider who returned home for Yuletide last year.The victims Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was sold at N125,000. It was the mobile phone that led policemen to the suspects, leading to their arrest.
The police in Imo State have arrested a police Sergeant, Iseke Koradam, at a hospital in Oke-Uvuru, in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Ar...
The police in Imo State have arrested a police Sergeant, Iseke Koradam, at a hospital in Oke-Uvuru, in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state while allegedly attempting to steal a newborn baby.The Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, disclosed that at a press briefing in Owerri, the state capital on WednesdayThe CP said that the police sergeant and his gang who allegedly planned to steal the newborn baby had confessed to the crime and would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigation.
Power supply, which stands at 4,000 megawatts, is set for a major boost.
Power supply, which stands at 4,000 megawatts, is set for a major boost.The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved N701 billion Power Assurance Guarantee for the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET)to ensure a better supply of gas to the power plants. This will in turn improve power supply.One of the major problems of the sector has been the lack of gas for power plants and the complaints about access to funding by the Generating Companies.Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola announced the FEC approval after yesterdays meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.With him at the briefing were Minister of Information Lai Mohammed and Minister of Agriculture Audu Ogbeh.Fashola said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) facility will guarantee payment for the evacuation of power produced by Generating Companies (GenCos) for the national grid.It will be drawn monthly to tackle the GenCos liquidity challenges.NBET will pay GenCos, which have been unable to pay their gas suppliers, in arrears of electricity generated as a deliberate step to boost their confidence and that of intending investors in the sector.Fashola said: You will recall that a few weeks back we announced the approval of council for early works for the second Niger Bridge. That bridge at some time was part of a PPP initiative. You will also recall that at the same time, some private agreements were signed to build the Lagos-Ibadan express way.The first memo is to brief council on the PPP status of those infrastructure projects and present options to government, which was essentially that where those PPPs are having problems, government must lead and finance the infrastructure while continuing to engage the private sector. Government remains committed to having private participation in infrastructure renewal.But government, as a matter of strategy; thinks that it can continue until financial closures, agreements and all of that are put in place when PPPs become ready and viable to help deliver. So, it was a strategy memorandum, the conclusion essentially which is that government is committed to doing short financing as much as possible and encouraging PPP as much as possible.The second memorandum is in another area of critical importance, which is power. Part of the challenges there were addressed in the memo that was presented to Council to solve some of the liquidity problems, especially as it relates to NBET.NBET as you know, is the governments own company, that is the Bulk Trader Electricity which buys power from the GenCos. The liquidity problems that have characterized the market have affected NBETs ability to deliver on its PPP obligations through the GenCos.So, going forward, in order to strengthen NBET, CBN is proving a payment assurance guarantee for any energy produced by any GenCos, so that the Gencos can pay their gas suppliers when they get paid. So that the hydros can continue to operate.What we seek to achieve here is to bring some stability to the production side of the power value chain and also give confidence to investors who want to come in, who are concerned about how to recover their money. Payment assurance and also people who are planning to invest in the gas sector, which is being championed by the Ministry of Petroleum, also are saying the same thing in terms of payment for gas produced.So, the approval of Council was to provide this guarantee for NBET, which is a 100 per cent government owned company to pay on a monthly basis its obligations for energy actually produced on to the grid to the GenCos that are its customers, he said.Fashola said the government was expanding transmission capacity regularly because it wanted to generate more power.He said: I have been here to announce to you transmission projects that have been approved by council and over the last one year plus the transmission capacity has grown to almost 7,000 from 5,000 and is continuing to grow with every project.So, it is not the problem of taking power; it is actually a problem of getting power from generation. If you recall just about a few weeks ago, you were reporting that power supply had dropped to a little over 2000mw. Its back now at over 4000mw.We have solved the transmission problem in Ikot Ekpene largely, to evacuate over a thousand. But the gas suppliers were being owed so they were not supplying gas for the power producers.As to the quantum of the guarantee, it is for two years from January this year right through to December 2018. It is capped at a maximum of N701 billion but it is to be drawn monthly. It is possible it may not reach that. But we are projected on the total cost that NBET will likely to pay. And that is why it is for power generated onto the grid only.So, if the power generated does not meet that cost, we dont pay for it. It is paid in arrears at the end of the month not in advance. So, it is for actually what gets onto the grid. And this is part of the reforms that we have briefed you about that we were planning to undertake.Fashola said he briefed the cabinet on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) status of the Second Niger Bridge and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.Ogbeh said the FEC approved N263 million for three research institutions to produce gum arabic seedlings for farmers and for export.He said Nigeria earned as much as $43 million from export of gum arabic last year, and that more will be earned with increased production, more so as the commodity is in high demand in 17 countries.
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) has commended former President Goodluck Jonat...
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) has commended former President Goodluck Jonathans efforts towards finding a lasting solution to the partys leadership crisis.Professor Wale Oladipo, the National Secretary, said this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.Oladipo disclosed that members of NWC at their meeting, sequel to the official re-opening of the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, acknowledged the leadership qualities of the former president.He said that the NWC also noted with satisfaction the stand of the PDP Governors Forum on the need to adopt a political solution in bringing lasting peace to the party.The NWC restates its readiness to fully participate in the peace process.The NWC hereby calls on all staff of the PDP National Secretariat to resume duties immediately, he said in the statement.Oladipo said that the NWC also received and approved the request from PDP in Ebonyi for a time-table to conduct the party primaries for the local government elections in the state.Finally, the NWC commends the National Chairman, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff for the swift renovation of the National Secretariat, Oladipo said.Recall that PDP Governors forum, on Tuesday met with Jonathan in Abuja and agreed to adopt a political solution to the crisis.Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, spoke on what was discussed at the meeting.
Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state, has given reason why State governors visit ailing Preside...
Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state, has given reason why State governors visit ailing President, Muhammadu Buhari in the United KingdomHe stated this in Abuja during a media chat after the meeting of the NGF.Governor Yari said most of the governors are already speaking with Buhari through telephone calls.He, however, expressed his belief that Nigerians are praying for the Presidents quick recovery.Governor Yari said: I dont think it is necessary for governors to go to London to visit President Muhammadu Buhari. Some of us are already talking to him.I have been speaking with him. We know that he is sick quite alright. Every human being is bound to be sickLooking at his age coupled with the heavy and huge task of running Nigeria, it is not surprising to know he is sick.But all Nigerians, I believe, are praying for his quick recovery.
Wikes very best, can never equal, not to talk about surpassing Amaechis sterling, innovative, radical, trend-setting and absolutely re...
Wikes very best, can never equal, not to talk about surpassing Amaechis sterling, innovative, radical, trend-setting and absolutely revolutionary records as Rivers State Governor. Take it or leave it, Amaechi remains a hero of global reckoning.
Written By Eze Chukwuemeka Eze
Preamble
The urge and need to embark upon this treatise titled, WIKE AND AMAECHI: WHOS SATANIC AND NEEDS PSYCHIATRIC ATTENTION? AN INSIDERS INPUT became compelling and imperative when I read some of these sad and unfortunate headlines in the media Amaechi is a Lucifer, psychiatric patient Wike, Amaechi is Diabolic, He is A Devil Wike and Amaechi Is Satan, He And His Boys Should Go For Psychiatric Test Nyesom Wike all of which were attributed to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State recently about his mentor, predecessor and benefactor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and incumbent Federal Minister of Transportation.
According to Wike in his unguided outbursts, You are all aware that the Acting President came and held a stakeholders meeting with all of us, irrespective of affiliations. Even the Minister of Transportation was there. But, as you know, a chameleon will always be a chameleon and you know Satan will never sleep. Lucifer will always stay awake. Anywhere Satan sees light; he will always want to turn it into darkness. Just because the Acting President decided to stay in Rivers state, Lucifer went on rampage. I had no problem with the fact that Prof. Osinbajo wanted to hold a meeting with his party members. They are all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but I was surprised that a meeting they tagged APC stakeholders meeting turned out to be something else. They left what they gathered for and started making demands for the people of Rivers State. Who sent them? If I were them, they should go for psychiatric test. I have never been treated by a psychiatrist . I dont even have one as my doctor, but when your personal doctor is a psychiatrist , then you should know there is a problem. I dont want to talk about what his (Amaechi) boys (Dakuku Peterside and Magnus Abe) were saying but, I was happy for one thing. I was happy that the Minister of Transportation could not believe his eyes when he came into Government House. It was like a paradise. When he came to the Presidential Lodge, he couldnt believe it and he entered my car, my BMW 7 Series with the Acting President. What a comic and unfortunate statement from a fellow occupying the exalted position of a Governor of a State?
According to records, let me explain what prompted the need of the meeting of APC stakeholders with Prof Osinbajo: Wike and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders that gathered to act as if they were the only recognised organ to speak for Rivers State people ensured that the APC stakeholders were denied entry to the Rivers State Government House, during the assumed stakeholders meeting with the Acting President, Prof Osinbajo, coupled with the fact that APCs banners and signposts welcoming the Acting President to Rivers State were all destroyed by Wike and his boys.
Under this situation, one can only applaud the doggedness, sagacity and wisdom of Rt. Hon Amaechi in initiating the APC stakeholders meeting with the Acting President, who is of the APC extraction at, least, to ensure that the positive side of the demands of Rivers State people are tabled and discussed. Most of the needs of the Niger Delta region tabled before the Acting President in both forums were needs that Wike, in collaboration with some of these misguided PDP leaders, killed during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan. I will discuss this further later in this treatise.
Although one cant fathom why the meeting by Prof Osinbajo with Rivers APC stakeholders could be a reason for Wike to berate his mentor and benefactor with such harsh and derogatory statement, calling him Satan, diabolical and psychiatrist , but sadly, this is not the first time that Wike will utilise any opportunity to abuse and run down Amaechi before his cohorts, associates and the general public. At times, one wonders if Wike was actually prepared for governance or he just found himself in the government house, unprepared and at a loss as what to do, except on how to run down Amaechi for recommending him to former President Jonathan as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Satan is not any issue that can be swept under the carpet, just like that. It is probably on this that Israelmore Ayivor stated Do not rush to judge someone unless his/her fruits reveal the truth. However, don't forget; mostly, it's not the fault of the tree to produce bitter fruits. Sometimes, the soil determines that; blame the source! Deal with the soil! Don't deal with the tree! Other trees are there that the same soil can influence! Don't deal with your enemy, deal with the Satan that sponsors them. It is based on the need to reveal the truth or otherwise of Wikes stand that prompted this research, of unearthing between Wike and Amaechi, who is actually satanic and psychiatric. For Wike to call Amaechi - his mentor, benefactor and whose influence in his life is not in doubt is not any issue that can be swept under the carpet, just like that. It is probably on this that, . It is based on the need to reveal the truth or otherwise of Wikes stand that prompted this research, of unearthing between Wike and Amaechi, who is actually satanic and psychiatric.
Wike and his cohorts copied the speech of Amaechi on why he joined APC, to present to the Acting President during his visit to Rivers State.
Reading through what Wike and his cohorts presented as the needs of Niger Delta region before Osinbajo, I dont know whether to cry or to laugh at the characters of our so-called leaders from Rivers State. Read through - what Amaechi stated at the height of his persecution in the hands of Wike and some of these funny PDP leaders in 2014 - and then judge for yourself why these people cant be said to be serious minded fellows. The desperation of the PDP leadership to completely destroy Amaechi led to his departure, alongside six other PDP governors, to form the New PDP, with five of them later joining the opposition party, APC, to dislodge PDP from the centre. I was privileged to be the spokesperson of this group then. But let us hear what Amaechi said, which Wike and his misguided group shamelessly reproduced and presented before Prof Osinbajo as the needs of Niger Delta region: Explaining why he joined APC, Amaechi said:
Unfortunately, recent events within the PDP have given me reason to reconsider our collective interest as people of the South-south and, indeed, as Rivers people. At various times, as the one whom you gave your mandate, I had cause to complain about the marginalisation of our state and our people, despite our huge contribution to the national coffers and our unflinching commitment and support for the ruling PDP. While the political and economic importance of Rivers State cannot be contested, we continue to hold the shorter end of the stick.
A few instances may suffice: Our demand that the Federal Government return oil wells belonging to Rivers State to us has gone unheeded and been treated with levity under this administration. Rather, our oil wells have been ceded to Bayelsa, Abia and Akwa Ibom states. Even after we got a judgment that the oil wells were wrongly ceded to Akwa Ibom State and should be returned to us; only dry wells that were no longer producing oil were returned.
In the specific case of the Soku oil wells, despite a decision reached that the monies should remain in an escrow account till all matters concerning it are resolved, the Federal Government continues to pay neighbouring Bayelsa State the revenues meant for Rivers State, in a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is, indeed, noteworthy that we have made several representations formally and informally on this matter.
A second instance is the total absence of federal presence in Rivers State. The National Good Governance Tour provided a good opportunity for the Federal Government to showcase its presence in Rivers State. The tour, if nothing else, proved that there was not much to show in a state that is the cash-cow of the federation. The East-West Road remains abandoned, work has been deliberately slow on the Port Harcourt International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, while all airports started along with it have long been completed and commissioned. The Bonny-Bomu Road that leads to the only functional liquefied natural gas project remains uncompleted. In the midst of all these, our administration went ahead to fix federal roads to the tune of N103 billion. Several representations and letters after, not one kobo has been repaid. The Federal Government is actively discouraging investments in Rivers State.
Let me reiterate that apart from all the listed attacks against Niger Delta region because of his hatred for Amaechi, Dr Jonathan took the proposed biggest dockyard in Africa meant for Bonny in Rivers State to Lagos State. When he lost the election, he revoked the project that was already 40 per cent done. He equally stopped the implementation of the cleaning up of Ogoni land, renovation of the Port Harcourt International Airport as well as repair of major federal roads in the state. To Wike and his misguided Rivers State PDP, Dr Jonathan is the hero of Niger Delta, while Amaechi is a villain!
What Amaechi is to Wike
To understand this article better, the need to explain the relationship between Amaechi and Wike at this juncture becomes imperative. As a close associate and one who has worked under the two leaders, I am ably qualified to speak on the two. Both are of the Ikwerre extraction in Rivers State. From 1999 to 2007, Amaechi was the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly; an office he used to lobby and influence the election of Chief Nyesom Wike as two-term executive chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, one of the richest LGs in Nigeria. While Amaechi was the chairman, Council of Speakers Forum, Wike was chairman of the local government chairmens forum in Nigeria.
From 2007 to 2015, Amaechi was the Governor of Rivers State, with Chief Wike as his chief of staff from 2007 to 2011. Besides, Wike was the director-general of the re-election campaign organisation of the then governor Amaechi, which he executed satisfactorily. As a result, Amaechi nominated him as a minister to represent Rivers in the Federal Cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan.
It was a mistake, you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you. Reading what Wike is doing to rubbish and ridicule Amaechi, after all that he did to assist him in his political life, Amaechi would be regretting the very day he set his eyes on this man that has turned a monster, ready to devour him. From the above, it should be very clear that Amaechi was the leader of his political dynasty, with Wike assisting him, accordingly. But reading and observing what is coming from Wike against his erstwhile boss and mentor, one may not look for a better definition than what David Levithan said: . Reading what Wike is doing to rubbish and ridicule Amaechi, after all that he did to assist him in his political life, Amaechi would be regretting the very day he set his eyes on this man that has turned a monster, ready to devour him.
Contrary to the lies in Wikes interview with the Sun Newspapers, where he stated that he never wanted to be Governor of Rivers State, but the revelation that his ambition to succeed Amaechi as the governor of Rivers State actually started from his days as chief of staff to Amaechi maybe shocking to most political watchers. But the fact remains that while Amaechi was busy providing dividends of democracy to the people, Wike, on the other hand, was busy undermining him and using the connections and goodwill of the Rivers State Government not only to station his men in strategic positions in government, but to empower most of them financially through award of contracts, initiation and other means. He tested the ground of his ambition when he was appointed director-general for the re-election of Amaechi as governor of Rivers State in 2011. He ensured that only his men were appointed to strategic fields to serve as key mobilisers at the grassroots level.
By the time he was appointed minister of state in the Ministry of Education based on the recommendation of Amaechi to Dr Jonathan Wike went further with his gubernatorial ambition plot by forming the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), a political pressure group he used to deceive the public, that it was formed to assist in the re-election of then President Jonathan. But, in fact, the outfit was formed to pursue his gubernatorial ambition. He used the outfit to formally recruit his foot soldiers for the battle ahead. This body was heavily financed and motivated, and its presence was established in all the constituencies of Rivers State.
It was this group that he used to dislodge over 11 key Peoples Democratic Party members that wanted to contest the 2015 governorship election under the PDP platform. Those that wanted to play games were properly beaten up and molested at the partys national secretariat at Abuja. Before this time, Wike, based on political exigency, tactfully suppressed his gubernatorial ambition from public view. Instead, he offered himself as a tool to spearhead the political battle between Jonathan and Amaechi. He gave everything within him to execute this, with the PDP ticket as a target.
Plot against Amaechi
Genesis of the creation of and manufacture of the in-fight with Amaechi, by Jonathan and Wike, stemmed from claims and rumour developed and spread around by members of their camp to win the hearts of Niger Delta people to their devious plot. That is, that the then Governor Amaechi will contest the office of the president or vice-president, with a candidate from the northern part of the country in 2015, thereby truncating the second-term ambition of President Jonathan who is from the same geo-political zone (South-south). This strategy sold like wild fire in the region. And, based on this evil assumption, Jonathan, using Wike as a tool, created the type of Rivers State and Niger Delta region where lives make no meaning, and the economy of the nation is being destroyed
Hostility by Jonathan, Wike against Amaechi
Despite Amaechis show of love to former President Jonathan, in order to humiliate and annihilate him politically, the following steps, among others, were adopted: A private jet of the Rivers State Government was grounded for no just cause; the PDP structure in Rivers State was taken away from Amaechi; his election as chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), which was duly certified and widely acknowledged, was annulled by President Jonathan and his cohorts; he also supported the destruction of the once vibrant NGF by supporting 16 governors against 19. Besides, on May 27, 2013 Amaechi was suspended from the PDP, a party he so much loved and spent so much to build. They followed this up with his expulsion. Indeed, if not for divine providence, he would have been illegally impeached by five legislators -(Chinda, Kelechi Godspower Nwogu (Omuma), Evans Bapakaye Bipi (Ogu/Bolo), Martins Amaewhule (Obio/Akpor I) and Victor Ihunwo (Port Harcourt III) - who were loyal to the then minister of state for education, Nyesom Wike, in a House of 32 members. Jonathan withdrew the security details attached to Amaechi. As if these were not enough, the ex-president used state power to prevent Amaechi, then a sitting governor, from reaching Ekiti, in the South-western part of the country, to support the re-election of Dr Kayode Fayemi, because they were in the opposition then. Above all, a Police Commissioner, Mr Joseph Mbu, was posted to Rivers State to haunt, harass, torment, insult and abuse Amaechi publicly.
Wike and Amaechi, who is satanic, diabolical and psychiatric? Be the Judge!
Chief Wike has shamelessly proved that his one single futile project: is to run down his predecessor, mentor and benefactor, former governor Amaechi, which he has carried out so religiously since he was erroneously declared the Governor of Rivers State by the Supreme Court at the expense of over hundreds souls of Rivers State people who were slaughtered in a bid to install him. Observers of the politics of Rivers State could have noted that since his assumption of office as the Governor of Rivers State on May 29, 2015, he has only emphasised and embarked on carrying out this sinister single agenda by throwing caution to the wind and there is nothing in the book of propaganda, dirty politics, blackmail and falsification of records that Wike has not employed and deployed in his desperation to drag Amaechis name to the mud. Apart from commissioning a commission of inquiry with the sole agenda: investigate, condemn and find Amaechi guilty and, if possible, arrest and imprison him. And to his chagrin, this kangaroo commission could still not found Amaechi culpable or wanting in all aspects of its investigations. Wike went ahead in his frustration to issue a white paper indicting Amaechi of corruption, without any recourse to the findings of the panel of inquiry set up in this regard.
Wike, through the then infamous CP Mbu, heartlessly dispersed 13,000 teachers who gathered to receive their employment letters, aided the five renegade lawmakers to attempt the impeachment of the then speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, barricaded and sealed the State Assembly for one legislative year, and even blocked the access road to Government House on one occasion, preventing Amaechi and his visitors from using the road. Wike, with the backing of the then First Lady Patience Jonathan, ordered his thugs to stone state governors who visited Rivers in solidarity with Amaechi, for the humiliation he suffered under the watchful eyes of then-President Jonathan. Wike later used the Police and the Army to forcefully break into the newly-constructed stadium, just to prove his powers.
Wikes desperation to drag Amaechis name in the mud, in order to frustrate his nomination or appointment as a minster, made him (Wike) to sponsor a satanic documentary on Amaechi, aired on Africa Independent Television (AIT). This documentary was part of Wikes propaganda war against Amaechi, for which he earmarked billions of naira in his plot to destroy the person and character of Amaechi. Other propaganda tools planned and deployed during this period, in the war against Amaechi, include sponsored publications such as advertorials, columns, editorials and Op-Ed articles in major international, national and local print media; sponsored personality discussion programmes in the electronic media and sponsored special documentaries on television and radio through independent groups and organisations.
Other insidious plots by Wike to undermine Amaechi include commissioning a team made up of persons within and outside Rivers State to initiate, formulate and contrive false, damaging reports bordering on alleged corrupt practices by Amaechi, which were circulated to individuals and institutions within Nigeria and abroad, with a view to damaging the character and rising profile of Amaechi; in order to blackmail and put pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari not to appoint him into his government. These cooked reports, to the shock of many Nigerians, was sent to the Senate and presented through one misguided Senator Thompson Sekibo, which the Senate referred to its Ethics Committee. This caused the delay in Amaechis screening and confirmation as a minister. Amaechi has through both the immediate past Secretary to the Rivers State Government, George Feyi, and the Commissioner for Finance, Dr Chamberlain Peterside, and others denied any form of corruption against him by Wike and his cohorts.
Wike did not stop at these, but went further to set up Justice George Omereji Panel, to investigate the administration of ex-governor Amaechi. Though the panel did not found any wrong-dealing, or corrupt practices by Amaechi, Wike went ahead to issue a white paper indicting him of embezzling the sum of N53 billion. How on earth can someone in his right senses describe funds withdrawn with the approval of the legislature and spent as prescribed by the state budget to be missing? Wike, in his desperation to stop Amaechis appointment as a minister, resorted to dancing naked in the market place.
But, as God will have it, and contrary to the expectations of Governor Wike and his gang of ingrates, their ferocious campaign to blackmail, disparage and portray Amaechi as a very corrupt person unfit to be appointed as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria failed to achieve the desired objective. On September 30, 2015 President Buhari went ahead to list and submit Amaechis name, along with 20 other Nigerians, as ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
And to the shock and chagrin of Wike and his cohorts, the Senate, after three sittings on the screening of the ministerial nominees, screened Amaechi on October 22, 2015 and formally confirmed him on October 29, 2015. He was subsequently sworn-in with the 35 other ministers on Wednesday November 11, 2015, by President Buhari, who as a further mark of confidence in the Lion of Niger Delta assigned to him the strategically important Ministry of Transportation.
What President Donald Trump of USA and Senator Modu Sheriff, PDP national chairman said about Wike:
When Trump, a world political leader and current President of the United States was told about one Wike from Rivers State, he sighed and in demonstration for his repugnance for most of the political actors in Rivers State expressly stated: One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace; good people dont go into government.
While to Sheriff, I will engineer a restructuring of the PDP such that characters like Wike and Fayose cannot find a way through to attain any position of prominence in our party in the future. They have brought shame and agony through the application of their crude and godless politics, which is at variance with the principles upon which our founding fathers built our great party. We must find a way to sieve things so that only men of character and integrity can come through for positions of responsibility at all levels of our political engagement in the country. We must urgently steer the ship of PDP clear of the path of infamy which Wike and Fayose has brought our party, making Nigerians to mistake PDP as a training ground for thugs. I advice Fayose to resign immediately as the chairman of PDP Governors Forum, a thug cannot lead our governors. That is the urgent task we have. We cannot continue to advertise thug brand and expect Nigerians to take us seriously.
Amaechi reacts
Ameachi said his sin against many people in the South-south and the former president was supporting a Muslim candidate from the north. His words: Our offence was supporting a Muslim. Not only that, our offence was supporting a northerner. What they failed to realise is that money does not know ethnic group; the stealing the current president is fighting cut across the whole nation; it is not the South-south people that stole the money, every part of the country stole that money. But it was under the supervision of a South-south president, and we are watching.
However, one thing Wike and his strategists fail to understand is that President Buhari is already aware of their desperation to victimise Amaechi, and also knows the politics of Rivers State as he knows his fingers. Therefore, their evil plot is an exercise in futility.
To throw more light on the level of betrayal by Wike, Amaechi on February 15, 2014 at the thanksgiving service held in honour of Senator Magnus Abe (who had to be flown to London for further medical treatment) in Bera, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, after surviving the January 12, 2015 bullet shot by policemen during the inauguration of the pro-Amaechis Save Rivers Movement (SRM), at Obio/Akpor LG chapter said: Wike used the names of his children to swear that he would not betray me. He told the congregation that a notable cleric earlier prophesied to him not to nominate Wike as minister, that he would betray him at last. I believe in prophecies. Apostle Suleiman said I should not nominate Nyesom Wike as a minister; that he would not only betray me, but would try to destroy me. When I confronted Nyesom Wike, in the presence of Chima Chinye, he swore with his children that he would not betray me. Any man that swears with the lives of his children is a wicked man. He does not appreciate those children at all. People who do not have character, you dont give them political power. Nyesom Wike, Dakuku Peterside and Magnus Abe are among those I helped that passed through our friendship.
Amaechi added that he intervened and assisted Wike to secure second term tenure, when the people of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area vowed to deny him a second term as chairman of the council over alleged disrespect for elders, arrogance and poor performance. What is his political history? Without the rest, God did them through me?
Rivers PDP Affirms Amaechis Sins
Supporting the attack against Amaechi, Rivers PDP, through Mr. Felix Obuah, the factional PDP state chairman, in a press statement stated: We are, however, shocked that Amaechi, who has shamelessly brought so much insult to the people of Niger Delta, is playing a major role in pushing out the son of the Niger Delta as the president of this country, in preference for his new-found love, and killer of his kinsmen (no thanks to the military invasion of Rivers State) will, against all odds, be nursing the ambition to launch a come-back to the region, after inflicting so much pains and agony on the people.
The Rivers APC, through its State Publicity Secretary, Chief Chris Finebone, reacted as follows: Much more than that, the statement, in some ways, underscores the nexus between the hurting of 2015 election to wailing wailers, the spate of destruction of oil installations by the Avengers and other restive youths in the Niger Delta, and the recent blowing up of Shell trunk line to Bonny Export Terminal. Little wonder the PDP in Rivers State fails to see the need for peace, which the Abuja meeting was meant to bring about in the Niger Delta. Is anyone still wondering those behind the ongoing bombing and bursting of pipelines in the Niger Delta? It is sad that an individual that sold his soul to Satan and connived with Wike to steal a political party structure in broad daylight could muster the courage to talk about betrayal. What betrayal can be more than that exhibited by a man that was shot and left to die, but was rescued and flown abroad to save his life. The same man turned around later to bite the hand that God used to save him. Indeed, Obuah should not forget to tell his children the true story of his miserable life.
Whos Amaechi?
Amaechi is an enigma that defies description. His erstwhile deputy, Engr Tele Ikuru, who seems to know him better than most of us, tried to give an insight into who this man is when, during the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court judgement that brought Amaechi to power, stated: Today, we have come to celebrate a resourceful leader, a dogged fighter, a political enigma, a change agent, people defender, transformer, catalyst, trailblazer, phenomenon of our time, His Excellency, the Rt Hon Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the executive Governor of Rivers State. A leader whose word you can take to the bank. A trusted friend and ally, a man who stands by his friends and confidants, both in good times and in times of difficulties and challenges. A man of conscience who does not hide under the veil of circumstances to betray his friends and allies; a compassionate leader whose love for the development of the state and its people has no parallel. A sincere and honest leader, who rather than cart away the commonwealth of Rivers people entrusted to his care, has diligently applied it to the development of the state to the admiration of the true Rivers people and even his traducers. A visionary leader who knows and sees his people first. I dont know if any other person can beat this definition of the enigma known as Amaechi.
, a renowned social commentator, Wikes very best, can never equal, not to talk about surpassing Amaechis sterling, innovative, radical, trend-setting and absolutely revolutionary records as Rivers State Governor. Take it or leave it, Amaechi remains a hero of global reckoning. To Victor Nwokocha
Conclusion
Woe to you, O destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.; and by When the devil wants to punish his worshippers, he uses the trick of karma. In conclusion, I am counselled by Isaiah 33:1and by Michael Bassey Johnson who stated:
Finally, Senator Abe, representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, summarised this treatise when he described Wike as uncouth in public speaking, and his comments as embarrassing to every Rivers man. Reacting to a statement credited to Governor Wike, who described his predecessor, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi as Lucifer, Satan and chameleon , Abe said such foul language ought not to come from a governor of a state, despite their political differences, although the governor has a history of incivility in public speaking, for the fact that he is a governor should make him weigh his words, the import and the connotation to his image, before speaking. It was unfair for the governor to call the minister unprintable names, for accompanying the Acting President to Government House, Port Harcourt. But if Wike should refer to Senator Abe and Dr Dakuku-Peterside as Amaechis boys, he (Wike) should also refer to himself as Amaechis boy, because he is what he is today by virtue of serving Hon Amaechi, as it was on that strength that he became a local government chairman, chief of staff and, later, appointed a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
I have nothing else to say than to ask the reader to decide who, among Wike and Amaechi, is satanic and needs a psychiatric physician.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt and can be reached through ezemediaconcept2020@gmail.com
camden-charter
A crossing guard looks on as Robert Rodriguez, right, walks Carlos Augusto, left, home from school on March 2, 2017. The state Department of Education did not renew the Camden Community Charter School's application in the wake of dismal test scores. (Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com)
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CAMDEN -- Where will the children go now? Who will be held responsible? What will become of a relatively new building -- and when will its hallways and classrooms be filled again?
A sign encouraging enrollment for the Camden Community Charter School is displayed outside of the campus, March 2, 2017. The state Department of Education did not renew the charter's application in the wake of dismal test scores. (Greg Adomaitis | For NJ.com)
Word this week that Camden Community Charter School is one of four such independent learning institutions in New Jersey that saw its renewal application denied by the state Department of Education prompted plenty of questions from the community.
"It makes me very concerned. Why would you hurt these little kids," questioned longtime Camden resident and block captain Fred Simpson. "You close the school, you bring in more crime."
In the eyes of the New Jersey Department of Education, the Camden charter simply wasn't performing academically. In a letter to the Camden school, state officials cite poor test scores across elementary and middle school grade levels at the facility that opened in 2013 and has about 700 students from kindergarten through 6th grade.
"In the last two years not a single student in the middle grades met or exceeded grade level expectations in math," a letter from Harrington to charter President Edmond George reads.
"All New Jersey public schools, which include charter schools, must be held to a high standard in order to ensure that all of our children receive the quality educational experiences they deserve," Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington said.
Per that state letter, Department of Education officials direct the charter school to cease operations come June 30 and notify all affected that the charter has not been renewed. It goes on to state that the Camden School District will assist parents and guardians with enrolling students in another school for the 2017-18 year.
Many parents and guardians appeared to be taken aback by news that the school would be closing and they'd need to find a new educational outlet for their little ones.
Luz Medina, an East Camden resident who was walking home her great granddaughter and kindergartner, said she'd heard nothing up until dismissal around 3 p.m. Thursday. No rumors, no rumblings from parents, no newsletters -- nothing to indicate the state's recent decision.
Robert Rodriguez, whose grandson and 5th grader Carlos Augusto has attended the charter school for the past two years, said he heard word of the closure just 30 minutes before he went to pick up the boy.
Asked how teachers are are at the school, Carlos gave a thumb-up.
"Where do we go from here," another city resident who did not wish to provide his name said of essentially pulling the rug out from students and "plugging them into one of the few remaining high schools."
In response to a request for comment, the charter decried the decision as "extremely disappointing and completely unwarranted" and that the school has " provided a safe and enriching learning environment with a constantly improving education option for the children of Camden."
"In its three-and-a-half short years of educating Camden's students, CCCS and its dedicated teachers have helped stabilize one of Camden's most troubled neighborhoods," the statement continues, adding that the charter is "reviewing the state's decision and considering our options, including pursuing litigation."
In its 2016 School Information Card assessment, the Camden School District notes that Camden Community Charter School was one of three that did not participate in the survey that ranked academic performance with an on-site visit.
The school district did not wish to comment on Thursday's revelation that this facility, in a city comprised of public, Renaissance and charter schools, would close.
The other three charter schools that also saw their application renewals denied are located in Newark. A total of 20 charter schools have gone under during the Christie administration.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
WATERFORD -- The morning coffee crowd began to roll in shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Lorie Toussaint, the owner of the Atco Diner on the White Horse Pike -- hometown of Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump -- said many of the locals may have been delayed at church.
"It's Ash Wednesday," she said, pointing to the cross made from black ashes on her forehead.
Sure enough, one patron after another began to file in, many with black ash on their foreheads. They ordered coffee, eggs sunny side up with strips of bacon and other items up and down the menu and virtually all of them had an opinion about Trump and his first address to Congress on Tuesday night.
"I thought it was one of his greatest speeches," said Pat Petta, 80, a retired highway construction worker from nearby Winslow. "Everybody, I think, liked what he said. Except the Democrats," he said with a chuckle.
Waterford, a town of roughly 10,000, is one of only three municipalities in staunchly Democratic Camden County with a majority of votes cast for Trump in the general election. Trump tallied 2,968 votes to 2,007 for Hillary Clinton. Locals at the Atco Diner on Wednesday concluded it may have something to do with the rural nature of the township on the edge of the Pine Barrens -- and not necessarily because one of his top strategists, Conway, grew up here.
"This man is our president," said Gabriel Cimino, 76, a retired construction worker. "Give 'em a shot."
Joel Thompson, 35, a minister from Upper Darby, Pa. was in town Wednesday to do the final inspection on a home he and his wife are buying here. He stopped into the diner for a cup of coffee but left with more insight into the town.
"There's definitely a split," Thompson said of the political climate in town. "The people are either very pleased or very concerned. There's not a whole lot of middle ground people."
Jeff Merkel, 68, a retired carpenter from the Atco section of the township, said he thinks Trump may not finish his first term.
"I give him about two years before he just quits," said Merkel, a Vietnam War veteran. "Between what our country put up for election this year, it's pretty bad."
"I don't think anybody here gave him the benefit of the doubt just because of Kellyanne," Toussaint chimed in. "Kellyanne is a person who grew up in town, a lovely, lovely lady. I don't think anybody supported Trump because of Kellyanne. You either like him or you don't."
Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The estate of a Millville man who purportedly lost an ear to a K-9 during his 2016 arrest filed a lawsuit against Millville Police Department.
Joey Myers was in the basement of a pizzeria on Jan. 18, 2016 when the K-9 and three police officers were inside looking for him. According to the lawsuit, the officers lost control of the K-9 and it attacked Myers -- biting his leg and face.
At the time, Myers was charged with obstruction, hindering apprehension, resisting arrest by flight and interference with a law enforcement animal. After being treated at the hospital, he was held in Cumberland County Jail
Myers died after being struck by a car on Oct. 30 but the lawsuit was filed on March 1 by his mother Carolyn K. Chaudry, who manages his estate, who is represented by Philadelphia-based attorney Conrad Benedetto. The lawsuit asks for damages exceeding $1 million.
Police Chief Jody Farabella did not return a request for comment on the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon.
According to the lawsuit, Millville Police Department has policies in place that led to the injury of Myers due to excessive force and the violation of his constitutional rights -- as well as a pattern of unconstitutional behavior.
According to the lawsuit, Myers and told by a friend of a place to get high -- a restaurant with an open window. The two walked to Bim's Pizza on East Main Street and entered through the window. At this time, a neighbor reported to police someone entering the business through the window and police went to investigate the possible burglary, according to the police report.
Officers Michael Calchi, Gavin Phillips and Jeffrey profit responded to the scene, with Calchi bringing his K-9 partner Chase. At one point while they were entering the pizzeria through the window, Chase bit Proffit on the leg.
The officers investigated the basement and found Myers under the staircase. Chase tried to drag Myers from under the staircase by the leg and at one point bit him on the right side of the head -- taking a chunk out of Myers' ear.
According to the police report, Myers was punching Chase and shoved one of the officers once he got to his feet. During this struggle, a handgun fell out of Myers' pocket that belonged to the pizzeria owner and was kept in his safe, the police report states. Police also reportedly recovered $140.25 from Myers that was taken from the pizzeria.
According to the lawsuit, one of officers began to punch Myers and no weapon was found during the incident.
Once treated at the hospital and kept at the county jail, Myers experience headaches, pain and had difficulty sleeping due to his injuries.
The lawsuit demands a trial by jury.
Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BRIDGETON -- Your new favorite kitchen appliance is going to be coming from Bridgeton.
Flatev, a startup based in New York and Zuric, Switzerland, is using the Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton as its first manufacturing space for its new appliance. The appliance is similar to a Keurig, where a single-serving pod is inserted into the machine -- except instead of coffee a tortilla comes out.
"The business began as a result of my interest in producing authentic, healthy tortillas, just like my mother made for me when I was a child growing up in Mexico," said Carlos Ruiz, founder of Flatev, in a statement.
Ruiz came up with the idea while backpacking through Europe and college in Switzerland -- where he was unable to find the tortillas that he grew up with in Mexico.
A Kickstarter campaign raised $136,165 from 662 backers for the appliance and, according to a press release, the company was able to raise $5 million from finders.
Flatev partnered with Eugster/Frismag -- makers of the Nespresso single-serving coffee machine.
The Dough Pods used in the appliance run in corn or flour varieties and can come seasoned with garlic, chili or cinnamon. The appliance cooks the dough between 350 and 400 degrees and pops out a six-inch tortilla.
The company is using manufacturing space at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton, which acts as an incubator for businesses. The company has also been working with the Cumberland County Improvement Authority, which works on economic development on the local level, and Choose New Jersey, a statewide non-profit that encourages business to operate in New Jersey.
"Having Flatev select Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton as their first step into the U.S. market is positive economic win for our county," said Joe Derella, director of the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders. "Since the CCIA has become the lead agency for economic development they have attracted interest in Cumberland County from national and international companies."
The CCIA hopes to eventually entice Flatev, and other businesses, to eventually move into its planned 30,000-square-foot Food Specialization Center, which will be located next to the Rutgers Food Innovation Center and act as a larger incubation space for businesses that don't need whole facilities to operate.
"We are excited about the many partnerships and collaborations that the CCIA has created with our municipalities and economic development stakeholders," said Jerry Velazquez, CCIA executive director. "This is another example of how working together and making strategic investments, has enabled Cumberland County to attract national and international manufacturing to our area."
Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BRIDGETON -- The man accused of killing his estranged wife and then eluding police for more than two weeks has turned down plea deal in the case during an appearance in Superior Court Thursday.
Jeremiah Monell, 32, of Cedarville, allegedly stabbed 35-year-old Tara O'Shea-Watson to death on Dec. 18 in her Commercial Township home while their 12-year-old son watched, officials said.
Monell appeared Thursday in court for a pre-indictment conference.
During the conference, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office offered Monella plea deal in exchange for him pleading guilty to murder. The deal called for him to serve at least 30 years in prison.
"The incentive would be that there is the potential for him to be charged with special circumstances," said Brent Hopkins, assistant prosecutor. "That's something that the grand jury has to bring back. If there's no special circumstances, then it's a basic murder charge which is 30 to life. If there is special circumstances it could be life without parole"
Monell declined the offer.
He is charged with murder, violating a restraining order and weapons offenses for the death of O'Shea-Watson.
The two were married, but estranged, and had two children together. O'Shea-Watson filed a restraining order against Monell in May 2016 and he was indicted in August for a domestic violence charge, although it was dismissed a month before O'Shea-Watson's death.
According to friends, O'Shea-Watson was planning on fleeing to Tennessee with her two children to escape Monell.
Authorities found O'Shea-Watson stabbed multiple times in her Raymond Drive residence in the Laurel Lake section of Commercial Township on Dec. 18. Police quickly identified Monell as a suspect and launched a manhunt -- leading to his arrest two weeks later when authorities found him camping out in an Atlantic County woods.
Monell was last in court for a detention hearing in January, when the judge decided that Monell is to remain in Cumberland County Jail. The next step for Monell's case is for a Cumberland County grand jury to decide whether to indict Monell or not.
The investigation is still ongoing into O'Shea-Watson's death, Hopkins said.
Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
TRENTON -- Dismal test scores and ineffective teaching led to the downfall of four New Jersey charter schools ordered to shut down at the end of this school year, according to state documents.
The state Department of Education this week announced the closure of three charter schools in Newark and one charter school in Camden. Those decisions come after three of the schools had been placed on probation and the state completed a comprehensive review of each school.
Here's a closer look at the problems that led to the closure of each school, according to notices sent by acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington.
Paulo Freire Charter School
The Newark charter school, which opened in 2012, served about 200 high school students as of 2014-15, according to state data.
The state placed the school on probation for academic deficiencies last February and visited the school this fall for a review.
Test scores lagged compared to Newark Public Schools, the school failed to provide proper special education services and teachers complained about a lack of respect from school leaders, according to the state's review.
Parents, students, teacher and administrators all described the school's "instructional rigor" as a weakness, the state found.
"Low-level instructional activities were observed in most classrooms and observed instructional was primarily whole group, direct instruction and below anticipated grade levels standard," Harrington wrote in her notice of closure.
The school claimed that 97 percent of its graduates went on to four-year colleges, but the state found that 18 of the 66 students in the Class of 2016 failed to graduate on time.
In a statement, the school said it was working hard and showing signs of improvement since being placed on probation. It said the state's observations were anecdotal and accused the Department of Education of being unsupportive of smaller-independent charter schools
"We are quite disheartened," the school said. "We feel that the decision is not reflective of the School's true accomplishments or the efforts of our hardworking students, parents/guardians, and staff".
Newark Prep Charter School
Another Newark charter school that opened in 2012, Newark Prep had about 400 high school students as of 2014-15, according to state data. It was put on probation last January.
A state review found that just 64 percent of students graduated on time in 2016, and the school failed to make progress to improve it's "weak academic program."
"This school continues to struggle to institute rigorous instructional practices as required by the remedial plan," Harrington wrote.
Only 2 percent of students met grade level expectations on the state math exams.
Jeff Kwitowski, a spokesman for K12 Inc., which provides curriculum and school programs for Newark Prep, said the school had already fixed some problems highlighted by the state and was working to correct others.
"This has come as quite a shock," Kwitowski said.
Merit Preparatory Charter School
The third of the Newark charter schools ordered to close, Merit Prep also opened in 2012. It had about 325 middle school students as of 2014-15, according to state data, and had since expanded to high school.
The school's overall performance on state exams was among the lowest in the state as were its scores for student academic growth, according to Harrington's letter.
"This facts suggests that the school has not been accelerating student learning, which is a perquisite for closing the achievement gap," Harrington wrote.
Only 7 percent of the school's students met grade-level expectations on the state math exams in 2015-16.
Camden Community Charter School
The school opened in 2013 and had about 400 students in kindergarten through sixth grade as of 2014-15, according to state data. It applied to have its charter renewed in September.
The state's review found that the school is "not offering its student a high quality education," Harrington wrote. The school's scores for student academic growth were among the lowest 0.1 percentile in all of elementary schools in the state, according to the closure notice.
Classroom visits by the Department of Education found few instances of high expectations in classrooms.
"Many observed classrooms were characterized by low levels of student engagement and disruptive behavior, such as students talking over the teacher or knocking books off others' desks," Harrington wrote.
In a statement, the school called the decision "extremely disappointing and completely unwarranted."
"In its three-and-a-half short years of educating Camden's students, CCCS and its dedicated teachers have helped stabilize one of Camden's most troubled neighborhoods," the school said.
The school its considering its options, including litigation, it said.
Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
TRENTON -- The state has ordered three low-performing charter schools in Newark and one in Camden to close at the end of this school year, bringing the total number of failed charter schools to 20 under the Christie administration.
The three Newark schools -- Newark Prep Charter School, Paulo Freire Charter School and Merit Prep Charter School -- had all been on probation for academic problems. Upon further review, the state Department of Education decided to close the schools, it announced Wednesday.
The fourth school, Camden Community Charter School, was slated to have its charter renewed this year. It was the only one of 22 renewal applications that got rejected and was denied because of poor academic performance, according to the state.
"All New Jersey public schools, which include charter schools, must be held to a high standard in order to ensure that all of our children receive the quality educational experiences they deserve," Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington said. "These decisions reflect this Administration's continued commitment to hold low-performing charter schools accountable."
Jeff Kwitowski, a spokesman for K12 Inc., which provides curriculum and school programs for Newark Prep, said the school had already fixed some problems highlighted by the state and was working to correct others.
"School officials had multiple conversations and several site visits with department officials over the past couple months, and no indication was given that the department was planning to close the school," Kwitowski said. "This has come as quite a shock."
Amanda Vega-Malinowski, communications director for the New Jersey Charter Schools Association, said the group would support the schools slated for closure.
"While it is disheartening to see any child's education be disrupted, charter schools are opened to provide a high-quality, performance-based education to every student," Vega-Malinowski said. "Closure is the ultimate test of accountability."
The closures were announced along with the rejection of all four applications for new charter schools that had made it to the final round of consideration. However, the Christie administration also approved the expansion of 22 existing charter schools, adding hundreds of new charter school seats across the state.
A school choice advocate, Christie has described charter schools, which are public but operate separately from traditional school districts, as "salvation for families," especially those in urban districts. He's set goals for expanding charter school enrollment and proposed a charter school deregulation plan currently pending before the state Board of Education.
Though Christie often praises charter schools for outperforming public schools, his administration had already closed 16 charter schools prior to Wednesday. New Jersey began this school year with 88 charter schools.
The expansions approved Wednesday came after many charter schools made a push to win approval before Christie leaves office.
Karen Yi contributed to this report.
Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
patti-cakes.jpg
Danielle Macdonald has Jersey attitude to spare in 'Patti Cake$'
(FOX SEARCHLIGHT)
"Patti Cake$" is the story of Patricia "Dumbo" Dumbrowski, a plus-sized white girl from a Bergen County suburb who aspires to be a rich and famous gangster rapper. The film's director, Geremy Jasper, grew up in Hillsdale.
The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January to instant acclaim -- and a $10.5 million distribution deal from Fox Searchlight that was one of the richest deals in the indie festival's history.
Now local audiences will finally get the chance to see what all the hype is about. "Patti Cake$" was selected as the opening night selection for the prestigious New Directors / New Films festival in Manhattan, where it will be making its East Coast premiere on March 15.
It's been a particularly strong year for New Jersey-reared directors. Earlier this week, Princeton's Damien Chazelle won the Best Director Oscar for "La La Land."
Tickets for "Patti Cake$" go on sale today -- though it would be wise to act fast. (The first of the film's two screenings is already listed as "Standby Only.") Jasper and the cast are expected to be in attendance at both of the screenings that evening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Fox Searchlight has yet to set an official release date, so this might be your only opportunity to see it for months.
The annual New Directors/New Films -- now in its 46th year -- spotlights fresh work from fresh voices. Films come from around the world, and previous discoveries have included Christopher Nolan, Pedro Almodovar, Spike Lee and Kelly Reichardt. Which makes his film's prominent inclusion a particularly high honor for Jasper, a former musician and music-video director.
Jasper's film was workshopped at Sundance (where Quentin Tarantino became an early mentor). Its premiere there was met with a standing ovation, and special praise for its star Danielle Macdonald.
While the film was shot on location in seedy bars and gas-station parking lots, Macdonald is only playing at being Jersey -- she's actually an Aussie import.
Presented by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the festival takes place from March 15th through March 26th at both venues; other films include the Yiddish-language feature "Menashe," the Indian thriller "Sexy Durga" and the New York ensemble picture "Person to Person."
For more information, visit the festival's site.
Stephen Whitty may be reached at stephenjwhitty@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwhitty. Find him on Facebook.
NEWARK -- An alleged armed man shot by Newark police Monday faces gun charges stemming from the encounter, authorities said Thursday.
Ali Smith, 20, of Newark, is charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of an extended ammunition magazine, according to Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter.
Smith was treated at an area hospital and released the same day he was shot in the arm, the prosecutor's office said. He was ordered held at the Essex County jail on bail, but the amount was not immediately available. Records show he also faces drug-related offenses.
The shooting occurred around 1:20 p.m. at the Grace West apartment complex near Irvine Turner Boulevard and Muhammad Ali Avenue.
An officer was on patrol in the area when "they encountered a suspect who was armed and failed to comply with the orders given to him," said James Stewart Jr., president of the Newark Fraternal Order of Police. No police officers were shot.
Neighbors at the apartments said they heard several shots and saw police chase a man through the middle of the complex. The nearby Louise A. Spencer School was placed on lockdown as a result of the gunfire.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting were being investigated by the county prosecutor's office, which is standard procedure. In February, police interrupted a deadly shooting in Newark's North Ward and fired at a suspected gunman.
It was not immediately clear if Smith had a defense attorney to comment on the allegations.
Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Kellyanne Conway in the Oval Office
Rep. Cedric Richmond, Democrat of Louisiana, made a sexually crude joke about a now-notorious photo of President Donald Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway kneeling on an Oval Office sofa at the annual Washington Press Club Foundation congressional dinner on Wednesday night.
"I really just want to know what was going on there," Richmond said at the dinner. "Because she really looked kind of familiar there in that position there. But don't answer. And I don't want you to refer back to the 90s.
Conway previously said she was kneeling on the couch in order to take a photo of the president posing with dozens of leaders of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The White House demanded an apology and Republican National Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel accused Richmond of sexism.
"You may think this is funny, but it's not. It's disgusting & offensive," McDaniel tweeted on Thursday. "A snarky joke for you is just a reminder of the demeaning comments women hear every single day."
It was a RepublicanSen. Tim Scottwho brought up the photo of Conway a few minutes before Richmond's comment.
"Has anyone seen the controversy around Kellyanne Conway and the couch in the Oval Office?" Scott asked the crowd of journalists and lawmakers. "Come on, people. You remember the '90s. That couch has had a whole lot of worse things. Come on now.
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Richmond defended himself when asked by a reporter after the event if the joke was meant to be lewd.
"I just said she looked comfortable in that position," Richmond said. "I can't let Tim get away with making a Clinton joke without making one of my own."
In a statement on Thursday, Richmond attempted to clarify his comment, but did not apologize.
"Where I grew up saying that someone is looking or acting 'familiar' simply means that they are behaving too comfortably," Richmond said. "I decided to use that joke due to the large social media backlash over her inappropriate posture considering there were more than 60 HBCU Presidents in the room."
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CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION PETITIONS NEW U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY TO PUT HOLD ON CUTS TO SUMMER FLOUNDER RECREATIONAL FISHING
REDUCTIONS WOULD AMOUNT TO DE FACTO MORATORIUM ON FLOUNDER FISHING AND RIPPLE THROUGHOUT SHORE TOURISM ECONOMY
(17/P12) TRENTON The Christie Administration has formally requested the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, to put a hold on severe restrictions on recreational summer flounder fishing adopted recently by a regional fisheries commission, a move that would effectively cripple the states fishing industry and have far-reaching impacts on the shore tourism economy, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.
As head of the Department of Commerce, Secretary Ross oversees management of fisheries through the agencys Fisheries Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Marine Fisheries Service.
Last month, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approved a 34 percent reduction in the states recreational quota for summer flounder.
Commissioner Martin wrote to Secretary Ross that the restrictions will put our recreational summer flounder industry in serious jeopardy.
This action imposes a de facto moratorium on recreational summer flounder fishing in my state, Commissioner Martin wrote. This action also is disproportionately damaging to New Jersey compared with other states.
In the short term, New Jersey is requesting that you stop these new regulations from going into effect and that NOAA Fisheries maintain the status quo for the 2017 Recreational Harvest Limit for summer flounder. At the same time, we are requesting an immediate benchmark stock assessment for summer flounder be conducted.
Summer flounder, also known as fluke, is one of the states most popular sport fish. It is especially popular in New Jersey, attracting many thousands of anglers each summer season because of the abundance of these fish close to beaches and in bays and creeks. The summer flounder season in New Jersey typically runs from May through September, concurrent with the peak tourism season.
Any reduction would be in addition to the 27 percent recreational quota reduction New Jersey had to implement after successfully fighting off a proposed 59 percent reduction in 2015.
Last years New Jersey regulations allowed recreational anglers fishing to take up to four summer flounder per day that met a minimum, 17-inch length requirement in Delaware Bay. For all other New Jersey marine waters, the minimum length was at least 18 inches long.
In order to meet the new quota, New Jerseys size limit would have to be increased to 19 inches and the number of fish that could be kept each day would be reduced from five to three. Due to their biological needs and migration patterns, summer flounder are smaller in New Jersey waters than in waters north of our state.
Ironically, most of the fish that anglers would be able to keep under the new regulations would be breeding-size females. Ninety percent of the fish that meet the 19-inch limit are females.
The Christie Administration argues that fisheries resources, managed by regional commissions based on information collected by the states and the National Marine Fisheries Service, varies too widely from year to year, causing a great deal of uncertainty for state fishery managers and for those who enjoy fishing. Conversely, New Jersey has over three decades worth of fish trawl surveys that show a slight, but measurable increase in the summer flounder stock off the coast.
New Jersey recognizes the importance of protecting our marine resources by preventing the overfishing of any species, Commissioner Martin added in the letter. But the decisions that are made to ensure the health of fisheries must be based on reliable data about the health of the fishery and the use of up-to-date, sound science.
Recreational fishing in New Jersey alone directly creates some 20,000 jobs and contributes $1.5 billion to the states economy, with commercial fishing generating another billion dollars in economic benefits. Restaurants, hotels, gift shops and a wide range of other businesses would be harmed if recreational anglers see no point in making the trip if they feel that their prospects for keeping a few fish to take home are not good.
Commissioner Martin testified against the quota changes at the Feb. 2 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting. In his letter to Secretary Ross, Commissioner Martin noted that NOAAs Fisheries Office and the National Marine Fisheries Service are required to review decisions by regional commissioners before they are published in the Federal Register and become final.
For a copy of Commissioner Martins letter, visit: http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/pdf/2017/flndrletter02-28-17.pdf
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.
Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM recently released its capital spending projection for 2017. The company expects capital spending to be at $22 billion for 2017, up 16% from the 2016 level.
Moreover, capital and exploration expenses are expected to average $25 billion annually through the end of the decade. Over 25% of the planned spending in 2017 has been apportioned for high-value, short cycle opportunities, including those in the Permian and Bakken basins. Short-cycle investments are defined as those anticipated to generate positive cash flow in less than three years after initial investment.
Exxon Mobil has an inventory of over 5,500 wells in the Permian and the Bakken with a rate of return of more than 10% at $40 a barrel, with nearly one-third generating considerably higher returns. Total annual net production growth from these basins could be as high as 750,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day through 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of about 20%.
Exxon Mobils position helps it to thrive in any price environment by capitalizing on the competitive strengths of its integrated businesses as well as by spending on projects that produce high-value products across the commodity cycle.
The company expects to make progress on longer-term projects focused on growing higher-value production in locations including Canada, Guyana and the United Arab Emirates. For example, two wells were established in Guyana in 2016 as a world-class discovery with recoverable resources of more than 1 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Guyanas project is expected to be brought online by 2020, less than five years after the initial discovery well a rare occurrence in the industry in terms of development time.
Exxon Mobil is likely to start-up five major upstream projects in 2017 and 2018, which will contribute an additional 340,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day of working-interest production capacity. Of these two projects, Odoptu Stage 2 in Far East Russia and the Hebron project in Eastern Canada are slated to be commissioned by the end of this year. Other projects scheduled for startup in the period include the Upper Zakum expansion in the United Arab Emirates, Barzan in Qatar and Kaombo in Angola.
Since 2012, the company has commissioned 27 projects, adding 1.2 million oil-equivalent barrels per day of installed capacity. The company has an upstream portfolio of about 100 projects that are in various stages of planning, concept selection and construction. These investments will sustain upstream volumes that are estimated to be in the range of 44.4 million oil-equivalent barrels per day through 2020.
In the downstream operations, the company is investing across the value chain to continue strengthening its portfolio of refining and other advantaged manufacturing assets. In fact, the company is reconfiguring a hydrocracker unit at its Rotterdam refinery to produce higher-value products, comprising premium lube base stocks and ultra-low sulfur diesel, by upgrading lower-value vacuum gas oil.
The chemical segment is making investments to capture advantaged feed stocks and manufacture high-performance products in the U.S. Gulf Coast region and at its Singapore complex in Asia.
Shares of the company have underperformed the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-International Integrated industry in the last three months. During the period, Exxon Mobil shares lost 5.1%, while the broader industry registered a decrease of 1.1%.
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Exxon Mobil carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some better-ranked players in the same space include Denbury Resources Inc. DNR, Sunrun Inc. RUN and W&T Offshore Inc. WTI. Both Delek Logistics Partners and Sunrun sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while W&T Offshore holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Denbury Resources posted a earnings surprise of 0.00% in the preceding quarter. It had an average positive earnings surprise of 212.50% in the four trailing quarters.
Sunrun posted a positive earnings surprise of 137.21% in the preceding quarter. It beat estimates in all the four trailing quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 134.71%.
W&T Offshore posted a positive earnings surprise of 44.19% in the preceding quarter. It beat estimates in all the four trailing quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 31.49%.
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A Council Bluffs man arrested last week for charges stemming from a 2015 incident is accused of assaulting and eluding police.
Matthew Hathaway, 34, is charged with eluding and assault on persons in certain occupations. He was arrested Feb. 23 and has since posted $5,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 22.
Hathaway has not yet been appointed a public defender.
According to the police report, on Nov. 18, 2015, a Council Bluffs police officer pulled Hathaway over at 1 a.m. near North 31st Street and Avenue E.
The officer said Hathaways car had front windows tinted darker than allowed by Iowa law and that the car exhaust was defective and loud.
The officer asked for Hathaways license, registration and proof of insurance, police said. Hathaway handed the officer the registration but said he didnt have ID on him since he changed his jeans, officers said.
Hathaway appeared nervous and drowsy, with red, bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech, the officer said.
Thats when police noticed a bag in the back seat with pliers, other tools and a flashlight near the center console. After running Hathaways information, they found his drivers licence was suspended.
From my observations of Hathaway, I also believed there to be more possible illegal activity including possible impaired driving or possibly burglary items in this vehicle, the officer said.
The officer asked Hathaway to get out of the car, but Hathaway drove off instead, the report reads, despite the officer telling him not to. The officer reached for Hathaway through the window before the suspect sped off, injuring the officers finger, they said.
Later, officers found the vehicle empty near North 34th Street and Avenue H, and a warrant was put out for his arrest.
During Novembers general election, more than half 56 percent of Pottawattamie County voters chose the straight-ticket option. All candidates who werent Republicans or Democrats were mathematically eliminated for no reason other than their lack of a political party.
In response, we renewed our calls for the Iowa Legislature to consider ending straight-ticket voting. Were pleased to see the Republican-controlled House weighing the idea as part of an election reform measure lawmakers advanced Tuesday.
We want informed, educated voters to study up on candidates and pick the person they deem the best fit for the position, regardless of party affiliation. Straight-ticket voting is a way to deter the electorate from doing that critical homework.
A number of state legislatures have ended the practice in recent years for that very reason. Between 2011 and 2016, the number of states that permit straight-ticket voting has declined from 15 to 10.
Iowa should decrease that number to nine.
The only defense for straight-ticket voting is that it allows voters to easily cast a ballot for every candidate for a particular party.
Even without the box, Iowa voters will still have the ability to select all Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians and can still do so in an efficient manner. Removing it will ensure every candidate gets a fair shake.
The act of voting isnt tedious or burdensome. Voters who know the candidates they want to select can do just that in a matter of seconds. Straight-ticket voting is an entirely unnecessary way to achieve that goal, one that can actually hinder citizens ability to make informed decisions.
States are seeing a small but growing number of legislators not tied to the Republican or Democratic parties.
Iowa, for instance, has a sitting senator who recently changed his party affiliation to become an independent and that will inevitably make a potential re-election bid much harder. He and all other candidates, irrespective of their party, must have a fair shot to win election.
The election bills currently before the House and Senate certainly have their pros and cons. But the inclusion of a measure that would prevent no-brainer, straight-ticket voting for partisan offices strikes us as a step in the right direction.
Wed go as far to call the proposed removal of straight-ticket voting as a no-brainer for our state senators and representatives.
West Broadway doesnt need medians for many reasons
As an out-of-towner, I totally agree with the businesses who are not in favor of having a median down West Broadway. Most of my shopping business is done in Council Bluffs. I really dislike having to get to the next block before I can turn around and get into a parking lot of a business Im trying to enter.
It also makes sense as a safety factor. Having an extra lane for fire trucks and police cars on which to drive can save lives and time. It also has to be a cost-saving measure, since labor and materials to build a median would only add extra cost to the project.
Im sure beautification can take place without negatively affecting businesses and safety issues.
Patricia Hopes, Treynor
Like it or not, Bluffs got change it elected
Council Bluffs, youve been duped.
In November, the people of Council Bluffs chose to retire their rambunctious and fiercely loyal senator, Mike Gronstal, from the Iowa Senate. Mike Gronstal had withstood decades of resistance and challengers from across the political spectrum, until now, Iowans again wanted change.
Council Bluffs lost its surrogate in the Legislature, someone who was a power player even if you never agreed with Mike Gronstal, you were constantly proud of his hometown pride and loyalty, a man from humble roots who had only his constituents best interests at heart.
He wasnt bought and sold by lobbyists, special interests, national party politics or even big agriculture he was the rare combination of altruism, stick-to-itiveness and a savvy negotiator, never bowing to political pressure. He embodied the Howard Cosell quote what is right isnt always popular, what is popular isnt always right.
With the mutiny that went down this past week in the Legislature, Im left wondering if this is what voters thought they were getting in a representative. A man that bows down to special interests and millions of dollars in outside spending.
Im surprised to see the outrage from certain voters, mainly independent and moderate Republican voters that are enraged with Sen. Dan Dawson for betraying Iowa workers who are the heart and soul of our communities teachers, firefighters, police, public servants who risk their lives for us.
The money that fueled Mr. Dawsons Senate campaign is the same dark, out-of-state money that fueled the collective bargaining legislation ALEC, the Koch Brothers, out-of-state conservative think tanks and mysterious donors from all over the country. Why would these outside sources care about getting
Mr. Dawson elected to the legislature from Council Bluffs?
I think we found out why this week. He is bought and paid for by special interests he has no concern for Iowa workers or the people of Council Bluffs. He emerged from a divisive, hate-fueled campaign its no surprise that hes leaving his constituents in the dust.
Council Bluffs you believed Mr. Dawsons lies during the campaign, and now youre seeing his true colors. You traded one of the most experienced, effective and ambitious legislators this state has ever seen in its 170-year history for a shill hocking his snake oil.
Be careful what you wish for (i.e. change), because you just might get it.
- Ryan Swanek, Council Bluffs
Library shares photos, items to celebrate states birthday
Nebraska celebrated 150 years of statehood on Wednesday with events all across the state.
The North Platte Public Library opened its NE150 exhibit on Wednesday.
Last year we applied for a grant and got it through the NE150 organization, so we are on their calendar, said Cecelia Lawrence, library director. I decided we really needed to celebrate North Plattes history along the way. We took our exhibit idea and really ran with North Plattes early history.
Lawrence got together with Jim Griffin, curator of the Lincoln County Historical Museum, and found photos from that era. There are photos of homesteaders and early photos of the town, prairie-scapes and railroad.
Included in the display is a three-dimensional exhibit with a plow, saddle and other early prairie artifacts on loan from the museum.
It is a librarians dream of getting to do research of this old, traditional era of looking for pictures and looking for information and reading through many, many books of information to put into the exhibit, Lawrence said. Then it was difficult trying to narrow it down to what we could fit on the exhibit panels we have.
There is also a display of books that include titles such as Hell on Wheels, Nebraska, Where Dreams Grow and Willa Cather that may be checked out for reading.
Photos include some of North Plattes early leaders and some of the early buildings, including St. Patricks School, which was established in 1889. That particular photo shows students and Catholic nuns posing in front of the building.
The exhibit will be on display through the end of March and then will be moved to the museum to open sometime in July.
An interesting and surreal art exhibit is calling The Center for Visual and Performing Arts home for the next month.
"Eleanor Spiess-Ferris: The Lady Is Not For Burning" runs through April 12 at South Shore Arts in Munster.
"It's a wonderful exhibit," said Bridget Earnshaw, co-curator of the Spiess-Ferris exhibit. Earnshaw said it's part of the Outstanding Midwest Artist Series which South Shore Arts has been presenting for the last six years. The exhibit is co-curated by South Shore Arts' John Cain.
Earnshaw said they were made aware of Spiess-Ferris' work through other displays of her pieces.
"John Cain had seen her work in different exhibits in Chicago," Earnshaw said. About a year ago, he had presented the idea to a South Shore Arts committee working on the Midwest Artist Series.
"It's fascinating how her paintings draw you in," Earnshaw said.
The artist's works feature a variety of images including birds, plants, mythological symbols, the female form, and water.
"There really is a lot of symbolism in her work," Earnshaw said, explaining much of the artist's imagery is drawn from her childhood in New Mexico and the fact she grew up on an orchard.
"She would go into the orchard and let her imagination run wild," Earnshaw said. There's also a lot of spirituality in Spiess-Ferris' work.
About her work, Spiess-Ferris said "I enjoy juxtaposing the frightening with the beautiful, the comic with the tragic, the real with the unreal."
Earnshaw said Spiess-Ferris, who now lives in Chicago, will make an appearance at a reception at South Shore Arts on March 12.
The co-curator said about 35 of the artist's works are on display in the exhibit.
While visitors to the gallery can walk around to see the paintings at their own pace, Earnshaw said any school groups or other groups interested in having a specific tour of the exhibit, may contact South Shore Arts.
Earnshaw said with the Outstanding Midwest Artist Series, they want to "give an opportunity to one artist to show their work and offer a retrospective of their career."
GARY An elderly woman found unresponsive Wednesday afternoon in a homicide has been identified by the Lake County coroner's office.
Annie Nelson, 69, of the 500 block of Kentucky Street, was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. about an hour after police first responded to her home in the city's downtown section for a welfare check, coroner and law enforcement officials said.
She died from blunt force trauma in a homicide, according to the coroner's office. Gary police, along with the city's Fire Department, forced entry into the residence after not hearing a response from anyone inside, Westerfield said in a news release.
Police said they were speaking with a person of interest Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone with further information on this incident is urged to contact Detective Alexander Jones of the Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit at 219-755-3855.
CROWN POINT A 34-year-old Gary woman whose throat was slashed last month received 17 staples to close the near-fatal wound, according to court records.
Gary police continued to search Thursday morning for Vincent E. Banks, the 49-year-old family relative whom police allege attempted to kill the woman outside his residence in the 500 block of Van Buren Street in Gary.
The woman told police Banks entered the rear door of her vehicle during the early morning hours of Feb. 21, grabbed her forehead and cut her exposed throat with a sharp object, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Banks is then alleged to have climbed on top of the woman and attempted to cut her neck again, but she managed to escape out of the passenger door of the vehicle, the affidavit states.
Banks then allegedly fled the scene in the woman's vehicle, which contained her purse, the affidavit states.
A doctor told the woman that the sharp object narrowly missed her jugular vein, which would have been fatal, according to the affidavit.
Police recovered the woman's vehicle, but money was missing from the purse. The woman said Banks did not make a demand for cash during the incident, according to the affidavit.
Banks was charged Wednesday in Lake Criminal Court with attempted murder, three felony counts of battery, auto theft and felony theft.
Banks pleaded guilty Jan. 12 to battery resulting in serious bodily injury in an incident from September 2014. He was sentenced Feb. 16 to four years prison, which was suspended for probation, according to court records.
A request from The Times for his mug shot was not granted as of 12:30.
He is not afforded bail on the new charges, according to court records.
As local Republican and Democratic officials prepare to reorganize this coming weekend, they face the challenge of how best to use the increased interest in politics resulting from last year's contentious presidential election.
Porter County Democratic Chairman Jeff Chidester, who is unchallenged in his bid for re-election after seven years, said the biggest problem facing the group has been apathy.
"I think (Republican President) Donald Trump is going to help me break the apathy," he said.
Chidester said he has been contacted by representatives from several progressive groups. While each have their own agendas, he said his challenge will be to get them working in the same direction.
"We all have a common thread," he said.
LaPorte County Democratic Chairman John Jones, who has decided not to seek re-election after serving eight years, said he too has heard from an increased number of people wanting to get involved.
Many of the people are affiliated with former presidential candidate and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jones said.
"I've been getting a lot of phone calls, some of which are uninformed," he said. "But the good news is they want to be involved."
It's not just angry Democrats deciding it's time to get more involved in politics.
Porter County Republican Chairman Mike Simpson, who is unopposed in his bid for a second four-year term, said he noticed an increased interest locally in politics while the presidential election was still underway.
He said he welcomes the newcomers.
"The only way to affect change is to be involved," Simpson said.
Party elections Saturday
Precinct committee officials from the local parties are gathering Saturday to elect their chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and treasurers.
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Dan Dernulc faces a challenge from Douglas Wright, a former Gary police chief and a member of the Republican Party for more than 30 years.
Wright, 75, was Gary police chief from 1994 to 1995 and chief of police of Benton Harbor, Michigan, from 2000 to 2001. He ran for county sheriff in 2006 and Gary mayor in 2015.
Dernulc, 53, of Highland, is seeking his second term as party boss. He has served six years on the Lake County Council and four years on the Highland Town Council.
Lake County Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, and Schererville attorney James Wieser are facing off to replace Sheriff John Buncich as chair of the county's Democratic Party.
Repay, 41, has served as one of county government's chief executives for four years.
Wieser, 69, has been a party adviser for decades and served on the Highland Town Council and Lake County Council more than three decades ago.
In LaPorte County, Jones said James Kimmel is the only one in the running to replace him as chairman.
"I just think it's time for somebody else to make some changes," he said.
There is also a race among Nick Barbknecht, Mitch Feikes and Paul Boardman to replace Michael Gonder as chairman of the LaPorte County Republican Party.
Bill Dolan also contributed to this story.
INDIANAPOLIS Indiana looks to remain one of just five states that do not enhance criminal penalties when a perpetrator is motivated by bias toward a minority group.
State Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, declined to ask the Republican-controlled Senate to vote on her committee-approved bias crimes proposal, Senate Bill 439, prior to Tuesday's deadline effectively killing the measure for the year.
Glick said she scuttled the legislation due to "a difference of opinion" among Senate Republicans concerning a proposed amendment that potentially would have made any crime committed against any person eligible for a bias enhancement.
As originally written, only crimes motivated by bias toward a victim's actual or perceived race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, disability, national origin, ancestry or sexual orientation would count as an aggravating factor when a judge issues a criminal sentence.
The proposal was amended in committee to also authorize a penalty enhancement when a police officer or the officer's family is targeted in a crime.
"I will continue working on this issue in the coming months with the hopes of possibly bringing it back during next years legislative session," Glick said.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said she was disappointed by Glick's decision because it's long past time Indiana caught up to the 45 other states that already provide bias crime protections for their citizens.
"Especially after a weekend in which a Jewish community center and a bar in Indianapolis were targeted with threats based solely on those who attend these establishments," Tallian said.
The Senate last year approved a similar Glick-sponsored bias crimes proposal, 34-16.
It died after never receiving a committee hearing in the Republican-controlled House.
The other states without bias crime statutes are Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina and Wyoming.
EAST CHICAGO The clock is ticking for families that remain at the lead contaminated West Calumet Housing Complex.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development authorities on Wednesday gave the East Chicago Housing Authority the green light to set in motion emergency transfers to other public housing units beginning March 31, according to a statement from the local housing authority.
The citys goal is to demolish the 346-unit complex for future redevelopment. It lies within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys USS Lead Superfund site.
The only caveat
A civil rights agreement reached in November with Chicago-based Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law requires the local housing authority to test units for lead hazards prior to moving families in.
I think thats the only caveat, Emily Coffey, a staff attorney with the Shriver Center, said Wednesday. Its unclear what happens to the residents once they move into the other units. Theres a bunch of legal questions. What happens to them after their vouchers expire? Do they need to enter into a long-term lease?
Public housing in Cook County, Chicago, East Chicago or other communities in Northwest Indiana will become available on a "first-come, first-serve" basis, Coffey explained. Families will be housed temporary in these units while they continue to seek permanent housing with the vouchers offered by HUD.
"Were disappointed. It's imperative that residents be given the time that they need, and the assistance and help they need in order to make moves to communities they want to move to, Coffey said.
In a letter to HUD last month, the Shriver Center argued it makes little sense to relocate and uproot these families when their focus should be on finding new housing with their vouchers with the bulk of the vouchers expiring just three months later in July.
A total of 106 of the 332 families remained at the complex as of Feb. 22, the latest figures available from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. If an emergency transfer is required, the ECHA will provide self-packing materials and moving assistance, according to the agencys relocation plan.
ECHA has provided HUD with a list of properties available to temporarily house residents following the emergency transfer, according to a statement from the Harris Law Firm speaking on behalf of the local housing authority.
ECHA does intend to comply with HUDs directive to ensure that the units have been inspected for lead prior to residents being placed there, the statement read.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb issued an emergency declaration for East Chicagos USS Lead Superfund site last month, providing the city more resources.
Moving on
Marie Talley, 30, is among the remaining families at West Calumet, built in the early 1970s on a footprint of a former lead smelter.
Talley said she doesnt understand why theres a sudden rush to move everyone out and demolish the place when state, federal and local officials have known, to some extent, about the contamination for decades.
This complex has been sitting here for years and now theyre rushing to get us out of here, Talley said. They shouldnt have built this here in the first place.
Talley said she has had difficulty finding a place, citing landlords hesitant to accept Section 8 vouchers.
Families first learned in August they would be forced to leave after dangerously high levels of lead and arsenic in the soil were announced by the citys mayor.
Early on, the Shriver Center filed a complaint with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity alleging ECHA was providing little assistance to families amid a confusing and rushed relocation process.
The settlement reached was designed to give residents more time to move, enhanced counseling and rent relief. Shortly after the complaint, ECHA agreed to set aside more than $1 million to help with moving costs, security deposits and application fees. Housing counselors were on site for months to assist families with finding a new place.
Rent forgiveness
The Shriver Center in recent weeks have stepped up allegations that ECHA staff has created unnecessary obstacles for residents both current and former seeking rent waivers.
In the settlement agreement reached Nov. 2, the local housing authority agreed to allow residents who failed to pay between July 22 and Oct. 31 to apply for rent forgiveness, and in turn, ECHA would not report this as a debt owed to prospective landlords.
Rent from Nov. 1 to March 31 would be automatically abated and not reported as debt owed.
However, the Shriver Center alleges ECHA staff failed to make available a rent forgiveness form in a timely manner amid a March 1 deadline and failed to reach out to former residents.
This form was created after more than 200 households have left the West Calumet Housing Complex. Many of these households have ported to other housing authorities and in many cases, moved to another state, according to a Feb. 24 letter addressed to HUD.
Following the centers Feb. 24 letter, HUD agreed to send letters to eligible current and former residents that they now have until March 17 to submit the rent abatement form to ECHA.
Former West Calumet resident Ebyonie Klarich on Wednesday said she was never informed about the opportunity for rent abatement and ECHA withheld her security deposit when she left.
The mother of four was eight months pregnant when she learned last summer her property was the most contaminated in all of West Calumet.
Klarich said she failed to pay rent in October, when she and her family decided they shouldnt have to because they were living on toxic soil. She was asked by ECHA to enter into a repayment agreement for the missed rent, she said.
They fought me on that. Eventually I got tired. I didnt have any more fight in me, Klarich said.
Several community groups petitioned the EPA on Thursday to immediately act to protect residents from lead in their drinking water.
According to the petition, the East Chicago Water Department and Indiana Department of Environmental Management have failed to adequately address the problem in the short-term, so the Environmental Protection Agency should use its emergency powers.
The agency previously used its emergency powers under the Safe Drinking Water Act in Flint, Michigan. Lead can cause irreversible learning disabilities and behavioral problems for children, health problems and is a suspected carcinogen.
The groups want EPA to immediately provide or, in the alternative, order the city or state to provide free faucet filters that meet EPA standards or distribute bottled water. Residents living in the USS Lead Superfund site in the city's Calumet neighborhood should be given first priority, because of the cumulative risk of exposure, the petition said.
EPA in December said it found elevated lead levels in drinking water at 18 of 43 homes it tested as part of a pilot study in the Superfund site. The lead in water is a result of lead in plumbing materials and insufficient use of corrosion control chemicals, the agency said. Lead in water is not related to lead in soil.
EPA has said the results indicate a systemwide problem. The agency has said it has no plans to conduct further testing, because it would confirm only what is already known. Up to 90 percent of East Chicago's water lines could be lead, so residents should assume they have lead pipes and use a properly certified faucet filter, EPA said.
East Chicago City Attorney Carla Morgan said Thursday the city received the petition and was reviewing it. EPA and IDEM did not immediately provide comments on the petition.
'Until the water is safe to drink'
EPA has identified East Chicago as an environmental justice community, in part, because many of its residents are poor, said Anjali Waikar, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Because of that, it is unrealistic to expect residents to buy their own water filters or bottled water, especially when it's still unclear how long it may take to ensure the water is safe to drink, she said.
"We're asking the federal government to step in on an interim basis, until the water is safe to drink," Waikar said.
City, state and federal officials have rightly focused on addressing contamination in the soil of the Superfund site, the petition said. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Feb. 9 signed an emergency declaration for East Chicago, and city and state officials are working on long-term solutions such as replacing lead pipes.
However, the immediate public health threat to the entire city because of lead in drinking water is not being adequately addressed, the petition said.
The Community Strategy Group and Calumet Lives Matter, two of the petitioners, have been delivering bottled water to residents. EPA provided water filters and bottled water to residents at the 43 homes it tested, but no government agency has provided filters or bottled water to other East Chicago water system customers.
Adjustment of corrosion control chemicals is a long-term solution, not a current remedy, the petition said.
EPA has said little to no orthophosphate, a chemical used to prevent lead from leaching into water from lead service lines, was found in the city's water. City records show the city began adjusting chemical levels in September, before EPA began taking water samples. IDEM has confirmed it is working with the city to adjust chemical levels.
According to the petition, it could take up to a year for the protective scale orthophosphate creates to build up in pipes. Without evidence that the changes in corrosion control chemicals have reduced lead levels, it cannot be presumed that the city's water is safe to drink, the petition said.
Several actions requested
In addition to providing filters or bottled water, the petition asks EPA to immediately conduct citywide testing of drinking water, implement a program to ensure filters are properly installed and maintained, ensure the city's compliance with the federal Lead and Copper Rule, use its authority to review the city's corrosion control requirements, replace faucets in residents' homes as needed, expand blood testing of children under age 7 who are enrolled in Medicaid or are otherwise at-risk, and order any other necessary relief.
IDEM said this week it is "working to sample East Chicago's water in accordance with procedures in the Safe Drinking Water Act to further verify that East Chicago's water is in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule." However, IDEM will not be conducting sequential testing, the method used by EPA during its pilot study.
Waikar said EPA used its emergency powers in Flint because of a technical violation of the Lead and Copper Rule, but the agency's own pilot study already has show there is reason to act quickly in East Chicago. This in an opportunity for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who said in his confirmation testimony that EPA reacted too slowly to the crisis in Flint, she said.
Still, Waikar was hesitant to compare East Chicago to Flint.
"East Chicago stands on its own," she said.
According to the petition, the damage in East Chicago may be more acute, because city residents have been exposed to contamination in soil, water and air for decades.
"The EPA must act to protect the community's health until effective long-term fixes are in place," Waikar said.
There is no firm deadline for EPA to respond to the petition, she said.
Black ice on Region roads could cause problems Thursday morning, so police were urging drivers to use caution.
Indiana State Police for the Toll Road reported one minor crash in LaPorte County, but it has been cleaned up at of 6:45 a.m.
State police for the Lowell Post, Interstates 80, 94 and 65, appeared to be responding to a minor crash about 6:45 a.m. near Ind. 2 in the Lowell area.
Staff at the post advised drivers to use caution because conditions could be slick and hazardous.
Temperatures Thursday morning hovered in the low 30s, following two days of rain. Some areas ever saw a dusting of snow Wednesday night.
Snow was expected across much of the Region Thursday morning. Snow showers Thursday night could reduce visibility, according to the National Weather Service.
Gary officials said Wednesday's heavy rain led to more than 65 reports of flooding. The city's Sanitary District was working to address complaints.
The city asked residents to stay off closed roads and take marked detours. Residents can report flooding and other storm-related issues to the city's 311 system or 219-881-1311.
CROWN POINT Where seniors will have a place for their activities, many of which are now staged at the Civic Center, was the hot topic at Mayor David Uran's regular monthly meeting with residents Wednesday.
The forum at First Financial Bank was the third of the mayor's 2017 monthly meetings with residents to discuss topics affecting the city. One of those topics was the Southlake YMCA's $35 million expansion and if it will serve as a replacement for an aging downtown Civic Center that Uran said "has served its purpose."
The city has been in conversations with the YMCA to see if there is an opportunity for seniors who are not members to be able to use space for activities such as Scrabble, line dancing, bridge and Meals on Wheels.
Uran invited Chris Mallers, Southlake YMCA branch executive director, to talk about it. He explained how the Y is a charitable organization that does not receive taxpayer money nor state or federal money, so it must rely on membership fees and other program costs. Mallers also touted some of the benefits seniors have by joining the Y, including discounts and an aquatics program.
"We have to keep our doors open," he said. "Everyone who comes in has to be invested in the Y. ... That's why we have the membership fee."
Mallers said they could set up other activities for seniors, but they would have to be a member of the facility to come in.
"We don't get taxpayer money to help us," he said.
Uran said if a "marriage" with the YMCA to allow seniors to use it without being a member is not feasible for the Y, the city will go to Plan B, which could mean a new multipurpose facility elsewhere for seniors and other uses.
"If it can't work out, we'll have to provide what seniors want in another facility in another location," he said.
Those who were at the well-attended meeting included Merrillville Town Councilman Shawn Pettit, Lake County Coroner Merrilee Fry and Northwest Indiana Forum President and CEO Heather Ennis.
The mayor's next meeting with residents is at 6 p.m. April 5 at Fahrenheit 212, 10805 Broadway.
There's a difference between providing public information and vain showboating.
Lake County Councilman Jamal Washington and in a larger sense, the entire County Council should learn the difference.
If you didn't already know Washington by sight, just attend a Lake County Council meeting and look for the member who appears to be mugging for selfies on his smartphone in the middle of public business.
It happened with impunity during the Feb. 14 County Council meeting, with Washington using the Facebook Live video function to transmit live feeds of himself to social media followers.
Washington's video selfies came during the same meeting when he relinquished his seat as council vice president amid fallout from his December guilty plea to battering his wife.
That part of the meeting was not recorded, suggesting Washington's live-streaming of public meetings is more about self-promotion than informing the public.
We clearly support any and all means of delivering public information to the people through all possible means.
The Lake County Council should consider social media live videos as a means of sharing its meetings, real time, with constituents who aren't able to attend the monthly meetings. Other local government bodies should consider it as well.
But the video should focus on the entire meeting.
Though Washington occasionally panned the camera to show other aspects of the meeting and most of the meeting's audio was captured the camera largely remained trained on him throughout the meeting.
The Times published an article Sunday regarding Washington's selfie video propensity. Following its publication, Washington asked a Times reporter how many online hits The Times article about his live-streaming received.
There's a clear difference between providing public information and personal vanity. If the council or Washington cares about that difference, the camera should be trained on the entire meeting not just one council members ego.
I have been surprised by how many people are protesting President Donald Trump's plan to replace Obamacare with a new health care plan before they even know the specifics of the new plan. Obamacare premiums are skyrocketing, and deductibles are out sight. Companies are dropping out almost every day.
Watching the news the other night, a female protester was condemning Trump for trying to take away her insurance. She claimed that before Obamacare, she was paying about $450 a month for her family's insurance and that under Obamacare she pays only $1 a month.
If large numbers of people are getting such huge breaks on their premiums, it is no wonder that they want the taxpayers to keep picking up the tab. Why else would they protest Trump's plan without knowing the cost or availability?
James Marrant, Calumet City
donald trump
After revelations Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US during the 2016 campaign, lawmakers renewed calls for a special prosecutor to investigate ties between Trump associates and Russian operatives.
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, tweeted Thursday morning "AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself."
Democratic senators have called repeatedly for a special prosecutor, more often called an independent or special counsel, to be appointed.
But what exactly is a special prosecutor, how does he or she get appointed, and what happens next? We broke it down.
Who appoints a special prosecutor?
Jeff Sessions
A special counsel could be appointed by either Sessions himself or by Congress to investigate potential ties between Trump's inner circle and Russia, said Professor William Banks, the founding director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University.
A "special counsel" is a modern day term for a "special prosecutor," according to Banks, and any investigation would likely use the term "special counsel." The term "special prosecutor" was used up through the 1980s, after which the laws around special prosecutors expired and were not renewed, therefore retiring the term.
Banks said there may be pressure on Sessions not to appoint a special counsel, given that he was appointed by Trump. "We would hope [Sessions] would exercise independent judgment about the efficacy of having a special counsel, Banks told Business Insider.
Democratic lawmakers, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have requested Sessions recuse himself from any investigations multiple times, renewing the call on Thursday following news about Sessions' meeting with the Russian ambassador. (After the latest revelations, Schumer said he should resign.) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that "it would be easier" if Sessions recused himself.
Story continues
"I think, the trust of the American people, you recuse yourself in these situations," McCarthy said, according to Politico. "I just think for any investigation going forward, you want to make sure everybody trusts the investigation ... that there's no doubt within the investigation."
Sessions has previously said that he would recuse himself on anything requiring him to do so, but he has asserted that he sees no need to remove himself from any Trump-Russia investigations.
The Department of Justice does have a rule that could affect Sessions' role in a special counsel investigation:
"No DOJ employee may participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution, or who would be directly affected by the outcome."
chuckschumer
If the attorney general recuses himself, it falls to the deputy attorney general to appoint an independent counsel, according to the Code of Federal Regulations. The appointment of a special counsel by the attorney general or deputy attorney general is "unreviewable," according to the Center for Legal and Economic Studies.
Preliminary investigations are currently underway in the Senate and House intelligence committees, but Banks said he believes it is unlikely a special counsel would be created until those investigations conclude.
The other way to establish an independent counsel goes through Congress.
Congress could initiate the process to create a different independent counsel for investigations by passing a law, as it did in 1978, when the Ethics in Government Act was passed. The law dictated that a three-judge panel based at the US Court of Appeals in DC would appoint the counsel. The law, which was reauthorized several times until its sunset in 1999, was used more than a dozen times to initiate investigations, according to PBS Frontline. It was used most famously in the 1990s to appoint attorney Kenneth Starr to oversee investigations in to President Bill Clinton.
Such a law would have to be either signed by Trump or, in the event of a presidential veto, overridden by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress. There is precedent, however, for a president to sign an independent counsel law amid scrutiny. Clinton signed a reauthorization of the 1978 law in 1994 with a number of alleged scandals brewing.
Congress could, however, launch its own investigation into the executive branch without legislation because such authority is implicit in the appropriations power, Banks said. If Congress decided to act on its own, it is much more likely that it would establish a commission or committee to investigate, rather than passing ethics legislation, Banks added.
What kinds of people are appointed to a special counsel?
Special counsels tend to be highly respected lawyers or judges. Examples, according to Banks, include: highly experienced private practice lawyers, retired judges, and former Justice Department prosecutors.
How long would a special counsel investigation take to complete?
A special counsel investigation would likely take between six to nine months, according to Banks, who said that such investigations tend to be extremely complicated by nature. With so much classified information, intelligence agency officials that need to be interviewed, and hard to obtain information, it takes a while to sort out.
What does a special counsel have access to?
A special counsel investigation would involve arranging access to classified documents. This could be achieved by either declassifying information or creating clearance to classified documents for the purpose of the investigation only. If the latter is done, it is unlikely the public would see the documents obtained.
A special counsel would also be expected to interview a vast range of people with knowledge of or connection to the investigation.
flynn trump and bannon
In the case of the Trump-Russia allegations, a special counsel would look into any and all classified or declassified documents that the FBI, CIA, and various police departments and investigation groups might have the incident.
This would include human or digital intelligence, and the dossier delivered by British intelligence. Extensive interviews would be run with anyone close to the situation, including Trump's inner circle, and anyone who had access to digital or technical related information, said Banks. The special counsel themselves would ultimately determine which evidence to use.
What happens after the special counsel investigation concludes?
What happens next depends in part on who appoints a special counsel. Attorney General Jeff Sessions would decide whether the special counsel appointed under him had enough evidence to prosecute Trump or implicated officials.
If Congress created an office for an independent or special counsel, it is likely that the counsel would refer results of the investigation to Congress, though that could change depending on the legislation passed. If Congress initiated an investigation through a commission or committee, it would fall to the attorney general to decide whether to prosecute based on the results provided.
Why are people asking for a special counsel?
Trump and his inner circle have been accused of having close ties to Russia. The White House has denied many of those accusations. Business Insider has previously reported that:
Trump and several associates continue to draw intense scrutiny for alleged ties to and communications with the Russian government.
A dossier of unverified claims alleged serious misconduct in the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign. The White House has dismissed the dossier as fiction, and most of the claims remain unverified.
Trump's campaign aides were accused of having frequent contact with Russia in a report released by the New York Times.
A report published on Wednesday by the Washington Post said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with the Russian Ambassador twice during the 2016 election.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has argued that Trump and his aides have been sufficiently investigated already, and that no evidence of wrongdoing has been found.
Michelle Mark contributed reporting on this article.
NOW WATCH: 'It's a lie': Jake Tapper calls out Trump during a fiery interview with Kellyanne Conway
More From Business Insider
WASHINGTON A growing number of Republicans joined Democratic leaders Thursday in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step aside from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 White House election.
Top Democrats demanded that Sessions go further and resign as the nation's top law enforcement officer after the revelation that he had twice talked with Moscow's U.S. envoy during the campaign. Sessions' conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak seem to contradict Sessions' sworn statements to Congress during his confirmation hearings.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi accused Sessions of "lying under oath," and she and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he should step down. Schumer said the Justice Department should appoint a special prosecutor to examine whether the federal investigation into the Kremlin's meddling in the U.S. election has been compromised by Sessions.
"There's nothing wrong with meeting with the Russian ambassador. If there was nothing wrong, why don't you just tell the truth?" Schumer said. "It was definitely extremely misleading to say the least"
"I have said that, when it's appropriate, I will recuse myself" from the investigation, Sessions told MSNBC on Thursday.
There's no need, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. "There's nothing to recuse himself from" Spicer said in an interview with Fox News. He said that Sessions was "100 percent straight" about his contacts with Russia and that people playing politics with the issue "should be ashamed of themselves."
At least three House Republicans Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Darrell Issa of California and Tom Cole of Oklahoma have said they want Sessions to withdraw from the inquiry. And GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said that while Sessions was a former colleague and a friend, "I think it would be best for him and for the country to recuse himself."
The attorney general "is going to need to recuse himself at this point," Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told MSNBC.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, said he thought Sessions "needs to clarify what these meetings were." He said it isn't unusual for members of Congress to meet with ambassadors, but he added that if a question arose about the integrity of a federal investigation, "I think it'd be easier" for an attorney general to step away.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sessions should only recuse himself if he is a subject of the probe.
Sessions, an early supporter of President Donald Trump's candidacy and a policy adviser during the campaign, did not disclose those discussions at his Senate confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with officials of the Russian government.
Sessions replied that he had not had communications with the Russians, and answered "no" in a separate written questionnaire when asked about contacts regarding the election.
In a statement late Wednesday, Sessions said: "I never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the disclosure of the talks with Kislyak "the latest attack against the Trump administration by partisan Democrats." She said Sessions "met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony."
Sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year in his role as a U.S. senator and senior member of the Armed Services Committee, and had two separate interactions with Kislyak, the department confirmed.
One was a visit in September in his capacity as a senator, similar to meetings with envoys from Britain, China, Germany and other nations, the department said.
The other occurred in a group setting following a Heritage Foundation speech that Sessions gave during the Republican National Convention, when several ambassadors including the Russian approached him after the talk as he was leaving the stage, according to the department.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he did not know about the meetings but it was normal for Russian diplomats to meet with U.S. lawmakers.
Likewise, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told AP that meetings with American political figures were part of the embassy's "everyday business."
Revelations of the contacts, first reported by The Washington Post, came amid a disclosure by three administration officials that White House lawyers have instructed aides to Trump to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian meddling in the American political process.
The officials who confirmed that staffers were instructed to comply with preservation-of-materials directions did so on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn.
At the confirmation hearing in January, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked Sessions about allegations of contact between Russia and Trump aides during the 2016 election. He asked Sessions what he would do if there were evidence that anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with the Russian government during the campaign.
Sessions replied he was "unaware of those activities."
Then he added: "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have, did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Separately in January, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Judiciary Committee Democrat, asked Sessions in a written questionnaire whether "he had been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after Election Day."
Sessions replied simply, "No."
June 9, 1929 - February 28, 2017 Mrs. Carolyn Hooks Cole, 87, of Auburn passed away on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, at her home in Auburn. A graveside service will be held Friday, March 3, 2017, 11:00 a.m. EST at Crest Lawn Memorial Park in Atlanta, GA. Visitation will be held Thursday, March 2, 2017 at Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home beginning at 6:00 p.m. CST until 7:00 p.m. CST. A full obituary will follow in the next publication. Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home is directing. www.jeffcoattrant.com
VATICAN CITY Frustrated by what she described as Vatican stonewalling, an Irish woman who was sexually abused by clergy quit her post Wednesday on a panel advising Pope Francis about how to protect minors from such abuse.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said Marie Collins quit out of frustration at an alleged lack of cooperation from other Vatican offices, known as the Curia. Her departure delivered another blow to the Vaticans insistence that it is working to ensure that no more children are abused by predator priests.
Collins, in a statement carried by the National Catholic Reporter, was damning in her criticism. She decried the cultural resistance at the Vatican that she said included some officials refusing the popes instructions to reply to all correspondence from abuse survivors.
I find it impossible to listen to public statements about the deep concern in the church for the care of those who lives have been blighted by abuse, yet to watch privately as a congregation (office) in the Vatican refuses to even acknowledge these letters! Collins said in her statement.
She called the reluctance of some in the Vatican Curia to implement recommendations or cooperate with the panel aiming to better protect against abuse by priests unacceptable.
Pope Francis set up the commission three years ago, saying its job was to propose to me the most opportune initiatives for protecting minors and vulnerable adults, in order that we may do everything possible to ensure that crimes such as those which have occurred are no longer repeated in the church.
A systematic cover-up by bishops and other hierarchy in many dioceses around the world over decades compounded the crimes of pedophile priests who raped children and committed other sexual abuses.
Collins wondered if the continuing reluctance to address the problem is driven by internal politics, fear of change, clericalism which instills a belief that they know best or a closed mindset which sees abuse as an inconvenience?
Collins said she didnt know the answer but it is devastating in 2017 to see that these men still can put other concerns before the safety of children and vulnerable adults.
The commissions statement said Pope Francis accepted Mrs. Collins resignation with deep appreciation for her work on behalf of the victims/survivors of clergy abuse.
The panels president, Boston Cardinal Sean Patrick OMalley, said in a statement issued by the Vatican that we will greatly miss her important contributions as a commissioner member.
Boston is one of the more prominent dioceses where hierarchy tried to hide clergy abuse by shuttling pedophile priests from parish to parish.
Collins didnt immediately respond to a phone request for comment.
Her litany of complaints included the failure of the Vatican to put into place a tribunal that could hold bishops accountable for negligence in handling sex abuse within their dioceses, a commission recommendation that was approved by Francis in 2015.
Collins expressed disappointment that the pontiff has in some cases reduced sanctions for convicted perpetrators of child sex abuse. Still, she said, I believe the pope does at heart understand the horror of abuse and the need for those who hurt minors to be stopped.
Collins noted she never had the opportunity to sit down with the pope to talk during her three years on the commission.
The Irish Times quoted Collins Wednesday as saying the attitudes she saw at the Vatican during her work on the panel are the same attitudes I saw 20 years ago when I was trying to bring my own case to justice here in Dublin. Thats whats really the most shocking.
Collins was sexually abused by a priest when she was an adolescent.
The only other abuse survivor who had served on the commission, Peter Saunders, a British advocate for victims, was sidelined last year by the panel after clashing with it over its mission. Saunders, who was given a leave of absence, has said he has lost faith in the popes ability to deal with the problem.
The federal investigation into the Orange County District Attorneys Office and the Sheriffs Department could be in jeopardy following U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcement that he plans to pull back on monitoring police misconduct, legal experts said Wednesday.
Sessions said this week that the Department of Justice would scale back on investigations into police departments accused of violating civil rights laws, because such probes might be hampering efforts to fight crime.
Our officers, deputies and troopers believe the political leadership of this country abandoned them. Their morale has suffered, the former Alabama senator told a group of state attorneys general in his first speech since joining President Trumps cabinet.
Sessions also criticized Department of Justice reports on civil rights violations by law enforcement agencies in Ferguson, Missouri, and Chicago scenes of high-profile police shootings that sparked protests calling them anecdotal. However, he admitted to reporters that he had not read the reports.
Jonathan Smith, former chief of special litigation for DOJs Civil Rights Division, said the current federal probe of improper withholding of evidence and illegal use of jailhouse informants by Orange County deputies and prosecutors might now be at risk.
I dont think it bodes well, Smith said. The Attorney Generals comments werevery disturbing. There is a crisis in this country on police accountability. The federal government ought to have a principle role in helping to deal with this problem.
Smith, now the executive director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, said he worked on the Ferguson report and knew the team that investigated the Chicago Police Department. He said both probes were thorough and well documented.
Its really a disservice to the Department of Justice for the attorney general to dismiss them without even reading them, Smith said. Im worried about what it means to all the open investigations. He said the department could abandon the investigations including the one in Orange County or conclude them without a meaningful remedy.
I think the community needs to make sure the Department of Justice and their elected officials hear from them, Smith said.
Sessions office, in a brief emailed statement, wrote: The Orange County investigation continues.
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The Department of Justice launched its Orange County civil rights investigation of the so-called snitch scandal in December after requests from three dozen former prosecutors and legal scholars nationwide, as well as from District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. It is one of the few times that the civil rights division has investigated prosecutors. Federal investigators in the last few weeks have visited the district attorneys office and the sheriffs department.
Separate investigations by the California Attorney Generals Office and the Orange County Grand Jury are also underway.
During the four-year controversy, six murder and attempted murder cases have unraveled with convictions overturned, charges dropped or penalties reduced.
Former California Attorney General John Van de Kamp, who was among the former prosecutors who sought the federal probe here, said Wednesday the attorney generals approach is troubling, but its too early to know how various investigations may be affected.
Im concerned with the direction (Sessions) is going to go, but I have to wait and see, Van de Kamp said.
He noted that most federal investigations deal with police violence or excessive force. Orange Countys case deals with points of law that require authorities to turn over favorable evidence and prohibit police and prosecutors from using informants on defendants represented by a lawyer.
Van de Kamp said one indication of Sessions intentions will be whether he replaces Eileen Decker, U.S. attorney for the central district of California, which includes Orange County. Decker was appointed by President Barack Obama.
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law and a nationally known scholar on the Constitution, said Wednesday he was disappointed, but not surprised with Sessions remarks.
The newly-minted attorney general has a record of statements some consider to be discriminatory.
For the attorney general of the United States to say he doesnt care about police abuse, there are going to be more victims, said Chemerinsky, who was among the scholars who requested the Orange County investigation.
Brendan Hamme, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, said Sessions was taking the wrong path toward trying to unite police and the community.
Enforcing civil rights laws and ensuring police abide by the Constitutiononly enhances community cooperation, Hamme said.
The Orange County Sheriffs Department declined to comment Wednesday and the union representing agency deputies did not respond to a request for comment. Last month, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, president of the national Major County Sheriffs Association, spoke with Sessions, but that conversation focused on his plans to deal with immigrants living in the country illegally.
Rackauckas office did not specifically address any potential change in the federal investigation of Orange County, but said the district attorneys office will continue to prosecute police who break the law.
Any change on the federal level will have no effect locally.
Contact the writer: tsaavedra@scng.com
HUNTINGTON BEACH Former mayor, policeman and military officer Gil Coerper is remembered by colleagues as a hard-working, gracious and civically minded man with a particular passion for helping young adults pursue careers in the military.
Beneath a jovial exterior, Coerpers wife of 43 years, Louann, also remembers a stubborn German, which helped him get things done. Quite a few things.
Coerper died in hospice care in Fountain Valley on Saturday after several years of failing health. He was 82.
Coerper worked for the police department for 39 years. As a founding member, he helped the California Memorial Police Officers Foundation evolve from commemorating dead officers in a memorial book in Sacramento to creating a dramatic, 13-foot bronze monument in Capitol Park.
If (officers) didnt know him personally, they knew him by name, Louann Coerper said.
After retirement, he kept getting things done, serving the Huntington Beach City Council from 2002 to 2010, including as mayor in 2007.
According to former City Council colleague Dave Sullivan, Coerper was particularly devoted to the Post 558 Infantry Explorers, which he organized as Orange Countys first such program. The Post helped youth explore careers in the military.Through the program, a number of youths got into West Point and other academies.
On Sundays, he was always there. He never missed, said Sullivan.
He loved working with kids, Louann Coerper said. He could help them develop into being adults.
As a former lieutenant colonel in the California State Military Reserve and Korean War Navy veteran, Coerper was the go-to source for young adults looking to get into the military academies. Coerper was West Points admissions coordinator for Los Angeles and Orange Counties and on the military academy appointments committee for two local congressmen. He was honored with the Exploring Divisions Award of Merit and Silver Beaver Award.
Louann Coerper said more than 300 kids went through the Post, becoming not only military officers and academy graduates, but doctors, police and sheriffs.
Toward the end of his council tenure, Coerper badly injured a leg while zip-lining with Explorers, an injury that would have complications in his later years.
However, after the injury, Councilwoman Jill Hardy said, He kept working and never missed a beat. He was the most and least likely person to be zip-lining. But he kept going and was enthusiastic.
Coerper was key to the councils adoption of Camp Pendletons Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment. The city now offers support to families of Marines.
Sullivan remembers working with Coerper on setting up the program in Huntington Beach after Newport Beach had created a similar program with a different unit.
Gil and I said if Newport Beach can do it, we can do it better, Sullivan said.
On the adoption of the Marines, Hardy said, Dave and Gil both made sure it was more than something you just put on a resolution.
On Saturday, March 11, a crowd of more than 400 is expected for the annual 5K run/walk, to support the 3/1 troops and their families.
Hardy also remembers Coerper for his gentility. She said in a debate class she taught, Coerper was given a one-minute introduction and immediately connected with the students.
They said, Hes like my grandpa, hes so nice, Hardy recalled with a laugh. You could ask him for a favor and he was happy to do it and pleased.
Coerper, who was still living in Huntington Beach at the time of his death, grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He also served in the Navy in the Korean War.
Coerper was elected to the California Peace Officers Memorial Foundation and the California Police Officers Research Association.
Coerper is survived by his wife Louann; sons Scott and Michael; brother Wallace Coerper; sister Jan Hunter; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be private. A public memorial is set for 10 a.m. 2 p.m April 29 at First Christian Church, 1207 Main St.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Gil Coerper Academic Scholarship, P.O. Box 4538, Huntington Beach, Ca., 92605, or the California Peace Officers Memorial Foundation, 1700 I St #100, Sacramento, CA 95811.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7964 or gmellen@scng.com
The hottest new attraction at Disneyland isnt a roller coaster, a boat ride or a big-budget musical show.
Its a dessert.
Last weekend, Disneyland fans lined up for two hours or more to eat at the parks new Red Rose Taverne restaurant in Fantasyland. Its a Beauty and the Beast-themed overlay of the Village Haus Restaurant, developed to promote the upcoming release of Disneys live-action version of the 1992 animated movie.
Disneys revamped the menu in addition to redecorating the formerly Pinocchio-themed eatery, and the selection I saw on almost everyones tray last weekend was The Grey Stuff, a mousse-like dessert that references a famous line from Be Our Guest, one of the show-stopping musical numbers in the film.
Detail-obsessed Disney fans long wondered what The Grey Stuff in the song was supposed to be, so when Disney opened a Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant called Be Our Guest at Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom in 2012, it swiftly became the hottest table at the resort. Fans wanted to share the iconic moment when Belle dines in the Beasts enchanted castle for the first time.
No, the dishes wouldnt sing and dance in Disney Worlds restaurant, like they did in the movie. But visitors would get to dine in the Beasts castle, and restaurant would serve the mysterious Grey Stuff.
Disneylands new restaurant doesnt recreate the Beasts castle, but it does name-check the enchanted flower that plays a central role in the story. (Its been 25 years; do I really need to keep avoiding spoilers?) And The Grey Stuff here is even better than the Orlando version, with the grey mousse swirled around (OK, Ill give you this spoiler alert!) red velvet cake that conceals a single, whole raspberry, like a hidden red rose.
That a single line in a song from an animated movie would inspire thousands of people to queue for hours a quarter century later to buy a yet another form of sugar at Disneyland speaks to the power of what Disney created with its animated version of Beauty and the Beast.
Disneys advantage over other parks always has been the emotional connection people feel with the stories and characters represented on its rides and in its shows. You can ride a roller coaster anywhere. But you can fly over London with Peter Pan only at a Disney theme park. Themed restaurants allow parks to reinforce those emotional connections with taste and smell, rounding out the sensory experiences in the park.
Disneyland Paris in 2014 opened a Ratatouille-themed restaurant in a land devoted to that 2007 Pixar film about a rodent who longs to become a chef. Rival Universal has opened Krusty Burger restaurants in its Simpsons-themed lands in Hollywood and Orlando. And Universals Wizarding World of Harry Potter might provide the best example of themed food in parks, with its Butterbeer winning raves from millions of fans.
This isnt Disneylands first go at adding a movie theme to one of its existing restaurants. In 2015, the park changed Tomorrowland Terrace into the Star Wars-themed Galactic Grill. But, save for that blue milk Luke Skywalker drinks in the 1977 original, Star Wars doesnt offer any obvious food and beverage tie-ins, as Ratatouille, The Simpsons, Harry Potter and Beauty and the Beast do.
As with Red Rose Taverne, Disney said the Galactic Grill overlay would be for a limited time, but the Galactic Grill is still drawing hungry fans a year and a half later. With a stronger theme and (in my humble opinion) way better food, I can see the Red Rose Taverne sticking around even longer.
Especially given how much more money Disney must be making from it. I cant remember the last time I saw a line out the door at the Village Haus, even on busy summer days. With Red Rose Taverne, Disneyland reaffirms the cliche that best way to peoples hearts is through their stomachs.
Robert Niles is the founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThemePark.
Business was slow but the Rev. Johan Dodge remained unperturbed.
Were here thats what matters, said Dodge, 42, minister at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Westminster.
For the fourth year, he set up a convenience stand outside an eatery on Ash Wednesday to mark interested passersby with black crosses.
Previous sites were Starbucks and a doughnut shop. This time, Dodge chose with the owners permission the Chronic Tacos at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach.
Friend Suzanne Morgan, 54, director of outreach at United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach, joined him. Together, they sat at a patio table with a scarcely noticeable placard advertising free ash.
In front of them were two ceramic bowls, each containing fragrant black paste a mixture of burned palm branches and anointing oil made of frankincense and myrrh.
I have a 24-by-36 sign in my car, Dodge said. But that just felt too overt.
They want to avoid coming off as pushy sales people, said Morgan: Were not standing on the street corner passing out fliers. Were just quietly planting seeds.
Dodge said he started bringing Ash Wednesday outside church doors to pursue the Methodist mission of taking worship and good deeds to the public. But, he allowed, many arent entirely comfortable with this unconventional method of honoring the day.
Even people who go to my church dont know what to make of it, he said.
Pedestrians walked right by without paying the makeshift sanctuary heed. For a while, it looked like only family members would take part.
First came Dodges mom and sister. Next, his wife made a surprise appearance.
I could have stayed home in pajamas and done this, Dodge joked.
But then a young woman who lives near Bella Terra dropped by. I was actually trying to find a church for Ash Wednesday, said Victoria Reeves, 25. This is great.
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Reeves, an administrative assistant, said she recently moved to California from the East Coast, where she never missed ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Morgan did the honors, saying, Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.
Afterward, Reeves noted that she had to take a pass on Chronic Tacos: I gave up fast food for Lent.
Dodges sister Kara Pietila, 39, brought along her two children, Jonathan, 6, and Anneke, 3, who shyly declined to participate.
Studying the freshly chalked cross on her mothers face, Anneke demanded, When are you going to wash that off? Because I do not like it.
They complain when a get a haircut, Pietila laughed. They dont like change.
Wife Melinda Dodge, 47, a pastor at Los Altos Methodist Church in Long Beach, wore an apropos t-shirt that read Church can happen anywhere. She brought family friend Rebecca Swartz, 28, a graduate student.
My church isnt having Ash Wednesday service until tonight, Swartz said. Its nice to have ash options.
Last year, Dodge scrawled on the foreheads of about 35 visitors, he said. But that day, he hung out a shingle from dawn to dusk at Dunkin Donuts in Westminster. Now his window was only three hours, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dodge, PTA president at his childrens school, Lee Elementary in Los Alamitos, flew home late Tuesday night from a statewide meeting in Sacramento so he knew sunrise would be out of the picture.
A few members of his congregation eventually trickled through, including Bill and Lin Somsak of Westminster.
We want to support our pastor for reaching out to the community, said Bill Somsak, 75, a retired aerospace engineer. So few ministers leave their pulpit. Were proud of him.
Contact the writer: sgoulding@scng.com
A preschool teacher, a real estate agent and a recent retiree who was a longtime pilot have been identified by relatives as the victims of Mondays Riverside plane crash.
They were members of two San Jose families who had been in Southern California to watch a cheerleading competition. One member of each family remains hospitalized.
The family of Nouri Hijazi and Dana Hijazi, who were killed, and their adult daughter Stacey Joanne Pierce, who was badly burned, released a statement voicing their devastation over what happened and asking for prayers and privacy.
Pierce, who fire officials say was pulled out of a house on fire and suffered third-degree burns over 90 percent of her body, was in critical condition Wednesday at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed.
Adine Farelas, 22, of San Jose, also died in the crash, said her 19-year-old brother, Brandon. Their mother, Silvia Farelas, survived after being thrown from the plane on impact, crawling out of a destroyed house and being helped by bystanders. She is being treated for possible airway damage at Riverside Community Hospital, but is doing better and recovering well, her son said.
Pierces daughter (also the Hijazis granddaughter) and Silvia Farelas daughter (also Adine Farelas younger sister) were participants in a weekend cheerleading event at Disneys California Adventure theme park. Both middle-school-aged girls returned home on a bus chartered by the Union School District in South San Jose.
Riverside County coroners Sgt. Todd Grimm said Wednesday he could not confirm the victims names. He said coroners officials are still contacting family members and he expected to release the official identifications later Wednesday or Thursday.
Authorities had previously said that the deceased were an adult male and female and a teenage girl.
Nouri Hijazi was the registered owner of the 1974 twin-engine Cessna 310. The statement released by his family said he recently retired from a career he loved to spend time with his wife, daughter Stacey and her family. He was an extremely experienced pilot, which was his hobby, his passion.
Mark Folden, a broker at Fireside Realty in San Jose, affirmed that Dana Hijazi, a 67-year-old real estate agent, died in the crash.
The statement said Dana and Stacey truly were best friends and as close as a mother and daughter could be.
With Stacey still in critical condition, We ask that you continue to pray for her recovery, the statement said. I know how dedicated she is to her husband and kids and that will give her the strength she needs to fight.
Brandon Farelas said he was reeling from the loss of his sister, Adine, who listed her occupation on Facebook as a preschool teacher in Los Gatos.
Even at times that we didnt get along so well and wed argue back and forth like brothers and sisters tend to do, she would always be there for me and I appreciate her so much and now realize exactly what it is that Im losing, he told a Bay Area ABC station.
A fundraising campaign on the website GoFundMe was created Wednesday for the Farelas family to help them pay for medical bills and funeral expenses. By 5 p.m., 44 people had donated more than $3,600 toward a $75,000 goal.
The plane took off from Riverside Municipal Airport about 4:40 p.m. Monday. For reasons still under investigation, it soon plummeted back to the ground, clipping one house on Rhonda Road a mile east of the airport and then crashing into the home next door, sending up a fireball. The crash and inferno destroyed two houses and damaged two others.
Riverside city firefighters turned over the scene Tuesday to the National Transportation Safety Board, Battalion Chief Tony Perna said Wednesday.
The NTSB is the agency leading the investigation into the cause of the crash, which is likely to take more than a year.
On Tuesday, an investigator declined to comment on an account by the co-owner of the airport cafe that the planes engine wouldnt start on the pilots first two attempts, then as it taxied down the runway after the third attempt, the plane was rocking front to back before taking off.
By Wednesday morning yellow tape still surrounded the two destroyed houses, but the rest of Rhonda Road had reopened.
At the site of a Tuesday night prayer vigil outside one of the houses, candles remained on the street Wednesday morning, and a blue sign had been placed on a tree reading, Community sorry for your lost.
The smell of smoke lingered faintly in the air, but the debris was no longer smoldering.
Several cars drove down Rhonda Road, slowing down as they passed the crash site.
Nearby resident Bama Brower came by Wednesday morning and couldnt believe his eyes.
Its more devastating than on TV, Brower said.
Having lived near the municipal airport for nine years and hearing about past airplane crashes nearby, Brower said he is concerned for his familys safety.
What struck him about this crash was that one of the victims remains in critical condition after being severely burned. Brower said his son was severely burned in an accident last year, and knows the pain that the victims family must be feeling.
This definitely hits home for me, Brower said. I really feel sorry for the family.
Staff writers Brian Rokos and Ali Tadayon, and Bay Area News Group writers Mark Gomez and Robert Salonga, contributed to this report.
When state Sen. Janet Nguyens colleagues forcibly removed her from the Senate floor Feb. 23 as she read a statement regarding the late Tom Haydens anti-Vietnam War activism and 1965 visit to North Vietnam, they participated in the ongoing silencing and erasing of Vietnamese voices from the complex story of the Vietnam War and its legacies. For more than four decades, American historians, journalists, military veterans and peace activists have told a fairly one-dimensional, U.S.-centric account of the Vietnam War. The central theme of that story is encapsulated in the headline of a Newsweek cover story from 1981: What Vietnam Did to Us. Across the U.S. political spectrum, the Vietnam War story is a story about Americans: American troops, American policymakers, American activists, American civilians. Hayden and other anti-war protesters are the heroes of the lefts narrative. Those on the right argue that the U.S. military engaged in a noble fight that was winnable had Congress not given in to the war resisters. American writers have spent much less time trying to understand Vietnamese perspectives, especially of those who supported the Saigon government.
These are the people Sen. Nguyen, a Republican, represented when she began to read her speech criticizing former state Sen. Hayden. In a statement she issued after her removal from the Senate floor, Sen. Nguyen noted that she spoke for her constituents, many of whom were refugees who fled South Vietnam as the country collapsed in April 1975. Some had worked for the Saigon government, some had served in South Vietnams military, and some had collaborated with the Americans. They worried about punishment or worse at the hands of the North Vietnamese. While the bloodbath that U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin had predicted never materialized, thousands of South Vietnamese did time in re-education camps after the war. For many of those who fled, their Vietnam died when Saigon fell. From their perspective, Hayden had supported the enemy government and military that destroyed it.
This incident in the state Senate chamber illustrates the politics of Vietnam War history and memory. Sen. Nguyens Democratic colleagues asserted that she failed to follow proper parliamentary procedure when she spoke. Senate Majority Leader Bill Monning accused her of impropriety for disparaging a deceased legislator. But the silencing of Sen. Nguyen represents a larger conflict over whose perspectives on the Vietnam War Americans are willing to recognize. For some on the left especially, the war validated a broader critique of the hubris and brutality of U.S. foreign policy. In their telling of the story, American imperialists fought Vietnamese nationalists in a war for Vietnams independence. The voices of Vietnamese who supported the Saigon government and considered South Vietnam their nation throw an inconvenient wrench into this story of stark contrasts.
Yet acknowledging the viewpoints of anticommunist Vietnamese who opposed the Hanoi government does not necessarily indicate support for U.S. intervention. It is possible to write South Vietnamese perspectives into the Vietnam War narrative without justifying American escalation of the war. It is also possible to recognize that, to those who lost everything, Hayden was a painful reminder of international opposition to their Vietnam. The U.S. anti-war movement, which Hayden represented, constitutes an important chapter in the Vietnam War story, and American historians, journalists and participants have ensured that we remember it as central to the narrative. For Sen. Nguyen and other Vietnamese refugees and their families, it is an upsetting chapter. As long as this perspective remains silenced, we Americans will not fully understand what Vietnam did to all of us, including Sen. Nguyen, her family and her constituents.
Heather Marie Stur, Ph.D., is an associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi and a fellow in the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society. She is the author of Beyond Combat: Women and Gender in the Vietnam War Era (Cambridge 2011) and is writing Saigon at War: South Vietnam and the Global Sixties (forthcoming from Cambridge).
Will California lose some deep-pocketed foreign tourists?
International tensions between the Trump administration and major trading partners could be bad news for the states tourism trade, a key part of the economy. In 2015, tourism employed 1 million people statewide and represented $1 of every $40 created by the California economy, according to the latest stats available from the VisitCalifornia tourist bureau.
Yes, its purely speculative to say whether heated geopolitical rhetoric or travel limitations will scare away any meaningful portion of the 17 million who visited California from foreign lands in 2015. But theres $24 billion in yearly international tourist spending at risk.
Foreign visitors are just 6 percent of all California tourists, but their business impact is amplified by their heavy spending $1,400 per visit vs. $400 each for domestic visitors. Those hefty foreign budgets account for 22 percent of all tourism spending in the state, according to VisitCalifornia.
International visitors are a growing business. The foreign slice of the states tourism dollars is up from 18 percent mid-recession in 2009 and 15 percent in 2003, shortly after the 2001 terror attacks and the ensuing war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Adding to problematic trade tensions is that some of Californias most-lucrative tourists come from nations where the new administration and foreign leadership havent exactly seen eye-to-eye.
If a tourist here is foreign, theyre likely a Mexican. Youve heard about that proposed border wall, yes? Thats irked Mexico, home to 7.8 million visitors to California in 2015, or roughly 4-in-9 of the states foreign visitors. But these guests dont spend much, just $397 per visit. That adds up to $3.1 billion of Mexican cash coming here, or 13 percent of Californias foreign tourism spending.
Political squabbles with China over military and trade issues are no help. Chinas 1.16 million visitors to California are heavy spenders: $2,191 per trip adding up to $2.5 billion or 10 percent of foreign tourist spending.
And then there are the Middle Eastern nations targeted by proposed travel limits, as well as neighboring lands, where U.S. anxieties about Muslims also could alter travel plans. All Middle Eastern nations combined contributed just 286,000 visitors to the state in 2015, but these tourists are the biggest spenders: $2,379 per visit. It was business worth $681 million, or 3 percent of the total pie.
Californias economy has many links to the global business world, leaving the states business climate very vulnerable to any negative ripple effect of new America First policy endeavors.
Thats why folks in the leisure and hospitality business arent sleeping well these days.
Contact the writer: jlansner@scng.com
The Orange County Great Park will kick off the Surfing with Tom Carey photography exhibit Saturday at the Palm Court Arts Complex gallery.
The exhibit, through April 23, will feature imagery of some of the worlds finest surfers at the most iconic beaches. A free public reception will be held 1-3 p.m. Sunday.
Carey, a surf photographer who uses classic and experimental techniques, has taken him to 12 different countries, including Fiji, Peru, Ecuador, South Africa, Morocco, Canada, France, Portugal and Ireland.
Carey has photographed for prominent brands such as Etnies, ONeill, Quiksilver and Vans, and has been featured on the cover of more than 40 magazines worldwide. He currently works at Surfer Magazine as a senior photographer and is a staff photographer for Volcom.
The Great Park is located off I-5 or I-405 at Sand Canyon and Marine Way in Irvine. Tomoya Shimura
WASHINGTON In the Obama administrations last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald Trump and Russians across the government. Former U.S. officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling is not duplicated in future U.S. or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.
U.S. allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials and others close to Russias president, Vladimir Putin and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former U.S. officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, U.S. intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trumps associates.
Then and now, Trump has denied that his campaign had any contact with Russian officials, and at one point he openly suggested that U.S. spy agencies had cooked up intelligence suggesting that the Russian government had tried to meddle in the presidential election. Trump has accused the Obama administration of hyping the Russia storyline as a way to discredit his new administration.
At the Obama White House, Trumps statements stoked fears among some that intelligence could be covered up or destroyed or its sources exposed once power changed hands. What followed was a push to preserve the intelligence that underscored the deep anxiety with which the White House and U.S. intelligence agencies had come to view the threat from Moscow.
It also reflected the suspicion among many in the Obama White House that the Trump campaign might have colluded with Russia on election email hacks a suspicion that U.S. officials say has not been confirmed. Former senior Obama administration officials said that none of the efforts were directed by then-President Barack Obama.
The only new piece of information that has come to light is that political appointees in the Obama administration have sought to create a false narrative to make an excuse for their own defeat in the election. There continues to be no there, there, said Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman.
As Inauguration Day approached, Obama White House officials grew convinced that the intelligence was damning and that they needed to ensure that as many people as possible inside government could see it, even if people without security clearances could not. Some officials began asking specific questions at intelligence briefings, knowing the answers would be archived and could be easily unearthed by investigators including the Senate Intelligence Committee, which in early January announced an inquiry into Russian efforts to influence the election.
The opposite happened with the most sensitive intelligence, including the names of sources and the identities of foreigners who were regularly monitored. Officials tightened the already small number of people who could access that information. They knew the information could not be kept from the new president or his top advisers, but wanted to narrow the number of people who might see the information, officials said.
More than a half-dozen current and former officials described various aspects of the effort to preserve and distribute the intelligence, and some said they were speaking to draw attention to the material and ensure proper investigation by Congress. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified information, nearly all of which remains secret, making an independent public assessment of the competing Obama and Trump administration claims impossible.
The FBI is conducting a wide-ranging counterintelligence investigation into Russias meddling in the election, and is examining alleged links between Trumps associates and the Russian government.
Separately, the House and Senate intelligence committees are conducting their own investigations, though they must rely on information collected by the FBI and intelligence agencies.
What intensified the alarm at the Obama White House was a campaign of cyberattacks on state electoral systems in September, which led the Obama administration to deliver a public accusation against the Russians in October.
But it was not until after the election, and after more intelligence had come in, that the administration began to grasp the scope of the suspected tampering and concluded that one goal of the campaign was to help tip the election in Trumps favor. In early December, Obama ordered the intelligence community to conduct a full assessment about the Russian campaign.
In the weeks before the assessment was released in January, the intelligence community combed through databases for an array of communications and other information some of which was months old by then and began producing reports that showed there were contacts during the campaign between Trump associates and Russian officials.
The nature of the contacts remains unknown. Several of Trumps associates have done business in Russia, and it is unclear if any of the contacts were related to business dealings.
The New York Times, citing four current and former officials, reported last month that U.S. authorities had obtained information of repeated contacts between Trumps associates and senior Russian intelligence officials. The White House has dismissed the story as false.
Since the Feb 14 article appeared, more than a half-dozen officials have confirmed contacts of various kinds between Russians and Trump associates. The label intelligence official is not always cleanly applied in Russia, where ex-spies, oligarchs and government officials often report back to the intelligence services and elsewhere in the Kremlin.
Steven L. Hall, the former head of Russia operations at the CIA, said Putin was surrounded by a cast of characters, and that it was fair to say that a good number of them come from an intelligence or security background. Once an intel guy, always an intel guy in Russia.
Beyond leaving a trail for investigators, the Obama administration also wanted to help European allies combat a threat that had caught the U.S. off guard. U.S. intelligence agencies made it clear in the declassified version of the intelligence assessment released in January that they believed Russia intended to use its attacks on the U.S. as a template for more meddling.
We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned, the report said, to future influence efforts worldwide, including against U.S. allies.
Republican Reps. Darrell Issa, Ed Royce and Mimi Walters are joining a growing number of congressional Democrats in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from all investigations into Russia and its role in trying to influence the U.S. presidential election.
However, all three stopped short of calling for Sessions resignation, the preference of some Democrats.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher was the sole Orange County member of Congress to defend Sessions.
Issa, whose district straddles the Orange-San Diego county line, issued his statement Thursday morning following revelations that Sessions had twice met with the Russian ambassador last year and didnt tell the Senate during confirmation hearings.
Issa also reiterated a statement made Friday that there should be an independent, third-party review of the issue.
We need a clear-eyed view of what the Russians actually did so that all Americans can have faith in our institutions, he said. The Putin government is a bad actor whose actions should be carefully scrutinized and regardless of what side of the aisle you sit on we have a vested interest in fully understanding exactly what happened and how to prevent it from happening again.
Issa is best known for his frequent attacks on then-President Barack Obama while Issa was chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Thursdays statement was the latest indication that Issa may be taking a more bipartisan posture after winning reelection by just 0.6 percentage points over Democrat Doug Applegate.
Rohrabacher dismissed the meetings as insignificant.
The Democrats and their allies in the elite media are clearly obsessed with placing blame for their rejection at the polls on their fantasy of a nefarious Russia-Republican cabal, he said. The latest desperate attack was aimed at Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who as a senator and campaign policy adviser had two relatively inconsequential meetings with the Russian ambassador, forgot about them, and/or did not understand Sen. Al Frankens convoluted question.
Big deal! Sessions is one of the most honorable figures on the Washington political scene. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him, as a senator or a campaign adviser, to have met briefly with the Russian ambassador to understand issues that might confront the next administration. The Democrat-media cabal lost the election. It is time for it to accept responsibility for being far to the left of the American people.
Royce, R-Fullerton, is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and joined Issa in urging recusal.
I do believe the attorney general should recuse himself from the Justice Departments ongoing Russia investigation, said Royce in a one-sentence statement.
Walters, whose district includes Irvine, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo, said, I support the ongoing investigations and believe that the American people deserve answers to these questions. Attorney General Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation. Additionally, he should address any misconceptions related to this issue.
Among Democrats renewing criticism of Sessions after the latest revelations are Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who called for him to either recuse himself or resign, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who called for him to resign.
Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, is calling for Sessions to recuse himself and had no comment on calls for his resignation. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood, wants Sessions to resign. Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, called for his recusal and said he needs to resign if it is determined that he was not truthful to the Senate.
Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com
Senate Democrats should vote against the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch, including by a filibuster, if he does not answer questions about his judicial philosophy. Gorsuch is 49 years old. If he remains on the Supreme Court until he is 90, the age at which Justice John Paul Stevens retired, Gorsuch will be a justice for 41 years until the year 2058. The stakes are thus enormous and the Senate and the American people should know what they are getting before anyone is given a lifetime seat on the nations highest court.
Unfortunately, hearings on recent Supreme Court nominations have failed to play any meaningful role in learning about the nominees judicial philosophy and likely impact on the law. In 2006, I testified against the confirmation of Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. At a break in the proceedings, then Senator Joseph Biden came up to me and said that this all was an exercise in Kabuki theater. He said that everyone in the room knew that Alito was going to be a very conservative Supreme Court justice, but Republicans were pretending that Alito had no ideology and the Democrats were trying to ask questions to trip him up and he was too smart for that.
Of course, Gorsuch can and should refuse to answer questions about how he will vote in specific cases that might come before the court. The result in those matters will depend on the briefs and the arguments and the discussion among the justices. But this does not mean that he should be allowed to refuse to answer questions about past rulings of the court or about his judicial philosophy as it relates to issues that the court may decide. Gorsuch can refuse to answer whether he will vote to overrule Roe v. Wade if confirmed for the court, but he should be required to answer the question: if you were on the court in 1973, how would you have voted in Roe v. Wade?
Questions to Gorsuch should focus especially on his statements that he is an originalist who believes that the meaning of a constitutional provision is fixed when it is adopted and means the same thing until it is amended. It must be remembered that the Senate rejected Robert Bork in 1987 because of his originalist philosophy which means no constitutional protection for privacy rights, such as reproductive freedom.
Gorsuch should be required to answer whether, in light of his judicial philosophy, he believes that privacy rights are protected under the Constitution.
Both Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia explicitly said that under originalism the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not provide protection against discrimination for women and gays and lesbians because that was not intended in 1868 when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. Does Gorsuch, as an originalist, share this view?
Justices Scalia and Clarence Thomas said any punishment allowed in 1791, when the Eighth Amendment (which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment) was adopted, is permissible today. Does Judge Gorsuch take this view or follow the courts position that what is cruel and unusual punishment is decided by evolving standards of decency?
Judge Gorsuch should not be allowed to hide behind platitudes, such as declaring that he will follow precedents. Of course, any nominee will say that. It is why it is important to ask how he would have voted were he on the court when prior decisions were issued. He also should be asked to specify the criteria he will use in deciding whether to overrule a precedent.
I expect that Judge Gorsuch will refuse to answer all of the questions that I have suggested by declaring that it concerns a matter that could come before the court. Senate Democrats should make clear that such answers are unacceptable because they render the confirmation hearings a sham. They should be emphatic from the outset that they will vote no and filibuster unless there are meaningful answers.
This could cause Republicans to change the Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. But the result then would be the same as if the Democrats do nothing: Gorsuch will be confirmed. At the very least, though, the Democrats will have stood up for a basic principle of separation of powers. Senate confirmation hearings must be a meaningful inquiry based on essential information.
Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Irvine School of Law.
Orange Coast magazine, owned by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications, has been sold to Hour Media Group.
The lifestyle magazine is based in Newport Beach.
Detroit-based Hour Media paid $6.5 million for four Emmis magazines, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also sold in the deal were publications in Atlanta, Cincinnati and Los Angeles.
Christopher Schulz, the president and publisher of Orange Coast, said there will be no major changes at the publication. He will remain publisher and 100 percent of the staff has been retained.
Orange Coast magazine has been in this market for 43 years and over the years there have been five different sets of owners, Schulz said. Anytime a company changes hands its always an interesting time. In this case Im very happy to work with the folks from Hour Media. They have a rapidly growing portfolio and they are committed to city and regional publishing.
We want to continue to engage our current audience and find new audiences as well. We want to grow our portfolio of print and digital offerings to better serve Orange County, he added
Layoffs were reported at Los Angeles Magazine on Wednesday, according to LA Weekly, which said a half-dozen staffers were cut. The Weekly said layoffs included the publisher, editor-in-chief, head of digital strategy and their copy chief.
Mary Melton, the outgoing editor-in-chief, was also the editorial director for Emmis. She tweeted: After a 16+ year run, seven of those as editor-in-chief, this is my last day with @LAmag.
Hour Media group publishes lifestyle and business magazines focused on Detroit such as Hour Detroit magazine, DBusiness magazine and Detroit Home magazine.
In August, Emmis announced plans to look at new options for its publishing division.
It is always difficult to make a decision to sell, but this step helps us to continue to address our debt leverage and to focus on our growth initiatives, Emmis Chairman & CEO Jeff Smulyan said in a statement.
Emmis, in a statement, said it would continue to publish Indianapolis Monthly.
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
The 2013 Broadway musical A Gentlemans Guide to Love and Murder has Southern California roots, making the current U.S. tour, which started in 2015 but is just now arriving in Costa Mesa, something of a homecoming.
In its depiction of a young man determined to speed his path to landed prominence through that darkest of deeds, murder most foul, Gentlemans Guide is a cheeky look at Edwardian Englands top 1 percent, circa 1907-08 which some might say underscores its relevance to our own nations income inequalities.
But what Robert L. Freedman (book/lyrics) and Steven Lutvak (music/lyrics) have crafted from the Roy Horniman novel carries pleasant reflections of the retro-30s musical Me and My Girl, the 1952 film version of The Importance of Being Earnest, and any comical film whose star (Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis) plays an uncanny collection of roles specifically, one Ealing Studios gem starring Alec Guiness.
The storys basic premise mimics Me and My Girl with a hero of humble means learning hes heir to a title: Montague Monty DYsquith Navarro (Kevin Massey) learns hes Ninth Earl of Highhurst but also discovers nine others of the wealthy, socially prominent DYsquith family are ahead of him in line.
Monty soon stumbles onto the idea that killing them off would speed things along. Tired of poverty, and driven to win over his gorgeous but shallow lady love, Sibilla (Kristen Beth Williams), Monty systematically starts eliminating the various DYsquiths nine of whom are portrayed by one actor, John Rapson.
If the storys setting and other particulars sound familiar, its because Hornimans source novel became the 1949 British film Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which Guiness played the various filthy-rich murder victims.
Repeating only the most broad similarities, Rapson paints each comedic portrait as more eccentric than the last: Lascivious Asquith DYsquith, Jr.; doddering Reverend Lord Ezekial, noted for his chattering laughter; effeminate beekeeper Henry; globetrotting do-gooder Lady Hyacinth, a forceful fussbudget; robust, musclebound, macho Major Lord Bartholomew, whos much like a British version of Teddy Roosevelt; and the tense, unsmiling, psychotic Lord Adalbert, the familys current Earl.
While Rapson brilliantly shows the various incarnations of this familys highborn members in a mostly comedic light, he also proves that some of the DYsquiths Monty encounters are genuinely kind: Lord Asquith, Sr., hired Monty into his banking firm and tenderly regards him like a son, while Chauncey is a simple, humble bloke whose shy nature has shielded him from the grotesqueries of wealth and privilege.
In fact, Guide makes it clear that while Monty starts out only wishing to attain riches so that Sibilla will marry him, his personality traces an arc clearly mapped out by the script, songs and Masseys performance, from a decent man exploited by others to one who grows used to, and is nearly bored by, killing.
The character of the virtuous, noble Phoebe DYsquith (Kristen Hahn), Henrys lovely sister, gives Monty the flip side of Sibilla, whom he labels vain and heartless but is still drawn to. The brilliantly staged song Ive Decided to Marry You imbues this threesome with the psychological complexity of the more famed tale of Jekyll and Hyde.
The boyish-looking Massey manages to make Montys dark deeds lightly heroic, Williams Sibilla is a luscious lass, Hahn is both nerdy and sweet, and Rapson is simply dazzling. All are backed by a first-rate 10-person ensemble, and all deliver spot-on upper-crust British accents.
Darko Tresnjak, director of the shows 2012 world premiere, is a clear master of the material at hand; his work, Lawrence Goldbergs music direction and Peggy Hickeys choreography are just the tip of the touring productions iceberg: Musically, the show is a powerhouse, moving from one great musical number to the next.
All are supported by Alexander Dodges fancifully lighthearted scenic design; costumes (by Linda Cho), hair & wigs (Charles LaPointe) and makeup (Brian Strumwasser) that bring the period to vivid life; and projections (by Aaron Rhyne) that add splashes of color and realism to the narrative.
With such a ripe cast, near classic songs and devilish humor, the production is a thoroughly winning guide to a wonderful night of theater.
Contact the writer: emarchesewriter@gmail.com
AZLoop is Arizona's SpaceX Hyperloop Competition Team, a Group that is Looking at Ways to Achieve High-Speed Mass Transportation
TEMPE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2017 / The founders of Instant Data Centers (IDC), a company that manufactures outdoor rated edge micro data centers, are pleased to announce that they have partnered with AZLoop. AZLoop is Arizona's SpaceX Hyperloop Competition Team.
To learn more about this exciting new partnership, please check out https://www.instantdatacenters.com/instant-data-centers-partners-with-azloop/ at any time.
As a company spokesperson noted, the Hyperloop is a new proposed form of high-speed mass transportation that can achieve speeds of up to 750 miles per hour. The team at IDC has over a decade of expertise in supporting high-performance computing solutions in any environment and can distribute small data center nodes along the transit path, lowering latency increasing reaction times, saving both money and time.
Now, as part of the new partnership with AZLoop, micro data centers invented and produced locally in Arizona can support the unprecedented data processing demands of a Hyperloop transport system as well as simplify and standardize the construction process required to support those systems along the route.
"The Hyperloop system will require high bandwidth communications and rapid localized data processing along the Hyperloop's route," the spokesperson said, adding that onboard computers, sensors, and cyber-physical systems will need to react and adjust to conditions along the transit path much faster than the traditional data center, and edge network topology will allow.
Simon Rohrich, a design engineer at Instant Data Centers, has been fascinated by the Hyperloop concept after reading about the technology in Robert Heinlein's science fiction book, "Double Star." His broad grasp of technology solutions from a wide range of industries, coupled with a decade of practical experience in several startups, are exactly the type of skills Arizona's Hyperloop project is seeking, the spokesperson said.
Story continues
To watch a video about the AZLoop Hyperloop Team and learn more about the concept of Hyperloop ultra-fast transportation, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HptGEFsrNFg.
About Instant Data Centers:
Instant Data Centers manufactures edge micro data centers that are outdoor rated for standard servers as well as HPC supercomputer computers. Instant Data Centers uses their patented cooling system and shock and vibration system to build ruggedized edge data centers. Their designs allow their clients to put these data centers just about anywhere; all that is needed is a flat piece of ground. For more information, please visit: https://www.instantdatacenters.com/.
Instant Data Centers
510 S. 52nd St., Suite 103
Tempe, AZ 85281
Contact:
Russ Dailey
Media@InstantDataCenters.com
(480) 462-0599
SOURCE: Instant Data Centers
BUENA PARK A man suspected of breaking into a Buena Park home Wednesday was caught with the help of a police dog.
Around 1:15 p.m., police received a report of a burglary in progress at a home near Stanton Avenue and Poinsettia Drive, Buena Park police Sgt. Mike Lovchik said.
About an hour later, an officer, who wasnt identified, and his dog, a German shepherd named Kondor, found the suspect hiding in the backyard of a home.
Personnel on an Anaheim Police Department helicopter ordered the suspect to surrender but he refused. An officer then released Kondor and the suspect was bitten before he was caught, Lovchik said.
The suspect was treated at a hospital for minor injuries and taken to the Orange County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of residential burglary.
Police were still trying Wednesday afternoon to confirm the suspects identity.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
Look out Knotts Berry Farm. With Portos Bakery & Cafe making its long-anticipated debut Wednesday in Buena Park, the city is now home to another big tourist attraction. Rivaling theme park lines for blockbuster rides, hundreds of fans stretched along a two-block section of Beach Boulevard to be the first to buy boxes of Cuban delicacies.
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Crystal Loredo and her two cousins arrived first at 5 a.m. She came for the cheese rolls and potato balls. Portos three bakeries sell more than 2 million a month.
Theyre so good, you have one and you have to go back for more, said Loredo, 29, of La Habra.
After an opening ceremony that included a speech by actor and family friend Andy Garcia, customers were finally let in around 11 a.m. At that point, the line had surged to more than 1,500 people, according to local police. The opening was by far the biggest turnout the Los Angeles institution had ever seen, said Betty Porto, whose mother, Rosa, founded the first cake shop in the early 1970s after the family fled communist Cuba.
Its crazy. I didnt think there would be this many people, said Caesar Hernandez, 40. The Anaheim resident was one of the few people in line who had never tried Portos. He arrived at 7:30 a.m. and walked out nearly three hours later.
Hernandez loaded up, buying a dozen cheese rolls, a sandwich, a slice of tres leches cake, a strawberry croissant and creme brulee.
Everyone keeps telling me how good it is, so I guess Ill find out, he said.
Raul Porto Jr. said he and his family were heartened by the fans who showed up for the companys first Orange County outlet. The Buena Park cafe is the chains largest at nearly 25,000 square feet.
I cant tell you how we felt to see you all, he said during a pre-opening ceremony. Finding a new location for us is like finding a home. We really found a good place.
Garcia also gave a brief speech to cheering fans. As a fellow Cuban exile, he said hes been going to Portos since 1978. Rosa and Raul Sr. kept the struggling actor well fed for years, he said.
Im a member of the Portos family through digestion, he joked.
In a more political portion of his speech, Garcia said the Portos are an example of a hard-working immigrant family embracing the American dream. Its a testament to what people coming to America can do given the opportunity, he said.
After Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in the 1960s, Rosa and Raul Porto lost their jobs at a cigar distribution warehouse. Raul Sr. was sent to a labor camp, forcing Rosa to fend for herself and their three children: Betty, Margarita and Raul Jr.
To feed her family, she started a black market cake business in her home. She risked being sent to jail for running a free enterprise business. It was a barter and trade operation. Neighbors paid her in government rations pigs, chickens, rice and beans. For a decade the Portos lived under the fear of being caught before the family was approved to relocate to the U.S.
She took a risk because it was either that or starve, said eldest daughter Betty Porto, who runs all four cafes with her two siblings.
When Rosa landed in Los Angeles in 1971, family and friends began requesting her sponge cakes. She ran the business out of her home for the next five years, specializing in wedding and quinceanera cakes. When customers asked for appetizers for parties, she developed a menu of guava pastries, chicken empanadas, potato balls and meat pies.
In 1976, she opened her first brick-and-mortar shop. A business built out of desperation eventually grew to three cafes in Glendale, Burbank and Downey. As their Los Angeles fan base grew more diverse, the menu expanded to include elegant French pastries and cakes, sandwiches, croquettes and tarts.
Today, Portos fan base rivals the legions of loyal customers who follow another local food institution: In-N-Out Burger. As it turns out, fans adore both brands for the same reason.
Its so inexpensive for the quality. You cant go wrong, Suzanne Lee, 47, said as she waited at the back of the line at 11 a.m. (She made it to the order counter more than four hours later.)
Buena Park is Portos first new bakery to open in seven years. A fifth bakery is coming next year to West Covina. Though the cafes combined serve 4.5 million customers a year, Raul Jr. said he and his sisters run them like a mom-and-pop operation. Like his parents, they treat everyone like family.
No one knows that more than Lydia Wong. The 72-year-old Lancaster resident has been a Portos customer since 1975 when she was a regular at the Glendale shop. On Wednesday, she drove two hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get to the Buena Park opening.
The family spotted her right away and made sure she was among the first customers to enter the store.
Love is the secret to Portos, Wong said. Everything they do is with love.
PORTOS IN BUENA PARK
Address: 7640 Beach Blvd.
Hours: Monday through Saturday: 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com
Former President George W. Bush renewed his support for freedom of the press Wednesday night, but with a caveat that may please President Trump, who has labeled the media the enemy of the people.
There needs to be a free and independent press, but it ought to be accurate, Bush said during an appearance at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, where he was promoting his new book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chiefs Tribute to Americas Warriors.
During the event described as a conversation with Bush, he sought to clarify comments he made on NBCs Today show Monday that some news outlets characterized as critical of Trump, who has accused the media of spreading lies, misrepresentations and false stories.
Im asked a question, do I believe in free press? And the answer is, Absolutely I believe in free press, as should every other American believe in free press. Because the press holds people to account. 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 that holds you to account. And so I answered that question and of course the headlines were Bush criticizes Trump.
The 43rd president added, I made the decision after my presidency not to criticize President Obama and I feel the same way about President Trump.
Bush did not address other recent comments he has made that appear to put him at odds with the new president. He told the Today show he supports an investigation into possible ties between Trump advisers and Russian officials during the presidential campaign. I think we all need answers, he said.
And in an interview with People magazine he expressed concern about the atmosphere in the country since Trump took office just over a month ago. I dont like the racism, and I dont like the name-calling, and I dont like the people feeling alienated.
At the Reagan library Wednesday, Bush mostly avoided those pointed comments.
I want anybody who is president to succeed, he said. Were all in this deal together. And so I understand 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.
The former presidents book contains 66 portraits and a mural he painted depicting veterans who have served in the U.S. military since 9/11. Each artwork is accompanied by text Bush wrote paying tribute to the service and sacrifice of those he painted.
I painted these men and women as a way to honor their service to the country and to show my respect for their sacrifice and courage, Bush wrote in an introduction to the book.
Bush took up painting as a hobby after leaving office in 2009, inspired by another amateur painter and statesman, Winston Churchill.
I wanted a new adventure within the confines of the post-Presidential bubble, Bush wrote in the books introduction. Of his new pastime he wrote, Im driven to learn as much as I possibly can before Im no longer able to hold a paintbrush.
Proceeds from the book, which retails for $35, will benefit groups that aid veterans.
SAN FRANCISCO The public has a right to access emails and text messages about government business on the private phones and accounts of state and local officials and employees, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In the unanimous decision, the court said those communications were subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act and not shielded because they were done in personal accounts.
If communications sent through personal accounts were categorically excluded from CPRA, government officials could hide their most sensitive, and potentially damning, discussions in such accounts, Associate Justice Carol Corrigan wrote for the seven-member court.
The use of private email accounts by public officials has faced scrutiny in recent years, with accusations that some were using them as a way to avoid disclosure. Hillary Clinton was sharply criticized during the presidential campaign for using a private email account while at the State Department.
In a survey by The Associated Press two years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top elected officials in California acknowledged using personal email accounts to conduct government business.
Many states treat public business on private accounts as public records. And at the federal level, an appeals court ruled last year that work-related emails from a private account used by the White Houses top science adviser were subject to disclosure under federal open records laws.
Opponents have raised privacy concerns and said public officials sometimes need confidentiality to discuss unpopular views. They have also argued that sifting through employees private accounts and devices in response to requests for records would be expensive and burdensome.
These are public officials, and the public does have some interest in knowing how they are conducting business, said Jessica Levinson, who teaches privacy law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Having said that, the public doesnt have the right to know everything that this person talks about.
The lawsuit before the California Supreme Court was filed by Ted Smith, who in 2009 requested messages about development in downtown San Jose that were sent or received on private devices used by San Joses mayor and City Council. The city said it did not have access to any messages created on personal devices, so they were not public records.
Smith sued. A Superior Court judge ruled in his favor, but an appeals court overturned that decision in 2014.
Openness in government is critical to a functioning democracy, attorneys for Smith wrote in a brief to the California Supreme Court. If the Court of Appeals decision in this case is allowed to stand, public employees can easily avoid accountability and subvert the intent of the (California Public Records Act) by hiding any communications that suggest corruption or the appearance of corruption in private accounts.
San Jose countered that public employees retain privacy rights. Forcing them to turn over their passwords to inspect communications on private devices would be akin to making them hand over their house keys, the city said in a brief to the California Supreme Court.
There is no indication that the (public records) act requires city councilmembers and employees to open their homes so that their personal diaries and correspondence could be inspected for presence of writings that mention the city of San Jose, City Attorney Richard Doyle wrote. Such an interpretation of the act would be unreasonable, and yet, it would be required if the Act was extended to writings at issue here.
A message left Thursday for San Jose City Attorney Richard Doyle was not immediately returned.
GENEVA First the Syrian air force dropped barrel bombs from helicopters on a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy, then fired rockets from jets, then strafed survivors with machine guns, U.N. investigators said Wednesday in a report that found government forces not only had committed the attack in September but had done so deliberately, a war crime.
The attack, which killed 14 aid workers and stoked international outrage, was meticulously planned and ruthlessly carried out, the report said.
It called the attack one of the most egregious of many war crimes that investigators said had been committed during the governments five-month offensive to take full control of the northern city of Aleppo.
The 31-truck convoy organized by the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had been carrying food, medicine, childrens clothes and other humanitarian supplies destined for families in opposition-controlled areas and had been traveling with the governments knowledge and permission.
The report released Wednesday found that war crimes had been committed by government and rebel forces, corroborating many of the worst allegations that Aleppo residents had made against both sides.
The report found that government forces had hit hospitals; used internationally banned chlorine gas and cluster munitions; arrested fleeing civilians; and carried out summary executions, with some soldiers killing their own relatives.
On the other side, the report found that rebel groups had indiscriminately shelled government-held civilian areas with no specific military target, killing dozens, including women and children. In rebel areas, the report said, some groups prevented people from evacuating and discriminated in food distribution during a siege, favoring relatives and supporters.
Strikingly, the report also found that evacuations of besieged civilians from rebel-held eastern Aleppo and from the government-held towns of Fouaa and Kfarya during the battle constituted the war crime of forced displacement, because residents had no choice and were moved for strategic reasons, not safety.
The U.N. researchers found no evidence that Russia had used chemical weapons. They also did not receive sufficiently clear evidence to directly tie Russian forces to any war crimes described in the report.
But they said Russian aircraft had joined the Syrian air force in using indiscriminate weapons in a deadly campaign that repeatedly targeted hospitals, water distribution stations, markets and bakeries and suggested a willful disregard for the international laws of war.
WASHINGTON Russian aircraft mistakenly bombed Syrian fighters who are being trained by the United States, the commander of the U.S.-led operation in Iraq and Syria said Wednesday. U.S. advisers were about 3 miles away when the Russian strike occurred.
The episode pointed to the risk of unintended clashes among the myriad forces operating on a fluid battlefield in Syria as the U.S. command looks toward the fight to take Raqqa from Islamic State.
Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the U.S.-led task force that is fighting the militants in Iraq and Syria, said the Russian airstrike, which took place Tuesday, led to casualties among the Syrian fighters, but he declined to say how many.
Townsend said the Russian attack appeared to have been a mistake: The Russian military thought it was bombing villages held by the Islamic State, but in fact they were recently occupied by Syrian Arab fighters.
We had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS, Townsend said, referring to the Islamic State. Actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab coalition forces.
There is a diverse array of forces near Al Bab, including Turkish-backed Syrian militias, Syrian regime forces and Kurdish and Arab fighters. Townsend said the United States was encouraging all sides to focus on the fight against the Islamic State and not let tensions among the different groups divert them from the need to take Raqqa, the militants de facto capital in Syria.
This is the second time in recent weeks that there has been an episode of friendly fire involving the Russians. Last month, Russian fighters mistakenly bombed Turkish soldiers near Al Bab.
Townsend also said that some Islamic State fighters had sought to escape from Mosul, in northern Iraq, disguised as refugees, but had been detained. He said he did not anticipate that larger numbers of U.S. troops would be needed for the campaign, which is under review by the Trump administration.
The coalition is encouraged by the progress against ISIS in Al Bab by the Turkish military and their opposition forces, Townsend said. We encourage all forces to remain focused on the counter-ISIS fight and concentrate their efforts on defeating ISIS, and not toward other objectives that may cause the coalition to divert energy and resources away from Raqqa.
WASHINGTON Under intensifying pressure, Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly agreed Thursday to recuse himself from any investigation into Russian meddling in Americas 2016 presidential election. He acted after revelations he twice spoke with the Russian ambassador during the campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress.
Sessions rejected any suggestion that he had tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, saying, That is not my intent. That is not correct.
But he did allow that he should have been more careful in his testimony during his confirmation hearing, saying, I should have slowed down and said, But I did meet one Russian official a couple of times.
The White House has stood by Sessions in the latest controversy to dog President Donald Trumps young administration, though officials say they first learned about his contacts with the ambassador from a reporter Wednesday night. Trump himself said Thursday he had total confidence in Sessions and didnt think he needed to recuse himself not long before he did.
One of Sessions conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak occurred at a July event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. At that same event, the ambassador also spoke with Carter Page, who briefly advised Trumps campaign on foreign policy, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion.
Separately, a White House official said Thursday that Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn met with Kislyak at Trump Tower in New York in December. The official described that sit-down as a brief courtesy meeting.
Flynn was fired last month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Kislyak.
The Trump teams account of Flynns contacts with the ambassador has changed several times. The White House did not disclose the in-person meeting, or Kushners involvement, until Thursday.
Both the White House official and the person with knowledge of Pages discussion insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the meetings.
Trump has been trailed for months by questions about potential ties to Russia, and allegations of Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. election to help him defeat Hillary Clinton. The new president and his campaign officials have blamed such contentions on Democratic sore losers and have heatedly denied any contact with Russians concerning the election.
While there is nothing necessarily nefarious or even unusual about a member of Congress meeting with a foreign ambassador, typically members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meet with foreign ambassadors, not Armed Services Committee lawmakers, such as Sessions, whose responsibility is oversight of the military and the Pentagon.
The latest development comes on the heels of what had been the high point of Trumps young presidency: a well-received address to Congress Tuesday night that energized Republicans and appeared to wipe away some lawmakers concerns about the administrations tumultuous start.
But Sessions faced a rising chorus of demands that he resolve the seeming contradiction between his two conversations in the summer and fall with Kislyak and his sworn statements to Congress in January, when he said he had not had communications with Russians during the campaign.
The Justice Department said he met with Kislyak in his role as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not in his role as a Trump adviser with the campaign, and that led to his answers.
The attorney general, an early backer and key adviser for Trumps campaign, said he decided to recuse himself for investigations that are underway and others to come after his staff recommended he do so. Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente will handle such matters for now.
Sessions added that his announcement should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation.
Some Democrats called for Sessions not only to recuse himself but to resign.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had accused Sessions of lying under oath, repeated her call for his resignation after he recused himself. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a special prosecutor should be appointed to examine whether the federal investigation into Kremlin meddling and into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russians had been compromised by Sessions. Democrats also sought a criminal perjury investigation.
More than a half dozen Republican lawmakers, including some who consider themselves personally close to Sessions, had urged him to recuse himself from the probe. Sen. Tom Cole of Oklahoma said he didnt believe Sessions could have colluded with Russia, but If there is an investigation, he probably shouldnt be the person leading it.
The Justice Department acknowledged two separate Sessions interactions with Kislyak, both coming after cybersecurity firms had concluded that Russian intelligence agencies were behind cyber-hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
The first occurred after a Heritage Foundation event during the Republican National Convention in July, when the department says a group of envoys including the Russian ambassador approached Sessions. The second was a September conversation, which the department likened to the more than 25 discussions Sessions had with foreign ambassadors last year as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But Sessions did not disclose his discussions with Kislyak at his Senate confirmation hearing in January when asked what he would do if anyone affiliated with the campaign had been in contact with officials of the Russian government.
Sessions said he knew of no such contacts. He added, I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didnt have, did not have communications with the Russians, and Im unable to comment on it.
He answered no in a written questionnaire when asked about contacts regarding the election.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said it was normal for Russian diplomats to meet with U.S. lawmakers. A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told AP that meetings with American political figures were part of the embassys everyday business.
Revelations of the contacts, first reported by The Washington Post, came amid a disclosure by three administration officials that White House lawyers have instructed aides to Trump to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian meddling in the American political process.
Sessions is not the first attorney general to disengage, or take a reduced role, in a high-profile matter. Attorney General Loretta Lynch last summer agreed to do so at the recommendation of the FBI in the Hillary Clinton email matter after an impromptu meeting with Bill Clinton on her airplane.
AP Writers Julie Pace, Richard Lardner, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed.
AP Writers Richard Lardner, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Taylor and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed.
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump surprised congressional leaders when he suddenly suggested he was open to broad immigration reform. But while there is appetite on Capitol Hill for legislation, there is also skepticism, and the presidents hard-line rhetoric over the past two years could make a compromise bill much harder.
Trump signaled a potential shift on Tuesday in a private meeting with news anchors. He told them he was open to legislation that would give legal status to some people living in the U.S. illegally and provide a pathway to citizenship to those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Those private comments raised expectations that he might make a similar call in his prime-time address. Instead, Trump pledged to vigorously target people living in the U.S. illegally who threaten our communities and prey on innocent citizens, words similar to his campaign speeches.
The mixed messaging underscored the uncertainty about the presidents intentions, and drew a mixed reaction on Capitol Hill. While some in his party could welcome a new push for comprehensive immigration reform, its far from clear exactly what that might entail. Trump spent his campaign whipping his supporters into a frenzy on the issue, painting a picture of a nation overrun by violent people living here illegally, committing crimes and stealing American jobs.
Thats left many Democrats skeptical and Republicans on both sides of the issue appearing to hear what they want.
I hope that it opens the door for comprehensive immigration reform, which we obviously feel is vital, said Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was a member of the so-called Gang of Eight that spearheaded a 2013 immigration bill that ultimately failed after passing the Senate.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., another Gang of Eight member, said he was encouraged by Trumps remarks less in the speech than what came out earlier. He said the time was ripe for action, despite Trumps past rhetoric denouncing illegal amnesty.
Only Nixon could go to China, I think there are parallels there, said Flake. That was a reference to President Richard Nixons 1972 meeting with Mao Zedong, now a political metaphor for a leader taking an action that his supporters would typically condemn if taken by someone from another party.
Flake suggested that Trump could come out and say, All right, weve got to solve this. Were not going to deport 11 million people. There are people out there afraid. Why dont we get something we can agree on? Nows the time.
But GOP Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., heard something else. He says Trump was very clear that he wants to secure the border, he wants to make sure that we are deporting criminal aliens and he gave some very vivid examples of the dangers of having people in this country who should be removed, have been removed and have come back.
I did not hear him mention anything about comprehensive immigration reform, I have never heard him say anything about that, Buck added.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday that any legislation would have to be on Trumps terms.
He recognizes that a solution, a comprehensive solution, has eluded our nation for a long time. And its a big problem. And if he can get it consistent with his principles he will, Spicer said.
Trump campaigned as an immigration hard-liner, vowing to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and step up deportations. Since taking office, he has hewed closely to those promises, signing an order aimed at suspending the U.S. refugee program and subjecting all immigrants in the country illegally to possible deportation if they are charged or convicted of any offense, or even suspected of a crime.
Trump did say during the campaign that he was open to softening his position and some who met with him privately were convinced at times that he was going to move in that direction. But he ultimately landed where he started, declaring in September that under his presidency there would be no legal status or becoming a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country.
People will know that you cant just smuggle in, hunker down and wait to be legalized, he said then. Those days are over.
Trumps vacillations are nothing new. During the campaign, he routinely said that while the bad guys would have to go, he would eventually find a mechanism to let the good immigrants stay. In a high-profile campaign immigration speech Trump kicked the can down the road, saying that once the borders were secure and a new immigration system in place, he would be in a position to consider the appropriate disposition of those who remain.
Roy Beck, the president and CEO of NumbersUSA, a non-profit that advocates for reduced immigration, said that while Trumps comments appear contradictory, comprehensive immigration reform doesnt necessarily mean to Trump what it has meant in the past. Still, he said, Trump is walking a fine line on an issue that helped drive him to the White House.
He cannot lose the moral high ground that he has on that issue. So hes got to be very careful to avoid alienating his supporters, Beck said. But thats not to say theres not room for some maneuvering and flexibility.
However, conservatives including Rep. Steve King of Iowa caution Trump against pursuing broad immigration legislation, calling it a trap.
Comprehensive is the code word for amnesty, and everyone knows that by now, King said. He also said going in that direction could swiftly alienate core GOP supporters.
If its not going to be a promise kept on immigration, the base will be gone.
AP White House correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.
Mike Hefner just wanted to grab a bite to eat while on his way to Hollywood.
The South Carolina tourist thought Rubys at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier sounded like a good place to stop, but after finding that the restaurant was closed, he continued his leisurely stroll back down the long pier.
Thats when a commotion stopped him in his tracks anglers wrestling to pull a 6-foot shark from the water, something Hefner had never seen before. Like others who had gathered around as people cheered, he pulled out his phone and recorded video.
Hefner had no idea he was entering a firestorm of debate surrounding the capture of great white sharks. Since his video was posted on Facebook Feb. 21, it has generated more than 300,000 views and garnered news coverage around the country.
Someone caught something, so I stayed and watched, Hefner said via e-mail. Ive seen sharks caught on other piers in different states, but this was my first time seeing a great white. By reading the comments on my Facebook, I guess its illegal to pull a great white out of the water. The guys could have easily cut their line and let it go, but they decided to try to net it and then when that failed, they used a gaff hook in its gill to pull it onto the pier.
Despite the publics assumptions, California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan said it hasnt yet been determined to be a great white.
There are many sharks that look similar, he said. I would ask the public to be patient. We are working diligently, investigations take time. Just because everybody says its a white shark, doesnt mean its a white shark. We are very well trained and experienced and were wildlife experts, but this isnt CSI, we cant determine things overnight.
The Register first reported the video Saturday, and since then, it has appeared on Fox, NBC and across local media outlets from Hefners hometown of Myrtle Beach.
The comments on social media show mixed response to the incident. The video showed the shark hitting a concrete pier pillar as it was pulled up toward the deck, with people surrounding it and appearing to be posing for selfies. Some argue the incident was not just illegal, but also cruel. Others say a flurry of great white activity off the coast represents a healthy ecosystem and they should be legal to catch.
Hefner wrote that he had a couple of people threatening me to take it down.
Lifeguards worry anglers catching great whites off the pier can cause them to be agitated and attack nearby surfers and other ocean users, similar to an incident that happened a few years ago in Manhattan Beach when a swimmer was bitten after anglers snagged a great white. But lifeguards have no authority to enforce fishing laws on piers, which is regulated by Fish and Game.
State law protects the great white from being caught off California. Hughan said its a misdemeanor to capture a great white, and if those in the video are convicted, they likely would not face jail time or the maximum penalty of $10,000.
If they were convicted, the Orange County judge would decide the penalty. It depends on the charge and how the judge feels about it, he said. In reality, no one is going to jail.
In the video, one person is yelling pull, pull, pull as anglers with heavy fishing gear pull the baby great white toward the crowd. Cheers ring out as the sharks 6-foot-long body is pulled upward.
Hey, take a picture fast, one man screams.
They threw it back over the pier and as far as I know it lived, Hefner wrote. Once they threw it over, I left and continued my journey to Hollywood.
Lifeguards are concerned with the number of great white shark incidents in recent weeks this was the third recent catch off the Huntington Beach Pier. In the other two instances, the sharks were released back into the water, so there were no fines imposed.
An anglers catch off Sunset Beach went viral when an 8-foot great white was caught from shore, but the shark was quickly returned to the ocean after the fisherman realized what he had captured. Also, a 12-foot great white was spotted by a police helicopter and a two-mile stretch of beach was shut down.
Contact the writer: lconnelly@scng.com
WHITTIER Prosecutors filed capital murder and other charges Wednesday against a gang member and probationer accused of killing one Whittier police officer and wounding another last month after gunning down his cousin in East Los Angeles, authorities said.
Michael Christopher Mejia, 26, of Los Angeles faces two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of carjacking and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the Feb. 20 shootings in East Los Angeles and Whittier, according to Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office spokesman Greg Risling.
Mejia could face the death penalty if convicted of the murder of Officer Keith Boyer, the murder of his cousin, Roy Torres and the wounding of Officer Patrick Hazell, as well as the carjacking of his cousin and the alleged weapons violation, officials said.
A decision on whether to seek capital punishment will me made at a later date, Risling said in a statement.
Mejia, who was shot and wounded himself by police before being apprehended, was scheduled to appear for an arraignment hearing Thursday in the Bellflower branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court, Risling said. But it was unclear if his medical condition would force the hearing to be postponed.
Mejia has remained hospitalized in a jail ward since the shooting, records show. He was immediately sentenced to a 10-day flash incarceration for violating the terms of his probation under the terms of AB 109 pending the filing of charges in connection with the deadly shootings. The 10-day,automatic sentence is set to expire Thursday.
Mejia first shot and killed Torres inside the converted garage he was using as a bedroom at his home in East Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Sheriffs officials said. Mejia then stole his slain cousins car and made his way to Whittier.
A little under three hours later, Mejia was involved in a minor traffic collision with two other motorists at Colima Road and Mar Vista Street, investigators said.
Police responded to the crash and when they ordered Mejia to get out of his car the defendant is accused of pulling out a semi-automatic handgun and firing at two officers, Risling said. Boyer was killed and Hazell was also wounded. Hazell has since been released from the hospital and is continuing his recovery at home.
Mejia has prior felony convictions for robbery in 2010 and auto theft in 2014, Risling said.
Since being released from custody for the auto theft conviction in April of 2016, Mejia was arrested five times for probation violations, records show. Each time, he received a 9- or 10-day flash incarceration before being turned loose again.
The case prompted outrage from law enforcement and questions from politicians and community members over recent efforts to lessen the overcrowding in California prisons. Whittier Police Chief Jeff Piper said he believed such laws as AB 109, also knows as the Public Safety Realignment of 2011, and Proposition 47 of 2014, which reduced some felony crimes to misdemeanors, were responsible for Mejia being out of prison when the shootings occurred.
Others who have studied the laws have said there did not appear to be an increase in violent crime because of them.
PLANEGG/MUNICH, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2017 / MorphoSys AG (MOR.DE) (MOR.DE) (Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) will publish its Annual Financial Results 2016 on March 9, 2017 at 7:00 a.m. CET.
The Management team of MorphoSys AG will host a conference call and webcast to present MorphoSys' Annual Financial Results 2016 and provide an outlook for 2017.
Date: Thursday, March 9, 2017
Time: 2:00 p.m. CET (1:00 p.m. GMT, 8:00 a.m. EST)
Dial-in numbers (listen only):
Germany: +49 89 2444 32975
United Kingdom: +44 20 3003 2666
USA: +1 202 204 1514
Company participants in the call will be:
Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer
Jens Holstein, Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Malte Peters, Chief Development Officer
Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer
Participants are kindly requested to dial in up to 10 minutes before the call to ensure a secure line and a prompt start.
The presentation slides and webcast link will be available at the Company's website at www.morphosys.com/conference-calls.
A slide-synchronized audio replay of the conference will also be available at the corporate website following the live event.
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.
Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 100 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow.
MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular updates about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com.
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HuCAL(R), HuCAL GOLD(R), HuCAL PLATINUM(R), CysDisplay(R), RapMAT(R), arYla(R), Ylanthia(R), 100 billion high potentials(R), Slonomics(R), Lanthio Pharma(R) and LanthioPep(R) are registered trademarks of the MorphoSys Group.
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.
For more information, please contact:
MorphoSys AG
Anke Linnartz
Head of Corporate Communications & IR
Jochen Orlowski
Associate Director Corporate Communications & IR
Alexandra Goller
Senior Manager Corporate Communications & IR
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-404
investors@morphosys.com
SOURCE: MorphoSys AG via the EQS Newswire distribution service including Press Releases and Regulatory Announcements
Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids, which says cellphones and computers are exercising the fright/flight part of youthful brains rather than the thinking part, will appear from noon to 2 p.m. Friday March 3 at the Westhampton Free Library.
Kardaras, who lives in nearby Sag Harbor and who addressed that library on Sept. 8, 2016, was the subject of a Time mag Aug. 31, 2016 feature headlined, Screens in Schools Are a $60 billion Hoax. The Aug. 28, 2016 New York Post had a two-page feature on him headlined Digital Heroin.
The WH library has said it was waiting until the National Day of Unplugging March 3-4 to schedule a talk by him. It is hosting a special lunch and learn session.
Library critics note that the Kardaras book was published last August and the library should have scheduled him as a speaker then when the local population was about 20,000 vs. the 2,000 it shrinks to in the winter. As of noon today, six people had registered for the Kardaras talk, said library dirrector Danielle Waskiewicz. It will not be video or tape-recorded, she said.
The Day of Unplugging observance, a project of Jewish non-profit Reboot, is an adaption of the ritual of carving out one day per week to unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors, and connect with loved ones. Tech companies are raking in large sums and school authorities have mostly been co-opted by them, Kardaras contends.
His basic message is that electronics spur the pleasure circuits in brains, doubling the amount of dopamine while shrinking the amount of gray matter in the frontal cortex, the decision-making center. Neurological development and verbal intelligence are delayed, he says.
He has appeared on Fox & Friends, ABC-TV, CNN sister channel HLN, Katie Courics Yahoo! show and more than 30 radio programs with his pleas to curb the almost insatiable appetite children have for what falls under the general heading of screen time.
Screen Addiction Like Food, Sex
Food and sex have the same effect, he notes. Children who are under constant stimulation from screens can lose their innate sense of curiosity, he says.
About 20 local residents attended, peppering him with questions such as what constitutes screen addiction? He had no firm answer, saying it could be a few hours for some children and but many more for others. A boy of about 10 told at length of his love of screen games but complained that he cant free himself from some of them because the pause button does not work.
There is not one credible research study that shows that a child exposed to more technology earlier in life has better educational outcomes than a tech-free kid, Kardaras writes. Screens are dulling rather than sharpening young developing brainsAttention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) rates have exploded by 50% over the past ten years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating rates will continue to rise by 5% per year.
Tech execs put their own children in no-tech Waldorf Schools, he notes.
Kardaras: Reduce Screen Time
Radiation health advocates, who have been warning about cancer and other diseases caused by cellphones, Wi-Fi routers, computers, celltowers, etc., will not like the thrust of what Kardaras is sayingthat cutting down on screen time should be at the top of the to do list at this time.
Computer Harm to Be Addressed
The librarys announcement says Kardaras will discuss the detrimental potential of technology on the brains of our children, reviewing a growing body of clinical research which shows the possible correlation of habitual screen use to disorders such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and increased aggression.
Is the global tech explosion a harmless indulgence with educational benefits or something that can potentially damage the developing minds of an entire younger generation? The National Day of Unplugging is March 3-4 ... could you unplug?
Contact is given as the reference desk at the library, 631/288-3335, ext.4
Library is Center of Controversy
Critics of the library have formed the website Free the Westhampton Free Library website. Its protests led to the resignation of five of the six Trustees in 2015. However, its goal of having the board switch from self-appointed to elected status has yet to be realized.
The board on Dec. 14, 2016 rejected attempts by citizens to join the board, prompting a strong protest that was posted on the website of the citizens.
Many other association libraries allow their taxpayer voters to decide who they feel is qualified, whose platform and vision might represent what each of them wishes to see in their community library that they financially support, said the posting on Free the Westhampton Free Library website.
Six self-appointed trustees have quite a lot of power based on an 1897 charter establishing our multimillion dollar taxpayer-funded library as a private corporation, says the posting.
Sabina Trager, former library administrative assistant who has been seeking to join the board for more than a year, said she will vote against the annual library budget until fiscal responsibility is shown by the board.
Library Spending Plans Criticized
She is especially concerned about plans to spend $1 million on a parking lot when the library is little used ten months of the year. She and others are also opposed to spending nearly $3 million on construction costs on a building that is only seven years old.
As it is, over $4 million cash sits in the library bank accounts (over and above the nearly $3 million annual operating budget), and only administration and management (non-union employees) received wage increases after this budget increase passed in May, which I feel is unacceptable. Plus, the employees should come before the building.
The website seeks participation by the citizens of Westhampton and several other towns and villages served by the library. Citizens are also angry at the board because they are only allowed to speak for five minutes at board meetings.
They also say that the board having Thomas Moore, husband of WHB Mayor Maria Moore, as president of the board is a flagrant conflict of interest that undercuts the independence of the library.
Main St. Tree Removal Is Upsetting
WHB residents are upset by plans to remove all 72 trees on Main st. to make way for sewers costing an estimated $20 million. The street would be bare of trees for two years or more, citizens have been told.
Critics say that new sewers are not going to bring new restaurants to the street. The singles crowd that made WHB their No. 1 destination in the Hamptons has fled to Montauk and is not likely to return, they note. Strict laws in WHB forbid unrelated people from sharing rentals.
Tullamore company Simpli Baked has won one of the top awards at the Small Firms Association National Small Business Award. The company won the Food & Drink Award sponsored by Bord Bia.
Simpli Baked, which is situated in the Cloncollig industrial Estate, are the only bakery making tortilla and wraps in Ireland. Specialising in flavoured wheat tortilla and thin crust pizza bases, allows the company to grow customers abroad in addition to the Irish market.
Currently they serve customers in the UK, Ireland and the EU. In addition to making excellent tortilla, Simpli Baked have developed the skills to make gluten free tortilla. Their success is due to the customers they work with and their team of employees. The company works with large customers to meet and exceed their expectations in niche areas.
This is the thirteenth year of the SFA National Small Business Awards, which are organised by the Small Firms Association.
The seven category winners are:
Manufacturing: VENTAC - Wicklow
Food & Drink: Simpli Baked - Offaly
Services: Dualtron - Dublin
Outstanding Small Business (up to 5 employees): Sweetspot Sourcing - Kildare
Innovator of the Year: Aalto Bio Reagents - Dublin
Sustainable Energy: Killary Adventure Centre - Galway
Small Business Exporter of the Year: Aalto Bio Reagents - Dublin
Ventac also won the Overall SFA National Small Business Award for 2017.
Speaking at the event, SFA Chair, Sue ONeill said With the right environment, companies like those in the room tonight will revitalise every corner of our island, put the Irish small business community on the map and build on the 636 jobs they have already created, delivering prosperity and quality of life to more and more people. Tonight it is a privilege to have 34 of the best small businesses from 13 counties in Ireland in this room. You are the future of Irish business. You have proven your commitment, drive and ambition and we are delighted to celebrate your achievements.
Minister for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen, TD who presented the Awards stated: "It has been a pleasure to meet and listen to so many vibrant and innovative small businesses. All the nominees and category winners have shown great drive and pride in their business. Looking at the fantastic success of past winners and nominees, the future is very bright for tonights contestants and the Irish business environment."
You may know the Nebraska state bird, the western meadowlark. Maybe you know the state flower, goldenrod.
Maybe you even know that our state fossil is the mammoth, and our state tree is the cottonwood, and our state gem is blue chalcedony.
So whats the Nebraska state reptile?
Well, we dont have one. At least not yet.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is holding a public vote on which critter should become the states official reptile. Nebraskans are invited to choose from six options on the commissions website, outdoornebraska.gov/reptilevote.
The candidates are: the ornate box turtle and the common snapping turtle; the prairie lizard and the six-lined racerunner; the bullsnake and the western hognose.
The candidates are meant to represent an array of reptiles across the state, said Lindsay Rogers, wildlife education specialist with Game and Parks.
We really wanted to have a broad representation both specieswide and statewide, she said.
Three of the options the bullsnake, the snapping turtle and the racerunner lizard are found in three-fourths of the state or more and would be familiar to the most Nebraskans, said Dennis Ferraro, a conservation biologist and herpetologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The ornate box turtle, the western hognose and the prairie lizard are a little less common overall, he said.
Of the six candidates, Ferraro said he would pick the bullsnake its found in the highest abundance in the most counties in the state. But, he predicts, a snake victory is probably unlikely.
When you ask the public ... they have gone more with the turtles, Ferraro said. You have very few people who are afraid of turtles. People are afraid of snakes.
Whatever the result, once theres a clear consensus, Game and Parks will work with the State Legislature on making it official, Rogers said.
The effort began as a way to get schoolchildren involved in the decision-making process, she said. The poll is included in a recent edition of Trail Tales, a magazine the commission publishes for Nebraskas fourth-grade students.
What better audience to help us decide what our state reptile should be than these students who are studying our state? Rogers said.
Voting will continue through the school year, likely concluding in early June.
Though the effort started with elementary school students in mind, Game and Parks is also looking for votes from the general public.
I think this is a great way for people to get to know the wildlife of our state, Rogers said. I think it gives our citizens a sense of place, so they can say This is who we are, and this is why we are who we are.
With 50 new and expanded corporate development projects last year, the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area ranked No. 1 for U.S. cities in its population category, according to Site Selection magazine.
Adam Bruns, managing editor of Atlanta-based Site Selection, announced the publications findings Thursday morning at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerces downtown headquarters.
Gov. Pete Ricketts, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and the mayor of Fremont, among others, attended the event.
Its the second year in a row that the greater Omaha area has received the top ranking among metro areas with populations of 200,000 to 1 million; the area also earned the top ranking for growth in 2013.
Greater Omahas 50 projects ranked ahead of No. 2 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with 48, and Dayton, Ohio, with 45.
In 2015 the Omaha area had 55 projects; that same year the Lincoln metro area with 28 projects ranked seventh in the same category. Last year Lincoln was not among the top 10.
The state of Nebraska won the Governors Cup in Site Selections per capita contest, with 101 projects per 1 million population. Bruns presented the silver cup to Ricketts.
Ricketts told an audience of more than 50 business and civic leaders that he plans to continue his efforts to make Nebraska a
low-cost state for businesses, and develop the states secret weapon: its hardworking, loyal, customer service-oriented workforce.
In a separate category, the state of Texas also won a 2016 Governors Cup for the most qualified projects, 642, of any state, followed by Ohio with 515 and Illinois with 434.
Last year greater Omaha received more than $612 million in new capital investments, according to Site Selection, which reports on economic development throughout the United States.
David Brown, the chambers president and chief executive, said the key to economic growth is regional collaboration.
We celebrate the latest top ranking with all of our partner counties, city leaders and the Nebraska and Iowa Departments of Economic Development, Brown said in a prepared statement. Were all driven by the same goal the higher quality of life that comes from a steady rush of new jobs and investment.
The next step is winning it again, he told the events audience.
Site Selection focuses on new corporate facilities and expansions. It does not track retail, government or school and hospital projects.
To be counted, projects must meet three criteria: involve an investment of at least $1 million, create at least 20 new jobs and add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.
Among the nations largest metro areas (population 1 million or more), Chicago ranked first with 376 announced projects in 2016.
Sioux City, Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota, ranked first among metro areas with a population of 50,000 to 200,000.
A sampling of greater Omahas announced 2016 projects:
Tyson Fresh Meats, a Tyson Foods subsidiary: $27 million production facility expansion in Council Bluffs
Thrasher Inc.: Construction of a new $35 million headquarters in La Vista that will house Thrasher and Foundation Supportworks, a sister contracting company
Structural Component Systems Inc.: a $3 million investment in a long-term lease and new equipment, and the addition of 30 jobs.
A 19-year-old Norfolk, Nebraska, woman has been arrested in connection with a sexual-assault case.
Norfolk police said they received information Feb. 22 about a possible sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy.
Police said surveillance video showed the boy kissing the 19-year-old woman. Police said detectives interviewed the boy, who described consensual sexual intercourse with the woman.
Police said they found a witness who had seen the couple in bed. Police said they also found electronic digital messages linked to the boy and the woman.
Feb. 28, police interviewed the woman about the case. She was then arrested on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault, police said.
LINCOLN Death threats come with the badge, especially for those who wear one for decades.
Pierce County Sheriff Rick Eberhardt told Nebraska lawmakers Wednesday about two threats that stand out from 32 years in law enforcement.
One was made by a young man convicted of shooting his father to death. Sentenced to 10 years to life for second-degree murder, the man was released on parole in 2008, according to prison records.
The second threat came from another man who punched Eberhardt in the mouth during an arrest. As the man lay on the ground being cuffed, he said he would make the sheriff pay.
When I get out ... Im going to kill your wife, Im going to kill your son, and Im going to rape your daughter and kill you last, so you have to watch the whole thing, Eberhardt said, recounting the threat to members of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee.
Its why he and other law enforcement officers testified in support of Legislative Bill 500, which would allow off-duty or retired officers to carry concealed handguns nearly all places uniformed officers can carry their service weapons.
The bill hit on two hot buttons for State Sen. Ernie Chambers: expansion of gun rights and police.
The firebrand lawmaker from Omaha said off-duty police should not receive special treatment. Rather, they should continue to comply with the same state requirements that allow businesses, churches and other public locales to block concealed guns at the door.
Ive had more threats than any person in this state, Chambers said, adding that hes never carried a gun for protection.
They fear my loaded mouth more than they do a loaded gun, he said.
Chambers brought up a 2014 case in which a retired officer in Florida killed a man in a movie theater after an argument escalated into a physical confrontation. And he mentioned a recent case in Anaheim, California, in which an off-duty officer fired a handgun while in a scuffle with a 13-year-old boy. The boy was not struck.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, would require officers who want to carry concealed weapons to meet firearm qualifications spelled out in federal law and the bill. Certified officers would be able to carry the guns in any place a uniformed officer could, except for school property.
The annual firearms training required of certified officers, along with the skill and experience gained by those who are retired, far exceeds the standards for civilians who obtain concealed gun permits, said Ray Essman of Taylor, a retired federal officer who worked for the State Department and Defense Department.
Most off-duty or retired officers carry firearms, Essman said. Allowing them to confidently do so in public could increase public safety in the event of an active shooter, Essman said.
Officers, whether off-duty or retired, can be targets, he added.
I really dont want to be in that position where I cant defend my wife, my grandkids or myself from a violent felon, he said.
Col. Brad Rice, superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol, submitted a letter in support of the bill. No one testified against it.
The committee took no action on the proposal Wednesday.
LINCOLN A panel of state lawmakers marked Nebraskas 150th birthday Wednesday by advancing a bill that would undo some of the states not-so-proud history.
Legislative Bill 75 would restore voting rights to felons as soon as they complete their sentences, eliminating the two-year waiting period required by current law.
Members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 5-1, with one abstaining, to send the measure to the full Legislature.
State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, who introduced the bill, praised his colleagues for being willing to consider the issue.
Its a conversation we should have, he said. Its our opportunity to be on the right side of history and stop disenfranchising people.
Wayne wasnt ready to predict whether the bill could win the support of the full Legislature.
Sen. John Murante of Gretna, the committee chairman, cast the lone vote against advancing the bill.
In my view, we need to be very careful about protecting the integrity of elections, he said.
Murante did not elaborate on how felons might affect the integrity of elections but said he is concerned that restoring their voting rights could undercut public confidence in elections.
The committee vote followed a public hearing featuring Nebraskans with felony convictions, civil rights advocates, former state senators and a brief history of laws barring felons from voting.
Nebraskas ban on felons voting dates to the 1875 State Constitution. But Wayne told committee members the idea was first proposed during the states 1871 constitutional convention.
Many states were enacting similar provisions at the time, he said, as states reacted to the ratification a year earlier of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The post-Civil War amendment gave all male citizens the right to vote, regardless of race, color or history of being a slave.
Wayne quoted a national proponent of felon voting bans who described them as a way to limit the black vote. A speaker at the Nebraska 1871 convention said the issue was whether the majority should still rule.
On Wednesday, Wayne argued that the history is important but the issue now is about re-engaging people in society after they finish their punishment.
He noted that most states, including all of the surrounding states but Iowa, now allow people to vote after finishing their sentence.
Shakur Abdullah of Omaha said the bill would give him a chance to vote for the first time in his life.
He entered prison at age 17. He completed a felony sentence of more than four decades last year. Now he works as a case manager, helping other youth and families involved with the criminal justice system.
But under current Nebraska law, he still has to wait before he can vote.
The fact I cant vote stigmatizes me with second-class citizenship, Abdullah said. When you think of this as a faceless issue, I want you to remember my face.
Darlene Mason of York, who was released from probation last year, said she had been crushed when she learned that her felony conviction would affect her voting rights.
Have I not been punished enough? she asked. Please show me that you hear me, show me that my one voice can make a difference.
Former Sens. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln and Lowen Kruse of Omaha, who fought to get the current law passed in 2005, said the waiting period was added to their bill to win votes.
Lawmakers overrode a veto by then Gov. Dave Heineman to get the measure passed.
Now, Schimek argued, its time to get rid of the wait. She said studies have shown that voting promotes rehabilitation and reduces the changes of recidivism.
In America we give people second chances, she said.
Danielle Conrad, executive director of ACLU of Nebraska, said the current law creates confusion among former prisoners and election officials alike.
The ACLU did a survey of county officials last year and found that only half know the law regarding voting rights for felons.
Changing the law would help because it would be easier to inform people about voting rights when they are getting discharged from their sentences. It also would help election officials in calculating when the two-year period ends.
In response to a question from Sen. John Lowe of Kearney, she said that there would be value in looking at other rights denied to felons, including the right to bear arms.
A proposed development of the former Dana College campus will be presented to the Blair City Council at a special meeting Monday evening.
Presenters will lay out a plan to develop the entire campus with several components, according to information released from the city.
Details of the proposal were not released.
The presentation will be at 6 p.m. in the council chambers, 218 S. 16th St. in Blair, and is expected to last about an hour. A question-and-answer period will follow.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. Nearly two dozen members of the Central Nebraska Peace Workers marched along Second Street, in front of the Great Western Centre in Grand Island on Wednesday, urging Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., to hold town hall meetings with constituents to discuss issues before Congress affecting Nebraskans.
Smith has an office in the Great Western Centre.
Brian Whitecalf, who helped organized the march, said the marchers have concerns about the elected leadership of 2017.
They are concerned about some of the executive orders issued by President Trump, his nominees and the decisions he is making, Whitecalf said. We would like to hear from our elected officials our congressmen and senators.
Smith, in response to the marchers, said, I certainly respect the right of the protesters to make their voices heard, but I continue to be accessible to Nebraskans, as Ive always been.
He said he is hosting a mobile office in Chadron next week and will be scheduling additional public meetings throughout the 3rd Congressional District, including a Farm Bill Listening Tour, in the coming weeks.
With a district spanning 65,000 square miles and a packed congressional schedule in Washington, D.C., I also continue to reach out to thousands of Nebraskans through telephone town halls.
Congress has a big to-do list, and I want to hear from Nebraskans on these issues, Smith said. I encourage the participants in todays protest who would like a meeting to contact me directly, and I will do my best to set it up.
Smith ran for the open seat in the 3rd District in the 2006 House elections and was re-elected to his fifth two-year term last November.
Whitecalf said having town hall meetings is healthy democracy.
Like with all of our elected officials, we like to have an opportunity to speak to them directly, Whitecalf said. We have made phone calls, emailed and have written letters.
He said by having an open town hall meeting, constituents would be able to have an open dialogue with their elected leaders about the decisions they're making in the nations capital.
Whitecalf said they have been in communication with Smiths office before the November elections about him hosting town hall meetings for his constituents.
The marchers not only carried signs urging Smith to hold town hall meetings, but they also had concerns about other issues, such as the environment, health care, the Keystone XL pipeline and immigration.
Immigration is an issue Whitecalf wants to discuss with Smith if afforded an opportunity.
Im personally concerned about how refugees are treated in this country, along with immigration and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, he said. I also want to make sure we are making the best choices for the future of education.
Other marchers, who were from throughout the area, including Kearney, Hastings and St. Paul, said they had a long list of concerns they would like to discuss with Smith.
Mena Sprauge, of St. Paul, said she would like to discuss issues like the environment, immigration and the Affordable Care Act.
And the way our Spanish-American friends are treated, she said.
Hastings resident Robin Vodehnal said she would like to discuss the environment, cutbacks at the Environmental Protection Agency and shutting those offices down without any public input.
That concerns me because we have so many problems and issues in this culture as it is, Vodehnal said. Also, the treatment of refugees and the bias and discrimination shown by the administration. It is haunting.
Dori Bush of Grand Island has concerns about immigration and the pathway to citizenship.
We need to be a lot more understanding of those who are not necessarily Caucasians, Bush said. We need the contributions of all people.
Bush said she also was worried about the future of the Affordable Care Act.
That is a huge concern, she said. If we have a lot of folks who are losing coverage, we are right back where we started. Repealing is not an option. Obviously, there is always tweaking with any legislation but we need Representative Smith to pay attention to the people of Nebraska, as we are the ones who put him in office and he needs to make himself available to us personally and not just phone calls and letters.
LINCOLN Cisco the horse was turned away from trotting in the halls of the State Capitol.
The governor stumbled over a 16-letter word he regularly uses to quiz fourth-graders.
And a young Nebraska woman whose voice made her a national television darling stood terrified at singing the national anthem before dozens of state senators, the State Supreme Court judges and hundreds of others at the historic Capitol.
In other words, Nebraska officially launched its yearlong celebration marking the 150th anniversary of statehood not only with a bit of pomp and ceremony but with more than a sprinkle of good humor Wednesday.
Its a great day to be a Nebraskan, Trevor Jones, chief executive of the Nebraska State Historical Society, said at the midpoint of nearly six hours of events inside and outside the Capitol.
Gov. Pete Ricketts said Nebraska has been a place of opportunity not only for the immigrants who came in the 19th century but for the first Americans who arrived more than 10,000 years ago.
We have the best place in the world to live right here in Nebraska, he said to a crowd of about 400 in the Capitol Rotunda during a ceremony to unveil the Nebraska statehood postage stamp.
Ricketts said the first Nebraskans built a bountiful culture with virtues that lace the fabric of the state: persistence, hard work, selflessness and civility.
Nebraskans everywhere across the states diverse geography share one thing they care about each other and the state, he said.
Nebraska is more than just lines on a map, Ricketts said. We are bound together by more than just our common geography. Nebraska is a culture. Its a way of life.
Ricketts said the statehood anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the gift of those who nurtured the state for 150 years. Its also a time for Nebraskans of today to build a strong foundation for future generations.
The Capitol Rotunda was abuzz with activity.
Conservation photographer Michael Forsberg of Lincoln, whose image of sandhill cranes flying toward their Platte River roosts graces the new statehood stamp, said wildlife photographers fail miserably most of the time.
His goal was to capture the cranes and the surrounding habitat.
When they flew through my frame, he said, I knew I got it.
Forsberg said he is confident that 150 years from now that our descendants will be able to ... witness this magical migration here in what we consider the greatest state in the union Nebraska.
The stamps are on sale at post offices today.
Actors brought to life three noted Nebraskans: writer Willa Cather, Ponca Chief Standing Bear and western showman Buffalo Bill Cody. The portrayals both humorous and emotional echoed through the Rotunda, along with intermittent musical performances by schoolchildren.
Among the onlookers was Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer, who said the statehood anniversary is a remarkable accomplishment.
Were living off the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers who broke the earth and put their lives at risk to make Nebraska grow and prosper, he said.
State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, the newest member of the Nebraska Legislature, recalled his deep Cornhusker roots. One of his great-great-grandfathers was a Nebraska homesteader in 1868.
I feel very fortunate to be here, he said.
Twenty-four Pony Express re-enactors from across Nebraska delivered a copy of the original 1867 statehood proclamation signed by President Andrew Johnson to the west side of the Capitol.
Lyle Gronewold of Gothenburg, president of the Nebraska division of the National Pony Express Association, asked Ricketts in jest if Cisco, his thoroughbred-quarter horse, could come into the Capitol.
The State Patrol frowns on it, Ricketts replied.
State officials paid tribute to Nebraska during the afternoons official Statehood Day ceremony in the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber. The hourlong event, however, wasnt devoted entirely to speeches.
A dozen third- and fifth-grade students from Everett Elementary School in Lincoln marched to the front of the chamber high-fiving state senators along the way and led kids across the state in singing Happy Birthday to Nebraska. Their director was Sue Springer of Sunrise Middle School in Kearney, the Nebraska music teacher of the year.
An octet from Waverly High School performed an arrangement of Beautiful Nebraska to an awed and silent Legislature.
That was spectacular! Lt. Gov. Mike Foley said afterward.
Scheer, the Legislatures speaker, diverted from his remarks to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of American Indian tribes in Nebraska. He spotted Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the State Commission on Indian Affairs, in the gallery and asked her to stand to applause.
State Poet Twyla Hansen of Lincoln read Nebraska: A Treasured State, a poem inspired by the Capitols marble mosaics and other artwork. She dedicated it to her Danish immigrant grandparents, who settled in Burt County.
Hannah Huston, a Grand Island native who finished third on The Voice in 2016 sang the Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful from the floor of the legislative chamber.
She said afterward that it was more than just an emotional moment to sing in a community and state she loves.
It was absolutely terrifying, being in that room, Huston said. Ive sung on national television, and Ive never been that nervous.
State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln recalled touring the Capitol as a fourth-grader during the states 1967 centennial.
Its momentous to be a senator at this time, she said.
In conjunction with the states 150th anniversary and to honor Nebraskas first peoples, Pansing Brooks on Tuesday led on the floor of the Legislature a historical reading of Chief Standing Bears trial in Omaha. The 1879 civil-rights case established that American Indians had the same rights as white Americans.
Pansing Brooks was joined by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, Nebraskas first American Indian state senator. Pansing Brooks called the reading one of the greatest honors in the Legislature.
Ricketts wrapped up the ceremonies by reading a proclamation touting Nebraskas cultural, demographic and economic accomplishments and stumbling over the pronunciation of sesquicentennial, the word for a 150th anniversary.
Ricketts read: Whereas Nebraskans across the state are celebrating our 150th sesquillcenten ... sesquicentennial boy, I talk like a third-grader sesquicentennial anniversary throughout 2017... .
Afterward, he noted that when he encounters a class of fourth-graders touring the Capitol for their Nebraska history class, he always asks if anyone knows what a 150-year celebration is called.
Ive had one little girl every year whos been able to tell me that, he said. Then I say, Its called a sesquicentennial, he said. Say that three times fast. So we all say, sesquicentennial, sesquicentennial, sesquicentennial.
Ricketts laughed off his tongue-tied pronunciation.
My big moment saying it on the stage and I blow it!
Correction: An earlier version of this story understated the crowd size at Statehood Day celebrations.
Big birthdays call for big celebrations.
Thats why Norfolk Catholic fourth-graders celebrated Nebraskas 150th birthday Wednesday with the rest of the grade school during an all-school assembly.
Like hundreds of schools across the state, the students had studied Nebraska and shared their knowledge with a presentation.
It also included the sixth-graders, who learned the words to the state song, Beautiful Nebraska, leading the school in song.
The gym included an inflatable replica of the capitol about 15 feet tall that was loaned from former Norfolk state Sen. Mike Flood. The fourth-graders in charge of the assembly were taught by Vonnie Arens and Hilary Claussen.
The celebration included a talk from Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning, who asked students to consider what the world would be like if there never was a Nebraska.
Among other things, Moenning pointed out several features that could make students proud to be part of the Cornhusker State. They include:
* Nebraska was once known as the "Great American Desert, but early Nebraskans desire to succeed helped to transform it into one of the leading food producers.
* Nebraskans helped to get rid of the barren prairie by planting trees. Nebraska led the nation in tree planting and was the first state to celebrate Arbor Day.
* Nebraska means Flat Water among some American Indians. Along with the Platte River, which appears wide and flat, Nebraska has the most miles of rivers of any state.
* One of the founders of Twitter came from Clarks, a small town west of Columbus on Highway 30.
* Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings, and Spam was invented in Fremont.
* The Emergency 911 call system was started in Nebraska.
TECUMSEH, Neb. For the second time in two years, inmates on Thursday took control of a portion of a state maximum security prison and killed two fellow inmates.
A somber-faced Gov. Pete Ricketts joined state corrections officials in denouncing the slayings at the Tecumseh State Prison. He insisted that the states troubled and overcrowded prison system is making progress and that Thursdays melee was not a riot.
The loss of life was tragic, but this is a dangerous place, Ricketts said. As long as the inmates make bad decisions, well have to respond to incidents like this.
State Corrections Director Scott Frakes, who was hired by Ricketts 25 months ago to fix the problems with state prisons, said staff responded flawlessly when a report came in at about 1 p.m. that inmates had started a fire in a small yard attached to a maximum-security housing unit.
When about 40 inmates refused orders to return to their cells, Frakes said, staff left the units day room and locked doors leading to other units, thus confining the disturbance to one-half of one housing unit. The affected area can hold up to 128 inmates.
Several altercations ensued between inmates, and several fires were set inside the housing unit, he said, as emergency response teams were activated. Those security teams, clad in black riot gear, finally entered the housing units at 4:30 p.m., when the two bodies were discovered.
Frakes, Ricketts and Tecumseh Warden Brad Hansen did not identify the slain inmates, describe how they were killed or say whether suspects had been identified. They said that the cause of the melee was still under investigation and that the Nebraska State Patrol would look into the slayings.
The prison remains locked down.
When asked what Nebraskans should think about the condition of their state corrections system, Ricketts said state prisons had been financially neglected for several years.
We know weve got more work to do, the governor said, before adding, The Department of Corrections is doing heroic work to keep this facility safe for both the inmates and the staff.
While corrections officials declared the affected housing unit under control about 4:30 p.m., it was about four hours later that all of the remaining inmates had been shackled and led away from the scene of the disturbance, a maximum security wing known as Housing Unit 2AB.
It is one of the same housing units that was involved in a deadly riot on Mothers Day 2015. That day, between 100 to 200 inmates took over parts of two housing units, ransacking and burning them. Two inmates, both sex offenders, were later found dead of blunt force trauma. More than $2 million in damage was done. No arrests have been made in those slayings.
The Tecumseh prison, which opened in 2001, has been on 12-hour shifts since then, in part because of a shortage of staff and in part due to the need for higher security.
Having two deadly disturbances in the past two years is a signal that the state needs to take another look at whether measures enacted during recent years are working, said Doug Koebernick, a special state inspector general appointed to oversee the state prison system.
Those changes were intended to ease overcrowding, address understaffing and improve rehabilitation programming.
Koebernick said Thursday night that he planned a full investigation into the circumstances of the disturbance.
A security consultants report on the Mothers Day riot concluded that prison staff were quickly overwhelmed by rioting inmates and were poorly equipped to stop them after they tried to present grievances about prison conditions.
On Thursday, prison officials said they did not know yet what triggered the melee but indicated that staff responded correctly in leaving and locking the housing unit, and calling in reinforcements. No staff members were injured in the immediate response, and they did not use physical violence against prisoners. All injuries and deaths were caused by inmates, according to prison officials.
Frakes said it took three hours to re-enter the affected housing unit because Tecumseh is a remote location about an hours drive from both Omaha and Lincoln. It takes time, he said, to assemble and equip specially trained riot squads from the Nebraska State Patrol and prison staff.
The last thing we want to do is send staff into danger, he said of the response time. The TSCI staff handled the situation extremely well with the exception of the two fatalities.
Prison officials insisted that what happened Thursday should not be labeled a riot. But when asked by reporters to define what a riot is, Frakes said he could not provide a definition.
Nebraska had not had a deadly prison riot since the 1950s prior to the 2015 melee at Tecumseh, which holds about 1,000 inmates.
Thursday afternoon, State Patrol cruisers, with emergency lights flashing, raced to the scene, where smoke was rising from the mini-yard and a patrol helicopter was circling overhead.
Teams of troopers, dressed in black riot gear, could be seen entering the prison to join prison staff wearing similar helmets, face guards and flak jackets.
Officials said the security teams entered the affected housing unit at 4:30 p.m., securing the unit and putting out several small fires. That isolated about 20 to 30 inmates outside, on a basketball court in the mini-yard, where they would be seen throwing objects on a small fire.
As darkness fell, corrections officers and state troopers in riot gear and holding shields ahead of them moved toward the yard, cornering the remaining inmates.
One by one, without incident, the inmates were shackled and taken away, though the operation didnt appear to end until 8:30 p.m., when the governor and other officials gathered to brief the press and confirm that two inmates had been found dead.
That conflicted with an earlier press release from the Corrections Department that said no one had been injured. At the press conference, officials said that statement referred only to staff, and not to inmates.
Scotty Gottula, chairman of the Johnson County Board, said that when he arrived at the scene north of the prison about 2 p.m., he could see people throwing what appeared to be mattresses on a fire.
The inmates could be seen with their faces covered as they added items to the bonfire.
The fire was visible in the afternoon outside the north side of the prison, and gray smoke continued to blow in a strong breeze.
Mike Marvin, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, said some of the same conditions that spawned the 2015 riot overcrowding and lack of rehabilitation programs still exist in the state prison system.
The association is the union that represents corrections officers.
Johnson County Sheriff Scott Walton said his office got a call about 1:30 p.m. to provide surveillance and security outside the prison fences. He and five deputies his entire department went to the scene.
Tecumseh native Logan Dorsey said incidents like the one Thursday are concerning for those who live near the prison, which currently houses more than 1,000 inmates.
How are we to feel safe if they cant keep things under control? he asked.
Our guards are doing their best, Dorsey said, but the overpopulation in the prison system is a serious problem that needs to be fixed immediately before someone gets hurt or killed.
The state prison system is holding about 1,900 more inmates than the systems design capacity, according to the departments September 2016 data report, the latest posted on the agencys website.
World-Herald staff writers Dan Golden and Jeff Robb contributed to this report.
The top cop in Douglas County a former political ally of Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert has soured on his fellow Republican so much that he blocks her calls.
Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning says he doesnt believe Stothert has the right temperament to remain in City Hall. He also says her attitude was a stumbling block in efforts by the city and the county to merge their crime labs.
If its not going her way, she flips out. And by the way, she cant call me because I blocked her on my cellphone a long time ago, Dunning said. She calls all the time she just calls and yells at you.
Dunning held a press conference Wednesday to endorse Democrat Heath Mello, the former state senator who is trying to unseat Stothert.
Stothert said she respects Dunning and was pleased with his endorsement in her 2013 race. She said Dunnings current position is based on a dispute over the proposed city-county crime lab merger, which has stalled.
His decision to support my opponent is clearly a result of his opposition to the merger and the recent decision by Police Chief Todd Schmaderer to use the University of Nebraska Medical Center for evidence testing, rather than the sheriffs crime lab, she said in a statement. These decisions are not personal. To me, it is business and how to best serve the taxpayers. I support Chief Schmaderers decision.
Until recently, Dunning and Stothert seemed to be close whenever they appeared together at political functions. However, Dunning said those good feelings have dwindled over the years. He said Stothert has changed.
The job has gone to her head, Dunning said in an interview Wednesday with The World-Herald.
Dunning said he decided to back Mello earlier this year, saying the former lawmaker has the vision and personality needed to move the city forward. He said he had not met Mello until January, but has long admired his work in the Nebraska Legislature.
Mello will work to build consensus in the city and collaborate with all stakeholders, Dunning said.
As for Stothert, Dunning said she has been too aggressive in annexing subdivisions on Omahas western edge without providing adequate police services to those new neighborhoods. Three weeks ago, he said, there was a personal injury accident at 205th Street and West Maple Road and there wasnt a police cruiser anywhere in the vicinity.
The closest Omaha police car was coming from 70th and Ames, which was 155 blocks away, said Dunning, adding that the Sheriffs Office had to respond to the accident.
Stothert has long argued that she has worked aggressively to add more police officers to the force, and Schmaderer said the total number of officers allowed under the city budget has risen by 56.
This year, the citys budget includes money for 860 officers an all-time high. Schmaderer expects to have those officers hired and on the job at some point over the next year.
Dunnings suggestion that the Police Department did not have enough police officers to handle the annexed territory was blasted by Schmaderer as being politically motivated. Schmaderer said Stothert has always been very supportive of the Police Department.
Any assertion by candidate Mello or Sheriff Dunning that policing services in the City of Omaha are inadequate is untrue, politically motivated, and insulting, Schmaderer said in a statement.
Stothert said her annexation efforts have helped lower property tax rates. Over the past four years, Stotherts three annexation packages have brought 35 new neighborhoods and about 29,000 new people into the city.
Mello said he would not have supported the mayors annexation packages even though he acknowledged that property taxes have gone down. He said the reduction in taxes was not enough to justify the lost services to the neighborhoods that were annexed by Stothert.
To some extent any annexation reduces property taxes, but the question is at what level in regard to lower quality services? Mello asked.
Dunning also said that Stothert was a hindrance rather than a help in efforts to negotiate a city-county crime-lab merger. He said Stothert and other city and county officials had been working on a merger plan throughout the fall of 2015, and he was never invited to a meeting.
Early last year, Dunning said, he was invited to a meeting at which he was informed by Stothert and others about their plan. I got blindsided with the thing, Dunning said.
Stothert didnt try to negotiate, Dunning said. Instead, he said, she tried to dictate the terms of the merger.
Stothert said Dunning has opposed the crime lab merger from the start, despite the overwhelming support of Schmaderer, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the Nebraska Organ Recovery System, the Lions Eye Bank and a legislative committee on which Mello served.
Dunning said Stothert doesnt handle disagreements well, saying she called him frequently to complain.
Dunning also said he is not the only Republican who has questions about Stothert. He said several high-profile donors in the city are upset with Stothert and do not want to work with her on an effort to build a streetcar line in Omaha.
Theyve gone away from her, Dunning said.
Dunning did not name the GOP donors he said are upset with Stothert, but several high-profile donors and businessman in Omaha have made their views on the mayors race known through their pocketbooks.
Dana Bradford, Michael Yanney, John Gottschalk and Michael Cassling some of the citys top GOP businessmen and philanthropists have donated considerable sums of money to Mello, according to state financial reports.
But Stothert has her fair share of donations from big Republican names, including Charles Herbster, Gov. Pete Ricketts and Ken Stinson. And overall, the incumbent mayor has done quite well in campaign contributions.
According to the end-of-year campaign finance reports, Stothert has raised about $1.5 million and Mello has raised about $530,000.
* Cyber attack downs Duty Free website, virus hits Group site
* Lotte firm agreed to land swap for U.S. missile defence system
* China opposes deployment, state media calls for SK goods boycott
* Korean companies have been reporting difficulties in China (Adds Lotte Duty Free statement, JD.com no comment)
By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang
SEOUL, March 2 (Reuters) - Lotte Duty Free on Thursday said a cyber attack using Chinese internet protocol (IP) addresses has crashed its website, the latest report of irregularity from a South Korean firm in China since Seoul decided to deploy a U.S. missile defence system.
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which overloads servers with requests, began slowing all four language versions of the website at 11:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) and crashed them all around 12:00 p.m., Lotte Duty Free said in a statement.
The attack comes after affiliate Lotte International Co Ltd on Monday approved a land swap to allow the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system on what was once its property, in response to the North Korean missile threat.
Neighbouring China objected to the deployment of the system, which has a radar capable of penetrating Chinese territory, saying it will destabilise regional security while doing little to contain heightened security risk on the Korean peninsula.
Russia also opposed the deployment, scheduled for completion this year.
Lotte Duty Free on Thursday said the first wave of the attack on its website was detected on its Chinese language version on March 1. The eventual crash did not occur during a peak traffic time, so lost business would be at most a couple of hundred thousand U.S. dollars, it said.
The Chinese website for the entire Lotte Group, www.lotte.cn, is also down. It has been offline since Wednesday due to a virus, spokesman Kim Min-suk told Reuters on Thursday.
"The (two) websites have been down and we are working to get them back online," Kim said, declining to comment on the nature or origin of the virus or the origin of the DDoS.
Story continues
The ultimate origin of DDoS attacks is not necessarily the same as the IP addresses used.
Lotte Duty Free said it expects its website to be fully back online after 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) after strengthening security.
DIFFICULTIES
South Korean companies have reported increasing difficulties in China since deployment was confirmed in November, with Chinese state media calling for a boycott of South Korean goods. South Korean artists have also said performances had been cancelled without clear explanation.
A spokesman at Lotte Mart told Reuters that the retailer's website was accessible on e-commerce platform JD.com (http://lottemart.jd.com), but that the site did not appear in search results. Lotte Mart has asked JD.com to address the issue, the spokesman said.
JD.com declined to comment.
Also this month, Lotte Group said Chinese authorities halted construction at a multi-billion dollar real estate project after a fire inspection.
Shares in Lotte Group's flagship retailer, Lotte Shopping Co Ltd, which has about 120 stores in China, fell as much as 7.8 percent on Thursday. Lotte Confectionery Co Ltd shares fell 2.8 percent, while the benchmark share price index rose 0.5 percent.
GUESSWORK
The South Korean government expressed concern on Thursday about the plight of South Korean firms in China since the deployment was announced. It said it would continue to engage Beijing in dialogue to ensure activities of South Korean companies in China are not hindered.
"To be sure, the challenges we face are serious," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a news briefing on Thursday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news briefing the same day that China opposes all forms of hacking and is willing to work with other nations to oppose it.
"As for the guesswork of Lotte, I won't make a comment. But I think there is no clear answer as to the reason (for the attack). This is just their guess," Geng said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Jack Kim and Christopher Cushing)
Rokes, Adam Jordan, "A.J." Feb 27, 1992 - Feb 27, 2017 Preceded in death by grandfathers, Dr. Willis P. Rokes and John J. Moriarty. Survived by father, Adam W. Rokes; mother, Michelle M. Moriarty; siblings: Maria M. Rokes, John P. Rokes, and Jillian M. Rokes; grandparents, Catherine Rokes-Cowdin (Hugh) and Rita Moriarty; aunts and uncles; cousins; many friends; beloved dog, Winnie. The family will receive friends Thursday, March 2nd from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, with VIGIL SERVICE at 7:30pm at the church. MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL Friday, March 3rd at 10am, St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church. Memorials will be directed by the family. HEAFEY-HOFFMANN-DWORAK-CUTLER BEL AIR CHAPEL 12100 W. Center Rd. 402-391-3900 www.heafeyheafey.com
Only the willfully blind saw anything except a well-constructed, powerfully delivered address by President Donald Trump to Congress on Tuesday night.
Many have praised his tone. Almost all conservative critics applauded most of his substance (with disquiet over his rhetoric on trade passing quickly over House Speaker Paul Ryans face and the hearts of most Reagan conservatives).
With the pledges of significant funding for the military, and the detailed takedown of the collapsing Obamacare and the false promises made to secure its passage in the first place (If you like your doctor . . .), the president opened the legislative debate, which will be extended and, at best, lively at worst, deeply bitter.
Trump is clearly looking to establish himself as a promise-keeper, and that position is strengthened with the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
Trumps repeated calls in many places for regulatory reform had been foreshadowed earlier Tuesday with an executive order directing the Environmental Protection Agency and its new and very able director, Scott Pruitt, to move quickly to roll back the ruinous, overreaching Waters of the United States rule of the Obama years.
That call was coupled with a demand in his speech for speed in approval of new drug applications from the Food and Drug Administration.
His domestic agenda is indeed about the rollback of the vast administrative state, and it is a popular one with the congressional majorities.
The heart of the speech, though, was the presidents tribute to Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens and his widow, Carryn, who in an act of incredible courage attended the speech and allowed the nation to grieve with her.
By doing so, she invited every patriot to thank in their hearts and prayers all families who have suffered such losses, every veteran who has absorbed a wound. It was a transcendent moment, and indeed a defining moment. This president will stand by his troops.
There is a ginned-up controversy on the left over remarks the president made earlier in the day in response to another ginned-up controversy about the mission to capture or kill terrorists in Yemen.
That mission tragically included the death of Owens, even as it succeeded in its objectives, according to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and confirmed by Trump in his address. Owens died protecting the nations security and every citizen.
But critics seized on Trumps comments about the mission and following anonymous reports alleging that it was both rushed and botched:
This was something that was, you know, just they wanted to do, Trump told Fox News. And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected. And they lost Ryan.
To me, a civilian, and to the retired military officer I emailed immediately after the speech, the statement they lost Ryan was one of observed grief by the president, an acknowledgment that the SEALs had lost one of their own and that civilians should know about it and grieve with them.
It was not an attribution of guilt or malpractice to the very respected generals. Far from it. Trump was batting away criticism of them, of the mission operators, and indeed of anyone at all. They seemed obviously to mean Owens fellow warriors, to express that the mission carried an enormous cost.
Trumps critics seem to deeply desire to attribute to him what would be a terrible example of blame-shifting by the commander in chief. It isnt an irrational opinion, but it also isnt one that rings true.
And pressing the argument pushing the worst possible interpretation of a statement far more easily understood the way I understand it underscores again the yawning gap between Manhattan-Beltway media elites and flyover country.
The media needs to step back and applaud when the new president delivers, as he did Tuesday night, and blast away when he swings and misses, as he did when he labeled a sitting federal jurist a so-called judge.
If everything done by the president is an assault on decency and the rule of law, then nothing is.
Trump delivered Tuesday night. And in so doing he also delivered a heartfelt appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice made by thousands since 9/11. Rise with him in saluting Carryn Owens and all other Gold Star families.
The writer is the Nebraska state director of Americans for Prosperity.
There are many wonderful things about Nebraska, but there are still underperforming areas of our economy. State lawmakers can make The Good Life even better through comprehensive tax reform.
Recently, senators on the Legislatures Revenue Committee held public hearings on bills that would promote greater prosperity for Nebraskans.
For instance, Gov. Pete Ricketts and Sen. Jim Smiths proposed Legislative Bill 337 would provide reasonable and responsible income tax relief for middle-class families while ensuring that state government continues to fund core responsibilities such as public safety, education and transportation infrastructure.
Providing Nebraskans with lower and simpler taxes would help families keep more of their paychecks to invest in their families and communities as they see fit. As weve seen with other states, reducing the tax burden has proven to be economically beneficial.
North Carolina reformed its tax code while recovering from the Great Recession. The changes included implementing a single flat tax rate, eliminating most exemptions and placing caps on property taxes.
The reduced tax burden was definitely needed in December 2012, North Carolinas unemployment rate stood at 8.9 percent.
By December 2016, North Carolinas unemployment rate had fallen almost 4 percentage points. With tax reform, the state has seen more business development and a growing economy between 2013 and 2015, North Carolina had the fastest GDP growth rate in the nation at 13.4 percent.
This growth and a decrease in joblessness, in turn, has provided more opportunities for North Carolina families.
Indiana has a similar story, but its tax reform started in the early 2000s. Over the past few years, Hoosiers have benefitted from reduced income tax rates, a repealed death tax and a friendlier business climate.
The results? Indiana ended fiscal year 2016 with a budget surplus of more than $50 million, proving that responsible and reasonable tax policy can promote prosperity for families while funding necessary government services.
Opponents of tax reform often decry any effort to lower the tax burden as the Kansas model or tax cuts for rich people. Kansas issue was that it instituted significant tax cuts without properly forecasting the effects on the state budget. Essentially, the state lost a bunch of revenue but didnt make corresponding spending reductions.
Nebraska lawmakers have learned from Kansas mistakes. LB 337 is smart tax policy that takes into account state spending needs. One safeguard crafted in the bill is the economic growth trigger, which would require that, starting in 2020, the states revenue would need to grow by 3.5 percent each year before a small tax decrease kicked in. This is responsible and reasonable relief.
This is not tax relief solely for rich people, as opponents of tax reform like to argue. Individuals earning $29,831 and couples earning $59,661 in taxable income would see their tax bills go down, saving hard-earned money for other essential needs.
Nebraska is working to chart its own course toward sensible tax reform by maintaining fiscal discipline through proper budgeting and implementing the tax changes over time.
Creating a friendlier climate for working families, small-business entrepreneurs and businesses looking to either expand or relocate to Nebraska is within our reach. But it requires a pro-growth state tax code that treats everyone fairly.
If Nebraska wants to make The Good Life even better, Ricketts and state lawmakers should make our tax code simpler and less burdensome, not raise taxes as some have suggested. Legislative Bill 337 is a good start at responsible and reasonable reform.
Trumps attack on our health care
In his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump gave a nod to the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a program that guarantees access, but not necessarily affordability, for all.
He mentioned health savings accounts as pillars of the new program, which are of no value to those who cant afford to save for anything.
He said nothing about protecting Social Security and Medicare.
His promises are broken and his broad vision includes millions of people who will unfairly suffer while the rich get richer. And then he has the temerity to ask the Democrats to play along.
At least the suffering will feel safer within our borders.
Mark Hunsicker, Omaha
Democrats will pay for inaction
Congressional Democrats must have sore hands after the extended amount of time they spent sitting on them during President Trumps address to Congress Tuesday evening.
When Trump said he was going to stop illegal drugs from crossing the border, they sat on their hands. When Trump said he was going to stop people from illegally crossing our border, they sat on their hands. When Trump said he was going to enforce all immigration laws on the books, they sat on their hands. When Trump said he created a new program, VOICE, to inform the public about crimes committed by illegal immigrants, they not only sat on their hands, they booed.
The list could go on and on. Democrats need to remember this if they fail to support these common-sense policies, the American people will use their hands to proffer ballots that will throw many of them out of office in 2018.
Dennis Swanson, Glenwood, Iowa
Fischer has always served Nebraskans
I have known Nebraska U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer for many years. During my time at Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, I worked closely with her when she served in the Nebraska Legislature.
Fischer sat on the Natural Resources Com-mittee. She was always prepared, engaged and focused. She carefully looked out for Nebraskas best interests.
Now, in the U.S. Senate, Fischer continues to prove she is a person of great integrity. Before any vote, Fischer does her research. She is a workhorse who dives deep into the issues. She listens to opinions and concerns on all sides.
Calm and level-headed, Fischer has and will continue to achieve big results for our citizens. Nebraska is fortunate to have such a thoughtful champion in Washington.
Tim Anderson, Elwood, Neb.
Bacon keeps Americans in the dark
Id like Rep. Don Bacon to explain why he voted to keep President Trumps tax returns private. What is the harm if there is nothing to hide?
Linda Smith, Omaha
High bond in Watson case is outrageous
I personally will reserve judgment on Maurice Watson Jr.s guilt until he is tried on the charges of sexual assault he faces (Defense sees a he-said, she-said case, Feb. 28 World-Herald). However, I did think he was presumed innocent until found guilty.
With that in mind, I thought the purpose of bail was to guarantee an individuals appearance in court, not provide preliminary punishment.
In Watsons case, what would he have had to do to show he wasnt a flight risk? After all, he drove all the way from Philadelphia to turn himself in.
Asking for a $2 million bond? Really? Or even the $750,000 bond that the judge set?
Douglas County Attorney Don Kline should be ashamed.
Robert S. Kramer, La Vista
Aiding refugees a rewarding experience
Regarding the Feb. 24 Public Pulse letter, Put your money where your candles are, I want to assure the letter writer that many of those folks waving candles on Dodge Street Feb. 20 to show support of refugees do give their time, attention and resources in support of them.
I am proud that Nebraska takes in more refugees per capita than any state in the union.
I recommend anyone interested in helping refugees to get in touch with Lutheran Family Services, Yates School (OPS) or any one of many Omaha churches that assist with refugee resettlement.
Helping refugee families move toward independence as our newest Americans is a challenging and gratifying experience, and you will get far more than you give.
Kate Bradley, Omaha
Let California go
Theres a call for California to secede, and many people understandably might be for it, including possibly some in California.
Personally, I could enjoy life without Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Brown, et al.
I only hope our administration will be able to get the Democratic Sanctuary Republic of California to pay for the walls on the Oregon, Nevada and Arizona borders.
Dick Sladovnik, Omaha
Kejriwal now claims BJP offered to spare Sisodia, Jain if AAP backs out of Gujarat polls
AAP \"merely a party of UT Delhi\", only Cong can challenge BJP in Gujarat, HP: Azad
AAP slams centre, says LPG stands for Loot, Plunder and Grab
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, March 2: The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pro-industrialists policy has led to an unprecedented hike in the price of LPG cylinders and added that now LPG stands for 'Loot, Plunder and Grab'.
"Now, when Modi will mention the word LPG, instead of assuming that LPG stands for Liquefied Petroleum Gas, the citizens of this country will assume LPG to mean 'Loot, Plunder and Grab'," AAP national spokesperson Raghav Chadha said.
The BJP government had not decreased petrol prices in the country despite the international crude oil prices being at a record low, he charged, adding that this was another instance of hiding the facts and lying to public.
Chadha also flayed the central government for silence over private banks' decision to charge Rs 150 for every transaction after first four free transactions.
"This is not only a scheme with pernicious intent but also disastrous for the economy," the leader said.
"The BJP government also fudged the GDP data for the October-December quarter of the 2016-2017 fiscal year to portray a beautiful picture of an economy that is in a shambles due to the illogical schemes of the Modi government," he alleged.
IANS
JNU violence: Congress fact finding team says attack 'state-sponsored', VC must be dismissed
Ready to join probe in connection with JNU violence: ABVP member
Covaxin recipient students being considered as unvaccinated by foreign varsities: ABVP tells Harsh Vardhan
ABVP activists holds protest march in DU
India
oi-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, March 2: Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists on Thursday held a protest march in Delhi University campus here, demanding action against the anti-national activities.
The students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that the protest march near the university's North Campus' Art Faculty was organised to save the DU from anti-national activities.
Students in the march were demanding strict action against all those elements who support anarchism and anti-India propaganda.
A clash took place between the members of the ABVP and the All India Students Association, a Left-leaning student organisation, at Ramjas College on February 22 that left the university campus disturbed.
IANS
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 16:35 [IST]
After triple talaq on WhatsApp, Muslim woman moves Delhi court
India
oi-Shubir
By Shubir Rishi
New Delhi: After a man divorced his wife on WhatsApp, the woman on Thursday moved the Delhi court for justice but according to sources, her family is to be in centre of attention in a debate over uniform civil code. In the other hand, the Supreme Court is engaged in hearing the petitions on customs such as triple talaq and polygamy.
The 28-year-old married woman said that she recieved a message on WhatsApp from her husband which says the three words talaq, talaq,talaq three times. Speaking to a local news channel, she said that her life and her 5-year old daughter's life is ruined by those words. She was married at 22 to a man chosen by the family members who left her after she gave birth to a girl child.
She narrated her story as saying that even before the divorce announcement on WhatsApp, she was harrassed on grounds of dowry and assaulted for giving birth to a girl child. A few months ago, she went back to her father's home, where she received her husband's message.
Few of the Muslim clerics who are already against the court opposing the ban on triple talaq and the uniform civil code have expressed anger on the husband. Shaista Amber, president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and petitioner in the Supreme Court said that the clergymen should understand women's misery and lamented that a man cannot use WhatsApp to give talaq to his wife.
The woman's father is said to be in dilemma; whether to move court for justice to his daughter or face clerics in terms of traditions.
OneIndia News
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 17:26 [IST]
Chandrababu Naidu inaugurates new Legislature building in Amaravati
India
pti-PTI
Amaravati, Mar 2: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday inaugurated the new legislature building on the state government's transitional headquarters premises at Velagapudi in the capital region of Amaravati.
Legislative Council Chairman A Chakrapani, Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad, several ministers and legislators attended the event. Henceforth, meetings of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature will be held at Amaravati, beginning with the Budget Session from March 6.
The legislative council has a seating capacity of 90 and the Assembly 230. The current strength of the two Houses is 58 and 176 respectively. Additional seating arrangements have been made in the new Legislature building to meet future requirements.
An ultra-modern gadget has been installed on each member's table which will serve as a microphone, speaker, recorder and also, voting machine. The sprawling Houses have more legroom for the members and the seats have a sliding facility. Keeping in mind the unruly scenes in the Assembly in the past, when the Legislature building was located at Hyderabad, the Speaker's chair and podium have been placed at a higher elevation.
PTI
Arun Jaitley confident of winning UP, says BJP will repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha poll feat
India
pti-PTI
Varanasi, Mar 1: BJP will repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha electoral success and form a majority government in Uttar Pradesh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.
Addressing the 'Varanasi Vyapari Sammelan' (traders meet) here, he hailed the Central government's demonetisation policy and said the move had won the confidence of many people.
"The demonetisation scheme was in the best interest of the countrymen. People residing in rural areas, who were once not our voters, voted for us this time due to this great step. Our party courageously took the stand on demonetisation, which will make a positive impact on the economy of the country," he said. "The world has accepted that India's economy is the fastest growing economy," he said.
Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "BJP is going to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh with full majority like it did at the Centre after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections." He also hit out at the Opposition for targeting BJP for not having a chief ministerial face for the UP assembly elections.
Jaitley pointed out that the electorate had chosen Narendra Modi, long before he was declared the Prime Minister nominee of BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the electorate of this country accepted Modiji first, afterwards our Bharatiya Janata party (workers) accepted him and at the end, our parliamentary board nominated him, and we even won the elections," he maintained.
"After 1984, it was for the first time that a political party got a clear majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls," he said, adding that history will be repeated in the UP elections. Hitting out at the rival Congress, Jaitley said the party was reduced to winning only 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as it "only worked for its personal benefit, not for the nation."
"Now BJP has become the pan India party," he asserted. Jaitley also attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for "distributing tickets to criminal candidates, paving way for 'Goondaraj' (hooliganism) and doing caste-based politics." "Akhilesh boasts of one expressway in the state, while Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is constructing 255 highways at half the rate of the tender given by the UP government for its expressway," he added.
PTI
KABUL, March 1 (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and 35 wounded on Wednesday in Taliban attacks on different parts of the Afghan capital of Kabul, the ministry of public health said.
A ministry spokesman said one person was killed in an attack on an office of the main intelligence agency on the city's eastern outskirts, while at least 35 people were wounded in a separate attack on a police office in the west of Kabul.
(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
'Gandhada Gudi' box office collection: Here's how much it collected in the US
Bengaluru: Indiranagar residents set to take out protest march over deteriorating neighbourhood
India
oi-Oneindia
By Oneindia Staff Writer
The residents of HAL 2nd stage in Bengaluru's Indiranagar are set to take out a protest march on Saturday against deteriorating condition of the neighbourhood due to commercialisation.
The neighbourhood, which once used to be green and serene, has now become noisy and unsafe for the residents. The shoddy waste management by the municipality and over flowing sewers are adding to the woes of the residents.
The increasing crime rate in the area, coupled with the drug menace is forcing the residents to raise their voice.
The residents are also complaining about drunken revelry on streets, sale of drugs and prostitution in the area.
The rapid commercialisation of the area has also encroached upon the parking spaces and visitors have to wait for a long time to find a place to park their vehicle.
The noise pollution and increasing traffic, which are having an impact on the entire city, are affecting the quality of life of the Indiranagar residents. The noise also disturbs students studying for their exams.
The HAL 2nd stage residents are going to gather at 8 pm on March 4 and take out a protest march to voice their dissent.
OneIndia News
Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000
Bihar bends ears to mend image as exam season takes over
India
oi-Lisa
Patna, March 2: Bihar has earned itself a bad name when it comes to students cheating in exams. To mend the dented image Bihar is heavily using technology to keep vigil and discourage copying by the students.Bihar School Examination Board chairman Anand Kishor was also recently seen checking students appearing for exam.
CCTV cameras have been installed at the examination centers to keep watch continuously. This time around to discourage cheating in exam Bihar police has been conducting raids and seizing gadgets that were to be used to help students. This time in Bihar answer sheets are bar coded to discourage cheating.
In 2015 Bihar was ridiculed for mass copying in the Matric exams at a center in Vaishali, in 2016 Bihar was joked about after the topper
scam was brought to light. Ruby Rai had topped Class XII examination of 2016 conducted by the Bihar State Education Board in humanities stream, however, she was not able to answer elementary questions related to her subject correctly when she was interviewed by a TV channel. Class XII science stream topper of 2016, Saurabh Shreshtha, also failed to answer basic science questions in the TV interview. This had led to the suggestion that toppers may would have cheated orused fraudulent means to top exams.
Students copying in exams is so common in Bihar that exam time is considered a testing time for invigilators.
Here are some images which saw how seriously Bihar is trying to discourage cheating in exams:
Check for blue-tooth devices Police checking a student if he is carrying a blue-tooth device at a Bihar Public Service Commission PT exam center in Patna. Image courtesy: PTI Students being checked before entering exam hall Police check students before entering the examination hall for Class XII (intermediate) examinations of the Bihar School Examination Board in Patna. Image courtesy: PTI Students being checked at the entrance of examination center Police check students at the entrance of the examination center for Class 12 examinations of the Bihar School Examination Board in Patna. Image courtesy: PTI. Education board chairman himself checking a student BSEB chairman Anand Kishor checking a student during intermediate exams in Patna. Image courtesy: PTI Class X students are also checked Police check class X students appearing for Bihar School
Examination Board (BSEB) in Patna. Image courtesy: PTI. OneIndia News
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 13:38 [IST]
BJP will get full majority in UP, won't wish Akhilesh a win: Amar Singh
India
oi-Lisa
Lucknow, March 2: Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in an interview to TV channel hit out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and said that in UP it will be BJP who will form the new government.
He said in the interview that he agrees with Mulayam Singh Yadav's statement that BJP will get an absolute majority in UP. He however, did not make it clear as to which statement of Mulayam he referred to.
Singh criticised Akhilesh's decision to ally with the Congress for the UP elections. He said that he has always considered Akhilesh as his son but as the former grew up, he stopped respecting him. Singh added that he will not wish Akhilesh a win in UP election but he wished him a long life.
Singh questioned the criteria used by SP to expel him from the party. He said that when people like Arun Verma and Gayatri Prajapati can still campaign for SP why he has been expelled. Verma and Prajapati have been accused of rape. Amar Singh said SP considered only him as the bad influence in the party.
OneIndia News
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
Congress slams PM over steep hike in LPG prices
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, March 2: Congress on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the steep hike in LPG cylinder prices, saying the government was betraying its promises to people.
"Ordinary Indian is being ripped apart by Modiji by midnight extortion as LPG cylinders hiked by Rs 86 and small cylinder by Rs 30.50. Acche Din?" tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
The "whopping rise" in prices "tells us that this Suit Boot ki Sarkar's promises to the common man were all gas and betrayal", he added.
State-run oil marketers raised the price of non-subsidised cooking gas, which customers buy after exhausting their subsidised quota of 12 cylinders in a year, by a steep Rs 86 per cylinder effective from Wednesday.
IANS
Dont sell, rent property to Muslims, Indians: Hate notice in Dallas
India
oi-Anusha
Just days after Srinivasa Kuchibhotla, an Indian Engineer was shot dead in Kansas in a suspected hate crime, cringe-worthy notices have appeared overnight in Dallas. A printed note with no sign or name is addressed to residents. While hailing United States President Donald Trump, it asks homeowners to not rent or sell their property to Muslims, Indians, Blacks and Jews.
Overnight posters put up in an apt complex close to where my sister stays. pic.twitter.com/Wj14UqZYpI Saptarshi Basu (@sabeaux) March 1, 2017
The disturbing note also warns 'people of above mentioned races' to leave Texas or 'better yet, go back to where you came from'. The letter threatens to torture those who do not heed their warning. The note ends with cheer for Trump and America.
A copy of the note was shared on social media claiming that they appeared overnight. The note also asks people not to bother complaining about it since they 'have members in the law enforcement and the government". The note accuses non-Americans of stealing high paying American jobs and demands that America 'gets rid of foreigners'. Such notes appearing just days after, Kuchibotla, an was shot dead has come as a cause of concern.
OneIndia News
All you need to know about Pinaka Rocket Range
DRDO radar handed over to Army; to bring down LoC artillery fire: Parrikar
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
New Delhi, March 2: DRDO's weapon-locating radar Swati was formally handed over to the Indian Army on Thursday, with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar saying its deployment will reduce artillery fire from across the border.
Sources said four radars deployed along the Line of Control for trial have already proved their efficacy since artillery fire from Pakistan's side had reduced after their deployment.
The Indian Army has at present ordered 30 such radars. "The radars have been on the LoC for two months now for trials. Artillery fire has gone down," a defence source said.
The weapon-locating radar developed by the DRDO's Electronic and Radar Development Establishment provides fast and accurate location of enemy artillery including shells, mortars and rockets.
The radar is also capable of guiding fire from an artillery gun attached to it, meaning thereby that the radar can not only locate artillery guns on the enemy side but also ensure their destruction.
Speaking at the event organised to hand over the radar and other equipment to the Army by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Parrikar lauded the scientists.
"Swati could be a great equipment to ensure adversaries do not use artillery fire. If the LoC is devoid of any artillery fire in the near future, you can be sure Swati radar has gone there," the minister said.
He said the radar, however, used a "passive array", and suggested the DRDO develop a radar using "active array" in a couple of years. "The passive array radar can then be exported, after the Army gets enough numbers," the minister said.
Parrikar also congratulated the DRDO for successful trial of exo-atmospheric Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) interceptor missile and endo-atmospheric Advanced Air Defence missile, both part of a two-tier anti-ballistic missile system. "Last year has been very fruitful for the DRDO. There were around 25 missile tests... usually they get criticism," Parrikar said.
IANS
No comment on Pranab Mukherjee book before reading it: Former Union Minister
Pranab memoirs: PM Modi must speak more often in Parliament
DU unrest: President Mukherjee expresses disappointment over 'violence' at varsities
India
oi-Vikas
By Vikas
Expressing disappointment over 'violence' and 'disquiet' at the universities, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent in the society.
Speaking at the 6th K.S. Rajamony Memorial Lecture in Kochi, Kerala, the President called for collective efforts to re-discover the sense of national purpose and patriotism.
It is tragic to see them (those in Universities) caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet: President Pranab Mukherjee in Kochi pic.twitter.com/TeLnYpIPLn ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2017
President Mukherjee also criticised atrocities against women and said that respect to women and children reflects the attitude of a society.
There should be no room in India for intolerant Indian.India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought,speech & expression-Pres pic.twitter.com/Fo8NBmXMvP ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2017
The President's remarks are significant in the wake of recent events unfolding at the Delhi University.
Last week in DU's Ramjas College a fight broke out between the ABVP and the left-affiliated All India Student's Association over an invite to Umar Khalid for a seminar. Khalid, a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, was last year accused of sedition over an event where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. JNU's then student's union president Kanhaiya Kumar was also accused of sedition.
The Delhi University saw massive unrest since the last week's clash and several demonstrations were carried out across the campus.
Lady Shri Ram college student Gurmehar Kaur, who became the face of opposition against ABVP through a social media campaign, had received alleged rape threats over the issue.
The ABVP on Wednesday staged a protest against the 'police inaction' in the Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition case.
OneIndia News
Here is a full list of facilities what Sasikala enjoys in jail
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
Sasikala Natarajan is in jail serving her sentence after being convicted in the disproportionate assets case. There has been a lot of talk about the kind of lifestyle she is leading in the Bengaluru central jail situated at Parappana Agrahara. According to the director general of prisons, the only special facility she has been given is a television set.
[Why did Sasikala Natarajan walk to Bengaluru central jail?]
Chennai-based lawyer, M P Rajavelayutham filed an Right to Information application seeking to know what facilities Sasikala had in jail. The DG prisons replied to the RTI query stating that apart from a television set she does not enjoy any other special facilities.
The list:
One television set
No separate bathroom
No heater
No airconditioner
No water heater
No cot and mattress
No transfer application:
He said that a separate television set was given to her since she heads a political party, the AIADMK. The reply also stated that she had has not made any application seeking a transfer to the Puzhal prison in Chennai.
Further the DG said that she was allowed to meet her nephew TTV Dinakaran for 40 minutes on February 20. Citing the Karnataka prison manual, the DG said that every prisoner is allowed to meet their visitors. The reply also stated that she had made a request for several facilities, but not all were granted.
OneIndia News
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Indian Navy conducts successful firing of anti-ship missile
India
oi-Sandra Marina Fernandes
New Delhi, March 2: The Indian Navy on Thursday successfully launched an anti-ship missile into the Arabian sea. The missile is from the indigenously built Kalvari class submarines. The missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing, held on Thursday morning.
According to the details released by the Indian Navy, this missile launch is a significant milestone for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarine being built in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the country's defence scientists for successfully testing the missile, saying it was a proud moment for the entire nation.
The missle provide the submarine the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges.
OneIndia News
As HMS Hermes
Before being commissioned in Indian Navy on May 12, 1987, the aircraft career had served with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy for 27 years under the name HMS Hermes. That comes to 57 years of operational service -- making it the oldest serving warship.
INS Viraat, the oldest serving aircraft carrier of the world, at Kochi on its last sailing. Photo credit: PTI
Indian Navys pride
It was sold to India for a sum of $465 million (Rs 31,000 crore, was commissioned to the Indian Navy in 1987, and rechristened as INS Viraat. It was supposed to be used for five years. Though it needed constant repairs, it was still a pride for the Indian Navy. She holds the Guinness Record for being the oldest serving warship.
Photo credit: Indian Navy/Twitter
A city in itself
INS Viraat has a standard displacement of 23,900 tons and a full load displacement of 28,700 tons. The total length of the warship is 226.5 meters and the breadth is 48.78 meters. The ship is manned by 150 officers and 1,500 sailors. With such a complement, the ship is like a mini-city complete with attendant logistics infrastructure libraries, gymnasiums, onboard ATM counter, a TV and video studio.
Photo credit: Indian Navy/Twitter
Covering the globe 27 times
The ship housed Chetak (Angles - SAR helicopter), Seaking 42B (Harpoons -anti-submarine helicopters) and Sea King 42C (Commando Carrier helicopters) and Sea Harrier (White Tigers -- fighter air crafts) as its main air elements. Viraat has spent nearly 2,250 days at sea sailing 5,88,288 NM (10,94,215 km). This implies that Viraat has been at sea for over six years covering the entire globe about 27 times.
Final flight of the fighter aircraft Sea Harrier of INS Viraat Vishakhapatanam on February 2016. Photo credit: PIB
Operations galore
Viraat involved in Operation Jupiter', her first major operation in July 1989 as a part of the Indian Peace Keeping Operations in Sri Lanka. Over the next few weeks, Viraat and her task group remained deployed at a measured distance from the war zone, utilising the time to train soldiers, which adequately demonstrated the ship's operational versatility. She also played a pivotal role in Operation Parakram followed after the terrorist attack on Parliament. The ship also played a key role in Operation Vijay by creating blockade against Pakistan during Kargil War in 1999.
Photo credit: Indian Navy/Twitter
Ri Tong Il, former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to journalist outside the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, March 2, 2017. The North Korean envoy said a heart attack likely killed Kim Jong Nam, not VX nerve agent as a Malaysia autopsy showed, regarding the investigation into the assassination of Kim, the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. Ri told reporters Thursday that the victim took medication for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysian police on Friday released the only North Korean it had detained in the killing of the half brother of North Korea's leader, as it condemned the use of a banned nerve agent in the attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Ri Jong Chol, who had been detained since Feb. 17, four days after Kim Jong Nam's death, was handed over to immigration officials for deportation. Police never said what they had thought his role had been in the attack, but national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed Friday that Ri was released due to a lack of evidence against him.
Malaysian Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali has said that Ri would be deported because he didn't have any valid travel documents.
Two women one Indonesian, one Vietnamese have been charged with murdering Kim at an airport terminal Feb. 13. They were caught on grainy surveillance video smearing what Malaysian authorities say was VX nerve agent on his face and eyes, though both reportedly say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.
Police are searching for seven North Korean suspects, including four believed to have left Malaysia the day Kim, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed. One of the suspects believed to still be in Malaysia is an official at the North Korean Embassy.
A statement from Malaysia's Foreign Ministry ramped up the pressure on Pyongyang on Friday, saying it was "greatly concerned" with the use of the toxic chemical and condemning the use of such a chemical weapon under any circumstances.
"Its use at a public place could have endangered the general public," the foreign ministry said.
Malaysia has not directly accused North Korea of being behind the killing, but the statement came hours after a North Korean envoy rejected a Malaysian autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim, saying the man probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Story continues
Ri Tong Il, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, also said that if VX had been used, others besides Kim would have been killed or sickened.
Kim's death has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. On Thursday, Malaysia announced it is scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans.
Malaysian officials say the two female suspects smeared VX nerve agent a banned chemical weapon on Kim's face as he waited for a flight at Kuala Lumpur's airport. Kim died within 20 minutes, authorities say. No bystanders reported falling ill.
Malaysia's autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim boosted speculation that North Korea orchestrated the attack. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons including VX.
North Korea is trying to retrieve Kim's body, but it has not acknowledged that the victim is Kim Jong Un's half brother, as Malaysian government officials have confirmed.
Pyongyang refers to the victim as Kim Chol, the name on the diplomatic passport he was carrying when he died. Malaysian police are doing the same; they are seeking next-of-kin who could provide a DNA sample and make a positive identification, steps they say are needed for authorities to give up the body. Kim is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau.
Khalid, the national police chief, brushed off the North Korean envoy's claim of a heart attack.
"We have our experts who are qualified to determine the cause of death of Kim Chol. Our investigations, supported by expert reports, confirmed that Kim Chol was murdered. North Korea can say what they like but the facts remain," Khalid told The Associated Press.
Malaysian police said the female suspects had been trained to go immediately to the bathroom and wash their hands after attacking Kim. The police said the four North Korean suspects who left the country the day of the killing put the VX liquid on the women's hands.
Police can't confirm whether the two women may have been given antidotes before the attack. An antidote, atropine, can be injected after exposure and is carried by medics in war zones where weapons of mass destruction are suspected.
North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.
Kim Jong Nam reportedly fell out of favor with his father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
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Kerala: Bomb hurled at RSS office, 3 injured
India
oi-Vikas
By Vikas
Three Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers were injured after a bomb was hurled at the saffron outfit's office in Kerala's Kozhikode district on Thursday, said reports.
#Visuals Bomb hurled at RSS office in Kallachy near Nadapuram, Kerala. 3RSS workers injured, shifted to Government Medical College,Kozhikode pic.twitter.com/l1uNGLsW0F ANI (@ANI_news) March 2, 2017
The incident took place at Kallachi at around 9 pm on Thursday. The injured have been taken to the Kozhikode Medical College.
Reports say that police have reached the spot and investigating the matter. The police have tightened security in the area to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
The attackers have not been identified yet.
There have been several violent incidents involving the RSS and the CPI workers in Kerala in the recent past.
The incident assumes significance in the wake of comments made by RSS leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kundan Chandrawat.
Chandrawat had announced a Rs 1-crore reward for anyone who brings the head of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Chandrawat held the ruling government in Kerala responsible for the recent killing of members of right-wing organisations in the state.
OneIndia News
Man rapes 8-year-old to use her blood for removing obstacles to his marriage
Kolkata: Five arrested with fake notes worth over Rs 56 lakhs
India
pti-PTI
Kolkata, Mar 2: Five people were arrested with counterfeit Rs 2,000 currency notes worth over Rs 56,74,000 while trying to purchase a mobile phone in the port area of Kolkata on Thursday.
The fake currency notes were in bundles wrapped in State Bank of India stickers, Kolkata Police Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Visal Garg told reporters.
The five were trying to buy a mobile phone from Watgunge area this afternoon. Suspicous about the notes, the shop owner informed the police, whose anti-rowdy section apprehended Manuar Molla alias Ujjal, Abul Kalam Azad alias Suraj, Sheikh Eklash Ahmed, Balai Mondal alias Joy, and Syed Rehan.
"The shop owner informed the police when he had some doubts on seeing the notes paid by the accused while buying the phone. They had an altercation. A team who was close by reached the place, arrested the five accused persons and seized the FICNs," Garg said.
Molla, a resident of Howrah district, is considered to be the kingpin of the team with a of history crime, he said.
"Molla was involved in a smuggling racket earlier," he said adding apart from Balai, who is a resident of Bankura district, all four are from Howrah.
Police also seized five old mobile phones, two motorcycles and another scooty from their possession, he said.
"We are trying to find from where they got the FICN and what was their exact intention. We will also probe whether they are part of any gang," Garg said.
PTI
Manipur elections 2017: To overthrow Ibobi, BJP on a door-to-door campaign
India
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
The BJP has made the campaign in Manipur a personal one. The BJP is looking to overthrow a Congress government of 15 years in the state which goes to polls on March 4 and 8. In a bid too connect with the voter, the BJP's national president Amit Shah has embarked upon a door-to-door campaign.
Apart from Shah, several other central leaders of the party will embark on such a campaign in the Thoubal district which has 10 seats. This area has been targetted specifically by the BJP, since it is the stronghold of the state Chief Minister, Ibobi Singh. Several of his family members too are contesting from this district, and the BJP feels special emphasis needed to laid in this area.
Shah, during his campaign focused on the Wangkhei constituency where the BJP's Erabot Singh is contesting against Ibobi Singh's nephew Okram Henry. During the campaign, the national president of the BJP urged the people in person to vote for a change in Manipur.
Shah, who also addressed a public rally took a shot at Ibobi Singh by saying that he was called 'Mr 10 per cent'. He said there are BJP chief ministers too who are called as 'Mr 10 per cent'. "However, this is because they have shown growth of 10 per cent," he said. During the door-to-door campaign, Shah also distributed copies of the BJP's vision document.
OneIndia News
MEA condemns Kabul terror attack, says India has been a victim of terrorist violence
India
pti-PTI
New Delhi, Mar 2: India on Thursday strongly condemned the twin terror attack in Kabul killing more than a dozen people, and voiced its resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to justice.
"India has been a victim of terrorist violence and understands the pain and suffering of the people of Afghanistan. "We reiterate our resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to the justice they deserve wherever they may be," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement here.
It also conveyed condolences to the people and the Government of Afghanistan for the loss of lives and property in Wednesday's blast. "It is our sincere hope that the injured will make early recovery," it added.
The near-simultaneous attacks struck the Afghan capital around noon on Wednesday. First, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun battle between the police and several attackers. In the second attack, a bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul.
PTI
Modi just talks, doesn't fulfill promises: Rahul Gandhi
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Gorakhpur, March 2: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not fulfilling any of his promises made before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a public rally in Gorakhpur, the Congress leader said that all that the prime minister has done in the last three years is 'talk useless things' and do nothing.
"Modi ji had promised to give two crore jobs per year. Has this happened," Rahul asked before the cheering crowds.
Adding that the Prime Minister had no connect with the poor and the farmers, the Gandhi scion urged the people to vote for the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance so that their lives can be changed for good.
"I have taken out a kisan yatra from Deoria to Delhi and I know that farmers of the country are in bad shape...all this needs to change and this can only happen if the alliance is voted to power in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
Bitter poll campaign with sharp attacks and counter-attacks came to a close on Thursday evening for the 49 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats.
Assembly segments of Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency of firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, and Mau, where jailed gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari is in fray, also figure in this sixth and penultimate phase of polling.
IANS
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PM lauds defence scientists for testing interceptor missile
India
oi-PTI
New Delhi, Mar 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded the defence scientists for the successful testing of interceptor missile and said it is a proud moment for the entire country.
"Hearty congratulations to our defence scientists for the successful demonstration of ballistic missile defence capability," he tweeted.
Hearty congratulations to our defence scientists for the successful demonstration of ballistic missile defence capability. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 2, 2017
"With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability- a proud moment for the entire country," he added in another tweet.
With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability- a proud moment for the entire country. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 2, 2017
India on Wednesday successfully test-fired an indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile capable of destroying any incoming enemy missile at low altitude.
PTI
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 10:44 [IST]
RBI: Notes which have messages scribbled are legal tender
India
oi-Lisa
Mumbai, March 2: The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that currency notes which have messages scribbled on it are legal tender. The notes however, cease to be legal tender if message scribbled on it is political in nature. RBI keeps sending instructions often that people should accept currency notes with scribblings, but at the same time they also ask people not to staple the notes, write on them or fold them.
In 2014 the RBI had issued a circular which asked people to stop heeding to rumours and use note which have been scribbled on. The RBI had introduced the clean note policy in 1999 and since then there are stories doing round that soiled and mutilated notes will not be accepted by banks. The RBI had in 2002 issued a circular which asked banks not to staple notes so as to increase their life.
The last circular on this had come from the central bank in 2016 wherein it was stated that bank branches that refuse to exchange soiled notes from people will have to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000. The restriction for exchanging soiled notes is that if one exchanges more than 20 notes or notes worth Rs 5,000 in a day, then banks will levy service charge.
The 2016 circular of the RBI aimed to clean the note policy and ensure that all bank branches provide better customer service to the people.
OneIndia News
How the numbers add up in UP: This is what BJP's win percentage was
UP Elections 2017: Bitter campaign ends for Phase VI
India
pti-PTI
Lucknow, Mar 2: Bitter poll campaign with sharp attacks and counter-attacks came to a close this evening for the 49 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats, the voting for which is to be held on March 4 with SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency being in focus.
Assembly segments of Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency of firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, and Mau, where jailed gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari is in fray, also figure in this sixth and penultimate phase of polling. The campaigning saw BJP state president KP Maurya likening rivals SP, Congress and BSP to different types of venomous "snakes" and "social cancer" and urging people to eliminate them by voting for the BJP.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav countered BJP saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conceded defeat in the polls by talking about a hung house. While mustering votes for BJP, Modi sought to prove wrong the prophets of doom after demonetisation saying the latest GDP data showed note-ban did not affect growth rate but rather improved it. Mocking economists, he said, "Hardwork, in fact, is much more powerful than Harvard."
Sounding highly optimistic of the poll outcome for BJP, Modi said the debate now is whether BJP will get two-third or three-fourth majority. "Never have elections gone one way like this... there had been no dearth in enthusiasm of voters in all five phases," he said.
The PM also caught UP Chief Minister on the wrong foot and cited government website to nail him. "Life in Uttar Pradesh is short and uncertain... Uttar Pradesh resembles Saharan Africa," Modi said quoting a para from the state government's official website up.gov.in. Modi also ridiculed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his latest "coconut juice" remark.
"There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life... he recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut possesses water (and not juice) and it is grown in Kerala," he said. "It is like setting up a potato factory," Modi said referring to Rahul's earlier remarks that he wants to set up potato factories in Uttar Pradesh.
PTI
UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case
UP: Gayatri Prajapati's 'Y' category security to be withdrawn
India
pti-PTI
Lucknow, Mar 2: Police on Thursday initiated steps to withdraw 'Y' category security to the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, who remained elusive.
"We have initiated the process to withdraw his 'Y' category security," a senior Lucknow Police official said.
A person enjoying 'Y' category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos.
"Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon," he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the minister's assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.
A UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of 'severe trauma' and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS. A DSP-rank officer, investigating the matter, recorded the victim's statement after seeking permission from AIIMS medical superintendent.
The statement was videographed as per the rules under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Police teams were dispatched out of the state capital when Prajpati could not be located in his official residence in posh Gautampalli area.
Acting on Supreme Court orders, police made frantic efforts to nab him and after having failed to do so they might even apply for cancellation of his passport so that the minister cannot escape from the country.
Interestingly, the minister was earlier seen moving freely from one place to other in his constituency seeking votes. The last time Prajapati was seen in public was on February 27 when he spoke to the media saying he will win with a huge margin and will work under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav once again.
49-year-old Prajpati is facing imminent arrest following an FIR lodged against him and six of his accomplices on the apex court order at Gautampalli police station on February 18 under various sections of the IPC and POCSO Act.
The Uttar Pradesh police had lodged an FIR against Prajapati on the apex court's order for his alleged roles in separate cases of gangrape and an attempt to rape another woman and her minor daughter.
PTI
'Ram Setu' 1st week box office collection: Here's how much Akshay-starrer earned, so far
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UP Police nab one suspect in connection with threats to Mahesh Bhatt
India
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Mumbai, March 2: The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested one person, who is suspected to have issued death threats to veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his family members on WhatsApp, police sources said on Thursday.
The development came earlier in the day, barely hours after Bhatt lodged a complaint at the Juhu police station of extortion-cum-death threat against himself, wife Soni and actress daughter Alia from an 'unknown person' on Wednesday night.
Mumbai police's Anti-Extortion Cell contacted the Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force which swung into action and zeroed in on the suspect -- identified as one Sandeep Sahu.
A Mumbai Police team is expected to go to Uttar Pradesh shortly to take custody of the accused on a transit remand and bring him to Mumbai for further investigations, the sources here said.
According to the 69-year-old Bhatt, the caller allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh, failing which he would eliminate his wife, Soni and and daughter Alia.
Later, Bhatt tweeted: "A bolt from the blue in the form of an extortion call and threat to my family was nipped in the bud by the Maharashtra and UP Police in tandem. Gratitude!"
Bhatt said he had first received the call on February 26, but dismissed it as an innocuous prank initially.
However, the phone call was followed up with a series of WhatsApp messages and SMSs from a purported gangster who demanded that Bhatt should deposit the money in a Lucknow bank branch, failing which, it would lead to firing on the filmmaker's wife and daughter.
Perturbed by the messages, Bhatt lodged the police complaint on Wednesday.
Earlier, Bhatt had been targeted by a gang of 13 who conspired to kill him but were arrested in November 2014 before they could carry out their plans.
IANS
FILE PHOTO: Ford cars are seen on sale at a dealership of Genser company in Moscow, Russia, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's economy minister will travel to Detroit on Friday to meet with executives from automakers Ford Motor Co (F.N) and General Motors Co (GM.N) as Mexico seeks to deter U.S. President Donald Trump from imposing a border tax on Mexican-made goods.
Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo will also meet with auto parts makers that have operations in Detroit and Mexico, the ministry said in a statement. He will discuss the state of U.S.-Mexico trade and the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the ministry said.
Trump has vowed to exit NAFTA, the 1994 accord that also includes Canada, if he cannot get better terms for the United States.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Mexico would only stay in NAFTA if it suited the nation and he rejected the imposition of any tariffs or quotas. The countries have yet to start formal negotiations.
"Thanks to NAFTA, Mexico and Michigan have built a dynamic trade relationship," the ministry said, noting that Mexico was Michigan's second biggest trade partner with more than $12 billion in exports to Mexico last year.
(Reporting by Veronica Gomez; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
DNA of those who burst firecrackers in India on Pakistans win cannot be Indian: Anil Vij
Uproar in Haryana assembly over Anil Vij's comment on Gurmehar Kaur
India
oi-Madhuri
Pandemonium prevailed in the Haryana assembly on Friday over BJP state minister Anil Vij's comment on those supporting Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur were pro-Pakistan and should be thrown out of India.
On Wednesday, Anil Vij said that those who are supporting Gurmehar Kaur for her campaign against the ABVP, were pro-Pakistan and should be thrown out of the country. This came after Gurmehar Kaur backed off from the stir after being threatened.
However, Vij didn't back down his comments today. ''I fully stand by what I said, those opposing it in the assembly have no understanding, they are siding with anti-national forces,'' Vij said.
Vij is not new to courting controversies. In January this year, the minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a bigger brand than Mahatma Gandhi. This was right after Modi's face replaced Gandhiji in the annual khadi calendar.
Kaur, a student of Lady Shri Ram College and daughter of an army officer killed in the Kargil war, launched a social media campaign against the ABVP after the violence in Ramjas College. Kaur posted a picture on Facebook saying: "I am a student of Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me." She then received rape and life threats on social media by some who called her 'anti-national'.
Clashes took place at Delhi University's Ramjas college on February 22 after ABVP members forced the cancellation of a seminar and then disrupted a march.
OneIndia News
Event inaugurated at Parmarth Niketan:
The week-long event, jointly organised by the AYUSH ministry, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Parmarth Niketan and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, was inaugurated at Parmarth Niketan along the banks of the Ganges river.
Hundreds descend for Yoga festival
Nearly 70 saints, yogacharyas, presenters and experts from more than 20 countries around the world are particpating this year at the festival.
Special Yoga session:
There will be separate sessions on Ashtanga, Raja, Bhakti, Kundalini, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Bharat, Ganga, and Somatics during the week. There will also be classes on meditation, mudras, Sanskrit chanting, Indian philosophy and much more.
Modi to address Yoga delegates
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the festival via video conferencing on the 29th edition of the International Yoga Festival at 12:30 pm on March 2.
People from nearly 100 nations participate:
People from nearly 100 nations, saints and dignitaries converge for inauguration of Parmarth Niketan's International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh.
Anti-Muslim bomb threat at Canadian University
International
pti-PTI
Montreal, Mar 2: A bomb threat targeting Muslim students forced an evacuation of nearly 4,000 students from the downtown campus of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
In an email to school administrators and local media, a group identifying itself as the 'underground' chapter of C4, or the Council of Conservative Citizens of Canada, at the university directly warned 'Muslim students' there it would detonate one homemade explosive a day through Friday to protest their activities.
"Now that President (Donald) Trump is in office south of the border, things have changed. We will not tolerate your behaviour anymore," the group said in its emailed letter, referring to the US president. "Until Concordia University stops religious activities of all kinds on campus, we decide the following action to show how far we are ready to go to fight Muslims," the group vowed.
The Montreal police said they were investigating the 'threatening email'. They swept the campus for explosives but found none. A similar threatening letter was also sent to nearby McGill University, which was put on heightened alert, but it did not specify a time or place of a possible attack.
Three Concordia University buildings were evacuated just before midday, and would remain closed until around 6:00 pm (local time), Concordia spokeswoman Christine Mota said. One of the sites was hosting an 'Islam awareness week'.
Quebec Universities Minister Helene David, speaking to reporters at the scene, called the threat against Muslim students 'deplorable'. "We strongly denounce these attacks against a university which is a model of living together," she said. "Quebec is an inclusive place," the minister added. "We want to live together. We will not tolerate this kind of situation."
There has been an escalation of hate crimes in the country in recent months. In January, a white supremacist student shot dead six worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City.
PTI
House of Lords delays Brexit bill over demands for EU nationals living in Britain
International
oi-PTI
London, Mar 1: The House of Lords voted on Wednesday to amend and thereby delay a bill empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to begin Brexit negotiations, demanding guarantees for EU nationals living in Britain.
Peers voted by 358 to 256 for an amendment requiring ministers protect the rights of more than three million European Union and European Economic Area citizens after Britain leaves the bloc. The change means the bill must return to the lower House of Commons for further deliberation, delaying final approval just weeks ahead of May's deadline for starting Brexit negotiations by the end of this month.
Before the vote, May said her timetable for triggering Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty, which starts a two-year negotiating period, would not change. "It is, indeed, my plan to trigger by the end of March," she told MPs. The bill "ensures that we are responding to the voice of the United Kingdom, when people voted to ensure that we do leave the European Union", she added.
MPs approved the bill by a large majority last month and are certain to reject the amendment, sending the original bill back to the Lords, who are likely to give in. But the parliamentary ping-pong will delay final assent of the bill, which May had hoped would come next week, and is another blow to her Brexit strategy.
On Monday, former Conservative prime minister John Major accused her of cheap rhetoric and an over-optimistic view of Britain's future outside the EU. The June referendum vote was fuelled by concerns about mass EU migration into Britain, and immigration promises to be a critical issue once Brexit negotiations begin. May has said she will prioritise ending free movement of workers from the other 27 EU countries, even at the cost of trade ties with the bloc.
But the fate of those who are already in Britain remains uncertain, causing intense worry for those affected. The prime minister has repeatedly said she wants them to stay, but says she must also secure the rights of 1.2 million British citizens living elsewhere in the EU.
PTI
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 9:39 [IST]
Fact Check: Old images of Imran Khan shared as ones from recent shooting incident
Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot
India denounces Pakistan as global epicentre of terrorism
International
oi-IANS
By Ians English
Geneva, March 2: Denouncing Pakistan as the global epicentre of terrorism, India has rejected Islamabad's attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and accused it of trying to destabilise the state.
"Pakistan has created terrorist outfits against India," Ajit Kumar, India's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, told the Council meeting in the Swiss city on Wednesday.
"This monster is now devouring its own creator".
Earlier Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had called for the Council's intervention in Kashmir, asserting that the "human rights and fundamental freedoms of innocent Kashmiris are being trampled upon."
Hamid denied that there was a terrorism problem in Kashmir and claimed that Islamabad's involvement was only in providing "political, moral and diplomatic support".
Rejecting these assertions, Kumar said: "The fundamental reason for disturbances in parts of Jammu and Kashmir is cross-border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan."
Pakistan has been carrying out "an intense campaign to destabilise" the state through "infiltration and cross-border terrorism, inciting, promoting and glorifying violence", he said.
Calling terrorism "the grossest violation of human rights", Kumar said, adding "Members will recognise the irony of a nation that has established a well-earned reputation of being a global epicentre of terrorism holding forth on human rights. For the last two decades, the most wanted terrorists of the world have found succour and sustenance in Pakistan."
Hamid made an appeal to Indians to be aware of the human rights situation in Kashmir.
"We call upon all the mechanism of the Council and the Indian community to remain seized of the grave and systematic violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir."
Reacting to Hamid's claims that Kashmir was an international issue under Security Council resolutions, Kumar said: "Pakistan's unwarranted references to UN Security Council resolutions are grossly misleading as Pakistan was required to vacate the parts of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal and forced occupation."
The Permanent Representative also played down the seriousness of the situation in the state and spoke of efforts to develop it and bring normalcy "in the wake of Pakistan-supported violent unrest."
"The robust and mature Indian democracy proved once again that it has sufficiently strong and adequate mechanisms to redress any internal difficulties even if they are incited from outside," he said.
Ninety-nine per cent of the high school students in the state have written their exams was a sign of the return of normalcy, he said.
Kumar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fast-tracked a $12 billion development package for the state.
Hamid also brought up the request by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to send a team to the state.
IANS
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Story first published: Thursday, March 2, 2017, 16:00 [IST]
Talented, driven and great potential: President Putin is all praise for India and Indians
India must not make visa issue agenda for talks, says a think-tank
International
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Washington, March 2: US President Donald Trump has made some shifts from his pre-election rhetoric, and India should monitor it for better bilateral ties with the US, an India-based think-tank has said in a report.
The report by the Center for Asia Africa Policy Research has suggested that India should avoid making H-1B/L1 visa matters a major agenda point of bilateral discussions with the US.
It said that in order to savour better ties with the US, Indian corporations should be encouraged to acquire some of American strategic hi-tech companies. This would help generate jobs in the US and provide financial returns to India.
The Hyderabad-based CAAPR analysed recent incidents regarding Trump's position on Mexico, Japan and China, and how it changed after Trump won the US presidential elections in 2016, American Bazaar online reported on Thursday, citing the CAAPR report.
The report stated: "Trump told Fox TV in an interview prior to his inauguration, "I don't know why we have to be bound by a 'one China' policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things."
"...He reached out to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen upsetting Beijing. He accused China of unfair trade and fiscal policies and pledged to slap a 45 percent import tariff as it is a currency manipulator," it said.
However, post-election Trump took a more pragmatic approach towards China.
"President Trump rather had a pleasant conversation with President Xi Jinping during their first official telephonic call where he re-affirmed the 'one China' policy," the report read.
The think tank said that about Japan, Trump as a candidate denounced the country for 'free-riding' and not paying its fair share for the American forces defending it.
But, after winning the presidential election, Trump said that the US is 100 per cent committed to Japan's security.
The CAAPR report said that corporations of India and the US should jointly work on projects in the developing countries.
IANS
Baghdadi dead? Almost 100 per cent, but there is no evidence
We know exactly who he is: Trump says US is aware of new Islamic State chief
IS chief accepts group's defeat in Iraq in farewell speech
International
oi-PTI
Cairo, March 2: The Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has acknowledged the group's defeat in Iraq in a 'farewell speech' and ordered his non-Arab fighters to either return to their countries or detonate themselves, according to media reports.
Baghdadi, who had declared himself as Caliph, issued a statement titled 'farewell speech' which was distributed among IS' preachers and clerics on Wednesday, as Iraqi army tightened noose around the group's last remaining territory in Mosul, Al-Arabiya reported, quoting Iraqi TV network Alsumaria.
Citing the sources in the Iraqi governorate of Nineveh, the report said Baghdadi ordered the closure of the IS office regulating the group's fighters and asked the group's non-Arab fighters to either return to their countries or detonate themselves, promising them "72 women in heaven." Baghdadi, who has reportedly been wounded multiple times, carries a USD 10 million bounty on his head.
It is not clear if he is in the besieged city, where he declared his Caliphate in 2014 after the IS seized territory covering much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
Many of ISIS' leaders in Iraq have now fled towards the area controlled by the group in neighbouring Syria, it added. Iraqi forces backed by international and US aid launched a massive operation to retake Mosul on October 17. In January, they captured the eastern side of Mosul -- the last ISIS-held city in Iraq.
PTI
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An annual event
The Khanjar series of India-Kyrgyzstan military exercises has become an annual event. The Khanjar-II exercises were held in March 2015 in Kyrgyzstan, Khanjar III in March-April 2016 in Gwalior. The Khanjar-IV exercises are being held in Kyrgyzstan in February-March 2017.
All photo credits: ADG PI/Twitter
Scaling peaks
The third Joint India-Kyrgyz Army Mountaineering Expedition was conducted in August-September 2016. A joint team comprising 19 officers and soldiers climbed JOGIN-III peak at a height of 6,113 metres above sea level in the central Himalayas in India. Earlier expeditions had scaled the peak of Stock Kangri in Ladakh (September 2011) and Lenin Peak in Kyrgyzstan (3-25 August, 2013).
Training for personnel
India and Kyrgyzstan are jointly constructing the Kyrgyz-Indian Mountain Training Centre in the city of Balykchi, in Issyk-Kul District of Kyrgyzstan. This Centre will provide instruction and training for personnel of the armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic as well as host Kyrgyz-Indian joint mountain training exercises.
Focus on tactics
The exercise is focussed in training of Special Forces Specific Platoon/troop level tactics and techniques in mountainous terrain. The exercise will culminate on March 5.
Kim Jong Nam's death: No visa-free entry for N Koreans in Malaysia
International
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Kuala Lumpur, March 2: Malaysia will cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced, citing security reasons.
The rule would come into effective from March 6, The Malaysian Star daily reported on Thursday.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said he was waiting to be briefed by the ministry's legal adviser and the Attorney-General's Chambers on the status of the North Korean chemist held over the death of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged brother of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un.
"We will know in the next few hours whether the man will be released, investigated or deported," he said. According to reports, North Korean Ri Jong Chol is expected to be released from police custody when his remand order expires on Friday.
The move comes in the wake of Kim Jong Nam death on February 13 at the Kuala Lumpur airport. He was attacked with he was poisoned with VX nerve agent, which according to the UN is a weapon of mass destruction.
Two women were charged with his murder on Wednesday.
IANS
Watch: Car in flames after it rams into gate of Russian embassy
US general: Russia accidently bombed US-backed fighters in Syria
International
pti-PTI
Washington, Mar 1: Russian warplanes bombed US-backed fighters in several small villages in northern Syria after they mistakenly thought Islamic State forces were in the area, a top US general said.
Yesterday, "we had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS, yet ... actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab Coalition forces," Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told reporters, noting that there were some casualties.
He added that US commandos were less than five kilometers (three miles) away and that the bombing stopped when the Americans called the Russians on a special hotline.
PTI
Kuchibhotla murder: Widow of Indian-techie can stay in US for now
US House Speaker Paul Ryan condoles Srinivas Kuchibhotla's death
International
ians-IANS
By Ians English
Washington, March 2: After US President Donald Trump condemned the killing of an Indian techie during a shooting at a Kansas bar, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has offered his condolences.
"The relationship between the US and India is rooted in shared values of democracy and freedom," Ryan said in a statement following meeting with visiting Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar here on Wednesday.
"We had a great opportunity today to build on this critical partnership by discussing ways to enhance our economic and defense cooperation, he stated. "In our meeting, I expressed the House's condolences on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was senselessly murdered last week in Kansas. Our people must continue to stand together, and I look forward to working with Foreign Secretary Jaishankar in the years ahead."
Trump began his first address to Congress at the Capitol Hill on Tuesday by condemning Kuchibhotla's death, saying the country "stands united in condemning hate and evil".
"Last week's shooting in Kansas city reminds us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms," he said.
Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was injured when US Navy veteran Adam W. Purinton fired at them at the Austin's Bar and Grill in Olathe on February 22. Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the two and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" before shooting them.
IANS
Was H-1B visa issue the reason for India's muted response on Kansas killing?
International
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
India's response to the Kansas killing was a rather muted one. A selective leak about issuing a demarche and a quick denial by Tuesday evening was how events followed in the aftermath of the killing of Srinivasa Kuchibhotla, the engineer from Hyderabad who was killed at a Kansas bar.
[H1B visa bill: Indian-American professionals express concern]
The killing shocked the entire world and there were many who blamed Donald Trump's rhetoric for the same. There was pressure on the White House to issue a condemnation and finally on Wednesday it came from the man himself, Donald Trump.
India normally reacts very strongly to such incidents. However this time around India decided to work silently on the issue and not go on a rhetoric. India was assured that the investigations and prosecution would take place. No stone will be left unturned, India's foreign S Jaishankar currently in the US was told. An official in New Delhi tells OneIndia that the priority was to ensure that the killer was brought to trial. When such an assurance is made, what is the point of going to town on a rhetoric.
However there are other reasons too behind the muted response. The curbs by the US on H-1B visas is a big concern for India. After Trump said that he would bring back all software jobs from India, there have been several requests to reconsider that stand.
Indian firms receive at least 60 per cent of the H-1B visas. It is a 150 billion dollar industry which is at stake, Indian officials had pointed out.
India even sent Jaishankar to the US to hold talks on this issue. India is driving the point that skilled workers from India give a competitive advantage to American companies.
India would want to tread carefully with the US as Donald Trump has been driving a nationalist agenda. India does not feel that the H-1B issue is only a rhetoric by Trump. He is serious about it and the negotiations with the US would have to be on a guarded and careful note. India in fact heaved a sigh of relief when Trump mentioned the Kansas shooting incident in his first address to the Congress on Wednesday.
OneIndia News
We know exactly who he is: Trump says US is aware of new Islamic State chief
With an assurance of 72 virgins, here is what Baghdadi said in his farewell speech
International
oi-Vicky
By Vicky
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph and chief of the Islamic State made a farewell speech while acknowledging defeat in Iraq. A statement by Baghdadi titled Farewell Speech was distributed among all the preachers, clerics and fighters. "Return to your countries or detonate yourselves," was the message he had in his statement.
The statement came in the wake of the Iraqi army getting a grip over the last remaining territory of the IS in Mosul. Bhaghdadi while ordering the closure of the ISoffice. He gave the non-Arab fighters two options while promising them 72 virgins in heaven. He said they must either return to their home country or detonate themselves.
Following the offensive by the Iraqi army, several IS fighters have fled to areas in Syria where the group has a grip on. It is however unclear whether the fighters in Iraq would look to return to their home country.
Experts and analysts say that one must not consider the farewell speech as a retreat. The dangerous signs that one gets from the speech is where the self declared Caliph tells the fighters to return home. Over the past year, Baghdadi had directed his fighters several times to return to their home country and carry out lone-wolf attacks.
It was always pointed out by several intelligence agencies across the world that the fall of the IS in Iraq or Syria could lead to attacks in other parts of the world. The 'in the name of the IS', concept has been doing the rounds for long. The IS was well-aware that it cannot battle the international forces in Iraq or Syria.
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Do Higher Speed Limits Cause more Traffic Accidents?
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2017 / Recently, state lawmakers in North Dakota spent nearly an hour debating whether the state should raise its speed limit from 75 miles per hour to 80 mph.
If passed, the five-mph increase would be restricted to two major highways in the state: interstates 29 and 94 - two roads that see a heavy amount of large truck traffic
Speed Limits Are Set by the States
If you have ever taken a road trip across several states, you have probably noticed that the speed limits can vary widely from state to state. If you fail to keep an eye on posted speed limits, you may accidentally drive too fast when you cross a state border.
Although the federal government has, at various times, attempted to control state speed limits by withholding federal funding from states that failed to comply with national speed limit laws, Congress repealed the National Maximum Speed Limit in 1995. Following the repeal, the right to set speed limits reverted to the states.
Now, 41 states across the country have speed limits of 70 mph or higher. In Georgia, the maximum state speed limit is 65 mph for both cars and trucks.
Do Higher Speed Limits Mean More Accidents?
According to those who oppose the proposed speed limit increase in North Dakota, even a five-mph hike will result in more traffic accidents.
Citing a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the deputy director for engineering at the North Dakota Department of Transportation told lawmakers that research shows that a five-mph increase in speed limits is associated with an eight percent increase in fatal interstate accidents.
Supporters of the proposed speed limit increase say it will save motorists money by resulting in fewer speeding tickets. They also claim that individuals who drive 50,000 miles a year could save up to one hour a week in time due to faster speed limits.
Do higher speed limits cause more traffic accidents? The data shows that they do.
Story continues
Personal Injury Attorney Amy Witherite of 1-800-Truck-Wreck explains, "Higher speed limits have been shown to lead to more fatal traffic accidents. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, speed limit increases have caused 33,000 deaths over a 20-year period."
The IIHS study also reveals that speed limit increases caused 1,300 deaths in 2013 alone. Furthermore, researchers say the 33,000 fatalities figure is probably an underestimate.
If you have been injured in a tractor-trailer accident or other type of motor vehicle accident, protect your rights by speaking to a lawyer today. Contact a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your options and the next steps in your case.
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Rumble 26 Oct 2022
Took my new 2022 Harley Davidson FXLRS out for a midday ride to fiesta island here in San Diego. The bike has 400 miles on it so..
Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:
According to a Credit Suisse hedge fund survey, investors overall forecast a 3.5% increase in new inflows during 2017. They also said they are meeting better alignment of terms: more than half has at least one manager in their portfolio with a hurdle rate, and more than half managed to lower their management fees.
Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank, has just released its ninth annual Hedge Fund Investor Survey entitled "Shifting Tides," with responses from more than 320 institutional investors representing $1.3tln of hedge fund investments.
Their favourite strategy for 2017 is global macro-discretionary, followed by fixed income arbitrage/relative value, and emerging market equity. They are likely to pivot from broad based equity strategies to equity sector strategies, and might even include some allocation to quantitative strategies.
As in the previous survey, 87% of investors indicated that they would maintain or increase their hedge fund exposures in the coming year. But last year, only a third said their hedge fund portfolio had met or exceeded their expectations (down from 45% last year). Investors are now targeting annual returns of 7.2% for 2017.
There remains significant appetite for start-up funds, with slightly less than half of respondents reporting investing in a start-up fund l......................
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Talent Management Software Market To Experience Lucrative Growth Due To Rising Demand In Telecom Industries Till 2025: Grand View Research, Inc.
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The global talent management software market is expected to reach USD 24.03 billion by 2025 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The talent management software industry is anticipated to undergo a series of changes owing to various factors such as decreasing employment rate, changing work environment, the rise of freelancing and contract work, and a globalized workforce.The most pertinent of the factors is the advent of new software and technologies, such as big data analytics, social media, and the Internet. Mobile platforms are also revolutionizing some important talent management stages, such as recruitment and learning & training, thus driving competition in the market.Industry leaders have been providing the products in the market for quite some time now but trends such as transparency, customization, and employee engagement are expected to be at the forefront of the new and upcoming offerings to customers. The increasing use of analytics to map the performances and predict the future outcomes has also had a positive effect on the adaptation to the technology in demand.Solution integration and the availability of middleware from vendors are also an important step forward for the industry standardization. As the industry strides toward larger adoption and rapid developments in terms of capabilities, many new trends such as Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and social media adherence, for either pre-hire assessment or employee feedback management, are gaining traction in the market.Browse full research report on Global Talent Management Software Market:Further key findings from the report suggest: The human resource departments are responsible for decisions concerning talent management systems and are witnessing a shift toward integrated solutions Organizations, they are in search of platforms to integrate the disconnected systems As the industry is moving toward digital management and cloud-based applications, there is a looming threat of data breaches and hacking incidents Key industry participants include IBM Corp., Oracle Corp., SAP SE, Peoplefluent Inc., CornerStone OnDemand Inc., Haufe Group, Lumesse AS, DelTek Inc., Saba Software Inc., and Halogen Software Inc., among others The industry may also witness a rise in the number of small companies and start-ups that address the niche markets and provide customized solutions while being susceptible to acquisitions and mergers of smaller firms as well as the entry of technology giants to capitalize on the market opportunitiesGrand View Research has segmented the talent management software market on the basis of solution, deployment, application, and region:Talent management software solution outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Recruiting Management Compensation Management Employee Lifecycle Management Learning and Training Management Performance ManagementTalent management software deployment outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) On-Premise CloudTalent management software application outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) BFSI Retail IT & Telecom Healthcare Government Education OthersTalent management software regional outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo Germanyo UK Asia Pacifico Chinao Indiao Japan Latin Americao Brazil Middle East & Africa (MEA)For more information:About Grand View ResearchGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Press ContactSherry James - Corporate Relations Specialist28 2nd Street, Suite 3036San Francisco, CA 94105United StatesPhone: 1-415-349-0058Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com
PEYRONIES DISEASE TREATMENT MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Peyronie's disease (PD) is condition wherein the penis is curved or bent due to development of plaque or a fibrous scar tissue inside the penis. This condition can cause painful erections and the penis gets bent while it is erected. The bent is towards the side where plaque is being formed i.e. either downwards or upwards. The condition is identified by a major bend or pain. In a few people Peyronie's disease may go away on its own. However, in most cases it may remain stable or worsen. Hence, it is advisable to visit an urologist to avoid consequences in future. Treatment may be needed if the curvature prevents successful sexual intercourse.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Peyronies disease is a rare condition observed in about 6 out of 100 men in the age group of 40 to 70 years. Moreover, the Urology Care Foundation also estimates that the number of people affected by this condition can be higher than this as many men are embarrassed and do not see their healthcare provider. It is mostly at times when the men visit the healthcare practitioner for erectile dysfunction treatment and the healthcare practitioner may notice Peyronies disease. Lack of awareness among patients has resulted in under reporting of this condition.Peyronie's Disease Treatment OptionsThe exact cause of plaque formation is not known. Hence, treatment is done with the available research and knowledge of plaque formation. There are various treatment options followed for Peyronie disease basis on which the market is analyzed. These include drugs, surgery and devices. The drugs market can be analyzed based on the administration route i.e. oral and injectable. Drugs prescribe through oral route include Vitamin E, Potassium amino-benzoate ("Potaba"), Tamoxifen, Colchicine, and Carnitine. Similarly, the injectable drugs include Verapamil, Interferon, and Collagenase. Use of oral drugs is limited as none of the studies conducted so far for Peyroniees disease have shown positive results of these drugs over the placebo.On the other hand injectables show some positive outcomes over placebo. However, more studies are required to establish the efficacy. Studies with collagenase have shown positive outcomes for its use in Peyronie's disease. Therefore, Xiaflex (Collagenase clostridium histolyticum) from BioSpecifics Technologies Corporation is the only FDA approved product indicated for Peyronie's disease in adult men. Approved in 2013, Xiaflex is marketed in the U.S. by Endo International plc. In Europe, Collagenase clostridium histolyticum is available by the brand name Xiapex.A penile prosthetic device is another good treatment option for Peyronie's disease and moderate-to-severe ED. This device helps straighten the penis. Surgical procedure on the other hand involves grafting the space being emptied on removal of the plaque.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :With Xiaflex the only FDA approved product for this disease, Endo dominates the marketThe market is dominated by a single player, Endo International plc who sells the only FDA approved Peyronies disease product. In May 2015, the American Urological Association presented the first ever treatment guidelines for Peyronies disease recommending the use of Xiaflex. Furthermore, the company is creating awareness through its Ask About the Curve campaign. Also, reimbursement from the U.S. insurance providers will boost the demand for this product. The product is estimated to generate USD 100 million in revenue for Peyronies disease by 2018. In Japan, BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. has granted Asahi Kasei Pharma the rights to develop and market XIAFLEX in Japan for Peyronie's disease. Further, the company is also partnering with global companies in Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Brazil for commercializing XIAFLEX for PD.With increasing awareness and research on this disease, new drug molecules could be made available in the market.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
PARTICULATE RESPIRATORS MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Patient suffering from SARS or their surrounding people are the target population for particulate respiratorsParticulate respirators are medical devices, which helps to protect one from harmful particles present in the air or dust or harmful fumes. Such harmful dust usually spread through severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). SARS is a respiratory syndrome commonly spread among symptomatic individuals, by person-to-person contact, or when the person sneezes or coughs, thereby infecting the nearby surfaces or through airborne transmission. Being a communicable disease, healthcare professionals and medical transport workers are at high risk to such disease as they frequently come in contact with patients suffering from SARS. Hence, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued interim infection control recommendations for those high risky healthcare centers and facilities. Particulate respirators have proved to be excellent personal protector equipment in order to reduce the risk of inhaling harmful airborne particles. Particulate respirators which has the capability of filtering out 95% of airborne particles are given a 95 rating according to CDC. Likewise, respirators with 99% capability of filtering particles are given a 99 rating and so on.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Government initiatives are helping spread awareness among SARS affected victims and helps in fostering market growthIncreasing prevalence of SARS is one of the major drivers impacting the particulate respirators market growth. Moreover, low cost of the product, increasing R&D activities and government initiatives undertaken in order to secure the healthcare professionals from such airborne transmission are some of the factors fueling the demand for particulate respirators. CDC is working with federal agencies, healthcare organizations and local health departments in order to spread awareness among healthcare workers for rapid recognition of person-to-person transmission of SARS. However, lack of proper awareness among people pertaining to the various types of particulate respirators available is hindering the market growthDisposable respirators are less costly and easy to discard if damagedOn the basis of product, particulate respirators market is segmented into disposable or filtering facepiece respirators, reusable or elastomeric respirators and powered air-purifying respirators. Disposable respirators are for single-use as it gets damaged physically due to excessive resistance and sorbent exhaustion. Reusable respirators are cleaned and reused. However, the filter cartridges are disposed when they become unsuitable for use. Powered air-purifying respirators are usually attached with a battery powered blower which filters the harmful air.Based on design, particulate respirators are of two types, half face respirators and full face respirators. Particulate respirators are used in hospital settings and also for military, laboratory and other purposes. On the basis of geography, the market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.Greater awareness levels in North America is enhancing the market growthNorth America is one of the high revenue generating market for particulate respirators owing to their growing awareness levels regarding the usage of particulate respirators and increasing R&D activities in this region. Asia Pacific is considered as a lucrative market for growing opportunities of particulate respirators primarily due to the rising prevalence of respiratory disorders in countries like India. The major players are expected to find huge growth opportunities in such countries owing to the rising airborne transmitted diseases.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :3M is one of the leading players of the market based on the performance and salesSome of the key players for particulate respirators market include 3M Company, The Gerson Company, Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Honeywell International Inc., MOLDEX and Northern Safety Co., Inc. among others. New product launch is one of the key initiatives undertaken by these companies. For instance, in 2015, 3M launched organic vapor respirator cartridges, which has 3M Service Life Indicator technology that helps to direct the user for an appropriate time to change the cartridges.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
Smart Gas Market to Exceed US$ 14 Billion by 2024
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New York, March 01: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Smart Gas Market By Technology (Meter Data Management (MDM), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Geographic Information System (GIS), Others); By Device Type and By End Users - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 - 2024How Big is the Global Smart Gas Market?The Global Smart Gas Market is expected to exceed more than US$ 14 Billion by 2024 growing at a CAGR of more than 32% in the given forecast period.Browse Full Report:The enormous monetary and statistic development have incurred a sharp rise in the demand for natural gas globally. Conventional ways of management practices in organizations has made this field very competitive and has a major impact on Global Smart Gas Market. Companies are involved in innovating and discovering different type of alternate sources of energy that are used safely by the end user as per the requirement, to full fill the daily needs of everyone around the world when there is a power failure for a long time. This has opened up the new possibility of earnings for the Smart Gas meter producers. The gas companies around the world should have a safe and reliable way of transportation of its products. Changing the customary appropriation hones into cutting edge IT supported foundation would guarantee the advancement of Smart Gas supplies. Sustenance in the aggressive normal gas utility market can be accomplished because of the changing ecological and geographical patterns which request a progressed eco-friendly plan. Keen Gas innovation arrangements have the required driving potential to achieve the following preferred development stage in the gas utility division.How Big is the Global Smart Gas Market?The Global Smart Gas Market is expected to exceed more than US$ 14 Billion by 2024 growing at a CAGR of more than 32% in the given forecast period.The Major driving factors of Global Smart Gas Market are as follows: One of the most prominent drivers is the need to reduce carbon footprint and increase energy security of various economies.The Restraining factors of Global Smart Gas Market are as follows: High initial investment required for installing smart gas meters limits the markets path to an extent.The Global Smart Gas Market is segmented on the lines of its product, service, software, type and regional. Based on product segmentation it covers Traditional Metering System, Gas Warning Device, AMI Communication Module. On the basis of technology meter data management (MDM), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), geographic information system (GIS), and others. On end-users it includes residential and commercial & industrial.The Global Smart Gas Market on geographic segmentation covers various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geographic market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.Download Free Sample Report:This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for Global Smart Gas Market and related technologies.2) Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for Global Smart Gas Market.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets Global Smart Gas Market with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report Silver Spring Networks, Advanced MRF LLC, Badger Meter Inc., Capgemini S.A., CGI Group Inc., Comverge Inc., Cyan Technology Ltd., Elster Group GmbH, Itron Inc., EnerNOC Inc., General Electric, Master Meter Inc., Southern California Gas Company, MOXA Inc., ABB Group, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Quadlogic Meters Canada Inc. (QMC), Schneider Electric SE, Sensus Metering Systems Inc., SmartGAS Mikrosensorik GmbH, Spire Metering Technology. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Global Smart Gas Market has been segmented as below:By Device Type Traditional Metering System Gas Warning Device AMI Communication ModuleBy Technology Meter Data Management (MDM) Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Geographic Information System (GIS) OthersBy End-user Residential Commercial and IndustrialBy Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldAbout MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Foot and Ankle Devices Market to Reach US$ 5.8 Billion by 2022
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New York, March 01: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Foot and Ankle Devices Market by Product Analysis (External fixation devices, Joint implants, Internal fixation devices, Soft tissue orthopedic devices, Foot and ankle bracing, Foot and ankle prosthetic market) and By Regional Analysis Global Forecast by 2016 2022.How Big is the Global Foot and Ankle Devices Market?The Global Foot and Ankle Devices Market is expected to exceed more than US$ 5.8 billion by 2022 and will grow at a CAGR of more than 6% in the given forecast period.Browse Full Report:The major driving factors of Foot and Ankle Devices Market are as follows: Growing aging population Increasing occurrence rate of joint problems includes fractures, foot ulcer, arthritis and bunionThe restraining factors of foot and ankle devices market are as follows: High cost of foot and ankle devicesThe foot and ankle devices market is segmented on the lines of its product and regional. Based on product segmentation it covers external fixation devices, joint implants, internal fixation devices, soft tissue orthopedic devices, foot and ankle bracing, foot and ankle prosthetic market and support market. An external fixation device is further segmented into ring ankle fixator, unilateral fixator and hybrid fixators. Joint implants are classified into phalangeal implants, total ankle replacement and subtalar joint replacement. Internal fixation devices covers fusion nails, screws, wires & pins and plates. Soft tissue orthopedic devices are classified into musculoskeletal reinforcement and artificial tendons and ligaments. Foot and ankle prosthetic market is classified into microprocessor controlled prostheses (MPC), solid ankle cushion heel (SACH) foot, dynamic response/energy storing prostheses and single axial prostheses and multi axial prostheses. The foot and ankle devices market on geographic segmentation covers various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geography market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.Request A Sample Report:This report provides:1) An overview of Global Foot and Ankle Devices Market and related technologies.2) Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans Global Foot and Ankle Devices Market.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for Global Foot and Ankle Devices Market with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Smith & Nephew, De PuySynthes, Integra, Biomet, Arthrex, Tornier, Stryker, Acumed, Vilex, OrthoHelix, BioPro, Wright Medical, Orthofix, Zimmer Holdings, Small Bone Innovations and Mondeal. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Global Foot and Ankle Devices Market has been segmented as below:By Product Analysis External fixation deviceso Ring ankle fixatoro Unilateral fixatoro Hybrid fixators Joint implantso Phalangeal implantso Total ankle replacemento Subtalar joint replacement Internal fixation deviceso Fusion nailso Screwso Wires& pinso Plates Soft tissue orthopedic deviceso Musculoskeletal reinforcemento Artificial tendons and ligaments Foot and ankle bracing Foot and ankle prosthetic marketo Microprocessor controlled prostheses (MPC)o Solid ankle cushion heel (SACH) footo Dynamic response/energy storing prostheseso Single axial prostheses and multi axial prostheseso Support market.By Regional Analysis North America Europe Asia-Pacific Rest of the WorldAbout MarketResearchEngineMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Ceiling Tiles Market Worth US$ 43 Billion Globally By 2023
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Florida, March 01: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Ceiling Tiles Market for Residential, Non-Residential and Industrial Applications - Global Industry Analysis by Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 2023.The Global Ceiling Tiles Market was valued at US$ 19.80 Billion in 2014 and is projected to cross US$ 43.00 Billion by 2023, expanding at a CAGR of more than 9.0% between 2015 and 2023.Browse Full Report here:This market study analyses the market by its value chain. Value chain analysis starts with the analysis of feedstock products and ends with the analysis of end-user industry. The report uses Market Attractiveness Analysis and Porters Five Forces Model to analyze the diverse factors affecting the expansion of the market.a) Market Attractiveness Analysis It provides the information about the most attractive and least attractive market segments by Product, Application and Geography.b) Porters Five Forces Model - It analyses the factors such as degree of competition, bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, threat of substitutes and threat of new entrants.The key players in global ceiling tiles market are Armstrong World Industries Inc., Chicago Metallic Corporation, Grenzebach BSH GmbH, Knauf, Odenwald Faserplattenwerk GmbH, ROCKFON, SAS International, Saint-Gobain SA, and USG Corporation.Why to Purchase this Report?1. It provides thorough analysis of the ceiling tiles market by key products (mineral wool, metal, gypsum and others) and its applications (residential, non-residential including hospitality, commercial and institutional.2. It also segments the market based on major geographies into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.3. This report provides volume and revenue for each application segment for each region.4. The report includes an overview of the market share of key companies in the global ceiling tiles market.Download Free Sample Report:This report segments the global ceiling tiles market by:By Product Segment Analysis Mineral Wool Metal Gypsum Others (Wood, Plastic, etc.)By Application Analysis Residential Non-residentialo Hospitality (Restaurants, Hotels, etc.)o Commercial (Offices, Shopping Plazas, etc.)o Institutional (Hospital, Educational Institutes, etc.) Industrial (Factories, Warehouses, etc.)By Regional Analysis North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa Rest of the World (ROW)About MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Website:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Orthodontic Headgear Market Scenario, Technology, Segments, Outlook Report to 2022
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Study Objectives of the Market:Providing detail analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of various segments and sub-segments of the orthodontic headgear marketGiving insights about factors affecting the market growthAnalyzing the market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters Five Force analysis etc.Giving the past and predicted future revenue of market segments and sub-segments with respect to the main market and various other markets globallyGiving regional level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectsGiving regional level analysis of the market with respect to segments, sub-segments, products, and end-usersProviding an overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market followed by comprehensively analyzing their core competencies and drawing a competitive structure of the marketTracking and analyzing competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments along with research and developments in the global orthodontic headgear marketSample Report @Intended Audience Orthodontic headgear manufacturers & suppliers Biotechnology companies Hospitals Dental clinics Academic research institutes Government institutesMarket Synopsis of Orthodontic headgear Market:Market Scenario:The global market of orthodontic headgear is growing steadily. Factors that influences the orthodontic headgear market are increasing demand of device over surgeries, increasing advance technology used in orthodontic devices, increasing advanced painless surgeries and many others. Globally the market for orthodontic headgear is expected to grow by XX% from 2016 to 2022.Browse Report @Key Finding The global orthodontic headgear market is expected to reach $XX million by 2022 Cervical pull type holds this markets largest share of XX% According to region North America holds orthodontic headgears largest market share of XX% which is expected to reach $XX billion by the end of forecast period Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market with the CAGR of XX%Segments:Global orthodontic headgear market has been segmented on the basis of product type which comprises of cervical pull, high-pull headgear and reverse-pull (facemask). Furthermore on the basis of end-user the market is segmented into hospitals, dental clinics and others.Regional Analysis of Orthodontic headgear Market:Globally North America is the largest market for orthodontic headgear segment, which is expected to grow at the CAGR of XX% and reach US$ XXX million by the end of the forecasted period. Europe is the second largest market of orthodontic headgear which is expected to grow at a CAGR of XX%. As per region Asia Pacific is expected to be fastest growing region of this market.Key Players for Orthodontic headgear Market:Some of the key players in this market are: Ortho Kinetics Corporation, DB Orthodontics, SmileDirectClub, OraMetrix, Inc, Heilongjiang Label Technology Co., Ltd. and others.The report about Orthodontic Headgear Market by Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts and key opinion leaders to gain deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors of the market. The report provides detail information about top key players in the industry including their strategies. The report also gives a detail study of different markets including their segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.comThe report about Orthodontic Headgear Market by Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts and key opinion leaders to gain deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors of the market. The report provides detail information about top key players in the industry including their strategies. The report also gives a detail study of different markets including their segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MARKET RESEARCH FUTUREAmanora Town Centre, Office No. 528,, Amanora Chambers, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411028
Global Insulation Terminal Market Segmentation and Analysis Research Report to 2022
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Insulation Terminal MarketSummaryWiseguyreports.Com Adds Insulation Terminal -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and analysis of Top Key Player Forecast to 2021 To Its Research DatabaseGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Insulation Terminal in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwan..For Sample report @Global Insulation Terminal market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAE-IndustriesChanghong Plastics Group Imperial PlasticsDruseidtElpressKlaukeKNIPEXKORNERMECATRACTIONOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoCircular TypeFork TypeTube TypeOtherOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Insulation Terminal for each application, includingElectronic EquipmentCommunications EquipmentCarHome ApplianceOtherEnquiry before buying @Table of ContentsGlobal Insulation Terminal Market Research Report 20171 Insulation Terminal Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Insulation Terminal1.2 Insulation Terminal Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Insulation Terminal Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Insulation Terminal Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Circular Type1.2.4 Fork Type1.2.5 Tube Type1.2.6 Other1.3 Global Insulation Terminal Segment by Application1.3.1 Insulation Terminal Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Electronic Equipment1.3.3 Communications Equipment1.3.4 Car1.3.5 Home Appliance1.3.6 Other1.4 Global Insulation Terminal Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Insulation Terminal Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Insulation Terminal (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Insulation Terminal Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)..7 Global Insulation Terminal Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 AE-Industries7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 AE-Industries Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Changhong Plastics Group Imperial Plastics7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Changhong Plastics Group Imperial Plastics Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Druseidt7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Druseidt Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Elpress7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Elpress Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Klauke7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Klauke Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 KNIPEX7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 KNIPEX Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 KORNER7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 KORNER Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 MECATRACTION7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Insulation Terminal Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 MECATRACTION Insulation Terminal Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview..Buy This Report @Continued...Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Electric Enclosure Market Expects Growing Public Awareness to Boost Future Demand
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ArticleThe Electric Enclosure Market deals with the development and manufacture of a cabinet where equipment such as switches and displays are specifically mounted so that people can avoid suffering a shock as well as to protect the contents held inside from the harsh elements of the external environment.In many cases, the Electric Enclosure Market has designed electrical enclosures in such a manner that they not only serve their primary objectives, but also happen to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Sometimes, the placement or design of an electric enclosure is dictated by the existing regulations as well as the prevailing circumstances in certain dangerous areas. Some of the prime growth drivers for such an enclosure are: rising consumer awareness regarding safety around electrical equipment; and the rapid growth being experienced by the electronics and hardware sectors.Check complete report @Scope & Regional Forecast of the Electric Enclosure MarketBut the Electric Enclosure Market also expects a series of changes in the global economy to play a part in boosting the demand for stainless steel enclosures. Electrical enclosure manufacturers view the rapid adoption of automation in all aspects of manufacturing as a golden opportunity for establishing indoor as well as outdoor enclosures in the relevant industrial segments. Industrial enclosures are not the only opening showing potential as the rising number of smart homes are expected to drive up the future demand for electrical enclosures.All of those factors are expected to drive the Electric Enclosure Market revenue to reach $5.98 billion, accompanied by a CAGR of 3.89%, by 2021. The industrial preference for nonmetallic electric enclosures is quite glaring as this variant is expected garner a revenue of $3.47 billion by 2021. As far as end user industries are concerned, the energy & power, residential and industrial infrastructure sectors are expected to drive future demand significantly.Avail more information from Sample Brochure of report @Segmentations & Key Players Involved in the Electric Enclosure MarketThe Electric Enclosure Market can be broken down into various segmentations on the basis of Application: Commercial & Industrial, Energy & Power, Food & Beverage and Others.Type: Metallic Electric Enclosure and Non-Metallic Electric Enclosure.Geographical Location: North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) and Latin America, Middle and Africa.Some of the key players involved in the Electric Enclosure Market are as follows: Nitto Kogyo Siemens Allied Moulded Products ITS Enclosures Bison ProFabOrder a copy of Global Connected cars Market Research Report @About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector StudiesContact us:Mayur S.Sales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington, Delaware, 19808United Statessales@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
Color Sorter Market Expects Rapidly Growing Global Population to Fuel Future Demand
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The Color Sorter Market deals with the development and manufacture of machines that enable the separation of bulk food items in a production line. A color sorter operates on the principle of distinguishing between items by analyzing their color and utilizing ejection machines to set specific items along a different path. The programming of a color sorter machine can be altered to analyze and divert different types of colors.The Color Sorter Market has identified and exploited a particular need for a sorting machine to divert certain agricultural products like grain. The rice industry has been the biggest market for a color sorting machine as technology helps differentiating rice through their color via a high resolution optical sensors. During the last few years, many a color sorter machine manufacturer has witnessed another opportunity opening up in the form of coarse cereals. The biggest benefit of using a colour sorter is the maintenance of optimal product quality.Check complete report @Scope & Regional Forecast of the Color Sorter MarketJust like Moores Law, the technology behind the optical sorting machine has evolved at a rapid rate. The Color Sorter Market expects the future of the color sorter machine to hinge on the development of full color imaging. Such an advance would allow the sorting machine to view products just like the human eye. Another additional benefit of this is the capability to identify and recognize between 16 million different colors. This technology is expected open up a wide variety of opportunities while pushing the level of accuracy to a whole new level.The Color Sorter Market considers the prime growth drivers to be a few factors like: rising demand for cleaner agricultural products; stringent security around the product as well as tightening quality check protocols; enhanced energy efficiency; and a growing need to reduce the amount of good grains being wasted during the diversion process. Full color imaging is expected to throw the door open to a whole new world of potential growth.Avail more information from Sample Brochure of report @Segmentations & Key Players Involved in the Color Sorter MarketThe Color Sorter Market can be broken down into various segmentations on the basis of Type: Chute Sorters and Belt Sorters.Application: Agricultural field and Industrial areas.Some of the key players involved in the Color Sorter Market are as follows: Anhui JiexunAnhui Zhongke Hefei Guangke Daewon BuhlerOrder a copy of Global Connected cars Market Research Report @About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Mayur S.Sales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington, Delaware, 19808United Statessales@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
Global Wireless Building Management Services Research Report Forecast to 2022
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Wireless Building Management Services MarketSummaryWiseguyreports.Com Adds Wireless Building Management Services -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and analysis of Top Key Player Forecast to 2021 To Its Research DatabaseGeographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Wireless Building Management Services for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndia..For Sample report @Global Wireless Building Management Services market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Wireless Building Management Services sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player;the top players includingArubaCiscoHoneywell InternationalJohnson ControlsSchneider ElectricOSRAMSeimensHubbell Control SolutionsJETEC ElectronicsTrend Control SystemsAcuity BrandsCrestron ElectronicsCommScopeElmeasure IndiaKMC ControlsOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSystemsServicesOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Wireless Building Management Services for each application, includingCommercial BuildingsResidential BuildingsEnquiry before buying @Table of ContentsGlobal Wireless Building Management Services Market Research Report 20171 Wireless Building Management Services Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Wireless Building Management Services1.2 Classification of Wireless Building Management Services by Product Category1.2.1 Global Wireless Building Management Services Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Wireless Building Management Services Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Systems1.2.4 Services1.3 Global Wireless Building Management Services Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Wireless Building Management Services Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Commercial Buildings1.3.3 Residential Buildings1.4 Global Wireless Building Management Services Market by Region1.4.1 Global Wireless Building Management Services Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Wireless Building Management Services Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Wireless Building Management Services Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Wireless Building Management Services Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Wireless Building Management Services Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Wireless Building Management Services Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Wireless Building Management Services Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Wireless Building Management Services (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Wireless Building Management Services Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Wireless Building Management Services Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)..9 Global Wireless Building Management Services Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data9.1 Aruba9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Aruba Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Cisco9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Cisco Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Honeywell International9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Honeywell International Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 Johnson Controls9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 Johnson Controls Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 Schneider Electric9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 Schneider Electric Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 OSRAM9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 OSRAM Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 Seimens9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 Product A9.7.2.2 Product B9.7.3 Seimens Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 Hubbell Control Solutions9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 Product A9.8.2.2 Product B9.8.3 Hubbell Control Solutions Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 JETEC Electronics9.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.9.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.9.2.1 Product A9.9.2.2 Product B9.9.3 JETEC Electronics Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.10 Trend Control Systems9.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.10.2 Wireless Building Management Services Product Category, Application and Specification9.10.2.1 Product A9.10.2.2 Product B9.10.3 Trend Control Systems Wireless Building Management Services Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.11 Acuity Brands9.12 Crestron Electronics9.13 CommScope9.14 Elmeasure India9.15 KMC Controls..Buy This Report @Continued...Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Butadiene Market worth 14,536.1 Kilotons by 2018
MarketsandMarkets
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The report, Butadiene Market & Its Derivatives (SBR, PBR, ABS, SB Latex, Adiponitrile, NR & Others) Market by Applications & Geography - Trends and Forecasts to 2018 defines and segments the global butadiene market & its derivatives market with analysis and forecasting of the global consumption volume and value.Browse 114 market data tables and 37 figures spread through 265 pages and in-depth TOC on Butadiene Market & Its Derivatives (SBR, PBR, ABS, SB Latex, Adiponitrile, NR & Others) Market by Applications & Geography - Trends and Forecasts to 2018.Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports.Download PDF Brochure:Asia-Pacific - Biggest Market of ButadieneAsia-Pacific is the worlds largest market of butadiene, which consumed more than half of the total global demand, and also for most of its derivatives that includes styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), polybutadiene rubber (PBR), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and nitrile rubber (NR). Various countries in Asia-Pacific are ahead of them all to implement butadiene and its downstream derivatives in a diverse range of applications. Demand growth of butadiene in the region is projected to be well above the average growth rate of the market. China and South Korea are the biggest consumers of butadiene in the region while India and China are expected to be the fastest growing markets of butadiene. A few of the reasons for the high level growth in this region are growing population, vast economiesdeveloped as well as developing, and favorable investment policies and government initiatives to promote industrial growth. The budding nature of the economies and rising consumption trends for various materials such as synthetic rubbers and ABS resin drives the demand of butadiene at a significant pace in the region.Styrene Butadiene Rubber - The Biggest and Polybutadiene Rubber - The Fastest Growing Butadiene MarketsButadiene is a major feedstock to manufacture SBR, with just less than one third of its total global demand being consumed to manufacture SBR. Butadiene demand by SBR manufacturers is quite high in the U.S., followed by China, South Korea, and Japan. Subsequently, PBR manufacturers were the second largest consumers of butadiene with a butadiene consumption share difference of 2.4%, compared to SBR manufacturers. The PBR manufacturing segment is also the fastest growing end-use segment with an expected CAGR of about 4.9% from 2013 to 2018. Butadiene is majorly consumed by PBR manufacturers in countries that include China, U.S., South Korea, Japan, Russia, etc. Growth of the SBR & PBR market is largely associated with the growth in the automotive industry globally. The automotive industry is expected to push the tire industry to new heights, which in turn will help the styrene butadiene rubber and polybutadiene rubber market achieve greater volumes and revenues in the near future; hence this drives the demand for butadiene at a significant pace.Speak to Analyst:About MarketsandMarketsMarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.M&Ms flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Find moreContact:Mr. RohanMarketsandMarketsUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, IndiaTel: +1-888-6006-441Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com
vWIN foundation goes online
vWIN foundation site
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Venous World Inter-university Network (vWIN) foundation was created by Sergio Gianesini, Oscar Bottini and Yung Wei Chi, three vein specialists from the University of Ferrara (Italy), Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and the University of California Davis (USA), respectively.vWIN as three main aims:Scientific research & meetingsHumanitarian missionsSocial and Sport activities promoting public venous & health awarenessThe first rationale of the foundation is the improvement of the scientific knowledge about the most severe venous conditions, also considering that the important scientific journal Lancet, in 2015 pointed out the need of increasing our society performance in thrombo-embolism management.vWIN already published scientific paper on the topic, it has supported humanitarian missions in Central America for several years and it has created a social and sport public venous awareness international initiative called Game Over to Leg Failure. In order to favour an easy and effective communication an important website was created, by using WordPress: one of the easiest to be used CMS.The website is also dedicated to the VI International Inter-university meeting in Phlebology, Lymphology and Aesthetic Medicine. The meeting will be held in the spectacular island of Albarella, near Venice, from September 6 to 9. On September 9, the island will be opened to the public for a venous awarenss day, in which combining pleasant and educational activities, favouring social and medical interaction.The website is institutional even if not complex and, since dynamic, it will be managed centrally.Social networks will be involved, so to reach out whatever type of participants 24 hr a day, also considering the several involved international universities.STAY TUNEDa lot of great news and a spectacular international raffle prize will be given.vWIN foundationMedia RelationsFabrizio Pivaripress @ vwinfoundation.comThe vWIN has been created by an idea of Sergio Gianesini, Oscar Bottini and Yung-Wei Chi, three vein specialists working in three different universitiesof three different continents, with the idea of gathering the medical and public world together for health and science promotion. A scientific committee is created by world renowned physicians and scientists.vWIN foundationVia mazzini 12Rovigo, Italy+393498012304press@vwinfoundation.com
Plasma Furnace Market: Key Trends, Demand, Growth, Size, Review, Share, Analysis to 2025 |The Insight Partners
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Latest market study on Plasma Furnace Market- Global Analysis and Forecast to 2025, By Type and Material, the report include key understanding on the driving factors of this growth and also highlights the prominent players in the market and their developments.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the Plasma Furnace Market to 2025 @Plasma furnace is a device used to melt metal or any other material with the help of low-temperature plasma flow, normally designed by an electric arc heater called plasmatron. Prime application of the plasma furnace is electrometallurgy. Numerous types of Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC) plasmatrons are used in plasma furnaces. In large-sized plasma furnaces, more than one plasmatrons are used to provide more homogeneous heating. Plasma furnaces according to their function can be segmented into three types; plasma furnaces for melting in a ceramic crucible, plasma furnaces for melting in a scull, and plasma furnaces for melting in a crystallizer.The report aims to provide an overview of Global Plasma Furnace Market along with detailed segmentation of market by type, material, and five major geographical regions. Global Plasma Furnace market is expected to witness considerable growth during the forecast period due to continuous advancements and developments in industries such as automobile, heavy construction machinery, aviation, mining and metalworking, and others.Request Sample Copy @The objectives of Plasma Furnace Market report are as follows: To provide overview of the global Plasma Furnace market To analyze and forecast the global Plasma Furnace market on the basis of type, and material To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Plasma Furnace market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and South America (SAM), which are later sub-segmented across respective major countries To evaluate market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions To profiles key Plasma Furnace players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategiesSome of the important players in Plasma Furnace market are Retech Systems LLC, China Gere Technology Co., Ltd, SECO/WARWICK Corp., CAN-ENG Furnaces International Limited, Thermserve Ltd., Carrier Corporation, ELTRO GmbH, Plasmait GmbH, and L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc. among others.Inquire about discount on this report @The report segments the global Plasma Furnace Market as follows:Plasma Furnace Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 -Types Ceramic Crucible Plasma Furnace Crystallizer Plasma Furnace Scull Plasma FurnacePlasma Furnace Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Material Iron and Steel Ferro-Alloys Light and Refractory Metals Chemical OthersPlasma Furnace Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Geographical Analysis North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa (MEA) South America (SAM)About The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comThe Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Europic Chloride Market - Global Industry Analysis By 2024
Europic Chloride Market
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Europic chloride is also known as Europium trichloride, Europium chloride (EuCl3), Europium chloride (Eu2Cl6), Europium chloride (VAN), and Europium (III) chloride anhydrous. Europium is available in high quality minerals such as calcium aluminum silicates. It is a soft and silvery metal such as lead. Europium is known to be the rarest and most reactive earth metals (minerals, monazite, bastnasite, xenotime, and loparite). Monazite metal comprises rare earth elements (up to 50% concentrations). Monazite can be found in river sand in countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and India. Bastnasite is also one of the rarest earth metal found in the desert called Mojave in California.Europium is primarily used in light emitting compounds called phosphors. The accessibility of brighter red phosphors is used to get brighter colored televisions. Europium oxide phosphors provide red and blue light, which can be used individually or in combination of yellow-green phosphor to provide white light. Europium phosphors are used in fluorescent lighting, televisions, and some LEDs. Additionally, europium is used in lasers and other optoelectronic applications.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:Europic chloride (EuCl3) is an inorganic compound. It is also called as Europium (III) chloride anhydrous. The anhydrous compound can rapidly absorb water to form a white crystalline hexahydrate (EuCl36H2O), which is a yellow solid. White crystalline hexahydrate is colorless. Europic chloride is one of the excellent water soluble crystalline sources. These chloride compounds can generate electricity when dissolved or fused in water. Chloride materials can be decomposed by electrolysis into metal and chlorine gas, which are formed through various chlorination processes. In energy efficient fluorescent lighting, Europic metals provides red as well as blue lighting. Europium is found in various minerals such as monazite, bastnasite, loparite and xenotime.Growth in the chemical industry is expected to drive the europic chemical application, as it is one of the rarest found metals in earth core. Inhalation Europic chemical causes immediate defecation, writhing, incoordination, labored breathing, and inactivity. It can also cayuse death due to respiratory and heart failure. Therefore, it is not used as a commercial source.The Europic chloride market has been segmented based on application and regions. Based on application, the market has been segmented into food industry, marine industry, chemical and petrochemical industry, and others. In terms of application, the Europic chloride market can be divided into desalination, which has the property to remove chloride salts to provide drinkable water. In the petroleum industry, Europic chlorides are thoroughly monitored constituents of the mud system. Increase of europic chloride may be a sign of drilling into a high-pressure saltwater formation in the mud system. Increase of europic chlorides in the mud system also indicates the poor quality of the target sand. Europic chloride is also a valuable and reliable chemical. Europic chloride may also be used to preserve food in the food & beverages industry.Based on region, the market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Globally, the rarest earth metal, i.e. europium oxide, is mostly produced in China. Europium oxide (Eu2O3) plays an important role in computer display screens and color televisions as a phosphor for emitting pure red light. It is a red spectrum light used in low-energy light bulbs to create a more warm light than the traditional fluorescent tubes. Europium is widely employed in the medical field, as the highly sensitive luminescence.Europe and North America are the key regions driving the Europic chloride market. These regions accounted for more than 40% share of the market in 2015. Demand for Europic chloride is high in Europe as it is used as de-icing agent. Demand for Europic chloride is high in North America due to the growth in chemicals and petrochemical industries. The market in Asia Pacific is also projected to experience significant growth primarily due to the rising demand for Europic chloride in various end-use industries. Furthermore, increase in governmental expenditure on infrastructure is likely to boost the global Europic chloride market during the forecast period.Key players operating in the global Europic chloride market are TCI Chemicals (India) Pvt. Ltd., American Elements, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., MaTecK GmbH, ESPICorp Inc., Stanford Advanced Materials, and Strem Chemicals, Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Florol Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024
Florol Market
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Florol is a group of fragrance chemicals with the IUPAC name 4-methyl-2-(2-methylpropyl)oxan-4-ol. It is used in the manufacture of perfumes and other odorous products. The molecular formula for florol is C10H20O2 and the molecular weight of the compound is 172.26. Florol is a member of the hydroxypyran chemical family and is structurally related to rose oxide. Florol is found as a colorless to pale yellow oily liquid. It is also commercially known by its other names including muguetol, floriffol, floral pyranol, and floros.Florol is part of the group of odorous chemicals with the floral scent that is found in flowers such as lily of the valley. There are four types of florol isomers, each having a slightly different odor and intensity. Florol compounds do not require a stabilizer when used in perfumes and show tenacity for around three days on a smelling strip. Florol is soluble in alcohol and water, either of which can be used as a base carrier for the compound in its applications.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:Florol can be isolated from flower petals; however, the source material for its commercial manufacture is petrochemicals. Florol is generally manufactured by the Prins reaction, which involves the reaction between isoprenol and isovaleraldehyde. Alternatively, the compound can be prepared by the cyclization of derivatives of the reactants used in the Prins reaction. Florol can also be used as a building block in the manufacture of another fragrance compound called Clarycet. Clarycet has the scent of herbal-floral with a hint of dried fruit.Florol can also be used to replace volatile odorous chemicals such as floral aldehydes, as the compound is a stable and substantive chemical building block. Florol is used in the manufacture of several perfumes of well-known perfume brands such as Romance (Ralph Lauren8) 3%, XS for her (Paco Rabanne) 0.5%, LEau dEden (Cacharel) 0.16%, Dazzling Gold (Estee Lauder) 8.5%,O oui (Lancome) 5.5%, Jadore (Dior) 5.6%, LEau de Kenzo masc (Kenzo) 1%, and Fragile (Jean Paul Gaultier) 2.7%. Apart from perfumes, florol is also used to impart fragrance to products such as shampoos, shower gels, body soaps, and detergents.The global demand for florol is anticipated to increase in the next few years due to the growth in the perfume industry across the world. Increase in usage of soaps and detergents in many parts of the world is also expected to boost the demand for florol. Demand for florol is high in the large perfume manufacturing industry in Western Europe. Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, and the Benelux are the key consumers of florol in this region; several top perfume brands have their manufacturing facilities in Western Europe. However, environmental concerns about the chemicals used in the manufacture of perfume are expected to pose significant threat to the florol market in the region.Asia Pacific is anticipated to be one of the rapidly growing markets for florol during the next decade. The perfume manufacturing industry is expanding rapidly in countries such as China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. This is likely to fuel the demand for florol. The use of florol in soaps and detergents is also rising in Asia Pacific. Demand for florol is also high in developed countries in Asia Pacific such as Japan and South Korea. Growth of the florol market in the U.S is likely to be sluggish, as the market in this country is at a mature stage. GCC is a key consumer of florol due to the high demand from the large perfume industry in the region. Other important countries in the global florol market are Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa.Key players operating in the florol market are Ernesto Ventos, Firmenich SA, Givaudan, Indukern F&F, Penta Manufacturing Company, The Good Scents Company, BASF SE, and Vigon International.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Propyl Acetate Market - Global Industry Analysis By 2016 - 2024
Propyl Acetate Market
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Propyl acetate, also known as propyl ethanoate, is an ester. It is clear, colorless liquid commonly used in fragrances and as a flavor additive. Normal propyl acetate (also known as n-propyl acetate or 1-propyl acetate) is an organic compound with the molecular formula C?H??O?. It is formed by the esterification of acetic acid and 1-propanol (known as condensation reaction), often using FischerSpeier esterification process. In this reaction, sulfuric acid acts as a catalyst and water is produced as a byproduct. Propyl acetate is found in apples. It is a flavoring agent. It belongs to the family of carboxylic acid esters. These are carboxylic acid derivatives in which a carbon atom from the carbonyl group is attached to an alkyl or oaryl moiety through an oxygen atom (forming an ester group).Propyl acetate is used primarily as a solvent for liquid, rotogravure printing inks and flexographic printing inks. Its other applications include coatings, wood lacquers, aerosol sprays, nail care products, cosmetics, and fragrances. The solvency and thinnability of propyl acetate is comparable to ethyl acetate. It dissolves several natural and synthetic resins (for example, cellulose nitrate, acrylates, alkyl resins, plasticizers, waxes, oils, and fats) and is thus an extremely suitable solvent for wood lacquers and industrial finishes.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:Propyl Acetate Market: Dynamics and TrendsPropyl acetate is produced by direct esterification of the corresponding alcohol with acetic acid in the presence of sulfuric acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid, or a strong cationic resin used as a catalyst. 1-propanol can also undergo ester interchange with methyl acetate or ethyl acetate in the presence of a strong cationic exchange resin and produce n-propyl acetate. Propyl acetate is one of the organic solvents, collected in factories all over Japan and analyzed by gas chromatography. In liquid and vapor forms, propyl acetate is flammable. Propyl acetate vapors are explosive. They are heavier than air. They can spread across to long distances and accumulate in low-lying areas. These vapors are stable at recommended temperatures and pressures. Exposure to elevated temperatures can cause propyl acetate to decompose.Propyl acetate is incompatible with alkali metal hydroxides (such as sodium hydroxide), nitric acid, and strong oxidizers. Hence, propyl acetate should not be brought in contact with these compounds. Propyl acetate has medium evaporation rate and it is a non-HAP (hazardous air pollutant) solvent. It promotes flow and leveling in a variety of formulations. The compound is highly flammable with flash point of 14C and flammability rating of 3. It is highly miscible with all common organic solvents (such as alcohols, ketones, glycols, esters), but has only slight miscibility with water.Propyl Acetate Market: SegmentationThe propyl acetate market can be segmented by grade (mil spec, reagent & technical grade, agricultural & pharmaceutical grade, and optical grade), by application (food additives & ingredients, solvents, paints & coatings, and others), and by region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa).Propyl Acetate Market: Region-wise OutlookCurrently, North America and Europe lead the global propyl acetate market. Asia Pacific and MEA are estimated to be the leading markets for propyl acetate during the forecast period. Government targets and policy support in the two regions are factors likely to drive the propyl acetate market in APAC and MEA.Propyl Acetate Market: Key PlayersKey players operating in the global propyl acetate market include Eastman Chemical Company, DOW Chemical Co. Ltd., and KH Chemicals Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Polyethyleneglycol Esters of Fatty Acids Market - Global Industry Analysis 2016 - 2024
Polyethyleneglycol Esters Fatty Acids Market
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Polyethyleneglycol (PEG) ester is a polyether compound manufactured by reacting polyethylene glycol with a fatty acid. Polyethyleneglycol esters consist of a hydrophilic part of surfactants and a lipophilic part of fatty acids. PEG oleates and stearates are superior emulsifiers. By changing the molecular weight of PEG and fatty acids, surfactants covering a wide range of high lipophilic balance value can be produced. (PEG) esters are primarily employed in the manufacture of products such as lubricants (for example, cutting oil and metalworking fluids), solvent cleaners, emulsifiers, pigment dispersants, and additives.Based on application, the polyethyleneglycol (PEG) esters market has been segmented into lubricants, emulsifiers, dispersants, and additives. The lubricants segment accounts for a significant share of the global polyethyleneglycol esters market, owing to growth of the manufacturing sector and rise in the number of OEMs. The emulsifiers segment is expected to experience high growth, led by growth in the use of PEG esters as emulsifiers in several end-uses. Growth in the fertilizers sector is anticipated to boost the PEG esters market during the forecast period, as PEG esters are used as self-emulsifying herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:In terms of region, the global polyethyleneglycol (PEG) esters market has been segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. North America was the leading market for polyethyleneglycol esters in 2015. The market in North America is estimated to expand in the next few years, due to the increase in demand for lubricants in various end-use industries in the region. The lubricants segment held a major share of the polyethyleneglycol esters market in North America in 2015.The segment is driven by the rising demand from OEMs and the automotive sector in the region. Asia Pacific is expected to be the rapidly expanding market for PEG esters during the forecast period, due to the growing fertilizers sector in the region. Countries such as China, India, and Japan are likely to constitute a major share of the polyethyleneglycol esters market in Asia Pacific, due to high growth in end-use applications of polyethyleneglycol esters in these countries.The polyethyleneglycol esters market is anticipated to witness a shift from the U.S. and Western Europe to the developing economies of Asia Pacific due to less stringent environmental regulations in those economies. Developing economies in Asia Pacific viz. China and India are projected to witness high growth of the pigments industry. This, in turn, would boost the demand for polyethyleneglycol esters in these countries. Technological advancements and innovations are expected to increase the use of polyethyleneglycol esters. This, in turn, is expected to fuel the polyethyleneglycol esters market during the forecast period.Global demand for polyethyleneglycol esters is anticipated to rise significantly in the near future, thereby offering high growth opportunities for the market. Market players are focusing on Asia Pacific to gain higher market share. Producers of polyethyleneglycol esters have been compelled to adopt expansion and acquisition strategies to meet the global demand. A large number of producers are shifting their plants to countries such as China and India, due to high demand for PEG esters and low costs of raw material and labor in the two countries. Rapid increase in demand from end-use applications, competitive production costs, and high economic growth rate are propelling the polyethyleneglycol esters market in Asia Pacific. These factors are making companies adopt expansion and R&D strategies in the region.Major players operating in the global polyethyleneglycol esters market are BASF SE, Lonza, ABITEC Corporation, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Subhash Chemical Industries, Akzo Nobel N.V., Stearinerie Dubois, Croda International Plc, Stepan Company, and Faci Asia-Pacific.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Matricaria Recutitta Extract Market - Global Industry Analysis By 2024
Matricaria Recutitta Extract Market
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Chamomile is the common name of a group of plants that have been used since ancient times as herbal remedy. There are several different species of chamomile; however, Matricaria recutita (German chamomile) and Chamaemelum nobile (Roman chamomile) are widely grown across the world. Matricaria recutita is a hardy plant that can be found in a variety of different soils and climate. The plant has historically been used in teas for treating fevers, flu, digestive disorders, and skin ailments.Chamomile oil, also known as blue oil, is the primary extract of the flowers and flower heads of the chamomile plant. This oil contains several compounds that have medicinal benefits with key constituent groups being coumarins, sesquiterpenes, polyacetylenes, and flavonoids. These groups mainly consist of chamazulene, (E)--farnesene, -bisabolol oxides A and -bisabolol oxides B, -bisabolol and terpene alcohol. The Matricaria recutita extracts are included as drugs in the pharmacopoeia of many countries across the globe and are known for their anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and spasmolytic properties.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:Common process of obtaining the Matricaria recutita extract from the blossom of the plant is trough steam distillation. Under this process, hot steam is passed through a still containing the Matricaria recutita flowers. The hot steam penetrates the plant, forcing the essential oil out of the plant. It is then collected separately. Chamomile oil yields obtained from the Matricaria recutita flowers are very low, typical yields being only 0.20.4% of the total weight of the flowers. The extracted oil is used for a variety of medicinal purposes, with the general use being for mental and physical relaxation. Depending upon the therapeutic use, the oil can be ingested orally or can be topically applied.Matricaria recutita oil extract is used to ease insomnia, as a mood enhancer, mild anti-depressant, and an aid to calm nervousness or anxiety problems. Apart from its mental calming properties, the oil is also useful for soothing aching joints and muscles. The Matricaria recutita oil is commonly used as an ingredient in skin lotions and creams due to its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. The oil is also used to ease digestive problems and soothe conjunctivitis symptoms. In addition to pharmaceutical uses, the oil is extensively employed in a number of commercial products including soaps, alcoholic beverages, detergents, perfumes, lotions, ointments, hair care products, food products, bakery products, and cosmetics.Because of its extensive medicinal and pharmaceutical properties, Matricaria recutita oil possesses good economic value and is in high demand across the world. The plant grows well in temperate and semi-temperate regions and is native to Southern and Eastern Europe. Commercial growing of the plant has been undertaken in the mountainous regions of India and Nepal. Matricaria recutita is an important crop in Hungary, France, Yugoslavia, Germany, Russia, and Brazil. The plant can be found in other regions in North Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Hungary is one of the most important growers of Matricaria recutita with the majority of the flowers produced being exported to Germany.Germany is one of the largest distillers of Matricaria recutita extracts. Several countries in Eastern Europe export Matricaria recutita flowers in bulk to Germany. Other important distillers of the essential oil are France, India, and the U.S. International demand for Matricaria recutita oil has been increasing at a fast rate in the recent years due to the increasing preference for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics obtained from natural sources. Demand for the Matricaria recutita extract is high in countries in Western Europe and Northern America. Implementation of stringent regulations regarding the use of synthetic ingredients in pharmaceuticals and rising awareness regarding the ill-effects of these ingredients are likely to encourage manufacturers to include natural ingredients in their products.Growth in health consciousness in the burgeoning middle class in China and India is expected to boost the market for Matricaria recutita oil in the near future. One of the major challenges facing this market is to provide speedy transport of the flowers, from the growing fields to the extraction units, which may be located at a considerable distance from the fields. This is necessary because the chamazulene content of the flowers decreases during storage. This, in turn, decreases the therapeutic effectiveness of the extracted oil.The Matricaria recutita extract market is fragmented; a number of small players operate in the market. Key players operating in the Matricaria recutita extract market are Silvestris, Bristol Botanicals Ltd, Norfolk Essential Oils, and Mountain Rose Herbs.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Supply Chain Management BPO Market Intelligence Report Offers Growth Prospects
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This Future Market Insights report examines the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market for the period 20152020. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates on the advancements in technology and BPO services that have given rise to a new service offering: Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO, which is significantly transforming procurement and logistic functions.Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO has become a need for every business to compete in dynamic market environment. With advancement in technology and digitization of SCM activities organizations started focusing more on providing enhanced customer value along with improved operational efficiency, quality outcomes and enhanced outsourcing of operational activities. In addition, emergence of flexible supply chain concept to meet unexpected consumer demand with multiple transport mode at multiple location in real has resulted in increased adoption of SCM services and solutions. Other major trends that are shaping global SCM BPO market include outsourcing of chain analytics, customised supply chain management services & solutions, cloud computing and green supply chain.Request Report Sample@In the next section, FMI covers the key trends, drivers and restraints from the supply, demand and economy side, which are influencing the Supply chain BPO market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints, based on the weighted average model is included in the Supply Chain Management(SCM)BPO report to better equip and arm clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.The primary focus of the following sections to analyse the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPOmarket by adoption among verticals; the primary verticals covered under the scope of the report are Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPOservices uptake among manufacturing,hi-tech vertical and so on. A detailed analysis has been provided for every vertical in terms of market size.As highlighted earlier, supply chain management BPO is an aggregation of sourcing (includes onshore, offshore and near-shore), type (includes traditional SCM & BPaaS), services (includes order management, inventory management and SCM analytics etc.) and verticals (manufacturing, hi-tech, government & defence, retail and telecom etc.). All these sub-segments are included in this section to make the study more comprehensive.The next section of the report highlights Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO adoption by regions. It provides a market outlook for 20152020 and sets the forecast within the context of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPOecosystem, including service types and sourcing model to build a complete picture at regional levels. This study discusses the key regional trends contributing to growth of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market on a worldwide basis, as well as analyses the degree at which global drivers are influencing this market in each region. Key regions assessed in this report include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan as a separate region, Middle East and Africa.All the above sections, by type, by sourcing, by service, by vertical and by regions, evaluate the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market for the period 2015 2020. We have considered 2014 as the base year and provide data for the trailing 12 months.Request For TOC@To calculate the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market size, we have considered revenue generated from the sale of Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO services and related platforms. The forecast presented here assesses the total revenue by both Value across the Supply chain management BPO market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we started by sizing the current market, which forms the basis of how the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market will develop in the future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome of three different types of analyses, based on supply side, consumer spending and economic envelope.However, forecasting the market in terms of various Supply chain management BPO, verticals uptake and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalising them after the forecast has been completed.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market.As previously highlighted, the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market is split into a number of sub categories. All the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPOsub-categories in terms of type, sourcing model, service, vertical and region are analysed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand individual segments relative contributions to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for the identification of various key trends of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPOmarket.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO segments, sub-segments, regional adoption and verticals revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO market.Furthermore, to understand key growth segments in terms of growth & adoption of Supply Chain Management BPO across regions, Future Market Insights developed the Supply Chain Management BPO market attractiveness index. The resulting index should help providers identify real market opportunities.In the final section of the report, Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO Competitive landscape is included to provide report audiences with a Dashboard view, based on categories of provider in the value chain, presence in Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO service portfolio and key differentiators. Key categories of providers covered in the report are BPO Providers, Independent software vendors, logistic service providers and contract manufacturers. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective & detailed comparative assessment of key providers specific to a market segment in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO value chain. Report audiences can gain segment-specific vendor insights to identify and evaluate key competitors based on in-depth assessment of capabilities and success in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO marketplace. Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) BPO space. Key competitors covered are Accenture Inc., Cap Gemini S.A., Genpact Ltd., IBM Corporation, Wipro Ltd. and Celestica Inc. etc.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Digital Notes Market 2017 - Kent Displays, Livescribe, Wacom, Luidia, Sony, E-pens, NoteSlate, Neo smartpen, Luidia, Sony
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The recent report on Digital Notes market offers insightful information about the present scenario of the market across the globe. The report, titled Digital Notes points out the key factors affecting the growth of the market. Latest market trends as well as the future growth opportunities have been mentioned in the report. The report takes into account the various micro- and macro-economic factors governing the overall growth of the Digital Notes market and assesses the valuation and size of the market in the coming years.The report talks about the distinct traits of the Digital Notes market and provides in-depth study of the various segments of the market. The report especially focusses on the development of the Digital Notes market in China owing to the increased demand from the region which has attracted the attention of the key manufacturers. Various regulations directly or indirectly affecting the Digital Notes market in the region have been discussed in the report. The report takes note of the present state of the global economy, which after witnessing double-digit growth for three decades, is slowing down. Governments efforts to push the economy is expected to positively affect the various sectors and increase demand from the market.The report discusses the competitive vendor landscape of the Digital Notes market in the globe. Some of the key players in the market have been profiled in the report and crucial information about them such as their business overview, revenue segmentation, and product segmentation have been mentioned in the report. The report takes note of the market share held by the key players and estimates their future growth through SWOT analysis. It serves as a useful guide for the new entrants in the Digital Notes market.Download Free Sample Report @Several analytical tools such as market attractiveness analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis are employed to study the global Digital Notes market, whereas SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis are utilized to evaluate the major players in the Digital Notes market in this report.This report not only provides a complete picture of the overall condition of the Digital Notes market, but also assists the players in this market to create profitable market strategies in order to gain a competitive edge.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Biodegradable Packaging Market to Witness Steady Growth during the Forecast Period 2014-2020
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Biodegradable packaging provides natural and easily degradable protection when used mainly for the presentation and packaging of the products from the moment the production process begins until the product is administered or consumed. Biodegradable packaging significantly differs from the conventional non-biodegradable packaging. Biodegradable packaging degrades easily and quickly and thus, usually does not require the help of an external catalyst for degradation. Biodegradable products are usually land filled than that compared to that of the non-biodegradable conventional products. Depending on the choice of the materials used in the manufacturing of biodegradable packaging the properties, consumer attributes and appearance of the product packaging varies. Biodegradable packaging sector is a small segment which represents a merger percentage of the packaging industry. The global biodegradable packaging has now moved on towards more advanced and efficient packaging. A decade ago, biodegradable packaging was not known to have any real significance. However, recently biodegradable packaging has become an integral part of the global packaging market. The rising consumer awareness towards biodegradable packaging has led to the tremendous growth of the overall market.Increased consumer preference towards biodegradable materials coupled with the growing environmental concern is expected to boost the overall growth of the biodegradable packaging market. Most of the major packaging companies are now shifting their focus towards biodegradable packaging in order to achieve greater consumer satisfaction. In addition, to differentiate their products from that of the competitors many manufacturers are now shifting towards biodegradable packaging. The biodegradable packaging market is expected to witness the fastest growth than that compared to the plastics packaging market. The biodegradable packaging market is a relatively new market however; it is expected to capture the existing market share of the non-biodegradable plastic packaging market. The food packaging and beverage packaging market is expected to play a crucial role in driving the overall global biodegradable packaging market. However, lack of government support especially in the developed countries is expected to curb the growth of the market. The presence of hugeprice difference between the biodegradable packaging and other conventional packaging is further expected to hamper the growth of the market.Request Report Sample@Europe and North America are expected to dominate the overall market of biodegradable packaging. North America is expected to be the largest consumer of the biodegradable packaging market.The developed regions are expected to dominate the overall biodegradable packaging market owing to the presence of mature markets that consist of highly environmental conscious consumers. In addition, the presence of high-spending population is also expected to increase the overall demand for biodegradable packaging in the developed regions. The presence of large populations in Asia Pacific is expected to boost the biodegradable packaging market. Owing to the increase in the contract manufacturing process coupled with increased governmental interest to promote biodegradable products by providing incentives in some countries such as China and India is further expected to contribute to the growth of the market.Request For TOC@The biodegradable packaging market is highly fragmented in nature. Some of the key participants of the biodegradable packagin market include International Paper, Natureworks LLC, Biopac, BASF SE, Stora Enso, Smurfit Kappa Group, Rocktenn, Clearwater Paper Corporation, Georgia-Pacific LLC and Novamont S.P.A among others. The companies mainly strive towards developing newtechnologies to manufacture biodegradable packaging material from various easily available natural resources. There are also huge investments in the research and development in order to develop innovative product which in turn would help the companies to gain competitive advantage in the market.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Tridecyl Alcohol Market - Global Industry Analysis by 2024
Tridecyl Alcohol Market
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Tridecyl alcohol can be classified under the category of isomers. More specifically, it can be called an isomer mixture. It is also known as tridecanol. It is commonly found in solid form and is combustible in nature. Physical characteristics of tridecyl alcohol include low melting point, which is normally close to the standard room temperature. Tridecyl alcohol is white in color and has pleasant aroma, which makes it useful for different applications. It is produced by hydrogenation of decanoic acid, which is found in significant quantities in coconut oil and palm oil. Tridecyl alcohol can also be synthesized using ethylene and an aluminum catalyst. Owing to toxic and combustible nature of tridecyl alcohol, special care is taken while handling it. It decomposes upon burning and produces irritable fumes. It also reacts violently with other chemicals such as chlorides and anhydrides. Tridecyl alcohol can get absorbed in the body either by skin contact or by inhalation of its fumes.Short-term exposure to tridecanol can lead to irritation of skin and eyes, whereas high levels of tridecanol can have adverse effects on the central nervous system. Long-term exposure can cause skin degradation. There exist numerous applications of tridecyl alcohol such as industrial cleaners, stabilizers, pigment dispersers, de-foaming agents, and detergents. Based on product, the market for tridecyl alcohol can be segmented into wetting agents, surfactants, and emulsifiers. Based on enduse, the market has been segregated into cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, drilling products, plastics, textile, metallurgy, and paper.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:The market for tridecyl alcohol is anticipated to witness significant growth during the forecast period. This is owing to characteristics of the compound, which are utilized in several industries. The surfactants segment of the tridecyl alcohol market held a major share in 2015 and is projected to witness promising growth in the next few years. Surfactants are compounds employed to reduce the surface tension between a solid and a liquid or between two liquids.Surfactants can achieve this due to their amphiphilic nature, which makes them water-soluble as well as oil-soluble. Surfactants can be used as emulsifiers, foaming agents, detergents, wetting agents, and dispersants. This gives them an advantage over other products of tridecyl alcohol. The emulsifier segment held a low share of the tridecyl alcohol market in 2015. However, the segment is likely to expand during the forecast period, due to various uses of emulsifiers in industries such as pharmaceuticals and drilling products.In the drilling products industry, emulsifiers are used in the manufacture of several products such as drilling fluids, completion fluids, and workover fluids. Among enduses, the cosmetics segment holds a significant share of the tridecyl alcohol market. The segment is anticipated to expand at a significant rate during the forecast period, owing to the usage of tridecyl alcohol in the perfumes industry. As tridecyl alcohol has pleasant aroma, it is extensively used to manufacture perfumes across the globe.Geographically, North America held a significant share in the market for tridecyl alcohol in 2015. The market in the region is expected to expand at a significant rate in the next few years, owing to presence of major end-use industries in the region. Presence of major manufacturing companies in textile, pharmaceuticals, and drilling products industries is estimated to fuel the demand for tridecyl alcohol in North America during the forecast period. Europe follows North America in the market for tridecyl alcohol, owing to the robust cosmetics industry in Europe.Perfumes produced in Europe witness high demand all over the world. Thus, growth of the cosmetics industry would inadvertently boost the demand for tridecyl alcohol in the region. Asia Pacific is projected to offer high growth potential for the tridecyl alcohol market during the forecast period, owing to the increasing population of the region. This rise in population would boost the consumption of different end-use products of tridecyl alcohol including cosmetics, paper, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. Presence of robust plastic production industry in Asia Pacific is likely to further fuel the demand for tridecyl alcohol in the region during the forecast period.Key players operating in the market for tridecyl alcohol are BASF SE, Universal Preserv-A-Chem Inc., and Clariant International AG.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Potassium heptadecanote Market- Global Industry Analysis 2024
Potassium heptadecanote Market
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The IUPAC name of potassium heptadecanoate is heptadecanoic acid. Potassium heptadecanoate has various synonyms such as heptadecanoic acid potassium salt (C17H33KO2). Heptadecanoic acid is a saturated fatty acid, and is also known as margaric acid (CH3(CH2)15COOH). Potassium heptadecanoate occurs as a component of fat and milk fat of ruminants. It does not occur in any natural vegetable or animal fat in much concentrations. Salts and esters of potassium heptadecanoate (heptadecanoic acid) are called heptadecanoates. Heptadecanoic acid (margaric acid) can also be used through the analysis of medium chain fatty acids from biomaterials such as seed oils and animal and plant oil.Potassium heptadecanoates is primarily used in fatty acid from animal and plant oil or seed oil. Fatty acid is an unsaturated or saturated carboxylic acid, and is derived from triglycerides and phospholipids. It is said to be a vital source of fuel. As a source of fuel, several types of cell are use fatty acids. Fatty acids are also used in human nutrition, as deficit of fatty acids may lead to adverse biological effects in human body. Particularly brain, heart, and skeletal muscle are used fatty acids as a driving source. There are two types of fatty acids: those based on carbon bonds and length of free fatty acids. Fatty acids accounted for more than 40% of human fat, which is said to be unsaturated fatty acids. Fatty acids endure reactions similar to carboxylic acids such as esterification and acid base reactions.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS:The potassium heptadecanoate market has been segmented based on application and region. In terms of application, the market has been divided into pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints, varnishes, synthetic organic detergents, rubber compounding, insecticides, textile chemicals, plastic fabrication, pulp and paper products, synthetic rubber formulations, and others. Pharmaceuticals are used as inactive ingredients in the preparation of drugs and for lipid formulation. Complex lipids are used in the manufacture of soaps, cosmetics, emulsions, and fat liposomes. These are also used in personal hygiene products.Rise in demand for personal and home care products in emerging economies in Latin America is expected to drive the potassium heptadecanoate market. Increase in demand for food and beverages in North America and Europe is also anticipated to boost market growth. On the other hand, occurrence of biological effects due to deficiency of fatty acids is estimated to hamper the potassium heptadecanoate market. Deficiency of fatty acid can lead to blood pressure problems, stroke, coronary artery disease, inflammation, etc.Based on region, the potassium heptadecanoate market has been segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is a key consumer and producer of potassium heptadecanoate. The market in the region is projected to expand significantly during the forecast period. Countries such as China, India, and Malaysia hold major share of the potassium heptadecanoate market in Asia Pacific. China accounts for more than 50% share of the market in Asia Pacific due to the high consumption of soaps and detergents in the country.Europe also constitutes prominent share of consumption of potassium heptadecanoate. The market in the region is likely to expand at a moderate pace due to saturation, price fluctuation, and changes in trends. Demand for potassium heptadecanoate is moderate in North America; therefore, the market in the region is expected to expand at a sluggish pace during the forecast period due to the presence of well-developed and established industries. Brazil holds key share of the market in Latin America. Emerging economies such as India, China, Indonesia, and Brazil are expected to account for prominent share of the potassium heptadecanoate market during the forecast period. The market in Europe is likely to expand moderately, due to the high imports mostly in Turkey.Key players operating in the potassium heptadecanoate market are Chengdu HappySyn Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd., 360 Reagent, Shanghai Yolne Chemical Co., Ltd., BePharm Ltd, BIOTREND Chemikalien GmbH, American Radiolabeled Chemicals, Inc., Angene International Limited, Lead Biotech (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., and Bide Pharmatech Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Dental Implants and Prosthetics Market Forecast and Segments, 2015-2025
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Dental implant is an artificial tooth that is placed in jaw to act as replacement tooth. People who have lost their tooth or teeth due to injury, periodontal disease and other reasons may use dental implant as an alternative to the natural tooth. Prosthetics are used to reconstruct the intraoral defects such as soft or hard structure of the jaw, missing parts and others. Rising number of people suffering from periodontal disease is one of the important factors driving the growth of dental implants and prosthetics. For instance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that 47.2% of the total population above the age of 65 years suffers from some kind of periodontal disease. Thus, with the rise in periodontal diseases globally the dental implants and prosthetics market is also expected to grow in near future.The global dental implants and prosthetics market can be segmented as follows:Dental Implants MarketBy TypeTitanium Dental ImplantsProcedure StageSingle StageTwo StageConnector TypeExternal HexagonalInternal HexagonalInternal OctagonalZirconium Dental ImplantDental Prosthetics MarketCrowns and BridgesPorcelain fused to Metal Crowns and BridgesAll Ceramics Crowns and BridgesMetallic Crowns and BridgesDenturesAbutmentsRequest Report Sample@Rising edentulous population, increasing disposable income and growing awareness for dental care are some of key factors driving the growth of dental implants and prosthetics market. For instance, it has been estimated that in 2010 approximately 160 million people globally were edentulous which accounts for 2.3% of the global population. In addition, increasing geriatric population and changing lifestyle also propel the growth of this market. According, to the World Health Organization (WHO) it has been estimated that the global elderly population is expected to reach around 2 billion by 2050; thiswas around 524 million in 2010. Moreover, the global geriatric population is expected to grow at the fastest rate in developed countries such as Italy, Germany, the U.K., the U.S. and Japan. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 40 million people in the country belonged to the elderly category in 2011. Around 89 million people are estimated to be beyond the age of 65 years by 2050.Thus, increasing geriatric population globally augments the demand for dental implants and prosthetics.Technological advancements in the field of dentistry also drive the growth of this market. With the introduction of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology has significantly reduced the dental treatment time. Thus, all the above mentioned factors collectively drive the growth of dental implants and prosthetics market. However, unfavorable reimbursement policies restrict the growth of this market during the study period.Geographically, Europe accounts for the largest share of the global dental implants and prosthetic market as the key players are domiciled in this region followed by North America. In addition, increasing geriatric population, presence of organized distribution channels and rising disposable income are of the major factors driving the global demand of this market during the forecast period 2015 to 2025. In addition, Asia-Pacific is estimated to be fastest growing market for dental implants and prosthetic owing to increasing healthcare awareness, population aging and rising medical tourism in countries such as India, Japan, Malaysia and others. However, economic slowdown in developed regions such as Europe and North America coupled with unfavorable reimbursement policies inhibits the global growth of dental implants and prosthetics market.Request For TOC@3M Company, Biomet, Inc., Nobel Biocare, Straumann, Zimmer Holdings, Dentsply International, Zimmer Dental, BioHorizons, Inc., Ivoclar Vivadent AG are some of the leading companies having their presence in the global dental implants and prosthetics market.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Dental Bridges Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Analysis, Trends & Forecast 2017-2021 Report
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The Global Dental Bridges Market 2017 Industry Research Report is a professional and in-depth study. This study covers, Global Global Dental Bridges Sales and Global Dental Bridges Revenue by Regions and industrial review, market analysis, market demands, opportunities and forecast. Market overview is provided on the basis of definition, product overview, applications and future scope of Global Dental Bridges.The Global Dental Bridges Market report provides Production and Revenue Data of Global Dental Bridges Industry. Production means the output of Global Dental Bridges and Revenue means the sales value of Global Dental Bridges.Browse The Complete Report @Some Major Key Points Covered in this report: This Report Studied on the basis of types, application, products, technology, etc. The Report Covered Market Segments by region:1. North America2. Europe3. China4. Japan5. Southeast Asia6. India This Market Research Report of 2017 Global Dental Bridges provides market demand, market size and forecast for different regions. This Report Divides by product type, with production, revenue, price, consumption, market share and growth rate of each type can be divided into:1. Cantilever Bridges2. 4-unit Bridges3. 3-unit Bridges4. Maryland?Bridges This Report Divides by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Global Dental Bridges in each application, can be divided into :1. Hospital2. Dental ClinicRequest for Sample of 2017 Market Research Report on Global Global Dental Bridges Industry ReportTopmost Leading Manufacturer Covered in this report:1. Densply2. Danaher3. Modern?Dental4. Ivoclar Vivadent5. 3M6. Glidewell7. Heraeus Kulzer8. Argen9. Coltene10. Pritidenta11. Amann Girrbach12. ZirkonzahnSome Points Covered In List Of Tables:Chapter One: Global Dental Bridges Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Global Dental Bridges1.2 Global Dental Bridges Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Global Dental Bridges by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Global Dental Bridges Segment by ApplicationChapter Two: Global Global Dental Bridges Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Global Dental Bridges Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Global Dental Bridges Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Global Dental Bridges Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Global Dental Bridges Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Global Dental Bridges Market Competitive Situation and TrendsChapter Three: Global Global Dental Bridges Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Global Dental Bridges Production by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Global Dental Bridges Production Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Global Dental Bridges Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Global Dental Bridges Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Global Dental Bridges Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Reason to Purchase this Report:1. The report of Global Dental Bridges Market provides the detailed segmentation in terms of types, applications, manufacturers and regions.2. The current market scenario and future growth has also covered in this report.3. The research also offers manufacturing cost analysis, industry chain analysis in terms of upstream raw material sourcing and downstream buyers.4. Moreover, an extensive analysis of production, consumption, and revenue for each segment is offered for the forecast period.Enquiry about this report:About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.comFollow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:
Flue Gas Desulphurization Market Regulations and Competitive Landscape Outlook to 2025
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Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions are caused by combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. Waste materials including tires, municipal solid wastes, industrial process waste, etc. are the other major contributors of sulphur dioxide emissions. All the prominent industrialized nations around the globe have formulated regulations concerning mitigation of carbon and sulphur dioxide emissions. Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) is a technology which removes sulphur dioxide (SO2) from the flue gas emitted from fossil-fuel power plants prior to its release into the atmosphere.Flue gas desulphurization market report assesses the market opportunity for flue gas desulphurization devices, equipment, or machinery. FGD technology is based on the chemical reaction between the warm exhaust gases and limestone which reduces up to 92% of sulphur dioxide from the flue gas. FGD technology is mainly used in coal-fired power stations to remove sulphur dioxide in the flue gases. FGD technology is also referred as sulphur dioxide scrubbing process.Request Report Sample@Flue Gas Desulphurization Market SegmentsFlue gas desulphurization market can be segmented by method, by type and by application. On the basis of methods of treatment, the flue gas desulphurization market can be segmented into scrubber, SNOX and wet sulphuric acid process. Scrubber method can be further bifurcated into dry and semi-dry process. Based on the solid or flue gases generated by the industry processes, FGD technology can be classified by type as once through and regenerable. Once through system disposes the waste sorbent and regenerable system recycles the sorbent. Regenerable systems are costlier than the once through systems. Both the systems can be further categorized as wet, dry and semi-dry. Cost of maintenance and operation is higher in dry FGD as compared to wet FGD. However, dry FGDs are available at cheaper rate than wet FGDs. FGD technology segmentation by application are cement manufacturing plants, chemical industries, iron and steel industries, power generation and others. Major benefits of FGD Technology are SO2 removal efficiencies from 50-90%, reusable reactive products and inexpensive reagents.Request For TOC@Flue Gas Desulphurization Market: Key DriversThe key market drivers of FGD technology is the government regulations in emission control, increase in electricity demand, growth in reagent and equipment replacement market and increase in the number of coal-fired power plants, particularly in APAC countries due to increase in energy demand. Installation coal-fired power plants is a major trend in China and is anticipated to have an increasing demand in India also, in the coming years due to increase in industrialization. Existing and old systems in industrial processes are the key drivers of reagent and equipment replacement market.Regional Outlook on Flue Gas Desulphurization MarketAPAC is expected to exhibit a steady growth during the forecast period. Due to the regulatory programs such as Clean Air Interstate rule (CAIR), various state programs such as North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act will have a positive impact on the demand for FDG installations in electricity utility boilers. Europe and other developing nations are into a decision of reducing nuclear power due to its negative impact on environment which will in turn increase the construction of coal-fired power plants increasing the demand of FDGs. The key market players in FGD market are Alstom S.A., Ducon Technology Inc., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Marsulex Environmental Technologies, Siemens Energy, Babcock and Wilcox.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Trends in the Natural Flavours Market 2015-2025
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The market for natural flavours has grown tremendously over the past couple of years due to increase awareness of health coupled with emerging middle class across the globe. Flavours are used in food and beverages in order to enhance the taste and quality of the products. Thousands of natural volatile compounds make up the flavours and aromas of the food products that we eat in our day to day life. The definition of natural flavour under the Code of Federal Regulations is: the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavouring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavouring rather than nutritional. The market is buoyant for the coming years especially in Europe for the natural and clean label flavours.Natural Flavours Market: Drivers and RestraintsGrowing consumer interest in natural ingredients coupled with the strong command of retailers in the supply chain has made natural flavours easily and widely available in the market for consumers and are the major driving forces of the market globally. However, rising cost of raw materials and the issues of sustainability and stability of natural flavours over synthetic flavours are major restraining factor of the natural flavour market. Trends of the natural flavour market includes demands for clean-label products categories such as confectionery and soft drinks and growth in R&D for stability of natural flavour.Request Report Sample@Natural Flavours Market: SegmentationNatural flavour market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. On the basis of product type the market can be segmented into natural extract, aroma chemical, essential oils and other natural flavour. Furthermore, on the basis of application natural flavour market can be segmented into beverages, dairy product, confectionary, oral products, tobacco and others. Beverages was the largest segment in natural flavour market followed by dairy products in 2014. Lastly, on the basis of region the market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa.Natural Flavours Market: Region-Wise OutlookIn 2014, North America holds the largest market of natural flavours followed by Europe. However, Asia Pacific and Latin America are key emerging region in natural flavours market and are expected to marginally take a lead in the global natural flavours market by 2025 over developed regions.Visit For TOC@Natural Flavours Market: Key PlayersSome of the global key players in the natural flavour market are Givaudan, Firmenich, Takasago International Corporation, Symrise AG, Sensient Technologies Corporation, Kerry Group PLC, Frutarom Industries Ltd. to name a few. Givaudan, a Switzerland based company holds the maxium market share in the global natural flavour market. Big multinational companies in the natural flavour market focus on the acquisition activity in order to expand within the growth areas of natural flavour market. Major Companies such as Givaudan currently marking its footprint by increasing number of production sites, creative centres, an increased marketing and sales force and also opening new offices in Africa and Asia to cater the local demandABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Biodegradable Stents Market to Grow steadily with a Strong CAGR of 30.1% through 2024
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Albany, New York, March 2, 2017: In recent times, increasing prevalence of coronary and peripheral artery diseases has become a key driver of the rapidly increasing global biodegradable stents market. Also, the effectiveness of biodegradable stents has won the market several consumers in the recent past. Consequently, numerous patients and cardiologists have shown a strong interest in the uptake of biodegradable stents in the cure of coronary and peripheral artery diseases. This has been observed by a fresh study published to the online archive of Market Research Hub (MRH). The study is entitled as Biodegradable Stents Market Global Industry Analysis Report Forecast 2016-2024 which provides an in-depth analysis of the global market along with the details of key players gaining momentum in this market.Request for Sample Report:According to the study findings, the global biodegradable stents market is expected to grasp value of US$1.7 billion by 2024, as the market rapidly progresses at a noteworthy CAGR of 30.1% between 2016 and 2024.There are several reasons present behind this growth, some of them are: The biodegradable stents have arisen as a perfect replacement to the standard Drug Eluting Stents, also having a permanent polymer coating over them. Biodegradable stents easily get entirely absorbed in the vessels over a period of time, also reducing the risk of complications or infections. The market is also being driven by the high prevalence of chronic conditions and mounting aged population, which is prone to cardiovascular disorders.First of all, the report presents a detailed market overview of biodegradable stents market. This section comprises qualitative analysis, by considering the factors shaping the market drivers, opportunities and restraints, together with porters five forces and market attractiveness analysis. In terms of geography, the global biodegradable market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East & Africa. Amongst, the report indicates that Europe will emerge as the dominant segment in the global market in the coming years. Also, North American market will show substantial progress with recent approvals from U.S. FDA.The two types of stents available in the global biodegradable stents market are coronary artery stents and peripheral artery stents. Of these, the coronary artery stents are expected to progress at a CAGR of 30.9% during the forecast period. Moreover, the market has been segmented by material or by its end-user;By material, it covers: Polymer based Metal basedEnd-users are Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, Hospitals and Ambulatory Surgery Centers.Get Full Info. With TOC:At the end, the report determines with the profiles of chief players in the global biodegradable stents market such as Terumo Europe NV, Boston Scientific, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Biotronik, Sahajanand Medical technologies, Elixir Medical Corporation and Kyoto Medical Planning.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on:Twitter:LinkedIn:Facebook:
Good Growth Opportunities in Music Market and Streaming Services Market Till 2025
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Global Music market and streaming services are becoming more dynamic owing to increased inclination of consumers towards such services. The increasing up-gradation in the technology is anticipated to increase the demand of music streaming among the smartphone users over the forecasted period. Music market and streaming services market is expected to show significant growth due to the streaming of songs through audio and video platforms. However, market of physical album is expected to decline relatively. Global music market is consolidated market with various companies undergoing mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and strategic alliances in order to increase their market share.Music Market and Streaming Services SegmentationGlobal music market is segmented into digital downloads, physical, streaming, synchronization and ringtones. Digital download is the largest market segment in terms of revenue, followed by the streaming. Furthermore, streaming services are segmented into sound exchange distributions, on demand ad-supporting services and subscription services. Music market and streaming services are further segmented on the basis of region as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. In North America, U.S contributes the maximum revenue in terms of revenue contribution, Also, European region is expected to reflect a significant growth during the forecast period. However the global music market is expected to lose significant portion of its revenue due to the piracy in the near future. Accordingly government across various countries have taken several initiatives to curb piracy. For instance, U.S. possess copyright alert systems that keep check on piracy. In Europe service providers have blocked the access to the pirate bay.Request Report Sample@Music Market and Streaming Services: Region-wise OutlookMusic market and streaming services market is expected to show tremendous growth in the coming years due to the rising number of high net worth individuals coupled with increasing number of consumers upgrading to smartphones. . Globally among all the regions, North America is expected to contribute the largest market share followed by European region in the forecast period. US is expected to be the dominant market for the music market and streaming services in the North American region. However, European region is expected to be the fastest growing market followed by Asia Pacific.Music market and streaming services: DriversIncreasing number of internet enabled mobile devices such as iPhone drives the growth of music market and streaming services. Rising disposable income leading to increasing purchase of smart phones and other devices, which offer specification support to music and streaming services are expected to fuel the music market and streaming services market growth. Other factors that fuel the growth of music market specifically includes increasing usage of subscription and streaming services by the consumers. Subscription streaming is the key driver for the streaming services market. In music streaming market there is increasing adoption of cloud services as it provides consumers to access music online and presently it is also being increasingly adopted by the various companies to increase the subscribed users to access the digital content stored in remote serversVisit For TOC@Music Market and Streaming Services: Key PlayersThe key international players operating in Music market and streaming services includes Google Inc., Rhapsody International Inc. Apple Inc., Pandora Media Inc. Various companies operating in streaming services market are continuously launching various music streaming servicesABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Gourmet Salts Market Trends, Regulations And Competitive Landscape Outlook to 2025
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Gourmet salts are unrefined and high quality salts used in cuisine in order to enhance taste and appeal of the food. Gourmet salts are used for to enhance the texture and flavor. In addition, these type of salts possess better solubility and also high mineral content. Gourmet salts are also blended with other type of herbs, spices and flavors in order to enhance the flavor and color of spices. Gourmet salts are used in various applications such as bakery, savoury, confectionery, poultry and sea food. Fleur de sel is one of the widely used gourmet salts, which is used in variety of food products such as roasted meat, vegetable dishes and salads. Gourmet salts are also used in for preserving canned food products in order to store food item for longer duration.Gourmet Salts Market: SegmentationGlobal Gourmet salts market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. Based on the product type segmentation includes fleur de sel, Himalayan salts, sel gris, and flake salts. Of which, fleur de sel is used widely in various food applications such as meat and salads. Fleur de sel is anticipated to be the dominating segment during the forecasted period, followed by other gourmet salts. On the basis of application, gourmet salts is segmented into savoury, bakery and confectionary, poultry and seafood products and others. However, among all the segments, bakery and confectionary segment is expected to contribute maximum revenue to the overall gourmet salts market. Global gourmet salts market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa and Japan. Gourmet salts market is dominated by European region, followed by North America and Asia Pacific excluding Japan. In Europe, France and Spain are expected to contribute maximum revenue share to the overall gourmet salts market. However North America is projected to witness fastest growth in the next four to five years owing to the high disposable income of consumers in this region.Request Report Sample@Gourmet Salts Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Global gourmet salts market is expected to witness vigorous growth during the forecasted period due to the rising awareness among consumers related to changing food or cuisine preferences among consumers .Globally, among all regions, Europe is expected to witness significant growth in the gourmet salts market and contribute maximum market share, followed by North America and Asia Pacific over the forecasted period. However, North America is expected to experience fast growth due the high disposable income of the consumers, which results in buying patterns for products rich in gourmet salt. Since, these products are expensive in nature.Gourmet Salts Market: DriversVarious factors that fuel the growth of gourmet salts market includes rising living standard of consumers, increasing commercialisation of food industry by various media shows and also awareness regarding benefits of gourmet salts in the traditional food. However, factors that hampers the growth of gourmet salts market are high price associated with gourmet salts in comparison to conventional salts. Other major factor that restraints the growth of gourmet salts market that hinder the growth of gourmet salts market is lack of awareness among consumers in developing countries. Companies operating in gourmet salts market are mainly adopting new product development strategy in order to enhance their product portfolio and also to expand into new markets.Visit For TOC@Gourmet salts Market: Key PlayersMajor companies that operate in gourmet salts market includes Cargill Inc., Morton Salt Inc., Murray River Salt, Alaska Pure Sea Salts Co., Infosa, Amagansett Sea Salt Co., Maldon Crystal Salt Co., Pyramid Salt Pty. Ltd.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global M2M Services Market to grow at a CAGR of 29.37% during 2017-2021 - Growing adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive the Market Growth
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Albany, NY, March 02, 2017: A machine-to-machine (M2M) platform is a programmed unit in which M2M applications and services are built on. Owing to the growing adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M services, the demand for innovative M2M platforms to enable new M2M services (such as connected cars and smart homes) is increasing. Also, many small players are entering the global M2M platform market as the entry barriers are low.The global M2M services market to grow at a CAGR of 29.37% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global M2M services market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the M2M services for cellular networks and satellite networks.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global M2M Services Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- AT&T- EE- Sprint- VerizonOther prominent vendors- Aeris Communications- Amdocs- Applied Satellite Technology- China Mobile- Comarch- Digi International- Ericsson- Gemalto- Huawei- Hughes Network System (EchoStar)- Jasper Technologies- KORE Wireless Group- Novatel Wireless- Nupoint Systems- Oracle- Orange Business Services- PTC- Quake Global- Rogers Communications..............Enquiry at:Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
Jeff Sessions
Jeff Sessions had two conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US during the 2016 campaign but did not mention it during his confirmation hearing for attorney general, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday night.
Sessions, then an Alabama senator, spoke with Sergey Kislyak in July and September, The Post reported. Yet during a confirmation hearing in January, Sessions said he "did not have communications with the Russians" while he served as a campaign surrogate for Donald Trump.
Lawmakers had already been calling for an independent investigation into Russia's election-related meddling and possible ties to various Trump associates. Just last month, Trump asked Michael Flynn to resign as national security adviser after it became clear Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about having spoken with Kislyak about US sanctions on Russia before Trump was sworn in.
"I'm not aware of any of those activities," Sessions replied when asked during the hearing whether he knew about contacts between Russia and Trump's associates, which were at that point already being investigated by US intelligence officials.
"I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians," Sessions said.
Watch video of that moment:
Sessions did not consider his conversation with Kislyak relevant enough to disclose at the hearing, his representative told The Post. Sessions did not even remember what he and Kislyak discussed, the person added.
In a separate statement on Wednesday night, Sessions said: "I have never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false."
The FBI was investigating Sessions' contacts with Russian officials before Trump nominated him in December, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. It is unclear whether that investigation is ongoing or whether the Senate was briefed on that investigation when it voted to confirm Sessions on February 8.
Story continues
Sessions is now in control of the Justice Department and the FBI, each of which is investigating Russia's cyberattacks against the US. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees are also looking into the matter.
Jeff Sessions
Sessions has slapped away suggestions that he should recuse himself from the investigation. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham commented on The Post's report during a CNN event on Wednesday night, saying "for sure you need a special prosecutor" if Sessions indeed spoke with the Kremlin.
"Misleading the Senate in sworn testimony about one's own contacts with the Russians is a good way to go to jail," Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Michael Flynn
Sessions and Kislyak spoke as Russia was ramping up its hacking campaign against prominent Democrats, including the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta.
The Trump administration has repeatedly denied all suggestions that it colluded with Russia's interference activities. But The New York Times and CNN reported last month, citing US intelligence officials, that Russian operatives and people in Trump's inner circle communicated frequently before the election. The nature of the communication is unclear.
The Times last month reported that communications between people in Trump's orbit and Russia ran deep on both sides. They were said to include other associates of Trump outside his campaign. And on the Russian side, people within the country's government in addition to intelligence officials were also involved, according to The Times' sources, who remained anonymous.
Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.
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Learn details of the Advances in Adaptive Cruise Control System Market Forecast and Segments, 2015-2025
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Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is a special form of the conventional cruise control systems which is used to maintain and control the speeds of cars and other intelligent vehicles. Adaptive cruise control is an intelligent form of cruise control systems that slows down and speeds up automatically to keep pace with the car in front of you. It dosent make use of any satellite, any roadside infrastructures or any cooperative support from other vehicles, rather it uses sensors and lasers to control the speed of vehicles. The main impact of adaptive cruise control system is on drivers safety as by adjusting the distance between according to the traffic conditions. The overall process is achieved through a radar headway sensor, longitudinal controller and digital signal processor. Adaptive cruise control systems are being enhanced to guide through collision warning capabilities to warn drivers through audio or visual signals that a collision is imminent and that evasive steering is required. Now-a-days, Adaptive cruise control system is often paired with a pre-crash system which alerts the driver and often starts braking. Adaptive cruise control is also known as autonomous cruise control, active cruise control, intelligent cruise control or radar cruise control.Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market: SegmentationThe Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market can be segmented on the basis of Geography, Vehicle Type and Technology. On the basis of Geography, the Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market can be segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America. On account of type, the Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market can be segmented into passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. Passenger vehicles include luxury cars, mid-range cars and premium cars. Further, considering technology, the Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market can be segmented into infrared sensors, laser sensors, image sensors, radar sensors and ultrasonic sensors.Request Report Sample@Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market: Region-Wise OutlookThe key regions in the field of adaptive cruise control systems are Asia Pacific, Europe, Americas. The Asia Pacific region includes the emerging markets like Thailand, India and China. The factors such as rising demands of premium and luxury cars in such regions are effective to the overall growth of the global adaptive cruise control system market. Europe is the region which is a major market to the product and is home for the major suppliers of adaptive cruise control systems. The key regions in Europe comprises of Germany, France and Italy. The American region comprises of Brazil, Mexico, Canada and others; Brazil and Mexico being the emerging markets of this region.Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market: DriversThe growth of the global adaptive cruise control system market highly depends on the rising number of accidents due to increase in traffic. Moreover, with the advancement of technology, people tend to be on a safer side and thus are willing to pay to install adaptive cruise control systems and thus are willing to pay. The increasing disposable incomes and greater sales of premium and luxury cars is also a major factor driving the growth of the global adaptive cruise control system market. The increasing use of sensors with the advancement in the technology is another fuelling factor. Moreover, government initiatives to improve fuel efficiencies and safety attributes of vehicles are motivating the manufacturers to apply such integrated systems to ensure safety as well as to comply with the government regulations.Visit For TOC@Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market: ChallengesThe regions with higher intensity of fog, rainfalls and snowfalls are repelling to the adaptive cruise control systems. Regions with such weather conditions make such safety systems inefficient in making and monitoring the speeds of the surrounding objects and vehicles making the owners of the vehicles reluctant to implement such systems. Since each and every manufacturer competes with each other, each manufacturer implements high end safety sensors thus making the car owners difficult to understand the exact operating procedures of the product.Global Adaptive Cruise Control System Market: Key PlayersVarious companies are into manufacturing the adaptive cruise control system market. Some of the key players involved in the global adaptive cruise control system market are Denso Corporation, Magna International Inc., Mando Corporation, Valeo SA, TRW Automotive, Autoliv Inc., Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd., Robert Bosch GmBH, Delphi Automotive PLC and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Power Electronics Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2025
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To control the flow of energy, the switching electronic circuits are used. These switching electronic circuits are called power electronics. Power electronics are also considered for the conversion of electric power. Such conversions are performed by semiconductor devices like diodes, transistors and thyristors etc. Power electronics devices have several advantages including optimum forward and reverse backing capabilities, simplified circuits, compact designs etc. Moreover, power electronics find its applications in connection of renewable energy resources to power grids, transportation in electric trains, motor drives and lighting. The major use of power electronics devices is heat sinking as well as soft starting of an equipment deploying power electronic devices.Global Power Electronics Market: SegmentationThe global power electronics market can be segmented into geography, types and applications. On the basis of geography, the global power electronics market can be segmented into America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Others. Considering types, the global power electronics market can be segmented into diode rectifiers, ac-dc converters, ac-ac converters, dc-dc converters, dc-ac converters and static switches. On account of applications, the global power electronics market can be segmented into industrial activities, solar power, wind power, electric cars, aerospace and consumer electronics.Request Report Sample@Global Power Electronics Market: Region-Wise OutlookIn terms of power electronics market value, Asia Pacific is the largest geography. America being the fastest growing region, Europe is considered as a very promising market comprising of Germany and UK while Middle East also grants an impetus to the growth of the global power electronics market.Global Power Electronics Market: DriversVarious factors are fuelling the growth of global power electronics market including rapid use of renewable sources of energy followed by the increase in the adoption of electric cars and defense. ICT, telecommunications, self monitoring and diagnostics systems, hospitals and healthcare are the major fields driving the global power electronics market to grow apparently.Visit For TOC@Global Power Electronics Market:: RestraintsThere are various challenges faced by the global power electronics market like high initial costs, deposition of GaN on silica materials which is in turn very difficult to reach in high voltage ranges. Moreover, manufacturing of power electronics is way to expensive and time consuming thus posing a restraint to the global power electronics market.Global Power Electronics Market: Key PlayersThe major companies playing a key role in the manufacturing of power electronics are Enercon, Fairchild, Fuji Electric, GE Wind Energy, Mersen, Methode Electronics, Semikron Elektronic GmbH & Company etc. Microsemi Corp, Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Vishay Intertechnology, Infineon Technology, Texas Instruments Inc are some major key players in the field of global power electronics market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Dental Arch Wire Market 2017 - Henry Schein, GC Corporation, Patterson, 3M Unitek, American orthodontic, Dentsply, Ormco, Shanghai IMD, 3B ortho
Dental Arch Wire Market
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A market study based on the "Dental Arch Wire Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Dental Arch Wire Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Dental Arch Wire industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Dental Arch Wire market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportHenry ScheinGC CorporationPatterson3M UnitekAmerican orthodonticDentsplyOrmcoShanghai IMD3B orthoThe report studies the industry for Dental Arch Wire across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Dental Arch Wire market & dynamics of demand and supply of Dental Arch Wire into consideration. The 'Dental Arch Wire' research study covers each and every aspect of the Dental Arch Wire market globally, which starts from the definition of the Dental Arch Wire industry and develops towards Dental Arch Wire market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Dental Arch Wire market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Dental Arch Wire market. The geographical segmentation of the Dental Arch Wire industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Dental Arch Wire is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Dental Arch Wire market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Dental Arch Wire market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Dental Arch Wire market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Dental Arch Wire production volume, data regarding demand and Dental Arch Wire supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Dental Arch Wire across the globe.About UsApexResearch offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Detergent LABSA Market 2017 - Stepan, CEPSA, Sasol, KAPACHIM, SK, Fogla Group, New India Detergents Ltd.
Detergent LABSA Market
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A market study based on the "Detergent LABSA Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Detergent LABSA Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Detergent LABSA industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Detergent LABSA market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportStepanCEPSASasolKAPACHIMSKFogla GroupNew India Detergents Ltd.The report studies the industry for Detergent LABSA across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Detergent LABSA market & dynamics of demand and supply of Detergent LABSA into consideration. The 'Detergent LABSA' research study covers each and every aspect of the Detergent LABSA market globally, which starts from the definition of the Detergent LABSA industry and develops towards Detergent LABSA market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Detergent LABSA market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Detergent LABSA market. The geographical segmentation of the Detergent LABSA industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Detergent LABSA is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Detergent LABSA market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Detergent LABSA market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Detergent LABSA market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Detergent LABSA production volume, data regarding demand and Detergent LABSA supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Detergent LABSA across the globe.About UsApexResearch offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Global Software-Defined Security Market 2017: Industry Review, Research, Statistics, and Growth to 2022
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Market Synopsis of Software-Defined Security MarketThe major growth driver of Software-Defined Security Market includes growing demand for increased server security by enterprises, growing market of cloud based infrastructure and rising demand for managing unstructured data of business intelligence among others. However, lack of technical expertise and threat to data security are some of the factors which are hindering the growth of Software-Defined Security Market.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said: Growing demand for increased server security by enterprises is the key trend for this market. With increasing investment of market players for deployment of secured and quick access cloud infrastructure , especially the American and APAC countries are taking many initiatives to implement the Software-Defined Security effectively in their region Key Players Intel Corporation (U.S.), Cisco systems Inc. (U.S.), EMC Corporation (U.S.), VMware Inc. (U.S.), Citrix systems Inc. (U.S.), Fujitsu LTD. (Japan), Symantec Corporation (U.S.), Ericsson Inc. (Sweden), IBM Corporation (U.S.), Dell Inc. (U.S.) among others.Request a Sample Copy @SegmentsSegmentation by Deployment: Cloud on-premiseSegmentation by Solution: abstraction automation orchestration scaling APIs among others.Segmentation by Application: Telecommunication cloud service provider government education healthcare among othersTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Software-Defined Security Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2022Industry News: Symantec Corporation has acquired Blue coat, Inc. in August 2016 to implement its integration strategy and thus accelerating its commitment to innovate cyber security solution. Intel Corporation has launched software defined security controller in year 2014. The software has defined to provide security to hybrid data centers and other software defined infrastructure.Browse full report @Objective Study of Software-Defined Security Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next five years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Software-Defined Security Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Software-Defined Security Market based on various factors- porters five force analysis, mega trend analysis, macroeconomic indicators etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by deployment, by solution, by application and sub-segments.Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports.Key questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Related ReportGlobal Software Defined Networking Market on Market Information, by Solution (Physical network infrastructure, Virtualization and control software, Professional services), by End User, by Vertical - Forecast 2016-2022.Know more about this report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.comAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
More Electric Aircraft Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 4% by 2021
More Electric Aircraft Market
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Market Synopsis of More Electric Aircraft Market:The Global More Electric Aircraft Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 4% during 2016-2021. This growth is driven due to production of next generation aircraft with more electric capabilities.As per the MRFR analysis, the use of electrical system has reduced the overall cost, thus result in improved operation. This also helps to control emission. The challenges associated with the market are the issues with electrical power system, issues in electrical generator associated with civilian and commercial usage of more electric aircraft.The Americas is leading the global more electric aircraft market; however the demand has increased from emerging nations such as EMEA and Asia Pacific in relation to growing demand for more electric aircraft in civil as well as military aircraft.Key Players of More Electric Aircraft Market: Airbus Honeywell International Raytheon Safran The Boeing Company United Technologies Corporation Thales Group Zodiac Aerospace SA Bombardier TTTech ComputertechnikRequest a Sample Copy @Study Objectives of More Electric Aircraft Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global More Electric Aircraft Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyse the Global More Electric Aircraft Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country-level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country-level analysis of the market for segment by types and applications. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analysing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyse competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global More Electric Aircraft Market.Browse Full Report @The market report for More Electric Aircraft of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Macadamia Market Value Chain and Forecast 2016-2026
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Macadamia nut was introduced in the early 1960s to the Kenyan highlands from Australia. Macadamia is a member of the family Proteaceae, native to Australia. Australia and Hawaii are the major producing areas of macadamia with others including eastern and southern Africa, and Central and Latin America. Several species of macadamia exist in Australia but only two species such as M. tetraphylla and Macadamia integrifolia and their hybrids are grown commercially. Production of macadamia nuts in Australia is mainly in eastern shore of Australia (northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland). Currently, Hawaii is the largest producer of global macadamia, accounting for around 70 percent of total macadamia production worldwide followed by Australia, around 22 percent, rest is produced by other countries including Malawi, South Africa, Kenya, Guatemala, Mexico, California, Costa Rica, Brazil, New Zealand and China.Tree nuts include almond, cashew, hazelnut, pistachio, walnut, macadamia, and pecan. Currently, macadamia accounts for around only one percent among all the tree nuts available across the globe. Almond nut dominates the nut segment, accounting for around 34 percent. Increasing health claims for macadamia have witnessed a surge in recent years, which if succeeded is expected to increase the consumption of macadamia nuts among consumers.Request Report Sample@Global Macadamia Market Segmentation:On the basis of application the global macadamia market is broadly segmented into food industry, and cosmetics industry. In food industry macadamia is widely used in confectionaries including chocolate bar, chocolate covered candy, ice cream and other baking products. In cosmetics industry it is used in shampoos, sunscreens, soaps and others.Geographically, global macadamia market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America and Western Europe account for major market share for macadamia however, Asia Pacific excluding Japan is expected to grow significantly in the forecasted years.Global Macadamia Market Dynamics:Owing to increasing variety of applications of macadamia, various workshop are taking places in order to increase the international trade for macadamia and since capitalise the growing demand for macadamia. Adoption of macadamia in chocolate and ice cream among consumers is expected to drive the demand for global macadamia in the near future. The biggest restraint for macadamia market is increasing crop losses due to immature nuts and moldy / rotten nuts. The crop losses due to these type of nuts accounts for around 50 percent of the total macadamia wastage globally. Thereby, reducing inclination of crop growers for macadamia and thus, hampering the market growth.Request For TOC@There is a high opportunity to increase the market share of macadamia in terms of revenue across countries such as Mexico, China, South Africa and others. Companies are investing in these countries through promotional activities in order to increase the footprint of macadamia worldwide.Global Macadamia Market Key Players:Some of the key players operating in the global macadamia market are Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company, MacFarms, Wondaree Macadamias, NAMBUCCA MACNUTS Pty Ltd, Golden Macadamias, Royal Macadamia (Pty) Ltd., Kenya Nut Company Ltd. and MWT Foods Australia.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Automotive Stamping Market Revenue and Value Chain 2016-2026
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Stamping is a metal working process by which a desired shape and structure of a material is achieved. This metal working process is adopted in manufacturing industries engaged in processing of hardened surfaces such as sheet metal and plastics components. Stamping process forms the base of all the building process in automotive industry as more than 80 percent of the components that make up a vehicle is produced by stamping. Both the interior structural components and the exterior build components are produced by this process.Since 2010, the demand for automobiles has increased exponentially after the global economic downturn during 2009. This has led to an increase in demand of the stamping machines so as to meet the demand of an impeding growth in the automotive sector. The increase in usage of stamping machines in the automotive sector attributed to the growth of stamped automotive parts and is forecast to expand at a increasing growth rates during 2016-2026.Request Report Sample@Automotive Stamping Market DynamicsThe market for stamping machines in the automotive sector is driven by reduced lead times required for manufacturing vehicles. The machines are extremely versatile as different modules can be achieved by changing the necessary die. This process has also led to reduced labor requirements as the process can be automated with the help of computers thereby reducing the labor costs. The process helps in reducing scrap wastage as precise amount of raw material is utilized. The production cost incurred in the stamping process is very low and is replacing other metal working processes such as forging and die-casting.Automotive Stamping Market: SegmentationOn the basis of forming temperature, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Hot StampingCold StampingOn the basis of Stamping process, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Mechanical ProcessHydraulic ProcessPneumatic ProcessOn the basis of the number of stations required, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Single Tool StationProgressive StationsRequest For TOC@Automotive Stamping: Regional OutlookThe Global automotive stamping market can be divided into seven geographical locations such as North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Asia-Pacific market is anticipated to grow steeply in the stamped components, as the automotive sector in China, Japan and India is growing at a rapid pace. In Latin America, Brazil is the strongest automotive stamped components market preceded by Mexico and Argentina, due to improved production and sales of automobiles in these regions. European countries such as U.K. and Germany are also expected to grow in the stamped component market as demand for vehicles in these regions has increased exponentially.Automotive Stamping Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players which provide the Automotive Industry with Stamping Presses areSchuler GroupAIDA GlobalOrchid InternationalEagle Press & Equipment Co. Ltd.Hyundai RotemMacRodyne Hydraulic Presses & AutomationSantec GroupJier North AmericaRidgeview IndustriesBliss-Bret IndustriesFuture Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Immunohistochemistry Market worth 2.12 Billion USD by 2021
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The report "Immunohistochemistry Market by Product (Antibody, Reagent, Kits, Slide Staining System, Tissue Microarray) Application (Diagnostics (Cancer, Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Autoimmune, Infectious Diseases) & Drug Testing) End User - Global Forecast to 2021", The global immunohistochemistry market is expected to reach USD 2.12 Billion by 2021 from USD 1.48 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2016 to 2021.Browse 181 market data tables and 44 figures spread through 225 pages and in-depth TOC on Immunohistochemistry MarketEarly buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.Growing prevalence of cancer and rapidly increasing geriatric population across the globe are the major factors driving the growth of the immunohistochemistry market. Other important factors driving market growth include increasing healthcare spending and improving healthcare infrastructure resulting in an increase in the number of hospitals and diagnostic laboratories.The growing consolidation, incorporation of nanotechnology in immunohistochemistry, adoption of multiplex arrays, and automation in this market are the key trends in the market. Rapid growth in the developing countries across APAC and Latin America and the increasing demand for personalized medicine offer significant growth opportunities for players in the immunohistochemistry market.Get The PDF Brochure For This Report:In this report, the immunohistochemistry market is segmented based on product, application, end user, and region. This report also discusses the key market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges for this market and its submarkets.In 2015, the hospitals and diagnostic laboratories segment accounted for the largest share of immunohistochemistry market, by end user. The large share of the hospitals and diagnostic laboratories segment can be attributed to growing use of immunohistochemistry reagents, antibodies, and equipment for diagnostic procedures. Furthermore, technological advancements such as automated sample preparation and digital pathology and its greater utilization in the diagnosis of many chronic and life-threatening diseases are expected to contribute to the growth of this market.You Can Also Speak With Research Analyst:In 2015, the immunohistochemistry antibody segment accounted for the largest share of immunohistochemistry market, by product. The large share of the immunohistochemistry antibody segment can be attributed to improved approval rate for therapeutic antibodies by regulatory authorities, increasing adoption of targeted immunotherapy, and increased R&D expenditure of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.The increasing risk of infectious diseases and rising demand for immune-therapeutics are expected to further drive market growth for this segment. Moreover, the rising adoption of immunohistochemistry test, high-throughput assays, such as array comparative genomic hybridization, cDNA microarray, next-generation sequencing techniques, and histological tests, have led to the rapid discovery of thousands of potential antibodies.In 2015, the cancer segment accounted for the largest share of the immunohistochemistry market, by application. The large share of diagnostic application in cancer diseases can be attributed to increasing prevalence of cancer, rapidly increasing geriatric population in developed countries, increased awareness and demand for immunohistochemistry in histopathology, and demand for early diagnosis in developing countries in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.The major players in the immunohistochemistry market are F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Switzerland), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.), Merck Millipore (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), PerkinElmer, Inc. (U.S.), Abcam plc (U.K.), Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. (U.S.), and Bio SB Inc. (U.S.).About MarketsandMarkets:MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.M&Ms flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.Contact:Mr. RohanMarketsandMarkets701 Pike StreetSuite 2175, Seattle,WA 98101, United StatesTelephone No : 1-888-600-6441.
Market Research on Air Freshener Market 2014 and Analysis to 2020
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Air fresheners are products used to release fragrances in order to eliminate foul smell or odour from the environment. These products are only applicable for use in indoor environments such as homes, offices, hotel rooms, cars and others. In recent years, this functional commodity has evolved to be used as a decorative product. Air fresheners comprise chemical agents such as artificial or original essence, aerosol propellants, solvents such as mineral oil, 2-butoxyethanol and other glycol ethers, which help in neutralizing odours and freshens the air.On the basis of types, these products can be broadly segmented into room sprays and diffusers. Room sprays fall under the category of aerosol sprays, which are mostly available in cans or glass bottles with attached spray nozzles. Room sprays are highly functional and instead of simply masking foul odours, they release a pleasant fragrance. On the other hand, diffusers disperse fragrance into the air. Furthermore, these are widely classified into active and passive diffusers. Active diffusers require an external energy source of energy to release fragrance. These products are designed to function on a plugged power source or with batteries. Passive diffusers do not require any external energy source and diffuse fragrance from various forms of underlying substances or layers. The various types of passive diffusers include adjustable solids, reed diffusers and gel products.Request For Report Sample@Besides room sprays and diffusers, the air freshener market is further segmented into specialty products. These types of air fresheners comprise a variety of products designed to add fragrance to a room or space, and are available in various forms such as potpourri. This type of air freshener comprises forms of dried botanical and other natural ingredient such as flowers, fruits, wood chips and spices that may have fragrance oils added to them. Another is sachets, small pouches or bags filled with scented powder. Another type is incense, which is produced from a mixture of fragrant gums, resins, woods and spices and is available in varied forms such as sticks, cones, rods, coils, small blocks, wands and powders. Furthermore, fragrance oil burning lamp is another type of air freshener. This type acts as a catalytic diffusion lamp, purifying the air while releasing fragrance. Yet another type is the non-electric or evaporative air freshener. This type releases fragrance when scented oil is added to an oil warmer, which is heated using a tea light candle.Globally, the demand for air fresheners registered stable growth during the last five years, and is expected to witness favourable growth during the forecast period. This is attributed to product innovations, increased adaption of enhanced products and rising affluence. Changing and improving lifestyle and demographic factors, as well as increasing population in developing countries is driving demand for air freshener products in Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.The key drivers in the air freshener market includes product innovation and launch of new product ranges capable of delivering freshness as well as enhanced ability to eliminate offensive odours. These properties serve to enhance consumer preference for such products and offers value for money. In addition, rise in disposable income and purchasing power parity has shifted the demand of consumers towards enhanced products, which is further expected to fuel market growth.Request For TOC@The key players in the global air freshener market include Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser, Henkel, Church & Dwight, California Scents, ST Corporation, Scotts Liquid Gold, Inc., Amway, Kobayashi, Liby, Houdy, Farcent, Jiali, Ludao, Mengjiaolan and others.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
New Trends of Cloud-RAN (Radio Access Network) Market with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2020
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Cloud-RAN,orCentralized-RAN (C-RAN) is an advanced cellular network architecture for mobile network infrastructure that can support 2G, 3G and 4G system and meet wireless communication benchmarks. Cloud-RAN is outpacing traditional cellular network system as it doesnt require RF (radio frequency) equipment, antenna, BTS (baseband unit) and digital processor to be deployed in the cell site. Traditional cellular network architecture demands more power, space, additional big cell towers and directional antennae to support new air interface technologies such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and multi-frequency bands. Moreover, enhancement of traditional cellular network in a wireless network to support data traffic demand becomes economically unsustainable. In contrast, Cloud-RAN enhances mobile communications and helps cellular network operators in delivering qualitative and effective mobile communication services at a reasonable cost.Cloud-RAN ensures centralization of baseband processing in one location. To connect to RRH (remote radio heads), fibre optical cables are required.Cloud-RAN is based on new technologies,viz. cloud computing thatcan take advantage of advanced remote antennae or radio head techniques and SDN (software-defined network) approaches.Request For Report Sample@Cloud-RAN offers various benefits like reduction in cost of network operations. The three types of cost reductions are energy consumption, site rental expenses and operational & maintenance cost of network. These savings can be balanced against cost incurred on fibre optical cables required to meet fronthaul capacity and latency requirements. Cloud-RAN also enhances capacity due to coordinated multipoint and ensures speedy performance. Aforementioned benefits of Cloud-RAN architecture automatically increase the value of service to end-users. However, initial high investment required to deploy Cloud-RAN architecture acts as one of the major challengesfor the growth of Cloud-RAN market.The Cloud-RAN market can be categorizedinto component, services and geography.The market is segmented on the basis of thenatureof its components, which includes six major categories -BBU (Baseband Units), RRU (Remote Radio Units), optical transport network, servers, processors and measurement device. On the basis of services segment, the Cloud-RAN market can be categorized into network services, custom services and system integration services. The market can also be segmented on the basis of major geographies, into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa.Cloud-RAN is a global multi-billion dollar market which is expected to exhibit a considerable growth in CAGR, from 2014 to 2020. The key drivers include need to reduce increasing data traffic and Capex&Opexexpenditure, which are the biggest revenue generators for the Cloud-RANmarket. The key restraint to this market is high initial cost of deployment and dependency on availability of fibre. Major players in Cloud-RAN market focuses on partnerships, joint ventures, and acquisition &merger strategies in order to outperform their competitors. For instance, in 2013 Intel Corp. acquired Mindspeed Technologies and extended its offerings with new mobile system services i.e. Cloud-RAN.Request For TOC@Some of the key players identified in the Cloud-RAN market are Ceragon Networks Ltd.,Actix Ltd., Aricent Technologies, JDSU, 6WIND, MTI Radiocomp, Altera Corp., Mindspeed Technologies, Inc., Intel Corporation, VitesseSemiconductor, Telco Systems, VPI Systems, Telco Systems and TEOCO among others.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2016-2026
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Several countries across the world are either already facing or will face a demographic disaster in the near future. They will undergo severe socio-economic pressures due to a rapidly ageing population with not enough children being born to replace the workforce. This is particularly true in North America, Europe, Russia, South Korea & Japan. According to a government report compiled in Japan in 2012, 22% of the country is 65 or older and this is expected to rise to nearly 40% by 2060. In 2010, Japan had 30 million elderly individuals in old-age homes, but a serious dearth of caregivers to assist them. These countries are the mean reason that the eldercare-assistive robot market has come into existence. Over the past few years, eldercare-assistive robot R&D has become much cheaper, giving rise to helpers with more functionality & a cheaper price. It has also gained wider acceptance not only in Japan but also in the western nations.Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market DriversThe ageing population in developed countries is the main driver for the eldercare-assistive robot market. According to U.N data, the global over-65 population will grow by 181% and they will account for nearly 16% of the population by 2050. Caring for these individuals will be an enormous physical, mental & emotional undertaking. There will be a tremendous shortage of qualified & willing medical personnel for this. Eldercare-assistive robots have the potential to serve this demographic exceptionally well. They can use camera sensors to supervise the senior citizen, ensure that they take their prescribed medication at the right time & also prevent them from falling & injuring themselves. Another factor is the individualistic societies in western countries, as opposed to collective Asian ones. People prefer to live on their own as much as possible. Even in old age, they prefer the privacy, comfort & security of their own homes over that of an institutional caregiver like an old-age home. To address these requirements, eldercare-assistive robots can come in handy. Not only will they fulfil the role of medical practitioner, but they can also provide human-like companionship to the patient. They will be able to enhance the health & psychological well-being of the elderly in several ways. By reminding them off daily tasks & other important information, they could help dementia patients. With informal chit-chat, they might keep a senior citizens mind sharp, reducing the probability of clinical depression, or Alzheimers disease. Robots could also act as telepresence machines, bridging the gap between doctors and their elderly patients. These individuals might not always be able to travel to the hospital to seek treatment, & frequent nurse visits are also very costly. The doctor could check in with their patients through the robots screen, even control the machine for simple tasks. These are some of the factors helping the eldercare-assistive robot market.Request For Sample@Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market RestraintsThere are a few challenges faced by the eldercare-assistive robot market. These robots must be able to manage & cope with more uncertain environments than industrial robots. This makes it a challenge to build safe & certified ones. Another issue might be human opposition. Either the elderly individual, their family or both might not be comfortable with the idea of a robot playing a caregiver role. Older people, in particular, might be very resistant to adopting high-tech equipment like eldercare-assistive robots to simplify their lives. Cost can also be a major restraint. While the price of these assistive robots has dropped over the last decade, they still cost thousands of dollars each. People from lower income or middle-class families might not see the benefit in adopting them as much. Even with many advances made in the eldercare-assistive robot market, it is estimated that it will be several decades before full assistive robotic care is possible.Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market Key RegionsThe main eldercare assistive robot markets are those regions which have an ageing population, i.e. North America (barring Mexico), the E.U, Japan, and China & South Korea. Japan is the largest eldercare-assistive robot market since it has the most rapidly ageing population along with very low immigration & birth rates. It also has several domestic players involved in making assistive robots. North America has also slowly but surely begun to warm up to the eldercare-assistive robot market.Request For TOC@Eldercare-Assistive Robots Market Key Market PlayersSome of the companies involved in the eldercare-assistive robot market are Paro Robots, Aldebaran, Togo Seisakusyo Corporation, and Hasbro.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Baby Food Packaging Products Market Witness Robust Expansion by 2021
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Baby food packaging product market is segmented on the basis of raw material which includes glass packaging material, rigid plastic packaging material, flexible plastic packaging material paperboard packaging material, and metal packaging. Among all these segment flexible packaging material is expected to occupy major market share followed by rigid plastic packaging material during the forecast period.Baby food packaging products are designed to target the manufacturers dealing with baby and toddler food products. It is also designed to provide convenience to consumer in terms of carrying food products form one place to another. Increased consumer preference towards spending on packaged baby food product is expected to drive the demand of baby food packaging product market in the near future.Baby food packaging product market is further segmented on the basis of type which includes bottles, cans, liquid cartons, pouch/sachet and others. Among all these segment pouch/sachet is expected to contribute major share in terms of revenue. Pouch/sachet packaged products are easy to use and convenient to carry which is predicted to support the growth of pouch/sachet packaging segment in baby food packaging product market. Moreover, liquid cartons is also expected to show a substantial growth in the near future. Increasing demand of flavored milk and juices for toddlers is predicted to support thre4 growth of liquid cartons segment in baby food packaging market.Baby food packaging product market is also segmented on the basis of application which includes, milk formula, dried baby food, prepared baby food, ready to feed baby food and others. Among all these segment milk formula is expected to contribute the major share in terms the usage of baby food packaging material. Moreover, ready to feed product is also expected to show a substantial growth in the near future. Increasing urbanization and rising disposable income has led the consumer to get inclined towards more convenient product which is supporting the growth of ready to feed baby product market. Thus is expected to simultaneously support the growth of baby food packaging material market across the globe.On the basis of geography, Europe is expected to contribute to the highest in terms of market share in baby food packaging product market. Moreover Latin America is expected to show a substantial growth in the near future. In Latin America Brazil is expected to contribute the major share in terms of revenue. Increased demand of baby food products especially prepared baby food across the country is expected to support the demand of baby food packaging product market within next five to six years. Whereas, Asia pacific is concerned it is expected to register a healthy double digit growth by 2020. In Asia pacific region China is expected to be the most dominant market for baby food packaging product market followed by Japan and India. Increasing awareness regarding the nutritional benefits for packaged baby food product is predicted to drive the growth of baby food packaging product market across the region. Moreover, rising demand for convenience baby edible products due to increased number of working women is predicted to drive the growth of baby food packaging product market in Asia Pacific region.Rising disposable income coupled with increased number of working mother has raised the demand of baby food which is expected to support the growth of baby food packaging material across the globe. However, packaging manufacturers need to consider food perishability, which is expected to restrict selection of packaging material, and thus predicted to restraints the overall market growth.Request to view table of content @Some of the major player operating in baby food packaging material market includes Prolamina Packaging, Tetra Laval, RPC Group, Silgan Holdings, Rexam PLC, CAN-PACK S.A, Winpak among others.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @The final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.comAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Healthcare Master Data Management Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2016-2026
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Information Technology has revolutionised every industry and brought about substantial changes. It has made the world more interconnected, interdependent and increased the volume of data to be processed enormously. However, if the data is compromised by way of a leak or hack, it can also have devastating consequences. This is particularly true in medical healthcare and thus, there is a focus on the healthcare Master Data Management market. MDM is the processes, policies, and tools that allow an organisation to define and manage its critical data, leading to a single point of reference. The healthcare master data management market is a major component of MDM. Medical healthcare facilities need to keep critical records of their patients health and security. Any lapse by way of administering an inadequate or incorrect dosage could even lead to death. It is vital for organisations to keep accurate, up-to-date records of their patients to avoid mistakes that could lead to reputational as well as financial harm to the organisation. Master data in healthcare is mainly divided into identifying data like the patient, provider or location and reference data i.e. linkable vocabulary like LOINC, RxNorm, ICD, SNOMED, etc.Healthcare Master Data Management Market DriversThere are three drivers of the healthcare master data management market mergers & acquisitions (M&A), Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). In todays globalised world, M&As have become commonplace and this also holds true for the medical industry. National boundaries have become irrelevant and healthcare institutions can go in for M&As for the same reasons as other organisations. It is very rare for two medical institutions to have the same type of data management techniques & each will have its own master data. MDM is crucial to helping the two entities organise, manage and then merge the healthcare data. There is also a great deal of interaction & information exchange between hospitals worldwide now. It may be for a second opinion, diagnoses or patient reassurance. To successfully exchange information across different locations, HIEs need to have reconciled the master data file. The last major driver of the healthcare master data management market is ACOs. They are a group of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers who provide medical assistance to their Medicare patients voluntarily. It neednt be mentioned that they would all have different data organisation & management methods, hence they would need to look at the healthcare master data management market.Request For Sample@Healthcare Master Data Management Market RestraintsSome of the restraints constraining the growth of the healthcare master data management market are data ownership, multiple sources of data, lack of true integration between clinical & administrative apps & lack of analytical talent. Autonomous clinics have largely funded their own data management systems to the exclusion of the entire healthcare system. With increasing M&As in the industry, this issue has only been compounded recently. While patients have the right to their healthcare data, the question of who owns the data continues to linger. A second challenge is the sheer volume of data. Not only is it in individual organisation departments, some data might also be in a proprietary format like Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS). This might be controlled by an external source, making it difficult to extract or claim. Many healthcare institutions struggle to understand modern technology like healthcare payments, coding, reimbursements or other data. Integrating it for decision-making is another challenge entirely! Another major challenge for the healthcare master data management market is the lack of analytical talent. Healthcare providers struggle to find the right experts to help them exploit their databases to the fullest. There is a massive shortage of data scientists, especially in healthcare, who can use big data techniques to optimise healthcare records.Healthcare Master Data Management Market Key RegionsThe largest healthcare master data management market at present is the U.S. It is also expected to grow at the highest rate due to legislation like the Affordable Care Act, EHR adoption, and government focus on customised medicine, healthcare management and hospital reimbursement. Key Asian markets are China, India, Japan and Korea.Request For TOC@Healthcare Master Data Management Market Key Market PlayersSome of the companies competing in the healthcare master data management market are IBM Corporation, Cerner Corporation, Verisk Analytics, Allscripts Health Solutions and Health Catalyst.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Learn details of the Advances in Wireless Charging Market Forecast and Segments, 2014-2020
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Wireless charging is the process of recharging batteries of electrical devices without using physically connected electric cables. The communication between transmitter (power source) and receiver (device) is generally by microwave or electromagnetic induction. With the emergence of wireless chargeable devices, the need to carry multiple chargers for various devices will become obsolete. Chargeable devices such as mobile phones, and tablets need to be handier. Wireless charging technologies are revolutionizing the current electronic devices market to meet the demand for more efficient, standardized,safe and portable power recharging options.Wireless charging is more applicable to charge smartphones, tablets and other small handheld devices and wearable technologies. The obvious benefits associated with the use of wireless charging includes efficiency of handling, protection from electric shocks, safe charging option for devices that need to be waterproof, no need formaintenance of charging cables and associated sockets. On the other hand, wireless charging technology is comparatively less efficient, slow, and expensive. Most devices also radiate heat during the charging process.Request For Report Sample@The global wireless charging market recently reported its development, due to continuous updation in phones. The demand for sealed devices, increasing demand for powerfor devices and inconvenience associated with carrying multiple chargers are the key drivers behind growth of wireless charging technologies. The key restrains behind wireless charging are lack of standardization and expensive infrastructure to pursue technological developments.Many advanced products are still in experimental phase but on the other hand these products have a bright future opportunity.Wireless charging can be broadly categorized into two types depending upon proximity of distance between transmitter and receiverand range of devices. Further, these two types can be sub-segmented into six sub categories such as radio charging, inductive charging and resonance charging are included under proximity of distance between transmitter and receiver and high range, mid-range and low range are included under range of devices. On the basis of application,the global wireless charging market is segmented intoconsumer electronics, medical healthcare, automobile & aerospace, defence and industrial automation. On the basis of geographical target market, itis segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Middle East & Africa.Companies engagedin the development of wireless charging technologies are in the process of resolving compatibility issues associated with charger and charging points. Manufacturers of different handheld devices, prominently HTC, Nokia and LG, are already in the process of manufacturing wireless chargeable smartphones and tablets. The market experts are focusing on the development of standard wireless charging technology, which will be commonly useful for the advanced devices of various applications such as medical, and semiconductors.Request For TOC@Some of the global key players in the wireless charging market include Convenient Power HK Ltd., Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Integrated Device Technology, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc., Duracell Powermat, Oregon Scientific, WiTricity Corporation and Energizer Holdings, Inc.Most of these companies are interested to enter into the wireless charging market with the plan to establish a brand name. The wireless charging market of North America appears to be comparatively mature than Asian market, in terms of infrastructural development. Countries with lower GDP may face economic issues to generate the demand.High price is one of the major challenges of this market and it should be taken care of.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Redispersible Latex Powder Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2026
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Redispersible latex powder are organic polymer powder obtained through the spray drying of aqueous emulsions. Dispersion powder help improve the properties and performance of cement or dry mix powder. Redispersible latex powder combine the benefit of liquid latex modifiers with the convenience, reliability, and handling or storing advantage of one component dry mix system. The high performance redispersible latex are used in wide range of application as blender and additives to influence workability, strength development and many other application specific properties. Redispersible latex offers variety of features such as improved workability, improved open time, and abrasion resistance. Multipurpose application of redispersible latex powder is expected to expand significant during the forecast period. Redispersible latex powder are polymer emulsions that are converted by spray drying to free flowing powder. These powder redisperse back into liquid emulsions with essentially identical properties to the original emulsions when blended with water. The demand for redispersible latex powder is increasing due to its benefits in construction industry because of its application as strong strength development of the mortar, better water retention and workability, higher flexural strength and flexibility and strong impact.Redispersible latex powder is a free flowing, white powder obtained drying of aqueous vinyl acetate ethylene copolymer dispersion. It is usually in diverse construction chemical application such as external thermal insulation composite system. Redispersible latex powder is an important additive in cement based or gypsum based dry powder. The demand is booting the growth of redispersible latex powders owing to its properties such as medium hard, improved water resistance, highly recommended for cement based plasters. The global demand for redispersible latex powders is expected to create significant CAGR during the forecast period. The chemical industry is trying to form a regulation that will set the standard for a chemical that is used in each and every product. The rising demand for cement-based plasters has led to a significant surge in the valuation of global redispersible latex powders market in the near future. Going further, the advent of combine the performance benefits of redispersible latex powders is likely to create opportunities for the market growth in coming years.The global redispersible latex powder can be segmented on the basis of type, application and region. On the basis of type redispersible latex powders can be segmented to vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) copolymers, vinyl acetate/vinyl ester of versatic acid (VAE-VeoVa) copolymers, styrene butadiene, and acrylic powder. On the basis application redispersible latex powders can be segmented to cement plasters, self-leveling underlayments, and gypsum setting compounds, repair mortars, and ceramic tile adhesives. Among application ceramic tile adhesives is expected dominate the overall redispersible latex powder worldwide.The redispersible latex powder is segmented into five region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Europe and North America market emerge dominate for redispersible latex powder owing increasing application of redispeesible latex powder such as external thermal insulation, composite systems, construction and tile adhesive. Asia Pacific have significant high market share of redispersible latex powders market due to increase in urbanization and modernization therefore consumption of redispersible latex power is rapidly increasing in this region. The increasing demand of innovative material is driving the market of redispersible latex powders market worldwide. The counties such as china and India are emerging market for the redispersible latex powders due to increasing manufacturing and construction business in this region.Request to view Table of content @Few market players of redispersible latex powder are Akzo Nobel, Wacker Chemie AG, Wacker Polymers, Hexion, BASF SE, Construction Chemicals Div., Acquos, The Dow Chemical Company, Yil-Long Chemical Group Ltd, Dairen Chemical Corporation, Dinova Pvt. Ltd, BCD Rohstoffe fur Bauchemie HandelsGmbH, Synthomer Ltd, Nippon Gohsei, Bosson Chemical, F.A.R. Fabbrica Adesivi Resine S.p.A, Synthomer Ltd.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report atThe final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Cellulosic Thickeners Market Estimated to Flourish by 2024
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Cellulosic thickeners is a hydrophilic white powder in pure form, which dissolves in cold water, forming a clear viscous solution or gel. Cellulosic thickeners are used extensively in wide range of applications such as biodegradability, lack of toxicity, and abundant raw material. Cellulose thickeners are also named as cellulose gum, which are used as emulsifiers, suspending agents and thickeners in cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. Cellulosic thickeners are also used in chromatography as stabilizers for reagents and in therapeutics as bulk laxative with antacid properties. Cellulosic thickeners are also added to hair shampoo, liquid shop, and toothpaste in order to create their characteristic thick consistency. Cellulosic thickeners can be engaged as a mild glue which can be washed away with water. The increasing application of cellulosic thickener is driving the overall global cellulosic thickeners market to grow at significant CAGR in near future.The cellulose thickeners are used in various application such as pharmaceuticals, as a lubricant in eye drops and in oil & gas industry as an ingredient of drilling mud. Cellulosic thickeners, in the form of HPMC, MC, HEMC, is an odorless and tasteless white powder and also used as cellulose, Which can be obtained from wood or cotton in a water insoluble natural polymer. Cellulose after adding in specific material, enhances the properties of that material. Now a days cellulose thickeners are widely used in surgical and dental implants. Cellulose films are used as temporary substitute for human skin in case of burns, ulcers, and decubitus. Other new applications of cellulose thickeners are to maintain tackiness in food, cosmetics, etc., as a nonwoven fabric or paper for old document repair, as food additives and others. The growing demand of cellulosic thickener in such wide range of applications are fueling the growth of cellulosic thickener. Development of new derivatives and new applications of cellulose is expected to create raw material scarcity for the production of cellulosic thickeners. This scarcity of raw materials may hamper the market growth. Development of new applications in pharmaceutical and medicine field is expected to provide opportunities for the players in cellulose thickeners market.The global cellulosic thickeners market can be segmented on the basis of thickeners agent type, application and region basis. On the basis of thickeners agent types, the cellulosic thickener can be segmented by sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, and other cellulosic thickeners. on the basis of application cellulosic thickener can be further segmented into cosmetic & personal care, toiletries & household, paints & coatings, paper & paperboard, food & beverage, pharmaceutical & others(ceramic, construction, adhesive). On the basis of region, cellulosic thickeners can be segmented, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia pacific and the Middle East & Africa.The cellulosic thickeners are segmented among five regions Europe, North America, Asia pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe are mature markets consequently innovation in the product line is expected to be the key strategy for the market players in this region. Asia pacific is the largest shareholder of global cellulosic thickeners market due to increasing rate of industrialization in this region. The increasing application of cellulose thickener in cosmetic industries as well as other industry is driving the market of cellulosic thickeners market worldwide. Cellulosic thickeners are expected moderate growth in region such as Middle East & Africa Market. Countries like China and India are emerging market for the cellulosic thickeners due to increasing manufacturing unit.Request to view Table of content @The global key vendors of cellulosic thickeners are Dow Chemical Company, DuPont (EI) de Nemours, Cabot Corporation, Croda International plc, FMC Corporation, Imperial Chemical Industries, International Paper Company, Kraft Foods Incorporated, Rhodia SA, TIC Gums Incorporated, Goodman Fielder Limited, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Eastman Chemical Company, Ciba Specialty Chemicals Incorporated.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report atThe final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Budesonide Market Headed for Growth and Expansion by 2026
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With the change in climate and environment, seasonal asthma has become main cause of respiratory ailments. Budesonide is used to control and prevent symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath caused by asthma. Budesonide belongs to a class of drugs named as corticosteroids. It works directly to the lungs to make breathing easier by reducing the irritation and swelling of the airways. Budesonide sold under the brand name pulmicort among others, is a steroid medication. It is available as an inhaler, pill, nasal spray, and rectal. The inhaled form is used in long-term management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Pulmicort respules is meant only for inhalation by compressed air-driven jet nebulizer. Budesonide is used to avert difficulty while breathing, chest tightness, wheezing and coughing caused by asthma. Budesonide powder for oral inhalation is used in adults and children; 6 years of age and older. Budesonide suspension for oral inhalation is also used in children 12 months to 8 years of age. It comes as powder to inhale by mouth using an inhaler and as a suspension to inhale by mouth using a special jet nebulizer. Budesonide helps to prevent asthma attacks and shortness of breath. Each budesonide inhaler is designed to provide 60 to 120 inhalations, depending on its size. Budesonide is a glucocorticoid used in management of asthma, the treatment of various skin disorder, and allergic rhinitis. Budesonide is provided as a mixture of two epimers (22R and 22S). The extended release oral tablet, marketed as uceris got approved by FDA for the management of ulcerative colitis. The global demand for budesonide is expected substantial growth over the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Budesonide is appropriate to the course of medication called corticosteroids. Budesonide, an adrenocortical hormone, was developed by AstraZeneca in the 1990s. It is mainly used for the treatment of non-budesonide glucocorticoid-dependent or glucocorticoid. In June 1997, budesonide aerosol got approved by FDA. In recent years, the increasing rate of air pollution will increase asthma and other breathing problem. It is estimated that, with the steady growth in asthma, demand for budesonide will be boosted. Budesonide is used to treat mild to moderate crohn's disease. Budesonide is generic name of a prescription drug sold under the brand names entocortec, uceris, pulmicort, pulmicort flexhaler, pulmicort respules, and rhinocort. It's also one of the drugs found in the inhaler symbicort, used to treat COPD and asthma. Budesonide is expected to grow at significant CAGR in near future.The global demand of global budesonide can be segmented on the basis of product type, application and region basis. On the basis of product type budesonide market can be segmented as aerosol, sprays, inhalants, and suspension, pill&rectal forms. On the basis application budesonide market is segmented to hospital, pharmacy, clinic and others. On the basis of region, budesonide market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa.Asia pacific have significant high market share in budesonide market as compared to others owing to increasing population as well as increasing pollution issue in this region especially in the countries such as India and China. China is expected to dominate budesonide market in the near future. The market size of budesonide in Asia Pacific is expected to keep growing in next few years. The North America is expected to Experience significant growth in coming years following Europe. Latin America and Middle East & Africa is projected to experience stagnant growth rate during the forecast period.Request to view Table of content @Few market players in global budesonide are Pfizer, Sandoz, Cipla, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, Takeda, Manus Aktteva Biopharma LLP, Abbott, Lunan Better Pharmaceutical, Novartis, Mylan, Novartis, Skyepharma, AstraZeneca AB, Wellcome Australia Ltd, AstraZeneca plc, AstraZeneca Australia, Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A, Orion Corporation, Santarus, Synmosa Biopharma Corporation.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Lead Acid Battery Market Poised to Hit US$ 31,708.4 Million by 2020
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Future Market Insights, in its latest report titled,Lead Acid Battery Market: Asia Pacific, Latin America, Japan, Middle East & Africa Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014 - 2020, states that the target regions lead acid battery market accounted for US$ 24,210.5 Million in 2014, and is expected to reach US$ 31,708.4 Million at a CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period. Asia Pacific, which accounted for the major chunk in the target regions lead acid battery market, is expected to expand at an estimated CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period.By application type, the target regions lead acid battery market is segmented as transportation, stationary industrial, motive industrial, commercial, residential, and grid storage. Transportation and stationary industrial collectively contributed to around 82.4% of market revenue in 2014. Transportation was the largest end-use application in the target regions lead acid battery market in 2014, and is anticipated to continue its dominance through 2020. Stationary industrial is the second largest contributor to the target regions lead acid battery market, and is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period.The report finds that grid storage is one of the smallest end-use application segments in the target regions lead acid battery market, but is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period.Request For Sample@Lead acid batteries are predominantly used in passenger cars, commercial vehicles and two wheelers. In addition to that, demand for lead acid battery has also surged due to the increasing adoption of UPS, owing to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. Adoption of grid storage technology in developing countries such as India and China is expected to fuel the target regions lead acid battery market. In addition to that, an increase in the demand for electric vehicles is expected to further accelerate the expansion of the lead acid battery market globally.Moreover, key challenges in the lead acid battery market are raw material price volatility and stringent emission regulations. Lead is the essential raw material used in the manufacturing of lead acid batteries. Lead prices account for approximately 49% of the overall cost of the lead acid batteries. Any fluctuations in lead prices affect the overall profitability of lead acid battery manufacturers.Region-wise, Asia Pacific is the largest contributor in the target regions lead acid battery market, and is expected to continue its dominance till 2020. Currently, the Asia Pacific lead acid battery market is valued at US$ 15,995 Million and is expected to reach US$ 19,881 Million by 2020. Latin America and Japan are other major markets contributing 14.4% and 14.1% respectively, to the target regions lead acid battery revenue. Middle East & Africa accounted for the lowest contribution in terms of revenue in 2014, but is expected to register a significant growth at a CAGR of 4.9% over the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@The degree of competition in the target regions lead acid battery market has been analysed in the report, which also presents the comparative view of the key strategies and financial outlook of major companies operating in target regions lead acid battery market. These include Johnson Controls INC, Exide Technologies, GS Yuasa Corporation, EnerSys and Yokohama Industries.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Convenience Foods Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2020
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The convenience foods market is driven by busy lifestyles and ageing population. It includes a range of processed foods that has longer shelf life and are easy to use. The major attributes that consumers look for in convenience foods are ease of use, packaging, nutritional value, safety, variety and product appeal. These are prepared by adding various preservatives at specific conditions and few of them need an efficient supply chain and storage to retain their properties. Convenience foods save time and energy for preparing food at home or hotels. Technology and innovative packaging options have widened the food choices that are available in the market in various categories such as frozen, chilled, packaged foods, etc.The market has been segmented by type as canned foods, frozen foods, ready-to-eat snacks, meals, chilled foods and others. The market can also be segmented on the basis of distribution channels into supermarkets and hypermarkets, departmental stores, mom-and-pop shops, convenience stores and others. Geographically, the market can be segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America (the U.S., Canada and Mexico), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East & North Africa and RoW (Rest of the World, including Latin America and South Africa).Request For Report Sample@With more women in the workforce, the demand for convenience foods is rising, primarily in emerging economies. The rapid growth of the food service industry in large number of developing markets is also expected to fuel the demand of packaged ready-to-eat snacks such as potato fries, bakery products and meat products. However, lack of proper storage and logistics is a threat to the frozen and chilled category of convenience foods in developing countries. There are stringent regulations on labelling and manufacturing of convenience foods in both developed and developing nations. One of the major drivers for convenience foods industry growth is widened distribution channels and tendency of consumers to buy off-the-shelf especially in emerging markets of BRICS and MENA.The U.S. is the largest market for convenience foods in the world and the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America would fuel the future growth of the same. The U.S. will remain a strategic market for convenience food processors in the forecast period due to declining trend towards away-from-home dining and at-home cooking. There is a rising demand for meal solutions/ready-to-eat meals that can be prepared in two-step cooking. For instance, in December 2013, ConAgra Foods launched 23 new varieties of quality meals and desserts in Bertolli and P.F. Changs brands to enhance consumers at-home dining experience with convenience. In addition, consumers are looking for meals with foraged, hyper-local ingredients with different flavours and blends such as mushrooms, nettles, blackberries, rose hips, seaweeds, truffles, etc.The global convenience foods market is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR from 20142020. Some of the emerging markets may even experience a double-digit growth rate through the forecast period in significant categories.Large multinational corporations follow multiple strategies to develop and penetrate the market for convenience foods in different regions. However, providing products that match local consumer taste is of utmost importance. Pricing is another important factor for convenience foods, however nowadays, consumers are ready to pay a premium price if they get to buy quality convenience foods with health benefits. Some of the common strategies that companies have adopted in recent times are portion controlled packaging, in-store promotions, mergers & acquisitions and health claims in labels. There is a growing trend towards healthy convenience foods that are rich in proteins, functional fibres, vitamins, probiotics and omega-3 fatty acid. For this, many market leaders are integrating their operations by acquiring ingredient manufacturers to increase their technical know-how. Availability of customized food ingredients has become a boon for convenience food manufacturers as they can provide large varieties in each category.Request For TOC@Some of the key companies manufacturing and distributing convenience foods are Amy's Kitchen, Inc., Cargill, Incorporated, ConAgra Foods, Inc., General Mills, Inc., Tyson Foods, Inc., Mondel?z International, Inc. and Kraft Foods Group Inc.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
MOSCOW, March 2 (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused the opposition High Negotiations Committee of sabotaging Syrian peace talks in Geneva, the RIA news agency reported.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was wondering whether the HNC was capable of doing a peace deal, RIA said.
(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Food Grade Lubricants Market Analysis and Value Forecast Snapshot by End-use Industry 2014-2020
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Food grade lubricants refer to lubricants that are used to maintain the food processing machinery, i.e. it protects the tools and machines from wear and tear. However, since many of them come into direct contact with food, these lubricants used in these machineries need to be different from the usual machine lubricants. In other words, they should not render the food unfit for consumption. With recent advances in the food processing industry, there is now much variety in the machinery used to process each food/beverage category. With growing concern over the food we eat, food processors need to comply with various regulatory frameworks like the Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP). The standards vary from country to country. However, these are internationally accepted standards which are followed by food grade lubricant manufacturers. For instance, the non-profit public health and safety company, NSF International, along with USDA, has set standards for various food grade lubricants.These days, food safety is the highest priority for the food processors, and they take utmost care to maintain the same. H1 and H2 are the two most common broad spectrum food grade lubricants that are used in machinery involving incidental food contact and no food contact respectively. However, with the drive to produce innovative products in the food processing industry, the demand for customised and high performance food grade lubricants is expected to swell in near future. Food grade lubricants range from hydraulic fluids, oven chain oils, gear oils, compressor oils and vacuum pump oils to specialty lubricants such as can seamer oil. Different processes require different grades of oil. For instance, H3 (soluble oil) is used to prevent rust on trolleys, hooks and similar equipment whereas 3H release agents are used on chopping boards, cutters, grills, loaf pans, boning benches and other such hard surfaces.Request For Report Sample@Cutting edge equipment technology has always been the driver of the processed food industry and vice-versa. The demand for food grade lubricants is increasing with the increase in the size of the processed food industry worldwide, as well as proliferating food safety laws. All the major companies adhere to food safety laws in order to avoid product recalls and penalty fees. The trend is more prominent in developed countries such as the U.S., U.K, Canada, Norway, Germany, France and Italy. These countries, along with other developed countries, are expected to remain the main target market during the forecast period. Developing countries such as China, Brazil, India and South Africa are expected to grow at a slower rate with regard to food grade lubricants.The market can be segmented by type into H1 lubricants, H2 lubricants, 3H (releasing agents), H3 (soluble oils) and others. Geographically, the market can be segmented into Asia Pacific, North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and the Rest of the World (Latin America and South Africa). These lubricants are used in bakeries, the beverage industry, meat processing, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, and fruit and vegetable processing.The largest market by type worldwide is that of H1 food grade grease which can be used in variety of processes. It can be either petroleum based or synthetic in composition. Aluminium complex thickened grease is the most common and widely used lubricant as it can withstand high temperatures, is very water resistant, and is an important component in food & beverage processing equipment because of post shift equipment wash downs.Currently, North America is the largest market for food grade lubricants as USDA (The United States Department of Agriculture) has laid down stringent food safety laws for food processors. However, countries like India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa and Brazil are potential growth drivers as a large number of American companies have set up manufacturing units in these emerging markets. The European market is relatively less regulated in food grade lubricants and lacks proper laws pertaining to the same.Request For TOC@Some of the players of the food grade lubricant market are ITW ROCOL, Bel-Ray Company LLC, Lubriplate Lubricants Company, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co. and Suncor Energy Inc. among others.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Biostimulants Market Poised to Account for US$ 4,109.5 Mn By 2025 End
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Demand for biostimulants is expected to surpass US$ 4 billion in revenues, according to a new research report by Future Market Insights (FMI). The report titled, Biostimulants Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025 forecasts the demand for biostimulants to expand at a CAGR of nearly 11% through 2025.Biostimulants are finding increasing application in the agriculture sector owing to their environmentally-friendly and organic nature. Rising food demand is putting pressure on land and focus has shifted to enhancing the yield per hectare.Governments around the world are speeding up efforts to boost agricultural production. Use of biostimulants is being encouraged to improve the overall output, and this is expected to fuel demand in the near future, said the FMI analyst who compiled the report.Although FMI expects the demand for biostimulants to expand at a robust pace during the forecast period 2015-2025, certain factors can impede growth. Lack of standardisation and slow pace of innovation are the key restraining factors for the global biostimulants market.Foliar Dominant Application Segment for BiostimulantsBiostimulants are used in foliar, seed, and soil; among these, use of biostimulants is highest in the foliar segment, accounting for nearly one-third market share in 2014. On the basis of crop type, use of biostimulants is predominant in row crops, and fruits and vegetables. Application of biostimulants in turf and ornamental is at a nascent stage currently. FMI forecasts the turf and ornamental segment to expand at a CAGR of over 6% during 2015-2025.Strong Demand for Acid-Based BiostimulantsDemand for acid-based biostimulants is higher than acid-based- and extract-based biostimulants, owing to easy availability of raw materials and higher efficiency. Biostimulants containing Vitamin B, chitin and chitosan are expected to gain traction during the forecast period.Request For Sample@Western Europe Most Lucrative MarketWestern Europe is the largest market for biostimulants, accounting for over 30% market value share in 2014. Focus on enhancing yield per hectare coupled with government support are the key factors propelling the growth of the market in the region.Asia Pacific Excluding Japan is emerging as a lucrative market for biostimulants. The agriculture sector in the region is witnessing a shift from traditional farming practices to use of technology and additives, owing to which biostimulants are expected to gain traction in the next decade.Acadian Seaplants Limited, Biostadt India Limited, Omex Agrifluids Ltd., Italpollina Spa, Koppert B.V., BioAtlantis Ltd., Micromix Plant Health Limited, Trade Corporation International, Valagro S.p.A, Isagro S.p.A, Platform Specialty Products Corporation, BASF SE, Novozymes A/S, Agrinos A/S and The Dow Chemical Company.Segmentation of the global biostimulants market:By ApplicationFoliarSoilSeedBy Crop TypeRowFruits & vegetablesTurf & ornamentalOther cropsBy Active Ingredient TypeAcid-basedExtract-basedOthersBy GeographyWestern EuropeEU-5 CountriesNordicBENELUXRest of Western EuropeNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaAsia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ)ChinaIndiaASEANOceaniaRest of APEJSend An Enquiry@Latin AmericaArgentinaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEastern EuropePolandRussiaRest of Eastern EuropeMiddle East and AfricaGCCSouth AfricaTurkeyRest of Middle East and AfricaJapanABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Antimicrobial Additives Market Value to Increase US$ 16.2 Bn by 2025
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Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the Global Antimicrobial Additives Market in its upcoming report titled Antimicrobial Additives Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 20152025.The global antimicrobial additives market is projected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period due to various factors, regarding which FMI offers vital insights in detail in its report.The benefits offered by antimicrobial products include quality enhancement of equipment/materials in terms of resistance towards microbial growth, improved product performance, and durability. Preference towards hygieneic and disposable products and increasing health awareness are other key factors fuelling demand.Some antimicrobial additives are hazardous to the environment when disposed. Research initiatives by environmental institutions suggest that anti-bacterial chemicals constitute a significant portion of soil and water contaminants. The issue of safe disposal and harmful effects of these additives on the eco-system is identified as a restraining factor for the growth of the global antimicrobial additives market.Use of antimicrobial additives in healthcare products, such as medical devices and disposable hygiene products is identified as one of the key trends in the market. Stringent environment regulations have prompted antimicrobial additives manufacturers to innovate and launch new compositions in order to meet the safe disposal and anti-bacterial properties criterion.Request For Sample@On the basis of applications, the antimicrobial additives market is segmented into paints and coatings, inks, paper, plastics, fabric/textile, silicone and rubber, and other applications. On the basis of the end use industry, the antimicrobial additives market is segmented into building and construction, healthcare, automotive, electronics, food and beverages and other end-use industries. On the basis of regions, the global antimicrobial additives market is segmented into seven key regions, including Asia Pacific, North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa and Japan.As of 2014, the plastics application was the largest segment in the global antimicrobial additives market, followed by paints and coatings, and textile. The plastics application segment is projected to remain the largest segment throughout the forecast period, corresponding to incremental $ opportunity of US$ 2,954 Mn between 2015 and 2025.As of 2014, food and beverages was the largest end-use industry segment in the global antimicrobial additives market, followed by healthcare. Both these segments are expected to offer similar incremental $ opportunity for the antimicrobial additive manufacturers during the forecast period.As of 2014, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) accounted for the largest market value share of the global antimicrobial additives market, followed by Western Europe, North America and other regions. Developing regions including APEJ, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa collectively accounted for more than 50% share of the overall market in 2014 and are further expected to gain market share by 2025. The BRICS antimicrobial additives market is projected to account for a significant share of the overall market by the end of forecast period and is anticipated to expand at a promising CAGR of more than 9% during the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@Some of the key players in the antimicrobial additives market that have been covered in this study include AkzoNobel N.V., BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Sanitized AG, SteriTouch Ltd., BioCote Ltd., Life Material Technologies Ltd., Momentive Performance Material Inc., Clariant Chemicals India Ltd. and Nanobiomatters Industries S.L.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Infant Incubator Market : New Tech Developments And Advancements To Watch Out For 2024!!
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Infant incubator is a device that is used to provide a controlled environment with the essential levels of warmth, humidity, and oxygen required by a newborn. The incubator unit is composed of a soft mattress, which is covered by a plastic cover, and is usually in the form of a trolley. It protects the infant from dust, noise, infection, and excess handling, providing a clean environment. In the incubator chamber, a temperature sensor adjusts the heat and maintains constant temperature for the infant. Furthermore, there is a humidification system and electric heating system in the incubator chamber to maintain humidity and to circulate humid air. These devices are essential to regulate the temperature for preterm infants as their normal metabolic rate is lower, leading to reduced heat production.For Any Queries Get Solutions With A PDF Sample :The market for infant incubators is anticipated to grow owing to its various advantages enabling the well-being of newborns. The advent of infant incubators has enhanced the survival rate of preterm infants and has reduced the neonatal hypothermia. This factor contributes to the growth of the infant incubators market. In addition, the growing rate of preterm birth is likely to propel the growth of the market. According to the WHO, the number of premature child births is more than 15 million every year and is anticipated to increase over the years. However, high cost of these devices, availability of alternate modes such as infant warmers, and inadequacy of these devices in the developing regions are expected to restraint the market growth. In addition, the incubators limit the infants access to medical care, which might have a negative impact on the growth of the infant incubator market.Infant incubators can be classified as closed care infant warming devices. The global infant incubator market can be classified on the basis of product, end-user, and geography. On the basis of product, the market can be segmented into transport incubator and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) incubator. The NICU incubators are anticipated to record a strong growth in the market. On the basis of end-user, the market can be segmented into pediatric hospitals, birthing centers, and neonatal intensive care units.Geographically, the global infant incubator market is distributed over North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is anticipated to record a high market share of the market during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing number of premature term babies and well-developed health care infrastructure. Europe is anticipated to be the second leading region in the infant incubator market. It is observed that the number of premature child births in Italy is more than 7% and is anticipated to increase over the years, contributing to the growth of the Europe market. However, the sluggish economic environment might negatively impact the growth of the market. According to the WHO, India and China are the leading countries in terms of number of premature child birth. The Asia Pacific market is expected to record a robust CAGR during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the significant contribution from the emerging countries such as China and India.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :The major players operating in the infant incubator market include GE Healthcare, Atom Medical Corporation, Natus Medical Incorporated, Cobams srl, AVI Healthcare Private Limited, Gammer International, Fanem Ltd, Ningbo David Medical Device Co., Ltd, Novos Medical Systems, and Ardo.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Bentonite Market to Expand at 5.8% CAGR through 2025
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Future Market Insights (FMI), delivers key insights on the bentonite market in its latest report titled, Bentonite Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 20152025. According to the report, revenue from the global bentonite market is projected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period. Bentonite is a highly colloidal clay mineral which contains a various minerals such as feldspar, quartz, gypsum and calcite. Properties such as water swelling, absorption, hydration and viscosity broaden the application scope of bentonite across a wide range of industries, such as food and pharmaceuticals. It finds its use in the manufacture of detergents, paints pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, polishes, dyes, animal feed and paper. For instance, it is used as a binding agent in the production of iron ore pellets and finds application in foundries. Also, based on application or use of finished product the mechanical and chemical properties of bentonite can be modified through various combinations and additions of raw materials.Versatility of this material is driving increasing adoption in various industries, including automobiles, construction and chemicals. Technological advancements in bentonite production and increasing demand through exports are major underlying factors anticipated to fuel growth of the Asia Pacific bentonite market between 2015 and 2025. This is forecast to offer bentonite manufacturers, distributors and product converters unprecedented opportunities in the market. Furthermore, the trend is even more pronounced in emerging economies of the world (Brazil, India, Russia and China). Healthy trade relations and government support in these regions has served to boost bentonite export-import activities.Request For Sample@Demand for bentonite is highest in North America -- the region accounting for 36.3% share of the global market in 2014. North America is expected to remain the most lucrative market for bentonite throughout the forecast period. India is projected to play an important role in this market owing to low labour and operational costs. Owing to the growth in the oil industry, especially in Asia Pacific and Middle East, the drilling fluid- and clarification agent- application segments are expected to exhibit high growth rates of over 6% during the forecast period.Some of the major driving factors identified in the global bentonite market include rapid growth of the construction sector in emerging markets and Use of bentonite in treating and filtering water is also driving the growth of the market. In addition, government support to SMEs in this region is forecast to further boost growth of the market. However, stiff competition on account of substitute products and shrinking profit margin can impede the growth of the market. Increasing application of bentonite in landscaping and landfill as a geosynthetics clay liner (GCL) are the key trends in the market.On the basis of product type, the global bentonite market is segmented into calcium, sodium, and others. Key end-use application segments include sealant, binder, clarification agent, drilling fluid, and absorbent/adsorbent. Oil, food, construction, foundry, and pharmaceuticals are the key end-use industries for the bentonite market. North America is the largest market for bentonite, while Asia Pacific is the fastest growing.The report analyses the global bentonite market in terms of value (US$ Mn) and volume (000 tonnes) by region, product type, end-use application and end-use industries, and provides insightful information regarding market dynamics, value chain, competitive landscape, current trends, market estimations and forecast.Send An Enquiry@Key market participants covered in the report include Black Hills Bentonite, LLC, Halliburton Co., Kemira OYJ, Charles B Chrystal Co. Inc., Mineral Technologies Inc., Clariant AG, Alfa Aesar, Kutch Minerals, Kunimine Industries Co. Ltd., Ashapura Group of Companies and Wyo- Ben Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Super Absorbent Polymer Market Set to Grow Exponentially During the Forecast, 2020
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Global demand for super absorbent polymers (SAP) is set to reach 2.37 Mn tonnes by 2016, up from 2.1 Mn tonnes in 2014. Nippon Shokubai Co. Ltd., BASF SE, and Evonik Industries are the dominant players in the global super absorbent polymer market, with Nippon Shokubai Co. Ltd. holding the largest revenue share in 2014. These findings are according to a research report, titled, Super Absorbent Polymer Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2020 by market research firm Future Market Insights (FMI).Key Players Focusing on Innovation to Gain Competitive EdgeKey stakeholders in the super absorbent polymer market are bolstering their research and development capabilities to launch innovative products in the market. For example, in November 2014, Sumitomo Seika launched Aqua Keep HP, a high-function SAP for making thin baby- and adult-diapers. BASE SE also made an announcement in November 2014 that it will invest nearly US$ 550 Mn in pioneering superabsorbent technology. Other key players including Evonik Industries and Nippon Shokubai are focusing on increasing SAP production.Disposable Diapers Largest Application Segment for Super Absorbent PolymersMajority of the global demand for super absorbent polymers is concentrated in three industries disposable diapers, adult incontinence products, and female hygiene products.Request For Sample@Disposable diapers is the largest end-use application segment for super absorbent polymers, accounting for nearly one-thirds of overall demand. FMI estimates demand from disposable diapers industry to reach 1.79 Mn tonnes in 2016, up from 1.59 Mn tonnes in 2014. In terms of revenues, disposable diapers segment is expected to account for US$ 5.81 Bn in 2016.Sodium polyacrylate co-polymers Account for Highest DemandSodium polyacrylate-based super absorbent polymers are preferred over poly acrylamide, ethylene-maleic anhydride, and polyvinyl alcohol co-polymers. Of the total 2.24 Mn tonnes of super absorbent polymers consumed in 2015, sodium polyacrylate co-polymers accounted for 1.45 Mn tonnes. FMI expects demand for poly acrylamide co-polymers to witness an increase in the future owing to their high water retention and non-toxic properties.Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Most Lucrative RegionDemand for super absorbent polymers was highest in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), followed by Europe and North America.Demand for super absorbent polymers in APEJ is anticipated to reach 705 Mn tonnes by 2016, up from 666 Mn tonnes in 2015. Rising awareness levels and increase in purchasing power are the macro-economic factors driving the super absorbent polymers market in APEJ.Demand for super absorbent polymers in Europe -- the second largest market for super absorbent polymers globally is expected to reach 645 Mn tonnes in 2016. By 2020, the Europe super absorbent polymer market is anticipated to reach US$ 2.6 Bn in revenues.Send An Enquiry@The North America super absorbent polymers market was valued at 493.6 Mn tonnes in terms of volume in 2015. FMI estimates this to increase to 518 Mn tonnes by 2016. Demand for disposable diapers and other incontinence products has remained constant in North America in the past, owing to which demand for super absorbent polymers is expected to grow at a steady rate. By 2020, demand for super absorbent polymers is expected to reach 612 Mn tonnes in North America.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trendsCONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Clear Labels Market - Increasing Demand of Clear labels from the Food and Beverage Industry To be the Key Driver
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The packaging industry globally is witnessing an impressive growth, primarily driven by the changing needs of packaging buyers, trying to serve more consumers by offering customization. The role of packaging and labelling today is not only restricted to preserve and protect the product, but rather communicate brand image and convey information to its large customer base. The format and design of labels is a key marketing tool for marketers in projecting the brand image for the products. One of the most widely used labels serving the purpose for most of the brand owners is clear labels.Get Sample Report Copy:Clear labels are of the most versatile products as they are now being used in most markets and designed in a variety of ways. Clear labels are more transparent in nature as compared to other form of labels and offer no label look, trend which is gaining traction from various end use industries, looking to offer luxury packaging for their product offerings. Clear labels give the illusion that the print is direct on the container while at the same time, they allow the consumer to have a transparent look at the contents. Clear labels are moisture resistant, making them an exceptional option for product packaging in the food & beverage industry, healthcare and homecare industry that face wet conditions. Clear labels, while growing in popularity is modern and attractive making it a clear winner for labelling of food products.Clear Labels: Market DynamicsThe demand for clear labels is anticipated to witness an above average growth over the forecast period. Clear labels are stickers that can be applied on any packaging as well as sheets and rolls, creating value addition for any business in terms of marketing and branding. Label manufactures are constantly focusing to add innovative offerings to their portfolio, striving to meet the diverse needs from large end use industries. The transparent property of clear labels makes the product visible for consumers, making the product more attractive. Clear labels takes of the pressure of creative packaging and place emphasis on natural quality and appeal which has help to boost the sales of clear labels. In addition to this, clear labels meet the regulations as it enables the inclusion of all regulatory norms and also provide clear visibility of the product its end users. Moreover, the design of clear labels to blend into the containers surface, also enhances the overall packaging for the product, and is one of the key drivers for the global clear labels market. When it comes to bottom line, printing clear labels is more economical than printing directly on the container, as it saves the total shipping cost of transporting the container to and from the printing company. Moreover, customized offering for clear labels with different matte and glossy finishes is the ongoing trend observed in the global clear labels market. Increasing demand of clear labels from the food and beverage industry is one of the key drivers of the global clear labels market. The trend to adapt transparency in packaging is gaining traction and is likely to propel the demand for clear labels in the next half of the decade. Despite growth momentum, high cost of printing on clear labels, lack of awareness amongst end users are some of the challenges faced by the global clear labels market.Clear Labels: Market SegmentationThe clear labels market is segmented on the basis of material, application and printing technology. On the basis of material type, the global clear labels market is segmented into polyester, vinyl, polycarbonate, polypropylene and others. On the basis of application, the global clear labels market is segmented into food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, homecare, personal care and cosmetics, consumer durables and others. Demand clear labels from food packaging application segment is anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities to the global clear labels market in terms of growth prospects. The food and beverage segment in the global clear label market is further sub-segmented into frozen food, snacks, dairy products, bakery & confectionary, microwaveable food products, others and beverages. On the basis of printing technology, the global clear label market is segmented into lithographic printing, flexographic printing, digital printing and others.Clear Label Market: Regional outlookClear label market has been segmented on the basis of region into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America. Among these region, North America and Europe are expected to collectively dominate the market throughout the forecast period. However, many food and beverage companies in Asia Pacific are exploring innovative options to make the product look more attractive, positively impacting the sales of clear labels market. Furthermore, Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness maximum CAGR over the forecast period primarily driven by China, Japan and India. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to witness sluggish growth and over the forecast period.Clear Label Market: Key playersSome of the players in the global clear label market are Consolidated Label Co, Hub Labels, Premier Label Company Inc, and A & S Labels Pvt Ltd.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Worldwide Market For Energy Recovery Ventilators Is Expanding At A Phenomenal CAGR Of 11.50% Between 2016 And 2024 Projected To Cross 15.9 Mn Units Mark By 2024
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Energy Recovery Ventilators Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.This report covers the analysis and forecast of the energy recovery ventilators market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with forecast for the period between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (Million Units) and revenue (US$ Mn).The study provides a decisive view of the energy recovery ventilators market by segmenting it based on technology, type, application, and regional demand. Application segments have been analyzed based on current trends and future potential. The market has been estimated from 2016 to 2024 in terms of volume (Million Units) and revenue (US$ Mn). Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. These have been further sub-segmented into countries and regions with relevance to the market. The segmentation also includes demand for individual applications in all regions.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: Scope of the StudyThe study covers the drivers and restraints governing the dynamics of the market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes potential opportunities in the energy recovery ventilators market on the global and regional level. It encompasses market attractiveness analysis, wherein applications have been benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness for future growth.The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates. Prices of energy recovery ventilators vary in each region and are a result of the demand-supply scenario in the region. Hence, a similar volume-to-revenue ratio does not follow for each individual region. Individual pricing of energy recovery ventilators for each application has been taken into account while estimating and forecasting market revenue on a global basis. Regional average price has been considered while breaking down the market into segments in each region.The report provides the size of the energy recovery ventilators market in 2015 and the forecast for the next nine years up to 2024. The size of the global energy recovery ventilators market is provided in terms of both volume and revenue. Market volume is defined in million units, while market revenue for regions is in US$ Mn. The market size and forecast for each product segment is provided in the context of global and regional markets. Numbers provided in this report are derived based on demand generated from different applications and types of raw materials.Global Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: Research MethodologyMarket estimates for this study have been based on volume, with revenue being derived through regional pricing trends. The price for commonly utilized grades of energy recovery ventilators in each application has been considered, and customized product pricing has not been included. Demand for energy recovery ventilators has been derived by analyzing the global and regional demand for energy recovery ventilators in each application. The global energy recovery ventilators market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Market data for each segment is based on volume and corresponding revenues. Prices considered for calculation of revenue are average regional prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous regional suppliers, distributors, and direct selling regional producers based on manufacturers feedback.Forecasts have been based on the expected demand from energy recovery ventilators. We have used the top-down approach to estimate the global energy recovery ventilators market, split into regions. The product type split of the market has been derived using a top-down approach for each regional market separately, with the global product type segment split being an integration of regional estimates. Companies were considered for the market share analysis based on their product portfolio, revenue, and manufacturing capacity. In the absence of specific data related to the sales of energy recovery ventilators of several privately held companies, calculated assumptions have been made in view of the companys product portfolio and regional presence along with the demand for products in its portfolio.Global Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: Competitive OutlookThe report covers a detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and company profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Ltd. (Japan), Daikin industries Ltd. (Japan), United Technologies Corporation (U.S.), FUJITSU Ltd. (Japan), Nortek, Inc. (U.S.), LG Electronics (South Korea), Johnson Controls International PLC (Ireland), Blue Star Ltd. (India), Airxchange Inc. (U.S.), and Munters Corporation (Sweden).The global Energy Recovery Ventilators Market has been segmented into:Global Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: By Geography- North America- U.S.- Rest of North America- Europe- U.K.- France- Italy- Germany- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- China- ASEAN- Japan- Rest of Asia Pacific- Middle East and Africa (MEA)- UAE- South Africa- Rest of MEA- Latin America (LATAM)- Brazil- Rest of LATAMGlobal Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: By Technology- Plate Heat Exchange- Rotary Heat Exchange- Run Around Coil- Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger- Thermosiphon- OthersGlobal Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: By Type- Wall Mounted- Window Mounted- OthersGlobal Energy Recovery Ventilators Market: By Application- Commercial- Residential- IndustrialMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
North America Aesthetic Services Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecast Research Report 2016 - 2024
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Aesthetic Services Market - North America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.Growing awareness about skin rejuvenation, expanding per capita income and the shift towards minimally invasive and non-invasive procedures are the major drivers propelling the growth of North America aesthetic services market. Lifestyle changes along with changes in eating habits leads to increase in obesity, which causes accumulation of excessive fat and cholesterol, resulting in increase in body weight. Obesity is a substantial problem in America that affects large number of people. Rising incidences of obesity are increasing adoption of liposuction procedure.Liposuction was the most popular surgical aesthetic procedure performed in North America and is expected to show highest CAGR over the forecast period. Among non-surgical services segment, dermal fillers segment is anticipated to show high CAGR of 11.6% during the forecast period due to growth in popularity of combination treatments for dermal fillers and their rise in adoption among customers, increase in the demand for the Botulinum Toxin by the ageing population and the high influence of celebrity looks driving the demand for dermal fillers segment.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @North America Aesthetic Services Market: Research MethodologyThe report is a combination of primary and secondary research. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts, with information collected from telephonic interviews and interactions via e-mail. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, stock analysis presentations, and various national and international databases. The report provides market size in terms of US$ Mn for each segment for the period from 2016 to 2024, considering the macro and micro-environmental factors. Growth rates for each segment within the aesthetic services market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments and reimbursement scenario.The market overview section of the report includes qualitative analysis of the overall aesthetic services market including the determining factors and market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, market trends and opportunities, along with potential customer analysis, PEST analysis, top five services by countries, supply demand analysis and market entry opportunity analysis. In addition, market attractiveness analysis by country, services type and end-user along with strategies adopted by key players have been provided which explain the intensity of competition in the market considering different geographical locations. The competitive scenario between market players has been evaluated through market share analysis. These factors would help the market players take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and increase their shares in the market. Pricing of services offered holds a crucial part of the report, which further describes the cost applicable to customer in both countries.North America Aesthetic Services Market: SegmentationBased on the end user, Dermatology clinics and cosmetic centers is the most attractive end-user segment of the aesthetic services market. The segment is projected to register a CAGR of 8.6% from 2016 to 2024. Ambulatory Surgery Centers is expected to be the next most lucrative End-user segment and anticipated to expand at the rate of 7.3% during the forecast period. ASCs are the preferred settings for aesthetic treatments, especially facial and scar treatments.Geographically, North America aesthetic services market has been categorized into The U.S. and Canada. The U.S. was the most attractive market in 2015. The U.S. accounted for 95% share of the North America aesthetic services market in 2015 and is projected to expand at CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period of 2016-2024. Rising awareness and adoption of various aesthetic services, growing health care infrastructure, rising incidence of skin disorders are anticipated to boost the growth of the market in the region during the forecast period. Further increasing demand for aesthetic treatments among the male population and availability of user friendly aesthetic devices are the key factors fuelling the growth of aesthetics services market in near future.North America Aesthetic Services Market: Competitive OutlookMajor aesthetic service providers operating in North America aesthetic services market are Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery, Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery, Dermatology solutions group, The Plastic Surgery Clinic, Cosmetic & Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Clinic Toronto, The MedSpa Southwest Plastic Surgery, Riverside Plastic Surgery, Marina Plastic Surgery, DCDermDocs, Quatela Center for Plastic Surgery.North America Aesthetic services Market, by Services Type- Surgical Services- Skin Tightening and Body Contouring- Facial contouring- Facial rejuvenation- Others- Non-Surgical Services- Dermabrasion and Microdermabrasion- Dermal Fillers- Botox- Dermal Fillers- Other- Laser treatment- Scar Treatment- Tattoo Removal- Hair Removal- Others- Reconstructive Procedures- Breast Enhancement- Tissue expansion- Burn repair surgery- OthersNorth America Aesthetic services Market, by End-user- Hospitals- Dermatology Clinics and Cosmetic Centers- Ambulatory Surgery CentersNorth America Aesthetic services Market, by Region- North America- The U.S.- CanadaMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Good Growth Opportunities in Global Logistics Outsourcing Market Till 2020
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Logistics outsourcing, most commonly known as third-party logistics is a process or operation of sub-contracting industrial functions like cross-docking, inventory keeping, warehousing and transportation to a third party or supply chain management provider. Third party logistics providers include raw material suppliers, distributors and other value-added service providers. These services are generally integrated and used together to provide end-user convenience. The decision for outsourcing logistics by a parent company is generally dependent on company size, complication of logistics and relative economic benefits of outsourcing.Logistics outsourcing includes contracting of material management, supply chain management, distribution management, shipment packaging and channel management. E-business web portals and stores are in extensive need of on-clock dispatch and delivery services offered by outsourced logistics providers. The advantages associated with the logistics outsourcing market are improvement of suppliers capability due to the use of information technology, specialization of operation, focus on core competencies and uniform growth. However, lack of monitoring control over logistics and risks associated with vendor reliability are some of the drawbacks of this market.Request For Report Sample@Regions across the globe with an attractive logistics outsourcing market, in terms of contract logistics, include North America and Southeast Asia. RoW (Rest of the World) is showing growth in inter-regional logistics. Major factors driving the development of logistics outsourcing market are globalization, time-proportional economy, presence of virtual organizations, improved customer awareness, strategic concerns to achieve more flexibility and better IT infrastructural support. On the other hand, loss of logistics, poor transportation, local protection regulations and lack of post-outsourcing measurements are some of the factors hampering growth of this market.The global logistics outsourcing market is segmented on the basis of service type, transport media used and geography. The market can vary in service type as simple service, combined service, consulting service and value-added service. On the basis of transport media used to handle logistics, it can be classified into air freight, ocean carriers, railways and trucking. The market can be categorised on the basis of geography into North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa.Globalized product availability, demand for product individualization in terms of logistics, on-time delivery, just-in-time inventory, agility in time response transport, big data analytics and atomization of shipment are some of the global market trends guided by technological innovations like remote tracking and monitoring using RFID tags and EDI-based location of the shipment. Analytics based on big data is providing better accuracy of frequency of tasks and decision-making capabilities. There is a continuous insourcing trend by online retailers (like Amazon.com) for inventory so as to be more cost-effective and unified in terms of operations, and to emphasize on outsourcing for end-product transportation services only. These technological up gradations continuously enhance services provided by outsourced logistics providers.Request For TOC@Exel Logistics (U.K.), Menlo Worldwide Logistics (U.S.), FedEx (U.S.), Ryder Logistics (U.S.) and Tibbett and Britten (U.K.) are some of the key outsourced logistics providers. These companies have a wide global presence and provide multi-sector services. They are continuously trying to reach influential market and customers by means of removing bottlenecks related to international shipments and reducing cost through geographical spread of inventory. The market in Asia-Pacific region shows a steady and consistent growth through service innovations by companies, so as to attract economic customers. The companies need to shift their focus from integrated services to offering broad range of products & services portfolio. With more focus on growing B2C sector, the scope for logistics outsourcing will extend towards value-added and specialized services.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Luxury Pens Market Witness Robust Expansion by 2022
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Some of the key players identified in the global luxury pens market are Paradise Pen Company, Montblanc International GmbH, C. Josef Lamy GmbH, Grayson Tighe, Parker Pen Company, A.T.Cross Company, Sanford L.P.The growing e-communication among the corporates and other social class people around the world has become a threat for written communication. Due to the increasing brand awareness and high disposable income of people (especially among young adults), the luxury pens market is witnessing a decent growth. Likewise, luxury pens key players which are having brands such as Lamy, Aurora, Mont Blanc, Grayson and Parker are trying to encash the opportunities in this growing luxury pens market. The major players are opting to make their luxury pens more royal by making it diamond studded and gold plated, to grab the maximum market share. One of the key trend in the market is that the manufacturers are strategically investing in product development by modifying the luxury pen nib with platinum and other expensive metals. In spite of the sluggish market and curtailed discretionary spending, the luxury pens market is growing at a good rate. Hence, the global luxury pens market has got a great potential in the forecast period. The global luxury pens market is anticipated to witness a moderate single digit growth in the upcoming years.The growing global luxury pens market can be attributed to the growing disposable income and brand awareness amongst people. Growing population coupled with the changing lifestyle of people in the developed countries is anticipated to drive the demand for global luxury pens market. Moreover, possessing a luxury pen has become a status symbol these days and hence, high class society people are opting for luxury pens. Likewise, the attractiveness of luxury pens again plays a great role for boosting its market.The luxury pens market is a niche market, and also there are not much retailers available in the market, which can hamper the luxury pens market. Likewise, the import duty of such luxury pens is high enough to impact its market. Due to its high range the inventory cost of the dealers increases, hence it requires more working capital management which can decline the luxury pens market. Moreover, there is an increase in e-communication among people which would further decline the luxury pens market.Request to view table of content @Global Luxury Pens Market: SegmentationThe global luxury pens market can be segmented on the basis on product type, raw material and application.Global Luxury Pens Market by Product Type Ball Point Pens Converter Pens Fountain Pens Roller Ball Pens Fine Liner Pens Stylus Pens Multifunctional Pens Brush Pens Die PensGlobal Luxury Pens Market By Material Used:- Precious gold metals Precious resin Rubber Stainless Steel Sterling Silver Porcelain/ Ceramic Carbon LacquerGlobal Luxury Pens Market by Application:- Calligraphy Screen Writing Document MarkingGlobal Luxury Pens Market by Region: Asia Pacific Europe North America Latin America The Middle East & AfricaAsia Pacific is the fastest growing region in the global luxury pens market. Countries such as India and China are the upcoming countries where demand for such luxury items are at peak because of the increase in disposable income of people. Even, North America is a flourishing luxury pens market due to the improving brand awareness of luxury pens amongst people.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @The final report customized as per your specific requirement will be sent to your e-mail id within 7-20 days, depending on the scope of the report.For more information, please e-mail us at sales@persistencemarketresearch.comAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Perfume Packaging Market - The Biggest Trends to Watch out for 2016-2024
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Attractive packaging acts as a stimulating attribute for perfume industry. Perfumes are now available with low concentration of fragrance oils such as eau de cologne and eau fraiche, aiming to increase the number of consumers who use perfumes on a daily basis. Thus, there is an increase in frequency of perfume use, which in turn is expected to create huge demand for perfume packaging in the coming years. Nowadays, younger generation is more aware of personal grooming and are ready to experiment with new brands and products, which in turn makes them feel more confident. Additionally, there is a growing demand for beauty products that the market is flooded with different types of perfumes. Hence, this billion dollar industry is growing at an impressive speed in order to meet the consumer demand.Download PDF Brochure:Perfume Packaging Market: Drivers & RestraintsOne of the major factor which is fueling the growth of perfume packaging market is e-retailing. E-retailing facilitates the availability of local and foreign brands through online portals. The key players of perfumes packaging are collaborating with leading e-commerce players or have their own e-commerce sites to seize maximum advantage of e-commerce potential. Changing lifestyle in developing countries brings tremendous opportunities for manufacturers of perfume packaging. Increase in per capita income coupled with consumer spending on luxury grooming products offers a momentum to the growth of overall cosmetics industry, which is further driving the perfume packaging market. Meanwhile, there are a few factors that can act as restraints in the perfume packaging market, like the increasing commercialization of perfume imitations is anticipated to hamper the growth of global perfumes packaging market during the forecast period. In addition, the counterfeit products are available in similar packaging as the original product making it difficult for the consumers to differentiate them from original products. These products are sold at a very low cost compared to the original products.Perfume Packaging Market: SegmentationOn the basis of packaging type, the global perfume packaging market is segmented into,Primary PackagingSecondary PackagingOn the basis of perfume bottles, the global perfume packaging market is segmented into,PlasticsGlassMetalPaper & PaperboardOthersOn the basis of size, the global perfume packaging market is segmented into,SmallMediumlargePerfume Packaging Market: Region Wise-OutlookOn the basis of region, perfume packaging finds its market scope in North America, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Europe and North America dominates perfume packaging market, however, Latin America and Asia Pacific regions are expected to be the most promising regions for generating high revenue. Perfume Packaging market is highly controlled in Europe and North America. India and China are the key promising countries driving the perfume packaging market in Asia-Pacific region. Globally, Chinese consumers have maximum share in the growth of luxury goods markets. Chinese consumer spending in foreign regions is more as compared to local spending on luxury products. China is just behind North America in consumer spending, due to strong currency rates as well as rising disposable income. The spending by Japan has also increased due to local consumers as well as the increasing number of Chinese tourists. The currency fluctuations in Europe has led to rise in tourist consumers in the region which further drives the growth for luxury products including perfume industry.Perfume Packaging Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players of perfume packaging market are SGB Packaging, B.I. Packaging, Cosmetics & Perfume Filling & Packaging, Inc., HH Deluxe Packaging, Collcap Packaging Limited, DuPont, Vetroplas and may more.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Agricultural Microbials Market :Current Market Trends, Outlook And Opportunity Analysis 2023
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Biosynthetic capabilities of microorganisms, in a specific set of environmental condition makes them likely candidates for enhancing nutritional value and pest protection properties in agriculture. Agricultural microbials are produced from naturally occurring microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. These microbials are usually applied to seeds or sprayed on crops to protect them from pests and diseases. Microbials also enhance productivity and fertility of the plant. Agricultural microbial products provide sustainable and cost effective solutions to increase plant yield, irrespective of geographies. Various types of fungi, bacteria, algae and viruses are the commonly used microbials in agriculture. Furthermore, these microbials play an important role in the production of grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and poultry and livestock products. Soil is the most important component of agriculture. Microbes present in the soil therefore play a vital role in the management and regulation of nutrients available for crops. Agricultural microbials are thus used to enhance the crop yield. Companies operating in this market are striving to launch products containing different microbial ingredients to meet the expected yield. Agricultural microbials are beneficial in the production of food in the form of a long term sustainable base for agricultural activities that help to maintain and improve human health. Further, agricultural microbials preserve and protect the environment and are therefore beneficial for both farmers as well as consumers. Increasing demand for food is expected to drive the global agricultural microbials market in the next few years. This added factor is expected to boost the market for agricultural microbials in the coming years.For Any Queries Get Solutions With A PDF Sample :Agricultural microbials supply nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to plants. These microbials also protect plants from pests and diseases. Agricultural microbials enhance the nutrient transportation process, improve soil structure, maintain biological equilibrium and enhance plant growth which subsequently results in increased yield of the plant. Thus, agricultural microbials have become increasingly popular in food production across the globe. Favorable regulatory and financial policies of various governments regarding the usage of microbial products, increasing global population, rising demand for food, and environment-friendly farming practices are the major driving factors of the agricultural microbials market.Growth of the agricultural microbials market is primarily led by the high frequency of crop diseases and rising demand for food in developed as well as developing nations. Environmental protection laws in the U.S. and Europe are major drivers encouraging the use of agricultural microbials in these regions. This trend is likely to continue in the near future with growing importance of the agriculture industry. Furthermore, factors such as innovative production practices that do not harm crop yield would boost the usage of agricultural microbials globally. The market for agricultural microbials is expected to expand in Asia Pacific due to the economic growth coupled with increasing demand for food in the region. Developing countries such as China and India are likely to play a vital role in the agricultural microbials market in coming years due to the increased demand for food. North America, followed by Europe, is anticipated to be the largest market for agricultural antimicrobials due to stringent regulations requiring environment-friendly means of agriculture and rising demand for organic food in the region. Companies operating in this market aim to generate innovative solutions in order to meet the changing need of the consumers and these companies also invest heavily on research and development of new microbial products with the anticipated bright prospects for this market. Therefore, the global agricultural microbials market is anticipated to expand significantly in the near future.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :Some of the major companies operating in the global agricultural microbials market are Bayer CropScience AG, Monsanto, BASF SE, Syngenta AG, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Arysta LifeScience Limited and Novozymes.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Next Generation Non Volatile Memory Market Driven By Increasing Need For Fast And Economical Storage Solutions Across Diverse Applications Till 2024: Grand View Research, Inc.
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The global next generation non-volatile memory (NVM) market is expected to reach USD 7.46 billion by 2024, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing need for fast and economical storage solutions across diverse applications is estimated to drive industry growth over the forecast period.Next Generation Non Volatile Memory is used for various applications such as enterprise, industrial and automotive to store and manage information, which is expected to augment market growth over the next six years. Increasing use of Next Generation Non Volatile Memory in mobile phones to enhance customer experience is expected to fuel market growth.The increasing demand for wearable electronics and replacement of flash memory storage may provide new growth avenues to the Next Generation Non Volatile Memory industry. Low environment stability and high design cost may act as a restraint to market growth over the forecast period.All common computing platforms from handheld devices to supercomputers use storage systems to store data permanently or temporarily. Smart cards store a few bytes of data and are expected to grow at a significant rate over the forecast period. Economical and efficient solution development is expected to be a critical success factor for industry players.The Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a considerable rate owing to increasing demand for smartphones and tablets. Additionally, presence of key market players in countries such as China, India, Japan and South Korea is also expected to positively impact the regional market over the forecast period.Browse full research report on Global Next Generation Non Volatile Memory Market: (Further key findings from the study suggest: Efficient programming and eras ability options offered by MRAM product segment is predicted to impel industry growth over the next eight years Cache memory and enterprise storage was a major application segment in 2015 and accounted over 57% of the overall industry in the same year North America was estimated to be the key regional market in 2015 Key industry participants include Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., IBM Corp, Adesto Technologies, Crossbar Inc., Fujitsu Ltd, Toshiba Corporation, and Intel Corporation Toshiba along with SK Hynix are working on production of Next Generation Non Volatile Memory chips, which is expected to decrease power consumption and increase data transfer speedGrand View Research has segmented the global next generation non volatile memory market on the basis of product, application and region:Next Generation Non Volatile Memory Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) FeRAM PCM MRAM ReRAMNext Generation Non Volatile Memory Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) Mobile Phones Cache Memory & Enterprise Storage Industrial & Automotive Mass Storage Embedded MCU & Smart CardsNext Generation Non Volatile Memory Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) North America Europe Asia Pacific RoWFor more information:About Grand View ResearchGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Press ContactSherry James - Corporate Relations Specialist28 2nd Street, Suite 3036San Francisco, CA 94105United StatesPhone: 1-415-349-0058Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com
Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2014 - 2020
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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2014 - 2020 " to it's Large Report database.Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) is an age related muscle disorder, which is most common among aged individuals and it may lead to severe disability due to its incurable nature. This muscle disorder is mainly characterized by inflammatory myopathy that slowly progresses and causes weakness of the limbs, least or no reflexes from deep tendons, mixing of neurogenic and myopathic changes in electromyography as well as dysphasia. Many a times, IBM remains under-diagnosed as it occurs mainly in the aged individuals, with several co-morbidities, and hence, often misdiagnosed with polymyositis. People over 50 years of age suffering from polymyositis mostly suffer from inclusion body myositis.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Major structural features of IBM include cytoplasmic vacuolation, inflammatory infiltrate and tubo-filamentous inclusions within the nuclei and cytoplasm of the muscle cells. For proper and effective management of IBM, adoption of appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedure is essential. Some routine tests can also be adopted for early detection of IBM, such as, tests for full blood count (FBC), calcium and phosphate, creatine kinase, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and fasting glucose among others. Some of the specific tests include, nerve conduction tests, electromyography, muscle biopsy (for beta-amyloid and ubiquitin) and electron microscopy. However, there is no therapeutic procedure that has been proved effective in curing IBM. Several therapies are in different stages of clinical trials by different manufacturers worldwide.Read All Healthcare Market Research Reports @Some of the major driving factors for the growth of IBM market, include, high prevalence of the disorder, growing geriatric population, rising demand for advance therapeutics for specific and effective treatment of IBM and increasing number of drugs for IBM treatment in the pipeline. IBM is the most prevalent muscle disorder that mainly affects people over 50 years of age, but people may suffer from this disorder between 20 to 80 years of their ages. According to the estimates of patient.co.uk, it was found that a population of 10.7 individuals per million in the U.S. are suffering from this disorder. The disease prevalence was least in the Netherlands in Europe with a population of 4.9 individuals per million. It was also found that people over 50 years of age in the least disease prevalent nations like Netherlands and Sweden have shown a prevalence of 16 individuals per million.Also, men are more prone to IBM with 4:1 to 3:1 ratio compared to the female population. Thus, high prevalence along with high geriatric population will contribute towards the growth of this market. Rising demand for advanced therapeutics and increasing number of drugs in the pipeline will contribute towards the growth of this market in future.Geographically, North America and Europe are expected to dominate the global inclusion body myositis market in future. Some of the key factors responsible for their dominance in this market can be the presence of high geriatric population along with high demand for advanced therapeutics for effective treatment of this disorder in these regions. However, emerging economies, such as, China, India, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico and others from Asia-Pacific, Middle East, LATAM and African regions will experience rapid growth in future. Some of the key factors responsible for their growth in this market in future are high economic growth, increasing healthcare awareness, developing healthcare infrastructure and rising affordability of the people in these regions. Some of the key players having their drugs in different phases of clinical trials in this market are Gradalis, Inc., New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Nobelpharma Co., Ltd., and Novartis AG.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of the WorldAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at:
Global Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis Is Expected To Be Worth US$186.38 Mn By 2024 At A CAGR Of 8.6%.
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Autologous Matrix-induced Chondrogenesis Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the global autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments.The research is a combination of primary and secondary research. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts along with information collected from telephonic interviews and interactions via e-mails. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, stock analysis presentations, and various international and national databases. The report provides market size in terms of US$ Mn for each segment for the period from 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. Growth rates for each segment within the global market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, and regulatory requirements.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @A detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and future opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. This section of the report also includes market attractiveness analysis that provides a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in this global market.Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year. Market size estimations involved in-depth study of services and product features of different types of services. Additionally, market related factors such as increasing demand for minimal invasive procedures and increasing prevalence of bone and joint disorder in various geographies and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size.Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis Market: SegmentationBased on the material the market has segmented into hyaluronic acid, collagen, polyethylene glycol (PEG), Poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PGLA) and others segment. Geographically, the global market has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In addition, the regions have been further segmented by major countries from each region. These include the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Brazil, and Mexico.Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsThe report also profiles major players in this market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Key companies profiled in the report include Anika Therapeutics, Inc., Arthro-Kinetics, B. Braun Melsungen AG, BioTissue AG, CartiHeal, Geistlich Pharma AG, JRI Orthopaedics Ltd., Matricel GmbH, Smith & Nephew plc and Zimmer Biomet Holdings.The global autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market has been segmented as follows:Global Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis Market, by Material- Hyaluronic Acid- Collagen- Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)- Poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PGLA- OthersGlobal Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis Market, by Geography- North America- U.S.- Canada- Europe- U.K.- Germany- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- China- Japan- Rest of Asia Pacific- Latin America- Brazil- Mexico- Rest of Latin America- Middle East & Africa- Saudi Arabia- South Africa- Rest of Middle East & AfricaMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
LTE for Critical Communications: 2016 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Analysis, Growth & Forecasts
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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " LTE for Critical Communications: 2016 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts " to it's Large Report database.For years, the Critical Communications Industry has relied on narrowband LMR (Land Mobile Radio) networks for mission-critical voice and basic data services. Due to the bandwidth limitations of these LMR networks, public safety agencies and other users within the critical communications industry are keen to leverage commercial cellular network technologies to support growing demands for mobile broadband services such as video transmission and bandwidth-intensive field applications.Considering its thriving ecosystem, spectrum flexibility and performance metrics, LTE has emerged as the leading candidate for critical communications broadband networks. In addition, with the recent approval of the MCPTT (Mission Critical Push to Talk) voice standard as part of 3GPP Release 13, LTE has also become an attractive substitute for providing LMR-like voice services.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:As a result, a growing number of critical communications organizations are deploying either private LTE networks or contracting commercial LTE mobile operator services via MVNO arrangements to complement their existing LMR systems with broadband capabilities.Driven by early investments in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, the market for critical communications LTE networks is already worth $600 Million in annual infrastructure spending. Fueled by large-scale rollouts in the public safety, energy and other sectors, the market is further expected to surpass $2 Billion by the end of 2020. This includes spending on base stations (eNBs), mobile core and transport networking gear.Spanning over 1,200 pages, the LTE for Critical Communications: 2016 2030 Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report package encompasses three comprehensive reports covering both commercial and dedicated LTE networks for critical communications.The LTE, LTE-Advanced & 5G Ecosystem: 2016 2030 Infrastructure, Devices, Operator Services, Verticals, Strategies & ForecastsThe Private LTE Network Ecosystem: 2016 2030 Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & ForecastsThe Public Safety LTE & Mobile Broadband Market: 2016 2030 Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & ForecastsRead All Telecommunications Market Research Reports @Table of ContentsReport 1 The LTE, LTE-Advanced & 5G Ecosystem: 2016 2030 Infrastructure, Devices, Operator Services, Verticals, Strategies & Forecasts1.1 Chapter 1.1: Introduction 1.241.2 Chapter 1.2: LTE & LTE-Advanced Ecosystem 1.361.3 Chapter 1.3: LTE & LTE-Advanced Deployment Strategies 1.551.4 Chapter 1.4: Operator Service Models Monetizing LTE 1.651.5 Chapter 1.5: Unlicensed LTE Networks 1.711.6 Chapter 1.6: Evolving 5G Ecosystem 1.791.7 Chapter 1.7: Enabling Technologies for 5G 1.891.8 Chapter 1.8: Vertical Markets for LTE & 5G Networks 1.1091.9 Chapter 1.9: Industry Roadmap & Value Chain 1.1361.10 Chapter 1.10: Vendor & Operator Landscape 1.1451.11 Chapter 1.11: Market Analysis & Forecasts 1.2621.12 Chapter 1.12: Infrastructure, Devices, Operator Services & Verticals Summary 1.389Report 2 The Private LTE Network Ecosystem: 2016 2030 Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts2.1 Chapter 2.1: Introduction 2.182.2 Chapter 2.2: An Overview of Private LTE Networks 2.302.3 Chapter 2.3: Key Vertical Markets & Case Studies 2.602.4 Chapter 2.4: Spectrum Allocation, Standardization & Regulatory Initiatives 2.912.5 Chapter 2.5: Industry Roadmap & Value Chain 2.1052.6 Chapter 2.6: Key Market Players 2.1122.7 Chapter 2.7: Market Analysis & Forecasts 2.3112.8 Chapter 2.8: Conclusion & Strategic Recommendations 2.351About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at:
Nestweaver announced mobile application development services for android, apple and wearable devices
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Nestweaver technology services announced to offer mobile application development services for android, apple and wearable devices. The company will be offering this service for all levels of the industry.Nestweaver technology services is one of the reputed IT organization in India. The company offers a wide range of technology services. One of the experienced areas which the company has served is mobile application development. The company offer the application development services to worldwide clients for their custom requirements. As per their recent announcement made by the company, they will be providing the custom level applications for android, apple and wearable devices, including, watches, smartphone, and tablets.Nestweaver mobile application development helps to simplify the complex business operations with its high-level mobile applications. With its service, it brings out the applications with recent technologies like IoT, augmented reality for wearable devices. Along with its service, the company provides development, integration, deployment and maintenance of mobile solutions. Their cutting-edge mobile applications provide capabilities including security, agile app development and scalable back-end connections.The company offers development services for both native and hybrid mobile applications. They gained the vast experience in developing applications for e-commerce platforms, healthcare, and insurance industries. The company had further planned to support the client in each stage of app development, from requirement drawing to app delivery.Nestweaver technology services is one of the established company that delivers a whole range of IT services that are required run a successful digital business. Nestweaver mobile application development services offer a wide range of mobile capabilities for clients. The company is being the trusted organization for enterprise, cloud and custom mobile solutions. They have earned the experience in serving the clients across various nations for over 10 years.34/4,4th Floor, KS.Arunachalam Street2nd Cross, Saibaba Kovil
Epilepsy Global Market Industry Analysis & Forecast (2017-2021)
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Albany, New York, March 02, 2017: Market Research Hub has recently announced the addition of a new report to it broad database titled as Market Research of Sulfur Dioxide Industry in China 2016-2021. In this report, AskCI will further disclose market potential and commercial opportunities for sulfur dioxide industry in China. Recommendations will be given at the end of the report to describe the prospect and provide suggestions for strategy making.Request for Sample Report:For recent years, China has carries out a serious of environment protection policies in industry. Liquid sulfur dioxide, as a sulfur product, has been influenced, showing a falling trend. In 2015, the output of liquid sulfur dioxide was about 151 thousand tonnes, falling 50% compared to the output in 2011. During the 13th five year, there is planned to conduct transferring and upgrading in liquid sulfur dioxide companies. The output in 2020 is predicted to reach about 170 thousand tonnes.The downstream of sulfur acid includes phosphatic compound fertilizer, titanium pigment, chemical fiber, metal, light industry, etc., which have close relationship with national economy. As national economy developed rapidly for the last ten years, sulfur acid increased fast. Up to the end of 2015, the capacity of sulfur acid in China was about 130 million tonnes. However, with national economy slowing down, sulfur acid steps into a hard phase.At present, the supply has developed over the demand of low-end sulfur products. A few high-end sulfur acid products need to be imported from other countries. Production of high-end sulfur acid will be one of directions for the development of sulfur acid industry in China.Make an Enquiry:1)The Aim of Report-To provide readers with comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Chinese sulfur dioxide industry;-To analyze current development of the industry;-To analyze industrial chains of the industry;-To discover drivers and barriers of the industry;-To reveal opportunities for sulfur dioxide industry in China.2)Benefit from the Report-Obtain latest info of sulfur dioxide industry, such as status, supply and demand, downstream and upstream, key players, etc.;-Find out how Chinese sulfur dioxide market will change and how your business can be involved in;-Keep informed of your competitors/their activities in the globe and in China;-Learn about key market drivers and barriers;-Share this information within your organization using free global intranet license.Get Full Report With TOC:2. SCOPE OF INVESTIGATIONThe report will investigate Chinese sulfur dioxide industry from the following aspects:-General situation;-Supply and demand;-Downstream and upstream;-Key players;-Future trend;-Commercial opportunity.3. Time NeededFive work days needed.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on:Twitter:LinkedIn:Facebook:
Global Emulsifier Market Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 7.16% During The Period 2017-2021
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Emulsifier Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Emulsifiers are substances that help in creating a smooth mixture of two or more ingredients, which otherwise do not combine easily, and keep them from separating. Emulsifiers are molecules with one oil-friendly and one water-friendly end. The water-friendly end in a food emulsifier is known as the hydrophilic tail and the oil-friendly end is known as the hydrophobic head.Technavios analysts forecast the global emulsifier market to grow at a CAGR of 7.16% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global emulsifier market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the emulsifier markets across regions.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:APACEuropeNorth AmericaROWTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Emulsifier Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAkzo NobelBASFDow CorningEvonik IndustriesKerry GroupOther prominent vendorsAAKArcher Daniels Midland (ADM)CargillClariantDSMIngredionLubrizolPalsgaardSolvayMarket driverIncreasing demand for convenience and packaged foodFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeEnzymes as substitutes of food emulsifiersFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendGrowing consumer awareness of health-related issues and subsequent measures being takenFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021) | New Research Report
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021)" to its huge collection of research reports.Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) comprises of a wide range of steel tubular products that are used in Oil and Gas exploration and production and in particular drilling. They can be Seamless and Welded Pipes (Electric Resistance Welding (EWR) and come in various sizes and length. The process of manufacturing of seamless and welded pipes and tubes is different with the seamless pipes designed to bear much higher stress. OCTG generally includes three categories of products - drill pipe, casing, and tubing.The key factors driving the growth of OCTG market are increasing demand for oil & gas, accelerating economic growth, future global energy consumption and demand growth for fossil fuels. A noteworthy trend of this industry is fluctuating global rig count. However, the expansion of the market is hindered by the challenges of drilling with casing for OCTG, depletion of limited oil and gas reserves, falling crude oil prices, environmental issues and the international political and economic instability.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report Global OCTG Market provides an in-depth analysis of the OCTG market on a global scale along with the US and Russia market. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The industry comprises few large players such as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Tenaris S.A, TMK and Vallourec. All these companies have been profiled in the present report highlighting their key financials and business strategies for growth.Table of Content1. OCTG Market - An Overview1.1 An Introduction1.2 Types of OCTG Products1.3 Types of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) Pipes1.4 Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) Manufacturing Process2. Global Market Analysis2.1 Global OCTG Demand by Volume2.2 Global OCTG Demand Forecast by Volume2.3 Global OCTG Demand by Region2.4 Global OCTG Demand Forecast by Region2.5 Global Drilling Activity by Region2.6 Global OCTG Demand Shales vs. Others2.7 Global OCTG Demand Forecast Shales vs. Others2.8 Global Deep Water OCTG Consumption by Volume2.9 Global Deep Water OCTG Consumption Forecast by Volume2.10 Global Seamless OCTG Supply and Demand by Volume2.11 Global Seamless OCTG Supply and Demand Forecast by Volume3. Regional Market Analysis3.1 The US3.1.1 The US Rig Count3.1.2 The US Rig Count Forecast3.1.3 The US OCTG Consumption by Volume3.1.4 The US OCTG Consumption by Segment3.1.5 The US Distributor Welded OCTG vs. HRC Prices3.1.6 The US Distributor Seamless OCTG vs. Scrap Prices3.2 Russia3.2.1 Russian Annual Development Drilling Program3.2.2 Russian Annual Development Drilling Program3.2.3 Russian Tube and Pipe Market by Volume3.2.4 Russian Tube and Pipe Market Forecast by Volume3.2.5 Russian OCTG Market by Volume3.2.6 Russian OCTG Market Forecast by Volume3.2.7 Russian Market Share in Various Products3.3 China3.3.1 Chinese Seamless OCTG Supply and Demand by Volume3.3.2 Chinese Seamless OCTG Supply and Demand Forecast by Volume4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Increasing Demand for Oil & Gas4.1.2 Accelerating Economic Growth4.1.3 Future Global Energy Consumption4.1.4 Demand Growth for Fossil Fuels4.2 Market Trends4.2.1 Fluctuating Global Rig Count4.3 Challenges4.3.1 Drilling with Casing for OCTG4.3.2 Depletion of Limited Oil and Gas Reserves4.3.3 Falling Crude Oil Prices4.3.4 Environmental Issues4.3.5 International Political and Economic Instability5. Competitive Landscape5.1 Financial Comparison of Key Players5.2 Global Premium OCTG Market Share by Company5.3 Russian Pipe Market Share by Company5.4 Russian OCTG Market Share by Company6. Company Profiles6.1 Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal6.1.1 Business Overview6.1.2 Financial Overview6.1.3 Business Strategies6.2 Tenaris S.A.6.2.1 Business Overview6.2.2 Financial Overview6.2.3 Business Strategies6.3 TMK6.3.1 Business Overview6.3.2 Financial Overview6.3.3 Business Strategies6.4 Vallourec6.4.1 Business Overview6.4.2 Financial Overview6.4.3 Business StrategiesMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Laboratory Chemicals Market: Industry Analysis, Future Growth, Business Prospects and Global Forecast to 2027
Laboratory Chemicals Market
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Market Scenario:Basically, laboratory chemicals are the compounds or substances that are used in chemical reaction to measure produce and detect other chemical substance. These are being used in the large scale for commercial applications and research purpose. The laboratory chemicals market will rise mainly due to significant increase in use of laboratory chemical in basic research combined with commercial applications. Moreover, growing interest of world scientific community in laboratory chemical is anticipated to escalate the growth in the market.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Laboratory Chemicals Market: Lonza Biologics ltd. PerkinElmer Inc. BD Biosciences bioMerieux Beckman Coulter Inc. CALTAG Laboratories GE healthcare EMD Chemicals Inc. Life technologies Corporation Meridian Life science Inc. Shimadzu Biotech Takara Bio Inc.Segments:The global laboratory chemicals market is segmented into product types, and end-user applications. On the basis of product types the market is segmented into Molecular biology, Cytokine and chemokine testing, Carbohydrate analysis, Immunochemistry, Cell/tissue culture, Environment testing, and Biochemistry. On the basis of end-user applications it is segmented as Biotechnology, Academic segments, Nonacademic segment, corporate segment.Study Objectives of Laboratory Chemicals Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of segments and sub-segments of the global laboratory chemicals Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the global laboratory chemicals Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenues of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospects. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by product types, and end-users. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global laboratory chemicals market.Access Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Product Overview and Scope of Global Bale Unroller Market 2017
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Global Bale Unroller Industry 2017 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2017-2020.Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Bale Unroller Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This market intelligence report examines extensively the trends in the global Bale Unroller market. It highlights the latest market state, the progress pattern in the previous years, and the prospects present for market participants in the near future. The research methods and tools employed in the achievement of this research publication are both secondary and primary. The market intelligence study also provides facts about the investments initiated by several organizations, institutions, government, and non-government authorities and regulatory bodies.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The publication further presents a valuation of the facets that are likely to prevent or encourage the expansion of the global Bale Unroller market. The global Bale Unroller market has been examined scrupulously based on aspects such as application, technology, product, end user, and geographical segment. An examination has been carried out in the research report of the chief regional segments and their respective place and share in the Bale Unroller market. The estimated revenue and volume valuation of the global market for Bale Unroller has also been stated in the study.An estimate of the market attractiveness and the level of competition that new entrants along with their new products are likely to offer to the experienced products and players has also been delivered in the market research publication. The market report also discusses the new expansions, the innovations, branding techniques, marketing approaches, and products of the chief players operational in the global Bale Unroller market. The vendor landscape has been broadly scrutinized employing the Porters five forces and value chain analysis to deliver a strong conception of the market. The challenges and opportunities in the near future for the key participants have also been stressed upon in the research publication.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Bale Unroller Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Bale Unroller1.2 Classification of Bale Unroller1.2.1 Mounted1.2.2 For Round Bale1.2.3 For Square Bale1.2.4 Trailed1.2.5 For Round Bale1.2.6 For Square Bale1.2.7 Semi Mounted1.2.8 For Round Bale1.2.9 For Square Bale1.3 Application of Bale Unroller1.3.1 Farm1.3.2 Agriculture Equipment Leasing Company1.3.3 Feed Mill1.4 Bale Unroller Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Bale Unroller (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Bale Unroller Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Bale Unroller Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Bale Unroller Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Bale Unroller Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Bale Unroller Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2011-2017)2.1.2 Global Bale Unroller Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2011-2017)2.2 Global Bale Unroller (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Bale Unroller Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2017)2.2.2 Global Bale Unroller Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2017)2.3 Global Bale Unroller (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Bale Unroller Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2017)2.3.2 Global Bale Unroller Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2017)2.4 Global Bale Unroller (Volume) by Application3 United States Bale Unroller (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Bale Unroller Sales and Value (2011-2017)3.1.1 United States Bale Unroller Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2017)3.1.2 United States Bale Unroller Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2017)3.1.3 United States Bale Unroller Sales Price Trend (2011-2017)3.2 United States Bale Unroller Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Bale Unroller Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Bale Unroller Sales and Market Share by ApplicationFor Market Research Latest Reports Visit @About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Market Analysis by Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors 2021
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Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Industry 2017 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2017-2020.Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The research report on the global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor is a scientific effort to determine the development prospects of the market from 2017 to 2021. The report comprises both historical figures and future estimates, which will help market entities to gauge growth opportunities in the Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor market during the forecast period.The introductory part of the report briefs about definitions, classifications, applications, industry, structure, and industry statutes of the global market for Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor. Proceeding further, the report presents an industry chain analysis of the global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor market including aspects such as manufacturing capacity and its maximum utilization, cost structures, product catalog, revenue corresponding to production capacity etc. Dynamics pertaining to demand and supply logistics and import/export behavior are also discussed in this section.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Using validated analytical tools, the report presents the feasibility and profitability of new investments in the global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor market. The results obtained using these analytical tools help to manifest the progression of the global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor market right from historic years to future, which indicates the winning imperatives that market players can leverage. The report also provides SWOT analysis of leading market players, which gives insights into the changing competitive hierarchy until the end of the forecast period.The report analyzes the global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor market based on certain criteria such as product, application, and geography. The report divides the global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor market into the regional segments of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of the World.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor1.2 Classification of Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor1.2.1 Exterior Screw-on1.2.2 Build into Valve Stem1.2.3 Glued or Attached to Rim1.3 Application of Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor1.3.1 divided into1.3.2 Passenger Vehicle1.3.3 Truck1.3.4 RV1.3.5 Industrial TPMS1.3.6 Motorcycle1.4 Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2011-2017)2.1.2 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2011-2017)2.2 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2017)2.2.2 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2017)2.3 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2017)2.3.2 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2017)2.4 Global Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor (Volume) by Application3 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Value (2011-2017)3.1.1 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2017)3.1.2 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2017)3.1.3 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales Price Trend (2011-2017)3.2 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Tire Pressure Monitoring System Sensor Sales and Market Share by ApplicationFor Market Research Latest Reports Visit @About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Market Research on 2 - naphthol Industry Growth in China 2016-2021
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Albany, New York, March 02, 2017: Market Research Hub has recently announced the addition of a new report to it broad database titled as Market Research on 2 - naphthol Industry in China 2016-2021. In this report, AskCI will further disclose market potential and commercial opportunities for venture capital of electric vehicle industry in China. Recommendations will be given at the end of the report to analyze the forecast of the industry and provide analysis on opportunities and risks.Request for Sample Report:Nowadays, main manufactures of 2 naphthol in the world include China, India, Japan, Italy and some countries in the east Europe. From 1957, China began producing 2 naphthol. After the 80s of the 20th century, China became the major manufacture of 2 naphthol, for that the production in developed countries was stopped. In recent years, the annual output of 2 naphthol in China remains between 80 to 100 thousand tonnes and the export during from Feb. to Oct. in 2016 was nearly 13 thousand tonnes, which also keeps rising with a relatively fast speed.In 2015, the import volume of 2 naphthol in China was less than seven tonnes, falling by about 33%. And from Feb. to Oct. in 2016, the import volume was more than nine tonnes. In 2015, the export volume was about 15 thousand tonnes, falling by around 25%. From Feb. to Oct. in 2016, the export volume was nearly 13 thousand tonnes.Make an Enquiry:The consumption structure of 2 naphthol in China is that 60% is dye intermediate, 20% is rubber ingredient, 10% is dye and paint and the rest is the others. With increasing demand for dye and paint, the demand for 2 naphthol will rise along. Improvement of production techniques, reduction of commission and conservation of energy and research on clean techniques are the directions of 2 naphthol industry.1)The Aim of Report-To provide readers with comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Chinese 2 - naphthol industry;-To analyze current development of the industry;-To analyze industrial chains of the industry;-To discover drivers and barriers of the industry;-To reveal opportunities for 2 - naphthol industry in China.2)Benefit from the Report-Obtain latest info of 2 - naphthol industry, such as status, import and export, downstream and upstream, key players, etc.;-Find out how Chinese 2 - naphthol market will change and how your business can be involved in;-Keep informed of your competitors/their activities in the globe and in China;-Learn about key market drivers and barriers;-Share this information within your organization using free global intranet license.Get Full Report:2. SCOPE OF INVESTIGATIONThe report will investigate Chinese 2 - naphthol industry from the following aspects:-General situation;-Import and export;-Downstream and upstream;-Key players;-Future trend;-Commercial opportunity.3. Time NeededFive work days needed.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on:Twitter:LinkedIn:Facebook:
China R134A Refrigerant Market Report by Size, Share, Growth Rate and Forecast till 2022
China R134A Refrigerant Market
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China R134A Refrigerant Industry has a great demand in market. By considering this demand we provide latest report on R134A Refrigerant Market which gives complete industry analysis, market share, size, growth and forecast till 2022. It will help to analyse the business trends, Sales, Revenue and Major Manufacturers.The R134A Refrigerant market size will be XX million (USD) in 2022 in China, from the XX million (USD) in 2016, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) XX% from 2016 to 2022.Browse Full Report with TOC @In China market, the top players include many company. With key sales data like sales (volume), revenue, market share for top players.such as Mexichem Fluor Chemours Honeywell Linde Gas Arkema Juhua Group Sinochem Taicang Chemical Bailian Dongyue Federation SanmeiSplit by product types/category, covering many types. with sales, revenue and market share for each type, such as Trichlorethylene Process Tetrachlorethylene ProcessSplit by applications/end use industries, covers many application. This report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of R134A Refrigerant in each application.such as Refrigerator Inhalers OtherDownload Free Sample Report of China R134A Refrigerant Market @Table of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 China R134A Refrigerant Sales, Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Vendors/Manufacturers3 China R134A Refrigerant Sales, Revenue (Value) by Type and Application (2012-2017)4 China R134A Refrigerant Vendors/Manufacturers Profiles and Sales Data5 Production Cost Analysis of R134A Refrigerant6 Value Chain, Purchasing Strategy and Downstream Buyers7 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders8 Market Influences Factors Analysis9 China R134A Refrigerant Market Forecast (2017-2022)10 Research Findings and Conclusion11 AppendixOrder a Copy of Complete China R134A Refrigerant Market Research Report @Other Related reports -2017-2022 Global Top Countries Air Cooler Market Report @About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a China business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain Chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 40001E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Website:
Air Conditioning Systems Market To Freeze US$167 bn By 2024 , Strategic Partnerships And Acquisitions Have Also Been A Core Strategy For A Number Of Players
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Transparency Market Research finds that in order to achieve these goals, companies are presently focused on integrating products so as to expand their customer base and reach out to newer audiences. Strategic partnerships and acquisitions have also been a core strategy for a number of players. A case in point would be Carrier, who, in 2011, joined hands with the Midea Group of China to manufacture as well as distribute HVAC systems in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. This joint venture not only helped Carrier form a strong distribution network in these promising countries but also established a strong foothold for the company at a global level, the lead analyst of the TMR study states.The vendor landscape of the global air conditioning systems market is speckled with large and established companies such as Gree Electric Appliances, Inc., Daikin Industries Ltd., and Carrier Corporation; emerging players such as Panasonic Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and The Midea Group; and promising vendors such as LG Electronics, Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd., and Hitachi Ltd. Each of these players have been striving to strengthen their position in the air conditioning systems market and achieve sustainable growth.PDF Sample For Latest Innovations And Advancements @Energy-efficient Air Conditioning Systems Gain ProminenceThe growth of the air conditioning systems market can be largely attributed to the rapidly expanding construction and housing sector. Increasing construction permits, especially for commercial infrastructure, means a rising need for equipment such as air conditioning systems, a TMR analyst explains. The market for air conditioning systems is also driven by stringent government regulations, technological developments, rising consumer expectations, increased demand from the commercial sector, strong demand from Asia Pacific, and climate variations. The surge in awareness regarding the importance of indoor air quality has also generated an increased demand for advanced air-purifying technologies.In contrast, the air conditioning systems market faces a major roadblock increased energy consumption. However, TMR finds that this challenge can be easily addressed. The emergence of ongoing trends such as green technologies, smart homes, and energy-efficient systems are driving manufacturers of air conditioning systems to focus on innovation and come up with equipment that meet the rising energy requirements of consumers and governments alike. Thus, this obstacle also presents market players with several opportunities for growth over the coming years, the author of the study states.Split ACs Witness Highest DemandThe global market for air conditioning systems was pegged at a value of US$104.4 bn in 2015, which is projected to rise to US$167 bn by the end of the forecast period. Assuming these figures hold true, the market is likely to expand at a 5.1% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. The air conditioning systems market is projected to expand at a much faster pace in terms of volume, registering a 6.2% CAGR during the forecast period. Asia Pacific dominates the global air conditioning systems market by volume and value, with the Middle East and Africa witnessing the fastest growth. While split ACs enjoy the lead at present, the portable air conditioning systems segment is likely to expand at the highest CAGR by 2024.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
MALARIA VACCINES MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Malaria Vaccines Market OverviewMore than 40% of the global population is at risk of malaria, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) malaria fact sheet and World Bank estimates. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were around 214 million malaria cases reported in 2015, leading to 438,000 deaths worldwide. Over 70% of these deaths occur in children under 5 years of age. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the highest share of global malaria burden, with around 89% of malaria cases and 91% of malarial deaths in 2015. Such high impact of this life threatening disease is influencing governments across various countries, companies, investors, and non-profit organizations to contribute towards curbing spreading of this disease.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Treatment therapies include Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), chloroquine, and primaquine. Recurrence of this disease can lead to drug resistance and in severe cases can prove fatal. Therefore, prevention is the major focus of government, researchers, and drug companies. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that increase in prevention control and other measures has led to 60% reduction in malaria mortality since 2000. High prevalence and preventive measures initiated by global and national organizations would favor growth of the global malaria vaccines market.Mosquirix the First Malaria Vaccine in the Global Malaria Vaccines MarketMost major drug manufacturers have been constantly striving to develop a vaccine for this deadly disease. Among the pioneers in this field is GlaxoSmithKline, which has been working towards developing a malaria vaccine since 1984. In collaboration with the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline developed the first malarial vaccine.Mosquirix, also known as RTS,S, was in development for around 30 years, with an investment of around US$ 565 million. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed over US$ 200 million towards this project. Mosquirix received marketing approval from the European authorities in July 2015. However, the WHO has recommended examination of the vaccine in a pilot study before introduction on a large scale. The study is being carried out in Africa, and has received a funding of US$ 25 million from Gavia global Vaccine Alliancebringing together public and private sectors towards a common goal. Successful trials will lead to global launch of Mosquirix and boost the malaria vaccines market size.Significant Potential for Malaria Vaccines Market in Africa, Latin America and AsiaMalaria vaccine seems to be the best solution to prevent the spread of malaria, especially considering increasing number of drug resistance cases and high fatality reported. People use bed nets and indoor residual spraying (IRS) to fight against mosquito infestation. Therefore, there is immense opportunity globally for malaria vaccines among the demographic group most at riskinfants (23 million births annually), pre-adolescent and early adolescent girls, pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, and population in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Oceania. Furthermore, risk of transmission of the disease increases from the traveller and military population travelling from the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia, a malaria free zone to the highly prone emerging economies. The global malaria vaccines market dynamics are mainly shaped by major purchasers, namely healthcare and non-profit organizations.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :Malaria Vaccines Market Future OutlookMosquirix is a great boon for population in the highly prone regions of malaria infection. However, accessibility and low cost of this vaccine is essential to serve the large population in the highly prone emerging economies. Sanaria Inc. is a biotechnology company which aims to develop and commercialize whole-parasite sporozoite vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum that causes 95% of malaria cases. Mymetics Corporationa Switzerland-based vaccines developeruses its virosome platform technology to develop vaccines. There are two vaccine candidates in its pipeline, of which one cleared the phase 1b clinical trail, while the other is in the preclinical stage. Moreover, use of new technologies such as Nucleic acid vaccines, Proteosomes, and several new adjuvants could lead to development of next-generation malaria vaccines.Such global commitments will encourage investors around the world to contribute towards a global malaria eradication mission. Further, the malaria vaccines market outlook for future holds much promise, with new vaccines being developed mainly focused on improving effectiveness of products.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
Japan Electric Control Cabinet Industry Outlook, Market Manufacturers and Key Statistics Analysis 2017-2022
Japan Electric Control Cabinet Market
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Electric Control Cabinet market is in boom now. The latest Electric Control Cabinet Market report contains complete Industry outlook, market manufacturers and key statistics analysis. The industry sales & Share, industrys trends are all discussed, explained and analyzed. It provides marketing strategy analysis, distributors/traders list, raw materials analysis, import & export analysis.The Electric Control Cabinet market size will be XX million (USD) in 2022 in Japan, from the XX million (USD) in 2016, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) XX% from 2016 to 2022.Browse Full Report with TOC @In Japan market, the top players include many company. With key sales data like sales (volume), revenue, market share for top players.such as ABB Siemens Schneider Mitsubishi Electric GE Toshiba Rittal Eaton Omron Nitto Kogyo Chuan Yi Automation Ebara Densan Delvalle Electroalfa EIC Solutions LianCheng Group WesTech WielandSplit by product types/category, covering many types. with sales, revenue and market share for each type, such as Inverter Electric Control Cabinet PLC Electric Control Cabinet OthersSplit by applications/end use industries, covers many application. This report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Electric Control Cabinet in each application. such as Power Industry Industrial Production OthersDownload Free Sample Report of Japan Electric Control Cabinet Market @Table of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Japan Electric Control Cabinet Sales, Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Vendors/Manufacturers3 Japan Electric Control Cabinet Sales, Revenue (Value) by Type and Application (2012-2017)4 Japan Electric Control Cabinet Vendors/Manufacturers Profiles and Sales Data5 Production Cost Analysis of Electric Control Cabinet6 Value Chain, Purchasing Strategy and Downstream Buyers7 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders8 Market Influences Factors Analysis9 Japan Electric Control Cabinet Market Forecast (2017-2022)10 Research Findings and Conclusion11 AppendixOrder a Copy of Complete Japan Electric Control Cabinet Market Research Report @Other Related reports -2017-2022 China Electric Control Cabinet Market Report (Status and Outlook) @About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a Japan business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain Chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 40001E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Website:
Bahrain Tourism Certifies eZee PMS
Every once in a while, each governing or tourism authority of a developing country takes its security, tourism and revenue aspects in their agenda and come out with anew rules and regulations. In that event, hospitality technology providers ought to update their systems, in a manner which can accommodate all such requirements from different countries and authorities. Additionally, hoteliers intend to choose a hotel software which can work in line with incoming rules and policies.eZee Technosys, as a leading hospitality provider company, is always aligned with alike updates and keeps its solutions up-to-date with these developments. Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority (BTEA) has implemented a policy that all the hotels and restaurants in Bahrain are required to send a pre-defined set of details to the authorities from the PMS software.Complying with government policies, a feature is developed in PMS eZee FrontDesk through which the required reports and alike could be generated and sent instantly to the BTEA.eZees Chief Executive Officer, Aeijaz Sodawala says, This newly developed feature in eZee FrontDesk will prove very beneficial to the hoteliers in Bahrain. This will help them send the required details instantly to the Bahrain authorities, discarding hours of manual calculations. Moreover, other than regular operations of PMS this will be an add-on feature enhancing user experience.The statutory requirement for a hotelier as put forth by the BTEA, is to send occupancy details revealing rooms out of service, rooms out of order, daily check-outs and rooms occupied. Besides this, restaurants will also have to keep track of the charges levied of all the food and beverages on the customers and submit a monthly report to the authorities. Owing to this progress, hotels having in-house restaurants will be able to automatically send their outlet reports with newly developed feature in eZee FrontDesk, via eZee BurrP! integrated with the PMS. Besides this, hoteliers in Bahrain will also be able to send revenue reports to the government right from the PMS, which can eventually aid the Taxation authorities in the country.The main purpose of the BTEA behind this requirement is to uphold the security aspects as well as keep track of the foreign tourists visiting the country. Acknowledging their requirements, we have worked around our systems current features and given our best to make it user-friendly for our existing and prospective clients in Bahrain, Jitendra Jariwala - Head of eZee NextGen Product Development commented.Apart from regular hotel operations, eZee FrontDesk PMS will assist the hoteliers in Bahrain to accustom the BTEA requirements efficiently leaving no room for manual errors.Always determined to provide the best solutions for their users, eZee has developed customized features in their solutions as per regional or self-imposed requirements for many hospitality industry establishments until now and strives to do so in coming years, effectively enhancing user experience.About eZee Technosys Pvt. Ltd.eZee Technosys is one of the few hospitality solutions providers in the world, offering a complete suite of IT solutions for the hospitality industry that cover hotel management, web booking engine, online room distribution, restaurant management, guest feedback, mobile applications and more. Incorporated in 2005, eZee - a hospitality solutions provider, today serves more than 6000 clients in 140 plus countries across the globe. eZees global presence has been further solidified through their strong network of more than 200 Channel Partners.eZee Technosys Pvt. Ltd.D-113, International Trade Center, Majura Gate, Surat - 395002, Gujarat, IndiaAeijaz SodawalaPhone + 91 -99788-64598aeijaz@ezeetechnosys.comgoo.gl/aN9eru
Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market Manufacturers, Industry Outlook, Trends and Forecast 2022
Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market
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Electrochemical Gas Sensors Industry has a great demand in market. By considering this demand we provide latest report on Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market which gives complete industry analysis, market share, size, growth and forecast till 2022. It will help to analyse the business trends, Sales, Revenue and Major Manufacturers.The Electrochemical Gas Sensors market size will be XX million (USD) in 2022 in Japan, from the XX million (USD) in 2016, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) XX% from 2016 to 2022.Browse Full Report with TOC @In Japan market, the top players include many company. With key sales data like sales (volume), revenue, market share for top players.such as City Technology Alphasense MEMBRAPOR SGX Sensortech Figaro Draeger Winsen Dart GE EmersonSplit by product types/category, covering many types. with sales, revenue and market share for each type, such as Inflammable Gas Type Toxic Gas Type Other Gases TypeSplit by applications/end use industries, covers many application. This report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Electrochemical Gas Sensors in each application.such as Civil Gas Safety Chemical & Oil Mining Environmental OtherDownload Free Sample Report of Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market @Table of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Sales, Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Vendors/Manufacturers3 Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Sales, Revenue (Value) by Type and Application (2012-2017)4 Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Vendors/Manufacturers Profiles and Sales Data5 Production Cost Analysis of Electrochemical Gas Sensors6 Value Chain, Purchasing Strategy and Downstream Buyers7 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders8 Market Influences Factors Analysis9 Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market Forecast (2017-2022)10 Research Findings and Conclusion11 AppendixOrder a Copy of Complete Japan Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market Research Report @Other Related reports -2017-2022 Global Top Countries Electrochemical Gas Sensors Market Report @About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a Japan business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain Chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 40001E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Website:
HOME HEALTHCARE SOFTWARE MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Home healthcare services market is expected to grow at a robust rate between 2016 and 2024, with emergence of new entrants in market and improving macroeconomic conditions worldwide.Until recently, medical documentation involved cumbersome paper work. Technological advancements and introduction of advanced software has eased the way industry use to operate, making work process easier and more efficient. Healthcare industry has greatly benefitted from integration of IT systems. With technological advancements, home healthcare software such as telehealth solutions and clinical management systems are available in the market.Home healthcare enables healthcare services to be delivered at patients home thereby alleviating healthcare costs.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Population aged above 65 years forms the bulk of home healthcare software marketHome healthcare market is driven by various sociological, demographics, and macroeconomic factors, most notably the integration of information technology solutions in healthcare industry to meet challenges in patient data retrieval, payment and claim processing as well as storage and accessibility. This is further propelled by government initiatives to improve healthcare infrastructure.High prevalence of chronic disorders among geriatric population in turn fuels demand for nursing homes and assisted living care facilities for specialized attention. However, introduction of home healthcare software solutions is expected to bridge the gap between geriatric patient expectation and healthcare providers. The system offers solutions at patients home, thereby minimizing overall operational cost and high ROI for providers as well.Though the market is expected to grow at a rapid rate, weak financial support from government along with low adaptability in emerging economies are major challenges inhibiting growth of overall industry.Home Healthcare Software Market Taxonomy:Coherent Market Insights (CMI) has segmented the home healthcare software market by:-Product Type-Therapeutic Application-Devices-Platform-End UserBy product type, the home healthcare software market has been segmented into agency homecare software, hospice solutions, telehealth solutions, clinical management systems, and others.On the basis of therapeutic application, CMI has segmented the home healthcare software market into clinical and non-clinical solutions. Clinical segment is expected to grow at impressive rate over the forecast period.On the basis of devices, mobile devices are expected to gain traction over laptop and tablet in the home healthcare software market.Homecare agencies and hospice agencies are key end-use segments in the home healthcare software market.Alignment between payers and providers along with access to electronic health records has boosted overall North America home healthcare software market growthBrowse Global Strategic Business Report :Among regions, North America is expected to dominate the global home healthcare software market throughout the forecast period. However, the market in the region is expected to lose considerable market share to developing regions, namely Latin America and Asia. Growth of the market in the region is primarily driven by increasing demand in the U.S., accounting for over 85% of overall market. Technological advancements along with high healthcare spending across all verticals is expected to propel market growth. Moreover, health awareness level among the population in developed regions is high compared to other regions. However, the market in Canada is expected to witness sluggish growth over the forecast period.Europe is the second-largest market and is expected to create substantial opportunities for players. Over 65% of the revenue generated in the regional market is expected to be from Germany, UK and France. Markets in Russia and Poland are expected to grow at substantial rate.Asia-Pacific is a lucrative market for home healthcare software due to the easy availability of skilled manpower, cheap labor and highly developed information technology sectors in the countries particularly China and India. Moreover, India is one of the leading markets for IT software. Relaxation in FDI cap is expected to boost overall presence of MNCs in the region. Though the Asia Pacific market is vibrant, there are a lot more challenges present in the market that inhibit proper capitalization of the market opportunities. The market is highly volatile with wide variations in demographics and economic conditions. The market in China, once the power engine of Asia Pacific, is witnessing low growth, due to noticeable decline in healthcare expenditure in the region. On a positive note, India is witnessing rapid transformation across various healthcare verticals. Companies need to fully understand the demographic and macroeconomic situation to generate high ROI from the region. Markets in Latin America and MEA are expected to witness sluggish growth over the forecast period.Some of the major companies contributing to the global home healthcare software market are Agfa Healthcare, Mckesson Corporation, NextGen Healthcare Information System LLC, GE Healthcare, MEDITECH, Medical Information Technology, Inc. (Meditech), Cerner Corporation, Siemens Healthcare and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
HEALTHCARE ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION AND SYSTEMS MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Analytical instruments and systems are devices that are used to for product analysis across various industries. There are different types of analytical instruments such as chromatography, electrophoresis, PCR, flow cytometers, and many others used across different industries. Application in chemical and healthcare research is extensive of these analytical instruments. These devices aid in substance separation, identification, and evaluation with different techniques. With increasing research and development across the globe, demand for analytical instruments is growing rapidly. Moreover, with increasing sample size and data generation through these samples, managing information has become crucial. Laboratories generate tons of information annually which need to be documented for further processes. Therefore, there are information systems developed that aids in managing the process and outcomes of the analytical tests.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Market TaxonomyThe global healthcare analytical instrumentation and systems market is characterized by a range of analytical devices and systems. Therefore, based on different parameters, the global healthcare analytical instrumentation and systems market is analyzed in following segment:Based on the type of analytical instruments:-Chromatography-Spectrophotometer-Electrophoresis-PCR-Flow cytometers-Microscopy-Microarray-Membrane separation/Filtration-X-ray Crystallography-Protein Fractionation-Analyzers-OthersBased on the technology:-High-throughput-Medium throughput-Low ThroughputBased on the end-user:-Research Laboratories-Diagnostic Laboratories-Academic InstitutesIncrease in Contract Research Activities to Fuel Growth in the Developing EconomiesWith rapid adoption of new technologies owing to easy availability of funds, demand for advance analytical instruments and systems is high in the developed economies such as the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Japan, and Australia. However, other regions such as Middle East, Latin America and South East Asia are expected to be the prospective markets in the near future. Major pharmaceutical companies are outsourcing their drug research and development services (CRO) to various countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia and India, which is propelling the growth of the analytical instrumentation and systems market. This results in high adoption rate of precise analytical instruments in these countries. Moreover, highly developing biotechnology industry, is also contributing to the demand analytical instruments and systems.Stringent Regulatory Standard for Healthcare Products to Drive the Development of Advance and Precise TechnologiesThe global healthcare analytical instrumentation and systems market is witnessing a commendable growth due to the rising demand for process automation technologies and continuing product innovations. Furthermore, stringent regulatory and testing standards are expected to boost the growth of advance analytical instrumentation and systems in the near future. Additionally, increasing usage of analytical instruments in biotechnology is further driving the growth of this market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :The global healthcare analytical instrumentation and systems market is highly fragmented due to the participation of many global as well as regional players in this market. The market is expected to witness a high growth rate due to the growing demand for finer process analyses and stringent regulatory policies. Some of the key players involved in the analytical instrumentation and systems market are ABB Ltd., Analytical Systems International / Keco, Electro-Chemical Devices, Inc., Emerson Electric Co., Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS), Mettler-Toledo International Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
GLOBAL MONOCHROME MEDICAL MONITOR MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Monochrome Medical Monitors Offer High Resolution and are More Efficient than Color MonitorsMonochrome medical monitors display image of a single color, however, in varied shades. It may include white, green or amber screens. It shows a greyscale medical display. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology is the first ever technology used for monochrome displays. LCD and LED are the more preferred technologies used in most monitors available in the market. The emerging trend is to shift from CRT displays to LCD displays for medical imaging. These medical monitors provide higher resolution as compared to color monitors. They are more efficient in displaying the image in comparison to color monitors. Monochrome medical monitors are widely preferred by healthcare professionals for application in diagnostic radiology due to its higher luminance. The monitors are connected to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) workstation for image display. Monochrome medical monitors are considered to be highly efficient in delivering imaging solutions in the field of diagnostics, radiology, and surgery, among others.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Increasing number of surgeries and diagnostic tests driving market growthIncreasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, asthma, and obesity leads to increasing number of surgical procedures, in turn fueling growth in demand for monochrome medical monitors for application in surgical displays. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 1.7 million cosmetic surgeries were performed worldwide in 2015, which is an increase of 2% as compared to 2014. Moreover, with growing diagnostic tests and awareness among people regarding early diagnosis and treatment of diseases is also projected to fuel sales of monochrome medical monitors. However, high cost of monochrome medical monitors due to their high resolution is expected to inhibit market growth.Monochrome Medical Monitor Market TaxonomyGlobal monochrome medical monitor market is segmented on the basis of product type, application, end use, and region. On the basis of product type, monochrome medical monitor market is classified as Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors, LCD monitors, and LED monitors. LCD monitors are the commonly available monochrome medical monitors, owing to high resolution image quality. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into diagnostic display, surgical display, radiology display, clinical review displays, and others. On the basis of end use, monochrome medical monitor market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers, pathology labs, and others. Geographically, the monochrome medical monitor market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa.North America is the Largest Market for Monochrome Medical MonitorsNorth America is the largest market for monochrome medical monitors. This is due to high adoption of advanced technology in the region. Countries such as the U.S. are increasing their healthcare expenditure, which is expected to further improve the infrastructure in hospitals and other medical facilities. Moreover, favorable reimbursement policies such as Medicare and Medicaid Services has led to greater penetration of monochrome medical monitors in North American region. Asia Pacific region is expected to gain lucrative growth over the forecasted period, due to rising awareness among the populace and increasing healthcare spending. Various healthcare initiatives by governments, especially in emerging economies, to educate and train the healthcare professionals to provide improved healthcare services is in turn fueling adoption of these monitors. Hence, immense opportunity lies in this region for the key players to cater to unmet needs of the target population. Europe is also witnessing major development activities related to medical monitors in order to cater to vast target population demanding for such devices.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :Barco and Eizo Corporation are some of the Key Players in the Monochrome Medical Monitor MarketSome of the key players are Ampronix Inc., Barco N.V., Eizo Corporation, KOSTEC CO., LTD., JVCKENWOOD Corporation, Richardson Electronics, Ltd., and NEC Display Solutions among others. Development of innovative products is fueling monochrome medical monitor market growth. For instance, in September 2010, Eizo Corporation launched 29.8-inch RadiForce RX430 at RSNA 2010, which is capable of displaying monochrome as well as color images simultaneously.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
AC Drivers Market - Improvised Application Of Product In Various Industries.
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The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Alternate Current (AC) drives are electronic devices that alternates with voltage, frequency & magnetic flux to regulate the speed & torque of an electric motor. In an energy intensive sector optimal usage of energy and efficient utilization of its consumption is important for managing the overall operating costs of that industry. AC drives can optimize the energy usage and at the same time help in reduction of operative costs by monitoring the speed and torque of electric motors. Reduction in energy usage and the gain from extending the life of electrical equipment make AC drives to have widespread applications in industries such as water & wastewater, oil & gas and mining. The primary reasons leading to growth of AC drives market includes increasing technological improvement in drives market, and improvised application of this product in various industries. This market is expected to register healthy growth due growing usage of AC drives across globe.Increasing urbanization & high industrialization growth rate across the globe are the primary aspects that is driving faster adoption of this product. Diverse processes for earning energy efficiency along with rising need for energy optimizations in different industrial processes are the key factors that are boosting the market growth. Although the reduction in the foreign direct investment in this sector is a key restrictive factor deterring the growth of this market. Also, there is a vast growth opportunities of this market in the auxiliary market. Moreover, increasing applications in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will provide growth opportunities for the AC drives market. The major manufacturers have consolidated power in the market but in recent period various local vendors are developing new products in this market which is expected to offer stiff competition to the big market players is a key market challenge to be overcome by key market players to gain stronghold in the market.AC drives market is segmented on the basis of power rating, voltage, end-user industry applications, and region. On the basis of power rating the market is segmented into low power drives, medium power drives and high power drives. The usage of high power variants are predominant in power generation, metals & mining and chemical & petrochemical industries. These industries also hold the largest market share and is expected to remain prominent throughout the forecast period 2016-2024.PDF Sample For Complete Analysis @On the basis of voltage, the market is segmented into low, medium and high voltage. The medium voltage AC drivers are expected to grow at the fastest rate owing to their vast end user base. The increasing growth potential of consumer electronics segment is driving this market.By end-use industry the market is distributed into food & beverage, oil & gas, metals & mining, power generation, water generation, automation, chemicals & petrochemicals and others. The increasing adoption of AC drivers in power generation and automation industry is driving the growth of this market during the forecast period. F&B and automation has high growth potential and are the fastest growing segment.On the basis of applications, the market is segmented into fans, pumps, compressors, extruders conveyors, among other applications. The increasing use of compressors into different applications has made it the fastest growing segment in the market. Compressors also old the highest market share and will remain dominant throughout the forecast period.On the basis of region, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America. North America has largest penetration for AC drivers and also hold the highest market share. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing segment in this market.Prominent market players operating in the market are Siemens AG (Germany), Fuji Electric Holdings (Japan), Danfoss Group (Denmark), Schneider Electric (France) Mitsubishi Electrical Co, Ltd. (Japan), Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), and Rockwell Automation (U.S.) amongst others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
DENGUE VACCINES MARKET - GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 2016-2024
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Dengue is a mosquito-borne flavivirus debilitating disease with high prevalence in most tropical and sub-tropical regions. Dengue is a painful disease that is also known as break bone fever due to the excruciating bone and joint pain associated with it. No therapeutics have been discovered for treatment of the disease caused by four closely related dengue viruses (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4). Therefore, focus has been mainly on prevention by controlling the vectors being borne. Severe dengue was discovered in the 1950s during dengue epidemics in Philippines and Thailand. The disease has since spread to Asian and Latin America countries and is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and deaths among children and adults in these regions.Get Free PDF Research Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Prevalent Scenario in the Global Dengue Vaccines MarketMember states in three of the WHO regions regularly report the annual number of dengue cases. These statistic suggest that the number of dengue cases increased from 2.2 million in 2010 to 3.2 million in 2015. The actual number remains underreported. One recent estimate by Bhatt et al., (also quoted by the WHO) mentions that there are around 390 million dengue cases worldwide each year, with number of cases reported increasing each year. In 2015, 2.35 million cases of dengue were reported in the Americas alone, of which 10,200 cases were diagnosed as severe dengue that led to 1,181 deaths. Dengue is a pertinent health issue affecting people across South America, Europe, and Asia. A large number of dengue outbreaks were reported worldwide in 2015, with over 169,000 cases in the Philippines and over 111,000 suspected cases of dengue in Malaysia. This was a staggering 59.5% and 16% increase respectively in the number of cases compared to that in 2014. The global dengue vaccines market therefore, offers lucrative growht opportunities for vaccine manufacturers.Dengvaxia the only approved product in the global dengue vaccines marketSanofi Pasteurs Dengvaxia, is the culmination of over two decades of scientific innovation and collaboration. The vaccine received its first marketing authorization in 2015, in Mexico. Dengvaxia is the worlds first licensed vaccine for prevention of dengue. It is a tetravalent dengue vaccine that prevents the disease from all four dengue viruses in people aged 9 to 45 years. Sanofi launched the worlds first public dengue vaccination program in the Philippines (2016), followed by Brazil. Dengvaxia is approved in 10 endemic countries worldwide, namely, Singapore, Mexico, the Philippines, Paraguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Peru, and Guatemala. The global dengue vaccines market is thus, expected to expand with growing market approvals.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :India is however taking a precautionary approach in approving this vaccine due to lack of studies among the population in the country. A scientist in India has developed a dengue vaccine that was successfully tested in monkeys. If successful in human trials, this could be a breakthrough invention for prevention of dengue among the populace in the country. Moreover, various philanthropists and global organizations are investing in developing vaccines for malaria and dengue.Dengue Vaccines Market Outlook Research PipelineThere are approximately five vaccine candidates under evaluation in clinical trials, including other live-attenuated vaccines, as well as subunit, DNA and purified inactivated vaccine candidates. Also, technological approaches, such as virus-vectored and VLP-based vaccines, are under evaluation in preclinical studies. In September 2016, Takeda announced the beginning of the phase 3 clinical trials of its dengue vaccine TAK-003 vaccine. This vaccine is also aimed at prevention against all four dengue virus strains.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
Baby Monitors Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Analysis For 2016 - 2024
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http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/baby-monitors-market.html
Baby Monitors Market: SnapshotOwing to increasing number of working parents and rise in the number of nuclear families, the demand for baby monitors have increased. In addition, an increase in the number of day care facilities has added on to the increased demand of baby monitors globally. High growth in disposable income in emerging economies and increased propensity to spend on baby care products is also positively impacting the market, especially in developing economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America.Transparency Market Research estimates that the global baby monitors market will exhibit a 4.4% CAGR from 2016 through 2024, rising from a valuation of US$876.8 mn in 2015 to US$ 1,291.8 mn by 2024.Download Latest Research Brochure PDF@Wide Range of Features makes Fixed Video Baby Monitors Most Popular Product VarietyOn the basis of product type, the baby monitors market is examined in the report for product varieties such as audio baby monitors, fixed video baby monitor, and pan and tilt baby monitors. Accounting for over 45% of the global baby monitors market, the segment of fixed video baby monitor dominated the market in terms of revenue in 2015. The trend is expected to continue over the next few years as well. Advanced features of fixed video baby monitors, such as the possibility of real-time sound and video transmission, temperature sensing, talk-back, and heart rate monitoring will aid the future development of the segment over the forecast period.The market for pan and tilt baby monitors is expected to exhibit steady growth owing to their rising popularity among users; these baby monitors offer advantages such as easy rotation of camera to get a perfect view of the babys play area and instant temperature alerts among others. The segment will exhibit a 5.5% CAGR over the period between 2016 through 2024. The segment of audio baby monitors, on the other hand, is expected to exhibit a -0.9% CAGR over the said period. The decline in demand for such baby monitors will stem from their limited set of features. Nevertheless, their economic nature will lead to a steady demand from cost-sensitive buyers.High Per Capita Spending on Baby Care Products Allows North America Market to Retain DominanceGlobally, North America is the largest regional market for baby monitors in terms of revenue, holding over 52.0% in 2015 and this trend is expected to continue over the forecast period as well; however Asia Pacific is the fastest growing baby monitors market. High per-capita spending capacity of consumers, growing awareness related to baby safety and security, and a rise in the number of nuclear families are cumulatively driving the market for baby monitors in North America. In addition to this, technologically advanced infrastructure and greater adoption of the innovative and niche baby care products is expected to create a lucrative market opportunity for baby monitors across North America.In 2015, Europe held the second largest market share for baby monitors, accounting for more than 36% of the total market size. Germany and the U.K. are the leading manufacturers of baby monitors in the region. The advancements in baby monitor technologies have positively impacted the demand for the market in the region. Rising expenditure on baby monitoring devices and increasing private equity investments in the electronic sector are the key factors driving the market for baby monitors in the region.Over the forecast period, Europe will continue to account for a significant share in the global baby monitors market. The market in Asia Pacific, however, will outpace both North America and Europe in terms of growth rate from 2016 to 2024. Expansion of the demand for baby monitors in the region will be as a result of changing lifestyles, increasing awareness among parents related to child care, rising disposable income, and efficient retailing channels.Some of the key vendors operating in the global baby monitors market are Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Angelcare Monitors Inc., Dorel Industries Inc., LOREX Technology Inc., Summer Infant Inc., Sony Corporation, VTech Holdings Ltd., and Koninklijke Philips N.V.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
E-signature Platform Market - Constant Technological Innovations to Create Lucrative Opportunities
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http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/chatbot-market.html
http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/artificial-intelligence-market.html
http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/smart-card.html
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The e-signature or electronic signature is a symbol, process or an electronic sound logically associated with a contract, adopted by a person with the objective of signing any record or contract. An e-signature platform is a software toolkit designated to support enterprises to integrate electronic signature functionalities into websites or in a business application. E-signature platforms furnish an interface to distribute and sign documents online, confining the appropriate certificate authorities to deliver relying on digital certificates. It provide e-signature software to gather signatures on documents shared electronically, by eliminating the need for physical documents and processes to record signatures. Electronic signature platforms facilitate the circulation of legally confidential documents, for instance, sales contracts, employment paperwork, or such work for which signatures are often required. Moreover, e-signature platform support the generation, right from the most generic to the most advanced electronic signature formats.Government policies such as the U.S. Federal law known as the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the acceptance of electronic signature by the certain jurisdictional authorities, which includes the Federal Courts of the U.S. and the Supreme Court of Canada, is anticipated to boost the global e-signature platform market in the near future. The growing need for e-signatures, efficient security transactions and the need to authenticate user identity are increasing the demand for the e-signature or electronic signature platform market, which is expected to show significant growth globally. Moreover, the demand for completely customizable solutions, flexible document or legal contract delivery across on-premise, cloud and web-based platforms is a major driver. However, the high initial investment required for the implementation and integration of the e-signature platform is anticipated to obstruct the growth of the global e-signature platform market.Get Sample Report Copy :The e-signature platform market is primarily segmented based on component, deployment and by application. Based on component type the global electronic signature or e-signature market is further segmented into software and services, where the services segment is further classified into consulting, integration, and operation & maintenance. On the basis of deployment type, the e-signature platform market is classified as on-premise, cloud-based and web-based. Moreover, the global market is also classified across end use industries, which includes banking financial services and insurance (BFSI), human resource, legal, real estate, education and research, government and others. In terms of geographies the global electronic signature platform market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and South America. The acceptance of e-signatures around the globe and significant adaptation of the electronic signature platform in North America is because of stringent cyber laws and tremendous growth in the financial sector in this region. However, South America has the least adoption of e-signature technology due to the weak and diversified cyber laws in the region. Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific regions are anticipated to show significant growth, with notable compound annual growth rates during the forecast period.Some of the major players of the global e-signature platform market, with significant development in region and large market share include Adobe Systems Incorporation, Docu Sign Inc., Entrust Datacard Corporation, Right Signature LLC, AssureSign LLC., VASCO, eSignLive, Cryptolog, eSignly, Canvas and Signix.Top Research Reports by TMR :Chatbot Market -Artificial Intelligence Market -Smart Cards Market -About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market Scenario, Leading Players, Segments Analysis and Growth Drivers to 2022
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Market HighlightsAntimicrobial Packaging Materials are used to prevent the food from spoilage. Most of the food is wasted due to spoilage. Packaging materials such as antimicrobial packaging materials are highly flexible, transparent, and prevent the passage of gases, liquids, and radiation. Materials are used in the form of thin films and sheets for food packaging. They increase the shelf life of packaged foods by preventing the passage of atmospheric air. Moreover, growing consumer awareness about health-related issues, rising consumption of products with shorter shelf life such as fresh meat products and increasing demand by various end-user industries such as food & beverage, healthcare, personal care, consumer goods, and agricultural products are the major factors driving the market of antimicrobial packaging.The global market is expected to show staggering growth during the forecast period.Request a Sample Copy of Report @Key PlayersThe key players of Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market report include- The Dow Chemical Company, BASF SE., Mondi Plc, PolyOne Corporation, Biocote Limited, Dunmore Corporation, Linpac Senior Holdings, Microban International, Oplon Pure Sciences Ltd. Takex Labo Co. Ltd.Browse Report Details @Market Research Analysis:Asia pacific region holds the largest share in the global market. The major industries having a healthy demand for antimicrobial packaging are food & beverages, healthcare, personal care, consumer goods, and agricultural products. Moreover, awareness among consumers about importance of antimicrobial packaging and preference for convenience are driving the market of Antimicrobial packaging.The Asia-Pacific region leads the market due to its large population and its proven identity as a major manufacturing hub that offers production opportunities at affordable costs to companies. Moreover, Availability of advanced antimicrobial packaging materials and technology are expected to support the growth in demand for packaging in antimicrobial industry. Additionally, rapid lifestyle changes and economic growth, coupled with rising population in Asia Pacific countries such as China and India has spiked the growth rate of Antimicrobial packaging in the region.Access the market data and market information presented through more than 25 market data tables and 25 figures spread over 109 numbers of pages of the project report Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market - Forecast to 2022Scope of the reportThis study provides an overview of the Global Antimicrobial Packaging Industry, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market as material, Type and Application. On the basis of material it is segmented as Plastic, Paper & Paperboard and others. On the basis of type it includes Bags, Pouches, carton packages and others .On the basis of application it is segmented as Food & beverages, Healthcare, Personal care and others.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Misleading advertising: Exclusive must mean exclusive
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www.grprainer.com/en/
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If something is advertised as exclusive then it ought to remain exclusive. A ruling of the Landgericht (LG) Hamburg [Regional Court of Hamburg] demonstrates that a lack of touted exclusivity can render the advertising misleading.GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London conclude: A cosmetics manufacturer had advertised a number of its products as exclusively available at pharmacies. While the company itself had in fact sold its products solely in pharmacies, the products in question also found their way onto what is referred to as the grey market via the product lines of online merchants, retailers and drugstores. For this reason, the Landgericht Hamburg ruled in its judgment of November 17, 2016 that the advertising was misleading and violated Germanys Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG) [Unfair Competition Act] (Az.: 327 O 90/16).The defendant company took the view that its exclusive advertising was legitimate, arguing that it had only sold the products in pharmacies and the average visitor would not have a different understanding of the promotional statements. However, the LG Hamburg reached a different conclusion. The Court held that the promotional statements at issue were objectively inaccurate, as the products advertised were also available outside of pharmacies. The advertising was said to include no qualifying statement indicating that the defendant itself would only be selling the products in pharmacies. The Court went on to say that there was therefore a risk of consumers being misled by this advertising and not concluding that there were also offers on the grey market.It also held that it is not unlikely for consumers to opt for an exclusive product, especially since pharmacies are rated as particularly trustworthy. As a result, competitors would have poorer prospects when it came to selling their products. The LG Hamburg therefore concluded that a right to damages was justified.When it comes to advertising, it is easy for boundaries to be crossed, even unwittingly, and thus give rise to violations of competition law. Formal written warnings, damages claims and injunction suits are possible consequences. Lawyers who are experienced in the field of intellectual property law can advise businesses on their advertising measures as well as assist in fending off or enforcing claims.GRP Rainer LLPis an international firm of lawyers and tax advisors who are specialists in commercial law. The firm counsels commercial and industrial companies and corporations, as well as associations, small- and mid-sized businesses, self-employed freelancers and private individuals worldwide from offices Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London UK.Contact Michael RainerLawyer, Managing PartnerGRP Rainer LLPGurzenich-QuartierAugustinerstrae 1050667 CologneGermanyPhone: +49 221-27 22 75-0info@grprainer.com
The HR Congress Budapest
The HR Congress Budapest
www.bp.hr-congress.com
http://www.stamfordglobal.com/
After bringing together 500 HR professionals in Amsterdam on 29-30 November 2016 and offering probably the most unique and comprehensive event program of its kind, the HR Congress will now arrive in the Hungarian capital for two content-packed days of learning and exchanging ideas.The Congress will feature a truly unique panel of global subject matter experts.The presenters are carefully selected to ensure that their content is aligned with the theme of the conference.THIS IS NOT ANOTHER DEATH BY POWER POINT EVENT.Rather a TED-style conference, sharing provocative and inspiring ideas to help in designing and building people-centric organizations.It never has been more challenging to be an HR professional than nowadays. Global forces are reshaping the workplace, the workforce, and work itself. To help organizations cope with this unprecedented change, HR leaders and professionals must up their game not only to be a partner of business but to shape the business and enable the organization to become resilient, standing in longevity built on a strong culture around its most important assets: people.As confirmed in Deloittes 2016 Human Capital Report: After three years of struggling to drive employee engagement and retention, improve leadership, and build a meaningful culture, executives see a need to redesign the organization.Check more details about the event atStamford Global is an elite provider of business events, thought leader research and publications in the field of HR, Analytics and Project Management. Follow us for regular updates about our premium events and training courses, as well as articles, discussions and other knowledge resources.Stamford Global, Budapest, Varmegye utca 3-5. 1. em., 1052, Hungary
Quality Management Software Market To Witness Growth Based On Rising Technology Advancements In IT And Telecom Industries Till 2024: Grand View Research, Inc.
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The global quality management software market is estimated to reach USD 12.63 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing advancement in the functionality of solution is anticipated to boost the industry growth over the forecast period.Quality Management Software (QMS) is used to better manage and control quality concerns regarding performance, customer satisfaction, and competitiveness of the organization. This is done by the controlling processes as well as products for consistent quality assurance, reduction in the quality gap between manufacturing practices and end-product expectations, tracking of deviations, and ensuring compliances.The QMS market is expected to witness a tremendous growth due to the increasing demand for the effective management of organizational processes and the need for meeting consumer expectations in a highly competitive market. The growing technology advancements in IT and telecom as well as the automation of the transportation and logistics industries are driving the market growth.Quality management software offers numerous functionalities including the handling of non-conformances, out of specification test results, calibration, ensuring compliance, as well as a centralized system that ensures connection to organizations ERP and CRM systems. All these capabilities, coupled with the reduction in the costs, are energizing the adoption of quality management software across a wide range of industries.The flexibility and mobility offered by the quality management software in solutions such as document control and non-conformances issue resolving are driving the demand for QMS software in large enterprises, contributing to the addition of new functionalities to the software every day. The increasing demand for cloud-based QMS solutions due to implied scalability and accessibility is a major factor for increasing the popularity of the quality management software.Browse full research report on Global Quality Management Software Market: (Further key findings from the report suggest: The cloud technology is becoming popular among cost-sensitive customers and small & medium enterprises. The numerous benefits that the cloud-based quality management software offers without incurring additional costs are helping the market grow. Quality management software is also being adopted by the small- and medium-sized enterprises. Globalization and the need for complying with international standards for products as well as processes have brought about the necessity of quality management systems to deal with the increased pressure of numerous regulations and directives. This is an important factor affecting the spread of versatile and customized quality management solutions across industries. MasterControl, Inc., Sparta Systems, Inc., SAP SE, and Siemens AG are some of the major industry players in this domain. Other key vendors include Aras Corporation, Arena Solutions Inc., Autodesk Inc., Dassault Systemes SE, PSC Biotech Corp., Oracle Corporation, Parasoft Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co.Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research:Grand View Research has segmented the quality management software market on the basis of application, solution, deployment, company size and region:Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) IT and telecom Transportation and logistics Consumer goods and retail Defence and aerospace Manufacturing Healthcare OtherSolution Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) Document control Non-conformances / corrective & preventative Complaint handling Employee training Audit management Supplier quality management Calibration management Change management OtherDeployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) Cloud On-premiseCompany Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Large enterpriseRegional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2024) North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo UKo Germany Asia Pacifico Chinao Japano India Latin Americao Brazilo Mexico Middle East & Africa (MEA)For more information:About Grand View ResearchGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Press ContactSherry James - Corporate Relations Specialist28 2nd Street, Suite 3036San Francisco, CA 94105United StatesPhone: 1-415-349-0058Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com
USA - Telecoms, IP Networks And Digital Media
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Network neutrality promising major changes to fixed and mobile broadband service conditionsThe US broadband market is currently witnessing significant investment activity in fibre deployments, HFC upgrades and mobile broadband network rollouts. Much of the investment in fibre is being undertaken by a significant number of smaller players and municipalities rather than the two key telcos, which are concentrating on a hybrid fibre/copper network. The activities of market players such as Google, Cincinnati Bell and others have encouraged smaller carriers to continue to deploy fibre deeper into their networks.Broadband services in most regions still lack effective competition, with the AT&T and Verizon managing an effective duopoly in many areas of the country. Municipal activity, often geared at breaking this stranglehold and introducing competition and innovation, continues to be stymied by lobbying pressure from these main telcos, which has led to at least 19 states banning or restricting municipal or state-led infrastructure projects.There is now a growing consensus, supported by the President in his 2015 State of the Union address, that such restrictions should be lifted. The FCC Chairman also in February 2015 proposed measures which would reclassify broadband as a telecom service rather than a content service, and would extend network neutrality conditions to mobile broadband services. The FCC is also determined to use its authority to override restrictive state laws.The US mobile subscriber base is approaching 340 million, and although growth has slowed with higher penetration levels, mobile data use remains strong in line with the fast development of LTE networks and the high take-up of smartphones, which now account for about 80% of all handset devices on mobile networks. Data revenue also continues to grow steadily year-on-year, though is subject to considerable price competition among the main players. A potential shift market dynamics can be expected in coming years following the FCCs recommendation that mobile broadband be subject to network neutrality rules.Download Sample Copy of Report atKey developments:Google Fibre extended to four more cities;C Spire adopts Google Fibers strategy to build out fibre in Mississippi;fibre extends to more than 39% of commercial buildings;AT&T to invest $14 billion in LTE and U-verse network to 2015;FCC proposes new net neutrality measures, also to cover mobile broadband;State of the Union address promotes end to state legislation banning municipal broadband networks;;Frontier acquires Verizons wireline assets in three western states for $10.5 billion;New York state proposal for $1 billion investment in broadband infrastructure, using state and private funds;Next Century Cities program expands to 50 cities developing affordable broadband solutions;USDA makes available $190.5 million in loans and grants for rural broadband;FCC rules 25Mb/s as a newly defined broadband speed;Liberty Media to spin off new Liberty Broadband Group;FCC approves $2 billion to improve WiFi to schools;FCC concludes AWS auction, securing $44.9 billion;AT&T to close down 2G infrastructure by end-2016;telcos operating and financial data to Q4 2014;recent market developments.Companies mentioned in this reportVerizon; Google; AT&T; CenturyLink, Clearwire; Sprint; MetroPCS; US Cellular; Qwest; Frontier; Windstream; Fairpoint; Cincinnati Bell; Comcast; HughesNet; ViaSat, T-Mobile US, Tracfone, MetroPCS Communications, Leap Wireless, Frontline, Alltel.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Elevators & Escalators Global Market 2017 by Manufacturers - Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi, Hyundai, Volkslift, Kone
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https://goo.gl/y8bEqX
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Global Elevators & Escalators Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Elevators & Escalators market globally, providing basic overview of Elevators & Escalators market including Definitions, Classifications, Applications and Industry chain structure, Elevators & Escalators Market report provides development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. Elevators & Escalators market size, share and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Download Free Sample Report @Global market research report of Elevators & Escalators 2017 mainly focuses on Production, means the output of Elevators & Escalators and Revenue, means the sales value of Elevators & Escalators in market. Elevators & Escalators market research report studies Elevators & Escalators in Global market, Elevators & Escalators market report gives detail analysis of regions especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Global Elevators & Escalators market report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with their Business perspective which consist of Elevators & Escalators Capacity, Production, Price, Revenue and Elevators & Escalators market share for each manufacturer.Elevators & Escalators Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.OtisMitsubishi ElectricSchindler GroupHitachiKoneThyssenKruppToshibaFujitecYungtay EngineeringSANYOHyundaiCanny ElevatorVolksliftSJECSyney ElevatorHangzhou XiOliftSicher ElevatorGuangri ElevatorCNYDEdunburgh ElevatorShenlong ElevatorSuzhou DiaoMeilun ElevatorIFE ElevatorsFEIYA ElevatorAolida ElevatorTailing ElevatorsYongri ElevatorHosting ElevatorsDongnan ElevatorAccess Full Report @Global Elevators & Escalators Market segment by Regions, Elevators & Escalators market report splits Global into several key Regions, with Elevators & Escalators production, Elevators & Escalators consumption, Elevators & Escalators revenue, Elevators & Escalators market share and growth rate of Elevators & Escalators in these regions, from 2011 to 2021. Elevators & Escalators Market report split by Product type and Application, with Elevators & Escalators Production, Revenue, Price, market Share and Growth rate of each type, according to Application Elevators & Escalators Market report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Elevators & Escalators in each application.Elevators & Escalators Market Research Report Split by Type,ElevatorEscalatorElevators & Escalators Market Research Report Split by ApplicationResidential AreaCommercial OfficeTransportation Hub AreaIndustrial AreaTable of ContentsGlobal Elevators & Escalators Market Research Report 20171 Elevators & Escalators Market Overview2 Global Elevators & Escalators Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Elevators & Escalators Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Elevators & Escalators Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Elevators & Escalators Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Elevators & Escalators Market Analysis by Application7 Global Elevators & Escalators Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Elevators & Escalators Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Elevators & Escalators Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 Appendix14.1 Methodology14.2 Analyst Introduction14.3 Data SourceFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Mark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:
SpecPage expands business in Europe with a strengthened team
Jozef Olear and Fernando Fernandes are strengthening the team of SpecPage.
www.specpage.com
www.specpage.com
Merlischachen-Kussnacht (Switzerland), February 27, 2017. SpecPage, a global provider of integrated software solutions and online tools for the food & beverage industry, has appointed Jozef Olear and Fernando Fernandes as Business Development Managers to boost its activities in Central, Eastern as well as Southern Europe.In their new roles, Jozef Olear and Fernando Fernandes will be responsible for building up SpecPages presence in their respective focus regions as well as customer service of existing clients. This is the third high-profile hire in recent months confirming the companys continuous global growth.Before joining SpecPage, Jozef Olear held senior sales positions, heading the confectionary packaging sales for global packaging suppliers Schur Flexibles Moneta and Moneta S. During his tenure at Moneta S, the company was recognized with the DuPont Gold Packaging Award for Packaging Innovation.We look forward to working with Jozef. He has long-standing experience with food processing and packaging businesses, and will assist our clients in implementing cost-efficient recipe and specification management solutions, said Severin Weiss, CEO at SpecPage.After years in the packaging industry, I have decided to pursue new challenges. This is a great opportunity for me to bring in my experience and help F&B producers acquire the right technology solutions to help accelerate productivity, and manage their data more efficiently and safely, added Jozef Olear.Fernando Fernandes has vast experience in sales and lead representative roles with leading companies in the IT industry such as IBM and DELL. With Fernando, we are better equipped to enter the local markets and develop new opportunities, commented Severin Weiss. SpecPage specializes in the food and beverage industry and has been growing rapidly in Europe. With an experienced a-nd committed team, we can offer our clients an enhanced service ensuring they can fully exploit the potential of our solutions to streamline their product development and information processes.It is exciting for me to join SpecPage now that the company continues to grow dynamically and is becoming a real global player in the food & beverage industry. It is a pleasure for me to be able to use my knowledge of the Southern European markets and to contribute to the success of the company in this region, stated Fernando Fernandes.SpecPage with headquarters in Switzerland provides product development solutions, including Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Product Data Management (PDM) and Laboratory Information and Management System (LIMS), enabling food and beverage companies to innovate competitive products in compliance with relevant food laws.With expertise in the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), the company offers individually customizable online catalogs, including Suppliers Guide, Buyers Guide and Compliance Guide, to help companies manage high-quality product information at the touch of a button.About SpecPageSpecPage with headquarters in Switzerland and branch offices in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Sweden, Slovakia and the United States is a leading vendor of integrated software solutions and online catalogs for the food and beverage industry. Kelloggs, Subway, Lindt, Dr. Oetker, Mondelez, Develey, Nestle Wagner, Campbell Soup, R&R Ice Cream, OSI, Zeelandia and Glanbia, to name just a few, are well-known customers who use the innovative and user-friendly software solutions from SpecPage to successfully manage the special and complex aspects of product development in the global competition for attractive products. With expertise in food law, the company offers turnkey product data management tools for master data and recipe as well product lifecycle management with integrated GDSN interface, simplifying compliance with global labeling requirements. In addition to its standardized software solutions, SpecPage offers master data capturing services and audits. Visit us atfor more information.SpecPagePilatusstrasse 35CH-6402 Merlischachen-KussnachtE: info@specpage.comW:Media contactPetra KourimskaT: +41 44 500 75 00E: pkourimska@specpage.com
Polypropylene (PP) Nonwoven Fabric Market by Product (Spunbounded, Staple, Meltblown, Composite) - Forecast 2025
Orbis Research
http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/polypropylene-pp-nonwoven-fabric-market-analysis-by-product-spunbounded-staple-meltblown-composite-by-application-hygiene-industrial-medical-geotextiles-furnishings-carpet-agriculture-and-segment-forecasts-2014-2025
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The global Polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabric market is expected to reach USD 34.98 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rapidly increasing disposable income level in countries such as China, India and Brazil has enhanced market penetration for baby diapers, adult incontinence products which have had a mirror impact on PP nonwoven fabric demand in these regions.Browse the report:These fabrics are now being aggressively adopted for durable applications such as geotextiles, construction, automotive, home furnishing, etc. which has increased their penetration level in such markets. However, volatile raw material supply is expected to be a key challenge for industry participants, in terms of maintaining profitability.Polypropylene being a petrochemical derivative, witnesses significant fluctuation in its price owing to the supply-demand imbalance. Over the last few years, there has been rising concern over the depleting petroleum reserves which have led to a shortage of chemicals, affecting their market price.Request a sample of the report:In terms of production, emerging markets of Latin America, Middle East and Africa hold maximum potential. These regions are expected to cater to the growing demand for PP nonwoven fabrics by 2025.Some of the major expansions planned in these regions are projected to come from Russia which holds the advantage of having abundant natural resources. However, Asia Pacific is also expected to expand its capacity on account of favorable government policies in India and China to increase the flow of FDI.Further Key Findings From the Study Suggest:Spunbonded fabric emerged as the largest as well as fastest growing product segment and is expected to witness a revenue growth at an estimated CAGR of around 9%.Majority of spunbonded polypropylene nonwoven fabric produced is consumed for hygiene application around the world.Buy the report@Meltblown PP nonwoven fabrics is anticipated to emerge as the second fastest growing product segment.Major application of meltblown PP nonwoven fabrics include sanitary applications such as hygiene and incontinence products for babies, adults and feminine hygiene products.Hygiene application segment observed highest market penetration and accounted for 45.0% of the overall market volume in 2015.PP nonwoven fabric demand in furnishings applications is expected to grow at fastest estimated CAGR of over 10% during the forecast period.Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing as well as the largest regional segment owing to increasing healthcare expenditure.About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Email: sales@orbisresearch.com
Cable Modem Subscribers Market Estimated to Flourish by 2024
http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/cable-modem-subscribers-market.asp
Subtitle: The Cable Modem Subscribers Market report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.A cable modem is a type of modem and network bridge providing two-way communication via radio channels on a Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) and Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial (HFC) infrastructure. It enables integration of a local cable TV line with the computer and continuously receives data at about 1.4 Mbps. Cable modem subscribers use the bandwidth of cable modems for implementing the internet services at the desired locations. They use coaxial cables that are used by cable TV for the service as it offers high-speed access to the World Wide Web.The cable modem subscribers market is segmented on the basis of end-use applications into enterprise applications and residential applications. On the basis of types, the cable modem subscribers market is segmented into internal cable modem subscribers, external cable modem subscribers, and interactive set-top box cable modem subscribers among others. On the basis of region, the cable modem subscribers market is segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (RoW). The North America region majorly contributes to the growth of cable modem subscribers market on account of high penetration of the Internet in the region.The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) is the major factor fuelling the growth of cable modem subscribers market. Customers are increasing their preference for using internet to carry out various financial transactions such as accessing latest e-bills via e-mails, carrying out payments using debit and credit cards, and online bank transfers among others. Business organizations are also promoting the use of internet on mobile devices by allowing employees to carry out their work at convenient locations using smart phones and tablets. This helps them in increasing their revenue by boosting employee productivity. The growing trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices), strong penetration of notebooks and laptops, growth of mobile internet networks and increase in internet enabled smart phones is further contributing to the growth of IoT. Moreover, the rising standard of living is driving the IoT market as people are looking for saving time on various daily tasks such as shopping and various bill payments. These factors that contribute to the growth of IoT initiate the increase in the subscription of effective and high speed cable modems to increase the speed of internet connections for performing various tasks. Thus the proliferation of IoT is fuelling the growth of cable modem subscribers market.However, high installation cost is one of the major factors limiting the growth of the cable modem subscribers market. Moreover, due to uncertain returns, service providers across the globe have been reluctant in investing in cable modems. This has adversely affected the growth of cable modem subscribers market.Some of the major players in this market are Videotron GP (Canada), Time Warner Cable Inc. (U.S.), Telstra Corporation Limited (Australia), StarHub Ltd (Singapore), Shaw Communications Inc. (Canada), Rogers Communications Inc. (Canada), Liberty Global Inc. (U.S.), Kabel Deutschland (Germany), Insight Communications Company, Inc. (U.S.), COX Enterprises (U.S.), Com Hem AB (Sweden), Comcast Corporation (U.S.), Cogeco Cable Inc. (Canada), Charter Communications Inc.(U.S.), and CablevisionSystems Corporation (U.S.).Browse Full Report summary and to request sample report and table of content@About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Dithianon Market - Global Industry Analysis By 2024
Dithianon Market
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Dithianon, a fungicide belonging to the quinone family, is used to control various pests. It acts as a conventional, protective, broad spectrum fungicide for apples, pears, and other fruits. The different types of pests it keeps a check on include Venturia, Plasmopara, Coryneum & Monilia & Taphrina, Botryosphaeria & Glomerella, and Podosphaera & Venturia. Dithianon is applied as a foliar spray on a surface to which it adheres well and offers excellent persistence when dried. This fungicide is generally consumed farming of fruits, crops and vegetables.Based on disease, the dithianon market has been segmented into the following categories: scab, mildew, fruit rot, and others. Fruit rot accounts for a significant share in the global dithianon market due to rising prevalence of gloeosporium and penicillium expansum. The scab segment is expected to experience a high growth rate, led by the growth in bacteria such as venturia inaequalis and venturia pirina. Growing demand for apples and peers farming is predicted to boost the need for dithianon during the forecast period.GET PDF BROCHURE FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL AND TECH-NICAL INSIGHTS:Geographically, the global market has been distributed over Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific was a major market for dithianon in 2015. The market for fungicides in this region is estimated to expand due to the ever-increasing requirement for agriculture and farming. Scab held a large share in the dithianon market in Asia Pacific in 2015. There has been a surge in diseases caused by plants increased exposure to different types of bacteria. Rising disposable incomes in North America andEurope are projected to propel the dithianon market in these regions, especially in the U.S. and U.K., apart from new product launches. The product is anticipated to garner high demand in Europe, Asia Pacific, and Australia due to the widespread fruits market in this region. Developing economies in Asia Pacific, namely China and India, are also projected to register a high growth rate in the dithianon market due to the rising incomes of consumers. Promotional measures taken by the government to push the agricultural sector are also likely to fuel the demand for dithianon in developing countries, besides research and development advancements and innovation in terms of new products.Global demand for fungicides is anticipated to rise significantly in the near future, thereby offering high growth opportunities for the dithianon market. The rapid rise in demand from end-use applications, competitive manufacturing costs, and high economic growth rates are propelling the market in Asia Pacific. These factors are attracting companies to adopt the strategies of expansion and R&D in the region. Market players are focusing on Asia Pacific to gain larger market shares. The high agricultural growing in Asia Pacific region is expected to boost the demand for dithianon market for the forecast period. Producers of dithianon have been compelled to adopt acquisition strategies to meet the global needs. Several of them are shifting their plants to countries such as China and India due to the high demand and low raw material & labor costs there. This trends are expected to continue in the near future propelling high demand for dithianon market.Key players operating in the global dithianon market are AgChemAccess Limited, SIMAGCHEM, Haihang Industry Co., Ltd., Parchem fine & specialty chemicals, Krishi Rasayan Group, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., and BASF ES.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog:
Workshop on UK MoD & RAF Agenda Released for Air Mission Planning and Support 2017 in London
Air Mission Planning and Support 2017
www.airmissionplanning.co.uk/openpr
www.airmissionplanning.co.uk/openpr
http://www.smi-online.co.uk
Air Mission Planning and Support 2017 returns to London on 5-6 April 2017 and will feature a pre-conference workshop led by WhiteFlare Consulting.The Conference will uncover how leading nations are delivering their most advanced air mission planning and support systems to date. Key subjects include: The F-35 Lighting II Joint Programme The optimization and development of the Gripen Fleet Delivering Effective Air Mission Planning and Support Strategies Improving interoperability between partner Air ForcesAttendees will also have the opportunity to attend a half-day pre-conference workshop which will be held on Tuesday 4th April 2017.Industry focused afternoon workshop:'Effectively Presenting Air Mission Planning and Support Solutions to the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force'12.30pm - 4.00pmHosted by Mr. Nick Cox, Director, Defence & Aviation, WhiteFlare ConsultingReasons to attend:Understanding the customer decider community in detail is vital to making a timely and effective sale to the UK Ministry of Defence. There are many pitfalls to the unwary and strict rules by which procurement staff have to abide by.This workshop will illuminate and clarify what can ease the sales process and what vendors can offer to assist the customer through numeral layers of approval before contracts can be signed. If will also cover ways to satisfy urgent operational requirements and conventional procurement routes.About the workshop leader:Nick Cox, Defence and Aviation Consultant, formerly Royal Air Force Programme Manager for C-130 Hercules, L1011 Tristar and UK Parachute and Aerial Delivery Capability. UK lead in Multi National C-130J Joint User Group 7 Nation Partnership to procure and manage upgrades to C-130J capability and through life support.As the former UK Royal Air Force Programme Manager and Airworthiness Release Signatory for the C-130, Mr. Cox, will be able to guide delegates through the procurement process and pitfalls when attempting to sell services, new capabilities and products to the Ministry of Defence.For more information or to attend this conference, visit the event website:Air Mission Planning and Support5th and 6th April 2017London, United Kingdom---- END ----About SMi Group: Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the worlds most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found atSMi Group1 Westminster Bridge Rd, London SE1 7XWFor media enquiries, contact Shannon Cargan on +44 20 7827 6138 or scargan@smi-online.co.uk
Sun Care Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Analysis For 2016 - 2024
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Sun Care Market: SnapshotThe rising awareness regarding the importance of sun protection and the launch of new products with more effective formulations have significantly driven the global market for sun care products. The growth in this market in the coming years is pinned on the development of products with natural and organic ingredients. Emerging economies in Latin America and Asia Pacific are anticipated to present lucrative opportunities for players in the sun care market as increasing disposable income and growing awareness levels direct their purchasing patterns.The global sun care market is poised to expand at a 5.8% CAGR during the forecast period, rising from a value of US$14.8 bn in 2015 to US$24.9 bn by 2024.Download Research Brochure PDF@After Sun Products to Expand at Rapid Pace through 2024Sun care products have come a long way from being products exclusively meant for skin care to being a beauty necessity. One of the key factors driving the sun care market is the growing multifunctionality of almost all sun care products. Apart from sun protection, these products also serve multiple purposes. Based on type, there are three main products available in the sun care market: self-tanning, sun protection, and after sun. Among these, sun protection products held the leading share in 2015 in terms of revenue and are likely to retain their dominance through 2024. After sun products are anticipated to expand at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, followed by sun protection products.Growing Risk of Skin Cancer Driving Sales of Sun Care Products in Asia PacificThe global sun care market is segmented on the basis of geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. North America led the overall market in 2015, contributing over 35% of the total revenue generated by the sun care market that year. Expanding at a steady pace, this market is anticipated to retain its lead throughout the forecast period. The persistent demand for sun care products in various forms is spurring the growth of this market in North America, especially in the U.S. The market is also fueled by several other factors, including rising customer knowledge, growing skin care concerns, and considerable research and development in the U.S. Sun protection products, especially cream-based and liquid sunscreen products, have been witnessing increased demand in the region. Encouraged by the massive size of the North America sun care market, several local and low-grade products have been flooding the market. However, these lowly-priced poor quality products are a restraint in the growth of the sun care market in North America.Consumers across Asia Pacific are increasingly becoming more conscious about skin care and the use of specialized skin care products. Products with additional benefits such as anti-blemish, anti-aging, and dark spot reduction have gained much popularity in Asia Pacific and are likely to push this market to become the fastest growing regional segment during the forecast period. Owing to the harsh climatic conditions in the region, the adverse impact of sun rays and the risk of skin cancer is high. With the increased knowledge about this fact, consumers are driven to purchase more sun care products.Some of the leading players in the sun care market are Beiersdorf AG (Germany), Groupe Clarins. (France), Johnson and Johnson (U.S.), Coty Inc. (US), Shiseido Company Ltd. (Japan), LOreal (France), Bioderma Laboratories. (France), Estee Lauder Companies (U.S.), Burts Bees (U.K.), and Unilever (Netherlands).Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
AasaanJobs launches Resume Builder- latest feature on its online platform
www.aasaanjobs.com
AasaanJobs (), one of Indias leading online recruitment marketplace that connects entry-level job seekers with employers, adds another new feature on its growing website the Resume Builder. With this, the company wishes to target job seekers based in tier-2 cities, allowing them to enhance their profile for better job prospects.During job hunting, the first and most important thing that candidates require while applying for a job is a resume, a comprehensive document that showcases the educational and professional expertise of a candidate. In this age of technology, wherein job aspirants can either send their resumes to prospective employers or simply post them online on recruitment platforms, there are still some people who rely on offline ways to create their CVs or resumes.Such job seekers, especially those in the blue collar jobs category, tend to pay lots of money to get their resumes professionally made.To alleviate this problem, AasaanJobs built its new Resume Builder feature that can make the job seekers life significantly better. The Resume Builder can enhance the candidates profile, making it more appealing to recruiters, and thereby, increasing the possibility of better job prospects.It also suggestsdifferent modelsto prepare the resume based on the standard format for a particular industry.Commenting on the launch, Dinesh Singh, VP Engineering, AasaanJobs said, Building a resume is a very tedious, yet important part of a job seekers career. While most freshers these days have the resources to build a good resume, there are still some individuals who spend lots of cash and time to create a resume, and are still unable to find a good job. Inspired by this issue, we decided to help our candidates build good quality resume in minutes with the Resume Builder that can significantly improve their chances of landing a great job opportunity. We are confident that this feature will prove to be a boon for job aspirants across India, enabling them to create extremely professional resumes while they look for their dream job.With AasaanJobs accelerating its efforts to expand its services towards tier-2 cities, it has now become a matter of extreme importance to facilitate services like the Resume Builder for candidates who live there in order to maximize their chances of securing a lucrative job.By creating an end-to-end product for recruitment purposes, AasaanJobs has become a one-stop platform for the entire journey of a job seeker by adding more value to his/her resume, and improve their chances of securing any job they desire.Aasaanjobs is a leading end-to-end recruitment marketplace connecting employers, consultants and job seekers. Our goal is to make hiring quick, easy and convenient for everyone involved.Aasaanjobs Office: 022-44446666Unit No:4, B Wing, Krislon House, Opposite Marwah Center, Military Road, Off Saki Vihar Road, Mumbai - 400072
These Proven Tips And Tricks Will Provide Cover For The Bald Patch On Your Head
https://www.harleybodyclinic.co.uk
There is a tendency among the masses to be cruel when talking about others issues with hair loss. If you are someone who has been afflicted with the loss of follicles from the top of the head, then Im sure you are going to vouch for this bald truth. However, male pattern baldness does not mean that one fine morning you will wake up and find all your hair has fallen off suspect foul play if this is the case! No, it is a gradual process and starts off with modest loss of hair. This puts you in a better position to equip yourself with all the tips and tricks that will help disguise the hairless crown on your head.The first thing to do when you notice the bald patch on your head is to accept that something is not right and then work towards putting it right. You could opt for a surgical procedure or natural methods but, again, the results wont occur overnight. So in the meanwhile you need something to hide the follicle deficiency on your head.Do A Comb-OverThough time-consuming and fiddly (you may find yourself at the end of a ridiculous Bobby Charlton joke) there are instances when comb-overs work better than imagined. Beware the wind catching them in which case it opens up like a trapdoor revealing a chamber of horrors. While such big revelations may work wonders for your popularity at press conferences, the same does not hold true as far as your self-esteem is concerned. A generous amount of hairspray could help disguise a patch of a modest size but avoid doing anything fancy as the results are not always what you would want them to be.Sprinkle SupplementsMicroscopic, electrostatically-charged volumnizing hair fibers that stick to the hair give the appearance of a thicker thatch. These have been present for a number of years and promise to give you instant results as far as filling the gaping holes on your head is concerned. These products should ideally be sprinkled on your head like you sprinkle salt on food and the fibers fill out whatever gap may be present. Just make sure that you have got the color right and then everything else can be taken care of.Go For A TattooTattoos are trendy but have you ever thought about doing more than restricting them to your sleeves? Why not choose to have one on the head also? This is a technique that works best for those who are bald rather than the ones who are patchy on top. A procedure called scalp micro pigmentation involves tattooing tiny dots of pigment on the scalp in a color matching the existing hair color. This creates a uniform stubble effect and helps to cover up the bald region.Whatever the procedure you are opting for to cover the balding area, make sure your makeover keeps the hair looking hair and does not end up resembling a helmet!Harley Body Clinic includes professionals who can offer you expert solutions for your issues with hair. Call them today! For more details please visit atHarley Body Clinic(Subsidiary of Harley Cosmetic Group)61 Harley StreetLondon W1G 8QU
Nanobots Market Sales by Product Type, With Production, Revenue, Price, Market Share and Growth Rate, Analysis & Forecast by 2027
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Market Highlights:Nanobots will be the next generation of Nano machines. Nanobot are an extremely small machine designed to perform a specific task on a microscopic scale. They have potential applications in the assembly and maintenance of sophisticated systems.Nanobots will help bridge the technological gaps between physics, chemistry and biology on the Nano-scale. Nanobots might produce copies of themselves to replace worn-out units.Major Key Players Xidex Corp. Zymergen Inc. Synthace Limited GINKGO BIOWORKSRequest a Copy of Sample Report @The report for Global Nanobots Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance.Market Segments:Segmentation by types Microbivore nanorobots Respirocyte nanorobots Clottocyte nanorobots Cellular repair nanorobotsSegmentation by application market Nano Medicine Mechanical Healthcare BiomedicalTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 130 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Nanobots Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027Access Report Details @Study Objectives of Nanobots Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Nanobots market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Nanobots market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by types, by applications and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Nanobots market.Make an Enquiry @Americas North America US Canada Latin AmericaEurope Western Europe Germany France Italy Spain U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Asia China India Japan South Korea Rest of Asia PacificThe Middle East& AfricaThe report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsBrowse Related Reports:-Global Micro-pump Market Information, by Type (Mechanical & Non-Mechanical and others), by applications (drug delivery, biomedical, infusion and others) by end users (Hospitals, Clinics, Diagnostic Centers and others) - Forecast to 2027About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Software Engineering Market is estimated to reach at USD 50 billion and expected to grow at 15% Compound Annual Growth Rate
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Market HighlightsSoftware engineering provides software tool that is used to achieve accuracy in designing of products and components of an organization. Software engineering are widely adopted by several end users which includes aerospace & defence, automotive, banking, telecommunication, oil & gas, healthcare, others. The software engineering allows end-users to develop prototypes of their products on computer before the commencement of the production. They also help architects, engineers, and design professionals draft industry-specific products that enhance the overall product development.The global Software engineering market is expected to grow at CAGR of ~15% and estimated to reach at market size of US ~$50 billion by the end of forecast period.Major Players Operating in Market Autodesk, Inc.(US), Bentley Systems, Inc. (US), Dassault Systemes S.A (France)., IBM Corporation (US), Siemens PLM Software, Inc.(US), SAP SE (Germany), Synopsys, Inc. (US), PTC, Inc.(US), Ansys, Inc. (US), MSC Software Corporation (US) Geometric Ltd. (India),Request a Copy of Sample Report @The market growth is attributed by the wide demand of integrated solution for designing of engineering system. Further, the software engineering market is basically driven by the increasing adoption of automation across given end-use industries. The rising demand for lowering errors, to reduce the operational cost by minimizing the scrap, is driving the growth of engineering software market. There is potential rise of software engineering technology opportunities in the chemical industry and oil and gas industry due to the increasing demand for process analytical solutions in these industries. Moreover, the presence of software engineering on cloud is expected to boost the demand for engineering software over the coming years.Regional Analysis:Currently, Asia pacific is expected to show potential growth. The Asia Pacific is one of the fastest growing regions in the global market due to the emergence of several manufacturing industries in this region. The rising demand for automation solutions in these geographies is expected to grow the market over the forecast period. Software engineering market is expected to show moderate growth in Europe due to the presence of well-established automotive industry in the region. Further, owing to a high adoption of cloud-based solutions and services is expected to contribute in the growth of the market in the region.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 35 market data tables and 20 figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Software Engineering Market Report -Forecast to 2022.Access Report Details @Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said:Software engineering is used in the field of engineering, which deals with physical systems, to the design, development, testing, deployment and management of software systems. The main factors for using the software engineering for developing the software are improved quality, improved cost and schedule estimates, reduced defects in the product, better maintenance, well defined process, and improved productivity in the end software.Computer aided designing, allows the designer to work faster without spending much more on other designing resources. CAD gives the competitive advantages in the market where the trend is to achieve high quality product with the lower price. CAD provides better productivity compared to the traditional approach in which most of the drafting and designing were done manually and with the help of basic drawing boards.. There is also library feature in CAD software, where a number of readymade drawings of most frequently used components is readily available. These are the factors increasing its popularity in the given industries which is expected to contribute in the growth of the software engineering market.Autodesk Inc. is one of the market leader and innovator in 3D design, engineering and the technologies that expand the applications of industrial 3D printing. In 2016, Autodesk Introduces Portfolio for the Future of Manufacturing such as Autodesk HSMWorks, Autodesk Inventor HSM, Autodesk 2017 CAM Products, Autodesk Netfabb, and Fusion 360. This will let manufacturers to take benefits of various technologies such as computer aided manufacturing (CAM), additive manufacturing.Make an Enquiry @Brief TOC1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology2.1. Scope of the study2.2. Research Process2.2.1. Primary Research2.2.2. Secondary Research2.3. Market size Estimation2.4. Forecast Model3. Market Dynamics3.3. Supply/Value Chain Analysis or Market Ecosystem3.4. Porters Five Forces Analysis4. Market, by Component4.2. CAD4.3. CAM4.4. CAE4.5. AEC4.6. EDA5. Market, By Application..LIST OF TABLESTABLE 1 GLOBAL SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MARKET, BY TYPETABLE 2 GLOBAL SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MARKET, BY APPLICATIONTABLE 3 GLOBAL SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MARKET, BY END USERTABLE 4 GLOBAL SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MARKET, BY REGIONSTABLE 5 NORTH AMERICA SOFTWARE ENGINEERING MARKET, BY COUNTRYContinued.Browse Related ReportPower over Ethernet Market, By Types (Power Sourcing Equipment Controllers & ICs, Powered Device Controllers & ICs), By Power to Port (Up to 15.4W, Up to 30W, Up to 60W, and Up to 100W), by Application (Security & Access Control, Connectivity, LED Lighting & Control, Infotainment, and Others), by End User (Residential, Commercial, and Industrial)- Forecast 2016-2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Car Telematics Market 2016: Focuses on top manufacturers Agero Inc, Airbiquity Inc, At&T, Inc., Continental Ag, Delphi Automotive Plc, Intel Corporation
Car Telematics
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The Car Telematics research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global Car Telematics Market and comprises considerable insights, historical data, facts, and statistical and industry-validated data of the global market. Additionally, it consists of estimated data that is evaluated with the help of suitable set of methodologies and assumptions. The research report highlights informative data and in-depth analysis of Car Telematics market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of Car Telematics market is provided which covers the growth factors and restraints of the industry along with the key market competitors.To Request Sample Copy Of This Report:The report comprises precise information, comprehensive analysis in two waysqualitative and quantitativeindustry experts inputs, and information provided by industry analysts and industry participants involved in the entire value chain. The report highlights exhaustive study of major market and their present trends, along with corresponding market segments. The Car Telematics report also provides data regarding various market factors and their impact on the overall market and its segments.Global Research report analyzes the scope of Car Telematics industry including size, share, analysis, sales, supply, production, definition, specification, classification, demands, application, forecast trends, industry policy, and news. The report focuses on regional as well as global market, its key players, along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications. The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the Car Telematics market.Furthermore, the report evaluated major market points such as production, revenue, capacity utilization rate, gross, price, capacity, gross margin, supply, cost, demand, export, consumption, import, growth rate, market share, and so on.Browse Complete Report At:The global Car Telematics market report is a helpful source which assists manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, customers, and individuals and investors who have interest in this market.SummaryThis report studies Car Telematics in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAgero IncAirbiquity IncAt&T, Inc.Continental AgDelphi Automotive PlcIntel CorporationMagneti Marelli S.P.AMix TelematicsRobert Bosch GmbhVerizon Communications IncAbout Us:MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting. It consists of head such as, latest report, category, niche market and news. Reports published on the million of category like chemical, machinery and equipment, consumer goods, manufacturing and construction etc. Latest national, international, business News published under news portal.3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
Market Research Report on Global Protective Gloves Sales 2015 | New Release
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Protective Gloves Sales 2015 Market Research Report" to its huge collection of research reports.The Global Protective Gloves Sales 2015 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Protective Gloves market.The report provides a basic overview of the Protective Gloves industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.The report then analyzes the global Protective Gloves market size (volume and value), and the sales segment market is also discussed by product type, application and region.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The major Protective Gloves market (including USA, Europe, China, Japan, etc.) is analyzed, data including: market size, import and export, sale segment market by product type and application. Then we forecast the 2016-2021 market size of Protective Gloves.The report focuses on global major leading companies providing information such as company profiles, sales, sales revenue, market share and contact information. Then the Protective Gloves OEM market and Protective Gloves production market status is discussed.Finally the marketing, feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With 186 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview1.1 Definition and Specifications of Protective Gloves1.1.1 Definition of Protective Gloves1.1.2 Specifications of Protective Gloves1.2 Classification of Protective Gloves1.3 Applications of Protective Gloves1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Protective Gloves1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Protective Gloves1.5.1 Industry Overview of Protective Gloves1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Protective Gloves1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Protective Gloves1.7 Industry News Analysis of Protective Gloves2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Protective Gloves2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Protective Gloves2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Protective Gloves2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Protective Gloves2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Protective Gloves2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Protective Gloves2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Protective Gloves3 Global Protective Gloves Sales, Sales Price and Market Size (Volume and Value) 2010-2015 Analysis3.1 Global 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Market Size Analysis3.2 Global 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales Price Analysis3.3 Global 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Companies3.4 Global 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Product Type3.5 Global 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Applications3.6 Global 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Region4 USA Protective Gloves Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis4.1 USA 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Market Size Analysis4.2 USA 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales Price Analysis4.3 USA 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Companies4.4 USA 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Product Type4.5 USA 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Applications4.6 USA 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Regional Import Export Analysis4.7 USA End Users with Contact Information of Protective Gloves by Applications5 Europe Protective Gloves Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis5.1 Europe 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Market Size Analysis5.2 Europe 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales Price Analysis5.3 Europe 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Companies5.4 Europe 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Product Type5.5 Europe 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Sales by Applications5.6 Europe 2010-2015 Protective Gloves Regional Import Export Analysis5.7 Europe End Users with Contact Information of Protective Gloves by ApplicationsMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
United States Laboratory Glassware Market Size, Shares, Forecast Report 2017: Chemical Laboratory, Bio-pharmaceutical Laboratory, Food Testing Laboratory
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Sales, means the sales volume of Laboratory GlasswareRevenue, means the sales value of Laboratory GlasswareThis report studies sales (consumption) of Laboratory Glassware in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringKimble ChaseDURAN GroupBellco GlassCorningQuark EnterprisesWilmad-LabGlass (SP IndustriesHamilton Laboratory GlassKavalierglassGlacier LabEagle Laboratory Glass CompanyBOROSILJencons Glass IndustriesSibata Scientific TechnologyPromaxGlassco GroupCosmo Laboratory EquipmentHarioPioneer Scientific InstrumentSCAM Lab GlassSichuan ShuboHuaou IndustryNorth GlassTianbao Glass InstrumentShanghai Heqi GlasswareJianghai Instrument FittingKahotest Citotest Labware ManufacturingHaimen Shengbang Laboratory EquipmentYadong GlasswareMarket Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoContainerMeasurerFilterOthersSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Laboratory Glassware in each application, can be divided intoChemical LaboratoryBio-pharmaceutical LaboratoryFood Testing LaboratoryOthersDownload Sample Copy Of This Report:Table of ContentsUnited States Laboratory Glassware Market Report 20171 Laboratory Glassware Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Laboratory Glassware1.2 Classification of Laboratory Glassware1.2.1 Container1.2.2 Measurer1.2.3 Filter1.2.4 Others1.3 Application of Laboratory Glassware1.3.1 Chemical Laboratory1.3.2 Bio-pharmaceutical Laboratory1.3.3 Food Testing Laboratory1.3.4 Others1.4 United States Market Size Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) of Laboratory Glassware (2012-2022)1.4.1 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Laboratory Glassware Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Laboratory Glassware Competition by Manufacturers2.1 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 United States Laboratory Glassware Revenue and Share by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.3 United States Laboratory Glassware Average Price by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.4 Laboratory Glassware Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 Laboratory Glassware Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 Laboratory Glassware Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionBrowse More Power Market Research Reports:3 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by States (2012-2017)3.1 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales and Market Share by States (2012-2017)3.2 United States Laboratory Glassware Revenue and Market Share by States (2012-2017)3.3 United States Laboratory Glassware Price by States (2012-2017)4 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (2012-2017)4.1 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.2 United States Laboratory Glassware Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Laboratory Glassware Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Laboratory Glassware Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and OpportunitiesMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Dental Device Market with Focus on Digital Dentistry Industry Analysis and Forecast (2017-2021)
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Dental Device Market with Focus on Digital Dentistry Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2021)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report entitled Global Dental Device Market with Focus on Digital Dentistry Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2021) provides a detailed analysis of the global dental device market with analysis of market size and growth. The analysis includes the market by value and market share by product. Special focus has been given on the digital dentistry with its market size in terms of value for different segments.The report provides brief regional/country analysis of the Asia Pacific, China and Korea. Regional/country analysis include market sizing in terms of value as well as volume. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a high CAGR in the forecasted period.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the global dental device market has also been forecasted for the period 2017-2021, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @A brief company profiling of major market players namely Dentsply Sirona, Danaher Corporation, Zimmer Biomet and Henry Schein has been provided in the report on the basis of aspects like business overview, financial overview and business strategies adopted by respective companies.Company CoverageDentsply SironaDanaher CorporationZimmer BiometHenry ScheinRegion/Country CoverageAsia PacificChinaKoreaExecutive SummaryDental devices are set of tools used by dental profession to provide dental or oral treatment. These tools are mainly used to examine, manipulate, treat, restore and removing teeth. Dental devices are useful in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of various dental diseases. Dental devices are categorized into several types to encompass the types of equipment that every practice needs in order to treat patients. Dental devices are broadly classified into seven categories namely preventive, restoratives, large equipment, implants, prosthetics, orthodontics and endodontic.A new era has developed in the field of dentistry with the help of technological advancements known as digital dentistry. Dental device that combines digital or computer-controlled components in contrast to that of mechanical or electrical alone in oral treatment is digital dentistry. Digital dentistry has several advantages over the conventional dental devices. Digital technologies introduced in the dental market are: CAD/CAM, CBCT, digital scanner, digital x-ray and lasers etc.The global dental device market witnessed an upsurge during the period 2015-2016 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2017 to 2021 at a rapid pace. Major factors contributing in the growth of the market are rising aging population, rising middle class income in emerging economies, growing demand for cosmetic dentistry and rising dentist penetration in both developed as well as developing nations.In the forecasted period, market will be pushed by increasing dental tourism, revolutionary technological advancements, and health insurance companies to cover dental expenses and introduction of digital solutions in the market. In spite of high growth, market is still facing certain challenges that are hampering the growth of the market. Challenges encountered by the market are high cost of equipments, growing demand for refurbished equipments, fluoridation measures for decay prevention and growing taxes on medical devices.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Pet Food Industry Analysis, Size, Trends, Growth and Forecasts Research Report (2016-2020)
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Pet Food Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Pet Food Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the global pet food market with detailed analysis of market size on the basis of value along with the comprehensive examination of each of the major segments of the market, namely, dog food and cat food.The report provides detailed regional analysis of the United States, UK, Germany, France and Canada. The regional analysis of the markets includes market size by value along with the analysis of the dog food and cat food market, in terms of the value.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global pet food market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in the global pet food market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Nestle Purina PetCare Company. Further, key players of the market Hills Pet Nutrition Company and Mars, Incorporated., are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Regional CoverageUnited StatesUKGermanyFranceCanadaCompany CoverageNestle Purina PetCare CompanyHills Pet Nutrition CompanyMars, IncorporatedExecutive SummaryThe global pet food market witnessed an upsurge at a significant CAGR during the span of 5 years, i.e., 2010-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. The market is spread across North America, Europe and Asia. Among these regions, the North America held the largest share, followed by the Europe and Asia-Pacific region.The pet food market can be segmented on the basis of pet type, product type, ingredients and price. On the basis of pet type, market can be segmented into dog food, cat food and other pet food, while on the basis of product type, the market can be classified into wet food, dry food and treats & mixers. The market can be distinguished into natural and non-natural food, on the basis of ingredients. However, on the basis of price, the food market can be segmented into economy pet food, mid-priced pet food and premium pet food. Among all the classifications, segmentation on the basis of pet type is most popular, with dog food dominating the market.The major growth drivers for the global pet food market are: an increase in the pet population, pet humanization, health conscious consumers, upsurge in urbanization and personal disposable income. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as pet obesity, grinding challenge, supply chain challenge and nutritional sustainability. Some of the recent trends in the market include the rise in social awareness among consumers, sustainable packaging, cooked pet food and exotic ingredientsMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Pajamas Market 2017: Global Top Industry Manufacturers Analysis | DecisionDatabases.com
Pajamas Market
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The Report added on Pajamas Market added by DecisionDatabases.com to its huge database. This research study is segmented on the basis of applications, technology, geography, and types. The Report provides a detailed Pajamas Industry overview along with the analysis of industrys gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, and sale price. The leading companies of the Pajamas Market, manufacturers and distributors are profiled in the report along with the latest Industry development current and future trends.Access the Report and full TOC @This report studies Pajamas in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering*Aimer*Meibiao*Maniform*AUTUMN DEER*CONLIA*ETAM*Victorias Secret*Barefoot Dream*Dkny*PJ Salvage*Ralph Lauren*H&M*IZOD*Nautica*Dockers*Hanes*Intimo*Calvin Klein*Tommy*CosabellaMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Pajamas in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), like*North America*Europe*China*Japan*Southeast Asia*IndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into*Womens PJs*Mens PJs*Kids PJsDownload Free sample Report @Split by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Pajamas in each application, can be divided into*Family*Hotel*OthersTable of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)4 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Market Analysis by Application7 Global Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Market Forecast (2016-2021)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixPurchase a copy of Report @View Related Reports @Global Car Wax Industry 2015 Market Research ReportAbout Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research Report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor, Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane, Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
(Adds Ford comment)
JOHANNESBURG, March 2 (Reuters) - South Africa's National Consumer Commission (NCC) said it has launched a probe into the local unit of U.S. automaker Ford over the recall of 4,500 Kuga SUVs after dozens of reports of the vehicles catching fire spontaneously.
Ford's Southern Africa President and chief executive Jeff Nemeth in January said the company could confirm 39 incidents of the cars catching fire, as well as one death, which Nemeth said was not directly linked to the defect.
Ford's South African unit said the company, a unit of the U.S. auto-maker Ford, would cooperate with the probe.
"The National Consumer Commission says that it has instituted an investigation into the activities of Ford Motor Company Southern Africa and its dealerships, for alleged prohibited conduct," the commission said in a statement seen on its website on Thursday.
"The NCC received more than 130 complaints against Ford SA relating to various issues, including the combusting of Kuga vehicles, since December last year," it said.
A spokeswoman for Ford's Southern Africa unit, Rella Bernardes said the firm had followed safety guidelines.
"We have received the notice from the NCC and will continue to fully cooperate with them on all fronts. At all times, we operate in line with the Safety Recall Guidelines in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008," she said in a statement.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard and TJ Strydom; Editing by James Macharia)
Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report (2016-2020)
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020), provides an in-depth analysis of the global online takeaway food delivery market by value and by penetration rate. The report also gives an insight of the global food services market and takeaway food delivery market.The report provides a regional analysis of the online takeaway food delivery market, including the following regions: US, Canada, UK, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain and France.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global online takeaway food delivery market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The competition in the global online takeaway food delivery market is fragmented with several new players emerging in the industry. However, key players of the online takeaway food delivery market, Just Eat, GrubHub and Rocket Internet (Foodpanda and Deliver Hero) are profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Country CoverageUSCanadaUKAustraliaDenmarkItalySpainFranceCompany CoverageJust EatGrubHubRocket Internet (Foodpanda and Deliver Hero)Executive SummaryThe food services industry is experiencing a revolution. Even the food delivery market is undergoing a dynamic change. It is the online mode that is reaping attention in the current scenario. The food delivery market is both online and offline. The online food delivery market is also known as online takeaway food delivery market.Online takeaway food delivery market provides an online and mobile platform for food takeaway. The platform is essentially a marketplace where consumers are matched with restaurants. Consumers choose to order on takeaway restaurant (TR) webpage or an app rather than directly on restaurant websites because they can easily compare multiple cuisine options, and also pay safely. In online mode mobile apps are available for iOS and Android of either the restaurants or TR. Customers select restaurants that deliver to their locations, make selection from menus and prices, and make purchases using a mobile device or via the web without the need for phone calls.In recent years online food delivery market is gaining popularity because of the increased internet penetration across nations and increased smartphone dependence.The online food delivery market has three business models namely pure-media, fully integrated and on-demand delivery models.The global online takeaway food delivery market is expected to increase at a significant CAGR during the years 2016-2020. The global online takeaway food delivery market is expected to increase due to increase in urban population, increase in spending of global middle class population, increasing technological innovations, increase in smartphone usage, increase in internet penetration, etc. Yet, the market faces some challenges such as, fluctuations in profit earning, threat to aggregator business model, data server crash, etc.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Wafer Fabrication Equipment Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report (2016-2020)
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Wafer Fabrication Equipment Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Wafer Fabrication Equipment Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020) deliver a detailed analysis of the of the global wafer fabrication equipment market with comprehensive analysis of market sizing and growth and market share analysis. It analyzes market by value and segments. An analysis of market share by nodes size has also been provided with forecasted values.Furthermore, the report also assesses the key opportunities available in the market and summarizes the dynamic forces that are and will be accountable for growth of the industry. Growth of the global wafer fabrication equipment market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration previous growth patterns, growth drivers and the existing and forthcoming trends.The report provides comprehensive view on the wafer fabrication equipment industry with detailed competitive scenario. Applied materials and ASML Holdings are expected to lead the market in the forecasted period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @A brief company profiling of Applied Materials, ASML Holdings, Lam Research Corporation and KLA Tencor has provided in the report. This section briefs about business overview, financial summary and business policies of these major companies.Company CoverageApplied MaterialsASML HoldingsLam Research CorporationKLA TencorExecutive SummaryA thin piece of semiconductor material, usually made up of silicon, in the form of a very thin disc that act as a base for fabricating electronic integrated circuits (ICs) and silicon-based photovoltaic cells. A wafer is also known as slice or substrate.The wafer functions as the substrate for electronic circuits and goes through many processes. The process which is used in the production of photonic and electronic circuits which include radio frequency, amplifiers and other optical components is known as wafer fabrication. The process is primarily done for processing of raw wafers into finished chips. Wafer fabrication process is used to create circuits for a large number of electronic and electrical devices. Wafer fabrication involves four major steps/processes ranging from deposition, removal, patterning to modification of electrical properties.The global wafer fabrication equipment market has shown rising trends over the past few years and is expected that the market would rise in the next four years i.e. 2016 to 2020. Key factors behind the growth of the market are technology inflection in semiconductor manufacturing, technological advancement in telecom sector, growing demand of compact electronic devices, growing significance of automotive electronics, etc.Other factors such as rising demand for silicon wafers, growing use of integrated circuits in medical device electronics and innovation in wafer technologies would help in growth of the wafer fabrication equipment market in future. However, there are certain factors posing challenges before the market, such as volume production facility right from the starting, huge investment and requirement of very specific raw materials.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
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Who We AreFounded in 2015 by Managing Director Nandish Domlur, Amit Sandill as CEO and Co-founded by Gireesh Challa, Aditya Pratap and Prashanth Narayanaswamy, Docket has grown organically and now comprises of a fifteen strong team of Developers, Professionals and Operations' personnel.We're a close-knit group of experts who pride ourselves on doing great work and providing great service at a fair price. What do you really need to know about us? We're friendly, approachable experts, with lots of experience in documentation and we strive hard to make it better for you. Please do give us a call. We'd consider it a pleasure to talk to you about how we could be of your service.How We WorkWe love what we do. The Indian market throws up plenty of challenges, but were all about problem solving and logical thinking. For us, documentation is key. Simple, regular, open documentation, with no unnecessary technical jargon. This helps us to plan and execute documents successfully and efficiently.We like to think that the quality of our work speaks for itself. A quick look through our reviews will show that our output is up there with the very best. Team Docket handles a variety of services, thus liberating you from all legal or statutory documentation encumbrances, thus giving you the time to focus on the more important aspects of your life. Let us simplify that for you. We value your time and our aim is to serve you better!What Can We Do For YouWe thrive on producing simple documents to complex drafts. Simplicity is central to every stage of the document, from planning through draft and delivery. We want our customers to get a great first impression of our company, the moment they order from our website or app, and to have an engaging and fulfilling experience when dealing with documents online.In summary, we've got the skills and experience to deliver your document at your doorstep. After all, we've been doing it for the last two years for our customers, through Notarymama. We'd love to serve you in drafting your next document, online, whatever it may be. We're confident we can deliver.We're a close-knit group of experts who pride ourselves on doing great work and providing great service at a fair price. What do you really need to know about us? We're friendly, approachable experts, with lots of experience in documentation and we strive hard to make it better for you. Please do give us a call. We'd consider it a pleasure to talk to you about how we could be of your service.Docket Tech Solutions Private Limited#601 12th Main Indiranagar,HAL 2nd Stage,Bangalore-560008, India+91-80-4656 4656support@dockettech.com
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Global Market Size, Trends, Growth, Analysis and Forecasts (2016-2020)
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the global electronic design automation market with detailed analysis of market size on the basis of value along with the comprehensive examination of each of the segments of the market, namely, Computer-Aided Engineering, IC Physical Design & Verification, Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP), PCB & MCM and Services.The report provides detailed regional analysis of the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). The regional analysis of the Asia-Pacific EDA markets include market size by value along with the analysis of the Japanese EDA market in comparison to rest of the Asia-Pacific region.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Furthermore, it highlights key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global electronic design automation market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in the global EDA market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Synopsis. Further, key players of the market Cadence Design Systems and Mentor Graphics are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Regional CoverageAmericasAsia-PacificEurope,Middle East and Africa (EMEA)JapanCompany CoverageSynopsys, Inc.Cadence Design Systems, Inc.Mentor Graphics CorporationExecutive SummaryThe global electronic design automation (EDA) market witnessed an upsurge at a significant CAGR during the span of 5 years, i.e., 2010-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. The market is spread across Asia Pacific, Americas and Europe, Middle East & Africa. Among these regions, the Americas held the largest share, followed by the Asia-Pacific region.The electronic design automation market can be segmented on the basis of the products in Computer-Aided Engineering, IC Physical Design & Verification, Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP), PCB & MCM and Services. The market is led by the Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP), followed by Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) and IC Physical Design & Verification. Although, Services segment is still emerging in the global EDA market.The major growth drivers for the global electronic design automation (EDA) market are: chip design complexity, emergence of Internet of Thing (IoT), slowing of Moores law, adoption of FibFet architecture and demand for miniaturized devices. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as scalable design methodologies, customer & industry consolidation, rapid changes in the industry standards & customer requirements, uncertain global economy and highly competitive environment. Some of the recent trends in the market include the emergence of EDA technology in various industries, especially biology systems.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Hospital Infectious Disease Testing Market: Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players
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Hospital infectious disease testing is a procedure to identify hospital acquired/related infections. Hospital infections are among the most prominent challenges faced by health care delivery systems across the globe. Hospital infectious diseases are considered a significant cause of death globally. These are acquired while receiving health care treatment. Hospital infectious diseases tests are performed by health care professionals, especially clinical laboratory technicians, for the diagnosis of infections.Based on test type, the global hospital infectious disease testing market has been broadly segmented into:Urinary tract infection (UTI)Surgical site InfectionPneumoniaBloodstream infectionMRSAOthersRead Full Report:The UTI segment accounted for the major share of the hospital infectious disease testing market, followed by surgical site infections and pneumonia. Hospital infectious diseases are required to be closely monitored due to increase in antimicrobial resistance in some regions. Automated urine microscopy is the most preferred diagnostic tool adopted by clinical technicians for UTI. Prevalence of pneumonia and deaths associated with it are increasing gradually. Other hospital infections include cardiovascular, systemic, joint and bone, respiratory, and ENT (enteric) infections.The hospital infectious disease testing market has experienced strong growth in the last decade due to factors such as increased awareness about growth in the incidence of infections globally and development of innovative prevention and treatment solutions. Major factors driving the market are establishment of quality government guidelines and uniform code for prevention of hospital infectious diseases. Lack of funding and skilled manpower in developing countries and lack of stringent guidelines and framework to control the morbidity rate of hospital infections are restraining the hospital infectious disease testing market. Lack of controlling authorities and controlling programs in lesser developed regions is another major factor hampering market growth. Technological development of molecular diagnostics and passage of the Patient Care and Affordable Care Act in the U.S. are likely to offer significant opportunities in the market in the near future.Geographically, the global hospital infectious disease testing market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America accounted for the largest share of the market due to growing patient awareness, favorable initiatives taken by the federal government, and large number of market players based in the region. The hospital infectious disease testing market in Europe is mature due to presence of strong and active hospital infection control and prevention authorities and guidelines such as the NHS in the U.K. Moreover, Europe is considered the hub for the global geriatric population. It is observed that geriatrics are more prone to various infections. This is likely to increase demand in Europe. Asia Pacific is a lucrative market for hospital infectious disease testing products as the overall prevalence of the infections in this region is high. Moreover, stringent guidelines have been set for the prevention and control of such conditions in the health care infrastructure in this region. Countries such as China, India, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and the Philippines are expected to be the major contributors to the hospital infectious disease testing market in Asia Pacific. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are considered the emerging markets for hospital infectious disease testing. This is attributed to increasing investment by governments for effective health care infrastructure in the region.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Key players operating in the hospital infectious disease testing market include Abbott Laboratories, Alere, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (Life Technologies Corporation), Becton, Dickinson and Company, bioMerieux SA, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Hologic, Inc., Siemens Healthineers, Diatherix Laboratories, Inc., Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cepheid, Inc., and QIAGEN.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Point-Of-Care Breathalyzer Market Set to Grow Exponentially During the Forecast, 2026
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Breathalyzer is a non-invasive medical device used for estimation of Blood Alcohol content (BAC) from breath sample. Breathalyzer is used to test intoxication levels caused by alcohol and drugs. Breathalyzer was invented by Dr. Robert Borkenstein while being appointed as police photographer at Indiana State Police lab. Since 1954, Breathalyzer is a genericized trademark for many instruments like Alcotest, Alcosensor, Datamaster, Intoxilyzer and Intoximeter. Breathalyzer device consists of three parts, first part consists of system where breath is sampled, second part consists of two glass tubes with chemicals and third part consists of photocells that are connected to meter showing colour change. Breathalyzer system together works on redox reaction causes change in colour that is directly proportional to amount of alcohol in breath, wherein red-orange colour of dichromate ion changes to green.Breathalyzer has been of importance in point-of-care services where initially it was necessary to draw blood out of the body and sent to the hospital to test alcohol concentration in blood, thus making the test time consuming. Till date it has been most important device to monitor and regulate drink and drive accidents or cases. In 2015 in US, there were about 290,000 people injured and about 10,265 died in drunk driving cases. Also there have been published reports on loss of work quality and time due to alcohol consumption. All over the world it is a legal offense to be detected of alcohol during working hours and while driving. The driver is charged fine or respective legal action is taken against him if his Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is found out to be above normal (0.08). Also strict actions are taken against employees in government or private sectors if they are detected of alcohol consumption during office hours. Due to use of Breathalyzer there is no need of any invasive procedure, device is portable and test results are out in seconds. Another important use of Breathalyzer is in maintaining high order discipline in National and International air transport to maintain safety and standards while travelling. Breathalyzer is of very significant use to prevent order and discipline in government or private offices, road traffic management and forensic studies too. It is also used for management in rehabilitation centres, mining and construction centres.Request For Report Sample:Point-of-Care Breathalyzer Market: Drivers and RestraintsPoint-of-care Breathalyzer market has seen enormous growth due to its significant use to maintain safety, order and discipline amongst population. The major drivers for point-of-care Breathalyzer market is alarming increase in alcohol consumption seen at all age groups and also increase in road accidents due to drink driving. Due to strict government regulations, drink driving and alcohol abuse during work hours has led to increase in demand for modern use portable Breathalyzer. Use of personal portable Breathalyzer to check for alcohol content within normal limits to keep a check on safe driving and productive working hours has given a drive for point-of-care Breathalyzer market worldwide. Moreover easy availability of personal Breathalyzer that can be ordered online according to ones choice, has also been a factor to drive point-of-care Breathalyzer market. Awareness initiative taken by government has also led to increase of market size for point-of-care Breathalyzer market.High cost of Breathalyzer and less market for new brands producing Breathalyzer were seen to hamper in the past for but modern portable cheap Breathalyzer are taking over the point-of-care Breathalyzer market now.Point-of-Care Breathalyzer Market: SegmentationThe global point-of-care breathalyzer market is classified on the basis of product type, product technology, end user and geography.Based on product type, the point-of-care breathalyzer market is segmented into the following:Non-portable.Based on product technology, the point-of-care breathalyzer market is segmented into the following:Chemical reaction (Breathalyzer).Fuel-cell technology (Alcosensor III or IV).Infrared Spectroscopy (Intoxilyzer).Based on end user, the point-of-care breathalyzer market is segmented into the following:International and National transport systems.Rehabilitation centres.Government and private offices.Diagnostic centers.Home care settings.Point-of-Care Breathalyzer Market: OverviewAccording to a study report published in South Africa about 10% of the countrys GDP is lost due to alcohol abuse annually which is equal to R240 billion. Also worldwide there is much loss due to alcohol abuse leading to immense destruction in drunk driving accidents, expensive alcohol abuse treatment and loss of manpower and productive working hours brings an overall effect on worldwide economy. Thus awareness due to such losses have led government to take strict measures in field of law enforcement and highway safety administration to bring down losses. Efficient use of point-of-care Breathalyzer to prevent such loss has proved beneficial and made people aware of its legal consequences being the reason for increasing market for of point-of-care Breathalyzer market.Mandatory alcohol test are carried out worldwide in workplaces such as transport, construction sites mining, shipping, airlines, defense centres, rehabilitation centres to maintain safety of individuals increasing market size for point-of-care Breathalyzer market over globe.Point-of-Care Breathalyzer Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the point-of-care breathalyzer market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Use of personal Breathalyzer, intelligent market networking and advances in technology has led to growth of global market for point-of-care Breathalyzer. Highest growth in point-of-care Breathalyzer market is seen in North America due to highest population, increase in drunk driving road accidents and strict law enforcement on alcohol. Developed countries like Europe have seen to have highest market for point-of-care Breathalyzer market due to leading manufacturers of point-of-care Breathalyzers, high income population purchasing personal Breathalyzer being alert and aware of legal actions in case of alcohol abuse.Request For TOC:More alcohol consumption, increase in transport and transport facilities, development of transport system, national and international awareness programs, improvement in market network and strict rules and regulations and variety in affordable Breathalyzer brands has led to increasing market in developing countries like India and China. Underdeveloped countries have scope for increase in market size of point-of-care Breathalyzer market if awareness is brought amongst population.Point-of-Care Breathalyzer Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in point-of-care Breathalyzer market include Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Intoximeters,Lion Laboratories Limited, Lifeloc Technologies, Inc., Inc., , BACtrack, Quest Products, Inc., Alere, Inc., and C4 Development, Andatech Private Limited Ltd. Most of the providers of point-of-care breathalyzer are adopting the strategy of providing these products through e-commerce, so that buyers can browse the products according to their needs.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. 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Paraformaldehyde Market 2017: Industry trends and Forecast Report
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Paraformaldehyde is a white crystalline solid formed by polymerization of formaldehyde. It is used to make various resins with mainly phenol (melamine resin; phenol resin; vinylon; polyacetal resin; terephthalic acid; diphenyl methane diisocyanate, acrylic acid esters). Paraformaldehyde is also mainly used in (1) Pesticides: synthesis of acetochlor, butachlor, and glyphosate; (2) Medicine and pharmaceutics: produce vitamin A; (3) Coatings: synthesis of high grade automobile paint.Download Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Paraformaldehyde in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversErcrosCelaneseCCPMerckChemanolCaldicShandong TuoboLCY ChemicalYinhe ChemicalNantong JiangtianWanhua ChemicalLINYI TAIERShouguang XudongXiangrui ChemicalOtherMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversPF(91% ? 93% )PF(95% ? 97% )Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoPesticideCoatingResinPapermakingOthersOther Complete Report Details @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Paraformaldehyde market.Chapter 1, to describe Paraformaldehyde Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Paraformaldehyde, with sales, revenue, and price of Paraformaldehyde, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Paraformaldehyde, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Paraformaldehyde market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Paraformaldehyde sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source....ContinuedTo Get Discount on Full Report @For more information, please visitMarket Reports Center is an e-commerce platform obliging the needs of knowledge workers, experts, professionals who are subject to market research information for their work, or to make strategic business decisions. Market Reports Centers team consistently works to update and extend our existing repository of market research reports by partnering with new publishers and adding their studies to our websiteSam Collins303, Astral Court,Aundh, Pune,MH - 411045, Indiainfo@marketreportscenter.com
Current research on Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Renal Anemia) - Pipeline Review, H2 2016
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Global Markets Direct's latest Pharmaceutical and Healthcare disease pipeline guide Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease Pipeline Review, H2 2016, provides an overview of the Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) pipeline landscape.Renal anemia is a disease in which the patient has an unusually low count of red blood cells. Renal is a term that means of the kidneys, so anemia is often associated with kidney disease. This type of anemia is caused by a lack of erythropoietin, a protein produced in the kidneys that helps to create red blood cells. Symptoms caused by renal anemia include pale skin and gums, become short of breath, dizziness and inability to think clearly.Click here to know more details about this report:Report HighlightsGlobal Markets Direct's Pharmaceutical and Healthcare latest pipeline guide Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease Pipeline Review, H2 2016, provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.The Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Renal Anemia) and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Filing rejected/Withdrawn, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, IND/CTA Filed, Preclinical, Discovery and Unknown stages are 1, 1, 11, 9, 4, 1, 6, 2 and 1 respectively.Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. The guide is built using data and information sourced from Global Markets Directs proprietary databases, company/university websites, clinical trial registries, conferences, SEC filings, investor presentations and featured press releases from company/university sites and industry-specific third party sources. Additionally, various dynamic tracking processes ensure that the most recent developments are captured on a real time basis.Note: Certain content / sections in the pipeline guide may be removed or altered based on the availability and relevance of data.Scope- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders).- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources.- The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.- The pipeline guide evaluates Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA), drug target, route of administration (RoA) and molecule type.- The pipeline guide encapsulates all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects.- The pipeline guide reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders)Reasons to buy- Procure strategically important competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies.- Recognize emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage.- Find and recognize significant and varied types of therapeutics under development for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders).- Classify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic.- Develop tactical initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies.- Plan mergers and acquisitions meritoriously by identifying key players and its most promising pipeline therapeutics.- Formulate corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (Hematological Disorders) pipeline depth and focus of Indication therapeutics.- Develop and design in-licensing and out-licensing strategies by identifying prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and scope.- Adjust the therapeutic portfolio by recognizing discontinued projects and understand from the know-how what drove them from pipeline.Request a sample copy of this report:MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
High Concentration Photovoltaics Market Is Expected To Generate Huge Profits by 2016 - 2026
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The CPV (Concentrated Photovoltaics) technology is used to generate electricity by using lenses or curved mirrors to gather huge amount of sunlight on a small area with highly proficient Multi-Junction (MJ) solar cells. HCPV (High Concentration Photovoltaics - a type of CPV technology) systems occupies concentrating optics which includes Fresnel lenses or dish reflectors that concentrate sunlight to intensify it, equals to that of 1,000 suns or more. HCPV solar technology is the process through which maximum sun energy is converted into electricity, HCPV can reduce the expenses of the solar cells. Globally, high-concentration photovoltaics market is growing due to high efficiency and upsurge in yearly installed capacity (i.e. from 300 up to 1000 suns). The installations of HCPV systems is expected to grow by double-digit percentage every year. The high-concentration photovoltaics are mostly used in industrial, telecom or mobile towers, rural electrification and government or military sectors. Due to its ecofriendly nature, uninterrupted power supply, high efficiencies for direct-normal irradiance, simple & user friendly integration, rapid deployment solutions, and increased and stable energy production, the high-concentration photovoltaics market is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR during the forecast period.Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe drivers of the high-concentration photovoltaics market are minimum land space requirement, consistent improvements in its technology, awareness of renewable energy resources, and government assistance program with essential financing schemes. Also reduction in Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and improved efficiency with low system cost is another significant factor contributing in the surging global high-concentration photovoltaics market.Request For Report Sample:However, some of the restraints hindering the growth of the global high-concentration photovoltaics market are expensive solar trackers required to get sunlight focused on the small photovoltaic area, non-utilization of diffuse radiation, perception and bankability issues, lack of technology standardization, lack of adoption of technology and limited places with high direct normal irradiation.Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: SegmentationGlobal high-concentration photovoltaics market can be segmented as follows:Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market, by Type of Power GenerationElectric powerElectric power and thermal powerGlobal High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market, by ApplicationsIndustrial, Residential and Commercial rooftopTelecom or Mobile towersRural electrificationWater pumping solutionsStreet lightingGovernment or Military (mobile off grid)MunicipalitiesHospitals, Hotels and RestaurantsGlobal High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, high-concentration photovoltaics market can be divided into seven regions, namely NorthAmerica, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is the prominent contributor in high-concentration photovoltaics market because of the technological advancements in United States for solar power energy utilization. Latin America is the next vital region in the high-concentration photovoltaics market due to some large projects are planned in the Mexico. Asia Pacific is following North America and Latin America for the high-concentration photovoltaics market on account of growing HCPV production in China, Taiwan and Japan. Europe is also witnessing a growing market of high-concentration photovoltaics market because of increase in HCPV installations and Energy Payback Time. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) are at a nascent stage in the high-concentration photovoltaics market, however they are expected to expand at a significant CAGR in the forecast period.Request For TOC:Global High-Concentration Photovoltaics Market: Key playersSome of the key players working in high-concentration photovoltaics market are: Abengoa Solar, S.A., Cool Earth Solar, ES-SYSTEM, Green & Gold Solar Pty Ltd., Fullsun Photovoltaics, Arzon Solar, LLC, and BSQ Solar, SL.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Ceramic Tiles Market Analysis and Forecasts 2017 | DecisionDatabases.com
Ceramic Tiles Market
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The Report added on Ceramic Tiles Market added by DecisionDatabases.com to its huge database. This research study is segmented on the basis of applications, technology, geography, and types. The Report provides a detailed Ceramic Tiles Industry overview along with the analysis of industrys gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, and sale price. The leading companies of the Ceramic Tiles Market, manufacturers and distributors are profiled in the report along with the latest Industry development current and future trends.Access the Report and full TOC @This report studies Ceramic Tiles in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering*Mohawk Industries*Iris Ceramica*Crossville Inc*Florida Tile*Interceramic*Florim*Mannington Mills*Shaw Industries Group*Del ConcaMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Ceramic Tiles in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), like*North America*Europe*China*Japan*Southeast Asia*IndiaDownload Free sample Report @Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into*Glazed Ceramic Tile*Unglazed Ceramic Tile*Porcelain TileSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Ceramic Tiles in each application, can be divided into*Household Usage*Commercial UsageTable of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)4 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Market Analysis by Application7 Global Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Market Forecast (2016-2021)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixPurchase a copy of Report @About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research Report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor, Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane, Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
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Last year was a blockbuster when it comes to the returns growth stocks were able to generate. However, this year has proven to be much more challenging, erasing most of the gains investors saw during 2021. Dozens of growth stocks have plunged by more than 50%. Accordingly, after two widely-contrasting years, what can investors expect in 2023? I would personally be betting on growth stocks to buy for robust returns. This view technically implies that the broader markets will trend higher. I do be
Data Quality and Data Governance Solution Market - Emergence Of Advanced Technologies And Global Industry Analysis
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In the enterprise data management ecosystem, data quality is a broad term which refers to the quality, integrity, and consistency of data and/or process etc. Data quality also implies the degree of data accuracy and consistency. On the other hand, data governance focusses on the management of data assets by assigning authority, control, and responsibility of data and encompasses three key areas: people, process, and technology.Data quality and data governance are closely related and go hand in hand in the enterprise data management ecosystem. In todays competitive world, data quality and data governance practices is anticipated to evolve rapidly backed by growth in Master Data Management tools and technology. In recent years it is observed that enterprises with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) application have struggled owing to the absence of built-in data quality and data governance capabilities.Get Sample Report Copy :The global data quality and data governance solutions market is anticipated to grow in the coming years as these solutions assists enterprises and professionals to address major challenges arising out of an enterprises applications and transactional data, data types and formats, data cleansing and validation, and hybrid environments. Furthermore, cloud, big data and machine learning is anticipated to push the demand for global data quality and data governance solutions.However, factors such as ever changing policies and regulations, categorization of unstructured data, and inconsistent business semantics are anticipated to restrain the growth of the global data quality and data governance solution market.The global data quality and data governance solution market can be segmented on the basis of deployment model, business function, and industry verticals. Deployment model can be further segmented as on-premise and cloud based. Based on business function, the market can be classified into finance, information technology, legal, operations and others. On the basis of industry vertical, the global data quality and data governance solution market can be classified into Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), telecom and IT, healthcare, retail and e-commerce, healthcare, manufacturing, government and defense, energy and utilities, construction and engineering, and others (research, education, BPO, and travel & hospitality)Geographically, the global data quality and data governance solution market is segmented into Middle-East and Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific (APAC), North America, Europe, and South America.North America is expected to dominate the global data quality and data governance solution market during the forecast period 2017 2025, owing to large investments in cloud-based machine learning and Big Data technologies, and presence of large number of vendors in this region.The Asia Pacific (APAC) region is anticipated to be the fastest-growing region for the global data quality and data governance solution market. The region is currently in its initial growth phase. The high growth rate in Asia Pacific is driven by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) demand for cost-effective data quality and data governance solutions.Europe is anticipated to contribute a significant share in the global data quality and data governance solution market after North America. Europe is also anticipated to witness a steady growth rate during the forecast period from 2017 2025.The major vendors providing data governance are Backoffice Associates, Collibra, Inc., Informatica Corporation, SAS Institute Inc., IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, TIBCO Software Inc., Talend Inc., Information Builders, Varonis Systems Inc., Pitney Bowes Inc., RedPoint Global, Trillium Software, Experian plc, and Orchestra Networks.Top Research Report by TMR :Electrical Market -Digital Asset Management (DAM) Market -Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Market -About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market 2017
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Global Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Industry 2022 Market Research Report analyzed the current state in the definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The report also focuses on the development trends as well as history, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions etc in the international markets.Global Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Industry 2022 Market Research Report is a professionally prepared report comprising of in-depth information as well as knowledge which is helpful to the new entrants and the established players. Key statistics on the state of the industry and the complete demand analysis of the industry is showcased in the report.Download Sample Report @The development policies, plans as well as the bill of materials, cost structures are well studied and explained within the report for a better understanding. It also includes the study of the sales, import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins. Also, the complete analysis of the prices, revenue share, growth rate etc.Through combining the well-integrated data with the deep analytical skills valid findings are detected. It gives out a strong prediction about the growth of the Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle industry in the future years to come. Furthermore, each and every important variable which is responsible for shaping the Global Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Industry in the incorporated during the preparation process of the report.The report begins with the industry overview furnishing the details about the specifications, classification, applications, industry chain structure as well as gives out the policy analysis of the industry. It moves further on towards determining the manufacturing cost structure analysis, technical data as well as the manufacturing plant analysis. A lot of insightful predictions about the production, export/import, and consumption is provided in the report.Other Complete Report Details @Future Development Trends in the Global Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Company through the market share, SWOT analysis, revenue, gross margin is indicated through the report. Apart from it the report also provides great prospects of the new projects investments, SWOT analysis of the new projects, details about the key consumers with the complete contact details for the new entrants to engage in better opportunities.The competitive landscape of the market state showcases the study of the most renowned players in the China markets in the field of Global Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle industry. A detailed and thorough analysis of the company profiles, production as well as consumption, traders, marketing distributors along with the impact is covered throughout the report. The overall research conclusions with the investment avenues are prevalent in the report. Through the report, the new entrants are able to get the complete overview of the current state of the Global Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle which will be beneficial for them.....ContinuedTo Get Discount on Full Report @For more information, please visitMarket Reports Center is an e-commerce platform obliging the needs of knowledge workers, experts, professionals who are subject to market research information for their work, or to make strategic business decisions. Market Reports Centers team consistently works to update and extend our existing repository of market research reports by partnering with new publishers and adding their studies to our websiteSam Collins303, Astral Court,Aundh, Pune,MH - 411045, Indiainfo@marketreportscenter.com
Global Ear Clamps Market 2017 By Manufacturers Oetiker Group, Ideal Clamp Products, Togo Seisakusyo
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Global Ear Clamps Market Research ReportThe MRS Research Group Ear Clamps report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Ear Clamps Market and comprises considerable insights, historical data, facts,and statistical and industry-validated data of the global market.Additionally,it consists of estimated data that is evaluated with the help of suitable set of methodologies and assumptions.The MRS Research Group report research highlights informative data and in-depth analysis of Ear Clamps market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology,geography, and applications.The report comprises precise information, comprehensive analysis in two ways qualitative and quantitative industry experts inputs, and information provided by industry analysts and industry participants involved in the entire value chain.The report highlights exhaustive study of major market and their present trends,along with corresponding market segments.Read Sample Research Report @The Ear Clamps report also provides data regarding various market factors and their impact on the overall market and its segments.Every market segment of the Ear Clamps industry is analyzed in a quantitative as well as qualitative way in order to provide the customers with a relative estimation of the global market. Essential information such as definition, the industry value chain and its analysis, and the trends are also explored in the MRS Research Group Ear Clamps report.This Ear Clamps report is an in-depth market research report in this domain.The report focuses on regional as well as global market,its key players,along with market segments including detailed study on various divisions and its applications.The report provides comprehensive information on each and every segment covered of the Ear Clamps market.Access Full Report @MRS Research Group is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. While, expertise research specialist helps to provide strategic solution in specialists consulting.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com
Global 3D Telepresence Market Segments By Solution Type ( Hardware, Software), Geography, Trends, Forecast (2017-2022)
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SummaryGlobal 3D Telepresence Market By Solution Type ( Hardware, Software), Geography, Trends, Forecast (2017-2022) has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry expertsThe Global 3D Telepresence market is valued at USD XX.XX billion in 2016 and is expected to reach a value of USD XX.XX billion by the end of 2022, growing at a projected CAGR of XX.XX% during the forecast period of 2017 2022. From its inception, the point of video conferencing was to allow face-to-face communication with the eye-to-eye contact, because people wanted more than just hearing each other's voices over the phone, in a conference meeting or a call. They wanted to see non-verbal cues for enhanced communication. After all, with enhanced communication comes better deliverability of one's message, which can translate to greater sales and profitability.Get a PDF Sample of Global 3D Telepresence Market Report at:This human-centric technology extends the reach of companies to interact with their customers in a revolutionary way. The 3-D HD kiosks can be compact units placed on a counter, freestanding kiosks or large three-dimensional systems featuring full height, life-size people. The utility of this technology in a multitude of fields like conferencing, advertising, customer service, long distance learning and so on make it a versatile tool that can revolutionize the field of communication. There have been several roadblocks like the cost of ISDN, image quality, fire walls, quality of service, ease of use, the cost of deployment, and real return on investment to the implementation of this technology. However, the advances in the telecommunication technology coupled with the ever-increasing reach of the internet to every nook and corner of the world are driving this market ahead. There are considerable benefits of using this technology - it eliminates the need for travel as meetings and presentations can be done from one's own office. This results in the reduction of unnecessary hassles and a boost to the morale of the employees. It also enables swifter and a more personal service to the customers in sensitive sectors like banking and insurance.Major companies like Microsoft, Cisco and Sony are working towards improving this technology and making it feasible for commercial applications.The report analyzes the strategies and developments employed by the major players in the market like DVE Telepresence, Musion and others and offers a comprehensive overview of the market.Place a Purchase Order for this Report at:DRIVERSThe drivers of the demand growth of the 3D telepresence market could be the enhanced user experience it provides and also the amount of cost and time it helps one save.RESTRAINTSThe possible restraints of this market could be the high costs associated with the 3D telepresence systems and also, the lack of awareness of this particular technology in the major markets or across various geographies.WHAT THE REPORT OFFERSGlobal 3D telepresence market overview and in-depth market analysis with its applications in the industry and information on drivers and restraints.Identification of factors responsible for changing the market scenario, rising prospective opportunities and identification of key companies that can influence the market on a global and regional scale.Extensively researched competitive landscape with profiles of major companies along with their market share.A comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial information.Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:
Global Food Logistics Market Research Report 2016
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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Food Logistics Market Research Report 2016" to its huge collection of research reports.A new research study presents a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the global Food Logistics market. The study throws light on the vital growth factors and the current trends that are estimated to enhance the growth of the global market. The research report also offers an-depth analysis of the global Food Logistics market, focusing on the product portfolio, primary applications, latest developments, regional segmentation, and the competitive scenario of the overall market. In addition, with the aid of diverse analytical tools, the research study throws light on the key opportunities and the challenges that are being faced by the prominent players that are operating in the globe market. This is expected to help the readers and players in gaining a strong understanding of the Food Logistics market across the globe.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research study addresses important questions related to the development in the global Food Logistics market. Some of them have been mentioned below:What are the vital factors augmenting the global Food Logistics market?Which primary factors are projected to restrict the development of the global Food Logistics market?Which application segment is expected to lead in the forecast period?Which technological developments are likely to encourage the growth of the global Food Logistics market?Which regional segment is estimated to lead and account for a key share in the coming few years?What are the anticipated value and growth rate of the global Food Logistics market?How is the competitive landscape of the global Food Logistics market?Which are the leading players operating in the global Food Logistics market?The research report has offered a thorough study of the competitive scenario of the global Food Logistics market. The strategies and tactics that are used by the key players have been highlighted in order to guide the new players of the global Food Logistics market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Food Logistics Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Food Logistics1.2 Food Logistics Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Food Logistics by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Food Logistics Segment by Application1.3.1 Food Logistics Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 32 Global Food Logistics Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Food Logistics Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Food Logistics Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Food Logistics Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Food Logistics Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Food Logistics Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Food Logistics Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Food Logistics Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Food Logistics Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Food Logistics Production and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Food Logistics Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Food Logistics Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.4 North America Food Logistics Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 Europe Food Logistics Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 China Food Logistics Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 Japan Food Logistics Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Southeast Asia Food Logistics Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global Food Logistics Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global Food Logistics Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America Food Logistics Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.3 Europe Food Logistics Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.4 China Food Logistics Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.5 Japan Food Logistics Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.6 Southeast Asia Food Logistics Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.7 India Food Logistics Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Food Logistics Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Food Logistics Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.2 Global Food Logistics Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.3 Global Food Logistics Price by Type (2011-2016)5.4 Global Food Logistics Production Growth by Type (2011-2016)6 Global Food Logistics Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Food Logistics Consumption and Market Share by Application (2011-2016)6.2 Global Food Logistics Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2011-2016)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesFor Latest QYResearchreports Press Release Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. 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Mobile Digital TV Market: 2017 Global Trend and 2021 Forecast Research Report
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This market analysis includes a detailed segmentation of the Global Mobile Digital TV Market by development trend and by application.The report covers the present year 2017 scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Mobile Digital TV Market for 2017-2021.The report Global Mobile Digital TV Market 2017-2021 has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report also covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years.The Mobile Digital TV Market By Geography North America Asia-Pacific EuropeRequest a sample of Global Mobile Digital TV Market Research Report @The Global Mobile Digital TV Market research report is a complete study of current trends in the market, industry growth drivers, and restraints. It provides market projections for the coming years. It includes analysis of recent developments in technology. The report also includes a review of micro and macro factors essential for the existing market players and new entrants along with detailed value chain analysis.Global Mobile Digital TV Market key players are: Company A Company B Company C Company DBrowse the full Global Mobile Digital TV Market Research Report @The report provides an extensive analysis of current and future market status of the world Mobile Digital TV Market.Some of the points from table of content:Industry Overview Definition Classification Share Analysis Application AnalysisMarket Analysis Product Development History Process Development History Competitive Landscape AnalysisIndustry Development Trend Capacity Production Overview Production Market Share Analysis Demand OverviewMarket Status and Forecast Supply Demand and Shortage Import Export Consumption Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginReasons for Buying this Global Mobile Digital TV Market Research Report This report helps to analyzed the world's main region market conditions It provides product manufacturing processes It provides industry policies and plans It provides overview of product specification It provides cost structures & so on.The Report Contains: 165 Pages.Price of the report: 2850$ (single user license)Check discount @About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Follow us on G+ :
Global SAP Market 2017 - BASF, Evonik, Formosa Plastics, Danson, LG Chemical, Nippon Shokubai, San-Dia Polymers
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Global SAP Industry 2017 presents an executive level blueprint of the global SAP market. This is an analytical research report that delves into evaluating the dynamics of the global SAP market drawing reference to the key trends shaping the supply-chain pattern of the industry. To study the exhaustive information sourced from detailed primary and secondary research, the analysts of the report have used industry leading analytical tools such as SWOT analysis and Porters five forces. The observation made from the analysis not only helps analysts to compile a comprehensive report on the global SAP market, but the same also assists them to understand the prevailing competitive landscape of the market.Download Free Sample Report @For a study to be beneficial for stakeholders, it should constitute a detailed research on the market competitiveness. For the purpose of the same, the research report profiles the leading and prominent players in the SAP market. Information pertaining to key strategies adopted by these companies has been obtained from their respective financial reports, and a meticulous study on the market trends that has impacted their plan of action. Results achieved from the strategies is analyzed thoroughly in the report to update stakeholders about the trends impacting the market. Key findings of the report on the global SAP market will also help companies operating in the market to identify the growth opportunities to propel their operations.To provide a comprehensive report of the global SAP market, the study has segmented it on the basis of product types, applications, end-use industries, and geography. The leading geographic segments is identified in the report, which also studies the prospects exhibited by the emerging regional markets. With an aim of presenting a 360 degree overview of the market, the report studies the growth drivers, market restraints, and opportunities in detail. Based on in-depth study, the report presents refined growth forecasts for the SAP market.Access Full Report With TOC @An exhaustive qualitative review of the factors accelerating and restraining the growth of the SAP market and approaching opportunities has been deployed. The SAP market has been analyzed based on applications, geographic distribution, and the substantial factors accountable for the rising demand of the SAP market globally have been detailed in this report. The report covers the global SAP market right from its definition to the numerous categorizations of the market as well as its key end-use applications.The elementary weaknesses and strengths of the leading vendors coupled with the rate of growth for each of the segments of the SAP worldwide market have been conferred after a complete analysis of past and prospective trends, regulatory needs, and technological innovations.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Residential Generators Market Global Industry Analysis Forecast 2014 - 2020
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At present, there is an ever-increasing demand for electricity among residential consumers for running electrical and electronic products. Several players in the residential generators market are focused on developing advanced generators to stay competitive in this market. This includes the development of eco-friendly generators to reduce carbon footprint.The report analyzes the global residential generator market in a ground-up manner including market drivers, restraints, and opportunities that will impact the markets growth between 2016 and 2024. The report also overviews the regulatory policies that are in the purview of the global residential generators market.Browse Market Research Report@ :The report presents facts and figures pertaining to the development of the global residential generator market in a chronological order. The analysis of past data and current market trends allow analysts to present a satisfactory opinion of the markets future. The users of the report therefore receive an analytical view of the global residential generator market that can be used to formulate successful business strategies. Using validated analytical tools such as SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces, the report presents useful insights on the markets competitive landscape.Global Residential Generators Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe booming construction industry in the emerging economies of Asia Pacific due to economic development is favoring the growth of the residential generators market in this region. New residential buildings are equipped with 100% power back-up for the uninterrupted running of elevators and for residential electrification. The rising disposable income in emerging economies such as India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia are also anticipated to extend lucrative opportunities for the growth of this marketThe development of next-generation generation is a distinguishing trend coming to the fore in the residential generator market. Smart generators are equipped with additional features that are connected to smart devices through the Internet. The other features of smart devices include clean power output, fuel efficiency, longer running times, and quiet operation.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @:Dynamo, homopolar generator, MHD generator, alternator, induction generator, and other rotating electromagnetic generators are some of the types of electric generators.In residential applications, automatic home standby generator is used for monitoring utility power supply. Generators turn itself on in the event of an electricity outage and supply power to all the areas in the house that are connected to the equipment. The generator switches off itself when utility power is restored. A home standby generator is equipped with an automatic transfer switch; the switch switches between utility power and generator power depending on if there is a power outage or if it is restored.Global Residential Generator Market: Regional OverviewThe global residential generator market is broadly segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a significant regional market for residential generators due to rapid urbanization in the emerging economies of China and India.Major Companies Mentioned in ReportSome of the leading companies in the global residential generators market include Generic Holdings Inc., Kohler Company, Multiquip Inc., Generac Power Systems, Yamaha Motor Corp., Cummins Inc., Mi-T-M Corp., Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd., Eaton Corp., Pramac S.p.A., Generac Power Systems, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company, FK Generators and Equipment Ltd., and Stratton Corp. among others.The global residential generator market can be segmented as followsAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207
Vial Adaptors for Reconstitution Drug Market is expected to show staggering growth during the forecast period.
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Global Vial Adaptors for Reconstitution Drug Market: SnapshotThe global market for vial adaptors for reconstitution drugs has been experiencing a steady demand as these vial adaptors have come to be the safest solutions for quick transfer for drugs between vials. The demand for these vial adaptors is also expected to shoot up as they are exceptionally cost-effective and come with a reduced the risk of needlestick injuries. The growing prevalence of infectious diseases, widening pool of geriatrics, and increasing safety concerns have all triggered a demand for vial adaptors for reconstitution drugs. According to the research report, the global vial adaptors for reconstitution drug market was valued at US$780 mn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$1.3 bn by the end of 2024. Between the forecast years of 2016 and 2024, the global market is expected to progress at a CAGR of 7.5%.Browse Market Research Report @Autoimmune Diseases to Drive Global Vial Adaptors for Reconstitution Drug MarketOn the basis of therapeutic area, the vial adaptors for reconstitution drug market has been segmented into autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, metabolic conditions, reproductive health and others. Currently, the infectious diseases segment holds a major share in the global vial adaptors for reconstitution drug therapeutic area segment. However, the autoimmune diseases segment is expected to show robust growth rate in the coming years. As of 2015, it was the second largest segment in the overall market in terms of revenue. The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) states that more than 50 million individuals are affected by autoimmune disorders in the U.S. every year. This is expected to drive the autoimmune diseases segment in the coming years.North America to Remain the Leading Regional Market during Forecast PeriodIn terms of geography, the global market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Out of these regional markets, North America remained dominant in the global vial adaptors for reconstitution drug market in 2015. Europe followed this lead closely. The high incidence of autoimmune diseases, rising technological advancements, and growing demand for needle-free products likely to support the growth of the vial adaptors for reconstitution drug market in North America. On the other hand, the demand in Europe will be fueled by increasing advancements in healthcare technology amidst rising safety concerns.Analysts estimate that Asia Pacific is also likely to be a lucrative market for the vial adaptors for reconstitution drugs during the forecast period. The growing adoption of technology, high prevalence of autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, and increasing adoption of technology are all expected to make a significant contribution to the soaring vial adaptors for reconstitution drug market in Asia Pacific. This regional market will also be propelled by the swelling pool of geriatrics, who are prone to various medical conditions and a vast pool of unmet medical needs. The strengthening economies of Asia Pacific and improving access to healthcare in the region are also likely to augment the demand for vial adaptors for reconstitution drugs.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The key players operating in the global vial adaptors for reconstitution drug market are Baxter International Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Cardinal Health, Inc., Sensile Medical AG, Unilife Corporation and West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. The market is largely consolidated as major players hold a dominating share.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
United States Caps and Closures Market for Non-carbonated Beverages For The Period 2017 - 2024
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ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "United States Caps and Closures Market for Non-carbonated Beverages For The Period 2017 - 2024".This report provides forecast and analysis of the U.S. Caps & closures market for non-carbonated beverages. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 based on volume (Million units) and revenue (US$ Mn). It includes drivers, restraints and the ongoing trend of the U.S. Caps & closures market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of opportunities available in the market for U.S. Caps & closures market.In order to provide the users of this report with comprehensive view of market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players. The competitive dashboard provides detailed comparison of U.S. Caps & closures market manufacturers on parameters such as companys revenue, unique selling propositions and key strategic developments. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by cap type, material type and application type.U.S. Caps & Closures Market for Non-carbonated Beverages: Research MethodologiesMarket statistics have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of U.S. Caps & closures market by cap type and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of U.S. market. The U.S. Caps & closures market for non-carbonated beverages has been analyzed based on expected demand of the top three caps. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are average prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous caps & closure manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. All key end users have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Market numbers for the U.S. cap type, material type and application segments have been derived using the top down approach. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates.Make an Enquiry of this report @U.S. Caps & Closures Market for Non-carbonated Beverages: Competitive AnalysisThe report provides detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of key participants operating in the global market. Key players in the U.S. caps & closure market for non-carbonated beverages include, Closure Systems International, Inc., Silgan Plastic Closure Solutions, Bericap GmbH and Co KG, Global Closure Systems, AptarGroup, Inc., Berry Plastics Group, Inc., Amcor Limited, O.Berk Company, LLC, Blackhawk Molding Co. Inc. and Tecnocap S.p.A.The U.S. caps & closure market for non-carbonated beverages is segmented belowBy Cap TypeScrew CapsSnap On CapsPush On CapsBy MaterialPPLDPEPSHDPEPVCPETBy ApplicationBottled waterFruit beveragesReady to drink (tea & coffee)Sports beveragesOthers (energy drinks, non-dairy milk etc.)To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
* Syria govt said to accept agenda, including transition talk
* Diplomats say Russia, govt want terrorism added to agenda
* Opposition hold landmark meeting with Russian diplomat (Updates after opposition meeting with Russians, adds source close to Syrian government)
By Tom Miles and John Irish
GENEVA, March 1 (Reuters) - Syrian peace talks in Geneva edged forwards on Wednesday, for the first time in six days of U.N.-led talks, as both sides saw hope of shaping the agenda to their liking and opposition negotiators met a senior diplomat from powerbroker Russia.
The opposition said President Bashar al-Assad's negotiators had been pushed by his Russian allies to address the issue of political transition - which Assad's opponents say must involve him handing over power.
A source close to the Syrian government delegation said there was agreement that tackling "terrorism" - a broad term which Damascus uses to describe all armed opposition to the president - would also be on the agenda.
It remained unclear whether the two goals were compatible or if the two sides were on a collision course, as in past negotiating rounds a year ago.
But diplomats said the opposition's meeting with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov may be a milestone and uncomfortable for President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's ally, who regards his opponents as terrorists.
Yahya Kodmani, head of the opposition delegation, told reporters that he and colleagues had made strong and clear points to Gatilov, and Russia would need time to respond.
"We want them to be neutral and not enemies to Syria," Kodmani said. "We want them to pressure and sponsor the political transition process. We want them to work with us on stopping terrorism in Syria."
One diplomat said the opposition had been disappointed because the Russians had stuck to their long-standing positions that the rebels were too divided to negotiate with.
U.N. envoy Staffan De Mistura unexpectedly came to the opposition's hotel late in the evening after their meeting with Gatilov, but declined to comment on the process.
Story continues
DEEP TALKS
So far the Geneva talks have focused almost entirely on how to arrange more substantive later rounds, but both sides said on Wednesday they had held "deep" discussions with de Mistura earlier in the day.
"We notice now that the political transition subject has become the main subject on the table," opposition negotiator Nasr al-Hariri told reporters.
The opposition wants to discuss "political transition" and, after hearing from de Mistura said they believed that Russia had persuaded Syria's government negotiators that it should be on the agenda of the talks.
Assad's chief negotiator Bashar al-Ja'afari has never accepted discussion of the subject before.
The talks are governed by U.N. Security Council resolution 2254, which sets out a political transition process including plans for a new constitution, U.N.-supervised elections and transparent and accountable governance.
De Mistura wants to put those subjects into three "baskets".
Two Western diplomats said the Syrian government agreed to study the baskets, but said a fourth basket should be "terrorism".
A source close to the government delegation said that talks had been constructive and led to "an agreement on four equally important baskets" that included terrorism.
Kodmani said there was no "terrorism basket" in Resolution 2254, and the talks should start with political transition because it is the main point.
A ceasefire backed by Russia, Iran and Turkey has not stopped the fighting. Russian news agencies reported that a new round of ceasefire talks would start on March 14, and cited Gatilov as saying more Geneva talks could follow on March 20.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said government bombardment of a rebel-held area in Damascuss northeastern outskirts intensified on Wednesday, and fighting between government forces and rebels killed 13 Syrian soldiers.
Government forces launched attacks around Qaboun in the days leading up to the current round of peace talks, the fiercest assault there for more than two years, according to the Observatory and a medical worker in the area.
(Additional reporting by Yara Abi Nader, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Dominic Evans)
U.S. Knee Implant Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2024
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U.S. Knee Implant Market: SnapshotThe U.S. market for knee implants a matured market and projected to witness steady growth over the forthcoming years. The technological advancements in knee implants, such as the usage of 3D printing, biocompatible materials, robotic-assisted surgeries, and navigation technology are likely to drive this market in coming years. Apart from this, the increasing health care expenditure and the rising population of geriatric individuals are also anticipated to contribute to the growth of this market significantly.Browse Market Research Report @The U.S. knee implant market stood at US$4.3 bn in 2015 and is expected to protrude at a CAGR of 5.30% between 2016 and 2024 and reach US$7.0 bn by 2024.Hospitals to Remain Key End Users of Knee ImplantsHospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and specialized orthopedic clinics are the main end users of knee implants in the U.S. The demand for knee implants is much higher from hospitals than other end users. The hospitals segment held a share of more than 43% of the overall demand for knee implants in the country in 2015. With the presence of hospitals in a very large number, this segment is likely to remain the topmost end user of knee implants in the U.S.Ambulatory surgery centers are also expected to emerge as a lucrative end-use segment for knee implant manufacturers in the U.S. over the next few years. As these centers offer modern health care facilities and emphasize on providing same-day surgical care, including diagnostics and preventive procedures, which has begun to reflect positively on the demand for knee implants from these centers. Apart from this, the shifting preference of patients from hospitals to ambulatory service centers, owing to the after care services, cost-effective care, and minimally invasive surgeries provided by the latter, is also projected to influence the demand for knee implants from these centers in the near future.Midwest Region to Lead U.S. Knee Implant MarketThe U.S. market for knee implants has its presence across the Pacific region, the Mountain region, the South Central region, the Midwest region, the South Atlantic region, and the North East region. The Midwest region has been leading this market, thanks to a number of ambulatory surgical centers present in this region. The increasing uptake of new technologies is also supporting the progress of the market for knee implants in Midwest region.The presence of a large pool of knee implant manufacturers and a widespread distribution channel are likely to maintain the growth pace of this regional market, ensuring its lead over the next few years. Indiana, followed closely by Virginia, has been generating higher revenues than other states in the U.S. The high number of hospitals and the mounting osteoarthritic burden due to the baby boomer population are the key factors propelling these domestic markets in the country.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Led by Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., Stryker Corp., and Smith & Nephew, the U.S. market for knee implants is highly consolidated in nature. The other significant players operating in this market are B. Braun Melsungen AG, Exactech Inc., DJO Global Inc., ConforMIS, OMNIlife science, Inc., MicroPort Scientific Corp., and Arthrex.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Biomaterials Market is Expected to Reach $139 Billion, Globally by 2022
Biomaterials Market
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The global biometric market is expected to reach $139 billion by 2022, from $62 billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 11.8% from 2016 to 2022, according to Allied Market Research. Metallic biomaterials segment is expected to contribute significantly to the global market revenue until 2022. North America held the leading position in the global market in 2015, and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the study period.Get access to full summary @:Metallic biomaterials segment contributed the highest revenue share to the global market, owing to highly used in orthopedic treatments for bone support and replacement, due to their strength and resistance to fatigue degradation. Polymeric biomaterials segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.0% from 2016 to 2022, due to increasing demand for biodegradable products, and their use in various applications due their unique features such as flexibility, lightweight, remarkable biocompatibility, and physical & mechanical properties.Orthopedic disorder was the leading application segment in the market, followed by cardiovascular disorders and drug-delivery systems segments, cumulatively contributing about three-fourths shares of the global market. This was attributed to the high incidence of conditions characterized by degenerative symptoms and notable relief offered by the use of biomaterial-based products. Neurological disorder is an another key application area of the biomaterials market, and is expected to offer lucrative investment opportunities to market players in the near future. However, tissue engineering is projected to be the fastest growing segment due to the introduction of scaffolds, which is one of the biomaterials used in 3D printing.Request for sample copy of this report at:Key Findings of the Biomaterials MarketIn 2015, metallic biomaterials segment contributed significantly to the revenue of the global market, and is projected to maintain this trend during the forecast period.Among biomaterials, polymeric biomaterial segment is projected to grow rapidly registering a CAGR of 13.0% from 2016 to 2022.Tissue engineering is projected to be the fastest growing application segment of biomaterials market with CAGR of 35.6% during analysis period.North America is the leading region in the global biomaterials market.North America and Europe jointly contributed over three-fourths share of the overall revenue in 2015.Asia-Pacific biomaterials market is expected to be the fastest growing region during study period.Chinese biomaterials market is expected to grow at a significant CAGR of 18.5% from 2016 to 2022.In 2015, North America accounted for significant revenue share in the global biomaterials market, and is expected to maintain this trend throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in prevalence of chronic and degenerative diseases coupled with growth in geriatric population, advent of innovative technologies, heavy funding by government agencies for R&D activities, and growing need to improve quality of life in North America. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region throughout 2022, owing to the presence of ample growth opportunities in terms of unmet medical needs for the treatment of cardiovascular, neurological & orthopedic disorders, increasing awareness about biomaterials advantages, and rising acceptance of advanced technologies in this region.The key players in this market have adopted product development & launch as their key strategies to cater to the changing needs of the industry. Furthermore, companies have collaborated with other key players to develop cost-effective and technologically efficient technologies to strengthen their market positions. The development of novel products with innovative technologies and acquisition of companies possessing innovative technologies are the top strategies adopted by leading players in the market. The key players profiled in this report include Royal DSM, Wright Medical Group N.V., Corbion N.V., Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., Bayer AG, Carpenter Technology Corporation, Covalon Technologies Ltd., Evonik Industries AG, BASF SE, Victrex plc., and Collagen Matrix, Inc.Allied Market Research is a global market research and business consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of Market Research Reports and Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Our market research department starts with the research task considering specific concerns and ambitions of the client. We understand that every market is driven by certain key factors locally as well as globally. Our analysts dig out those factors, helping clients understand the importance and impact of every such driving force. Moreover, possible restraints of the market are discovered and suggestions to tackle those restraints are formulated after extensive research and analysis of the overall market conditions. Making an even deeper insight, we analyze the market trend including both qualitative and quantitative present market scenario in every geographical region segmented as per the business domain concerned and overall performance in different regions throughout the globe.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022help@alliedmarketresearch.com
2017 - 2024, Lubricants Global Market for Off-road Sector: Key Players Such As Royal Dutch Shell plc, ExxonMobil Corporation, BP Global, Total S.A And So On
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ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "2017 - 2024, Lubricants Global Market for Off-road Sector: Key Players Such As Royal Dutch Shell plc, ExxonMobil Corporation, BP Global, Total S.A And So On".Lubricants diminish friction because they eliminate the contact resistance between two solid surfaces or objects. Examples of lubricants are engine oil, gear oil, transmission fluid, greases, coolants, bearing oil, brake fluid, etc. North America is anticipated to be a major consumer of lubricants due to presence of large number of off road vehicles in the region. Growing demand for lubricants in the construction and mining industry in Asia Pacific is anticipated to affect the lubricants market in terms of lubricant consumption. Engine oil, as the name suggests, is used to avoid friction and corrosion in engine of a vehicle. Gear oil and transmission fluid are used by gear box and axles of a vehicle. In some types of vehicles, separate gear oil and transmission fluid are not required. Single lubricant is used in gear box of the vehicle in place of them.Global Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector: Scope of the ReportThis study analyzes, estimates, and forecasts the global lubricants market for off-road sector in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) from 2015 to 2024. Market numbers given in the report describe the demand for global lubricants, but not production or supply. The global lubricants report also analyzes several driving and restraining factors and their impact on the market during the forecast period.Global Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector: Research MethodologyBased on source and grade, the report analyzes the attractiveness of each segment with the help of an attractiveness tool. The study consist of value chain analysis, which offers a better understanding of key companies in the supply chain from raw material manufacturers to end-users. Additionally, the study examines market competition through Porters Five Forces Analysis.Primary research represents the majority of our research efforts, complemented by extensive secondary research. We reviewed key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents for competitive analysis and market understanding. Secondary research also includes a search of technical writing, recent trade, Internet sources, and statistical data from government websites, trade associations, and agencies. This has proven to be the most consistent, effective, and productive approach for procuring precise market data, recognizing business opportunities, and understanding industry participants perceptions.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The report includes an overview of the market share of key companies in the global lubricants market for off-road sector. Market share of companies has been derived on the basis of production by manufacturers of lubricants. Key market players profiled in the study include Royal Dutch Shell plc, ExxonMobil Corporation, BP Global, Total S.A., Phillips 66, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Halron Lubricants Inc., Topaz Energy Group Limited, Chevron USA Inc, Fuchs Petrolub SE, Castrol Limited, BRB International and Lukoil Lubricants Company.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report segments the global lubricants market for off-road sector as follows:Global Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector Source AnalysisMineral Oil-basedSyntheticBio-basedGlobal Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector Grade AnalysisSingleMultiGlobal Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector Product AnalysisEngine oilTransmission fluidsHydraulic fluidsGear oilGreaseOthersGlobal Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector End Use AnalysisConstructionAgriculture & FarmingMiningMaterial HandlingOthersGlobal Lubricants Market for Off-road Sector Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeUKItalySpainFranceGermanyRest of EUMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Smart Inhalers Market Is Expected to Reach $191 Million, Globally, by 2022
SMART INHALERS MARKET: SEGMENTATION
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Global Smart Inhalers Market states that the market was $5.8 million in 2015 and is expected to reach $191 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 63.3% from 2016 to 2022, according to new research published by Allied Market Research. The inhalers segment captured majority share in 2015, whereas nebulizers segment is projected to grow at fastest CAGR of 64.1% during the forecast period. North America, which accounted for around two-fifths share in 2015, is expected to maintain its lead throughout.Get access to full summary @:Smart inhalers promote adherence to inhalers and also send timely reminders to patients to take their inhaler dose at the required time due to which it has emerged as a novel approach in asthma and COPD management. The major factors that drives the smart inhalers market include worldwide growth in population susceptible to indoor air pollutants, inclination of patients towards digitalized medical devices for monitoring daily medication doses, and rise in prevalence of asthma and COPD. In addition, improved smart inhalers adherence rate and increase in collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and smart inhaler manufacturers promotes technological advancements which would ultimately support the market growth. These smart inhalers directly transfer medication data to the mobile application as well as to the cloud server connected through the internet. Thus, assuring doctor on exact medicine intake and frequency of the same. However, data privacy and limited availability of smart inhalers across regions acts as a major limitation in the market growth.Smart inhaler products comprise sensors that can be easily attached on the traditional inhalers and nebulizers. The inhalers segment accounted for major share of the overall market, as inhalers are preferred as first option of treatment, portability, and cost effectiveness leading to volume sales. However, nebulizers are expected to grow at the fastest rate due to technological advancements that result in their portability and ease of use.North America accounted for the majority of the revenue in 2015 owing to the increased adoption of smart inhalers and increased awareness about asthma and COPD treatment. Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing region throughout the analysis period with major revenue contribution from China. Improvement in healthcare infrastructure and increase in healthcare expenditure in the emerging markets (such as India and China) is projected to fulfill the unmet medical needs thus, fueling the smart inhalers market growth in the Asia-Pacific region.Request for sample copy of this report at:Key findings of the smart inhalers market study:In the year 2015, inhalers led the global smart inhalers market revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 63.2%.Smart inhalers market for asthma is expected to grow at a CAGR of 62.0%, in terms of revenue, whereas for COPD, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 64.5%.COPD indication segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 64.5% due to increase in COPD incidence rate, rise in adherence rate.The majority of smart inhalers are used by R&D centers and this trend is expected to be continued during the forecast period.Europe and Asia-Pacific together accounted for around half of the market share in 2015.China is the major shareholder, accounting for about one-third share of the Asia-Pacific smart inhalers market, in terms of value.U.S. smart inhalers market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 59.5%.German smart inhalers market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 68.2% during analysis period.Recent developments such as acquisition of Inspiro Medical by Opko Health, collaboration between Novartis and Qualcomm, and acquisition of Gecko Health by Teva pharmaceuticals for manufacturing smart inhalers further signify the increase in competition in the smart inhalers industry. These developments are majorly focused on manufacturing smart inhalers as well as launching new devices with inbuilt smart inhalers instead of using an add on sensor to the device; thereby positively increasing the market revenue as well as competition among the manufacturers.Major players profiled in this report include Vectura Group plc, Adherium Limited, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Gecko Health Innovations), AstraZeneca plc, Propeller Health, Cohero Health, LLC, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, OPKO Health, Inc. (Inspiro Medical Ltd.), GlaxoSmithKline plc, and Novartis AG.Allied Market Research is a global market research and business consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of Market Research Reports and Business Intelligence Solutions. 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Making an even deeper insight, we analyze the market trend including both qualitative and quantitative present market scenario in every geographical region segmented as per the business domain concerned and overall performance in different regions throughout the globe.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022help@alliedmarketresearch.com
Industry Analysis & Outlook Of Global Remittance Market During The Forecast Period 2017 - 2020
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ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Industry Analysis & Outlook Of Global Remittance Market During The Forecast Period 2017 - 2020".The remittance industry contributes to the economic growth of the countries participating in the practice as well as to the livelihood of the individuals involved. The remittance system is comprised of the Remittance Service Providers (RSP), Remittance Corridors, the Remittance Network and the Money transfer system. Remittance Services are divided primarily on the basis of ways a network of access points is created and linked. There are broadly four categories: unilateral services, franchised services, negotiated services and open services.The key factors driving the growth of remittance market are increasing international migration, growing urbanization, accelerating economic growth and rising employment opportunities. A noteworthy trend of this industry is cost by sending and receiving method, unstable remittance cost, increased access to financial services, changing technology landscape for payments, more convenience and lesser costs, advancement in technology, and maturing of immigrant communities. However, the expansion of the market is hindered by de-risking is threatening the industry and access points establishment.The report Global Remittance Market provides an in-depth analysis of the global remittance market, along with a study of top remittance receiving and contributing countries. The report also includes detailed description of regional markets. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The industry comprises few large players such as MoneyGram International Inc., Western Union Company and Euronet Worldwide Inc. All these companies have been profiled in the present report highlighting their key financials and business strategies for growth.Make an Enquiry of this report @Table of Content1. Remittance Market - An Overview1.1 An Introduction1.2 Types of Remittance Services1.3 Remittance Marketplace1.4 Remittance Market Value Chain2. Global Remittance Market Analysis2.1 Global Remittance Inflow2.2 Global Average Remittance Cost by Region2.3 Global Average Cost by Remittance Service Provider3. Regional Market Analysis3.1 Remittance Market by Income Characteristics3.1.1 Low and Middle Income Countries3.2 Remittances Market by Region3.2.1 East Asia and Pacific Region3.2.2 Europe and Central Asia Region3.2.3 Latin America and Caribbean Region3.2.4 Middle East and North Africa Region3.2.5 South Asia Region3.2.6 Sub Saharan Africa Region3.3 Remittances Market by Largest Receiving Countries3.3.1 India3.3.2 China3.3.3 Philippines3.3.4 Mexico3.4 Remittances Market by Largest Contributing Countries3.4.1 The US3.4.2 Saudi Arabia3.4.3 SwitzerlandTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 20162024
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Zion Market Research, the market research group announced the analysis report titled 'Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 20162024'Global Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: OverviewGenome editing/genome engineering refers to the techniques and strategies in which the DNA is deleted, replaced or inserted in the living organisms genome with the help of molecular scissors or engineered nucleases. It is one of the active fields of research owing to its wide array of potential applications, specifically related to human health such as the manufacturing of therapeutic proteins, the rectification of a gene with a detrimental mutation, and the removal of repeated viral sequences. It also has an application in agricultural biotechnology such as the invention of novel generations of genetically modified plants. Genome editing/genome engineering can also be used in the improvement of research tools, for instance, to exploit a genes function of a gene.Request Free Sample Report @Global Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: Growth FactorsThe in general increase in the manufacturing of genetically modified crops, the fast rise in the figure of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, the growing government expenditure for genomics, increasing R&D activities in the life science research, raised need of synthetic genes, and technological enhancements are few factors propelling the growth of the genome editing/genome engineering market. However, the strict regulatory authorities and ethical concerns are few factors impeding the market growth.Global Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: SegmentationThe global genome editing/genome engineering market can be segmented based on application, technology, end-user, and region. The application segment of the market is diversified into plant genetic engineering, cell line engineering, animal genetic engineering, and other applications. The technology segment of the market is categorized into antisense, CRISPR, ZFN, TALEN, and other technologies. The end-user segment of the genome editing/genome engineering market is grouped into contract research organizations, academic & government research institutes, biotechnology & pharmaceutical companies, and other applications. Regionally, the market is sub-segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Global Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: Regional AnalysisNorth America is expected to dominate the market for genome editing/genome engineering owing to various factors, including the rising utilization of genetically modified crops; occurrence of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, infectious diseases, and cancer in this region; the development of gene therapy; standard conferences and workshops for genome editing; and the rising accessibility of research funding and grants. Asia Pacific region is also anticipated to grow at a fast pace in the market in the coming period. The growth of this region can be mainly attributed to the amplified R&D expenditure and the development of foremost genome editing industries.Global Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: Competitive PlayersThe major players in the genome editing/genome engineering market are Genscript Biotech Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., Horizon Discovery Group Plc., and Lonza Group Ltd. The other major players in the market include Sangamo Biosciences, Inc., New England Biolabs, Inc., Merck KGAA, Origene Technologies, Inc., and Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.Browse detail report @Global Genome Editing/Genome Engineering Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaWhat Report ProvidesFull in-depth analysis of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsSegmentation details of the marketFormer, on-going, and projected market analysis in terms of volume and valueAssessment of niche industry developmentsMarket share analysisKey strategies of major playersEmerging segments and regional marketsTestimonials to companies in order to fortify their foothold in the market.Ask for a customized report @About Us:Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:
Body Screening Market Opportunities and Forecast 2016 - 2024
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Body screening is a specialized method of detecting any hidden objects within a persons clothes by creating an image of a persons naked body without any physical contact or without physically removing the clothes. Body screening is done through body scanners. Military wave technologies are used by these body scanners in order to see through the clothes of a person. Globally, this method is gaining popularity due to increasing concerns about security fueled by an alarming rise in global terrorism.The global body screening is expected a significant growth during the forecast period. This is mainly driven by a rise in drug trafficking, illegal migration, and terrorism.Browse Market Research Report @This method is increasingly being adopted in train stations and airports all over the globe, primarily due to rising threat of terrorism and for aviation security. Moreover, the stringent rules and policies undertaken by various governmental bodies worldwide are driving the growth of the market. For instance, the bill passed by the U.S government called S.A.F.E.R A.I.R Act makes body screening mandatory in all airports.In the face of rising instances of in-flight detonation and fight hijacking, body screening helps in improving the security framework of airports. The ability to detect a wide range of threats, including explosives, is propelling the demand for body screening. Commercial airports are also engaging in making significant investments in body screening systems to adequately address the burning issue of drug-peddling.One of the major advantages of body screening is the reduced time taken to screen passengers. This gives body screening an upper hand over the conventional pat down approaches, which are both uncomfortable and time consuming. Growing interest in full body screening worldwide is spurring intensive research and development efforts to bring forth machines that are image free and result in less radiation.Despite all the advantages, full body screening is controversial, as it easily raises individual privacy issues. Critics claim it to be in violation of human rights, unreasonable, and illegal. These factors are expected to restrain the growth of the market for body screening to some extent during the forecasted period.The market is segregated on the basis of application, technology, system, and geography. By application, the global body screening market is segmented into homeland security, defense, and commercial. Homeland security is further sub-segmented into applications in seaports, airports, and security of VIPs. Defense is sub-segmented into applications in high security zones, military premises, and border crossing controls.On the basis of technology, the global body screening market is characterized as digital tape measurements, white light patterns, laser scanners, 3D body scanners, and image modeling & processing.By system, the market is segmented into X-ray systems, millimeter-wave, and backscatter.Lastly, on the basis of geography, the global body screening market is segmented into North America, Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America. North America holds a significant share of the global body screening market mainly due to the strict steps taken by the U.S government with respect to body screening in airports. The growth of the body screening market in Europe is expected to be limited during the forecast period due to the ban imposed on full-body scanning in the countries of the region. On the other hand, the growth of the body screening market in emerging economies of Latin America and Asia Pacific is estimated to be significantly fast due to increasing security concerns, rise in the number of low cost carriers, expansion of the tourism industry, and booming air travel.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The key players operating in the global body screening market include Westminster International Ltd. (U.K), Tek84 Engineering Group LLC (U.S), Smiths Detection (U.K), Scan-X Security Ltd. (U.K), Rapiscan Systems (U.S), Nuctech Co. Ltd. (China), L-3 Security And Detection Systems (U.S), Digital Barriers PLC (U.K), Braun And Company Limited (U.K), American Science and Engineering (U.S), and ADANI Systems (Belarus).Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Consumer Oxygen Equipment Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2024
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Oxygen is a colorless and odorless gas necessary for the body to survive. Oxygen therapy is a process to supply oxygen to patients who, due to breathing disorders, are unable to get enough oxygen supply for their body naturally. People who receive oxygen therapy often show improved energy levels and sleep, and better quality of life. Oxygen therapy can be exceptionally beneficial for those who experience low oxygen levels frequently. Regular utilization of oxygen therapy can further allow people to be mobile and active by lowering the breathing disorder. It extends life expectancy remarkably and improves the quality of life.Browse Market Research Report @Adoption of innovative technologies in medical devices, rise in government expenditure in health care domain, and increase in investment by companies manufacturing homecare products are likely to boost the growth of the global consumer oxygen equipment market during the forecast period. However, high product costs and stringent FDA regulations pertaining to medical devices are some of the factors which could restrain the growth of the global consumer oxygen equipment market during the forecast period.The global consumer oxygen equipment market is segmented by product and end-user. Based on the product segmentation, the global consumer oxygen equipment market is classified into ambulatory devices and oxygen concentrators. The ambulatory devices involve liquid oxygen system and compressed gas system. The oxygen concentrators are basically devices which consist continuous flow oxygen concentrators and pulse dose oxygen concentrators. In terms of revenue, the oxygen concentrators segment dominated the consumer oxygen equipment market in 2015 owing to improved esthetics and extra safety features. The segment is expected to continue its dominance in the market by 2024 due to increasing technological developments in the lighter & portable oxygen devices, suitable for use at shopping complexes, airports, offices, and in flights. Continuous flow technology dominated the consumer oxygen equipment market in 2015. Pulse dose technology provides patients with improved technology, high mobility, ease of use, and increased efficiency. The technology is much reliable and safer than continuous flow technology, which is the reason the segment is expected to dominate the market over continuous flow technology by 2024.Based on the end-user segmentation, the global consumer oxygen equipment market involves hospitals, homecare settings, ambulatory surgical centers, and others. Growing geriatric population, coupled with rising number of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) patients, drives the requirement for homecare settings. Therefore, the homecare settings segment is expected to grow in the consumer oxygen equipment market rapidly. In severe cases, doctors mostly recommend for oxygen therapies with home oxygen concentrators. Moreover, equipment features such as low maintenance, cost-effectiveness, and provision for intact oxygen supply to patients are driving the homecare settings segment in the market during the forecast period.Geographically, the consumer oxygen equipment market has been classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America held a large share in the global consumer oxygen equipment market in 2015, which is attributed to the rise in number of COPD patients in the region. The pressure to produce portable, lighter & cheaper equipment which can be used while traveling abroad in turn increased the demand for the consumer oxygen equipment market in North America. Evolution of health insurance system in Europe is expected to contribute considerably to the potential and attractiveness of the Europe consumer oxygen equipment market. The consumer oxygen equipment demand in the U.K. is being driven by the rising levels of smoking. Asia Pacific is considered to be a fast growing region for the consumer oxygen equipment market. Key factors driving the growth in the region include rise in preference for home treatment, high prevalence of respiratory disorders, and improvement in health care system.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Major players contributing in the global consumer oxygen equipment market are Inova Labs, Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Chart Industries, DeVilbiss Healthcare, Inogen, Invacare Corporation, SeQual, Nidek Medical Products, Inc., Providence Medical, CAIRE Inc., VORTRAN Medical Technology, and Percussionaire Corp.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Kombucha Market will Grow Exponentially during 2016 2024
Kombucha Market
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Kombucha is fermented tea which is produce using sugar with the microbial culture like yeast, bacteria, mold and sometimes fruit juice and other flavors. After fermentation, kombucha is carbonated and integrated with amino acids, vinegar, antioxidants and vitamins. It can be added with numerous essences to add different tastes to the drink. Citrus, herb and spice, berries, apple, coconut, mangoes, flowers and others are the different essence of kombucha. Kombucha is used in medicine and drugs.The kombucha market is mainly driven by the rising health awareness, increasing consumer disposable income and changing lifestyle. Increasing demand for natural, fortified and healthy food & beverages and rising consumption of alcoholic beverages are some of the factors that support the demand for kombucha. Increasing incidences of chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and osteoporosis are another key factor to drive the kombucha market. Kombucha is a health drink and of the fastest-growing segments in the efficient beverages market., Thus, the market for this beverage is expected to witness high growth in the next few years. Microbial sourcing and nonsterile packaging of the product are expected to be major restraints of kombucha market.Get Sample Research Report at:This report provides detailed analysis and forecast of the kombucha market on a global and regional level. The report includes detailed competitive landscape of the global kombucha market and an analysis of Porters five forces model for the kombucha market has also been included. It includes company market share analysis, product portfolio of the major industry participants. The report provides detailed segmentation of the kombucha market based on type, flavor and region segment.Based on different type, kombucha market is segmented as yeast, bacteria and mold. Major flavor covered in this report include herbs & spices, berries, apple, coconut & mangoes, citrus, flowers and others.Key regional segments analyzed in this study include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for kombocha based on individual applications in all the regions and countries. In 2014, North America was dominated Kombucha market in terms of revenue.Browse the full report at:Asia Pacific and Europe are growing at a moderate rate due to increasing health awareness among people and increasing initiatives undertaken by the government.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Live Soda Kombucha, Makana Beverages Inc., Nesalla Kombucha, Red Bull Gmbh, Kosmic Kombucha, Kevita, Inc., Millennium Products, Inc., Reeds, Inc. and Gts Kombucha.This report segments the global kombucha market as follows:Kombucha Market: Type Segment AnalysisYeastBacteriaMoldOthersKombucha Market: Flavor Segment AnalysisHerbs & SpicesBerriesAppleCoconut & MangoesCitrusFlowersOthersKombucha Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East And AfricaAbout UsSyndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite:
Aircraft Ground Support Equipment Market Segments and Key Trends 2017-2027
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Aircraft ground support equipment and vehicles are used to transport passengers, freight & baggage and support repair & maintenance functions. In airports, equipment fall into two broader categories, i.e. land side (passenger entry side of airport) and air side (boarding/departure side). Ground support equipment includes vehicles used for fueling on the air-side and airplane maintenance. Aircraft ground support equipment doesnt include aircraft engine maintenance.In California, most airports have internal combustion engines (ICE) powered aircraft ground support equipment. Owing to stringent emission norms in North America and Europe, electric aircraft ground support equipment is made available by most of its manufacturers. There are many airports in various countries with a high percentage of aircraft ground support equipment (electric). For example, the Denver International Airport was designed for all electric ground support equipment. Similarly, Logan International Airport (Boston) progressed and switched from ICE to electric aircraft ground support equipment.Aircraft ground support equipment could be owned by cargo handlers, airports, airlines, management companies or parcel & mail companies. Airports usually own stationary infrastructure and lease equipment with airlines.Request For Report Sample:Owing to an increase in passenger and cargo traffic, terminal infrastructure plays a vital role in airports as it affects the turnaround time and flight delay. In order to run their operations on time, existing airports have started undergoing modernization and expansion with new technologies. Increase in modernization and terminal expansions are expected to generate significant demand for the aircraft ground support equipment market. Additionally, modernization of aircraft ground support equipment are also expected to enhance safety measures and efficiency of airline operations.Aircraft ground support equipment: DynamicsThe increased use of storage systems and warehouse operations at airports will have a positive impact on the aircraft ground support equipment market. Also, rising number of airports and airlines will drive demand for aircraft ground support equipment products. However, there are a few market players who are expected to dominate the market owing to their advanced technology.Aircraft ground support equipment: SegmentationBroadly, the aircraft ground support equipment market is segmented on the basis of handling as: aircraft handling, passenger handling, cargo handling.The global ground support system market is dominated by the aircraft handling segment, which accounted for more than forty percent of the total market share. Constantly growing passenger traffic and increase in aircraft movement are forecasted to fuel demand for the aircraft ground support equipment market.Additionally, the global ground support equipment market can be segmented by type as: hybrid, electric, non-electric. The electric segment is estimated to dominate the market owing to the increase in expenditure by aviation authorities and ecofriendly aircraft ground support equipment, which conforms to latest emission norms. Furthermore, the market for airports is larger in Western Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, owing to the increasing number of airport expansions and rise in the number of airports.Aircraft ground support equipment: OutlookOver the forecast period, the global ground support equipment market is expected to grow at a high rate with the increase in demand for airports. Recently, EMEA has seen rapid growth in numbers with respect to cargo and passenger traffic. That, along with the burgeoning number of new aircrafts and expansions are anticipated to boost demand for the global aircraft ground support equipment market.Request For TOC:Owing to the increase in emission norms, the U.S. currently represents the largest ground support equipment market. In 2015, foreign and domestic airlines in the U.S. approximately carried 895.5 million passengers system wide. However, the increasing demand for cargo shipments and air travel in countries such as Brazil, India and China is expected to represent a massive potential growth opportunity.Aircraft ground support equipment: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants in the global aircraft ground support equipment market identified across the value chain include:JBT AeroTechCargoTecAERO SpecialtiesCavotec SABharat Earth MoversTUGDouglas equipment servicesFgFlightline supportJiangsu Tianyi Airport Special EquipmentMallaghanABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Tenet Healthcare Corporation THC recently announced that it has inked a deal with Amedisys, Inc. AMED to divest its Home Health and Hospice operations in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas to the latter.
Tenet Healthcare regularly divests unprofitable non-core operations to remain focused on the primary business. Prior to the aforesaid deal, the company sold five of its hospitals to WellStar Health System in Apr 2016. Previous to that, in Nov 2015, the company sold two hospitals and 19 physician groups in North Carolina to Duke LifePoint and also divested St. Louis University Hospital to SSM Health.
Such business moves reflect the companys effective evaluation of the feasibility of building integrated delivery networks and assessment of its market share. Tenet Healthcare has also divested hospitals in markets with little or no chance of growth.
We note that Tenet Healthcare stock has found favor with investors in recent times. The companys business strategies seem to have started bearing fruit as its shares have outperformed the broader Medical-Hospitals industry in the last three months. Shares of the company gained 26% compared 19.5% increase of the industry over this period.
Tenet Healthcare has already strengthened its position in the markets by consistently improving the quality of its services to patients. As a result, the buyout will immensely benefit Amedisys. The acquirer, which is committed to serving patients, employees and the community, will be able to deliver premium quality home health and hospice services as well as post-acute services in the key markets of the concerned regions.
We expect to hear more divestiture news from the company as it recently indicated that it is pursuing the sale of additional hospitals and exiting its health plan business in 2017
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider:
Tenet Healthcare presently carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the medical sector include Aeterna Zentaris Inc.
Story continues
AEZS and Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation AGTC. Both of these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Aeterna Zentaris delivered positive surprise in the last four quarters with an average beat of 31.7%.
Applied Genetic Technologies also delivered positive surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 222.92%.
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Ammunition Market Expected to Register High Revenue Growth Through 20162024
Ammunition Market
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Global Ammunition Market: OverviewThe ammunition is generally short termed as ammo. Ammunition is used for different kinds of projectile and propellant weapons. They are used in those weapons that can be used in combats, including missiles, bombs, land mines, warheads, anti-personnel mines, and naval mines.Global Ammunition Market: Growth FactorsThe global ammunitions market is likely to grow in the near future. The rise in the demand from the government has increased the growth of the global market. Rising concerns for the safety of the people is one of the main factors driving the growth of global ammunition market. In addition to this, rising incidents of robbery and other situations that can lead the life to danger is the main reason for the growth of the global market. Additionally, use of advanced technology in the production of weapons is also driving the global ammunition market. Moreover, increased awareness about the use of weapons is towering the growth of the global market.Get a copy of Sample Report@On the other hand, misuse of the weapons is the main reason that is hampering the growth of global ammunition market. In addition, growing terrorism is also one of the main reasons hindering the growth of the global market. Moreover, illegal authorization of weapons is one of the main factors restraining the growth of global ammunition market.Global Ammunition Market: SegmentationBased on types, the global ammunition market is mainly classified as small caliber ammunition, medium caliber ammunition, large caliber ammunition, artillery, mortar, and others. Furthermore, the small caliber ammunition is divided as 7.62mm, 5.56mm, 12.7mm, 9mm, and others. The medium caliber ammunition is segmented as 25mm, 20mm, 40mm, 30mm, and others. And lastly, the large caliber ammunition is classified as 90mm, 57mm, 120mm, and others.Request for TOC@On the basis of applications, the global ammunition market is segmented into defense and civil.Global Ammunition Market: Regional AnalysisThe global ammunition market is regionally segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. The rise in the demand for the weapons for defense and warfare has boosted the global market all over the world. Use of advanced technology has boosted the global ammunition market in North America. Rising concern for the safety and security has towered the growth of the global market in European countries such as Germany and Italy. In addition to this, Asia Pacific countries such as India and China will boost the global ammunition market in the near future due to increase in the job opportunities.Browse detail report with in-depth TOC@/market-analysis/ammunition-market.htmlGlobal Ammunition Market: Competitive PlayersKey players in the global ammunition market are BAE Systems, General Dynamics Corporation, Ruag Ammotec, and Remington Arms Company Inc. Other major players influencing the global market include Federal Premium Ammunition and Maxam, and Poongsan Corporation.Global Ammunition Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilThe Middle East and AfricaWhat Report ProvidesFull in-depth analysis of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsSegmentation details of the marketFormer, on-going, and projected market analysis in terms of volume and valueAssessment of niche industry developmentsMarket share analysisKey strategies of major playersEmerging segments and regional marketsTestimonials to companies in order to fortify their foothold in the market.About UsSyndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global MDF Crown Moulding Market 2017 : Metrie, Alexandria, RapidFit & Boulanger
MDF Crown Moulding
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The survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global MDF Crown Moulding market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global MDF Crown Moulding market trends along with the projections of CAGRs (compound annual growth rates) are provided in the research report.Further, an evaluation of the history of the global market and the basic information of the global market is included in the report. A developmental perspective of the industry is also documented in the report. Competitive profiles of the key players in the industry are also discussed.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report provides both an assessment of recent developments in the industry along with forecasts examining the industry from the perspective of major competitors, present players and prospective end users in the MDF Crown Moulding market.Forecasts are generated on the basis of region, type, product, supply, demand, and other vital factors of the global market. The research report analyzed the major factors driving the global MDF Crown Moulding market in various countries with a satisfactory and manufacturing and structure of the global market. Forecasts are also provided region-wise in the research report.The research report comprises several chapters, tables, figures, graphs, and various other presentations formats so as to provide a precise overview of the market. The sequence of the report is maintained in such a way that highlights the overall flow of the global market. Recent developments in the global market are further described in the research report. The report also summarizes latest trends along with abstracts of the MDF Crown Moulding market. Major competitors of the global market including commercial and non-commercial participants in the global market are also covered in the report.Inquiry For Bying @Thus, the research report provides in-depth analysis covering all the major regions, competitors, and vital aspects of the MDF Crown Moulding industry.About Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
Global Instant Hot Water Dispenser Market 2017 : Buydeem, Lamo, Kohler,Haier & Midea
Instant Hot Water Dispenser
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The survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global Instant Hot Water Dispenser market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global Instant Hot Water Dispenser market trends along with the projections of CAGRs (compound annual growth rates) are provided in the research report.Further, an evaluation of the history of the global market and the basic information of the global market is included in the report. A developmental perspective of the industry is also documented in the report. Competitive profiles of the key players in the industry are also discussed.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report provides both an assessment of recent developments in the industry along with forecasts examining the industry from the perspective of major competitors, present players and prospective end users in the Instant Hot Water Dispenser market.Forecasts are generated on the basis of region, type, product, supply, demand, and other vital factors of the global market. The research report analyzed the major factors driving the global Instant Hot Water Dispenser market in various countries with a satisfactory and manufacturing and structure of the global market. Forecasts are also provided region-wise in the research report.The research report comprises several chapters, tables, figures, graphs, and various other presentations formats so as to provide a precise overview of the market. The sequence of the report is maintained in such a way that highlights the overall flow of the global market. Recent developments in the global market are further described in the research report. The report also summarizes latest trends along with abstracts of the Instant Hot Water Dispenser market. Major competitors of the global market including commercial and non-commercial participants in the global market are also covered in the report.Inquiry For Bying @Thus, the research report provides in-depth analysis covering all the major regions, competitors, and vital aspects of the Instant Hot Water Dispenser industry.About Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
Biodegradable Stents Market 2016 - 2024; Coronary artery stents held a dominant share in the global market
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Global Biodegradable Stents Market: SnapshotThe biodegradable stents are used for treating cardiovascular conditions pertaining to the coronary artery. These stents are also known as bioabsorbable or bioresorbable vascular scaffolds and are surgically placed in the coronary artery for eluting the drug that is administered for vascular restoration and the polymer coating. The biggest advantage of these stents is that they get entirely absorbed in the vessels over a period of time, reducing the risk of complications or infections. This advantage is the primary reason for the growth of the global biodegradable stents market. According to the research report, the global biodegradable stents market was valued at US$18 mn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$1.7 bn by 2024, as the market progresses at a CAGR of 30.1% between 2016 and 2024.Read Full Report:Advantages of Biodegradable Stents Keep the Sentiment in Global Market PositiveAs compared to predecessors of biodegradable stents, the newer technology has significantly reduced the risk of thrombosis, in in-stent restenosis, dual anti-platelet therapy, and second surgery for removal of the stent. These factors have played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of the global market in a positive direction over the past few years. The efficiency of biodegradable stents has won the market numerous consumers in the recent past. Thus, several patients and cardiologists have shown a keen interest in the uptake of biodegradable stents in the treatment of coronary and peripheral artery diseases.The two type of stents available in the global market are the coronary artery stents and peripheral artery stents. Of these, the coronary artery stents held a dominant share in the global market in 2015. The segment is expected to continue its dominance in the coming years due to the exponentially rising number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases. The high prevalence of coronary artery diseases across the globe around the world, rising preference of cardiologists towards percutaneous coronary intervention procedures, and increasing uptake of use of stents are expected to make a significant contribution to the soaring revenue of this segment in the forecast period.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Asia Pacific Paces Ahead due to Vast Unmet Medical NeedsIn terms of geography, the global biodegradable market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. Europe held a lions share in the global biodegradable stents market in 2015. Asia Pacific closely followed as the developing nations of the region are showing keen interest in uptake of newer technologies. These regions are expected to show continued progress in the overall market due to high adoption rate of biodegradable stents due to quick approvals from regulatory bodies. Furthermore, high incidence of diabetes and hypertension across Asia Pacific are also expected to spike the demand for biodegradable stents as patients suffering from these conditions are highly susceptible to cardiovascular diseases. The report indicates that North America biodegradable stents market will also show considerable progress with recent approvals from the U.S. FDA.The key players operating in the global biodegradable stents market are Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific, Inc., Kyoto Medical Planning, Biotronik, Elixir Medical Corporation, Sahajanand Medical Technologies, and Terumo Europe NV. The competitive landscape in the global biodegradable stents market is likely to remain consolidated all throughout 2016 and 2024 as major players will hold a dominant share.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market Value Share Analysis, By Product Type 2016 - 2024
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Global Medical Nonwoven Disposables Market: SnapshotThe technological advancement in healthcare and increasing demand for advancement in the wound dressing technique are driving the growth of the global medical nonwoven disposable market. The rising government initiatives for manufacturing nonwoven medical fabric is also anticipated to be a crucial factor in determining the progress of the overall market. The report states that the global medical nonwoven disposables market will be worth US$18.4 bn by the end of 2024 as compared to US$12.9 bn in 2015. Between the forecast years of the period of 2016 and 2024, the global market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4%. The monumental demand for polyethylene due to its low cost is yet another key factor assessed to be responsible for the strengthening of the global medical nonwoven disposables market.Read Full Report:Surgical Products to Remain in High Demand as their Quality ImprovesThe global medical nonwoven disposable market is segmented according to the type of products, materials used, end users and geography. According to the type of product, the market is segmented into surgical products, wound dressing, and incontinence products. Further, the surgical products are further segmented into drapes, gowns, caps, masks and others. Technological advancement in the healthcare is a major factor driving the growth of the surgical products. In surgical products, drapes are the widely used products and followed by gowns. The gowns caps and masks are expected to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period. The wound dressing segment, which is further segmented into bandages, tapes, post operative wound dressing, operative wound dressing, and dressing pad. The wound dressing segment is driven by post-operative wound dressing products. On the other hand, demand for incontinence products will remain high ambulatory surgical centers and diagnostic centers.Increasing Mergers and Acquisitions Put North America in the LeadIn terms of geography, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa. North America dominates the medical nonwoven disposables market and is expected to continue to dominate during the forecast period. Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions and technological advancement are major factors contributing to the growth of the medical nonwoven disposables in North America. Europe follows the lead due to the increasing adoption of the usage of medical nonwoven disposables.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Asia Pacific is expected to project a significant growth during the forecast period especially due to increasing awareness in countries like China, India, and Japan. Increasing government expenditure in healthcare is an important factor contributing to the growth of medical nonwoven disposables market in Asia Pacific. International trade development and improving economic condition across countries of Latin America are major factors responsible for the growth of medical nonwoven disposables market in this region. The Middle East and Africa is expected to project a significant growth due to increasing government initiatives and rising awareness regarding the use of medical nonwoven disposables in this region.The important players shaping the growth of the global medical nonwoven disposables market are Kimberly-Clark Corporation Medline Industries, Inc., Paul Hartmann AG, Molnlycke Health Care, Ahlstrom Corporation, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., Svenska Cellulosa, Freudenberg & Co. KG, Aktiebolaget SCA, and Domtar Corporation.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Dental Chairs Market Analysis, Trends and Forecast by 2016 - 2024
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Dental procedures demand optimum co-operation from patients. Dental chairs enable adjustment of height, back rest, and arm rest that provide complete support to patient as well as health care professional. The two types of dental chairs currently available in the market are hydraulic and electromechanical chairs. Electromechanical chairs offer integration of a variety of engines such as computer equipment, which results in increased adoption of these chairs in practice. In addition, modern dental chairs offer systems to hold hand pieces and other dental equipment such as mouth mirror, periodontal probe, and gauze that reduce extra box clutter.Considering the increasing prevalence of obesity in developed countries, manufacturers such as Diaco, Ltd. offer dental chairs that have working load limit of up to 500 kg. In addition, manufacturers offer dental chairs specially designed for wheelchair patients, which enable efficient working for orthodontists. Hence, increasing benefits of modern dental chairs are fueling the growth of the dental chairs segment. Beaverstate Dental Systems, DCI Equipment, and Takara Belmont USA, Inc. are the key players operating in the dental chairs segment.According to the World Health Organization, in 2012, dental caries was reported to be a major public health problem in most high-income countries such as the U.S. The disease affected 60% to 90% of school-age children and majority of adults in the country. Several high-income countries with established preventive programs demonstrate a systematic decline in dental caries in children and improved status in the adult population.Browse Market Research Report @Dentistry in the U.S. is in a state of transformation, with increasing baby boomer generation having periodontal diseases. The health care delivery system is changing rapidly with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons found that 69% adults aged between 35 years and 44 years have lost at least one permanent tooth to an accident, gum disease, failed root canal, or tooth decay. Three out of four persons in Canada visit a dental clinic; one of the highest rates among OECD countries. A study by the Montreal Economic Institute in 2013 indicated that private dental clinics are preferred to public clinics in Canada. Demand for private dental clinics is primarily driven by easy access, less waiting period, and better treatment offered to patients.The dental chairs market can be segmented based on chairs delivery systems, end-user, and geography. In terms of chairs delivery systems, the dental chairs market can be classified into over-the-patient delivery, rear delivery, and side delivery. Over-the-patient delivery systems are most commonly used in dental clinics, as these are easy to use and meet the requirements of time and motion concepts and promotes good ergonomic positioning. Based on end-user, the market can be segmented into hospitals, dental clinics, and research and academic institutes.Geographically, the dental chairs market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Europe is likely to be the largest market for dental chairs due to high number of laboratories and high patient pool for dental related treatment. According to Oral Health Platform, in 2012, over 50% of the population of Europe was suffering from some form of periodontal diseases, which were relatively higher among people aged 60 years and above. The British dental technician trade has declined sharply in the past few years as many practices outsource their lab work to overseas laboratories. Over 12,000 qualified dental technicians operated in the U.K. a decade ago. Currently, this figure is approximately 5,000 and is decreasing by 200 qualified technicians every year. The dental chairs market in North America is expected to witness strong growth during the forecast period driven by increasing baby boomer generation having periodontal diseases. The market in Asia Pacific is driven by increase in geriatric population and surging demand for dental restoration due to rise in oral health awareness.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Major players operating in this market include Danaher Corporation, Midmark Corporation, Planmeca Oy, Sirona Dental Systems, Inc., SMTmax, and Ritter Dental.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:
Electronic Balance Market 2017 - A&D Company, Mettler-Toledo International, Sartorius, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Electronic Balance
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The Global Electronic Balance Market 2017 Industry Research Report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the current state of the Electronic Balance industry. First, "Global Electronic Balance Industry 2017" report analyzed the basic scope of this industry like definition, specification, classification, application, industry policy, news analysis and Electronic Balance industry chain structure.Major Companies Covered in this report:-A&D Company,Mettler-Toledo International,Sartorius,Thermo Fisher Scientific,Acculab, Avery Weigh-Tronix,Adam Equipment,BEL Engineering,Bonso Electronics,CAS Corp,Contech Instruments,Gram Precision,Intelligent Weighing Technology,Kern & Sohn,Ohaus Corp,Precisa Gravimetrics,RADW, Scientech Technologies,Setra SystemsRequest For Report Sample @The analysis on Electronic Balance industry is provided including the up and down stream industry also with the major market players., Electronic Balance industry competitive landscape analysis.Second, Electronic Balance industry manufacturing process, cost structure and major plants distribution is conducted for Electronic Balance market. This report "Worldwide Electronic Balance Market 2017" also states major market data like capacity, gross margin, supply, price, revenue, import/export, consumption and Electronic Balance market's growth rate by regions (Europe, North America, South America, Asia, China and ROW), as well as other regions can be added in Electronic Balance Market area.Then, the report focuses on global Electronic Balance market key players with information such as company profiles, contact information with product picture as well as specification.Enquiry Before Buying the report @Related information to Electronic Balance market- Capacity, Production, Capacity Utilization Rate, Price, Revenue, Cost, Gross and contact information. Also includes Electronic Balance industry's - Upstream raw materials, equipment, Manufacturing and downstream industry consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Electronic Balance market development trends and Electronic Balance industry marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, "worldwide Electronic Balance market" report is a valuable source of guidance for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, customers, investors and individuals who have interest in this market.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadMarkets Planet155 North Wacker Drive,Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606USA+17739042683
X-Ray Systems Market 2017 - GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Carestream Health
X-Ray Systems
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The Global X-Ray Systems Market 2017 Industry Research Report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the current state of the X-Ray Systems industry. First, "Global X-Ray Systems Industry 2017" report analyzed the basic scope of this industry like definition, specification, classification, application, industry policy, news analysis and X-Ray Systems industry chain structure.Major Companies Covered in this report:-GE Healthcare,Siemens Healthcare,Philips Healthcare,Carestream Health,Shimadzu Corporation,Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation,General Medical MerateRequest For Report Sample @The analysis on X-Ray Systems industry is provided including the up and down stream industry also with the major market players., X-Ray Systems industry competitive landscape analysis.Second, X-Ray Systems industry manufacturing process, cost structure and major plants distribution is conducted for X-Ray Systems market. This report "Worldwide X-Ray Systems Market 2017" also states major market data like capacity, gross margin, supply, price, revenue, import/export, consumption and X-Ray Systems market's growth rate by regions (Europe, North America, South America, Asia, China and ROW), as well as other regions can be added in X-Ray Systems Market area.Then, the report focuses on global X-Ray Systems market key players with information such as company profiles, contact information with product picture as well as specification.Enquiry Before Buying the report @Related information to X-Ray Systems market- Capacity, Production, Capacity Utilization Rate, Price, Revenue, Cost, Gross and contact information. Also includes X-Ray Systems industry's - Upstream raw materials, equipment, Manufacturing and downstream industry consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the X-Ray Systems market development trends and X-Ray Systems industry marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, "worldwide X-Ray Systems market" report is a valuable source of guidance for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, customers, investors and individuals who have interest in this market.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadMarkets Planet155 North Wacker Drive,Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606USA+17739042683
Global Tube Packaging Market: Market Share, Revenue and Cost Analysis with Key Companys Profiles-Forecast to 2022
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Global Tube Packaging Market Information by Materials (Laminate, Plastic, Aluminum, paperboard and others), by Product (Squeeze tubes, Twist tubes, Cartridges and others) by Application (Personal Care, Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverages, Consumer goods and others) and region - Forecast to 2022Market Synopsis of Rigid Packaging MarketThe key drivers of tube packaging market are growth in flexible packaging, innovative packaging, and properties such as high quality printing at lower cost and barrier. The market is witnessing intense competition due to presence of large number of manufacturers. The growth can be attributed to the rising demand for cosmetics and personal care products. The two major restraints of the market are fluctuating raw material prices and economic meltdown.Laminated tubes lead the market by material as it is the most preferred material when it comes to packaging due to its excellent barrier property. Europe and North America contributes largely to the global tube packaging market, majorly due to increasing per capita income and consumer spending. In terms of revenue Europe is currently dominating the market. APAC is expected to be the fastest growing segment. China and India are the emerging economies which contributed to the demand for sustainable and innovative packaging. The regions have seen lot of government investment and initiatives to develop the medical sector which augments the market for such tube packaging in the pharmaceutical industries. The global tube packaging market size is expected to cross USD 9 Billion at CAGR of 7.2% by 2022.Get a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Rigid Packaging Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 6 years of various segments and sub-segments of the Global Tube Packaging Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Global Tube Packaging Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by material, product, application, and regions To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Tube Packaging MarketSegmentation:Regional Analysis of Global Rigid Packaging MarketEurope and North America contributes largely due to increasing per capita income and consumer spending. However the fastest growing share of APAC is attributed to the rapid urbanization and population growth. The region is seen with increased investment in pharmaceutical infrastructure to support the economic development and changing lifestyles. Emerging nations like China and India contributed to the demand for sustainable and innovative packaging. This further increased the demand for cosmetics & oral care, food & beverage industries.Tube Packaging Market Size by Regions, 2015 (USD Billion):Key PlayersThe key players of global tube packaging market report include Amcor Ltd., Albea Group, Essel Propack Limited, Huhtamaki OYJ, Montebello Packaging, Sonoco Products Company, Unette Corporation, Worldwide Packaging, 3D Technopack SARL and Maynard & Harris Plastics.Target Audience Manufactures Raw Materials Suppliers Aftermarket suppliers Research Institute / Education Institute Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerProduct Analysis Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional Information Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsBrowse Report @Company Information Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesThe report for Global Tube Packaging Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.comAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research Future Office No. 524/528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India
Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market: Evolving Market Trends & Dynamics 2023
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While a handful players have taken up a majority share in the global distribution of respiratory monitoring devices, the remainder of the market is marked by a very large number of small players.Of the key multinationals dominating the distribution of respiratory monitoring devices in 2014, CareFusion Corporation, Smiths Medical, and ResMed, Inc., had garnered a total share of 54.2% in terms of value.As described in a research report released by Transparency Market Research, the fragmented nature of the global respiratory monitoring devices market allows for a very high intensity of rivalry. This market is exceptionally dynamic as it is primarily controlled the rapid rate of technological development in the devices.The market for respiratory monitoring devices in major economic regions is more or less saturated due to the strong presence of multiple prominent players. As a result, the threat of new entrants is expected to remain moderate to low.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global market for respiratory monitoring devices is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% in terms of revenue from 2015 to 2023. By the end of 2016, this revenue is expected to reach US$1.60 bn and US$2.79 bn by 2023.Hospitals not only form the leading end-user segment of respiratory monitoring devices, but are also projected to be the leading segment in terms of growth rate. Hospitals are expected to generate a revenue of US$1.89 bn for respiratory monitoring devices by 2023. This segment is projected at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2015 to 2023.APAC Demand for Respiratory Monitoring Devices SoarsThe healthcare and medical devices industries of Asia Pacific are currently experiencing a very high rate of development. The booming economy of countries such as China and India, the growing government support towards healthcare development, the high density of population in these countries, and the growing trend of medical tourism are all responsible for bringing out the greater demand for respiratory monitoring devices.By the end of 2023, North America, the currently leading region in respiratory monitoring devices consumption, is expected to reach US$266.0 mn. Within 2015 to 2023, Asia Pacific will be showing a CAGR of 8.5% in respiratory monitoring devices.Asthma, COPD Cases on the Rise GloballyThe primary cause for a heavier demand of respiratory monitoring devices is the growing requirement for keeping a large volume of these devices in the market. Most medical devices are produced on a basis of need and there is certainly a much greater need for respiratory monitoring devices than before. Public health related bodies such as the CDC, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, and the American Lung Association are all shedding light on the growing prevalence of patients with respiratory problems. This is true especially for COPD and asthma, states a TMR analyst.Two factors responsible for this are the growing number of geriatrics in the world along with the growing incorporation of negative lifestyle habits such as smoking.The rate of technological advancement in respiratory monitoring devices is very high, thereby allowing players to keep a dynamic output. A large proportion of respiratory monitoring devices manufacturers is also supported by relevant governments, thereby allowing them to approach research and developed more efficiently.High Costs Deter Large Patient Base from Using Respiratory Monitoring DevicesThe cost of advanced spirometry devices is very high in comparison to peak flow meters and pulse oximeters. This disparity in costs is enough to deter a majority of patients to stick to the latter devices rather than go for advanced ones. Additionally, the installation of advanced respiratory monitoring devices requires skilled professionals, the lack of whom is further adding to the strain of providing them.There is currently a large untapped market for respiratory monitoring devices in the developing economies. Globally prominent players can take more notice of regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America to make the most of their increasing demand, adds the analyst.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2015 - 2023.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Key Takeaways:Hospitals expected to generate US$1.80 bn for respiratory monitoring devices by 2023.Pulse oximeter expected to remain most popular respiratory monitoring device, generating US$937 mn by 2023.North America expected to retain leading consumption of respiratory monitoring devices till 2023, to generate US$266 mn in this market by 2023.Key segments of the Global Respiratory Monitoring Devices MarketGlobal Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market, by TechnologySpirometryPlethysmographyIOS/FOTGlobal Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market, by End-userHospitalsLaboratoriesHome UseGlobal Respiratory Monitoring Devices Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Transcatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices Market: Future Demand and Growth Analysis
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The top three players in the global transcatheter embolization and occlusion (TEO) devices market accounted for over 63% in 2015. Medtronic, plc, Cook Medical, and Terumo Corporation are the three companies that together dominated the market in 2015. Transparency Market Research notes that the degree of competition is moderate due to market consolidation as a result of frequent acquisitions. The competitive rivalry is influenced by the presence of large global players and few local manufacturers of transcatheter embolization and occlusion devices.Business agreements and partnerships among key market players will enable them to expand their global reach and market their products to newer regions, the lead analyst recommends. In January 2016, Terumo Corporation expanded its strategic alliance with Quirem Medical and became the exclusive global distributor of radioembolization solutions developed by Quirem Medical.In terms of revenue, the global TEO devices market was valued at US$2.4 bn in 2015 and is projected to reach US$4.8 bn by 2024 at a CAGR of 7.9% therein. In terms of volume, the global market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 8.1% from 2016 to 2024.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:North America Emerges as Leading Regional SegmentIn terms of percentage share contribution, the embolization coils segment is expected to reflect a share of 39.5% by 2024. Registering an impressive CAGR of 13.2% from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue, embolization particles are likely to emerge as a highly lucrative product segment in the global transcatheter embolization and occlusion devices market. By application, peripheral vascular disease was the leading segment in 2015, while oncology is slated to be the most attractive segment of the market.Based on end use, the hospitals segment accounted for a significant share in the global transcatheter embolization and occlusion devices market in terms of revenue. In terms of percentage share contribution, North America is expected to account for 32.3% by 2024, emerging as the leading regional segment of the global transcatheter embolization and occlusion devices market.Rising Prevalence of Cancer Boosts Demand for Transcatheter Embolization and Occlusion DevicesThe TEO devices market is fueled by a number of factors, including an increase in the adoption of minimally invasive surgeries, a rise in the prevalence of cancer, technological innovations, and changing demographics and lifestyle leading to an increase in peripheral vascular diseases.Embolization is a minimally invasive surgery that marks a significant advancement in medical technologies, the author of the report states. The adoption of minimally invasive surgeries has increased significantly over the years owing to the various advantages they present, including less post-operative pain, reduced blood loss, shorter hospital stay, and faster recovery.Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity around the world and the rising prevalence of cancer globally has driven the demand for chemembolization and radioembolization. This has, in turn, boosted the demand for transcatheter embolization and occlusion devices.In contrast, frequent product recalls, stringent regulations governing product approvals, the lack of skilled professionals, and the lack of reimbursement policies in emerging markets threaten to impede the global market for transcatheter embolization and occlusion devices.This review is based on the findings of a TMR report titled Transcatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices Market: (Product Type - Embolization Coils, Coiling Assist Devices, Embolization Particles, Flow Diverter Devices, Liquid Embolics, and Accessories; Application - Peripheral Vascular Disease, Neurology, Oncology, Urology, and Others; End-user - Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, and Clinics) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Volume, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Transcatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices Market, by Product TypeEmbolization coilsPushableDetachableCoiling Assist DevicesStent Assisted CoilingBalloon Assisted CoilingEmbolization particlesRadioembolization particlesMicrospheresDrug-eluting beadsOthersFlow Diverter devicesLiquid EmbolicsAccessoriesCathetersGuide wiresOthersTranscatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices Market, by ApplicationPeripheral Vascular DiseaseNeurologyOncologyUrologyOthersTranscatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices Market, by End UserHospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersClinicsTranscatheter Embolization and Occlusion Devices Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeU.K.GermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaUAESouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Interventional Cardiology Devices Market Research Report by Key Manufacturers Analysis and Forecast 2022
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Global Interventional Cardiology Devices Market: SnapshotThe primary driver of the demand for interventional cardiology devices is the increasing prevalence of coronary artery diseases. Organizations such as the WHO and CDC are consistently calling out the rampant growth in the number of patients suffering from heart problems and coronary artery complications. It has been predicted by the WHO that coronary artery disease will be responsible for almost 23.3 mn deaths by 2030. The causes of this growth in projected patients range from the increasing geriatric population to the obesity epidemic that has especially gripped the developed economies of the world. Both causes are at very high priority in terms of being causes for heart complications and relevant steps need to be taken to treat the increasing number of patients.From the technological perspective, a lot of focus has been given to the development of existing interventional cardiology devices and the innovation of new ones. For instance, the advancements in diagnostic tools and monitoring tools have drastically improved the success rate of coronary artery disease treatment. Another parallel aspect driving the demand for interventional cardiology devices is the increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries. Such procedures can dramatically reduce pain of surgery and healing period for heart problem treatments. Therefore, the inculcation of minimally invasive interventional cardiology devices into the healthcare industry on larger scales will certainly promote their use.The global market for interventional cardiology devices is, however, currently subject to an intense level of competition. Market players are locked in a battle to increase sales volumes and are resorting to price cuts in order to achieve this. This practice is followed largely by regional players and globally prominent companies have to follow suit to hold the majority in global market values. This severely reduces the funds available for further research and development of interventional cardiology devices.The global market for interventional cardiology devices is expected to be valued at US$9.36 bn by the end of 2016 and US$11.16 bn by the end of 2022. It is projected at a CAGR of 2.9% from 2014 to 2022.Browse full report on Interventional Cardiology Devices Market -North America to Dominate Interventional Cardiology Devices DemandNorth America is expected to continue leading the consumption of interventional cardiology devices. By the end of 2022, North America is expected to generate a revenue of US$4.04 bn through its demand for interventional cardiology devices. This dominant share in the market is attributed to an advanced healthcare infrastructure that largely provides premium medical devices and is more open to incorporating innovative devices. This allows interventional cardiology device manufacturers to maintain profits while achieving a higher rate of research and development, thereby creating a constant cycle of improvements. The North America market for interventional cardiology devices is, however, expected to saturate over the coming years owing to a slower growth in the demand for relevant surgical procedures.On the other hand, the growth of demand for interventional cardiology devices in Asia Pacific has just begun. This region houses a rapidly developing healthcare infrastructure. Coupled with the rising rate of medical tourism and the introduction of minimally invasive interventional cardiology devices, Asia Pacific is projected to show a CAGR of 4.8% from 2014 to 2022 in this market.Drug-eluting Stents to Remain Leading Type of interventional cardiology device UsedStents have consistently taken up the majority share in interventional cardiology device types. By the end of 2022, a projected US$6.89 bn will be generated through the sale of stents. Bare-metal, drug-eluting, and bio-absorbable stents are now commonly found. However, drug-eluting stents currently hold the greater demand, primarily due to their higher efficiency of treatment and the significantly reduced chances of the patient needing in-stent restenosis. The overall advantages of using drug-eluting stents are far greater than their predecessors, the bare-metal stents. At the same time, bio-absorbable stents have not caught on yet, although they are showing a steep increase in demand. This currently puts drug-eluting stents and their manufacturers at an advantage till 2022.The top providers of interventional cardiology devices in the world include Boston Scientific, Abbott Vascular, Medtronic, St Jude Medical, and Volcano Corporation.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Iraq Healthcare (Surgical Procedures) Market Research Report by Regional Analysis with Forecast upto 2022
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Iraq is one of the fastest growing economies in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) attributed by the flourishing oil sector that is helping the domestic government to improve health care services. The Iraq health care system is managed by mixed initiatives of public and private sector; wherein the public sector covers approximately 75% of all health care facilities, and the private sector represents the remaining 25%. Iraq has improved its health care system after years of war. The booming petroleum industry is helping the Government of Iraq to invest in improving health care services and develop medical infrastructure. Furthermore, the burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing significantly, which has created a significant demand for medical equipment and services in Iraq. This industry assessment focuses on understanding the growth prospects and current situation of various surgical procedures that are major applications of medical devices.Browse full report on Iraq Healthcare (Surgical Procedures) Market -Among the major surgical procedures considered to be performed in the country, that include cardiac procedures, general surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, neurosurgeries and reconstructive surgeries; cardiac procedures emerged as the segment leader in terms of revenue in 2013. The substantiating factors behind such rapid growth of the segment are rise in prevalence of diabetes population susceptible to cardiovascular diseases and increasing base of target patient population requiring surgical procedures for their survival. According to the Iraqi Diabetes Association (IDA), there were around 1.2 million cases of diabetes in Iraq in 2014. Approximately 387 million people suffer from diabetes globally, of these more than 37 million people are from MENA. IDA also estimated that this number would increase to 68 million by 2035. Consequently, the rise in prevalence of diabetes population would lead to increase in cardiovascular diseases in Iraq. Other risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases such as early onset hypertension, dyslipedemia, and obesity also contribute significantly towards increasing the overall CVD burden in Iraq. Thus, with the increase in number of cardiovascular patients and stable industry condition in Iraq, the flourishing healthcare industry trend of the country is expected to continue in the near future.Iraq healthcare industry is highly fragmented in nature, due to the presence of many international as well as domestic market players including distributors. However, few multinational market players such as Siemens Healthcare, Phillips Healthcare, and Medtronic plc, among others dominate the medical device industry in Iraq. Other players (including manufacturers and distributors) operating in the industry include Rudolf Riester GmbH, Minas Company, Ismailiya Medical Co., Albanna Group, GE Healthcare, MAQUET and Stryker Corporation; that cumulatively accounted for a share of over 40% in 2013. The market leadership of such players was attributed to several factors such as commercial availability of products, superior distribution channels, and demand satisfying supply capabilities.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Oligomeric Mannose Market: Latest Trends,Analysis & Insights 2023
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A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global oligomeric mannose market. The study, titled Oligomeric Mannose Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023, is available for sale on the firms website.Recently, there has been rising interest in mannose-binding lectin (MBL) that is chiefly a liver-derived collagen like serum protein. This is partially due to its central role as a recognition molecule in the complement system. In addition, it has also created interest because of the potential clinical implications of genetically determined differences in MBL oligomerization and serum level between individuals. The discovery of MBL may be traced down back after the Second World War, when it was discovered that factors in non-immune bovine and murine serums could inhibit influenza virus-induced haemagglutination that leads to influenza virus neutralization.Browse Market Research Report @Repetition of these seminal findings has taken place and it is observed that atleast one of these factors can be MBL. The clinical interest in MBL originates from an observation made 40 years ago when serum-dependent defect of phagocytosis on yeast particles was described.Mannan-binding lectin is a vital component of the innate immune system. MBL consists of an oligomeric structure which contains three most likely identical peptide chains of 30kDa each. Even though MBL can form several oligomeric forms, some indications presume that trimers and dimers are not always biologically active and need a tetramer form to activate the complement. It helps binding of sugar structure on microorganism and on fading host cells. It is one of the four recognized mediators. These mediators initiate the activation of the component system through the lectin pathway.Oligomeric mannose belongs to the class of collectins in the C type lectin superfamily. It function is similar to pattern recognition in the first line of defence in the pre-immune host. It recognizes carbohydrate patterns, set up on the surface of an enormous number of pathogenic microorganisms that include virus, bacteria, fungi and protozoa. The lectin pathway of the complement system is activated when the MBL binds to a micro-organism. Recent studies have verified that MBL is capable of recognizing carbohydrate structures from both altered self and infectious agents. This binding specificity confers upon MBL the capability to function as a defense factor that is dynamic not only against infectious agents but also against cells and molecules abnormally produced in the host. The recognition of the final targets may be of significance for the host to become accustomed to abnormal physiological conditions.In at least 12% of the common Caucasian population, the circulating level of functional MBL is inadequate. This makes MBL deficiency, the most common key immunodeficiency1. The consequences of MBL deficiency can be quite restrained, numerous studies have shown that MBL deficiency increases vulnerability to communicable diseases and predisposes to superior severity when infections arise.Growing demand from the healthcare industry is the major factor driving the global oligomeric mannose market. Rising demand from the scientific research institutes and pharmaceutical industry is also expected to boost demand for oligomeric mannose in the market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW) are the key segments for global oligomeric mannose market. Asia Pacific and North America are expected to boost market demand for oligomeric mannose owing to growing demand from the healthcare industry. Rest of the World and Europe are also expected to boost demand owing to rising demand from the research institutions in the region.Some of the major players in the global oligomeric mannose market include: Enzo Life Sciences Inc, BioPorto Diagnostics A/S, Cayman Chemicals, Novoproteins, Acris Antibodies, Mountain Health products and Life Plus among others.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends.Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of the WorldThis report provides comprehensive analysis ofMarket growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for upcoming yearsAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Medical Aesthetic Devices Market: Low-cost Products and Services could Hamper Growth across Emerging Economies, observes TMR
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The global market for medical aesthetic devices is characterized by a highly consolidated competitive landscape, wherein the top two vendors, Mentor Worldwide LLC and Allergan Plc., collectively held a nearly 60% of the market in 2015, observes a recent report by Transparency Market Research. Mentor Worldwide LLC, the market leader with a 32% share in the global market, stayed ahead of the competition with the help of strategic collaborations and a strong emphasis on aesthetic products such as breast implants and body contouring.In September 2016, the company announced its plans for a new collaboration with Galderma, a medical solutions firm with strong operations in skin health. Under the collaboration, the companies plan to partner with Canadian surgeons to improve patient experience across innovative aesthetic procedures and solutions, broadening consumers' access to and awareness of aesthetic treatment options.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Transparency Market Research estimates that the global medical aesthetic devices market will rise from a valuation of US$6.5 bn in 2015 to US$15.1 bn in 2024. This reflects a 9.0% CAGR from 2016 through 2024. In terms of product types, the segment of laser and energy devices presently leads. The segment held a nearly 30% share in the global market in 2015 and is expected to remain one of the most promising product segments over the forecast period as well. From a geographic perspective, the market earns a significant share of its revenues from sales across developed regions such as North America and Europe. North America dominated in 2015, accounting for a 43% of the global market.Increased Usage of Lasers for Medical Aesthetic Procedures to Stimulate Market GrowthIn the past few years, the global consumer has become more open to aesthetic procedures owing to a vast reduction in cultural prohibitions and social taboos. The resultant rise in surgical procedures for enhancing personal appearance is the key driver of the global medical aesthetic devices market.Other key trends positively influencing the overall development of the market include the increased adoption of laser-based devices, heightened demand for minimally invasive and non-invasive equipment, and the high demand for augmentation and reconstructive surgeries. The global adoption of laser-based devices has increased owing to the widening utility of laser devices.Cost-effectiveness and versatility of laser devices are also the key factors increasing adoption and usage of laser procedures in the aesthetics market.Increased adoption of minimally invasive surgeries, owing to the fewer post-surgery complications and side effects, and shorter recovery spans, have driven innovations and technological developments, bringing about a huge change in the quality and effectiveness of surgeries. As a result, the number of minimally invasive procedures in dermatological applications has significantly increased lately. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimated that the number of minimally invasive aesthetic procedures performed in the U.S. increased to 15.9 mn 2015, a rise of 2% over 2014.Competitively Priced Equipment and Services from Domestic Vendors to Limit Market GrowthThe global medical aesthetic devices market is characterized by intense competition wherein local manufacturers and service providers offer devices/services at affordable costs. The resultant need to reduce costs of equipment to stay ahead of competition can severely hamper the overall profitability of international vendors, especially across cost-sensitive emerging economies.Continuous technological developments in the aesthetic devices market with respect to product design and efficiency require manufacturers to provide up-to-date solutions to the customers. Such upgrades could be highly cost-intensive and lead to erosion of investment and not many service providers may be open to adopting them on a regular basis. The scenario is expected to have a negative impact on the overall development of the market in the long run.This review of the market is based on a recent market research report by Transparency Market Research, titled Medical Aesthetic Devices Market (Product - Aesthetic Laser and Energy Devices, Skin Tightening and Body Contouring Devices, Aesthetic Implants, and Facial Aesthetic Devices; Application - Facial and Body Contouring, Facial and Skin Rejuvenation, Breast Enhancement, Scar Treatment, Reconstructive Surgery, Tattoo Removal, and Hair Removal) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :For the study, the global medical aesthetic devices market is segmented as follows:Global Medical Aesthetic Devices Market Revenue, by ProductAesthetic Laser and Energy DevicesAblative Skin Resurfacing DevicesNon-ablative Skin Resurfacing DevicesSkin Tightening and Body Contouring DevicesLiposuction DevicesSkin Tightening DevicesCellulite Reduction devicesAesthetic ImplantsBreast ImplantsSoft Tissue ImplantsAesthetic Dental ImplantsOthersFacial Aesthetic DevicesMicrodermabrasion DevicesBotulinum ToxinDermal FillersGlobal Medical Aesthetic Devices Market Revenue, by ApplicationFacial and Body ContouringFacial & Skin RejuvenationBreast EnhancementScar TreatmentCongenital Defect RepairReconstructive SurgeryTattoo RemovalHair RemovalGlobal Medical Aesthetic Devices Market Revenue, by End-userHospitalsDermatology ClinicsCosmetic CentersGlobal Medical Aesthetic Devices Market Revenue, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceItalySpainU.K.Rest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Smart Elevators and Escalators Market Will Boost the Growth of the Market in the near Future
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A comprehensive analysis of market dynamics that include the market drivers, restraints and opportunities is included under the purview of the study. Market dynamics are the distinct factors which exert an influence on the growth of a particular market and therefore help in studying the current trends of the global market.Thus, this report offers an inclusive study of the global smart elevators and escalators market, along with providing the forecast of the market for the period from 2015 to 2023.Smart elevators and escalators are installed in mixed-used buildings, hotels, commercial buildings, IT parks, residential buildings, restaurants, and retail outlets among others. Aging population is likely to be the key factor driving the smart elevator and escalator market during the forecast period.In addition, increasing geriatric population in countries such as Japan and China is expected to fuel demand for smart elevators and escalators. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a high rate which will affect the market positively during the forecast period 2015 2023.Factors such as the growth of the global urban population, aging population, changing demographics, and urbanization among others are likely to boost the growth of the market in the near future.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Rapid urbanization in developing nations such as Middle East, India and China and migration of population from rural areas to urban areas is key factor fueling the demand for new installation of smart elevators and escalators market. One of the major factors driving the market is installation of smart elevators and escalators in mid-rise and high-rise buildings.There has been an increase in construction activities in developing countries of Asia Pacific and RoW. The booming construction sector in countries such as China, India, Philippines and Indonesia is generating potential growth opportunities for the smart elevators and escalators market.In addition, industrial infrastructure in nations such as Indonesia, India and Brazil are witnessing major increase in demand for smart elevators and escalators in the last few years.This increase in demand is driven by large expenditure by public and private companies on airport development, housing, ports and rail transport. This, in turn, is likely to boost the growth of the smart elevators and escalators market during the forecast period.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Spending on Corporate Wellness in APAC to Reach US$7.4 bn by 2024 as MNCs Encourage Fitness among Employees, finds TMR
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The corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific is led by a slew of global and local companies, such as Central Corporate Wellness, ComPsych Corporation, Optum, Inc., JLT Australia (Recovre Group), Truworth Wellness, SOL Wellness, Sodexo, ConneXions Asia, and Bupa Wellness Pty Ltd. Transparency Market Research has observed that the number of companies venturing into this avenue has been steadily rising owing to the growing presence of MNCs in several developing countries.The opportunity in the corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific was pegged at US$3.4 bn in 2015 and is expected to be worth US$7.4 bn by the end of 2024 at a strong CAGR of 9.0%. Geographical expansions, expansion of product portfolio, mergers and acquisitions, and investing in extensive wellness programs are some of the key growth strategies adopted by the leading players in the Asia Pacific. For instance, in March 2016, Sodexo signed a 10-year contract with Rio Tinto to expand its operations in Australia.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Increase of Non-communicable Diseases Driving Need for Health and Wellness ProgramsThe prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer has increased significantly in Asia Pacific in recent years. The report has found that these diseases account for at least 8.5 million deaths in Southeast Asia each year. Employers are, as a result, driven to promote as well as maintain the health and well-being of their employees and offering corporate wellness programs and services has turned out to be the most effective method of doing so, the lead analyst states. These services not only boost productivity but also reduce overall medical costs.The corporate wellness market in Asia Pacific is also fueled by government support and initiatives, the rising number of white-collar employees, the willingness of employers to invest in wellness programs, and growing health consciousness among the population.High Cost of Implementation Restricting Widespread AdoptionImplementing corporate wellness programs in organizations is a costly affair and companies need to utilize a certain portion of their budget from the revenue generated, the author of the study comments. Services such as fitness and health risk assessment need high investments and as a result, are cut down by the companies. This restricts the growth of the corporate wellness market.In addition, the inefficient execution of corporate wellness services is a major restraint to the market and is likely to increase costs for the companies.China to Lead APAC Corporate Wellness Market throughout Forecast PeriodBy type of service, the fitness segment led the overall corporate wellness market, accounting for a 38.6% share in 2015, reaching US$2,793.5 mn by 2024. The smoking cessation segment, although the smallest in terms of revenue in 2015, is anticipated to register a strong CAGR of 9.6% during the forecast period. By country, China emerged as the leading revenue generator in 2015 and is projected to retain its position throughout the forecast period. India, on the other hand, is expected to expand at the fastest pace by 2024.This review is based on the findings of a TMR report titled Corporate Wellness Market - Asia Pacific Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Asia Pacific Corporate Wellness Market, by ServiceHealth Risk AssessmentFitnessSmoking CessationHealth ScreeningWeight ManagementNutritionOthers (stress management, diabetes management, and vaccinations)Asia Pacific Corporate Wellness Market, by CountryChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaSingaporeHong KongMalaysiaThailandRest of Asia PacificAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Industrial Personnel and Burden Carriers Market Operational Efficiency has become a High Priority for most Companies
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Industrial personnel and burden carriers (electric) are primarily used in factories, manufacturing hubs, and warehouses to transport heavy equipment and materials. These carriers offer numerous advantages.Thus, usage of industrial personnel and burden carriers (electric) has increased in different industries such as cement, real estate, and retail.The industrial personnel and burden carrier (electric) market is primarily driven by the rapid industrialization in developing countries and the emerging markets of Asia Pacific.Additionally, higher need for improvement in operational efficiency in factories is positively impacting market growth. The sit down type of burden carrier (electric) segment is expected to expand significantly during the forecast period.Factors such as industrial personnel and burden carrier help to save time for a given work provide safety and security along with cost-effectiveness, reduces product damage, and helps in optimum utilization of resources in industries. All of the above combined ensures operational efficiency in factories.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:In todays business environment where the market has become extremely competitive, most companies are focusing on operational efficiency in their business in order to provide best of products and services to customers.Thus, the rising need for operational efficiency in industries and increasing usage of industrial personnel and burden carriers are set to motivate the growth of this market in the coming years.Moreover, during the last few years, the market for electric industrial personnel and burden carriers has witnessed an enhanced rise in application due to the increasing requirement of such vehicles in order to save time and improve the efficiency of work in industries.Countries in Asia Pacific such as Japan, China, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia are also contributing to the growth of the global industrial personnel and burden carrier (electric) market.The major applications of these vehicles are in factories, warehouses, cement industry, real estate sector, retail sector, and others. Primarily, two types of electric industrial personnel and burden carriers are available: battery based electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug-in based electric vehicles (PEVs). Considering all these factors, the industrial personnel and burden carriers market is likely to grow at a significant during the forecast period.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Anisindione Market Size, Share | Industry Trends Analysis Report, 2023
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Anisindione is a derivative of indanedione, and a man made anticoagulant, which is known for preventing the formation of active procoagulation factors IIX, IX, VII, and II, in addition to the anticoagulant protein S and protein C, in the liver by slowing down the gamma carboxylation process of vitamin K of precursor proteins. The regeneration of reduced vitamin K is blocked by oral anticoagulants which in turn develop a stage of deficiency of vitamin K.The reductases inhibition mechanism by the drugs is still not known. Additionally, there are reductases which are less sensitive to these anticoagulant drugs, however act solely at comparatively high concentrations of vitamin K oxidized in nature. This property might explain that sufficient vitamin K can neutralize significant doses of oral anticoagulants. Anisindione, similar to phenindione, follows its therapeutic action through the reduction of prothrombin activities in the blood. The chemical has no direct effect and also doesnt reverse tissue damage. However, it may reduce the frequency of extension of existing thrombi as well as avoid thromboembolic complications.Browse Market Research Report @As an anticoagulant, anisindione is used for anticoagulant or antithrombotic drugs which aid in reducing thrombus formation. Different types of antithrombotics impact various processes of blood clotting such as thrombolytic, anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs. The primary purpose of these drugs is to cure the bodys abnormal blood. Despite the drugs are broadly used for curing and preventing arterial and venous thrombosis, the disease still accounts for major deaths every year on a global scale, which further indicates towards the fact that the present drugs in the market are not credible enough to fight against this disease.Owing to this, there is huge growth potential for anticoagulant drugs, which in turn would boost the demand for anisindione over the next few years. Primary causes of thrombosis include smoking, obesity, pregnancy, medical and genetic conditions, blood vessel damage, and inactivity among others. Owing to rising population on a global scale, demand for these anticoagulant drugs is expected to escalate within the next few years. In emerging regions such as Asia Pacific, demand for such drugs is likely to increase significantly owing to rapidly increasing population in emerging economies such as India and China.Anisindione is also used in protein hydrolysis. The global industry for protein hydrolysis enzymes is growing at a rapid pace, primarily due to the increasing adoption of protease enzymes in the light of different advantages they represent. Protease is used in the industry due to its protein peptide hydrolysis into amino acids. Emerging economies such as India is one of the primary markets for protease enzymes, rising at a faster rate than other countries. Several primary growth factors such as modification and advancement of properties in food proteins coupled with the reduction in feed costs for protein hydrolysis enzymes are anticipated to fuel the demand for these enzymes over the next few years. Other factors such as rising consumption of protease enzymes in reducing phosphorus pollution as well as reducing nitrogen content is also anticipated to contribute toward the growth of the market.For more information on this report, fill the form @However, factors such as limited number of applications of these enzymes in food applications and rising consumption of chemicals as a substitute is expected to hamper the growth of the market. North America was the largest consumer for protein hydrolysis enzymes with the presence of the large cleaning & detergent industry in the region. However, emerging regions such as Asia Pacific show significant unexplored opportunities for the growth of the market. Consumers are exploring new convenient products with the modernization of the cleaning & detergent industry in this region. Aimpow, Santacruz Biotechnology, and TORONTO RESEARCH CHEMICALS INC. are some of the key companies involved in the anisindione market.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaThis report provides comprehensive analysis ofMarket growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for upcoming yearsAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Bills release multiple artist renderings of new stadium The morning of Oct. 27 was a day Buffalo Bills fans have been patiently waiting for a reveal of what the new stadium will potentially look like. The team...
County officials, law firm representatives host public hearing on new stadium SEQR Erie County officials, representatives from Phillips Lytle LLP, power players for a new stadium and interested Buffalo Bills fans packed into one of the community rooms of the Brush Mountain...
Harvey Mudd
Harvey Mudd College, a tiny liberal-arts school in Claremont, California, is an engineering, science, and mathematics powerhouse.
In fact, its graduates outearn those from Harvard and Stanford about 10 years into their careers.
But in addition to its reputation for producing strong graduates in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), HMC also produces students sometimes known as Mudders who embrace the arts.
The school comprised of about 800 students not only encourages but demands that Mudders graduate with a strong liberal-arts background, taking just as many courses in the humanities as they must in core introductory courses in the sciences.
HMC describes its core curriculum as "an academic boot camp in the STEM disciplines math, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, and engineering as well as classes in writing and critical inquiry" that it says "gives students a broad scientific foundation and the skills to think and to solve problems across disciplines."
The approach closely mirrors advice from some experts on how schools can develop students able to compete with automation, which has become an increasingly disruptive force in the labor market.
Self-driving cars, for example, threaten the job security of millions of American truck drivers, and automated financial advisers are replacing humans at wealth-management firms.
"Absolutely I think there's value in some level of understanding computer science," Shon Burton, the CEO of HiringSolved, previously told Business Insider.
Harvey Mudd College
Burton, whose company uses artificial intelligence to make job recruiting more efficient, said students must embrace the humanities to become critical thinkers who improvise in ways that robots cannot.
At HMC, the computer-science program is so strong that elite STEM-focused schools have taken note.
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The California Institute of Technology, for example, invited educators from HMC to visit its campus and provide training on how to teach computer-science classes for better student retention, Caltech professor Yisong Yue told Business Insider. Caltech is a premiere science and engineering college and was labeled the top school in the world for delivering work-ready graduates in 2016.
Part of this success is due to the thoughtful way HMC has chosen to structure learning, Jim Boerkoel, a computer-science professor at HMC, told Business Insider.
"Everybody arrives and they have to take at least one computer-science course, which is fairly unique for many schools, particularly liberal-arts schools," Boerkoel said.
The introductory computer-science course is intentionally broader than most intro courses. While the traditional approach features a programming-focused class, HMC redesigned its intro sequence to touch on programming, logic, software development, artificial intelligence, and other topics within the field.
The school also provides both basic and advanced sections of the intro course so students who might otherwise dominate the discussion don't intimidate students who are less familiar with computer science.
"Those changes have led to some pretty big advances and equity across gender," Boerkoel said.
So much so that last year, HMC graduated its first majority-female computer-science class. Nationally, men make up more than 84% of undergraduates majoring in computer science, according to the Computing Research Association.
"They have an extraordinary undergraduate education program," Yue of Caltech said.
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Cirque du Soleil fans, get ready to explore an amazing world of curiosities. The French-Canadian circus company is bringing one of its latest tent shows to Portland this August with "Kurios - Cabinet of Curiosities."
The show, which premiered in 2014, will be performed in an extended engagement beginning Aug. 24 at the Portland Expo Center in the company's signature red and yellow Big Top tent. "Kurios" features 46 artists from 15 different countries, and showcases an array of high-wire, acrobat, aerial and balancing acts.
Here's how Cirque describes the production, which was written and directed by Michel Laprise: "In his larger-than-life curio cabinet, the Seeker is convinced that there exists a hidden, invisible world - a place where the craziest ideas and the grandest dreams await. A collection of otherworldly characters suddenly steps into his makeshift, mechanical world ... and his curios jump to life one by one before his very eyes."
Sounds fun!
Regular tickets begin at $39, and are available in a variety of prices and packages. Advance tickets go on sale to members of the Cirque Club on Monday, March 6, at Cirque's website, or by phone at 1-877-924-7783. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 17. To get access to the pre-sale, ticket buyers need to sign up online for free Cirque Club membership, which also guarantees first crack at tickets to future company engagements here.
"Kurios" mark the ninth time that Cirque has brought one of its Big Top shows to Portland since 2000. The last Big Top show to play here was "Totem," which had an extended run in 2014. Cirque also has brought several of its arena productions to town, most recently "Toruk," which played the Moda Center in December.
Here's a video montage that offers a taste of what "Kurios" will be like.
-- Grant Butler
503-221-8566; @grantbutler
Oregon state Rep. Gail Shibley, D-Portland, speaks at a 1992 rally to mark the anniversary of women's right to vote. (Dana Olsen, The Oregonian)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Women in Oregon and the United States, by the numbers
In 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, which designated the month of March as Womens History Month.
Thirty years later, we are taking a look at the status of women in Oregon and United States, past and present.
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Race for the Cure in Portland attracted tens of thousands to downtown Portland. (Stephanie Yao Long, The Oregonian/OregonLive, file)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Population
Women outnumber men in the United States and in Oregon, but barely. Oregon women make up 50.5 percent of the population.
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Barbara Roberts, left, enjoys an Oregon birthday celebration at the Oregon Historical Society with then governor-in waiting Kate Brown. (Michael Lloyd, The Oregonian/OregonLive)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Governing now
Barbara Kay Roberts, a native Oregonian, was the first elected female governor in Oregon. Her gubernatorial term ended in 1995. The next female, Kate Brown, was appointed to office in 2015 and elected the following year. There are currently 4 women governors in the United States: Kate Brown (D-OR), Mary Fallin (R-OK), Susana Martinez (R-NM) and Gina Raimondo (D-RI). The state of Arizona has had a record of four women governors.
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Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Governing then
Before Roberts and Brown there was Shelton. Mrs. Carolyn B. Shelton, personal secretary to the governor, became acting governor for a few days in 1909 when her boss, Gov. George Chamberlain, went to Washington to become a U.S. Senator. His successor, Frank Benson, was too ill to be sworn immediately. In an interview that was published in The Oregonian she said "I expect to show that a women can conduct office as well as a man can."
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Abigail Scott Duniway cast the first vote by a woman in Oregon on May 15, 1914. (Oregon Historical Society)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Voting then
Oregon suffragists worked for decades to see womens right to vote written into law. After five failed attempts, in November 1912, the state's voting men approved womens suffrage by 52 percent.
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A woman inquires about her 2016 ballot at the Multnomah County of Elections office. (Mark Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Voting now
Oregon women vote at higher rates than Oregon men, and at higher rates than women in most other states, according to a report from the Women's Foundation of Oregon.
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(File photo/Staff)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Education
Nationally, women account for 55 percent of all college students. They have outnumbered men on college campuses in the United States since the late 1970s.
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Sisters Lisa Herlinger, left, and Becky Burnett opened Ruby Jewel Scoops in North Portland in 2010. (Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian/File photo).
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
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Nationally, women-owned businesses bring in $1.6 trillion in revenue and employ close to 10 million people, according to the latest Survey of Business owners.
That is over 2 million more women-owned businesses and almost 1.5 million more jobs since the previous survey in 2007.
Locally, Oregon has over 123,000 women-owned businesses. That is an increase of 19% since 2007.
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Gert Boyle watches over the hallways at Columbia Sportswear's Beaverton headquarters. (Stephanie Yao Long | The Oregonian/OregonLive)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Employment
57 percent of women are part of the U.S. labor force. More women work part-time than men.
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A dental hygienist at PureCare Dental in Bend, Ore., works on cleaning the teeth of a patient (Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin via AP)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Occupations
Women account for 33 percent of lawyers, 81 percent of elementary and middle school teachers and 96.6 percent of dental assistants.
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The Oregonian/OregonLive file photo
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
x,
Oregon women earn between 53 and 83 cents (depending on race or ethnicity) for every dollar men in Oregon earn. Oregon's wage gap is one of the largest in the nation, according to a report by the Women of Oregon Foundation.
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U.S. Air Force veteran, Sandra Evers Scott of Forest Grove, at a veterans day ceremony. (Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian/OregonLive, file photo)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Military service
1.6 million: The number of women veterans in the United States in 2015.
In Oregon, the average age of women veterans is 43. That is considerably younger than 60, the average age for male veterans.
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A family celebrates Mother's Day at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. (Casey Parks/Staff/File photo)
Lynne Palombo | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Motherhood
43.5 million: The number of mothers aged 15 to 50 in the United States in 2014.
The 30-minute line for a table at North Portland's recently opened XLB snaked around the entire waiting area on a chilly, but dry Tuesday night.
Some sipped squat glasses of wine or golden-hued pints of beer. Others sat patiently, faces illuminated by the fluorescent menu advertising steamed buns, pan-fried noodles and the restaurant's eponymous dumplings, xiaolongbao, while waiting for their turn to order dinner. Like many of the year's first restaurant openings in Portland -- including torteria Guero and best-of-Beijing spot Danwei Canting -- XLB only offers counter service.
Increasingly, many of the city's hottest and most sought-after tables have taken the more casual route, forgoing "traditional" table service for a model that requires diners to stand in line to order and, often, bus their own tables. But over the next year, Portlanders will eat at more of this style of restaurants than they've likely ever eaten before. It's a model that's been perfected across the globe, from open-air markets in Asia to taquerias in Mexico. And in Portland, it's being taken as seriously as full-service restaurants, helping diversify the dining scene, one table number at a time.
"Portland's kind of a nice town that you can be thought of positively, food-wise, in different settings," said Bollywood Theater chef/owner Troy MacLarty, who previously worked at the famed Chez Panisse, Alice Waters' acclaimed Berkeley restaurant that's often considered a progenitor of California cuisine. "It's different than other cities. It's held back a lot of chefs over the years, the perception that you're doing a lower skill or lower class food."
On Jan. 19, Jasper Shen (co-owner/chef Aviary) opened XLB, the restaurant devoted to "straight-up Chinese food" and xiaolongbao, the Shanghai-style dumplings stuffed with pork and hot soup. On their first few days, the restaurant sold out of food so quickly they've had to adjust their regular hours in order to keep up with demand.
"More chefs are going to this model or a more casual model," Shen said. "It's a little easier to get off the ground, financially. You don't have to raise quite as much money and it's just a different feel. It just depends what kind of food you want to do, but less people are doing that fancy fine dining stuff more than ever."
Though counter service restaurants don't always afford diners the same atmosphere as traditional ones, Shen made a point to emphasize service.
"We are trying to bus tables," Shen said. "We kind of stole that from Hat Yai...If you're just going to a counter and ordering and don't talk to anyone while you're there, you might as well be at McDonald's. There is a middle ground there where you can get good service where you don't have a dedicated server or waiter."
That borrowing of concepts, like XLB "stealing" Hat Yai's focus on service, is bigger than just those two restaurants. It's the most recent addition to a long lineage of inspiration that started in 2005 with the opening of Por Que No. The next breakout success after Por Que No was downtown's pho haven Luc Lac, followed by Bollywood Theater then Hat Yai, all of which adopted Por Que No's two-terminal system -- a way for diners who have already ordered to add another drink or dish without waiting in line again.
"The first ones for our generation that were successful were Por Que No, Bollywood and Luc Lac," Hat Yai co-owner Alan Akwai said. "Those were the guys I kept going back over with a tape measure, 'how do you deal with this,' taking what works from all of those guys."
Today, it seems like every other restaurant that opens in Portland is counter service, including Danwei Canting, which opened at the beginning of January in Southeast Portland. The Beijing street food restaurant from James Kyle and former Bluehour chef Kyo Koo serves a menu of Kyle's favorite Beijing foods culled from more than a decade of living in China's capital city.
"When I was eating in Beijing, the dishes were small, quick plates," Kyle said. "It's not the big orchestrated event with the lazy susan and red lanterns. You just go and sit down, and we wanted to mimic the energy that happened at lunch."
But for some restaurants, like Tiffin Asha, the popular South Indian cart-gone-brick-and-mortar along Northeast Killingsworth, a full-service restaurant was always the end goal.
"We also want people to experience the food the way it should be," co-owner Sheila Bommakanti said, which can often be a challenge for food carts. "The texture of dosa changes. You want to eat it right off the griddle, it's not ideal takeout food. That was the one thing that was difficult, you're a food cart and people think you're fast food."
This summer, a trifecta of issues will create the perfect storm for restaurants, who routinely operate on razor-thin margins. Oregon's minimum wage is set to make a $1.50-an-hour leap on July 1, up to $11.25 an hour in the Portland metro area. A case contesting tip-pooling, a long-fraught issue in the restaurant community used to help balance front- and back-of-house wages, may be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Both, combined with the U.S. Department of Labor's overtime exemption rules -- which bumped the annual overtime limit from $23,660 to $47,476 in December 2016 -- will make running a restaurant successfully even more expensive.
Some owners argue that the counter service model, often considered a way to skirt some of the expenses of sit-down restaurants, may not be the final answer to those major restaurant issues.
"For Hat Yai, it wasn't money that inspired us, it was the spirit and fun of that kind of restaurant, being a contrast to something like Langbaan," Akwai said. "The lower labor costs were an afterthought. The $15 minimum wage and overtime exemption, the double whammy, that has to be a big part of why it's a conversation to do counter service concepts, though that's not the most inspiring thing for guests. But the more formal a restaurant becomes, the more expensive it gets exponentially."
And not all restaurant owners, like MacLarty, believe that it's an easier or cheaper model to maintain.
"Everybody is kind of throwing darts at the wall trying to find what's the best way to go about the impending serious problem for our food scene," MacLarty said. "There's safety in knowing you can go really lean in a counter service restaurant...I don't know that one model over another is going to be the difference in who makes it and who doesn't. It's who has systems that work in whatever model you chose."
-- Samantha Bakall
sbakall@oregonian.com
Follow @sambakall
Later this month, bartender-about-town Eric Nelson will launch Shipwreck, a new pop-up with dive-bar seafood and "island-y" cocktails at Jacqueline, the overachieving Clinton neighborhood fish house.
You might know Nelson as the former bar manager at Expatriate -- the Arranged Marriage cocktail was his -- or from his stints at Laurelhurst Market and Trifecta. You might even know that he left Portland last year to bartend at Ace-by-the-lake Suttle Lodge, or that he returned, just before the snow fell, reworking the cocktail menus at Langbaan and PaaDee.
For his maiden voyage as an owner, Nelson enlisted departing Beast chef de cuisine Jake Stevens and bartender Chris Abbott (Laurelhurst Market). Stevens will act as Shipwreck's guest chef for three nights at the end of March, serving elevated dive-bar seafood classics like tom yum popcorn shrimp, chicken-fried fish sandwiches and steamer clams with a garlic bread recipe cribbed from Sellwood's Gino's. Also on board: Guest pastry chef Eve Kuttemann (Trifecta, Roe, Sage Hen), who is experimenting with a three-layer take on the Twinkie.
"There's an old restaurant in Alaska called SeaGalley, where my family used to go when I was a kid," Nelson says. "It's kind of a McCormick & Schmick's-type place, known for crab legs, steamer clams, popcorn shrimp -- the kind of seafood that I look for when I go to seafood restaurants." (Shipwreck is the name of SeaGalley's lounge.)
But make no mistake, Shipwreck is a cocktail pop-up. Building on his bar menu at Jacqueline, which tilts features a few tiki-ish drinks, the pop-up's top-shelf cocktails will have an "island-y" theme -- Nelson points to the Dagger Mouth, a daiquiri variation made with house-made key lime frozen yogurt, and a pina colada with mezcal and coconut cream.
Coming after Deadshot, Shipwreck will mark the second recent cocktail pop-up with early-in-the-week hours, elevated-dive-bar food and a restaurant-industry focus. Is Monday the new Thursday for going out in Portland?
Shipwreck will pop-up at Jacqueline, 2039 S.E. Clinton St., for three nights, Sunday-Tuesday, March 26-28, with an a la carte menu and open seating (i.e. no reservations required). Red beanies welcome but not required. More information at shipwreckpdx.com
-- Michael Russell
A White House internal review of strategy on North Korea features the possibility of both military force as well as regime change in order to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons threat, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing sources familiar with the process.
The strategy review, reported to have begun a fortnight ago, combined with U.S. President Donald Trump's January vow to prevent North Korea from ever testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. The report which could not be verified by CNBC - hints at a possible shift in U.S. foreign policy which could potentially rattle allies of both nations.
Defense ministers from the U.S., South Korea and Japan pledged to strengthen intelligence communications in the aftermath of North Korea's most recent test-fired ballistic missile on February 12. Pyongyang, which had been banned from testing nuclear or missile-related technology by the United Nations, faced international condemnation for its most recent missile test.
The White House was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Thursday.
Read the Wall Street Journal's full article here.
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Gina McCarthy, then the U.S. EPA's administrator, spoke in Portland in 2015 while awarding the state a $1.5 million grant to address diesel pollution. The Trump Administration has proposed eliminating that program and others. (Rob Davis/Staff)
Federal programs that have been responsible for removing cancer-causing diesel soot from Oregon's air and keeping swimmers out of polluted water would be eliminated under sweeping cuts to environmental programs proposed by the Trump Administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency's clean diesel program targets diesel soot, a carcinogen estimated to prematurely kill 460 Oregonians annually. The EPA's beach water quality testing program funds Oregon health officials' effort to warn swimmers about high bacteria levels during the summer.
The Trump budget, the basic outlines of which were revealed Wednesday, would cut the EPA's 15,000-person staff by 3,000 people and reduce its $8 billion budget by $2 billion.
No state on the West Coast would escape the effects.
The plan is not yet final, and the EPA's new administrator, Scott Pruitt, has cautioned that he will make changes. But it offers the first glimpse into President Trump's vision for an agency he has attacked as a job-killer.
"What is almost unbelievable is the level of attack on almost every major environmental program under EPA's domain," said William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.
Spending on restoration and monitoring projects in Puget Sound would drop from $28 million to $2 million, according to a copy of the plan that Becker has seen and detailed to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The budget cuts would affect the EPA's work with tribes. And it would cut programs targeting radon, lead, air and water quality and pollution problems disproportionately affecting minorities and the poor.
Richard Whitman, director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, said he is concerned about cuts impacting the pace of the Portland Harbor superfund cleanup, which is reliant on EPA staffing.
The Department of Environmental Quality gets about 13 percent of its budget from the EPA. A major EPA budget cut wouldn't be "foundationally threatening," he said. But coupled with a nearly 8 percent reduction in state funding, "it's going to slow things down substantially - and could prolong situations where we have significant public health concerns."
The EPA's clean diesel program would be completely eliminated, Becker said, leaving Oregon without its only reliable funding source for reducing diesel soot.
California has spent hundreds of millions in state money to reduce diesel pollution in the last decade. Washington has spent more than $50 million. Then there's Oregon, which has spent less than $1 million of its own money.
But since 2008, Oregon has gotten $4.9 million from the EPA's clean diesel program, paying for businesses and public agencies to retrofit or replace old trucks, construction equipment and a dredge. The city of Portland, for example, received $500,000 to pay to retrofit heavy duty equipment used in public works projects.
Oregon will soon get a one-time infusion of more than $70 million for clean diesel under a recent settlement with Volkswagen, following allegations that car company installed software to cheat on engine emissions testing.
But clean air advocates say the Volkswagen windfall is no substitute for the more reliable funding EPA has provided the state for diesel retrofits.
"It would be a tragedy, considering that the only meaningful diesel reductions we've gotten have been through that federal funding program," said Mary Peveto, president of Neighbors for Clean Air, a Portland advocacy group.
The EPA's clean diesel program has been targeted before. The Obama administration repeatedly proposed cuts, only to relent amid opposition from environmental groups and industries that support it.
It "is the rare program that has benefitted every state in the union, has bipartisan support in Congress fairly consistently, has a proven and measurable track record and is non-regulatory in nature," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, an industry group.
An EPA spokesman, Doug Ericksen, didn't respond to a call.
-- Rob Davis
rdavis@oregonian.com
503.294.7657
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U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress as Vice President Mike Pence (L) and House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R) (R-WI) look on on February 28, 2017 in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The obsession with Donald Trump's ability to spend one hour in a disciplined relationship with a teleprompter obscured one of his central goals on Tuesday night: He continued to try to scare the country to death.
Yes, he lived up to media expectations that he would finally attempt to look "presidential" and that he could recite words that sounded optimistic and forward-looking. He and his handlers are well aware that commentators typically reward presidents for doing what commentators say presidents need to do.
And he also issued a ritual call for bipartisanship, even though earlier in the day, he had said he regarded House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as "incompetent, actually." Put aside that upbraiding his female critics is one habit that is very difficult for Trump to break. It was hard to square the nice, let's-all-get-along paragraphs with everything else Trump has been doing.
And beneath the obeisance to the Beltway rules about what addresses to joint sessions of Congress are supposed to look like lurked Trump Classic. He's still the man who wants to aggrandize the executive and expand the power of law enforcement by making the country believe it is under threat from dark forces that only a strong hand can deal with.
He didn't repeat his controversial use of the word "carnage," which stood out from almost everything else he said in his inaugural address. He simply described the carnage.
"We've defended the borders of other nations while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross, and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate," he declared. Actually, we don't have "wide open" borders and President Obama found himself under criticism from members of his own base for being too tough in enforcing immigration laws. But for Trump, only "the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border" will solve the problem.
Trump could not resist adding that extra "great," verbal cover for the fact that he left out his fanciful claim that Mexico would pay for his wall.
Trump boasted that "we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our very innocent citizens," which, in truth, is what our forces of order have been doing for years. "Bad ones are going out as I speak." Don't you feel better already?
Trump always seeks protection from a regiment of straw men and women, and this speech was no exception. "To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you this one question: What would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income or their loved one because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?"
Well, I suppose in Trump world, a desire not to deport every single one of the 11 million men and women who are in the United States without proper documentation constitutes not believing in enforcing the law. But this unfounded attack fit badly with the suddenly bipartisan Trump.
And his call to create an office in the Department of Homeland Security called VOICE ("Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement") was a demagogic propaganda effort to suggest that immigrants are especially prone to committing acts of violence when, in fact, they are not.
No Trump speech is complete without a reference to Chicago's murder rate, which he refers to constantly because the national crime statistics don't bear out his implication that the nation is more unsafe than ever.
And Trump wants Americans to be very, very afraid of the threat of terrorism by way of rationalizing his unjustifiable policies barring refugees from a selected group of Muslim countries. "We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside of America," he declared. For good measure, he added: "We cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists." I bet his speechwriters were proud of those scary phrases, "a beachhead of terrorism" and "a sanctuary for extremists." That's the way to get people really alarmed.
Perhaps because I watched this address a long way from Washington, I was less responsive to Trump's efforts to place himself, rhetorically at least, within the Capitol's conventions. What I saw was not a New Trump but a shrewd Trump apparatus throwing some bones of optimism to establishmentarians hankering to get on board. I suspect members of Trump's base were wiser than this. They heard the music of fright, dread and chaos, and they knew that was still the point.
E.J. Dionne's email address is ejdionnewashpost.com. Twitter: EJDionne.
(c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group
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New DNC Chair, Tom Perez (L) and Deputy Chair and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) do a television interview in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol before President Donald Trump delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress on February 28, 2017 in Washington, DC.
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
By Jonathan Capehart
One of the reasons I thought the Democratic Party was about to turn the page on the acrimony of the presidential primaries was because the two leading candidates to run the Democratic National Committee were speaking the same language. Not only that, the campaign waged by former labor secretary Tom Perez and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., was devoid of vitriol and personal attacks.
The two men have similar visions for the Democratic Party, where it should go and how it must get there. They both want it to reach all Americans in every zip code. And they both were eager to take the fight to President Donald Trump, the better to harness the anger and organic activism against him.
But the illusion that all was kumbaya in the age of Trump came crashing down around me during an MSNBC interview I did with Jane Kleeb, state Democratic Party chair in Nebraska. She was for Ellison. And in the moments before the second ballot would make Perez the party leader, Kleeb unleashed an attack that took me back to the Democratic primary battles between Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
"There is a huge gulf between the grass roots in the streets and the party establishment, and I don't think anybody else can actually take those pieces of wood and build a bridge between those two folks," said Kleeb. "Tom Perez not only supports the TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership], he also supports Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota access pipeline. Those three issues are main issues for voters and I don't see how he can represent the progressive wing of the party knowing that he supports those issues." When I asked Kleeb later if she would stand with Perez if he did indeed win, she added, "It's his responsibility to build a bridge. Not mine. And there's a lot of bridge that needs to [be] built."
Perez won, which caused some Ellison supporters to yell, "Not big money, party for the people." That, and the emphatic speeches calling for unity by both men, especially by Ellison, were more examples of how the wounds opened during the primaries have yet to heal.
"I am asking you to give everything you got to support Chairman Perez. You love this country. You love all the people in it. You care about each and every one of them," Ellison said in his call on everyone to support Perez. "Urban, rural, suburban, all colors, all cultures, all faiths, everybody. And they are in need of your help. And if we waste even a moment going at it over who supported who, we are not going to be standing up for those people."
Although my colleague James Downie believes the onus is on the DNC establishment to let in new ideas, the Ellison-Sanders wing of the Democratic Party upset over the Perez victory do neither themselves nor their issues and party any good by continuing to stew in a roiling cauldron of rage over last year's primary battles. As I clapped back at an untold number of dead-enders for Sanders on Twitter, fighting the last war while President Trump takes a Republican sledgehammer to the Obama legacy and tries to institute a new normal where corrosive chaos and incompetence replace a true reverence for the Constitution and governance is idiotic.
Kleeb gets this. By Sunday morning, Kleeb told me on MSNBC's "AM Joy," "I'm very excited for Chairman Perez. He not only started to build that bridge. I feel like he's building an entire house and making sure that progressives and those who supported Bernie and Rep. Ellison are actually at the table."
Perez's first move within moments of becoming DNC chairman was to make Ellison deputy chairman of the party. A smart, unifying move in what I can only hope will be an unending series of them. For his part, Ellison announced that Perez would be his guest at the president's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
The energy needed to build and maintain that house Kleeb mentions is already out there in the streets as the American people make their voices heard on everything from Obamacare and Muslim bans to disregard for transgender school students and indifference towards anti-Semitism. To harness that energy into a potent political force, the Democratic Party must be as focused and determined today as the GOP was during the rise of the tea party in 2009.
For that to happen this Democrat-on-Democrat fight must end. Now.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post
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Police are investigating the vandalism of 75 to 100 gravestones at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Mark Makela/Getty Images)
By Jonathan Bernstein
Another round of bomb threats on Jewish Community Centers and Jewish schools was reported Monday. While fortunately none of the threats so far has turned into a real bombing, just the threats -- at least 69 through last week -- are shaking up the Jewish community, along with the desecration of Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia.
Donald Trump hasn't paid much public attention to this, for whatever reason. Whether that's offensive in some abstract sense is a question I'll leave to others for now.
Good presidenting, however, requires more than just managing to make adequate public statements. If we assume he's been as indifferent to the bomb threats in private as he has been in public, he's taking a big risk. Suppose, after all these warnings, that people are eventually killed in an attack. People are going to ask: What was the president doing about it all these weeks? And Trump better have an answer for that question.
Can presidents make a difference? Absolutely. One of the best examples we have is the "millennium" terrorist plot, in which the Bill Clinton administration picked up rumors of a major attack coming. Clinton focused the executive branch on the potential attack by insisting that department secretaries and others at the top of relevant agencies report to him daily about what they had done to prevent terrorism -- which meant that they in turn pushed the bureaucracy below them to come up with something new and impressive-sounding to report.
Of course, a president cannot use that tactic, at that level, all the time. And without presidential pressure, the bureaucracy won't necessarily do anything about a problem that comes to the president's attention. Richard Neustadt quotes one of Franklin Roosevelt's aides about how cabinet secretaries typically respond:
"Half of a President's suggestions, which theoretically carry the weight of orders, can be safely forgotten by a Cabinet member. And if the President asks about a suggestion a second time, he can be told that it is being investigated. If he asks a third time, a wise Cabinet officer will give him at least part of what he suggests, but only occasionally, except about the most important matters, do Presidents ever get around to asking three times."
"Three times" might not literally always be the case, but we can use it to stand for the basic fact that the executive branch won't always automatically do what the president asks. It requires active engagement from the White House, and (for best results) from the president himself.
It's not an exaggeration to say that a big part of presidenting is knowing which things are worth asking about three times. We don't know everything that's happening, but there's no evidence so far that Trump is even vaguely aware that such crucial decisions must be made at all.
How can a president decide which emerging challenges need attention and resources? One question the president must ask himself is how high he wants something to be on his agenda. Pushing an agency or multiple agencies on one thing uses resources (theirs, and his own) that therefore can't be used for other priorities. Something new that comes along, then, might distract from items the president's supporters expect him to focus on. That's a cost, especially for a new president who has promised swift changes on everything from immigration and trade to national security and infrastructure.
Another question, however, is about the risks for ignoring something. Should an actual attack follow, organized groups, the media, and perhaps even Congress will ask tough questions about what exactly the federal government did in response to the threats we've seen so far. If the answer is that the president did little or nothing, it will be a scandal, perhaps a major one.
To balance those things, presidents need to be expert at gathering clues from the various sources of information available to them -- which is one reason why good presidenting requires absorbing as much information, from as many good sources, as possible. The need to have well-honed political instincts, too, to calibrate the various costs and risks (and benefits) involved. They obviously need, too, to have a good sense of their own preferred agenda and how much persuasion relevant departments and agencies will need to keep that agenda moving forward.
In other words, the question of whether and how often to ask three times isn't an easy one at all in many cases. But it sure seems to me that this is a case in which the risks of inaction to the president (not to mention, of course, the affected communities) are unusually high. Perhaps Trump is more active behind the scenes than he's willing to be in public, but if not, what is he waiting for?
Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.
For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view.
(c) 2017, Bloomberg View
Defense lawyers have urged a federal judge to issue an arrest warrant for William R. Kullman, a man they suspect was an FBI informant who played a role in security and defense training during the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Attorney Jesse Merrithew said Kullman, who lives in northern Washington, was served last month with a subpoena to testify in the second Oregon standoff trial but failed to show for court. The federal government also has indicated it won't assist in compelling Kullman's testimony, Merrithew noted in a court filing.
U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said she is prepared to issue the warrant, ordering Kullman to testify in court Monday. But she also encouraged Merrithew to reach out to Kullman again to see if he'd show up Monday voluntarily.
Kullman, according to a defense investigator, owns a business that provides weapons training near Lake Stevens, Washington. A "Kullman Combat Organization'' was listed as based in Lake Stevens in 2014 and 2015, according to Washington state business records.
Kullman told a defense investigator in December that he had gone to the refuge during the occupation and wrote his name in a sign-in book at the federal wildlife sanctuary on Jan. 7, 2016. Below his name was written: "Donated food, medical supplies. Help train militia in whatever needs possible,'' according to a court filing.
Kullman told Merrithew's defense investigator that he worked to ensure the safe handling of firearms by protesters at the refuge and did so along with Mark McConnell, who already has been identified as a government informant, according to court papers.
"Mr. Kullman told me that he was the one who gave the protesters the idea to set up a rifle range off the refuge with the aim of providing firearms training,'' wrote defense investigator Mark Robertson in a declaration filed with the U.S. District Court in Portland.
Defense lawyers in this trial and the first trial against Ammon Bundy and other occupation leaders have worked to discredit Gov. Exhibit No. 32, a video played for jurors that shows refuge occupiers firing rifles from the refuge boat launch, across a small body of water, in late January.
In the first trial, defense lawyers identified another one of the FBI informants as Fabio Minoggio, who went by the alias "John Killman,'' who testified that he assisted in weapons training at the refuge.
Defense lawyers suspect Kullman is one of the 15 confidential informants who provided information to the government during the course of the refuge occupation. Of the 15, nine went to the refuge, according to court testimony.
Merrithew's investigator handed Kullman in early December a subpoena to appear in court on Feb. 14 to provide testimony on behalf of his client, defendant Jason Patrick. Since Dec. 6, the investigator hasn't been able to contact Kullman.
"His previous cellphone number has been disconnected. I attempted to contact Mr. Kullman via Facebook. He has not responded, despite the fact that he continues to be active on Facebook both before and after my message was sent. On February 27, 2017, I called the person I know to be Mr. Kullman's girlfriend to ask her to either provide a new number for Mr. Kullman or have him call me back. She told me that they were no longer together, despite the fact that she had posted a photo of them kissing only 14 days prior. When I confronted her with this fact, she took my number, then terminated the call,'' Robertson wrote.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow pointed out in court Wednesday that the subpoena for Kullman listed the wrong year, ordering him to come to court on Feb. 14, 2016.
Kullman is one of three people the defense has subpoenaed to testify who have not shown for court, according to another defense lawyer Michele Kohler, who represents Duane Ehmer. Another is Allen Varner, nicknamed "Wolf,'' also a suspected informant, according to the defense.
Oregonian researcher Lynne Palombo contributed to this story.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
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Brand Thornton at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016.
(Mark Graves/The Oregonian)
What was the meaning of occupier Brand Thornton's blowing of the shofar when he accompanied the first convoy of men who seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2, 2016?
One prosecution witness said the sounding of the ram's horn meant an "all clear'' signal after protesters went building to building, armed with rifles, to check if anybody was on the federal property. Another prosecution witness called it a symbol of battle.
But defense lawyer Andrew Kohlmetz said he wanted jurors to hear Thornton's testimony -- that the shofar blowing is just part of Thornton's "religious ministry.''
Kohlmetz, though, learned this week that Thornton, who has never been charged in the case, would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself if called as a defense witness in the second Oregon standoff trial.
So the defense instead suggested reading to jurors his testimony from last fall's trial of Ammon Bundy and co-defendants.
Prosecutors didn't want any of Thornton's testimony allowed, contending he lied under oath and his earlier statements in court are unreliable.
Thornton testified on two separate days for the defense in the Bundy trial last year. Before his second time taking the stand, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown asked him under oath whether he had been in court and observed the trial proceedings after his initial testimony on Oct. 3. He said he had on five or six occasions.
Brown also asked Thornton whether he had posted online any of his observations from the trial proceedings he watched, and he said he hadn't, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow. He was allowed to testify again for the defense on Oct. 17.
But prosecutors now note that Thornton posted his reaction on Facebook to court testimony on Oct. 7 and Oct. 11.
"If the Court were to permit the defense to read Mr. Thornton's transcript, the government will seek to introduce evidence to impeach Mr. Thornton, including the fact that he previously lied to this Court,'' Barrow wrote in a motion.
Kohlmetz, defendant Jason Patrick's standby attorney, countered that prosecutors had a chance during the first trial to cross-examine Thornton on the matter but didn't. Kohlmetz also argued that Thornton's statements to the court last fall don't rise to criminal perjury.
Last year, Thornton testified that he didn't bring a gun to the refuge, but saw others carrying them by their sides, walking through the property, checking doors during that initial sweep. At some point, someone found a set of keys, he testified. He said he stayed at the refuge from Jan. 2 to Jan. 25, 2016.
Thornton, who often blows the shofar during or after court sessions on a corner across from the federal courthouse, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that when he answered the judge's question about posts during the last trial he didn't realize she was talking about social media.
He said the only reason he decided he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to testify now was because he believed the defense would be able to introduce his testimony from last year's trial.
Brown on Thursday asked for a transcript of Thornton's earlier testimony, at one point referring to him as "Mr. Shofar.''
"What is it about Thornton's testimony that's necessary?'' the judge asked.
Kohlmetz said he wanted to counter the interpretations by prosecution witnesses about why Thornton sounded the horn.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight argued the testimony "is not material.''
By Thursday afternoon, after having read the transcript of Thornton's testimony last year, the judge said she found it "pretty limited, pretty innocuous.''
"None of this is particularly controversial. None of this seems worth a battle that could be problematic on appeal,'' Brown told prosecutors and defense lawyers.
With that, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight withdrew the government's opposition to it coming in as evidence. Part of Thornton's testimony from last year's trial will be read to jurors when the trial proceeds on Monday.
Jason S. Patrick, 43, of Bonaire, Georgia, Duane L. Ehmer, 46, of Irrigon, Oregon, Darryl W. Thorn, 32, of Marysville, Washington, and Jake E. Ryan, 28, of Plains, Montana, face conspiracy and other felony charges as well as misdemeanor charges including trespassing in the 41-day refuge occupation over federal control of public land.
In other developments Thursday, the seventh day of trial:
-- Defense lawyers ran through their witnesses for the day by noon. The judge had excluded a number of witnesses because either their testimony was considered irrelevant or cumulative. The judge said she didn't want to hear additional refuge visitors describe the atmosphere during the occupation or repetitive testimony about the character of the defendants.
Kohlmetz said the defense started with a list of 18 witnesses for Thursday. Eight ended up being called. Some were eliminated by the judge; others by defense lawyers based on the judge's advisement.
-- Defendant Jason Patrick, who has been warned by the court in the past that he must arrive to court on time, showed up to court 10 minutes late. When he arrived at 8:25 a.m., the judge asked him what had happened and a tense exchange ensued.
"TriMet was late due to some maintenance issue,'' Patrick replied.
"Here's the point. Court starts at 8:15 a.m. You can't just wander in,'' the judge said, adding that he must alert someone he's on his way.
"I don't have the means,'' he said.
"I don't believe that,'' Brown told him.
Although she had threatened to fine him in the past for coming late, the judge gave him one more chance. If it happens again, she told him, she'll impose a $100 fine.
"I'll try to find a carrier pigeon, your honor. I don't have the means,'' he said, sitting beside his standby lawyer. "Whether you believe the truth or not, it doesn't matter.''
"Are you finished?'' Brown inquired.
"I'm finished when you're finished, your honor,'' he said.
"When you're late,'' Brown told him, he must find a way to inform the court.
"I'll build a train,'' he quipped.
A short time later, the judge was informed the jurors would be arriving a little late.
-- Nevada resident Barbara Berg testified that she drove to the refuge the night of Jan. 26, 2016, after learning about the arrest of Ammon Bundy and fatal police shooting of occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum on a highway outside of Burns.
She arrived about 11:30 p.m. at The Narrows RV park and walked into the refuge property with her German Shepherd, she said. She wanted to try to convince people to leave and avoid being harmed, she said. On. Jan. 27, 2016, she said she saw Patrick walk out of the refuge.
"He was almost to The Narrows when I seen him in my headlights,'' she said. She gave him a ride from there to the FBI checkpoint.
She said she convinced defendant Jake Ryan to leave, driving him first to The Narrows. There, she let him leave firearms in her trailer that he had taken with him. She drove him to the checkpoint early on Jan. 28, 2016. A video was played for jurors of Ryan walking in the roadway, his hands in the air, toward two flood lights at the FBI checkpoint.
-- Patrick's mother, Vickie Louise Patrick, in brief testimony said Jason's father died when he was 12, and "it affects him deeply.'' His father was a Vietnam veteran who died of cancer, suspected of having resulted from his exposure to Agent Orange chemicals.
-- An arrest warrant for suspected FBI informant Will Kullman is no longer needed as he agreed to testify in court for the defense Monday, defense lawyer Jesse Merrithew said.
-- The defense is expected to rest its case by Monday afternoon. Closing arguments are anticipated to start Tuesday.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
Handcuffs
(Oregonian file photo)
A man who fatally shot another man after a fight outside a Jackson County convenience store has been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The Mail Tribune newspaper reports Bradley Quillen also faced a murder charge, but not enough members of a divided jury determined he was guilty of that crime.
The 27-year-old Quillen did not testify during the three-day trial that ended Wednesday.
Defense attorney Christine Herbert said Quillen was trying to defend himself last April outside a 7-Eleven store in Phoenix, Oregon.
The victim was 23-year-old Miguel Angel Delfin. His mother, Belinda McCurdy, told the court her heart is destroyed.
-- The Associated Press
SALEM -- When President Donald Trump welcomed the nation's governors to the White House on Sunday, he greeted them and "their wives," Oregon Gov. Kate Brown told the Huffington Post on Monday.
Brown, one of four female governors in the U.S., said he also included daughters in his greeting, effectively ignoring any female governors, their husbands, or any governors' sons.
It was weird, she said, but the slight is nothing new.
"I've been there before," she told the Post. "I think people forget that there are female governors in the world."
The White House has not responded to a request for comment.
Of course, Trump's greeting could have included female governors with wives. But as the campaign for Brown, who is bisexual, pointed out in a Facebook post, all four current women governors are married to men.
"Hmmm, perhaps someone should let POTUS know women can be governors," the Brown campaign wrote, adding the hashtag #FirstGentlemenArePeopleToo.
It's unclear whether the president meant to address only the male governors in the room. Trump's cabinet is overwhelmingly composed of white men, and the president has bragged about sexually assaulting women. (Trump has denied he has ever kissed or groped women without their consent.)
Other than a pronouncement by Trump that Oregon is "a really great state" as Brown was introduced, she didn't interact much with the president, she told the Post.
Brown's campaign in January asked her supporters to "resist" the Trump administration. In February, she issued an executive order strengthening Oregon's sanctuary status and asked Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to fight Trump's travel ban.
Oregon was left off an early list of 50 priority infrastructure projects in December, before Brown was asked to submit projects for possible inclusion. Brown sent a list of possible Oregon projects later that month, and is now waiting to hear back from the White House.
-- Anna Marum
amarum@oregonian.com
503-294-5911
@annamarum
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 1, 2017) - Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform company, today announced that former Salesforce COO George Hu has joined the company as its chief operating officer, reporting to CEO Jeff Lawson. Hu will be responsible for Twilio's overall operational execution and go-to-market activities.
"George helped build Salesforce into the leading cloud SaaS and platform company, growing it to more than $5 billion in revenue during his tenure," said Jeff Lawson, Twilio co-founder, chairman and CEO. "I'm excited to have George's operational expertise and go-to-market skills helping us reach Twilio's next stage of growth."
"I'm incredibly excited to join Jeff and the Twilio team in leading the transformation of communications in today's API-driven world," said Hu. "I see this as a massive opportunity that has the power to change how every company engages with its customers and employees, limited only by the imagination of developers and businesses in every industry and market globally."
During his 13-year career at Salesforce, Hu served 4 years as chief operating officer where he owned all major shared operational functions for the company. He also served in a variety of other management roles including vice president of product marketing, senior vice president of applications, executive vice president of products, and chief marketing officer. After leaving Salesforce at the end of 2014, Hu founded a workplace feedback startup called Peer that was acquired by Twitter in 2016.
Prior to joining salesforce.com, Hu held product management and strategic consulting roles at North Point Communications and Boston Consulting Group. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard College and a master's degree in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 2010, Hu was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
About Twilio
Twilio's mission is to fuel the future of communications. Developers and businesses use Twilio to make communications relevant and contextual by embedding messaging, voice and video capabilities directly into their software applications. Founded in 2008, Twilio has over 700 employees, with headquarters in San Francisco and other offices in Bogota, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Malmo (Sweden), Mountain View, Munich, New York City, Singapore, and Tallinn (Estonia).
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* Large U.S. deployment against Islamic State unlikely
* Priority is working with local partners on the ground
* Turkey worried by potential Kurdish militia role in Raqqa (Adds background)
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq on Wednesday downplayed the chances that the United States would deploy a large number of additional coalition forces to battle Islamic State, even as President Donald Trump weighs options to speed the campaign.
Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend also delivered a robust defense of Kurdish fighters that have been America's strongest allies on the ground in Syria, despite concerns from Turkey that they pose a threat. He even signaled some role for Kurdish forces in an upcoming offensive for the city of Raqqa.
Townsend declined to openly discuss his recommendations for accelerating the fight against Islamic State but his comments represent one of the strongest signals yet that the U.S. military will not advocate any fundamental shift in a key strategy that relies on local ground forces.
The United States now fields less than 6,000 troops in both Iraq and Syria, a far cry from a peak of about 170,000 to Iraq under President George W. Bush.
"I don't foresee us bringing in large numbers of coalition troops, mainly because what we're doing is, in fact, working," Townsend told a Pentagon news briefing, speaking via video conference from Baghdad.
"But in that event that we bring in any additional troops, we'll work that with our local partners, both here in Iraq and Syria, to make sure that they understand the reasons why we're doing that and to get their buy-in of that."
Trump has made defeating Islamic State - which has claimed responsibility for attacks on American soil, in Europe and elsewhere - one of the key themes of his presidency, and his administration received a draft Pentagon plan on Monday to accelerate the campaign.
Details of that plan have not been disclosed, but Townsend said he still believed that fighting "by, with and through our local partners" was succeeding.
Story continues
"That is still the right way to go. It is working and our local partners are fully invested, they are leading the fight," he said.
KURDISH ROLE IN RAQQA
Trump's push against Islamic State in Syria could soon present him with an unenviable decision on whether to risk alienating NATO ally Turkey by relying on the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which in addition to Arabs includes Kurdish YPG fighters.
Townsend stressed that ethnically Kurdish fighters would have some role in the campaign since there were Kurds in Raqqa, the larger Raqqa district and the province.
"There are going to be Kurds assaulting Raqqa for sure. The number, the size of them, and how many Kurdish units are participating in that, I can't really say right now," he said.
Turkey is strongly opposed to YPG militia involvement in the operation to liberate Raqqa, not only because it sees the force as an extension of the PKK militants who have waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, but also because it says Raqqa is an Arab-dominated city.
It is unclear if the United States can do anything to ease those concerns.
Even before the start of the SDF's campaign for Raqqa, Syrian Kurdish politicians had indicated that the city was not a priority for them: the stated aim of the YPG was to defend Kurdish areas rather than venture into parts of Syria where Arabs are in the majority.
Turkey fears that YPG fighters could leverage victory in Raqqa as a negotiating strategy to solidify their gains elsewhere in Syria during that country's civil war.
In a sign of growing tension, a component of the U.S.-allied militias accused the Turkish army and allied Syrian rebels on Wednesday of attacking villages controlled by the U.S.-backed group near the city of Manbij in northern Syria.
Townsend delivered a robust defense of the YPG fighters who receive U.S. support, saying he had seen no evidence linking them to attacks on Turkey from northern Syria in the past two years.
"I've talked to their leaders and we've watched them operate and they continually reassure us that they have no desire to attack Turkey, that they are not a threat to Turkey, in fact that they desire to have a good working relationship with Turkey," Townsend said.
RUSSIAN BOMBING?
Despite Trump's suggestions during the campaign of potential joint action with Russia against Islamic State militants, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has played down that possibility. He said in mid-February he did not see prospects for military collaboration.
At the same time, Russian and Syrian forces are coming within increasing proximity to U.S.-backed troops.
Townsend said Russian and Syrian aircraft bombed positions held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Arab Coalition near the Syrian town of al Bab on Tuesday, inflicting casualties.
Russia denied hitting any such targets, however, according to according to RIA news agency.
The United States and Russia have a channel for avoiding an accidental clash in Syria but some U.S. commanders have advocated creating an additional channel involving more senior officers given the close proximity of fighting.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Nick Tattersall; Editing by James Dalgleish)
By Huw Jones and Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Banks based in Britain seeking to do business in the European Union after Brexit should apply early for a licence to set up actual operations and not "empty shells", European Central Bank supervisor Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Thursday. In the strongest comments yet on the subject from an ECB official, Lautenschlaeger warned lenders in Britain not to circumvent rules. She declined to say how many staff a new banking operation should have, saying it would be looked at on a "case-by-case" basis. She expected many of the 40 banks in Britain that currently serve continental customers to ask the ECB for a licence, and urged them to get in touch sooner rather than later. "I do not see the ECB issuing banking licences to empty shell companies," Lautenschlaeger, who sits on the ECB's executive board, said in London. "Our objective is to make the banking system safe and sound. I therefore expect banks which are seeking a licence in the euro area to meet our standards. There will be no race to the bottom in banking supervision," she said. Weighing in on the contentious issue of keeping euro derivatives clearing in Britain, Lautenschlaeger said ECB consent would depend on whether the new, post-Brexit legal framework offered an unchanged level of involvement for the ECB, and ensured financial stability in the euro zone. London dominates the clearing of derivatives denominated in euros, and the ECB is a member of the colleges of supervisors from different jurisdictions which oversees them. Lautenschlaeger said that apart from remaining in supervisory colleges of euro clearers in London, other, unspecified conditions would have to be met which will depend on what sort of trading deal Britain and the EU agree after Brexit. An attempt by the ECB to shift euro clearing to the euro zone was blocked by the EU court, but British Prime Minister Theresa May has said the UK will no longer come under the court after Brexit. Banks in Britain that plan to permanently opt for "back-to-back" - trades transacted on the continent being booked in London to cut costs - will be disappointed, she said. "This is not about a full ban of back-to-back booking. We rather aim at ensuring both an adequate local management of all material risks and the resolvability of the euro area entity," she said. "Needless to say that I would certainly not accept banks booking all exposures with the euro area entity while having their risk management and internal control systems outside the euro area," she added. Some banks are thinking of complementing or even replacing their licensed subsidiaries with investment firms or branches, which are supervised by national watchdogs or not supervised as banks, she said. But regulators in Britain supervise such large firms as banks, and EU rules could be changed to allow its regulators to do likewise, she said. "The current review of the European banking rules might provide an opportunity to do so," Lautenschlaeger said. (Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi in Frankfurt; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Ken Ferris)
Thursday 2 March 2017 4:32pm
Dr Lianne Parkin
Researchers from University of Otago are among the first recipients of two new grants from PHARMAC and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).
Dr Lianne Parkin of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine receives a grant worth more than $210,000 for research into metformin use by people with diabetes. This drug is the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes, however overseas research shows that many patients dont use it as prescribed.
Dr Parkin and colleagues will explore how to improve the way New Zealanders with type 2 diabetes use metformin.
PHARMAC Chief Executive Steffan Crausaz and HRC Chief Executive Professor Kath McPherson announced the first recipients of the joint fund today.
Mr Crausaz says the two studies will provide valuable insights into how New Zealanders can get the best out of medicines.
Our objective in setting up the fund with the HRC was to improve our knowledge of medicines use in New Zealand, so that we can take steps to improve peoples use of medicines, he says.
Metformin is an important medicine for people with type 2 diabetes, so Dr Parkins research will give us a better idea as to why people might not continue taking the medicine they need to keep them well.
Dr McPherson says the collaboration with PHARMAC is providing a further opportunity to grow innovative research into pharmaceuticals in New Zealand.
Were delighted to be involved in this research initiative with PHARMAC. This is a great example of government health organisations collaborating to benefit patients and strengthen the use of research evidence to improve our health system overall.
Im confident that the studies funded through this partnership initiative will be of a high quality and add to our knowledge of how New Zealanders use medicines.
Project details:
Improving metformin adherence and persistence in people with type 2 diabetes
$213,229, 24 months
Principal Investigator: Dr Lianne Parkin. The other investigators are Dr Simon Horsburgh (Preventive and Social Medicine), Mr Dave Barson (Preventive and Social Medicine), Associate Professor Katrina Sharples (Mathematics and Statistics, and Medicine), Dr Jimmy Zeng (Preventive and Social Medicine), Dr Lisa Te Morenga (Associate Dean (Maori), Division of Sciences; Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre; Human Nutrition), Faumuina Associate Professor Faafetai Sopoaga (Associate Dean (Pacific), Division of Health Sciences; Preventive and Social Medicine). Five of the researchers are core members of the Pharmacoepidemiology Research Network at the University.
Type 2 diabetes imposes a substantial burden on New Zealanders, particularly Maori and Pacific peoples. Metformin is the first-line medication for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but overseas research has found that many patients have suboptimal metformin adherence and persistence. Persistence refers to whether a person stays on a therapy, while adherence refers to whether a person takes a medication according to the prescribed schedule. Suboptimal metformin adherence and persistence are important because they are associated with a higher risk of diabetes complications.
The researchers will use routinely collected health data to (a) describe the patterns of metformin adherence and persistence in New Zealanders with type 2 diabetes, and (b) investigate the predictors and consequences of suboptimal adherence and persistence. They will also interview people with type 2 diabetes to get their views on what helps, and hinders, good metformin adherence and persistence. The findings will contribute to improved outcomes for people prescribed metformin.
For more information, contact:
Dr Lianne Parkin
Senior Lecturer
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine
Dunedin School of Medicine
University of Otago
Tel 64 3 479 8425
Email: lianne.parkin@otago.ac.nz
a 10 combat hammer
About 35 local boat captains simulated swarming attack maneuvers in fishing boats rigged with machine guns while fighter jets, attack helicopters, and the A-10 "Warthog" simulated attacks from above in Florida's Choctawhatchee Bay.
The Air Force at Eglin Air Force Base organized the simulation, called Combat Hammer, to address one of the more pressing threats to the US Navy: attacks from swarming fast-attack craft.
In the Persian Gulf, Iran has repeatedly used small, agile attack craft to harass US Navy ships in encounters that could lead to a broader conflict in a moment's notice.
US Navy ships have gone as far as to fire warning shots at approaching vessels, but that was before Iranian-backed Houthi militants used a suicide boat laden with explosives to kill two aboard a Saudi navy vessel off the coast of Yemen.
The Navy was already aware of the threat posed to its large, multimillion-dollar ships by small, cheap boats but the January Houthi attack showed the threat to be even more acute.
The Air Force's Combat Hammer exercise sought in part to answer the question of how the Navy would deal with a large mass of erratic attack craft and that involved A-10 Warthogs firing inert 30-millimeter rounds at unmanned ships.
The exercise also included attack helicopters, multirole fighter jets, and Canadian F-18s dropping simulated guided munitions.
fast attack craft
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"We evaluate precision-guided munitions against realistic targets with realistic enemy defenses," Lt. Col. Sean Neitzke, the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron commander, said in an Air Force statement. "There are plenty of places in the world where low-tech adversaries can mount .50-caliber machine guns and rocket launchers on small boats for use against us. They could also use other types of shoulder-launched weapons, all of which could be a threat to American assets."
The situation described by Neitzke bears eerily similarities to the situation with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.
Patrick Megahan, an expert on Iran's military with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Business Insider that even without the Air Force the US Navy had plenty of ways to counter the threat posed by Iranian-style swarm attacks.
"US Army Apache attack helicopters also frequently drill aboard US Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf for countering exactly this threat," Megahan said of the swarming boats.
MH 60 Seahawk
"This doesn't include the Navy's own Hellfire-equipped Seahawk helicopters or the Marine Corps' very capable attack helicopter squadrons that maintain an almost constant presence in the waters off the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. In fact, two fully load American attack helicopters would likely wreak havoc on an Iranian small-boat swarm."
NOW WATCH: Top foreign policy expert: Here's why China isn't more outspoken about North Korea's nuclear ambitions
More From Business Insider
Goose Creek, SC (29445)
Today
Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds light and variable..
Tonight
Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.
With snowdrifts rising as high as several stories, California water surveyors trekked into the wintry Sierra on Wednesday to confirm the most snow the 400-mile-long mountain range has seen in decades.
The ritual first-of-the-month measurement found snowpack at Phillips Station, south of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, at 179 percent of average for the date a reading that required state officials to stick their long cylindrical gauge much deeper than usual into the blanket of icy white.
While the lofty measurement at the station came as no surprise, since a network of real-time sensors put Sierra-wide snowpack at 185 percent of average on Wednesday morning, the number remains extraordinary after historically low readings during five years of drought.
Were up in the two to three, three or four biggest snow accumulations for March, said Frank Gehrke, snow survey chief for the California Department of Water Resources. It bodes extremely well for run-off ... and is a good indicator for good surface water supplies as we head into the spring and summer.
Sierra snow constitutes nearly one-third of the states water, with the melt-off pouring down creeks and rivers into dozens of foothill reservoirs. Lackluster measurements in prior years often meant perilously low water supplies.
The meadow at Phillips Station, where the monthly manual survey has been performed since 1941 off Highway 50 near the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, was nearly bare two years ago at the height of Californias drought. On Wednesday, 112.7 inches of snow covered the ground.
Wednesdays exercise served as a warm-up for next months final reading. On April 1, snowpack is typically at its peak and provides a critical indicator of how much water Californians can expect for the remainder of the year. Both the state-run and federal water projects will adjust their allocations for cities and towns accordingly.
Gov. Jerry Brown, who has yet to declare an official end to the California drought and lift statewide conservation rules, said he will re-evaluate his position once the April numbers are in.
Already, though, the huge March snow levels exceed what typically arrives all season especially on and around the Sierras tallest peaks to the south. There, snowpack on Wednesday measured 201 percent of average for the date.
Weve busted through April 1 values pretty much at all snow courses throughout the state, Gehrke said.
Both the southern and central Sierra are tracking close to 1983, when snowpack reached the highest levels ever recorded, Gehrke said.
Reservoirs beyond the Sierra are also benefiting from this winters wet weather. The exception is some parts of Southern California, which havent seen the rampant run of storms that has hit the north.
Groundwater, which typically provides about 40 percent of the states water, also remains an issue. Massive pumping during the drought dried up many aquifers, creating deficits that will take several wet years to fill.
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
Nearly two years after it first went up for sale, the California ranch that served as the late pop star Michael Jackson's "Neverland" retreat is returning to market for $67 million$33 million off its original asking price.
Located in Los Olivos, in the Santa Ynez Valley about 40 miles from Santa Barbara, the property was taken off the market in the summer of 2016, according to Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews International, who now has the listing. The local market has topped out at around $40 million so far, Ms. Rey said. "This price is more in line with values in the area," she added.
The seller is a joint venture between a fund managed by Colony NorthStar, a real-estate investment trust, and Mr. Jackson's estate.
Mr. Jackson paid $19.5 million for the ranch in 1987 and lived there for more than 15 years, making headlines for adding unusual features like amusement park rides and a train station. Amid financial struggles, he defaulted on a $24.5 million loan backed by the ranch. Colony Capital bought the note in 2008 for $23 million and put the title into a joint venture it formed with the pop star.
Colony merged with NorthStar Asset Management Group and NorthStar Realty Finance in early 2017. The company has spent millions on upgrades and maintenance since 2008, intending to eventually sell it, and the property is in move-in condition, Ms. Rey said.
Now called "Sycamore Valley Ranch," the property spans about 2,700 acres and has roughly 22 structures on it. The Normandy-style main house measures about 12,600 square feet, with five bedrooms plus a staff annex. There is also four-bedroom guesthouse and two staff houses. Another building contains a 50-seat movie theater and a dance studio.
A number of Mr. Jackson's additions remain, such as the railroad tracks and train station, although there is no train, Ms. Rey said. The property also still has a floral clock which spells out "Neverland," as well as the building that once housed the Neverland Valley Fire Department. The amusement park rides are gone, as are many of Mr. Jackson's exotic animals, but some animals remain on the property, including swans and a llama.
The property consists of three parcels, so more houses could be built on it if a buyer wishes, Ms. Rey said. She also noted that about 50 acres of vineyards could be planted on the property.
When the property went on the market in 2015, the listing agents were Suzanne Perkins and Harry Kolb of Sotheby's International Realty and Jeffrey Hyland of Hilton & Hyland. Ms. Perkins said $100 million "was a difficult number to achieve," especially last year when "the market was not as robust as it could have been."
At the time, Colony wasn't open to lowering the price, Ms. Perkins said, adding: "I wish we had been given the opportunity to try to market it at $67 million."
This article Michael Jacksons Onetime Neverland Ranch Gets $33 Million Price Cut appeared first in Celebrity Real Estate from realtor.com.
Delta College is busy working on its 2017-2018 budget, a spending plan that has been modified following Gov. Rick Snyders $56.3 billion budget proposal that does not call for funding increases for the states 28 community colleges.
Delta, which is receiving $14.9 million in state appropriations this year, has been developing budget models since November and while we did have a small increase in state appropriations originally weve adjusted accordingly, said Deb Lutz, vice president of business and finance.
President Jean Goodnow, in an email to the college community, said as a group the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) presidents are disappointed that Gov. Snyder has recommended no operations increase for community colleges. However, the governors proposed budget does not contain tuition restraint language for community colleges.
Thats an issue that will be of interest to our budget cabinet as they continue their work, Goodnow said.
Lutz said its too early to say whether Delta, in light of flat state appropriations, will recommend a larger tuition increase.
Many of the budget variables are up in the air right now and were trying our best to put together some reliable estimates, she noted. We also do not have reliable estimates for property tax valuations to estimate property tax revenue or personal property tax reimbursement allocations from the treasury.
Delta, Lutz added, will not have enrollment estimates for next year until spring registration numbers are finalized. The colleges general fund depends on three revenue sources: tuition and fees, state appropriations and property taxes from Bay, Saginaw and Midland counties. Officials said mitigating circumstances, including declining enrollment since 2011 and flat or decreasing property tax values, has caused a growing reliance on tuition and fees to balance the budget.
Still, our in-district tuition rate ($99.50 per credit hour) is currently among the lowest in the state for community colleges, Lutz said.
Goodnow said she is encouraged by Snyders proposal to allocate $1.25 million to support the Michigan Transfer Network, part of the state legislatures efforts to improve transferability of courses from community colleges to four-year institutions.
As Delta Colleges representative, I am one of only two community college presidents involved in this work, Goodnow said. We study block transfer of the associate of arts and associate of science degrees between 2- and 4-year institutions.
The governors budget presentation to the state legislature marks the beginning of the process in Lansing. The House and Senate have to agree on and pass a final budget, which Snyder must sign for it to become law.
Step one has begun and discussions are now underway, Goodnow said. Michigans fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but the legislature tries to have the work done by May/June.
Now that the governor has made a budget recommendation, the Senate and House will each make a recommendation and the final result will come from a conference committee, Lutz said. We have a long ways to go yet. We still have more questions than answers at this point.
Delta College Quality Public Television, Q-TV will premiere its newest locally-produced documentary, Sailing Into the Past Travels Aboard El Galeon Andalucia and the Tall Ship Celebration, at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 9. It will repeat at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 12. Both airings will take place during Q-TVs annual spring on-air pledge drive, which runs from March 4-12.
The 90-minute documentary narrated by Eric Jylha, retired WNEM-TV 5 weatherman and Delta College alumni takes viewers aboard a replica 16th century Spanish galleon that took part in the Tall Ships Challenge tour of the Great Lakes this past summer. Bay City was one of the port city stops.
To the editor:
After President Trumps recent press conference, or if you prefer his journey through wonderland, a Republican senator commented that his ramblings fit better in private with a therapist than in the public forum. After reading Mary Laforets letter to the editor, Feb. 17 (Therapy for Liberals) and her liberal use of Kevins tormented comments, the senators advice would be very helpful for her.
Take this gem: The election was a complete repudiation of Barack Obama. Unless I have this wrong, President Obama was not even running and the Gallup poll, at the change of office, showed President Obama at 55 percent approval and Trump at an all-time low of 37 percent. I am sure Kevin and Ms. Laforet understand the huge victory claimed is a serious delusional exaggeration, since Trump lost the popular vote by some 3 million and the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin were won with only 81,000 votes, for the electoral victory.
I do not fear the new presidents poorly formulated polices. I am confident in our system of checks and balances, and the integrity of most judges, representatives and senators to block bad ideas and restate poorly stated ones. We already see Republicans, judges and cabinet members dismissing some of Trumps most outrageous claims and positions. I am concerned by citizens who are okay when Trump stands in the public arena and intentionally gives incorrect data, and when trapped, blames someone else, e.g. 5 million fraudulent votes, biggest electoral victory since Reagan (only Bush Jr. had less), Bowling Green massacre, Sweden terrorist violence, lost New Hampshire because people were bussed into the state, Russian involvement in our election etc. See a pattern of ego over fact? Fake news?
I fully agree with the statement: Mr. Trump received over 62 million votes, not all of them cast by homophobes, racists, sexists, misogynists or any other ists. I would make three points: 1) it agrees that some fit this definition (Democrats have nuts), 2) it appears that Ms. Laforets source, Kevin, is one of the few and 3) I can identify at least one of these scary people in the local area!
RONALD E. TAYLOR
Midland
BLOOMINGTON A new small-business development center will open at Illinois Wesleyan University at the end of the month, filling a gap for would-be entrepreneurs and small businesses seeking to grow.
Karen Bussone, a visiting assistant professor of business administration, will lead the center, to be located on the third floor of IWU's State Farm Hall, the university announced Wednesday. It will open March 27, nine months after a similar center closed at Illinois State University.
Among services the center will provide are assistance with business plan development, financial packaging, exporting and importing support, disaster recovery, customer research assistance and healthcare guidance.
Charlie Moore, CEO of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, called the center crucial to the community.
In addition to helping entrepreneurs get started, Moore said, it will be a resource for businesses who are here and they want to grow but they don't know how.
Bussone has been teaching at IWU for nine years and has 21 years of experience in marketing, strategic leadership, manufacturing operations and distribution at Kellogg's, Kraft Foods and Dot Foods. She has a master's degree in business administration from Western Illinois University.
She envisions students being involved with projects and internships through the center.
Among the courses she has taught are business administration, financial management and entrepreneurship.
That entrepreneurial spirit is so intriguing and it's alive and well in this community, said Bussone.
She has been in contact with the leaders at the small-business development centers at Bradley University in Peoria, Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield and in Champaign. She expects to turn to them, particularly Bradley, if expertise is needed that is not available locally.
Karen brings a wealth of business experience and a history of successful integration of academic work with business development, said IWU Provost Johnathan Green, who joked that the center is so new, We haven't even bought the ribbon to cut.
The center's hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Although the center isn't officially open yet, Bussone said people can contact her at kbussone@iwu.edu.
Kyle Ham, CEO of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, said the EDC had been considering reviving the Small Business Development Center itself, then jumped at the opportunity to have IWU do so when the university expressed interest.
The center will be jointly funded by the Bloomington-Normal EDC, IWU and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Green said the university also has some informal commitments for financial support that will be announced later.
ISU closed its center at the end of June after being told it would receive no more money until the state had a budget. Although the center was funded by the Small Business Administration, the federal money flowed through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
BLOOMINGTON Cleanup and damage assessment continued Wednesday after Tuesdays violent storms that spawned at least 24 tornadoes across Illinois and reportedly killed four people in the Midwest, including two Ottawa men.
The National Weather Service said late Wednesday the tornado that roared through Ottawa and the small village of Naplate packed winds up to 155 mph, making it an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM reported late Wednesday night that a second Ottawa man has died of injuries suffered when a tree fell on him and another man.
Authorities previously confirmed that an uprooted tree killed Wayne Tuntland, 76. WBBM reported that DJ Johnson, 31, was crushed by the same tree while pushing a third man to safety.
OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa reported treating 16 patients after the storm that damaged dozens of structures in Ottawa and neighboring Naplate, including the LaSalle County Nursing Home in Ottawa.
The types of injuries we have received include fractures and injuries to the head, knee, and arm areas, said hospital spokeswoman Libby Allison in an email. Several injuries were the result of falling tree limbs and the inability of drivers to see as they tried to travel home.
Two patients were transferred to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where one was listed in critical condition and the other in good condition. It was unknown late Wednesday if Johnson was one of these patients.
One patient was admitted overnight at the Ottawa hospital and then released Wednesday. The others, including two patients who came to the emergency room on Wednesday, were treated and released.
About a quarter of the roughly 200 homes in Naplate were damaged, Fire Chief John Nevins said.
Debbie Loughridge, 61, and her son were inside their Naplate home, riding out the storm in the bathtub. Firefighters rescued them after the roof was torn off.
"All I heard was the wind and the breaking glass. Like an explosion of glass," Loughridge said.
Representatives from the McLean County Emergency Management Agency were ready to respond when the tornadoes hit both to the north and south of McLean County about 5 p.m. Tuesday, said Director Bob Clark.
We were watching everything and were ready for deployment if necessary, but we never got the call, he said. It was an interesting situation. There were issues to the north and to the south, but we also had to keep in mind that another wave was going to arrive a few hours later. But, fortunately, we werent needed.
The weather service has confirmed 24 tornadoes in Illinois from Tuesday's storms, including one that touched down about 5:30 p.m. in Washburn in Woodford County but left no injuries.
NWS Storm Prediction Center meteorologist Patrick Marsh said crews are still determining how many twisters touched down across Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri.
We knew McLean County was a moderate risk for severe weather, but it was just good luck that the system went to the north and south, said weather service meteorologist Kirk Huettl. There was some hail at about 11 p.m. along with some strong winds, but no major damage reported.
Marsh said a strong storm system moved from the Mountain West and collided with warm and humid air in the Midwest, which has enjoyed an unusually warm winter and where temperatures Tuesday were well into the 70s in many places.
"That's why we saw storms more representative of late March and April," Marsh said. "The atmosphere doesn't care what the calendar says."
In southern Illinois, an apparent tornado near the town of Crossville near the Wabash River killed a 71-year-old man and injured his wife, White County Coroner Chris Marsh said.
In Missouri, a twister blew several vehicles off of Interstate 55 near Perryville, 65 miles southeast of St. Louis. A 24-year-old man from Perryville was thrown from one of the vehicles and died, Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Juston Wheetley said. The wind, which damaged 110 homes there and left 12 people injured, was so strong that it lifted crumpled cars from a nearby salvage yard and tossed them along the highway.
American Red Cross volunteers were in several counties, including LaSalle, Marshall and Woodford counties, to work with victims and emergency personnel.
Ameren Illinois reported about 7 p.m. Wednesday that it had completed restoring power to 43,000 customers, mostly in the Ottawa and Carbondale areas.
Marijuana An Oklahoma woman was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for possession of marijuana in connection with an August traffic stop where police founds 49 pounds in a vehicle.
Willisha Smith, 37, pleaded guilty to the drug offense in exchange for dismissal of a more serious marijuana delivery charge. Smith and LaToya Tyson, also 37 of Oklahoma, were stopped by McLean County Deputy John Albee on Interstate 55 for a defective windshield. A prosecutor told a judge at Smith's plea hearing that the defendant claimed she found the marijuana in an alley in Chicago.
The plea agreement includes a $100,000 street value fine, an amount that represents about half the value of the drugs, according to the state.
Charges are pending against Tyson.
NORMAL Fewer youngsters are acutely ill these days. Even when they are, most don't spend long periods in hospitals.
That's good, of course, but it makes it difficult for nursing students to gain clinical experience in pediatrics.
Illinois State University's Mennonite College of Nursing found a solution that not only benefits its students, it benefits K-12 schools in the area.
Instead of doing their clinicals at a hospital, nursing students get pediatric and public health clinical experience working with school nurses in seven school districts, including District 87 and Unit 5.
Nursing students get to see children in different developmental stages, create health promotion projects and gain insight into challenges facing children with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, sickle cell anemia and seizure disorders.
It's a win-win for everybody concerned, said Susy Marcum, a school nurse in Normal-based Unit 5. About 20 percent of students in regular classrooms have a chronic illness.
Called the America's Promise School Project, the initiative receives funding from State Farm Companies Foundation.
Students spend one day a week at their assigned school, the same as if they were in a hospital, explained Carla Pohl, assistant professor of nursing and project director. She said 76 nursing students are taking part this semester.
Senior Stephanie Guerra of Homer Glen said, You don't realize how big of a role the school nurse plays in emergency planning.
As if on cue, an interview with the nursing students is interrupted when a teacher enters the Fairview Elementary School nurse's office with a young girl with a bloody nose from a collision in gym class.
Marcum, as school nurse, takes the lead, but the nursing students also pitch in, calming the teary-eyed girl.
Unplanned experiences like that, plus working with youngsters in the classroom and through a home outreach visit, set the program apart.
Senior Ezgi Basar of Naperville said she likes that the program "lets us focus on preventative care more."
For example, first-graders at Fairview brush their teeth in class after lunch. Each has a separate compartment next to a sink in the classroom with their own toothbrush and toothpaste. Buying those supplies is part of where the funding goes.
As the nursing students taught the youngsters about proper brushing, using toothy stuffed animals, they asked and answered questions.
When one child mentioned her grandmother had fake teeth, senior Zack Taylor of Bloomington asked, Do you know what a full set of fake teeth is called?
Wooden teeth, another youngster answered enthusiastically, just days after George Washington's birthday was celebrated.
The nursing students and other adults in the room did a good job of not laughing and, instead, Taylor noted that, yes, wooden teeth were used in the past, but now people use something called dentures that are made of a much nicer material.
Learning to talk to youngsters in easily understood words is an important part of the pediatric clinical experience, said Pohl.
I like interacting with the kids, said Maria Romero, a senior from Warrenville. It's something very different from the clinical setting. We get to follow them a full year.
Each nursing student in the project is assigned a young student with a chronic illness whose family agrees to be part of the project. The nursing student meets with the family at their home and helps develop a plan of care, said Pohl.
You try to get a holistic understanding, what sort of routines the family has incorporated into their day to manage the disease, said Taylor. The family was very gracious and willing to teach me a little bit about the illness.
Pohl and Mary Cranston, clinical course leader for the project and an instructional assistant professor, presented information about the program to members of the ISU board of trustees earlier this year.
Cranston commended the nursing faculty's willingness to develop new ways to teach clinicals.
With innovation, we grow, we learn and we learn new skills, she said. The core of nursing is caring about others.
Bloomington and Normal leaders are correct in taking their time with a proposal that would provide broad protection to undocumented immigrants but could limit police in how they do their jobs.
Illinois People's Action, a Bloomington-based group that advocates for immigrant rights and other social issues, has given Normal and Bloomington officials a proposed Welcoming Town Ordinance, Edith Brady-Lunny reported last week.
With changes at the federal level, hundreds of immigrants in Central Illinois legal or not are newly worried about whether they will be able to stay in their country of choice. Their status also is concerning to American-born citizens who disagree with the Trump administration, and to business owners and farmers who depend on immigrants who work in the hospitality, agriculture and tech industries and in the fields of education and medicine.
But knee-jerk reactions such as "sanctuary city" titles and "welcoming town" ordinances" carry the possibility of long-term effects that could be even more detrimental to the communities that quickly implement them.
In her story, Brady-Lunny said the six-page proposal outlines how local agencies, including police, can obtain and use information during their interactions with immigrants. Under the proposal, threats of deportation may not be leveled against a person based on their immigration status. A court order would be required to investigate a person's citizenship or immigration status.
Unless given a warrant for a criminal offense, the story said, police would be barred from transferring a person into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and staff with all agencies would be prohibited from working with ICE.
However, our police need the freedom to do their jobs, and our local leaders need similar freedoms to use common sense in what's best for our cities. Both mayors have eyed the possibility of a proclamation saying the city and town welcome immigrants, but without putting legal restrictions on how that welcome could be interpreted.
Our federal government, as well, needs to freedom to do its job, and that includes ICE. The agency wasn't created to round up miscreants but to make sure our country's immigration and customs laws were enforced and our country kept safe. Issues with those laws, and how they are enforced, should be the immediate focus not adding municipal rules that will make it more difficult for our local leaders and police to do their jobs.
Many people are concerned about what the Trump administration's plans will mean for immigrants. The best way to help is to offer personal support to those affected, and to share your concerns by letter, traditional and social media, phone call or poster board with your federally elected leaders.
Nobody likes snitches, but few have taken a stronger anti-snitching stance than rapper Cam'ron. In a 2007 interview, Killa Cam told Anderson Cooper that he would not have told police who shot him in both arms if he knew, and furthermore, he would not even tell police if he knew he was living next door to a serial killer:
"If I knew a serial killer was living next to me? I probably wouldn't call or tell anybody about him, but I'd probably move. I'm not gonna be around, because I don't want to be living around serial killers, but I'm not gonna call and put the signs up and say 'The serial killer's in 4E.' [...] It's about business but it's still also a code of ethics."
He ultimately apologized for those statements, but when Cam raps "never snitch, me in a bathrobe, fly slippers" we have absolutely no reason not to believe him. However, we now know the man that wouldn't tell on on Jeffrey Dahmer thinks it's ok, nay, our civic duty to snitch on Donald Trump.
Cam'ron appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah last night to reverse his long-held 'snitches get stitches' position, saying, "Times change. With Donald Trump as president, y'all snitches have a civic-ass responsibility to tell us what he's up to." He goes on to call upon the members of the intelligence community, government bureaucrats, and "a disgruntled third wife that didn't ask for any of this shit" to rat on the rat in chief, and stands front of an American flag, saying "stay snitchin' America."
What a time to be alive!
Officials of a breast milk bank located in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh in Ireland, announced that it needs milk donations as it only has milk stock good for two weeks. The Western Trust Milk Bank, the only breast milk bank in Ireland, issued 1,500 liters of breast milk in 2015, and provided milk to over 900 babies last year.
The Ireland Milk Bank distributes its milk stocks to premature babies and those who are extremely vulnerable. It supplies all neonatal units in Ireland.
"For these tiny, tiny little ones - breast milk is liquid gold, it's liquid medicine," Western Trust Milk Bank manager Ann McCrea said. "It's human milk that gets their gut primed, it's human milk that fights any infections that they can get. It constantly changes to fight all the new infections that they're liable to have."
McCrea noted an increase in the number of twins, as well as triplets and quadruplets that got their milk supply from the milk bank, according to Fox News. She said these babies need more milk supply since their mothers could not produce enough breast milk for more than one baby.
Demand for the milk bank's breast milk has risen due to an increased awareness of the importance and benefits of breast milk, as per BBC. Neonatal units have also increased its requirement for specific milk donations since premature babies benefit from the nutritional and higher calorie content of the milk.
McCrea has called the milk shortage an exceptional one but hoped it is only a temporary crisis. The facility has started an aggressive donor recruitment campaign. They have also appealed to mothers who have stored breast milk in their freezers to bring them to the milk bank. All donations, however, have to undergo strict screening for possible diseases.
Breast milk banks have existed for years and the demand for their stocks have increased due to the World Health Organization's campaign on the importance of breast milk, according to Kidspot. The milk banks all over the world have prioritized premature babies because they greatly benefit from breast milk's immunity properties.
Royal toddler, Prince George, could be a budding chef or a future storm chaser. His mother, the Duchess of Cambridge who is more popularly known as Kate Middleton, revealed her son's two favorite things during a recent visit to a children's hospital.
Kate was asked by a 4-year-old boy at the charity facility Ronald McDonald Houses about Prince George and the Duchess answered that her son wasn't with her as he's at the Montessori nursery making pancakes. At that time, the public was celebrating Pancake Day and the young prince apparently took part by helping make breakfast, according to Vanity Fair.
The 4-year-old boy from the hospital then mentioned to the Duchess that a storm was coming. "Yes, I know all about those," she said. "George likes storms, too!"
The boy was at the hospital to visit his ailing baby brother at the intensive care. His mom, Rebecca, met and got to talk to the Duchess and admitted it was an emotional encounter.
"You could see the sympathy in her eyes," Rebecca said, per E! Online. "She was so warm and down-to-earth." The duchess also talked and consoled the mother of a baby boy born with half a heart and the family of another baby with failing kidneys, according to Babble.
Meanwhile, the Duchess reportedly volunteered to be the nanny at her sister Pippa Middleton's wedding. Kids of friends and family are said to be invited to the big event and Kate will watch over them, according to Wedding and Wedding Flowers. Pippa's wedding to beau James Matthew will take place May 20 at the Middleton's residence.
In the fall, the Duchess and her family will begin a new chapter in their lives as they take up residence in Kensington after living in the country for almost four years. As she and husband Prince William are going to take in more royal duties under Queen Elizabeth II, Prince George will start preparatory school.
A woman was caught on CCTV dumping a baby outside a hospital. The newborn girl was rescued from the cold by one of the doctors who was also recorded rushing to where she was after learning about her from the staff members. He also found out the baby has Down syndrome.
Dr. Zhalgas Usenhanov retrieved the infant who was left naked on the cold pavement of a hospital in Kazakhstan. The baby is currently fighting for her life at the intensive care unit.
The doctors assessed the baby's condition as "highly difficult" aside from having Down syndrome. Machines were connected to her tiny body to help her lungs work. "It seems that the baby spent more than an hour lying on the cement under a pouring rain," Usenhanov said, according to Mirror.
The police was brought in to investigate the incident and the authorities are now searching for the woman in the recorded footage. She was wearing a long hooded coat in an attempt to conceal her face.
Police assumed she is the baby's mother. If caught, she would be liable for abandoning a child, which is a criminal offense, according to Metro.
Some netizens judged the mother for her cruel act but one said no one has the right to condemn the mother. "Nobody knows what is going on in her life," a netizen said.
One observer, however, noted how only one person attempted to rescue the baby after she was dumped. "Everyone was buzzing about the baby and only one man dared running out of the building and actually doing something," the netizen said.
Babies born with Down syndrome experience different inherent medical problems including hearing loss, eye disease, heart defects and thyroid disease. This is a lifelong condition made manageable through therapy and early intervention programs. In most cases, however, children with Down syndrome will need assistance especially when they enter school, according to the CDC.
Speaking to Congress for the very first time last Tuesday, President Donald Trump made sure to highlight school choice as the core of his policy in education. He called on the lawmakers to help the marginalized and disadvantaged families in his government's plan to change the system.
During the past presidential campaign, Trump divulged so little about his education policy. In his first speech to Congress, however, he validated that he's ready to push school choice.
"I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children," the president told the lawmakers, per The 74 Million. "These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them."
Like former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Trump cited education as "the civil rights issue of our time." One thing remains unclear, however, because as laudable as his declaration was, the president did not tell Congress where the funds will come from to support school choice, according to Chalkbeat.
In the September 2016 campaign trail, Trump proposed his government will spend $20 billion for school choice, as per Forbes. The president, however, did not mention this amount again in his recent speech.
Instead, Trump acknowledged a guest from the audience, Florida's Denisha Merriweather. The president said she struggled and failed in school more than once but Merriweather was still able to get into a private school by availing tax credit and scholarship.
In the Sunshine State, there is a scholarship tax credit program where corporate donors that provide scholarships to students receive tax credits. This might be what Trump wants lawmakers to pursue with education, according to MPR News.
Meanwhile, Trump made no mention of his plans for K-12 or Common Core. The bulk of his message to Congress on education was school choice. Learn more about it below.
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north korea
In a dramatic shift from traditional policy, an internal White House review on North Korean strategy revealed that the option to use military force, or a regime change to curb the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons was on the table, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
This review comes at the heels of a report claiming President Donald Trump believed the "greatest immediate threat" to the US was North Korea's nuclear program.
Recent provocations from the Hermit Kingdom, including the ballistic missile launch in the Sea of Japan and the assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in Malaysia, may have provoked this shift in the policy that have many officials and US allies worried.
"North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" Trump tweeted in January. Several weeks later, North Korea conducted its missile test.
Since then, Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland consulted with other officials to address North Korea's fresh series of provocations. In the meeting, held about two weeks ago, the officials discussed the possibility of a plan "outside the mainstream," the Journal reported.
According to the Journal, McFarland requested for all options in order to completely overhaul American policy toward North Korea including for the US to recognize North Korea as a nuclear state and the possibility of a direct military conflict.
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The proposals, which are now being vetted prior to Trump's review, would certainly be met with worry from China, a long-time North Korean ally, who recently responded with an export ban against North Korea's coal industry. Additionally, many experts fear that a direct military conflict would spark all-out warfare, including artillery barrages directed at Seoul, South Korea's capital.
Story continues
Even more worrisome is the possibility for further North Korean provocations, which may influence the recent policy shift, as early as this month. As the US and ally South Korea conduct "Foal Eagle" and "Key Resolve," their annual military exercises that involve 17,000 US troops and Terminal High Altitude Air Defense systems, experts say that provocations from North Korea will be likely.
Read the Wall Street Journal report here
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Apple licenses iPhone communication patents through recognized industry patent pools and uses industry leading modems and parts wherein the parts suppliers have their own patent portfolios. And yet Nokia and Qualcomm and others are always trying to sue the profit leading smartphone leader Apple.
Today Patently Apple has learned that Apple is being sued by Inventergy, Inc., a professional Patent Troll (or defender of IP, depending on which side of the isle you're on) led by former HP VP of Intellectual Property Licensing Joe Beyers.
Apple recently acknowledged Inventergy in their lawsuit against Acacia Research Corporation. Apple noted that a number of companies were in a conspiracy against them led by Nokia, as noted in Apple's graphic that was found in their lawsuit. Inventergy was one of the alleged conspirators listed on Apple's chart.
Inventergy mentions Nokia in their patent infringement case against Apple by noting that they "own hundreds of other patents related to mobile telecommunications and wireless technology acquired from Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei") and Nokia Corporation ("Nokia")."
Inventergy's lawsuit against Apple was filed in late February in Delaware. They've listed seven patents formerly owned by Panasonic and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. The four from Matsushita are 6,466,563, 6,611,676, 7,206,587 and 6,760,590; the three from Panasonic are 7,760,815, 7,764,711 and 7,848,439. The lawsuit claims that the iPhone 7m 7 Plus and equivalents, and Apple's HSPA devices infringe on the patents presented in their case.
In one segment of the lawsuit Inventergy notes that "On January 16, 2015, Inventergy first contacted Defendant regarding a potential license to a number of patents in Inventergy's patent portfolio, including the '563, '676, '587, '815, '439, and '590 Asserted Patents. Inventergy's letter to Defendant described the portfolio on 3G (WDCMA) and 4G (LTE) communications and identified 34 patent families, consisting of 347 patents, with claims directed to end user devices. Inventergy explained that a number of these patents and patent families related to "WCDMA and LTE standards enabled in Apple Products" and were therefore subject to FRAND licensing commitments. Inventergy further explained that it was "prepared to grant Apple a worldwide, nonexclusive license" and offered specific royalty rates for Apple's products. Inventergy also attached a number of claim charts, including charts for the '590 and '439 Patents.
Inventergy contacted Defendant on February 13, 2015 to further discuss the possibility of granting Defendant a worldwide, nonexclusive license for its patent portfolio, including for the Asserted Patents.
Inventergy sent additional claim charts to Defendant on March 6, 2015, including for the '563 Patent.
On March 31, 2015, Inventergy sent Defendant additional details relating to its Panasonic patent portfolio.
After a period of discussion, the parties' met on or around August 4, 2015. At that meeting, Inventergy presented Defendant with additional details of Defendant's infringement of the Asserted Patents, including with claim charts for at least the '590 and '439 Patents. Inventergy reiterated its proposal for granting Defendant a worldwide, nonexclusive license for its patent portfolio, including for the Asserted Patents.
On August 25, 2015, Inventergy sent Defendant additional details regarding several of the Asserted Patents, along with several claim charts including an updated chart for the '563 Patent.
Throughout the events described above, Inventergy continuously offered Defendant a license to its Panasonic Portfolio, including the Asserted Patents, on FRAND terms. To date, Defendant has refused to enter into such a licensing agreement."
The patent infringement case presented in today's report was filed in Delaware District Court, Wilmington Office, New Castle. At present, no Judge has been assigned to the case.
Notice: Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of certain legal cases/ lawsuits which are part of the public record for journalistic news purposes. Readers are cautioned that Patently Apple does not offer an opinion on the merit of the case and strictly presents the allegations made in said legal cases / lawsuits. A lawyer should be consulted for any further details or analysis. About Making Comments on this Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
In May 2013 Smartflash sued Apple alleging that Apple's iTunes Store infringed their patents. In February 2015 Smartflash won their case and Apple vowed to appeal. In July 2015 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Federal Judge Throws out Smartflash Infringement Case Damages against Apple, Sets New Trial for September." Then in June 2016 we posted a report titled "In 2015 Smartflash won a $533 Million Verdict against Apple, but Two out of Three Patents have now been invalidated." Yesterday a federal appeals court threw out a jury verdict that had originally required Apple to pay $533 million to Smartflash and more importantly, said that the judge should have ruled the patents invalid and set aside the previous verdict entirely.
According to a Reuters report, "A unanimous three-judge appeals panel said Smartflash's patents were too 'abstract' and did not go far enough in describing an actual invention to warrant protection.
The decision likely ends a case that had attracted wide attention when the verdict was rendered but had gone against the plaintiff ever since.
About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
Fire him now.
In related news, today I learned that its not enough to be an orthodox Catholic who professes the Creed, observes the sacraments, attends Mass faithfully, and is obedient to the Church to the degree of having ten children. Nope. If you listen to multiple media sources that demonstrate evidence Jeff Sessions perjured himself about meeting with Russians and doubt the holy word of Breitbart when they shout fake news at this emphatically unfake story, you are a liberal. And we all know that liberals are enemies of the Faith who want to kill the babies.
We have entered the period in history where I believe in Donald Trump is the measure of orthodoxy for the Trump defender and the Creed has been flushed. Because Trump defenders do not measure truth or falsehood according to prudence or the gospel, but according to whether or not it helps or hurts themselves or their culture war enemies.
Happily, some Republicans are more honest than Christians Trump defenders and call for him to recuse himself from investigating Trumps ties to Russia. And he has offered to do so. However, he should actually be fired and punished for his perjury. Also, instead of persuing the standard strategy of the Party of Personal Responsibilitynamely, Holder lied so its okay that Sessions liedthe GOP need to realize that Trumps ties to Russia require a thorough investigation and if they refuse to do it, they are in all likelihood complicit in what could well be treason. The US intel community already regards Trump as a Russian mole in the White House situation room and assumes that they know more about our raid on Yemen than he does (since he was busy tweeting while it was happening). I cant believe the GOP is dumb enough to drag its feet on this, however much Good Catholic Trump defenders are willing to completely forget their alleged core value of defending the unborn or the gospel to defend this sleaze.
But the most important thing is that a Catholic in good standing should not be tarred as a quasi-heretic for having her eyes open to reality.
Patna: A day after the Prohibition and Excise Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan hit the headline for urging his supporters to beat the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with shoes and chappals after calling the PM a 'dacoit', opposition leaders led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created a ruckus in the state Assembly on Wednesday demanding dismissal of the minister from the Nitish cabinet.
Throughout the day, the session was disrupted by constant demand for apologies from Mastan and his removal from the ministry though that did not move Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take any action against the Prohibition Minister.
Prem Kumar, the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly, said that Mastan should be charged with sedition for calling the PM a dacoit, a Naxalite, and an extremist and must be arrested immediately.
"Mastan is a refugee from Bangladesh who has settled in Bihar. He has no right to talk about the Indian Prime Minister the way he did in the viral video," Kumar said.
Under pressure from all quarters, Mastan offered the classic non-apology apology saying if his statement hurt someone's sentiments then he was sorry for it.
Unsatisfied by his so-called apology, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that Mastan did this to appeal to a certain section of the voters to strengthen his base.
"I have been informed that Muslim voters were not in favor of Congress in UP so in order to solidify Muslim votes, Mastan pulled this stunt. It is incumbent upon the Chief Minister take action against this man who has a history of saying and doing things that put Bihar in bad light," Modi said.
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Iran Uses Oscar Win to Attack Trump, US Response Muted
03/01/17
By Afshar Sigarchi and Michael Lipin, VOA
Tehran has cheered Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi's second Oscar for best foreign film as an opportunity for more verbal attacks on the Trump administration, which responded with a muted defense of U.S. policy and deletion of a tweet about the movie.
Asghar Farhadi's second Oscar win
artwork by Jalal Hajizadeh, Ghanoon daily
A day after Farhadi's The Salesman received the honor at Sunday's Academy Awards in Los Angeles, three senior Iranian officials sent him congratulatory messages that also contained criticisms of President Donald Trump, whom Tehran blames for increased tensions between the two nations since he took office last month.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that he was proud of The Salesman's cast and crew for taking a stance against what he described as the Trump administration's "Muslim ban." He was making a reference to a January 27 executive order signed by Trump to temporarily deny U.S. entry to citizens of Iran and six other Muslim-majority nations seen as insufficiently acting to prevent terrorists from travel.
Proud of cast & crew of "The Salesman" for Oscar & stance against #MuslimBan. Iranians have represented culture & civilization for millennia Javad Zarif (@JZarif) February 27, 2017
Farhadi declined to fly to the U.S. and attend the award ceremony in protest at the travel ban, which a federal court suspended on February 3 in response to legal challenges from U.S. critics who call it unconstitutional.
Accepting the Oscar on his behalf were two prominent Iranian Americans whom he asked to represent him. One of them, astronaut Anousheh Ansari, read a statement from Farhadi, who called Trump's immigration order "inhumane" and said "dividing the world into 'us' and 'our enemies' categories creates fear - a deceitful justification for aggression and war."
In similar remarks reported by Iranian state media, Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri praised Farhadi for "defending his country against the inhuman measure taken by ... Trump," while Iranian Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Reza Salehi-Amiri said The Salesman's Oscar win "shows that the U.S. president's behavior is against peace and friendship."
The U.S. State Department offered no reaction to the Iranian officials' remarks in response to a question from VOA Persian. It said Washington has no comment on Farhadi's statement, but added: "We support free speech and artistic expression."
The State Department's Farsi-language Twitter account had tweeted its congratulations to Farhadi within hours of him receiving the Oscar, but later deleted the message.
One Iranian artist expressed his thoughts about Farhadi's Oscar victory by echoing his government's characterization of it as a rebuke to Trump. Cartoonist Bozorgmehr Hosseinpour posted a cartoon on his Instagram account showing Farhadi sitting at a chess board and holding an Oscar statuette, about to knock out an unseen opponent's final chess piece in the likeness of Trump. Hosseinpour captioned it, "Checkmate!"
cartoon by Bozorgmehr Hosseinpur
But, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif drew some criticism on social media for using his country's award to make a political point against the Trump administration. One Twitter user posted this response to Javad Zarif's tweet expressing pride in the filmmakers:
Iran has jailed several filmmakers in recent years on charges of acting against the government.
Some Twitter users also criticized The Salesman director Farhadi for not using the platform of the Oscars to highlight the Iranian government's perceived rights abuses against political prisoners and religious minorities. But other users tweeted messages in his defense, saying he should be celebrated for winning Iran's only two Oscars. He won his and his nation's first Oscar for best foreign film in 2012 for A Separation.
Shahab Hosseini (L) and Taraneh Alidusti in The Salesman
(Forushandeh in Persian)
(watch the trailer)
VOA Persian Service journalists Sara Dehghan, Tomaj Javidtash and White House correspondent Steve Herman contributed to this report.
About the author:
Michael covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV, specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Lipin
Iran's Major Naval Exercise, Missile Tests a 'Standard Practice'
03/02/17
By Michael Lipin and Sayran Sharafi, VOA
file photo: Iranian navy drill in Persian Gulf in January 2016
WASHINGTON - Iran has wrapped up a large-scale naval exercise involving missile tests at a time of heightened tension with the United States. The U.S. downplayed the Iranian maneuvers as a "standard practice."
Iranian state media said the navy drill that ended Tuesday spanned 2 million square kilometers of the Arabian Sea, extending to the entrances of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
The drill involved successful tests of two upgraded missiles Monday, one of them a submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) named Nasir, and the other a guided anti-ship missile (AShM) called Dehlaviyeh. State media said an Iranian submarine also successfully test fired an advanced torpedo dubbed Valfajr on Tuesday.
Iranian media published video clips of the Dehlaviyeh missile and Valfajr torpedo hitting naval targets, but did not release images of the Nasir cruise missile test.
Iran's Valfajr torpedos
Reports quoted Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as saying the naval exercise was aimed at upgrading Iran's defense capabilities and sending a message of "peace and friendship" to its neighbors. Those neighbors include Sunni-led Arab states that host U.S. military bases and have expressed concern about predominantly Shi'ite Iran's efforts to expand its regional influence.
Latest tests of little concern
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have risen since President Donald Trump took office in January and vowed a tougher response to Iranian actions seen as threatening U.S. interests and those of its allies.
But the U.S. Defense Department sent VOA Persian a statement expressing no explicit concern about Tehran's latest show of force.
"Iranian naval forces, just like U.S. naval forces, conduct exercises as standard practice to train and maintain proficiency," said Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood. "It is prudent and standard practice for the U.S. military to be aware of other military operations near our forces both in this region and in any part of the world."
But Sherwood added a cautionary note about the U.S. military's next moves in the Persian Gulf, without specifically mentioning Iran.
"U.S. military operations in the region continue to focus on the commitment to foster security and stability by maintaining a naval and air presence that deters destabilizing activities and upholds lawful maritime order," he said.
Sharp response to missile test
The Trump administration had a sharper response to Iran's January 29 ballistic missile test, accusing it of undermining regional security and putting American lives at risk. Within a week, the administration imposed financial sanctions on 25 individuals and companies linked to the Iranian ballistic missile program and the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran has maintained that its missile development program is consistent with U.N. Security Council resolution 2231 that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
The resolution calls upon Iran not to "undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology."
The Iranian government has denied Western accusations that its nuclear program is designed to produce weapons.
A defiant gesture
Foreign policy analyst Michael O'Hanlon of the Washington-based Brookings Institution told VOA Persian's LateNews show that Iran's latest missile tests may be intended as a defiant gesture to Trump by a government that believes it has international law on its side.
"One interpretation of the tests is that the Iranians are trying to force Trump into a position where he has to acknowledge that missile launches are not covered by the nuclear deal, and therefore that the world is going to have to get used to Iran doing this in the Trump era," O'Hanlon said.
Iranian state media said the Dehlaviyeh test was the first time homemade, laser-guided "smart" missiles had destroyed its target at sea. Smart missiles use sensors to track, lock on and intercept targets.
International Institute for Strategic Studies defense analyst Joseph Dempsey told VOA Persian the Dehlaviyeh missile is widely believed to be an Iranian copy of a Russian anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) called the Kornet. He expressed skepticism of Iran's categorization of Dehlaviyeh as an anti-ship missile, saying it appears to "lack the characteristics and effectiveness associated with dedicated anti-ship missile systems, not least in terms of its limited range and guidance methods."
Weapon with potential
O'Hanlon of Brookings said Dehlaviyeh has the potential to be a significant military asset to Iran.
"My best guess is that converting a modern Russian anti-tank weapon for use in an anti-ship capacity would be rather effective," he said. "If you're firing an anti-tank missile, you're looking for big, heavy metallic objects. Ships are, of course, larger than tanks, and at sea, there are fewer objects [besides the target] in your field of view than on land."
Iran's latest missile tests also may have been motivated largely by domestic considerations, O'Hanlon said.
"According to this view, Iran's navy drill is part of its ongoing effort to improve its missile force, and the country has people within its military who are committed to this kind of modernization and will keep doing it no matter what Washington does," he said. "I would favor that second, simpler interpretation."
Hooman Bahktiar of VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report.
About the author: Michael Lipin covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV, specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Lipin
Iran regaining OPEC's market share
03/02/17
By Mina Ahmadi, Mehr News Agency
TEHRAN - The recent reports indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran has already been able to escalate its oil exports to levels that existed before sanctions were imposed on the country in 2011. Iran's exports of oil stood at 2.35 million bpd before the sanctions were imposed against the country in 2011.
One of the main reasons for the increase in output has been a gradual increase in production from the South Azadegan field, in the strategic West Karun region, according to sources and Oil Ministry officials.
In recent months, Iran has signed a number of upstream development deals as part of its plans to increase oil and gas exports to pre-sanctions level of four mbd.
January oil exports rise
Iran's crude oil and condensate exports rose three percent month-on-month in January as it continued to regain market share, widening its appeal among refiners around the globe in the process.
Iran was the only Middle Eastern producer to see exports rise in January, as others, like Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, saw a fall in loadings, in line with agreed OPEC-led output cuts by crude producers. Unlike its peers under the landmark OPEC-led agreement, Iran has wiggle room to boost production to 3.8 mbd.
Iranian crude is similar in quality to barrels from other the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries in its region, meaning this is an ideal time for it to broaden its customer base, sources said.
Iran, along with Libya and Nigeria, is allowed to produce "at maximum levels that make sense" as part of any output limits in a surprise deal reached last week by the OPEC.
Export of petroleum products
On February, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said that the export of petroleum products is an approach adopted by the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, adding Iran is currently meeting most of its energy needs by natural gas which would allow raising export of petroleum products.
Zangeneh further announced that the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum is bent on raising export of petroleum products, adding gasoil and petrol will be the only main liquids consumed in Iran's energy mix by next year.
Iran can currently refine 1.7 mb/d of crude oil by its refineries.
According to Zangeneh, Iran's crude oil output is at 3.9 million barrels per day, adding the country is now pumping 3.9 million barrels of oil per day.
Asia crude export up
New official data show top four Asian buyers of Iran's crude oil more than doubled their imports from the country in December compared with the same month a year earlier, for the third straight month.
The date from governments and ship-racking services also said the buyers - China, India, South Korea and Japan- imported 1.89mn barrels per day.
According to data by International Energy Agency, in absolute terms, imports slipped for a second consecutive month, from a peak of just under 2mn bpd in October, which was the highest since at least 2010.
During the first full year since the sanctions were lifted, Iran has boosted exports to its biggest Asian customers by nearly 60 percent to 1.63mn bpd.
Post-sanctions recapture
Europe represents Iran's biggest post-sanctions recapture of the lost market, where the continent currently receives more than 700,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude oil.
US-based oilfield services company Schlumberger signed last year an initial deal with an Iranian oil company for data-sharing. European energy companies like Austria's OMV and France's Total also signed memorandums of understanding of their own, Press TV wrote.
Trade data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on Monday showed Iran's crude oil imports cost Japan an average $43.87 a barrel for December, the third cheapest after Ecuador and Columbia.
According to Japan's Trade Ministry, the country's imports jumped more than 40 percent from a year earlier to 246,243 bpd last month.
China's imports rose 30 percent to 689,530 bpd, meaning the country regained top spot among consumers after buying less than India for three consecutive months.
India's imports grew to 546,600 bpd, while South Korea's purchases rocketed to 410,387 bpd.
Old customers back
Last month, the International Group of P&I Clubs said it will soon provide nearly full coverage of reinsurance of around $7.8 billion per tanker for shipping Iranian oil, in addition to resuming reinsurance coverage for the National Iranian Tanker Co.'s oil tankers.
That can boost Iran's already increasing oil exports as ongoing US sanctions had created hurdles on the availability of ships to carry Iranian barrels.
With it now easier for a wider pool of charterers and shipowners to transport and trade Iranian oil, the past month saw some old buyers returning. In the next few days, two Iranian VLCCs - the Huge and the Snow - will discharge a mix of Iranian heavy and light crude grades in the Rotterdam refining hub for the first time in five years.
National Iranian Oil Company sold a cargo of Iranian Light crude to Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina for February loading as a test sale, the first direct crude sale between NIOC and Pertamina for around 15 years, according to sources close to the matter.
The Philippines' PNOC has also recently signaled it was seeking to resume crude oil imports from Iran. PNOC president and CEO Pedro Aquino said recently his company and NIOC were in negotiations for the long-term sale of four million barrels of Iranian crude oil per month to the Philippines.
The sanctions restricted the country's oil exports to around 1 million bpd among other economic bans - already described by analysts as the toughest the world has ever seen.
The sanctions were lifted in January 2016 after a deal that Iran reached with the P5+1 - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - over the Iranian nuclear energy program became effective.
The JCPOA - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - which achieved between Iran and the Sextet of world powers envisaged the removal of a series of economic sanctions against Iran in return for steps by the country to restrict certain aspects of its nuclear energy activities.
FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has halted new rules that would require high-speed internet providers to take reasonable steps to protect customer data.
In a 2-1 vote that went along party lines, the FCC voted Wednesday to stay temporarily one part of privacy rules passed in October that would give consumers the right to decide how their data is used and shared by broadband providers.
The rules include the requirement that internet service providers should obtain opt-in consent from consumers to use and share sensitive information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non-sensitive information such as email addresses or service tier information.
The data security provisions whose operation have now been halted in view of a stay petition by providers include the requirement that broadband internet access providers engage in reasonable data security practices and provide data breach notification requirements. The rules were to come into effect on Thursday.
Internet service providers, however, claim that the regulations place more burdens and costs on them than on other internet entities such as search engines and social networks.
The federal government shouldnt favor one set of companies over anotherand certainly not when it comes to a marketplace as dynamic as the internet, said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a joint statement on Wednesday with Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen.
Holding that jurisdiction over broadband providers privacy and data security practices should be returned to the FTC, the two officials said that for the time being they will work together on harmonizing the FCCs privacy rules for broadband providers with the FTCs standards for other companies in the digital economy.
Privacy advocates and Democratic legislators are wary that the FCC under Pai, a Republican, may whittle down the privacy rules proposed under the previous administration of President Barack Obama.
Pai who was appointed as chairman by President Donald Trump has indicated his willingness to change drastically some of the rules passed by the previous administration. He recently described net neutrality rules, passed two years ago, as a mistake that caused uncertainty for the broadband industry.
Senators Edward J. Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts; Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut; Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts; and Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota earlier this week called on Pai not to take any actions that undermine the broadband privacy rules. Pais proposal to halt the operation of the data protection provisions comes despite the mounting number of data breaches impacting consumers throughout this country, the lawmakers added.
With a stroke of the proverbial pen, the Federal Communications Commissionthe same agency that should be the cop on the beat when it comes to ensuring appropriate consumer protectionsis leaving broadband customers without assurances that their providers will keep their data secure, said Mignon Clyburn, the FCCs only Democratic commissioner, in a dissenting statement.
The other provisions of the privacy order are still being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The stay on the data security provision will remain in place until the FCC can rule on the petitions for reconsideration.
A doctor accused of sexually assaulting multiple female patients in Temecula was convicted Tuesday, Feb. 28 of 25 felony and misdemeanor charges, while jurors acquitted him of two counts of rape and deadlocked on several other allegations.
A Murrieta jury weighed evidence from the trial of 45-year-old John Francis McGuire, of Escondido, for three days before announcing verdicts.
The 30 charges against him included forcible rape, sexual battery of a restrained person, attempted sexual assault of an unconscious person and committing sexual acts on patients in violation of the California Business & Professions Code.
RELATED: Doctor pleads not guilty in sex-assaults case
Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Jess Walsh told City News Service that a decision is pending on whether the District Attorneys Office intends to retry McGuire on one count each of rape and sexual battery on which jurors split evenly, unable to reach unanimous decisions.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon scheduled a status conference for April 21 at the Southwest Justice Center. McGuire is being held without bail at the Southwest Detention Center.
According to a trial brief filed by Walsh, sheriffs detectives began an investigation in August 2015 after a woman, identified only as D.A., alleged that she had been inappropriately touched by the defendant on several occasions following surgery at Temecula Valley Hospital.
RELATED: Physician charged with additional felonies in amended complaint
D.A. told detectives that the encounters occurred in April 2015, when McGuire performed post-op examinations, according to court papers. Walsh alleged that the doctor repeatedly touched the womans vagina, saying he was concerned about a rash.
McGuire is an ear, nose and throat specialist.
According to the prosecution, the woman checked herself and determined there was no rash.
After speaking with her family about what had happened, she confronted McGuire, who apologized for his behavior in a conversation that was secretly taped, assuring her that he had been tested for STDs and was not a health risk, Walsh wrote.
After sheriffs investigators heard the tape and interviewed McGuire, the doctor was arrested. Walsh said other alleged victims emerged following media reports regarding the defendants arrest.
One of the nine women who came forward included McGuires former housekeeper, identified only as M.Q., who alleged that she had been forcibly raped on two separate occasions while under the defendants employ. Jurors found the doctor not guilty of those charges.
A patient identified as T.M. told investigators that McGuire fondled her breasts during three separate visits, which caused her concern, but not enough to stop going back to see the doctor, who had actually helped her with the medical problems that she was suffering from, Walsh stated.
During a visit in April 2015, the victim was allegedly pushed face-first over an office chair and raped until she was able to break free from McGuire and run out of his office, according to the brief. Jurors hung on verdicts related to that alleged attack.
The other victims alleged that McGuire consistently found reasons to grope their breasts during exams, court papers stated. One of the women said that she was assaulted while in a surgical recovery room, virtually immobilized, according to court papers.
McGuire had a practice in the Graybill Medical Center at 225 E. Second Ave. in Escondido. The center is affiliated with Temecula Valley Hospital.
According to the California Medical Board, McGuire has been a practicing otolaryngologist since 2005. He graduated from the Georgetown University School of Medicine two years earlier.
State records show the defendants license to practice medicine was suspended on Sept. 21, 2015.
Its a grim routine, and on Monday it played out again.
Four Jewish Community Centers in Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles and La Jolla were among nearly 40 Jewish centers nationally to receive bomb threats. The calls prompted evacuations and fear and anger, but they didnt this time result in loss of life or property.
Such threats are becoming common.
The Anti-Defamation League reports that since the start of this year no fewer than 122 Jewish Community Centers and other Jewish institutions in 36 states have received threats of bombing or other forms of terror. In the past month at least two Jewish cemeteries (near Philadelphia and St. Louis) were desecrated.
The threats against the local Jewish Community Centers which often serve as schools and cultural hubs and exercise venues are extracting a heavy emotional toll.
There is a lot of anger in the community, said Brian Greene, executive director of the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles, which on Monday was evacuated after a caller said a bomb would be detonated.
Yes, they are hoaxes. But someone threatened you and your children Just knowing that is upsetting and stressful.
The threats against the JCCs are part of a broader rise of hate crimes nationally, a trend that has included acts and threats against Latinos, African Americans and Muslims. Since Jan. 1 four mosques have been burned around the country of which three have been ruled as arson.
Many have linked the boom in hate with the political rise of Donald Trump, who repeatedly links Muslims and undocumented Latino immigrants with terror and crime. Since his inauguration, President Trump has been criticized by some for not working forcefully enough to stop the threats.
On Tuesday, during his speech to Congress, Trump addressed the issue.
Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last weeks shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms, he said, referring to the Feb. 22 shooting in Olathe, Kansas, that left one Indian man dead and two other men injured.
During the Kansas incident, the shooter suspected to be a white man shouted Get out of my country.
Its unclear what effect, if any, Trumps words will have.
We in the Jewish community are not strangers to anti-Semitic incidents or violence, but the density and direction of this wave of threats seems unparalleled, said Peter Levi, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, Orange County and Long Beach.
Were dealing with it, Levi added. It hasnt deterred us in any way from living our lives.
Lisa Armony, a director with the Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County, said many in the Jewish community are expressing outrage. They feel like the heart and soul of their institutions are being threatened.
But Armony and others noted that the rise in hate also is creating unexpected and welcome alliances.
On Saturday night, Temple Beth El in Riverside will host a multi-cultural event titled Riverside Standing Together. The night will include prayers and affirmations from Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders, to show solidarity for one another, said Rabbi Suzanne Singer.
Its not just about Jews, she said.
Muslims, immigrants, members of the LGBT community; those who are undocumented, are all targets, she added.
And in St. Louis and Philadelphia where Jewish headstones were toppled Muslims and Jews worked together to repair the damage.
It is heartening to see Muslims raising money to fix toppled Jewish headstones and Jewish people donating to mosques, Singer said.
Singer said her synagogue hasnt taken any additional steps to enhance security other than to encourage members to remain vigilant. But she has requested extra security for Saturdays event.
It makes us all more visible, Singer said. So, I am a little concerned.
Security is critical in an age when extremism is a fact of life in most parts of the world, said Alon Stivi, a security consultant for a number of local Jewish institutions including synagogues.
Thats been particularly true locally in the wake of the threats against Jewish community centers and other acts.
Stivi said hes been active regionally, fielding calls and offering consulting to people concerned, justifiably, that the next threat might not be a hoax.
We can either pretend that the next bombing is not going to happen, or we can train people to identify suspicious people and objects.
But Stivi added the commitment to security needs to be sustained after the fear from a hoax has subsided.
When we have threats like this one, people are worried for a couple of weeks. But life goes on and they forget about it pretty quickly, he said.
This is not something we can afford to forget about.
One of the targets Monday, the Merage Jewish Community Center in Irvine, has stepped up its security training for all staff over the past three months, as hate threats have been on the rise, said Dan Bernstein, the centers chief executive.
The plans weve put into place worked, he said.
Since Mondays threat, which sparked an evacuation, Bernstein said the center has added an extra security guard.
He also said support from the community has been overwhelming.
Weve received flowers, emails, phone calls of support not just from Jewish people, but from all corners of the community.
Some of that support came from the Islamic Center of Orange County in Anaheim. The mosque sent letters this week to all Jewish institutions in Orange County.
Weve felt, and continue to feel, the pain with Islamaphobia on the rise, said mosque spokeswoman Nicole Alhakawati. So we sent (all Jewish groups in O.C.) a letter saying we know what youre going through and were with you in this struggle.
Alhakawati wants her mosques members to learn more about Judaism. So, she plans to take them on tours to area synagogues.
I think there is a lot of hate out there, she said. But there is also a lot more love.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com
UPDATE (Thursday, March 2): Attorney General Jeff Sessions will recuse himself from investigation into Russian interference
Inland congressional Democrats are among the lawmakers calling on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign following reports he failed to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador.
As Americas top law enforcement officer, the honesty and integrity of the U.S. Attorney General is held to the highest standard, Takano, D-Riverside, said in a news release.
By lying under oath in a Senate confirmation hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has fallen well short of that standard. His dishonesty is particularly disturbing because it involves his contact with Russia, a country that is actively working to undermine our democracy.
There are many questions that must be answered about the Trump administrations relationship to the Kremlin but one thing is absolutely clear: Jeff Sessions should resign.
In an emailed statement, Torres, D-Pomona, said: During his confirmation hearings, Jeff Sessions explicitly said I did not have communications with the Russians.
Now we have learned that he lied under oath. For the good of the country and our institutions, Sessions must resign. An independent prosecutor should be appointed and a bipartisan commission should be created to investigate ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. The American people deserve the truth, and its clear we arent going to get it from anyone who worked on the Presidents campaign.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, also wants Sessions to step down.
This is the second time a Trump administration official has lied about communication with Russia. Attorney General Jeff Sessions not only had communication with Russia during Donald Trumps campaign, but he lied about it under oath, Aguilar said in an emailed statement.
Attorney General Sessions broke the law. He must resign immediately and be held accountable for his actions. Additionally, a special prosecutor must be appointed so a full and independent investigation into the presidents ties to Russia can be conducted as soon as possible.
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., took to Twitter to call for Sessions resignation, saying it is clear he lied under oath.
Our top prosecutor should be able to honestly and unbiasedly fulfill his duties as Attorney General, she tweeted. Sessions can no longer do that.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, who represents most of Temecula, doesnt believe Sessions should resign, said Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper.
(Sessions) was a member of the (Senate) Armed Services Committee at the time he met with the Russian official, and thats not out of the ordinary, Kasper said. And if he feels recusing himself will ease peoples minds, then fine. But this is political, and theres an interest from holdovers within the government to burn Trump.
Rep. Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, supports Sessions recusing himself from an ongoing investigation into links between Trump surrogates and the Russian government.
The Attorney General is a position that demands the trust and confidence of the American people, Cook said in an emailed statement. Its incumbent upon the Attorney General to recuse himself. He must be transparent and demonstrate that there are no conflicting actions with Russia or any other country for that matter.
Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-La Quinta, also called for Sessions to recuse himself, although Ruiz stopped short of demanding Sessions resign.
I have grave concerns about reports that Attorney General Sessions had contact with Russian officials while acting as an advisor to President Trumps campaign and that he may have lied about it under oath, Ruiz said in an emailed statement.
Theres no doubt we need an independent investigation, as I have previously called for, to understand what contact was made with Russia and to what extent Russia influenced our election. I have serious concerns about the Attorney General leading this investigation while there are questions about his own communications with Russia and how they may have impacted our national security and foreign policy. This isnt about party or politics, but the future of our American democracy.
In a statement released after Sessions recusal, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, said: I respect the decision by Attorney General Sessions to recuse himself on matters involving last years campaign; AG Sessions is a patriot and I do not believe that there was ever any intention on his part to mislead or to hide his encounters with the Russian Ambassador.
I also support the bipartisan House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian activities to influence the U.S. election. Republicans and Democrats on the Committee have a formal agreement to fully investigate if Russian meddling in the election involved anyone associated with a political campaign or any other American. As the Appropriations Committee liaison to that Committee, I can assure you that we will go wherever that investigation leads.
Riverside police arrested a man early Wednesday morning, March 1, after he allegedly stabbed another individual during a dispute the night before, officials said in a release.
Authorities identified the suspect as Israel Estrada, 23, of Riverside, who was booked into Robert Presley Detention Center on counts of assault with a deadly weapon, making terroristic threats and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held there as of Wednesday night in lieu of posting $25,000 bail.
The investigation stemmed from a report of a male adult being treated for possible stab wounds at Parkview Hospital in Riverside, Officer Ryan Railsback said in a release. The victim was listed in stable condition but was uncooperative, the release states.
A tip in the investigation led detectives to serve a search warrant for a home in the 10000 block of Overton Drive in the Arlanza neighborhood, where they located the suspect.
Railsback said a dispute apparently led Estrada to threaten to shoot the victim with a gun, which led to a fight in which the victim received laceration wounds from an unidentified object.
The officers recovered a handgun, holster and ammunition at the residence, Railsback said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident should call 951-826-5375, the release states.
A convicted felon accused of stealing an SUV in Hemet while on probation for several prior vehicle thefts pleaded not guilty Wednesday, March 1, to felony and misdemeanor charges.
Abel Anthony Chacon, 20, was arrested Tuesday immediately after he was released from Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, where he was sent in October 2015 after admitting charges of eluding a peace officer and being a felon in possession of narcotics.
Chacon is currently charged with using a known stolen vehicle, possessing a burglary kit and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Johnson, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for March 10 at the Banning Justice Center and ordered that the defendant be held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the Indio Jail.
Chacon is accused of committing the offenses in mid-September 2015 after he had already been convicted of two separate auto thefts that occurred in January of that year, according to court records.
The September 2015 charges stemmed from the theft of a 2001 Jeep Cherokee. However, the District Attorneys Office did not have time to have the case adjudicated because, two weeks later, Chacon is accused of committing another vehicle theft and trying to flee from police.
PREVIOUSLY: Hemet police pursuit ends in GTA arrest
Prosecutors moved quickly to file charges and resolve that case, inadvertently bypassing the current one, and the defendant was sentenced to nearly three years in prison under a plea agreement.
The current case was placed on hold pending the defendants release from prison, which happened this week, after he served half his term, records show.
Chacons other convictions stemmed from auto thefts on Jan. 5 and Jan. 22, 2015. In both instances, the defendant fled from Hemet police officers. In the Jan. 5 pursuit, he leaped from a moving Dodge Durango and caused property damage.
Under a February 2015 plea deal with the District Attorneys Office, Chacon was given probation and a jail term, which he was not required to complete.
Clues ranging from the trail of smoke from a small plane as it plunged to earth to the two failed attempts to start its engine before takeoff will be examined as investigators piece together what happened to the twin-engine Cessna 310 that crashed in a Riverside neighborhood this week, experts said Wednesday, March 1.
They said its likely a combination of factors among the possibilities: mechanical failure, weather and the human factor will be shown to have contributed to the accident that took three lives and left two other people in critical condition.
RELATED: How to help Riverside residents whose homes were destroyed by plane crash
All aircraft accidents are the result of more than one thing. All of them, said Tom Anthony, director of aviation and safety security at USC. There are a cascade of things that come together to cause an accident.
In more than 60 percent of accidents, one of the causes is attributed to human error, Anthony said.
http://cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js
National Transportation Safety Board investigators have said it could be 15 to 18 months before their investigation reaches a conclusion.
As for the plane involved, according to Federal Aviation Administration records, it was registered to San Jose resident Nouri Hijazi. The twin-engine model had been built in 1974.
However, experts do not consider the fact that it is more than 40 years old to be alarming.
Many of the airplanes flying around in the sky are not new, said Holly Inaba, a pilot, flight instructor and contract course coordinator in USCs aviation program. And the fact that it is older is not an extraordinary factor.
Inaba said the Cessna 310 has a reputation for being a relatively safe model.
Its a typical twin-engine airplane, said Bill Waldock, professor of behavioral and safety science at Embry-Riddle Aeronatical University in Prescott, Ariz.
And he said the Cessna 310s accident record is roughly average among popular twin-engine planes people fly in the U.S.
The planes were built between 1954 and 1981. During that time, Waldock said about 6,300 individual airplanes were produced. That compares to about 6,700 Beechcraft Barons and 5,000 Piper Seneca PA34s.
Citing NTSBs data base, Waldock said that from 1982 to today there have been 600 accidents involving Cessna 310s, 184 of them fatal. That compares to 779 Baron accidents, 291 of them fatal, and 427 Seneca accidents, 121 of which were fatal, during the same period, he said.
Thats a favorite plane of small businesses and families and so on, said Glenn Winn, a USC instructor. Its a relatively safe airplane.
Inaba characterized the aircraft as a pretty nice, normal, fairly docile aircraft.
For a small airplane, with its two engines it has a lot of get up and go. It can cruise at 200 mph.
Its nice to have an extra engine, Waldock said. But its also a little more complicated to fly particularly if you lose an engine.
Barry Gregory, a 72-year-old Perris resident, who said hes been flying since he was 21, said that is potentially disastrous.
Losing an engine in a twin is the worst-case scenario, he said. In a Cessna 310, he said, Its going to take you right to the ground.
Thats one possibility investigators are exploring, experts said.
Some saw it as alarming, the reports that not once, but twice, the pilot tried and failed to start the engine at Riverside Municipal Airport. Not everyone agrees with that, though. Kurt Knepper, an Orange County aviation attorney and regional vice president for the California Pilots Association, said failed starts arent particularly unusual.
Others were concerned about the eyewitness report of the Cessna rocking back and forth, front to back, as it accelerated on takeoff.
Winn said the various reports suggest the possibility of engine failure.
Anthony said such a failure wouldnt be crippling once the plane reached flying altitude.
On takeoff, it becomes critical because you have one side puling and one side dragging, he said.
It doesnt help, said Daniel Prather, chairman of aviation science at California Baptist University in Riverside, that takeoff is one of those times in flight the other being landings when aircraft are particularly vulnerable.
Its a very critical time and a necessary time for all systems to be functioning normally. Prather said.
Experts said it could have been something else.
Knepper said what caught his attention was the trail of smoke drifting from the aircraft in one of the crash videos. That, he said, could suggest that a fuel line broke, sparking a fire and triggering the rapid descent.
Or did the occupants get overcome by smoke? Knepper asked. Fire is one that everyone worries about because, if you have fire on board, there is no way to get rid of it, beyond getting the plane down.
Then, of course, there was a storm that day. The flying party reportedly waited for a break in the rain, then dashed out to the plane. Winn said he believes weather played a role.
Experts said investigators will look into a host of other things, too, such as how well the plane was maintained, how much it weighed on takeoff, how the weight was distributed, and other potential mechanical problems.
In any event, Prather said the crash shook up his students at Cal Baptist, who train at Riverside Municipal Airport.
It is a wake-up call for our students, he said. It hits home when something like this happens at your local airport.
Staff writer Mark Muckenfuss contributed to this report.
As Menifees elected mayor for just three months, Neil Winter has weathered one of the more volatile stretches in the young citys history.
Winter is scheduled to talk about his experience, discuss the state of the city and take audience questions in a town hall meeting Friday, March 3, in the predominantly senior Sun City community of Menifee.
Organized by the Sun City Civic Association, the session will start at 2 p.m. in Webb Hall, 28650 Sun City Blvd.
Were trying to get as many as possible to come to this because its so important for people to understand their elected officials, said community activist Chuck Reutter, who is promoting the event. Thats the whole idea behind this communication. It would be good for the mayor to hear what (peoples) concerns are.
Winter entered the mayors race last year undeniably as the underdog candidate to incumbent Scott Mann.
In his first quest for an elected position in Menifee, Winter lost by more than 20 percentage points in the November 2015 race for the District 3 council seat won by incumbent Lesa Sobek.
Mann was re-elected for a second two-year term as mayor in 2014, when he trounced challenger Paul Henry Wiggins at the polls.
In mid-October, however, the California Fair Political Practices Commission announced Mann had agreed to pay a $60,000 fine for personal use of campaign funds. Despite pleas by various officials, Mann refused to resign and the council formally censured him.
Amid the turbulence, Winter won the election by 4 1/2 percentage points. Mann quit in the days before Winter was sworn in.
In late December, apparently in a disagreement with council members, City Manager Rob Johnson resigned. To keep things running while seeking a permanent manager, the council brought in retired public administrator Ron Bradley, a former Temecula city manager, to serve as the City Hall chief.
Hes doing a great job of picking up the pieces, and doing some really good things, while working on getting a full-time city manager, Winter said. Its taken some of the pressure off me in overseeing some of the things I had to oversee (after Johnsons resignation). Its been a big relief to me.
Among the citys most immediate priorities, Winter said, is completing the formation of a committee that will oversee the use of a 1 percent sales tax that voters passed in November to buttress the citys strained budget. Officials announced recently that the city will run a deficit of more than $3 million in the year ending July 30. The city had planned a $2.4 million deficit.
Well start reaping the benefits in June, he said of the tax increase. Weve got an idea that well get close to $7 million per year. That will give us the funds we need to beef up our police and build up some of our infrastructure.
An upcoming major project will be the widening of Scott Road and revamp of its interchange with Interstate 215, Winter said.
Some 11 top managers of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) who were asked to proceed on leave last month, have been replaced with persons some of whom are on retirement, 3news.com has reliably been informed. There has been an ongoing shakeup exercise at COCOBOD following the dismissal of Dr. Stephen Opuni as the CEO, with that of about 300 middle level staff pending. In January, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto was said to have ordered the dismissal of 11 technocrats at the various divisions of COCOBOD.
Those asked to proceed on leave effective January 30, 2017, included Deputy Chief Executive (Finance & Administration), Deputy Chief Executive (Agronomy & Quality Control), Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) and the Director of Finance. The rest are Deputy Director of Finance, Deputy Director of Audit, Director of Civil Works and the Procurement Manager. Those affected at the Cocoa Marketing Company Ltd are the Managing Director (MD), Deputy MD, Director Legal Services, Deputy Director and the Finance Director. Meanwhile, some pensioners have subsequently been re-engaged to run affairs at COCOBOD.
Although 3news.coms source at COCOBOD confirmed the recall of the pensioners, she could not provide their names. Interestingly a statement issued by pressure group Greater Alliance for Accountable Government (GAFAG) corroborated the recruitment of the retirees. It is alarming to note that COCOBOD Management has now been taken over by pensioners who have taken advantage of being part of COCOBODs transition team occupying top management positions to undermine the legacy of the previous administration, the statement said. And, notable among these personalities are Dr. Adu Ampomah (now Ag. Deputy Chief Executive, Agronomy and Quality Control) a close friend of Mr. Afriyie Akoto who has been on pension over the past four (4) years; Dr. Franklin Amoah, who has been on pension for the past two (2) years taking up the position of Ag. Executive Director of CRIG, a position he held previously and misconducted himself and subsequently transferred.
Dr. William Mensah (now Ag. Deputy Chief Executive (F&A), Mr. Nana Oduro (now Ag. Deputy Chief Executive, Ops), Dr. I.Y. Opoku, (now Ag. Managing Director (QCC), and Mr. Kwame Adjei, ( now Ag. Executive Director (SPD) all due for pension should their accumulated leave be taken as done to the other Directors recently under the instruction of the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Afriyie Akoto, GAFAG enumerated. 3news.com could not independently confirm the names as attempts to reach the head of public relations, whom we were directed to speak to proved futile.
Below is the statement by GAFAG
GREATER ALLIANCE FOR ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNMENT (GAFAG)
A CABAL OF PENSINONERS MANAGING COCOBOD TO BLAME FOR THE IMPENDING TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENTS OF OVER 300 MIDDLE LEVEL STAFFEMPLOYED SINCE 2013
We have learnt in total disbelief in this era of massive unemployment plans by the Government of Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo Addo led by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Afriyie Akoto to sack over 300 middle level staff employed since 2013 with staff of Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) and Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) likely to be most affected. We wish to extend our voices of support to the growing loud condemnation of such plans as exposed by the media.
From sources, Mr. Afriyie Akoto with support from some senior figures within Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is in a hurry to take this partisan decision ahead of the inauguration of the new Board and subsequent confirmation of now new acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Joseph Aidoo. It is understood that the new Board together with the new Chief Executive Officer would be put in an uncomfortable position to overturn the decision.
It is alarming to note that COCOBOD Management has now been taken over by pensioners who have taken advantage of being part of COCOBODs transition team occupying top management positions to undermine the legacy of the previous administration. And, notable among these personalities are Dr. Adu Ampomah (now Ag. Deputy Chief Executive, Agronomy and Quality Control) a close friend of Mr. Afriyie Akoto who has been on pension over the past four (4) years; Dr. Franklin Amoah, who has been on pension for the past two (2) years taking up the position of Ag. Executive Director of CRIG, a position he held previously and misconducted himself and subsequently transferred. Dr. William Mensah (now Ag. Deputy Chief Executive (F&A), Mr. Nana Oduro (now Ag. Deputy Chief Executive, Ops), Dr. I.Y. Opoku, (now Ag. Managing Director (QCC), and Mr. Kwame Adjei, ( now Ag. Executive Director (SPD) all due for pension should their accumulated leave be taken as done to the other Directors recently under the instruction of the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Afriyie Akoto.
To this end, the ongoing auditing of employments made since 2013 has endedwith heads of the Human Resource Department of the Divisions expected to submit details of the audit to Management by February 27th, 2017 for a decision.
To terminate lawful appointments made since 2013 of qualified staff on grounds of so called lack of requisite qualification but with proven years of work experience on the job as well as favourable yearly appraisal is nothing but political with future implications/consequences for COCOBOD. It is more so, when such staff were duly engaged and appropriately placed at their respective Divisions. It is even more disturbing when COCOBOD has the capacity with respect to Bonso Cocoa College and Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) to re-train such staff.
If the new Management of COCOBOD goes ahead to terminate appointments of qualified middle level staff for any reason mainly employed under the previous government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) then an era of job insecurity is ushered in and firmly established. Therefore, no recruitment/employment during this regime is safe under a new NDC Government. They can go beyond 2017 and choose and pick if they so wish to terminate lawful appointments for their own good. With these reports, staffs are genuinely living in fear and in apprehensionwith key stakeholders following developments therein the new management of COCOBOD holds in their hands the power of job security of all at COCOBOD now and forever.
SIGNED. Boniface Mensah Jnr Chairman
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The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, in his state of the nation address last week assured Ghanaians that the 2017 budget will bring the economy back on the path of sustainable growth and development. Ghanaians therefore, are anxious to hear the finance ministers policies that will put the economy back on track on Thursday 2nd March.
This years budget will be on the backdrop of many economic challenges, same which led the previous government into the IMFs Extended Credit Facility program.
Even though some gains have been made, especially in the area of revenue management, the economy still ails due to high budget deficit and huge public debt, power sector challenges, falling Cedi, high cost of borrowing and challenging business environment as well as higher utility tariffs among others.
Hence we expect government fiscal policies to be geared toward creating enough fiscal space to undertake essential investments to address the aforementioned challenges.
A major feature of this years budget will be its focal point on debt management and taxation reforms. This is because of the tight fiscal space which urgently needs expansion, so that the government can undertake expenditures that must be well - structured to grow the economy. According to the President, the countrys debt stock stood at GH122 billion as at the end of 2016, representing 74% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This is above the sustainable threshold, posing grave risk to growth and macroeconomic stability. Considering the huge public debt and interest payments coupled with the limitations on borrowing and the general negative impact on economic activity, the budget must provide a framework well-grounded to help manage the countrys debt problems effective to reduce the debt to sustainable levels thereby increasing confidence in the economy for high growth.
The budget deficit for 2016 was 9% of GDP on cash basis and 10% of GDP on a commitment basis, missing the 5.3% targeted for 2016 under the IMF program. This situation will decrease the revenue to the government as it will increase interest payment obligations.
There are primarily three ways of reducing the deficit; reducing expenditure, increasing revenue or do both. We therefore require government to opt for the third option to attain a rapid decrease in the deficit since delays in achieving fiscal balance will reduce growth and reflect the inability of the government to handle the economy.
Also, GN Research expects major tax reforms in the budget, especially those taxes that hinder the growth of the private sector. In this regard, we expect the promise of reducing the corporate tax from 25% to 20% to be redeemed. We also expect the tax reforms to affect taxes on petroleum and other energy sector products. Aside these, we are likely to see some measures to expand the tax net.
Every government in the past attempted to extend the tax net, yet they have failed largely. This is because of the challenges facing our identification systems and the failure to properly consider the extra revenues to be collected as against the cost of gathering them. Therefore, there is the need to see some innovative ways of widening the tax net to increase revenue generation. We likewise anticipate the tax reforms not to simply increase government tax incomes, but also serve to unleash the potentials of the individual sector.
Aside tax reforms and debt management issues, we expect the budget to also outline policies and programs to ensure growth of other sectors of the economy, example, the health sector, the education sector and the agricultural sector.
Regarding the education sector, we expect some expenditure realignment in order to make room for the promised free senior high school and the increased coverage of the capitation grant and the school feeding program. Hopefully, the debate regarding the source of funding for the free senior high school policy will be put to rest.
In the health sector, the revival of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will heavily feature in the 2017 budget. The presidents believe that turning around our economic fortunes must start with agriculture imply that the sector will receive a major boost.
The planting for food and jobs campaign with an amount of 125 million Canadian dollars is expected to be elaborated on, outlining specific allocation to each sub sector.
We also expect policies targeted at providing improved seeds, fertilizers, extension services, storage facilities and market for farm produce to be catalogued in the budget. In other to engage farmers in all year round farming, the budget must outline plans to irrigate farmlands. In this regard we expect the budget to provide guidelines to actualise the one village one dam promise.
Finally, GN Research expects to see measures aimed at solving dumsor. The energy sector is in debt crisis just like the national economy, the sectors debts stood at $2.2 billion as at the end of 2016, a situation which is very disturbing.
If indeed government aim at empowering the private sector through the one district one factory as a policy to put the economy back on track and returning to high growth, then it is important that the budget provides policies to immediately deal with the energy sector problems.
We are of the view that the 2017 budget will focus on debt and expenditure management, reducing the fiscal deficit and tax reforms to increase revenue and to boost private sector performance.
Signed
Samuel Kofi Ampah
General Manager, Groupe Nduom Research
Source: GN Research
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Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, went a bit religious during his intro as he presented the much anticipated 2017 Budget Statement and Government Economic Policy on behalf of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Parliament on Thursday.
In his characteristic white African printwear, the Finance Minister was heavily heckled for paying tribute to founding members of the country including JB Danquah, resulting in a clearly outraged Speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye, threatening to suspend sitting if MPs will not cease the heckling and take notes to enhance debate later on.
Ken Ofori-Atta noted that the economy is distressed because of excessive borrowing, weak commitment to control, excessively priced procurements, inflated costs, among others. According to him, the country's debt stock has reached a level of approximately 73 per cent of GDP as at the end of 2016, which is in excess of the debt sustainability threshold of 70%, resulting in high debt service costs with interest payments alone taking up nearly 42 per cent of tax revenue.
This together with compensation of employees, is more than the total domestic revenue, leaving no fiscal space for growth-enhancing policy programmes and expenditures, he added.
Bandying figures to buttress his point of how challenged the economy is, he revealed that total expenditures at the end of December 2016 stood at 30.3 per cent of GDP against the target of 26.4 per cent of GDP with an outstanding stock of arrears of nearly GHS7 billion. This is at variance with the performance criteria on the non-accumulation of arrears of the 2016 fiscal year under the IMF-supported credit facility programme.
The Finance Minister however gave the assurance that irrespective of the fact that the Private sector is struggling and the large fiscal slippages that resulted in the fiscal deficit of 8.7 per cent of GDP on a cash basis and a 10.3 per cent on commitment basis which clearly is a sharp deflation from the IMF programme fiscal target of 5.3 per cent of GDP, the current administration will reverse the dwindling fortunes of the Ghanaian economy.
Through Jesus Christ we can resolve these challenges and establish a righteous and just society for all...Our goal is to build the most business-friendly and people-centred economy in Africa which will translate into job creation and prosperity for all Ghanaians...We intend to reverse this trend and restore fiscal discipline, Ken Ofori-Atta indicated.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has charged State Protocol to ensure that media personnel who cover state events are not manhandled by security officers, the Chairman of the Ghana 60 Years On Planning Committee, Lord Commey, has revealed.
It is recalled that a cameraman wrestled with a police officer in front of the president while the national anthem was being played at the forecourt of parliament ahead of the State of the Nation address on 21 February.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr Commey urged the media to comply with regulations for the 6 March independence parade.
He noted that putting the media in the bucket of a truck to cover the event, as happened in 2015, was unacceptable as Ghana celebrates 60 years.
Mr Commey pledged to treat the media with respect and dignity on Independence Day.
In all, 180 accreditations will be made available to the media with 2000 VVIPs expected to grace the anniversary at the Black Star Square on March 6.
Source: classfmonline.com
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It has been revealed that the capita debt of the country before the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government left office in 2008 was GH431 but it has skyrocketed to GH4,436 meaning every Ghanaian owes GH4,436- because of the penchant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to borrow which increased Ghanas debt stock from GH9.5 billion to GH122 billion in eight years.
This disclosure was made in parliament yesterday when the curtain was brought down on the debate on the presidents State of the Nation address by Members of Parliament (MPs).
The first fiscal statement of President Akufo-Addos government is set to take the centre stage in parliament when the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presents the much-touted budget this morning.
The budget is expected to address the challenges of the economy as espoused by the president in his State of the Nation address.
There is high expectation regarding the restoration of students allowances and the way forward to permanently resolve the power crisis, also known as dumsor.
The majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, rounding off the debate on the presidents address, accused the immediate-past National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of gross mismanagement of the economy, creating unprecedented hardships for Ghanaians.
He said former President John Dramani Mahama had been claiming that Ghanas economy under him was fundamentally strong, but when the NPP government took over, it had been discovered that the economy was fundamentally weak.
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the former presidents actions were a deliberate plan to mask the reality on the ground.
According to him, the net international reserve of the country is less than three weeks currently.
He said the economy under former President Kufuor without oil revenue performed better than an oil economy presided over by former Presidents John Atta Mills and John Mahama.
He noted that interest payment on the huge debt left by the NDC government was crippling the economy.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu pointed out that the NDC government in 2016 used GH11 billion to pay for interests on loans which was more than the budgets of the Ministries of Roads and Highways, Food and Agriculture, Fisheries and Acquaculture, Works and Housing, Trade and Industry and Transport put together for that year.
He said if the NDC government had made conscious efforts to complete all the power projects initiated by the previous NPP government, Ghanaians would not have been experiencing dumsor.
The majority leader indicated that for inexplicable reasons, the NDC government decided not to continue with most of the projects in the energy sector which were started by the NPP administration and rather decided to go for dubious Karpower and Ameri power plants to augment Ghanas power and promised that those two power deals would be investigated by this government.
The minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said it was paradoxical for President Akufo-Addo to claim that there was no money left by the previous government and still make a litany of promises to be fulfilled by his government, including the free senior high school education.
He said when in opposition the NPP was constantly accusing the NDC government of failing to manage the energy crisis well, pointing out that now under NPP, dumsor has assumed unprecedented proportion and that if care was not taken, dumsor under NPP would be presor, presor.
He, however, welcomed the proposal by President Akufo-Addo to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with corruption.
The MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr Dominic Ayine said the Special Prosecutor Office is being created to witch-hunt members of the immediate-past NDC government.
Mr Speaker, in our situation where I am very certain, and we on this side can predict with almost mathematical certainty that the Office of the Special Prosecutor will be aiming at prosecuting former ministers and appointees of the former government, Dr Ayine said.
Source: Daily Guide
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Government will soon launch the "Planting for Food and Jobs" campaign to mimick 'Operation feed yourself', Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has announced in the new governments maiden budget.
Delivering the 2017 Budget Statement in Parliament Thursday, Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed tht some 755,00 jobs are expected to be created whiles 80,000 tonnes of subsided fertilizers will be distributed in 2017.
"Mr Speaker, the government recognizes agriculture as the main anchor of the countrys economy. Unfortunately we have witnessed a steady decline in the sector and production levels have fallen consistently over the years. In the medium term, we intend to modernize the sector to improve productivity and achieve food security and profitability for our farmers.
Mr Speaker, in 2017 government will launch the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign.
The campaign is designed to encourage all citizens (both urban and rural) to take up farming as a full or part-time activity. It is intended to structure it along the lines of the erstwhile Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) programme in the 1970s. The campaign will involve the production of maize, rice, soybean, sorghum and vegetables. Other crops will be adopted in subsequent years.
The campaign will be anchored on five pillars namely:
Provision of improved seeds;
supply of fertilizers;
provision of dedicated extension services;
marketing and
E-Agriculture and Monitoring.
"This initiative is expected to increase the production of maize by 30 percent from current production levels, rice by 49 percent, soybean by 25 percent and sorghum by 28 percent. This will create 750,000 jobs in both direct and indirect employment.
"The Ministry will import improved seeds to augment any shortfall for the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign.
"Mr. Speaker, in 2017, the Ministry will continue the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme to help increase the productivity of farmers. To this effect, we intend to distribute nationwide, an expected 180 thousand metric tonnes of subsidized fertilizer," Ken Ofori-Atta revealed.
OFY...Kutu Acheampong
In February 1972, barely a month after he came to power, Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and his National Redemption Council (NRC) launched Ghanas most popular food programme. The aim of Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) was to make Ghana self-sufficient in food supply in order to break with the colonial past and correct the image of a beggar nation.
Through widespread propaganda in newspapers, radio and television, Ghanaians were urged to engage in agriculture and contribute to the countrys food production. The government supported the programme with subsidized farm inputs, access to credit facilities and duty-free importation of agricultural machinery. What differentiated OFY from previous food programmes was the initial enthusiasm it created in the country, resulting in broad participation of the Ghanaian population.
Thousands of Ghanaians took part in clearing land or helping harvest crops. Urban dwellers were drawn into backyard farming, and large-scale rice production in the northern regions increased substantially. In the first three years of OFY, the production of all key food and industrial crops rose.
Ghana was officially declared self-sufficient in rice production in 1974. This led some authors to characterize OFY as Ghanas Green Revolution.
What remains to be seen is how the current administration intends rolling out this laudable initiative.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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Afia Ansaa Ampene, the hostess of the Mmaa Nkommo talk show on Ghana Television, has been dragged before an Accra circuit court for fraud.
The accused, a pensioner popularly known as Auntie Afia, is in the dock with her son, Stephen Kwabena Osei, a trader, for allegedly conspiring to defraud and defrauding by false pretences one Maud Botwe the sum of GH265,988.
The prosecutor, Chief Inspector Martin Acheampong, told the court that the two on October 13, 2016 at Weija in Accra, obtained the consent of the complainant to part with Nestle products to the tune of the said amount under the pretext that if the said items were supplied, she would supply same to an unnamed NGO and bring the money.
However, in the court presided over by Ruby Naa Adjeley Quayson, the two denied the offence and were admitted to bail in the sum of GH205,900 with three sureties each who are earning a salary not less than GH1,000 a month.
As part of the bail conditions the investigator was tasked to check that the sureties have valid photo identity cards.
Earlier in an attempt for bail, Kofi Bonney, lawyer for Afia Ansaa Ampene and Stephen Kwabena Osei said the business partners of the two had not been faithful to them.
He said the two had been looking for the business partners thereby creating the impression that they had gone into hiding.
Bonney stated that the defenders and the complainant would get in touch to see how the parties could resolve the case.
The facts of the case are that Maud is the Managing Director of Dan Maud Company Limited, dealers in Nestle, Unilever and other products while the accused persons are mother and son.
Chief Inspector Acheampong said between October 31 and November 4, 2016, the accused persons convinced Maud to part with goods totaling the said amount with the claim that they were delivering same to an unnamed NGO to bring the proceeds.
Auntie Afia issued two post-dated cheques with the face values of GH40,000 and GH60,000.
The GH40,000 cheque was presented and went through but when the GH60,000 cheque was presented it was dioshonoured.
Auntie Afia later went to the company and convinced the accountant, collected the bounced cheque and deposited GH10,000 and promised to bring the balance of GH215,888 same day by the close of banking hours.
The accused persons who were supposed to pay an amount of GH215,888 vacated their house at New Sabrepo near Michel Camp and went into hiding the prosecution said, adding that all efforts made by the complainant to trace their whereabouts proved futile.
On February, 1 this year, a similar case was lodged against the mother and son by another complainant and during investigations Auntie Afia was arrested from her hideout in Tema Devtraco Estates whist Stephen was also nabbed in a hotel at Haatso in Accra.
Maud had information about the accused persons and came to the police station and indentified the accused persons as the culprits.
During investigations, the accused persons admitted the offence in their caution statements and refunded GH10,000 [which was handed over to Maud in open court].
Source: Daily Guide
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In the wake of the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, a group of Niger Delta militants have threatened to blow up major South African investments in Nigeria such as Multichoice (DSTV), MTN, Shoprite and 16 others if the Federal Government fails to shut them down within one month.
The coalition which consist of militants from Niger Delta Watchdogs, Niger Delta Volunteers and Niger Delta Strike Force, made the threat in a statement released yesterday. The statement in part reads
Arising from the joint meeting of the Niger Delta Watchdogs, Niger Delta Volunteers and Niger Delta Strike Force held today (Wednesday) in Port Harcourt, we condemn the recent attack on Nigerians in South Africa. We want to state that the recent attack (on Nigerians in South Africa) will mark the end of this nonsense because we will not fold our arms and allow this to continue. We, therefore, call on the Nigerian Government to immediately close down all the businesses owned by South Africans in Nigeria. Failure to close down these companies within one month, we shall mobilise in full force and commence massive attack on the above mentioned South African-owned investments in Nigeria. We shall also make sure that all MTN masts and offices are brought down to naught. We shall strike any property and persons from South Africa within our reach; we will bring down Multichoice (DSTV), Shoprite and others. We will not fold our arms and watch you (South Africans) slaughter our people like chickens for no just cause. We are fully prepared; our professional fighters are already strategising, South Africans must be crushed in Nigeria; our people must be free from these wicked agentshe said
Source: Linda Ikejis blog
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An android application that will enable final year students to easily access past questions on their mobile phones and tablets, and make all the past questions and answers for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) readily available and accessible has been launched in Accra.
Launched by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Revo Education, a software engineering firm, Mr Archibald Annan, with the assistance of the Founder and Executive Director of Meagasa Mathematics Academy, Prof. Sitsofe E. Anku, the application, PassCo, is to help remove the tussle and hassle that candidates usually go through when preparing for their final examinations.
Technology in education
In his address, Mr Annan said the time had come to make quality education easily accessible and affordable through technology, adding that it was important to incorporate technology in Ghanas education delivery system.
The benefits of technology in education are immense and Revo Education has been at the forefront of leading this change by developing apps and other web-based software that will revolutionise education through technology in Ghana and Africa, he said.
In 2014, Revo Education developed Kenkan, a platform for digitising textbooks and making them available on android phones.
The company has currently digitised 42 textbooks from primary four to junior high school (JHS) three.
Mr Annan added that parents usually spent a lot of money in purchasing past questions for all the examinable subjects for their wards, adding; The PassCo app makes this resource available over a 24-year period at 10 per cent of the cost.
He also used the opportunity to appeal to corporate institutions to help donate android devices to be taken to deprived communities to be distributed to students to have access to the app.
How the app works
Explaining how the app works, the General Manager of OMT Ghana, a partnering company, Mr Kevin Baffoe, said the app could be downloaded from the Google Play Store.
He added that the total file size was about 20MB and did not require Internet after it had been downloaded and installed.
All users must create a Revo account and thereafter sign in with their telephone number and password. Go to google play store, search for PassCo and download for use, he said.
Mathematics education
Prof. Anku lauded Revo Education for the initiative, noting that it would reduce the burden on final year students as they prepared for their BECE and WASSCE every year.
He also called for intensification of Mathematics education at all levels of the Ghanaian education.
According to him, if the government paid more attention to Mathematics education, it would equip Ghanaians to solve many of their challenges.
Prof. Anku said the current educational system where a lot of attention was given to theory rather than practicals was detrimental to the development of the nation.
Our leaders must give attention to Mathematics education where more attention is given to practicals than theoretical, he added.
Source: graphic.com.gh
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The 2017 International Womens Day has been launched in Accra with a call on stakeholders to help give women equal rights as men towards the development of the country.
International Womens Day is a day set aside globally on March 8, each year, to commemorate the socio-economic and political achievements of women.
Mrs Otiko Afisah Djaba, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), who made the call in Accra on Wednesday, said empowering women would bring about extensive accelerated development.
It is our birth right, we nurture children, educate them and also help to build the homes effectively and so we cannot be left out in this area, she said.
She, therefore, called for action by all policy makers and stakeholders to make practical and actual the global theme for this years celebration which is Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030.
Speaking on the theme: Economic Empowerment of Rural Women: A Tool for Sustainable Development in a Changing World of Work selected to mark the day in Ghana, Mrs Afisah Djaba said the day would be used to draw the worlds attention to areas requiring further action and accelerated gender parity.
She said the theme was chosen to demonstrate the Ministrys and governments commitment to help rural women and girls to achieve their ambitions and challenge the negative traditional and socio-cultural practices.
Gender balanced leadership calls on governments to value every woman and mans contribution equally and create inclusive flexible cultures in line with the focus of the international community, she added.
Mrs Djaba said doing this called for concrete actions that raised awareness about the invaluable contributions of all women and girls, particularly rural women and girls in Ghana.
She mentioned socio-economic hardship such as insecure and unhealthy working environments, snake and scorpion bites, poverty, lack of formal education, violence and abuse and lack of credit facilities and technological advancement to improve businesses as some of the plights rural women faced.
Admitting that there had been considerable improvement in Ghana in the quest for gender equality and equity, Mrs Djaba, however, noted that there were still complex issues of male dominance and patriarchy that needed to be addressed to step up a collective effort toward achieving Planet 50-50 by 2030.
She said in Ghana, the International Womens Day celebration had been preceded with a debate on the Topic: Women are Engine for Accelerated Development by students of Accra Academy and Accra Girls Senior High schools.
She said the celebration would be climaxed with a grand durbar at Prestea Huni Valley in the Western Region with series of activities outlined by the ministry in all the other regions.
Source: GNA
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Kenyan Police in Eldoret on Wednesday evening stormed a house at Kapsoya estate, where they arrested 24 secondary school students having a sex party.
According to Nairobi News, the students aged between 16 and 18 from different schools, were on half term break and had met in the house for the party. They were arrested after residents of the estate called the police due to the loud music emanating from the house.
A police report revealed that empty bottles of alcohol, used condoms and a mattress was found in the house. While six other students escaped through the fence of the compound. The 24 students are presently detained at the Kapsoya Police Post.
Source: Nairobi News
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During Ghanas 2016 elections campaign period, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) constituted a five-member media expert group to support the organisations engagement with owners and managers of radio stations to help ensure adherence to professional standards in the coverage of the elections.
The group, designated as the Eminent Media Persons Group (EMPG), is made up of Ms. Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, Chairperson of Editors Forum, Ghana (EFG); Prof. Amin Alhassan, Dean of the Faculty of Agribusiness and Communication Sciences at the University for Development Studies, Tamale; Mr. Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC); Dr. Doris Yaa Dartey, member of the NMC and Deputy Chairperson of EFG; and Prof. Kwame Karikari, Board Member and former Executive Director of the MFWA.
With support from the Embassy of France in Ghana and STAR-Ghana, the EMPG held separate meetings with 30 radio station owners and managers in the Greater Accra, Northern, Volta and Ashanti regions ahead of the December 2016 elections.
The meetings, which were held in the respective offices of the radio stations, discussed plans for the coverage of the elections among the radio stations and offered recommendations to the stations. The group also discussed with the managers and owners, general challenges faced by the stations and the broadcast industry in general, existence or otherwise of editorial policies, human resource capacity issues, financial challenges and prospects, and sustainability of stations.
At the end of the media visits, the group held a review meeting to discuss the key issues that came up during the visits, challenges they identified, and recommendations for improving the sector.
Key among the challenges and issues identified by the EMPG however are: generally low professional standards and rising spate of ethical violations; weak capacity in radio management skills among a considerable number of radio station managers; absence of documented editorial policies in many radio stations; absence of human resource policies; absence of business plans among several radio stations; absence of programme development plans; weak capacity of journalists; and poor remuneration and delays in the payment of remuneration of journalists.
Other challenges identified were the high cost of operations; over-reliance on advertising revenues as only means of financial sustainability; weak media economy and consequent financial sustainability challenges especially for radio stations located in deprived areas; and limited support from professional associations and regulatory bodies.
For many of the radio stations visited, while they were providing coverage on election-related issues, there were no concrete, documented plans for the coverage of the elections.
On a very positive note, the team observed with satisfaction, a great deal of commitment among staff and journalists towards their work and towards ensuring that they contributed toward a peaceful election.
In the light of the challenges identified during the visits, the group is calling for major reforms in the countrys broadcast media sector and makes the following 10-point recommendations:
-There is an urgent need to reform and strengthen the media regulatory frameworks in the country including the National Media Commission, Ghana Journalists Association, Ghana Independent Braodcasters Association, among others.
-There is an urgent need for a broadcasting law to streamline and regulate operations in the industry. The processes towards the passage of the Broadcasting Law should, therefore, be expedited.
-There is a need for a Content Standards Guide for radio stations to enhance professional standards.
-The National Communications Authority should adopt measures that will ensure transparency in the allocation of frequencies.
-Media organisations should endeavour to have documented editorial, human resource, advertising and programme policies and plans that are also respected in practice.
-Stakeholders in the media industry should thoroughly examine the rising influence of social media and the implications for professionalism and thrust for mainstream media.
-There is a need for capacity development for both managerial and editorial staff of media organisations, especially radio stations.
-Media sector support organisations should prioritise support for the sustainability of local radio stations in economically-deprived areas.
-District level and other rural-based radio stations should endeavour to focus more on covering issues and news about their local communities and desist from seeking to copy what is done by stations in the big cities.
-Professional bodies, editors and other actors should consciously and assertively promote ethically informed practice.
Source: MFWA
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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As global technology giants ready themselves to start building smart cities on the back or 5G technology and Cloud computing, Africa has been written off the list of places ready for the new technology revolution.
Vice President for Sale in Africa at Japanese technology company NEC, Chad Baker told Adom News in an exclusive interview at the the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that "smart cities is not relevant for Africa now."
He cited, in the main, infrastructural, regulatory, attitudinal hurdles that the continent has to deal with to get ready for start cities, saying that, it will take not less than five years for any African economy to be ready for smart cities.
Baker said even the more matured African economies, where smart cities could be relevant, it is still very touch to initiate a revolution like that in those countries.
According to him, even though smart cities is a requirement to keep Africa part of the global community that would be connected to the internet of things via Cloud services, it will take huge investments by both African governments and private sector.
"Currently, Africa has unique challenges that modern technology can help to address quickly in order to position it for smart cities and these include security and power among other," he said.
Focus now
With regards to power, most African countries depend on nature as their source of power generation - hydro, wind and solar in the main, and that means telecom operators and businesses that consume a lot of power are a risk when nature fails.
Chad Baker said NEC support, in the area of power, therefore come in the form of high performing and efficiency back up batteries to support businesses to keep running when the national grid fails.
"Power is everything - without reliable power technology is of now relevance to societies," he said.
He said Japan offers a lot of grants that enables its NEC experts to take up jobs in African countries in the area of security and cyber security.
"We provide solutions in the area of intimate cameras, cyber security and facial recognition - so for countries like Mali, Nigeria, Kenya and others where terrorist groups exist our facial NEC's facial recognition system helps to easily detect and arrest them easily," he said.
NEC facial recognition systems, he said, give feedback with nano seconds and therefore make the detection of wanted characters really fast before they could get away.
Currently NEC security solutions are in Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, with footprints in seven other countries, including Ghana.
"There is a big drive in the West African market - we have spoke to Ghana about bringing in some of our border security solutions and we are working on expanding our presence in Ghana," he said.
Chad Baker said NEC also builds data centers for telecom operators across Africa and other parts of the world. NEC is builds data centers with varied technologies such as microwave and LTE (small cell) and also provide security solutions for data centers in Africa.
"Beyond the macro technologies, we also provide micro technology solutions, which is particularly important for densely populated African countries like Nigeria and South Africa, where the macro solutions don't guarantee good service quality," he said.
He also explained that NEC solutions help telecom operators in Africa to detect what is wrong with their existing data centers and helps them to fix the challenges to optimize performance, instead of spending more money to build more infrastructure.
Chad Baker said NEC also has a solution for waste management, where waste bins are connected to the internet and only give signals when they are full, so the collect trucks are only go to bins that are full instead of just driving around and burning fuel just checking.
"This is good for African but there is an attitudinal challenge about the adoption of waste bins that need to be fixed quickly so that some of these modern technologies could come on stream on the continent," he said.
Source: Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona, Adom FM
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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Director of Elections of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu Ampofo says former President John Dramani Mahama would have ended the 'dumsor' crises confronting the economy if Ghanaians hadn't voted his government out of power.
According to him, the previous government made several interventions to improve the energy sector before exiting office.
Mr. Ofosu Ampofo noted that 'dumsor' was expected to come to an end by the second term of the Mahama government.
He told host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' that "In our energy sector policy, it was expected that by the end of (if we had won power) the four-year period, Ghana would have been completely self-sufficient in energy that we could have even become a net exporter of energy to other neighbouring countries. I can say that to all intents and purposes, before the government (Mahama government) left, as for generation capacity; we could generate enough to meet the demands of the country . . . As at the time that we were leaving office, we were not experiencing dumsor . . . Under NDC, we did a lot, invested a lot in generation.
He therefore called on the current administration to find a lasting solution to the energy problems since that was a major objective for their victory in last year's elections.
Also touching on the energy situation in the country, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper expressed displeasure with the criticisms against the ruling government regarding the sector.
He stated that the members of the opposition NDC seems not to have simmered down after their defeat.
To him, their tone of analysis of the situation smacks of pain and so they speak with aggression particularly with the energy situation.
Mr. Baako wondered how the opposition party would expect the current administration to resolve the challenges within just two months after elected into office.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Board of Directors of Ghana Oil Company (Goil,) has rendered an apology to President Nana Akufo-Addo after they falsely accused him of breaching procedures in appointing a new head for the company.
An online portal had earlier reported that President Nana Akufo-Addo had appointed Mr. Osei Prempeh as new GOIL CEO and also made fresh appointments to the Forestry Commission and the Ghana Health Service.
Without cross-checking the authenticity of the report, the Board Chairman for Goil, Prof. William Asumaning, issued a statement saying due procedures in the purported appointment of the GOIL CEO were not followed.
Ag. Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr. Eugene Arhin, responded to the news by indicating that the president has not appointed a new CEO for GOIL.
The Presidency had expected Prof. William Asumaning to have gathered concrete evidence before throwing out a direct challenge to the president.
One would have hoped, in the interest of best practices, that the issuance of such a statement by Prof. William Asumaning would have been hinged on concrete evidence, in the form of appointment letters, and not mere speculation and conjecture by an online publication. The statement by the Board Chair was unfortunate and completely needless, to say the least, a portion of the statement read.
In a letter addressed to President Nana Akufo-Addo,a remorseful Prof. William Asumaning noted that the Board of Directors of Goil, regret the erroneous act they have committed.
To this end, we the members of the Board of Directors of Goil, do hereby, render our sincere apologies to Your Excellency for any embarrassment caused by the Boards Statement in response to the Ghana Web publication of 24th February 2017.
LETTER OF APOLOGY BELOW...
Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/ email: [email protected]
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 Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mohammed has cautioned the government against substituting the MPs Common Fund with its one-constituency-one-million-dollar policy. In any case, the policy should rather be an addition to the Common Fund given to Members of Parliament to develop their respective constituencies, he argued.
The MP for Asawase therefore wants the budget expected to be presented by the Finance Minister tomorrow to spell out clearly what the policy entails. According to him, any attempt to scrap the Common Fund will not be accepted by the Minority because it is a statutory fund.
The Member of Parliament for Asawase was contributing to a motion on the floor debating the State of the Nation Address presented to the House on the 21st of February 2017 by President Nana Akufo-Addo. He said the Minority would not relent on its quest to keep the government on its toes to fulfill all the campaign promises. Referring to these promises he called the Gospel according to President Nana Addo and Vice President Bawumia, from verse one to thirty two, the MP mentioned: Free SHS; One dam for all Villages in the North; pay teacher training allowance, free maternal care, radically reduce water bill, radically reduce light bill, one district one factory, pay all DKM customers, reduce corporate tax 20%, create the Western North Region, Provide Job for all Graduates, abolish all taxes on food items, charge a flat rate of 3.5% from MNEs instead of 17.5% VAT, Pay One Million to all 275 Constituencies, One extension officer per 500 Paddle.
Removing import duties on raw materials and machinery for production, Abolishing special import levy, Abolishing 17.5% VAT on imported medicine not produce in the country, abolishing 17.5% VAT on fishing services, Abolishing the 5% VAT on real estate sales, abolishing 17.5% VAT on domestic airline ticket, unemployed youth to get jobs, empower small scale business in the big market. To sponsor the Ghana Premier league with capital injection of one million dollars each season, to remove Airport Taxes, to remove utility bills paid by university students living on campus, to increase and give Ghanaians high quality infrastructure nationwide, loans from Western World will be abolished, Woyome will pay back our money, continuation of Mahama projects and we will use our oil wealth income to clear all Ghanas debt. The Minority MPs backed the Minority Chief Whip insisting that they will hold the leg of the President by the fire to ensure that all these promises are fulfilled.
Source: Onua FM
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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Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has coined a new phrase for dumsor, pres pres, which means on and off to taunt government for the erratic power situation being experienced across the country.
Wrapping up the Minoritys debate on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos maiden State of the Nation address in parliament on Wednesday, 1 March, the Tamale South legislator said the challenges in the energy sector were far from resolved.
Dums has become part of some dictionary but Mr Speaker very soon well have pres pres in Ghana, he stated.
According to him, the Minority will monitor government to make sure they have no excuse to plunge the country into darkness because the NDC invested more in the sector.
Mr Speaker, only a few months ago, the Ghanaian people, when there was dumsor, were told it was [as a result of] incompetence [but] today it is financial and technical difficulties. It can only be in the thinking of the New Patriotic Party. Few weeks and few months ago when there were outages, we could not explain that it was as a result of technical and financial difficulties. Today, they want to hide under that shadow and say that they are competent. We will monitor and evaluate their competence in ensuring energy security for our country, the lawmaker noted adding: Mr Speaker, let it be said that no government in the history of Ghana has invested in the energy infrastructure more than the NDC government.
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 President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is seeking the support and technical assistance of the government of the Republic of Cuba for the construction of a biolarvicide factory in Ghana, to help in the fight against malaria.
In many parts of the world where malaria has been completely eradicated, even before the development of effective medication, one of the key strategies adopted was effective vector control.
It is against this background that the NPP government, under the leadership of President Kufuor, sought the assistance of Cuba for the construction of the facility for the manufacture of a biolarvicide, an insecticide that kills the mosquito larvae - newly hatched mosquitoes. Apart from the production of biolarvicides against malaria, the factory was also to produce bio-fertilizer to boost agricultural productivity and create jobs.
President Akufo-Addo noted that this project was, however, abandoned after the exit of the NPP government in January 2009, and has, therefore, requested for the revival of the project in partnership with the Cuban government.
He made this known when the Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Pedro Luis Gonzalez Despaign, paid a courtesy call on him at the Presidency to congratulate him, on behalf of Cuban President, H.E. Raul Castro, on his election to the high office of President of the Republic.
Mr. Gonzalez Despaign, in his remarks to President Akufo-Addo, indicated the willingness of the Cuban government to assist Ghana in this endeavour, as well as co-operate further in the areas of biopharmaceuticals, education, culture and tourism, construction, and sports.
With Ghana being the first country in Africa to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, Ambassador Despaign indicated that the two countries would continue to share a special relationship, stressing that a high level delegation from Cuba would be present at the 60th Independence Day celebration, in this regard.
Touching on the co-operation between Ghana and Cuba in the field of medicine, he noted that a total of 239 Ghanaian students are currently studying in medicine in Cuba. In addition to this, hundreds of Cuban doctors are currently in the country, as part of the Cuban medical brigade.
However, the Cuban Ambassador noted that Ghanas outstanding indebtedness in the afore-mentioned areas total US$4,732,700. Virtually the entire debt, he said, was incurred over the last 8 years, and urged governments prompt action in defraying this debt.
Ambassador Despaign also indicated that Cuba is counting on the support of Ghana to helping in helping to lift the commercial, economic, and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America on Cuba.
President Akufo-Addo, on his part thanked the Cuban Ambassador for the courtesy of his visit, and assured him of the strengthening of Ghanas relations with Cuba during the tenure of his office.
He assured Ambassador Despaign of his governments prompt action in the matter of Ghanas indebtedness to Cuba in the area of medical co-operation between the two countries.
President Akufo-Addo reassured the Cuban Ambassador of Ghanas continued advocacy in helping to end the blockade against the Caribbean Island.
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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No, no, no, no. I cannot deal with this, no. Absolutely not. My might heart is shattering.
After 8 perfect years of providing coverage and tongue-in-cheek snark at the annual Eurovision Song Contest aka the most beautiful thing in the world, SBS has announced that Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang will no longer be serving as the Australian hosts of the competition. Commence open sobbing.
The glittering 2016 contest in which Dami Im was brazenly robbed by a conspiring contingent of European nations seething with jealousy at our antipodean talent is, as it turns out, the last time both Zemiro and Pang will travel to Europe to cover the event for SBS, with new hosts set to be introduced for the 2017 edition this coming May.
The pair have served as SBSs chief Eurovision correspondents since the 2009 show in Moscow, and have lived through some of the contests most memorable moments: Jedward in 2011, a group of Russian Nans ripping up the stage in 2012, and Moldovas Epic Sax Guy, whose powerful thrusting shall cannon through the sands of time.
SBS managing director Michael Ebeid thanked the duo for their tireless and glorious work over the past 8 Eurovisions, championing the pairs unique on-screen relationship and sense of fun.
We thank Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang for a wonderful eight years as the faces of such a one-of-a-kind television broadcast that is Eurovision. Julia and Sams unique relationship with the audience is something special, and SBS has been fortunate to be able to share their love for the song contest with Australians for so many years running.
Julia Zemiro issued a statement on her departure from the show, recalling a childhood spent in French household marvelling at the glitz and glamour and overall European-ness of the contest.
Eight amazing years hosting Eurovision; what a wonderful and hilarious ride. Growing up in a French household in Bondi Junction, I fell in love with this amazing contest ever since Abba won the competition. The languages, the characters, the songs and the sequins have always held a warm place in my heart.
Giving SBS audiences a sneak peek into the machinations of this wonderfully unique event over the years has been an absolute joy and a career highlight. Its hard to say goodbye but thrilled to be handing over to the next team on a high douze points.
Meanwhile, Sam Pang echoed those sentiments, noting that the time was right to pass the torch on to a new team.
Id like to thank SBS for the opportunity to explore the world and share that experience with all those back home but there are only so many sequins, burning pianos, power ballads and singing Russian grannies one man can celebrate in a career, and the time has come for me to pass that privilege on to a new team.
The Australian entrant for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will be announced by SBS this coming Tuesday.
The 2017 Eurovision takes place from May 9th, in Kiev, Ukraine.
THANK YOU, JULIA & SAM. May all your alcohol be free.
Source: SBS.
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty.
The upcoming live action remake of Beauty and the Beast is set to feature Disneys first gay character, which tbh seems like about bloody time.
Anyone whos seen the classic animation will remember LeFous swooning admiration for Gaston (No ones slick as Gaston / No ones quick as Gaston / No ones necks as incredibly thick as Gastons), which is just fabulously camp enough to fly with the 1991 audience.
But now, director Bill Condon has said that he and the films writers and producers have developed LeFous character (played by Josh Gad) into a man slowly realising that his admiration for Gaston (Luke Evans) is something more than platonic, as a way of increasing LGBT visibility on screen.
Speaking to Attitude Magazine, he said:
LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. Hes confused about what he wants. Its somebody whos just realising that he has these feelings.
And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And thats what has its payoff at the end, which I dont want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.
Shortly after news broke, Gad tweeted that he was beyond proud.
Beyond proud of this https://t.co/5wG1KfKqVZ Josh Gad (@joshgad) March 1, 2017
Thank you my friend. And I cant wait to see you next week in all your glory!!! https://t.co/KxRSLCacUR Josh Gad (@joshgad) March 1, 2017
And look. Beauty and the Beast might contain Disneys first exclusively gay moment, but that doesnt mean the movie house hasnt danced real close in the past.
STATEMENT: BEAUTY & THE BEAST will feature Disneys first gay character. REACTION: pic.twitter.com/O0apmKbDtS Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) March 1, 2017
LeFou is Disneys first gay character You sure about that? pic.twitter.com/XYaj1N2Yma My Name Is James ?? (@_JamesGtfo) March 1, 2017
LeFou can chill. We all know who Disneys first gay character really is pic.twitter.com/xDjEjbvOfG jeremy cabo ?? (@jeremycabo) March 1, 2017
Theres also some backlash from the LGBT community online.
LeFou might the first explicitly gay character, but hes also the dweeby sidekick to the films villain.
Hey, Disney, give me canon Poe/Finn for LGBT rep, not LeFou, a comedic sidekick, in an unrequited crush w Gaston, a hyper masculine villain. margaret a. easley (@margaretamelia_) March 1, 2017
Look, LeFou has been a gay stereotype since the cartoon. So has the clock. So has Gaston. This is way more eye rolling than exciting. Jack Ralls ?????? (@moofable) March 1, 2017
concept to fix this mess: lefou is gay for gaston, but gaston is Bi for lefou, no one dies, theyre evil together Klaudia Amenabar (@kaludiasays) March 1, 2017
How gay individuals feel about the Lefou news is more important than how any straight person feels about it and we all need to remember that Sarah Snitch (@SarahSnitch) March 1, 2017
Gay LeFou isnt progress. Its the opposite. You think gay kids want to see themselves on screen FOR THE FIRST TIME as a villain sidekick? Lily ?? Anderson (@ms_lilyanderson) March 1, 2017
To the movie executives who made Lefou gay: A badly thought out stereotype is just as bad, if not worse, than no gay representation at all. Arnar Heimar (@ArnarTheWriter) March 1, 2017
Regardless Gaston is low key the best song in the entire film and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
My, what a guy, that Gaston ?? #BeOurGuest pic.twitter.com/s64za3iNAr Beauty and the Beast (@beourguest) February 27, 2017
Photo: Disney.
Documentarian / journalist / eternal bae Louis Therouxs most powerful interview technique is remaining silent. Seriously, if you watch anything hes ever done, youll notice the British hero hold back while his subjects say anything anything to fill those pained silences.
We reckon someone at The Independent just turned that trick against him, cause Theroux has dropped some absolutely plum details regarding his upcoming three-part documentary series for the BBC.
After it was reported Theroux would be dedicating his new work to the ascension of Donald Trump to President Donald Trump, Theroux has clarified the docos will be more about Trumps America.
He told the paper I immerse myself in some of the most dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society. From the descriptions of the films alone, were convinced hes bang on.
First, theres Murder In Milwaukee, where Theroux visits a predominantly African-American neighbourhood reeling from police shootings, and engages with locals and activists. He also spends time with the local police department itself.
A doco with the working title Sex Trafficking Houston intends to, well, investigate sex trafficking in Houston. You can expect that one to deal with the repercussions of criminalising sex work, and how the system is bound by a need to charge those who may be the most vulnerable.
Opiate City sees Theroux entrench himself in an Appalachian community absolutely ravaged by opiate usage. You can probably expect him to traverse the same territory 2013s Oxyana did. Read: dont expect it to be too cheerful.
Theroux said hes been granted access to individuals across the spectrum of each issue, with the idea of understanding the causes of it, both on a systemic level and also in a very personal way.
You might be waiting a while for Theroux to turn his attention to Trump specifically, but his assessment of Americas hardest-hit regions may be a more nuanced investigation of his rise, anyway.
The docos will hit BBC Two at some point later this year, and friends, were so, so eager to catch them.
Source: The Independent.
Photo: Astrid Stawiarz / Getty.
Do you even have a home if there are no house plants in it? That is the question of 2017. Somewhere in the last couple of years, home greenery made a strong return but these arent your Mums 90s basket ferns. Theyre majestic beauties, pieces of art in a way and half the fun is trawling sites and stores searching through their beautiful displays for your next lil plant baby.
Theres no shortage of stylish places to buy beaut fiddle leaf fig trees/cacti. But weve rounded up some of our current faves be it online or a gorgeous shop you can drift through for hours.
DOMUS BOTANICA, SYDNEY
A post shared by Domus Botanica (@domus_botanica) on May 22, 2016 at 11:54pm PDT
Having a background in art direction and graphic design is a pretty good platform to start a lush plant business, and thats exactly what Lauren Camilleri, owner of Sydney based Domus Botanica, has in spades. After 12 years in the design biz, working on interiors mag titles, which inspired her foray into interior greenery. Their online store is a minimalist design masterpiece (of course) and their plants and plant accessories are chic, yet totally affordable.
LEAF SUPPLY, SYDNEY
A post shared by Leaf Supply (@leaf_supply) on Jan 22, 2017 at 1:39am PST
While were talking about Lauren Camilleri, she also teamed up with her pal, plant stylist Sophia Caplan, and made a plant delivery service. Theres four ops which mean you can gift your friends/lovers/fam a lush pot plant as opposed to flowers thatll die in 2 days. Or yourself. We wont judge.
THE GLASSHOUSE CO, SYDNEY
A post shared by ?? The Glasshouse Co. ?? (@the_glasshouse_co) on Jan 9, 2016 at 12:59pm PST
Regular terrariums, eat your heart out. The Glasshouse Co has masterfully created these floating, water-based babies thatre totally affordable but insanely lush to look at. Bonus they donate 10% of all profits to charity.
COTTAGE GARDEN NURSERY, BRISBANE
A post shared by The Cottage Garden Nursery (@cottagegardennursery) on Dec 8, 2016 at 5:08pm PST
This Brissie based old-school nursery has an amazing array of indoor babies for you to spend your $$$ on. They also have a pretty schmick antiques and vintage store on site, if you want to just re-do your entire terrace
GLASSHAUS, MELBOURNE
A post shared by Glasshaus (@glasshausnursery) on Oct 14, 2016 at 6:33pm PDT
This VIC based company is all about unusual plants if you have something weird and specific in mind, theyre likely to have it in stock. You can go and have a squiz at their offerings on site, and even hire their plants for events or your office/showroom.
COOL CACTUS, MELBOURNE
A post shared by Cool Cactus (@coolcactus.shop) on Feb 23, 2017 at 1:41pm PST
Another VIC special, Cool Cactus focuses entirely on indoor plant offerings. And true to their name, theyve got a sweet, sweet collection of cacti large and small, too.
NIKAU, BYRON BAY
A post shared by ?? N I K A U (@nikau.store) on Feb 24, 2017 at 1:18am PST
Byron Bays Nikau embodies laid-back coastal feels with its airy stores in Byron and nearby Newrybar. They specialise in both plants and clay, meaning you can get your new baby a gorge home when you pick it up.
PLANT BY PACKWOOD, MELBOURNE
A post shared by PLANT (@plantbypackwood) on Nov 25, 2016 at 2:37pm PST
A plant company created by a folk muso and an actress? Yep, it exists welcome to Plant By Packwood, created by Bayden Packwood Hine and Charlotte Nicdao, who wanted to turn their love of indoor plants into a career. Their store doubles as a real, actual greenhouse and their specialty is terrariums.
IVY MUSE, MELBOURNE
A post shared by IVY MUSE (@ivymuse_melb) on Dec 23, 2016 at 12:23pm PST
The real hero at Ivy Muse is their styling range of plant holders. Whether you want your plants hanging or perched on a stand, these guys have you sorted. Special mention to the amazing geo-vibe Cubby range.
MOSEY, MELBOURNE
A post shared by Mosey Store (@moseystore) on Feb 24, 2017 at 4:03pm PST
Mosey specialise in unique indoor plants, and you can do the in-store thing at their lush as hell Melbs based shop, or order online from work and just swing by and collect your new greenery another time.
STACKWOOD, PERTH
A post shared by STACKWOOD (@stackwood_) on Feb 24, 2017 at 9:09pm PST
Stackwood is housed in an old diesel workshop, and is part event venue, part workshop space, and also happens to sell a fantastic range of indoor plants.
LITTLE LEAF CO, PERTH
A post shared by Little Leaf Co (@littleleafco) on Jan 28, 2017 at 3:11am PST
This Perth-based shop is like a little green wonderland theres stuff hanging from the ceiling, perched on stands scattered all over the joint theres a plant in your face everywhere, and youll want all of em.
Wish you could fill your entire house with like, 400 types of plant? You totally could if you won our lil competition right here youve got the chance to win a sweet lump sum of $20k:
HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN $20K! ENTER HERE NOW!
Image: Ivy Muse.
A 15-year-old boy in western Pennsylvania was already well on his way to helping save others from the dangers of fire. But in a cruel twist of fate, the teen lost his life on Tuesday during a freak accident while he was burning bags of garbage in Clearfield County.
According to WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Thane Lucas, a 15-year-old junior firefighter with the Mahaffey Volunteer Fire Department, was burning bags of garbage in a metal barrel Tuesday when a freak accident occurred, killing the boy.
The fatal accident happened when an unknown item in one of the garbage bags being burned exploded in the flames, causing debris to fly out of the barrel and hit Lucas in the neck, state police at Punxsutawney told WJAC-TV.
Lucas was flown to UPMC Altoona following the 5 p.m. Tuesday accident, but he died from his injuries.
He had signed up to be a junior firefighter with the Mahaffey Volunteer Fire Department in March 2016.
A 27-foot hot dog is coming to town.
The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile parked in Pittsburgh last weekend for the Heinz Field stadium series. But don't worry if you missed it, because the giant hot dog is coming back to western Pennsylvania.
Here's where you can see the Weinermobile:
Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. at Wal-Mart,
Friday from noon to 5 p.m. at Wal-Mart,
Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. at Wal-Mart,
Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Wal-Mart,
Oscar Mayer's first Weinermobile hit the road in 1936. A total of six Weinermobiles now tour the country. Keep up with their locations on Twitter.
Check out more Pittsburgh coverage on PennLive.
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Text by Julia Hatmaker | jhatmaker@pennlive.com
March 17 is St. Patrick's Day -- a day when everyone (it seems) wears green and drinks Guinness. But what exactly is St. Patrick's Day? Who was St Patrick? And when did it become a day of drinking? We tackle those questions, and more, in this St. Patrick's Day 101 Guide.
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Photo by Photo by SEAN SIMMERS | ssimmers@pennlive.com
Is it St. Patty's Day or St. Paddy's Day?
Let's get this out of the way. It's St. Paddy's Day, not St. Patty's Day. The nickname for Patrick, in Ireland, is Paddy, not Patty. Patty is the nickname for Patricia - or the name of a slab of hamburger. If you mess this up in front of an Irishman or Irishwoman, be prepared to face his or her wrath.
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So what is St. Patrick's Day?
It is the feast day for St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
Feast days celebrate an event or a person in the Catholic Church. They are meant to be a period of reflection on one's relationship with God as well.
Every Sunday is a feast day and there are many more throughout the year. During feast days, you are supposed to go to Mass and not go to work. During Lent, feast days are days where one does not have to fast. It's kind of like a freebie day from whatever you gave up.
While several feast days are mandated by the Church so that everyone must participate, St. Patrick's Day is not one of them. You can learn more about feast days here.
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Photo by Flickr user Dylan
Who is St. Patrick?
Historically speaking, Magonius Sucatus Patricius was a British man who was kidnapped by Irish raiders when he was 16. He ended up spending six years in captivity in Ireland - it was during that time that he became a devout Christian. He escaped eventually, believing God told him in a dream that he was to leave Ireland. So he walked to the coast, hopped on a ship and returned home. There, he dreamed that an angel told him to return to the Emerald Isle as a missionary. St. Patrick spent more than 15 years studying religion before becoming ordained and returning to Ireland. He died around 461 AD.
St. Patrick merged Christianity with more traditional parts of Irish culture, including adding bonfires to Easter celebrations and creating the Celtic cross, which incorporates the sun with the cross.
He also is largely responsible for helping convert the Irish to Christianity.
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Wait, what about the snakes?
St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, according to legend. However, today we understand that Ireland is snake-less because of its climate and the fact that the water that surrounds it is too cold for British snakes to migrate over. The snakes are believed to be symbolic, meaning the pagan religions.
For more on St. Patrick, check out his entry in "The Catholic Encyclopedia"'s Volume 11.
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Photo by SEAN SIMMERS | ssimmers@pennlive.com
But back to St. Patrick's Day... what's the proper way to celebrate?
The traditional and religious way to celebrate would be to go to mass and contemplate St. Patrick's life and the lessons he can teach us about faith and our relationship with God and others. You should also share a meal with your family. That would be in keeping with the feast day tradition.
Of course, that's not really how most Americans celebrate the holiday today.
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When did it become a drinking holiday?
In Ireland, the day was a religious holiday and was treated as such. Aiding to the lack of libations - the fact that many pubs were closed on that day because of its religious status. However, in 1970, St. Patrick's Day became a national holiday in Ireland - so beer and whiskey can now be bought.
However, in the United States that was never a problem, as the day was more of a "Irish Pride" affair than anything else. In fact, the first official St. Patrick's Day parade was in New York City in 1762, when a bunch of Irish redcoats marched to a tavern in Manhattan. Even then booze was a fixture.
People liked the parade so much they just kept the tradition up and as the number of Irish immigrants in America grew, so the day came to be a celebration of their culture and the land they came from - and not so much a religious day.
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Photo by Vicki Vellios Briner for PennLive.com
Why the emphasis on drinking though?
Well, that's because of Ireland's booze reputation. The country is home to Guinness as well as a slew of ciders and whiskeys - so the celebration of Irish culture could mean indulging in a libation with an Irish drink.
As a feast day during Lent too, one can indulge without having to worry about breaking their Lent pledge.
And, if you are drinking, be sure to give a proper toast. That would be by saying the word "Slainte," which is pronounced "SLAN-cha," and means "health."
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Why do people wear green?
Fun and truly nerdy fact: originally St. Patrick was associated with a shade of blue - not green.
Green rose to popularity because of the shamrock, which St. Patrick is believed to have used to explain the trinity to the Irish, and because of the island's lush green countryside.
For St. Patrick's Day, people used to just put a shamrock in their lapel and that sufficed for wearing the green. However, the color became political after the Irish uprising in 1798, in which the Society of United Irishmen used the wearing of green garments as a uniform.
Some people, however, wear orange. That's to show unity with the protestants in Ireland.
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Photo by Mark Palczewski for PennLive.com
What about four-leaf clovers? That's a St. Patrick's Day thing, right?
No, no, no. The plant to associate with St. Patrick is the shamrock, which has three leaves, not the clover. According to legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain Christianity's Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) to the Irish people. Thus, three leaves are better than four.
The four-leaf clover, on the other hand, is a symbol of good luck. We all like luck, of course, but it isn't necessarily a St. Patrick's Day thing. Reporter Sean Adams has a more in-depth look at the shamrock vs. clover debate here.
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Can I participate in the holiday even if I don't have a drop of Irish blood in me?
There's no rule saying you can't celebrate, and there is a saying that "everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's day."
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Photo by Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
You may find these stories interesting...
This story has been adapted from a 2015 post on St. Patrick's Day and a post from the same year on St. Patrick.
U.S. representatives Lou Barletta, R-11, and Scott Perry, R-4, are urging Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to investigate the high number of bomb threats made against Jewish community centers in recent months.
The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday announced they were looking into the incidents.
"We request the Department to investigate these threats as domestic terrorism and that the Office for Community Partnerships work with the JCC's to identify targets and provide best practices for deterrence," they wrote in their letter to Kelly. "JCC's have been the target of threats for the past several months, and, this past Monday, another wave of cowardly acts was perpetrated. With 69 threats this year alone, we have to assume these threats are organized and driven by an anti-Semitic ideology. While no bombs have been found, the perpetrators have successfully instilled fear through terrorist acts and must be brought to justice."
Barletta and Perry are both members of the House Homeland Security Committee.
"The recent threats of violence against Jewish Community Centers are unfathomable and must be confronted. That is why we'll be working with both the federal government and our local organizations to ensure the security of our residents and communities," Perry said in a news release.
On Tuesday, Jewish community centers and schools in 12 states, including locations in Harrisburg and York, received anonymous bomb threats by phone. In addition an historic Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia was vandalized last weekend.
"I want to thank the members of our local law enforcement community who made sure that the Harrisburg JCC was secure after Monday's bomb threat," Barletta said in the release. "These anti-Semitic threats are inexcusable. I will continue to work with the department to make sure that all members of our community have the resources necessary to practice their religion peacefully and without fear of a terrorist attack."
JCC Letter Sec Kelly by Hope Stephan on Scribd
A former Chambersburg doctor was convicted of drugging two women and a teen in a sexual assault case in Franklin County court Wednesday.
Sohael Raschid was convicted of 14 of 20 charges following a trial that started Feb. 21, according to a Public Opinion report.
He was convicted of raping two of the victims he drugged. He was acquitted of sexually assaulting a third victim, and charges involving a fourth accuser were dismissed, according to the report.
Sohael Raschid.
Raschid, 60, was convicted of rape by causing substantial impairment, unauthorized administration of intoxicants and controlled substances and other related charges.
His sentencing is scheduled for June 2, after a state sexual offender assessment is completed.
Raschid's $2 million bail was revoked following the verdict.
Jewish cemetery
Matt Handel, chairman of the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition, took this photo on Wednesday while helping to clean up the damage caused by vandals at the Mount Carmel Jewish Cemetery in Philadelphia. More than 100 tombstones were overturned or destroyed on Saturday. Handel said President Trump needed to follow up his message denouncing hate with action.
(Submitted by Matt Handel)
Gov. Tom Wolf asked the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday to investigate a series of bomb threats and vandalism against Jewish institutions in Pennsylvania.
"Pennsylvania was founded to be a safe refuge from religious persecution," Wolf wrote, in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, "and we owe those affected by these acts an answer as to whether they were targeted because they were Jewish institutions and whether these are part of a broader threat to Jewish residents."
Pennsylvania and at least 11 other states have seen more than 100 anti-Semitic incidents this year, according to the JCC Association of North America, including vandalism at Jewish cemeteries and bomb threats against Jewish community centers and schools. The day school two of state Attorney General Josh Shapiro's children attend was recently evacuated due to a threat.
By comparison, FBI data shows 664 anti-Jewish crimes for the entirety of 2015, although the two data points may not represent a one-to-one comparison.
Locally, Jewish community centers in Harrisburg and York were evacuated due to threats. More than 500 headstones at the Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia were destroyed.
The governor's letter is included in its entirety below:
Dear Attorney General Sessions:
I would like to formally request that the Department of Justice investigate the profoundly reprehensible desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia and threats to Jewish community centers and a day school as a hate crime. The recent rash of terror inflicted on Jewish institutions in Pennsylvania and across the country is incredibly alarming. Pennsylvania was founded to be a safe refuge from religious persecution and we owe those affected by these acts an answer as to whether they were targeted because they were Jewish institutions and whether these are part of a broader threat to Jewish residents.
The destruction of the more than 500 headstones at the Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia is unbelievably disturbing to those whose loved ones are buried there and all Jewish people throughout Pennsylvania.
The long, international history of anti-Semitism and the pain and terror inflicted on Jewish people is well-documented, as I am sure you are aware. Further, the targeting of Jewish institutions like community centers and day schools, along with the recent desecration of cemeteries in Minnesota, Connecticut and New York, give credence in my mind that these are not a series of unconnected and random instances. Clearly, we cannot stand by as these acts continue and Jewish Americans are living in fear of being terrorized - or worse.
While I understand law enforcement is diligently working to identify those responsible, a federal Hate Crime investigation would allow for more resources and ensure that the concerns of all Jewish Pennsylvanians, and those of all faiths standing in solidarity with them, are met.
I would appreciate your swift and decisive action to launch a federal Hate Crimes investigation of the attack on this historic Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia and threats to Jewish Community Centers in York and Harrisburg, and a Jewish day school in Montgomery County. We must reassure people of the Jewish faith that those who seek to make them live in fear will be stopped and brought to justice.
Sincerely,
Tom Wolf
Governor of Pennsylvania
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Rolando J. Carcases Diaz
(New Holland police)
A 23-year-old man was recently arrested after he was found sleeping inside of a stolen school bus in Lancaster County.
Rolando J. Carcases Diaz, no known address, is charged with receiving stolen property after his arrest Wednesday morning, from which police interrupted his slumber.
An officer on routine patrol found Carcases Diaz sleeping in the school bus, which was parked in the lot of a Jehovah Witness church on the 500 block of New Holland Road in Earl Township. Carcases Diaz initially gave police false information when asked about his identity, police said.
New Holland police determined determine the bus was owned by Shultz Transportation in Willow Street, and had been stolen from a parking lot at McCaskey High School in Lancaster. Shultz Transportation officials told police that the company were preparing to report the vehicle stolen when New Holland police called.
Carcases Diaz admitted to taking the bus from McCaskey, police said. Surveillance footage also captured him taking the bus from McCaskey at around 1:50 a.m. Wednesday.
Carcases Diaz is charged with a felony count of receiving stolen property. He was unable to post bail and is being held at Lancaster County Prison. Carcases Diaz is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. March 10.
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A Pennsylvania man who killed his pregnant wife in 1965 can't have his life prison sentence revisited because he was 18 when he committed the murder, a state court ruled.
(PennLive file photo)
Saying his appeal lacks legal merit and was filed 50 years too late, a state Superior Court panel has refused to overturn the life prison sentence for a man convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in 1965.
And, the court found in an opinion by Judge Jack A. Panella, since Francis E. Vanderpool, formerly of Towanda, was 18 when he committed the slaying, he was a year too old to benefit from recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that bar mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile killers.
Vanderpool, who just marked his 70th birthday, had tried to stretch the limit of those Supreme Court rulings to fit his case.
He argued, in vain, that those decisions in the cases of Miller v Alabama and Montgomery v Louisiana were also meant to forbid the imposition of mandatory life prison terms on murderers who were 18 years old or younger when they committed their crimes.
The Miller and Montgomery rulings have forced the reconsideration of the cases of hundreds of juvenile killers in Pennsylvania.
Panella called Vanderpool's argument "novel." Yet his court decided Vanderpool can't be among those whose cases are being revisited because the cut-off the Supreme Court set on the mandatory life sentence ban applies only to killers who were no older than 17.
Vanderpool's life sentence with no possibility for parole was imposed in 1966 after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his wife in Bradford County.
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Jonathan and Grace Foster have surrendered custody of their six children. The Berks County couple, who are members of Faith Tabernacle, a faith-healing sect, are charged in the November death of their two-year-old daughter Ella, who died of pneumonia. (Chad Blimeline/WFMZ-TV)
(Chad Blimeline/WFMZ-TV)
A grandfather who is also a minister is charged with failing to report the death of his granddaughter, whose parents didn't seek medical treatment for her due to their faith.
Rowland George Foster, 71, of the 400 block of North Ninth Street, Lebanon, is charged with failing to report child abuse, a third degree felony, court records say.
Foster, police said, "had reasonable cause to suspect that the victim died due to a failure to obtain adequate medical care."
Jonathan and Grace Foster of Upper Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the Nov. 8 pneumonia death of their daughter, Ella Grace, age 2.
The Fosters, members of Mechanicsburg-based Faith Tabernacle church, attributed the toddler's death to "God's will," according to charges filed in the case.
The Fosters told police their church does not believe in any medical treatment whatsoever, charging documents state.
Rowland Foster is pastor of Faith Tabernacle's Harrisburg district, which includes Lebanon, Mechanicsburg, Shippensburg and Schuylkill Haven, and is also Ella Foster's grandfather.
Rowland Foster told police he received a call from Grace Foster the evening of Nov. 7, after arriving home from a meeting of church elders in Philadelphia. She asked him to come to their home to anoint the child, which is performed in their faith when someone is ill.
Foster said he knew the child had a cold, since she hadn't been at church the previous Sunday.
The day after the anointing, Foster said he again visited the child, and found her in the same condition as the night before, which he described as "resting peacefully."
As he left, he said Jonathan Foster was holding the girl in his arms, and that she "appeared peaceful and that there was no detection of anything out of the ordinary."
Afterward, he said he got a call from Jonathan Foster telling him the child had died. Foster said he went back to the home to be with the family.
Foster told authorities he saw Ella between 11 and 11:45 a.m. on the day she died, and recalled she was "not talking much during the morning, and that she sounded sick."
The Berks County coroner said the child died between 3:20 and 3:24 p.m.
As a minister, Foster was a mandated reporter, and is required to report child abuse, police said, which can include failing to provide a child with adequate medical care, police said.
After arriving back at the home and seeing the child's body, police said he failed to report the child had died due to medical neglect.
Foster was released on his own recognizance and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 8.
European Union Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete gestures during an interview with the Associated Press at the Sofitel Hotel in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, Oct. 12, 2015. The European Union's environment commissioner is making a noisy pitch about joining forces with Canada to fight to preserve the Paris climate change accord in the face of "geopolitical uncertainties." THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Abdeljalil Bounhar
Liberal leadership candidate Ken Dryden left follows Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs into the final day of meetings of the liberal caucus in Vancouver, Thursday August 24, 2006. Former senator Carstairs says the Senate should cover the legal fees she incurred after she was named in a critical audit of spending in the upper chamber, then cleared of any wrongdoing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Stoody
KETCHIKAN (AP) Elizabeth Peratrovichs name now stands over the theater in the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, placed there by the U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood and revealed in an emotional ceremony.
Peratrovich, born in Petersburg in 1911 as a Tlingit of the Raven-Sockeye clan, is celebrated for her role in the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, one of the first of its kind in the United States, in territorial Alaska a role that dozens of people honored during the ceremony renaming the theater at the downtown center.
The act, sig...
Here, there, everywhere why car washes seem to be on every corner
business
China' coal power plants exposed to bankruptcy , write-downs, bankruptcy - Oxford study
BEIJING
Petroleumworld.com 03 02 2017
An Oxford University study warns that China's utilities could write down between $449 billion and $1.047 trillion in assets over the next 20 years, exposing them to financial risks as the country enacts more intensive pollution controls.
The possible writedowns came as China's top leaders plan massive capacity cuts across industrial sectors and reign in the construction of coal-fired power projects across the country.
China Huaneng Group, China's largest utility, has more than 22,720 megawatts (MW) of new coal generation capacity under construction. These assets face possible devaluations as a result of China's tightening pollution controls and intense price competition for surviving and new power plants, the study said .
Other companies such as China Datang Corp, China Guodian Corp and China Huadian Group are subject to similar risks as they plan to build more than 45,000 MW of new capacity, the study said.
"Financial positions of the top 50 coal-fired power utilities in China is generally getting worse," the study from the Sustainable Finance Programme of Oxford University said. "Chinese utilities have a large reliance on short-term debt, which may introduce additional financial risks of bankruptcy if market conditions were to rapidly deteriorate."
China's government is putting more pressure on the heavily indebted sector. The country's energy regulator has ordered 11 provinces to halt more than 100 coal-fired power projects some of which are under construction, with a combined installed capacity of more than 100 gigawatts.
In another blow, Beijing is also considering radical output cuts of steel and aluminium, hurting electricity demand.
Debt levels for China's five biggest power companies has increased while their margins dropped sharply between 1995 and 2015, the paper said.
Reporting by Hong Kong Reuters newsroom
reuters.com 03 01 2017
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U.S. charges 19 in wire fraud, international money laundering scheme
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 03 02 2017
U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged 19 people with taking part in a complex international fraud and money laundering ring that tricked companies and consumers out of millions of dollars.
The charges were part of an international sweep Wednesday, in which police in the United States, Hungary, Bulgaria and Israel arrested 17 individuals accused of money laundering and wire fraud, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing D. Phillips announced at a press conference.
Authorities from the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation say they uncovered the organized crime groups in 2011 when they discovered a makeshift call center operated out of a Washington hotel room.
The operation was used to post phony car ads online advertising cars, luring customers with prices far below market value. Once the customers placed a deposit for the cars, the fraudsters would cut off contact and disappear with the money, authorities said.
"Money mules" would then withdraw the cash and transport it in bulk to a network of money launderers in Europe, authorities said.
After investigating that scheme, authorities say they learned members of the group, which spanned Europe, Israel and the United States, had also scammed unnamed German and Portuguese companies out of millions of dollars in phony transactions in 2014 and 2015.
Using fake email addresses to impersonate the chief executive or president of a company, authorities say the defendants would instruct mid-level employees to wire hundreds of thousands of dollars for a "secret" financial transaction, such as a corporate acquisition.
But the bank accounts were controlled by the criminals, who disappeared with the money, authorities said.
Reuters could not immediately reach the defendants for comment.
Trump could lift federal coal ban, other green rules -White House
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 03 02 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump will target a handful of Obama-era green regulations, including a federal coal mining ban and an initiative forcing states to cut carbon emissions, in an executive order as soon as next week, a White House official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress are seeking to unravel former Democratic President Barack Obama's initiatives to combat global climate change, which they say are costly for U.S. business and have hampered drilling and mining without providing any clear benefits.
"Rescinding the federal coal leasing moratorium is part of that executive order, which has lots of different components, including the Clean Power Plan," the White House official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The official said the order was scheduled to come next week.
The Clean Power Plan is Obama's centerpiece initiative to combat climate change, requiring states to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, but it was never implemented due to legal challenges launched by several Republican states.
Legal experts have said Trump could begin the process of killing the regulation by having the Environmental Protection Agency ask the courts to return it to the agency for review, effectively ending its legal defense.
Killing the coal mining ban would be easier. Trump could reverse the ban by asking the Department of Interior to lift it and resume its coal leasing program.
Obama's administration imposed the temporary ban on new federal coal leases in January 2016 as part of a broad environmental and economic review of the program aimed at ensuring lease deals account for coal's contribution to global climate change and yield fair returns to taxpayers.
But it angered some Western state lawmakers and people in the mining industry, who said it stymied development.
Trump has already rolled back some Obama-era green regulations, including the Stream Protection Rule limiting coal mining waste dumping, and the Waters of the U.S. rule that expands the waterways under federal protection.
Vegan eating has skyrocketed in popularity over the course of recent decades, with more than 1,400 plant-based restaurants opening all across the US. While Philadelphia is historically known for cheesesteaks, countless vegan restaurants now call the city home. This is
Famous Penang Food at MakeMake Cafe in Penang Design Village
Penang Design Village Outlet Mall is the one and only Premium Outlet located at the northern region of Peninsula Malaysia. They strategically located in Bandar Cassia which is near the 2nd Penang Bridge and also next to AVC (Aspen Vision City). IKEA is expected to open in AVC next year.
From the Penang International Airport to Penang Design Village, it takes around 40 minutes by car. If you order Uber, it will be around RM 30++. Thus, if you have free time in Penang before you depart from Penang International Airport, Penang Design Village is the place you can visit for last minute shopping.
The architecture and design is similar to some of the Premium Outlets we visited around the world. It is the outdoor concept and it is similar to Bicester Village in Oxford, La Vallee Village in Paris and Hua Hin Premium Outlet in Thailand.
Since this is a premium outlet, most retail stores offer huge discounts on items so you can shop till you drop. With the high exchange rates to Ringgit, it is cheaper to shop in Malaysia right now.
Now, where to eat in Penang Design Village? Penang is world famous for its local street food and what if there is a restaurant in Penang Design Village offers most of the famous Penang food under one roof?
The restaurant is called MakeMake Cafe and they offer famous Penang and Malaysian food. The restaurant is fully air-conditioned, spacious and comfortable. We love how they decorated the ceiling with greens to add some colours to the interior of the restaurant.
A quick glance of their menu, they offer many popular Penang and Malaysian food such as nasi lemak, curry noodle, prawn noodles, assam laksa, mee rebus, nasi bujang, kuey teow soup, loh mee, cendol, ice kacang and more.
They are still new and we hope they can bring in char kuey teow one day. Since we took a video of the food tasting, you can watch the video.
For curry noodle, this is the Penang version of curry noodle so it is different than the ones in Kuala Lumpur. The taste of the curry is subtle and you need to balance it with the chili. It depends on your preferences of spiciness so you can actually add the chili to your preference. Overall the taste is okay with slices of cuttlefish, long beans, taufu skin and taufu pok.
For the prawn noodles, the taste of the broth is subtle but it is well balance once you mix it up with the chili paste. It comes with generous amount of large and small size prawns. The fried shallots add the flavour to the noodle and we enjoyed this very much.
We ordered the Nasi Lemak with fried chicken. To our surprise, it comes with two pieces of fried chicken and papadom cracker. Most notable is the missing peanuts (maybe they ran out of stock) and the usual sliced boiled egg, cucumber and fried anchovies. The coconut rice is slightly soft but never lack of the taste. We love the crunchiness of their fried anchovies and also the taste of their chili sambal. The fried chicken comes with crispy skin and the juicy tender meat, this is so addictive. Thus, we find the price of the nasi lemak is very reasonable and you cant a nasi lemak with two fried chicken in Klang Valley for this price. They also offer plain nasi lemak or with sambal sotong, curry chicken, sambal prawn or with fried prawn fritter. If you have the craving of nasi lemak, you should order this.
Their assam laksa is the dish you should try. We love the generous amount of prawn paste sauce and it adds the flavour to the dish. Their assam laksa is delightful in taste and we dont mind having a second plate of it.
Their version prawn fritters come with mixed prawn and salted egg yolk. It is crispy on the outside and the surprisingly tasty filling on the inside.
The Ais Kacang is a popular Malaysian dessert. Love the sweetness of this and this is very addictive. Since Malaysia is always hot, it is good to have icy cold ais kacang for dessert.
For drinks, their Soo Milo Oreo is their signature drink. You probably heard of Milo Dinosaur (iced milo drink topped with Milo powder) but Soo Milo Oreo is the bomb! It is topped with deconstructed Oreo with coconut flakes and the Milo is super kaw (thick) in flavour. This is sweetness overload but it is so good!
MakeMake Cafe is definitely the place to visit for your local food cravings in Penang Design Village. Overall, their food is good and their pricing is reasonable. Where to eat in Penang Design Village? MakeMake Cafe of course!
For more information, visit their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/makemakecafe
Make Make Restaurant & Cafe in Penang Design Village Address:
Lot G25, 733 Jalan Cassia Barat 2, 14110 Batu Kawan, Penang
Website : www.makemakecafe.com
Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S22 Ultra and Sony ZV-1. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts
First, however, it is worth recalling that this is not Dawns primary responsibility, which is to continue to measure cosmic rays in order to improve scientists ability to establish the atomic species down to about a yard (meter) underground. Sensing the space radiation requires the spacecraft to stay more than 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) above the dwarf planet that is its gravitational master. The gamma ray and neutron detector will be operated continuously as Dawn changes its orbit and then performs the new observations. The ongoing high-priority radiation measurements will not be affected by the new plans.
The principal objective of the orbital maneuvers is to swivel Dawns orbit around Ceres. Imagine looking down on Ceres north pole, with the sun far to the left. (To help your imagination, you might refer to this figure from last month. As we will explain in May, Dawns orbital plane is slowly rotating clockwise, according to plan, and it is now even closer to vertical than depicted in January. That does not affect the following discussion.) From your perspective, looking edge-on at Dawns orbit, its elliptical path looks like a line, just as does a coin seen from the edge. In its current orbit (labeled 6 in that figure), Dawn moves from the bottom to the top over the north pole. When it is over the south pole, on the other side of the orbit, it flies from the top of the figure back to the bottom. The purpose of the current maneuvering is to make Dawn travel instead from the left to the right over the north pole (and from the right to the left over the south pole). This is equivalent to rotating the plane of the orbit around the axis that extends through Ceres poles and up to Dawns altitude. From the suns perspective, Dawn starts by revolving counterclockwise and the orbit is face-on. We want to turn it so it is edge-on to the sun.
That may not sound very difficult. After all, it amounts mostly to turning right at the north pole or left at the south pole. Spaceships in science fiction do that all the time (although sometimes they turn right at the south pole). However, it turns out to be extremely difficult in reality, not to mention lacking the cool sounds. When going over the south pole, from the top of the figure to the bottom, the spacecraft has momentum in that direction. To turn, it needs to cancel that out and then develop momentum to the left. That requires a great deal of work. It is energetically expensive. Fortunately, the ever-resourceful flight team has an affordable way.
As we discuss this more, we will present three diagrams of the trajectory. It may be challenging to follow Dawns three-dimensional motion on two-dimensional figures, especially if you are not accustomed to reading such depictions. Dont worry! The team has it all under control, and it works. But consider that however complicated the figures seem, designing and flying the maneuvers is somewhat more complicated. Nevertheless, if you want to try, it might help to try to reproduce Dawns movements with your finger as you read the text and study the illustrations. (And if the figures are not helpful for understanding the trajectory, they may at least serve as fun optical illusions, as they did for one member of the test audience.)
The dispatchers voice had crackled through police radios across Los Angeles: Shots fired AK-47 theres an officer down.
Shed been a voice of calm 20 years ago today during 44 minutes of abject terror. Once again, she was heard at 9:17 a.m. during a tribute to those who had risked their lives during the North Hollywood shootout one of the longest gun battles in police history.
And with that series of broadcasts to that chaos and initial terror began an incident that ended with a true demonstration of the character of this organization that we call the Los Angeles Police Department a demonstration of valor, said Capt. Donald Graham, commander of the North Hollywood Division.
He was among an estimated 200 city officials, cops and residents to gather during a one-hour ceremony yesterday at North Hollywood Police Station to recognize the outgunned police who overcame men with machine guns, the Daily News reports.
Related Article:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicated on Tuesday that the federal government would back away from monitoring troubled police departments, which was the central strategy of the Obama administration's Department of Justice.
In his first speech as attorney general, Mr. Sessions did not name any specific cities, but he indicated that Justice Department scrutiny from afar was undermining the effectiveness of the police across the country, the New York Times reports. It was a clear reference to the aggressive efforts of the Obama administration to oversee law enforcement agencies charged with civil rights abuses.
We need, so far as we can, in my view, help police departments get better, not diminish their effectiveness, Mr. Sessions said in remarks to the National Association of Attorneys General. And Im afraid weve done some of that. So were going to try to pull back on this, and I dont think its wrong or mean or insensitive to civil rights or human rights.
Michael Christopher Mejia has been charged with the murder of Whittier, CA, Officer Keith Boyer. (Photo: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)
A 26-year-old man suspected of killing a Whittier, CA, Police officer and shooting another after allegedly killing his cousin hours earlier has been charged with capital murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office said Wednesday.
Michael Christopher Mejia faces two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon, KTLA reports.
Mejia is accused of shooting and killing Whittier Officer Keith Boyer, 53. Police say Boyer and Officer Patrick Hazell responded to a vehicle accident and Mejia opened fire on them, killing Boyer and wounding Hazell.
Mejia, a known gang member with a long criminal history, also faces a special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder of a police officer and murder to escape arrest. The charges make him eligible for the death penalty, officials said.
Markeith Loyd, 41, faces 11 charges, including the murder of Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton. (Photo: Orange County SO)
A judge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Markeith Loyd Wednesday when the accused cop killer continuously interrupted him and refused to enter a plea himself.
Loyd faces 11 charges in connection with the death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and Orlando police officer.
Loyds accused of killing Sade Dixon in December, and Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton in January.
A May 1 trial date has been set, WFLA TV reports.
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Calls are growing for Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign after it was reported that he lied under oath about contact with Russian officials while he was a member of the Trump campaign.
After The Washington Post reported that Sessions at multiple meetings with representatives from Moscow while a member of the Trump campaign, and then lied about it under oath during his confirmation hearing to Attorney General, The Wall Street Journal followed up by reporting that Sessions is under federal investigation.
MoveOn has immediately called for Attorney General Sessions to resign:
This is a two-bombshell evening. First, The New York Times says the intelligence community has information that Trump associates met with Russian officials during the campaign. The Times also reports the intelligence community had reason to believe the Trump Administration might cover this up. Second, The Washington Post breaks a story that says U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath at his confirmation hearing about contact with Russian officials.
The only way for citizens to be able to trust that our government can act with integrity is for Attorney General Sessions to resign his post immediately and for his successor to appoint a special prosecutor to begin a comprehensive investigation of Donald Trump, his campaign, and his administration. Anything short of that is flatly unacceptable and puts our countrys security and our free and fair elections at grave risk.
A full congressional investigation and a special prosecutor now look likely. A resignation is the best case scenario for Sessions. If he committed perjury, Sessions could be facing criminal charges.
The other shoe has finally dropped, as the scandal that could destroy Trump has taken a huge step towards the Oval Office.
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In the final days of Barack Obamas presidency, officials in the administration worked quickly and quietly to preserve intelligence related to Russias connection to Donald Trumps campaign and its interference in the U.S. election, according to The New York Times.
The report notes that members of the Obama White House were intentionally leaving a trail so it couldnt easily be covered up by the incoming administration.
The report via The New York Times:
At the Obama White House, Mr. Trumps statements stoked fears among some that intelligence could be covered up or destroyed or its sources exposed once power changed hands. What followed was a push to preserve the intelligence that underscored the deep anxiety with which the White House and American intelligence agencies had come to view the threat from Moscow.
It also reflected the suspicion among many in the Obama White House that the Trump campaign might have colluded with Russia on election email hacks a suspicion that American officials say has not been confirmed. Former senior Obama administration officials said that none of the efforts were directed by Mr. Obama.
As Inauguration Day approached, Obama White House officials grew convinced that the intelligence was damning and that they needed to ensure that as many people as possible inside government could see it, even if people without security clearances could not. Some officials began asking specific questions at intelligence briefings, knowing the answers would be archived and could be easily unearthed by investigators including the Senate Intelligence Committee, which in early January announced an inquiry into Russian efforts to influence the election.
At intelligence agencies, there was a push to process as much raw intelligence as possible into analyses, and to keep the reports at a relatively low level of classification to ensure as wide a readership as possible across the government and, in some cases, among European allies. This allowed the upload of as much intelligence as possible to Intellipedia, a secret wiki used by American intelligence analysts to share information.
The Obama administration also tried to spread the information outside of the executive branch of government, passing along some intelligence to members of Congress. The Times notes that one batch of State Department documents was sent to a Democratic senator just days before Trump was sworn in.
The White House, of course, has spent the last month trying to tamp down reports linking Trump and Russia. Just last week, it was even reported that the administration took the unprecedented step of reaching out to the FBI and essentially begging the agency to shoot down media reports linking Trumps presidential campaign to Moscow.
But a flood of reporting and leaks from inside the White House have raised serious questions about the presidents relationship with Russia, and its increasingly clear that an independent investigation will be necessary.
Currently, the FBI and committees in both chambers of Congress are conducting their own probes into Russias involvement in the U.S. election and, more specifically, the countrys connection to the Trump campaign.
Thanks to the Obama administrations behind-the-scenes work, valuable intelligence that will play a major role in the ongoing investigations is less likely to be destroyed or covered up by the new White House no matter how hard they may try.
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Michael Keegan, president of People for the American Way (PFAW) denounced Donald Trumps joint address last night, calling it, in an email to supporters today, Hate, rebranded. Keegan warned that while Donald Trumps speech last night being heralded by some in the media for striking a softer tone and sounding more presidential than Trumps previous overtly hateful, ego romp, lie-filled speeches, that the threat from Trump and his Republican allies just became more dangerous, not less.
As Keegan points out,
There was no pivot. What we saw was the same hate, the same bigotry, the same extremism, and the same insidious distortions of reality but in a shiny new package now loaded onto a tele-prompter, couched in the kind of Orwellian doublespeak and slick marketing that could give Trump and Republicans a boost in popularity, despite their having the exact same agenda. Nothing has changed. But theyre learning to hide it better.
It has been observed both here and elsewhere that far from offering anything new, Trump was appealing to the same false populism employed by him during his campaign, and Keegan agrees:
Trump was still in full campaign mode he used grieving families as political props, and made big, vague promises with no details about how to achieve (or afford) them. And he pandered to the demographic base of working class whites that, outside of the Republican Party faithful, forms the core of his support, with anecdotes about brands (like Harley Davidson) and kind words and promises for the police and military.
Trumps dishonesty was in full display last night, with fact-checkers having a field day pointing to his multitude of lies:
With his administration void of actual accomplishments, he resorted to claiming some of the accomplishments of his predecessor as his own. Trump likes to say he inherited a mess, but he inherited an economy that had been picking up steam for years after the debacle created by the previous Republican administration and despite congressional Republicans best efforts at economic sabotage all throughout the Obama presidency. Astonishingly, Trump even subtly tried to highjack ownership of the most popular ideas in the Affordable Care Act.
Finally, while Trump mostly stuck to the teleprompter and avoided repeating some of his most outrageous whoppers, the level of dishonesty was still shocking by any normal standards. In addition to the selective use of misleading stats and examples about immigrants, crime, and terrorism, Trump cast all regulations and standards set by the government to protect consumers, workers, and the public as government overreach that takes away Americans choices and even their rights. A dangerous and corrosive message to sell a dangerous and corrosive agenda
As Keegan says, there was no pivot last night, much as some in the media obsess over seeing such a thing. Having been fooled repeatedly by Trump in the past, some of them seem to nourish a good story more than actual facts.
This isnt happening. Trump isnt changing. In the immortal words of Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson, He hasnt changed his position on immigration. Hes changed the words that he is saying.
Just as it was before, Donald Trumps is a message is one of hate.
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Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is pulling no punches as he just dropped an amazing letter demanding answers on Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
In his letter, Sen. Franken wrote:
Reports indicate that you communicated with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak while serving as a prominent member of President Trumps campaign teamconversations you failed to disclose during your confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
During that hearing, I asked you, if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? You answered, Senator Franken, Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians. We now know that statement not to be true, and if it is determined that you lied under oath to the Committee and the American people, it is your responsibility to resign.
Frankens letter, which you should read in full at the link above, posed vital questions to the Attorney General.
Among the questions that Sen. Franken asked was, In the seven weeks following your confirmation hearing, why did you fail to clarify that you had indeed communicated on more than one occasion with the Russian Ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign until the Washington Post exposed those interactions?
The Senator from Minnesota also requested that Sessions provide a detailed account of meetings and communications between himself, his staff, and the Russians.
Franken wants Sessions to recuse himself immediately, and he added that if it is determined that the Attorney General lied under oath, he must resign.
Al Franken wants answers, and the tenacious Senator is going to keep fighting the Attorney General and the President until the White House comes clean and gives the American people the facts about the Trump campaigns interactions with Russia.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) went straight to the heart of the matter, and the Oval Office, by calling on Jeff Sessions to immediately resign so that the American people can find about what Trump knew about his campaigns contacts with Russia.
In a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, Sen. Sanders said:
Millions of Americans are deeply concerned about the possibility that the Trump administration colluded with President Putin and the Russian authoritarian government to win the presidential election. It is deeply disturbing that then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, under oath at a Senate confirmation hearing, falsely denied having met with the Russian ambassador.
We need a Justice Department that will give us the facts about Russias involvement in the 2016 election and their ties to the Trump campaign, not one led by someone who deliberately misled Congress about his own communications with the Russian government. We also must find out what President Trump knew about meetings involving his campaign and the Russians.
Attorney General Sessions should resign and a special prosecutor should be appointed to give the American people credible answers about Russias involvement in the U.S. election.
Jeff Sessions isnt the heart of the scandal. Attorney General Sessions was a firewall put in place by President Trump at the Department of Justice to hide the truth from the American people. To uncover the truth, Sessions has got to go.
Some members of Congress are getting hung up on whether Sessions should recuse himself or resign, but the bigger question, as Sen. Sanders pointed out is what did Trump know and when did he know it?
It will be impossible for the American people to get the answers that they need while Jeff Sessions is leading the Justice Department.
Ignore the Republican noise about Jeff Sessions, the real focus of attention should be The President Of The United States.
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President Trump told reporters he still has total confidence in his Attorney General amid calls for AG Jeff Sessions to resign or recuse himself, according to a White House pool report sent to PoliticusUSA.
During Trumps tour of the Gerald Ford ship, CNNs Jim Acosta asked, Sir, do you still have confidence in the attorney general?
Trump responded, Total.
Trump responded to more questions later during Trumps tour of the ships command center.
Asked if Sessions should recuse himself, Trump said, I dont think so
Trump denied any knowledge of Jeff Sessions communications with the Russian ambassador, saying he wasnt aware at all that Sessions spoke to the Russian ambassador.
Asked if Sessions testified truthfully to the Senate, President Trump gave the not very inspiring response, I think he probably did.
This is Trump in CYA mode, because Trump needs Jeff Sessions in place to obstruct investigations into the Trump campaigns contacts with Russia but he also carefully worded his response so that it leaves him an out since its obvious that Sessions wasnt truthful in his replies to the Senate.
All Trump could manage for the people is that he thinks Sessions probably told the truth.
Republicans are acting as if the question here is should Sessions recuse himself or not from investigating himself, but the press doesnt ask the President if he still has confidence in the AG for no reason.
Jeff Sessions is in a world of political hurt if not actual hurt (thanks to anti-American Republicans), and this means Donald Trump is in a world of hurt if he cant keep Sessions as the speed bump to protect himself.
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And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place to resign. We need it now, Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted Wednesday night after a report that Jeff Sessions lied under oath when he said he had no contacts with Russia as a member of the Trump campaign.
And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions who should have never been confirmed in the first place to resign. We need it now. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
Warren is joined by Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Intelligence Committee Member Ron Wyden (OR) in calling for Sessions resignation, and in the House, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA).
Warren called for a special prosecutor:
We need a special prosecutor totally independent of the AG. We need a real, bipartisan, transparent Congressional investigation into Russia. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
She mocked Trumps claims that the Russia story is fake news:
This is not normal. This is not fake news. This is a very real & serious threat to the national security of the United States. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
Heres President Trump claiming the Russia scandal that already took down his National Security Adviser is fake news:
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! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2017
Warren called Sessions as AG investigating the Trump campaigns ties to Russia a farce:
Now Jeff Sessions is AG the final say on the law enforcement investigation into ties between the Trump campaign & Russia? What a farce. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
Warren pointed out that the question wasnt exactly tricky:
Jeff Sessions answered No. Turns out he met with the Russian Ambassador. Two months before the election. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
It's a simple q: "Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election?" Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017
Yes, the law and order President is surrounded by lawless, ethics violating people for some reason. He seems to have picked on as his top prosecutor as well.
Senator Warren is not impressed.
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Republicans are trying to advance the argument that Sessions was just doing his job when he met with the Russian ambassador twice during 2016, but it turns out he was the only member of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to do so.
Adam Entous, who broke the story about Sessionss meeting with the ambassador as part of the Washington Posts national security team, just put the kill shot in the Republican talking point that Sessions was just doing his job when he met twice with the Russian ambassador.
The team reached out to all 26 members of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to see who met with Russian envoy Kislyak in 2016. Sessions was the only one.
We reached all 26 members of the 2016 Armed Services Committee to see who met with Russian envoy Kislyak in 2016. Sessions was the only one. Adam Entous (@adamentous) March 2, 2017
There were two meetings, one of which took place in Sessions Senate office. Its unclear if this meeting took place over the phone or in person, but the point is that private meetings like that are not what Republicans are referencing when they say meetings with ambassadors are part of the job.
Senator Ted Cruz gave a go at the Republican talking point, blaming Democrats for the political circus because they opposed Sessions due to his previously disqualifying even for Republicans racism.
Ted Cruz says Sessions is facing a "political circus." He also says he personally met with six ambassadors in January and February. pic.twitter.com/3Xtu88xqr4 Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) March 2, 2017
Since racism isnt a problem for modern Republicans, its not likely that traitorous behavior or lying about it is problematic for the GOP.
The concern over Russias interference in the U.S. election is a made up political circus. Just because Republicans dont care about the security and sovereignty of our country doesnt mean that this is a partisan issue. In fact, multiple European intelligence agencies have evidence of meetings between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in Europe. They collected that information not because they are U.S. Democrats, but because
It is an international issue of great concern.
All hail Republicans for claiming that lying about meetings with the ambassador to the country that is interfering in the U.S. election is just part of their job.
However, this does bring up a pertinent question. Just what exactly do Republicans think their job is, and to which country would they say they are most strongly aligned.
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If you thought while listening to the then young Senator from Illinois that his soaring belief in the possible reminded you of John F Kennedy, you are not alone. The JFK Library agrees.
The John F Kennedy Library foundation awarded President Barack Obama its Profile in Courage award Thursday, saying He picked up the torch from President Kennedy and citing Obamas profound grace under pressure.
Indeed, they say, President Obamas entire public life has exemplified the courage that John F. Kennedy celebrated.
From his inspirational 2008 campaign until his final weeks in office, Barack H. Obama consistently reflected in so many ways, big and small, the definition of courage that John F. Kennedy cited in the opening lines of Profiles in Courage: Grace under pressure,' the foundation explained in a statement.
Former President Barack Obama wrote he was humbled to be recognized by a family with a legacy of service.
Humbled to be recognized by a family with a legacy of service. Who's your #ProfileInCourage? Tell me about them: https://t.co/euYRxWcost https://t.co/HBgFiRcq9J Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 2, 2017
The Profile in Courage award relates to JFKs quote, To all who respond to the Scriptural call: Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.
For couragenot complacencyis our need todayleadershipnot salesmanship. And the only valid test of leadership is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously.
Never has the phrase leadershipnot salesmanship been more appropriate.
He picked up the torch from President Kennedy and has now passed it on to a new generation of Americans, inspiring young people across the country to enter public service, affirming our belief in an America that is more than a collection of Red states and Blue states, and reminding all of us that no matter what we look like, where we come from, or what faith we practice, we are our brothers and sisters keeper, the JFK Library foundation wrote.
Throughout his two terms in office, President Obama upheld the highest standards of dignity, decency and integrity, serving not just as a political leader, but a moral leader, offering hope and healing to the country and providing young men and women of all backgrounds with an example they can emulate in their own lives.
President Obamas entire public life has exemplified the courage that John F. Kennedy celebrated.
President Obama will accept this prestigious award in May of this year. The nation already misses the scandal-free presidency of Obama, the deep integrity with which he conducted himself, his continuous ability to rise above the horrific things said to and about him and his family, and most of all, his service and commitment to making the lives of the American people better.
Republicans mocked Obamas hope, but without hope there is no change. Hope is the foundation of courage and a buttress of change.
President Obamas courage is a light that will help to shine our way out of this present darkness, because as he has always said, Change in America doesnt start from the top down. It starts from the bottom up. Thats the people. Change starts with the people.
Like President Kennedy, President Obama inspires people to get involved, to fight for change.
Image: screengrab from JFK Library twitter video
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Republicans are trying to make the question, Should he recuse himself from investigating himself? When the real question is, Should we hold a trial over Sessions perjury after he steps down?
Republicans have their talking point, and its that AG Jeff Sessions might want to maybe recuse himself from the Russia probe. If he wants to. Because patriotism.
Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Morning Joe that AG Sessions should recuse himself from Russian investigation, but he doesnt want to prejudge. I mean, maybe its cool for Sessions to be in charge of an investigation that would implicate him, right?
.@GOPLeader says on Morning Joe that AG Sessions should recuse himself from Russian investigation pic.twitter.com/ZAMcMUDqB3 Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) March 2, 2017
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, tweeted, AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.
AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) March 2, 2017
Rob Portman (R-OH), Darrell Issa (R-CA) and more followed suit with the GOP talking point of recuse himself.
Yes, we should leave it up to Sessions to decide. What is perjury anyway? Oh, perjury is that thing that Jeff Sessions said meant a trial for President Clinton, and the loss of his job if guilty. But not so much when it comes to a Republican lying under oath about his talks with Russia.
Speaker Paul Ryan scoffed at the idea that Sessions should even recuse himself.
Ryan doesn't see need for Sessions to recuse himself at the moment, says "Democrats are lighting their hair on fire" to get media to cover Erica Werner (@ericawerner) March 2, 2017
When pundits say we are a divided country, what they leave out is that the division comes from moments like this, which have been repeated for decades now, but are picking up steam recently under President Trump.
Here we have Republicans putting party first. They did this under President Obama, vowing to obstruct him no matter what at a time when the nation was in crisis and people needed Congress to help. Republicans did nothing, just to try to stick it to Obama. Republicans did the same to President Clinton, finally resorting to trying to impeach him over lying about a consensual sexual act.
When Democrats find one of their own misbehaving, they drop them like a hot potato, sometimes too soon. Democrats have little loyalty to their own if asked to choose between their party and their country. Sometimes this is problematic, especially when the other party is planting fake stories in the news like the fake emails that fake implicated Obama and Clinton in Benghazi.
The country is divided is like saying of a man who regularly beats his wife within an inch of her life, They fight a lot. No, they dont fight a lot; he chooses to abuse his partner and terrorize her. The same thing is going on with the Democrats and Republicans. The country isnt divided; one side has become a lying, abusive partner who feels the rules dont apply to them but holds their partner to an insane level of accountability.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said Thursday morning, For the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign.
.@SenSchumer: "For the good of the country, Attorney General Sessions should resign." pic.twitter.com/tZp90aLe1D CSPAN (@cspan) March 2, 2017
Meanwhile, back at the GOP Ranch of Denial, Republicans are conceding and then walking back that they are calling for Sessions to recuse himself.
Oh, but not calling for him to recuse himself, rather leaving it up to him, because if he lies under oath about something so serious, surely hes trustworthy. No need to ask why he was talking to Russia or to consider the implications of leaving such a compromised person as the nations top prosecutor.
Who better, really, to lead the DOJ than someone who lies under oath? Who better to enforce the laws of the United States federal government than one who feels himself above the law. This is the Republican Partys current modus operandi.
This is why the country doesnt work very well. Republicans are always putting party first, even when it comes to a hostile foreign aggressor.
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While North Dakota Republican lawmaker was criticizing Democratic women for wearing bad-looking white pantsuits the Trump administration was unraveling faster than the presidents alleged morals. Its not quite scenes of Versailles c. 1789, but its not good.
Reactions to Trumps new Jeff Sessions scandal, an offshoot of his Flynn Scandal, are pouring in from the Internet and it doesnt look good for the ultra-sensitive Donald Trump, who has already blamed Democrats for his choosing a dishonest lawmaker as his AG over Democratic opposition.
Fox News is, of course, busily offering excuses and alternative facts, but as Newsweeks Kurt Eichenwald tweeted,
If WashPost story on sessions is true, not only does there need 2 be an independent prosecutor but sessions must be investigated for perjury Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 2, 2017
George Takei reacted with his usual wit:
So if the Attorney General lied to Congress, who brings the charges? Asking for a friend. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 2, 2017
As did Media Matters Eric Boehlert:
if only we had some evidence of a Russia/Trump connection Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) March 2, 2017
In the background, if you listen, you can almost hear the cheering for the moment many knew would come:
Sessions lied at Senate hearings. Had contact w/Russia during campaign. NYT backs up story of Russian contacts. Here we go! #Trumprussia Rob Reiner (@robreiner) March 2, 2017
This is important not because Sessions talked to the Russian ambassador but because he lied about it under oath, which raises real questions at Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) made clear:
It's not illegal for a Senator to speak w the Russian Ambassador. So why lie about it under oath? Makes no sense, unless Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 2, 2017
The consequences of Republicans doing nothing will be far more revealing than anything actually said by the parties concerned, as National Security columnist John Schindler pointed out seven hours ago:
If Jeff Sessions is the AG 24 hours from now, understand Trump WH is fine with being lying, lawless & in bed with Russian intelligence. John Schindler (@20committee) March 2, 2017
As Schindler said, Sessions is completely compromised too. He must resign now. He has no business being AG. First Flynn, now Sessions. Eventually, only Donald Trump will be left standing, with nobody else to blame for his sins.
George W. Bush has already vented on Donald Trump. Now his ethics lawyer from 2005-07, Richard Painter, has chimed on on Sessions, tweeting,
Misleading the Senate in sworn testimony about one own contacts with the Russians is a good way to go to jail https://t.co/qH0s6sTMJ9 Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) March 2, 2017
Last but not least, former Obama speechwriter John Favreau had a pointed question for Van Jones, who had called Trump presidential after his joint address to Congress:
Do you still get to be PRESIDENTIAL if you refuse to fire an Attorney General who lied under oath? Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 2, 2017
We have already had ample evidence that Donald Trump does not subscribe to Harry Trumans dictum that the buck stops here. The buck stops anywhere but at the Trump Oval Office.
Flynn, Democratis, ObamaSessions eventually. At some point, there will be no one left to throw under the bus, and with jail calling, there will be some hard decisions for Trump to make. Because blaming Barack Obama isnt going to save Trump from himself.
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Remember the golden shower dossier? Well, that dossier was later corroborated in key important parts, reportedly the senior Russian officials conspired to assist Trumps win.
That matters, because its being reported that the British spy behind that dossier, Christopher Steele, the former MI6 spy, has been approached about testifying before the US Senate Intelligence Committees investigation into the new Presidents alleged links with Russia.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress keen to facilitate discreet meetings in the UK or on neutral territory, as pressure grows on President, the Independent reported in an exclusive.
Mr. Steele is apparently no fool as he is unlikely to be willing to travel to what used to be known as the free United States of America. Mr Steeles friends say it is currently unlikely he would be willing to travel to the US. But it is understood Democrats as well as some Republicans in Congress are prepared to facilitate discreet initial meetings in the UK or on other neutral territory.
The Independent noted that Trump inaccurately called Steele a failed spy; he is actually highly respected and in fact ultimately continued to work without pay because he was so worried by what he was discovering.
Friends of Mr. Steeles say he might be willing to speak about his findings if security conditions can be met.
This news comes on the day after Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller of the Washington Post dropped the bombshell that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had in fact met with the Russian ambassador during the campaign, when Sessions was a close surrogate for now President Trump, and while the Russians were interfering in the U.S. election.
Sessions lied about this contact while under oath. Democrats are calling for Sessions to resign, while Republicans cant make up their minds if Session should even recuse himself from investigating himself along with Trumps ties to Russia.
Trump already had to ask his National Security Adviser to resign after he lied about his ties to Russia, and now its the person Trump put in charge of investigating domestic espionage.
Trump put a Russian plant in charge of national security and another in charge of investigating Russian plants.
Why do we need foreign intelligence agents to weigh in now? Because the majority of Congressional Republicans are too cowardly and too anti-American to put their country first.
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The man who is now accused of perjury during his confirmation hearing used to think perjury was a super big deal. In fact, during the Clinton administrations Monica Lewinsky scandal, Sessions said on perjury, No one is above the law.
Watch the January 13, 1999 clip here:
From January 13, 1999 @cspanWJ appearance, Sen. Jeff Sessions on perjury: "No one is above the law." pic.twitter.com/0ZasX3VeJ7 CSPAN (@cspan) March 2, 2017
Sessions was clutching his pearls over lying under oath about a sexual affair. Sessions said Clinton needed to prove that he did not commit obstruction of justice, then he can complete his term, so it seems even Sessions agrees that perjury means ouster.
But in America, and in the Supreme Court, and the American people believe no one is above the law, Sessions lectured.
Sessions said he would give the President a fair trial regarding lying about consensual sex, so we can only assume Sessions would find undermining the American President by working with an aggressive foreign power to be problematic.
If lying about a consensual blow job matters, we can be sure lying about contacts with Russia matters.
It was reported Wednesday that Sessions had contact with the Russians during the campaign, but he told Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) under oath and on tape, Sen. Franken, Im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have any communications with the Russians.
Wednesday evening calls came in from various liberal outlets and Democrats calling for Sessions to resign. This morning Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Shumer agreed.
Sessions is trying to save his job by suggesting he will recuse himself when necessary, I have said whenever its appropriate, I will recuse myself, Sessions told NBC News Thursday morning.
So when it was a lie over consensual sex, Sessions thought a national emergency on par with trying a President was necessary, but now that its him and the lie is about something much more nefarious, something that actually harms this country and our national security, now its no biggie.
Not only should Sessions not go to trial, but he should keep his job and be trusted to recuse himself. Insert sad laughter here.
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The Trump White House is blaming Democrats for the fact that Jeff Sessions lied about having contact with Russia during the presidential campaign.
Jim Acosta of CNN reported that the Trump administration is blaming Democrats for the Jeff Sessions story:
WH blames Sessions story on Democrats trying to damage POTUS after speech to Congress. pic.twitter.com/pZ5VcMIeEJ Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 2, 2017
The obvious problem with the Trump White Houses attempt to blame Democrats is that the stories that were published in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal were all well researched and predated Trumps speech to Congress. The second allegation that the Trump White House made was the standard claim that the story is fake news. The bellowing of fake news is the go-to response from the White House towards any story that is negative about them.
The White Houses claim that Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is pushing the story was bizarre because Franken never asked Sessions if he had any contact with Russia. Frankens question to Sessions during the confirmation hearing was what would Sessions do if evidence of contact was brought to him. It was Jeff Sessions who volunteered that he had no contact with Russia.
Blaming the Democrats is not going to get Trump out of this mess. Instead of coming clean and offering up facts, the Trump White House chose to appeal to their base of support within the Republican Party.
Democrats didnt force Jeff Sessions to lie. Sessions lied on his own.
Nobody but Trumps most loyal supporters are going to buy the White Houses howling at the partisan moon.
Blaming Democrats for the Attorney Generals lies is a bad political strategy that is a sign of an increasingly desperate administration.
Nearly 13 percent of registered voters in South Carolina have already cast ballots for the 2022 general election after the state opened up no excuse early voting to all for the first time. More than 438,000 votes were in as of the end of Thursday, which was the 10th day of early voting, according to statistics from the South Carolina Election Commission. Read more13% in SC have already cast ballots with new early voting
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
South Carolina voters head to the polls Nov. 8, casting ballots in midterm elections that will not only determine the state's next governor but will also act as the first major referendum on the Biden era. Read moreYour voter guide to top races, key issues in South Carolina's 2022 midterm elections
ST. PAUL Three Southeast Minnesota teachers were among the 37 possible candidates for this year's Teacher of the Year award.
Owatonna's Scott Noet, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, Winona High School social studies teacher Linda Pfeilsticker, and Marsha Wilson, a fourth-grade teacher at Austin's Banfield Elementary were all named as semifinalists.
The annual honor, in its 53rd year, selected the semifinalists from a pool of 132 candidates from across the state.
The semifinalists' portfolios will be reviewed by a panel of 23 community leaders again in late March, according to a news release from Education Minnesota.
The Teacher of the Year will be announced at a banquet on May 7 at the Radisson Blue Mall of American in Bloomington.
STEWARTVILLE The Stewartville School Board's search for a new superintendent may be over.
After interviewing two finalists for the position, the Stewartville School Board decided James Wagner, current Kimball Area Schools superintendent, would be a good fit for the job.
The other finalist was Kevin Cardille, superintendent of the La Crescent-Hokah Public Schools District.
The Stewartville School Board voted unanimously to make an offer to Wagner, contingent on a successful site visit and successful negotiated contract during the board's Feb. 17 special session. Board member Lori Miller-Beach made the motion, and Rebecca Wortman seconded.
"The decision was difficult," school board chairman Rob Mathias said. "We had two candidates that interviewed extremely well. One of the things that James told us in our interview that stood out was that he said to 'stop putting limits on students' and allow them to exceed in whatever area."
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Wagner has served as Kimball superintendent for about three years. Although not directly the cause, Mathias noted the Kimball district raised its Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment scores from a 48 percent passing rate to a 98 percent rate under Wagner's leadership.
Several members of the Stewatville School Board will visit the Kimball Area School district today. They will meet with community members and Wagner's colleagues and ask how the Kimball school district is performing.
"We will report back from our visit to our next school board meeting, and what I anticipate is that the board will direct the negotiations committee and business manager to meet," Mathias said.
Prior to becoming Kimball's superintendent, Wagner was principal for the Albert Lea Public Schools from 2012 to 2014. He also was a high school science teacher for 11 years. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from St. John's University in 1994, earned his master's degree in educational leadership and administration from The College of St. Scholastica in 1999 and obtained his education specialist degree from Saint Mary's University in 2005.
When asked what set his eyes toward Stewartville, Wagner noted the district had a "really good reputation" in education statewide.
"I want to try and make it the best district in the state," Wagner said, then cautioned. "We're still very early in the process. Until everything is signed and sealed, I don't want to put the cart before the horse."
David Thompson, Stewartville's superintendent, is planning to retire at the end of the school year.
Baby sitters, party DJs and phone apps recently came together as the founders of two tech startups presented their plans to Rochester entrepreneurs.
As part of the national 1 Million Cups initiative, a crowd of local business enthusiasts listened to two presentations this week in the back event room of the Bleu Duck Kitchen.
One Million Cups is a program where people working on new businesses present their plans and field questions and suggestions from their caffeine-fueled peers. Spearheaded by The Collider Coworking Space, it started locally on a monthly basis in February.
On Wednesday, the audience heard from the founders of How To Babysit and Spark.DJ.
How to Babysit
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Erin Wagner, of Waseca, told the crowd how she and her partner started out with an idea to create an application to help parents find good baby sitters when they needed them.
After a first attempt "crashed and burned," they started doing interviews with potential customers and launched a small Alpha test group of 25 users in three neighborhoods with an updated application. The idea was that baby sitters would post times they were available on a calendar so parents could schedule them easily.
"We were shocked with what we saw," she said. "We had an idea to cater to parents and found baby sitters were actually the power users."
Wagner said they quickly identified all of the power users were 14-year-old girls who get straight A's, like to organize their rooms, play volleyball and dream of going to Paris.
"They are really motivated. They saw all of the good jobs go to 15- to 17-year-olds. They want to break into the market," said Wagner. "We thought the problem would be getting sitters, but the exact opposite was true."
Discovering that drove Wagner and her team to refocus their application around the baby sitters instead of the parents.
"Now we're 100 percent sitter-centric," she told the audience.
That change brings new problems because they are working with minors.
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Right now, they are working to make the application completely safe. Parents of the sitters now will be notified of every interaction their children have with families looking for a sitter. People looking for a sitter have limitations on how they can search.
How To Babysit also is creating short educational videos to help the sitters do their jobs better, as well as hosting live workshops about baby-sitting at area libraries, churches and elsewhere.
"There are plenty of apps to help kids waste their time. We have an app to help them succeed," she said.
The application is in development and testing right now. Wagner said they hope to be able to launch in April or May. The Rochester area will be the site of the first major release of the app.
Afterward, she said the event was beneficial as were the comments from the crowd.
"Anytime you have to explain your business to someone, it's helpful. People here are all Minnesota Nice, and they want to help you," Wagner said.
Spark.DJ
James Jones Jr. and John Boss unveiled their Spark.DJ app, which is designed to automatically stream DJ-style music for parties without an actual DJ.
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Since Jones and Boss both are DJs and have performed locally at events such as SocialIce, they realize it might seem odd that they are creating an app to replace DJs.
"The problem is that DJs are expensive $50 to $500 an hour. And the quality is uncertain. You don't know if they good until you hire them," Jones said.
They say there still willbe plenty of work for DJs, but this application will allow many people who can't afford one, particularly college students, to have DJ-style music at their parties.
The idea is that someone throwing a party or special event signs up with Spark.DJ to stream music for five hours at a cost of $9.99 for a general user or $4.99 for a college student. The host can set parameters for the music and partygoers can use the app to make requests.
Boss, who owns the Rochester-based Apollo Music Group DJ service, explained the app's programming allows it to "seamlessly" transition songs based on rhythm, style and other factors used by DJs. It also takes into account guests' song requests to automatically adapt its playlist.
Early tests, including a recent trip to the Orange Bowl festivities and performances at Minnesota charity events, have been positive so far, they said. The Spark.DJ team now is fine tuning the application for release in Apple's App Store in the near future.
They are planning to host a Rochester event to introduce the app to local users in April at the Bleu Duck Kitchen.
"We want to be part of the Rochester community. Rochester is unique. It's good place to test this," Boss said. "After our seed round of financing, we will be hiring locally for more developers and a marketing coordinator."
Jones said the 1 Million Cups event was good for their project.
"It's always great to hear what people are thinking," he said, "because that's what our customers will be thinking, too."
ST. PAUL Minnesota residents love to show off their red "I Voted" stickers, but absentee and mail-only voters are feeling snubbed.
Turns out that few counties knew they could send the stickers with ballots in the mail, so one lawmaker drafted legislation to expressly allow counties to mail the stickers and to distribute them at polling places during early voting.
The little red stickers have become a fixture for voters leaving the polls since their inception in the early 1990s. Ramsey County elections manager Joe Manksy helped create the original design when he worked for then-Secretary of State Joan Growe, but he didn't have much faith when his boss first came to him with the idea.
"Who in their right mind wants to wear one of these stickers around?" Manksy said he thought at the time.
But to his surprise, voters loved the stickers and they've been an Election Day badge of honor ever since.
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Rep. Peter Fischer, the bill's author, said he has wanted to clarify the rules ever since being contacted by an absentee voter. The Maplewood Democrat said the constituent told him he always votes before Election Day but never gets to show his participation on the big day.
Manksy said state officials are always looking for new ways to encourage voting in Minnesota, where voter turnout is consistently near the top of the nation. The stickers, he said, have become an important part of that push. During the November election, his office had more than 16,000 early voters, and he said many asked whether there were longer-lasting "I Voted" buttons to wear for the weeks preceding elections.
A House committee heard the bill Wednesday but didn't take a vote. The panel instead set the issue aside for possible inclusion in a larger elections bill later in the session.
Under the legislation, counties would not be required to distribute the stickers with ballots, but eager voters would know they could ask and counties would know there are options to get the stickers and display voter pride ahead of Election Day.
Response to President Trumps speech last night has been overwhelmingly positive, and the high point of the speech was Trumps emotional tribute to fallen Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens and his widow, Carryn Owens. Even many Democrats (although not Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Keith Ellison) were blown away by the moment.
So the Associated Press had to spring into action to neutralize the pro-Trump tide. AP reporter Tammy Webber authored this hit piece headlined Was Trump tribute to fallen soldier fitting or calculated? The AP story is already popping up in newspapers across the country, as editors join in the counterattack against the president.
Ms. Webber poses the issue this way:
President Donald Trumps tribute to fallen Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens during Tuesdays congressional address was seen by many as touching. But others regarded it as a calculated attempt to deflect criticism of his decision to approve a failed military operation and to turn around his administrations shaky start with a gesture that appeared to unify a deeply divided country.
Not a lot of doubt about where Tammy stands on this one. She adds that some said Trump was responsible for Owens death and criticized the exploitation of his widow for last nights dog and pony show.' After briefly framing the issue in that one-sided way, Webber turns to two unbiased, objective expertson what?for comment.
The first is Matthew Dallek, a professor at George Washington. Ms. Webber identifies Dallek as a former speechwriter for Richard Gephardt, so at least we know we are hearing from a Democrat:
Whether he seems to be exploiting (Owens) death or it seems to be heartfelt and genuine very much depends on ones political view and whether or not you trust Trump, Dallek said. If you voted for him, you think hes honoring a patriot and this is powerful. If you dont trust him and dont approve of his presidency so far, I dont think this changes very much.
Is Matthew Dallek really a person whom a reporter should seek out to comment objectively on President Trump? This is what Dallek has said about our president:
arguably the most retrograde major-party presidential nominee in modern times. the leader of such a dystopian political movement Trump is a fearmonger without peer Trumps breathless campaign has distorted and magnified legitimate worries beyond all reason
Dallek also refers to Trumps bigoted anti-Muslim ideas and Trumps fearmongering.
An objective commentator? Not exactly.
But hes not the worst. Ms. Webber turns next to Elizabeth Sherman, who gets the last word. This is the conclusion of the AP piece:
Trumps gesture could have been genuine and calculated at the same time, said Elizabeth Sherman, a political science professor at American University, adding that he likely knew that it would be difficult to criticize the tribute because Carryn Owens accepted his invitation and the chance for the nation to honor her husbands sacrifice. I think Trump figured this was a brilliant PR move. How can you lose? Sherman said. But Ryan Owens might have been alive if there had been a deeper assessment of the raids risks, she said. No one wants to say that amid Carryn Owens grief. Still, Sherman said, questions need to be asked and answered about whether the decision was made cavalierly.
That is a viciously anti-Trump spin. So who, exactly, is Elizabeth Sherman? Sherman, founding director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston, is a Democratic Party loyalist and a virulent hater of the Republican Party in general, and Donald Trump in particular. She wrote this:
The Republican Party has looked the other way for years as the tea party and now Donald Trump continue to generate hateful propaganda against the president in an effort to make him appear alien, foreign, subversive and illegitimate. Meanwhile, Republican leaders in Congress and on the campaign trail tut-tut over the growing controversy, allowing it to serve their purposes which is to play the dangerous game of making Obama seem sinister and un-American. Not only does this strategy incite the worst elements on the right to conspiracy theories, it highlights the presidents race and background as outside the mainstream of legitimate political leadership. Following a financial crisis of unprecedented proportions, massive layoffs and foreclosures, the loyal opposition will resort to anything to convince voters that Republican leadership had nothing to do with the contraction, that the Democrats are irresponsible and subversive, and that somehow the New Deal and Great Society programs are to blame for the ongoing downturn and widespread distress. The so-called birther movement has played a vital role in roiling the waters and churning the discontent against Obama in particular and government in general. Its past time to call them on their wretched, and dangerous, strategy.
And this:
The new Republican majority has been spoiling for a fight and theyve found one in the debt ceiling battle. Most are revolutionaries against the old order and its conventions of horse trading and compromise. Like it or not, they distrust the conservative bona fides of the speaker. They are determined to do whatever it takes, including throwing the full faith and credit of the United States onto the bonfire, to force the massive cuts in social welfare they are demanding.
And this, which I find especially entertaining. How loyal to the Democratic Party can you get?
Wisconsin state senators did not flee to Illinois to avoid voting for the bill to destroy Wisconsins half-century of public sector collective bargaining. They left to prevent the debate and vote from coming to the floor because they were outnumbered and could not prevent it from passing, even if they voted against it.
So Edwards is a down the line, uncritical spokeswoman for the Democratic Party.
This trick is as old as the hills. Or as old as the Associated Press, anyway. Step 1: Frame an issue with a slant toward your political point of view. Step 2: Seek out like-minded experts for partisan commentary. Let them do most of the dirty work. Step 3: Give the last word to the political ally whose spin you want the reader to remember.
The Associated Press was onceperhaps mistakenlyseen as a respected news service. No longer.
Democrats and the mainstream media are attacking Jeff Sessions over his two meetings with the Russian ambassador last year. Scott has the story.
Sen Claire McCaskill joined the pile-on party by tweeting: Ive been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years. No call or meeting w/ Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com. (Emphasis added)
McCaskill was trying to undermine any suggestion that Sessions two meetings were in connection with his role as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. She wants to advance the narrative that the meetings must have been part of a joint Trump-Russian effort to defeat Hillary Clinton.
Theres a problem though. McCaskills own tweets show that she has met and talked on the phone with the Russian ambassador. On January 30, 2013, she tweeted: Off to meeting w/Russian ambassador. Upset about the arbitrary/cruel decision to end all US adoptions, even those in process.
And on August 15, 2015, she tweeted: Today calls with British, Russian, and German Ambassadors re: Iran deal.
I understand that McCaskill desperately wants to appease left-wing Democrats so as to avoid a serious primary challenge in 2018. But that quest should not carry with it a disregard for the truth as blatant as that exhibited in her anti-Sessions tweet.
There is stiff competition these days for the most morose precinct on the left. The New York Times editorial page is a perennial candidate, but theyve been dyspeptic about America since about the second week of the Johnson administration, so a thick layer of Trumpismo cant really addle them more than the Nixon darkness, Reagan madness, and Bush tyranny already has.
The New Yorker is trying hard to be the most insane, but I think the real winner has to be the New York Review of Books. I still subscribe to the NYRB, as nearly every issue has something genuinely worth reading, and it is, along with the Democracy Journal, a good portal into the thinking of smart liberalismespecially necessary since The New Republic decided to chuck 100 years of worthy liberalism to become a clown show.
Just about every issue of the NYRB now comes with several alarmist articles about how were doomed in the Age of Trump. And even the erudite liberals of the NYRB cant resist the reductio ad Hitlerum, such as Timothy Snyders article in the latest issue, The Reichstag Warning. The article barely mentions Trump, but the subtext blares from every paragraph. Not only does the piece validate Godwins Law once again (The longer a political argument continues, the probability that Hitler will be invoked always approaches 1.0), but it also offers Strange New Respect for . . . George W. Bush!
It is aspiring tyrants who say that civil liberties end when an attack on our safety begins. Conversely, leaders who wish to preserve the rule of law find other ways to speak about real terrorist threats, and certainly do not invent them or deliberately make them worse. In this respect, the Bush administrations reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacks was not as awful as it might have been. To be sure, 9/11 was used to justify the vast expansion of NSA spying and the torture of foreign detainees. It also became the specious pretext for an ill-considered invasion of Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands of people, spread terrorism throughout the Middle East, and ended the American century. But at least the Bush administration did not claim that Muslims as a whole were responsible, nor try to change the basic rules of the political game in the United States. Had it done so, and succeeded, we might already today be living in a post-democratic country.
And of course the obligatory cliche ending, complete with obligatory Harrah Arendt reference:
The Reichstag fire has long been an example for tyrants; it should today be a warning for citizens. It was the burning of the Reichstag that disabused Hannah Arendt of the opinion that one can simply be a bystander. Best to learn that now, rather than waiting for the flames.
This would be even funnier if there wasnt such a shameful record of establishment liberals missing the meaning of the Reichstag Fire the first time around, as previously dissected here on Power Line.
So I think the NYRB gets the prize as the most miserable place in liberaldom to work these days. Oh the humanity!
Todays skirmish in the war on the nascent Trump administration is the Washington Posts Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose. The Post reports that Attorney General Sessions met with the Russian ambassador twice last year while the presidential campaign was in progress, once in July and once in September. The second such meeting took place in Senator Sessionss Senate office. Senator Sessions was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time.
As always in stories based on anonymous intelligence or law enforcement leas, there is a story behind the story. This one is likely related to the efforts undertaken by Obama aides as they left office to undermine the Trump administration, discussed by Paul Mirengoff here.
The Post reports nothing regarding the first such meeting and nothing regarding the substance of the meetings. Through a spokesman Attorney General Sessions denied that the substance had anything to do with the campaign, saying he never met with any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false.
The story quotes then Senator Sessionss testimony at his confirmation hearing last month. Sessions was asked by Senator Al Franken what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign. Im not aware of any of those activities, he responded. He added: I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
The spokesmans statement to BuzzFeed is slightly fuller: Last year, the senator had over 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, including the British, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian, German and Russian ambassadors. He was asked during the hearing about communications between Russia and the Trump campaign not about meetings he took as a senator and a member of the Armed Services Committee. Sessions himself professes not to recall the substance of the discussions. In a separate column at the Post, Aaron Blake parses the denials.
The story is full of portentous implications. This is what its all about: The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russias alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trumps associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.
The Posts story has triggered a Pavlovian response from Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi has called on Sessions to resign.
The Post devotes six reporters to the story. Despite the manpower devoted to the story, the text reports nothing on the substance of the conversations and lacks any significant detail on the alleged July meeting. In one of several videos connected to the story, lead reporter Adam Entous states: What we learned is that there was an informal discussion that basically Sessions had in July with the Russian ambassador to the United States on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention and that there was a second encounter, that one a much more formal one, that took place in Sessionss Senate office that took place in September
Quotable quote: The Russian ambassador did not respond to requests for comment about his contacts with Sessions.
This article by Victor Davis Hanson at the Hoover Institutions Defining Ideas Journal offers an excellent compendium of the bogus reporting through which the mainstream media has attempted to take President Trump down. Hanson writes:
In just his first month in office, reporters have already peddled dozens of fake news stories designed to discredit the Presidentto such a degree that little they now write or say can be taken at face value. No, Trump did not have any plans to invade Mexico, as Buzzfeed and the Associated Press alleged. No, Trumps father did not run for Mayor of New York by peddling racist television ads, as reported by Sidney Blumenthal. No, there were not mass resignations at the State Department in protest of its new leaders, as was reported by the Washington Post. No, Trumps attorney did not cut a deal with the Russians in Prague. Nor did Trump indulge in sexual escapades in Moscow. Buzzfeed again peddled those fake news stories. No, a supposedly racist Trump did not remove the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the White House, as a Time Magazine reporter claimed. No, election results in three states were not altered by hackers or computer criminals to give Trump the election, as implied by New York Magazine. No, Michael Flynn did not tweet that he was a scapegoat. That was a media fantasy endorsed by Nancy Pelosi.
Want more? Hanson refers us to Daniel Payne at The Federalist.
Looking ahead, Hanson wonders how seriously we should take the alarmist pronouncements of media stalwarts like Ezra Klein, Glenn Thrush, and Dana Milbank:
Ezra Klein at Vox just wrote a warning about the autocratic tendencies of Donald Trump. Should we believe him? Perhaps not. Klein was the originator of Journolist, a left-leaning private online chat room of journalists that was designed to coordinate media narratives that would enhance Democratic politicians and in particular Barack Obama. Such past collusion begs the question of whether Klein is really disinterested now in the fashion that he certainly was not during the Obama administration. Recently, New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush coauthored a report about initial chaos among the Trump White House staff, replete with unidentified sources. Should we believe Thrushs largely negative story? Perhaps. But then again, Thrush not so long ago turned up in the Wikileaks troves as sending a story to Hillary Clinton aide John Podesta for prepublication audit. Thrush was his own honest critic, admitting to Podesta: Because I have become a hack I will send u the whole section that pertains to u. Please dont share or tell anyone I did this Tell me if I f**ked up anything. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has become a fierce critic of President Trump. Are his writs accurate? Milbank also appeared in Wikileaks, asking the Democratic National Committee to provide him with free opposition research for a negative column he was writing about candidate Trump. Are Milbanks latest attacks his ownor once again coordinated with Democratic researchers?
I have reservations about President Trump. I worry, for example, about the autocratic tendencies Klein alleges. But Im not prepared to take attacks by any of these three partisans seriously (it has been years since Ive taken Milbank seriously).
Hanson continues:
[T]he election in 2008 of Barack Obama marked a watershed, when a traditionally liberal media abandoned prior pretenses of objectivity and actively promoted the candidacy and presidency of their preferred candidate. The media practically pronounced him god, the smartest man ever to enter the presidency, and capable of creating electric sensations down the legs of reporters. The supposedly hard-hitting press corps asked Obama questions such as, During these first 100 days, what has enchanted you the most from serving in this office? Humbled you the most? Obama, as the first African-American presidentalong with his progressive politics that were to the left of traditional Democratic policies, enraptured reporters who felt disinterested coverage might endanger what otherwise was a rare and perhaps not-to-be-repeated moment. We are now in a media arena where there are no rules. The New York Times is no longer any more credible than talk radio; CNNwhose reporters have compared Trump to Hitler and gleefully joked about his plane crashingshould be no more believed than a bloggers website. Buzzfeed has become like the National Inquirer.
In this context, the new president stands to gain much at little cost, at least for now, by treating the media as the nemesis it is:
Trump now communicates, often raucously and unfiltered, directly with the American people, to ensure his message is not distorted and massaged by reporters who have a history of doing just that. Unfortunately, it is up to the American people now to audit their own presidents assertions. The problem is not just that the media is often not reliable, but that it is predictably unreliable. It has ceased to exist as an auditor of government. Ironically the media that sacrificed its reputation to glorify Obama and demonize Trump has empowered the new President in a way never quite seen before. At least for now, Trump can say or do almost anything he wishes without media scrutinygiven that reporters have far less credibility than does Trump.
Sad, but very possibly true.
In chapter 3 of Patriotism Is Not Enough, Steve Hayward describes how inadequately American political scientists responded to the rise of Fascism in the 1930s. That inadequacy helped cause Leo Strauss to push political science in a radically new direction on the theory that a social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.
The leading philosophers of the same period and beyond had no trouble speaking confidently about tyranny. Unfortunately, as Neven Sesardic shows in his new book When Reason Goes on Holiday: Philosophers in Politics, too many of them spoke confidently in favor of it.
Many readers know that Martin Heidegger actively supported and celebrated Nazism and that Jean Paul Sartre championed Stalinism. A few may be aware that Michel Foucault publicly expressed enthusiasm for Ayatollah Khomeinis Islamic revolution.
But these cases all involved continental philosophy, which is well-known for its obscurantism and flights of fancy. Surely, analytic philosophers, with their emphasis on clarity, rigor, and argumentation, were not seduced by Stalinism and its offspring.
Sesardic demonstrates that, in fact, many leading lights of analytic philosophers were so seduced. Examples include Bertrand Russell, Otto Neurath, Rudolph Carnap, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, Donald Davidson, Imre Lakatos (for whom the most prestigious award in the philosophy of science is named), and Michael Dummett (a recipient of that award).
Sesardic also demonstrates the mindless, infantile leftism of contemporary American philosophers. The American Philosophical Association receives its own scathing chapter.
Im no expert, but I believe Russell, Carnap, and Wittgenstein are arguably the most important analytic philosophers in history. In addition Putnam, whom I believe John knew slightly at Harvard, is probably among the very most important American analytic philosophers ever.
Russell was irrationally anti-American. Towards the end of World War I he predicted that America would occupy England and France. Nearly half a century later, he wrote:
Wherever there is hunger, wherever there is exploitative tyranny, wherever people are tortured and masses left to rot under the weight of disease and starvation, the force which holds down the people stems from Washington.
At the same time, Russell was a big fan of Ho Chi Minhs Communist regime in North Vietnam. Uncle Ho was responsible for labor camps, reeducation, torture, and mass executions under the slogan better ten innocent deaths than one enemy of the state survives.
Carnap was an apologist for Stalin. Though he never joined the Communist Party, he expressed an inclination to Communism and supported many of the Partys actions.
Carnap blamed the West for the Iron Curtain, saying it is chiefly caused by [American] military threats. In 1952, he signed a letter that appeared in the Communist newspaper the Daily Worker calling on the U.S. government to stop preparing concentration camps.
Wittgenstein was also quite sympathetic to Soviet Communism. One of his friends wrote:
Even after the show trials of 1936, the worsening of relations between Russia and the West and the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939, Wittgenstein continued to express his sympathy with the Soviet regime so much so that he was taken by some of his students at Cambridge to be a Stalinist.
The friend denies that Wittgenstein was a Stalinist, but its difficult to understand his basis for the denial.
Wittgenstein famously left Cambridge during World War II to work in a London hospital. However, Sesardic points out that, contrary to what some of his admirers say, the great philosopher did so only after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Before that, he opposed going to war with Nazi Germany.
Hilary Putnam was, by his own admission, a Maoist (I was connected with a Maoist group; I am no longer a Maoist). The Maoist group in question was the Progressive Labor Party (PLP), to which Putnam belonged from 1968-72, when he was in his forties.
Ron Rodosh describes PLP as a Marxist-Leninist sect that made the Communist Party look like a group of tame reformers. Having attended a few PLP meetings myself, I can say that Rodosh isnt far off the mark.
PLP fell out of love with Mao when Nixon visited China. After that, Albania and its dictator Enver Hoxha became PLPs shining lights. Putnam remained a member, following the new party line that, as Sesardic puts it, extolled Enver Hoxha as the only hope for the future of humanity.
Talk about reason going on holiday!
Why are philosophers, including some of the best analytic philosophers of the last century, so susceptible to such absurd thinking? Sesardic finds an answer in this passage from Thomas Hobbes:
[B]etween true science and erroneous doctrines, ignorance is in the middle. Natural sense and imagination are not subject to absurdity. Nature itself cannot err; and as men abound in copiousness of language, so they become more wise, or more mad, than ordinary. Nor is it possible without letters for any man to become either excellently wise or (unless his memory be hurt by disease, or ill constitution of organs) excellently foolish.
(Emphasis added)
I strongly recommend this book.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-03-02 17:20:20
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1846 Neslon stOwner6045691801David Joseph Joseph6046199192
A total of 14 holes were drilled totaling 1470.5 metres. Of the 14 holes drilled, 13 successfully intersected the targeted shear zone. One hole had to be abandoned due to ground conditions. Of the 13 holes, three holes reported intersections hosting visible gold. Drill holes NIA-17-DD-003, 006, and 009, reported visible gold occurring as small points, or clusters of points, with the gold present in contorted quartz veins occurring within the shear. The company has forwarded all samples for assay to ACTLABs laboratory in Ouagadougou. The company will report all assay data once it has been received, reviewed and verified.The Company originally scheduled a 1000 metre phase one diamond drill program on its 178 square kilometre Niangouela exploration permit. The increased 1000 metres of diamond drilling announced in the Companys February 23, 2017, news release, is designed to further test the primary quartz vein and associated shear zone at depth and along strike. The current program is targeting areas of gold anomalies identified from rock samples and Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling that was conducted by the Company in December 2016 and January 2017. The Company plans on completing the phase one diamond drill program later this month.Board AppointmentThe Company is pleased to welcome Rodney Stevens as an Independent Director. Mr. Stevens is a CFA charter holder with over ten years experience in the capital markets, first as an Investment Analyst with Salman Partners Inc., then as a merchant and investment banker. While at Salman Partners, Mr. Stevens became a top-rated analyst by StarMine on July 17, 2007 for the metals and mining industry. Over the course of his career, Mr. Stevens has been instrumental in assisting in financing's and M&A activity worth over $1 billion in transaction value.Mr. Stevens replaces Dean Humphreys, who resigned to pursue other ventures. The Company would like to thank Mr. Humphreys for his years of service and wish him well in his future endeavours.About the Niangouela Gold ConcessionThe 178 sq km Niangouela gold concession is located on the Boromo Greenstone Belt (as is the Company's Bouboulou Gold Concession), and is proximal to the Kalsaka deposit and the Sabce Shear Zone. It is accessible by road and has one major orpaillage (artisanal workings).In December 2016 the Company conducted an 802m rotary air blast (RAB) drill program that delineated an approximately 1,000-metre (1km) quartz vein and a 500-metre secondary strike, running oblique to the main vein. This vein has now been identified in trenches, artisanal workings and through RAB drilling. It remains open in all directions.A total of 11 rock chip and grab samples were taken during the initial exploration phase. Eight of the 11 samples returned values of 1 gram-per-tonne (g/t) gold or better. Best results of the 11 include sample NG005, taken directly from the primary quartz vein at 46m depth (accessed via an artisanal mining shaft), which returned a value of 2,950 g/t gold. Sample NG006 was collected from the artisanal dumps of the sheared intrusive and returned a value of 23.9 g/t gold. Sample NG007 contained coarse visible gold, and was taken from material extracted from the eastern shaft from a depth of approximately 60m, returned values of 403 g/t gold. Sample NG008 was taken from the western shaft, 10 to 12 metres west of the eastern shaft, and consisted of a single large piece of primary quartz vein containing host rock inclusions and a cluster of visible gold. NG008 returned values of 49.8 g/t gold.About Burkina FasoBurkina Faso is a landlocked nation, located in West Africa. It covers an area of roughly 274,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of more than 16 million people. The country has a stable political setting with a pro-mining and foreign investment stance. Burkina Faso is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa, and was the 4th largest gold producer in Africa in 2012. Eight new mines have been commissioned there over the past six years. The country has excellent geological potential. The Greenstone Belts that host all of the major deposits in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire continue northward into Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso has undergone less than 15 years of modern mineral exploration, remaining under-explored in comparison to neighbouring Ghana and Mali; both of which host world-class gold mines in the same belts of Birimian rocks.About the CompanyNexus Gold Corp. is a Vancouver-based gold exploration and development company operating in some of the worlds premier mining districts. The Company is currently concentrating its efforts on two gold projects located in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Bouboulou gold concession is a 38-sq km advanced exploration target where previous drilling has confirmed multiple zones of gold mineralization. The Niangouela gold concession is a 178-sq km project featuring high grade gold occurring in and around a primary quartz vein 1km in length and associated shear zone. For more information on these projects, please visit the Company website at www.nexusgoldcorp.com Warren Robb P.Geo., Senior Geologist is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release.
Former U.S Vice President Joe Bidens son Hunter, 47, is in a romantic relationship with his late brothers grieving wife, Hallie, 43.
Hallie and Hunter connected after Beau, former attorney general of Delaware, sadly passed away in May 2015. He died of brain cancer.
According to pagesix.com, Hunter is still married to his estranged wife, Kathleen, but the family is apparently totally okay with the new romance.
Hunter, separated from his wife, Kathleen, 48, in 2015, a source revealed Wednesday. The split had never been made public before.
He has now taken up with his brothers 43-year-old widow, the couple said in a statement to the New York Posts Page Six.
Meanwhile, the former VP Joe Biden was quoted as saying, we are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness.
They have mine and Jills full and complete support and we are happy for them, he said.
Hunter Biden was on one side of his brother Beaus widow Hallie and Joe Biden on the other as his coffin was put into a hearse.
(NAN)
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Six years after the uprising that ended his rule, former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak. has been acquitted of involvement in the killings of hundreds of protesters in 2011.
According to Al-jazeera, The Court of Cassations final ruling on Thursday could see the ailing 88-year-old walk free.
He has been tried mainly for two things: his role in the killing protesters in the 18 days of the January 25 revolution and also for corruption.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later.
He arrived the court on Thursday on a stretcher.
He has been confined to a military hospital, despite having completed a three-year sentence for embezzlement.
A judge decreed in May 2015 that Mr. Mubarak should be released from detention.
However, the government of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was reportedly reluctant to free him because of the public backlash that might accompany such a move.
Mr. al-Sisi served as Mr. Mubaraks military intelligence chief and led the militarys overthrow of his democratically elected successor, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013.
In all, nearly 900 people are believed to have been killed as security forces sought to stop protests in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities around Egypt during the 18-day uprising that forced Mr. Mubarak to resign after 30 years in power.
He denied ordering the killing of the protesters and insisted that history would judge him as a patriot who served his country selflessly.
Mr. Mubaraks first retrial was ordered in 2013. A judge dropped the charge altogether the following year, but the Court of Cassation ordered a second retrial.
Mr. Mubaraks former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, and four of his aides were also acquitted of the same charge on Thursday.
Most of the charges brought against Mr. Mubaraks governments members have been dismissed while the country still recovers from the aftermath of the uprising.
He remained defiant throughout his trial.
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Kano State Government, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Dangote Foundation, on Wednesday signed the Kano Health Basket Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to boost health care interventions in the state.
The Health Basket is a funding mechanism initiated as part of the state governments decision to revitalize its health sector.
The basket is funded by the two foundations and the state government that pool resources to support the implementation of programmes aimed at strengthening child health and other health interventions from 2017 2021.
The two foundations were encouraged to enter into the new MoU with Kano state government based on the success recorded in the tripartite agreement between them on strengthening routine immunisation, which was carried out between 2012 and 2016.
Speaking during the ceremony held through a video conference at Africa House, Government House, Kano, the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, said his administration would release N350 million into the basket, as part of efforts to address maternal mortality and child related health challenges in the state.
He said his administration had recently completed two abandoned hospitals and supplied them with modern equipment as part of moves to bring health care services closer to the citizenry.
He thanked Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dangote Foundation as was well as the World Health Organisation, WHO, and other donor agencies for their sustained support.
In his comments, the Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, who spoke from Seattle, Washington, urged the state government to focus on accountability in managing the funds released for the programme, reiterating the need for media review reports, which he said would guide all the parties towards achieving the desired success.
Mr. Gates assured that his foundation was determined to eradicate polio and other related diseases in Nigeria, Africa and the world in general through partnership with governments.
On his part, Aliko Dangote thanked the Gates Foundation for its commitment to polio eradication and commended the efforts of traditional rulers and other relevant bodies in fighting the scourge.
In his contribution, Kano state Commissioner for Health, Kabiru Getso, highlighted that for 2017, the two foundations would contribute 40 per cent each to the programme, while the state government would contribute 20 per cent.
He said the state government would gradually increase its contribution, to enable it take full ownership of the programme in the future.
The video conference also featured presentation of the 2016 end-year report for Routine Immunization system strengthening for Yobe state, with contributions from the state governor, Ibrahim Geidam, and the state Commissioner for Health, Muhammad Kukawa.
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Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has signed a declaratory order banning any unlawful assembly which consists of two or more people in any part of the state.
The governor said the order is in the exercise of the power conferred upon him by Section 97A of the Penal Code.
A statement by his spokesperson, Abdu Labaran, on Thursday said that the governor bans any assembly of two or more persons in any part of the Katsina State, by whatever name called, whether or not it is armed or any of its members is armed with dangerous weapon or any instrument which is likely to cause death or such bodily injury, and the common object of which is to-
(i) kill or injure or harass or intimidate members of the public or provoke breach of the public peace;
(ii) overawe, by criminal force or show of criminal force, the Government of the Federation or Government of the State or any Government of Nigeria or any public servant in the exercise of his lawful powers; or
(iii) resist the execution of any law or of any legal process; or
(iv) commit any mischief or criminal trespass or other offence; or
(v) enforce any right or supposed right by means of criminal force or show of criminal force; or
(vi) compel any person to do what he is not legally bound to do or to omit to do what he is legally entitled to do by means of criminal force or show of criminal force, an unlawful assembly .
The order was dated and signed on 27th of February, 2017.
Katsina residents told PREMIUM TIMES they were shocked by the sudden order.
Saidu Katsina, who lives in Katsina town, said, we were surprised when this thing came up today, perhaps it is due to an operation carried out by security agents against members of the shite group in Katsina town on Wednesday evening.
Another resident, Jamil Mamman, also said perhaps it is due to the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna, on the case of sacked local government chairmen which comes up tomorrow.
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The police have paraded a sergeant, Iseke Koradam, who was arrested at a hospital in Oke Uvuru in Aboh, Mbaise Local Government Area while attempting to steal a baby.
The Imo State Police Commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu, said Mr. Koradam and his gang had confessed and would be charged to court soon.
On February 22, Rev. Erancisco Emeh, Chinedu Ubah (30) and Ifeoma Joseph (27) were arrested at Orient Hospital in Oke-Uvuru Aboh Mbaise Local Government while trying to steal a baby from the hospital.
They have since confessed to the crime, alleging that they planned to steal the baby in connivance with a police sergeant, Iseke Koradam.
On February 18, Emeka Onyema (19), Nduka Chekwube (22) and Dera Ebuka (22) attacked a recharge card dealer, Ubahaeze Awo, in Idemili Orsu Local Government and stole recharge cards valued at N300, 000, his car key, one phone, one Qlink 150 motorcycle and N150, 000.
The suspects have made useful statements and are helping the police in its investigation.
The police chief also announced the arrest of four men suspected to have killed a man said to be an American veteran soldier, Oscar Okebata.
The victim was robbed and murdered in Atta, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State on January 12.
Parading the suspects in Owerri, Mr. Lakanu gave their names as Osondu Chukwu (29), Uchechukwu Stanley (30), Onyekachi Nwoke (28) and Uchendu Promise (40).
According to him, the suspects were apprehended with evidence showing they murdered the veteran, who was in the state for the Yuletide.
The police commissioner said the suspects allegedly sold the victims Samsung Note 5 phone at N125,000, which led to their arrest.
The suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of Oscar Okebata of Achi Mbieri in Mbaitoli Local Government Area, an American veteran solider who returned home for the Yuletide.
The victims Samsung Note 5 phone was sold at N125,000, leading to the arrest of the suspected masterminds.
According to the police chief, the command on February 8 also arrested members of a notorious robbery syndicate who trailed their victim after he had withdrawn some money from a bank at Amakohia in Owerri North Local Government Area.
They were apprehended as they used a master key to damage the drivers side door of the victims black Toyota Land Cruiser in an attempt to remove the money from the car.
The suspects are Chibuzo Amankwe, Prince Igbo Williams, Enwereazu Ibe and Uchenna Ononugbo all of Agwa in Oguta Local Government.
They are helping the police in their investigation.
Also on February 14, following a tip-off, operatives arrested Okwudiri Aluo (35) of Obiti in Ohaji Local Government while on a robbery operation with his gang members, added the police chief.
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The board of directors of Italian oil gaint, Eni, has again exonerated itself of any blame in the acquisition of OPL 245, infamously known as the Malabu Oil deal.
Despite investigators in Nigeria and Italy revealing that ENI and Shell, its partner in the deal, had prior knowledge of Malabus fraudulent past before the $1.1 billion deal was struck; and that their executives held meetings with the tainted Nigerias former petroleum minister, Dan Etete, an Eni-commissioned investigation has given the company a clean bill of health, a statement by the company claimed.
Eni Board of Directors today takes note of the outcome of further forensic investigations into the 2011 transaction between Eni and Shell and the Nigerian government for the acquisition of OPL 245 licence in Nigeria.
The investigations were conducted by an independent US law firm. They were commissioned by Enis Board of Statutory Auditors and Watch Structure, the statement said.
According to the statement, the hired investigators examined new materials and information presented by Italian prosecutors in December 2016.
The law firm confirms the conclusions reached by previous investigations in 2015, stating that there is no evidence on corrupt conduct in relation to the transaction.
The companys directors subsequently reiterated its total confidence that neither the company nor its CEO, Claudio Descalzi, were involved in any fraudulent conduct.
In 2015, Eni retained US law firm, Pepper Hamilton LLP and Freeh Group International Solutions LLC, to examine documents, data and emails sources internally and publicly.
At the end of the investigation the firm concluded no evidence of misconduct in relation to Eni and Shells 2011 transaction with the Nigerian government for the acquisition of the OPL 245 license.
In addition, during 2015, a supplementary investigation was conducted concerning the financial review. Once the additional analysis was completed, the American law firm confirmed the findings of the main investigation and concluded that no evidence of direct or indirect payments by Eni or Eni people to Nigerian government officials have been found in relation to the acquisition of OPL 245, Eni said in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES.
The outcome of these investigations flies in the face of PREMIUM TIMESs findings which was corroborated by the findings of investigators in Nigeria, Italy, the U.S., Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands.
For instance, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Ahmed, a suit asking a federal high court to nullify the sale of the oil block and revert its ownership to Nigeria, argued the $1.1 billion paid by Eni and Shell was bribe to Dan Etete and his cronies.
Prosecutors in Italy have also indicated their intention to file charges against Shell and Eni, some of their staff including Mr. Descalzi, and Mr. Etete for their involvement in the deal.
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The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Itse Sagay, on Thursday in Abuja accused the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of being reckless with funds meant for development.
Mr. Sagay said the commission recently bought 70 cars, including eight Super Lexus Jeeps at N78 million each and 10 Landcruisers each costing N63 million.
He said the vehicles were acquired with funds meant for the provision of water, housing, hospital, schools and infrastructure development in the Niger Delta region.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Sagay spoke at the opening of a two-day national dialogue on corruption organised by PACAC in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President.
The cars were bought with money from funds meant for infrastructure, water, housing, hospital, schools, without conscience and without a thought for the wretched people of the Niger Delta.
These huge sums were plundered from their allocations and yet the Managing Director was ironically complaining as reported by the Nation newspaper of Feb. 6, 2017 that the NDDC lacks funds to execute projects.
The managing director also said that NDDC was in debt up to the tune of N1.2 trillion. What an irony.
The recklessness with which public officers spend public funds is insensitive to the point of insanity. The level of insensitivity has become pathological.
Mr. Sagay also took a swipe at the Nigeria Customs Service, saying nothing had changed since the current administration came on board in May 2015.
Mr. Sagay cited an instance with the Tin Can Island in Lagos, where he said customs officials now charge fees to physically examine goods following the breakdown of the scanner.
Describing it as brazen corruption, he said there were many other instances which PACAC brought to the attention of the Comptroller General during a recent visit to him.
Mr. Sagay decried public apathy to issues of corruption in the country, noting that the peoples attitude to corruption had become hardened, and that there was no longer any fear of consequence.
Now, we need to ask ourselves what the problem really is. We are definitely overwhelmed by the epidemic of kleptomania. But do we also have a collective psychiatric problem?
Why should a person loot what he cannot spend in 10 lifetimes, thereby exposing the rest of the population to misery, hunger, poverty and wretchedness? he asked.
Mr. Sagay also reflected on judicial corruption, saying some judges still grant adjournments running into months in contravention of provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
He accused lawyers of contributing to the problem by using different delay tactics thereby causing the nation great embarrassment.
He said he had suggested to PACAC on the need to recruit a group of young lawyers to monitor court sittings and note issues of adjournments.
According to him, the reports sent by the monitors will be compiled and sent to the National Judicial Council for appropriate action.
Mr. Sagay faulted the recent public demonstrations against the present administration, saying they were sponsored by those who lost elections and those whose appointments were not renewed.(NAN)
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A Federal High Court in Abuja presided by John Tsoho on Thursday declared that the every Nigerian child has the constitutional right to free and compulsory primary education, and free junior secondary education.
The judge ruled that the federal and state governments have constitutional duties to provide adequate fund for such education. He said failure by any government to fund free primary and junior secondary education will constitute breach of the constitution.
The court stated that even though the right to free education in Section 18(3)(a) of the Constitution was ordinarily not enforceable being in Chapter 2 of the Constitution; by the National Assembly enacting the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act, of 2004, the Act has made that provision of the constitution an enforceable right.
The judgment was delivered in a suit filed by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, against the Federal Ministry of Education and the Attorney General of the Federation, in which it asked the court to determine whether by the combined effect of Section 18(3)(a) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 2 (1) of the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act, (UBE) 2004, the right to free and compulsory primary education and free junior secondary education for all qualified Nigerian citizens are enforceable rights in Nigeria.
The group also asked the court to determine whether the federal and state governments are under constitutional obligation to provide financial and institutional resources for free, compulsory and universal primary education and free junior secondary education for all Nigerian citizens, and whether failure by any government to adopt and implement free, compulsory and universal primary education and free junior secondary education amounts to a breach of constitutional obligation of the government in accordance with its duty and responsibility under Section 13 of the Constitution.
The court answered all the questions raised by the plaintiff in affirmative, and stated that in doing so, it relied on the Supreme Court decision in Attorney General of Ondo State & Others vs. Attorney General of the Federation (2002) 9 NWLR (Pt. 772) 222, where it was held that the provisions of Chapter 2 of the Constitution, even though they are not enforceable by virtue of section 6(6)(b) of the constitution, can be made enforceable or justiciable by legislation. Thus, following this decision of the Supreme Court, Justice Tsoho held that by enacting the UBE Act, the National Assembly has made the right to free and compulsory primary and free junior secondary education contained in Chapter 2 an enforceable or justiciable right.
Reacting to the judgment, the lead counsel to LEDAP, Chino Obiagwu, said that the court has given life and hope to over 28 million Nigerian children who are currently out of primary and junior secondary school or who are at risk of being withdrawn from school because of the inability of their parents or guardians to pay the tuition fees and school expenses, or who are withdrawn from school so that they can be given out in early marriage or be sent to the streets to hawk or beg for alms. By this judgment, any child not enrolled in school or who is withdrawn from school can exercise his or her constitutional rights against the parent or guardian or against the government.
On the possible difficulties of the governments to fully fund free primary and junior secondary education in the country because of the current economic recession, Mr. Obiagwu said that the UBE Act makes very clear provisions on how free education will be funded, and that part of the fund for free primary education has been provided under the federal governments UBE Fund to the state governments since 2009, but that most of the funds are not properly utilised for the purpose they are meant.
It is now time for every government to close all fiscal leakages and reduce the size and cost of government in order to save money to meet the basic constitutional obligations of primary and junior secondary education, he said.
Also reacting to the judgment, Ray Onyegu, the Executive Director of Social Economic Rights Initiative, SERI, said the judgment is long overdue.
The right of education is a right of all Nigerian children, and government cannot give any excuse of lack of fund because primary education should be the priority of any government in the 21st century, he said.
LEDAP said it welcomes the judgment and urged the federal and state governments to start its implementation without any delay.
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Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has given insight into how he successfully fought endemic corruption when he served as the Attorney general and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State.
Mr. Osinbajo served as Lagos AG in 1999 under the administration of Bola Tinubu on the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy, AD.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day national dialogue on corruption organised by his office in conjunction with the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, at the Banquet Hall of Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Thursday, Mr. Osinbajo said he knew there was problem in the Lagos state judiciary even before he assumed office.
He said when he assumed office, the first thing he did was to conduct a survey of about 200 lawyers who were regular practitioners at the court and asked them certain questions.
The acting president said one of the most fundamental questions in the questionnaire bordered on the integrity of the judiciary.
89 per cent of the respondents said that the judiciary in Lagos state was notoriously corrupt, he said.
He also said the corruption went beyond judges to include court clerks and lawyers. He also said the survey identified the causes of the corruption to include appointments based on favours and connection to the detriment of merit.
He also said no serious background checks were carried out on prospective appointees. He said the take home pay of magistrates and judges was also found to be inadequate.
We therefore, put in place a system of tests and interviews that each prospective appointee must answer satisfactorily, he said.
He also said he subsequently put in place a team of seven senior judges and reviewed the monthly salary of judges which was about N67,000 and compared it to their average expenditure and then came to the conclusion that the take home pay of judges was grossly inadequate.
Mr. Osinbajo also said most good judges had no home of their own even after retirement and decided to not only increase the pay but provided each judge with a House.
Every judge is given a house to live in and it belongs to him even after retirement. We also increased remuneration considerably, he said.
The acting VP said after doing that he insisted that any judge accused of infraction is investigated and punished accordingly. He said within one year of the reforms, 22 magistrates were sacked while three judges were recommended for disciplinary measures to the National Judicial Council.
When we conducted the same survey again in 2006, the outcome showed that there was zero per cent corruption among judges in Lagos state, he said.
Mr. Osinbajo said people naturally have to see the consequences of bad behaviour before they toe the line.
The acting president also used the occasion to ask for additional cooperation from the international community on the recovery of stolen assets hidden in various countries.
He said the process of recovering stolen assets is very cumbersome and may even take several years. He then called on the international community to work with the Nigerian government to ensure that the assets are returned to the country speedily.
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Nigerias anti-graft agency, EFCC, has filed fresh corruption charges against two multinational oil firms, Shell and Eni, for their roles in the Malabu $1.1 billion scandal.
The charges were filed at the FCT High Court on Thursday afternoon against the oil majors and nine other individuals and firms.
Some of the others charged alongside Shell and Eni are two former Nigerian ministers, Mohammed Adoke (Justice) and Dan Etete (Petroleum), as well as controversial businessman Aliyu Abubakar.
The suspects are accused of, among others, conspiring to defraud the Nigerian government.
The new charges are part of an international collaboration to ensure all those who partook in the $1.1 billion OPL 245 scandal are brought to justice.
The OPL 245 oil block is currently owned by the Nigerian government after a temporary court order granted an EFCC application.
Shell and Eni have since appealed the order asking that the block be returned to them. Both firms paid the $1.1 billion into a Nigerian government account in 2011. Most of the money later ended up with shady individuals including Messrs. Etete and Abubakar.
Details later
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The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, has said that an estimated three million Nigerians lost N18 billion in the MavrodiMundial Movement, MMM, ponzi scheme.
While speaking at the NDIC day at the ongoing 38th KadunaInternational Trade Fair on Thursday,the Managing Director of thecorporation, Umaru Ibrahim, decried the development.
Over three million Nigerians were participating in MMM before December 2016 when organisers suspended payment to investors due to its system experiencing heavy workload.
By the time the scheme returned in January, few new investors joined and the millions waiting for their payments were left disappointed with majority never paid.
Mr. Ibrahim noted that despite repeated warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and other agencies like the anti-graft EFCC, Nigerians still patronised theponzi scheme.
Mr. Ibrahim, who was represented by NDICs Deputy Director CorporateAffairs, Hadi Suleiman, noted that any financial deal done through any ponzi scheme in form of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin,Ripples, Litecoin, and Onecoin as currencies for medium of exchange, is an Internet-based transaction not authorised by the CBN becauseof the risks involved in its operations.
The NDIC boss cautioned that any person or groups of persons who invest their money in the Phonzi scheme do so at their own risk,adding that such schemes often defraud people of their money.
The ponzi scheme is the phenomenon of illegal fundmanagers,popularly called WonderBanks which have continued to defraud unsuspecting members of thepublic of their hard earned money, he said.This phenomenon has been a source for concern because despite our repeated warnings over the years, some members of the public havecontinued to fall victims of their fraudulent practices.We would like to reiterate the fact that these fund managers are illegal as they are neither licenced by the CBN to take deposits from members of the public nor are those who patronise them covered by the NDIC deposit insurance scheme, he said.
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The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, on Thursday absolved its current management of corruption and reckless spending of funds levelled against the commission by the presidency.
Earlier on Thursday, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Itse Sagay, accused the Governing Board and management of the commission of being reckless with funds meant for the development of the oil rich region.
Mr. Sagay, who spoke at the opening of a two-day national dialogue on corruption in Abuja organised by PACAC in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President, said the commission recently bought 70 exotic cars, including eight Lexus SUVs at N78 million each, and 10 Landcruiser SUVss each costing N63 million.
The chairman of the presidential committee said the vehicles were acquired with funds meant for the provision of water, housing, hospital, schools and infrastructure development in the Niger Delta.
The law professor also criticised the Nigeria Customs Service for alleged corruption, saying nothing had changed in the agency since the current administration came on board in May 2015.
The recklessness with which public officers spend public funds is insensitive to the point of insanity. The level of insensitivity has become pathological, Mr. Sagay said.
In his reaction, the spokesperson of the commission, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, denied the allegations, saying no such purchases were made since the current Governing Board assumed office on November 4, 2016.
He, however, did not say anything on the roles of the NDDCs past management.
Indeed, it is a known fact that the Chairman, the distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), the Managing Director/CEO, Nsima Ekere, and the two Executive Directors are still using their private vehicles three months after assumption of duties, Mr. Amu-Nnadi said in a statement.
He said the NDDC, which is now planning to acquire operational vehicles,including five Toyota Prado SUVs, 10 Toyota Hilux trucks, four Toyota Landcruiser SUVs, one Toyota Coaster bus and two Toyota Hiace buses, was adhering strictly to due process.
Mr. Amu-Nnadi said, pursuant to this, the commission had just received the due process compliance certificate from the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, and was preparing the mandatory memo for the approval of the Executive Council of the Federation.
We wish to restate that the current Board and Management of the NDDC is committed to making its transactions transparent, by adhering strictly to processes and procedures of government, as espoused in the Boards four-Rs initiative of restoring the Commissions core mandate, restructuring the balance sheet, reforming our processes and reaffirming a commitment to doing what is right and proper at all times in facilitating the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region, he said.
The NDDC spokesperson said the Commission was also partnering with Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and Open Government Partnership (OGP) to improve the Commissions governance systems, procurement and project implementation processes, to plug all loopholes and systematically eliminate all incidences of mismanagement and corruption.
NDDC is always ready to open its books for audit. We are also committed to responding to all inquiries from well-meaning individuals and groups seeking clarification on rumours and possible false information.
While asking for support from all stakeholders to enable the commission succeed in the ambitious task of reforms, the new NDDC is evolving as a responsible public institution and members of the public should feel free to get authentic information on its activities to avoid sensationalism, he said.
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A former Attorney-General of the Federation, Bello Adoke, allegedly exchanged more than $2.2 million in a bureau de change in Abuja as part of his share in the controversial $1.1 billion Malabu Oil deal, court documents show.
The revelations were contained in a five-count fresh money laundering charges slammed on Mr. Adoke at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court Thursday.
Also charged alongside Mr. Adoke is controversial businessman Aliyu Abubakar, who is believed to have acted as middleman in the deal.
The EFCC said in the court filings that Mr. Adoke took delivery of exactly $2,267,400 on September 16, 2013, and immediately enlisted the service of money changers to have it converted to the local currency.
Based on the prevailing exchange rate at the time, Mr. Adoke made N345,200,000 after successfully converting the funds. He subsequently deposited all the money in a Unity Bank account to offset an outstanding overdraft of N300 million, court documents showed.
The EFCC also filed charges against Mr. Adoke for carrying out a transaction of such magnitude without going through the countrys financial institutions.
All the offences contradicted Section 15(2) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (as amended in 2012) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act, prosecutors said.
Mr. Adoke was instrumental to Nigerian governments involvement in the suspicious Malabu Oil deal, which saw Shell and Agip-Eni paying money into an escrow account of the Nigerian government to settle a firm with a questionable history.
He authorised the transfer of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni into private accounts of Dan Etete, Nigerias former petroleum minister, who further transferred a large percentage to Mr. Abubakar. Mr. Abubakar is believed to have been a front for officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration including Mr. Adoke.
Shell, Agip-Eni, Mr. Adoke and Mr. Etete, who also approved the lease award of the OPL 245, have all denied wrongdoings.
But Italian prosecutors said late last year they had enough grounds to charge Shell, Agip-Eni, and their executives alongside other Nigerians involved in the controversial deal for fraud in Milan.
In separate charges filed late 2016, the EFCC accused Mr. Adoke and Mr. Etete of defrauding Nigeria in the OPL 245 deal.
The Department of Petroleum Resources said last December that Mr. Adoke and other officials of the Jonathan administration who participated in the concession of the lucrative oil field to Shell and Agip-Eni did not follow due process.
Mr. Adoke, who is currently in the Netherlands for study, has denied any wrongdoing and pledged to make himself available for trial.
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A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ebute Meta, Lagos, has arraigned one Lateef Raheem for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl (name withheld).
Mr. Raheem, 55, was said to have committed the crime on February 21, 2017, at Ekesra Street, Etegbin, Shibiri, Lagos.
The accused is facing one count charge of defilement punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos Nigeria 2011.
The mother of the victim, whose name was not disclosed, said her daughter complained of pains in her private part while she was bathing her, adding that she told her the pains were caused by Baba, which led to the accused persons arrest by police officers.
It was on Monday, as I was bathing my child and wanted to wash her private part, she started complaining of pains, and I asked her what happened, why her vagina was paining her.
She said it was one Baba. I asked her which Baba? She said Baba that use to drive Okada (a commercial motorcyclist). And this was happening around 10 p.m.
The woman said her daughter took her to Mr. Raheems house the next day.
When I saw the man, I said to him, Baba thank you very much, anytime you see my daughter around, please chase her away.
And the Baba started raising his voice at me, saying What is it? Did I touch your daughter?
So because of that I called my brother and reported the matter to him. My brother reported to the police and Baba was arrested
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Magistrate, T.A Elias, granted him bail of N25,000 with two sureties and adjourned the case till March 29.
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A Lagos Island Customary Court on Thursday dissolved the marriage between Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike, and his wife, Emma, over incessant battery.
Emma, a teacher, had on July 13, 2015, approached the court to dissolve the 14-year-old marriage between her and the Nollywood star.
The court president, Awos Awosola, said from the totality of the evidence before the court, it was obvious that the marriage was beyond redemption.
Emeka, who has been begging to be reconciled with his wife, has not made any effort towards the reconciliation. The marriage is hereby dissolved with effect from March 2, in accordance with the Lagos State Customary Court Law, 2011; Order 3 Rule 7 as amended, the president ruled.
Any party that is not satisfied with the judgment has the right to appeal to any court of higher jurisdiction within 30 days from today, the court president ruled.
Mr. Awosola awarded the custody of their four children to the husband and ordered that the wife must have unhindered access to them.
He also said that N300 paid as Emmas bride price had been returned to Emeka and urged both parties to maintain peace.
The mother of four had earlier told the court that her husband had been physically and verbally abusing her all through the duration of their marriage.
My husband treated me like nobody and throughout this divorce tussle; he had denied me access to my children. He does not allow them to pick my call as he keeps changing their numbers, she said.
The last time I heard my first sons voice was when he was sick and about to undergo surgery. It was a friend who informed me that my son was in the hospital and I called Emeka asking him for the location of the hospital but he refused to disclose that, Emma said.
In 2016, the popular Nollywood actor had informed the Lagos Island Customary Court that he had filed an application before a High Court restraining the lower court from hearing the divorce suit filed by his estranged wife, Emma.
Emma approached the court in 2015 to dissolve the 16-year union between her and the Nollywood actor on grounds of incessant battery.
The couple have four children together.
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The committee on reconciliation of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, headed by Governor Seriake Dickson, has opted for a political solution to the protracted crisis in the party.
The committee took the decision Thursday at a meeting held in Abuja.
A communique of the meeting was signed by Mr. Dickson alongside his deputy in the committee, Ibrahim Mantu and secretary, Joshua Lidani.
The committee also said it endorsed the resolution of the meeting between former President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP governors who also agreed to seek political, rather than legal, solution to the partys crisis.
The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt had on February 17 affirmed former Borno State Governor Ali Sheriff as the national chairman of the party against a resolution of May 2016 national convention that sacked the partys National Working Committee, NWC.
In place of the NWC and National Executive Committee of the party, the convention constituted a National Caretaker Committee headed by a former governor of Kaduna state, Ahmed Makarfi, to manage the party and organise an elective national convention.
But Mr. Sheriff challenged the development in court and got judgment, affirming him as chairman.
The national caretaker committee, the PDP Governors Forum and elders, including the Board of Trustees, flayed the judgment of the court and have appealed to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Dicksons reconciliation committee, which was put in place by Bamanga Tukur when he was national chairman in 2013, said as part of the reconciliation process, it is imperative that an early convention within the second quarter of 2017 should be held in Abuja which therefore should be all inclusive and where new national officials of the party will be freely, fairly and transparently elected.
The reconciliation committee also said it would embark on extensive consultations with all relevant individuals with a view to building confidence and necessary consensus toward the convention
The committee appeals to all party leaders, and members of our great party to exercise restraint and focus on the loyalty to and the overall interest of the party, the communique said.
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Acting President Yemi Osinbajo says he is satisfied with the performance of the Nigerian military in the handling of security threats across the country.
Mr. Osinbajo stated this on Wednesday shortly after receiving briefings from the nations service chiefs and heads of other security agencies at the situation room of Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Defence Minister, Mansur Ali, had earlier said the security chiefs will brief the acting president about the various operations being carried out by the armed forces especially the fight against Boko Haram in the north east.
Mr. Osinbajo said although it was not yet a done deal, it was clear that the Nigerian armed forces has greatly decimated Boko Haram terror group.
As you know the Boko Haram as a military force has been degraded. They are not holding territory at the moment. Our armed forces have been able to dislodge them from practically all territories they were holding in the past.
What is happening now is just once-in-a-while-attacks by suicide bombers.
By the nature of asymmetric warfare we are not able to say it has ended now. But I think that militarily, they have been contained. There is no question at all that Boko Haram as a fighting force has been degraded, he said.
Mr. Osinbajo, however, said the terrorist group still has the capacity to do damage with suicide bombers. He said that was why the military was keeping vigilance.
I am very satisfied with what the military has done so far. And the briefing has shown graphically that they are really on top of their game and that they are doing excellently well in the north east, he said.
Meetings Buharis idea
The acting president also told reporters that holding regular security briefings is President Muhammadu Buharis idea.
Mr. Buhari is currently in London on medical vacation. Mr. Osinbajo said he would speak with the president and update him on the outcome of the meeting.
Almost every month, these briefings are held. It is routine and it is the president who puts in place this whole idea of regular briefing.
It is even more important that we do so because of some of the issues arising; like the cases of kidnappings and I wanted the IG to inform us fully.
Besides, the President is a process person and certainly, I am going to speak with him on developments here. So it is not an indication of anything. It is only an indication that we are committed to the security of the nation, he said.
The acting president said the primary duty of any government is to ensure the security of lives and property hence the need for leaders to be briefed regularly.
The good thing is that our men are doing extraordinarily well in the north east and that Southern Kaduna has also been contained.
The peace building process is also going on very well, he said.
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A security company alleged to have diverted huge sums from the office of the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, has asked an Abuja high court to wind up and revoke the operational licence of Heritage Bank.
The company, Geonel Integrated Services Limited, in a petition filed against the bank, said Heritage Bank should be wound up over an alleged state of financial insolvency.
In November 2016, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, arraigned five companies accused of allegedly diverting huge sums from the office of the former NSA. The companies are Geonel Integrated Services Limited, Unity Continental Nigeria Limited, Helpline Organization, Vibrant Resource Limited and Sologic Integrated Services Limited.
They were arraigned alongside Nicholas Ashinze, a former special assistant to the embattled former NSA; an Austrian, Wolfgang Reinl; Edidiong Idiong and Sagir D. Mohammed before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja on a 13-count charge of corruption and money laundering to the tune of N36.8 billion.
Geonel Integrated Services Limited is owned by Mr. Reinl, an Austrian security expert.
But the company in its petition, Wednesday, alleged that Heritage Bank has been showing signs of distress and insolvency in the recent times and may cause colossal economic damages to Nigerians unless it is wound up on court order.
The court and CBN were asked to invoke the provisions of section 408, 409 and 410 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 to liquidate the bank because of its alleged inability to meet up with demands of its customers due to its alleged distressed status.
In the petition filed by the security outfit, it claimed that it maintains four separate accounts with Nos. 1300083902, 6200100931,6000105125 and 3200121515 as well as a fixed deposit account at the Abuja branch of the bank.
The company claimed it has N1,811,555,258 and another $85,859 in the accounts, stressing that the huge sums have been trapped in the bank due to its inability to meet up with its expected obligations.
According to the petitioners lawyer, Mazi Osigwe, the company alleged that it had made several applications through cheques to transact withdrawal business but that the bank had failed and neglected to honour the cheques.
The petitioner alleged that in January 2016, a judge of the court, Binta Nyako, granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to freeze the accounts for a period of six months to carry out some investigations.
It claimed that the order granted EFCC expired on July 24, 2016 and that the same Justice Nyako confirmed expiration of the order in her ruling delivered on November 16, 2016.
The petitioner claimed that the bank has been actively instigating the EFCC to secure a fresh order to stop it from accessing or operating the accounts so as to cover up its distressed status.
The petitioner was silent on its existing corruption charges before the court but said it provided several newspaper reports to prove that Heritage Bank is distressed.
It, however, claimed that in spite of the public denial of the distress, the bank has been unable to honour several financial obligations to customers rushing to withdraw their money to escape unpleasant economic effects.
The company, therefore, urged the court to declare the bank distressed, insolvent and to hold that the bank is indebted to it to the tune of N1.8 billion and another $85,859.
The petitioner also applied for an order of the court to wind up the bank and another order compelling the CBN to withdraw or revoke the banking licence of the bank.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Heritage Banks corporate communications unit, the bank said that the claims were untrue and malicious.
Gbolahan Oyeyinka, an official of the bank said, our attention has been drawn to a malicious and untrue report following a petition filed at the Federal High Court by Geonel Integrated Services Limited on the banks financial and liquidity condition.
We want to categorically state that the allegation is not true as the Geonel Integrated Services Limiteds account is currently being investigated for financial crimes by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
Mr. Oyeyinka, however, noted that the bank was advised formally to freeze the account by the federal agency through court injunction pending when the investigation will be concluded.
The investigation is still ongoing and the bank is under obligation to respect a valid order of court,he told our correspondent.
We want to state categorically that Heritage Bank is not distressed as being malevolently reported, the bank is capable to honour its obligations to customers and numerous stakeholders alike.
EFCC officials declined comment saying the matter was already in court.
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Babatunde Gbadamosi, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party who was arrested last week, said the State Security Service released him on Thursday without preconditions.
I was freed without preconditions, Mr. Gbadamosi told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Thursday evening. They just allowed me to go without filing charges.
Mr. Gbadamosi was arrested last Wednesday after he honoured an invitation from the SSS.
He was then transferred to Abuja on the same day where he was held until his release Thursday afternoon.
His wife, Sade Gbadamosi, said she had strong indications to believe her husband was held over a video he uploaded on Facebook last month.
His freedom followed intense media campaign and advocacy by Nigerians, including Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, and rights activist, Femi Falana.
Mr. Gbadamosi, a real estate broker, said he will return to Lagos today and will brief Nigerians about his ordeal after discussing with his lawyers.
I appreciate the efforts of Nigerians and the sacrifice they made to secure my freedom, I will brief them extensively about what happened after briefing with my lawyers.
The, APC, will hold its mid-term non-elective National Convention on April 29, 2017 in Abuja.
This was revealed by the Governor of Zamfara State, Yari Abubakar, shortly after the governors held a closed door meeting with the leadership of the party at its national secretariat, Abuja, on Thursday.
Mr. Abubakar also said the governors collectively told the National Working Committee, NWC, of their readiness to give maximum support to the Federal Government.
The National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, had earlier in an opening remark said the meeting is part of the series of meetings held with elected officials as the party prepares to hold a non-elective mid-term convention.
This meeting is just one of the series of meetings we are holding in the run up to the non-elective national convention. We have held consultation with our leadership in the Senate and the House of Representatives. We are also going to hold consultation with ministers as part of the preparation for the national convention which is a mandatory requirement, he said.
Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said the forthcoming mid-term non-elective convention is mandatory and the purpose is to allow the party in government sit down and see how far we have gone, what we have done right, assess ourselves by bringing our leaders from all over the country to sit with us once every two years and exchange ideas and listen to the achievements of their government.
Some of the APC governors were not present and did not send representatives to the meeting, a situation the national chairman blamed on mis-communication.
Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Mohammed Jibrilla of Adamawa and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun were not in attendance.
I am quite aware that this is due to miscommunication, a lot of you became aware of this meeting today and the fact that you are here is a matter of deep pride.
The purpose of the meeting is very clear. There are lots of things that must happen in preparation towards our non-elective convention which the states must be actively involved.
We are going to have state congresses, ward congresses and fill vacancies. We will take the opportunity to fill every single vacancy at all levels of the party arising from death, appointment and others. We are also required to elect three delegates who will participate in the forthcoming convention, he said.
BUHARI ACTED RIGHT
The APC chairman also said President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in the United Kingdom, UK, on medical vacation has done the right thing by properly transferring power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo.
Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said there is no need for the constant negative reports about Mr. Buharis departure; especially on the social media.
What makes me happy is that in spite of these negative speculations and attempt to destabilise the polity, thanks to his respect for due process and the constitution of this nation he has left a structure that is functioning very effectively in spite of his unfortunate absence.
One can say quite clearly that the wish of Mr. President is that the government will continue to function efficiently and effectively and that the party also should continue and proceed to execute its normal duties and functions, he said.
Still coming down on the negative reports, the APC chairman said today, the papers were replete with all manner of speculations which has become the past time of the social media to carry all manner of fake and totally out of line speculations as to any step that we take on virtually any issue. I think this is something that we have to talk about later.
While debunking some of the reports as regards President Buharis health, the party chief said: it is important to say that our meeting today has absolutely nothing to do with the health status of the president.
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The Managing Director, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, NPDC, Yusufu Matashi, on Thursday told Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja that his company allocated 7,553,733 barrels of crude oil to Atlantic Energy under a Strategic Alliance Agreement.
He gave this revelation under cross-examination by Lawal Rabana, representing Jide Omokore who is facing trial alongside Victor Briggs, Abiye Membere, David Mbanefo, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited on a nine-count amended charge of criminal diversion of about $1.6 billion alleged to be proceeds of sale of petroleum products belonging to the federal government.
Mr. Matashi, whose evidence started on Wednesday as second prosecution witness, stated that while the total value of the transaction as at 2014 was $823,750,159, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited could not meet up with its cash call for operations and training which made NPDC, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to use funds in its account to clear outstanding payments.
Responding to further questions from A. Adegbamere and Tayo Oyetibo, representing 3rd and 4th defendants respectively, Mr. Matashi maintained that, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited breached the contractual agreement made with NPDC.
The two firms are linked to Mr. Omokore.
All I have said were based on records which I believe in its truthfulness and accuracy. The SAA under review was carried out because of the success of the previous SAA and there was need to consolidate on the gains achieved earlier, said the NPDC MD.
Justice Dimgba, thereafter, adjourned to March 21, 2016 for further trial.
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Justice A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday adjourned the trial of a former acting governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, to May 3 as the first prosecution witness billed for cross-examination could not make it to court for health reasons.
The witness, Ibrahim Andrew, who testified at the last sitting (January 26) was to be cross examined by the defence counsel, but he was absent in court.
Larry Aso, counsel to the EFCC, told the court that the witness was unavoidably absent for reasons beyond his control.
He, however, applied for an adjournment and promised that the witness would be in court at the next adjourned date.
Mr. Fintiris counsel, M. A. Magaji, did not oppose the application for an adjournment.
Justice A. R. Mohammed adjourned to May 3 for cross examination.
Mr. Fintiri was arraigned on June 30, 2016 alongside Mayim Construction and Properties Limited for laundering money to the tune of N2.9 billion through his naira and dollar accounts domiciled at Ecobank Plc.
He was also arraigned for making large cash payment for the purchase of a property at plot 7, Gana Str., Maitama, Abuja, when he held sway as the acting governor of the state.
The offence contravened Section 15 (2)(a) of the Money laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act.
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The management of the University of Ilorin on Wednesday warned its newly admitted students against watching pornographic materials.
The 10,886 students, admitted for the 2016/2017 academic session, were also admonished to desist from involving in cultism on and outside the university campus.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, AbdulGaniy Ambali, who spoke at the Matriculation ceremony held in Ilorin, urged the students to adhere to the university rules.
Mr. Ambali, who advised the students to adhere strictly to the rules guiding the institutions operations, noted that anyone found contravening the school rules would be shown the exit door.
The vice-chancellor in his speech told the students that they were the lucky few out of 110,675 applicants who sought the universitys admission.
According to him, this is the highest number of applicants for a single Nigerian university.
He said that 103,482 candidates chose Unilorin as their first choice, while about 65,417 of the candidates scored 180 marks and above in
their Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations.
Mr. Ambali, a professor of veterinary medicine, said that 75,605 candidates registered for the Post-UTME screening and the university gave admissions to 13,570, but 10,886 out them registered.
Commenting on the importance of the admission granted them by the university, the vice-chancellor noted that the admission was a golden opportunity that would launch them to lofty heights if properly treasured.
I expect the best from you, our new students. I expect nothing, but hard work, from you. There is no room for vices here, once you are caught, you are gone.
This set means a lot to me because you will be the last I will be admitting before I finish my tenure as the Vice Chancellor, he said.
Also speaking, Rebecca Okojie, the acting registrar of the institution, warned the students to shun cult activities on and
outside the campuses.
Mrs. Okojie said that the university also had zero tolerance to indecent dressing, urging them to desist from watching pornographic films and videos on the campus.
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